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A hi^fft fc- ILLUS' R WITH THE PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK \n t OF THE WAR OF 1812 OR, ILLUSTRATIONS, BY PEN AND PExNCIL, OF THE HISTORY, BlOli RAPHY, SCENERY, RELICS, AND TRADITIONS OF THE LAST WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. BY BE.NSON J. LOSSING. WITH SEVKBAL HUWDRED ENGRAVIXGS ON WOOD, KY LOSSING AND BAUIUTT, * CHIEFLY FROM ORIGINAL SKETCH KS BY THE AUTHOR. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 186 0. $A:\ nr^ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by Hakper & BnOTHERS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. li! The Close of the Ri the Public Debt, -3; Dissolution venfion to reorgi to form a Niition lishment of a Na Foundations of Gov the Indians and i Hostilities, 40 ; I- Visit to the Place demess, 4(J; St.C coived the News t ference of British down the Maumcc The national Policy Movements in Frai the British Governi the Public Debt, <i^ picions, (iC ; Progn Adams, (i8; Demo generous Suspicion Parties formed, 72 overthrown, 7r, ; th pubUc, 77 ; Washin " Citizen Genet" and Enthusiasm of the li fies the American G Council;" Aimed > Great Britain, S(> ; ( Difficulties with Algi liness of the French Adams elected I'resii ness of Partisans, !)4 Action in New York Washington appointed ( traordinary sent to p rages; Obsequiougnej in the West Indies, K era! Party, 106 ; Intri I f? ; State Suprema< r I th of Washington, It CHAPTER I. EARLT DAYS OF THE RErUBLIC. The Close of the 'Revolution ; the States free, but not iiule|iunclent, 18 ; Wliy? Articles of Confederation, 19 ; the Public Debt, 20 ; Attitiule of the States, 21 ; British Oidnion concerning them, 22 ; Public Dangers 23 ; DisKoliition of the Hepublic threiitened, 24 ; Washington's Forebodings ; his Proposition for a Con- vention to reorganize (io\eniment, 2't ; Meeting of the Convention, 20 ; Proceedings of the Convention to form a National Constitution, 27-82 ; Katilication of the Constitution ; its Opponents, !)3 ; the Estab- lishment of a Nation, 34. CHAPTER II. EVENTS IN THE NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. Foundations of Government in the Wilderness, 35 ; the Northwestern Territory ; Settlements there, 36-87 ; the Indians and tlieir British Allies, 38; Councils with the Indians, 39 ; British Intrigues and Indian Hostilities, 40; Expedition against the Indians in the Ohio Coiuitry, 41 ; Battle on the Maumee, 42; Visit to the Place of C'onflict, 43-44 ; Expeditions of Scott and Wilkinson, 45 ; Forts built in the Wil- derness, 4(i ; St. Clair's Expedition, 47 ; bis Battle with the Indians and Defeat, 48 ; how Washington re- ceived the News of St. Clair's Defeat, 49 ; his Justice and Generosity ; Wayne's Expedition, 50 ; Inter- ference of British Officials, 51 ; the British and Indians in armed Alliance, 52; Wayne's Expedition down the Maumee, 53, 54 ; Defeat of the Indians and treaty of Greenville, 55, 56. CHAPTER III. ESTABLISHMENT OP THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. The national Policy and Power indicated, 58 ; Relations with France and England, 59 ; revolntionarj- Movements in France, 60, 61 ; diplomatic Intercoiu'se with (Jreat Britain and Spain, 62 ; Discourtesy of the British Government ; mistaken Views (•onceriniig the American Government, 63 ; Acts in relation to the Public Debt, 64 ; Hamilton's financial Scheme ; Currency, 65 ; Jeft'erson's Disappointment and Sus- picions, ()6 ; Progress of the French Revolution, 67 ; the r>oli;ical and religious Views of Jefferson and Adams, 68 ; Democracy in England, 69 ; Adams's Scheme of Government ; Jefferson's Disgust and un- generous Suspicions, 70; Paine's Riijhts of Man ; a Newspaper War, 71 ; the Federal and Republican Parties formed, 72 ; Sympathy with the French Revolutionists, 73 ; Lafayette, 74 ; Monarchy in France overthrown, 75 ; the National Convention ; Execution of the King, 76 ; Minister from the French Re- public, 77 ; Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality, 78. CIIAJ'TER IV. FOREIGN RELATIONS ANO DOMESTIC POLITICS. " Citizen Genet" and his Reception by his political Admirers, 79 ; his first Interview with Washingtou ; Enthusiasm of the Reiniblicans, 80; the American and the French Revolution compared, 81 ; Genet de- fies the American (Jovernment, 82 ; he is recalled ; his Successor, 88 ; Briti-sh " Rules" and "Orders in Council;" Anned Neutrality, 84; British Impre.ssmeut of American Seamen, 85; Jay's Treaty with Great Britain, 8(i ; Opposition to the Treaty, 87 ; the Whisky Insurrection ; Democratic Societies, 88 ; Difficulties with Algiers, 89 ; an American Novy recommended, 90; Constructiori of a Navy ; Unfriend- liness of the ^'rench Directory, 91 ; Struggle between the Republicans and Federalists for political Power; Adams elected President, 92 ; open Rupture between F'rarice and the United States threatened, 93 , Mad- ness of Partisans, 94 ; Aggressions of the French Directory, 95 ; Preparations for War with France ; Action in New York, 96 ; History of the ^ngs " Hail, Columbia !" and " Adams and Liberty," 97. CHAPTER V. WAR ON THE OCEAN. — POLITVCAL BTRITGGLES. Washington appointed to the Command of the Army; Hamilton acting Gcneral-in-chief, 98; Envoys ex- traordinary sent to France, 99 ; Bonoparte in Power ; American War vessels afloat, 1 00 ; British Out- rages ; Obsequiousness of the Americaii Government, 102 ; naval Engagements, 103 ; American (:nii8ers in the West Indies, 104 ; Truxtun's Victory ; Honors to the Victor, 105 ; Peace; Divisions in the Fed- eral Party, 106 ; Intrigues against Adams ; Alien and Sedition Laws ; Nullification Doctrines put forth, 107; State Supremacy asserted; Jefferson elected President. 1 08 ; Mortific^ition of the Federalists; 1> 'Ath of Washington, 109 ; a public Funeral, 110 ; Washington's Person and Character, 111. Iv CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. M DIFFICUITIES WITH THE lURBARY POWKH8. — ENQLAND AI»r> FRANCE AT WAH. nonnparte's Career uiid Infliioiu'e, \\'2 • (JbseqiiiousneHS of Eiiglinhmcn, II 15; noginniiig of Juff'erRon'H Ad- iiiiiiiHtnitiun ; the Nutioniil Ciipital, lU; ScH'erson's Tolicy; puliticul Proscription, 115; the Niivy re- Uuced, I Hi ; ('Hj)taiu Kaiiibridgu, the l)cy of Algiern, and the Sultan, 117 ; Insolence and Exactions of the Barlmry Hulnrs, IIH; American Navy in the Mediterranean Sea and its OperationH, I I'J-lliO; Uoin- hardment of Tripoli, 121 ; DeHtruction of the P/ii/iiiU//i/iiu, '22 ; Destrnction of the Iittrepid ; Honors to ( 'oinmodo'-e Preble, 123; ronimodore Ilarron's S(iuaaron in the Mediterranean, 124 ; Eaton's Flxpedi- tion in Northern Africa ; Respect of the Uarhary Powers for the American Flag, l2r> ; Honaparte and his Kelations with England, 12(!; a French Invasion of England threatened, 127; a Struggle for political Supremacy; Bonaparte proclaimed EmjHiror, 128; Napoleon's Berlin Decree, 121). CHAPTER VII. EVENTS WEST OP THE ALLKOHANIKS. — SEARCH AND IMPRESSMENT. Orginizntion of new States, liU); Americans disturbed by the Retrocession of Louisiana to France, 131 ; the secret Designs of the latter, Iii2 ; Jetlerson's Letter and Bonai)arte's Necessity; Purchase of Louisi- ana, l.'tH; Eveiiis connected with the Purchase of Louisiana, IJi4 ; the Duel of Hamilton and Burr; the Acts of Burr's political Associates, l;tr>; his ambitious'. Schemes: Blennerfinsseti and Wilkinson, 130; Burr's Operations, Trial for Treason, and Exile, 1 37 ; American commercial Thrift and British Jealousy, 138; British Perlidy defended by British Writers, 13!) ; Unpleasant foreign Relations, 140; Memorial of Mcrchnnts concerning British Depreciations, 141 ; Im|iressment of American Seamen and Right of Search, 142; diplomatic Correspondence on the Subject, 143; cruel Treatment of American Seamen, 144 ; farther diplomatic Action, 145, 14G ; nationi;' Independence and Honor in Peril, 147 ; Minister ex- traordinary sent to England, 148. CHAPTER Vin. SEARCH AND IStPRKSSMKNT. — liMHAROO. — PARTY SPIRIT. Negotiations concerning the Imjjressment of jVnierican Seamen, 14!); a Treaty agreed to, but not ratified ; War on tlie Administration, 1 50, 151 ; The t^ontinental System of Napoleon, 1 52 ; Aggressions on Amer- ican Conuncrce and Neutrality by F'rance and England, 153; Napoleon's Milan Decree and its Ett'ects, 154 ; the Navy and the (iun-boat Policy, 155 ; British Cruisers in American Waters, 15(i ; the Afl'air of the Chesapmk-e, 157; the Outrage resented, 158; Action of the American Government, 159; Action of the British (iovernment, 1(10; fruitless Mission of a British Envoy, 101; political Complexion of the Tenth Congress; an Embargo established, 102; its Effects; Party Spirit violently aroused, 103; the Embargo vehemently denounced, 104 ; the British exact Tribute from neutral Nations, 105 ; Dangers of national Vanity, 166. CHAFrER IX. WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN THREATErED. Provisions for strengthening the American Navy, 107 ; Gun-boats ; Opposition to a Navy, 108 ; British op- position to the Orders in Council, 100; Napoleon's Blow at American Commerce; Modification of the Orders in Council, 1 70 ; Actions concerning the Embargo, 171; Disunionists in New England, 1 72, 1 73 ; Embargo or War the proclaimed Alternative, 174; (^otton supposed to be the King of Commerce, 175; Just Arrangements for settling the Difficulties with Great Britain, 170; the British Government repudi- ates the Acts of its Agent, 177; an offensive British Jiinister sent to America, 278 ; the French Decrees and British Orders in Council, 17!); England and Franco refuse to be just, 180; Outrage by a British Cruiser, 181 ; Method of signaling, 182, 183; Action between tha President and Little JJelt, 184; Tes- timony concerning the Attuir, 185 ; Commodore Rodgers assailed and vindicated, 186. CHAPTER X. HOSTILITIES OF THE INDIANS IN THE NORTHWEST. The Indianji Territory and Governor Harrison, 187; British Emissaries among the Indians, 188; Tecum- tha and his Brother the Prophet, 18!) ; Indian Confederation proposed ; Harrison denounces the Projihet, 1!)0; the Mission of Josei)h Barron, l!)l ; Tecumtha before Harrison at Vincennes, 1!)2; roving Plun- derers; Tecumtha alarmed, 1!)3; Preparations for fighting the Indians, li)4; Jlariison marches up the Wabash with Troops ; Deputation of friendly Indians, 1 95 ; Visit of the Author to the Region of threat- ened Hostilities, 19(5-200; Harrison approaches the Projihet's Town; the Indians alarmed, 201 ; Har- rison's Encampment near the Tippecanoe, 202 ; the Prophet's Teaching, 203 ; Battle of Tiiipecanoe, 204, 205 ; The Prophet disgraced, 200 ; Actors in the Battle of Tippecanoe, 207 ; Author's Visit to the Bat- tle-ground, 208, 209. CHAPTER XI. A WAR SPIRIT AROrSED. — DECLARATION OP WAR AOAIN8T GREAT BRITAIN. The Twelfth Congress and its Composition, 210 ; the President's feeble War-trumpet, 21 1 ; Charges against Great Britain, 212; Action of the ("ommittee on Foreign Relations, 213; Alarm on Acc(anit of the Slaves, 214; Randolph and Calhoun in Congress, 215; Policy of the Federalists, 210; Patriotism of some of their Lejiders, 21 7 ; Debate concerning the Navy, 218 ; the President compelled to adopt War Measures, 21!) ; a British Emissaiy in New England, 220 ; his Revelations and Rewards, 221 ; Action of the British Ministry on the Subject, 222 ; a new Embargo Act, 223 ; delusive Hopes of Justice, 224 ; a preliminary War Measure, 225 ; Reptjrt on the Causes of and Reasons for War, 220 ; Action of Congress on the Subject, 227 ; Declaration of War, 228 ; Protest of the Minority in Congress against the Meas- ure, 229 ; Organization of a Peace Party, 230 ; Measures for carrying on the War, 231 ; public Acts in opposition to the War, 232. 'Die British Rege Frontier, 234 • ; 238-240; Fultoi oniments concer tiotnd Re\ocatioi file Subject of S, Leaders, 24!), 25( Canada to ba invade man, 253 ; A.itho regular and voluii i apers captured, '2 in 1812, 200; Il„| y> nr, 204, L'05 ; D 'naw, 208, 209 ; E Alarmmg Facts and F invasion, 274 ; Syn: Hoine at Brownstoi tmin, 278 ; the Mar J>isaft'ection of the i tacking Detroit, 28^1 render, and refuses, surrenders the Fort Incidents of the Sun render, and public It Character, 295 ; the The Author's Jonmey f chI Localitiei at Ami of Detroit,. 101; Chic 3<).'! ; an Indian Raid nitions of War and Li Savages— Bravery of \ Massacre, 311 ; Mrs I on Fort Wayne, 314; 816 ; Fort Harrison 'b« WA The Nation aroused— En( Head of Kentucky Vol Standard, 324 ; Fort M commands the Northwei Re-enforcements gathei through the Wilderness, thors Visit to the Theal Indians m the IlUuois Cc Soldiers, 337. Ilamson cheerfully meets ,f™y-t"- Western Res. of Colonel VVad.,worth, 34 8*4 ; Services of friendly near the Mississiniwa, 34' the Mnumee Rapids, .S50 • Winchester arrives with 'i Frenchtown,355; Winch, manity of the British Con Massacre, S^,9, Author's 1 <K.1,3C2; Han., m unjust! ^«»»»» «» IB » i(i>i Bayi ii ii i iri I ' i iiMi i i Brii i ir i i CONTENTS. CIIArTEU XII. BROIlUflNO OK THK WAU OF I SI 2. The British Kcgoncy — Politiral Aftnirs in Kiiropc, 'J.'i.'l ; tiie TiiKipu and Fortiflcationn on the Northern Frfmtier, 2M ; Sea-cotiHt DefenHeH of the United StiiteH, 230- '.MH; Fulton's Torj>cdoes imd their lines, 238-240; Fulton's Antifipu'ions, '241 ; Kttects of h Fear of TorjJcdoeH, 242; the Action of State Gov- eniments concerning the War, 243 ; i)iil)lic Feeling in Caimda, 244 ; Signs of Pacification, 24.1; condi- tional Revocation of the Orders in (Joiuicil, 24(i ; hauKhty AKstimptions of the Uriti'.h tiovenimont on the Subject of Search and Imprisoiiraent, 247 ; War inevitable and justifiable, 24H ; Choice of military Leaders, 241), 250. CHAPTER Xlir. IltTLl's CAMl'AION AOAINRT CAVAPA. Canada to he invaded — Object of the Invasion, 2.')1 ; Organization of an Army in Ohio — an .ictivc Frontiers- man, 2ri3 ; Aurhor's Journey through Ohio. 2.14 ; General Hull takes Ounnumd of Ohio Volunteers, 2rir> ; regular and volunteer Triwps in the Wilderness, 2iH]; Hull's March to Detroit, 2.'>7; his liaggage and Papers ca|)tured, 2.18 ; how the ilritish in Canada were informed of the I )eclaration of War, 2.1".( ; Detroit in 1812, 2(iO; Hull invades ('anada, 2G1, 2(i2 ; Reconnoissance toward Maiden, 203; first Battle of the War, 2(!4, "Ct'i ; Distrust of General Hull, 2(!(i ; first Blood shed in the War, 2(i7 ; curly Scenes at Mack- inaw, 2G8, 2tii)i Events at Mackinaw in 1812, 270; Kmploynient of the Indians by the British, 271. CHAPTER XIV. CAMPAIGN ON THK DKTROIT FRONTIEK. Alarming Facts and Rumors, 272 ; Preparations in Canada for resisting Invasion, 273 ; Alarm caused by the Invasion, 274 ; Symptoms of Disloyalty — General Brock's Intiuencc, 27.1; Defeat of Americans under Van Hurne at Brfiwnstown, 27(i ; mutinous Spirit evinced in Hull's Army, 277; Expedition to succor a Supply- train, 278 ; the March toward the Kiver Raisin, 27!t ; Battle of Magiiaga, 280, 281 ; Disappointment and Disaffection of the American Troops, 282 ; Brock goes to Maiden with Troops, 283 ; Preparations for at- tacking Detroit, 284; Hull deceived — an Ellort to reach a Sn;)ply-train, 28.1; Hull sumnuuied to sur- render, and refuses, 28(; ; the British proceed to attaik Detroit, 287; Scenes within the Fort, 288 ; Hull surrenders the Fort, (Jarrison, and Territory, 28!t ; Feeling of tlie Tnuips— Result of the Surrender, 2!K) ; IiU'idents of the Surrender, 2'.ll ; British Occupation of Detroit and Michigan, 21)2 ; Account of the Sur- render, and public Indignation, 2i)3 • Hull tried by a Court-martial, 294 ; a Consideration of Hull's public Character, 2'Ju ; the Government more to blame than Hull, 2!)ti. CHAPTER XV. MILITARY EVENTS IN THE THEN FAR NORTHWEST. The Anther's Jonrney from Chicago to Detroit, 297; a Ride from Windsor to Amherstburg, 298 ; Histori- cal Localities- at Amherstburg or Maiden, 299, Windsor and "Windsor Castle," 300; Pontiac's Siege of Detroit, 301 ; (Chicago, its Name, Settlement, and I'osition, 302 ; Trading-house aiul Fort at Chicago, 303 ; an Indian Raid, 304 ; Troubles at Chicago, 30.1 ; Treacher- of the Indians — a Warning, 306 ; Mu- nitions of War and l-iquor destroyed, 307 ; Ma-ssacro at ("hicago, 308 ; Incident of the Confiict with the Savages — Bravery of VVomen, 309 ; Cruelties of the Indians — their British Allies, 310 ; Survivors of the Massacre, 311; Mrs. Kenzie and the Growth of Chicago, 312; Designs agaii<st Fort Wayne, 313 ; Attack on Fort Wayne, 314; Rjivages of the Indians — Little Turtle, 31.1; Treachery of Indians nt Fort Wayne, 316 ; Fort Harrison besieged, 317 ; brave Deeds at Fort Harrison, 318 ; Attack on Fort Madison, 819. CHAPTER XVI. WAR WITH THE IlRITtSH AND INOIANH IN THE NORTHWEST. The Nation aroused — Enthusiasm of the People, 820 ; Harrison and the Kentuckians, 321 ; Harrison at the Head of Kentucky Volunteers, 322 ; Departure for the Wilderness, 323 ; Volunteers flock to Harrison's Standard, 324 ; Fort Wayne relieved — Dettruction of Indian Villages, 325 ; Harrison's Popularity — he commaiuls the Northwestern Army, 32(5 ; Winchester met by British and Indians in the Wilderness, 327 ; Re-enforcements gathering, 328 ; Harrisoii's proposed autumn Cami)aign, 329 ; reported Movement through the Wilderness, 330 ; Erection of Forts, 331 ; the Indians alarmed and humbled, 332 ; the Au- thor's Visit to the Theatre of War, 3.H3 ; Preparations for further Warfare, 334 ; Exjiedition against the Iiulians in the Illinois Country, 335 ; Expedition to the Wabash Region, 830 ; Sufterings of the Kentucky Soldiers, 337. CHAPTER XVII. WAR WITH THE BRITISH AND INDIANS IN THE NORTHWEST. Harrison cheerfidly meets Difficulties, 338 ; Difficulties of a winter Campaign, 839 ; Organization of the Army — the Western Reser^-e, 340 ; Preparations in Ohio against Invasion, 841 ; Energy and Patriotism of Colonel VVadsworth, 342 ; an Expedition to the Maumee, 343 ; stirring Events at the Maumee Rapids, 344 ; Services of friendly Indians, 345 ; Campbell's Exjiedition into the Wabash Region, 346 ; a Battle near the Mississiniwa, 847 ; Suflerings and I)ifflculties of Harrison's Army, 348, 349 ; Advance toward the Maumee Rapids, 310 ; Frenchtown on the Raisin River threatened, SlT; Battle at Frenchtown, 352 ; Winchester arri"e8 with Re-enforccments, 853 ; he disregards Warnings of Danger, 814 ; Massacre at Frenchtown, 355 ; Winchester compelled to surrender his Army, 85C ; Perfidy, Cowardice, and Inhu- manity of the British Commander, 857 ; Massacre and Scalping' allowed by him, 358 ; Incidents of the Massacre, 359 ; Author's Visit to Frenchtown, 360 ; historical I^)calities and Survivors of the War there, 361, 362 ; Hani 'n unjustly censured, 363; his Army at the Maumee Rapids, 364. $ I. i 1 1 1 CONTENTS. ^1 CIIArTKU XVIII. EVBKTS OH Tire NOHTIIKIIN ANIt NIAOAItA mONTIERR IN 1812. First warlike Measures on tlio Nurtlicrii Frontier, ilii.'! ; the Mililin of the Stiiii' of .New York, 'Mid ; KvenM on Lake Oiiinrio iiiiil at iSackett'H IliirlHjr, !lli7 ; ii liiiHtile Hritiuli .S<|iia(lroii iitt' SackottV Harbor, 'Mix ; a Skirniinii iiixl a Ufpiilso of the Hritixh — VoMHels of War on Lake Ontario, !t(l!) ; ()|H(rulioii» on the St. LHwrciioe Frontier, il70; liostiie Si|iiiulruns on Luke Ontario, ;i7<»; Opcrntion.'* neur Kint(Nton — Cuinino- dore ("haiinccy, 'M'2 ; (ieneriil Urown itent to Ogilenxhurg, .'I7:i ; tlie Itritish attack OKdenxhrrK, .'174 ; St. Kegis, its captnro by the Ameriiunn, :t7."> ; llonorn to tlie Victors at Albany, !l7ti ; I'.iear.cM' Williams, or "The I,ost l'rinco,'';t77: the Author's Visit to St. KeK's, !I7H ; HuU'iilo in 1812, !17!»; the Niiigara Fron- tier, ;tHO; American Troops on the NiaRiira F'ronlier, ItHI ; an Armistice ami its Kil'ects, U8;t j Prepara- tions for an Invasion of ( 'anaila, .'tH4 ; |",x|HHlitions for captiirin({ Urilish Vessels, JtHo ; iptnre of the Atlarin and L'a'.edonia near Fort I'^rie, 38(i ; InciduntM uf tlie Exploit, 3M7 ; Feelings nf the Americans and BritUh, BHH. f'HAl'TFU XIX. EVKNTIl ON TIIK. NtAtUIIA FKONTIKR IN 1812. Conduct of Cicneral Smyth, 3W>; Van Itensselaor prepares to attack (jiieenston, .'190; nritish Fim'e on the Niagara Frontier, M!»l ; F^xpcdition against (iiieenston delayed, ;t!)2 ; military Ktiipiette — Colonel Scott, .liW ; Passage of the Niagara Hivcr in the Dark, ili>4 ; Skirmish at Queenston Village, iW.'i ; ( 'olonel Von Ilensseluer wounded and Captain Wool in command, ;)!>(') ; the Americans scale Qiieenston Heights. 3!(7; Kr.ttle on Qucenstcm Heights and Death of (ieneral Brock, !J!t8 ; Passage of the Uiver by Ue-enforce- ments, ;i!t!> ; FXents on Qiieenston Heights, 400 ; another Uattle — W(H)1 wounded, 401 ; bad Conduct of the New York Militia, Coloiu-I Scott in Command, 40i!; Heroes and Cowards made Prisoners of War, 40.1; Surrender of the American Army, 404; a triumphal anil funeral Procession, 40.'); Honors to (ieneral Brock, 400 ; Colonel StJomoii Van Rensselaer, 407 ; Kvents at the Mouth of the Niagara Kiver, 408 ; Protection for American Prisoners of Wor, 40'J j (ieneral Smyth '» injurious I'ride and Folly, 410 j hiit silly Proclamations ridiculed, 411. CHAPTER XX. KVBNT8 ON TUB NIAOAKA tRONTIEH AND VICiyiTT IN 1812. The Autho/s Visit to the Niagara Frontier, 412; Lewiston, (Jucenston, and (jueenston Heights, 4I,T; Brock's Monununt, 414 ; an F^vening on Qiieenston Heights, 41."); Interview with the Cl.ief of the Six Nations, 410; Journey from Qiieenston to Niagara, 417; Fort (ieorge and its Appurtenances, 418; Fort Missis- saga — Ueturu to Niagani. F'alis, 41il; .Journey from Niagara F'lills to the Settlement of the Six Nations on the Grand Kiver, 420; a Morning with the Chief of tlie Six Nations, 421 ; Indian Kelics and CustiHns, 422; the Mohawk Church and Uiant's Tomb, 42.H, 424 ; the Mohawk Institute — (yommnnion-phite from Queen Anne, 42.') ; British attack Black Rock, 420 ; Preparations for anollicr Invasion of Canada, 427 ; 1*16 Hritish forewanuid — Passage of the Niagara River, 428 ; Incidents of the attempted Invasion, 42il ; Smyth's Incompetence and Folly, 430 ; the Invnsiuu of Canada abandoned, 431 ; a Duel, and what come of it — exit Smyth, 432. CHAPTER XXI. NAVAL OPERATIONS IN 1812. Acknowledged naval Suj)eriority of Great Britain, 433 ; ( 'haracter, Distribution, and Condition of the Amer- ican War .Marine, 434 ; (junniodore Rodgcrs's Soiuidron — first Shot in the War, 435 ; Rodgers in Euro- pean waters — British Squadron nt Halifax, 43t) ; (^^riiise of the Constitution, 437 ; how she eluded her Pursuers, 438 ; the tUsex goes on aOuise, 43!) ; Cruise of the Essex, 440; how a Challenge was accepted by Commodore Porter, 441 ; the Coiistitiilioii off the Eastern Coast, 442 ; Battle between the Cvnstitutioti and (riierriere, 443, 444 ; Destruction of the (lucrriere — F2ffect8 of the Victory, 44.') ; Honors to Commo- dore Hull, 440 ; F^ft'ect of the Victory on the British Mind, 447 ; Hull's Generosity, 448 ; (>ui.«e of the Wasp, 44i> ; Fight l)etween the Wnsji and the Fro/ir, 4.")0 ; lioth Vessels ca|)tured by tho Poictiers, 451 ; Honors to Captain Jones, 452 ; Lieutenant Biddle honored and rewarded, 453. CHAPTER XXII. NAVAL OPERATIONS AND CIVIL AFFAIRS IN 1812, Commodore Rodgers's second Cruise, 454 ; Battl;; between the United State's and Macedonian, 455 ; Cap- ture of the Macedonian — Decatur takes her to New York, 450; Honors to Decatur, 457; Bainb)-idge in Command of a Sipiadron, 458 ; his (^ruise on the Coast of Brazil. 459 ; Battle between the Constitution and Java, 40(); Loss of the Java — Incidents of the Battle, 401 ; Honors to Buinbridge, 402 ; Ettects of the naval Battles in Great Britain, 403 ; meeting of the Twelfth Congress, 404 ; Madison re-elected — his Ad- ministration sustained, 405 ; Quince's Denunciations and Clay's Res[)onse, 400 ; Mejisiires for strengthen- ing the Army and Navy, 407 ; Retaliation — Report of the Committee on l''oreign Relations, 408 ; Mani- festo of the Prince Regent and its Charges, 409 ; Mediation of the Empei' r of Russia proposed, 470; Re- joicings over Napoleon's Misfortunes — Peace Commissioners, 471 ; CabiiKt Changes, 472. CHAPTER XXIII. EVENTS ON THE MAUMEE RIVER. Contemplated Expedition against Maiden, 473 ; American (7amp at the Maiimee Rapids, 474 ; Interference of the Secretary of War with General Harrison, 47.S ; General Clay's march to the Maumi.e, 470 ; Ilarri- .son assumes grave Responsibilities, 477; British and Indian F^xpedition against Fort Meigs, 478; the Mission of Captain Oliver, 479; Leslie Combs volunteers for perilous Duty, 480; Incidents of his Voyage down the Maumee, 481 ; Preparations for an Assault on Fort Meigs, 482 ; Attack on Fort Meigs, 483 ; critical Rituati Defeat and hw Fort Meigs, 48 Harrison's Provi: ciiniiha anxiou) to ca|)tiire Fort sumpioncd to m Incidents of tlui '■•<>•■■'. 500 J „I„o ■ssailed and virj Constriictioii oC Vewels, 512; p n. rrison viuits I 1 trry prepares for acter of the oj)), Srpiadroiis— Ope, Si'eries on Iniard i rence to tho Ni,i, tempt to Flscape; Dead, .Vtl ; sad 1 ''•e exultant Amc Alliaiue— Predict tions for unveilii: Statue iinveiled- Cll ; Poiry and :ilH h in Arrangements for .., 540 ; Proctor, frig; British, 548 ; the . dians make a Stain British defeated— I son and Proctor prr thor's Visit to the T leaves the Armv- ^^ ^<ci')to Valley, hoc ; Visit to Hati'ivia and riage of Captain llui EV Tlie Energies of Great F-zluubothtown— Beta captured, 580 ; the V Prescott, 582 ; the C tions for it, 585 ; Exi tie York, 588 ; Explo Escape of tho British, ronto, formerly Little at Toronto, 594 ; Pa.s( (Jeorge— tho respectiv Squadron and the Ian retreat to the Beaver ] stroyed by themselves- Battle at Stony Creek are pursued, 605 ; De- EVENTS A Bntish Designs on Sacke 608; Assembling of the «10; a Conflict-Dest) Defenses, 014; the Au toncol Localities aromi Whittlesey and his Wifi at the Beaver Dams. Oi —Fort George invested CONTKNTS. Vil rriticttl Situation nrtho Fort And Onrriunn, 4KI ; HnrriHon'it riniiH iiK<>>n*t the Deiiiegeni, 48,*> ; Dudley '» Defout ami mul Ku.tnltH, 4Htl ; Arrivitl of Ko-enl'iirtTiiiuiitii for I'ort Muig», 487; Kfl'ect of a ^iortiu from Fort MeigH, 480; thu Autliur's Visit tu the Miiiinioo Valley, 4iM)-4*J;i. CIIAITKH XXIV. TlIK ■>VAU IM NORTHKIl.H OHIO- <'(»NHTRL'CTIO!f Of rFHRT'ft FI.EBT. lIivrrinoii'M I'rovisioii for tho Frontier lleft'imes, 4'.t4 ; Kciitiickiiins iiniler Colonel K. M. JohnBon, 4J)r>; Te- c'linithii anxious for hoi'tilo Action, 4!)(i; ,Iohnnon'H Ti-oops iit Fort .Siephonsoii, I;i7 ; uiiHuiTesHfiil Attempt to viipture Fort Moi)(ii, 4!(H ; Foit Ste|ihen!iiin mciiiicetl, 4!l!t ; ('roi;lmn duterniiiu's to h(.ld it, rM); it id RuniiMoned to Hiirrenilor, M\ ; a Siege, MtJ ; Fort StephenHon utornied, and the Asituilaiits repuUed, WKl ; Incident)! of tho Night succec " / the .Strnggle — Honors to Croglian, 'i<14 ; the AiithorV Visit to Sandnsky, fiO'i, fiOtl; also to FriMnont and Site of Fort .Stephenson, M)T ; .Jonrney to Toledo— Harrison's Churaclor assailed and vindicated, M)K ; Captain I'erry sent to Lake Krie, "i(l!l; llaihor of Krie or I'resq' Isle, ">!(); Constrnction of a Lake Fleet bcKiin there, ol I ; Ferry's Services with Chaiincey and in secnring American Vessels, 512 ; Ferry's earnest Call for Men, olJI ; Krie menaced, 61 1 ; first Ci'uiM of I'erry'* Fleet, 615 ; Il'rrison viiiit* i'erry, 61(i ; I'erry '» second Cruise, 517. CIIAl'TKK XXV. THH BATTI.C OF LAKE ERIE. I'trry prepares for Battle, ."IS ; his final Instructions — Hritish Scpindron in sight, 519 ; Names and Chnr- Hcter of tho opposing S(|nndrnns, ^>'2(); CIningo in the Order of Hattle, 521 ; relative Position of the Squadrons— Opening of the Hattle, 522 ; first Position of tho Vessels in the Fight, 52!); the Hattle — S<'ones on board tho Lawrcnve, 524, 525 ; sad ( "ondition of the htwreiire, 52(! ; I'erry goes from the /^tip- rence to the Niaf/nra, 527; I'erry breaks tho Hritish Line, 52H ; his Victory — Hritish ,Ships vainly at- tempt to Kscape, 52'.); Ferry's fauKuii' Dispatch, 5,')(); Surrender of the Hritish (MHcers — Hnrial of the Dead, 531 ; sad KlVects of the Hattle, 5!t2 ; Importance of l'err'"s Victory, 5,'t;t ; public Celebrations by the exultant Americans, 5;t4 ; Honors to Elliott and his Subordinates, 5i(5 ; a I'lei; for a Hritish-Indiaii Alliaufo — Prediction by Washington Irving, 5;t(i ; Author's Visit to Krie ond Cleveland, 537 ; Prepara- tions for unveiling a Statue of Perry at ('leveland, 538 ; surviving Soldiers of tho War of 1812, 53!) ; the Statue unveiled— a rcmarkiiblo Dinner-party, 540; a sham naval Hattle — early Uesidents of Cleveland, 541 ; Perry and his Captives, 542 ; Kecoiitiou of Perry and Harrison at Krie, 543. CIIAPTKU XXVI. ItARRIflON'f) INVASION OK CANAIJA — HI« IIOMK. Arrangements for invading Canada, 544 ; Army of tho Northwest in Motion, 545 ; it crosses Lake Erie. 54(J ; Ptoctor, frightened, flees frimi Maiden — Tecunitha's scornful Itebnke, 547; vigorous Pursuit of the British, 548 ; the Armies in the Hiver 'I'liames, 54'.t ; Destruction of Property, UMi ; the Hritish and In- dians make a Stand for Hattle, 551 ; the Annies in battle Array, 552 ; Battle of the Thames, 553, 554; British defeated — Death of Tecumtha — who killed him, 555 ; Gallnntry of Cohmel Johnson, 55(> ; Harri- son and Proctor i)roperly rewarded, 557, 558 ; Keturns to Detroit — Ktfect of the Victory, 55!) ; the Au- thor's Visit to the Thames Battle-ground, 5(i(), 5tJl ; Harrison on tlic Noithem Frontier, 5(i2 ; Harris;m leaves the Army — Author's .loumey in t)hio, 5()3 ; Anti(niities at Newark, 5(i4, 505 ; Columbus and the Scioto Valley, fidO ; Chiliicutho and its N'icinity, 5(i7, 5(58 ; (iovernor Worthington's Fesidence, 5(!U ; Visit to Hatavin and North Bend, 570 ; North Bond and iti' early Associations, 571 ; Conrtsliip and Mar- riage of Captain Harrison and Anna Symmes, 572 ; Harri.ion'8 Tomb and Dwelling, 673 CHAPTEU XNVII. EVENTS ON THE ST. LAWUKNCK FRONTIEK AND UPPF.M CANADA. The Energies of (jreat Britain displayed, 575 ; Operations in the St. Lawrence Kegion, 576 ; Attack on Elizabfthtown — Retaliation, 577 ; Attack on Ogdonsburg, 578 ; Defense of the Town, 57!) ; Ogdonsburg captured, 58(i ; tho Village phmdered and Citizens carried off, 581 ; Author's Visit to Ogdensburg and Prescott, 582 ; the Canadian Kebellion, 583 ; another Invasion of Canada contemplated, 584 ; Prepara- tions for it, 585 ; Expedition against Little York, 580, 587 ; Americans land and drive the British to Lit- tle York, 588 ; Explosion of a Powder-magazine and Death of General Pike, 58!) ; Capture of York and Escape of tho British, 5!)0; York abundonou Scalp as an 0;nament, 51)1 ; the Author's Visit to To- ronto, formerly I^ittlo York, 5!)2 ; an Adventu. among the Tortifications, 593 ; notable Men and Places nt Toronto, 5!)4 ; Passage across Lake Ontario- Jouniey lO Niagara Falls, 505 ; Expedition against Fort George — the respective Forces, 5!)() ; ('annonaue between Forts (Jeorge and Niagara, 597 ; the American S(iundron and the landing of Troops, 5!)8 ; a severe Hattle — Capture of Fort George, 599 ■ tho Hritish retreat to the Beaver Dams and Burlington Heights, 000; British Property on«the Niagara Frontier de- stroyed by themselves — Expedition toward Burlington Heights, (iOl ; the Americans at Stony Creek, 002; Battle at Stony Creek, (i03 ; Capture of Generals Chandler and Winder, 004 ; the Americans flee and are pursued, 605 ; Destruction of Property at Sodus — British Fleet off Oswego, 000. CHAPTER XXVIIl. EVENTS AT SACKETT'S HARBOR AND ON THE NIAGARA FRONTIER IN 1813. British Designs on Snckett's Harbor — its Defenses, 007; General Brown in ('ommnnd at Sackett's Harbor, 608 ; Assembling of the Militia — Approach of the British, 609 ; Position of the Militio — a Panic and Flight, 610; a Conflict — Destructicn of Public Stores, Oil ; the British retreat, 612; Sackett's Harbor and its Defenses, 1 4 ; the Author's Visit there — the Frigate Neit> Orleans — a neglected Monument, 010; his- torical Ivoealities around Sackett's Harbor — a Visit to Watertown and Brownsville, (fl 7 ; the Story of Whittlesey and his Wife, 018 ; Movements on the Niagara Frontier, 619 ; Exi)edition against the British at the Beaver Dams. 620 ; Services of a patriotic Woman. 021 ; Defeat and Surrender of the Americans — Fort George invested, (522 ; the Author's Visit to the Beaver Dams Region, 623 ; a veteran Canadian WM- : - -^JX-^^^U .tiHiltiniM viU CONTENTS If iHi I i I ! Soldier, G24 ; Vfcit to Sfonv Creek nnd Ilnmilton, (>2.") ; British and Indian Raidit on the Niagara Fron- tier, <)2(! ; Bnttle at Ulnck IJock, (!'J7 ; Kxpcdition to Rurliiigton lleiglits and York, 028 ; Oenrborn suc- ceeded by Wilkinson, (i2!> ; Helations between Wilkinson, A.-iiiatrong, and Hampton, (iUO ; AlFairs on the Niagara Frontier, V>',i\ ; Fort George menaced and Newark lairnt, (i;W : just lndigiiati(m of the Hritish — Retaliation proposed, ()!!.'{ ; Fort Niagara captured — Desolation of tliat Frontier, <!84 ; N.Y. ulilitia at Uuf- fl'-li.', C35 ; liattlii near Black Kock and Destruction of Buft'alo, G36 ; Horrors of retaliatory Warfare, 637. CHAl'TKU XXiX. EVENT8 ON THE NORTHKRN FItONTlER IS 1813. Wilkinson concentrates his Forces, C38 ; General Dearborn moves into Canada, 6.39 ; Repulse of the British at La Collt — Colonel Carr, 640 ; Preparaticns for War on J^ake Champlain, 04 1 ; Movements of Hamp- ton in Northern New York, 642 ; Cliauncey tries to engage Sir James Yeo on Lake Ontario, 643 ; a Rat- tle at last, 644 ; Chauncey again searchitig for his Foe, 645 ; an Expedition for the 8t. Lawrence against Montreal — Disasters, (i4(l ; Hampton's (Operations in the Chateaugay Region, 647; Wilkinson's Expedi- tion on the St. Lawrenre, 648 ; Battle ofl' French Creek — the Expedition mover down the .St. Lawrence, 64!) ; the Flotilla passes Frescott, (i,")0; (ieneral Brown invades Canada — ■Wilkinsci in Peril, 6;")! ; I'rep- arr.tions for a Battle, 6.")2 ; Battle of (Jhryslur's Field, (!.")3 ; the Americans go down the .St. Lawrence, 6.")4 ; t'haracter of some of the chief Leaders, ISH!) ■ the Army in winter Qnartet.- at French Mills, 6.')6 ; its Sntferings there and Relenso, (!.">7 ; Attempt to seduce American Soldiers from their Allegiance, 658 ; the Author's Visit to the St. Lawrence Region — Carleton Island, 65'.), 000 ; William Johnson of the Thon- ' sand Islands, 661 ; his Exploits, Arrest, and Imprisonment, 662 ; his Services in the War of 1 81 2, 063 ; a Visit to French MilU and Vicinity, 664; Rouse's Point— La CoUe, 665; a Visit to Cliryulor's Farm, Prescott, and Ogdeusbarg, 666. CHAPTER XXX. PREDATOnY WARFARE OF THE HtlTISH ON THE COAST. Blockade of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays declared, 667 ; Operations of Blockaders in Chesapeake Bay, ' 668; Attack on Lewiston — Cockiiini, the Marauder, G'j'J ; Capture of Fronchtown, 670; Attack on Havre de (irace, 671 ; the Town plundered and fired, 672 ; the Author's Visit to Havre de Grace — John O'Neill, (!73; Cockhurn plunders and destroys other Villages, (!74 ; stirring Scenes in Hampton Roads, 675 ; a Britich Fl^et enters the Roads, (!76 ; Craiiey Island nnd its Deienders, 677 ; Prejjarations for Buttle, 078; the .iritish attack, aie repulsed, and withdraw, 6"it ; they turn upon Hampton, 680; they land and mena"-, it, (>81 ; a Struggle for the Possession of Hampton, 68'i ; Americans driven out, and the Village given up to Rapine and Plunder, 683 ; the Author visits Croney Island an*". Norfolk. 684, C35; the F'ortifications on Craney Island, 68(> ; a Visit to Hamjito'i, 687 ; a Daughter of Coinmcxlore Barron — a Veteran of 1812 — Hampton destroyed by Virginia Rebels, (i88 ; CocUburn in the Potomac and on the Coasts of the C'arolinas and (ieorgia, 68i>; Secret Organizations among the Slaves, 6iM); Decatur nins the Blockade at New York, 6;il ; blockading Scpiadi-on off New London, <)'.)2; Alarm produced by Tor- pedo Vessels, 693 ; the Coast of (Connecticut bliM'kaded — the local Militia, 691 ; Decutur i;i the Thames, 695 ; the Author's Visit to New London and its Vicinity, 696, 697. CHAlTKli XXXI. WAR ON THE OCEAN IN 1813. Bnttio between the ITornel and Peacock, 698 ; Victory of the //erne.'— Prowess of the Americans respected, 699; Honors to (^aptain Lawrence and his Men, 700; (Yuise of the i'hempeake — her Character. 701 ; Lawrence's last official Letter, 7^)2 ; Brokc's Challenge, 703 ; the (.%sni>euk€ and lier Oew, 794 ; the Chem/ieakr. goes out to fight, 70."; ; Battle between the Chesniipuk-c and Shannon — Death of I^awrence, 706 ; Treachery — Capture of the Clicm/ieake — she is taken to Halifax, 70.'S ; Exultation of the British, 709 ; Honors to Captain Broke, 710 ; Respect paid to the Remains of Lawrence and liia Lieutenant, Lud- low, 711 ; funeral Cerenamies ai Salem, 712 ; funeral Ceremonies at New York — Monuments, 713; stir- ring Scenes in Chesapeake Bay, 714 ; Cruise of the Argiix in British Waters, 715 ; Battle between the Art/us :i!id Pelican, 716; Battle between the Kitterprise. and liorer, 717 ; Funeral of the Commander of each at P^irtland, 718 ; Honors to Burrows and M 'Call, 719 ; last Cruise v>f the l^nterpnse, 720. CHAPTER XXXIL CRUISE OF THE ESSEX. Weakness of the American Na^y, 721 ; the Essex starts on a long Cniise~a .Search for Bainhridgc, 722 : she .sails for the Pacific Ocean", 723 ; her Search for British whaling Vessels, 724 ; by ca; tnriiig and ann- ing British whaling Vc!ssels, Po"*er rreafes a Squadron, 725 ; successful Ouise among the Oallapagos Isl- ands, 72(i ; Porter sails for th:: *':'i n^us.'s Islf.nds, 727 ; civil War in Nooaheevah, 728 ; Porter engages in theWor, 729; the Women of Nooaheevah, 730; Incidents in the Harbor of Valparaiso, 731 ; Battle between the Ksspt and two British Ships, 732 ; the Essex captured — Porter returns Home, 733 ; Honors to ( .'omm.xlore Porter — his subsequent Career, 734 ; Rodgers's long Cruiae in I8i3 — his Services to his C-^untry, 735, 736 ; he makes another Cruise in the President — Honors to Rodgers, 737. CHAPTER XXXIIL WAR AGAINST THK f'UEKK INDIANS. Insurrectionary Mo^enlent8 in Ix)ui<iana, V38 ; military Movements in West Florick, 739 ; Louisianr. made a State— Insurrection in East Florida, 740; Acti(m of Cniteci States Officials there — Expedition, 741 ; Surrender of Mobile to the Americans, 742 ; Tennessee Volunteers on the Mississippi, 743 ; they return to Nashville, 7*4 ; Tecunitha in the Creek Country — he exh(>rtM the (^reeks to make War on the White People, 710 ; the Creek Nation and their Position, 74V ; Civil War among '.he Creeks — White People in Peril, 748 , the .Militia in the Field — Battle of Burnt Com Creek, 749 ; Pre|mrali(ins for Defense in Lower Alabama, 750 ; Fort Mima and its Uccupauts, 75! ; Rumors of im])ending Hostilitieii, 752 ; Fort Mims crowded wi Massacre a Help, 758 ; Jackson heeds lower (.'reek sehatche, 76; I'iiited Itulin from (ieorg. ■'•''ght, 770; Armies iu th ('reek, 775; Creek Counti the subdued i c Political Compos — Pcice I'artv ■Act repealed,' tires jiroposcd, on La Collo Mi Brown, moving Forces oi, Uki the War in (Jsv fvir Sackett's H, Author's Visit t( and the Invasioi «<«; .S.-ott prei British Force, 8( heartened, 811; 813; the British The British, re-enfi the British attacl Battery, «:>(, ; ^^ Americans, 822 • ^<'<>tt, woundod.'r Battle-grounds o l;^ne, 829; the Br ^••.">J>83I; the; Ene, 834, 835 ; B: Triumph of Miller Brown, 841; Hone Erie, 843; (ienera American Troops , Holmes's Expeditit Operations in that i llie Downfall of Nap Control of Lake Ch, J'eiminnent, 858 ; c the British advanco 86.^ ; the British ch( ."Pening of naval Bni icuns complete, 871- "i-itisli alarmed, 874 t«) General Macomb, i «'•'; the Autiior's Vi< Ontario, 885; a heavj The Blockade of Ne*] sea-port Towns block;., Boston, 892; theBriti ctation sent to the Bi CONTENTS. rrowded with Refugees, 7."^ ; gathering of hostile Savages near, 7">4 ; furious Assault on Fort Mims, T'lri ; MasKiicre at Kort Mims, 7.")(i ; Horrors of the Massacre, 7ri7; J{espoiise < '"the Tcnncssceaua to a Cry for Help, 758 ; General Andrew Jackson in the Field — Mobile threatened, but savtjd, 759, CHAPTER XXXIV. WAR AGAINST TUB CRE<5K INDIANA. Jackson heeds a Cry for Help from the Coosa, 7(iO; the Army threatened with P'amine — AiTaiis in the lower Creek Coimtrj-, 7(il ; Choctaw Allies — Exjieditioii against Tailasehatche, 7(i2 ; Hattle of Talla- sehatche, "tJiJ ; Ji^cksoii hasten.? to the Kelief of tiireatetied I'osts, 7(i4 ; Battle at Talhulepx, 7(>") ; the dia- jilrited Iiidiaiis sue for I'eace, 7(>G ; Destruction of the HiUabee Towns, 7(>7 ; the Creek Country invaded from Georg.a — Battle of Auttose, 7G8 ; Kxpoditicn under Captain Dale, 70!) ; Dale's terrible Canoe Kight, 770; Fort Claiborne at Kandon's Landing, 771; Battla of Kconochaco, 772; Dissolution of the Armies in the Creek Country — new Voluntsers, 773 ; I?attle of Emucfau, 774 ; JJattle on Enotochopco Oeek. 77.">; Hattle on the Calebee River, 77(i; East Tonnesseeans and Choctaw Allies on the Way to the Crock Country. 777; Battle of the Horseshoe, 77'.); the Power of the Creek Nation broken there, 780; the subdui^d liidians sue for Peace — 'iVeathersford in Jackson's Tent, 781 : the Creek Nation ruined, 782, CHAPTER XXXV. CIVIL AFFAinS IN 1813 — EVENTS ON THE NORTHERN FRONTIER IN 1814. Political Composition of Congress — Peace Commissioners, 783 ; illicit Traffic — Change in public Sentiment — I'cace Party, 784 ; revolutionary Proposition — new Embargo Act, 78,1 ; Rumors of Peace — Embargo Act repealed, 7 8(! ; Provisions for the increa.se of the Army, 787; Prisoner.-i of War — retaliator}- Meas- nrcs )>roposed, 788 ; Campaign on the Northern Frontier and Lake Cnami)lain, 789; Wilkinson marches on I>a CoUo Mill, in Canada, 790 ; Battle of La Colle Mill, 7i)1 ; end of Vvilkinson's military Career, 7i>2 ; Brown, moving toward the Niagara Frontier, perjjlexed by Orders fr )m the War Department, 7i)3; Naval Forces on Lake Ontario, 794 ; the British attack Oswego, 795 ; they cajiiure Oswego, 79(i ; Survivors of the War in Oswego, 797 ; Sackett's Harbor blockaded, 793 ; Woolsey at Big Sandy Creek with Stores for Sackett's Haibor, 799 ; Battle at Big Sandy Creek, 8(X) ; agreat Cab'e carriijd to Sackett's Harbor — Author's Visit to Big Sanely Creek, 801 ; the Anny on the Niagara Fnmtier — Red .Jacket, 802 ; Fort Erie and the Invasion of '^ana(.a, 803 ; an Invasion of (Canada from Black Uock, 804 ; Caj)ture of Kort Erie, 805; Scott prepruej for battle at Street's tireek, 80G; preliminary Fighting, 807; Scott advances — the British Force, 808 ; the Battle of Chippewa, 809, 810; the British driven from Chip])ewa — Indians dis- heartened, 811; the Armies inspirited by the Victory, 812 ; Preparations to cross the Chippewa Creek, 813 ; the British retreat — Brown marches for Fort Georgo, 814— he falls back to Chippewa, 81.J. CHAPTER XXXVL WAR ON THE NIAGARA FRONTIER IN 1314. The British, re-enforced, advance toward Chippewa, 816; vScott discovers them near Niagara Falls, 817; the British attack Scott, 818; Bro\vii advantes from Chippewa, 819; C\ilonel Miller captures a British Battery, 820; A])preciation of his Exploit, 821 ; desperate Struggle in the di>rkness — Victory for the Americans, 822 ; close of the Battle of Niagara Falls, 823 ; the Battie and the Victory considered, 824 ; Scott, wounded, proceeds to Washington, 825 ; Honors awarded him, 82(1 ; the Author's Visit to the Battle-grounds of Chipj)ewa and Niagara Falls, 827,828; the Army falls back and is ordered to Fort Erie, 829; the British again attack Black Rock, 830; Brown wounded — Gaines takes Command of the Army, 831 ; the American Trooiis at Fort Erie, 8;'2 ; tiie I'ritish assail the Fort, 833 ; Battle of Fort Erie, 834, 835 : Brown resumes Command. 830 ; a Sortie, 837 ; brilliant Success of General Porter, 838 ; Triumph of Mdler anil llpham, 839 ; the British abandon the Siege, 840 ; Honors awarded to General Brown, 841 ; Honors to Generals Porter and Ripley, 842 ; two remarkable Survivors of the Battle of Fort Erie, 84.3 ; General l,;ard sends Troops to the Niagara F"roiitier, 844 ; he takes Command there, 815 ; the American Troojjs withdraw from Canada, 84(! ; the Author visits Fort Erie and its Vicinity, 847, 848 ; Holmes's Expedition into Canadu — Battle of the I^ng Woods, 849 ; Expedition to the upper Lakes, 850; Operations in tliat Region, 851 ; M'Arthur's Raid in Canada, 852 — his Bravery and Generosity, 853. CHAPTER XXXVn. KVKNlfl ON LAKE CHAMrLAIN IN 1814. The Downfall of Napoleon, 854 ; English Troops released for Sen'ice in America, 85.5 ; Struggle for the Omtrol of Lake Cham])lain, 856 ; Operations (m the Canada Border, 857; alarming Order from the War Department, 858 ; Concentration of Troops at Plattstiurg, 859 ; Position of American Works there, 8()0; the British advanco on Plattsburg, 8(il ; a Skirmish at Beekmantown, 8(12 ; another near I'lattsburg, 863; the British checked at the Saranac Bridge, 864 ; British land — our naviU Forces in motion, 865; Opening of naval Hattle ott" I'lattsburg, 8(16 ; Battle of Lake Champlain. 867-870 ; Vi<'tory for the Amer- icans complete, 871 ; Casualties, 872 ; Movements of the land Troops — Battle of Plattsburg, 873 ; the British alarmed, 874 ; their hasty Flight into Canada, 875 ; Rejjicings because of Victory, 87(i ; Honors to (Jeneral Macomb, 877 ; Honors to Commodore Macdonough, 878 ; Effect of the Victory at Plattsburg, 879 ; the Autiior's Visit to the Scene of War on and near Lake Champlain, 880-884 ; Operations on Lake Ontario, 885 j a hea\7 British Ship on the Lake, 886; (dose of Hostilitien on the Northern Frontier, 887. CKAl'TER XXXVIIL THE WAR ON THE NEW ENGLAND COAST I 1814. The Blockade of Ne* London, 888 ; amphibious Warfare on tht New England Coast, 889 ; New England sea-port Towns blockaded, 890; Portsmouth and Boston menaced, 891 ; Preparatioiis for the Defense of Boston, 892; the British Squadron attacks Stonington, 893; Captain Holmes and his Ciun, 894; a Dep- utation sent to the British Commander, 895 ; the British repulsed — impoteucy of the Attack, 896 ; a ^ .,w«jir**d;'**ww CONTENTS. British Force on the Coast of Maine, 8!>7 ; Operations in Penobscot Hay and River, 898 ; Preparations nt llHmi)den to oppose tlie British Invasion, 8'J!t ; Panic and Flight of the Militia, 1)00 ; the British at Bangor, i)(ll ; Treatment of General Blake, UO'J ; the British at Custine, 903 ; the Author's Visit to Places on the Ne« Knglund Coast — Observations at Boston, i'04 ; at Salem and Marblehead, 90;)-9()7 ; Journey to the J'enohscot, 908 ; Observations at Castine, 909 ; Voyage up the Penobscot, 910; Hampden, 91 1 ; Obserx-ations at Bangor, 912; Visit to New Bedford and Providence, 913 ; Stoniugton and Mystic, 914 ; Story of a faithful Daughter, 915. CHAPTER XXXIX. THE CAPTURK OF WASHINGTON CITT. Apathy of the Government while the Capital was ;.. peril, 91G; feeble Preparations for its Defense, 917; (jeneral Winder in t:ommand— a Cull for Troops, 918; Tardiness of tlie Secretary of War — Apathy of the Peoi)le, 1(19; Appeiirance of the British in Ciiesapeake Bay, 920; gathering of Troops — Destruction of Barncj's Flotilla, 921 ; the Forces gathered for the Defense of Washington and Baltimore, 922; the British move on Washington from the Putuxent, 923 ; Battle Lines formed mar Bhidunsburg, 024 ; Ex- citement in the national C/'apital, 925 ; the British advance on Bladensburg, 92G ; Arrangements to receive them, 92G, 927 ; Dueling-ground near Bladensburg, 928 ; Battle of Bladensburg, 929, 930 ; Barney wounded and made Prisoner, 931 ; the victorio-js British march on Washington City, 932; Destruction of the public Buildings, 933 ; Destruction of the Navy Yard, 934 ; Flight of the President and his Cabinet — Patriotism of Mrs. Madison, 935 ; Object of the Invasion, 930 ; the British retreat from Washington, 937; Slavery the cause of the Disaster at Bladensburg, 938 ; a British Fleet passes up the Potomac, 939 ; Alexandria plundered — Torpedoes, 940 ; the British Squadron returns to Chesapenko Bay — Visit to the Battle-ground a'. Bladensburg, 941 j Kaloramu and Oak Ilill Cemetery, 942; Congressional Burial- ground — Fort Washington, 943. CHAPTER XL. EVENTS AT BALTIMOKK, PHII-AnELfHIA, AND NEW YORK IN 1814. Tlie British in Cnesapeake Bay, 944 ; Exploits of Parker and Cockbum, 945 ; Operations of the British Fleet in Chesapeake Bay, 94(5; Baltimore threatened, 947 ; I'reparations for the Defense of Baltimore, 948; Fortifications and Troops for its Defense, 949 ; the Britisn land and advance on Baltimore, 950 ; Position of tlie contending Armies, 951 ; Battle of North Point — Death of the British Commander, 952, 953; the British Fleet moves up to attack Fort M'Henry, 954; Bombardment of the Fort, 955; the British Invaders driven otf, 95(>; "The Star-spangled Banner," 957; the British land Troops march on Baltimore, 958 ; they retire to their Ship:; — the "Iritish Programme, 959 ; Honors to Colonel Armistead, 960 ; the ,\uthor's Visit to Baltimore and the hi .orical Localities around it, 9fil-905 ; New York and Pliilndel|)hia relieved, 9(;5 ; the Volunteer Comjianies of Philadelphia, 96G ; Orgenizatiou of Troops and ■ EstiiDiislimeiit of (,'amps, 967 ; Patriotism of the Citizens of Philadelphia, 968; New York aroused — Com- mittee of Defense, 9()9 ; the Citizens assist in casting up Fortifications — " The Patriotic Diggers," 970 ; the Fortifications around New York, 971-975 ; a tloating Battery authorized by Congress, 976; the Steam- ship Fulton the First, 977. CHAPTER XLL NAVAL WARFARE ON THE OCEAN IN 1814 — AMERIUAN PRIVATEERS. New Vessels for the Navy — the Jo/m Adams, 978 ; Cruise of the Wasp — Capture of the Reindeer, 979 , the Was/i and Afnn — Loss of the iVas/i, 980 ; Fight between the Peacock and Fpervier, 981 ; Barney's Flo- tilla in Chesapeake Bay, 982 ; the Constitution, 983 ; Battle between the Constitution, Cyane, and levant, 984; the ConsHlntionand her Prizes — Honors to Commodore Stewart, 985 ; Stewart's Home in New Jersey. 986 ; Decatur's Squadron — he puts to Sea in the President, 987 ; Battla between the President and kndijmion, 9H8 ; the rest of Decatur's Squadron puts to Sea, 989 ; Battle between the Hornet and Penyuin, 990; Honors to Captain Biddle, 991 ; Cruise of the Hornet and Peacock — the Navy at the end of the War, 91,'2 ; the first Privateers, 993 ; Cruise of the Rossie,WA; first Prize taken to Baltimore — thr lltobe, 995 ; Cruise of the Hiyhflyer, Yankee, and Shadow, 99(5 ; Salem and Baltimore Privateers, 997 ; Privateering at the close of 1812, 998; remarkable Cruise of theCome/,999; Cruise of the Chasseur, Sar- atoga, Dol/thin, Lottery, and Yai.kee, 1000 ; Cruisu of the General Armstromj, Ned, and Scomye, 1001 ; the Teasel — Capture of the Fa;//e — Cruise of the Decatur, 1002; Cruise cf the David Porter, (lUilie, and Harpy, 1003; the Career of the General Armstrony, 1004; Honors toCaptain Keid — Cnuse of thePrince de Neti/chatel, llM)5 ; Cruise of the Saucy Jack and Kent]), 1006 ; Cruise of the Macdonovgh and Amelia — the American Privateers and their Doings, 1007. CHAPTER XLII CIVIL AFFAIRS IN 1814 — OPEKATIONS IN THE OHLF REGION. Boston the Centre o. illicit Trade, 1008; the Peace Faction assails the Government and tlie Public Credit, 1009; Ett'ects of the C^on:ipiracy against the Public Cradit, 1010; new financial Measures — Revival of the Public Credit, 101 1 ; Measures for increasing the Army — Discontents in New England, 1012 ; the Hart- ford (Convention, 1013-1015; the Memlxjrs o>' the Hartford Convention, 1016; Jackson recalled to active Service in the Gulf Region, 1017 ; the Baratarians and their Leader, 1018 ; Jackson perceives Miscicief at Pensacola, 1019; Fort llowyer threat^'ued by a British Squadron, 1020; the Fort attacked and the Assailants repidsed, 1021 ; the British at Pensacola — .lackson marches on that Post, 10?2 ; Flight of the British and Indians, 1023; Jnckson in New Orleans — Appearance of the British, 1024 ; Preparations to receive the Invaders, 1025 ; Capture of the American Flotilla or. Lake Borgno, 102(i ; Jackson's Review of 'lYoops in New Orleans and their Disposition, 1027; the British approach the Mississippi, 1028; they march on New Orleans — Kes)H)nse to Jackson's Call for Troops, 1029 ; Events below New Orleans, 1080 ; a night Battle, 1031 ; the British fall back, 1032 ; the Americans withdraw, 1034. CONTENTS. XI till CHAPTER XLIII. DEFENSE OP NEW OHI.EA.N8 PEACE. Jackson's Line of Defense, 1034; a gloomy Day for the Invadei-s — Arrival of General Pakenham, lO.'lfi; Seat of War in Louisiana and Florida, lO.'U! ; severe Battle on the 28th of Decemlier, 1037 ; the British van((uislied — the American Lines of Defense, 1038 ; the British cast up Ledoubts near the American Line, 103i); a heavy Battle, li4i»; the British repulsed and then re-enforcid, 1041 ; Jackson prepares to receive the increased British F> ices, 1042; Character and Disposition of hs own Forces — Position of his Army on the 7th of Jannaiy, 1043; a British Detachment crosses the Misi-issippi, 1044; Battle of New Orleans, 1046-1040; Disposal of the Dead, lO.TO; Attack on Forts St. I'hilip and Bowyer — Jackson's Army in New Orleans, lO'il; Honors acc'orded to Jackson and his Troops, 1052; Humors of Peace and continu- ance of Martial Law, 10;>3 ; Incidents of Jackson's Trial for Contempt of Court, 1054; the Author's Jour- ney to New Orleans — Lexington and "Ashland," 1055 ; Frankfort and its Cemetery, 105(!; a Visit to Nashville and the " i i mitage," 1 *")7 ; New Orleans and its historic Men and Places, 1058 ; Attack on Fort Sumter — Uprising of the Peopie, 105!); Negotiations for Peace and the Commissioners, 10(!0; (Jhent and the Sympathy of its Inhebitivits with the Americans, lOCl; the Treaty of Peace, 1002, lOfiS; Kcjoic- ings of the American People, 1064; Commemorative Medals — its Ratification, 1065; Position of the He- public at the ch)se of the War, 1067; HeiKljustment of National Afl'airs — Dartmoor Prisoners, 1068; Prosperity of the Republic and its liclaticnb to other Nations, 106'J ; Text of tlie Treaty of Peace, 1071. 1: ■ili'*ili 1 B' ' ■ ; I f ' ' ■ ! • '■ "'"mluated 4- Couteiita....' »• Illustrations . «• fnitinl Letter. 7. First Great 8, 8.va'r."'!";;;- 9. Britannia aroi; ]0. Portrait ofWI n. JacksonN Mo,i »»• Portrait and Si 13. Sianatures of ( the Couitltn ,, „ tlon "• Tnii-piece.. .: 16- Initial Letter. . W- Campus Martfii "• Portrait and Sii 18- Portrait and Pj;, 19 o,*""''!''^'-Clair^ J"- Sijrnatrre ofLoi 21. Port Harmar 22. Port Waehingtoi oo H, "' Cincinnati . u &«"■•' "'■''«' *»• ine Mauniee P< It '/"''» Cros.,lng.pi 27. Apple-tree near & 28. Map-Pl,,,, of gj" o- „,nndHattle J". Signature of Tobii MW-Pla.. ofLin. March . 32. Sl^.natnreof■>■.■M; 33. Map-jJattlooftho nors 34. Turltey.fooil{;;ck.' •«• Signature of t'ol a«. Initial Letter . . . 3». Portrait and Signa j". I^lhorty Cek . . I ''"'•jiit «nd Signati 4., pO^'IIomllton . *i- Portrait and Hij,, 43. A Bad iMeasure 44. An AHsiBtwit. . «. Portialt of LoniHXv *f. Panie llttinjr Stays 41. Memorial Medal ' «. Initiall^tter.. ••■ 4». The Contrast... M P ^.""P'W Mifflin^ 6I.Port^.altandSig^'at\i; 52. Portrait 'and 8ignat„r, 63. Signatnre I)f Alexa'ndo "•^pSn^e'-/ «'«""•-« ^. Portrait andSi^nature ifi^ 1. 2. 3. 4. 8. e. 7. 8. 9. 10. U. 13. 18. 14. 16. \i. IT. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 84. is. 2C. 27. 29. 80. 81. 82. 83. 34. .%. 8«. 37. 38. 40. 41. 42. 43. a. Hi. 4(i. 47. 48. 4». 00. 61. 92. 63. M. 66. 60. 67. IHumluntort Prontlsploco. Title-page. Preface Page ill Couteiits V IIlUHtratlunB ziii Initial Letter 17 First Great Seal of the United atfttCB 20 War 22 nrltaiiula aroiiaed 22 Portrait of William Jackson.. 20 Jackson's Mimumcnt 27 Portrait and Sleuuturo of Gou- verneur Morris 28 Signatures of the Members of the Cou'ttitutioual Conven- tion 30,81,.32 Tall-piece 84 Initial Letter 36 Campus Martlus 37 Portrait and Signature of Miss Ileckewelder 87 Portrait and f'ignaturo of Ocn- eralSt.Clair .IS Signature of WInthropSargen* 38 SignatiTo of Lord Dorchester. 38 Fort riarmar 39 Fort Washington, on the Site of Cincinnati 41 Signature of Joseph Harmir. . 41 The Mauniee Ford— Place of Ilarniar's Defeat 42 Mip— Ilarmar's Defeat 43 Hall's Crossing-place 4!) Apple-tree ucarllarraar's Ford 44 Map— Plan of St. Clair's Camp and Hattle 47 Signature of Tobi^is Lear 49 Lowry's >'i)i\ument 62 Map-Pla.. of Line of Wayne's Slarch 64 Signature of >. M'Kce 64 Map— Hattle of the Fallen Tim- bers 66 Turkey-foot llock 66 Signature of Colonel Ham- Iramck 60 Coloiiel Ilamtramck's Tomb. . 60 Tall-piece —Indian Implements 67 Initial Letter 68 Portrait and Signature of T. PincKuey 64 Liberty Cent 06 Portrait and Signature of Gen- eral Hamilton 00 Portrait and Signature of Thomas Paine. 09 A Bad Measure 09 An Asslgnat 74 Portrait of Louis XVI 70 Paine fitting Stays 70 Memorial Medal 70 Initial Utter 79 TheContrast 81 Portrait and Signature of Thomas Mifflin 82 Port"-alt and Signature of B. C. Genut 88 Portrait and Signature of John Jay 88 SIgnalnrc of Alexander M'KIm 89 Seal of the Republican Society of Baltimore 88 Porirait and Signature of C. 0. Plnckney 92 Portrait and Signature of John Adams 98 Portrait and Signature of Joel Barlow 94 6S. 69. flo. 01. 02. Oii. 04. 06. 00. 67. 08. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. S3. 84. 85. 80. 87. 38. 89. 90. 91. 92. 98. 94. 98. 90. 97. 98. 90. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 108. 100. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 118. 114. 116. Siffuntore o.' Benjamin Stod- dert Page 90 Initial I-ettcr 98 John Bull taking a Lunch 99 Signature of Slei-hcn Decatur 101 Portrait and Signature of John . Barry 101 Commodore Barry's Monu- ment 101 Naval Pitcher 104 Modal presented to Commo- dore Truxtun 108 Signature of Tlionias Truxtun 108 Truxtun's Grave 106 The Lutheran Church in Phil- adelphia Ill Washington Medal Ill Tail-piece— M'Pherson Blue.. Ill Initial Letter 112 Portrait and Signature of Thomas Jefferson 114 Algiers In 1800 117 Portrait and Signature of Richard Dale 118 Dale's Mimunient 119 Portrait and Signature of Kd- ward Preble 120 Tripolitan Weapon 121 Trlpjlitan Poniard 122 Medal given to Commodore Preblo 123 NavalMonument 124 SIgnatirre of William Eaton. . 126 Initial Letter 130 Portrait and Signature of A. Burr 135 Signature of John Adair 130 Blenuerhassett's Residence. . 130 Sigjature of Blennerba8i<ett. . 130 Portrait and Signature of Hu- fUsKIng 143 Portrait and Signature of Wil- liam Plnkney 148 Initial Letter 149 I.ynnhaveu Bay 150 Portrait and Signature of Commodore Barron 159 Portrait and 3ignature of James Monroe 101 Initial Letter 107 Gun-boata 108 Portrait and Signature of Jo- slab Quincy 174 Portrait and Sl^jnaturo of James Modison 17C Fort or Battery Severn, at An- napolis 181 Commodore Eodgers's Resi- dence 182 8ig:?al», No. 1 182 Signal Book 182 Signals, No. 2 183 Signals, No. 3 183 Signals, No. 4 1S3 Signal Alphabet 183 Signal No. 6 184 Portrait and Signature of Commodore Rodgers 188 Tail-piece— Gauntlet ISO Initial Letter 187 Birth-place of Tecnmtha and his Brother 188 The Prophet 189 Joieph Barron 191 Indian Detector 191 Portrait and Signature of Gen- eral Boyd 194 Signature of Peter FuuK 195 Fort UarrUou 197 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 1'24. 128. 120, 127. 128. 129. 130. 181. 182. 133. 1.14. 136. 130. 137. 138. 189. 140. 1^1. 142. 143. 144. U5. 140. 147. 148. 149. 150. 181. 182. 1,W. 154. 168. 186. 1.57. 158. 169. 100. 161. 102. 103. 164. 105. 106. 167. 168. 109. 170. 171. 172. 173. 174. 176. 170. il77. SIgnat'rc of Judge Naylor Page 198 Portrait and Signature of A. , Wnitlock 199 Portrait and Signature of Wil- liam U. Harrison 200 View at Tippecanoe Battle- ground 203 Signature of J. Snellliig 203 Map— Battle of Tippecanoe. . 206 Vignette to a Mournful Ballad '204 Tippecanoe Battle-ground... 209 Tail-piece— Wigwam iW Initial Letter 210 Portrait and Signature of II. Clav 211 The Gmymander 211 Portrait and Signature of J. Randolph 215 Portrait and Signature of J. C. Calhoun 215 Signature of Josiah Q'.iincy. . 217 Signature of James Eiuott... '217 Signature of J. II. Craig '220 Kac-eimile of a Newspaper Cut '224 Portrait and Signature of Gov- ernor Clinton '225 Governor I'linton's Tomb 226 Caricature- Josiah "■'■ First. '228 initial Letter '238 Portrait of George . Fourth 238 Signature of Jonathan Wil- liams 236 Fort Independence 236 Castle Williams '287 Plan of Fort M'Henry 23T Torpedo, Piate 1 238 Torpedo, Plate 2 289 Torpedo, Plate 3 289 Torpedo, Plate 4 '240 Destruction of the Dorothea.. 240 Portrait and Signature of Rob- ert Fulton 242 Fulton's Birth-place '243 .-Signature of Edward Bayncs. 247 I'ortrait of Henry Dearborn.. '249 General Dearborn's Residence 250 ■rhe Parting Stone 260 'nitial Letter 261 'ortrait and Signature ofWll- lam Hull...; 262 j'c rtrait and Signature of John Johnston 263 Pace of Hull's Rendezvous.. '254 S gnature of Governor Meige. 258 A few at Bloody Brldire 201 Colonel BableV Residence... 262 View at the Riviere aux Ca- nards 264 Map— Detroit Frontier 206 Portrait and Signature of Dun- can M 'Arthur 267 Mackiiiack,ft'om Round Island '207 Arch Ri.ok, Mackinack 268 FortMacklnack 209 Tail-piece— t.'anoe 271 Initial I.etter 272 Fort Niagara, from Fort George 274 Portrait of Thomas B. Van Home 275 Barracks at Sandwich 278 Maguaga Battle-ground 281 Tecnmtha '282 Signature of J. B. Olegg 288 Portrait and Signature of D. Noun 292 Portrait and Signature of Lew- IsCass 294 Tail-piece— Neglected Grave. 206 XIV ILLUSTKATIONS. ITS. no. 180. 181. 182. 183. 184. 185. 1811. 187. 188. 18!). I DO. 101. 1!)2. 193. • 1!I4. lltB. iim. 191. 1!)8. lOtf. 200. 201. 202. 203. 204. 20,V 20«. 20T. 208. 209. 210. 211. 212. 213. 214. 215. 216. 217. 218. 219. 220. 221. 222. 223. 224. 22.^ 228. 227. 229. 230. 231. 232. 233. 234. 236. 230. 237. 238. 239. 240. 241. 242. 243. 244. 245. 240. 247. 248. 249. Initial Letter Page 297 HlKimture of Jiio. H. I.nu;;ht(>n 298 View at MiihU'U, Upper Can- ada 209 BrltlHh Cannon at Detroit :ilKi Signature of Kobt. KpynoldH. . »(KI Slsfunture of C. Moran 302 Kl^ixie Manflion and Fort Dearborn 3(i3 The Black Partridge's Medal. 300 Map-Site of Chicago 308 Block-house at Chftago 312 Fort Wayne in 1h12 81ft The Little Turtle's Grave 315 Bridiie at the Head of ihe Maii- mee 310 Portrait and Signature of Z. Taylor 318 General Taylor's Rceldence. . 319 Initial Letter 320 Port Detlancc 333 Site of Fort Defiance SXt Apple-tree at Defiance 334 Tuil-piecc — Indians at Ruins of a Village 337 Initial Letier 338 Portrait and Signature of Si- mon Perkins 340 Signature of Elijah Wads- worth 340 Portrait and Signature of E. Whittlesey 341 Signature of" William Eustis, . 349 Winchester's llead-quiirtors. . 351 Map — Movements at French- town .858 Ttesidence of La Salle 359 Monroe, from the Battle- ground 301 Signature of Laurent Dnro- cher 302 Portrait and Siguatnre of Jaa. Knaggs 303 Tail-piece - Tomuhawk and Hcalping-knife 304 Initial Letter 305 Arsenal Building, Watertown 300 Signature of Colonel Benedict 307 Portrait of Captain William Vaughan 308 Cipher Alphabet and Numer- als .870 Signature of Paul Hamilton. . 370 Signature of Richard Dodge. . 373 Appearance of Fort, Presenta- tion in 1812 373 Design on Indian Pass 374 Signature of (•. D. Yonng 370 Portrait and Signature of Ele- azer Williams .877 Old Church in St. Regis 378 Boundary Monument 379 The Port of Ilufl"alo in 1S13. . . 380 Remains at Fort Schlosser, .. 380 Signature of II. Dearborn 3S1 Map of the Niagara Frontier. 382 Portrait and Signature of Ste- phen Van Rensselaer 384 Signature of William Howe Cuyler 387 Portrait and Signature of Jes- se D.Elliott 3SS Tail - piece — Oar, Boarding- i)ike, and Rope 388 Inllia! Letter 389 Signature of Alexander Smyth 389 Queenston in 1812 390 Signature of .Tohn K. Fenwick 391 View from the Site of Vroo- maii's Battcrv 391 Signature of John Ohrystie.. . .892 Signature of James Collier. . . 393 Landing-place of Ihe Ameri- cans at Queenston 395 Russell's Law Ufllce 390 Portrait and Signature of John E.Wool 397 Signature of J. ^. Mullanv. ... 399 Portrait and Signature of John Brant 401 Brant's Mcmnment 401 Signature of Joseph (1. Totten 403 Signature of J. Gibson 403 New Magazine at Fort George 405 Signature of R. H. She;ifl'e. ... 406 MiMlal In Memory of General Brock 400 Brock's Monument 400 260. Portrait and Signature of Sol- I 318. innoii Van Rensselaer.. Page 407 .'119. 261. Signature of John Lovctt 401 320. 252. Tail-piece— Proclumatlon and 321. Sword 411 322. 253. Initial Letter 412 264. Brock's MonumentonQucens- 323. t(m Ilelglits 414 255. Monument where Brock fell.. 410 .324. 260. Signature of Solomon Vron- 326. man 417 'i57. rrcsentOntllneofFortGeorge 418 .320. 268. French Magazine at Fort 327. George 418 328. 2.59. Distant View of Fort Missis- saga 419 329. 200. Interior View— Fort Mlssissa- 330. pa in 1800 419 201. Mission house on the Qrand 331. River 421 332. 202. Portrait and Signature of O. H. M. Johnson 41.>1 8.33. 203. Ornamental Tomahawk 421 3:14. 204. Deer-shnnk \Veap(m 422 3,'I5. 2«i. Silver Calumet 422 330. 20(1. Ancient Scalping-knife 422 207. Mohawk IJhurcli, Grand Rlv- 337. e-, C.W 423 338. 208. Interior of Mohawk Chnrch . 423 339. 209. ronimunion Plate 426 270. General Porter's Residence, .340. Black Rock 420 341. 271. Signature of George M'Feely. 420 342. 272. Signature of Cecil IMsshopp. . 428 343. 273. Signature of Samuel Angus... ^28 ;144. 374. Tall-piece — Snail on Maple- 346. leaf 432 27.1. Initial Letter 483 848. 270. Signature of R. Bvron 430 277. Tlie Cnmtihitmn fn l^illO 430 347. 278. Fac-simile of Commodore Por- H48. ter'8 Writing 441 349. 279. Portrait and' Signature of 350. Cvimmodore Hull 442 280. Hull's Monument 442 351. 281. Portrait of James Richard Da- 352. 282. Hnll's Mcdni '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 440 363. 283. Portrait and Signature of Cap- 3.'*4. tain Jones. . 449 355. 284. Signature of Thos.Whinyates 449 360. 285. Signatureof J. P. Beresford.. 451 280. A Wasp on a Frolic 452 357. 287. Medal awarded to Captain 358. Jones 462 3,59. 288. The Biddle Urn 463 300. 2S9. Tail-piece-EagIc bearing oflf 301. the Trident of Neptune. ... 453 302. 290. Initial Letter 454 303. 291. Signature of John S. Carden. 450 292. Medal awarded to Decatur. . . 468 .304. 293. Portrait and Signature of 305. Commodore Bainbiidge 459 300. 294. Bainbridge's Monument 469 f 57. 295. Bainbridge's New York Gold 308. Box 402 290. Bainbridge's Albany Gold Box 402 .309. 297. Bainbridge's Medal 403 370. 298. Bainbridge's Urn 403 299. Tail-picco — Napoleon's Flag ,371. and Star descending 472 372. .300. Initial Letter 473 373. 301. Signature of C. Gratiot 474 374. 302. Portrait and Signature of 376. Green Clay 470 303. View of Cincinnati from New- 370. port In 1812 470 877. 304. Map— Fort Meigs and its VI- .378. clnttv 477 379. .305. Fac-simile of Harrison's Let- 3so. tcr 479 381. 300. Portrait and Signature of Leslie Combs 4,80 382. 307. Up tlie Mauinec Vallev 481 383. 308. Site of the British Batteries 3S4. from Fort Meigs 482 ,309. Portrait and Signatare of Wm. 386. Christv 483 .180. 310. Plan of fort Meigs 484 387. 311. Signature of W. E. Boswell... ''87 312. Map— Siege of Fort Meigs 488 383. 313. Remains of Walker's Monu- ment 4S9 389. 314. Portrait of Peter Navarre 490 316. Ruins of Fort Miami 491 390. 310. Up the Maumce f^'om Maumee 391. City 492 392. 317. Well at Fort Meigs 492 393. Tail-piece— A Scalp Pago 498 Initial Letter 494 Signature of R. M. Johnson . . 496 Johnson's Monument 490 Portrait and Signature of O. Croghan 490 View at Fremont, or Lower Sandusky 500 Plan of Fort Stephenson 603 Gold Medal awarded to Gen- eral Croghan 60B Lower Castalian Spring BOO Site of Fort Stephenson 607 Part of Short's Sword-scab- bard 607 Perry's Residence 609 Portrait and Signature of Dan- iel Dobbins 509 Wayne's Block-house at Erie 610 Site of French Fort and En- trance to Erie Harbor 611 Month of Cascade Creek 611 Block-house 611 Map— Eric and Presq' Isle fiay 614 Portrait and Signature of Ush- er Parsons 610 Put-in Bay 517 Initial Letter 518 Perry's I,ook-out, Gibraltar Island 618 Perry's Battle-fiag 619 Portrait of O. H. Perry 621 View of Perry's Birth-place.. . 621 Calafalco 621 Perry's Monument 621 The two Snuadrons Just before the Battle 522 Portrait and Signature of 8. Chainplln 523 First Position in Ihe Action. . 623 Signature of J. J. Varnall .524 Second Position in file Battli 520 Portrait and Signature of J. ChRpman 627 Signature of Thomas Holdup 628 Position of the Souadions at the close of the Battle 529 Almy's Sword 529 Fac-simile of Perrv's Dispatch ^30 The Burial-place, Put-in Bay. 532 Queen Charlotte and Johnny Bnll 6.34 The Perry Medal 5;;3 The Elliott Medal 636 Signature of Ascl Wilkinson. 538 Portrait of Benjamin Fleming 638 Perry's Lantern 5.39 Perry's Statue 640 Portrait and bignatiire of S. Sholes 541 Cbanii)lin'« Chair 642 Perry's Quarters at Erie 643 Portrait of T. II. Stevens 643 Initial Letter 644 Portrait and Signature of C. S.Todd 648 Dolsen's 649 View at the Mouth of M'Greg- or's Creek 660 M'Grcgor's Mill 660 Portrait of 0«hawahnah 562 View cm the 'I'linines 553 Map- Battle of the Thames. . 564 Portrait and Signature of S. Theobald 660 The Harrison Medal.. 668 The Shelby Medal 658 Tecumtha's Pistol 600 Thames Battle-ground 501 Remains of an ancient Cofflu 604 The four Sides of the Holy Stone 504 Stone Axes 504 Sectional View ot a Pyramid. 604 Great Earth-work near New- ark 805 The old State-honse 607 General M 'Arthur's Residence 808 F.rtralt and Signature of T. Worthlngton 868 Adcna, Governor Worthlng- ton's Residence 669 Portrait and Signature of Mrs. Harrison 671 Pl.nieer Honse, North Bend.. 87t Block-honse at North Bend.. 871 Harrison's Grave 678 Sy mmcL's Monument \ . . 678 894. HarrLior Bend.. 396. Initial Li 390. Block-ho 397. Parish's 898. Portrait W. t'hi 399. Silo „f \,\ 400. Map-Op burg. . ■101. Portridt York . . 402. Court-hon 403. The battel ■ 404. Wind -mil Prescott 40.5. Fort Weill 400. Portrait ai Pike... 407. LHlle York 408. Remains o tery. . . 409. Pow(ler-n 410. Map— Ali:i 411. Signatinv 412. Renniln- of 413. Old Kort ,u ■ 414. View on tl Lewislori 416. Entrance I, 410. Plan of o, ,,, ^ Mouth of 4 T. A North Uiv 413. Portrait and II. Merrltt 419. Bnttle-grounc 420. Tail -pice,. .„, , Store-hous( 421. Initial Letter 422. Portrifit and Ann .< '^'''' "'■'"vn. 423. General Brow 424. Light-house a «6. Signature of ( 420. Map— Oporatii Harbor... 427. Sackett'a llar'b '8. Mao— Sackoti'i ,_, Defenses. 429. Signature of \\ 4.10. The S'm Orient 431 Pike's Monumt 4.32. Remains of Vm 433. Block-house, Sa 434. Mansion of Gen 4.35. Whittlesey Rod 4.30. Signature of c.( 43T. German Church 438. Portrait and Sig .„„ „ra,Secord... 439. Beaver Dams 1 ...n „,""'' Surround: 440. Si^'iiature of .Ian 44 . BLsshopp's Mom 442. Interior of Port] 44.1. SlirnatureofOer 444. T,ni-piece-Pnr) fire 446. Initial Letter 440. Portrait and s'io ^ , G.Swift 447. Signature of ■Tof field 44''. Signatureof A. D 449. Portrait and Sign, „„ crtCarr...... 4O0. Portrait and Sign Wilkinson...^. 451. Signature of W I] 452. M.i.ith of French 463. Bald Island and Flotilla . . . 464. Chrysler's In 18,5(s' 466. Signature of Rob't 460. signature of .1. A 467. Signature of ,r w'n 468. Map-Cliiysler's P 469. Signature of M.Mj 400. Place of Deharkat jft- T 'Salmon River. . . 40i. Lewis and Boyd's ters 462. Brown's Head-qua, 403. Fac-simile of writt 404. Remains of Fort Ci iw- J'""'"" Armlet.... 400. Light-hou..ekeptb' 407. Peel Island....: ILLUSTRATIONS. XV 394. Ilnrrisnn'H Residence at North Bend Puge 574 396. Initial Letter M6 JHI«. HliKk-liDiise lit Brockvllle 5TT .197. I'lirlsh'H Htore-hoime B7S il98. Portrait niid flignnture of D. W.riiiirch B7S .199. Site of Fort PresenlatloD B79 400. Map— Operfttli" " at Ogdcna- Imrg 5S0 401. Portndt and Sii;natnre of J. York 5W 402. CIdiirt-honsc, OifdenBbnrg B80 4(til. The battered Wind-mill NO 404. Wlnil-mll) and RiihiH near Prescott &S4 40.'5. Fort Wellington In IHiiO 884 400. Portrait and Slgiinture of Z. Pike WB 407. Utile York In l.s'.it B87 408. Remains of the Western Bat- tery BSS 409. Pow(ler-nia«a/.tne at Toronto ft'*'.! 410. Map— Attack <ni Little York.. BOO 411. Siijimture of John Rons B02 412. Remains of old Fort Toronto. B!'.") 413. Old Fort at Toronto In ls«0. . . BOi; 414. View on the Niagara near Lewlston B9B 415. Entrance to the Niagara River B97 41(1. Plan of Operations at the Mouth of the Niagara BOO 417. A North River Steamboat. . 001 418. Portrait and Signature of W. H.Merritt 002 419. Battle-ground of Stony Creek 003 420. Tall - piece — Destruction of Store-houses COCi 421. Initial Letter 007 422. Portrait and Signature of Ja- cob Brown 508 423. General Brown's Monument. . COS 424. Light-house at Horse Island.. 009 426. Siy;nature of C'apt..\Iulcaster. 010 420. Map— 0|)eration9 at Sackett's Harbor 012 427. Sackett's IIarl)or in 1814 013 "^S. Map— Sackett's Harbor and its Defenses 014 429. Signature of Henry Eckford.. Ol."; 430. Tlie A>w Orleatm t) I •• 481. Pike's Monument OHl 432. Remains of Fort Pike , 017 4;t3. Block-house, Sackett's Harbor 017 434. Mansion of General Brown... OIH 4.3,\ Wblttlesiey Rock, Watertowu. 018 436. Signature of C. «. BiErjtlcr... 020 437. German Church (120 438. Pin-trfllt and Signature of Lau- ra Sccord 021 4.39. Beaver Dams Battle-ground and Surroundings 624 440. Sl<,'nature of James Ulttrlck.. 024 441. Bissiiojjp's Monument Il2« 442. Interior of Fort Niagara 0,34 443. Signature of General A. Hall. 0,36 444. Tall-piece — Farm* house on Are 037 446. Initial Letter 087 440. Portrait and Signature of J. O. Swift ■338 447. Signature of .Toseph Bloom- Held 6.39 448. Slgnatnreof A. De Salaberry. 039 449. Portrait and. Signature ofRoD- ertCarr 640 460. Portrait and Signature of Jas. Wilkinson 640 4,11. Signature of W. Hampton. . . . WS 4B2. Mo.itb of French Creek 049 463. Bald I.-land and Wilkinson's Flotilla 060 464. Chrysler's in 18.%B fi,V2 466. Signature of Rob't Swartwont 0,N2 460. Signature of J. A. (Joles 053 4.'>7. Signature of.'. Walbach 06;t 468. Map— Chrysler's Fie'.d 064 469. Signature of M. Myers 664 400. Place of Debarkation on the Salmon River 066 40i. Lewis and Boyd's Head-quar- ters 660 462. Brown's Hend-qiinrtcrs 660 463. Fac-slmile of written Placard 068 464. Remains of Fort Carleton. ... 659 406. Indian Armlet 660 46<5. Light-house kept by Johnston 661 4<J7. Peellsland 661 408. 469. 470. 471. 472. 473. 474. 476. 476. 477. 478. 479. 480. 4S1. 482. 4S3. 484. 486. 4S6. 4.87. 1S8. 489. 490. 491. 492. 493. 494. I 496. 496. 497. 498. 499. 600. BOl. B02. 603. 604. 606. .'.00. .M)7. .ws. .wo. 810. BU. 812. 513. 614. f,\!>. ft 16. ."17. ftl8. . 1 9. 820. 621. 822. 62:!. 824. 628. 823. 527. 828. B29. ,%30. Wl. 8,32. .wa. 634. 6i)6. .\30. 637. .ftiW. 839. 540. 541. Portrait and Signature of W. S42. Johnston Page 662 MJ. .lohiiHtini'.s Comhilssion 603 French Mills in IsiKi 664 644. Signature of James Campbell lUiB 646. The Block-house Well (UIB 640. Signature of Peter Brousc. . . . 606 r'7. Victoria Medal mill o4S. luillal Letter 607 Interior of <ild Fort Norfolk. . 608 649. Signature of A. M'Lnne 608 B50. Signature of Admiral Cock- 660 661 Landing-place of the British at 6B2. Havre de Grace 671 nftit. The Prln.'le House 672 864. Kpl-'copaf t'hurch 072 668. ,Iohn O'Nell's Sword 073 866. General Vltiv of Craney Island 67ft Signature of .los, Tarliell Ii75 667. Signature of J. Sunders 076 .•MW. Portrait and Signature of W. 5,89. B.Shnl)rick 676 660. Portrait and Signature of Rob- 801. ert Taylor 677 862. Signature of B. J. Neale 678 608. Portrait and Signature f Jas. 604. F'tn'kner 678 608. Plan of Operations at Craney 606. Island.. 679 680 .Vi7 Signature of Josiah Tattnall. . 608. The Ceutipfile View at Hampton Creek In 080 .V(9. 670. lSfc3. 681 571 Plan of Operations at Hamp- 572. 68!! 573 Head- quarters of Beckwith 574. and Cockb.irn 083 578. British Consiii's House 086 576. Oyster Fishing 086 877. Remains of Fortifications on 578. Craney I-land 0,86 579. Block-house on Crancv Island 086 ft8n. Magazine on Craney Island. . 080 5,81. Laiidlug-plnce of the Britisl- at Murphy's ^ T 882. Kirby House oas Soldiers' Monument at Polnl SSJt. Pleasant 689 684. Osceola's Grave 690 688. Entrance to Bcmnventure 091 Signature of T. M. Hardy 691 886. New London in 1813 692 587. Light-house at New Lon.ion.. C Signature of 11. Burbecl; 604 .W8. Burbeck's Monument 094 B89. Commodore Rodgerr's Jlonu- 5110. 690 591 Ancleut Block-house at Fort 692. Trumbull 697 693. New London Harbor from 694. Fort Trumbull 697 698. The old (.'o'lrt-honse 697 690. Initial Li.'U-! 098 The Law-eii ^ ■ Medal TOO 597. Hornet aii'l j eacook 700 5(18. Signature of Sam. Evans 701 ft99. Fac-slmile of Lawrence's Let- (HHI. ter 702 001 Fac-slmtle of Broke's Chal- 002. 703 700 003. The Chemvfokf disabled Portrait of Captain Broke 004. 707 005. Hhannon and Chcmpmke al 006. Halifax 708 Portrait and Signature cf Jas. 607. Lawrence 709 Signature of Admiral Warren 709 008. Admiral Warren's Seal 709 609. Sliver Plate presented to Cap- 610. tain Broke 710 SIgiuilurc of George Budd 711 611. Collins 712 712 61'' Lawrence Memorial 613. Monument of Lawrence and 614. Ludlow 713 615. Lawrence's early Monument. Portrait of W. 11. Allen 713 010. 716 617. Lieutenant Allen's Monument 710 618. Graves of Burrows, Blyth, and 6'9. Watf rs 718 719 6"0 The Burrows Medal 621. The M'Call Medal 720 721 6'W Initial Letter 023. Portrait and Signature of D. Porter 721 728 624 The mighty Gattanewa 025. The Baiiex and her Prizes 729 026, Marquesas Drum Page 780 Buttle of the Kauex, I'lurbf, aitd Cherub 738 David Porter's Monument 734 Initial Letter 738 Sign \ture of FuiwnrSkipwItb 740 Signature of Hugh Com|ibell. 740 Portrait and Signature ofGeu- eral Riibertson 747 Signature of Sum Dale 749 Map— Scat of War in Southern A labama 761 Fort Mims 7B8 Portrait o^John Cofl'ee 7ft9 Initial Letter 700 Map— Battle of Talladega. ... 708 Claiborne Landing 770 Map- Seat of the Creek War In I'pper Alabama 778 Mal^^ Bailie of the Horseshoe 780 Initial Letter 788 Signature of N.Macon 784 Embargo— a Caricat lire 780 Deat'.i ol the Terrapin 787 Signature of J. Mason 788 Signature of C. Van De Venter 788 Signature of George Glosgow 788 Map-Affair at La Colic Mill. 790 LaColleMill and Block-houi-c 791 The dismantled .Si/j» rmr 794 Sir J.L.Yeo 796 Attack on Oswego 790 Slgnatnri! of A. Bronson 790 SlgiMitnre of H. Eugle 797 Signature of M. M'Nh';- 7<i7 Fort at Oswego In 1K.55 798 Place ofBattle at Sandy Creek 799 Otis's Hoiife, Saiidv Creek. . . 800 Signature of Alfred Ely 800 , Signature of Harmon Ehle. . . ,801 Portrait of .Tehaziel Howard. . 801 Red Jacket's .Medal 802 Portrait of Reo .Jacket 808 Profile and Signature of Wil- liam .M'Hee 603 Portrait and Signature of C. K. Gardner 606 Signature jf General Hiall. .. 806 Street's Ci,ek Bridge 800 Remains of Tele-de-pont Bat- tery 807 Signature ,)f, Toseph Treat 807 Street's (.'reek Bridge, looking North 808 General Towson's (irave 809 , Map -Battle of Chippewa 810 SlLMiature of Worth 812 WVrth's Monument 812 , Jones's Mimumeut 81'.J Minilh of Lyon's Creek 813 Initial Letter 810 View at Lundy's Lane 818 , Portrait and Signature of J. Miller 820 . Miller's Medal 821 , Portrait of J(din M'Neil 821 . Klagof IheTwenty-flflh 8'22 . Map— Battle of Niagara Falls ,S'23 . Scott's Medal 620 . Signature of Winfleld Scott. . . 820 . Signature of Jas. Cummlngs.. 8'.'7 , Hospital near Lundy's Lane.. S'28 . Wooden Slab 828 . Remains of Douglass's Bat- tery and Fort Erie 830 , Portrait and Signature of E. P. Gaines 831 Drunimond's P',!cret Order 832 Gaines's Medal 830 PiMlrail and Slgnatnri of P. B. Porter 888 Porter's Tomb 8.38 Map— Sle"e of Fort Erie 839 Wood's Monument 840 Brown's Medal 841 Brown's Gold Box 841 Signature o ' E. W. Ripley ,842 Porter's Medal 842 Seal of the City of New York. 842 Signature of De Witt Clinton 842 Ripley's Medal 843 Portrait of Robert White 844 Fac-slmile of White's Writliig 844 Portrait and Signature of O. I7.ard 846 Ruins of Fort Erie 846 Fort Erie Mills 84T Signature of James Sloan 84T 1*: T: XVI ILLUSTRATIONS. «2T. 6'iH. am. 630. 031. 682. ,683. 034. C39. «3(l. AST. jm. 089. 040. 041. 0-ta. 04:1. 044. 045. 04*!. 04T. 648. 04(1. 6IMI. 061. flfi'.'. "OKI. 664. 066. 060. 061. 05.S. 06!). 000. oni. 002. o«:i. 004. OfiS. flOfl. fl«7. fl«9. OG!l. 070. 071. 072. 073. 074. 076. 070. 077. 679. 67i). flSO. 081. 082. 083. OSW. 086. 6sn. 687. 688. 680. 000. 091. 692. 093. 694. 698. 600. 697. 698. 699. TOO. 701. TO-i. 703. 704. 708. 700. 707. 708. 709. 710. 711. 8(>lcllcr«' Mi>numeut Page 848 Kiley'K Mimunieiit 849 Hi);iiaturu of U. M'Uoiiall 860 Miip— M'Artbiir'a Kaid 862 Portrait of (leucral Bcott 863 Initial Letter 884 Portrait and Signature of T. Macdiiuoii^'li 866 .IiulKe .Moore's IIoubo 867 Signature of D. BInboII 867 Signature of (1. Prevost 868 Portrait and Sig. of B. M(iocr« 868 Portrait and Stguatiire uf A. Maoomb 869 SanipHon'H 869 Sla|i~FortiflcatlouB at Platts- biirg 800 M. Smltli'H Monument 801 lIowe'K IloiiHC 802 Pliitt'8 Hiwidpnce 803 Old Stone Mill 804 The 8ara".ic 808 Ilenley'H Medal 808 CuKsin's Medal 808 Portrait and Signature uf U. Paulding 869 View from Cumberland Uead 870 Mii|) — Naval Action 871 Macdonough'rt Dispntcb 872 Portrait and SIg. of ,1. Smith . S72 Itattle of PlattBburg 873 Tlie Saranac at Pike's Canton- ment 874 Huiiis '-f Fort Brown 878 Arliilcry Quadriiut 878 Oeneraf Moocrw'^ Grave 870 I'nited States Hotel 870 Macornl)'« .Monumcut 877 Macomb's Mediii 878 Macdonougli'8 Medal 878 Macdouougli'B Farm-house... 879 Downlc's Orave 879 View iu Beekmautowu 880 Soldiers' Graves aso Ma])— Sent of War 881 Siiire-houhes 882 .Mooers's House 8S2 Woolsey's Hou'<c 8S3 Ball In Mooers's House 884 Portrait and Signature of P. Gregory 888 Portrait and Signature of M. Crane 888 Crane's Monument 880 Portrait and Signature of I. CImuncey 887 Cbauncey's Monument 887 Initial Letter 888 Portrait and Signature of J. M<mts;iimery 891 Port Pickering 891 Carcass 894 Ington F C()l)b Ho The Cobb House 890 Denlson'i) Monument 890 Portrait and Signature of J. Sherbrooke 897 Port Porter, Castine 897 Signature of U. Barrle 898 General Blake's Uotise 898 Crosby's Wharf 899 Portrait and Signature of C. Morris 900 Morris's Monument 901 Town-house, Hampden 902 Reed's Shop 902 Remains of Fort Georsie 90S Signature and Seal of G. Qos- selin 908 Yan kee Doodle Upset 904 Biliel-head of CoHxIitution 906 Port Pickering, Salem 900 Reiaalua of Fort Lee 900 Marblchead Harbor iH)7 Port Sewall 907 Portrait and Signature of Dr. Browne 908 Small Cannon 909 View ft-om Fort George 9(Kt Remains of Port CafltTnc 909 Remains at Fort GrifBth 910 Fort Point 910 The Bacon Tree 911 Mouth of the Kendnskeag 911 Portrait and Sig. of Van Meter 912 Hemains of Port Phojuix 013 Arsenal at Stnnington 914 Portrait aud Sig. of J. Uolmes 914 712. Porfalt and Signature of A. I'. Holmes Page 914 718. Dcnlson's Grave 914 714. Tail-piece— Bomb-Bhell 916 716. Initial Letter 910 710. Signature of 1'. Stuart 910 717. Portrait and Signature of D. L. Clinch 917 718. Portr.iit and Signature of W. H. Winder 018 719. Signature of H. Carbery OiJO 720. Signature of J. P. Van NesB. . 920 721. Signature of T.K. Stansbury.. 921 722. Signature of J. Hterett 921 723. Signature of W. Smith 922 724. Signature of S. West 922 7'26. SignaturoofW. 1). Boall 922 720. Signature of VV. Scott 922 727. Signature of . I. Tilghmau 922 728. Old Mill, Bhidensburg 924 729. Bridge at Bladensburg 927 730. Residence of J. C. Rivee 927 731. Dueling-ground, Bladensburg 928 732. Signature of J. Davidson 928 738. Map— Battle of Bladensburg.. 9'i9 734. Portrait and Signature of J. Barney 930 738. Barney's Spring 931 730. Bullet 931 737. The t^apltol iu 1814. 932 7!I8. Remains oftbe Capitol 988 739. RemaiuB of the President's House 9it4 740. Signature of T. Tlugey 934 741. Portrait and Signature of D. Madison 936 742. Portrait and Signature of J. Barker 930 743. Portrait and Signature of O. R.GIeig 937 744. Signature of D.Wadsworth... 938 746. Fort Washington 939 740. Skatch of Torpedo 940 747, '".'he Unknown 942 745. Barlow's Vault 942 749. Kaloruina 942 780. Cenotaph 943 751. (Jerry's Mimument.. ., 943 762. Initial Letter 944 75.3. Portrait and Sig. of P. Parker. 940 784. Portrait aud Sig. of 8. Smith . 947 768. Montebello M7 750. Rodgers's Bastion 949 767. Methodist Meeting-house 960 768. Portrait and Sigimture of J. Strieker 980 769. Portrait and Signature of D. M'Dougall...'. 962 700. Battle of North Point 983 701. Battle-flag 964 702. Signature of M. Bird 964 70i). Fort M'llenry in 1801 964 704. Signature of. I. H. Nicholson.. 068 706. Signature of S. Lane 988 700. Portrait and Signa* .re of O. Armistead 068 707. Signature of P. S. Key 960 708. Star-spangled Banner 967 709. The .■Vrmlslead Vase 900 770. Armistead's Mcmument 960 771. Signature of W. K. Armistead 900 772. Battle Monument 901 773. TheCity Spring, Baltimore... 962 774. Portrait and Sig. of J.Lester. 903 776. North Point Battle-ground. . . 903 770. Monument where Ross fell.. . 964 777. Remains of Circular Battery.. 900 778. State Penciblc 900 779. Signature of D.D. Tompkins. 970 790. Signature of Morgan Lewis... 970 7St. Fort Stevens and Mill Rock. . 971 752. Tower at Hailett's Point 971 783. FortiflcatlouB around New York 972 784. Mill Rock PortincatiouB 973 786. Fort Clinton 973 790. PortClintonandHarleinRlver 973 757. M 'Oowan's Pass 974 758. North Battery 974 799. View from Fort Pish 974 790. Courtenay's, and Tower 978 791. Remains of Block-house 976 792. M'Oowan's Pass In 1800 976 793. Signature ofA. and N.Brown. 970 794. Iron-dad Vossei 970 798. Section of Floating Battery. . . 977 790. Fiiltnn the Fir»t. 977 797. Initial Letter 978 798. Portrait and Signature of J. Blukeley Page 9T( 799. Blakeley'n Medal 980 800. Portrait aud Signature of L. Warrington 981 801. Warrington's Medal 982 902. Blilet-heud of Cuaius 988 WW. Stewart's Medal. 986 MH. Stewart's Resideuce 980 806. Stewart's Sworil 986 800. Portrait aud Signature of C. Stewart 98T 807. Portrait aud Signature of 8. Decatur 988 809. Decatur's Monument 989 909. Portrait and Sig. of J. BIddle 990 910. Riddle's Medal. 991 si I. Privateer Sclooncr 998 912. Signature of Admiral Sawyer 994 813. Portrait and Signature of S. C.Reld 1004 814. Initial Letter 1008 816. Signature of A. J. Armstrong 1011 816. Portrait and Signature uf A. J.Dailas 1011 817. Signature of T..Iesup 1018 819. Signatures of the Members of the Hartford Convention. . 1014 919. Caricature 1018 820. The Hermitage 1017 921. Portrait of W. C. C. Claiborne 1019 92'2. Portrait of A. Jackson 1020 S23. Map— Attack on Fort Bowyer 1021 924. Jackson's City Head-quarters 1024 926. Portraitof Major Plauclii5... 10'24 920. Pattcrscm's Monument 1026 827. Mai>— FIglit of Ouu-boatH and Barges 1026 828. Cathedral in New Orleans... 102T 929. Fort .St. John 10'28 830. Villcri-'s .Mansion 1029 .831. Portrait <if De la Honde 1030 832. Lacoste's Mansion 1031 8,33. Map -Affiiir below N.Orleans 1038 834. Portrait of De Lacy Evans... 1032 838w A Tennessee Flag 10.H3 830. Initial Letter 1034 837. I)e la Ronde's Mansion 1034 838. Map— Seat of War in Louisi- ana 1030 9,39. Jackson's Ilead-quarterg 1031 ,940. Chalmette's Plantation 1039 841. Map— Battle of New Orleans 1040 812. Remains of a Canal 1042 84.3. Piauchu's Tomb 1043 844. You'sTomb 1048 848. Map— Po.iliou of Troops 1044 ,840. Battle ofNcw Orleans 104T 847. Monument 1048 848. Pecan-trees 1080 S49. Map— Port St. Philip 1061 560. Jackson's Medal 1062 561. Jackson's Draft 1063 882. Signature of D. A. Ilaii 1064 883. The Old Court-house 1064 864. Ashland 1086 968. Bod ley's Grave 1086 S80. Jackson's Tomb 106P 867. Clay's Monument 1060 868. Grave of Daniel Boone 1060 869. Kentucky Soldiers' Monu- ment 106T 300. Portrait and Signature of P. Robert8(m 1068 801. Portrait of A. Henncr 1068 802. .Japan Plum 1089 S«3. Portrait of J. Q. Adams 1059 804. Portraitof J. A Bayard HWO 806. Adams's Homes lOCO SOO. View of Ghent 1001 807. Cipher Writing 1061 808. Fac-Blmlle of MS. of Treaty ofGhent 1002 809. Seal and Sig. of Gambler. . . . 1002 870. Seal and SIg. of Ooulburn... 1002 971. Seal and Sig. of W. Adams . . 1002 S72. Seal and Sig. of J. Q. Adams. 1002 873. Seal and Sig. of J. A. Bayard 1002 874. Seal and Sig. of U. Clay 1063 876. Seal and Sig. of J. Russell . . . 1063 870. Seal and Sig. of A. Gallatin.. 1068 8T7. Por't and SIg. of C. Hughes. 1068 878. Medal of Gratitude 1065 879. Treaty of Peace Medal 1066 880. Allegorical Picture— Peace.. 1000 881. Dartmoor Prison 1068 882. Tali-piece — Civil and Mili- tary Power 10T8 more tliui and ])oiici 1812, fro,, deliiieatiiij ject, and n iields of tJi to private events of (1 wliicli nugj The resii The narrat left it. An the Revohit and Indians United Stat( Revohitlon i the fii-st war public policy dliug of the The eventi published, ain been overlool our country f War with Gr( JIE author of this vohime saiil to the readcra of his Pictorial Field-book of tuk RicvoLunoN, at tho (doso of that work, " Should time deal .SJjcutly with us, we may ai^aiii go out with ,-taff aad scrip together upon the great higiiway of our coun- try's progress, to note the march of events there." Tho im- plied promise has heon fultilled. Tho author has traveled more than ten thousand miles in this country and in the Canadas, with note-book and pencil in hand, visiting places of historic, interest connected with the War of 1812, from the (Ireat Lakes to the Gvdf of Mexicio, gathering up, recording, and delineating every thing of sjiccial value, not found in books, illustrative of the sub- ject, and making himself familiar with the topograj)hy and incidents of the battle- fields of that war. Access to the archives of govermnents, state and national, and to private collections, was freely given him ; and from the lips of actors in the events ot" that struggle he received the most interesting information concerning it, which might have perished with them. The results of the author's researelies and labors are given in this volume. The narrative of historic events is resumed, where his work on the Rexolution left it. An account is given of the perils of the country- immediately succeeding the Revolution ; the struggles of the new nation with the allied jjowera of British and Indians in the Nortliwest ; the origin and gro\vi:h of political parties in the United States, and their relations to the War of 1812 ; the influence of the French Revolution and French politics in giving complexion to parties in tliis country; the firet war with the Barbary Rowers ; the effe(!ts of the wars of Napoleon on tlie public pohcy of the United States ; the Embargo and kindred acts, and tho kin- dling of the war in 1812. The events of the war are given in greater detail than in any work hitherto published, and the narrative brings to \dew actors in tho scenes whose deedr- have been overlooked by the historian. Tlie work is a continuation of the history of our country from the close of the Revolution in 1783 to the end of the Second War with Great Britain in 1815. I. ; l:r t PouGHKJiErsiE, New York, Jult, 1868. fli w ' Before the British lel and "slushed" the pole fl nailing on cbets, and apj flag, aud placed that of th British had a higher sign! rial government not to si Britain to the absolnte pr thority in the United Stati PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK 09 THE WAR OF 1812. CHAPTER I. " I Fpp, I nee, Frecrtom'F establiehrd rnlRii ; clHos, and men, NumiTous HH i<un(l« upon the orcim Blioro, And (Mn|)lrc8 risin); where llic nun doncenrts ! Tlie Ohio soon bIiuII ({lldc by mniiy n towu Of nolo ; iind where the Mimriniiippi stream, By forcstB Hhnded, now rinifi nweepliiR on, NatUniH Hhnll grow, and stntei* not Icsti in famo Than Greece and Home of ohl. We, too, shall boast Our SolploH, Soloni, CatoK, saKcs, chlefB, That In the lap of Time yet dormant lie, Waiting the joyoui* hour of life and light." Prniip Feeneao, 1775. LJ5-3' UCII was the prophecy of an Amer- ican poet wlion the war for his country's independence had just been kindled ; and similar were the prescient visions )f the statesmen sages of that hoiu', who, in i,l.c majesty of con- scious rectitude, decreed the dismemberment of a mighty empire and the establishment of a nation of freemen in the New World. Their rebellion instantly assumed the dignity of a revolution, and commanded the respect and sympathy of the civilized nations. Their faith was per- and under its inspiration they contended gallantly ^ freedom, and won. We, their children, have seen the '■0fy^^^^^^^'^^\^^ minstrel's prophecy fulfilled, and all the bright visions i''l.ii^:6^^3^^'^ ^^ g^ory that gave gladness to our fathers paled by a splen- '!Si^t>ij!ii^&'*^'^'' ^^^^ °f reality that makes us proud of the title — Amkeican l/f Citizen. When, on the 25th of November, 1783, John Van Arsdale, a '■' sprightly sailor-boy of sixteen years, climbed the slushed flag- staff in Fort George, at the foot of Broadway, New York, pulled down the British ensign that for more than seven years had floated there, and un- furled in its place the banner of the United States,' the work of the Rev- olution was finished. As the white sails of the British squadron that bore away from our shores the last armed enemy to freedom in Amer- ' Before the Britleh left Fort George they nailed their colors to the summit of the flag-staff, knocked oflT the cleets, and "slushed" the pole fi'om top to bottom, to prevent its being climbed. Van Arsdale (who died in 1830) ascended by nailing on cbets, and applying sand to the greased flag-staff. In this way he reached the top, hauled down the British flag, and placed that of the United States in its position. It is believed by some that the nailing of the flag there by the British bad a higher gigsiflcanco than was visible in the outward act, namely, a compliance with orders fi-om the impe- rial government not to strike the flag, as in a formal surrender, but to leave it flying, in token of the claim of Great Britain to the absolute proprietorship of the country then abandoned. It was believed that the absence of British aa- thority in the United States would be only temporary. B « 18 I'lCTOUIAL JblKLU-BOOK Th« bopM of the Amariwiii not rMltMd. Thajr ware f m, bat not iDitopMidnt. i ! W'f i ica bocninu inero Hpocks upon tho Iiorizoii in tlio owning nun to tho ^training eyes of cuger tliousandH gazing Heawunl beyond tlio Narrows,' tho idea of absolute iiidepend- cnco tool* posHosNioii of llio mind and lioart of ovcry tiiio iVnioiica;!. Ilo saw tiic vitii- blo boiidti of liritiHli tlinildoni fall at his feet, and IiIh pulse beat high with the inspira- tion of uotisciouH freedom, and the full assm'ance that the power and intluence of jirit- ish sovereignty had departed from his country forever. Alas ! those natural, and generous, and patriotic, and hopeful emotions were falla- cious. They were born of a beautiful theory, but derived no real sustenance from so- ber facts. They were the poetry of that hour of triumph, entrancing the sjtirit and kindling tho imagination. They gave unbounded pleasure to a disenthralled people. But there were wise and thoughtful men among them who liad communed with tho teachers of the I'ast, and sought knowledge in the vigorous school of tho I'resent. They diligently studied the prose chapters of the great volimie of current history spread out before them, and were not so jubilant. They reverently thanked God for what had been .'iccomplishcd, adored him for the many interpositions of his providence in their beliall", and rejoiced because of tho glorious results of the struggle thus far. I5ut they clearly perceived iliat the pe.ico established by tho decrees of high contract- ing parties would prove to bo only a lull in tho great contest — a truce soon to be broken, not, perhaps, by tho trumpet calling armed men to the field, but by the stern behests of tho inexorable necessities of tho new-born republic. Tho revolution was accomplished, and the political separation from Great Britain was complete, but abso- lute independence was not achieved. Tho experience of two years wrought a wonderful change in the public mind. Tho wisdom of the few prophetic sages who warned tho people of dangers became painful- ly apparent. Tho Americans were no longer the legal sidyects of a monarch beyond tho seas, yet tho power and influence of Great Britain were felt like a chilling, over- shadowing cloud. In tho presence of her puissance in all that constitutes tho material strength and vigor of a nation, they felt their weakness ; and from many a patriot heart came a sigh to tho lips, and foimd exi)rossiou there in the bitter words of deep humili- ation — We arc free, but not iitdepcndoit. Why not ? Had not a solenm treaty and the word of an lionest king acknowledged the states to bo free and independent ? Yes. The Treaty of '^eace had declared tlic confederated colonies " to be free, sov- ereign, and independent states ;" and that the King of Great Britain would treat them as such, and relinquish "all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same."- The king, in his speech from the throne," had said, "I . December n, have sacrificed &vcYy consideration of my own to the wishes and opinion "'^''• of my people. I make it my hmnble and earnest prayer to Almighty God tliat Great Britain may not feel tho evils which might result from so great a dismemberment of the empire, and that America may bo free from those calamities which liave formerly proved, in the mother country, how essential monarchy is to the enjoyment of consti- tutional liberty. Religion, language, interest, affections may, and I hope will, yet prove a bond of permanent union between the two countries : to this end neither attention nor disposition shall bo wanting on my part."' ' The paosnge from New fork Harbor to the pea, between Long Island and Statcn Idland. ' See Article I. of the Treaty of Peace between the T'nited States niu! (Ireat Britain, Kigncd at Paris on the 8d of September, 1T><3, by David Hartley in behalf of Orcat Britain, and Benjamin Franklin, John AdamH, and John Jay for the United Statef). ' This acknowledgment was wrung from the king He had long detested the very name of every thing American ; and this feeling was strengthened by his inteui<c personal hatred of l)r. Franklin, whose coolness and adroitness hod given him the distinction of Arch-rebel. The king carried his prejudices so far that Sir John Pringle was driven to resign his place as President of the Royal Society In this wise : The king urgently requested the society to publish, with the authority of its name, a controdictton of a scientific opinion of the rebellious Franklin. Pringic replied that it was not In his power to reverse the order of nature, and resigned. The pliant Sir .Toseph Banks, with the practice of a true courtier, advocated the opinion which was patronized by his majesty, and was appointed President of the Royal Soci- ety. Sec Wright's Engtatid under the Ilotme nf Hanover, 11., 03. Ruceptloa or J This wa.s ^V'liy rioi /'oiiited by and been re Ves. Joi fourtofCJn wy Kngland. ■"OHtkimlIyi t-'nibas.iador i "potentiary h to tears by tl the kiiigdot,,, ^''all be the I; This recopt sincere. Vet ^V'/iy not ? f>e resjyected; nnd sagacious '•-'il by the fjita 'is, and goveri t-'nibarrassment "lost important waited with coi ynited States, ( in a state of wa colonists of Grc their literature, country, withoii was added a tra "iferior people,' ^'y tho conscious c'fiiJ to com man sufficiently impoi tions. Such is a gei pendent of Gi-eat t" i^i-. Franklin -. commenced in 177 siiccessfully close J ho war for ?W^ I nave remarket and in tliat fact w tne hopes of the v, .t'"s, let us take a '" tho autumn of of 1787. TJie Articles of adopted by the Co '•atification of all tli American League f t-onstitution, was st '"Even the chlmnev-swp InglyofthcirsubjecuiuAu 'o OF TlIK WAR OF 18 12. 10 Roceptlon of John Adami In BnK)*nd. Why the American! were not Independent Article* of Conhderktloa. Tills was nil very kind, nnd yot tlio Americans were not Independent. Why not? Iliul not the roprescntiilivo of their indepeiulcnt sovcreiirnty been up- pointed by the Congress to reNido as tho agent of the lepublio in the IbiliHh capital, and been received with cordiality? VoH. John Adams had been appointed* minister plenipotentiary to tho •FcbniHryS4, Court oflireat Ibilain, and had been ordered to leave sunny France for log- "'^ gy England. Tho Duke of Dorset, tho Hrilish embassailor at Paris, had treated liim most kindly at Auteuil, and had as kindly jirescribed a gay court-dress to bo worn by the embassador at his fust presentation to the king on his majesty's birth-day. That plen- ipotentiary had been presented,'' most graciously received, and afiected almost t.j,ine4, to tears by these honest words of good King George: "I was the last man in "*• the kingdom, sir, to consent to the independenco of America; but, now it is granted, 1 shall be the last man in tho world to sanction a violation of it." This reception was significant, and this declaration of his majesty was explicit and sincere. Yet tho Americans were not independent. Why not? IJccausc tlwif luul not formvd a nation, and therehj created a power to be respected ; because British statesmen were wise enough to perceive this weakness, nnd sagacious enough to take advantage of it. Without tho honesty of the king, mis- led by the fatal counsels of tho refugee loyalists who swarmed in tho IJritish metropo- lis, and governed wholly by the maxims nnd ethics of diplomacy, tho ministry cast embarrassments in the way ofthe Confederation, neglected to comply with some of the most important stipulations ofthe Treaty of Peace, maintained a haughty reserve, and waited witli complacency and perfect faith to see tho whole fabric of government in tho United States, cemented by the bonds of common interest and common danger while in a state of war, crumble into fragments, and tho people return to their allegiance as colonists of Great Britain. Their trade and commerce, their manufactures and arts, their literatiu-e, science, religion, and laws were yet largely tributary to the parent country, without a well-grounded liope for a speedy deliverance. To this domination was added a traditional contempt ofthe English for their transatlantic brethren as an inferior people,' and the manifestation of an illiberal and mifriendly spirit, heightened by the consciousness that the Americans were without a government sufliciently pow- erful to command the fulfillment of treaty stipulations, or an untrammeled commerce sufficiently important to attract the cupidity and interested sympathies of other na- tions. Such is a general statement of "easons why the United States were not inde- pendent of Great Britain after their total political separation from her. These gave to Dr. Franklin and others tho consciousness of the incompleteness of the struggle commenced in 1775. When a compatriot remarked that the war for independence was successfully closed, Franklin wisely replied, " Say, rather, the var ofthe Revolution. The war for indipendence is yet to be fought." I have remarked that our fathers had not formed a nation on the return of peace, and in that fact was the inherent weakness of their government, and the spring of all the hopes ofthe royalists for their speedy return to colonial dependency. To illustrate this, let us take a v.ipid survey of events from the ratification of the Treaty Oi Peace in tho autumn of 1784, to the formation ofthe National Constitution in the autumn of 1787, The Articles of Confederation, suggested by Dr. Franklin in the summer of 1775, ado|)ted by the Continental Congress in November, 1777, and finally settled by the ratification of all the states in the spring of 1781, became tho organic law ofthe great American League of independent commonwealths, which, by the first article of that Constitution, was styled " The United States of America." In behalf of this Confeder- ' "Even the chimney-sweepers on the streets," said Pitt, In a speech in the House orCommuus In 1703, " talk boast- ingly of their subjucts in America." 11 ! 1 20 riCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The League of States. The States not sovereign. The Public Debt. ;j i» i| acy, commissioners were appointed by the Continental Congress to negotiate for peace with Great Britain. That negotiation was successful, and, in September, 1783, a defin- • September 3, ii^v<i treaty was signed at Paris" by the respective commissioners' of the 1W3. lyfQ governments. It was subsequently ratified by the Co, gress and the • Crown. In the first article of the treaty all the states of the League were named, for the simple purpose of definitely declaring wlut provinces in the New World formed "The United States of America," as there were British, French, and Sp-^nish provinces there not members of the League ; and also bt cause they were held to be, on the part of the English, independent repiblics, as they had been colonies independent of each othcr.- The League now assumed a national attitude, and the powers of the Confederacy wore speedily tested. The bright visions of material prosperity that gladdened the hearts of the Americans at the close of the war soon faded, and others more sombre appeared when the financial and commercial condition of the forming republic was contemplated with candor. A debt of seventy millions of dollars lay upon the shoulders of a wasted people. About forty-four millions of that amount was owing by the Federal govern- ment (almost ten millions of it in Europe), and the remainder by the individual stater. These debts had been incurred in carrying on the war. Even while issuing their paper money in abundance, the Congress had commeiiced borrowing; and when, in 1780, their bills of credit became worthless, borrowing was the chief monetary resource of the government. This, of course, could not go on long without involving the republic in embarrassments and accomplishing its final ruin. The restoration of the public credit or the downfall of the infant republic was the alternative presented to the American people. • See note 2, page 18. * The ndvoi'ntes of the mischievous political docttlne known ns supreme state sovereijnty, whose ftindamental dogma is that the states then forming the Inchoate republic 'vere absolutely iiule, ^denl mvfrrigntien, have cited this nam'ng of the several st: tcs In that treaty in support of their vie vs. The states were Independent commonwealths, bnt not sover- eiimt'es. That teim im;ilies no superior. The colonies and states had never been in that exalted position. They were dependencies of Great Britain until the Declaration of Independence was i)romulgatod, when they immediately assumed the position of equals in a National Leacne, acknowledging the general governmert which they thus established as the supreme controlling power, having a broad signet for the common use, bearing the words, "Seal of the United States," FinST OBKAT SEAL OP TIIB tTNITEn BT.ITEB.* ns Its insignia of authority. Wuen a treaty of p;'^cc was to be negotiated, the states did not each choose a commis- sioner for the purpc «e, but these agcuts were appointed by the General Congress, as representatives of the nationality of the Confederation, without reference to any particular states. And when, a few years later, the people (" We the rEoiM-p." is the phrase) formed and ratified a yational Coiistitntum, they disowned all Independent state sovereiitntii, and reserved to the states only muuiclpii rights, the exercise of which should net be in contravention of the organic law of the land. • For a history (with Illustrations) of this first Qreot Seal of the United States, see a paper In Harptr's Magazine, vol. xiU., p. ns, written by the author of this work. Attempts to : With a put forth preliminai of perm an and, on th necessary lie credit, Jater" the ( essary to t the public years, spec others, tlie principal oi to establish j'lg each its of duties or article of th lintil Accede Tiiis prop adopted by t ing three yc what each s were willing Congress wil ject," they s This first i was a signal ; twoen the sta ter, whose vii tenacious of it It was speed! inevitable rep The League tions with ot! ministry, unde devised genan I'y engenderec nent Earl of C Exchequer. T between that [ for the regiilal British West ] open to the en( In this prop, 'nony between among the stai ' Journal of Co^ had been signed, and "'^''« following wj *3Z,3H ; Connecticut Maryland, $141,517; ' The resolutions oi publican," were publl * Pattermn, 32 MalUe 1 o V . OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 21 Attempts to restore the Public Credit and establish Commercial Relations. Attitude of tbe States. With a determination to restore that publii credit, the General Congress immediately put forth all its strength in efforts to produce such a result. A few weeks after the preliminary Treaty of Peace was signed, the Congress declared that " the establishment of permanent and adequate funds on taxes or duties, which shall operate generally, and, on the whole, in just proportion, throughout the United States, is indispensably necessary toward doing complete justice to the public creditoi's, for restoring pub- lic credit, and for providing for the future exigencies of the war."' Two montlis later" the Congress recommended to the several states, as " '.udispensably nee- • April is, essary to the restoration of public credit, and to the pu ictual discharge of ^^^• the public debts," to vest the Congress with power to Itvy, for a period of twenty-five years, specified duties on certain imported articles, and an ad valorem dr. y on all others, the revenue therefrom to be applied solely to the payment of the interest and principal of the public debt. It was also proposed that the slates should be required to establish for tho same time, and for the same object, substantial revenues for supply- ing each its proportion of one million five hundred thousand dollars annually, exclusive of duties on imports, the proportion of each state to bo fixed according to the eighth article of the organic law of the League.^ This financial system Avas not to take effect until Jtcceded to by every state. This proposition was approved by the loading men of the country, but it was not adopted by the several states. They all took action upon it in the course of the succeed- ing three years, but that action was rather in the form of overtures — indications of what each state was Avilling to do — not of positive law. All the states except two were willing to grant the required amount, but they were not disposed to vest the Congress with the required power. " It is iiioney, not 2wwc)', that ought to be the ob- ject," they said. "The former will pay our debts, the latter may destroy our liber- ties:'^ Tins first important effort of the Congress lO assume the functions of sovereignty was a signal failure, and the begirning of a series of failures. It excited a jealousy be- tween the state and general governments, and exposed the utter impotency of the lat- ter, whose vitality depended upon the will of thirteen distinct legislative bodies, each tenacious of its own peculiar rights and interests, and miserly in its delegation of power. It was speedily i.iade manifest that the public credit must be utterly destroyed by the inevitable repudiation of the public debt. The League were equally unfortunate in their attempts to establish commercial rela- tions with other governments, and especially with that of Great Britain. The Liberal ministry, under the Earl of Shelburne whan the preliminary Ti-eaty of Peace was signed, devised genarous measures toward the Americans. Encouraged by a lively hope tlicre- by engendered, American commerce began to revive. William Pitt, son of the emi- nent Earl of Chatham, then at the age of only twenty-four years, was Cliancollor of the E.vchequer. With a clear perception of the value to Great Britain of friendly relations between that government and the new republic, he introduced a bill into Parliament for the regulation of commerce between the two countries, by which trade with the British West India Islands and other colonial possessions of the crown was thrown open to the enterprise of the merchants of the United States. In this proposed measure was involved a powerful element of solid peace and hnr- raony between the two governments; but there seemed not to be wisdom enough among the statesmen of Great Britain for a practical perception of it. The shipping ' Jonmal of Conjrress, February 12, 1TS3. The last clause was necessary, because only preliminary articles of pence had been signec!, and the war might continue. " The following was the proposed aijportlonment : New Hampehire, i|(^2,7flS ; MnssachnseU?, $224,427 ; Khodc Island, $32,31S; Connecticut, $192,091 J New York, $128,243 ; New Jtrrev, $83,358 ; Pennsylvania, $205, 1S9; Delaware, $22,443 ; Maryland, $141,MT: VIrpinia, $280,487 j North Carolina, $109,00(1 ; South Carolina, $90,183; Georgia, $10,030. ' The resolutions of Congress, and the proceedings of the several State Legislatures, with remarks thereon by "A Re- publican," were published In the Xev) York Gazetteer, and afterward in pamphlet form, in the autumn of 1780, by Carroll Jk PcUtcnon, 32 Maldeu Lane, New York. 22 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK SiMoluiion of the Liberal Briti»h Ministry. The new Cabinet. Its discordant UlementD. interest, then potential in Parliament, Avitb strange blindness to its own welfare and that of the state, successfully opposed it ; and tiie Liberal Shelburne ministry did not survive the propositii)ii a month. It was dissolved, and, after a ministerial hiatus of several weeks, during which time faction threatened the peace if not the stability of the throne, a Cabinet was formed of materials the most discordant hitherto. North and Fox, Burke and Cavendisli, Portland and Stormout, who had diftered widely and debated bitterly on American affairs, coalesced, much to the astonishment of the simple, the scandal of political consistency, and the delight of satirists with pen and pencil.^ The new Cabinet listened to other counsels than those of the sagacious Pitt, and, in- stead of acting liberally towaid the United States, as friends and political equals, they inaugurated a restrictive commercial policy, and assumed the offensive hauteur of lord and master in the presence of vassals or slaves. Echoing the opinions of the acrimoni- ous Silas Deanc, the specious Tory, Joseph Galloway, and Peter Oliver, the refugee Chief Justice of Massachusetts,- English writers and English statesmen made public observations which indicated that they regarded the American League as only alien- ated members of the British realm. Lord Sheffield, in a formidable pamphlet, gave expression to the views of the Loyalists and leading British statesmen, and dcclaied his belief that ruin must soon overtake the League, because of the anarchy andtionfu- I i I i { i '•1 ' The political satires and caricrtnrcs of the day Indicate the temper of the pr ople. Of these the war in America formed the staple subject at the time in question. The conduct of that war, its cassation or continuance, formed tlio topic of violont "debates in Parliament, caused rancor among politicians, was the basis of new party or- ganizations, and a source of great anxiety among the i)eopIc. Among those who employed carica- tures in the controversies Sayer and Gillray were the chief. The latter soon outstripped all com- petitors, and gave to the world more thnu twelve luuidred caricatures, chiefly political. One of his earliest productions was issued at the period in question, in which the original positions of the diflerent leaders of the coalition were exhibit- ed in compartnients. In one, entitled "War," Fox and Burlic, In characteristic attitudes, are seen tliundering against the massive Lord North. In mother com- partment, called ^"^^ "Neither Pea nor War," the three orators are, in the same attitudes, attaciving the prelimina- ry Treaty of Peace with the United States. Under them are the words "The Astonishing Coa- lition." Another caricature was called "The Loves of the Fox and the Badger ; or, The Coalition Wed- ding." Tliib popular c.ivicature was a burlesque pictorial history of the sudden friendship between The latter was commonly known in political circles as " the badger." In another print Fox and North were rci)resented under one coat, standing on a i edestal, and called "The State Idol." This the king (who de- tested the whole affair) was expected to worship. In another, the two are seen approaching Brit-inia (or the people) to claim her sanction. She rejects them, and their attention is directed to a gallows and block in the distance as their proper destination. The coalition Anally became unpopular, and Gillray, in a caricature entitled " Britannia Aroused ; or. The Coalition Monsters Destroyed," represents her in a fury, grasping one of the leaders by the neck and the other by the leg, and hurling them from her as enemies to liberty. I have coplnd from Wright's En- nland under the House of Hanover the most forcible portions of the two carica- tures named. a Silas Ttonw had been an active supporter of the American cause, and was sent to France, as an agent of tlic Conti- nental Congrc.-s, early in 1770. In the autumn of that year he was associated with Dr. Franklin and Artliiir Lee as com- missioners to the French Court. Deane's unfitness for his station was soon made apparent, and lie was recalled oi the close of 1777. lie went to England at the close of the war, and there vented his spleen against his countrymen. Joseph Oalloway was a P( nnsylvanlan, who espoused the republican cause, and was a member of the P"-st Congress in 1774, but soon afterward abandoned his countrymen and went to England. He llrst joined the royal army in New York, and did not leave the country until 1778. He was a ready writer, and wrote much against the American couee in England, where he died in isni). Peter Oliver was past middle life when the Revolution broke out. He was appninlcd Chief .Tustice of Massachusetts in n(Ki, when his brother-in-law, Hutchinson, became governor of that province. He was impeached by the Massachu- setts Assembly in 1774, and soou afterward went to England, where he died iu 17»1, aged 79 years. Fox and North. llBiTANMIA ABOC8F.I>. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 23 Expectations of British Statesmen. Lord SlicSSeld'B Pamplilct. British Legislntiun. Public DangofB. sion in whicli they were involved in consequence of their independence. He assumed that tlie New England States in particular would speedily become penitent suppliants at the foot of the king for pardon and restoration as colonies. lie saw the utter weak- ness and consequent inefficiency of the League as a form of government, and advised his countrymen to consider them of little account as a nation.^ " If the American states choose to send consuls, receive them, and send a consul to each state. Each slate will soon enter into all necessary regulations with the consul, and this is the whole that is necessary." In other words, the League has no dignity above th.at of a fifth-rate power, and the states arc still, in fact, only dislocated members cf the British Empire.^ In considering the more remote causes of the War of 1812, and the final independ- ence of the United States achieved by that war, that pamphlet of Lord Sheffield, which gave direction to British legislation and bias to the English mind in reference to the American League, may be regarded as a most important one. It was followed by Orders in CounciP by which American vessels were entirely excluded from the British West Indies; and some of the stapli ^ reductions of the United States, such as fish, beef, pork, butter, lard, et cetera^ Avere not permitted to be carried there except in Brit- ish bottoms. These orders were continued by temporary acts until 1788, when the policy was permanently established as a commercial regulation by act of Fariiament. In view of this unfriendly conduct of Great Britain, the General Congress, in the spring of 1784, asked the sever.al states to delegate powers to them for fifteen years, by which they might compel England to be more liberal by countervailing measures of prohibition.* Well would it have been for the people of the young republic had some restrictive measures been adopted, whereby British goods could have been kept from their ports, for in a very short time after the jjeace a most extravagant and ruinous trade with Great Britain was opened. Immense importations were made, and private indebtedness speedily added immensely to the evils wiiich the war and an inadequate government had brought upon the people. But tiie appe.il of the Congress was in vain. The states, growing more and more jealous of their individual dignity, would not invest the Congress with any such power ; nor would they, evQii in the fiice of the danger of having their trade go into the hands of foreigners, make any permanent and uniform arrangements among themselves. Without public credit, with their commerce at the mercy of every adventurer, without respect at home or abroad, the League of Siates, free wilhoiit independence, presented the sad spectacle of the elements of a great nation l)aralyzed in the formative process, and the coldness of political death chilling every developing function of its being. Difficulties soon arose between the United States and Great Britain concerning the ' " It will not be ni. easy matter," he said (and he no donht spoke the lan<;iiace of the Enelish people In general), "to bring the American states to net as a nation ; they are not to beft'ared as mrh by im. It wl.; be a long time before they can engage or will concur in any material expenses. A stamp act, a tea act, or such net that can never again occur, would alone unite them. Their climate, their staples, their manners arc different ; tlieir Interests opposite ; and that which is beneliclal to one la destructive to the other. We niiglit as reasonably dread tlie effects of combinations nmong the Oermau as among the American states, and deprecate tlie resolves of the Diet ns those of the Congress. In short, every circumstance proves that It will be extreme folly to enter into any engagements ft// xi<hieh xi'c may not i»i«/i t« he bound hereafter. It is Impossible to name any material advantage the American states will or cnn give us in return more than what we of course shall have. No treaty can be made with the American states that can be l)inding on the whole of tliem. The Act of Confederntion does not cnnble Congress to form more than general treaties."— SiiKrKirj.n'B ObKfTvations on the Cnmvuree of the Ameriean StateK, London, 17S3. ' The estimation in which the League was held by the British government may be inferred by nn Inquiry of the Duke of Dorset, In reply to n letter f^om Messrs. Adnms, Franklin, and Jefferson, on the subject of a commercial treaty. In March, USS. llis grace inquired "whether they were commissioned by Congress or their respective states, for it ap- peared to him that eaeh utate wao determined to vianaije it» oien mattern in its otrn tray." It could not be expected that England would be in haste to form any important commcrclnl relations with n government so uncertain in its charac- ter, for a league of independent governments was liable to dissolution at any moment. ' July, l"S!t. The British Privy Council consists of an indetlnite number of gentlemen, chosen by the sovereign, and having no direct connection with the Cabinet ministers. The sovereign may, inider the advice of this council. Issue orders or proclamations, which, if not contrary to existing laws, are binding upon the subjects. These are for tempo- rary purposes, .'ind nrf r;illed Orders in Council. * See Joumnl of Concress, April 30, 17S4. '■!^ i ^ fp !■! i 1 'J 1 I i|: ; : I i 24 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Weaknesg of the new Governmciit made manifest. Its DiSBoliitioii threatened. Excaso for DIsBatUfactlon. iuexecutiou of tho Treaty of Peace, each charging the other with infractions of that treaty, or neglect to comply with its requirements.^ An open rupture was threatened, • February 24, ^^"^ Jolm Atlams was scnt to England,* clothed with the full powers of a 1780. plenipotentiary, to arrange all matters in dispute. But Mr. Adams could accomplish little. Indeed his mission was almost fruitless. He found tho temper of tho British people, from the peasant up to the monarch, cold, if not positively hostile, toward the United States. He was never insulted, yet the chilliness of tho social atmosphere, and the studied neglect of his oflicial representations, often excited hot indignation in his bosom. But his government was so weak and powerless that he was compelled to bite his lips in silence. When he proposed to have the naviga- tion and trade between all tho dominions of the British crown and all the territories of the United States placed upon a basis of perfect and liberal reciprocity, the offer was not only rejected with scorn, but the minister was given to understand that no other would bo entertained by the British government. When ho recommended his own government to pass countervailing navigation laws for the benefit of American com- merce, he was met with the fact that it possessed no power to do so. At length, be- lieving his mission to be useless, and the British government steadily refusing to send a minister to the United States, he asked and received permission to return home. Meanwhile matters were growing infinitely worse in the United States. The Con- gress had become absolutely powerless, and almost a by-word among the people. The states had assumed tho attitude of sovereign, each for itself; and their interests were too diversified, and in some instances too antagonistic, to allow them to work in har- mony for the general good. The League was on the point of dissolution, and the fair fabric for the dwelling of liberty, reared by Washington and his compatriots, was tot- tering to its fall. The idea of forming two or three distinct confederacies took posses- sion of the public mind. Western North Carolina revolted, and the new State of Franklin,^ formed by the insurgents, endured several months. A portion of South- western Virginia sympathized in the movement. Insurrection against the authorities of Pennsylvania appeareu in tho Wyoming Valley.' A Convention deliberated at Port- land on the expediency of erecting the Territory of Muine into an independent state.* An armed mob surrounded the New Hampshire Legislature, demanding a remission of taxes ;* and in Massachusetts, Daniel Shays, who had been a captain in the Continental army, placed himself at the head of a large body of armed insurgents, and defied the government of that state.'' There was resistance to taxation every where, and disre- spect for law became the rule and not the exception. There was reason for this state of things. The exhaustion of tho people was great on account of the war, and poverty was wide-spread. Tho farmer found no lemimera- tive market for iiis produce, and domestic manufactures Avere depressed by foreign competition.' Debt weighed down all classes, and made them feel that the burden • Against Great Britain It was cliargcd tliat elaves liad been carried away by lier military and navai commanders pnb- pequeut to the Bignlng of the treaty, and on their dc])arturo from the country." It was aiso compiained that the Western military posts had not been Burrcudercd to the United States according to Article VII. of tho treaty. Against the United Htates it was charged that legal impediments had been interposed to prevent the collection of debts duo British mer- chants by Americans, and th.';t ihe stipuiatitms conceniing the property of Loyalists, found in Articles V. and VI. of th<^ treaty, had not been complied with. These criminations and recriminiitions were fair, for it has been justly rcmarlviMl, "America could not, and Great Britain would not, because Amarica did not, execute tho treaty."— ii/c and Works ofjuhn Adam», i., 424. " See Ramsey's IliMnnj ofTennemee; Harper's Magazine for March, 1882. ' See Lossing's firlii-Bnok nf the. Hevolution. ♦ Sec WIliiamson'B History (^ Maine. ' See C'oolidge and Mansfield's mstnnj of Xew Hampshire. ^ Sec Bradford's History (\f Massachusetts ; Harjier's Magazine for April, 18(!2. ' The idea was prevalent, at tho close of the war, that the United States ought to be an exclusively agricultural nation, and that the old policy of purchasing all fabrics in Europe, to be paid for by the productions of the soil, would be the wiser one. Acting upon the belief that this would be the policy of tho new government, the merchants imported largely, and, there being very little duty to bo paid, domestic manufactures could not compete with those of Great Britain. The fallacy of the idea that exports would pay for the imports was Boon made manifeBt, and almost universal bankruptcy Washington's V * See Article Vn. of the treaty. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 25 WaBhliigton's Views of Piiblu- Affairs. His SugsestlonB, and those of Alexander HamlUon. Propositions of the latter. which the tax-gatherer would lay upon them would be the " feather" that would " break the camel's back," There was doubt, and confusion, and perple.vity on every side ; and the very air seemed thick with forebodings of evil. Society appeared to be about to dissolve into its original elements. Patriots — men who had labored for the establishment of a wise government for a free people — were heart-sick. " liliberality, jealousy, and local policy mix too much in all our public councils for the good government of the Union," wrote Washington. "The Confederation appears to me to be little better than a shadow witliout the substance, ■lud Congress a nugatory body, their ordinances being little attended to. To me it is a solecism in politics; indeed, it is one of the most extraordinary things in nature, that we should confederate as a nation, and yet be afraid to give the rulers of that nation (who are the creatures of our own making, appointed for a limited and short duration, and who are amenable for every action, and may be recalled at any moment, and are Subject to all the evils they may bo instrumental in producing) sufficient powers to order and direct the affiiirs of the same. By such policy as this the wheels of govern- ment are clogged, and our brightest prospects, and that high expectation which was entertained of us by the wondering world, are turned into astonishment ; and from the high ground on which we stood we are descending into the vale of confusion and dark- ness. " That we have it in our power to become one of the most respectable nations upon earth, admits, in my humble opinion, of no doubt, if wo would but pursue a wise, just, and liberal policy toward one another, and keep good faith with the rest of the world. That our resources are ample and increasing, none can deny; but while they are grudg- ingly applied, or not applied at all, wo give a vital stab to public faith, and shall sink, i'l the eyes of Europe, into contempt."* Other patriots uttered similar sentiments ; and there was a feverish anxiety in the public mind concerning the future, destructive of all confidence, and ruinous to enter- prises of every kind. Already grave discussions on the subject had occurred in the library at Mount Vernon, during which Washington had suggested the idea of a con- junction of the sever.al states in arrangements of a commercial nature, over which the Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, had no control. The suggestion was luminous. It beamed out upon the surrounding darkness like a ray of morning light. It was the herald and harbinger of future important action — the key-note to a loud trumpet-call for the wise men of the nation to save the tottering republic. It was the electric fire that ran along the paralyzed nerves of the nation, and quickened into action a broader stntesmanship, like that displayed by the youthful Hamilton, who, three or four ye.irs before, had induced the Legislature of New York to recommend tlie " assem- blhig of a general Convention of the United States, specially authorized to revise and amend the Confederation, reserving the right to the respective Legislatures to ratify their determination."^ Dccurrcd among the Importing merchants. The imports from Great Britain during the years 17S4 and 1785 amonnted iu value to $30,nO(),ono, while the exports thither did not exceed $9,000,000. ' Letter to James Warren, October T, 1786. ' So early as 1780, Alexander Hamilton, then only twenty-three years of age, thoroughly analyzed the defects of the Articles of Confederation, in a long letter to James Duane, member of Congress from New York. It was dated, " Lib- erty Pole, September 3, 1780." lie discussed the subject at great length, gave an outline sketch of n Federal Constltn- tion, and suggested the calling of a Convention to firame sncli a system of government.* During the following year he published In the Neiv York Packet^ printed at Flshklll, Duchess County, a series of papers under the title of The Connti- liitionalUt, which were devoted chiefly to the discussion of the defects in the Articles of Confederation. They excited ureat local interest ; and Hamilton succeeded, In the summer of 17S2, In having the suUiect brought before the Legisla- ture of the State of New York while in sci'sion at Poughkcepsie. It was favorably received, and on Sunday, the 2lHt of July, that body nassed a series of resolntions, in the last of which occurred the sentence above quoted. On the 1st • ipril, 17S3, Hamilton, in a debate in Congress, expressed an earnest desire for a general Convention, and the subject was much talked of among the members of Congress in 1784. In the same year Thomas Paine and Pclatiah Webster wrote on that subject. In the spring of 1784, Noah Webster, the lexicographer, in a pamphlet which lie says he " took the pains to carry In person to General Washington," suggested a "new system of government, which • See The Works c/ Alexander Bavnlton, 1., 160. i ; \,'i 26 nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK HI \l ¥ ii Convontiun uf Uopresentntivcs of the StnteH at Auiinpoliii nud Phlladclphlu. Tliis recoinmcnclation liad been seriously pondered by thoughtful men throughout the League, but the public nuthorities were not then ready to adoj)! it. Washington's ])roposition for a connnercial Convention was favorably received, and in September, the • September 11, following year," five states were represented by delegates in such Convon- ^''^''- tion, held at Annapolis, in Maryland.' Already a desire had been ex- pressed in many parts of the country for a Convention having a broader field of consid- eration than commerce., only one of the elements of a nation's prosperity. So thought and felt members of the Convention at Annapolis — a Convention that proved a failure in a degree, inasmuch as only five of the thirteen states were represented. They ad- journed after a brief session, first recommending the several states to call another Con- vention in May following; and performing the momentous service of preparing a letter to the General Congress, in which the defects of the Articles of Confederation were set forth. In Februarj following, the Congress took the proceedings of the Convention into^ consideration, !ind recommended a meeting of delcg.-xtes from the several states, to be held at Philadelphia on the second Monday in the ensuing May; not, however, for the regulation of commerce, but really for the reconstruction of the national govern- ment.^ On the 4th of July, 177G, a Congress of representatives of thirteen colonies met in the great room of the State House in Phila- delphia, since known as Independence Hall, and declared, those colonies free and inde- jiendent states. On Monday, the 14th of ]May, 1787, a Congress of representatives of the same colonies, then become free and independent states, assembled in the same hall for the purpose of establishing the va- lidity and ])owcr of that declaration, by dis- solving the ineflicient political League of the states, and constituting the inhabitants of all the states one great and indissoluble nation. There were few delegates present on the appointed day of meeting; and it was not until the 25th that rej)resentatives from seven states (the prescribed quorum) ap- peared. Then Washington, a deleg.ite from Virginia, was chosen i)resident of the Convention, and William Jackson secretaiy.^ On chouUI net, not on the Htates, hut ilirrrthi on iiuhmdunln, niirt vest in Congress flill power to earry its laws Into effect." This pnnii>lilct ih entitled, "Sketelies of Anierlenn rolicy." TIiuh thinking men nil lamented tlic wcaknesH of the gen- enil government, and foresaw tlie dangers of the doctrine of Bujjremc wtnte sovereignty, wliich has wroiiglit so mucli inipchief in imr day. ' Tlie following arc the names of tlic representatives : ^'eu> IVrfc— Alexander Hamilton, Kghert Benson ; !feiv JiTsni— Abraham Clarke, William C. Houston ; /'.'»)ui;/(rnHii(— Tencho Coxc, James Schnreman ; IMaimre — George Read, John Dickinson, Richard Bassett ; iVi-f/imo— Kdmund Randolph, James Madison, Jr., St. George Tucker. ' This action of the Congress took jilace on the 2l8t of February, 1T8T. The resolution (which was submitted by the delegates from MassachuscttP) was as follows: " Itemhml, That in the opinion of Congress it is expedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a Convention of Delegates, who shall have been ap|)ointed by the several states, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express pur- pose of revising tlie Articles oft.'onfederatlon, and rei)orting to Congress and the Bevernl Legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to In Congress and confirmed by the states, render the Federal Constitu- tion adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union." ' William .lackson was an eminent patriot, and one of Washington's most intimate i)ersonal friends. He entered the Continental army at the age of sixteen years, and served his country faithfully during tie whole war for independ- ence. He became an aid to the comnnmder-in-clilef, with the rank of major. In 17S1 he accompanied his fl-lend, Colonel ilohn Laurens, on a diplonnitic mission to France. At the close of the war he visited Kiirope, and on his re- turn was appoiutcd, on the uomiuation uf Washington, secretary to the Convention that formed the National Coustt- Wll ;.1AM .lAeKHON. William Jacka the 28tb, h business of the serious to secure th s'ty ofa inc vention fift( form a new I do not f '"gs of that! merely direc that were ad "lation conce men, whose c The venerj most conspici before he had "or the provi success. Job tiitlon. Hlsprivat. of his family, jje and nccom|,nniccl h lie held the offlce i eustoms there untf tlicn started a daily later." ' Major Jackson liv, I 1 Christ Cliurch ya ll";eo f,et high mark to the memory of Ma ed this life Decemb. born March the "Ttl, Jackson was ninety v I am indebted to \ for the portrait given 111 her piLssession, pi, '" her failier, cut by l:il^ Mrs. General Win The signature ofs,. "'el;'onstitutlon,onp Ediniiml Kandohll yer,andawarmpatrlo 'Wmui,,.,., ,j^^^. » lih>, and Washinjit. •-' "H but, In eonsp*'^, .lied 1,1 December, isis " Khodc Island was Assembly of the state i "lost intluential men in "ympatliy with the obj might adopt. The foil, ««««rt<-/(»M,.w«.-_Franc f!"""*«"''"'.-Wil|iam Aew 1 or*._R„,,e,t Y« l"'m Clark, and Jo„„t,,a ./'■"''^'/'''«"'V».-Thoma <">iivcrneur Morris, „,„! (f '«"•«'•'■— Oeorge Rea v.."-"''""'— JainesM'Il '""."'■«'«— George Was «..d George Wythe. P„tri fxyth Carolina.~nkbn •f»MM. Richard Caswell a'«o declined his appoin, ^WA Caro?,>,„.ifr„h„ ffr/^7"-^^""'"nPew, V,u , ^'J« Assemblies did i Englandltwasjudgedtol OF THE WAU OF 1812. 21 WUliam Jackson and Edmund Randolph. HemberR of the Convention. Attltnde of Kbodo Inland. tlie 28th, Edmund Randolph, of Virginia,* at the request of his colleftgues, opened the business of the Convention in a carefuiiy considered speech, in which he pointed out tlie serious defects in the Articles of Co/ifcikration, iWu^tvatcd their utter inadequacy to secure the dignity, peace, and safety of tlie republic, and asserted the absolute neces- sity of a more energetic government. At the close of his s])ecch he offered to the Con- vention fifteen resolutions, in which were embodied the leading principles whereon to form a new government according to his views. I do not propose to consider in detail, nor even in a synoptical manner, the proceed- ings of that Convention, which occupied several hours each day for four months. I will merely direct attention to the really great men who composed it, and the measures that were adopted, and leave the reader to seek in other sources the interesting infor- mation concerning the events in the daily session" of that remarkable congress of wise men, whose efforts bore noble fruit for the political sustenance of mankind.^ The venerable Dr. Franklin, then near the close of a long and useful life, was the most conspicuous member of that Convention next to Washington. Thirty-three years before he had elaborated a plan of union for the colonies, to which neither the crown nor the provinces would listen ;3 now ho came to revive that plan, with full hope of success. Johnson, Rutledgo, and Dickinson had been members of the Stamp-act Con- tntion. His private record of the proceedings and dcbntca Is In the hands of hiB family. He became the private secretary of President Washington, and accompanied hhn on his tour through the Southern States lu 17111. He held the olflce of surveyor of the port of Philndi'lphln and Inspector of customs there until removed, for ])olltlcal causes, by Mr. Jefferson. He then started a dally newspaper, called "The Political and Commercial Keg- Isler." Major Jackson lived n life of nnsullled honor, and at his death was bnrled lb Christ Church yard, on Fifth Street, Philadelphia. A i)laln slab about three feet high marks the si)()t, and bears the following inscription: "Sacred to the memory of Major William Jackson : born March the fith, 175il ; depart- ed this life December the 17th, 18i!S. Also to Elizabeth Willing, his relict: born March the 'J7th, 17(iS; departed this life August the 6tb, 1S68." Mrs. Jackscm was ninety years of age at the time of her death. I am Indebted to Miss Ann Willing Jackson, daughter of Major Jackson, for the portrait given on the preceding ])age. It Is copied from a mlniaturo in her possession, painted by Trumbull. She also has a silhouette profile of her father, cut by Mrs. Mayo, of Ulchmond, Virginia, the mother of the late Mrs. General Wlulield Scott. The signature of Secretary Jackson Is with those of the other signers of the Constitution, on page S'i. ' Edmund Randolph was a son of an attorney general of Virginia before the Revolution. He was an eminent law- yer, and a warm j)atrlot throughout the old war for independence. He was a member of the Continental Congress from 1779 until 17S'J. He was active lu the Convention that formed the Constitution. He was elected Governor of Virginia lu 17SS, and Washington chose bim for his first attorney general of the United States In 1781). He was secretary of state lu 171t4, but, in con.sequence of being engaged In an Intrigue with the French minister, he retired from public life. He (lied In December, 1S13. ' Rhode Island was not represented In the Convention. Ignorant and unprincipled men happened to control the Assembly of the state at that time, and they refused to elect delegates to the C(mventlon. Bnt some of the best and most influential men in Rhode Island jolued In sending a letter to the Convent'on, In which they expressed their cordial sympathy with the objects of the movement, and promised their accpiiescence In whatsoever measures the majority might adopt. The following were the names of the delegates from the several states: Xew Jtmvpaltire,— John Langdon, John Pickering, Nicholas Oilman, and Benjamin West. Afa«»nr/i»M('f/»._Francls Dana, Elbrldge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorhani, Rufus King, and Caleb Strong. Coniuvtieiit — William Samuel Jobnsou, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth. A'cio I'ori.— Robert Yates, John Lansing, Jr., and Alexander Hamilton. ..Vcic./<'r»7/.— David Brcarley, William Churchill Houston, William Paterson, John Nellson, William Livingston, Abra- ham Clark, and Jonathan Dayton. /Vii)wn/?rn»iM.— Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jarcd Ingersoll, Thomas Fitzslramons, James WUeon, (iouverneur Morris, and Benjamin Franklin. /Jcfnicnrc— George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson. Richard Bassett, and Jacob Brown. 3/ii);//rt»(/.— James M'Henry, Daniel of Ht. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, .John Francis Mercer, and Lnther Martin. rir.(;ini«.— George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison, Jr., George Masrtn, and George Wythe. Patrick Henry having declined bis aiipointment, James M'Clurc was nominated to snpi)iy his place. North Carodna.— Richard Caswell, Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Willie Jones. Richard Caswell having resigned, William Blount was appointed as deputy in his place. W'illie Jones having also declined his appointment, his jdace was supplied by Hugh Williamson. South Carolina — John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, Charles C. PInckney, and Pierce Butler. Ofor.Tia.— William Few, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, GeorgeWalton, William Houston, and Nathaniel Pendleton. » " The Assemblies did not adopt It," said Franklin, "as they all thought there was too much iirfTojatit'c In It; and lu England It was judged to have too much of the demoeratic." JAOKSOM'S UO.Nl'JII'.NT. f ( 28 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Leading Members of the Convention. lU Objecta. Its Proceedinge. Oonveruenr Morris. Signing the Co >■„ gress in 1705, and tho last two had been compatriots of Washington in the Congress of 1774, Livingston, Siierman, Read, and Wythe had siiared the same honors. The last two, with Franklin, Sherman, Gerry, Clymer, Morris, and Wilson, had signed the Declaration of Independence. Tiio Continental army was represented by Washington, Mifflin, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Hamilton. Tho yonnger members, who had become conspicuous in public life after tho Declaration of Independence, were Hamilton, Madison, and Edmund Randolph. Tho latter was then Governor of Virginia, having suc- ceeded Patrick Henry, the "trumpet of sedition" when the states were British provinces. The Convention was marked by long and warm debates, and with dignity suited to tho cccasion. Tiio most prominent speakers were King, Gnrry, and Gorham, of Massa- chusetts; Hamilton and Lansing, of New York ; Ellsworth, Johnson, and Sherman, of Connecticut; Paterson, of New Jersey ; Franklin, Wilson, and Morris, of Pennsylvania; Dickinson, of Delaware ; Martin, of Maryland ; Randolph, Mason, and Madison, of Vir- ginia ; Williamson, of North Carolina, and the Pinckneys, of South Carolina. Such wore the men, all conspicuous in tho history of tho republic, who assembled for tho purpose of laying the broad foundations of a nation. They had scarcely a prece- dent in history for their guide. The great political maxim established by the Revolu- tion was, that the original residence of all human sovereignty is in the people: it "was for these founders of a great state to parcel out from the several commonwealths of which the new nation was composed, so much of their restricted power as tho peo- ple of the several states should be willing to dismiss from their local political insti- tutions, in making a strong and harmonious republic that should be at tho same time harmless toward reserved state rights. This was the great problem to be solved. "At that time," says a recent writer, " the world had witnessed no such spectacle as that of the deputies of a nation, chosen by the free action of great communities, and assembled for the purpose of thoroughly reforming its Constitution, by the exercise and with the authority of the national will. All that had been done, both in ancient and in modern times, in forming, mouldhig, or modifying constitutions of government, bore little re- semblance to the present undertaking of tho states of America. Neither among the Greeks nor the Romans was there a precedent, and scarcely an analogy."' Randolph suggested the chief business of the Convention in his proposition "that a NATIONAL government ought to be established, consisting of a supi-eme legislative, ex- ecutive, and judiciary." L^pon this broad proposition all future action was based ; and they had not proceeded far before it was clearly perceived that the Articles of Confed- eration were too radically defective to be the basis of a stable government. Therefore, instead of trying to amend them, the Convention went diligently at work to form an entirely new Constitution. In this they made slow progress, opinions were so conflicting. Plans and amendments were oflfered, and freely discussed. Day after day, and week after week, the debates contin- ued, sometimes with great courtesy, and sometimes with great acrimony, until the 10th of September, when all plans and amendments which had been adopted by the Convention were placed in the hands of a committee for revision and arrangement .^ By ' Curtls's Uialory of the Origin, Formation, and Adoption n* the Consti- tution of the United States. ' This committee, appointed on the 8th, consisted of Messrs. Madison, Hamilton, King, Johnson, and Gonvemeur Morris. They were directed to " revise the style of, and arrange, the articles agreed to by the House." They placed the matter In the hands of Qouvemcur Morris for the pur- pose. In language and general arrangement, the National Constitution was the work of that eminent man.* • Qouvemeur Morris was bom near the Westchester shore of the Harlem River, New York, at the close of January, 176!!. He was educated at King's (now Columbia) College, in the city of New York, studied law under the eminent this commii considered the 15th it copy on pai far more im ence, eleven In tho pe part of a few — so seiioiis utter failure, adopted, and bers wished ively, but wit desire of Dr and biing ab( Morris, that words : " Don sci-ibed," etc. Hamilton p ment did not government, own ; but is it the chance of | The appeals secured the si Mason and Ra tion.* While occupied by W have often and fears as to its i whether it was rising sun." The Conventi the new Constil William Smith, of tha the Continental Cong on a diplomatic missi flunlly appointed min Senate of the United S ' For a full account 1 lion, and Adoption oft) ia two volumes : New » George Mason was those of his associates was octive in the Conv Virginians have nlwayi state sovereignty— the Patrick Henry, he oppc ment for converting tl autHmnofl792, atthea ' We shall have occi United States in 1812. ♦The names of the d are given \n om fac-sin parlmcnt at Washingfo York (Yates and Lansi offlclally represented. j)ortant, and In the place llton, of New York." i This is owing to the pa would have done. Thes( OF THE WAR OF 1812, 29 Signing the Constitution. Hesitation on the part of aome. Patriotic Course of Franklin, Hamilton, and otherR. this committee a Constitution was reported to the Convention. It was taken up and considered clause by clause, discussed, slightly amended, and then engrossed. On the loth it was agreed to by the delegates of all the states present. On the 17th a fair copy on parchment was brought in to receive the signatures of the members — an act far more important in all its bearings than the signing of the Declaration of Independ- ence, eleven years before.' In the performance of that act, as in the former, there was some hesitation on the part of a few. There had been serious differences of opinion during the whole session — so serious that at times there seemed a probability that the Convention would be an utter failure. There were still serious differences of opinion when the instrument was adopted, and delicate questions arose about signing it. A large majority of the mem- bers wished it to go forth to the people, not only as the act of the Convention collect- ively, but with the individual sanction and signature of each delegate. This was the desire of Dr. Franklin, and, with pleasant words, ho endeavored to allay all irritation and bring about such a result. It was finally agreed, on the suggestion of Gonverneiir Morris, that it might be signed, without implying personal sanction, in these closing words : " Done by consent of the states present. In testimony whereof, we have sub- scribed," etc. Hamilton patriotically seconded the efforts of Franklin, notwithstanding the instru- ment did not have his approval, because it did not give power enough to the national government. " No man's ideas," he said, " are more remote from the plan than my own ; but is it possible to deliberate between anarchy and confusion on one side, and the chance of good on the other?" The appeals of Franklin and Hamilton, and the example of Madison and Pinckney, secured the signatures of several dissatisfied members ; and all present, excepting Mason and Randolph, of Virginia,^ and Gerry, of ^Massachusetts,^ signed the Constitu- tion.* While this important work was in progress, Franklin looked toward the chair occupied by Washington, at the back of which a sun was painted, and observed, " I have often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting : at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising sun." The Convention, by a carefully worded resolution, recommended the Congress to lay the new Constitution before the 2)eople (not the states), and ask them, the source of all William Smith, of that city, and was licensed to practice in 1771. He was an active patriot durin;; the war, serving in the Continental Congress, on committees of safety, etc. He resided some time in Philadclpliia. He was scut abroad on a diplomatic mission, and resided for a while in Paris. He afterward went to London on public business, and was flually appointed minister plenipotentiary at the French Court. He returned to America in 17118, was elected to the Senate of the United States, and was active In public and i)rivate life until his deatli in ISlfl. 1 For a full account In detail of all the proceedings in relation to the Constitution, see the Uixtor;/ of the Origin, Forma- tion, and Adoption of the Cotutitution of the United States, with Notices of its I^rincipal FramerSfhy GeoTgo TIcknor Curtis, la two volumes : New York, Harper & Brothers. ' George Mason was Washington's neighbor and early personal friend. He was a statcsffinn of the first order among those of his associates In Virginia, and a thorough republican. He was the fi-amer of the Constitution of Virginia, and was active in the Convention that formed the National Constitution. He was so Imbued with the state pride for which Virginians have always been noted, that he would not agree to that Constitution because It did not recognize individual state sovereignty— the very rock on which the new republic was then in danger of being wrecked. In conjunction with Patrick Henry, he opposed its adoption In the Virginia Convention, professing to believe that it would be the instru- ment for converting the government into a monarchy. He died at his seat on the Potomac (Gunston Hall) in the autumn of 1702, at the age of sixty-seven years. ' We shall have occasion to consider the public character of Mr. Gerry hereafter. He was Vice-President of the United States in 1812. * The names of the delegates have been given in note 2, page 27. The names of those who signed the Constitution are given in our facsimiles of their signatures, which have been engraved from the original parchment in the State De- partment at Washington. It will be seen that Alexander Hamilton's name stands alone. His colleagues from New York (Yates and Lansing) had left the Convention in disgust on the 1st of July, and New York was considered not officially represented. Bnt Hamilton, who had not swerved from duty, was there. The weight of his name was im- portant, and In the place that should have been filled with the names of delegates from his state was recited, " Mr. Ham- ilton, of New York." It will be observed that the hand-writing of all seems defective, the lines appearing irregular. This is owing to the parchment on which their names are written, which did not receive the Ink as freely as paper would have done. These irregularities have all been carefully copied, so as to give a perfect /ac-simifc of the originals. »i I i|ifi!lf ,l,n #f-^ I . V' 30 PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK If ii I j i; « 1 Ji'' * ? ' N Signntttreg to tho Nntiuiml Constitution. ^ sA^-ey^^ (>^.^Cy^ ^,X (y'i^ •'< ^ I {/^cA^c^ f^l^.^^^ \ -^fc RetolatJoiK Mm '■'■Itesolvm witli tho res OP THE WAR OF 1819. 31 RMolatloiii nent to the State LeKl*l*t>>rei. BlKnntnrea to the NRttonoI Conilltntlon. sovereignty, to tfttify or reject it. Tho viows of thu great majority of tlio luumbers of Congress wore coiiuurrciit, ami on tiie 28lli of September that body ^^Jiesolvcd ununimousli/fThiit tlic said report [of the Convention to the Congress], witli tho rcsolutics and letters accompanying thu same, bo transmitted to tho several J-^i^rrL^ ^/'ffi^^^\ /c<n ^t^T^t^ ,/fi.a.^O^ 9*^ t!7 di I 89 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ConvoDtloiu of tho Ponpl*. Tb« Fcdenllft. fliirniitnroi to th« National OonatUatloo. LegiHiaturi's, in ordei* to be niihmittrd to n Cotivention of JMvfjntfs chnnen in enrh state iiY TiiK i>Kori.K TiiKKKUF, iu coulbrtuity to tlio resolves ot'tbo Convoutioa made ami provided in tliat case." Conventions of tliopw;)/^ were accordingly licld'in tlio several states to confiider tlie Constitution. Lonj? ami stirring debates occurred in these Conventions, and at every piihllo gathering and private lioartli-stono in the land. Hamilton, Madison, Jay, and others fed ihe public understanding witli able essays on government and in favor of the now Constitution.' That instrument was rood and discussed every whore. IJut it e^Aj c^^/^ BIQNATtlRES TO TIIE OONBTITCTIOS. ' The essays of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay were published mid'T the pcncral title of The FederalM. It was origin- ally designed to comprise the eerles within twenty, or, at moBt, twenty-five numhcrs, but they extended to elghty-flve. Of these llamilton wrote sixty-live. The first nnmber, written by Hamilton in the cabin of a Hudson Elver sloop, was Ratlflrntlon of tli was nine mo ratified it — t ninth state w i-'lst of J line, adopted nieas tho first Wet Uovernment s tho Constituti Theso met on chief ni.igistr; was inaiigurat( of all the state) After oarno! ment involvini I advantages an fairly tried, it \ order to form provide for the of Liberty to oi lor the United S pnbllshed on tho 27th They were publlHh(Ml i III AngiiBt, I (MS: "vvIk appeared, that work I J lirluclples of freedom o lift connected In civil so ' That state was Rhn Constitution in tlie fol cumber 18, UST; (Jeorgi April 28, UHS; South Ci •-'11, 17S8; North Caroiln tumn of 1781), President Ktate, he avoided It. ■^ The Constitution wo pr ance to a state as para ll wa» Intended to d. th os|)ecialiy, such a result state in the League, and to the breaking out of th feeling was somewhat nn Yet much of the old pri(i thought of hnvln^i the " sovereignty. The new Ic Henry violently denonnci stood its character when, to speak the language '»' valor, I would have a reaf cause, as he asserted, it " eruments." Tlie opposition In sever tlie Constitution were assi wrote: "Their strength, a to inflame the passions ar lu-guments, or fair and imp ify and debase tlic characi The papers, tiy Colonel sense of superiority to all Imne of progress and natlo (,'iiiiiing. In the:<e papers their worship and behavlo: rcijarded as demoralizing. York had not more favor. reformers. New Jersey, ii were not tolerated to exerc The merlM of Penn were i nhoais," they had the virtut OF THE WAR OF 1812. 33 Katifl Oppoiltlon to It. TbaanUlyrad oftha VirgtnlMM. was nino moiitlis nftcr its adoption by the Convention, before the people of nine states latiHc'd it — tlwit ntinibor hcini; necessary to make it the organic law of the iaixl. That ninth state was New IlainpHliire, ami the nioinentona act of the people occurred on I'lo 2l8t of June, 1788. The (General Congress was then in session, and, on the 2d of July, adopted measures "for putting the said Constitution into operation." They appointed the first Wednesday of the ensuing March as the day when the fimctions of the new tjovcrnnient should commence their action. The people in the states that had ratified the Constitution chose tl'eir presidential electors in cimiplianco with its provisions. These met on the first Wednesday in February, 17H0, and elected George Washiugtoft chief m.ngistrate of the new republic, and John Adams Vicc-IVesident. Washington was inaugurated on the 30th of April, and before the close of the year the inhabitants of all the states but one had mtified the National Constitution.* After earnest delibevaMon — after the free discussion of every principle of govorn- inont involving state rights and state sovereignty — after a careful comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of a consolidated nation and the confederacy they had fairly tried, it was solemnly declared that "We, tfie Pkople of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the conunon defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."^ published on tho 2Tth of October, IT'^T, a little moro thun a month nftcr the ndjonrnmcnt of the Nntlonal Convention Thoy were published fonr tlmc8 n week In n New York daily paper. Of these cpfays Wn»hln(;ton wrote to Ilamlltou ill Angimt, liHH: "When tho tnuifilont clrcnmstnncen and fiijjitlvc performnnce.i ^hlch nltend this crisis shall have dl»- nppcared, that work IThe FeiieralM] will merit the notice of posterity, becanso In It are candidly and nhly discussed the principles of ft-cedom and tho topics of government, which will bo always Interesting to mankind, so hniff as they shall be connected In civil society." 1 That state was ]{hode Island, which held out nntll the spring of 1790. Tho people In the several states ratlflcil the Constitution In tho following order: /Mnirarc, December 7, ITST ; Pennsylvania, December 12,17X7; New .Jersey, Do- f ember 18, 1787 ; Ocorffln, January 2, 1788 ; Connecticut, January ft, 1788 ; Massachusetts, February ti, 1788 ; Maryland, April 28, 1788; South Carolina, May 2a, 1788; New Hampshire, .Tunc 21, 1788; Virginia, June 2C, 1788; Now York, July •Jtl, 1788 ; North Carolina, November 21, 1788 ■ Rhode Island, May 2t>, 17ftO. During tho recess of Congress, in the au- tumn of 178!), President Washington visited the New England States. As Rhode Island yet remained a kind of foreign state, he avoided It. 1 The Constltutl(m was violently assailed by tho " State Rights" or state sovereignty men— men who regarde-^ allc- i; ance to a state as paramount to that dno to the national government. Their chief objection was that It destroyed (as II was intended to dv Ihc alleged sovereignty of the several states, and constituted a consolidated nation. In Virginia, csi)eclally, such a result was looked upon by the proud aristocracy with great disfavor. Virginia was then the niling state in the League, and her political power wan swayed by a few flimlllea. These were exceedingly proud, and, down to the breaking out of tho war for Independence, they looked with disdain upon the people of tho other colonieu." This feeling was somewhat modlfleu by the operatiims of the war, and new men were found at the helm of the vessel of state. Yet much of the old pride remained, and the leading Virginians, with n few honorable exceptions, could not bear tho thought of having the "Old Dominion," as they were proud to call the coinmonweailh, stripped of her independent sovereignty. The new lenders sei/.cd ujion this dominant state pride and made It subservient to their wishes. Patrick Henry violently denounced the Constitution because of Its destructive effects upon state sovereignty. Ho clearly under- stood its character when, with n loud voice, in the Virginia Convention, he demanded, " Who anthorlxed the Conventlcm to speak the language 'We, the people,' instead ot'We, the atatesl' Even from that illnstrions man who saved us by his valor, I would have a reason for his conduct." George Mason, In the same Convention, denounced the Constitution be- cause, ns he asserted, it "changed tho confederation of states into a consolidation, and would annihilate the state gov- ernments." The opposition in several other states was very powerful, for various reasons, and the Constitution and the friends of the Constitution were assailed with the most outrageous misrepresentations. Of the opponents In Virginia Washington wrote : "Their strength, as well as those of the same class in other states, seems to lie in misrepresentation, and a desire to inflame the passions and alarm the fears by noisy declamation, rather than to convince the understanding by sound lu-guments, or fair and impartial statements. BafBed in their attacks upon the Constitution, they liave attempted to vil- ify and debase the characters who formed it, but I trust they will not succeed." The papers, by Colonel Byrd (who was a member of the Colonial Council), above referred to, afford a glimpse of the nense of superiority to all the other colonists entertained by the leading families In Virginia, which was always the Ijnne of progress and national feeling, and made large numbers of tho politicinns of that state dlsnnlonists from the be- giiuiing. In the;<o papers the New Englnnders were spoken of as "a puritanical sect, with Pharisaical peculiarities In their worship and behavior." Trade was an unfit calling, and a trade eluding laws, though pnmounced void, was Justly regarded as demoralizing. Such, thoy charged, was much of the trade of the Eastern provinces. Tho dwellers ot New York had not more favor. The Dutch were also traders— a " slippery people"— intrndcrs on Virginia— encroachors and reformers. New Jersey, In a religious aspect, was not less obnoxious, peopled by "a swarm of Scots Quakers, who were not tolerated to exercise the gifts of the spirit In their own country ;" by " Anabaptists," too, and some " Swedes." The merits of Penn were equivocal- he was not immaculate ; but, though "Quakers had flocked to Pennsylvania In shoals," they had the virtues of " diUlgence nnd frugality," and the " prudence" which became non-combatants. Mary- l! . * See Byrd'B We»towr Paptrt. C 34 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Diasolntion of the Continental CongreBB. Its Character, and that of the new Oovemment. I :i:|i' i ip I M ■iii 'r' '.% I With the birth of the nation on the 4tli of March, 1789, the Continental Congress, the representative of the League, expired. Its liistory is one of tlio most remarkable on record. It was first an almost spontaneous gathering of patriotic men, chosen by their fellow-citizend in a time of great perplexity, to consult upon the public good. They represented different provinces extending a thousand miles along the Atlantic coast, v.'ith interests as diversified as the climate and geography. With boldness un- equaled and faith unexampled, they snatched the sceptre of rule over a vast dominion from imperial England, of whose monarch they were subjects, and assumed the func- tions of sovereignty by creating armies, issuing bills of credit, declaring the provinces free and independent states, negotiating treaties with foreign governments, and, finally, after eight long years of struggle, wringing from their former sovereign his acknowl- edgment of the independence of the states which they represented. The career of the Congress was meteor-like, and astonished the world with its brilliancy. It was also short. Like a half-developed giant exhausted by mighty efforts, it first exhibited lassi- tude, then decrepitude, and at last hopeless decay. Poor and weak, its services forgot- ten by those who should have been grateful for tliera, it lost the respect of all mankind, and died of politica' marasmus. Out of its remains, phocnix-like, and in full vigor and grand proportions, arose a nation whose existence had been decreed by the will of true sovereignty — the people — and whose perpetuity depends upon that will. It immediately arrested the profound attention of the civilized woj-ld. It was seen that its commerce, diplomacy, and dignity were no longer exposed to neglect by thirteen distinct and clashing legislative bodies, but were guarded by a central power of wonderful energy. The prophecy of Bishop JJcrkeley was on the eve of fulfillment.^ England, France, Spain, and Holland placed their representatives at the seat of the new government, and the world acknowledged that the new-born nation was a power — positive, tangible, indubitable. land was a commodious retreat for Papists, for whom "England was too hot," and to whom, as a neighbor, Virginia was a little cold. The Carol!~ia8, left "derelict by the French and Sapaniards," were the regions of pines and serpents —dismal in their swamps, and deadly in their malaria. "Thus, in the eyes of her favored few," says a late writer, " Virginia was the paradise of the New World." For a farther illustrntiou of this subject, see Ilintnry of the Itrpublic a/ the United States o/Amerira, astraeal in the WritinriK of Alexander Hamilton and Ar» Contemporarien, by John C. Hamilton. • When inspired with his transatlantic mission, Bishop Berkeley wrote his six "Verses on the Prospect of Plantintr Arts and Learning in America," in which he predicted the rising greatness of the New World, and employed the oft- quoted line, " Westward the course of empire takes its way." Fonndations of dents ap])ear ujx tjie preceding cl tri-eat Britain w.i "ear. TJie war arms. While statcsnK people wei-e layin fishinent of mater wdcr of tilings, a, gun to comijrehen I lie treaty limits ( 'lad already obtaii tlie fertile regions ■''tretch, pai-allcl wi (legi-ees oflatitude 'I'eir cabin fires fro Mississippi. Alreai ous highway for ai ^^^'go the supremo Ah ady peace and "zalion had been pre l^ytlie ethics of the reduced to less than seven 1 rtin farther reduced '.twet «t West Point and ..h,,r,^" i c«ce wag negotiated wli OF THE WAR OF 1812. 35 Fonodations of Ooverament laid by the People. Tbey compreheod the Value of the Oreat Wilderness. CHAPTER n. ' Old burial-places, once sacred, are plnndered, Aud thickly with bones is the fallow field strown i The bond of coutderate tribes has been sundered— The long council hall of the brave overthrown. The Sac and Miami bowmen no longer Preserve at the door-posts unslumbcring guard ; We fought, but the pale-browed invaders were stronger; Our knife-bludes too blaut, and theii bosoms too hard." W. H. C. HOSMEB. ga^ S have seen thr. development of weak, isolated commonwealths into a powerful, consolidated nation, and are now to observe the growth of that nation in resources and strength until, by an exhibition of its powers in vindication of its rights before the world, it became absolutely independent, and was re- spected accordingly. That assertion and vindication Avere made by the moral forces of legislation and the patriotism of the people, co- working with the material forces of army and navy. In this view is involved the whole drama of the contest known in history as the War of 1812, or the Second Straggle for Independence — a drama, many of whose characters and inci- dents appear upon the stage simultaneously Avith the persons and events exhibited in the preceding chapter. Looking back from the summer of 1812, when war against Great Britain was formally declared, the causes of the conflict appear both remote and near. The war actually began years before the Pi-esident proclaimed the appeal to arms. While statesmen and politicians were arranging the machinery of government, the people were laying bi'oad and deep the visible foundations of the state, in the estab- lishment of material interests and the shaping of institutions consonant with the new order of things, and essential to social and political prosperity. They had already be- gun to comprehend the hidden resources and immense value of the vast counti-y within the treaty limits of the United States westward of the Alleghany Mountains. They liad already obtained i)rophetic glimpses of a future civilization that should flourish in the fertile regions watered by the streams whose springs are in those lofty hills that stretch, parallel with the Atlantic, from the Lakes almost to the Gulf, across fourteen degrees of latitude. Pioneers had gone over the grand hills and sent rp the smoke of their cabin fires from many a fertile valley iri'igated by the tributaries of ♦.he Ohio and ]\Iississippi. Already they had learned to regard the Father of Waters as a great aque- ous highway for an immense inland commerce soon to be created, and had begun to urge the supreme authority of the land to tre.it with Spain for its free navigation. All ady ])e,ice and friendship with the savage tribes on the remote frontiers of civil- ization had been promised by treaties made upon principles of justice and not fashioned l)y the ethics of the sword.' • Necessity, if not conscience, recommended this policy, for at the close of the Revolution the " regnlar army" had been reduced to less than seven hundred men, and no officer was retained above the rank of captain. This force was soon ftHl farther reduced • > twenty-flvc mcu to guard tiie military stores at Pittsburg, and flfty-flve to perform military duty !it West Point and nhyr magazines. Peace was negotiated with most of the tribes which had taken part against the United States in the late war. A 36 nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Indian Treaties. Anti-slavery Hovements. Tlie Ordinance of 1T8T. First Settlements in Ohio. I iii:, ii By treaty with the chief tribes between the Ohio River and the Gi'eat J.itkes, and the cession by Virginia' to the United States of all claims to lands in that region, the general government became absolute possessor of a vast counti-y, out of which several flourishing states have since been foi-med.^ While the National Convention was in session at Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, the Continental Congress, sitting at New York, feeble and dying, with only eight states represented, took up and disposed of in a satisfactory manner a subject second ooly in importance to that under discussion in the capital of Pennsylvania. They • jniyis, adopted,* by unanimous vote, "An Ordinance for the government of the Tei- ™''- ritory of the United States northwest of the Ohio."^ In anticipation of this action, extensive surveys had been made in the new territory. Soon after the passiige of the ordinance above mentioned, a sale of five millions of aci'cs, extending along the Ohio from the Muskingum to the Sciota, were sold to the " Ohio Company," which was composed of citizens of New England, many of whom had been officers of the Con- tinental army.* A similar sale was made to John Cleve Symmes, of New Jersey, for two millions of acres, in the rich and beautiful region between the Great and Little Miami Rivers, including the site of Cincinnati. These were the fii-st steps taken toward the settlement of the Northwestern Terri- toi-y, in which occurred so many of the important events of the War of 1812. Hitherto New England emigration had been chiefly toVermoui Noi- ■ -n New Hampshire, and the Territory of Maine. Now it poured, in a vast and i , * stream, into the Ohio countiy. Genei'al Rufus Putnam, at the head of a colony fi oin Massachusetts, founded a settlement* (the first, of Europeans, in all Ohio, if we except the Moravian missionary stations^) at the mouth of the Muskingum River, and named it Marietta, in honor of Campus Martiua Maria Antoi Campus Mai Jy comnienc against the the autumn party of se selves upon and founded mouth of the Washington Ijuilt a short the site of Cii It has been in the yeai-s ] twenty thous and children w in boats, to be growth of emp Soon after St. Clair,2an ^ Revolution, wa president. He •i great measui-. where duty to i treaty was conclnded at Fort Stanwix (now Rome, New Yorlc) in October, 1TS4, with the Six Nations. Another was con- cluded at Port M'lutosh in January, 1786, with the Wynndots, Bclawnres, Clilppewas, and Ottawas; and another with the Cherokees, at Hopewell, in November the same year. Dissatisfaction having arlcen concerning remuneration for lands, two new treaties were made at Fort Ilannar, on the Musltingum, Ohio, at the beginning of 1789, by which allow- ances were made for ceded lands. By treaty, the Indian titles to lands extending along the northern bank of the Ohio and a considerable distance inland, as far west as the Wabash Hivcr, were extinguished. This tract comprised about 9eve"teen millions of acres. ' The deed of cession, signed by Virginia commissioners, wit.i Thomas Jefferson at their head, was executed on the first day of March, 1784. It stipulated that the territory ceded should be laid out and formed into states, not less than one hundred nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square ; that the states so formed should be "distinct repub- lican states," and admitted as members of the National Union, having the same rights of sovereignty, etc., as the older states. After the cession was executed the Congress referred the matter to a committee, of which Mr. Jeffer«i» was chairman. That committee reported an ordinance containing a plan for the government of the whole West' '■ ory north and south of the Ohio, from the thirty-flrst degree of north latitude to the northern boundary of th ; .. .. : tales, it being supposed that other states owning territory south of the Ohio would follow the example of Vir,; ' - ■ Ian proposed to divide the great Territory into seventeen states, and among the conditions was the remarkable u, ofiertheycnr 1800, there shall be neither slavery nor Involuntary servitude In any of the said states, other i.i • ^|r 'shment of crimes whereof the parly shall have been duly convicted." This provision did not get the voti' oi '.' ,, the num- ber necessary to adopt it. New York, New jersey, and Pennsylvania, with the four New England S' . .oted for It ; North Carolina was divided; Delaware and Georgia were unrepresented; aIb'tI." 'id, Virginia, and South <.'c il.na voted against it. (See Journal of Congress, April 19, 1784.) After expunging this proviso the report was adopted, but the subject was not deflnltoly acted upon. » Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. ' This ordinance was reported by a committee, of which Mr. Dane, of Massachusetts, was chairman. It contained Mr. JclTerfon's anti-slavery proviso, with a clause relative to the renditiou of fugitive slaves, similar in form to the one incor- porated In the National Constitution a few weeks later. « This company was formed In Boston, and Rev. Manasseh Cutler, and Winthrop Sargent wore the authorized agents of the association to make the contract with the United States Treasury Board. Among the associates were Oeiiornls Parsons and Rufus Putnam, of Connecticut ; General Varnum and Commodore Whipple, of Rhode Island ; General Tup- per, of Massachusetts, and men of lesser note in public life. » Putnam and his party landed on the site of Marietta on the 7th of April, 1788. Tlie (.•■ not yet arrived, so they established temporary laws for their own government. These wer<. and nailed to a tree. Return J. Meigs, afterward governor of the state, was appointed to was the beginning of government in the State of Ohio. 6 These devoted missionaries were the first white inhabitants who took up their abode w. State of Ohio. The Rev.John Frederick Post and Rev. John Ileckcwoldcr bad penetrated the Vv llderncss In this direction before the commencement of the Revolution. Their first visit was as early as 1701. Others followed, and they estab- lished three stallons, or villages of Indian converts, on the Tuscarawas River, within the limits of the present county of that name. These were named Schocnbnin, Onadenhutten, and Salem. The latter was near the present village of Port emor of the territory hurt 'dished by being written I .ainiater the laws. Such [.e pr jsent limits of the Washington. There ] welder resided for somj and there his daught. nanna Maria was born ( «thofApril,nsi. Shew first white child born in nndlsyet living tlSrt?] at 'ehcm. Pennsylvania, ii posse.jsionofherment« "Itlcs. She has been de a number of years, aud ;" alate in conversation. hand is firm, and she w with vigor, as her signal '■irefullycopiedintheen >"ig, made at the close of] "■'<••«(«. Itwasappende an autograph note to '"ler. The portrait was 1 en by the Daguerrelan , ''■S8 at that time. In a dl kept by (he younger pu: -;f the Bethlehem Load Hhool, where Miss H,.,. welder was educated, u„, date of December zV "' a- "ith gateways through thr Ar,.hur8t.01alrw'„s„ Port rT"'?" '" """• "nd ^ fortLigonler.inPcnnsvIvi ^■.Woneli„,hecontiuent«r settled in Pennsylvania. I governor of the newly-oJf ^'vived his mlsforln'nes^ 'rw"!},;"'"-'" August. Ifi Wim8mB.Qiie8,nmem OF THE WAR OF 1812. 37 Campus Martius aod Fort Waahlngton. Hiss Heckewelder. General St. Clair. Maria Antoinette, the queen of Louis the Sixteenth, of France. A stockade fort, called Campus Martius, was immediate- -,i^^_. - t; ly commenced, as a protection - -~ against the hostile Indians.' In the autumn of the same year a l)arty of settlers seated them- selves upon Symmes's purchase, and founded Columbia, near the mouth of the Little Miami. Fort Washington was soon afterward built a short distance below, on the site of Cincinnati. It has been estimated that with- in the years 1788 and 1789, full twenty thousand men, women, ^ and children went down the Ohio in boats, to become settlers on its banks, growth of empire beyond the Alieghanies! Soon after the organization of the Northwestern Territory, Major General Arthur St. Ciair,2 an officer in the old French War, and in the Continental army during the Revolution, was appointed its governor by the Congress, of which body he was then president. He accepted the position with reluctance. "The office of governor was in a great measure forced on rae," he said, in a letter to a friend.' Yet, ever ready to go where duty to his country called him, he proceeded to the Territory in the summer of OAUPUg HABTICB. Since then, how wonderful has been the y ! Wn8hlnp;ton. There Ilecke- wclder resided for some time, nm\ there hia daughter Jo- hanna Maria was born, on the 0th of April, 17S1. She was the first white child born inOhIo, iind isyel living tlStiT] ntBeth- lehem. Pennsylvania, In full l>»s8P:Sslon of her mental fac- ulties. She has been deaf for a number of years, and uses ii slate in conversation. Ilcr hand is tlrm, and she writes with vigor, as her signature, carefully copied In the engra- ving, madeatthcclosc of 1869, attests. It was appended to an autograph note to the writer. The portrait was tak- en by the Daguerrelan pro- cess at that time. In a diary kept by the younger pupils of the Bethlehem boarding- school, where Miss Ilecke- wcldcr was educated, under date of December 23, 1788 (the year when Marietta was founded), occurs the follow- ing sentence : " Little Miss Tolly Ilcckewelder's papa re- tumc'' from Fort Pitt, which occasioned her and us great joy." See Bethlehem Souve- nir, 1858, p. 67. ' This fort was a regular parallelogram, with an exte- rior Hue of seven hundred and twenty feet. There was a strong block-house at each corner, surraonntcd by a tow- er and sentry-box. Uetwcen them were dwe'.llng-honses. At the outer corner of each block - house was a bastion, standing on four stout tim- bers. There were port-holes for musketry and artillery. These buildings were, all made ot gwkvcd timbers. Twenty feet in aihance of these was a row of very strong and large pickets. -<2-5>-^-?-t A> oc^z^ e^^^c ^.(y^ec>> d'M^, with gateways through them, and a few feet outside of these was placed a row of abati*. ' Arthur St. Clair was a native of Edinbnrp, in Scotland, where lie was born in 1734. lie came to America with Admi- ral BoBcawen In 17,TO, and served imder Wolfe as a lieutenant. After the peace In 1763 he was placed in command of Fort Ligonier, In Pennsylvania. When the Revolution broke out he esponecd the patriot cause, and was appointed a (olonel In the Continental army In .Tannary, 1776. He was active most of the time during that war, and after its close fettled in Pennsylvania. He was President of the Continental Congress in 1787, and the following year was appointed governor of the newly-organlaed Northwestern Territory. Ills services in that region arc recorded in the text. He survived his mlsforlnnes there almost a quarter of a century, and then died, In poverty, at Laurel Hill, lu Western Pennsylvania, In August, 1818, at the age of eighty-four years. ' William B. Giles, a member of Cougresa from Virginia. 38 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Temper of the WeBtera Indians. The Brltieh tampering with them. Lord Dorchester. Frontier Troops and Posts. Council at Fort IJ i rss. 1788, and t'^ok up his abode in Campus Mai'tius," with Winthrop Sargent as 8I0NATCBK OF WINTHROP BAKGENT. secretary or deputy, who acted as chief mag- istrate during the absence of the governoi*. St. Clair at once instituted inquiries, in ac- coi'dance with his instructions, concerning the temper of the Indians in the Territory. They were known to be exceedingly uneasy, and sometimes in frowning moods ; and the tribes on the Wabash, riumbering almost two thou- sand warriors, who had not been parties to any of the treaties, were decidedly hostile. They continued to make predatory incursions into the Kentucky settlements, notwithstand- ing chastisements received at the liands of General George Rogers Clarke, the " father of the Northwest," as he has been called ; and they were in turn invaded and scourged by bands of retaliating Kentuckians. These expeditions deepened the hostile feeling, and gave strength and fierceness to botli parties when, in after years, they met in battle. It soon became evident that all the tribes in the Territory, numbering full twenty thousand souls, were tampered with by British emissaries, sent out from the frontier forts, which had not been given up to the United States in compliance with treaty stip- ulations. Sir John Johnson (son of Sir William, of the Moliawk Valley, and tlie im- placable enemy of the United States') was the Inspector General of Indian Affairs in America, and had great influence over the savages; and Lord Dorchester (formerly e<i^u^ to wai". These cii-cumstan- ces gave rise to the opinion that the British govern- ment, which yet refused to send a representative to Sir Guy Carleton) was again governor general of those provinces,^ and, by speeches at Quebec and Montreal, di- rectly instigated the savages the United States, and treated the new republic with ill-concealed contempt, was pi'e- paring the way for an effort to reduce the members of the League to colonial vas- salage. The Confederacy was but feebly pi'epai'cd to meet hostilities on their northwestern frontier. The military force at the time the Territory was formed consisted of only about six hundred men, commanded by Brigadier General Ilarmar.^ Of these there were two companies of artillery, formed of volunteers wlio enlisted to put down Shays's Rebellion in Massachusetts. The fi-ontier military stations Avere Pittsburg, at the forks of the Ohio, Fort M'Intosh, on Beaver Creek, and Fort Franklin, on French Creek, near old Fort Venango, in Pennsylvania; Fort Ilarmai-, at the mouth of the Mu> > Sir John was the heir to the title and fortune of Sir William, and was at the head of the Loyalists in the Mohawk Valley at the boginninR of the Revolution. He had lived some time in England, and returned to settle in Canada in 1786. lie had suflcred in person and estate at the hands of the republicans, havltiK been expelled from his home, his property confiscated, and his family exiled. These circumstances made him a bitter and relentless foe, and ready tn strik a blow of retaliation. Ilia losses were made up by the British povernment by grants of land. He died at Mont- real ■ 11 issn, at the age of eighty-eight years. For a detailed account of his career during the old war for independence, see Lr/»sing's Field-liook of the Revobttlm, vol. i. ' Sir Guy Carleton was Governor of Canada when the old war for independence broke out, and contluaed there until its close. lie was acquainted with all the affairs of the Indians, and had great influence over them. ' Appointed brigadier generil on the 81st of July, 1787. l^inguni River; ville; and Fort ' Early in 1^8 chiefs and sachei leading men of t Sacs. With all t t'7 from the Mol. inents were confi Nations (or, rathe not rcpi-osented) eiicefl by BritisJi e ity of the treaty i council at Fort IL- of Virginia and K( Nearer the Gull the wily Spaniards 'ive temptations tc '^eague and join fc the time in questioi M'Gillivr.ay, a lialf- with the Spaniards, In view of all these war was gatherino- .,',''''''" .'■"rt was commcnc Major John Doughty. It „ ''onorofCoIoneLToslahlla; "fthe kind erected within tl ofan acre IJ„i,e,, states f 'he site of Cincinnati. Dui *;"«! after the treaty of o" f,,,, '",'"« 8""«t council at F following reason for their r, le Six Nations, who seduce olaw„res,Otta,vas,andPot I t I OF THE WAR OF 1812. 39 Conncll at Fort Hikrmar. Little Turtle's Opposition. Uneasiness of the Indians of the Gulf Region. rOKT nAllMAR. » January 9. kingum River ; Fort Stcnben, on the Ohio Rivei', now Jeffcrsonville, opposite Louis- ville ; and Fort Vincennes, on the Wabash River. Early in 1789* Governor St. Clair held a council at Fort Ilarmar" with chiefs and sacher,:? of tlie Six Nations. He also held a council with the leading men of the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, and Sacs. With all these representatives of thousands of Indians, scattered over the coun- try from the Mohawk Valley to that of the Wabash, he made treaties, when old agi'ee- ments were confirmed, and remunerations and boundaries were specified. The Six Nations (or, rather, five of the six nations, for the Mohawks, who were in Canada, were not represented) were faithful to the treaty ; but the gi'eat body of the others, influ- enced by British emissaries and unscrupulous traders, refused to acknowledge the valid- ity of the treaty made by their warriors and rulers.^ Within a few weeks after the council at Fort Harniar, parties of them were out upon the war-path on the frontiers of Virginia and Kentucky. Nearer the Gulf, the Creeks and Cherokees, brought into immediate contact with the wily Spaniards in Florida and at New Orleans, who were already preparing seduc- tive temptations to the settlei's in the trans-Alleghany valleys to leave the American League and join fortunes with tho children of Old Spain, became first uneasy, and at the time in question were assuming a hostile attitude. The Creeks, led by the talented M'Gillivr.ay, a lialf-breed, whose father was a Scotcliman, had formed a close alliance with the Spaniards, and through them miglit receive arms and other military supplies. In view of all these circumstances, tlie portentous cloud of a threatened general Indian war was gathering in the western horizon at the close of 17 ' ' This fort was commenced In the autumn of 1T85, by a detachment of United States troops under the command of Major John DouRhty. It was on the right baiilt of the Muskinijum, at Its Junction with the Olilo, and was named in lionor of Colonel Joslah Hamiar, to whose regiment Major Doughty's corps was attached. It was the first military post of the kind erected within the limits of Ohio. Tho outlines formed a regular pentagon, embracing about three fourths iif an acre. United States troops occupied it mitil 17!)0, when they left It to construct and occupy Fort Washington, on the site of Cincinnati. During the Indian wars that succeeded it was occupied by a few troops, and was Anally aban- doned after the treaty of Greenville In 1795. ' In the great council at Fort Greenville in ITflB, Little Turtle, the most active of the chiefs In the Northwest, gave the following reason for their refusal to comply with the treaties : " You have told me," he said, " that the present treaty "hould be founded upon that of Muskingum. I beg leave to observe to you that Ihat treaty was effected altnu'cther by the Six Nations, who seduced some of our young men to attend It, together with a few of the Chipi)ewas, Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, and Pottawatomies. I beg leave to tell you that I am entirely Ignorant of what was done at that treaty." i; s • ! f I 40 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Evidences of BritUb latrlgnes. Fropoeed Western Boundary of the United States. Indian Warriors on the Ohio. ill I i 'i y>i Yet nioro threatening was tlie aspect of affairs on the Western frontier in the spring of 1790, Serious trouble was evidently brewing. Major Hamtranick, a small Cana- dian Freuchiuan, and a spirited officer in the United States army, was in command of the military post at Vincennes, an important point on the Wabash,* surrounded by F"encli families, whose long residence made them influential among the .^.idians. Many of the latter spoke their language, and some had embraced the Roman Catholic relig- ion. Taking advantage of this intimate relationship, Hamtramck sent out Antoine Gamelin, with speeches to the Wabash and Miami Indians from Governor St. Clair, of- fering them peace and friendship. In the course of his tour Gamelin obtained positive evidence of the influence of the British at Detroit over the savage mind in the West. He traversed the country from Post Vincennes along the Wabash, and eastward to the Miami village, where the conjunction of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Rivers forms the Maumee, or Miami of the Lakes, at the present city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He made speeches himself, and oft'ored them St. Clair's ; but he was every where met with the reply that they could do nothing definitely until they could hear from Detroit. " You invite us to stop our young men," said the Kickapoos. " It is impossible to do it, being constantly encouraged by the British." " We are all sensible of your speech, and pleased with it," said Blue Jacket, chief warrior of the Shawnoese; "but we can not give you an answer without hearing from our father at Detroit." "We can not give a definite answer without consulting the commandant at Detroit," said Le Gris, the great chief of the Mianiis. " The English commandant at Detroit is our father since he threw down our French father," said the Shawnoese.^ And so, on all occa- sions, they were unwilling to accept proflers of peace with the United States without first consulting the commandant at Detroit, with whom Johnson and Carleton were in constant communication. Instigated by these men, these Western tribes insisted on the establishment of the Ohio River as the boundary between the Indians and the United States, and would listen to no other terms.^ Hamtramck was so well satisfied of these machinations of the British that he assured Governor St. Clair that a permanent peace with the savages was an impossibility. The governor, meanwhile, had received accounts of the depredations of the Inditms along the Ohio from the Falls (Louisville) to Pittsburg. They infested the banks in such numbers, Avaylaying boats and plundering and wounding the voyaging emigrants, that an utter cessation of the navigation of the river seemed inevitable. The principal rendezvous of the marauders was near the mouth of the Scioto, on the north bank of the Ohio, and to that point two hundred and thirty Kentucky volunteers and one hundred regular troops were sent, under General Ilarmar. They assembled at Fort Washington,* then not quite completed, and marched from thence to the Scioto. > Vincennes was so nnmcd by the French traders, who cstahliphed a trnding-post there as early as 1730. The name is in honor of the Sicur de Vincennes, an officer sent to the Miamis as early as 1705, and who commanded the post on the Wabash, after^vard called by his nam". It was alternately in possession of the Americans and British during the Rcvd- lutlon, while the hoad-qnarters of the latter were at Detroit. It is on the bank of the Wabash, one hundred miles from Its mouth, and Is the capital of Knox County, Indiana. « Gamclln's Journal, cited by Dillon, in his History of Indiana, p. 220. ' This curtailment of the boundaries of the United States, so as to prevent their control of the upper lakes and the valuable ftir trade of the country around them, was a favorite scheme of British statesmen. It was even proposed ns ii rine qua noii, at one time, by the British commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Peace in 1814, that the Indians inhabiting a portion of the United States within the limits establiehed by the Treaty i.. 1783 should be included as the allies of Great Britain in the projected paciflcatiou ; and that definite boundaries should be settled for the Indian lorri- tory. upon a basis which would have operated to surrender to a number of Indians, not probably exceeding a few tlioii- sands, the rights of sovereignty as well as of soil, over nearly one third of the territorial dominions of the United Statcf, inhabited by more than one hundred thousand of its citizens.* « Fort Washington was built on the site of a block-house erected by Ensign Luce within the limits of the present oilv of Cincinnati, which was first named Losantivllle by a pedantic settler, from the words If on anti viW; which he interpreted as meaning "the village opposite the mouth"— mouth of Licking River. Luce was at North Bend with a detachment of troops, charged with selecting a site for a block-house. Judge Symmes wished it to be built there, but Luce, accordiu); to the judge, was led to Cincinnati, as Losantivllle was then called, on account of his love for the beantifnl wife of a set- tler, who went there to reside because of the attentions to her of Ibe ensign at the Bend. Luce followed, and erected the IJ Fort Washlngtt The Indian approach, a tio'i return coriplishing A more f dition, to pe ami country ined upon, • 1790. ^^ Se eral Washington teen hiindre moved towai tlie hostile I around the I) the Maumee. obedience tc from Presiden had proviousl ter'' to the B tliat the e.xpc. He added that • See American State Papert, Ix., 832 to 421, Inclusive. realized. Ilarmar reac dian town the i din, with some into an arabusc (an eminent Mi; Goshen state ro gun, while the r tain Armstrong, ages dance in fr£ Harinar move block-house there; am stnicture, and stood npc Streets, east of Eastern traveler, Mrs. Trollope, composed of a number Some, better (Inishcd thi ofgronnd,withastron(i ground on which the foi autumn of ITflO, Governc little viUage of Cinclnna the West, as It has been ' These consisted of th ed light troops, and two ' This has been mistal, tribes of the Shawnoese, Shawnoese. There was jIteofXonia. There w,i fort, In Ross County. Tl within the present limits 1 ( OF THE WAR OF 1812. 41 Furt Washington, on the Site of Clucinnatt. Harmar'B Expedition againat the Indlani. » ITOO. rOBT WABUINOTON, ON TUF. BITE OV CINOINIiATI. The Indians fled on their approach, and the expeui- tin returned without ac- complishing any thing. A more fonnidablo expe- dition, to penetrate the Mi- ami country, was determ- ined upon, and, at the close of September," Gen- eral Ilarinar left Fort Washington with over four- teen hundred troops,' and moved toward the heart of tlie hostile Indian country around the head waters of the Maumee. St. Clair, in obedience to instructions from President Washington, had previously sent a let- ter"* to the British commandant at Detroit, courteously informing him that the expedition had no designs upon any possessions of the crown. He added that he had every reason to expect, after such a candid explanation, that the commandant would neither countenance nor assist the tribes in their hostilities. Of course this ex- pectation was net realized. Ilarmar reached the Maumee at the middle of October. As he approached an In- dian town the inhabitants fled, leaving it to be burned by the invaders. Colonel Har- din, with some Kentucky volunteers and thirty regulars, was sent in pursuit. He fell into an ambuscade of one hundred Indians, under Mish-i-kin-a-kwa, or Little Turtle (.an eminent Miami chief), about eleven miles from the site of Fort Wayne, where the Goshen state road crosses the Eel River. The frightened militia fled without firing a gun, while the regulars stood firm until twenty -two of their number were slain. Cap- tain Armstrong, who escaped, stood in mud and water up to his chin, and saw the sav- ages dance in fmntic joy because of their victory. Harmar moved about two miles to Chillicothe'^ and destroyed it; then, after being >> September 19. i?:?'. y^. ^i^-^-^^^^^Po ^^^--9^^ block-house there ; and In 1T90 Major Donghty built Fort Washington on the same spot. It was a nide but strong Btnicturc, and stood upon the eastern boundary of the town as originally laid out, between the prci^ont Third and Fourth streets, east of Eastern Row, now Broadway, which was then a "two-pole alley." The celebrated EnsiUsh writer and traveler, Mrs. Troilope, resided in Clucinnatt for a while, and had a noted bazar on the site of the fort. That work wai composed of a number of stronjily-built hcwn-log cabins, a story and a halM'' height, arranged for soldiers' barracks. Some, better finished than the majority, were used by the officers. They formed a hollow square, inclosing about an acre of ground, with a strong block-house at each angle. One of these was Lnre's. These were built of the timber from the grouud ou which the fort stood. In 1792 Congress reserved fifteen acres around it for the use of the garrison. In the autumn of 1790, Governor St. Clair arrived at Fort Washington, organized the County of Hamilton, and decreed that the little village of Cincinnati, commenced around the fort, should be the connty seat. Thus commenced the Queen City of the West, as it has been called. ' These consisted of three battalions of Virginia militia, one battalion of Pennsylvania militia, one battalion of monnt- ed light troops, and two bcttalions of regulars— in all, 1463. Of these, !120 were regulars. » This has been mistaken for the present Chillicothe on the Scioto. ChiiUcothe was the name of one of the principal tribes of the Shawnoese, and was a favorite name for a village. There were several of that name in the country of the Shawnoeso. There was Old Chillicothe, where Boone was a captive for some time. It was on the Little Miami, on the site of Xenla. There was another on the site ofWestfnll, in Pickaway County ; and still another on the rite of Frank- fort, In Ross Connty. There was an Indian town of that name on the site of the present Chllllcotbo, All these were within the present limits of Ohio. It ejguifled " the town," or principal one. ■ll ^ 1 » 43 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle near Fort Wayne, and Unrmar'H Defeat. The Diaaster and Ita Coni)0(iuonre». • October 21, IT'.M). menaced by the Indians, ho turned hia face toward Fort Washington,* That night was a starry one, and Hardin, who was full of fight, proposed to Ilarniar a surprise of tiie Indians at the head of the Mauniee, where they had a vil- lage on one side of the river and an encampment of warriors on the other side. Har- mar reluctantly complied, and four hundred men were detached for the purpose.' Six- ty of them were regulars, under Major Wyllys. They marched in three columns (the regi'.lars in the centre), and pushed forward as rapidly as possible, hoping to fall upon the Indians before dawn. But it was after sunrise before they reached the bank of the Maumee. A j)lan of attack was soon arranged. Major Hall, with a detachment of mi- litia, was to pass around the village at the bend of the Maumee, cross the St. Mary's and the St. Joseph's, gain the rear of the Indian encampment unobserved, and await an attack by tiie main body of the troops in front. These, consisting of Major M'Mul- lin's l)attalion. Major Fontaine's cavalry, and the regulars under Major Wyllys, were to cross the Maumee !}', and near the usual ford, and tliua surround the savages. The game was sj)oilcd by the imprudence of Major Hall, who fired prematurely xipon a solitary Indian and alaniu .. the encannjment. The startled Miamis Avere instantly seen flying in difterent directions. The militia under M'Mullin and the cavalry under Fontaine, who had crossed the river, started in pursuit, in disobe- dience of orders, leaving the regulars under Wyllys, who had also crossed the Mau- mee, unsupported. The lat- ter were attacked by Little Turtle and the main body of the Indians, and driven back with great slaughter, llichardvillc, a half-blood and successor to Little Tur- tle, who was in the battle, and Mho died at Fort Wayn(> in ] 840, often asserted that the bodies of the slain Were BO numerous in the river at the ford that he could have crossed over the stream upon them dryshod.* While this conflict was going on at the ford, M'Mullin and Fontaine, in connection with Hall, were skirmishing with parties of Indians a short distance up the St. Jo- se})h's. P'ontaine, with a number of his followers, fell at the head of his mounted militia, in making a charge. He was shot dead, and, fallhig from liis horse, was imn'.o- diately scalj)ed. The remaindfr, with those under Hall and M'Mullin, fell back in confusion toward the ford of the Maumee, and followed the remnant of the regulars in their retreat. The Indians, having suffered severely, did not pursue. General Ilarmar was informed of the disaster by a liorseman who had outstripped the rest. A detachment of militia was immediately ordered to the assistance of the retreating parties; but such mortal fear had taken possession of these raw recruits that only thirty, willing to go, could be found among them. On his arrival at camp Hardin urged Ilarmar to proceed with his whole force to the Maumee. The latter, having lost all confidence in the militia, refused ; and, as soon as prepa- rations could be made, tlie whole army took up its march*" for Fort Wash- TUE MACMEE KORD — PLACE OF IIAHMAB'S DEFEAT. ' October 28. > Harmar'i! haltlnpt-plnco wnR on Nlne-mllo Creek, a tributary of the Maumee, nine miles eonth of Fort Wnyne. ' Statement of ,Iohn P. Hedges, of Fort Wayne, to the author. III! Scene of Ilarnmi ington, whi( 4th of Nove I visited ter at the the close ot came up th Defiance on and, aftcT vi^ ic interest t ing (of wh write), I ro(l( upon the Toll way, a dist: miles. It w! but the jouri onous, because ble forests cov over which w at the flourish the afternoon, made fiunous I Hon. F. P. Kiln We crossed th stream to the | tlie confluence then fordable t water four feet ford was alons i > o m whose pre.sen .iiid were made ' Harmar loBt, In thU i The loss of the Indians V crow out of this cxpcditi resigned his commigslon lution, and was a brave s come Shawnoese while o ty In each of the states of mmlm ■ na s wiiM. - OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 43 Scene of Harmar'e Defeat. Visit of the Anthor to the Places of Conflict. Bite of the Miami Village. y\NaMAfi^ ington, which they reached on the K' 4th of November.* I visited the scene of the disas- ter at tlie Miiuniee P^ord toward the close of Sej)teniher, 1860. I came np the Alanmee Valley to Defiance on tlic night of the 24th, and, after visiting places of histor- ic interest tliere the next morn- ing (of whicli I shall hereafter write), I rode on to Fort Wayne npon the Toledo and Wabash Hail- way, a distance of forty - three miles. It was a delightful day. but the journey was very monot- onous, because* alnuist iuteunina- ble forests covered the flat country over which we ])assed. I arrived at the flourishing city of Fort Wayne, the shire town of Allen County, Indiana, late in the afternoon, and by twilight had visited the fords of the Maumee and St. Joseph's, made famous by the events of the 22d of October, 1700. I was accompanied by the Hon. F. P, liandall, tiie mayor of the city, who kindly offered his services as guide. We crossed the great bridge at the head of the MauTiiee, and rode first down that stream to the place yet known as "ITarmar's Ford." li is about half a mile below the confluence of the St. ]Mary's and St. Josepli's at I'ort Wayne. The river was not then fordablo there, a dam having been built about half a jnile below, making the water four feet deep at the old crossing-place. Tlie road that led to and crossed the ford was along the margin of the Manniee, which was skirted by the same forest-trees in whose presence the battle was fought. Tliey had grown to be grand and stately, and were made exceedingly picturesque by the trailing grape-vines. W^e returned to the bridge and rode up the St. Joseph's to the place where Major Hall and his detachment forded it. It is abon. half a mile above the bridge. Tiiere the St. Joseph's, with its banks fringed with a variety of graceful trees, swept in gentle curves, and presented to the eye pictui'es of great beanty. Near the spot ' here represented, on the cast bank of the St. Jose])h's, was once a stocka<le, built by the French, and occupied by the En- glish in Pontiac's time. Tlie land of the point between the St. Joseph's and the Maumee, on which Little Turtle was encamped and the ])rincipal Miami village was situated, is a level bot- tom, and known as the Cole Farm. Much of it was covered with Indian corn of lux- IIALL H 0K1>t«Hi>Q-l>I.A0I-;. • Ilarmnr loBt, In this expedition, 18,1 killed and 31 wounded. Amonc the killed were Majors Wyllys and Fontaine. The loss of the Indians was supposed to be about equn) to that of the white people, i^rimlnatlons and recriminations crew out of this expedition. Harmar and Hardin were both tried by court-martial and both were acquitted. Harmor resigned his commission on the 1st of .January, 1TO2. Hardin had been a lieutenant in Morgan's rifle corps lu the Revo- lutiun, and was a brave soldier. He was a Virginian by birth, but settled In Kentncky after the war. He was killed by some Shawnoepc while on a mission of jieace to tliom in 170)2, when be was in the thirty-ninth year of his age. A coun- ty in each of the states of Ohio and Kentucky bears his name, in his honor. 1" A ill. I-1 44 riCTOniAL IIELD-BOOK A Tcnerable Iltttortcal Apple -tree. Chief Richardvllle. The TwlKhtweeit. Their Ornelty to Prlioners. ]• w,t APri.E-TnEK NKAll lIAiaiAUS Koni). uriant growtli; aiul T was told that there in evidence that a similar crop lias been raised iVoni it year after year for ahnost a century, and yet tlie soil was l)hu'k, rich, and apparently inexhaustible. Here, it is said, was the place where the Mianiis were accustomed to bum their prisoners.' ^ __. About three hundred yards westward frtm Ilarmar's Ford, on the site of the In- dian camp, was a venerable ai>ple-tree, full of fruit, its trunk measuring fifteen feet in circumference. Under this tree Chief Riehardville, to whom allusion has been made, was born a little more than a hund- red years ago.^ It was a fiiiit- bearing tree then, and is supposed to have grown from a seed dropped by some French trader among these Twightwees, as the Miamis were called in early times.' In the sketch of the ajiple-tree the city o f Fort Wayne is seen in the distance. The spires on the left are those of the Roman Catholic Cathedral. We returned to Fort Wayne at twi- light, and I spent the evening profitably with Mr. Hedges, one of the oldest and most intelligent of the inhabitants of that town.* lie was there in the spring of 1812, while the old stockade was yet standing, and before a garrison of United States troops from Harrison's army arrived. He has seen the city bloom out into its present form and beauty from the folds of the dark forest, and its history and traditions are as familiar to him as those of his own biog- raphy. We chatted on the events of the past until a late hour, and parted with an agreement to visit the historic scenes together in the morning. The air toward mid- night was as mild as early June, but a dajipled sky prophesied a storm. At three o'clock in the morning I was aroused by heavy thunder-peals, and the dawning of the I We have mentioned Mr. Onmelln's pence mission, on page 40. lie was nt this place, and only three days after he left (about the let of May, ITOO), the wavages, as if in derision of the United States anthority, brought an American prit- iiner there and burned him.— See Dillon's UMimj of Indiana. About seventy j-cars ago n white man was bound to the stake at this place. The mother of Chief Elchardvllle, men- tioned in the next note, and a woman of great influence, had made fruitless attempts to save him. The torch was ap- ))lled. Richardvllle, then quite young, had been designated as their future chief. She appealed to him, and, placing a knife in his hand, bade him assert his chieftainship and cut the cords that bound the prisoner. He obeyed, and the pris- <raer was relenyd. The kind-hearted Miami woman s('creted the prisoner and sent him down the Mauniec in a canoe, covered with firs and peltries, iu charge of some friendly Indians. Many years afterward Richardvllle stopped at a town In Ohio. \ man came to him and threw his arms affectionately around his neck. It was the rescued prisoner.— Lecture, before, tl ■ Congregatum of the Firnt Prenbi/terian Church, Fnrt Waijrw. ' PiH-he-iea (Wildcat), or .lean Bnptlste Richardvllle, was born In 1759. Ills father was Joseph Drouet de Richard- vllle, a Frenchman, who traded at Ke-ki-on-ija* (Fort Wayne) from 1760 to 1770. He was elected chief of the Mlnmis, on the death of Liitle Turtle, In 1811. He was a large, flnc-looking man, of quite light complexion, and spoke English well. Richardvllle left a fortune at his death In 1840. I was told by an old resident of Fort Wayne, who knew him well, that he had received large sums of money and immense tracts of land, from time to time. In consideration of his signing treaties ; and that, at his death, he had $200,000 buried where no one but his daughter could find it. He was a temperate man, with acquisitiveness largely developed. He was burled In Fort Wayne. " The Twightwees once formed a powerful confederacy of tribes, and claimed to be the possessors of a vast territory. At the treaty with Wayne at Greenville, which we shall notice presently. Little Turtle thus dcflncd the ancient bound- ary of the Twightwees or Miamis : " It Is well known by all my brothers present that my forefather kindled the first fire nt Detroit ; from thence he extended his lines to the head waters of the Scioto ; from thence to Its mouth ; from thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash ; and from thence to Chicago, on Lake Michigan."— .4 TOcri'can State Papers, i:, 570. This comprises about one half of Ohio, the whole of Indiana, and a part of Sonthem Michigan. * .lohn P. Hedges was employed In the commissary's department, under John H. Piatt, of Ohio, the contractor for the army of the Northwest, commanded by General Harrison. He was active In that department during the whole of the war, and became familiar with all the territory. He was with General M'Arthur in his campaign In Western Canada, and was with Harrison at the battle of the Thames. He was at the treaty with the Indians at Greenville in 1814, and distributed pruvieions to the savages on that occasion. * Ke-ki-on-ga in the language of the Hiamis, and Kee-ki-ogue in that of the Pottawatomies. II laJlan IIoBtilltlcs ( 28th was made alone, and nuulc the grave of Li Wayne in 1 H 1 2, Although Ha ' verely, and Han Vermilion River west were not ca and sometimes a of the British coi ened, and life an ginia Legislature government, awa for the same j)ii] authorities beyo. United States," s quire."! Under t mounted men, cro large village ofO lage of Lafayette, amj)lc evidence oi Detroit, Scott dt desolated the coui figure," and took fi On the Ist of i Washington) with by a different rout( the French called . present Loganspon around as far as 1 stretch aAvay towai times plunged arm Kickapoo vill.ige of hundred and fifly i August.* The misfortune thi quiet them. The Br by assuring them th tribes and take posst ' Instructions of the Secret ' Scott's ofBcial report to tl ' Fort Ouiatenon, a stockai * " I have destroyed," he s; of the kini?. I have burned a chiefly in the milk. The Oni employ to subsist their eqnaw CTn/r, .^UL'Ust 24, 1701. » The most active of these B Tories during the Revolution charged to these men while tl frontier >vith a high hand, ani massacres, the British governr oughly Identified with the savi the British Indian Departmen meet Elliott again. Qlrty wa. redeeming quality. He was tl was nurtured among the warli who, with him, had been Impri OF THE -WAR OF 1812. 45 Indian HoBtllttlos conttnned. Expeditions of Oenerala Scott and Wiildnaon. Ueatructlon of VlllaK<» and Cropa. 2Rth wiiH inatlo dreary by a cold diuzzlc dinfliiig uj)on a iiortheaHt wind. I went out alone, and made the sketches at the two fonls and other di-awings, and, after visiting the grave of Little Turtle, depai'ted in tlie midday train for Indianapolis. Of Fort Wayne in 1H12, and of Little Turtle and his grave, I shall hei-eafter write. Although Ilarmar in his expedition had jjunishcd the Miamis and Shawnoese se- 'verely, and Ilamtramck meanwhile had been up the Wabash to the mouth of the Vermilion liiver and destroyed some deserted villages, Indian hostilities in the North- west were not even checked. The settlers along the Ohio were continually lonaced and sometimes attacked by the savages, back of whom was distinctly heard the voice of the British commandant at Detroit. Western Virginia and Kentucky were thi-eat- ened, and life and property on the frontiers wore in jeopardy every hour. The Vir- ginia Legislature adopted measures for the protection of the settlers, and the national government, awake to the importance of the subject, put forth all its available strength for the same pui-pose. General Knox, the Secretary of War, issued orders to proper authorities beyond the mountains " to impress the Indians with the power of the United States," and " to inflict that degree of punishment which justice may re- quire."* Under these instructions. General Scott, of Kentucky, with eight hundred mounted men, crossed the Ohio," and penetrated the WabaSh country to the . j(„y 43^ large village of Ouiatenon, situated about eight miles below the present vil- ""*• lage of Lafayette, Indiana, where several French families resided. There he found ample evidence of the Indians' connection with and dependence on the British at Detroit. Scott destroyed the town, and several villages in the neighborhood, and desolated the country. He killed thirty-two Indians, "chiefly warriors of size and figure," and took fifty-eight prisoners, without losing any of his own mcn.^ On the 1st of August Brigadier Genei-al James Wilkinson left Cincinnati (Fort Washington) with five hundred and twenty-five men, and penetrated the same region, by a difterent ronte, to the important Ouiatenon village of lie-na-pa-coni-a-qua, which the French called L'Anguille (The Eel), on the Eel Uiver, about six miles from the present Logansport, Indiana.^ He destroyed that village, desolated the country around as far as Tippecanoe, and then pushed forward to the great prairies that stretch away toward Lake Michigan. But deep morasses, into which he was some- times plunged armpit deep, compelled him to return. He then destroyed another Kickapoo village of twenty houses, desolated all the crops, and, after a march of four hundred and fifty miles, reached the Falls of the Ohio (Louisville) on the 21st of August.* Tlie misfortune that befell the Indians under the lash of Scott and Wilkinson did not quiet them. The British emissaries stimulated their courage to a point of desperation by assuring them that the grand object of the United States was to exterminate the tribes and take possession of their lands.* Thus two most powerful incentives to war > luBtrnctions of the Secretary of War to Brigadier General Scott, of Kentucky, March 9, 1T91. ' Scott'B ofBclal report to the Secretary of War, Jnne 28, 1791. 3 Fort Ouiatenon, a stockade built by the French, was near the present :ity of Lafayette, Indiana. * "I have destroyed," he said, "the chief town of the Ouiatenon nation, and made prisoners of the Bona and slatera of the kin?. I have burned a respectable Kickapoo village, and cut down at least four hundred and thirty acres of corn, chiefly in the milk. The Guiatenons, left without houses, home, or provislocs^ r.inst cease to war, and will find active employ to subsist their squaws and children during the impending winter."— Wilkinson's Official Report to OovemorSt. Clair, Aaewit 2i,mn. 5 The most active of these British emissaries were Simon Girty, Andrew M'Kee. and Mathew Elliott, three malignant Tories during the Bevolntion. The two latter were natives of Path Valley, Pciin »ylvnnia. Many a murder was Justly charged to these men while the old war for independence was in progress. They carried on their depredations on the frontier with a high hand, and, for their faithfulness in inciting Indian hostilities during that war that led to frighttVl massacres, the British government rewarded them with official station. They married Indian women, and became thor- oughly identified with the savages. At the time we are now considering Elliott and M'Kee were subordinate agents in the British Indian Dei)artmcnt, and, with Girty, had homes near Maiden, in Canada, on the Detroit Hiver. We shall meet Elliott again. Qlrty was an unmitigated scoundrel. More brutal than the most savage Indian, he had not one redeeming quality. He was the offspring of crime. Ills father, an Irishman, was a sot ; his mother was a bawd. He was nurtured among the warlike Senecas, and his Innate crnclty had free scope for growth. With Elliott and M'Kee, who, with him, had been imprisoned at Pittsburg in 1778, he aroused the Indians in the Northwest with the same cry 1:^^ 'I IP w PICTOUIAL FIELD. i i |h » I 3 Mfbrti to rorm an lodtan ConlMarscy. BulldInK of FurU to tha Indian Conntrjr. A Camp deep In the Wllderneia. were jircHcnted — Hclf-prcHcrviitioji and jtiitrioliHin. In (IfffiiHC «if life and roiuitry they iVHolvi'd to fight to the lawt. Litlk- Turtle, of tlio MiaiiiiH, IJlui' Jucki't, of the Sliaw- nocH(>, and lJiick-ong-a-hi'lo», of the Dehiwarew, j)ut fortli all their eiierj^ieH in the Hum- mer of 1701, as Pontiac had done thirty yearn before, to confederate all the Western triheH in an effort to drive every European from the Hoil north of the Ohio. The protestations of St. Clair that peace, friendship, and justice, not war, Hubjujjation, and rohliery, were the desire (jf the ])eople and f^overnment of the United States, were of no avail ; and he was compelled, for the sake of the national lil'e on the frontier, to attempt to convince them, by the stern argument of arms, that they were governed by bad counselors at Detroit. It was determined to establisli a strong military post in the heart of the Miami country, on the site of the present city of Fort Wayne, Congress authorized the raising of sufficient troops for the purpose, and during tlio spring and summer of 1791, St. Clair was jmtting forth strong ertbrts in that direction, but with indittercnt success. Enlistments were slow, and it was not until the beginning of September that he had collected a sufiicient force to attempt the enterj)rise with an appearance of safety. These had been collected in the vicinity of Cincimiati, and j)laccd under the immediate command,' in camp, of Major Ilamtramck, who was remarkable as a tactician and disciplinarian,' St. Clair took the field as commander-in-chief. Major General Richard Butler, of Pennsylvania, Avas his second in command, and Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the Territory, was appointed adjutant general. An army little more than two thousand strong, under the immediate command of General liutler, and accomjjanied by General St, Clair, moved forward on the 5th and 6th of September," On the bank of the Great Miami, little more than twen- ty miles from P'ort Washington, they halted and built Fort Hamilton, on the site of the present village of Ilamiltor Forty-two miles farther on, at a point about six miles south of Greenville, in the \t Darke County, Ohio, they built Fort Jef- ferson. When they moved from the he 24th of October, they began to encoun- ter the subtle foe in small parties. It was evident that dusky scouts were hanging upon their flanks, and they became hourly more cautious and vigilant. The nights were frosty, but serene. The days were genial and brilliant. The summer warmth had been difTused over the whole of Sei)tember ; and now the forests Avere. arrayed in all the gorgeous beauty of autumnal splendors peculiar to thein. At length, when darl: clouds Averc overhead, and falling leaves were thick in their path, the invading army halted and encamped upon the borders of an nnknoAvn stream, which proved to be a chief tributaiy of the Upjicr Wabasli, They were ninety-seven miles from Fort Washington, deep in the wilderness. A liglit fall of snow lay upon the ground — so light that it appeared like hoar-frost. Over a piece of rising ground, timbered with oak, ash, and hickory, the encampment was spread, with a fordable stream, forty feet in width, in front. The army lay in two lines, sev- enty yards apart, with four pieces of cannon in the centre of each. Across the stream, and beyond a rich bottom land three hundred y.irds in width, was an elevated plain, covered with an open forest of stately trees. There the militia — throe hundred and fifty independent, half-insubordinate men, under Lieutenant Colonel Oldham, of Ken- tucky — were encamped. Eight weary miles through the Avoods the soldiers had marched that day, and when the camp was arranged the sun Avas low in the cloudless sky of the west, Ttie tired soldiers early sought repose, Avithout suspicion of danger near. All around them St. Clalr-a Trooii, ' im. that now alarmed them : " The Americans want to take yonr lives and your lands." For more than twenty years the women and children of the Ohio country turned pale when his name was mentioned. ' Hamtramck was a poor rider. " He was crooked like a frog on horsehack," said the venerable Major AVhltlock, of Crnwr.irdevlllc, to me, who knew him well, and had served under him. He had the faculty of Inspiring the men with self-confidence, and, notwithstanding he was a most rigid disciplinarian, the troops all loved hira, for he was kind- hearted, generoue, and brave. y/' i were evidences seen by vigilant witJi their follov They Avere ne the Shawnoese i cruel Girty and c thousand fierce \ ments for several a bolt from the c The morning o; mosphere, and ui ' This sketch of St. CIi by his grandson, Winthr Explanation a, Butl company J //.cavalry; ^ flank guards; o2,plckett Ing; the crooked stream, ' The late Colonel Job could obtain, the Indlant others at three Uiousand dots, Ottawas, and a few i ' winthrop Sargent's 11 OF TUE WAU OF 18 13. 47 8t. Clair*! Troopi and the IndUni. BtClalt'iCamp. The TribM nprMwntMl by the Warrlon. PLAN or BT. CLAIB's OAMP AND nATTI.E.' were evidences of old and recent Indian camps, and a few lurking savages had been seen by vigilant eyes ; but no one knew whether Little Turtle and his confederates, with their tbllowers, were near or far away. They were near. Only a few miles distant the great Miami leader, Blue Jacket the Shawnoese chief, and Buck-ong-a-hclos, the leader of the Delawares, with the cruel Girty and other white men in the British interest, were lying in wait, with two thousand fierce warriors at their beck.^ These had been watching St. Clair's move- ments for several days, and were waiting for .the proper moment to fall upon him like a bolt from the cloud. The morning of the 4th dawned brilliantly. "Moderate northwest wind, serene at- mosphere, and unclouded sky."^ All night long the sentinels had been firing upon > This sketch of St. Clair's encampment Is from Wlnthrop Sargent's MS. Jonrnal of the Campaign, kindly lent to me by his grandson, Wiuthrop Sargent, Esq., of Philadelphia. It Is a fac-mmile of Mr. Sargent's sketcli. Explanation — a, Butler's battalion ; h h, artillery ; c, Clarke's battalion ; d, Patterson's battalion ; c, Faulkner's rifle company ; //, cavalry ; g, detachment of U. 8. Second Begiment ; ft, Oalther's battalion ; j, Beddinger's battalion \bnp, flank guards ; o 2, pickets ; s, swamp ; nt, camp guard. 'The numerous crosses represent the enemy ; z z, troops retreat- ing; the crooked stream, a tributary of the Wabash. » The late Colonel John Johnson, of Doyton, mentioned hereafter. Informed me that, tram the best information he could obtain, the Indians numbered about two thousand. Some have estimated their number at one thousand, and others at three Uiousand. The principal tribes engaged in the battle were the Miamis, Delawares, Shawnoese, Wyan- dots, Ottawae, and a few Cbippewas and Fottawatomjes. 3 Wlnthrop Sargent's MS. Journal, November 4, 1791. 48 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK St. Clnir'fl Battle with the Indians and hin Dcfoat. Flight of the vanqnlahed Army. A fleet-footed Woman. ^^,^1! Iii- ^1 M prowlini? Indians, and the men, by order of the commandhig general, had slept upon their urins. The troops had been early mustered and dismissed from pnrade. They were pre- paring for breakfast, when, half an hour before sunrise, a body of Indians, witl\ yells that wakened horrid echoes miles away through the forest, fell suddenly uptin the militia. The assailed camp was immediately broken up, and the frightened soldiers, most of whom had never been in battle, rushed wildly across the bottom and the creek into the lines of the regulars, producing alarm and confusion there. The In- dians closely follow :h1, and fell upou the regulars. The savages Avere several times repulsed, but soon rallied, and directed their most effective shots upon the artillery in tlic centre. Every officer there was prostrated, and the cannon were silenced. The carnage among the Americans was terrible, yet they withstood the enemy with great gallantry for ahnost three hour.s. Finally, when full one half of the army had fallen, St. Clair ordered a retreat to an old Indian road or trail. Tliis was accomplished after a furious charge as if to turn the enemy's flank.' The militia then led the van in the precipitate retreat, which soon became a flight.^ The fugitive army was well covered by Major Clarke and his battalicm; and the Indians, after following about four miles, tunied back, wonderfully elated with their victory. Little Turtle was in chief com- mand. St. Clair behaved gallantly during the dreadful scene. lie was so tortured with gout that he could not mount a horae without assistance. lie was not in uniform. His chief covering was a coarse cappo coat, and a three-cocked hat from under which his white hair was seen streaming as he and Butler rode up and down the lines during the battle. He had throe horses killed under him. Eight balls passed through his clothes. He finally mounted a pack-horse, and upon this animal, which could with difficulty be si)urred into a trot, he followed in the retreat. The fugitive army did not halt until safely within the palisades of Fort Jefferson. The panic was terrible, and the conduct of the army after quitting the ground was most disgraceful. Arms, ammunition, and accoutrements were almost all throwi. away ; and even ofHeei*s, in some instances, threw away their arms, " thus setting an example for the most precijiitate and ignominious flight."-' Tliiy left the damp at nine o'clock in ;he morning, and at seven o'clock that evening they were in Fort Jef ferson, twenty-nine miles distant. That evening Adjutant General Sargent wrote in his diary, 'The troops have ail been defeated; and though it is impossible, at this time, to ascertain our loss, yet there can be no manner of doubt that more than half the army are cither killed or wounded."* ' There T^ere qnltp a large number of the wonndcd bo maimed that they could not walk or sit npon a horse, and their compnnfonH were CDmpelled to leave them upon the field. " When they knew they must be left," says Sargent, "tliey ehnri;eil tlirl. i)ieoe» with i\ dollheratlon and courage which reflects the highest honor upon them ; and the firing of muc- Uctry in the camp after we had qi-itted it leaves little doubt that their latest efforts were profcoslonally brave, and where they conid pull a trigger they avenged themselves."— JfA'. Jimrnal. During the e::;'agcment, tjie Indians, as opportunity offered, plundered and scalped their victims. They also disfig- ured the bodies of tn^ .'lam. Having been taught by the British emissaries that the Americans made war upon them for their lands, they crammed clay and sand into the eyes and down the throats oC the dying and dead.— Dillon's //ii- tiirij of Imliaim, p. 'JJ*:). Among tlic slain was Major General Bntler ; and it has been authoritatively asserted that the miscreant, Slnvm flirty, instigated a savage warrior, while the general was yet alive on the field, to scalp him, and take out his heart for distribution among t'le tribes I » The whole nninber of effective trooi)9 in the battle, according to Sargent's return, was 1748. 5 Sargent's MS. .Tonrnal. There were almost two hundred female camp-foliowers, chiefly wives ot'the soldiers. Of these, fifty-six were k lied ; most of the remainder were In the flight. One of them, Mrs. Catharine Miller, who died in Cincinnati about the year l^iW, w.is sc fleet afoot that she ran ahead of the army. She had a great quantity of l<nig red hair, tliat strenmed lieliind her as ilio ran, and formed the oriflamme which the soldiers followed — Statement of Major Whitlock, of Crawfordsviile, Indiana. * MS..I()urnal, Friii ly, November 4, 1701. Mr. Sargent was slightly wonndcd. Ace, rdlng to his report, afterward miidc out carefully, thirty •^i3c offices were killed and thirty 'Uuded; and BTO privates were killed and missing, and v'14 wounded. lie did not think many Indians were lost ~prL >ably not mure than one hundred and fifty killed and wound- ed. Several pieces of cannon, and all the baggage, ammunition, and provisl( is were left o'l the field, and oecame spoil for the saMige vict:)i> The value of public property .)st, according to the report of the Secretary of War toward the dune of 1792, waB$il'i,SlU T5. The signature of the Adjutant Oeneral, of which a/ac-aiviiU is given on page 39, was cup- Effect of St. Clalr'f At P'ort Jc army, about remnant of S they arrived ; Intelligence ill the West, e parts of the V tion of the Oh St. Clair wa and the indinfn to Tobias Lear, "yes, HERE, on leave of him. !iiid honor. Y( tions, I said, fi( War. I had a si will add but oik mrprisef I re] U.S. He went o .yet!! to suffer surprise— the ve ;i murderer ! II liiin — tlu! curse < The tone of W liis lips. "ItAva lie hurled iini)rc, I'l't'iitliless silence "The roused c seemed conscious gan to subside. led from his report. Tn 1 Mstions campaign. Ammig the slain, as w( held the rank of colonel i (luarter. Jle was \ nundf the camp, ran uj) and torn United States. Among tl avenge the death of Itutl( thwarted his bloody purjH ' Th!s event was the the on a broadside, and enibel II Miami village, an Indian dy,"and j)rofe«.>ies to give, leriuestofthe friends ofti count," the battle W.IS foug at Miami Village, near Fo writer may be Imagined af There was a famou.s song liiusiuformsue, byoueoft This song may b; found ii ' This Interview was cm II liostofl'lttsbnrg. Thence h 'he sympathies and co-opera OF THE WAU OF 1812. 40 Effect of St. Olalr'B Defeat on tho Public Mind. Expression of President Washington's Indignation. At Fort Jefferson tho flying troops found the First lleginient of the United States iirniy, about thri'e hundred strong. Leaving a well-provisioned garrison there, the i-eninant of St. Clair's force made their way to Fort Washington, where . November, thoy arrived at noon on the Bth." ^^''*' Intelligence of St. Clair's defeat produced the gieatest alarm among all tlie settlers in the West, even as far eastward as Pitt^uurg. It cast a gloom over society in all ])arts of the Union, and checked for a short time the tide of emigration hi the direc- tion of tho Ohio.i St. Clair was condemned in unmeasured tenns by men of all classes and ])arties, and the indignation of President Washington was exceedingly hot. "Here," lie said to Tobias Lear, his private secretary, " yes, iiERK, on this very spot, I took leave of him. I wished him success ^^Ol/^l ;iiid honor. You have your instruc- tions, I said, from the Secretary of War. I had a strict eye to them, and will a(hl but one word — beware of a surjyrise! I repeat it — bkwakk of a surprise! Yon know how the Indians fight us. lie went off with that, as my last solemn warning, thrown into his ears.^ And j'et ! ! to suffer that army to he cut to pieces, hacked, butchered, tomahawked, by a surprise — the very thing I guarded him against ! ! O God, O (lod, lie is worse than a murderer! How can he answer it to his country? The blood of the slahi is upon hiin — the curse of widows and orphans — the curse of Heaven !" The tone of Washington's voice was a])paHing as these vehement sentences escaped liis lips. "It was awful !" said Mr. Lear. "iMore than once he threw his hands uj) as lie hurled imprecations upon St. Clair." Mr. Lear remauied speechless — awed into breathless silence. " The roused chief," says the chronicler, " sat down on the sofa once more. lie seemed conscious of his passion, and uncomfortable. He was silent; his wrath be- iian to subside. He at length said, in an altered voice, 'This must not go beyond ied from hia report. In Howe's Ilialurieal CoUtvHona of Ohio may be found ninny particulars and anecdotes of this dig- estions canipiiinn. Anioiii; tlio slain, as we have obser\'cd, was Major Ocncnil Butler, a highly esteemed officer from Pennsylvania. lie lidd the rank of cploiiol in the Continental army. In 17S7 ho was sent to the Ohio ns a^cnt for Indian ntTuirs in that quiirtor. lie was \ imnded early in tlic iirtion, and before his wounds could be drop, .-d, an Indian, wlio had penetrated llio camp, ran up and toninhnwl<ed and s-calped him. Butler was much beloved l)y tlie Indians who were friendly to tho United States. Anion;; tliosc who loved him most was Big Tree, a Seneca chief In the Genesee Valley. He vowed to avenge tho death of Butler by killing three of the hostile Indians. Because tho treaty of peace at Greenville in I'ilS tliwnrted his bloody purpose, Big Tn i com nitted suicide. ' This event was llie theme for oratory, the pulpit, poetry, art, ant". Bong. Ihave before me a dirge-like poem, printed on a broadside, and embelllslied witli rude wood-cuts representing forty coffliis at the head, a iiortrait of General Butler, II Miami village, an Indian with a l)i)w, and the hideous skull and cross-bones. It is entitled "The Columbian Trage- tly,"aiid professes to give, iu verse, "a particular and official account" of tho affair. It was published " by the earnest leqnesl of the friends of the deceased worthies who died in de'-'v.. of their country." According to this "official ac- ( mill," the battle was fought bc^twccu two thousand United St,:tCB i lops " and near four thousand wild Indian savages, :it Miami Village, near Fort WasWngtou !" . pious tone runs thrv-"~'.. tho mournful ballad, and the feelings of the writer may be imagined aftei the perusal of thi;i single verse : " My tremlillng hand can scarcely hold My faint, devoted quill, To Write the actions of the Bold, Their Vuhr and their fikill." There was a famons song 'hat was sung for many years afterward, entitled "Sinclair's Defeat," written, as the author ; mis informs us, by one of the soldiers : " To mention our brave officers Is what I write to do; No sous of Mars e'er fought more brave, or with more courage true. To Captai'i Bradford I belonged. In his Artillery ; He fell that ("ay among the slain— a valiant man was he." Tills song may b'> found in Howe's Ilistnrirnt CiillfctmiiD of Ohio. p. V.H. a This interview was on the 2Sth of March, ITal, the day when St. <;lalr left Plilladelphla and proceeded to tho frontier piis; of Pittsburg. Thence he wont to Kentucky, and afterwanl to Fort WashlDgton, every where eudeaToring to enlist ilie sympathies and co-openitlon of the inhabitants for the campaign. D 50 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Washington's Kindness to St. Clair. Kesignation of the latter. His later Days. General Wayne and his Troops. tliis room.' Another pause followed — a longer one — when he said, in a tone quite low, ' General St. Clair shall have justice. I looked hastily through the dispatches — saw the whole disaster, but not all the particulars. I will hear him without preju- dice; he shall have full justice.' " He was now," said Mr. Lear, " perfectly calm. Half an hour had gone hy ; the storm was over, and no sign of it Avas afterward seen in his conduct or heard in his conversatiori."' Washington was both generous and just, and St. Clair found in him a most faithful friend. " Tl\e first interview of the President with the unfortunate general after the fatal 4th of November," says the late Mr. Custis, who was present, " was nobly im- pressive. St, Clair, worn down by age, disease, and the hard8hij)s of a frontier cam- paign, assailed by the press, and with the current of popular opinion setting liard against him, repaired to his chief as to a shelter from the fury of so many elements. AVashington extended his hand to one who appeared in no ncAV character, for, during the whole of a long life, misfortune seemed 'to have marked him for her own.' Poor old St. Clair hobbled up to his chief, seized the oflfered hand in both of his, and gave vent to his feelings in an audible-manner."^ St. Clair's case was investigated by a committee of the House of Representatives, and he Avas honorably acquitted. But public sentiment had set against him in a cur- rent too strong to be successfully resisted, and he resigned his commission.^ General Anthony Wayne, whose impetuosity exhibited during the old war for independence had gained him the title of "Mad Anthony," was appointed to fill his place. Wayne was then in the prime of manhood, and Congress and the people had confidence in his intelligence, courage, and energy. Congress authorized an increase of the regu- lar army to a little over five thousand men, and a competent part of this force, to be called the Legion of the United States, was to be assigned to Wayne for an expedi- tion against the Indians in the Northwest. He took post at Pittsburg early in tlu> following June," and appointed that place as the rendezvous of his invading army. It was soon perceived that it was easier to vote troops in the halls of Congress than to draw them out and muster them in the camp ; and it Avas not until near the close of November that Wayne had collected a sufficient number to Avarrant his moving forAvard. He then Avent doAvn the Ohio only about tAventy miles, and there hutted his soldiers in a Avell-guarded camp, Avhich he called Legionville. There he was joined by Lieutenant William Henry Harrison, afterward the distinguished gen- eral in the armies of the United States, and the ninth President of the republic. The • Washirtfiton in Doviestic Life, by Richard Rush, p. OT. ' llrmllcctinns and Private iVWnoi'rs of Washinittoii . liy his 'idopted son, O. W. P. C'istis, p. 419. ' The late Hon. Elishn WhitDescy, of Ohio, Firt', Auditor of the United States Treasury during a portion of the first term of Mr. Lincoln's administration, and a veteran eoidier of ISlSi, furuished me with the following interesting account of his interview with St. Clair three years hefore his death : " In May, 1816, four of us called upon him, on the top of Chestnut Ridge, easlwardly eight or ten mile? from Orecii?- bnrg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. We were traveling on horpcback to Connecticut, and being Informed tlml General St. Clair kept tavern, we decided to cal' for entertainment during the night. We alighted at his recidence late in ihc afternoon, and, on entering his log house, we saw an elderly, neat gentleman, dressed in black broadclotli, silk stockings, and small-clothes, shining shoes whi'se straps were secured by large silver buckles, his hair clubbed and pow- dered. On closing his book he rose, received fs most kindly and gracefiilly, and pointing lis to chairs, he asked us to bo seated. On being asked for entertainment, h'; said, ' Gentlemen, I perceive yon are traveling, and although I should be gratified by your custom, it is my duty to inform you I have no hay nor grain. I have good pasture, but If hay and graiu are essential, I can not furnish them.' " There stood before us a major general of the Revolution— the friend and confidant of Washington— late governor of the Territory northwest of the River Ohio— one of natnrc's noblemen, of high, dignified bearing, whom misfortune, nor the ingratitude of his cotuitry, nor poverty could break down nor deprive of self-respect— keeping a tavern In a loi; house, but could not ftirnish a bushel of oats nor a lock of hay. We were moved principally to call upon him to hear hirii converse abont the men of the Revolution and of the Northwestern Territory, and our regret that he could not entertain us was greatly Increased by bearing him converse abont an h(.ur. The large estate he sacrificed for the cause of the Revolution was within a sliort distance of tlic top of Chestnut Ridge, if not in sight. After he was governor he jicti- tioned Congress for relief, but died before It was granted."* * During the last two years of his life General St. Clair received a pension of sixty dollars a month iVom his govcni- ment, and his latter days were made comfortable thereby. About ISOO, Senator Orodhead, of Peuusylvanio, procured from Congress an appropriation for the heirs of General St. Clair. • 1T92. AVayne in the Ind young Virgil her of Iiis mi: Wayne ivi Jiroeeeded to remained all i and encamped vilJe. His ar men, exclusive under the emii While the a best endeavor without more tijp pious IleeJ i'lieiulship with ''i''-,n92. At 3Liiimee (or M lJaj)ids to hold Guasutha, and c Seci'etary of W eonsultation, del edge any claim In the spring hostile tribes.2 and favorable to >[iagara, a post i pitalily entertain grand council at were informed bj "atl vised the Ind commissioners ca i;eplied,"It i. oft *oi- his advice on sioners; and Jiis j " the j)rinciple of ousof ulterior de,' At Niagara, aiu .Ida, the commissit ficcoinplished. IJi eouncil j)lainly tol Ilarniar, and claim 'lome, as they avoi commissioners, aftc .iT'ist. It was evid "latter, and to arnin We left Wayne a Ion, on the- 23d of C '""I" his stores. Aln ' The sentiments of the Ii ™«t given by Cornplnnter, ,,"■■' "lo snlii. pointiiiu- to t U'lween the Americans and ^ The commission conslsi '^"'c of commissioners t< 'Heply of Lieutenant Gov tt il ite tt u OF I'lIE WAR OF 1812. 51 Wayne in the Indian Country. A grand Council. Interference of Britisli Officials. young Virginian soon exhibited qualities which caused Wayne to make him a mem- ber of his military family as his aid-de-camp. Wayne remained at Legionville until the close of April, ] 793, when liis whole force proceeded to Cincinnati in boats, and took post near Fort Washington. There they remained all the summer and until the 7th of October, when Wayne moved forward and encami)ed'' six miles in advance of Fort Jefferson, on the site of Gi'een- . ■ October 23. ville. His army tlien numbered three thousand six hundred and thirty men, exclusive of a small body of friendly Indians from the South, chiefly Choctaws, imder the eminent warrior. Humming-bird. While the army was mnking these tardy movements, the government was using its best endeavors to eiT'ect a pacification of the tribes, and to establish a solid jjcace without more bloodshed. These eflTorts promised success at times. With the aid of the pious Ileckewelder, the Moravian, General Putnam made a treaty of peace and iViemlship with the Wabash and Illinois tribes, at Vincennes, on the 27th of Septem- ber, 1792. At about the same time great numbers of the tribes on the Miami, the ]\Iaumee (or Miami of the Lakes), and Sandusky Rivers, assembled at the j\Iaumec Rapids to hold a grand council, at which Red Jacket, Cornplanter, Big Tree, the aged Guasutha, and other representatives of the Six Nations appeared, at the request of the Secretary of War. Simon Girty was the only Avhite man present. The savages, on consultation, determined, in conformity with the advice of the British, not to acknowl- edge any claim of the United States to lands northwest of the Ohio River.^ In the spring of 1793 a commission was sent by the President to treat with the hostile tribes.'* Lieutenant Governor Sinicoe, of Canada, professing to be friendly, and favorable to a pacification of the tribes, the commissioners went by the way of Niagara, a post yet held by the British. Simcoe received them courteously, and hos- l)itably entertained them for five or six weeks, while the Indians were holding another grand council at the Rapids of the Maumee. While tarrying there, the commissioners were informed by a MohaAvk Indian from the Grand River that Governor Simcoe had "advised the Indians to make peme, 6?<< not to give up any of their lands.^^'^ The commissioners called Simcoe's att ution to this. He did not deny the allegation, but replied, " It U of that nature that ii can not be i rue," as the Indians had not " applied for his advice on the subje- "' Tliis subterfuge was Avell understood by the commis- sioners; and his admissic ;it, "ever since the conquest ot ('; ida," it had been "the principle of the British _ >verument to Wf/'fc the Americ li dians" was omin- ous of ulterior designs. At Niagara, and at Captain ElliottV, near the mouth f the Detroit River, in Can- ada, the commissioners held councils with tae Iinlians, but nothing satisfactory was accomplished. British influence was more powerful than ev •, and the savages in council j)lainly told the commissioners that if they insisted upon ihe treaty at P^ort IIarm;vr, and claimed lands on the nortliern side of i lo Ohio, they might as well go home, as they would never agree to any other bo iidary than that river. So the commissioners, after several months of fruitless labor, turned liomeward late in Au- gust. It was evident that the might of arms must imki • final settlement of the matter, and to arms the United States resorted. We let\ Wayne and his army near Fort Jefferson, ( miles from Fort Washing- ton, on the 23d of October. He was then einbaiTassed iiy a lack of suflicient convoys for his stores. Already a party detailed for this purpose had been attacked and se- ' The PcntlmentH of the Indians, even the friendly ones, concerning the bonndary, may be Inferred from the following liinst Riven by Corniilantcr, at the tabic of General Wayuo, at I.eiilonvllie, in the spring of ITK! : "My mind is upon that river," he sald.poiiuiiiL: to ttio Ohio. "May that water ever ccmtlnue to run, and remain the boundary of lasting peace lotwecn the Americans and Indians on the opposite shore."— IIai.i.'h Mnnmr nf \¥. II. Ilnrrimn, p. 31. = The commission consisted of l)cn.|amin Lincoln, Beverly Iiaiid(dph, and Timothy Pickering. ' Note of commissioners to Lientenant Governor Simcoe, 7th .Innc, 17!«). I Roi)ly of Lieutenant Governor SImcre to American commissioners, Tth June, ITSfl. 52 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Hostile Intentions of the Britisli revealed. Allied Indians and British in Arms, Battle at Fort Recovery. f i -!i verely handled by a strong band of Indians under Little Turtle near Fort St. Clair. Lieutenant Lowry and fourteen of his companions were killed,^ and all the horses at- tached to the wagons wore carried off. The season was now too far advanced to enter upon a campaign, so Wayne set his army to building a very strong fort on the spot where he Avas encamped. It was made impregnable against the Indians. There they went into winter-quarters.^ Sul- ficient garrisons were placed in the forts at VincenUes, Cincinnati, and JMarietta; and the return of spring was waited for with anxiety, for it was obvious that hostilities with the savages could not be long delayed. A European war, to which we shall soon have occasion again to refei', was now having its eifect upon the L^nited States, complicating the difficulties which natu- rally attend the arrangement of a ncAV system of government. Ill feeling between the United States and Great Bi'itain was increasing, and evidences were not wanting that the latter was anxious for a pretense to declare hostilities against the former. Taking advantage of this state of things, Loi-d Dorchester ^formerly Sir Guy Carle- ton), the Governor of Canada, onconraged the Indians in maintaining their hostile at- ' February 10, titude. At a council of warriors f'"...i the West, held at Qnebec early in 1T04. 1794," Dorchester, in a speech, said, ^^ Children, since my return I find no appearance of a line remains; and from the ni.Mmer in which the people of the states push on, and act, and talk on this side, and from vhat I learn of their conduct toward the sea, J shall not be surprised if ice are at war icith them in the course of the present year ; and if so, a line must then be drawn by the warriors." This was a suggestion for the savages to prepare for war. It was followed by an order from Dorchester to Lieutenant Governor Simcoe to establish a British military post at the rapids of the Maumee, fifty miles within the Indian country and the treaty limits of the United States. At the very time when this menacing attitude was as- sumed, the government of the new republic was exhibiting the most friendly feelings toward that of Great Britain by a position of strict neutri;lit}^ Wayne was compelled to wait until late in the summer ot'lTOi before he felt strong enough to move forward. Meanwhile the Indians appeared in force. On the 30th ol' June, about a thousand of them, accoiniianied by a number of British soldiers and French Canadian voluntcrs,^ made ♦heir appearance before Fort Hecoveiy (mention- ed in note 2 below), and during the <lay assailed the garrison several times. During these assaidts the Americans lost fifty-seven men in killed, wounded, and missing, and two hundivd and twenty-one horses The Indians lost more, they said, than in their battle with St. Clair. "July 20, Ijfii^s than a month aft>r this engagement, Wayne was johied'' by Major 1794. General Scott, with sixteen hundred mounted volunteers from Kentucky ; « July 28. and two days afterward" he moved forward with his whole force toward the Wayne's Expcditic • Fort St. Clair was it a point about a mile fVom the site of Enton, in Preble Comi- ty, Ohio. Between it ai.-i Eaton is a email cemetery, and therein, uiion one of those ancient artificial moumls onnimon in Ohio, a neat monument of Hutland niarhli . twelve fc(^t in height, waa erc-'ted by the citizens in commemoration of the plain m Fort Recovery. Lowry and his (,.;r.'.;;..iiionB were hurled In Fori St. Clair. His re- mains were removed to the little cemetery on the 4th of July, 1S22, and there rclii- torrcd with the honors of war. They were afterward hurled In the mouiul. - This was called Fort Oreenvillc, and covered a large part r)f the site of the prcv out village of Greenville. The foldlcrs hnllt pcveral hundred log huts, in which thcv wintered comfortably. Each hut was occupied by six persons. From Fort Orcenvflle Wayne sent out eight companies, and a detachment of artil- lery to take |)ossosslon of and fortify the place where St. Clair was defeated. They arrived o!i the ground on Chrlstnuis-day, and i)rocecded to build a strong Ktockndc They named It Fort Ticcovery, In commemoration of the fact that they had recuv cred the territory lost by St. Clair, a^ I'll as .ill but one of the cannon which he was compelled to leave behind. A com- pany each of artillery and rifli'men m e left there as n garrison. ' Burnet, In his notes, asserts upon .rood authority that there were "a considerable number of BritWh soldiers and Dc trolt militia with the Indians." Fr* iidly Choctaws and Chickasaws with Wiiync, who had been sent on a scout a lev days before, saw a largo body of luu.iue, among whom, they asserted, were many white men with their faces palnleil. I.OWRV'S MONrMF.NT. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 53 Wa3me'g Expedition down tlic Maumec. HiB Offers of Peace rejected. Conduct of Little Turtle. Maumec. Admonished by the fate of St. Clair, he marched cautiously and slowly — so slowly and stcaltliily that the Indians called him The Ulacksnake. Little Turtle was again upon the alert, with two thousand warriors of his own and neighboring tribes within call. The vigilant Wayne well knew this. He had faithful and com])e- teiit scouts and guides, and by unfrequented Avays and with perplexing feints, he moved steadily onward, leaving strength and security in his rear. Tweiity-tivc miles beyond Fort Recovery he built a stockade on the bank of the St. Mary's, and called it Fort Adams. From this point he moved Ibrward on the 4th of August, and at the end of four days encamped on a beautiful i)lain at the conflu- ence of the An Glaize and Maumec Rivers, on the site of the present village of Defi- ance. There he found a deserted Indian town, with at least a thousand acres of corn growing around it.^ There, as elsewhere on liis march, the alarmed savages fled at liis approach. He tarried there a week, and built a strong fortification, which he culled Fort Defiance. Of this fort, and the appearance of its remains when I visited it in the autumn of 1 800, 1 shall hereafter write. Wayne was now at the nir . )ortant and commanding point in the Indian coun- try. " We have gained the g md emporium of the hostile Indians of the West without loss of blood," ho wrote to the Secretary of War.* And there he gained • August i4, full and positive hiformation concerning the character, strength, and ])osi- ^""■*- tion of the British military post at the foot of the Maumec Rapids already alluded to.^ Once more peace and reconciliation were oflVred to the Indians. Notwithstanding lie was in possession of full power to subjugate and destroy without fear of the Rrit- ish intruders below, Wivyne,, unwilling to shed blood unnecessarily, sent a message to the Indians down the Maumee Avith kind words. " Be no longer deceived or led astray," he said, " by the false promises and language of bad white men at the foot of the Rapids ; they have neither the power nor the inclination to i)rotect you." He of- fered them peace and traiuiuillity for themselves and their families, and invited tliem to send deputies to meet him in council without delay. His overtures were rejected, mid by craftiness they endeavored to gain time. " Stay where you are," they said, " for ten days, and we will treat with you ; but if you advance we will give you bat- tle." This defiance was contrary to the advice of the sagacious Little Turtle, who coun- seled peace.^ For this he was taunted with accusations of cowardice. The false charge enraged him, and he was foremost in the conflict that immediately ensued. Tiiat conflict was unavoidable. The vigilant Wayne perceived that nothing but a severe blow would break the spirit of the t vibes and end the war, and he resolved to in- flict it mercilessly. For this ])urpose his L'gion moved forward on the 15th of August, and on the 18th took post at Roche de Bout, at the liead of the Rapids, near the pres- ent town of Waterville, and there established a magazine of supplies and baggage, with protecting military works, which they called Fort Deposit. There, on the 19th, Wayne called a council of war, and ado])ted a plan of march and of battle submitted l)y his young aid-de-camp. Lieutenant Harrison, Avho, nineteen years afterward, as a L,a'neral-in-cliief, performed gallant exploits in that portion of the Maumee Valley.* 1 "The very extensive and highly cultivated fields and gardens chow the work of many hands. The margin of those lioiuitil'ul rivers, the Miami of tlie Lnlies (pronounced Maumee] and An Glaize, appear like one continued village for a iiumher of miles hoth above and below this place; nor bave I ever before behold such immense fields of corn in any piirt of America from Canada to Florida. —Wayne's Letkr to the Seerrtartj of Warfrmn Fort DfflanK, August 14, IJIM. 3 It was a strong work of earth and logs, mounting four tl-pnundors, two large howit/.ers, six O-poundcrs, and two swivels. The garrison, under Major Campbell, a testy Scotchman, consisted of 280 British regulars and 200 militia. ' " We have beaten the enemy twice, under separate commanders," said Little Turtle, in n speech. " Wc can not ex- jicct the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans arc now led by a chief who never Bleei)s. The night 1111(1 the d.iy arc alike to iiim ; and during all the time that he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding ihe watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of It. There is something whispers me it w<nild be ))rudent to listen to the offers of peace." » 1 nm Ini'ebled to the Hon. John Francis Ilamtramck Claiborne, of Mississippi, for the plan of the line of march and urilcr uf battle given in the text. lu a' letter to -^c, covering the drawings, dated " Bay St. Louis, MisslBsippl, August i 1^ ii-V ft4 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle of the Fallen TImhorR. Dcvastntloiig around Fort Miami. The Punishment ofM'Kce. The British and Ii i i On the moniing of the 20th, at eight o'clock, Wayne advanced with his whole army accord- ing to the adopted plan of march, having for his subordinate general officers Major General Scott, of the Kentucky volunteei's, and Brig- adier Generals Wilkinson, Todd, and Barber. Tiioy had pi'oceeded about five miles when the advanced corps, under Major Price, were terribly smitien by heavy volleys from the concealed foe, and were compelled to fall back. The legion was immediately formed in two lines, i)rincipally in a dense wood on the bor- ders of a wet prairie, where a tornado had prostrated a large number of trees, making the oper^jtions of cavalry very difficult. This fallen timber^ afforded an admirable covert for the enemy, who, full two thousand sti'ong, and composed of Indians and Canadian volun- teers,^ were posted in three lines, within sup- porting distance of each other. Wayne's troops fell upon the foe with fearful energy, and made them flee toward Fort Miami like a herd of frightened deer to a covert. In the course of an hour the victory was complete. Tiie mongrel horde were di-iven more than two miles through the thick woods, and left forty of tiieir number dead in the i)athway of their flight. By the side of each body lay a musket and b.'iyonet from British armories.* Three days and three nights the victorious army remained below the Rapids, wield- ing the besom of destruction in defiance of the threats of the commandant of Fort Miami, within view of whose guns Wayne pitched his tents. On the site of the present Maumee City, tioncd, and chief iiisti- near Fort Miami, Colo- ^y y^C^Cc^ ,Jl^y^ ^^ gator of the w.'ir, had nel M'Kee, the Brit- •^^...^■■■■'y^'/r^^' •y^t^'^^'-'^'''''^ extensive store -houses ish agent already men- and dwellings, for ho was carrying on a most lucrative ti-ade with the Indians. These, Avith their contents, were committed to the flames, while every ])roduct of the field and garden above and below the British fort was utterly destroyed.^ Wayne's men sometimes ap- PLAN or TlIK LINE OP MARCH.' I'l.AX OF TUB UAllI !fi 20, ISCn," Mr. Claiborne remnrks: "This c'ny, sixty-six years ago, wna fought the cr<'nt Battle of the Rapids. I send you the original ' Plan of the Line of March' and of the ' Order of liattlc.' I fonnd tho-sc diagrams among the papers of my father, the late General C'aiborne, who was in the battle, a lieutfuant and acting adjutant in the First Regiment United States Infantry, Colonel J. F. Humtramck. I found them in a package of letters from Harrison to my father, the 'Plan of the Line of March' indorsed, In my father's hanawriting, 'Lieutenant Harrison's Plan, adopted in council, August 19, '04.' "Wayne, It appears, called a council of war on the Iflth, and the plan, drawn up by Harrison, then a young man of twenty-one years, was adopted by the veteran olTlcers the momeut it was submitted— an homage to skill and talent rarely awarded to a subaltern." ' ExiM.ANATioN OK THE Pi.AN. -A A, two squadrous of expert woodmen ; B B, two squadrons of light dragoons; K E. two companies of infantry fr(mt and rear ; G G, one trooj) of light dragoons on enrh flank ; H H, one company of infan- try on each flank ; 1 1, one squadron of dragoons on each tlank : J .1, two companies of riflemen on each flank ; K K, ex- pert woodmen on the extreme of each flank. F F F P represent the main army in two columns, the legion of regular troops on the right, commanded by General Wilkinson, and the Kentucky volunteers, under Scott, on the left. » This conflict is often called in history .ind tradition the Battle of the Fallen Timbers. ' There were about seventy white men, including a corps of volunteers (Vom Detroit under Captain Caldwell. ♦ Among the ofllccrs mentioned by Wayne, In his dispatch to the Secretary of War, whose services demanded special mention, were WilUinson and Hamtramck; his alds-de-camp De Butt, Lewis, and Harrison; Mills, Covington of the cavalry, Webb, Slough, Prior, Smith, Van Rensselaer, Rawlins, M'Kenney, Brook, and Duncan. His loss in killed and wounded was 1.1.1. Of these, 113 were regulars. The loss of the enemy was not ascertainfid. lu their flight they left forty of their dead in the woods. ' Wayne's dispatch lo the Secretary of War fj-om Fort Deflitnce, August 28, 1704. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 65 Tbo British aud Indians humbled. Death of Turkey-foot. Scenes at the Place of his Death. l'I.\> Uf TIIK UA'llLK UF TUE FALLEN TIMUKUS. proached within pistol-shot of Fort Miami, but its guns prudently kept silence. Major Campbell, the commandant, contented himself with scolding and threatening, while Wayne coolly defied him and retorted with vigor. Tlieir correspondence was verj' spicy, but harmless in its effects. Among the brave warinors in the battle who was the last to flee before Wayne's legion, was Me-sa- sa, or Turkey-foot, an Ottawa chief, who lived on lilanchard's Fork of the Au Glaize River. He was greatly beloved by his people. His courage was conspicuous. When he found the line of the dusky warriors giving way at the foot of Presque Isle Hill, he leaped upon a small boulder, and by voice and gesture endeavored to make them stand firm. He almost immediately fell, pierced by a musket ball, and expired by the side of the rock. Long years afterward, Avhcn any of his tribe passed along tlie Maumee trail, they would stop at that rock, and linger a long time with mani- festations of sorrow. Peter Navarre, a native of that region, and one of General Har- rison's most trusted scouts during the War of 1812, who accompanied me to the spot in the autumn of 1800, told me that he had seen men, women, and children gather around that rock, place bits of dried beef^ parched peas ^^ i. ^^^c^ :~r::^ " = . -<,.--: and corn, and sometimes _x:ab tf^ 3K;^":v^" y S^zJ---^-': - some cheap trinket upon it, - ' and, calling frequently u])on the name of the beloved Ot- tawa, weep piteously. They carved many rude figures of a turkey's foot on the stone, as a memorial of the English name of the lamented Me-sa- sa. The stone is still there, by the side of the highway at the foot of Presque Isle Hill, ^vithin a few rods of the swift -flowing Maumee. Many of the carvings are still quite deep and distinct, while others have been ob- literated by the abrasion of the elements.' Of this locality, so famous in the chronicles of the War of 1812,1 shall have more to say hereafter. TDBKBV-FOOT 8 EOC'K. ' The above view of Tiirketi-fiwen lioch is nt the foot of the Maumee Rnplds, looking up the fifream. It is seen in the foreground, on the rifht, and over it the road passing over Presque Isle Ilill. It was hero, and farther to the right, that the Indians were )>osted among the fallen trees. On the left Is seen the Maumee, which here sweeps In a graceful cnr^•e. Tlie point across the Maumee at the bend is the river termination of a plain, on which General Hull's army was encamp- ed while on its march toward Detroit in the summer of 1S12. There the army crossed the Maumee. Turkey-foot Rock is limestone, about five and a half feet in length and three feet in iieiu'ht. It is about three miles above Maumee City. In allusion to the event whi.^h the rock commemorates, Andrew Oofflnberry, of Perrysburg, in a poem entitled "The Forest Ranger, a Poetic Tale of the Westeia Wilderness of 1794," thus wrote, after giving an ac- count of Wayne's progress up to this time : . " Yet at the foot of rer. Presque Isie Brave Me-sa-sa was warring (till : tjf !' If f^ ■■f 1 1 1 1 ) ' m !?! I 66 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Troops bnlld Port Wayne. Colonel Uamtramck, The hnmbled .udlans sne for Peace. Having thoroughly accomplished his work, Wayne returned with his army to Fort • Angust '2T, Defiance," while the Indians, utterly defeated and disheartened, retired *o ^^^- the borv'jrs ofMaumec Bay, in the vicinity of Toledo, to brood over tlieir misfortunes and ponder upon the future. At the middle of September the victors moved from Defiance to the head of the Maumee, and at the bend of that river, just below the confluence of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's, which form it, they built a strong fortification, and named it Fort Wayne. It was completed on the 22d of Oc- tober, and was immediate- ly garrisoned with infan- try and artillery, under Colonelllamtramck.' This accomplished, the remain- der of the troops left, some for Fort Washington, to be discharged from the serv- ice, and tlie others for Fort Greenville, where AVayuc made his head-quarters for the winter. Thither deputa- tions from the various tribes with whom he had been at war came to Wayne, and agreed upon preliminary terms of peace. They well remembered his assurance that the British had neither the power nor the inclination to help them — an assurance verified by the silence of Fort Miami's guns. They promised to meet him in council early in the ensuing summer, for the purpose of forming a definitive treaty of j)eace between the United States and the Indian tribes of the Northwest. Faithful to their promise, chiefs and sachems began to reach Fort Greenville early in June. A grand council was opened there on the 16th of that mouth, and was continued until the 10th He stood upon a lurge rongh stone, Still denlint,' random blows alone ; But bleeding fast— glazed were his eyes, And feeble grew his battle-cries ; Too frail his arm, too dim his sight, To wield or aim his axe aright; As still more frail and faint he grew, UU body on the rock he threw. As coursed his blood along the ground, In feeble, iow, and hollow sound, Mingled with frantic peals and strong. The dying chief poured forth his song." Here follows "The Death-song of the Sagamore." > John Francis Hamtramck was a most faithful and nsefiil officer. He was a resident of Northern New York when the Revolution broke out, and was a captain In the Continental army. He was appointed a major iu the regular army of the United States In September, ITS!), and was promoted to be lieutenant colonel commandant of the first sub-legion in Feb- ruary, 1793. He commanded the left wing under General Wayne In the battle of the Maumee, In August, 17»4, and held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the First Infantry in 1790. He was retained as colonel on the reduction of the army in April, 1802, and on the 11th of April the following year he died and was buried at Detroit. While in Detroit, in the autumn of ISOO, I visited the grave of Colonel Ham- tramck, and made the accompanying sketch. It is in the grounds attached to St. Anne's Orphan Asylum, and between that Institution and St. Anne's Cliurch, both belonging to the Roman Catholirs. The monument over his grave and the grounds around it were much neglected. The former was dilapidated, the latter covered with weeds and brambles. The monument Is composed of !i light freestone slab, grown dingy from the effects of the elements, lying upon a foundation of brick. It bears the following luscriptlon : "Sacred to the memory of John Fkanois Hamtbamok, Ksq., Colonel of the First United States Regiment of Infantry, apd Commandant of Detroit and iti^ dependencies. He departed this life on the 11th of April, 1803, aged 46 years, 7 months, and 27 days. True patriotism, and zealous attachment to national liberty, joined to a laudable ambition, led him Into military service at an early period of his life. He was a soldier even before he was a man. He was an active partlclpa - in all the daniii < ■<, difficulties, and honors of the Revoiu. ttonary War; and his heroism and uniform good conduct procured him the attention and personal thanks of the immortal Washington. The United States, in him, have lost a valuable officer and good citizen, and society a nseftil and pleasant member. To his family his loss is incalculable, niul his friends will never forget the memory of Haratramck. This humble monument is placed over his remains by the officers who had the honor to serve under his command: a small but grateful tribute to hU merit and bis worth." HAMTRAMCK 8 TOMB. Treaty with the In OF THE WAR OF 1812. 67 Treaty with tbo Indians at UreecvUle. Pooco secured. of August. Almost eleven hundred Indians were present, rejjresenting twelve tribes.' A definitive and sat! ■'factory treaty was signed by all parties on the 3d of August, !ind the paeifieation of the Indians of the Northwest was thereby made comph'te.'- Hy the operations of a 8j)eeiul treaty between the United States and Great liritain, the Western military posts were speedily evacuated by the British, and for fifteen years the most remote frontier settlements were safe from any annoyance by the In- dians. This security gave an immense imi)etus to emigration to the Northwestern Territory, and the country was raj)idly filled with a hardy population. 1 Wyandots, Dchnvares, Shawuocsc, Ottawoe, Chlppcwas, Pottawatomlos, Mlamis, Weas, K'ckapoos, Piaiikc8hawi<, KaKkanklnx, and Kol River Indians. 2 After the treaty had been twice read to the Indhuip, and every eection explained by Ocneri,! V/aync, that nflloer said: "HnitherH,— All you natlurs now present, listen! Yon now have had, a cecond time, the proposed articles of treaty read and explained to you. It Is now time for the ne^jotlatlon to draw to a conclusion. I shall, therefore, ask each nation Individually If they approve of and are i)repared to sign those articles In their i.icsent form, that they may be Immediately enjj;rossed for that purpose. I shall begin with the Chlppcwas, who, with the others who approbate the measure, will si)j;nify their assent. You, Chlppcwas, do you approve of these articles of treaty, and are you prepared to sign themf [A nnanimons answer— yes.] You, Ottawas, do yon agree? [A unanimous aiiswer— yes.J You, Potta- watomiesf [A unanimous answer— yes.] You, Wyandots, do yon agree? [A unanimous answer— yes.] Yon, Dcla- warcs? [A unanimous answer— yes.] Yon, Shawnoese? fA unanimous answer -yes.] You, Miamis, do you agree? [A unanimous answer— yes.) Y'on, Weas? I A unanimous answer— yes.] And you, Kickaiioos, do you agree? [A unanimous answer— yes.] The treaty shall be enatrossed ; and, as it will require two or three days to do It properly on l):irrhment, we will now part, to meet on the 2d of August. In the Interim, we will cat, drink, and rojolco, and thank tlie Great Spirit for the happy stage this good work has arrived at." After the treaty was signed, a co|)y of it on paper was given to the representative of each nation, and then a 1 rge quantity of goods aiul many small ornaments were distributed among the Indians i)rcsent. On the Kith, at the close of the council, General Wayne said to them : " Brothers, I now fervently pray to the Great Spirit that the jicacc now es- tablished may be permanent, and that It may liold us together in the bonds of friendship until time shall be no more. I also pray that the Great Spirit above may enlit'liten your minds, and open your eyes to your true happU.ess, that your children may learn to cultivate the earth and enjoy the fruits of jjcace and Industry. As it is probable, my children, tliut we shall not soon meet again in public council, I take this opportunity of bidding you all an afToctlonate farewell, and of wishing yon a safe and happy return to your respective homes and families." By this treaty the Indians ceded about twenty-tlve thousand square miles of territory to the United States, besides sixteen se|)aratc tracts, including lands and forts. In consideration of those cessions, the Indians received goods from tiie United States, of the value of 4f2i\UflO, as presents, and were promised an annual allowance, valued ut $i)500, to be equitably distributed among all tlie tribes who were parties to the treaty. lii 58 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Orgnulzatlon of the uow aavernmont. Iti Policy Indicated. Its Power manlfKated. 1 = CHAPTER m. "What coustltutcB n state f Mfn, who their duties know, But know their ri^'htH, and, knowing, dare maintain; Prevent the loiiK-ahncd blow, And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain— These constitute a state," Sm WlLLIAll J0ME8. " There's a warfare where none hut the morally brave Stand nobly and tirmly, their country to save. , 'TIh the war o{ ojiininn, where few can be found. On the mountain of principle, guarding the ground ; With vlgilunt eyes ever watching the foes Who are prowling around them, and aiming their blows." Mas. Dana. IITLE the arm of military power was removing the remains of a lioary barbarism from the beautiful region west of the Allegha- nies, preparatory to the fouiuling of great eommonwealths there, the new national goviniment Avas summoning its functions into energetic and beneficent action. Men were never called upon to perform duties of greater importance and momentous conse- quences. They were charged with the estalilishment of the for- eign and domestic policy of a nation, "not for a day, but for all time." The President and the Legislature felt the responsibility, and in solemn earn- estness they elaborated schemes for the future prosperity of the republic. • The earliest efforts of Congress, after its organization, Avere directed to the arrange- ment of a system of revenue, in order to adjust the wretched financial affairs of the country. Mr. JNIadison, the tacitly acknowledged leader in the House of Re])resenta- tives, ])re8ented the plan of a temporary tariff upon foreign goods imported into the United States, with provisions favorable to American shipping ; also a scheme of ton- nage duties, in which great discriminations were made in favor of American vessels, as well as those of France, Holland, Sweden, and Prussia, the only nations having treaties of commerce Avith the United States. An efficient revemie system was speed- ily adopted and put in motion, for the consolidated government possessed inherent power to do so. Tills first practical exhibition of sovereignty by the central government of the United States opened the eyes of British merchants and statesmen to the fiict that the Americans had suddenly made a stride toward absolute independence — that their commerce was no longer subjected to the caprice of foreign powers, nor neglected because of the disagreements and jealousies of thirteen distinct Legislatures. They perceived that its interests were guarded and its strength nurtured by a central poAver of Avonderful energy, and that the ncAV republic had taken its place among the family of nations Avitli just claims to the highest respect and consideration. Other nations yielded the same recognition, and its future career Avas contemplated Avith peculiar interest throughout the civilized Avorld. Wliile the House of Representatives Avas engaged on the subject of revenue, the Senate was occupied in arranging a judiciary system. A bill for the purpose Avas offered in that body by Oliver EllsAvorth, of Connecticut. Afler undergoing several amendments, it was concurred in by both houses of Congress, and a national judiciary OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 59 Tbe Judiciary. AmeiidmciiU to tho Constltntlon. Cabinet MlulHteri. Relntloiis with Franco and England. was established similar in all its essential features to that now in operation. It con- sisted of one chief justice and five associate justices, who were directed to hold two sessions annually at the seat of the national j^overnment. Circuit and district courts were also established, which had jurisdic^tion over certain specified cases. Each state was made a district, as were also the two Territories of Kentucky and Maine. The districts, excepting the two Territories, were jir()>iped hi> as to form three circ\iits. A nnirsiial and district attorney were appointed for each district by the President.' Tiie subjects of revenue and judiciary being well disposed of, Congress next turn- ed its attention to the organization of executive departments. Only three — Treas- ury, War, and Foreign Relations — were established. The heads of these were styled Secretaries instead of Ministers, as in Europe. The President of the United States was clothed witli power to ai)|)oint or dismiss them at his pleasure, with the concur- rence of the Senati'. Tliey were designed to constitute a cabinet council, ever sub- ject to the call of the President for consultation on public affairs, and bound to give him their opinions in writing ■when required. The attention of Congress Avas next turned to the amendments of the Constitution proposed by the peojde of the several states, which amounted, in the aggregate, to one hundred and forty-seVv?n, besides separate Bills of Rights ])roposcd l)y Virginia and New York, Sixteen of the amendments were agreed to, and twelve of them were subsequently ratified by the people and became a part of tlie organic law of the na- tion. The profound wisdom of the framers of the Constitution and its own perfection are illustrated by the faet tliat, of tliese twelve amendmci is, not one of them, judged by subsequent experience, was of a vital character. Before the adjournment of Congress on the 20th of Sejitember," the Presi- dent had appointed Ids Cabinet,^ and the new government was fairly set in motion. Its foreign relations were, <m the whole, satisfactory, and only in England were otlier than friendly feelings toward the Ignited States manifested. Tiiesc were met b' corresponding ill feeling toward England on this side of tlie Atlantic. The reser' ts caused by the late long Avar were blunted, but by no means deprived ot the' iigth; and, finally, the fact that tlie British government still held possession of ^\ estern military posts Avithin the boundary of the United States, and that from these had gone out influences Avhich iiad involved their country in a bk)ody and ex- ])L'nsive Avar Avith the Indians, ])roduce(l much irritation in the American mind. This was intensified by the Avounds given to their national pride by the British govern- menf, in so long refusing to negotiate a connnercial treaty Avith them, and declining to reciprocate the friendly advances of the United States by sending a minister to re- side at the national capital. With their old ally, France, the most ])erfect friendship still existed, but it Avas destined to a speedy interruption. Events in that country, and the position assumed by the President of the United States in relation to them, caused violent animosity to take the place of cordial good Avill, and Avere among the causes Avhich gave liirth to j)arties in America Avhose collisions, for several years, shook the republic to its centre, and at times threatened its existence. Tlie animosities of these parties, and the col- lateral relations of national policy and events in France and England to them, Avill be found, as Ave proceed in our narrative, to have played an important part in the great drama Ave are considering, at the period immediately preceding and duruig the prog- ress of the War of 1812. ' 1T8». 1 John Jay, of New York, was appointed Chief Justice of the United States ; and John Rutledfre, of South Carolina, Jamea AVllson, of Pennsylvania, AVIlllam Cashing, of Massachusetts, Robert H. Harrison, of Maryland, and John Blair, of A'Irfrinia, were appointed associate judges. ' Alexander namilton was appointed Secretary of the Treasury ; Henry Knox, Secretary of AVar ; and Thomas Jeffer- son, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the duties of which were the same as now porforinod by the Secretary of State, or prime minister. The Navy Department was not created until 17!>S. Naval affairs were under the control of the Secre- tiiry of War. At that time the Attorney General and Postmaster General were heads of departments, but were not, as now, Cabinet offlcers. Edmund Randolj)!! was appointed Attorney General, and Samuel Osjjood Postmaster General. 60 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Revolutionary Movemeuta In France. LoAiyette the Leader. Kzcltement In Parla. National Auembly. Kxcltement In I At tlii^ vt'iy time wlicn the fruits oftlie Aiiiericaii Uevoliition were exhiliitinj,' tlioir ripeiu'SH iu tlie lorm of a free ami vigorous nation full of promise, tlie i^^mjiiie (_)f France, made unsound to the core by social and political corruptions most foul, was HJiakcn by a moral cartli(iuake — a revolution severe at tlie beginning, and terril)!e in its subse(iuent ct)urse. The Fn iich monarch was weak, his advisers were wicked, and the dominant classes, through lu.vury and concomitant vices, were exceedingly corrupt. The good and the brave of the kingdom hail long jierceived the abyss of woe ui»oii the brink of which tlu'ir country was j)oise<l, and with a heroism which in the light of history appears almost divuie, they resolved to Hound the trumpet of po- litical reform, and arouse king, nobles, and people to a sense of solemn duty as nu'ii and |iatriots. At the head of these brave men was Lafayette, seconded chiefly by the Duke de Rochefoucauld and M. Condorcet. They wished to obtain for France a Constitution similar to that of Fngland, which they regarded as the most jK-rfect model of human government then known. They loved their king because of his many virtues, and would have advised him wisely had their voices been permitte<l audience in the Tui- leries; but they loved France more than their king, and desired to see her crowned with true glory, basi'd upon the welfare and prosj)erity of her people. To accomplish this, they ])laced their hopes on a virtuous constitutional monarchy. For a long time Lafayette and his coadjutors had been elaborating their scheme. At length, in the Assembly of Notables, in Ajiril, 1789, that champion of rational lib- erty stood up in his place and boltlly demanded a series of reforms in the name of the 2>coi)le, one of which Avas a representative National Assembly. "What!" ex- claimed the Count D'Artois, one of the king's bad advisers, "do you make a motion for the States General?" " Yes, and even nu)re than that," (piickly resj)onded Lafay- ette. That more Avas a charter from the king, by Avhich the pul)lic and individual liberty should be acknowledged and guaranteed by the future States General. The proj)osition was received Avith unbounded enthusiasm. The measure Avas carried. Early in May a session of the States General Avas opened at Versailles, and they con- stituted themselves a National Assembly. NoAV Avas the golden opportunity for King Louis. Slight concessions at that mo- ment might have secured blessings for himself and his country, But he lieeded the counsels of venal men more than the supjjlicatioiis of his real friends. lie opposed the ])opular Avill, and took the road to ruin, lie ordered the liall of the National As- sembly to be closed, and ])laced a cordon of mercenary German trooj)S around Paris to overaAve the peo])le. From that time until early in July the French cajiital Avas dreadfully agitated. Passion ruled the hour. The city Avas like a seething caldron. Every one felt that a terrible storm Avas about to burst. The National Assembly Avas iioav sitting in Paris, and thoroughly sustained by the })cople. They called for the organization of forty-eight thousand armed militia. Within tAVO days^tAVo hundred and seventy thousand citizens Avere enrolled. A state mayor Avas a])i)ointed by the tOAvn assembly, and the Marquis La Salle Avas named commander-in-chief. Court dispatches Avere intercepted by the people by the arrest of royal couriers. Then they demanded arms. An immense assemblage Avent to the Hos])ital of the Invalids on the 10th of July, and demanded from the governor the instant delivery to them of all Aveapons there. He refused, and they seized thirty thousand muskets and tAventy pieces of cannon. Then they visited the shops of the armorers and the de- pository oftlie Garde-meuble^awA. seized all the arms found there. Higher and lijgher rose the tide of revolution. The girdle of soldiers around Paris Avas the chief cause for present irritation. The National Assembly sent a deputation to the king at Versailles to ask him to remove them. His good heart counseled com- pliance, but his Aveak head boAved to the demands of bad advisers. " I alone have OK THE WAK OF 1812. n Kxcltnninnt In I'arla. Purmiitlon of u Natlunnl Utiunl. Troachory at tbe BmUIo. ThM Mwm dMinqrtd. tilt! rii^lit to judpfo of tho necessity, and in that respect I can make no ctiiinj:;©," was till' iiiuii^lity iUiHWor oftlio iiini^ liorrio l)iick to llic AsHonilily. Tiiis answer, and tho ilixinissiil of ^l. Nofkcr, the eoiitrolh'r oftiie treasury, and utiier patriotic ministers wlio llivorcd rt'f'onii, produced a crisis. I'aris was eoniparaliveiy (luict on the nijj;ht of tl\e 13th of July. It was the omin- ous hill before tin- burstini; of tlie tempest. The streets were barricaded. The ]ieople formed themselves into a National (Juard, and chose Lafayette as their commaiidiT. (iiui, sabre, scythe, ami whatever weapon fell in their way was seized. Multitudes of nu'ii of tlu! same opinion embraced each other in the streets as brothers, and, in an instant almost, a National (iuard of one hundred thousand determined men was forn\ed. The inr)rninLC of the 14th was serene. The sky was cloudless. Rut storms of |ias- siou were swcpintj over Paris. The people were in motion at an early hour. Their steps wert! toward the I5astile, a hoary state prison, which was rci^arded as the slroni^- hold of despotism. They stood before it in imnu'use numbers. A ])arley ensued. The {fates were opened, and ibrty leadincj ■■itizens, as representatives of the |)opn- laee, were allowed to enter. The bridi^es were then suddeidy drawn, and volleys of musketry soon tohl a tak of treachery most foul. They were all murdered! That moment marks the openim; of the terrible scenes of the Freiu-h devolution. With demoniac yells the exasperated ])o|)ulace draLjijed heavy cannon before the tjates, and threatened the destruction of the Hastile. The terrified governor displayed a white flai;, and invited a second deputation to enter the gates. These shared tho fate of the former! The furious multitude would no loniijer listen to words of |)eace. They were treacherous all. A breach was soon made in the walls. The !.^overiu)r and other officers were draijijed to execution, and their heads were paraded upon pikes through the streets. The great iron key of the Bnstile was sent to the City Hall.' The National Assembly decreed the demolititm of the hated jirison, and very soon it was leveled to the ground.'' Upon its site, now the I'ltice do Jiantile, stands the Colnnin of Juhj^ erected by Louis l'hili|)pe to commemorate the devolution in 18;?0, which placed hini on the throne. Laliiyette sent the key of the JJastile to Washington, who placed it in the broad passage at Mount Vernon, where it still hangs. The National Assembly elected Lafayette commander- in -chief of the National (tuard of all France, a corps of more than four millions of armed citizens. They voted him a salary of fifty thousand dollars a year, but, imitating Washington, he refused to accept any remuneration for his services. The humbled king approved liis appointment, and the monarch, deserted by his evil counselors, threw himself upon the National Assembly. "lie has been deceived hitherto," Lafayette proclaimed to the public, "but he now sees the merit and justice of the popular catise." The over- joyed people shouted " Long live the king I" and for a moment the Kevolution seemed to be at an end and its purposes accomplished. But Lafayette, who comprehended the labors and the dangers yet to be encoun- tered, was filled with ajiprehension. The wily Duke of Orleans, who desired the de- struction of the king for the base purpose of his own exaltatitm to the thnme, was ijusied in sowing the seeds of distrust am'oiig the people.^ The d\ike incited them to demand the monarch's presence at the Tuileries. Louis went voluntarily from Ver- saijles to Paris, followed by sixty thousand citizens and a hundred deputies of the ' For a picture and description of this key, see LosslnR'a FirUI-liook of the Revnlution, !i., 2fli). ' A picture of the Bastilo may he found In LoHsin^'s H'lvie of \Va«hiniiton ami ita AmoriatioiiH, p. 221. ' " lie does not, Indeed, i)o»6cs8 talent to carry Into execution a trrcat project," said Lafayette to John Trumhull, who •.vas ahout to leave Paris, "blit he i)opsesses Immeni'C wealth, and France ahoundf in marketable talents. Every city and to^vn has young men eminent for abilities, particularly In the law— ardent in character, eloquent, amhiticms of dis- tinction, but poor." Many of these were tho men who composed the leaders lu the Heign of Terror, and reddened the streets of Paris with human blood. < u I C2 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK i M European Wur expected. Orent Britain and Spain in lll-hamor. Attempt to extort Jnetice ftrom Oreat Britain. Assembly, and there formally accepted the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which was presented to him. The people were satisiied, and the duke was disapj)ointed. Order reigned in Paiis and throughout the kingdom. The brjaring of these events upon our suhjeot will be obsei-ved i»resently. At this timo a general Euro])ean war seemed inevitable. A long-pending contro- versy between Great Hritain and Spain renuiineil unsettled. It was believed that Fi-ance, with her traditional hatred of Great Britain, would side with Spain. This alliance would menace England with mu.'h danger. At the same thne, Spain, a de- clining power, would necessirily be much embarrassed by war. Viewing this situa- tion of affairs in Western Europe with the eye of a statesman, Washington concluded that it was a favorable time to urge npon Si)ain the claims of the United States to the free navigation of the Mississippi, concerning which negotiations had been for some time pending, and also to press upon Great liritain tiie necessity of complying with the yet unfulfilled articles of the Treaty of 1783. Mr. Carmichael, the American Charge des Affaires at the Court of Madrid,' Avas instructed not only to press the point concerning the navigation of the Mississippi with earnestness, but to endeavor to secure to the United States,' " cession, Jie island of New Orleans and the Floi-idas, offering as an equivalent the abiding fri'indship of the new republic, by which the territories of Sj/ain west of the Mississippi might be secured to that government. At the same time, Gouverneur Morris, then in Paris, was directed by Washington to repair to London, and, with sincere professions of a desire on the part of the United States " to promote iiarmouy and mutual satisfaction between the two countries," sound the British mhiistry on the subject of a full and immediate execution of the Treaty ofl78.G.2 Morris had a formal interview with the Duke of Leeds, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, near the close of March, 1790. He was received with cordiality, and was a.ssni'ed of the earnest desire of (4reat Britain to cultivate friendly i-elations with the United States, and the determination of the king to send a minister to America. E it when Morris attempted to hold explicit conversation on the subject of his semi-offi- cial mission he was met with evi'.sion and reticence. It was immediately made evi- dent to \\'. n that there was real rehictance on the part of Great Britain to fulfill the stipulations of the Treaty of 1783, or to make a fair commercial arrangement, and that there was a disposition to procrastinate while the difficulties between Gi-eat Britain and Spain remained unadjusted. He found great misapjtrehensions existing in En- gland concerning the real character of the Americans and their government, even among the best informed. They overrated the importance to Americans of friendship with them. They believed thnt trade with Great Britain was of vital consetpience lO vhe Americans, and that the latter would make an international commercial treaty u])Ou almost any terms to secure it. With this belief, a committee of Parliament, to whom had been referred the revenue acts of the United States, acting under the ad- vice of the merchants of leading maritime towns of Great Britain, reported early in 1 790, in favor of negotiating a commercial treaty with the Americans, but with the explicit declaration that the commissioners shoul<l not " submit to treat" for the ad- mission of American vessels into any of the British islands or colonial ports. They actually believed that the necessities of the I'^nited States would make them acqui- esce in an arrangement so ungenerous and partial. While war with. Spain seemed .impending, the British ministers listened compla- cently to what Moi-ris had to say about the frontier inilitaiy ))OSts, the inqji'cssment of American seamen into tlu! British naval service under the [»lea that they Avere sub- ' William Carmichael went to Spain with Minister John Jay, ns secretary of legation, In 1779, and when that ftinctioii- ory left, Mr. Carmichael rcinaiued as Charge (ten Affaircn. After the Treaty of Peace was ulcncrl hi ns.1, the Spanish {tm- ernment reuieed to acknowlciljje him e-i bucIi, bnt lliiiilly, tbroujjh the agency of Lafayette, they lelnctanlly cont-enled to do BO. » Washington's letter to Qouvcnieur Morris, October 1.1, 1789. Dlsconrtesy of the 1 MIMk- OF THE WAR OF 1812. 63 DlBConrtesy of tho Hrltieh Government. The Americans supposed to be dependent. A Change of Views. jccts of Great Britain, and the proj)riety of Beiuling a full minister to the United States.' It was evident that the British were willing to ruiow their relations Avith tlie Americans to remain unchanged until they should have a definite perce{)tion of the course European afi'airs were likely to take. This evidence became more and more manifest in the a\itumn. T!ie French government, embarr." *sed by its own troubled alfairs, was disinclined to take part with Spain in its quarrel, and the latter, unable alone to cope with Great Britain, yielded every ])oint in the controversy, and the dispute was settled. Relieved of this burden of perplexity, and regarding France as hopelessly crippled by her internal difficulties. Great Britain showed marked indif- I'orenee concerning her relations with the United States. Nothing more was said about sending a minister to America, and Mr. Morris was treated with neglect, if not with positive discourtesy. At tho close of the year Mr. Morris left England. He had been there about nine months, I'ndeavoring to obtain a positive answer to the simple questions, Will you execute the Treaty ? will you make a treaty of commerce with the United States ? At the end of that time the real views of the British government were as hidden as at the beginning. Ungenerous dijdomacy had been employed all the time by the Ihitish ministry, while the American government was anxious to establish ])eaceful relations with Great Britain and all the world upon principles of exact justice. Its agents w ere unskilled in the low cunning of diplomatic art which at that time dis- tinguished every court in Europe, and they lost the game. Both the government and people of the United States felt aggrieved and indignant at the course of Great Brit- ain, and self-respect would not allow them to farther press the subject of diplomatic intercourse or treaty relations. They therefore resolved to pause in action until the republic should become strong enough to speak in decisive tones, and prepared to maintain its declarations by corresponding vigor of action. Great changes are wrought by time. The march of stirring events in Europe now became majestic, for a new and important era was daAvning ; and the dignity and importance of the republic beyond the sea was too ajiparent to the workl to allow the British government to maintain its indifterence much longer without evil consequences to itself Already France, Holland, and Spain, the real enemies of En- gland, had placed '•cprcsentatives at the seat of our national government, and British jiride was compelled to yield to expediency. In August, 1791, George Hammond ar- rived in Philadelphia, clothed with fidl ministerial powers as the representative of Great Britain, presented his credentials, and was formally received. In December following, diplomatic relations between the two goveniments were established by the 1 Great Britain evidently apprehended an alliance of the United States with Spain, In the event of ii war between the former and the latter power. Dorchester, the Governor of Canada, was employed to ascertain tho disposition of the United States on that point. lie accordinply asked permission to pass through New York on liis way to Enjjland : and when it was readily granted, as he expected, he sent his aid-de-camp, Major Feckwlih, to the seat of the United States jrovcmment, under the pretext of makinR a formal acknowledgment, but really to seek information upon the subject In (luestion. He flrst approached Mr. Ilnmilton, the .Secretary of the Treasury. Afler exprcssinj; the thanks of Lord Dor- chester, he, with apparent unconcern, remarked that his lordship had reason to fear that the delays which Mr. Morris experienced in England wonld be attributed to a lack of desire on the part of the British ministry to adjust every mat- ter in dispute between the United States and Great Britain. In behalf of his lordship he was Instructed to say, that there could be no doubt, not only of tho friendly feeling of Great Britain, but of a desire on her part for an alliance \vith the United States. Major Beckwith then spoke of the rupture bet^veen Great Britain and Spain, and expressed his pre- s'lmptlon that. In the event of war, the United States would And It to their interest to take part with Great Britain. He then, in the name of Dorchester, disclaimed any inflnence, under British authorities, over the Indian tribes In the West. The President laid the matter before his Cabinet, and it was agreed to draw (Uit from the ma|or as much Information as possible by treating him and his communicaticm very civilly. But he obtained no Information of importance. The matter was so transparent that no one was deceived. " What they [the ministers] are saying to you," .Teflersnn WTOte to Morris In August, " they are saying to us through Quebec ; but so informally that they may disavow it when thev please. . . . Through hini fMaJnr Beckwith] they talk of a minister, a tr'-aty of commerce, and alliaiw. If the object of the latter be honorable. It is useless; If dishonornble, inadmissible. These tamperlngs prove that they view war II" possible ; and some symptoms indicate designs against the Spanish possessions adjoining us. Tho consequences of llu'ir ac(|Uiring all the country on our frontier from the St. Croix to the St. Mary's are too obvious to yon *-. need devel- ispaient. You will readily sec the dangers which would then environ us. . , . Wo wish to be neutr".; „ud we will be so, t/lhi'u wiU execute the Treaty fairl'j and altenijtt no conqtifals mljainuKi m." J] m \ . i \ 1 1 m 1 1 m 64 PICTOlilAL FIELD-BOOK Effort)! for the Establlnhinciit of the Public Credit. Ilnmitton's Protest against tuiiiperiiig witli tliu Natiouul Honor. appointment ofTliom- a.s Pinckney, of South Carolina, as Aniorican niinister to tlie Court of St. James.' At about this time two violently antaj^- onistic parties had as- sumed definite sluipe and forniidahle i)ro- portions in the United States, the aeknowl- edged heads of which Aj AV"ero Alexander I fam- ilton and Thomas Jef- ferson, members ' of Washington's Cabi- net. On the former, !is Seer Treasui the ini})ortant duty iT.^'devoivcui Oh4/yi^c^ ou^o^y^jz. ^ the establishment of the public credit.'^ Ow- ing to long delay, and doubts and discour- agements in the minds of the original holdeis of the eviilences of the public debt, they had fallen into the liand,s of speculators at one sixth of their nominal value. It was there- fore argued that, in the licjuidation of these claims, there should be a scale of depreciation adopted, thereby mak- ing a saving to the public treasury. Hamilton wotdd listen favorably to no suggestions of to arrange a plan for tliat kind. With the sagacity of a statesm.an, the shicerity of an honest man, and the ti-ue lieart of a patriot, he planted his foot firmly upon the ground of justice and honor, and declared that public credit couhl only be established by the faithful dis- charge of public obligations in strict conformity to the terms of the contract. These debts were originally due to officers and soldiers, farmers, mechanics, and patriotic caj)italists, and were sacred in the estimation of honest men; and it was no just ])lea for their whole or j)artial repudiation that speculators would jirofit by the honesty of tile government. It was not for the debtor to inquire into whose hands his written promises to pay were lodged, nor Iioav they came there.^ Upon this lofby foundation of principle Hamilton stood before hosts of his frowning countrymen, ct)nscious of the importance of financial honor and integrity to the infant republic, and determined to secure for it the dignity which justice confers, at whatever cost of personal popularity. •Jnuuaryu, Hl' accordingly presented to Congress," in an able rei)ort, a scheme "for ^''■"*' the support of the public credit," whose principal feature was the funding of tlie public debt — a plan proposed by him to Kobert Morris as early as 1782. He also proposed tlie assumj)tion by the general govermnent of the state debts incurred during the war, amounting, in prhieipal and interest, to over twenty millions of dol- ' Tluimnf" Pinclinpy wnf born in Chnrlpston, Sonth C'nrolina, 23<1 of October, 1750. He was edncnted in Enplnnd. Wlien Itie Hcvulution brolie onl he entered the military kci vice, and was active until Oates's defeat near Cnmrten, in AuirUKt. 17S(I, when he wax made a prisoner, lie was Gates's aid. He was chosen Governor of South Carolina In 17>T. In 17!I2 he went as minisler to Enirland. In 17(14 lie was sent in the same cajiacity to Spain, to treat concerning the nav- igation of the Mississippi. At the becinnincr of ispi the President appointed him to the command of the Southern divi- sion of tlie army, .\fter the war General Pinckney retired to private life. He died on the iid of November, 1828, ajjied seventy-eiu'lit years. = The Impoverished condition of the country, and the wants of the public treasury at that time, may be compreheudcil by the fact that, at the close ofl7Sil, the Attorney General and several members ^f Cimgccss were iiidi'lited to the pri- vate credit of the Secretnry of the Treasury to dis eharfre their personal expenses. Even the President of the I'niteil States was oblitred to pass his note to his jirivate secretary, Mr. I.ear. to meet his iKUisehold expi uses, which was dis- counted at the rate of two per cent, a month. Members of Congress were paid by due-bills, which the collectors were ordered to receive in payment of duties. —Hamilton's TJintnTii of tin' Hrjtvhh'r nf On: United SlaUK^ lv.,4S. ■' Hamilton arjrued that, besides motives of political expediency, there were reasons In favor of his view "which reft on the iminutable principles of moral obllfratlon ; and, in proportion .as the mind is disposed to eoiitem|)late, iu llic order of Providence, an ultimate connection lietwcen puliiic virtue and pnldic linpiiiness, will be its repnimance to a vio- lation of those jirlnciples. This relied ion derives additiimal strent'th from llie nature of the debt of the United State.". Tt was thk iMuen ok i.iiiF.nTv. The faith of America has been repeatedly i)ledged for it, and with soionnitics that give (leculior force to the obligation." IIarallton'8 Finauci lars. Ilis sclu from taxation. This scheme est vehemence assumption of fearfully agita to the prineipl sitions, especii with alarm by because of the to the general and as being al; scheme great might lead to i areliy. These regarded the Bi centralization o shafts of person and abused as a of opinion was f Wliile Washi niaiided his liigl for restoring tlie dieted great ant Confidenee was ' At that time the wh| I'ca, estahlLshed in Phila York City ; and the Ha term of twenty years, w intrusted to twenty-live Thesnliject ofcurrenc fCDted an able report on of all the states. Starti money; Ten units to be jiresent currency) ; and t ported a table iu 17s(, in etrike four coins, namely a hundredth of a dollar i our cfiit, (iitnf, dollar, an the subject was taken in afterward the operation) Confrress long debates w The Senate proposed thi should occupy the chair the head of Liberty was llfry of the President— lei tlnally adopted. Durluj; called " specimens," now connoisseurs, were struc kuown as the " LIberty-c session. The mint was fli = " The public paper si which Individuals acquire • Robert Morris had coi ley, of noston, an English money. In November Mi preparation of machinery try blacksmith, named W fiire any machinery was p on the 2d of April, 178.% M silver coin, being the first mint, having charge, also, Hail & Sellers, the printei mint, and Mr. Dudley, ofte OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 65 nnrailton's FInauclal Scheme ansailed. Bunking Capital In the United States. A Decimal Currency adopted. lars. His scheme ineludccl tlic establishment of a national bank,' a system of revenue from taxation, internal and external, and a sinking fund. This scheme — just, patriotic, necessary, and beneficial — was assailed with the great- est vehemence, and the discussions which it elicited, especially ujjou the subject of the assumption of the state debts, in Congress, in the public j)ress, and in private circles, fearfully agitated the nation, and created tiie first regular and systematic opposition to the principles on Avhich the affairs of the republic were administered. Its propo- sitions, especially the one relating to the assumption of state debts, were regarded with alarm by the late opponents of the Constitution and a consolidated govermnent, because of their tendency to a centralization of power, as giving an undue influence to the general government by placing the purse as well as the sword in its hands, and as being also of doubtful constitutionality. Many believed that they saw in this scheme great political evils, because it secured the financial union of the states, and might lead to the establishment of a government as absolute as a constitutional mon- archy. These suspicions Avere strengthened by the well-known fi^ct that Hamilton legardcd the British government as a model of excellence, and had advocated greater centralization of power, in the Convention of 1787. He Avas made the target for the shafts of personal and political malice, and his financial system was misrepresented and abused as a scheme for enriching a few at the expense of the many.'' The war (if oi)inion Avas fierce and uncompromising. While Washington took no part in the discussion of Hamilton's scheme, it com- manded his highest admiration, as the most perfect that human wisdom could devise for restoring the public credit and laying the foundation of national policy. He ])re- (licted great and lasting good from its adoption, and his prophecies Avere fulfilled. Confidence was revived, and that acted like magic upon industry ; and then com- r '■'l f. m' ' At that time the whole banking cnpitfil of the United States was" only $2,000,000, inveflted in the Bant o/.Aor^/lm^- ii-o, established in Philadelphia by Robert Morris, chiefly as a government fiscal agent ; the Dank nf Sew Ytrrk, in New York City; and the Hank o/ Ma>isaclmnrtt!i, in Boston. In January, ITOl, Congrcw chartered a national bank for the term of twenty years, with a capital of $10,000,000, to be located In the city of Philadelphia, and its management to be intrusted to twenty-five directors. It did not commence business operations in corporate form until In February. 1794. The subject of currency bad occupied the attention of the old Congress as early asl7S2, when Gouvenieur Morris pre- sented an able report on the subject, written at the request of Robert Morris.' lie proposed to harmonize the nuineys of all the states. Starting with one ascertained fraction as a unit, for a divisor, he proposed the following table of money : Ten units to be equal to one penny ; ten pence to one bill ; ton l)ills, one dollar (about seventy-five cents of our present currency); and ten dollars, one crown. Mr. JefTerson, as chairman of a committee on the subject of coins, re- jjorted a table in Usi, In which he adopted Morris's decimal system, but entirely changed its details, lie proposed to i-trike four coins, namely, a golden piece of tiie value of ten dollars, a dollar in silver, a tenth of a dollar in silver, and a hundredth of a dollar in copper. This report was adopted by Congress the following year, and this was the origin of our cent, dime, dollar, and eaijle. The establishment of a mint for coinage was delayed, and no legislative action on the subject was taken until early in April, 1702, when laws were enacted for the preparation of one. For three years afterward the operations of the mint were chiefly experimental, while In Congress long del)ates were had concerning the devices for the new coins. The Senate proposed the head of the President of the United States who "hould occupy the chair of state at the time of the coinage. In the House, the head of Lil)erty was suggested, as being less aristocratic than the ef- figy of the President— less the stamp of royalty. The head of Uiierly wifs finally adopted. During that interval of three years, several of the coins called " specimens," now so rare In cal)inet8, and so much sought afler by ccmnoisseurs, were struck. Of these the rarest is a small cojjper coin, known as the " Lilierty-cap cent." The engraving is from one In mv pos- scf.sion. The mint was first put into full operation, in Phil.ulelphla, In 170,'i. = "The public paper suddenly rose, and was for a short time above par," savs Marshall. "The immense wealth which individuals acquired by this unexpected appreciation could not be viewed with indifference." LInERTY CENT. • Robert Morris had considered the subject for more than n year. As early as July, 17S1, he wrote to Benjamin Dud- ley, of Boston, an Englishman, requesting him to come to Philadelphia, that he mlL'ht consult him about the colnace of money. In November Mr. Dudley was employed iji assaying. Mr. Morris keiit him engaged in experiments, and in the lireparatlon of machinery for a mint. In tliese Mr. Dudley C(msnlled Dr. Rittenhouse and Francis llopkinson. A conn- try blacksmith, named Wheeler, was employed to make the rollers for the mint, and it was July the fcdlowlng year bc- f ire any machinery was perfected. Mr. Morris labored hard to get the mint in operalbm, but without success. Finally, iin the 2d of April, 1783, Morris was enabled to write in ills diary, " I sent for Af r. Dudlev, who delivered nie a piece of tilver coin, being the first that has been atrnck as an American coin." Mr. Dudley was installed superintendent of the mint, having charge, also, of the preparation of the paper moulds, etc., in the manufacture of the currency printed by Hall & Sellers, the printers of the Continental mo.iey. Finallv, In .Tiilv, Mr. Morris gave - the idea of estubllghlng a mint, and Mr. Dudley, after dcUvering up the dies to him, left his gervlce.-RonuBT MoBHis'sWurj/. E 'n 5,-' W' -I III ^i !| iif I •tl 66 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Mr. Jeffersou In France. Uls Reception In Now York. His Suspiclona of former Colleagues and Compatriots. monced that wonderful development of material wealth which has gone on with few hitermissions until the present time. While these discus- sions were at their height, Jefterson arrived at the seat of government, to as- sume the duties of Secre- tary of State. He had but lately returned from France, where he had la- bored for several years m the di[)lomatic service of his country. lie had witnessed the uprising of the people there at the bidding of Lafiiyctte and others a few months be- fore. The example of his own country was the star of hope to the French revolutionists, and as the author of the Declaration of Independence^ he was regarded as an oracle, and courted by the-leaders of the constitutional party there. Fresh from the fields of political excite- ment in the French cajii- tal, and his inherent democratic principles and ideas intensified and enlarged by these experiences, he came home full of enthusiasm, expecting to find every body in his own country ready to speak a sympathizing word for, and to extend a helping hand to the people of France, the old ally of Americans in their efl:brts to establish for themselves a constitutional government. But Mr. Jeiferson was disappointed. When ne arrived in New York, after a tedi- ous journey of a fortnight on horseback, he was warmly welcomed by the leading families of the citj% and became the recipient of almost daily invitations to social and dinner parties. The wealthier and more aristocratic classes in New York, Avho gave dinner jiartics at that time, were mostly Loyalists' families, who remembered the pleasant intercourse they had enjoyed with the British officers during the late Avar, and had always regard"d the British form of government as the most perfect ever devised. Free from political restraint, their conversation was open and frank, ami their sentiments were expressed Avithout reserve. Mr. Jefferson was continually shocked by the utterance of opinions repugnant to his faith, and in contrast Avith his recent experience.^ Mr. Jefterson, who was sensitively and even painfully alive to the evils of despotism and the dangers of a goveniment stronger than the people, took the alarm, and lie became morbidly suspicious of all around him. The conservatism of Washington and his associates in the government, and their lack of enthusiasm on the subject of the French Revolution, Avhich so filled his OAvn heart, Avere construed by him as indiftei- ence to the diflfusion of democratic ideas and the triumph of republican principles, for which the patriots in the Avar for independence had contended. He had scarcely taken his seat in the Cabinet before he declared that some of his colleagues held de- cidedly monarchical vieAvs, and it became a settled belief in his mind that there Avas a party in the United States constantly at Avork, secretly and sometimes openly, for tlic overthroAV of republicanism. This idea became a sort of monomania, and haunted him until his death, more than thirty years afterward. Events in France soon began to make vivid impressions upon the public mind in America. The fears of Lafayette were realized. The lull that succeeded the tempest of 1789, was only the precni-sor of a more terrible storm in 1791, that shook European socirty to its deepest foundations, and, like the great earthquake of 1755, was felt in alm< t «very part of the globe. • "I can net describe the wonder and mortification with which the table conversation filled me," Mr. Jcflierson wrote. "PoIfttB W8» the drief topic, and a prcfff-iice for a klnsjly over republican govornmont was evidently the favorite ■enttmcA. An apraatate I could not be, nm yet a hypocrite : and I found mynelf, for the most part, the onl- advocate on the nuBblican mde of the (i" ■'Hon, unless animii; the imettB there chanced to he some member of that party from Uie leglMMtre housee." Thi!' i Uc first mention that we ui. y where find of a VciHiblicon Party In this couLiry, Formation of the. Long befor Avliose ieelint their attenda^ as an imj)ost circumstance folloAved tlie lliey noAv j)u Avhose design spirit of revolt ^tate. Their church Avas p( National Guar Disgusted AS- of the National exceedhigly po abroad. The \ classes. Tlie fli Avas arrested aii (tuards. He e: insults in the strife. Tile populace and member of tioned for the <1 ui)on them, and i yet the popularii The Constitut ami solemnly sw the kingdom, and the Carmagnole dered along the 1 TJiere Avas Avi( I'lovements in Fr like patriotism. tiile of social life ant.igonistic part' crystallizations, j. rotary of State, :u ance in their view each other. Jofib of political strife :i giiarantees of lihc and desired to ini] tlie funding systeii cise laAv — creation ' "lam exposed to the ever acts or means wrong -nil parties against me, a lip to all the madncBs ofli the constitntionai channel. ' Upon a tree planted on OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 67 Formation of the Jacobin Club In Paris. Demornliziition of the National Guard. A Constitution granted to the People. Long before the meeting of the States-general at Versailles, forty intelligent men, whose feelings were intensely democratic, Avho avowed their hatred of kuigs and their attendant titles and privileges, and who ridiculed and contemned Christianity as an imjiosture, liswl met in the hall of the Jacobin monks in Paris, and from that circumstance were called the Jacobin Club. In the commotions that attended and followed the destruction of the Bastile, this club had gained immense popularity, llicy now published a ncwspa])er, whose motto was Liheuty and Equality, and whose design Avas to disseminate ultra democratic doctrines, irreligious ideas, and a spirit of revolt and disaffection to the king. They became potential — a power in the state. Their influence was every where seen in the laxity of public morals. The cliurch Avas polluted with the contagion. A refractory spirit a])peared among the National Guards, and the king and his family were insulted in public. Disgusted with these evidences of demoralization, Lafayette resigned his command of the National Guard, but resumed it on the solicitation of sixty battalions. He Avas exceedingly popular, yet he could not AvhoUy control the spirit of anarchy that Avas abroad. The king, alarmed, fled in disguise from Paris. Terror prevailed among all classes. The flight of the monarch Avas construed into a crime by his enemies, and he Avas arrested and brought back to Paris imder an escort of thirty thousand National Guards. He excused his moAcment Avith the plea that he Avas expo ed to too many insults in the capital, and only wished to live quietly, aAvay from the scenes of strife. The populace were not satisfied. Led by Robespierre, a sanguinary demagogue, and member of the Constituent Assembly, they met in the Elysian Fields, and peti- tioned for the dethronement of Louis. Four thousand of the National Guard fired upon them, and killed several hundred. The exasperation of the people Avas terrible, yet the ])opularity of Lafayette held the factious in check.' Tlie Constitution Avas completed in [September. The trembling king accepted it, and solemnly SAVore to maintain it. Proclamation of the fact Avas made throughout tlie kingdom, and a grand fete, whereat one hundred thousand people sang and danced tiic Carmagnole in the Elysian Fields, Avas held at Paris, and salvos of cannon thiiii- deied along the banks of the Seine.^ There Avas Avide-spread sympathy in the United States with these revolutionary movements in France. The spirit of faction, vicAved at that great distance, appeared like patriotism. Half-formed and half-understood political maxims, floating upon the tide of social life in the ncAV republic, began to crystallize into tenets, and assumed antagonistic party positions. The galvanic forces, so to speak, Avhich produced these crystallizations, proceeded from the President's Cabinet, Avhere Mr. Jefferson, the Sec- retary of State, and Mr. Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, were at direct vari- ance in their vicAVS of domestic public measures, and Avere making constant war upon each other. Jefterson, beli jving, with Thomas Paine (AA-ho noAV appeared in the field of political strife abroad), that a Aveak goA-ernment and a strong people were the best jin.irantees of liberty to the citizen, contemj)lated all executive power Avith distrust, and desired to impair its vitality and restrain its operations. He thought he saAV in the funding system arranged by Hamilton, and in the LTnited States Bank and the ex- lise hiAV — creations of that statesman's brain — instruments for enslaving the people ; 1 " I am exposed to the envy and attacks of nil parties," he wrote to Wsshinpton, " for this single reason, that who- ever acts or means wrong finds mo an insuperable obstacle. And there appears a kind of phenomenon in my situation -nil parties against me, and a national popularity, which, in spite of every effort, has remnined unchanfjed. . . . fliven lip to nil the madness of license, faction, and popular rage, I stood alone in defense of the law, and turned the tide into the constitutional channel." s Upon a tree planted on the site of the Bastile a placard was placed, in these words: •- ■•; • " Here Is the epoch of Liberty ; ' •• 1. . .; Wo dance on the niins of despotism ! ' .'i ■:>''■ The Constitution Is flnished— . i^ . - - Long live patriotism I" .»■ , . . ■ :''\ ■i ll ^ihf I? !' i^ 68 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Jefferson makes War upon his Opponents. His religions Views. Jefferson and John Adams Antagonists in Opinion. aiul lie affected to believe that the rights of the states and liberties of the citizens wore in danger. Hamilton, on tlie other hand, rega'-ded the National Constitution as inadequate in strength to perform its required functions, and believed weakness to be its most rad- ical defect; and it was his sincere desire and uniform practice so to construe its pro- visions as to give strength and efficiency to the Executive in the administration of public affiiirs. Not content with an expression of his opinions, Jefferson charged his political op- ponents, and especially Hamilton, with corrupt and anti-rep blican designs, selfish motives, and treacherous intentions; and thus was inauguratrd that system of])er- sonal abuse and vitu])eration which has ever been a disgrace to tlie press and political leaders of this country. An unfortunate blunder made by John Adams, the Vice-President, at about this time, confirmed Jefferson in his opinions and fears. These men, compatriots in the events out of which the nation had been evolved, cherished dissimilar political ideas, and held widely differing religious sentiments. Mr. Jefi'erson was always a free- thinker, and his latitudinarianism was greatly expanded by a long residence among the contenmers of revealed religion in France. He admired Voltaire, Rousseau, and D'Alembcrt, whose graves Avere then green ; and one of his most intimate compan- ions was the Marquis of Condorcet, wlio " classed among fools those who had the misfortune to believe in a revealed religion."' He sympathized with the ultra Ke- publicans of France, was their counselor in the early and later stages of the revolu- tionary movement of 1789, and opened iiis house to them for secret conclave. He was an enthusiastic admirer of a nation of entlmsiasts. Mr. Adams, on the contrary, was thoroughly imbued with the political and reli- gious principles of New England Puritanism. He discovered spiritual life in every page of the Bible, and accepted the doctrines of revealed religion as an emanation from the fountain of Eternal Truth. His mind was cast in the mould of the Englisli conservative writers, whom he admired. He detested the principles and practices of tlie P"'rench pliilosophers, whom Jefferson revered ; and, from the outset, he detected in the revolutionary movements in France the elements of destructiveness which Avere so speedily developed. These views were indicated in a letter to the Ilcv. Dr. Price, of England, acknowledging the receipt of a printed copy of his famous discourse on tlie morning of the anniversary dinner of the English Revolution Society in 1789, in which the preacher, acce])ting the French Revolution as a glorious event in the his- tory of mankind, said, " What an eventful period is this ! I am thankful that I have lived to see it ; and I could almost say, ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.' ... I have lived to see thirty millions of people indignantly and resolutely spurning at slavery, and demandhig liberty with an irresistible voice." To this Adams replied, " I know that encyclopedists and economists — Diderot and D'jVlembert, Voltaire and Rousseau — have contributed to this great event even more than Sidney, Locke, or Hoadley ; perhaps more than the American Revolution : and I own to you I know not what to make of a republic of thirty millions of atheists. . . . ' Cnpeflgnc, 11., R2. Mr. Jefferson's religions views, at that lime, may be Inferred from the contents of n letter written at Purls on the Iflth of August, IT'S", to Peter Carr, a young relative of his In Virginia, wherein he lays down Home maxiiuH for his future guidance. lie enjoins him to exalt reason above creeds. "Question with boldne^'S," he my, "even the existence of a God; because, If there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than of blindfold fear." He then advises him to read the niblc as he would Livy or Tacitus. "The facts which are within the ordinary course of nature you will believe on the authority of the writer, as you do those of the same kind in Llvy or Taclli.f." lie then cautions him against a belief in statements in the Bible "which contradict the laws of nature." Conccmini,' the New Testament, he said, " It Is the history of a personage calljd Jesus. Keep In yonr eye the opposite pretension?, 1, of those who say he was begotten of Ood, bom of a virgin, suspended and reversed the laws of nature at will, ami ascended bodily into heaven ; and, 2, of those who say he was a man of Illegitimate birth, of a benevolent heart, enthuf^i- astlc mind, who set out with pretensions to divinity, ended in believing them, and was punished capitally for sedltlou by being gibbeted according to the Roman law." An English Democ Too many Fn person and ju the advocates ' See Letter to Bl nichard Price, V.. lug-house in Old Je he wrote his famon with the French Rei that so terrified Eur( The discourse abc hurled James the Sci time, the Earl of Sta; hers, an<l was subset] changed for the doni lie encouraged, all yi been In vain. liehol from their opjjressors kindled Into a blaze t Tlie Society, at that "their congratulatior and the discourse of formed in various pai mingham. Monarcliit the Liberal party, inak the hierarchy raised a Dissenters. To the ai never heard before fro there was no such tlii terms, as discontented tluns rest there. lie p tator, and he brought t In Paris the whole ]>o\ " Reflections on the Fn Istry, and the Tory pari fense of their policy, wl ation. It called forth n ley, the elegant Jlackii words, and pen, and tyi lads and clever carlcatu Thomas Paliic, who h the revolutionary seem ai)pearcd, and he lost n liights of Man." The t liroduccd great disturbai l>roportion to Us success was ample food for the Sheridan, who were tlic among the leaders of the ley and Paine. In May, eutltled" The Rights of A U.vn MKA au exciseman as much lonj OF THE WAR OF 1812. 09 An EngllHh Uemocrat'B Dlecourse. Burke's Kcllectlons on tho B'rcnch Rcvolutiun. Palue'g "liighU ufMan." Too many Frenchmen, after the example of too many Americans, pant for equality of person and property. The impracticability of this, God Almighty has decreed, and the advocates for liberty who attempt it will surely suffer for it,"' • Sec Letter to Richard Price, April 10, 1790, In the Life, and Worku of John Adamx, ix., 663. Richard Price, D.D., LL.D., was au eminent English Dissenting minister, and at this time was preacher at the meet- ing-house in Old Jewry, Loudon. He was then quite venerable In years, and with a mind as vigorous as when, In 17T(J, he wrote his famous "Observations on the War in America." lie was an ultra democrat, and sympathized strongly with the French Revolution. lie did not live to sec that Revolution assume its huge proportions and hideous Tisagc that BO terrified Europe, for he died in the spring of ITitl. The discourse above alluded to was preached on the anniversary of the Revolution in 1C88 (4th of November) which hurled James the Second from the throne. Dr. Price was an active member of the "Revolution Club,"of which, at that time, the Earl of Stanhope was president. The discourse " On the Lovi^ of our Country" was preached before the mem- bers, and was subsequently printed. After alluding to the Revolution in France, he said, " I see the dominion of kings changed for the dominion of laws, and the dominion of |)rle»ts giving way to the dominion of reason and conscience, lie cucoiiragcd, all ye friends of freedom and writers in its defense ! The times are auspicious. Your labors have not been In vain. Behold kingdoms, admonished by you, starting from sleep, breaking their fetters, and claiming justice from their oppressors 1 Beliold the light you have struck out, after settiug America free, reflected to France, and there kindled into a blaze that lays desjjotism iu ashes, and warms and illuminates Europe 1" The Society, at that meeting, on motion of Dr. Price, agreed, by acclamation, to send, In the shape of a formal address, " their congratulations to the National Assembly on the event of the late glorious Revolution In France." This action and the discourse of Dr. Price produced the greatest agitation throughout England. Auxiliary clubs were speedily formed in various parts of the kiiigdom, encouraged by men like Dr. Priestley, the eminent Unitarian minister at Bir- niiugham. Monarchist and Cliurchman were greatly alarmed. The king was Inclined to deny any more concessions to the Liberal party, making the Revolution iu France a suftlcient argument against reform in England, while the clergy of the hierarchy raised a cry that the Church was in danger fr(mi the revolutionizing and destructive machinations of tho Dissenters. To the astonishment of all men, Edmund Hurke raised his voice In the House of Commons in cadences never heard before from his lips. lie had ever been the eloquent advocate of the rights of man. Now he declared that there was no such thing as natural rights of men, and he condemned the whole body of Dissenters in the strongest terms, as discontented people, whose principles tended to the subversion of good government. Nor did his demincia- tions rest there. He professed to regard Dr. Price's sermon with holy horror, and its author as a most dangerous agi- tator, and he brought to the task of disabusing the public mind of England concerning the real character of the revolt in Paris the whole jiowers of his mighty intellect. In an almost incredible short space of time he wrote his famous " Reflections on the French Revolution," the publication of which produced a most powerful cfl'ect. The king aud min- istry, and tlie Tory party, expressed unbounded admiration of this splendid de- fense of their policy, while all Just men agreed that It was a monstrous exagger- ation. It called forth many opposing writers— among them the powerful Priest- ley, the elegant Mackintosh, and the coarse but vigorous Paine. The war of words, and pen, and type was waged furiously for a long time, and satirical bal- lads and clever caricatures jilnyed a conspicuous part In the contest. Thomas Paine, who had been in Paris some time, and participated in some of the revolutionary scenes there, had lately returned when Burke's "Reflections" appeared, and he lost no time in preparing an answer, which he entitled "The Rights of Man." The first part was published on the Ist of February, 1791, and ]}roduced great disturbance. It was sought after with the greatest avidity, and in jiroportion to Its success was the alarm and indignation of the Tory party. There was ample food for the caricaturists, and Oillray's pencil was active. Fox and Sheridan, who were the leaders of the opposition Id Parliament, were classed among the leaders of the Revolution Clubs, and appei'red in pictui-es with Priest- ley and Paine. In May, 1791, Gillray bnrles(iued Paine Ir. n caricature which he cutitled "The Rights of Man; or, Tmnmy Paine, the Amnti. an Tailor, taking the Measure nf the Crown for a new pair of Revolution Breeches." Piilne is seen with the conven- tional type of face given by tho caricaturists to a French demo- crat. His tri- colored cockade bears tho inscription, "I'tt'e la liberty.'" and from his mouth proceeds an Incoherent soliloquy, as iffl-om a man half drunk.* This was In allusion to his well-known Intemperance. Paine was Anally l)rosecuted by the government for liV'l on account of some remarks in his " Rights of Man," and was com\.elled to flee to France, where he was ^'^^^)J iiS^P''''Vii ^^^~>x \\ "^\WN warmly received by the revolntlonists. A Tory mob destroyed Dr. V»J V^ «!!lP^~-^}V ^^ •! n\ Wl Priestbi^ church in Birmingham, and his dwelling and flne library a short distance in the country ; also ho aud his family barely escaped with their lives. • The following Is a copy of the soliloquy : "Fathom and a half! fath- om and a half I Poor Tom ! ah ! mercy upon me ! that's more by half than my poor measure will ever be able to reach ! Lord ! Lord I I wish I had a bit of the stay-tape lallushm to Paine's former business of stay- niakerl or buckram which 1 nsed to cabbage when I was a 'prentice, to lengthen it out. Well, well, who would ever have thought it, that I, A u.m MEASURE. who have served seven years as an apprentice, and afterward worked fonr years as a journeyman to a master tailor, then followed the business of nu Gxclsemnn as much longer, should not b«! able to take the dimension of this bawblc 1 f jr what Is a crown but a bawble, vl I 70 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Adanu'B "DUcuursea on Davila." Ills Opinions ou OoverumeDt. •Tefferson'B Disgait and Alarm. Mr. Adams had discerned with alarm tlie contagion of revohition which went ont from Paris in the autumn of 1780. lie saw it attecting Enghmd, and menacing the existence of its govennnent; and lie ])erceived its rapid diffusion in his own country with surprise and j)aiii. It was so different in form and substance from that which had made his own people free, that he was deeply impressed with its dangers. With a j)atriotic spirit he sought to arrest the calamities it might bring upon hisi country, and with that view he wrote a series of articles for a newspaper, entitled "Discourses on Davila." These (contained an analysis of Davila's History of the Civil War in France^ in the sixteenth century. Tiie aim of Mr. Adams was to ])oint out to his countrymen the danger to be apprehended from factions in ill-balanced forms of gov- ernment. In these essays iie maintained that, as the great spring of human activity, especially as related to public life, was self-esteem, manifested in the love of superior- ity, and the desire of distinction, aj)plause, and admiration, it was important in a pop- ular government to provide for the moderate gratification of all of them. lie there- fore advocated a liberal use of titles and ceremonial honors for those in office, and an aristocratic Senate. To counteract any undue influence on the part of the Senate, he proposed a popular assembly on the broadest democratic basis ; and, to keap in check encroachments of each upon the other, he recommended a j)owerful Executive. lie thought liberty to all would thus be best secured.- From the premises which formed the basis of his reasoning, he argued that the French Constitution, which disavowed all distinctions of rank, which vested the legislative authority in a single Assembly, and which, though retainhig the office of king, divested him of nearly all actual power, must, in the nature of things, prove a failure. The wisdom of this assumption has been vindicated by history. The publication of these essays at that time was Mr. Adams's blunder.^ His ideas were presented in a form so cloudy that his political system was misunderstood by the many and misinterpreted by the few. lie was charged with advocating a mon- archy and a hereditary Senate ; and it was artfully insinuated that he had been se- duced by Hamilton (whose jealous opponents delighted in pointing to him as the arch-enemy of republican gova^niment) from his loyalty to those noble principles which he had exhibited before he wrote his " Defense of the American Constitu- tions," published in London three years before. Those essays filled Jefterson with disgust, and he cherished the idea that Hamilton, Adams, Jay, and others were at the head of a party engaged in a conspiracy to over- throw the republican institutions of the United States, and on their ruins to construct a mixed government like that of England, composed of a monarchy and aristocracy.^ ' DclV Istoria delle Ouerre Chili di Fram-ia, bj' Ilcnrlco Cnterino Davila. « Tills was only an ampliflcation of tlie tliouglit thus expressed in his Defense of the American Constitutimis : "It is denied that the people are the best keepers, or any Iseepers at all, of their own liberties, when they hold collectively, or by representative, the executive and judicial power, or the whole uncontrolled legislntnre." lie did not believe in tlio efficiency or safety of a government formed upon the simple plan of M. Thurgot and other clear-minded men of France, in which all power was concentrated In one body directly representing the nation. That was the doctrine and the prac- tice of the French revolutionists, enforced by the logic of Condorcet and the eloquence of Mirabeau. Mr. Adams wished a system of chcclts and balances, which experience has proved to be the wisest. ' They were published in the Gazette of the United Slaten, at Philadelphia, then the scat of the national government. Their more imracaiatc object was a reply to Condorcet's pamphlet, entitled Quatre Mtre» d'u7i Bourgeois de XewJIai'eii, sttr rUniti de la Legislation. Mr. Adams soon perceived that Ills essays were fiirnishing the partisans of the day with too much capital for immediate use in the conflict of opinion then raging, and ceased writing before they were com- pleted. Twcnly years later, when a new edition was published, Mr. Adams wrote, " This dull, heavy volume still excites the wonder of Its author— first, that ho could find, amidst the constant scenes of business and dissipation in which ho was enveloped, time to write It; secondly, that he bad the courage to oppose and publish his o^vn opinions to the uni- versal opinion of America, and indeed of all mankind. Not one man in America then believed him. He knew not one, and baa not he".rd of one since, who then believed him.— J. A., 1812." ♦ " The Tory paper, Feuno's," he wrote to Mr. Short, In Paris, " rarely admits any thing which defends the present form which we may see In the Tower for sixpence apiece f Well, althongh It may be too large for a tailor to take measnrc of, there's one comfort— he may make mouths at it, and call it as many names as he pleases 1 And yet. Lord ! Lord ! I should like to make it a Yankee-doodle night-cap and breeches, if it was not so d— d large, or I had stuff enough. Ah ! if I could once do that, I would soon stitch up the mouth of that barnacled Edmund from making any more Reflections upon the Flints. And so, Flints and Liberty forever, and d— n the Dungs ! Huzza I" Effect of Palne'H " To thwart tin lution wliich J government ii Thomas Pain( called "The 1 essay, original Jefterson, and from him. This ajij)are President and a good deal of Dorchester, air suri)rise; but s lion, and that I Hoon sm( othed cerned.' The political tense every hoi of the former, w ures of the adiii ( rnment policy, M-as greatly exc with alarm and ened to be destr anxiously sough of government in ojipo high names here in fav soys nothing; the thin sui)port their projects, the President's life ; l)u ' " Vou will have hei peril into which the Fr crnmcnt which heaps ii I still hope the French that, and that a failure = See note 1, i)nge 03. ' The political scntim body of the American r His ofllclal position cau ton gave a copy, said, i and I most sincerely reg nent citizen, a man so th Umne of Washimjton, nr . The note alluded to ii owner ofPaine's pamph dryness of the note,"M his satisfaction that som sprung up." To the ast Mr. Jefl'crson acknowlod produced a temporary cs Warm discussions aro series of articles in reply were attributed to Johii They were written by Ii champions," Jefferson wi ♦ Philip Freneau, a pi.,- lork, where he was edit! son. A new paper, called ireneau was made its ed unjust to believe that the son ; yet, when the Secret l>y them, it was, as Mr. Ir the barking cur in his em istrailon. K».i»«»«n»)8Kfc«,.. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 71 Eflect of Palue'n "KlghtgofMan.' Feud between Jeb'eraon and llnmilton. Newspaper War. To tlnviirt tlioHo fiincied desigiis, and to inculcate tlio doctrines of the French Rcvo- hition which lie ho much adniireil, and on which lie grounded liis hopes of a stable ij;overnmeiit in his own country,' Jetl'erson hastened to have jirinted and circulated Thomas Paine's famous reply to Burke's " Iteflections on the French Ke volution," called "The Rights of Man," which had just been receive<l from England. That essay, originally dedicated "To the President of the United States," was admired by Jcflerson, and it was issued from the Philadeli)liia press, with a complimentary note from him. Tills apparent indorsement of the essay by the government, in the persons of the Presiilent and Secretary of State, was very oftensive to (4reat JJritain, and i)roduced a good deal (>f stir in the United States. Major Beckwith, the aid-de-camp of Lord Dorchester, already mentioned,* was in Philadelphia at that time, and exi)ressed his surjirise; but subsecpient assurances that the President knew nothing of the dedica- tion, and that Mr. Jefferson "neither desired nor expected" to have the note printed, soon smoothed the ripple of dissatisfaction so far as the British government was con- cerned.' The political and personal feud between Jefferson and Hamilton became more in- tense every hour. Freneau's United States Gazette, believed to be under the control of the former, was filled with bitter denunciations of Hamilton and the leading meas- ures of the administration; and Fcnno's JVational Gazette, the supporter of the gov- miment policy, Avas made sjticy by Hamilton's vigorous retorts.* The j)ublic mind was greatly excited thereby, and Washington Avas comj)elled to perceive (as he did with alarm and mortification) that there was a schism in his Cabinet, which threat- ened to be destructive of all harmony of action, and jierilous to the public good. He anxiously sought to end the strife by assuming the holy office of peace-maker, but ui i 'I of {government In opposition to his desire of subverting It, to mnke wny for n king, Lords, and Commons. There nre high names here In favor of this doctrine . . . Adams, .Jay, Hi'milton, Knox, and many of the Cincinnati. The second siiys nothing ; the third is open. Both arc dangerous. They pant after union with Kngland, as the power which Is to pupport tlieir projects, and are most determined Anti-Gallicans. It is prognosticated thot onr republic iu to end with the President's life : but I believe they will tlnd themselves all head and no body." 1 " Von will have heard," Mr. Jefferson wrote to Edward Rutledge in August, ITOl, " before this reaches yon, of the peril into which the French Hevolution is brought by the flight of their king. Such arc the fruits of that form of gov- ernment which heaps importance on Idiots, and which the Tories of the present day are trying to preach into oi.r favor. I still hope the French Hevolution will Is.sue ha|)i)ily. I feci that the permanence of our own leans in some degree on that, and that a failure tliere would be a powerful argument to prove that there must be a failure here." 2 See note 1, page 03. ' The political sentiments ot Vainc'a liightu of Man were In accordance with the feelings and opinions of the great body of the American pcoiile. The author sent tlfiy cojiies to Washington, who distributed them among his friends. His offlclal position cautioned him to be prudently silent concerning the work. Richard Henry Lee, to whom Washing- ton gave a copy, said, in his letter acknowledging the favor, " It is a performance of which aiiy man might be proud ; and I most sincerely regret that our country could not have offered sufflcient Inducements to have retained, as a perma- nent citizen, a man so thoroughly republican in sentiment and fearless in the expression of his opinions." See Lossing's llmnf nf n'axliinijloii, or Mount Vernon and its Assnriafitmii, p. 202. The note alluded to in the text was from Mr. .loffersou to a stranger to him (.Jonathan Bayard Smith), to whom the owner of Paine's pamphlet, who lent It to the Secretary of .State, desired him to send It. "To take off a little of the dryness of the note," Mr. Jefferson made some complimentary observations concerning the pamphlet, and expressed his satisfaction that something public would be said, by its publication, " against the i)olitical heresies which had lately sprung np." To the astonishment of Mr. .leffcrson, this private note was ])rinted with the pamphlet the next week. Mr. Jefferson acknowledged that his remarks in it were aimed at the author of the DUcouraea on Davila, and the affiair jirnduced a temporary estrangement between him and Mr. Adams. Warm discussions arose, soon after the publication of Paine's pamphlet, on the doctrines which it promulgated. A scries of articles iu reply to the "Rights of Man" appeared in the Boston Ccntind, over the signature oWubUmlu, which were attributed to John Adams, and were reprinted in London, In pamphlet form, with his name on the title-page. They were written by his son, the late John Quincy Adams. They were answered by several writers. "A host of champions," Jefferson wrote to Paine, "entered the arena Immediately in your defense." « Philip Freneau, a poet of some pretensions, and a warm Whig writer during the Revolution, was called from New York, where he was editing a newspaper, to fill the post of translating clerk In the State Department under Mr. Jeffer- son. A new paper, called The Xalional Oamtte, opposed to the leading measures of the administration, was started, and Freneau was made its editor. It was understood to be Mr. .Jefferson's " organ," but it would be both ungenerous and unjust to believe that the bitter attacks made upon all the measures of the administration were ai)provcd by Mr. Jeffer- son ; yet, when the Secretary well knew' that the President, whom he professed to revere, was greatly hurt and annoyed by them, it was, as Mr. Irving justly remarks (Li/e o/ Washiivjton, v., 104), " rather an ungracious determination to keep the barking cur in his employ." Fcnno published the UniUd States Gazette, the supporter of the measures of the admin- istration. i : .1 72 PICTOUIAL FIP:LD.nOOK .1 Wh PederallBtg mid Kcpublicani. Tholr Ulfferencu. Popular Sentiment. Europe aKaliiBt Frnnce. vain.^ Tlio aiitagoninms of the S(>eretario8 liad become too violent 16 be easily recon- ciled. Their jmrtiHans were nuiiierotiH and powerful, and had become arninRed in tanfjible battle order, tjnder the resj)eetive nanus oi' l^edcra lists and Jiijiublirdus — nan)eH whieh for many years were sifjnilieant of opposing opinions: tirwt, concerning the administration of the national government; se( piidly, on the question of a neutral policy toward the warrinjj; nations of Europe; and, thirdly, on the subject of the war with Great Britain declared in 1H12. i'he Federalists, called the " British party" by their opjjoncnts, were in favor of a strong central government, and were very conservative. They were in favor of main- tahiing a strict neutrality concerning the affairs of European nations during the ex- citing period of Washington's administration, and were opposed to the War of 1H12. The Kcpublicans, called the "French ))arty," were favorable to a strong people and a weak government, symi>athized warmly with tire French revolutionists, and urged the government to do the same by public expressions and belligerent acts if necessary, and were favorable to the War of 1812 when it became an aj»ii;irent national neces- sity. J'edernl mul Jivpubliccai were the distinctive names of the two great political parties in the l^^nited States during the first (piarter of a century of the national ex- istence, when they disa))peared from the j)oliiician's vocabulary. New issues, grow- ing out of radical changes in the condition of the country, produced coalitions and amalgamations by which the identity of the two old parties was s])eedily lost. Tie ;il of the opposing parties was intensified by events in Europe duriiig the sum. md autumn of 1V92 ; and at the opening of the last session of the second Con- gress, 111 November, the party divisions Avere perfectly distinct in that body. All Europe was now effervescing with antagonistic ideas. The best and wisest men stood in wonder and awe in the midst of the upheaval of old social and i>()litical systems. Popular sentiincDt in the United States Avas mixed in eliaracter, and yet crude in form, and for a while it was difHcult to discern precisely in what relation it stood to the disturbed nationalities of Europe. The blood of nearly all of them coursed in the veins of the Americans; and notwithstanding a broad ocean, and ])er- haps more than a generation of time, separated the most of them from the Old World, they experienced lingering memories or pleasant dreams of Fatherland. France, the old ally and friend of the United States, was the centre of the volcanic force that was shakhig the nations. The potentates of Eurojie, trembling for the stability of their thrones, instinctively arrayed themselves as the implacable enemies of the new power that held the sceptre of France, and disturbed the jjolitical and dynastic equilibrium. They called out their legions for self-defense and to utter a solemn protest. T\\g people were overawed by demonstrations of power. The gleam of bayonets and the roll of the drum met the eye and ear every where, and in the autumn of 1792 nearly all Europe was rising in arms against France. Revolution had done its work nobly, wisely, and successfully in the United States, and the experiment of self-government was working well. The memory ofFrencli anns, and men, and money that came to their aid in their struggle for liberty, filled the hearts of the Americans with gratitude, for they were not, as a people, aware of ' Aiimiet 23, 17»2. 1 Both mlnistcrB discharged their respective duties to the entire satisfaction of the President, and he felt preatly disturbed by their nntagoDlsmp, now become public. To Jefferson he wrote,* after refcrrint,' to the Indian hostilities, and the possible Intrigues of forelfjners to check the i)rosperlty of the rnilcd States, " IIow unfortunate, and how much to he regretted is It, that while we arc encompassed on all sides by armed en- emies and insidious friends, Internal dlsscnKlnns should be harrowing and toariiiB our \'itttls, . . . My eanicwt wish and my fondest hope, therefore, is that. Instead of wounding suspicions and Irritating charges, there may be liberal allow- ances, mutual fl)rbearances, and temporizing ylcldin'gs on all sides. Under the exercise of these, matters will go on smoothly, and, If possible, more prosperously. Without them, every thing must rub ; the wheels of government will clog, our enemies will triumph, and, by throwing their weight Into the disaffected scale, may accomplish the mln of the goodly fabric we have been erecting." Washington wrote to Hamilton In a similar strain, and from both he received patriotic replies. But the feud was too deep-seated to be healed. Jefferson would yield nothing. lie harbored an Implacable hatred of Hamilton, whom he had scourged into active retaliation, and whose lash be felt most Iceenly. WaahlnKton'i Wisdom and the Utterly selfish i really contributed t while enjoying the those yet in tlie toil P'nince, who were 1 testat ion, hcightenec friendliness, they sav people in tlieir ])r<>f ment like that of En But there were w Grreat Biit.iin, who h their daily reading, ^ ill Aiiierica and Frai benefit and ])rosperil of the Federal or eoi the dawning of whal iiing, his own s.agacit to time in his letters expres.sed an eariies never breathed a ho} he perceived the bio departure of its eour ette and his compatr reins of executive an States should stand .i Jefferson and his | revolutionists, and bi luunbers than the F every man and meas trenerosity that appei that lawless violence Even the dispatches needless alarm, if not But " the inexorab States those terrible incnt recoil with hori obin Club reigned su tution, and were det( Paris, one hundred t refused to sanction ii iinother for the establ to the Tuileries" witl entrance. The gates many of them the vil and compelled the kii cap of liberty, upon h Lafayette Avas the Department of the Ni ii ' Qouvemenr Morr' informed of the scenes "pecHng the future of ti. Kevolntion, Mr. Jefferson, . . n from him, spoke of Morris as ' wishes, and believing evory th OP THE WAP; O F 18 12. 13 WMblnKton'i Wlisdom and Prudence. Sympathy wltl i the Freuch Mcvolutlonlsti. Annrchy lii Krancc. the Utterly selfiHh motive of the Bourbon in p;iving that nid, and how little it had really eontribiiti'd to tlicir suecess in that Htrujcgle; and tluir own zeal for frcvdoiii, while eiijoyinu; the fruition of their effortn, awakened their warineHt Hyinjiathiis for those yet in tlie toils of slavery. Without; iiu'iuiriii}^, they eheered on the jteoplu of Franco, who were first led by the beloved Laliijette; and with eorresiiondinj^ de- testation, heightened by the memory of ol d wv-onj;s and the irritations of present un- friendlin(-!H, they saw Great Britain, so boa.stful of lilnrty, arrayed aj^ainst the French people in tlieir j)rofessed struggle for thti establishment of a constitutional govern- ment like that of England. But there were wise, Jind thoughtful, a nd ])rudent men in the United States and in Great Brit.iin, who had made the science < )f govermnent their study and human nat ure their liiily rcatling, who clearly perceivc( I the vast difi'erence between the revolutions in America and France, and tiiought the y oV)served in the latter no hope for the real henetit and jn-osperity of the people. Ti lese, in the United States, formed the leaders iif the Federal or c<mservative party. AVashington had liiiilcd with great satisfaction tlie dawning of what he hojted to be the day of liberty in France, but, from tiie begin- ning, his own sagacity, and the gloomy f( trebodings manifested by Lafayette from time to time in his letters, made him doubtful of the success of the movement. lie often expressed an earnest wish that republicanism might be established in France, but never breathed a hope, because he neve r felt it. And when, in the summer of IVOl', he perceived the bloody and ferocious character of the French Revolution, and the departure of its course from the high ai id honorable path marked out lor it by Lafay- ette and his compatriots, he and the coi iservative party, then fortunately holding the reins of executive and legislative power, resolved that the government of the United States should stand aloof from all entai iglements with European politics. Jefferson and his party, on the other hand, deei)ly sj-mpathized with the French revolutionists, and bore intense enmity toward Great Britain. They were greater in numbers than the Federalists, and th'?ir warfare was relentless. They denounced every man and measure opposed to their own views with a fierceness and lack of tjenerosity that ap])ear8 almost incredi hie, and they shut their ears to the howling of that lawless violence that had comm enced drenching the soil of France in blood. Even the dispatches of government agents abroad were sneered at as instruments of needless alarm, if not something worse-.^ But " the inexorable logic of event;s" soon revealed to the people of the United States those terrible aspects of the F reneh Revolution which made them for a mo- ment recoil with horror. Anarchy had seized unhappy France, and the ferocious Jac- obin Club reigned supreme in Paris. Tliey were the enemies of the king and Consti- tution, and were determined to overthrow both. Incited by them, the populace of Paris, one hundred thousand in number, professedly i"censed because the king had refused to sanction a decree of the National Assembly against the priesthood, and another for the establishment of a camp of twenty thousand men near Paris, marched to the Tuileries* with pikes, swords, muskets, and artillery, and demanded .junc20 entrance. The gates were thrown open, and forty thousand armed men, i^"'-- many of them the vilest sans-cidottes of the streets of Paris, went through the palace, and compelled the king, in the presence of his family, to put the bo7inet roiige, or red CAp of liberty, upon his head. Lafayette was then at the head of his army at Maubcugc, a fortified town in the Department of the North, He hastened to Paris, presented himself at the bar of the ' Gouverncur Morr' Imd been appointed minister to Prance after .TcfTerBon left, kept Washington continuttlly informed of the scenes --hy and licentiousness in the French capital, and presented gloomy prognostications re- upccting the flitiiro of tu .ry. Becansc of this faithfulness, and his testimony against the tendency of the French Revolntion, Mr. Jefferson, . . iiis blind devotion to that cause, and his nngenerons judgment concenilng all who dlfTcred from him, spoke of Morris as "ns a high-flying monarchy-man, shuttlnc; his eyes and hi? faith to every fact against hlB wishes, and believing evijry thing he desired to be true." ! 31 Ill 74 PICTORIAI.- FIELD-BOOK Lafayottc ]yeU>n the Nntlonal AM«mbl7. He t lem. indit the Punlnhmeiit orTrttltor*. French PaptrHBOMy. ILAKATION (IRCOMPEIfSE I,H D] 1170 NCIATEPR . d[HlSlSl51515ip National Assembly, and in the name of the army demanded the punishment of those who had insulted the king and his family in the palace and violated the Constitution. But Lafayette was powerless. Paris was drunk Avith passion and uui'estramed liceucie. Mon»rchjrinFr«nce ovi Tlic doom of royi mandi'd the depo nent until order i iilarm-licll, was si tion, TJie Htrcots "•ore attacked by AsHembly for prot areh CHcjiped unhi aiithorily." J\[,)na and the eonstituti tJio arrest of th(i i !is a temporary re They were arrestc Austrian diuigeon lii)l(h'n<,' the uncert Tlie Jacobins we ft'lt unsafe Avhile h mii,'Iit Hymj)athize Kther Husj)ected jjci ily. Their jjrisons |»i»]iulac(( were seiil 'lawn, at k'ast eight The consj)irators l>ly, and constitutet was their meeting-j: I'outive powers of go France a republic/ motion scliemes of ( tlie deliverers of tlu aid of ])aper-money ton and Jiis fellow-n invaded Belgium ai ofthe Marseilles Ily tiocked to tlie stand; ' The king wrote a touchiu iug Is a copy : "My brother, I nm no long most unfortunate of husbandi Irnhle mystery of Iniquity. T been (i.coycd by gtratngem fa tie queen, my children, and y "lean no longer doubt the "iroko which Is most insuppoi my memory by publishing hoi they have done me, and tell th This letter was sent In a bl Conenponrience o/Loum XVl., I ' This papcr-moncy, a specli Msis for ita credit was the pro intended for sale. For t;iree y< like our own Continental mon nmnunt that was Anally put In important a part in the history found. The engraving repres'e ' in the National Conventloi tnat " the principle of leaving c so far modifled that we should Onf kinn would be nifflcient to ei promoting o general imurreetio wd the people, and professed t 111 sentiment, and Dr. Priestley II • ■i? nnss- OF THE WAR OF 1813. m Miinnn-hy In Kriinoe overthrown. Lafkrette Imprlwraed. The N»tluD«l Convention eitahllnhcd. Till' (Idoiii of i-Dyulty \V!iH (locrci'd. The |i()j)uliU'o ami niciiibiTH of tlio AsKcinbly dc- iiiiindi'd the doj)()Hitioii of Louis, The sittings of tlu^ AHMi'iiihly wero dcc^larcd inTiiia- riciit until order nhould be restored. At inidiiij^Jit" tlit^ dreadful toesiii, or •Auciibio, iiliirni-liell, was sounded, and the drums beat tJi..' yt.itcrak in every direo- '''^■ tion. The streets wore filled with the mad jiojiulaee, and in the morniii}^ the TuilericH ttere attacked by them. The kinj,^, attended by the Swiss (luard, fled to the National Assemlily for j)roteetioii. Nearly every man of the i;uard was butchered. The mon- areh escaped unhurt, but the overawecl Assembly decreed the Husjx'usion of the r<jyal authority.' IMonarchy in Franco waH virtually overthrown, and with it fell Lafayt'tte iind the constitutional party. The Jacobins of the Assend)ly prot ured a decree for the arrest of the manpiis. He and a iiiw friends turned their faces toward Holland as a temjiorary ref\if;e from the fitorm until they could escape to the United States, They were arrested on the way, and for three years Lafayette was entombed in an Austrian dungeon at Olniutz, while pretended rej)ublicans, with bloody hands, were lioldini;^ the uncertain and slippery reins of anarchical ])ower in his beh)ved France. The Jacobins were not satisfied with tin* susjienslon of the kinj^'s .".utbority. They felt unsafe while he lived. They conspired ajjainst his life and the live^ of all who might sympathize with him. They filled the prisons with priests and nobles, and (rther susjiected persons. These men were dangerous while their pulses beat health- ily. Their prisons became human slaughter-houses. Thither the demoniac. " *• 1702 populace were sent on the evening of tho 2d of September,'* and before the tlawn, at least eighteen hundred persons were slain ! The conspirators now took bolder steps. They abolished the Constituent Assem- bly, and constituted themselves a National Convention, Tlio Hall of iIjC Tui'ories was their mecting-])lace, and there, in the ])alace of the kings, tliey assuTued the vx- ccutive powers of goverimient. They decreed the abolition of royalty, and j)roclaimcd France a republic," With wonderful energy they devised and put in » septemhcr 23, motion schemes of conquest and propagandism, Tliey assumed to bo ^''^'^' tlio deliverers of tho people of Eur();><> from kingly rule. Frontier armies, with the aid of paper-money alone,^ were speedily put in motion to execute the decree of Dan- ton and his fellow-regicides that " there nnist be no more kings in Europe," They invaded Belgium and Savoy, and conquered Austrian Netherlands, At the sound of the Marseilles Hymn, sung by these knights-errant of the new chivalry, the people flocked to the standards of revolt.^ ' The king wrote a touching letter to his brother, dated " August 12, 1TD2, ■<• p Vclock In the morning." The follow- ing is a copy ; "My brother, I am no longer king : the public voice will make known jisi tho most cruel catastrophe. I am the most unfortunate of husbands and of fathers. I am the victim of n-.y o\>>. .soodncss, of fear, of hope. It is an impcne- Irable mystery of iniquity. They have bereaved me of every tning. They have niHssacrcd my faithful subjects. 1 have been d.ooyed by stratagem far fi-om my palace, and they now accuse me ! I am a cni)tlvc. They drag me to prison, and the queen, my children, and Madame Elizabeth [his sister] share my fate. "I can no longer doubt that I am an object odious In the eyes of the French, led astray by prejudice. This is tho stroke which is most insupportable. My brother, but a little while, and I shall exist no longer. Itemember to avenge my memory by publishing how much I loved this ungrateftil people. Kccall one day to their remembrance the wrongs they have done me, and tell them I forgave. Adieu, my brother, for the last time." This letter was sent In a bit of bread to a friend of the king. It was Intercepted, and never reached his brother. — Conenpomlence 0/ Loidit XVI.JratuiUiti'd h;i IIflkn Maria Williams, 111., 45. ' This paper-money, a specimen of which Is given on page 74, was called Assignnt. It was first Issued in ITS!), and the basis for Its credit was the property of the clergy and the emigrants, which the government had seized, and which was intended for sale. For t'.iree years it held n market value of over ninety per cent., but in U92 it began to depreciate, and, lilic our own Continental money, soon became worthless. The first Issue was to the amount of about $200,000,(100. Tho nmnunt that was finally put In circulation was about ,$1,760,000,000. This paper-money, which for a seaeon played so important a part In the history of the world, was productive of the greatest evils. Specimens of it are now rarely to be found. The engraving represents one In the author's possession. ' In the National Convention, on the 28th of September, Danton declared, amid the loud applauses of the assembly, that " the principle of leaving conquered peoples and countries the right of choosing their own constitutions ought to be to far modified that we should expressly forbid them to give themselves kings. There muxt be no more kinjH in Europe. One king would be mifflcienl to endanger general libertij; and I request that a committee be established for the purpose of promoting a general iiuurrection among all people againitt kinge." They thus made a distinction between the monarchs ami the people, and professed to be the deliverers of the latter. The Revolution Clubs of England affiliated with them in sentiment, and Dr. Priestley and Thomas Puine were elected members of the National Convention. Priestley de- n mm IJMI il' !i| I Hi iff 5? i sl^' p.. >5i; 7d PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Egotism of the French lievolntionistB. Paine In France, Execution of Louis XVI. Success gave the revolu- tionists jj/estiffe, and, with egotism luiparallcled, the National Convention, by acclamation, declai-ed that, "in the name of tlie French nation, they Avould grant fraternity and assistance to all those peoples who wish- ed to procure liberty ;" and they charged the executive power " to send orders to the generals to give assistance to ouch people, and to de- fend citizens who had suifer- ed, and were then suft'ering in the cause of liberty." ■"^fCy Tlic revolutionists, flush- ed with victories, and em- boldened by th'j obedi- ence which their reign of terror inspired, soon exe- cuted a long - cherished plan of the Jacobins, and murdered their king in the ])resence of his subjects.' They declared war against Enffliind and Hoi- .„ . , , •Fen. 1, land,'' and soon af- 17»3. terward against >> u^ch Spain,'' and with ^• the battle-cry o^ '''■Liberty and jtJqiiuUt!/" they de- fied all Europe. For a moment England a\ as alarmed, for she h.id numerous enemies in her own Jiousehold, and the civilized world looked upon the sanguuuiry tragedy on the (Jallic stage with dismay and horror. The contagion of that bloody Eevolutiou had so poisoned the eirculatinn of tlif social and j)olitical system of the United States, that, strange as it may appi'ar to us, when the ])roclamation of the French Republic, .vith all its attendant horrors of August and September, was made known here, followed speedily by intelligence of cliued, but Pnine accepted, went over to Prance, and tooli liis sent In tlint blood-tlilrsty n?si.'mbly. This eall- od forth s(inihs and caricatures In abuudauci'. In one of tlio liHtor, entitled "FaRhion for Eiifc; or, a Good Constitution (-acriflced for a l-'antiistic Form," Paine is rei)rcsented fitting Bri'>innia w iili a new pair of stays, in allusion to the occu'-ation of hi» early life. Over a cottage door on one side \v is a sign, "Thomas Paine, Stay-nnilier, from Tlietford. Puris Modes liy i:xpress." Paine nevei- ventareil to return to England. His popularity in France was brief. In the National Conventimi he offended the ferocious Jncol)ins by ndvornting lenicno; towaril the king. He incurred their hi-.tred, niu\ Hobespierre and his associates cast him into prison, where he composed his "Age ofReason." He was saved from the m illotinc by accident, escaped u, tlie United States, and spent much of his time iiu ri', until his death, in coa se abuse of men and measures in that country and England. ' They wcnr through the fiipv of a trial. The liing was acciiKci! of treason to the [' "i-lc and the C'oiistltu- tion, and was found guilty, of course. Weak in intcUof't, and dissipated in habits as he was, Louis v. >s innocent of the crinu!8 alleL'ed ,\;,'ainBt him. He was Ijelicided by the guillotine. When standing bef, re the iustruinent of death, and looking upon the people with Honignlty, lie said, " I f.irglve my enemies ; may Goil forgive tliem, i:in' not lay my innocent blood to the charge of the m.lion ! Ood Mess my neop;<' '" He was cut short by ai-. order to ,ieat the drums and sound the trumpets, when the brutal oflicer lo charge called out to him, " -V» tpfeches ! cimw, n<> n/xmhen .'" The deiitli of Louis was sincerfly mourned. He was weak, but not vicked. He was ■\ii :!mlable iran, and loved his country. His fr'iid dared rmt make any public de.ionstratious of g>-ief, or even of ntiarli- menl. A small ct]niuieuioratl\e medal ofbrass was struck, and seir.ily circulated. The.«e were cherished by tlie !,oyallsts for a generation wiib threat alTectioil. Ou one side li< a head of Louis, with the usual insciiii- tion— i.cp. -vi. stx oAi.i.. imi obatia. On the other 'ide is a mciiio- rlal urn, with "uifis xvi." npoii It, and a fallen crown and sceptre a; Its base. Beneath is the date of his death, and over i! the slgniUcnn' words, SOI, Bi'.osi AiiiiT "The enn of the kingdom has departed." The engraving is from a copy in the mithOi-'a possession.* •AINE rmiSO 8TAV8. MKMOIIHI. .MrOAI.. Antoinette, of Austria. • Louis was Dorn on the 28d of Mcrch, UN and In ITi'O married Kiiiii! lie ascended the throne of France, en th'; death of his grandfather, in ITT-t. Forge tfulness of Holla the conquest of popular feeling They were bliiu Franco. They \ ^ friendship far iik 'true liberty whic the persecuted fo cities celebrated spirit the death o in the United St.- France awfikened icans, ai-oused old letter and spirit o These demonsti was styled,-'' as mi frigate, and landec «as all tiiat his a weeks by land froi tion. He ^vas a i «.'is frank, lively, iiiiMsion. Ho mint trhies, scorned ail < States of the unboi hcan leaders hailed favorable to iinmec its impending .struc iiiomeiit, would not Iliat might Jiave pr It was fortunate selors, M-ere at the 1 with courage stiffic the declaration of v was at Moiuif Vern( or their system of <; wrote to Governor foes the country ha-. Perceiving the pr ,?reat anxiety, and 1 terrible evils which ' There was n grand fete 1 nted with ribbons, and pl,i< ill-playcd from the horns of loaves of bread and two hog, ofthree hunrlred, with Kaaiii Ci^.iBul, jat down to a dinner wore presented, stamped vit Inthejaii for debt were paid t!ie French .illlauce, mpntio.i Mifliin presided. At the he,,. Aniericau ttags lutoruvliied i ".". treaty of alllan-e.nien ruary, ITTS, by -.vhict, t[ie for mcrce executed at i;,e same tbn'se of the enemies of Friiiu ' The French Jacobins aflV- joe term r^then was nniversi He was called "Citizen Capet cwiveiitional coBtumo of that ■"''*Wfi*«'?S'!?'^*&VsHi-»-.ww'i- OF THE WAU «F 1812. 11 Forgetfiiluess of Ilulland's Friendship. Arrival of - ' 'Itizen Genet" Washington's Wisdom and Prudence. the conquest of Austrian NetherkawiB by a French army, there was nn outburst of popular feeling in favor of the fTalBe camm that swmetl to be almost universal. They were blind to the total difference betwwen tWir own Revolution and that in France. They were forgetfnl of the friendship of Holland during that struggle — a friendship far more sincei' than thul of the Frt-nch ; forgetful also of the spirit of true liberty which for ceiiiiries had prevailed m Holland, and made it an asylum for the persecuted for conscient*' sake in all lands ; and the people in several towns and cities celebrated these events with demonstrations of great joy.^ With a similai' spirit the death of the Freuz-h king was hailed by the leaders of the Republican party ill the United States ; and the declaration of war against England and Holland by Fiance awakened a most rrmarkable entliusiasm in favor of the old ally of the Amer. icans, aroused old liatreds toward England, and called loudly for compliance with the letter and spirit of the treaty of 1778.^ These dcnionsti ' ons were fwon followed by the arrival of" Citizen Genet," as lie was styled,^ as minister of the French Republic to the United States. He came in a frigate, and landed at Charleston, Soutli Carolina, early in April. His reception there was all that his ambition could have demanded; and his journey of three or four weeks by land IVom there to Philadelphia, the national cai>ital, was a continued ova- tion, lie was a man of culture and tact, spoke the English language fluently, and was frank, lively, and communicative. lie was precisely the man for Ids peculiar iiiiMsion. He niingleil familiaily with the people, proclaimed wild and stirrhig doc- trines, scorned all dijilomatic art and reserve, and assured tlie citizens of the United- States of the unbounded affection of his countrymen for the Americans. The Repub- lican leaders hailed his advent with delight ; and a large portion of the iieople were favorable to immediate and active participation by their government with France in its impending struggle against armed Europe. Many, in the Avild enthusiasm of the luomeiit, would not have hesitated an instant hi precijiitating their country into a war tliat might have proved its utter ruin. It Avas fortunate for the country that a man like Washington, and his wise coun- selors, Avere at the helm and iialliards of the vessel of state at that time, and endoAA-ed with courage sufficient to meet the dangerous popular gale. W^heii intelligence of the declaration of war between France and other nations reached him, the IVesident was at Mounf Vernon. He had no confidence in the self-constitvld rulers of Frai.ce or their system of government. "They are ready to «^ear each other in pieces," he wrote to Governor Lee, of Virginia, "and Avill, more than probably, iirove the worst foes the country has." Perceiving the proclivity of the public mind in his vavii country, the President felt great anxiety, and he made immediate preparations to arrest, as fnr as possible, the terrible evils Avhich a free course of the popular sympathy for the French might have. 1 There wns n j;rnnrt fete held In Bopton on the 24th of .Jnnnary, ITDB. An ox was roasted whole. It was then dcco- ntoil with ribhoiis, and (ilacnd upon a car drnwn by fixicfn horpoi*. ^'^e tings of the United States and I'nuice were (llsiilnyod from the horns of the ox. Jt was i)ariidijd throu(,-h the streets, followed by >_ -Is bearing sUtctMi lunidred loaves of bread and two liogshf-nds of p'lnch. These were di'-tribnttd among the people ; and at the same time a party of thre'- hnndred, with Samuel .Vdams, then Lieutenant Governor of MasHaclii'setts, nt their head, .i"sistcU by tlie French co.isul, jat down to a dinner U\ Faneuil Hall. To the children ol ull the schools, v\'ho were paraded in tlie streets, cukes were presented, stampcil vith the words "lilHTti/ aud Kiiuiilitii." !))■ public eubscription, the sums owed liy prisoners ill the jali for debt were paid, und the victims of that barbnr uis law were f et free. In Philadelphia the anniversary of I'.ic Flench '1111111100, nient'.oiied in tlie . libjolned not',', wns comniemornted by a public dinner. Governor (Int.i General) Mifllin presided. At the head of tlu^ table a pike was flxcd, bearing npoii Its eiUit the himitft roiif/c, with the French and American fiags lutertwlucd in fesioons, and the whole .-nmionnted b; « dove M'ld olive branch. - A treaty of alllan'e, fiiendfhlp, and commerce was enterc' into by the I'n'led States and France on the Cth of Feb- mui> , 1T7S, by which the fornier was bound to guarantee the French iiossesslon.j In Amerh a ; and by a treaty of com- nicrie executed at tl.e same time, French privateers and priaes -verr entitled to shelter In the American ports, while Iho'ic of (he enemies of Frii nee ihouldhc dxclnded. -See Arliclfi XVII. of the Trenty. ' The French Jacobins aflVcted the simplicity of (he republics of Greece and Rome. All titles were abolished, and the term nfhfii was universally applied t;) men. AVneii 'l.e klni' was spoken of, his fr.mily name of Capiat was used, lie was called " Citlr.cii Capet" or " Louis ( tipet," They naV'ctcd to rc.'aid liberty as a ■liviiilty, and a coiirtesan, ia the ccuveiitionul coBtumc of ttiat dl\ Imty, w r>s fiaraded lu a ;ur th~ougb the streets ae the Goddess of Liberty. : m IB PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Waabington'8 Proclamation of Meutrnllty. Aesaulta upon It and its Author. ' April li2, nu3. He sent* a most unwelcome letter to the Secretary of State. "War," he wrote, "liaving actually conmienced between France and Great Britain, it behooves the govennnent of this country to use every means in its power to prevent the citizens thereof from embroiling us with either of those powers, by endeavorini;: to maintain a strict neutrality." He required Mr. Jefferson to give the subject his careful thought, and lay his views before liim on his arrival in Philadelphia. A sim- ilar letter was sent to the head of every oth.er department. Washington reached Philadelphia on the I7th of April, and on the 19th held a Cabinet council. It was agreed that the President sliould issue a proclamation of neutrality, warning citizens of the United States not to take part in the kindliiig war. At the same meeting it was agreed that the minister of the French Republic should be received.' The President's proclamation of neutrality Avas issued oii the 22d of April, and Avas .■■^wled Avith the greatest vehemence by the "P'rench party," as the llepublicaii.s H'« i"c called, lieverence for the President's character and p»\sition Avas forgotten in the sto.'-m of passion that eiriued. The proclamation Avas styled a " roj'al edict," a " daring and iniAvarrantable assumption of executive poAver," and was pointed at as an open manifestation by the President and his political friends of partiality for En- gland, a ')itter foe, and hostility to France, a Avarm friend and ancien* ally. It is fair to infer, Irora the tone of his private letters at that time, that the Secretary of State (Avho voted very reluctantly in the Cabinet for the proclamation), governed by his ;u."'^st fanatical hatred of Hamilton, and his sympathies Avith the French regicides, secretly promoted a public feeling hostile to the administration.^ ' The followinR Is n copy of the President's proclamation : " Whereas it appears that a state of war exists between Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Nutli- erlands on the one part, and France on the other, and the duty and interests of the United States require that llirv should, with sincerity and good faith, adopt and inirsue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers : "I have therefore thought fit, by these i)iesents, to declare the disposition -if the United States to observe the conduct aforesaid toward those powers respectively, and to exhort and to warn the citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and proceedings wluitsoevcr which may in any manner tend to contravene snch disposition. "And I do hereby make known, that whosoever of the citizens of the United States shall render himself liable to ])iiii- ishmeut or forfeiture under the law of nations, by cimiinitting, aiding, or ubetting hostilities against any of the taiil powers, or by carrying to any of them those articles which arc deemed contraband l)y the modern usage of nations, will not receive the protection of the United States against such punishment or forfeiture ; and farther, that I have given instruction.i to those officers to whom it belouga to cause i)rosecutions to be instituted against all persons who sliull. within the cognizance of the courts of the United Sti 'es, violate the laws of nations with respect to the powers at war. or any one of them. In testimony whereof, etc . etc. Signed, Oeokoe Washinuto.n-." J It is an unpleasant dnty to arraign men whom the nation delights to honor as tried patriots, on a charge of com- plicity with those who at one time would have wrecked the governinent upon the rocks of anarchy, not designedly, pcr- liaps, bnt nevertheless efTcctually. llut historic truth sometimes demands it, as iu the case before us. Mr. .Tctlerson was openly opposed to the policy of AVashington's administration. This was manly. But it was not manly lO be a covert enemy, lie always denied any complicity witli Freueau, his translating clerk, in his coarse abuse of Washlngtoi] and his politifal friends, while Jefferson was Secretary of State ; hut the very mlimtes niac'.e by Mr. .Jefferson hiuisolf. and printed in his Anas, BufflcienHv indicate his relative positi<ni to Freueau at that time. He says that at a Ciihiiii't council Wanhinglon spolte harshly of Frcneau, who impudeutly sent him three copies of his paper every day, tilled vvitli abuse of the administration. "He c(.uld see nothing in it," .Icfl'erson recorded, "but an impudent design to insult him: he ended in a hifh tone." Again Jefferson says. "lie [tlie Picsldeut] adverted to a piece in Freiiean's paper of yester- day. He said he des))lsed all their attacks on hlin personally, but that there had never been an act of tlie government, not meaning in tbr executive line only, bnt In any line, which that paper had not abnsed. ... lie was evidently sore and warm, and I i. ik his Intention to be, that i should interjiose in some way with Freueau, perhaijs wlthdr"".' his ap- polntmcnt of translating cle.k In my office. But I will not do it. His paper has saved our Constitution, whi h w as gal- loping fast into monarchy, and has been checked by uo one means so powerfully as by that paper. It is well and iinl- versaily known that it has been thai paper which has checked the career of ihc monocrats."— */cmoir and Corrmiuiutl- ence nfjeffermn, Loudon edition, 'v., 4(17. But the evidence against Mr. Jefferson In this matter Is not entiicl.v clrciuii- stantial. The late Dr. John W. Francis, of New York, who was Frenenn's physician in the latter j'cars of his life, informed the author that It was one of the most polginint griefs of 'hat Journalist that he had seemed to be an cnciiu of AA'ashiugtim. He assured Dr.Prancis that the Sarutnal (Inzfile was entirely under the control of Mr. .Jefferson, aii^l that the Secretary iHrtatetl m ti^ole Ihr mttHt rioh'nt attarkn n» Washington and liw political fricnilii. The only e.'scUfc Hi the conduct of Mr. JefiVrsou at that lime Is iHilillcal mouonianiu. Genet's Hcceptlon in 8<mtl 1 of the proclamation, from Charleston, wit ilopredatc on British One of these priva sliores. She went pr a fine British nierch; Avhen she proceeded •vas greeted by a i "When the British t F.eiich flying above licr foremast, and hev t'(\ white burgees, Avi National Convention L^ Embiiscade Avas |ihia fourteen days 1 Mict him at the Schu roar of cannon and tl :iiid the citizens at iai itlol, that he AA'as hivil President of the Unit At that presentatio touched, and his hoj)i ' General AVlIUan Moultrie, Jay wrote : ' From her foremast were ^ " Prceraeu, wo nro your friends inau." V EnybuiKxiik saluted Iht OF THE WAR OF 1812. 79 Genet's Reception in South CnroUiin. Privateers commissioned, /irrlvnl and Reception of one of tliem at Pliiladclphla. ciiAPTEti rv. " While France her huge limbs bs the < recumbent in 1)10011, And society's base throats with wide (IcHolation, May Peace, lilic the dove who i eturned from the Hood, - , ■;, I'iud an ark of aliode in our mild Constitution. . . But though peace is I lur aim, <• Yet the lioon we disc laim . - : If bought by our Sovereignty, . Fuslicp, or Fame ; For ne'er shall the sons of ( .'ohimbia be slaves While the earth bears a plajit, or the sea rolls its waves." RooEBT Tbe.it Paine. HE Avisclom and timolLioss of "Waslihigton's proclamation of nen- trality was soon made; manifest. Genet came Avitli blank com- missions for naval und military service, and proceeded to lit out two privateers at Cb arleston. He was also empowered to give authority to every French consul in the United States to consti- tute himself a court of admiralty, to dispose of prizes captured by French cruisers and brought into American ports. In defiance' lit' the proi'lamation, his privateers, manned principally by American citizens, sailed from Charleston, with the consent and good wishes of the governor and citizens, to ilepredale on British commerce.^ One of these privateers m . ,s .V EmhuHcade, the frigate that brought Genet to our shores. She went prowling up the coast, seizing several vessels, and at last captured a fine British merchantman, named The Grange, within the Capes of the Delaware, when she proceeded to Philadelphia in triumphant attitude." Her arrival . jtay 2, vas greeted by a great assemblage of people on the brink of the river. *^"3- •' AVhen the British colors were seen re versed," Jefferson wrote to Madison, " and the FiOiK'h flying above them, the people liurst into peals of exultation." Upon her liead, her foremast, and hev stern, liberty-caps were conspicuous; and from her masts float- id white burgees, with words that ochoed the egotistic proclamation of the French Xational Convention.^ VEinbuscade was the precursor of the French minister, who arrived at Philadel- )>hia fourteen days later. '^ Accordinti; to preconcert, a number of citizens met him at the Schuylkill and escor ed him to the city, in the mirlst of the roar of cannon and the rhigiug of bell':. There he rtceived addresses from societies :uid the citizens at large; and so an-vious were his ailmirers to ])ay homage to their idol, that he was invited to a p.iblic diimer before hf presented his credentials to the President of the United States! At that presentation, which occurred on the 10th,'^thc minister's pride was touched, and his hopeful ardor was chilled. Ho found himself in an atmos- "■ May 10. May. 1 Geucral William Moultrie, the heroic patriot of the Kevolutlon, was then Oovemor of Sonth Carolina. A wit of the J«y wrote : " On that blest day whun first we came to land, Oreat Mr. Moultrie look us by the hand; Surveyed Iho ships, ndm'.tfd the motley crt-w, Aud o'er the envoy ft-iendship's maiitle threw; Rcceive.d the Bam-rMlotle with soft embrace, And bade him welcome with the kindliest grace." 'From her forcniKst were displayed tho ivords, " Knemles of ei|nailty, reform or tremble;" from her mnlnmafti, "Prceraeu, wo are y<iur friends and brethren ;" moim the mlzten-mast. "Wo arc armed for the defense of the righti of raau." U Embimcckie saluted the V(i at crowd wUUtSAcoii '^ms, and was responded to on shore by cheers, and g<iu for gun. m rKi'tffUlAJ. -TEI..D.BOOK Oeuot im tke Presence of WaibhigtolSl' TtStifffidfi—. jj -u^ PuUttcal Friends. Democratic Societies i phorc of the most profound diarrrf^y in tl !<■ ^' trnce of ^\'a8hinc:ton ; and he was made to realiw hi« own littleness while standi n^ bofvro thiit nohle i\ presentative of the best m<'n and the soundest principles of tJie A) , rican ]<- )iiiMU\ lie withdrew from the audience aba^tlved and subdued. He had heard seiitn.,* ris of sincere regard for the F'renoii nation tl»at touched the sensil)ilities of his Jieart, and he liad fell, in the genu- ine courtesy and severe simplicity and frankness of the President's manner, wholly free from effervescent enthusiasm, a withering rebuke, not only of the adulatois in puV)lic places, but also of his own pretenl ious aspirations and ungenerous duj)licity,' Genet affected to !><• shocked by the evidences of monarchical sympathies in the President's house.^ He was supremely happy when lie was j>ermitted to escape from the frigidity of truth, virtue, and dignity into the fervid atmosphere of a ban- ■Mi>y23, quet-hall filled with his "friends."* There his ears were greeted with the iT!t3. stirring Marseilles Hymn, an '>de in French, composed for tlie occasion,^ and toasts bfifflful of "Liberty and Equality." There his eyes were delighted with a •'trfte of lifxk-rty" upon the table, and the fags of the two nations in fraternal enfold- 'm%*. There his iieart was mada glad by having the red cap of libeity placed ujion Hfi* nrvm Jiead first, and then upon the head of each guest, while the wearer, under the IfiKpiration of its i^ymbcJism — " That siicrsd Cap, whlcti fools in order sped In grand rotation, round from head to head"— uttered some patriotic i^iwWwwwS, There hirt hopes of success were made to bud anew ns ho saw the officers and sailo/w ///' \\\ii piiviiteer receive a "fraternal embrace" fn in eiu li gin'sl, (i/id bear away to the robber the /(/igH o/'lhc ( ho )ii, lions amid the cheeiH of the convivialists. Genet's prescnco intensified (he party spirit of the Republicans. " llelilifiiriilii Societies," in imitation of Ihe Jacobin Clubs of France, were formed, secret in their proceeduigs, and disloyal in the extreme in their jjractice at that time. In servile imitation of their jjrototypes, they adopted the peculiar phrases of the populace of Paris;' and a powerful fiiction was soon visible, more Fi'euch than American in tluii habits of thought and political principles. By some strange iiifjvt nation, sensible ami patriotic men were drawn into the toils of the charmer, and they sanctioned and j)!ii- ticipated in scenes which composed a most astounding and humiliating farce.'' ' Genet's address to Wachlngton was full of friendly profesFlon?. "It wan impopsible," Jefferson wrote to Madison, "for any thing to be more affectionate, more mngnanimons than the purport of Genets mission. ... He offers eviTv thing, and asks nothing." And yet, while making thc.«e professions, he had secret instrnctions in his pocket to foment discord helween the United States and Great Britain, and to set the American government at dcflunce, ii neo('s^Mv, in the execution ;)f his designs. lie had already openly insulted that government by his acts nt C'harlcsfon— a city wl.iili. on that occasion as on subsequent ones, earned the "bad crainencc" of standing alone in the attitude of disloyally \>' the national government. ' He was "astonished and indignant" at seeing a bust of Louis XVI. in the vcstllml", and romp'nined of It to hi? "friends" as an " Insult to France. " lie was eiiually "astonished" by discovering in the President's parlor "ccrtniii medallions of Capet and his family ;" r.nd lie was " shocked to le? rn" that the Marquis Dc NoaiUcs (n relative of Madnnn' lafayeltc) and other emigrant Frenchmen had lately been admitted to Ihc presence of Washington. Indeed he found most things disagreeable outside of the charmed circle of his " f'icnds." ■' This was written by "Clll/en Duponceau,"of rhiladclphin, n worthy French gentleman, ,. ho came to America with the Baron Oe Steuben, and w.is for many years n distinguished citizen of Pennsylvania. The ode was translated into English at the table by Frcncau, Ihe translating clerk of the Sccreiary of State, and then sung again. < "The title 6f c?Yi>™,"says Orlswold, "became as common In Phlladi'lphia as lnPari.», and in the newspapers it w;i« the fashion to announce marriages as partnerships L.tHeen ('itizen Brow:i, Sniilh, or Jones and the cifowi who had hc?u wooed to such an association."— /Jfjiiib/iVnii Cmiri, p. ilCiO. ■■• " At a dinner at which Governor MIfllin was present, a roasted pig recel'or' the name of the mnrdered French kin:'. and the head, severed fi-om the body, was carried lonnd to each of the guests, who, after placing the liberty-cap on lii^ own bciid, ))ronouncea the word ' tyrant,' and proceeded to mangle with bis knife that of the luckless creature donnioil to be served for so unworthy a company. One of Ihe IVmorratIc lavcnis dlsplaycfi as a sign a revolting picture oftlic mutilated and bloody corpse of Marie Ant.iinetto."*— /(c;)ii6(ic(i» Pnurt, p. '(.Vl. Stninge as It may seem, .' 'fferson was jo Influenced by his prejudices ..t that time that he shnt his cyos, apparently, to all passing events, and could write to Mad- • Marie Antoinette, the nnhappy queen of Louis X^1., became the victim of Jacobin mnlignlty, and was t)e!ieaded on the Irtlh (ifOctoljer, nwi. .She was n danghter of the Kmpetor of Austria, and Is represented as a beantihil and accom- plished woman. Iler murdcers accused and convicted l,"r of crimes of wblch tbey knew she was Innocent. She wn? taken to the scaffold on a cart. I|i t body was cast into the Magdalen churchyard, and luimedialely consumed nitli qulck-hmc ! The fiends denied her a grave. Enthusiasm for the F But the ludic dignified act. liundred inerchs the soundest loy scnted to Presid Similar enthu other ])Iaces, but to the governme Democratic soci, temperate heat, t The governme forward in the ] owners, and tJie j sent to the colleci fitted out as priv sols, Americans and indicted for .1 of grand juries to with respect to ar These measures He protested ; ami reiterated the opji priv/i/eecs, he had I'ccied finil '/'//,, ii would leave th<i 4 Isou, afltj ,.,|„,,„^|„^,,,i, two of the Cabinet [Mean 1,'rcat antipathy to run fou ' A dance, with singing, " ''''"'>«= societies and th'( "li'lioiilo their owh, as eq belter counsels kept their Hevolutlong. The aspect of dignltv,(lr, was wholl" wanting in Uiat i 'ipenly advanced In Ihv Con cnrurcc a political creed up,,, when Ibehold the hand of ra tliusu citl/ens and Ibeir anci and cool delibenitlon ought t what was the cause of Amerli ''*'■'•'." WI8 graphically ijhislr OP TllE WAR OF 1812. 81 Entbuoiaam for the French Cause. The Americaa and French Kevulutlonn contrasted, tienct rebuked by Jefferson. But the ludicrous picture of Genet's reception in Philiulcl]iliia was relieved by a dignified act. On the day of his arrival in that city, an address, signed by three hinidred merchants and other substantial men of that city, in which was expressed the soundest loyalty to the letter and spirit of his proclamation of neutrality, was pre- sented to President Washington. Similar enthusiasm for the French cause was manifested in New York and a few other places, but the citizens were never obnoxious to the charge of overt disloyalty to the government. Although the Carmagnole^ was sung hourly in the streets, and Democratic societies fanned the zeal for the Jacobin system of government into in- temperate heat, the citizens, as such, remained loyal to the Constitution and the laws.* Tlie government, unawed by the storm of passion that beat upon it, went steadily forward m the path of right and duty. 27ie Grange Avas restored to its British owners, and the privateers were ordered to leave the American waters. Orders were sent to the collectors of all the ports of the United States ibr the seizure of all vessels iitted out as privateei-s, and to prevent the sale of any prizes captured by such ves- sels. Americans from one of the privateers fitted out at Charleston were arrested and indicted for a violation of law; and Cliief Justice .T.ay declared it to be the duty of grand juries to jjresent all i>ersons guilty of such violation of the laws of nations with respect to any of the belligerent powers. Tiiese measures greatly irritated tlie French minister and his American partisans, lie protested ; and tlie Secretary of State, soon finding him to be a troublesome friend, reiterated the opinitms of the President, and plainly told him that, by commissioning |trivii(('er«, he had violated the sovereignty of the United States, and that it Avas ex- |ie('l('d Ihal '/'///' IJi nit and IJJi^nibvscade (the two privateers fitted out at Charleston) would leave tho American wat' *'orthwith. isiiii, iilliM i!»)((/i«i'lli(j hl« opinion thni Gcnei h inagnnnimous offers would not be received, "It Is evident thnt one or two of the C!ablnei Hueiiniii); llnmiiton and Knoxi, at least, under pretcnRe of avoldiuj^ war ou the one side, have no (jrciit antipathy to run foul of it on the otlur, and to make a jiart in the confederacy of princes against human liberty." 1 A dance, with slngiiifr, performed in the mi ts of I'aris during the French Revolution. See page GO. ■ Those societies and the newspapers In theii iiterest attempted to deceive the people by comparing the Freuch Rev- olution to their invli, us equallyju.xlitled and holy. Jlany, totally ignorant of the fai-ts, believed ; but enlightenment and tictlcr counsels kept their passions in check. The informed and thoughtful saw no just comparison I'otweeu the two licvolutlous. TllF <^ONTRART. The aspect of dignity, dccomm, gravity, order, and rcllglonn solemnity so conspicuous in was wholl" wanting in that of the French. " When I llnd," IlnmlUon wrote to Washington, ii|ipiil,v advanced in the Convention, and heard with loud applauses ; when I sec the sw. -d ouforce a political creed upon citizens who were invited to submit to the arms of FraMs ii« when I behold the hand of rapacity outslcetched to prostrate and ravish the monuments uf re llwai'. cliliiens and their ancestors ; when T iicrceive passion, tumult, and vlolcn -e nsurpi..;: ;niii cool deliberation ought to preside— I acknowledge that I am glad lo believe there Is r.o what was the canse of America and what is the cause of France." The difference between .< UkrVj was graphically illustrated by a print cnJled T)w CoMrmt, of which our engraving Is a the American Revolntion " (he doctrines i>f atheism if fanaticism extended to the barblnpera of liberty; !1'-lo!!S worship erected by liisse seatK where reiion real resemblance between tneriean liberty and Frtnth reduced copy. 82 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK i r Persixteoce of the French Minister. Ui8 "FlIibUBtorlDg" Schemes. Dis Attempt to create a Rebellion. A Reaction. sf 'lil .\ IW il ri' Geiiot, with ofFensive pcrtin.ifity, de- nounced this doctrine as contrary to riglit, Justice, and tlie law of nations, and threatened " to appeal from tlie President to tlic jn'ople." Tiic Re- publican papers sustaiiu'd hiiu in his course. 1 The Democratic societies be- came more bold and active ; and (ienet, niistakinLT the |)opular clamor in his fa- vor for the deliberate voice of the na- tion, actually undertook to fit out as a privateer at I'hiladelphia, during the absence of the President at Mount Ver- non, under the very eyes of the national government, a British vessel that liad been cajitured and brought in there by VEnibuscade, and which he named in French The Little iJernocrat. MilHin, tlic Democratic Governor of Pennsyl- vania, interfered, and threatened to seize the vessel if Genet persisted in his course. The minister refused to listen. Jefterson begged liiin to desist until the return of the President. Genet spurned his kind > jrds, and raved like a uindmaii. He declared his deterinination to send The Little Democrat to sea, complained that he had been thwarted in all his undertakings by the government, denounced the Presi- dent as unfaithful to the \i'ishes of the people, and resolved to press him to call the Congress together to act upon the subjects in dispute.^ Genet's othcial and private conduct became equally offensive ; and when, on Wash- ington's return to the seat of government, it was recited to him, his indignation was arous d. "Is the minister of the French Kepublic to set the acts of the government at deliarice \i^ith impunity f^h^i asked. Ilis Gabinet answered No. Forbearance to- ward ll'..! insolent minister was no longer retpiired by the most exacting courtesy, and it \tas agreed in Cabinet council that the French government should be requested to recall him because he Avas offensis e to that of the United States. Jefferson had become disgusted with liim, and the tone of popular sentiment soon became more sensible and patriotic. His reiterated threat of appealing from the President to the people — in other words, to excite an insurrection for the j)urpose of overthrowing the government — had shocked the national pride ; and many considerate Republicans, ' A writer in Frenenu'8 Onzrttr paid, " I hope the niinisler of France will act with flrmnefs and c pirit. The ])en])le are his frirnfls, or the friends of France, a:.(l lie will have nothinf; to apiirchcnd; for, nu yrt, the people are the fiovercifiiis of the United States. Too much complacency is an injury done to his l■all^'l' ; for, as every advantage is already taken of Franco (not by the ]>e(q>h), farther condescension may lead to farther abuse. If one of the leadinsj features of (air government is pusH'.animity when tlie Dritish lion shows his teeth, let Franco and her minister act as becomes the dig- nity of her cayse, a'j i the honor and faith of nations." Fronean's paper, at that time, was assisted in its attacks npon the jjovernment by the Oeneral Advertiner (aftenvard known as the A^irora), edited by B. F. Bache, a grandson of Dr. Franlilin, who had been educated in France. It was even more violent and abusive than its colleague, and even charged Washington with an intention of joining in the league of kings and priests against the French Republic I ' (Jenel was intrusted by his government witli bolder schemes than the fitting out of privateers. lie was to organize what are called in our day " filibustering cxpcdillcms," on an extensive scale, against the Spanish dominions, the objcrl beinf; no less than the seizure of Florida and New Orleans. An expedition against the ""ormer was to he organL.i'd in South Carolina, and against the latter in Kentucky. The one in the Mississippi Valley was to be led by General (icorp Rdgern Clarke, the conqueror of tic Northwest, to whom was given the magniloquent title of " Major Oeneral In iho Armlei- ^)f France, and Commander-in-chief of the French Revolutionary I.eiiions on the Mississippi." Funds for car- (■jlng on Cicse expeditions were to be derived from the payment to the mli'ister, by the I'nited Slates, of a portion of the iwitjonaj Jubt due to France. French emissaries were employed in South Carolina and Kentucky, and in the latter (lb- Bict|the pnlillo mind, irritated by the Spanish obstructi(ms to the navigation of the Mi-ssissippl, was very favorable t" l))e movement. The failure of Oenet's missicm put an end to these schemes of conquest, uot, however, until they haJ jiroijllccd 'iinoylng effects npon the national government. who had been in the cause lievolution in |)aiised while li to the audaciou i>f a foreigner w Slimed to dicti course of contl be pursued by loved Wasliin Tlie tide turned soon there wen onstrations th out the LTiiion of ment with the ] niation of netit wliich the partis; Genet never drt of, and a 8tron< irresistible react favor of the na government sjx manifested itsel every hand. Genet' was rcc; and M. Fouchet, s equally indiscreet ment against Gre two countries, to and a»conciliatorj was pursuing a st gland dejjlored. armed neutrality ' Mr. CJenet never retu conntry, and ho thought 1 Slate of New York, and b of the I'rench Jacobin --o ties. At the time of his born In January, lT(i3. I nttached to the emba.ssie. t» the Emperor of Russi, X'VI., he became a favorit nilui.^tor to Holland, and , America as minister and ( first Postmaster General i aloiied by bis attendance I'lospect Hill, near Greciib L'aniiian, and another wa« the wisdom of Wasbingl. in America, and reJoic<Ml i, ' During the American I ' Genet was burled iii i pl,iced over his remains Is Under this humble stoi poientlary and Consul Gen l""-i»hof.St.Lonls,InFran "Driven by the storms c wliere he cherished the lov am he devoted Ids time to and trne Christian phllosoi V'lth radiant splendor bejo OF THE WAR OF 1812. 83 A Reaction. Oenct recnilcd. Ilig Successor. Biographical Sketcli of Genet. wlio liiul been zoaloiiH in the cause of the Kevohition in France, j)ausc(l whiles liMtenins^ to tlic iiiidiicious v'ordh of a foreigner who prc- sniiieil to (lictatc the course of conduct to be i)urRued by the be- loved Wa s lii n g t o n. Tiie tide turned. Very soon there were dcra- onstnitions tlii'ough- out tlie Union of agree- ment with the procla- mation of neutrality, wliich the partisans of Genet never dreamed of, and a strong and irresistible reaction in favor of the national govern inent speedily manifested itself on every hand. Genet' was recalled, and M. Fouchet, a man equally indiscreet, was appointed bis success- or. At the close of the year, Mr. Jetlcr- son, whose views of French aftliirs had be- come much moditicd by the course of events at home and aliroad, left the Cabinet and retired to ])rivato life, much to the regret of Washington, who found in him an able minister of state. Jef- ferson was a patriot, but, for several years, his jealousy and ha- tred of Hamilton and his friends maile him a political monoma- niac. While the goveni- ment of the United States, unswayed by the popular sentiment in favor of Fi-ancc, and national resent- ment against Great Bi'itain, had hastened, on the breaking out of war between those two countries, to adopt a strictly neutral policy, thereby showing great nmgnanimity and atconeiliatory spirit toward the late enemy in the licld, that enemy, inimical still, was ])ursuing a se'iish and ungenerous course, which the wisest and best men of En- gland deplored. Keganlless of the opinions of Europe expressed in the treaty for an armed neutrality in 1780,^ she revived the rule of war laid down by herself alone in 1 Mr. Genet never returned to Franc;. At about 'hu time of liia recall, a change of faction had taken place in his country, and he thouglit it prudent not to return. Ho remained, married n dauj,'hter of (Jeorge Clinton, (Jovcrnor of the Slate of New York, and became an ornament to American society. It is cmly of his official conduct, while the minister of tl>e I'rcnch Jacobin government, that Americans have reason to romplain of him. He was a man of eminent abili- ties. At the time of his arrival in the United States, he was a few months more than thirty years of age, having been burn in January, 17(13. He was a precocious boy, and from childhood was engaged in public employments. He was iit'iiclied to the emliassies at Berlin, Vienna, Loudon, and St. Petersburg. Because of a spirited letter which he wrote lo the? Emperor of Hussia, ludignautly protesting against his expulsion from his dominions after the deatli of Louis XVI., he became a favorite of the French revolntlonists. lie was made adjutant general of the armies of France and iiilui-tcr to Holland, and was employed in revolutionizing (ienevn and annexing it to France. He was finally sent to America as minister and consul general. He was twice married. His second wife was the daughter of Mr. Osgood, the ilrst Postmaster General under the Constitution. He took great interest in agriculture, and his last lllneas was occa- sioned by his attendance at the meeting of an agricultural society of which he was president. He died at his seat on I'riispect Hill, near Oreenbnph, opposite Albany, on the 14th of .Inly, ISM.* One of his sisters was the celebrated Madame Cainpan, and another was Madame Anguie, molher-in-Iaw of the distinguished Marshal Ney. Mr. Genet often spoke of Ihc wisdom of Washington and his administration, the folly of his own countrymen at that time and of their admirers in America, and rejoiced that the proclamation of neutrality defeated his wild schemes. » During the American Kevoluti(ni the superior maritime power of Great Britain was able to damage the commerce • Genet was burled lli the prave-ynrd of the Koformed Dutch Church at Greenbnsh. Upon a plain marble tablet placed over his remains Is the following inscription : "Under this humble stone are Interred the rennilns ofEnMiTKnCiiAni.KBOENKT, late Adjutant General, Minister Pleni- Iinicntlary and Consul General from the French Hepubllc to the United States of America. He was born at Versailles, liarlsh of St. Louis, in France, January S, 17CI!, and died at Prospect Hill, town of Oreenbusb, July 14, ISM. " Driven liy the sfoi ms of the Uevolutton to the shades of retirement, he devoted his talents to his adopted country, where he cherished the love of liberty and virtue. The pursuits of literature and science enlivened his peaceful solitude, .ind he devoted his time to usefulness and benevolence. His last moments were like his life, an example of fortitude and true Christian philosophy. His heart was love and fUcudshtp's sun, which has set on this transitory world, to rise with radiant splendor bejond Ihc grave." i) 84 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK If il 'i Brlttah " Rules" and Orders la Council. Their Injustice. The Armed Neutrality. Feeling In the United Stutoo. 1766,' and first by a "proviHioiial order in conneil," as it was called, issued in June, • November fl ^ 7!).'!,- and tlicn by another order in council, issued in November following,' iTua. ;j,ni secretly pronndi^ated, she struck heavy blows at her antaj^onist, re- gardless of the fact that they fell almost as heavily upon those who favored her by neutrality. Citizens of the United States were then carrying on an extensive trade with the French West India Islands, whose ports had been opened to neutrals for the same reasons as in 1 7 "Xi, and felt no apprehension of interference from any source. But (treat Britain had determined to again aj)ply her starvation nu!asures against her old enemy, and a secret order in council was issued, and silently circulated among the British cruisers, without the least notice or intimation to the American merchants, directing all vessels engaged in trading with any colony of France to be taken into British ports for adjudication in the courts of admiralty.^ This lawless invasion of neutral rights, conducted secretly and treacherously, pros- trated at one blow a great portion of American commerce. The property of Amer- ican merchants to the amount of many millions of dollars was 8wei)t from the seas into British ports and lost. This was regarded as little better than higliway robbery, judged by the law of nations and common justice. When intelligence of this high-handed measure reached the United States, it pro- duced the hottest indignation throughout the land. Politicid strife instantly ceased, and both parties Avere etiually zealous in denunciations- of the treachery and aggres- sions of Great Britain, for which she offered no other excuse than expediency, grow- ing out of her evident determination to mahitain her boasted position of" mistress of the seas," regardless of the rights of all the rest of the world. Congress was then in session, and measures were proposed for retaliation, such as reprisals, embargoes, sc- of other Europenn nations immensely. Tlie British government revived the rule of nsfi, liclow mentioned, nnd infrinirod largely upon neutral connncrce. To rc»iHt these encroachments, and to protect uciitrnl marllinie ri^lits, Kussia, Swe- den, Ueninarli, and Holland formed a treaty of alliance, which they denominated The Armed Neutrality, l)y which tlicy pledged themselves to support, at the hazard of war, if necessary, the following principluN: 1. That it shonld he lawful for any ships to sail freely from one port to another, or along the coast of the powers at war. 2. That all merchanrtito and effects belonging to the subjects of the belligerent powers, and shipped in neutral bottoms, should be entirely free ; that is, free ships make free goods, ii. That no place should be considered blockaded e.\cept the assailing pAver had taken a station so as to expose to imminent danger any ship attempting to sail iu or out of such ports. 4. That no neu- tral ships should be stopped without material and well-grounded cause ; and, in such cases. Justice should lie done llicni without delay." The British navy triumphed over all opposition, the designs of the armed neutrality were defealcil, and Holland was made a party to the war with tlie Americans and France. A similar attempt to restrict the maritime power of Great Britain was made in the yesr ISOO, which resulted iu the destruction of the Danish fleet before Copen- hagen in April, ISOl. Soon after thij The Armed Neutrality was dissolved, and the dominion of the seas was accordcil to England. 1 When the war between Great Britain nnd France was formally declared In 17S6, the former power announced, as n principle of national law. "that no other trade should be allowed to neutrals with the colonies of a belligerent in tinio of war than wuit is allowed by the parent state in time of peace." This was in direct opposition to the law of natioiiH promulgateii l)y Frederick the Great, of Prussia, namely, " the goods of an enemy can not be taken from on board tlic ships of a frieud ;" and also in direct violation of a treaty between England and Holland, in which it was stipulated ex- pressly that "free ships make free (,ood8"— that the neutral should enter saf> ]., and unmolested all the harbors of tlio belligerents, nnless they were blockaded or besieged. England not only violated the treaty, hut, having the might, ex- ercised the right of invading the soveieignty of Holland, andcnpturinc its vessels whose cargoes might be useful forlicr navy. This assumption— this dictation of law to the nations to suit her own self.sh purposes— turned against England the denunciations of the civilized world, and which for more than a cont\n-y she has never ceased to receive. At that time her "law" v.as aimed directly at France, then much the weaker nava! power. Unable to maintain her accustomed trade with her West India Islands, she opened their ports to neutrals. It was to destroy the trade by neutrals, so lucra- tive to them and so beneflcial to France, that Great Britain introduced that new principle of national law. 2 This order, intended as a starvation measure against France, declared th.it all vessels laden wholly or in part with breadstuiTs, hound to any port of France, or places occni)ied by French armies, should be carried into England, ami their cargoes either disposed of there, or security given that they should be sold only iu i)orts of a country in frlendshij) with Great Britain. This order was Issued on the 8th of June, 1T93. 3 The following is n copy of the order: " George R. : Additional Instructions to all ships of war, privateers, etc. : "That they shall stop and detain all ships laden with goods the produce of any colony belonging to France, or con- veying provisions or other supplies for the use of such colonies ; and shall bring the same, with their cargoes, to legal acUudicatlon in our courts of admiralty. By his majesty's command. Signed, Dusuas. "November 0,1733." So secretly was this order issued that the first account of its existence reached the London Exchange with the detail- of several captures which It authorized and occasioned. And Mr. Plnckney, the American minister, was unable to pro- cure a copy of it until the 26th of Ueccmbcr, more than six weeks after it was Issued. —PiiKkiuy'a letter to hia governmetil, Dtcember 28, 1798. British Impressment <]iiestrations, an excitement was iiig the Jiand of Another and i consideration, ar tilitics between into tJie Ikiti.sh i (ii-cat Britain fo fions" to suit liei •langer, to be foi British seamen tt naval ])ower by t jwtriate Jiimself- triiie that in time and that, at the ct loturii and tight t laniation was issi ships of war to m l>ntisJi-l)orn seam foreign state. Un while in niid-ocear (treat Britain alon Knglish and Anieri their scrutiny, nati vessels, and kej)t iu tilting grievance. J^A Oy '""<nvhig,j\ir.Jaysai The French "Ii,.p„ I'ecausc of tlie virtu- OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 85 OrltiDh Iroprcssmont orAmcricun Seamen. War threatened. John Jay a ppccinl Minister to Engiand. questrations, and even war. The whole country was violently agitated ; and the cvcitenuMit was increased hy events on the Indian frontier, already mentioned, show- ing the hand of British influence in the l)loody battles in the Northwest. Another and more serious element of discord between the two nations came up for consideration, and which, in after years, was one of the immediate causes ofopen hos- tilities between the two countries. This was the impressment of American seamen into the British service. In eftbrts to maintain her i)<)siti()n of" mistress of the seas," (treat Britain found herself uiuler the necessity of announcing another " law of na- tions" to suit her particular case. High wages, humane treatment, and security from danger, to be found in the Aimrican merchant service, had attracted a great many British seamen to it. Their govenunent, alarmed at the threatened weakening of its naval j)Ower by this drain, planted itself upon the theory that a subject can not ex- |)atriatc himself — once an Englishman, always an Englishman ; proclaimed the do^!- trine that in time of war the govenunent had a right to the services of every subject ; and that, at the command of their sovereiixn, every luitural-born sidyect was bound to rt'turn and tight the battles of his counti , . In accordance witli this doctrine a proc- lamation was issued, by which authority Avas given to the commanders of British shijjs of war to make up any deficiency in their crews by ])ressing into their service British-born seamen wherever found, not Avithin the immediate jurisdiction of any tiu'oign state. Under this authority many American merchant vessels were crippled, while in mid-ocean, by British seamen being taken from them. Nor were subjects of (4rcat Britain alone taken. It was somefimes diflicult to discover the nationality of English and American seamen; and as the British comm.anders were not very nice in their scrutiny, native-born Americans were frc(piently dragged on board British war vessels, and kept in servitude in the royal navy for years. This was a great and irri- tating grievance. War with Great Britain now seemed in- evit.Tble. To avert it was Washington's most anxious desire. To do so, and main- tain strict neutrality, was a diflicvdt task. He resolved to try negotiation. He well knew that the temper of his countrymen would oi»pose it. With a moral heroism commensurate with tlie occasion, he nom- inated John Jay, the Chief Justice of the United States, as envoy extraordinary to the Court of Great Britain, to negotiate for a settlement of all matters in dis])Ute between the two governments. The proj)- osition Avas met Avith a storm of indigna- tion. It Avas scouted as pusillanimous. The Democratic societies and Democratic newspapers Averc aroused into nnconmion activity. The tri-colored cockade Avas seen on every side, and the |)artisans of the French regicides ruled the hour. Better counsels jirevailed in the Senate, and on the lOth of April-' that body confirmed the nomination by a vote of eighteen to eight. On the 12th of May liillowuig, Mr. Jay sailed from Ncav York for London. The French " liei)ublic," meanwhile, had become ofP.^nded with the United States liecausc of the virtual dismissal of Genet, and demanded the recall of Mr. Morris. i 86 PICTORIAL FIKLD-BOOK Tho Fall of the French Jacobtni. Mlndter Monroe In Parlf. Jay'i Treaty with Great lirltaln. i: :: U Washingtoi) priKU-iifly cnnipliod, ami appoiiitod Juincs MoiinH' in liis jdaci'. I'lic •AiiRiiHt, liittcr iinivt'd ill Fruiice at an auspicious moi'ieiit." lnU'llii;t'iice of tlu' Uin j^.^y Amerifan misHion to Eiii^laiul iiad aroust-il the most bitter enmity to- ward the United States aiiioiifj; (he violent leaders of the National Convention. I'mt their bloody rule was at an end. J{obesi»ierre and his fiendish associjites had fallen. For some time they had been hated in the Convention. At leiif^th Uillaud Varennes mounted the trihune, and, in a speech full ot invective, (b-noiinced IJobespierre as a 'July 20, tyrant.'' The accused attempted to speak. "Down Avith the tyrant!" burst nu4. from many a lip, and he and his guilty coUeagucH were dragged to execu- tion amid the shouts t)f the poi)ulace, who had huz/aed as loudly when the king was murdered. With their fall the dreadful Keign of Terror ended. The Jacobin society was Buppressed. Reason and conscience were asserting their sway in tho Conven- tion. The nation breathed freer, and the curtain fell on one of the bloodiest tragedies in the history of the human race. Monroe was received with great cordiality. lie sent a judicious letter to the Pres- ident of the Convention. Its sentiments were consonant with the feelings of the hour. When lie afterward entered the hall of the Convention the presiilent i iii- braced him aftectionately. It was decreed that the flags of the two nations should be entwined and hung up there, in token of international union aiul friendship; and Monroe, with reciprocal courtesy, presented the banneuof his country to the ('onvin- tion in the name of the American peoj)le. The Convention, in turn, resolved to pre- sent their national flag to the President of flie United States. Jay's mission to England was partially successful. He found many obstacles to contend with. He entered upon the business in June, witli Lord Grenville, and on the 19th of November following, the contracting parties signed a treaty of amity, com- merce, and navigation. Although Mr. Jay accomplished much less than his instruc- tions directed him to ask for, the treaty Avas a long step in the direction of right, justice, and national prosperity, and led to the execution, to a great extent, of the Treaty of 1783. It also laid the solid foundation of the commercial policy of the United States.' Jay's treaty was doomed to a severe trial, and, with it, the administration, the Constitution, and even the republic itself. The Democrats had resolved to oppose h, whatever might be its provisions, especially if it should remove all pretexts for a war ' The treaty provided for the estnbllshnient of commissions to determine the eastern boundary of tlie I'nlted Slates, then in dispute ; the amount of losses incurred by British subjects by iniiiedlments beln;; thrown In the way of colleit- inj; debts in the United States incurred before the Revolution ; and to ascertain and esthnate the losses of the Americuiis by irrefjulnr and illegal captures by British cruisers, such losses to be paid by the Uritlsh Roveniment. It was i)rovideJ that the Western military posts should be t;iven up on the 1st of .Tune, 1790, In consideration of the adjustment of the ante-Kevolutlonary del)ls. The Indian trade was left open to both nations, the British being allowed to enter nil American harbors, with the right to ascend all rivers to the highest ])ort of entry. This was not reciprocated in full. Americans were not allowed free navigation of the rivers in the Hudson's Bay Company's possessions, nor thoee of others of the British cohmial possessions in America, except afcot'c the highest ports of entry. Tlic citizens or subjecte of each government holding lands in the dominions of the other government were to continue to hold them without alienage, nor were conflscntions of the property of such persons to be allowed. In a word, the existing conditions of property jhould not be disturbed. Such are the substantial provisions In the first ten articles of the treaty, which were declared to be |)erpetual. The remaining eighteen, having special reference to commerce and navigation, were limited in their operations to two years after the termination of the war in which Great Britain was then engaged. American vessels were allowed to enter the British ports in Europe and the East Indies on equal terms with tho^e of British vce- sels, while partlci|)atlon in the East India consting-trade, and trade between European and Kritish East Indian portp, was left to the contingency of British permission. The British were permitted to meet the dl^f rimiiuitlon In the Amer- ican tonnage and import duties by countervailing measures. American vessels not exceeding seventy tons were all"" pd to trade to the British West Indies on condition that they should not, during the continuance >f the treaty, triiii- ri from America to Europe any of the principal colonial products. British vessels were to be admitted into Auicnran ports on terms equal to the most favored nations. There were provisions made favortihle to neutral i)ropertT mi tho high seas, and that a vessel entering a blockaded port should not he liable to capture unless previously notified (f the blockade. There were satisfactory arrangements made concerning enlistments ; of courti^sy between ships of war and privateers of the two countries; to prevent the arming of privateers of any nation at war with the two ccmtracting par- ties, and the capture of goods in the hays iiiid harbors of the parties. In the event of war between the two conntrie?, the citizens or subjects of eitlier should not he molested, if peaceable ; and fugitives from justice, charged with hii-'li crimes, to be mutually given ui).* * The Treaty In full may be found In the Statesmun's Manual, Iv., 298. Violent Oppodtioii ( uith Great J5r .■it(! were not c Cahiiiet ininiHt tcr to warrant raised in the I) The Senate 1 Then the oppof gets for their si (ore the Ifevolu for their negnx States, aixl the | iiize man as pro The author o) dent personally, natioMiil coward "Id ally. Bold J iiig if. Public language and ,sei paraded in the s lioston denonnci the Ignited State at a public meet South Ciirolinian flag in (li(! (111. ( ••onsiil; wIiilo\ii evils, offered thei ' The following is a sj M'ven years' war with II iillies, now contr'nding f kimi 0/ 1 leatii with j, po; republicanism. The Un iirch? Treaties lend lo 1 ii government congenial difference bordering on ''taiid or fall together." ' The Semite, on volin. cntlonofthe treaty itself, "f the order of the 8th of the rules of the Senate, o it to the Aurora newsp.q the 2d of July. A poet ol ' In 1(107 an English coi TO'/ aim beinij iiiiiiteln, the, lided that "so soon as n i breathe in Englnml." n, the kindling of the Revoi ^'^rr *ef, a native of Afri wht ,10 H-ns Induced to n ' That of Jay boi-c n pnii I'repondcrnted, "liritinh ,jo !mi mil rnTinlri,'." ' "These nrehnrdargui "Edward Livingston," saj t'ode), was, I nm inf.irmed, « "Notice Is herebv give nlarch-lr.iltor, John .lav, •■Vssembly „f Virginia althi emment o.'one hundred th "1"S. A.sltlsthe wish i OF TIIK WAR OF 18 12. 87 vioioni oppuDitioiitafttvVlmMsh ItM FrlciiilH nxKalled. SeceMlon propnied by VlrglnUiw. witli Grt'iit ISritiiin. It rcachod tlic Prt'Hidont early in March,* hut the Sen- . j,g„h ^ iitc were not convened to eoiisider it until .Tune> Meanwliile an unfaithful """• Cahiiiet minister (Mr. Handolph, of Virjfiiiia) revealed enouyh of its ciiaracv "•'"»<"*• ter to warrant attaiks u])on it. The mad, si'ditioiis cry of faction was immediately raised in the Democratic societies and Hj)rcad among the people.' Tiie Senate finally voted to ratify the treaty, and it was jmhlished to the world." Tlieii tlie opjiosition oj)ened upon it their heaviest liatt«'ries »)f ahuse. The chief tar- gets for their shot were its provisions for the jjayment of honest dehts contracted he- fore tlu! Hevolution, and the omission to ])rovide for the remmieration of sl.-iveholders for tlieir nej^roes e!\rricd away dnrinij that war. As the Constitution of the I'liited States, and the puhiic sentiment and judicial decisions of (ireat Hritaht di<l not recog- nize man as jjroperty,'' the claim relating to slaves in tlie old treaty was i)assed over. Tlic autiior of the treaty, the approving senators, the administration, and tlie Presi- dent ])ersonally, were violently assailed. The treaty A\as declared to he a token of nation.il cowardice; an insult to the American peojile; a covert hlow at France, their old ally. Hold attempts were made to intimidate the President ami ])revent his sign- ing it. Puhiic meetings were held all over the country, at which the most violent language and seditious suggestions and menaces were made. A moh in Pliiladeli»hia |)aradcd in the streets with effigies of Jay and the ratifying senators.* A meeting in Koston denounced the treaty as containing not one article "honorahle or henetteial to the Pnited States." Hamilton and other si)eakers in favor of the treaty were stoned at a i)ulilic meeting in New York, not only l)y a low moh, hut hy decent people.' South Carolinians called Jay a "traitor," longed for a guillotine, trailed the Hritish flag in the (he of the streets of Charleston, and Imrned it at the door of the British consul; while \ nginians, ever ready with the grand panacea of disimioti for political evils, offereil their prescription in emphatic if not elegant language." ' The fdUowliiK Is ft spocimcn of tlioKC fnctious cries; "AniprlcniiH, awako ! Kemcml)er wlint you suffered through a fi'veii years' war witli llie satellites of George the Third (and I hope the last). Kecollect the services rendered l>y your allies, now contending for liberty, niush to think that America should dcfjradc herself so much ns to enter Into any kimi 0/ Ireatij with a iiowcr, now tottering on the brink of ruin, whose principles are directly contrary to the spirit of republicanism. The United Slates are a republic. Is it advantageous to a republic to have a connection with u mon- iirch? Treaties lead to war, and war Is the bane of n republican govenimont. . . . France is our natural ally : she has a u'overument congenial with our own. . . . The nation on whom nur jmlitkal existetxee dcpcnih we have treated « ith lu- (liirerence bordering on contempt . . . Citizens, your security depends ou France. . . . Let us uni'c with France, and ctuud or fail together." " The Senate, on voting to recommend the ratification of the treaty, removed the seal of secrecy, but forbade the pHl)li- rition of the treaty Itself, for prudential reasons connected with measures for ascertaining the construction liy the Knglish "f the order of the Sth of .Tunc, ITtl.T (see page S4), which, it was rnmorcd, had just been renewed. Regardles.'i alike of the rules of the Senate, of offldul decorum, and of personal honor, Senator Thomson Mason, of Virginia, sent a copy of it to the Aiimra newspaiier, the bitter enemy of the administration, aud a full abstract of it was published therein on the !!d of July. A poet of the day thus Ironically addressed Mr. Mason : " Ah, Thomson Slason ! long thy fame shall riee With Democratic incense to the skies 1 * Long shall the world admire thy manly sonl, Which scorned the haughty Senate's base control J Came boldly forward with thy weighty name, Aiul gave the treaty up for public game'."— ^Ae Echo. ' In 1(107 nn English court decided that " negroes being usunlly bought and sold among merchants an merchandise, mill aim beimj ixutleh, there might be a property In them sufllclent to maintain trover." In 1i02 Chief Justice Holt de- cided that "so socm as « negro lands in England he is free." T'l this Cowper alluded when he said, "Slaves can not breathe In England." Holt also decided that "there Is no such thing as a slave by the law <if England." Jnst before the kindling of the Revolution these decisions were renfflmied by «ilef Justice Lord Man-tleld in the case of .lames Slim «et, a native of Africa, who had been carried to Vlr;,inin, sold as a slave, and taken to England by his master, wlu lie was Induced to assert his freedom. ' That of Jay bo''e a pair of scales: one was labeled "Amrriran liherlti aiul i nilfjrndrnce" and the other, which greatly lireponderated, "British gold," From the month of the figure proceeded the words, " Cortu up to mp price, and 1 trill tell roll my rovntri;." ' " "These are hard nrgnments," said Hamilton, who was hit a glancing blow upon the forehead hy one of the stones. "Edward Livingston," says the late Dr. Francis, in his 0/i( nml Xew Yark ("afterward so celebrated for his Louisiana Cnde), was, I am informed, one of the violent young men by whom the st(Uies were thrown." « " Notice Is hereby given," said a Richmond paper (July 31, 1705), " that in ease the treaty entered Into hy that dnmn- c'.l arch-traitor, John .lay, with the British tyrant should be ratified, a petition will be presented to the next General .\88embl\ of Virginia at the ne-^ct session, praying that thi' s:iid state may recede ttom the Uulon, and be under the gov- ernment Oi'one hundred thousand free and Independent Virginians. "I'.8. As It is the wish of the people of the said slate to enter into a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation with IMAGE EVALUATEON TEST TARGET (MT-3) tr ■ I.C ■10 US lis Ui Ki 122 1.1 irn IL25 i 1.4 2.0 14 1.6 Photographic Sdeices Corporation 2Z WEST*^AIN STREEfV WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4S03 \^^ .^^^^^ i\^ c,\ ^ <^ ^^ r/i -^ ii I 'I if:. If 88 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK WasblBgton'g Calmness and Faith. The "Whisky Insurrection" quelled. The "Democratic Societies." None of these things moved Wasliington. He signed the treaty, and awaited calmly to see the storm pass by. It did so, and the foundations of the government were found to be stronger than ever. It was, says Lyman, " the first act of the gov- ernment that proved the stability of the Federal Constitution. It was a severe trial, and the steadiness with which the shock was borne may be attributed, in some de- gree, to the ])ersonal character of the President."' In after years, when the republic was menaced by internal factions and external foes, the result of the conflict over "Jay's Treaty" was pointed to as a warrant for faith and hope. While these unpleasant relations with Great Britain and Franco were exciting the people of the United States, the government was sorely perjilexed by other events at home and abroad. At home there had been, for a long time, much discontent on ac- count of excise laws which levied a duty on domestic distilled liquors. These discon- tents were fanned into a flame by the Democratic societies, and, in the summer of 1794, the inhabitants of some of the western counties of Pennsylvania arrayed them- selves in armed opposition to the authority of the national government. A formidable insurrection prevailed. Buildings were burned, mails were robbed, and government ofllicers were insulted and abused. At one time there were nearly seven thousand insur- gents in arms, many of them being the militia of the country, wlio had assembled at the call of rebel leaders. The insurgent spirit also infected the border counties of Virginia. The President perceived with alarm this imitation ofthie lawlessness of French pol- itics, then bO assiduously propagated, and took immediate steps to crush the growing • Augtist 7 and luouster. He first issued two warning proclamations.* They were un- September 25. heeded. After exhausting all peaceable means for the restoration of order, he sent a large body of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland troops, under General Henry Lee (then Governor of Virginia), into the disaffected dis- trict. This argument was effectual ; and very soon the outbreak, known in history as the " Whisky Insurrection," like that of Shays's in Massachusetts a few years earlier, was subdued and thoroughly allayed. This alarming insurrection was ended without the shedding of a drop of blood — a result chiefly due to the prompt energy and pru- dence of Washington. The government wa amazingly strengthened by the event. Every good citizen expressed his reprobation of violent resistance to law, and the Democratic societies, the chief fomenters of the rebellion,'* after that showed symp- toms of a desire to become less conspicuous.' any other state or states of the present Union who are averse to returning npaln under the gallini^ yoke of Groat Britain, the printers of the (at present) United States are requested to publish the above uotiflcntlnn." I Lyman's Diplmnacy of the United States, I., 208. » "Th.it the self-constituted societies," Washington wrote to John Jiiy, "which hn\e spread themselves over this country, have been laboring Incessantly to sow the seeds of dietnist, jealousy, and of course discontent, thereby hoping to effect some revolution In the government. Is not uniinown to you.* That they have been the fomenters of the West- em disturbanc if, admits of no loubt in the mind of any one who will examine their conduct," " I consider (his hisurrcction," he wrote to General Henry Lee on the 2(!th of August, " as the first formidable fruit of the Democratic societies, brought forth, I believe, too prema'urcly for their own views, wliloh may contribute to the an- nihilation nf them." ' I have before me the certificate of membership granted to Captain (afterward Commodore, Josha". Barney by the * At that time there ciisted In the city of New York a.i association called the Tammanji Soeiettj, or Columbian Order. It was formed by William Mooney, an upholsterer, residing in New York ^luring the administration of Washington. Its first meeting was on the lath of Miy, ITSn. It took its name from the Indian chief Tammany, of whom It was said "ho loved liberty more than life." Its ofliccra were (omposed of a grand sachem and thirteen sachems, representing tlic President and the governors of the thirteen states. Besides these there was a grand council, of which the sachems vere members. It was a very i)opular society, and its nienil)crship Included most of the best men of New York. Its anni- versary on the 12th of May came to be regarded as a holiday. No party politics were tolerated in its meetings. Hut when Washington denounced " self-constituted societies" for reasons above named, nearly all of the members left It, ho- lleving their society to be Included In the just reproof. Mooney and others adhered to the organization, and from that time it became u iiolitical organization, and took part with ilelTerson and the Democratic party. It Is still in existence, and Is known as a centre of Democratic organization, In the political sense of that name. Its head-quarters ire Tam- many Hall, fronting on the eastern side of the City Hall Park, at the junction of Nassau Street and Park Row. They met at first at Martling's Long Rooir-, on the southeast comer of Nassau and Sprace Streets. In the year 1800 they de- termined to build a " wigwam." Tammany Hall was accordingly erected by them. The corner-stone was laid on the twenty-second anniversary of the society, In May, ISll, and was finished the following year. Of the original comnilttoo of thirteen appointed at the meeting In 1800 to carry out the design of erecting a building, only one uow (180T) survives : that Is the venerable Jacob Barker, of Now Orleans. Difficulty with Algie The new dil southern coast of Algiers, had by suffered imj to find their w; tliese sea-robbe where they wei of the national Secretary Jeffei American inter Americans had for a long time Portugal was fined t.",c cruise 1793, by British France. Portuj aid in procuring was instructed t act in its behalf^ treaty was intro should not affori immediate in its to other powers. The effect oft ing the British i very evident tha Americans, or at And such was tli European coasts, to Portugal and sairs of Tunis jo formed.' Democratic or Hepnbllc written. The following "To all other Soclct; VRRANCE. "We, thu Members ol oties, and to all Republl Society, and that, from ! him this our certificate This certificate is da( Stalei and tlie establish ' The maritime force f iiir frigates, with an ai trees to the upper yardi OF THE WAR OF 1812. 89 Difficulty with Algiers. British Interference. Algerlne Corsairs let loose npon American Commerce. The new difficulty abroad was with Algiers, one of the Barbary Powers, on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The corsairs of those states, and especially of Algiers, had long depredated upon commerce in that region, and had grown bold by suffered impunity. When, at the close of the Revolution, American vessels began to find their way within the Pillars of Hercules, they frequently became the prey of ' these sea-robbers, who appropriated their cargoes and sold tlieir crews into slavery, where they were held for ransom-money. President Washington called the attention of the national government to these piracies as early as ITOO ; and, in an able report, Secretary Jefferson laid before Congress important details touching the position of American interests in that part of the globe. Little, however, could bo done, as the Americans had no navy; and the commerce of the United States in that quarter was for a long time dependent on tlie Portuguese fleet for protection. Portugal was at war with Algiers for several years, and the fleet of the former con- fined t.\e cruisers of the latter to the Mediterranean Sea. This barrier was broken in 1793, by British instrumentality acting secretly, for the avowed purpose of damaging France. Portugal was then seriously dependent on Great Britain, and had asked its aid in procuring a peace with Algiers. The British agent at the Court of the Dey was instructed to do ao, and, without due authority being given him by Portugal to act in its behalf, life concluded a truce between the belligerents for one year. In that treaty was introduced the extraordinary stipulation that the Portuguese government should not afford protection to any nation against Algerine cruisers! This truce was immediate in its operations, and the robbers were released without notice being given to other powers. The effect of this measure was disastrous to American commerce. Notwithstand- ing the British ministry disclaimed any intention to injure the United States, it was very evident that it was a part of a scheme to cripple the growing commerce of the Americans, or at least so to alarm it as to prevent its carrying supplies to France. And such was the result. The corsairs spread themselves over the Atlantic near the European coasts, and captured a large number of American vessels making their way to Portugal and other parts of the Continent, unsuspicious of any danger. Tlie cor- sairs of Tunis joined those of Algiers, and thus a powerful fleet of pirate ships was formed.^ Democratic or Bepnblican Society of Baltimore, with the snal of the society attached, by the side of which his name Is ivritten. The following Is a co»-y of the certificate and seal : "To all other Societies cstnblished on principles of Liheety and E(juai,i'»y, Union, Patkiotio ViKTtir;, and Pebse- VEKANOE. "Wc, thu Members of the Republican Society of Baltimore, certify and declare to all Republican or Democratic Soci- eties, and to all Republicans individually, that C'.tizen Josuca Bahnky hath been admitted and now is a member of our Society, and that, from his known zeal to promote Republican principles and the rightb of humanity, we have granted him this our certificate (which he hath signed in the margin), and do recommend him to all Republicans, that they may receive him with fraternity, which we offer to all those who may come to us with sim- ilar credentlalu. .■f^^'^^"^^*^^^^ " In testimony whereof, etc. Signed, Alexameeb M'Ei.m, /Vesufen^. " Geoboe Sears, .^fcivtari/." This certificate is dated the "twelfth day of August, and In the nineteenth year of the independence of the United States and the establishment of the Amcrleaii Republic," or ITitR. I The maritime force of Algiers at that time, according to O'Brien (see Am-rkan folate Papm, x., n2.3), consisted of f iiir frigates, with nn aggregate of 124 guns ; one polacca (a vessel with three chort niasts, without tops, caps, or cross- trees to the upper yards), with 18 guns; one brig of 20; four xebecs (a small thrce-masteo vessel used In the Mcditer- 1l 1 j 1 ■ ■ i ' ! 5 i I I !1 00 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Pride and Avarice of the Dey of Algiers. An Americau Navy recommended. First Steps toward its Creation. The Americans felt justly indignant toward Great Britain because of the important part she liad played in letting those robbers out of the Mediterranean. But the gov- ernment was powerless to act. David Humphreys, who had been appointed commis- sioner for the United States to negotiate with the Dey of Algiers, had been treated with contempt by the haughty semi-barbarian, who was as avaricious as he was proud. " If I were to make peace with every body," he said, " what should I do with my corsairs ? What should I do with my soldiers ? They would take off my head for the want of other prizes, not being able to live on their miserable allow- ance !" Such logic was unanswerable by words, and Humphreys Vv-rotc to his government at the close of 1793, at the suggestion of Captain Richard O'Brien,' "If we mean to have a commerce, we must have a navy to defend it." With the same recognition of the necessity for nautical power, Washington, in his message at the opening of Con- gress early in December,* said, when alluding to the war in Europe, and the deli- cate international questions arising out of the frontier relations of the republic, " There is a rank due to the United States among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it ; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful '^^ strunients of our prosperity, it must be known that we arc at all times readj lo, •1793. war. ■> Jannary 2. ' March 20, 1T94. The President's Avise counsels prevailed. In January,'' IT 94, a commit- tee was appointed, with instructions to report the amount of force neces- sary to protect American commerce against the Algcrine pirates, and the ways and means for its support.- Tliis measure, and the general subject of British aggressions, elicited, as we have seen, long and warm debates, and party lines were very distinctly drawn. The feeling against Great Britain became intense, and in March' an embargo for a limitf^d period Avas laid, chiefly for the purpose of ob- structing the supply of provisions for the British ileet in the West Indies.^ Then followed the appointment of Mr. Jay as minister extraordinary to Great Britain, al- ready noticed. There was a powerful and detennined opposition to the creation of a navy. Witli strange ideas of national honor and national independence, some advocated the pur- chase of a peace with the Dey of Algiers, and the future security of his forbearance, by r.'^nsora and tribute money, rather than prepare for, and thus, as they believed, provoke a war. And these cowardly counsels had great influence; for when, finally, d March 11, * ^^^^ ^^'^8 passcd'' providing for the construction of six frigates, it was eii- ^™'*- cumbered with a clause commanding a suspension of labor upon them in the event of a peace with Algiers being secured. For the purchase of such peace a million of dollars were appropriated. ^Vn act was also passed for the fortification of the harbors of the republic* These were the first steps toward the creation of tlic navy, army, and fortifications of the United States under the National Constitution. ranenn), vnth an aggregate of 108 guns ; a brig on the etocks of 20 gnns ; three galliotns, with 4 guns each ; and sixty gnii-boats. The vcspbIb were all ranr.ned at the rate of twelve men for each guu. TnuU had, at the same time, twenty- three corsairB, mounting from 4 to 24 gnns each. ' Letter of O'Brlep. to Humphreys, dated " Algiers, November 12, 1703."— See American State Papers, Boston edition, 1S17, x.,319. a This was the first Committee of Ways and Means ever appointed by the Congress, questions of that sort havlnj; been hitherto referred to the Secretary of the Treasury. It was an opposition measure. ' First for thirty days, and afterward for sixty. At the end of that time the embargo expired by limitation, but a temporary act authorized the President to renew it at any time before the next session of Congress. * The naval bill provided that four of the six frigates should carry 44 guns each, and the other two 30 gnns each. About $700,000 were appropriated for the purpose. In the matter of harbor defenses, the President was authorized to commence fortiflcutions at Portland, Portsmouth, Gloucester, Salem, Boston, Newport, New London, New York, Philn- delphltt, Baltimore, Annapolis, Alexandria, Norfolk, Ocracoke Inlet, Wilmington, Cope Fear River, Georgetown, 8. ('., Charleston, Savannah, and St. Mary's. B'lt the whole amount of money appropriated for this purpose was the paltry Bom of $136,000. Tnie, this was only for the eomni'mmntent of the fortifications. The President was anthorip.c-d to par- ch;. «.o two hundred cannon, and artillery munitions for the forts, for which $flfl,000 wee appropriated. For the cstnh- Itsbment of arsenals and armories $81,000 were appropriated, and $340,000 were provided for the purchase of arms and Building of Frigate Perceiving i government, their keels we on briskly, wh of peace" with of dollars with was suspende( tection in the At the begin ful. The Indif Britain prevai French govern .)f enmity towa section of tlie p the Directory United States a be recalled, to gence was recei for the due exc Frencli ships of themselves to b lean ships were military stores. The I year. ' These were Portsn ceedcd to appoint the I Captains and John Ban Samuel N Silas Tall Richard I Thomas 1 James Se\ 'The relations of thoi nations who suffered th f rn shores of the Medlt( The (list contact of th^ llie United States, and c the diplomatic agents ol mine of wealth, and he i llsh a precedent that wo rins, established in ancli solicitation ofMr. Jeffer took to procure a releast suits. The Dey refUse J Americans to remain in Jones, and then Mr. Ban Algiers, and the busines was at about the time wl fleet was then upon the . lured by them, and over ( passport to Algiers. Th any American embassiidi ated about .•< million of il Europe, v.'ith Mr. Donalc that government, Donalc sum of money, and an at. amount to be paid dowi worth one hundred thou treaty was hnmlllating tt not then be avoided. ' The Directory was Ir November, 1796, and wae ruled In connection wlt^ ii OF THE WAR OF 1812. 91 Building of Frigates. Tribute to the Dey of Algiers. Release of Captives. The French Directory offended. Perceiving an urgent necessity in the aspect of foreign affairs in relation to liis own government, the President resolved to have the six frigates built iinmeaiately, and their keels were soon I'cspcctively laid in six different ports.' The Avork was going on briskly, when it was suspended, at the closo of 1795, by the conclusion of a treaty of peace" with the African robber, which cost the government a million • Novcmi'er 28, of dollars Avithout ultimate advantage.^ Tiie v/ork on the six frigates *™^- was suspended, and the mercantile marine of the United States lost all hope of pro- tection in the event of a war with any foreign government. At the beginning of 1 790 tlic aspect of the foreign affairs of the republic was perice- ful. The Indian war in the West had ceased ; a better understanding with Great Britain prevailed than had been known since the close of the Revolution ; and the French government, then in the hands of a Directory,^ showed no special symptoms ,)f enmity toward that of the United States. But clouds soon began to ai^poar in that section of the political horizon. The ratification of Jay's treaty gave such offense to the Directory that they declared'' the alliance between France and the » February is, United States at an end, and that Adet, the successor of Fouchet, should ^™"" be recalled, to make room for a special minister. In July," when intelli- ' "^"'y *■ gence was received that the Congress of the United States had made an appropriation for the due execution of Jay's treaty, the Directory issued a secret order authorizing French ships of war to treat neutral vessels in the same manner as they had suffered themselves to be treated b;, the English. Under this authorization, numerous Amer- ican ships were seized in the West Indies by French cruisers. This was followed in military stores. The importation of arms for two years was to he free, and no arms were allowed to bo exported for a year. I These were Portsmouth, N. H., Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Norfolk. The President also pro- ceeded to appoint the following officers, constructors, and navy agents: CapUini and SuperintendeiiU. Navnl Coaitructora. Navy Agen fl. For Shlpn lo be buill at John Barry. Samuel Nicholson. Silas Talbot. Richard Dale. Thomas Tmxtun. James Sever. Joshua Hnmphreys. George Cleghom. Formau Cheesman. John Morgan. David Stodcrt. James Uackett. Isaac Coxc. Henry Jackson. John Blagge. W. Pcnnock. Jeremiah Ylllott. Jacob Sheaffc. Philadelpuia. Boston. New York. Norfolk. Baltimore. Portsmouth. 3 The relations of those African sea-robbers to the commerce of the world at that time was a disgrace to the civilized nations who suffered themselves to be made tributary to the piratical rulers of the semi-barbarian states on the soutb- f ra shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The first contact of those i)owers with the Americans was in 17S5, when Algeriue corsairs captured two vessels trom the United States, and consigned their crews, twenty-one In number, to slavery. Measures were immediately taken by the diplomatic agents of the United States in Europe fur their release. The rapacious Dey believed he had found a new mine of wealth, and he asked an enormous price for their ransom. The American government determined not to estab- lish a precedent that would be followed by more exorbitant demands. In France was a religious order, called Mathu- rins, established in ancient times for the pnrpose of redeeming Christian captives in the hands of the infidels. On the solicitation of Mr. Jefferson, then minister of the United States at the French Court, the principal of this order under- took to procure a release of the American captives. He was unsuccessful. Others made similar attempts, with like re- sults. The Dey refVised to lower his demands, believing that the United States would pay any price rather than allow Americans to remain in bondage. Finally our government appropriated $40,000 for their ransom, and first John Paul Jones, and then Mr. Barclay, were appointed commissioners to negotiate for their release. Each died before he reached Algiers, and the business was placed In the hands of Colonel David Humphreys, American minister at Lisbon. This was at about the time when the truce between Portugal and Algiers, already mentioned, was concluded. The Algeriue fleet was then npon the Atlantic, and, within a month after the truce was agreed upon, ten American vessels were cap- tured by them, and over one hundred American seamen consigned to^lnvery. Colonel Humphreys asked the Dey for n |)as8port to Algiers. The elated ruler said that he would not make peace with the Americans on any terms, nor allow liny American embassador to come to his cepltal. Humphreys hastened to the United States, when Congress ai)propri- ated about .'■ million of dollars to be applied to the release of the captives. In the spring of 17fl5 Humphreys sailed fbr Europe, v.ith Mr. Donaldsjn, consul for Tunis and Tripoli. While the former remained in France to obtniii the aid of that government, Donaldson mada a treaty with the Dey. Tne captives were finally released oa the payment of a largo »nm of money, and an agreei lent on the part of the United States to pay to the Dey of Algiers an annual tribute. Ttn" amount to be paid down .vi ? $800,000, and, in addition, the United States agreed to present the Dey with n frigate worth one hundred thousand dollars. The amount of annual tfibute-money was twenty-five thousand dollars. This treaty was humiliating to the UTilted States, but it wag In accordance with the usages of European nations, and could not then be avoided. ' The Directory woe install' d at the LuxemlSonrg at Paris, under a new constitution of government, on the 1st of November, 1795, and was '•fpointed to hold executive power for f.)ur years. It was composed of five members, and ruled in connection with the Chambers, namely, the Council of Ancients and\he Council of Five Hundred. '! It I I m 1] ■ r * - 92 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK American Servility. Close ofWashlDgton's AdmloiBtratiun. Attacks on his Ctiaractcr. America by Minister ' iet's famous " cock- ade proclamation," calling upon all French residents in the United States, in the name of the Directory, to mount on their hats a tri-colorod cockade. The call was loyally responded to, and many American Demo- crats, also, were seen with this token of their devotion to the French Republic. Mr. Monroe, having failed to please either the French Directory or his own govern- ment, was superseded by Charles Cotes- worth Pvnckney, of South Carolina. That gentleman embarked as minister to France in September, bearing with him Monroe's letters of recall. Washington's second administration was now drawing to a close, and he resolved to ^^ ^ retire to private life. In September he is- Y "T^ ^^ _^ sued his admirable Farewell Address to his ^JL© _^J^ ^^ ^'^t-'^^ C'^n^'i-^^ countrymen — a political legacy of inestima- ble value. At the same time the first great struggle of the Federal and Democratic parties for power was going on, in the can- vass for Washington's successor. The candidates were Adams and Jeiferson ; and every appeal -sthich party spirit or party rancor could invent was made to the people all over the land. Adet, with unparalleled impudence, issued an inflammatory appeal to the people, containing a summary of alleged violations of friendship to France on the part of the United States government. It was chiefly intended to arouse the feelings of the Americans against Great Britain. Other partisans of Jefferson, in their zeal to injure the Federal party, made outrageous assaults upon Washington's char- acter, charging him with using the public money for private use, and of being a trai- tor to his counti-y.* The notorious Thomas Paine, lately released from a French prison, with his moral sensibilities all blunted by habitual dissipation, wrote a scur- rilous letter to Washington, from under the roof of Monroe in Paris, in the summ.er of 1790. This was published in the United States for the »iurpose of promoting Jef- ferson's election. But Adams was successful. The attack on Washington strength- ened the Federal party, and the last growl of the opposition toward him personally was given by a Avriter in the Atirora on the first President's retirement from oflicc at the beginning of March, 1797, and on the eve of his departure for Mount Vernon.* When Washington retired from public life the clouds of diflUculty between the United States and France were thickening. French cruisers were inflicting great • FebninrysT, wrongs ou American commerce, and near the close of the session of the ""'f- ' Congress of 1 796, '97, the Secretary of State laid before tliat body* a full ' "If ever a nation has Ijpon dehnhchecl by a man," said a writer in the Aurora, "tiic American nation has been de- bauched by Washington. If ever a nation was deceived by a man, the American nation hat been deceived by Washinp- tou. Let his conduct, then, be an example to future ages. Let it serve to he a warning that no man may be an Idol. Let the history of the Federal government instruct mankind that the mask of patriotism may he '„ jm to conceal the foulest designs against the liberties of the iieoplc." -' " ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,' " said this politici.nn. "If ever there was a time that would license the reiteratioii of the exclamation of the pious Simeon," he said, "that time is now arrived ; for the man who Is the source of a'.i the misfortunes '•f onr conntry is this day reduced to a level Avith his fellow-citizens, and Is no longer possessed of power to multiply evils upon the United States. . . . When a ret- rospect is taken of the Washingtonian administration "or eight years, it is a subject of the greatest astonishment that n single individual should have cankered the principles of republicanism in an enlightened people just emerged from the gulf of deBi)otism, md should have carried his designs against the public liberty so fur as to have put in jeoi)ardy itp very existence. Such, however, are the facts, and, with them stariug us in the face, this doy ought lo be a jubii.ee lu the I'uited States !" President Adams. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 93 President Adams. Aspoct of Public Affttl™. Treatment of an American Minister. The French Directory. exhibit of them. From that communication it appeared that not only were American vessels captured, but their crews were treated with great indignity, and even cruelty. Many bitter complaints were made against Commodore Joshua liarney, then in the French service, in command of two frigates in the West Indies, Avho was accused of treating his own captive countrymen with indiftcrence and neglect. He was also charged with having insulted the American flag by hoisting it union down. And yet, when he arrived in Chesapeake Bay to learn and carry away to France the result of the Presidential election, though he boasted of Laving in his pocket the orders of the French Directory to capture American vessels, and declared that, if.Teflerson Avere not elected, war would be proclaimed by France Avithin three months, he was not the less on that account honored and feasted by infatuated politicians who read .the Aurora and believed Washington to be a traitor I^ Adams* came into oflice with a power- ful party opposed to him — a party which lacked only two votes of giving the elec- tion to Mr. Jefferson, his rival, who be- came Vice-President. An open rupture with France was becoming more and more imminent. The accession of Spain to their alliance, and the victories of young Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy, gave the Directory strength, and their bearing toward other governments became more and more insolent. Their corsairs were depredating upon American commerce, and in their pride they declared that, un- til the United States had redressed cer- tain alleged grievances of which they complained, no minister of the republic would be received by them. Pinckney, who had never been officially received as minister, was ordered to leave France. He retired to Holland, after sending a nar- rative of his bad treatment to his govern- ment, and there awaited farther orders. The conduct of the French Directory soon wrought a great change in the public mind in the United States. Disappointed by the failure of Jefferson to be elected President, the Directory determined to punish the people who dared to thwart their plans. They issued a decree* which was almost tantamount to a declaration . M„y in^ of war. It not only authorized the capture of American vessels under cer- ^''■*'^- tain conditions, but declared that any American found on board of a hostile ship, though placed there without his consent by impressment, should be hanged as a pirate. American seamen, continually liable to impressment by the British, were to be subjected to a pirate's fate by the French ! Strange to say, the eminent American, ' nildreth'B HUtonjCffthe United States, Second Series, 1., 703. > John Adams was bom at Qulncy, Mossaohusette, October 13, 1735. He was educated at Harvard University, and at the age of twenty-two years commenced the practice of the law. lie was brought prominently Into public life by his defense of Captain Preston at Boston, who was engaged in the so-called "massacre," in the spring of 1770. lie became a member of the Massachusetts Le-'ielature, and in 1774 was sleeted to the Continental Congress. He was one of the most active men In that body until sent on diplomatic missions to Europe. He was the representative of the new re- pabllc abroad for many years, and was one of the negotiators for peace In 1783. In 1789 he was chosen Vice-President o'tho United States, and In 1797 was elevated to the seat of the President, as Washington's successor. He served one term, and retired to Qulncy in ISOl. He engaged but little In public life afterward. He and Jefferson died on the same day, July 4, 1828, Just fifty years after they voted for the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Adnms was then ninety-one years of age. The abova portrait was painted by Stuart at about the time Adams was elected President. 'l < ! , M? j t 'i rv^ J -rh/ \\ 11/'' fl! M PICTORIAL FIELD-nOOK Joel Barlow a French Democrat. Hadneai of PartUana. "God «ave the Uulllotlnc." Joel Barlow, at that time ii resident in Paris, coolly wrote to a friend concern- ing this barba 'ous decree, " The government here is deteniiined to fleece you to a suflicient degree to bring yon to your feel- ing in the only nerve in whicli your sensibility lies, which is your pe- cuniary interest."' President Adams had called an extraordinary session of Congress at the middle of May. The re- action every where had greatly strengthened the dispute between the United States and France. administration party, and many Itepublicans talk- ed with complacency of a war with France. 15ut a majority of tlie Cabinet favored farther attempts at negotiation. John Mar- shall, a Federalist (after- ward Chief Justice of the United States), and El- bridge Gerry, a Dem- ocrat (afterward Vice- President), were appoint- ed envoys extraordinary to proceed to Europe^ join Mr. Pinckney, and attempt to settle by di- plomacy all matlcrs in After a session of little more than six weeks, during which time provision was made for a small loan for calling out eighty thousand militia, and creating a small naval force, and acts against privatccr- • July 10, ^"g y^'CYC passed. Congress adjoui-ned* in time to escape the yeliow fever that ravaged Philadelphia that season.^ 1T9T. 1 Letter to his brotlier-in-lnw, Abrnhnm Bnltlwln, of Georgia. Bnrlow, who went to France with n communlcatl,... m the National Convention from a Bympathiziug society In England, was made a French citizen. By some commercial oj)crations he accnmulnted a large fortune, lived in sumptuous style in Paris, and, being a thorough French Democrat, was the bitter enemy of the administrations of Washington and Adams. While at Hamburg, In 1793, he was invited to 11 Jacobin festival, and he furnished for the occasion a co])y of the following song, written by Thelwall, a celebrated En- ijllsh Jacobin. It was sung on that occasion, and has been generally considered a composition by Mr. Barlow hlmsdt It was entitled Qod save the Guilhtine, ana is a parody of the English national song* God save the King: " God save the gnillottnc I Shall in the basket roll, Till England's king and queen Let mercy then control Her power shall prove ; The guillotine. Till each anointed knob „ ^v^en all the sceptred crew Affords a clipping job, y^^^ jj (,,^1, homage due Let no rude halter rob ^he guillotine. The guillotine. l^j Freedom's flag advance " France, let thy trumpet sound— Till all the world, like France, Tell all the world around O'er tyrants' graves shall dance, How Capkt fell ; ' And peace begin." And when great Georoe's poll » At about this time a letter written by Jefferson to Philip Mazzei, an Itallat republican, who had lived near him In Virginia for a while, was published In the Federal newspapers, and made a great stir. The letter was written a ycnr before, and was translated and published by Mazzei in a Florentine journal. It contained a virtual Indorsement of nil the charges made against Washington anr' ,'olitlcal friends. Its publication brought to an end the friendship be- tween Jefferson and the late President, ^efferson was placed in such an unpleasant dilemma by it that he prudently kept silence. It was used with great effect at the time, and was again brought up against hira at the Presidential cnn- vass In the year ISOO. It was made tlio subject of a caricature called Tue Providential Detection. At a place for • It may not be out of place here to remark that " God save the King," In words and air, did not originate with Ilau- del In the time of George the First, as is generally supposed, but Is almost a literal translation of a cantiqw which was always sung by the maidens of St. Cyr when Louis the Fourteenth entered the chapel of that establishment to hear the morning prayer. M. De Brinon was the author of the words, i nd the music was by the eminent Lulli, founder of the French opera. The following is a copy of the words : " Grand Dicn gauve le Roi I Grand DIeu venge le Rol ! Vive le Roi ! Que tonjours glorieux, Louis vlctorieux! Voye ses ennemi Toujoura soumisi Grand DIeu eauve le Roi ! Grand Dien venge le Rol ! Vive le Rol 1" This air Ib etUl snng by ihe vlne-dreseers in the eonth of France.— See Memoirs ofWadame (?■ '^reqvp. Pride of the Frcnc OF THE WAR OF 1812. 98 Pride lit the French Directory. Attempt to extort Tribnte ftom the AmericMii. Plncknejr'i neply. A French Decree.' Darker and durker aj>|)Oiiro<l tlic Htorin-cloiuls of Etiropoaii |)oliti('s, and llio imittiT- lii<' of their tliiiiidcrs shook tho social fahric in Aiiu-rica with soiiu' ai;irm. Kiijihtiid, for a nionieiit, soenu'd t Jttoriiis; to its fall. Its financial jiowcr was sorely smitten by the suspension of spceie payments by the Hank of Knuland, and its naval strength ;iiid supremacy seemed menaced by a great mutiny at tin* Nore. IJonajtart" was inakin'( his splendid conquering Uiarches in the direction of the Danube, and tlie Car- patliian Mountains beyond, and Austria Iiad already been compelled to make j)eace with his government. Success waited on French arms iinil Freni h diplomacy every where; and when the three American envoys reached I'aris in October," t October -i, and asked for an audience with the Directory, thej- met with a haughty i'"^- refusal, unless they should first pay into the deficient French treasury a large sum as an equivalent for friendship. Overtures for this purpose were made by unofficial agents, and the sum demanded was two hutidred iind forty thousand dollars, besides an arrangement for purcluising from the French government a large amount of Dutch securities, which had been wrung from the Hollanders as 'he price of peace. Threats were made that, if these conditions Avere not complied with, the envoys might be or- dered to leave France at any time with oidy twenty-fotir hours' notice, and that the coasts of the United States would be ravaged by French vessels from St. Domingo. Delay followed delay. The envoys Mere firm ; and the occasion was given for Piiickney to utter the noble sentiment, " Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute !" At length the envoys, having presented a list of grievances of which their government complained, asked for their passports if they could not be recognized as ministers. These were finally granted'' to the federal envoys, but nnder cir- t March, cumstances of insult and indignity which amounted to virtual expulsion from i'"**- the country. Gerry, the Democrat, who had held interviews with Talleyrand, the French premier, without the knowledge of his colleagues, and who doubtless encour- aged him to believe that the " French party" in America were sufficiently numerous to avert a war with France, and insure a partial if not full compliance with her de- mands, was directed to remain in the character of an accepted minister.^ lie did so, and received the severest censures from his indignant countrymen. After being treated with mingled 'nsolence and contempt by Talleyrand and his asso- c j„iy,i7og. ciates, Gerry also en'ibarked for the Fnited States." t jamnry is, Mcanwhiie the French Directory had issued a decree* concerning neu- iws. trals on the ocean, more outrageous than any yet put forth, and calculated to effect- ually destroy American commerce in European waters.^ This action, the indecent treatment of the envoys, and the continued depredations of the French cruisers, aroused a violent war spirit in the United States. It had been manifested, in a de- gree, at the opening of the Fifth Congress, and it increased with every fresh item of intelligence from France. The President, in his first annual message,'^ had recommended prepara- . November 23, tions for war ; and in Congress the administration grew stronger every ^™^- hour. At length, .at the middle of March, dispatches came from the envoys giving a history of the uifamous jjroceedings of the French Directory.^ A general outburst burnt sacrifice CBlled the "Altar of French Despotism," before which Jefferson Is kneeling, a flame Is seen, fed by pa- pcru marked Age of Reason, Godtcin, Aurora, Chronicle, J. J. liotisHean, Voltaire, Kvine of Volneij, Ilclretim, etc. Around tlip altar lie sacks for consumption, marked American Spolxatiorts, Dutch Restitution, Sardinia, Flanders, Venice, Spain, Plunder, etc. ' Gerry was much petted while In France, while his collenp;uca were neglected. At o ball given by Talleyrand as early as .January, ITflS, at which General and Madame Bonaparte were present, Mr. Gerry appeared. His brother envoys uot having been invited, he at first rcfnsed, but ilnally attended, he said, In compliance with the dictates of policy. ' It proclaimed that all vessels having merchandise on board, the production of England or her colonics, whoever the owTicr of the merchandise might be, were liable to seizure as good prizes ; and any vessel which at any previous part of her Toynge had touched at any English port or possession was forbidden to enter any French port. Just before tlie issnlnf; of this decree nn American at Nantes wrote to his friends at home that no less than sixty privateers were fitting out In that port alone to prey upon American commerce. ' The Directory at that time were Barras, Moulius, Sieyes, Gcbicr, and Roger Dncos. All but Barras were soon after- iall ' ■ ,1 I ''' i II! PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK lD(lt){na(l»n of the Am«rlc«<M. PrapiratloD* Ibr War with Franm. Pniceedlnga In New York Cltjr. of iiuli^nation followed. Tlic people of the United StatcH, as a nation, fi-lt deeply in- fliilted, and I'inekiiey'H jiatriutio Heiitiinent was rt'in-ated in every part of the n'pnhlii-. And yet there were those Hluvish enough to justify France and criminate their own government. In thin cowardly course the Aurora took the lead. Uy some disloyal hand it was placed in poKsession of Talleyrand's rejoinder to the complaints of the envoys, and published it before it reached the j^overninent of the United States, for whom alone it was intended. It was argued that it would be better to e<mi|>ly with the demands of tho Directory for money than to incur the risk of a war — better to ])urchase peace by humbly paying trbute, than to vindicate the claims of the nation to independence by asserting and maintaining its rights at all ha/.ards ! Such logic did not suit the character nor temper of the American people at t'nat time. The rampant war spirit, fed on every hand by fresh aggressions and patriotic • March 19, appeals, was not to be ai)peased. The President issued a Hi)ecial message,'' 1TK8. calling upon Congress to make provisions for hostilities. His appeal was responded to with alacrity. Means for administering chastisements for injuries re- ceived, and for repelling those which Averc threatened, were provided without hesita- tion. Provision was made for tho organization of a regular provisional army, in mag- nitude sufficient for the exigencies of the case, and the employment of a volunteer force. Measures were also taken, on the recommendation of the Secretary of War. for strengthening the navy, and making it a power to be respected on the high seas,' To a great extent party spirit disappeared in the National Legislature. Their jiro- ceedings were approved by the great majority of the people, and the President re- ceived addresses from all parts of the Union, warmly commending his course, and overflowing with the most fervid patriotism.'' The young Federalists, with a spirit of defiant response to the Democrats, Avho still wore the badge of devotion to French politics ordered by Adet, mounted a black cockade, such as was worn by oflicers in the Revolution y' and between the wearers of these opposing decorations there was wnrd driven from office ; and when, In the nutnmn of 1T99, Bonaparte usurped tho government, he expelled from France the first two above named as utterly corrupt. ' After much manasuvrlng on the part of the opposition to prevent ihe adoption of these measures to meet any hostilities on the part of France, the men who tu 17!)4 — only four years befo.e— were eager for war with England, and voted for prep- arations for It with alacrity, were now as vehement for peace— an Inconsistency which many of llielr partisans throughont the country pointed at with scorn. Congress authorized a reg\>lar provisional army of about twenty thousand men, and gave the Preshent authority to appoint officers for it ; also to receive and organize volunteer corps, who should be ex- empted from ordinary militia duty. The sum of $800,000 was oppropriated for the purchase of cannon, arms, and military stores. Provision was made for fortifying the harbors of the United States — a labor already commenced— and, for the farther security of ports, the purchase and equipment often galleys. The President was also authorized to cause twelve ships of not less than 82 guns each, Department, the duties of which the twelve of not loss than 20 nor exceed- y^ ^ Secretary of War had hitherto pcr- Ing 24 guns each, and six not exceed- /VTV y/rX^J^ n y f"'"™^''' """ created, and on the SOtli ing 18 gnns each, besides galleys and l/t/CM. %yUr~-CC^ U'i/7 of ^pril, lTft8, Benjamin Stoddert, of revenue cutters, to bo built. A Navy Georgetown, In tho District of Colum- bia, was appointed the first Secretary of the Navy, and took his seat In the Cabinet. » The city of New York %vas greatly excited by the prospect of a war with France. Its commerce had suffered mnch by the depredatfons of French cruisers, and the mercantile classes were greatly exasperated. The Republicans or Dem- ocrats had a debating association, whose meetings were i)ublic, called "The Society of Free Debate." A meeting wa? called for the 27th of April, 1798, to discuss the question, "Would it he better policy, under existing circumstances, to lay an embargo [a scheme proposed by some as a less dangerous measure], than to arm In defense of our carrying- trade f" The Federalists went to the meeting in great numbers, and, by an ovenvhelming vote, elected Jacob Morton chairman. By ten to one they voted for arming. They expressed by resolntlons full approbation of the conduct of the government, and their determination to support it. They appointed a committee, consisting of Colonel Jacob Morton, Colonel Ebenezer Stevens, Nicholas Evartson, John Cozlne, and Joslah Ogden Hoffman, to draft an address to the Pres- ident and Congress, expressive of their satisfaction with tho course pursued toward France. After the adjournment a Quaker addressed the multitude. On the Bth of May a meeting was held, and addressed by the late Chief Justice Samuel Jones. Nino hundred youns! men present pledged themselves to be In readiness, at a moment's warning, to offer their services to their coimtry against the French. On the Bth of June the New York Chamber of Commerce took action concerning the defenses ofNewYork, They appointed a committee to confer with the military authorities and the Corporation. A conference was held the rext day at the Tontine Coffee-house, and It was resolved to call a public meeting of citizens who might bo ready to defend an "Insulted country" and the " defenseless port." The call was made, and an Invitation was given for such citizens to enroll themselves as an artillery corps, It having been ascertained that Colonel Stevens, an experienced artillerist of tho Revolution, was willing to take the direction of them and to give them Instructions. » This gave them tho name of "Black-cockade Federalists," which was a term of repi-oach tintll ten years after the Warofl812-'15. I>ttriotic 8<ing*. intense Iiatrei ■ \\A\ OF THE WAR OF 181z. Pitrlotlc H<in|irii. Ulitorj of UaO, CohmMa I ud ititeiM and Ubirty. intense hatrctl, which Nomctimt'H lod to porHonal collistoiiH. In the streets of cities opitosiiig i)r()ct'H«ion« wtro seen; niul uU ovi-r the Iiiiul tlie new soiijjw otJlail, Colum- bia! luiil .1(1(11118 and JJherty, were wung with unhoum'.ed ii|i|ihuiHe.' The exritenient a"ains<t some of the opjiosition leaders in Congrews Hoon heciune intense, and the most obno.\ion« of them, from Virginia, souglit pernonal safety in tliglit, nnder tlie pretense of attention to tlieir private atfairs at liome. 1 Tho hUtory of the oriKin ami fate of thcuo two aonga Is cnrlniiH. The form .ilmont totally ilrstltuto of poeilc merit, I" 'till HiiiiKi and In rogarded an a iialloiial aoii);; the liittvr, fill) of gpniilnc pootrr, hnit hern ri)r(;ottru. Hail, lUumbia! was written In the wprlng of ITIW, when the war uplrit of the na'lou wan aroimcd hy the IrrilutluK news Oora France. Mr. Fox, a yoani; Hinder and actor In the I'lilladclphia Theatre, wan to have a hcnctlt. There was to l.ttle novelty at the play-houno that he anticipated a failure. ()|i the niornlnt! prevloux, he called upon JoKeph Hopklnnon, and said, " Nvt a ulnijlc box huM been taken, and I fear there will he a thin houHe. If you will write nic some pali iotic vcrnes to the tnne of the ' I'rcnldent'8 March,' I feel euro of a t\i\\ houxe. Hevcrul people about the theatre have attiinpt- eil It, but they have come to the ronclunlou that It cat- not be dime. Yet I think you may succeed." nopkhiKon retired to hl« study, wrote the first verso and chorus, and submitted them to Mrs. Ilopklnson, who sanjj them with a harps'chord accompaniment. The time and words harmonized. The sont; was soon flnlshed, an<l the youn^; actor recclvci' It the fame evening. The theatre placards the next morning announced that Mr. Fox would slntj a new patriotic son^'. The house was crowded— the song was sung— the audience were wild wlih delight ; for It touched the public heart with elec- trical effect at that moment, and eight times the singer was called out to repeat the song. When It was sung tte ninth lime the whole audience arose and Joined In the chorus. On the following night (April nn, 17«f*) the President and his wife and some of the headu of departments were present, and the singer was called out time after time. It waj re|>eat- uJ ulgbt afier uight iu the tbeutros of Pblludelphlu uud other places, and it became the uulversal uuug of the biys lu the dtrccts. On one occasion a crowd thronged the strnot In front of the anther's rosldeuce, nnd suddenly "Hall, Colum- bia !" from tlvo hundred voices broke the stillness of the midnight air. In June following Robert Treat Paine was rc(iuested to write a song, to be snng at the anniversary of tha "Massa- chnsctts Charitable Fire Society." lie wrote a political song adapted to the temper of the times, and called It "Adams nnd Liberty." At the house of Major Russell, editor of the Donlon Centinel, the author showed it to that gentleman. "It Is lm|)erfc(t," said Russell, " without the name of Washington in It." Mr. Paine wos about to take some 'vine, when Hn.'sell politely and good-natnrcdly interfered, saying, "You can have none of my wine. Mr. Paine, unt'l y<m have written another stanza, with Washington's name iu It." Paine walked back and forth a few moments, calk d for a pen, aud wrote the finest verse In the whole poem— a verso which forms the epigraph of the chapter on the next pat'e. This rong, lu nine stanzas, became Immensely popular. It was sung nil over the country. In theatres and public places, in workshops and drawing-rooms, aud by the boys In tho streets. The sale of It on "broadsides" yielded the author a lirottt or$7S0. The temper of the large majority of the American people at that time is expressed In the following verses of the ode : " While France her huge limbs bathes rccnmhont In blooJ, And Society's base threats with wide dissolution ; May Peace, like the dove, who returned from the flood, Find an ark of abode lu our mild Constitution. But though Peace Is our aim. Yet the boon we disclaim. If oonght by our Sov'relgnty, Justice, or Fame. " 'TIs the flro of the fliiit, each American warms; Let Rome's haiis^hty victors beware of collision, Let them bring nil the vassals of Europe In arms— We're a world by ourselves, and disclaim a division. While with patriot pride To onr laws we're allied, No foe can subdue us, no faction divide. " Our mountains arc crowned with imperial oak, Whose roots, like onr liberties, ages have nourished; But long ere onr nation submits to the yoke, Not a tree shall be left on the field where it floorlshed. Should Invasion Impend, Every grove would descend From the hlU-tops they shaded, onr shores to defend. " Let our patriots destroy Anarch's pestilent worm, Lest our Liberty's growth should be checked by corrosion ; Then let clouds thicken roand us, wo heed not the storm. Our realm fears no shock but the earth's own explosion. Foes assail ns in vain. Though their fleets bridge the main, For our altars and laws with our lives we'll maintain. For ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves." 6 1 i 1: 1 ' i i 1 i 1 ■■ r' ', .. . -i- \ ■ :fi li I 08 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK I'rapintlonk for War. WuhiDirton Invited tn commm t1 the Army. He •ccxptn. w- Hamtlton acting 0«Derat-ln-ctileC CHAPTER V. " Should the tempert of va overahadow onr land, It« bulla could ne'er rend Frecdom'a temple aeundor ; Fur, uninovod, at Itx portal, would Wnaliington atand, Aud rcpuke wllli his breast tlio Oiiaaulti of the thunder t IIlx nword froui the Bleep or Us Bcabbard would leap. And conduct with Ita |)o!nt ev'ry flaah ^o the deep I For ne'er shall the aona of ColumWn i,. -vea While the earth bears a plant, or the a'uu Iti waves." RouEBT Tbeat Paini. AVING resolved on war, if necessary, for the dignity of tlic nution, tlio question arose spontaneously in the hearts of the American people, Who shall command our armies at this hn- portant crisis ? All minds instinctively turned toward Wash- ington as the only man who could command the respect of the whole nation and keep a dangerous faction in check.' "In such a state of public affairs," Hamilton wrote, "it is impossi- ble not to look up to you, ... In the event of an open rupture witli France, the public voice Avill again call you to couimand the armies of your country. . . . All your past labor may demand, to give it efficacy, this farther, this great sacrifice."^ " We must have your name, if you will in any case permit us to use it," President Adams wrote to him on the 22d of June. " There will be more efficiency in it than in many an army." And four days later, James M'Hcnry, the Secretary of War, wrote to him, " You see how the storm thicken.H, and that our vessel may soon require its ancient pilot. Will you — may we flatter our- selvefj that, in a crisis so awful and important, you will accept the command of all our armies ? I hope you will, because you alone can unite all hearts and all hands, if it is possible that they can be united." These intimations were followed by corresponding action. On the 7th of July President Adams, with the consent of the Senate, appointed Washington Lieutenant- general and commander-in-chief of all the armies raised and to be raised for the service of the United States. The venerated patriot, then sixty-five years of age, in- stantly obeyed the call of his country. " You may command me without reserve," he said to President Adams, qualifying the remark only by the expressed desire that he should not be called into active servico until the public need should demand it. His friend, Mr. Hamilton, then forty-one years of age, was appointed fi»st major gen- eral, and placed in active supreme command ; and in November, Washington held a conference at Philadelphia with all the general officers, when arrangements were made for the complete < ganization of a provisional army on a war footing. Washington all this .vhile had looked upon the gathering tempest with perfect confidence that the clouls would pass by, and leave his country unscathed by thu • It was the settled convlcMon of many of the wisest men of that day that the leaders of the opposition wished to overthrow the Constitution. " It Is more and more evident," Hamilton wrote to Washington late In May, 1708, "Ihat the poworfcl faction which has for years opposed the government Is determined to go all lengths with France. I am sincere In declaring my ftill conviction, as tlie result of a long course of observation, that they are ready to new model onr Constitution under the influence or coercion of France, to form with her a perpetual alliance, offenaive and defensive, and to give her a monopoly over trade by pecttHor and exchiaite privileges. This would be In substance, whatever It might be in name, to make this conntry s province of Prance. Neither do I doubt that her standard, displayed In this country, would be, directly or Indirectly, jded by them, In pursuance of the projeci I have mentioned." > Hamilton to Washington, M.^y 19, 1798. The Pride of the Dl liphtiiii'g and Directory wai thoughtful nu'i war witJi Fran< •Jritain with ii ohject being to pit', and restore teniptod after t qiiishcd by Nel scattered a Frei Hurgents there; prowess. * Those 8uccos8( appointmint of 'States, made the rami began to th retaryofJt'gatior gotiation that the be received by tl were communicai Hague, who transj Without consu] Adams nominated Mtounded. It car nition. The Cabin, overtiii-es Jiad been friends, who regarc to a half-relenting they were estrangi three envoys extra matters in dispute J the Senate at near t a conviction that a i CorMr.Adamshadi the two envoys yet a 'OttS DtlLt TAKINO . htore of "Bonaparte In Eg.p, I ^Henry declined the non I „"''''« portion ofthlsVotebr^e OP THE WAU OF 1812. 00 The Pridt of the Directory bumbled. A MInliter Plonlputentlar; to Frante appointed. lightnirg and the Imil. Events soon justified his faith. The pride of the haughty Diret!tory waH speedily humbled, and the fears of England, toward whom many thoughtful men in America had looked ;ih a possible friend and aid in the event of a war with France, were allayed. The victorious IJonaparte, who had threatened Great Britain with hivasion, had gone off to Egypt on a romantic expedition, his avowed object being to march in*o Palestine, take possession of Jerusalem, rebuild the Tem- ple, and restore the Jews to their beloved city and land. This he unsuccessfully at- tempted after the battle of the Nile, in which the proud Toulon fleet had been van- quished by Nelson." A few weeks later Sir John Bor'.use Warren had •AuKimti, scattered a French fleet** ihat hovered on iho coast of Ireland to aid in- """• »urgents there; and many minor victories were accorded to English 'October 12. prowess.' These successes of the English, intelligence of the war feeling in Am.erici, and the appointment of Washington as commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States, made the hitoxicated Directory pause in their mad career. The wily Talley- rand began to thuik of conciliation. In letters to Pinchon,' French sec- /. 1 .• .1 TT 1 • .• . 1 ,1 -1 i. " AuBUiit 2S and retary 01 legation at the Hague, he mtimated that any advances lor nc- September 28, gotiation that the government of the United States might make would '^' be received by tlio Directory in a friendly spirit. These intimations, as intended, were communicated to William Vans Murray, the United States minister at the Hague, who transmitted them to his government. Without consulting his Cabinet, or taking counsel of national dignity, President Adams nominated Mr, Murray minister plenipotentiary to France, The country was astounded. It came upon the Cabinet, the Congress, and the people withoiu premo- nition. The Cabinet opposed it, and the Senate resolved not to confirm it. No direct overtures had been made by the French government ; and some of Mr. Adams's ])e8t friends, who regarded war as preferable to dishonor, deprecated a cowardly cringing to a halt-relenting tyrant, and warmly remonstrated with him, lie persisted, and they were estranged. He finally so far yiolded to public opinion as to nominate three envoys extraordinary, Mr. Murray being \e, to negotiate a settlement of all matters in dispute between the United States and France, These were confirmed by the Senate at near thi close of the session, in February, 1799, not willbigly, but from a conviction that a refusal to do so might endanger the existence of the Federal party, for Mr. Adams had many and powerful supporters. It "was stipulated, however, that the two envoys yet at Lome (Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth and Patrick Henry^) should > England had for eome time trembled violently before the won- derful operations of Bonaparte on the Continent. For a while lu- Tasion of the island seemed Imminent. But when the cloud disap- peared in the autumn of 1T98, and scarcely a day passed without bringing intelligenco of some new success of the British navy, the feeling of exultation was intense. The pencil of Gillray, the great caricaturist, was exceedingly active, and in quick succession he brought out several prints illustrating John Bull as being surfeited with his immense captures. In one of these, entitled "John Bull taking a Luncheon ; or, British Cooks cramming Old Qrumble-glz- zard with Bnyiiu CMre," the representative of English nationality, u burly old fellow is seen sitting in a chair at a well-ftimlshed table, while the naval cooks are zealous in their attentions. The hero of the Nile offers him a " fricassee h la Nelson," consisting of a large dish of battered French ships of the line. Another admiral offers him a " fricando h la Howe," " dessert k la Warren," " Dutch cheese u la Duncan," et cietera. John Bull is deliberately snapping up a frigate at a mouthful, and Is evidently fattening on his diet. "What!" he exclaims, "more fiicasseesf Where do you think I shall And room to stow all you bring inf" By his side is an im- mense jug of brown stout to wash them down. Behind him Is a I flctnre of " Bonaparte in Egypt" suspended against the wall, nearly concealed by Nelson's hat, which Is huug over It.* ' Mr. Henry declined the nomination because of bis advanced age and Increasing Infirmities. Oovemor WilUitm R. ' The porUon of this celebrated carlcatore here given, with the description, la copied from Wright's England tmitr the I Bbiim 0/ ffanorw, 11., 298. JOHN OUI.L TAKINO A ll.UI)Oa. Is in i I r ii 100 riCTOllIAL FIELD-BOOK Three KiivoyR lont to Franco. Bonnparto Fimt Conaul. Nnval Wnrfnro botwcoii the Americans and the Frciich. not omlmrk for Eiirojic until autlientic and nutisfactory assunuicca should be nivcii us to their ivirption. Such asgurauei h wore reeeived by tlie governuieiit in October Col- lowinj;, and in November EUsworlli aiul W. U. IJavio (the latter having taken ]\Ir. Henry's place) sailed for Kurope. Fortunately for all parties, when the envoys reached Franco a ehango had taken place in the governnu'nt of that country. 'I'lic Directory was no more. Honaj)arto iiad suddenly returned from the Eas*. after grt^at and brilliant movements with various results, and was hailed as the good genius of tli^ Uepublic. Tie found, as ho expected, his country rent by political dis- sensions, and the Directory in disrepute among the most nowerful classes. With the assistance of u strong party, supported by bayonets, ho dissolved tin Assembly of •NovpmborS, Keproiieutativos and took the government into his own hands," with the ^™'- title of First Consul, which was at first conferred upon him for ten years, and afterward ftn* life. The audacity and energy of Honaparto saved Franco from anarchy and ruin. To please the })eople ho prodaimeil a pacific polii^y, and o|)C(iod correspondence with the " March 2 pwwors tluMi at war with (ho Hepublic with professions of j)eacofnl desires, isiw. it ^yjis jvt this auspieiotis moment that tho American envoys arrived'' at Paris. While these political niover.ients were in progress, and preparafions were iiiakiiif,' in tho United States for a French invasion, war between the two nations actuiiily conimenced on the ocean, although hostilities had not been proclaimed by either. On tho /th of July, nos, Congres,4 declared tho old treaties with Franco at an end, and two days at'terwanl passed a law autiiori/.ing American vessels of war to captun French cruisers Avherever they might bo found. On tho 11th, a now marine ;'orps of nearly nine hundred men, rank and file, commanded by a nnijor, was established by law, and a total of thirty active criiisers Avas j)rovided for. Wo have observed that some movements for strengthening the navy were begun early m 1707. The frig.'Ues United States^ 44, C'cpstitKtioji, 44, and (kmstellatiou, H8,' wore launched, and ordered to be ])ut in commission that year. Tho I/nited iStatis first reached the water, and was the begimiing of the American navy created after the ado])- tion of tho National Constitution. She was lauiudied at rhiladel])hia on tho ICth of .Tuly,'= and was followed in September by tho Consti'l/afion and Constitution. The former was sot afloat on the 7th of that month, at Baltimore, and the lat- ter on tho 20th, at Boston ;* yet none of these Avere ready for sea when, in the spring of 1708, war with Franco seemed inevitable. An Indiainan, called tho Gatiifcs, was armed and cquipj)ed at Philadelphi.T. as a 24-poundcr, and pliued in the conmiand of Captain Richard Dale. She sailed on the 22d of May, to crui. along tho coast from tlu' east end of Long Island to the ( 'apes of Virginia, to watch tlio approach of an enemy to the ports of New York, Philadeli>liia, and Baltimore. On tho 12th of Juno Captain Dale received instructions off the CajHs of Delaware to seize French cruisers and capture pny of their prizes that might fall in his way. The Co7istcllation, iiSyfirf^t Avent down the Patapsco on the morning of the 0th of April,'' and early in June Avent to sea under the command of Captain Thomas Tiuxtun, in company Avith the Ddatcare, 20, Captain Decatur,' each having ' 1708. Dnvio, of North Carolina, was appointed In Henry's pV^ce. Tho commission then stood: Murray, of Maryland : Ells- worth, of Connectlcnt ; and Davie, of North Carolina. Mr. Murray, still ot the Hague, was Instructed ',o inform Talley- rand of the appointment. > These numbers, -44, 3S etc., refer to the number of guns en; rlcd by each vessel, or, rather, the number they were rated at. TUe Rrmament of vessels sometimes varies fl-om th^ rate. » The ConstiUalioti wap constrocted by Dnvid Stodcrt. ' Stephen Decatur was born it Newport, Rhode Island, In ITBl. He commanded several privateers durlns tho Reviv Intlon, and captured ceveral English ships. He received a commission as captain In the United States navy In 1"!>s, ami served with distinction during the hostilities with the French cm ^rs. In 1800 he commanded a squadron of thirteen sail on the Ouadaloupe station, his flag-ship being the I'hiiadditltta, 38. Ue left the eenlce in ISOl, wd engaged in Cnpluro of i« Crojj orders Himil.-i Diile's. When a few days ou oatiir fell In y\ Piiiladcljdiia ui States n.'ivy wi .wit William ]}.• of'!)H,"su callc States. sy^'^i^^f'-i^ , mmnicrcliW purs'ills In Pl, llie memory of |,M,l|„t|„j, capiniii nn,I his wife, who ' ■'"!'" ^^•■^'"'y was born 1 i» I'W. lie came to Amo In 1.T5 he entered the na I'a iHnpnicd point whelh( maaders who got to sen a live service during the whi "ftlic new navy In imbe "iwhWi station, In c„„„„„ '-nlhel-ithofScpiiMnber, :■ H» died childless, at i|,„„,,, Ominiodore Harry's cnnil ■'melcryofst. Mary's lion,, •'•^ffel, Philadelphia. The I Kriptlon: "Let the patriot, the soidh itiwc mansions of the dead Wt. Beneath are deposlte If >rn» born in tho County •tmerlca was me object of his '■■wfulness and honor. In l ;»WI«hed tho independence > amission of a captain mra, became commnn,ler-i, « bled in the cause of free J;^M lesson in time the pel it n„,T■''''^'"■"''y"'''^fr^' .yfened his soul Into ,1,0 nm, fMln„atowldo<v hath cause '•'•"eased to be the living re 'Her first lieutenant was D. OF THE WAU OF 18 12. 101 Capture of he (Jrayable. Tho UniM Statu and thi? Conttitntion. Life mill Sorvl-es of < '• mimodure Burry, (2>/^*«i^^^^ ordcre similar to Diilo's. When only 11 few (lays out, De- catur fell in with the French corsuir Lc Ci'oyahl, 14, captured her, and went lier to Piilliidel,)hiii fis a jjrize. Hho was condemned hy the prize court, added to th«> United States navy with the name oi Retaliation, mmX jylaeed under the coninmiid ofLieuteji- .uit William ]}ainl)ridge. Bhe was the first vessel captured during tlie " French War of '98," HO called, and was tho first vessel taken by tho present navy of the United Stiites. Early in July the United States, 44, Cap- tain John IJarry,' went to sea, and cnused eastward. She (ii.-ried among her officers several young men who afVerward hecame distinguished in the annals of naval Avar- fare.'* The goveniment socm afterward de- termined to send a loice to the West Indies, where American commerce Avas most ex- j)osed,and Captain Hairy was ordered there with a small squ.adron, consisting of the United /States, 44, Delaware, 20, and Jler- old, I H. The Constitniion (yot in the service) wont to sea in July, in command of Caj»taiii Sam- uel Nicholson, and, in coiepany with four revenue vessels, sailed in August to cruise off tho coast southward of tliO Virginia (.■apes. One of these vessels Avas in com- mand of Lieutenant (afterward Commodore) Prel)le. In Augi'.at tho Constitution, Captain Trux- k7c^A^3^ A/a^i^^ — 1 O'lmmordiil purs'.ilts In Phllni'clpliln, whom ho dlpd In ISfl"*. A plain 8lah, near thu nohlc granite monnmcnt ornctcd to till' moniory of \\\* dlHtlnnulHlu '1 son In St. I'clcr'H (Episcopal) Church l)uryl;ig-(;rouud, markB the f,tK c of the gallant laptain aiul his wife, who died In 1S12. > .lolin Barry was horn in Ireland, ("onnty of Wexford, ill li45. lie came to America In Ills yonth, as a seaman. In Ul.'i he entered the nav;il service of Congress, and it Isc difpated point whether he was the llrst of the com- manders who got to sea at that i)erlod. Ho was In ac- tive service during tho whole war. In tho estahllshment iif tlic new navy In 171)4 he was named the senior ofHcer, ill which station. In command of tho ITnitfd Slates, he died iinMieHth of September, :so;i,ln the city of Philadelphia. Ill' died childless, at the age of ftfly-elght years. Commodore Harry's tomb Is near the entrance to the icmctory of HI. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, on Fourth STfct, riilladclphlo. Tho following la ii co]>y of tho In- "Tiption : " let the patriot, the soltMcr, and tho Christian who visit ;hpic mansions of tho dead, view this monument with re- 'pct. Beneath are deposited the remains of.IonNlUiiiiv. lie was born in the County of AVexford, In Ireland, ..ut .\nierlca was i ne object of his patrUitism, and the thentre of hi'usefulncss and honor. In the Revolutionary AVar, which cstiblished tho Indepcndenco of the t'nited States, he bore ibe commission of a captain In their infant navy, and aft- rnnitfl bccamo commander-in-chief. II(! fonght often and npc bicd In tho cause of freedom Rut his habits of war iid not lessen In time the peaceful virt '^s which adorn private life. Ho was gentle, 'Kind, ,in«t. and charitable ; and not '«'« beloved by family and friends than by his grateful country. In a full belief In the d.ictrines of the Oospel, he calmly rtfijncd his sonl Into tho arms ..f his Redeemer on the lilth of September, isna, In tho flfly-nlnth year of hli- age. Ills ifetimiate wldo-v hath caused this marble to bo erected, to perpelnato his name after the hearts of his fellow-cltlzens iiwe ceased to be the living record of his pnbllc and private vlriios." ' Her first lieutenant was David Ross, who was last seen on tbi 80th of November, ITOO ; John Mullowny, who died In couumioBB iiauiiy's jioni;,ment. i.iyi.M'.'W'U mmimammm M., if 102 PICTORIAI FIELD-BOOK British Outrages. The Obsequiousness of the American Qovernment. lustmctlonR of the Secretory of the Nuvy. tun, and the Baltimore, 20, Captain Phillips, performed signal service by safely con- voying sixty American merchant vessels from Havana to the United States, in the face of several French cruisers lying in that port. Both the British and French au- thorities in the West Indies were surprised at the appearance of so many American cruiserc in that region. At the close of the year 1798 the American navy consisted of twenty-three vessels, with an aggregate armament of four hundred and forty-six guns. It was at this time that the first of the series of most flagrant outrages upon the American flag, which finally aroused the people of the United States to vindicate their honor and independence by an appeal to arms, was committed by a British commander. The American ship Saltimore, Captain Phillips, sailed out of Havana on the morning of the 16th of November, 1 798, in charge of a convoy bound to Charles- ton, South Carolina, and in sight of Moro Castle met a British squadron. At that time the governments of the United States and Great Britain were on friendly terms, and Phillips bore vq to the Camatick, the flag-ship of his majesty's squadron, to speak to the commander. To his surprise, three or' the convoy were cut off" from the rest and captured by the British vessels. By invitation Phillips went on board the Camatick, when he was informed that every man on board the Baliimore who had not a regular American protection should be transferred to the British flag-ship. Captain Phiilijis protested agamst the outrage, and declared that he would formally surrender his ship, and refer the matter to his government. His protest was of no avail. On re- turning to the Baltimore, he found a British ofiicer mustering his men. lie immc- tli''tely ordered that gentleman and those who accompanied him to walk to the lee- ward, and then sent his men to their quarters. After consultation with a legal gen- tleman on board his ship, he determined to formally surrender her if his men wore taken from him. Fifty-five of them were transferred to the Camatick, and the colors of the Baltimore were lowered. Only five of her crew were retained by the British captain. These were pressed into the service of the king. Tlie remainder were sent back, and the Baltimore was released. Tlie British squadron then sailed away with the five captive seamen, and the three merchant vessels as prizes. The Baltimore hastened to Philadelphia, and her case was laiJ before the govern- ment. At that time the trade between the United States and Great Britain was ex- tremely profitable to American merchants ; and the mer antile interest was such a power in the state that almost any indignity from the " mistress of the seas" would have been submitted to rather than provoke hostilities with that government.^ The American Cabinci, in its obsequious deference to the British, had actually instnicted the commanders of American cruisers on no account — not even to save a vessel of their own nation — to molest those of other nations, France excepted.* The govern- ment dismissed Captain Phillips from the navy without trial because ho surrendered without a show of recistance ; but the outrage of the British commander was passed by unnoticed! At about the time of this occurrence near Havana, a small American squadron wa? 1801, was her second lieutenant ; her third was James Bairon, afterwt.-d commodore ; and her fourth was Charles Stew- art, the venerable commodore, yet (1862) living. Among the midshipmen were Decatur, Somcrs, and Caldwell, who distinguished themselves at Tripoli. Jacob Jones and William M. Crane Jolu-;d her soon afterward, both of whom \k- came commodores. ' The country had just entered upon a career of great commercial proaperlty, notwithstanding many perils and hta- derances beset that branch of nat'onal Industry. American tunnage liad doubled in ten years. American agricultural products found u ready marltet. The exports had increased from nineteen millions to plmost ninety millions, and .it imports in about the same proportion ; and the amount of revenue fl-om Imports greatly exceeded tLo most san^ioc anticipations. » "The vessels of every other nation (Prance excepted"), ran the Instructions of the Secretary of the Navy, " are on tis aeeovnt to be mnlesteu ; and I wish particularly to Impress on yonr mind that, should you ever see an American vcfsel captured by the armed ship of any nation at war with whom we are at peace, you can not lawfully Interfere to prevent the capture, for it is to be taken for granted that such nation will compensate for such capture if it shall prove to haro been illegally made." Naval Engagement cruising ofl!" G Retaliation, oi cruisers, and n and perceived French frigate The Insurgenti on the ocean. were pressing with the officer ca.sJe, The /;; armaments ?" tl twelves and twi forces, and start gente, and iinme obeyed. The A only a few curse first cruiser take The strength < vessels were lau tiimn. At the b uted into four stj in command of tt whose general rt sels, under Comi and cruised to lee cruised between ( vessels, watched t captured many Fj At meridian oa off Nevis, a large chase, and brough an hour and a qu and surrendered. just mentioned as Frenchman did not seventy men, killed fd. Tlie prize wat and at the end of tl Kitt's' (St. Christop This victory proc elared to be equal luen; the ConsteUai great skill and brav tun. He received c Woyd's Coflfee-houso ||ollars, on which a i tives were loud in pi ' Cooper's Ai,raJfffrt<^„^ . I am sorry," Captain Bai tacterlzeamanofhono,, hWl make it. duty to pub; OF THE WAR OF 1812. 108 Karal Engagements. Increase of the Navy. Victory of the ConsteUaHon ovei' the InturgenU. cruising off Guadaloupe. One of the vessels was the captured Ze Croyable, now the lietaliation, commanded by Lieutenant Bainhridge. They discovered some French cruisers, and mistook them for English vessels. The Retaliation reconnoitered them, and perceived her mistake too iate to avoid trouble. She was attacked by two French frigates (the Volontaire and Insurgente), and was compelled to surrender. The Insurgente, to whom the lietaliation was a prize, was one of the swiftest vessels on the ocean. She immediately made chase after two of the American ships, who were pressing all sail in flight, Bainbridge was a prisoner on the Volontaire, and, with the officers of that vessel, witnessed the chase with great interest from the fore- cab. le. The Insurgente continually gained upon the fiigitives. "What are their armaments ?" the commander of the Volontaire asked Bainbridge. " Twenty-eight twelves and twenty nines," he quickly responded. This false statement doubled their forces, and startled the commander. He was the senior of the captain of the Insur- gente, and immediat^^ly signaled him to give up the chase. The order was reluctantly obeyed. The American vessels escaped, ar.d Bainbridge's deceptive reply cost him only a few curses. In this aiFair the lietaliation gained the distinction of being the first cruiser taken by both parties during the war. The strength of the navy was considerably increased during the year 1799. Many vessels were launched, and most of them were commissioned before the close of au- tumn. At the beginning of the year the active force in the West Indies was distrib- uted into four squadrons. Commodore Barry, the senior oflicer in the service, was in command of ten vessels, with an aggregate of two hundred and thirty-two guns, whose general rendezvous was St. Rupert's Bay. Another squadi'on of five ves- sels, under Commodore Truxtrn, in the Constellation, rendezvoused at St. Kitt's, and cruised to leeward as far as Porto Rico. Captain Tingey, with a sn.aller force, cruised between Cuba and St. Domingo ; and Captain Decatur, with some revenue vessels, watched the interests of American commerce off Havana. These squadrons captured many French vessels during the year. At meridian on the 9th of February," while the Constellation was cruising off Nevis, a large vessel was discovered at the southward. Truxtun gave chase, and brought on an engagement at little past three in the afternoon. It lasted an hour and a quarter, when the antagonist of the Constellation struck her colors and surrendered. She was the famous French frigate Insurgente, Captain Barreault, just mentioned as the captor of the lietaliation a few weeks earliei. The gallant Frenchman did not yield i ntil his fine ship was dreadfully shattered, and he had lost seventy men, killed and wounded. The Constellation had lost only three men wound- ed. Tlic prize was put in charge of Lieutenant (afterward Commodore) Rodgers, and at the end of three days of tempest, danger, and suffering, she was taken into St. Kitt's' (St. Christopher), and received a salute from the fort. This victory produced great exultation in the United States, and the navy was de- clared to bo equal to any in the world. The Insurgente carried 40 guns and 409 men; the Constellation only 32 guns and 309 men. The battle was fought with great skill and bravery on both sides. The press was filled with eulogiums of Trux tun. He received congratulatory addresses from all quarters, and the merchants of Lloyd's Coffee-house, London, sent him a 8.;rvice of plate worth over three thousand dollars, on which a representation of the action was elegantly engraved. '^ The cap- tives were loud in praises of Truxtun'a courtesy and kindness ;^ and for a long time a •1800. 1 Cooper's Natal Hittory of the Unitrd States, 1., 291 , Tmxtnn's dispatch to the Secretary of the Navy. ' IrVyatl'p OmcraUi and Cammodorfii of the American Army andXamj, p. 197. '" I am sorry," Captain Barreault wrote to Tnixtm, " that onr two nations arc at war ; bnt since I nnfortnnately have t<en vanquished, I felicitate myself and crew upon b.^lng prisoners to yon. Yon have united all the qualities which tharacterlze a man of honor, courage, and hnroaolty. Receive from mo the most sincere thanks, and be assured I AM make It a duty to publish to all my feaow- countrymen the geuerocs conduct which yon have observed to- ward UB." \ it h\ 104 PICTORIAL FTELD-BOOK American Craiscrs iu the West Indies. Contest between the Corutellatioti nnil La Vmgeance. song, called " Truxtun's Victory," was sung every where, in private and at public gatherings.' During the remainder of the year nothing of importance was performed by or bc- • November 8, ff'H our cruisers. In November Commodore Barry sailed from Newport^ 1701). fyp France in the United States, having Messrs, "VVolcott and Davie, the two envoys, on board. He ' -et with no adventures, and performed his errand with satisfaction. Meanwhile our cruisers were busy in the West Indies, watching the interests of American commerce there, and making the French corsairs exceedingly cautious and circumspect. At length another victory gave lustre to the American navy, rendering it very popular, and causing many leading families of the country to place their sons in the service.^ The victory was again by Truxtun, in the Constellation. Early on the morning of the 1st of February, 1800, Avhile off Guadaloupc seeking for the largo French frigate Za Vengeance, said to be in those waters, he discovered a sail to the south which he took to be an English merchantman. He ran up English colors, but receiving no re- sponse, he gave chase. The stranger pressed sail, and it was almost fifteen hours before the Constellation came within hailing distance of her. It was then dincovercd that she was a large French frigate. Truxtun, unabashed, prepared for action. It was opened by the Frenchman, at eight o'clock in the evening, by bl'ots from the stem and ipiarter guns. A desperate engagement at pistol-shot distance ensued. It lasted until one in the morning, the combatants all the while running free, ^.ide by side, and pouring in broadsides. The French frigate suddenly ceased firing, and dis- appeared so completely in the gloom that Truxtim believed slie had gone to the bot- tom of the sea. At that moment it was discovered that the Constellation'' s shrouds had been nearly all cut aAvay, and that the mainmast was ready to fall. A heavy squall came on, and the mast went by the board, carrying with it a midshipman and several topmen who were aloft. The stranger, dreadfully crippled, made her way to b Febniary, Cura9ao, Avhcrc she arrived on the 6th.'' She was the sought-for frigate 1800. Xa Vengeance, carrying 54 guns and 400 men, including passengers. Cap- tain Pitot, her commander, acknowledged that he had tAvice struck his lag during the engagement. She would have been a rich prize for the Cotistellation, It was lost only by the utterly helpless condition of that vessel's mainmast. Truxtun bore away for Jamaica, and it was seme time before he knew the name and character of his antagonist, and the prize he had lost.' • The song wns not poetry, bnt tonched a chord of popular sentiment which responded with great animation. Tbe following is a single verso of the song, which contains eight : " On board the Ccmatellation from Baltimore we cnmc j We had a bold commander, and Trnxtnn was his name : Our ship she mounted forty guns, And on the main so swiftly runs. To prove to France Columbia's sons Are brave Yankee boys." » "The Navy" became a favorite t met at public meetiugp, nnd pictures of na- val battles and doggerel verses called "naval songs" were .«old in the shops and streets. An enterprising crockery merchant had some pitchers of different sizes made in Liverpool, commemorative of the navy. One of them, before me, that belougL-d to the late W. J. Davis, Esq., of New York, is a white pitcher, about a foot in height. Under the spout, in a wreath, are the words, "Scooesb TO THK Infant Navy," and below this the Americon eagle, iu form like that on the great seal of the lluited States. On one side is a picture of a full-rigged vessel of war, and some naval emblems in tbe foreground. On tbe other side is a map of the United States, having on one side Washington and Liberty, in fpll-lengtli tlgures. Fame, with trumpet and wreath, above it; and on the other side Frank- lin sitting making a record, and a helmeted female, representing America, near which stands Justice. This device was npon pitchers made at about the time of Washington's iuaugnration as the first President of the United States. ' La Venficanre. had on board the Governor of Ouadalonpc and his family, and two general otBcers, returning to France. She had also a full cargo of sugar and coffee, and a very largo amount of specie. She lost, in killed and wounded, one hundred and sixty-two. The CottshlUUion lost fourteen men killed anu tweuty- This secon abroad, and t 3Lirch, 1800, { the late actioi KAVAI. PITOUEK. Ave wounded. Eleven commanded the men li "Then we must go wit jouiigJarvis, "whogI( ' This medal is repre in relief, with the Icgen (the French a two-decl FbiUATE Co.NSTKI.r.ATIOS riFTV-FOTTB OTJ.NS, IsT OF Thomas Truxtun was Island, on the ITth of Fe to sea at the age of twel .ippreaticeshiphewaslii l8h service, but was soo manded a vessel In 1775 wable powder to the c lie was engaged in prlv iltlphla during the whole Barclay, consul general France, he had a succes Brilish nan-of-war. Ii, ] Washiuftou one of the sij the CoiMdtation wns bull I'Dce nt B.iltimore. nis e^ in the text. The cruise m feat of La Vengeance was i ordered to the command fir the Mediterranean. B( fornmaud his (liig-shli), h His letter to this effect was ■WTerson .-.s a resignation ■I'lil the Ameiican navy wa Irighlest ornaments. H" r from Philadelphia, where h< "1 ISId, when the citizens M him high sheriff, ne .rears, and died on the 6th f i);-seveuthyearofhlsnge. Church-yard, Fifth Street, 1 plain tjpright slab of whiten '"■which is Hte following" 'he memory of Commodore ^•^"^"■e United States he little sketch of Truxtun' hisiipposed to be standing, Street looking east. 1 OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 106 Trnxlnn'8 Victory welcomed. He is honored by Congreas. Ilifi public Porvlcea. This second victory over a superior foe gave Truxtun great renown at home and abroad, and the Congress of the United States, hy action approved on the 29th of March, 1800, authcrized the President to present him a gold medal " emblematical of the late action," \/ith the thanks of the nation.' MKPAL rilERENTEn TO OOMMOnOB". TRUXTUN. live wounded. Eleven of the latter died of their wounds. Among the lost wns Midshipmau Jnrvts, of New York, who commanded the men in the top. lie was warned by an old seaman that the mast wonld soon fall. lie gallantly sa'.d, "Then we must go with it." They did so, and only one man was saved. Congress, by vote, recognized the bravery of joung JarviB, " who gloriously preferred certain death to an abandonment of his post." 1 This medal is represented in the ingraving, the exact size of tb riglnal. On fine side is a protllo bust of Truxtnn tn relief, with the lepend, "Patki.k patrf.b filio piono Thomas Ti ^ itn." On the reverse are teen two ships of war (the French a two-decker), both bhattered, and the rigging of both much cut up. Legend: "The Umtkd Statk« Fbioate Constki.i.atiox, ok thirtv-eioht 0US8, pcuscEB, attacks, and vanqcishkb the French Ship La Vknoeanoe, ok rlFTV-rOI'B GTNS, IST OF FEimUARV, 1800." Thomas Truxtnn was born at Jamaica, 1/ong Island, on the 17th of February, 176B. He went to sea at the age of twelve years. During his apprenticeship he was impressed into the Brit- ish service, but was soon released. He com- rannded a vessel in 1775, and bronght consid- criible powder to the colonies at that time, lie was engaged in privateering froi.i Phila- (klphla during the whole war. While carrylngMr. Barclay, consul general of the United States, to Frnnce, he had a succesaftii engagement with a Dritish uan-of-war. Ii. 1794 he was appointed by Wiishinflou one of the six naval commanders, and ihe CoiMdtation was bnilt under his superiutend- onco nt Baltimore. His exploits In her are related in the text. The cruise which resulted in the de- feat of i^n Vengeance was his last. In 1802 he was ordered to the command of a sqnadrot destined fur the Mediterranean. Being denied a captain to commiuid his flag-ship, he declined the service. His letter to this eflfcct was construed by President Jefferson .-.s a resignation, which was acccpteo, aud the Ameiican navy was deprived of one of its hrjijhtest ornaments. He retiroti to a farm not far from Philadelphia, where he remained in qn'et un- til 181(1, when the citizens of Philadelphia elect- ed him high sheriff. He held that ofBce three years, and died on the Bth of Maj-, 1S22, in the six- ty-seventh year of hia age. Ho was burled in Christ Chnrch-yard, Fifth Street, Philadelphia, where a plain upright slab of white marble marks his grave, on which is the following inscript'on : "Sacred to Ihe memory of Commodore Thomas Truxtun, for- itiorly of the United States Navy, who died May Wh, 1822, aged sixty-seven years." In considering the little sketch ofTruxtnn's grave, the spectator Is supposed to be standing nth his back to Fifth Street looldng east. TBUZTOK a ttltAVl. ^IfPSBBSn m I' ill f I t' ! 106 PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK Peace. Tronbles among the Federallste. Character of Preeident Adamg. Opposition to Adams in bis own Party. Other victories of less magnitude were won by the American cruisers during the earlier months of the j ear 1800, and contributed to make the little navy of the United States a subject for praise and wonder in Europe. But its services were now less needed, and efforts to Increase the navy were sensibly relaxed during the summer of that year. Active negotiations for peace and amity were in progress between the United States and the Fii-st Consul of France, which led to a settlement of difficulties. The American envoys were cordially received, and three plenipotentiaries, with Joseph Bonaparte at their head, were appointed to treat with them. Many difficulties arose, and sometimes an utter failure of the effort seemed inevitable. Finally a convention was concluded,' peace was established, the envoys returned home, and the provisional army of the Unites! States was disbanded. Allusion has beuu made to the divisions in the Federal party on account of Presi- dent Adams's course in the appointment of diplomatic agents for negotiations with the French government before that government had officially signified its willingness to receive them. The instant dissatisfaction caused by that act only gave intensity to feelings already existing. Mr. Adams was an honest patriot, of much ability, but totally unfitted by temperament and disposition for the leadership of a great politi- cal party. He was excessively vain, and correspondingly sensitive and jealous. His vivid and feometimes eccentric imagination seldom yielded obedience to judgment. His prejudices were violent and inexorable, ani his frankness made him indiscreet in his expressions of opinion conceming men and measures. He held resentment against Hamilton as relentless as did Jefferson, and he openly accused him of British proclivities, and hostility to the National Constitution. Because Wolcott, and Pick- ering, and Ames, and M'Henry, and other leading Federalists coul ^ not agree with him concerning public policy, the President regarded them as personal enemies, actu- ated by selfish objects, and desirous of defeating his most earnest wishes, namely, a re-election to the seat he then occupied. Cunning Democrats fanned the flame of discord ; and they strengthened Adams's political aspirations by assuring him that lie might unite the moderate and virtaous men of both parties, and thus crush the oli- garchy of radical Federalists, to whom all national troubles should be attributed. ^ It was not long before confidence among the members of the Federal party was al- most destroyed. Such were their divisions in the House of Representatives that, not- withstanding they had a decided majority there, they were not able, as Jefferson ex- ultingly wrote, to carry a single measure during the session of 1799-1800. The sim- ple truth appears to be that Adams would not be controlled by the leaders who claimed to have elevated him and his party to power. He exercised his own judg- ment as President without regard to party. His most ardent political partisans, now become his opponents, reciprocated his own suspicions, and believed that his conduct was prompted by jealousy of Hamilton, and a disposition to secure his own re- election at whatever sacrifice of principle, or at whatever risk to the Federal party.^ These suspicions created zealous action. The most influential Federal leaders, two of whom (Timothy Pickering and James M'Henry) were in Adams's Cabinet, adopted a scheme for quietly preventing his re-election to the Presidency, which he ardently desired. Tlie method of choosing the President and Vice-President, at that tune, was 1 This conrentlon was signed at I'nris on the 30th of September, 1800, by Oliver Ellsworth, William K. Davie, and Wil- liam Vans Murray, oi .ne part of the United States, and Joseph Bonaparte, Charles P. E. Flenrieu, and Pierre L. Re- derer, in behalf of Prance. It provided that the old treaties should remain inoperative nntil a new negotiation should decide concerning them as well as indemnities mutually claimed. It provided for the mntnal restoration of captured 'public ships and property not already condemned ; for the mutual payment of all debts due by the reflpectlvc govern- ments and individuals thereof; for reciprocal commercial relations to be equal to those of the most favored nations, and for security of American commerce against the vexations pretensions of French cruisers. The convention also declared thatAee aMps ,houU make fret ffooda, thus affirming the doctrine of Frederick the Great flfly years eariier, and denying that of England In her famous rule of 1756, revived lnlT03.-8ee the convention In ftill in the Statomu.no «^»"««'J^- ggg * a Oliver Wolcott to Fisher Ames, Dec. 20, 1799. » Hlldretb's Uigtory of Ow. VnUed. Slalet, Second Series, li., 3B8. I'lonaofFedoraiiste for two person were respectiv decJai-ed Presi( scheme of Mr. resolved to plai the same tickoi of votes, and th where Mr. Pine for the foe was sensions would ( pei-sonal charac niiE-bt have imp aware of the inti the scheme ; yet dismiss them froi ful Middle States which brought st ocratic caucus pi Burr, but with tl President. The Alien and { to excite the peop use was made pov the year 1800.3 ' ^"^ ""e young reader, eiplanatlon here may be t In eacli state, in number i and delegated with full po what Is termed the Klector the people are always vot President. In the event o ried to the House ofRenrt lion 1. '^ » The action of Virginian (lay, in their influeii-e npor warrant the introdu.'M.^" Ii< In the year 1798, vhr-wa erament against iut", -J.,, fo vras limited to two years, th daageronstothepeaceaiid) oran actual invasion, all res kicnt issued according to hii ne President never had occi at them, speedily left the con ^•"'oftheSoilandClimateq upon h 8 character, with the InJu'y,1798,an8ctwa8pa not to exceed $6000, imprison court for any persons unlaw " !"«■"?''»& to prevent go, rid d for the fining or impri, ,7'''"f''«'"'«'tthegoveran ThV?'"''^'"""'''g"'emi The laws brought out the h Federalists. The wise Hamil .«ed,ate.ywroteaharriTd I'lf^f'^'averydilTeren PMh things to the extreme, • iN^hngcontHbatedmorep;, J^e Alien and Sedition Law pe dent and supreme state so, Uimed by Jefferson and othe werelgn states aa mtes, each Mon but Its own: that the 1 own powers, and that oil its i^ OF THE WAR OP 1813. lor IMaoB of Federalists for defeating Adams. TnctlcB of the Democrats. The Allen and Sedition Laws. for two persons to bo voted for without distinction as to the office for which they were respectively intended ; and liio one receiving the highest number of votes was declared President, and the other Vice-President.' This plan gave facility to the scheme of Mr. Adams's opponents. A caucus of the Federal members of Congress resolved to place Mr. Adams and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina, on the same ticket, with the understanding that both shou'd receive the same number of votes, and thus cause the election to be carried to the House of Representatives, where Mr. Pinckney would have a considerable majority. Caution was necessary, for the foe was vigilant, and ever ready to take advantage of the weakness which dis- sensions would create in the Federal camp. Open opposition to Adams, whose high personal character was appreciated every where, and especially in New England, rai^ht have imperiled the success of the party. Mr. Adams, on the other hand, was aware of the intrigues ag inst him, and that members of his Cabinet were leaders in the scheme ; yet for once he was discreet enough not to denounce them openly, nor dismiss them from his council, for he was doubtful of his own strength in the power- ful Middle States where they were popular, and where the Alien and Sedition LaAvs, which brought such odium upon his administration, were lieartily detested. A Dem- ocratic caucus pursued a similar course, and selected Thomas Jeffisrson and Aaron Burr, but with the understanding that the former was the choice of the party for President. The Alien and Sedition Laws just alluded to were used adroitly by the Democrats to excite the people against Adams's administration and the Federal party, and that use was made powerful in se. "ring the election of Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency in the year 1800.2 For the yonng reader, or a foreigner to whom the workli g of onr political system in detail may not be familiar, an explanation here may be useful. The President of the Unit id States is not iroted for directly by the people. Persons In each state, in number equal to thp r?npective senators and representatives in Congress, are elected by the people, and delegated with full powers to moose a President and Vice-President. These meet at a specified time, and form what is termed the Electoral College. Although the electors may vote for whom they please, the candidates named by the people are always voted for in the college, so that practically the people do vote directly for President and Vice- President. In the event of an equal number of votes being cast ii the college for both candidates, the election is car- ried to the House of Representatives, in accordance with the provisions of the National Constitution, Article ii., eec- llon 1. s The action of Virginia and Kentucky politicians In the matter were so powerful at the time, and remote, even to our (lay, In their influeu.ie upon public opinion in a portion of the republic concerning the theory of our government, as to warrant the introdu.'M j" here of the following brief history of the affair : In the year 1798, vhe • war with France seemed to be unavoidable. Congress passed acts for the security of the gov- ernment against iut". -im foes. By the first act alien enemies could not become citizens at all. Py the second, which was limited to two years, the President was authorized to order out of the country all aliens whom he might Judge to be dangerous to the peace and safety of the v nited States. By a third act. In case of war declared against the United States, or an actual Invasion, all resident aliens, natives or citizens of the hostile nation, might, upon a proclamation of the Pres- ident Issued according to his discretion, b) apprehended, and secured or removed. These were known as AUeii Latve. The President never had occasion to emplc y them, but several prominent Frenchmen, who felt that the laws were aimed at them, speedily left the country. Amon;- them was the celebrated French writer, M. Volney, who, in the preface to his View 0/ the Soil and ClimaU qf the United Stxtes of America, comp^aitiei bitterly of the "violent and public attacks made npon his character, with the connivance or instigation of a certain eminent iiersonoge," meaning President Adams. In July, 1798, an act was passed for the punishment of sedition. It made it a high misdemeanor, puulshable by a fine not to exceed $6000, imprisonment fhim six months to five years, jnd bIndlU;? to good behavior at the discretion of the court, for any persons milawfally to combine in opposing measures of th>i government properly directed by authority, or attempting t.i prevent government officers executing their trusts, or inciting to riot or insurrection. It also pro- tided for the fining or imprisoning any person guilty of printing or publishing " any false, scandalous, and malicious writings againrt the government of the United States, or either House of Congress, or the President, with intent to de- fiime them, or to bring them into contempt or disrepute." This was called the Sedition Late. The laws brought out the heaviest batteries of denunciation fi'om the opposition, and were deplored by many of the Federalists. The wise Hamilton perceived the dangers that n;ight arise from the enactment of the Sedition Law, and immediately wrote a hurried note of warning to Wokott on tha 29th of June, saying, " Let cs not ESTAiiusn a tvban- »T. Energy is a very different thing fi-ora violence. If we take no false step, we shall be essentially united ; but if we pnah things to the extreme, wo shall then gi\8 to faction bodu and solidity." The fnars of Hamilton were realized. Xothing contributed more powerfully to the speedy downfall of the Federal party than these extreme measures. The Allen and Sedition Laws aroused individual resentments, and led to the public avowal of the doctrine of inde- pendent and supreme state sovereignty in its most dangerous form. The right of " nullification" was as distinctly pro- tliimed by Jefferson and others as it ever was by Calhoun or Hayne. In a series of resolutions drawn up under the seal of secrecy as to their authorship, Mr. Jefferson declared the National Ctmstitution to he a mere compact made by sovereign states at *late», each having the sole right of interpreting for itself the "compact," and bound by no interpre- I tttion but its own ; that the general government has no final right, in any of its branches, to interpret the extent of its ovn powers, and that all its acts not considered constitutional by a state may be properly nullified by such state within i •V III ! I (08 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Uetbod of Chooilag Blectors. Oetm uf a new Party. Jefferson elected Prealdent of the United States. Most of tlio Presidential electors at that time were chosen by the respective State Legislatures, and not by the people, as now, and the contest was really commenced in the election of members to those bodies. New York was regarded as the cuHto- dian of the balance of political power, and the election of that state which occurred at the close of April, 1800, was looked to with great anxiety by both parties. A rad- ical change had taken place. Burr, the most unscrupulous intriguer of the day, worked incessantly, and New York, which the year before gave the Federalists five hundred majority, now gave almost as great a majority for the Democrats. The lat- ter Avere jubilant — the former were alarmed. At this time the germ of a new party was distinctly visible in Virginia and the states south of it, which was born of slavery and the doctrine of independent state sovereignty. Virginia Avas its sponsor and it allied itself to the Democratic party. And yet, strange as it may seem, Mr. Adams at this time looked to ti.o Southern States for his forlorn hope in the coming election contest. Believing Pickering and M'llenry to be unpopular there, he abruptly called upon them to resign. M'llenry instantly complied, but Pickering refused. Adams dismissed him with little cere- mony.' The event caused much excitement, and had considerable influence in redu- cing the Federal vote. Bitter animosities prevailed. Criminations and recrimina- tions ensued. The open war in the Federal party against Mr. Adams was A/aged by a few leaders, several of Avhom resided in Essex County, Massachusetts, the early home of Picker- ing, and on that account the irritated President called his assailants and opposers the " Essex Junto." He denounced thera as slaves to British influence, some lured by monarchical proclivities, and others by English gold. Severe retorts followed ; and a pamphlet from the pen of Hamilton, whom Adams had frequen<^'y assailed in conver- sation as a British sympathizer, and an enemy to the National Constitution, damaged the President's political prospects materially. The result of tiie canvass Avas the triumph of the Democratic party. Jefferson Avas elected President of the United States, and Aaron Burr Vice-President,'^ to the great joy of their partisans, who chanted, in effect, " The Federalists are down ot last 1 The Monarchists completely cast I The Aristocrats are stripped of power- Storms o'er the British /action lower. Soon we Hepublicans shall bcc Columbia's sons fl-om bondage tree. Lord 1 how the Federalifts will stare At Jeffeeson in Auamb' chiiirl"— r/ie Echo, its own boundaries. These resolutions were offered to the Kentucky Legislature ; but the one avowing the absolute right of nullification was modified, or rather substituted by another, before the whole were put upon their passage. This action was in November, 1798. Within a month afterward John Taylor, of Caroline, an avowed secessionist, introduced into the Virginia Legislature a series of resolutions drawn by Mr. Madison, similar in spirit, but more cautious in ex- pression. "They were adopted, and, with a plea in their favor, were sent to the various State Legislatures. In some of them they were handled roughly, and all that responded condemned them as unwarrantable and mischievous, excepting already-committed Kcntucliy. These were the famous " Resolutions of 'OS," on which nullification in 1S32 and secefsiou in ISOl planted themselves and looked for justification. The whole movcc-ut was of a local and temporary nature. Jefferson and Madison were wielding dangerous weapons in their sturdy warfare for political power (for that was He animus of the whole matter) ; but they trusted the people, and believed, as Jefferson said lu his inaugural, that great errors may be tolerated when reason is left free to combat them. That nulliflere and secessionists have no warrant for their doctrines in the action of the Virginia Legislature at that time Mr. Madison distinctly declared more than thirty years afterward. " The tenor of the debates," he said, " which were ably conducted, and are understood to have been revised for the press by most, if not all of the speakers, discloses iu> reference whatever to a constitutional right in an indi- vidual state to arrest by force the ojKratimi of a law of the United Slates."— See letter to Edward Everett, August, 1S30, in fleleetions from the Private Correspondence qf James Madison, published by J. C. M'Qulre, of Washington City, for private distribution. I John Marshall, who was soon afterward appointed Chief Justice c^the United States, took Pickering's place as Sec- retary of State, and Samuel Dexter was called to M'llenry's seat in the Cabinet as Secretary of AVar. ' The Electoral College met, and their vote stood as follows: Jefferson, 73 ; Burr, 78 ; Adams, OBj Pinckney, (M: John Jay, t. The votes for Jefferson and Burr being equal, the election, as provided by the Constitntion, was carried Into the House of Representatives. The occasion presented exciting scenes. On the first ballot eight states voted for Jefferson, six for Burr, aud two (Vermont and Maryland) were divided. Two or three members were so sick that they were brought to the House on beds. For seven days the members were occnpied in balloting. The Federalista all voted for Bun, as the least offensive of the two candidates, but the n-lends of Jefferson were stronger than they. Horltflcatlon of the The mortifl soon mingled John Quincy j idcncy was, uj slave represent Democracy ov( wan the Avhole ated at the trii After an exii Federal party i chinery of the ; and Avhich still —machinery w -I'G in the mir eaipe into powei Vrhig out ofph c.TCmplified.2 While the nal tempests of Avar the vessel of stat faction and anan — Avithout prem > placed the finger National Congres 18th of Decembe steed dashed up t private secretary: Tlie President Avai Mr. Adams, Avho r the death of the ^ twcen tdh and ele^ There was grit when John Mars TJiere was grief in ligence went from courier. There w£ in cities and villag( "•as grief in Europe Contment. Lord I l^ We <if William n„ 'Tobias Lear. •ThelateQ.w.P.Cnstls. ke was at school, on the 12th ^mericanarmy,8aid,"Leta 'Dated "Mount Vernon, D. a OF THE WAR OF 1812. 109 Mortification of the FuderalUta. Idb and Out«. Annonncvment of the Death of Wanhlngton. It! Effect. The mortification of the defeated party was intense, and now elements of strife goon mingled with the old causes of contention between the two parties. At these ,Iohn Quincy Adams hinted when he said, " The election of Mr. Jeft'erson to the Pres- idency was, upon sectional feelings, the triumph of the South over the North, of the slave representation over the free. On party grounds, it was the victory of professed Democracy over Federalism, of French over British influence. The party overthrown was the Avhole Federal party. The whole Federal party was mortified and humili- ated at the triumph of Jeiferaon.* After an existence of eight years as a distinct political organization, the original Federal party fell, never to rise again into power. Its noble monument is the ma- chinery of the national government, which its wise men devised and set in motion, and which still performs its functions with admirable steadiness and increased power —machinery which the opposition declared to be weak and dangerous when they ji-o in the minority, but which they adopted as sound and secure as soon as they caire into power. The saying of English politicians, tliat a Tory in place becomes a Vt'hig out of place, and a Whig when provided with a place becomes a Tory, was exemplified.'^ While the nation was thus agitated by contending factions and menaced by the tempests of war, the great light of the republic, by whose steady planetary gleams the vessel of state had been long guided, and saved from the rocks and quicksands of faction and anarchy, suddenly went out. In the darkness that fell without twilight — without prem )nition — every discordant voice Avas for a moment hushed, for awe placed the finger of silence upon the lips of political partisans of every kind. The National Congress was then in session at Philadelphia. Early on the morning of the 18th of December* — a cold, crisp, winter morning — a courier with smoking steed dashed up to the Presidential mansion, and delivered a letter from the private secretary' of the great leader, who had already been called Pater Patih^.* Tlie President was at breakfast. The seal was black wax. It was broken hastily by Mr. Adams, who read, "It is with inexpressible grief that I have to announce to you the death of the great and good General Wasiiingtox. He died last evening, be- tween tdh and eleven o'clock, after a short illness of about twenty-four hours.''* There was grief in the President's household. Tliere was grief in Congress when John Marshall announced*" "Our Washington is no more." Tliere was grief in the streets of the national capital when the sad intel- ligence went from lip to ear all over the city within an hour after the arrival of the courier. There was grief throughout the nation when the knell of the funeral bells in cities and villages, with chilling monotone, fell upon the ears of the people. There was grief in Europe when, forty days afterward, it was known in England and on the Contment. Lord Bridport lowered to half mast the flags of his great English fleet ' Sec Life of William Plummer, p. 810. ' A London paper in 1813 contained the following poetic Tersion of the maxim, under the head of DtfinUion of PtiTtlea; "WHIQB NltVKB TO. A Whig is never In t How strange the sto'^ ' Turn in a Whig— be turns in a Tory I TOBIES NKTEB OCT. a Tory's never out I Strange whirligig ! Torn ont a Tory— bo tnms oat a Whigl INS AND OUTS. Why then turn all onr brains with senseless rontf Tory and Whig are merely In and Our." ' Tobias Lear. • The late G. W. P. Cnstis, the adopted son of Washington, in a letter to his foster-father written at Annapolis, where he was at school, on the 12th of July, 1798, after congratulating his guardian on his appointment to the commond of the American army, said, "Let an admiring world again behold a Cincinnatus springing up horn rural retirement to the tonqnest of nations : and the future historian, in recording so great a name, insert that of the ' Father of hia Country.' " ' Dated "Mount Vernon, December IB, 1799." PWWHBi ]i !' ^Pl '! ih no PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Action of CuogreaBun tbo Death of Wuhlngton. Marks of Keapect In Europe. Funeral Uunon. M'Phorson BIuki. of sixty vessels then lying in Torbay ; and Bonaparte, just made First Consul of Frant'c, paid a beautiful tribute to the virtues. of the beloved man in an order of the day to the French army, and in directing a funeral oration to be pronounced before him and the civil and military authorities.' The Congress of his own country, by • December S8 joint resolutions, decreed" that a marble monument should bo erected to 17W. his memory at the new Capitol on the Potomac ; that there should be a funeral procession from Congress Hall to the German Lutheran Church, where an oration should bo pronounced by one of the members of Congress; that the citizens of the United States should wear crape on their left arm as mourning for thirty days; and that the President should send a letter of condolence to Mrs. Washington, and request that her husband^s remains might be interred at the Capitol of the nation.^ They also recommended the people of the Unite "1 States to assemble on the next an- t February 22, nivcrsary of Washington's birthday,'' " to testify their grief by buitablc eulogies, orations, and discourses, or by public prayers." General Henry Lee, the per- 1800. TUE LUTUBBAN OnVBOH IM PIULADELFniA. Bonal friend of Washington, and son of that "Lowland Beauty" whom the great patriot loved in his early youth, was the chosen orator. With rare eloquence he charmed the vast audience that thronged the Lutheran Church, the largest in Philadelphia.' The M^Pherson Blues,* an elegant military corps of three hundred yonng men, were there as a guard of honor, and fired the accustom- ed military salute. On the ensu- ing 22d of February fiineral ora- tions were pronounced in many places throughout the 'country; and memorials of many kinds were speedily prepared, to per- petuate, by visible objects, the recollection of Washington's vir- ' This oration was delivered by Lonls Fontaine in the Temple of Mars, at Paris, on the 8th of February, 1800. In al- lusion to the young general and chief ruler of France before him, the orator said, in his peroration, "Yes, thy counselj shall be heard, O Washington ! O warrior 1 O legislator ! O citizen without reproach 1 He who, while yet young, rlvali thee in battles, shall, lilce thee, with his triumphant hands, heal the wonnds of hie country. Even now we have his dii- positton, his character for the pledge ; and his warlike genius, unfortunately necessary, shall soon lead sweet peace into this temple of war. Then the sentiment of universal Joy shall obliterate the remembrance of oppression and injustice. Already the oppressed forget their Ills in looking to the future. The acclamations of every age will be offered to the hero who gives happiness to France, and seeks to restore it to a cmtending world." » Mrs. Washington consented to the removal of her husband's remains to the National Capitol. But they have never been taken from his beloved Mount Vernon. They never should be. That home of the illustrious patriot Is now the property of the patriotic women of America, and shonld ever be consecrated by the presence of his tomb. The iioiu and TOHD of our beloved friend should be inseparable, and these words of Lnnt shonld ezpreaa the sentiments of ever; American : " Ay, leave him alone to sleep forever, Till the strong archangel calls for the dead, By the verdant bank of that gushing river Where first they pillowed his mighty head." ' That German Lutheran Church is yet standing on Fourth Street, Philadelphia, above Arch Street. Lee's oration was hastily prepared, but was an admirable production. In it he used those memorable words, "First in wab, first in PBAOE, FiBST IN TUB iiKABTS OF iiiB ootTNTBTMBN." This orfttion may be found in Cnstis's Re/rolUetions of Washington. * This corps was composed of the elite of Philadelphia society. TJie costume is represented in an engraving in Los- sing's Home of Wiuhincilan, or Mmmt Vernon and it» A a$oeiationt. Six of those who were present on that occasion were y*t living in January, 1862, and all were residents of Philadelphia, namely, Samuel Breck, aged ninety ; S. Palmer, aged eighty-one ; 8. F. Smith, aged eighty-one ; Charles N. Bancker, aged eighty-five ; Qnintan Campbell, aged eighty-flve, and Roljert Carr, aged eighty-four. John F. Watson, the annalist of Philadelphia and New York, and who died in De- Medal in Honor of < tucs and illus logy." cember, 1S60, was a m( Kinad who flrcd the vi I Among many othei of respect published time was a silver medi tic larger and thicker t: Spanish quarter of a Ouo of these is in the slon of the writer, and ii seated In the engraviu one side Is a profile of Ington, inclosed in a wn lanrel, and surrounded words, "im ,h ,„ qlob WOBLD IN THARB." Qu I Terse Is a memorial uri (trsvcd and publlnhed, Ir chanlc and engraver. Ij ' A contemporary wro "GENERAL WA8HII eyes were of a bluish ca remarkably lively. H|g nance grave, composed, « nt once secured for him p llclal capacity he recelvec kindness, as that each ret ^andlng; a correct, discc ^rfect control; ajudgme honorable In his dealings • cerity, moderation, and si ed, he was capable of diet husband, a faithful fi-lcnd temperance, ftnd Industry' 'OB- The intermediate ho religion was not forgotten «t stated seasons, retired ti for bis strict observation o OP THE WAR OF 1812. Ill Medal In Uonor of WashinKton. Skotch of Waibtngton'i MHI ChanKtcr. tucs and logy.' illustrious deeds.' Tlio faithful history of those deeds is his best eu- ' nil glory fllla the land— the plain, The moor, the mountain, and the mart I More Arm than column, urn, or fane, IIIb monument— the human heart. The C'hrlntlau— patriot— hero— BBgo 1 The chief from heaven In mercy sent ; Ills deeds are written on the age- Ills country Is big monument." OlOBOIt P, MOBRII. cembcr, ISflO, wns a member. Colonel Carr, who was an ofBccr In the War of 1812, Inlbrmod me that he was one of the tqaad who flred the volleys on that occasion. The costume of the H'Pherson Blues Is seen In the tiguro below. > Among many other tokens of respect published at that lime was a silver medal, a lit- tle larger and thicker than the Spanish quarter of a dollar. Ouo of these Is in the posses- sion of the writer, and is repre- sented In the engraving. On one side is a profile of Waeb- iugton. Inclosed lu a wreath of Isnrel, and surrounded by the words, " iiR IB IN OLonr, tur WOBLD IN TKAHS." Ou thC rC- Tcrse Is a memorial urn, and WAHIIINOTON MEllAi. around It, forming two circles, are nhbrovlatioiis, seen In the engraving, slgnifylug "Born February 11, 1732; Ucncral of the American Army, 1776; re- signed 1783 ; President of the I'nited States of America, 1789; retired inlTBO; Oener.il of the Armies of the United States, 171)8; died December 14, 1700." This medal was de- signed by Dudley A. Tyng, the collector of customs at New* buryport at that time, and en- jp'svcd and publinhed, immediately after the death of Washington, by Jacob Perkins, the well-known Ingenious me- chanic and engraver, lie cut dies for this design of two sizes. > A contemporary wrote as follows concerning Washington's person and character: "GENERAL WASHINGTON lu bis person was tall, upright, and well-made ; In manner easy and unaffected. His eyes were of a bluish cast, not prominent. Indicative of deep thoughtfliluess, and, when in action on great occasions, remarkably lively. Ills features strong, manly, and commanding; his temper reserved and serious; his counte- nance grave, composed, and sensible. There was In his whole appearance an nnneual dignity and graceftilness which nt once secured for bim profound respect and cordial esteem. He seemed born to command his fellow-men. In his of- Hcial capacity ho received applicants for favors, and answered their requests with so much ease, condescension, and kindness, as that each retired believing himself a favorite of his chief. lie had an excellent and well-cultivated under- standing ; a correct, discerning, and comprehensive mind ; a »"emory remarkably retentive ; energetic passions under perfect control ; a Judgment sober, deliberate, and sound. He .ras a man of the strictest honor and honesty ; fair and honorable in his dealings ; punctual to his engagements. I" - •Uspositlon was mild, kind, and generous. Candor, sin- fcrlty, moderation, and simplicity were, in common, prominent f0tti.,re8 in his character ; but, when an occasion call- ed, ho was capable of displaying the most determined bravery, firmness, and Independence. He was an affectionate hosband, a faithfiil friend, u humane master, and a father to the poor. He lived in the unvarying habits of regularity, temperance, hnd Industry. He steadily rose at the dawn of day, and retired to rest usually at nine o'clock In the even- Idi;. The intermediate hours all had their proper business assigned them. In his allotments for the revolving hours religion was not forgotten. Feeling, what be so often publicly acknowledged, bis entire dependence on God, he dally, At stated seasons, retired to his closet to worship at His footstool, and to ask Ills divine blessing. He was remarkable fur his strict observation of the Sabbath, and exemplary in bis attendance on public worship." it f ! I f 1 112 PICTOUIAL FIELD-IJOOK. I'eiicorul PromlNi. Th« AchlevtOMliU of BoMpuK. Ill* Iiifluoiice In Kurnpa, llntrod of Urett UriUln. CHAPTER VI. "The Pejr of AlRlem, not afraid of bin enni, Hi'iU lo Joiittthiin once for aoine tribnie : ' Ho! lie) 1' Hiiyn Ihp Doy, • If tho rnHcul don't pay, A cn|»r or two I'll exhibit. I'm thi' Dcy of Alulcm, wlih a l)cnrd a yiird long ; I'm a MiinHulninn, loo, and of coufko very utronij; Kor tlilit Ih my mnxim, dlnpute It wlio can, That u mail of etout niuiiclo'ij u vtout Musiiuluian.' " EFFERSON'S adminiHtration commenced imdcr favorable aus- piccH." Tliere wore omens of peace abroad, and these . jinrchi jtromiscd calmness and prosperity at home. The ^'""■ league of England and the Continental powers against IJona- partc had failed to impede his progress in the path toward uni- versal dominion ; on the contrary, he had brought nearly all Europe trembling at his feet. Within the short space of two years ho made himself master of all Italy, and humbled ]>roiul Austria by a series of the most splendid victories on record. Within the oirdc of another two years he had returned from his Oriental camjiaigns to receive the hom- age of France, and accept its sceptre in republican form as First Consul. With the absolute power of an emperor, which title he speedily assumed, he prepared to bring to France still more wealth, territory, and glory, by extending her sway from Africa to the North Cape — from tho Atlantic to the Ural Mountains. Old thrones shook; and when Bonaparte Avhispered peace all Europe listened eagerly, for they were words of hope for dynasties and nationalities. Tho preliminary Treaty of Liineville,^ '' affirming that of Campo-For- mio,2 made four years earlier," rendered a reconstruction of the map of Europe necessary, for kings and princes had allowed the successful soldier to change the geographical lines of their dominions. Great Britain was left alone in armed opposition to tho conquering Corsican. Even her late allies against him, always jealous of her maritime superiority, were now his foes. Tlie league of Northern powers, known as the Armed Neutrality,^ was re-established by " December 10, treaty*" at the instigation of the Emperor Paul, of Russia, and from their 1800. council went forth the spirit of Cato's words concerning the offending African city : Delenda est Carthago — " Carthage must be destroyed." Tliey resolved to contradict by force her doctrine concerning the freedom of neutrals,'' and naval armaments were put afloat. At the same time Bonaparte was threatening Great Brit- ain with invasion, and her rich East India possessions with the tread of the conqueror. Although burdened with taxation to a degree before unknown, and wearied with her long contest Avith France and the Irish rebellion under her own roof,^ Britain ' The peace conclnded at LnnevlUe between the French Republic and the Emperor of Germany, after confirming the Treaty of Cnmpo-Pormlo, etipnlated that the Rhine to the Dutch Territories phould form the boundaries of France, and recoj)^lzinj; the Independence of the Bavarian, Helvetic, Llgnrian, and Cigalpine Republics, « In the 'Treaty of Campo-Formlo, between France and Austria, the latter yielded the Low Countries and the lonlai Islands to the former, and Milan, Mantua, and Moden:< to the Cisalpine Republic which Bonaparte bad estabilBtaed in Italy. By a secret article, the Emperor of Austria took possession of the Veuitlan dominions, in compensation for tbe Netherlands. ' See note 2, on pafe 88. « See note 1, page 84. ' The Roman Catholics and the Protestant Dissenters in Ireland were snbjected to cmel and insulting disabilities b; j tho English in regard to both civil and religious privileges. In 1701 a society was formed, chiefly under the direction of Wolfe Tone, for the purpose of procuring Parliamentary reform In this matter. Tbey were called "United Irishmen." They were also animated by republican sentiments, and a hatred of England as on oppressor. Inspired by evente in j •> Febmary 9, 1801. « October IT, ITOT. Great Britain Irlumpt once more put Danish fleet at the other powei withdrew from lime, two hundn or chanting, with Knpland was w A peace ministry, in the spring of | which had so long Continental powei in March, 1 802,'' b technical friends, n who would not trii his object to be res formidable blows f to the greater faith was sunlight abroi j)cace was about to tor. England blaz( and sermons ; fe.ast* her literature with j lennium. Forgetfu: (rimes, Englislimert i ried back with ther Tlie sly Corsican, ch 'lesigns, treated the and received in turn bhishcd with shame. Tlie niaohinery of France, these" United Irlshm lablish a republican form of.. Jcntlvc directory In ITOT. Th covered and denounced by n n Jonly developed all over the t anticipation of an invasion by ■ France concluded a treaty 'nvarln, August 24; with Por December r. 'This was a treaty between ihe 1st of October, 1801. The t>«nce:Azara, for Spain, and 'Among those who went ov l-rey, and other leading men ratures from his brain were sp I kine, are seen stooping low be (en^appMrsasaflneladylnft Noy at the meeting in wan^ I f«Klag person, and to seal on I aonelenr,yonareatmlywell I »fKlng George and Bonaparte, OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 113 OfMt Britain trtnmpbMt. Frtradly RnUttoni with Bonapart*. TIm loddan Ctauiiie rtdlcaled. once more put forth hor Htrvngth on the ocean. I'lirkcr and NolHon dcHtroyod the Danish tii'ct at ('ojicnhatjcn,* and brought that jjovcrnnu'tit to HiihnuHHion ; •Aprils, tlu' otluT powiTM of the k'amu', ularniod, and di'siTtod by J'.iurH siicoi'Mnor, '^"• witli<liH'W from the unequal contoHt, and h'ft England Htill bouHthig, u» in VVallfrV tiiiu', two hundred years ago, that lier nliipH were "Riding without » rival ou the iiea;" or chanting, with the faitli of TlioniHon, a liundred ycarH later, "When Britain flrnt, st Henvcn'H command, , Arcwc from out thu azurn main, Thin woa the charter of the land, And K>i»rdlnn an);clii kuhk the etrain: liulu Britannia ; Britannia rules the wave* I BrltouH never shall bo alavca." England was willing to have peace, but not with the loss of an iota of her power. A jK'ace ministry, with Mr. Addington at its head, assumed the reins of govern. aent ill the spring of 1801. It looked witli favor upon the dispersion of the war-clouds which had so long brooded over Europe. During that year one after another of the Continental powers wheeled into the line of amicable relations with Bonaparte,' and in March, 1 802,'' by treaty at Amiens,^ he and (4eorgo the Third became ii'clmical friends, much to the disgust of a powerful war party hi England, w ho would not trust the word of the ambitious Corsican for an hour, 'f hey believed his object to be rest and gaining of time, while he should make prejjaralions for mor*^ t'orniidable blows for the subjugation of Europe. But they were comj)cilcd to yiel.. to the greater faith, or the greater needs, of the government and the majority. There was sunlight abroad, and a bow of promise in the sky. It seemed as if universal peace was about to be established in Europe, and Bonaparte was hailed as a i)acifica- tor. England blazed with bonfires and illuminations ; was resonant with speeches and sermons ; feasted in public halls in testimony of her faith and joy, and enriched iior literature with addresses and poems on the apparent dawning of a political mil- leniiium. Forgetful of the past deeds of Bonaparte, which they had denounced as i-rimes, Englishmert flocked to Paris to bow before the rising sun of power, and car- ried back with them French fashions in abundance, as tokens of their satisfaction. Tlie sly Corsican, chuckling over their obsequiousness, and their blindness to his real designs, treated the most distinguished of his English admirers with marked respect, ;ind received in turn such fulsome adulation that right-minded men m Great Britain blushed with shame,^ Tlie machinery of government was all adjusted for the easy management of the Kraace, these "United Irishmen," whose society extended nil over the kingdom, resolved to strike for liberty and es- labllsh a republican form of government for Ireland. In this they received the aid of France. They nominated an ex- OTtive directory In 1T9T. Their plans, carried on with the utmost secrecy, were ripe for execution, when they were dls- tiwered and denounced by a government spy. Many of the leaders were arrested, bnt an open, ai .jed rebellion was sud- denly developed all over the kingdom In May, 1T98. Great Britain put forth Its military power, then strong at home. In Mtlclpotion of an Invasion by the armies In France, and the Insurrection was crushed in the course of a few m-mths. • France concluded a treaty of peace with Naples March 18, 1801 ; with Spain, March 21 ; with the Pope, July IB ; with I'.ivarin, August 24 1 with Portugal, September 29 j with Russia, October 4 ; with Turkey, October 9; and with Algiers, December 7. > This was a treaty between Great Britain, Holland, France, and Spain. The preliminary treaty had been signed on the Ist of October, 1801. The definitive treaty was signed by Lord Comwallis, for England; Joseph Bonaparte, for France; Azara, fur Spain, and Srhimmelpennlnck, for Holland. > Among those who went over at that time were Charles Jame^i Pox and his nephew, Lord Holland, Lords Erskine, (irey, and other leading men. These visits excited the ridicule of satirists. Gillray's pencil was active. Several cari- catures from his brain were speedily published. He ridiculed the visit of Fox and his fHcnds in a caricature entitled 'Introdttction qf Citizen Volprone aiui SuUt at Parit," In which Fox and his wife, I^rd and Lady Holland, and Grey and Er- I !klne, are seen stooping low before the new ruler of Prance. One of the most popular of his caricatures was entitled " The irtt Kim this ten yearn, or llie meeting of Britannia and Citizen Franfoia." Britannia, who has suddenly become corpu- lent, appears as a flue lady In full dress, her shield and spear leaninf; neglected against the wall. The citizen expresses his joy at the meeting in warm terms. " Madame," he says, " permltter me to pay my profound esteem to your en- jiging person, and to seal on your divine lips my everlasting attachment ! ! I" The lady, blushing deeply, replies, "Sonslenr, you are a tmly well-bred gentleman ; acd though you make me blush, yet you kiss so delicately I can not reftue yon, though I wag sure yon would deceive me again 1" On the wall Just behind these two figures are portrait* otKlng George and Bouaparte scowling at each other.— See Wright's England under the Houte of nanover, U., 891. H bm >lii H VIP !| m li 'i ! J:F 114 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Beginning of Jeffei'itou's AdmlnistrattoB. Appearnnce and Condition of the National Capital. Thomas Jefferson. new President of the United States. The treasury had never been so full, nor the revenue so abundant as at that time, and he was enabled to signalize the conimencc- raent of his administration and to strengthen it by the repeal of the excise and othor obnoxious acts, which were necessary at the beginning. Commerce, and all the in- dustrial interests of the country, were flourishing, and the pathway of the now chief magistrjite of the republic seemed plain, flowery, and luminous. The seat of government had just been removed to the city of Washhigton, the new capital of the nation, and then an in- significant village on the bank of the Poto- mac, on the verge of a Maryland forest,' in the District of Columbia.^ There, in one of the wings of the half-finished Capitol, the last session of Congress had been held; and there, on the 4th of March, 1801, Chief Justice Marshall administered to Mr. Jefferson the oath of office, and he became the third President of the United States. 3 Although Jefferson was a radical Re- publican, he made no special changes in the inaugural ceremonies used by his pre- decessors. He abolished public levees at the Presidential mansion, and sent mes- sages in writing to Congress, instead of ' " There is one good tavern about forty rods from the Capitol, and several other houses are bnllt or erecting," Oliver Wolcott wrote to a friend !u the autumn of ISOO; "but 1 don't see how the members of Congress can possibly fociire lodgings unless they will consent to live like scholars In a college or monks In a monastery, -crowded ten or twcp'y in one house. The only resource for such as wish to live comfortably will be found In lieorgetown, three miles distant, over as had n road in winter as the clay grounds jear Hartford. . . . There are, In fact, but few houses In nny one place, and most pf them small, miserable huts which present an awful contrast to the public buildings. The people are poor, and, as far as I can Judge, they live 1ik> fishes, by eating each other. . . . You may look in almost ony direc- tion, over an extent <if ground nearly ns large as the city of New York, wlthou^eeclng a fence or any object cicept brick-kilns and temporary huts for laborers. . . There Is no Industry, society, or business." Mrs. Adams, wife of the President, wro'e in November, ISflO : " Woods are all you see from Baltimore until yo ■ rench the citi/, which 's only so in name. Here nnd there Is a small cot, without a glass >vlndow, intsrspersed amou); the for- ests, through which you tra-.el miles without seeing a human being." Concerning the President's hou;>e, which she speaks of as " npou a grand and superb scale, requiring about thirty servants to attend !\iid keep the apartments in propel order, and perform the ordinary business of the house and stables," she said, " If they will put me up sonic bells —there Is not one hung through the whole house, and promises are all you can obtain— ami let me have wood enough to keep fires, I design to be pleased. I could content myself almost any where for three months ; but, surrounded with forests, can you believe thot wood Is not to be had, because people can not be found to cut and cart it ! Brleslcr entered into a contract with a man to supply him with wood : a small part^-n few cords only— has he been able to get. Most of that was expended to dry the walls rf the house before we came in, and yesterday the man told him It was impo.sfiWc to procure it to be cut and carted. lie has had recourse to cods, but we can not get grates made and set. We have, Indeed, come Into a nne country" ' The District of Columbia was a tract ten miles square, lying on each side of the Potomac, and ceded to the United States by the States of Maryland and Virginia, for the residence of the national government. The portion lylug in^'ir ginia v/as retroccded to ihat state a few years ago. The city of Wfishington was laid out there in 17511, and the crocliuii of the Capitol was commenced In 170,% when, on the ISth of AprO President Washington laid the comer-stone, witli ma- sonic ceremonies. The two wings were completed in 1808. " . government, which had resided ten years In Phlludil- phia, moVed to Washington in the autumn of 18(10. ' Thomas JefTcrsou was born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, on the 13th of April, 1743. He was educated at William and Mary's College, studied law with the eminent George Wythe, and wab .Jmitted to the bar while yet n very yuung man. lie was a member of the Virgiiiia Assembly before the RevolntloU; ond won fame as a vigorous thinlicr and writer. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776, and in 1770, at the request of a committee of which he was a member, he drew up the neclarati<m of Independence. He wos offered an embassy to France, but declined it on account of feeble health. In 1779 he was elected Governor of Virginia, and In 1780 retired from public life, nnd de- voted his time chiefly to literary and scientific pursuits. He was sent to France In I'S,"), to join Adams and Fr,qnklin,a> representative of his country, and in 1785 snceeded Franklin as minister at the French Court. He remained thereun- til 1789, when he returned, and entered Washington's Cabinet as Secretary of State. He remained in that positiuu until 1793. He was elected Vlce-PrcBldent of the United States in 1700, and in ISOl was elected to the Presidency. He wn^ Mr. JefTcrson foresbac delivering speec in form.' A small militj he read his inaii looked for with s It was patriotic, his political oppo principle. We )i are all Federalist In this s]nrit M of public abuses, of public offices u (I'ss his forecast, i would not disturb most vehement de Mr. Jefferson eo been elevated to lustful for office. acquiescence in th iially filled many c for whose accomn Washington and re iiig proportions th: which iias worked i oraments from that Wtter pr.rtisanship. wg the advantage istratioi) as sooii^as mere game of politi( rc-clected fn 180S, and In ISO!) .Montlcelloonthe4th.>fJuIy iti! Declaration oflndcpend. vitcplatemadelnaiuatiuta ncniber of Congress from 18( I J„™'l7''""''"PP''nrance^ Win«m Plumer, United .Stat^ President, accompanied by s( came Into the room. He wa I ''"*"/ "'I'ch soiled, woolen 1 pnsed me by announcing that 1 'InalcttertoNatha-uelMs I l-cvees arc done away wit «>«|«KC, to which no answer rtstcrs. 4. The compensa.l, 1 "haste reformation, fl The » every department will be re wndation has been given to t I lis offices." fe'>tuioii ;^ethe«„/<.^«,„.,^„„„„, racy General. He retained^ -bertGallatlnwasappolntecU I M ivas now wholly so IWnDicklnsoD, two days aft I "ch, nothing ehall be want! I * republican g„ve™^;„7 |fpeo|leofothcrcouufries.'' Ill ■!' 7" K'^'" "">c for a l^o'e who have desired the glv "tr'""''''"«'-I>"bllcans, I'lkepttbllc affaire of the State !, patr: lor llrip t ran P ■li , iin nnou OF THE WAR OF 1812. 115 Mr. JefTersou furesbadowa hla Policy. His Popularity. > National Party desired. Political Proacriptiou begun. delivering speeches in person, because he considered these customs too monarchical in form.' A small military and civic escort conducted Mr. Jefferson to the Capitol, and ♦here he read his inaugural address to a large crowd of delighted H^steners. It had been looked for with an.\iety, as it would foreshadow the policy of the new administration.^ It was patriotic, conservative, and conciliatory, and allayed many apprehensions of Ills political opponents. " Every d'.fference of opinion," he said, " is not a difference of principle. We have called by r'lfferent names brethren of the same principle. We lire all Federalists — we are all Republicans. "' In this spirit 3Ir. Jefferson commenced his adr.iinisi-ration. He set about the reform of public abuses, treated every body with kindness, and left most of the incumbents of public offices untouched for a while.* His political enemies were compelled to con- fess his forecast, Avisdom, and faithfulness ; and many Federalists, believing that he would not disturb their friends in office, joined the Republican party, and became the most vehement denunciators of their old partisans and their principles.' Mr. Jefferson eoou discovered that he Avas not wholly his 6wn master. He had been elevated to power by a party whose leaders, like those of all parties, were lustful for office. He was compelled to listen to their clamors, and finally to yield acquiescence in their doctrine that " to the victor belongs the spoils."^ He grad- ually filled many of the most important offices in his gift with his political friends, tiir whose accommodation faithful men, a Inrge proportion of them appointed by Washington and retained by Adams, Avore removed. Tlius Avas developed in alarm- ing proportions that system of proscription commenced by the second President, which has Avorkcd mischicA^ously in the administration of our general and state gov- ernments from that time u'ltil the present. It bore immediate fruit in the form of bitter pr.rtisanship. liie Federalists, noAV become the opposition, and thereby hav- ing the ad\ antage in controversy, began a relentless Avarfare upon the ncAv admin- istration as soon as its proscriptive policy Avas manifested. With that Avarfare, as a mere game of politics, Ave have nothing to do, except so fivr as it had a bearing upon rwlccted in 1808, and in 1809 retired to private life, from which he was never again drawn. He died at his residence at Monlicelio on the 4th of July, 1S20, in the 84th year of his age. Like Adams, he departed on the Hftieth anniversary of ihc Declaration of Independence. The profile of Mr. JefTcrson, given on page 114, is from an impression from a pri- vate plate made in ariiiatinta aboiit the year 1804, and presented by the President to the Hon. D. C.Vcrplanck, who was a mtmber of Congress from 1803 until 1800. 1 The personal appearance of President Jefferson at this period may be imagined from the following description by WiDism Plnmer, United States senator from New Hampshire In 1S02: "The next nay after my arrival I visited the President, accompanied by some Democratic members. In a few moments after our arrival a tali, high-boned man umc Into the room. He was dressed, or rather '.mdressed, in an old browii coat, red waistcoat, old coidnroy smali- cloilica much soiled, woolen hose, and Rlii)pers without heels. I thonght him a servant, when General Varnnm sur- prised me by announcing that it was the President."— Sec Life of it'illiam Plumer, p. 242. ' In a letter to Natha'iiel Macon, of North Carolina, on the 14th of May, Mr. .Tcfferson indicated his policy as follows : "1. Levees are done away with. 2. The first communication to the next Congress will be, like all snljsequent pncs, by message, to which no answer will be expected. 3. The diplomatic establishment In Europe will be reduced to three ministers. 4. The compensation of collectors depend., on you [Congress], and not on me. 5. The army Is uniiergoing J 'haste reformation. 0. Tlie navy wiil be reduced to the legal establishment by the last of this month. T. Agencies ill every department will be revised. 8. AVe shall iwsh yon to the uttermost In economizing, fl. A very early recom- I niciuliitlnn has been given to the Postmaster General to employ no printer, foreigner, or Revolutionary Tory in any of I M» offices." 'See the Slatfsman'n Manual, 1., 242, There the President's inaugnral measagn Is printed In full. 'Mr. Jefferson appointed James Madison Secret try of State, Henry Dearborn Secretary of War, and Levi Lincoln At- I loracy General. He retained Mr. Adams's Secretaries of the Treasury and Navy until the following autumn, when I .ilberl Gallatin was appointed to the first, and Robert Smith to the second. These were both Republiains, and his Cabi- I ift W.1S now wholly so. ' Mr. .lefferson dreamed, patriotically, of a consolidated national party and a brilliant administration. In a letter to I John Dickinson, two days after his Inauguration, he wrote, "I hope to see shortly a perfect consolidation, to effect »hlch, nothing shall he wanting on my part short of the abandonment of the principles of the Revolution. A just and I Mlid republican government maintained here, will be a standing monnment and example for the aim and Imitation of I lie people of other countries." Yet he early resolved on rewards to friends. To Colonel Mor,-oc he wrote on the 7th '(March, "To give time for a perfect conaolldotlon seems i)rndent. I have firmly refuecd to follow tiie connsels of Jibose who have desired the giving of offlces to some of the Federalist leaders In "rder to reconcile. I have given, on I'illcivc, only to Republicans, under existing circumstances." ' This doctrine was first announced In these words by the late William L. Marcy when he assumed the adraUilglratiou I tlhe public affairs cf the State of New York as governor In ISS;' i ) ■ : M f 116 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ' March, 1801. Reason for giving a Uiatory of Parties. The Mavy reduced. Unwise Economy. Tribute to the Barbary Powers. public events during the few years immediately preceding the War of 1812, and held relationship thereto. It seems proper at this point in our narrative to say, that the sketch of the rise and progress of the two great political parties which existed in the United States at the beginning of the present century, and whose animosities and aspirations had much to do in bringhig about a war in 1812, has been given for the purpose, first, to afford our general subject that much-needed elucidation, and, secondly, to connect by depondoiit links of historic outlines the events of the Fibst with those of the Second War foi; Independence. At the close of Mr. Adams's administration," Congress passed a law' au- thorizing the President to place the navy on a rigid peace footing, by retain- ing only thirteen frigates,'^ and only six of these to be kept in active service. The act authorized him to dismantle and sell all others, and lay up seven of the thirteen in a way in which they might be carefully preserved. It also authorized him to re- duce the complement of officers and men, by retaining in the service, in time of peace, only nine captains, thirty-six lieutenants, and one hundred and fifty midshipmen, in- cluding those employed on the six frigates kept in active service, and to discharge the remainder. Under this authority, and in accordiince with his own judgment concern- ing rigid economy and the prospect of universal peace, Mr. Jeflferson sold all but the thirteen frigates named, laid up seven of these, and discharged all the officers and men in excess after placing the service on a peace footing. And yet, in the matter offeree, nearly four fifths was retained, for the vessels sold were mostly inferior, and only fourteen of them had been built expressly for the government service. The Pres- ident also suspended work on six ships authorized by Congress in 1798. So little did the American people then seem to apprehend the value of a competent navy fcr the protection of their commerce every where, as avcU as the honor of the nation, that a majority of them applauded these measures, while many Federalists assailed them only for political eifcct. That strong arm of the government which had so protected commerce as to enable the Americans to sell to foreign countries, during the difficul- ties with I'rance, surplus products to the amount of $200,000,000, and to import suf- ficient to yield the government a revenue exceeding $23,000,000, was thus paralyzed by an unwise economy in public expenditure. The conduct of the Barbary Powers soon made the want of an efficient navy pain- fully apparent. The government of the United States had purchased, by the pay- ment in full of a stipulated sum of money, the friendship, or rather the forbearance of the Bey of Tripoli, while to the Dey of Algiers and the 13ey of Tunis tribute in money, military and maritime stores, and other presents was annually paid.^ The su^'inis- sion of all the Christian nations of Europe to these exactions made those pirate-kings exceedingly insolent, and finally, in the spring of 1801, the President resolved to humble the pride and the power of those commercial marauders, release Amerioaii commerce from their thrall in the Mediterranean, and assert the dignity of his coun- try by ceasing to pay tribute to another. This resolution was strengthened by tlio 1 Approved March S, 1801. ' Theec were the United Statfs, ConsHtutinn, fhrenident, Chtsaprakf, Philadelphia, Conatellaliim, Congress, A'eic I'orit, fl»<-l ton, Essex, Adams, John Adams, aud Qeneral Greene. These had an aggregate amiament of 884 guns. The vessels boUI were the George Washington, Ganges, I'ortsmoxtth, Merrimack, Comtecticut, of li4 gunB eacli ; the Baltimore, Ddawan; aujf Montezuma, of '20 guns each ; the Maryland, Patapseo, He^ild, TrumlmU, Warren, Norfolk, Richmond, and Pineknqi, of lj| guns each ; the Eaule, Augusta, and Scamnel, 14 gnns each ; the Experiment, 9 guns, and nine galleys.— CoorKit, i., XH- 3 Colonel Ebenezer Steveiid, an active and eminent merchant of New Yorlc, and who had been a meritorious artlllcrj officer during the Revolution, was employed by the government as its factor in forwarding the stores to Tunis. II May, 1801, Secretary Madison wrote to Mr. Stevens on the subject, saying, " It Is desirable that the remalninc cnrgf of maritime and military stores due to the Regency of Tunis should be provided and shipped without loss of time Tli powder will be given to yon from the public magazines, and the Navy Department will give orders to its agent at Xel Yorit or elsewhere, as may be most convenient, to supply the cannon and such other articles as yon may want and c«f be spared."— W.S'. letter. How much cheaper and more dignified it would have been to have sent the materials In stiia of war, ta]]y prepared, as they might have been, to Itnock the capitate of those semi-barbaric mlers aboat their canj and alnlc their corsalt-' In the deep waters of the Mediterranean t BalDbrldge at Algler insolent trcatn year. In May, out with the us tal in Septembe about to leave the Court of the when the haugh you become mv The guns of the without their pei yield to the fore circumstances, I assured by Mr. en, once a capf I , , then American co there, that if he tempted to leave harbor, the guns of eastio, heavy and w manned, would o upon his vessel w destructive effect ship would be seis and used for the p pose, and war won ensue. To avoid the calamities Bainbrid bowed submissive to the humiliatioi and he even complie with the haughty m the main, and that Algiers an obedient freeman, he bore the to the Secretary of t unless I am authorize Under other circu have been a desirabl, stnpes for the first and his great officers States; but when, .;t beyond the great sea, romantic rumors, Bair Turkish admiral becan Algiers in January tl Imce there. The Suit t^om this visit of a ba ttie two nations must ( On his return to Al other errand to Consta % flew into a rage, t ;■» ence. Bainbridge , i«nb-like, and obsequio OF THE WAIi OF 1812. 117 Bainbridge at Algiers and Constantinople. His Treatment at each. Oood Effect of his Visit to Constantinople. insolent treatment of Commodore Bainbridge by the Dey of Algiers the previous year. In May, 1800, BainVjridge, in command of the George Washington, 24, went out with the usual tribute to the Algerine ruler. He arrived in the port of his capi- tal in September, performed with courtesy the duties enjoined upon him, and was about to leave, when the Dey commanded him to carry an Algerine embassador to the Court of the Sultan at Constantinople. Bauibridge politely refused compliance, when the haughty and offended Dey said sternly, " You pay me tribute, by which you become mv slaves, and therefore I have a right to order you as I think proper." The guns of the castle were looking out vigilantly upon Bainbridge's frigate, and without their permission he could not pass out of the harbor. He was compelled to yield to the force of circumstances, being assured by Mr. O'Bri- en, once a capt i and then American consul there, that if he at- tempted to leave the harbor, the guns of the castle, heavy and well- manned, would open upon his vessel with destructive effect, his ship Avould be seized and used for the pur- pose, and war would ensue. To avoid these calamities Bainbridge bowed submissively to the humiliation ; and he even complied with the haughty ruler's farther requisition, that he should carry the Algerine flag at the main, and that of the United States at the fore. He spiled out of the port of Algiers an obedient slave, and then, placing his own flag in the position of honor as a freeman, he bore the Algerine embassador to the Golden Horn. " I hope," he wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, " I shall never again be sent to Algiers with tribute, unless I am authorized to deliver it from the mouth of our cannon." Under other circumstances this trip to the ancient city of Constantinople would have been a desirable one, for Bainbridge had the honor of displaying the stars and ?tripes for the first time before that famous seat of Ottoman empire. The Sultan and his great ofiicers of state were astonished. They had never heard of the United States ; but when, ;;t length, they were made to comprehend that it was a country beyond the great sea, discovered by Columbus, of which they had heard vague and romantic rumors, Bainbridge was received with the greatest courtesy. He and the I Turkish admiral became warm friends ; and when Bainbridge was about to return to Algiers in January, the latter gave hi.n a firman to protect him from farther inso- I Icnce there. The Sultan, whose flag bore the crescent moon, drew a favorable omen from this visit of a banner bearing its neighbors, the stars of heaven. He believed I the two nations must ever be friends, and so they have been. On his return to Algiers^ the Dey requested Bainbridge to go on an- . ja„nnry 21, [other errand to Constantinople. Bainbridge peremptorily refused. The **"^- I Dey flew into a rage, threatened war, and finally menaced the captain with personal jviolence. Bainbridge quietly produced \\i^ firman, when the fierce governor became llimb-like, and obsequiously offered to the man he had just looked upon as his slave, ALOIEBS IN 1800. 1 ! ! ; ■y\ j 1 1 i ^ if 1 * 118 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Dcy of Algiers humbled. Insolence of the Bey of Tnnls. Commodore Dale In the Hediterraneun. friendship and service. Taking advantage of this change, Bainbridgo assumed the air of a dictator, and demanded the instant release of the French consxil and fifty or sixty of his countrymen, who had lately been imprisoned by the Dey. When Bain- bridge left he carried away with him all the French in Algiers. His compulsory visit to Constantinople resulted in great good to his fellow-men. The IJey or Bashaw of Tripoli,' not content Avith the gross sum that had been paid him by the United States, when he learned that liis neighbors had received larger bribes than he, demanded tribute in the autumn of 1800, and threatened war if his demand was not satisfied withhi six months. Accordingly, in May, 1801, he ordered the flag-staff of the American consulate to be cut down, and proclaimed war. In an- ticipation of these events, Commodore Dale had been sent with a small squadron, con- sisting of the President, 44, Captain James Barron ; Philadelphia^ 38, Captain Samuel Barron; Essex, 32, Captain Bainbridge, and Enterprise, 12, Lieutenant Commandant Sterrett. The President was Dale's flag-ship. The squadron sailed fromHamptonlioads, and reached Gibraltar on the 1st of July, Dale soon proceeded eastward in company with the Enterprise, and appeared off'Trip- oli and Tunis, to the great astonishment of the rulers of those states. On the way the Enterprise fell in with, attacked, and captured a Tripoli- tan corsair called the Trijjoli, reducing he:* in * ihe course of an engagement of three hours, almost to a wreck, and killing and wounding twenty of her men, without the loss of a single man on her side.^ Meanwhile the Philadelphia was of Gibraltar, to pre- vent two Tripolitaii corsairs which were found there going out uwon the Atlantic ; and the Essex sailed aloniT the northern shores of the Medi- terranean, to convoy American merchant ships. Dale contin- ued to cruise in the Mediterranean until autumn, and his pres- ence exercised a most wholesome restraint over the corsairs.^ Another expedition was sent to the Medi- terranean in 1 802, under Commodore Richard Y. cruising in the Straits Morris, It was a relief squadron, and consisted of the Chesapeake, '<8, Lieutenant Chauncey, acting captain ; Constellation, 38, Captain Murray ; iVew York, 30, Cap- tain James Bairon; Jbhti Adams, 28, Captain Rodgers; Adams, 28, Captain Cani])- bell, and Enterprise, 12, Lieutenant Commandant Sterrett, Morris hoisted his broad pennant on board the Chesapeake. The squadron did not go in a body, but pro- ceeded one after another from February until September. Meanwhile the Boston, ' This was Jiissuf Carnmnlll. lie was a third son, and had obtained the seat of power by violence. He murderoJ his father and elder brother, and deposed his next brother, Ilamet, the rightful heir, who at this time was an exile in • Egypt, whither he fled to save his life, followed by quite a large number of adherents. > The raU or commander of the Tripoli was Mahomet Sous. Three times during the engagement the Tripoli strucl; | her colors, and as often treacherously renewed the combat, when Lieutenant Sterrett determined to sfnlj her. She wa^ too much of a wreck to be taken into port — indeed, according to iustmctlons, she could not be mai' > prhe— and six , was dismantled under the direction of Lieutenant David Porter. When her commander reached Tripoli, wounded niitl | heart-broken, he was subjected to great Indignity. lie was placed upon a jackass, paraded through the streets, and aft- erward received the bastinado. ' Richard Dale was bom near Norfolk, Virginia, on the 0th of November, ITM. He went to sea at the age of twcivcl years, and continued In the merchant service until 17TB, when he became lieutenant of a Virginia cruiser. He was aiil active officer during the whole war of the Revolution, and was with Paul Jones In his gallant action with the Sprnjjijilnl September, 17T9. lie was then only about twenty-three years of age. He was a great favorite with Jones, and the latlprl presented to Dale the elegant gold-monntcd sword which Jones received from the King of France. It Is now In the p<)f-f Mission of his grandson, Richard Dale, of Philadelpbin, where I saw it in November, 1801. The handle, guard, and bntil Tripoli and Its Cnil commanded b lutionary nav' conveying Ho of Tripoli was stellation. TJn others, and not Tripolitan gun. shore, with her The Chesapei tain Bainbridge the Adams Jate cruise along the commerce. Fin rendezvous at 3J 1803, and during fcctually restrah May. She had a and land batteriei in killed and won next day, and in . the Americans to the John Adams politan corsair lyi sair soon afterwai , her. The ships ti home. He arrivct the Mediterranean cidcd that he had n and the President, the service witlioiii TJie United State Barbary Powers, ai andthc mountings of the s( iflilly-wrought devices on i lowing Inscription: tini.,c VEBATOB STRENCO VfRTCTI - valiant nsserter Of the freed Dale left the service i„ i one of the sU naval captain commodore In 1801 bv beinn ran, and the following year" competency, and spent then Phia, where he died in isjc ^.TJ^/^^e of Commodore I ^hS'^t, Philadelphia J with the following Ine^criptlo R.™.,H„ Da,.k. born Noven V, ■ '^" """"est man, an Im tons conciliating unlvers ?" Ic, he departed this Ilf„ i„ ".nTh7r""'tt^'^" f.t;rn;^em"f^r/cir: ■-y.whodiedlnDecemr;," SeeI,osHlng's;^Wrf.a„„i' 'Richard Valentine Morris, 1 r^' "" ^'"' re'Jilned as «er been considered 8 hlgh-ha OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 110 Tripoli uid its Cruisers blockaded. Abandonment of ihe Barbary Coast. Commudorea Morris and Dale. commanded by the eccentric Captain M'Neill (son of Hector M'Neill, of the Revo- lutionary navy),' was cruising in the Mediterranean in an independent way, after conveying Robert R. Livingston, the United States minister, to France. The port of Tripoli was blockaded by her early in May, where she was joined by the Con- stellation. The latter vessel was soon left alone, as M'Neill avoided tlic company of others, and not long afterward she had a severe contest with a flotilla of seventeen Tripolitan gun-boats. She handled theui severely, as well as some cavalry on the siiore, with her great guns. The Chesapeake reached Gibraltar on the 25tli of May, and found the JEsaex, Cap- tain Bainbridge, still blockading the two Tripolitan cruisers there. The arrival of the Adams late in July enabled the Chesapeake, in company with the Enterprise, to cruise along the north shore of the Mediterranean for the protection of American commerce. Finally orders were given for the different vessels of the squadron to rendezvous at Malta. They collected there in the course of the month of January, 1803, and durhig the spring appeared off the ports of the Barbary Powers, and ef- fectually restraining their corsairs. Tripoli was blockaded by the John Adarns in May. She had a severe engagement toward the close of the month with gun-boats and land batteries. These suffered severely, and the Americans lost twelve or fifteen in killed and wounded. An unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a peace was made the next day, and in June the movements of the Algerine and Tunisian corsairs induced the Americans to raise the blockade. But, before leaving, Commodore Rodgcrs, of the John Adams (then in chief command), Avith the Enterprise, attacked a large Tri- politan corsair lying in a sheltered bay, and drove her people to the shore. The cor- sair soon afterward blew up, Avith a large number of persons who had returned to her. The ships then all left the Barbary coast, and Commodore Morris returned liomc. He arrived toward the close of November, 1803. The conduct of affaii's in the Mediterranean under his direction was not satisfactory. A court of inqui-^, de- cided that he had not " discovered due diligence and activity in annoying the enemy," and the President, with a precipitation diflicult to be defended, dismissed him from the service without trial. '^ The United States government had determined to act with more vigor against the Barbary Powers, and in May, 1803, Commodore Preble was appointed to the com- andthe monntings of the scabbard are solid gold, with beaii- liftiUy-wronght devices on them. Upon the blade is the fol- lowing Inscription: vindioati maris i.iiniviocs xvi. rkmu- NEBATOR STUKNi'o viRTCTi — "Louls XVI. rawardcr of the valiant nsserter of the freedom of the sen." Dale left the service in 17S0. In ir94 he was appointed one of the six naval captains by Washington. He was mndo commodore in ISOl by being placed in command of a squad- ron, and the following year he resigned. He retired with a competency, and spent the remainder ofhis days in Philadel- phia, where he died in 1826, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. The grave of Commodore Dale is in Christ Chnrch-yard, on Fifth street, Philadelphia. His monument is a marble slab, with the folloAving Inscription: "In memory of Commodore Richard Dai.k, born November C, 1750, died February 24, Wid. An honest man, an incorruptible patriot, in nil his re- i.ilions conciliating universal love. A Christian without i.Tille, he departed this life in the wcU-fonnded and triumph- ant hiiiic of that blessedness which awaits all who, like him, die in the Lord." On the same slab is an inscription com- memorative of the virtues of his wife, who died In Septem- lier, 1S32, at the age of sixty-flve years. Very near this tomb ii a handsome marble cross, erected to the memory of Montgomery, a son of Commodore Dale, also of the United State; navy, who died in December, 1S62, at the age of flfty-flvo years. ' See Losslng's Field-Book (\f the Revolution, ii., 040. ' Richnrd Valentine Morris was the youngest son of Lewis Morris, of Morrlsania, New York, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He entered the senlco in early life, and in June, ITOS, he wns commissioned a captain In llie imvy. He was retained as fifth in rank at the reduction of the navy In 1801. His dismissal from the service has j ever been considered a high-handed political m jasnre. He died while attending the Legislature nt Albany In 1814. DALE 8 UONUHENT. ^H«!82^ 120 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK /^i^^^^2<??^ ^ Squadron ander Preble in the Mediterranean. Settlement of DIflcalties wltli Morocco. Capture of the PMUulelphia. mand of a equadron, consisting ,of the Constitution, 44, Philadelphia, 38, Ar- ffua and Siren, 16 each, and Nautilus, Vixen,&r\^Enterprise,\2 each. Preble sailed in the Constitution at the middle of August, and the other vessels follow- ed as fast as they were made ready. The Philadelphia, Captain Bainbridgc, had sailed in July, and on the 26th of August captured the Moorish frigate Meshboha, found holding in possession an American merchant vessel which she had taken as a prize. It was dis- covered that her commander was act- ing under the orders of the Moorisli Governor of Tangiers to cruise for American vessels. The Philadelphia returned to Gibraltar with her prize. On the arrival of Preble he determ- ined to sail for Tangiers and make in- quiries respecting the hostile proceed- ings of the Moors. He was accompa- nied by Commodore Rodgers, and on the 6th of October the Constitution, New York, John Adams, and Nautilus <, entered the Bay of Tangiers. Preble had an interview with the Emperor of Morocco, who disavowed the act of the Gov- <)rnor of Tangiers, and expressed a desire to remain at peace w'th the United States, The difficulty with Morocco being settled, Rodgers sailed for home, and Preble made energi'tic preparations to bring Tripoli to terms, A serious disaster soon oc- curred. On the morning of the 31st of October the Philadelphia chased a Tripolitan ship into the harbor of Tripoli. In endeavoring to beat off she struck on a rock not laid down in any of the cliarts. Every effort to get her off failed, and she was at- tacked and finally captured by the Tripolitans. Bainbridge and his officers and men were made prisoners, and two days afterward the ship was extricated and taken into the harbor. The officers were treated as prisoners of war, but the crew were made slaves. Bainbridge found means to report his misfortune to Preble at Malta, and to sug- gest the destruction of the Philadelphia, which was being fitted for sea. Preble had recently appeared off Tripoli for the first time. On the 23d of December the Mit&'- prise. Lieutenant Decatur, sailing in company with the flag-ship, captured a ketch called the Mastico, then belonging to the Tripolitans, and bound to Constantinople with a present of female slaves for the Sultan. Heavy storms arose, and Preble and Decatur sailed into Syracuse, where the ketch was appraised and taken mto the service, with the name of the Intrepid. Decatur had formed a plan for cutting out or destroying the Philadelphia. It was approved by Preble ; and on the 3d of February, 1 804, he left Syracuse with orders and preparations to destroy her. Tlie Intrepid was chosen for the service, and sev- enty-four determined young men sailed in her for the port of Tripoli, accompanied by the brig Siren, Lieutenant Stewart. Heavy storms delayed their operations until the 16th, when, in the evening, the young moon shining brightly, the Intrepid sailed into the harbor, and was warped alongside the Philadelphia without exciting suspicion, she having assumed the character of a vessel in distress. Most of the officers and men were conce&led until the ketch was placed alongside the Philadelphia. Then, De8trnctlonofthe/>A,; for the first, th( other officers spi the turbaned del immediately set teries and cap Je, guns of the Phila imminent danger men was killed, a Intrepid, by the i with their strong ant breeze both v people of the towi roic act Decatur i companied him wc >T\m bold act gr ade of his port by • 1804. ^^ *''° ^'^se anchored th tection lay in heav^ teen gun-boats, a bi land-soldiers, and a not dismay Preble. a heavy cannonade get near enough ft place, and finally L lay his vessel alongs and captured her af other, when he had Tripolitan captain. finally killed by De( captured. 2 After a of the enemy's gun-bi aheavy loss of life ha( it prudent to withdrj The second attack 'AnguBt. »fte'-noonof passed into captured on the 3d, a: with it her command sey.and eight of her cleared away her bow ert T. Spence and elev with which she was gun at the enemy, and men in boats, for the gone to the bottom. I Again, after inflictin] drew, but renewed thf I >»',r"' ^"P""" Decatur was I .*c was as bravely emulati, .Irak Decatur on the forehead Itjntly. HewastbeonlyAmer, 'Decatur attacked the Tripoli^ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 121 DestroctioD of tbe Philadelphia, Tripoli bombarded. A hand to hand Fight. Gallantry of Decatnr. •1804. for the first, the Tripolitans suspected them. At the same moment Decatur and other officers sprang on board the frigate, followed by their men. In a few minutes the turbaned defenders of the vessel were all killed or driven into the sea. She was immediately set on lire, in the midst of the roar of cannon from the Tripolitan bat- teries and caf Je, and from two corsairs near. The scene was magnificent ; and as the iruns of the Philadelphia became heated they were discharged. The Intrepid was in imminent danger from the flames, but she escaped. Not one of the gallant Decatur's men was killed, and only four were wounded. In the light of the conflagration the Intrepid, by the aid of oars, swept out of the harbor, where the boats of the Siren, with their strong sweeps, were in readiness to aid in towing her ofi". Before a pleas- ant breeze both vessels sailed for Syracuse, where the American squadron and the people of the town welcomed them with strong demonstrations of joy. For this he- roic act Decatur was promoted to captain, and several of the other officers who ac- companied him were advanced. sThis bold act greatly alarmed the Bey or Bashaw of Tripoli, and the ensuing block- ade of his port by Commodore Pi-eble made him exceedingly circumspect. Finally, at the close of July," Preble entered the harbor of Tripoli with his squadron, and anchored the Constitution two and a half miles from the walled city, whose pro- tection lay in heavy batteries mounting one hundred and fifteen cannon, nine- teen gun-boats, a brig, two schooners, and some galleys, twenty-five thousand land-soldiers, and a sheltering reef of dangerous rocks and shoals. These did not dismay Preble. On the 3d of August, at three in the afternoon, he opcjied a heavy cannonade and bombardment from his gun-boats, which alone could (jet near enough for effective service. Conflict in closer range soon took place, and finally Lieutenant Decatur, commanding gun-boat Number Four, lay bis vessel alongside one of the largest of those of the enemy, and boarded and captured her after a df .perate struggle. ^ He immediately boarded an- other, when he had a most desperate personal encounter with the powerful Tripolitan captain. The struggle was brief but deadly. The captain was finally killed by Decatur at a moment of fearful peril, and the vessel was captured.'^ After a general conflict of two hours, during which time three of the enemy's gun-boats were sunk in the harbor, three of them captured, and aheavy loss of life had been suffered by the Tripolitans, the Americans thought it prudent to withdraw, but to renew the conflict four days afterward. Tlie second attack on Tripoli commenced at lialf past two o'clock in the afternoon of the 7th.'' An hour afterward a hot shot from the town 'AngM. pjjgggj into the hull of gun-boat A^wmfier iVmc, one of the prizes captured on the 3d, and fired her magazine. The vessel was destroyed, and with it her commander. Lieutenant Caldwell, of the Siren, Midshipman Dor- sey, and eight of her crew. Six others were wounded. When the smoke cleared away her bow only was above water. On it were Midshipman Rob- ert T. Spence and eleven men, busily engaged in loading the long 24-pounder with which she was armed. They gave three loud cheers, discharged the gun at the enemy, and a moment afterward were picked from the water by men in boats, for the wreck on which they stood, with its great gun, had gone to the bottom. Again, after inflicting some damage upon the enemy, the Americans with- drew, but renewed the attack on the 24th of the same month. This was wkaton. ' While Captain Decatur was thus gallantly nssalling the enemy, his younger brother James, flret lieutenant of the Ami/dHc, was as bravely emulating his example. In command of gun-boat Xumber Tim. He had caused the surrender of die of the enemy's largest vessels, and was boarding her to take possession, when the captain of the surrendered vessel treacherously shot him and escaped. The miscreant's pistol was loaded with two balls connected by a wire. The wire ilnick Decatur on the forehead, and bending, the two balls entered hie temples, one on each side, and killed him in- Htntly. He was the only American officer killed in this engagement. ■ Decatur attacked the Tripolitan captain with a pike. The assailed seized It and turned It npon his assailant. Deco- J^ ■i J 1 t- =s 111 i I 122 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Trlixilt bombarded the Fifth Time. A floating Mine. Ita Explosion in the Harbor of Tripoli, brief, and without any important rcBults. But on the 29th a fourth and more formi- dable attack was made by the American gun-boats, commencing at three o'clock in the morning. The conflict continued until daylight, with great fury on both sides, when the Constitution ran toward the harbor, under heavy fire from the Bashaw's castle and Fort English. She signaled the gun-boats to withdraw, correctly supposing their ammunition to be nearly exhausted. This was done under the fire of the Constitution, which, with grape and round shot, greatly damaged the gun-boats of the enemy and caused them to retreat. She then ran in, and opened a heavy fire upon the town, bat- teries, and castle. She soon silenced the guns of the castle and two batteries, sunk a Tunisian vessel, damaged a Spanish one, severely bruised the enemy's galleys and gun-boats, and then withdrew, without having a man hurt. The American squadron lay at anchor off Tripoli until the 2d of September repair- ing damages. It then sailed for the harbor, where it arrived on the afternoon of the 3d. The enemy, profiting by experience, had adopted new tactics. The change coin- pelled Preble to modify his own plan. At half past three in the afternoon the bonj)- ketches opened the conflict by bombarding the town. The Constitution ran down to the rocky reef and opened a heavy fire, at grape-shot distance, upon the castle and the city. She poured in eleven eflective broadsides, while the smaller vessels were car- rying on the conflict at other points. The general engagement lasted an hour and a quarter, when, the wind rising freshly, the commander, in the exercise of prudence, gave a signal for the squadron to withdraw. The ketch Intrepid, used in the destruction of the Philadelphia, had been converted into a floating mine, for the purpose of destroying the enemy's cruisers in the harbor of Tripoli. One hundred barrels of gunpowder were placed in a room below deck, and mimediately above them a large quantity of shot, shell, and irregular pieces of iron were deposited. In other parts of the vessel combustibles were placed, and slie was made in every way a most disagreeable neighbor. On the night succeeding the fifth bombardment of Tripoli she was sent into the harbor on her destructive mission, under the command of Captain Soniers, who had behaved gallantly during the recent attacks on the town. He was assisted by Lieutenant Wadsworth, of the Constitution, and Mr. Israel, an ardent young oflicer, who got on board the ketch by stealth. These, Avith a few men to work the Intrepid, and the crews of two boats employed in towing her, composed the expedition. At nine o'clock in the evening the Intrepid entered the harbor on her perilous mis- sion. The night was very dark, and she soon disappeared in the gloom. Many eager eyes were turned in the direction where her shadowy form was last seen. All hearts in the squadron beat quickly with anxiety. Suddenly a fierce and lurid light streamed up from the dark bosom of the waters like volcanic fires, and illuminated with its horrid gleams the rocks, forts, flotilla, caiitle, town, and the broad expanse of the har- bor, followed instantly by .an explosion that made all surrounding objects tremble. Flaming masts and sails and fiery bombs rained upon the waters for a few moments, tnr dre^v his cntloss and attempted to cnt off the head of the pike, when his weapon snapped ot the hilt, and he was left apparently at the mercy of the Turk. He parried the thrnst of the Tripolltan, ond sprang upon and clutclicd him by the throat. A trial of strength ensued, ond they both fell to the dc ' "^he Tripolitan attempted, as they iny, to draw a small ponlnrd from his sash. Decatur perceived the movement, grabpea ^he hand that held the deadly steel, and drew from his own pocket a small pistol, which he passed round the body of his antagonist, pointed it inward, and shot him dead. During the affi-ay, Reuben James, a quarter-gunner, performed a most self-sacrificing act. One of the Tripolitan crew, seeing the perilous condition of his commander, aimed a sabrc-blow at Decatur's head. James, with both firing disabled from wounds and bleeding profusely, rushed between the Tripolitan and his commander, and received tlic i sabre-stroke upon his own head. The blow was not fa- tal. Decatur took the dirk from his foe, and afterward presented it to Captain (now [1807] the venerable TBirOLITAN I'ONIABD. Vice-Admirai) Charles Stew- art— fi-om which the annexed j drawing was made. One of the weapons— a powerful though I not large sort of a sword or J long knife, in a shark- skin [ Deatmction of the when all was and ears hcnt imtil the daw man of that pt an accident or a patriotic han into the hands the matter has Lack of pow( modoro Preble maintenance of 10th of Septeml Barron. He ret highest regards Congress voted Oa PrcbJo they 'Waldo, in his £,/»„/ ft,, Hat as the /n«rfp« moved t men In each, captured the" their fate to be miserable ca elevcD months, considered d pression a newspaper writer scabbard— which was taken trom the enemy by Decatur at that time, Is delineated in the engraving on page 121. It | U in the possession of F. J. Dreer, Esq., of Pbiladclpbia.— See Waldo's Li/e qfjheatur, page 132, 'Edward Preble was born 1 "(i engaged in the merchant '''i<'7''fd became Ileutena Wepeudence. He was the fir ITO cruises in the brig a"L »Wch he sailed to the East ?n nio likeness of Preble given, OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 1S8 Deatructlun of tho Intrtpid. Honora to Commodura Preble. Biographical Sketch. when all was again silence and darkness three-fold greater than before. Anxious eyes and ears bent in the direction of the dreadful explosion. Tho boats were waited for until the dawn with almost insupportable impatience. They never came, and no man of that perilous expedition was heard of afterward. Whether the explosion was an accident or a sacrifice — whether a shot from the enemy, or a brand dropped from a patriotic hand to prevent the ketch and its freight of men and powder from falling into the hands of the Tripolitans — can never be known. For more than sixty years the matter has been shrouded in impenetrable mystery.* Lack of powder and the approach of the stormy season of the year induced Com- modore Preble to cease operations on the dangerous Barbary coast, other than the maintenance of the blocVado of Tripoli. Not another shot was fired ; and on the 10th of September* Preble was relieved by the arrival of Commodore Samuel Barron. He returned home late in February, 1805, bearing expressions of the highest regards from his officers, and received the homage of the nation's gratitude.'^ Congress voted thanks to the commodore, and all who had served under his orders. On Preble they bestowed a gold medal bearing appropriate devices and inscrip" UEDAL GIVEN TO flO3IM0DOBE PBKOLE. 1 WaUlo, in his Li/e o/ Decatvr, page 14C, says that an eye-witness informed him that the evening was unusually calm ; that as the Intrepid moved silently into the inner harbor, two of the enemy's heaviest galleys, with more than n hundred men in each, captured the " Infernal," wholly unconscious of her cl)aracter. The impression was that Somcrs, knowing ihcir fate to be miserable captivity if taken prisoners into the city, where Bainbridge and his men had then suffered for eleven months, considered death preferable, and with his own hand flred the magazine of the Intrepid. Under this im- prewion a newspaper writer, after alluding to the capture, wrote with more feeling than poetry— " In haste they board : see Somcrs stand, Determined, cool, formed to command, The match of death in his right hand, Scorning a life of slavery. And now behold ! Jhe match applied, The mangled foe the welkin ride : Whirling aloft, brave Somers cried, ' A glorioas death or liberty 1' " 'Edward Preble was born in Portland, Maine, on the 16th of August, 1761. He early evinced a passion for the sea, and engaged in the merchant service. He became a midshipman in the naval service in 1779 in the state ship Protector. lie afterward became lieutenant of the sloop-of-war Winthrop, and remained in her during the remainder of the war fbr iDdependence. He was the first lieutenant appointed in the new naval establishment in 1TO8, and soon afterward made l»o cruises in the brig Pickerinii ns commander. In 1800 he was made captain and placed in command of the E»sex, in which he sailed to the East Indies to convoy American vessels. On account of ill health he withdrew from active serv- ice until 1808, when he went to the Mediterranean Sea. After his succcssfVil operations there he again withdrew ft-om Ihe service. In 1800 ho suffered severely troxa debility of the digestive organs, from which he never recovered. lie died on the 26th of August, ISOT, at the age of forty-six years. To his memory a friend wrote In 1807— " Lamented chief! though death be calmly past. Our navy trembled when he breathed his last I Our navy mourns him, but it mourns in vain : A Preble ne'er will live— ne'er die again 1 Yet hope, desponding, at the thought revives — A second Preble— a Deoatdr lives 1" I The likeness of Preble given on page 120 is flrom a portrait of him in Fancoil Hall, Boston. ■'w i ( ram 11 124 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Commodore Barmti's Sqimtlron In the Mediterranean, The Naval Monument at Annapolli. DeTlcen and Inacrlpttonn. tions.' Officers of tho navy afterward caused a white marble monument to be erected at tlie government dock-yard near the National Capitol in memory of their brother officers who fell at Tripoli,'^ Commodore Barron found himself in command of a much greater naval force thd.ii the Americans had ever put afloat in the Mediterranean Sea. It consisted of tlie Prm</('w<, 44, Captain Cox; 6'o>t«<t<M<ion, 44, Captain Decatur; C'o7iffrea8, SS, Ci\])Uun Itodgers ; Constellation^ 38, Captain Campbell ; JCiisex, 32, Captain J. Barron ; >Sm'«, 16, Captain Stewart ; Arrpis, 10, Captain Hull ; Vixen, 12, Captain Smith ; Enterjmse, 12, Lieutenant Commandant Robinson, and Nautilus, 12, Lieutenant Commandant Dent, The John Adanis, 28, Captain Chauncey, and the Hornet, 12, Lieutenant Com- mandant Evans, with two bombs and twelve gun-boats, were expected to join the Mediterranean squadron. It will be perceived that in this squadron, in actual com- mand, were many of those who attained to great distinction during the War of 1812. ' The engraving on the preceding page shows tho exact bIzc of the medal, dore, with the legend, "Ki>waiiiio Pukiilk, duoi btrenco oo.mitia AM^:Ill<^\NA." barding tho town and forts of Tripoli; legend, " vinuioi oommbboii aheiiioam. On one side Is a bnst of tho comrno- On tho rcvcmc, the American fleet bom- Exergue— \tiiK tbipoli, 18(W." > The picture repreeenls tho monu- ment as It appeared when first erected. It Is of whlto marble, and with Its pres- ent pedestal (not seen In the engrnv- Ing) Is about forty feet In height. It was mutilated when tho navy yard at Washington was burned In 1S14. It was afterward repaired, and removed t<j the west front of tho Capitol In \\'a8blngton, where It was placed upon a spacious brown-stone base In an oval reservoir of water. (The monuir.snt, with this base, was removed to Annap- olis, In Maryland, in ISCfl, and xct up there In tho grounds of the Naval Academy. In consequence of the Great Robelllou, In 1801, that academy wn« removed to Newport, Rhode Island. The monument was left. "It is sltn- ated," wrote Mr. William Yorke Alice to tho author In January, 1802, "on a bill in the northwestern portion of the naval school grounds. It is in a state of good preservation, and adds uot a little to the beauty of the grounds." The shaft Is surmounted by the American eagle, bearing the shield. On Its sides the representations of the bows of vessels are seen projecting, and by its pedestal is an allegorical figure otFame In the attitude of alight- ing, with a coronal of leaves in one hand and a pen in the other. The form of the pedestal has been altered. On one side of the base, in relief, is a view of Tripoli and the American squadron ; on the other the names of the heroes In whose memory the monument was erected. On three sides of tho base are statues rep- resenting Mercury (Commerce), ll\»- tory, and America, the latter In the form of an Indian girl with a feather head-dress, half nude, and two chil- dren near. On the brown sandstone sub-base on which this monument now stands are the following InscriptionE, upon three sides : 1. "Erected to the memory of Captain Richard Somers, Lieutenants James Caldwell, James Decatur, Henry Wads- worth, Joseph Israel, and John Dorsey, who fell in the different attacks made on the city of Tripoli in tho year of our Lord 1804, and in the twenty-eighth year of the Independence of the United States." 2. "The love of country Inspired them. Fanx has crowned their deeds. Jlftstorj/ records the event. TheCAjWrenii/ Columbia admire, and Commerce laments their fall." S. " As a small tribute of respect to their memory, and admiration of their valor, so worthy of Imitation, their brother officers have erected this monnmeul." HAVAL 1I0^D1IE.^T. Alliance with Ilame Barron's flu/, meiiacini,' AIooj 1804-6. ■" Mean against Tripoli ciitcd under th tainWilliiiniEa army, then cons We Ji,ave al Ilaniet Caranial of the beyship o iukes. It Was < brother, Accor Kgypt" to conie and the Viceroy He left the Man Alexandria, wlio nations. Early i Imndred and nine the great Desert tcrranean for a tli American vessels, After two success ed the capital, coi when, to the mort of Ilamet, they we pared before Trij Ba.shaw.i Thus ended the 1 and Commodore W qiienceofthe failin the I St of August, to the United State The power of the the barbarians of tl neaii Sea was relievi ieans had done mon powers of Europe u navy in the Mediter '"It had been an adi value of the lessons the war with Great While these event part of the American eommenced in Europ cessity of strengthen! We have observed and that England pj thousands of Englishi I .'"P""' " was agreed that «flO !ta«hamillatIngTerm«fortr' »lfe and children. HelostTvi Wlon for his services!^? n it OF THE WAU OF 18 12. 196 y^^^^ii^^^^T^^^ Alliance with lUmet Caramalll. March acroM Northern AMc*. Peace with Tripoli. The Bwbarjr HarroirH fliig-Hhip waH the l^e«ident, Lt-aving Bomo of his force to overawe the mcnucing Moorn, lie kept up tlie blockade of Tripoli during the autumn aixl winter of 1804-6. Meanwhile a land inovenient ajjainst Tripoli was conceived and exe- cuted under the management of Cap- tain William Eaton, of the United States army, then consul at Tunis. We have already observed tliat Ilainet Caramalli, the right possessor of the beyship of Tripoli, had fled to Egypt. lie had taken refuge with the Mame- lukes. It was determined to make common cause with him against his usurping brother. Acc:ordingly Captain Eaton, with three American officers, set out for Egyjtt* to confer with him. Ilamct joyfully accepted their alliance, . November 20, aiui the Viceroy of Egypt gave him permission to leave the country. ^*'^- He left the Mamelukes with about forty followers, and joined Eaton westward of Alexandria, who was at the head of a small number of troops, composed of men of all nations. Early in March*" the allies, with transportation consisting of one t. Mnroh o, hundred and ninety camels, started for Tripoli. They traversed portions of ^*"^- the great Desert of Barea, and the wild regions along the African coast of the Medi- terranean for a thousand miles. Late in April," in conjunction with two « April 2T. American vessels, they captured the Tripolitan sea-port town of Dernc. d May is and After two successful engagements'' with Tripolitan troops they approach- "'""'' ^^• ed the capital, confident of success, for their followers had become very numerous, when, to the mortification of Captain Eaton and the extinguishment of all the hopes of Ilamet, they were apprised that Tobias Lear, consul-general on that coast, had ap- peared before Tripoli in the £Jssex, and made a treaty" with the terrified Bashaw.' Thus ended the four years' M'ar with Tripoli. The mlcr of Tunis was yet insolent, and Commodore Rodgers, who had become commander of the squadron in conse- iiuence of the failing health of Barron, anchored thirteen vessels beft)re liis capital on tiie Ist of August. The haughty Bey was speedily humbled, and sent an embassador to the United States. The power of the American government was now acknowledged and feared by all the barbarians of the northern shores of Africa, and the commerce of the Mediterra- nean Sea was relieved of great peril. Pope Pius the Seventh declared that the Amer- icans had done more for Christendom against the North African pirates than all the powers of Europe united. The cruising and belligerent operations of the American navy in the Mediterranean had not only accomplished this great good for the w(»rld, but had been an admirable school for the military marine of the United States. The value of the lessons taught in that school was manifested a thousand times durhig the war with Great Britain that ensued a few years later. While these events in the Mediterranean, connected in the practical service on the part of the Americans with the "War of 1812, were transpiring, political changes had commenced in Europe which speedily aroused the United States to a sense of the ne- cessity of strengthening the naval arm of the government. We have observed that the beginning of 1802 saw a general pacification of Europe, and that England paid obsequious court to Bonaparte, whose fascinations allured thousands of Englishmen to France. Tliis "JFirst Kiss in Ten Years," celebrated by ' This treaty was not creditable. Althongb it was etipnlated that the United States shonld pay no more tribute to Tripoli, It was agreed that $aO,(K)fl should be paid for captives then in possession cf the Bashaw. Altogether better and \m humiliating terms for the United States raight have been obtained. All that Hamet gained was the release of his iflfe and children. He lost every thing else. He afterward came to the United States, and applied to CongreBS for re- maneration for his eervices In tavor of the AmericaLS. His petition was denied, but $2400 were voted for his temporary relisf. I , -1^' 1 \ 139 riCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK BoBtparte daclkr.d Contul for LIAs. III! Imolence toward the Enifllib. War declared BKalnit Franrr. iho oftricatnriwtH, was tho last for more than that space of time. First jealousy, thou HiiHpicion, and, finally, intonno hatrod of Franco and her ruler took poHsenHion of the English mind. These feelings were intensified by tin; act of the French Senate, who • AnjTO«t8, declared Honapartc consul for life," a declination speedily sanctioned hy the * • votes of three millions of Frenchmen. This was jealously regarded us it cautious step toward more absolute power, which Englaml feared ; and when, im- " AuKuntis. mediately afYerward, first tho Islaml of Elba,'' flu'n Piedmont," then the ' September 11. Ducliy of Parma,'' were incorporated into the dominionH of France, no 'October. Qup doubted that the First Consul wouhl speedily set armies in motion for the greater aggrandizement of hiinself and the country of his adoption. England professed to sec in this accession of territory infringements of tho Treaty of Amiens. Honapartc retorted by accusing Great liritain of violating the sp'rit of treaties and endeavoring to disturb tho peace of Europe, for which he was laboring, and assumed toward Rlngland a haughty and dictatorial tone that wounded her sens- itive pride. lie evinced a disposition to possess Malta; required England to drive royal French emigrants froir^ her shores, where they had taken refuge ; demanded a suppression of the liberties of the English pn ,48 in its criticisms on French affairs, be- cause it was regarded as liis most dangerous enemy ; and actually asked for a modifi- cation of the English Constitution.' He was charged with inciting another rebellion in Ireland, and distributing liis secret emissaries, under the guise of consuls, all along the British coasts.'' The cup of Bonaparte's iniquity was finally made full to English comprehension when, at the beginning of March, 1 803, lie declared, in an official note to Lord Whit- worth, the British embassador in Paris, that England, alone, can not now encountor France." That announcement, assuming tho shape of a menace, raised a storm of patriotic indignation all over England, which found a loud echo in t'le House of Lords on the 9th of March. That indignation, not unmixed with alarm, became more in- tense when intelligence reached London that a Senatua Consultiim on the 21 st of March had placed one Imndred and twenty thousand conscripts at the command of the French ruler. Still professing a desire for peace, the Addington ministry contin- ued negotiations with Bonaparte. Finally, in May, the British minister iit Piiris, who had been personally insulted by the First Consul, and who had repeatedly wii med his government that the negotiations on the part of the French ruler Avere deceptive, and contrived only to give time for hostile preparation, was ordered to leave the Frencii capital. The British government immediately ordered the French minister to leave London, and on the 1 8th of May formally declared Avar against France, and put in immediate operation an embargo upon all French vessels in English ports. In retal- iation, crowds of English visitors in the French dominion were seized and held as prisoners of war.' Immense bodies of troops were sent to the French coast, and men- aced England with immediate invasion. Bonaparte superintended the preparations in person, established his head-quarters at Boulogne, on the roads to which finger- posts marked '"''To LondorC were erected, and every possible means were used to in- > The English Constltntion Is not a pemanent Instmment embodying the foundations of all laws, like that of the United States, but comprehends the whole body of English laws enacted by Parliament, and by which the British peo- ple are governed. The Constitution of tho United States is superior to the Congress or National Legislature ; the Par- liameul or National Legislature of England is superior to the Constitution. What Parliament declares to be the Coneti- tution of England is the Constitution of England: what the Parliament enacts the monarch must bo governed by, and the courts can not adjudge to be unconstitutional and void. Sheridan comprehensively said, "The King of England \t not seated on a solitary eminence of power ; on the contrary, he sees his eqvaU in the coexisting branches of the Legis- lature, and he recognizes his mtperior in the law." ' The latter charge was proven by the seizure of the papers of the French consul at Dublin, in whoso secret Instmc- tions were the following passages : " You are required to furnish a plan of the ports of your district, vlth a specification of the soundings for mooring vessels. If no plan of the ports can be procured, yon are to point out with what vriui vee- sols can come in and go out, and what Is the greatest draught of water with which vessels can enter the river deeply laden." 3 About twelve thousand English subjects of all ages were committed to ctutody. TbeXnirllih Paopl* e flame* the resei C'liann(>i. In England o its ruler. Inmn over the land, s< counts of his bar which had bowe triotism and cou able, and yet wit and ridicule agai to look UJMMlbofJl HiiL^tling of hoyH nioiricnt was niaJ year 1 80.3 was on n()iirl»on Royalist less, the most ini] ('onsj)irators again the throne from w !i few years before. ' Bonaparte was somotli Innghedat. One mornluB "t Mr. Bull's Menagerie, iH iloiiapnrto. He has been clupmfa would otfur In the Or boastful ballads la woi The theatres were resonon "The Wand." began wi"hth Olllray and other earlcatnrN Same of these caricatures, whl( live to any thing lilte ridicule on BtUhazzar't Peant, by Gllira Consul and Josephine, his wife I V"^' ?''/?'•'' '»s'"ck Into St »?,^1^1"""S'"«« bumper, I "',««'• of King George. Above «lgh« down the red cap tndu Uiree afterward princesses of th «lvenlnfulllnvrright'8/w" "operated the p4con3 Onthe2MofJuIytheger^ "t, an eminent barrister, wh™ ^selves so unworthy of hims Wicltlow Mountains. He mltrht "5 him to linger. n.'^X OF THE WAR '^w i g I 2. 127 The Entfllih People excited aKatnit Frane*. Invidon i>r (Irrnt IlrttulD by the French expected. WIttlclimt. flntno thu rcHenttnontB of Freuchiiieii ugiiinHt their KngliHh neighbors ticruss tho Clmiiiu'l. In Kiigland ovory nrt wns also employed to cxcito tlio ^jpoplo ftgninst Franco and itH ruU'r. Iinnu'iiHc immbcrH of "loyal pajxTs" and " loyiil tracts" were Hcattcred over the land, Homo being atroeioiiH liheln on Honaj)arte ami his family, tiotitiouft ac- coimtH of hiH barbaritioH, and exaggerated pit^tiires of Iuh treatment of those countries which had bowed to his power; others were calm and dignified a|)peals to the pa- triotism and courage of tho nation. It was evident to all that an invasion was prob- able, and yet wits, and satirists, and vulgar libelers hurled j)erpetual volleys of abuse aiitl ridicule against Bonaparte and France, aflecting, witli ill-ilisguised trepidation, to look upon both with contempt.' This apj)arent gayety and unconcern was like tho wiiistling of boys in the dark to keep their courage up. The government at the same iiioment was making immense jirejiarations io repel the expected invasion, and the vciir 1803 was one of alarm and terror for all England.' She was the asylum of the iJoiirbon Royalists, who were tho traditional enemies of all popular liberty and prog- ri'Hs, the most implacable foes of tho French ruler, and the sleepless and relentless conspirators against the lives of all who should stand in the way of their recovery of tlic throne from which the best of their lineage, Louis the Sixteenth, had been driven a few years before. These Royalists were petted by the English government and pit- > nmmpflrte wnn Homctimeii compared to n wild boant, at other times to n pigmy, and at alt tlmcB an a hlnstercr to bo liuighcd at. Olio moniiiig London would be amused by n large placard announcing mi exhibition thUH: "Junt arrived lit Mr. Bull's Menagerie, In Brltlflh Lane, the moat renowned and sagoclouH Sfun-tiiier or Qrano-outang, called Napoleon lluiiapnrte. He hiix been exhibited In Holland, Switzerland, and Italy, nnd lately In Egypt," etc. Another murulug chapmca would offer in the great thoroughfares songs with words like these : " Come, I'll sing yon a song. Just for want of some other, About a nrmll thing thnt has made a great pother : A mere in»eet—n iti(pnij. I'll tell yon, my hearty, 'TIs tho C'orslcan hop-o'-my-thumb, Buouapart)." Or boastful ballads In words lllio those : " Arm, nelghboi j, at length, And pnt forth yonr strength Perfldlons, bold France to resist t Ten Frenchmen will fly, To shun n black eye. If one Englishman doubles his flnt 1" The theatres were resonant with patriotic songs. One of the most popular of those sung in the play-houses, called "The Inland," began with this stanza: "If tho French have a notion Of crossing tho ocean. Their luck to be trying on land. They may come if they like i But we'll soon make 'em strike To tho lads of tho tight little Island ! Huzza for tho boys of the Island ! The brave volnnteerg of the Island 1 The fraternal embrace. If foes want In this place, We'll present all tho arms in the Island !" GUIray and other earicafnrlsts were exceedingly active at this time in ridiculing all parties, bat especially Bonaparte. Some of these caricatures, which were grossly personal, annoyed the Corsican exceedingly, for he was extremely scnsl- livc to any thing like ridicule against himself and family. Tho one which gave him niost offense was a broad parody on BeUhazzar'g Femt, by Oiilray, which appeared in August, 1803, entitled " The llandwriting on the Wall." The First Consul and Josephine, his wife (the latter represented of enormous bulk), and other members of his family and court, >re seated at table devouring tho good things of England as a dessert. When Bonaparte flnt discovers the mysterions hand, his fork is stuck into St. James's, seen on his plate. Another is swallowing the Tower of London, while Jose- phine is drinking largo hampers of wine. On a plate bearing tho Inscription " Oh do roast beef of Old England 1" is seen ahead of King George. Above the fcasters a hand holds the scales of Justice, In which the legitimate cro^vn of Frarco weighs down tho red cap and its attendant chain— Despotism under the name of Liberty. Behind Josephine stand tho three afterward princesses of the imperial family— Borghesc, Louise, and Joseph Bonpparte, A copy of this caricature Is given in ftill in Wright's History of the Howie of Hanover, illustrated by Caricatures aiui Satires. It is said to have greatly eiiwperated the First Consul and his fk'iends. ' On the iSi of July the germ of another rebellion In Ireland ap|}eared at Dublin. The chief leader was Robert Em- met, an eminent barrister, who was implicated, with his brother, In the rebellion there in 1T98. His followers proved Iheraeelves so unworthy of himself and the couse (which was the independence oflreland) that ho fled in despair to the 1 fficklow Mountains. Ho might hove evaded pursuit, but his love for his betrothed, the daughter of the famous Cnrran, ami him to linger. He was arrested, tried for and found guilty of treason, and hanged on the 20th of September fol- lowiui!. '"! i m^ 1' i i 1 1 ' :, ! ' ■ 128 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ' May 3. Effects of the British Declaration of War. Fight for the Championship. Bonaparte proclaimed £mperor. His Plans. ied by the English people ; and thia offense, above all others, exasperated Bonaparte, for he regarded England as the aceoriplice of the conspirators against himself and human freedom. The British declaration of war, said Meneval (who was always at the elbow of the First Consul), changed his whole nature.' lie had been planning vast beneficent schemes for France under the serene skies of universal peace, when England, of all the nations loudest in her professions of concord and sentiments of Christian benevo- lence, Avas the first to disappoint him — the first to again disturb the peace of Europe by brandishing high in air the flaming sword of war, instead of the green olive- branch of amity and good will. Compelled to accept the challenge, he resolved to gi/e her war to her heart's content. Each party charged the other Avith acts of flagrant wrong against the peace and well-being of the world, and the record of impartial history implies that both spoke the truth. It is not our business to act as umpire on the question, or to delineate the events of the great war that ensued. We will simply consider the resulting effeetK of these international strifes on the peace and prosperity of the United States. The war was waged by both parties Avith an utter disregard of the rights of all other nations or the settled maxims of international comity. France and England entered the lists for the champion's belt — for the supremacy in the political affairs of the Avorld — and t}iey fought Avith the science, the desperation, and the brutality of ac- complished pugilists. On the 18th of May, 1 804, Bonaparte Avas proclaimed Emperor of the French, in accordance Avith a decee of the Senate* and the Aotes of the people. To give more eminent sanction to the deed, the Pope Avas invited to perform the coronation ceremony. lie consented, and on the 2d of December folloAving Bona- parte Avas anointed by his holiness, at the great altar of Notre Dame, "The High and Mighty Napoleon the First." The republics Avhich he had established by his SAvord Avere speedily changed into kingdoms, on the thrones of Avhich members of his own " May 20 family Avere placed. In May, the folloAving year,'' he Avas solemnly anointed isos. King of Italy at Milan. Then he cast his eyes significantly over Europe, and contemplated a thorough reconstruction of its map. England, Kussia, Austria, and Sweden, alarmed and provoked, coalesced against the " usurper," as Napoleon Avas called. Prussia Avas kept from the league only by a bribe. Napoleon having ofterod Hanover, Avhich he had stolen from England, as the price of the king's friendship. Very soon a French army one hundred and eighty thousand strong Avas upon tlie Rhine. On the 2d of December the strength of the Corsican Avas tested. Against hiiU; iiear Austerlitz, appeared two great armies, each led, like his OAvn, by ar em- peror. They met in deadly conflict. Napoleon Avas the victor. The Continental PoAvers AvithdrcAV from the contest. Prussia received Hanover as her reward, and England Avas left to fight the Emperor of the French single-handed. Napoleon pro- ceeded to distribute croAvns and ducal coronets among his friends and favorite gen- erals Avith a lavish hand, and induced no less than fourteen German princes, Avho ruied over sixteen millions of people, to form a league, under the supremacy of France, knoAvn as the Confederacy of the Rhine. Early in 1800 the English government, under the premiership of Charles Fox. opened Avith Napoleon negotiations for peace, the restoration of Hanover being oiu of the proposed conditions. Napoleon considered it, and on that account the Kini: of Prussia, alarmed and offend'^d, joined the coalition of the Northern PoAvers against liira. TIk exasperated emperor marched upon Prussia, and, after slaying moiv than " October 28, tAventy tliousand of the king's subjects in arms, he entered Berlin,' liii- capital, in triumph. MeauAvhile the Russians had been beaten hack Second through Pola huriiing Avith the Prussian Berlin Decree minions in a si the ocean to the United Sta 1 The following is i "Napoleon, Eniper "1. That EiiKland "1 That she dcclni oners of war not only same ; "3. That she extcii right of conquest, whi "■1. That she extern reason and the usages "5. That she declnrc l)e considered blockad< elic declares even i)Iac ffhiile eini)ire. "0. That this iincqna different nations, and U "7. That this heini; tl tliat design, and becoini "S. That this conduc of other nations; "». That It being righ of justice and every libei "Wc have resolved to "The present decree s tlie riijhts of war are the liersons who are not mi competent forces. 1 "Art. I. The British Isl "Art. i. All commerce Engl.iMd, or lo an English seized. "Art. 3. Every Indlvidn p!o(l l)y onr troops or thos "Art. 4. Every warchoui "Art. 6. One half of the tliall (JO to Indemnify mere "Art. tf. No vessel com 1 1 ilccree, shall be admitted Ii "Art. T. Every vessel thi ud carijo confiscated as Ei "Art. 8. [This article sU arise In the Empire and in "Art. 9. Commtmicalion ^rnlllcs whose subjects as "Art. 10. Our ministers With a partiality toward t lerferc with \merlcan vese Ik Ciiu«ea nut Co)uiequeiteM ■ml Cmnvtertx of Avifrim, s ibo French privateers interft llianintime of profound pc liecB doubled, and oven trcb 1806. 1 IlMor;i of the Sea»\d War betaeen the United States of America and Great Britain, by Charles J. Ingersoll. Series, i., 200. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 129 The Berlir Decree. through Poland, and he was in possession of Warsaw. Strong, bold, and defiant, and Ininiing with a desire to humble " pei-fidious Albion," he issued from his camp at tiie Prussian capital" the famous manifesto known in history as the .November 21 Herlin Decree,^ which declared the ports of the whole of the British do- i*"*- iniuions in a state of blockade, while a French vessel of war scarcely dare appear on the ocean to enforce it. This brings us to the immediate consideration of events in the United States, and the effects of the strife abroad upon American alfairs. 1 The fuUowlng ia a copy of the decree: "Imperial Camp, Berlin, November 21, 1800. "Napoleon, Eiiperor of the French and King of Italy, considering: "1. That England does not admit the right of natlouB as nnlvcrsally acknowledged by all civilized people ; "2. That she declares as an enemy every Individual belonging to an enemy state, and, In consequence, makes pris- oners of war not only of the crews of armed vessels, but those also of vierchaiU vessels, and even the supercar;,'oe8 of the same ; "3. That she extends or applies to merchant vessels, to articles of commerce, and to the property of ludlvlduala the right of conquest, which can only be applied or extended to what belongs to an enemy state ; "4. That she extends to ports not fortified, to harbors and mouths of rivers, tlie riijht of btockadt, which, according to reason and the usages of civilized natiiuis, is applicable only to strong or fortified ports; "B. That she declares places blockaded bofore which she has not a single vessel of war, although a place ought not to be considered blockaded but when it is so invested that no approach to It can be made without Imminent hazard ; that ihc declares even places blockaded which her united forces would be incapable of doing, such as entire coasts and a whole empire. "C. That this uneqnaled abuse of the right of blockade has no other object than to intemipt the communication of different nations, and to extend the commerce and industry of England upon the ruin of those of the C'onllnent ; "T. That this being the evident design of England, whoever deals ou the Continent in English merchandise favors tiat design, and becomes an accomplice ; "8. That this conduct in England (worthy only of the first stages of barbarism) has benefited her to the detriment ofothernations; "9. That It being right to oppose to an enemy the same arms she makes nse of, to combat as she does when all ideas otjiiKtice and every liberal senii nent (the result of civilization among men) are disregarded, "We have resolved to enforce against England the usages which she hns consecrated in her maritime code. "The present decree shall be considered as the fundamental law of the Empire until England shall acknowledge that tlic ritjhts of war are the same on land as at sea ; that they can not be extended to any private property whatever, nor to |)or»nns who are not military, and until the right of blockading be restrained to fortified places actually invested by competent forces. "Art. 1. The British Islands are In a state of blockade. "Art. 2. All commerce and correspondence with them is prohibited; consequently, all letters or packets written in Engi.md, or to an Englishman tcritlen in the Engliuli laiujtiage, shall not be dispatched from the post-oftlces, and shall be •fired. " Art. 3. Every Individual a subject of Great Britain, of whatever rank or condition, who Is found In countries occu- fietl by our troops or those of our allies, shall be made prisoner of war. " Art. 4. Every warehouse, all merchandise or property whatevc ; belonging to nii Englishman, are declared good pi Ize. "Art. 5. One lialf of the proceeds of merchandise declared to be good prize and forfeited, as In the preceding articles, stiali go to indemnify merchants who have suft'cred losses by the English oiuisers. "Art. «. No vessel coming directly from England or her colonies, or having been there since the publication of this ilccree, shall be admitted into any port. " Art. 7. Every vessel that by a false declaration contravenes the foregoing dlBpositiou shall be seized, and the ship mil cari;o confiscated as English property. "Art.!*. [This article slates that the Councils of Prizes at Paris and at Milan shall have recognizance of what may arise in the Empire and in Italy under the present decree.] "Art. 9. Communications of this decree shall be made to the Kings of Spain, Naples, Holland, Etmria, and toouroth- »r allies, whoso subjects as well as ours are victims of the Injuries and barbarity of the Engll«h maritime code. " Art. 10. Our ministers of foreign relations, etc., are charged with the execution of the present decree. " Napoi.kon." With a partiality toward the Americans that was practical friendship, the French cruisers did not, for o whole year, in- ;irferc with \merlcan vessels trading with Oreat Britain. On this point Alexander F.arlne, M.P., in his Inquinj into ■hr Camea Old CoitHequencen <\f the Orders in Coiiwil, atui an Examination of the Cnniliiet of Great llrilain toward the Xeit- i' Commerce of Ameriea, said: "Xo cnndemnntion of an Amei ran vr»»el had ever taken plaee tinder it; and so little did ;iio French privateers Interfere with the trade of America with this -^ountry, that the iniwrance on It was very little higher Ihan 111 time of profound peace ; while that of the American trade with the Continent of Europe has at the same time liecn doubled, and even trebled, by the conduct of o ir cruisers." tii-tivi; I 5 5fc J, 1 t ) . ■j a '- f ; ■ i ii I i \ ■': 130 PICTOKIAL i'lELO-BOOK Prosperity of American Commerce. Germs of new States appearing In the Organization of Territories, CHAPTER VII. " Shall that arm which haughty Britain In its grlsl'e fonnd too strong— • That l)y which her foes were smitten— Shall that arm be palsied long? See cur sous of ocean kneeling To a tyrant's stripes and chains ! Partimn! hast thou no feeling When the hardy tar complains? See the British press-gang seize him, Victim of relentless power ! Stout his heart is, but must fail him In this evil, trying hour." TuE IjirunssEn Seaman's Appeal. NCOURAGED by promises of continued peace in Europe, and the relaxation r>f the " rule of 1756" by Great Britain,^ the commcrco ant '.env. ' 'nisiness of the United States enjoyed a season of uii- cxa- ■' .1 . ■ jjperity. The social and political power of the ip- public rapidly augmented. The. Indians on the frontiers Aveiv peaceful; and the causes for irritation on the part of the inhabit- ants west of the mountains toward the Spaniards, who contiGlled the Lower IMississippi, Avere in a fair way of being speedily re- moved. The germs of new states were appearing in the late wilderness. That vast domain northwest of the Ohio, west of a line drawn from the mouth of the Kentucky River to Fort Recovery on St. Clair's battle-field, and thence due north to Canada, was ei'ected into a Territory,* and named Indiana. William Henry Hariis-on, Wayne's efficient aid in 1794 (who had been out of the army since 1798), vps appointed governor of the germhial state, and established his capital at Vincenncs, on the Lower Wabash. At about the same time the Mississippi Territory, organized in 1 798 by Winthrop Sargent, St, Clair's efficient secret".ry in the government of the Ohio country, was allowed a representative a ■; laMy,'' and its political machinery was put in motion. In the spring of 1802 the United Sta - t t.e into possession, by act of Georgia, of one bundled thousand square miles )t , ic ', now constituting the State of Ala- bama. It was inhabited by the Creek ai. aeiokee Indians toward the east, and the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes toward the a est. With those philanthropic im- pulses Avhich marked the chai'acter of Jeiferson, he recommended measures for the well-being of those tribes, and for securing to them equal and exact Justice. Late in the same year the inhabitants within the present domain of Ohio, in repre- sentative convention held at Chilicothe, adopted a State Constitution,' and the Territory, called Oiiio, became a peer among the states of the republic. But these political organizations on soil within the domains of the United States, and over which a civilized popnlat. was rapidly spreading, were of small account when compared with the importanr fa great acquisition of territory and politieal power which speedily followed. L > iana, which once comprehended the vast and undeiinable region of the Valley of the Mississippi and the domain Avatered by its _ — __ — _ — __ . a ■ 1 See note 1, page 84. • May 7, 18(12. ' May 10. ' November 29. Lonisiana retroced( tributaries, fn ward to the P France by rig honor of the G Inl763Frai except Florida render of othei dicated territoi While the n abroad that Sp of Louisiana in known as East gressive power to exercise an and permanent i much uneasiness mediately instru of cession was a( 1802. President Jeffi and who desired an caniest letter the subject. W: ter in all its beari lepublic which F] would completely nnd would form a atioii, France is tj lould have any coi eaH.ses we Jiave ev could have occasio misfortunes ours. natural and habitu eighths of our terr yield more than hal ants. France, plac Spain might liave i state would induce place would be Jian circumstance might thing of more wortl "^^^ot so can it ev energy and restlessr and our character, w I'igh-minded, de8i)isi and energetic as an' fniiice and the Unit ble a position. . . seuteiico which is tc "ni<iii of two nationi wean. From that m '^e must turn all our on very high ground OF THE WAR OF 1812. 131 I/)nlsinna retroceded to France. The Americans disturbed by the Act. President Jefferson's View of the Subject. tributaries, from the Gulf of Mexico to the forty-ninth parallel of latitude, and west- ward to the Pacific Ocean, or " South Sea," as it was then called, was a possession of France by right of discovery by secular and religious explorers, and was named in lionor of the Gallic king Louis. In 1763 France ceded to England the whole of that region east of the Mississippi except Florida, and to Spain all west of that river. By these cessions and the sur- render of others, eifected by compulsion at the end of a seven years' war, France ab- dicated territorial dominion in North America. Wliile the negotiations of the Treaty of Amiens were in progress, a rumor went abroad that Spain, by secret treaty, had retroceded, or would retrocede, to France all of Louisiana in her possession, and possibly the domain along the Gulf of Mexico known as East and West Florida, thus giving to that now rising, ambitious, and ag- gressive power the entire control of the navigation of the Mississippi, and a position to exercise an influence over the political affairs of the United States more potent luul permanent than had ever been attempted. This gave the government and people nuieh uneasiness, and the American ministers in London, Paris, and Madrid were im- mediately instructed to endeavor to defeat the measure. It was too late. The act of cession was accomplished, and the fact was made known to the President early in 1802. President Jefferson, who loved liis country and republican institutions intensely, and who desired its prosperity and grandeur with a patriot's warm devotion, wrote an earnest letter to Mr. Livingston,* the American embassador at Paris, on . April is, tiie subject. With worderful sagacity he clearly comprehended the mat- *^''^- ter in all its bearings, immediate and prospective, and perceived the great evils to the republic which French occupation of the outlet of the Mississippi would inflict. " It would completely reverse," he said, " all the political relations of the United States, and would form a new epoch in our political career. Of all nations of any consider- ation, France is the one which hitherto has oflTered the fewest points on which we could have any conflict of right, and the mos*^ points of common interest. From these causes we have ever looked to her as our natural friend, as one with whom we never could have occasion of difference. Her grow-th, therefore, we viewed as our own, her misfortunes ours. There is on the globe one single spot the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New Orleans, through which the produce of three eighths of our territory must pass to market ; and, from its fertility, it will ore long yield more than half of our whole produce, and contain more than half of our inhabit- ants. France, placing herself in that door, assumes to us the attitude of defiance. Spain might have retained it quietly for years. Her pacific dispositions, her feeble state would induce her to increase our facilities there, so that her possession of the place would be hardly felt by us, and it would not perhaps be very long before some circumstance might arise which might make the cession of it to us the price of some- thing of more worth to her. "Not so can it ever be in the hands of France; the impetuosity of her temper, the energy and restlessnos.', of her character, pliced in a point of eternal friction with us and our character, which, though quie*,and loving peace and the pursuit of Avealth, is high-minded, despising Avealth in competition with insult or injury. Enterprising and energetic as any nation on earth, these circumstances render it impossible that France and the United States can long continue friends when they meet in so irrita- ble a position. . . . The day that Fratice takes possession of New Orleans fixes the sentence which is to restrain her forever within her low-water mark. It seals the union of two nations who, in conjunction, can maintain exclusive possession of the ocean. From that moment wo must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation. We must tuni all our attentions to fv maritime force, for Avhich our resources place us on very high ground ; and, having formed and connected together a power which t''\.^ \ mfmmm i ^4 ■iJ' 132 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Proposition for the Cer "Ion of LoDlsiana. The secret Designs of France. Talloyraud. Atrocious Suggestions ^1 ^*" o' J^ffe^on's i may render re-enfcrfieraent of lier settlements here impossible to France, make the first cannon which shall be fired in Europe the signal for tearing up every settlement she may have made."^ Mr. Jeiferson suggested that if France considered the possession of Louisiana "in- dispensable for her views," she might be willing to cede to the United States, for a consideration, the Island of New Orleans, and the Floridas, and guarantee the free navigation of the Mississippi by both nations, thus removing, in a degree, " the causes of jarring and irritation" between the parties.^ Although the President's letter to Mr. Livingston was private, Mr, Jefterson chose to consider it as supplemental to the official instructions which were sent to tlie em- bassador, and ho desired him to urge, on proper occasions, with the proper persons and in a proper manner, the considerations and suggestions which the letter con- tained. As we have already observed, it was too late to prevent the cession. That act had been accomplished by secret treaty eighteen mouths before.^ Nothing now remained for the Americans to do to prevent the threatened evils of French occupation at the mouth of the Mississippi but to negotiate for the purchase of territory there. Such negotiations were speedily entered into. Mr. Livingston took important preliminary steps in that direction, and in January, 1 803," ^ ■ James Monroe was appointed to assist him in the negotiation. Tlioir in- > Letter to Robert R. Livingston, April 18, 1802. » France had no really peaceful and friendly feelings toward the United States at that time. Among the dreams of glory which filled the mind of Bonaparte was the re-establishment of the ancient colonial Empire of Fnmce. His lirst essay was in 8t. Domingo ; his next was to be in Louisiana. What would have been his instrumentnllties there in ej. tending his sway over the country west of the Allcghanies, may be inferred from the following extract of a memorial whose inspiration was supposed to be the First Consul, and Talleyrand the writer. This documeut was puhll ..-^i in pamphlet form in Philadelphia in 1803, but was suppressed because of negotiations then pending for the purchnse ot Louisiana from France. It vindicates the wisdom and sagacity of Jefferson exhibited in the above letter to Mr. Living- ston. On the forty-tlflh page of the pamphlet it is observed : " There is still another mean, however, by which the fury of the statks may be held at pleasure— by an enemy placed on their Western frontiers. The only aliens and enemies within their borders are not the blackx. They, indeed, are tht most inveterate in their enmity ; but the Indians are, in many respects, more dangerous inmates. Their mvaije iijm- ratice, (heir undisciplined passiang, their reallem and warlike habitg, their notions of ancient rights, make them thefitUil tools imaginable for disturbing tub states. In the territory adjacent to the Ohio, Mississiiipl, and Missouri there are ! more than thirty thousand men whose trade is hunting, and whose delight is war. These men lie at the mercy of «nv civilized nation who live near them. Such a neighbor can gain their fUendship or provoke their enmity with cqnnl eafo. He can make them inactive, or he can rouse them to fury ; he can direct their movement in any way he pleases, and \ make it mischievous or harmless, by supplying their fury with arms and with leaders, or by withholding that supply. "The pliant and addressfUl spirit of the French has always given them an absolute control over these savages. The office which the laziness or the insolence of the British found impracticable was easily performed by us, and will be etill | easier hereafter, since we shall enter on the scene with more advantages than formerly. "We shall detach within, a sufficient force to maintain possession against all the efforts of the states, should they, contrary to all their interests, proceed to war with or without provocation. We shall Hud in the Indian tribes an army permanently cantoned in the most convenient stations, emUneed with skill ami tntiper best adajttetl to the nature aitd tht | scene of the war, and armed and Impelled with far less trouble and expense than an equal number of our own troops. We shall find a terrible militia, infinitely more destructive while scattered through the hostile settlements than an e^uatforo I of our own. We shall And in the bowels of tuk states a mischief that only wants the touch of a well-directed sjxirk lo in- volve in its explosion the utter ruin of half their nation. Such will be the power we shall derive from a military station and a growing colony on the Mississippi. These will be certain and immediate effects, whatever distance and donbi there may be in the remoter benefits to France on which I have so warmly expatiated. As a curb on a nation whose | ftiturc conduct in peace and war will be of great Importance to us, this province will be cheaply purchased at ten times the cost to which it will subject us." The ^vriter made Bonaparte say : " My designs on the Mississippi will never be officially announced till they arc exe- cuted. Meanwhile tlie world, if it pleases, may fear and suspect, but nobody will be wise enough to go to war to pre- vent them. I shall trust to the folly of Knglund and America to let me go my way In my own time." When the war between the United States and Great Britain broke out in 181'.', British writers urged the governmeni | to employ the savages, with all their known blood-thirstiness andcrueltv. as allies. One writer soundly berated the gov- ernment for its apparent apathy toward their "Indian friends," and cii i the above atrocious suggestions ofthcFrcndi j minister as the true programme of action for the British to pursue in tlie war with the Americans I— See the Sew Quar- terly Review ami British Colonial Register, No. 4 : J. M. Ricliardeon, Cornhill, London. ' There had been for some time indications of spcc'c hostilltle;. 'letv/een the United States and Spain, growing out I of the territorial relations of the two countries (m the Oulf of Mexii:ci. By a t-eaty with Spain In 179B that; overnmeiii i had granted to the United States the right of de\>osit at New f/rleans lor three years, after which the privilep i was either I to be continued, or an equivalent place assigned on another purt of th 3 banks of the MlBsissippl. The Spanii rds consid- ered themselves masters of the province while It was unoccupied by the French, even after tlie cession w \s con?uni- mated. The prlvilego of deposit at New Orleans had been continued; bnt suddenly, in October, 1802, the Si^nnish Id- j tendant or governor declared by proclamation that the right of deposit at Now Orleans no longer existed, ^hit ; duced great excitement in the Western country, ond the Americans, when certified of the treaty of cession, did noi doubt J that the Spanish inteudant acted under orders IVom the French government. jtnictions only .Mississippi shot within the ten- river. To the snrj)ri! naparte,' offerc( ileiiberation," sa season. I renou whole colony, w bve sufficiently ilinlomatic act \ I tlie greatest reg tiate this affiiir The sagacious i path of safety fo glnnd against hir I tiiat were again 1 I dominion to fade le was more in ^^ Monroe arrived commenced. Th( Livingston and ]V. before. Every tl: J signed by which I extent, undefined souls and forty th long," said Mr. Li treaty, " but this i just signed has no I contracting parties the United St I glish lose all exclu Bonaparte, who lekl similar opinio J tiation does not le: I lion that will not nnexpected capital J accession of territc I the United States ; or later, humble her ' Marbois was secretary i I hjhow at the head of the ' Tonssaint L'Ouverture, I ofFrance, in January, 1801, Itolored population of Quad I mracnt in October, 1801. ji«-l»w,LeClerc, to qnell it I people. A new civil war CI J Md soldiers perished, and lnomentary peace ensued. I lioD to excite another insui |e«abllsheil in Onadaloupo ( I '"Ircquire a great deal Iwmmcnce with new contri I raited States, the indemnit I plaofd of making o sale. B ' The invasion of Englam OF THE WAR OF 1812, 188 Efcct of JefTcrson's Letter and Bonaparte'f) Neceneity. Purchase orLouieiaua. Blow at England. stnictions only asked for tlio cession of New Orleans and the Floridas, and that the Mississippi should be divided by a line that should put the city of New Orleans nithin the territory of the United States, thus securing the free navigation of that river. To the surprise of the American negotiators, M. Marbois, the representative of Bo- naparte,' offered to treat for the sale of the ichoh of Louisiana. " Irresolution and ileliberation," said the First Consul in his instructions to Marbois, " are no longer in season. I renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will cede, it is the whole colony, without any reservation. I know the price of what I abandon, and I liave sufficiently proved the importance that I attach to this province, since my first I'inlomatic act Avith Spain had for its object the recovery of it. I renounce it with the greatest regret. To attempt to retain it would be folly. I direct you to nego- tiate this affair with the envoys of the United States." Tlie sagacious Bonaparte — the Man of Expediency — saw clearly which was the path of safety for him. Jefferson's covert menace of an American allianc with En- jlaiid against him, his ill success against St. Domingo,^ and the storm-clouds of war that were again lowering darkly over Europe, caused the gorgeous dream of colonial dominion to fade from the mind of the First Consul. He needed troops at home, and lie was more in want of money than far-off possessions held by doubtful tenure.' Monroe arrived at Paris on the 12th of April, 1803. The negotiations immediately I commenced. The intercourse between the three commissioners was very pleasant. Livingston and Marbois had known each other intimately more than twenty years t before. Every thing went on smoothly ; and in less than a fortnight a treaty was signed by which the United l^tates came into the possession of a vast and, to some I extent, undefined domain, containing a mixed free population of eighty-five thousand j souls and forty thousand negro slaves, for the sum of $15,000,000. " We have lived ng," said Mr. Livingston to Marbois, as he arose from his seat after signing the I tivaty, " but this is the noblest work of our whole lives. The treaty Avhich we have just signed has not been obtained by art or force ; equally advantageous to the two contracting parties, it will change vast solitudes into flourishing districts. From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank ; the Eu- I jlish lose all exclusive influence in the affairs of America/' Bonaparte, who had watched the progress of the negotiations with intense interest, held similar opinions. " It is true," he said to Marbois a few hours later, " the nego- I tiation does not leave me any thing to desire ; sixty millions [francs] for an occupa- I tion that will not perhaps last for a day ! , I would that France should enjoy this ncxpected capital, that it may be employed in works beneficial to her marine.* This I accession of territory," he continued exultingly, " strengthens forever the power of the United States; andl have just given to England a maritime rival that will, sooner I or later, humble her pride.'''' ' Marbois was secretary t(i the French cmbaBsy to the United States during a portion of the American Revolution, and I »i! nov/ at the head of the French Treasury Department. ' Toussaint L'Onverture, an able and courageo'-s negro, seized the Spanish part of St. Domingo, and made It a colony I olFronce, in January, 180t. He was declared '' 'ent for life. This example was epeedlly followed by the black and I tolorpii population of Ouadaloupe. They seized thv- ijoven or scut out by Bonaparte, and established a provisional gov- I trnmont in October, 1801. Meanwhile an insurrection had broken out in St. Domingo, and Bonaparte sent his brother- litlaw.Lc Clerc, to quell It. Toussaint regarded the army as an Instrument for the enslavement of himself and bis Jtrnple. A new civil war ensued, while the French army was completely decimated by fever and sword. Twenty thou- liind BOldicrs perished, and sixty thousand white people of the island were massacred by the InAiriated negroes. A I Bomentary peace ensued. Toussaint, who deprecated these acts, was treacherously seized on the false charge of inten- D to excite another insurrection, taken to France, and died in prison there. By direct act of Bonaparte slavery wag |islal)llshe(l in Ouadaloupe (where his army was more successful), and the slave-trade was opened. ' " I require a great deal of money," the First Consul said to Marbois, " to carry on this war, and I would not like to Itommcnce with new contributions. If I should regulate my terms according to the value of those vast regions to the I roiled States, the Indemnity would have no limits. I will be moderate, in consideration of the necessity in which I am l^crd of making a sale. But keep this to yourself." ' Tlie luvaBiou of England and the prostration of her maritime superiority was then Bonaparte's favorite project I ■1 ^H ,J wmmm t (1 ,1 I i ■! "i 184 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Secesetun proposed by New England. Condemned by Ilamiltun. Affuirs In the Suutliwest. Transfer of Loululnnn. Notwithstanding the acknowledged national advantages to be gained by the acqui- sition of Louisiana, the Federal politicians, especially those of New England, perceiv- ing that it would strengthen the South, into whose hands the government had fiillen raised a loud outcry against it as the work of the Southern Democrat '. Tliey pro- fessed to regard the measure as inimica' ^o the interests of the North and East ; and having, while in power, become familiar with the prescription of disunion of the states, always put forth by the Southern political doctors as the great remedy for apparently incurable political evils, they resolved to try its efficiency in the case in question. All through the years 1803 and 1804 desires for and fears of a dissolution of the Union were freely expressed in what arc now the free-labor states east of the Alleghanies ;' and a select Convention of Federalists, to be held at Boston in the autumn of 1 804, to consider the question of disunion, was contemplated early in tlmt year. Alexander Hamilton was invited to attend it, but his emphatic condemnation of the whole plan, only a few months before his death, seems to have disconcerted the leaders and dissipated the scheme. " To his honor be it spoken," said Dewitt Clinton in the Senate of the State of New York in 1809, "it was rejected by him with abhor- rence and disdain." The acquisition of Louisiana by the United States was distasteful to the Spaniards, It brought the restless and enterprising Americans too near the Spanish provinces in Mexico to promise quietude to the latter. Yrugo, the Spanish minister at AVasIiinc- ton, therefore entered a solemn protest against the entire treaty. Questions concern- ing the true boundary of Louisiana were speedily raised, and serious complications were threatened. Tlie Spaniards were disposed to cling to all the territory east of the Mississippi included in West Florida, and thus hold possession of New Orleans. This disposition opened afresh the animosity of the inhabitants of the West against the occupants of the Lower Mississippi, and the United States contemplated the ne- cessity of taking possession of New Orleans by the force of arms. Troops under GeneralJamcs Wilkinson, consisting of a few regulars, several companies of Mississip- pi volunteers, and a considerable number of Tennessee militia, marched from Nasli- ville to Natchez. But a peaceful transfer of the territory took jjlace. Lausat, the commissioner of France to receive Louisiana from the Spaniards imder the cession treaty, performed that duty, and a few days afterward he formally delivered the island and city of New Orleans to General Wilkinson and William C. C. Claibonie, the commissioners appoint- ed for the purpose by the United States. The Spaniards were left in possession of the country along the Gulf of Mexico to, the Atlantic Ocean, known aa The Floridas, lying south of the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and east of a Hue nearly cor- responding with the present boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana on the Pearl River. Upon the soil thus acquired, and which was an important step in the direction of absolute independence of Great Britain on the part of the United States, some of the most stirring events of the War of 1812 occurred, and thereon was fought the last and most decisive battle of the Second War for Lidependence. The acquisition of Louisiana created in the minds of adventurers visions of personal and national aggrandizement tho influence of which it was difficult to resist. Anion;,' those who formed schemes of operation in that direction was Aaron Burr, the Vice- : President of the United States, who in 1804, by the failure of his political aspirations, \ the general distnist of his political and personal integrity, the exposure of his immoral character, his hopeless financial embarrassments, and, above all, his cruel murder m ' Jefferson, who was a strict constrnctlonlst of the Constitntlon, was a little embarrassed by this treaty. The aciinlsl- tion of territory he thonght unconstitutional, and he proposed an amendment of that instrument so as to sanction thi' j important act. But nothing of the kind was done. All parties coincided in the measure, and on the 20th of Octiilier. 1803, the Senate ratified the treaty by n vote of twenty-four to seven. The purchase of Louisiana became a precedent, and its accession was one of the glories of Jlr. JelTerBon's administration. Aaron Burr. Ills Mur( =ii OF THE WAU OF 1812. 135 Aaron Burr. His Murder of Ilamilton. Vtrginians honor him for It. Specially houored by Jefferson and his Friends. the great and honored Hamilton in a duel, liad become a desperate man, and a fugi- tive from society and from justice, moral and legal. When the correspondence be- tween Burr and Haniihon immediately preceding the duel was published, it was evi- dent that the former liad committed a murder by forcing the combat upon his victim.' The public indignation ivas hitense — so intense that Burr fled before its fury to Gcor- ffia by sea, " merely," as he wrote to his daughter Theodosia, a planter's wife in South arch-foe of dcmocra- cy."'* Attended by d retinue of Democrats he visited the thea- tre in the evening, where the audience rose and received him with cheers.' At Washington City he was received with great deference. The " President (Jefter- son) seems to have been more complai- sant than usual;"* and at Burr's re- quest General Wil- kinson was appoint- ed Governor of Lou- isiana, and Dr. Brown secreta- ry. These Avere the Vice-Pres- ident's warm friends. At the close of his oflicial a.- m .j^<z^ Carolina, " to give a little time for pas- sion to subside, not from any apprehen- sions of the final ef- fects of proceedings in courts of law." Burr found him- self in a congenial iitmosphere in the South. He was ietcd and caressed ; and when, finally, he made liis way to- ward Washington City, to take his seat as President of the Senate by virtue of his oflice, he Avas treated to ovations. A public dinner was given him at Pe- tersburg, in Virginia, to hon- or him as " the destroyer of the reer in the spring of 1805, Burr was a ruined man, socially, politically, and pecuniari- ' The political Intrlgnes and social immoralities of Burr had become so generally known in ISM that his fiitnre euc- te«8 in any political schemes was extremely doubtful. lie offered himself as an indcpeudent candidate for Governor ofthe State of New York in the spring of 1804, and was defeated, as he believed, through the powerful influence of Alex jndcr Hamilton, who was convinced that he was unfit for any Important place of honor or profit. That failure Imbit- Icred lilm. This feeling was intensified by the consciousness that he was suspected and distrusted every where. Ham- ilton, whom he regarded as his arch-enemy, was at the same time honored and trusted. His Integrity was not doubted by his most nncompromising political enemies. This contrast was like glowing embers upon the head of Burr, and he was resolved to destroy his antagonist. A pretext for action to that end was not long wanting. A zealons partisan of Barr's competitor in tlie late election, in his zeal during the canvass, declared in print that Hamilton had snid that the Vice-President was a " dangerous man, who ought not to be trusted with the reins of government." Again ho wrote, 'I could detail yon a more despicable opinion which General Hamilton has expressed of Burr." Tlicse alleged expressions were made the basis of a challenge, on the part of Burr, to mortal combat, namiltou per- ceived at the beginning that Burr was determined to force him to fight, against his own convictions ofthe wrongfulness ot dueling and the necessities ofthe case. He took honorable means to avoid a. meeting. His malignant enemy could not be appeased. At length, compelled by the wretched custom of society then prevailing, called " the code of honor," be accepted the challenge, met Burr on the western shore ofthe Hudson near Weehawken early on the morning ofthe Utli of July, 1S04, and received a mortal wound. He declared his intention not to fire at Burr, and adhered to his reso- lution, while the murderer took deliberate aim, and accomplished his errand to the field of blood. Hamilton was con- veyed across the river to the house of a friend, w' .ere he died after suffering for twenty-four hours. The coroner retunied averdict of willftil murder. A bill of Indictment for that crime was found against him in New Jersey, williin the juris- diction of which the duel was fought, and the Grand Jury of New York found bills against him and his seconds for being concerned In a duel, the punishment for which, by a recent act of that state, was dlafranchlsement and Incapacity to bold office for twenty years. Burr fied to Philadelphia, and from thence to Georgia. ' Parton's Life o/Aarmi Burr, page 3T2. ' ITic same. • The same, page 373. Senator Plnmcr wrote In November, 1804, "Mr. Jefferson has shown him more attention, and In- vited him oftcner to his house within the last three months, than he ever did for the same time before. Mr. Gallatin [Sec- retary of the Treasury] has waited upon him oftener at his lodgings, and one day was closeted with him more than two honrs. Mr. Madison, formerly the intimate fl-iend of Hamilton, has taken his murderer Into his carriage, and ac- rompnnied him on a visit to the French minister. . . . The Democrats of both houses are remarkably attentive to Burr. Wliat office they can give him Is uncertain. Mr. Wright, of Maryland, said in debate, ' The first duel I ever rend of was ihal of David killing Goliath. Our little David of the Republicans has killed the Goliath of Federalism, and for this I am willing to reward him.' "-See Life of William Plvmer, by bis eon, page 328. l! ?! ' 1, 130 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Burr's Nchemes for hlH own Prollt. BIcnnerbanBett and his Home. Burr decoivcB Andrew JackHon and John Adnlr. ly. Every legitimate avenue to a retrieval of his character and fortune seemed to be closed, and he became desperate. His ambition was as intense as over, and ho sought new fields for the exercise of his powera. He spent the ensuing summer in the Wost. It was for him a season of wide observation of men and things, having a bearing upon some grand enterprise which he had conceived. As he went leisurely down tlio Ohio he visited Harman Blennerhassett, a wealthy and cultivated Irishman, who, witli a beautiful and equally cultivated wife, had formed for themselves a sort of terrestrial paradise upon an island in the Ohio River a short distance below the mouth of the Muskingum. Husband and wife were equally charmed by Burr. He fired tlieir imaginations with glimpses of his schemes of personal grandeur for all who should co-operate with him. He filled their minds with dreams of immense Avealth and power; and when he left their home the sunshine of their sweet domestic felicity J:ad departed forever. Blennerhaseett was a changed man. He had placed his wealth and reputation in the keeping of an unprincipled profligate, and lost both. ' At that time the bravo and incorruptible Andrew Jackson was in command of the Tennessee militia. In May* Burr appeared at the door of his mansion, a few- miles from Nashville, and was received as an honored guest. To that stem patriot he talked of the establishment of a splendid empire in the Southwest, Avhcre the Spaniards then ruled ; and, before he departed, he had Avon Jackson's confidence, and his promises of co-operation. He met Wilkinson at St. Louis, and divulged some of his schemes to that weak man. He won the friendship of other influential persons, among them General win to his service Adair, of Kentucky ; j-y^ .// ' dissatisfied military and in the autumn he returned to Wash- ington, and sought to •1806. ^ ^t?^C<yt^^V'"~^ and naval officei-s. He talked enigmat- ically, and, to the > Blennerbassett's was in- deed a beautiful and happy home. It was the creation nf wealth, taste, and love. The mansion was clcgaut. Tlie gardens were laid out and planted with care. Conserv- atories were rich In exotics. Science, music, paintinj;, farm culture, and social pleasures made up a great portion of the sum of daily life in that elegant retreat. It became the resort of the best minds west of the mountains. The lately rude island smiled with perpetual beauty. To the sim- ple settlers upon the neigh- boring shore the house seem- ed like a palace, and the way of living there like that of a prince. Into that paradise the wily serpent crept, and polluted it with its slime. Harman Blennerhassett was a descendant of an ancient Irish family, whose seat was Castle Conway, in Kerry. His education was thoroughly given at Trinity College, in Dublin, and he graduated at the same time with his friend and kinsman, Thomas Addis Emmett. He loved and studied science. On the death of his father in 1798 he inherited n lurgo fortune. Having become Involved in political troubles, he sold his estate, went to England, and married the bcantifnl and accomplished Miss Agnew, granddaughter of oue of the British generals killed at the battle at Germantown, near Philodclphia. Th^ came to America, ULKNyKKUAHSElTb BEttlllKMUr:. Journeyed to the West, purchased the island in the Ohio which still bears his name, made their home there, and for five years before Burr's appearance they had enjoyed perfect happiness and repose. A fine library, pictures, scientific apparatus c^ave them imple- ments for mental culture, and they improved the opportunity. When Burr's mad schemes failed Blennerbassett's para- dise was laid waste. He beojime a cotton-planter in Mississippi, but finally lost his fortune. He and his wife flnallr returned to England, where he died at the age of tixty-one years. His widow came .,i America to seek ffom Concires some remuneration for his losses. While the matter was pending she sickened and died in poverty in New Ynrlc, in August, 1842, and was buried by the Sisters of Charity. i^:^^ Military Preparations cars of some, di union of the Wc To General Eat( ality of a rcvolu for himself the c was apprised of of a desperate p( In the summei into the inner so hassett's liome w flotilla was forme and large luimbe but believuig the Saxon einj)ire in prise. Wilkinson tjagcd in intriguei' Union, he was \w\ But in Kentuck I'cmarkable charac field of Tippecanoe He believed Burr t Henry Clay defend his guilt. Jacksoi the West from the wrote to Governoi (luced ; but I wouh disunited !" Wilki also denounced him Meanwhile the g the whole country, preparations, the pe piilcis politicians \\ ideiit to take measu (lid not choose to g Burr's designs, what ill a scheme for " inv Boats at Marietta, pcdition, were seizec troops. In February the Tombigbee Rive (afterward Major Gc I and t.'-ere tried on a court. Burr was acq history of events in tl gaged in a wicked coi «liich, in some form, ] roiv,and his fears of f{ for several weeks ami I Edwards. He remain *re, he would turn Congress ad declare himself the protect I ™'™' page 39(U00, inclusive. ; i I OF THE WAR OF 1812. 187 Mllitai7 Preparattona on the Ohio River. Burr anspected of Treaaon and denonuced. Ills Arreat and Trial. Kxtle. cars of some, disloyally. Now he Hpoke of an expedition against Mexico, tlien of a miion of the Western States and Territories into a glorious independent government. To General Eaton he talked of usurpation — of taking possession, by the instrument- ality of a revolution, of the national capital and archives, and, Cromwell-like, assuming for himself the character of a protector of an energetic govomraent.' The President was apprised of these things, but he regarded Buit's language and schemes as those of a desperate politician too weak to be dangerous.'* In the summer of 1806 Burr was again in the West, engaged in his grand scheme, into the inner secrets of which he had not allowed any man to penetrate. Blenner- hassett's home was his head-quarters, and a military organization was his w>..fk. A flotilla was formed at Marietta, on the Ohio, laden with provisions and military stores ; and large numbers of leading men in the West, ignorant of the real designs of Burr, but believing the great central plan to be the construction of a magniticent Anglo- Saxon empire in Mexico, in whose glories they all might share, joined in the enter- prise. Wilkinson was made the arch-conspirator's willing tool. Having been en- cragcd in intrigues with the Spaniards in a scheme that would have dismembered the Union, he was now a fitting instrument for Burr's disloyal designs. But in Kentucky there was a man not to be deceived by Aaron Burr. It was that remarkable character, Colonel Joe Daviess, wlio gave his life to his country on the field of Tippecanoe. He Avas then the United States District Attorney for Kentucky. He believed Burr to be engaged in treasonable plans, and procured his arrest. Young Henry Clay defended the prisoner, and he was acquitted ; but Daviess never doubted liis guilt. Jackson too had become convinced that Burr was preparing to separate tiie West from the rest of the ITr.lon, and he denounced him. " I hate the Dons," he wrote to Governor Claiborne,* "and would delight to see Mexico re- .November 12 (luced ; but I would die in the last ditch before I would see the TJ nion ^'''**'- disunited !" Wilkinson, alamied at the aspect of affairs, turned traitor to Burr, and also denounced him. Meanwhile the government had become alarmed. The whole West, and indeed the whole country, was agitated by Burr's operations; and the magnitude of his preparations, the persons involved in his toils, and the known disposition of unscru- pulous politicians west of the mountains to set up for independency, caused the Pres- ident to take measures to arrest what seemed to be treason, in the bud. Jefferson did not choose to give it that complexion, and, in a proclamation for the arrest of Burr's designs, whatever they might be, he warned all persons against participating in a scheme for " invading the Spanish dominions." Boats at Marietta, on the Ohio, loaded for New Orleans with materials for the ex- pedition, were seized, and Blennerhassett's Island was occupied by United States troops. In February, 1807,'' Burr was arrested near Fort Stoddart, on ^ tl\e Tombigbee River, in the present State of Alabama, by Lieutenant (afterward Major General) E. P. Gauies. He was taken to Richmond, in Virginia, and t'ere tried on a charge of treason. Chief Justice Marshall presided over the court. Burr was acquitted ; but, from that day to this, no intelligent student of the history of events in the West during the years 1 805 and 1 806, doubts that lie was en- gaged in a Avicked conspiracy to dissever the Union, and establish a government over which, in some form, he should be the ruler. His escape from conviction was so nar- row, and his fears of farther prosecution were so great, that, after remaining concealed tor several weeks among his friends, he sailed for Europe under the name of G. H. Edwards. He remained in exile and poverty for several years. ' "He Bald If he conld gain over the marine corps, and secnre the naval commanders Truxtun, Preble, Decatur, and I olhere, he would turn CongreoB neclj and heels out of doors, assassinate the President, seize on the treasury and navy, »nd declare himself the protector of on energetic government."— Deposition of General William Eaton. Bee Life <\f I JSiifm, page 390-400, incloalve. > The same, page 401. n IN i hill 1 I 138 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Thu " Hule (>r 1760" niuditled. Cummerdal Thrift In the United Btatea. The Jcalimny of Uritlah Morchunti aruuKea. Wliili! tlio |){'<)j)le of tlio Uniti'd StiUeH were violoiitly ftf^itiitoil by thoHO evi'iitH in thu West thu war in Europu waH progruHHiiig, and Franuo and England liad com. munuud tlieir duspuratu game for Buiirunmcy at the oxpunso of the commurcial pros- ])urity of tlio world. For a long tiinu tliu commercial thrift of the United States, fostered hy a modKica- tion of thu IJrit'.'th "rule of 1750,"' had been the envy of English merchants. Thiit modification had been madu solely for thu supposed benefit of IJritish commercial in- terests. Kelying upon the faith of that governniunt, tacitly pludgcd in the fonnal exposition of the terms of that modification l)y the law officer of the crown, tlio American ship-owners commenced and carried on a most extensive and profitubic trade.2 American vessels became thu cliiuf carrierH of thu products of the colonies of France and Holland ; also of Spain after her accession to the French alliance. Swe- den, Denmark, and the Ilansu Towns' wure then the only neutral maritime powers, and these, in common with thu United States, were fast growing rich.'' First the envious British merchants complained; then the privateersmen and navy officers, who declared that, as there were no moru prizes to take, their occupation was ' Sec note 1, pnge 84. » On the accession of Alexander to the throne of RasBta, after the anaanslnntlon of the Emperor PanI In March, 1801, the most friendly relations were eatnbllshed between that country and Great Britain. On the 17th of June, ISOl, a treaty was concluded between the two f;nvcrnmcntH "to settle," as the preamble expressed It, "an Invariable detcrnilimllDn of the principles of the two Kovernmeiits npo.i the rights of neutrality." In that treaty not only the " rule of IT.'W" was not recognized, but the right of the lu'utral to trade with the colonies of belligerents, n ' from his own country in tlu' produce of those coloiiies to the mother country, was expressly stipulated. As this wa- avowedly the "settled princi- ple" of the Rovemmcnt of Great llrltain, American commerce had no more fears. But Its sense of security was soon disturbed, but Immediately quieted by the prompt action of Mr. King, the American minister at the British court. Karlj In 1801 he was Informed that a decree of the Vice- Admiralty Conrt at Nassau, New Providence, had condemned the carj,'i) of an American vessel going from the United States to a port In the Spanish colonies, the cargo consisting of artidos the growth of old Si)ain. Mr. King imtncdlately presented a respcctflil remonstrance to the British government ngalust tills infringement of the rights of neutrals. The matter was referred to tlic king's advocate general (Lord nawkeHl)iirj). who rcjiorted, on the Iflth of March, ISOl, In the following words, the doctrine of England at that time' concerniilg tlic rights of neutrals: " It is now distinctly nnderstood, anil 1ms been repeatedly sp decided by the High Conrt of Appeals, that theprodm of the colonien nftbe enemji may be impnrted by a neutral into hi» o\m country, ami may be exjmrted Jfroitn thenre, ram to Ihe muther country of such colony; and, in like vianner, the. proihiec ami vianufactures of the motlier country may, in this rir- cnitou» mode, legally find their may to the rolmiies. The direct trade, however, between the mother country and Its colo- nies has not, I apprehend, been recognized as legal, cither by his majesty's goveniment or by his tribunals." He tlien explained what rule should govern the carrying of goods tq cause them to avoid a faii- definition of " direct trade" and be In conformity to the modlHcatlon of the " rule of 1760," above mentioned, by saying, " that lauding the goods and pay- ing the duties in the neutral country breaks the continuity of the voyage, and is snch an Importation as legalizes tlic trade, although the goods be reshlpped in the same vessel, and on account of the same neutral proprietors, and bo for- warded for sale to the mother country or the colonies." On the 30th of March the Duke of Portland (the principal Secretary of State) sent the above extracts from the report of the advocate to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, with a letter in which tie said, " I have the honor to sig- nify to your lordships the king's pleasure that a communication of the doctrine laid down In the said report should be immediately made by your lordships to the several judges presiding In them, setting forth what Is held to be the law upon the subject by the superior tribunals for their future guidance and direction."— Letters from Messrs. Monroe and PInckney to Lord Howick, August 20, ISOO. ^ Lul)cck, Hamburg, and Bremen. Tliese are all that remain of the ancient Hanseatic League, a commercial union of a number of Gennan port-towns In support of each other against the piracies of the Swedes and Danes, formed lu 1104, and formally signed in 1241. At one time the league comprised sixty-six cities, and possessed great political power. They were reduced by various canscs to their present number more than two hundred years ago. The Congress at Vi- enna In 1S15 guaranteed the freedom of these cities. • The following table exhibits the export trade of the United States for fonr yearn; Veabh. FoHBlolr. DouisTic. TOTAL- 180H 13,604,000 30,231,000 6,1,170,000 00,283,000 42,200,000 41,408,000 42,3'i7,000 41,263,000 66,800,000 77,cno,ooo 06,500,000 101,6!li>,00f 180-1 1806 1800 103,287,000 107,314,000 830,001,000 This exhibit was made peculiarly annoying to the English, because the foreign articles were principally productions of the colonies of the enemies of Great Britain. • Montesquieu, writing ten years before the English "rule of 1760" in regard to the rights of neutrals was promnl- gated, said, concerning the spirit of that people, " Supremely Jealous with respect to trade, they bind themselves but lit- tle by treaties, and depend only on their own laws. Other nations have made the Interests of commerce yield to those of politics; the English, on the contrary, have ever made their political Interests give way to those of commerce."— See r/ie Spirit of Laws, 11., 8. Reuaertton of the greatly interf iiuTchant vus; the neutral fia maritime foes 175(1," it was I Tlieso com J) to suggestions cases, a mere i early in the su (Ired measures intimation that gated, was the Courts of Ainc writers put fort the old j)ractice have been emph and elaborate cs Neutral Flags," he said, " the net its partial appli( inies of England " AVar in Disg merchant,"* and answered in Eiiir O I In May, 1806, the dec cliallng English cruisers. It had already been decl Iheimyment of duties, th CourtofAppeals, In thei says Alexander Baring (i not actually been paid in .\mcrica excepting that li Baring, "and In the cou crowded our jjortg for tria ' Sec page S4. ' This assumption was ( lions ;" and having the po able maritime nation— ev it;" as If a wroiui unresenu "Armed Neutrality" of 17f |)osed the assnmption. Fr 10 Lord Lyons, the British doctrine concerning the pr accoinitofthecaseofthe,! ' Madison. ' The eminent English n ment), put forth a pamphlet "', etc. It was published i and sophisms of this essay, potent canscs of the war bet the outrages of the British I orders in council, and delin Ihe author of War in tHsgui grec incredible." War in Disgutue was follov one entitled The Pregent Clai and was published In Londo the following memorandum olatlon broke ont In 1776, an " Jnne 6th, Cth, 7th, and 8t the consideration of my capi 10 exerci.-.e. Inmofoplaioi less to their hostile threats,! Of the French colonies to the IfTOwing Insolence of the Am "Read 'War In Disguise,' OF THE WAIt OF 18 12. 130 Reueertlon of the "Rule oflTSO." BrItUb Perfldy defended by Britlih Writers. Barliig't Bxpoinre. (fivatly intorfori'd witli. Tlio ciK'tnics of Great Britain, luiviiisr full use of lu'utral mcrcliant vesHols, had none of tlii-ir own on the oci-aii. Ariiu'tl Nliii)H, j)roto<'U'(l by the ni'iitral flag, jiorfornied all the duties of jiractieal conuncrcc, and the trade of the maritime foes of Kngland was l)ut little interrupted by existing war. The " rule of 1750," it was alleged, was wholly evaded. These complaints were lieeded. The Courts of Admiralty began to listen willingly to suggestions that this allegation of neutral ju'operty was in many, if not in most cases, a mere fraud, intended to give to belligerent goods a neutral character; aiul early in the summer of 1806 the "rule of 1750" was revived in fidl force.' Like kin- dred measures on previous occasions,'' it was put into oj)cration secretly; and the first intimation that the maritime law laid down by the king's advocate in 1801, was abro- gated, was the seizure by British cruisers and condemnation by Britisli Admiralty Courts of American vessels and their cargoes. At the same time English public writers ])Ut forth specious defenses of the action of their government in its revival of the old practice. One of these was James Stephens, a lawyer of ability, supposed to have been employed for the purpose by the government. He wrote* an able . octoiier and elaborate essay, under the title of" War in Disguise, or the Frauds of the ^^*''- Neutral Flags," in which, taking the " rule of 1 756" as tlie law of nations, " to which," he said, " the neutral powers have all assented, in point of principle, by submitting to its partial application,"^ he argued that the immense trade carried on with the ene- mies of England under the Americ.in flag was essentially war against Great liritain. " War in Disguise" was " written in the s\nrit of a lawyer stimulated by tliat of a merchant,"* and was full of dogmatic assertions and bold sophistries. It was ably answered in England by Alexander Baring,* and in America by James Madison, then 1 In Mny, ISOB, the decision Bf the Lords of Appeal on the cnso of the cnrgo of the American ship Essex unchained the ohatliig English cnilscrs. It was necessary, for the sake of decency, to give to the world a fair excuse for that decision. It had already been decided that when goodH had been made a common stock of America by a fair Importation and theiHiyment of duties, they might he re-exported from thence to any part of the world. To evade this decision, the Court of Appeals, In the case above alluded to, established the Illegality of the neutral trade, " founded on a discovery," mya Alexander Baring (see note B, below), "now made for the first time, that the duties on the cargo Imported had uot actually been paid in mottej/, but by l)ond of the importer." This decision contracted the whole foreign trade of .\mcrica excepting that In her own produce. " It circulated rapidly among our cruisers and privateers," continues Mr. Baring, " and In the course of a fortnight the seas were cleared of every American ship they could find, which now crowded our ports for trial."— See Baring's Inquiry into the Causes mut Ctmmquencea n/ the Orders in Council, pages 81, 82. 2 See ])age S4. ' This assumption was characteristic. Kngland, on her own motion, promulgated the " rule of 1750" as a " law of na- tions;" and having the power to enforce It for half a century In the face of the most vehement protests of every respect- able maritime nation— even armed protests— her statesmen and publicists agreed that those nations had "assented to it;" as if a toronfi unresented on account of the weakness of the sulTerors became a riijht 1 It was never assented to. The "Armed Neutrality" of 1T80 and isnn were marked protests against It, and the American principle and policy always op- |)Osed the assumption. From the first protest against it In 1793 until the close of ISCl, when Secretary Seward, in a letter to Lord Lyons, the British minister at Washington, In the case of the San Jacinto and Trent, reiterated the American doctrine concerning the protecting powers of a neutral flag, the Americans have opjjosed the "rule of 1760." For a full account of the case of the San Jacinto and Trent, see Losslng's Pictorial History of the Civil War. < Madison. » The eminent English merchant, Alexander Baring (afterward Lord Ashburton, and at that time n member of Parlia- ment), put forth a pamphlet In February, 1808, entitled .1 1> Inquiry into the Causes and Conscqttences of the Orders in Coun- ril, etc. It was published In February, 1808, and contains a most searching exposure of the mischievous exaggerations and sophisms of this essay. It Is not extri: vagant vo say that that essay. In Its Injurious Influence, was one of the most potent causes of the war between the tJnltcii states md Oreat Britain in 1812, because It justified in a semi-ofllclal manner the outrages of the British government, t irough ltd navy, on the commerce of the United States, under the sanction of orders In council, and deluded the Englls)! mind vlth a semblance of justice. Speaking of some of the statements of tlie author of War in Disguise, Mr. Baring said, " Via appears Ignorant of every thing relative to American trade to a de- gree incredible." War in Disguise was followed by other pamphlets of lesser note on the same side. Among the most noted of these was one entitled The Present Claims and Complaints of A mcrica Briefly ami Fairli Considered. It was an echo of War in Disguise, and was published In London at the close of May, 1800. On the back of the title-page of the copy in my possession Is tlic following memorandum in manuscript by Brooke Watson, who was an eminent Canadian merchanv when the Bev- olation broke out In 1775, and was a violent partisan of the crown ; "June 5th, Cth, 7th, and 8th, 1800. Read this pamphlet with all the attention In my power to give It, and under all tlic consideration of my capacity, accompanied with as much disinterestedness as the nature of the subject will permit to exercise. I am of opinion that, should this conntry give way to the solicitations of the American States, and much less to their hostile threats, they will, by so doing, that Is, by allowing the Americans to be the carriers of the produce of tiie French colonies to the mother country, sacrifice the deepest interest of this nation to the views of France and the growing Insolence of the Americans.— East Sheen, 8th June, 1806. Bbooke Watbom. " Head ' War In Disgnise,* Lord Sheffield, etc." . . «lll|p! wmmm i i i I ■ 1 '\ \ ' ,|; , - i i' 'li ^ • 1 1 '' mI^ - , \ iiH 140 .iCTOIlIAL FIELD-BOOK Amwer to " War In DUgnlM." Foiwlgn Aalattoni napronlaing. ExpMtcd DlfflcnltlM with QrMt Britain. tho Socrotftry of Stato. In that answer, rofcrrinpj to monacoH in l\[r. Htophcns's OH«ay, Madison utti'n'<l tho following nohlo words, propiictio of Hoon-coniinji; doeds tliat vin- dicated tlio jtowtT lHhin<l them: "Thi^ hicHHinj? of (4od on our first contest in amis made tliis nation sovercij^n, free, and independent. Our citizens feel tlieir lionoral>l(> condition, and, whatever may be their opinion on (piestions of national i)olicy, %cill firmly nuj>port the national rights. Our government must therefore ho permitted to judge for itself No minister, however s]>lendid his talents, no prince, however great his jiower, must dictate to the IVesident of the United States."' The foreign relations of the United States at the opening of tho year 1 800 were unpromising. Tho conduct of tho Spanish goveniment in reference to Louisiajia seemed to render war with that nation inevitahle. Forbearance on the i)art of the •January 8, Americans was exhausted, and a select committee of Congress reported" 18(H). ^im^ j),p aggressions of Spain afforded am])le cause for war. But as the policy of the conntry was always a peaceful one, it was ])roposed, while prepariiiir for hostilities, to endeavor to avert them, and settle all matters in dispute l)y the purchase of a part or the whole of the Floridas from Spain. Action to that end was taken, but the war-cloud soon passed away. Not 80 with the harbingers of a storm that was evidently brewing between the United States and Great Britain. The depredations of British cruisers and priva- teers on American commerce, commenced under the most absurd and frivolous ])rc- texts,'* and fully sanctioned by the British government, produced the most intense indignation througuuiit the country ; and when the Ninth Congress had assembled at Washington in December, 1805, the subject was speedily presented to their notice. Mr. Jefferson had been re-elected President of the United States, and the Democrntie party, of which he was the founder and head, had an overwhelming majority the National sjislature. Its power became somewhat weakened" by the defect on of John R di, of Roanoke, one of its leaders, a quarrelsome and ambitious man of varied ^v solid attainments, who carried with him several of his Virginia col- leagues, and filled tho halls of legislation during tlie entire session with unprofitahle bickerings. On account of British depredations, memorials from the merchants of nearly all of the maritime towns of the United States north of the Potomac, argumentative and denunciatory in substance, and numerously signed, were presented to the President ; and on the 17th of January these, with a special message on the subject, were laid before Congress by Mr. Jefferson, together with parts of the diplomatic corre- > This reply to Mr. Stephens was published anonymonsly in Fcbmary, 1906, with the title otAn Aiuutr to "War in DisgvUe;" or. Remarks on the A'dc Doctrine 0/ England concerning Neutral Trade. After the capture of the Macedonian by Decatur in the autumn of 1812, the following epigram appeared in Cobbott's Political Register, an English pablication : "WAR IN DISGinSK; OR, AN AFOI.OST FOB IIIB MAJESTY'S NATT. " One Stephens, a lawyer, and once a reporter, Of war and of taxes n gallant supporter. In some way or other to Wllburforce kin. And a member, like him, of a borough bonght in, Who a Master in Chancery since has been made. Wrote a pamphlet to show that Jonathan's tkadb Was a ' War in Disauisn ;' which, though strange at flrst sight. Events have since proved may have been but too right ; For when Garden the ship of the Yankee Decatur Attacked, without doubting to take her or beat her, A FBioATE she seemed to his glass and his eyes ; But when ^oitpn himself, liow great his surprise To find her a sevintt-foub in disqcise I " If Jonathan thns has the art of disguising, That he captures our ships is by no means surprising; And it can't be difgracel^il to strike to an elf Who Is more than a match for the devil himself.— Puss." > Baring's Inquiry, etc., page 96. Mtmorialaorifan .spondence on i«h(!ourt. Tl insist on righi The mentor it is a notai)l( it is destructi\ eall((d eamcNtl and navy, if u AnuM'ican intei 1'hero were Philadelphia, a pectation tliat Tho Boston proinjjtly adopi mpport the diyn The merchan and an aj)j)oal t( position to decl Relying on tho (t-'cl no hesltatioi which may be aa The merchants of the governmei New Haven calle the rights of net give aid and sui object." The New York their country that tion of the authoi of a Hsurj)ation w by saying, " We pi vindicate and seen The merchants c sistcnt with honor arms might be nee " whatever may be These memorials eigners doing busir greatly from the vai greatly aggravated American commerce errors, and were com and sent in every vt Here encouraged by with cargoes wholly I daily practice of taki Cor one or two hundr says Mr. Baring, "th( against the captors, v essarily excited. The OV THE WAR OF 1819. 141 XMDorfaUa of MtrchanU ou th« Hnl^ect of Britlib Uoprodatloni. Conduct of the Brttlih OrniMn, Hpotulencc on the saniu topio by Mr. Monroo, tlio lliiitcd States ininiwtor nt the Hrit- wh court. Tho Prt'siduiit iiHsiirod Coiigivnn tluit Mr. Monroe liuil liccii inHtructttl " to insist on rij^htH too evident and too important to \w Hurrendored.' Tho memorials from tlic merchants were generally drawn witli great ability ; and it is a notable I'act that these nu>n, who, as a class, naturally deprecate war becanso it is destructive to commerce, and are willing to nuike great concessions to avoid it, ciilU'd earnestly upon the government to i)Ut forth the stronij powers of the army ftiul navy, if necessary, in defense of tho rights of neutrals and tho protection of American interests. There were nu-morials from Uoston, Salem, Nowbury])ort, NeM' Haven, New York, Philadelphia, and JJaltimore, and all tailed loudly lor i-edress, under the evident ex- pectation that to insist npon it would cause war. Tho Boston merchants said that they fvilly relied tl)at"such measures would be promptly adopted as would tend to disembarrass commerce, aaaerC our rights, and support the dignity of the l/tdted States," The merchants of Salem said, " If, however, conciliation can not effect tho purpose, and an appeal to arms be the last and necessary protection of honor, they feel no dis- position to decline the common danger or shrink from tho common contribution. Relying on tho wisdom and firmness of the general government on this behalf, they teel no hesitation to pledge their lives and properties in the support of tfie measures which mag be adopted to vindicate thejtublic rights and redress the public lorongs," The mercl'.tnt8 of Nowburyport relied" with confidence on the firmness and justice of the government to obtain for them compensation ami protection ;" and those of New Haven called upon that government " firmly to resist every encroachment upon the rights of neutral nations." They tendered " assurances of their <lisposition to give aid and support to every measure calculated to uccomplish this important object." Tho Now York merchants declared their firm " reliance npon tho government of their country that their rights woidd not bo abandoned, and (referring to the assump- tion of the author of "War in Disguise," see page 139) that no argument in favor of a usurpation would ever bo derived from their acquiescence." They concluded by saying, " Wo pledge our united support in favor of all the measures adopted to vindicate and secure tho just rights of our country." The merchants of Philadelphia suggested that when every peaceable means con- sistent with honor had been tried to recover redress, and failed, that a resort to arms might be necessary. " If such measures should prove ineftectual," they said, " whatever may be the sacrifice on their part, it would bo met with submission." These memorials Avere signed by merchants of every shade of politics, and by for- eigners doing business in these ports. For more than ton years they had suffered ffrcatly from the varying but always aggressive policy of Great Britain, a policy now greatly aggravated by the latitude tacitly given to the British cruisers in respect to American commerce. These were in little danger of being made answerable for any errors, and were consequently not disposed to make nice distinctions. They detained and sent in every vessel they met under the most frivolous pretenses, in which they were encouraged by the expectation of actual war. They captured American vessels with cargoes wholly of American produce ; and the owners of privateers were in the daily practice of taking in valuable cargoes and offering immediately to i "lease them for one or two hundred guineas, and sometimes a larger sum. " In these instances," says Mr. Baring, "the judge decreed the restitution of the ship and cargo, and costs against the captors, with expressions of indignation Avhich so lawless an outrage nec- essarily excited. The latter had, in the face of this censure, the audacity to enter ap- 1 Statannan't Manual, 1., 278. ip f!i • i I ilij p* , . _.^ii||m|«jiMLi. 142 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ImpreBBment of American Seamen into the British Service. The Klght of Search asserted. Protest of the Americans. peals, and the American was obliged either to compromise or leave to the captor the option of bringing forward his appeal within a twelve-month, with the possible ad- vantage of an intervening v/ar securing to him his prize. ^ The London merchant," ho said, " is either obliged to acquiesce in this iniquitous robbery, or let his correspondent suffer the more expensive vexations which it is, unfortunately, in the power of these peopl'3 to inflict. If these are the maritime rights," exclaims the honest and indig- nant Eng'ishman, "for which, Ave are told, with a pompous ambiguity that always avoids coming to the point, ' our ancestors fought and bled,' and for which ' \vi' crushed the Northern Confederacy,'^ I am strangely mistaken."^ Another and most serious subject of complaint against Great Britain was now considered in connection with the depredations upon American commerce. It Avas the impressment into the British naval service of seamen taken Avithout leave from American vessels, and Avho Avere sailing iinder the protection of the American flasj. To this subject Ave have already referred.* It had been a topic of complaint and ne- gotiation from the beginning of the national government in 1789, and impressment in general Avas a system against Avhich humane British publicisti? and statesmen had declaimed. But the British government, not ahvays the exponent of the English mind and heart, governed by expediency rather than justice, and having the prece- dents of more than four hundred years to support its policy in this respect,' had then for half a century chosen to exercise that poAver in procuring seamen for its navy, and to utterly disregard other hoary precedents Avhich would have justified it 1 1 abolishing the nefarious system." It Avas too useful in time of Avar, in the replenis'.i- ment of the navy, to be relinquished. Upon it had been ingrafted another more uni- A'crsally offensive. It Avas that of searching neutral vessels for British seamen, and, seizing them Avithout other criteria of their nationality than the presumptive evi- dence Avhich similarity of language afforded, impressing them into the British naval service. In the course of fifteen years thousands of native Americans had thus been made to serve a master whom they detested. There being, no maritime poAver stronj; enough to resist these aggressions, it Avas assumed by ,reat Britain, as in the case of the " rule of 1756," that it Avas for her an established ' maritime right." From the beginning of its career the government of the United States protested against the right of search and the impressment of seamen taken from under tlic American flag. In his instructions to the United States minister in London, in tiic summer of 1792, Mr. Jefferson directed him to call the attention of the British minis- try to the subject. That government not denying that American seamen hal been impressed, had made the degrading proposition that, for their protection against suoli "accidents," such seamen should carry Avith them a certificate of citizenship! "This is a condition," said Mr. Jefferson, " never yet submitted to by any nation.'" The right to enter an American vessel Avithout leave,/or any pretense, Avas then, and al- Avays has been, strongly denied by the governmenc of the United States. The War of 1812 with England Avas a solemn protest against the assumption of that right by the British government ; and such a requirement of American sailors Avould operate practically as a Avarrant to British cruisers for stripping almost every American ves-- sel of its seamen, for the habits, calling, and vicissitudes of the sailor are sucJi that most of them would soon lose their " certificates." Tlie proposition had been unhes- itatingly rejected as inadmissible by an independent nation. In October of the same year Mr. Jefferson again called the attention of the embas- sador to the subject, " so many instances" of impressment having been complained » Inqulnj, c , pagt 94. » Armed Ncntrallty. See note 2, page 83. « See page Sb. ' ' The still .tc of 2 Richard II. sp<)ak» of Impressmert beinR well known as caily aslBTS. « Impressment wfix rtuclni.Ml to be illppnl hy the British government in 1C41. ' Mr. JciTcrson to Mr. Piuckney, June 11, 1T92. Baring's Tnqniry, pages 95, 96, 97. 1 Correspondence on of;' and in No to make the B venting the fu In 1790 Tim Pickering, then retary of Stat his instruction Mr. King, An can minister at Court of Lond spoke of " tlic 1 and fruitless tempts tliat heeii made to tcct American men from Brit impress," and rccted him to do in his poAver to . ^ able the Americ; •Jag to "prote those of wJiateVi nation Avho sail derit."* InanotI cr dispatch the s ■illudes to the British governmei so far as not to " r those rights, is an to our riglits, any i will even facilitate A little later he and other foreigner times impressed Fr these foreigners fro American vessels o giicse, as seize and d American vessels. "" During the follow seamen Avere made Mr.Jeffe.oontoKr.PlncI The same to the same, Nf Riifiis King was born In i I ^'"■'"'''ingoiitofthewarf, 'Mean al>ie practitioner. II «t appearance was in oppoH I ^on became known and app, National Convention of :TS7h «,amUhc next year was el, ."'.^"'"NcwYork.andinl Mho was a member of the! ^;e».Iary,b„t in health c„mp ^ Mr. Pickering to M.. King, The same to the same, Sept The same to the same, Octo i\ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 143 Correspondence on the Subject of Impressmeuts. Rufu8 King. His Airalgnmei I of the British Oovernment. of-' and in November he expressed to Mr. Pinckney the hope tliat he might " be able to make the British ministry sensible of the necessity of punishing the past and pre- venting the future.'"''' In 1796 Timothy ry on board their Pickering, then Sec- zs^^'^Slifct. sliips for American retary of State, in J^f 9|^n seamen," and there- his instructions to l^Blk jif^^-'^^BB • ^"^^"^ " ^^'^" doom is Mr. King, Ameri- 3B9^^^ /■* fixed for the war. can minister at the "^W^^^ [M Thus," he said, " the Court of London,^ ^^^ \MmL rights of an inde- spoke of " the long ^^ jmr^^. ^^" pendent nation are and fruitless at- ^:^^ J^f^^^^^^ , - to be sacrificed to tempts that have f^ \^^^M^^^^B^ British dignity, been made to pro- A. .^V^-^fl^^^^^^lfeL. Justice requires tcct American U^^'^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^VLch. inquiries men from British ' ' ■ { ' r^^^i-^^^^^^^^^^^^^K^ and examinations impress," and di- - ^ ^^^K^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^(^ made, because, rcctcd him to do all K: j^^^e|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the lib- his power to en- ^^j^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I^P^ ^^ ^^^^ able the American ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B/K^^^ xi\(tr\ will be Hag to "protect '' ^ff^^^^^^^^^K^^^KK^^^^^ possible. For the those of whatever ^^K^^K^^^EBBK^^iw^ ^-^^^ British govern- nation Avho sail un- '^^^^^^B/^^^^^'^^f '<^ raent then to make der it."* In anoth- -^-^-^^ ^^^ — ^' professions of re- cr dispatch the same year he ^^ ppcct to the rights of our cit- alludes to the fact that the (Jf. -{jjyi /X»->->^ izens, and Avillingness to re- British government had gone / rj lease them, and yet deny the so far as not to " permit inqui- only means of ascert.aining those rights, is an insulting tantalism. If the British government have any regard to our rigiits, any respect for our nation, and place any value on our friendship, they will even facilitate to us the means of releasing our oppressed citizens."^ A little later he wrote, " The British naval officers often impress Swedes, Danes, !\nd other foreigners frpm the vessels of the United States. They have e\ en some- times impressed Frenchmen ! , . . They can not pretend an inaljility to distinguish these foreigners from their own subjects. They may with as much reason rob the American vessels of the property or merchandise of the Swedes, Danes, or Portu- guese, as seize and detain in their service the subjects of those nations found on board American vessels."^ During the following year very many complaints concerning impressed American seamen were made to the government of the United States, and cases of absolute '|:t ,i I Mr. Jeffei oon to Mr. Plncltney, October 12, 1T02. ' Tlie same to the same, November fl, 1792. ' Riifiis King was born in Scarborough, Mainp, in the yoarlTBB. He was a student In Harvard College in 1778, when the breaking out of the war for independence suspended that institution. He chose the law for his profession, and be- f«me an able practitioner. He was In Sullivan's army in Rhode Island In 177S, and was admitted to the bar in 1780. His ilrst appearance was In opposition to his great instructor, Theophilus Parsons, of Newburyport. His oratorical talents won became Icnowu and appreciated, and in 1|S4 he was elected to a seat in the Legislature of Massachusetts. In the National Convention of ".7S7 he was an efficient member, and nobly advocated the ratification of the Constitution there iilopted. Having married the daughter of an opulent merchant of New York, Mr. King made that city his residence in IM, and the next year was elected to a seat In the Legislature of New York. lie was one of the first United States sen- ilore from New York, and in 1790 was appointed minister to Oreat Britain. He returned home In 1803. From 1813 to I'iChc was a member of the United States Senate. At the close of his term ho was sent to England as minister pleni- potentiary, but 111 health compelled him to relinquish his post and return home after a residence of about a year there. He died at his home near .lamaica, Long Island, on the 29th of April, 1S27, at the age of seventy-two years. Mr. Pickering to M,. King, June s, 179(1. ' The same to the same, Septeuiher 10, 1796. ' The same to the same, October 20, 1796. -sasfs saa i ; i 144 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Cruel Treatmeut of American Seamen in the British Navy. Secretary Marshail to MlniBter King, cruelty exercised toward and hardships endured by American seamen thus impressed were reported.' The United States government, always inclined to peace, frequently urged upon that of Great Britain the necessity of a convention which should settle the questions of impress and neutrality, but without success, for the British government ])rac- tically assumed the right to be a law unto itself. Early in 1799 Mr. King made an earnest representation on the subject to Lord Grenville, denying, as he had on former conferences, any right of the kind on the part of Great Britain, and suggesting that Americun ships of war, by permission of their government, might with equal rii»hi pursue the same practice toward British merchantmen. He pi'otested against the in- discriminate seizure onboard of American vessels of seamen of several nations, ami pressed him for some definite assurance of a change. But Grenville, as usual, was evasive, and the conference ended without a prospect of satisfaction. Grenville; as- sured Mr. King that all Americans so impressed should be discharged on application for that purpose ; but the American minister very properly considered that offer far short of satisfaction. "Indeed," he said, "to acquiesce in it is to give up the right.""- Late in the year 1 800, John Marshall, then Secretary of State, wrote an able and eloquent letter to Mr. King hi London on the subject of the impress. " Tlie impress- ment of our seamen," he said, " is an injury of very serious magnitude, which deeply affects the feelings and the honor of the nation. . . . They are dragged on board British ships of war with evidences of citizenship in their hands, and forced by vio- lence there to serve until conclusive testimonials of their birth can be obtained. . . , Although the Lords of the Admiralty uniformly direct their discharge on the produc- 1 Investigation rcveaied the following facts : on the 4th of July, 1T94, Captain Silas Talbot, of the United States Knvr. wrote from Kingston, Jamaica, to Secretary Pickering, that Admiral Sir Hyde Parker had " issued a general order to nil captains and commanders of ships and vos'jels of war, directing them not to obey any writ of hahtaa corptm, nor suffer any men to leave their ships in consequeiici of such writ." This order was issued because Talbot had made tucco!>!-ful applications to the civil authorities on thai island for the release of enslaved Americans on board British vessels. Tal- bot, however, persevered in his humane efforts, and he wrote that, while all the writs which he hud obtained were served, n(me ol them were obeyed. The naval ofBcers on that station set the civil authority at doiuiucc, and Talbot wrote, "The laws in this island, it seems, can not be administered for the relief of American citizens who are held in British slavery, many of whom, as they write me from on board Captain Otway's ship, have been brought to the gangitay and ichipi>ed for toritiny to their agent to get them discharged !" William Cobbett, an Englishman, wrote afterward in his Political Register, saying, "Onr ships of war, wlion they meet an American vessel at sea, board her and take out of her by force any seamen whom onr officers assert to be l)i itish subjects. There is no rule by which they are bound. They act at discretion; and the consequence is that great numbers of native Americans have been impressed, and great numbers of them are now in our navy. . . . That many of these men have died on board our ships, that many have been wounded, that many have been killed in action, and that many have been worn out in the service there can be no doubt. Some obtain their release through the application of the American consul here ; and of these the sufferings have in many instances been very great. There have been instancee where men have thuB got free after having been flogged thrmigh the fleet/or desertion.' But it has been asked whether we are not to t ake our sailors where we find them t To which America auswers, ' Yes.' . . . She wishes not to have in her ships ai'y Uritish sailors, and she is willing io give llicm up whenever the fact of their being British sailors can be proved; but let not men be seized in her ships upon tlie hiirh seas (and sometimes at the mouths of her own rivers), wherj there is nobody to judge between the parties, and where the British officer going on board is at once acccbie, WITNESS, JUDOK, and c.\PTon 1" a M.-. King to Mr. Pickering, March 16, 1799. * There is ample testimony to prove the cniel treatment experienced by impressed American seamen on board Britlph Tessels, Richard Thompson, a native of New Paltz, Ulster County, New York, testified at Poughkcepsic on the 17th of April, 1793, that, while on the sea in a merchant vessel, he was impressed on board the British vessel of war iVnwt in 1810. He was not allowed to write to his friends. When he and two other impressed American seamen heard of the declaration of war in 1S12, they claimed to be considered prisoners of war, and refused to do duty any longer. They were ordered to the quarter-deck, put in irons for twenty-fonr hours, then taken to the gangway, stripped naked, "tied and whipped, each one dozen and a half lashes, and put to duty." When the Peacock went into action with the llnml they asked the captain to be sent below, that they might not flght against their countrymen. The captain called a mid- shipman and told him to " do nis duty." That duty was to hold a pistol at the head of Thompson and threaten to hloff his brains out if he and his companions did not do service. They were liberated on the capture of the Peacock by the ; Ilornet. Another seaman from Ulster County, named .Tames Tompkins, testified to greater cruelties inflicted on hiragelf j and three others, who v.ere impressed on board the British ship Aetemi in April, 1S12. When they refused to do duty they were whipped "five dozen lashes each." Two days afterward they received four dozen lashes each. They still refused to do duty, and, after the lapse of another two days, they received two dozen lashes each. They still reftisej, and, after being whipped again, they were put in irons, where they were kept three months. On their arrival in London J they heard of the capture of the Onerriere. With a shirt and handkerchiefs they made strijies and stars for Americsn j colors, hung it over a guo, and gave three cheerR for the victory. For this ODtburst of patriotism they received tivoj dozen lashes each. Argument against 1 tion of this tes sidcrable time of a friendly ni prevent tJie coi of the injured, t past, and ho se lively that thoi elsewhere, shall naturalized or n iiied. . . , Alier to be equally ex them, and have .' I'ontracted to be their service. 1 and an injury. ; alluding to the f iillow retaliation that something ii shall concludes b I'ectual measures ' wrong, to excite force our governi tare ?"' These suggestio .■ilightest visible ef on vigorously ; but the Peace of Amicj in excess of the den imtaught by past ( Vincent ^ ill ],^. \,^^ pre.ssmeiii of our se 'v ill the yeai '""itted to liu- ot iKsertor?!, « hilt to exci'|it ' .„{j iState,said, "It up,,,, |mt>nts."3 The Sec. ■ all consequences, thai tilings not to be entc ji'cted to it because I 'M.'" TJie Secrctai article [the seventh h It IS utterly inadmissi "lion the broad princi 'loHii at the begimiini ™I of that sanctity.''' I JVheiniostilities bei MlverWoIcotttolhePresId l^n at eir """"""■• "'«^« he: r"' »' t^a". "-ere aliens. -Ltaia OF THE WAR OF 1812. 145 Argument against ImpressmentB. The Brltlgh Govcruraent refnsce to listen. Its Proposition on the Subject rejected. tion of this testimony, yet many must perish unrelieved, and all are detained a con- siderable time in lawless and injurious confinement. It is the duty as well as a right of a friendly nation to require that measures be taken by the British government to prevent the continued repetition of such violence by its agents. . . . The mere relecee of the injured, after a long course of serving and suffering, is no compensation for the past, and no security for the future. . . . The United States, therefore, require posi- tively that their seamen who are not British subjects, whether born in America or elsewhere, shall be exempt from imi)ressinent. The case of British subjects, whether naturalized or not, is mftre questionable ; but the right even to impress them is de- nied. . . . Alien seamen, not British subjects, engaged in our merchant service, ought to be equally exempt with citizens from impressments. We have a right to engage them, and have a right to and an interest in their persons to the extent of the service contracted to be performed. Britain has not a pretext of right to their persons or their service. To tear them, then, from our possession is at the same time an insult and an injury. It is an act of violence for whi^i there exists no palliative." Afler alluding to the fact that the principles of the United States government would not allow retaliation by impressments from the British merchant ships, and suggesting that something in that way might be done by recruiting from that sei'vice, Mr. Mar- shall concludes by saying, " Is it not more advisable to desist from, and to take ef- fectual measures to prevent an acknowledged wrong, than, by perseverance in that wrong, to excite against themselves the well-founded resentment of America, and force our government into measures which may possibly terminate in open rup- ture?'" These suggestions were all submitted to the British ministry, bu. slisrhtest visible effect. While the war continued, the nefarious practici ■ Febroary 4. Ithout the IS carried on vigorously ; but Avhen the general pacification of Europe took plac 1801, and the Peace of Amiens gave a respite to British ships of war — when their m .imen wore in excess of the demand — impressments ceased, and the American minister in Lonlon. untaught by past experience and observation, wrote, "I am in hopes that Lord St. Vincent will be inclined to attend to our reiterated remonstrances against tlii' im- pressment of our seanh a and the vexations of ottr trade."^ Vain expectation ! <:\\ ill the year 1800* Mr. Liston, the British minister in the I'nit. vbmitted tn President Ada in pposition for the rec'iirocal d( livii oi ' ert' so u <irded as to - tii m impressment on board ofprirife vessels, kt to exupf iblii ships of war.'" It was rejected. Pickerhig, the >> rotary of State, said, " li app ars utterly ladmissilde, unless it would put an end to impress- ments."^ The Seciv tar\ of the Xuvy "aid, "It is better in have no arti<le, and meet all consequences, than not to enumom uiorchapt vessels on the high seas among the things not to be entered in search of deserters.''' The Secretary of the Treasury ob- jected to it because it did ' t "provide against the impressment of American sea- men,"' The Secretary of ■ ar objected to it on the same ground, saying, " If this article [the seventh in ]\[r. ListitiTs proposition] means what it is apprehended it does, I it is utterly inadmissible."" The V ident and his Cabinet, thus planting themselves jii|ion the broad principles of n. rights and the sanctity of the national flag laid .ilown at the beginning, would ^n to nothing short of a recognition of those rights I and of that sanctity.'' When hostilities between Great Britain and France were revived in 1803, the im- ' Marshftll to Kinp, September 20, 1800. » Mr. Kiiig; to the Secretory of Siatp, I'^ebninry 2S, 1801. 'Pickering to the President, Fcbrunrv 20, IROO. ♦ Benjamin Stoddert to the Precldpnt, Kc')rniiiy 2fl, 1800. ' Oliver Wolcott to the President, April 20, 1800. « James M'Honry to the President, April 10, ISOO. ■ From June, IWT, nntll the beglnninc of 1801, no less than 2059 applications for seamen Imprt^ssed, inclndlni; many liide previously by Mr. King and Mr. Plnckney, were made. Of these, only 102 were British snblects— less than one lltectiotli of the whole impressed. Eleven hundred and forty-two were discharged as not being British subjects, and I^*.nioro than one half, were held for farther proof, while there existed strong presumption that the whole, or a greater liert, at least, were aliens. — Ltm an'b Diplomaci' qf the United States, 11., lii, note. K </ 1 •I"' lU' i 1 I m I! ■ 1 i i ! 146 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Doctrine concerning Neutral Tdghts held by the United States and Oreat Britain. The latter arraigned by Mndisoii. press was again put into active operation. The American minister in London, Mr. Monroe, following up previous cftbrts made by Mr. King Avlien that gcntlenian per- ceived that war was uievitablo,' used every lawful endeavor to make a mutually sat- isfactory arrangement concerning it. In a letter of instructions to that minister early 5 '" 1804," Mr. Madison, then Secretary of State, alily and lucidly reviewed the whole subject of the impress and the rights of neutrals. His letter opened with the following clear enunciation of the doctrines of the two nations: " We consider a neutral Jiar/ on the high seas as a safeguard to those sailing under it. Great liritain, on the contrary, asserts a right to search for and seize her own sub- jects ; and under that cover, as can not but happen, are often seized and taken off citi- zens of tJie United States, and citizens or subjects of other neutral cotmtries navigating the high seas wider the protection of the American flag.^'' After brief and cogent argument, Mr. Madison said, "Were it allowable that Brit- ish subjects should be taken out of American vessels on the high seas, it migiit at least be reqxnred that the jiroof of(g,heir allegiance should lie on the British side. This obvious and just rule is, however, reversed. And any seaman on board, thougli going from an A'-^rican port, sailing under an Amerie.ia ilag, and sometimes even speaking an idiom proving him not to be a British subject, is presumed to be such unless proved to be a>. American citizen. It may be safely affirmed that this is an outrage which has no precedent, and which Great Britain would be among the last nations in the world to suffer, if offered to lier own subjects and her own flag.* Ic^lclciltiltiltilcilciieil: "Great Britain has the less to say on the subject, .is it is in direct contradiction to the principles on which she proceeds in other cases. While she claims and seizes on the liigh seas her own subjects voluntarily serving in American vessels, she has con- stantly given, when she could give, as a reason for not discharging from her service American citizens, that they had voluntarily engaged in it. Nay, more ; while she impresses her own subjects iVom the American service, although they have been set- tled, and married, and naturalized in the United States, she constantly refuses to re- lease fro n hers American seamen pressed into it whenever she can give for a reason that they are either settled or married Avithin her dominions. Thus, when the volun- tary i^o'iscnt of the mdividual favors her pretensions, she pleads the validity of that consent. When the vohmtary consent of the individual stands in the Avay of her preteuf ions, it goes for nothing. When marriage or residence can* be pleaded in her favor, she avails herself of the plea. When marriage, residence, and naturalization are against her, no respect whatever is paid to either. She takes by force her own subjects voluntarily serving in our vessels. She keeps by force American citizens involuntarily serving in hers. More flagrant inconsistencies can not be imagined." No trguments, no remonstrances, no appeals to justice or the demands of interna- tional ccniity, could induce the British government at that time, when waging war with all itt: powers, to relinquish so great an advantage. ' In the spring of iSflS Mr. King made a dtlermlned effort to prevent a revival of the practice of Impreesmcnt. On thf 7th of May he submlttti the following article to the British ministry: "No person shall he Impressed or taken onthi high sens out of any ship >-r -.Coel belonging to the subjects or citizens of one of the parties by the public or private armed ships or men-of-war belonging to or in the service of the other party." Lord St. Vincent, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and Lord Hawkesbury, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, at tlrst nsspnted to this article ; but, after oonsnltatlon with Sir William Scott, an exception was required in favor of the narrmr sen*. This proposal was rejected by Mr. King. It was regarded as a subterfuge. The government, at the opening of another war, was detcrniiucd nol to relinquish the practice of impressments from American vessels, and this revival of an obsolete claim of Enj»l»ncl to exclusive jurisdiction over the seas surrounding the British Isles as far south as Cape Finlstcrrc and north to a \m\K (ni the coast of Norway, which it was known the Americans would reject, was done as an excuse for terminating tlic ue- gotlation on the practice of the Impress. 5 Hooper, in his yaval IliMory of the United States, 11., fi4, says : "On the 12th of June [1806] No. T [gun-boat] fell In wltli the fleet of Admiral Colllngwood off Cadiz, and, while Mr. Lawrence was on board one of the British ship?, a boat was sent and took three men out of No. T, under the pretense that they were Englishmen. On his return to his own ve§- sol Mr. Lawrence hauled down his ensign, but no notice wai taken of the proceeding by the British. It is a fitting com- mentary on this transaction that in the published letters of Lord Colllngwood, when he speaks of the Impressment of Americans, he says that England would not submit to such an aggression for au hour." Kttional Iudei)eudenre OP THE WAR OF 1812. 147 >'i(ioniil ludepdudeiire and Honor imperiled. Memorlais to Congreee for decided Action. Hesitation uf Congress. Day after day proofs were received of the sufferings of American citizens on ac- count of tlic impreiis; and so flagrant and^frecjiient were these outrages toward the close of 1805, that, ir. the memorials presented to Congress on the subject of British depredations upon American commerce, already alluded to, tlie impressment of Amer- ican seamen was a prominent topic.' Action in Congress on these subjects, so vital to the interests of the people and the dignity of the nation, was prompt. It was felt that a crisis was reached when the in- dependence of the United States must be vindicated, or the national honor be imper- iled. There was ample cause for most vigorous retaliatory measures toward Great jJritain, ay, even for war. But the admhiistration itself, and the host of its oppo- nents, were willing to bear a little longer than take the responsibility of an open rup- ture witli Great Britain. A resolution offered in the United States Senate, declaring that the depredations upon American commerce under tlie sanction of the British government Avere " unprovoked aggressions upon tlie property of the citizens of the United States, violations of their neutral rights, and encroachments upon their na- tional independence," was adopted by unanimous vote ;" but when, four . Febmnry lo, days afterward,'' another resolution was offered requesting the President to "demand the restoration of the property of those citizens captured and condemned on the pretext of its being employed in a trade with the enemies of Great Britain, indemnification for past losses, and some arrangement concerning the impress- ment of seamen," there was hesitation. To obtain the redress sought, there were only four modes — namely, negotiation, non-intercourse, embargo, and war. The first had been tried in vain ; the second and third would be menacing and oft'ensive ; and (he fourth, all parties at that time depi'ecated. There was a division in the vote. There Avas unanimity hi denunciation, but differences when the test of positive action was applied. There were twenty votes in the affirmative, and six in the negative. It was resolved to try negotiations once more. William Piiikney,^ of Maryland, who had considerable diplomatic experience, was finally appointed a minister extraordinary to England,' to become associated with Monroe, the resident 1800. *• February 14. ■ May. ' "Tlie impressment of onr seamen, notwithstanding clear proofs of citizenslilp, the violation of our jurisdiction by cipturos at the mouths of our harbors," and insulting treatment of our ships on the ocean, arc subjects worthy the se- rious cousidcration of our national councils."— .S'nlcm Memorial. "The constancy and vc'or of the seamen of the United States are justly themes of patriotic exultation. From their connection with us, v,e consider their cause as our cause, their rights as our rights, their interests as our interests. Onr Mings are Indignant at the recital of their wrongs."— A'cm York Memorial, signed by John Jacob Astor and others. "That our seamen should bo exi)08ed to meanest insults and most wanton cruelties, and the fruits of their Indnstr- and enterprise fall a prey to the profligate, can not but excite both feeling and indignation, and call loudly for the aid and protection of government."- PAf feuftlp/iia Memorial. The New Haven and Baltimore memorials expressed similar fenliments. " William Pinkney was bom at Annapolis, Maryland, on the lith of March, 1T64. His father was a Ix)yall8t, but Wil Iiain,n8 he approached manhood, toward the close of the Revolution, espoused the cause of his country. At the age of wcnly-two years he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of his profession in Harford County, Mary- land, where he married the sister of (afterward) Commodore Rodgers. He was a member of the Kxccutlvo Council of Marjlnnd in 1702, and In 1706 was chosen to the Legislature. The next year he was appointed one of the commissioners imder the provisions of Jay's treaty, and proceeded to England. He remained there until 1805, when ho returned, and made Baltimore his residence. He was distinguished for his legal learning and eloquence, and was immediately ap- pointed Attorney General of Maryland. He was sent to England for the object mentioned in the text, in 1800, where he remained until isil, when he returned home. He fought bravely in the battle near Bladensburg in 1814, and was soon ancrward elected to Congress. In 1810 he was appointed minister to Russia. I!c remained there until 1820, when he letnriii'd, and was chosen to a seat in the Senate of the United States. In that body, and In the United States Ciiurts, he libored Intensely until IS'il, when his health suddenly gave way. He died on the 26lh of February, 1S22, In tlie flfty- alnlh year of his age. ' Th'- had been done repeatedly. The American waters were almost continually plowed by British craisers at this lime. A few weeks later an event occurred which aroused the greatest indignation throughout the country. A small fowling vessel, navigated by Captain John Pearce, of New York, running for Sandy Hook, was fired into by the B; itish fniiser Leander, Captain Whitby. Captain Pearce was killed. It was, morally, a gross act of piracy. The act itself called forth bitter denunciations at a meeting held at the Tontine Coffee-house, in New York, on the following day (April 20, 1S(I6). A resolution proposed by a committee, of which RufUs King, late minister to England, was chairman, declared iliat an administration that would enffer foreign armed ships to " impress, wound, and murder citizens" was "not en- titled to the confidence of a brave and free people." The public indignation was Increased when It became known that Captain Whitby, who was brought to trial in England for the murder of Captain Pearce, and his guilt fairly proven by evldenco dispatched thither by the United States government, was honorabli/ acquitted I I ■^^1 !■ i 1 ,1 1 1 : 1 MM ■ 1 ii 146 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Minister Extraordinary sent to BngUnd. The old Party Llnea again eatabllshed. War and AntUwar Piirilc*. minister, in negotiating a treaty tliat should Bcttlo all disputes between tlie two govern- ments. It was thought expedient, at tlic same time, to use the second metliod pros- pectively, as an auxiliary to tlie American ministers, for it would appeal potentially t(] the commercial interest of Great Britain, then, as ever, the ruling power in the state. Accordingly, after long and earnest dehatos, the House of Representatives passed an act" prohibiting the importation .M„r,,|,2s into the United States of a great i^"«. variety of the most important manufactures of Great Britain. It passed the Senate on the 10th of April, and on tlie 18th beoanic a law.' To give time for the negotiations, the commencement of the prohibition was l)ostponed until the middle of the foUowini; November. In the debate upon the Non-importatii)ii Act in Congress, and in its discussion among the people, the old party lines, which, to some extent, had appeared faint when great national questions were fnirly discussed, became perfectly distinct. The measure was regarded by the jealous opponents of Jeiferson and his Cabinet as a display ot that hostility to Great Britain because of love for France, which the President and his Secretary had so frequently manifested during the administrations of Washington and Adams. It was regarded as a measure calculated to lead the country into a Avar with Great Britain. The administration party, on the contrary, cliarged the Feder- alists, because they were unwilling to support the measure, with being friendly tn their country's oppressor. The old political war-cries were sounded, and " Frciieli party" and " British party" became familiar words again on the lips of partisans. The Federalists affected to regard Great Britain in her wars with France, and cs])e- cially in the current one with Napoleon, as the champion of the liberties of the world against an audacious aspirant for universal empire ; while the Democrats aifectcd to consider the Emperor of the French as a great regenerator, wlio was destined to bene- lit the world by prostrating tottering thrones, effacing corrupt dynasties, purifying the political atmosphere of Europe, and giving new life and vigor to the people. Sueii M^ere the antagonistic ideas then distinctly developed. The Non-importation Act was passed by a strictly party vote — ninety-three Democrats, against thirty-two Fed- eralists and "Quids," as John Randolph and his six secessionists were called. The heat of tb \t debate in the first session of the Ninth Congress developed the germ of the War and Anti-^ear parties, so strong and implacable just previous to and durin<; the War OF 1812. ' The following is a list of articles prohlMted : All articles of which leather, silk, hemp or fiax, and tin and brain (lin cheets excepted) were the materials of dilcf value ; woolen cloths ivhofo Invoice prices sliould exceed five shillings ilor- ; ling a yard: woolen hosiery of all kinds; window-glass, and all the mannfuctures of glass; silver und plated wnre; pa- I)cr of every description ; nails and spikes; mate, and clothing ready made ; millinery of all kinds; playing-cards ; beer, ale, and porter ; and pictures and prints. Iliipes created by a ne OF THE WAR OF 1812. U9 no|ie!< rrcatoil by a new BritlHh Ministry. DiHappotntmcnt. Ncgotiatiung rcupcnod. CharUw .IniiicM Fux. !1 CHAPTER Vin. " You nil remember well, I guess, The Chemjtmkc disaster, When Brltdus durod to kill nnd press, To please their royal master." Bono — Rodoebs amd VioioaT. " Prom the deep we withdraw till the tempest be past. Till our Hag can protect each American carj^o ; While British ambition's dominion shall last, Let us Join, heart and hand, to support the KHUAsao: For Emiiaikio and Peacik Will promote our iucreaBC ; Then embargoed we'll live till injustice shall cease : For ne'er, till old Ocean retires from his bed, Will Columbia by Europe's proud tyrants be led." Sosd — EiiDAitoo AND Peace. IIILE the debate on tlie Non-importation Act was at its heiglit in Congress, intelligence came of a cliange in tlic British minis- try that promised a speedy adjustment of all matters in dis- pute between tlie two countries. William Pitt died in Janua- ry," and at the beginning of February a new Cabi- 'January 28, net was formed, known in English history as " All- ^^"''• the-talents Ministry," of which the peaceful, humane, and lib- eral Charles James Fox was the most influential member,' as Secretary of State for Foreign Affiiirs. Under the impression that the new ministry would be more ready to act justly to- ward the Americans than the old one, Mr. Pinkney sailed for England. He was soon mideceived. England's policy in the conduct of the tremendous war in which she was engaged was too firmly established to be disturbed by the private opinions and wishes of individuals, and Mr. Fox appears to have imbibed the views of his prede- cessors in office concerning the complaints of the Americans on the subject of the impress and neutral rights. Before Pinkney's arrival Fox had expressed to Monroe some sensibility at the passage of the Non-importation Act. lie declared that it embarrassed him, because it '.vould place him in the position of treating under seeming compulsion. Monroe wave a satisfactory explanation, and, on the arrival of Pinkney, Lords Holland and .\uckland were appointed to negotiate with the American envoys. Tlie negotiations commenced in August.'' As the American commis- >icner8 were instructed to make no treaty which did not secure the vessels of their countrymen on the high seas against visitations from press-gangs, this topic naturally occupied the early and earnest attention of the negotiators. The American roraraissioners, under instructions, contended that the right of impressment existing by municipal law could not be exercised out of the jurisdiction of Great Britain, and, consequently, upon the high seas. In reply, the British commissioners recited the old ' Fox and Burke stood side by side in the opposition to Lord North in the long struggle before and during the Amer- ican Revolution. He was always on the liberal side in politics, of the Whig school, and was intensely bated l)y the king. Si oiie time, at the close of the Revolution, the nation appeared to be divided into parties, one known as the liing's, and the other as Fox's. On one occasion Dr. Johnson said, " Fox is an extraordinary man ; here is a man who has divided aliingdom with Cffisar, so that It was a doubt which the nation should be ruled by— the sceptre of George TIT. or the longuc of Fox." He was always nn advocate for a peace policy, and his accession to power in 1800 gave the thinkini; men of England hopes of a cessation of the wasting war with the all-conqnerlng Napolecm. To that end he labored, and had well-nigh accomplished measures for pacificutiou wheu, on the 13tb of September, 1800, he died. ' August 2. M 1 1 ■ ' i X- i i H ^mmm* ill St {■■ i III r i 1 ■*"'■ ISO PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ProgresB and Character uf Nogotlatlons. Treaty agreed to. The Berlin Decree consldcreil. doctrine that no subject of the king could expatriate himself— " once an EngliHhinan always an Englishman" — and argued that to give up that right would make evory American vessel an asylum for Uritish seamen wishi: g to evade their country's si-rv- ice, and even for deserters from British ships of war. They were sustained in tliis view by the law officers of the crown and the lioard of Admiralty, and would not yield the poiiit. Here tl.c American commissioners might have terminated the nego- tiation, because the vital object of their appointment could not bo obtained. At length this impressment question was placed in an attitude to allow negotiations upon other topics to go on. While the British commissioners declared that their gov- ernment would not relinquish by formal treaty the right of impressment on the liigh seas, they agreed that special instructions should be ^iven and enforced for the ob- servance of great caution against subjecting any American-born citizens to molesta- tion or injury. They gave the American commissioners to understand, althougl. it was not expressed in terms, that the intention of the British government Avas not to allow impressments from American vessels on the high seas except under extraordi- nary circumstances, such as having on board knoAvn deserters from the British navy, • November 8, ^^^ ^^^^ gradually to abandon the practice. This proposition was put in 1800. Avriting," and the negotiations on other topics proceeded. The terms of a treaty considered in many respects more favorable to the Americans than that of Jay in 1794, to continue for ton years, were soon agreed to. The trade between the United States and the European possessions of Great Britain were placed on a footing of perfect reciprocity, but no concessions could be obtained as to tiie trade of the West Indies ; while in the matter of the East India trade terms as fovoi- able to the Americans as those of Jay's would not be granted. The provisions in that treaty concerning blockades and contraband were adopted, with an additional provision that no American vessels were to be visited or seized within five miles of the coast of the United States. In regard to the carrying-trade, in which American vessels were so largely con- cerned, the modification of the " rule of 1756" (stipulated in the treaty with Russia in 1801, already alluded to)^ was agreed to, but to operate only during the current war, by Avliich such vessels could transport to any belligerent colony not blockaded by a British force, any European goods not contraband of war, providing such goods were American property, and the continuity of the voyage had been broken by their hav- ing been previously landed in the United States, and a duty paid of at least one per cent, above the amount drawn back on re-exportation. In like manner the produce of the colony might be carried back, and taken into any port in Europe not blocjj- aded. At this point in the negotiation, intelligence of the issue of the Berlin Decree,^ whicli we shall consider presently, reached the commissioners. It produced hesitation on the part of the British negotiators. They required assurances that the United States would not allow their trade with Great Britain, and in British merchandise, to be in- terrupted and interfered with by France without taking measures to resent it. This assurance the American commissioners refused to give, as they were not inclined to pledge their government to quarrel with Franco for the benefit of English trade. Holland and Auckland waived the point and signed the treaty, at the same time pre- senting a written protest against the Berlin Decree, reserving to the British govern- ment the right, should that decree be actually carried into force as against neutrals, and be submitted to by them, to take such measures of retaliation as might be deem- ed expedient. Had this ./eaty not been based in a degree upon contingencies and promises, leav- ing American commence still, in the absence of positive treaty stipulations, at the TTMtjr withheld from 1 See note 2, page 133. • See page 189. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 151 Treaty withheld from the Senate. War on the Administration. Blockade of the European L'oaiit declared. mercy of BritiHli policy, it migJit have been considered so advantageous to the mer- chants of the United States, being an advance in the right direction, as to have re- ceived the favor of tlie administration, liut it was too loose in its actual guarantees, and the experience of the past was too admonitory to allow such a treaty to be ac- cepted as a satisfactory settlement of difficulties between the two governments. It also failed to secure the most vital advantages contemplated in the appointment of the commission, namely, the abolition of the impress from American vessels and re- linquishment on the ])art of Great Britain of its claims to a right of search. Such l)eiiig its character, the President, at the risk of being charged with usurpation, did not even lay the treaty before the Senate, but, on his own responsibility, seconded by tlic co-operation of Mr. Madison, his Secretary of State, he refused to ratify it. That refusal destroyed all hope of negotiating another treaty so favorable to the Amer- i vns, for, long before it reached the Jiritish government in official form, the Fo.\ and Grenville ministry had disaj)peared. It had been superseded" by one in which , March, Liverpool, Percival, and Caiuiing, all disciples of the more warlike Pitt, were ^^^''■ tlie leading spirits. The remains of Fox had lain in Westminster Abbey six mouths when this change in the administration took place.' As might have been expected, Jefterson was vehemently assailed by the opposi- tion ; and the merchants, as a class, misled by the deceptive clamor of politicians, swelled the voice of denunciation. The Federalists, ever suspicious of the President, their arch-enemy in former crises of the government, charged him with insincerity when he protested his earnest desire for an honorable adjustment with England ; and they were inclined to regard the rejection of the treaty as a deliberate mancEuvre to rherish popular passion, and thus to strengthen the party hold of the President and his destined successor, Mr. Madison.^ The war against the administration was waged unrelentingly. Another great struggle between the Democrats and Federalists for the prize of the Presidency and national nile now commenced, and some leading men of the opposition who, when in power, had bitterly denounced the course of the British government because of its course on the impress and neutral rights, now became either silent spectators or vir- tual apologists for England. Yet the Democratic party steadily gained in numbers and influence even in New England, and the war feeling became more and more in- tense and positive among the people. We have already alluded to the seizure of Hanover by the Prussians at the insti- lation of Napoleon.^ This offense against the Crown of England was immediately resented ; or, rather, it was made the pretext for employing against France a measure which, as in 1756 and 1792, was calculated to starve the empire. By orders in Coun- cil, issued on the ICth of May, 1806, the whole coast of Europe from the Elbe, in Ger- many, to Brest, in France, a distance of about eight hundred miles, was declared in a state of blockade, when, at the same time, the British navy could not spare from its other fields of service vessels enough to enforce the blockade over a third of the pre- scribed coast. It was essentially a " paper blockade," then valid according to En- glish " laws of nations" — laws of her own enactment, and enforced by her own mate- rial power. The almost entire destruction of the French and Spanish fleets oflp Tra- falgar, a few months before,*" had annihilated her rivals for the sovereign- 6 October 21, ty of the seas, and she now resolved to control the trade of the world, by ^®**- ffhich she might procure pecuniary means to carry on the war. The British oi'ders in Council somewhat startled American commerce, and by some was considered, so far as that commerce was concerned, as not only a counter- vailing measure in view of the Non-importation Act of the American Congress, but a positively belligerent one. But its effects were slight in comparison with the pros- I 8oe page 128. > Uildreth'B History of the United States, Second Series, ii., 6C3. • 1 > See page 123. w 'i! 158 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK n» Berlin Decree. The "Coutlnental Hyitem." Amerlcani the only Neutral*. Their Kkpevtattoni. trating blow inflicted upon the American fihippinp interest when, fVom the " Imperial Camp lit IJcrliii" on tlie 2lHt of November, I HOO, Napoleon isHued the fumoiiH (lecitc whi<^h (leciiired the Uritish Iwhinds in a state of blockade, forl)ade all eorrespondeiKc or trade with England, defined all articles of Kiiglish manufacture or j)roduce as con- traband, and the property of all Hritinh nubjectH as lawful prize of war.' llcHting for moral support upon Kngland's cherished " law of nations," Napoleon made this declaration of a practically universal blockade when he had scarcely a sliip at liis command to enforce it ; for Lord Nelson, as we have just observed, had ahiiosi . octoiinr 21, demolished the wliole French and part of the Spanish fleet oft" Trafalgar IHUB. jjj^j thirteen months before.* On land the power of Napoleon was scarcely bounded by any river in Euro|ic', Within his grasp was seemingly the sceptre of universal empire, of which he dreaincMJ with the ambition of an Alexander. State after state had been added to his doinin- ions, and brother after brother had been placed upon thrones of his own construction, amid the ruins of old dynasties. He now endeavored, by the ))ractice of Englaiul's logic, to dispute with her in a peculiar way the sceptre of the seas.^ This was the beginning of what was afterward called the Continental System , com- menced avowedly as a retaliatory measure, and designed primarily to injure and, it possible, to destroy the commercial prosperity of England. Najtoleon adhered to it for several years as a favorite scheme, to the delight and profit of smugglers created by the system, and the immense injury of the commerce of the world. He compelleil most of the states of Europe to become partners in the league against Great Britain. A refusal to join it was considered a just cause for war. Yet England, with suih powers against her, and such an injurious system impinging heavily upon her inaii- time and trading interests, defied Napoleon and his allies, and exhibited a moral and material energy which commands our wonder and highest res])ect. America was at this time really the only neutral in the civilized world. Ilcr iso- lation enabled her to maintain that position, and enjoy prosperity while Europe was resonant with the din of battle, clouded with the smoke of camps and nr 1 towns, and wasted by the terrible demands of moving armies. But her secui 1 pros- perity were likely to be disturbed by this unrighteous decree from i Imperial Camp." It Avas so broad in its application, that it would be equally injurious to neu- trals and belligerents. The commercial world perceived this Avith its keen eye, and American commerce was convulsed by a thrill of apprehension. Rates of insurana' ran up to ruinous heights at the beginning of 1807, and commercial enterprises of every kind were suspended. This panic was somewhat allayed by a letter from John Armstrong, American min- ister at Paris, who believed the operations of the decree would be only municipal, and was assured by the French Minister of Marine that the existing commercial re- lations of the United States and the French Empire, as settled by the Convention of 1800,3 would not be disturbed.* This assurance was subsequently strengthened by the fact that the decree was not enforced against America'n vessels until about a year afterward,* Napoleon doubtless hoping the United States, growing every day more and more hostile toward England because of her injustice, would be induced to join the league against that power. Tlie Americans were also taught to rely upon the traditional policy of France concerning the rights of neutrals, so plainly avowed in the Armed Neutrality Treaty in 1 780, earnestly proclaimed ever since by the French ' See note 1, page 12<>. ' Napoleon at this time had been compelled to abandon his achemes for the Invasion of England. He had lost St. Do- mingo, and all prestige in the West Indies, and had no means of annoying bis most potent enemy, on the sea. ' See twelfth and fourteenth articles of that Convention In Stalesman'ii Manual, iv., .142, i543. ♦ On the lOlh of December, Minister Armstrong asked for an explanation of the Berlin Decree. Monsieur Dccrcs, tho Minister of Marine, replied on the 24th that he cimsidered the decree as in no way modifying "the regulations at pres- ent observed in France with regard to neutral navigators, nor, consequently, of the (Jonventlon of the 3nth of September, 1800, with the United States of America." ' Baring's Inquiry, etc., page 116, cited in note 1, page 123. Change Id the Polli rulers, and rei decree under i The promisi Decree were > of 1807. The duties in the coasts of Euro tein into activ( on the contrarj ter of Justice, ' nies, by whonb Ainericiins wer with the intent operation with lihertics of that interpretation of liiirs, coolly repi 'inly not issued ji t(» make it eft'ecti gations in the m: maritime powers, to make common Xapoleon in enfoi hut really agains stipulations regar the American sliii violation of every under liegnier's d niercliandiso of Hri precedent for the i property. Almost simultan of the Berlin Deere more destructive at ed by either party "1 the 17th of Nov iiidess through Grei 'This was a treaty of pea tolhe Prussian monarch ont , Hon of Napoleon's three bru I pballa. ' Letter to the Imperial Al '"Allthedlfflcultloswhicl rthease If the government look, with the whole Contlm I tar an entire disregard for tl On this point the interest ol Kplomaeii of the United Slate, This was all very trne, but I milrely Inconsistent with th( IiiyoflTSn. The Berlin Dec I igalnst which tho Americana wnoed "monstrous and Ind I 'Mr. Baring, In his able I,u oftlio extremely lengthvdocu J All trade directly from Ar I Msh flag Is excluded. Is tot I ff/ofSartll'ila, Is include I Mt Of the colonies re-exporte 3 OF THE VVAK OJf 1812. 158 Cbiuii;e In the Policy of the French. SeUnre of American Bhipa. Britlih Orderi In Conoell. lulds, 1111(1 ri'itcratctl in tlic diargca agaiiwt Eiiglaiul in the pi-eamblc to the famoun (licnu luider fonHJili'iiition. Tiio promiHcs of accurity to Ainoricaii coiniiu'rco fiom the operatioiiH of the llt-rlin Decree wviv. sooii broivcn. Tin; j)o\vorH of that dt'CToo wt-re jtut forth in tlio aiituiiui of 1807. Till' IVaco of Tilnit' liad ifloaHcd a liiigc iiumlu'r of Freiicii noldiors from duties in tiie camp and tield, and these were employed at varions ports along the coasts of Knrope in strictly enfon^ing tlie l»lt)(;kade and putting tlie (Jontiiienta) Sys- tem into active opei'atif)ii. Even American commerce did not remain undisturbed ; on the (contrary, it was directly threatened l)y a decision of Kegiiier, tlie Kreiich Min- ter of .f ustice, who declared that all merchandise derived from ICngland and her colo- nies, by whomsoever owned, was Habit! to seizure even on lioard neutral vessels.- Ah Aincricaiis were then the only neutrals, this decision was aimed directly at them, with the intention, no doubt, of forcing the United States into at least a passive co- opoiiitioii with JJonaparte in his (U-adly designs against Uritish commerce and the liberties of that people. When Minister Armstrong made in(|uiries concerning this interpretation of the HeiTin Decree, t'hampagny, the French Minister for Foreign At- tiiirs, coolly replied that the prhicipal jiowcrs of Europe for eleven nu)nths liad not (inly not issued any protest against the decree, but had agreed to enforce it, and that to make it eft'ectual its execution must be complete, lie disposed of the treaty obli- gations in the matter by saying that, since England had disregarded the rights of all maritime powers, the interests of those powers were coinmon, and they were bound to make common ciuisc against her;' that is to say, any nation that woidd not join Xapolcon in enforcing his iniquitous Continental System, ostensibly against England, Init really against the commerce of the Avorld, forieited its claim to have its treaty stipulations regarded ! This doctrine was speedily followed up by practice, Avheii the American ship Horizon, stranded upon the French coast, was, with her cargf), in violation of every principle of humanity, confiscated in the French j)rize court, acting under Kegnier's decision,* on the ground that that cargo consisted of • November lo, merchandise of British origin. This decision and confiscation became a *^'"' precedent for the speedy seizure and sequestration of a large amount of American property. Almost simultaneously with this practical illustration of Regnier's interpretation of the Berlin Decree in the case of the //orizox,'' Great Britain made a ,^, - . 1 1 • 1 o 1 » November 10. more destructive assault on the rights oi neutrals than any yet attempt- ed by cither party. By orders in council, adopted on the 11th and promulgated n the I7th of November, all neutral trade was prohibited with France or her allies unless through Great Britain.* This avowed measure of retaliation for the issue of 1 This was a treaty of pence concluded between France and Hiissia on the Tth of June, 180T, when Napoleon restored to the PniBBlau monarch one half of hU territories, and Knssln recognised the Confederation of the Rhine, and the eleva- tion of Napoleou'H three brothers, Joseph, Louis, and Jerome, to the thrones respectively of Naples, Holland, aud West- phalia. ' Letter to the Imperial Attorney General for the Conncll of Prizes, September 18, IfiOT. ' "All the difflcultlea which have given rise to your reclamations," said Champagny to Armstrong, " would be removed wltheuse If the government of the United States, after complaining In vain of the Injustice and violations of England, i loolt, with the whole Continent, the part of gnarantccing Itself therefrom. England has Introduced Into the maritime »«ran entire disregard for the rights of nations : it is only In forcing her to a peace that It Is possible to recover them. " I this point the Interest of all nations is the same. All have their honor and Independence to defend."— Lvman'h [ Oiplmnaen o/Ihe United Slateit, 1., 411. Tills was all very trne, but the terms on which the United States were Invited to join that Continental league were I (ntirely Inconsistent with their principles concerning blockades— principles Identical with those of the Armed Neutral- ity of nsfl. The Berlin Decree asserted principles the very reverse of these, and In an extreme degree— prlnclplc<i igainst which the Americans had ever protested— principles which the French minister, only a year before, had pro- I wuticed "monstrous and Indefensible." ' Mr. Baring, In his able Inquiry into the Causes and Consequences of the Orders in Council, gives the following analysis I of the extremely lengthy document: "All trade directly from America to every port and country of Europe at war with Great Britain, or from which the I British flag is excluded, is totally prohibited. In this general prohibition every part of Europe, with the exception at |)ree«nt of Sardinia, Is Included, and no distinction whatever la made between the domestic produce of America and I itiat of the colonies re-exported from thence. ^ ! ^^ liUUL™^... (! i ilii i 164 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Mapoleon'ii Mllnii Dccrev, lU BflbcU on Amertcnn Commerce. British Crulinra In American Wutcm, \m the Horlin Decree was only a pretext for pampering the greed of the nritish cdloriiii! mert'liants and Hlii{H>wner8. Ah the AiiiericmiH were tlie only neutralw, it wan a di- rect blow against their coininercc, of which, for ten ye;irs, the Uritiwh hud been ex- ceedingly jealous. The eflect was to deprive American vesselH of all the advantages of neutrality. In O'taliation for the issuing of these orders, Bonaparte promulgated another de- cree, dated "At our Palace at Milan, December 17, 1H07," which extended and niudo more vigorous that issued from lierlin. It declared every vessel which should kuIi- mit to be searched by British cruisers, or shoidd pay any tax, duty, or license-money to the British government, or should be found on the high seas or elsewhere bound to or from any Jiritish jjort, denationalized and forfeit.' With their usual servilitv to the dictates of the coiKjueror, Hpain and Holland immediately issued similar de- crees. Thus, within a few months, the commerce of the United States, carried on in strict accordance with the acknowledged laws of civilized nations, was swept from the ocean. Utterly unable, by any power it then possessed, to resist the robbers upon the great highway of nations, the independence of the republic had no actual record. It had been theoretically declared on parchment a quarter of a century before, but the nation and its interests were now as much subservient to British orders in cotni- cil and French imperial decrees as when George the Third sent governors to the col- onies of which it Avas composed, and Beaumarchais, in behalf of Louis the Sixteenth, Kuj)plied their feeble, rebellious hands with weapons wherewith to fight for liberty and independence. While the commerce of the world was thus becoming -the sport of France and En- gland — traditionary enemies and implacable duelists for a thousand years — unscru- pulous gamesters for power — an event occurred whicli excited in the United States the most intense animosity toward Great Britain, and created a powerful war party among legislators and jieople. To give efficiency to the Orders in Council, the British government kept a naval force continually hovering along the American coast. They frequently intruded into American waters, and were a great vexation and annoyance to navigators and mer- chants. They were regarded as legalized plunderers employed by a strong nation to despoil a weaker one.^ Every American vessel was liable, on leaving poit, to he ar- rested and scizeil by this marine police, sometimes under the most untenable pretexts, and sent to Engl;ind as a prize. The experience of the Zean(?er, already mentioned (see page 147), was the experience of hundreds of vessels, excepting the murder of their commanders; and, as we have seen, remonstrances and negotiations were of no avail. A crisis was at length reached in the summer of 1807. "The trade from America to the colonies of nil nations remains unaltered by the present orders. America may ex- port the produce of her own country, but that of no other, directly to Sweden. "With the above exception, all articles, whether of domestic or colonial produce, exported by America to Europ«, must be landed in this country [England], from whence it is intended to permit their re-exportation under such regula- tions as may hereafter be determined. "By these regulations It is understood that duties are to be imposed on all articles so re-exported ; but it is intimated that an exception will be nr.ade in favor of such as are the produce of the United States, that of cotton excepted. "Any vessel the carijo whereof shall be accompanied with certificates of French coiisuls abroad of its origin, shall, together with the cargo, be liable to seizure and confiscation. " Proper care shall be taken tfiAt the operation of the orders shall not commence nntil time Is aflforded for their behig Itnown to the parties interested."— See Inqvin/, etc., page IB. When Introducing this analysis of the orders of the llth of November, Mr. Baring remarks that "they are so mncli enveloped In official Jargon as to be hardly Intelligible out of Doctors' Commons, and not perfectly so there." In a note he says, " I beg to disclaim any intention to expound the titnal text ; it seems purposely intended that no person should profane It with his comprehension withou'; paying two guineas for an opinion, with an additional benefit of bemg able to obtain one directly opposed to it for two more." > "These measures," said the fourth article of the Milan Decree, "which are resorted to only in Just retaliation of the barbarous system adopted by England, which assimilates in its legislation to that of Algierti, shall cease to have any effect with respect to all nations who shall have the firmness to compel the English government to respect their flaj,'.' i It declared that the provisions of the present decree should be null as soon as England should " abide again by the j principles of the law of nations which regulate the relations of civilized states in a state of war." j ' Privateers with French commissions were guilty of depredations upon American commerc;, but the occasions were ] rare. RearKiulxBtlon of t Notwithstai creaning menai tlio efficiency ( war with the 1 •■illy reduced, b IH, and brig JJ IV ar, were bean In the spring portance was cc fion of gun-boa these vessels. . the war with Ti (brded coninumt States in 1 806, t Imrs and rivers. much <li.scu,ssed i Toward tlie ch in niimbei-) " auti might he put in Sea was there a f cruiser miglit be i vessels to the amc worthy of the nan and Biitish orders our coininerce. hi the s])ring o Lynnhaven Bay,< j liigates wl^ch had of the British vesse among the crew of the navy yard at V British minister, w] successor of Liston, H-ithout any warrai t«'o governments. Monroe and Pinkne to abandon the pra( ph'shed. The United States instituted inquiries c , .'% an act of Congress In jmsht deem necessary, but Ilr I Mrteen, that of the masters tells and resignations there I The names of the captains n I Mn Rodgers, Edward Preble I 'J'?;i^J»'-le8 Stewart, Isaac He I I'l'e names of the masters 81 honD„v,„ Porter, John cars" J 1 ne act of Congress for " fr iP'oved on the 21st of April, 18fl I (;«».""' ^'^'"='"'«ef under llhh''''^r'''"^^«P«Charl IBrtiish bore down upon them a l«rewlthin sight of each other l««ladlagram,eeeLos8lng'8« OF THE WAR OF 1818. 16S Ili>ori;uilMtlan of the Naval H«rvlc«. Th« "Qun-boat Policy." DMarten from BrItUh Bhipt. NotwithNtaiidiiip the m.iny doprodations upon American pommorco and the in- cri'iising nii'inu't's oftlic l)olli}j;orc'iits in Kuropi-, vi-ry littlu had bocn done to iiicrcaso the cfficioncy of the navy of the United StateH Hince its reduction at the cloBe of the war witli the Harbary StateH. Tlie Hquadron in the Mediterranean had been gradu- :jlly reduced, but several • mall veHHcls had been built. Two of thcNC, the Hliip Wasp, IH, and briff Jloruet, 18, < niHtructed ailer Freiuih models, and ranking as sloops-of- ttiir, were beautiful, stanch, and fast-sailing crafl. In the spring of 1800 the naval service was reorganized,' yet nothing of great im- portance was c()ntem|)latcd to increase its material strength excepting the construc- tion of gun-boats.' The President had imbibed very strong jjiejudices in, favor of these vessels. A flotilla of them, obtained from Naples, had been used eftectively in the war with Tripoli in 1804, and they were favorites in the service because they al t'oiJi'd commands for enterprising young officers. A lew were built in the United States in 1805, their chief contemplated use being the defense and protection of har- liors and rivers. Then was inaugurated the " gun-boat policy" of the government, so imicli discussed for three or four years afterward. Towanl the close of 1800 the President officially announced that the gun-boats (fifty in number) "authorized by an act of the last session" wore so far advanced that they might be put in commission the following season.^ Yet only in the Mediterranean St'U was there a foreign station of the navy of the United States where an American cruiser might be seen at the beginning of 1807, notwithstanding American merchant vessels to the amount of 1,200,000 tons were afloat. Nor was there a home sipiadron worthy of the name ; while British and Fren.^h cruisers were swarming on our coasts, ;iml Hritish orders and French decrees were wielding the besom of destruction against imr conuncrce. In the spring of 1807 a squadron of British ships of war, whose rcndczvons was Lynnhaven Bay,'' just within Cape Henry, in Virginia, were watching some French frigates wl^jcli had been for some time blockaded at Annapolis, in Maryland. One of the British vessels was the Melampus, .38. Three of her men deserted, and enlisted among the crew of the United States frigate Chesapeake, then being fitted for sea at tlie navy yard at Washington to join the Mediterranean squadron. Mr. Erskine, the British minister, who had been sent to Washington by Fox to supersede Merry, the successor of Liston, made a formal request of the President for their surrender, but without any warrant found in the laws of nations, or in any agreement between the two governments. A proposition to deliver up British deserters had been made by Monroe and Pinkney during the late negotiations, as an inducement for the British to abandon the practice of impressment, but nothing on that point had been accom- plished. The United States government, willing to be just, and anxious for honorable peace, j instituted inquiries concerning the deserters. They were actually enlisted for service I By an act of Congress in April, 1800, the President was anthrrlzcil to employ as many of the pnbllc vessels as he I misht deem necessary, bnt llmitiug the number of offlcers and scnmen. The list of captains was increased by the act to Airteen, that of the masters and commanders to nine, and that of the lieutenants to seventy-two. In consequence of I Mils and resignations there were many promotions, and sixty-nine midshipmen were raised to the rank of lieutenant. The names of the captains under the new law were as follows : Samuel Nicholson, Alexander Murray, Samuel Barron, I John Hodgers, Edward Preble, James Barron, William Balnbridge, Hugh Q. Campbell, Stephen Dccatnr, Thomas Tin- I »*, Charles Stewart, Isaac Hull, John Shaw, and Isaac Chauncey. Of these Commodore Stewart is now (IStiT) the only I ,m'ivor. The names of the masters and commanders were as follows: John Smith, George Cox, John H. Dent, Thomas Bobin- I Kn, David Porter, John Carson, Samuel Evans, and Charles Gordon. Not one survives. ' The act of Congress for " fortifying the Ports and Harbors of the United States and for building Gnn'boats" was ap- I proved on the 21st of April, ISftfl. It provided for the con.itrnction of fifty gnn-boats. ' Annual message, December 2, 1800.— See Statfsmati'it Manual, I., 282. ' Hero the Frenqh fleet under the Count de Grasse lay early In September, 1T81, when the English fleet nnfier Admiral I liraves appeared off' Cape Charles, entering the Chesapeake Bay. The French prepared for conflict, and pn t to sea. The I British bore down upon them, and on the afternoon of the 6th of September a partial action took place. 1.''he two fleets litre within sight of each other for Ave consecutive days, but hud no other engagement. For an account of these eventa I ud a diagram, see Lossing's Field-book of the Revolution, 11., 300, latest edition. '.Jf ..-« 156 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK l\ IM ti!!! I.V.NMIAVKS ItAV. The Deserers Amerkan Citizens. '''huirSurrcudcr refused. The Chesapeake wutched by a BritisU Squadron Oil board the Chem- peake ; but it Avas es- tablished by conipo- teiit testimony tliat one was a native of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, that anoth- er was a colored man and a native of Mas- saehusetts, and in tlic ease of the third there was strong cireuni- stautial evidence of liis being a native- born citizen of Mary- land.i Under tliese circumstances, as tlie claims of British citi- zenship could not 1)0 established, and as the government was not disposed to surrender any seamen who claimed its protection, a refusal in respectful terms was communicated to Mr. Erskine. No more was said upon the subject ; but it appears to have stimulated Vice-Admiral Berkeley, on the Halifax station, under whose command Avas the squadron inLyimhaven Bay, to the assumption of authoritv which led to much trouble. At about the beginning of June the Chesapeake sailed from Washington to Nor- folk, and on the 10th she was reported to Commodore James liarron, the ajyjiointed flag-officer of the Mediterranean squadron, as ready for sea. She dropped down tn Hampton Poads, and on the morning of the _'2d of June — a bright, beautiful, hot morning — at about eight o'clock, she weighed anchor, under the command of Captain (lordon, and bearing the broad pennant of Commodore Barron. She was armed with twenty-eight 18-pounders on her gun-deck, and twelve carronades'^ above, makiiift a total of forty guns. She Avas a vessel of ordinary character, and bore a ciew luiin- berinf three hundred and seventy-iivc. •June, ^» tl>o evening of the 21st,* the British squadron in Lynnhaveu Ray. 1S07. <;Iiiirged with the double duty, it seems, of watching the French frigates and the Chesapeake, consisted of the Bellona, 74; the Melanipiis, .38; the LeopanJ, 30 ; and another wliose name was not mentioned. T\\g Leopard, Captain Humphreys, was charged with the duty of intercepting the Cuesapeake. She was a small two- decker, and is said to have mounted fifly-six guns. She preceded the Chesapeake tu sea several miles, her sails bent by a gentle northwest breeze. The Leopard kei)t in sight of the Chesapeake until three o'clock in the afternoon, when the former bore down upon the latter and hailed, informing Commodore Barron that she had a dispatch for him. The Chesapeake responded by lying-to, when some of her officers discovered that the I^eopard^s ports Avere triced up — an evidence of belligerent intent — but they did not mention the fact to Captain Gordon or the com- ' The nftmen of the deserters were William Ware, who had heen pressed from an American vessel (m hoard the \U- tampug In the Bay of Biscay ; Daniel Martin, colored, pressed at the same time and place ; and .Tohn Strachan, prcfscil on board the same vessel fi-om an EnjiHsh Onineaman off '.'ape Finlsterre. Ware and Strachan had protections, bin Mariin had lost his.— See Commodore Barron's Letter to the Secretary of the Navy, dated April 2, 1S07. It Is proper lii Htatc that Mr. Hamilton, the British consul at Norfolk, made repeated ofllcial demands for these three seamen and an- other, and was as often rcfiiscd by the oftlcera of the Chrmpeake, acting nndcr sovernnient orders. 3 A carronade is a short piece of ordnance, having a large calibre, and a chamber for the powder like a mortar. It itc- riveB its uame f^om CBtron, In Scotland, where it was first made.— Ifoftnter. The Chempeakt boardad modore. A Briti received by Barrc he was in search the authority of Berkeley. Those tall in with the orders, and " to pi commander of tin search for deserte nations on terms from Captain Hun re.'specting the de sistiiig between tli Barron was just tions of Berkeley. to the British nav practice had been ; and twice alreadj miisers and denou the kind had cause manders of nationa own officers. He of no deserters on 1 not to enlist Britis iie mustered except While the lieute peake, suspicious 01 She had left port a countering an enei I'ither in the tirillii and lumbered by vi When the lieutei stration miglit foil silently called to qi received a trumpet aware that the ordt ilid not understand. from the Leopard a liy another, and as q iii'Ipless friga1;e. and when one broat a small quantity wa a shot could be roti lance, and in smootl ins; three men and 1 standing in the jraii^ liwiuently expresset ' VIce-Admlral EcrUclovV ilie Itriiish Navy, had doert "mke, and had openly paia !li«' magistrates of the town i uflhc ships to which they bi ' See the account of ontra loat overhauled by one of made for the formiir outrage OF THE WAli OF 1812. 157 The Chfsapeake boarded. The Demand for the Deserters refused. The Leopard flres into the Cheeapeake. modore. A British boat came alongside, and the lieutonant in command was politely received by Barron in tlie cabin of the Chesapaake. He informed the commodore that he was in search of deserters, and, giving their names, he demanded their release, on the authority of instructions issued at Halifax on the 1st of June by Vice-Admiral Berkeley. Those instructions directed all captains under his command, should tliey fall in with the Chesapeake out of the waters of the United States, to show their orders, and " to proceed and searcli" for sucli deserters ; at the same time, should the commander of the Chesapeake make a similar demand, tliey were to allow liim to search for deserters from the American service, " according to the usages of civilized nations on terms of peace and amity with each other,'" He also presented a note from Captain Humphreys of the Zeo/jor^?, expressing a liope that every circumstance respecting the deserters might "be adjusted in a manner that the harmony sub- sisting between the two countries niiglit remain undisturbed," Barron was justly astonished at the impertinence of Humphreys and the assump- tions of Berkeley, The " customs and usages" referred to by the latter were confined to the British navy, and were subjects for complaint by " civilized nations." The practice had been advocated only in the British Parliament and by the British press ; and twice already the "usage" had been applied to American vessels by British cruisers and denounced as outrageous.^ Barron knew well that the first outrage of the kind had caused the issuing of a standing order from his government to the com- manders of national vessels never to allow their crews to be mustered except by their own officers. He tlierefore made a short I'eply to Humphreys, telling him he knew of no deserters on board tlie Chesapeake, that he had instructed his recruiting ofliccrs not to enlist British deserters, and explicitly assuring him that his crew should not be mustered except by their own officers. While the lieutenant was Avaiting for Barron's answer, the officers of the Chesa- peake, suspicious of some mischief brewing, were busy in clearing the ship for action. She had left port all unprepared for conflict. Without the least expectation of en- countering an enemy, she had gone to sea without preparation for hostile service, cither in the drilling of her men or in perfecting her equipments. She was littered and lumbered by various objects, and her crew had been mustered only three times. When the lieutenant left, Barron seems to have imagined that some hostile demoYi- stration might follow liis refusal to allow a search for deserters. His men were silently called to quarters, and the ship was regularly prepared for action. He soon received a trumpet message from Humphreys, saying, •' C-onmiodore Barron must be anare that the orders of the vice-admiral must be obeyed." Barron replied that he did not understand. The hail was several times repeated, and then a shot was sent from the Xeo/iflJY? athwart the bows of the Chesapeake. This was speedily followed by another, and as quickly the remainder of the broadside was poured into the almost iielpless frigate. Owing to obstructions it was difficult to get her batteries ready ; and when one broadside was ready for action there was no priming-powder. When a small quantity was brought, there Avere no matches, locks, nor loggerheads, and not a shot could be returned. IMeanwhile the Leojmrd, at not more than ])istol-shot dis- tance, and in smooth water, poured several broadsides upon the imresisting ship, kill- ins; three men and wounding eighteen, Barron and his aid (Mr. Broome), who were >tanding in the gangway Avatching the assailant, Avere slightly hurt. The commodore fre(iuently expressed a desire that one gun, at least, might be fired before he should ' Vlco-Admlral Eerkclcy's rirculnr order recited that many peamcn, Buh.lectn of ht« Britannic majeaty, and serving in ihe liritisliNavy, hud dcertcd from several British ships, which he named, and had enlisted on hoard the frigate Ches- I'pniAT, and had openly paraded the BtreetH of Norfollt, in slfjht of their ofllrers, nnder the American colors, protected by ;h(> magistrates of the town and the recniltinc oflicer, who refused to give tliem up, either on demand of the commanders lit the ships to which they belonged or on that of the British consnl. ' See the account of outrage in case of the llallinwre, <^:aptalii Phillips, on page 102, and that of the American gun- Iwat overhauled by one of Admiral Colllngwood's vessels in the Mediterranean, note 2, page 140. An apology was made for the former outrage, but the latter was passed by. </■:« (. . 1 mm ^1 1!^^ 158 PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK ! I m w \> i : ! i Surrenclcr of the Cltenapeake. The Deserters carried away. JThe Outrage retented. strike liis flng, for he perceived tlmt a surrender would be necessary to save the ship from utter destruction. He was gratified. Just as tlie colors in their descent touched the tailrail, Lieutenant Allen, who had made ineffectual attempts to use a logirerhead,' ran with a live coal between his lingers and touched off" one of the guus of the second division of the ship, of whidi he was commander. The Leopard liad kept up her cannoiuide, witliout any response, for about twelve iijinutes. Twenty-one of her round shot had hulled the Chesapeake, and her grajjc had made considerable havoc with the victim's sails and rigging. When the Amer- ican ensign was lowered, two Kritish lieutenants and several midshipmen went on board, mustered the crew, arrested the three deserters from the Melampus, dragged from his concealment in the coal-hole the fourth, named John Wilson, who had desert- ed from the IJalifax, and bore them all away to the Leopard. Barron, meainvliile. had informed Humphreys by note''* that tlie Chesapeake was his prize; but that com- mander refused to receive her, saying, " My instructions have been obeyed, and I de- sire nothing more." Tie then expressed regret because of the loss of life, and offered any assistance the crippled ship might recpiirc. His proffered sympathies and aid were indignantly rejected ; and the Chesapeake, with mortified officers and crew, made her way sullenly back to Norfolk. The unfortunate deserters were taken to Halifax, tried by a court-martial, and sen- tenced to be hung. The three Americans were repiievcd on condition that thev should re-enter tlie British service, but Wilson, the English subject, was hanged. When Canning, tlie British JMinister for Foreign Affairs, heard of the outrage, lie ex[)ressly disavowed the act in behalf of his government, and informed Monroe and Pinkney tliat orders had been sent out for the recall of Berkeley from his command, Humphreys also suffered tlu; dis})leasure of his government because he had exceeded his instructions, and he was never again employed in service afloat. One of the Americans remanded to slavery in the liritish navy died in captivity; the others, •June 13, after five years of hard service, were restored" to the deck of the ship from 1812. which they had been taken. Provision was also made for the families of the slain. Tlie attack on the Chesapeake created the most intense excitement and indignation tlu'oughout the United States, and for a time all local politics were forgotten, and all parties, Federalists and Democrats, natives and foreigners, were united in a firm re- solve that Great Britain sliould make reparation for the Avrong, or bo made to feel the indignation of the insulted republic in the power of war. Public meetings were held in all the ]nincipal cities from Boston to Norfolk,^ in Avhich the feelings of the people were vehemently ex])ressed. " It is an act of such consummate violence and wrong," said the citizens of Philadelphia,' "and of so barbarous and murderous char- acter, that it would debase and degrade any nation, and much more so a nation of freemen, to submit to it." Such were the sentiments every where expressed, and there ' A logfrerhend is a spherical mass of iron heatcfl and uspcI in place of a match in firing cannon in the navy. s Barron's dispatch to the Secretary of the Navy, June '.'il, I'^OT ; Cooper's .Vnidl llintor;/ of the Uniteil Slates, ii., 91-114: IliUlrcth'e Hintorti of the United ,Slate», Second Series, ii., 07s ; Perlsins's llintory of the Late War, papc 22. 5 On the return of the Chrmpeake to Norfollt a ])ul)lic meetlnp was held there, when it was resolved that no inter- course of any kind »hiiuld he held witli the ISrltish squadron in the vicinity nnlll the pleasure of the President should be known, t'aptnin Doujjias, the commander of the squadron, made some insolent threat*, when t'ahell, Governor of Virginia, ordered detachments of militia to Norfolk and Hampton. Pou(;Ias, flndinc; his threats to be working misctiief for himself, became as obsei)uious as he was l)ef()re insolent, and withdrew from a menacing position in Hampton Road? to Lynnhaven Bay. Decatnr, then in command of the Amcricon naval force at Norfolk, was ordered not to molest him while he remained there. Home rather spicy correspondence with Erskine, tlie British minister, ensned, in the coarre of which he asked indemnification for some water-casks belonging to the British fleet destroyed by the Indignant peo- ple of Hampton after the return of the i Imapeake I In a letter to the Secretary of State from Montlrello, conccrninL- this demand under such eircumstauees, President Jefferson wrote : " It will be very diftlcnit to answer Mr. Erskinc's de- mand respecting the water-casks in a tone proper for snch a demand. I have heard of one who, having broken his nw over the head of another, demanded payment for his cane. This demand might well enough hove made part of nn offer to pay the damages done to the Chempeake, and to deliver up the anihora of the murders committed ou board her." * Jnly 1, IHOT. The secretary of the meeting, who drafted the resolutions, was Joseph IIopkinsoD, Eeq., a leading Fed- cr.illst, and author of Wiii7, Columbia t British Vessels ordcrec 75-. . U OF THE WAU OF 1812. 160 British Veseclg ordered to leave American Waters. Harbors to be defcudcd. Punlehment of Barron. was a {jeiieral desire for an immediate declaration of war against Great Britain to re- dress all wrongs and grievances. ]{ut the President and his Cabinet, averse to war, preferred a pacific course, and determined to allow Great Britain an opportunity for a disavowal of the act, and to make reparation of the wrong. The former, as we have observed, Avas promptly done by Mr. Canning ; the latter, embarrassed by intricate negotiations, was accomplished more l.irdily. In response and submission to the popular will, the President issued a proclamation on the 2<l of July, in which he complained of the habitual insolence of the P>ritisli cruisers, expressed his belief that the present outrage was unauthorized, and ordered all British armed vessels to leave the waters of the United States immediately. As his government possessed no power to compel compliance Avith this order, he directed that, in case of their refusal to leave, all intercourse with them, their otticers and crews, should be at once suspended. He forbade all persons affording such vessels iiid of any kind, unless in the case of a ship in distress or charged with public dis- patches. I'rejjarations for defense were also made. IMpst of the gun-boats in com- mission were ordered to New York, Charleston, and New Orleans; military stores were purchased ; one hundred thousand militia wore ordered to be detached by the different states, but without pay, and volunteers were invited to enroll themselves. Commodore Barron was made to feel the nation's indignation most se- verely. He was accused of neglect of duty, and was tried by a court- martial on specific charges of that nature. The navy, government, and nation appear to have predeterm- ined his guilt. The Avotuided na- tional ])ride needed a palliative, and it was found in the supposed de- limpieucies of the unfortunate com- modore. He was found guilty, and sentenced to five years' suspension from the service, witJiout pay or emoluments.* Captain Gordon was tried on the same charge, but his of- fense was so slight that he was only privately reprimandeil. Such also was the fate of Captain Hall, of the marines ; while the gunner, for neg- lect in having priming-powder sufH- cicnt, was cashiered. It was the opinion of Mr. Cooper tliat these officers were made the ' Jamca Barron was born in Virginia in 1T6S, and commenced his scrvlccfl In the nn\'y nnder his fntlirr, who was "commnrtore of all the armed veasels of the Commmnvpalth of Virfrliiin" during the Kcvoliitlon and the I'onfed'Tatlon. lie was cumnilHs'.oucd a lieutenant under Barry In IISS, and the following year was promoted to the highest grnde then known to the navy, namely, captain. With, and pnbordliiate to his brother Samnel, he sailed to the Mediterranean that renr, where he soon Hequlred fame for his skill In seamnnship. He was one of the best offlrcvs and disriplinariaiis in Ihe navy. The afTair of the Chempeake and its effects njion nlmself cast ii shadow over his fntnre life. lie was restored loofflciftl position, bnt, somewhat broken in spirit, he never afterward entered the service afloat. In lS2(t he and Ueca- larhad a correspondence on the affair of tlic Clirmitcakr, which resulted in a duel, the particulars of which will he given bprcafter. The duel was fought near Bladensburg, four miles from Washington City. Both were badly wounded. De- fatur (lied ; Barron recovered after months of Intense suffering. Barron held several Important commands in the service on shore, and at Ihe time of his death, on the 21st of April, 1S51, he was the senior ofllcer of the United States Navy, lie died at Norfolk, in Virginia, and was buried in St. Paul's Chiirch-yard there, with military and civic honors, on the morning of the 23d of April. A fimeral sermon was preached in the venerable nnd venerated church by Rev. William Jackson. It was a beautiful tribute to the worth of a brave and illroqulted patrl"t. ^fwmt^^mam i| • ■nil] 160 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Keparation de-mande '. of JSugland. Failure to obtniu It. Iloynl Proclamation concemlDg British 8camcu, scapc-j^oats of the government, where divided jjowcr is too often not only irrespons- ible but inefficient. "It may well be cjuestioned," he says, "if any impartial person, who coolly examines the snbject, will not arrive at the conclusion that the real de- liiupients were never put on their trial." He then adveits to the fact that four mouths had been consumed in fitting this single vessel for sea, under the innnediatc eye of the government, at a time when there was pressing necessity for her service; that she did not receive all her guns until a few days before she sailed ; that her crew were coming on board until the last hour before her departure ; that hei- jieoplc had been quartered only. three days before she put to sea, and that she was totally unfitted for active service when she was ordered to leave port. " When it was ibund that the nation had been disgraced," continues Mr. Cooper, " so unsound was the state of lioj)ular feeling that the real delinquents were overlooked, while their victims be- came objects of popular censure."' The President's proclamation was followed by the dispatch of the armed schooner Mevcnffc to England with instructions to the American ministers (Monroe and Pink- ney) to demand reparation for insults and injuries in the case of the Chesaj)eakc^M\A to suspend all other negotiations nntil it should be granted. Unfortunately for the success of the special negotiations, these instructions also directed them, in addition to a demand for an apology and' indemnity to the families of the killed, to insist, by way of security for the future, that the visitation of American vessels in search of British subjects should be totally relinquished. This was inadmissible. The Priiisli government refused to treat upon any other subject than that of reparation. A dis- avowal f)f the act had already been made, and every disposition to be just and friendly had been shown. The ministry even placed their government in the position of an injured party, inasmuch as the proclamation c<Micernhig British shij)S of Avar in Amer- ican waters was evidently an act of retaliation before a demand for reparation had been made, or the disposition of the British Cabinet had been ascertained. Monroe and Pinkney had already proposed to reopen negotiations for a treaty on the basis of the one returned from their government nnratified,^ and, Avith these new instructions, they pursued the subject with so much assiduity that Mr. Canning made « October 22, to them a formal and final reply'' that, while he was ready to listen to any 1807. Ruggeslions with a view to the settlement of existing difficulties, he would not negotiate anew ofl the basis of a treaty concluded and signed, and already reject- ed by one of the parties. Indeed there was a decided aversion to treating at all on the subject of impressments ; and the views of the government on that topic were plainly manifested when, by royal proclamation,'' all British mariners, in Avhatever service engaged, were required to leave it forthwith and hasten to the aid of their native country, then menaced and imperiled, and her "maritime rights" called in question. It authorized all commanders of foreign ships of war to seize British seamen on board foreign merchant vessels (but without undue violence), and take them to any British port. It also demanded from all foreign ships of war the delivery of all British mariners on board of them ; and that in case of a re- fusal to give them up, proper notice should be communicated to the British minister resident of the nation to which such contumacious vessel and cor">.mauder might be- long, that measures for redress might be employed. Mr. Monroe formally objected to this proclamation, as shutting the door against all future negotiations on the subject of impressments.' Canning replied that it was " October IT. Special Envoy to the I 1 Cooper'fl Kaval lUatmni nf the United StalfJt, il., 110. ' See page 151. ' .luiiicK Monroe was horn In Westmoreland County, In VIrglnIn, on the 2d of April, ITBO. Ills vonth wap epciit nmonp polittrnl excitements when the old war for independence was kindling. lie left the College of William and Mary for the cnnip, and enrolled himself a soldier for freedom. lie was severely wounded in the van of battle at Trenton, mid was promoted to captain. In other battles be was conspicuous for bravery ; and after that of Monmouth he left the array, aud commenced the study of law with Mr. Jefferson. When Arnold and Cornwallis Invaded Virginia In IW, he again took np arms as a volunteer. lie was elected a member of the Virginia Legislature in 1782. He was promoted tollif Executive Council, and at the age of twenty-live was elected to u scat In the Nationol Congress. lie remained iu iiublic II OF THE WAR OF 1812. 161 Special Envoy to the United States. IIU MUsion frultleea. Critical Sltnatlon. only a declaration of existing law, and necessary for the in- tbrmation of British commanders who might be placed in a situation similar to that of Captain Ilum- jilireys, of the Leop- ard. It Avas evident to both parties tliat the topic of that outrage 0011 Id not be satis- tiictorily treated in London, because the American ministers oouM not se]iarate it tViini that of impress- ment. The British u'overnment re- solved therefor to send a sp>'cial minister to Washing- ton, provided with instructions to bring the unhappy dispute to an honorable con- clusion. II. G. liose, a son of one of the ministers, was ap- pointed for the deli- cate duty, and ar- rived "" Anna}»olis in January, 1808. His mission was fruit- less. He was instruct- ed not to treat of the attair of the Chesa- peake while the re- cent proclamation of the President was in force, nor to connect ^^_^ thesubjectwith ^^L^ that of impress- ments from pri- vate vessels. As the proclamation had reference to the conduct of British armed vessels in American Avaters from the beginning of the current European war, the President refused to withdraw the document, and Rose returned in the same vessel that bore him to our shores. Meanwhile Monroe had returned home, leaving Pinkney resident minister in London. All hopes of settling existing difficulties with England were at an end, and from the beginning of 1808 the political relations between the two governments foreboded inevitable hostilities at no distant day. Tlie critical condition of foreign relations induced the President to call the Tenth Congress together as early as the 25th of October. The administration ])arty had an nverwhelming majority in that body, and was daily increasing in strength through- nut the country. The confidence of the Democrats in Jeft'erson's wisdom, sagacity, and patriotism was nnboumled. In the United States Senate there were only six Federalists, and one of them, John Quincy Adams, soon left their ranks and joined those of the dominant party.' A new Democratic member appeared at about the same time, and began a career as a national legislator which forms a wonderful chap- ter in the history of the government. It was Henry Clay,- who had been ai)])ointed to till, for a single session, the seat made vacant by the resignation of General John lifc.f J(l, with Patrick Ilcury and others of his state, he opposed the ratification of tlic National Constitntion. He was i line of the flrst United States senators from Virginia under it. lie was sent to France as embassador in lT!i4, and was recalled by Washington In 1780. In liflS Ik' was elected Governor of Virginia, and three years afterward Mr. .Tcfferson fent lilin to Paris to assist in ne<r<)tiatious for the purchase of Louisiana. He was then transferred to the British court 1! co-laborer in diplomacy with Mr. Pinkney. In isil he was again elected Governor of Virginia, but was soon railed to ihc Cabinet of Mr. Madison as Secretary of War. In 181C he was elected President of the United States, and held that office eight years, when he retired from public life. He lived In Virt'lnia until 1S31, when he took up his residence with Ms Bon-in-law In the city of New York. He died there on the 4th of July of that year, at the age of little more than sev- I fnlv^)ne years. ' Mr. Adams was then forty years of age, and had been in the Senate since isn.n. "lie ie a man of much Information," I wrote his contemporary and friend, Senator Plnmcr, of New Ilampshlre, in April, ISIW, " a correct and animated speaker, I itEtrong passions, and of course subject to strong prejudices, but a man of strict, nndevlating Integrity. He is not the |!l«voofparty, nor influenced by names, hut free, independent, and occasionally eccentric." '"Tals day rl)cceml)er W, 1S0C"1, wrote Senator Plnmor, "Henry Clay, the successor of John Adair, was qualified, I ad took bis soat in the Senate. He Is a young lawyer. His stature is tall and slender. I had much conversation with I bim, and it afforded me much pleasure. He is lutelllgent, and .■'pi)ears frank and candid. His address is good, and his I Biiwers easy."— LC'c n/iVi/mcr, page a51. </ ; 11; ! I ! :m I ^i'* 11^ 162 riCTORIAL FIEID-BOOK Political Complexion of tlio Tenth Congreee. Tlie PreBident'g Measage. An Bml>nrgo CBtabllslicd. Adair, then under a cloud because ot'his recent participation with Aaron Burr in his schemes in tlic Valley of the Mi88issij)pi. In the House of Representatives the Democratic party hud about the same avoiaitc majority as in the Senate. Tiic opposition, even with the "Quids" — John Kandoijili and his Vii'<i;inia seceders — could not command at any time more than tweiity-eif»iit votes. Their chief leaders wei-e Samuel W. Dana, of Connecticut, who had been a member since I19(i ; the late Josiah Quincy, of Massachusetts, who took his seat in 1 805 ; Barent Gardinier, of New York, and Philip Barton Key, of Maryland. Anioiitj the iiew administration members was Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. Thus sus- tained by tiie National Legislature and the people, the policy of the President and his Cabinet became the policy of the country. • October 2T, ^'^ ''i*^ scvcntli airual messaut ' the President called the attention of 1807. Congress to several \ cry important subjects. He gave a narrative of un- successful eiforts to settle with (Ireat Britain all difficulties concerning search and impressments; considered the affair of the Chesapeake, the refusal of the British com- manders to obey the ordei-s of his proclamation to leave American waters, the ordcis in Council and Decrees, the subject of national defenses, the uneasiness of the In- dians on the fi'ontiers, aiul the relations with other foreign governments. lie alsd expressed great dissatisfaction at the acquittal of Burr, through erroneous, if not mis- chievous uiterpretation of law, as lie evidently believed ; and he pressed upon the attention of Congress the propriety of so amending the law as to prevent the (In- struction of the government by treason.' Having been officially informed'' of the new interpretation of the Rei- lin Decree,^ and unofficially apprised of the almost simultaneously issud British orders in Council, the I'residcnt communicated to Congress" the facts in his possession, and recommended the passage of an Embargo Act — " an in- hibition of the departure of our vessels from the ports of the United States. "^ Tlu' Senate, with closed doors, proceeded to the consideration of the subject, and, aftoi- a session of fonr liours and n departure from ordinary rules, passed a bill ' laying an embargo on all 8hij)ping, foi'eign and domestic, in the poi-ts of the United States, with specific exceptions. The minority made a feeble opposition to the measure.* They asked for delay, but it was not granted, and the act was l>assed by a strictly party vote — ayes twenty-two, noes six. John Quincy Adams thus signified his adherence to the dominant party by voting Atith tlieni. In tlu House, which also sat with closed doors, the passage of the act was pressed with equal zeal by the friends of the admhiistration, and was as warmly opposed by the Federalists and "Quids." The bill was debated for three days in Committee oftlio Whole, the sittings continuing far into each night. The bill Avas passed on Monday, the 21st, at almost midnight, by a vote of eighty-two to forty-four, and became a law by receiving the signature of the President on the following day. It prohibited all vessels in the ports of the United States from sailing for any foreign port, except for- eign shijjs in ballast, or with cargoes taken on board before notification of the act; and coastwise vessels were required to give heavy bonds to land their cargoes hi the ' December 11. December 18. '' December 18. ' "The framers of onr Constitntlon," sulci the President, " certainly supposed they had guarded as well Uicir govern- ment against destruction by treason, as their citizens against oppression nnder pretense of it ; and if these ends are not attained, it is of importance to inciuiro by what means more effectual they !nay be secured."— Stafcxman's Maimal, I., '.W. .Tcflerson, lilfe many other sagacious men, felt at that time that the Union had barely escaped dissolution from the in- fan»)us machinations of Burr and his dupes. 5 Sec page V.'it. ' Special Message to Congress, December is, isni » The President was charged with having recommended an embargo before receiving positive information of the Ber- lin Decree and the Orders in Council. Ihts was a mistake. Of the former he had been informed for a weelc prevlDUsly , to his commnnicatioa to Congress on the subject by an ofiicial letter from Mr. Armstrong ; and on the morning of the i dny on which the message was ni'nt in, the Nationnl IniMiqencer, of Washington City, contnlued a paragraph Ihim a London paper of the 10th of November, announcing the Orders In Council "awaiting his majelity's signature." Private j letters had also reached him, by which ho wiw satisfied that, by the combined action of the belligerents, the foreign com- merce of the United States was utterly destroyed. Eftctsof (he Eml)arg( I'nited States, of the orders an( The Embargo an cvj)eriment n cotirse from all t them to respect i tossed objects we neutral conimerc( lint it accoinplis their Continental I hail upon France at stake, and belie iiifliet in both con nnder the pressure came prophetic. Iiargn poh'cy be a voked, and we lea those iiations. . cnce on another as line of policy."! Opposition to th( topic was made a (• iiiinciatory shot a^i ilie ])co])l{' were st: iirtioii. TJie Presid. :iieeofthe United ! liatred by the Dcni« liistory of six years ■il'jects.2 The Nev 1 ilio result of a comb liiionwealths; and cv I ill tlie service of the [ traction, and real di> 'Irtiiiinant party that [itw months later, the Speech in Congress on the Unthe course of debate on ilienholeafTairasasIy, cumii JTofettle that point," he sai( iBfantotnke part with the' O »i'lo the car of the imperial cf "The commercial portion of |mi;niithe2flthof,rannarv lidil'Mnsdom and patriotism, jilej supposed, as I do, that it iwnor to pull down the power ■b.' the provinces of the 'empei V'Kreatly regret the retalinti Jnllyetbeurgedby theProsi, ikonld have pursued our onii,, Iraisers. This would have om-i Nnlvmmtary spirit pervadin t- ""''stance, we should be tr I This remarkable letter, now b F 'k. 8 cited to show, first, hov Kl""'';f«''''<'l-V,howmncJ f treat Britain. "While BHtn f-pelled that servile spirit. ' OP TH^. WAR OF 1812. 103 EffcctmiftlK' Kinlmr(,'(>. Prophecy nf Juninh Qiilucy. Party Spirit violently iiroused. ITnitt'cl States. Wliat little Hie was left in American commerce under the pressure of the orders and decrees of the helligerents was utterly crushed out by this act. The Embargo Act, universal in its ai)plication and unlimited in its <luration, was ;in experiment never belbre tried by any nation — an attem})t, by withholding inter- course from all the world, to so operate upon two belligerent nations as to compel iliem to respect the rights and accede to the claims of an injured neutral. Its pro- I'osscd objects were to induce France and England to relax their practical hostility to neutral commerce, and to preserve and develop the resources of the United States, lint it accomplished neither. The French government viewed it as timely aid to tlicir Continental System, and far more injurious in its efiects upon Great Britain than upon France ; while England, feeling that her national character and honor were at stake, and believing that she could endure the privations which the measure would inflict in both countries longer than America, proudly refused to yield a single point iiiifler the pressure of this new method of coercion. The words of Josiah Quuicy be- inmo prophetic. " Let us once declare to the world," he said, " that, before our em- lijiiffo policy be abandoned, the French decrees and the British orders must be re- voked, and we league against us whatever spirit of honor and pride exists in both those nations. . . . No nation will be easily brought to acknowledge such a depeml- iiicc on another as to be made to abandon, by a withholding of intercourse, a settled Ihip of policy."' Opposition to the measure, in and out of Congress, was violent and incessant. The topic was nuvde a strong battery from Avhicli the Federalists hurled their hottest de- nunciatory shot against the administration. Old party cries wei'e again heard, and the people were startled by the bugbear of French influence in the councils of the iiltion. The President was charged with secret hitrigues with Bonaparte for an alli- ;iicc of the United States and France against Great Britain, the traditional object of hatred by the Democratic party. The suggesti<m alarmed intelligent men, for the history of six years had taught them that the allies of the Corsican soon became his il)jects.2 The New England people were taught to believe that the Embargo was ihc result of a combination of Western and Southern states to ruin the ICasteni com- ! monwealths ; and every art which party tactics could command was brought to bear 1 ill the service of the opposition, who, as politicians, hoped, by means of the alarm, dis- 1 traction, and real distress which then prevailed, to array such numbers against the ihimiiiant party that, in the election for President of the United States to be held a I few months later, they might fill the Executive chair with one of their own number. ■ Speech in Conijresa on the siipplemcntnry Embargo Act, Fcbrnary, 1S08. 1 In the course of debate on a supplementary Embargo Act in Congress, on the 2flth of Fcbrunry, Qardinicr denonnced llhertole affair as a sly, cnnnlnj'; measure to aid France. "Is the nation prepared for this?" lie vehemently exclaimed. To settle that point," he said to the defenders of the measure, "tell the people what your object is ; tell them that yon a to take part with the ' Great Pacificator.' Else stop your present course. Do not go on forging chaiiis to fasten |i' to the car of the imperial conqueror !" "The counnerclal portion of the United States (! mean from Pennsylvania to New Ilampshire"), wrote Timothy Plck- imni: on the 26th of January, ISOS, "are in general yet patient, because, from their unlimited confidence in the Presi- lient'B wisdom and patriotism, they believe that some mighty state secret induced him to recommend the Embargo. If libey supposed, as I do, that it originated in the influence of France— perhaps in a concert with that government, the liooncr to pull down the power of Britain— the public indignation would be rooBCd, and our country saved from becom- Ite ihc provinces of the ' emperor and king.' "iRreatly regret the retaliating order of Great Britain ; for, though it really ftimishes no ground for the Embargo, it till vet be urged by the President's friends to justify it. The path of interest and common policy was plain. We fconidhave pursued our ordinary commerce with all Uio British dominions, and armed our vessels against French (raisers. This would have offended Bonaparte. No 'natter. Whilt Britain maiiitainn lier own imlcjyemknre mint trill be If she fall (which I do not believe wld happen), our condition would not be worse. With arras in our hands, and kniinly military spirit pervading our country, we should be rerfpectcd by the conqueror; but tamely crouching, without V resistance, we should be treated, as we should deserve, with contempt, and all the indignities due to voluntary iites."— Jf.S. lA'tier to General Ebenezer SlevetK, dated "City of Washington, January 26, 1808." 1 This remarkable letter, now before me, from a senator of the United States to n leading merchant of the city of New fori;, Is cited to show, first, how powertiilly partisan feolinga may operate upon the opinions and judgment of a true ptriot, and, secondly, how mnch the leading men of the country at that time considered the United States a dependent « Oreat Britain. " While Britain maintains her own independence ourt will be safe !" The war that speedily followed li'pelleit that servile spirit. /• n i ! ■ I I I 164 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK IncunBisteucy of Politlclana. ViulntlooB of the Embargo. Sapplemontnry Acts. A young Poet's Deuunclntiona. That section of the Federalists known as tlic "Essex Junto" were the most uncom- promising opponents oftlie administration and tlie Embargo ; and many of those wlio only two years before, liad vehemently denounced Great Britain because of lier i)cr- sistent assaults upon the rights of neutrals, were now, in the heat of party zeal, the apologists of, and sympathizers with that goverr.ment, whose aggressions had ((mi- • Febniary, Btantly increased. In the very montli" when that eminent British incr- i^'"*' chant, Alexander Baring, declared bi'forc the world that "it would l)c n,, exaggeration to say that upward of three fourtlis of all the merchants, seanuii, ctc,^ engaged in commerce or navigation in America, have, at some time or other, siiH'cnil from acts of our [Britisli] cruisers,"' a leading Federal politician (wlio, two yearn ho. ' Fciminry 10, fovQ,^ declared, by his vote in the National Senate, that the conduct of isou. Great Britain was "an unprovoked aggression upon the property of the citizens of the United States, a violation of their neutral rights, and an encroachinint upon their national independence"), wrote to a friend that, "althougli England, witli lier thousand ships of war, could have destroyed our commerce, she has really doHt it no essential injuri/."^ It was soon discovered that the Embargo Act was frequently violated by enrolkd coasting vessels carrying cargoes to the West Indies, and it became necessary to pass supplementary acts to prevent such evasions of the law. It was chiefly in the (1(>. bates upon these acts that the acrimony already noticed apjieared. Gardinicr, (if New York, made the most sweeping charges of corruption, and affiliation Avitli the "French usurper" against the majority in Congress. His violence and abuse clicitiMl some personal attacks, and one of them so incensed him that he challenged his assail- ant (Campbell) to mortal combat. They met at Bladensburg. Gardinier was slidt through one side of his body, but, after weeks of suffering, lie recovered and came back to Congress, not a whit subdued. Disputes ran liigli throughout the countiv, and public speeches, newspapers, and pamphlets teemed with the most vehcnu'ut as- saults upon the dominant party.^ Many men, dreading the liorrors of a Avar with ' Baring's Inqmrii, etc. > Timothy Pirliering to James Sullivan, Governor of New Hampshire, February 10, ISOS. ' Among the few political pamphlets of that j)erio(l, now extant, is a rcmnrkalile one before me, entitled The IMm- (to; or, Sketcheit nfthe Th>iei<: a Satire. It is a poem, and was written by Wii.i.iam Ciixen Huvant, then a lat' only nboni thirteen years of age, who is still (1807) in active political life, and holds a front ranlc among the literary celcliritifs of the age. In rhythm, vigor of thought, and force of expression, tliis production of his early years gave ample as«iiri\ii(. of the fntnre distinction of the author as a poet and political writer.* But politics were seldom the theme for his mnse ] after this early effusion of that nature. In the preface he spolce of the "terrapin policy" of the administration— the policy designed 1)y the Embargo nf slim- ting the nation up in its own Bholl, as it were, lilte the terrapin. His epigraph, from Pope's i'osai/ oti Satire, coulaliifd | the Biguiflcant line, " When private faith and public trust are sold." He assailed the President and his supporters as vigorously as if his weaixm had been wielded by the hand of long ei- j perience. Seriously believing that his country was in great peril, he wrote— " Ill-fated clime I condemned to feel th' extremes Of a weak ruler's philosopliic dreams ; Driven headlong on to niin's fateful brink. When will thy country feel, when will she think f " Of the Elnbargo he wrote— " Curse of our nation, source of countless woes, Prom whoso dark womb unreckoned misery flows, Th' Embargo rages, like a sweeping wind- Fear lowers before, and Famine stalks behind." Influenced by the common opinion of the opposition, he said to his countrymen— " How foul a blot Columbia's glory stains ! How dark the scene! Infatuation reigns! For Frencti intrigue, which wheedles to devour, Threatens to fix us in Napoleon's power. * In a notice of the second edition, with other poems, printed in 1809, tbc Mimthly Antliohmi for June of that yearr "If the young l)ard has met with no assistance in the composition of this poem, lie certainly liids fair, siimild hecoDl timie to cultivate his talent, to gain a respectable station on the Parnassian Mount, and to reflect credit on the literntirt of his country." \n Insulting Proposl England, wliicl (loin to the coi menaced it, rati l)iit patriotic si States as of fiir tlic most string .March" the suj)f At about the 0(1 an act,'' as ii Sncden) to trad ve.sscls engarred and tulce out a I wit!) as much ii "Pay mo tributi yoii." This was iininent would n cffieiciitiy resenti weeks later," in tli the Iialf-demented ('(1 to induce Ame administration res whicli a free peoj ilie British ministi ivahn.2 Evasions of the tiie navigation of i 1111(1 more bitter do Ihave cited the above as politically opposed to .Toffcr ' This was essentially ,i tr\ Jroiiscd the American colon! fommcrce was required by t Mmely, cotton and tobacco Hl,800, would be snl)jected « To this would be ad iioiislieads would be subject riKS.OOfl. It was projiosed The following is „ copy o OeorgeR..Iu„r„cti„,-^l '■;li<IayofApriI,is08,intlie Oiir will and pleasure is tl , ».vof our colonies, islands, oi W™.7,««dno^,«7A«te„^,., ',,, Ml 1)0 met with, and l)cin- »f more of tlie principal pane, ""ted. And in case any ve «t8 aforesaid, snch vessels ^^ may be legally exported! "i"ies,ornnyfhturehostlIitie A «rltl8h-bom writer oftlie « potent monarchs in the i fflmlstm had perpetrated the He laws of their country, and ( ii OF THE WAR OF 1812. 165 An liirolting PropoBltlon by Oreat Britain. Tribute exacted from Neutral NatlooB. Eiiu'i'ii'li which tlipy boliovcd the Embargo Act would evoke, preferred to give free- dom to the coniiiu'rce of the country, iu'd K't it j)r()vide itself against the risks that menaced it, ratlier than to kill it outright. Such was the feeling of many merchants; Init ])atriotic statesmen, holding the dignity and the inde])endence of the United States as of far more conse(iuence than the temj)orary interests of trade, advocated the most stringent execution of the Embargo Act, and at the middle of . March 12 March" the supplementiiry enactments became law. i****- At about the same time tlie British Parliament, with an air of condescension, pass- 0(1 an act,*" as a favor to neutrals, i>ermitting them (United States ant' • Mnrcu 26 Sweden) to trade with France and her dependenciies, on the condition that vessels engaged in such trade should first enter some Hritish port,/J«»/ a transit duty, andtulce out a license!'^ In other words, the United States were told by England, witli as much insolence and hauteur in fiict as the Dey of Algiers ever exhibited, "Pay me tribute, and my cruisers (or corsairs) will be instructed not to plunder vou." This was properly regarded as a flagrant insult — one which the IJritisli gov- uinment would never have offered except to a nation siii)posed to be incapable of tfticieiitly resenting it. When to this insult was added a positive injury, a few weeks later," in the form of instructions issued by ministers, in the name of tlic half-demented king, to the British naval commanders, ex])ressly intend- ed to induce Americans engaged in commercial pursuits to violate the blockade, the administration resolved to plant itself firmly u]ion that dignity and independence which a free people ouglit always to assert. Those instructions, so disgraceful to the British ministers, were severely condemned by every honest man in the British reahn.2 Evasions of the Embargo continued, and another supplementary act, applying to tlie navigation of rivers, lakes, and bays, increased its stringency, and awakened new and more bitter denunciations of the measure. But the government was immovable. Oh ne'er coiiPcnt, ol)sc(i\il(ins, to advniico The willvKj vanml of iinporloua Krnnce ! Correct that snffrnne you niisuscrt before, And lift your voice above a Congress roar. Rise, then, Columbia 1 heed not France's wiles, ITer bullyin}; mnndales, her seductive smiles ; Seud home Napolccm's slave, and hy him say Ko art can lure us, and no threats dismay , Determined yet to war with whom we will. Choose our allies, or dare be neutral still." I liave cited the above as nn example of the intensity of feeliuf; against the ad\ninIstratlon at that time among those pcliticnlly opposed to .Tctrcrsou and his party— a feeling that made even boys politicians. ' Tills was essentially a tribute in the form of a ilutu, more odious in principle and application than the stamp tax that iroiiJed the American colonists In 1766. The effect may be illustrated l)y showing the amountof tribute which American commerce was required by the act to pay upon only two of the many articles spccitled, with the jiercentage of the tariff, namely, cotton and tobacco. The amount on a cargo of cotton, at the then current prices, costing at New Orleans ^43,500, would be subjected to a tax in some English port, before it would be allowed to depart for a French port, of JffiOfl. To this would be added about $2000 more on account of other charges. A cargo of tobacco of four hundred hocsheads would be subjected to a tribute of about $13,000. The estimated annual tribute upon tobacco alone was Ji.iir.S.OoO. It was i)roposed to tax a great variety of American productions in the same way. " Tlie following Is a copy of the instructions : "Oeorge R. : Instructions to the commanders of our ships of war and privateers. Given at our Court at Windsor, the mil (lay of April, 1S0.S, in the 4Sth year of our reign : "Our will and pleasure is that you do not interrupt any neutral vessel laden with lumber and provisions, and going to .my of our colonies. Islands, or settlements In the West Indies or South America, to whomnnefer the. prirpertii may a])pear tn yimy, and nolmlhstandint) utich vessel via;/ not have refliilar clcaranees and diieuments on board. And in case any vessel ^hall 1)0 met \vlth, and being on her due course to the alleged port of destination, an indorsement shall be made on one I or more of the principal papers of such vesnel, specifying the destination alleged and the place where the vessel was so risitert. And in case any vessel so laden hhall arrive and deliver her cargo at any of our colonies, islands, or settle- [ mciits aforesaid, such vessel shall be permitted to receive her freight and to depart, cither in ballast or with any goods that may lie legally exported In such vessel, .ind to proceed to any unblockaded port, notwithstanding the present hog- lilities, or any ftitnre hostilities which may taVe place. And a passjmrtfnr such vessel may be granted by the governor, or I tlhtr person having the chief civil cmnmand i\f s.ich colnny, island, nr settlement." .4 British-bom writer of the day, after dcclai ng that this order war, n sufficient cause of war, sold, " What 1 one of the I most potent monarchs in the world, rather than do justice to an unoffending nation, on which, for fourteen years, his I ninisters had perpetrated the most flagrant outrages. Invites, and tempts, and affords facilities to Us citizens to violate I Ihe laws of their couutry, and openly pursue the infamous trade of smuggling."— J/ot/iew Carey. «' 5 M^ wmmm I'i * ! ii , . ! fii lee PICTOBIAL FIELD-UOOK The Embargo douounced aa miicldnl. DiiiiKerB of Natiunal Vuuity. A notable Illn«trution It was (leaf to tlic [iraycrs for a repeal made in petition after petition tlmt poured into t'ongress, OHpccially from N(!W England. A propowition for repeal, and to allow merchant vesBcls to arm and take caro of themHelvoH, was voted down l)y a large majority; and the oidy glimpse of light was seen through an authorization given to the President to suspend the Embargo Act, according to his discretion, in ease of peace in Europe, or sueh changes in the jjolicy of the belligerents as might, in his judgment, make the navigation of the seas safe to American vessels. It was in tin debate on this proposition that Josiiili Quincy, Avho had then taken a place anioni^r the acknowledged leaders of the Federal party, used the language already quoted on page 163, He denounced the whole ]M)licy as fallacious and mischievous. "The language of that policy i:i," he said, " ' Rescind your decrees ami your orders, or wo will, in our wrath, abandon the ocean !' And suppose Great Britain, governed by the spirit of mercantile calculation, should reply, 'If such be your mode of venge- ance, indulge it to your heart's content ! It is the very thing we wish. You are our commercial rivals, and, by driving you out of the market, we shall gain more than we can lose by your retirement.' . . . " It is to 1)0 feared," continued Mr. Quincy, " that, having grown giddy with good- fortune, attributing the greatness of our prosperity to our own wisdom, rather than to a course of events over which u c have had no influence, we are now entering that school of adversity, the first blessings of which is to chastise our overweening cdiiceit of ourselves. A nation mistakes its relative importance and consequence in tliinkini; that its countenance, or its intercourse, <n' its existence is all-important to the rest of mankind. An individual who should retire fnni intercourse with the world foi' the purpose of taking vengeance on it for some real »r imaginary wrong, would, notwitii- standing the delusions of self-flattery, be certaiidy taught that the world moved along just as well atler his dignified retirement as before. Nor would the case ot';i nation which should make a similar trial of its consequence be very different. Tin intercourse of human life has its basis in a natural reciprocity, which always exists, however national or personal vanity may often suggest to inflated fancies that, in the intercourse of friendship, civilities, or business, they give more than they receive." These were words of wisdom — words as wise ami siixnificant now as they were then. They combated a great error — an error fully exemplified in our day in the assumption of a single class of our citizens, namely, the cotton-growers. These, knowing the value of their great staple and its consequence to the civili/ed world, believed or asserted, before the late Civil War, that it gave them power to (li<iaii certain Ihies of policy to the governments of the earth. In the madness of their error they proclaimed cotton a king too potent for all other kings. Believing that the producers of the raw material have the consumers of it always in their j)Ower, and may bring the latter to terms at any time by cutting off the supply, they forgot the great fact that dependence is reciprocal, and that, in commercial conflicts, the producer, being the poorer party, is always the first to succumb. The events and '•esults of the late Civil War laid bare that radical error to the full comprehension of ! all, as well as to acute political economists. So it was with the Embargo. Those who expected to sec great national triumplis j follow that measure, which was expected to stai've the English manufacturing oper- atives and the West India slaves, were bitterly disappointed. The evils brought upon their own national industry in various forms were far greater than those in- flicted upon England or France. It had one good effect, namely, the encouragement 1 and establishment of various manufactures in the United States, which have everj been important elements of our national-indejiendence.* ' When war was declared asaliiPt Great Britain in 1812, tlie manufactnre of ciitton was carried on extensively in] Rhode Island. A writer in 1S13 ei>tlniatcd the number of cotton factories bnilt and in coarse of erection at tliat lioii;,] eastward of the Delaware River, at live hundred. rrovialoos for strei The measure was passed by a vote ( I'll of $l,ooo,OOC eoast and harbor 'liaseofanns, and upon the goverrioi liiindred thousand ness to march at a was also .-luthorize , *200,OOO was place \ .the whole body of ;ippropriated to pa iniraent appropriat Efforts were mac] men already in the on board the gun-h ber" the President I •'ight additional gu liundred and fifty-gc •The formation of new re .iTifc'adler general. Amon , '''ii'evoort,ofNewYork ai; j-nViufleld Scott and Zae^': I fr.'J^" ^''J^'^^'^S on the fol framdrawmgspresentedtoi OF THE WAU OF 1812. 167 I'ruvlaluns fur strenKthiliinu the Ann; and Navy. Increase In the Nnmber ofOnn^boati. CTIAI^ER IX. " Let trnltonj, who foci uot tho patrloiv ftnmo, Talk of ylcldlnij our honor to Enjjllshmcii'? sway; No vnch blpmlnh xhiill Kiilly our coiiiitrj'H fair famv: • We've uo cluliiiH to Kurieiidcr, nor tribute to puy. Then, though foc« gather round, We're ou Liberty's );round, Both too wIhu tu be trapp'd, and too strong to bo bunnd." SoNu— Kmuaiiuo AMU Peaob. " Where are ycni from?" hold Rodgers cried, Which made the llrltlch wonder: Then with a (jun Ihey quick replied. Which made a nolce like thunder. Like lljjhlnlng we returned the joke. Our matches were bo handy; The Yankee bull-do^'n nol.ly npokc The tune of Uoodlc Dandy." SONO— RODOEBS ASD VlOTOIlY. lA^JM^r'" RESIDENT JcffcrHoii's policy liad been to keep the army und navy uf)()ii tlie clieuj)est footing compatible with a due regard to the public good. It was now evident that these arms of the public service must be materially strengthened, in order to secure the national safety, and the I 'resident asked Congress to augment the number and efficiency of the regular army. They did so. 'Die measure was opposed by the Federalists, but a bill to raise seven regiments* passed by a vote of ninety-eight to sixteen. Other provisions for war followed. The ini of 11,000,000 was placed at the disposal of the President for the erection of coast and harbor defenses. Another sum of #300,000 Avas appropriated for the pur- chase of arms, and $150,000 for saltpetre. The President was also authorized to call upon the governors of the several states to form an army, iu the aggregate, of one liuiulred thousantl militia, to be immediately organized, equipped, and " held hi readi- iii'ss to march at a moment's warning" when called for by the Chief Magistrate. He was also authorized to construct arsenals and armories at his discretion; the sum of «'200,OOO was placed at his disposal for providing arms and military equipments for .the whole body of the militia of the republic; and about a million of dollars were appropriated to ])ay the first year's expenses of the seven new regiments. The gov- cmnient appropriated altogether about $.5,000,000 for war purposes.' Efforts were made to increase the efficiency of the navy by adding to the few sea- men already in the service twelve hundred and seventy-two additional men, to put on board the gun-boats then ompleted or in process of construction. In Decem- ber' the President had been authorized to procure one hundred and eighty- eight additional gunboats by purchase or construction, making, in all, two hundred and fifty-seven.^ Mr. Jeflerson's idea appears to have been to liave these ' The formation of new reclments brought Into the service several men who became consplcnons in the War of 1812. .\moug them was Wade IIani])tou, of South Carolina, who had been In the army of the Revolution, and was now made 1 brit'adlcr general. Among the colonels were Smythe and Parker, of Virginia, and Boyd, of Massachusetts. Peter (iiisevoort, of New York, also of the Continental army, was made a brigadier. Zebulon Pike was promoted to major, iD'l Wlufleld Scott and Zacbary Taylor both took ofHces in the army, the former as a captain, and the latter as a lien- ifuant. ' The engraving on the following page shows the different forms of the gun-boats at that time. The group Is made tram drawings presented to me when visiting the navy yard at Gosport, opposite Norfolk, In Virginia, in the spring of • 1807. ^ ! • ■.«' I lllllil l l p l ■ I ii^ l!ii||>^ 168 I'lCTOKlAL ilKLU-UOOK Otu-boMi ridleaUd. Vluleot Ituitllltjp to • Mavr. ItoMaillwi. boats in readiness, properly (listributorl, but not netuiilly manned until necessity should call for tluir beiiii; put into eoniuiissiou. This proposition excited iniicji ridicule, not only among i»aval otlicers, but anionj^ the people at hirj^e.' Tlu' wlioli gun-boat system was (IcouMced as " wasteful imitecility, called by the nanu- ofccnn. omy," and JetVerson was pointed at as a dreaminit phili.so'her without a whit of mil itaiy knowledge, as eviiuied when (Jovernor of Virginia iii 1781.^ Tlu re seeme<l to be, for reasons (juite inexplicable, a most violent hostility to u navy, especially at the South. A mendier (Mr. Williams) from South Carolina siiid that he " was at a loss to find tere.:s sutliciently expressive of his abhorrcnci" of a navv, He would go a great deal fartlu'r to see it burned than to extinguish the fire. Ii was 11 curse to the country, and luid lu-ver been a.iy thing else. Navies had deceiviij tlu- hopes of every country which hail relied upon them." lie artirmed that the |mii- pie were willing to give comuuMce all the protection in their power, " but they coiiM not provide a navy for that purpose." Others opposed a navy because it might lie a measure for increasing Executive patronage; und no act was passed or appropriation ?nade, either for the employment of more men, or for the placing in commission am- additional vessels, until January, 1809, when the President was directed to etpiip tln' 1863. I nm iTidoljtcd to Mr. JnmeH Jnrvls for them. The drnwIiiRS were made by*bno who asslBted In their construe- tion, and who was then cngnRcd in Horvlcc at Gopport. ' Anionj; those who ridicuied the Riin-boat pysteni wan Colonel .lohn TnimhHll, the artist. According to that syslpm. he Bald, "Wlicnevcr danger shall menace any harbor, or any foreign ship shall Inmiit us, Homebody is to inform the ijov cruor, and the govenior is to desire the marshal to call npon the captains of militia to call upon the drr.nimcrs to li(';;i to arms and call the militia-men together, from whom are to be drafted (not Impressed) a snfflcient number to go mi board the gun-boats and drive tlie hostile stranger away, unless, during this long ceremonial, he should have takcubim- self off.— TRrMiici.i.'s Reminincencen nfltix oirn Timfn, page 262. > In the political poem quoted from on page 104, the author thus alhules to Mr. Jefferson at that time : " And thou, the scorn of every patriot name. Thy country's ruin, and her councils' shame! Poor, servile thing I derision of the brave I Who erst from Tarleton lied to Carter's cave ; Thou, who, when menaced by perfidious Oaul, Didst prostrate to her wiiisliercd minion fall ; And when our cash his empty bags supplied. Did meanly strive the foul disgrace to bide. Oo, \vretch, resign the Presidential chair. Disclose thy secret measures, foul or fair ; Go search with curious eye for horned frogs 'Mid the wild wastes of Louisiana bogs ; Or where Ohio rolls his turbid stream, Dig for huge bone.«, thy glory and thy theme." .fanioii Hadiion elect( OF THE WAR OK 1812. 160 juMtMaOwn alMMd PrMldmt. ElTei't (if IlnrliiK'x Imiuiry. UpiMMltlou to the nrllUh OrlMftte OWHMU. (fnited StatiM, 4 t, IW.aiii, nt, 1 1, l'Xii\,\ :!•.>, and John A(lant«, 24, the latter vcuol hav- iiiir Ik'CII ••lit down from n trij^iitc to ii Mloop of war.' Tlu" <'ounlry w.-is now iijiitatnl ])y an upproachintj election for I*n'Hident nnd Vice- I'rt'sident of the I'nited Staten, and for a time tiie political ealdnm neetlied violently. Ivirly i" I^"^ 'I Demoeratie eaiienH of members of ("onifress nominated JaineH Madi- Mill liir President, ami (Jeor^je Clinton for Vice-President of the repuhlie. Tliere was ilicu a schism in the Democratic pai'ty, cansed hy the amhition i»f Iciiders. ,Mail- i^dii, .Monroe, and Clinton were each candidates for the Chief Majjistrate's chair; ;iii(l the Fetleralists, pereeivini;, as they thonuht, some chance for success in the can- vass, nominated C. ('. Pinckney, of (South Carolina, for I'resident, ami Kuliis Kins', (if New York, for Vice-ProHideiit. The result was the election of Madison and Clinton. .Meanwhile events wore transpiring on both sides of the Atlantic, apparently tend- inis to a jj;en(M'al aliandonment of the p >licy of the Orders, Decrees, and Kmharifo. Tlie aide lin/iiir!/ of .Mr. Marini; concerninLi; the orders in Council, already cited, made ;i iMiwcrful impression u]t<m the mercantile classes of'KnijjIand. lie had fully exposed till' iiii'Xpediency and injustice of the mciisures, and nobly vindicated the character 111(1 lopiluct of the Americans. Some ol'the late (.'abinet associates of Mr. I'ov de- iiiniiued those orders as both inexpedient and unjust; and ])etitions for their repeal, iiuiiu'roiisly sijxned by the merchants and i;;;>niifacfurers of Hull, .\fanchester, Liver- midl, and London, were jiresi'Uted to the House of Lords on the 17lh and iilHt of Miurli," while a bill aflirminu; the action of the Privy CoutK'il in the matter was * 1809 iicMiliiiii;. Henry Hrounh;im, iin eminent barrister, was the advocate of the |iditiiiners, and was heard with profound attention, on the (ith of April, in that body ,it' peers of the realm of which, a little more than twenty years afterward, he became iidistiiiijuished member.- iMready, in t)ie month ofMiirch, resolutions moved aj^ainst iln'iii by Lords Krskine, St. John, Holland, and Lauderdale, and a protest sif^ncd by ilu' Karls of Lauderdale, Kintf, an<l Albermarle, iuid prepared the way for 1?rout?hain'8 :ii!junient. These documents contained, within their bi'ief limits, (dose and sound ar- .niiiicnts on the whole subject. The motion of Erskine discussed the illesralily of the new Hystein in a constitutional view. Lord St. John's treated of its repuj^iumce to the law of nations. Lord Holland's set forth with threat clearness its eifects nj)on 1?ri*ish intercourse whh foreign nations; and J^ord Lauderdale's motion showed its prejudi- cial tendency to IJritish comme-.-ce in general. The jirotest of the three peers natned ilisi'ussed more particularly the consequi'uces on the cf)tton trade. ■• lint tiie '.fforts nf these statesmen and the array of facts set forth in the minutes of evidence taken lit the bar of the House of Lords, before a Committee of tlie whole House, on the siihjc'ct of the orders,' were i'lsultieient to move the majority, and the ministry tri- umphed. The bill athrming *,! j iction of the Council and making it jiermanent was |i!issed, and Parliament fixed o amount of tribute in the form of " transit duties," 'Tills vessel was hiillt ns a c-naii i;.,(Bte of 24 In Charleston, South Carolina. She was cnt down to a sloop, then ra!?e(l to a frl^'ate ; Anally cnt down to n slooj) i\t;n\n, and, about tho yearlSSO, was entirely rebuilt as a flrst-closs ship. -Cdoi'Kii'N yaml lliHturn nf the I'liiled Staten, 11., lltl. ' Thin was the now (is«7) venerable Lord Broui^ham. Up had recently made London his residence, having practiced law hi ills native city of Edlnburi; nntll ISOT. He entered Parliament as a Whltf in islft, and was a coworker with Clark- •111, Willicrforce, and (Iranvillc Hliarpe in favor of the noi;ro slave. He was the vindicator of Qneen Caroline at.'iiiiiBt 'lie pcrseciilion of her InfamonH hiinband, Khif; Oeorjre the Fonrth. His voice and pen were ever on the side of reform 111(1 hiimaiiity. In 1S.10 he became a peer, and Lord Chancellor of England. He has ever held a biijh place In literature, lii» tli'st rdiitrlbutlons havinc; appeared in the Edinlmrfi Itevietp, at its commencement in l"!fli!. In his several depart- aifiits of labor as philosopher, law reformer, statesman, and critic, he has ever stood pre-eminent. He has resided mudi ut Cannes, in France, duriiij; his later years, on account of ill health. Durln); the late Civil War in America, Lord Brougham wrote and s)ioke in favor of the Insurgcnta, who were fljthtlni; tor the perpetuation of the slave system which he had opposed all hU life, and against the government whose most zeal- ous adherents were avowed Abolitionists. -According to the statement of that protest, the amount of cotton wool exported to England from the United States inisn-vvn«"2l)(l,n0flbags, auKUinting, at i:i2 per bag, to the value of Xil, 000,000. I Prlatcd, with the motioua and protest alluded to, and au abstract of Brougham's speech, In a thin volume of about : mo huudred pages. *»»mjBwa;a y au. m I ■I f 170 nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Napoleon in Spain. The Bayoune Decree. ModiticationB of tlio British Orders In t'ouucll. just referred to, v/lvich neutrals must pay to England for permission to navigate the ocean without fear of sea-robbers. Napoleon, inspired by the keenest sagacity, expressed his approbation of tlie Em- bargo, lie AV.ns then in Spain, ostensibly for the purpose of crusliing royal intrigues for the good of the people, but really in preparing a throne for his brother Joscpli. 3Iurat, with a conijietent force, occupied Madrid in March,* and in June Joscjili was declared by the Emperor to be King of Spahi. From Bayonne, in Miucli, Napoleon issued a decree directing the seizure and confiscation of all American ves- sels in France, or which miglit ai'rive there; and wlien Minister Armstrong remon- strated, he was .;iven to unilerstaiid that tlie Emj)eror expected the Embargo to be full andperfevt. " No American vessel," said the French minister craftily, " can be laiofulhj abroad since the passage of the Embargo Act; and those ])retending to be such must be either English, or, if American, vessels wliicli come under the ban ot'tlic Milan Decree because of subserviency to the British orders. The Emperor well knew that there were a large number of American vessels afloat which, under the tempta- tion of immense profits, Avere sailing under British licenses; and others were evadiii!: French prohibitions by forged documents, which indicated that they had come di- rectly from America. This leak in liis Continental System Napoleon was determLw.l to stop, and for that purpose his Bayonne Deci'ee was effectual. The Spaniards resisted the attempts of Napoleon to place his brother on tlicii throne, and there Avas a general uj)rising of the Dons. Tiie Avhole Spaiiisli Peninsuiii and the Spanish colonies in Central and South America were thrown open t<> IJiitisii commerce, and by so much weakened the effect of the American Embargo on that commerce. A repeal of the ordei's in Council as ihey related to Spain, and iilso to Portugal, whose royal family had lately fled td Brazil and opened a vaMf <'oimliy there, immediately followi d. On the receipt of intelligence concerning these facts, ])etitions from si'veial maritime towns in the United States were sent to the Presi- dent, pi'aying for a su.-ipension of the Embargo Act as to Spain an<l Portugal ; but lie declined, saying, "To have submitted our rightful commerce to prohibitions and trib- utary exactions from others would have been to surrender our independence. Td resist them by arms was war, without consulting tlie state of things or ihe choice of the nation." He contended that the Embargo, " besides saving to our citizens their property, and our mariners to their country," gave time for the belligerent natioiistd revise a conduct as contrary to their interests as it was to our rights. As to Sjiaiii, he wisely suggested that her resistance might not prove (as it did not) eft'cctual. But the President had already taken some measuiTs in tiie ilirection of repeal. A'^ early as the idose of Auiil'' lie had si'nt instructions to Pinkncv in Loiidnii. and Armstrong in Paris, authorizing them to otter a repeal of the Embart on certain conditions. To England such re))eal was ottered on condition of her recall- ing her orders in Council. To France Arnisti'ong appears to have ottered, in ad<liticiii to a repeal oftlio Embargo Act, a declarati<Hi of war against Great Britain in the event of her not recalling her offV'nsive orders after the Emperor should have witii drawn his Berlin, Milan, and B.iyonne decrees.' Canning spoke for his government ir a very courteous but extremely sarcastii note, .issui'ing Mr. Pinkiiey of the kindly feeling of his majesty toward the T^iitei! States, but expressing his unwillingness to change the policy involved in those oider>. under the present aspect of the case. lie could not see the impartiality of the Km- ' ArmsironR's Inptnictloop cntd, " 31: ,ra1d Bhc fPrnnrel set tho example nj ■•ovocntlon, Oreat Britain wonld 1)p obliged, either liy follii\vlii>> it, to restore to Friinoc the ftill bi'iietif nf iiciitrni Irado which hIic neertH, or, by persevering inhfr obnoxloua orders after llie pretext for them had cca^od, to i.ndor colliKitm with the I'nltpc'. States inevitable." P nl::iey's In.'t'urtionH s.iid, "Should Ihe Krcneh vovcrnmnnt revr/ke no niiieh of itK deerncs as violate our nciitr.il rtiihiK, or kIvc exptaii.ilion!" and nKHiriincCh huvinn the like effi'i t. and eiitltllnir it. therefore, to a rninnvfll of (he Em- l!,irj{o as It applies' o Kr'iiire, It will be inipoMlblc to view « (K'r,"Overn"nre of Ovcat Britain In her retaliatory orders io ; any other light than that of w:ir, without • vwn the pretext now assiim.'d l)y her." tanning's offeoaiv. -'" "Hill I" the Eastern Sta ©F THE WAR OF 1812. IVI i.annlng's offenolve Plukney'H Opinion of Ac Knbargo. Silence ofNapulcon. Oppui<itiuu to the Embargo. Idirgo wiueh Mr. Pfaikney claini*^;' nor (Ji«J his majesty feel inclined to recall his orders wkde the pirwlunrntion of the President concerning the interdiction of British ships of war in AaLfe-rican waters reniaineil in full force.'* lie alluded to the timeli- neK8 of the tanbargo in assisting France in her blockade of Europe, hut expressed an unwillingness to believe that the Anierii-aiiH intended, or co Ud have any interest in the Hmifversym ff the British jiower."^ TIk^ htter concluded Avith a hope that a perfect underMtaft'^Tng I* • ween the two goverrnnents might be maintained. liut its torn- was so ironic disingenuous and uncandid — so fidl of the spirit of a selfish -!i i\'j niri in his -s with a weak one, that it irritated tiie American minister 1,, wliiM. ; wa> . c'd, and the administratiou that made the overtui'c, not a little. Mr. Pinkn».'y expressed his views strongly against a repeal of the Embargo Act in I letter to Mr. Madist)n. "The spirit of monopoly," he sai<l, ''iias seized the people juii government of this country. We shall not, under any circumstances, be toler- - 1 as rivals in navigation and trade, . . . If we persevere we must gain our pur- at last. By comj)lying with the policy of the moment we shall be lost. By a and systematic adliereiKc to principle we shall find tiie end of our difficulties. Knibargo and the hws of our trade are deeply felt here, and will be felt with ,■ severity every day. Tlie wheat harvest is likely to be alarmingly short, and the state of the Continent will augment the evil. The discontents among their manufac- turers arc only qtiieted for a moment by temporary causes. Cotton is rising, and will soon be scarce. Unfixvorable events on the Continent will subdue the temper, unfriendly to wisdom and justice, which now prevails here. But, above all, the Avorld will, I trust, be convinced that onr firmness is not to be shaken. Our measur:. have not been without effect. They have not been decisive, because Ave have not been tliovight capable of persevering in self-denial — if that can be called self-denial which is no more than prudent abstinence from destruction and dishonor." The French P]mperor inaintauied an ominous silence on the subject. Ho made no response to Armstrong's proposition, and this reticence Avas quite as offensiA'c as Can- ning's irony. "We have somewhat overrated our means of coercion," Armstrong wrote to the Secretary of State.* "Here it is not felt; and in England, .Ancustsi amid the more recent and intei'csting events of the day, it is forgotten. I **"*• hope, unless France shall do us justice, avo shall raise the Embargo, and make, in its stead, the experiment of an armed commerce. Shoiild she adiierc to her Avicked and foolish measures, there iit' ninch more besides that Ave can do; and we ought not to limit doing all we can, because it is believeel hero that Ave can not do much, and even that we will not do Avhat little we ca".' At home the Embargo Act met Avith the most violent opposition in various forms. It was tiilked against and acted agahist, especially by the leaders of the opposition in the Eastern States, They excited a very strong sectional feeling by calling it ' " if consiriereil ns a measure of Impartlnl hoctlHty ntrninBt both belligerents," wrote Mr. Canning, "the Embargo appcnrs to htM mnjci'ty to have been manlfcKtly niiJHHt, us, iiccorclin',' to every |)rinclple of justice, the redrens ought to bavc been first sought from the parly oilginatiug llic wrong. And ills majesty can not consent to buy offlhat hostility, «hich Ameri<:a ought nol lo have extended to him, at the expense of a coucesglon made, not to America, but to Franfc." " Alliiding to Ihe faihiro of Rose's mission In regard to the affair of the Cltcmpeake, Mr, Canning, with singular nn- lainicw, reinhficod, speaking of tin President's proclamation wlilcli tliat iiffalr drew forth comeniing Hritish vessels of tar, "The continuance of an interdiction which, n . '."r such circumstances, nmountb so nearly tu direct hostility, after llip willingness profei-sc', and tao attempt made by his nia.|e8ty to remove tlie cause on which that nionsure iind '.)eeu orleinally founded, would afford but im inaus|)icious wm 'ii (or the comni'inteinent of a system of mutual conciliation ; 'lid the omission (^f any niAice of thai mCMsure in che proposal which Mr. Pinkney has been instructed to bring tor- ward, woidd have been of itself a material defect in the overture of the President." ' "By some icifortnn.ite concurrent e of c inumstunces," said Mr. Canning sarcastically, "without any hostile inteu- 'te, the American Smbarfo ilM come in aid of the ' blockade of the I'"Mroi.ean Continent' precisely at the very moment nlien, if tlmt bUickade could have sucecded at all, this Interposition of the American government would most effectual- l.vhiive contrlbnte'l to lis sncces-." * These words of v'annln.' were caught up by the opposition in America ns additional evidence that the admlnlstrntlop «orc plnying into ths haiu'.i" of Napoleon, and the old cry of " French parly" w.ia vigorously revived for a while. i ■■ n , I 172 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ! i^ IM^' iJlii|iN im Infractions of the Gmbnrgu. Attempts to make it Odious. Dinuuioiiists in New lint,'lnii(l. sometimes a "Virginia measure," at otliers a"Sout1ieni measure," and at all times a "subserviency to. French dictation." Tliey declared that it was a blow aimed inten- tionally at the prosperity of New England, slie liaving greatly the preponderance in commercial and navigating interests ; and that, while the whole country felt the in- jury inflicted by the Embargo Act more than England or France, that injury i'ell mostly upon the Eastern States. This deceptive statement, made chiefly for political effect, was contradicted by the commercial statistics of the United States.' Infractions of the Embargo were open and frequent all along the New England coast, for the magistrates winked at them ; and smuggling became so general, es- pecially by way of Lake Cham])lain, that the first active services of the newly-cio- ated army were enforcements of the laws on the Northern frontier, under the direc- tion of Wilkinson, while gun-boats were sent into "cveral of the Eastern ports for the same j)urj)ose. The leaders of the opposition, ho])ing to break down the Denxi- cratic party, made the Embargo Law as odious as jiossible, cast obstacles in the way of its execution, and used every means to induce England to believe that it was so im])opular that it would be speedily re icaled in the face of the contimmnce oflicr orders iii Council. "They are now playing a game," the President wrote, "of tlic most mischievous tendency, M'ithout perhaps being themselves aware of it. They are endeavoring to convince England tliat we sufier m(>re from the Embargo than thcv do, and if they will but hold out a while we m'>st .'ilvnulon it. It is true, the time will come wlien we must abandon it. But if this is before the repeal of the orders in Council, wc must abandon it only for a state of war. The day is not distant when that will be preferable to a longer continuance of the Einbai-go. But we can .>e\('r remove that, and let our vessels go out and be taken under these orders, Avithnut making reprisals. Yet this is the very stat>' of things which these Federal monarcii- ists are endeavorhig to bring about ; and in this it is but too possible they may suc- ceed. But the fact is, if we have war with England, it will be solely produced by these mana'uvres."2 An "Anglican party," a mere political myth in former years, was now a practiciil reality.^ Another form of oj)positioii to the Embargo Avas a declaration of several eminent lawj'ers of Massach\isetts t/iat it was unconstitutional ; and very soon the doctrine (if the Virginia, nullifiers, as ])ut forth in the Kentiu'ky and Virginia resolutions <if lyn^*. so decidedly condenmed by the Federalists as tending directly to disunion, was speed- ily proclaimed by that same party all over New England as being orthodox. Wlien it was know.i that the l)arty was defeated, and that ]\Ia<lis(in v,:is elected President, the unpatriotic cry of disunion was heard throughout New England, in the decej)ti\e accents of proclavmitions that a state, as such, has a right to declare void any act of the National Congress that might be deemed unconstitutional. That doctrine was as boldly proclaimed in the Eastern States as it had been in Virginia and the South ten years before.* The arguments used by tlm Virginia nullifiers and secessionists in « According to official tiiblcc, tiie vnlne of tlie exports of tlie United States from ITnl to 1S13 was $1,343,04;,0U0. Of this umount tlic cxjiorts of the Eastern, Middle, and Soiitliern States were in value a« follows: Five Eastern States $'2!>ft,l!l2,n(10 Fi)ur Middle States B31,Tii(i,onO Six Southern States and District of Columbia 60li,08',i,000 or for the New England States loss llian imo fnurtli of the whole amouut. » JeO'erson to Dr. Mel), of l'hllndoli)hia,.Iiim- 2!t, ISdS. ' The following' clause in a resolution adojited at a public meetlus In Topsfleld, Massachusetts, on the l.lth nf .Iaii:i. ary. I -.07, expressed the sentiments, r.ud illuwirated the actlims of a larjre class of Am 'vicaus at that time: "Thlsnswm. blv cnn not refrain from exprcssinir Its cunviclloM that neither the himor nor the perninnent iutcrCHta of the ruiloil States require that we "hould drive (4real Britain, If it were in our power, to the Kurreuder of those claims jrltrht (it search, impress, and coiiliscatlonl so essential to her in the miirhty coulllct in which she is at present engnccd-a con- f.lct interesting t'l humanity, to morals, to religion, and the last strnu'gle of liberty." * A memorial from the town of Hath, in Maine, lo the Massachusetts Legislature, dated December 27, ISOS, contalnoil the following resolution : "That li respectful address be forwarded in the name of the people of tlds town to the Lciii- lature of this commuuwealtb, stating to them the wrongs and grievaucoj we alreaJy suffer, and the painful uiipielii'u The dangerous Wei 1 798 agiiinst t the P^inbai'go conflict of j)ari just ch.'irity, d at lieart than i the ]ie()]>le, ven acy, feeling, as .safety in tolera The second f bcr," and, at tin oj)ened their b; motions for a r ilebafes ensued. iiig tlie measure ])asscd by the ] •/urn, the Carol] sioii of tJie que). commerce was t conversation. Tlie history of at that time, bea lime, form a vcr\ • if'ourliistory. C j)iirely ])artisan ct .siiocdily caiiserl v The policy of tl enforcing the PJni such .opposition a in State Legislatu union sentiment.s, of the longitude o" j)ossil)le,i'fnot ine Congress were dis fioBs we experience of sp laws; expressing to them ihfia to take such other ii comnierclal states, as thee 111 Oioucesler, M, .snclui talk for counsel, protectloi Tbc people of Boftou, In Hire (ifour state, to whom :'mt'riinient: that yoi.r po' The opposition press mi .Veiihiiryport which nmtai -l/vtcb forth his hand and ''f<i.a., andofyour couiitr -•■■m of your Independence' "«c know," said the«<„ aiKt restrictions at defiance "It Is better to suffer ih< """""^'"■''''c, "thanto'osj '.'■kept Wherefore docs .:|, •I'dnfourfathers, and will "ThlspcriJelualEmbjiP',, kisimtboumil.irnmrriit' I, "•'r-mil I.,x4 nner vnttevtak. K"l'lc "light to immedia(,.|v h'Jit- Is ':.'iH«orcrrij,„ „,„,,■,;, "le above passages have I ^'Wli'idthepntrlolisni „| »rrnimmsn„ciu,mo„ft..,„H OF THE WAR OF 1812. 173 The iliiiigcrotiB WeapDiis of Party Strife. State Sovcrelguty proclaimed In New En),'lau(l. An Enforcing Act. 1798 aijiiinst the Alien and Sedition laws svcrc used in New England in 1808 against tlio Embargo laws. Happily we are far enough removed from the din of that old conflict of i)artie8 to view tlie contest disjiassionatdy, and jierccive that we can, with just ciiarity, declare tliat these New England leaders were no more real disnnionists at heart than Avcre Jeft'erson and Madison, and that hoth parties, having confidence in tlu' ])e()])le, ventured to use dangerous weapons in their i)artisan strife for the sujirem- lU'V, I'eeling, as Jeiierson said in his inaugural address, already cited, tliat there was siii'ety in tolerating a great error " when reason is left free to combat it." Tlie second session of the Tenth Congress was coinmenced on the 1th of Novem- ber,-' iuul, at the earliest jiossible moment after tiie organization, the opi)ositi(m opened their batteries upon the Embargo in various forms. In both houses motions for a rej)eal or modification of the act were i)resented, and long and Avarm ilcbiites ensued. l>ut in botii houses tlierc was a decided majority in I'avor of sustain- ing tiic measure, and these Avere sujjported by resolutions in favor of the Embargo passed by the Legislatures of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Yir- cliiiiii, the C'aroiinas, and Georgia. Tlie wiiole country was agitated by the discus- sion of the question, aiul in private and ])ublic assemblies the great incubus upon commerce was the topic Avhich occupied all minds, and shaped the tenor of general conversation. The history of parties, their tactics and manoeuvres, their struggles and animosities at that time, bearing as they do, more or less directly, ui)on tlie subject of this vol- iniu', form a very interesting chapter in the chronicles of the nation for the student of our history. Our plan and sjiaee do not admit of even an outline narrative of those purely ])artisan conflicts, and we must jiass on to a rapid consideration of events which speedily caused war between the United States and Great liritain. The policy of the administration being fully sustained, more stringent measures for enforcing the Embargo Avere adopted. The Enforcing Act, as it Avas called, caused such :>pposition and exasperation in New England, that action among the p.eoitle and in State Legislatures assumed the aspect of incipient rebellion. Then it Avas that dis- union sentiments, just alluded to, Avere freely uttered in nearly all the region eastward iif the longitude of tlie Hudson Kiver. 3[any Avise men began to regard civil war as possible, if not inevitable. Some Aveak-kneed members of the administration ]iarty in Congress Avere disturbed by the muttevings of the thunder indicating an approaching fioDswc experience ofppeedlly having our calamity Increased by tlie addition of still more restrictive mid arlillrary laws; cxpresshif; to them our apjirobatlon of the men'sures they have already adopted upon the Huliject, and renuectluf; ihfiu to take piu-h other Immediate cteps for relieving the people, either by themselves alone or in concert with other fommerclal etatcB, as the cxtraordiimry circumstances of our situation require." In Giouce.iler, M.' snchusetts, a town mcethi!,' resolved, on the I'.'th of January, ISOO, " that to our state gotxrmnent we IcKik for c<iuiiBel, protection, and relief at this awful period of jreueral calamity." The people of Boflou, in a memorial dated ,Iaiiaary 'iH, isnii, said : " Our hope and consolation rest with the Lcplsla- liirc of our state, to whom It i.* competent to devise means of relief at;aiust tlie uiicoiistitutional measures of the (leueral i-overnnient; that yoi.r power is adequate to this object Is evident from the orgnnization of the (-anfedoracy." The opposition press uttered many violent and inflamnuitory apiieals to the people. A haud-liill was circulated in N'owlinryport which contained the 'oUowlnn sentences ; " Let every man who holds the name of America dear to him ftretch forth his hand and put this accnrsed lliinj;, the Emiiaiioo, from him. He resolute ; act lilie the sons of liberty, iitOoi), and of your country ; nerve y.iur arms with vk.nokanci: ai;alni<t the iiKsi'oT who would wrest the ineetiniable .Tin of your independence fl-inn you, and you shall be emuiverorit !" •We know," said the HoHtun Uiixrtutii, " if the Emliarero lie not removed, our citizenB will ere long set ItB penalties ;iiil rc^lrictlons at detlance. It beh loves us to uprak, for ntrike we mnst if speaklnp docs not answer." "It is better to suffer the amputation of a liir.b Imeanin;,' the severance of New England from the tinion'], said the Rrtfuii Gnzetti; " than to lose tlm whole body. AA'e must prepare for the operation. AVlierefore, then, is New England i>lfepf Wherefore does jihe niihnit to 'he nitineiuriiin nfoxemien in the Smith t Have wo no Moses who l8 Inspired by the liiKlnfour fathers, and will Imil i(« nut »f Kpnjitt" "This periietual KmharKO," said Kussi II, in the nonton CctUineU " bciu); nneonstltullonal, every man will perceive that hi u imt Imund tn rrtmrri it, but may nend kin priilvce irr merrhandixe to afiircvjn inarkei in the navie manner an i/ the fwr- mmmtt had never vnderlah'n to jyynhihil it. If the pe'ltions do not produce n relaxation > ir removal of the Embarijo, the liodlilc mii?ht to immediately r.ssume a higher tone. The government of Massachusetts has also a dnty to perform. The 'l»l« Is '■'.ill mrereiijn ami indcitemlent." The above pasBiiges have been cited to give nn Idea of the state of public feeling nnder the iiressnre of the Embargo. Never had the pntrlollsm of the jieoplo greater temptations than at the gloomy per' .i; , f utter •Dmiucrdal staguatioD [ otralnous lluciuallon h'om ISOS to ISlli, iuclusive of those years. \rM PICTOlilAL IIELD-BOOK I ■! II ■ed Alteraathre. Qnincy luhea the War Party. Effects of hU Denunciations. t< ^ aai^fcrtftfi purpose of pacifying the discontented people, the majority passed Mtaet* ii^)pointing the hist Monday in May following as the tune for the ^^''- MdHiAfia^ of the new Congress, when a repeal of the Embargo woald oe<>!)|iy, and w alti-mative nf war with (Ireat Britain be accejjted. This postponement of the repeal and the expressed intention of going to war called forth from Quincy,^ the Federal leader in the lower House, a most witii- ering, denunciatory speech — a speech that stung the dominant party to tlie quick, and rankled like a thorn for a long time. lie treated their assertion that Avar would be the alternative (if re- peal witli the most bitter scorn. He liad heard enough of that " etenial clamor," he said, and, if he could help it, tlie old women of the country shoiild no longer be frightened by the unsubstantial bui;- bear. He taunted them with cowardiec . and declared his conviction that no in- sult, however gross, that might be offer- ed by France or Great J}ritain, could force the majority into a declarati'Pii of war. ' To use a coarse but 'common ex prcssion," hi' said, "they could not be i/' r < ^-TL c^e^-C^*^ j^.^j^^^i .^^^^^ ^ ^^,^^^„ jj^ ficeljircd that — ^ (ill ihe o(Hc(MH for the iicw nrmy were imrtisans of the administration. "II llic llililinmi IkhI been," he said, " to Kfiili (In nation as one man against a foreign enemy, is nol IIiIk (he IiihI jioliey wliich any ad ministration ought ever to have adopted? Is not a party army (he iiiuhI dreadful and detestable of all engines, the most likely to awaken suspicions and to inspire div content?" lie then sneered at the idea of going to war with Kngland — the great maritime power of the world — with "but one frigate and five sloops in commission," while the administration had not " resolution enough to meet the expenses of the paltry littla navy rotting in the Potomac !" Quincy's lash stirred u]> a strong Avar feeling throughout the Democralic jiarty, and stimulated the administration to more vigorous efforts for increasing the army and navy. The Southern members, Avith Williams, of South Carolina, at their head, 1 .losinh Qnincy was born In Boston, Massnolineetts, on tlie 4th ofFebmnry, 1772. He was eilncated at Harvard Uni versify, in Cambridge, wljerc ho was sraduated in 171)0. He entered upon the pracMce of the law ';i Boston. In InW he was oicctcd to a teat in the National Congrps?, and held that position eight sncco^<sivp years. In 1SI3 he declined a re- election. He was chosen a senator from Suffolk, and was a representative in the.\ippc'r Honse of the Lei;lslature ot MassaclinseUs for fonr succesalvo years. He was speaker of the lower House in IS2n, and the following year was a|i- pointed judge of tiio Municipal I'ourt of Jloston. In 1S2.1 he was chosen mayor of tl;at city, and held the offlco .six (-(in- sccutive years, when he declined a re-election. He was chosen President of Harvard I'ni\erplty In 1?I2!», and held that honorable position until his resignation in 1845, fror which time he enjoyed leisure in private life, but always actlvel.v alive lo events around. Mr. (Juir.cy was an author of reputation, his most considerable works being A Ulntnrii nfllarrnrd V^nivnmtii, in twn voiunw^, with illustrations by his daughter; Memoir of his father (.losiah Quhicy) and others; A Memorial llulortj ni nimlun, etc. Mr. Qnincy lived until Ihe -.'d day of .Inly, lH(i4, when ho died at his country seat in Qnincy, Massai hancttf. in the ninetj -third year of his age. He and the late Lord T,>nidhurgt {son of Copley, the painter) were born ii. llu.'toii on the same night, and the same physician attended both mothers. Tiie writ"r visited him when he w.is In hi.'! ninetieth year, and had the pleasure and prortt of his conver. :ition con- cerning past days; and when he spoke of having a distinct recollection oi being carried out of Boston by way oftho British fortifications on the Neck In 1V76, anil undergoing a iinriflcatirm by sulphur vapor on account of sniall-pos in the elty, I seemed lo be talking with a patriarch Indeed — n man wh((se metiK rw embraced the stirring events of nnich of the two centuries. He W!i8 boni at the i>iiening nf the jnst rebellion of a ■_" ?"t people against real tyranny, andllveil to speak patriotic words in condemn;'.tion of a most nnrighteoi^s rebellion of few demagogues agaiugt, a» one of their nu;ul)cr had but recently said, " lue mosi; boueflceut governme on the face oi ilio earth." Cotton supposed to I vehemently opj the shallowness biitthatof eo«( neutral inercliai of Ills ire and as zlcd by the inci the King of Cor or courtiers. "' any tAvo others, e.\portation alto ions, and noAvhoi sijin])tion of the of Avar! All the of ships, Avant of from standing ai teraptible coAvard Yet, AvJien Jose flip, a Aviser fore^ -ailing fi'igates foi ind the support o »as to be found f and Williams decl ti)r abandoning th "ittoii-groAvers, he U'hile urging the forcing a ivider ni HISS about the sel/ niitruthful and uiin ''.V iin' ipulous (i( "'iiiit .nd cspeci The outride pros ''•0 great for resist; "iinter liling nica i" iitrals, a IVon-inte opened to all the av, of war Avere equally lienounced by tJie oj It Avas declared to h liates— an attempt i for the benefit ofK- lliis Gallic mask of dt ivo.and the country '""tinued. The win licoanse its imaginati belief soon came the administration, ', I tt'iidcd j)ui-j)oses, had ! i^ter resident at WasI mmii>iits, an<l Mr. M-i liyMr..Teff(.rson,Avith I would be signalized L ■ I I' OF THE WAR OF 1812. 116 Collon supposed to be King of Commerce. Non-intercourse Act. Signs of Kuconciliation. vehemently opposed every cxpenditimi for the navy. That violent scctionalist, with the shallowne.ss and selfishness ofhis class, could perceive no other American interest but that of cotton worth fighting for or preserving. Tlic " transit duty" imposed upon neutral merchandise by a late action of the British goveriunent was the chief object ofhis ire and assault, and because of that naeasure he was eager to go to war. Daz- zled by the increase of the cotton trade, lie believed that product of Carolina to be the King of Commerce, around Avliich all other interests sliould revolve as satellites or courtiers. " The great staple," he said, " of the country — cotton — worth more than ;uiy two others, is coerced into Great Britain, and is aiisolutely prohibited from re- importation altogether. . . . You are to raise cotton to carry to the British domin- ions, and nowhere else ! What does this amount to ? Any thing short of the as- sumption of the sovereignty of the soil ? And yet gentlemen can not see any cause of war! All the objections made to war with Great Britain — want of revenue, want of ships, want of objects of attack, destruction of commerce, danger to our liberties tiom standing armies — are nothing but disguises for want of patriotism, and con- tiuiptible cowardice." Yet, when Joseph Story, the afterward eminent jurist, with a broader statesman- lii|i, a wiser forecast, and a true national ])atriotisni, suggested a fleet of fifty fast- -iiiling frigates for the protection of all the industrial interests of the United States, iMil tlie support of the dignity and independence of the government, scarcely a man uas to be found from the region southward of the Delaware to second his views; ;nul Williams declared that if the rights of America were only so to be saved, he was for abandoning them at once. "Impatient as ho was to fight for the rights of the nittoii-growers, he had not the least idea of going to war for the rights of ship-owners. While urging the navigating interest to submit (piictly to destruction, in hopes of forcing a "Avider market for cotton, he declaimed with the most perfect unoonscious- iiiss about the self-sacrijice of the iSoicth and the selfishness of the JVorthP^ — a most untruthful and ungenerous assertion, which has been constantly repeated ever since liv un ipulous demagogues for selfish purposes, to the material hijury of the wliole count .nd especially of the slave-labor states. The outside pressure upon the administration against the Embargo Act became too great for resistance, and on the 1st of jVIareh, 1800, it was repealed. As a pacific counter liling measure, to induce the European belligerents to respect the riglits of neutrals, a N<m-intercourse Act w:is passed, by whir-h the commerce of Americji M'as opened to all the world except to Pwiigland and P^-ance, and British and French ships (if war were equally excluded prospectively from American ports. This measure was ilonounced by the opposition with more bitt noss, if possible, than the Embargo Act. It was declared to be ai'tual war in disguise — a cowardly obedience to French man- ilatcs — an attempt to produce hostilities with Great Britain at the instigation and for the benefit of Napoleon. Strange as it may appear to us, this foolish bugbear — tills Gallic mask of demagogues for disturbing the nerves of the timid — was still eftect- ivp, and the country was so agitated by the alarmists that the j,aralysis of industry continued. The wings of partially-released commerce fluttered timidly in liarbors, l)cOiiusc its imagination pictured whole bevies of war-hawks abroad. Helief soon came, and the doves of peace whitened the horizon. For some time the administration, persuaded of the incompetence of the Embargo to effect its in- lAuded purposes, had been unofticiaiiy negotiating witli IVIr. Erskine, the British min- ister resident at Washington, for a settlement of the disputes between the two gov- craments, and Mr. Mndison took tlie Presidential chair on the 4th of Marcli, vacated liyMr. Jefferson, with a sanguine expectation that the beginning ofhis administration would be signalized by some promise of peace and prosperity for his country.^ > UIldreth'B Uuilory of the r:iii.xl ShUa, Sucond Seiiee, ill., 136. iSfSSBSi- ssmtBs^s ! ) i- J II ill 176 PICTORIAL FJELD-BOOK Mr. Erskine'a Proposition. A Juat Arrnngemeiit. General Satisfaction, Disappearance of Party Strife, <5^^*--«» ^^ (U^ ^^^ 4^*%^ •1809. Mr. Erskinc had made hucIi reprofiontatioiis to liis govonimont that Mr. Canning instniot- cd liiiii to otter to |»roi)ose to tlie Anicricinis a reciprocal /epeal of all the proliibitorv laws upon certain conditions. But tliosf conditions Avere so partial to England — re- quiring the Americans to submit to the Av- tested "rule of 1750," and to allow IJritisli cruisers to capture all American vessels at- tempting to trade with Fraiicc — that tlioy were rejected. But an arrangement was :il)eedily made, hy which, upon the orders in Council being recalled, the I'resident shoiiM issue a proclamation declaring a restoration of commercial intercourse with Great Ihit- ain, but leaving all restrictive laws ayaiiM France in full force. Mr. Erskinc ottered. in addition, reparation for the insult and in- jury in the case of the Chesajteake, and alsn assured the American government that Great Britain would immediately send over an en- voy extraordinary " invested with full jiow- ers to conclude a treaty on all points of the relations between the two governments," This arrangement Svas completed on the 18th of Apr i'.'' On the followiiK.' day the Secretary of State received a note from Mr. Erskinc, saying, "I am authorized to declare ^' .it ins nuijesty's orders in Council of January and NovendxT. 1807, Avill have been withdrawn, as respects the United States, on the tenth day ^l' June next." On the same day President Madison (only forty-four days after his in- auguration) issued a proclamation'' declaring that trade Avith Great Britain might be renewed after the tenth day of the following June.' This proclamation was hailed »vith the greatest joy throughout the United States as an omen of brighter days. The voice of partisan strife was hushed, and President Madison was lauded as the representative of the whole American jjcople, and not dt a i)arty only. He was toasted and ])raised by the Federalists, invited to their feasts. and hailed as a Washingtonian worthy of all confidence. The foolish idea of" Freiitli influence" was dispelled, and every body indulged in millennial anticipations, En- gland was lauded for her generosity and magnanimity, and in the House of Bejin- sentatives John Randolph offered the following resolution on the 2d of May : "/iV so^yerf. That the promptitude and frankness with which the President of the United States has met the overtures of the rjovernment of (Tivat IJritain toward a restoration of harmony and freer commercial intercourse between the two nations meet the ap- probation of this House." The warmest Federalists su|)ported the resolution, and a contemporary says that the praise of the President by his former political enemies was so universal that "the Democrats grew jealous. They were afraid of losing the attachment of the President, whose election they had made such exertions to sccmT." The joy of the Americans was brief. On the ;}lst of July Mr. Erskine coininmii- cated to the President the mortifying fact that his government had refused to affirm his arrangement. This refusal was made ostensibly because the minister had exceed- ' After the nsnal prcninblo citing the action lictween the frovernmont and "the Ilonorahle David Montniric Erfkine. his majcsty'B envoy extraordinary," he said, "Now, t'lercforc, I, Inmes Miulison, President of the United Stntc.«. do hereby proclaim, that the orders In Council afor 'said will li.ivc I)een withdrawn on the eald tenth day of Jinic iicsi; nfier ivlilch day the trade of the I'nl'ed States with Great Britain, as cnspciidcd liy the act of Congress aiiovo nicntioDcJ. an net laying an embargo on all ships n.id vc.'sels In the purts and liartxirs of the United States, and the several acts j Biipplemciitary thereto, maybe renewed." " April 19. Krekluc's Arraogemer ed ills instructit cliiirged that th jieHectly just t( .States. To Ani^ mciit for tlie oiii ilir advantages Kiurse ()etw(!en 1 •lie disavowal of 'le llritish gove ne of the letters ;iitIi, who liad ah ilioreoent violent hiiibai'go Act dec immont M'ould bi England's restrict true rwison for tl would interfere in netioiial antagoni.s Two yeai-s later it iredited agent in : |iosiii<r the oppositi liceii the true i-easo t'd the ollve-braii?Ii 31r. Erskine was ret 'l:ited Oth of Angus ill regard to Great I from caj.tiiro such 1 I the Pi-esident's proc The blessings of t tlie blossoms of May ■iii'l at tJie season of tliat Madison and h; "liiiie; that they knc j iw expectation oftlu Itliat the whole aftaii- ^.tntinued restriction iiritish niini.stry. Tj, I-'raiicis James Jacl '>!iwve(le(] m. ErskiiK illuityiu the unwarra N'Deninark in early St SocrelnrynobertSiimMir Ifeitait 10 state that, while h I «l.le of the Justice muluM ^efrom his nrliannlc majesty i;:"""f'»"''°f'l'ismatt, J M. Erskine was the eldest s l-«:'lilorof(!oneral.IohnCadH |'«.™ert Thomas Americs a |«l »?»!». This win, died „ ^™« Cnlrterwood Durham filler's titles in 1S2.T n„ ' ., l-aslicBcrvice. He w„« bhh kZi'T™''"'-' ""■'"'''■- III"! British govomment stro Knf '""."">•'"■"'« con,,,, rf, *"■.« "••"•"f-re sent a f„ Mate with the Danish gover OF THE WAR OF 1812 17: ErFklnt'''* Arrangemeiitii repudiated by his Oovcrnment. The Buppoaed Reasons. Party Rancor a^ain revived. ,.,1 IiiH instructions, and was not authorized to make any such arrangement. It was (liinLtctl tliiit this was not the true reason, because the arrangement as made was ncitictly just to Loth i)arties, and more I'lvonihle to P^ngland than to the United >t;ittH. To America it ofl'ered simj)ly a rejieal of tlie orders in Council and atonc- nit'iit for tlic outrage on the Chesapeake ; to England it ottered a restoration of all ill, advantages of a vast and valuable commerce, and a continuance of non-inter- iiiiso hetween the United States and France. The most plausible conjectures for luMlisavowal of an arrangement so desirable were, iirst, that the inijdied censure of IJritish government respecting the conduct of vVdmiral IJerkeley, contained in n' of the letters of the Secretary of State to Jlr. Erskine,' so irritated the old mon- ;ireli, who had always hated the Americans, that he refused his assent; secondly, that iho recent violent ])roceedings in New England in relation to the enforcement of the Ijiibargo Act deceived the British ministry into the belief that the American gov- tnmu'nt woidd be compelled by popular clamor to repeal the Embargo, and leave Knglaiurs restrictive policy unimpaired. To the coinpiehension of the writer, the line reason for the rtyection may be found in the fact that such an arrangenu'iit woiilil interfere hi a deep-laid scheme to break uj) the American Union, by fomenting H'l'tional antagonisms based chiefly ujjou the clashing of apparently diverse interests. Two years later it was discovered that the British autliorities in Canada had an ac- iivdited agent in Boston for that ]»ur])ose, the Jiritish government ignorantly sup- liosinjj; the opposition of the Federalists to be real disloyalty.''^ Whatever may have lirtii the true reason for the rejection, the historical fact renuiins that England s])iirn- t.ltlio olive-branch so confidingly offered. The orders in Council stood uni'cpealed, Mr. Erskine was recalled,^ and a proclamation of the President of the United States, ibitc'J !)th of August, 1809, dechired the Non-intercourse Act to be again in full force ill regard to Great Britain. The British government also issued orders to ])rotect I'niiii cajiture such American vessels as had left the United States in consequence of the President's proclamation of April preceding. The blessings of the opj)osition, so freely showered upon the administration when the blossoms of May and the leaves of June were unfolding, returned to their bosoms, and at the season of the liarvest-moon curses flowed out as freely. It was charged I that Madison and his Cabinet were acquainted Avith Caiming's instructions to Er- skine ; that they knew the latter liad exceeded his instructions, and that there was I III) expectation of the arrangement being continued by the British govermnent ; and iliiit the whole affair was a pitiful trick of the administration to cast the odium of intinued restrictions upon commerce from their own shoulders upon that of the I jiritish ministry. The partisan Avar was soon revived in all its rancor. Francis James Jackson, Avho had been the British minister at Copenhagen in 1807, jiiaveded Mr. Erskine. lie was an unscrupulous diplomat, and, because of his com- licity in the unAvarrantable attack by British land and naval forces upon the capital liifDeiiinark in early September, 1807, he was knoAvn as " Copenhagen Jackson."* The ■ !i«crctnry Robert Smith, In n letter to Mr. Erpklnc on the 17th of April, sold, " I have it in express charge from the Ihesideiit to state that, while he forbears to Insist on a farther punishment of the offending ofllcer, he Is not the less Ikh'IIiIc of the Justice and utility of such an example, nor the less persuaded that It would best comport with wliat Is J(i(rrom his Britannic majesty to his own honor." • For an account of this matter, see Chapter XI. of this work. ' Mr. Erskine was the oldest son of the cel(0)rated Enplish orator and lord chancellor. In the year isoo he married the |f!ii;hlcr nf (icncral .lohn Cadwalader, of I'hiladelphia, with whom he lived until ISM, when she died. Ills eldest son ll- named Thomas Amerlcus, and Is still living', I believe, the successor to his father's title. In 1S4S Lord Erskine mar- |trf a<!»iii. This wife died in April, ISM, and he ai;aln married In December, 1S52. Ills last wife was the widow of bmns Calderwood Durham, Esq., of Larsro and Palton. lie had children only by his first wife. He succeeded to kiifalher's titles in lS2n. He war. educated for the law at Trinity College, Cambridge, but was much of his life in dip- liiulic pcrvlce. He was nrillsh envoy at AVashlnsiton fi'om I'^nti to I'^io, and afterward represented his country at the rjri'of WurtemlierK and Ilavarla. In ISi,"! he retired from public life, and died on the liUh of March, l'^^5. I 'Tlio British povoniment strongly suspected that Di^imark would acquiesce In the dictates of the French emperor, dtiecome the ally of the conqueror. If so, the Danish fleet would fall into his hands, and Knfrland's life mlfrlit be im- Tiled. She therefore sent a formidable armament to the Italtic, accompanied by Jackson as envoy extraordinary, to k' illntc with the Danish government, the basis of which was au English protectorate of Danish neutrality, on condi- M ^^^■■■gp ! illi r' I;' ^li 178 nCTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK » March. " Copenhagen Jackson" and hlH Minconduct. Proposed Uevucatlon of the French Uocrees. Napoleon on ArnmlrDnL', infUiny of'tliiit afl'air made every person connected witli it odious to the people ot'tlic United States. It was a foul Mot upon the boasted civilization and Christianity of Great Britain; and the sendinf;; of Jackson, who had been a cons|)i(uions actor in tlif tragedy, as minister to Washington wiiile causes foi- serious irritation between tlic two governments existed, was regarded as a meditated insult by the extreme mem- bers of die dominant party. Jackson was received with cool courtesy, but his deportment soon excited tlu thorough dislike of those with whom he came in contact. lie was insolent, irritable and quarrelsome. He had an unbounded admiration of the greatness of the |ic(i|i|(. he represented, and a corresponding contempt ibr the people he had been scut in. He regarded the Americans as an inferior people, and treated the officers of goviin. ment with the hmitenr which he had practiced toward weak and bleeding Dcinnaik when he negotiated with her at the moutiis of British cannon. His manners wiii; su offensive that, after the second verbal conference with him. Secretary Smith rcfuKwl any farther correspondence except in Avriting. The insolent diplonuit was otHiKkd^ and wrote an impudent letter to the secretary. He was soon informed that no far- ther connnunications Avould be received from him. Disappointed and angry, he left Washington, with every meudjer of his diplomatic family, and retired to New York.' Tlie American goveruuu'ut recpii i d his ricall, and early in 1810 he was sunuiKnieil back to England. But his govern, iient manifested the greatest indifference as to its relations with the United States. Tha rcr nest for liis recall Avas received with tin most perfect coolness, and no other minister was sent to Washington until early in 1811. » In the early part of 181 0," the President received intimatimis from abroail that a way was j)r()bal)ly opened for a repeal of the restrictive orders ainl decrees. IM. de Chamj)agny (Duke de Cadore), the French jVIinister of Foreijfii Al- tiiirs, in a letter to jMinister Armstrong, said that if Englaiul would revoke her block- ade against France, the latter would revoke her Berlin Decree.^ Minister Pinknev, .still in London, on receiving this information, approached the British piiuistryon tin subject, and he expressed to his own gm-ernment his hope that the restrictive wwx- ures of the belligerents would be speedily removed.^ To aid hi negotiations to that effect, Congress, nn the 1st of May, 1810, repealed the Non-intercourse and Non-im- portation laws, and substituted an act excluding both Britisli and French armed ves- sels from the waters of the United States. It farther provided that, in case eitlior Great Britain or France should so revoke or modify its acts before the 3d of March, tion that its fleet shonld be deposited in British ports nutll tlie termination of the wnr with France. The naiiisli i:ov- ernnient rejected this de^radlnK proposal, and claimed the rights of a neutral, independent nation, whereupon the lirii- | ish armament of twenty-seven sail of the line, and twenty thousanc! In nd troops, under the respective commniids of M- miral Gambler and Lord Cathcart, attacked Copenhagen. The spU-iiJid cathedral, many public buildings and |)rlvaie houses, were destroyed, and with them two thousand lives. The city was on Are from the" 2d until the 6th of SopicmlKr. A great part of the city was consumed, when a flag of truce was displayeil by the Banish commander. The lliiiiisli fl«i \ and a large quantity of naval stores were surrendered. Hut the IndignantDanish goveniment refused to ratil. tlie fa- pitulation, and issue<l a declaration of war agr'nst England. Russia, Indignant at the shameful treatment of Denmark. also declared war against England, and issued i manifesto on the aoth of October ordering the destruction of allBrilkli fhips and property. ' Jackso'i found a residence In the city too uncomfortable, on account of the detestation In which he was held, and lif I took up his abode at Claremout, the seat of the Post family, at the present Manhattanvllle, now Jones's Ilotcl, n fash- [ lonable place of resort. a See letter of Armstrong to the Secretary of State, January, ISIO, In American Stale Papfrn. The manner of the cor- 1 respondeuce of Minister Armstrong with the French government at this time appears .o have excited the hot dis|iloa-- ure of the Emperor, who wrote lo M. de Champagny on the I!»th of January, ISin, as follows: " MoNsiKun Di;kf. de Cahobk,— You must see the minister from America. It is beyond all rldicnlous that he wTitejI of things that one does not comprehend. I prefer that he should write in English, but at length, and in a manner thai I we can understand. How is it that '.n aflfalm so Important he contents himselfwith writing letters of four liuesf SpoakJ to the secretary who is here ; speak also to tli'> secretary who Is about arriving from \merica. Send by a courier extra- 1 ordinary n dispatch In cipher to make then\ understand that that government is not represented here ; that its miiiii'ter| don't understand French— is a morose man, with whom one can not deal ; that all obstacles would be removed if we liajl an envoy to talk with. Write in detail on the matter. Let me know what effect the letter from Altenburg has liailiil the United States— what has been done, nn(. what is proposed. Write to America in snch manner that llie Prcfidraq may know what a fool has been sent here. NArmtus." i ' Letter of PInkuey to the Secretory of State, February 28, 1810, In American State Paiycra. Tlic Berlin and Mllai 1811, as that tli ami if the otiici voke or niodifv Iaw8 should, at iccting or refusi Wlien this ac addressed a noti ill? that " the d "t'tllC folio winrr ill conscfpu-nce c and renounce tin or that the Unite upcctcd by the I sincere. Therefo lie issued a procl Kiviich decrees, a of all commercial same day tlie Sec tonis to act in coi Enj,di.sh war vessi I'd of the followir ceivcd by the Pre^ The United Stat mint at M'hat seen restri<'ti\-e acts, Boi ves-sels and their c; "hen notified that viirorous protest,'' a «mimorce Iiad suffc iiiiirencrously resjio the2;Sd of March, ] ter French port.s, oi tfred." Under this crty were seized. ]] 2dofXovember wo tlic contrary, the Fn Prize.s'^ until Februa ■'^tatcn would enforce ;"«• At the same ti; i|"iii government wit 'ion of former edicts tlic Duke of Cadore ( G'cat Britain tool «iiid her orders, on t ilwrees had been resc ^n.v edict for this rev( I'licit declaration, on "^ «'t'll as a general oi 'oms' not to apply tl, !('"tcring French ports ''w'aratioiis of the F Joidd have been for ( Awees from the same OF Tllli; WAR OF 1812. 179 The Berlin anil MIIbu Decrees rovuked. The BrltiBh Orders In Council maintained. 1811, as that they Hhoiild cease to violate the neutral commerce of the Ignited States, and if the otlicr iiatinn Hliouid not, witliin tiiree nioiitlis tliereaftiT, in Wkv manner re- viiiic or modify its edicts, the provisions of the Xon-intercourse ami Non-importution liiwH sliouhl, at tlie expiration of the three months, be revived agauist the nation iieg- liH'tiiig or refusing to comply. Wlicn tliis act Avas communicated to the Frencli government, M. de Cliampagny ailihvssed a note to Minister Armstrong, ih'ited 5th of August, 1810, officially declar- iim that "the decrees of Berlin and IMilan are revoked, and that after the first day (]fthe following November they will ce.-ise to have effect; it being understood that, in consequence of this declaration, the Englisli sliall revoke their ordi'rs in Council, and renounce tlie new principles of blockade which they have wished to establish, (iitliiit the United States, conformably to their law, will cause their rights to be re- siKcti'l by the English." This was explicit, and the I'resident doubted not it was sincere. Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of the act of the 1st of ^Fay, he issued a proclainaiion on the 2d of November announcing thi>' revocation of the FniH'h decrees, and declaring the discontinuance, on the j)art of tiie United States, iif all commercial restrictions in relation to France and her dependencies. On the same day the Secretary of the Treasury issued an order to all collectors of the cus- toms to act in ci'iformity with the Prt. ident's proclamation, but to enforce against Kniilish war ves ils, and against her commerce, the law of May* after the .Mayi, •jd of the following February, unless, meanwhile, information should be re- ^*'^'>- (cived by the President of the revocation of her ordei-s in Council. The United States had been made to doubt Gallic faith. Professing to be indig- iiimt at what seemed *to be partiality shown to England by the Americans in their restrictive acts, Bonaparte had caused the seizure and confiscation of many American vessels and their cargoes. Armstrong remonstrated from time to time, and finally, when notified that a large number of these vessels Avere to be sold, he presented a vi<'oious protest,'' and recapitulated the many aggressions which American . . March 10 commerce had suftered from French cruisers. This just remonstrance Avas imsencrously responded to by a decree, issued by the Emperor from Rambouillet on the 23d of March, 1810, Avhich declared that " all American vessels Avhich should en- ter French ports, or ports occui)ied by French trooi)s, should be seized and seques- tered." Under this decree, many American vessels and millions of American ])rop- erty were seized. But it Avas supposed that the proclamation of the President on the 2(1 of November would annul these hostile proceedings, and release the vessels. On the contrary, the French government simply suspended the causes in the Council of Prizes'^ until February, 1811, in order to ascertain Avhether the United States would enforce the proclamation of November against Great Brit- I iiin. At the same time the French government abstained from furnishing the Amer- [ an government Avith formal official evidence of any decree relating to the revoca- jtion of former edicts, and the Avhole matter rested upon the simple letter of the Duke of Cadore (Champagny) to Mr. Armstrong.'' Great Britain took advantage of this fact, and resisted the application to re- I soind her orders, on the ground that she was furnished with no evidence that the Jilccrees had been rescinded, because the French government had never pronuilgated laiiy edict for this revocation. But she had the evidence of the French minister's ex- I Illicit declaration, on Avhich the action of the United States government Avas based, lis well as a general order of the French government to the Director General of Cus- jlonis' not to apply the Berlin and IMilan Decrees to American vessels lentering Fri'ncli ports after the 1st of November, 1810. These official iWarations of the French government Avere sufficient for the United States, and* lAoidd have been for Great Britain, fi)r, if faith could not luue been placed in them, ik'crees from the same source Avould have had little value. But France and England ' December 26. '' August 5. t ( II I'i II mli li! 180 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK EiiKlflud and Franco retwrr t> iiiat. Friendly Propoaltlon of the United Btstes unheeded. were pliiyiiii? siicli u (leHi)eriite ^iniio, that tlicy not only right fully HUH|tePt»'(l oadi otiior of diiplieity continually, luit dimhted the tiiiiccrity of the I'nited States, al- though that government had never, in the smallest degree, broken its faith witli ci- ther. EngliMid refuHed to reeall her orders in Council; IJonaparte refused to iiiuki any indemnity for the seizureH under the Hayoiuie and IJamboiuUut Decrees, ami American cominerco was left hi a state of the most i)ainful suspense. Having exhausted all arguments in endeavoring to convince the British ministry of the reality of the French revocation,' and to effect a recall . i'the orders, INfr. I'ink- ney left England and returned home, satisfied that,wliile she could sustain herself in the jiroseciition of the war, she would never yield an iota of her power to ojijiress the weak. At this very time, spurned as they had been, the United States proceeded tn open another door of reconciliation, by an act of Congress jiroviding that, in case at any time "Great Britain should revoke or modify her edicts, as that they shall cease to violate the neutral commerce of the United States, the President of the Uiiitiii States sliould declare the fact by proclamation, and that the restrictions previously imposed should, from the date of such proclamation, cease and be discontinued. "- To this friendly proj)osition England was deaf. She would listen to no apjieals tu her justice or her magnanimity. For long years she had been the aggressor and tin oppressor, and yet she refused to heed the kindly voice of her best friend when it pleaded for simple justice. At that very time she Mas exercising, by the might of her navy, the most despotic sway upon the ocean, and committing incessant injiniis upon a friendly poAver. She liad, at that time, impressed from the crews of iVnierican merchant vessels, peaceably navigating the high seas, not less than six xiitu sand MARINEUS who claimed to bo citizens of the United States, and M'ho were denied all o])j)ortunity to verify their claims. She had seized and confiscated the conimorcial property of American citizens to an incalculable amount. She had united in iIk enormities of France in declaring a great proportion of the terraqueous globe •• ;i state of blockade, efFectually chasing the American merchant from the ocean. > had contemptuously disregarded the neutrality of the American territory, ami tin jurisdiction of the American laM's within the Avaters and harbors of the United Statis. She was enjoying the emoluments of a surreptitious trade, stained Avith every spccio of fraud and corrruption, Avhieh gave to the belligerent poAvers the advantage of a peace, Avhile the neutral poAvers Avere involved in tlie evils of Avar. She had, in short, usurped and exercised on the Avater a tyranny similar to that Avhich her great antai;- onist had usurped and exercised on the land. And, amid all these proofs of ambition and avarice, she demanded that the victims of her usurpations and her violence should revere her as the sole defender of the rights and liberties of mankind !^ At about the time Avheii Mr. Pinkney left England, Augustus J. Foster, Avlin liad • Febnmryis, l>Pen Secretary to the British legation at Washington, Avas appointoil' 1811. envoy extraordinary to the United States, .charged Avith the settleniont of the affair of the Chesapeake and other matters in dispute betAvccn the two gov- ernments.'' He had just fairly entered upon the duties of his peaceful mission, Avhen an event occurred that produced great complications and ill feelings. 1 The British ministry, in their refusal to rescind the orders, made a Btrong point of the fuel that one of the condition! i in Champngny's letter was the renouucing by the English what were called the " new British principles of bidcknde," namely, the blockading of all commercial uufortitied towns, coasts, harbors, and months of rivers. Bonai)«rte clainicil that it onght to be confined to fortified places. Great Britain would not relax an lota of her pretensions in this matter. » Act of Congress, passed 2d of March, ISll. 3 See Dallas's Exposition of the Cannes and Character if the late War. * In announcing this appointment, the British ministry assured Mr. Pinkney of the most pn' ' feelings of their gov- . ernment toward that of his own, and that the delay In filllns; the place cause I liy the recall of ....iksou was not becmisel of any indisposition to keep np friendly diplomatic relations, but from a desir.- to make a satisfactory appointment, awl J also from late interruptions to ofllcial business owine to the mental disability of the king and the establishment ofsj regency. The king had shown signs of insanity in 1"S«. and a Regency Bill was submitted to Parliament in l>rpmhcr| of that year. The king recovered, and In February following it was withdrawn. In 1810 the physicians of the kincj announced his confirmed Insanity, and on the 6th of February, ISll, his eon, the Prince of Wales, afterward George thej Ontrage by s BrltUI Since the In American eoa^ .Vincrican vess Vork;' and ca ruiv, ( '.iptain I and a young m into the Britisli resolved to seiii of the coast tra The I'l-eshkm ''I'.in'iig the broad The commodore aa PnsuknCs saiIin<T. '■'ill were at Wasli ;"i I'oard t!ie frigat ill the afternoon o; sloop-of-war Avf/us tant, sailing at tJie Hying, denoting tin tor-deck. Ho j7ad r "'search of the ofi( Foiirtli, went before the Pri »W the death of his father ' Hildreth, Second Series •-Although the sen was nil "f frigate, and assured the { TO, "Ail that may be so, be Ihe American navy then '"^^i-.JohnAilanifi'U. Wa »n large flotilla of g„n.b„: *-Ooopor,ii., lis 'The present Port or Batt, 'te^me name, erected, with »e.trei,gthe„edatthebe" l^ary work, Us principal,'^ fin^eofthe naval arsenal seh »» he breaking out of he civ "■'""/"'."nd delight the eves ■^'"viSih : tr%"t's^"Tf ' I lar Tt ,'""'• It stood at n W^ It will be referred to ap I 'letter from an officer on be OF THE WAU OF 1812. 181 Ontrsge b<r a Brltiiib Cruller. Commodore Rodgera. The Frigate PrtiMmt ordered to 8ea. Since the fnvornble arranpemont, with France, British cnuHers hoverinj? upon the Aimiiciin coast liiid become more and more annoyinj; to commerce. A riehly-Iaileii American vessel bonml to France bad been eaptiired within tiiirty inib's of Now York;' and early in the montii of May a Ib'itisii frij^ate, supposed to be the (iuer- mw, t aiitain Daeres, stopped an American bri<r only eighteen miles from New York, and a youni^ man, known to be a native of Alaine, was taken from her and impressed inti) the British service.'- Similar instances had lately occurred, and the government resolved to send out one or two of the new frigates^ immediately for the protection iit'tlic coast traile from the ih'predators. Tiie I'reskktil, Captain Ludlow, was then anchored off Fort Severn,'' at Annapolis, rOBT OR IIATTEHY BKVKRN, AT ANNArol.IS. lioaring the broad pennant of Commodore Ilodgers, the senior officer of the navy. The commodore was with his family at Havre de Grace, seventy miles distant;' the Presidoit^ti sailing-master was at IJaltimore, forty miles distant; her purser ami chap- lain were at Washington, an equal distance from their posts, and all was listlessness III) board the frigate, for no sounds of war were in the air. Suddenly, at three o'clock ill tln' afternoon of the 7th of I\Iay, while Captain Ludlow was dining on board the >loop-of-war Argus, '>''"» "C'li* the President, the ,.;ig was seen, about five miles dis- tant, sailing at the rate of ten miles an liour, witii the commodore's broad pennant Hying, denoting that he was on board." Ilodgers was soon on the President'' s quar- ter-deck. He had received orders" from his government to put to sea at once • jjny o ill search of the offending British vessel, and on the 10th he weiglied anchor i^"- Fnartti, wont before the Privy Council In great stute, nnd was sworn In as regent of the kingdom. lie held that office antll the ilcnth of his father In 18'J(i, whtu he became king. I liililrctli, Second Series', ill., 245. » .Mlhouu'h the cea was nmnlng high, the captain of the Spitfire (the arrested brig) went with the young man on board the frifjate, and ansured the conimander that he had known him from boyhood as a native of Maine. The Insolent reply KiV, "All that may be so, but he has no protection, and that is enough for me."— .Vcip York lleraM, May 11, 1S11. ' The American navy then in active service consisted of the President, Cnnxtittitiim, and Uni'ed Stativ, 44 each ; the B«- «, 3'2; Jiilin AdaniK,'24i Wan]' and Hornet, IS each; Arywi and Siren, 10 each; Xautilus, Entirjirinr, and Vixen, \2 each; .10(1 a large flotilla of gun-boats, commanded principally by sailing-masters selected from the officers of merchant veg- Kls.-Cooper, ii., lis. ' The present Fort or Battery Severn, composed of a circular base and hexagonal tower, Is upon the site of a f irt of the same name, erected, with other fortifications, in 1770. It was then little more than a ,';ronp of breast- works. These wre strengthened at the beginning of the war in 1R12. The present fort, seen In the picture, is r.ither a naval than a military work, its principal use being for a practice-battery for the students in the Naval Academy there, and for the de- fense of the naval arsenal, school, and ofllcers' quarters. That academy (which was removed to Newport, Rhode Island, on the breaking out of the civil war in the spring of ISOl, and its buildings at Annapolis used for hospital purposes dur- insthe conflict) was to the navy wliat the We.^t Point Academy l» to the army. The grounds ab(mt Fort Severn are very bfaalifiil, and delight the eyes of all visitors. In addition to the Naval Monument there, already m.ntloned (page 124), I «e others, both elegant and cipensive. ' The residence of Commodore Rodgers at Ilavre de Orace, at that time, was yet standing when I visited that town iu I November, ISOl, It stood at neai- the juiicti(ni of W.ashlngton and St. .lohn Streets, and was occupied by William Pop- I l«r. It was a two-story brick honse, siilislantially built, and well preserved, as seen in the engraving on the ue.\t I [«ce. It will be referred to again. In an account of my visit to Ilavre de Orace above alluded to. ' Letter from an officer on board the PresideiU in the JVeio York Herald, June 3, ISll. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /y f ^ .^A %// \<y^^ ,^ fe A^^V /. Ki ^ 1.0 ]45 HO I" I.I £ K' 12.0 ■ii 11:25 i 1.4 I 1.6 6" P^ <5^ /i ^? .V ^4 / '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STKiET WMSTCR, N.Y. 14SM (714) •73-4503 V iV i. o^ 4- ^ ^ ■pi iim^Jl^ii^ rssmar. i iill \ n I ; ; » \ I il I ill!- I! 182 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The President on a Cruise. She diecoverg a strange Vessel. Signals. Method of SignalUig. and proceeded down the Chesapeake, with the intention of cruising oft' New York as an inquirer concerning the impressment. He stopped on his way down the bay for munitions, and on the 14th passed the Vir- ginia capes out upon the broad ocean. Ho lingered there as an observer for a dav or two, and at about noon on the 10th, Cape Henry bearing southwest, and dis- ,. tant about forty miles, he discovered a strange sail on the eastern horizon. The squareness of her yards and symmetry of her sails proclaimed her a war vessel. SIic ^vas bea.ing toward the President under a heavy press of sail. Thinking she niiglit be the offender, the President stood for the stranger, and at two o'clock displayed her broad penna.it' and ensign. Tlie stran- ger made several signal.^ Thene were unanswered, and she bore away southward.^ ' A pennant is a streamer made of a long, naTow piece of bunting, worn at the mast-heads of vessels of war. A broad pennant is a square piece of the same material, placed at the mast-head of the commodore's flag-ship. It is gome- times spelled pemiant and pennon. The latter is not, strictly, a streamer. It is a shorter flag, split at the eid, and ueed on merchant vfessels. In the Middle Ages it was carried by luights at the heads of their lances. It is somc'.imes used poetlcal'y for a streamer or banner. » "Made the signal !iI6, anu finding It not answered, conclndea she was an American (^•igate," wrote the commnndci of that vessel to hlE suncilor on the 2l8t of May. Each nation has a system of naval signals of its o^vn, unknown to »ll others, and changed frejueutly, and for that reason Con-modore Rodgcrs could not answer. These signals comprise a system of telegraphic signs, by which ships communicate with each other at a distance an(' convey information, or mako known their wants. This is aone by means of a certain number of flags and pennants of d'.fTcreut colors, peculiarly ar- ranged, which indicate the dlflferent numerals ttom 1 to 0. Particular flags or pennants are also used for specific pur- poses ; for example, one pennant Is called the interrogative, and, when hoisted, signifies that a guestiou is aslicd ; wliilo another flag signifies aflirmative, negative, etc. To correspond with the flags, slgnal-bookc are formed, with sentences or ■words which these flags represent. These books contain a list of the most common words in the language, witu a table of such geographical names as arc likely to be needed at sea, and also a list of the ships belonging to the navy of the country.*— jVeio American Cyclopcedia, article Signals. To give the reader a practical idea of the working of naval signals, I Introduce graphic and explanatory descriptions ftom Rodgers and Black's Semaphoric Signal-look, approved by the Secretary of the Navy, J. Y. Mason, in 1S47. These signals are composed of nine flags and five short pennants, OOMMODOEE BODOEBB's REBIDliNOE. capable of making 100,000 signals.^ These fln-its and pen- nants are seen in the engraving, i o. 1. J'hele are three colon, namely, red, white, and blue. The red and blue are represented by shading, the lines of the former being per- |)cudicular, and of the latter horizontal. Each of the flags has the same signlflcation as the number above it. The pennants are used for dupllcat'ng or repeating. They arc Intended as substitutes for the numbers of such flags as are already In use ; for example, in the signal num- ber 2326 the figure 2 occurs twice. Having but one fiag to represent that figure, another Is substituted to answer Its purpose, and this is done by using a pennant termed du- plicate. The four pennant.) In the lower section of engrav- ing No. 1 lopresent 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th duplicates In the order of common enumeration. The first duplicate always repeats the numbti of the upper or first fiag (the counti:>g Is always downward) of the signal with which It is hoist- MP^|&I$ r^i^ H1U.>AI.H.— MU. 1. MOMAL-BOOK. * These signal-books, when prepared for actual service at sen are cot- ercd with canvas, containing a pinte of lead on each side sufficient to sink them. This is for the purpose of destroying them, by throwing them into the sea when a vessel Is compelled to strike her colors, to prevent their falling Into tl.e bands of the enemy. The annexed picture of « signal-book so covered and leaded Is IVom a drawing of one before m which was used by Commodore Barney. It It about nine inches In length. The lead is stitched Into the canvas cover. It was found among Barney'* papers, which that Indefatigable antiquary ofPhlladolDhla, John A. M'AI- ilslcr, secured from destruction, and deposited for safe keeping with the collections of the Pennsylvania Historical Society. Those papers were kimily placed at my disposal by Mr. M'Allister, and ttom them I gleaneil much valuable material used In the preparation of a portion of this work. A Chase by the Preside Anxious to spea and at three in 1 ed; the 2d duplicate re 2d, hoisted singly. Is A'o uant, hoisted singly, is , Engraving No. 2 shows ampli'8 of the use of the in all of which the dupllc used. By attention to th explanations, the operat be readily unlerstood. ', section of the cngravin represents the number 2 posito which. In the signt ivill be found the wordt commodore wishes to sci The second section rep Ilie number 2.329 — "c« -p-ire a compass f " In th( ihe 1st duplicate is used, ing the number of the fli-»| lierllag. In the third sec represented number 6404- HKJ.VAI.B.— .\ from the President, then ly- iogin Hampton Roads, rec- iimmending a change in Ihe naval signals, several .wrs having elapsed since tlie system of day signals then In use had been Intro- tod. He thought It had '■■'orae known to the Brit- navy. In that letter, < "Ted In the Depart- , »• at Washington, he OTt a drawing made in ac- tordance with the proposed "Mge. His suggestions t '"'* adopted, and the sig- I Mil delineated in the en- I Wing No. 6, on the next we. copied from Rodgers's I I we those.. dcd during the M I * "^,<"«">' change In the . "'Iliesignal flags Is necessary hfi^ons Thecodeofsignalg rnlted States Navy Juet'pre, Weolvll war was prepared b] *™ consisting of commod rand Lavalette, and Commi ttodandStcedman. It was ««vyDep„rtmentInm ^''""^o'offieers tested ar 2»" "'Bht signals Invon •«,I88I, they were adopted In M^Uearmy. A new system of r,r M„''""y''"'J»»vywas L;„?.i^ '■*•'*'■'"" the chl I "Mt of the army. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 183 A Chase by the Premdent. Signaling. A Chungp In Signals. Anxious to speak with her, Rodgers gave chase. Tlie President gamed upon her, and at three in the afternoon was so near that her hull was seen upon the horizon ; edi the 2d duplicate reiieats the weond flag, and bo on. The first duplicate, hoisted singly, is anmnering pennant ; the id hoisted singly, is No; the 3d, hoisted singly. Is Vea; and the 4th, hoisted singly, la numeral signal. 0, or cipher pcn- ianl, hoisted singly. Is alphabetical sir/ii, a. Engraving No. 2 shows four ex- amples of the use of the signals, in all of which the duplicates are u«ed. By attention to the above eiplanatlons, the operation ivlll be readily unlerstood. Theflrst fcction of the engraving No. 2 fopreseuts the number 22flB, op- posite which, in the signal-book, irlll be found the words, "The commodore wishes to see you." Tlie second section represents the number 2.129 — "Can you •pare a compass ?" In these two ihc 1st duplicate is used, repeat- ing the number of the flvst or up- licrllag. In the third section Is rpprescntcd number 0404—" Prepare for action SIGNALS. — NO. 2. In the fourth section, number 7220 — " Strange sail on the starboard." In these two the second duplicate repeats the number of the second C.ig hoisied. The. recipient of the information conveyed by the sig- nals >^Tlte8 d..wn the numbers on a slate, and then readily finds the meaning by referring to the corresponding number iii the signal-book. In a calm the signals are displayed on a more horizontal line, as seen In engraving No. 3, which represents number 130T— "Is be- calmed, and rcq-ircs a steam-boat to tow." The same flags and pennants are also nsed for alphabetical signals, to spell a word or name. The 0, or cipher signal, is hoisted singly, as the preparatory signal, after which the or cipher signal is placed above or below the flags where required, as seen in engraving No. 4, and indicated in the alphabet below. During the autumn and winter of ISll and 1812, when wor with En- gland seemed to be Inevitable, the attention of Commodore Rodgers wa.s much occupied with the subject of land telegraphs for ormy pur- HiGNAi » —.NO .> poses, and naval signals. He invented a telegraph which was adopt- ed. On the Sltjt of April, 1S12, he wrote to the Secretary of the Navy (rora the President, then ly- ing in Hampton Roads, rec- ommending a change in the naval signals, several vears having elapsed since tlie system of day signals then in use had been Intro- daced. He thought It had ■■'■orae known to the Brlt- navy. In that letter, i Tved In the Depart- mt at Washington, he sent a drawing made In ac- cordance with the proposed change. His suggestions were adopted, and the sig- nals delineated in the en- pravlng No. 5, on the next page, copied ftom Rodgers's manuscripts, were those i .sed dnrlng the War of 1812. A tjrequent change in the arrangement ofthe signal flags is necessary, for obvious reasons. The code of signals used In the Tnited States Navy just previous to the lite nivll war was prepared by a board of oficers consisting of Commodores M'Can- l*y and lavalette, and Commanders Mar- [ (liind and Stcedman. It was adopted by ! 'ic Navy Department In 186T. In 1SB9 an- ntlicr board of oflicers tested and approved •ijitem uf night signals Invented by B. F. Coston, ofthe United States Navy. InOcto- IWilSOl, they were adopted In the United I Sutcs army. A new system of signals for ■"til the army and navy was arranged by Major (afterward Colonel) Albert J. Mycr, which was used throughout the w>r. Major Myer was the chief signal ofBcer during all that time, and Is now (1807) at the head of the signal depart- Bentofthearmy. r.iuwLS. — NO. 4. A B 3 C 4. D 5 e F 7 G H 9 I 10 20 K i^O M 50 60 O 10 P 80 Q 90 R 01 S 02 T 03 17 04 V 03 oe 07 Y 08 z 09 FiDith » * i ' I 4 ! 184 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Purener and the Pursned in Conflict. The President aud the Little Belt the Combatants. BlU.\.VI.ti. — NO. 5. but the breeze slackened, and night fell upon the waters before the two vessels were near enough to each other to discern their respective characters. At twenty minutes past eight in the evening the Pres- ident bi'ought-to on the weather-bow, or a little forward of the beam of the stranger, and, when witliin about ;i hundred yards of her, Rodgers hailed, and asked "Wlnu ship is that ?" No answer was given, but the question . , was repeated from the stranger, word for Avord. After ;i ^ilH[ HHB iIbI pause of fifteen or twenty seconds Kodgers reiterated liis IJBrfB W^MR [/_ — ' inquiry, and, before he could take his trumpet from his \ ^ 'j&gy^ 1"'"'^---^ mouth, was answered by a shot that cut off one of the I ^_ J ^p^ l^"^^ main-top-backstays of his vessel, and lodged in her maiii- ° "^ "*" mast. He was about to order a shot in return, wlicii a gun from the second division of his ship was fired.' At almost the same instant the antagonist of the President fired three guns in quick succession, and then the rest of her broadside, with musketry. This provocation causci! the President to respond by a broadside. " Equally determined," said Rodgers, " not h> be the aggressor, or suffer the flag of my country to be insulted with impunity,! gave a genei'al order to fire."^ In the course of five or six minutes his antagonist was si lenced, and the guns of the President ceased firing, the commander having discovered that his assumed enemy was a feeble one in size and armament. But, to the surprist' of the Americans, the stranger opened her fire anew in less than five minutes. Tlii- was again silenced by the guns of the President, when Rodgers again deniancUil "What ship is that?" Tlie wind was blowing freshly at the time, and he was abk' to hear only the Avords, " His majesty's shij^ — " but the name he could not understand. He immediately gave the name of his own vessel, displayed many lights to show his whereabouts in case the disabled ship should need assistance, and bore aAvay. At dawn the President discovered her antagonist several miles to the leeward, and immediately bore down upon her to offer assistance. Lieutenant Creighton was sent in a boat to learn the names of the vessel and her commander, to ascertain the extent of damage, offer assistance, and to express the regret of the commodore that necessity on his part had led to such results. Lieutenant Creighton brought back the informa- tion that the ship was the British sloop-of-war Little Belt, 1 8, Captain A. E. Bingliam, who had been sent to the Avaters off Charleston, South Carolina, in search of the Gucr- riere, and, not finding her, Avas cruising northAvard for the same purpose, according to his instructiops.^ Captain Bingham politely refused aid, because he did not need it, and sailed aAvay to Halifax, Avhere he reported to "Herbert SaAvyer, Esq., Rear-admi- ral of the Rod," the commander-in-chief on the American station.'' The I^'esident pro- ceeded on her voyage toAvard NeAV York, and " off Sandy Hook," on the 2.3d,' Commodore Rodgers wrote the dispatch to the Secretary of the Navy fioni which the foregoing facts haA'e been draAvn. The reports of the occurrence by Rodgers and Bingham Avere utterly contradictory ' Two English seamen, who professed to have been deserters from the President, testified at Halifax that ihis gnn was discharged by accident.— London Tinws, December 7, 1811. » Rodgers's dispatch to the Secretary of the Navy, May 23, IRll. 3 These instructions were dated at " Bermuda, this 191h day of April, ISll," signed by H. N. Somerville, by comraniiil of Admiral Sawyer, and addressed to "Arthur Batt Bingham, Esq., commander of his majesty's sloop Little Belt." h the instructions he was enjoined to be " particularly careful not to give any just cause of off ice to the govcriiraeut or subjects of the United States of America ; and to give very particular orders to this effect to the offlcers you may hnve occasion to send on board ships under the Anifriean flag," ' Bingham reported his vessel m:ich damaged !n her masts, sails, rigging, and hull ; many shot through lictwcoii wind and water, and many shot Imb.'tded in her side and all her upper works, with the starboard pump shot nwa.v. lie told Creighton that he had all necessary materials on board for making sufficient repairs to enable him to rescii Halifex. •May, ISll. Contradictory Stater OF THE WAR OF 1812. 185 'ISII. Contradictory Statements of Rodders and Bingham. The Testimony. Indignation of the American People. in respect to the most essential fact, namely, as to the aggressor, liodgcrs stated positively tliat he hailed twice, and his words wore repeated by the stranger; that she first tired one shot, which struck his vessel, then three shots, and imniediatoly afterward the remainder of her broad- side, before he opened his guns upon her, except the single one which one of the deserters declared was discliarged by accident. This account was fully corroborated, before a court of inquiry, by every officer and some of the sub- ordinates who were on board the Pres- ident, under oath. On the contrary. Captain Bingham reported that he !)ailed first, and that his Avords were twice repeated from the President, when that vessel tired a broadside, which the Little Belt immediately re- turned. This statement was fully cor- roborated before a court of inquiry, held at L-lifax on the 20th of May," by tlie officers of the Lit- tle Pelt, and two deserters from the President, under oath. Binghani and his supporting deponents declared that the action lasted from forty- five minutes to one hour ; Avhih; Rodgers declared that it lasted al- together, including the intermis- sicms, not more than fifteen min- utes.^ Bingham also intimated in his dispatch that he had gained the advantage in the contest. 2 When intelligence of this affair went over the land it pi'odiiced intense excitement. Desires for and dread of war with England were stimulated to vehement action, and conflicting views and expressions, intensified by party hate, awoke spirited conten- tions and discussions in every community. The contradictions of the two command- ers were in due time made known, and added fuel to the fires of party strife. Each government naturally accepted the report of its own servant as the true one. Not so with all the people of the United States. The opposition politicians and news- papers, with a partisanship more powerful for a while than patriotism, took sides with the British; and, eager to convict the administration of belligerent intentions, wdiile at the sarae time they inconsistently assailed it because of its alleged imbecility and want of patriotism in not resisting and resenting the outrages and insults of Great 1 John Rodgers was bom at Havre do Grace, In Maryland, In HTl. lie entered the navy as lientenant, on the !)th of March, ITiiS, and was the executive ofHcer of the Constellation, under Commodore Tnixtun, when the [.minjente wa!< taken. See page 103. lie was appointed captain in March, ITOO, and he was in active pervice during the naval opera- lions in the Mediterranean until 180B. He was the oldest officer in rank in the navy at the time of the oc urrence narrated in (lie text. He was the first to start on a cruise with a squadron after the declaration of war in 1S12. Kis efficient serv- ices during that war will be found detailed In future pages. From Aj ril, ISIS, until December, IS"-!, he served as presl- ilent of the board of Navy Commissioners, and from 1824 until 1327 he vas in command of a squadri^ti in the Mediterra- nean. On his return in 182T he resumed his place at the board, and h> Id It for ten years, when he relinquished it on account of failing health. lie died at Philadelphia in Angnst, 18a8. The portrait above given was copied fVom an orig- inal painting in the Navy Department at Wnelilngton. ' "The action then V .'cnme general, and continued so for about th-ie quarters of an honr, when he [the American] ceas-ed tiring, and appeared to be on tire about the main .lutchwny. lie then filled. I was obliged to desist ftom firing, «« llie ship falling off, no gun would bear, and had no after-sal' to keep her to."— Dispatch to Admiral Sawj-er, May 8i,i5n. {dyyW'^/T^c^ ( i \ ■ ^MMB^ ■P^P 186 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK m M The domurallxluK Kffecta of Party PoIIiIck. Commodore Hod|{eri BBWilled, KodKcra vlndlcalcd Britain, or inakiiit; ofticient |)rt!|)anitioiis for such resistance and resentment, cireulatuil a rejiort, witli the fiercest denunciations, tliat llodgers had sailed with orders fnnii Wasliinjjton to rescue by force tlie young man lately impressed from a I'ortlaml Itrig.' They cxultingly drew a comparison between the late and present Denioc latic administration, the formci' denying the right of the Jjeojmrd to take a seaman hy force from the Chesaj)eake, the latter ordering Rodgers to do what Captain Hum- phreys had been condenmed by the Americans and punished by his own goveniinciit for doing. Kodgers himself, who had behaved most prudently, gallantly, and mjicr. uanimously in the matter, received his full share of personal abuse from the opponents of the administration ; and, strange as it may seem, when the question was reduced to one of simple veracity on the part of the two coraraander8,si large number of his countrymen, even with the OAcrwhelming testimony of all the officers and many ot the subordinates of th'. l^esident against that of five officers and two deserters pro- duced by Captain Bingham, were so misled by party zeal as to express their beliif that the British commander uttered nothing but truth, and that Rodgers and his j)eo- pie all committed perjury ! But these ungenerous and unpatriotic assaults soon lost their chief sustenance when the Secretary of State officially declared that no orders had been given for a forcible rescue of the impressed American ; and the satisfaction of Mr. Foster, the British minister at Washington (who liad requested an inquiry into the conduct of Rodgers), that the statements of that commander were substantially true, was manifested by the fact that the subject was droj)ped in diplomatic circles, was never revived there, and the aifair of tlie ChesapeaJe was settled in accordance with the demands of the government of the United States. But while the two governments tacitly agreed to bury the matter in official obliv- ion, the people of the respective countries, highly excited by the event, would not let it drop. It increased the feeling of mutual animosity Avhich had been growing rapidly of late, and widened the gulf of separation, whicli every day became more and more difficult of passage by kindly international sentiments ; and when the Twelfth Con- • November 4, grcss assembled, a month earlier than usual,* the administration party in ^^^^- and out of th.at body was found to be decidedly a war party, while the Federalists, growing weaker in numbers every day, were as decidedly opposed to war. 1 The charge was apparently Justified by the tenor of a letter, already referred to, purporting to have been written by an offlcer on board the fi-esident on the 14th of May, bnt whose name was never given. He wrote : " By the ofBcers who came from Washington we learn that we are sent in pursuit of the British frigate who had Impressed a passenger from a coaster. Yesterday, while beating down the bay, we spoke a brig coming up, who informed us that she saw the British frigate the day before oft"tl:c very place where we now are ; but she is not now in sight. We have made the most complelp preparations for battle. Every one wishes it. She is exactly our force, but we have the Arffua with us, which uoue of us arc pleased with, as we wish a fair trial of courage and skill. Should we see her, I have not the least doubt of an en- gagement. The commodore will demand the person impressed ; the demand will doubtless be refused, and the battle will instantly commence. . . . The commodore has called in the boatswain, gunner, and carpenter. Informed them of all circumstances, and asked if they were ready for actiou. Beady was the reply of each."— iVeto York Ucrald, June 3, 1811. Tta Indiina Territiir >on, then an enei-gei ^™or. He liad res for a few years Jiad islature was organiz and Vincennes, an HaiTison was popuL managed the public h^fmany difficulties Jians, and the machi contend against in tl siite people, especia J % a succession o ?uished Indian titles ana. Every thing hf ]and,hadthegoverno I lave had cause to cor I in many cases, the pe I Jans, were intensified leasts of the forest, t |»d tioated them witl |»» old chief to Harris, lod r!!A°i,'"" ''^"e^e." wrote G, l«Hlrrt the quantity of whisky OF THE WAR OF 1812. 187 The Indlsn* Territory. narrison Us Qovernor. Ill* wise Admlnlitration. CHAPTER X. "On Wnbnxli, when the siiu wlthtlrcw, And chill Nuvemhcr's tenipOHt blew, Dark rolled thy wiivf», TI|i|)ccaiioc, Amhbl thut lonely .'lolltiidc. ""^ But Wiibiish Bnw another night \ A martial hoHt, in armor bright, Kncanii)cd upon the hhore that night. And lighted up hor Bccncry." 8o;;o— TlPPEflA^0E " Bold Boyd led on his steady band, With bristling bayonets burnished bright. , ' \Vhat could their dauntless charge withstand ? What stay the warriors' matchless might ? Rushing amain, they cleared the field ; The savage foe constrained to yield To Harrison, who, near and far. Gave form and spirit to the war." Battle of Tippeoanoe. UTILE the nation was agitated by political contentions, and the low mutterings of the thunder of an oncoming tempest of war wei'e heard, heavy, dark, and ominous clouds of troulile were seen gathering in the northwestern horizon, where tha Indians were still nui.ierous, and discontents had made them restless. In tlie year 1800, as we have seen (page IGO ), the Indiana Territory (then including the present States of Indiana, Illinois, ^- and Wisconsin) was established, and the late President Harri- son, then an energetic young man of less than thirty years of age, was appointed gov- imor. He had resigned his commission of captain in the IFnited States anny, and for a few years had been employed in civil life. In the year 1805 a Territorial Leg- islature was organized, much to the discontent of the French settlers on the Wabash, and Vincennes, an old town already spoken of (page 40), was made the capital. Harrison was popular among all classes, and particulurly with the Indians ; and he managed the public affairs of the Territory with prudence and energy in the midst I uf many difficulties arising out of land speculations, land titles, treaties with the In- ilians, and the machinations of traders and the English in Canada. He had much to 1 contend against in the demoralization of the Indians by immediate contact Avith the white people, especially effected by whisky and other spirituous liquors.* By a succession of treaties. Governor Harrison, at the close of 1805, had extin- I suished Indian titlea to forty-six thousand acres of land witliin the domain of Indi- ana. Every thing had been done in accordance with the principles of exact justice, and, liad the governor's instructions been fully carried out, the Indians would never liavc had cause to complain. But settlers and speculators came, bringing with them, I in many cases, the peculiar vices of civilized society, which, when copied by the In- J ilians, were intensified fourfold. Regarding the natives as little better than the wild jlteasts of the forest, they defrauded them, encroached upon their reserved domain, land treated them with contempt and inhumanity. "You call us your children," said jan old chief to Harrison one day, in bitteniess of spirit — " you call us your children '" I do not believe," wrote General Harrison In 1805, " that there are more than sli hundred warriors on the Wabash, luul ret the quantity of whisky brorght here annually for their consnmption Is said to amount to six thousand gallons." < f M SSSBHI \ t ;ii ■ ' liii 188 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Bncroachmonts on the Indlnus. British EmtsBarles again at Work. Tecuintha and hlrt Famllr — why do you not make us happy, as our fathers, tlie French, did ? They never took from us our lands; indeed, tliey were conmion between us. They j»lanted where they pk'ased, and they cut Avood where tliey pleased, and so did we. But now, if a jioor Indian attempts to take a little bark from a tree to cover liim from rain, \i]> comes u white man and threatens to shoot him, claiming the tree as his own."' And so, with ample reason, they murmured on. Emissaries sent out by the British authorities in Canada fanned the flame of discontent; and Elliott, the old onemj' of the Ameripans, still living near Maiden, observing symptoms of impending war between the Uiiitid States and Great Britain, was again wielding a potent influence over the chiofs of the tribes in the Nortliwcst. Their resources, as well as privileges, were curtailed. Na- poleon's Conthiental System touched even the savage of the wilderness. It eloumd and almost closed the cliief markets for liis furs, and the prices were so low that hi- dian hunters found it difficult to purchase their usual necessaries from the traders. At the beginning of 181 1 the Indians were ripe for any enterprise that i)romised tlicm relief and indepei;dence. A powerful warrior had lately become conspicuous, who, like IMetacomet, the Warn- panoag, and Pontiac, the Ottawa, essayed to be the savior of his people from tin crushing footsteps of the advancing white man. He was one of three sons born of a Creek mother (Mcthoataske) at the same time, in a cabin built of sapling logs un- hewn, and chinked with sticks and mud, near the banks of the Mad River, a fvw miles from Springfield, Ohio. They were named respectively Tecumtha, Elkswatawn, and Kamskaka. Tc- cumtha^ was the war- rior alluded to. His name signifies, in tin Shawnoese dialect, " n flying tiger," or "a wild-cat springhig on its prey." He was a well-built man, about five feet ten inches in height.^ Elkswata- wa, " the loud voice," also became famous or, more properly speaking, notorious ; but Kumskaka lived a quiet, retired life, anc died in ignoble obscurity. As early as 1805, Elkswatawa, pretending to have had a vision, assumed to be .i prophet, and took the name of PemsquataAvah, or " open door." Up to that pcrioil he had been remarkable for nothing but stupidity and intoxication. He waa a cunning, unprincipled man, whose c ^untenance was disfigured by the loss of an UlRTllPLACE OF TEOI^ITUA AND UIS IIROTIIESB. ' Governor Harrison to the Secretary of War. ' The late Colonel John Johnston, of Dayton, Ohio, who was Indian Agent among the Shawnoese and nelghborin: j tribes for many years, and knew Tecumtlia well, informed me that the proper way to spell that waiTlor's name, accord- ing to the native pronunciation, is as I have given it. On such authority I have adopted the orthography in the text, j From Colonel Johnston, whose name will be frequently mentioned in the course of our narrative, I obtained much val- uable information concerning the Indians of the Northwest from the year ISOO to 1812, during a visit with him in the autumn of 1800. The birthplace of Tecumtha and his brothers was at the Piqua village, about five miles west from Springfield.* The j engraving, copied by permission from Howe's Historical Collectium tjifOhio, shows the place of hla birth as it appeared! a few years ago. It is on the north side of the Mad River. A small hamlet, called West Boston, now occupies the fiioi of the Piqua village. The Indian fort at that place, consisting of a rude log hut surrounded by pickets, stood upon tbe| hill seen on the left of the picture. ' Colonel Johustou. * This was ancient Piqua, the seat of the Piqua clan of the Shawnoese, a name which signifies " a man formed out ofl the ashes," and siguiflcant of their alleged origin. See Howe's Hintoriml Collections of Ohio, page 302. Modern Flmu,j oftentimes confounded with that of the ancient one in speaking of Tecumtha, is a flourishing village on the Great MiaJ mi Kiver, Miami County. Upper Piqua, three miles above the village, is a place of considerable historical interest. Tbej reader is referred to Mr. Howe's valuable work for interesting details concerning the events which made it famous. The Prophefa VIgloi eye' While J liLs j)ipc one ( fell to the eart (lead. Prepar Here made for rial. Wlienliis Hcre about to r liiin, he opened h and said, " Be nc (ill. I have been Land of the Bl Call the nation t< er, that I may tell "hat I have seei lieard.". His p, were speedily a ''led, and agaii -poke, saying, " lieaiitiful young uere sent to me b' Great Spirit, who ; The Master of veighed against d 10 do Avith tJie pa every imitation of tlia, possessed of a •ill this imposture. the Northwestern iishing the wonder The PropJiet's he est degree, and for H-as almost omnip( iiini, but the people acquired power for "iser and judge, an, charge of witchcraf vine mission was re< liistances to see the Their numbers beca Tecumtha's deep ■The portrait of the Prop 11808. He made a sketch "«beclnls«,„„dbywh«n "'ring partly to hi. cxcessin l^ll^^-^ Book ^ the India, , , /he Prophet was without rille, in Ohio, where Wayne , "on of Tecumtha, no doubt, rophecy that the earth was .Alarm caused many to flock! I »« large number, his plans f, I :'7- H'«11scipIesVeV »«ofthe ground as lar-e as l^rendabeliefthatthebody. • said that so great a numb f were quite depopulated te »„e third -ver returned, 1 iT'coresupo, heir weary pii OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 189 The Prophet's Vision. Teeunuhn's Craft. Ills Inspiration. The siipt-rptltioiis Indians excited. •HIE ruopaET. is ivngry with you all. IIo will ik'stroy you uiiloss you rolVain IVoiii (Irunkenuess, lying, stealing, and witch- craft, and turn your- selves to him. Unless the red men shall do this, they shall never see the beautiful place you are now to he- hold." lie was then taken to a gate which opened into the spirit- land, but he was not permitted to cnter.- Sueh was the proph- et's story. lie imme- diately entered upon his mission as a pro- fessed preacher of righteousness. lie in- cvc' While lighting Ills pipe one day, he toll to the earth, as if (lead. Preparations were made for his bu- rial. When his friends were about to remove him, he opened his eyes iiiul said, " lie not fear- tiii. I have been in the l,aiid of the Blessed. Call the nation togeth- cr, that I may tell them what I have seen and heard." , His people were speedily assem- bled, and again lie >poke, saying, "Two lieautiful young men were sent to me by the Great Spirit, who said, Tlie Master of Life veighed against drunkenness and witchcraft;, and warned his people to have nothing to do with the pale-fac?«, their religion, their customs, their arms, or their arts, for every imitation of the intruders was oft'ensive to the great Master of Life. Tecum- tha, possessed of a master mind and a statesman's sagacity, was tlie moving spirit in all this imposture. It was a part of his grand scheme for obtaining influence over tlie Northwestern tribes for political purposes, and he went from tribe to tribe pub- Hshiiig the wonders of his brother's divine mission. The Propliet's harangues excited the latent superstition of the Indians to the high- est degree, and for a while his sway over the minds of the savages in the Northwest was almost omnipotent. The chiefs and leading men of his own tribe denounced him, but the people sustained him. Success made him bold, and he used his newly- acquired power for the gratification of private and public resentments. He was ac- cuser and judge, and he caused the execution of several hostile Delaware chiefs on a charge of Avitchcraft. A terrorism began lo prevail all over the region where his di- vine mission was recognized. The credulous — men, women, and children — came long distances to see the oracle of the Great Spirit, who, they believed, wrought miracles.* Their numbers became legion, and the white settlers Avere alarmed. Tecumtha's deep scheme worked admirably. In the great congregation were lead- ' The portrait of the Prophet is from a pencil sketch made by Pierre he Drn, a yonng French trader, at Vincennes, 11 1S08. lie made a sketch of Tecnmtha at abont the same time, both of which I found In possession of his son at Quebec In 1848, and by whom I was kindly permitted to copy them. That of Tccumtha will be found in Chapter XIV. Offing partly to hip excessive dissipation, the Prophet appeared much the elder of Tecumtta. ' Drake's Book of the Iiidians, page 624. ' The Prophet was without honor In his own country, and he leftPlqua and settled In a villnpe of his own at Green- ville, in Ohio, where Wayne held his great treaty in 1TO6, on lands already ceded to the United States. At the lusUga- lion of Tccumtha, no doubt, he sent emissaries to the tribes on the Lakes and on the Upper Mississippi, to declare his prophecy that the earth was abont to be destroyed, except In the Immediate residence of the Prophet at Greenville. Alarm caused many to flock thither as a place of refuge, and this gave Tecnmtha an opportunity to "divulge with case 10 a large number, his plans for a confederacy. The Prophet made many predictions concerning the future glory of the todians. His disciples spread the most absurd tales about his wonderful power— that he cori;d make pumpkins spring oat of the ground as large as wlgwsms, and that his corn grew so large that one ear would feed a dozen men. They I fpread a belief that the body of the Prophet was invulnerable, and that he had all knowledge, past, present, and future. It is said that so great a number flocked to Greenville to sec him, that the southern shores of Lakes Suiwrior and Mich- I igan were qnlte depopulated. The traders were obliged to abandon their business. Of these deluded fanatics not more that une third -ver returned, having died in consequence of the privations of hanger, cold, and fatigue. They perished by scores iipoL their weary pilgrimage.— J/S. Life and Timen of Tecamteh, by Henry Onderdonk, Jr., 1S42. 1 it f ■ m i' i rmtSt% « , rmn m :t ] |i!'!| W ■ 1: i : 1 j , 1 : 190 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Tecnrathii'g Project of u Confedcrntlon. HarrlRon deDoiinceii the Prophet. Tecumtha'ii Bolilucsii ing mon from all the Burrounding trilwB, even from the Upper MiBsisHippi, and lie liad a rare opportunity to confer with them together on the subject of his darling ijrojcci, a grand confederation of all the tribes in the Northwest to drive the white in.ui across the Ohio, and reclaim their lands which they had lost by treaties. He declaieil to assembled warriors and sachems, whenever opportunity ottered, that the treaties concerning those lands northward of the Ohio were fraudulent, and therefore void; and he always assured his auditors that ho and his brother, the Prophet, \\ ould resent any farther attempts at settlement in that direction by tlie white people. Governor Harrison perceived danger in these movements, and early in 1808 he ad- dressed a speech to the chiefs and head men of the Siiawnoese tribe, in which he de- nounced the Prophet as an impostor. " My children," he said, " this business nnist be stopped. I will no longer suffer it. You have called a number of men from tin most distant tribes to listen to a fo(»l, who speaks not the words of the Great Spirit, but those of the Evil Spirit and of the British agents. My children, your conduct lias much alarmed the white settlers near you. They desire that you will sewl awiiv those people; and if they wish to have the impostor with them they can carry liim. Let him go to the Lakes ; he can hear the British more distinctly." This speech exasperated and alarmed the brothers. The Prophet and his follow- ers, frowned upon by the Shawnoese in general, who listened to the governor, t(;(ik up their abode in the spring of 1808 on the banks of the Wabash, near the mouth of the Tij)pecanoe liiver. Tecumtha was there too, when not on his political journcvs among the neighboring tribes, but he was cautious and silent. The Proj)het, more directly aimed at in Harrison's speech, hastened to deny any complicity with the British agents, or having hostile designs. He visited Vincenncs in August to con- fer in person with the governor, and to give him renewed and solemn assurances tliat he and his followers wished to live in harmony with the white people. So specious w'cre the words of the Avily savage, that Harrison suspected he had misjudged the man, and he dismissed the Prophet Avith friendly assurances. The governor soon had reason to doubt the fidelity of the oracle. There avcu reported movements at the Prophet's town on the Wabash, half religious and half warlike, that made him suspect the brothers of unfriendly designs toward the Ameri- cans. He charged them with having made secret arrangements with British agents for hostile purposes, and jiressed the matter so closely that, at a conference between the governor and the Prophet at Vinceimes in the summer of 1 809, the latter acknowl- edged that he had received invitations from the British in Canada to engage in a war with the United States, but declared that he had rejected them. He renewed his vows of friendship, but Harrison no longer believed him to be sincere. ' September 30, Soon after this interview Harrison concluded a treaty at Fort Wayne' 1S09. ^yjjij Delaware, Pottawatomie, Miami, Kickapoo, Wea, and Eel Ilivcr In- dians, by which, in consideration of $8200 paid down, and annuities to the amount of $2350 in the aggregate, he obtained a cession of nearly three millions of acres of land extending up the Wabash beyond Terre Haute, and including the middle waters of the White River. ^ Neither Tecumtha, nor his brother, nor any of their tribe had any claim to these lands, yet they denounced those who sold them, declared the treaty void, and threatened to kill every chief concerned in it. Tecumtha grew bolder ami bolder, for he was sanguine of success in his great scheme of a confederation, and the arrest of the white man's progress. He had already announced the doctrine, opposoil to state or tribal rights, that the domain of all the Indians belonged to all in common, and that no part of the territory could be sold or alienated withont the consent ot all. This was the ground of the denunciations of the treaty by Tecumtha and his brother, and the justification of their threats against the offending chiefs — threats the 1 The Weag nnd Klckapoos were not represented nt the conncll, but the former, in October, and the latter, in Decem- ber, confirmed the treaty at Fort Wayne. SIgna of Indian KoatI more alarming, whom all the tr k'coine the aliii hi the spring i)fho.stility. TJ ttho took it to t i)f hostility cans lirothcr. Finall known to and re JUHcru u. I'iimtha appeared at ty warriors with hii grove on the outskii »ere startled by thi 'Statement of Mr. Barron. Dews employed by Ilnrrlso iiMnd very interesting In CO JMOD a prominent nose, sn w„ iabaclf. Ilewnsafac, fnmslc, and played the Indit tel88ipp. In 1S37 he accord ibe same tribe in 1838 to thei ;"ciedim,es8,diedonlhe31a I Uneiire with the Eei River. J Mr. Bnrron was at the battle I operated the Inulans again, jScMraportantdidtheyconsid, I W« of trees, and Bent them I ta. One of these was for son jwiedtoGermanybyaCatho I W, was preserved a long tlm taz a private soldier at Mac; I'flMl sent me a tracing of It l-i the information concerLim lM^f'!!'""^"'« Portrait o ■w Md Wiliiam Prince, were li ■"messengers to the Indians. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 101 sigat of Indian HotUUli**. The MiMlon of Joieph Barron. Hii hoatllu Recrptlon by the Prophet. more alarniinjj, bi't-auso the warlike Wyaiidots, on the Houtlurn shurea of Lake Erie, whom all the tribes ho feared ami reKi)eeteil that they ealled them uncles, had lately iK'Ooine the allies of these Shawaiioese brothers. In the spring of lolO the Indian^^ at the Prophet's town gave unmistakable Higns iit'liostility. They n'fused to reeeive the "annuity salt," and insulted the boatmen who took it to them by ealling them " American dogs." These and other indications (if iiostility caused llarri; on to send frecpient messengers to the l*roj)het and his lirotiier. Finally, iii July, i e sent a letter to them by Joseph l?arron, a Frenchman, known to and respected by.dl the Indian tribes in that region as a taithful and kind- hearted interpreter, lie was instructed to in- vite the brothers to meet the governor in coun- cil !»t Vineemies, and lay their alleged griev- ances before him. Harron was received by the Prophet in a most unfriendly spirit. The ora- cle was surrounded by several Indians, aiul when the interpreter was formally presented his single eye kindled and gleamed with fiercest anger. Gazing upon the visitor in- tently for several minutes without speaking, he suddenly exclaimed, " For what purpose do >/oit come here ? Bronillette was here ; he was a spy. Dubois was here ; he was a spy. Now >/0H liave come. You, too, are a spy." Then, pointing to the ground, lie said, vehemently, " There is your grave, look on it !" At that moment Tecumtha api)eared, assured Uarron of his pc'.sonal safety, heard the letter of Governor Harrison, and promised to visit Vin- cennes in the course of a few days. ' On the morning of the 12th of August Te- iiimtha appeared at Vincenncs. Ho had been requested to bring not more than thir- ty warriors with him ; he came with four hundred fully armed, and encamped in a grove on the outskirts of the town. The inhabitants, most of whom Avere unarmed, were startled by this unexpected demonstration of savage strength, and, partly on • statement of Mr. Barron, qnotod by Dtl'ion in his Uimry of Indiana, page 441. Mr. Barron was a native of Detroit . He was employed by Harrison H8 interpreter abont eighteen years. lie was an uneducated man, of much natural abll- I itr, and very interesting in conversation. lie was slender In form, about a medium height, had black eyes, sallow com- lileiion, a prominent nose, small month, and wore his hair in a cue, <i (a aborigine, with a long black ribbon dangling down his back. He was a facetious, pleasant, social, and entertaining man, fiill of anecdotes and Imn mots He was fond of music, and played the Indian flutes with skill. Barron was acquainted with most of the Indian dialects east of the Mlsjlsslppi. in isa7 he accompanied emigrating Pottawatomles to the West. He also accompanied another party of Ike same tribe In 1838 to their lands beyond the Mississippi. He afterward returned to the Wabash, and, after a pro- iraciert Illness, died on the 31st of July, 1843, at an advanced age, at the residence of his son on the Wabash, near Its con- I Incnce with the Eel Klver. Mr. Barron was at the battle of Tippecanoe with Harrison, and this circumstance greatly I fsajpcrated the Indians against him. They were very anxious to capture and torture him. I Si) important did they consider him, that they made rude ekctches of his features on the harks of trees, and sent them among the varlons* tribes, that they might know and catch I him. One of these was for some time in possession of Mr. Compret, of Fort Wayne. It was lorried to Germany by a Catholic priest as a great curiosity. Another, on a piece of beech I kirk, was preserved a long time at Fort Dearborn, and in 1830 was in possession of James I Hertz, a private soldier at Mackinaw, IVom whom a friend procured it, and In the antumu |oIls«I sent me a tracing of it. The sketch is a fac-simlle on a reduced stale. George Winter, Ksq., an artist of Lafayette, Indiana, painted a portrait of Mr. Barron in |l<li. He kindly furnished me the copy from which the above engraving was made; also Iwit tlie information concerbing the famous interpreter contained In this note. Mr. Winter Ins the painter of the portrait of Frances Slocnm, the lost child of Wyoming.— See Lossing's |ftU-lMoifc (ffthe Revolution, I., 300. Bronillette and Dubois, mentioned above, with Pnncis VIgo, Pierre La Plante, John Con- Inn, and William Prince, were influential men, and were frequently employed by Uarrisou li! messengers to the Indians. JUHKPU UABBOK. I.Nm.V.> UKTHUXEB. f \ i I i-i t I Ih' Ml J#MI 103 riCTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK TMomtb* kt VlneannM. Bis Arrogauce. Uarrlion's Hpcech. Iloitlle DcmnDitratloni by the ludUni. account of their foarK, and partly becaiifc of tlie fume of Tociuntlia aa an ora'or, they flocki'tl to the govcrnor'H house. Seats liad heen i>rej)are<l for those wlio were to par tiei]>ato in tiie council under the portico of the governor's residence; but when 'IV cuintha, after jilacing the great body of his warriors in camp in the shade of a grove near by, advanced with about thirty of his followers, he refused to enter tlie area wiili the white j)eople, saying, "Houses were built for you to hold councils in; Indiiuis hold theirs in the open air." He then took a position under some trees i'l front of the house, and, unabashed l)y the large concourse of people before him, opened the business with a spee( !i marked by great dignity and native eloipience. When lie liml concluded, one of the governor's aids, through Havron the interpreter, said, to tlie chief, ])ointing to a chair," Your father retpiests you to take a seat by his side." The chief drew his mantle around him, and, sWuiding erect, said, with scornful tone, "My father! The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother; on her bosom I will re- l)0sc," and then seated himself upon the ground. • Tecumtha's speeches at this council Avere bold, arrogant, and sometimes insolent. He avowed the intention of himself and brother to establish, by a confederacy of tin tribes, the principle of common interest in the domain as intended by the Great Siiir- it, and to not only i)revent any other sale or cession of lands, but to recover what hml been lately ceded by the treaty at Fort Wayne. He declared Ids intention to kill all the " village chiefs" who had made the sale if the lands were not returned, because be was authorized, he said, by all the tribes to do so. " Return those lands," he saiij, "and Tecumtha will be the friend of the Americans. He likes not the English, who are continually setting the Indians on the Americans."' Governor Harrison, in his reply, ridiculed the idea that the Great Spirit had intend- ed the Indians to be one j)eople. " If such had been Ins intention," he said, " he woulil not have put six dilferent tongues into their heads, but would have taught them all to 8j>eak one language." As to the lands in dispute, the Shawnoese had nothing to do with it. The Miamis owned it when the Shawnoese were living in Georgia, (ml of which they had been driven by the Creeks. The lands had been purchased fioni the Miamis, who were the true owners of it, and it was none of the Shawnoese's busi- ness. When these asseverations were interpreted, Tecumtha's eyes flashed witii an- ger. He cast ofl' his blanket, and, with violent gesticulations, pronounced the goveni- or's words to be false. He accused the United States of cheating and imposing upon the Indians. His warriors, receiving a sign from him, sprang to their feet, seized tluir war-clubs, and began to brandish their tomahawks. The governor started from his chair and drew his sword, while the citizens seized any missile in their way. It was a moment of imminent danger. A military guard of twelve men, who were under some trees a short distance ofl', were ordered up. A friendly Indian cocked his pis- tol, Avhich he had loaded stealthily while Tecumtha was speaking, and Mr.Winans, a Methodist minister, ran to the governor's house, seized a gun, and placed himself in the door to defend the family. The guard wei-c about to fire, when Harrison, perfect- ly collected, restrained them, and a bloody encounter was prevented. When the in- terpreter told him the cause of the excitement, he pronounced Tecumtha a bad man, ! and ordered him to leave the neighborhood immediately. Tecumtha retired to his • AiKTiat 20 camp, the council was broken up," and no sleep came to the eyelids of the j 1810. people of Vincennes that night, as they expected ar attack from the savages. I On the following morning, Tecumtha, with seeming sinceri'y, expressed his regret! because of the violence into which he had been betrayed, ile found in Harrison ai man not to be awed by menaces nor swayed by turbulence. "With respectful words! he asked to have the council resumed. The governor consented, and then placed twol companies of well-armed militia in the village, for the protection and encouragementf of the inhabitants. Tecumtha, always dignified, laid aside his insolent manner, am| ' Onderdonk'g MS. Life of Tecumteh. l/giiK '-fMfttI Attntfit OF TOE WAU OF 1 8 1 S. 103 irgiii< r<"«nil Attempt! to conclllit* Ttcamtb*. Roving Plnoderen. TMnmtha's Feara Mid Pnplldtjr, iiiiblicly (liHnvowod any intention of uttnckinjj tho governor and his friends <»n the precodiiiij day. Wlieii asked wlietlier lit; intended to perHist in liis opponitioii to tho lute treaty, lie replied tinnly that he Hhould "adhere to tho <)I>1 l)<)nndary." Chiefs t'roin five different tribes iininedintely arose, and deelared tlieir intention to support Tcc'umtha in tlie stand lio liad taken, and their determination to establish tho pro- posi'd confederacy. Harrison well knew the great ability and influence of Tecumtha, and was very anx- ii)us lo conciliate him. On tlie fallowing day, accompanied only by Mr. Barron, ho visiti'tl the warrior in his camp, and liad a long and frietully interview with liim. Ho told Tecumtlui that his principles and liis claims would not l;o allowed by the Presi- dent of the United States, and advised him to rclinquisli them. " Well," said the warrior, " as tho (4reat Chief is to determine the matter, I )\opo the Grd&t Spirit will put sense enough into his head to induce him to direct you to give up this land. It is true, he is so far off ho will not be injured by the war. He may sit still in his town and drink his wine, while you and I will have to iiglit it out."' The conference end- 1,1 l)y the governor's promising to lay the matter before the President. War with the followers of Tecumtha and the Prophet now seemed probable, and Harrison commenced measures to meet it. A small detachment of United States troops, under Captain Cross, stationed at Newport, Kentucky, were ordered to Vin- cennc's, there to join three companies of militia infantry and a company of Knox Coun- ty dragoons, in the event of an attack from tho savages. The governor had paid par- ticular attention to drilling the militia, and now, when their services were likely to 1)0 needed, they felt much confidence on account of their discipline. The Indians on the Wabash, grown bold by tho teachings of their great military leader, the oracular revelations of the Prophet, and the active encouragement of the I British in Canada, began to roam in small marauding parties over the Wabash region 1 in the spring of 1811, plundering the houses of settlers and tho wigwams of friendly j Indians, stealing horses, and creating general alarm. Tecumtha was exceedingly ac- tive, at the same time, in efforts to perfect his confederacy and inciting the tribes to or; and, early in the summer, the movements of the Indians were so menacing that Governor Harrison sent Captain Walter Wilson, accompanied by Mr. Barron, with an Itnergctic letter to the Shawnoe brothers.* He assured them that he was •jnnc24, lly prepared to encounter all the tribes combined, and that if they did not ^'*"- [put a stop to the outrages complained of, and cease their warlike movements, he lihould attack them. Tecumtha was alarmed. lie received the messengers very courteously, and prom- lisod to see the governor in person very soon, when he would convince him that he Ibl no desire to make war upon the Americans. Ho accordingly appeared at Vin- jcennes on the 27th of July, accompanied by about t ee hundred Indians, twenty of Itliem women. The inhabitants were alarmed. It w. believed that the wily savage Ikad intended, with these warriors at hand, to compel the governor to give up the Wa- Iksh lands. But when, on the day of his arrival, he saw seven hundred and fifty pellarmed militia reviewed by the governor, ho exhibited no haughtiness of tone and anner. He was evidently uneasy. He made the most solemn protestations of his fondly intentions and desires to restrain tho Indians from hostilities, yet he eamest- rbut modestly insisted upon a return of the lands ceded by the treaty at Fort fayne. His duplicity was perfect. He left Vincennes a few days afterward with Tenty warriors, went down the Wabash, and, as was afterward ascertained, visited ! Southern Indians — Creeks, Chocta\7s, and Chickasaws — and endeavored to bring m into his league against the white people. The remainder of his followers from Bie Prophet's town, astonished at the military display at Vincennes, returned to their plezvous on the Tippecanoe, filled with doubt and alarm. > Dawson's Life of Ilarrison, page S9 ; Drake's Book of the North American Indians. N (, ■"1:1 1 ■ lifii :' r ^^^^^^^^^jS^SESSSSSSasassBf ! 'i 'H; !!ll :? i; 104 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Preparations for fighting the Indiand. Colonel John P. Boyd. Reeponse to a Call for Volanieen. c^J^fLA./P/^. The government had suggested to Harrison tlie propriety of seizing Tecumtha and the Prophet, and holding them as hostages for tho good behavior of their followers. The gov- ernor, in turn, suggested, as a better method of obtaining peace and security, an increase of the military resources of the Territory, and the establishment of a military post high up the Wabash toward the Prophet's town. The wis- dom of this suggestion was conceded. T' . Fourth Regiment of United States Infantry, under Colonel J ohn P. Boyd,' was ordered from Pittsburg to the Falls of the Ohio, now Lou- isvill i ; and Governor Harrison was author- ized'' to employ these troops and call . j,,,^ .. out the militia of the Territory for the wi purpose of attacking the hostile savages on the Tippecanoe, if he should deem it advisable. This authorization gave the inhabitants about Vincennes great relief They had already, be- fore the arrival of the order, appointed a com- mittee at a public meeting'' to ask the "July 31, government to uirect the dispersion of the hos- tile bands at the Prophet's town,^ The government was anxious to preserve peace with the Indians, and Harrison's I orders gave him very little discretionary powers in the matter of levying war upon the savages. They Avere sufficient for his pui-pose. He determined to push forward, build a fort on the Wabash, make peaceful overtures, and if they were rejected, open j war vigorously. He called Colonel Boyd to Vincennes with his detachment, consist- 1 ing of a part of the Fourth Regiment and some riflemen, and asked for volunteers.! The response was quick and ample. Revenge because of wrongs suffered at tliej hands of the Indians north of the Ohio slumbered in many bosoms, especially in Ken-j tucky ; and when the voice of the popular Harrison called for aid, it was like the! sound of the trumpet. Old Indian warriors in Kentucky like General Samuel Weiisj ' John Parke Boyd was bom in Newbnryport, Massachiisetta, Uccember il, 1704. His father was from Scotland, nnd his mother was a dcsoendnnt of Trietam Coffin, the flrpt of tht>t family who emigrated to America. He entered i!iJ army In 1780, ae ensign In the Second Regiment. With a spirit of adventnre, he went to India in 17S!), having BrJ touched at the Isle of France. In a letter to his father from Madras, in lunc, 1790, he says, " Having procured recomi meudatory letters to the English consul resii'Mj at the conrt o' 'lis highness, tue Ni/am, I proceeded to his capital, IlrJ drabad, 460 miles from Madras. On my arrival, I was presente i lo h"s highness in form by the English consul. Myref ceptlon was as favorable as my inoet sanguine wishes had anticipated. After the usntl ceremony was over, he presenll od mo with the command of tvi-o kansolars of Infantry, each of which consists ( i 600 inen." His commission and mI were in accordance with his commii:u{. He describes the army of the Nizam, which had taken the Held agalii°t TIpixii Saltan. It consisted of 160,000 infantry, 00,000 cavalry, and 600 elephants, each elephant supporting a " castle" cimuiil Inc a nabob and i rvants. He remained in India several years, in n sort of guerrilla service, and obti;'.ied much famj He was in Paris early In 1808, and at home in the autumn of that y2ar, when he wag appointed (October 2) colonela the Fourth Regiment of the U. 8. Army. He was in the battle of Tippecanoe in November, 3811, and on the ronime"M ment of war with Great Britain he was appointed (August 20) a brigadier general. He held that rank thronghuni ilj w.ir. He was at the capture of Fort George, and in the battle of Chrysler's Field, or Williamsburg, in Canada, lie 1( the army in 1816, and the following year he went to England to obtain indemnity for the loss of a valuable car^o (il il petre, capturcd*by an English cmiser while on its way from the East Indies. He procured only a single I'lstallmenlf $30,000. President Jackson appointed him Naval Officer at Boston ia 1830. lie died there the same year, on the4lb1 October, at the age of sixty-six years. I General Boyd was a tall, well-formed, and handsome man ; kind, courteous, and genevous. I am indebted to l| courtesy of the Hon. William Willis, of Portland, Maine, for the materials of the above brief sketch and the profile c general. ' The committee consisted of Samuel T. Scott, Alexander Dcvln, Luke Decker, Ephraira .Jordan, Daniel M'l'lm Walter Wilson, and Francis Vigo. In a letter dated August 3, 181 1, and addressed to the President, they said, "In ll part of the country we have not, as yet, lost any of our fellow-citizens by the Indians ; but depredations upon the pra eity of those who live upon the fl-imtlers, and Insults to the families tliat are left unprotected, almost daily occur.^ Dillon's Uiatory nf fndiana, page 460. BuriBou'a March up and Colonel Ov eloquent Kentu tain Peter Funl Chum, Edwardi ville. All of tJi Oil the 2et'i ( abx/Ut nine huiui October halted < village, >\here tli in Indian traditic tiveen tribes of had named the sr erection of a quat and the-e the go\ (lians, wJio a8sure( III war-speeches t Americans ; and t tthen some prowli: sent-nels, Ilarrist sage to the impo8t< to their respective horses in lijs posse the Indiana and 111 The fort was cor or forty feet above ol'its completion it Harrison, in honor Standing over the g ^'™^"^''thename^ j Ill's Fort Harrison " sol-^ier, standing ne: vhisky in that way- wd that littk- fort paylor, which we shs ' I visited Terrellau 8«0.« I had spent fetching the grave c l^i^wt^that^histori I 'lam Indebted to Mr D^ "if by him fVom the li',!.' , IB.^ . lertlle farm eiirnt Ibklnr,,, "r"""" descent. I] Ua.h."X%rn^«xt, ^-•UUwr„re'rt -;"■ I '™»t.Lonl»ini8fl2 ~L\i tifr'"''5.«inF^r ;;« Knox was erected by M, OF THE T/AU OF 1812. 196 Bairlsou'a March up the Wabash with Troops. Fort Httrrison built. Deputations of fhendl; ludiaus. and Colonel Owen instaiitly obeyed. They hastened to the field, accompanied by the eloquent Kentucky lawyer, Joseph Hamilton Da'dess, Colonel Frederick Geiger, Caj)- tain Peter Funk* at the head of a company of cavalry, and Croghau, O'Fallon, Shipp, Chum, Edwards, and other subalterns, who had been mustered by Geiger near Louis- ville. AH of these have praisers for bravery in the annals of their country. Oil the 20th of September Governor Harrison left Fort Knox,'^ at Vincennes, with alK*ut nine hundred eft'ective men, marched u]> the W abash Valley, and on the 3d of October halted on the eaatern bank of the river, about two miles above an old Wea village, where the town of Terre Haute, Indiana, now stands. It was a spot famous inhuliun tradition as the scene of a desperate battle, at some time far in the past, be- tween tribes of the Illinois and Iroquois. On this accor.nt the old French settlers iiad named the spot " Battaille des Illinois." There they immediately commenced the erection of a quadrangular stockaded fort, with a block-house at three of the angles ; and thee the governor received deputations from friendly DelaAvare and Miami In- dians, who assured him that the hostility and strength of the Proj)het was increasing. In war-speeches to them he had declared that the hatchet was lifted up against the Americans; and this information was affirmed on the night of the 10th of October, when some prowling Shawnoese, who had come d<iwn the Wabash, wounded one of the sentinels. Harrison sent a deputation of Miamis to the Prophet's <^own with a mes- sage to the impostor, requiring the Indians on the Tippecanoe to disperse immediately to their respective tribes. It also required the Prophet to restore all the stolen horses in his possession, and surrender the men who had murdered white people on the Indiana and Illinois frontiers. The messengers never returned with an answer. The fort was completed on the 28th of October. It was built upon a bluff thirty or forty feet above the Wabash, and covered about an acre of ground. On the day of its completion it was named, by the unanimous request of the officers present, Fort Harrison, in honor of the governor. Colonel Daviess made a speech on the occasion. Standing over the gate, and holding a bottle of whisky in his hand, ho said, in conclu- sion, " In the name of the United States, and by the authority of the same, I christen this Fort Harrison." He then broke the bottle over the gate, when a whisky-loving soldier, standing near, exclaimed, wHh the usual expletive, " It is too bad to waste whisky in that way — water would have done just a: well." Less than a year after- I ward that littk fort became the theatre of heroic exploits under Captain Zachary I Taylor, which we shall consider hereafter, I visited Terre Haute and the site of Fort Harrison late in September, 1 1860." I had spent the previous day at Fort W ayne, in visiting and I sketching the grave of Little Turtle, the great Miami chief, and other places of inter- lest about that historic city. A storm had Just ended, and the sky was still murky I I am iudnbted to Mr. D. R. Poignard, of Tnylcrsville, Kentucky, for a very interesting nar.-tive of this cam|)aiKD, luLen by him from the lip-^ of Captain Funlt in iStti, then aged eighty years, and enjoying good health of mind and 1 body on his fertile farm eight milts from Louisville. Mr. Funk was a native of Maryland, where he was bom in 1782. IHewM of German descent. His narrative is dear, and exceedingly interesting, and I have availed myself of its valna- iMc infi)ruiution in compiling the account of this memi.rable campaign. I Captain Fimk says that Governor Ilarrison was in LoniBvillc In August, 1R11, when the narrator was in command of litompany of militia cavalry there. At Harrison's personal request lie hastened to Govcnior Scott, and obtained per- |iiHioii to raise a company of cavalry to Join the forces of the Governor of Indiana at Vincennes, for an expedition up Sandusky ; but, before leaving Lonisville, he concluded that Funk's cavalry would be quite BUfncient- Captain Funk raised his company in the course of a lew days, and early in September At Ibis place they found Colonel Joseph H. Da- ' September 26. ^^ "0^^ |ik Wabash. Harrison also call I fur a company of Infantry, to « raised by Captain James Hunt- In, who was afterward second in mmand, under Colonel Crog- 11, at Fort Stephenson, on the plneil Colonel Bartholomew's regiment, then marching on Vincennes, «*, with two other volunteers (James Mead and Hen. Saunders) from Lexini;,.on the colonel's then place of residence. kere were with him, also, four young gentlemen from Louisville, namely, Geor;,„ Croghan, John O'Fallon, a miUion- ■fofSt. Louis In 1802, Moore, afterward a captain in the U. 8. .^rmy, "nd Hynes. [lie signature of Captain Funk (then bearing the title of Major), above given, is copied from a note to me from him, Ttlilfn In September, 1801. ]<Furt Knox was erected by Mi\Jor Hamtramck in 178T, and named In honor of General Henry Knox, the liecretar; >War. I / ifl I ■.1 1 \%i i ! t: 1 1 W> 196 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A Night at Peru. A Political Campaign. Uopleagant Experience at Indianapoiu. when we left, at two in the afternoon, for Indianapolis. We arrived at Peru, a little village on the Wabash fifty-six miles west of F^ort Wayne, at sunset. The dull clouds had lifted the space of a degree from the horizon, and allowed the last rays of the sun to give glory to the thoroughly saturated country for a few minutes, before the lu- minary disappeared behind the forests that skirted a wide prairie on the west. At Peru, a railway leading -outhward to the capital of Indiana connects with the Toledo and Wabash Road, over which we had traveled. But there was no evening connection, and we were compelled to remain among the Peruvians until morning. Theirs is a small village. Town and taverns were filled with people, drawn t'.iithcr by the two-fold attraction of a county fair and a desire to go to Indianapolis in tlie morning, where the late Judge Douglas, one of the candidates for the Presidency nf the United States, was to speak. I found a crowd of railway passengers around tlie register of the inn where I stopped, all anxious to secure good lodgings for the niglit. The applicants were many, and the beds proportionately few. I was fortunate enough to have for my room-companion for the night, Judge Davis, of Bloomington, Illinois a gentleman of great weight in the West, and an ardent personal friend of the late President Lincoln. He declared that, if his triend should be elected, he would be found to be " the right man in the right place. ' Judge Davis is now (1867) one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Having half an hour to spare before supper and the approaching darkness, I strolled around the village, that lies »ipon a rolling plain and along the banks of the beauti- ful Wabash — beautiful, indeed, because of variety in outline, greenness of verdure, and its fringes of graceful trees and shrubbery. Many of the trees were more ancient than the dominion of the w.iite man there, and others were as young as the town near by, so lately sprung up from the shadows of the wilderness. A canal, with muddy banks, dug along the margin of the river, somewhat marred the beauty of the scene. It was quite dark when I retired to the inn, having called on the way at the house of Mr, Grigg, whose wife is a daughter of the Little Turtle. They were absent, and I missed the anticipated pleasure of an interview with one whose father bore such a conspicuous part in the history of the Northwest. I left Peru, in company Avith Judge Davis, at six o'clock the following morning, and reached Indianapolis at ten. It was a sunny day. The town was rapidly filling with people pouring in by railways and common roads from all directions. Flags were flying, drums were beating, marshals were hurrying to and fro, and the ciowdsj were flowing toward the " Bates House," the common centre of attraction, wherei Judge Douglas was receiving his friends in a private parldr, and waiting for the ap- pointed hour when he should go out and speak to the people on the political topics of the day. Over the broad street a splendid triumphal arch was thrown, and evei avenue to the hotel was densely thronged with eager expectants. I made my waj through the living sea, and registered my name for dinner at the " Bates," expcctins to leave for Terre Haute at evening. After spending an hour with Mr. Dillon, ai thor of the latest history of Indiana, I was informed that a train would leave forth^ West at meridian. So I again elbowed my way through the crowd just as Juih Douglas was entering his carriage, and, with the shouts of twenty thousand voi« ringing in my ears, I escaped to the empty streets, and reached the railway static just in time for the midday train. I was soon reminded that I had invcluntarili made a liberal contribution to some light-fingered follower of the itinerant candidal for the crown of civio victory. I had been relieved of the present care of that subtj magician thus apostrophized by Byron : "Thon more than gtone of the phlloHnpher I Thon touchstone of Philosophy herBClf! Thon bright eye of the mine ! thon loadstar of The sonl ! thon tmc mn^etlc pole, to which All hearts point duly north, like trembling needles !" Vtoit to Terre Haute Terre Haute pleasant vilJaw thousand inhal one of the mosl at four o'clock i ing, so as to lea to whom I had attractions of a men, women, an( kind could be for more than an he reserve, and start too dim to make there in their ear tween the canal t still be seen the fi nothing of the fo then (I860) formec ■ifle. I had the go ii.'ime), when near i loi's defense of it. description of the that I made a rouo of it on the spot,1 copy of which is 8e picture. He prono perfect according tc collection. Jtg trut «as confirmed on m to the Terre Hautt I'.v a picture, made manner a few years a (lie recollections of < pip, and lithographe m placed in my ha Mr, Kalston, of the "■^''•ks; and I was j,, Itofi'id such a perfect |Mit,even in detail h doubt the engravin ?»<"" i3 a truthful rop, M'eft Terre Haute ff M.„ing,» checking vu kencastle, the capita fi'eago Railway croHs ™k was checked for *gra])h operator in J; »^sage with eflfect beft J'anapolis, making its ,, .^> W'nged elec »f fugitive at Richmor "^^ntjvasbrought ba OF THE WAR OF 1812. 197 visit to Terre Haute and the Site of Fort Harrison. Sketch of the Fort. A Traveler In Trouble. Terre Haute (high land) is seventy-three miles westward of Indianapolis. It is a pleasant village, and the capital of Vigo County. It then contained less than two thousand inhabitants. It is on a high plain on the left bank of the Wabash, and is one of the most delightful summer residences in all that region. We amved there at four o'clock in the afternoon. Hoping to visit the site of Fort Harrison that even- iiiff, so as to leave in the morning, I immediately sought a gentleman in the village to whom I had a letter of introduction. The town was almost depopulated by the attractions of a county fair in its neighborhood. The afternoon was so j)leasant that men, women, and children had al gone to the exhibition, and not a vehicle of any kind could be found to convey me to the fort, over two miles distant. After wasting more than an hour in fruitless attempts to procure one, I fell back on my unfailing r >serve, and started off on foot. It was twilight when I reached the spot — twilight too dim to make a sketch of the locality. The old sycamore and elm trees that were tliere in their early maturity when the fort was built yet stand along thj bank be- tween the canal and the ruin, and on the western shore of the Wabash opposite may still be seen the fine old timber upon the low anu frequently-overflowed bottom ; but nothing of the fort remained excepting the logs of one of the block-houses, which then (1860) formed the dwelling of Cornelius Smock within the area of the old stock- ade. I had the good-fortutie to meet an old man (in my haste I forgot to inquire his name), when near the site of the fort, who was there in 1813, soon after Captain Tay- lor's Jefense of it. He pointed out the exact locality, and gave me such a minute tk'scription of t lie structure, that I made a rough outline ^^ ^l%SHK8^sfi'*J^^** ''^^i of it on the spot, a finished copy of which is seen in the picture. He pronounced it perfect according to his rec- ollection. Its truthfulness was confirmed on my return to the Terre Haute House I l)y a picture, made in like manner a few yeara ago fiom I the recollections of old peo- ple, and lithographed.' It Uti3 placed in my hands by I Mr. Ralston, of the gas- I Works; and I was jurprised I to find such a perfect agree- jment, even in detail. I have Ido doubt the engraving here Igiveii ia a truthful representation of Fort Harrison and its surroundings in 1813. I left Terre Haute for Crawfordsville, Indiana, at three o'clock in the • September ST, lUKTiing," checking my luggage (as I thought) to the Junction near '•***• ^reencastle, the capital of Putnam County, where the Louisville,^ New A'bany, and lieago Railway crosses that of the Terre Haute and Richmond. By mistake my unk was checked for Philadelphia, and was not left at the Junction. I found the telegraph operator in his bed half a mile from the station, but he could not send a Bpssage with effect before seven o'clock, at which time my luggage w juld be beyond dianapolis, making its way towaid Philadelphia at the rate of twenty-five miles an lour. The winged electricity was more fleet than the harnessed steam. It headed jit fugitive at Richmond, a hundred miles distant, and at two o'clock In the after- ion it was brought back a prisoner to Greencastle Station, much to my relief. I 1 rubltshod by Modealtt and Hager in the year 1S4S. PUKT IIAUUIKU.N. t !>•, It! '/ 1 W ^ ^' ' i !l;^-^Ml -v i| !l i ill! 198 riCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OreeocaBtie and Crawfordsvillc. A Visit to the Founder of CrawrordBville. Two of Wayne's tioldleni. think I never saw so much beauty in an old black leather trunk before nor since. Meanwhile I had pretty thoroughly explored Greencastle, chiefly before daylight, when trying to find my way back to the station from the te'egrapiiist's lodgings. Every street appeared to end at a vacant lot. At length, just at dawn, I rcijcived directions from an Irishman, with an axe on his shoulder, more explicit thaii tlcar. "Is it the dapo' you want?" he inquired. "Yes." "Wi' thin," he said, "jist tnni down to the lift of the Prisbytarian Church that's not finished, and go by the way of the church that is finished ; turn right and lift as many times as ye plaze, and budad ye'll be there." Perfectly satisfied I walked on, found tlie station by accident, wait- ed patiently for the telegi'aphist, and then went to the villags, half a mile distant, to breakfast. Greencastle is pleasantly situated u,jon a high table-land, sloping every way, about a mile east of the Walnut Fork of the Eel Run, and then contained between two thousand and three thousand inhabitants. I remained there until three o'clock in the afternoon, when I left for Crawfordsvillc, twenty-eight miles northward, wlicre I met my family and remained a few days, the guest of the Honorable (afterward JIa- jor General) Lewis Wallace, the gallant commander first of the celebrated Eleventh Indiana Regiment in Western Virginia, and afterward of loyal brigades and di- visions in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Northeni Mississippi, in the late Civil War.' since 1833, and for fifteen years was Judge of the Cir- cuit Court. From him I obtained much valuable in- formation concerning tlie in- There I met the Honorable Isaac Naylor, who was with Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe. He had been a resident of Crawfordsvillo cidents of the battle of Tippecanoe and the preceding marcli of the army from Vin- cennes.'^ I also visited, at Crawfordsvillc, the late venerable Major Ambrose Whitlock, one of the last survivors of General Wayne's army in the Northwest. lie was first undei- the immediate command of Hamtramck, and afterward served as aid to Wayne, and became lieutenant in the company of which Harrison was captain. Major Whitloclc was the founder of Crawfordsvillc. He was at the head of the Land-oflice in Indiana, as receiver of the public moneys of the United States, for eight years. William 11. Crawford, Monroe's Secretary of the Treasury, appointed him to that station. The office was at Terre Haute. It was finally determined to establish an oftice in another part of tlie Territory for the convenience of the settlers, and the selection of the lo- cality was left to the judgment of Major Whitlock. He found in the wilderness near Sugar Creek, in a thickly-wooded dell, a spring of excellent water, and resolved tn establish the new Land-oflice near that desb-able fountain. Settlers came. He laid out a village, and named it Crawfordsvillc, in honor of his friend of the Treasury De- partment. He resided there ever afterw.ird. His house was upon a gentle eminence eastward of the railway, and the wooded deli and the ever-flowing spring of sweet water formed a part of his premises on the eastern borders of the village. Major Whit- lock^ was ninety-one years of age at the time of my visit, yet his mental faculties • For an account of Gefxal Wallace's military genices, see I^osBlng's Pictorial Hittory of the Civil War. "> Judge Naylor was bom in Rockingham Com'* "i VI- •'•ilii, on the JiOth of July, 1790, and at the age of three ycare was I taken hy his far.ily to a settlement near Huddle's ouiilon, Bourbon Connty, Kentucky. lie removed to Clarke Cnmitt, I Indiana, in 1806, aud In 1810 made a voyage to New Orl janu on a flat-boat. He repeated it next year, and soon after | his return, and while preparing for college, be Joined Harrison's army at Vincennes as a volunteer In Captain Jaires Iti:- ger's company. He assisted In the construction of Fort Harrison, participated In the battle of Tippecanoe soon after- ward, and, at different times during the war with Great Britain that ensued, served as a volunteer, but was not to siy j other buttle. In 1880 he was elected Judge of the Common Pleas of Montgomery County. ! ' Ambrose Whitlock was born at Bowling Green, Caroline County, Virginia, on the 26th of April, 1T69. At an early age he went to Kentucky. He enlisted in Wayne's army, and was with htm throughout bis Indian compalgns. Atone j time he was his aid. He was Ave years in garrison at Fort Washington (Cincinnati) as sergeant. President Adam! j commissioned him lieutenant in ISOO. In 1802 he was appointed aesistant military agent at Vincennes, and also ateulanl j PBymaster. He became district paymaster in 1806, a first lieutenant in the regular army in 180T, and a captain in ISl!' I Journey from Crawf( were quite vi| diers of the pa^ was blessed w aud fortune. On the cvonii one of Septemb for Lafayette, Ii northward, with the Tippecanoe niorning. The c passed for the fin Iieavily timbered ginning to assun autnmn. It was seen of the actual nearly all Septeii August in terape soon readied a si had seen, uvA at Lafayette. The t thousand inhabit j)olitical excitemei public meetings tl V.JoIin.son, ofGeo Slates ; the latter. Congress from Mic Lane, of Crawford "Little Giants"2fo the same streets at tor that it war difli the moving illumii were kept up until He relinquished his rank in met composed of Kentucky years and a half, and attain ■™ as receiver of the put els". It is BHppoRed that ui '"» »' InJiannpolis I saw a Mken from life J and In Ban W, who was also In" Mud > I ^k'fl'tnls engraving was m I talsvllle on the 2Gth of J„„ . ' ^""^ was a schism In th »« John C. Breckiuridg Breckinridge Democrats •• few rears' standing, comoosp "tension of slavery beZdt ««minated John Bell, of Ten "re freqnently called the Bel J ttcr respective friends. ; I Me. Mr. Bell had already ,ti"°""y-^'''''«"'™«tor I ™%, and the payment of h r''''''':'7-»n<l''ecomeatr, I Hepnbllcanpssoclatlons.p J^te» m 1800. They wore r^u |„ "• 'n ""usion to his menta I ""Ple of the torch-light procesi te:i OF THE WAR OF 1812. 190 Jimnief frum Crawfordsvllle to Lafayette. Political Exoitement at Litfayettc. Political Parties at tbat Time. were quite vigorous. Unlike many sol- diers of the past, a large portion of his life «as blessed with an affluence of health liiitl fortune. On the evening of a sultry day, the last one of September, we left Crawfordsvllle for Lafayette, Indiana, twenty-eight miles northward, with the intention of visiting the Tippecanoe battle-ground the next niorniiig. The country through which we passed for the first few miles was hilly, and iieavily timbered, and the foliage was be- sinning to assume the gorgeous hues of iiiitumn. It was the first evidence we had seen of the actual departure of summer, for nearly all September had been more like August in temperature, than itself. We soon reached a small prairie, the first we liad seen, and at eight o'clock arrived at Lafayette. The town, containing full ten thousand inhabitants, was all alive with political excitement, the " Donglas Democrats" and the " Republicans"' both holding public meetings there. The former, convened at a hotel, was addressed by Ilerschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, the " Douglas" candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the ITi ' t ed States ; the latter, held in the court-house, was addressed by Mr. Howard, membn- of Congress from Michigan, whom I had met a few days before at the table of Senator Lane, of Crawfordsvllle. Torch-light processions of the "Wide-awakes" and the ''Little Giants"^ followed the speeches ; and as they marched and countermarched in the same streets at the same time, they became so entangled to the eye of the specta- tor that it war difficult for a partisan to recognize his own political representative in the moving illumination. This was followed by drum-beatings and huzzas, which were kept up until midnight. ^-4h^Mi<Ji J 1 He relinqnlshed his rank In the line In June, 1S14, and in May, 1815, was appointed deputy paymaster peneral of the dis- trict composed of Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana. He was disbanded in ISIO, having served in the army twenty-three rears and a half, and attained to the rank of major. He was never in military service afterward. After serving eight years as receiver of the public moneys in Indiana, he was dismissed by General Jackson to make room for some one else. It is supposed that not half a dozen soldiers of Wayne's army now (ISOT) survive. In the possession of Mr. Dil- Inn at Indianapolis I saw a daguerreotype of Martin Huckleberry, one of Woyue's army, then (September, ISflO) just taken from life ; and in Bangor, Maine, I saw in November, IStSO, Henry Van Meter, a colored man, over ninety years of jgt, who was also in " Mad Anthony's" army. I am indebted to General Wallace for the portrait of Major Whitlock, from »hich this engraving was made. It was taken when he was in his nluety-flrst year. Ue died at his residence in Craw- tonif.vUle on the 2flth of June, ISta, when over ninety-four years of age. I There was a schism in the great Democratic party, so-called, in the spring of ISflO, when one portion nominated Ste- pben A. Donglas, of Illinois, for the Presidency, and were called the " Douglas Democrats," and the other portion nom- j iaaied John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, then the Vice-President of the United States, and were known as the I "Breckinridge Democrats." Opposed to the entire Democatic party was the Republican, a political organization of a I te* years' standing, composed of men of all the old parties, whose leading distinctive object was tho prevention of the eitenslon of slavery beyond the states and Territories in which it already existed. This party had nominated Abraham 1 Lincob, of Illinois, for President. A fourth party, professedly conservative, and calling themselves the Union party, nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, for President, and Edward Everett, of Massi'Chnsetts, for Vice-President. They I were frequently called the Bell-Everett party. At the election in November, 18C0, tiiese four candidates wer^ supported I by their respective friends. Mr. Lincoln was elected. Mr. Douglas died in the city of Chicago early in the following I tee. Mr. I)ell had already declared his aHlliation with rebels in arms against the government ; while Mr. Breckin- I iMje, a lately-chosen senator from Kentucky, only waited for the close of the extraordinary session of Congress, held I In Jnly, and the payment of his salary from the Treasury of the United States, to openly declare himself an enemy to I Ikt country, and become a traitor by taking up amis *o overthrow the government. 'Repnbllcan f.sBociations, pledged to the support of the candidates of that party, were formed all over the free-labor I tilen in \9m. They wore round capes, and oftentimes lights on their hats, and assumed the name of " Wide-awakes." iTbejr formed the staple of Republican torch-light processions in the autumn of ISUO. Mr. Donglas was a short, powerful liUD. In allusion to his mental strength and shortness In statnre, he was called by his admirers the Little Giant. The I wiing men of bis party formed associations like 'he " Widc-awak^e," called themselves " Little Giants," and formed the I <iiple of the torch-light proceeslous of the Douglas party in the aatnmn of 1800. ^ agp i ' !ifi; ' I \ V }ii n*r ]-' r 'M :; ■j ' ■ i i! - i ri> 1 i ■' ■( ( ■; m - 200 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Indian Portraits. Jonrney to the-Battle-ground of Tippecauoe. IIurrUoD'8 March up the Wabaab Valle)-. At Lafayette I met Mr. George Winter, an English artist who has resided many years in Indiana, and had the pleasure of inspectuig his fine collection of Indian por- traits and scenes painted by him from nature. His collection possesses much histor- ical and ethnological value, and ought to be in the possession of some institution where it might be preserved and the individuals never separated. He was intimati- ly acquainted with many of the characters whose features he has delineated, and ho lias collected stores of anecdotes and traditions of the aboriginals of the Northwest. The memory of Mr. Winter's kind attentions while we were in Lafayette is \cn pleasant. The first day of October dawned brightly, and the temperature of the air was like that of early June. Before sunrise we visited the artesian well of sulphur-water in the public square, the result of a deep search for pure water. A neat j)avilion covers it ; cups are furnished for the thirsty, and noi far off are baths of it for invalids and others. At an early hour we departed for the battle-ground of Tippecanoe, seven miles northward. We passed over a level and pleasant country most of the way, crossing the railway several times. Within three miles of the battle-ground we crossed tiie Wabash on a cable-bateau,' and watched with interest the perilous fording of tlie stream just above, near the railway bridge, by a man and woman in a light wagon. Twice they came near being submerged in deep channels, but finally reached the shore with only wet feet. The man saved the fer- riage fee of twelve cents. We arrived at the Battle-ground House at ten o'clock, passing the scene of the conflict just before reaching it. Resting in the cool shadows of the stately trees that still cover the spot, let us turn to the chronicle of the Past and study the events which have made this gentle elevation, ove'-lookhig a " wet prai- rie," classic ground. Fort Harrison, as we have seen, was com- pleted on the 28th of October. It was gar- risoned by a small detachment under Lieuten- ant-colonel Miller — the " I'll try, sir !" hero of the battle of Niagara, three years later. The main body of the army moved forward the •October 29, "^^* "^^y*" '^"'^ *'" *'^^ 3l8t, SOOn *'^ii- after passing the Big Raccoon Creek, crossed to the western side of the Wabash, near the site of the present village of Montezuma, in Parke Count y.^ Tliere the troops were joined by some of the Kentucky volunteers, under Wells, j Owen, and Geiger.-* Harrison was commander-in-chief by virtue of his oftice as gov- 1 These were large flat-boats for conveying passengers, teams, .ind freight. They are pushed across by poles at low j water, and at high water arc secured and assisted in the passage by a huge cable stretched from shore to shore. « Dillon's HtHtory of Indiaua, page 4«2. ' Having been Informed that the Indians were more numerous in his front than he had anticipated, Govomor Hirri-i son had sent Colonel Daviess and one or two others to Kentucky to apply for a re-enforcement of five hundred men. nrigadler General Wells Immediately ordered out his brigade and beat up for volunteers. The privates hanging back, j Wells and several of his off.cers stepped out, and being Joined by some of the file, the volunteers mustered thlrty-tV'i; men. They elected Colonel F. Gelger as their captain. The reluctance of the men to turn out was owing in part (ol their scruples, the brigade having been ordered out wUhoat orders from the Governor of Kentucky. The goTeroor be-l Ing at Frankfort, there was no time to consult him.— jPunt's Narrative. Flnt Appearance o cmor of the 1 sisted of nine regulars under tia. The mou hundred and 8( and of the rifle The army wi western bank < eight men were the army. On 5th encamped w been careful, on whose banks, for where a few tnci From tJieir enc rie, extending far the guides assertc of the Wabash, w from the contenip .-ies. Until now i the following day, tliey were seen lio' of the trooj)s had cions, wa- hed evt the same order of eral in 1794,2 he no ofthe path, and th( To facilitate the mi tion into battle ord iinins of companies. ofthe time throng Nians were continna tried, but in vain, to of the Prophet's tow tlie mongrel warrior |Mon turned back, an I The alarmed savas Inson that the Proph( Jooiiriers, but that the ITliey were surprised i la their women and c lie was ready to have iMinprncnt. They pd [lacreeklessthana TTji.vlor and Clarke) wei M that the situations *e out to meet him jommenced until an im P^for the encam Ll' "lit '«'"eved that the Indl Mammal] force as hit^haa the OF THE WAR OF 1812. 20T Firtt Appearance of hostile Indlaue. The Prophet's Town approached. The Indians alarmed. ernor of the Territory, and Boyd was his next in command. The whole force con- sisted of nine hundred and ten men, and was composed of two hundred and fifty regulars under Boyd, si\ty volunteers from Kentucky, and six hundred Indiana mili- tia. The mounted men, consisting of dragoons and riflemen, amounted to about two hundred and seventy. The command of the dragoons was given to Colonel Daviess, and of the riflemen to General Wells, both having the relative rank of major. The army was near the Vermilion River on the 2d of November, and there, on the western bank of the Wabash, built a block-house twenty-five feet square, in which eight men were placed, to protect the boats employed in bringing up provisions for the ami}'. On the following day* the army moved forward, and on the •November a, 5th encamped within eleven miles of the Prophet's town. Harrison had ^*"- been careful, on the preceding day, to avoid the danger ^us passes of Pine Creek, whose banks, for fifteen or twenty miles from its mouth, were immense clifis of rock, where a few men might dispute the passage of large numbers.' From their encampment on the 5th, looking northward, stretched an immense prai- rie, extending far beyond the limits of vision. It reached to the Illinois at Chicago, the guides asserted. It filled the troops, who had never been on the northwest side of the Wabash, with the greatest astonishment; but their attention was soon drawn from the contemplation of nature to watchfulness against the wiles of their own spe- cies. Until now they had seen no Indians, though often discovering their trails. On the following day,** when within five or six miles of the Prophet's town, ^ they were seen hovering around the army on every side. Tht nproach of the troops had become known to the Prophet, and his scouts, numerous and saga- cious, wa' hed every step of the invaders. Great caution was now necessay, and the same order of march which Harrison, as Wayne's aid, had planned for tiiat gen- eral in 1794,^^ he now adopted. The infantry marched in two columns on both sides of the path, and the dragoons and mounted riflemen in fro'it, re»»r, and on the flanks. } To facilitate the march, and keep the troops in position for ii quick and precise forma- i lion into battle order in the event of an ambusoade, they were broken into short col- ! limns of companies. They had now left the open prairie, and were marching most I of the time through open Avoods, the ground furrowed by ravines. Parties of In- dians were continually m.''\ing their appearanco. and Barron and other interpreters tried, but in vain, to speak to their leaders. Finji^ ly, when within a mile and a half I of the Prophet's town, Toussaint Dubois, of Viri. amies, offered to take a message to mongrel warrior-pontiff". The menaces of the savages were so alarming that he I won turned back, and the army pressed forward toward the Tippecanoe. The alarmed savages now asked for a parley. It was granted. They assured Har- Irison that the Prophet had sent back a friendly message by the Delaware and Miami Icoiiriers, but that they had gone down the eastern bank, and missed him on his march. IThey were surprised at his coming so soon, and hoped he would not disturb and fright- len their women and children by occupying their toAvn. Harrison assured them that Ike was ready to have a friendly talk with them, and desired a good place for an en- Icampment. They pointed to a suitable spot back from the Wabash, on the borders lof a creek less than a mile northwest from the Prophet's town. Two officers (Majors jTwlor and Clarke) were sent with Quarter-master Piatt to examine it. They report- I that the situation was excellent. Harrison then parted with the chiefs who had »e out to meet him, after an interchange of promises that no hostilities should be [ommenced until an interview should be held the following day. " I found the ground lestined for the encampment," Harrison wrote, " not altogether such as I could wish I ' It was believed that the Indinnsi mii;ht mnke n stand there, as they did in ITSO, when General Ocnrge Rogers Clarke ■dertool: a campaign against the Wabash Indians, and again, in ITftO, when MiOor Hnmtrnmck penetrated that region Hih a small force as h.fb as the Vermilion River, to malie a diversion in favor of General Uarmar's expedition on the , Mimee. ' See page 04. . 1 ' ; i Is :l---\- ( ■' ' ■, i i i i li (i m f I I : S ii^i- - 1 202 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Ilarrtson'g Bncampment on the Tippecanoe Battle-groand. It8 Arranxcmeot and Cumpoaitlnn. it. It was, indeed, admirably calculated for the encampment of regular troops that were opposed to regulars, but it aflbrded great facility to the approach of savages. It was a piece of dry oak land, rising about ten feet above the level of a marshy prai- rie in front (toward the Prophet's town), and nearly twice that height above a simi- lar prairie in the rear, through which, and near to this bank, ran a small stream clothed with willows and other brushwood. Toward the left flank this bench of land wideiud considerably, but became gradually narrower in the opposite direction, and at the dis- tance of one hundred and iifty yards from the right flank terminated in an al)ni|)t point."' No doubt the wily savages recommended this position that they might employ their peculiar mode of wariiire advantageously. The above is a good description of the locality as it appeared when I visited it in the autumn of 1860. It was still coVered with the same oaks ; on " the front," toward Wabash and Ti))pecanoe Creek, stretched the same " wet" or frequently overflowed prairie ; in " the rear" was the same higher bank, and prairie, and Burnet's Creek ; and at the " abrupt point" the Louisville, New Albany, and Chicago Railway strikes the ". bench of land," and runs parallel with the common wagon-road along the bank over- looking the " wet prairie." In the annexed sketch, taken from " the abrupt point," looking northeast over the camp-ground, is seen the southern portion of the inclosure of the battle-field, near which Spencer's rifle- men were posted, indi- cated on the j)lan of the encampment on page 205. The horse- man denotes the direc- tion of the wet prairie toward the Prophet's town, and the steep bank seen on the left of the picture has Bur- net's Creek flowing at j its base, and was still "clothed with wil- lows," shrubbery, and vines. Harrison arranged his camp with care on the afternoon of the 6th of November, in the form of an irregular parallelogram, on account of the slope of the ground. On the] front was a battalion of United States infantry, under Major George Rogers Clarke j Floyd,^ flanked on the left by one company, and on the right by two companies of In-i diana militia, under Colonel Joseph Bartholomew.^ In the rear was a battalion ofl United States infantry, under Captain William C. Baen," acting as major, ivith Capj tain Robert C. Barton,* of the regulars, in immediate command. These were support-T ed on the right by four companies of Indiana militia, led respectively by Captains! 1 Harrison's dispatch to the Secretary of War from Vincennee, November 18, 181 1. s Was appointed Captain of the Seventh Infantry In 1808, and Mi^jor of the Fourth Infantry In 1810. In Angnst, I?l8 he W08 promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of Seventh Infantry, and resigned In April, 181.S. j 3 Afterward Lieutenant Colonel of Indiana Volunteers under Oeneral Harrison. He was appointed United States Md jor General of the Indiana Territory in 1816. * Appointed Captain of the Fourth Infantry in 1808, and died of his wounds received in the battle of Tippecanoe c the nth of November, 1811. > First liientenant in Fourth Infantry in 1808, promoted to captain in 1809, and resigned in September, 1812. VIKW AT TII'PKUA.NOE llATTLE-OBOtlNU. Uarrisoo's Instruct Josiah 8neIIin mandc'J byLi( filled with moi red and fifty y eral .Saniuol W IMvid liobb, a viess, acting as and at a right of cavalry as a tents, etc., were Having comp, tlic field-officers each corj)s tJiat ; of an attack, unt rado di.Hmounted, ca{)tain.s' guards,' detailed to defenc •lay. Thus prepj soundly sleeping. «as intense, excet through. Quite difl'erent h fee. Bothpartic no excitement; bui , "nprinciplpd Proph, j soon as the curtain ^^7'. In one hand oi beans which he irlien toucJied. His I invulnerable, and th( Accomplished, the P movements; then tij jKiie told them th' |purpower,"hesaid J*q' now, and will n |»os8 to the white me ^^JfliKlemen. In April h ^H; and when tL^'°"">« f"« retained as J^rr"'"' liirasnm.!, ! J ^'eutenant ( k*^ new"l°;;'''^<i«"Vb »:'2nio,pagos37. fc've the -— ________°^ THE WAR OP 18,2 ^ — j;^!£[;fPh«t^»Treachery. Josiah SnelHng, J, > j.^n Posey "t^jITT^^-^^^^^^ maiKlfJbyLieutcnnnf n i , y> ^ """las Scott anrl To« u «r lilled with^momue ri? "'' ^"^^ ^'-"^kor. ^e wit fl ^'''"'^' ^^'^ ^^olo corn- el and fifty ;;:^^"":r;:;;; "-'- ^'^p^-^- v- w "^ r'« --'j^s r^ oral Samuel VVelLs.a comma "in ' '*'"''''''*^^^ «^ '"oEnted rifl^ '**' ''^"* ""« ''""d- vie«s, acting as maj^r, ve;o ^1^0 "T "^ ^'•'^g««"«, under Cor^'r^r'^ ^^^'•'^'"' «"d and at a right angle wTth th .'^o "''^ '" '^'^ rear of tie front ,?'"""^ ''"^^J''' ^f- Da- of cavalry as a ro^.ryTZtrkT-^''''''^ '"^ the rear Xt rrV''" '"'^ ^''''i^; ten;., etc.. wore i„ the ; n" f ' " ''''"•^■""^° P-'^^- ^ wl:L'Sf ' ""^ '-^ ^'-""l^ Having completed the arLrr ' ''''^S"^'^' ««i«.r8' •fan attack, „„t„ Xf/ """"O' l-o of ,h„ camp .i™'™""™- "« »*,.,! that o, d™„„„tcd, with .It J^^ -"' f ? "W"' «'-" h cavX"""' "' "»» aptains' guard, of fortv i,^„ • "-"■ •»"'■ and act ■« n "»™lry were to iia- -led to dcfc'd tKm; T"' T''' """ «»<> ™w"™a^''o?: * T""- T-o Quite different was the cond.V . "' moonlight camo •»-" which he cIl" oy\:»,°'f '"■•«l.,or"Med;a„?;^:S "'th ""' ** irlien toucJied. His fnll^ ^' ^ ^'"^ accounted to h^ ■ ^ "^^^^' » sti-inff -•"lnerable,and « en t tk^^^^^ .'" ''^^"•-^ toto:^^^^'^''''' - ^^^-r cffecf ^^on-pli-shed, the Pro, Lt tent T^ *" ^^t^^rminate the l^o l^l'^'^'V^'^ ^« '"'^de "■ovements ; then turn n^^.? . '""^'^ '"^ ^«"& serieronn. '"'• ^^^'" «»« ^vas >r,i.e told them that f^ ^'' h'^hJy-cxcited band aho f *^''^"' ''^"'^ '"vstical .P,w i^^ ' — — — — — __ ' ^ weapons shall be al- JFirst Llentenant in Pnn,fh t_,._. . ^ ■ ^ '^ **' 'First Llentenant in Vnn,n, r , ' ' P WM commissioned Lieutenanff'.^^!'' ^"^ '" Febrnary V^' "t Riflemen. In AnH hf ,'""'" ■"■ ^^« Fourth HpT V«"r general, with fhe „'„k ''0;:'?' ?« ^'"nmiss.or ^• "bed at Lyon's Creelj, o„ the rh.l °''- «« «-«« distln- !■ and When the arm; was .l^i"'"""'' "•"'"^ Oeneral Bi". N™ retained as LlenteTant Sn ? ^P"«^« '■""""K In 1816 / N™ Promotod to Colonel of ?h?p,11 '^" ^'^'^ 1"^™ ^ "vrap/iy, by Samuel Q. Drake, ^1 - j 1! "Ti fe *l ■Ji \ 1 i ;4" li It r I I' ( '111 ItHll 204 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Furloiu Attack on Ilarrinou'B Camp. Quod Behavtur uf raw Truopa. Uallaulry uf M^ur DavlcH. ways fatal." Then followed war-songH and dances, until the Indians, wrought up to a perfect frenzy, rushed forth to attack Harrison's camp without any leaders. Stealth- ily they crept througli the long grass of the prairie in the deep gloom, intending to surround their enemy's position, kill the sentinels, rush uito the camp, and niassaeri' all.> Harrison was in the habit of rising at four o'clock in the morning, calling his troops to arms, and keeping them so until broad daylight. On the morning of the 7tli of November he was just pulling on his boots at the usual hour, when a single gun was fired by a sentinel at the northwest angle of the camp, near the bank of Hunut's Creek. This was instantly followed by the horrid yells of numerous savages in ♦liat quarter, who opened a murderous fire upon the companies of Baen and Geiger tiiat formed that angle. The foe had been creeping up stealthily to tomahawk the senti- nels, but the sharp eyes of one of them had detected the moving savage in the gloom, and fired upon him with fatal eifect.'' Their assault was furious, and iu their frenzy several Indians penetrated through the lines, but never to return. The whole camp was soon awakened by demon yells and a cry to arms, and the oflicers, with all possible speed and precision, in the faint light of smouldering tires, placed their men in battle order. These fires were then extinguished, for thej wtrt more useful to the assailants than to the assailed. Nuieteen twentieths of the trooiis had never been in battle, yet, considering the alarming circumstances of the attack. their conduct was cool and gallant, and very little noise or confusion followed snih a sudden awaking from sleep and call to defend life. The most of them were in lini' before they were fired upon, but some were compelled to fight defensively at the doors of their tents. Harrison called for his horse — a fine white charger — but in affright tlie animal had pulled up the stake that held his tether, and could not be found. The governor im- mediately mounted a fine bay horse that stood snorting near, and with his aid, Colo nel Owen, hastened to the angle of the camp where the attack was first niadc.^ He found that Barton's company had suflfcred severely, and the left of Geiger's was en- tirely broken. He immediately ordered Cook's company and that of the late Captain Wentworth, under Lieutenant Peters, to be brought u\> from the centre of tiie rear line, where the ground was much more defensible, and form across the angle in sup- port of Barton and Geiger. At that moment the governor's attention was directod to firing at the northeast angle of the camp, where a small comj)any of United States riflemen, armed with muskets, and the companies of Baen, Snelling, and Prescott, of the Fourth Regiment, were stationed. There he found Major Daviess forming the dragoons in the rear of those companies. Observing heavy firing from some trees about twenty paces in front of them, ho directed the major to dislodge them with a part of his dragoons. " Unfortunately," says Harrison in his dispatch to the Secre- tary of War, " the major's gallantry determined him to execute the order witli a smaller force than was sufficient, which enabled the enemy to avoid him in front and 1 ' During the night a negro camp follower who had been missed from dnfy was fonnd Inrking near the govemort marquee, and arrested. He was tried after the battle by a dmm-head conrt-martlal, and was convicted of having de- serted to the enemy, and returned for the purpose of murdering the governor. He was sentenced to be hung immedi- 1 ately, but was saved In consequence of the kindness of heart of the governor. His Imploring eyes touched narrlwn'! j tender feelings, and he referred the matter to the commissioned officers present. Some were for his immediate execn- j tion, when Snelling said, " Brave comrades, let us save him. The wretch deserves to die ; but as our commander, whoK i life was more particularly his object, is willing to spare him, let us also forgive him. I hope, at least, that every officer j of the Fourth Regiment will be on the side of mercy." Ben was saved.— Harrison's letter to Governor Scott, of Ken- J tucky, cited by Hall, page 140. Captain Funk, in his narrative, says the negro was the driver of Governor Harrison'i j cart, and that ho informed the Indians that the white people had no cannon with them. Cannon were the dread of lb( J savages. Doubtless this Information caused a change In the policy mentioned in note 5, page 203, and caused the nr-f ages to conclude to attack the pale-faces. I » Judge Naylor, of Crawfordsville, already mentioned as a participant In the battle, Informed me that the name ofthe j sentinel who first fired and gave the alarm was Stephen Mars, of Kentncky. He fired, and fled to the camp, bat w shot before reaching it. ' Statement of Judge Naylor. Captain Funk says that Harrinon's own white borse was ridden by Hivjor Taylor, t general's aid, against his wishes. BntIe<)fTli>pecano« attack him on back. "2 Ifarri, tciligence was had driven the G The battle now I rtole front and bot '•erity upon Spencei nek's company, wJiit . liis lieutenant were I gallantly maintained men, who had been d toward the centre o Fourth Regiment wa !Weingjo_rnainl •The letter Bin the plan „, 'enearsago. It is «*;«„ ,„ L.rt., '.'^"' «^''"'"" and I Xnt h"'?I!'*'^''''"hIspo i Si ?"'''»"'>''»«' an hon l^eltKhr/''"'''^''" |^',&'»"l^k attended hi JJfaeta.t.'T'"'""'8''thip iHee^,!/ «•'"""■ Daviess w; l«ea«ed a promise lh)m Cap OF TFIE WAR OF 1812. 205 Battle of Tippecanoe. The Severity of the Battle. Death of Hajur Davleai. uitiic'k him on Iuh fliiiikH, The major was mortally woundt'd,' and hiH party driven back."* IlarriHon immediately promoted ('aj)tain I'arke to Daviess'H rank jiiHt an in- telligence was brought, to him that Captain Snelling, with \m company of regulars, had driven the savages from their murderous position with heavy loss. TIPPECANOE ^amp and Battle?^ ^0 ^ ^} X^ (»(> ^ V^/^ ^'^N. ' ^ X, COLLEGE * % .5^ A>* '*B^ JJ ,< " -1. ±. A -VW.O^HtTS W^r PRAIRIE The battle now became more general. The Indians attacked the camp on the whole front and both flanks, and a portion of the rear line. They fell with great se- verity upon Spencer's mounted riflemen on the right and the right section of War- rick's company, which formed the southwest angle of the encampment. Spencer and Ills lieutenant were killed, and Warrick was mortally wounded, and yet their men gallantly maintained their position. They were speedily re-enforced by Robb's rifle- men, who had been driven or ordered by mistake from their position on the left flank i toward the centre of the camp, and at the same time Prescott's company of the [ Fourth Regiment was ordered to fill the space vacated by the riflemen, the grand I object being to maintain the lines of the camp unbroken until daylight, when the as- ' The letter B In the plan marks the spot where Davieaa fell. It was near an oak whose top was blown oflf In a gale I itew years ago. It Is seen In the sketch of the battle-ffronnd as It appeared In 1800, printed on page 209. I ' Davlesa was gallont and Impatient of restraint. One of his party was General V/ashington Johns, of Vlncennes, a I quarter-master of the dragoons, who was Intimate with Harrison. Daviess sent him to the governor when the Indians I Urn made the attack at this point, asking permission to go ont on foot and charge the foe. "Tell Major Daviess to be I pJllent; he shall have an honorable station before the battle Is over," Harrison replied. In a few moments Daviess I itpeated the request, and the governor mtde the same reply. Again he repeated It, when Harrison said, "Tell Major I Djvicsa he has heard my opinion twice ; he may now nse his own discretion." The gallant major, with only twenty I picked men, Instantly charged beyond the lines on foot, and was mortally wounded. He was a conspicnons mark In I lie gloom, because he wore a white blanket coat.— Statements of Jndge Nnylor and Captain Funk. The latter says Col- Jwel Daviess's horse was a roan bought of Frank Moore, of Louisville. Tlie Indians were masked by some fallen tlm- |l*r. Captain Fimk attended him at about nine o'clock ; assisted in changing his clothes, and dressing his wounds. He I wu (hot between the right hip and ribs, and it was believed that the ihtal bullet proceeded fi-om the ranks of his friends I iHog In the gloom. Daviess was aft'aid the expedition might be driven away hastily, and leave those wounded behind. I Et exacted a promise ttora Captain Fonk that in no event would he leave him to fall into the hands of the savages. (.' ' ♦ i\ "I, w i I 200 PICTOniAL PIBLD-BOOK Dttnt or tbe IndUnt. The Pniphet In IMigncc. Retnra of tha Army to Vln' Hailed would bo able to make u general (tluir^e upon a viHiblu foe. To do tliJH r^ <|uin'il ^reut activity on the part of the coiiiriiiiiider. HarriHoii whh coiiHtjiiitly i'i,|. iii^ from point to point within the earn p, and kept the aHHuiled ponitioim rc-eiitontil, Finally, when the day dawned, he iliHcovered the larger portion of the Indiaiix to In. on the two flankH. lie accordinj^ly Htrengthened theHe, and wan about to order iIk cavalry, under I'arke, to charge upon the foe on the lelt, when Major Weils, not ini- derHtanding Ilarrison'H intentionH, led the infantry to perform that duty. It was ex. ecuted gallantly and etfectiialiy. The In<lianH were «lriven at the point of the hay. onet, and the <lragoonH purHued them into tlie wet prairicH on both widen of the ridi,'! on which the l)attle was fought. The gronnil was too soft, for the horHcmen to ynr- sue, and the savages eseajjed. Meanwhile the Indians had l)een charged and jiiit tn flight on the right flank, and had also taken refuge in the marshy ground, cliieriy un the side of Miirnet's ('reek, where tliey were sheltered from view.' Looking eastward from the site of the battle-ground over tlie " wet prairie" (ikhv a feiiee<l and cultivated plain) toward the Wabash, the visitor will see a ran^e df very gentle hills, covered with woods. On one of these the Prophet stood while tin battle was raging on that <laik Novend)er morning, at a safe distance from Jani,'(i, singing a war-song and ])erforming some protracted religious mummeries. Wlun told that liis followers were falling before the bidlets of the white men, iic saiij, "Fight on, it will soon be as I told you." AVhen at last the fugitive warriors nt many tribes — Shawnoese, Wyaiidots, Kickapoos, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pot tawatoinic*, Winnebagoes, Sacs, and a few Miamis — lost their faith, and covered the PropliH with reproaches, he cuimingly told them that his predictions had failed because, dur- ing his incantations, his wife touched the sacred vessels and broke the charm ! Kvin Indian superstition and credulity could not accept tliat transparent falsehood for un excuse, ai>d the impostor was deserted by his disappointed followers, and conipelkil to take refuge with a small band of Wyandots on Wild-cat Creek. The foe had scattered in all directions into places where the wliite man could not well follow. " Sonud, Bound the charge I epur, spur the steed, And swlfl the ftigltlves pnrcuo: 'Tl» viiln ; rein In— your utmoxt speed Could not o'ertiike the recrennt crew. In lowlnnd miirsh, In dell or cnvc, Ench Indliin nought his lire to save ; W*' Jnce peering forth, with fear and ire, Ho saw hU Prophet's town on Are." • November 8 When, on the day after the battle," Harrison and his amiy advanecJ I '*"■ upon the Prophet's town, they found it deserted. After getl ing all tin copper kettles they could find, and as much beans and corn as they could i arry away, they applied the torch, and the village and a large quantity of com were speedily re- duced to ashes. Six days afterward the array, bearing the wounded in twenty-two i wagons, reached Fort Harrison on its return to Vincennes. Captain Snellin^, witli his company of regulars, was left to garrison the fort, and, on the 1 8th of the month,! the remainder of the army, excepting some volunteers disbanded the day bct'ore,! were at Fort Knox, in the capital of the Indiana Territory. The immediate resultl of the expedition was to scatter the Prophet's warriors on the Wabash, frustrate tliel scheme of Tecumtha, and give temporary relief to the settlers in Indiana. Tecnmtha, who was really a great man (while the Prophet was a cunning demaJ gogue and cheat — a tool in the hands of his brother), was absent among the SouthJ 1 Harrison's dispatch to Dr. Enstis, Secretary of War, Noven.ber 18, 1811 ; V'Afee's Ilialoni of the Late War in the Vi* en» Country, pages 2'2-30 ; Onderdonk's MS. Life of Temmimh ; Drake's Indian Btography ; Hall's Life of JIarrimn, paK^ 132-146 ; Dillon's Ilistorn of Indiana, pages 44T-4T2 ; statements to the author by Judge Naylor, of Crawfordsville, I diana, and Mi^nr Funk, of Kentucky. The Tth was passed In burying the dead and strengthening the encampment, for rumors were plenty that Tecnmta was coming to the aid of his brother with a thousand warriors. "Night," says Captain B*unk, "found every ma mounting guard, without food. Are, or light, and in n drizzly rain. The Indian dogs, daring the dark hours, prodocv rreqnent alarms by prowling in search of carrion about the sentinels." Temmtha diaappi pni Indians i and fr>und all |H)|)iilarity of (it' Ills c()iif(>(K of a true j)ati vexed, and ex in Ih'm projmsit thoughts of p( In the hatt|< ('ii;lity-eight.* ckill and brave topics for muci ponents of the liieiid of Presi( target for denii courage, were a victory gained, ' Elkdwatiiwii (the I 'Mppl, all of which h of others who had not • MfopiiHuport (hrout;! brother. He c- rjod || »nme lltrht materlnl, an uf this ho iniidc great n By his oxtniDrillnary on rarlh tronihle to Its ecu 'fry time an enrthqunk spiieared In the north w CI. The Hiin was ecllp«( uoMbccniKieof hiN Intei slfpnofthe Prophet, del ' He lost, In klllc '. anc wrgeant, and two corpo ibeattnck commenced, (1 .Abraham Owen, Uarrlso "f first attack. Letter A bimii mark for tho hull. chanijcd horses with Owi mounted the tlrst one nc mhadjolnedhimnsap KB and a brave soldier, n .tmong the mortally wo ltd Warrick. Daviess, cc ! ''"^ "« be was brilliant He took a lending pnrtng, tbeNlcholnPcslnpoliticn (tolons, used a hewn blo( ibe leader of that art In K( Mug to this power, a Tei , '"ISO^'tWMr.Dnvlessw, 'Wd n the Supreme C, I Bi-irict of Kentucky. Hen ft"*-.. County, Ken'iucky.v l»d.thletlc. He was bora I !&''"»'. who was one o |MDdlanawhileltwasaT( !.««», 0-1 the 1st of .January, ' '"'^ dispatch to the /ec OP THE WAR OP 1812. 307 il Tefomths dlii»ppolnted. RecrnltlDK-tonr of tta* Propbet. Lite and CbaracMr of M^Jur UaTttw. (>ni IniliiHiH wlu'ii tho bnttlo of Ti|)|H'C!ino»* occurred. lie rt'turiiod tiooii nrtcrwnrtl, iiiid iiiuml nil liirt HcliPiiu'M frustniti'il by tho folly of the l*ro|)hft. The HiuliU-n un- iMiiiiiliuity of tlie impostor deprived him of ft Htrong iimtnimeiit in the 'N)nHtnietioii 1)1' liin coiifederucy, to which h'w life and laborn had been long directed with the zciil of a true patriot. lie miw his brightest visiuns dissipated in a moment. Mortified, vi'xc'd, and exasperated, and failing to obtain the ae»juieseence of (lovernor Harrison ill his jiroposition to visit the President with a deputation of chiefs, he abandoned all tlioiights of peace, and became a firm ally of the British.' Ill the battle of Tippecanoe Harrison lost, in killed and wounded, one hundred and oinlity-eight.* It was a hard-fouglit and well-fought battle, and attested both the nkiil and bravery of Harrison.^ The expediency and conduct of the campaign were topics for much discussion, and elicited not a little severity of censure from the op- ponents of the administration and of war. Harrison was a personal and political tViciid of President Madison, and this gave license to the opposition to make him a target for denunciatory volleys. His prudence, his patriotism, his military skill, his courage, were all brought in cpiestion ; and some claimed the chajilet of fame for tho victory gained, for the brow of Colonel IJoyd.* But time, the great healer of dissen- 1 Elk»wtttiiwn (tlie Prophet) now Btnrtod on n rccrultlng-toiir nmon); tlie varloui tribes on the IFppcr Liikea nndMis- "Iwlppl, all of which he viBltcd with iiBtonlshliiK shccciib. Ho entered the vllln((eH of his most Invetorjite cuonileii, and of (ithcru who hiid not even heard hl« name, and so mauoBUvrcd as to make his mystcry-tlre nnd sncrcd strliin of beans I nafe pasuport tlirongh all their settlements. He enlisted sonic el^ht or ten thousand warriors to tlj'ht the bnttles of his brother. He c- ricd Into every wlKwuni an Imane of a dead person the size of life, which was Injjenloiisly made of nnmc liKht material, and kept concealed under baudafjes of thiu white muslin, and not to be opened to public srrntlny. Of Ihls he mode jjreat mystery, and ijot his recruits to swear by touchlntj the strluR of while beans attached (o Its neck. By his extraordinary cunning ho carrlei' terror wherever he went. If they did not obey htm ho threatened to make the cirlh tremble to Its centre nnd darken tho ll^ht of the sun. Nature seemed to conspire with the Prophet, for at this Tcrv time an earthquake extended along tho Mississippi, demolishing houses and settling the ground. A comet, too, spi>enred In tho north with fearM length of tall, and seemed a hnr'ilngor to the (lilflllment of the prertlctUms of the Proph- (1. The sun was eclipsed, to tho groat terror of tho savages, but, as the Prophet declared, It resumed Its wonted brlght- iieM because of his Intercesislon. Hut while In the l\ill tido of success, two rival chiefs of his own tribe dogged the fool- slepn of the Prophet, denounced him as an Impostor, and exposed his tricks.— Onderdonk's MS. Li/e n/Teemn»fh. > He lost. In kille *. nnd wounded, ton officers, namely, one ntd-de-camp, one major, three captains, two Bubaltems, one htrgeiint, and two corporols. Judge Naylor told me that the sergeant and himself were asleep at the samo fire when ihe attack commenced, and that a bullet from an Indian's musket killed him as he was springing to his feet. Colonel .\b™ham Owen, Harrison's ald-dc-camp, was killed early In the engagement, when ho and the governor rode to the point lilllrat attack. Letter A In tho plan on page 2<15 niarkF, the spot where he fell. lie rode a white horse, and this made him a mark for the Indians. Tho enemies of Harrison afterward asserted that the latter, to conceal himself, had ex- ebjngcd horses with Owen. Tho fact was as I have stated— his own horse had scampered away in a fright, and he had moiintcd tho first one near, which happened to bo n dark-colored one. The horse Owen rode was hlf own. That offl- fer had Joined him n« a private of Oeigor's company, and had been accepted as bli volunteer aid. He was n good citl- lenand a brave soldier, and had been a member of the Kentucky Legislature. .\raong the mortally wounded, nnd who died before Harrison made his report, was Major Daviess, and Captains Baen ind Warrick. Daviess, commonly called "Joe Daviess," wos the most bt'liiant man In that little army, and was as brave as he was brilliant. He was n Virginian by birth, and at the time of his death wos only thirty-seven years of age. Betook a lending part against Aaron Burr In the West in IROO. Prev'.ms to that he had been a successful opponent of the Nicholases In political movements, they being Republicans and he a Fedoraiist. Ho was a great student, very ab- itemlous, used a hewn block for a pillow, and a bed nearly as hard. Ills oratory wns powerful, and Wilson C. Nicholas, Ihe leader of that art in Kentucky at the close of the last century, was often compelled to bend to his young rival. Al- iidlng tu this power, n Tennessee poet (Robert Mack) wrote as follows, in n rhyming eulogy, after his death : "Emerging from his studious shed, Behold, behold him rise ! All Henry bursting fl-om his tongne, And Marshall from his eyes. Chained by the magic of his voice, Pierce party spirit stood ; E'en prejudice nimoat gave wny. While with rcststiesB rensoning's sway O'er far-famed Nichoins he rolled The orntorial flood." In ISOl, '02 Mr. Dnvless went to Washington City on professional business, and was the first Western lawyer who ever I ippearcd In the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Jefferson made him Attorney of the United States for the I Bijtrlct of Kentucky. He married a sister of Chief Justice Marshall, and always held a fl-ont rank in hie profession. I DjvleM County, Kentucky, was named in his honor. He was wounded at about five o'clock in the morning of the 7th lolNovember, and survived until one o'clock In the afternoon of the same day. Ho was nearly six feet high, vigorous I hkI sihlctlc. He was bom in Bedford County, Virginln, on the 4th of Mnrch, 1T74. ' Harrison was continually exposed during the action, but escaped nnhurt. A bullet passed through iiie hat. Mi\|or iHrarj Hurst, who was one of his alds-de-cnmp (nnd an active one) In this buttle, nnd was the only lawyer who resided lb Indiana while it wns n Territory, died at Jeflfersonville, on the Ohio, opposite Lonlaville, where he had lived forty |!Mr«,on the 1st of.Innuary, 180B, In the eighty-fifth year of his age. ' In his dispatch to the Secretary of War, Hnrrisou said of Colonel Boyd: "Tho whole of the infantry formed a small i' • >' — , 'lUW mmmmmm i i ',1 II 208 nCTOBIAL FIELD-BOOK liarrlson and the Tippecanoe Battle. The Battle-groand. A eolemn Memorial Poem. sions, corrector of errors, and destroyer of party and personal animosities, has lone since silenced the voice of detraction ; and the verdict of his countrymen to-day, as they study the record dispassionately, is coincident with thai of his soldiers at the time, and of the Kentucky Legislature shortly afterward, who, on motion of the late venerable member of Congress, John J. Crittenden, resolve-l, " That in the late campaign against the Indians on the Wabash, Governor W. H. tiarrison has, in the opinion of this Legislature, behaved like a hero, a patriot, and a general ; and that for his cool, deliberate, skillful, and gallant conduct in the late battle of Tippecanoe he deserves the warmest thanks of thi' nation." History, art, and song' made that event the theme for pen pencil, and voice ; and when, thirty years afterward, the leader of the fray was a candidate for the Presidency of the Unitjed States, he was every where known by the familiar title of Old Tippecanoe, His paitisans erected log-cabins in towns and cities, and in them sang in chorus, " Hurrah for the fathei of all the green West, For the Bnckeye who follows the plow I The foemon in terror his valor confessed, And we'll honor the conqueror now. His country assailed in the darkest of days, To ner rescue impatient he flew ; The war-whoop's fell blast, and the rifle's red blaze. But awakeued Old Tippecanoe." The battle-field of Tippecanoe has become classic ground. It belonged to the State of Indiana, and had been inclosed with a rude wooden fence for several years, which we were told, was soon to give place to an iron one. The inclosure comprised seven acres. It was a beautiful spot. The ground, gently undulating, and sloping from Jiattle-ffround City^ (an infar.t in years and size), wa3 still covered with the nohle oaks. In the sketch here given, made when I visited it in October, 1860, the specta- tor is supposed to be standing just northward of the place where Major Wells's line, on the left flank, was foi-med (see a plan of the camp on page 205), and lookinnj south- west over the once wet prairie toward the Wabash. On the extreme left, in the dis- tance, is seen the gentle eminence on which tho Prophet stood during the battle, sini;- ?ng his war-songs. Farther to the right, near the row of posts, is a large tree with the top broken off. It raai-ks the spot near which Daviess fell. Tliere is only space enough between it and the verge of the prairie below for the common road and the railway. brigade, under the immediate orders of Colonel Boyd. The colonel thi'onghont the action manifested equal zeal ond bravery in carrying into execution my orders. In keeping the men to their posts. <ind exhorting them to flght with valor." Judge Naylor iufomied me that he heard Colonel Boyd frequently cry out, ' Huzzah! my sous of gold, the day is oars 1" ' Among the many "ver«cj composed on the occasion of Ihe battle of Tippecanoe,*' none were more popular in the West, for a long time, than a string of solemn doggerel, printed on a smrM broadside of rough paper, at Frankfort, Kentucky. A copy lies before me. It Is entitled, "A Bloody Battle between tbc United States Troops, under the command of Governor Harri- son, and several Tribes of Indians, near the Prophet's Tomi, November T, ISll." At the head is a rude wood-cut, evidently i made by an amateur for some other scene, for a rnmp exhibit! | two cannon. \ little distance ofl" arc seen three Indianp. Ipive afac-slmlle of this remarkable "Illustration" (of reduced size), as j a specimen of the art in the West at that time. The following sp'scimen of the " poetry" shows a " fiktess of thlnge" be- tween the rhyme and the picture : " Harrieon, a commander of great renown. Led on our troops nea' by the Prophet's town ; After evils o'ercome and obstructions past, Nesr this pavage town they enramped at last." Headers anxious to peruse the other seven verses will tind the whole "poem" In the third volume of M'Cartj'e .Vii-, tioTuU Scmj-bmk, page 440. j » This vl age is the child of a college located there, called The Battle-<iround InntituU, devoted to the edncatlon of j both sexes. It was founded In 1868, i>,;,d tho village was soon afterward laid out. Both college and "city" hk Hiur-f ishlng. The former was under the charge of Rev. B. H. Staley when I was there, and contained almost three hundred 1 pupils. The college Is situated in a grove of oaks on the upper border of the battle-ground, and the shaded Inctarej forms a delightfiil promenade and place for out-of-door study. Several stnduuts, with their books, were seen unde'tlie| trees when we were there. Departure for Chicag We dined at tht forty miles distani pleasure. Soon a: seventy miles, pass late prairie-flowers reetion, as far as tl which appeared lik black clouds gatht City that stands ar ire ran into a heav curve of that inlar late in the evening ning descended in of the dashing railv stars were beaming ?rcat prairie g:i tlie and the night at thi OF THE Vr'AR OF 1812. 209 Uepartiire for Chicago. Jonniey across the Prairies. Thunder-Btorm. Arrival at Chicago. ^!^ ^^:-i ^J-^ r ' if V ''"'^ro^.^mm TH'PJJOANOE BATTLK-QEOUJiD IN IbtiU. We dined at the Battle-ground House, and departed for Chicago, one hundred and forty miles distant, at three o'clock in the afternoon. The journey was one of real pleasure. Soon aftet leaving, we entered a prairie, and traversed its dead level for seventy miles, passing some little villages on the way. It was rich with verdure and late prairie-flowers, and the broad expanse was dotted here and there in every di- rection, as far as the eye could comprehend, Avith clurap« of tall trees and shrubbery, which appeared like islands in the mulst of a vast green sea. Toward evening heavy black clouds gathered in the northwesiern sky, and when we approached Michigan City that stands among the sand dunes at the head of Lake Michigan, just at sunset, we ran into a heavy thunder-shower that was sweeping around the majestic southern curve of that inland sea. Darkness soon came on, and as we approached Chicago, late in the evening, we encountered another shower. On lake and prairie the light- niiig descended in frequent streams, and the thunder roared fearfully above the din of the dashing railway train. But all was serene when we arrived at Chicago. The stare were beaming brightly, and a young moon was just dipping its horn below the great prairie on the west. It had been a day of exciting pleasure as well as fatigue, and the night at the Richmond House was one of sweet repose for us ail. ..v..«*-^i»v '■:-:*fZ:. |iu«iim m\ !'' i it I W'Ml'J 210 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Meeting of the Twelfth Congress. Strength of Parties In that Body. CHAPTER XI. " Hark I the peal of war is rung ; Hark ! the song for battle's snng ; Firm be every bosom strong, And every soldier ready. On to Qoebec's embattli a halls I Who will panse when glory calls f ||. Charge, soldiers ! charge its lofty walls. And storm its strong artillery ! Firm as our native hills we'll stand, And should the lords of Europe land. We'll meet them on the farthest strand ; We'll conquer or we'll die !" FaoM lUE Tbsnton Tbue Amebioas. NTELLIGENCE of the battle of Tippecanoe reached Washing- ' ton City soon after the Tw alfth Congress had asseml led, and produced a profound sensation in that body. They had been convened by proclamation a month earlier* than the . November 4 regular day of meeting. The affairs of the coun- i^"- try were approaching a crisis, and this session was to be the most important of any since the establishment of the nation, Both political parties came lully armed and well prepared for a desperate conflict. The Federalists were in a hopeless minority in both houses, but were strong in materials. They had but six members in the Senate, where even Mas- sachusetts, the home of the " Essex Junto," ivas represented by a Democrat in the person ol' the veteran Joseph B. Varnum, the speaker of the last House, who had been chosen to supersede Timothy Pickering.^ Giles, of Virginia, having joined a faction pimilar to Randolph's " Quids" in its relations to the administration, Wm. H. Crawford, of Georgia, became the leader in the Senate of the dominant party proper, and was «bly supported by Campbell, of Tennessee. In the lower House the Federalists had but thirty-six members, whose great leader was Quincy, of Massachusetts, ably supported by Key, of Maryland, Chittenden, of Vermont, and Emott, of New York. Connecticut and Rhode Island were still num- bered among the Federal states ; but in the remainder of New England and the State of New York the Democrats had a decided majority. Thei'c were but ten Federal- ists for all the states south of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Tlie more radical mem- bers of the last Congress had been re-elected ; and in Cheves, Calhoun and Lowndes, of South Carolina, Clay, of Kentucky, and Grundy, of Tennessee — all young men and full of vigor — appeared not only Democratic members of ability, but enthusiastic champions of war with Great Britain. With these came the veteran Sevier, the Iiero ' The contest for power between the Federalists and Democrats of Massachneetts had been long and bitter, IiilSU j the latter succeeded in electing their candidate for governor (Elbrldge Gerry), and a majority of both houses of the Loc- ialaturo. In order to secure the election of United States senators in the fnturc, it was important to perpetuate this posuession of power, and measures were taken to retain a Democratic majority in the State Senate In all ftitnre years. • The senatorial districts had been formed without any division of counties. This arrangement, for the purpose alluded j to, was now disturbed. The Legislature proceeded to rearrange the senatorial districts of the state. They divided | counties in opposition to the protests and strong constitutional arguments of the PederailBts ; and those of Essex and j Worcester were so dir; ded as to form a Democratic district in each of those Federal counties, without any apparent re- 1 gard to convenience or propriety. The work was sanctioned, and became law by the signature of (Jovemor Gerry, He j probably had no other hand In the matter, yet he received most severe castigations ft-om the opposition. | In Essex County, the arrangement of the district In its relation to the towns was singular and absurd. nuesetl,tbej Teteran editor of the £o«ton CentiTiel, who had fought against the scheme valiantly, took a map of that county and des-l Henry Clay chosen 8pe OF THE WAll OF 1812. 211 Uenry Clay chouen Speaker. The President's focblo War-trumpet. History of the Qerry-mander. of King's Mountain, and first Governor of Tennessee — " stiff and grim as an Indian arrow ; not speaking, but looking daggers."* The young and ardent members, with the 'mperiouB Clay at their head, imme- diately took the lead ; and the warlike tem- per of I lie House was manifested by the election of Mr. Clay to the speakershp by the d-^cided vote of seventy-five, against thirty-eight given for William Bibb, the peace candidate, and a dozen scattering votes.'' A detei-min- jtion that inactivity and indecision should no longer be the pol- icy of the administra- tion was soon manifested, and the timid President Madison found iiimself, as the standard-bearer of his party, surrounded, like a can tious sachem, with irrepressible young warriors eager for a fray. The President, in his annual . November message, " "*> **"• sounded a war-trum- pet, though rather feebly. After allud- ing tb the condition of the national de- fenses, he said, "I must now add, that the period has arrived which claims fro^n the legislative guardians of the national rights a system of more am- a/ /y pie provision for maintaining them. // Cc6ty Notwithstanding the scrupulous justice, the protracted moderation, and the multiplied eflbrts on the part of the United States, to substitute for the accumulating dangers to the peace of ignated by particular coloring the towns thus se- lected, and hung it on the wall of his editorial room. One day Gilbert Sluart, the emlueut paint- er, looked at the map, and said the towns which Bussell had thus distingn'shed resembled some monstrous animal. He took a pencil, and with a few touches added what might represent a head, wings, claws, and tall. "There," Stuart said, "that will do for a salamander." Kussell, who was busy with his pen, looked up at the hideous figure, and ccclairaed, " Salamander 1 call It Gerry- mander I The word was immediately adopted into the political vocabulary as a term of reproach to the Democratic Legislature. — See l>peeimena of Xewspaper Literature, with Permiial Memoirs, A n- eedolf^, and Reminiscence*, by Joseph T. Bucking- ham, 11., 01. Stuart's monstrous figure of iUd Oerry^nander was presented upon a broadside containing a natu- ral and political history of the animal, and hawked about the country. From one of these before me, kindly placed In my possession by the late Edward Everett, I copied the picture given In this note, which is about one half the size of the original. After giving some ludicrous guesses as to its character and origin— whether It was the gcnnine Basilisk, the Serpens Monoeephahta of Pliny, the Oriffin of -omance, the Great Red Dragon or Apol- hjon of Banyan, or the Monstrnm Ilorretidum of Virgil — the writer of the natural history of the Gerry-mandcr sayp that the learned Dr. Water- Ml proved It to be a species of salamander, engendered partly by the devil In the fervid heats of party strife. " But," KMTii, "as this creature has been engendered and brought forth under the sublimest auspices, the doctor proposes usname phould be given to it expressive of its genus, at the same time conveying an elegant and very appropriate mpllment to his excellency the governor, who Is known to be the zealous patron of whatever Is new, astonishing, and tillc, especially of domestic growth and manufacture. For these reasons, and other valuable considerations, the doc- »hin decreed this monster shall bo denominated a Gebky-mandek." ' Hildrclh. 'Mr, Clay was elected on the first ballot. The vote stood— for Clay, TB ; for Bibb, 88; for Bassett, of Virginia, 1 j for " ron, of Virginia, 2 ; and for Macon, of North Carolina, 8. Mr. Clay was declared duly elected speaker. A corre- THB oebbt-manubb. • ■ r*iw i r»TniT'-M Ci J M 111 f!!S I li riiil: ! HI H 212 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Report of the Committee on Foreign Relatlonn. Its Charges agalnHt Great Britain and warliljc Tone. the two countries all the mutual advantages of re-established friendship and confi- dence, we have seen that the British Cabinet perseveres not only in withholding a remedy for other wrongs, so long and so loudly calling for it, but in the execution, brougiii. homo to the threshold of our territory, of measures which, under existing circumstances, have the character as well as the effects of war on our lawful com- merce. With this evidence of hostib inflexibility in trampling on rights which no independent nation can relinquish. Congress will feel the duty of putting the Unitid States into an armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis, and corresponding with the national spirit and expectations." Yet Mr. Madison, like Mr. Jefferson, was anx- ious to avoid war, if possible. A war-note in a higher key was speedily sounded by the Committee on Foroiffti Relations, of which Peter P. Porter, of New York, was chairman. Tliey made a sliort but energetic report on the 29th of November." They referred in severe terms to the wrongs which for more than five years the commerce of the United States had suffered from the operations of the conflict for power between England and France — wrongs inaugurated by British orders in Council, and imitated, in re- taliation, by French decrees. They charged Great Britain Avith the crime of persist- ing in the infliction of these wrongs after France, by abandoning her decrees, so far as the United States were concerned, had led the way toward justice to neutrals. They then arraigned Great Britain upon a more serious chai-ge — that of continued impressment of American seamen into the British service. While tlicy pleaded for the protection of commerce, they were not, they salt!, " of that sect whose W()islii|i is at the shrine of a calculating avarice Although the groans of those victims of barbarity for the loss of (what should be dearer to Americans than life) their lib- erty — although the cries of their wives and children, in the privation of protectors and parents, have of late been drowned in the louder clamors of the loss of prop- erty, yet is the practic of forcing our marir.c:'s into the British navy, in violation of the rights of our flag, carried on with unabated rigor and severity. If it be our duty to encourage the fair and legiti"iate commerce of this country by protecting tlie property of the merchant, then, indeed, by as much as life and liberty are more esti- mable than ships and goods, so much more impressive is the duty to shield the per- sons of our seamen, whose hard and honest services are employed, equally with those of the merchants, in advancing, under the mantle of its laws, the interests of tiieir country. To si.m up, in a word, the great cause of complaint against Great Britain, your committee need only say, that the United States, as a sovereign and independ- ent power, claim the right to use the ocean, which is the common and acknowledged highway of nations, for the purposes of transporting, in their own vessels, the prod- ucts of their own soils and the acquisitions of their own industry to a market in the ports of friendly nations, and to bring home, in return, such articles as their necessi- ties or convenience may require, always regarding the rights of belligerents as de-i fined by the established laws of nations. Great Britain, in defiance of this incontesta- ble right, captures every American vessel bound to or returning from a port where] her commerce is not favored ; enslaves our seamen, and, in spite of our remonstranees, perseveres in these aggressions. To wrongs so daring in character and so disgraceful, in their execution, it is impossible that the people of the United States should remain indifferent. We must now tamely and quietly submit, or we must resist by thos means which God has placed within our reach. Hpondent of the New York livening Poet wrote : " He made a short address to the House on talcing his seat, which, froa the lowneHiS of his vole at that time, could not be distinctly heard." lu the same letter the writer said, "It is bolicvM Clay was not tbongbt of for Speaker till Sunday ; be certainly was not pnbllcly mentioned. The Democrats had n caij cus Sunday evening, and fixed ou Clay. This waa dune to prevent the election of Macon, who has too much lioDe<t| and independence for the leading administration men." Mr. Clay was then thirty-four years of ngc, and this was bis flrst appearance as a member lu the House of Repre'foj atlves. He was In the Senate previously, as we have observed. The portrait given on the previous page Is from I painting ttom life by the late Mr. Rauuoy, when Mr. Clay was nearly sixty years of age. Kctolntlons of the C " Your comr sion of a doubl now presented liy foreign and the field of hatt ill the avarice liom our love < ence which sust iiggrcssion is n( .Amciican breast tion to those hii than of exalted i to be a virtue, sanctified by the only, but as the i; latecl. And the ] sacred duty of C( By the aid of the ;ible to procure tli iiiul forbearance in The coinmittee, tlieir opinion, oug the proposition of iirmor and attitud* ^|)irit and expecta ^ liiate completion o tiie ranks and proli i)f ten thousand rea President, under pn I tlionsand, to be org I tliority to order out J require; the immed JMd the allowing rac I This report, spreac not 80 swiftly as noi 'The first trip made b^ a I JiJ^y festival, by Horaflo, », on the banks of th 3 Lack H.ta Canal Company witl IS! circnmstances which led fcstrncture was of hemlock wked and warped from exp K^n^^reek on trestle?' K '"'• The Impression . hte he track at the curve an, fe'?''P""""'IIItyof8UQho r""" been brought here « • a fate; than would take I N?reat Interest. As I place "••ith a fair degree of speed rt.omely, and without any ;• P*.^, and was soon out of M„ ■"wed without accident, , ,-ii Be first regular telegraphic N«««r Samuel P. B.MorsM 1^ The dispatch, fhrnlshedt. t«nWoner of Patents, who h ''ipresslon of Balaam-" w 'Jin the archives of the Con: OF THE WAR OF 1812. 213 Kenolatlons of the Committee ou Foreign Relations. Tlie flrat railway Traveler and teiegraplilc Diepatcb. "Your committee would not cast a shade over the American name by the expres- sion of a doubt which branch of tliis alternative will be embraced. The occasion is now presented when the national character, misunderstood and traduced for a time by foreign and domestic enemies, should be vindicated. If we have not rushed to the field of battle like the nations who are led by the mad ambition of a single chief ill the avarice of a corrupted court, it has not proceeded from the fear of war, but from our love of justice and humanity. That proud spirit of liberty and independ- ence which sustained our fathers in the successful assertion of rights against foreign iiirgix'ssion is not yet sunk. The patriotic fire of the Revolution still lives in the Aineiican breast with a holy and unextinguishable flame, and will conduct this na- tion to those high destinies which are not less the reward of dignified moderation tlian of exalted valor. But we have borne with injury until forbearance has ceased to be a virtue. The sovereignty and independence of these states, purchased and sanctified by the blood of our fathers, from whom we received them, not for ourselves only, but as the inheritance of our posterity, are deliberately and systematically vio- lated. And the period has arrived when, in the opinion of your committee, it is the sacred duty of Congress to call forth the patriotism and resources of the country. By the aid of these, and with the blessing of God, we confidently trust we shall be able to procure that redress which has been sought for by justice, by remonstrance, and forbearance in vain." Tlie committee, " reserving for a future report those ulterior measures which, in tiieir opinion, ought to be pursued," earnestly recommended Congress to second tiie propoi'ition of the President by immediately putting the United States " into an armor and attitude demanded by the crisis, and corresponding with the national spirit and expectations." In a series of resolutions they recommended the imme- diate completion of the military establishment as authorized by law, by filling up tiie ranks and prolonging the enlistraenis ; the authorization of an additional force often thousand regular troops to serve for three years, and the acceptance by the President, under proper regulations, of any number of volunteers not exceeding fifty thousand, to be organized, trained, and held in readiness; giving the President au- j tiiority to order out detachments of militia when the interests of the country should require ; the immediate repairing of all national vessels and fitting them for service, and the allowing merchant sliips to arm in their own defense.* This report, spread upon the wings of the press, went over the country swiftly — I not so swiftly as now for railways and telegraphs were unknown'^ — and produced a I Slles's Weekly liegister, i., 2B8. 'The first trip made by a locomoti.s on tills continent was thns described a few years ngo in a speech at an Erie lllii'.way festival, by Horatio Allen, the eminent engineer; 1 "VVhen was itf Who was it? And who awakened its energies and directed its movements? It was in the year I l^,on the banks of th i Lackawaxen, at the commencement of the railroads connecting the canal of the Delaware and iHidson Canal Company with their coal mines, and he who addresses you was the only person on that locomotive. I T^ circumstances which led to my being alone on the engine were these: The road had been built in the snmmer; I it (trncture was of hemlock timber, and rails of large dimensions notched on caps placed far apart. The timber had Intkcd and warped (Irom exposure to the sun. After about three hundred feet of straight line, the road crossed the Iktawaxen Creek on trestle-work about thirty feet high, with a curve of three hundred and flfty-flve to four hundred Iteradins. The impression was very general thot the Iron monster would either break down the road, or it would llare the track at the curve and plunge into the creek. My reply to such apprehensions was that it was too late to con- Ititrthe probability of such occurrences ; there was no other course than to have a trial made of the strange animal, litich had been brought here at a great expense, but that it was not necessary that more than one should be involved liili fate; that I would toke the first ride alone, and the time would come when I should look back to the incident |i* ?reat interest. As I placed my hand on the throttle-valve handle, I was undecided whether I would move slowly |«»1th a fair degree of speed ; but, believing that the road would prove safe, and preferring, if we did go down, to go Itadsomely, and without any evidence of timidity, I started with considerable velocity, passed the curve over the creek lileV, and wos soon out of h-"»ring of the vast assemblage. At the end of two or three miles I reversed the valve and Tmnied without accident, , ring thus made tho first railroad trip by locomotive on the Western hemisphere." J lie llrst regular telegraphic dispatch, for the public eye and ear, was sent (i-om Washington City to Baltimore by ■hfesBor Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the electro-telegraphic system of intellectual communication, in May, %i The dispatch, furnished to Professor Morse, according to promise, by Miss Anna Ellsworth, daughter of the then jtimiiseioncr of Patents, who had taken great interest in Mr. Morse's experiments, was worthy of the occasion : it was It expression of Balaam— " What hath ooii wrought!" Tbot flrst dispatch, in the telegraphic language, may be ud Id the archives of the Connecticut Historical Society. I 1 III 214 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Sapposed Kepubllcan Proclivities of Britiali Colonltts. John Randolph on the Danger of enlightening the Slave; powerful impression upon the American mind and heart. No one could deny the truthfulness of its statements, and few well-informed persons doubted the wisdom and justice of its conclusions. While great indignation was felt toward Franco for her past and present aggressions upon the rights of neutrals, much stronger was tlif feeling against Great Britain, because it had been her settled policy and her jjractioc for more than half a century, and had been used with cruel rigor long before France in retaliation, adopted the same instrument for warfare. This indignation was more vehement because England, with hauglity persistence, and in violation of the sover- eignty and independence of the United States, continued her nefarious practice of impressing American seamen into the British naval service. Upon such buniiii" feelings throughout the land, just then stimulated to great intensity by the intelli- gence from the Indian country, fell the fuel of this trumpet-toned report. It was short, perspicaous, and pungent. It was read by evory Lody; and every measure- proposed in Congress, looking to hostilities Avith Great Britain, was applauded by a large majority of the people. In Congreps warm debates followed on the resolutions appended to the report. It was admitted that the United States could not meet Great Britain on the od?au fleet to fleet, but, it was believed that when an army from the States should appear on the soil of Canada, or of the other British provinces in the farther iiast, the people, tlien tired of being ruled as colonies, would gladly join fortunes with the young Giant of the West. It was believed that their bosoms swelled with desires since embodied in these woi ds of an English poet : "There's a star in tbe West that shall never go down 4 'Tin the records of vnlor decay ; We must worship its light, thongh 'tis not our own, For liberty barsts in its^y." It was also believed that American privateers would speedily ruin British com- merce and fisheries, and that, by sea and land expeditions, the people of tlie United States would be remunerated tenfold for all the spoliations inflicted on their cum- merce, and thus compel the British government to act justly and respectfully.' Most of the Southern and Western members were in favor of war. But John Ran- dolph, always happy in his element of universal opposition, battled against the men of his own section in his peculiar way, sometimes with ability, always discursoriJT, and frequently with the keenesu satire. He endeavored to excite the fears of the mem- j bers of the slave-labor states by warning them that an invasion of Canada miglit be j retorted upon Southern soil w ith fearful effc'ct. He declared that the slaves had al- ready become polluted by that French democracy which animated the administration j party, who were so eager to go to war with the enemy of Napoleon, whom he raniied, j as a scourge of mankind, with Tamerlane and Genghis Khan — " malefactors of tiie } human race, who grind down men into mere material of their impious and bloody I ambition." He said the negroes were rapidly gaining notions of freedom, destructive j alike to their own happiness and the safety and interests of their masters. He de-j nounced as a " butcher" a member of Congress who had proposed the abolition of j slavery in the District of Columbia. He said men had broached on that very floorj the doctrine of imprescriptible rights to a crowded audience of blacks in the galleriesT teaching them that they were equal to their masters. "Similar doctrines," he BaidJ " are spread throughout the South by Yankee peddlers ; and there are even owner* of slaves so infatuated as, by the general tenor of their conversation, by contempt ofl order, morality, religion, unthinkingly to clierish these seeds of destruction. Mi what has been the consequence ? Within the last ten years repeated alarms of slave! insurrections, some of them awful indeed. By the spreading of his infernal doctriiia the whole South has been thrown into a state of insecurity You have dej » Porter's Speech. Bmdolpb scolds th« prived the sla; he continued, a ic members; " to eat of the enough to pen you have openc ness God em States shoi on these shores ciples of Frencl Wiile talking c much reason tc safety at home when I say tlia tolls for fire in Ri ened mother doe more closely to ing what may hi myself witnessed in the capital of" Randolph > thei some severe wor verse policy advc in 1798, when th( tion was prepari Fiance. He taun but now, in their heavy national de people— fraternal Randolph's spec more sensitive anc soned arrows fron houn, then less tha effort in that grea contested.^ With ' John Randolph claim uree miles fi-om Petersbn Colombia College, New Yo sNled law, but never prnc N'atlonal Congress, and for «ane for a time in 1811, and mi the war with Great 1 friend of General Jackson conid not endure the wlntei M return his constituents klm, and he died In a hotel rope. ' ?P««<:li In the House of 'John Caldwell Calhoun "8 a native of Virginia. T "Id great promise. He was lonncctlcnt, and entered up (arolin«lnl808,andinl8U e«bly supported Mr. MadI MVVar. He was elected Vic wdedHayne In the Senate «8 8ecretaryofStateInl84a PO'ltloanntn his death, whic ^arsofage. Our portrait wforty-cight years of age. U ! !l OF THE WAB OF 1812. 215 m Itindolpb Bcolds the UemocrntH. Juhn C. Calhonn. SketclieH of Kandolph uiid C'ulhuun. iirived the slave of all moral restraint," he continued, addressing the Democrat- ic members; "you have tempted him to cat of the tree of knowledge just enough to perfect him in wickedness; you have opened his eyes to his naked- ness God forbid that the South- ern States should ever see an enemy on these shores with their infernal prin- ciples of Frencli fraternity in the van ! While talking of Canada, we have too much reason to shudder for our own safety at home. I speak from facts when I say that the night-bell never tolls for fire in Richmond that the fright- ened mother does not hug her infant the more closely to her bosom, not know- ing what may have liappened. I have myself witnessed some of these alarms in the capital of Virginia." Raudolph' then gave the Democrats gome severe words concerning the ad- verse policy advocated by their party in 1798, when the Federal administrj tion was preparing for a war with France. He taunted them with bemg preachers of reform and economy heretofore, but now, in their blind zeal to serve their French master, were willing to create a lieavy national debt by rushing into an unnecessary and wicked war with a fraternal people — fraternal in blood, language, religion, laws, arts, and literature.^ Landolph's speech had but little effect upon his auditors other than to irritate the more sensitive and amuse the more philosophic. A few members, at the risk of poi- soned arrows from his tongue, ventured to give him some home thrusts, while Cal- houn, then less than thirty years of age, made this the occasion of his first oratorical effort in that great theatre of legislative strife wherein he so long and so valiantly contested.^ With that dexterous use of subtle logic which never failed to give him > John Rnndolpb claimed to be sevedth in descent from Pocahontas, tbe fkmons Indian princess. He was bora three miles from Petersburg, in Virginia, on tbe 2d of June, 1773. He was educated at Princeton College, New Jersey, Columbia College, New York, and William and Mary College, in Virginia. Prom infancy he suffered from ill health. He studied law, but never practiced it. His first appearance in public life was In 1790, when he was elected to a seat in the National Congress, and for thirty years, with an interval of two years each, he held a seat in that body. He became in- sane for a time in 1811, and had returns of his malady at intervals during the remainder of his life. He strenuously op- posed the war with Oreal Britain in 1812, and after that event bia political career was very erratic. He was the warm friend of General Jackson in 1828, and in 1830 that gentleman appointed him ttnited States Minister to Russia. He conld not endure tbe winter on tbe Neva, and bis stay in Russia was short. He resided in England for a while, and ofter his return his constituents elected him to Congress. But be did not take his seat. Consumption laid its hand upon him, and he died in a hotel In Philadelphia, on the 2Sd of May, 1833, while on his way to New York to embark for Ea- rope. ' Speech In the House of Representatives, December 10, 1811.— Nlles's Register, I., 816. ' John Caldwell Calbonn was bom in Abbeville District, South Carolina, on the IStb of March, 1T82. His mother was a native of Virginia. He entered Yale College as a student in 1802, where be was marked as a young man of genius and great promise. He was graduated in 1804 with the highest honors of the institution. He studied law in Litchfield, Connecticut, and entered upon its practice in his native district. He was elected to a seat in the Legislature of South Carolina In 1808, and in 1811 he took his seat as member of the National Congress as a stanch Republican or Democrat, ne flbly supported Mr. Madison's ndminisfration, and in 1817 President Monroe called bim to his Cabinet as Secretary of War. He was elected Vice-President of the Onited States in 1826, and was re-elected with Jackson in 1828. He snc- teeded ilayne In the Senate of the United States in 1831, and became the leader In tbe disloyal movement of bis native slate known in history under the general title of Nnlllflcation, in 1882-'B3. President Tyler called bim to bis Cabinet as Secretary of State in 1843, and be again entered the Senate as the representative of bis state in 1846. He held that position nntll his death, which occurred at Washington City on the 31st of March, 1850, when he was Just past sixty-eight Tears of age. Our portrait of Mr. Calhonn, on the next page, is tiom one taken from life about the year 1830, when be was forty-eight years of age. 1, ; 4 wmm '\ !■ i ll H « ii if' ! ! M! M'' ^' i"^!;: r^:: ! f 1 ! ■• . t'.l i.ji ^ |. .:>: ... . '*! ; ^lll ^ Mill 216 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Calhuan's Reply to Randolph's Speech. The Policy of the Fedcrnlliitn. I'repiirntlons for War. ingenious arguments in favor of any views ho might desire to enforce, ho replied to Randolph at some length, insisting that it was a prin- ciple as applicable to nations as to in- dividuals to repel a first insult, and thus command the respect, if not the fear of the assailant. "Sir," he said, "I might prove the war, should it en- sue, justifiable by the express admis- sion of the gentle- man from Virginia ; and necessary, by facts undoubted and universally ad- mitted, such as that gentleman did not pretend to controvert. The extent, duration and character of the injuries received ; the failure of tlioso peaceful means Imro- tofore resorted to for the redress of our wrongs, is my proof that it is necessary. Why should I men- tion the impress- ment of our seamen; depredation on ev- ery branch of our commerce, includ- ing the direct ex- port trade, contin- ued for years, and made under laws which professedly uridertake to reg- ulate our trade with other nations ;' negotiation resorted to time after time till it became hopeless ; tlii' restrictive systems persisted in to avoid war and in the vain expectation of returninr; justice ? The evil still grows, and in each succeeding year swells in extent and pre- tension beyond the preceding. The question, even in the opinion and admission of our opponents, is reduced to this single point. Which shall we do, abandon or defend our own commercial and maritime rights, and the personal liberties of our citizens in ex- ercising them ? These rights are essentially attacked, and war is the only means of redress. The gentleman from Virginia has suggested none, unless wo consider tlie whole of his speech as recommending patient and resigned submission as the best remedy. Sir, which alternative this House ought to sustain is not for me to say. I hope the decision is made already by a higher authority than the voice of any man. It is not for the human tongue to instill the sense of independence and honor. This is the work of nature — a generous nature that disdains tame submission to Avrongs. This part of the subject is so imposing as to enforce silence even on the gentleman from Virginia. He dared not deny his country's wrongs, or vindicate the conduct of her enemy," In this dignified strain Mr. Calhoun charmed his listeners, steadying the vacillat- ing, convincing the doubting, and commanding the respectful attention of the oppo- nents of the resolutions. He treated Randolph's bugbear of slave insurrection with lofty contempt. " However the gentleman may frighten himself," he said, " with the disorganizing efiects of i^'rench principles^ I can not think our ignorant blacks have felt much of their baleful influence. I dare say more than one half of them m heard of the French Revolution. "^ The Federalists said very little on this occasion. It had always been their policy to be prepared for war. The resolutions appended to the report of the Committee j • December 10, on Foreign Relations were adopted,* and bills were speedily prepared j and passed for augmenting the army. Additional regulars to the nnm- 1 See pnge IfiS. « Abridgment vf the Debates of Congrett from 1T89 to 1886, by Thorons H. BentOD, Iv., 449, 1311. Augmentation ofthi OF THE WAR OF 1812. 217 Augmentation of the Army. Pntrlutlsm of leadlni; FederollstR. Reasons of Quincy and Emolt for tlioir Courto. Jaiinary 4, 1S12. 5 dxAAAMy ber of twenty-fivo thousand were authorized by a vote of tlie Houso early in Jann- nry." Tlio bill also provided for the appointment of two major generals iind five additional brigadiers ; also for a bounty to new recruits of sixteen dollars, and, at the time of discharge, three months' extra pay and a certificate for one hundred and sixty acres of land.' On the 14th of the month anotlier act was |i!is8cd, appro[)riating a million of dollars for the purchase of arms, ordnance, camp equipage, and quarter-master's stores; and four hundred thousand dollars for powder, ordnance, and small-arms for the nnvy. Tlius, In a brief space of time, the little army of the peace establishment, which had been comparatively inactive, Avas swelled in prospective from about three thousand men to more than seventy tliousand regulars and volunteers. The President was authorized to call u])on ♦he govei-nors of states 1 Seven of the thirty-seven Federalists In the House voted for these measures. These were Quincy and Reed, of ^fa»• mchtMlts; Emott, Blcccker, Gold, and Livingston, of Aeu- York; and Miluor, of Piiniuiiilvania. The latter was the late James Mllnor, D.D., Rector of St. George's Church, New York. It was diftlng this session of Congress that he hccnme (la'ply Impressed with religious sentiments, and felt himself called to the Gospel ministry. Ho abandoned the lucrative profession of the law and the turbulent field of politics, and took orders In the Trotestaut Episcopal Church, of which, uutil his death, In the spring of 1S44, he was "a bright and shining light." The position taken by these leading Federalists at that critical time, In opposition to the great body of their colleagues ID Congress and of the party In New England, was patriotic in the hiKhest degree, and yet, so donbtful were they of the verdict which mtcrtty might pass upon their actions, that two of them (Quincy aD(l Emott) prepared quite an elaborate defense, in which the rca- fons for their course were ably set forth. It was drawn up by Em- otl, slightly amended by Quincy, and signed by both. It was left ill Emutt's bauds, to be used at any future time by bim or his de- scendants in vindication of their course. Posterity— even contem- pQrgries— have pronounced their course wise and patriotic. The original manuscript. In the possession of the Hon. James Emott, of Ponghkecpsle, New York, a son of one of the signers, is before me while I write. It is in the delicate and neat hand- writing of the cider Emott,* and dated January 1, 1812. After clearly stating the position of public afTairs, they say : " Wc thought it therefore worthy of an experiment to allow the administration to make ont their case before the great bar otlhe pnbiic without, as heretofore, aiding it by an early opposition ; and we hoped, and yet hope, that by withdrawing the aliment of party rancor it will ceose to exist, and that the people will see the ;irecipice to which they have been drawn, and the danger which awaits the country unless there Is a speedy and radical change of men or measures. . . . By leaving the government In the first instance unmolested, in Its measures the people may receive a dlBlinct imprcs- (ii)D of its objects. If they are really of that high and commanding character as to effectnate what their friends prom- ised, relief to our country, it is of little consequence ft 'm whose hands so desirable a blessing is received. But if the character of the plans of the administration continue ime-serviug, self-oppressive, and hypocritical, on it and Its sup- porters would fall the responsibility, without the possibility of transferring it to those who had neither shared nor op- posed their purposes." These gentlemen then allnde to the prevalent opinion that if the Federalists should withhold their opposition, the British government, hopeless of a party in its favor in the United States, would relax Its restrictive measures. They j then declare that if the British government or people believe that opposition of the Federalists arises from any unpa- triotic motives, "bottomed on a desire for power to be obtained at the expense of the interests of the nation," there has I tmn an essential and lamentable mistake. In reference to the truaaures proposed for putting the country In a state of adequate strength in the event of war, for I rtich these gentlemen voted four days after the date of the paper under action, they remarked : " In re-estimating our dntlesnpon this occasion, we have not deemed it necessary to take into considerntlon the causes which have led to our I present embarrassments. We certainly do not entertain the opinion that the course which has been pursued by the ad- I ministration is either correct or to be justified : hut we can not but perceive that our present difilcultles are not so appa- I rently and exclusively attributable to the American government as to justify a resort to a policy which would leave the I ution nnprotected and defenseless. ... It is because we wish for peace with security that we are willing to add to the I present military establishment. . . . Onr country and our firesides arc dear to ns. We think they are in danger, and I n wish to protect them. . . . When, by measures In which we have had no agency, and for which wc do not hold onr- Istlres responsible In whole or in part, we discover that a necessity has been produced for defensive preparations, wo Ian not permit onrselves to resist such preparations fi'om motives of general opposition to the administration, or from jideslre to render It odious to the country." ' James Emott was bom at Poughkeepsie, New York, on the 14th of March, 1771. He chose the profession of law as |ki! vocation, and commenced its practice at Ballston Centre, New York, a growing village a few miles from Bails- ton Spa. In 1797 he was appointed a commissioner, with Robert Yates and Vincent Mathews, to settle disputes con- ■"ming titles to lands in the military tract of Onondaga County. The commissioners held their sittings at Albany, nd to that city Mr. Emott removed about the year 1800. In 1804 he was chosen to represent Albany County in the tile Legislature. He soon afterward removed to the city of New York, and after practicing law there for a while he A to Poughkeepsie, and was elected to represent the Duchess District in the National Congress. He took his ejtin 1S09, and continued in possession of It by re-election until 1813. In politics he was a Federalist, and was one of cpromincntleaders, yet his patriotism was never In subjection to the behests of party. He was representative of hichess County in the New York Assembly In 1S14, and was Speaker of the House. He was a member of that body m conaccntlve years. In 1817 he was appointed first judge of Duchess County, and held the oflBce until 1823, when, for (olitical reasons, he was removed to make room for the late Maturin Livingston. He was appointed judge of the sec- ►Bd circnlt by Governor Clinton In 1827, and held It nntil 1831, when he was sixty years of oge. Judge Emott then rc- Ired from active life. He died nt Poughkeepsie, New York, on the 10th of April, 1S60, aged seventy-nine years. • ir #ii ! I J ! 218 PICTORIAL FIELD-HOOK Vulccs of tbe Htnto LeKlalaturca. A Plttouce fur tbe Sawj. Uiiaucceaitful Kffurti fur Its Iiktimioc. each to furnish his rcspoctivo quota of one hundred thousand militia, to bo held in readiness to instantly obey the cull of the chief nuigistrato. For the expense of this reserve one million of dollars were appropriated. The State Legislatures, meanwhile, spoke out emj)hatically for war if necessary. Now Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, and Ohio, resolved to stand by the general goveriunent when decisive measures should be adopted ; and, in tlii-ir reply to the aimual message of Governor Gerry, the House of Representatives of Massachusetts exhibited the same sentiments, denouncing Great Britain as a "pirat- ical state," and her practice of impressment" man-stealing." The navy, important as it proved to be in the war that followed, was neglcctfil. Chcves, of South Carolina, made a report in favor of its augmentation ; and ho ami Lowndes, in supporting speeches, hinted at the expediency of constructing forty frjir. ates and twenty-five ships of the line. It was urged by tliese members, in direct o])- position to the narrow views of Williams from tho same state a year before, tliat " protection to commerce was protection to agriculture." Qnincy also argued that protection to commerce was essential to tlie preservation of the Union, and, with a covert but significant threat, ho gave as a reason that the commercial states could not be expected to submit to the deliberate and systematic sacrifice of their most im- portant interests.' Their pleas were in vain. A bill, containing only an appropria- tion of four hundred and eighty thousand dollars for repairing three frigates — Con- atellation, Chesapeake, and Adams — and two hundred thousand dollars annually fijr three years, to purchase timber for the purpose of refitting three others, was passed, and sent to the Senate, where Lloyd, of Massachusetts, moved to insert an appropria- • Jannnry IT, tion for thirty new frigates.* " Let us liavo the frigates," he said ; " \m\: 1812. pj.fjj| ^g Great Britain is, she could not blockade them. With our haz- ardous shores and tempestuous northwesterly gales froiu November to March, all the navies in the world could not blockade them. Divide them into six squadrons, Place those squadrons in the northern ports ready for sea, and at favorable moments we would pounce upon her West India Islands, repeating tlie game of Do Grasse and D'Estauig in '79 and '80. By the time she was ready to meet us there, we would be round Cape Horn cutting up her whalemen. Pursued thither, we would skim away to tho Indian Seas, and Avould give an accoimt of her China and India shijis very different from that of the French cruisers. Now avo would follow her Quebec, now her Jamaica convoys ; sometimes make our appearance in the chops of the Chan- nel, and even sometimes wind north almost into the Baltic. It would require a hund- red British frigates to watch the movements of these thirty. Such are the means hy which I would bring Great Britain to her senses. By harassing her commerce with this fleet, we could make the people ask the government wliy they continued to vio- late our rights." Crawford, of Georgia, replied at some length, and the Senate, unmoved by the glov- ing pictures of naval achievements drawn by the senator from Massachusetts, not only refused to sanction Lloyd's amendment, but reduced the appropriation for n- pairs to three hundred thousand dollars. While the war party, strong in Congress and throughout Ihe country, were ener- getic in action and impatient of delay, Mr. Madison showed great timidity. It wai owing, doubtless, in a great degree, to the character of his Cabinet, which unfortunate ly surrounded him at that momentous crisis. Mr, Monroe, the Secretary of State, wai the only member who had any military taste and experience, and he had seen onl; limited service in the Revolution. Gallatin, the Secretary of the Treasury, was civilian, and was avowedly opposed to the war with Great Britain. Eustis, the Se( i-etary of War, knew very little about military affairs. Hamilton, the Secretary the Navy, had no practical knowledge of naval affairs to qualify him for the statioi niildreth, Second Seriee, iU., 2TT. Mtdlaon threaten and Mr. Mad iT-iii-chief (,f iliict of puhli vacillating. The admin (Iccided stund and it was kn the State of > satisfied with ] then mayor of pretension.s we cd tlie propriet different j)arts ( In this state loading Democi war with Engla his administrati efficient course c war took pJaeo i party might be c fralists ; that, un (IccJaration of wa the Presidency c< liis own objection he could for the i ability. ' ' Mr. Madison's fi form of a confide preliminary to a d embargo on all ve after enter, for the very great exciten who had become a rears in Canada, a '"? early in Febru Jiadison from Gov( pressed with the tn I ;,';""'».he proposed t following evening ^ astounding secrets' c i part of the British ;™ct a separation of P"fain. He told Ml nuristrfld. T. •' itioE !:=tr"i?-i OF THE WAlt OF 18 12. 910 IKadliiuii thrt^atpiipd witli Denurtlou by the War Piirty. Ho rpconimencU au GmliarKo. A Brltlnh Plot dlicovored. and Mr. MadiHon hiniHclf waH utterly unable, though by virtue of his office command- cr-iu-fhief of tlu' army and navy of the United States, to j^rawp with vigor the eon- duct of public aftairs in a time of war. Consciousness of this made him timid and viK'illnting. Tiie administration members of Congress at length resolved to take a bold and decided stand with the I'resident. His first term of office was drawing to a close, and it was known that he was anxious for re-election. The leading Democrats in the State of New York, whose voices were potential in the matter at that time, dis- satisfied with Mr. Madison's weak course, contemplated nominating De Witt Clinton, tlieii mayor of the city of New York, for the Presidency of the United States. His pretensions were sustained by Gideon Granger, the postmaster general, who doubt- od tlie propriety of a war with JMadison as leader. Other influential Democrats iu different parts of the country held similar views. In this state of things, Mr. Madison was waited upon" by several of the • March 2, leading Democratic members of Congress, and informed, in substance, that ^^^'^' war with England was now resolved upon by the dominant party, the 8upi)ortcr8 of Ills administration; that the people would no longer consent to a dilatory and in- efficient course on the part of the national government; that, uidess a declaration of war took place previous to the Presidential election, the success of the Democratic party might be endangered, and the government thrown into the hands of the Fed- eralists ; that, unless Mr. Madison consented to act with his friends, and accede to a declaration of war with Great Britain, neither his nomination nor his re-election to tlie Presidency could be relied on. Thus situated, Mr. Madison concluded to waive his own objections to the course determined on by his political friends, and to do all he could for the prosecution of a war for which he had neither taste nor practical ability.' Mr. Madison's first step in the prescribed direction after this interview was in the form of a confidential message to Congress on the Ist of April, recommending, as preliminary to a declaration of war, the immediate passage of a law laying a general embargo on all vessels then in the ports of the United States, or that might there- after enter, for the period of sixty days. Meanwhile another subject had produced very great excitement throughout the country. An Irishman, named John Henry, who had become a naturalized citizen of the United States, and had lived several years m Canada, appeared at the Presidential mansion one dark and stormy even- ing early in February, '' 1812, He bore a letter of introduction to Mr, Madison from Governor Gerry, of Massachi^etts, who seemed to be im- pressed with the tnithfulness of Henry, and the great importance of the information which he proposed to lay before the President. '^ An interview was arranged for the following evening, when Henry divulged to the President what appeared to be most astounding secrets concerning eflbrts that had been in progress for two years on the part of the British authorities in Canada, sanctioned by the home goveniment, to effect a separation of the Eastern States from the Union, and to attach them to Great Britain. He told Mr. Madison that, up to the year 1809, ho had been living for five 1 statement of James Piek, a Democratic member of CongreBS from Vermont, who was one of the committee, cited in Ihe Statetman'a Manual, i., 444. The feeling against Mr. Madison on account of his timid poiicy had begun to manifest I Mf very strongly omong his political friends in Congress before the close of 18U. The New York Eveniittj Pott, of Jinaary 6, 1S12, says : " The Houses of Congress refused to adjourn on the 1st of January In order to wait on the chief I nigiBtrate. It was an Intended insult." I Henry Dearborn, an officer of the Berolution, then in Washington, and who had lately been appointed a m^or gen- I ml tn the national army, wrote to his daughter, saying : " Yon may tell yonr neighbors they may prepare for war ; we I ihall have it by the time they are ready. I know that war will be very unwelcome news to you, but I also know that I jon possess too much Spartan patriotism to wish yonr father to decline a command for the defense of the honor of our I Wloved country. You would, if necessary, urge him to the field rather than a speck of dishonor should attach to him I liT declining such a command." I ' Henry had spent a week in Baltimore. He left that city for Washington on the morning of the lit of Febmary.— I Inter hi Nlles's ii(!;i«(er, li., 46, '' February 2. "i mm ) i i 220 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Million of John Henry in New KiiKl*nd. An Attempt to dMtroy the Sepnbllc by Uliunlua. yonrs on hiH fnrm in V'lTi.iont, ncnr the Cnnadn lino, and aintiHod liimm>lf in writitif; essiiyH for the uewsjuiin'rH aj^iiiiiNt r(.'i)ublk'un j^oviTiinii'iits, wliicli hi' dt'toHtcd. ThoM' t'Hsays, 111' Huid, liad anvHti'd tlio atti-n- tioM of SirJaiiU's Crai^, tlioii (Jovi-riior (ti'iicral of Canada, who invited him t<i Montreal at the elose of ! HOH. At that time tlie violent denioiiHtratioiiH of ilic FedeniliMtH in New England aj^'ainst the einbai'go indiieed the F)nj,'iisj| to believe that there was deep-Heated dis- afl'ection to the povernmcnt of the United States on the ])art of the peojde of that Hcction. Under that iniprewsion Henry was eoninuHHioned by Sir JameH Crait; to l)roeeed to lJost()n, and ascertain the true state of affairs there, and the temjier of tlie people in that part of the Union. His instructions directed liini especially to ascer- tain whether the Federalists of Massachusetts would, in the event of their success at the approachinfj election, be disposed to separate from the Union, or enter into any coniMJction with Enfjland. " The earliest information on this subject," said Sir Jainos, "may be of great consecpience to our government; as it may also l)e, that it should be informed how far, in such an event, they would look to England for assistance, or be disposed to enter into a connection with us."' Henry was authorized to intimati' to the Federalist leaders, if the supposed state of things should be found to e.\i8t,tliat they might communicate to the British govcnunent through him.^ According to Henry's statement, he passed through Vermont after reccivin;; these instructions, and arrived at Boston on the 5th of March. There lie reiiiaimil about three months, spending liis time in coftee-houses and disreputable places, until ■ May 4, Erskine's arrangement and a recall by Byland," Craig's Secretary, put an 1801). ^.j^^i J.JJ jijjj jjiiygio,,^ During that time Henry had addressed fourteen letters to Sir James over tlic initials "A, B.," most of them written at Boston. The eaiiiir ones Avere filled with the nm i encouraging accounts of the extreme disaffection of the Eastern people, especially those of Massachusetts, on account of the commercial restrictions. He expressed his belief that, in the event of a declaration of war against Great Britain by the United States, the Legislature of Massacliusetts would take the lead in establishing a separate Northern Confederacy, which might, hi some way, end in a political connection with Great Britain. The grand idea of destroying the Union was the tlieme of all the letters, expressed or implied. "If a war between America and France," he wrote, " be a grand dejjjderatum, sometliing more must be done ; an indulgent, conciliating policy must be adopted. ... To bring about a separation of the states u ,(ior distinct and independent governments is an affair of more uncer- tainty, ar;lj 'ar ivever desirable, can not be effected but by a series of acts and long- continued )>( (icy tending to irritate the Southern and conciliate the Northern peo- ple. . . . litis, I am aware, is an object of much interest in Great Britain, as it would forever insure the integrity of his majesty's possessions on this cohtinent, and make the two goverments, or whatever member the present confederacy might join with, as useful and as much subject to tlie influence of Great Britain as her colonics can be rendered."^ ' Sir James Craig's Instrnctions to John Henry, dated at Quebec, 8th Febmary, 1809. ' Ilcnry was fUmished with the following credentials, to be nsed If circumstances shonld reqnlre : " The bearer, Mr. John Henry, Is employed by me, and tu]\ confidence may be placed In him for any commnnication J which any person may wish to make to me on the business committed to lilm. In faith of which I have given him tliis| under my hand and seal, at Qnebec, the fith day of Febmary, 180D. J. H. Ciaio." Henry was also furnished with a cipher to be nsed In his correspondence. ' Henry to Sir James Craig, 13th of March, 1809. Mr. Erskine's arrangement greatly disappoicfed the British aatliot^ Itles In Canada, who doubtless expected to reap great rewards from the home goveniment by a snccessftil effort to disj rupt the American Union. For twenty years they had been IncUIng the Indians on the Northwestern frontiers to ffil upon the Americans, and now they hoped, by a snccesefhl movement among those whom they supposed to be as men ""T'sthemselvp. ..> ^ J^Bfury on th« i . '-'" '^^^"'^ Co,^h"'°'='"'""'hlsfet;e 'jir. >>".""'""""' and ace, hweZ Jh. *'"" '"Sefher. — •^-•lun, — — — - •* * '!-■ ordinary r.-nis,:;:,; ,;;'•'* ;'"«•'. tlu- V.^.-rnUt'^^uTf 'T "" 'l'""" "•■"'•y''^ JH'.fi.nn«n,-oH seem i ' " '"'"' ''"• ''^'Hsioi..'' ^'' "''' «"»•« to IH' ', t'.o liritiHj. H,,y H 1 ''''\l"'""i,sc., anil Hn. ;*s ' '''''' «•.'"-"»• 'fonry Canada, with ^^^^^^ "l^: 1'^'^'^" »""o«ie SiX^"'^ '•^•^'^'' ^^^ States. Kobert Pec-I the F,w r '*''' ''"'""^^ « your or a t '""''**' "'"r^owor ;;i'". politely rcferr^,' t.";"' ^S-^'l"'''"''''^ -"^r^ce^nT^''!' !!■' *''^' ^'"'^-^ I'revost. The snv t^„ ^ '^"" •'«"'^'s CraiL^V «.,«, ^.' ''i'''iil< Of (hat o«i ""•-•o" to ti.o United St^u-rJ^" '"""'*''"' ''^ ^^'v £ r^euf '"' '•^"^"''■^'' f'^" "O'ation whieh ho Jmd v.T i ^"^""'»ent, and, if nossil.h ^ ^ '"'''' ''«'"-«t of his ™ satisfied of tt " ;" ">; '*''>;';^ "• K».'lan'd. ^fe t ^ Z."" /'T '* ^''^' '"-»"- England was about ti be de ' ^V'''"'^'" •'i«<^^'osure« at t'L e^ '^^' ' ^''•- ^^^^'^>^on f - of the Britisl! got. t ^^^^^ ?^'-^^'"ve overwht J r^^^'-; -- against 'I'e secret serviee fund „7V"^"t to destroy the new re... T^-^ ?^''^^''« "t-eret de- ™tirc eorresponden of theV"r"^'°" ^'^" ^'^ve nc'ryS'!,"' *''^^-t. Out of After receiving, t^he no IT/'"' '^ '''« ««"«"• in this o2 / 'I'^^ ''^'""'^ «"• tl.e .«me (lay the President aid f .! tj ''"^'' ^« ^^ft^' f.om British v ' ''^'"'"^ '^««y '" «l.ich he said. " Thev n 1 .K ""^^ documents3 before ft ^'^"^'*^«"«<'- On the '""'Standing the wrS/ ' •^''^^ "* ^ '^^'^'^t period .^.nf'fr' '"'^'^ '-* '"^^Bago 'i«n« on the part of he fiSb" ^ "' '^'' '"'^st of am elide nrof ''' '''' ^"^« ^^ "'^"- Masecritagentoffh/^'''''™'"''"**^'-""^^^^^^^^^^^^ I«tit«ted authoritifs of r '" ^^'**«-^««f'"«etts4„ fl' 'T ^/.^tes-more espe- Wose of bringing abol ""''""' '^"^ i" "'trigne wTth .^'^ J.-^affeetion to the r_ _ _&^^ff_about resistance to the laws r^ "^ disaffected for the l»S"edoc, the coneldemHon hoi "r "'""■^ """""d to Bam """i''"'^ k '^'"»* ">"""'c "giw ,„^"r^- "' "'«' '""d" » ; .' Mlitii \ J i[ 1^ . iif i i 1 bin * ' ['ill llj^il 332 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Henry's Disclosures make Political Capltnl. 'ihe British Ministry suppress the Correspondence. Embargo i)ropo6e(l, a British force, of destroying the Union, and forming the eastern part thereof into a political connection with Great Britain." The indignation against Great Britain was intensified by these disclosureR, and the inhabitants of New England felt deeply annoyed by this implied disparagement of the patriotism of their section. Both political parties endeavored to make capital out of the aifair. The Democrats vehemently reiterated the charge that the Fr-der- alists were a " British party," and " disunionists ;"' while the opposition allegcl that the affair was a political trick of the administration to damige their party, insure the re-election of Madison, and to offer an excuse for war. The feeling excited in New England against the administration was intense, and the indignation of the people was almost equally divided between the President and the British sovereign. It was charged that the whole matter was a fraud ; that Monroe wrote the letter pur- porting to have been sent by Henry from Philadelphia to the government, and that the paper on which Lord Liveqjool's communication to Henry, through Robert Peel, was written, bore the mark of a Philadelphia paper maKufacturer, These charges were all untrue. Every thing about the matter was genuine. The British minister at 'Yashington (Mr. Foster), two days after the President's message • March 11 ^^^ published, declared in the public prints'* his entire ignorance of aiiv 1812. transaction of the kind, and asked the United States government to consid- er the character of the indivr'luaP who had made these disclosures, and to "suspend any farther judgment on its merits until the circumstances shall have been made known to his majesty's government." That government was called upon for an ex- planation, early in May, by Lord Holland, who gave notice'' that he should make a motion to call for the correspondence in relation to the intrigue. Ministers were aiarmed, and their guilt was apparent in their efforts to suppress in- quiry. Every pretext was brought to bear to oppose the motion. When they could no longer deny the facts, they endeavored to throw the obloquy of the act upon the dead Sir James Craig. The ministerial party in the House of Lords, when the mo- tion was made, prevailed, and, by a vote of seventy-three against twenty-seven, re- fused to have the correspondence produced. Lord Holland declared in his closing speech that, until such investigation should be had, the fact that Great Britain had entered into a dishonorable and atrocious intrigue against a friendly power Avould stand unrefuted. And it does stand unrefuted to this day. It was so palpable, that Madison, in his war message on the 1st of June, made this intrigue one of the serious charges against Great Britain as justifying war. The President, as we have observed, sent a confidential message to Congress on the 1st of April, recommendinc; the laying of an embargo for sixty days. It was avowedly a precursor of war ; and Mr. Calhoun immediately presented a bill in Com- ' May 6. ' They called up hi formidable array the proceedings of the New England people against the Embargo Laws dnrins the past two or thiee years, and In an especial manner they arraigned Mr. Qnlncy, the great opposition leader of the House, who, a year before (January 14, 1811), In the debate on the bill to enable the people of the Territory of Orleans to form a State Constitution preparatory to their admission Into the Union, had declared that the passage of the bill would "Justify a revolution In this country." ' look," they said, " to the signification of this passage In Mr. Quincy's fiwch — a passage which, when called to order, he reduced to writing: " I am compelled to declare It as my deliberate nplnlon that, if this bill passes, the bonds of the Union arc virtuully dissolved ; that the states which compos? It are free from their moral obligations, and that, as It will be the right of all, so it will be the duty of some to prepare definitely fw « separation, amicably if they can, violently if they must." For an abstract of Mr. Quincy's speech on that occasion, sw Benton's A bridgvietU of the Debates in C<miire»s, Iv., 82T. The Senate, by resolution, asked for the names of persons in Boston or elsewhere who were concerned in the plot with Henry. By Secretary Monroe's reply. It seems that tne spy never mentioned the name of any individual. > John Ilenry was a native of Ireland. He appeared In Philadelphia about the year 1T9.1 or 17M, having come over m a steerage passenger. He possessed considerable literary ability, and became editor of Brown's Philadelphia Oairiti. He afterward kept a grocery, and married in that city. Having become natnralized, and obtained a commission in Ihf army In the time of the expected war with France, he had command of an artillery corps under General El/cncier Stevens, of New York, and was superior officer at Fort Jay, on Governor's Island, for more than a year. He afterward had a command at Newport, where he quitted the service, settled upon a farm In Northern Vermont, studied law, Md after Ave years entered upon the service recorded in the text. " He was a handsome, well-behaved man," says Sa" van, " and was received In some respectable families in Boston." Effoits to alarm the Pe( Kt morning,'' wher OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 223 EffoiU to alarm the People. War predicted. The Sins of F-ance. Embargo Act passed. niittee of the Whole in accordance with the recommendation. ^ The opposition sound- ed an alarm. The weakness of the country, and its utter want of preparation for war, became the themes of impassioned appeals to the fears of the people. The continued iffgressions of France — equal, they said, to those of England^ — were pointed to as causes for war with that nation, and it night be necessary to encounter both at the same time. To these alarmists Clay vehemently responded. He charged them with having cast obstacles in the way of preparation, and now made that lack of preparation an excuse for longer submission to great wrongs. Weak as we are, he said, we could liffht France too, if necessary, in a good cause — the cause of honor and independence. He had no doubt that the late Indian war on the Wabash had been excited by the British ;' and he alluded to the smployment of Henry, as a spy and fomentor of dis- union, as another gross offense. " We have complete proof," he said, " thiit England would do every thing to destroy us. Resolution and spirit are our only security." He viewed the Embargo as a war measure, and " war we shall have in sixty days," he said. John Randolph implored the House to act with great caution. He said the Presi- Icnt dared not pbinge the country into a war while in its present unprepared state. There would be no war within sixty days. He believed the spirit of the people was not up to war, or the provocation of an Embargo Act would not be needed. Other remarks were heard from both sides. The bill, by the aid of the previous question, was passed that evening* by a vote of seventy against forty-one. . April i, I it was sent to the Senate the next morning. That body suspended the ^'*^2- i rales, took up the bill, and carried it through all the stages but the last, with an amendment increasing the time to ninety days. It Avas sent back to the House the next morning,'' where it was concurred in, and on Saturday, the 4th of April, it became a law by the signature of the President. It had been violently assailed by Quincy, when it came back from the Senate, as an attempt to escape war, not as a preliminary to it. It was absurd to think of creating a sufficient army and I navy in ninety days to commence war. He coincided with Randolph in the belief I that the Embargo was only intended to aid Bonaparte, by stopping the shipment of " April 3. ' When t|- Embargo project was first siif gested in the Committee on Foreign Kelatlons, it was proposed to dlscnss liunder a pledge of secrecy. John Bandolph reftieed to be bound by any such pledge, denying the committee's author- iliTto impose it. Mr. Cnlhonn, with frank generosity, ou the ground that all should have an equal chance, communi- lutfdto Mr. (Julncy the fact that an embargo was to be laid the day before the committee's report to that effect was made. i(lnincy, Lloyd, and Emott immediately sent expresses with the information to Philadclphio, New York, and Boston. tt'8 message appeared in the New York livening Pout on the 3l8t of March, the day before the President's message |n>H!nt hi. In consequence of this information, several vessels at these respective ports loaded and escaped to sea |Worc the Embargo was laid. i Those assertions contained much truth. According to a report laid before Congress on the 0th of July, 1812, it np- huKi that the whole number of British seizures and captures of American vessels since the commencement of the ICoBtiuental War was 917. Of these, 82S had occurred previously to the orders in Council of November, ISOT, and 389 iSeraarii. The French seizures and captures were B6S ; of these, 20« were before the Berlin and Milan decrees, .117 afler- I, and 45 since their alleged repeal. Recent Danish captures amounted to 70, and Neapolitan to 47. Besides these kere had been extensive Dutch and Spanish seizures, -.nlch. It was alleged, shonld properly be placed to the French connt, as those countries were under the control of Napoleon. It was also stated that more than half th<' captures by Wish cniisers had been declared invalid, and restoration ordered, while in France only a quarter of the vessels seized fm to treated. It must be confessed that France was guilty of direct and indirect spoliatiou of American commerce M" extent equal, if not exceeding that inflicted by Great Britain. [' On the nth of Juno the Secretary of War laid before Congress nnmerons letters trom military and civil officers of ifgovernment from various portions of the Northwestern, Western, and Southwestern frontiers, dating back as far as i. and giving overwhelming evidence of the continual efforts of British emissaries to stir up the Indians to hostilities piMt the United States, and to win them to the British interest In expectation of war between the two countries. I 11 i|iiote as a matter of fact, not speculation, trom a speech of Red Jacket, the great Seneca chief, in behalf of himself Mother deputies of the Six Nations, in February, ISIO: "BsoTHEE,— Since you have had some disputes with the British government, their agents In Ca' iida have not only ideavored to make the Indians nt the westward your enemies, hut they have sent the wa^belt among our warriors [in 1 New York), to (ralson their minds and make them break their faith with yon. At the same time we had In- MIon that the British had circulated war-belts among tha Western Indians, and within yonr territory." " plons extracts from the letters above mentioned as having been laid before the Secretary of Wat may be found in I ITccWr/ IteyUter, ti., Si . ii-:i •! ■ ){ , I s! til Ivi , ! 224 PICTORIAL TIELD-BOOK Supplemtntur; Smbnrgo Act. Opposition to the Embargo. Delueivc Hopes ol Jmilte. provisions to Spain, where the British armies were then beginning to win victories.' It was called, in ridicule, " a Terrapin War."^ The Embargo Act (which prohibited the sailing of any vessel for any foreign port except foreign vessels, with such cargoes as they had on board when notified of the • April 14, ^^^) '^'^^ speedily followed by a supplement" prohibiting exportations by 1S12. land, whether of goods or specie.^ Farther provision was also made for the immediate strengthening of the army. These belligerent measures were hailed with joy throughout the country hy tlic war party, who were dominant and determhied. They alarmed those who wiskd for peace ; yet these, unwilling to believe that the administration would push mat- ters to the extreme of actual hostility, acquiesced in the embargo because of a delu- sive hope that it might be the means of causing Great Britain to modify its system concerning neutrals, and thereby avert war. Tt was, indeed, a delusive hope. The letters of Jonathan Russell (who had succeeded Mr. Pinkney as minister to Engl.ind) at this time gave no encouragement for it. On the contrary, they were discouraff- ing. To Mr. Monroe he wrote, after attending discussions on the orders in Council in Parliament : " If any thing was wanting to prove the inflexible determination of the present ministry to persevere in the orders in Council, without modification or re- laxation, the declarations of leading members of the administration on these meas- ures must place it beyond the possibility of a doubt. I no longer entertain a hope that we can honorably avoid war."* ' One great object of the Embargo appears to have been to detain ait ' merchant ships as popslWp, for the twofold purpose, in view of iijiproaching war, to keep them from Bi .1 , , .^-ers, and to engage them for thai service on the part of the Americans. Mr. Alison, the British historian, Buggesty only part of the truth in sayliii tbat it was to prevent intelligence of the proceedings of the Americans in their preparations for war reaching Enjilan(i, and to f^irnish then with means, fVom their extensive commercial navy, of manning their vessels of war. To do this, m\ the nation a g ;at sacriflce. A writer in the American lieviein of April, 1S12, estimated the loss as follows: Mercantile loss $24,814,249 Deteriorated value of surplus produce and waste 40,19(!,02S Loss sustained by the revenue t),non,nno Total national loss $i4,(llO,27T, or $8,107,623 a month. » See note 3, page 104. Arpnment, ridicule, satire were all employed against the "Terrapin War." Durini; the laic spring and early summer of 1S12, the subjoined song was sung at all gatherings of the Federalists, and was very popular: " Huzza for onr liberty, boys, Then bring up your ' regulars,' lads. These are the days of our glory— In ' attitude' nothing ye laclc, sire, The days of true national joys, Ye'il frighten to death the Danads, When terrapins gallop before ye 1 With lire-coals blazing aback, sirs ! There's Porter, and Grundy, and Rhcn, Oh, this is true Terrapin war! In Congress who manfully vapor, " As to powder, and bullet, and swords, Who draw their six dollars a day, poj^ ^a they were never intended, And light bloody battles on paper I They're a parcel of high-sounding words. Ah 1 this is true Terrapin war. But never to action extci.ded. "Poor Madison the tremors has got. Ye must /rijjAten the r.!!" 'il.^ nway, 'Bout this same arming the nation In ' rapid descerie or ij.irters; Too far to retract, he can not Then the plunder dl - !■ miy, Go on— and he loses his station. And drive them he, " ^ .le -.Tatei* vl ^—- k f Oh, thislSi/rp-" , Ki.r!" ' The oppo.sition speakers ana :ic ■. .or enminocd th( Embargo (especially the "Land Embargi.. 1 .tie • npplorafnt ary act was called) in unmeasured terms, i!.* '^w' trade will Canada, so sudcienly arrested and thrown into cunfiislon btil was represented by a bewildered serpent, which had hecn m denly stopped In its movements by two trees, mnrki'd rofpcl ively Emiiaroo and Non-inteuoourse. The wonilerlng mal is pnzzlcd to know what has happened, and the head cries m[ " What is the matter, tail f" The latter answers. " I caii'l ont." A cock (in allusion to France) stands by, rrowlDjt Joyfiill] • Letter to Secretary Monroe, March 4, 1H12. Mr. Pfirclval.oi of the Cabinet, and a leading administration member. Mid. the course of debate: "As England Is contending for thf fense of her maritime rights, a'"1 for the preservation ofhor tional existence, which essentia lepends on the mnl11lp11.11 of these rights, she could not ho • pected. In the prosecullon this great and primary inters ■ ' " rrest or vary her copw liMen to the pretenirinns ofneiKi ' «m*, or to rnmtetht haieerer the]/ tniuM be rearetted, uMch the uni/orm ^loliajitt FAO-biMiUi <jr A KUwuvAvna <;dt. timet indirectly or unintentionaUy extended to them." Britlili Orders and I The determii in Council was British ministei the whole grou can not admit, { Slie can not adni contraband of w fcrij)tion; and sJ ution would be ( ivith them the 1 sach principles." The conduct 01 istacles in the wai cil. Joel Barlow He strove in vain for past spoliation dent and his Cabi be repealed, therel st,iDd before tJie w( Ibradoorofe.scapi ly uni-epoaled in to Dispatches fi-om Ba j llinister for Foreio-i I i»rt in which thos'e I icy of the emperor , I Iw" denationalized" I goods in neutral vet [aiicaport notalsoij Thus matters stoc l*^|ii|; "■fW" OF THIS WAR OF 1812. 225 A preliminary War Meaiiure. Mudlson reuomiuated. » March 10 British Orders and French Decrees nnrepealed. The determination of the British government not to relax the rigor of the orders ill Council was explicitly stated a few weeks later," when Mr. Foster, the • soth May, British minister at Washington, in a letter to Mr. Monroe, after reviewing ''*''''• the whole ground of controversy between the two countries, said : " Great Britain can not admit, as a true declaration of public law, that free ships make free goods. !<lie can not admit, as a principle of public law, that arms and military stores are alone contraband of war, and that ship-timber and naval stores are excluded from that de- scription; and she feels that to relinquish her just measures of self-defense and retali- ation would be to surrender the best means of her own preservation and rights, and with them the rights of other nations, so long as France maintains and acts upon jiieli principles." The conduct of France now became a subject for just animadversion, and cast ob- stacles in the way of the arguments of the war party concerning the orders in Coun- oil, Joel Barlow had been sent to France as the successor of minister Armstrong. He strove in vain to procure from the French government any promise of indemnity for past spoliations, or of a relaxation of restrictive measures in future^ The Presi- dent and his Cabinet had earnestly hoped that the Berlin and Milan decrees would Iw repealed, thereby compelling Great I3ritain t6 withdraw her orders in Council, or stand liufore the world as a willful violator of the rights of nations. In this they hoped for a door of escape fron» war. It was certain that, while the decrees stood absolute- ly unrepealed in form, Great Britain would not relax her restrictive system one iota, i Dispatches from Barlow late in March gave no hope of a change. Indeed, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs had laid before the Conservative Senate** a re- I uort in which those decrees were spoken of as embodying the settled pol- icy of the emperor, to be enforced against all nations who should suiFer their Hags to be "denationalized" by submitting to the pretensions of the British to seize enemies' joods in neutral vessels, to treat timber and naval stores as contraband, or to block- ade a port not also invested by land. Thus matters stood on the 1st of June, when Mr. Madison sent into Congress, aft- er previous arrangement with the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a most important confideniial mes- sage, by which he was fairly committed to the war policy. He had hesitated somewhat. Ho was will- ing to sign a bill declaring war against Great Brit- ain, but he did Tiot wish to appear as a leader in the measure. His new ])olitical masters would consent to no flinching. They resolved that the President should share the fearful responsibility with them- selves. A Congressional caucus was about to be held to nominate a Democratic candidate for the Presidency, and a committee, with the imperious Clay at their head, waited on Mr. Madison, and told liim plainly that he must move in a declaration of war, or they would not sapport him for re-election. He yielded. The caucus was held. Eighty members were present. Varnum, of Massachusetts, was presi- dent, and Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, was sec- retary. The entire vote was given to Mr. Madison. George Clinton, the Vice-President, whom they had intended to nominate for re-election, had died a few lAlillle later a Loudon nlnlsterlal i)aper used the fnllnwInK lanKiiaRe, which exposed the antmns of the men In pnw- Ittd the arlalocriitlc and mercantile classes : "As Great Britain has got possession of the ocean, It mnst have the pi tn enact laws for the rcgnlntlon of itn omn element, and to confine the trackt (^neutralu within such boundariea as itt »n.)ittt and inteittU require to be droiim."— t<mrfon Courier, April, 1814. P I i " ?;2?llf. Hi r 'i 1 1 mm 1 ! I 11! ij li (leorge Clinton. PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The President's accusatory Message. Callionn's Report on Caases and Reasons for War. m II n If weeks before,' and the aged Elbridge Gerry, lately defeated as a candidate for re- election to the governorship of Massachusetts, w«ir placed on the ticket for Vice- President. This matter disposed of, and the continued claims of De Witt Clirt ^n, of New York, to a nomination for President being considered as of little moment the war party, led by Clay and Calhoun, put forth vigorous exertions for the full ac- complishment of their purposes. In his message to Congress on the 1st of June the President reoapitulated the wrongs which the people of the United States had suffered at the hands of Great Britain — wrongs already noticed in preceding pages, and need not be repeated here. He declared that her conduct, taken together, was positively belligerent. " We be- hold in fine," he said, " on the side of Great Britain, a state of war against the United States, and on the side of the United States a state of peace toward Great Britain.'" He warned his countrymen to avoid entanglements " in the contests and views of other powers" — meaning France — and called their attention to the fact that the French government, since the revocation of her decrees as applied to American com- merce, had aiithorized illegal captures by her privateers ; but he abstained at that time from offering any suggestions concerning definitive measures with respect to that nation. The message was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations,' and on the ad of June Mr. Calhoun, its then chairman, presented a report, in which the causes and reasons for war Averc more fully stated — more in historical order and detail — than in the President's message. In concluding the review of British aggressions, the report declared that the hostility of the government of Great Britain was evidently based ' George Clinton was born in Ulster County, New York, in 1739. He ibm the profession of the law for his avocatio i. In 1708 he was elected to a m; J 7 in the Colonial Legislature, and was a number of the Continental Conj,'ress in "™ -, jirt- 1776. He was appointed a brigadier in the army of the United States in !"(, j and during the whole war was active In military affairs in New York. In i April, 1777, he was elected governor and lieutenant governor, under the ntw Republican Oonstitntlon of the state, and was continued in the former ofUtt j eighteen years. lie was president of the Convention assembled at PodsIi- keepsie to consider the Federal Constitution in 1788. He was agnin choMn j governor of the state in 1801, and three years afterward he was elected Vice- j President of the United States. He occupied that elevated position at the tim j of his death, which occurred at Washington City on the 20th of April, 1S12. Mr. Clinton expired about nine o'clock in the morning. He had been ill for j some time, and his death was not unexpected. His funeral took place on the j afternoon of the 21st. The corpse was removed from his lodgings to the dpi- f tol, escorted by a troop of horse. There it remained until four o'clock, when | the procession, composed of cavalry and the marine corps, clergymen, cians, mouiners, the President of the United States, members of both hini?es| of Congress, heads of departments, etc., moved to the Congressional hurjim-j ground, situated on the Eastern Branch of the Potomac, about a mile ei<i-j ward of the Capitol. Over his grave a monument of white marble was ere«-| ed. The annexed sketch of it was made when I visited that resting-place of| many of the American worthies, in the autumn of 1801. It is about flneen fed in height. The tablet for the inscription, and a profile In high relief on ibd obelisk, are of statuary marble. On the east side (in shadow in the picinif j is the inscription ; on the north side the fasces ; on the west side a serpen^ on a staff; and on the south side the winged caduceus of Mercury. On ll west side of the obelisk is a Roman sword, crossed by a saber, and tied loj gother by a scarf. The following Is a copy of the inscription : "To the memory of George Clinton. He was born in the State nfN>< York on the 2flth of Jnly, 1739, and died at Washington on the 2flth of.M"( 1812, in the 73d year of his age. He was a soldier and statesman of the f olution, eminent in council, rtlstlngulBhed In war. He filled, with unex' nseftiineas, purity, and ability, among many other high offices, those • emor of his native state, and of Vice-President of the United States. Wtii he lived, his virtue, wisdom, and valor were the pride, the ornament, and li security of his country j and when he died he left an Illustrious e.xtr-.^ well-spent life, worthy of all imitation. This monument is affectionately de< Cttted by his children." ' For the message in fbll, see SUUesman'a Mamtal, i., 3H7. » The committee was composed of John C. Calhoun, of Sonth Carolina; Felix Grundy, of Tennessee ; .John 8Dii| of Pennsylvania ; John A. Harper, of New Hampshire ; Joseph Desha, of Kentucky ; and Ebenezer Seaver, of Mu cbusetts. Ul.lNTON S TOjdll. Action of the Eons on the fact thj that their proi mittee," said 1 which have a t of a permanent and wound so the United Sta Tlie control of ling it almost : have been carri their cargoes, as ing of their dan on the high seas icnce of tJieir oj) geroiis tendency these be the onl' might, for a whil tensions would s mission to its auf fidence that there not be carried." On the present ;hem was denied presented a bill, a ilepcndencies and Ten votes were g\ in the declaration. the repeal of all n postpone the whoh liill, as Calhoun pre nine for it and fort When the bill re, appouited to consid t»clve days. Mea; by conflicting emot -Massachusetts ; and A.stor, reeommendin lield in various plact I'-.ontheirth ofJu some amendments, v, I W to the House on l"i. The hill was en^ [tliat day became a la |kfrnromPenn8ylvar .e^"^""'"'"" of the Unite •""fythe same Into effect, an «^7:j™'jrP'^Ml.Mns„ch Tl^Hlf^^fteofthe govern ^ofrobbery or piracy, were* ™'['"-f''»«fn«tcommer ""'>", It is only legalized pira OF THE WAR OF 1813. 229 Action of tbe Honse of Representatives in Secret Session. Action of tlie Senate on a Declaration of War. on the fact that the United States were considered by it as its commercial rival, and that their prosperity and growth were incompatible with its welfare. " Your com- mittee," said the report, " will not enlarge on any of the injuries, however great, which have a transitoiy effect. They wish to call the attention of the House to tliose of a permanent nature only, which intrench so deeply on our most important rights, iiiul wound so extensively and vitally our best interests, as could not fail to deprive the United States of the principal advantages of their Revolution, if submitted to. Tlie control of our commerce by Great Britain, in regulating at pleasure and expel- lii)(» it almost from the ocean ; the oppressive manner in which these regulations have been carried into effect, by seizing and confiscating such of our vessels, with their cai'goes, as wjre said to have violated her edicts, often without previous warn- ing of their danger ; the impressment of our citizens from on board our own vessels on the high seas and elsewhere, and holding them in bondage till it suited the conven- ience of their oppressors to deliver them up, are encroachments of that high and dan- eerous tendency Avhich could not fail < o produce tliat pernicious effect ; nor would these be the only consequences that wouil result from it. The British government might, for a while, be satisfied with the ascendency thus gained over us, but its pre- tensions would soon increase. The proof which so complete and disgraceful a sub- mission to its authority would afford of our degeneracy, could not fail to inspire con- fidence that there was no limit to which its usurpations and our degradation might not be carried." On the presentation of this report the doors were closed, and a motion to open them was denied by a vote of seventy-seven against forty-nine. Mr. Calhoun then presented a bill, as part of the report, declfiring war between Great Britain and her dependencies and the U uited States and its Territories. Amendments were offered. Ten votes were given for a proposition by M'Kee, of Kentucky, to include France in the declaration. Mr. Quincy endeavored, by an addition to the bill, to provide for tlie repeal of all restrictive laws bearing upon commerce ; and Randolph moved co postpone the whole matter until the following October. All were rejected, and the bill, as Calhoun presented it, was passed on the 4th day of June by a vote of seventy- nine for it and forty-nine against it. When the bill reached the Senate*- it was referred to a committee already • jnne 5, appointed to consider the President's message. It remained under discussion '***• twelve days. Meanwhile the people throughout the country were fearfully excited I by conflicting emotions. A memorial against the war went from the Legislature of Massachusetts ; and another from the merchants of New York, led by John Jacob Astor, recommending restrictive measures as better than war. War-meetings were in various places, and the whole country was in a tumult of excitement. Final- lly,on the 17th of June — the annivei-sary of the battle of Bunker Hill — the bill, with I some amendments, was passed by a vote of nineteen against thirteen. It was sent Ibackto the House on the morning of the 18th, where the amendments were concurred I in, The hill was engrossed on parchment, and at three o'clock on the afternoon of Ithatday became a law by the signature of the President.^ In the House, the mera- prs from Pennsylvania, and the states South and West, gave f' -two votes for it ' The act declaring war was drawn up by William Pinkney , late minister to England, and then Attorney General of the Irtlted States. It is as follows: "That war be, and the same is hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom ifGreat Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof and the United States of America and their Territories ; and lit the President of the United States is hereby authorized to nse the whole land and naval force of the United States li tiny the same Into effect, and to issne to private armed vessels of the Un ited States commissions, or letters of marqno : i 'fmn\ reprisal," in such form as he shall thlnlt proper, and nndcr the seal of the United States, against the vessels, "sand effects of the government of the said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the subjects thereof." ' Utttrt nf marque and repriml, or commissions to seise the goods of an enemy in time of war and not Incur the pen- pltjot robbery or piracy, were tssned in England as early as Edward the First. It has ever been a powerful belligerent 11 in warfare against commercial nations, and the system was of great service to the Americans during their war with Ell Bittain in 1S12-'15. Efforts have recently been made to abolish the system among nations. It should be, for, IHfrjll, It is only legalized piracy. ."'"IPW^Bf 1^^^ / '^n wm 228 riCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Declaration of War. The Prealdent proclaimB the Fact. A Protest. "Joelah the Pint; to seventeen against it. In the Senate the same states gave fourteen for it to five against it. " Thus," says a late writer, " the war may \m said to have been a meas- ure of the South and West to take care of the interests of the North, much against the will of the latter."' When the War Act became law, the injunction of secrecy was removed, "1 on the • June 19 following day" the President issued a proclamation announcing the fact, and 1S12. calling upon the people of the United States to sustain the public uuthoii- ties in the measures to be adopted for obtaining a speedy, just, and honorable peace. " I exhort all the good people of the United States," he said, " as they love their coun- try; as they value the precious heritage derived from the virtue and valor of their fathers ; as they feel the wrongs which have forced on them the last resort of injured nations ; and as they consult the best means, under the blessing of divine Providence, of abridging its calamities, that they exert themselves in preserving order, in promot- ing concord, in maintaining the authority and the efficiency of the laAvs, and in sup- porting and invigorating all the measures which may be adopted by the constituted authorities." This was soon followed by an able protest against the measure. It was chicflv written by Mr. Quincy, who then stood at the head of the opposition, not only in Con- gress, but throughout the country. The prestige of his father's name as a leadini; patriot of the lievolution ; his own Ions services in the National Legislature ; lijv family connections and influence ; liis ster- ling worth in private life ; his witlierinc; sarcasm of tongue and pen ; liis fluency of speech in declamation or debate, anil his handsome and commanding presence, all combined to make him jjcerless ns a leader. He was consequently assailed with the greatest bitterness by the friends of the administration ; and squibs, and epigrams, and caricatures^ frequently at- tested the general acknowledgment of his commanding position. Mr. Quincy outlived all of his contemporaries. Not one of the members of the Twelfth Con- gress — the Congress that declared w ar against Great Britain in 1812 — was liv- ing at the time of his death. He was horn] with the nation, whose full indejiendemc] was only achieved at the close of tliiitj ' Edwin Williams, in tiie Statmman'a ifanunl, I., 450. ' One of the caricatures of Mr. Quincy is before rac. It was engraved and pnblifihed by William Charles,* of Philii dclphia, and is entitled " Josiah the First." He is represented as a king, in reference to his political domiimtiou. * Of William Charles, the engraver above mentioned, who publixhed several caricatures during the War of 1812-']^ very little ' remembered. The venerable Doctor Alexander Anderson, of New York, the father of W(M)d enp-nvliiL' America, and yet (1807) a practitioner of the art at the ajre of ninety-two years, informed the writer that he knew CharliJ when he first came to America, about the year isoi. He was a native of Ediuburg, Scotland. He carlciilurcd one ( more of the magistrates of that city, and, to avoid the consequences of prosecution, he left and came to the I'niiej States. He practiced his art in New York for a number of years without success, and then went to PhiliidelpUa, venerable John M'AUIster, of Phlladplphia, now (ISOT) more than eighty years of age, writes me that he reniembi Charles and his small book-store and print-shop, which he opened in Philadelphia Just Iwfore the War of 1S12. Afll the suspension of specie payments by tlie hanks in ISU, he engraved, printed, and vended a great quantity of not»tl ■fractions of dollars, commonly known as " shinplasters." He died in Philadelphia In the year 1821, and his widowft tinned his bookselling and stationery business. I am indebted to Mr. M'AUIster for the caricature of Mr. Qiilncyalx given. SnbataDceofthe P war, and livet nal and inheri tack purified ; impressed upc 3fr. Quincy, the war. Ho made by other rcsentatives, ar tlieir conduct i ously the state (IS in Congresf necessarily lead aijainst her — a the United Stat( two, and looked , the French edic '• had not the pow portion of the w affected by the a ize the American tcctors, and go m seizure of Canada i^idered an attemj: iincertain in the is unprepared state '■^V^ith a navy coi liie greatest marin every ocean, we pi wealth of which w iiics of a power whi soldier into pay, oai lioard. Before ade or money are provi fontest, which is la I the present war ao-i lii( head is a crown. His co « hand he holds a sceptre! J"'.do,bythlsroynlp;„cl^ taerofthe noble Or" " n the sea behind him" His defense on the floor of ,!»« representation of a codfls «*a memorial," In the lnn„ f^oodflaherytothewelfire^, I 'On the Mth of June, 1861 «»'«cy,M„8sach„sett«.' ni'v Wl»of,he Northern sec":„ Jl'lnvhat pride and joy wo BOBe man, With one mind a, to'Vorth,andtheWe8tth«f Mting their gaing and r! '*..«„, Cvr^oXh I ^lie fnliowloB are tho „ «"«« printed in newspaper. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 229 mm 9ul»ti>nce of the Protest of the Minority- Names of those who signed it. war, and lived to see it, in sturdy maturity, not only resist a most dangerous inter- nal and inherited disease that threatened to destroy its life, but to rise from the at- tack purified and strengthened, with every promise of long and vigorous existence impressed upc every fibre of its being.' Mr. Quincy, ;t has been observed, wrote the most of the minority's protest against the war. He was aided by Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, and some suggestions were made by others. It was signed by all the minority members of the House of Rep- ivsontatives, and was issued in the form of an address to their constituents, in which thfir conduct in voting against the war was vindicated.'^ They set forth perspicu- ously the state of the country, and the course of the administration and its support- ers in Congress. They professed to believe that a war with Great Britain would necessarily lead to a political connection with France, then waging bitter hostilities against her — a connection which would be extremely hazardous to the liberties of tiie United States. They professed to regard France as the great^er aggressor of the tivo, and looked upon her commerce as not worth contending for. Notwithstanding the French edicts, a profitable trade might be carried on with England, for France liad not the power to enforce their edicts to a very great extent. Indeed, a large jiortion of the world where American commerce might be made profitable was not atfected by the actions of either of the belligerents. They would, therefore, author- ize the American merchantmen to arm in their own defense, become their OAvn pro- tectors, and go wherever they chose to risk themselves. As to the invasion and seizure of Canada, which was a part of the programme of the war party, they con- sidered an attempt to carry out that measure as unjust and impolitic in itself, very uncertain in the issue, and unpromising as to any good results. They pointed to the unprepared state of the country as vehemently forbidding a declaration of war. "With a navy comparatively nominal, we are about to enter into the lists against the greatest marine on the globe. With a commerce unprotected and spread over every ocean, we propose to make profit by privateering, and for this endanger the wealth of which we are honest proprietors. An invasion is threatened of the colo- nies of a power which, without putting a new ship into commission, or taking another soldier into pay, can spread alarm or desolation along the extensive range of our sea- board. Before adequate fortifications are prepared for domestic defense, before men or money are provided for a war of attack, why hasten into the midst of this awful contest, which is laying Avaste Europe ? It can not be concealed that to engage in the present war against England is to place ourselves on the side of France, and hl< heart Is a crown. His coat is scarlet, his waistcoat browu, his breechc tight green, and his stockings white silk. In I one liand he holds a sceptre, and in the space near his head (omitted in our reduced copy) are the words : " I, Josiah the First, do, by this royal proclamation, announce myself King of New England, Nova Scotia, and Passamaquoddy ; Grand Jlaster of the noble Order of the Two Codfishes." On his left breast are seen two codflshes crossed, forming the. order, I mi In the sea behind him that kind offish is seen sporting in the water. These were probably introduced in allusion 10 Ms defense on the floor of Congress of the rights of the New England fishermen ; or possibly because of the fact that I Ihc representation of a codfish has hung in the Representatives' Hall in the State-house at Boston since the year 1784, I "as a memorial," in the language of John Howe, who that year moved that it be placed there, " of the importance of I Ihe cndflshery to the welfare of the commonwealth of Massachusetts." ' On the 29th of June, 18«1, Mr. Qulney made a speech to the officers and soldiers of Captain Porbes's Coast Guard at I Qtincy, Massachusetts. He was then in his ninetieth year. In the course of his remarks on the great uprising of the I !«ople of the Northern section of the Union to put down the demagogues' rebellion in the South.,, u section, he remarked : "With what i)riile and joy would the founders of this republic have hailed the events of our day— a whole people rising liionc man, with one mind and one heart, In support of the Constitntion and the Union ; npspringing from the East, like North, and the West, the farmer from the field, the mechanic fW)m the work-bench— all classes and all professions — Ibrgetting their gains, and ready to make sacrifices with one thought and one will to protect, to preser\'e, and to render Itkf union of these states immortal. These are the true glories of a republic, evidencing that the masses which compose llunilerewnd the value of their liberties, and arc prepared to sacrifice property and life In their defense." ' The following are the names of the signers of the protest : George Sullivan, William Held, Epaphroditns Champion, Benjamin Tallmadge, H. M. Ridgeley, Joseph Lewis, Jr., MjuhBrigham, Leonard White, Jonathan O. Moseley, Asa Fitch, Philip Stuart, Thomas Wilson, Abtjah Bigelow, Laban feton, Lyman Law, James Emott, Philip B. Key, A. M'Bryde, Josiah Qnincy, Ellsha R. Potter, Lewis B. Slnrges, Ihnes Milnor, James Breckinridge, Joseph Pearson, William Ely, Richard Jackson, Jr., Timothy PItklu, Jr., Thomas TtGonld, John Baker, Martin Chittenden, Samuel Taggart, John Davenport, Jr., H. Bleecker, C. Goldsburgh. The pro- ■ i was printed in newspapers and on broadsides, and widely circulated. hi -i ; 1 f '. 'Ii;fe 230 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Issue fairly before the Country. Organization of a Peace Party. Its unpatriotic Courw, expose U8 to the vassalage of states serving under the banners of the French em- peror." " It is said," thoy remarked, " that war is demanded by honor. Is national honor a principle which thirsts after vengeance, and is appeased only by blood ; which trampling on the hopes of man and spuming the law of God, untaught by what is past and careless of what is to come, precipitates itself into any folly or madness to gratify a selfish vanity or to satiate some unhallowed rage ? If honor demuiuls a war with England, what opiate lulls that honor to sleep over the wrongs done us by France ?" " What are the United States to gain by this war ?" they asked. " Will the grati- fication of some privateersmen compensate the nation for that sweep of our legiti- mate commerce by the extended marine of our enemy which this desperate act in- vites ? Will Canada compensate the Middle States for New York, or the Western States for New Orleans? Let us not be deceived. A war of invasion may invite a retort of invasion. When we visit the peaceable, and, as to us, innocent colonies of Great Britain' with the horrors of war, can we be assured that our own coast will not be visited with like horrors ? At a crisis of the world, such as the present, and under impressions such as these, the undersigned can not consider the war into which the United Statjs have in secret been precipitated as necessary, or required by any moral or political expediency." Tims the issue was fairly placed before the country. The time for discussion was ended; the tirre for action had arrived. While one portion of the people — tlie vast majority — wert^ nobly responding to the call of the President to sustain the govern- ment by word and deed, another portion were preparing to cast obstacles in the way of its success. An organization was soon visible, called the Peace Parti/, composed chiefly of the moi° violent opponents of the administration and disaffected Demo- crats, whose party-spirit held their patriotism in complete subordination. Lackinj the sincerity or the integrity of those patriotic members of the Congressional minor- ity, whose protest wsis the voice of their consciences made audible, they endeavored, by attempting to injure the public credit, preventing enlistments into the armies, spreading false stories concerning the strength of the British and weakness of the Americans, and by public speeches, sermons, pamphlets, and newspaper essays, to compel the government to sheathe the sword and hold out the olive-branch of peace at the cost of national honor and independence. These machinations were kept up during the whole war to the great embarrassment of the government and the injury of the country. To this unpatriotic Peace Party a large number of the leading Fed- eralistfi gave no countenance, but, with a clear perception of duty to their country, and in accordance with the principles of the true spirit of republicanism, many of them, bound to the expressed will of the majority, yielded their private views to tlie necessities of the hour, and lent their aid, as the President desired all good citizens ; to do, " to the constituted authorities for obtaining a speedy, a just, and an honorable] peace." Having resolved on war, the next important labor for Congress to perform was] making adequate provisions for prosecuting it. One of the most important consid-| erations was finance, for money has been justly styled the " sinews of war." In ¥ch-\ • February iTi ruary* the Committee of Ways and Means reported a system of finance ^^^^- adapted to a state of war for three years. Its chief features conteni'^ plated the support of war expenses wholly by loans ; and the ordinary expenses of the government, including the interest on the national debt, by revenues. They es timated the war expenses at $11,000,000 for the first year. Aware that a state o( > The House of Representatives resolved that, In the event of a determination to Invade Canada or other BrilUi provinces, the President should be authorized to issue a proclamation assuring the inhabitants thereof that all tbe^ rights, of every kind, shonld be respected if their territory gbonld become a part of the United States. Meuuroa for raising war would din be doubled, fbj .ind an extensi cial scheme gei not exceeding t Secretary of th( ill the United f> Iwnks to subscr; posits until caJh When war wj 111,000,000 loan «1,928,000, leavii dent was authori nual interest of ii Treasury. This v the circulation of try for the fiscal the interest on $4, On the 26th of J and reprisal, and j the regular force t «oom, and one of i of thirty-six thous; •liscipiined, and eff under arms at thai were raw recruits. duty, notwithstandi eight millions. TJi^ ?o beyond the limit the country looked I a footing with the r I . y^'' navy consiste h'jht, oneofthirty-8 ranging fi-om twelve Congress adjourne ommendadayofpui United States for tht t;<>ir cause, and the , the President issued |.?.irt of the third Th; Ifla}' was generally obi Joordance with the spir [President, while from K 1818, was ^tatd?"^*"" \!'"^J<^thePblitieal and Mil lllllli »ar would diminish the revenuTZT^ :::^:t,___^ J^^DiiT^^^^JiH^ be doubled, foreign 1011,^^.^-' 1 ^ P''«P««ed a tariff bTu^^T^^ and an extensive ,y,tZ 5, T'^'" " ^°"«»- ^nd a Iml/aT . '' ""P'^^^^ ^^ould cial scheme generX 'Tk? V".f ""' ^"^''^^ ^^^ «^ci«e ' lit ' ^f ^^ «3,000,000, not exceeding six per cent «uthonzed» a loan of |i ,,ooo 000 !' '^"P''^*^ *'»« «"«»■ .Secretary of fheCrr^dt^^^^^^^ '"l^-H «11,000,000 loan th^t *k V ^^^ "'""d, by the retnma ^^*i, «l,928^0jeavltl ""'V^«^ «"bBcribedt i *f,ln?n"n^'''"P*'«"« *« the dent;asa;tho"!dtotrS:.;'*'''^^'«°«- ^o ^.Ip^ly't'i '2ci"'' 'f^'^"^"' nual interest of five and two mhT^ ^^tes, payahle Ke tar a^'h"^' '''' ^'■^^'■ Treasury. This was intended to t ^"' ''"*" *« ^' ^eceivable^b Lu 1 """^ "" """ the circulation of bank-notef It ^ "' '"'"^"^y' ^»d supersede to l^T'' "' *^^' try for the fiscal year TlT^o ^ o^"' ^«timated that the entTre 11 '''*'"'" "^*«"t' the interest on $45154 OOo7^^ ' '"''"'^'"^ ^^^ $11,000 OOO fin^""'' "^^'^^ ^«"»- On the 26th of June Pn ^ ' '""^""* «f the public lebn^ iT'^'" P"'-P««^«, and and reprisal, and a„ol£rT:?""*' ''*" '^''* -'p- ng th i^^e ff^.f ''''^«'«^«-^ t^e regular force to cltlt ftVn^^^^^^^ «^ ^'- omZ7:^^TLtT^''' ,?oons,and one of ri<1«tr. , . :'^"ty regiments of foof f«,... i^ """/"e new levies: of thirty-six thola 'dT:ra "f •-""^''"^^- -^ -^cer^^ *r ^''^^^■ .liscipHned, and effective-was "n ! T"' '"^^ '''^^-' reguTaVw T ' " '"''^^ "nder arms at that time wir.hn^ f ''"* ^^''"^ thousand men ^^^''r'-^Pf »«nced, «ere raw recruits. littH, ''"* **^" t'>«"«and men but m or. ^ ?^"'^'" ^^'''^e duty, notwithstanding thevi"""'-'?"^'^ ^« P^«««^^ on the miZ '" ^/'^ "^ *''«™ eight millions. They we' ."" ''^''* '^""^''^'^ thousand Tro -""''P* ^^'' ^^"'i^on ?o beyond the liinits^of .u "*"* ''«»>P«"«d by law to serve '*'''"f, '" ^ Population of the country looked 1- T "''^''''''' states. To vo un^'' *^" '^''"^^ J^^'^r^. nor a footing with the - ^ "' ''"'^ ^^^ President 11..' '^' government and The n^avy con'fstelof'' Tl' ^"•^' ^^^^^ their conle't to t""-' *" ^''-^^^ *^-"^ "n eight, one oVtSt fxl?'>*';"^ ^"^^^^« of fortS "?''"? *'."'" "«^^«^«- ii 'H ; tVt i m '■^i 232 PICTOllIAL FIELD-BOOK How the Pant Day wai< observed. William Ellery Cbannlng'a Oisconrae. Webiter's Oration and Bryant'a Odt. war, and the alleged authors and abettors of it.' The national anniversary that year was also made the ocoasion for political speeches, songs, and toasts condemnatory of the measures of the administration. Home of these were Herce, othere were mild, and still others were dignitied and patriotic — lirm, outspoken, manly arguments against the necessity, the wisdom, or the justice of the war, but evincing a love of country more potent than love of party or opinions.* ' Already the (jovomor of MagBachui'ctts had uppofntcd the 23d of .July aa a day of humiliation, fiintlnj;, and prayir. It was made the occasion for plain »penkiiip from the pulpit against the war. Sometimes there was blttcrne>8 ln'the words, but generally these sermons breathed a spirit of sorrow because of the calamities threatened by the war. AnKjii,. others, William Ellery ChannhiK, of Boston, on both the state and the national fast-days, spoke out plainly, but wltli Hut charitable and sweet Christian spirit which characterized liia whole life. "The cry has been," he said, "that wnrlsde. dared, and all opposition should therefore be hushed. A sentiment more unworthy of a free country can hnrilly [^ j)i(ipagated. If this doctrine be admitted, rulers have only to declare war, and they are screened at once from scrutiny. At the very time when they have armies at command, when their patronage Is most extended, and their power nii«t formidable, not a word of warning, of censure, of alarm must be heard. The press, which is to expose Inferior ul)u»e!, must not utter one rebuke, one Indignant complaint, although our best Interests and most valuable rl'^hts arc put [!, hazard by an unnecessary war. The sum of my remarks," ho said, in concluding his discourse on the slate fasi-day, " Is this : It is your duty to hold fast, and to assert with rtnnness those truths and principles on which the welfare uf your country seems to depend ; but do this with calmness, with a love of i)eacc, without ill-will and revenge. Iiiipmvo every opportunity of allaying animosities. Strive to make converts of those whom you think In error. Dlscouraiii', in decided and open language, that rancor, malignity, and unfeeling abuse which so often And their way Into our piil)!!, prints, and which only tend to Increase the already alarming Irritation of our country." "Our duties to our rulers," in. said, on the natioual fast-day, " are not so easily presented. It is our duty toward them to avoid all language niiil coii. duct which will produce a spirit of Insubordinatiou, a contempt of laws and just authority. At the same tinu', wc mnsi not be tame, abject, and see, without sensibility, without remonstrance, our rights violated and our best blessings thmwD away. Our elective form of government makes it our duty to expose bad rulers, to strip them of unmerited conflileiife and of abused power. This is never more clearly our duty than when our rulers have plunged us Into an unjustifiable and ruinous war— a war which Is leading us down to poverty, vice, and slavery. To reduce such men to a private sla- tion no fair and upright means should be spared, and, let me add, no other means should be employed. Notliiiif; can justify falsehood, malignity, or wild, ungovcrned passion. Bo firm, but deliberate ; In earnest, yet honest and jii»t." ' In the New York Evening Pout, July '21, 1812, nuiy lie found the following notice of a speech l)y the afterward eiuincnt Daniel Webster, who had not yet appeared prominently in public life. He entered Congress the next year. 'Wf.hstke'b Ohatio.n A gentleman of this name, distinguished In the State of New Hampshire for the superiority nt _..._. _ will be read with pleasure : of his talents, delivered an orAion to the Washington Society at Portsmouth on the 4th of July. The following exlracU ' With respect to the war in which we are now involved, the course which our principles require us to pursue ran not be doubtful. It is now the law of the land, and as such we are bound to regard it. Resistance and Insurrection form no parts of onr creed. The disciples of Wanhiniiton arc neither tyrants in power nor rebels out. If we are la.\e(l to carry ou this war, we shall disregard certain distinguished examples, and shall pay. If our personal services are re- quired, we shall yield them to the precise extent of our constitutional liability. ^'. t the same time, the world may hea.'- sured that we know our ritihts, and shall exercise them. We shall express our opinions on this, as on every nieasnre of government, I trust without passion, I am certain without /rar. We have yet to learn that the extravagant proirren of pernicious measures abrogates the duty of opposition, or that the Interest of onr native land Is to be abandoned byns in the hour of the thickest danger and sorest necessity. By the exercise of onr constitutional right of suffrage, by the peaceable remedy of election, we bhall seek to restore wisdom to our councils aniX peace, to onr country.' " Those who remember Mr. Webster's patriotic course in the Senate of the United States in voting for the " Force Bill," to crush incipient treason and rebellion in South Carolina in 1833, will perceive In the above extract the visible cerm of that stinch patriotism which distinguished him through life. On the occasion referred to he said, with the spirit thai animated him in 1S12, " I am opposed to this administration ; but the country Is In danger, and I will take my bhareof the responsibility in the measure before us." The Evening Post of the same date contains an "Ode for the Fourth of July," written by William Cullen Bryant, , then seventeen years of age. He Is now (1807), after a lapse of flfty-flve years, one of the proprietors and the editor 1 chief of that journal, which 1 ■• has ably conducted for a very long period. The following stanzas selected from that] Ode give a specimen of Its cb .racter which made It very popular at the time: ' Lo ! where our ardi ut rulers For Herce assault iirejjare. While eager " Ati" awaits their beck To "slip the dogs of war." In vain against the dire design Exclaims the indignant land ; The nnbidden blade they haste to ba:c, And light the unhallowed brand. Proceed 1 another year shall wrest The sceptre from your hand. "The same ennobling spirit That kindles valor's flame. That nerves ns to a war of right. Forbids a war of nhavie. For not in Omqueitt'H impious train Shall Freedom's children stand ; Nor shall in guilty fray be raised The high-souled warrior's hand j Nor shall the Patriot draw his sword At Gallia's proud commaud." AKejrencyeatabl insanity of the o Tliis change in tj tiic|irince^tothog Fcbniaiy, I812, a.; ni'Iical change in t .woiintofthemur ChaiiccIJoroftho 1 .1 liverpool sJiip-bi oonimercial losses , f might reveng, '•'"ff servants. U I'fntcd Secretai-y ( tt'irowby Lor,] Pr^ »;'J^>fr.Vansittart ( ,;''^q-'t''-. LordCastI tor Foreign Affairs , Great Britain was f "'Ions war again.st P'^""*'' Peninsula, an, Knt energy,,,;,,.^ fy-reatened J,er wit H autumn of j 812 «. «nion clouded wit' r "S^'nst Great B,-i »™'.v,c,-os8edtheNien ^P'-^hed on toward ' "eH ninety thons- ^'^^ Mosco^ ,>;; ; I j:'« hundred and , ^^ France. Six „,on '.w slam, wounded, A««Kenc^^«tnblN^^ OFTHE WAK OP ,8,2. If -^^^^^^°^°^^!^^^^ 11 CHAPTER XIT. "^■■^ 5'.i^'Tirr''.T'''« "•'«"' •""' blown Th«t, prep,, e t^ en.V. " "T" ""« "" v"" ' W e submit without murn nr . 'r'""" '" '""■ """""' '" daugcr and toll." «»»'o actual .ovc,-ci„rof r ?'i? ""<"'.?« "'« Fou H,) n,, ,,„ '0 court j.hysicians "^"^ '"'» '-fgoiit of the realm i-anity of the old St TT-'"''^ *''« Tliis chancre in f 1 1 , ^ -"^ ''' "'^"'-able. ''''■!-- 1: tilt ;;r^^^^^ ra.Iical ohanire in the P./-^ ^'Howing a -o,,„t of tit mntr^ftrP """"''«" Chancellor of the Exoh. ^"'''^''^l the ■^ Liverpool shiXfct^^^^^^ , oom,.,crcial losis npo^' TC" f''^''^ '"^ •™l nought revenge^in «hvin^''""""'^"^' pointed Secretary of S I '"^ "''"'« ^l'" »J Mr. Vansi l^'cit"^ ?f *'- ^^«"no", [■^eq,.c.,-. Lor C ele err""'' "^*^^ Ex-' for Foreign Affahu ^ "^^^ ^'^^''^tary J Grout Britain was still ,. • |niencIo„s war a.>-ainst Si! V^"'^ ''* t'''^" ^"^ '— «.„,,, l«n.o„ clouded with feal, i w ''" ""'^'^'^^^ ^^^Pero; of ''I'f"^ '^'"^ «""-'™er h against Great Britain [" t'/ ' ^''^ '^^J^^ afte?the Unit > « "^ ""'■'''^••««' K crossed the Niemen"'i„ thl f "''? ^^Poleon, with an iT ^'''''' ^^'^^"••ed ['"'pushed on toward Mnl ^''''^ ""^^^^^^ hundred /, """'^n^e and splendid konted their inTni b"^- ^^ Borodino t^f. '"'"'^"'^ Russians I'^'ed Moscow in t . 2 »^ '^"'^ ^«""ded soldi ^ "''"" *'^« ^«t- 'Sept.«. ,:ill t i I 1 i ,, 1 lii 1 ' /I'M ' Irtil n 234 PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK The Brltlib Nkvy. Britlih Land Force In Cintd*. Their Kruntt<ir FoTtl<lcttloiM' HSJul men, and yet he had b.'arcely reached Parin hefore ho isHued orders for new oonHcriptionH with which to prosecute the war! The sun of liis glory was low in the west, yet it bhized out brilliantly hefore it set. In 1HI2, Great Hritaiii, Uussia, Sweden, and Spain were allied in arms against France, Prussia, Italy, Austriu, mid Poland. The British navy at that time consisted of two hundred and fifly-fonr shipH-of-thc- Une, of 74 guns and u[)ward ; thirty-five SO's and 44'b; two hundred and forty-sevi'ii frigates ; and five hundred and six smaller vessels of war ; making a total of one thouHuiid and thirty-six. Of these there were five ships-of-the-line, nineteen friijutcs, forty-one brigs, and sixteen schooners on the American station ; that is to say, at Halifax and NewfoundL-md, Jamaica and the Leeward Islands.' They had also four armed vessels on Lake Ontario, namely, 7?oya/ George, 22 ; E(ni of Moira, 16 ; Princ( Regent, 14 ; and Duke of Gloucester, 8. They also had several smaller vessels ni-ariv ready for service. The British regular land force in Upper Canada when war was declared did not exceed fifteen hundred men ;* but the aggregate of that in Lower Canada, and in tlic contiguous British provinces was estimated at six thousand regular troops. The pop- ulation of all the North American British colonies was estimated at 400,000, and tluir militia at 40,000. They had an immense assailable frontier, stretching along a scries of great lakes, and the Rivers St. Mary's, St. Clair, Detroit, Niagara, and St. Law- rence, commencing at Lake Superior on the west, and terminating fur below (Jucluf on the east, along a line of about 1 700 miles. Out of Lake Suj)erior flows a rajiid current, over immense masses of rock, through a channel for tAventy-seven miles call- ed the St. Mary's River, and enters Lake Huron, at the head of which is the British island of St. Joseph. On that island was then a small fort and garrison. It is dis- tant above Detroit about three hundred and thirty miles by water. The shores of Lake Iluion at that time were uninhabited except b 'ndians and a few traders. At its western angle is a short and Avide strait, conne it with Lake Michigan, in the centre of which is the island of Michilimackinacl i is about nine miles in cir- cumference. On this island the Americans had a small fort and garrison. The wa- ters flow out of Lake Huron through the rivers and Lake St. Clair, and then tlnouijli the Detroit River into Lake Erie. On tlie latter river, at Amherstburg, the British had a fort and small garrison, Avhere ships for service on Lake Erie were built. The British had no liarbor or military po^t on Lake Erie. At its foot, at the liead of the Niagara River, was Fort Erie, a distance of five hundred and sixty-five miles from Quebec. Just above Niagara Falls, at the mouth of the Chippewa River, there was a small stockade, called Fort Chippewa. Near the mouth of the Niagara River, not quite seven miles below Queenstown, was Fort George, constructed of earthen ram- parts and cedar palisades, mounting some guns not heavier than nine-poundera. Half a mile below the fort, at the mouth of the Niagara River, Avas a pretty little village called NcAvark, now Niagara. On the north side of Lake Ontario is York, or Toronto Harbor, Avhere was an old fort and a block house. York Avas then the cai> ital of Upper Canada. On the eastern extremity of the lake is Kingston, with a fine harbor, and Avas defended by a small battery of nine-pounders on Point Frederick. It was the most populous town in the Upper Province at that time, and formed the principal naval depot of the British on Lake Ontario. There were some military works at Montreal, and very strong ones at Quebec, At the time when war Avas declared the United States were at peace Avith all the world, and had very little commerce exposed upon the oceai', jwing to restrictions > Steele's List, 1812. • These consisted of the Porty-flrat Regiment, 900 men ; Tenth Veterans, 260 ; N^wfonndland Heglment, 260; Eoyal Artillery, 60 ; Provincial Seamen, 60. These forces had to occupy the Ports St. Joseph, Amherstburg, Chippewa, Erie, George, York (Toronto), and Kingston, and to defend an assailable frontier of nearly thirteen hundred miles.— i</« o*! Correspondence of Major General Sir Itaac Brock, K.B., by Ferdinand Brock Tnpper, p. 108. liMOMt and Front OF THE WAR OF 1813. 23S tK(4»Mi >ii<l Frontier DKfeiiM* of Mw United Htiitei. We*t Putut Military AMdemy. JunatbM WUIIUM. and tiannciH whicli liud iufviiilt'il for a ft»w yoara. Of the land and naval forces at tliiit time wo Imvo Hpoki'ii in tlu! liiHt chiipttT. In addition to full twelvo hundred mili'H oftrontiiT iiloii!^ tin- HritiKlt proviiicoM, there w;is a Hea-eoast ofa thciiHand miles tudi'ti'tid against the most |)owei'iiil maritime nation in the ^yorhl. The Huhject of sea-eoast, harhor, and frontier defeiiseH attraeted the att>Mition of the ffiivcrnnient at an early period. A sehool for military instnietit)n, espi ially for tho wliiciitioii of engineers, to he estahlished at West Point, on the Ilndson, was author- ized by Congress in tho spring of 1802;*' and from to time to time ap})ro- • March i(W nriiitioiis had heen made for fortifieations, and works hail heen ereeted. "**• Till' corps of engineers, authorized by the hiw just named, eommeiiced their funetions ,iH constructors of new forts or repairers of old ones in the year 1 H08, when a war with Enaianil was confidently expected ; and that body of young men cc^jitinucd thus ein- iiloyctl, iu a motlerate way, until the breaking out of the war in 1812, when they were sent to tho field, and all won military distinction.* The forts completed pro- vioiis to 1 800 were the only fortifications for tho defense of tlio sea-coast of tho riiited States at tho commencement of the war in 1812.' 1 ,' aihliiBton recommcnrtod the e8tab1!shmsnt of n military academy at Wcot Point «o early an 17S3, when, on the ap- proach of i-uncei hl« thouKhts were turned to tho future mllUary condition of hlH country. Soon after ho becami' I'ich- lilint of thi' United Statex, he Mffnln called the attention of nl8 countrymen to the Importance of a military academy, jnil attain liKlieated Went Point «» the proper place. In 171)4, Colonel Uochcfontalnc, a French officer In the nervlce of the United Staten, and other olHcerit of artillery, were Htatlouod nt Went I'olut for the |)ur|><»ie of estabUHhlng a miliary irhmjl there. They rebuilt tho front of Fort Putnam, on the monutalnH In the rear, in UUR, and coiiHtructed Hvo or kIx imall canemateii, or bomb-proofx. Fort Clinton, on the Point, was then partly In ruinn. Itii magazine, tweuty-flve by iwd hiuidrcil feet In hIzo, built of Htone and lined with plank, and trcncheH, was quite perfect. Hevcrul bulldinKa wero erected, and the whole pout waH under the charge of Major Jonathan WilliamH. The library and apparatUH were com- inenccil, but the school was hoou Hunpcnded. It waa revived In isoi by Mr. .lefTerson, and In the Hprlng of the follow- iDj! year Congress, as wo have observed In the text, authorized the cutablishment of a military academy there. Mean- wlillc the harbors on the coast were defendeil !y by small redoubts. They were luslgnitlcant affairs. " It is worthy o( remembrance," observed the late veneralil lueral J. O. Swift, in a letter to the author In February, 1800, "that the ollctnpon which these small works wore bin i were those selected in the lievoiutlouary struggle, and they remain to thiKday the best for their purpose." ' letter of Oeneral Swift to the author, February 18, 1800. In November, 1802, the engineers nt West Point formed a miilarii aiut Philnmiphicat Sm^ietii, the object of which was tho promotion of military science. The following are the Dimea of the original members : Jonathan Williams, Decius Wadswortb, William A. Barron, Jared Manstleld, James ffil«on, Alexander Macomb, Jr., Joseph O. Swift, Simon M. Lcroy, Walter K. Armistead, and Joseph O. Totten. These ncrc the members present at the flrst meeting. Swift and Totten were the latest survivors of this little company. The former died In tho summer of 18(16, and tho latter in the spring of 1804. Their portraits will be found in this work. Totlcn was the chief military engineer of the United States at the time of his death. Tho society consisted of many persons besides military men. Its membership, during Its ten years' existence, comprised most of the leading men In the country, especially of the army and navy. The MS. records of the society, In four folio volumes, are iu the New York Hintoricai Society. ' The following statement of the names, locations, and conditions of the coast fortifications previouij to 1808, 1 have tompiled ffora a manuscript general return of such works by Colonel Jonathan Williams" and Captain Alixander Ma- coml), which I found among the minutes of the ttiUtary ami PhiUmrphieal Society of West Point, mentioned in a preced- ing note. Some of these forts were somewhat strengthened before the declaration of war iu 1812, but the change in their general condition was not very great. Furt Sumner, Portland, Maine.— A square block-house. Flirt William and ilanj, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.— A rnln. fort LHxj, Gloucester, Cape Ann.— Three sides of an unfinished flgnro, being one f^ront and two diverging lines. A iqnare block-house in the rear. Fwt riekering, at Salem, Massachusetts.- Three sides of a rectangular figure, without bastions, flanks, or any promi. mncc whatever. The lower part of the sides is stone-work, with par.ipets of earth. Closed in the rear by barracks, a ' Jonathan Williams was bom in Boston In 1760. Hr was appointed Major of the Second Artillery and Engineers in February, ISftl, and in December follow- ing Inspector of Fortifications and Superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point. In July, 1802, he wag promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers, Hid resigned in June the following year. In April, IW, he resumed the service among the Engineers, with the Slime rank, and In February, 1808, was pro- moted to colonel ; he resigned in July, 1812. In 1814 he was elected to a seat in Congress from Philadel- phia, bat never occupied it. He died on the 20th of Jlay,1816,at the age of slx^-flve years.— Gardner's tietimatii of the Army, 487. Colonel Williams was ihe author of A Mentnir of the Thentunneter in Savi- I jnft'on, and Elements of Fortification. ! I Ml II 236 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Coast Defenses of the United States in the year 1812. A new eysteni of naval Avarfare liad lately been siigjjfested by llobert Fu'ton, who •December, had been a long time abroad, and who had recently returned home' to achieve an immortal triumph in science and art, and the beginning of a ISOO. briclc wall, and gate. A square block-honse in the centre, and an old btone building in the rear and on the left, without the lines. A sketch of its appearance in 18(Mi may be fcmnd in another part o'this voiumc. Fort Setcall, at Marblehead, Massachusetts, is an irregular oblong figure, with a square block-house. It is fDundod on one side, on a r()ck, and on the ojiposite side has a wail and arches, forming a n\agaziiie below. One stone hou.«c within the lines. A sketch of this old fort as It appeared in 18G0 may be found in another part of this work. Fort Indejtemlenre, In Boston Harbor New worV-. An irregular pentagon and well fortified, with five bastions. Three bastions and one curtain lluished. This fort (whose present appearance is seen In the engraving) is on Castle Ulaud FOBT INnKl'K.MlK.NCK. on the site of a fortiflcatiop erected during the early years of the Massachusetts colony. It was rebuilt in lim,,™i burned in 1073. A new I'ort of stone was then erected, and other works, and it became the shelter of the Britisli (liiiin- the years preceding the Revolution. After the Revolution it was called Fort Adams, In 17!)il Castle Island was mH to the United States, and President Adr.nis named the works Fttrt Indejmidence. The present structure was ercrlcil in 1801, '2, and '3. It and Fort Warren, on an islaud opposite, command the entrance to Boston Harbor. The fort may contain a thousand men in time of war. Fort IVolcott, near Newport, Rhode Island.— BuiK of stone cemented with lime. Had a brick and stone masnzhip.a sally-port and ditch, revcrberatory furnace. Supported by two wings or bastions, both fating the harbor. Kevetiiieiiis In stone laid in lime cement; parapets supplied with sod-work ; the batteries intended for ten pieces of cannon. Had five pices, 32-poundcrs each. Barracks two stories high, composed of brick, and bomb-proof. Fort Adamn, Newport Harbor.— Form similar to Fort Wolcott. Situated on Brenton's Point, nearly oppni>iio the Dumi)llngs Fort on Canonicut Island. Similar In all its arrangement and construction to Fort Wolcott. It wu» then iTnflnit;hed. Fitrt Hamilton, Narraganset Bay, near Newport, a mile northwest of Fort Wolcott, on Rose Island E.\ton«ive forii- flcalions, commenced in 1802. Quadrilateral in form, presenting two regular and two tower bastions. Worlvs fus]ieiiil. cd ii. IS03. It was intended to be wholly constructed of stone, brick, and sod-work. The barracks were conijili'lcd, ami were considered the finest in America at that time. It was intended to mount seventy cannon. About half conipleicd when the war broke out. North Hatterii, Rhode Island, about three fonrths of a mile northeast of Fort Wolcott, on a point of land nearer New- port Semicircular, a. id calculated for about eight guns. It was unfinished. Dum]iHoii» /•'or*.— Kntrance to Narraganset Bay, nearly opposite Fort Adams. A round towor bastion, built in hiy. of stone well cemented. It was about eighty feet above the water, and rose fifteen to twenty feet above tlic rurk nn which it was !■ lit. It contained a good magazine, and three other bomb-proof rooms for the men. No oniinon were mounted. The platforms were not completed. Calculated for seven pieces, exclusive of howitzers and nio-tars. Ii was believed that thirty men might defend it. Toicninci Hill, near Newjxjrt, Rhode Island, one mile east of the North Battery, and due north ftom the city.— It cnm- niandcd the whole town, the country around, and a part of the harbor. Remains of Revolutionary works there. A small block-house built in ITDfl or 1800 was entire. Fort Trumbull, New London, Connecticut, on a rocky point of land projecting into the River Thames.— Fiirm irrem- Inr. T'.ie walls fronting the water bnilt of solid stone, elevated to the usual height, and finished with turf nud Kravfl, Badly situated against an enemy on land, as the hills around it and ocross the river are higher than the fort, ll liails small n-.agi.zinc and stone block-house, and fourteen guns mounted. A view of this fort may be seen in another pan of this work. Fort Jay, on Governor's Island, New York Harbor,* thirteen hundred yards south of the Battery, at the lower esliem- Ity of the city oi ""w York.- It was a regular fort, with bastions, quite strong, but then unfinished. It had a haudsinif gateway, with a oorpn rie iiarde draw-bridge. In the centre of the fort was a square block-house of timber, twd florie* ' high, but probably not cannon-proof; under it was a well. It had two detached batteries, one mounting four IS-pdiuid- ers and an 8-Inch French mortar, with platforms for four others ; and the other ten pieces, 18 and 24 pounders ; origin- * Governor's Island was called Paii-finnek by the Indians, and Nutten Island by the Dutch. It was purchased, a» a j public domain, by Governor Van Twiller, in the early days of the Dutch rule in New York. In the settlement .tih( ) accounts of the Revolutionary debt, New York agreed to erect fortifications in the harbor in front of the cityofNf» ■ York, in i)ayraent of .he quota required from that state. In accordance with an act passed by the State Lcglcliitiire in j March, IVM, the sum of one hundre'i and fifty thousand dollars was expended, under the direction of a commlllci.ii j constructing fortlficatiors. The committee consisted of George Clinton, Matthew Clarkson, .lames Watson, Richard j Vnrick, Nicholas Fish, Ebenezer Stevens, and Abijah Hammond. A further sum of one h'-ndred thousand dnllare nas J granted on the 0th -if April, ^TBR, to complete the works on that and Oyster (now Ellis's) Island. Fort .Jay km hulll, ] and in February, Diio, the '.siiud and all Its appurteuau 9 were coded to the United States. The Islaud cuutalut (t\-\ enty-two acres of land. wonderful rev steam." Whi hy introducing allv Intended for thirtec parapet. The fort, beiti asagiiardtotheentrau KlIii'H mid Ikdloe'H Isli soiithH-est from the BatI llnished. Twelve 12-poi Imiidred yards distant ; i men. It was an exccllei island then belonged to i On ISedlite'n Inland a bat ill? two (ield-pieces that! .1 defeucivu work. M^joi under his supervision. ( sloii to write hereaRer. f'lrt Mifflin, on the soi ')val. It was the old Brit constnicted of stone, brie llie Mililnry and Phitonoj)! f»rMf7/ran/, at Baltim a roliit of land between t Ixir. It was a regular pci vetinent; also a magazine (■™pa.iy. The countersci to be made. On the watei tat not yet inclosed. It l, vent ships reaching Baltim miles from the city. At the taise heloiigiiig to a citizt neit the cvlicme point, an l"e-'vouldhavetol,ebattc ;«1. A picture of the foi fonndmciutherpartofthl J"rt.y„y.„,,„t Annapolis, Mte ■!, on p,i;re isi *"i Hivor, near Norfolk V ««te. The former, on the N jndahalfMow,,,,.,,,,,.,;-^ »"".;'» in Dad condition. ftiKlers, two brass 8-inch I *V.ll dismounted, were l' "j.::V[-'"« works thro, ,; '■'""''"■''" "hout ami ^'iilj of (he river. Us covered „„„Hy,w„„„e/, «<■• In it were one large •'■onndors m\ „„« 12 ,^^ '»;''';. «'«HMt.u.ded to g"^; "^■%h. Themagazl„^ew„« OF THE WAIl OF 1812. 237 Coast Defeneeti of the United States. wonderful revolution in commerce, by the successful introduction of navigation by steam." While abroad, Mr. Fulton had conceived the idea of destroying ships hv introducing floating mines under their bottoms in submarine boats, and ex- '1807. »» OAHTLK WILLIAUB. allyinlcndort for thirteen guns. The pnrnpet had flfty-nne embraenres, and it wonld take one thousand men to man the parapet. The fort, beins; commanded by hills on the Long Island shore, was not constrnctcd to withstand a siege, but as a guard to the entrance to the East Hiver, and to operate against an enemy in the harbor or in the city. Eltn'i and Ikdloe's Isiands both had fortiflcntions on them. The former, lying a little more than two thousand yards soMliwesl from the Battery, had a semicircular battery calculated for thirteen guns. The parapet, of timbers, was un- llnislicd. Twelve 12-poundera lay there, but no guns were mounted. It was commanded by Bedloe's Island, twelve hundred yards distant ; also by Panlus's Hook (Tersey City), lying north of it. There were good quarters for ofliccrs an(i racn, It was an excellent position to defend the harbor IVom an enemy coming in at the Narrows. Only a part of the island then belonged to the United States. On Beillne's htand a battery had been commenced, and brick buildings for quarters. No cannon were mounted except- iiijtwofleld-pieees that belonged to Fort Jay. A dismounted '24-poundcr lay upon the Island. It was almost useless as adefenKivi! work. Mivlor Declns Wadswortli was then in command of the District of New York, and these works were under his supervision. Of the islands in New York Harbor, and the modem fortifications upon them, I shall have occa- sion to write hereafier. Flirt MijUiii, on the southeast extremity of Mud Island, in the Delaware, just below Philadelphia, was an irregular oval. It was the old British fort of the Revolution. It had been strengthened, and was a very important work. It was ccnstnicted of stone, brick, and earth, with heavy guns mounted. A long account of it is given in the MS. records of Ihe Mililanj and PhiUimphiml Society (New York Historical Society), vol. iv. FortM'lIenrji, at Baltimore, was a new work situated on apint of land between the Patapsco River and the har- bor. It was a regular pentagon, with a well-executed re- vetment; also a magazine, and barracks sufficient for one compa.iy. The counterscarp, covert, and glacis were yet to be made. On the water side was the wall of a battery, Imt not yet inclosed. It is a well-chosen position to jire- vent ships reaching Baltimoi ", and is about two and a half miles from the city. At the ti,ne wo are considering, a large lionsc lielonging to a citizen stood in front of Ihe battery, acit the extreme point, and, in the event of a ship's pass- ine, would have to be battered down, as It won. 1 cover the recjcl. A picture of the fort as it appeared in 18C1 may be (oiind in r uother part of this work. Ftirt Senm, at Annapolis, has already been noticed. See note 4, on pnge ISl. t'ortt Sor,i'<ilk and Xchton, one on each side of the Kllza- l«th Hiver, near Norfolk, Virginia, were of some Import- ance. The former, on the Norfolk side of the river, a m ? sad a half below the town, was an obh.ng square, with two battlnns, built chielly of earth, and a ditch on three sides ofit. Wilhiu it was one frame house and eight small log liats, all In bad coudition. Two 12, four «, and Jhirter.i piiunders, two brass 8-inch howitzers, and seven earron- »ilcs, all dismounted, were lying there. The fori was on llieslte of some works thrown np during 'be Revi'Uilltni. Fwl Seliuiii was about a mile below the town, on the op- l«*lte fid; of the river, lis form was triangnlnr, but irregular, the works of the Revolutionary era having been tiBed. II covered nearly two acres of groinid. It was built of eurlli. It had two batteries with embrasures, lined with brick inside. In it were one large two-story bouse, two rooms on a floor, a kitchen, and smoke-hmise. There were thirteen it-ponnders md <me I'i-pounder mountei; the carriages were rotten, and unlit for service. Thie fort, like the one op- iwjlle, was Intel. ded to guard the a|)proach to the town by water. On the land ^Ide the walls were not more than three IM high. The magazine waa too damp for uc>.^ ri..VN OK KOUT M'ni.NBV. ! s 19 lU i! lii Mfi'i 238 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Military Posts on the Northwestern Frontiers. Fulton's Toriiedocs. 'ill! i|i! ploding them there. He was filled with the benevolent idea that the introduction of such secret and destructive agencies would have a tendency to do away with naval warfare, and thus would be established what he called the Liberty of the Heaa, Impelled by this grand idea, he left France, where he had been residing several years, and M^ent over to England in 1 804, for the purpose of otfering his invention to the British government.' He finally obtained permission to make a public ex- periment of his Torpedo, as he called his " infernal machine," and he was furnished For the protection of Charleston Harbor there were several works, some of them as old as the Revolntion. Fort John- son, on James's Island, was enlarged and strengthened in 1793, and afterward repaired and patched at various times The chief worlcs were of brick. The barracks were of wood, one-story high ; there was also a block-house. A larm portion of the fort was carried away by a hurricane in 1804, and the remainder was inundated, sapped, and destroyed Fort Pinckney, built in 1798, stood upon a marsh in front v,f Charleston called Shutc's Folly. Built entirely of brirk. |' mounted eight 'ifl-pounders en barbette. At the best it was an incfflcient work, and in 1804 it too was sapped durlne the great hurricane, and rendered almost useless. Fort Moultrie was built on the site of the fort of that name in the Kcro- lution. It was constructed in 1798, chiefly of brick and palmetto logs. It mounted on the ramparts ten 26-ponnder8 en barbette, on double sea-coast carriages ; one mortar, and six 12-pounders and a howitzer in the ditch. This fort was also greatly damaged by the hurricane. The counterscarp and glacis were entirely swept away ; no ditch remained ; every traverse, and gun, and the reverberatory furnace were washed away and buried in the sand. All the wood-work of tbe fort was rotten, yet the fort was in a condition to be repaired. At the south end of the city of Charleston were tlie re- mains ot Fort Mechanic, a redoubt In ntter rain. Such was the general condition of the sea-coast defenses of the United States when war was declared in 1812, On the Northern and Northwestern frontiers were some military posts and fortifications. First was the fort on the island of Michlllimackinack, in the strait between Lakes Huron and Michigan. At Chicago, on Lake Michigan, was ftri Dearborn ; at the head of the Maumee, Fort Wayne ; a strong fort at Detroit ; a battery and block-house at Erie ; a bat- tery at Black Rock, just below Buffa'.o ; Fort Xiagara, a strong work built by the French, at the month of the Niagara River; another considerable fort at Oswego, and a military post and a ba.tery, called Fort Tompkins, at Sackett's Har- bor. All of these will be noticed in the course of onr narrative. • Mr. Fulton took up hir residence in Paris with Joel Barlow, and remained with him seven years. It was during that time that he planned his submarine boat, which he called a nautilus, and the machines attached to which he styled submarine bor..bs. He offered his invention several times to the French government, and once to the Dutch em- bassador at Paris, but did not excite the favorable attention of either. He then opened negotiations with the British government, and went to London in 1804. There he held Interviews with Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville, and explained the nature of his invention to them. Pitt was convinced /fits greet value, but Melville condemned it. In the couise of a month a committee wus appointed to examine, whose chairman was Sir Joseph Banks. They reported the Rubmarinc boat to be impracticable, when Mr. Fulton abandoned the idea of employing a saomarinc vessel, and turned hi? atten- tion to the arrangement of his bombs, so that they might be employed without submerged boats. These he called Toe- PEiioEs, and, in a memorial afterward presented to the American Congress,* he thus describes their construction, and method of operation : Plate I. This shows the torpedo anchored, and so arranged as to blow up a vessel that should strike it. B is a copper case, two feet long and twelve inches in diameter, cnpalile of containing one hundred pounds of gun- powder. A, a brass box, in which is a looli, similar to a common gun-lock, with a barrel two inches long, and holding a musket-chanic of powder. The box, with the lock cocked and barrel charged, is screwed to the copper case B. H is a lever, having a communica- tion with the cock inside the box A, holding the lock cocked, and ready to fire. C, a deal box filled with cork and tied to the case B, so as to make the torpedo fifteen to twenty pounds lighlo' than the water spcciflcally, so as to give it buoyancy. It is held down toi given depth by a weight. A small anchor it attached to the weight to prevent its beins moved by the tides. The torpedo was ennk not so deep as the usual draft of vessels to lie acted upon. In flood-tide it would be oblique to the weight, at slack water perpendicular at D, and during the ebb again bbllqnc at E. At ten feet below the surface the tide would not be likely to disturb it seriously. When a ship in sailing should strike the lever H, an instantaneous explosion would take place, and the utter destruction of the vessel would follow. Fulton proposed to anchor a hundred of these in the Narroirs, approaching the harbor of New York, in the event of war. The figure on the right shows on end view of the torpedo, : with a forked link, by which the chances of being struck by a vessel were increased. * Mr. Fulton's memorial, pnblished in pamphlet form in 1810, by William Elliott, 114 Water Street, New York, bean j the following title : Tobpkdo War and Siibmarink Explosion, b;i RoneRT Fci.ton, Fellow o/ the American Phihin^ihnl ] Society, and of the United State* Military and Philotophioal Society. Its motto— TAe Liberty qf the Seas will be the Ilapfi- ne»snfthe Earth. Ul'KlK). — rLATK 1. with a Danisl purpose. On Plaik II. This re at anchor or under s pounds or more of ; !cven inches In diam dcr and wad, which work, moved by a co which may be detern instant the pin is witi number of minutes f long and six or eight the surface, no weigh being nsert. To this pended. The line of b« long enough to 1 well back toward the i From the torpedo an lines, each twenty feet From these a single lim length, Is attached to when the vessel is harp ivill bring the torpedo i It about midships, of a harpoon J is a round p an inch in diameter, tv abuttofoneinch, whlci ibre of the gun from v projected. In the head ( poon Is an eye ; thepoli cslong. Into the eye th poon is spliced, and a sn copper link runs on the poon. To this link the at such length as to fo when the harpoon is In i ini, the link will slide a of the harpoon, and, holdl the harpoon parallel to rope Hill act like a tall or •The late Henry Pras8e,w Misrials, made the clock-wor , "W-Mr.FnltonanVPr, ;«M»y,,8,n._uF„f(™ Jftn^ewaa then the on^ Hii.' OF THE WAR OP 1813. 239 Description of Torpedoes ouil their Uses. ffith a Danish brig, named Dorothea, and two boats, with eight men each, for the purpose. On the 15th of October, 1805, the Dorothea was anchored in Walmer PuTE II- This represents another Itlnil of torpedo— a clocli-work torpedo*— intended to attack a vessel while lying at uichor or under sail, by harpoouing her on her larboard or starboard bow. B, a copper case containing one hundred Donnde or more of gunpowder. C, a cork cushion, to give buoyancy to the whole. A, a cylindrical brass box, about (even Inches In diameter and two deep, in which is a gun-lock, with a barrel two inches long to receive a charge of pow- der and wad, which charge is fired with the powder of the case B. In the brass box A there Is also n piece of clock- work moved by a colled spring, which being wound up and set, will let the lock strike fire in any number of minutes which may be determined, within an hour. K is a small line fixed to a pin, which holds the clock-work inactive. The Instant the pin Is withdrawn the clock-work begins to move, and the explosion will take place in one, two, three, or any number of minutes for which it has been set. The whole Is made perfectly water-tight. D Is a pine box, two feet lone and six or eight inches square, filled with cork to give it buoyancy, as in Plate I., although In this case It floats on the surface, no weights for submergence being nsed. To this the torpedo is sus- pended. The line of suspension should be long enough to bring the torpedo well back toward the stem of the ves"' 1 From the torpedo and float D arc tvo lines, each twenty feet long, united at E. From these a single line, about fifty teet in length, is attached to a harpoon. This, when the vessel is harpooned in the bow, will bring the torpedo under the bottom, at abont midships, of a man-of-war. The harpoon lis a round piece of iron, half an inch in diameter, two feet long, with jbnit of one inch, which is the exact cal- ibre of the gun from which it is to be projected. In the bend of the barbed har- poon Is an eye ; the point about six Inch- es long. Into the eye the line of the har- poon Is spliced, and a small iron or tough copper I'nk runs on the shaft of the har- poon. To this liuk the line Is attached at snch length as to form the loop II when the harpoon is in the gun. When llred, the link will slide along to the butt oflhc harpoon, and, holding the rope and toupkim, im atk .i ihc harpoon parallel to each other, the TourKi>o.-i late it. rope will act like a tall or rod to a rocket, and guide it straight. F is the harjjoon gun, acting upon a swivel fixed In the stern-sheets of a boat. The harpoon is fixed in the vessel's bow, with the line fl-om the tor- pedo attached ; the torpedo clock- work is set in motion, the ma- chine Is thrown overboard, and the tide, on the motion of the ves- sel, quickly places it under the ship. Plate III ' ' per portion of the pi its the stem iifarow-bii ivitli the harpoon- gun ind torpedo just described. A [1' iiirm, four feet long and thr< 'l wide, l^< made on the stern, j, vcl with the gunwale, and projectli!;; o->. the stom fifteen or eighteen hps .., tli the 'I'rpedo, in fiuuun into the water, ■y clear the rudder. The ropes ' care Cully disposed so that iierc may be no entanglement. 'I'hc letters in this figure (A, B, and C) (!• ii,it>- the parts, as in the last plaie 'I i)ln D, which restrains the 'lo lork. Is drawn, when tl,i .> is cast off, by the line 11 • to the boat at E. The bar^uuuer, stationed at the gun, * The late Henry Frasse, who for many years kept a shop In Fulton Street, New York, for tlie sale of watch-maker's I Micrlals, made the clock-work for Mr. Fulton. In bis account-book before me is the following entry at the time we are 1 Mnsiderlug : " Dt. Mr. Fulton a Il'y Frasse ; "2(lth May, ISin.— a Fulton repare un tnrpedos, le grand ressort, volant et rone, 4.Bfl." Mr. Frnsse wag then the only machinist of note in the city of New York. Ue died in Fobroary, 1840, at the age of sixty I 'Ight years. I i - 1 ■i- i ill Hi' ■ : ■ 240 PICTORIAL riKTD-BOOK The Uorothea destroyed by a Torpedo. An Ai,count of Fulton's Kxpcrlmcut Road, not far from Deal, and in sight of Walmer Castle, the residence of William Pitt the English prime minister, and there, in tlie presence of a large number of naval offi- cers and others,' he made a successful exhibition. He first practiced the bdatimn with empty torpedoes. One was placed in each boat, and connected by a small rope eighty feet long. The Dorothea drew twelve feet of water, and the torpedoes were suspended fifteen feet under water when cast from the boats, at the distance of sev- enty-five feet ajjart. They floated toward the brig with the tide, one on each side of her. When the conneoting-line struck the hawser of the brig, both torpedoes were brought by the tide under her bottom. Having exercised the men sufliciently, Fulton filled one of the torpedoes Avitli one hundred and eighty pounds of gunpowder, set its clock-work (explained in note 1 page 238) to eighteen minutes, and then went through with the same mananivrcs as before, the filled and the empty tornedo being united by a rope. At the expira- tion of eighteen mimites from the time the torpedoes were cast overboard, and were carried toward the Dorothea, a dull explosion was heard, and the brig was raiser' uodily about six feet,''* and sciia- rated in the middle ; and in tweny min- utes nothi.:;!' was seen of her but some floating fragmciits. The pumjis and fore- masts were blown out of her ; the fore- topsail -yards were thrown up to the cross-trees ; the fore-chain plates, with their bolts, were torn from her sides, and her mizzcn-mast was broken off" in two places. The experiment was perfectly satisfactory; b;'t the IJritish government refused to purchase and use the invention, because it was thought to be inexpedient also steers the bont, and fires according to his judgment. If the Imrpoon sticks into the bow of the vessel, the boat i- immediately moved away, the torpedo cast out of the bo it, and the clock-work set in motion. If the harpoon mi.<^e! the ship, the torptdo may be saved, and another attack bf made. Fulton proposed to hi>vc twelve men in each bciai.ail armed for their jirotection or offensive movements, if ue .-essary. The figure in the lower part of the plate is a bird's- eye view of a vessel (A) at anchor. H, her cable ; E F, t' <-o torpedoes ; C I), their coupling Hues, twelve feet lonj;. li is touching the vessel's cable, and the torpedoes being driv n\ under her by the tide. In this way the Dorothea, mentioned in the text, was attacked. Those were clock-work torpi;does. Pi.ATK rv. represents n bird's- eye view of a vessel at (luohnr.ur under weigh, attacked by n flniilla of mortar-boats. A is tjic ve.«ffl, and B C two torpedoes opernliiiy by means of the harpoon move- ment. When il was olijci'led lliai these l)oats would be cxpufod to I grape, canister, and musliel balls from the vessel, Kullon cstimalfd i Ihat the time of danger, liv npn \ movcnieniB, would not e.xcoi'd funr mliiutes— two in approadiinfiuear j enough to fire the hnrpniiu, t two for retreating. lie eiilcred j into a calculation of tiie pealfrj efllcicncy and less exposure iif Ihe I DESTKUOTION OF TilF. llOltolllKA. TonPEnoEs.— ri.ATK IV. tori)edo system, in harbor defense, than ships of war. I have given this description of Ihe torpedo as illustrntive nfi part of the history of the times we are considering. Science aud meclianical skill have since produced far moro del Btructive engines of war, and yet Fulton's dream of establishing the liherlii n/tlic sens by means of Ihe tori)edo, (ir aiijj other instrumentality, remains unaccomplished. A Mnnitor of to-day is worth a million oftorpedoeix for harbor defrnM.! ' Admiral llolloway. Sir Sidney Sinilh, Captain Owen, Captain Kingston, Colonel Congreve, and a greater portion ofl the otflcera of the ilenl under Lord Keith were present. Pitt was in Ij<mdon, and did not see the exhibition. Colonfl| Congreve wis the Inventor of the rocket, "pyrotechnic arrow," as Fulton called It, bearing hig name. ■ "rhe ongraving is from a drRwiug by i- niton, appended to his memortnt to CongreM In 1810. Fullon'fl Torpedoes W OF THE WAR OF 1812. 241 Fultou's Torpedoes in New York Harbor. Ills Estimate of the Value of Torpedoes and Steam Navigation. for the mistress of the seas to introduce into naval warfare a system that woulil give ((reat advantages to weaker maritime nations. Tiiu Earl St. Vincent said Pitt was a fool to encourage a mode of warfare which they, wlio commanded the seas, did not want, and which, if successful, would deprive them of it.' At the beginning of 1807 Mr. Fulton was in Washington with his drawings, mod- els and plans for a " tor])edo war." He was favorably listened to then, but his plans were regarded with more interest after the afl'air of the Zeujxml and Chtaivpeake, a ii;\s months later. Tliat affair caused much public discussion about harbor defenses, ;iii(l able practical writers, like Colonel Williams and John Stevens, favored the use (if Fulton's torjjcdoes. It was believed that measures would be taken to drive British vessels of war from American harbors, and on the Cth of July Fulton again brought his torpedoes to the notice of the Secretary of the Navy. Congress made a small appropriation for experiments, and on the 20th of July, by the direction of the Presi- iliiit. Fulton performed a feat in the harbor of New York similar to that of the de- struction of the Dorothea in Walmer Road. He utterly desti'oyed a vcsfeel of tAvo hnnclred tons burden, and convinced the spectators that any ship might be so demol- ished.^ The experiment created quite a sensation in England. The Earl of Stan- \\ ' e, Fulton's early friend, alluded to it in Parliament, and reproached the govern- i!ient,by implication, for suffering such an invention to go to America, when, for three thousand pounds, they migh^ have possessed it. Nothing farther of importance was (lone in the matter, for Fultoa was then deeply engaged in bringing to a successful issue his experiments in navigaihig by steam as a motor. But when those experi- ments resulted in absolute and brilliant success, and men's minds were filled with speculations concerning the future of this new aid to commerce, he believed tliat his torpedo system would be of far moro benefit to mankind than navigation by steam. Ill a letter to a friend, giving him an account of his first voyage to Albany and back hy steam — the fiist achievement of the kind — lie said : " IIoAvcver, I will not admit that it is half so important as the torpedo system of defense and attack, for out of it will grow the liberty of the seas, an object of infinite importance to the welfare of America and every civilized country. But thousands of witnesses have now seen the steam-boat in rapid movement, and believe ; they have not seen a ship-of-war de- stroyed by a torpedo, and they do not believe."' How utterly impotent is the finite mind Avhen it attempts to understand the future. It is like a bewildered traveler in a dark night attempting to comprehend an almost illimitable prairie before him by the aid of a " fire-fly lamp." The torpedo is forgot- ten; the steam-boat, in Monitor* form, is now (1867) the great champion for the " lib- [crty ofthe seas." In January, 1810, ^ulton again visited Washington, and at Kalorama, the seat oi his good fiiend Barlow, near Georgetown, in the presence of PresidcTit Jefferson, Sec- I retary Madison, and a large number of mendiers of Congress, he exhibited and ex- |ilaiiied the plans and models of improved torpedoes, such as are described in note 1, ' lettpr from Roliert Fulton to .Tocl Barlow. > Mr. Fulton invited the Governor of tlie State of New York, the Corporation of the city, olid many others, to witness [bhciperira(!ntH. They assembled atFort Jay, on Governor's Island, on the 2nth of Jnly, and In the shadow of the great I »jte»ay ho lectured on the subject of his torpedoes. He had a blank one for bio explanations, and his numerous audi- I inn gathered close around him, with great eagerness, to catch every word from his lips, and see every part of the ma- I thine. At length he turned to one of the torpedoes lying near, under the gateway of the fort, to which his clock-work |»L< attached, and drawing out tlie plug, and setting it in m.Hion, he said : "Gentlemen, this is a charged torpedo, with Irtlfliipicclcoly in its present state, I mean to blow up a vessel. It contains one hundred and seventy pounds of giin- jioitdcr, audifl were to snfTer the clock-work to run fifteen mi.iutcs, I have no doubt that it would blow this fortlfloa- jiioii to ntnins." The circle of the audience around Mr. Fu..on immediately widened, and, before five of the fifteen min- liifs had elapsed, all bnt two or three had dlsajjpeared from the gatewa}', and retired to as great a distance as possible |«ith the utmost speed. Fulton, entirely confident In his machine, was perfectly calm. "Uow frequently fear arises tamlgnnrauce," ho said.— Coldcn's Life ofFiUlnii, page T.f. ' Letter to .loel Barlow from New York, dated August 22, ISOT. 'For a tleFcription ofthe Monitor, a new style of vessel of war, first made known to the world by a terrible enconn- |l(rwiih the Merrinmrk, another efllclcnt vessel of war, in Hampton Roads, Virginia, In March, 1802, see Lossing's Pic- 1 fial llitlnrij n} the Civil War. Q ; ' mi mn 1 ' ; 1 • ' : i ' I 242 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK. Farther Kxijerimcuts with Torpedoes. A wholeeonie Fear of them. Kobert FuUod. page 238. They were deeply impressed with the value of the invention, and in March Congress appropriated five tiiousand dollars for further experiments, to be publicly made in the harbor of New York, under the direct superintendence of Conunodoic Rodgers and Captaui Chauncey. The sloop-of-war Aryus was prepared to (k'lWul herself against Fulto'Ts torpedo attacks.' The experiments were trinl and October, in the autumn." They failed, so far as attacks upon the Arr/us wci, concerned, and Rodgers reported the scheme to be wholly impracticable. Commissioners, among whom were Chancellor Livingston, Morgan Lewis, ami Cad- wallader Colden, re ported in its favor. But Fulton, then still deeply engaged in steam-boat matters, nuide no farther ef- forts to induce the government to adopt his torpedo system; yet his faith in its val- ue was not abated. When war was de- clared in 1812, Ful- ton revived his tor- pedo scheme, but could not win the countenance of the government. Sever- al attempts to put it in execution Avere made by inexperi- enced persons, and failed, and torpe- does did not enter into the system of warfare carried on at that time. Bm Avhile they were uot actually used, ex- cept in a few isola- ted cases, against the British vessels of war, a wholesome fear of them was abroad in the Brit- ish navy. There was great anxiety inaiii- fested on the part of the British naval commanders, when they approached our coasts, to know where ]\Ir. Fultoii- Avas ; and, such was their caution, thev seldom attenipteil to enter the harbors of the United States during the ,^ war. No doubt the fear of Ful- ton's torpedoes j KIILTON'S BIBTII-ri.AOE. 1 Fiilton had also invented a submarine machine for cut- ting the cables of ships at anchor. Experimeuts with this were tried at the same time. ' Robert Fulton was born at Little Britain, Lancaster I County, Pennsylvania, in 1T05. His parents were from Ire. f hind. His «arly education was meagre. At the age of sev- enteen he was painting miniatures* at Philadelijlila, andl indulging his taste for mechanics In the work-shops of thatl city. His friends sent him to London, to receive iiistrat-j tlons in painting, when he was twenty-one years of «Lf.j The celebrated WeSt was his Instructor. The Karl of Slan.| hope, who took great interest in mechanics, became hiil friend, and encouraged his taste for the useful arts. HC heard of the experiments of Pitch and Evans in the nn of steam for imvigation, nnd his active mind began to f|K ulate on the subject, and have glorious perceptions of fiJ tnre achievements. He left painting, and 1/ecame an ei| gineer. He entered the family of Joel Barlow, at Pari!, i 1797, and there he became acquainted with Chancellor M ingston, with whom he carried on experiments in navifi tion by steam. They saw wealth and honor as the rewjrf of success in that line on the inland waters of the fiiita States. They came home, and were sncceesfnl. The lirf voyage from Albany to New York silenced all donbt. • In White's PMImelpliia Directory, 1788, is the following : "Robert Fulton, miniature painter, corner of Second s Walnut StisetB." A "Peace Party." feared several c in 1814, will b« Notwithstan approved by ai istration was a ernments at th( large and powe izatioii, called tl the government took groimd eai perceived that t; ;,'overnment had against the Unit( iiecticut refused ately after the d( the Constitution, sition for the mil evidence of any d ary and Legislatii The Legislature c most dangerously House of Delegate MassacJiusetts, Rhi in the Senate oppc linked the action < :i"d unexpected oc( result of solemn del tare of Ohio declai .io:gressions of Grca imworthy to defend in support of the na ted into the Union, the one which our c repose in the confide The.se conflicting i was aroused in alf it I ml in the city of B I iinirder and maiming. I ISShe obtained his flrsT^, I '1! directed by Congress to i I Ulerward (February 24 181 ^y JiTbe,.,v„,avloIento;rH ll'enlMx years of „ "|™^ I».tli6 interest, which had suff l»« that when that declaratm |«lio«tospenkas freely a" "w "Peace Party." OF THE WAR OF 18,2. :Zrr_Zf^!^^^c™mentg — — __ leaved several of our sea-port town« fi \ ___^___Riot in Baltimore^ NotwithstaiKlitig ^var had bee d "oaie, launched ™m™t. n. the Ia°, mt, '">"<'™W« .Man, (br avmim ', J"!""' ""■ "'tai"- against the United States T . n ' ''' g^nt^^'-nHy loyal and ,to 7 ! *^ "»I^^"al necticut refused to com,l . ^ ^«^'«™ors of Masiachu V? 1,^ f I" '''^'^^ "1' «™s a'ely after the dc^TlaiS f j;f, *'" '■^^"-^'- "'-^e ' po^ £t' '''/•'' "'^^ ^«"- the Constitution, and t n nef Jf n "^"^ P'-«"">Igated. The! 1 " ^,^' "»'"'« "»'«edi- ^ition for the nr litia which "^^^^''^^^ ^utlu^ri^ing the Pre 'f^''^''^'^^'^'^^ "P«n evidence of any da Ir Jft '°"*^™PJ«tefl the exigencv of ov . '," "'•'*^'^' " ^'^i"- The Legislature of New TeT ?''*'^' ''''''' they e '.o £ -'f^ ^^ *^'« J»'Ji«i- most dangerously imnoL'^.^^""«""«ed the war as « o. T^'"* ^^^ ^'^'fi'-^nce. !."ked the actio?:? the tllr^ 'T ^^''"•^^-•^- ThVSatuTo^ f P '^ ^""•' ^^''"'^ '-"•' ""oxpected occu to »' ^T "^"^1"^' ^«-™orsf a d 'a ,ed '^'""^^?"'''^ - result of solemn delihprnf ^^ J'esol ved that « the rW • * '■*" •'^Janning - of Ohio f^£^tTc^^:^^ -' ^-pet.::r:^; f s r • f in «Wort of the na Lnj^t '''™'^" "^^«^^ York ex L ed IT"" " •'"■^^ ^^"«« ^^ '«' ">to the Union, .-bfr"™-"*' ""^^ ^he new State of j,'-'''*^ ^^"'•••^noe tie one which our couLJ^ /'^"'^ "^^^s governor « If pvn""'''^"''^'J"«t «<^'nit- ^pose in the confid nc o/their'"''''"'''' ^^ ''^'^ -a " If e/er: T'' ^^ •'■"^^'«^'^^^' These conflicting virs'^ ^T™"-*. - are that HlZr^''^ '^-^ -- to "aroused in all its fierceness P^r"'^'"^ «°"fl'^t of action P . i^d "1 the city of Baltiraorr! ^^'"^^'^al collisions became fl ^''*''*^^ "P"''* ^^^andm^mingf"""^ ^ ^««* f-rf«l not ««cuS, tL t^X of'S "was I m directed by Congressto . " ?^ ^°'^^'> scheme farnnTT^ ^ — — ^ I=.«ilteimere8t,whirhad ^.fcV'"' ""=" » ""' Sine com ^^" ^'"'^«'^'^' «^t e'duli'ir*'^ appearance Jaw that when that decl«iH ''®'' ""^ ''cclnration of w^^ , ""' •ncsnreg, and was nn» T . ^^ '"''?«» "f »ie mer- ino" to speak a, free ;S^'^°" -^« once made aU opJ^suCt." b'*'""'^'' °^'»"mat on^^au dll' "^ "■" ""P"""- |» !■ In the matter of the All' "'7^'"'"'«t'-ation and Z ™„ ""^ '""■■ ""«' cease, the editor ^, ^'° '"'"'« '" Con- IvWe, that the w«r ,« „,! " "'"' Sedition Laws " w """"""'•'s as before, thereby r„v„? "'""'"need his detenn- |^™.-npon theiXnt CrlTnr '■^'•"''^'''''"«nfr«nd ItlZTl" 5" '"''''• '''"Sent tat*; '' P^-'^y °f "s part^ Non Saturday, June 2ntb «n/""'^"'^'"'«<='' ''■'■•clffn inm,e' '"l"! ^""" P"""'. Person"' and » ""^."""'^ »'' '^^ a'^ r« "f '"at pape; and demo'lfshn.' u*'""""^ ^^«n"'^, the 2?/?'''''?'' ««» "ot be mistaken " tmV" '''"''"'' '"""ves JWMme vessels, and comm.?,^'"' "• "a^lnff thus comm! ' ^ """'• '»«a(ied by a French n„ .T '* """"nncement was ^n> attacked. The m„ J , ".'" Baltimore attor a sH™^ iT '''"' "s«d ^for the mirnosp -r J"'"'''' '" «'-<'«tabII«h m m ) IK ji Wi ^U^ III!' :f ili|j 244 nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Inhubitantn of Cnnada. llcasoDH for tlioir Loyalty. A(ltlie.-8 of the Caimdiau Legislature. The people of Canada, whoso soil was about to bo invaded, were filled with ''•"lintrs of doubt and alarm, especially in the Upper Province. A large number ot tlie in. habitants in that section were natives of the United States who had emigrated tliitli- er to better their condition. Many of them still felt a lingering affection for the land of their birth, and were unwilling to take up arms against it; but there was another class of emigrants — Loyalists, or the children of Loyalists of the Revolution — uolit. ical exiles — occupying a large tract of land lying between Lakes Erie and Ontaiin and westward, who were indebted to the liberality of the Britisli government for the soil they were cultivating, and to their own industry for tlie roofs that slu'ltoroil them. These retained bitter feelings toward the United States, and took up arms witli alacrity against a people whom they regarded as their oppressors. When war was actually commenced — when American troops were actually encamj)ed on Canadian territory, these old Loyalists formed a most energetic and active element in the firm opposition which the invasion encountered. To these the Legislature of Upper Can- ada, whose loyalty was at first considered somewhat doubtful, addressed a most stirring appeal, soon after the American declaration of war was known, to the delitrht of the governor and the English party. " Already," they said, " have we the joy to remark that the spirit of loyalty has burst forth in all its ancient splendor. Tliu mi- litia in all jDarts of tlio province have volunteered their services with acclamation, and displayed a degree of energy worthy of the British name. They do not forget the blessings and privileges which they enjoy under tlie protective and fostering care of the British empire, whose government is only felt in this country by acts of the purest justice, and most pleasing and efficacious benevolence. When men are called upon to defend every thhig they call precious, their wives and children, their friends and possessions, they ought to be inspired with the noblest resolutions, and they will not be easily frightened by menaces, or conquered by force ; and beholding, as we do, the flanio of patriotism burning from one end of the Canadas to the other, wc (;.m not but entertain the most pleasing anticipations. Our enemies have, indeed, said that they can subdue this country by a proclamation ; but it is our part to prove tn them that they are sadly mistaken ; that the i)opulation is determinately hostile , an 1 that the few who might be otherwise inclined will find it their safety to be faitliful." The address then proceeded to warn the people that, " in imitation of their Euro- pean master (Napoleon)," the United States Avould " trust more to treachery than to a Federalist, Joined him, and about twenty others made up the defensive party. They were well-armed and provisioned for n siege. On the evening of the 2{ith of July (tlie evening of the day on which the revived newspaper first iippcatedi the mol) assembled, ^fler assniliut; the building with stones for some time, they forced open the door, and when ascend- ing the stairs they were fired upon. One of the ringleaders was killed and several were wounded. After miicli solici- tude, two magistrates, by virtue of their authority, ordered out two companies of militia, under General Strieker, to quell the mob. A single troop of horse soon appeared, and at about daylight the mayor and General Strieker apprated. A truce was obtained, and it was agreed that the defenders, some of whom were hurt, and who were all charged with murder, should be conducted to prison to answer that charge. They were promised not only personal safety, but iiro- tection of the premises by n military guard. On their way to prison the band played the rogue's march. The mol) im- mediately sacked the house. Only a few more of the military could be persuaded to come out, and the mob had its omi way to a great extent. At night they gathered around the prison, and the turnkey was so terrified that he allowed them to enter. The prisoners extinguished their lights and. rushed out. They mingled with the mol), and thus several e-- caped. Some were dreadfully beaten, and chree were tortured by the f^irious men. General Lee was made a cripple k life, and General Lingan, then seventy years of age, distinguished for his services In the field during the old war for in- dependence, expired in the hands of the mob.* In the treatment of their unfortnnate prisoners the most intcDW sav- agism was displayed. The riot was at length qnelled, and the city magistrates, on investigaticn, placed the entire blame , on the publishers of the obnoxious newspaper. It was decided that in a time of war no man has a right to cast ob- \ stacles In the way of the success of his country's undertakings. The course of the Federal RepnUiean was condcnracd ns treasonable— as giving aid and comfort to the enemy ; and its fate was not mourned outside of the circle of its polil- | ical supporters. While all right-minded men deprecated a mob, and condemned. In unmeasured terms, its atrocities, ' they as londly condemned the unpatriotic course of the offending newspaper. * Funeral honors were jiald to General Lingan, at Georgetown, on the Isl of September following, by a great proces- j slon, and an oration by the late George VVasliington Parke Custis, the adopted son of Washington. His oration raj extemporaneous, and was an eloquent and impassioned appeal to the feelings of his auditors. Only three years and j six months after the death of the orator, the blood of other patriots, not engaged in the immediate defense of the liber- ty of the press, hut hurrying to the national capital to save it from tl. grasp of frntriciii. , were slain in the streets o( j lialtimore by a mob (April 10, 1801), who, as in 1S12, were tenderly dealt with, if not encouraged, by the mngietrate! ot j the city. Enllatmcuts In the OF THE WAR OF 1812. 240 Enllstmcutt In the UritiKh I'rovluces. Peaceful PrnpoHiliuug. ActluD on the UrderH in Cuunctl and Uocrees, t'orce;" that they would bo falsely told that armies como to give them freedom 1111(1 peace ; that emissaries " of the most contemptible faction tliat ever distracted the aft'iiirs of any nation — the minions of the very sycophants who lick tlie dust from the feet of Bonaparte," would endtiivor to seduce them from their loyalty. Tliis address had a powerful eft'ect. The prudence and sagacity of Sir George Pre- vost the governor general of Canada, had allayed the political agitations in the Low- tr Province, which had assumed a throatening aspect during tlie administration of Ills predecessor, Sir James II. Craig. Now, when war seemed impending, the Legis- hiture of the Lower Province, laying aside their political bickerings, voted to furnish two thousand unmarried men to serve for three months during two successive sum- mers. Besides these, a corps, called the Glenga'T Light Infantry, numberhig, on the 1st of May, 1812, four hundred rank and file, and drawn chiefly from the Lower Province, was organized. Its officers promised to double that number. At the same time, enlistments were made in Acadia r»>d Nova Scotia, while Lieutenant M'Donell ijathered under his banner a large number of Highlanders, settled upon the Lower St Lawrence and the Gulf.' It was soon made evident to the Americans that no de- pendence could be placed upon disloyalty among the Canadians, and that, instead of timliiiaj friends and allies north of the lakes, they would find active foes. Wliile these events were transpiring in America, there were movements abroad which faintly promised an adjustment of difliiculties between the two governments without a resort to arms. Liimediately after the declaration of war, President Mad- ison, through Secretary Monroe, sent a dispatch* to Mr. Russell, the Amer- .j,u,o20, icau minister at the British court, by Mr. Foster, the English minister retir- ^®^*- , iiif,' from Washington,'^ instructing him to offer an armistice preliminary to a definite anangement of all differences, on condition of the absolute repeal of the obnoxious onlers in Council, the discontinuance of impressment, and the return of all American seamen who had been impressed and were still in the British service. He was au- thorized to promise, on the part of the United States, a positive prohibition of em- ployment for British seamen in the American service, public or private, on condition iif a reciprocity in kind on the part of the British government. He made still more liberal advances toward reconciliation in a subsequent dispatch,^ offering to agree to an armistice on a tacit understanding, instead of a positive stipulation, that no more American seamen should be impressed into the British service. The British government had already taken action on the orders in Council. We liave noticed the efiect of Brougham's efforts in Parliament, and Baring's potent In- (juiry on the subject of those orders. In the spring of 1812 a new order was issued, declaring that if at any time the Berlin and Milan Decrees should, by some authori- tative act of the French government publicly promulgated, be withdrawn, the orders iu Council of January, 1807, and of April, 1809, should be at once repealed. Mr. Bar- low, the American minister at Paris, immediately after receiving information of this I new order, pressed the French government to make a public announcement that those ilecrees had ceased to operate, as against the United States, since November, 1810. 1 Tlie Duke of Bassano exhibited great reluctance to do so, but finally, persuaded that I the Americans would resume trade Avith Great Britain in defiance of the few French craisers afloat, and that the tAvo governments might form an alliance against the em- jieror, produced a decree, dated April 28, 1811, directing that, in consideration of the resistance of the LTnited States " to the arbitrai-y pretensions advanced by the British orders in Council, and a formal refusal to sanction a system hostile to the independ- ' Angnst 24. I A nintnrii nf the War betieeen Great Britain and the United States qf America during the Years 1812, 1813, atid 1814, by O.Anchinleck, \mees 48-48 inclusive. 'Mr. Foster sailed from New York for Halifax In the brig Colibri, on Sunday, July 12, accompanied by Mr. Barclay, I to British consul at New York. iiM^^ m ">. f» \\--\ ' '] i I ii ilJ'i 246 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Dl«graceful Conduct ufa Freuch Miulater. Cundltiuual Hevucatluu uf the Urdora In Council ' 1818. enco of neutral powers, the Berlin and Milan Decrees were to bo considered as not having existed, as to American vesseJH, since November 1, 1810."' Barlow perceived by the date of this document, that there was dissimulation and lack of candor in tin! whole matter, and, by pressing tiie duke with questions, caust-d that minister to ut- ter what were doubtless absolute falsehoods.^ In truth, the French had, throughout this whole matter of decrees, and the enforcement of the Continental System, Ih,,,, guilty of deception and injustice to a degree that would have justified an honest na- tion in suspending all diplomatic relations with them. On receiving a copy of this decree Barlow dispatched it to London by the Warn for Mr. Russell's use. It reached there just in time to co-operate Avith the Biiti>;li manufacturers, who had procured the appointment of a committee of the House of Commons to inquire into the effects of the orders in Council on the commercial inter- ests of the nation.^ Castlereagh, to whom Russell presented the decree, consider it too limited to induce the British government to make any change in its policy. But he and his colleagues were compelled to yield. The new ministry, who came in after Mr. Perceval's death,* were very strongly pressed by Brougham, Baring, and oth- ers, and menaced with the desertion of their supporters in the manufacturing dis- tricts. Finally, on the ICth of June," Brougham, after a minute statement of facts brought out by the inquiry of the Commons' connnittee, and an eloquent exposition of the absurd policy jjursued by the government,'^ moved an address totlio Pruice Regent, beseeching him to recall or suspend the orders in Council, and to adopt such other measures as might tend to conciliate neutral poAvers, without sacii Being the rights and dignity of his majesty's crown. Castlereagh deprecated tliis " hasty action," as he called it, and stated that it was the intention of the government to make a conciliatbry proposition to the Cabinet at Washington. On an intimation that tliis definite proposition avus decided upon in the Cabinet, and would ajipear in ^ the next Gazette, Brougham AvithdrcAV his motion. On the 23d'' a declaration from the Prince Regent in Council Avas published, absolutely revoking ail or- ders as far as they regarded America. It Avas accompanied by a proviso tliat tin present order should have no eflect unless the United States should revoke their Xon intercourse Act, and place Great Britain on the same relative footnig as France. The order also provided that the Prince Regent should not be precluded, if circumstances should require it, from restoring the orders in Council, or from taking suclr other measui-es of retaliation against the French as might appear to his royal highness just and necessary." Intelligence of this conditional revocation of the orders in Council reached Mr, Fn-. ter before he sailed from Halifax, and he obtained from the naval commander on tha; station (Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren) consent to a mutual suspension of pro- ' The new decree was dated " Palace of St. Cloud, April 28, ISll," and signed by Napoleon as " Emperor of the Frencb. King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Hhine, and Mediator of the Swiss Confederacy." ' Barlow asked Bassano if the decree, apparently a year old, had ever been published. He was answered no, addiii; that it had been shown to Mr. Russell, when Charge d'Affaircs at Paris, and had been sent to Serrurier, at AVashtngton, to be communicated to the American government. The records on both sides of the Atlantic proved this statement to ; be untrue. The decree was a fresh one, antedated for diplomatic effect. ' The examination of this committee, wlio were authorized to summon persons and papers, commenced on the I'l'lh of April, and continued until the 13th of June. Witnesses from almost every part of Great Britain were examiuoiUijil in every case the transcendent Importance of American commerce to the welfare of England was made manifest liy tes- timony. The folly, wickedness, and stupidity of the orders in Council were fully exposed ; and in the volnme of alino-; seveu hundred pages, filled witli the minutes of that examination, an awful picture is given of the calamities to trade which those orders had produced. ♦ Sec page 833. 5 He decried the sort of half-piratical commerce which England was then pursuing in unmeasured terms. " It Is ihis miserable, shifting, doubtful, hateful traffic that we prefer to the sure, regular, increasing, honest gains of AraerlcaD j commerce— to a trade which is placed beyond the enemy's reach ; which, besides enriching ourselves in peace and hen- 1 or, only benefits those who are our natural friends, over whom he has no control ; which supports at once all that re- j mains of liberty beyond the seas, und gives life and vigor to its main pillar within the nation— the manufactures mi] commerce of England. . . . That commerce is the whole American market, a branch of trade in comparison of which, j whether yon regard its extent, its certainty, or its progressive increase, every other sinks into insigniticance, II is a j market which in ordinary times may take off about thirteen millions [$85,000,000] worth of oi. • manufactures, and iii'j steadiness and regularity it Is unrivaled." ' American Sttite /Vijws, ii., 83. An Armlatlve. cceflhigs agal: IJriti.sh secretf ter also stated to propose a si the commande to an armistice prosperity; bu riitify this armi President doul) I'ortain hoAv far selves; saAV no dark cloud on t as it would affc President Avas a an answer from like waiving tha When Mr. Rm jeot of an armis heen already pre to Admiral Wan that basis. At t tal subject of inif .surprise tJiat, " as emmcntoftheUi eminent should d seamen from the t. shall hcreafVor be or commercial ser discuss any propc substitution of son practice; "but thi upon which the na\ object might be at Of all tlie grievi the most serious. »fthel7nited State than all blockades degree, the patriotis sensibilities of a free ascnse of social wrc of impressment of i^ H-as believed that a rnstlereagh admitt( ilimisand five hnndn ican seamen, but sai •American citizens, ki and made slaves in I 'General Dearborn's head- bash, opposite Albany, in Nc, , •'»( his adjutant general, Ba l»ll.e<l with power to conrind, ! 'on the 9th of August. The I 7"'"ithen-ontiersofNew ! "long the opposite and corresi OF THE WAR OF 1812. 247 IIP \D Armistice. The hnuKhty AHHiimptloDB of the BrltlHh (lovcriiincnt. Number of Impreaiiod American Hoamcn. peediiiRS agaiiiHt ciiptiircd vcshcIh, Tliis fmrt wan comiminicated to Mr. Boker, the liritish Ht'crt'tary of Icj^ation left at Washington, to be laiJ before tlio President. Fos- liialno stated tliat he liad advised Sir (ieorge I'revost, (iovernor (Jeiieral of Canada, to propose a suspension of hostilities on land. This was done, and (teneral Dearborn, the coniniaiKler of the Amcriean forces on the Northern frontier, provisionally agreed loan iinnistiee.' Joy filled many liearts at these jjroniises of peaee and returning prosperity; but it was of short duration. The I'nited States government refused to lutifytliis armistice, or to accept the other propositions of the ex-minister, because the Pic'sidoiit doubted his authority to susj)end the proceedings of ])rize courts; was un- certain how far these arrangements would be respected by the Uritish officers them- scIvch; saw no security against the Indian allies of tlie Englisli, then liovering like a ilai'k cloud on the Northwestern frontier; and considered the arrangement unecpial, J19 it would aflbrd an opportunity to re-enforce Canada during the armistice. The President was also a])preliensive tlmt a suspension of l)ostilities ])reviou8 to receiving an answer from the British government on the subject of impressment might appear like waiving that ])ohit. When Mr. Russell ])resented his instructions* to Castlereagh on tlie sub- , ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ject of an armistice, that minister replied'' that the orders in Council had l^"'-. been already provisionally repealed, and that instructions had been sent "*'"" ' to Admiral Warren, on the Halifax station, to propose a susjjension of hostilities on that basis. At the same time the British minister declined any discussion of the vi- t.il subject of impressment, and the release of impressed seamen, lie even expressed surprise that, "as a condition preliminary even to a suspension of hostilities, tlic^ gov- enimcnt of the ITnited States should have thought fit to demand that the Britisl, gov- ernment should desist from its ancient and accustomed practice of impressing liritish seamen from the merchant ships of n foreign state, simply on the assurance that a law shall hereafter be passed to prohibit the employment of British seamen in the public or conunercial service of that state." He said that liis government was willing to discuss any proposition concerning abuses in the practice of impressment, or the substitution of some method of accomplishing the same object with less vexation in practice; "but they can > iisent," he said, " to suspend the exercise of a right upon wliich the naval strt f the empire mainly depends^'' unless assured that the object might be attained ui .some other Avay.^ Of all the grievances complained of by the Americans, that of impressment was the most serious. It was a practical violation of the sovereignty and independence iif the United States, and was of more consequence to the character of the nation than all blockades or other obstructions to commerce. It oft'ended, in the highest degree, the patriotism of every true American; and it touched not only the political sensibilities of a free people at a most tender point, but it impressed them keenly with a sense of social wrong. At that very time there were upward of six thousand cases of impressment of American seamen on the records of the State DejHirtment, and it was believed that as many more, never reported to the government, had occurred. Custlercagh admitted, on the floor of the British Parliament, that there were three thousand five himdred impressed servants in the British navy, claiming to be Amer- ican seamen, but said that they miglit be dischargt'd on proving their citij^enship. American citizens, kidnapped from the decks of American vessels by British cruisers, and made slaves in British ships, were offered freedom only on condition of prt>ving ^'ill 1 General Dearborn's hcnd-qnarters at this time were at Green- bmh, opposite Albany, in New York. Thither Sir Oeorpe Prevost sent Ills adjutant general, Bayncs, to propose an armistice, and clotbeilwith power to conclude one. Dearboni and Baynes sijnied iionthe 0th of AHguet. The aKreemcnt was to affect only Dear- koraand the frontiers of New York, and the armies of fho PHtUh along the opposite and corresponding line. /<^ ^Z^>^^>^^ ' Anierican State Paper), ix., T3. •"^1 n^ /f ]'. ' 248 PICTORIAL FIELD-DOOK Pallnrj c)r Peace N«gotUti<nM. Britlih Lt'ltcrn of Mariiuu and Koprlsiil, Oplntuiii concerning the Wir themselves to be American citizens ! Ay, more, Huhjcctcd, at the xamo time, as W(i have seen, to the li.vbility of rccuivlng dognidiiig i»inilHlunent for utteiMj)ting to kc- cure that freedom !' PercoiviMg no hope of iin a<ljnstment of difficulties wltli the rulers of Kiiglnml, Mi, • September 2, KuHHclI obtained his passports," and, leaving Mr. Ueuben (iuant I!i;is(. isri. jj.j, jjj^ agent for prisoners of war in London, he returned home, intiiii!!. ting by his departure tliat diplomacy between tlie two goverments Iiad ended, and that the war, already begun on land and sea, must proceed. On the 12th of Octdlu^r the English government issiied letters of maninc .ind reprisal against the Aiiuii- cans.- The armistice on the Canada frontier had been ended for some weeks, ami the war went on. History has no record of a people more righteous in persisting in war than wcic the Americans at tiiis tinu', when their jdea for simple justice was so insolcntlv spurned by the men who then unfortunately governed the British nation. Thcv liall tried every peaceful measure consistent with national honor for obtaining ii rcdicss of grievances, as they did for ten long and weary years, exposed to insult and op. pression from the same government, before the Revolution. They wen; now determ- ined to secure fully and forever that dignity and independence in the family of na. tions to which their strength and inij)ortanec entitled them. "It was a war," says a late historian^ (whose symj)athies with the Federalists is manifested on every pattc of his narrative), " for the rigiits of jjcrsonal freedom — the freedom, supjwse, of Ihit- ons and other foreigners, as well as Amerieans,^ from the domineering insoinice of British press-gangs — an idea congenial to every nmnly soul, and giving to the con- test a strong hold on the hearts of the masses; in fact, a just titU* to the character of a democratic war, in the best sense of that very aml)iguous ej)ithet, and even tu be called a second war for independence, as its advocates delighted to describe it." With these facts before them, wn-iters and speakers of American birth, at that time, for party i)urposes, magnified the generosity of Great Britain, its Christian desire tor peace, its magnanimous offers of reconciliation; and declaimed most ])iteously about the cruelty of waging war against a nation kindred in blood,, language, and reliition, in the hour of its great extremity, when a desperate adventurer was seeking to de- stroy it. Even at this late day, a Scotch Canadian writer, with all the facts of his- tory in his possession, has ungenerously declared that " the w.'ir — the grand provoea- tion having been thus [by conditional repeal of the orders in (-ouncil] removed — was persisted in, for want of a better excuse, on the ground of the 'impressment ques- tion,' " and adds, " The government of the United States stand, then, self-condenuieil of wanton aggression on the North American colonies of Great Britain, and of jirose- cuting the war on grounds different from those which they were accustomed to as- sign,"* Thus it has ever been with British writers and statesmen of a certain class, who represent the gieat leading idea of the boasted Mistress of the Seas when she was less enlightened than now. We have already quoted the following Avords of ]\Ioii- tesquieu concerning English politics a hundred years ago — " the English have ever made their political interests give way to those of commerce."® These words bear ' See note, page 144. ' Subsequently to this act, the British goycmment, pressed by the necessities of their army in Spain, freely granlfl licenses or protections to American vessels engnged in carrying flonr to the ports of that country. This trafllc was fub- Jccted to heavy penalties by Congress, yet It was largely Indulged In, becaiise it alTordcd immense profits— i)rnlll8 more than equal to the risks. These licenses were cited by the opponents of the war then, and by British writers since, as evidences of the great forbearance of the British government, for which the Americans should have been profoundly thankful I 3 midreth's fffe/oriy of the United Statfi>, Second Series, Hi., 3R2. • The Americans Justly contended that the ftag should protect every man who was innocent of crime, who snuiiht !f- cnrity under its folds, wherever his birth-place might have been. It represented the sovereignty of the nntlon, and, as such, claimed full respect. » Auchlnieck's IJiatonj of the War of 1812, page 38. • See enb-uote *, page 138. / II II II Ci '(■ h( Ntiioad Mlwhlaf-mak repetition in fhi (lie class Jillii(h.,l |irt'hend the fiict, lienplc iii;iy (.,„|( Tliat class of «-ri lielieved that a .s alpjtrt siihini.s.sioii the Stephen and ( cimccHsion to Am dependence; mi,| iNfil could not cd -triiggling for ii^ |i<mii(l.s, siiiJIin^fH^ ;i "Illy as national m The door of reco «ar had been ali-c; Congress for tliu o iiiea.siirc's was the ji ot'tlie most di.sfin<r and there Avere ikTi the Continental an Indians, had dcpriv 'iVi'i's in the servic rial c.\p(>rit'iK'i' in t ^otwithstandiiiir , of the old Avar had joiiniey of lifo, and „ Ion-,' enjoying the qui it was thought to bo ilic'Mi to the head of tlieir small e.vporienco than to trust to those ""I'pi- fire. Tho colic lioston, Henry Dcai-ho ^Var, an active Dohkx ■Ffbrnary, one years of h'l'st major gc ! mandcr-in-ehief, jlavin., liartmeiit under Ids 1 I 'March. Thomas Pinckn ^^i^vasappointe 1 27'^ ^i^-w^^Tb,^!^ »d cine with Dr. Jackson Jack" o n.mpc„d|,,g,,,etook«„,,c,,vo »ouM„||,„v to military matters h"JseattheheadofsUhme, ■ I «,andbythemidd^'^M ;^a.a„u on Quebec at h^'C';: I'lhmlyonthofleMofSnratoenwi; I .'"eii, and in the sle™ of V„ .v? ' ^ »r.son-s Cabinet, as Secretarv^f Ikkci I Tn-Pe""'! him to , I'rtCltj. lie retired to private lift OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 240 <,'„!,, mil Mlachlef-mukera, Thn Mm lo Ix' cliuncn ni Military Leaden, The aeneril-ln-cb!er. icpi'titioM ill tliiw coiiiu'ctioii. In fHtiiimtiiii^ tlic cliariictcr of other iiMtioiis, iiu'ii of llif cliiHS iilliitletl to aic iilwiiys <;ovonii'tl by tin- cnnuiienitU idi-a, and can not coni- iiitIii'IkI the faet, IVeiiueiitly iUuHtrnted in liistory (even sliu^htly in tlieir own), that :i |ii.ii|i|(' may confend lor sonii'tliiiii^ nmri' noble tliaii iioiinds, ^^lliilin^^<, and jtence. Tliiit class of writeiM and statesmen, wiio governed Knijhiiid uIkmU a eentury aj^o, lii'lieved that a sliijlit reynission of tuxes on tea woidil pureliuso the allettianee and iilijt'ct submission oftlie Ainerieans. Tlie same class of writers and statesnicn, of the Stephen and I'astlereaj^h stainj>, who ji;overned Kn^fland in 1812, belli' ved that a concession to American coniinerco would bo an equivalent for national honor and in- (li'pi'iidence ; ami the sanu^ class of writers and statesmen who i^overnecl Kiiijland in iMil could not comprehehend the fjreat fact that the American government was stnigiilins for its life against household assassins, without counting the co8t in iKiiuuls, shillings, and ponce. They are a class who never learn, and arc prominent Hilly lis national mischief-inakerH. The door of reconciliation, as wo have scon, was shut in the antumn of 1812. The war had been already commenced on sea and land. Provision had bt'en made by (iiiigicss for the organization of an adecpuite army. One of the most important measures was the appointment of officers to command the troops. A greater portion 111' the most distinguished and meritorious officers of the IJevolution liad passed away, ;iiul there were none of ex})erii'nce left who hail held a cor.;mission above colonel in the Continental army. A long season of j)eaco, except during difficulties with the Indians, had deprived the younger army of- tia'is ill the st'rvice of the opj)ortunity of ival experience in the practical art of war. Notwithstanding the surviving soldiers of the old war had advanced iiir in the journey of life, and most of them had been Inns enjoying the quietude of civil pursuits, it was thought to be most prudent to call lliein to the head of the new army, with their small experience of actual field duty, than to trust to those who had never been under tire. The collector of the port of lioston, Henry Dearborn, late Secretary of War, an active Democrat, and then sixty- 'Febraary, o\w years of age, was appointed' '-'''• first major general, or acting com- luander-in-chief, having tlie Northern De- liartmcnt under his immediate control.' Thomas Pinckney, of South Caroli- ' March. na,wa8 appointed** second major gcn- nBSBY DXABUOSN. I Henry Dearborn was born In Hampton, New Hampshire, In March, 1761. At Port^raonth he slndied the science of meiiiciue with Br. Jackeou Jackson, and commenced Its practice there In 1772. When the old war for iudepcndonce i «a« inipendhiK, he took an nrtlvo part In politics on the po|)nlar side, and gave as much attention as his enuaticmpnts miilil allow to military matters. On the day after the skirmish at Lexington, in April, 1775, he marched toward Cam- briilfc nt the head of sl.xty men. He then rctnrned to New Hampshire, was commissioned a captain In Colonel Stark's I rtiimeiit, and by the middle of May was back to Cambridge with a fiiU company. He was In the battle of Bnnker's "I, and accompanied General Arnold In his perilous expedition through the wilderness of Maine to (Juebec in the a\i- inmn of that year. He suffered dreadfully from privations and a fever, but was sufficiently recovered to participate io :he assault on Quebec at the close of the year, when he was made a j)rlBoner. He was not exchanged until March, 177", I then he was appointed a major In Scammcll's regiment. He was In the campaign opposed to Burgoyne, and behaved 1 iillanlly on the field of Saratoga, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was at Monmouth, In Sullivan's cam- I f«;!ii nud in the siege of Yorktown. In 1784 he settled on the banks of the Kennebec as a farmer. Washington appoint- I (ihim marshal of the District of Maine In 17S!), and lie was elected to Congress fl-om that Territory. He was called to |jeirersoirs Cabinet, as Secretary of War, in isni, which position he filled for eight years. Mr. Madison apiiolnted him i illector of the port of Boston In 1S(>!> : and In February, 1812, ho was commissioned a major general in the United States ImT. Ill heiilth compeHed him to relinquish that position, and he assumed command of the military district of New Ikli City. He retired to private life in 1S18. In 18'2'2 President Houroe appointed him minister to Portugal, where he li «■ y ••won^uBt li I! li i ill I'll ■ ! I mM 250 VICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Nan'(!8 nf the general Ofllccrs uppolnte<1> Declaration of War announced to the Troops, The first Prisoner. oral, an<; plav^oa in command of the Southern Department. Josepli Bloointickl, Gov- ernor of New .Tersi y,' James Winelies'er, of Tennessee, J. P, J^oyd, of Massacliusctts, and William Hull, Governor of tlie Tenitorj^ of Miehigan, were comniissioned luiira- » April s, i8r«. diers.* The same commission was given'' to Tliomas Flournoy, of (Joor. "July 4. S''^' John A; mstrong, of New York, also receivwl the coinmission'Oi ^ ••July «. brigadier, to iill ihu vacancy caused by th« recent death'' of (ileneial ]V 'Julys, tor (iansevoort. This was soon followed by a like commission" for John Chandler, of M line. Morgan Lewis, of New York, was appointed (piarter-mnstcr (jcn- ' Ai).i; 3. oral,' and Alexander Smyth, of Virginia, late Colonel of the IJilles, was "Miirchnn. ai)])oi.itcd inspector ger<eral,« each beamig the commission of brigudicr, Thomas II. Cushing,- of AVassachusetts, then Colonel of the Second Uegimeiit, was ;i))p(.inled adjutant geiu ral, Avith the rank of brigadier. James Wilkinson, of Maiv- land, the senior brigadier in the army, was sent to New Orleans to relieve Wadt' Hampton, now a brigadie: , and a meritorious subaltern officer in South Carolina ilur- iiig the lievolution. Alexander JMacomb, of the Engineers, was promoted to cdldiul; and Wintield Scott and Edmund Pendletori Gaines, of Virginia, and Eleuzor W. ]{i|). ley, of jVIaine, were commissioned colonels. rciiinl'ipd two ypuro. Hn dlod at tlichoufo , of hi« Hon in Uoxbury, MiiKKUCluiM'tti', on thii (itli of Juno, iwjli, III thi! am: nf pcvon- ty-i'iglit yein'H. lie hnd been liviiij; with his son 8onn' time. The iionsc in wliirli he (lied is yel (ISdT) standiii;; on \Vii..li. in^ton Street, Uoxlniry. It is a lino M nnuislon, purroundcd hy trees, many of them rare. Ii was oc- cupied, when I nnide the sketch in ISdil, as a nnniiner bonrdiiij;- house liy Sirs. Shej)- ard. Not fur from it, at the .junction of Wiisliint;ton and Centre Streets, or of the t'ainhridno niul tlie Dedliatn and Rliode Island Uoads, was a riidc stone, in wliich was inserted an iron shaK and fork for the sui)port of a street lamp. It Is called the I'artinR Stone. On one side 8T0.\E. K.Milulu.N s UKSlllKNt' is the inscription, Thf Parlin;! Stunr, 17-14, /*. Dudleii : on another, Dedham and Ithodf Maud ; and on a third, Cnmlirid;ji\ It appears to have been erected by Mr. Dtidiey, at the parting of the ways, as a sort of j.iiide-post, and there it had remained lor a hundred ami sixteen years. > General Bloonilield was in New York when \. nr was declared, lie had arrived on the 2il of .Tune, to take charjre of the furtlHcations theie. lie was the Hrsi to announce the de-^laratlon of war to triK.ps in a formal manner. This he did i". the fillowiug brief order, issued on the'iOUi of tfuno: " iW nera' Bloomllcld announces to the troops that icnr id dwlaml htj the United Stales agaiimt Great Britain. " Uy order, li. II. M'Pukhbos, A. D.C." Ooverumeu' expresses had passed through New York City for All)nny and Boston with the news at teu o'clock thai | moniint;- The tlr^t prisoae; taken after the declaration of war was Captain Wilkinson, of the Royal Marines, who cxritod (he I suspicions of the people of Norfolk, Vir(jiuia, that he was about to coniinunicatc the fact that war was dcclincilttDaJ liritish man-of-war known to be hoveriuf; on the coast. He was seen makinc his way rapidly fnmi (he lioui-c of ihel llritisli consvl thrf^'.:f;h back streets to a mail-boat about to start for Hampton. He darted on board the limit, iuuiiu-f tempted to conceal himself. A boat from the navy yard, anil another from Fort Norfolk, were disj)atcho(l iiftcr tli«| niail-boa;. Captain Wilkinson was brought back, and conveyed to tlie navy yard as a iirisoner. 2 Thomas II. '^ushiuK was appointed captain of infantry in ITOl. He was In the Snb-letrlon in 1702. In 171)7 lie \m|| appointed inspector of the 'Minv; and in April, 1802, he was nnide adjutant and inepcctor, with the rank of liciitoiianf colonel. He was promoleii to colonel in ISiW, and commissioned ad.intant general In P-Il', with the rank of l)rlpi(iicr| He was disbanded in lsi6, and the following year was appolutcd collector of the port of New Louduu. Uc died on tht l»th of October, ISii.—dardmr't IHttiomirij ufthe Army. Plan of the first ( re; I tliat Canatliun Tlii,s achieved, ; m\co to Jfontrc, «'iile Nova Scot i i,'iiim>), .synipaHiiz '"'<' i" North Am '•'>"</iiests for coiE '■'•"lytodojustict 'i''H-e forgotten the "» i'lvade, conquer, mw. wei-e hulnhr^, (Governor Jliilfo .111(1 spring of 1812 '•''«'■"" of Canada \ .i?.iiii8t it. Ife i,„^ ?fi's to all the print '"»•"■''!? them to bee "«t' iiis Territory ^ ""t a fleet on Lake I preparations even ft ^"wssfuj invasion ( ;'rg«l the President ^"•^e;and,forthoth [•i'»'''->>.'m fleet on the President Madison ttnvart was ordered l^and also orders < I '™—*'a'imnn'g//,v„ry, Jvlii •f 11 !!!:il!!!l^!!!L£!!llp^^ O^ THE WAR OF ,8,2 _^Jj|dlclo„« necommenOatlon,. s- ^'-^"^- ^^-p'^^ s;^^^ r •"'^'Mr«^t,^;7r '^^"-'^^^^-' ;'"""'), .syn.patl„-,i,,,,';'i^;ri^'-»''«Hiek (according to til n"" ^''""' '^''''i^'' n.l.. r''.^t» <'o justice to an i,f' ""^ ^^^''^'^ -'<"• ^1 -h I 'T"''''"'^ '^>^ t'H.ir ''-« forgotten the ooH,^ ^ 1 i "f """ '''''^ «'-ign^ o^ nl/ """'" '" '•"^^-• '■"»«■ "-c-'-o in,]uJ-.,.,l. ''^' ^■^"'^•^••^ ^v-us made, and si mil-n "" '""''•""• ''^^^""'I't <«'vornor Ii„ir „f jvj. , . ' ''"''^■" ^^-Poctation.s of wel- ■^.^"'-^* '>'. Ho kno>v tl.r LTv", '^" "' «ffi<^'-'-" c-i ills ;, ' I" ^'••^•?'-^"««- The i„. ^™ to all the prinein. r r ''*"'' ^^""lorities in f ' .' ^'" '"'^^ >vas heard "'■'f I'is Territory walthroJ: ''^^'"■''' I^ntain in th! ! ■'"' "'"' 1"-^''^^"«S ov- Preparations even for ; '.w "'' '^'' ^^'''''^' ''"''^l MPs^^ ^'Svages, and ,hat, wi h ^"^^•^'«'^«" invasion of th t"' m"^ *''° ''^'"•'•ito'-y v. h .'"^^ ":'*'' ^''^ ^''-l-iun :'^S^''I the President to it. ""-'""'•"'.^ P-'ovince w-l , "/'"''^'•'' *''« '''-'^ of a J-; and, for the U, ^l' • ^if?,^'- "f ^ary fo.,, h ;' , '^^ ;;j^;-- Ho therefil: " "^""'"O^". Pnsc 1,«,. ""• ^ '"-' '•«n"'i»<Ier were chieflvAl'^. '""??"" '^'«'.! hu ^;ft of ti.irn:;;b7r ZX;^ '^"•' "••-ro « ml i ■til' i\ iii^. lit -ll 'i • i 252 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Holl commissioned n Brigadier General. Response to Culls for Volunteers. OrgaulzRtion of Ohio Troops, ^^^ > (lent made a requisition upon Governor Meigs, of Ohio, for twelve hundred militia, to be detached, drilled, and prepared to march to Detroit ; and he requested Hull to accept the commission of a brigadier general, and take command of them. Hull declined the proposed honor and service, expressing a wish not to engage in military employment. He was iinal- ly persuaded to accept the api^ointmeut, but with no other object, he said, than to aid in the protection of the inhabit- ants of Micliigan against the savages. He retained his office of governor of the Territory, and returned to the North- west, prepared ibr any duty in that re- gion, civil or military, to which his gov- onmient might call him. • April fl, Governor Meigs's call* for '■''-• troops to assemble at Dayton, at the mouth of the IMad River, on the Great Miami,' was heartily responded to. At the close of April, the time api)oint- ed for the rendezvous, more than the re- quired number had flocked to the cam]). The Indian wars and dej)redations, which had been instigated by British emissaries, had greatly exasperated the settlors iioitli of the Ohio, and they were anxious to strike an avenging blow. Many of tliu best citizens sought tliis opportunity to serve their country, and these were found at the ])lace of rendezvous, enduring ail the privations of camp life, Avithout tents or other conveniences, for more than a fortnight. It was the middle of May before blankets and camp equipage arrived from Pittsburg by way of Cinciiinati. But the troops had not been idle. They liad organized three regiments, ami elected their field offi- cers ; and when General Hull arrived there on the 25th of May, and took formal com- mand, they were nearly ready for a forward movement. Duncan ^['Artlmr Avas chosen colonel of the First Kegiment, and James Denny and William Triinbio were elected nnijors ; James Findlay was chosen colonel, and Thomas Moore and Thomas Van Horn majors of the Second Regiment; and the late Lewis Cass, of Detroit, then thirty years of age, was chosen colonel of the Third Regiment, with Itobert MoitIsou and J. R. Munson as majors. The veteran Fourth Regiment of regulars, stationed at Port Vincennes, and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Miller, since the pro- motion of Boyd, had been ordered to join the militia at Dayton. Governor jNIeigs, nnder the same date,"* ordered Major General Elijah | Wadsworth, commanding the fourth division of the Ohio militia, to raise, without delay, three comj)anies of men. Wadsworth obeyed Avith alacrity, and the requisite number were soon in the field, selected from the brigades of Generals Mil- ler, Beale, Perkins, and Paine, which composed the fourtli division.^ • The present fine city of Dnyton, the county scat of Montgomery County, then contained about four hundred sonls. I It derives its name from General Jonathan Dayton, of New .Jersey, wlio, with Generals St. Clair and Willilu80D,aDtf Colonel Israel Ludlow, purchased a larprn tract of land in that section of the state. " The followini; Incident connected with the volunleeriui; was communicated to the author by the late venerabMi Elisha Whittlesey, then (1S(V.') First Auditor of the Treasury Department at Washlnfxlmi, who was one of OcueralWnd^ worth's aids: Colonel ,Tohu Campbell, of Paine's briijade, called out his corps at Kaveuna on the 2.'ld of May. Afle) some stirriufr music, he placed himself In front of his regiment, and re(piesledall who were willing to ioluntc('rtoi"te| forward. Many cimii)lled, but far too few to maiie the proper number fiU' a company. Finally, Colonel Campbell vi compelled to stimulate them by threatening to resort to n draft. Their colonel had volunteered. It was a hri^'lit, fusj uy day, and be euw, high lu the heavens, a brilliant star. lie told his men that it was n good omen. £ uc, who baf ' April 6. » Rendezvous of o The place the Mad liiy spot late in S jmssing away Fort Jfaiuilto that beautiful P'M eight o'cl g.athering of j] to allow a cor Colonel Jeffers^ onel John Johi formance of otJ ill the apparent her of his years by the burden ( law, I spent nes profit, to the na Uc hud been we, red, since the be; "•ith the Shawno the Little Turtle hi.s Life and Tim promise of centen the grave. ' W(i back, declared (hat i( and the company ,v„3ao„ The accompanying ,, "" «f Colonel .MnMo, « a plate publisi.e^ Moore's Hamn/c JteHma fcbarkofadaguerre;,(v "fli™, which he showed, ;Mbet,meofmyv|Hi,,„. aidl'bunhand-writing- Wiud,.M,irch 25,1775. E,„ " bifp.irentslni7s«,",' ,^'Wm Cumberland c I f^-oxxyhnnUu Was vi I "■'?«■' •••™y on the Ohio a |«4biai„f7iS*!'r::;j;; ■"MVarnepartment age^t f""d,au Affairs n X >;«l';ve..t (hirty-ono yUa- P-^--'-wa-:} '"'heir removal westwartj: Iff^ankfort, Kent,,,),;, r,., f fbiral .Society „rnM ^"'' twpC.^/sm;;!;"""" |-»"^Pnb„che.ov'd-s„'^, uiel inei )|h I r sonic wai a ^^^^^^((^jpv^h^^^^ The place of th. , — -^^^i^"i!?!lif^|]i^i^ ■ ^Z that beautiful region tl.ir v fT -f ^''''*' Cincinnati at u ; r v. '^'"''^""' t^^e site of 1-t eight o'clock. At ;^etr ?'^'' ''''''^'''- '- ^-yion .vl if '' ''""^ *''«> t'^-^vors^l gathering of Hull's arn y 1!?",^^ ^'"- '^' "«vt monS.^i i? H "'"'•'^'^^^ ^^ « little to allo,v a comfortabK ;,! ''"™' ^'''-^^ '""I '-'ogu fnw, :' "^ ^'*'- «'« P'ace of t e Colonel Jefferson PattersoT^ ' T '^'' ^'^^^ ^ol "ode w ' 'J'^'''*' "''"^^ too fio ee onol John Johnston IvLt, T"" ^'' '"«•'« «•« n the tol • '"'''""* "^■''"•'^'•on of formancc of other go^e^n tt ^'"" '" *^''^' ^'>»"t J .as Ind ! ''"* ^^"^^ venerable Co/- i" the apparent enjL^em of !,,!'■ "'^^''' ^^'^ '"«'■« tl,a' h ' f? ■"^S^^"^' ''^"•l i" the per- ber of his years .vasS 'It" ^'iV'^^-'^'^-S "'ent f^ .^ LiTr"?^- ^ f«>'"<l hS V the burden of years Trt'' ., ^' ""'''« "^er six feet,^''? f "'' ■*"^''«"^?I> the nu,^ I«»-, I spent nearly ?, e wh 1 *''' ^'"^P^table roof of r %'' i ''""' "«t at all 1 2 Font, to the narration :?;;: ^'•^^' '^"^^ ^-tened ;:^,f,t;r'f '""•««"' ^'- - "" I^l-d been .ell aeq.^^^^ilrr';'^"^"''-'^ ^>g ^Sl^ "'^f ^^'^ ^"^ re.I, s„,ce the beginning of the 1 . "'* "^^^^^^ ^««<J"'- men^-r f "? ^"-""tior life. »-'th the Shawnoe.se. He L l'"*'"'^- His residence .Ti'^ ™-^'«"' ^^Wte and ;'- J^^tle Turtle at M^^ ^-"."f '^ and the P^^;,; " f" ?['"', ^^'''''^ ^^^^ '- ^/^e and Tin,es, and hoped to V""^""'""^ '"« «.atVe was tS "'^^ '"'•^''^■^'"^^^ J— ---y h. J- -0 s- -0, ; r r- --- ^ Mdbnck, declared that if he co„I,i ^n<l rhe company „„,"^'^'^>f J ' The accompanyinj; j.ke « a plate p„bli,hed i Ioore'8 «,.,„,„■, y,,„^ J I "fc-rk of a daguerreotype ■ n>»h,ehhe8ho,vedne ,;«WinC„mheWa„;icC - jP™i.«ylva»ia. Was „■ , «»vne'. army on the Ohio „ ;"'b.narDepartment ajeu rliuhau Affaira in tC "«1 commissioner o?ohio ftrtheir removal westwardj. Johnston" """'iJoiin f'-nteriiity rr,! ' ""'sonic c<...rt-ho,f.e(":;^„ ;'";;'^-« '"cky-i.nhe,vi„tero r,^7'- ■As secretnpv „(• ■ '""•'■'-5. '^»«. When Oenernl f ""' '" 'I'mnced hi- r ^''^ P''"- "> " '.-t te :'ir*'""«'> •T"lins(on __•«;, ,^ '^"'""el ™nmer of', «,''"'"'!'''' •If JJaniel I! ' " "'"laiiis .i^^ piiiiiiiP^i^ mry, „ua ti,g fratricidal m msm w^mM ■n •iii i PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Visit to the Field of Kendezvous. Storm and Accident on the Railway. The Country between Dayton and Sandiisl' PLACE OK BENDKZVOIIB, NKAB DAYTON, AS IT Al'PtlAUEl) IN ISijO. It Avas late in the afternoon when I left Colonel Johnston, and rode to the place of the gathering of the Ohio militia. Wo crossed t ho JIad tliver at Dayton, rode uj) the turnpilve a short distance be- yond the toll-gate, and, turn- ing into a road on the rii^lit, found the place about half a mile farther in that direc- tion. It is a low ])rairie. and Avhen I vis- . SeptemberSd ited it" it was '""•• covered with Indian com, some standing and some of it harvested. The distant trees in the little sketch show the line of the Mad River. I returned to Dayton in time to take the cars for Sandusky at six o'clock. As we left the station, an immense deep hlue-black cloud came rolling up from the west. In a few moments large drops of rain fell Avith the sound of hail on the car roof. Suddenly a flash of vivid lightning broke from the cloud, and a crashing tliinulcr- peal rolled over the land. A shoAver of cold rain folloAved. Before it ceased the sun beamed out brilliantly in the west, and Ave seemed to be enveloped in a falling flocul of glittering gold. Then from many lips in the car Avere heard the exclamations, " IIoAV beautiful ! how glorious !" and all eyes Avere turned eagerly toward the cast. Avhere, "In pomp transcendent, robt a in heavenly dyes, Arch'd the clear rainbow round the orient skies." Twilight soon folloAved, and Avhile moving at a moderate speed, nrar Cross's Stu tion, eighteen miles above Dayton, a "switch" in Avrong position thrcAV our train oft' the track, but Avith no other serious eftect than producing a detention for three hours in a most dreary place. Tiiere Avas a hamlet of a fcAv houses near, and some ofiis went out in the chilly night air to search for food and drink. In every house hut one nearly all the inmates Aveiv sick Avith fever and ague, and only at the dAvelling of a pleasant-spoken and kindly-acting German Avoman could any thing be procured. There I obtained some fresh bread and milk, and Avas offered coffee. I laid in stores sufficient for a night's campaign, hardly expecting to see Springfield, six miles be- yont', before morning. We Avere agreeably disappointed. Through the exertions of the mail agent and others, Ave were in the enjoyment of comfortable quarters at the " Willis House," in Springfield, before midnight. The morning daAvned brilliantly. The sky Avas cloudless and the air Avas cool, and at about eleven o'clock I departed for Sandusky. From Springfield nortlnvanl flu poverty of the soil became more and more apparent, until Ave reached the higli swampy land of the summit near Kenton. The road lay much of the Avay tlirongli forests or recent clearings. About a mile north of Iludsonville Station (six miles south of Kenton) we crossed diagonally the road made by Hull in his march from the Mad River to the Maumee. It was visible on each side, as far as the eye could comprehend it, as a broad avenue through the forest, running from southeast to nortii west, noAV filled with a delicate second groAvth of timber. From Konton^ to Tiffin,^ on the Lak" Erie slope, a distance of forty miles, the coun- try Avas newly cleared of the Avoods most of the Avay. Fcav other than log bouses assaBsln was at the doors of the capital. HIp clear and active mind comprehended the danpcr to the liberties of lii« country, lie nickened, but, it was believed, not seriously. lie kept his room ; and, in the absence of his nttcudam. laid down upon ' h bed and expircil His body was buried at Piqua, with the remains of his wife and eight childrcD. ' Named in h^- -r of SiHHMi Keii(..ii, a noted i)ioneer. - Named In h( ... ir of Kdward TIlHn, who was president of the Convention that fl-amed the Constttntlon of the Sinlf of Ohio, and flrst governor of tlmt state. .\rrival at Suudusky. OF TIIK WAR OF 18 12. 265 Arrival ut Sauduaky. Hull takfs Command of Ohio Voluutccre. He AddresBes the Troops. were seen. Tiffin is the capital of Hardin County. It is quite a laige town, spread over a considerable surface of a gentle einiiience on the east bank of the Sandusky River. On the lower ground opposite is the little straggling village of Fort Ball, the SIR' of a stockade of that name, which the Oliio Volunteers erected there during the curly part of the Avar of 1812. It occupied about a third of an acre of ground, ;ind was named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel James V. Ball, commander of a squadron of cavalry under General Harrison, whose exploits Avill be mentioned in connection with events at Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), nearer the lake. We passed Tiffin anil Fort liall at iive o'clock, and reached Sandusky City, on Sandusky Jiay, a little after sunset. There I sojourned two or three days at the house of an esteemed kinswoman. The command of the little army of volunteers near Dayton was surrendered to (loneral Hull by Governor Meigs' on the morning of the 25th of May." The I'overnor made a stirring , had fouixht for free- ■ 1812. doin in the War of the Kevolution. Colonel Cass also addressed the troojis with eloquent Avoi'ds, Avhich were loudly ap- jdauded. General ITull speech on the occasion, anil congratulated the sol- ilicrs on their good for- tune in being placed un- ilcr the command of an experienced officer who then came forward, took formal command, and, in a patriotic speech of some lenj^.th, lie stirred the blood of the volunteers, and made them eager to meet the dusky foe on the distant frontier. " In marching through a wilderness," he said, " memorable tor savage barbarity, you Avill remember the causes by Avhich that barbarity has been heretofore excited. In viewing the ground stained Avith the blood of your fellow- oitizens, it Avill bo imi)0ssible to suppress the feelings of indignation. Passing by the ruins of a fortress,^ erected in our territory by a foreign nation in times of profound ]itace, and for the express purpose of exciting the savages to hostility, and supi)lying them with the means of conducting a barbarous Avar, must remind you of that sys- tem of oppression and injustice Avhich that nation has continually practiced, and whieh the spirit of an indignant people can no longer endure."^ Tills speech touched sharply a tender chord of feeling in every bosom, and they save their general their fullest confidence. Most of them had never seen him before. His manner Avas pleasing ; his general deportment Avas familiar, yet not undignified ; ami his gray locks commanded reverence and respect. There Avere some, Avho pro- tlssed to knoAV him avoU, avIio doubted the Avisdom of the government in choosing Mm to fill so important a station at a time so critical, yet they generally kept silent, ' Return Jonathan Meigs was born at Middleto\vn, Connecticut, in 17C5, and was graduated at Yale College. He chose the law as a profession, and commenced its practice in his native town. lie was chosen chief justice of the Su- preme Court of Connecticut in the winter of 18n2-'3. In the following year President .Icfferson ai)pointed him com- mandant of United States troops and niilllia in X'pper Louisiana, and soon afterward he became one of the judges of that Territory. He was commissioned a judge of Mlchig."-i Territory In 1S07. He resigned the following year, and was (letted governor of Ohio. His election was nnconstitu' lonal because of non-residence, not having lived four years In Ohio prior to the election. He was appointed United States senator for Ohio in ISOS. That odlce he resigned, and was elected governor of thi'.t state in 1810. He was govcnior during the greater part of the War of 1812, and was one of the most energetic men o'. (he West in the prosecution of that war. He was appointed postmaster general in March, 1S14, aii managed that important department of the government with great ability nntii IS'i.'i. He died at Marietta, Ohio, oiilhe2!ith ofMarch, 18'26. Governor Meigs was a tall and finely-formed man, and in deportment was dignified, yetnt- fflne hi the extreme. The «inguliir name of Governor Meigs suggests Inqnlry as to Its origin. The answer may thus be briefly given : A brisht-cyert Connecticut girl was disposed to ciKiiiette with her lover, Jonathan Meigs ; aud on one occasion, when he U pressed his snit with great earnestness, and asked for a positive answer, she feigned coolness, and would give him no ratlBfiiction. The lover resolved to be trifled with no longer, and bade her farewell forever. She perceived her er- I w, but he was allowed to go far down the lane before her pride would yield to the more tender emotions of her heart. Then she ran to the gate and cried, " Return, Jonathan ! return, Jonathan !" He did return ; they were Joined in wed- lock, and, in commemoration of these happy words, they named their flrst child Helarn Jonathan. He was born In r*): w,i« the heroic Colonel Meigs of which history says so mnch, and was the father of the governor of Ohio, who I boTehl* name. » Fort Miami, on the Lower Maumee, just below the Falls. ' Uintarij of the late War in the Wotem Country, by Bobcrt B. M'Afce, p. 01. mm la ii i II ;i!i 256 I'ICTOlilAL FIELD-BOOK Hull's Troop8 Joined by Regulars. Honors pntd to the Inttcr. The Army Id the Wlldcmcgg. wishing to give him every opportunity to disappoint tlieir expectations, win success for his country, and honors for liiniself. On the Ist of June* the little army commenced its march up the Miami. General Hull hud ai)pointed his son, Captain A. F. Hull, and Robert Wallace Jr., his aids-de-camp ; Lieutenant Thomas S. Jesup, of Kentucky, his brigade major- Dr. Abraham Edwards his hospital surgeon; and General James Taylor, of Ken. tucky, his quartermaster general.' He proceeded to Staunton, a small village on the east bank of the Miami, and thence moved on to Urbana,^ where the volunteers were joined by tlie Fourth Kegiment of regulars under Lieutenant Colonel Jaines Miller.^ They Avere met about a mile from the village by Colonels M'Arthur, Cass and Findlay, at the head of their respective regiments, by whom they were escorted into camp. They were led under a triumphal arch of evergreens, deckiil with flow- ers, surmounted with an eagle, and inscribed with the words, in la ..;e letters, " Tip- pecanoe — Glory."* On their arrival. General Hull issued an order comjilimentarv to the regulars and congratulatory to the volunteers. "The general is persuaded" he said, " that the^'e will be no other contention in this army but who will most ex- cel in discipline and bravery. . . . The j)atriots of Ohio, who yield to none in spirit and patriotism, will not be Avilling to yield to any in discipline and valor." The troops were now at a frontier town. Between them and Detroit, two hund- red miles distant, lay an almost unbroken wilderness, a part of it the broad morasses of the watershed between the Ohio and the lakes, and beyond these the terrible Black Swamp in the present counties of Henry, Wood, and Sandusky. There was no pathway for the army, not even an Indian trail. They wn'e compelled to cut a road, and for this purpose JM'Arthur's regiment was detached. The difficulties and laljors were very great, for heavy timber had to be felled, causeways to be laid across mo- rasses, and bridges to be constructed over considerable streams. They also erect- ed block-houses for the protection of the sick, and of provision trains moving forward with supplies for the army. Lidustry and perseverance overcame all obstacles, and, on the IGtli of June, the road Avas opened to the scouts at a point in Hardin County, not far from Kenton. Two block-houses were built on the south bank of that strciim, stockaded, and the whole work named Fort M'Arthur. The fortifications did not in- close more than half an acre. There were log huts for the garrison, and log corn- cribs for the food. It was a post of great danger. Hostile Indians, and especially the warlike Wyandots, filled the forest, and were watching every movement with vigilant eyes and malignant hearts. The army halted at F'ort M'Arthur on the 19th, and Colonel Findlay was detadioil with his regiment to continue the road to Blanchard's Fork of the An Glaizo, a trib- utary of the Mauniee. Three daj's afterward the whole army followed, e.\cei)tiii<; li small garrison for Fort M'Arthur, under Captain Dill, left to keep the post and tai;i care of the sick. Heavy rains now fell, and the little army was placed in a perilmis position. They had reached the broad morasses of the summit, and had marckl onlj'^ sixteen miles, Avhen the deep mud impelled them to halt. They could go no thi- ther. The black flies and musquitoes were becoming a terrible scourge. Tiie cattle were placed on short alloAvance, and preparations were made to transport the bag- ' Geucrnl Tnylor wiis yet living, nt the nge of scvciity-iiinc, in ISIS, nt Newport, Kentnrky. 2 Urbnnn is the cnpitnl of C'hampniKn County, Ohio. It was laid out by Colonel William Ward, n Virgiiiiiui, in l'^. The army of General Hull encamped in the eastern part of the vlilago. This beini; n frontier town, it was nf!cr\wr{i . used as a place of rendezvous and departure for troops goin^ to the frontier. The old court-house, built in 1S07, nr | used as a hospital. 3 These troops came from Vlncennes. They had come by the way of Louisville, through Kentucky, and hnd boen j every where received with honors. Their services at Tippecanoe were duly appreciated. At Cincinnati the siiure n> ] lined with the inhabitants waiting to receive them as tliey crossed the Ohio from Newport. A triumphal arch hnd Imcii j built, over which, in large letters, were the words, "The Herokb or Tippkoanok." They were received with cti(or> I and a salute of seventeen guns (the number of the states nt that time), and they, only, passed under the nrch. Foodnnd j liquor in great abundance were sent to their cnmp.—Lietitenant CnUmel Miller to Inn Wife, Juuo 12, ISli—Avtmaphi Ldtjr. * Lieutenant Colonel Miller to bis Wife, June 12, 1812— Autograph Letter. Hall's March toward ijf.ige aiul store stances, they ca Here Hull w William Denny acting Governoi jiresent at a coi uasorChippew of the Wyandol t'riendly words. collected a consii and well supplic made them fast 1 the Americans. tion; and to IIul seemed, as it rea forwnrcl. At len under the guidan ivitli wood-craft), Colonel Findlay h about fifty yards «as on the south' The fort stood at i At Fort Findlaj iiient directing hin ! H-as dated on the word concerning tl Hull ordered all for an immediate open a road to tlu arm)-, excepting de ia.stei-n bank of tli Kcaried troops had nere taken across t lap at the foot of [ Miami, where they ( So wearied and W( lers connecting witi fible. Ho accordinc Itoga for Detroit Avit Ike hospital stores, ii I striictions from the "V j The wives of three j tliirty soldiers as pn hoi, under the charge [ Ciiyahoffa for the cc Arm8rong'8AohV,,„^,^ I .'Miami and Manmee mean J* their pronunciation of , • tami) that empty ,nt; Wort Wallace, one of oen I m3,andqnotedintheAnn, l;o Has ..ISO an aid), in exec ["'kearmy, for which he was, OF THE WAll OF 1812. 287 Hull's March toward Detroit. Alarming Reports concerning tlie Inillans. ,f(i(re a.id stores on pack-horses. Tliey built a fort, whicli, in allusion to the circura- stiinceH, they called Fort Necessity. Here Hull was met by two messengers from Detroit — General Robert Lucas and William Denny — whom he liad sent from Dayton to that j)ost with dispatches for iK'tiaj? Governor Atwater. Their report was disheartening. General Lucas had been iiiescnt at a council of the chiefs of several tribes at Browiistovvn — Ottawas, Ojib- wfls or Chippe waSjWyandots, and others. All but Walk-hi-thc- Water, princii)al chief of the Wyandots, made j)eaceful professions. The latter spoke many bold and un- friciKlly words. The British, too, were m.'iking hostile manifestations. They had colli't'ted a considerable body of Lidians at Maiden, where they were fed, and armed, and well supplied with blankets and ammunition. Kind and generous treatment made them fast friends of the British, and eager to go out upon the war-path against the Americans. Tecumtha was also wielding his great influence in the same diix'c- tioii; and to Hull and his friends the situation of Detroit, with its weak defenses, seemed, as it really was, in great peril. The danger made him impatient to ])ush fonvanl. At length the rain ceased, the earth became more firm, the army mandied under the guidance of Zane, M'Pherson, and Armstrong (three men well acquainted witli Avood-craft), and at the end of three days were on Blanchard's Fork, where Colonel Findlay had erected a stockade fort, which was called by his name. It was about fifty yards square, Avith a block-house at each corner, and a ditch in front. It was on the southwest side of the stream, where the village of Findlay now stands. The fort stood at the end of the present bridge.' At Fort Findlay General Hull received a dispatch* from the War Depart- • jnnc24, mcnt directing him to hasten to Detroit, and there await farther orders. It ^^^" • was dated on the morning of the day Avhen war was declared, but contained not a word concerning that measure.^ This will be mentioned again presently. Hull ordered all the camp equipage to be left at the fort, and made preparations for an immediate advance. Colonel Cass was sent forward with his regiment to open a road to the Kapids of the Miiumee;^ and a few days afterward the whole army, excepting detachments left in the forts, were encamped upon a plain on the eastern bank of that stream, opposite Wayne's battle-ground of 1 794. There the wearied troops had the first glimpse of civilization since they left L^rbana. They were taken across the stream, and marched down its left bank, through a small vil- lage at the foot of the Rapids,'* to a level spot near the ruins of the old Britisli fort Miami, where they encamped. So wearied and worn were Hull's beasts of burden when he reached navigable wa- ters connecting with his destination that he resolved to relieve them as much as pos- sible, lie accordingly dispatched, from the foot of the Rai)ids, the schooner Cuya- ^ . ^ ^i kga for Detroit with his own baggage find that of most of his officers ; also all of I the hospital stores, intrenching tools, and a trunk containing his commission, his in- I'tructions from the War Department, and complete muster-rolls of the whole army.* The wives of three of the officers. Lieutenant Dent, and Lieutenant Goodwin, with thirty soldiers as protectors of the schooner, also embarked in her. A smaller ves- hel, under the charge of Surgeon's Mate James Reynolds, Avas dispatched with the I (Jmjaho(ja for the conveyance of the anny invalids, and both sailed into Maumee ' Howe's IliKtorical CoHfctions of Ohio, page 238. ' Armetrong's Xoticea nf the War qf 1S12, i., 4S. ITiiU's Hfenwir of the Campaign of the Northwestern A mr,, page M. 'Miami and Manmee mean the same thing. The latter method of Rpeliing more nearly indicates ti.e prnniumintlon J!) in English ear than the former. Thclndianc prononnced it as if spelled Me-aw-me. So the French spelt it, cccord- liijlo their iironunciation of i and n, Mi-a-mi. To distingniah this stream from the two of the same name (Greut and I Ijltlp Miami) that empty into the Ohio, this was frequently called the Miami of the Lakes. •XnwMnnmee City, nearly opposite Pcrryshurg, the capital of Wyandotte County. iRnhcrt Wallace, one of General Hull's aids-dc-camp, In a letter published in a newspaper at Covington, Kcntncky, 111 W'}, and quoted in the Appendix to General Hull's MiHtarii ami Civil I.ife, page 44S, says, " His son, Captain Hull I 'howaa also an aid), in executing this order, unfortunately shipped a small trunk containlug the papers and reports |t!tke army, for which he was afterward severely reprimanded hy his father." K r.^</ '^^mnp 1 1 :ii "iilH1lir-H «*li hliiii 1 1,1 ' 258 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Hull Informed of the Decliiratlon of War. Oaptnre of a Schooner with his Baggage and PuperH Bay, where Toledo now stands, on the evening of the Ist of July, On the same day the army moved toward Detroit through tha beautiful open country, by the way of Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, now the pleasant eity of Monroe, in Michisjan. • July, When approaching Frenchtown toward the evening of the 2d,* 1 lull was 1812. overtaken by a courier, sent by the vigilant postmaster at Cleveland, with a dispatch from the War Department, which read as follows : " Sir, — AVar is declared against Great Tiritain. You will be on your guard. Pio- ceed to your jjost Avith all j)()ssible exj)edition ; make such arrangements for tlu' du- fense of the country as in your judgment may be necessary, and wait for farther orders." This dispatch was explicit and easily understood, but its date, and the time and manner of its reception, perplexed the general. It bore the same date as the one re- ceived a week earlier at Fort Findlay, in which there was no intimation of a declara- tion of war. T/iat iiad been sent by a special courier from the seat of governiiient • this had been sent by mail to Cleveland, to be there intrusted to such convoyanoe as "accident might supply," through one hundred miles of wilderness. ^ The former contained an important order; the latter contained information more important. This fact was inexplicable to Hull, and remains unexplained to this day. The cir- cumstance made him feel serious apprehensions for the safety of the schooner and her consort. The question pressed heavily upon his mind whether the British connnand- er at Maiden, past which the vessels must sail, might not already have lieard of the declaration of war. In that event they might be seized, and valuable plunder as well as valuable information would fall into his hands. Moved by these considera- tions, he dispatched an officer with some men to the mouth of the Raisin to stop the schooner, but their arrival Avas too late. With a fair wind she had passed that point. A few hours afterwiu-d Hull's apprehensions were justified by events, for he learned, on the morning after his arrival at Frenchtown, that the Cuyahoga had been eaji- tured. While sailing past Maiden, unconscious of danger, at ten o'clock on the morn- ing of the 2d, she was brought to by a gun from the shore. The British armed ves- sel Hunter went alongside of her, and schooner and cargo became a prize. Tho troo])S and crew were made prisoners of war. The vessel with the invalids, heini; he- hind the schooner, passed up the more shallow channel on the west side of Bois Blanc Island, and reached Detroit in the afternoon of the next day*" in safety.- The British commander at Maiden, and those of other posts, hadhccu noti- fied of the declaration of war through the vigilance of British subjects in New York. Sir George Prevost, the governor general of Canada, was informed of the fact on the 24th of June by an express from New York to the Northwest Fur Company, which left that city on the 20th, the day when intelligence of the declaration of war reached there. On the 25th, Sir George sent a courier with a letter to Sir Isaac Brock, the lieutenant governor at York (now Toronto), but it did not reach him until the .3d of ' I am indebted to the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, of Ohio, late First Auditor of the United Stt.tes Trea.siiry, for tlic fol- j lowing interesting acconnt of the transmission of thi.'^ dispatch from Cleveland to the camp. Mr. Walworth, the posi master -it Cleveland, was requested by the postmaster general to send the dispatch by exi)ress. Charles Slialer, Esi]., a 1 young lawyer, then in Cleveland (brother-in-law of Commodore M'Donough), was persuaded to become the l)C!ircr, cft- 1 tuiuly as far as the Rai)idH of the Manmee, and possibly to Detroit. The compensation agreed upon was thirty-flve dol- : Inrs. On searching the mail the dispatch could not be found. It was suggested to Mr. Walworth thai it miglitliciiij tiie Detroit mail. Having been informed by letter of the declaration of war, and believing the dispatch to be of great j importance, he considcnnl it his duty to open the Detroit mail. He did so, but with reluctance, and found the (lispatcli.| At about noon on the 2Sth of June Mr. Shaler started from Cleveland on horsebaclc. He was obliged to swim all I streams excepting the Cuyaloga at Cleveland. No relays of horses could be obtained. He reached the Kapiiln on thd night of the Ist of July. There he was informed that the army was mo^Mng rapidly toward Detroit. He purracil an™ overtook it not far ftom the Raisin, at two o'clock in the morning of the 2d, Just as the moon was rising. Aftorfom(g formality he was ushered into the presence of Hull, who was dressing. He was requested to be silent in the prefCDCi of camp listeners. A council of olBcers was immediately summoned. The army was put in motion at dawn. Ilf stfl oompanicd it to Detroit, where his horse died from the effects of the rapid Journey through the wilderness. Mr.Shaleq remained in Detr,-)it until he saw the flag of his country raised over the soil of Canada. lie returned to ClcvelaD| partly on foot, and partly on hired and borrowed horses. » Letter of Dr. Reynolds, dated at Detroit, July 1, 1812. ' July 3. How British 0/llcor July, when he oCthc event b (reorge, at Mai ed Hull ; and J()se])li, at the The letters to American Secrc llir no man bell enemy of his cc leport that he scheme wliicli r who charged wii iioiin, withheld i it would, hj anil icil influence oft in the affairs of were prevalent a Hull's army re ■T bridge across t Tliey Ind passed , en hoai'd at Male ilians, Hull's trooj inoraing; and at ciinped at Spring irich in Canada, '« liver opposite Det lilca.sant eminence liiii'Ied a fi\w heavy ' Tlie late Honorable Wi ftrliament, was an active i very valuable narrative of tad.'. In that narrative 1 Inilfd States on (he 2rthc •■*:«"'» J'-'Ils. Theexpres •Letter of GeneralJesup 'It is said that when (as ■ '™f . 'n n pamphlet, boldl mhiirawn, and the whole!. «Mofthel«te AlvanSl Mter as follows: After not toyhnd. Generals Wilkins., WlDggenerals, with their I NWng taken by the men G to stales from Canada, if c «nor But the South fnrnis "i™!™"^' '■'''" Secret >|^;M(.h.S7«i.<t,/, edited by 1 I IVe have seen that Commai, I fcimgon city on public bt jtordeclaredtothcformer I !«llien> politicians (he spoke torof Commodore Stewart It was the intention of the J ™ communication to the caw l^« Hull had sent for" IfcBritish commander to con. K Speaking of this event Jv /!«;,■,„,, Covington, Ken Nappearedtohave'noCe I'wa.d to prepare me for taki, L^^'~"y "-as sometimes l»rt^P«hed out, and these gav ■aw 11 Belle Fontaine. Thes« "ill THE WAR 18 12. oHk cvont by exproHs 'Jh,,,, 'S'y" ^''^^ ^^^Snr^ frontier. Ho |,„, ..1 "nil; u„,i c ;^ri t;r'- '' '* '^ '""-• - tiu' oth t: /""r . ^"''"-' ^'• letters to II. ' .l^!^^ ""'-' «- "otifie.! W ^ ^ "" ^^ '''"'' '' ''■ .f.«e|>l., at the J .■ F f T f'S '" '""""'"""J «f tJ.c J rM ' . *'"^' ^'^^"'^ '* '-^'"ch- Tl.e let'ters to the - t 1 "'"""' "'"^^ '-fi«-l by tU T "' ^ ^' '■^'-'•' "^ ^t- American Seo.o a^ of the T """'"' ^'""""-'^l--^ were 'o ve! "" '^" ""' "^"•^"'j'- enemy <>f his oountr^^a^-,;::;' l'- --'^l bavo lent s.k! " , ::!:r;::' ^ '"f ^^T. lenort that he wis Avili;. V "** '"* ^^'^s o|)f)ose(l to ., ^'"""'^^•^"^'' *« Hny knoAvn seLno which .r,yV . 'on^ ^'^^'^^'^^ " 'tV- vay ^f ^o";!'"-" '^T"^'^ *« '' iioiin, withheld aid fmn. IT , "ifl'ioiiee of Yirrri,,;., „,,.;,. •. ^"'; ^'«<1'son was it «-o'uld, by annevaUo to"n ' "'r *• '^'' ^«"1"^«t of Ca n h nT';? ""' '^'' ^^''^ Cal- in the affairs of the Z. *^" ""''y' «'»1 more Hpeedily snitl^l '*"'''''' '"^'"^ P"'if- WO.V prevalent at th?td '?/'•"'" *''« ^'-ve-lab, r s ^i ''^' 'a' '"'V' oUhmLon /M. ar.y r::t:^: t^:::^::i:z --r' ^" -^e!^^^^"^"^ ^'^^^^^ ^^"'' .1 bridge across the Huron R; '^"^"*"" ". and sj)ent the 4th of T„i • Tl.oy had passed a lu^^::^^'' ^''''''''^"' ^-^^^f^f^^CT''''''' on board at Maiden V ^'?"''«tte vdlanre, and observerl iu '" I^^'t''oit. 'lians, Hull's tro„ns"len^^^^'''""? "" '"'^'^ W a con L ,!ecW -^^ 'Tf'' "■'^'' *'-""P« ■"orning; and a7ev^! • "^^ *^''"' •''™« that ni<.ht " Thl "'"' ."* ^^'•'^'■^'^ ""^ In- -"i-^ats,'i::^x?;'tr"7 """^ ^"^ ^^-- I^^:::t'T/^^'""-* >nVh in Canida/whe e a R i. I' ^''''' '"'^ "^ *''« ^^otroit seSrV"'^ ^^""^^' ^"■ 'ivor opposite Detroi tL ''' ^''''' ''''' ^^ationed a^d noTf .' ' "^P"^''''" ^^'''^■ I'loasanV eminence e^^'^g^ ^'^ ''"""'"'- "'^ ^-^iiva . ^ The'cT ""^'^' "^^ ^''^' --"'e^;;::;::::^;:^ — — - — .____!:!!:!^^ ""'"''^'- ^^ '"'"-^wtants tad.'. In tlmt n>M'elt^tT'i "f "'« «'«r iu^,h,,t ZlZT'" "^""^ "■''^'"> '"e Iniled States on the 2Tth of i^,. '""/"""^^inff statement - wJ "'""">'"lpf, which his fam'i'i; V.":,",""'"- "« '«ft « ' The late Honorable Wilila^TT"" " ______j;— — ' «! mhabitant. Wiling general', with hi ^ '"* "a"'l)ton, then of fn, f ''''^'' General Snivth of v> ■ ^^''' '"' n"i"1e.l to this "I'liiiigton City on n nhi. ? , "^ Stewart (now the voZllT,' J^- P"*'" *'■ 'finniM and Speeelies qfAlvan »« communication tn .i,„ 1 »""8h to attack Hnll in «,» '^'''® ^i"ion."_Scp pIKVpearedtohavenrjen."'";^^''"^'' "»»'«g that div it ,"'""»' "»"'« "id^ writ „!?";;'?„"" '""'"1 De- A I 'i ^ll i f i • 200 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Impatience to Invade Canada. Uull determine* to do lo. Detroit hi m; vory (itiick."' Tlicrc, iiiid ru'iir Kurt Dotfoit, Hull allowi'fl IiIh troops to wnsli tlicji' clothes and liave tliuir arms lojtairi'd, wliilo lie was awaiting larther orders from liis governincut.* Ottieers and men, anxious to invade Canada, were impatient, and oven a niiitinons spirit was manil'ested by some of the Oiiio N'olnntiers. 'lliey Imrned willi a dtsiiv to cross the river and attack tiie foe. Tlie siglit of growing fortifications, tliat would endanger the town and fort of Detroit, and soon become too tMimidahle to t\ur ji, crossing the river, maddened them, and it was with great dittiitiliy that their otiici i restrained thein.^ To quiet their tumultuous impulses, Hull called a council of tju Held officers. lie assured them that he had no .-luthority to invade Canada. Tlicv insisted that it was exj)edieiit to do so immediately, iind drive oft' the fort-l)ui|i|(.|j "While I have ominand," he saiil, firmly, "I will obey the orders of my govern- ment. I will not cross the Detroit until I hear from Washington." The VDiinir df}). cers heard this iinnouncement with compressed lips, and doubtless many a rebeiliuiis heart — rebellious toward the commander — beat ([iiickly, with deep emotion, for hours after the council was dismissed. The general was perplexed; but, hap]»iK lor all concerned, a letter came from the Secretary of Wiir that evening, din iting him to "commence operatiims immediately," and that, should the force under his command be ecpial to the enterprise, and "consistent with the safety of the American |iosts'' he should take possession of Fort Maiden at Andierstburg, and extend his conquests as circumstances might justify. ' He was also directed to give assurance to the in- habitaiits of the province about to be invaded, of protection to their persons and proii. erty. With such official warrant in his hands, Hull determined to cross into Canada at once, to the delight of his army, both officers and privates.* Detroit at that tinic stretched along the river at a convenient distance back, and the present Jeftei Avenue was the ])rincipal street. It contained one lamdred and sixty houses, aii> about eight hundred souls. The inhabitants were chiefly of French descent. Only seven years before, every building but one in the villatfe wi\- destroyed by fire." On the liill, in the rear, about two hundred and fifty yards finm the river, stood Fort Detroit, built by the English after the conqtiest of Canada a hundred years ago. It was quadrangular in form, with bastions and barracks, and 1 Ltentennnt Colonel Miller to his Wife, .Tilly 7, 1S12— Antogrnph Letter. ■i Colonel Wllllnm Stanley Hatch, of " Kiver Homo," near Cincinnati, kindly placed In my hands n chapter of his m. pnblishcd " Mfmiiin nf the War i\f 1S12 in the Xorthirext, contalnin;,' a niiiuite acconnt of events which came iinilir his ] t)wu observation during the campaign of General Hull from May until the middle of August. Colonel Hutch was a I volunteer in the Cincinnati Light Infantry, commanded l)y Captain .John F. Mansflcld of that city, and frnm ilie Inva- 1 sion of Canada to the surrender of the army he was acting assistant quartermaster general. To his nnrnitivc I nm in- 1 debtcd for a number of facts given In this sketch not found recorded in history. He says that on Mon<lav, tlie (lib of J .July, the fourth regiment of regulars marched to the fort, and that the next day the volunteers marched thitlier,aiid| took up their position near the fort, south, west, and north of it. 2 General Hull had been subjected to much annoyance from the Ohio Volunteers from the beginning of the marfh.! They were militia jnst called into the Held, and had never been restricted by military discipline. They were froqiiontlC qnite Insubordinate. This fact wasbroui;ht out on Hull's trial. "One evening," says Lieutenant Baron, of llio FonrtM Itegiment, in his testimony at the trial of General Hull, "while at Urbima, I saw a multitude, and heard a noise, ana was informed that a company of Ohio Volunteers were riding one of thnr oUlcers on a rail. In saying IhalllieOliiJ Volunteers were Insubordinate, witness nif ans that they were only as much so as undisciplined militia genciall Home thirty or forty of the Ohio militia refi sed to cross into Canada at one lime, and thinks he saw one hinidroil itki refused to cross wlien the troops were at Urbana." — Forbes's Report nfthe Cmtrt-viartial, page 124. The same «itne< testified to the manifestation of a mutinous spirit at other times. On one occasion, he says. General Hull rode iipa Bald to Colonel Miller, ' ' Your regiment Is a powerful argument ; without them I could not march these men to Detroit^ * Dispatch of William Eustis, Secretary of War, to General Hull, dated June 24, 1S12. » On the morning of the 0th Colonel Cass was sent to Maiden with a Hag of truce, to demand the bapgnje nndpri oners taken from the schooner. On his approach he was blindfolded, and in this condition was taken before t'niuat St. George. He was treated courteously. The demand was unheeded, and, beiag again blindfolded, he wasledoiil^l the fort. He returned to camp with Captain Burbanks, of the British army.— iW.I/i'c « The city of Detroit Is about nine miles below Lake St. Clair. The river, or strait, between St. Clair and Lake Eil gave it Its name, rfe troit being the French name of a strait. The Indians called it Wa-wa-o-te-wonij. It was n tradii post of the French as early as 1020, before any of the French missionaries had penetrated the distant wilderness froj Quebec and Montreal. It was established as a settlement In 1701, when Antoine de la Motte Cadillac, lord ofBoiiaa Moun Desert, having received a grant of fifteen miles square from Louis XIV., reached the site of Detroit with a .M missionary and one hundred men, and planted the first settlement in Michigan.— CAnrJei)o?;i!. 'I'he name of the old 1 dian village on its site was called by the Ottawag Tcuchea Gromlic— CoWcn, cited by Lauman in his Uintory nf Mkhii^ page 01. Silei of Fortiflcativ I'ovcrcd about lieigJit, whh a outside row \\ li.iiik, fbi-iiiin^ • del Fort, tJiat I li'i'soii Avenue. |—iti()ii was or riuf, and (•()ul( I'loycd in thos.. 'ii;''i. wifli l,„,p. iiiie v! (ho Jjriis .iloug or near M ml loIloH-ed tha water Street, on liad been erected 18J2.2 TJie fortiiicatioi (tlien about three Iwii, but serious/ to cross and drive -Vichigan militia, i iHTcd about twei'it \('ter great e.vei ''""■ liiindred men i '"i.v behind his brc '''^■"<f',alltheboj 'i'ltisii, and at the i '•""fjx'i'it. TlieJj,. '^''l"''']'ai-edtodi.sp„ ''iw'i" passage. Aft ''■•>'■''■, tr()0|)s and I,,)., I'wvcd silently in, f) ri'crtoBJoodyBri,],,, ■'""■'eandaJiaJfabo"i fort Detroit, and p,, pared to cross thei-, l^""l"ig all silent -d •y%' Well.s, the de iff'vcdliritish believed iiffhoAmericanshad ;* .stealthily down |,,"^'^'-t" attack Jfaldci. Under thj. h'rcssion, they loft Mwwh, and in the fornmg the Ameri- h^iiadnoonetoop- J;AUh,t,l„,e the Americans h, ['mniewl„fr",^«?^^i"""eir ^"eW, R,:;™™,"'' bridge t NilCH 1 OF THE Wau nr. . ♦>AK OP 1812. .eight, «ith u (loot) ,lrv (li,,.)? '^'"' ''"'I'ankmonfN u .... , ~ ■— •-' • ' *'"' ''• "'"I «"•-" "■•" " " '"' "•■'■"-ly t^v,.,.(y feet in height, «ith u (loot) ,lrv (li,,.)? '^'"' ''"'I'ankmonfN u .... ^ ^ 'lei t">-<, tliat Htoo,I on ; ' '"! '"y .^'•ill^-.l a/>v,,W, ^1.,.,., I"-"J<'«-><.I from the lerson Avenue. I'ill,!,'' .:f ' "'/''^' I>--„t A... r,',;.;?*; -"•'^, -11..,! ,heCut river, an,l ronUl not ,la,„a„, !uf ^ '' '""' ""'"'"•tunatelv i. ^ ""' "'^'"- 'tM ;-'• «t.eet, on thn.!:^^ ™- ..^'i •^^"«'-.. A.':::: i^t'i^i^r^^"" ^ '- '^"-; l:a.l iH-on erected as de/en«c. ' TT" ^''*^'« ^^^''e I'l. ce,] T, "'.'"""^ "" ^t- "^'2.= "^"'^^■^ •'o''-""«t Indian inonrsion' • . f, \''*"" J''^'^*''^, which ^ The fortifioation.s wi.ioh the «..;.= . ^' "■^'" l"-"^""-^>J i" ?' ""''■•^" the boa «;;.';; ;;f 'r --'-t-l to .tra e^; "?: "' ^ '^«^- of the en- --"' point. The Brit- " ^'"'""^'' ^^^'A>'thnr, with Ju'h.el ' '' '" '"^' ^''"v of the- '*M"'q>ared to di,s,,„te .--- ^ ^. '^m^^^-.r.-.r~Jl^ ' marched to the ?poi i*'i|"'q'aredtodi,sp7ire liity passage. After ^ *ire, troops and l,oats "loved silently „p the nvertoBloodvBrid.re .'inileandalialfabnve hn Detroit, and j,re- parod to ci-oss there M""Ii"g all silent at" hpnn- Wells, the <le- Imvcd British believed I'k'iftlicAmericanshad \m stealthily down JJ;;"'e.-to attack |*l(len. Under this ipression, they lefY, ' |\i«'!H-icli, and in the foniinir the Ameri- |*^iiadnoonetoop. I - Is \\l ■ 1 ^ftiilj 262 riCTOKIAL FIELD-nOOK Flrvi IiivmIud uf Cauad*. Ilnir* UMd-qaarteri. Ilull'it PnicUmatlon to tta« CniiiKlinnii UOLU.NKI. UAUIEH BKblUKHUli, •July 1'.', l""**' •Ik'''' liiiiilin;;^. At (luwii" the roiiiilar troops iiiid tlic Oliio Voluiiictrs inI'2. i^nmHi'd to tlu' C'lmiutian hIioi-o to ii point opposite the lower ciul of lid.; \^\. and. Tlioy looked with suspieioiis eye upon ii ntone wind-mill on the Hhoro, forit aii- peni I'd like an excellent place for a coneealiMl lialtery.' I$nt tliere was no resintaiuc,- aiul the little army first touched Canada Jnst above tiie present town of Windhur, It waH a bright and lovely Sahhatli morning, with ii gentle breeze from the siMitJi. west. The American (lag was immediately hoisted by Colonel Cass and a sulialtcnr over Canadian soil, and was greeted by cheers from the invaders, the spectators oi the passage of the Detroit at IJlocxIy IJridgo, and from the fort and town. Tlioy were also cot^liaily received by the French Canadians. The Americans en';nii|i('l on the farm of Colonel Francis Hahic,' a French Canadian and British otticer, witl his fine 1)rick mansion (then unfinislud, iind yet standing in Windsor) n tlic centre of the camp. This was taken pos- session of hy (}eneral FInll, and used ;h head-<iuarters i'or himself and priiic.pal dl- ficers. The little village of S«*:.tiwi(ii, a short distance below, gave its naiiic l< this locality, and Hull's dispatches fidm his head-cpiarters were always dated at "Samlwicli." On the day of tlio invasion,^ the commanding general issued a stiniiii,' proclamation to the inhahitants of Canada, whioli Avas written hy Colonel Lewis Cass. "After thirty years of pe.'tce and ])rosperity," he said, "the T'liitnl States have heen driven to arms; The injuries and aggressions, the insults and in- diginties of Great Britain, have once more left them no alteniative but manly resist- ance or unconditional submission." lie then declared that he cauie as a friend, anil as their liberator from British tyranny, and not as an eneniy or mere con([ueriMi; in- vader. " I tender you," ho said, " the invaluable blessings of civil, political, and re- ligious liberty, and their necessary results, iiuiividual and general jtrosperifv. . . , Kemain at your homes ; pursue your peaceful and accustomed avocations ; raise ndt your hands against your brethren." He assured them that the persons and propcitv of all peaceful citizens should be perfectly secure. lie did not ask them to jciiii lii» army. "I come prepared," he said, "for any contingency. Ihave a force wliicli will look down all opposition, and that force is but the vanguard of a much greater." All that he asked of them was to remain ])eacefully at their homes. At tlie same time, I knowing that the British had in their service hordes of merciless savages, whose mode of warfare was indiscriminate slaughter of men, women, and children, or the j ' " ExiHJcting, of cdiiri'e, that the ciu-my would contest our laiidiiij,', we were thinkliii, na we left the Kliorc nf i. aniUBiug fact that we chould doubtlcxH coinnicnce our active campaign hy attacking a wind-mill."— Oidiinf Ihilrh'' Vnr- lative. The invasion proved to be about a« ridiculous and bootless as Quixottc's attack on the wlud-nillls. This buili!- 1 ing was yet standing when I visited the spot In the autumn of ISttO. 2 " As wo wcie crossing the rlvc vc saw two British ofllccrs ride up very fast ojiposite where we Intended Inndiu!;, lint they went back faster than they came. They were Colonel St. Oeorge, the commanding ofHccr at Maiden, aud onti of his captains."— Lieutenant Colonel Miller to his Wife, ,Iuly 14, 1S12— Autograph Letter. 5 " Tell our mnch-beloved Father Flint that his son .Tames had the honor and gratlflcatlon, as commandliii.' offlfor.li^ ))lant, with his own hands, assisted l)y Colonel Cass, the first Tnited Stales standard on the pleasant bank iif Ilidlt trolt River, in King George's province of Upper Canada."— Lieutenant Colonel Miller to his Wife, July 14, 1611!-Aiil* graph Letter. ' * Pronou.iced as if siieltBawbee. The house was abont eight rods back from Sandwich Street, Windsor, with shod and mean buildings in front of it. It was a brick house, stuccoed In front, and made to represent blocks of stiiuf. Ba fore it was a garden, the remnant of a more spacious and beautiful one, that extended to the river bank. Tlio honil belonged to a son of t!olonel Babie. W'hen Hull took possession of if. the floors were laid and the windows wire ii but the partitions wore not built. These were immediately made of rough boards. The general and his aids, nccordirf to Colonel Hatch's narrative, occupied the north half of the house, or the porUon seen over the heads o'the twoflirarf In the picture. The councils of war were held in the second story, over the rooms occupied by the ccnornl. C.emA .lames Taylor, of Kentucky, the quartermaster general, occupied a part of the house m biB head-quarters, bill, bfi| unwell, he lodged in Detroit. t.nnt ..fllilllV I' (orfure of ])i ilieiii if fount (lie first atte critiiiiiate got (li.'ui will he t TliJM proel,, ic'iii flag flyln (lie Canadian otlicis retiiriie liritish orti(;ers I'omts. Tlies( teetion, and re( Ou file morn .Valdcii, at tilt- '|ii.irter.s, a .sp„t lifdeoiis in tJie a "f'tlie .savages i 'iirty, and oflu.| llie rocomioitrin went upon duty t:eiice tli;it at 'I'u 'i'"mt two Juindr Ijing in ambush forest was full of (ii'ilon the land t "Ctlie river, fbi- y. lip to co-operate '■"lie of Indians n iliiettion. TJu-y •iirlit o'clock tile I'l'i'^^i'it. The cha; rarofthe fugitiv( ■ilioiit to retuni, « 1 •''•'•■'' to j.ush fbrwa iii.stantly obeyed, . '"oi'tli, near w'hici, '"'"*» and ciiltiva "IP lioines near its wiier had fl(.,]. ry ''i*'innc(l and ,,,i,,>l, kmningsofthpov)., 'no Iiiindred barrels niilitiiry stores. TIk ■i'-Uiidcn,andyot I -"^foiiiwhile small t 'Hull sent a copy of his „. Imnmit." Such l« h.„ I I,.! Ik '* "'f record »» the proclamation was „ I;«»s been always cited ,1,' t. seduce, he Canad':; If; "^proclamation... As Bra -•■■beenreffardednsaueloq.q J^H': »VAU OF ,8,2. torturo at imnouvTH, ho warned th., i . , • ^-- '"^''^^^iktVU^ ••H".i"^.r.' Hc J of . IZC'k''^':'''" ''« «"i<«, " will., t ; • '" ' •'. ••"""'""^•k. . ^'";i.-v "atiol.;r :;.. ;;:!';;;f;':--i in ufHX:^ ''' ^""^ "'•-» ^"■ 'l"«'-'^-H, a spot assonatJ r „ /,, ^"""'r"""''^'' '•i'<l'«'o.. mil' -,,7, , *""' ■■^'■'^. ''''''•">'« i" the annals of '''. '"""'^ "'" tl'o .ro.,,,!,. of , u '"' ''*'"'- '"'• "TMt upon .l.n^wh^; '''';''''•/ -'I't'''" '^""-y irh.'v of T:- '"^'"'f'vs; ,.n, ^"-t tu-o h 1... 1. , : ^:;;;;' "^!- '-h.; tho ca,;. , i;".;;^;-""^ -'th i„,.,„i: Ivi",? i" an.l.nsh at the s ,.; ■'" ^*'''""'""i (tluM. in I |I, " '" *"''"■""''' ''"'t '-o.st ,vas fnJI <.f pnu ,i, '""■" '"'^ "^" ^''" '"-''.- < v , • f ""■^''^'">' ''''"' ''^'-^ '" "'^- rivor, Im- va,n, . n „ ,' f ^•""","" ^'*' '""' to l.o pi, , /'''"'i' ^" >'- to.-ti- "P to co-o,„.rato wlh a ,V ''""•'''"* ''"' '''"'•^'' »■ ' o • .. '""'T *"' ^''^' ''•'"'k •"'•-•'-"• Thoy o . Vo , V""l '. •'^■^••"•'""-'^' <>t'S loa ", ''"■■""'• ^^-''^ns also «>l<t o'clock tlio s. „ \ ■'' *''*■'* f''*'V ''«'l .lisc<.v ...I ''' '""'^ ««"<^ '» tliat -.•ofthe ; ,h ;: X7«--.-"lat Knl 'i^:^.r '"""'-' ."-; w^.t t »^o«ttorot„n,;S. Cn, ;r'T-V"' ^" ^''« "'.^ Is a^a r"'T^" /^'" "1"'" *'»- ''•■■•.^ to push /b -H-. \: A *"'' '^""^''' "ftl.c Detroit DAtn ^' -""^' ^^^'^'-tln.r was ' ;«^''' "-• whici/tho iiu ,' ,^, ;v^ ''" ''"'^^^-" *:;; ^ ^; ;':;;;;:rr- "^' I «'s and cuhivatod fi,.M . ^'"""^■'* oecurred h. isi^ ',/ ''' ^'■""' 'ts '"^ '-n,cs nca.. t l.u ll. T/' *'"' '''^^"'--1" CI s ',^'h "''• ' '""'>' ^-•'»- "«m>r had fled Tl, . '' ^''■'»* «f Isaac If,, 1 o . *'''" '■''■^''- A-none »•'"»>>'-« of the ov ■•.• *^*' ''*"^^' tho sti-oani «•, 1 • "'•^''''■*'- T''^' .'ere '« L-d:;!. t m!;r ; T ^ ^f -> ^'- ^ ^th m^i,^: : .:;;:::'' -^ ^-<^od ,,, «;: ' '""* '^ "» doubt that it would I ■ i 264 msmm mmm PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Affair ou the Tn-ron-tee. First Battle of the War. The "Here of Ta-rou-tee." two hundred and eighty men, accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Miller, of the rce- ulars, pushed forward to the Ta-ron-tee, as the Wyandots called it, or liiv'-ire Aiix Canards, as it was named by the French, a wide and deep stream that passes throutrh Lil^E^^^^^ viK»v AT luii itiviiati: Ai:x i A-SAUnt^. broad marshes into the Detroit Riv^r, about four miles above Maiden. On the soiuli- ern side of this stream, at the end of abridge, was a British picket, composed of some of the Forty-first regiment, Canadian militia, and Indians under Tecumtha.' Leav- ing a rifle company of forty men in ambush, Cass marched three or four miles up tlie stream to a ford, came down on the south side, waduig across streams aiinpit deep, and confronted the enemy at sunset. There he was checked by a deep tributary of the Aiix Canards, and compelled to make a circuit of more than a mile to gain tin shore next to the enemy. Tiiis was soon accomplished. Forming witli his riHeim n on each Aving, Cass dashed upon tiie foe will gn at impetuosity, avIio fled at the II fire. He had been re-enforced; and three t,nies he rallied, changed front, and tii.-i upon the pursuers. Cass chased tlie fugiti\ os about half a mile, the drums beutiiii; Yankee Doodle ; when night fell, the jnirsuit was relinquished, and the attackinif jjai- ty returned to the bridge. A courier was sent to head-quarters to ask permission to hold the bridge, as it would be of great importance in the march of the army toward Maiden. Hull refused to grant it. It was too near the enemy, ho said, to be Iiclil with safety by a small detaelunent ; and, not having received his heavy cannon I'nmi Detroit, he was not prejjared to attack strong Fort Maiden at Amherstburg.'- Tlu' impatient oflicers and soldiers were irritated by the refusal, and murmured lomlly. but Hull was unyielding. This was the first battle and victory in the second \v:ii for independence. It was hailed tliroughout the L^^nited States as an omen ot'sia- cess, and Colonel Cass was called the "Hero of Ta-ron-tee." He took two prisoners; and fi'om deserters he learned that some of the cifemy were killed, and nine oi ten wounded, while he did not lose a man. That the Americuus might have takc'n Maiden with the means at their cemniaml when tiiey first cnissed into rmiada there can be no doubt. Why Hull did not at] terapt it is a question not easily answered to-day, unless we look for a solution k thid fact that the Americans had no roiiable information conceniing the real strength!'! ' On thp mnrnlncr of the ITtli n re-enfnrd racnt of trnoii- arrived at the IvHdiii', coneistlng of the rcmaim!'' M-W Konrth United St tps regiineut, and ii piece of artillery, u'ut.'r Captain Bnstman. A council of ofBcers was coiivciieL J A majority of them ii>!'ted on leaving the hrldge, while Colonel Cass and t;aptaiu Snelliiig luHinled on holding it,«> wo"k! be of the utmost importance in niarchinu; upon Maiden. The ovorriilln}? of 'heir oplrion, and the rofiif.il oflliilll to allow the hrldRe to he held, cauBed its ahiHMionment. Tl'ls was one of the nio«t fat*! of the del.iys of Hull iu th^ early moveriir-nls of this Canadian invasion. » " This rlriprmination," says Wallace (f/iVJfJw I'allfii iteqi»ler. 1S4'3), " orcasloned a df lay ot'n^Mrly thue weeks, wbiclj proved in -! fm.:! to the result? of the Cflnipniirn. Hid we been prepared for an Inimertiaie attack on Maldtu, ouicam paign w- ' have l)een a» glorions as It was other* < dlsnstroii ■, aud the name of Oenerul Hull would have been t^ alted to Ui> ikies." il'eakaess of Port the fort and ^ iiiiJitia and I flanking a dr' liole.s for n^;;.< slielLs would J liiindred men lain Muir; a i •■iilwlteni com "fhidiaiis thei tlic j)o.st, was S( iliat orders we; ivorks. He p,.£ -ieo-e in a fortifi Hiit Hull did strengthened. ] none were so im '''''«]> 'ift', while cprs .said. "lea scrihe the event sajs/'fi-om this •^ijiinion of his abj] A report reach Ohartotte, a Hritig] "'« "ver, and com """"''''■•II<''V detae] toKhhophmksoi ^'""'' «'<Io of the < ",".'"■" t^asy Ruppo,: '«™g possession d \ W^J, under Capfii !i?'it of the whole r implied assurance of "fflmt order, Colon Imormnoofthe lOth ;";1 joined Captain", I ''''I'li^e. -^'Arthur ivas i,i,r J^";-iotrogo,vithin H a <ew riflemen I,. r^"ver,toreconnoi, r?™ ^^"« «"n'orted r «'f."'y-five <lrao.o, rf'"l'an.s,,vhoh.;, , r»; and Colonel M' A >■'• f '-e bank of tho rff • no also ca, f ''^' <^ tachmont e,m «»'''^rei-e^ommandtCi t^ '■'" rtixtnnce no ih . t> fmimmsi^iSSii. Heakaeag of Fort Maiden. JEffect« of Delay? the fort and garrison Th^ f - -— — __ Swounou^Zr — "'"'■"■■•I "'Hi Indians ;orIn""'^^'^^«'' ^eT^^Tl — "'-'— .nt..„i.„ lioliM for n.u3ketry A ,t '''"^.^ '"t^*"or de<i.„8e of f '""■'^'*'»'^^<i of fo,„. i,.J/" "l"'l^;eci. men of the f5,..st baf ,;i '^ 'f ^- ^e ^^^riso . « a ' '^' •'^'""-''^«- A fe^ taiiiMiur; a very ^vo.i- , "^"™ "^ thf- F.>rtv-««.. i:^ <^0'nj>osc'd of nl,n„* * 'V'°* ■ "»■' «> well convinced , . '.''"»»" C„l„„„| ,<,'(.'':„ ?^^ '' '''•'«'« '"""be,- ^^^.t „.e,...d .lie's; ^'^-llf-toconren;:^ "^^ ^"^ ^--'> and U^j^ «^'"g possession of tL ii ' ^'"^^ ^''^^t advanta-^^^o ^'^"'«""> of t}.e ri ' ■ m, "nder (',,„,,•„ s ^ „ »'" '^'•"^ '"^^''-Jv lost ?f f, *^""'^''^ ''.V Colon^.I Cnsl 7 ''^"-* orde, Cl ; V-:-^-te n,arel. on ^^d ^ "TTT""^"'^-^^ ^- ^ '""™"'S o^'the inth J;;, ■,''"'■' *^« senior offi,!, "' Vf ' *^'" '^''-^'^fon ""^"'^W- MArtlun- was instrn,-ed fn ' '* '•" '""'^^ a'>ove tjfe' , '^ '"I'- to reconnoitiv If,. ., ?^* "^ a ridge, abonf t!„ , '"' '"■'* :^>VviUmt , ' n, ,..,„., — ^'"^ ammunition of *i,„ „ ^''■^* ^^'t" •^^f^^^-rmBimp^ mmmmmi^ mmf 'M f I !^ H! t 200 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Ui?tni?t of Oeneral Mull. M 'Arthur in Command. iiig scarce, they fell back, and M'AiUmr sent an expressi Xu ciiinp for rL'-euforcomciits. On tho arrival of the incssenra'r, Colonel Cuss hiisteued down with one hundred and fifty men and a ' six-poundcr. He met the retreating detachment at Turkey Creek Bridge, wncn the nnited forces pusshed on to I Petit Cote, and tlierc ei;campetl lor tiie night. Tlie enemy had ]ieen re-enforced in tlie mt'sn time with both men and artil- lery. Cass was anxicas t at- tack them, and, at his request, M'Art uir ordered the whole force toward tlie bridge-. A few shots of the six-|)(iiin(kr i were excbanged with the artil- ,1 lery of the e-iemy, but with lit- tle effect ; and toward cveni: the whole detachment nunclu liaek to can<p liitig'.ied ;iml ili>- piriied, and bereft of all conli- dence in tlie commaiiding gen- eral. All accused liini of in- capacity ; many of them di- nounced him in j)rivatc coiivo sation as a coward, and a liw ex])ressed the bclieflhat he wii'^ treacherous. Tlv'se suspicions were confii-med to their minds by his leaving his aiiny j on the 21st of July, and remaining at Detroit four days, without, as they alle!.'ed,j any but frivc^loiis pretexts.' i)uring the absence of J lull, tlie command of the troops in Canada devolved nn| Colonel M'Arthur,^ who resolved to make an effort to attack Maiden, lie dispatelud, » M'Afee, pseen fi« to (Vs. ' A bloj:nii)hical iskctcli of M'Arlhur will be found In anotber part of tbls work. See Index. gy ^^^i ii e-iUji^ P ^ J^ Skirmishes with t tcT^ crossed the bridi fiarty returned t. the FiitsT hlooj) • Wliile tlie litth 1'} (li'cadful siisp i-imefi-om the hdi was considered th nalers of tlie 8tr; Icngtli and four breadth — stands limestone rock, ali ^^cven nules in cire, ft'i'eiiee, rising in tt'iitre to an'altifii of nearly thiw Ji;„ r^'I ft'ct, an.l cover «'t'i a rough a I Mierous soil,' out ( »'"cli (<pi-ing,s Iie'n "'"'''^•'•- The Indian r';'|<">.i,' tlie Alg,„„, "'"'<"li signifies Th( ■Britisliaull.oritlesf.aytl, ■laclilnlock, page r,2 * V General nr,„.I<,:; , fmr Thf.vleu-I, fi,„„„„| |'^«l>.nevi,|,e(,s,.^,ui„,!;;,: Skirmishes with the Intllnns. ^^-^ ^^^ u4€i/i^:.. 267 _, , _______Michilllni,,ckhii;^ Captain JVrCuIIoucjh .yuu t. i;a.^Hai,'o for a.tillefy ; 'ro^ "'^f'^' ^ '^^^ - tlio bridire, so -IS to n, , , ^ axarcls above rnfonnccl tl^at tt 'lU ri^^'r""^ ™"^'^- twoen the Auv Ton ., i , '''^" ■''^^^'" ^P" ^^I'Arthur ^^^"^^ '^"^^ ^"'■'^•T Crook, ^v}.e.•e he capturod o F. , *' ^fttlouiont, «»;';3 for t.-„ ,nile.s a„^ ., JaIU)ythoT,Kl.ia„,s.' Kear ^'^'ulth- stands a ^*'''»t <«rty nulos m '"'K'stone rock, about weinniloH hi circuni- fcreiico, risinij in its w'ntre to airaltitiido of nearly tliroo Iiund- rc;l foot, an.l oo^erod - «'fli a roush and ?>'n<'ro,is soil, out of "'"*■'' •'^J^-iii.iTs hoavv '""''^■•- Thol„,ii.,„; ^m^mmm^^^^mmr ■i;;';-"",!? tho Alo-o,„j,;i„ . --0.^.,,,,, ,„,„ „,.^^^„ .„..,„;. — - ■- wliioli siirnifies Tl.n n "-"f^' "nprossod Avitli iis .),., ^hejrih^f,,,, ,,„,,j^ ^^^^ ^j^^ ^ o h Cr'r i' ^^'^■''■"--^•kinaok, '^« M. l<i :: ' , i,;; ;;; ,""; l>''*<''i". .';L ■.,.„..,, «..„„ . „ ■ ' "''■""S^''""«"on I. „ general onUr "•■i.iiil, aiullsproiiomicHibyii,,:. ^i'lM M -BiO K Pontine'* Confederacy. Trt*iii»ftM' A Masmicie. Scenery at Mackiuaw • June 4. eriy pmnt of the peninstik fjf lftl«M5gM^, Ab- FBearfi Jesuit niisHionaries planted the Hymfeol of" Christianity as i-^fiy nn /'WJ. aaJ-eafci tike Hei^land Point of lonatins. La .Sa4i«». the discoverer of liv ' ^ ,1, "ithtT Hennepin and otluis, m, n there in 1479; and by tl>e side sif ]*Vince of Peace they eivitcd a strong-hold of war, an<l called it Fo|^ Micliilliit kinack. The name was abbrev inted to Mnekinack ^pronounced Mackinaw), and that '//''oj^raphj we Mill adopt. When, on tlic con(niest of Canada from the Fi'<'iich, thi?. post fell into the bands of the Enu'lish, the savages that filled the country ^' juained ^-r le to their new mas- ters. " Vou have w^jquered the French," they said, "but you have not coiujuered us." Tlie mighty Porftiac, the Ottawa chief, was then forming his giant contederacv in the Xorthwi'st I'or the extermination of the English westward of the Kias>ara, The jjrincipal tribes of that region M^ere the Ottawas and Ojibwas, or Chippcwas. The latter were the most jx>werful. Tlieir most important village was upon tli( baok of Miclalliraackinack,The Great Turtle, in the strait, where a hundred warriors resided. On the morning of the king's birthday,* 1763, the forests and Fort Mack- inack was tilled Avith the Ojibwas. They professed warm friendship for the English, and invited the garrison out to see their great game of ball, the favonto amuwment of th* Indians. It was a gay and exciting scene. At lengtli a ball wont mp frot; i ',<■ inid«€ if>f the players in a h>fty curve, and fell near the pickets of the fort. It was '4 yrrconceri^'A signal. The warriors ruslu;d toward the fort as if in quest of the hull. J .' ir liands were soon filled with gleaming hatchets, whicli the squjifls hft'1 /'()/i''eale(J beneath ^jt ManketB. A bloody massacie ensued. After a satur- IIKJhi //f'p(<v('l'((l dnys, the liid'lans, alarmed by rumors of the approach of a stroiirr En- glish force, took Hl'iiit(- on the island — three hundred and fifty warriors, with tluii Ihniilies and household elii ■ / /'/IW)"(f with (hem Alexander Henry, an English triider, who had been saved from the nm m fi> by (he hands of friendly Indians. The flilhiHing year I'orl Mackinack was garrisonetl by (he Iflii/jllpli, The Iri(||iiiiH had I|(mI from the island, and ; i iiji ments upon it immediately comn](ii('( d ll H \\ \\\m\ delightful spot. As seen from (lie water, it presents a most striking ])ietiii(' ofwliili ell "s, contrasting beautifully w((h the green foliagi' lliat hall' covt is them, hi (he centi'e the land rises in wooded heights, in some jihiees (liree liiindretl feet above iIk. lake. The rocks tbriii fantaslie shapes. Here may be seen a ease, there a (iiwcriiirr ])innacle, and in other jilaces gorges are sjjan- ned by natural l)ridges. One of the nuM noted of tliese is the Arch Hock, seceinl (ii;h in ])icturesqueness (o the fainnus Natural ISridge in Virginia. The crown is over nm hundred feet above the 'water, and aliiuM forty above the ground. It Avas Coiiikm] liy the falling out of great masses of stone. The l{iibbi;V T'eakjthe Sugardoaf, Plutonic Cave. lieviPs Kitchen, Ciant's Causeway, a'ni the !jo\er's I, cap, are ail faiiious jdaees, ami clus- tered with stirring legends connected iviili the French and English occnp., 'ion. or run- ning back to the dim old I radii ions efiln' Children of the Forest. But J wid not ocni- )iy more space in describing this now famous summer resort for Ineiists and sportsmen— a^ place T have never visited. I was .about to take passage at Chicago for the strait in the autumn of 1800, when I heard that sno«s| had tidkii there, and that the sceptre of Boreas was omnipotent over all those Dorth| AliUll KI><!K, MAOKKNAOK. Fort Macklunw ni British; and in : looking the fine command of Liei was a very impoi 'lians. The fort i in extent, with ai y\W\trmi on the "•'I',"" u'Jiich H-flft six-jjonndi r h,im u '"'"ifwTs, and a b I'liu (imgrt«)/«j Yftin '.'f \var.= ''^"'■li " (IH the An ''ivilized life more i "Cs'iiages re.'idy tc ^''■"""■'''- I'.'i'-fy, and 'Iwiis (i'om Fort 81 ''■'"» -^hickinack, in t.ichnieiit of (Jio 'J'en liccn erected in tj,e ' circrmstance Jiad gi «i hostilities had Ilr tliiit he received of tl tlio morning of the 1 R'^ulars, two Jiiuidre. flwns, chiefly of the t I Fwas), and demands Captain Roberta w- I «^as apprised, at Port 'N'amcdin honor of LIPntPn; IJ-'Ma,ul„fK„rt Miami on Kwamnotrarotr,„,,,rd"t^ "OBT MAcasiNACK. A coveted Prhe. face home^yava, content to {"I-nfonnat,on. At Detroit antviewofMaekinacklsI- foomCon,panionII.avecop- "'^I tJ»? Arol. Kock, and^a ;'oarviewofMackh;a„. -il %o and fort, sketched I>v- an ;j- of the United Stit^ Mackinack came into the P"-o.ss,o„ of the United ^^LJ" .!?«' -^'-^ the British; and in 1812 For. TT T"' fi„anv'"""""*''""-'^J*"^^=^ ^^•"'•^' lookin. the fine hrrLf"' ''"''''' "" *''« '"'.'^^'^ «o„thwe "bl J'"J!r^''r^'^ ^>' the «as a very imnort-mf / 'lanckH, of the United *<f../ a *''^'' "'"^er the :>-». T,fo sr;.:: :;;;,r„",;!;"'""« r '"« ««™itt* :,\^'rr ™? >•« i" ovtont, with an nnJnf '''"^ "verlookino- the fine LJt ■ . "''^" the In- ^Mn,nn on t , v^ ' ir^'' ^'^^^ "'*« Lake u';: ZZ""'': ''''''''-^ ^ '""'' '•''«'v'. which ^Lrickl, ;\''''*"'^^^ -pounder wn^ 0,^,0, 'T'"^ ''^ *-> '''ook-Ion^e LS""/''?""'^ "^ t'.e ■'■''" 'm>U„u ,v„W.o „ ' r'';".""^'''- '^ • commanded tJef '""^T""'^^'''^^' ^^^o tr „ „„, ' ^^^ '"'-" ■■- «-»• -r;;::: i;'.ts !«'.. orocted in the .''">'•■» Veteran Battah-on fort J ' ■^'''^"■'«oned with a de- -nnstaJ^ ad "iv "'^ "' ^'^^ "^y -'^^ oJ^^'^^^^,"' "'""'^-^ This fort Z "'"^''^^ '•"^•^•ivod of th i r,''''"'^^^^''^ to J.im hv tr dei . ; .,"'""'•" "^ ^xpeet- "'^ morning of Mo ntujf ;l^'c'aratio„ of war m .s fiom^ "'' ''^;^''«t kno„ I.d.„ •Named In honor of LlPutonnnt 17 i " — ^ (IPfkratlon of war he -«^^HI|HBSs nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ;i ■ ■ Kxpedition ognlust Mackluack. ]<Mrgt Intimation of Danger. Demand fur the Surrender of the i in " June 28. •Juno 20, flispjvtchcfl .111 cxprpss" to Captain Kobeils Avith the important intelligonpo. I"*'-- A Ifttor from anotlicr liaiul, as we liavc observed, liad already given tliat information to Koberts. Urock ordered liim to attack Maekinack inimediatelv if [)ructicable ; or, in tiie event ofliis being attacked by the Americans, to defend his post to the last extremity. Another order, issned two days hiter,'' direpttd liini to summon to his assistance the neigliboring Indian tribes, IJritish ;iiii| American, and to solicit the co-operation of the emph)yes of tlie Nortliwest Fm- Company in tliut vicinity. Still another was issued, giving Captain Koberts discre- tionary j)owers. Mr. Pothier, tlie agent of the Northwest Company, was then at St. Josepli's, nml Roberts laid before him his plan of operations. Pothier ajiproved of them, and jilucid all the resources of the comj)any at that j)oint at his disposal ; and lie oH^ered to com- mand in person one hundred and fifty Canadian voyayeurs, then employed in tlio company's service, .and within call. On the niorning of the 10th of July — a bright and beautiful morning — the wind blowing gently from the northwest. Captain Roberts embarked with his whole force civilized, semi-civilized, and savage, for ]Mackinack, in boats, bateaux, and canoes accompanied by two six-pounders, and convoyed by the brig Caledonia, beloiifjini.' to the Northwest Fur Company, which was laden with provisions and stores. Jloan- while the doomed garrison at Maekinack was ignorant of the declaration of war aivl the impending blow. Lieutenant Ilaiicks had observed Avith some uneasiness tlie sudden coolness of Ottawa and Ojibwa chiefs, who had j)rofessed great friend^lm, only a few days before; and on the morning Avhen Roberts sailed from St. Josepli's, the Indian interpreter at Maekinack told Ilam^ks that he had been assured tliat llic Indians, Avho had just assembled in great numbers at St. Joseph's, Averc about to at- tack Fort Holmes. Ilancks immediately summoned the American gentlemen on the island to a conference. It Avas thought by them expedient to send a coiifitlential agent to St. Joseph's to ascertain, if possible, the temper of the commandant of the garrison, and to Avatch the movements of the Indians. Captain Danruian Avas soiit on that errand. lie embarked at about sunset on the 16th. '^ Tlic moon was at its full, and Avhen night fell upon the Avaters thoy Avere softly illuniiiiated by its dim effulgence. Captain Daurman had accomplished fifteen miles of his voyage Avhen he met tlio hostile tltitilla, rtud Avas made a prisoner. He Avas paroled on the condition tliat lie should land on Mackinaw in advance of the invaders, summon the inhabitants toils Avest side to receive the protection of a British guard for their persons and ])roportv, and not to give any information to Ilancks of tlie ai)proach of the expedition, lie Avas also instructed to Avarn the inhabitants that all Avho should go to the fort would be subject to a general massacre ! Daurman Avas landed just at daA,-n, and fulfilled the provisions of his parole to the very letter. But, Avhile the inhabitants Avere flying from the village to seek Hiiiish ])rotection from the blood-thirsty savages. Dr. Day, an American gentlenian, more | courageous than the rest, hastened to the fort and gave the alarm. This was the ; first intimation that reached Ilancks of the ajiproach of an enemy. That enemy liadj already landed, and taken one of his two heavy guns, in the gray morning twili<;htl of the 1 7th, to the croAvn of the island, in the rear of the fort, and placed it in uat- tery so as to command the American Avorks at their Aveakest point. It was too latel i'rr Ilancks to prepare tor defense. By nine o'clock in the morning Roberts had |ins-J session of the heights, and the Avoods back of the fort seemed to be sAvarniiiig wiilil painted savages. At half past eleven a summons Avas made for the immediate sur- render of the foit, garrison, and island "to the forces of his liritannie niajesiy."" "This," said Ilancks, in his report to the government, " Avas the first intimation hatt of the declaration of Avar," Ilajicks held a consultation Avith liis officers ainlili^ .Surremler of Mnc .Aiiierican ge\ the cliaractei Here allowed ami those oft the lionors of Mackinaw we H-aniing all tJi IJriti.sli govern lati(m. All j.i' strained. " It Bntish Store-kc "tliat the fort i helieve not a so hVitisIi officer C( 'iglifyofthe sa eil siicJi instrun: iiii'iitly denounci (iiro.^ The capture o: immediate and p Jlirs Avere among jiiacod in tlie pos rj)l)er Lakes, wit prison bar that ke ||ra«-n, ai'd Detro «il(lernes.', irhose iw settlements shi Such Ava.s anotJi |>C the Secretary o liostilities nearly u instead of British fwve hmi a British '"frcrwh of the enemy t '^'foi-r officers; Canadian , ™ and 0l(an-a,, 57-2 r", Briiish two day. afte; „,„',;' I /.'""■e course of a debate p' (Earl of Chatham) S, host aI)onii„al,le avowal", mi,ei-(.ho,.,,tho :;:;[,,. "*, am. to vindicate tie . employment Of, he «av,a, ';.^'^'Wis,d„^rhe^rn1h:/;r;^ ''t^fthelndmmr '^ AiiuTican crent cmo,. {TTi Z ~~ ^mpioyi * ""' 1" the fort iiwl :* — — s^—""''"yinoBrh. a-Kl tl.oso of Great Jrita '; '' '"' !"''-'^^'=*" the A,„er can -fw H-nornhl, terms (lie Lonons of ^vav T "^ ^"'* '" their niaee T I, "^'"■' ^^'^''-^ taken d,nv„ uann,,,. all those „»o„ M, l'.„^^V''^'' ''^''^'^ to Detroit. aT ^ 1'" ^^^'''^'^"'1 »<> I<-avo '■^ffi: ! l.tion. All |„-i,,„, ,,m'". , ° "'»"'l "•"liin •■> .i,„„.|? ," ' "* """Siancc to tho believe not a sonl nfih *^'f"o'it firin.r a sin<rlo ,v„. .- , ''^ -f oi t Geor.re, isi2. B.i.w, ow c,;;l,, 5„ ritt';!'' ""- '■~" •-• * ™: r-''"'^ """"» ' «""iy ""•s were among the s„oi Kof I ' '''''' ''^"'^ «« ven uL " " ^T''^' '"t<^>-ests, I" ' > the possessio . of tllTj'-' '^'"' '^'^'^^ ^^ tl e L t"! of^'^" ^^^-tly' I J'Fr Lakes, ,vith all its IZT"" "' ^''^ ^^"'tecl State Th ' '''* '■'"'"" ^^'«^ i;n.o„ bar that kept back t},l ^^^^^'^'"tages, was transferal t .'i '"°"'''*'"^ ^^ the -l'-.i«-n, ai'd T)(>f j' ^"^ "'e .savages of that recrfon '^' ^ ''"'^^'' to that ene.nv Tho 'r':r!!!^,"''''-- >vi.u:r"°"'>-'' ''-'-•:n.t;\S^^^^^^ "ftl» Secretary of War V, °'™"""' ■"..issue, „.|llfi I , ke*e„,„. of the e"!'"'/!"!"^"; "■"" ""ere mson,ZrZZ~~~~ ■ ll,1 I! Illl 272 PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK AlarmlDK RnmorH nnc) FactK, A mntliiong Spirit In Hnir» Array. CIIAPTER XIV. "They who hnvc nothing more to fenr may well Iiululfic a cmile at that Avhich once apiiiiU'd, A» chilUrcu at diucovereU bugbcuiH," Bybon: Sardanapalm. ISASTIIOUS in the highest degree to the American cause 'vas the fill! of Mackinack, aiul tlie prospect whieli it presented lo Hull Avas justly appallhig. Ilis uneasiness was increasetl by in- telligence that came almost hourly of the web of extreme ditti- culties fast weaving around him. He liad sent to the (iovern- ors of Ohio and Kentucky for re-enforcements and 8up])lies, but ' he had, as yet, no positive tidings of their approach. Fnim the '"•^-^^ " north came sounds of dreadful import to a handful of isoiatod soldiers. The savage chiefs in alliance Avith the British at Mackhiack had sent cou- riers to all the villages south as far as the Maumee, informing their warriors of that alliance, of the fall of Mackinack, of the investment of Chicago, and of their activi preparations to proceed to Maiden in great force, to join other warriors there, and attack Detroit. From the east came a rumor that the Canadians and savages in that direction Avere also hasting toward Maiden, and that a detachment of iJritish sol- diers, with artillery, under the command of Major Chambers, had landed at th( Avest end of Lake Ontario, penetrated in the direction of Detroit as far as the Kivor Trench, or Thames, and Avere receiving great accessions of militia and Indians on • their march. The alarm created by those facts and rumors Avas hnmediately intcusi- • AnKn8t4, fit'd by farther reports* that Colonel Proctor, of the British army, had ai- 1S12. vived at Maiden Irom Fort Erie Avith re-enforcements.' Then caniu over from SandAvich an intercepted letter from a member of the NorthAvest Company ai Fort William, dated two days after the fall of Mackinack, saying that, on the recfiiit of the declaration of Avar, their agents ordered a general muster of their forces, wiiidi amounted to tAvelve hundred men, exclusive of several hundreds of the natives. "We are equal, in all," ho said, " to sixteen or seventeen hundred strong. One of our gtn- tlemen started on the 17th Avith several light canoes for the interior country to ioum the natives to activity, Avhich is not ha rd to do on the present occasion. We liki- Avise dispatched messengers in all directions Avith the ncAvs. I have not the least doubt but our force tAvo days hence Avill amount to iive thousand eftective men, Our young gentlemen aiid engagees offered most handsomely to march imnKHliatciy for ]\Iichillimackinark. Our chief, Mr. SIuxaa', exnressed his gratitude, and uraftod one hundred. They are to proceed this evening for St. Joseph's. lie takes about as many Indians. Coidd the vessel contain them, he might have had four thousaitd more. It noAV dejjcnds on Avhat acct.nnts we receive from St. Josej)h's, Avhether these numerous tribes from the interior Avill proceed to St. Joseph's or not."^ In addition to these causes for alarm, Hull discovered a spirii, of mutiny in his owiij camp Avhich gave him more uneasiness still — a spirit, he said, " Avhich before hadj manifested itself in Avhispers, increased and became more open. It Avas evident it| Avas now fostered and encouraged bj-^ the principal officers of the miliiia, and wn* ' Hnll's Cavipnign qf 1S12, page 6S. « Letter of Mr. M'Kenjsle, of the Northwest Company, at Fort William, to Mr. M'lutosh, of SaucU. ;ch, July W, ISl^ cited by Hull in hid Campahjn vf ISI'2, page 5;>. Ibtrgy and Vlglla fast rising in jire.sently. Such was t ueek in .Viiirti Ijriisli, of Cliii Ix'cf cattle am .sin, thirty-five The eiiei'gy ; at this time in a 111 ia hie Sir Ge Quebec in ahso] K"i»n,haa iiient of ITpjjor moment of his f ai'cordingly. Jj, Ill's inadequate n "|'|»O.S.'(I to tliQ , •House tJieir resei "ly cumjjclied hi iiioto military pos ply of ordnance ai ter post early i„ j Forty-fii-st IJegimt -is late as his deuj ties to be near, rec ''vpenditiire, and tc Jilculty of raising ^^'lien intelJigcrK Toronto, the capita '«' sons, v.'ith tJieir !ii>nHoIcroft,oftJ,e mnmmj when the Inordinary session < '"■wand his aid-,h ••?.™ frontier, and t) to cross the Niagara P»t}'e shrank from t :ln'ctio„s,atthesam( I oiuid necessary, in ],. |6r offensive or defend l»f the peninsula betw m hundred men re I'Pon.tJie Indians on th f™?";g promise of th /.' f'le 3d of Jujy t, pJ-^ considerable for I)r i Ini I «"*MM ^^'TilE WAH OF .8,3. «;ch was the situation of Go„en, ir M "'''"* ^' "^'"^ ^^"^^^^^'r Mc.ttl. and other' .Soli's. '^'^ '"'"^''•''^^I an 1 th ■ v ''," '''"* ^"«Ptain IW >iMi.iny-fivo n.i,e:;,cr"' ^"'^ ^ -^'' -- - ^"c.;s::^v^T ^'"""'^ Quebec i„ absoJutt unl S 'f ' ^^''"'■"'"- g^'»^''-al wi^ ?''""" '"^'''^i"' • The K" 1«11. had boon "^if .f^;.;"|-^"d'ng -a!-, whil^ B .:ek'";;f "^ ^;r''«"« thno a met of Upp,r CanadI" H ^''''^''''"t ai,d administra or' 7 /'' "' ^^''^^■ moment of his ardval aM^* '' *" ''^y- ^i-tena t ' ^ *''"' S*^^'^''-"- '°'"""'"'- opFsecl to the employment of fiT "."''"" «"!""• From "'^- ''^' '»««t of arou«e their resentnfonf a^ ,;/,^ ,J"^^"^««. and discount,"! :':^;«'"""'g ''« ^v^as ^'ty -mpcHed him to ac«^ 1*^ '^ ^ before wa' was do ,*'"', ""^''"l'^« to motennJito When L '"■''^''^•' He end, omW "''"'' '^"^ ''oces- ply of ordnance and store o^rf'"" °J^"^"^ *« the sorh ' ", f '■^'"^'*'^<^" the re- '"•Post early i„ June tili,, ^ " f^^^'Ph's and to Ami « ^ ""^ T^'^'' «^'''t a sun- Forty.fir.st l^™,,;^ ^^^J "|^ -th „,, , re-enforce!; r':;;^ , ^'^^ visited the ll -i^l«te as his departure for In ^"l "^«vements he wa tt ' '"f '"' "'^'^ "^ the fe« to be near, reoommemLf " 'T'^"'"^'' ^'' «^'o'-ge iwl !'?^ '"'^ «"l'^->ior. ^vpenditure, and to avo dall . *^ '''"l^^^^ the molt ,S ' ""* ^^'''^'V'""g I'ostili: ^'Jnlty of raising „,;"' "^^ ^^'l^'-^^ not absolutely efarrr'""^ '' ^^'" P"*'^^ IVhen intelliironce of th', 1 , '*'*' ^' '^^''^ause of the great Toronto, the capitaTofV '^""'''*™tioi, of war reaob„ , t. , »"y<"-. and his aid-de-camn r "'■'' ^^as summoned • " ' i ^"^^'^'Pted. An ev- ^- th>ntier, and t^^^^fe'" ^''^^^ f- '-s;^:^,'^f jj^lfi^-ns, his briga^ ^ !» cross the Niitrnvo i>- ^""^'^""shed his militn,.,r h / ^'t Gcoi-ge. on th.T\r- •<•"<■">•", .« ti,c .1" tirr'*'"'^ <"■ ""<"« d. t tr"'""" '"" ■"■"■»' '.»mr PMf^. on mt fl^, ^.^r^" '^ovos,, wrUte^ n'' ^T ^*"' "'"''"s work ^ — s 'I'-iHMt r: 1 '1 1 ^HRBlii . 1 i w II A i 274 PICTORIAL FI£LD-BO£)K Alarm cauied by IIull'i Invnalon. Brock before the CaaadUn LoKUIatnre, That HiMly (i(.f|, ,||,i,,|„^ ''^■^■^sr^sse^.ip* FORT NIAUAIIA, lilMM I OUl (il.ulU.L. along a line of tliirty miles from Buffalo to Fort Niagara, and estimated by Gcncial Brock to be twelve hundred strong.' On the 20th of July Brock received intelligence of Hull's invasion; also a coiiv of his proclamation, with hints of its effect. Those hints, and a knowledge of tlie wiak- ness of Fort Maiden, alarmed hun.^ The Legislature, about to meet at York, wouM require his presence, and he could not leave for the field in the West, as he disircil to do. Divided duties perplexed him. He instantly recalled a portion oftliu iiiilitiu whom he had permitted to go home to gather in the grain harvest, and they mm- mured. lie dispatched Colonel Proctor, of the J'orty-first Regiment, Avith suoli iv- enforcements as he coidd spare, to assume command at Amherstburg, and the iiilial- •July 22, itants of the Niagara border felt themselves abandoned. He issued a eoun- 1812. ter-proclamation" to neutralize the effect of Hull's, and hope revived. Leaving the military along the Niagara frontier in charge of Lieutenant Colonel Myers, Brock hastened to York, and, with much parade, opened the Legislature in person. His address was cordially responded to ; but he soon found that tiie Legis- lature partook, in a large degree, of the despondency of a great portion of the pcojik' of Upper Canada, which Hull's menacing proclamation and actual invasion had pro- duced. Five hundred militia in the Western District had already sought Hull's pro- tection ; the Norfolk militia, most of tliem connected by blood with the inhabitant-ij of the United States, peremptorily refused to take up arms; and the Luliaiis on tlii'f Grand River, in t] le heart of the province, after some 'of their chiefs returned from A visit to Hull, refused, with few exceptions, to join the British standard, declariug tliiirl intention to remain neutral. With such promises of failure and disaster before then if resistance should be made, a majority of the Assembly were more disposed to sub 1 Brock wns very anxious to cnpture Fort Niagnrn, but was restrained by l\is superior. Sir George Prcvost IjoIIcvm it to be a party war, and was unwilling to do that which might rouse the national spirit of the American?, and nnid both parties against the British. Ue believed that tho war party could not carry on hostilities long. He thereforj commanded Brock t<i net strictly on the defensive. ' Hull, as we have seei.v invaded Canada and issued his proclamation on the 12th of July, but It was not until the IS that Lieutenant Colonel St. George wrote to General Brock on the subject. "It is strange," said the latter, "thij three days should be allowed to elajjse before sending to acquaint me of this important fact. Hull's insidloHB procii] mati(Mi,"*he continued, "herewith Inclosed, has already been productive of considerable effect on the minds of the p pie. In fact, a general sentiment prevails that, with the present force, resistance Is unavailing. 1 shall continue ^ exert myself to the utmost to overcome every difficulty. "—Brock to Prevost, Fort George, July 20, 1812. • The editor of the Li/e and Correspondence of Sir Tmac Urock, speaking of the invasion, says, "Brigadier Oene^ Hull Issued on that day the following insidious but able proclamation, which was doubtless written at Washington.l See Life, etc., page 186. Symptoms of DIalc mit, and to c< (li'lr province iif a leading \\ li/i illy oviTaw use uf ins jicn j ,:/tpr\vard j,,i,„ JvVie. Vvv,, ivi iliiin good ivnm "Ctlie people^ jj '"\'\^\y hills.' ] ./'■/or to declar III, Brock resolv Brock's couhM spirit and power ury sjiuodily, th, III' became know '"■■'''''•'' to write lieie voluntccri'd in'tliout the U-mi 'lirected to procoe fertile wAu'i' of A asmayherequiret H'e have observe k "le apj)roach o< i '"■'>', •ill sent forwai I H'liijer soon bore ih .;";''_"■• Tecumtha, an -'LiMeii, ai„l wore ly pie miles belon- Fo ,'%Oeor;fe Prevost seen,! H*""""ofitlnLoZ |'''™''«P^"clan.atiort *W.» mniestv'» .^^ -""^ '^' K"'y and wealth aV"7;'-' ^^-^i-'^onacco,,'."/, tan. " Ar„ „,' " "" ''''n;:c "•ins under thl" '''"P''^ "'"i'lea war, and aT .""""""'^ , iM not make (h„ "^ """' Ht.'h»n ',W,!!'?K''"-<""i'" K'" "Bvwh"'/''"^'"'''""^ b'l'tanot.-'a'd^'y™'" F'Mn ■ anH „ " """ exi m ■' B-fc .■.•.ol„.,l ,„ ,,„ ,,„,; ' ",","'™"a.iT ; l.«l, after "Z^3" ^'"*«'- C»7.i '-WcI to write to S r G oo ' zV'"^"" «-"tin..„t "s ?o ''" "" *''^' ^'''^'•"it fro,.": Iircctcd to moon^A ,...., '"• 1 i'avo scJeofprl ^„„ / I'- 't of tJio Movii.f.,. _ « . have „,,.„„e J ,h,. ,|,„ ^_ . '^ ' " """' '"""""d by a8 ^n^ kr martin, ufu . rnj-^-;,,^--'". a.ul r^,!:, ^, ~ ^■'om yo/r ^ - = " <« thereforet ^o , '[7:™'''?" h'«^e,«„„, „„ „ccom t .f m" .'"^ ""'bit// 8^n!'T '« '" be found "mv"?'' ""« ^''" '"Z n.vT"™""''"'' h^' liberality of their » ',''^"' '"yn'ty, not „ . '' ""' ""Irty yea« h!^,''"''' "' ">« ^vorld a „ .!7v. ^ «''^''"'- h ^.'- 'heir auce«,o ' '""?;<"?■>. ""s not „cn , "r"""'»« "f these hi ' " ■"""' "^ veterans evlCj '" "P'" i" h«"^« Britain .,1 ■ ""^ "'on Wnrnll ,h "" " ^'"P^'tv wdV" '"'"P'" '« '«> he Tmrnllu ^""^ "'<=''• for- ' "f Coniinen „, F '^"""'« <>f Canada to hlr " ""'" «trn»,„.,| ^ ''" f "^'^ff a Territory of " kins'8 ,.p„, ,"' ^"™P« «'(th a rod Jul^^'t""' vvim„„ „„„.^' ' fr^-n the protection of nl". •",c uiuain, the ^ip,,.„„, "■araed them nf.i ,' "•' ""d meana r.V » • " "" '"'"Hi wl ^["ited States, ^nd llu , """-'"me natio,!°^n L '* '""nen«o adva ?1 ""J^y^fnt s'lpcrior t I fo (. I *or wqicJi every ( i ir,^ r" IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT^3) V // ^6r C/j I.V/ |iO i^ili i2J I.I 1^ 1^ 12.2 us lU Li u, 1^ II 1.8 L25 IliU ■!.6 '<5 Hiotographic Sciences Corporation <> # .-<«g :\ ^ \ V ^:^' 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEP^TER.N.Y. M5«0 (716) 372-4;^03 ;^> ^"^^ :<$> %. ^ t ' I : ' [\y'. i 27« PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK Re^nforcementa and Hupplien «t the River Raliln. Defeat of X^)or Van Uorne at Browattawn. Brush, 80 precious to the littlo army. Brush was unwilling to dsk those treasures and his small force without an escort, and he appealed to Hull to send him a detaeh- mont of men for that purpose. The general hesitated, and, when the Ohio colonels joined in a reipiest that an escort should be sent, ho flatly refused compliance. At length better counsels prevailed, and, after much persuasion, ho ordered Major Thom- as H. Van Home, of Colonel Findlay's Ohio regiment, to proceed to the Raisin witli a detachment of two hundred men from that corps, to join Brush, and aft'ord a safe convoy for the cattle, provisions, and mail. The major obeyed with alacrity. He crossed the Detroit with his command on the 4ih of August, and encamped that night on the banks of the Ecorces Kiver, where ♦Jie soldiers slept on their amis. Tljey resumed their march early on the following mornnig, A light fog veiled the flat country along the borders of the river. The air was still and sultry. Four spies, under Captain William M'CuUougli, preceded the troops, to watch for the en- emy. They lost their way, and, while passing around a corn-field in bloom, tliev were fired upon by a dozen Indians who lay in ambush there. M'Cullough fell from his horse severely icounded, and, before the detachment could reach the spot, tlic savages had scalped him and bore away his shining locks in triumph. His coimtrv Avas thus bereaved of one of the bravest and most devoted of its defenders, and the whole army sincereiy mourned a real loss. The d(!tachment was moving very cautiously half an hour after this sad occiii- rence, when it was joined by some mounted militia, and a few gentlemen who had taken this opi)ortunity to travel in safety to the Raisin. These, with ]\[ajor Van Home, stopped at the house of a Frencliman for water, and were informed by iiim that several hundred Indians and British soldiers were Ij ing in ambush, near Browns- town, for the purpose of intercepting the party. Van Ilorne had become accustoineil to aiai-mists, and did not credit the story. He marched on in fancied security, his front guard of twenty- four men in two col- umns, each column pre- ceded by three dra- goons, and the main body in the same or der. The mail, with a mounted escort, was placed in the centre. Where the ground would permit, the col- umns marched a hund- red yards apart. As they approached Brownstown the road passed through a nar- row prairie skirted with thick woods, and a creek on the right. Tlie woods on the creek came to a point toward the town, through THOMAS B. Vj^ UOBNK. which the road passe,! to the ford. On the left were corn-fields ami thickets of thorn biisli- es ; and near the creek the columns were com- pelled to approacii eacli other on account of i narrowness of the wa Just as they readied its margin, and were en- tering upon the open ground around the vil- lage, near the house of Adam Brown, a heavy firo, at only fifty yards' distance, was openeil upon them from hotli sides by a large body of Indians who lay in am- bush in the thickets and the woods. The attack was sudden, sharp, and deadly, and the troops were thrown into confusion. Appre- hensive that he might be surrounded, Major Van Home immediately ordered a re- treat. This movement was conducted with much confusion. The Indians pursued, and a ninning fight was kept up for a considerable distance, the retreating Americans frequently turning upon the savage foe, and giving hira deadly volleys. The retreat PerlboraSnpptj continued to followed abo the Hntisli a and disaffect: written freely seventeen kil Hull was g colonel.H urgci liegged him t tween Detroit the suj)])lies ii and no time a men at once," red men," wai terprise was a and his savairi niinent peril. The inutinoi ed. There wfi eral, and cause was an agreen sued for the ir field ; for the s officer at Sand v and planks for of the 8tli, by t "all artificers, i diately. This order d for energetic a- summer's day w eral east a clone night tliat spee( Detroit/— an or iniment the inh to take up arm 'liicnceofintellii litia, and Indiani lii'ock. Hut Canada v aiul thirty convf li'ft " to hold pr to the well-disp ''wn stockaded, ;;^(ling in Sam ' For his gallnutry In wHalaeTweuty-slxt •Thebatrle-gronndv Amoni; the killed w 'want Jacob Pentz, nn, i"yofWar,,iatortSnn<I 'Tlil,lmlldliitMvn8e '""noflSflfl. Itoccnnl l^";'ni as Spring Wells tJlnmns of smoke arc ri OF THE WAR OF 1812. 277 m pcrlte of a Hnpplf-trntii. Lund Complalnta aK»in«t Hall. Cheerinfc Ordorn. A grievouii Dirappolntment. continued to the Eeorces, but the Indians, restrained by the pnident Teen mtha, only followed about half that distance.' The mail was lost, and passed into the hands of the Hiitisli authorities, by which most valuable information eonceniin:; the wer.knets and disafiection of Hull's army was made manifest, for the officers and soldiers liad written freely to their friends at hotne on the subjecf Tlie deiaciiment also lost seventeen killed and several wounded, who wore left behind.^ Hull was greatly disconcerted by the news of Van Home's repulse and loss. Ilis colonelH urged the emph-yment of immediate and efficient measures for retrieval, and lioiiireil liiin to send a sufficient force to overcome any obstacles likely to be met be- tween Detroit and the Raisin, lirush was iti danger, and the army would soon need tlie supplies in his charge. The way between the army and Ohio must be kept open, and no time was to be lost in securing these imi)ortant ends. "Send five hundred men at once," they said, "to escort Brush to Detroit." "I can spare only one hund- red men," was the genei.d's disheartening reply. These were too few, and the en- terprise was abandoned for the moment. Brush was left to the mercy of Tecumtha and his savage followers, and the needed supplies for the army were placed in im- minent peril. Indignation and alarm stirred the blood of the officers. The mutinous spirit, of v.'hich Hull afterward Avrote, was now vehemently exhibit- ed. There was plain and loud talk at head-quarters — talk which startled the gen- crftl, and caused him to cull a council of field officers," the result of which ■ AntmeiT. was an agreement to march immediately upon Maiden. Orders were is- '****• stied for the medical and surgical departments to pn-pare for active duties in the field; for the securing of boats at Detroit; for leaving the convalescents under an officer at Sandwich, with means for crossing the river, if desired ; for a raft of timber and planks for a bridge to be floated down the river ; for drawing, on the morning of the 8th, by the whole army, cooked rations for three days ; and for the retuin of "all artificei-8, and all men on any kind of extra duty," to their regiments imme- diately. This order diffused joy throughout the little army. Tliey believed that the hour for energetic action had come. Every man was busy in preparation; and a long summer's day was drawing to a close, when another order from the commanding gen- eral cast a cloud of disappointment over the camp more sombre than the curtain of night that speedily fell upon it. It was an order for the ai-my to reco'oss the river to Detroit! — an order to abandon Canada, and leave to the vengeance of their own gov- irnment the inhabitants who, confiding in Hull's promises of protection, had refused to take up arms in defense of their invaded tcrntory. This order was in conse- quence of intelligence just received that a considerajle force of British regulars, mi- litia, and Indians were coming to attack the Americans in the rear, under General lirock. But Canada was not to be wholly abandoned. Major Denny, with one hundred and thirty convalescents and a coi-ps of artillerists, under Lieutenant Anderson, Avas left " to hold possession of that part of Canada, and aftbrd all possible protection to the well-disposed inhabitants." A strong house, belonging to one Gowris, had been stockaded, and called Fort Gowris. In this, and in a long stone building yet standing in Sandwich,* which the American soldiers had used as barracks, the con- ' For hi8 gallniitry In this campniprn, Miyjor Van Home, while n prisoner on pnrole, was promoted to Lieutenant Col- onel In tae Twenty-slxth Regular Infantry, and was transferred to the Nineteenth in 1814.- Ho was disbanded In June, 1<15. ' The battte-gronnd was about Ave miles below the present village of Trenton, In Michigan. ' Among the killed were Captains William M'Culloi'gh, Robert Gilchrist, Henry Ulcry, and Jacob Boerstler ; Lieu- tenant Jacob Pcntz, and Surgeons Edward Roby and Andrew Allison.— M'Afee, page T4. HnH's Letter to the Secre- laryofWar, dated Sandwich, Angnst 7, 1812. ' This bnllding was erected for a school In 1R07 or 180S. It was in a dilapidated state when I sketched it in ths nu- liimn of 18(Mi. It occupies an open space In the village nf Sandwich. Several poor families occupied It, The place known as Spring WeUs Is opposite, and indicated |p our little sketch by the bnlldlngs with tall chimneys, from whic>; cjlumus of smoke are rising. These compose the copper smelting-works at Spring Wells. A long wharf on the Sand- I! ' I .i;: ,:mm m ii: ill 278 PICTORIAL F^ELD-BOOK The Arm; racroMed to Detroit. Expedition to Buccor the Sapply-tralu. Colonel Miller and hl« iioi. HABBAOKB AT HAMDWIOII. valescents were placed, and Denny was ordered to defend the post to the last ex- tremity against musketry, but to leave it in the event of artillery being brought against it so powerfully as to make it untenable.' Sullenly that humiliated army obeyed their overcautious commander, and (liirinij • Augngt, the night of the 7th and morning of the 8th* they crossed the deep, dark ^"*- rapidly-flowing river in sadness, and encamped upon the rolling plain be- hind Fort Detroit. Hull's reason for this mortifying termination of his invasion of Canada was the receipt of intelligence, as we have observed, that General Brock Mas hasting toward Amherstburg with re-enforcements, and the necessity of securing a permanent communication between his army and the sources of its supplies in the Ohio settlements. He accordingly dispatched six hundred men, under Lieutenant Colonel James Miller, on the afternoon of the 8th, to open a communication witli the Raisin and escort Brush to Detroit. The detachment consisted of the Fourth Regi- ment of regulars ; two small corps of the First Regiment, under Lieutenant Dixon Stansbury and Ensign Robert A. M'Cabe ; detachments from the Ohio and Micliigan volunteei-s — the latter, sixty in number, from the "Michigan Legion,"^ mostly French, under Captain Antoine Doquindre ; a corps of Captain Dyson's artillerists, then sta- tioned at the fort with a six-pounder, under Lieutenant John L. Eastman (who was Miller's brigade major on this occasion), and a howitzer, under Lieutenant James Daliba ; and a part of Captains Smith and Sloan's cavalry, under the latter. Majoi's Van Home and Morrison were associated with Lieutenant Colonel Miller as field officei"8. " Commodore" Brevoort, who was a captain of infantry, and appointed com- mander of any government vessels that might be placed on the lakes, and Captain A. F. Hull, the general's son, who was afterward killed at the Battle of Niagara Falls, volunteered as aids to Lieutenant Colonel Miller.^ The troops paraded on the north side of Jefferson Avenue, in Detroit, nearly op- posite where the Exchange now stands. When placed in marching order, Lieuten- ant Colonel Miller rode up in front of them, and in his clear, loud voice, said to the volunteers and militia, " Soldiers, we are now going to meet the enemy, and to btat them. The reverse of the 6 th (Van Home's) must be repaired. The blood of our brethren, spilt by the savages, must be avenged. I shall lead you. You shall not disgrace yourselves nor me. Every man who shall leave the ranks or fall back with- out orders will be instantly put to death. I charge the officers to execute this or- der," Then, turning to the veteran Fourth Regiment of regulars, he said, " 51y brave soldiers, you will add another victory to that of Tippecanoe — another laurel to that gained on the Wabash last fall. If there is now any man in the ranks of the detachment who fears to meet the enemy, let him fall out and stay behind." A loud \vich Bide of the river is seen toward the right of the position. The British picketed this bnilding, and used it for bir- racks in 1818. > M'Afee, page 77. » This " Legion" had been organized daring the winter of 1811-'12, as a home guard against the Indians, who were then mouacing the Mici<igan settlers. They were mustered into the volunteer service under the act of FcbninryC, 151S. The " Legion" was composed of one company of dragoons, commanded by Captain Richard Smythe, and thrct compa- nies of infantry, commanded respectively by Captains Antoine Deqnindre, Stephen Mack, and Hubert In Croix. ' Hnll'B letter to the Secretary of War, August 13, 1812 ; Judge Wlthereil's paper on the Battle of Mouguagen, read before the Michigan Historical Society in the spring of 180S. Kircd toward th I', Mw OF THE WAR OF 1812. 279 jltKi toward the Rililn. Indian Bconta. Brltlab and Indloo Force. Wa)k-ln-the-W«ter. hiiwa went up from the entire corps, and "I'U not stay! I'll iiot stay!" broke from every lip.' Miller led his detachment to the River Rouge that night, crossed it in two scows, ami bivouacked on its southern shore. The march was resumed early in tho morn- ing. Major Thompson Maxwell,* with the spies, led the way, followed by a vanguard cf forty-men, under the high-souled Captain Snelling, of the Fourth Regulars. The infantry marched in two columns, about two hundred yards apart. The cavalry kept the road in the centre in double tile. Tho artillery followed, and flank-guards of rifli'tiien marched at proper distances. In this order a line of battle might be in- stantly formed. The march was very slow, owing to the difficulty of moving cannon over marshy ground. At about nine in the morning — a sultry Sabbath moniing — the sky overcast with clouds, and not a leaf stirring upon the trees, \t became evident that an enemy was near. Several Indians, fleet of foot, were seen flying in the distance. But nothing of much interest occurred until, in the afternoon, they approached the Indian village of Magui'ffa, fourteen miles below Detroit, where a man named White, who, with his young V "companied the expedition as an amateur soldier, and in his eagerness had ouist'';^ped the spies, was shot from his horse near the cabin of the chief Walk- in-the-Water, behind which some Indians wei,^ concealed.^ Ho was scalped before the advance-guard could reach the spot. It was between three and four o'clock in the afternoon when Snelling and his men reached the Oak Woods, near Maguaga. They had just entered % clearing, surround- ed with an oak forest and thick bushes, near the bank of the DeU'oit River, when they received a terrible volley from a line of British and Indians, the former under Major Muir, of the Forty-first Regiment, and the latter under Tecumtha. This Avas jTdetachment which Proctor had sent over from Fort Maiden, at Amherstburg, to Brownstown, to repeat tho tragedy of the 5th (Van Home's defeat), cut off" commu- nication between the Raisin and Detroit, and cajiture the stores in charge of Captain Brush. The party consisted of about one hundred of the Forty-first Regiment, as many Canadian militia, and between two and three hundred Indians. Among the leaders of the latter were Tecumtha, Walk-in-the- Water, Lame-Hand, and Split-Log —all chiefs of note. The flying savages, seen by the Americans in the morning, and who had been scout- ing for Muir, had entered the little British camp at Brownstown in hot haste, utter- ing the peculiar news-cry, and warning the soldiers that the enemy, strong in num- bers, was advancing upon them. The camp was immediately broken up, and Muir and Tecumtha, with their followers, pressed forward to Maguaga, and formed an am- bush in the Oak Woods. There they lay for several hours, awaiting the slowly-ap- proaching Americans, and were joined by a fresh detachment from Maiden, under Lieutenant Bullock, of the Forty-first Grenadiers, who had btcn sent by General 1 Jndge Wltherell. ' Major Maxwell was well known in Detroit. He had been a BoUller in the French and Indian War, and was one of the "urvivors of the battle at Bloody Bridge, juet abo.e Detroit, in " Poutiac's War." He was a brave soldier In the ReTolutlon. He was with Wayne on his carapaigns, and followed Miller upon the heights at the battle of Niagara Falls (Lr'ndv's Lane^ when he took the British battery on the crown. He died on the Hlvcr Bonge about the year 1S.')4.— Mx Witherell. ' Wiilk-in-tho-Water's residence at Magnaga was on the land afterward owned by Major Bidd^c, and on which he built his farm-houses. Judge Witherell says, " I knew 1 Im well in my Imyhood. He was then a man past middle age, with a line, commanding person, near six feet in helj'ht and well-proportioned, and as straight as an arrow. He was mild and pleasant in his deportment." Tho chief was . 'lendly to the United States, and desired to join them at the bf^innlng of tho war ; but the Instructions of his govcn ment not to employ savages and his own hnmane impnlses would not allow Hull to accept his services. They were f.wn cxpoccd to the attacks of the British and their savage allies; and as the United States could give them no protection, Walk-in-the-Watcr and his band of Wyandots joined the BritiBh at Maiden . Their hands were in that servic -, but tho heart of the chief was not there. Walk-in-tho-Water died abont the year 1S17. His totem or arms was a t' i-tU. Walk-in-the-Water was a Huron, of the Wynndr t tribe. His Indian name was My-ee-rah, and he was among the most active of the chiefs with Tecumtha in t i^ Wt, • of 1812. Far-he, or King Crane, the grand chief of the Wyandots, resided at Sandusky. We shall meet Waik-in-the-A 'ater again, at the Kiver Raisin and the Thames. 5=gi|ii«iwiii:HSim.i. « r - v^ 1 I > Ml ■'u m t 1 1:.^^ 280 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle of the Oak W<K)d«, or Magnaga. The BritlBh and their Kavage Allleg defeated. Appearance of the Savaecs Brock from Fort George.' He had reached Mjikleu the previous day, and Avas w ., over to assist Muir and liis savage allies. lie took with him twenty of his <rrxnu. diers, twenty light infantry, and tAventy battalion-men. The Lidians occupi-'d the left of the line.* A single shot on the left of the foo, then the terrible yells of scores of savages, and then a lieavy volley of musketry from the whole British line, were the first intima- tion's given to Snelling of the presence of the concealed enemy. He received and re- Umied the fire gallantly, and maintained his position until joined by the main body. Miller's quick ear eavight the first sound of battle, and, ordering hiti men forward at double (piick, lie rode at full speed toward the field of conflict. As his troops came up and formed in battle order, he waved his sword aloft, and cried, " Charge ! boys cbarge !"^ The order was instantly, gallantly, and effectually obeyed ; and, at the same time, a six-pounder poured in a storm of grape-shot that made sad haA oc. A body of Indians, that liad been detached to the left of the foe, and near the river, Ayas driven back by an impetuous charge by Major Dequindre and his Michigan and Oliio Volunteers,'' and fled. Tlreir white auxiliaries, who performed but little fightinj; in this engagement, mistaking them for Indian allies of the Americans, fired upon tliem. The savages returned it with si)irit, and for r. few moments these fr nd' in the same service seemed determined to annihilate each other. Tlie battle had now become general. This sudden blow '-pon the right wing, and tlie c6rifu8i«in produced by the mistake just mentioned, iilarined the centre, and tlic whole Britiih line, civilized and savage, Avave.'cd. Closely pressed in IV. t, and ex- pecting an attack in the rear, the British regulars and Canadians broke and fled in confusion, leaving Tecumtha and his savages to bear the brunt of the battle, which they did with great) obstinacy.* Muir rallied his men, in a good position, a quarter of a mile in rear of the battle-ground, when, becoming alarmed by firing in the woods on the left, they retreated " at the double-quick," as Major Richardson said, gained their boats as speedily as possible, and sped across the river to Maiden as fast as strong arms and stout oars could take them. The savages finally broke and fled, and ]\niler ordered Sloan to pursue them with his cavalry. That officer's courage seemed to Kebuko uf a bee if! fi' 1 ' The entire BritiBh fore at Mongnaga, Including the Indians, has been dififerently estimated by different writers. It was probably about equal to tha* of the Americaus. ' Major Richardson, of the Forty-first, gives the following description of the appearance of the Indian warriors on the march from Brownstown to Mongniiga: "No o'her sound than the measured step of the troops interrui)tcd the soli- tude of the scene, rendered more imposing by the wild appearance of the warriors, whose bodies, stained i id pnlincd In the most iVIghtful manner for the occasion, glided by us with almost noiseless velocity, wlth(mt order and •.vltlioiit « chief; some painted wiiite, some black, others half black and half red, half black and half white ; all with their hair plastered ii: such a way as to resemble the bristling quills of the porcupine, with no other covering than n cloth around their loins, yet armed to the teeth with rifles, tomahawks, war-clubs, spears, bows and arrows, and scalping-knlvcs. i'l- tering no sound, and intent on reaching tlic enemy unperceived, they might have passed for the spectres of those wilds —the ruthless demons which war had unchained for the punishment and oppression of men." Major Richardson, per- ceiving the necessity of r.n apology for betng found fighting Christian men side by side with these savage pagans as brethren in arms, says, but without warrant, " The natives must have been our friends or our foes. Had we not em- ployed them the Americans would ; and, although humanity must deplore the necessity imposed by the very invader himself of counting them am<mg onr allies, and combating at their sides, the law of self-preservation was our guide, aud scnipulous, indeed, must be the power that would have hesitated at snch a moment in Its choice."— Il'ar 0/I8I2. Firil Series, containing a full and detailed Narrative of the Operation of the Right Dimmm of tite Canadian Army, by Mi\jor Rich- ardson, K. S. F.— Pamphlet, page 52. Anchinleck, withcmt the shadow of justification, says (page BB), that "every possible exertion was employed by ngente of the United States government to detach the Indians from us, and to effect an alliance with them on the part otibt States." Kvery honorable exertion was used by the United States to detach the Indians from the British huerest a„il persuade them" to remain neutrat, but th b (-ovemment never consented to an alliance with the savages until the praclico of the British made it necessary, as in the old struggle for independence, when Washington said "we must fight Indians with Indians." ' Miller was thrown from his hori-e. He was supposed to be shot, and the savages mshed forward to scalp lilm. They were driven back, and in a few momints he rvas remounted.— .Judge WIthercli. M'Afee ciys he remained on foot through the remainder of the battle, and that the most active part devolved upon Ma.|or8 Van (Icrr<! and Morrison. * Among those who performed gallant service In this charge was Sergeant Nathan Champe. aon of Sergeant Champe, famous in the Revolution as the one employed by Washington to seize Ani-^'.C In the city of New York. Llentenant Oeorge .i'ohnston, who died at Orecn Bay in 1S50, commanded the Michigan Cavalry on this occasion, and was ailed the Murat of that corps.— Judge Witherell. 5 For his services on this occasion Tecumtha was rewarded by the British government with the commission of a brig- adier general. i-tii. OF THE WAH OF 1812. 281 Rebuke of a heeltatiug -oldler. Maguaga Dattle-groand. The Wounded saved ftoin Capture. UAtlUAUA UAni.K-UUllUNI).' have been paralyzed for the moment. He stood still. The impetuous Snelling jiprccived it, and, rushing up to liim, peremptorily or- ikTod him to dismount, leaped upon the horse him- sclt; and, at the head of his troops, bareheaded (his hat iiavinji been shot away in the battle), his red hair streaming in the wind, he (lashed at\er the fugitives, and pursued them more than two miles, when the (lanwr of an ambuscade, the necessary care of the wounded, and the approach of nisjht, induced Lieuten- ant Colonel Miller to order a suspension of the chase. The rout and victoiy Avere complete. According to the British account, the loss of their regulars was twenty-four, only one of whom was killed.'* That of the militia and Indians were never reported. Our troops tbund forty of the latter dead on the field. The loss of the Americans was eighteen killed and fifty-seven wounded.' Miller was anxious to follow up his advantage gained, and push on to the Raisin ; and at sunset he dispatched a messenger to Hull reporting his success, and asking for a supply of provisions. Hull ordered Colonel M'Arthur to take one hundred men of his regiment, and six hundred rations, and go down the river in boats for the relief of Miller. M'Arthur embarked at a little past two in the morning,* in nine • Anpnstio, boats, and, under the cover of darkness and a drenching rain, he passed the ^"^^^ Queen Charlotte and the Hunter, and reached his destination in safety. The wound- od Mere immediately conveyed to the boats, but, in attempting to return by day- littht, M'Arthur found himself intercepted by the British vessels. He hastened to the shore, left the boats, conveyed the wounded through the woods to the road, and sent them to Detroit in wagons, which, with proper forecast, he had ordered down, liecause he anticipated this very difficulty. Colonel Cass had come down in the mean time, and attempted to secure the boats, but before he reached the shore they were seized by the British and lost. Sliller was injured by the fall from his horse at the beginning of the battle, and was so ill that he could not proceed toward the Raisin immediately. He sent to Hull for more provisions. His messenger met Cass below the River Aux Ecorcei, and ' This is from a pencil sketch made by an of.lcor of the United States Army in 1R16. Beyond the opening ont of the Oult Woods, mentioned In the text, Is Heen the Detroit River, with Grosne Isle in the distance. The Indi:.n villayc near which this battle was fought is spelled sometimes Maguaga, according to the orthography of the offlcial dispatches ; JfrajCTiafW, according to Melllsh's Military Atlas, from which our map on page 280 was copied ; and Mongiiagon, accord- Ini; ti) Judge Witherell and other local writers. I have adopted the orthography of the dispatches. The battle-ground was at or near the present village of Trenton, In Michigan. ' Hull's Letter to the Secretary of War, August 13, 1812 ; Major Richardson, quoted by Anchlnleck, pages 63 and 5* •, M'Afce, pages 78 and 79 j Judge Wlthercll's Paper, read before the Michigan Historical Society In the Spring of 1867 ; I'eiilcnant Colonel Miller to his Wife, August 27, 1812— Autograph Letter. ' Mnjor a: iiir and Lieutenant Sutherland were the only British officers wounded. Tecumtha wm also slightly wound- ed in the neck by a buck-shot. t* i I t f / r . j :!lff m\i i i ;1 ! I ;u I r 1 mm* 282 ■v^m" ^mm PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK DIsappointmeut of the Troops. Uigpositlon to deprive Hull of Command. The Brltlih before Detroit. acqnair.tod liim with the delay. Cass knew tliat time was precious, for Proctor re- lieved of all apprehensions of an attack ujjon IVIalden, would doubtless send ov(>r a larger force of Europeans and savages to bar the way to the Raisin, and attack Hrush there. He therefore cent this laconic disj)atch to Hull : "Siu, — Colonel Miller is Kick- may I relieve him? — L. Cass." Receiving no reply, he returned to Detroit, meeting on his way an express bearing to Miller positive orders for the whole detachment to return to head-quarters. Thus another favorable moment for achieving great food was lost by what seemed the timidity and instability of the commanding genorai. Miller was oidy twenty-two miles from the Raisin. Dispirited in the extreme, he and his troops left their camp at noon on the day after the battle, and made their way slowly back to Detroit. Hull's shortcomings were freely spoken of, and the belief was inculcated among the troops that he was either traitorously inclined, or had become an imbecile. At times he would be shut up in his room' for hours, inaccessible to all but his son, who was bin aid-de-camp; at others he appeared abstracted and confused — "sullen in de- portment, and wavering in his orders. "^ His incompetency to meet the crisis at hand was felt by all, and his officers of every grade, after consultation, oame to the conclu- sion that the salvation of the little army would only be found in depriving him of the command and giving it to another.^ Lieutenant Colonel Miller was invited to accept it. He declined, but expressed his willingness to unite with them in giving the command to M'Arthur, the senior officer of the volunteers, and one of the most vigilant and active soldiers in the army. J*, would be a bold step for subordinates to strip a commanding general of his sword and epaulets while at the head of his army, and, when they were ready to act, they naturally hesitated. Relief might speedily come from Ohio. Governor Meigs, it was suggested, might accompany it in person, and upon him the honor might properly be laid. Colonel Cass acted • AuRHPtiz, promptly on this suggestion, and wrote* an energetic letter to the gov- ^'*^''^' ernor, urging him to press forward with re-enforcements and supplies. He informed him that the army had been reduced to a critical situation " from causes not fit to be put on paper." He told him that the golden opportunity for success had passed by, and mildly remarked that, unfortunately, the general and the princi- pal officers could not view the situation and prospect of aifairs in the same light. "That Maiden," he said, "might easily have been reduced, I have no doubt. . . . But instead of looking back, we must now look forward. . . . Our supplies must come from our state." He called for two thousand men at least, and added, " It is the unanimous wish of the army that you should accompany them." Before this letter was shown to the other officers a change in affairs had taken place. The British were congregating in force at Sandwich, and, in view of this men- ace, the following postscript was ad'ied to the letter : " Since the other side of this letter was written, new circumstances have arisen. The British force is opposite, and our situation has nearly reached its crisis. Believe all the bearer will tell you. Believe it, however it may astonish you, as much as if told by one of us. Even a c**** is talked of by the ***** The bearer will supply the vacancy.* On you wc 1 " In my boyhood," says Judge Witherell, "I knew him well. His appearance was venerable and digiiifled ; his heart was the scat of l^indnesb ; he was unquestionably an honest man. TJie general had a n.ost excellent family. Mrs. Hull, a portly, flne-looking woman, made It the principal business of her life to visit the sick and provide for tlic desti- tute poor." ' M'Afee, page S2. > Colonel Hatch says, "On a private conenltation on the 12th of August with those known to be the most active of the subordinate officers and men of the volunteer regiments, it was decided to get up a Round Robin* (so callcii), ad- dressed to the three colonels, requesting the arrest or displacement of the general ffgm his command, and vesting, by common consent, the eldest colonel, M'Arthur, with all the powers incidental to chief command. * " The donbtfiii fate of this letter rendered it necessary to use circumspection in its details, and therefore the blank! were left. The word ' capitulation' will All the first, and ' commanding general' the other."— Colonel Cass to the Sec- retary of War, Washington City, Septembe r 10, 1812. • A phrase (rond mban) originally derived ftom a custom of the French officers, who, on sigrning a remonstrance or petition to their enperiors, wrote their names in a circular form, so that it might be impossible to ascertain who lud beaded the list. raeunliry Aid OF THE WAR OF 1812. 288 r«conl»ry Aid for Brock. Be proceeds to Fort Maiden. Coolbrence with IndUni. depend." This was signed by CasB, Findlay, M'Arthur, Taylor, and Colond Elijah Bnisii, of the Michigan militia. General Brock joined Proctor at Amhersthurg or Maiden on the night of the ISth." Relieved from civil duties on the 0th, he procured pecuniary aid .AjiRnBt, from an association of gentlemen, and, with two hundred volunteers, he ''*'''• sailed from York for Burlington Bay, at the west end of Lake Ontario. lie had been called upon to repel a formidable invasion with few troops, and witho\it a money- chest, provisions, blankets, or even shoes for the militia whom ho exj)ected to muster into the 'service. Those gentlemen known as "The Niagara and Queenston Associ- ation" supplied him with several thousand pounds sterling in the form of ban? -notes, which were afterward redeemed v/ith army bills. He had sent forty of the Forty- firet Uegimcnt to Long Point, on Lake Erie, to gather the militia there, and fifty more of the same regiment were sent to the Lidians in the interior, to induce them to en- gage in the expedition. On his way across the country he held a coun- cil^ at the Mohawk settlement on the Grand River, and sixty warriors °^"' promised to join him on the 10th. With his few regulars and three hundred militia. Brock embarked in boats, bat* teaux,and canoes (sup- plied by the neighbor- ing fanners) at Long Point," a u d, ' Angnot 8, ^ , alter a rough voyage of five days and nights, nearly two hundred miles in ex- tent, he reached Am- herstburg a little be- fore midnight of the 13th. The patient en- durance of his troops (klightedhim. He was welcomed by a feu de joie of musketry from Teoumtha and his band on Buis Blanc Island, before Amherstburg. Half an hour after- ward that warrior was brought over by Colo- nel Elliot, the Indian agent whom we have already spoken of (who lived near Amherst- burg), and Brock Avas introduced to the great chief of the Shawno- ese.^ It being late, the conference was snort, and they parted with the understanding that a council would be call- ed immediately. Brock held a confer- ence with the Indians on the morning of the 1 4th. About one thou- sand were present. The general opened the in- terview by informing 1 Coptain J. B. Olcgg, Brock's aid-de-camp, hes left on record tlie following description of Tecnmtha at that inter- view: "Tecumieh's appearance was very prepossessing: his figure liglit, and finely proportioned ; ilia age I imagined to lie about f. .e-imd-thirty [he was aI)out forty] ; \u height, five feet nine or ten inches ; his complexion light copper ; countennnco oval, with bright hazel eyes, bearing cheer(\ilnes8, energy, and decision. Three small silver crosses or coronets were suspended from the lower lartilagc of his nqalline nose, and a large silver medallion of George the Third, which 1 believe his ancestor had received from Lord Dorchester when Governor General of Canada, was attached to a mixed-colored warapnm string and hung r"und his neck. His dress consisted of n plain, neat uniform, tanned" deer-skin jacket, with long trowsers of the same material, the seams of both being covered with neatly- cut fringe, and he had on his feet leather moccasins, much ornamented with work mode from the dyed quills of the porcupine." The portrait of Tecuratha above given is from a pencil sketch try Pierre le Dm, mentioned in note 1, page 189. In Ibis I have given only the head by Le Dm. The cap was red, the bond ornamented with colored porcupines' quills, and m front was a single eagle's feather, black, with a white tip. The sketch of his dress (and the medal above described), in which he appears as a brigadier general of the British army, is from a rough drawing which I saw in Montreal in the .'nmmer of 1868, made at Maiden soon after the surrender of Detroit, where the Indians celebrated that ..vent by a grand fei\«t It was only on gala occasions that Tecnmtha was seen in flill dress. The sketch did not pretend to give a trae liliencss of the chief, and wa:< valuable only as a delineation of his costume. Prom the two we are enabled to give a pretty faithful picture of the creat Sbawnoese warrior and statesman as he appeared in his best mood. When in frill (itess he wore a cocked hat iinil plume, but would not give up his blno breech-cloth, ted legglns firinged with buckskin, sod backskiu moccaains. TEOUMTHA. ^ .K m m' VilBI 284 nsnoMpi PICTOr.IAL FIELD-BOOK Amneitjr oflfered and accepted. Preparationa for attacking Detroit. Its Snrrender prcdetemloed. them that he had come to assist them in driving the Americans from Detroit and their rightful liunting-grounds north of tlie Oliio. His speech was highly aj)pliiu(l((l by Tecumtha, who replied in an elocpient and sagacious manner, and gave Brock a higlkopinion of his genius.' Not deeming it j)rudent to reveal too much of his plan of operations to the assembled savages, the latter invited Tecumtha, with a few old chiefs, to Colonel Elliott's quarters, and there he laid the whole matter before tlu'ui. The chiefs listened with great attention, and assured lirock that he should liave their cordial co-operation. In reply to his question whether the warriors could be re- strained from drinking whisky, Tecumtha re))lied that, before leaving their country on the Wabash, they had i)romised liim that they would not taste a drop of the fire- water until they had humbled the biff-knives — the Americans — and that they might be relied on.'^ Brock had issued a general order early in the morning of the 14th, in which he calmed the fears of those inhabitants who had deserted from the British army, or liad taken protections from Hull, by expressing his willingness to believe that their con- duct proceeded more from their anxiety to get in their harvests than from " any pre- dilection for the principles and government of the United States." This ingrnlous offer of amnesty by implication was sent out upon the roads northward, and was ac- cepted by the great body of the inhabitants, who were alarmed and exasperated l>v Hull's desertion of them ; and when, en the same day, Brock marched from Maiden to Sandwich, he passed through a country of friends. • AuRust 11, Major Denny had already evacuated Fort Gowris,* and, with the con- 1S12. valescents and troops under his command, had crossed the river to De- troit. The American camp at Sandwich and vicinity was immediately taken pos- session of by British troops, under Captain Dixon, of the Uoyal Engineers (whcmi we shall meet at Fort Stephenson), and a battery was planted so as to command Detroit. The American artillerists begged permission to open upon them from the fort with twenty-four pounders,^ but Hull would not grant it, and the enemy was allowed to complete his preparations for reducing the fort without molestation. The brave Captain Snelling asked pel-mission to go over in the night and take the works, hut Hull would listen to no propositions of the kind. He seemed unwilling to injure or exasperate the enemy. That General Hull had determined to surrender Detroit, under certain contingen- cies, rather than risk an engagement with, or a protracted siege by the British and Indians, at least two or three days before that deed was accomplished, the careful student of the history of that affair can not doubt. All of his movements indicate this, according to the positive testimony given by M'Afee, and of Colonel Stanley Hatch's narrative, already cited. Hatch was Hull's assistant qnartennaster general. Hull seemed convinced that, under all the circumstances, the post would be untenahle against such a force as the enemy might bring to bear upon it, unless his communi- cation with Ohio might be kept up. Dearborn had failed to make any diversions in his favor on the Niagara or at Kingston, as he had been directed to do.* His com- munication with Ohio (his only source of supply), lyhig beyond a trackless wilder- > Brock wrote of Tccnmthn as follows : " A more eagacions or a more gallant warrior does not, 1 beHeve, exist. He was the admiration of every one who conversed with him. From a life of dissipation he has not only become, In evpry respect, abstemious, but he has IlkewlL;e prevoiled on all his native, and many of the other tribes, to follow his ex- ample." " Tapper's Life of Brock, paj;c t». ' The execution of heavy giius at long distances at that time was feeble when compared to that of the rifled cannon and conical balls used at the present day. In the year 1812, the late Ichabod Price, of New York (who died in that city on the 1st of March, 1862, at the age of eighty-one years), suggested to the War Department both rifled cannon and con- ical balls. He was then a sergeant of an artillery corps of tlie State of New York, who volimteered for the defense of the state. The department would not listen to Price's proposition ; but his genius was so well attested in the presence of President Madison that be commissioned htm a lieutenant in the regular army of the United States. * Letter of the Secretary of Wor to Qeueral Dearborn, Aagnst 1, 1812. Of the position of affaire on the Ningnra front- ier at this time much will be said hereafter. Suffice it to say now that Qcneral Dearborn agreed to a conditiounl nr- mistice ^vith Sir Oeorge Prerost, an arrangement which the government of the United States subsequently repudiated. Hi 'I deceived noss two h ing too soi from Proof from that i a|)|iointmer old ,'ige, ma at 3Iahlen 1 kiMw that i the militia ( Ho was too tioiis of thit inated by th of another n uniphed ovei sistance of a mayed antag On the lit sufficient det; directing Jiim attempt a for with Colonel . evening of th< to escort Bru! Cas.s, Avho not permitted to ( 3rArthur, as 8( without a suffi et» for repose i between the lli remonstrated b • promised to sei al with him to provisions recei The detachmt ing," and the nc head waters of tangled in a sw tigued by their i when, just as tin nions from Hull i 'I was informed by tl m de British army In < W8 cnusldorable, and tl lions, was Intercepted, a flown upon his rear, whi » I visited the Long Pr «s Informed, from the I nelghoorhood were dres. raw recruits were mixed »a« deceived into the bel «e soon won ,^g 'hfromAmherstburg: ftlls, take his place. As "jcnmstancetoshowhov Hul'sjfr,^,.^^^^^ 'teller of Colonel Cass OF THE WAK OF 18 12. 28S III 'I deceived by M»e Keporta nud Appearancef. Ktcort Rent for Bruiih. lu Fate. iiess two hundred miles away, was cut off. His provisions, lie thought, were becom- iiii' too scarce to warrant the risk of a I'rotractcd siege, and an intercepted letter from Procfor to Roberts at Mackinack tiireatened a descent of live thousand Indians from that region. Ilenmied in on every side, and his force- wasting Avith disease, dis- appointnu'Ut, and death, his kindness of heart, and the growing caution incii' it to ol(l age, made him timid and fearful. He diil not know that the letter from 1 octor at Maiden had been sent for the purpose of interception to alarm him.' He did not know that a large portion of Brock's troops, reported to him as regulars, were only till- militia of Long Point and vicinity, dressed in scarlet uniforms to deceive him.^ IL' was too honest (whatever may be said of his military sagacity) to suspect decep- tions of this kind, and he sincerely believed that his little army would bo exterm- inated by the savages should he exasperate them by shedding their blood. " A man of another mould, full of resolution and resource," says Ingersoll, " might have tri- umplied over the time-serving negligence of his own government, and the bold re- sistance of an enemy who could not fail to perceive that he had a feeble and dis- mayed antagonist to deal with."' On the 14th General Hull sent a message to Captain Brush informing him that a gufficient detachment to escort him to head-quarters could not then be spared, and directing him to remain where he was until farther orders, or, if ho thought best, to attempt a forward movement by a circuitous and more inland route, after •suiting with Colonel Anderson and Captain Jobard, the bearers of the letter. ' ^Toward the evening of the same day, he changed his mind, and concluded to send a detaclwnent to escort Brush to Detroit. ^ He communicated his plan to Colonels M'Ai-thur and Cass, who not only approved of it, but volunteered to perform the duty, ^hey were permitted to choose three hundred and fifty men from their respective regimentb. , jr Arthur, as senior officer, took the command ; and they left in haste in the e^^ening without a sufficient supply o*^ provisions for a protracted absence, or even of blank- ci» for repose in resting, for they were assured that they would doubtless meet Brush between the Rouge and Huron, and not more than twelve miles distant. When they remonstrated because they were dispatched with a scanty supply of provisions, Hull , promised to send more after them on pack-horses. But Brush's orders left it option- al with him to remain or move forward. He was not found on the way, nor were provisions received from Hull as promised. The detachment under M'Arthur and Cass crossed the Rouge that even- • August 14, ing," and the next day pushed forward by a circuitous route toward the *'^**' head waters of the Huron, twenty-four miles from Detroit, when they became en- tangled in a swamp, and could proceed no farther. Half famished and greatly fa- tigued by their march through the forest, they had prepared to bivouac for the night, when, just as the evening twilight was fading away, a courier arrived with a sum- mons from Hull to return immediately to Detroit.* The order was obeyed, and they 1 1 was inrortned by the venernble Robert Reynolds, of Amherstbnrg, who was a deputy assistant coramtssnry general in the British army In Canada dnrlng the war, that Proctor sent a letter to Cnj/tain Roberts telling him that his force was considerable, and that he need not send down more than five thousand Indians. This letter, according to instruc- tiong, was intercepted, and placed in the hands of Hull, who had visions immediately of an overwhelming force coming dowB upon his rear, while a superior army should attaclt him in fi'ont. ' I visited the Long Point region at NorwichviUe in the autumn of ISCO, where early settlers were yet living. There I was Informed, ftom the lips of Adam Yelgh, of Bnrford, who was one of the volunteers, that all of the recruits ttom hig neighborhood were dressed in scarlet uniform at the public expense. When they approached Sandwich he said these raw recruits were mixed with the regulars, each volunteer being placed between two regulars. By this stratagem Hall mw deceived into the belief that a large British force was mnrcliing against him. Yeigh was an energetic young man, and soon won the confidence of Brock, who gave him the following directions on the day that they marched upon Sand- wich IVom Amherstburg : If your lieutenant falls, take his place : if your captain falls, take his place ; if your colonel falls, hike his place. As no blood was shed on the occasion, and nobody fell, Yelgh failed of promotion. He cited this circnmstance to show how nearly he came to being a Britisli colonel. > HMorinil Sketehe* qf the Second War, etc., 1., 81. < Hull's Memoir oif 1M Campaisfn i\f 1812, page 73. ' l.etter of Colonel Cass to the Secretary of War, September 10, 1812. i in '11 li! (1 1 ' i ; I cf 111 ill ^ m 1^ is :| 286 PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK Dtuuuid tot tb« Bnmnder of Detroit. Tb« Oarrlioii tbrMtaned with Mmmck. Th« Demand rarii>«<|. M tan- 111 approachod )i(>it(l-<itiartcrs tho next day at about ten o'clock i i the morning, wliilo artairs at Detroit had readied a eriwiH. On the morning of the ITith of AnguHt, (loneral Hull pitched hin marquee in tho centre of hiH camp, near the fort. It wau the HrHt time Hincc the 4th of .Inly that it had made its a)>pearanee, and nineh attention and rema<'k waH elicited by it, < Hpcciiij- ly heeauHc itH top was ornamented with red and bhie HtripeH, which made it coiiHiiic. W0U9 among the tents.' The Ih'itiuh iiad been in coimidera'de force on the ojjpositc shore Mince tlie l'M\\, and liad been j)ermitted to throw uj) intrenchnuMitH, and to plant a baMiiy for two eigiilcon-pounchTH and an eiglit-inch howitzer in a position to com- mand the town and fort, notwithstanding the latter wan armed with twenty-eij^ht pieces of heavy ordnance, whicli the artillerists were anxious to use in drivini,' the enemy from his works. When hi.s preparations for attack were comi»let« 1, (n-ncral Brook, at little past meridian on the Ifith, sent Lieutenant Colonel M'DontU and^Iu- jor Olcgg from Sandwich, with a flag, to bear to General Hull a fuimm.mH for tlii' unconditional surrender of the post. "Tiic force at my disposal," said Jirock, "au- thorizes me to require of you the surrender of Detroit. It is far from my inclination to join in a war of extermination, but you must be aware that the nimierous bodydf Indians who have attached themselves to my troops will bo beyond my control the moment tho contest commences."* This covert threat of letting loose the blood-thirsty savages upon tho town and garrison of Detroit deeply impressed the comnninding general with contending emo- tions. His pride of character, and his patriotism, for which all venerated him, hmh him figlit ; his fear of the consequences to the army and the inhabitants under liis charge bade him surrender. His whole eflectivc force then at liis disposal did net exceed one thousand men,' and the fort was thronged with trembling women, and children, and decrepit old men of the town and surrounding countiy, who had fled tliither to escaj)o the blow of the tomahawk and the keen blade of the scalping-knil'e. For full two hours he kept the flag waiting while revolving in his mind what to do. His troops wera confident in their ability to successfully confront the enemy, and were eager to measure strength with him; and at length Hull mustered resolution Buflicient to say to Brock, " I have no other reply to make than to inform you that I am ready to meet any force which may be at yotir disposal, and any consequencos which may result from its execution in any way you may think proper to use it." He added, apologetically, that a certain flag of truce, sent to Maiden at about the time Colonel Cass fell upon the British and Indians at the Aux Canards, proceeded contrary to his orders; and that the destruction of Gowris's house at Sandwich was also contrary to his orders.* Hull's response to Brock, when made known, was welcomed by the troops with the most liv(dy satisfaction ; and when the flag touched the Canada shore, the bearere were staitled by a loud huzza from the fort at Detroit and the adjacent camp. The time for trial, and, as Hull's little army believed, of victory for them, was at hand, and the most active preparations to meet the foe was seen on every side. Major Jcsup rode dow u to Spring Wells to reconnoitre the onemy at Sandwich. He was satisfied, from the position which the Queen Charlotte had taken, that the British intended to land ai tliat place under cover of her guns. Having selected a commanding point for a battery from which that vessel might possibly be driven away, he hastened back to head-quarters, and requested Hull to send down a twenty-pounder for the puqjose. Hull refused. Jesup returned to Sjjring Wells, where he found Captain 1 M'Afee, page 86. a Brock to Hull, dated Sandwich, Angnst 15, 1812. ' Hull, In hlB report to the Secretary of War, Augmt 26, 1S12, said It " did not exceed eight hundred men." Colonel Can, In a letter to the mme Cabinet minister, on the Iftth orSeptemher, said that the momlDg report of the 15tb " made onr effectWe men present fit for dnty 1060." Mnior Jesup estimated them nt 980. « When Major Denny evacuated Fort Qowrls he set Are to the picket and other works used for strengthening It, when the flames accidentally seized the house and destroyed it. OF THE VVAIl OF 1812. 287 BombinlmtntonrortDrtroU. ItrltUh «nd In<l!ut croii the Klver. They moT« agnlnit Uu. Fori. Siit'll'"Ki w"^^' "* ^^'^ ""'" "^'"^ " Hix-pounder, oo<Mipyiiii( tl»> pliico ho iiiul Hclcctt'd for liJH buttery. Tlii'y jKTtviv.'d tiii. t tin* ^^roiiter juirt ot'tlu' J5i ilJHli fon'o.s wt-rc iit SuikI- ^'ii'li and bot!i liUHtenod to lu-ti l-<|iiarti>rM. Jchii|) now aHktMl for oiio luindrcd mid fifty iiH'ii to K" "^■*''' "'"' •♦p^ko t!u ciu'iny'H guns oppoMito Detroit. Hull said he eould not spiire ho niiiny. "(Jive mo one hundred, then," Hiiid llie hnive Jewup. "Only one hundred," wild SnelHng. iniph rhigly. " 1 will think of it," wuh llulPs reply; and so(m iiHerwiird he c,.t»k refuge in tiui fort, for iit four o'eloek in the afternoon tlie IJrilicli buttery of five g\inH opposite, under t)ie direction of t'uptain Dixon, of the Koyiil EngineerH, opened upon the town, the fort, and the eanip, with Hhot and shell. AH the troojJH, except Findlay's rei^inient, which was Ht:itioned three hundred yards northwest oi'tho fort, wero ordoretl witlii-i the walls, crowding the work tin beyond iU capacity.^ The Hritisl'. kept up their cannonade and bombardment nntil toward n\idnight.* Tiie lire was returned with great spirit, and two of ihe enemy's guns were silenced ;iiul disabled.' At evening twiliglt it was suggested to Hull that as tlie fort diil not command the river, a strong buttery might be placed near the margin of the stream, so as to destroy the enemy as liist as they should attemj)t to land. An clisjihle point for the purpose, in the direction of Spring Wells, was selected, but the oeiieral, whose mind seemed to have been bcnuml)ed from the moment the enemy's battery was opened, would listen to no suggestions of the kind; and when that ene- my, in full force, crossed the river during the early morning of the 10th — a calm and beautiful Sabbath morning — completing the passage in the nnuin twilight, they wiTC allowed to land witliout the least molestation from ball or bu'let. Colonels Elliott and M'Kee, with Tecumtha, had crossed during tlie night two miles be- low, with six hundred Indians, and taken position in the woods to attack the Americans on flank and rear, should they attempt to dispute the debarkation of the rcifulars and militia, who numbered seven hundred and seventy men, with live pieces of light artillery.* When all had 1 reakfasted, the invaders moved toward the fort; the white troops in a single column, their left flank covered by the Indians, who kopt ill the woods a mile and a half distant. Their right rested on the Detroit River, and was covered by th" guns of tjie Queen Charlotte. Lieutenant Colonel Miller, with the 4th Regiment, was now in ,o fort; and the Ohio Volunteers and part of the Michigan militia were jiosted behind the town pali- eailes, so as to annoy the enemy's whole left flank. The remainder of the militia were stationed in the upper part of the town, to resist the incursions of the Indians, I nittorical Sketches of the late War, by John Lewis Thomson, page 30. ' Durhig the evening a larj^c shell was thrown from a battery opposite where Woodward Avenue now is. It passed over the present Jefferson Avenue, then the principal street of the town, and fell upon the roof of Aufjustus Langdon, irhlcli stood on what is now the southerly c • of Woodward Avenue and Congress Street. Coming down through Ihe bonne, which was two stories in l.cight, it i upon a table around which the family were seated, and went through to tlie cellar. The family had just time to flee im tiie house, when the shell exploded, almost wrecking the building. -Mije WilherfU. , ' Tlie battery that did the greatest execution was placed, according to Judge WItherell, in the rear of the spot where tbe'Jnlted States Court-house now stands. It was commanded by tieutenant Dullba, of Dyson s Artillery Corps. He wu a brave soldier. Daring the cannonade ho stood in the ramparts, and when he saw the smoke or flash of the enc- my'i cannon, he would call (jut to his men "Down 1" when they would drop behind the parapet until the shot had struck. k large pear-tree stood near the battery and was somewhat in the way. Colonel Mack, of the Michigan militia, or- dered a young volunteer named John Miller to cnt it down. John obeyed with alacrity Seizing an axe, he hewed ma; diligently until be had about half severed the trunk, when a cannon bail fi-om the enemy cut away nearly all of the remainder. The young man coolly turned toward the enemy and called ont, " Send us another, John Bull : you can cil faster than I can." It ig related that a negro was seen, on the morning of the lAth. when the shot were striking thick and fast around the tiirt, behind a chimney on the roof of one of the barracks in the fort. lie watched the smoke of the cannon across the tiier, and would then dodge behind the chimney. At length an eight-pound ball struck the chimney Just over his head, iemollehed it, and coverea the skulker with brick and mortar. Clearing himself from the rubbish, and scratching his woollf bead, he exclaimed, " What de debble you doin up dar I" He fled to a saflsr place. i ■ According to Brock's official account, the number of troops which he marched against the fort was a little over thir- I Iten hnndrcd, as follows ; 30 artillery ; 200 of the 4l8t Regiment ; 50 Royal Newfoundland Regiment : 400 militia, and iboat 600 Indians. His artillery consisted of three 6-pounders and two 3-poundera.— Tapper's Life of Brock, page 260. I Tie number of Indians was probably greater than here stated, as 1000 warriors attended a cooucil a few days before. tJHil MP ^ijII li •i t } 4 , . !:^, ■ 1 ■ ' > ,: 'I! is ■ j/"^ f ; 1 i| f ■ ii V 1 r -.ill H i . t' 288 PlCTOllIAL FIELD-BOOK Ilttll'ii Troopn rimtrnincd ttnm Action. All ordered Into tbo Fort. 8ceue« within the Port. whoHQ chiof motive in joining the Ih'itiHh Htandanl wa» plunder, and tlio free and safe indulufenco of their foroeity. Two twenty-tbur-j)()uiitierH had Ix-en placed in brttlcry on ill) eniinenee from which they couki sweep the advaiif ing eoliimn.' Tiie Anu'iiciin force was eoiiKiderabiy k>ss tiian tiiat of the Britisli, white and red eombinvil, but tlieir position was nmeh Huperior. They had four iiundred rounds of twemv-four. pound nliot fixed ; about one hundred tiiouwtnd eartridgen prepared ; ample provisions ibr tilU'en diiyw and more approaehing, and no lack of arms and hume animunition.''! The invaders advanced cautiously, and had reached a point within live lunuliod yards of the American line, near the site of (Jovernor VVoodl)ri<lge's residence, ul tiiu crossing of the (\Mitral Railroad, when General Hull sent a ))eremptory onlr for his soldiers to retreat into tlie fort. The troops v«'ero nstounded and bewildered. Con- iidi'iit in their ability to repulse and ]<robably ca])ture the invaders, they were vai^Qv for the order to liegin the contest. "Not a sign of discontent broke ii])oii the oar- not a look of cowardice met the eye. Every man expected a proud day for his coun- try, and each was anxious that his individual exertion should contribute to the gciicriil result.'"^ Like true sildiei-s they obeyed, but not witiiout loud and fearless expression of their indignation, ami their C(mtemptfor the coinniandiiig general. Many of them high-spirited yt>ung men from the best families in Ohio, showed syinpioins of positive mutiny at first ; and the twenly-four-])oiinder would have j)oured a ilestructive stoini of grape-shot upmi the advancing column, notwithstanding the humiliating order, had hot Lieutenant Anderson, who commanded the guns, acting under the general's di- rection, forcibly restrained them, lie was anxious to reserve liis fire untii the a|i- proachiiig column should be in the best j)osition to receive the most destructive volleys. The guns were heavily chr.rgeil with grape-sliot, and would have wnt terrible messengers to many of the "red-coats," as the scarlet-dressed British weiv generally termed. The eager artillerists were about to apply' the niatch too soon, when Anderson sprang forward, with drawn sword, and thruatem;d to out down the first man who should disobey his on ers. The infuriated soldiers entered the already over-crowded fort, vhile the enemy, afler reconnoitring the fort und discovering tlie weakness of the fortification on the land si le, prepared to storm it. Hut, before they could form for the purpose, the oc- casion iiad ceased. The fire from the battery on the Canada shore, kept up slowly since dawn, had become very vigorous. I']) to this time no casualty had resulted from it witliM. the fort. Now a ball came bounding over the fort wall, dealing death in its passage. A group standing at the door of cme of tlie ofticers' quarters were almost annihilati'd. Captain Hancks, of Mackinaw, Lieutenant Sibley, and Dr. Rey- nolds, who accoin])anied lluirs invalids from the Maumee to Detroit, were iimtaiuly killed, and Dr. Blood wr..: severely winnided. Two other soldiers were killed almost immediately afterward by another bail; ai\d still two others on the outside of the fort were slain. Many women and cliildrcn were in the Iiousp where the ofKeers were slain. Among them were Genc'-al Hull's daughter and her children. Some of the v.-omen were j.ot- rifled with affriglit, and were carried senseless to the bomb-proof vault for safety. Several of them were bespattered with blood; and the general, who sav; the effects of the ball from a distance, knew not whether his own child was slain or not. These casualties, tlic precui-sors of future calamities, almost unmanned him, and he paced the parude backward and forward in the most anxious frame of mind. At that mo ment an officer from the Michigan militia in the town, who had observed the steady approach of the enemy without a gun being fired from the fort or the twenty-four ' This WHS In .TelTerson Avenue, in front of the C'sbd farm, before the hill was cU down. The elevation was then aliont the same as It Is lowat the Intersection of Wtioiiward Avenae. These giins were placed there by Mcntcniint Andersoo, of the United Slates Kniflneera. Althoufih the landlnif-placu of the enemy at Sprinf; Wells was about three milts olTf Aadcraou o|)eued npon the foe while they were crosslm;, but wlthont dolDg much damage. » Colonel Care to the Secretary of War, September 10th, 18H. ' The same to the eome- DgrrtuderofDetrul pounders outs cral to allow t ish and Indian |)ly, Imt, stej)pi to liiK son, ('aj: the Willis of th( n» (> me. Th [lectcdly seen ;i boat, with a shore. Captain Ifiil) Lieutenant (^ol negotiate the ti ful suspicions ; lison. Hull ha( render.' His a^ Not a shot had inade. For a m dier of the Itevr his incensed peo disappointment. The terms of sued a general o to the North »vee to auicles of ea ' "Leonard IlarrlBoii ilandlii); near (Joloniil i Undliiy finid, ' Colonel Fiiidlay f nni a soldier imy lie would obey lili oflhom would luive Ink Miller's true soldierly bcvfroloc(iiiceriilii({ lli «(terl, wlUi six huudiT took Fort Detroit, mul i liuin KoliiR on below i "Valiistiisisyotunknc «l it. But Ocncrul Hi Braih and I miule the b ' The white " ttnn" « ment, by order of Oeiiei ' In his iMspntch to I wll know the IiIkIi ros| Mil a fiill conviction of lifTond any former exni Eumpe do !s not furnlsli brave an IgBllniit omicr l*iidod and the baydiiot kncwitwna imposslb;,. bm been fHrnishcd wit iwk-horses, ihronuh a i little army, worn down l raliectal force of all ihc lion consists of more thi o'the regnlar forces of | among the Indians, w:,!,, Afler alludluR to Coloi Piaradurinfjtheearapaii sti should be dlsapprov J«%atlonofhl8condu ■ ™ll«oflhe brave me ' It was stipulated tha "at..'MlohipinTorritor l^liPoommuudofCaptai "I'll, iwhuled In the car iliatlney should return! OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 2H9 gorrtmieroflJotrolt. Indignation of the Troop*. Hull Bii^w.-naii all Rfliiponttblltty. pounder LTS outside, cam« in haato to inquire whether it wivh tlie intention of the gon- orul to uUow thut b(<(ly iih)iie to deiciid tlie placv ; aluu to iiiiorm hiiii tliat tlie lirit- ishaud Indians were at tlu) tan-yard, clocc upon tiio town. Th», general inado no re- ply, lmt,8to|>iting into a room in tlie barrickH, he pr(!j»arod a note iiastily, lianded it 10 liJK rton, C'aptain Hull, and directed him to diHplay a whitt flag immediately I'roni tlio wallH of the fort,' where it might he Keen by Caj)tain Dixon ov(m- the river.- This was (iwe. The liring hooii ceaHed, and in a <vw minuteH C'aptaiii Hull was " luusx- ni'ctedly Heen emerging from the fort"^ with a flag of truce. At the Hame time, iibout, with a Hag, was diMputchud to the commander of the battery on the Canada shore. Captain Ifull bore proposals for an immediate capitulation. He noon retui'iUMJ with Limitenar.t C'olonel M'Doiiell and Major (Jlegg, who were authoriwd by liro'^k to iK'gotiute the teriuH of Hurrender. The; white Hag upon the walls iiad awakeiuid pain- liil Hiispieions ; the arrival of tiicnc officer>' announced the virtual betrayal of the gar- rison. Hull had asked no man's advice, nor suggested to an^ the possibility of a sur- render.* His act was quick, and as unexpected as a thinulerbolt from a (;lear sky. Not a shot had been lired upon the emuny — not an effort to stay Ids course had been iiiiulo. For a moment nothing hut reverence for gray hairSj and veneration for a sol- dier of the Revolution, saved the commander from ))eisonal violence at tlie hands of his incensed people. Many of the soldiers, it is said, shed tears of mortification and diMppointment, The terms of capitulation wore soon agreed to,* and the American commander is- sued a general order saying that it was " with pain and anxiety" that lu! announced to the North \vest Army that he had been compelled, from a sen.ie of duty, to agree to ftuides of capitulation. M'hicli were appended to the averment. He tlien sent a > " Leonard Ilarrion, iif Dearborn, told lao that Hoon nttcr n will e Unit whh luilHled nt the fort ho hap|>«ned to be Minding near Ooluiiol Findlay, of the Ohio VohiiitccrH, and Li«utcnai\t Ooloiivl Mllltir, of thu Fourth Infantry. Colonel Vlmlliiy said, ' Coloiiol Mlllur, the giiiicral tulks of u aiirrouder ; let ut put hlin under nrreBt." Miller rejilled, ' Colonel Fiiidln.v I am u soldier ; I (shall obey my .'•upcrior ofHrcr,' Intimating that if Fiudlay would aeiumo the command of the arm; \\« would obey him. U d the eterii old M'Arthnr, or the younger and moru impetuous Cass been priiiient, either ottliom would have taken the reaponslbllity."— Jim/i/o U'ltherett. MIller'K true" ooUllerly ipialitleH of obedience and ucquio'iccnco la aaown lu the carcftil manner In which, to hli wife, hewnito conremluK tlie nurronder, from his prison at Fort Oeorgc, on the '27th day of Auguat, 1H12. " Only one week niter I, with nix huiulred men, ooranietely conquered nlnmat the whole force which they then had, they came onttand tiKik Fnrt Detroit, ntui made nearly two thousand of um priaouerH, on Sunday, the 10th inatant. There beliiK no opera- tii)ii« i;ulii); on below uh I meaning Nlacura frontier] ga\<i them an opportuuily to re-enforco. The number brought .i;almt us is yet unknown ; hut my iiumble opinion Is we could have defeated them, without a doubt, had wo attempt- ed It. Knt (leneral Hull thought diflereutly, and surrendered without making any terms of capitulation. Colonel Brash iinil I uuidc the bcHt terms wo coiild after lue Burrondoi', whicli wore but i)Oor."-~Manuiinript Letter. ' The while " flag" was a table-cloth. It was waved from one of the bastions by Captain Burton, of the Fourth Regi- ment, liy 01 (icr of Oenerai Hull. ' Tiippcr's Llfb of Hrock, page 282. ' In his iliitpateh to the Secretary of War, dated ut Fort Oeorgc, August 20, 1S12, General Hull generous'y said : " I lellknow the liigh responflblllty of the measure, and take the whole tif it onmynrlf. It was dictated by asenae of duty, and n flill (•onvlclUni of its i!!ciiedieiicy. The bauds of savages which had then Joined the British force were numerona beyond miy former example. Their numbers have since liiciuased ; and the history of the barbarians of the north of Enropc do w not furnish examples of more greedy ■lolence than these savages have exhibited. A large portion of the brare an l gallant oOicers and men I commanded would clieerfuliy have contested until the last cartridge had been ex- peuded and the bayonets worn to the sockets. 1 could not consent to the Ufceiess sacrifice of such brave men when I knew It was impossible for me to sustain my situation. It was impossible, In the nature of things, that an army could have hcen fnrnlshcd with the necessary suppllcH of provisions, military stores, clothing, and comforts for t.ie sick, on pack-horces, through a wilderness of two hundred miles, fled with hostile savages. It was impossible, sir, that thla lillle army, worn down by flxtigne, by sickness, by wounds, and deatus, could have supported Itself not only against the rollecteti force of all the Northern nations of Indians, but against the united strength of Upper Canada, whose popula- tion consists of more than twenty times the number contained In the Territory of Michigan, aided by the principal part ortho regular forces of the province, and the wealth and iulluenco of the Northwest and other trading establishments among the Indians, wuich have in their employment mor" than two thousand white men." After alluding to Colonels M'Arthur, Findlay, Cass, and Miller In commendatory terms, he said : " If anght hag token plate during the campaign whicti Is honorable to the army, theso ofBcers are entitled to a large share of it. If the last art should be disapproved, no part of tlie censure belongs to them." He closed his dispatch by soliciting an iearly in- Tc«lli.'allou of his conduct, ai.d requesting the govemme.it not to hi unmindful of his associates in captivity, and of the families of llie brave men who hatl fallen in the contest. ' It was stipulated that the fort at Detroit, with all Its de,.cn ""encies, an.1 the troops there, excepting such of the mlll- liacfMlchlgan Territory who had not Joined the army, shoul be surrendered, with all public prope-ty of every kind. The command of Captain Brush at the River Ra'sin, fd M'Arthur's then away from Detroit, were, at the request <-f Hall, liichulcd in the capltnlation, while the Ohio militia, who had not yet Joined the army, were paroled on condltloD iliat they should return home, and not serve daring the war. n m w^» \(i if li 'i ii 990 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Posltlou i/f M'Arthur and Caas. Escape of Captain Brush aud his Command. Kesuit cf 'he Surrcndci messenger with a note to Colonel M'Arthur (who, Avith Colonel Cass and the detach- ment sent toward the Raisin, were, as we have seen, hastening hack to Detroit) in- forming him of the surrender, and that he and his command were included in tlie ca- pitulation as prisoners of war.' They had arrived in sight of Detroit at about tlic time when the American white flags had silenced the British cannon,^ thorotii;iilv exhausted by rapid and tatiguing marches and lack of food, for they had tasted noth- ing for more than forty-eight hours, excepting some green pumpkins and jKitatocsi found in the fields. They had observed the enemy, and the ease with which, in con- nection with the army at Detroit, they might capture him by falling upon his rear But all was silent. That fact was a sealed enigma. There were two arniius withhi half cannon-shot <5f each other, and yet, to the ears of these listeners, they-botli seem- ed as silent as the grave. Had there been firing, or any signs of resistance, M'Artliar would have fallen upon the rear of the invaders even Avithout orders. But all was mystery until the nrrival of Hull's courier Avith the uuAvelcome tidings. M'Ai'thur attem])ted to communicate Avith Hull, but failed. He sent a message t(i •Captain Brush Avith Hull's note, saying, "By the Avithin leltc' you Avill see that the army under General Hull has been surrendered. By .the articles you Avill see that provision has been made for the detachment under your command ; you Avill there- fore, I hope, return to Ohio Avith us."^ At sunset Colonel Elliott came to M'Arthur from the fort Avith the articles of capit- ulation, and Avitli authority from Brock to receive tokens of the submission of tin detachment. The dark, lusti-ous eyes of M'Arthur flashed with indignation at the demand. As they fled Avith tears of deepest mortification, he thrust his sword into the ground, and broke it in pieces, and then tore his epaulettes from his slioul(lei>. This paroxysm of feeling was soon succeeded by dignifi>^d calmness; and in the dim tAvilight M'Arthur and Cass, Avith their Avhole detachment, Avere marched into tlie fort, Avhere the arms of the soldiers Avere stacked. Befoi-e the curtain of night had been fairly di-aAvn over the humiliating scene the act of capitulation and sunendii Avas completed — an act Avhich produced universal mortification and intense indiirna- tion throughout the counii*y.* In less than tAvo months after war Avas declared, ami the favorite scheme of an invasion of the enemy's provinces had been set in inotioi, a strong military post, a spirited army, and a magnificent territory, Avitli all its in- habitants,* had been given up Avithout an eflfbrt to save them, or a moment's Avaitiiig lor the arrival of powerful re-enforcem(;nts and ample supplies, then on their way from the southAvard. About two thousand men in all® became prisoner of nar, ' "Such part of the Ohio militia," he said, "as have not joined tl e army [meaning Brush's detachment at t! e RaUim will be permitted to return to their hemes, on condition that they will not serve duriiij; the war. Their arras, tow- ever, will be delivered up, if belonging to the public." ' They had been discovered by Broclt's scoutB, and their presence in the rear caused the British general to move \« the attack sooner than he intended to. "Hearing," says Brocii, in his ufflclal dispatch, " that bis [M'Artliur'B] cavalry had been sean that morning three miles in our rear, I lieclded on an immediate attack." ' On the evening of the 17th, Captain Elliott, son of Colonel Elliott, with a Frenchman and Wyandot Indian, ap- proached Brush's encampment at the Raisin bearing a flag of truce, a copy of the capitulation at Detroit, and nuthoritv to receive tlie surrender of Brush an 1 his command. Lieutenant Couthler, of the Kaisiu, the officer of the day, blind- folded Elliott, and led him to the block-house. Brush was not satisfied that his visit was by autliority, or thai the ilw ument was genuine, so he ordered Elliott's arrest and confinement. M'Arthur's letter testified to the gomiincncfs of Blliott'B document and authority, when Brush hastily packed up the public property at the Kaisin, and, with hla wlidlo command and his cattle, started for Ohio, directing Elliott to be released the next day. The angry Elliott scut for Te- cunitha to pursue Brush. It was too late.— Statement of Peter Navarre (who was an eye-witness) to the Author in S«p- tember, 1S60 ; Letter to the Author from the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, of Ohio. ♦ Among other demonftrations in dlflfercnt i)artt of the couptry, the newspapera of the day noticed that at Grceni'- borongh, North 'Jarolina, General Hull was hung and burat in cfllgy, " in accordance with the prescription of a public meeting." The whole white population of Michigan at that time was between four and five thousand. The greater part wfrt Canadians. Tlielr settlements were chiefly on the Maumcc, Raisin, Ecorce, Rouge, Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, aoii the island of Mackinack. They paid very little attention to agricuUnre, being engaged chiefly in hunting, fljihins;, anit trading with the Indians. They did not produ''e siifllcient from the earth to give tliemseiveg sustenance ; and their beef. pork, corn, and flour were brought from a distance. < Estimates of the number actually included in the capitulation vary from 1800 to 8000. I have examined all, and think the number was not far trom 2000. Effect of the Surrei These con,3i8ti .States Keginu teera, and one Illation (for it of wliich, espei to the provin .iiiother invad time for prej); ivho, as usual, and safest as a The formal s At the same h with other ofHc from the esplai; capituLition. 1 OK OcfOItEU, 1 7 some of tlieni g tliein reniai'ked liicts, " Ave must TEOIT AuousT ] Canada shore, a the river from ti rcctiy in front o) It Avas on thi lie took off his o the chief Teem ill? day Jie appei ll'.'ise had been gi modesty and Avitl liody of Round I not wan? to weai myself is present. The volunteer officers, wefe pei c!ia:-ed at Detr( «liich point they •IS prisoners of a»- cmharkcd on boa veycd to Fort Er ('corgc, Aviiere thi post they were es General Hull ai ^'6th of August, siiiTeiider and att •Hal at Montrea ' The spoils were 2Nio po'lier, a stand of colors f "• She was immedlai lerherenfte^ln til" Brit' ' 'Tbegnnisoniiagsurr loi" cannon was retal «««l Frankfort, Kentuck '"yb. It ha, the Brit "er the surrender, O »>» then (X'cupicd by Mr ' II WMUnll'g Intention OF THE WAR OF 1812. 291 Effect of the Surrender. IncideiiU. DlnpoBnl of the Prisoners. These con.?i8ted of two squadrons of cavalry, one company of artillery, the 4th United States lii'giiiient, and detaclinients from the 1st and 'Ml ; three regiments of Ohio Volun- teers, and one regiment of the Michigan militia. The British obtained by this capit- ulation (for it was not a victory) a large amount of arms, ammunition, and stores, all of wliieli, especially arms, were greatly needed in I'pper Canada.' It was a godsend to the provinces in every aspect. The surrender caused months of delay before another invading army could be brought into the fieid, and thus gave the British. time for prejjaration ; and it secured the friendshij) and alliance of savage tribes, who, as usual, were ready to join whatever side seemed to be the stronger party, iind safest as an ally. The formal suri-ender of the fort and garrison took place at meridian, on the 16th.* At the same hour the next day (Monday, the 1 7th) General Brock and his statt", with other officers, ai)peared in full uniform, and in their presence a salute was fired I'roin tiic esplanade in front of the fort, with one of the brass cannon included in the capitulation. It bore the following inscription: "Taken at Sakatoga on the 17tii OF OcrroKEK, 1777." When the British officers saw this, they were so delighted that some of them greeted the old British captive, now released, with kisses ; and one of them remarked to Colonel Hatch, from whose raannscript narrative I have gained the facts, " we must have an addition put to that inscription, namely, ' Retaken at De- troit August 16,1812.'"^ The salute was ansAvered by Di.von's battery on the Canada shore, and by the Queen Charlotte, which came sweeping up the middle of thi' liver from tlie waters between Spring Wells and Sand^vich, and took position di- rectly in front of the town.* It was on this occasion that General Brock paid marked respect to Tecnmtha. He took off his own rich crimson silk sash and publicly placed it round the waist of the chief. Tecumtha received it with dignity and great satisfaction ; but the follow- ing day he appeared without the badge of lionor. Brock apprehended that r.ome ol- fnse had been given to the chief, but, on inquiry, he found that Tecumiha, with great modesty and v/ith the most delicate exhibition of prai**e, had placed tho sash upon the Iwdy of Round Head, a celebrated and remarkable Wyandot warrior, saying, " I do not want to wear such a mark of distinction, when an older and abler warrior than myself is present." The volunteers and militia who were made prisoners, and some minor regular otiieers, wei'e permitted to return home on parole. Those of Michigan were dis- cliarged at Detroit, and the Ohio Volunteers ^vere borne in vessels to Cleveland, from which point they made their way home General Hull and the regulars were hold as prisoners of war, and sent to Montreal.^ They M'cro taken to Maiden, and there eml)arked on board the Queeti Charlotte, Jlitntcr, and other public vessels, and con- veyed to Fort Erie, opposite Buffalo. From that point they were marched to Fort George, where they were agtiin placed in vessels and sent to Kingston. From that post they were escorted by ?and to Montreal. General Hull and his fellow-prisoners reached Fort George, on the Niagara, on the ■Ml of August, when the commander immediately wrote a lengthy report of the surrender and attendant events, but was not pennitted to forward it, until his ar- rival at Montreal.^ Information of the disaster bad already reached General Van ' The spoils were 2P0O stand of arms ; twcnty-flve Iron, and eight brass pieces of ordnance ; forty barrels of gnn- pos'der, a stand of co'ors, and a great quantity and variety of military stores. The armed brig Aitnmii also became n priif. She was immediately put in complete order, and her name changed to Detroit, under which title we sliall meet ter hereiifter, in th" Brit'fh service. ' The gun ison il»g surrendered on that occasion was taken to Montreal by 'Captain Glegg, Brock's aid-de-csrop. ' This cauuon was retaken ftom the British at the battle of the Thames, in October, 1S13. I saw it in the state arse- Mlat t^riuikfort, Kentucky, when I visited that city In April, 1S«1. It Is a .imall three-pounder, three feet four Inches in length. It has the British mark of the broad arrow upon It, and the date of " ITTS." '.\nerlhe furrenrter. General Hull returned to his own house, where he haci resided as Governor of Hicbigan, It nr then wcupicd by Mr. Hickman, his son-in-law. A British guard at. -nded hii.n.— Wallace. ' U was Unll's intention to forward his dispatch from Fort George by Mi-jor Wltherell, of the Michigan Volnr.teers ;. i i iir w i ■■ i i^ II n\ t .1 HI ssrrfsssfsuf^ffmmmm 'ih ; ; » ILK lit :nh ij nut '^'11^ 1 i i • ^^4 ^ ■ in 1 1 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A Courier's remnrkable Ride. British Occnpatton uf Detroit and Michigan. General Brock knighted. /2i'J^ * Angnst 16, 1812. ReriS8ela«r, at Lowiston, and he had promptly sent the news by express to General Dearborn, the senior comnmnd- er in the army, whose heafl-quarters at that time were at Greenbush, opposite iMbany, on the Hudson River. For th.s important errand Van Rensselaer emj)loyed Captain Darby Noon tiie leader of a fine company of A]l)anv Volunteers, who were then stationed at or near Fort Niagara, Captain Noon was a man of great energy, and lie ne,-. formed the service in an incredibly short space of time. He rode express all the way, changing his horses by ira- pressing them when necessary, assur- ing the owners of remuneration from the government. He neither slept on the way. nor tasted food, exceptinf what he ate on horseback. When he arrived at Greenbush, he was so much exhausted that he had to be lifted from his horse, and he Avas compelled to re. main in his bed for several days. ' On the djiy of the surrender,* General Brock issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of Michigan, in which they were assured of protection in life, property, and religious observances, and were called upon to give up all public property in the Territory. Having made arrangements for the civil and military oc- cupation of the Territory, and leaving Colonel Proctor in command of a garrison of two hundred and fifty men at Detroit, he hastened back to York, where he arrived on the 27th,'' and was received with the greatest enthusiasm by the peo])le, who regarded him as the savior of the province. In the short space of nineteen days he had met the Legislature, arranged the public afiairs of the prov- ince, traveled about three hundred miles to confront an invader, and returned the possessor of that invader's whole army and a vast territory, about equal in area to Upper Canada. Henceforth, during his brief career, he was the idol of the Canadi- ans, and the Prince Regent, representing the majesty of Great Britain, cre- ated him a baronet.'^'* Wliile General Hull was on his way toward Montreal, Colonel Cass, at the request i of Colonel M' Arthur, was hasting to Washington City, " for the purpose," as he said, " of communicating to the government such particulars respecting the expedition j lately commanded by Brigadier General Hull, and its disas*''ous results, as might en- able them correctly to appreciate the conduct of the officers and men, and to devclopi the causes which produced so foul a stain upon the national character."^ This coni-i but Brock having gone directly to York, the commander of the post wonld not take the responsibility of nllowiii!; hiil prisoner to correspond with his trovernment. Fi „m Montreal he sent bis dispatch, dated August 'iflth, by LlfuloDantl Anderson, of the Artillery, to the Secretarj of War.— Hull's Ijttter to the Seeretar;/ of War, Montreal, September S, WIS. J ' Darby Noon was a native of Ireland, and a man of great personal worth. He raised and equipped a volunteer com-l pany at Albany, almost entirely at his own expepse, and In ISIS was commissioned a majoi In the 41st Regiment or] New York State Mlll'ila. His wife was Caroline Broome, daughter of Lieutenant Governor Broome, of New York. MiJ Jor Noon survived the war only eight years, dying in September, 1823. Prom his widow, who died In 1S01, 1 recelvei the above portrait of the g<illant officer. ' General Brock's dispatches and the colors of the United States 4th Regiment reached London on the 0th of 0cl*j iKir, tiie anniversary of his birth, where. In honor of his achievement at Detroit, the Park and "Town guns were Hrei Only a week later, and the gallant general was no more. 3 Kx-GoTeruor Samuel Huntington was at Cleveland, a volunteer, when Colonel Cass arrived there on his war lo thd ^ August = October 10. Colonel Cass's Sta miinication v outline histor It exiiibited i lie mind agaii ligence of the oral. It also of the War E General Dearl onel Cass's opi veritable liisto when they reac colonel's letter eagerly awaitij less, and despoi lowed to meet i tions which no will never agaii Conficft to the spirit an( cessfiil as it is d General Hull , 6th of Septembe file, three hundre thirty men, unde opposite St. Reg] meiit, who took fi li ml of government, ,, iritbin two days ride of Ibe (Irst to give positive lie arrival of Cass. "T r ifter hira In a carrlag parene the journey."— i) 12,1812. ' Secretary Eustig seet He (Icclaratlou of war, b, hare been saved, that, at hit Ijcllef that public op of (hat date, he said : < lotha Secretary of War, not be regarded." Qover rtole blame Is laid at t president, the campaign v iflSloiiuas |)ence."— Auto; ' General Dearborn, enl ressatlonofhostilitiemnt propositions for peace on iwDcd positive Instnictlor Ml a notice of it by expr for It would have reached rented Brock's acting on «n<l made him strong em notice of the armistice to inlnisted his letter to th( I ™l™»"on of an armistice ' Lewis Cass was bo.-n (rawed the Alleghany Mot iwdmgB against Aaron Bn lili in the West, and, late Urn position till 1S31, whe to France «8 American Ml Senator by the Legislatnre tMlimed that position at n jdriwrs, who, he was satis Detroit oiuhel^th of June rlnglil>| |ntCD3llt| B,1SU. rer comj Imcnt otj Ik. «>■! |recelve< lofOcloi IretedJ kytotbl OF THE WAIt OP 181?. 203 ColoDcl Caas'B Stateineut about fhe Surreuder of Detroit. Public ludlguation. A mlHcliievons Arinlatice. raunication was made in writing on the 10th of September, in wliich was given an outline history of events near Detroit, from the landing in Canada nntil the surrender. It exl>il)ited mucli warmth of feeling, and its cii'culation in print prijudiced the pub- lic mind against Hull, and intensified tb j indignant reproaches which the first intel- ligence of the surrender liad caused to oe hurled at the head of the unfortunate gen- eral. It also diverted public attention for the moment from the palpable inefliciency of the War Department,' the effects of the armistice, and the injurious delays of General Dearborn,^ to Avhich much of the disaster should properly be charged. Col- onel Cass's opinions, as well as facts, were eagerly accepted by the excited public as veritable history, and few had words of palliation to offer for the captive veteran when they read the following glowing, dogmatic words at the conclusion of the young colonel's letter : " To see the whole of our men, flushed with the hope of victory, eagerly awaiting the approaching contest — to see them after\)fard dispirited, hope- less, and desponding, at least five hundred shedding tears, because they were not al- lowed to meet their country's foe and to fight their country's battles, excited sensa- tions wliich no American has ever before had cause to feel, and which, I trust in God, will never again be felt wliile our men remain to defend the standard of the Union. Confitftnt I am that, had the courage and conduct of the general been equal to the spirit and zeal of the troops, the event would have been as brilliant and suc- cessful as it is disastrous and dishonorable.^ General Hull and his fellow-captives amved at Montreal on Sunday afternoon, the 6th of September, and attracted much attention. The prisoners numbered, rank and file, three hundred and fifly. They were escoi-ted from Kingston by one hundred and thirty men, under Major Heathcote, of the Newfoundland Regiment. At Cornwall, opposite St. Regis, they were met by Captain Gray, of the Quarter-master's depart- ment, who took formal charge of the prisoners. They had other escoi of troops until iUt of government, Huntington accompanied him to Washington, at the roqueat of General Wadsworth. When fflthln two days ride of the national capital, Cass was prostrated by sickness. Huntington pressed forward, and was ihe llrst to give positive information of Hull's surrender, to the Sesretary of War. This made Dr. Enstls impatient for the arrival of Cass. " The Secretary at War," wrote Huntington, " was very desirous to see him, and requested me to (" ifter hlra in a carriage. X met '..im the first day, about thirty-flve miles from this. He had recovered sufflciently to parsne the journey."— Autograph Letter of Governor Huntington to Oeueral Meigs, Washington City, September 12,1S12. 1 Secretary Kustie seems to have been so conscious of his fatal mistaiie in not sending his letter to Hull, announcing the declaration of war, by which his vessel and its precious contents, captured at Maiden at the beginning of July, jnlght hire been saved, that, as late as the 16th of December, four months after the surrender of Detroit, he gave evidence of hi! belief that public opiulon would lay the responsibility of the disaster upon him. In a letter to General Dearborn of that date, he said : " Fortunately for yon, the want of success which has attended the campaign will be attributed to the Secretary of War. So long as you enjoy the confidence of the government, the clamor of the discontented should Dotbe regarded." Governor Huntington, in his letter to Governor Meigs, mentioned in the preceding note, sold : " The ithole blame is laid at the dooi' of the present administration, and we are told that if De Witt Clinton had been our president, the campaign would have been short and glorious— it would have been short, no doubt, and terminated by an ingloriuns i)eace."— Autograph Letter, Washington City, September 12, 1812. > General Dearborn, early In August, signed an armistice, entered Into between himself and Sir George Prevoat, for a cessation of hostilitie.i until the will of the United States government 3hould be known, there then being, it was supposed, propositions for peace on the part of Great Brltniu before the Cabinet at Washington. On this account Sir George had issued positive instnictlons for a cessation of hostilities. Dearborn signed the armistice on the nth of August. Had he HDt a notice of It by express to Hull, as that ofllccr did of his surrender to Dearborn, Detroit might have been saved, tir it would have reached Hull before the 16th of August, and the imperative commands of Provost would have pre- vented Brock's acting on the oflfenslve. Meanwhile Hull's supplies and re-enforcements would have arrived from Ohio, udmadc him strong enough to invade Canada again at )hc conclusion of the armistice. But instead of sending ii notice of the armistice to Hull by express, Dearborn, like the Secretary of War with his more Important dispatches, iitniBted his letter to the Irregular malls, and It wa^ actually nine days going from Albany to Buffalo 1 The first Mmatlon of an armistice which Hull received was while on his way toward the Niagara as a prisoner of war. ' Lewis Cass was bo.-n at Exeter, New Hampshire, on the nth of October, 1782. At the age of seventeen years ho dossed the Alleghany Mountains on foot, and settled in Marietta, Ohio, where he studied law, and was active in pro- (Ndiogs against Aaron Burr. JeflTerson appointed him Marshal of Ohio in 180T. He took an active part in the war of ISIiintheWest, and, late in 1813, President Madison appointed him Governor of the Territory of Michigan. He held that position till 1831, when he was called to the Cabinet of President .Jackson as Secretary of War. In 18i«( he wenl to France as American Minister at the Court of St. Cloud. He returned home in 1842. He was elected United States Senator by the Legislature of Michigan in 1846, and he held that position until called to Buchanan's Cabinet in 1867. He nsiinied that position at near the close of 1860, because he could not remain associated with the President's confidential I idtisers, who, he was satisfied, were plotting treason ngainst bis country. He retired froiu public life, and died at Detrult OP the ITth of June, 1S66, at the age of elghty-fuur ye«rb. \Y^ ^K— 1 I H i! ill! Ill I I 'l^liii ! I 204 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Hull In Captivity. A Court-martial callei* to Try bim. Its Cuniposltiou and DeclnloD. they reached the vicinity of Montreal when they were left in cliargo of tin' militia until preparations coukl be made for the formal entrance into tlic citv. This was not accomplished until quite late in the evening, when they were marched in in the presence of a great concourse of rejoicing people, who had illuminated the streets through which the triumphal procession passed, (ien- oral Hull was received M'ith great jxilite- ness by Sir George Prevost, the Gov- ernor General and Commander-iii-chief and invited to make his residence at his mansion during his stay in Montreal, On Tliursdav following," .„ . , General Hull and eight of I812. his officers set out for tm3 United States on tlieir parole. General Hull retired to his farm at Newton, Massachr setts, from wliieh ho was summoned to appear before a court- martial at Philadelphia on the 2oth of February, 1813, of which General Wade Hampton was appointed president. The members appointed consisted of three brigadier generals, nine colonels, and three lieutenant colonels ; and the eminent A. J. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, was judge advocate. This court was dissolved by the Presi- dent without giving a reason for the act ; and, almost a year afterward, Hull wa? summoned to appear before another, to convene at Albany, New York. It met on the 3d of January, 1814. General Dearborn was the president, and he was assisted by three brigadier generals, four colonels, and five lieutenar<t colonels. ^ Again Mr. Dallas was judge advocate. As Hull blamed Dearborn for his negligence, and as his own acquittal would condemn that officer, he might very properly have objected to the appointed president of the court ; but he was anxious for a trial, and he waived all feeling. He was charged with treason, cowardice, and neglect of duty and iiiiof- ficer-Iike conduct from the 9th of April to the 16th of August, 181 2.^ General Hull objected to the jurisdiction of the court on the first charge — treason — as a matter of civil cognizance only. The court concurred in this view, and he was tried only on the other charges. After a session of eitrhtv days, the court decided'' that ** March 20, o j ./ ' he was not guilty of treason,^ but found him guilty of the second and third charges, namely, cowardice, and neglect of duty and unofficer-like conduct. He was sentenced to be shot dead, and his name to be struck from the rolls of the army.^ ' QeneralB Bloomflclrt, Parker, and Covington ; Colonels Fenwlck, Carberry, Little, and Irvine ; and LicnteDant Colonels Dennis, Connor, Davis, Scott, and Stewart. » The speclflcatlons tinder the charge of Treason were, Ist. " Hiring the vescel to transport his sick men nnd bap- gage from the Miami to Detroit." 2d. " Not attacking the enemy's fort at Maiden, and retreating to Detroit." 3d. "Not strengthening the fort of Detroit, and surrendering." The specifications nnder the charge of Cowart):oe were, Ist. " Not attacking Maiden, and retreating to Detroit." 2(1. "Appearances of alarm during the cannonade." 3d. " Appearances of alarm on the day of the surrender." 4th. "Sur- rendering of Detroit." The speclflcatlons under the third charge were similar to those under the second. ' It is perhaps not technically true that the court, decided that he was not guilty of treason. They determined that \ they conld not try him on that charge, but said " the evidence on the subject having been publicly given, the court doera j It proper, in Justice to the accused, to say that they dn not believe, (him any thing that has appeared before them, tbat | General William Hull has coinmitted treason against the TTn'lteu States." I < The President approved the seuten je on the 25tb of April, and on the game day the foUowlog general order iraa i issued: Hall pardoned by The court sti his age and 1 to his farm, tt proacli, for nh paiarn of 1 8 1 2. in Uoston,' an dier and a ma hLs death, a gr lirojjhesied of i I have givei Ihill's camj)aio temporancous i I'd what I belie hy analysis, cor (■amj)!iign in soi iial coward, but after Aveigliing j cumstaiices to \\ of the coiirt-mai cased, and the ti Hull wa.s actuate iiumanity. Tha lieve. His weak but of e.vcessive licart. These, in physical vigor. ^ more than acf. ' affected him, and liis judgment. T iii't understand ; dierishing him. lion, he bravely d lie iaced the taiin thill, fill the >eauf ill?- Ihill had warne "The rolls of the army tail- The general court-: I ' These were published "tfrn Army of the United liml in the vessel in whic I iraliong he vainly applied I MlnnHlJohn C.Calhoun I wed copies to bo made r j»rt mentioned. I ' "» ''"s 'ilways calm, tr liistary wonid nt last do hi ifcerarrender of Detroit, ai *romp«,v,no/lsi2Kvhi8 I ?*'' «"h the general at i Too retnrn to your family h»e™j-ed the Inhabitant^ ""tVnllace.oueofHul W me that he thought the. "terans who took the field pulages. Oursuperaununi j! liK'tt lis \> liH'li -'''" ^\'^' iill ilH^B fl 1 „Md (Iwira 1 1 O F T 11 E WA U OP 18 1 2. 295 Uoll pardoned by the Pre»tdeDt. A Conaideratluu of Hull's public Character. tlla uwu Uofeuse. The court strongly recommended him to tlie mercy of the President, on account of his nfi;e and his revohitionary services. Mr. Mudison pardoned him, and lie retired to liis fiirm, to live in comparative obscurity, under a cloud of almost universal re- proach, for iibout twelve years. He wrote a vindication of his conduct in the cam- naiiju of 1812, in a scries of letters, jjublished in the American Statesnian newspaper ill Boston,' and on his dying bed he declared his belief that he was right, as a sol- ilier and n, man, in surrendering Detroit. lie had the consolation of feeling, before his death, a growing sympathy for him in the partially disabused public mind, which urophesied of future vindication and just appreciation.^ I have given, in tills and the preceding chapter, as faithful a general history of Iliiii's campaign as a careful and dispassionate study of documentary and other con- ti'inporaneous narratives, written and verbal, have enabled me to do, I have record- ed what I believe to be undoubted facts. As they stand in the narrative, unattended hy analysis, comparison, or argument, they present General Hull in his conduct of the campaign in some instances in an unfavorable iight : not as a traitor — not as an act- ual coward, but as bearing to the su[)erficial reader the semblance of both. But, after weighing and estimating the value of these facts in connection with current cir- cumstances to which they bore positive relationship — after observing the composition of the court-martial, the peculiar relations of the court and the witnesses to the ac- cused, and the testimony in detail, the writer is constrained to believe that General Hull was actuated throughout the campaign by the purest impulses of patriotism and humanity. That he was loeak, we may allow ; that he was wicked, we can not be- lieve. His weakness, evinced at times by vacillation, was not the child of cowardice, but of excessive prudence and caution, born of thi noblest sentiments of the human heart. These, in his case, were doubtless enhanced by the disabilities of waning physical vigor.' He was thus far down the westem slope of lif ,when men counsel more than act. The ]><rils and fatigues of the journey from Dayton to Detroit had affected him, and the anxieties arising from his responsibilities bore heavily uj)on ills judgment. These difficulties his young, vigorous, ambitious, daring officers could imt understand ; and while they were cursi ig him, they should have been kindly cherisliing him. When he could perceive nc alternative but surrender or destruc- tion, he bravely determined to choose the most courageous and humane course ; so he faced the taunts of his soldiers, and the expected scorn of his countrymen, rather thai, fill the V eautiful land of the Ohio, and the settlements of Michigan, with mourn- iiij;. Hull had Avamed the govemmor* of the folly of attempting the conquest of Can- " WnshfnKton City, April 2B, 1S14. "The rolls of the nrmy are to be no lonjrer dlsgrnced by having upon them the name of Brigadier General W^illiam Ilnll. The general court-martial, of which General Dearborn is president, is hereby disHolved. " By order, ".I. B. Wai.haoii, Adjutant General." 1 These were published in a volume of three hundred and ten pages, entitled, Mmnnirs of the Camjmiijn of the Sorth- nttern Army nf the Vniteit St<Ueii. A.D. 1S12. General Hull's long silence was owing to the fact that his papers were tarat in the vessel in which they were sent from Detroit to Buffalo, after the surrender, and that during two adrainis- Iralions he vninly ajjplied to the War Department at Washington for copies of papers necessr.ry for his defense. It was nolnntllJohnCCalhcmn became Secretary of War that any notice was taken of his application. That ofBcer promptly 'M!ed copies to be made of all papers that General Hull desired, when he commenced his vindicat'.on in his memoir inrt mentioned. > He was always calm, tranquil, ond happy. He knew that his country would one day also understand him, and thnt hLMarjr wonld at last do him justice. He was asked, on his death-bed, whether he still believed he had done right in theinrrender of Detroit, and he replied that he did, and was thankfiil that he had been enabled to do it.— HMory of fcromjKiii/nn/lSlZ, by his grandson, James Freeman Clark, page B(i6. Mr. Wallace, one of his aids, says that when he pirted with the general at Detroit to return home, the white-haired veteran said, " God bless you, my young friend 1 Ton return to your family without a stain ; as for myself, I have sacrificed a reputation dearer to me than life, but I ksve saved the inhabitants of Detroit, and my heart approves the act." ' Mr. Wallace, one of Hull's aids, whose testimony we have before alluded to, sayg : " General Cass has since declared I » me that he thought the main defect of General Hull was the ' imbecility of age,' and it was the defect of all the old «leran8 who took the field In the late war. A peaceftil government like ours must always labor under similar diaad- Tutages. Our Bupcraunuated officers must be culled Into gervlce, or men without experience must command our nrrn- ift" "i. n ! \ :l ! ;l i ( i! >. U' 296 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Government more to H'.me than Hall. A Bcape-Kont wanted und found. BlogrBpblcal Sketch of Hull. aila without better preparation. But the yottng hot-bloods of the administration- Clay, and others — coultl not wait ; and the President and his Cabinet, lacking all tin- essential knowledge for planning a campaign, had sent him on an errand of vast im- portance and difficulty without seeming to comprehend its vastness, or estimating the means necessary for its accomplishment. The conception of the campaign was a huge blunder, and Hull saw it ; and the failure to put in vigorous motion for his sniiport auxiliary and co-operative forces, was criminal neglect. Wlien the result was foinid to be failure and humiliation, the administration perceived this, and sought a rcfujrp. Public indignation nmst be appeased — the lightning of the j)ublic wrath must be averted. General Hull was made the chosen victim for the peace-offering — the sin- bearing scaj)e-goat ; and on his head the fiery thunderbolts were hurled. The grass has grown greenly upon his grave for more than forty years. Let his faults (for, like all men, he was not immaculate) also be covered with the verdure of bliad Charity.' Two generations have passed away since the dark cloud first brooded over his fair fiime. We may all see, if we will, with eyes unfilmed by prejudice, the silver edglnf; which tells of the brightness of good hitentions behind it, and prophesies of evanish- ment and a clear sky. Let History be just, in spite of the clamors of hoary Error. " ' TIs Btrnnge how many nnimagincd charges Can Bwarm upon a man, when once the lid Of the Pandora-box of contumely Ib <ipen'd o'er his head."— SiiAKsrEASK. • William Hull was bom in Derby, Connecticut, on the 24th of June, 1768. He was graduated with honor at Yale Col- lege when he was nineteen years of age. He first studied divinity, but left it for the law. He was a meritorious soldier lind officer throughout the Revolution, and participated in nine battles. He went to Canada on an Indian commlfsioii in 1702. He held judicial and representative offices In Massachusetts, and, as we have seen, was placed in a responsible military and civil station at the beginning of the War of 1S12. He died at Newton, MassachusettB, in November, 1SJ6. I am indebted to General Hull's granddaughter. Miss Sarah A. Clarke, of Newport, Rhode Island, for a copy of his por- trait, painted by Stuart, from which our engraving was made. The signature is copied from a letter in my possession, written at White Plains, New York, in the autumn of 177S. Jonniey ftum Chli mart of commer H'pstemhalfofti ofwater, mills, n harrly people, set claimed general tlieday were tht in its crooked c| (Lansing is the c traveled over tha ed Detroit, and ft sojourn in tliat ni The folio win <>• drizzling rain moi » We listened in the afternoon f the prospect of fin the aflernoon, but At nine o'clock a rain until past mi( morning — Tiie sky was clou( liad felt since the fame from the far- ' the hills. jUan^arly houi !*n above tide water Is! I The residence of the lal tteooraorofFortandCaB. "wtorled building, wlthl •fSecond Street. OF THE VVAK OF 18 12. 207 Journey from Chicago to Detroit A BabbBth in Dttrott. CHAPTER XV. "And '.vlio Hupplies the murderous mcol / And who preparcH the ba8o rowurd Thnt wiikcs to ileedB of desperate zeal The fliry of each Hlumbcrin); horde f From Britain conien each fatjil blow ; From Britain, still our deadliest foe." TiiK Kentucky Voi.itntiiib ; ut a Ladt, [T was a beautiful, clear breezy morning, early in October, 1800, when /-^ t' T writer left Chicago, with his family, to visit tlie theatre Oi events described in the two preceding chapters. We took the Michigan Central train for Detroit, and soon lost sight of the marvelous metropolis of Illinois, and Lake Michigan, on which it stands.* We swept rapidly around the magnificent curve of the head of the lake, and after leaving the sand dunes of Michigan City, and the withered bud of a prospective great mart of commerce at New Buffalo, traversed a beautiful and fertile country in the western half of the lower part of the peninsula and State of Michigan. Large streams of water, mills, neat villages, broad fields covered with ripe corn, spacious barns, and hurdy people, seen all along the way to Marshall, where we dined, and beyond, pi'o- cLiimed general prosperity. Among the most considerable sti'eams crossed during the day were the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and Huron. Over the latter, in its crooked course, we passed several times when approaching the metroi)oli8 (Lansing is the capital) of Michigan. It was the dusk of mere starlight when we traveli'd over that section of the route, and it was late in the evening when we reach- ed Detroit, and found a pleasant home at the Russell House for the few days of our sojourn in that neighborhood. The following day was the Sabbath. The air was as warm as in early June. A drizzling rain moistened all the streets and caused small congregations in the church- es. We listened to the full, powerful voice of Bishop M'Coskry in the moniing, and in the afternoon strolled with a friend far down beautiful Fort Street,'* and enjoyed tlie prospect of fine residences and ornamental gardens. The sun shone brightly all the afternoon, but in the evening heavy clouds came rolling up from the southwest. At nine o'clock a thunder-storm burst over the city, which sent down lightning and rain until past midnight. No traces of this elemental tumult were seen above in the morning — "The thunder, trfimplng deep and loud. Had left no foot-marks there." Tiic sky was cloudless, and a cool breeze from the northwest — cooler than any we hi felt since the dog-days — reminded us that autumn had succeeded summer. It came from the far-off region beyond Mackinack, where snow had already \> uitened the hills. At an earl y hour I started for Monroe, on the site of old Frenchtown, on the river • This is the largest of the lakes that lie wholly within the United States. It is 830 miles long, and has an average >idth of (io miles. It contains lt(,981 square uiiles, or 10,868,000 acres. Its average depth is about 900 feet, and its ele- ntion above tide water is about .SOO feet. ' The residence of the late General Cass was on this street. It was a spacious but very modest wooden bnildiner, on He comer of Port and Cass Streets, a little westward of the site of the ..Id fort. IIIb former residence — a small, low, me^torled building, with four dormer windows— was yet standing, ou the west side of Lamed Street, near the corner of Second Street. : ■ - li Ill I I m i. I. i I] ill ili1 >H l^llll 3M PICTOniAL FIELD-BOOK A Trip from Detroit to Amheratbnrg. One of the " oldeit Inhuhltant'a" Recollection! of the War iit im. Itiiisiii, to visit tlio |»Iiicoh of hintoric intcrcHt in tluit vicinity, wlicro I spent tlic day lilcjisantly and profitably. Oftlii' events of tliat day I siiall write lien-after. On the ■Ociobcro, fbllowiiifi niorning" I j)roeured a horse and ii^Jit wajjon, erossed tlic tiny 1800. to the Canada shore at Windsor, and started for Andierstbiirj^, eightoeii miles down the stream toward Lake Erie. In the lower part of Windsor I sketcluMl Colonel Habie's house, delineated on pajrc 202, and then rode on to Sandwich, two miles below, where 1 met one of that famous class known as " the oldest inhabitaiitH" in the ))erson of Mr. John H. Laufjiiton, who was born in Detroit, but who has been a British subject from his early years. When, in 1700, the post of Detroit was evinu. ated by the British, according to the provisions of the treaty of 17h;j, many residents of English, Irish, and Scottish line. Jige, preferring "not to be Yankees," !is Mr. Laugliton said, crossed the river and settled a" )ng its Canail;i shore. Mr. Laughton was a num- ber of the Kent militia in 1812 ; and from Sandwich he saw the white flag that |)ro- claimed the surrender of Detroit. He was then a young man twenty-two yt;.rs of age. He was afterward in the affair known as the V)attle of the Long Woods, in Canada ; also at the battle of Chippewa, where he lost a brother killed ; and at that of Niagara, where he lost his own liberty, and was sent a prisoner to Greenbush, op- posite Albany. He related many interesting circumstances connected with flie sur- render. He spoke of the Canadian Volunteers in the uniforms of regulars, by whioli Hull was deceived ; and said that among the Indians who followed Brock into the tort at Detroit were several Canadians, [)ainted and dressed like the savages, who each held up a white arm to show Hull that they had defied the menace in his j)roi'- lamation respecting the treatment of such offenders. Sandwich was an exceedingly pleasant village. Around it were orchards of pear and apple trees of great size, which attested the fact that it is one of the oldest settle- ments in Canada. Here the disbanded French soldiers settled after the peace of Paris in 1703. The houses had pleasant gardens attached to them; and as the town was the capitjil of Essex County, it contained a jail and court-house, and the resi- dence of the county officers. I left Sandwich toward noon, and a little past meridian crossed Turkey Creek. For i?everal miles below SandAvich the banks of Detroit are low and sandy. The road, lying much of the way in sight of the river, was in excellent condition, and with the picturesque and interesting scenery forms a most attractive drive in pleasant weather. Passing through the Petit Cote settlement,.! arrived at a neat little tavern near tlie northern bank of the Atix Canards, where I met an old French Canadian who was present Avhen Cass, and Findlay, and M'Arthur, and Snelling made thoir military visits there in 1812. He was loyal then, but quiet; and wiien it was safe to do so, in the absence of the Americans, he furnished the Queen Charlotte with vegetables. He pointed out the ridge from which JM'Arthur reconnoitred the whole position, and also the spot where Colonel Cass planted his six-pounder, and " blazed away" at the enemy on the southern sJiore of the stream. The bridge seen in the centre of the picture on page 264 was upon the site of the old one, and, like it, was reached by a causeway at both ends. I sketched the scene, then crossed the Am Canards over the causeway and the bridge, and hastened on to Amherstburg, for the day was rapidly wearing away. Most of the way from Aux Canards, or Ta- ron-tee, to Amherstburg, the river bank is high, and the road passing along its niargin was thickly settled, for the farms were narrow. Most of the houses were large, with fine gardens around them. Among the most attractive of these was " Rosebank," i the residence of Mr. James Dougall, an eminent horticulturist, about three miles from j Amherstburg. Tin Vicinity of Ai It was neai ence. I soon on the lefl by in heigiit, witl hundred and t anninited Brit riijht of the i-c H-as Fort Mall |)iii-|)oses than parent nsylurn remained. Tii "Patriot War,' break in tho Cn Anilierstburg by the French. irreifular stones, ordering dinner and other jilaces lieet on Lake Er n large red stone 'fnsive view of th( Island on the right, for wood, was precii 'lie ship under sail ( Erie. Looking a 11 house, near which i hroupofsailsat th I'I'lock-liouse on th slup-yai-fl, near the f After dinner I vis 'ion, surrounded by '''"'•g. From his grc |IO'f|i^ OF THE WAH OF 1812. 200 Th« Vlclnliy of Amhoriitbiirg. Illitorlcal LucaUtiei. It was nearly thrco o'clock when the stoeplcH of Aniherstburg announced its preB- onco. I •*""" crosHcd a beautiful open plain, whereon cattle were grazinj;, bi>uii(lc<l nil till' left by Htrcets of ni-at log eotfai^es, whitewashed and embowered, each a wtory ill height, with two acres of land attached. The plain was a military reserve of one hiiiKlied and thirty acres, and the cottages were the dwellings of pensioners — super- iiiiiiuated British soldiers — who were well cared for by their government. On the rjirht of the road, in the ujtj)er pa\;t of Aniherstburg, within a high picket indosure, was Kort Maiden; its chief building (barracks) were then devoted to more humane imrjioses than war. It was used for the insane iii Canada West, as a branch of a parent asylum for such unfortunates situated at Toronto. No j)art of the old fort nmained. The new one was constructed during the excitenient incident to the "Patriot War," or "Kebellion," as men of ditt'erent bias respectively call au out- break in the Canailas in IK.'JB. It was constructed in 18:59. Aiiilierstburg had an antiquated appearance, the houses having been chiefly built by the French. The streets were narit)w, and the side-walks were mostly paved with irregular stones. I had but little time to devote to an inspection of the jilace. After onk'iing dinner at Salmoni's, I went out with an intelligent lad, and visited the fort ;iml other i)Iace8 of interest along the slun-e. The ship-yard, where a part of Barclay's lliet on Lake Erie was built, was a i'itw rods above Salmoni's ; and from the corner of a large red stone house, overlooking the whole locality, and comnumding quite an ex- VIKW OF MALDEN, WHERE TUB HRITISU SlllPg WEBE UVILT, tensive view of the river southward, Avith Elliott's Point on the left and Bois Blanc Island on the right, I made the accompanying sketch. The wharf, then used chiefly for wood, was precisely where the British vessels were launched. In the direction of the ship under sail (seen in the picture), just off Elliott's Point on the left, is seen Lake Eric. Looking a little farther to the right, on Bois Blanc Island, is seen the light- house, near which was a block-house and battery in 1812 ; and on each side of the j jroiip of sails at the wharf is seen a block-house, both erected in 18.38. There was a block-house on the right of Salmoni's Hotel, and another at the upper end of the I ship-yard, near the fort, in 1812. After dinner I visited the venerable Robert Reynolds, living ?n a fine brick man- [sion, surrounded by charming grounds, on the bank of the river, just below Amherst- bnrg. From his grounds there is a view of Elliott's Point, where Colonel Elliott, al- : 1' I ;i < m I III ;■ ( iMtii .100 PICTORIAL FIELD-nOOK A vctMnn BritUb Ofleer. Ratani to Detroit. Bqoliie Xot«i1»tiiiMnt at '*WlaA|WClM||i^« 1-t'iKly iiu'iitioiiril f'ri'<|iuiiilly, reHidml. Jiint Itolow it, .'lirco or four luiluH from Am- hi'islburj^, i» Hiirtluy'M I'oint, whcri- (Joiiorul IlurriHoii liiiulcd wlu'ii lie iiivailcd ('ann. da in 1H1;{. Mr. Kfyimlils wuh in tlut fif^lilii-tli year of his iigi^ wIumi I viHiU'd l,i,n IliH Hintcr, but little liiii junior, lived willi him. Thoy were burn in Dutruit. Kc hi'h'h on the duy of thi- biitllo of tlic Thami'H. From tluil tiiin' until the pcncu ho was stationed at Hurlingtoiilltijriiis, lit thti wi'st t'lid of was d('|iiity assist- ant coniinissaryj^t'ii- cral in the Hritish anny in the War of 1HI2, and was at the takintj of Detroit. He was also at Dol- Lake Ontario. His sister told me that she distinctly beard the firinjj; betweou tiif fleets of Perry and Harelay in the memorable battle of Ijiike Krie, in September, 1H13; and that she also saw from her residence the vesselB conveyinfj; Harrison's army from the Raisin to the Canada shore. Mr. Reynolds knew Proctor and Teeumtha well, and seemed to have a very unfavorable opinion of the former as a comnumder. lie spoke of his conduct at the Thames as " shameful," and justitied the strictures of Te- oumtha. It was sunset when I left Amherstburp for Detroit. In the western sky, as I looked over the fields where Van Hornc and Miller had wrestled with the mongrel foe, wlieii the country was almost a wilderness, were seen gorgeous eloud-burs of (Mimsoii and gold. These faded into dull lead; and just as daylight yielded the scei)tro to -tar- light, I crossed the sluggish Ta-ron-tee. It was a summer-like evening, and before I reached the slope of the highway leading up to Sandwich, the lights of Detroit gave pleasant indications that the end of the journey was near. It was nine o'clock when I entered Windsor, and on incpiiring of a iiuin, standing on the ))iazza of a huge wooden building, for the proper turn to the Ferry, I was told that the boat had ceased running for the night. For a moment I was perplexed. I did not wish to re- main all night in Windsor when Detroit was so near. " Where can I leave my Ik i-se and wagon in sai'ety," I inquired. "At this house," the man rej)lied. " What is the name of it ?" I asked. " Windsor Castle," he ansAvercd. The name and the buildiiii,' were in ludicrous contrast. But my business was not to criticise ; bo I left the horse in care of the groom of the stables of Windsor Castle, crossed the dark and swift- flowing wa'ers to Detroit in a light skifl* hired for the occasion, and wondered all the way at my confidence in a stranger whose face I could not see in the darkness. But horse and wagon were found the next morning well cared for at " Windsor Castle." I spent Wednesday, the 7th of October, in visiting places of interest in Detroit under the kind guidance of Mr. Moore, of that city, ^^o first went to the wharves in rear of the warehouses of Messrs. Mooney and Foote, and Sheldon, to see three iron camion that were captured from the British in the naval battle on Lake Erie, where Perry was victorious. They were then put to the more commendable use of jjosts for fastening vessels to the wharves. One of them was a long twenty-four-pounder, and the other two were thirty-two-pound carronades. After visiting the riMnns of the Michigan Historical Society, where I found luitli- ing of hiterest connected Avith the subject of my re- searches, we rode out on the noble Jefferson Avenue to Bloody Run, stopping on the way for a brief inter\iew with the late Honorable B. F. H. Witherell, from whose local sketches quotations have been made in preceding chapters. Judge Witherell kindly placed in my hands much valuable historical material, the fruit of his own researches. BBITI6H OAllHOIf AT DE'.'KOIT. gligVorOttrolt RIoody R iM'aiitifyhig hidifui wars. rarent's Cn (•piracy of I' toM you befi your good. of Lite comni h' their eneiii to the Knglisl out them, and hi July, I7l the fort at D( New York, an ohtained perm nailiaii, possess attack. At a little pj nesH, owing to warriors all alo ears were listei riors were lurki whieli Parent's terrific^ ytdls in i of the wily foe. I'aok aj)palled. ley, wluin the vo pushed across th enemy could not Woi'd now rej his comnninicatj toward Detroit, c fojr enveloping j were obtained, (ienly disappearec tain Dalyell whil ment finally reac wounded. Most railed, from that < Bloody Bridge. troit than Jeffersc stands a huge wl scarred by the bul red years ago. On leaving Bloo of those hallowed have produced on which our country returned to the ci 'This name Ig freqnentl «f Royal Americans In m 'fPoot. He was a brave vat. i OF THE WAR OF 1 8 1 «. aoi g|«^ of Detroit by PoatlM. right M Bloody Ran. Origin of the Mama. KImwood C'amatary, Bloody Run, M ft littlo fitrciim that comoH down Roiitly to tho jtront nvoiuu', nfior bi'aiitit'yiiig Klimvood ('ciiiotcry, is ctillcd, IioMm a eoiiHpiciiouH |)la<'(' in tlio uiiiijiIh of Imliiiii wars. Tho ovi'iit wliicli j»avo it its pn'wiit name (it wnH foriMcriy known aH I'art'iit'rt Creek) may he tlniH briefly Htated : We have already alluded to the eon- siiiriiey ofPontiae in ITtlH. He had naid to rtonie ("anadians in eouneil : "I have told yon before, and I now tell you a^ain, that when I took up the hatehet it wax for your <,'<iod. This year the Kiij^lish nuiHt all perish throughout ('anada. The Master of Life conunandH it." ITe then told them that they must act with him, or he wouUl bt' their enemy. They cited the capitulation at Montreal, whieli transferred Canada to tlie Knj^lish, and refused to join him. He pressed forward in his conspiracy with- out theni, and finally invested Detroit with a formidable force. In July, 170;J, Pontiao was encamped behind a swamp, about two miles north of tilt! fort at Detroit. Captain Dalyell,' who had ran>,'ed with Putnam in Nortliem New York, arrived with re-enforcements for the fort at the chisc of tiie montli, aixl obtiiined permission of the comnmndant to attack Pontiac at once. A perti<lious Ca- nadian, possessed of tlio fact, communicated it to Pontiac, and he made ready for an attack. At a little past midniglit," Dalyell marched to Parent's Creek. The dark- • jniym, iiiw, owinj; to ft storm, was intense. Pontiac, forewarned, had posted his "'^' warriors all ftlong the route for a mile iii front of liis eamp, so that a thousand eager ears were listening for the approach of tho white men. Five hundred dusky war- riors were lurking near the rmle log bridge, at tho mouth of the wild ravine, through which Parent's Creek flowed. Dalyell's advance Avas jnst crossing the biidge when terrific yells in front, and a blaze of nmsketry on the lefl flank, revealed the presence ofthc wily foe. One half of the advanced i)arty were slain, and tlie remainder shrank liack ai)palled. The main body advancing also recoiled. Then came another vol- ley, when the voice of Dalyell in the van inspirited his men. With his followers ho pushed across the bridge, and charged up the hill ; but in the blackness tlie skulking enemy could not be seen, and his presence was known only by the flash of his guns. Word now reached Dalyell tliat the Indians, in large numbers, had gone to cut off Ills coinm\mication with the fort. He sounded a retreat, and in good order pressed toward Detroit, exposed to a most perilous enfilading tire. Day dawned with a thick fog enveloping all objects, and now, for the first time, dim f:flimpse8 of the enemy were obtained. They came darting through the .aist on flank and rear, and as sud- denly disappeared after firing deadly shots upon the English. One of tliese slew Cap- tain Dalyell while he was attempting to bear off a wounded sergeant. The detach- ment fiiuilly reached tho fw'-t, having lost sixty-one of their number in killed and wounded. Most of tho slain fell at the bridge. Parent's Creek has ever since been called, from that circumstance, Bloody Rtm, and tho old structure was always called Bloody Bridge. That bridge, as we have before remarked, was much nearer the De- troit than Jefferson Avenue. At tho culvert where that avenue crosses Bloody Hun stands a huge whitewood tree, delineated on page 261, yet, as we have observed, scarred by the bullets that were fired in that sanguinary encounter more than a Imnd- rcd years ago. ' On leaving Bloody Run we rode up to the Elmwood Cemetery, and made the tour nf those hallowed grounds, wliere taste and industry, aided by natural advantages, have produced one of the most charming places for the repose of mortality with which our country begins to abound. We lingered there for more than an houi', and returned to the city in time for a late dinner, and a visit to the grave of Colonel 1 This name Is frequently written Dnlzell. James Dalyell had been appointed a llentenant In the Sixtieth Reittment otKoyal Americans In 1768, and obtained the command of a compair; in the second liattnlion of the First Reiriment if Foot. He was a brave and efficient offlcer, and bad performed importiint services during the French and Indian h\ f 1 if !'■ ^' ' |i j|i i R vS 1 1 KM 1 || m n 1 j 1 l| n ^^^^ ill 302 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Interricwa with Cltizeuc of Detroit. ChlcBBO, ite Manie, Settlement, and Piwldou, ITavitrainck, with Mr. II. M. Lyon,' to wliose kind attentions while in Detroit I was much indebted. The monument that covered that brave soldier's grave is del'vieated on page 50. At twilight I called upon the Hon. C. Moran, who, though only a lad of sixteen years, Mas performing ^ ^ said he saw Gonoial sentinel duty in tiie ^ ^^ Hull during the heavy fort at Detroit Avhen it ^-^^^^^^^'^^ ^f^^,^^^^ ciinnonading, just he- wns surrendered. He *^ ^^rf-^ «-^ fore the white flag was run up, sitting upon the gras> within the fort api)arently unmoved by Ww tenors of the scene. He related many interesting particulars of occurrences within the fort at that time, and i., was with real regret that I felt compelled to make the interview short, for I had made an engagement to call on Mr. Robert M. Eberts, a native of De- troit, and a resident of that place since his birth in 1804. Mr. Eberts Mas full of in- teresting remmiscences, and the half hour passed M'ith him M'as one of real pleasure and protit.^ Late in the evening I returned to the RasBpll House, copied the ])itture of Mackinack on page 207, and early the following morning — a cold, blustering, <fenii- iuc late-November kind of morning — crossed the Detroit, and proceeded by railway along the borders of Lake St. Clair to Chatham, for the purjwse of visiting the battle- ground of the Thames or Moravian Towns. Of that visit I shall M'rite hereafter. I have said that Me Avent from Chicago to Detroit. These cities bear an intimate re- • Anaii8t IB, lition in the history of the period we are considering, for on the very flay" W12. Avhen Brock demanded the surrender of Detroit, the little garrison of Fort Dearborn, at Chicago, compelled to leave that post, set out upon their fatal march toward Fort Wayne. The site of Chicago (spelt by the early settlers Chigagua, Chikakou, and Chikako) M'as first visited by a yvhitc man in 1674, M'hen Father Marquette, a French Jesuit priest, built a cabin there, i)lanted a missionary station, and deposited the seed of tiie present great city, it lay in the path of explorations by commercial and religious adventurers, one seeking trade, the oiiier desiring to give the light of the Gospel to tiie heathen of the New World. It Mas visited hv turn by Marquette, Aliouez, La Salle, Durantayo, La IIontan,De St. Come, Gravier, Charlevoix, and others of less note. In 1085 Durantaye built a fort where, eleven years before, Marquette erected his cabin. How long it remained a missionary station it is difficult noM' to determine.^ "The first M'hite man mIio settled here M'as a negro," the Indians of Chicago said, M'ith great simplicity. He Avas a mulatto from P*^ Domingo, named Jean Baptiste Point au Sable, M'ho found h.is May to that far-off M'dderness in the year 1 700. lie dill not remain long, and the improvements M'h'ch he had commenced fell into the hands of John Kinzie, a native of Quebec, and for nearly twenty years the only white inhabitant of Northern Illinois, -vith the exception of a few American soldiers. He Avas an enterprising trader Avith the Indians, and in 1804 made Chicago his honu. 1 Mr. Lyon v.ns n Pension and Boiinis- Lnnd A?ent In Detroit. Ho informed me that he hnd In his possession com- plete copies of nil army rolls of the AVar of ISI'2 for lliehij^an, Ohio, New York, and other states, besides other record evidci'ce of service. He had also In his possession muster r)lls of the Black Hawk, Patriot, and Mexican wars, lie was probably better i)rcparcd, by the amount of positive information in his possession, and the devotion of uuilividcd attention lo 'he subject, to serve claimants for peusions and bounties than nuy other man west of Litke Eric. 2 Positive statements made to mc by Mr. Eberts and Jadpc Moran, when combined, form a curious subject for spocn- lation. Mr Eberts assured ntc that General Brock sent n hollow silver bullet (repciitlne Sir Henry Clinlon's fumoos net in 1T77) from Port Qcors;e to Major JInir at Fort Maiden, containing a massaste, and that the major sent It by Kich- ard Eberts (whom I saw at Chatham), brother of my luformant, to Colonel Askin, a British officer rcsidini; at Sirnhiiii in Canada. Askin's son-in-law, Colonel Brush, was then one ot" Ocnornl KuII'k aids-dc .mp, and it was believed, nficr the surren.ler, that the bullet containei! a communication from Brock to Brush. Judge Moran told mo that on one oc- casion his uncle was aent by Colonel Brush to Askin, his father-in-law, with ft package, and that he wns made n pris- oner, and detained In Canada for some time. The bnllel and the package seem to have some connection in 1! . matter. ' Chicagou was the ludlan name of the Hlinois River, at the month of which the city stands. In the language of the Pottawatomies, who Ir.habitcd that region, the name slgniflcs a skunk or pole-cat— some say the wild onion, both of which emit unpleasant odors, and were abundant there. It Is said that the Pottawatumtea wore garters cf the dried akunk'8 skin Sketch qfthe Karly Ilitlunj «f Chicago, by John Giluiurtin Shea. Fort Dearborn. Iil ' OF THE WAS OF 1812. 303 Fort Dearborn. Kinzie'8 Residence. The Oarrl on at Chicago. Duriii"' the two previous years the United States government had erectcti a stockade there, and on the 4th of July of that year it was formally named P'ort Dearborn, in honor of the then Secretary of War. It had a block-house at each of two angles on the southern side, a sally-port and covered way on the north side, that led down to tlio river, for the double purpose of providing a means of escape and for receiving water during a siege, and was strongly picketed.' It stood upon a little rise of XINXIC IIAK8I0N AND FORT DEABUOBN, ground on the south bank of the Chicago River, about half a mile from its mouth. On the north bank of that stream, directly opposite the fort, Mr. Kinzie enlarged into a spacious but very modest mansion +he house built by Jean Baptiste and his immediate successor, Le Mai. Within an incloned green in front he planted some Lonibardy poplars, and in the rear was a fine garden and growing orchard. There ho lived with his young family for eight years, isolated from society excej)ting that of the military, but enjoying great peace, with every necessary and many of the lux- uries of life, and possessing the confidence and esteem of the surrounding Indians. Tiie i)iacefulness of the current of life at Chicago was interrupted in the spring of 1812. The garrison was commanded by Captain Nathan Ileald,^ assisted by Lieu- tenant Linai T. Ilelm,^ a son-in-law of Mrs. Kinzie, and Ensign George Ronan. The surgeon was Dr. Van Voorhees. Tlio garrison consisted of fifty-four men. The only other residents of the post, at the time of the events we are about to consider, were Mr. Kinzie and his family, the wives of Captahi Heald and Lieutenant Helm and of some of the soliliers, and a few Canadian voyageura, with their Avives and children. The officers and their troops, like Mr. Kinzie, av ere on the most friendly terms Avith ' Fort Deartiorn wnp erected nnder the Rnperinfcndcnce of Major John AVhIstler, who was alno the overcecr of the cimstrnclion of Fort Wiync, at the forks of the Manmec. Major Whistler was an Englishman. He was taken prisoner »llh Burnoyne at Saratoga in 1777, and remained in the United States. He settled in Maryland, and in 1700-91 Joined ihe troops under General St. Clair, and was with him at his defeat on the Miami in November, 1791, where ho was act- ing as adjutant and ivas wounded. He was commissioned an cnsipn of the First Infantry in the sprinft of 1702, and in Ihc autnmn was made a lientennnt in the lirst snb-lej»lon. He passed throngh other grades of service until, on the 10th 'if July, Kl'2, he was breveted a major. He was disbanded in 1818, and three years afterward became military store- keeper at St. Louis. He died at Belle Fontaine, MissonrI, in 1827. In buiUling Fort Dearborn. Maxtor Wliistler had no oxen, and the timber was all dragged to the spot by the soldiert. Ill' worked so ecommically that the fort. Colonel Johnston, of Oayton (\,ho fiiniishcd him with some materials from Fort Wayne), told i ,e, did not coat the government over fifty dollars. For a while the garrison conld get no corn, and Whistler and his men subsisted on acorns, ' ITeald, wh.) was a native of Massaclinsetts, joined the army as ensign In the spring of 1790. He became a first llen- lenant in Noveml)er of the same year. In .lannary, 1807, he was commissioned a captain, and held that offlce until the iilth of Augt\st, 1812, when, on account of his good conduct at Chicago, he was promoted to major. He was disband'id in HI5. ' Helm, of Kentucky, entered the army as ensign in December, 1807, and became second lieutenant the following year. lie was promoted to first lieutenant In January, 1813, and to captain in April, 1814. He resigned in September following. "t. i EP MIlllMHiilWrt ■M 804 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK IH;' Stggg of Trouble with the Indians. An Indian Baid. Maeeacre of White People. the Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes, the pi-incipal tribes in that neighborhood ; yet they could not win thenx from their decided attachment to the British, from whom at Fort Maiden, they annually received large presenls as bribes to secure their alli- • November, 'i^"ce. After the battle of Tippecanoe, the previous autumn," in which poi- ^"- tions of their tribes were engaged, it had been observed that the leadinw chiefs became sullen, and suspicions of contemplated hostility sometimes clouded the minds of Heald and his command. One day in the spring of 1812, Nau-non-gee and a companion, both of the Calumet band, were at Fort Dearborn. When passing through the quarters, they observed Mrs. Heald' and Mrs. Helm^ playing at battle- dore. Turning to Mr. Griffith, the interpreter, Nau-non-gee said : " The white chiefs' wives are amusing themselves very much ; it will not be long before they are living in our corn-fields." The terrible significance of these words, then hidden, v/as made apparent a few weeks later. On the evening of the 7th of April, 1812, Mr. Kinzie's children weie dancing before the fire to the music of their father's violin, when their mother came rushing wildly in, pale with terror, and exclaiming, " The Indians ! the Indians !" " What ? where ?" exclaimed Mr. Kinzie, in response. " Up at Lee's, killing and scalping !" gasped the affrighted mother. It seems that the alarm had been given by a man and boy,^ wiio liad been fleeing from destruction down the opposite side of the river, and had shout- ed tlie terrible fact to the family of Mr. Burns, half a mile above the fort, where Mrs. Kinzie was in attendance upon a newly-made mother. Not a moment was to be lost. Mr. Kinzie immediately hurried his family into two old pirogues* moored in front of his house, and conveyed them across the river to the fort. At the same time the in- trepid Ensign Ronan, with six men, started up the river in a scow to save the Bums family ; and a cannon was fired to give notice of danger to a party of soldiers wlio had gone up the river to catch fish. Mrs. Burns, with an infant not a day old,' and the rest of her family, w^ere taken in safety to the fort ; and the absent soldiers, who were two miles above Lee's, made their way back in the darkness, discovering on their way the bodies of murdered and scalped persons at Lee's Place. These were obtained the next day, and were buried near the fort. It was afterward ascertained that the savage scalping-party were Winnebagoes, from Rock River, who had come with the intention of destroying every white person outside of the fort. The noise of the cannon frightened them, and they fled back to their homes. ' Rebecca Hcald wan a daughter of General Samnel Wells, of Kentucky (one of the heroes of Tippecanoe), niid niece of Captain William Wells, who will appear prominently in our narrative. She was with her uncle at Fort Wayne two or three years before the war, ivhere Captain Ueald became acquainted with her. Their acquaintance ripened into mu- tual attachment. He taught her the nse of the rifle, in which she became very expert. They were married In 1810 or 1811, and she accompanied her husband to Fort Dearborn. » Mrs. Helm was a daughter of Colonel M'Killup, a British officer attached to one of the companies who were station- ed at Fort Miami, on the Maumee, at the time of Wayne's appearance there in 1794. While reconnoitring one iilKhltlie was mistaken for an enemy, and mortally wounded. His widow married Mr. Kinzie, with whom, and this daughter, ebe removed to Chicago in 1803. Here the daughter, nt the age of eighteen years, married Lieutenant Helm, of Kentucky, In 1811. She died suddenly at Watcrvllle, in Michigan, in IHH.—Pinyteer Wovien of the West, by Mrs. E. F. Ellet. 3 These were a discharged soldier and a son of Mr. Lee, who lived near the fort, and cultivated a fann about three miles up the south branch of the Chicago River, in the vicinity of the point where Halslead Street now crosses that stream. See map on page 280. This was known as Lee's Place Lee and oil his family, except Mrs. Lee and her Infanl, perished in the massacre at Chicago on the 16th of August. • Pirag^ie, or piragua, originally meant a canoe formed out of the tnink of a tree, or two canoes united. A \esrel used in this country as a narrow ferry-boat, carrying two mtists and a lee-board, is called piVnf;«a. ' The main facts of this narrative of affairs at Chicago, in 1812, are derived from a most interesting account from the pen of Mrs. John H. Kin/.ie, of Chicago, published in pamphlet form In 1844, and repeated substantially In « charming Wstory of personal adventures on the northwestern fro;itier, by the same accomplished lady, in a vnliimf published in 1860, entitled, Wan-hun, the " Earhj Day" in the Xorthtient. Mrs. Kinzie is a danghter-in-law of Mr. John Kinzie, the trader Just mentioned, and much of the narrative of the events which we are considering she received from Mrs. Helm, on actor In the events. Of this infant of Mrs. Bums she gives a few words of interesting narrative. The mother and child were made prisoners at Chicago by a chief, and carried to his vil'.ige. His attentions to them aroufoJ the Jealousy of his spouse, and one day she spitefully struck the infant with a tomahawk with the intention of killing It The blow took off some of the scalp. " Thirty-two years after this," says Mrs". KlnzIc, " as I was on a Journey to Chicago In the steamer Uncle Sam, a young woman, hearing my name, introduced herself to me, and, raising tin hair bom her forehead, showed me the mnrlc of the tomahawk which had so nearly been fatol to her."— Ifav-litni, page 244. Order for the Era OF THE WAR OF 1812. 305 Older tor the Bracustlon of Chicago. Danger In the Movement. The Commandant warned againat It. All of the inhabitants of Chicago not belonging to the garrison now took refuge in the Agency House, which stood upon the esplanade, about twenty rods west from the fort, on the site of the present light-house, and there intrenched themselves. This waa an old-fashioned log house, with a passage running through the centre, and piaz- zas extending the whole length of the building, front and rear. These were planked up. Port-holes were cut in the barricade, and sentinels were posted there ftvery nisfht. For some time hostile Indians hovered around the post and committed dep- redations ; but at last they disappeared, and for several weeks the dwellers at Chi- cago experienced no alarm. Toward the evening of the 7th of August," Win-ne-meg, or Tlie Catfish, a , friendly Pottawatomie chief, who was intimate with Mr. Kinzie, came to Chi- cago from Fort Wayne as the bearer of a dispatch from General Hull to Captain Heald, in which the former announced hia arrival at Detroit with an army, the declaration of war, the invasion of Canada, and the loss of Mackinack. It also conveyed an order to Captain Heald to evacuate Fort Dearborn, if practicable, and to distribute, in that event, "all the United States prm . ity contained in the fort, and in the government tactory or agency, among the Indians in the neighborhood." This was doubtless in- tended to be a peace-offering to the savages, to prevent their joining the British, then menacing Detroit. Win-ne-meg, who knew the purport of the order, begged Mr. Ki^i!le to advise Cap- tain Ileald not to evacuate the fort, or the movement would be difficult and dangerous. Tiie Indians had already received information from Tecumtha of the disasters to tlie American arms, and the withdrawal of Hull's army from Cav.ada, and were becoming daily more restless and insolent. Heald had an ample supply of ammunition and pro- visions for six months ; why not hold out until relief could be sent from the south- ward? Win-ne-meg farther ui-ged that, if Captain Heald should resolve to evacuate, it should be done immediately, before the Inaians should be infonned of the order, ov could prepare for formidable resistance. " Leave the fort and stores as they are," he said, "and let them make distributions for themselves; and while the Indians are en- iiazed in that business, the white people may make their way in safety to Fort Wayne." Mr. Kinzie readily perceived the wisdom of Win-ne-meg's advice, and so did Cap- tain Heald's officers, but the commander resolved to obey Hull's order Etrictly as to ivacuation and the distribution of the public property. He caused that order to be ,ead to the troops on the morning of the 8th,'' and then assumed the whole responsibility. His officers expected to be summoned to a council, but were disappointed. Toward evening they called upon the commander, and, when informed of his determination, they remonstrated with him. The march, they said, must neces- sarily be slow, on account of the women and children and infirm persons, and there- fore, under the circumstances, extremely perilous. Hull's order, they said, left it to tiie discretion of the commander to go or to stay; and tliey thought it much better to strengthen the fort, defy the savages, and endure a siege until relief should reach tiiem. Heald argued in reply that special orders had been issued by the War De- partment that no post should be surrendered without battle having been given by tlie assailed, and that his force was totally inadequate to an engagement with the Indians. He should expect the censure of his government, he said, if he remained ; I and having full confidence in the professions of friendship of many of the chiefs about Mm, he should call them together, make the required distribution, and take up his march for Fort Wayne. After that his officers had no more communications with him on the subject. The Indians became more unruly every hour, and yet Heald, with fatal procrastination, postponed the assembling of the savages for two or three days. They finally met near the fort on the afternoon of the 12th,*^ and there the I commander held a farewell council with them. U ' AngQBt. " Angiut.. i;ii I f r. ■V ; ges ma lilt I 306 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK 4 Treaty with the Indians. Their Faithleuneu known. Solemn Warnings unheeded. Heald invited the officers to join liim in the council, but they refused. Tliey tiad re- ceived intimations that treachery was designed — that the Indians intended to murder them in the council-circle, and then destroy the inmates of the fort. The officers re- mained within the pickets, and, opening the port of one of the block-houses so as to expose the cannon pointed directly upon the group in council, they secured the safety of Captain Heald. The Indians were intimidated by the menacing monster, and ac- cepted Ileald's oifers with many protestations of friendship. He agreed to distribute among them not only the goods in the public store — blankets, broadcloths, calicoes paints, etc. — but also the arms, ammunition, and provisions not necessary for the use of the garrison on its march. It was stipulated that the distribution should take place the next day, soon after which the garrison and white inhabitants would leave the works. The Pottawatomies agreed, on their part, to furnish a proper escort for them through the wilderness to Fort Wayne, or condition of being liberally reward- ed on their arrival there. When the result of the council was made known, Mr. Kinzie warmly remonstrated with Captain Heald. He knew the Indians well, and their weakness in the presence of gi'eat temptations to do wrong. He begged the commander not to confide in their promises at a moment so inauspicious for faithfulness to treaties. He especially en- treated him not to place in their hands arms and ammunition, for it would feaifiiliy increase their power to carry on those murderous raids which for months had spread terror throughout the frontier settlements. Heald perceived liis folly, and resolved to violate the treaty so far as anns and ammunition were concerned. On that very evening, when the chiefs of the council seemed most friendly, a cir- cumstance occurred which should have made Captain Heald shut his gates to hi^ dusky neighbors, and resolve not to leave the fort. Black Partridge, a hitherto friend- ly chief, and a man of much influence, c .me quietly to the commander and said : " Fa- ther, I come to deliver to you the medal I wear. It was given me by the Americans. mi BLAOK partbidoe's medal. and I have long worn it in token of our mutual friendship. But our young men are resolved to imbrue their hands in the blood of the white people. I can not restrain them, and I will not wear a token of peace while I am compelled to act as an ene- ^ my.'" This solemn and authentic warning was strangely unheeded. ' This medal, as I have been Informed, was received by the Black Partridge at the treaty of Fort Wayne, on the 9 of September, 1800, mentioned on pnpe 190. It wan of silver. The enRrnvlnjt Is the exact size of the original. It w«i j copied from one In the pooeeseion of the widow of Qeneral Jacob Brown, of Brownsville, New York, where I saw it In Another Warninj OF THE WAR OF 1812. 307 Another Warning. Arms, Powder, and Whisky destroyed. Arrival of Re-enforcements. Too Iste. The morning of the 13th was bright and cool. The Indians aHsembled in great numbers to receive their presents. Nothing bnt the goods in the store were distrib- ated that day ; and in the evening the Black Partridge said to Mr. Griffith, the in- terpreter, " Linden birds have been singing in my eara to-day ; be careful on the march you are going to take," This was another solemn warung, and it was com- municated to Captain Heald. It, too, was unheeded ; and at midnight, when the sentinels were all posted and the Indians were in their camps, a portion of the pow- der and liquor in the fort war cast into a well near the sally-port, and the remainder into a canal that came up from the river far under the covered way. The muskets not reserved for the garrison were broken up, and these, with shot, bullets, flints, ffun-screws, and every thing else pertaining to fire-arms, were also thrown into the ffell. A large quantity of alcohol belonging to Mr. Kinzie was poured into the river, and before morning the destruction w^as complete. But the work had not been done in secret. The night was dark, and vigilant Indians had crept to the fort as noise- lessly as serpents, and their quick senses had perceived the destruction of what, un- der the treaty, they claimed as their own. In the morning the work of the night was made more manifest. Tlie powder was seen floating upon the surface of the river, and the sluggish water had been converted by the whisky and the alcohol into "strong grog," as an eye-witness remarked. Complaints and threatenings were loud among the savages because of this breach of faith ;i and the dwellers in the fcrt were impressed with a dreadful sense of impending destruction, when the brave Captain Wells, Mrs. Heald's uncle, and adopted son of the Little Turtle, was discovered upon the Indian trail near the Sand Hills, on the border of the lake not far distant, with a band of mounted Miamis, of whose tribe he was a chief.'^ He had heard at Fort Wayne of the orders of Hull to evacuate Fort Dearborn, and, being fully aware of the hostilities of the Pottawatomies, he had made a rapid march across the country to re-enforce Captain Heald, assist in defending the fort, or prevent his exposure to certain destruction by an attempt to reach the head of the Maumee. But he was too late. All means for maintaining a siege had been destroyed a few hours before, and every preparation had been made for leaving the post the next day. When the morning of the 15th arrived, there were positive indications that the In- dians intended to massacre all the white people. TJiey were overwhelming in num- I bers, and held the fate of the devoted band in their grasp. When, at nine o'clock, the appointed hour, the gate was thrown open, and the march commenced, it was like a funeral procession. The band struck up the Dead March in Saul. Captain Wells, the snmir jr of 1860. She also had a smaller medal of the same kind, struck for the same occasion. These were dlstrlb- oled among the inferior chiefs. ' The celebrated chiefBlack Hawk, who was among the Indians nt the time of the massacre at Chicago, declared that, bid the treaty been fUlly carried out, the white people would not have been attacked. And such has been the general impretsion of students. But the conduct of Black Partridge before the powder and liquor were destroyed disproves ihia. No doubt the massacre had been determined on as soon as the order for the evacuation was made known to the Indians. ' When in Toledo, Ohio, in the autumn of 1860, 1 spent an hour pleasantly and profitably with General John E. Hunt, « brother-in-law of General Cass, whose early life was spent among the stirring scenes of the frontier. He was in the tort at Detroit when it was surrendered. He knew Captain William Wells, and ft'om his lips the substance of the fol- lowing brief notice was commimtcated : When n child. Wells was living with his relative, Hon. Nathaniel Pope, of Een- incliy, where he was stolen by a band of Miami Indians and taken to the Haumee country. He was adopted by Little Turtle, the eminent Miami chief. He was rescued by his relatives, but had become so attached to his Indian (Wends and their mode of life that he returned to them. He was compelled to go upon the war-path when Harrison invaded that region, and was with the Indians who defeated St. Clair. No doubt he swayed the mind of Little Turtle when Wayne ippeared in that region, for that chief was favorable to peace with the great Blacksnake, as they called him. Wells »w clearly the wealcness of the Indiana ; and one day, while in the woods, he suddenly informed bis fottter-father tbat be rtonld leave him, to join the army of Wayne. "I now leave your nation for my own people," said Wells. "We j km long been (Hends. We are friends yet, until the sim reaches there," pointing to a place in the heavens. " From thit time we are enemies. Then, if you wish to kill me, you may ; if I want to kill yon, I may." At the hour named. We"' itteA the Mau.neo, and, asking the direction toward Wayne's army, disappeared In the forest. In Wajnie's army be commanded a company of the spies. When peace was restored, after the treaty of Qreenvllle, in 1T08, he and the Little Turtle became good friendo. He married the Little Turtle's sister, a Miami girl, and became a chief of that na- tion, One of his daughters was the wife of Judge Woicott, of Maumee City, Ohio. Wells wm Indian Agent at Fort Wtfne when the War of ISlti broke out. He had lived there since 1S04. i i %r^ i ^i ■ . f iliffi |:?| i I Vi W i III ■ it- ■ ^ : (1- ^^^^a 111 1 808 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A solemn March out of the Kurt. Treachery of the IndlaoB. HadiBcre of the White People with his face blackened with wet gunpowder in token of his impending fate, took the lead with his friendly Miamis^ followed by Captain Heakl, and his heroic wife by hia bide. Mr. Kinzie accompanied them, hoping, by his personal influence, to soften, if he could not avert, the impending blow. His family were left in a boat, in charge of u friendly Indian, to b^ conveyed around the head of the lake to Kinzie's trading sta- tion, on the site of tro present village of Niles, in Michigan. Slowly the procession moved along the lake shore until tLcy came to the Sand Hills, between the prairie and the beach, when the escort of Pottawatomii s, about five hundred^ in number, under The Black-bird, filed to the right, and placed those hills between tliemselves and the white people. Wells and his Miamis had kept in the advance ; suddenly they came dashing back, the leader shouting, " They are about to attack us : form, instantly !" These startling words were scarcely uttered when a stom? of bullets came from the Sand Hills, but without serious effect. The treacher- ous and cowardly Pottawatomies had made those hillocks their cover for a murder- ous attack. The troops, hastily brought into line, charged up the bank, when one of •;heir number, a white-haired man of seventy years, fell dead from his horse, the first Yictira. The Indians were driven back, and the battle was waged on the open prai- rie between fifty-four soldiers, twelve civilians, and three or four women, against about five hundred Indian warriors. Of course, the conflict was hopeless on the part of the white people ; but they resolved to make the butchers pay dearly for every life which they destroyed.' The cowardly Miamis fled at the first onset. Their chief rode up to the Pottawat- omies, charged them with perfidy, and, brandishing his glittering tomahawk, dociarcd that he would be the first to lead Americans to punish them. He then wheeled and dashed after his fugitive companions, who were scurrying over the prairie as if the Evil Spirit was at their heels. HITS OP UUIOAOO AND Or BVEMT8 TUEBE IN 1812. The conflict was short, d«sperate, and bloody. Two thirds of the white people ■were slain or wounded, and all the horses, provisions, and baggage were lost. Only twenty-eight strong men remained to brave the fury of about five hundred Indians, who had lost but fifteen in the conflict. The devoted band had succeeded in break- ing through the ranks of the ass.issins, who gave way in front and rallied on the flank, > The place of confllctat the Sand Tlills wnH on the site of a lot (vacant when I visited It in 1860) in the rear of the honro of the late Widow Clark, between Indiana and Michigan Avenuea, .'lut south of North Street, and about flily rudi frjm the lalie. . Incidents of the "^^ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 809 Incidents of tbe Conflict with the Savaf;e8. Death of Captain Wells. Bravery of Women. and gained a sliglit eminence on tlie prairie near a grovo called Tlie Oak Woods. The savagea did not ])ur8iie. They gathered upon the Sand IlillH in consultation, and cave signs of willingness to parley. Farther conflict with them would be rashness ; so Taptain Ileald, ac<!ompanied by Perish Le Clerc, a halt-breed boy in IVIr. Kinzie's service, went forward, met Black-bird on the open prairie, and arranged terms for a surrender. It was agreed that all the arms should be given up to Black-bird, and that the survivors should become prisoners of war, to be exchanged for ransoms as soon as practicable. With t'lis understanding, captured and captors all started for the Indian encampment near the fort.' , So overwhelming was the savage force at the Sand Hills, that the conflict, after the first despei'ate charge, became an exhibition of individual i)rowes8 — a life-and-death struggle, in which no one could render any assistance to his neighbor, for all were principals. In this conflict women bore a conspicuous part. All fought gallantly so lone; as strength permitted them. . The bravs Ensign llonan wielded his weapon even when falling upon his knees because of loss of blood.'' Captain Wells displayed the iireatcst coolness and gallantry. He was by the side of his niece when the conflict beoan. "We have not the slightest chance for life," he said. "We must part, to meet no more in this world ; God bless you." With these words, he dashed forward with the rest. In the midst of the tight he saw a young warrior, painted like a de- mon, climb into a wagon in which Avere twelve children of the white people, and tom- ahawk them all! Forgetting his own immediate danger. Wells exclaimed, "If that istheir game, butchering women and children, I'll kill too." He instantly dashed to- ward the Indian camp, where they had left their squaws and little ones, hotly pur- sued by swift-footed young warriors, who sent many a rifle ball after liim. lie lay close to his horse's neck, and turned and flred occasionally upon his pursuers. When he had got almost beyond the range of their rifles, a ball killed his horse and wound- ed himself severely in the leg. The young savages rushed forward with a demoniac veil to make him a prisoner and reserve him for the torture, for he wjs to them an arch ottender. His friends Win-ne-meg and Wau-ban-see vainly attempted to save liim from his flite. He knew the temper and the practices of the savages well, and resolved not to be made a captive. He taunted them with the most insulting epi- thets to provoke them to kill him instantly. At length he called one of the fiery young warriors (Per-so-tum) a squaw, which so enraged him that be killed Wells in- stantly with a tomahawk, jumped upon his body, ctit out his heart, and ate a portion of the warm and half-palpitating morsel with savage delight.^ The wife of Captain Heald, who was expert with the rifle and an excellent eques- trian, deported herself bravely. She received severe wounds. Faint and bleeding, she managed to keep the saddle. A savage raised his tomahawk to kill her, when she looked him full in the face, and, with a sweet, melancholy smile, said, in the Indian tongne, " Surely you will not kill a squaw !" The appeal was effectual. The arm of the savage fell, and the life of the heroic woman was saved. Mrs. Helm, the step- daughter of Mr. Kinzie, had a severe personal encounter with a stalwart young Indian, who attempted to tomahawk her. She sprang on one side, and received the blow intended for her head upon her shoulder, and at the same instant she seized the savage around the neck, and endeavored to get hold of his scalping-knife, which hung ill a sheath upon his breast. While thus struggling, she was dragged from her antag- ' Captain Heald's dispatch to Adjutant General Cushing, October 28, 1812. ' Mrs. Helm epeaks of the terror of Dr. Van Voorhccs at that time. He was badly wonnded. His horse had been shot mder him. " Do yon think," he said to Mrs. Helm, " they will take onr lives f " and then talked of offering a large ran- som for existence. She advised him not to think of life, but of inevitable death. " Oh !" he exclaimed, " I can not die. lam not fit to die. If I had only a short time to prepare for it— death is awftil I" She pointed to the falling Bonan, mi said, " Look at that man 1 at least he dies like a soldier." " Yes," gasped the terrified snrgeon, "bnt he has no ter- ror of the fntnre— he Is an nnbellcver !" At that moment Mrs. Helm had a deadly straggle with a young Indian, and a moment afterward she ■<n\r the dead body of the snrgeon. He had been jlatn by a tomahawk. ' Statement of Colonel John Johnston, of Dayton, to the author. / , 1 no riCTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK Act of • friendly Indian. The Wounded bntchered for their Scalps. Scalp* purobaied hj th* Britlah Commander oniHt by another Indian, who bore licr, spito of her desperate resistance, to the margin of the lake, and plunged her in, at the same time, to her astonishment hold- ing her so that she would not drown. She soon perceived that she was held by a friendly hand. It was that of the Black Partridge who had saved her. When tlio firing ceased and the capitulation was concluded, ho conducted her to the prairie where she met her father, and heard that her husband was safe. Bleeding and huI- fering, she was conducted to the Indian camp by the Black Partridge and I'er-so-tmn the latter carrying in his hand a scalp which she knew to be that of Captain Wells by the black ribbon that bound the queue. The wife of a soldier named Corbord, believing that all prisoners were reserved for torture, fought desperately, and suiTered herself to be literally cut in pieces rather than surrender. The wife of Sergeant Holt, who was badly wounded in his neck at the beginning of the engagement, received from him his sword, and behaved as bravely as an Amazon. She was a large and powerful woman, and rode a fine, liijrh- spirited horse, which the Indians coveted. Several of them attacked her with tlic butts of their guns, for the purpose of dismounting her, but she used her sworj so skillfully that she foiled them. She suddenly wheeled her horse and dashed over the prairie, followed by a large number, who shouted, " The bravo woman ! the brave woman ! don't hurt her !" They finally overtook her, and, while two or three were engaging Jier in front, a powerful savage seized her by her neck, and dragged her backward to the ground. The horse and woman became prizes. Tlie latter was afterward ransomed. When the captives were taken to the Indian camp a new scene of horrors was opened. The wounded, according to the Indians' interpretation of the capitulation were not iircluded in the terms of the surrender. Proctor had offered a liberal sum for scalps delivered at Maiden ; so, nearly all the wounded men were killed, and the value of British bounty, such as is sometimes offered for the destruction of wolves was taken frojn each head.' In this tragedy Mrs. Ileald played a part, but fortunate- ly escaped scalping. Li order to save her fine horse, the Indians had aimed at tlie rider. Seven bullets took effect upon her person. Her captor, who was about to slay her upon the battle-field, as we have seen, left her in the saddle, and led the horse to ward the camp. When in sight of the fort his acvjuisitiveness overpowered his gal- lantry, and he was taking her bonnet from her head in order to scalp her, when she was discovered by Mrs. Kinzie, who was yet sitting in the boat, and M'ho had heard the tumult of the conflict, but without any intimation of the result until she saw the wounded woman in the hands of her savage captive. " Run ! run, Chaudoniiai !" exclaimed Mrs. Kinzie to one of her husband's clerks, who was standing on the beach. " That is Mrs. Heald. He is going to kill her ! Take that mule, and offer it as a ransom." Chandonnai promptly obeyed, and increased the bribe by offering in ad- dition two bottles of whisky. These were worth more than Proctor's bounty, and Mrs. Ileald was released. She was placed in Mrs. Kinzie's boat, and there concealed from the prying eyes of other scalp-hunters. Toward evening the family of Mr. Kinzie* were allowed to return to their own > A writer, signing his communication "An Officer," under date of "Buffalo, March 8, 1818," speaks of the nrrlvsl there of Mrs. Helm, and her narrative of sufferings at and after the massacre at Chicago. "She knows the fact," be says, " that Colonel Proctor, the British commander at Maiden, bought the scalps of our mnrdered garrison at Chicago, and, thanks to her noble spirit, eh'! boldly charged him with the Infamy In his own house." This independence was probably the cause of the cruel treatment which she and her husband received at the h>f'« of Proctor. She and her husband, after several weeks of captivity among the Indians, were united at Detroit, whviv. i .. -tor caused them both to be arrested, and sent on horseback, in the dead of a Canadian winter, across the wilderness to Fort George, on tbe Niagara frontier. The writer farther says concerning the statements of Mrs. Heald, " She knows, f^om the tribe with whom she was a prisoner, and who were the perpetrators of those murders, that they intended to remain true, bnt that they reixived orders bom the British to cut off our garrison whom they were to escort."— NUes's Weekly RegitUr, April 3, 1818. . > John Kinzie, who bore so conspicnouB a part in the events we are considering, was bom in Quebec, in 1763, tml was the only offspring of his mother's second marriage. His father died while he was an infant, and bis mother mar- ried a third time, and with her husband (Mr. Forsythe) removed to the city of New York. At the age of ten yean guvlrors of thi OF THE WAlt OF 1812. 811 gurlvora oflhs Manaor* at Chicago, Sketch of Mr. Klnxle. Remain! of the Fort. house, where they were greeted by the friendly lilack Partridge. Mrs. Helm was placed in the house of Ouilmette, a Frenchman, by the same friendly hand. But these and all the other prisoners were exposed to great jeopardy by tlie arrival of a band of fierce Pottawatomies from the Wabash, who yearned for blood and plunder. They scarelied the houses for prisoners with keen vision, and when no farther concealment and safety seemed possible, some friendly Indians arrived, and so turned the tide of affairs that the Wabash savages were ashamed to owu their blood-thirsty iuten- tlons.' In this terrible tragedy in the wildeniess fifty-five years ago, twelve children, all the masculine civilians but Mr, Kinzie and his sons. Captain Wells, Surgeon Van V'wr- heeo^Knsign Ronaii, uiid twcnly-six private soldiers, were murdered. The prison- ers were divided among the captors,^ and were finally reunited, vr restored to their friends and families. A few of them have survived until our day. Mrs. Rebecca IleaUl died at the St. Charles Mission, in yissouri, in the year 1800. Major John II. Kinzie, of Chicago (husband of the writer of " Wau-bun"), his brother Major Robert A. Kinzie, and Mre. Hunter, wife of General David Hunter, of the National Army, arc [1867] surviving children of Mr. Kinzie, and were with their mother in the boat. The brothers were both oflicers of Volunteers during the late Civil War; and a most promising sou of John Kinzie became a martyr for his cou? try in that war, Paul do Ganno, another survivor, was living at Maumee City, Ohio, when I visited that place in 1860, but I was not aware of the fact until after I had left. Jack Smith, a . '*ilor on the lakes, who was a drummer-boy at tlie time, was alive within the last two or three yeai'S. It is believed that no other survivors of the massacre are now [1807] living. On the morning after the massacre the- fort was burned by the Indians, and Chi- cago remained a desolation for about four years. In 1810 the Pottawatomies ceded to the United States all the land on which Chicago now stands, when the fort was rebuilt on a somewhat more extended scale, and the bones of the massacred were col- lected and buried. One of the block-houses of the new fort remained, near the bank of the river, until 1850, when it was demolished. The view here given (by whom joang Ktnzie was placed In a school in Wtlllamsbnrg, near Long Island. One day he made his way to the North River, got ou board of an Albany sloop, and started for Quebec. Fortunately for him, he found a passenger who was on his way to that city, who took charge of him. At Quebec the boy apprenticed himself to a silversmith. Three years after- ward, his family, having returned to Canada for the purpose of moving to Detroit, discovered him. They hud supposed him lost forever. When he grew up he loved the wilds. He became a trader, and lived most of the time on the ft-ontler and among the Indians. He eBtabllshed trading-houses. He married the widow of a British officer in ISOO, and settled at Chicago iu 1804. There ho became a captain in 1812, and In January, 1813, Joined his family at Detroit. There he was badly treated by General Proctor, who cast him into prison at Maiden. Ho was Anally sent to Quebec, to be for- warded to England, for what purpose was never known. The vessel In which he sailed was compelled to put back, when he was released and returned to Detroit, where he fonnd General Harris In possession. He and his family re- turned to Chicago in 'i810, when the fort was rebuilt. Mr. Kinzie died there on the 6th of Jonuary, 182S, at the age of slity-llve years. This was two years before the town of Chicago was laid out into lots by commissioners appointed by the state. ' The leader of the friendly party was Billy Caldwell, a half-breed and a chief. The Black Partridge told him of the etldent intentions of the Wabash Indians. They had blackened their faces, and were then seated sullenly In Mr. Kinzle'B parlor, preparatory to a general massacre of all the remaining white people. Billy went In, took off his ac- coutrements, and said, iu a careless way, " How now, my friends 1 A good day to you. I was told there were enemies here, but I am glad to And only friends. Why have you blackened your faces f Is It that you are mourning for your friends lost in battle f Or Is it that yon are fhsting t If so, ask our friend here (Mr. Kinzie), and he will give you to eaL He is the Indian's fl-iend, and never yet refused them what they had need of." The hostile savages were sur- priaed and overwhelmed with shame.— Mrs. KInzte's Wmt-fmn, page 238. ' John Cooper, M.D., of Poaghkeepsie, New York, was the Immediate predecessor of Doctor Van Voorhees at Fort Dearborn. They were natives of the same town (Flshkill, Dutchess County, New York) and class-mates. Van Voor- hees was a yonng man of great powers. Dr. Cooper left the fort in 1811, tendered his resignation, and left the army. He died at Poughkeepsle in 1863, where he had been for many years the oldest medical practitioner in the place. ' Captain Heald was quite severely wounded and made a prisoner by an Indian from the Kankakee, who had a strong personal regard for him, but who, on seeing the feeble state of Mrs. Heald, released him and allowed him to accompany her to the month of the St. Joseph's, in Michigan. On returning to bis village, the Indian found himself an objeot of great dlsBatisfaction because he had released his prisoner ; so he resolved to go to St. Joseph and reclaim him. Friend- ly Indians gave Heald warning, and he and his wife went to far-off Mackinack iu an open boat, and surrendered them- selves tn the British commander there as prisoners of war. This kept them out of the hands of the savages.— Wai»-buu, page 243. ^— Ilill liii 813 nCTOUiAL klELD-BOOK Block-hoDM at GUcago. Tb* Aatlicw of RDiN-ltm. Amariag Omwth of Chlctgo. ULOUK-IIUUHE AT UUIUAdO, sketched I know not) was drawn not long before the demolition. On the left of tlio picture is seen the light-house and a steam-boat in the Chicago River, above theHusli Street bridge, at the terniiiiation and junction of Wabash Avenue and River Street. On the right, across the river, not far from the site of the Kinzie mansion, is seen tlie hotel called the lake House, and in the foreground, on the right, is seen two vener- able trees, one of which was standing on the vacant lot where the block-house was when I visited Chicago in 1860. At that time I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs, John II. Kinzie, the author of Wmtrbim, at her own house, and heard from her own lips interesting reminiscences of Chicago in 1831, the year after state commissioners laid it out into town lots. To Mrs. Kinzie's skillful pencil we are indebted for the sketch of Fort Dearborn and the Kinzie mansion printed on page 303 ; also for tlie map on page 308. Although she was a woman of about middle age, she and her Ims- band were the " oldest inhabitants" of Chicago. They are the only persons now [1867] living there who were residents of Chicago in 1831, within the present city limits. Tliere were two settlers living without the city limits in 1860 who resided on the same spot in 1831. These were Archie Clybourn and John Clack, the latter generally known as " Old Hunter Clack." They were originally from the Kanawha Valley, in Virginia. These had been witnesses of its marvelous growth from a stockade fort in the wilderness, and a few rude houses, to a city of almost two hundred thousand inhabitants in the course of only thirty-six years I Chicago is now the great en- trepot for the grain of the teeming Northwest — the central point to which about a dozen important railways converge' — and yet there, only thirty-six years ago, Mm Kinzie and her family, during a whole winter, were compelled to use the greates* economy for fear they might exhaust their slender stock of flour and meal before it could be replenished from " below !" At the same time, the Indians of that neigh- borhood were famishing — " dying in companies from mere destitution Soap made from the bark of the slippery elm, or stewed acorns, was the only food that many had subsisted on for weeks. "^ ' The Hichigan Centrat ; the Michtgan Sonthern and Northern Indiana ; the Pittsbnrg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago ; tbe Chicago branch of the Illinois Central ; the St. Lonie, Alton, and Chicago ; the Chicago and Kock Island ; the Xllinolt Grand Tmnk : the Chicago, Falton, and Iowa ; the Oalena, Chicago, and Union ; the Chicago and Northwestern ; ud tbe Chicago and Milwaukee, with nnmerons tribntaries. ' For a fall description of Chicago bfi 1S31, the reader is referred to the seventeenth chapter of Mrs. Eeuzie'a ITau-hiit. Cklcigo a Ueoei I lii OF THE WAR OF IBIS. 619 I- CUetfO • Gtanwatlou •tfu. Iti blilortoal Loctlltlw. Tccamtha'i Uop«s rerlvad. Oetlgni *Ktinit Tort Wsjnw. The city of Chicago now covcrH the entire theatre of the eventH just described. The ohi channel of the river, froai the fort to its mouth, has been filled or (lovered, iind the present harbor constructed. The Sand Hills have been leveled ; and where the battle on the prairit — the struggles of brave warriors, an<l the cliuse and murder of Wells — occurred, populated streets now lie. It was while passing along one of theae (Mi jhigan Avenue) — tho finest in point of beauty, taste, and prospect in all the West, •.viien on our way out to the j)leasant suburban village of Hyde Park, on the lake shore, to visit some old friends, that we were directed to tlic site of the Sand Hills, the Oak Woods, and Leo's Place, Very near the spot where the Kinzie man- sion stood — where food was so scarce only thirty years ago. iinmense " elevators" — the Iiirgei't in the world — receive, weigh, and send ott'anmially millions of bushels of the fli/y^M-' grain of tho Northwest! This transformation is tho work of a jingle generation. It seems like a magic product evolved by tho attrition of Aladdin's lamp.' When tho work of destruction, and the final disposition of tho prisoners at Chi- cago were completed. The IMack-bird and his savjige horde pressed toward Fort Wayne. The fall of Mackinack and Detroit, and the destruction of the military post .it Chicago, BO completoly broke tho power of the United States in the Northwest for ilie moment, that tho Indians, believing that there wotild be perfect safety in openly joining the Uritish, did bo. Tecumtha's Iiojjcs of establishing a confederacy of the iudians to drive the white people from the country north of tho Ohio revived. The prospect of success seemed brighter than ever, and, with the energy of a patriot and enthusiast, he sent emissaries among all the tribes to invite them to take the war- path, with the solo intent of complete expulsion or utter extermination. The Win- iiebagoes, Pottawatomies, Kickapoos, Ottawas, Shawnoese, and less ])owerful tribes, ffladly listened ; and all over the region south of Lake Erie, far toward the Ohio, the young men were speedily engaged in the war-dance. Proctor and Tecumtha resolved to reduce Forts Wayne and Harrison immediately. Tlie former, as Vi^e have seen, was at the head of the Maumee,* and the latter on the Wabash.' Major Muir, with British regulars and Indians, were to proceed from Mai- den up the Maumeo Valley to co-operate Avith tho Indians ; and the 1 st of September was appointed as the day wlien Fort Wayne should bo invested by them. The gar- rison consisted of only seventy men, under Captain James Ithea,^ with four small field-pieces. The savages were there as early as the 28th of August," and at about the same time hostile bands, for the purpose of diverting attention from Forts Wayne and Harrison, and preventing their garrisons being re-enforced, were directed to prosecute warfare at distant points in their usual mode — murdering iso- lated settlers, with their women and children. Pursuant to these instructions, a- scalping-party of Shawnoese fell upon " The Pigeon Roost Settlement," on a tribu- 1 1 am indebted to the accurate knowledge and kind conrte»y of Mrs. Kinzle for the following information reepectlng the localities of acts in the Bvcnts we have Jast recorded, as Indicated by plnces to-day : The"Kinxie raausion" was on the north side of the Chicago River, at the intersection of Pine and North Water Street*, as they now are in " Kinzie's addition," and aboat eighty feet east of the Lake House. The bonse of Outlmette was between what are now Rash and Cass Streets, on North Water Street. Bnms'e was near the foot of Wolcott Street, on the bank of the river. The east end of the Chicago and Galena Freight D^'pAt covers the spot. The place where the fight commenced was between the Widow Clarke's and the lake. The trees are still standing which stood there at that day. "Lee's Place" was about a fourth of a mile above where Halstead Street crosses the Soath Branch. Captain Wells was killed near the foot of Twelfth Street, on the Lake Shore path. The "Oak Woods" were. In 1802, "Camp Douglas," Just beyond the southern limits of the city, on the Lake Shore. "Chicago University" and the grave of the late Stepiten A. Douglas, who owned the property, occnpy a portion of the irjct. The place of the parley was aboat at the Intersection of the Archer Ro^d and Clarke Street. > See page 66. ' See page 19T. •James Rhea was a native of New Jersey, and was lieutenant and adjutant of "Rhea's levies" in 17B1. He was en- tii-n and second lieutenant of infantry in 1T99, and was promoted to first lientenant In 1800. He was commissioned a uptaUi in July, ISOT, and resigned at Fort Wayne at the close of 1818.— Gardner's JXetionar}/ qf the Army, page STT. • 1812. m m HI, :t' ^ I 114 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK 1 I \ •fBttUwi. ▲tUck on Fort Wajm*. ••QnUMrGaiM.'' TtasUwrUoaiia, • 1819. tary of the Whito River, within tho limitH of tho prcHt'iit Scott County, in Hoiithem Indianii, on the Hd of tcptemher.'' They tirMt kiUod two bee-hunterH of the Het- tienient ;' and between BunHet and diirit tliey murdered one iniin, five woiiit'ii an<l Hixtoen eliihlren.^ Only two men imd five (;hihlren eHciiped.' These nia<U> tliuir wiiy, under tho cover of the night, to the houHc of ii settler hix nul<« diHtiiiil. Om, hundred and fifly mounted ritlemen, under Major John M'Coy, gave (^hawe to the •> September 4. niurdererH tho next day.** They followed them twenty milcH, but they OHcaped during tho night. Tho militia of Scott, JefliTson, Clarke, and • SeptcmiHir T. Knox Counties were Hoon aHHombled, and wore joined'^ by about three hundred and titty volunteerH from Kentucky, under Colonel Geiger, for tho imrpone ofdoHtroying the towns of tho Dela wares, on the White liiver, wlio were Huspccleil of boijig the nmrderors. Evidence of tho inLocence and even friendlinesH of those In- dians was not wanting, and they wore spared. From that time until the close r" tho war, the settlers in that region lived in a continual Ktato of fear and excitement.' For several days the Indians, in large numbers, liad been seen hovering in tho woods around Fort Wayne, and on the night of the 5th of September thoy commenced a sc- ries of attacks by tiring upon tho sentinels, without effect. Up to tluit time, the Mi- amis in tho neighborhood, who had resolved to join the British, had made great pro- fessions of friendship, hoj)ing, no doubt, to gain possession of the fort by a surprise. This hypocrisy availed them nothing, so they cast oft' all disp uise and opened liostili- ties. On the nioniing of the 0th they were invisible, and some of the soldiers ven- tured out of the fort. They had not proceeded seventy yards when bullets from a concealed foe killed two of their number. Their companions hastened back, currying tho bodies of their comrades with them. On the niglit of the 6th the wliole body of Indians, 8uj)posed to have been six hund- red strong, attacked tho fort. They attempted to scale tho palisades, but so vigilani and skillful were the garrison tliat the savages were not permitted to do the least damage. Perceiving such assaults to be useless, they resolved to employ strategy in the morning. Two logs were formed into the Blia])e of cannon, and placed in battery before the fort. A half-breed, with a flag, ajjproached and informed tho commandant that the British, then on their march, had sent them two battery cannon, and that il' a surrender Avas not immediately made, the fort would be battered down. lie also threatened a general massacre of the garrison within three days, as a re-enforcemenl of seven hundred Indian warriors were expected the next day. The troops were not frightened by tho " Quaker guns." They were aware that friends were on the way to relieve them,* and resolved to hold out while their provisions lasted. For nearly three days after the menace there was quiet. Then the savages renewed the at- > Jereminh Pajme and Fiederick Kaupftnan. ' These wcrp Henry CiillingB and his wife ; the wife of Jeremiah Payne and eight of her children ; Mrs. Richard Col- llngg and seven of her children ; Mrs. John Morris and her only child, and Mrs. Morris, the mother of her husband. ' Mrs. Jane Biggs and her three children, and the aged William Collings and Captain John Morris, with two oftht children (John and Lydla) of Urs. Collings who was murdered. They all escaped to the house of Zebalon Collings.- Dlllon's HUtory of [ndiaim, page 402. • Mr. Zebulon Collings, to whose honse the fugitives from The Pigeon Roost escaped, has left on record the foUowlD!; vivid account of the sense of peril felt by the settlers during those dark days between the summer of 1812 and 1$15: " The niauuer In which I used to work was as follows : on all occasions I carried my rifle, tomahawk, and butcher-knifr. with a loaded pistol In my belt. When I went to plow, I laid my gun on the plowed ground, and stuck up a slicli by it for a mark, so that I could get It quick In case It was wanted. I bad two good dogs. I took one Into the bouse, leav- ing the other out. The one outside was expected to give the alarm, which would cause the one Inside to bark, by vhlcli I would be awakened, having my arms always loaded. I kept my horses in a stable close to the house, having a pon- hole so that I could shoot to the stable-door. During two years I never went from home with a certainty of returaliij;, not knowing the minute I might i jceive a hall from an unknown hund ; but. In the midst of all these dangers, tbat GoJ who never sleeps nor slumbers has kept me."— Dillon's Hintorj/ of Indiana, page 498. » Qeneral Harrison, then at Piqua In command of Kentucky troops, sent M^or WillUm Oliver, a gallant officer, with four Shawnoese, to Fort Wayne to assure the garrrison of speedy re-enforcement. Tbeypushed through the wildemc!! for about slzty miles. Oliver was In Indian costume. When they approached the fort they came upon the ont-piards of the savages. With great skill they evaded them, made tlielr way through the lines of the besiegers, and, with fleei •^ot, gained the fort. Oliver and his companions remained there until the close of the siege. —Early Hiiiory c/thtMati- .tnee KoUeyi by H. L.Ho8mer, page 88. OF THE WAR OF 1 8 H. Mf I of Fort Wcyne raited. HaTiR*! of the Indlanii, Th« any of Little ToHto. t»ok,* and kept np ii Hre at, intorvnlM for twelve hount. Oi. tliw tollow!::^ •H«ipt«'mbor», jjiy tlit'y raiHod a trt^iiitMuIoiiH wiir-wlioop, to tVi^litcn tlie jj;arriHon, uixl '^"'' airain i-otnini'iiccd an UHHuiilt, with um little hiiik^ohh an on previoiiH oc^c-aHioiiH. Tlio patii'iit little xarriHon reiiiaiiieil iiiiharnied ; and on the 12th, the heHJej^erM tletl preeip- itiitely, havinji heanl of the approach of a larji;e re-eiiforceincut for the fort. '''••"* evening the delivererH arrived, and Fort Wayne was Haved.' That run WAYNK IN MVi. Before they left, the Indians destroyed every thing outside the fort — live-stock, crops, and dwellings. Among the latter was the house of Captain Wells, who was killed at Chicago. It was on his reservation of rich bottom lands on the north side of tiie St. Mary's River, opposite the present city of Fort Wayne, and not more than half a mile distant from it. When I visited the spot in/ the autumn of 1860, in com- pany with the venerable Mr. Hedges, already mentioned,'* and the Hon. I. D. G. Nel- son, more than twenty apple-trees of an orchard planted by Captain Wells — the old- est iti Northern Indiana, having been set out in 1804 or 1805 — were yet standing, sketch of that group "" ""■•' '"'"■''"'« "^'''"'- es was at his funeral. ' Thomson's Skelehe* of the War, page 60 ; M'Afee, page 12T. ' See page 44. > Ur. Drake, iu his Book of Ihe Indian*, qnotea.the following notice of the Little Tortle'a death from one of the pnbllc prints of the day : " Fo vt Wayne, 81 July, 1812.— On the 14th instant the celebrated Miami chief, the Little Turtle, dl?d It this place, at the age of slzty-flve years. Perhaps there Is not left on this continent one of his color so dlsthignished itcooncilandln war. Hla disorder was the goat. He died in a camp, becaose he chose to be in the opeu air. He met _ - *- -T !l ■'} 1 fill » M I r iJ'llilii^ll tfff PICTORIAL FIELD-ROOK ForU Wayne and MinniL Treachery of the Indiana, Site of Port Wayne. By tho side of liis romains reposed those of his sister, tlio wife of Captain WcIIh, Tlioir graves were tiiiiioiiore<l, btit I was informed that tlie kinsfolk of the noted man were about to c veet a neat monument to mark tlie jtlaee of tlieir sepidturc. Fort Wayne, delineated on |»aLje ;{ir), was built, as we have seen (pag'.i />(!), in the autumn of 1 794. It was not on the site of the old Freneli stoekade, known as Koit ^liami ;' nor on that of tiie t)iu' 'vhich was oeeuj)ied by an Enjflisli tfanison, consist- inu;of a (•a|>tain's eommand, at tin lime ofl'ontiae's eonspin.ey in 17(i;t. At liialtiiiie tiie old Fori, ISIiami was a ruin, and the stockade to which reference is here made was in perfect order. It was about half a mile from the |)resent bridge across the Man- nu'c, on the east bank of the St. Joseph. The eoiMinander was a surgeon, and liis ino- fession was the cause of his own deatli .and the capture of the jjarrison by the Indiiuis at that time. He was asked by an Indian gir! to ljo out of the fort to see a sick sav- au[e at the Miami village near by, where a young woman of the tribe, eliosen for the purpose, to show the contempt of the savages for the English, murdered him. The garrison became prisoners to the I\Iiamis.~ When, three years later, (leorge Crofrlimi visited the spot, tlie fort was "somewhat ruinous." He foiintl forty or fifty Indian cabins at the village across the Mauinc;' (that " stood on both sides of the St. Josciih"), besides " nine or ten French houses." yVmong the latter was that of Dronet de Hich- urdville, a French trader, and fiither of Chid' Hichardville, already mentioned as ijie successor of the Little Turtle.^ Tlie tort of 1794-1812 stood on the bank of the Man- IIUIIKIE AT TUK UBAU OK TlIK MAUMKK, AT FOllT H AV.NE. mee (see map on ])age '208), at the junction of the present Main and Clay Streets, Fort Wayne. The Wabash and Erie Canal passes through a portion of it. It was a l\is dfiith with pn at flrmucPB. Ttie Ajient for Indian Affairs liad hlni burled witli tho honorn of war, and other m«rk» of distinction suited to liis ch .. icter." A writer, quoted hy Mr. Dralje, says that he saw the Little Turtle, soon iiftcr St. Clair's defeat, iit Montreal, anil describeil him as ab(mt «U feet in height, sour and morose, and apparently crafty and subtle. Kt! wore Indian moccasins, a blue petticoat that came half way down his thighs, and a Kumpean walstcuiil auJ surtout. On his bead was a cap that hnii); tialf way down his back, hespaBcled with alxint two hundred silver brndclio. In eatii oar wore two rlnirs, the upper parts of each bearlti); tl.ree silver medals about the ri/.f of a dollar, and lliv liuvcr parts quarters of a dollar. They fell more than twelve iuilies from hi« cars. One from ejich ear fell over his lircast, the others over his back. He also had three larjie nose Jewels of silver, cunningly painted. Little Turtle was of niixiii blood -half Mohican and half Miami. Colonel .Johnston, who knew him well, called him " the geiitlcman of his rncr." ' The French governor of Louisiana mentioned this stockade In a letter in 1761. It was situated near tlic St. MnryX probably in the vicinity li'Mic canal aqueduct. The dim outlines of this fort were traced by Wayne in IT'.W, uud by Colonel .lohnston in 18(10.— Lecture by J. L. Williams before the congregation of the First Presbyterian Chiirdi of Fort Wayne, March ith, 1800. ' Oral statement of Colonel John .Tohnaton, of Tlayton, Ohio, to the writer, who knew the murderess, she bcini; a red- dent of the Miami village when he went to Fort Wayne In the year IHOO. Colonel .Johnston gave nie the nanu's of Iho United States commandcs of the fort in regular succceslon, as follows; Colonels. J. F. Hamtramck, and Thomas Hunt; MaJorsiJohn Whistler, Thomas Pasteaur, andZebuIon M. PIrie; Captains Nathan lleald, .James Khea, and Hugh Mitorc; and Colonel Joseph H. Vose. The fort was iibandonedln iSlS. Captain Vose was a citizen of ManclieBter, andliadbecn commissioned a captain in the Twenty-flrst Infantry In April, 1812. Colonel .Tohuston, in a letter written in 1S6!>, eaid that Captain Vose was the only army offlcer within his knowlcnge. In 1812, who publicly professed Chrlstlaiiit). He was in the constant habit of assemoling his men on the Sabbath and reading the Scriptures to them, and coiiversiof with them on religious subjects.— Wllliama's Lectu'e, p. 12. Captain Vose was promoted to major during the War of 1812. In 1842 he received the commiesiou of colonel. He died at the NewOrlean8barrack8,Just below the city, on the 15th of July, 1840. 3 Dillon's auturi/ nf Indiaixa, p. 403. OF THE WAK OF 1812. 911 Fort Harrison beoleged. PorilB (if the Garrison. Firmness and Conrngo nfCnplain Taylor. ilnry f. laiitl liy lot Fori I; a rpfi- < (it tlic lUmiU btlourc ; tdbftn |). Be Versing Varot I, on itie 1.403. «'ell-l»'iilt Htockade, with two blook-housos and comfortable barmcks, anrl ofHufficient jitrenfjlli to defy tlie IiuliaiiH, but not the Ib'itiHh witli cannon. A largo and Mubstan- tiiil bridfje now wpanw the Maiiinuo from near the site of Fori Wayne to the plains on wliioli the Miami village stood. The sketch on page 310 was taken from near the liiii' of the eastern side of the fort. At the centre of the picture is seen the j>oint of confluence of the St. Mary's and the St. Joseph's rivers, which form the Maumee. Willie these demoiist'-ations against Fort Wayne were in progress, similar ciForts were made against F'ort Harrison, on tlu^ Wabash. At sunset on the day of the Piireon Roost massacre," two young iiaymakcrs near Fort Harrison were . September s, kiiled and scal])ed by a [)arty of IndianK, The crat^k of the murderers' "*'■'■ imiski'ts was heard at the fort, and excited the vigilance of Captain Zachary Taylor, the coiumaiider of the garrison, who was just recovering from an attack of bilious fever. On the following ni(,riiiiig the bodies of the young men were taken to the fort ami buried. Late that evening'' old Joseph Lenar came to the fort with i. September 4. a llivj?, followed by about forty Indians, one fourth of them women. The men were chiefs of the several tribes — Winnebagoes, Kickapoos,Pottawntomie8, Shaw- noese, and some Miarais — who still adhered to the fortunes of the Prophet. They came from his town near Tip])ecanoe, on the Wabash, wliere he was still busy in stir- rini; up the Indians against the white pefjplc. One of Lenar's party, a Shawnoese w ho could speak English, told Taylor that their leader would speak to him in the morning about food for his company. Friendly Miarais had warned Taylor of the Iiostile disposition of all the nv '"hboring tribes, and he was perfectly on his guard. The garrison consisted of oo!^ bout fifty men, of whom, on account of the prevail- ing fevers, not much more than a dozen were free from the care of Dr. Clark, the sur- geon. Only six privates and two non-C(nnniissioned officers could mount guard at a time. Yet now, hi tlie presence of impending danger, some of the convalescents went freely upon duty. The arms of the garrison were examined with great care that evening ; and, when every thing necessary for watchfulness and security bad been arranged, the commander, weak and exhausted, lay down and fell asleep. His slum- bers were short. Toward midnight he was aroused by the firing of his sentinels. Springing from his couch, he hastened to the parade and ordered every man to his l)ost. It was soon ascertained that the lower block-house (on the left of the picture of the fort on page 315), had been set on fire by the savrtges. It was the most im- iinportant point in the fort excepting the magazine, for there were the contractor's stores — the supplies for the garrison. The guns, at this time, had " begun to fire pretty smartly" on botli sides, and the attack and defense were fairly begun at a little past eleveti, with great vigor. The chief efforts of the commander were directed to the extinguishment of the fire. General contusion reigned, and efforts for the safety of the fort were, for a while, put forth feebly. The entire garrison Avcre either sick or faint with fatigue, and for a time the utter destruction of the whole fortification seemed inevitable. The block- iiouse was consumed, and the fort was thus opened to tlie savage foe. This exposure and their horrid yells dismayed the little garrison, and for a moment they regarded all as lost, and gave n\, in despair. Two of the stoutest and most trusted of the sol- diers leaped the palisades, and attempted to escape, leaving their companions to their fate. Nothing saved the fort and garrison but the presence of mind, courage, pru- dence, and energy of the commander. The fire was about to communicate to the barracks, when he shouted, "Pull off the roofs nearest the block-house, pour on wa- ter, and all will be well !" His voice gave new courage to his troops. Water was brought in buckets, and several of the men, led by Dr. Clark, climbed to the roof, cut off the boards, and by great exertions, in the face of bullets and arrows, they sub- dued the flames, and saved the menaced buildings. Only eighteen or twenty feet of tiie fort was opened by the fire, and up to this time oiily one man had been killed f!l! '! i 818 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Indiana driven from Fort Harrison. Relief sent to the Garrison. Character and Services of Captain Taylor and two wounclcd. Before daylight the breach was covered by a b'-eastwork as hifth as a man's head, in spite of the incessant firing of the foe, and only one man was killed (none wounded) in the fort. At six o'clock in the morning, when the garrison returned the fire more briskly, afler a conflict of almost eight liours, the savages re- tired beyond the reach of the guns of the fort, and then proceeded to destroy or drive off the live-stock — horses, hogs, and cattle — found in the neighborhood. Fortunately for the garrison, the standing corn around the fort was left unharmed. Their food having been destroyed with the block-house that contained it, and their cattle being driven away, they were compelled to subsist for several days on that delicious and nourishmg green corn. One of the men who leaped the pickets and fled from the fort returned toward morning badly wounded. He approached the gate, and begged, " for God's sake " to be let in. Captain Taylor was near, but, not recogr izing the voice, and believinir it to be a trick of the Indians to get the gate open, he ordered the soldiers near to shoot the man. Fortunately for him, he had run to the other bastion with the same supplication, where liis voice was recognized, and he was told to lie quietly behind some empty barrels at the foot of the pickets until morning. He did so, and was saved. His companion had been hterally cut in pieces by the savages within a few- yards of the fort. The entire loss of the garrison was only three men killed and tlirce wounded, and all but two of the latter met with disaster because of disobedience of orders.* On the 5th» Captain Tay- . September, Ic^ effectually repaired the ^*''^' \r. '> m the fort made by the fire by pluoing in the opening strong pickets made of the logs of the guard - lionse ; and he furnished a messenger with dis- patches for Vincennes, asking for relief. This was a difficult task, for the Indians hovered about the fort for several days. At length the messenger made his way through their circumvallating line, dur- ing a dark night, and soon afterward General Hopkins, with Kentucky Volun- teers, marched up the valley on an ex- pedition against the Indians on the head waters of the Wabash, and gave amjile relief to the sick, weary, and worn sol- diers at Fn '■ ■ u-rison. The so' ■' 'ualities display?'^ by Captain T > ',> t.lie defense of his post against cuc i*^' ^ odds won for him promotion to .. (laior by brevet, and from that time until his death, nearly forty years afterward, whicli occurred while he was President of the Unitnl States, he was one of the most reliable, useful, and modest of public officers.'^ ' Captain Taylor's Dispatch to Governor Harrison, dated "Fort Harrison, September 10, 1812." » Zachary Taylor was bom in OranRe County, Virginia, on the 24th of "• itcmbor, 1784. His father removed with hii family to Kentucky the following year, and settled near the site of the , ent city of Louisville, then known ae The Palis of the Ohio. Zachary entered the army when about twenty-five yw r. of age as first lieutenant of Infiiutry. Two years afterward (May, 181(1) he was promoted to captain, and at about i L ; i i time he was married to Margaret Smith, a young ludy of good family iu Maryland. When war was declared he :v u cuLimand of Furt Harrison, and fur hli Attack on Fori OF THE WAR OF 1812. 319^ AtUck on Fort Madison. Repulse of the Savages. Biography ofZachary Taylon Simultaneous with the attack on Fort Harrison, an attempt was made hy a party of the British allies to fiapti'ie a small military post a short distance from the site of the present city of St. Louis, on the bank of the Mississippi River, The place was called Bellevue, and the stockade Fort Madison. The poist was very ineligibly situ- ated, and totally unfitted for defense. The savages appeared before it on the afternoon ofthe 5th of September." They were fierce Winnebagoes, two hundred strong. The garrison, under Lieutenants Hamilton and Vasques, consisted of a small party of the First Regiment of United States Light Infantry. The approach of the foe was heralded by the shooting and scalping of one of the garrison within thirty yards of the fort. For three days the Indians kept up the assault, with frequent attempts to fire the block-houses and barracks. Buildings outside were burnt, and all the live- stock were slaughtered. The gallant little garrison defended the imperiled fort, with irreat spirit and perseverance, until ten o'clock on the night of the 8th, when the enemy withdrew. With the exception of the man murdered at the commencement of the attack, not one of the garrison was seriously injured. One of the men was slightly wounded in the nose. services there In defending it, in September, 1812, he was breveted n major. He was an active and useful officer in the ffett during the remainder of the war. When the army was reduced at the close of the contest, he was deprived of his commission of major, and recommlssloned a captain, iu consequence of which he resigned. He was soon afterward called back to the service by President Madison, and commissioned a major in the Third Infantry, and placed In com- mand of a post at Green Bay. In 1810 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and in that position he remained until 1S32, when President Jackson commissioned him a colonel. He served with distinction in the " Black Hawk War" that year, and remained in command of Fort Crawford, at Prairie du Chien, until 1830, when he was sent to Florida to op- erate against the Seminole Indians. His services there were of great importance, and at the close of 1837 he was bre- veted brigadier general. He remained In charge of all the troops in Florida until 1840, when he was appointed to the command of the southwestern division of the army. Fort Gibson was made his head-quarters in 1841, and the same year he purchased an estate near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and placed his family there. When, in 1846, war with Mext- OKNEHAI. TAYLOB'b KEglDENOR AT HATON BOUQB. CO was imminent, he was ordered to take post in Texas with an army of observation, as it was called. It soon became au army of Invasion. In the war that ensued he gained, in quick succession, several brilliant battles; and when the conflict was ended, and he returned home, he was greeted with the wildest enthusiasm. Congress honored him with tlie commission, by brevet, of major general, its thanks, and also with a ponderous gold medal, "In the name of the re- public, as a tribute due to his gallant conduct, valor, and generosity to the vanquished." The " Whig" party nominated him for the presidency of the grateful republic, and ho was elected to that high office in November, 1848. He entered upon the exalted duties of his office on the 4th of March, 1840, and died at the presidential mansion, in Washington City, on the 9th of Jnly, 188fl, at the age of slxty-flve ye-ars. The portrait of General Taylor, glvin on page 318, is from a daguerreotype taken after his return from Mexico. The picture of his residence is a fac-simile of a pencil-skitch made by the venerated hero himself for the author. In Novem- ber, It*. In his letter covering the drawing, he says, I he sketch, you will perceive. Is rude, but the best I can offer to you at this time. Indeed, the building Is rude iu itself, and scarcely worthy of being sketched. I hope, however, that this may be suited to your purposes." It was the residence of Colonel Dixon, the English commander at Baton Roage, when the furt there was tnkcn by the Spaniards, under Don Bernardo de Galvez, In 1TT9, and that commander then made it hia residence. It was demolished iu ISCB. u r^ijttitfilWwWKWhiM^tfi nSSSSBR N't 320 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Nation aroused. Eutliusiasm of the People. Volunteers In Aliiindance. CHAPTER XVI. "They rise, by stream and yellow shore, By mountniu, moor, and fen ; By weedy rock and torrent hoar. And lonesome forest glen I From many a moody, moss-grown monnd, Start forth a war-worn baud. As when, of old, they caught the sound Of hostile arms, and closed around. To guard their native land." J. M'Lki.lan, Je. TE have observed tliat troops, in ample numbers, were sent to tlie relief of Forts Harrison and Wayne. Whence came they? What spirit animated them when pushing eagerly into the wilderness among hostile Indians, after the disasters in the Northwest — the utter failure of Hull's campaign, which had created such great expectations on the part of both govern- ment and people ? Let us consult contemporary records and traditions for an answer. Those sad disasters on the Northwestern frontier, aroused, as we have before ob- served, the most intense feelings of indignation and mortified pride throughout the whole country, and especially in the region west of the Alleghany Mountains and beyond the Ohio River, Avhich was thereby exposed to Indian raids and British inva- sion. When intelligence of those disasters spread over that region, a burning desire to wipe out the disgrace was universal ; and there was a general uprising of senti- ment and action for the recovery of all that had been lost, the extermination of the brutal savages, and the expulsion of their British allies from the soil of the Re- public' Even before the formal declaration of war Kentucky had made military prepara- tions for the event. Her quota of the one hundred thousand detached militia which the President w.^s authorized to summon to the field was almost ready when the fiat went forth. Early in May, Governor Scott,^ in obedience to instructions from the War Department, had organized ten regiments (the quota of his state), and filled 1 " The War," a weekly paper, published in the City of New York, by Snmnci Woodworth, the poet, gives the follow- ine glimpses of the spirit of the people at that time In its issue of September 19, 1812: "The citizens of Albany, im- mediately on hearing of the surrender of General Hull, commenced a subscription for raising a regiment of voliinloor« Very lil)ernl subscriptions were made for the comfort and convenience of those who might offer their services. A rtf- ment of volunteers is also raising in the City of Baltimore, and $lS,Oflfl have already been subscribed for the purpose of furnishing the men with every thing necessary for their comfort. Fifteen hundred men are immediately to mnrcb from Virginia, to rendezvous at Point Pleasant, on the Ohio. Theladieg of Richmond volunteered their services to malie tents, knapsacks, etc., for the soldiers, and in Ave days all things were ready. When the news of the fall of Detroit reached Lexington, in Kentucky, Instead of deploring the loss, the citizens Immediately set about repairing it An immense number of volunteers immediately came forward, among whom were several members of Congress, ami shouldered their muskets in their country's cause. The greatest enthusiasm prevails throughont ihe whole Western conntry ; almost every man has volunteered his services, and, if we may Judge from appearances, it will not be long 1k^ fore onr Western brethren will wipe away the stain upon the American arms by the Ignomlnloii surrender of Detroit and the American army under General Hull. " The citizens of New York are forming patriotic associations for the purpose of raising ftands to assist the faisiiies of volunteers and drafts detached for the defense of the borders, who may be in want during their absence on duty. Large supplies of vegetables, coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, etc., have also been sent to the troops stationed in and about the harbor. This conduct Is worthy of imitation." ' Charles Scott was a native of Cumberland County, Virginia. He was a corporal In a militia company under Brad- dock in the campaign of 1T6P, and was a distlngnished officer in the Revolution. Bee Lossing's FieU-Book qf the Retxiltt- Uon. For a brief biographical sketch of hira and tils signature, sec the same, Note 3, li., 147. Goveruors M( U if .it il. . ! flifiil! Ifnr.iiios Ton duty. |]d about OF THE WAR OF 1812. 8^1 GoTernorB Meigs and Harrison active. Harrison In Kentucky. Volunteers (lc\;'-Jng to the Camp. them without difficulty with volunteers, making an eftective force of five thousand live hundred men. Governor Meiga, of Ohio, was equally active and vigilant. He promptly responded to the call for troops to accompany IIull to Detroit, as we have seen ; and when he was informed of the danger that menaced Hull's command, he immediately ordered out the remaining portion of the quota of detached militia, twelve hundred in nv.m- ber, to rendezvous at Urbana, on the border of the wilderness, under Brigadier Gen- eral Tupper. And when the fall of Detroit was known, he sent expresses in every direction to the militia generals of the frontier, Avith orders to adopt eneigetic meas- ures for defense within their respective commands, and to advise the inhabitants on the borders of the wilderness to associate and erect block-houses for the defense and accommodation of families. He also sent arms and ammunition to different parts from the public stores at Urbana,' Governor Harrison, of Indiana, with his usual vigilance, promptness, and forecast, had already caused block-houses and stockades to be erected in various parts of his territory as defenses against the hostile Indians, and the militia were placed in a state of preparation for immediate action when called upon. He had been a.uthorized ]}\ the national government to take command of all the troops of the territories of Indiana and Illinois in prosecuting the war against the Indians commenced in the autumn of 1811, and to call on the Governor of Kentucky for any portion of the con- tnifcnt of that state which was not in service. Under that authority he went to Kentucky, by invitation of Governor Scott, to confer respecting the troops of that state. Kentucky was forever freed from apprehensions of Indian incursions, and her sons, Avho had suffered, were eager to assist their neighbors over the Ohio in their efforts to drive the murderous hordes back into the wilderness. Harrison repaired to Frankfort, Avhere the military, were paraded and he was hon- ored with a public reception. He remained there several days, and met many of the most eminent military men and civilians in the state. He comprehended in all its length and breadth the difficulties and dangers to which Hull was exposed, and ex- pressed his opinions freely at a dinner-party in Lexington, whereat Henry Clay was one of the guests. That gentleman and others urged him to present his views to the government.^ He did so in a letter, dated the 10th of August, in which he suggested a system of military operations in the Northwest. He expressed his fears of the re- sult of the fall of Mackinack, by which the Indian tribes might bp let loose upon De- troit, and "meet, and perhaps overpoAver, the convoys and re-enforcements" which liad been, or might be, sent to Hull. After speaking of those re-enforcements, he said : " I rely greatly upon the valor of these troops ; but it is possible that the event may be adverse to us, and if it i?,, Detroit must fall, and with it every hope of re-establish- ing our affairs in that quarter until the next year." Before this letter reached the War Department, Detroit had fallen, and Chicago too, and the worst fcara of the people of tJie West were realized. But these disas- ters, instead of depressing them, gave them increased elasticity and strength. The whole total of society bordering upon the Oliio Ri'-er heaved, like a storm-smitten iiccan in its wrath, with patriotic emotions. The murders by the Indians which soon tbllowed, and the alliance of the British with such fierce barbarians, excited a vehe- ment cry for retributive justice. Christian civili 'in, national pride, and an enlight- ened patriotism, all pleaded for vindication, and nobly was that plea responded to. \Vhen a call for troops was made, men of every -class and condition of life — farmers, merchants, lawyers, physicians, and young men innumerable — flocked to tlio recruiting stations and offei'ed their services. Tenfold more men than Avcrc needed might have ' Reply of Governor Meigs to the memorial of the citizens of Chllllcothe, Ohio, on the subject of protecting the fron- 1 cr.-NlleB'B We^lji Reni»ltv, 8ci)teml)er 2fl, 1812. = Wemuirs (>fthe Public Services </ ll'ittiojii HPnry Uarriaon, by James Hall, p. 160. X V ) i ; 1 :: ii:|-i-'; wmi i I 823 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Oorernor Shelby and his BecommenilationB. Oovernor Harrigon at the Head of Kentucky Troop; been mustered in Kentucky alone. Nor was Ohio, in proportion to its population, be- hind its elder sister state in practical enthusiasm. Governor Meigs was indelatigablo in his efforts ; and the people every where responded to the call of local officers, as well as of the chief magistrate, with the greatest alacrity, to form an ample army for both protection and conquest. It was resolved to recover all that had been lost witli- ill the territory of the United States, and to take Maiden, the focus of the Eritisli-In- dian power in the Northwest. At this moment the venerable Isaac Shelby, one of the heroes of King's Mountain, appears upo)i the stirring scene as the successor of General Scott in the executive chair of the State of Kentucky. With his usual sagacity, he surveyed the field of operations determined upon, and strongly recommended the government to appoint a Board of War for the region west ofthe Allcghanies, to prevent the delays caused by toe operations of what is termed, in our day, " red-tape policy" — in other words, the absolute control, by a central power hundreds of miles away, of minor movements which the exigency of the hour might demand as of vast importance. " If such a board," he said, " was now organized, and I had the control of the present armament, I would pledge myself the Indians would have cause to lament this campaign, and their temerity in joining the British and deserting the friendship ofthe United States." Governor Shelby's advice was not utterly disregarded ; but no practical results fol- lowed. The War Department promised to " think about it," and no conclusion seems ever to have been reached. Governor Harrison was very popular, and it was the general desire of the vohin- teers and militia of the West, who had been gathering at dift'erent points since tlic declaration of war was made, that he who had shown such soldierly qualities in tho little campaign that ended at Tippecanoe the previous year, should now be their lead- er against the British and Indians. Governor Scott, Harrison's warm personal friend, was anxious to place hira in chief command of all the Kentucky troops, but he could not do so legally, for the Governor of Indiana was not a citizen of that state. But Scott was not a man to allow technicalities to interfere with great concerns in time of danger ; so he invited several prominent men, among whom were Shelby (the gov- ernor elect), Henry Clay (the Speaker ofthe National House of Representatives), and Thomas Todd, Judge of the United States District Court, to meet him and consult upon the subject. They unanimously requested the governor to make the appoint- • Augnet 25, ment ; and accordingly he issued a commission" to Harrison, by which he 1812. ^^g invested with the title of " Major General of the Militia of Kentucky" by brevet. By a commission dated three days earlier. President Madison appointed him a brigadier general in the Army of the United States. On the 27th of August Harrison was at Cincinnati, and in a letter of that date to Governor Meigs, afler mentioning his appointment, he said ; " It remains for your ex- cellency to determine what assistance I shall derive from your state. The Kentucky troops which are placed at my disposal are two regiments of infantry and one of rifle- men, now at this place ; three regiments of infantry, one of dragoons, and one of mounted riflemen, in full march to join me, and making in the aggregate upward of four thousand men. The three regiments which are now here will march immediate- ly for Urbana ; and should the report of the capture of General Hull's army prove untrue, I shall join them either at that place or before they reach it, and proceed to Detroit without waiting for the regiments in my rear."' In addition to the Kentucky troops here referred to, others were dispatched for the protection ofthe Territories of Illinois and Indiana.^ Some of those destined for the I Aatograph letter, Angnat 27, 1812. a " The regiment commanded by Colonel Barboar," says M'Afee, " when ordered Into eervtce at the call of Oovemor Harrison, was directed to rendezvona at the Bed Barracks, with a view of marching to the aid of Oovemor Sdwards, at Raskin's, in the Tllinois Territory. The regiments of Colonels Wilcox and Miller were ordered to rendezvous at Louis- Gathering of T t 11 ill mm OF THE WAR OF 1812. SS8 Gathering of Troop*. Departnre for the Wlldemess. Harrieon commiistoned a Brigadier OeueroL latter region having been called, by the exigencies of current events, to Ohio, Harrison thought it desirable to raise an additional force for Indiana. In compliance with his request, Governor Shelby issued a proclamation early in September for the raising of a large corpn of mounted volunteers, to repair immediately to Vincennes ; and all of the Kentucky troops destined for that post were placed under the command of the venerable soldier of the Revolution, Brigadier General Samuel Hopkins. That proclamation brought hundreds of Kentuckians, from all parts of the state, to the standard of the Union. Every body seemed willing to march for the defense of the frontiers; and the question was not. Who will go? but. Who shall stay?' Before the 1st of October, Kentucky had more than seven thousand of her sons in the lield. At about the same time, in obedience to an order from the Secretary of War, two thousand troops under General Robert Crooks, from Western Pennsylvania, and fifteen hundred under General Joel Leftwich,^ from Western Virginia, proceeded to join the Army of the Northwest. Before leaving Frankfort, General Harrison had issued an address to the people of Kentucky, accompanied by another from General Scott, calling for five hundred mounted volunteers. The Honorable Richard M. Johnson, who had distinguished liimself in Congress, also issued an address for the same purpose ; and they had the desired effect. The latter gentleman, and John Logan, and William S. Hunter, Esqs., were appointed aids to the general ; and when he departed for Cincinnati, Johnson was left to lead on such mounted troops as might be raised by the 1 st of September. On the 28th of August Harrison issued a general order from his head-quarters at Cincinnati, directing all the troops under his command to continue their march to- ward Dayton on the following morning, and prescribing in detail the discipline and tactics to be observed.^ The troops marched early; and on the morning of the 3l8t, when they had passed Lebanon a short distance, forty miles from Cincinnati, Harrison overtook them, and was received with the most hearty cheers of welcome from the whole line. They reached Dayton on Tuesday, the 1st of September, and while on his march toward Piqua the following day the commanding general Avas overtaken by an express bearing to him the commission of brigadier general from the President, with instructions to take command of all the forces in the Territories of Indiana and Illinois, and to co-operate with General Hull, and with Governor Howard of the Mis- souri Territory. Harrison was embarrassed by the instructions which accompanied the appointment, and he refrained from accepting it until he should have definite information from the War Department as to his relations to General Winchester, of the Regulars, to whom Tille and on the Ohio below, for the purpose of marchlDg to Vincennes to protect the Indiana Territory. Colonels Barhee »Dd Jennings were at first ordered to the same place ; but, in consequence of the perilous situation of the Northwestern Amy, they were now directed, by express, to rendezvous at Georgetown on the let of September, and pursue the other regiments, by the way of Newport and Cincinnati, for the Northwestern frontiers. The regiment of Colonel Poagne uM called to rendezvous at Newport, on its way to the Northwestern Army ; and a regiment of dragoons, under Colonel Simrall, was likewise directed to proceed for the same destination."— Hi«torj/ ({/ the Late War in the Western Country, page 109. 1 M'Afee, page 111. » Died April 20, 1846. ' On the same day General Ilarrlgon, who had heard of the fall of Detroit and Chicago, and knew the danger to Khich Fort Wayne would be exposed, wrote as follows to the Secretary of War: " I shall march to-raorrow morning with the troops I have here, taking the route of Dayton and Plqna. The relief of Port Wayne will be my first object, and my after operations will be guided by circumstances until I receive your instructions. Considering ray command »s merely provisional, I shall cheerfully conform to any other arrangements which the government may think proper 10 make. The troops which I have with me, and those which are coi..tiig fVom Kentucky, are perhaps the best ma- leriala for forming an army that the world has produced. But no equal number of men was ever collected who knew jO little of military discipline, nor have I any assistants that can give me the least aid, if there was even time for it, ill Captain Adams, of the 4th Regiment, who was left here sick, and whotn I have appointed deputy adjutant general mill the pleasure of the President can be known. No arms for cavalry have yet arrived at Newport, and I shall be fined to put muskets in the hands of all the dragoons. I have written to the quarter-master at Pittsburg to request Mm to forward all supplies of arms, equipments, and quarter-master's stores as soon as possible. I have also requested Mm to rend do»T. a few pieces of artillery without waiting your order, and wait your instrnctlon as to a farther number. There It but one piece of artillery, one Iron four-pounder, any where that I can hear of in the country. If it is intended 10 retake the posts that we have lost, and reduce Maiden this season, the artillery must be sent on as soon as possible." I He al»o com|;lniued of a want of facility for getting money on drafts. Such were the Inadequate preparations made by the government for the promctlon of the war In the Northwest, when It was first commenced. ( ijl ■ jp m ?■• !•■:, 1 t i ,ii H t| it Hi 324 PICTOIUAL FIELD-nOOK A divided Command deprecated. Winchester and Ilarriaon. Crowds of Volunteers. Harrison's Iiifluencf had been assigned the cliief command of tlio Army of the Nortliwest. The orijrinai object in the ibrmation of that army having been co-operation with Hull in the tat)- ture of Maiden, and the reduction and occupation of Canada West, the whole asptrt of affairs had been changed by the loss of Hull and his army. Harrison sugjrcsti'd to the Department the impoitanco of having one military head in the Nortliwest' and, with the justification of pressing necessity, ho laid aside his usual modesty, and preferred his own claim to that distinction, on the ground of his superior knowUdfro of the country and the savages with whom they had to contend, and the universallv expressed desire of the troops that he should be their chief leader. Having made this response to the government by the express who brought his commission and in- .structions, Harrison pressed forward in the path of duty to Piqua, on the bank of the Great Miami, with the intention of there resigning his command into the hands of General Winchester. He had two thousand troops with him, and two thousand were on their way to join him. Piqua was reached on the 3d of September, and there Harrison was informed of the critical situation of Fort Wayne, and of the rumored marching from Maiden, on tlie 18th of August, of a large force of British and Indians under Major Muir, with tlie in- tention of joining the savages in the siege of that place. Winchester, to whom Har- rison had written, had not arrived. There would be great danger in delay, and Har- rison resolved not to wait for his superior, but, retaining command, send detachments immediately forward to the relief of the menaced garrison. For this purpose he de- tached Lieutenant Colonel John Allen's regiment of Regulars, with two companies from Lewis's and one from Scott's regiments, with instructions to make forced marolips until their object should be accom])lished.i At the same time he dispatched a mes- senger, as we have seen, to assure the garrison of Fort Wayne of approaching relief Already seven hundred mounted men, nnder Colonel Adams, had advanced to Siiaw's Crossing of the St. Mary's River, not far from Fort Wayne. The troop was composed of citizens of Ohio of all ages and conditions, who, in hearing of the disasters north- ward, and the perils of Fort Wayne, had hastened to the field. " Such, indeed, was the ardor of the citizens," says a contemporary, " that every road leading to the frontiers was invaded with unsolicited volunteers."^ The exasperation in the West against the British and Indians was intense. Harrison had observed some restlessness among the troops nnder the restraints • September, of discipline. On the morning of the 6th* he addressed them briefly, read **^^- the Articles of War, endeavored to impress their minds with the import- ance of discipline and obedience, told them that the danger to which Fort Wayne was then exposed demanded an immediate forced march for its relief, and request- ed those who could not endure the life of a true soldier to leave the ranks. Only one man did so, when his companions, thinking him too feeble to walk, carried him on a rail to the banks of the Great Miami, and gave him a "plunge bath," not, perhaps, in strict accordance with the fashion prescribed by Priessnitz. Tlie effect was salutary, and murmurings ceased. Such discipline, exercised by the soldiers themselves, was a hopeful sign for the commander. Colonel John Jolmston, the Indian agent, was residing at Piqua.* At the request of Harrison, he sent some Shawnoesc to old Fort Defiance, at the mouth of the An Glaize River, to ascertain whether any British troops had gone up the Maumee Val- ley. Logan, a poAverful half-breed, was sent to Fort Wayne for information. Both parties were successful, and returned with important messages. No British troops had passed up the Maumee, and Fort Wayne was closely besieged by the savages. ' M'Afee, papc I'il. ' See note B, page 314. ' M'Afce, pogc 121. * For the purpose of nentrnlizinf;, If possible, the eflTccts of British inflnence over the tribes of Ohio, a conncll had been held at I'iqim on the IBth of August. Governor Meigs, Thomas Worthington, and Jeremiah Morrow were the commissioners on the part of the United States. Every thing promised snccess ; but while the conncll was in progress news of the fall of Detroit and Chicago reached Piqua, and frustrated the plans of the white people. Itij Army In the \ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 825 n« Army In the WllderueR*. Preparatlonn for nattle. Fort Wnyne relieved. Destruction of Indian Tuwui, Harrison was compelled to wait at the Piqua until the morning of the 6th* • Sept., for flints. At dawn of that day his forces were under motion, and before **"' eiijht o'clock they had fairly plunged into the great wilderness beyond the borders of civilization. In order to march rapidly and easily, the troops had left most of their clothing and baggage at Piqua; and on the afternoon of the 8th, they overtook Al- len's regiment at St. Mary, sometimes called " Girty's Town,"' or the First Cross- ing of the St. Mary lliver. There they were joined by Major R. M. Jolinson, with a coq)8 of mounted volunteers. The army in the wilderness numbered two thousand two hundred men. Indian spies were seen hovering around the camp that night, who, it was afterward said, reported that " Kentuck was crossing as numerous as the trees." The morning of the 9th was dark and lowering, but the troops were in good spir- its, and reached Shane's, or the Second Crossing of the St. Miiry, before sunset, where tiicv found Colonel Adams, with his mounted Ohio Volunteers. Being now in the vicinity of Fort Wayne, the army marched in battle order on the following day, ex- pecting an attack. They move<l slowly and cautiously. Scouts were out eontinu- aliv, and Logan and another Shawnoe acted as guides. On the night of the 11th tliev fortified their camp in expectation of an attack, and many alarms occurred dur- ing the darkness, caused by the discovery of Indian spies who were lurking around the verge of the pickets. Tlie march was resumed at a very early hour on the morning of the 12th in battle order. An encounter was expected at a swamp five miles from Fort Wayne. Hut no foe was visible there. The savages had all fled, as we have before observed,'* and Fort Wayne, on that warm, bright September day, was the scene of great rejoicing. Tlie liberating army encamped aroimd the fort that night, excepting a party of horse- men, who made an unsuccessful pursuit of the savages; and on the folloAving morn- ing, reconnoitring parties were sent out in every direction, but did not discover the dusky foe. Harrison now called a council of officers, to whom he submitted a plan of ojjcra- lions, which was adopted. He had determined to strike the neighboring Indians with terror by a display of power. He accordingly divided his army, and sent out detachments to destroy whatever of Indian possessions might be found. One detach- ment, under Colonel Simrall (who arrived in camp with three hundred and twenty dragoons on the I7th), laid waste the Little Turtle's town, on the Eel Run,'' . . . . ' b Sept 19 excepting the buildings erected by the United States for the now deceased chief, on account of his friendship since the treaty of Greenville in 1704.3 Another detachment, under Colonel Samuel Wells, w*- " sent to the Elk Hart River, a tribu- tary of the St. Joseph, of Michigan (sometimes called the St. Joseph of the Lake), sixty miles distant, to destroy the town of the Pottawatomie chief O-nox-see, or Five Medals,* which was accomplished;" and Colonel Payne, with an- «8eptemberi6. other detachment, to the forks of the Wabash, and laid in ashes'" a Mi- ■■ September ib. ami vilK-tge there, and several others lower down.* Around all of these villages were corn-fields and gardens, but no living thing was seen. The Indians had deserted ' Now the vtllaRe of St. Mnry, In Mercer County, Ohio, on the site of Fort St. Mary, erected by Wayne, and command- ed by Cnptnin John Whistler before he built Fort Dearborn at Chicago. Tho'notorious Simon Qirty occupied a cabin nt that place for some time. a See page 31B. » While the Little Turtle lived most of the Mlamis remained faithful to the Americans, bnt soon after his death, In the rammer of 1812, the great body of them Joined the hostile savages. •This village, like all the others, was deserted. Before the door of the chief, upon a pole, hnng a red flae, with a broom lied above It : and at the tent of an old warrior a white flag *as flying fl'om a pole. The body of the old warrior was In a olttlug posture, the face toward the east, and a bucket containing trinkets by Its side. In one of the huts was fonnd A Cincinnati newspaper containing an account of General Harrison's army. The troops found a large quantity of drleii corn, beans, and potatoes, which fiirniished them and their horses with food. * In one of the.«e was found the tomb of a chief, built of logs and daub' 1 with clay. His body was laid on a blanket, with his gun and his pipe by his side, a small tin pan on bis breast containing a wooden spoon, and a number of ear- rings and brooches. '1 u^^^^^^^^^^^R' ' n ;:V| ,, 1 iff i'm Nlii i:ii:|i 326 PICTOltlAL FIELD-BOOK September, 1812. Qeneral Wlncheiter. Attachment of Troupa to Harrlaoo. Uarrtion In cblef Command of the ITorthwcittni Army them. The Bcvercst l>1ow that a fiavago can receive, especially at that Hcason of the year, is to deprive him of food and shelter. So, when the torch was applied to the cabins, the knife destroyed the corn and the vegetables. GeneralJames Winchester arrived at Fort Wayne on the 18th of Sepii,...'„,T and on the following day General Harrison formally resigned all command into his lianils. The change produced almost a mutiny among the soldiers. They were greatly at- tached to Harrison. Winchester was a wealtliy citizen of Tennessee, and had not for many years had any military experience. He had Ijeen a subordinate officer in the army of the Revolution, but for thirty years had lived in ease and opulence in Ten- nessee. His deportment was too aristocratic to please the great mass of the troops and this, added to their expectations of more severe discipline from an officer of the Regulars, caused a large number of them to positively refuse at first to serve under the new commander. It required all the address of Harrison (popular as he was and as ready as were his followers to comply with all his wishes), together with tlic i)er- Huasions of the other officers, to reconcile them to the change. It was effected Imt only when they were allowed to indulge the hope that their beloved general miirht be reinstated in command.' Harrison left Fort Wayne on the evening of the 19th,* and returned to St. Mary, where he intended to collect the mounted men from Kentucky, and prepare for an expedition against Detroit. "From Fort Wayne," he wrote " there is a path, which has been sometimes used by the Indians, leading up the St. Joseph's, and from thence, by the head watera of the River Rezin [Raisin], to Detroit. By this route it appears to me very practicable to effect a coup-de-main upon ti it place, and if I can collect a few hundred more mounted men, I shall attempt it."^ To the accomplishment of this design he prepared to lend all his energies. Already there was a respectable force of mounted men at St. Mary, and others were on the marcli to that place. Harrison went to Piqua to perfect his arrangements. There, on the 24th/' he received a dispatch from the Secretary of War in reference to his let- ter concerning the acceptance of a brigadier's commission, which opened thus : " The President is pleased to assign to you the command of the Northwestern Arniy, which, in addition to the regular troops and rangers in that quarter, will con- sist of the volunteers and milif ia of Kentucky, Ohio, and three tliousand from Virginia and Pennsylvania, making your whole force ten thousand men." It then went on to instruct him to first provide for the defense of the frontiers, and then to retake De- troit with a view to the conquest of Canada. He was assured that every exertion would be made to send him a train of artillery from Pittsburg, in charge of Captain Gratiot, of the Engineers, who would report to him as soon as some of the pieces could be got ready. He was also informed that Major Ball, of the 2d Regiment of Dracfoons, would join him ; and that such staff officers as he might legally appoint would be ap- proved by the President. " Colonel Buford, deputy commissioner at Lexington," he said, "is furnished with fxinds, and is subject to your orders." More ample powers than had ever been given to any officer of the American army since Washington was invested with the authority of a military dictator were intrusted to him in the fol- lowing closing sentence in the dispatch : " You Avill command such means as may l)i' ' At St. Mary's, Harrison wrote to Governor Shelby as foUows: "My sitnation here is very embarrassing, so ranch BO that I have determined within the two honrspast to propose to General Winchester to recognize me as commander- in-chief, or to relinqnlsh all command whatever, unless it is of the mounted forces which I have prepared, and with which I shall strike a strolce somewhere. Ton will hear fi:om another qnarter t'.ie very aerions difficulty which was to be en- countered before the men of Scott's, Allen's, and Lewis's regiments could be reconciled to the command of General Winchester. I fear that the other three regiments will prove still more refractory."— Autograph Letter, Seplembet 22d, 1S12. » Autograph Letter to General Shelby, dated "St. Mnry, 22d September, 1S12." I have before me an autograph note ft-om General Harrison to Governor Meigs, of similar purport, dated at St. Mary, the 20th of September. " Bnt it muiit be kept profoundly secret," he wrote. " September. Winchester's Man ul[ m lll. 'il ff ni M J OF THE WAR OF 18 12. til Wlnchenter'a March thniuKh tha WildemeM. Confruuted by Brltlih and Indlani. Sadden Flight of the latter. practicable. Kterciae your own discretion, and act in all cases according to your ovm juihjinent," With Huch ample powers inveHted in a commander-in-chief, Shelby's "Hoard of War" would have been (jiiite iiHelesH. Harrison had reason to be proud (if the honor conferred, and the "special trust and confidence" reposed in him; wiiilo his soldiers, rejoicing in tho fact, appeared ready and eager to follow whithersoever he might lead. General Winchester, with al)out two thousand men, left Fort Wayne on the mom- iiij» of the 22d of September (each soldier carrying six days' provisions) for tho Mau- inee Uapids. He moved cautiously down the left bank of that river, to avoid a sur- uiise, in three divisions, his baggage hi the centre, and a volunteer company of spies, under Captain Ballard, supported by (iarrard's dragoons, moving abet two miles ill advance. Winchester intended to halt at Fort Defiance, at tho confluence of the Mauinee and Au Glaizo Rivers, fiily miles from Fort Wayne, and there await rc-enforcemonta from Harrison at St. Mary. They encountered Indians on the way. Some of the spies were killed ; among them Ensign Leggott, of the Sevonteenth United States Infantry, who, with four otiicrs of a Woodford (Kentucky) company, had been permitted to push forward to reconnoitre the vicinity of Fort Defiance. They were all killed and scalped. When their fate was made known in the camp. Captain liallard' was ordered out with his spies and forty of Garrard's dragoons to bury the bodies. This sad oftice they undertook on the morning of the 27th, and when within two miles of the place of the massacre they discovered an Indian am- buscade. A conflict ensued. Garrard's troops charged upon the wavages, when they fled in dismay, closely pursued for some distance, and found refuge in the swamps, where cavalry could not penetrate. Tliose Indians were tho advance of a heavy force — heavy by comparison only — under Major Muir, consisting of two hundred British regulars, one thousand savages, under Colonel Elliott, and four pieces of cannon. They were making their way up tiie Mauinee on its southern side to attack Fort Wayne. Their artillery and bag- gage had been brought to Defiance in boats from Maiden, and with them they were marching by land to Fort Wayne. Fortunately for the little army under Winches- tor, a Hhrewd subaltern of Scott's regiment (Sergeant M'Coy) had been captured and taken before Muir, who was then twelve miles above Fort Defiance. He was ques- tioned closely, and in his answer he magnified Winchester's army fourfold. He also told Muir that another army equally large was coming down the Au Glaizo to join Winchester. The exaggerated facts given to the British commander by his own credulous and excited scouts made him believe the stories of M'Coy ; and when he heard of the defeat of his advance by Ballard and Garrard, he ordered a retreat to Fort Defiance, where he re-embarked his artillery and baggage. Relying upon his boats for facility in retreating, in the event of a defeat, Muir re- solved to give battle about four miles above Fort Defiance, at the ford of a creek on the north side of the Maumee, where Wayne crossed in 1794 ; but when, on the morn- ing of the 28th, he attempted to form his line of battle there, he found, to his great nortification and alarm, that about three fourths of his Indian allies had deserted h m. They had heard of IVL'Coy's stories, and, asscciating them with Muir's retro- gvade movement, and the re-embarkation of liis arti llery and baggage, they became greatly alarmed, and abandoned the expedition. Thus weakened, Muir conceived himself to be in great danger. He hastened back to Defiance, and fled twenty miles I Captain Bland Ballard was a dlgtlnifnished citizen of Kentncky. He was bom in Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 10, 1701, and at this time was just past fifty years of age. He had been in Kentncky since 17T9. He was with General Clark when ho invaded the Ohio country in 1781, where he was severely wounded. In all that service, as a spy and olherwijc, Ballard was exceedingly active. He was with Wayne in his campaigns. He Joined Allen's regiment in M2, and, as we have seen in the text, was wounded at the Raisin and taken prisoner. He frequently represented Shelby County in the Kentncky Legislature. Ballard Connty, Kentucky, was so called in his honor, and Blandvllle, the connty seat, bears the Christian name of Captain Ballard. He was living, at the age of eighty-seven years, in 184T. For a fuller account of him, see Collins's Historical Sketches of Kentuchj, page 171. i 1 1 ^ £ : •- I \ ! f ! ! ^ i ; V: - ■ ■ 1 l;f ' ii m i ill I 928 PICTORIAL ■'.LD-BOOK Ii WlnchMter arrival at Fort Deflanca. Rfr«nft>reau.v>^ gatlMriDc. Th ilr lUwh towatJ Fo rt DaiUnt*, down the Mauraeo belbro ho haltc<1, U'aviiij5 soino luithful inoiinted IikUuhh bfliii,,) to watch the inovcmoiitH of the AiiioricaiiH. Wiiiehi'Hter, in tlie mean time, waH inoviiifif caittioiiHly forward. ITo could recoive no certain intolligoncc concerning the force and ponition of the enemy. Two Rcouts (Hickman and Uidtlle) had gone completely around the invaders on tlio 20tli wilh • Seutombcr, t'"* Hceing them,' and otiiers were ecjually unwucceHHful on the 27lh aiicl "'*• 28th.' When the army approached the creek where Muir expected to make a stand, Winchester was informed of its advantageous position for the cneinv and crossed to the southeast side of tlie Maumee to avoid him. There they (Uncov- ered the trail of the invader, with Ids artillery. Ignorant of the alarm of Muir, tluy encamped on a rise of ground and fontified their position. Then a council of war was held. Some officers were in favor of sending a detachment in pursuit of tlie rt- treating foe, but the general and a majority determined otherwise. Their provisions were almost exhausted, and the unknown force of the enemy caused pnidence to ask for strength in re-enforcements.^ Several mounted parties were sent out to recon- noitre, and expresses were detached to General Harrison at St. Mary, asking for re- lief by sending mer> and food. It was aoon ascertained that the enemy Jiad left Fort Defiance, and on the 30th Winchester moved down tho river to a high bank of the Maumee, within a mile of the fort, and again fonned a fortified camp. On the Ist of October Colonel Lewis made a reconnoissanco in force, and ascertained that the ene- my was entirely gone.^ While Winchester was making his way toward Fort Defiance, the troops that were gathering in the rear of the army had mostly arrived at St. Mary. These consisted of three regiments from Kentucky, commanded respectively by Colonels Joshua IJaibee, Robert Poague, and William Jennings (the latter riflemen), and three comj)anic8 of mounted riflemen, from the same state, under Captains Roper, Bacon, and Clark. Also a corps of mounted "'en from Ohio, under Colonel Findlay, who, as we have seen, had been active wi' 'neral Hull. These had been raised pursuant to a call of Governor Meigs and ( ' Harrison, at the beginning of September, and rendez- voused as early as the 15tn at Dayton. They were intended to operate against some of tho hostile Indian towns. On the 2l8t of September, Hai-rison ordered Colonel Jennings to proceed with his regiment down the Au Glaize to establish an intermediate post between St. Mary and Fort Defiance, and to escort provisions to the latter place for the use of Winchester on his routs to the Rapids of the Maumee. Wlien Jennings had marched between thirty and lb'"ty miles, he found the Indians hovering round his camp at night, and his scouts brought intelligence that they were in considerable force toward Fort De- fiance ; so he halted and constructed a stockade on the bank of the Ottawa River, a tributary of the Au Glaize, not far from the present Kalida (the Greek for beantifiil), the capital of Putnam County, 'Ohio. It was named Fort Jennings, in honor of the commander of the detachment. At the same time Colonel Findlay was ordered to attack some Ottawa towns* farther eastward, on Blanchard's Fork, below Fort Find- lay, in the same county.' ' September Winchester was informed of the march of Jennings with provisions, and on the 29th,'' his army being half famished, he sent Captain Garrard ' They crogsed the Hanmeo to the south side, and took as direct a route as they could to the Au Glaize. They croseed that atream, and descended It along its eastern shore to Us month at Defiance. Two miles below the conflu- ence of the streams they crossed the Maumee, and returned uji the north side to the army. » At about this time Peter Navarre (whom we shall meet hereafter), who had piloted the British as far as the Rap- ids, deserted them, and pushed on to meet Winches' &nd Inform him of the approach of the enemy.— Hosmer's Earln History of the Maumte Valley, page 34. » M'Afee, pages 10?-138, inclusive ; Thomson's Sketetui of the Late War, ch. iv. ; Perkins's History, etc., of the Utt War ; Brackenridge's HUtorii of tl\/e Late War, pages NS-68, Inclusive. 4 The emphasis in the word Ottawa being In the middle syllable, these were called 'Tawa towns. The Lower 'Tawa town was on Blanchard's Fork, on the site of the present village of Ottawa, two miles below the Upper 'Tawa town. • See page 2B7. Birrlioa'i Aatan OF THE WAR OF 1812. 889 Hirrlion't Antamn C'ainp^l|n> nmnged. Patrlutlim of the Women of Kentucky. Troopi rendjr for an Advaaw. with (IragoonH to aHsist in escortinpf to his camp n brip;n(lo of pack-horBPH with siiiii)li«'H. (tiirrard wiih HucccHsful, aiul roturiu-d, allor a tour of thirty-six hours, in a ilrent'hiug ruin. WinchcHter was still in his fortified can)|» near Fort Defiance, and Oarrard was received at tliat beautiful spot in the wilderness with the lively satis- faction of the famislied when fed. During the few days of suspenso concerning tlio extent of his command General Harrison formed projects for the immediate future, whieli incxorabh? circuinstanoes conipi'lled him to abandon, to 8(mie extent. He had now, as commander-in-chief, at- ranged with caro the plan for an autumn canij)aign, which contemplated the seizure ami occupation of the strategic position at the foot of the Maumec Rapids, and pos- sibly the captnro of Detroit and Maiden. His base of military operations, having the Rapids as the first object to b<^ possessed, was a line drawn along the margin of tlic swaiiipy region from St. Mary to Upper Sandusky, the former to bo tin principal de- nnsit ior provisions, and tlie latter for artillery and military stores. Ho intended to march his anny in three divisions: the right column to bo composed of tlie Virginia and Pennsylvania troops, to rendezvous at Wooster, the capital of the present Wayne County, Ohio, and proceed from thence, by Upper Sandusky, to the Rapids. The centre column, to consist of twelve hundred Ohio militia, to march from Urbana, where they were then collected, to Fort M'Arthur, and follow Hull's road to the Rapids. The left column, to be composed of the regulars under Colonel Wells and tour regiments of Kentucky volunteers, to proceed down the Au (ilai/e to the Mau- mec from St. Mary, and from their confluence pass on toward the Rapids. He designed to send the mounted horsemen, by way of the St. Joseph of the Lake, to make the mip-de-main on Detroit, already alluded to ; but this project was abandoned, for, should they take that post without the support of infantry, they might be compelled to ah' "Ion it, and would thereby expose the inhabitants to the fury of the Indians, who ist be exasperated by the movement. Harrison therefore determined to em- ploy ihera in making destructive forays upon Indian towns, and sweep the savages from the line of march from the Rapids to Detroit, when the troops should all be ready to move. Harrison now made urgent appeals for supplies of every kind. He sent an express to Pittsburg to hurry forward the cannon and ordnance stores to Wooster ; and, as the troops were nearly destitute of winter clothing, he and Governor Shelby appealed to the inhabitants of Kentuckj' for voluntary contributions. It was generously re- sponded to. A thousand needles were speedily put in motion in fair hands ; and many a poor soldier, as he stood sentry on the banks of the Maumee or the Raisin a few weeks later, had reason to feel grateful to the patriotic women of Kentucky. On the 1st of October there were nearly three thousand troops at St. Mary. Har- rison resolved to employ the portion of the left wing, under Winchester, at Defiance, as a corps of observation, and to make that place an important deposit for provisions, preparatory to the advance of that corps upon the Rapids. This movement was to commence as soon as the artillery should arrive at Upper Sandusky, and the other supplies had accumulated along the base of operation. A corps of observation was also to be placed at Lower Sandusky, which, with Defiance, would form the extremi- ties of a second base when the Rapids should be occupied. These arrangements for operations were exceedingly judicious for an economical use of supplies, and a per- fect defense of the frontier while the troops were concentrating at the Rapids. The mounted men, consisting of the companies of Roper, Clark, and Bacon, and the volunteers under Major Richard M. Johnson, were formed into a regiment. They elected Johnson their colonel ; and these, with the Ohio mounted men under Find- lay, formed a small brigade, which Harrison placed in charge of General Edward W. Tupper, of Gallia County, Ohio, a gentleman about fifty years of age, who had, by his own exertions, raised about a thousand men for the service. This brigade was des- !' 1 \l>' I .h ifllil'^t^l ] ■ I • ij 1 ! 1 ii Si 1 ,< ■ liX 880 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A great Stir in Camp. Rapid forward Muvement. Harrigou at Fort Defiance. tined for the expedition against Detroit, by Avay of the St. Joseph, which the general hoped to set in motion soon. A few hours after it was organized, an express from Winchester reached Harrison with the intelligence of his encounter with the invad- ing force under Muir. At almost the same moment, an express arrived from Gov- ernor Meigs, with a letter to him from General Kelso, who was in command of some Pennsylvania troops on the shore of Lake Erie, informing him that, as late as the 16 th of September, some British regulars, Canadian militia, and two thousand In- dians, had left Maiden with two pieces of artillery for Fort Wayne. These dispatches created a great stir in camp. Three days' cooked provisions, with ammunition and other military stores, were immediately issued to the troops, and a command for a forced march was given. Three hours afterward General Ilarrison was in the saddle, and his whole corps were following him toward the wilderness in a drenching rain, and the road filled with deep mud. They reached the camp of Col- onel Jennings at twilight, and officers and men, from the general down, slept in the cold, damp air, without tents, and nothing between them and the water-pools on the surface of the flat ground but brush from the beech-trees. There Ilarrison was met by anotlier express from Winchester, notifying him of the flight of the enemy down the Maumee. The rapid march was stayed. Barbee's regiment was ordered back to St. Miiry, and Poague's was directed to cut a road to Fort Defiance from Camp Jennings. The mounted men, more than a thou- sand in number, pressed forward in five lines, mak- ing an imposing appearance in the stately forest, Avhere tlie leaves were just assuming the gorgeous autumnal hues. Tlie troops were disappointed and depressed because of the flight of the enemy ; and the commanding general was vexed when he dis- covered that Winchester's alarm was quite unnec- essary. He reached that officer's camp at sunset. His soldiers bivouacked three miles in tlic rear. Eaidy the next morning they marched down to tlie confluence of the Maumee and An Gk izc, and en- camped there around the ruined intrcnchmeuts of old Fort Defiance. Harrison found the troops under Winchester in a deplorable condition, and one regiment in a state of open mutiny. He ordered the " alarm" instead of the "reveille" to be beaten on the followinij morning. This brought all the troops to arms;. They were drawn up in a hollow square, when, to the surprise and delight of the soldiers, Harrison, their beloved general, appeared among them. It was with difficulty that they restrained their voices, for shouts of welcome were ready to hurst fi-om their lips. He addressed them as a kind fa- ther would talk to his children. He shamed the malcontents by saying tliat while he lamented the fact of their mutiny, and was mor- INDIAN CAMP FOBT DEHANOK.' 1 This fort was constructed of earth and logs, with a ditch extending around It, except on tl^e An O'aize eldc. At cact angle was a block house, connected by a line of pickets at their nearest angles. Ontside the fort there was a uhdn. or sloping wall of en th, eight feet thick, and outside of this the ditch, fifteen feet wide and eight feet deep. The i/taw next to the ditch was supported by a log wall, and hyfamtwx, or fagots, on the side next to the Au Glaiio. Plckol?, eleven feet long and ona foot apart proJccteTl from the wall diagonally over the ditch, forming a. /"raw of forniidaWe api earance. The diagram, showing the relative position of the ft rt t.. the two rivers at their conliuence, a'ul to n new fon aflerw.->.dl)ulltby Winchester, ma he explained as follows: A, officers' quarters; B, store-houses ; CCCC.f^e ditch ; E E, gateways ; F, a dry ditch, cljnt feet deep, used for the safe procurement of water from the river, witli pick- ets {a a) guarding It; G, draw-bridge. Harrison's Addresi OF THE WAR OF 1812. 331 liarrisun's Addresii to his Troops. Erection of new Forts ordered. Troubles among Leaders. tified on their account, it was of no consequence to the government, as he had now more troops than he needed, and was in expectation daily of receiving large re-en- forcements from Pennsylvania and Virginia, As they had come to the woods ex- pecting to find all the comforts and luxuries of home, they must be disappointed, and he gave them liberty to return. But be could not refrain from alluding to the mor- tification which he anticipated they would experience from the reception they would meet from the old and the young, who had greeted them on their march to the scene of war as their gallant neighbors. Then he appealed to their pride ^s soldiers and their patriotism as citizens. He told them that his government had made him com- mander-in-chief of tlio army in which they were serving, and assured them that am- ple supplies of provisions and other stores were on the way. When he had con- cluded, and the veteran Scott addressed them, saying, " You, my boys, will prove your attachment for the service of your country and your general by giving him three cheers," the wilderness instantly rang with shouts of applause, and before the sun went down perfect harmony and good feeling prevailed in the camp. General Harrison selected a site for a new fort on the bank of the Au Glaize, about eighty yards above Old Fort Defiance, and ordered the immediate assignment of fatigue parties to construct it. General Winchester at the same time moved his camp from the Maumee to the Au Glaize, about half a mile above the site of the new fort. This movement was made on the 4th of October. That evening Harrison, accom- panied by Colonel Johnson and his original battalion (composed of Johnson's, Ward's, and Ellison's companies), turned their faces toward St. Mary, Avhere, three days after- ward, their i;erm of enlistment having expired, they were discharged. Poague's regi- ment was directed to return to the old Ottawa towns, twelve miles from St. Marj% after the road to Defiance should be completed, and erect a stockade there. They did so, and Poague named it Fort Amanda, in honor, of a loved one in Kentucky. General Winchester was left in command of the left wing of the army, with instruc- tions to facilitate the transportation of supplies to Fort Defiance, and to occupy a position at the Maumee Rapids as speedily as possible. When he left Winchester, Ilarrison expected to have all necessary supplies for advancing against Detroit within a fortnight. Before leaving Fort Defiance Harrison ordered General Tupper to lead the mounted men, then over nine hundred in number, down the Maumee to the Rapids, and beyond if desirable, to (Jisperse any detachments of the enemy, civilized or savage, that might be found, and to return to St. Mary by the " 'Tawa" or Ottawa towns on Blanchard's Fork of the Au Glaize. But this order was not executed on account of several dis- turbins, causes, namely, extensive damage to powder and scarcity of food, which made it difficult to provide adequate supplies for an expedition that might occupy a week or ten days; the sudden appearance of hostile Indians, who menaced Winchester's camp; dissatisfaction of some of the Kentr.cky troops with Tupper and his command; misunderstanding between Winchester and Tupper, and the unfriendly conduct of the former toward the latter; the weakening of Tupper's forces by the withdrawal of Ken- tucky troops and Simrall's dragoojis ; iid finally the dismissal of Tupper from the command of the expeditici by WinchesK r. v!.o gave it to Colonel Allen, of the reg- ulars, and which caused the Ohio troops to cross the Au Glaize, and positively refuse to march under any other than their own chosen leader.' The chief difliculty seen .i to have arisen from conflict between regular officers and volunteers ; and thus termin- ated the expedition, said Tupper, " at one time capable of tearing the British flag from the walls of Detroit."''* ' H' Afeo, pages 14^ Ufl ; Tupper's Letter to General narrlson from Urbana, October 12, 1812 ; Brackcnridge, page 59 ; Perkins, pope 97. ' Uttor to Gonerf 1 Harrison f.-om Urbana, dated October 12th, 1S12. M'Afeo, who gives a more detailed acconnt of this affair than any other writer, says, " Some of the Eevtackiaus were not inclined to march under Tupper unless 1 i«lli I 1j I "1 iilliii til 882 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Conduct of Colonel Tapper. Expeditions against tlie Indians. Harrison in Central Ohio, Instead of returning to St. Mary, Tupper took the most direct route to Urbaiia by way of Hull's road, from near the present town of Kenton, where he immediately piv- pared for another and independent expedition to the Kapids. Winchester pi-efened charges against him for alleged misconduct at Defiance, and Harrison ordered his ar- rest, but the accused being far on his way toward the Rapids, as we shall observe presently, when the order was given, the prosecution was stayed. At Tupper's re- quest a court of inquiry afterward investigated the matter, and he was honorabiv acquitted. While on his way from Defiance to St. Mary, General Harrison was infonncd, by ex- press from P"'ort Wayne, that the Indians were again menacing that post. At St. ilaiy he found Colonel vVllen Trimble at the lioad of five hundred mounted men of Ohio, wliii came to join Tupper in the expedition against Detroit. These were immediately dis- patched to the relief of Fort Wayne, with instructions to proceed to the St. Joseph of the Lake, about sixty miles distant, and destroy the town of the hostile Pottawatomie chief White Pigeon. The troops were disappointed, and at Fort Wayne about one half of Trimble's command refused to go farther. The gallant colonel pushed on with the remainder, destroyed two Pottawatomie villages, and Avould have killed or oa]i- tured the inhabitants had not a treacherous guide given them timely warning of danger. At St. Mary Harrison found some penHent Miami chiefs who had joined the enemv. They had come at the summons of messengers, and were prepared to deny their guilti- ness, or to palliate it, as circumstances might dictate. They found Harrison well in- formed concei-ning their bad conduct, and they cast themselves upon the meiTy of the government. As proof of their sincerity, they sent five chiefs to Piqua as iiost- ages until the decision of the President should be made known. Thither General Harrison repaired, where he found some of T. pper's troops. He passed over to Urba- na, and then southeastward to Franklinton, on the west bank of the Scioto, opposite the present city of Columbus, the capital of Ohio, whose site was then covered by the primeval forest. There, in the heart of Ohio, and at a convenient point for the concenti-ation of troops and supplies from a distance, Harrison established his head- quarters, and occupied much of the remainder of the autumn and early winter in laborious preparations for an advance on Detroit and Canada — collecting troo]is and creating depots for supplies, building stockades and block-houses, cutting roads, and dispersing or overawing the hostile Indians, who might be excessively mischievous on the flank and rear. Poague speedily completed Fort Amanda on the Au Glaize. Colonel Barbee ei-ected another at St. Mary, which was called Fort Barbee, and he- fore the 1st of November the new stockade at Defiance, built chiefly of logs, was completed and named Fort Winchester. I visited the ruins of Fort Defiance on a wanii «unny day late in September, 1860. I came up the Maumee Valley by railway from Toledo on the previous evening, and arrived at Defiance Station at midnight. The tillage of Defiance,^ lying mostly on the Maumee, upon the beautiful plain at the confluence of that river and Au Glaize, was shrouded in a chilling fog. Warned of the danger of the night air in that valley accompanied by some field officer from Winchester's command. Colonel Allen therefore tendered his services to ac- company General Tnpper in any capacity he might choopc to receive him. The offer was accepted. But Oeiiprnl Win- chester, havhiix niisundcrstoo'' ihc nature of the arranRcment between them, issued an order directing Culoncl .\lloiiio taltc the command and march toward the Rapids. This caused a serious misunderstanding between the two general^. Colonel Allen, however, having infirnied General Winchester correctly on the subject, the order was immodinld.v rf- Bcindcd, The greater part of the men having by this time refiised to proceed directly to the Rapids, Ocncriil Tiipixr marched them over the Au Olalzc, and proceeded to the Ottawa towns, wliere he professed to expect re-en fore enicnt* ftom Ohio," This account agrees siihstantlnlly with that of Tupper in his letter to Harrison, in which he says, " It is a duty I owe to Colonel Allen to gay that I have not the smallest reason to believe be was privy to the orders uf Qeneral Winchester." ' Defiance Is the connty seat of Defiance County, about fifty miles northeastward from Fort Wa.vne. It was laid oul In 1822, and from its eligible situation and fertility of the country around— the rich Black Swamp region— seems denlincd to become a jdace of much importance. Bemains of Forti OF THE WAR OF 1812. 838 Kemaius of Forts Uetlaucu aud Wluchester. Their Locatiun and Appearance. Au antienl Apple-tree. at that Beason of the year, I fclt as if fever and ague were inhaled at every inspira- tion Avhile walking a long distance to a hotel. There all was darkness. A slumber- in<' attendant was finally aroused, and I was directed by the feeble light of a small candle to a most cheerless bedroom at one o'clock in the morning. After an early breakfast I went out to find the historical localities of tlie place, and was fortunate enough to be introduced to Mr. E. H. Leland and Doctor John Paul, who kindly ac- companied me to them. We first visited the interesting remains of Fort Wayne on tlic point of land where the two ruins meet. We found the form of the glacis and ditch very distinctly marked, the remains of the former rising six or eight feet above the botto'u of the latter. The shape of the fort was perfectly delineated by those momuls and the ditch. Some large honey-locust-trees were growing among the ruins. These have appeared since the fort was abandoned in 1795. One of them, with a trip'e stem, standing in the southeastern angle of the fort, measured fifteen iect in circumference. These ruins are likely to be preserved. The banks were covered with a fine sward, and they were within an inclosurc containhig about two acres of land, which the heirs of the late Curtis Holgate presented to the town. We visited the site of Fort Winchester, a little above Defiance, on the bank of the An Glaize, and found the remains of many of the pickets Drotruduig from the ground. Across a ravine, just above the fort, was the garrison burying-ground. We returned to the village, crossed the long bridge which spans the JMaumee, and from the heights (if Fail's Grove, on the eastern side of the river, obtained a comprehensive view of the two streams at their confluence, the site of the fort, and the village of Defiance. The - sketch there made is here " given. The meeting of the waters is seen toward the le/l, those of the Maumee flowing in from the right to meet those of the Au Glaize, over which, in the distance, a bridge is seen. The group of trees (the hon- ey-locusts spoken of) seen near the centre of the pic- ture mark the site of Fort )efiance. In the foreground s seen a garden ext' uding from the hiL'hway at the foot of the liei-hts of Fail's (irove to t!;i' bank of the Maumee, with waving broom corn then ripe and BUB OF rOBI DEFlA>'aK. ready for the knife. On our return to the village we visited ■ the way, near the margin of the ]\raumee, :m aged and gigantic apple-tree, coeval, no doubt, with the one near Fort Wayne.' We found it carefully guarded, as a sort of " lion'' 'f the place, by a high board fence, the ground around it, within the inclosurc, tlr ' oovered with burr-bearing weeds. It was upon the Southworth estate, and . to it might be had only through a Ismail house near. That tree was a living nioniauent of the French occupation of the <pot, as a trading station, long before any other Europeans had jjenetrated that re- mote wilderness. It measured about fitYeen feet in circumference eighteen inches t'roiu the ground. The figure standuig by it aflbrds a fair criterion for judging of ' See page 334. *i^ i ..- 1' f. I ' m i '■\ '^^fmmm vm BBS KM 1 884 PICTOttlAL FIELD-BOOK Events neare" the Mlesissippi. The Indians generally hootile. Shelby's Appeal to the Kentacklaiu. Ari>LE-TBEE AT DEriANOE. its size, by comparison with the body of a stout man. We returned to Defiance in time for dinner, and left with the early train for Fort Wayne.^ Let us resume the naiTative of events in the North- west in the autumn of 1812. We left General Harrison nt Franklinton, General Tupper at Urbana, and General Winchester at Fort De- fiance, all engaged in preparations to move forward to the Rapids of the Maumee, and thence to Detroit. While the movement of the troops in Western Ohio and Eastern Indiana, just related, were in progress, stirring events of a like nature occurred in the region nearer the Mississippi River. We have already noticed the departure of troops from Kentucky for Vincennes, and the messengers sent to that post by Captain Taylor, asking immediate aid for Fort Harrison on the Wabash.^ This call was immediately responded to. Colonel William Russell, of the Seventh United States Regiment of Infantry, just arrived at Vincennes, departed at once for Fort Harrison with about twelve hundred n '» con- sisting of three companies of Rangers, two regiments of Indiana militia, under c'olo- nels Jordan and Evans, and Colonel Wilcox's regiment of Kentucky Volunteers. Lieutenant Richardson, of the regulars, was 'lirected to follow with eleven men as an escort for provisions. By a forced marcli Russell and his party reached Fort Har- rison on the 16th, much to the joy of Captain Taylor, without encountering the foe. Not so the provision escort. That was attacked by the savages on the 16th, wjio killed more than one half of the detachment and captured all of the provisions. An- other provision train that followed immediately afterward was more fortunate. Tlu savages were not seen. The great body of the Indians seemed to have fled from the vichiity, and Russell and his troops, except Wilcox's regiment, returned to Vincennes. At about this time the Indians of Illinois ar.d Northern Indiana, persuaded, like the rest of the savages under the influence of Teonmtha, after the fall of Mackinaw. Detroit, and Chicago, that the time was at hand when the white people might be driven beyond the Ohio River, every where showed signs of hostilities. Tliest' were so menacing that Nini.on Edwards, the GoveiTior of the Illinois Territory, called on the executive of Kentucky for aid. That aid was on its way in the person of Colonel Barbour and his ct ramand, when it was diverted to Vincennes, on acconnt of the dangers impending over Fort Harrison. Edwards had sent out spies, and was persuaded that no time was to be lost in making preparations for ofl!ensive and de- fensive operations againft the savages, He combined the scattered militia of his Territory, and caused se ^-eral companies of Rangei-s to be encamped on the Missis- sippi, above St. Louis, and in the Illinois River. Tliese served to keep the Indians in •Septembers, check for a tiiae. Meanwhile Governor Shelby had made the stirring ''^^'^' appeal* to the Ki^ntuckians already alluded to.^ He told them of tlic "extensivd combination of the K-'vages, aided by the British from Canada," who were momentarily expected on the frontier settlements of Illinois and Indiana. Twenty- one persons, he said, had already becr^ murdered not more than twenty miles north of the Ohio ! " It is hoped," he remarked, " that it will rouse the spirit and indigna- tion of the freemen of Kentucky, and induce a sufficient number of them to give their services to their country for a short period." He asked them to rendezvous at Louis- ville on the 1 8th of the month, with thirty days' provisions. " Kentuckians," lit said, " ever pre-eniuient for their patriotism, bravery, and good conduct, will, I am persuaded, on this occasion, give to the world a new evidence of their love of conn- 1 See page 43. ' See page KIT. J page 323. H'ealth and Fatr OF THE WAU OF 1812. 335 Wenltb and Patriutism of Kentacky illuRtrated. Hopkins's £xpedition against Illinois Indians. Insubordination. try, and a determination, at every liazard, to rescue their fellow-men from the mur- ders and devastations of a cruel and barbarous enemy."' This address, as we have seen, was responded to with wonderful alacrity. Hund- reds more than were needed were at Louisville on the appointed day, and were turned back with feelings of the keenest disappointment. One old veteran, who had suf- fered from savage cruelty, and had fought the dusky foe in the early days of Ken- tucky settlement, although greatly chagrined when he found his company rejected, said, " Well, well, Kentucky has often glutted the market with hemp, flour, and to- bacco, and now she has done so with volunteers." This was a truthful exposition, in few words, of the wealth and patriotism of Kentucky. General Samuel Hopkins, under whom the Kentucky Volunteer^ were placed, made his head-quarters at Vincennes. Tlie troops continued to arrive and were mustered into the service from the 21st of September until the 2d of October, when Hopkins, then convalescing after a severe attack of fever, found himself at the head of almost four thousand men, about two thousand of them expert riflemen, on horseback. His little army was speedily organized,^ and on the 10th of September he started with the mounted riflemen for the Indian country by the way of Fort Harrison. The chief design of the expedition was to march an annihilating force upon the principal Kick- ; poo and Peoria Indian villages on the waters of the Illinois River, the former sup- |)Osed to be about eighty miles distant, and the latter one hundred and twenty miles. Hopkins ai^d his two thousand horsemen crossed the Wabash on the afternoon of the 14th,* and iijade their first encampment that night three miles from Fort •October, Harrison. Before them lay magnificent level prairies, covered with tall ^^^^' ijrass, both dry ard green. The guides passed a satisfactory examination as to their knowledge of the route, and the plans of the general were unanimously approved by a council of oflicei's. On resuming the second day's march, every thing promised well excepting the lack of discipline and evident restlessness under restraint manifest- ed by the troops. Indeed, so far as military discipline was concerned, they constituted little more than a vast mob, and it was soon found that every man was disposed to he a law unto himself Every hour of the march revealed to the commanding gen- eral evidences of the fact that his army was as combustible as the dry grass around them, The symptoms of discontent, seen even at Vincennes, now assumed the posi- tive forms of complaint and murmuring. The guides were suspected of ignorance or disloyalty; and food and forage, it was alleged, Avere becoming alarmingly scarce. Finally, while halting on the fourth day's march, a major, whose name is withheld, rode up to the commanding general, and in an insolent manner peremptorily ordered liim to march the troops back to Fort Harrison. Not long afterward a violent wind arose that blew directly toward them, and very soon it Avas discovered that the prairie was on fire at the windward. They saved themselves by burning the grass around their camp. It was believed that this was the work of tlie Indians, and it gave the finishing blow to the expedition. The troops would not march farther. Hopkins called a council of oflicers,'' when it was decided by them to re- turn, as tiieir men were utterly unmanageable. The mortified commander then called for five hundred volunteers to follow hira to the Illinois. Not one re- sponded to his summons. His authority had vanished. They even refused to sub- " October 20. 1 Address of Governor Shelby, issned at Prarkfort September S, 1812. ' Four regiments were at first formed, to be commanded respectively by Colonels Samnel Catdw«11, John Thomas, James Allen, and Yountf Kwlng. ^hese const tnted two brigades, the first to be commanded by General James Ray, M early advcuturer In Kentucky and experienced India: fighter," and the other by General Jonathan Ramsey. After Ibis arrangement was made, another, under r<ilonel Sumnel South, was organized. George Wnlker was appointed judge advocate of the little army. Pierce IJutlar adjutant general. Majors William Trigg and William A. Lee aids to (i«iieral Hopkins, William Blair and Josepli Wetstger volnnteer aids, and John C. Breckinridge the general's secretary. ' For an account of the early adventures of General Rny, see Colllns's Kentuehj, its Uialorn, AiUiquitiet, and Diogra- P%, page «8. mssBm |! ill \ I 336 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Rtusell's co-operating £xpeditiun in liilnoig. Hopkins's Expedition to tlie Wiiboeli Ueglon. Big new Trnopi rait to his leadership on their return, and hcfollotced his army back to Fort Harrison where they arrived on the 25th.> Thus ended an apparently formidable and promis- ing expedition. Yet it was not unfniitful of good. It alarmed the Indians <fave them a sense of the real power of the white people, and made them more cautious and circumspect. That imposing force had marched eighty or ninety miles in tlic In- dian country without show of opposition any where. While Hopkins's expedition was in motion, another, under Colonel Russell, coin- ■ October 11, posed of two Small companies of United States Rangers, marched from 1812. Vincennes" to unite with a small body of mounted militia under Gover- nor Edwards (who assumed the chief command), for the purpose of penetrating the region toward which General Hopkins was marching, and to co-operate with him. Tlieir combined force numbered nearly four hundred men, raiik and file. Tlioy pen- etrated deeply into the Indian country, but, hearing nothing of Hojjkins, and heinc too few to attempt mucli, they contented themselves with some minor cxj)ioits. They fell suddenly and furiously upon the principal Kickapoo town, twenty miles above Peoria, at the head of Peoria Lake, and drove the Indian inhabitants into a swamp, through which for tiirec miles they Avere vigorously pursued, tlie invaders finding themselves frequently waist-deep in mud and water. The fugitives fled in dismay across the Illinois River. Many of the pursuers passed over, and brought back canoes with dead Indians in them. Twenty lifeless warriors lay prone in tiie path of the returning victors. Doubtless many more perished in the morass and the stream. The town, Avith a large quantity of corn and other property, was destroyed. The spoils brought away were eighty horses, and the dried scalps of several white persons who had been murdered by tlie savages.^ The expedition returned, after an absence of thirteen days, with no other serious casualty than four men wounded, not One of them mortally. General Hopkins discharged the mutinous mounted men, and organized another expedition against the Indians. This force, twelve hundi-ed and fifty strong, Avas composed chiefly of foot soldiers, and the object of the expedition Avas the destruc- tion of the Prophet's toAvn, and other Indian villages on the Upper Wabash. His troops consisted of three regiments of Kentucky militia, commanded respectively hy Colonels Barbour, Miller, and Wilcox ; a small company of regulars, under Captain Zachary Taylor ; a company of Rangers, commanded by Captain Beckers ; and a com- pany of scouts or spies, led by Captain Washburnc. The greater portion of tliein rendezvoused at Vincenncs, and moved up the Wabash Valley to Fort Harrison, Avhere they arrived on the 5th of November. Six days afterward they marched fioni the fort up the road made by Harrison a year before, and, at the same time, seven boats, filled with provisions, forage, and military stores, Avtll guarded by Lieutenant Colonel Barbour Avith a battalion of his regiment, moved up the river. The Indians Avere supposed to be on the alert, and the march was cautiously pursued. Tlu' streams Avere full of Avater, and the passage of swamps and Ioav lands vvas extremoly diflicult and fiitiguing. They did not cross the Wabash as Harrison did, but, for suf- ficient reasons, marched up the east side of that stream. So difficult Avas the march that the expedition did not reach the Prophet's town until the 19th, when IIo])kin8 dispatched Adjutant General Butler, Avith three hund- red men, to surprise a Winnebago village of about forty houses on the present Wild Cat Creek, a mile from the Wabash, and about four miles below the Prophet's town. The village A^as deserted. Flames soon laid it in ashes. Tii^ Prophet's town, ahout equal in size, and a large Kickapoo village just beloAV it, containing about one huml- ' Hopltlns'B Report to Governor Slielby, dated Port Harrison, October 20, 1812 ; Dillon's History of Indiana, ptgc 49T ; M'Afee, page 158 > I 'olouel William liassuU'a Letter to Qenaral Qibsou, the acting governor of Indiana, dated "Camp Russell, October 81,1812." Tbe Indians atti OF THE WAR OF 1812. 337 Xhe Indiuua attack a Bnrlal Party. Sufferings of the Kentucky Soldiera. Close of Hopkins's military Career. red and sixty huts, with all their winter provision of corn and beans, were utterly destroyed. It was not until the 21 st that any Indians were discovered. On that day they Bred upon a small party of soldiers, and killed one man. On the following morning sixty horsemen, under Colonels Miller and Wilcox, went out to bury the dead, when they were suddenly attacked by Indians in ambush, and lost eighteen men, killed, ffouiuled, and missing, in the skirmish that ensued.' The rendezvous of the savages, in a strong position on the Wild Cat, was soon discovered, and preparations were made for dislodging tnem, when they decamped and disappeared. The season was far advanced, the cold was increasing, and ice was beginning to form in the river. These circumstances, and the fact that many of the troops, especially the Kentuck- ians were " shoeless and shirtless" — clad in the remnants of their summer clothes, caused an order to be issued on the 25th for a return to Fort Harrison and Vincennes.^ "We all suffered very much," said Pierre La P.'antc, of Vincennes, who was one of the troops, " but I pitied the poor Kentuckians. They were almost naked and bare- foot—only their linen hunting-shirts — the ground covered with snow, and the Wabash freezing up."^ With this more successful expedition ended General Hopkins's military career. In general orders, issued at Vincennes on the 1 8th of December following, he said : "The commander-in-chief now closes his command, and, in all probability, liis military serv- ices forever." Most of the volunteei-s were now discharged, and Illinois and Indiana experienced a season of comparative repose. 1 This detachment was composed of Captain Beckcrs's company of Rangers, a small number of mounted mllltlo, and sfTornl nrmy officers. ! Genernl Hopkins's Lptter to Oovcrnor Shelby, November 27, 1S12. ! Dillon's Uiatory vf Indiana, Note, page 602. 1 ■'\i ;l I lii m y 338 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Impatience oftlie People. Harriaon'8 Difflcultles. He Ik UopcfUl and Chcertni. CHAPTER XVn. "How dread was the conflict, how bloody the fray, Told the banks of the liuiKlu at the dawn of the day ; While the gush from the wounds of the dying and dead Uad thaw'd for the warrior a suow-shecled bod. "But where is the pride that a soldier can feel, To temper with mercy the wrath of the steel, Willie Proctor, victorious, denies to the brave Who had fallen iu battle, the gift of a grave t" LL through the months of October, November, and De- cember,* General Harrison labored incessantly and in- '^''" tensely in making preparations for a winter campaign in the Northwest. The nation was feverish and impatient. I<'iio- rauce of military necessities allowed unjust and injurious cen- sures and criticisms to be made — unjust to the officers and sol- diers in the field, and hijurious to the cause. The desire of the people to recover all that Hull had lost would brook no n- straint, nor listen to any excuse for delay. A winter campaign was demanded, ami Harrison was not a man to shrink from any required duty. He knew that miuli was expected of him ; and day and night his head and hands were at work, with only the intermissions required by the necessity for taking food, indulging in sleep, and tlie observance of the Sabbath. Taking all things into consideration, his task was Herculean, and to some men would have been appalling. He was compelled to create an army out of good but exceedingly crude materials. He was compelled to reconcile many differences and difficulties in order to insure the harmony arisins from perfect discipline. He was compelled to concentrate forces and supplies at some eligible point, like the Rapids of the Maumee, while perplexed with the great- est impediments. His operations were necessarily threefold in character — prepara- tive, offensive, and defensive, in a wilderness filled with hostile savages controlled and supported by British regulars. A frontier, hundreds of miles in extent, must be protected at all hazards from the hatchet and the knife. The season was bceoming more and more inclement. From the fortieth degree of latitude northward (the di- rection of his projected march) was a region of dark forests and black swamps. The autumnal rams had commenced, filling every stream, and making eveiy morass brim- ful of water. Through these, roads and causeways for wagons and pack-horses must be cut and constructed, over which supplies of every kind, with men and artillery, must be conveyed. Block-houses were to be built, magazines of provisions estab- lished, and a vigilant watch kept upon the savages who might prowl upon flanks and rear. All this had to be done with undiscij)lined troops prone to self-reliance and independence, with great uncertainty whether volunteers would swell his army for invasion to the promised dimensions of ten thousand men. Yet, in view of all these labors and difficulties, Harrison was cheerful and hopeful. " 1 am fully sensible of the responsibility invested in me," he wrote to the Secretar)- of War on the 13th of October. "I accepted it Avith full confidence of being able to effect the wishes of the President, or to show unequivocally their impracticability. If ^Be fall should be very dry, ^ will take Detroit before the winter sets in ; but if wo should have much rain, it will be necessary to wait at the Rapids until the Mi- OUectiou fo I OF THE WAR OF 1812. sao OhJectioDS to & Winter Campaign. DMBcuUles of TrauBportatlon. Ooneral Simon Perklna. nmi of the Lake [Maumee, or Miniiii of the Lakes] is sufficiently frozen over to bear tho nriuy and its bagj^age," Nine (lays later Harrison wrote, "I am not able to fix any period for the advance of the troops to Detroit. It is pretty evident tliat it can not be done upon proper iiriiiciples until ihe frost shall become so severe as to enable us to use the rivers and till' margin of the lake for transjxjrtation of the baggage and artillery upon the ice. To i?t't them forward through a swampy wilderness of near two hundred miles, in wagons or on pack-horses, which are to carry their own provisions, is absolutely im- itossible." lie then referred to a suggestion of a Congressman that the possession of Detroit by the enemy would probably be the most effectual bar to the attainment of peace, then hoped for, and observed, " If this were really the case, I would under- t;iljp to recover it with a detachment of the army at any time. A few hundred pack- horses, with a drove of beeves (without artillery or heavy baggage), would subsist the fifteen hundred or two thousand men which I would select for the purpose until the residue of the urmy could arrive. But, having in view offensive operations /ro»t Detroit, an advance of this sort would be premature, and ultimately disadvantageous. No species of supplies are calculated on being foun<l in the Michigan Territory. The tiirins upon the Raisin, which might have afforded a quantity of forage, are nearly all broken up and destroyed. This article, then, as well as the provisions for the men, is to be taken from this state — a circumstance which must at once put to rest every idea for a land conveyance at this season, since it would require at least two wagons with forage for each one that is loaded with provisions and other articles. My present plan is," he continued, "to occupy Upper Sandusky, and accumulate at that place as much provision and forage as possible, to be taken from thence upon sleds to the Kiver Kaisin. At Defiance, Fort Jennings, and St. Mary, boats and sleds are pre- paring to take advantage of a rise of water or a fall «)fsiioAV." At this time, the troops moving on the line of oi)eration8 which passed from Frank- liiiton (head-quarters) and Delaware, by Upper to Lower Sandusky, composed of tho brigades from Virginia and Pennsylvania, and one of Ohio, under General Simon Perkins,' were designated in general orders, and known as the right wing of the army ; ' Simon Perkins was born at Norwich, Connecticut, on the 17th of September, 17T1. HU father was a captain in the army of the Revolution, and died in camp. He emigrated to Oswego, New-Yoric, in 1706, where he spent three years lu extensive laud operations. A portion of the " Western Kescrvc," in Ohio, having t>een sold by the State of Connectl- int, the now proprietors Invited Mr. Perliins to explore the domain, and report a plan for the sale and settlement of the lands. He went to Ohio for that purpose in the sjiring of 1708. lie spent the summer there in the performance of the duties of his agency, and returned to Connecticut in the autumn. This excursion and these duties were repeated by liim for several successive summers. He Unaily married in 1804, and settled on tlie "Reserve" at Warren. So ex- tensive were the land agencies intrusted to him, that in 1S16 the state land-tax paid by him into the public treasury was one seventh of the entire revenue of the state. Mr. Perkins was the first post-master on the "ReserN-e," and to him the post-master general intrusted the arrangement of post-offlces In that region. For twenty-eight j-ears he re- ceived and merited the confidence of the department and the people. At the request of the govcrnmcut, in 1S07 he established expresses through the Indian country to Detroit. His efforts led to the treaty of Brownsville lu tho autumn 01 ISOS, wheu the Indians ceded lands for a road from the " Reserve" to the Maumee, or Miami of the Lukes. In May otlliat year he was commissioned a brigadier general of militia, in the division commanded by Major Ocneral Wads- worth. On hearing of the disaster to Hull's army at Detroit, be Issued orders to his colonels to prepare tbclr regiments foracllve duty. To him was assigned the duty of protecting a large portion of the Northwestern frontier. "To the ore of Brigadier General Simon Perkins I commit yon," said Wadsworth on parting with the troops of the Renerve, '■ wli(/wlll be your commander and your friend. In his integrity, skill, and courage, we all have the utmost confidence." He was exceedingly active. His scouts were out, far and near, continually. His public accounts were kept with the greatest clean ess and accuracy for more than forty years. " No two officers In the public service at that time," testifies the Honorab'.'Ellsha Whittlesey, "were more energetic or economical than Generals Harrison andPerkins." When, In IS13, General Harrison was sufflclently re-enforced to dispense with Perkins's command, he left the service [February iS, 1SI3], bearing the highest encomiums of the commander-in-chief of the Army of the Northwest. President Madl- nn, at the miggestlon of Harrison and others, sent him the commission of colonel In the regular army, but duty to his ramil; and the demands of a greatly increasing business caused him to decline it. General Perkins was Inirusted with the arrangement and execution, at the head of a commission, of the extensive ca- nal system of Ohio. From 18311 nntlll33S he was an active member of the " Board of Canal Fund Commissioners." They were under no bonds and received no pecuniary reward. In the course of about seven years they issued and sold state bonds for the public improvements to the amonnt of four and a half millions of dollars. Among the remnrkailte'men who settled the " Western Reserve," Qeueral Simon Perkins ever held ontf of the most conspicuous places, and his in- fhience in social and moral life Is felt In that region to this day. He died at Warren, Ghlo, on the 19th of Nbvember, 19H. His widow long survi>ed him. She died at the same place In April, 1862. To their son, Joseph Perkins, Esq., of Cleveland, I am Indebted for the materials for this brief sketch, and the llkeue^u of the patriot on the uest page. 1 ^^^■m ::f| jll N I i ■ I li'i ii;!-, i J^A 1 840 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK DlTiiloDS of the Army of tbe Northwest. Employment of the Troop*. The Weiteru ReMrri, Tuppcr's brigade, that wan to move on Iliiirs road, by Fort M'Arthur, waH called the centre ; and the KentuckianH under Winehester were styled the left wing. Tlie Virginia and Pennsylvania troops were emj)loyed in escorting the artillery and military stores toward Ujjper San- dusky; the Ohio troops conveyed pro- visions from Alanary's IJlock-housc, near the liead of the Great Miami, twenty miles north of Urbana, to Forts M'Arthur and Findlay, on IIulPs road; while the Ken- tuckians were traversing the swamps of the St. Mary and the An Glaize, and de- scending those rivers in small craft, lo carry provisions to Fort Winchester (De- fiance) on the left wing.^ Northwestern Ohio, particularly the settlements on the WcaterTi liescrve,^ had been alive with excitement and patriotic zeal during all the autumn, and General Wadsworth, com- ,^5k- — mander of the 4th Division of f/VV^ * the Ohio jNIilitia (the boundaries sT^^/^^^^^-ytn of which comprised the counties of Jefferson and Turnbull, thus embracing at least one third of the state) was continually, vigilantly, and efficiently employed in the i)romotion of measures for the defense of the frontier from the Maumee to Erie, and for the recovery of Michigan. In politics General Wadsworth was a Democrat of the Jefferson school. He had watched with interest and indignation the course of Great Britain for many years, and when the Congress of the nation de- clared war against her, hC' rejoiced in the act as a righteous and necessary one. He had been an active soldier of the Revolution,^ and now, when his country needed his ' M'Afce, pages 103, 104. » The charter of Conncctlcnt, granted In 1602, covered the country ft-om Rhode Island, or, as expressed, " Nnmiffan- set River," on the east, to the Pacific on the west. When NowYorlc, New Jersey, and PcniiBylvania claimed dominion above the line of the southern boundary of the province, difflculties appeared. These were disposed of. \\\ nso tlic State of Connecticut ceded to the United States all tiic lands within tlie charter limits westward of Pennsylvania, ex- cepting a tract one hundred and twenty miles in lengtli westward, adjoining that state. The cession was accepted. This was called the CmvnaAimt, or HVjitern Reserve ; and many settlers went tlierc from the State of Connecticut. A p.irt of the Reserve, containing half a million of acres, was granted by the state to the Inhabitants of New London, Fnir- field, and Norwalk, whose property had been burnt by the British during tbe Revolr.tion. This was known as Tlie. firt Landu. The remainder of the Reserve was sold in 1T06, and the proceeds of the sale were devoted to the formation of the present school fhud of Connecticut. ' Elijah Wadsworth was boru in Hartford, Connecticut, on the 4th of November, 1T4T, and became a resident of Litcb- field before the Revolution. After the battle of Bunker's Hill he volunteered to go to Boston, but his purpose was frustrated, when he eugaged heartily in raising Colonel Elisha Sheldon's troop of light-horsemen. He was commis- sioned a lieutenant of the company of which Benjamin Tallmadge was captain. He served with zeal during the entire war. He commanded tbe guard in whose custody Major Andrd was placed immediately after his arrest. Wadsworth was a man of great energy. He went early to Ohio, ard was part owner of the " Western Reserve." He made his residence at Canfleld, Ohio, iii 1802, and was always a leading man in that section of tbe new state, and waa Ell<b« Whittle ■MFH^jgiCRi^ OP THE WAR OF 1812. 341 EliilM Whlttlwey. AlarmlDg Rnmora aboot Uull'i Bnrrender. PreparUloni agalntt InTulon. fiervici'H, ho cheerfully offered them. Althouj^h ho waH sixty-five yearn of age, he entered upon active military duties with energy with the late veiierahle Klisha WhittleHoy, of Can- field ' and the late llonorahle IJen- * ' jamin Tappen, of Steubenville, Ohio, aH Ills aid-de-camp. The former ac- comj)anied him to Cleveland from Canfield,'^ and the latter soon joined him there. C4eneral Wadsworth was at his house in Caiifield when intelligence of tlu^ surrender ofllull reached liim.^ The alarming rumors that j)ic vailed concerning the imminence of an in- vasioii called for immediate and en- ergetic a(!tion. Wadsworth at once issued orders to the several brigadier generals of his division to muster the militia for the ])rotection of the fron- ] ^Jb /^y ^T^LyTZ!yt^^fy(-^C'^^ *''^'' ^'■""^ t'le immediate incursions of the F>ritisli and their savage allies. Alread . citizens of the region adja- cent to Canfield had formed a corps of (IragnoTia, under Captain James Dowd. This company was ordered into the serv- ice; and so pronii)tly did it respond to the call, that by noon the following day (Sun- (lav, August 23d, 1812), it was on its march toward Cleveland as an honorary escort V. vient In the organization of the crude material of pioneer life Into well-balanced Boclcty, the eetabllohment of HU aid wac CHdcntlal In the cstabllBhmcnt of the state Kovcnimcnt, and when the milltln waB enrolled he .1 major general of the 4th nivlslon. In that office he was found when war broke out In 1812. IUb ncrvlces ,ir are recorded In the text. On his tomb-stone at Cinnflcld are the following words : " Major General Elijah ,, „i-H()rth moved Into Caufleld In October A.D. 1802, and died Deccmbtr 30, 1817, aged 70 years, 1 month, and 17 days." 1 Elislia Whittlesey was born In LltchHeld County, Connecticut, on the IHth of October, 1783. Ills father, a practical farmer, was a member of the Connecticut Legislature seventeen consecutive sessions, and was a member of the Htaie I'oiivenllDn that ratiflcd the Constitution of the I'nited States. The subject of this brief memoir was a pupil of Rev. Thomiii! Robbins, of Daubury, Connecticut, who died only a few years ago, and also of the eminent Moses Stnart, of .Andovcr. He studied law, and was admitted to practice at Fairfield in the winter of 1805. He commenced practice at NewMilford, but in June, iwx!, he emigrated to Ohio, and settled at Canfield, Tumbull County, which place was his liiime when in private life. In the autumn of that year he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Ohio, and .It the llrst session of the Court of Common Pleas thereafter he was appointed prosecuting attorney, which office he held fistcen years. When the war broke out he was appointed aid to General Wadsworth. On the retirement of General Wadsworth from the service, Mr. Whittlesey was appointed brigade major in General Simon Perkins's corps, and was viith lli:it officer during the remainder of his campaign in Northern Ohio in 1S1'2-'1.1. He was sent by General Harrison from the Rupids of the Maumcc, after the defeat of General Winchester at the Raisin, to ask the Legislature of Ohio to pass a law providing for the payment of Buch Ohio troops as should remaiu in service after their time of cullstnieut (houlrt expire. He was successful. Mr. Whittlesey resumed his profession after the v.-aii He served as a member of the Ohio Legislattire from 1S20 to hit incluBlve, when he was elected to Congress, in which he served fourteen consecutive years. During all that time he Kss a member of the Committee on Claims, ftiU one half of that time its chairman, and was never absent, excepting on public busiuess, but for one day, for which, in the settlement of his accounts, he deducted the sum of eight dollars— a (laj'a salary ! President Harrison appointed him auditor of the treasury of the Post-office Department iu March, 1S41. lie resigned it iu 1S43. President Taylor appointed him comptroller of the tirasury in .Tune, 1849. He oflbred his re- (isQiition tu President Pierce, but that gentleman, knowing the value of an honest man in that responsible station, would not accept it. In March, 18,^7, he tendered his resignation to President Buchanan. He accepted it In May, flay- in?, "The Lord knows I do not wish yon to resign at all." On the 10th of April, ISdl, President Lincoin called him from his home to occupy the same responsible position. He cheerfully responded to the call of his country, although MTeaty-eight years of age, and faithfully discharged the duties of his office until a few days before his death, which occurred on Wcduesday, the 7th day of .January, 1863, when in the eightieth year of his age. ' Canfield, the capital of Mahoning County, Ohio, was then the residence of General Wadsworth, and also of Hr. ^Vhittlcsey. 'Itcimelnthe form of aletterwrlttenby AlfredKclley, and slgnedby twelveothercitiiens ofClevelsnd. B.Fitch, o( Ellsworth, was the bearer of It. i V ■ 1 1 'I II .142 riCTOIlIAL FIKLD-nOOK Troop* welcomed to C'levelnnd. KnerKjr ofUnnaml Wadiwortb. DlitrcM on the Halilo HWtr. for the commanding general. Thoy marclu'd by the wny of IIiidBon,' twcnty-fivo milon •AtiBUit, from iMovoliind, ami hn'aktiiNtoil t lion*, at ()viatt'H,on tlio morning of t lie 'j uli.» ""''• Soon afliT n'Huming tlicir marcli tlioy met Homo of IIuII'h paroii'd arniy, wlm had boon iandod from UritiNli boats at Clovoland. Tiioir HtorioH incroaHod the hinii,. oauHod by Htartling rumorH, and many of tlio iiiliabitantH along thu laku were t|(.(.. ing from tlioir liomos eastward or toward tiie Ohio, to avoid the ap|»relien(h'(l (in- coming ovilH. Wadsworth tried to allay the excitement, but it was rolling over tlic frontier in an almost resistless flood. When tho cavalcade entered (!levelniid thai afternoon at four o'clock, it created great joy atnong tlie few inhabitants there. Two or three hours later Cohmel Cass arrived at Cleveland from Detroit on his way tu Washington City, and at tho request of (Jenoral Wadsworth lie was accompanied tu tho seat of government by ex-govemor Samuel Huntington, then at Cleveland," ns bearer of an important letter to the Se<'retary of War. Jn that lettiir Wadsworlli informed the secretary that he had cidle<l out about three tho\isand of the niilitja dt his division, to rendezvous at Clevelind, but was compelled to acknowledge tlicni destitute of arms, ammunition, and pro|)er e(|uipments for a campaign, as w(dl as tin diftioilty of feeding them. Properly 'stiniating tho value of the great Northwest to the Uni(m, and the importance of these troops for its protection, as well as in the ct forts to be made for tho recovery of Michigan, "so dishonorably given up to tho en- emy," bo urged the government to extend its iinniediate and unceasing aid in siiii- plying the wants of this little army then hastening to the field. "The fate of the Western country," he said, "is suspended on the decision the government shall make to this application."^ General Wadsworth did not wait for a reply. Necessity demanded instant action. lie took the respoiisiV)ility of appointing (iommissioners of supplies, and giviiijr re- ceipts to those who furnished them in the name of tho government.* The iieople, with equal faith in the wisdom of the general and the justice of the governnieiit, re- sponded without hesitation to the call for provisions and forage. Nor was that liiith disappointed. ]iy a letter dated the oth of September, W^idsworth's course was sanctioned by the War Department, and he was invested with full ])ower to take measures for supplying his troops and giving efficiency to their service. Intelligence came to Wadsworth almost hourly of the distress of the inhabitants on the Itaisin, and along tho lake shore eastward as far as the Huron River, who, in violation of the agreements of the capitulations at Detroit, were being ))lun(lered iiy the Indians even of their boots and shoes. Their homes were broken up by the ma- rauders, and many of tho inhabitants were fleeing for tlieir lives. Tlie benevolent Wadsworth was exceedingly anxious to send them relief, and it was with real jov that he welcomed tho arrival at Cleveland, on the 26th of August, of General Simon Perkins with a large body of troops. lie resolved to send him forward to the Huron immediately with a thousand men, to erect block-houses and protect the inhabitants. < The capital of the prceciit Snmmit Connty, Ohio. It wna the iirat pettlemcnt made In the county. In the division of the Western Reserve amou); the piirchaecrH from Connecticut, thin section fell to the lot of David Iludsuu, who com- menced a eettlemcnt In the year ISOO. Mr. Hudson died In Maah, 18.1B, aged seventy-llvo years. ' Huntington was governor of Ohio from 1808 to 1810. In the latter part of his life he resided at Palncsvllle, in Lake County, where he died In 1817. lie lived In Cleveland for a while l)cfore making his residence nt Palnesvillp. As an illustration of the wondcrftil growth of American cities, and the rapid settlement and clearing of the coinitry wcstwarii of the Alleghany Mountains, I mention the fact that Governor nuntington, when approaching Cleveland from the eaci <me night, and only two miles from it, was attacked hy a pack of wolves. He beat them off with his umbrella, ami made Ills escape to the town through the fleetness of hU horse. That waa only about llfty years ago. Cleveland uon (1867) contains more than 60,000 inhabitants. ' MS. Letter of General Wadsworth to the Secretary of War, dated Cleveland, August 26, 1812. « The commissioners appointed were Aaron Norton, Eleazer Ilicock, and Gbenewr Murray. The people sold to them on the terms offered, as cheaply as if paid in gold and silver. They gave a ccrtitlcate In writing stating the arli- cle ftirnlshed, its qnantity and value, with a promise to pay for it when the government should remit funds for the purpose. Property abandoned by fUghtcned Inhabitants was taken, appraised, and inventoried. A faligne parly would harvest a field of grain, while an olScer kept an exact account of the whole matter, and the owners were afler- ■ward remunerated. In the flnal eettlement hardly a single coiie of dissatisfaction occurred.— Statement of Uon. E\bb» Whittlesey to the author. Si > . . I" . 1 5 ul OP THE WAR OF 1818. 848 KMnAirccmcnti for lUrtk to Dttrolt nspradad. Atunpttd Lodgmant at thu Miiuiikm' KhiiUIk (iencral Hfiizin Hciill' wiih uIho <lir«cti<(l to go wontwitrd on a Himilar (>rraii<i ; ami prciiiiriitioim lor tlu-ir dcpartun' w(>rc nearly cdniplcttMl, wlion WatlMworlh received ilihuatclu'H from tlic Sccn-tary of War Haying that tho IVowidont intended t<> adopt tho moHt vigorouH int'UMunfS "to rt'pair tlio diHaHtcrH ut Detroit," and to proHccuto with inereaHed ardor tlu' important ohjeetH of tlie eanii)ai},'n. WadHwortli waw di- recti'd to forward litloen hundred men to the frontier an (piiei<ly aw poHnible, with (lirt'Ctions to " report to (Jeiieral Winehestpr, or officer cominandin>^" there, at the name time promiHing an a*le<|iiato mipply of arniH and ammunition. Arrani^ementH for the movement w«'re npeetlily nuuU', and Perkins and Heail, wlio liad i)een em- ployed l»y (lovernor MeijjH in openinjj a road from Manntiehl, in the interior of Ohio (now capital of liieldand ('ounty), to Lower SanduHky, were onh'red toward the lat- ter plaoe. Some* elanhinn of authority between Wadu worth and Aleij^H, and Hoin(* compliiiiits concerning afi'airH in tlie region bordering on F.ake Erie, cauHcd IlarriHon, will) (iiH we Iiave Heen) was made commander-in-chief of the NorthwcHtern Army, to niiiko a jK'rHonal examination of matterw there toward the cIohc of ()<!tober. He found Genoral Wadsworth near the mouth of the Huron River, at the head of eight hund- red men, Heall, witli about live hundred, waH at ManHtield. The two corpH were conHoiidated and placed under (Jeneral I'erkinH, with orderH to proceed to Lower SanduHky, and open a road thence to tlie Itapids of the Maumeo ; a Hcvcre tawk, for it WHS neccHHary to causeway it about filVeen milcH. This waH acconi[)IiHhed. Har- rJKOii returned to hiH head-(iuartor« at Franklinton early in November, and on tho !5tli of that moiitli was compelled to inform the War Department that he doubted lliu propriety of attemjiting to penetrate t'anada, or to proceed farther than the Hapids during the winter, owing to tho insurmountable ditKculties in the way of transporting forage and supplies. "I know it will be mortifying to Kentucky," Harrison wrote to Governor Shelby, "for this army to return without doing any thiiip;; but it is better to do that than to attempt imposHibilities. I wish to (jod the public mind were informed of our difticulties, and gradually prepared for this course. In my o])inion, we should in this quarter disband all but those sufficient for a strong frontier guard, convoys, etc., and prepare for the next season." (iciieral Tupj)er had maihf another unsuccessful attempt to establish a permanent lodgment at the Maumee Iiaj)ids, and this failure doubtless gave nerve to Harrison's convictions. We left Tnppcr at Trbana, after his difficulties with Winchester at Detiance. He pushed forward along Hull's road to Fort M'Artbur, and there he speedily prepared an expedition to the Rapids, consisting of six hundred and fifty mounted men who volunteered for the service. He had sent Captain Hinkson, at the head of a company of spies, to reconnoitre at the Rapids, who returned with a British captain, named Clarke, as his prisoner. The result of the reconnoissance was information that there were three or four hundred Indians, and aV)out seventy-five British regulars at the Rapids, who were there for the purpose of carrying off a quan- tity of corn at that post. Tapper immediately notified General Winchester of his intended expedition, and, on the lOth," moved forward with his command .November, lilonti; Hull's road toward the Rapids, taking with him a light aix-pounder, '***• and live days' provisions in the knapsacks of the men. The roads were wretched, and Tupper was compelled to leave his little cannon at a block-house on the way. From Portage River, twenty miles from the Rapids, he sent forward a reconnoitring party, following slowly with his whole command. Within a few miles of the Rapids he met his spies returning with information that the enemy were still there. Halting until twilight, he marched forward to a ford ' Reniln Menll, of Pennsylvnnia, was nn enfign In the United States Infantr; in 17fl9, and was In tlie third gnl)-1e|;ion ibe snme year. He was ndjntant and qnartermaster the followinK year. He served under Wayne Tor a while, and re- ^Ipicd at the bep^inninir of UM. From tho 8th of September till the 3d of November, 1812, he was a brigadier Reneral iif Ohio Tolnnlecrs. He represented Ohio In Congress from 1813 till 1816. He died on the 20th of February, 1842 — Gardner's Dictionary of the Army, page 60. f ^ Ill, ■ll!Hll,ili 344 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK * 111: MM il!i a .JitiiHUiJHiiaiiJ-BLi ■ IHIipillr'i ■-■1 ^^^^^^^^_^ Sti' 'ng EvrinU at the Uaplds. Fight with Indians. Belief for Ohio Troops. A Meoice. about two miles above t* 3 llapids. Thenci- spies were again sent forward, and re- turned, saying, "They are clo.sely encamped, and are singing and dancing." Tupper resolved to attack them at dawn, and orders were given to cross the river imino- diately. The sky was clear, and the weather intensely cold. The men were much fatigued, yet the excitement gave tliem strength. Tupper dashed into the icy flood at the head of his men, and crossed with tlie first section in safety ; but the water waist-deep at times, and flowing in a swift current, confused and swept from tlieii- fpet many of the next division. The^^ were exposed to great perils, but none were lo.st. After ineifectuiil attempts to accomplish the undertaking, those who had cross- ed » ere recalled, and the whole body retired to the woods and encamped. Early the nert morning Tupper sent to Winchester for re-enforcements and food ; and some spies Avent down the river, showed themselves opposite the enemy's camp, and tried to entice them across. They failed, when Tupper moved down with his whole body, and displayed the heads of his columns in the open space between tlie river and the woods. This frightened the enemy. " The squaws," said a contem- j)orary writer,' " ran to the woods ; the British ran to their boats, and escaped. The Indians, more brave than their allies, paraded, and fired across the river, but witliom eflect." They used muskets and a four-pound cannon. Tnj)per then fell back, hon- ing the savages I a body would venture across the Mauraee, but they did not. Some mounted India'is were seen to go up the stream, and at the same time some of Tuppor's men, contrary to orders, entered a field to pull corn, while othei-s pursued ii drove of h^'gs in the same direction. The latter were suddenly assailed by a partv of mounted savages who had crossed imperceived, and four of Tupj)er's men were killed. The Indians, excited by the shedding of blood, fell upon the left flank of the white army, but were repulsed. Almost at the same moment, a large body of the savages, um^or the notable chief Split-Log, whi» rode a fine white horse, crossed the river above the advance of Tupper's column. They were driven back by Ik'ntiey's battalion with some loss, and the Ohio troops were not again annoyed by them. Late in the evening Tupper and his men turned their faces toward Foit M'Artlmr, for their provisions were almost exhausted, and their nearest point of sure siipj)lv was forty miles distant. Winchester, in the mean time, having received Tupper's first message, had sent a iletachment, u;ider Colonel Lewis, of four hundred and fifty men, to co-operate iwitli the Ohio troops. Tupper's appeal for men and food, wliich reached him later, was forwarded to Lewis as soon as it Avas received by Winchester, and the former ])ushe(l forward by a forced march tp the relief of the imperiled ones. Finding Tappers camp deserted, apparently with haste, and in it two dead men scalped, Lewis sup- posed he had been defeated. Under this impression, h(! retreated to Winciicster's camp. Thus ended this bold attempt to take position at the Rapids. The inten- tions of the projector failed, but the expedition had the effect to fi'ighten the Ihitish and Indians away before they had gathered up the corn ; and averted, for tiie time, a contemplated blow by the savages upon the alarmed French settlements on the Raisin, at the instigation of their British allies.'^ ' M'Afcc, pigo 170. See also Brackenridpe, pnpe 01. » Just 'oefore the approach of Tupper the following note (of course, written by one of the British allies) fr^m the In- dians was sent to the inhabitants on the Raisin : " The IlvrmiJi ami other tribi'K of [niliaiin, aKxe^ibM at thf Miami liapidn, tn the inhaMtant« nf tlw liivn HaiMn. " FRiKNnd,— Listen : you have al waj's told us that you would give ns any aHsistance In your power. We tliiircfore, as the enemy is approaching us, within tweuty-llve miles, call uptui you all to rise up and come hero immcdiatelv, brin; Ing your arms along with yon. Should you fall at this time, we will not consider you in fiiliire as friends, and the cou- sequences may be very unpleasant. Wa arc well couvlnced that you have no writing fbrblddiug you to assist us. his " We are your friends at present. " Roiran + Hkah, niarlc. his "WaLK-IK- + THK-WAm." mark. Services of Capta At about It was the si there were o Ohio. Thert tha (son of li gaii, of Kentii Ibid also beer tacl'iueiit to and son of C( other. Loga; asked for emj have been ma active as a sc Fort Wayne. Soon after sent toward t save themseh (Captains Joh lated their ad\ to he a spy. the suspicion, vrords. He st termination to they were mac among whom Hull's dispatch He knew Loga resolved to ma derstand sigiiij Logan shot W Logan was bad horses of the t the next morn I'ully vindicate( suffered great ; Proctor had ofl never taken fro Hardin and otl ' Sec page MS. ' Tlji« Is a small vil ShaKnocse were (lrh( ko-nctta, in lioiior of i tic had a club-foot, an ko-netta for some tini home of Blue Jacket,, resided there ; also tb( remembered the reriid the defeat of Bradiloc lireetivllle In 17(15, be Ileivan a i)arty to llio iliice him, and he ivas i^ A few iveoks after the filiiii!.' by the Are willi lliMiishthciogsof tin in his neck. He would "f his wrongs. Colon, nation of one hundred M« naturally cheerful his eyesight remained . III ' ." ' Hi >«'■»"" •'" OP THE WAR OF 1812. 345 SerTic«« of Captain Logan. UiB Death, Wa-pagli-ko-nettu and its notable Indiana. At about this ti' le the American service in the Northwest lost a valuable friend. It was the settled policy of the government not to employ the Indians in war, but there were occasions when exceptions to the rule became a necessity. It was so in Ohio. There was an active, intelligent, and influential cliief, a nephew of Tecum- tha (son of his sister), who, when a boy, having been captured by General John Lo- ffan of Kentucky, receivetl that gentleman's nam.c, and bore it through life. His wife iiad also been a captive to a Kentuckian (Colonel Hardin), and both felt a warm at- tachment to the white people. Major Hardin (then in tlio Army of the Northwest, and son of Colonel Hiirdin) and Logan were true friends, and highly esteemed each otiier. Logan had iiiuch influence with liis tribe, and when the war broke out he asked for employment in the American service. It was granted, because he might have been made an enemy. He accompanied Hull to Detroit, .ind was exceedingly active as a scout. We have also §een that Harrison employed liim on a mission to Fort Wayne. Soon after the return of Tupper from the Kapids, Logan and his followers were sent toward that post to reconnoitre. They met a strong opposing party, and, to save themselves, scattered in every direction. Captain Logan, with two friends (Captains John and Bright Horn), made liis way to Winchester's camp, whore he re- lated their adventures. His fidelity was ungenerously suspected, and ue was believed to be a spy. His pride and every sentiment of manliood were deeply wounded by the suspicion, and he resolved to vindicate his character by actions rather tlian by words. He started" with his two friends for the Kapids, with the de- 'November 22, termination to bring in a prisoner or a scalp. They had not gone far wlien ^^^^" tliev were made prisoners themselves by a son of Colonel Elliott and some Indians, among whom was Win-ne-meg, or Win-ne-mac — the Pottawatomie chief who bore Hull's dispatch from Fort Wayne to Chicago.' He was now an ally of the British. He knew Logan well, and rejoiced in being the captor of an old enemy. The latter resolved to m.ake a desperate effbrt for liberty. His companions were made to un- derstand significant signs, and at a concerted signal they attacked their captors. Logan shot Win-ne-meg dead. Elliott and a young Ottawa chief were also slain. Logan was badly wounded, so was Bright Horn ; but they leaped upon the backs of horses of the enemy and cscai)ed to Winchester's camp. Captain Jolin followed tiic next morning with the scalp of the Ottuwa. Logan's honor and fidelity were fully vindicated, but at the cost of Ids life — his wound was mortal. After he had siittered great agony for two days, his spirit returned to the Great ]\Iaster of Life. I'luctor had oftered, it is said, one hundred and fifty dollars for his scalp. It was never taken from his head. His body was carried in mournful procession, by Major Hardin and others, to Wa-pagh-ko-netta,^ where liis family resided, and was buried ' Sec page B05. > This is n Bninll villngo in Allen County, Ohio, on the An Glaize Blver, abont ten miles from St. Mary. After the Shawnoc?e were driven from Piqun by General Clark in USO, they cetabllshed a village here, and named it Wa-pagh- lio-Dctta, in honor of a chief of that name. Colonel ,Iohn Johnston informed me that he knew the chief well. Ue said ho hart a club-foot, and thinks the name had some relation to that deformity. Colonel .Johnston resided at Wa-pngh- lio-iietta for some time. The Society of Friends, or (Jnakers, had u mission there for a nnmber of years. It was the home of Blue Jacket, spoken of in onr account of the invasi(m of the country by Wayne, in 17'.)4. Buckongahelos also ro'iiloil there ; also the ceiohrated Black Hoof, who was a native of Florida, whose birthplace was on the Suwancc. He rcmcml)ered the removal of that tribe from their southern liome to the fofosts of Pennsylvania and Ohio. He was at the defeat of Braddock in ITRB. In all the wars with the white people in his region, from that time until the treaty of Greenville in 1706, he was a popular leader, and could always command as many men for the war-path as he desired, lie WHS a party to the treaty at Oreenvllle, and was ever faithful to his pledges there made. Tccnmtho could not se- duce liim, and ho was the faithful friend of the Americans in the war with Great Britain which we are now considering. A few weeks after the burial of Logan (January, 1S131, lie visited General Tuiiper's camp at Fort M'Arthur. While fiitiiii,' by the tiro with the general, a scoundrel militia-man, Colonel Johnston informed me, flred a i)i9tol ball at him iliM«;;h the l()i;s of the block-house, which entered his check, passed through his mouth, cut off his palate, and lodged in his nock. lie would never have the ball removed, but would call the children to feel of It, and then wonid tell them "f his wrongs. Colonel Johnston gave him a healing plaster for his wound in the form of a bank-note of the denomi- nation of one hundred dollars. Colonel Johnston says he was one of the most jwrfectly formed men he ever saw. Ue «a« naturnlly clieerfnl and good-natured. Ue lived with hla wife faithfully for forty years. Hie statnre was amall, and Ills eyesight remained perfect during his whole life. \ t. if! 346 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK liiWil M i I Expedition nKainxt Hiamia and Delawarea. FricndB to be spared. Campbell on the MiBslseiniwa. there with mingled savage rites and military honors. The scalp of the slain Ottawa raised upon a pole, was carried in the funeral procession and then taken to the coun- cil-house. Logan's death was mourned as a public calamity, for he Avas one of the most intelligent, active, and trustworthy of Harrison's scouts. At this time the Miamis, nearly all of whom had become wedded to the interests of the British, were assembled, with some Delawares from White River, in towns on the Mississiniwa, a tributary of the Wabash, fifteen or twenty miles from its conflu- euce with the latter stream, near the boundary-line between the present Wabash and Grant Counties, Indiana. They were evidently there for hostile purposes, and (ivn- cral Harrison resolved to destroy or disperse them. He detached for the purpose Lieutenant Colonel John B. Campbell, of the Nineteenth Regiment of L^nited States Infantry,' composed mainly of Colonel Simrall's regiment of Kentucky dragoons ; a squadron of United States volimteer dragoons, commanded by Major James V. Bail' and a corps of infantry, consisting of Captain Elliott's company of the Nineteenth United States Regiment, Butler's Pittsburg Blues, and Alexander's Pennsylvania Riflemen. A small company of spies and guides were attached to the expedition, Campbell left Franklinton, the head-quarters of the Army of the Northwest on the 25th of Novembei", with his troops, instructed by Harrison to march for the Jlis- sissiniwa by way of Springfield, Xenia, Dayton, Eaton, and Greenville, so as to avoid the Delaware towns. He was also instructed to save, if he could do so without risk to the expedition, Chiefs Richardville (then second chief of the Miamis), Silver Heels and the White Lion, all of which, with Pecan, the principal chief of the Miamis, and Charley, the leader of the Eel River tribe, were known to be friendly to the white people. The son and brother of Little Turtle were also to be saved, if possible; also old Godfroy and his wife, who were true friends of the Americans. It was the middle of December before the expedition left Dayton, on account of delay in procuring horses. Their destination was eighty miles distant. Each sol- dier was required to carry twelve days' rations, and a bushel of corn for foraste, The ground was hard frozen and covered with snow, and the weather was intensely cold, yet they marched forty miles the first two days. On the third they made a forced march, and during that day and night they advanced another forty miles. when they reached the Mississiniwa, and fell upon a town inhabited by a number of Miamis and Delawares. Eight warriors were slain, and eight others, with thirty- two women and children, were made prisoners. The town was laid in ashes with the exception of two houses, which were left for the shelter of the captives. Cattle and other stock were slaughtered. Campbell left the ])ri8oners in charge of a sufficient guard, and pushed on down the river three miles to Silver Ileels's village with Simrall's and Ball's dragoons. It was deserted ; so also were two other towns near. These were destroyed, with many cattle. They captured several horses, and with these and a very small quantity of corn they returned to the scene of their first victory, and encamj)ed for the night on the shore of the Mississiniwa. The camp was about two hundred yards square, and fortified with a small redoubt at each angle. The infan<^ry and rifiemen v/ere posted in front, on the bank of the river. Captain Elliott's company on the right, Butler's in the centre, and Alexander's on the left. Major Ball's squadron occupied the right BIacIc Hoof was often nolicd to sing the sonpB of the wornhlp of hlfl people, but notliinj; couM Induce him to do w. He wonld not even repeat the words to the white man. Hie was like the refusal of the Hebrew niptlvc lo riii;; llic Bongs of Zion on the hanks of the rivers of Babylon. Black Hoof was the principal chief of the Shawnoese for many years before his death, which occurred at Wa-pagh-ko-netta about the year 1>-:I0, at the age, it was believed, of ooe hundred and ten years. ' John B. Oampbcil was a native of Virginia, and nephew of Colonel CampbcM, who was dlslingnished at the bntlle of King's Mountain in 1780. He was commissioned jleutenaiit colonel of the Nlnelecnth Regiment of Infantry in March, 1*^12. For his good conduct In the e!t)ieditlon mentioned above he was breveted a colonel. In April, IS14, hf was commissioned a colonel in the Eleventh Infantry, and was dlstinguihhed and severely wounded in Ihe bnlllf nt Chippewa on the 5th of Jaly following. He died of bis wounds on the 38th of August, 1814. Attack on Campb and one half the rear line. ing. Major At inidnig doTVTi the riv at four o'cloc officers to a going on twe there. Whih the camp wf furious attack of the river, formed, and t upon the angl right of Capta manded at tlu the lines. Th rear. The Pii kept the sava: terminated, be burg cor])s, an Johnson, when the field. Can latter aflerwar killed. What supposed that 1 .leld. Little T lormed great s gallant deeds. ; their army on t the prisoners young warriors Rumors reac nr six hundred nut calling a c( lie sent a mess expected to be was a dreadful They moved si the camp was they met provi was timely and three hundred i Ureenville. Mc wilderness were I'rrand, but at a I Joeeph Markic, aft ' Lieiiteiiant Cohmei mo US: Dillon's //|-« "fll wilt a brief dlsp, ISlh, and addressed frc ' "I have on thisoc( 'il. Among the fornif »ai> from Zanesville • itrough the head. On OF THE WAR OF 1812. 347 Attack on Campbell's Camp. A desperate Fight. DistressiDg Retreat to QreenriUe. Slid one half of the rear line, and Colonel Simrall's regiment the left and other half of tk rear line. Hetween Ball's right and Simrall's left there was a considerable open- iii(r. Major Ball was the officer of the day. At midnight the sentinels reported the presence of Indians, and a fire was seen down the river. The greatest vigilance was exercised, and the reveille was beaten at four o'clock in the morning. Adjutant Payne immediately summoned the Held officers to a council at the fire of the commander to consult upon the propriety of (Toinf on twelve miles farther down the river, to attack one of the principal towns there. While the officers were in council, half an hour befo>'e dawn,* . December is the camp was startled by terrific yells, followed immediately by a i**^- furious attack of a large body of savages who had crept stealthily along the margin of the river. Every officer flew to his post, antl in a few moments the lines were formed, and the Indians were confronted with a heavy fire. The attack was made upon the angle of the camp, formed by the left of Captain Hopkins's troops and the liffht of Captain Garrard's dragoons of Simrall's regiment. Captain Pierce, who com- manded at the redoubt there, was shot and tomahawked, and his guard retreated to the lines. The conflict soon became general along the right flank and part of the rear. The Pittsburg Blues promptly re-enforced the point assailed, and gallantly kept tlie savages at bay. For an hour the battle raged furiously. It was finally terminated, between dawn and sunrise, by a well-directed fire from Butler's Pitts- Imr" corps, and desperate charges of cavalry under Captains Trotter, Markle,' and Jolinson, when the Indians fled in dismay, leaving fifteen of their warriors dead on the field. Campbell had lost eight killed and forty-two wounded. Several of the latter afterward died of their wounds.^ Campbell had one hundred and seven horses killed. What the whole loss of the Indians was could not be ascertained, but it is supposed that they carried away as many mortally wounded as they left dead on the .ieki. Little Thunder, a nephew of Little Turtle, Avas in the engagement, and per- formed great service in inspiring his people with confidence by stirring Avords and gallant deeds. Although Silver Heels, a friend of the Americans (and who was with their army on the Niagara frontier the following year), was not present, nearly all of the prisoners were of his band. He did every thing in his power to persuade his young warriors to remain neutral, but in vain. Rumors reached Campbell immediately after the battle that Tecumlha, with five or six hundred warriors, was on the Mississiniwa, only eighteen miles below. With- out calling a council, the commander immediately ordered a retreat for Greenville. He sent a messenger (Captain Ilite) thither for re-enforeements and supplies, for he expected to be attacked on the way. Fortunately the savages did not pursue. It was a dreadful journey, especially for the sick and wounded, in that keen winter air. They moved slowly, for seventeen men had to be conveyed on litters. Every night the cnmp Avas fortified by a breastwork. At length, wearied and with little food, they met provisions with an escort of ninety men under Major Adams. The relief was timely and most grateful. All moved forward together, and on the 26th, with three hnndred men so frostbitten as to be unfit for duty, the expedition arrived at Greenville. More than one half the corps that a month before had gone gayly to the wilderness were now lost to the service for a while. They had accomplished their errand, but at a great cost.^ The commander-in-chief of the army of the Northwest, ' Joseph Markle, afterward a dlRtlnpnlshed citizen of Pennsylvania. He died In IMT. = Ueiiteimnt ODlonel CnmpbellV official report U) General Harrison, dated at Greenville, Decemher«6th, 1R12 : M'Afee, paco lis : Dillon's Ujntnqi i}f Imliava, page BIO ; Thompson's Sketches f{f the War, page fi-2. Llciilennnt Colonel Camp- iiell eciit a brief dispatch to Harrison on the momlnpj after the battle, misdated December 12th instead of December ISlh, and addressed from " Two miles above Silver Heels." ' " I have on this occasion," wrote ( 'ainpbell to Harrison, " to lament the loss of several brave men and many wound- fit. Amnns the former are Captain PIcrcp, of the Ohio Volnntcers, and Lientenanl Walt/,, of Markle's troops. Pierce was fmm Znnesvllle ; I.ienlcnant Waltz was of the Pennsylvania corps. He was first shot throiich the arm, and then ihroisjih the head. Captain Trotter was wounded in the head." Lieutenant Colonel Campholl hlp^hly commended these mt^*- .|, ,! ^'^f^'^mm^g^ 348 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Qood Effects of th« Chastisement of the Indians. Safferings and Difflcultles of Harrison's Army. Waste of norees in a general order, congratulated Lieutenant Colonel Campbell on his success and commended him for his obedience to orders, his gallantry, and his magnanimity.' Tiiose e-Ypeditions against tlie savages produced salutary effects, and smoothed the way for the final recovery of Michigan. They separated the friends and enemies of the Americans effectually. The line between them was distinctly drawn. 'I'liere were no middle-men left. The Delawares on the White River, and others who de- sired to be friendly, and who had been invit(!d to settle on the Au Glaize in Ohio now accepted the invitation.^ The other tribes, who had cast their lot with the li\\[. ish, were made to feel the miseries of war, and to repent of their folly. So Kcvere had been the chastisement, and so alarmed were the tribes farther nortli, who re- ceived the fugitives from tlie desolated villages on the Wabash and the Illinois at the close of 1812, that Tecumtha's* dream of a confederacy of Indians that should drive the white man across the Ohio was rapidly fading as he awoke to the reality of an unsuspected power before him, and the folly of putting his trust in princes— in other words, relying upon tiie promises of the representatives of the sovereignty of * England to aid liim in his patriotic schemes. Before the war was fairly commenced the spirits of the Indians, so buoyant because of the recent misfortunes of the Amer- icans in the Nortinvest, were broken, and doubt and dismay filled the minds of all excepthig those who were under the immediate command and influence of tiie threat Shawnoese leader. As winter came on the suffering;? and difficulties of Harrison's invading army were terrible, especially that of the left wing imder Winchester, which was the most ad- vanced, and the most remote from su])plies. Early in November typhus fever was slaying three or four of hi- small command daily, and thi-ee hundred were upon the sick-list at one time. So discouraging became the prospect at the begiiming of De- cember of reaching even the Rapids, that, having proceeded abnut six miles below the Au Glaize, Winchester, partly from necessity and partly to deceive the eiiemv, ordered huts to be built for the winter shelter of the troops. Clothing was seantv, and at times the whole corps Avould be Avithout flour for several days. These pri- vations were owing chiefly to the difficulty of transportation. The roads were wretched beyond the conception of those who have not been in that region at the same season of the year. It was swamp, swamp, swamp, with only here and there a strip of terra Anna in plight almost as wretched. The pack-horses sank to their knees, and wagon-wheels to their hubs in the mud. Wasting weariness fell upon man and beast in the struggle, and the destruction of horses Avas prodigious. "The fine teams which arrived on the 10th at Sandusky with the artillery," wrote Ilarri- Bon to the Secretary of War on the 12tli of December, " are entirely Avorn down; and two trips from M'Arthur's block-house, our nearest deposit to the Rapids, will com- pletely destroy a brigade of pack-horses." It was sometimes found imj)ossible to get even empty wagons through the mire, and they were abandoned, the teamsters heins glad to get out with their horses alive; and sometimes tlie quarter-master, tnkini; advantage of suddenly frozen mud, would send off a quantity of provisions, which offlcerp, also Lieutenant Colonel Slmrall, Mijor M'Donnell, Cnptnlns Ilite and Smith, and Captains Markle, M'Clolland, Garrard, nud IIopkliiH. Lieutenants Hedges, Bnsyp, and Hlikman were amon^; the wounded. • ' " It is with the slncerest pleasure," said General Uarrison, in a general order, " that the general has heard thattht most punctual obedience was paid to his orders in not only saving all the women and children, but in sparing all Hie warriors who ccised to resist, and that, even when vigorously attacked by the enemy, the claims of mercy prcvnilrd over every sense of their own danger, and this heroic band respected the lives of their ])risonere. Let im account of murdered innocence he opened in the records of Ileavcn against our enemies aioue. The American soldier will follow the example of his government, and the sword of the one will not be raised against the fallen and tlie hclplesf, nor the gold of the other be paid for the scalps of a massacred enemy." ' The Delawares had emlgrnted from Pennsylvania about fifty years before, wiiere they had had an acquaintance with the white people for as long a period under the most favorable circumstjinces. They had experienced the justice and kindness of William Penn and his immediate successors. They were settled on the Au OInize, about half Hvy Ix"- tweeji Pirinii and Wa-pagh-ko-nctta. Some of them went farther east, and settled on the banks of the Scioto, within the limits of the present Delaw.ire country, whoso name is derived from these Indiana. Buckiiiigahelos, already meu- tioned, and an eminent chief named Kill-buck, were of this tribe. Tmosportatlon In I i'iW' "W» OF THE WAE OF 1812. 849 jnunportatlon In the Wilderiiess. HariiHOD's Instractiuns. The effective Force in the Northwent. would be swamped and lost by a sudden thaw. Water transportation was quite as diflicult. Sometimes the streams would be too low for loaded boats to navigate ; then they would be found crooked, narrow, and obstructed by logs ; and again sud- den cold would produce so much ice that it would be almost impossible to move for- ward. Then sleds would be resorted to until a thaw would drive the precious freight to floating vessels again, Such is a glimpse of the difficulties encountered in that wilderness of Northern Ohio; but it affoi'ds a faint idea of the hardships of the little invading army trying to make its way toward Detroit. All this was endured by the patriotic soldiers without scarcely a murmur. Ill view of all these difficulties, the enormous expense of transportation, and the advantages wliieh dishonest contractors were continually taking, Harrison suggested to the War Department, at about the middle of December, that if there existed no urcent political necessity for the recovering of Michigan and the invasion of Canada during the winter, the amount of increased expenditure of transportation at that sea- son of the year might be better applied to the construction of a small fleet that should command the waters of Lake Erie — a suggestion made by Hull, but little heeded, ear- ly in the year.' The response came from the pen of a new head of the War Depart- ment. Dr. Eustis* had resigned, and James Monroe, the only man in the cabinet who had experienced actual military service, had succeeded him. With a more perfect knowledge of military affiiirs, he better comprehended the character of the campaign ; and, having perfect confidence in the commander-in-chief of the Northwestern Army, he reiterated the instructions of his predecessor to Harrison, directing him to conduct the campaign according to his own judgment, promising, at the same time, that the toverument would take immediate measures for securing the command of Lake Eiie. Only on two points were positive instructions given : First, in the event of penetrat- iiisr Canada, not to promise the inhabitants any thing but the protection of life, lib- Ht V, and property ; and, secondly, not to make any temporary acquisitions, but to pro- aid 80 surely that any position which he might obtain would be absolutely permanent. Early in December a detachment of General Perkins's brigade reached Lower San- dusky (now Fremont, Ohio), and repaired an old stockade there which had protected ;in Indian store. The remainder of the brigade arrived soon afterward. On the 10th a l)attalion of Pennsylvania troops made their appearance there, Avith twenty-one pieces of artillery, which had been escorted from Pittsburg by Lieutenant Hukill. Very soon a*"terward a regiment of the same troops and part of a Virginia brigade arrived, speedily followed by General Hai-rison, who made his head-quarters there on the 20th. He remained but a little while. There he received the second dispatch [Deceraher 25th] from Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, givuig a more detailed account ofiiis expedition to the Mississiniwa. Harrison at once repaired to Chillicothe to consult with Governor Meigs on the propriety of fitting out another expedition in the same direction, to complete the work begun by destroying the lower Mississini- wa towns. The project was abandoned. The whole effective force in the Northwest did not exceed six thousand three hundred infantry,' am' a small artillery and cavalry force; yet Harrison determined 1 See page 251. ' William Enstis was bom in Cambridge, MiiBflachusetts, on the lOtli of June, 1T63. College at the af;c of nineteen, and chose the practice of medicine for hi! profession . He entered the Con- tlneolal Army of the Revoiution as irfgimental snrReon, and served in llist capacity dnring the war. lie He was graduated at Ilartard r^.jhj. was at the Robinson HouHe, oppo- site West Point, while Arnold occu- pied it as his head -quarters. He commenced the practice of his pro- fession at Boston at the close of the lie was an ardent iiolitician, imd was a representative of Massachnsetts in the National Conjrress, of tlie Repnblicnn party, f^om ISOl till Iso.'S. Presl- tal Madison appointed him Secretary of War in 1809, and he retained the offlce until the autumn of ISliJ, when he re- i tisnei). He was appointed minister In Holland in 1R14. After his return he was chosen to a seat in Congress ai;ain, which he held for nearly two terms from 1820. In 1823 he was chosen governor of Massachusetta. He was then sev- nlj years nfaice. He died in 1826, while holding that office, in the geventy-eecond year of bis age. ' Harrison's Letter to the Secretary of War, January 4, 1S13. m I 4" l"lf!-,JII 350 PICTORIAL* FIELD-BOOK H r t' iiW PMIt HovemenU ordered. Tbu Minion and SufTeriuga of Captain Combs. The Army at the Maumce Hapld,. to press forward to the Kapids, and beyond if possible. From Lower Sandusky he dispatched Ensign Cliarles S. Todd, tlien division judge advocate of the Kintuckv troops, to communicate instructions to Wincliester. He was accompanied by twii wliite men and three Wyandottes. He bore oral instructions from General Har- rison to General Winchester, directing the latter to advance toward the Ilaijids when he should have accumulated twenty days' provisions, and there conniuncf building huts, to deceive the enemy into the belief that he intended to winter tiiere- at the same time to prepare sleds for an advance toward Maiden, but to conceal from his troopd their intended use. He was also to inform Winchester that the difftTcnl lines of the army would be concentrated at the Kapids, and all would proceed from thence toward Maiden, if the ice on the Detroit Riv< • should be found strong enoiich to bear them. Young Todd performed this danfious and didicate duty with such success that he received the highest commendatiniis of his general. Meanwhile Leslie Combs, another Kentuckian, a brave and spirited young man of scarcely nineteen years, who had joined Winchester's army as a volunteer on its march from Fort Wayne to Defiance, had been sent by Winchester to Harrison on an errand fraught with equal peril. He bore a dispatch to Harrison comniunicatin" the fact that tlie left wing had moved toward tlie Kapids on the 30th of DecoinlKr. Combs traversed the pathless wilderness on foot, accompanied by a single guide (A. Ruddle), through snow and water, for at least one hundred miles, enduring iiri- vations which almost destroyed him. He, too, performed his mission so gallantly and satisfactorily that his general thanked him. These two messengers, who passed each other in the mazes of the great Black Swamp fifty years ago — young, ambitious, m- triotic, and daring — performed other excellent service during the war, as we shall have occasion to observe. Combs and Todd are still [1867] living; both residents of Kentucky, enjoying a green old age, and wearing the honors of their countrvV gratitude. I had the pleasure of meeting them both during 1861, and listening to interesting narrations of their experiences in that war. Portraits and biograj)hical sketches of these heroes may be found in future pages of this w^ork.* While on his march toward the Kapids, Winchester received a letter from Ilani- son recommending him to abandon the movement, because, if, as Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, in his second dispatch," had been informed, Tecumtha was on the Wabash with five or six hundred followers, he might advance rapid- ly and capture or destroy all the provisions in Winchester's rear. It was this sec- ond disj)atch of Campbell, as we have seen, that sent Harrison in such haste back to Chillicothe, to consult with Governor Meigs. W^inchester did not heed the cautious suggestions of his superior, but pressed on toward the Kaj)ids. General Payne, with six hundred and seventy men, was sent forward to clear the way. Payne went down the Maumce several miles below old Fort Miami, but saw no signs of an enemy. The remainder of the army arrived at the liapids on the 10th of January, 1813, and estiiblished a fortified camp on a pleas- ant eminence of an oval form, covered with trees and having a prairie in the rear. This was a little above Wayne's battle-ground in 1794, opposite the camp-ground of Hull at the close of June, 1812, and known as Pi-esque Isle Hill.^ On the day of their arrival, an Indian camp, lately deserted, was discovered. Captain Williams, with a small detachment, gave chase to the fugitives, whom he overtook and routed. ' Combs'B enfferlngs were very Revere. He carried a heavy mnsltet and accoutrements, a blanket, and font diiyi' provisions. The snow commenced falling on the morning after his departure, and continued without intermission for , two days and nights. On the third day of their march Combs and his companion found the snow over two feet detp | in the dense forest. Ruddle had been a captive among the Indians In this region and knew the way, and the nielbod i of encountering such hardships us they were now called npou to confront. The storm detained them, their pruvifioni became scarce, and for several nights they could find no place to He down, and sat up and slept. Hunger came to bolk J on the sixth day of their journey, and illnew to young Combs. Nothing but his ever uufliching resolution kept him | up. On the ninth evening they reached Fort M'Arthur, and were well cared for by General Tupper. Combs Iny pros- j trated with sickness for several days. > See page 26T, and map of the Maumee in this vicinity, page U. Troops re-enlistei The enlist! had requeste 8i.x months 1 was so much their strengtl en them into he would moi and confidenc Winchester raon him to t want of suocei to move upon tioii from Ohi( seiigors from ] traveling, bi'inj tered had passt tion of the inl ed,'' deeply agi the shield of m moved by the fense of the aU dusky,' sixty-fi' council of office between thirty- ion was appi-ov( ingof the 17th rection. A few men. Lewis's i -ion of Freiichtc Isle, a point on J twenty miles fro British Indians ment from Maid was sent by ex] iiig with a messii Ilaisin, and sugg wing. Colonel Lewis cold, and strong tering bridge the and were within scouts of the ene little army calml 'ii'iJs to an open ni<^iient. The ric ' Tpper Sandusky, th< mafky" made famous Tom (so called from an «« vlllsge of Upper 8ai ste of the modem Upper 01(1 Upper Sanduskv w Wyandot Indiana, and n »«s murdered by flre nr «"n(s In this vicinity mt OeneramarrlBon built Smdiuky. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 361 Xroopi ro-enlluted. The Settlement of FrenchtowD tbreuteued. Wiuchester Hends them Defender*. The enlistments of the Kentucky troops would expire in February, and Harrison had requested Winchester to endeavor to raise a new regiment among them to serve six months longer. Inaction and suffering had greatly demoralized thera. There was so much insubordination among them that Winchester had little confidence in their strength. Harrison, on the contrary, believed that active service would quick- en them into good soldiers, and did not hesitate to include thera in those on whom he would most rely iu his ex^ieditiou against Maiden. Events justified that faith aud confidence. Winchester was now satisfied that the pleadings of humanity would speedily sum- mon him to the Raisin. First came rumors that the enemy, exasperated by their want of success in their recent movements, were preparing at Maiden an expedition to move upon Frenchtown, on the Raisin, for the purpose of intercepting the expedi- tion from Ohio on its way to Detroit. These rumors were speedily followed by mes- sengers from Frenchtown," made almost breathless by alarm and rapid •January 13, traveling, bringing intelligence that the Indians whom Williams had scat- ^^^^' tercd had passed them on their way to Maiden, uttering threats of a sweeping destruc- tion of the inhabitants and their habitations on the Raisin. Others soon follow- ed,'' deeply agitated by alarm, and, like the first, earnestly pleaded for "January the sliield of military power to avert the impending blow. The troops, ""^ "'"^ '""'• moved by the most generous impulses, were anxious to march instantly to the de- fense of the alarmed people. Harrison, the commander-in-chief, was at Upper San- dusky,' sixty-five miles distant, and could not be consulted. Winchester called a council of officers. The majority advised an immediate march toward the Raisin, between thirty-five and forty miles distant by the route to be traveled. This decis- ion was approved by W^inchcster's judgment and humane impulses, and on the morn- ing of the 17th he detailed Colonel Lewis and five hundred aud fifty men in that di- rection. A few hours afterward Colonel Allen was sent Avith one hundred and ten men, Lewis's instructions were " to attack the enemy, beat them, and take posses- sion of Frenchtown and hold it." Tiiese overtook Lewis and his party at Presque Isle, a point on Maumee Bay a little below, opposite the present city of Toledo, about twenty miles from the Rapids. There Lewis was told that there were four hundred British Indians at the Raisin, and that Colonel Elliott was expected with a detach- ment from Maiden to attack Winchester's camp at the Rapids. This information was sent by express to General Winchester, Avhose courier was on the point of start- in? with a message to General Hai-rison, informing him of the movement toward the Raisin, aud suggesting the probable necessity of a co-operating force from the right wing. Colonel Lewis remained all night at Presque Isle. The weather was intensely cold, and strong ice covered Maumee Bay and the shore of Lake Erie. On that glit- tering bridge the Americans moved early and rapidly on the morning of the 18th, and were within six miles of their destination before they were discovered by the scouts of the enemy. On the shore of the lake, in snow several inches in depth, the little army calmly breakfasted, and then marched steadily forward through timber lands to an open savanna in three lines, so arranged as to fall into battle order in a moment. The right, composed of the com,janie8 of M'Cracken, Bledsoe, and Matson, 'Upper Snndnsky, the present capital of Wyandot County, Ohio, Is not the j/lace above alluded to. The "Upper Smdnfiky" made famous during the Indian wars, and as the rendezvous of Anerlcnns in the war of 1812, was at Crane Tom (90 called from an eminent chief named Tarhe or Crane), four miles liortheast from the court-house in the pres- ent Tillage of Upper Saiidnsky. After the death of Tarhe in 1818, the Indians transferred their council-hoase to the lileof the modem Upper Sandusky, ^ave It its present name, and called the old ))lace Crane Town. Old Upper Sandusky was a place of much note iu the early history of the country. It was a favorite residence of the Wyandot Indians, and near it Colonel Crawford had a battle with them and was defeated in June, 1782. Crawford was mardcred by fire and other slow tortures which the savuijes inflicted on leading prisoners. A full account of mm In this vicinity may be found in Howe's Hx»tmical Cnlleetinng 0/ Ohio. General Uarrtson built Fort Pcrree, a stockade about fifty rods northeast of the court-house in the present Upper Samluslty. ill ■•"^^ 352 PICTORIAL FIELD-EOOK I tfreochtown and Its rofTeriiiK iDhabitantR. Arrival of Winchester's relief Party. Battle and Monaacrt. was commanded by Colonel Allen ; the left, led by Major Green, Avaa composed of the companies of Hamilton, Williams, and Kelley; and the centre, under Major Madi- son, contained the corps of Captains Ilightown, Collier, and Sebrees. The advanced guard was composed of the companies of Captains Hickman, Glaives, and Janus and were under the command of Captain Ballard, acting as major. The chief of the lit- tle army was Colonel Lewis. Frenchtown,' at the time in question, was a flourishing settlement containing thir- ty-three families, twenty-two of whom resiiled on the north side of the Raisin. (lar- dens and orchards were attached to their houses, and these were incUwed with heavy pickets, called " puncheons," made of sapling logs split in two, driven in the ground and sometimes sharpened at top. The houses were built of logs of good size and furnished with most of the conveniences of domestic life. Two days after the su;- render of Detroit, as we have seen, this j)Iace was taken possession of by Coloiiei Elliott, who came from Maiden for the purpose with authority from General Brock. The weaptnis and horses of the inhabitants were left on parole, and protection to lifo and property was promised. The protection was not given, and for a long time the inhabitants were plundered not only by the Indians, but by Canadians, French, and British,'' and were kept in a state of almost continual alarm by their threats. In the autumn two companies of the Essc.v (Canadian) militia, two hundred in number, un- der Major Reynolds, and about four hundred Indians, led by Round-head and Walk- in-the-water,3 were stationed there, and these composed the force that confronted Colonel Lewis when he approached Frenchtown on the 18th of January, 1813, and formed a line of battle on the south side of the Raisin, within a quarter of a mile of the village. Lewis's force numbered less than seven hundred men, armed only with muskets and other light weapons. The enemy had a howitzer* in position, directed by bonibardier Kitson, of the Royal Artillery. When within three miles of Frenchtown Colonel Lewis was informed that the ene- my was on the alert and ready to receive him ; and as the Americans approached the village on the south side, the howitzer of the foe was opened upon the advancing column, but without (ffect. Lewis's line of battle was instantly formed, and the whole detachment moved steadily forward to the river, which was hard frozen, and in many places very slippery. They crossed it in the face of blazing muskets, and then the long roll was beaten, and a general charge was executed.' The Americans rushed gallantly up the bank, leaped the garden pickets, dislodged the enemy, and drove him back toward the forests. Majors Graves and Madison attempted to cap- ture the howitzer, but failed. Meanwhile tlie allies were retreating in a line inclin- ing eastward, when they were attacked on their left by Colonel Allen, who pursued them more than half a mile to the woods. There they made a stand with their howitzer and small-arms, covered by a chain of inclosed lots and groups of houses, and having in their rear a thick, brushy wood, full of fallen timber. While in this position Majors Graves and Madison moved upon the enemy's right, while Allen was sorely pressing his left. The enemy fell back into the wood, closely pursued, and the conflict became extremely hot on the right wing of the Americans, where both whites and Indians were concentrated. The contest lasted from three o'clock until dark, the enemy all .the while slowly retreating over a space of not less than two miles, gallantly contesting every foot of the ground. The detachments returned to the village in the evening, and encamped for the night on the ground which the ene- ' The Rnliiln, on which Frenchtown was sitnated, was called Sturgeon River by the Indians, because of the abund- ance of that floh In its waters. It flowed throngh a fertile and attractive region, and late In the last century a niimhcr of French rnmllles settled upon Its banks, and engaged In farming, and trading with the Indians. Becauee of the abundance of grapes on the borders of the stream tliey called It Rivirre mix llainins, and on account of the nationality of the settlers the village was called Frenchtown. It is now Monroe, Michigan. ' Statement to the anthor by the Hon. Laarent Durochcr, of Monroe (Frenchtown), who was an actor In the ?c«nes there during the war of 1S12. » See nots 8, page 279. * A hoiciu or homtzcr Is a kind of moftar or short gun, mounted on a carriage, and used for throwing bomb-shellfi. freacbtown to bo my had occu ish officers ht ease of delim iif Americans (•ral Harrison. the latter wa: Captains Past l)een much gr guinary j)orti( ed their dead inhabitants an As soon as 1 strong " j)uncl of the battle," ( a brief report c camp before di with the tiding Lewis called place and wait From the mom ohcKter's camp, ward, not doub siiecess until D( was also appare jirincipal rendes iiiiies from Fren to recover what on the evening Samuel Wells, Frenchtown wit from the camp ai noon of the next liie right of Lew licliind as a rear- re-enfoi-cements. Ills staif, recross Colonel Francis from the Americ ' Captain Bland W. . Khen ho was wounded. ' Hickman led n part; ' Mateon was afterwa < Colonel Lewis's full January 20, 1813, on the s It is asserted that C'( there being plenty of ro military rule would not Biischlcvous. ' The view of Colonel lioared in 1813, with a ilwr. The room was a ^replace. In this room * of the house are ntl 'i.f the early settlers. T Ike owner in 1813, Ilcni llie structure of 18,10 was Tlie log-house of 1830 hi Monroe, It stood back i OF THE WAR OF 1812. 353 FrcnctHown to be held. Winchester arrives with lle-oiifdrcemuntii. Position of Troops there. my hail occupied. American officers occupied the Hamo buildiiigH in which the Brit- ish officers had lived. The troops had behaved nobly. There had not been a Hingle (•(180 of (lelinqiienoy. " This amply supported," as was said, " the double character iif Americans and Kcntuckians," and fully vindicated the faith and judgment of Gen- eral Hufison., Twelve of the Americans were killed and iifty-five wounded. Among the latter was Capttin IJ. W. Ballard,' who gallantly led the van in the fight ; also Captains Paschal, Hickman,'' and llichard JMatson.^ The loss of the enemy must have Iweii much greater, for they left fifteen dead in the open field, while the most san- (minary ])ortion of the conflict occurred in the wood. That night the Indians gather- ed their dead and .vounded, and, on their retreat toward Maiden, killed some of the inhabitants and pillaged their liouses. As soon as his little army was safely encamped in the village gardens, behind the stronc; " puncheon" pickets, and his wounded men comfortably housed, on the night of the battle," Colonel Lewis sent a messenger to General Winchester with i jannnry is, a brief report of the action and his situation.^ lie arrived at Winchester's ^'**''' camp before dawn, and an express was immediately dispatched to General Harrison ^nth the tiduigs. Lewis called a council of officers in the morning, when it Avas resolved to hold the place and wait for re-enforcements from the I{ai)ids. They were not long waiting. From the moment when intelligence of the aff"air at P^enchtown was known in Win- ohcF.tcr's camp, the troops were in a perfect i'erment. All wore eager to ])ress north- «arcl, not doubting that the victory at the Kaishi was the harbinger of continued success until Detroit and Maiden should be in the possession of the Americans. It was also apparent that Lewis's detachment was in a critical situation ; for Maiden, the principal rendezvous of the British and Indians in the Northwest, was only eighteen miles from FrenchtoAvn, and that every possible method would be instantly put forth to recover what had been lost, and bar farther progress toward Detroit. Accordingly, on the evening of the 1 0th,'' General Winchester, accompanied by Colonel Samuel Wells, of Tippecanoe fame, marched from the Maumee toward Krcnchtown Avith less than three htmdred men, it being unsafe to withdraw more from the camp at the Rapids. Ho an-ived at Frenchtown at three o'clock in the after- noon of the next day, crossed the river, and encamped the troops hi an open field on the right of Lewis's forces,'' excepting a small detachment under Ca])tain Morris, left licliind as a rear-guard with the baggage. I^eaving Colonel Wells in command of the re-enforcements, after suggesting the propriety of a fortified camp, Winchester, with ills staff, recrossed the liaisin, and established his head-quarters at the house of Colonel Francis Navarre, on the south side of the river, and more than half a mile from the American lines.* 1 Captnin Bland W. Bnllnrd was a son of Captain Ballard, of Winchester's army. He was acting mivjor at the time when he was wounded. i lUckmiiu led n party of opics under Wayne from December, 17i)4, until June, 1796. > Matson was afterward with Colonel R. M. .Johnson In the bnltle of the Thames. ' Ciiloiiel Lewis's fn'.l report to Oeneral Winchester was written two days afterward, dated "Camp at Frenchtown, January 20, 1S13, on the River Kaislu." The facts In our narrative of the battle were drawn chiefly from this report. i It is asserted that Colonel Lewis recommended the encamping of the re-enforcements within the picketed gnrdeng, [here beinj; plenty of room on his left. Wells being of the regular army, precedence gave him the right of Lewis, and military rule would not allow him to take position on his left. This observance of etiquette proved to be exceedingly uiisohievonB. ' The view of Colonel Navarre's house, the head-quarters of Winchester, given on page 364, represents it as it ap- peared in 1813, with a "puncheon" fence in front. General Winchester occupied the room on the left of the cntrance- Joor. The room was a long one, fronting east (we are looking at the house in a southeast direction), and had a large fireplace. In this room the Indians who came to trade with Navarre rested and slept. The trees seen on the west indc of the honse arc utill there— venerable pear-trees (originally brought from Normandy), which were planted there livthe early pcttlers. Those which remain Btill bear fruit. In 1S30 the old Navarre House was altered by the son of ibeowner in 1813. lie made additions to It, and raised the roof so as to make it two stories in height. Like the origin.il, ibe structure of 1S30 was a log edifice. When I visited the spot in the autumn of 1800, it had undergone another change The log-houBC of 1830 had been clap-boarded, and it was then the residence of the rector of the Kpiscopal church In Monroe. It stood back a little from Front Street, witliin the square bordered by Front, Murray, Hamphrcy, and Wads- ^^ 354 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK w Wlncheitor'ti I^ck of ViKilauce. W«iiilii|{a of Oaotcer unheeded bjr Wincbeitor. Other OffloWi on tti« Alert WIMUIIKBTKItH llKAI>-<ttIAHTl:ilh. According to the testimony of ail otficcr of the exi)e(lition, very little vigilance WU8 exercised by (Jenerul Wiiulicsttp. Spies were not Kent out to recoiuKtitrc nor any ineasnres adopted for Htrenijth- eninj^ the eainp. A large tpiantity t,( fixed aniniiinition, sent to VVineliestci's quarters i'r<>\\\ the UapidH, was not (lin- triliuted, altiidUgh the rc-enforociiii'iits iiad only ten rounds of cartridnes each' and the urLicnt reconiniendation of Colonel Wells that the quarters of the comnuinder-in-chief and the priiuijiul officers should bo with the troops was unhec' (1.' On I lie morning of the 21st Winchester rt'iuested Peter Navarre and his four brothers to gn on a scout toward the mouth of the Detroit liiver. Peter was still living when I visited the IMaumee Valley in the aiiluinn of 1800, and aceonipaniod me from Toledo to the liapids. He was a young man at the time in (piestitm, full of courage and pliysical strengtli. He and his brothers (■(>nij)lied with Windiest it's request with alacrity. They saw a man, far distant, coming toward them on llic m'. He proved to be Joseph Bordeau, whose daughter Peter atlerward married, lie had escaped from Maiden, and was bringing the news that the British would be at the Raisin, with a large body of Indians, that night. Peter hastened back to Winchester with this intelligence. Jacques La Salle, a resident of Frenchtown, in the interest of the British, was jiresent, and asserted, in the most positive language, that it must lie a mistake. Winchester's fears were allayed. Peter was dismissed with a laugh, and no precautions to insure safety were taken by the general.^ Another scout confirmed this intelligence during the afternoon. The general was still incredulous. Late in the evening news came to Lewis's camp that a very largo force of Briti-^li and In- dians, with several pieces of heavy artillery, were at Stony Creek, only a lew miles distant, and would be at Frenehtown before morning. The picket-guard was im- mediately doubled, and word was sent to the commanding general. lie did not be- lieve a word of it; but Colonel Wells, wiio did believe the tirst rumor brought hy Bordc.au, had meanwhile hastened to the Bapids with Captain Lauham for re-enforce- ments, leaving his detachment in charge of Major M'Clanahan. When the late evening rumors had been communicated to Winchester, the field oflicers remained up, expecting every moment to receive a summons to attend a council at head-quarters. They were disappointed. The general disbelieved the alarming rumors ; and before midnight a deep repose rested upon the camp, as if some trusted power had guaranteed perfect security. The sentinels, as wo have ob- served, were well posted, but, owing to the severity of the weather, no pickets were sent out upon the roads leading to the town. All but the chief officers in Lewis's camp and some better-informed inhabitants seemed perfectly free from apprehension. At head-quarters the night was passed by the general and his staff in sweet slumber; but just as the reveille was beaten, between four and five o'clock in the moniing, and the drummer-boy was pkyiug the Three Camps, the sharp crack of the sentinels" worth Streets. I nm indebted to the khid courtesy of MrH. Sarah A. Noble, of Monroe (Frenehtown), Michigan, for (he foregoing facts, and fur the -bove sicetch of VVinchesterV ((iiarters as it appeared in 1S13. ' Major Elijah M'ClaualiMM to General Uarrlson, dated "(amp on Carrying River, January 26, 1818." Carryin? River wns eighteen miles fi'om Vv'inchester's camp, on the Maumce, on the way toward the Raisin. ' Oral statement of Peter Navarre to the author. Aiuck on n«M MiiiBketH firi iiediateiy h "nliiance, ac ilif terrible amp with c terri'dc fulfil vet yielded ucri' iinknoM iiolhing else i I'latioua of di tory. 'Hie expose I'll i-.iiMji, aflei (foneral U'inc ■|iiiiic'heon" fi iiijlil, and find their savage ai .1 large body o I'outiision, and liiindred men \ .Allen joined \^ I'enees on the 8( •V.'ijors Graves viiiii. The Iixli Hoofis on the li l;uie leading fror by the savages ftoods hoping tJ i'very turn by f :i liundred yards tlie hatchets of after^vard bore t preeious article i irliethor in High irinisoned with allies of the Briti ' 'Never, dear motlii wmelj-painted Indians »iiok», and yet covered "Urw, who, I was told, \ PfocturwasadlRgrace t -l^llerofA.O. Tuftin, = .No rule of civilized ■ iTiCfwemed disposed n. i»sabontamllo,wcre pi I W' of forty men, wer mandedln the thigh in telionoftheManmee, tW, who, perceiving his |ta Mmc moment two ot W one of them dead np 7 "■-;;, of "hooting on. K™ti,ckyiniTso,«nd, tie family removed to am [ftelvcilhlDcdiiration. II ieDlacky.lniTiw. He wi J "tflment of riflemen fo |Wii,onthe22dof Jan OF THE WAR OF 1812. 8S9 Aiuck on Frenrhtown bjr Proctor and hli Pellow-MviKM. A ttrrtble Htrnfrgld. A Panic and Mamscre. muskcl'^ firing an alann wuh lu-nnl by Ktill <1ull oars. These were followed im- iiiodiaU'lv l>y a shower ol'bonihslit'Hs ami eiini«ter-Hhot hurled from Heveral j)ie('es of iinlniiiH'*') acconipunied by a furious charge of aliuoHt iaviMible Hritish regularH, and till' terrible yellw of painted HavageH. The BoiindH and missileH fell upon tlie startled ,amp with apjmlling HuddenneHS, giving fearful 8ignili( anee to the warniiigH, and a terrilile fultillnient of the predictions uttered th« previous evening. Night had not vet yielded its gloomy sceptre to Day. The eharaetcr and number of assailants were unknown. All was mystery, terribhi and profound ; and the Amerieiiiis had nothing else to do but to oppose force to force, as gallantly as possible, until tlio rev- elations of daylight should point to strategy, skill, or prowess for safety and vic- tory. The exposed re<'nforccments in the open field were driven in toward Lewis's pieket- wl camp, arter bravely maintaining a severe eontlict for sonic time. At this moment (renerai Winchester arrived, and endeavored to rally the retreating troops behind a imiicheon" fence and second bank of the Haisin, so that they might incline to the rijjiii,aiid find shelter behind Lewis's cam|). His efforts were vain. The Hritish and thi'ir savage allies were pressing too heavily njioii the fugitives; and when at length iiliirpe body of Indians gained their right flank, they were thrown into the greatest I'onfiision, and fled pell-mell across the river, earrying with them a detachincnt of one hiuidrc'd men which Lewis ha<l sent out for their support. Seeing this, Lewis aud Allen joined Winchester in his attempt to rally the troops behind the houses and I'eiui'H on the soutli sicU; of the Raisin, leaving the camp in the gardens in charge of Majors Graves and Madison. IJut all eftbrts to stop the flight of tlie soldiers were vain. The Indians, more tleet than they, had gained their flank, and swarmed in the woods on the line of their retreat, Awhile those who made their way along a narrow huif leading from the village to the road from the Hapids were shot down and scalped by the savages skulking behind the trees atid fences. Others, who rushed into the woods hoping to find shelter there from the fury of the terrible storm, were met at t'vory turn by the bloody butchers, and scarcely one escaped. Within the s])ace ot ;i hundred yards,ii( ;ir Plum or Mill Creek, nearly one hundred Kentuekians fell under the hatchets of liiiod saxages, who snatched the " scal|)-locks" from their heads, and al'terAvard bore them in triumpii to Fort Maiden to receive the market jirice for that jirocious article of commerce.' Death and mutilation met the fugitives on every side, whether in flight or in submission, and all about that little village the snow was (Timsoned with human blood. On that dreadful morning it was on the part of the allies of the British a war of cxtennination." < " Never, dear mother, if I fihould live n tbonBiind yearo, can I forget the frightrbl ei^ht of this morning, when band- [omely-painted Indians cnmc into the fort, some of them carrying hiilf a dozen ncnlps of my countrymen fastened npon •iicki>, niid yet covered with blood, and wore congratulated by Colonel Proctor for their t/raveri/.' I heard ii liritieh (ilUctr, who, I was told, wbh Lientenaut Colonel 8t. George, tell another offlrtT, who, I believe, was Colonel Vincent, that Prattor was a dlc^race to the British army— that snch encouragements to devils was a blot upon the British character." -Letter of A. 0. Tuetin, of BardstDwii, Kcntncky, to bis mother, dated Fort Maiden, .lanuary 28, 1818. ' No rule of civilized warfare >vaii observed. Blood and scalps were the chief objects for which the Indians fought. They seemed disposed not to take any prisoners. A party of flflecn or twenty, nnder Lleatenant Garrett, after rctreat- lORibont a mile, were compelled to surrender, when all but the y ng commander were killed and scalped. Another [•uly, of forty men, were more than one half murdered under similar clrcnmstanccs. Colonel Allen, who hud been touidedin the thigh in the nttrmpt to rally the troojis, after abandoning all hope, and escaping about two miles In the dirptlion of the Mauinee, was compelled, by sheer exhaustion, to sit down npon a log. He wa^' -ibserved by an Indian riief.wlio, perceiving his rank, promised him his protection If he would surrender without resi-ianco. He did so. At ihe ssmo moment two other savages approached with murderous intent, when, with a single blow of his sword, Allen lild one of them dead upon the ground. His companion instantly shot the colonel dead. "He had the honor," says [ M .Uce, " of shooting one of the first and greatest citizens of Kentucky." Jiihn Allen was bom in Rockbridge County, Virginia, on the .'5nth of December, 1TT2. His father emigrated with him I M Kentucky In 17S0, and settled about a mile and a half below the present town of Danville, in Boyle County. In 1784 the family removed to auother part, five miles from Bardstown, and in a school in that then rndo village young Allen received hl« education. He studied law in Staunton, Virginia, forfonr years, and commenced its practice In Shelbyvllle, Ktnlucky, in Hits. He was following his profenslon successfully there when the war broke out in 1S12, when he raised I r»):lmcnt of riflemen for service under Harrison. He was killed, as we have seen, at the massacre on the River RaifiD, on the i!2d of January, 1813, at the age of forty-one years. Allen Cotinty, Kentucky, was so named in bis "I, i I 3Ae PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK I I Wlncbaater made Priionar. Proctor rapuUed. Wluchntsr A)r(')!d to lurrendar bla Armjr. U»iat Madlton Ooncittl WinchcHtor and Colonel I^ewia woro made priBonen by Round-heail > at a bridge about tlirco fourtlm ot'ii rniK' from tlio village, stripped of their clotlicH oxvk'm shin, ]»antalo<)nH, and V)ootB, and in thiw pliglii, were taken to the quartern of the Uritisli commander, who proved to be I'olonel I're -lor, tlie unworthy HucceHnor of tlic worthy Brouk in tho command at Detroit and AndicrHthurg, He waw in Fort Mahh i>, at the latter place, when intellififonee of Lewis's occupation of Frone.htown reached m and he nmde immediate preparations to drive the AmericaiiH buck. The Hritisli and In- dians expelled from Frenchtown on the 18th ha<l fallen back with their howitzer tn Hrownstown, where Proctor Joined them, on tho Ctcning of the 20th, with a detach- ment of tile 4l8t Regiment, onj hundred and forty in number, under liimilciiuiit Vo]- onel St. George; the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, under Colonil Vincent; luid a part of the 10th Veteran Rattalicm and some seamen. These, with Reynolds's militi;, and a party of the Royal Artillery, with three three-jiounders and the howitzer alrcidv mentioned, made a white force about five hundred strong. The Indians, under HduiiJ. head and Walk-in-the- Water, ntimbered about six hundred. With these Proctor ad. vanced from lirownstown on tho morning of tl e 21st, and halted at Swan Crock twelve miles on the way. There ho remained .intil dusk, when the march was ro- sumed. So great was the lack of vigilan",. on the part of tho Americans tliat IVoc tor's troops and guns were made ready for assault before their presence was positivclv known. Then followed the attack just recorded. While the right wing of Lewis's army and Winchester's re-enforcements were suf- fering destruction, the lell and centre, under Majors Graves and Madison, were nobly defending themselves in the garden j)icketed camp. They maintained tlieir position manfully against the powerful assault of the enemy. The British had planted tluir howitzer within two hundred yards of the camp (and eastward of it), behind a small house about forty rods from the river, upon the road to Detroit. It was a I'ormidablc assailant, but it was soon silenced by the Kentucky sharp-shooters behind the piokits, who lirst killed the horse and driver of the sleigh that conveyed amnmnition, and then picked oft" thirteen of the sixteen men in charge of the gun. It was soon dram back so far that itii shot had no effect on the " puncheon ;" and at ten o'clock, pen;* ii ing all efforts of iiis white troops to dislodge the Americans to be fruitless, Prod di withdrew his forces to the woods, with the intention of either abandoning the contest, or awaiting the return of his savage allies, who were having their feast of blood beyond I'le Raisin. When the assailants withdrew, the Americans quietly break- fasted. While the troops were eating, a white flag was seen approaching from the Britisli line. Major Madison, believing it to be a token of truce while the British miubt bun their dead, went out to meet it. It was borne by Major Overton, one of General Win- chester's staff, who was a(rcompanied by Colonel Proctor. lie brought an order from (ireneral Winchester directing the uncondition;il surrender of all the troops as jjrisoncrs of w^ar. This was the first intelligence received by the gallant left wing tiiat their chief was a cp.ptive. Proctor liad dishonorably taken advantage of his situation lo extort that order from him. He assured Winchester that as soon as the Indirn , fresh from the massacre from Avhich he had escaped, should join his camp, the remabider of the Americans would be easily captured, concealing from him the fact that they had already driven the British back to the woods. He represented to the general that, in such an event, " nothing would save the Americans from an indiscriminate massacre by the Indians." Totally ignorant of the condition of the remnant of his little army, and horrified by the butchery of which he had just been a witness, Win- chester yielded, and sent Major Overton with the orders just mentioned. Madison, surprised and mortified, refused to obey the order except on conditions. 1 See page 201. It wag witb («reat difficnlty that Proctor pereaadcd Koand-bead to release biB priaoner, or to gtre ap tbc military salt be bad ntripped fl-oni bim. OF THE WAI{ OF 1812. Ml pnclor qiuUi txAir* • tnM Mu. HI* Perfidy, Cowardice, and (Dhumanity. A fearfUl NtKbt at Vrunchtuwn. "It has been cuHtonmry for the In<liaiiH," hu obHiTved, " to inuHsaero the woumkd and niisoiii'iM ntU'i- a sunvnclur; 1 shall tlit'ix'fbro not agrco to any capitulation whicli (Jt'ii- iral WinthrMtor may diroct, unU'ss tlio nafoty anil prott^-tion of all the piiHoiuTs nhall Ipc stipiilatfd." Till) haughty I'roctor Mtaniped Iuh foot, and Haiti, with a Hupfi<iliou8 nir "Sir, do i/ou mean to diotato to tne!" "I nu-an to dictate for myself," Madison replied, with Hrmni'SM. " Wo prefer Helling our lives as dearly as possible rather Ihua lu' massaored in cold blood." Proctor, who was scorned by Jhock for his jealouHy ;iiiil innate nieanneHS, and Ih remembered with dislike by the C'anadiaiiH, who kii.-w jiiiu as innately cruel and cowardly,' (ju.iiled before the honcHt, manly bravery of MiulinoM, and solemnly agreed that all private property hIiouUI be renpected ; that >k'<]s fihould be sent the ne.vt morning to remove the sick and wounded to Amherst- Imrf; that the diHabled Hhonld be protected by a proper guard; and that the side- anus of the officers should be returned when the captives should reach Maiden. I'nictor refused to commit thcHc conditions to writing, I ut i)ledged his honor as a Mildier and a gentleman that they Hhonld be observed. Madison was ignorant of I'lootor's poverty in all that constituted a soldier and man of honor, and trusted to IiIk promises. On the conditions named, he and his otKcers agreed to surrender them- M'lves and their men prisoners of war. Before .the surrender was fairly completed the Indians began to plunder, when Major 3Iadison ordered his men to resist them, even with ball and 1)ayonet. The cowardly savages quailed before the courage of the white captives, and none of the prisoners were again molested by them while on their way to Maiden. Quite ililfer- eut was the fate of the poor wounded men who were left behind. Having secured Ills oliject, Proctor violated his word of honor, and left them exposed to savage cruelty, liiiiiiors came that Harrison was ap])roaching, and the British commander, more intent m securing personal salt'ty than the fultillmcnt of solemn promises, left for Maiden witli most of his savage allies, within an hour after the surrender, leaving as a "guan!" aitly Major lieynolds and two or three interpreters. Proctor did not even name : .'iiard, nor spoke of conveyances for the wounded after leaving Frenclitown ; and vlieu both Winchester and .Madison reminded him of his promises and the ])eril of 111' wounded, he refused to hear them. It is evident that from the first that inhuninii nicer uitended to almndon the wounded prisoners to their fate. Among them was I'aptain Hart, brother-in-lav,' 'if Henry Clay, and inspector general of the Army of ilic Northwest. He was anxious to accompany the prisoners to Maiden, but Captaii. Elliott, son of the notorious Colonel Elliott, who had known Hart intimately in Ken- tucky, assured him of perfect safety at Frenclitown, and promised to send his own conveyance for him the next morning. Elliott assured all the wounded that they need not apprehend danger, and that sleds from Maiden would come for them in the morning. The wounded Avere taken into the houee ' \;he kind-liearted villagers, and cared for by Drs. Todd and Jiowers, of the Keni :kj v olunteers, who were left behind for the purpose. In every mind there tvas an indefinable dread when Proctor and his motley crew departed ; and Avhen it Avas known that he had promised his savage allies a " frolic" at Stony Creek, only about six miles from the Raisin, lot only the wounded soldiers, but the villagers, and Major lieynolds himself, felt a th ill of horror, for there could be no doubt that the drunken Indians, after their deba; icii, would re- turn to Freuchtown to glut their appetites" for blood and plunder. Even those who remained Avent from house to house, after Proctor's departure, in search of plunder. The night following the battle Avas a fearful one at Frenchtown. .January as. Day dawned with hope, but the sun at his rising* found the inhabitants **^-- * ■ Tecnmthn, ns we Bliall observe herenfler, resardeil Proctor as a coward, and by threats compelled him to make a 'tand on the Thames ; and the venerable Robert Heynolds, of Amheretburg, and other survivors of tbo British army in Cauaila with whom I have converBt'd, spoke of him vplth contempt as a boasting coward. i .^. ■I -mmmkif^ MHiai ifliltS: 358 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Magsiicre aud Scalping of wounded Prisoners allowed by Proctor. Incidents of tiie liorrlble Evem. and prisoners in despair. Instead of the promised sleds from Madden, about two hiiiul- rcd half-drunken savages, with their faces painted red and black in token of their fiendish purposes, came into the village. The chiefs held a brief council, and determined to kill and scalp all the woiuid- ed who were unable to ti'avcl in revenge for the many com- rades they had lost in the fisxht. This decision was announced by horrid yells, and the savages went out upon their bloody errand. They first i)lundereti the village; then they broke into the houses wlicre the wounded lay, stripped them of every thing, and then toma- hawked and scalped them. Thi houses of Joan B. Jereaumo ami Gabriel Godfrey, that stood near the present dwcllina; of Matthew (liibson, sheltered a large number of prisoners. In the cellar of Jereaiimo's lionso wiiH stored a large (luaiitity nl whisky. This the savages took in sufficient quantities to mad- den thciu, when they set both dwellings on fire. A number of the w^ounded, unable to nioyc, were consumed. Others, at- tempting to escape by the doors and windows, were tomahawk- ed and scalped. Others, ou*- side, were scalped and cast intu the flames, and the remaiiidov, who could walk, were man lied ofi" toward Maiden. When any of them sank from exhaustion, they were killed and scalped. Doctor Todd, who had ocen tied and carried to Stony Creek, informed Elliott ol what was g()i:>g on at the Raisin, and begged him to send conveyances for ihf wounded, espet lally for Captoin Hart ; but that young officer coolJv rej)lied, "Charity begins at home ; my o kU wounded must bo carried to Maiden first." He well knew that an hour more would be too late for re.'scue.' M.ajor Graves was never 1 I'ard of after tlie Maumee. Captain Hickman was mur- dered in Jereaurae's house. Captain Hart was removed from that house by Di^ctor ' This Is from ft eketcli xcnt to Colonel Wi I llnm II. Winder by Lieut': iiantCotone" Bocretlcr, in a letter dated "Buffiilr ITIh February, ISlil. I nenrt you," ho rniyp, "a hnstysket^ li of the H.uatlon of the troops at Frcnchtowu ' Fie ohtniiicil It from some subordinat'- officer amone; the prisoiiern from the Rrli>tn, who weic paroled, and passed t'lrough llnffalu He says. "The prisoners liave passed throuKh to tlic number of four huiulrod nud sliiy-two. The K''iieral anil llcl ofllcprs are not yot sent across.'' '.utngraph Jjelltr. » Klllott had been in Le-Tington, where lie W'\s very 111 of fever for a lonp time in tlie fiinillv of Colonel Thomm Ha;' the f»t!ier of Captain Hart. During that lltnesh tie h»A lecelvcd mwy attentions from t!»< young man whom Ijo cm ba«e1y deserted 1p his hour of greatei<t need. ''•" ' ~ MOVEllEMB KllENOnTOWN.l The Death of Todd, heft a mile up Pottawatc to Muhlen, through tl 5-t: .^ them were s( l)y way of t l/ii'l trcadru' ilitioti that t war, or until The officer a majesty's all son,' were sc the spring of • Inm indebted front oflhp. ford, known some lime ' .\nthanlel G. 1 In Loiinfjton. Ca ninrried James It purflts when Ih Laiiifftmi r.irjlit hi US'. Under Its I' w nt the hfiiii o commander of ihe Ills pds.sesi'ioii, wh: Court of St. Peters il! fls!,' was the rej fomiiiuiy (now call, in behalf of the do incky, performed tl from 17«» to isiil, V Thomas Smith, of t "to was Jl.irfs Riic ' A few diivs aft< move to Detroit, "onvcyanTB were massacred were un ' William Lewis 'He fame position I i^iBi^nned t.leutena WM n native of Vlrj * Oeorfw Madisoi w was ni,|p ,<i lad c liMd uf ai.,flij,n,,j. m mmtmttllimillKUSt' OF THE WAR OF 1812. 350 The Death of Captain Uart. Sketch of hiiiUrc. The Britinb Mbwned to call the tiiiH— Hwll Allies. Todd, before the massacre was !.oraint»n«*d, to the dwelling ofJaoqucH Navarre, about a mile up the river (now tht- Waifawwlii brick house), uiuler the « liartje of a friendly Pdttiuvatoinie chief. Hurt ofltaed hi» one hundred dollars to com y him in safety to Miilden. The chief att ciptai it. Hart was placed on a horse, and when pa^^sing tlii'oii'di the village, near the houitt; of Fran9ois La Salle' (who was suspected of com- plicity with the IJiitish), a Wyandot ■ravage came out, and claimed the cap- tain as his prisoner. A dispute arose, and they finally settled it by agreeing to kill the prisoner, and dividing his money and clothes between them. So says the most reliable recorded history.^ Local trudi- tion declares that the Pottawatomie at- tempted to defend Captain Hart when the Wyandot shot and scalped him. There are many versions of the tragedy. lie was buried near the place of his murder, but the exact spot is not known. J'roctor arrived with his prisoners at Ainherstburg on the morning of the 23d of January, and on the '20th proceeded to Sandwich and Detroit.^ Some of them were sent to Detroit, and others were forwarded to Fort George, on the Niagara, by way of the Thames. These suffered much from the severity of the weather and \,:\i\ Ileal inent of their guards. At Fort George they were mostly paroled, on con- dition that they should not "bear arms against his majesty or his allies during the war, or until exchanged." "Who are his majesty's allies?" inquired Major Madison. Tlio officer addressed, doubtless ashamed to own the disgrace in words, said, " Ilis majesty's allies are known." General Winchester, Colonel Lewis,'' and Major Madi- son,^ were sent to Quebec, and at Beauport, near that city, they were confined until the spring of 1814, when a general exchange of prisoners took place. BESIDENCK or LA BAl.LE. 1 I nm Indelited to Mrs. Sarah A. Noble for this ekotch of La Salle's house, as it appeared at the time. It stood in front of the ford, was Imilt of logs, and between it and the river was a "puuolieon" fence. The " Laselle Farm" was Iviimvii some time as the " Mnrnphrey Farm." It is now tlSOl] the property of the lIi)noral)le D. A. Noble. " Nathaniel O. T. Hart was a sou of Colonel Thomas Hart, who emi>:r«ted to Kentucky from Maryland, and settled in LcxiiiKton. Captain Hart was born at Ilagcrstowu, in Maryland. One of his sisters married Henry Clay, another ninrricd James llnnvn, lon^ the United States minister at the French Court. Hart was making a fortune in mercantile imr.'iis when the war of ISl'i broke out, when (at the age of about twenty-se> on years) he was in command of the l.rx'iifitan Liijht Infantry, ii company which was organized by Cicucral .Jamrj .Wilkinson, who was Itn first captain, in IM. Vndcr its fourth captain (Beatty) It was with Wayne In the campaign of Ui)4. Hart was its seventh captain, and wns at the head of it in the expedition to the Raisin. When I visited Lcxinuton in April, ISdl, I i-alled on the then commander of the company, Cajitam Samuel 1). M'Cullough, who showed me the crimson silk sash of Captain Hart In ills possesHioii, which was torn and had blood-stains upon it. C^ssius M. ('lay, now [ISliTl America!' minister to the Court of St. Petersburg, commanded this company In the United States army In Mexico. In the battle of Buenn Vista its flaj was the regimental color of the ivenlucky cavalry. On the ISth of .Tanuary, ISOl, a flag was jircsonted to this rompnny (now called the " Lextuaton Old Infantry") at the Odd Fellows Hall in Lexington, by General Leslie Combs, ill liehalf of the donor, David A. Sayre. On that occasion the United States band from the barracks at Newport, Ken- lacky, performed the mu.^lcal part of the ccemonles. The Star-npantjled llaniier was sung, aiid the roil of all the captains, from llWto isiil, was called. The only survivors of the company when Il'irt was captain, who were pre«eiit. were, ThomasSmith, of Loul'/llle: Lawrence Paly, of Fayette ('ouiity: andJudgo Levi L. Todd, of Inuianapolis. The latter, ivtn wftK Hart's successor as captain, gave the opening address. • A few divs affer tho massacre at the Hiiisin Prctor irdered all th" Inhabitants there to leave their houeee and move to Detroit. It wnf mid-winter and severely cold. Tho snow was vcr^ ,1eep, and they suffered dreadfu'Iy. Borne onveyan'-i-s were sent down from Detroit for tbem. For a while Freochtown was a desolation, and the remains of the nmi'Siicred were unbarled. ' William Lewis was in Gaithor's iiattnllon itt St. Clart's defeat In ITSl. He was then captain, and was appointed to •he mme position In tht M Retriment of Infa..try the following year. Ho resigned In 1T9T. In August, iSl'i, he was com- ™b"Ioiici1 Lieutenant C.-lonel of Kfiiiuckv A'olunteers, and, as we have seen, behaved gallantly at Frenchtown. He wM a 'inilve of Virginia. His death occu red nei'i- T.ittlc Rock, arl-ansas, on the 17th of Janiary, 1'<25. ' Ociirf!*! Madison wis a native of Virginia, where he was born in 17(13. He was a soldier In the Revolution, although lie KM oiilv ,1 lad of twelve years when it broke out. He was with General Clarke In the Nort'^vest, and was at the toad uf a cmpaay lu at. Clair's defeat In ITOl, \vhere he was wounded. Uo was also wounded In an attack by the Id- i^mmmm i-' 360 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK . i; Wnr-cry of the Kcntuckiuns. Iluuur couferred on Proctor. Shamefulnesis of the Act. " GunrrtlauH of Civllizatiou " The loss of the Americans in the affair at the Raisin was nine hundred and thirty- four. Of these, one liundriMl and ninety-seven were killed and missing ; the romaiixlor were made prisoners. Of the whole army of about a thousand men, only thirty-tliroc escaped. Tiie loss of the British, according to Proctor's report, was twenty-t'tiur killed, and one hundred and fifty-eight wounded. The loss of their Indian allies is not known. The event was a terrible blow to Kentucky. It caused mourning in al- most every family. The first shock of grief was succeeded by intense exasperation and the war-cry of Kentucky soldiers after that was, Hemember the River Raisin! •Jnnnnry20, At Sandwicli Proctor \yrote his dispatch* to Sir George Prevost, the ^^^" commander-in-chief in Canada, giving an account of his expedition to Frenclitown, and highly commending the conduct of his savage allies.' His privato representations were such that the evidently deceived Assembly of Lower Canada passed a vote of thanks to him and his men, and the equally duped Sir Geortrc promoted him to the rank of brigadier general " until the pleasure of the Prince Re- gent should be known.'"'- That " jileasure" was to confirm the apjiointment, and there- by the British government indorsed his conduct. I visited Frenclitown (now Monroe), in Michigan, early in October, 18G0. I wont down from Detroit by railway early in the morning, after a night of tempest — min- gled lightning, wind, and rain. The air was cool and pure, and the firmament was overhung witii beautiful cloud-pictures. I bore a letter of introduction to the Honor- able D. S. Bacon, a resident of the plaj30 for almost forty yeai'!*^ Avho kindly spent the day with me in visiting persons and places of interest on that memorable spot. Crossing the bridge to the north side of the stream, we passed down "Water Street toward the site of La Salle's, the camp of Colonel Lewis, and other places connected with the battle and massacre already described. We met the venerable Judge Du- dians in the camp of Major John Adair the following year. For more than twenty years he was ai:ditor of pnlilic ac- counts in Kentucky. When Kentncky was asked for troops in ISIii he took the ticld. Ho was kept a prisoner at (Jucboc for siiue tinio. In ISltt lie was nominated for the office of governor of Kentucky, ile was sobelced and pupuliir Iha: hi', opponent vvltlidrew in the l\cat of the canvass, declaring that nobody could resist ' at popularity. He was electeil, but died on the U'li of October the same year. ' "The zeal and couraj^o of the Indian Department," he eali, "were never more conspicuous than ou this occa.«ioD, and the Indian warriors I'ougnt with their usual bravery." 5 It seems hardly possible that the Canadian Assembly or Sir George Prevost cou'k' have known the facts nf the hor- rors of Frcnchtown, and Proctor's inhunuiu abandonment of He prisoners, or (hey would have punished rather than rewarded the commander ou that occasion. Sir George, in his general order .^nnoHncing the promotion of Proctor, ai- tually said, " On this occasion the gallantry of Colonel Proctor was most nobly displayed in his humane and unmarird I'Xfrtions, ichich mineeeded m rexming the ranqtiiahot from tlie re'>e)uje nf the Indian warriors !" British writers, unable to offer the shadow of an excuse for Proctor's coudnct, either avoid all mention of the n,assn- ere, or endCiivor to shield him from the si-ourge of just criticism by affecting to disbelieve the fact that he agreed to give protection to the wounded, or accepted the surrender on any condilions whatever. " Indeed," says .Tames, with an air of trinmpii lii discussioi., " General Wiuchestcr was not in a condition to dictate term."," because he wn« "strip- ped to his shirt and trowsers, and suffering exceedingly from the cold."— ^Icfoi"!^ af the MUitarn Ocetirrenees of the. Wt Hiir, etc., 1., ISS. But the testimi>ny of eye and ear ■, itiiesses to the fact are too iibundaut for any honest-niindcd man to dontit. Before all his men, iu the presence of Colonel Proctor, not tweiUy rods from the house of Francois Lasallo, Major Madison declared the conditions that had been agreed upon. The late Judge Durocher. who was iircscnt, in- formed mi- that he heard these conditions announced, and that Proctor assented to them by his silence. This is in con- firmation of Winchester's statement in his report, written at Maiden on the 23dof .lannary, the day after the (•jm uler, II gives the writer no pleasure to record the cruelties of savages and the unchristian conduct of British coininanilcrs who employed them. He would prefer to Imry the knowledge of these thingb in oblivion, and let the aniaioslties which they engender die w lib the generation of men who were actors In the scenes ; but when a Pharisee, affecting to be the "guardian of civilization," preaches censorious homilies to an equal in virtue and dignity, it is sometimes a wholesome service to prick the bubble of his pride with the bodkin of just exposure. When the Briti!<h government, in its pride 01 blindness, lectures that of the riiited States on lust for power, barbarity In warfare, and kindred subjects, as it did diir'ng the late civil war In the I'nlted States, an occasional lifting of the veil ttimi the records of the censor's own sl'irtcomlngs may be productive of a wholesome hnmlllty and a practical desire for reform. Posterity will point the finger of scorn toward the ccnduct of the government of that einoirc, aid the journalists and publicists In Its Intcrci, during the trials of the government and loyal people o.'tho fnltcd States In their late struggles against foul conspiracy and frigluful rebellion, as unworthy of an enlightened and Christian nation. That conduct— the manifestation of the intense selflshness of the arist.u racy of rank and wealth which have ever ruled England— will always appear iiarklv In the history of nations as a crime against humanity, and a libel upon the character of the overwhelming majority of the English people. The emp'oyrncnt of bloody savages to butcher their relatives in America ; the deiuoiiiac trcatnuMit of captive Sepoys in India ; the encouragement of f-lglitfiil atrocities In China, and the open sympathy with conspirators against a beneficent governiiient for the avowwl purpose of establishing a despotism whose corner-stmie should he HUMAN Bi.wiiiiv, she ild forever close the lips of tho Kngllsh government when it attempts to kicturo ethers ou human ity, or cltttms to be, par excelleiift, the "guardian of clvilizatluD." Visit to the Kn OF THE WAR OF 1812. set Viilt to the Haisin. The historical Localltioe there. Survivors of the War. rochcr, already mentioned in the narrative as one of tlie actors in the scenes there — a siiort, dark-complexioned man of French descent — who pointed out the spot, in an open lot between Water Street and the river, not far from where we were standing, a little westward of La Salle's honse, where Captain Hart was murdered by the In- dians. Promising me another and longer interview at his office, we left Judge Du- loclier, and passed on to the site of La Salle's dwelling, then the property of lion. D. S. Nohle, delineated on page 359, a part of which yet remains, with a j»ear-tree plant- ed there during tlie last century. Not far below this we came to the railway and tlie common road leading from the Raisin to Detroit. On the cotner of the latter, not far from the site of the houses of Godfrey and Jereaume, where the wounded were burned and massacred, was a large brick house, the residence of Matthew Gib- son. Very near it, in an orchard, might be seen the remains of the cellars of thost buildings. From that point, around which the battle was fought, and near which the MU.MIDK, rUC.M Tin: llATTLK-liBOfNll. .Vmericans were driven across the Raisin just before the massacre on tlie south side ■>t'the stream, I made the above sketch (looking Avestward) of the river, the railway liiiilgo, and the distant town. Gibson's house is seen in the foreground, on the right; t!ie railv.ay bridge, on four piers in the water, with the town beyond it, is seen in the centre ; and by the distant trees, seen immediately beyond the jtoiut on the left, is indicated the spot near which Winchester was captured. Returning to the village, 1 called upon .I'udge Durocher, who, in the course of a ])leasant interview of an hour, .rave nic many items of information conccniing the events we have been considering, lie spoke of Winchester as a "fussy man,'" quite heavy in person, and illy fitted for tlie peculiar service in which he was engaged. He also assured me that atler the de- flat of tlie AuKM-icans at Frenchtown, Prcctor endeavored to persuade the Indians to destroy the French settlements there, because lie believed the inhabitants to hv lii\ or- ;ilile to the United States. It was even proposed to the Indians in council, and an- I'tlier cold-blooded massacre, not by the permission, but at the instig;;'-ion of Proctor, irasonly ])revented by tlu! Hrmness of the friendship which the Pottawatomies bore to the inhabitants on the Raisin. Judge Durocher was seventy-four years jf :iv when I visited hitn, A little less than a year afterward he was borne to tlic grave.' ' Lniircnt Durocher wat, the con of a FrtMiii; Caniiillnii, aiiil wan born at St. Oomn-ieve Mlwtoii, In MIbbou: ., in 1786. His talhor ilicil when he was young, i\U(l lila uuclc sent him to o college In Montreal to be cdactttcd. At the oloke of his ii itii 3«2 riAL FIELD-BOOK The vslUnt im r Kmiy I public Career. Ills RelatioDB with the ludiaus. Our next %'^ wan to <ij» Iw lil niiwiterB of Winchester, delineated on page 354 wliicli waH occu]/-**^ l>y th*' <i*5«ter'rfti» Protestant Episcopal church in Monroe. It was too unlike the vi^i/inal (// /^^nin Ae «orvice of the pencil, and we proceecU'd to tbe house of James K(V*j(ii;s, on' -*' •''" oldest inhabitants of tiiat region, and a iv- atarkablc character, who, as an ' -Lfhter and A-oliinteer soldier, performed c-ood service during the war of 18] 2. jli- liad just returned from some toil at a distance and, octogenarian as he was, he rn'OnnA vigr" u- \n miml and body. He was a stout- built man, about eighty years of age. His buih-place was at Uoche de Bout, on tlio Mauniee, a little above the present village of Waterville. His father Avas an Ensrjisii. iiian, and his mother a Mohawk Valley Dutch woman.' From early life he was fa- miliar Avith the Indians and the woods. He had been a Avitness of the treachery and (♦ruelty of tlw savages, and his family had sufl'cred severely at their hands. AVheii speaking of the Indians and his personal contests with them, his vengeful feolinirs could hardly be repressed, and he talked Avith almost savage delight of the maniKr in which he had disposed of some of them. ^ Soon .jfter Wayne's campaign Knaggs settled at FrenchtOAvn, and became a flirnicr. In 1811 he established a regular ferry at the Huron River, on the road to Detroit wtfh only Indians as companions and neighbors. These, excited against all Aiiieri- vAun by British emissaries, were Aery troublesome, and Knaggs liad frequent conflicts with them in some form. When Hull was on his Avay tOAvard Detroit, Knaggs joined the army as a private* in Captain Lee's company of dragoons — "River Raisin men f he best trX'ps in the world," as Harrison said^ — and became very expert and efficient Ui \\H' «py, scout, or ranger service. He was engaged in the A'arious conflicts near the DclioW /fiver, already described, and in 1813 Ava> in the battle of the Thames, under Colonel Hi lull il kf. Johnson. While Avith Hull at Sandwich, iittaelicd to Col- i,.iel ]\I' Arthur's regiment, /((( fiiil'l'iiruim] iipportant scout service. On on(: occofiion, aceoiiipfinicd l)y four men. he peiu'tradd (he iiiHliliy lis ihr nn the site of (lie preKcnt village of Chatliam, on the Thames, and there capluied (I C(t||(//('l i>f'filiegor, a burly British officer, iifid a Jew natned Jacobs, and carried them to Jlull's ('(i(n|». Ilif (Im) M viregor to a horse, and thus took him to the head-quarters of his chief After (Ik surrender IM'Gregor offered five hundred dollars i'lir the capture of Knaggs, deail or alive. The Indians Averc constantly on the watch for him, and he hml many studies, in 1^06, he settled nt Fronchtown rcgl(Mi, joined tlic nrniy of General null for a year. They were at the Raisin when Hull surrendered, and gave tlicinselves up to Captain Kl- liott. Dniingthe remainder of the war he wan cliarged hy the Ainer- racmber of the Territorial Council ofMldii; At the beginni np of the var of 1S12, he, with other young Frenchmen of Hint icn .! commander with Kovcrnl im- portant trusts. When, in ISh. Monroe County was orgnnized. I)urocherwasclio.«en ilsriprk, Ilf held that offloe for about Iwiiil; years. ITc was for six years a and in 1S.1B was a member of the Convention that framed the ptateCon- 't:^n<yz^ stitnlion. lie was n member of the state Legislature, a justice of the peace, judge of proba' c, and circuit Judge, and ai the time of his death, on the 21st of September, ISUl, was clcriv of the city of Monroe. Tho funeral services at tlic time of his burial were held hi St. Anne's Catholic church of Monroe, where Father ./oos ofBciatcd. ' Knaggs's motluT lived at or near Frcnchtown nt the time of tlie battle there, and was one of those whom Proctor ordered to Ilelrolt. She was ihen eighty years of age. Thinly clad (having been robl)ed i)y the Indians), she proreciW in an o|)en Intiiicau, and reached Detroit in safety. AA'hen asked how it liappened that she didnf* perish, she replied, " My spunk kept mo warm." » On one occasion, as he Informed me, while ho kept the ferry on the Huron, he flogged a troublesome Indian very severely. That night a brother of the savage came to Knaggs's cabin at a 'ilc hour to avenge the insult. Ilourlni;.! summons, but not knowing the visitor, Knaggs went out, when the glean. ».." a knife-l)lade in the starliL'ht warned him of danger lie ran to a spot wliere heliad a large clul), pursued by a savage, who. In striking at him wltli his kuite, cut off tlic skirt of the only garment that Knag','S had on. The latter seized the club, turned npon his nssailnnt, fdlcd lilm to the ground, and beat him until evry bono in his ixidy was broken. Although nearly flfly years ' art elapsed since tlie occurrence, Mr. Knaggs becninc much excited while relating it. ' I am indebted to Mr. hyon, of Detroit, for the following copy of the first mnster-roll of the "Raisin men," under Cornet Isaac Lee : firrnfl, Isaac Lee. Scrr.miit, James Tlentley. Cnrjmrtil. .T'lhn Rulanrt. Piimtm, .Tames Knaggs, Louis f)roulllard, Orrlii Rhodes, Michael M'Dcnnot, Scott Ifolle, Sntnaci Dililile, Robert Glass, Cyrus Hunter, .lames Rolle, Silas Lewis, Samuel Yonngs, John Murphy, Thomas Noble, Francis Moffatt, Daniel Hull, John Reddull, John Creamer. From October, 1S13, to April, 1^)4, Captain I^oe commanded a liuge comimny of dragoons. His lieutenants wen' George Johnson and John Ruland. The late Judge Laurent Durochcr was cornet. Johnson was a very bravo olBeer, and In the Iiattle of Maguaga lie actually commauiied Smyth's dragoons. The patriotic cmhcr, 1 800. I letiinied events of the c iifliw win: ] son t'ov /lot pr I HO, when H lii.-i alleged services, on av .'ind the avcII-si tiit' Noi'tliAvesl Fort £rie,2 fu 'III tli/it oceasit iiies.sciiger that «ard moveinei 'ion to push Nix'ty miles fro Lower Sandus Portage, with fie J)ressed foi- "liere one reg IVrkins. This i'liil Harrison (' ' I nm indebted to , from lite Ly that gent ' I-ii'iilonaiit Colont "it""« within the com iMi'y looked upon as "wps to succor him "iMIon, and General 11 "M .;,e,,, and „ |„^^,^ "'"Icrjiich a pressure OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 363 The patriotic Knaggs Family. Ilurrlaon unjustly censured. His Efforts to relieve Winchester at the Kalsln. narrow escapes. This made him feci bit- terly toward them. At the battle of tlic Thames, Knaggs identified the body of Tecuintha, it is said, he liaving beeu long acquainted with the great Shawnoe. He was absent in Ohio on his parole when the battle of the Raisin occurred. lie \vas the youngest of five brothers, all of whom were active in mili- tary service. His four brothers served as spies with Captain Wells, who Avas killed at Chicago. One of them was captured in the war of 1812, and carried a prisoner to Halifax. They were all men of strong convictions, and each, until the day of his death, hated both the British and their Indian allies, for they had all suftered at their hands, Mv. Knaggs seemed in fine health and spirits when I visited him ; but, a little more tlian three months afterward, he died suddenly. His death occurred on the 23d of De- eeinlwr, 18C0.1 I Rtmiied to Detroit by the evening train, filled wiMi reflections concerning the I vents of the day, and those which made the Kaisin terribly conspicuous in the annals iCiIk' whi; I remembered that some of the newspapers of the day censured Ilani- >oii for not promptly s ortiiig Winchester; and that in the political campaign of 18)0, when Harrison a, elected President of the United States, his enemies cited his alleged shortcomings on this occasion as evidence that his military genius and service!*, on Avhich his liinie mostly rested, were myths. But contemporary history, iiid the well-settled con\ ictions of his surviving companions in arms whom I met in lilt' Northwest, as well as the gallant engineer, Colonel Wood, Avho afterward fell at Fort Erie,^ fully accjuit General Harrison of all blame or lack of soldierly qualities 111 tluit occasion. It was not until the night of the 16th that he was hiformed by a messenger that General Winchester had arrived at the Iin\' Is, and meditated a for- ward movement. The latter intimation alarmed Harrison, and lie made every exer- tion to push troops forward from Upper Sandusky, where he was then quartered, sixty miles from the Kapids by way of the Portage River, and seventy-six miles by Lower Sandusky. He immediately ordered his tutillery to advance by way of the Poi'tao;e, with an escort of three hundred men, under Major Orr, with provisions ; and lie pressed forward himself, as speedily as possible, by the way of Lower Sandusky, where one regiment and a battalion were stationed, under the command of General Perkins. This battalion Avas ordered to march immediately, under Major Cotgrove, ami Ilarrisou determined to follow it the next morning. He was just rising from hia ' lam inilebtcd to Mr. WilUnni H. Ttowlsby, n i>hotographer In Monroe, for the likeness of Mr. KnniiKS. It wis taken from life \,y Unit gentlemiui. The Bignntiirc wan written in my noto-book by Mr. Knaggs when I \ Uited him. : lieulouiiiit Colonel Woixl, then Ilanlnon's chief engineer, with the rank of ciiptaln, afterward said, " What humaii iiioana wilhiu the control ofOcneral Harrison rould prevent the anticipated disaster, and save that corps which wa-s al- ipaily lijoked upon as lost, as doomed to Inevitable destrnctlon f Certainly none, because neither orders to halt nor roops to succor him LWinchesler] could be received in time, or at least that was iho expectation. He was already in iiintion, and General Harrison still at I'pper Sandusky, seventy miles in his rear. The weather was Inclement, the snow 1 IS i;.t'|), and a large portion of the Black Swamp was yet open. What would a TareuDe or a Eugiuo have doaei KMkr «uch a pressure of embarrassing circumstances, more tUau Harrison did ?' 364 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Harrison at the Maamce Knpids. He asoigtB the Fugitives from tlic Raisin. His Aniiy at the Mattnicc Kapidg bed when a messenger ctiine with the tidings of tlio advance of Lewis upon Froiicli- town. Perkins was immediately ordered to press forward to the Hapids the remain- ing troops under his command. After hastily breakfasting, he and Perkins procetilcd in a sleigh. They were met on the way by an express with intelligence of Lewis's victory at the Haisin. This nerved Harrison to greater exertions. He pushed I'oi'- ward alone and on horseback, through the swamps filled with snow, in daylight and in darkness, and, after almost superhuman eflbrts, he reached the Rapids early on tia. morning of the 20th. Wiu,chester had dejiarted for the Raisin the previous evonini;, and Harrison could do nothing better than wait for his oncoming troops, under Poikins and Cotgrove, and the artillery by the Portage. What remained at the Rajjids of Winchester's army, under Colonel Payne, were sent forward toward the Raisin, and Captain Hart, the inspector general, was sent to inform Winchester of the supportiii<> movements in his rear. Alas ! the roads were so almost impassable tliat the troops moved very slowlv, After the utmost exertions they were too late. News came to Harrison, at tvn o'clock on the morning of the 22d, of the attack of the British and Indians on tiic Americans at Frenchtown. The fraction of Perkins's brigade which liad arrived at the Rapids was sent forward, and Harrison himself hastened toward the Raisin. He met the affrighted fugitives, who told doleful stories of the scenes of the morninff and assured the commander that the British and Indians were in pursuit of the broken army of Winchester toward the Rapids. This intelligence spurred on the re-enforcements. Other fugitives were soon met, who declared thai the defeat of Winchester was total and irretrievable, and that no aid in Harrison's power could Aviu back the victory of the enemy. A council of officers Avas held at Ilai-rison's head-quarters in the saddle, when it was decided that a farther advance would be useless and imprudent. A few active men v/ere sent forward to assist the fujfitives in escaping, Avliile the main body returned t(- the Rajdds. There anotlier couiieil «aj held, which resulted in an order for the trocps, ntimbering not more than nine hund- red men, to fall back to the Portage (pbou eigliteon miles), establish there a forti- fied camp, wait for the arrival of the at i!! "y and accompanying troops, and tlien tu push forward to the Rapids again. The latter movement was delayed on account of heavy rains. On the 30th of Jan- uary Colonel Leftwitch arrived with Ids brigade, a regiment of Pennsylvania troops, and a greater part of the artillery, and on the 1st of February General Harrison moved toward the Rapids with seventeen hundred men. He took post on the rii;lit bank of the river, upon high ami commanding ground, at the foot of the Raj)ids, and there established a fortified camp, to which Avas afterward given, in honor of the gov- enior of Oiiio, the name of Fort Meigs. All the troops that could be spared from other posts Avere crdered there, Avith the design of pressing on toAvard Maiden before the middle of February ; but circumstances caused delay, and the Array of the Xorth- west tarried for some time on the bank of the Maumec before opening the campaign of 1813 in that region. Events on tb We will paign of 181 St. LaAvrenc ill |)oint of t initiated the oflhitish vi mh of the wh'wh lay a miles, were £ When wai eru li-ontier 'he construe iind Henry F Tnited State She was inte iin the fronti of intimtry a of Lake Onta m the south .u'ling. Til is and viiidicarii iinlil the sprii The LegisI; government, t that commoin arms to be dt lowing year a ' The Indians ga> fireat River." It rt l'^«, and in isu it fronlier. Millioua . foraif not to have b ' The cnjuhvint; o Wftod at a cost of i l»mbiii) Street, betw II was sold. I'll II OP THE WAR OF 1812, 305 E/ents on the Northt-rn Frontier. First wnrlike Menaurefi there. Enforcement of the Keveuue Law). CHAPTER XVra. "Oh 1 now the time hns come, my boys, to cross the Yankee line. We remember they were rebels once, and conquered John Unrgoyne; We'll 8iil)due those mighty Democratc, and pull their dwelliufjs down, And we'll have the States inhabited with subjects to the crown." SoNu— TuE NouLB Lads of Ci.i(Adjl. iX j)rece(lint? chapters the military events in the Northwest, w here the Avar was first commenced in earnest, have heen con- sidered in a group, as forming a distinct episode in tlie history. By such grou[)ing, in proper order, the reader may obtain a comprehensive view of the entire campaign of 1812 in that re- gion, wJiich ended with the establishment of Generalllarrison's head-quarters on the banks of the Maumee early in February, 1813. We will now consider the next series of events, in the order of time, in the cam- paign of 1812, which occurred on the Northern frontier, from Lake Erie to the River St. Lawrence. The movements in the Northwest already recorded claim precedence, in point of time, over those on the Northern frontier of only seven days, Hull liaving initiated the former by the invasion of Canada on the 12th of July, and a squadron oflhitish vessels having opened the latter by an attack on Sackett's Harbor on the 19th of the same month. The parties hi these movements, between the scenes of wjiit'h lay an almost unbroken wilderness of wood and water of several hundred miles, were absolutely independent of each other in immediate impulse and action. When M'ar was declared the United States possessed small means on the north- ern frontier for offensive or defensive operations. The first warlike measure was tlie construction,, at Oswego, on Lake Ontario, of the brig Oneidu, by Christian Berg ,111(1 Henry Eckford, under the direction of Lieutenant Melancthon Woolsey, of the Tnitod States Navy. She was commenced in 1808, and was launched early in 180f). She was intended chiefly ibr employment in the enforcement of the revenue laws (Ml the frontier, under the early embargo acts. For a shnilar purpose, a company (if inf'iiiitry and some artillery were pooted at Sackett's Harbor, at the eastern end ut'Lake Ontario,' in 1808; and in March, 1809, militia detachments were stationed (111 tlie southern shores of the St. Lawrence, opposite Kingston, to prevent smug- (.'iinc;. Tliis duty gave rise to many stirring scenes on the frontier hi the violation mill vindication of the revenue laws, which were generally evaded or openly defied until the spring of 1812, when a more stringent embargo act was passed." -April 4, Till' Legislature of the State of New York, as vigilant as the national ^'*''^- .'Dveniinent, took measures early for enforcing the laws on the Canada frontier of tlmt commonwealth. In February, 1808, the governor ordered five hundred stand of linns to be deposited at Chamjiion, in the ])resent county of Jefferson ; and the fol- lowing year an arsenal was built at Watertown,* on the Black River, twelve miles s 1 The Indians ijave this an almost unpronounceable and interminable name, which sipnlfled "Fort at the month of Groat River." It received its name from Augustus Saokett, the first se'tler. It was constituted an election district in I^iVI, and in 1?I14 it was incorporated a village. Unring the war of 1812 It was the chief military post on th'5 Northern froiilicr. Millions of dollars have been expended there for fortifications and war vessels, yet prosperity as a village fOPniB not to have been its lot. It contains loss than one thousand inhabitflnts. ' Tlic cngrnving of the Arsenal lliilldtn!; on the following page Is from n sketch made by the writer in 18.1(5. It wa« jrcctod at a cost of about two thousand dollars. Il is still [ISfiT] standing, on the south side of Arsenal (formerly Co- lumbliO Street, between Benedict and Madison Streets. It was maintained by the state as an arsenal until 1S50, when Il was sold. # r 306 riCTOItlAL FIELD-BOOK War Uateriali at Wutertown. The Militia there in Commuud of General Brown. The detached Militia of the 8Ut«. eastward of Sackett's Harbor, under tho di- rection of Hart Massey,' where arms, llxid iuninunition, aceoutri'inents, and otlicr war sujiplieH were Hpoedily gathered for use on tJie Northern frontier. In May, 1 ftl 2, a ri'ir. iincnt of militia, under Colonel Ciiristdplur I', liellinger, was stationed at Saekett's Ilai- bor, a part of which was kept on duty at Cai)e Vincent. Jacob Brown, an entcrjiris- int; farmer from I'eniifiylviinia, who hud set- tled on the borders of the Black Hiver about four miles from Watertown, and had bocii appointed a brigadier general of militia in 1811, was then in command of the first de- tachment of New York's quota of the one liundred thousand militia which the Presi- ' April 10, dent was authorized to call out by act of Congress.* When war was do- dared he was charged with the defense of the frontier from Oswego to Laki' ABUKNAL Ul'ILUl.NU, WATKUTUW.N. Api 18 812. St. Francis, a distance of two hundred miles.* ' Mr. Maosey was one of the earlier settlers of Watertown. The first religious mcetlnp; there was held in his honKp He wascollector of the port of Sackett's Harbor at the time in question, and held that office all lliroui;h what was call- ed " Embargo times" and the War. He died at Watertown in March, 1S63, at the age of eighty-two year;?. ' By a General Order Issued from the War Department on the 'Jlst of April, 1S12, the detached militia of the State of New York were arranged in two divisions iiud eight brigades. STr.rnEN Van Uenpsei.aek, of Albany, was appolnlcil major general, and assigned to the command of the First Division ; and Benjamin Mooeus, of Plattsburg, was ii|i. pointed to the same office, and placed in command of the Second Division. The eight brigadiers commissioned for the service were assigned to the several brigades as follows: Ist brlsado. OEEAai) STEniiiFORP, of the city of New York ; 2d, Reuiikn Hoi-kinb, of Goshen, OraBge County; 8d, Micajah PETiif. of Queensbury, Washington County ; 4th, Kiohako Dodue, of .lohnstown, Montgomery County ; BIh, Jaooii linowN, of Bro^'nsville, Jefferson County; fltli, Daniel Mii.i.er, of Homer, Cortland County; 7th, Wii.liah Wadswoutii, ofOeu- cseo, ')ntarlo County; 8th, Geoboe M'Clube, of Bath, Steuben County. This force was farther subdivided Into twenty regiments, and to the command of each a lieutenant colonel was aj- signed, ac follows: First Brigade : tst regiment, Beehman M. Van liuren, of the city of New York; 2d, Jonas Mapeii, of the city of New York ; 3d, John IHtmiu, of Jamaica, Queens County. Second Frigade: 4tli regiment, Abraham J. Iltirdenherc/h, of Shawangnnk, Ulster Connty; 6th, Martin Ileermamt, o( Rhlneheck, Duche.ss County; fith, Abraham Van Wi/ck, of Fishkiil, Duchess County. Third Brigade : 7th regiment, Jameti Green, of Argyle. Waslilngton County ; 8th, Thoman Miller, of Plattsburg, Clin- ton Connty ; nth, Peter I. Voittmrgh, of KInderhook, Clolumbia Connty. Fourth Brigade : 10th regiment, John Prior, of CJreenfleld, Saratoga Connty, and llth, Calviri llich, of Sharon, Scho- harie County, to be attached to the regiments from General Veedcr's division ; 12th, JuAn T. Vaji Dal/sm, o( Cmymati't. Albany County, and 13th, Putnam Farrington, of Delhi, Delaware Connty, to be attached to the regiments from Gen- eral Todd's division. Fifth Brigade : 14th regiment, Willitr'n Stone, of Whltestown, Oneida Connty ; IBth, Thmnas B. Benedict, of Dc Kalb, St. Lawrence County. Sixth Brigade : 10th regiment, Farrand Stranahan, of Cooperstown, Otiiego Connty ; ITth, Thmnas Mead, of Norwich, Chenango County. Seventh Brigade : !9th regiment, Htuih W. Dobbin, of Juntas, Seneca Connty ; 19th, Uenr^ Bloom, of Geneva, Cayu- ga Connty ; 20th, Peter Allen, of Bloomileld, Ontario Connty. To tho Eighth Brigade was assigned the regiment of light Infantry under Colonel ieremlah Johnson, of Brooklyn, Kings County, and the regiment of riflemen under Colonel Francis M'Clure, of the c .y of New York. General Van Rensselaer assigned to the several brigades the following staff officers : RrigwlM. BriKade MiljoM amt Innprrlom. Drigoilp QiiarVminAtcn. nrigadea. Bl^ade Mnjora and Inflpectora. nrlgaile QuBrtiirniiutcrf 1 2 3 4 Theophilns Pierce. John Dill. Michael S. Van der Cock. Moses S. Cantine. Charles Graham. Robert Heart. Dean Edson. Leon'd H. Oansevoort. S 6 7 8 Robert Shoemaker. Thomas Greenley. Julius Keyes. Joseph Lad. Henry Seymour. Nathaniel R. Packard. Henry Wells. Jeremiah Anderson. I have compiled the above statement from Ocnen.l Vcji Rensselaer's first General Order, Issned from hie head-quar ters at Albany on the 19th of June, 1S12." The following paragraph fW)m his second General Order, issued on the IStli of Jnly, indicates the special field of operations to which General Van Rensselaer was assigned : " Major General Ste- phen Van Rensselaer having been requested to repair to the command of the militia heretofore ordered into the service. and to be hereafter ordered Into the service of the United States for the defcT?e of the Northern and Western IVoiiti'-'f of thir state between St. Regis and Pennsylvania, enters upon his command tnla day." In the same Order General Van Rcnsselaet declared that all the militia comprehended in the brigades organized by his General Order of the ISth of June, " together with the corps commanded by Lieutenant Colonels SwlP, Flemmlng, and Bellinger, were subject to his division orders." • General Van Rensselaer's MS. Order Book ffom June 18th to October let, 1812. SelznreofBritlsl In 3Iay, ] Canada, and Sliu was foil mandiiig \V( Act. Aboul tiired at St. ^ same time, st of a violatior iiition. Wh( leuce, eiglit - ored to escaj: effects. An f present villaj gave chase in Islands,' a lit Packet), and It was beli( tensive ones, Thousand Ish boats were tc General I3ro\\ measures to r to the former, laration of wa militia of Jeff if necessary, f Grosse River. St. Lawrence, the frontier fi-c Piogis. Measii and Cape Vin Kingston in a built vessels ft On the llth Comraander V> squ.idron of Bi Xekon and dc Harbor. Tlie similar form. ;it early dau i ward the Ilarh -4; Frince lie^ command of Ci returning from to Ce'linger, tl ' Tils group of Isla seven miles along its most of them arc me mter'sedgc. Some i_ miles. Cauoesandsi other large vessels, w from two to nine mil fus determined in 181 Md WelU's, belonging daring two centuries i ' lili'ory (if St. iMwr 1*1 i'l iiij' it it ngmmmmi^' 1 V OF THE WAR OF 1812. 867 Stinre of British Veeeela on Lalce Ontario, Retaliation expected. Nortliem Militia called oat. In May, 1812, tho schooner Lord Nelson, owned by parties at Niagara, Upper Camilla, and laden witli flour and merciiandiHo, sailed from that jjort for Kingston. She waH found in American waters, captured l)y the Oneid'i, under Lieutenant C.'om- maiKliiig Woolsey, ami condemned as a lawful jirizo for a violation of the Embiirgo. jU't. About a month later," anotlier British schooner, the Ontario, was ca[»- • june i4, tared at St. Vincent, but was soon afterward dischargwl; and at about the *^'*" same time, still another British schooner, named Niagara, was seized, and sold because of a violation of tho revenue laws. These events, as v/as expected, soon led to retal- iation. When news of tlie declaration of war reached Ogdensburg, on tiic St. Law- rence, eight American schooners — trading vessels — lay in its harbor. They endeav- ored to escape'' to Lake Ontario, bearing away aft'riglited families and their „ effects. An active Canadian partisan named Jones, living not far from tl;c present village of Maitland, had raised a company of volunteers to capture tliem. He i;ave chase in boats, overtook the fugitive unarmed flotillii at the foot of the Thousand islands,' a little above IJrockville, captured two of the schooners [Sophia and Island Packet), and emptied and burned tliem. The remainder retreated to Ogdeusburg.'- It was believed that this movement was only the beginninfj of more active and ex- tensive ones, oftensive and defensive, on the part of the Tiritish — that several of the Thousand Islands were about to be fortified, and that expeditions of armed men in boats were to be sent over to dt vastate the country along the northern frontier. General Brown and Commander Woolsey, vested with full authority, took active measures to repel invasion and protect the lake coast and river shores. In a letter to tlie former, Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor of New York, informed him of the dec- laration of war, and directed him to call out re-enforcements for Bellinger from the militia of Jcfierson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties, and to arm and equip them, if necessary, from the arsenals at Watertown, and at Russel, farther north on the Grosse River. Colonel Benedict, of ^ ^ ^^ y St. Lawrence, was ordered to guard €^^^^tc^(^, S^ c^^^t^^t/t^^^^' the frontier from Ogdensburg to St. Regis. Measures were also taken to concentrate a considerable force at Ogdensburg and Cape Vincent, for the twofold purpose of guarding the frontier and keeping Kingston in a state of alarm, that being the chief naval station where the British built vessels for service on Lake Ontario. On the 11th of July the inhabitants on the frontier were alarmed by a rumor that Comraander Woolsey and his Oneida had been captured by the enemy, and that a squadron of British vessels were on their way from Kingston to recapture the Lord XelsoH and destroy Sackett's Harbor. General Brown immediately repaired to tlu- Harbor. The rumor was a false one, but a part of it was the precursor of truth in a similar form. Eighteen days afterward Commander Woolsey saw from his mast-head, lit early dau n, a squadron of five British vessels of war olF Stony Island, beating to- ward the Harbor with the wind dead ahead. These proved to be the Royal George, 24; Prince Regent, 22; Earl of Moira, 20; Siincoe, 12; and Seneca, 4, under the command of Commodore Earle, a Canadian. On the way up they captured a boat returning from Cape Vincent ; and by the crew (who were released), they sent word to lie'Unger, the commandant at Sackett's Harbor, that all they wanted was the ' This group of islonds, lying in the St. Lawrence River, jnst below the foot of Lake Ontario, (ill that river for twenty- seven mi]c9 along its course, and number more than flflcen hiinrtred. A few of them are large and cultivated, but the most of them arc mere rocky islet?, covered generally with stunted hemlocks and cedar-trees, which extend to the water's edge. Sonie of them contain an area of only a few square yards, while others present many supeiUcial square miles. Cauoes and small boats may pass in safety among all of thcra, and there is a deef) channel for steamboats and iither large vessels, which never varies in depth or position, the bottom being rocky. The St. Lawrence here varies trom two to nine miles In width. The boundary-line between the United States and Canadu passes among them. It ns determined In 1818. The largest of the islands ore Orand and //ow,-, belonging to Canada, and Carlcton, CfritulHtnne, iiid VriMe, belonging to the tJullcd States. They have been the theatre of many historic scones aud legendary tales daring two centuries and a half. ' Uli'ory of St. .'Mwrence ond Franklin Countie*, by Franklin Hough, M.D., pages 020, 021. 1 ( .::i. . : 1 Ill 'I ;iC8 PICTORIAL FIKLD-UOOK PropiiratiiiiiH for Ivnttle. Approach of the Krltlali S(|niidr»ii. A brief Bklrmlib. Captiiln VaughM, Oneida and the Lord Nelson, at tlie sami! time warning the inhabitants that if the wqnadron whould he tired upon, i\\v town Hhould be bnniud. l'('r<!eiviiig the jx'iil to whieh the Oneida was cx|t()S('d, Woolscy wt icjliod aiiclidr and attenijitc'd to gain tiie lalie. lie failed, retnrned, and moored liis mmniI just out- side of Navy Point, on wliicii the ship-honso now [1867] stands, in such position tlmt her broadside of nine gnns niigiit be broufj;lit (o bear on the enemy. Tlio renmimloi' of lier guns wen^ taken out, to be placed in battery on land. An iron tliirtv-two- pounder, designe<l for tiie Oneida, but found to be too heavy, had already been i.Jaced on a battery of tliree nine-pounders upon the bluft" at the foot of tlie main street f •the village, on whieli (he dwelling of tlie eoinmander of the naval station there now stands. Tliat lieavy gun had been lying near tlio shore, partly ind)eddeil in the niml for some time, and from tliat cireumstanee had ae(|uired the name of 77/e Olil Sow. These cannon, with two brass nine-pounders in charge of an artillery eoinpany uiidtT the command of C'ajttain Elisha C-amp, and two sixes fished out of the laki^ from the wreck of an English ship near Duck Island, composed the lieavy metal with wliidi to combat the ai)j)roaehing Uritish s(juadron. The soldiers for the same juniioso eomi)rised only a part of l>ellinger's regiment. Camp's Sackett's Harbor .Vrtiikiv, which proni])tly volunteered for thirty days' service, the crew of the 07ii'ida, ;iiiil three hundred militia. At the first appearance of the enemy alarm-guns were ijitil, and couriers were sent into the country in all directions to arouse tlie militia. At sunset nearly three thousand had arrived or were near, but they were too late. Vic- tory had been lost and won earlj' in the day. Woolsey, the best engineer otticer present, left his brig in charge of his lieutenant, it at eight o'clock liy a shot from the liii; gun, which was harm- less, and drew from the peojile on tlio lioi/al George a re- sponse of derisive laughter, which could be plainly heard on the shore. This was followed by some shots from those two vessels in the advance at the distance of a mile, which were quickly answered by Vauirhan, The firing was kept up for about two hours, the scpiadrou standiiij; off" and on, out of ran!j;e of the smaller guns. and took the general command on shore. He placed the 32-pounder in charge of Captain William ^ auglian, a sailing-master of emi- nence then living at Sackett's Harbor,' and directed Cajjtain Camp to manage the others in battery. Meanwhile the enemy Avere slowly drawing near; and by the time Woolsey was pre])ared to receive them, the British flag- ship Iloyal Georf/e, closely followed by the Prince liefjent, were close enough for ac- tion. Vaughan opened 0« WIU.IAM VACailAN. ' From tlic widow of Captain Vnudlian, yet [1807] living nt Sacltott's Ilarlior, I received tlie foilowiiiB l)ri('f sktii li of his life : Ho was borii in the middle of Antmst, 17T0, nt Will{ea-Bnrri\ in the Valley of Wyoming, Penn«ylvuiiiii. llf was two years old wlicn the maBPacre took place there, and his inotlier fled with him over the mountains. At tlii' :li- of eighteen years he visited Canada. The posts of Oswego, Fort Carloton, and Presentation, or Oswegatchie, \ww \\\n\ held T>-j the British, and ho was comi)elled to have a passport to go from post to post on the soil of the United Siates. He returned to Canada in 1797, after these posts were given up, and engaged In lake navigation. Ho was a pilot on Lake Ontario for many years, and when the war broke out he was appointed a sailing-master. He served with Rrcul activity during the war. Wo shall meet him occasionally in the course of our narrative. After the war he rctiinicd tc the occupation of mariner, and was master, at different times, of six steamboats on Lake Ontario. Alimit the year iswi his Rj>inc received an Injury by his falling on the ice while rescuing a man and two women from destruction ammig floating ice agitated by liigh winds. He never recovered. He died at Sackctt'e Harbor ou the 10th of Doccmber, WT, aged eighty-one years. FaUl R«t>oand 'flip most ! I tliirty-tw man.Hion (fl iloor-yard. ' ('a|)taiii Va (•aii!,'lit 'em liu>inl Geon captive ball plctely, sent HiHiiided eir licr sides, ain to|»irallaiit-iii li.id lieeii cliii ^iirnal of reti passage thro wliile the ha L't'eeted their ha<l lii'cn inj'ii serene .Sahhat inarkable hiid The coniin.'i Mwc to both ] of iirined a'css one. The onl their ability t< vaiyiug in hIz, I'liangcd into a burg when ^va rapture a. } (k ilieni w!is a nu Milt, tlu. Hriti.sl Lawrence to V "I'ls. To accon lion, consisting of Oswego, ant and two long > tenant 11. \\. ^ ride corps luide Harbor on tJie 'iiemy. "Our n kins on that d; ' One of Captain Va Kad- Julius. He eerv laall-iimis, moHtofth( • -^iilioiigh tlie gnn V 'w II lhlrty-two.poun( ' I ii'I'.v wrapping then ('.*"tu.«cdonthator( 'On iny way to Sack ""wrd, who was at S,i »nt concerning the n 'Mhorlty of James But n-iiiior that the Ameri( "i™ of being a spy. ti Briilsh and returned to 7*'H-'"-,l.,S2;Coo "Hi Hatcments to the Ilonard. OF THE WAR OP 1812. noo PiKlBtbouiA of* Brttlib Hhot. The 8<|uailrnn repuli'cil. Preparntlonii fur War on Lake Ontario. The inoHt of tlio t'tu'iny's wliot foil n<j;iunHf tlio rocks lit-low the liattcry. Oiio of tliesc (i fIiirty-tW(i-i»oun(l hsill) oaino ovt-r the bluff, nt ruck tfu' ciirtli not thr from SackettV iiiaiisiou (tlicri ()cc»pi('<l by ViiugluiirH fuiiiily), ami plowed a deep furrow into tlie door-Viird. ' It was immediately caugiit n\> liy Sergeant Spier, wlio ran witii it to Captiii" Vaughan, exelaiining, "I've been playing ball witli the red-coats, and liave cftui;lit Via <iu( See if the British can eatch back again." At that moment the Bm/al Oeor</e was wearing to give a broadside, when Vanghan's gun sent back tlie captive ball with such force and precision'^ that it struck her stern, raked her com- iilctflv, sent splint'M's as high as her mizzen top-sail yard, killed fourteen men, and wounded eighteen !' The tlag-ship had already received a sliot that went through litT sides, and another between wind and water. 'I'lie Ih-ince licyoit had lost her fore- to|)i;allaiit-mast, and \]w Itkirlof MoirahwA hceii hulled. The laughter of the enemy ha(i hoen changed into wailing. J^isaster suggested the exercise of discretion, and a sjciiiil of retreat was sjjeetlily given after the returned ball had nuide its di'struetive imsnasji' through tlie ship. The sfpnidron put about an<l sailed out of the harbor, M-hilo the band on shore jtlayed Yankee Doodle, and the troops and the citizens ijiwtod their departure with loud cheers. Nothing, animate or inanimate, on shore had been injured in the least by the cannonading of two hours' duration.'' It was a scivnc Sabbath morning, and the village at evening was as quiet as if nothing re- markable had happened. Till' oiiuunand of the waters of Lake Ontario was now an object of groat import- iincp to both parties. To obtain this advantage recpiired the s])eediest pre])aration iif armed vessels. The British had several afloat already; the Americans had but one, Tlie oidy hope of the latter of securing the supremacy of the lake rested upon ihi'ir ability to convert merchant vessels afloat into warriors. These were schooners viirviiiii in size from thirty to one liundred tons burden, and susceptible of being I liaii'.,'i'd into active gun-boats. Eight of them, as we have observed, were at Ogdens- liuri; wilt"" war yas declared. Two had been destroyed, and six now remained. To caiiture ;>. } destroy them was an important object to the British ; to save and arm tlu'iii "its a more important object to the Americans. To accomi)lish the former re- Milt, ti . Ihitish sent the l^Jorl of Moirii^ 14, and Duke of Gloucester, 10, down the St. l,awri'iice to Prescott, opposite Ogdcnsburg, to Avatch or seize the imprisoned ves- H'is. To accomplisli the latter, the Americans sent a small force in the same direc- lioii, consisting of the schooner Julia (built by the late venerable IVIatthew M'Nair, (if Oswego, and named in honor of his daughter), armed with a long thirty -two ami two long sixes, bearing about sixty volunteers, under the command of Lieu- tenant II. W. Wells, from the Oneida, -with Captains Vaughan and Dixon ; also a rifle corps under Noadiah Hubbard, in a Durham boat. These sailed from Saekett's Harbor on the evening of the 30th of July, unmindful of the superior force of the nK'iuy. " Our means are humble," General Brown wrote to Governor Tomp- . j„iy gy^ kins on that day," "but, with the blessing of Heaven, this republican gun- 1812. I One of Cnptnln Vnughan's gunners wns .Inlius Torrey, ft negro, who wns a great favorite, and known In camp ne Bhfk Julius. He served at hie post with the greatest courage and activity. As the enemy was heyond the reach of smll-arms, most of the troops were Inactive spectators of the scene.— Hough's Ilitttorii nf Jeffermn Cimiit]/, page 404. = .Mthough the gini was well managed, the range of the shot had hccn a little wild hecause of their size. The gun it» n ihlrty-lwo-pounder, bnt the largest balls to be found i.t Saekett's Ilsrbor were twenty-fours. These were made ;iii! by wra|)plng Uiem In pieces of carpet. The British thirty-two wsif just the shot needed for precision. The small- trflii.t used on that occasion were brought from the Taherg Work.-^, Di.ir Rome, or.ly a week before. ' On my way to Saekett's Harbor in the summer of ISflO, I saw at Big Sandy Creek an old seaman named .Ichaziel Howard, who was at Saekett's Harbor at this time, and fVom him I learned some of the facts al)ov<! stated. His state- nioiit concerning the number of killed and wounded by that last shot from the thlrty-two-pounder was made on the inihiirily of James Dutton, who deserted to the British a few days before the battle. Dntton told the British com- in".ii(ier thnt the Americans were very weak, and hail no cannon. Their experience in the action made them suspect tiiin of being a spy. They threatened to have him tried as such. Taking counsel of his fears, ho deserted from the British and returned to the American camp. He was on the llot/al Gnmir at the time of the action. ' Thr War, I., S2 ; Cooper's Naval UUtorii of the United Statcn, li ., 320, SI' ; Hough's IlixUmi nfji'ffermn Cuunty, 402-404 ; m\ Matcmenta to the author by Captain (now Colonel) Camp, the late Amasa Trowbridge, M.D., and Jehazlel iloward. A A IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET {MT-3) 10 [rl^ I I.I 2.5 ^ |3£ 12.2 t li£ 12.0 i 1.25 ]j. .4 ,,.6 ^ 6" » Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 "'i^ i 1 i^>i '^llflifiil i i . „i liiif, § h hi hi. » i! S* ■ I Hi 3T0 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A Fight on the St. Lawrence. Riflemen at Sacke.t'e Harbor. Channcey chief Commander on Lake Ontario boat muy give a good account of the Duke and the Earl; and a successful termina- tion of this enterprise will give us an equal chance for the command of the lake." The Julia and her Durham consort went to the St. Lawrence that night. Although it was very dark, they arrived in safety at Cape Vincent. At early dawn, under a deeply-clouded sky, they pressed forward among the Thousand Islands, the wind •July 31, blowing down the river, and, at three o'clock in the afternoon," met the two 1812. British vessels off Morristown, eleven miles above Ogdensburg. They an- chored at once, and opened fire upon each other. The action lasted more than three hours, during which the cannonading was almost incessant, and yet the Julia was only slightly injured by a single shot, and not one of the Americans was killed or wounded. Tlie Earl of Moira was hulled several times, and both of the British ves- sels withdrew toward the Canada shore. Night came with intense darkness, but fre- quent flashes of lightning in the southern horizon reveaUMl surrounding objects for a moment. With the aid of the Durham and her own yawl, the Julia made her way to Ogdensburg before morning,*^ when Lieutenant Wells left her in charge "^°* ' of Captain Vaughan, and returned to Sackett's Harbor. The armistice tliat soon followed' enabled the Julia, with the six schooners in her wake, to make her Avay to the lake." Meanwhile the guns of the Earl and Duke were landed at Elizabethtown (new Brockville), and placed in battery there,^ Early in Atigust Captain Benjamin Forsyth arrived at Sackett's Harbor with a well-drilled company of riflemen. These were the first regular troops seen on tliat frontier, and were welcomed with much satisfaction. General Brown urged Forsyth to open a recruiting station at once, hoping to enlist two full companies of the sharp- shooters. At the same time, the national government was putting for^h vigorous ef- forts for acquiring the supremacy of the lakes. The appointment of a proper com- . mander-in-chief of the navy to be created on them, who might properly superintend its fonnation, was the first and most important measure. Fortunately for the service, Captain Isaac Channcey was chosen for this responsible and arduous duty. He was then at the head of the navy yard at Brooklyn, New York. He was one of the best practical seamen of his time, possessed a thorough knowledge of ships in whole and in detail, and was in the constant exercise of energy and industry of the highest or- der. On the 31st of August he was commissioned for that special service, and on the following day, Paul Hamilton, the then Secretary of the Navy, sent him a ciplier alphabet and numerals, by which he might make secret communications to the De- partment.' :i 7^ d\*>]A\s\C i-o-dl I 2/| 'to' rshifitiimnrMi^. OIPIISB ALPHADET ANIl NUMEBALS. ' See note 2, page 293. ' Letter of General Brown to Governor Tompitins, August 4, 1812. Hough's nistory ofJeferaon CouttUj, pnge 4f..''>, 4C(!. Hough's History of St. Laureruse and Franklin Counties, page 022. Written Statement to the Author by the lute Amaea Trowbridge, M.D. 3 " After your arrival upon the lakes," wrote Mr. Hamilton, "yon may experience some difflcnlty and risk in sending ^_^ I your dispatches to me ; and you may find It necesnary lo /^f jy >» yf y ^ employacipher in yonr communications, esppcla'lyeucb ^ /Jc/jtf^ ^^fjLyt/^..^^t.>C^'''CO't,AJ ofthem as might do the service an injury by falling into •■^'^ ' i««.-'#'i''V- --U' the hands of the enemy. Under such circumstiinces, yon will communicate to me in cipher by the following alphabet whenever yon may Judge It expedient." Here follows the cipher alphabet and numerals, of which a fac-similo Is above given. The original la In the possession of the New York Historical Society. It was presented by the Ilev. Mr. Cbauucey, a sou of the commodore, on the litb of February, ISIil OF THE WAR OF 1812. 371 American and British Squadrons on Lake Ontario. Elliott sent to Lake Erie. Cbauncey's first Cruise. Chauncey entered upon his new duties immediately after the receipt of his orders. In the first week in September he sent forward forty ship-carpenters, with Henry Eckford at their head. Others soon followed ; and Commander Woolsey was direct- ed to purchase some merchant vessels for the service. On the 18th of the same month, one hundred officers and seamen, with guns and other munitions of war, left yew York for Sackett's Harbor, and Chauncey arrived there himself on the 6th of October. The schooners Genesee Packet, Meperztnent, Collector, Lord Nelson, Charles and Ann, and Diana, were purchased, and manned and named respectively in the same order, Conquest, Chowler, Pert, Scourge, Governor Tompkins, and Jlamilton. Their armament consisted principally of long guns mounted on circles, with a few lighter ones that could be of very little service. Add to these the Oneida and Jidia already in the service, and the entire flotilla, exclusive of the Madison, 24 (whose keel was laid before Chauncey's arrival'), mounted only forty guns, and was manned l)y four hundred and thirty men, the marines included. The Oneida carried sixteen ijnns, therefore there was an average of only five guns each among the remainder of the squadron. The British, at the same time, had made for service, on Ijake Ontario, the ships Royal George, 22, and Earl of Moira, 14; and schooners Prince Regent, 16, Buke of Gloucester, 14, Simcoe, 12, and Seneca, 4. These, in weight of metal, were double the power of the American, while there was a corresponding disparity in the number of men.^ Lake Erie, over which also Chauncey was appointed commander, was separated from Ontario by the impassable cataract of Niagara, and vessels for use on the wa- ters of the former had to be constructed on its shores, or at Detroit, where the unfin- ished brig Adams, captured at the surrender of Hull, had been built. For the pur- pose of creating a fleet there, Chauncey sent Lieutenant Jesse D. Elliott with orders for purchasing vessels similar to those given to Commander Woolsey. We shall consider some of Elliott's earlier operations presently. Cliauncey first appeared on Lake Ontario as the commander of a squadron on the 8th of November, a cold, raw, blustery day, with his broad pennant fluttering over the Oneida, his flag-ship, accompanied by six small vesf^els,^ and bound on an expe- dition to intercept the entire British squpdrou on their return from Fort George, on the Niagara River, whither they had gone from Kingston with troops and munitions of war. Chauncey took his station near the False Ducks, some small islands nearly di'3 west from Sackett's Harbor, on. the track to Kingston, and in the afternoon of the Oth* iell in with the Royal George, Commodore Earl's flag-ship, mak- . November, ing her way for the latter place. Chauncey chased her into the Bay of ^^'*' Quint6, and lost sight of her in the darkness of the night that soon followed. On the raoruinsT of the lOth** he captured and burnt a small schooner, and soon ^„ afterward espied the Royal George headed for Kingston. He gave chase with most of his squadron,'' followed her into Kingston Harbor, and there engaged botli her and five land batteries' for almost an hour. These were more formidable than Chauncey supposed ; and a brisk wind having arisen, and the night coming on, lie withdrew and anchored. The breeze had become almoct a gale the next morn- ing,' so Chauncey weighed anchor and stood out lakeward. The Tomp- ^ jf^^ember ii Um, Eamilton, and Jnlia chased the Simcoe over a reef of rocks, and so ' The Mttdimn was launched on the 26th of November, only forty-flvo days after her keel was laid. Henry Eckfurd Kaa her constructor. " . ' Cooper's .VaiiaJ Historj/ ></ the UniM Stalei, Ii-, S28. ' The Oneida was commanded by Lieutenant Woolsey ; the C&nquest by Lieutenant Elliott ; the IlamUtm by Lieuten- ant M'Phergon ; the Oovtrnor Tompkine by Lieutenant Brown ; the Pert by Mr. Arundei ; the Julia by Mr.Trant ; and ilie Grouler by Mr, Mix. The last three named were sailliiB-masters. ' In this chase Captain Elliott, in the Conqtuat, gallantly ]".a, followed by the JttUa, Pert, and GrowW. The Ondia I'fonght up the rear. She allowed the smaller vehsels to make the attack. When, at half past three, she opened her cirronades on the Hoyal Oeorge, that vessel was quick to cut her cables, and run up to the town. > There was a battery on both India and Navy Points. Three others guarded the town ; and soipc movable cannon were brought to bear on the Ame.icau vessels. ■'»< 1 I' • VI — ■.!». tjm i 'Ml 1 i .v. I 372 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Oporatious uear Kiu;;stuii. Cbaancey'8 Prizes. Forsyth's Kxpcrtltlnn. riddled her that she sank before reaching Kingston. Soon afterward the Hamilton captured a large schooner from Niagara. The prize was sent past Kingston under convoy of the Growler, hoping to bring out the Royal George, but tliat vessel liad been so much damaged in the action that she was compelled to haul on shore to keep from sinking. She had received several shots between wind and water, somo of her guns were disabled, and a number of her crew had been killed The gale continued on the 12th, and during the following night a heavy snow- storm set in. Chauncey was undismayed by the fury of the elements. lie had set his heart on obtaining the supremacy of the lake at all hazai'ds, and he continued his cruise. Inxormed that the Earl of Moira was off the Real Ducks, he attempted to capture her. She was on the alert. A schooner that she was convoying was seized but the warrior escaped. During the day Chauncey saw the Jtoyal George, and two schooners that he supposed to be the Prince Hegent and Duke of Gloucester, but they did not seem disposed to meet him. In this short cruise Commodore Chauncey captured three merchant vessels, destroy- ed one armed schooner, and disabled the British flag-ship, and took several prisoners ' w^ith a loss on his part of only one man killed and four wounded.* The loss of the British is not found on record. Leaving the Governor Tom2Mns, Conquest, Hamilton, and Growler to blockade Kingston harbor until the ice should do so effectually, Chauncey sailed on the 19tli, in the Oneida, for the head of the lake, accompanied by the remainder of the squad- ron. " I am in great hopes," he wrote to Governor Tompkins, " that I shall fail in with the Prince Regent, or some of the royal family which are cruising about Yorls. Had we been one month sooner, we could have taken every town on this lake in three weeks ; but the season is now so tempestuous that I am apprehensive we can not do much more this Avinter." His anticipations were realized. He was driven back by a gale in which the Growler was dismasted, and the ice formed so fast that all the vessels were in danger. He retired to Sackett's Harbor, and early in Decem- ber the lake navigation was closed by the frost.^ While Chauncey was commencing vigorous measures for the construction of a navy at the east end of Lake Ontario, the land forces there and on the St. Lawrence were not idle, although no very important service was perfoi-med there during the remain- der of 1812. The vigilant Captain Forsyth made a bold dash into Canada late in September. Having been informed that a large quantity of ammunition and other munitions of war were in a British store-house at Gananoqui, on the shores of the Lake of the Thousand Islands, in Canada,* and not heavily guarded, Forsyth asked and obtained permission of General Brown to make an attempt to capture them. He or- ganized an expedition of one hundred and four men, consisting of seventy riflemen and thirty-four militia, the latter oflicered by Captain Samuel M'Nitt, Lrieutenant Brown, and Ensigns Hawkins and Johnson. They set out from Sackett's Harbor on the 18tli of September, and on the night of the 20th they left Cape Vincent in boats, threading their way in the dark among the upper group of the Thousand Islands, They landed a s}iort distance from the village of Gananoqui, only ninety-five strong, without opposition ; but as they approached the town they were confronted by a party of sixty British regulars and fifty Canadian militia drawn up in battle order, wlio poured heavy volleys upon them. Forsyth dashed forward Avith bis men with- ' Among the prisoners was Captain Brock, brother of Major General Brock, who had been killed recently at Queens- town. He had some of his brother's baggage with him. a Mr. Arnndel, the commander of the Pert, wag badly Injured by the bursting of one of her guns, and a midshlpaan and three seamen were slightly wonnded. Mr. Artmdel reftued to leave the deck, and was afterward knocked over- board by accident and drowned. 3 Chauncey's Letter to Govercor Tompkins, November 18, 1812 ; Cooper's Saval Bittory, il., 333 to 83T inclusive. ' Gananoqui Is pleasantly situated at the month of the Gananoqui River, where it enters the npper portion of the St. Lawrence, known as the Lake of the Thousand Islands, It Is In the town of Leeds, lu Canada West, nearly opposite the town of Clayton (old French Creek), New York. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 373 Spoils takou at Oananoqul. General Brown sent to OgdenH))nrg. Uoettle Movements there. out firing a shot until within a hundred yards of the enemy, when the latter fle-^ pell- mell to the town, closely pursued by the inv.»ders. There the lugitives rallied and renewed the engagement, when they were again compelled to flee, leaving ten of their number dead on the field, several wounded, and eight regulars and four militia- men as prisoners. Forsyth lost only one man killed and one slightly wounded. For his own safety, he broke up the bridge over which he had pursued the enemy, and then returned to his boats, bearing away, as the spoils of victory, the eight regu- lars sixty stand of arms, two barrels of fixed ammunition comprising three thousand ball-cartridges, one barrel of gunpowder, one of flints, forty-one muskets, and some other public pronerty. In the store-house were found one hundred and fifty barrels of provisions, but, having no means of carrying them away. Captain Forsyth applied the torch, and stoi 3-house and provisions were consumed. ' The public property secured on tliis occasion was given to the soldiers of the expedition as a reward for tiieir valor. While Forsyth Avas away on his expedition. Brigadier General Richard Dodge ar- .s«pten.her2i, "ved at Watcitown* with a 'S12. detachment of Mohawk Val- ley militia. He outranked General Brown, and on his arrival he ordered that officer to proceed to Ogdensburg, at the mouth of the Oswegatchie River, to orarrison old Fort Presentation, or Oswegatchie, at that place.^ General Brown was chagrined by this unlooked-for order, but, like a true soldier, he immediate- - . ,— -^ 'October 12. ly obeyed it. A part of Captain Forsyth's company went with liim ; and three weeks later, at the request of the goveiTior. Gen oral Dodge sent to Brown'' the remainder of the riflemen, and the artillery compa- appearanok of rom i ■.. i.jaiuuie in mvi. iiies of Captains Brown, King, and Foot, in all one hundred and sixty men, with two brass 9-pound cannon, one 4, and an ample supply of muskets and munitions of war. General Brown arrived at Ogdensburg on the Ist of October. Already the militia had been employed in some hostile movements. At {.bout the middle of September infonnation reached Ogdensburg that some British bateaux, laden with stores, were ascending the St. Lawrence. It was resolved to capture them. A gun-boat, with a brass six-pounder and eighteen men, under Adjutant I'aniol W. Church, accompanied by a party under Captain Griffin, in a Durhaji boat, went down the river in the niglit, and encountered the enemy near Toussaint Island. The Durham boat was lost in the aftray, and the gun-boat was in great peril at one time. It was caved, how- ever. The expedition was a failure. Five of Church's men were wounded, and one was killed. The British lost several in killed and wounded. They were led by Ad- jutant Fit'.gibbon.' On the day after General Brown's arrival at Ogdensburg,<= about forty British bateaux, escort (d by a gun-boat, were seen aoproaching Prescott ' ^'^'°''*' ^' tVom below, and as the/ neared the town a battery at that place opened upon Og- 'Letter of General Brown to Covemor Torapkine, September 23, 1812 ; Letter from Utfcn, September 29, 1812, pub- luhcd In The War, page Tl. Th.- same letter appears In Niles'ti Weekli/ PegiOer, October 10, 1812. ' A partirular account of t>.i8 fort will be given hereafter. ' Hough's Jlistory ttf St. I xtvrenee and Franklin Counties, page 024. " li 1 1 ni 374 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A British Bxpedltion on the St. Lawrence. It attacka Ogdeuaburg. The British repulecd. densburg to cover tlie flotilla.^ The heavy guns at the latter place consistecl of a brass six-pounder under the charge of Adjutant Church, and ai; .on twelve-prmndor managed by Joseph York, sherift' of the county, and a volunteer citizen. These re- plied to the British battery for a while. On the following day the firing from IVs- • October <^ott was renewed, but was not answered; and on Sunday mommg, the 4tli ' 1812, t^yo gun-boats and twenty-five bateaux, filled with about seven hundred and fifty armed men, under Colonels Lethbridge a.id Breckinridge, went up the river almost a mile, and then turned their prows toward Ogdensburg, with the evident intention of attacking it. Forsyth's riflemen were encamped at the time nc ar tiie old fort on the west side of the Oswegatchie, and General Brown, with regulars and militia, were stationed in the town.* The whole American force amounted to about twelve hundred eflective men. These were immediately drawn up in battle order to receive the invaders. When the latter had approached to within a quarter of a mile of the town, nearly in mid-channel, the Americans opened such a severe fire from their two cannon that the enemy retreated in confusion and precipitation, witli the loss of three men killed and four wounded.' About thirty rounds were fired from each of the tAVO cannon, and the action lasted two hours.* Not one of the Ameri- cans was injured in the action, but some damage was done to the town by the can- non-shot of the British. " This enterprise," says Christie, a Biitish author, " under- taken without the sanction of the commander of the forces, was censured by him, and the public opinion condemned it as rash and premature."* Eighteen days after the repulse of the British at Ogdensburg, Major Guilford Dud- ley Young, and a small detachment of militia, who were chiefly from Troy, New- York, performed a gallant cxjjloit at St. Regis, an Indian Village lying upon the boundary-line between the United States and Canada. The dusky inhabitants of that settlement were placed in a very embarrassing position when war was declared. Tlieir village lay within the boundaries of both governments, and up to that time the administration of their internal affairs, managed by twelve chiefs, had been nom- inally independent of both. The annuities and presents fi-om both governments were equally divided among them, and in all matters of business and profits every thintr was in common. That this relation should not be disturbed, commissioners, appoint- ed by the two governments, agreed that the Indians should remain neutral, and tiiat the troops of both parties should avoid intrusion of their reservation. But they be- came objects of suspicion and dread. The settlers in that region had been horrified with tales of Indian massacres remotely and recently. And t^e8e people could not pass the boundaries of their domain without being regarded as possible enemies. So vig- ilant was this general fear that the Indians were compelled, when they went abroad, to carry a pass from some well-known white inhabitant, among the most prominent of whom, appointed by the chiefs, was Captain Policy, late of Massena Springs.* 1 William K. Gnest, Esq., whom I met atOgdenebnrg in the snmmer of 1860, In some of his published " Recollections" of that place, speaking of the affair, says, " The villagers came out in large numbers, and stood In Washington Street, near the residence of Mr. Parish. Among them were a number of indies, who felt safe, as no balls had as yei come into the village. While all were intently ivatching, with great excitement, the movements of the contending parties, a 12-poMii shot, with its clear, singing, hnrnming sound, passed over our heads, in the line of State Street, as near as we could judge, and fell in the rear of the village. A sudden change came over the scene. It became an Intimate matter to all, and ibe •* ladles heat ;i rapid retreat." When I was in Ogdensburg in 1SS5, and made a sketch of the old Conn- house, printed In a note In Chapter XXVII. of this work, I was Informed '.hat that ball passed tbrongh the building, and a hole made by it was pointed out to me. ' The subordinate commanders on this occasion were Colonel Benedict, Mnj.- DImock, Adjutant Uoskiu, and Captains Forsyth, Orlffln, Hnbbard, Benedict, and M'Nitt. — Ogdenstntrff Palladmrn, Oc- tober 0, qaoted in The War, I., T8. ' One account says that one of their gun-boats wrd disabled, and another that " two of their boats were so knocked to pieces as to render it necessary to a*>andon them." * Hough's HMnni of St. Laurenee and Franklin rountie*, page 626. Letter iVom PlaMsburg, dated October 9, In Niles's Wetklij Heiiiatet , :' ;., 196. Christie's Military Operatiom in Canada, page SI. ' Christie's Militanj Operation* in Canada, page 81. « These passes stated that the bearer was n quiet, peaceable person. It was their custom to liold these passes up on approaching a white person that they might not be alarmed. On the other hand. M OF THE WAR OF 1812. 875 Tbe British violate a Neatrnllty Agreemeut. British Troops occupy St. BeglB. Its Capture by the Amcrlcaus. These restrictions curtailed their hunting and fishing, and they were reduced to such great extremities that they were compelled to apply to Governor Tompkins for re- lief.' The governor listened to their request, and during the war they received about five hundred rations daily from the United States government stores at French Mills,'' now Fort Covington, on the Salmon River. The neutrality agreement was violated by Sir George Prevost, the British cora- maiulcr-in-chief in Canada, who placed Captam M'Donell and a party of armed Cana- dian voyageurs in the village of St. Regis " for the security of that post," to " guard .".ciiinst any predatory incursions of the enemy, to inspire confidence in the Indians," and to give " support and countenance" to " Monsieur de Montigny, captain and res- ident agent at the village."^ The real object appears to have been the seduction of the hulians • from their neutrality by persuading them to join the British standard. In this they were successful, as the presence of more than eighty St. Regis warriors in the British army at different places on the frontiers subsequently fully proves.'' Major Young was stationed at French Mills when M'Donell took post at St. Regis, and he wished to attempt the capture of the whole party at about the Ist of October. William L. Gray, an Indian interpreter, was then running a mill on the site of the present village ofllogansburg, two miU d above St. Regis, and consented to be Young's ffiiide. He took him and his command along an unfrequented way, that brought them out suddenly upon the eastern banks of the St. Regis, opposite the village. The stream was too deep to ford, and, having no boats. Major Young was compelled to abandon the project at that time. The British intruders were alarmed ; but as day after day wore away without farther molestation, M'Donell settled doAvn into a feel- ing of absolute security. From that state he was soon aroused. Young left French Mills, with about two hundred men, on the night of the 21st of October, at eleven o'clock, crossed the St. Regis, at Gray's Mills, at half past three in the . October 22, morning,* in a boat and canoe and a hastily-constructed raft, and before ^*''^' aawn arrived within half a mile of St. Regis, where they concealed themselves, while taking some rest and refreshment, beliind a gentle hill westward of the village. Hav- ins carefully reconnoitred the position, the little party moved in three columns to- ward the British part of the village, at the northern extremity of which, not far from the ancient and famous church, stood the houses of Montigny and M'Donell, in which the officers and many of the men of the British detachment were stationed. Caj)tain Lyon, editor of the Troy Jimlget, moved with his company along the road upon the bank of the St. Regis, so as to gain the rear of Montigny's house and a small block- house, while Captain Tilden and his company made a detour westward, partly in rear of M'Donell's, for the purpose of reaching the St. Lawrence and securing the boats of the enemy. Major Young, with the companies of Captains Higbie and M'Neil, moved through the village in front. Thus the enemy was surrounded. Lyon was first discovered by the British sentinel and attacked. Young was then within one hundred and fifty yards of Montigny's house. At that instant an ensign of the enemy, attempting to pass in front after being ordered to stand, was shot dead ; and a few minutes afterward complete success crowned the enterprise of the gallant major. Forty prisoners (exclusive of the commander and the Catholic priest), with their arms and accoutrements, thirty-eight muskets, two bateaux, a flag, and a quantity of bag- the Indians requlrcil persons traveHng acrosi; their domain to exhibit passes. As few of these Indians conld read, a dc- rice (see preceding page) was adopted to obviate the difBcultles which that deficiency might give rlBe to. If a person was going through to French Mills, a simple bow was drawn on the paper; If he was Intending to visit St. Regis vil- lage, an arrow was added to the bow. ' The letter written to Tompkins for that purpose was signed by the mark and name of Lewis Cook, one of the chleft of the St. Regis Indians, and a colcnel In the service of the Uulted States. ' Hongh's Hwtjrj; q/ St. Laterencf and Franklin Countien, page 166. ' Letter of Adjutant Baynes to Captain H'Donell. ' Le Clerc, who succeeded Montigny as agent, raised a company of warriors there, and crossed over to Cornwall. These participated In several engagements during the war.— Hongh's St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, page 1B6. i ^ i\ i 376 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK First Trophy-Bag of the War taken on Land. Its public Reception at Albany. Sketch of Colonel O. D. Youi.1. gage, including eight hundred blankets found at the Indian agent's house, were the fruits of the victory. The British had seven men killed, including a lieutenant en- sign, and sergeant, while the Americans were all unhurt. The late distintniislu'd civilian, William L. Marcy,' who was a lieutenant hi Lyon's company, and assailc(! the block-house, was the captor of the flag that waved over it. He bore it in triuiniili back to French Mills, where Young and his party arrived the same day, at clovoii o'clock, witii the prisoners and spoils — the latter in the captured bateaux, bv way of Salmon River,^ Tiie prisoners were sent to Bloomfield's head - quarters at Plattsburg. Early ill January Major Young and lii.s de- tachment retiiini'd to Troy, and witli his own hand pre- sented that Ihitisli flag — t:ie first tro- phy of the kind that had ever been taken on land^to the people of the State of New York in the capital at Albany.^ Soon after the affair at St. Regis the British retaliated by an expedition to Frencli Mills, which captured the company of Captain Tilden stationed there. Le Clerc also captured Mr. Gray, the interpreter, and sent him to Quebec, where he died in the hospital. During a brief sojourn at the Masscna Springs, on the Racquetto River, in the sum- mer of 1855, I visited St. Regis, or Ak-ioia-sas-ne, the place "where the partrideo drums," as the Indians called it.* I rode out to Hogansburg, ten miles eastward of ' The pnbllc career of Mr. Marcy is too well known to require more than a passing notice here. Ho was then tweulv- six years of age, and had studied law, and was practicing it in Troy. He served with credit in the New York State mi- litia during a greater part of the war. In 1821 he we.s appointed adjutant general of the state. In 1S29 he wns majo a Justice of the Supreme Court of the state. In 1831 he was elected to a seat in the United States Senate, and In 1>33 governor of the State of New York, which office he held, by re-election, six years. In 1846 President Polk called hini to his cabinet as Secretary of War, and in 1863 he became one of President Pierce's constitutional advisers as Sccrelarv of State. On the 4th of March, 1867, he retired to private life, and jnst four mouths afterward he died suddenly at Balls- ton, New York, while reading in his bed, at the age of seventy years. 2 Major Young's dispatch to General Bloomfield, October 24, 1812 ; Thomson's Historical Sketchet, etc. ; Hongh's Hnhmj of St. Lavrrmce and Franklin Counties ; statement of Rev. Elcnzcr Williams to the author. 3 That ceremony took place ou the 6th of Januarj-, 1S13, at one o'clock in the afternoon. Major Young, with a de- tachment of his Troy volunteers, entered Albany. The soldiers bore two fine living eagles in the centre of the detach- ment, and the trophy-colors In the re.ir, while a band played y'ankce. Doodle. They passed through Market Street (near Broadway), and up State Street, *,o the Capitol, where they were greeted by an immense crowd who thronged the liuild- ing. The governor was too ill to be present, and Colonels Lamb and Lusk acted as his representatives. Mnjoi Yoiin<;, after an appropriate speech, delivered the trophy to those gentlemen, and received from Colonel Lnsk a complimentary response. Guilford Dudley Young was bom at Lebanon, Connecticut, in June, 1T70, and in 1798 married Miss Betsey Huntington, of Norwich. In 1805 no settled in Troy, New York, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He raised a corps of volunteers in the summer of 1812, and joined the service on the St. Lawrence frontier under Colonel Benedict. Be- cause of his exploit at St. Regis he was promotefl to major in the 20th Regular Infantry in February, 1813, and was raised to the rank of lieutenant colonel two months afterward. Ho was disbanded in 1818, and soon afterward j<i!neil Miranda's Mexican expedition. He left New York for that purpose in July, 1810. In August, the following year, he was in Fort Sombrero, with two hundred and sixty-nine men, when it was encircled by three thousand five hundred Boyal- ists. While standing exposed on the ramparts ou the 18th of August, 1818, a cannon-shot fi'om the enemy took off his head. ♦ During the colonial period, when the northern fi-ontiers of New England were harassed by savafees, three children, were carried off by them ft-om Groton, Massachusetts. They consisted of two boys and a girl named Tarbell. The girl escaped and returned home, bnt the boys were taken to Canada and adopted into the families of their cnptors-romc Caughnawaga Indians, near Montreal. In the course of time they married daughters of chiefs. Their intercourse with the savages was not very pleasant, and the village priest advised them to seek new homes. They, with their wives and wives' parents (four families) departed in a bark canoe, went up the St. Lawrence, and landed upon the beautiful point on which St. Regis stands. There they resolved to remain. They called the place, on account of the abundance of par- tridges, as above noticed. In 1760, when they had made themselves comfortable houses, with cultivated fields around them, they were joined by Father Anthony Gordon, a Jesuit priest, and a colony from Caughnawaga. Gordon named the place St. Regis. Gordon erected a church of logs and covered it with bark. This was burned two years afterward, when a small wooden church was erected in its place, and the first bell ever heard in St. Regis was hung in its tower. The common belief has been that this was the bell carried off ft-om Deerflold by the Indians, after the destruction of that village by Are in 1704 ; and with that belief Mrs. Slgourney wrote her beautiful poem entitled Tue Bell of St. Reuib, in which occnrs these stirring lines : "Then down ftom the burning cbnrch they tore The bell of tuneful sound ; And on with their captive train they bore That wonderful thing toward their native shore, The rude Canadian bound. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 377 A Btruuije SCury. The Dell at Ht. KcKiii. A Vlalt to Ht. KegU. Masseiia, with some friends, over a new- ly cleared but i)lea8- aut country, with the .rreat Wilderness of Northern New York lyinsj on our riglit, and far in the south- fast tlie bhie sum- mits of the Green Mountains bounding the horizon. We dined at Ilogans- burg in company vfith the late llev. Eleazer Williams, the reputed " Lost Prince" of the house Jiy^ 4Vt^/c.ix/*-^''\j place of worship had juHt been erected in a pleasant pine grove on the borders of that village of two hundred inhabitants. Mr. Williams was connected with the Indians in that re- gion during the War of 1812. He was with Major Young in his tirst attempt to surprise the lirit- ish at St. Regis, and was afterward in military service at Plattsliurg,in a com- pany of volunteer liangers. lie gave me some useful in- formation concem- of Bourbon, who wa.^ then pastor of a lit- —^/' tie congregation of V C'^^^ Episcopalians, whose ing vhe events of the war in that region, and showed me a portrait of himself, painted in water-colors in 1814, in which he ai)pears in military costume, und his features and complexion not exhibiting the least indication of Indian blood. Mr. Williams s biog- raphy, written by the Rev. Mr. Hanson, and published under the title of Tim Lost Prince, is a remarkable book. It contains a most strange story.' From Hogansburg we rode up to St. Regis, a poor-looking village situated upon a (Tcntly elevated plain at the head of Lake St. Francis, just below the foot of the Long Saiit Rapid, on a point between the mouths of the St. Regis and Racquette Rivers. It is surrounded by broad commons, used as a public pasture, with small gardens near the houses. In front of the village, in the St. Lawrence, lie some beautiful and fertile islands, upon 'vhich is raised the grain for the subsistence of the villagers ; and on the opposite shore of the great river is uio Canadian village of Cornwall. We tiist visited the remains of the cellar of Morclgny's house, where Captain M'Donell and some of the British soldiers were captured by Young, at the mouth of the St. It spake no more till St. Regtg'e tower In northern skies appeared ; And their legends extol that pow-wow's power, Which lulled that knell like a poppy-flower, As conscience now slumbereth a little hour In the cell of a heart that's seared." The bell carried IVom Deerfleld was taken to Cangbnawaga, and hung in the church of St. Lonis there, where it stlU remains. 1 A dark mystery has ever brooded over the fate of the eldest son of Lonis the Sixteenth, King of France, who was ten years of age at the time of his father's murder by the Jacobins. The Revolutionists, after the downfall of Robes- pieire and his fellows, declared that he died iu prison, while the Royalists believed that he was sent to America. Cu- tiiras facts and circumstances pointed to the Rev. Mr. Williams, a reputed half-breed Indian of the Caughnawaga tribe, as the ettrviving prince, who for almost sixty years had been hidden from the world in that disguise. The claim that he was the Dauphin— the " Lost Prince"— was set np for him, and the fact that he was not possessed of Indian blood TO!" fairly established by physiological proofs. Scars produced by scrofula and inoculation for the small-pox, described u marking the person of the Dauphin, marked the person of Mr. Williams with remarkable exactness. The book in qnestion brings all of these proofs of identity to view. But the world was incredulous. The word of the Prince de Joln- vllle, an iutercstod son of Louis Philippe, was put in the balance against ihat of a poor missionary of the Episcopal fhnrch in America, and the latter was outweighed. Mr. Williams died in 1860, in that obscurity iu which his life had been passed. The question that so excited the American public a few years ago—" Have we a Bourbon among us f"— hss not been asked for a long time. The remains of the reputed "Lost Prince" rest in peace near the banks of ths 8l.Kegl8. 1 \ ft ii 8^8 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A ParUh Priect at a Ilurae-race. The old Church in St. Utgii. Pleasant Hemorlei of las vittt. 0. KogiH. We then oivUchI at tlic hotiHc of tho parish priest (Katlicr Francis Marcoux) but had not the phmsure oi' weeing him, lie liaving gone over to Cornwall, his servant said, to attend a horse-raee. The gray old church, built of massive stone, it» walls iSve feet thick, its roof covered with shingles and its belfry with glittering tin-iilato stood near. Its portal was invitingly open, and we entered. Wc found it cjuite iilain in general construction, but the altar and its vicinity were highly crnamcnted and gilded. U])on the walls hung some rude pictures. Across the end over tho entrance was a gallery for the use of strangers. Tlie Indian worshipers usually kneel or sit on the floor during tho service. The full liturgy of tho Roman Catholi«T Church was used there, and the preaching was in the Mohawk language.' The present church edifice was erected in 1792. The dilapidated spire had lately been taken down, and the kl- fry was covered with a cupola Kurmountcd by a glittering cross. Near the vestry- room, within the indosurc, was a frame-work on which hung tarec bells; tlie two upper ones made of the first one ever heard in St. Rogis, mentioned in note 4, pane 376.* The lower and larger one Avas cast in Troy in 1852, and had not yet been placed in the toAvcr. h:t OLU OUl'BOU IN ST. BEQ18. While sketching the old church^ I was surrounded by the Indian children, all ca- rious to know what I was about ; while an old Indian woman stood in the door of a miserable log house near by, looking so intently with mute wonder, apparently, that I think she did not move during the half hour I was engaged with the pencil. The children kept up a continual conversation, intermingled with laughter, all of which came to the ear in sweet, low, musical cadences, like the murmuring of brooks. Tliis is in the British portion of the town. Just afler leaving the church we met the venerable Captain Le Clerc, already men- tioned, who had lived in St. Regis fifty-seven years. He accompanied us to the house of Fran9oi8 Dupuy, one of the two merchanta then in St. Regis. Dupuy's store and ' A ftill and Interesting account of St. Regis may be found in Hough's History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Co-intim. ' This bell became cracked more than thirty years ago, and it was recast in two email ones. The Indians, enspiciom that some of the (to them) sacred metal might be abstracted at the bell-foonder's, sent a deputation to watch the pro- cess, and see that every particle of the old bell went into the cmcible. ^ In this view Is seen the old church on the right, a specimen of many of the houses in the village on the left, and in the extreme distance, near the centre, the dwelling of the parish priest. A tall flag-scaff stands near the Inclosurc. The bells mentioned In the text are just behind the two Lombardy poplars on the right. OF THE WAR OF 1812. avo The Boundnry Line between the United SUtet anrt t'tnad*. Captain Polljr. nuAilo In IHia. dwelling were on tho forty-fifth ]iarnllel of north latitude, which is the dividing-line lieii" In'tweon tho United tStates and Canathi. That line passed through his' house; ami wliilu an attendant was preparing some lemonade for us within the dominions of Uiiceii Victoria, wo were sitting ^^ twilight I \yalked leisurely down in the United States, but in the ^| to the spritigs on the margin of mue room, waiting to 1)e served, ^M tho swirt-flowhig I?ae(iuette, and On tlie margin of tho street oj)- ^| under 'he pavilion that covers iiOBitc Du])uy's stood one of tho ^^ tho pi icipal fountain of health I last-iron obelisks, three feet and ^H met a venerable man, who in- alialf in height, which are placed ^H formed . .u that ho was one of at certain intervals along that BB:, *■''" ^^^^ settlers in that region. tVonticr line as boundary monu- JSV'l^^feww. ^lo was in tho War of 1812 as a meats. Upon its f(mr sides were JDHL ^H||Kk Ho'.dier, and fought in some of the cast appropriate inscriptions, in ^^^ S^^Br ^''*^^*-''* "" tlie Niagara frontier, raised letters.^ ^hBI^BP^ ^^^ ^^^ badly Avounded at lilack We left St. Regis toward the ^SaflL^Hsr Rock by tho explosion of a boinb- evcniiig of a delightful day, and jj^SSjmSS^, **''^'' ^'"^* came from a battery reached Massena just as the "^BBJ^P^ on the Canada side. "I was guests of the hotel were assem- "^^?^3W^'' knocked down," ho said, " had bliiig at tho supper -table. At "ocnuary monument, niy breast -bone stove in, and three ribs broken." He was at Fort Erie at the time of the sanguinary sortie, but wa.s unable to walk on account of his wounds. That vetenan was Captain John Policy, already mentioned. He w as then seventy-two years of age. He had seen all the country around him bloom out of the wilderness, and had outlived most of the com- panions of his youth. Let us resume the historical naiTative : While active operations -were in progress at the eastern end of Lake Ontario and along the St. I^wrence River, important events were transpiring toward the Avestem end 01 tho lake and on the Niagara frontier. That frontier, extending along the Ni- agara River from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, a distance of thirty-five miles, was the theatre of many stirring scenes during the war we are considering. The Niagara River is the grand outlet of the waters of the upper lakes into Ontario, and divides a portion of the State of New York from that of Canada. Half way between the two lakes that immense body of water pours over a limestone precipice in two mighty cataracts, unequaled in sublimity by any others on the surface of the globe. At the time we are considering that frontier was sparsely settled. Bufialo^ Avas a little scattered village of about one hundred houses and stores, and a military post of sufficient consequence to invite the torch of British incendiaries at the close of 1813, when all but two dwellings Avere laid in ashea It was only about sixty years ago that the tiny seed Avas planted of that now immense mart of inland com- merce, containing one hundred thousand inhabitants. Where noAv are long lines of wharves, Avith forests of masts and stately Avarehouses, was seen a sinuous creek, nav- igable for small vessels only, Avinding its way through marshy ground uito the lake, its low banks fringed with trees and tangled shrubbery. In 1814 it Avas a desola- tion, and the harbor presented the appearance delineated in the engraving on the fol- lowing page. A little south of Buffalo, stretching along Buffalo Creek, were the villages of the Seneca Indians, on a reservation of one hundred and sixty tliousand acres of land, and then inh. ; i:ed by about seven hundred souls. Two miles beloAv Buffalo Avas Black Rock, a hamlet at the foot of Lake Erie and of powerful rapids, where there 'On the west fnco, " Bouni.aby, Atiocsx 0, 1842." On the east, " Tbkaty op WABmNOTos." On tbe north, "Liecten- iJT Coi.osEi. I. B. B. EsTooDRT, H. B.M. CoMMtsBioNKR." On the sonth, "Aijirbt Smith, U. 8. Commibsioneb." ' Baffalo was laid out by the Holland Land Company in 1801, and was called New Amsterdam. k pi'i^f^ ...^^^^^^1 r 81; If !'l!!mii ? ! :Hli jH i 8S0 riCTOIUAL i'lKLD-UOOK MtttmiMnU tUtug tb« Miok'O'* yrontlar In 191S. Remnlnii of Fort BcbluMer. Oeitrnetlon of the fltwincr Carr^in, r imi'i'Ai.ii IN IHlil. wns a fi'rry ; and almost opjjowiti! was Fort Erio, a UritiHli poht of ootiHidcralil,. Htrcncjth. Nino imk'H lu-low, at the Kalln of Elliott'H (Jrwk, was tlii! villaj,'n ot'Wil- lianisvilK'; and at tlio hoad ( f tliu rapids, abovo Niaj^ara Kallw, were the reniiiiiiH of old Fort SeliloHWT, ahont a mile Ixilow Sclilds- Ht-r Landinj/, near which is yet Htaiidintf an immenHo chimney that helonp'd to tlic Kri- i^lish " ineHH-houHe," or dininc;-4iall of tlic <,'ar- rison that wen; stationed tht-re several years before the Revolntion.' Opposite ScliloHscr, at the montli of the ()hii)])e\va ('reek, uas the small villa<,'e of C!liippewa, inhabited hy Cana- dians and Indians. At the Falls, on the Amer- ican side, was the hamlet of Manchester; ami seven miles below, at the foot of the Lower Hapids, was Lcwiston, a little village, with a convenient landing at the base of a bhifl'. Op- posite Lewiston was (Jneenston, overlonked from the south by lolly heiglits, soiiu'times called The Mountain. It was the lainlini,'- placc for goods brought over Lake Ontario for the inhabitants above. At the mouth of BEAIAIMH AT roUT HOIII.onHKII. ^ The EiiBlinh built » itockndn here In the year 1700, and named It Fort Schlosflor.ln honor of the morltorlonn officer who wne lu command there at the time. It was about a mile from the Niagara Klver. The frame of Uie inc»s-liiin« wnfl prepared at Fort Nla(,'ar.i, I't the month of the rivor, while the French were In possession there. It was liitcndcrl for a Cut hollc church at that pla. i. The Enjflleh took 11 to the site of the new fort, and put it up there. It dlMpponm) In the course of time, leaving m ■ hlng but the hnge chimney ^Around It a small bnlldtng was erected, lu which Jmlce Porter resided for several yearf after his removal to the Niagara frontier. The bnlldliig was consumed when the Brit- ish devastated that shore In ISf Slight traces of old French works on the bank of the river, and of Fort Schlosrer, more in the Interior, may now he ecn. lam Indebted to the luto Colonel P. A.Porter, of Niagara Falls village (wlinivan killed in battle during the late Chi War), for the above sketch of the great chimney and the little building altnchcd to It Schlosser Landing was made fumoqs at the close of 188T by the destruction there of the American steamer Cfl.oliiKby a party of nritlsh from C8i,.idtt. At that time a portion of both Canadian provinces were In Insurrection against tiie Britlsli government. Novy Island, on the Niogara River, Just above Schlosser, was made a rendezvous for ttic Ineur- gents of that neighborhood ond their American sympathizers, and the steamboat Carnline was brought down from Buf- falo to be used ab a ferry-boat between the Island and Schlosser Landing. On the night of the 2»th of December, 1?3T, she was moored at Porter's store-honse, Schloster's Landing, having croased the ferry several times dnrlng the day. OF TIIK WAR OF 1812. Wi'/ikiifSM fif ilir NlnKmn Kronller. 881 a«Mral Dmrbom'i laMrmlloBa. N'iftL'nrft River, on the Aimi irun hmIc, wiih (mul Htill Ik) Fort Nia^ftrn, n utrong pout, cit'cUtl ''y '''^' roiiiltincii hkill iiml liilior of tlr.! Krcrioh aii<l Kiij^I'imIi ciii^iiuMTH luxl trooiiH lit (lifVondit tiiin-M.' Just aho\i' llic foit wiih tlic litlld villam' of V(>iiri^,'Mlown ; ami oppo^'it"' thin, on the ('aiimlii hIioic, wiih Koit (Jcorj^c. Hclwccn lli«! fort mid the liiko WIIH tlio villiiKu of Newark, now Niajjara. Alon>^ both baiikH of tli« rivor, Iv wlioli l<'ii.Uth, a faiiiiiiii,' popiihition wiih McatH-nd. Siicli wan tho Niat^ani frontier at tlu' oiieniiij!; of tho war of I HI 2. Th(! reader will huve occuHiou freijuent-ly to re- fi.r to tlie map of it on tli(! foNowinjj; page. Major <'eneral Stepiu'ii Van llenHHeiaer, appointed l»j (lovermir Tonipkiim the (,(„n„"intiilcr-iii-<'liit!f of the (h^tiu^lied militia of tlu? Htate, with S(,lonion Van KciiHHe- laiT the adjutant general of New York, iih hin aid and military adviHor,* and John Lovctt, of Troy, iiK Win nectretary, arrived at Kort Niagara on tlie l.'lth of y\ut;nht,' and nKHinned eommand of the forecH on tiiat frontier. On tlie follow ii.}^ ilay he made hJH lu'iid-qiiartorH at LowiHton, Heven miles fartlun- up the river. General Aiiioh Hail, ,.„miiminler of the militia of Western New V.trk, was tln-n at the littlc! hamlet of Maiicliester, at Niaf^ara Falls, with a thw troopw; and «l(!taehmentH of the saino kind were Hoattored along tho whole lino of tho rivur, a distance of ihirty-flve niik-H. Uiit ilic wliolo for(!e in tlie field, to guard that frontier from u threate.ied invaHion of the (•iii'iiiy, did not amount to mo'-e than a thoiisand men.* TheHo were Hcantiiy '•li>tlied, iiidifll'iently fed, and wore elamorouH for pay. There waH not a Hingle pieec! of heavy ordiiiiiK'e along the entire frontier, nor artillerists to man th(^ light field-pieces in their i)09»i!8sion. Of ammunition there were not ten rounds for eaeh man. Tluy hacl no tents. The meilieal department was in a most doHtituto condition, and insuhordina- tion wftH tho rul(! and not the (ixeeption.* General Dearborn had been instructed^ to make Huoii dcnioimtratioiiK on •jtmeM, tliP frontier as whould jC^/y^ *'"' '^'■'''**''» "■* ''*'*' nrcvtiit re-enforcom(!nt« y^y ~y) ^ ^^^^ >f^L.^^.^a^^ their makii.g a forniida- tdiig wilt to Maiden by // ^ oc/ ^C^t^i^^^ ^^e-^^C^ 1,1,, „,„v(,,nent against Hiili at Detrjit. This duty was wholly neglected, and, as lato as tho 8th of Au- ijusl, the commanding general wrote to the Secretary of War, Haying, "Till now i did not consider tlu; Niiigara frontier as coming within the limits of my com- mand." This extraordinary aHBortion was made in the face of no loss th:*n five dis- jjatohcs from tho War Department, in which ' h alluRions wore made to that frontier as to expressly, or by implication, give him to understand that the entire line of the Niagara Uivcr and the lakes v/ere under his juriRdiction.* And on the very next The tavern there liciiiu crowded, nevcriil ikthoiih wont on the boat to lodyc for the night. At midnight B body of annd mon from the (!nnnda Hhorc ciimc In ii Ixiat, riiBhed on bonrd, cxcluimin); " Cut them down ! give no quarter !" nnil chased the inmrmcd occiipantB OBtem. Homo were Bcvcrely Injured, one man wan «hot dead on the wharf, and twelve more were never hoard of afterward. The boat was towed out Into tho river, net on Arc, and left to the current above the cAlnract. It Hunk near IrU Inland, and on the following morning charred rvmaliiH of the veHBol we 'j eecn below the Fallt. It wnB HUpimBed that more than one of the mlMlng men perished In the flamcH or the tiirbnlcut waters. At (IDC lime tl lomatic cnrrcspmidencc bctwekn tho two governmcnta concerning this outrage threatened a war, I A pnrtlct . account of the fort will be given hereafter. 'General 81 ^en Van HenBselacr was nolo military man. lie wag posscssod of great wealth, extensive social Infln- eiice,an(l was a leading Federalist. Ills appointment was a stroke of policy to secure friends to the war among that party. It was only on condition that Solomon Van Rensselaer, who had been In military Kcrvlce, should accompany bin), that ho consented to take the post. It was well understood that Colonel Van Rensselaer would be the general, In 1 practical military point of view. 1 On reaching Utica, on his way westward, Ocneral Van Rensselaer was called to Sackett's narl)or by rnmors of hfic- lile tnovcmcnlH In that quarter, Frora there he went on o tour of inspection along tho frontier to Ogdensbnrg, to lean ihc condition of troops, and the msans foroffoDslvo or dcf.'nslve operations along tho St. Lawrence frontier. t See note 2, page 3fl«. i .Varrn/(iM of the Affair at Qtufrutmcn in the War qf 1S12, by Solomon Van Rensselaer, page 10. • On the Mth of .lune tho Secretary of War wrote to Ocneral Dearborn, then nt Albany ; " Yonr preparations. It Is pre- inmed, will be made to move In a direction for Sia.jara, Kingston, and Montreal." On July IBth he wrote : " On your irrival at Albany yonr attention will bo directed to the sernrity of the northern frontier ftj/ the laken." On the 20tl. be wrote more explicitly, saylntf: "Yon will make such arrangements with Govenior Tompkins M will place the mllltia iibehri by him for the Siafiara atui other pnntn on the lake under ymir control:' .Inly 29th he wrote : " Should It be ad- TlsaMe to make any other disposition of these restless people [tho warriors of the Sflneca Indlansl, you will give orders to Mr. Granger and tho ammuinilino officer at Xiaiiara." On tho 1st of August tho sanae functionary wrote i "Yon will wit<iiiver»imiinfavort\fhin), [General Hull] at S'iagara and Kingnton as soon as may be practicable." Yet, with these I It ^ ', i * If r ■ 1 i ; s m iff 382 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The i^iagara r'rontler. "^ loltore in Ms ponECSBton, General T)eRrborn, on the 8th of Auf^nst, dccliiRd that until then he did " not couelder the Ni agnra ftroutler 88 coming ^it'iln the limits of his commnud 1" •^ don j to tX ^u t. i^l\ !■■ ■ Van Rensselaer 'OntheMthof oipress bearing th( Me.Lettor of Colon ' Dearborn to the < This was on the M prisoneia. ' As soon as Van 1)3% ordering thosi ' Stephen Van Re "f the American /»(i« o?the eldest son, h 11 Princeton Collegt JD .wllve politician, iifntmant governor file, when the over m ihe war in lsl2, v areithUheariysn; mllltla was a stroke tererrice. He was Vork he gave the pre »ork». 'I'he"Ben6e mrked and nsefnl. 'iilieUmeofLlsdea OF THE WAR OF 1812. 383 IthcNl /.r| gifect of the Armistlco. Solomon Van Reusseluer'i Diplomacy. Service expected of the Army on the Niagara Frontier. dav' he signed an armistice agreting to a cessation of hostilities along that • Angnsto, entire' dividing line between the two countries. That ai-mistico still fir- ^^*'■'• ther delayed preparations for oflonsive or defensive operations on th. part of the Americans, and, on the Ist of September, the entire effective force under General Van Piensae'aer on the Niagara frontier was only six hundred and ninety-one men, instead of five thousand, as he had been promised !' Notwithstanding Dearborn had been ordered peremptorily to put an end to the armistice, he continued it until the 29th of August,* for the purpose, as he alleged,^ of forwarding stores to Sackett's Harbor —a matter of small moment compared with the accruing disadvantages. Within the period of the armistice, Brock was enabled, after the capture of Hull and the Terri- tory of Michigan, to return leisurely with his troops and prisoners to the Niagara frontier. Wlien the armistice was ended, and Van Rensselaer was so weak in men and munitions of war, the British confronted him, on the opposite side of a narroAV river, with a well-appointed and disciplined, though small army, commanded by skill- ful and experienced oflScers, while every important point from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie along the British side of the Niagara, was carefully guarded or had been mate- rially strengthened. Some of the most disastrous effects of the aimistice were parried by a successful effort at diplomacy on the part of Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, the commanding (ycneral's aid, who wcs sent to Fort George to confer with the British general, Sheaffe, on the details of the operations of that agreement. Van Rensselaer insisted upon the unrestricted navigation of Lake Ontario for both parties, and this point was unex- pectedly yielded,* restrictions upon the movements of troops, stores, etc., being con- fined to the country above Fort Erie. This was of vital importance to the Ameri- cans ; for the much-needed supplies for the army, ordnance, and other munitions of war collected at Oswego coull only be taken to the Niagara by water, the roads were in such a wretched condition. By this arrangement, the vessels at Ogdensburg, already mentioned, were releaf>ed,'.to be converted into warriors; and Colonel Fen- wick, at Oswego, moved forwa-'d over the lake to Niagara with a large quantity of gupplios. (Jeneral Van Rensselaer* was charged with the duty of not only defending the frontier from invasion, but of an actual invasion of Canada himself. This was a part of the original plan of the campaign. While Hull invaded the province from De- troit, iu was to be penetrated on the Niagara and St. Lawrence frontiers. But Van Rensselaer found himself in a most critical situation, and doubtful Avhether he could even protect the soil of his own state from the foot of the invader. The arrival of • Van Renseolaer's Karratiiv, etc., p. 10. i On the 29th of Augnst General Dearborn Issued an ordei' in which he declared the armistice at an end, and yet tho fipress bearing the order to the Niagara fi-ontler did not reach General Van Beusselaer until the 12th of September.— SS. Lettiir of Colonel Solomon Van Kensselaer to his Wife, dated Lewiston, September 12, 1812. 1 Dearborn to the Secretary of War, Angnst 27, 1812. • This was on the 2lBt of Aagust. Pour days afterward General Brock arrived wiih Hull and the regulars of his army liprisoneis. > As soon as Van Rensselaer obtained the conce88i(j.i, an express was sent to Oswego, Sackett'a Harbor, and Ogdens- burg, ordering those vossels up. ' Stephen Van Rensselaer was the fifth in lineal descent from Killian Van Rensselaer, the earliest and I est known «;tlie American Patroorit. He was bom at the manor-honse in Albany, New York, on the first of November, 1 iM. Be- ,d; tbe eldest son, he inherited the Immense estate of his father, and was the last of tt? Patroone. He was educated first It Princeton College and chen at Harvard University. He was graduated at the latter institution In 1782. He became in active politician, and was a warm supporter of Washington and the national ConstHution. In 1795 he was elected Menant governor of his native state, and held the office six consecutive years. He was a rising man in the political Kile, when the overthrowi of the Federal party In 1800 impeded his advancement. Although a Federalist and opposed to tlie war in 1S12, when his country was committed to the measure he patriotically laid aside all party feelings and smt It bis hearty support He was not a military man, and his appointment to the major generalship of the dcMched militia was a stroke of pollpy rather than the deliberate choice of a good military leader. He did not l&ne remain In the ffirrlce. He was In Congress during several consecutive sessions, and by his casting vote in the delegation of New York bo tcave the presidency to John Qulncy Adams in 1824. Then hie political life closed. He was foremost in good works, ilie "Keneselaer School" >. Troy, New York, attests his liberality, and his activity in religious societies waii larked and useful. For many years b was President of the Board of Canul Commissioners. That was his position It tbe time of bis death, which occurrea on the 26th of January, 1840, In the sovonty-flfth year of hia age. •"W 384 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Van Renseelaer calls for Re-cnforcements. They come. Proposition to Invade Canada! Van Reasselaer'a LeiiT Colonel Fcnwick, on tho 4th of September, with ordnance and stores gave gome re- lief, hut the evidence of preparations for invasion on the purt of the Britioh became daily more and more positive and alarming. At the middle of September Van Rensselaer informed both Govornor Tompkins and General Dearborn of the gloomy prospects before him, and pleaded for re-enforcements, sayiii-r,"A retrograde movement of this army iif^ on the back of that disaster which has befallen the one at Detroit would stamii a stigma upon the national character which time would never wipe away. I shall therefore try to hold out against superior force and every disadvantafe until I shall be re-enforced.'" But as late as the 26th of September General Dearborn could give him no sure prom- ises of timely re-enforcements, while in the same letter that officer expressed a hope that Van Rensselaer would not only be able to meet the enemy, hut to carry the war into Canada. " At all events," he said, " we must colculate on possessing Upper Canada he- fore winter sets in."'' Soon after this regular troops. and militia began to arrive m the Niagara frontier. The for- mer assembled at Bufi'alo and its vicinity, the latter at Lewiston ; "Octoiers, and when, in the first Meek of October,'* General Van Rensselaer invited ^®^*' Major General Hall, of the militia of Western New Y ork. Brigadier Gen- eral Smythe, of the regular army and tnen inspector general, and the commandants of the United States regiments to meet him in council, he proposed a speedy invasion of Canada. " I propose," he said, '• that we inimediately concentrate the regular force in the neighborhood of Niagara and the militia here [Lewiston], make the hest possible dispositiona, and at the same time the regulars shall pass from Four-mile Creek to a point in tho rear of the works of Fort George and take it by storm ; I will pass the river here, and carry the heights of Queenstown. Should we succeed, wo shall effect a great discomfiture of the enemy by breaking their line of communica- tion, driving their shipping from the mouth of this [Niagara] river, leaving them no rallying-j)oiiit in this part of tho country, appalling the minds of the Canadians, and opening a wide and safe communication for our supplies. We shall save our land. wipe away part of tho score of our past disgrace, get excellent barracks and winter quarters, and at least be prepared for an early campaign another year."^ This pro- posed council was not held, owing to the failure of General Smyth to comply witli the request of General Van Rensselaer,* and the latter was left wholly to the re- sources of himself and his military funiiiy in forming hii3 plans. They were delHi- erately matured, and preparations for invading Canada went vigorously on. To- ' Letter to Oovfmor Tompkln ,, Septcmhor 17. ISIS. > Denrliorn to Van Rensselaer, September 20, 1812. ' Letter of (icneral Van KcnrKclaer t.i Oeiieral Dearbnra, LewljtoD, October 8, 18U. * This will be noticed In tbe nei^c chapter. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 385 LienWnant Enilott on Lake Erie. Preparations for captnring Brtti.ih Vesgels. Cooperation of the Military. ward the middle of October the American forces on the frontier were considered suf- iioient to warrant the undertaking. While these preparations were in progress, a daring and successful exploit was per- formed near Buffalo, that won great applause for the actors and infused new spirit into the troops. We have already observed that Lieutenant Je^se D. Elliott, of the United States Navy, v/as sent by Commodore Chauncey to superintend the erection of a fleet on Lake Erie. By a letter from the commander, dated the 7th of September, he was instructed to report himself to General Van Rensselaer, on the Niagara frontier, consult with him as to " the best position to build, repair, and fit for service" such vessels as might be required to retain the command of Lake Erie, and, after selecting Buc' place, to " purchase any number of merchant vessels or boats that might be con- verted into vessels of war or giin-boats," with the advice of General Van Rensselaer, r.nd to commence their equipment Immediately. He was also instructed to take measures for the construction of two vessels of three hundred tons each, six boats of considerable size, and quarters for three hundred men. These, and a variety of other relevant duties, were committed to the charge of Lieutenant Elliott by Chauncey, who said, " Knowing your zeal for the servic^ and your discretion as an oflScer, I feel every confidence in your industry and exertions to accomplish the object of your mis- sion in the shortest time possible.'" Elliott was then twenty -.even years of age. Black Rock, two miles below Buffalo, was selected as the place for Lake Erie's first (lock-yard in fitting out a navy. While busily engaged there, early in October, in the (lutips of his office, Elliott was informed that two British armed vessels had come down the lake, and anchored under the guns of Fort Erie. These were the brigs Adams, Lieutenant Rolette commander, and Caledonia, commanded by Mr. Irvine, the fomer a prize captured when Hull surrendered, and its name was changed to Detroit, the latter a vessel OAvned and ernployed by the Northwestern Fur Company on the Upper Lakes.* They were both Avell armed and manned,^ and it was uriderstood tliat the Caledonia bore a valuable, cargo of skins from the forest. They appeared in front of Fort Erie on the morning of the 8th of October, and the zealous Elliott, em- ulous of distinction, immediately conceived a plan for their capture. Timely aid offered. On that very day a detacnment of seamen for service under him arrived from New York. They were unarmed, and Elliott turned to the military authorities for assistance. Lieutenant Colonel Winfield Scott was at Black Rock. He entered warmly into Elliott's plans, and readily obtained the consent of General Smyth, his lommanding oflScer, to lend his aid. Captain Towson, of the Engineers' Corps (2d liegiraeiit of Artillery), was detailed, with fifty men, for the service, and the cordial acquiescence of General Smy th was evinced by a note, marked " confidential," to Col- onel Winder, of the 14th Regiment, then encamped near Buffalo, in which he said, ''15c pleased to turn out the hardy sailors in your regiment, and let them appear, under the care of a non-commissioned officer, in front of my quarters, precisely at three o'clock this evening. Send also all the pistols, swords, and sabres you can borrow at the risk of the lenders, and such public swords as you hav'e."* Towson joined Elliott Avith anns and ammunition for the seamen, and botli were accompanied by citizens. The combined force, rank and file, was one hundred and twenty-four men.* All the preparations for the enterprise were completed by four 1 Letter of Chauncey to EHIott, " Navy Yard, New York, September T, lRt2." ' See page 2T0. ' The Mroit mounted six O-ponnders and mustered flfty-sir men, besides thirty American prisoners. The taledo- nia mounted two small gtins and mustered twelve men, bes'dcs ten American prisoners. < Mniinscrtpt Letter of General Smyth to Colonel Winder, October 8, 1S12. It Is proper here to remark that, throngh tetlud offices of Mrs. Aurella Winder Towusend, of Oyster Bay, Long Island, danghter of General Winder, the papers olthat gallant officer were placed In my possession. Free use has been made of ihem In the conrse of this work. ' Ucntenant Elliott, In his offlcli>l report to the 8ecr°tary of the Navy, October 9, 1«12, says there were one hundred I" r ! expedition— fifty in each boat. The list furnished by him, and here given In fttll, makes the number one hund- ltd dud twenty-four, as follows : flmmatujira, Jesse D. Elliott, Isaac Chauncey. Siif!iii(M>i(wiJfr«, Qeorge Watts, Alexander SIsson. B3 1 W^ <>( flu ■1 > ijfL 'V :i * a. 386 PICTOBI'.L FIELD-BOOK Captnre of the Adamt and Caledonia. Names of the Captora. Excitement at Buffalo. Isaac Roach. o'clock in the afternoon. Two large boats had been fitted up at Shogeoquady' Creek just below Black Rock, and then were taken to the mouth of Buffalo Creek in the evening. The expedition embarked at midnight, and at one o'clock in the mom- • October 9, ing* it left the creek silently, while scores of people on shore, who knew ^*"- that an^important movement was on foot, waited with anxiety in the gloom. At three o'clock the sharp crack of a pistol, followed by the flash and roll of a volley of musketry, a dead silence, and the moving of two dark objects down the river, proclaimed that the -enterprise had been successful. A shout of joy ran^ out upon the night air.from the shore between Buflalo and Black Rock, and lanterns and torches in abundance flashed light across the stream to illuminate the way of the victors.' The surprise and success were complete. The vessels were captured and the men in them made prisoners, " In less than ten minutes," wrote Elliott, " I had the prisonei-s all seized, the topsails sheeted home, and the vessels under weich."' The DHroit was taken by the boat conducted by Elliott in person, assisted by Lieu- tenant Roach,* of the Engineers, and the Caledonia by the other boat conducted bv Sailing-master Watts,* assisted by the military under Captain Towson. The first was taken with scarcely any opposition, the second after very brief resistance. The wind was light — too light to allow the vessels thereby to stem the current and reach the open lake ; so they ran down the stream in the darkness, but not without annov- ance. The turmoil of the capture, the shouts of the citizens at Black Rock and Buf- falo, and the display of lights along the American shore, called every British officer and soldier to his post. The guns of Fort Erie, of two or three batteries, and of fly- Captain o/ Engineers mui Marines,^!. Towson. Lieuterianto/ Engineers and Marines, Isaac Roach. Master's Jfateo, William Peckham,.]. E. M'Donald, John S. Cammings, Edward Wilcox. Ensiffn,Vfi]]\am Presman. Boatswain's Mates, Lawrence Hanson, John Rack, James Horrell. Quarter Ounners, Benjamin Tallmau, Bird, Hawk, Noiand, Vincent, Osbom, H'Cobbin, John Wheeler. Seamen, Edward Police, James Williams, Robert Craig, John H'Intire, Elisha Atwood, William Edward, Mlchncl S. Brooks, William Roe, Henry Anderson. Christopher Bailey, John Exon, John Lewis.Wllliam Barker, Peter Davis, Peler Deist, Lemuel Smith, Abraham Patch, Benjamin Myrick, Robert Peterson, Benjamin Fleming, Gardiner Gaskill, An- thony De Kmse, William Dickson, Thomas Hill, John Reynolds, Abraham Pish, Jerome Sardie, John Tockum, William Anderson, John Jockings, Thomas Bradley, Hatten Armstrong. Soldiers, Jacob Webber, Jesse Green, Henry Thomas, George Gladden, James Murray, Samuel Ba' iwin, John nen- drick, Peter Evans, William Fortune, Daniel Martin, John M'Guard, Samuel Fortune, John Gnrlinp, Zacuariah Wise, John Kearns, Thomas Wnllager, ""homas Honragna, Peter Peroe, Edward Mahoney, Daniel Holland, Mathias Wineman, Mo- ses Goodwin, I/ishnrway Lewis, William Fisher, John Fritch, James Roy, James U'Gee, James M'Crossan, AMlliam Wei- raer, Thomas Leister, Joseph Davis, Benjamin Thomas, James M'Donald, Thomas Ruark, J. Wicklin, W. Richard*, James Tomlin, James Boyd, James Neal, John Gidlemau,Wllllam Knight, M. Parish, Jnmes M'Coy, Daniel Fraser, John House, Jacob Stewart, William Kemp, Hugh Robb, Anson Crossweil. Charles Lewis, John Shields, Charles Lc Forge, John Joseph, Henry Berthold, James Lee, Isaac Murrows, George Eaton, Thomas C. Leader, William Cowenboven, John J. Lord, Charles Le Fraud, Elisha Cook, John Tolenson, John Q. Stewart, William Fryer, Cyrenns Chapin, Alei- ander M'Comb, Thomas Davis, Peter Orenstock, William C.Johnson. I am indebted to Colonel Gleason F. Lewis, of Cleveland, for the above " Roll of Honor," and I take pleasure in here acknowledging my Indebtedness to that gentleman for many kind services in aid of my labors. His attention to the business of procuring pensions and boimties for the soldiers of the War of 1812 and their families for many years, gives him, probably, a mor^ thoror'gh knowledge of that subject, as relates to the Army of the Northwest, than any other man In the country. > This is an Indian word, and is variously spelled Shogeoqiiady, Shojeoqnady, Seajaqnady, and Skajoekuda. » Reminiseenees o/ Buffalo, by Henry Lovejoy . ^ I^etter to the Secretary of the Nai^y, October 9, 1S12. ♦ Isaac Roach was bom in the District of Sonthwark, Philadelphia, on the 24th of Fehmary; 1780. After the atlacli on the Chemptakt In ISOT [see page 167], Roach, then twentv.one years of age, organized an artillery company in Phil- adelphia. In 1812 he obtained the appointment of second lieutenant In the Second Regiment U. S. Artillery, and joined that regiment nnder Lieutenant Colonel Scott In July. He volunteered to accompany the expedition against the Bril Ish brigs, ttnd led fifty of his a.ssoclat«8 in the attAck. He was then adjutant of the regiment ; and so anxious were the men to accompany him, that when he passed along the line to select them, his ears were saluted with the exclamation.', " Can't I go, sir f "— " Tfke me. Adjutant"—" Don't forget M'Gee"— " I'm a Philadelphia boy," etc. Roach was wound- ed in the battle at Qncenstown soon aderward, and he returned home. He soon afterward joined the staff of Gcnerai Izard. He was made a prisoner at the Beaver Dams the next year. He had many adventures In attempts to escape, and was Anally successful. He was about to take the fleld under General Scott as assistant adjutant general, when peace came. Ho commanded successively Forts M'Hcury, i^olumbus, ard Mifflin, until 1828, when he was commissioned m^or by brevet. He retired from the army In \><'H. In 1838 i.e was elected Mayor of Philadelphia, and was appointed Tresanrer of the Mint soon afterward. He died Dc'cemher 29, IMS. • Watts was killed on the 28th nf No.smWr following, while assisting Lieutenant Holdup and others In spiking Mice cannon at the little village of WaterlDo. on the Canada side of the Niagara, a short distance below Fort Erie, lite ball that killed Watts paised tbroogh Holdup's hand. The former died lii the arms of the latter. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 887 A Struggle fov the Poeeesslon of a Vessel. Gallantry of the Combatants. liosses of Hen In the Conflict. ing artillery, all guided by the lights that gleamed over the waters, were brought to bear upon the vessels.' The Detroit was compelled to anchor within reach of the enemy's guns, while the Caledonia ran ashore, and was beached under the protection of the guns of an American battei-y between BuflTalo and Black Rock.^ The guns of the Detroit were all removed to her larboard side, and a mutual cannonading was kept up for some time.^ Efforts were made by tow-line and warps to haul her to the American shore. These failed ; and, regarding the destruction of the Detroit as cer- tain in her exposed position, Elliott cut her cable and set her adrift. At that mo- ment he discovered that his pilot had left. For ten minutes she went blindly down the swift cv''pnt, and then brought up on the west side of Squaw Island, near the American shore, but still exposed to the guns of the enemy.* The prisoners, forty- six in number, were immediately landed below Squaw Island, but the current was so stron" that the boats could not return to the vessel. She was soon boarded by a party of the British Forty-ninth Regiment, then etationed at Fort Erie, but they were driven off by some citizen soldiera of Buffalo, who, with a six-pound field-piece, crossed over to Squaw Island in a scow and boldly attacked them.* She was then placed in charge of Lieutenant Colonel Scott, at Black Rock, who gallantly defended her. Each party resolved that the other should not possess her, and the cannons of both wore brought to bear upon the doomed vossel during the remainder of the day. At a little after sunset Sir Isaac Brock arrived, and made preparations to renew the at- tempt to recover the Detroit, with the aid of the crew of the Lady Prevoat ; but be- fore these were perfected a party of the Fifth United States Infantry set her on fire and she was consumed.* The Caledonia was saved, and afterward performed good i^ervice in Perry's fleet on Lake Erie. In this really brilliant affair the Americans lost only two killed and five wounded. Tlie loss of the British is not known.' The Cah ' >Hia was a rich prize, her cargo I The movements on the Canadian shore were under the direction of the gallant Hivjor Ormsby, the British com" mandant there. The first shot from the flying artil- y. lery crossed the river and Instantly killed the brave 'V\^a.« a Major William Howe Cuyler, of Ontario, General JTM^^ /^ Hall's ald-de-camp, who had taken a deep interest ^^ ,^ ,^\/3 in the expedition. He had been In the saddle all ^^"-^ ' night, and hai just left a warehouse where rigging was procured for warping in the Detroit, and was jTjIdlugthe vessels with a lantern In his hand, when the fatal ball struck him and he fell dead. His bodf was carried by Captain Bei\|amln Bidwell and others to the honse of Nathaniel Sill. The death of the gallant and accomplished Cnyler was widely mourned. Obituary notices appeared in the newspapers ; and " The War," printed in ^°ew York, pablUhed a poem "To the Memory of Major Cuyler," in six stanzas, in which the following lines occnr : " In Freedom's virtuous cause alert he rose. In Freedom's virtuous cause undaunted bled; He died for Freedom 'midst a host of foes, And found on Erie's beach an honored bed." I She was grounded a little above what is now the foot of Albany Street. The Injured on board the Caledonia were branght on shore in a boat. It could not quite reach the land on account of shoal water, when Doctor Josiah Trow- bridge, yet [18873 a resident of Buffalo, waded in and bore some of them to dry land on his back. They were taken to the house of Orange Dean, at the old ferry (now foot of Fort Street, opposite the angle la Niagara Street), and well tired for. While Doctor Trowbridge was taking a mnsket-ball from the neck of a wounded man, a twenty- four-pound (hot entered the honse, struck a chimney Just over their heads, and covered them with bricks, mortar, and splinters. Aaother shpt of the same weight demolished a trunk on the deck of the Caledonia, scattered its contents, consisting of Indies' wearing npparel, among the rigging, passed on, and was buried in the banks of the river. Two small boys (Cyrus K. St. John and Henry Lovejoy), who came down from Buffalo to see the fight, exhumed the shot and carried It home 1! a trophy of their valor.— Sarrative of Henry Lovejoy. ■ Elliott, who was on board the Detroit, hailed the British commander, and threatened to place his prisoners on the decks If he did not cease firing. The enemy disregarded the menace. "One single moment's reflection," said Elliott in his official dispatch, "determined me not to commit an act that would subject me to the imputation of barbarity." 'Her position was nearly opposite Pratt's Iron Works. ' These were principally members of an Independent volunteer company of Buffalo, of which the lato Ebeneier Wal- detwas commander. They flrst brought their six-ponuder to bear upon the enemy at the point where the Black Rock Ice-house stood in 1860, Doctor Trowbridge acting as gunner. When the regular gunner came they crossed over to SuMw Island.— Statement of Doctor Trowbridge to the Author. ' Throng'ii the intrepidity of Sailing-master Watts, some of her guns were taken out of her during the cannonade, and Mred to do excellent duty in n land-battery between Black Rock and Buffalo. ■ Elliott's ofilciat Letter to the Secretary of the Navy, October », 1812 ; Cooper's Saval Hintorj/, 11., 831 ; Letter of Gen- end Sir Isaac Brock to Sir Geor),« Prevoat, October 11, 181S, quoted iu Tapper's Lifi qf Brock, page 818. (nv^^. ■ 1. i ^l^l^Hb fj^^^Hlf ^^^^1!^ i^^^^B'' l^^H- ^^^^^K'^ ' if^^^^^^^^v) ' ^^^^H> ' HBI 'M, ;;:il % K. I 888 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Elliott and bli Companions. Eipression of the aratitnde of the Nation by t'ou(;resj being valued at tvo hundred thousand dollars, and British — on this occasion was highly commendable. El- liott' made special mention of several of his companions,'* and •Jan. 20, Congress," 1818. ijy. jj yotj,^ awarded to that offi- cer their thanks, and a sword, with suita- ble emblems and de- vices.' The exploit sent a thrill of joy throughout the Unit- ed States, because it promised speedy suc- cess in efforts to ob- tain the laastery of JSBSK 1). KI.1.10TT. The gallantry of all— Americans Lake Eric, while it produced a corre- sponding depression on the other side, for a similar reason. yr-:x " Tlie event is partic- ularly unfortunate," wrote General Brock, " and may rednce us to incalculable dis- tress. The enemy is making every exer- tion to gain a naval superiority on both lakes, which, if thev accomplish it, I do not see how we can possibly retain tlie country."* > Jesse Dnucnn Elliott was born in Maryland in 1785. He entered the naval service of the United States as mideliip- man in April, 1800, and in 1810 v/as promoted to lieutenant. After hi.i gallant exploit near Bnffnio he Joined ChnuncoT at Sackett's Harbor. In Jnly, 1813, he was promoted to master commandant over thirty lieutenants, and appointed to the command of the brig Xiagara, 20, built on Lake Eric. He was second in command in Perry's engagement on the 10th of September, 1813, ^^ employed until Novem- and for his conduct on (I, C\, i / /) /7 * '""" '*'* """" '''"''i ''''"' that occasion Congress I ^ /9 /^ ^ /lJ t r A^^ ^i^~^ he was assigned the coin- voted him a gold medal. ^-'^^^^,'^*-J/'^^"^— /\/ ^/^L'Cx-'V-'V'C'lv mandoftheeloop-of-war After that battle he re- V. -^ //L^ J Ontario, then just corn- turned to Lake Ontario, U^^~- — ■ — ■ ) -^ plated at Baltimore. This and was there actively * — -^ vessel was one of Deca- tur's squadron that performed good service in the Mediterranean Seo in 1916. Elliott was promoted to the rank of cap- tain in 1818, and subsequently had command of squadroub on several stations, as well as of the navy yards nt Boston and Philadelphia. On account of alleged misconduct In the Mediterranean, he was tried by a court-martial In 1S40. Tho result was a sentence of four years' suspension from tha service. In 1843 the President remitted the remainder of his suspension. He died on the 18th of December, 1846. Commodore Elliott became involved In a controversy concern- ing his conduct in the Battle of Lake Erie, which ceased only with his death. That controversy, and the excitement growing out of his placing an image of President Ja(!kson on the Constitution frigate as n flgnre-head, will be noticed hereafter. » He specially commended for their gallant services Captain Towson and Lieutenant Roach, of the Second Eegimeni of Artillery ; Ensign Prestman, of the Infantry : Captain Chapin, and Messrs. John Macomb, John Town, Thomas Dab, Peter Overstocks, and James Sloan, residents of Baffalo. He also particularly noticed Sailing-master Watts, who com- mnndcd the boat that boarded the CaUdcnia. ' Journal of Congress, January 26, 1818. ■• * Letter of Qeueral Brock to Sir George Prevost, October 11, 1812. I- 1 II i OF THE WAK OF 1812. 389 Impatience of the People nnd the Troopii. Bad Conduct of General Smyth. Ills Letter to General Van Rcnuelaer. CHAPTER XIX. " September the thtrtceuth, at midnight so dark, Oar troops on the Kiver Niagara embark'd ; The standard of Britain resolved to pull down, And drivo the proud foes f^om the heights of Queeustown." Old Somo — TuK Hecois or Qceemstown. fOR several weeks General Van Rensselaer had felt the presoure of public impatience, nianifested by letters and the press. It had been engendered by the extreme tardiness displayed in the collection of troops on the frontier for the invasion of Canada, about which much had been said and written menacingly, boast- fully, and deprecatory. That impatience had begun to be seri- ously manifested by his troops early in October.' Homesick- ness, domestic claims, idleness in the camp, and bodily sufferings and frowing inclemency of the season, combined to affect the temper of the men most injuriously. Their calls to be led to battle became daily more and more urgent and imperious, unvil the volcanic fires of mutiny completely undermined the camp, and threatened a total overthro'y of the general's authority. He perceived the ne- cessity of striking the enemy at once at some point, or allow his army to dissolve, and all the toils and expenses of tue campaign to be lost. He formed his plans, and, as we have observed, endeavored to counsel w'th the field oflicers under his command, liiit failed. General Alexander Smyth, his second in command, had lately arrived. pirant for the chief command on the frontier. Unlike the true soldier and pat- riot, he could lie was a proud Virginian, an officer of the regular army (inspector gen- eral), and an as- iiot bend to the necessity of obedience to a militia general, especially one of Northern birth and a leu.iing Federalist, who, for the time, was made his superior in rank and position. H":; temper was exhibited in his letter to Van Rensselaer* . September 29, announcing his arrival on the frontier.'^ It was supercilious, dictatorial, Cg-2^S-Cor Z^^^^oA^y 1812. ' General Van Rensselaer was placed In a most delicate situation. It was well known that, politically, both he and hi« aid, Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, had been opposed to the war, and the unavoidable delays were construed by vsm. into intentional immobility in order to !i'ustrate the designs of the government. These suspicions were unjust nnd ungenerous in the extreme, for no purer patriot and conscientious and truthful man than Stephen Van Rensselaer ever lived. "A flood of circumstances," wrote Lovett, Van Rensselaer's secretary, "such as a great desire for forage, for provisions, for every thing to make man comfortable ; the mo!^ t inclement storm which I ever experienced at this eeuon of the year ; indeed, innumerable circumstances had ronvinced the general, as early as the beginning of the montb,that a blow must be struck, or the army would break up in confusion, with intolerable imputations on his own characccr."— Manuscript Letter to Abraham Van Vechten, Buinilo, Octo'jer, 21, 1812. ' The following is a copy of General Smyth's letter : "1 hove been ordered by Major General Dearborn to Niagara, to take command of a brigade of United States troops, and directed, on my arrival in the vicinity of vonr nnorters, to report myself to yon, which I now do. I intended to have tcporicd myself personally, but the conclusions I have drawn as to the interests of the service have determined me to Hop at this place for the present. Prom the description I t nve had of the river below the Fails, the view of the shore Wow Fort Erie, and the information received as to the preparations of the enemy, I am of opinion that our crossing »honld be effected between Fort Erie and Chippewa. It has, therefore, seemed to me proper to encamp the United States troops near BulTalo, there to prepare (or ufliensiTe operations. Yonr Instructions or better information moy decide Tou to give me different orders, which I will await." TliiB letter was offensive, first, because the subordinate officer not only failed to report himself in person, as he was bound in duty to do, but assumed perfect independence by choosing his own theatre of action ; and, secondly, because tbe writer, an entire stranger to the country, Just arrived, went out of his way to Intrude his opinions upon his com- numding general as to military operations, when he knew that that general had been there for weeks, and was neces- Ma. I 1 1 ) 1 . n i % 890 • PICTORIAL FIELD-SOOK Broyth'R loinburdlnatlon. Von Renuelaar prepares to attack Qneentton. UisefllNthnll^ and impertinent, and gave ample assurance that he would not cordially co-operate with tlie chief in command. So iindutiful was his conduct that many were of opinion that coercive nieasurcH should be used to bring him to a sense of duty.' When iioliti- ly requested by Van Uentsclaer to name a day for a council of officers, he ncgiccKd to do so. Day after day passed, and Smyth made no definite reply, when the com- manding general resolved to act upon his own responsibility, and " gratify his own inclinations and that of his army" by commencing offensive operations at once. On the 10th of October he prepared to attack the JBritish at Queenston, opposite Lewis- ton, before dawn the next morning.^ qt'KENSTUN IN ISl'J. Van Rensselaer congidered his forces ample to assure him of success. They num- bered more than six thousand. Sixteen hundred and fifty regulars, under General Smyth, were between Black Rock and BuflTalo, commanded by Colonels Winder, Park- er, and Milton, and Lieutenant Colonel Scott. In the vicinity were three hundred and eighty-six militia, under Lieutenant Colonels Swift and Hopkins. At Lewiston, where Van Rensselaer had his head-quarters, Brigadier General Wadsworth com- earily famlUir with every rood of the gronnd and every disposition of the enemy. Van Bensselaer, tree gentleman as he V/&8, quietly .-chnked the impertinence by informing General Smyth that for many years he had had " a general knowledge of the banks of the Niagara River and of the adjacent country on the Canad.i shore," and that be had non " attentively explored the American side with the view of military operations." " However willing I may be," he ealil, "asaciti/en soidicr, to surrender my opinion to a professional one, I commonly make such surrender to an opinion de- liberately formed upon a view of the whole ground All my past measures have been calculated for one point. and I now only wait for a competent force. As the season of the year an-J every consideration urges mc to act will] promptness, I can not hastily listen to a change of position, n-alnly conntcted with a new system of measures and Ibe very great inconvenience of the troops."— Fan Reruielaer to Smyth, 30th September, 1812. Speaking of the conduct of General Smyth on this occasion, a contemporary officer says, " It is presumed this temper produced a spirit of insubordination destructive to the harmony and concert which is essential to cordial co-operallon. and that the public service was sacrificed to personal eensibllity."— ITfUrfnsou's Memoir, I., BC6. " Was I to hazard au opinion," says Wilkinson in another place, " it should be that his designs were patriotic, but that his ardor obscured his Judgment, and that he was more indiscreet than culpable."— Jfemmr*, I., 681. ' A A'arrcUive qf the Affair at Qmemtown in the War qf 1812, by Solomon Van Rensselaer, page 19. ' Queenston (originally Queen's Town) was at this time a thriving little village, and one of the principal iipdii for merchandise and grain in that region. Its prosperity was paralyzed by the Welland Canal, which cut off most of ii? trade. The view here given is ffom a sketch made in 1812, from the north part of the village, looking sonthwani up the Niagara River. On the right arc seen the Heights of Queenston, and on the left the heights of Lewiston. Tbe river is here about six hundred feet in width. The village was upon a plain of uneven surface at the foot of the Height!. This plain at Queenston is seventy feet above the river, and slopes gradually to the lake, where the bank is oaly a feiv feet above the water. The Helghta rise two hundred and thirty feet above the river. OF THE WAR OF 1819. 391 Xbe British Force on the Niagara Frontier. Van ReniMlaer-s KnowltdgavfttoMtUliOk man<li'<l a corps of inilitin almost Bcvcnteen hundred strong, and near him was the camp of BrigiuUtT General JSIiller, with almost six hundred men. Five hundred and fifty regulars imdcr ^ ___--5 under Major Mulliiny, Lieutenant Colonel Fen- /\^ yr^J^^^ * /f ^'^*" '" garrison at Fort wick, and eight hundred yt^n^L^/fT'yC't^ i^ t<//^ Niagara. Tiiere were, ofthe same class of troops ^' in tlie aggregate, three tlimisand six hundred and fifty regulars, and two thousand six hundred and fifty militia- The British force on the western bank of the Niagara River, regular militia and In- dians, numbered about fifteen hundred. Their Indian allies, under Johii IJrant, were about two hundred and fifty strong. Small garrisons held Fort Erie, at the foot of Laiie Erie, and two or three batteries, on rising ground, opposite Black Koc... The erection of Fort Erie had then just been commenced, but for want of funds had been loft unfinished. Major Anuand commanded there. A small detachment ofthe 4l8t Uegiment, under «Japtain Bullock, and tlie fiank companies ofthe 2d Kegiment ofthe Lncoln Militia, under Captai.is Hamilton and Koe, was at Chi])pewa, where there was !'. dilapidated old block-house called Fort Welland. The fiank companies of the 49th Kegiment, under Captains Dennis and Williams, and a considerable body of militia, were at Queenston, and, with the exception of detached parties of militia alcyig the whole line of the river to watch the movements of the Americans, the remainder were , at Fort George, the head-quarters of Ma- jorGeneral Brock,ui.'- der Gineral Sheafie. At every mile be- tween Fort (ieorge and Queenston, bat- teries were thrown up. On Queenston 1 [eights, south of the village, and half way up the mount- ain, was a redan bat- tery, mounting some 18-pounder8 and two howitiiers ; and on Vrooman ' 8 Point,^ about a mile below, was another battery, on which was mount- ed a twenty - four - pound carronade en VIEW FBOll THE BITE OF TBOOMAN'B BATTEBY. barbette. This gun commanded both Lewiston and Queenston Landing. Van Rensselaer had made himself thoroughly acquainted witli the condition of the enemy. His oflicers, while on oflicial visits to the various posts, had been vigilant and observmg,'* and he was so well satisfied that a fa^'orable time for an invasion of ' The picture represents a view of the Niagara River and shores from Vroomau'g Point. In the foreground are the remains of the battery. On the right ia seen Queenston and the Heights, with Brock's monument ; on the left, Lewiston and its heights ; and in the centre, Niagara River and the Lewiston Suspension Bridge. We are looking eomhward, np the Niagara River. ' Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, who visited the British heod-qnarters on business several times, says that on the last occasion be saw two beautiful brass howitzers, of small size, calculated to be carried on pack-horses, the vheels about the size of a wheel-barrow. He remarked to Colonel M'Donell and other British officers who accompanied him, " These, at all events, are old acquaintances of mine. I feel partial to them, and must try to take them back." He recognized them as formerly belonging to Wayne's army 'vhen be was in service imder him. They were among the i N 1 lis f ! 302 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK PraparatloM to crowi the River. Treuon or Cowardice of Lieutenant Siru. The Kxpeditlon delnjred. A Council Canada hud arrived that he made arrangements on the 10th of October to assail Qucenston at tlirec o'clock the next morning.' During that evening thirteen iarco boats, capable of bearing three hundred and forty full-armed and equipped men wore brought down on wagons from Gill's Creek, two miles above the Falls, and placed in the river at Lewiston Landing, under cover of intense darkness. The flying artillery under Lieutenant Colonel Fenwick, and a detachment of regulars under his coniiiiaii(i were ordered up from Fort Niagara, and General Smyth was directed to send down detachments from his brigade at Bufialo to support the movement. Colonel Solomon Van Itensselaer vas appointed to the command of the invading force,^ an airaiifo. ment which seems to have given umbrage to some of the officers of the regular army on the frontier. The river at Lewiston, at the foot of the lower rapids, is always a sheet of violent eddies, the middle current running about four miles an hour. To prevent confusion and disaster, experienced boatmen were procui jd, and the command of the flotilla was intrusted to Lieutenant Sims, who was considered " the man of the greatest skill for the service."^ Before midnight every thing was in readiness. Clouds had been gathering in immense masses all the evening, and at one In the morning a furious northeast storm of wind and rain was sweeping over the country. But the zeal of the troops was not cooled by the drrnching rain. At the appointed hour they were all at the place of debarkation, with Van Rensselaer at their head. Lieutenant Sims entered the foremost boat, and soon disappeared in the gloom. The others could not follow, for he had taken nearly all the oars with him ! They waited for him to dis- cover and correct his mistake, but in vain. He went far above the intended crossing- place, moored his boat to the shore, and fled as fast as the legs of a traito, jv oowanl could carry hira. The soldiers endured the fierce blasts and the falling flood until almost daylight, when they were marched to their respective cantonments, and the enterprise was for a moment abandoned. The storm continued unabated twenty- eight hours, and during that time all the soldiers remained in their deluged camps. The general-in-chief again detennined to seek the council of his brother officers, hoping the patience of his troops would brook farther delay. He was mistaken. The miscarriage and the desertion of Sims increased their ardor, and Van Rensselaer found himself compelled to renew the attempt at invasion immediately. He was willing, for valuable re-enforcements were near. Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie hail arrived at Four-mile Creek late in the evening of the 10th,Avith three hundred ami fifty newly - enlisted regu- lars, a part of the Thirteenth Regiment of Infantry, com- manded respectively by Captains Wool, Ogilvie, Malcolm, Lawrence, and Annstiong, with thirty boats and military stores. Chrystie had hastened to head-quarters, and offered the services of himself and men in the execution of the enteqjrise in hand, but he was too late. Every arrangement was completed. Colonel Van Rensselaer was ^^^^^yJ^^J Britieh trophies of victory taken at Detroit, and were brought down to be sent to England. Nicholas Gray, who was Inspector general of New York the following year, with the rank of colonel, and who was then acting engineer, made a valuable reconnoissance of the whole frontier. His mannscript report to General Van Rensselaer is before me. His outline map, accompanying the report, I found useful in constmcting tlie Map of the Ifiaijara Frontier on page 382. ' Van Rensselaer was deceived by an erroneous report of a spy whom he had scut across the river on the momlDg of the 10th to gain information. He returned with the false report that General Brock, with all his disposable force, had moved off In the direction of Detroit. » General Van Rensselaer's Letter to the Secretary of War, October 14, 1812. ' On that evening Colonel Van Rensselaer wrote to his wife : " I go to storm an important post of the enemy. Yonng Lush and Gansevoort attend me. I must succeed, or yon, my dear Harriet, will never see me again. If so, let me en- treat you to meet my fall with fortitude ; and be assured, my dear, lovely, bnt unfortunate wife, that my last prayer will be for you and my dear children."— MS. Letter, Lewiston, October 10, 1S12. This letter is before me. It is mnch blotted by the tears of the soldier's wife, as I was informed by her daughter. OF THE WAU OF 18 12. 303 S«cond Attempt to Invade Canada. Military Ktiqnetto. ColuucI Scutt at ScbloiMr. moving with hin men to the landing-place, where only boats onoiigh for the transpor- tation of the trooj)S appointed for the perilous serviee had been provided. When the storm abated immediate preparations were muihs for the second attempt at invasion. IJrock was watching the Americans with the eye of a vigilant and skill- ful commander. The river that divided tlie belligerents was narrow, and every open movement by each party might be observed by the other. Preparations were f hero- t'nie made with great caution. Brock was deceived. The strong force at Fort Ni- airam and the detention of Chrystie's troops at Four-mile Creek, made him suspect that on attack, if made soon, would bo upon Fort George. Three o'clock in the morning of tlio 13th was the ai)pointed hour for the expedi- tion to embark from the old Ferry-house at Lowiston Landing for the base of Queens- ton Heights. The command was again intrusted to Colonel Solomon Van Kensse- laer. Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie was exceedingly anxious to have the honor of chief in the enterprise, and pleaded liis rank and experience, as compared with that of the aid-de-camp of the general-in-chief, in favor of his claim. Hut Van Rensselaer would not change his general arrangements. It was agreed, however, that Colonel Van Rensselaer should lead a column of three hundred militia, and Lieutenant Col- nnol Chrystie should lead another composed of tlie same number of regulars, so that each might share in the hazards and glory of the expedition. Chrystie refused to waive his rank in favor of Van Rensselaer, but consented to receive orders from him. This technical distinction between waiving of rank* and yielding obedience may bo dear to military minds, but it is quite imperceptible to the common sense of a ci- vilian. At an early hour in the evening of the 12th,'' Chrystie marched with three . October, handred men from Fort Niagara by an interior road, and reached Lewiston '*^'''' beforo midnight. Lieutenant Colonels Strr.nahan, Mead, and Bloom, with three regi- ments, marched at about the same time fi'om Niagara Falls,' and also reached Lew- iston in good season. Meanwhile Lieutenant Colonel Scott had arrived at Schlosser, two miles above the Falls, at the head of his regiment, where he was informed that an expedition against the enemy of some kii,,l was in motion at Lewiston.' Young, ' To avoid attracting the attent!: n of the British, these regiments icft the Falls at diflferent boars ; Stranabau's start- ed at seven In the evening, Mead's at eight, and Bloom's nt nine. I This fact was communicated to Scott by Colonel James Collier, now (ISOT) a citizen of Steubenvllle, Ohio. " Ho WIS adjutant of the same regiment (Colonel Henry Bloom's) wherein I was paymaster," wrote Arad Joy, Esq., of Ovld, Xew York, to the author In March, 1S62. In a letter to me, written on the 20tb of February, 1800, Colonel Collier says : "Tlie regiment to which I was attached was stationed at the Falls. I had been down to head-qaarters at Lewiston, jeren miles below, on the 12th of October, and the orders for the marching of tho troops at the Falls for that place were confided to me. About sunset I rode up to the head of the Rapids, a mile above our camp, and was surprised to see n (ietachment of troops pitching their tents. The officer In command, whoni I did not then know, but who, I thought, itas the finest specimen of a man I ever saw, was standing alongside of his horse near by. His rank I knew from bi! dress. I rode np to him aud Inquired If he was encamping for the uight. 'Yes,' be replied. 'Then, sir,' I said, ■I tliink you can not we were to cross tho know what la to be go- ^^ river the next morn- ing on in the mom- Jy ^^ ^ Ing and attack the en- inj.' 'No, sir,' he ir jr>^ ^O^O /) ^'a-^^^ emy on the Heights of Mid, 'I have not heard ^V^ '"t-^^ir *^ ■t<7 f^^'^^-^C^'X^il^ — • Queenston; thotlhad from head-qnartcrs for y^ f the orders for the Mveraldays. Is there /[^ I march ing of the troops any tiling in the wind, (y^ ^ — - to that post, but that, sir;' 1 'emarked that of course, they did not inclnde his command. ' I am Colonel Scott,' he said ; ' will yon allow me to look at your orders V They were band- ed to blm, and the moment he bad read them he was In the saddle, his tenia were struck, and his command under marching orders. The next I saw of the gallant soldier was on the Heights of Queenston In a perfect blaze of Are, and then, as now, head and shoulders taller than any man in the country." Many years afterward, when Scott, as a major general, was bearing more years and many honors. Colonel Collier met him in Washington City, and the first words Scott addressed to him were, " I was Indebted to yon for my first fight. I have always felt under great obligations to you. If It had not been for you, colonel, what would have been my posi- tion? Seven miles fk'om the battle-field, sir, and the first battle of a campaign 1 Why, sir, I should never have got over itdnring my life 1" " It is pleasant now," wrote Colonel Collier, " In the sunset of my days, to recall this little Inci- dent, connected as It is with the greatest captain of the age In which he lives." A few months after receiving this let- ter, 1 liad the pleasure of spending a day or two with Colonel Collier at Cleveland, on the occasion of the Inauguration of the statne of Commodore Perry. He Is a hale, erect gentleman, of what is called "the old school" in manners, and most delightful entertainer of company in conversation. ' I, :]jp.,!, J f / ! IM if «04 nCTOBIAL fIBLD.BOOX Colonel Hcott on I/iwUton llelghU. Pttnge of the River In the Diirk. LandInK nt the Foot orQuecniton BtlaktiL ardent, and caKor for adventure and K'^ry, ho imnu'diatcly mounted his hontc, and dafthed toward lioad-(|uart('rH aH Bpi'cdily an the horrid condition of the road would allow. He |)r«>H(>!iti'(l hiiiiHclf to the conimandin^ general, and earneHtly solicited the l)rivilege of takinjjf a i)art in the invasion with hitt command. " The arranj,'(tn(iitti for the expedition are all completed, sir," naid (leneral Van UensHelaer, "Colon,.! Van KensHelaor is in chief command. Lieutenant ColonclH Chrystie and Fciuviik liave waived their rank for tlie occawion, and you may join the expedition as a volun- teer, if you will do the name." Van KensHclaer wisely determined not to have a di- vided command. Scott was unwilling to yield his rank ; but he pressed liis suit so warmly that it was agreed that he should bring on his regiment, take position on the lieights of licwiston with his cannon, and co-operate in the attack as circuniHtances might warrant. Scott hastened back to Sehlosser, put his regiment in motion, and by a forced march through the deep mud reached Lewiston at four o'clock in flic • October 13, niorning." Again he importuned for permission to participate directly in the enterprise, but in vain. His rank would be equal, on the field, to that iNii. of Colonel Van Rensselaer, who had originated and j)lanned the whole att'air,' and who the commanding general resolved should have the honor of winning the Inuiils to bo obtained by leadership. The night of the 12th was intensely dark, yet every thing was in readiness for tlip invasion at a little after three o'clock in the morning.'' Mr. (!ook, a citi- zen of Lewiston, had assumed the direction of the boats, and [irovidtd men to man them ; Mr. Lovott,Van Kensselaer's secretary, "lad been placed in charge of an eighteen-jjound gun in battery on Lewiston Heights, with instructions to cover the landing of the Americans on the Canada shore ; and the six hundred men, under Van Rensselaer and Chrystie, were standing in a cold storm of wind and rain at the place of embarkation. It had been arranged for them to cross over and storm and take possession of Quoenston Heights, when the remainder of the troops were to fol- low in a body and drive the British from the town. But there were only thirteen boats, and these were not siifticient to carry more than about one half of the troops intended for the capture of the Heights.^ The regulars having reached the boats first, the companies of Wool, Malcolm, and Armstrong were immediately embarked, with forty picked men from Captain Leonard's company of artillery at Fort Niagara, under Lieutenants Gansevoort and Rathbone, and about sixty militia. When ail were ready, Van Rensselaer gave the word to advance, and leaped into the boat con- taining tlie artillerists. Major Morrison was ordered to follow with the remainder of the troops on the return of the boats. The struggle with the eddies was brief. W^ithin ten minutes after leaving Lewis- ton Landing the boats struck the Canada shore " at the identical spot aimed at," just above a huge rock now seen lying in the edge of the water under the Lewiston sus- pension bridge. There the militia were landed ; the regulars debarked a little be- low the rock.^ Three of the thirteen boats had lost their way ; the remaining ten now returned to the American shore. The enemy were on the alert. The movements of the Americans had been discov- ' See note 2, page 381. ' This inadequate number of boats geemg to have been owing to remissneiis In Qaarter-master-genernl Porter's de- partment. The qnarter-master, then stationed at the Falls, had written to Van Rensselaer, " I can furnish you boats at two or three days' notice to carry over 1200 or 1400 men." A sufflcient number for six or seven huudred were or- dered, and the matter was left in charge of Jndge Barton, the qaarter-master's agent. He had forwarded ouly thirteen at the appointed honr. General Van Rensselaer has been censured for not having boats enough. }t was no fault oflilt. ' The view of the landing-place seen on the next page I sketched flrom a point a few yards below the Canaiiiau end of the Lewiston Suspension Bridge. The rock mentioned in tbe text is a prominent object in the picture. It is at tlic foot of the rapids, where the river sweeps in a cnr\'c around Queenston Heights, a portion of which occupies a larpe part of the sketch. Above is seeu the suflpension bridge, with Its steadying-chains attached to the shore; and oa ttp side of the qpposite bank, looking up the river, the position of the railway, that lies npon a narrow shelf cut in tlie al- most perpendicular shore of the river, la marked by a train of cars. The toll-house seen at the end of the bridge, on the right, shows the dtrectiou of tbe road flrom the bridge to the village of Queeustoo, not an eighth of a mile distant. •orter's de- yon boat* i were or- \y thirteen aultofhlf. laiUau end .Jsatthc les a large and on the it In the »1- bridge, on distant. OP THE WAH OF 1812. »06 oj)uotUli>n to the Invidert. A Hkirmlih ne»r i^ueflniton Vlltaita. American Offlccn killed Md wotuidcd. ercd I'y tho Hentinols, uiid Ciiptnin Dennis, of tlio Forty-niutl. Uegiint'nt of Britii h Hi'giiliii-H, Htntioiied at QiHH'iiHton, with sixty grc'iiutlicrs of that corpH, Captain Hatt'H coinimiiy of York volunteer mili- tia,' a unuill body of ImiiaiiH, ftiid a throe- pound tie Id- piece, took position on the j-ioping shore, a lit- tle north of tho site of the suspension liri(l|j;o, to resist the ilcbarkation. Their lircneiice was first laaile known by a broad flash, tlicn a volley of niusketiy that mortally wounded Lieuten- ant Hathbonc, by the side of Colonel Van Konsselaer, be- LAHDINU-PLAUa or TUK AUEUlVAMt AT (tUEKMItlON. fore landing, ami random shots from the Held-pieco along the line of the ferry at the moment when tho boats touehed the shore. These were answered by Lovett's battery on Lewiston Heights, when tho enemy turned and fled up tho hill toward Queenston, pursued by tho regulars of tho Thirteenth, un- der Captain Wool, the senior oflicer present, in the ab- sence of Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie, who was in one of tho missing bo; x^ On the margin of the plateau on which Queenston Btands Wool ceased pursuit, drew his men up in battle order, and was about to send to Colonel Van Rensselaer for directions, when that otticer's aid, Judge Advocate Lush, came hurrying up with orders to prepare to storm the Heights. "We are ready," promptly responded the gallant Wool. Lu di hastened back to tho chief commander on tho shore, and in a few minutes returned with orders for Wool to advance. Ho was moving rapidly over tho plateau toward the foot of tho Heights, when tho order for storming was countermanded, and the troops were brought to a halt near the present entrance to the village from the bridge. Captain Dennis, meanwhile, had been strengthened by the arrival on the Heights of the Light Infantry under Captain Williams, and a company of the York militia un- der Captain Chisholm ; and just as Wool's command had taken their resting position > in battle order, Dennis and his full force, already mentioned, fell hbavily on the right tIauV. of tho Americans. At tho same time, Williams and Chisholm opened a severe tire in their front from tho brow of the Heights. Without waiting for farther orders. Wool wheeled his column to the right and confronted tho force of tho enemy on the plain, where with deadly aim his men poured a very severe fire into their ranks. Van Rensselaer and the militia had taken a position on the left ^ f the Thirteenth in the mean time. The engagement was severe but short, and the enemy were com- pelled to fall back to Queenston. Both parties BuflTorod much — the Americans most severely. Of tho ten officers of the Thirteenth who were present, two were killed and five were seriously wounded. The former were Lieutenant Valleau^ and En- sign Morris ;* the latter were Captains Wool, Malcolm, and Armstrong, and Ensign ' CtpUiin Samnel Halt wab one of the must esteemed and richest men In the proTlncc. He entered the service under the Impulses of the purest patriotism only, and took this subordinate station. ' The threu missing boats were commanded respectively by Lieutenant Colonel Chrystle, Captain Lawrence, and an nnlmown anbaltem. ChrysHe's boat was driven by the currents and eddies upon the New York shore, and he ordcrod Uvrence's back, while the third fell Into the hands of the enemy, it having struck the shore at the month of the creek, just north of Queenston. ' John Viillean was commissioned flr«i lieutenant of the Thirteenth Regiment on the 24th of March, 1812. * Robert Morris, appointed ensign in the Thirteenth Regiment Harcli 12, 1812. 'l > 1 i i i f I ; i 1 4 ' ^ m !f if m m-.) I 11 m 1 ■ !' ■ iffH 1 1 H 1 36»! PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Vaa KeiiBaelaer and Wool wouuded. Van Reugeelaer borne awny. Wool tiikes the Command. Skettli of Wool Lent.' Tlie militia suffered very little; but Colonel Van Rensselaer was so badly wounded in several places that bo was compelled to jelinquish the command. A bul- let passed through both of Wool's tl ighs, and both Malcolm^ and Armstrong^ y,-en wounded in the left thigh. A considerable number of the Americans were made pris- oners. While Wool and his ooramand were ongaged with the enemy on the plain, those upon the Heights kept rp a desultory fire upon the Americans, which the latter could not well respond to. Perceiving this. Van Rensselaer ordered the whole detachment to fall back to the beach below the hill, in a place of more security. They did so, but were not absolutely sheltered from the fire of the enemy above. One man Avas killed ftud several were wounded by their shots. It was now broad daylight, and the storm had ceased. While the detachment was forming for farther action on the margin of the river, a fourth company of the l>3tli under Captain Ogilvie, crossed and joined them. No time was to be lost. Tlio Heights must be stormed and taken, or the expedition would be a failure. Lieu- tenant Colonel Chrystie had not been heard from. Van Rensselaer was disabled. All the other oflicers were young men. Not a single commission was more tlian six months. old, and Captain Wool, the senior of them all in rank, was only twenty-three years of age — too young. Van Rensselaer thought, to be intrusted with an undertak- ing so important. He had never been under fire before that morning, and was already badly wounded. True, in the fight just ended, his metal had given out the riin» oi' that of a true soldier. Tlie alternative was great risk and a chance for honor, or total abandonment of the enterprise and the pointings of the finger of sconi. Tlie choice was soon made. Wool had ssked for orders; had been told that the capture of the Heights was the great object of the expedition ; and, notwithstanding his severe flesh wounds and the inexperience of himself and bis men, he had expressed his eagerness to make tlie attempt. Van Rensselaer ordered him to that duty, and at the same time iie directed his aid-de-canip Lush to follow the little column and shoot every man who should fait.., for symptoms of weak courage had already appeared. Elated with the order, young Wool almost forgot his bleeding wounds. He was light and lithe in person, full of ambition and enthusiasm, and beloved by his com- panions in arms.* All followed him cheerfully. Ordering Captain Ogilvie, with his ' James W. Lent, Jr., appointed ensign in the Thirteenth Regiment May 1, 1812. In March, 1813, he was promoted to first lleiitennnt of artillery. He wa" retained in 1816, and became active in the qnarter-master's department in ISlC. Left the eerv ice in 181Y. a Richard M. Malcolm was commissioned capt... in the Thirteenth Regiment of Infantry on the 8th of April, 1S12. ' In March, ISl!*, he was promoted to major, and in .June, 1814, to lieutenant colonel of the same regiment. He wne He- banded in June, 1816.— Gardner's Dictionary cf the Army, page SOT. 5 Henry B. Armstrong, yet riSOT] llvlnj;, is a son of General John Armstrong, the Secretary of War In 1814. He vm commissioned a captain in the Thirteenth Regiment in April, 1812; promoted to major the following year; in Juno, 1S13, distinguished himself ut Ptony Creek ; became lieutenmt colonel of the First Rifle Regiment In September, 1513. and was disbanded In June, 1818. Although nearly eighty years of age when the Great i'.cbc'Mon broke out in ls<il,ho went to Washington City and tendered to the government the services of himself and two sons, fie then reeidedou an ample estate in Red Hook, Duchess County, New Tork. ' John Ellis Wool, now (1807) a major general in the army of the United States, is u son of n soldier of the Revola- tlon who was with General Wayne at the taking of Stony Point in the anmmer of 1770. He was born in Newburg, Ornpge County, New York, In 1788. His father died when be was only four years of age, when he was taken into the family of his grandfather, James Wool, five of whose sons bore arms in the old war for inde- |)endence. During his residence with his grandfather in Rensselaer Couaty, youn,-; Wool attended n common country school. At the age of twelve years, with a slender odncRtion, he entered the service of a inc. chant In Troy, New York, as clerk. At eighteen he engaged in the business of gelling books and stationery in the «ame BDSSEI.I.'S LAW orrioK. town, and continued in that avocation un- til Are swept away all his worldly goodr. He then commenced the study of law with John Russell, in Troy, in a small bulldlD;; recently standing on Second Street, near- ly opposite General Wool's present resi- dence. War with Great Britain was soon afterward looked upon as inevitable, and young Wool, feeling the old tire of Ms father stirring within him, left his boob to seek usefulness and honor in the Held. Vpon the recommendation of Pe Will Clinton h" obtained a commission mn\- tain In the 13th United States Reylmenl in the spring of 1812. It is dated March 14, 1812. War was declared In little more (ban ninety days afterward, and la Sepixisber hU regiment, under Lieuteof^nt Colonel Chrystie, was ordered to the OF THE WAR OF 1812. 397 Sciill"'-' (^ueenBton IIfilj{ht«. Oeneinl Brock at Fort Oeorge. His Expectation of an Ir.va8ion. ^'A^^Mf^^:i^ fresh troops to taku the riglit of the cohimn, he sprang forward and commenced the perilous ascent, guided by Lieutenants Gansevoort and Randolph, who were well acquainted with the way. The picked ar- tillerists led the column; and in many places the precipice was so steep that the troops were compellea to pull themselves up by means of busnes. They were con- cealed from the enemy by the shelter of the rocks and shrubbery; and near the top of the acclivity they struck a fisher- man's patl, which the enemy supposed to be impassable, and had neglected to guard it. While Wool and his little band were scal- ing the Heights, the British were making movements under great uncertainty. The vigilant Sir Isaac Brock at Fort George, about seven miles distant, had hoard the cannonading before dawn. He aroused his aid-de-camp, Major Glegg, and called for Alfred, his favorite horse, presented to him !)y Sir James. Craig. He had been in expectation of an invasion at aome point for sev- eral days, an 1 only the night 'jefore he had given each of his staff special instructions.' Niagara frontier. His gallant bearing there is recorded in the text. Because of his bravery at Queenston he was pro- moicd to major Ir the Mth Reglmt-nt of Infantry in April, 1813. For his gallant conduct at Plattsburg, in September, 1S14, he was promoted to lieatenant colonel in December following. lie was retained in the army in 1S16, and on the ith of Sef)t(-mber, 1810, was appointed inspector general of division, and in 1S21 inspector general of the army of the rnllcd Staits, wllii the rank ol colonel. In 1820 he was made a brigadier general by brevet "for ten years' faithfiil reriire." HU reports to the government on matters pertaining t.) the service were always models of their kind, and •ilw'.js cllciteo encomiums. His discipline was always perfect and most efficient, and his sleepless -ilgilauce has made blm on all occasions one of the most trusted officers in the service. In 1S3J, Oenernl Wool was sent to Europe to collect information connected with military science. He re'^elved great attention, especihUy in France, where, on one occasion, ho formed one of the snite of Louis Philippe at a grand review ofI0,w)O men. In November of the same year he accompanied the King of Belgium at a review of 100,000 troops, .ind visited the fortifications of Antwerp. In 1836, when hostilities wit'a France were anticipated, General Wool made athorongh inspoctlon of all the sea-coast defenses, and submitted an admirable report to govcrbment. In is;i« lie ttss ordered to tne service of removing the Cherokee Indionc to Arkansas. In that mission he displayed some of the liii;hP8t traits of a soldier and statesman. In 1838, while the Canadian provinces were disturbed by insurrection, Wool was sent to the 'riids of Maine to look after the defenses of the border. In the Mexican war his seiviccs as a tactician, ilisciplinarlan, aid as an administrative and executive officer in the field were of incalculable benefit to the country. Tliese are all recorded by the pen of the grateful histor'i'n. For his gallant conduct in that war he was breveted a major general, t.nd on his return home he was every where met with the most euihnsiastic greetings. As tokens of approbation, thi-*'' swords were presented tc UIiu, one by the citizens of Troy, another by the State of New York, and a Ifaird by the ''uited States. Toward th. close of 1863, when fllibnstering expeditions were fitted out on the Western coast, the command of the TXfwhMnt of the I'aeific was intmsted to General Wool. It was a post of great labor and trust, involving as it did in- tomntional cuestions of a delicate nature, and peculiar relations with Indian tribes. His activity, vigilance, and nu- lirliig energy in that field were won4cr(\il. In the spring of 1S66 he made a tour of inspection and reconnolssancc through the distant Territories of Oregon and Washington. On the breaking out of hostilities in that rrgion in the fall ot 195S, Wool repaired to the scene of trouble, and was efficient in ending them. He remained In California until near the close of President Pierce's administration, when he was relieved, and placed in command of the Department HkiEatt, comprising the whole country eastward of the Mississippi River. He was every where received with the matest enthusiasm, and especially at Troy, hia place of residence. He was there engaged in the quiet routine of his ■nice when the rising tide of the great rebellion, that broke out at the close of ISOO, commanded his attention. With 'lis wonted energy, he warned and eLtreated the national government to prepare for a great emergency ; and when, in April, ISOl, Fort Sumter was attacked, and the national capital was menaced by the rebels. General Wool conceived i.ii(l oxccutcd such efficient measures at New York, that it is not too much to say that he was one of the chief instru- menta In the salvation of the republic from the hand of the destroyer. In .July he entered upon active service at Fort- rc8! Monroe as commander of that post, where he stood in the delicate and most important position of sentinel at the portal opening between the loyal and disloyal territories of the republic. He remained there almost a year, when he "as commissioned a full major general in the army of the United States, and transferred to the command at Baltimore M vicinity. In 1803 be retired to private life. ■ ' Beacons had been placed at convenient distances lictween Kingston and Fort George to give notice in the event of u. Invaiiou, but in the confusion they were not lighted. The late Honorable William Hamilton Merritt, M.P., then a ! - ■! I.= ill 398 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Brock hnflteoB toward Qneenston. His periloas Position. Attack on Wool. Dcatli of Brock. But SO confident was he that the attack would be made from Fort Niagara, that he considered the demonstration above as only a feint to conceal that movement ; vet as a vigilant soldier, he instantly resolved to obtain personal knowledge of the situa- tion of affairs. Mounting Alfred, iie pushed toward Queenston at fu" speed, follow- ed by his aids, Major Glegg and Colonel M'Donell. The journey of seven miles was made in little more than halt an hour. Arriving at Queenston, Sir Isaac and his com- panions rode up the Heights at full gallop, exposed to a severe enfilading fire of ar- tillery from the American shore. On reaching the redan battery, half way up the Heights,' they dismounted, took a general view of affairs, and pronounced them fa- vorable. Suddenly the crack of musketry in their rear startled them. Wool and his followers had successfully scaled the Heights, and were close tipon them. Brook and his aids had not time to remount. Leading their horses at full pallop, they fled down the slopo to the village, followed by the twelve men who manned the battery. A few minutetj afterward the Stars and Stripes — the symbol of the Union — the in- signia of the Eepublic — were waving over the captured redan, and greeting the rays of the early morning sun, then struggling in fitful gleams through the breaking clouds. This was the third time within three months that the standard of the United Sifcates had been victoriously displayed on the soil of Canada.^ Wool's triumpli for the moment was completp. Brock immediately d'lSpatched a courier to General Sheaffe at Fort George witli orders to push forward re-enforcements, and, at the same time, open fire upon Fort Niagara, He then took command of Captain Williams's detachment of one hundred men, and hastened up the slope toward the battery, behind which Captain Wool had placed his little band, with their faces toward Queenston, to await an attack. Den- nis soon joined Brock with his detachment, when a movement was made to turn tiie American flank. The vigilant Wool perceived it, and immediately sent out fifty men to keep the flanking party iu check, and to take possession of the " Mountain," or crown of the Heights, where the monument now stands. But they were too few for the purpose, and even when re-enforced they were too weak to stem the steady ad- vance of the veteran enemy. The whole detachment fell back with some confusion, The enemy, inspirited by this movement, pressed forward, and pushed the Americans to the verge of the precipice, which overlooks the deep chasm of the swift-flowin" river more than two hundred feet below. Wool's little band was in a most perilous position. Death by ball, bayonet, or flood seemed inevitable, and Captain Ogihie raised a white handkerchief on the point of a bayonet in token of surrender. The in- censed Wool sprang forward, snatched away that token of submission, addressed a few spirited words to his oflScers and soldiers, begging them to fight on so long as the ammunition should last, and then resort to the bayonet. AVaving his sword, he led his inspirited comrades to a renewal of the conflict with so iiiuch impetuosity that the enemy broke and fled down the Heights in dismay, and took shelter in and be- hind a large stone building near the edge of the river. Sir Isaac was amazed aui1 mortified; and to his favorite grenadiers he shouted, "This is the first time I have seen the Forty-ninth turn tlieir backs !" His voice and the stinging rebuke of his words checked them. At Jhe same time Lieutenant Colonel M'Donell brought uji two flank companies of York Volunteers, under Captains Cameron and Howard, which had just arrived from Brown's Point, three miles below. The fugitives had rallied, and Sir Isaac turned to lead them up the Heights. His tall figure was a con- spicuous object for the American sharp-shooters. First a bullet struck his wrist, wounding it slightly. A moment afterward, as lie shouted " Push on the York Vol- unteers," another bullet entered his breast, passed out through his side, and left a miOor at the head of a corps of cavalry, called the Niagara Dragoons, immediately dispatched a conrler to Brock, He reached Fort George early, bnt found Brock about ready to take the saddle. ' A redan is a rampart in the following form, Vi having ita angle toward the enemy, and open in the rear. > At Sandwich by Hall (see page 868) ; at Oananoqni by ForByth (see page 8T3) ; and at Qneenston by Wool. OF TUB WAR OF 1812. 399 Capture of Qoeenston Helghta. Character of the Exploit. Passage of the RWer by Re-enfurcemeatB. death-wound. He fell from his horse at the foot of the slope, and lived long enough to request those around hinx to conceal his death from the troops, and to send some token of his remembrance to his sister in England. But his death could not be con- cealed more than a few minutes. When it became known, the bitter words " Revenge the general !" bnrst from the lips of the Forty-ninth. M'Donell assumed the com- mand, and, at the head of them and the York Militia, one hundred and ninety strong, lie charged up the hill to dispute with Wool the mastery of the Heights. The strug- gle was desperate, and the Americans, doubtful of the issue, spiked the cannon in the redan. Both parties were led gallantly and fought bravely. But when M'Donell fell mortally wounded,' and Dennis and Williams were both severely injured, and were compelled to leave the field, the British fell back in some confusion to Vroo- raan's Point, a mile below, leavmg the young American commander and his little band of two hundred and forty men masters of Quecnston Heights, after three dis- tinct and bloody battles, fought within the space of about five hours. Taking all things into consideration — the passage of the river, the nature of the ground, the raw- ness of the troops (for most of the regulars were raw recruits), the absence of cannon, and the youth 1 wounds of the American commander, the events of that morning were, "indeed, a display of intrepidity," as Wilkinson afterward wrote, " rarely exhib- ited, in which the conduct and the execution were equally conspicuous. . . . Under all the circumstances, and on the scale of the oper-.tions, the impartial soldier and competent judge will name this brilliant afibir p chef-cVoeuvre of the war."' It was now about ten o'clock in the morning. Altliough bleeding and in much pain, Wool would not leave the field, but kept vigorously at work in preparations to defend the position he had gained. He drew his troops up in line on the Heights fronting the village, ordered Gansevort and Randolph to drill out the spiked can- non in the redan, and bring it to bear upon the enemy near Vrooman's, and sent out scouts to watch the movements of the foe. Meanwhile re-enforcements and supplies were slowly crossing the river. In the passage they were greatly annoyed by the fire from the one-gun battery on Vroo- man's Point. The first that arrived on the Heights was .i detachment of the Sixth Regiment under Captain M'Chesncy ; another, of the Thirteenth, under Captain Law- rence ; and a party of New York state riflemen, imder Lieutenaiit Sraith. These were immediately detached as flanking parties. They were soon followed by oth- ers, and before noon Major General Van Rensselaer, Brigadier General Wadsworth, Lieutenant Colonels Scott, Fenwick, Stran- ahan, and Major MuUany, were on the Heights, while a few militia were slowly ' Lieutenant M'Donell was a brilliant and promlBlng yonng man. He was the >\ttomey general of Upper Canada, and was only twenty-five years of age. He was wounded In Atb places, one bullet passing through his body, yet he survived tirentv hours in great agony. During that time he constani.y lamented the fall of his commander.— Tupper's Life, etc., (/Br«i,pnge322. ' Wilkiiiton's Mimoin, i., 67T. The offlcen who participated with Captain Wool, and received from him, in his re- port to Colonel Van Itensselaer, special commendation, were Captain Peter Ogllvie, and Lieutenants Kearney, Hngnnin, Carr, and Sammons, of the Thirteenth, Lientenants Oansevoort and P.andolph, of the light artillery, and Major tush, of the militia. Captain Ogllvie resigned in June, 1913. Lieutenant Stephen Watts Kearney, who was a native of New Jerrfy, was retained in the service in 181B, having risen to the ranlt of captain. Ho was made a major by brevet in K% and full mi^or in 1829. In the spring of 1833 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of dragoons, and to colonel ndhe Mine In 1836. In 1840 he was promoted to brigadier general, went into the war with Mexico, and made conqnest nf the province of New Mexico. For his gallant conduct there and In California ho was made m^Jor general by brevet. In March, 1847, he was appointed Governor of Callfomia He died In Octol)cr, 1848. His brother, Philip Kearney, who Ijrtan arm In the battles before the city of Mexico, was a brigadier general in the army raised to put down the Oreat Kebelllon In 1861, and was killed In battle near Fairfax Court-house, in Virginia, September 1, 1862. Lieutenant Daniel Hofninln was a representative in Congress for New York ft-om 1826 to 1827. He died in Wisconsin In 1880. Lieutenant Gusevoort, who had been In the artillery service since 1806, was distinguished a little more than a month later at Fort Xiapara. He became captain ot artillery In May, 1813, and left tht service In March, 1814. Lieutenant Thomas Beverly Randolph was aid-de-camp to General Carrlngton and captain of infantry In the spring of 1813. He resigned in 1816. He nt lieutenant colonel of Hamtramck's regiment of Virginia volunteers In Mexico In 1847. Lieutenant Stephen Lush (iciing mi\|or at Qneenston) was aid to Qeueral Izard, and dangerously wounded before Chippewa In October, 1814. i r !;u 'M\ ;{,|. 1 1 \ t w Wi HP 400 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK :l ■ lit Colonel Scott on Qneenston Heights. Wadsworth'g OeneroBlty. Indiana on the Field. Influence of HcotL passing over the river. Van Rensselaer took immediate steps for fortifying the uy sition, under the direction of Lieutenant Totten, of the Engineers, and dispatched an aid-de-camp to hasten the passage of the militia. Lieutenant Colonel Scott, as we have observed, arrived at Lewiston with his com- mand at four o'clock that morning. He placed his heavy guns in battery on tin- shore under the immediate command of Captains Towson and Barker. Ilaviiif re- ceived permission from Van Rensselaer to cross over as a volunteer and take com- mand of the troops on the Heights, he reached the Canada shore, with his adjutant Roach, just after Wadsworth, with a small detachment of volunteers, had ciossod Avithout orders. He unexpectedly found that officer upon the mountain, and imme- diately proposed to limit his own command to the regulars ; but the generous anil patriotic Wadsworth promptly waived his rank, and said, " You, sir, know piofes- sionally what ought to be done. I am here for the honor of my country ami tliat of the New York militia." Scott at once assumed the general command, at the head of three hundred and fifty regulars and two hundred and fifty volunteers, the latter under General Wadsworth and Lieutenant Colonel Stranahan. Assisted by the skill- ful Lieutenant Totten, Scott placed them in the strongest possible position to reeeive the enemy and to cover the ferry, expecting to be re-enforced at once by the militia from the opposite shore. He was doomed to most profound mortification and disap- pointment. W"hile Scott Avas absent for a short time, supcM-intending the unspiking of the can- non in the redan, a troop of Lidians suddenly appeared on the left, led by Captain Norton, a half-breed, but under the general command of Chief John Brant, a younir, lithe, and graceful son of the great Mohawk warrior and British ally of that name in the Revolution. Brant made his first appearance in the field on this occasion. IK Avas dressed, painted, and plumed in Indian style from head to foot. His lieutenant and most valued companion Avas a dark, poAverfuUy-built chief known as Captain Ja cobs. Another Avas Norton, the half-breed just mentioned. Tliey and their follow- ers Avere the allies of the British, and came mostly from the settlements of the !Si.\ Nations, on tlie Grand Tiiver, in Canada.' It Avas betAveen one and two o'clock in the afternoon when this cloud of duskv Avan'iors swept along the broAV of the mountain in portentous fury, Avith gleaming tomahaAvks and other savage Aveapons, and fell upon the American pickets, driving them in upon the main line of the militia in great confusion. The fearful war-whoo)! struck terror to many a Avhite man's heart, and the militia Avere about to fly ignobly. Avhen Scott appeared, his tall form — head and shoulders above all others — attracting every eye, anil his trumpet-voice commanding the attention of every ear. He in- stantly brought order out of confusion. He suddenly changed the front of his line ; and hia troops, catching inspiration from his voice and acts, raised a shout and fell Avith such fury upon the Indians that they fled in dismay to the Avoods after a shai]), short engagement. But they were soon rallied by the dauntless Brant,^ and contin- 1 The British found considerable difficulty in indncing these Indians to join them. The authorities of the United States need every effort in their power to keep the Indians from the contest on both sides, knowing their cruel modt of wurfore. Cornplanter, the venerable Seneco chief, did all in his power to keep his race neutral. At the reqnfst of the United States government, he indu )d their influential chiefs, named respectively Blue Eyes, Johnson, Silver lloelf. and Jacob Snow, to visit the Indians on the Grand River, talk with them about remaining neutral, and bring back ah answer. In a manuscript letter before mo from Robert Hoops to Major Van Campan, is an interesting accoaiii of a tncetlng at Complanter's to hear their rep<irt. Mr. Hoops, Francis King, and John Watson were the white rcpreseDla- tlves present. Blue Eyes made the report. Ho sold the Indiana told him that they did not want to go to war, liul rr- marked, " It is the President of the United States makes war upon us. AVc know not yonr disputes. The British tall: much against the Americans, and the Americans talk much against the British. We know not which is right. The British say the Americans want to take our lands. AVe do not want to flght, nor do we intend to distnrb yon; bat if yon come to take our land, we are determined to defend ourselves." The three commisslonerB cant!" i the SeMM! not to use strong drinks, to keep quietly at home, and refrain from engaging in the war. Had the Br.Ush been equilly mindfiil of the claims of civilization, the historian would have many less atrocities to record. • John Brants whose Indian name was Ahyouuiaighs, was a son of Joseph Brant, or Thaffendarugta, and was born «l the Mohawk village, on the Grand Klver, In Canada, on 'he 2Tth of September, 1TD4, and was only eighteen years of CF THE WAR OF 1812. 401 Approach of British under Sheaffe. Chrystle taken Wool's Pliico. Sheaffe'B Kc-enforcemeuts. ued to annoy the Americans until Scott, at the head of a considerable portion of his army, made u general assault upon them, and drove them from the Heights. At the same time, General Sheafl'e was seen cautiously approaching with re-en- forccraeuts from Fort George, his troops making the road near Vrooman's all aglow with scarlet. Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie had just arrived upon the bat- tle-field for the first time. He had cross- ed and recrossed the river, but did not appear upon the Heights until in the af- ternoon,' when he took command of the Tliirtoenth Regiment, and ordered Cap- tain Wool, who had endured toil and suf- terin? for more than twelve hours, to the American shore to have his wounds dressed. At Vrooman's, General Sheaffe, who had succeeded Brock in command, join- ed the fragments of the different corps who had been driven from the Heights when Brock was kill- ed, with heavy re - enforcements. afcwlien he appeared as leader on the battle-flcld at Qneenston. He received a good Enf^llsh edncatlon at Ancaster and >'iagara, and was a diligent student of English authors. He loved nature, aud studied its |)heuomeua with dls- criminatlou. He was manly and amiable, and at the time In question was in every respect an ac-omplished gentleman. On the death of his father In ISOT, he became the Tekarihogea, or principal chief of the Six Nations, although he was ibe fourth and youngest son. As such he took the field in 1812 in the BritLsh interest, and was engaged in most of ihc military events on the Niagara flrontier during the war. At the close of the contest he and his young siatet E''-:; both took up their residence at the home of their father, at the head of Lake Ontario, where they lived In the Lugllsh style, and di-'pcnsed hospl unties with a liberal hand. The render will find a full accountof this residence and ot ihe fiimily at the time in qnestion in Stone's LXil of jMlih Brant. Young Brant went to England In 1821 on business for the Six Na- ilons, and there took occa- sion to defend the character of his father from aspersions in Campbell's Gertrude (ff ITiwnini;. He was success- ful In his proof, but the poet bad not the generosity or manliness to strike the cal- umnies from his poem, and there Ihey remain to this da.v. On his return Brant (tent to work zealously for the moral improvement of his people, in which he was raccessfnl. In 1S27 Governor Dalhoiiiie appointed htm to :be rank of captain In the represented in the engraving. bsant's uondhxnt. British army and Superin- tendent of the Six Nations. He was elected a member of the Provincial Parliament in 18.12 for the county of Hal- dlmand, which comprehend- ed a good portion of the ter- ritory originally granted to the Mohawks. 'Technical dis- ability gave the seat to an- other, lifter he bad filled it for a while. But during that very summer the competitors were both laid in the grave by that terrible scourge, A»iatif chnlera. He died at the Mohawk village where be was bom, at the age of forty -eight years, and was burled in the same vault with his father, in the burying- gronud of the Mohawk Church, a short distance from Brantford, In Canada, over which has been erected a substantial mansolenm. This monument will be noticed more particnlarly presently. ' The conduct of Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie on this occasion was not wholly reconcilable with our ideas of a true foldier. In a manuscript letter before me, written by Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer to Oeneral Wilkinson In Janu- irj, 1316, he accuses Chrystie with cowardice, aud says Captain Lawrence, %hose boat Chrystie ordered back at the crossing (see note 2, page 305), openly charged him with It. Van Rensselaer gives It as his opinion that much of the bad conduct of the militia In refusing to cross the river in the afternoon was owing to the example of this office'. On the other hand, General Tim Rensselaer makes honorable mention of him In bl« report written the next day, and h* Cc ' .rt iliii^i'i 'U T^>^mmmKm 11 \\ lii'ii 402 . PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Sheaffe'a flank Movement. Bad Conduct of thn New York Militia. Scott's Hgran pit. He moved cautiously. Near Vrooman's he left two pieces of artillery to command the town, filed to the right, and crossed the country to the little village of St. Da- vid's, three miles westward of Qiieenston,and by that circuitous route, after marching and countermarching as if reconnoitring the American lines, he gained the rear of that portion of the Heights on which they were posted, and formed in Elijah PlielpaV fields on the Chippewa road.' There he was joined by the 41st Grenadiers and some militia and Indians from Chippewa, when the whole British army confrontinw that of the Americans was more than one thousand strong, exclusive of their dusky allios.^ The Americans, according to the most careful estimate, did not exceed six liuiulied in numbcM-. When Sheaffe appeared. General Van Rensselaer was on the Heights. lie im- mediately crossed the river to push forward re-enforcenients. He failed. Tlie mili- tia, who had been so brave in speech and clamorous to be led against the onemv, refused to cross. The smell of gunpowder, even from afar, seems to have paralyzed their honor and their courage. Van Rensselaer rode up and down among tliem, alternately threatening and imploring. Lieutenant Colonel Bloom, who had been wounded in action and had returned, and Judge Peck, who liappened to be at Lewis- ton, did the same, but without effect. Van Rensselaer appealed to their patriotism, their honor, and their humanity, but in vain. They pleaded their exemption as mili- tia, under the Constitution and laws, from being taken out of their own state ! and under that miserable shield they hoped to find shelter from the storm of indignation which their cowardice was sure to evoke. Like poltroons as they were, they stood on tlie shore at Lewiston while their brave companions in arms on Queenston Heights were menaced with inevitable destruction or captivity. All that Van Rensselaer could do was to send over some munitions of war, with a letter to General Wads- worth, ordering him to retreat if in his judgment the calvation of the troops depend- ed upon such movement, and promising him a supply of boats for the purpose. But this promise he could not fulfill. The boatmen on the shore were as cowardly as the militia on the plain above. Many of them had fled panic-stricken, and the boats were dispersed. Wadsworth communicated Van Rensselaer's letter to the field oflicers. They per- ceived no chance for re-enforceraents, no means for a retreat, and no hope of succor from any human source except their own valor and vigorous arms. They resolved to meet the oncoming overwhelming force like brave soldiers. Scott sprang upon a log, his tall form towering conspicuous above all,^ and addressed the little army in a few stirring words as the British came thundering on. " The enemy's balls," he said, be- gin to thin our ranks. His numbers are overwhelming. In a moment the shock must come, and there is no retreat. We are in the beginning of a national war. Hull's surrender is to be redeemed. Let us, then, die arms in hand. The country de- mands the sacrifice. The example will not be lost. The blood of the slain will make heroes of the living. Those who follow will avenge our fall and their country's wrongs. Who dare to stand?" "All! all!" was the generous response; and in that spirit they received the first heavy blow of the enemy on their right wing.* was promoted to the office of inspector general. He did not live long enough to test his mettle fnirly. He died at Fon George, In Canada, on the 22d of July, 1813. > MS. Journal of Captain William Hamilton Merrill. » Sheaffe's re-en forcements, with whom ho marched from Fort George, consisted of almost four hundred of the 4lBt Repi- ment, under Captain Derenzy, and about three hnn clred militia. The latter consisted of the flank companies of the Ul Regiment of Lincoln Militia, under Captains J. Crooks and M'Kwen ; the flank companies of the 4th Regiment of Lin- coln Militia, under Captains Nellis and W. Crooks : Captains Hall's, Durand's, and Applegarth's companies of the 5th Regiment of Lincoln Militia •, Major Merrltt's Yeomanry Corps, and a body of Swayzee's Militia Artillery under Cap- tains Powell and Cameron. Those from Chippewa were commanded by Colonel Clark, and consisted of Captaia Bul- lock's company of Grenadiers of the 4lBt Regiment : the flank companies of the 2d Lincoln Regiment, under Captaini Hkmiltoa and Rowe, and the Volunteer Sedentary Hilitls. Brant and Jaenbs commanded the Indians. Two three- pounders, under the charge of LlentenanTCrowther, of the 41st Regiment, accompanied the troops. ' General Scott was six feel Ave inches in height. He was then slender, graceful, and commanding In form; for Rereral years before his death he was ponderous, yet exceedingly dlgniflcd in his appearance. • Scott was in full-dress uniform, and, being taller than his companions, was a conspicuous and Important mark for *' V OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 403 diedatFon ton Merrill. ie4lBtEepi- esoftheW nent of Lin- of the 6tti under Cap- laptiin Bal- er CapU'M Two three- n fonn; for nt mark ibr ittte on Queengtou HelKhta. Perils of tbe American!, Ilerues and Cowards made Prlsonera of War. Sheaffe opened the battle at about four o'clock by directing Lieutenant M'Intyre, with the Light Company of the 41st on the left of his column, supported by a body of militia, Indians, and negroes under Captain Kunchey, to fall upon the American right. They fired a single volley with considerable execution, and then charged with a tremendous tumult, the white men shouting and the Indians ringing out the fear- ful war-whoop and hideous yells. The Americans were overpowered by the onslaught and gave way, for their whole available force did not much exceed throe hundred mca Percei- ing this, Sheaffe ordered his entire line to charge, while the two field- pieces were brought to bear upon the American ranks. The effect was powerful. Tlic Americans yielded and fled in utter confusion toward the river, down the slope by the redan, and along the road leading from Queenston to tlie Falls. The latter were cut off by the Indians, and forced through the woods toward the precipices along the hank of the river. Others, who had reached the water's edge, were also cut off from farther retreat by a Irck of boats. Meanwhile the American commander had sent several messengers with flags, bearing offers to capitulate. Tlie Indians shot them all, and continued a murderous onslaught upon the terrified fugitives. Some of them were killed in the woods, some were driven over the precipices and perished on the rocks or in the rushing river below, while others escaped by letting themselves down from bush to bush, and swimming the flood. At length Lieutenant Colonel Soott, in the midst of the greatest peril, reached the British commanding general, and otfered to surrender the whole force.* The Indians were called from their bloody work, terms of capitulation were soon agreed to, and all the Americans on the British side became prisoners of war. These, to the utter astonishment of their own com- manders, amounted to about nine hundred, when not more than six hundred, regu- lars and militia, were known to have been on the Canada shore at any time dur- ing the day, and not more than half that number were engaged in the fight on the ilcjchts. The mystery was soon explained. Several hundred militia had crossed over during the morning. Two hundred of them, under Major Mullany, who crossed (arly in the day, were forced by the current of the river under the range of Vroo- iiian's battery, and were captured. Two hundred and ninety-three, who were in the battle, were surrendered ; and the remainder, having seen the wounded crossing the river, the painted Indians, and the " green tigers," as they called the 49th, whose coats were faced with green, skulked below the banks, and had no more to do with tlie battle than spectators in a balloon might have claimed. But they were a part of the invading army, were found on British soil, and were properly prisoners of war. Hie British soldiers, after the battle, plucked them from their hiding-places, and made them a part of the triumphal procession with which General Sheaffe rot nrned to Fort George.'* tlie enemy. He was urged to change his dress. " No," he said, smiling, " I will die in my robes." As in tbe case of Wuhiugton on the Held of Monongahela, the Indians took special aim at Scott, but could not hit him. I Scott Hzed a white cravat on tbe point of his sword as s flag of truce, and, accompanied by Captains Totten (f^ora whose neck the "flag was taken) ind Gibson, made his way along ihe rirer shore, under shelter of the precipice, to a gentle slope, np whicli they hastened to tbe road leading Arom the village to the Uelghtf, exposed to the random tre of the Indians. Just B8 they rttched the road they were met h; tvo ludlans, who sprang upon ihem like tigers. They wonid not llaten to Scott's declaration thit he was under tbe protec- Hoi of a Sag and was going to ntrender. They attempted to '^^^^^ wrench bis sword fl-om him, when Totten and Qibsou drew theirs. The Indians, who were armed with rifles, instantly flred, but without efiibct, and v. ere abont to use their knives and tomahawks, when a British sergeant, accompanied by a guard, seeing the encounter, rush- ed forward, crying Honor ! honor I took tbe Americans under his pro- tection, and conducted them to tbe presence of General Sheaffe. — lis* and Suniitit* <4 OeiwnA WiT^MA SeoU, by Edward Uana- fltld, page 44. ■ The authorities consulted in compiling the foregoing account of events on the Niagara (Irontier, In this and the preceding chapter, are as follows : Offldal Reports of Generals Van Rensselaer and Sheaffe, Lieutenant Colonel Cbrystie tti Captain Wool ; oral and written statements of Captain (now Major General) Wool to the Author ; MS. Order and V' r t 1 I ^1 i : I i i: j.. ,1 404 PICTORIAL J-IELD-BOOK Lome* In the Battle of Qneenston. The Surrender. JuRttce and Injustice to the Merltorioai. Scott at NIann The entire loss of tJie Americans during that eventful day, according to the most careful cHtiraates, was ninety killed, about one hundred wounded, and between eiiflit and nine hundred made prisonerH, causing an entire loss, in rank and file, of about eleven hundred men. The British loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners (the lattir taken in the morning), M'as about one hundred and thirty. The number of Indians engaged and their loss is not positively known.' Captain Norton was wouiulod but not severely. All parties engaged in the fight on that day behaved with exemplary courage, and deserved, as they received, the encomiums of their respective generals and the thanks of their respective governments.^ Brigadier General Wadsworth was in command when the army was surrendered. lie delivered his sword to General Sheafie in person. The ceremony of fornml sur- render occurred at near sunset, wlien the prisoners, officers, and men were inarelied to the village of Newark (now Niagara), at the mouth of the Niagara River. Tiiere the officers were quartered in a small tavern, and placed under guard. While wait- ing for an escort to conduct them to the head-quarters of General Sheaffe, a little (jirl entered the parlor and said that somebody in the hall wanted to see the " tall officer." Scott, who was unarmed, immediately went out, when he was confronted by the two Indians who had made such a violent assault upon liira while bearing a flag of truce. Young Brant immediately stepped up to Scott and inquired how many balls had passed through his clothing, as they had both fired at him incessantly, and had been astonished continually at not seeing him fall. Jacobs, at the same time, seized Scott rudely, and attempted to whirl him around, exclaiming, " Me shoot so often, me sure Letter Books of General Stephen Van Rensselaer ; MS. correspondence of Colonel Solomon Van Rcnseelncr; Oral Nar- ratives of Soldiers in the Battle at Queenston, living In Canada in 1800 ; Perkins's Hintory of the Late War ; Braclcen- ridge's HUtory of tlie Late War ; Thornton's lJi»torieal Sketches qfthe Late War; Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer's Sar- rativeofthe Afair at Queetmimi; IngeraoM's Historical Sketch of the Second War,etc.; Nlles's Weekly liegister ; theWat; Stone's Life of Brant; Sketchen qfthe War, by an anonymous writer; Armstrong's Notices ufthe (Tar of 1812; ManslipM'i Life atid Services of General Winjield Scott ; Baylls's Battle of Queenston ; Flics of the New York Herald, or scml-weeklv Evening /"ost ; James's Military Occurrences of the Late War ; Auchinleck's Histanj of the War of 181 2 / Tiippcr's hiji and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock ; Christie's Military Operations in Canada ; Jarvls's Narrative ; Manuscript Jour- nal of Major Merritt ; Symonds's Battle nf Queenston Heights. 1 British writers widely disagree In their estimates concerning the Indian force on that occasion. It is known thai there were some with Dennis in the morniuj,', that others accompanied Sheaffe from Fort George in the aflcrnooD, aod that he was joined on the Heights by others from Chippewa. I think the Six Nations were represented on that dajbj abont two hundred and fifty warriors. » General SheaCTe named almost every commissioned officer engaged In the battle as entitled to high praise. He spe- cially commended Captain Holcroft, of the Royal Artillery, for his skillfnl and judicious use of the ordnance in liis charge ; also Lieutenant Crowther for similar service. He gave credit to Captain Olegg, Bi^pck's ald-de-cnmp, for great assistance ; also to Lieutenant Fowler, assistant depnty quarter-master general, Lieutenant Kerr, of the (iloii^'ary Fen- ciblcs. Lieutenant Colonels Butler and Clarke, and Captains Hail, Durand, Rowc, Applegarth, James Crookp, Coopf r, Robert Hamilton, M'Ewen, and Duncan Cameron. Lieutenants Richardson and Thomas Butler, and Major Merrill, of the Niagara Dragoons, were all highly spoken of. He added to the list of honor the names cf Volunteers Shaw, Thom- son, and Jarvls. The latter (G. S. Jarvis) wrote an interesting account of the battle. He was attached to the light com- pany of the Forty-ninth Regiment. Upon Major General Brock, his slain aid-de-camp (Colonel M'Donell), and Captains Dennis and Williams, he bestowed special and deserved encomium for their gallantry. In contrast with this dispatch of General Sheaffe to Sir George Prcvost, written at Fort George on the evening of the day of battle. Is that ot General Van Rensselaer to General Dearborn, written at Lewlston on the followinR day. He gives a general statement of Important events connected with the battle, but when he comes to distribute the honon among those who are entitled to receive them, he omits the name of every officer who was engaged In storming mi carrying the Heights of Qneenston, the chief object of th.) expedition. The name of Captain Wool, the hero of the day until the tide of victory was turned against the Americans, is not even mentioned. Byron defined military glory as "being shot through the body, and having one's name spelled wrong In the gazettes." Worse fate than that would have been that of Wool and the storming-party had History confiued her investigations to Van Renseelaer's report. He expresped his great obligations to General Wadsworth, Colonel Van Rensseloer, Lieutenant Colonels Scott, Chryp- tle, and Fen wick, and Captain Gibson, all of whom were gallant men, and performed their duties nobly in the after part of the day, but not one of them had a share in the capture of the Heights, the defeat of Major General Brock, and Iho winnings of victory. Van Rensselaer was wounded anj taken to T^ewiston before daylight. Fenwick was wounded while crossing the river and taken prisoner. Chrystie was not Hattle-fleld until the morning victories were ill won under Wool. How General Van Rensselaer could have made such a report is a mystery. It is due to bis candor and sense of justice to say that he was doubtless misled by the reports of interested parties, for as soon as he perceived the injuallce that was done to brave officers, he did all In his power to remedy the evil. In his report to Colonel Van Rensselaer, on the 83d of October, Captain Wool made special mention of the officers who acted with him on that da.v, and these General Van Rensselaer took occasion to name in a special manner in a letter to Brigadier General Smyth announcing his resignation, written at Buffalo on the 24th. In a letter to Captain Wool in December following, Qen- eral Van Rensselaer said, " I was not sufficiently informed to do jastlce to your bravery and good conduct in the attack of the enemy on the Heights of Qneenston." He then expressed the hope that the government would notice bis merit! on that occtolon. ininR ol the IK day. Be the honors ormliig and ofthedaj iry glory as that wonld er'B rcpoit. cott, CbryE- le after part ick, and tho wonnded iea were all I hlB candor (e percelted Colonel Van tn that day, leral Smy"" ^wing, 0«n- 1 the attack > bU merltt OF THE WAR OF 1812. 400 9cott'» Kncouutor with Inillaii*. Ubjectoftholr Vlalt. A combined Triampbal and Kuiieral ProceBiion. to have hit somewhere !" The indignant officer thrust the savage from him, ex- claiming, " Hands oft", you villain! You fired like a squaw!" lioth assailants im- mediately loosened their knives and tomahawks from their girdles, and were aV)out to spring upon Scott, while Jacobs exclaimed, " We kill you now !'" when the assailed rushed to the end of the hall, where the swords of the captured officers stood, seized the first one, drew the blade from its steel scabbard as quick as lightning, and was iil)out to bring the heavy weapon with deadly force upon the Indians, Avhen a British officer entered, seized Jacobs by tho arms, and shouted for the guard.' Jacobs turned fiercely upon tho officer, exclaiming, " I kill you," when Scott, with the heavy sabre raised, called out, " If you strike I'll kill you both." For a moment the eyes of the group gleamed with fury upon their antagonist, and a scene was presented equal to any thing in the songs of the Troubadours or the sagas of the Norsemen. The gust of passion was momentary, and then the Indians put up their weapons and slowly re- tired muttering imprecations on all white men and all the laws of war." " Beyond doubt," says his biographer,^ " it was no part of the young chiers design to inflict in- jury upon the captive American commander. His whole cliaractcr forbids the idea, for he was as generous and benevolent in his feelings as he was brave." It is be- lieved that their visit to Scott was one of curiosity only, for, having tried so repeat- edly to hit him with their bullets, they were anxious to know how nearly they had accomplished their object. But it can not be denied that the exasperation of the In- dians against Scott, because of their losses on the Heights, was very great — so great tiiat while he remained at Niagara he could not move from his lodgings in safety, even to visit the head-quarters of General Sheafte,* without a guard. When General Slieaffe marched in triumph from (Jueenston to New- ink, he took with him the body of the slain General Brock, which had been concealed in a house near where he fell. The march had a twofold aspect. It was a triumphal and a funeral procession. At Newark the body was placed in the "ovemment house, • October 10, 1812. NKW HAOAZINF. AT rORT aEOBQE. and there it lay in state three days, when it was bu- ried" in a new cav- alier bastion in Fort George, whose erection he had su- perintended with great interest. By the side of Brock's remains were laid those of his provin- cial aid - de - camp, Lieutenant Colonel M'Donell.» The fu- neral ceremonies 1 This was Colonel Coffin, who had been sent by General Shenffe, with a guard, to invite the American officers to hie table at hi- quarters. > Stone's Life of Brant, ii., 614 ; Mansfield's Life (tf Scott, page 48. > William L.Stone. At the close of his Life (if Joseph Brant, Stone gives an interesting sketch of the life of John Brant < KogerH. Sheaffe was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and was a lad living there with his widowed mother at the ^W$^ opening of the Revolution. Earl Ptrcy'8 head-quarters were at their house while the British occupied the town, and his lordship became much itUcbed to the boy ; so much so that, <ith the consent of his mother, he tookhimaway withhim atthe evac- '^ of meritorious service. He was sta- tioned In Canada at the breaking out of tho war. He at once stated frankly his reluctance to serve against his native mntry, and snlicited a transfer to some other flcld of duty. His request was not granted. For his gallant condnct, >nd winning victory on the Heights of Queenston, he was created a baronet, and ever afterward was known as Sir Roger Sheaffe. General Sheaffe was bom on the 17th of July, 1703, and entered the British army on the 1st of May, i;;8. 'The cavalier bastion where Brock and his aid were burled is near what is known as the new magazine. In Fort uation to provide fof him. He gave him a military education, placed him in the army, and procured commis- sions and promotions for him as fast as possible. His promotion to ma- /// Jor general was acquired on account ^ nf mf\r\tt\rinnn Hftrvlpft. He was Bta- i ^mm^ H i ■'■I I r iir 406 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Bmpeet for Brock awarded bjr the American!. Brock's Fnneral. Ilooored by hli OoTemment and the CunadUoi were arranged by his other aid, Captain Glegg ;• and when they wore over tlie Americans at Fort Niagara and at Lewiston tired minute-guns, as a marie of rosiu'ct due to a brave enemy, by command of Major General Van Kensselaer. An armigtice for a few days had been agreed u])on by Van Rensselaer and Sheaffe, which gave the Oeorge. That magaziue la represented In the engraving on the preceding page. Behind it are seen the earthm ram. parts of the fort as they appeared when I viaited it In 1800. The place of the basttou la indicated by the hollow uH opening In the fence on the right of the picture. > The roliowiug was the order of the procession : 1. Fort-ninjor Campbell. 2. Sixty men of the Fnrty-flrst nojjImcDt. commanded by a subaltern. 8. Sixty of the militia, commanded by a captain. 4. Two six-ponnders firing mlunte-irQim 5. Remaining corps and detachments of the garrison, with about two hundred Indians, in reverse order, forming; a i!lrc«t through which the procession passed, extending n-om the government house to the garrison. 6. Band of the Kortv-flnt Regiment. T. Drums, covered with black cloth and muffled. 8. Late general's horse, ftilly caparisoned, led bv ttm grooms. 9. Servants of the general. 10. The general's body-servant. 11. Surgeon Mulrhead, Doctor Moore, Doctor Kerr, and Staff-surgeou Thorn. 11. Rev. Mr. Addison. Then followed the body of Lieutenant Colonel M'Doncll, with the following gentlemen as pall-bearers; Captain A. Cameron, Lieutenant Robinson (late chief Justice of Canada) J. Edwards, Lieutenant Jarvis, Lieutenant Ridout, and Captain Crooks. The chief mourner was the brother of the deceased. The body of Oeneral Brock followed, with the following pall-bearers : Mr. James CofBn, Captains VIgorcnus, Deremy, Dennis, Holcroft, and Williams, M^or Morritt, Lieutenant Colonels Clarke and Butler, and Colonel Claus, supported bv Brigade Major Evans and Captain Ulegg. The chief mounicrs were Major Oeneral Shealfc, Ensign Collin, Lieutenant Colonel Myers, and Lieutenant Fowler. These were followed by the civil staff, friends of the deceased, and the Inhab- itants. Oeneral Brock bad become greatly endeared to the Canadians. Gentlemanly deportment, kind and concilintlog man- ners, and unrestrained benevolence were his prominent characteristics. He died unmarried, precisely a week after hs bad completed his forty-third year. His dignity of person has already been described. I have been unable, after dil. igent efforts, to obtain his portrait or big autograph. His contemporaries gave many tokens of respect to his memurv after his death. " Canadian fhrmers," says Howison, In his Sketches of Canada, " are not overburdened with ecnslbllliy, yet I have seen several of them shed tears when a eulogium was pronounced upon the Immortal and generoui-mlndcd deliverer of their country." The Prince Regent, in an official bulletin, spoke of his death as having been "sufflcicntto have clouded a victory of much greater Importance." The muse was Invoked In expressions of sympathy and mnm. Among poetical effusions which the occasion elicited was the following, written by Miss Ann Bruycres, "an extraor- dinary child of thirteen years old," the daughter of the general's warm friend, Lieutenant Colonel Bruycres, of the Koy >l Engineers ; " As Fame alighted on the monntain's crest, She loudly blew her trumpet's mighty blast , Bre she repeated Victory's notes, she cast A look around ond stopped. Of power bereft, Her bosom heaved, her breath she drew with pain, Her favorite Brock lay slaughtered on the plain I Glory threw on his grave a laurel wreath. And Fame proclaims, * A hero sleeps beneath.' " Brock's biographer observes, in allnding to Fame being twice mentioned In the above lines, that it was singnlar that " the mournful intelligence of Sir Isaac Brock's death was brought firom Quebec to Guernsey [his native country] by the ship Fame, belonging to that Island, on the 24th of November, two days before It was known In London."— Tiipper'i Li/e nf Brock, page 380. By direction of a resolution of the Honse of Commons on the 20th of July, 1313, a military monument by Westmacott was erected to his memory in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, at a cost of nearly eight thousand dollars. It Is In the western ambulatory of the south transept, eud contains an effigy of the hero's body reclining In the arms of a British soldier, while an Indian pays the last tribute of respect. The monument bears the fallowing inscription ; "Erected, at the public expense, to the memory of Major Genebai. Sib Isaac Beook, who gloriously fell on the 13th of October, MDCCCXll., in resisting an attack on Queenston, In Upper Canada." In addition to this, twelve thousand acres of land in Upper Canada were be- stowed on the four surviving brothers of General Brock, and each were allowed a pension of one thousand dollars a year for life, by a vote of the British Parliament. The Canadians could never seem to honor him enough. In 1816 they struck a small medal to his memory ; and soon afterward steps were taken In the prov- ince to erect a suitable monument on Queenston Heights, not far from the spot where lie fell. They raised a lofty Tuscan column, 136 feet in height from the base to the summit. The diameter of the htme of the column was seventeen and a half feet. On the summit was a pedestal for a statue. Within was a spiral staircase aronnd a central shaft. In the base was a tomb. In which the coffins containing the remains of Brock and M'Donell were deposited on the 13th of October, 1824. Their remains were conveyed from Fort George to their lost resting-place in a hearse drawn by fonr black horses, followed by an immense military and civic procession, while artillery fired a salute of minute-guns. This monument stood, the pride of the Canadians, nntll the middle of April, 1840, when a miscreant named Lett, a fligiti ve trom Canada, who had become implicated in the disturbances there in 1887 and 1838, attempted to destroy it with gunpowder. He succeeded in so injuring It that it became necessary to pull it down. A meeting was held on the Heights In July following, at which the late Sir Allan M'Nab made a stirring speech, when It was resolved to erect a new monument. It was estlmaleii that eight thousand persons were present, and a salute was fired by the Royal Artillery. That meeting and the new monnment will be considered in the next chapter. IN MEHOBT OF QEHESAI, UBOOK. BBOCK'B aONUHDIT. OF THE WAU OF 1 h 1 2. 407 ntt on LewlitoD IlelgbU. TraoRfer of Colonel Van ReoiMlaer from ({aeeoiton to Albany. Uli Reception. two commandent an opportunity for the exchange of those humane courtCHics which should ncvor be loHt Hij?lit of amid the tumults of war.' Let lu turn back and coimidcr for a moment what occurred on the American side in coniu^ction with the battle of QueeiiHton. At Lewiston, Lovett,^ as we have seen, was placed in charge of an eightecn-pounder in battery on the IleightH,^ where he per- (ormcd good service in covering the par- ty that crossed before daylight. It be- ing dark, he stooped close to the gun to observe its aim, when it was discharged, and the concussion so injured his ears that he was much deaf ever afterward. Soon after this Colonel Van Rensselaer ffii8 brought over from the Canada shore with ti%e bleeding wounds. He had been flick M'ith fever, and had left his bed to attend to preparations for the invasion. The disease and his wounds so prostrated him that for several days his life was in extreme peril.* It was not until five (lays after the battle that he could bo moved from Lewiston. Then a cot was riiri»ed with cross-bars and side-poles, on • October which he was carried, on the 1312. ' 18th,* to Schlosser by a detach- ment of Major Moseby's militia riflemen. On the following day he was taken by the same party by land and water to Buffalo.^ There lie remained until the 9th of Novem- ber, and was then conveyed to his home at Mount Hope, near Albany, accompanied, as he had been since his removal from Lewiston, by Mr. Lovett. They were met in* the suburbs of Albany by a cavalcade of citizens, and Van Rensselaer was received vrith the honors of a victor.* 1 The correspondence between the generals may be fonnd in Van Reneselner's Narrativf, olready allnded to. 1 John Lovett was a resident of Albany when the war broke out, and was a leading man In the profession of the law there. General Van Rensse- laer, hie early friend, Invited him to become his aid and military secretary. "I am not a Boldler," said Lovett. " It is lot your tveord, but your pen that I want," replied Van Ren-selaer. Mr. Lovett was elected to a seat in Congress in ISIS, when ho renewed his acquolntance with Governor Meigs, and through his influ- ence purchased a tract of laud on ttie Maumee, and com- menced a settlement which he named Perryi^burg, in hon- or of the gallant hero of Lake Erie. There he resided, but He died at Fort Meigs in August, 1818, at the early age of he was early cut off by the prevailing fever of the country. Hfly-two years. For a more extended sketch of Mr. Lovett's life, see Reminiscence* qf Troy, by John Woodworth. ) This battery was called Fort Qray, in honor of Nicholas Gray, acting engineer, under whose supervision it was inDged. ' Arad Joy, Esq., who was pajrmaster of Colonel Henry Bloom's regiment, and acting quartermaster on the day of the battle, wrote to me on the 16th of March, 13IS2, giving me an account of his experience on the Lewiston side of the river. He had charge of the wagons that conveyed the wounded to the hospital on the ridge road, two miles from the Ttllige. Of Van Rensselaer he says : " The loss of blood caused him to be chilly. He sat upon a board across the top ofthe wagon-box, without a groan ; and as we met the soldiers going to the river to cross, he would call out at the top of his voice, 'Go on, my brave fellows, the day Is our own.' It cheered up and encouraged them. He was taken to good quarters In a private bonse. The head surgeon, ^vlth his instruments, was along. We carried him Into the house sA seated him on a chair. His boots were filled with blood, which was gushing from his thigh, and plainly to be seen through his pantaloons. The boots, at Van Rensselaer's request, were cut from his feet." > At BnlTaio, on the 24th, Van Rensselaer nse-i a pen for the first time since receiving his wounds, and wrote to his wife. That letter Is before me. It Is filled with expressions of gratitude toward General Van Rensselaer, and con- (lodes by saying : " I congratulate you on the birth of our little boy. That this should have taken place on the same Di;ht I made the attack on the British is singalar. He must be a soldier." ' Solomon Van Rensselaer was born in Oreenbush, opposite Albany, in the old house known as the Garret mansion. i ^^^ ! )i 8 ' 406 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ImU at Um Mnnth of th« NURira River. Aceoaal of fort NliKir*. DlipoMl or tha Anwrlean PrtMMti. Whilo tJjo Htirrinj^ ovontH nt QiironHton woro in proj^roHS in tho morning, tlicre wm n lively \.'.:iw iit Forts (loorf^u iiiul Niaj^iira.' 8i) hooii uh Mrook heard tlio ntatc of aftiiirH at (jneonHton, liu sent down word to lirij^adt! Major Kvaim, wlio liad liecn ||.f) in charge of Fort (ieorge, to ojten a cannonade upon Fort Niaj^'ura. Me did ho ami received n Hliarp reply from the Honth l>iock-hous(« of the American fortrcMM, wliich wa8 in charj!;e of ('aptain M'Keon. Tliat officer turned his guim upon (he villaj{<. of Newark also when cluirged with hot shot, and Hcveial IxiiidinirH were Hct on lire. Tlic (cannonade continued some time, when Kvans, aided by ()oh)nel ('laus and C'liptain Vigoreux, of the Royal KngincerH, oju'ned a Hevere bombardment upon Fort Ninirura Already the burHting of a twelve-pounder had (b'prived the AniericanH of their lust weapon. This fact, and the Q;(poHed condition of the fort under the attack of hIicIIn cauHed Captain Leonard, the commandant of the garrinon, to abainlon it. The trooim had not proceeded far when they observi-d liritiHli boats, filled wiMi armed men, ieiuiiKr the Canada nhore for Fort Niagara, evidently with the intention of securing a lodi'. ment there. M'Keon immediately returned with his little force, remained there unmo- lested over night, and was joined by the remainder of the garrison the next inorniiiir. The American militia officers and privates captured at Queenston were j)aroli'(l and sent across the river, but those of the regular army were detained as ])ri8onerH of wiir for exchange.* These were sent to Quebec, and from there, in a cartel,^ to Honton, ex- cept twenty-three, who were claimed as I'litish subjects, and were sent to Kiiijlaiid to be tried for treason.* The energetic action of Lieutenant Colonel Scott then and In \T14. His fnthor was a brave offlcor of the Revolution (Henry Killlan Van RenMelaer), who wnt severely wonndftl In the tbl|{h ill a battle near Fort Ann In ITTT. Ho waa then a colonel. The bullet, which was not extracted iiulll after hlH death, forty yearn Inter, In atlll In the iiciukokhIoii of the family. It waa flattened by atrlkUiK the thluh hone. Ilia mu S<ilomon Inherited IiIh military dUpoitltliiii, and at the nue of eighteen yeara entered the army under Wayne ati acuriicl of cavalry in the name battalion with the late ['reiildent Harrinoii. He waa promoted to the rommand of a tniuii |,lulv 1, 1T0S| before he waa twenty. He waa ahot through the IniiKa In the battle at the Haplda of the Miami or Maninec in AnRHi ;, iJM. In 17lt8, when war with France eeemcd inevitable, Waahington aent for Van Kensdclaer, inquired aliom the state of his wounds, and aoon afterward [.lanuary, 18(H)) be waa appointed a major of cavalry. When the army wn dlabandcd he went Into civil pursultH, but waa called to the reaponaible post of Adjutant General of New York hi Jang- ary, IHfll. He held thai office when the war broke ont, and nt the aolicitatlim of hia uncle, General Van Kriii'aclniT.hp took a position on his stalT. His xcrvlcca at Queonston have been recorded in the text. That event cloiied IiIk military life, except na mi\jor general of the mlllila In 1810. Monroe appointed him post-master at Albany, and he held that po- Wltlon until removed by Van Buren. Ho waa a delegate to the Whig t.'onveutloii that nominated his frieiul Ilnrrlwn for the presidency in IS-TO. Harrison reinstated liini in the post-olHce at Albany, from which ho wns remcivcd by Jdhn Tyler. He died at his residence at Cherry Hill, about a mile south of State Street, Albany, i n the 24th of Ajirll, ls(i2, In the seventy-eighth ycnr of hIa age. Cherry Hill is a most bcaiitifiil spot, westward of the rural extension of Pearl Street. It overlooks the Hudson, and commands a fine view of the country eastward of the river. I remember a vNlt .'i that mansion several years ago (then occupied by hia daughters) with much pleasure. Ula residence during the war u( Kit wns called Mount Hope, and is a little south of Cherry Hill. 1 Fort Niagara was commenced as early as 1071), when La Halle, a French explorer. Inclosed a small spot there wltli palisades. In ItlST, DeNonville, a French commander, constructed a quadrangular fort there with four hnstliing. The .Seuecas attacked, a fatal disease followed, and the fort was nbnndoned. In U'iti, the French, who still occu|)lcd tlic iipui, built quite n strong fnrtiflcntlon there. It was taken from them by Sir Wllllum Johnson, with a force of DritUh and Indians, In 1780. It then covered about eight acres, having been cnlnrged ond strengthened from time to time until It had become a regular fort of great resisting power. It never again passed lnt<i the hands of the French. During the Rev(dulion it was tlie rendezvous of the Tories and Indians, who desolated Central New York, and sent predatory partlcj Into Pennsylvania. "It waa the head-quarters," says l)eveanx,"or all thntwnsbarhnrou8,unrclenllnir, and cruel. There were congregated the leaden and chiefs of those bands of murderers and miscreants who carried death and dcjulallon Into the remote American settlements. There civilized Europe reveled with savage Americans, and Indies of educa- tion and refliienicnt mingled in the society of those whose only distinction waa to wield the bloody tomahawk and the scalplni; -knife. There the squaws of the forests were raised to eminence, and the most unholy unions between them and officers of highest rank smiled upon and countenanced. There, In the strong-hold, like a nest of vultures, sccnrelj for some years they sallied forth and preyed upon the distant settlements of the Mohawk and Susiiueiiannn va!ley». It was the dopAt of their plunder. There they planned their forays, and there they returned to fenst until tlm time of action cnmo again."— Drewit/j;'/) FnllH n/Siagara. Fort Niagara remolned in possession of the British until 1780. It ».'.? then commanded by Colonel Smith, who led the British In the light at Concord In 1775. It has been well observed that "Colonel Smith may with propriety be said to have participated In both the opening and closing acts of the Amcrlcaii revolution." » The following Is a list of the regular officers who were surrendered : Colonel Scott, Lieutenant Colonels Chrielle and Fonwick (the former slightly, the lotter badly wounded), Major Miillany, Captains Gibson, M'Chesney, and Ogllvic, Lieu- tenants Randolph, Kearney, Sammons, Hugunin, Fink, Carr, Turner, Totten, Bailey, Phelps, Clarke (wounded), and M'Carty, and Knsign Reeve. ' A cartel ship is a vessel commissioned In time of war to carry prisoners for exchange, or messoges from one belllgtr- ent to another. ♦ At the beginning of the war the American prisoners were cruelly treated. Much testimony on the subject wa« col- lected by a committee of Congress, appointed for the purpose, in the summer of 1813. It was In evidence that when OP THE WAR OF 1812. 409 HrnU'i b<>l<l I'riitortlon of K«llc>w-prl«iin<ini. KuulUtlon >ulhiirlieil tiy ('onitraiM. OoneemliiK Parpatnal MUgitnet. iitU'iWiird Hiivwl tlu'in fniiii ilcath. Wh^n t!io pi i.-;;"n*VH wt-rc iilmiit to Miiil IVom C2»o- Im^c a pnrty of liritmh otll(a>rfl ciunvi on bonnl tliu ctirtel, iiiuHtt>rt>(l tliu ciiptivcH, and ooniiiK'nci'ii m'puratinn from t!io r«'Ht thoHo who, by tlicir accont, were found to be IriHlinuMi. 'riu'Hc th(>y inti'iidod to Hcnd to Kiiil^IuikI for trial hh traitorH in a frii;:it(> lyin^ nt'ar, in lu-tjordaimc with the doc^trinu that u liritiHli Hubji;t!t can not vx]>atriatc liiiiiHolf.' Hcott, who waH Ik-Iow, ht-arin}^ u tumult on dock, wont up. Ho wan Hoon infKrnu'd of tho oauno, and at onco ontorod a vohomont protimt against tho pro<!ood- ini(i«. lie couiniaiulo<l IiIh HoldiorH to bo abMolutoly Hilont, that their acoont mi^lit not l)etray thoin. Ho wa» ropoatodi/ onb'n'd to ^o bolow, anil aH ropo.'itodiy rofuHcd. fhe HoidiorH oboyod him. Tw(M>ty-throo hud already boon detected as IriHhnion, but not aiiotliiT one l»ecame a victim. The twonty-thnu! Mjore taken on board the frij^ate in iroiiH. Scott bohlly anHured them that if the liritiHh (rovernment dared to injure a hair of their heads, hiH own fjovernment would fully avonpo the outraiije. He at the Hamc time aH boKlly defied the menacing otticerH, and comforted the nnmaelod priHon- crs in every poHHihIe way. Scott waH exchanged in January, 181.3, and at once Hcnt a Cull report of thin atVair to the Secretary of War. lie liaHtoned to WaHhington in iHTHon, and proHHod the Hubject upon the attention of CongroHH. A bill waH ititro- iliici'd to voHt "the IVohidont of the United States with powers of retaliation."'* It oriijinated in tlie Senate, and would have paHsed both houHos but for the conceded tact that such powers were already fully contained i.'i the general constitutional powers of tho President to conduct the war. Fortunately for the credit of common humanity, the President never hud occasion to exercise tliat power to the extent of lit'i'-takiiig, for the Hritish government wisely and prudently abstained from carrying iiiit in practice, in the case of American prisoners, its cherished doctrine of perpetual iillciliiiiico.' priaoneni «rrlvP(l at Plymouth th«y wcro unnt to Mill prison for one diiy and nlg\it, and all tho food allowed thorn " for the Iwenty-fonr hniirx worn three nmall inlt horrlnK", or nbnut tho nnmo weight of Halted codflnh, or hnlf n pound of kef, one nnd a half puundH of black hrcnd, a little nail, etc." Un the Herond dny tlioy were pi.roled, and Heut Kvcnty- tour miles from I'lymouth, at tho expense (if tho prisoners, where they were allowed scarcely sufllclent to drive starva lion HW«y. It was testlHed that the prlwiners were kept In h half-starved state, It Iwlng "tho policy of Iho British govfrniiient," accordinx to the moinorlul of ".lames Ome, Joseph I). Cook, Thomas Humphries, and others," as they deraiily lielleved, " to select the sickly to he first sent In cartels, aud keep tho halo ond hordy scnmen until llioy become ilckly, thus renderlu(f the whole of these Eallsnt sons of Neptune who escape death, when they return to their homes, at Ifut for eomo tlnio, jierfectly useless to tliiMnselves, and quite so to their country, from their debilitated state." Amcrlcsn priaonora wore actually hired out in the British service, as appears by the following advertlsomont in a Jam»lc« paper! " Port Royal, 2Bth Nov., 1R12. "Masters of vessels about to proceed to England with convoy arc informed that they may be supplied with u limited lumber of American seamen (prisontirB of war) to assist in uarigating their vessels, on the usual terms, by applying to "Okorok Maduk, AgriU." 1 See paRO 8B. 'Only two months afler the passage of tho act, Scott himself, as commander in the capture of Port George, selected friim Ills prisoners twenty-three, to be confined in the Interior of the country, to abide the fate of those sent to England (romfiiu'hec. ' The Krliiiih government had a precedent not only In a notable case in its own history, bnt In tho action of a neigh- Wng uiition. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Doctor Storey, a native of England, quitted his country and became u iibject of Spain. He was received ot the English Court as embassador ft^om his adopted country. He was Indicted in EDIiInnd for treason, when he pleaded his Spanish citizenship. It availed him nothing. His plea was overruled, a'ld lie was condemned and executed. Colonel Townley, an Englishman born, became naturalized In France, but on being niifd while boiirlng arms against England, was executed for treason. Tho French decree of Trianon declared that no Ftdiclimnn could be naturalized abroad without the consent of thefmperor, and that such that may bo naturalized abroad without his consent conid not bear arms against France. Tno American judiciary had also fttmished a pre- rtdeut. Isaac Williams, an American, received a nontenant's c(mimisslon from the French government in 1792, and icrvedin tho French navy. In I'Utt he was tried before Chief Justice Ellsworth for having accepted a privateer's com- nlHion from the French Republic to commit acts of hostility against Great Britain, contrary to the laws of the ITnlted Stales and of the late treaty with Great Britain. The Judge decided that tho prisoner was a citiron of the United States, indlbnt the emigration of a clHzen implies no consent of the government that ho should expatriate himsolf.— See Por- jtlis's HiMorij nfthf. Polilimt and Militarn Events of the Late ITor, page 2SS. A farther notice of thiK subject, and the Tlews of the government of the United States, expressed by Secretary Monroe, will be found in another portion of thir work.-Sec Index. Tbi> dnal result of Scott's hnmanc and conrageons conduct in this matter was very gratifying to himself. Almost three jeire after the event at Qnobec he was greeted by loud huzzas as he was passing a wHhrf on tho East River side of Sew York Oily. It came from a gronp of Irishmen who had Just landed from an emigrant ship. They were twenty- one of the twenty-three prisoners for whom ho had cared so tenderly. They had Just returned after a long confinement in English prisons. They recognized their benefactor, and, says Scott's biographer, " nearly crushed him by their warm- liearted embraces."— Mansfield's L4A! if -Sioott. iijrlif Hjif* . <*t ill 1 ' Hi'H 'ill !;■' 1 i; . ii 1 ^iiiil li M' tiiill 1 '*' ' " w jiiliHr- nr ■ 1 ' t: lliil: J ffllff^s^ ; 1 410 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Re«l|;natloD of General Van Keneseluer. Smyth his Saccesaor. Bmyth'a pompoua ProclnniBtloni. (Icneral Van Rensselaer wa^ disgusted with the joalcusies of some of tlie regular officorB and the conduct of the militia. He was also convinced that tlie profi'ssion of irnis was not the sphere in which he would be most useful. On the 24th of Octo- ber he resigned the command of the troops on the Niagara frontier to General Smyth and 800U afterward obtained from Governor Tompkins permission to leave the 8crv- ice. ' Smytli's pride Avaa gratified, and it was soon displayed in a series of pompous proclamations, which created both merriment and disgust. lie promised so lars^ely and performed so little that he became the target for ridicule and satire by all p.ir- ties. In his first proclamation, issued on the 10th Sif November, he displayed a lack of common courtesy and good taste by offensive reflections upon Generals Hull and Vjin Rensselaer.* " One array," he said, " has been disgracefully surrendered and lofit. Another has been sacrificed by a precipitate attempt to pass it over at the strongest point of the enemy's lines with most incompetent means. The cause of these miscarriages is apparent. The commanders were popular men, destitute alike of theory and experience in the art of war," "In a few days," he continued, "the troops under my command will plant the American standard in Canada. They arc men accustomed to obedience, silcnc.e, and steadiness. They will conquer or they will die. Will you stand with your arms folded and look on this interesting strusrglc? Must I turn from you, and ask men of the Six Nations to support tlie gov- ernment of the Unit<'d States ? Shall I imitate the oflicers of the British king, and sufter our ungathered laurels to be tarnished by ruthless deeds ?^ Shame, where is tny blush ? No. Where I command, the vanquished and the peaceful man, the child, the maid, and the matron, shall be secure from wrong. The present is the hour for renown. Have you not a wish for fame ? Would you not choose in future times to be named as one of those who, imitating the heroes whom Montgomery led, have, in spite of the seasons, visited the tomb of the chief, and conquered the country where he liesV" > General Van RensBelner reached Albany on Saturday morning, the 31st of October, when he was honored by a pub- lic reception. On thcSOtb the Common Oo""cil of Albany appointed three of their menibcrB, namcly.TeiinlB Von Vechlon, Isaac Ilausen, and Peter Boyd, a commltice for the purpose. These on the same day Issued a little handbill, calling npoa the people to meet at the public square the next morning at e<ght o'clock. The committee also recommended that eucb "as are accommodated with horses or carriages to repolr to the house of Widow Ponw, on the Albany and Schciieclady turnpike, for the purpose of escorting Major General Van Rensselaer to his mansion-house ; and the residue of the citi- zens arc requested to proceed to the hay-scales, and there join the escort." The reception was imposing, and lilglily gratifying to the general. Two days afterward he received a letter from the debtors In the Albony jail, who had expe- rienced his bounty, congratulating him on his return. " " I take the liberty," wrote a correspondent of General Van Rensselaer from Ociieseo, " to inclose yon a copy of a handbill IVom General Smyth, which was circulated yesterday and the day before about Batavia. As far as I have been able to observe, men 0/ all parties unite in reprobating the attack he makes upou other commuodcrs. I suspect, indeed, that the attack is the main, real object of the handbill."— Autograph Letter of Samuel M. Hopkins, November U, 1S12. ' Soon after the commencement of hostilities It was niraored at Buffalo that tho British bad taken possession of Grand Island, in the Niagara River, which belonged to the Seuecas, one of the Six Nations. Red Jacket, the chief of the Sen- eeas, called the nation to a council, and thereat a desire was expressed to go and drive the invaders off. At a pnbFc- i]uent conncil, where there was a large attendance of the nation, a formal declaration of war against the Canadas wim mudc 'i these words : "We, the chiefs and councilors of the Six Nations of Indians, residing In the State of New York, do hereby pr-claim to all the war-chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations that war is declared on our part against the provinces of I'pper ond Lower Canada. Therefore we hereby command nnd advise all the war-chiefc and warriors of the Six Nations to call forth Immediately the warriors nnder them, and put them In motion to protect their rights and liberties, whicli our brethren, tl.u Americans, are now defending."* This Is believed to have been the first Indian i^claratlon of war ever committed to writing. Although the ecrvlcei of the Indians were offered to General Smyth, he declined them, because the government of the United States, acting in the interest of common humanity, had resolved not to employ the savages In the war unless compelled to. ' Alluding to tb's council, Mr. Lovett, General Van Rensselaer's military secretary, then in attendance at Buffalo on Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, said : "The spirit of insubordination seems to have wound its way among the eons of Belial, our red brethren. With<mt the leave or knowledge of Mr. Granger [the Indian Superintendent), they have had a great council back In the bneh. To purge away this horrid fin of disobedience, Mr. G., the good Mobcb of thcfc shabby Israelites, ordered them to trasd back their steps unsancttfled by his behests, and to cast to the wind the wam- pum, and the belts, ind all the rcr jrds of their abominable council, and to repair, one and all, before the higli-prlest ot the temple at Buffalo, to have their souls scrubbed ffora all political sins. The day before yesterday hither they canie- sacuems, chiefs, and warrlors-t^ild and y. nng, squaws and pappooscs— with all of Intemedlate grades. Such a Ihur- ongh shaklrg of the beggar-bag of poor motley human nature I never before saw. With great humility all confessed their sins, received absolution, and washed their souls in whisky. All got drunk, wallowed all night In the mud, nnd the next day went home to their wigwams pure and humble, chanting the praises of Moses."— Autograph Lt^ltcr to General Van Rensrolaer, November 0, 181S. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 411 Smyth and his Proclamations ridiculed. In another proclamation ho said : " Companions in arms ! the time is at hand when you will cross the stream of Niagara to conauer Canada, and to secure the peace of the American frontier. You will enter a country that is to be one of the United gjateg Whatever is booty by the usages of war shall be yours." Ho offered two hundred dollars apiece for horses for artillery that might be captured. He then boasted of the superiority of the American soldiers and weapons, and unnecessarily offended the Federalists, many of whom were in the ranks, by saying to the volun- teers "Disloyal and traitorous men have endeavored to dissuade you from doing your duty." In his address to " The Army of the Centre," as he called the little force under his command, he said : " Soldiers of every corps 1 it is in your power to retrieve tlie honor of your country, and to cover yourselves with glory. Every man who per- forms a gallant action shall have his name made known to the nation. Rewards and honors await the brave, infamy and contempt are reserved for cowards. Compan- ions in arms ! you come to vanquish a valiant foe. I know the choice you will make. Come on, my heroes ! and when you attack the enemy's batteries, let your rallying- fford be, 'The cannon lost at Detroit, or death !' "' When these proclamations in quick succession appeared, the general's friends smiled, the enemy laughed, and the Opposition press teemed with squibs and epigrams. He was called "Alexander the Groat," " Napoleon the Second," etc. A wag in the Neio York Ewnimj Post wrote of " General Smyth's Bulletin No. 2 :" "Just so 1 (nnd every wiser head The llkeiicBS can discover) Wc put n rheHtnut in the Are, And pull the embers over; A while it waxes hot and hotter, And eke begins to hop, Aaid after much confounded pother, Explodes a mighty Pop I ! t" General Smyth's invasion of Canada will be noticed presently. 1 General Smyth's magniloquence was equaled only by Ross Bird's, a captain of the Third United States Infantry, who, In great indignation because of some ofrcnse, offered to resign his commissioii. His letter closed with the follow- ing words : " In leaving the service I am not abandoning the cause of Republicanism, but yet hope to braudif^h the glit- terlng steel In the field, and carve my way to a name which shall prove my country's neglect ; and when this mortal shall 1)6 closeted In the dust, and the soul shall wing its flight to the regions above, in passing by the pale-faced moon I ihall hODg my hat on brilliant Mars, and make a report to each superlative star, and, arriving at the portals of heav- en's high chancery, shall demand of the attending angel to be ashered into the presence of Washington ! " Ross Bisn, Captain. "Washington, September n, 1813. "To Limtenant Colonel C. C. RusneU." CaptaUi Bird had been in the army as early aa ITOl, and had lately been promoted to mt^or of infantry lu the new / [ I ; ? ! I I'iili is '' ■ ,, iSI' :i ^K^ii* llgiyHf - i H AHULw fi ■ i ^H' liii !|- ■ !'■ '11 V Jt ii 412 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Arrival at Niagara FallB. Departure for Queenston. An nndeii'.rable ITorse and Driver CmVPTER XX. " Alas for them t their day \s o'er, Their fires are out Oom shore to shore ; No more for them the wild deer houiidB— The plow ia on their honting-groands." CUARLKS SpBAOnE. the middle of August, 1860,1 visited the theatre of events de- scribed in the preceding chaptei'. I went down to Niat^ara Falls from Buffalo in a railway train on the afternoon of the 10th. A violent thunder-storm greeted our arrival at five o'clock. As business, not pleasure, was my errand io that great gathering-place of the fashionable and of tourists in summer I rode to the northern part of the village, and took lodgings at the quiet " Niagai'a House," where I found room in abundance in chamber and at table. On the following morning, accompanied by the late Colo- nel P. A. Porter, then a resident of Niagara Falls village, I crossed the suspension bridge, rode up the west*-i i b. of the river to Street's Creek, opposite Navy Isl- and, and visited the battle : xC i. • of Chippewa with Colonel Cummuigs, a survivinij aid of the Bi'itish general Riall, who commanded in that engagement. Of that visit and its results I shall write hereafter. I returned to the Niagara House in time for dinner, and at four o'clock st.irted in an old, dusty light wagon, with a jaded hoi'se, for Lewiston, seven miles down the river. It was at an hour when every body was on the road, and every horse and vehicle were employed. I was left without choice, and felt thankful that I was not compelled to go afoot. The driver was a rather rough-cast boy of sixteen years, with a freckled face, a turned-up nose, a mischievous gray eye, sandy hair, and rather in- telligent, but uneducated. The horse seemed tipsy as well as tired, for he w.as con- Btantly leaving tlie right lines of the highway. His coat was an uncertain brick color, and rough ; the harness had dotted him with black bare spots ; his tail and mane were thin and fi-izzled; one of his ears drooped, and his gait, at best, was de- cidedly "gawky." I was anxious to reach Lewiston in time to cross the suspension bridge to Queenston, and visit places of'' ' i st there before sunset, and at tlie start the boy commenced lashing the beast • • .ifully. I remonstrated. "Hain't ye in a hurry?" he asked. "Yes, but you » ; t fi torture the poor horse in that way," I replied. Such mercy surprised him. ' \,, '" irn it," he said, impatiently, " I'm so used to whippin' I can't help it. I never kn^. " d & maa afore who cared a whip-snap for a hired lioss. He is lazy, mister — lazy," an>l he gave the poor animal another severe stroke. So inveterate was the boy's cruel habit that he would not relinquish it until I took the whip from him, and threatened to leave him by the road side. Even then he would rise occasionally and kick the horse ; harmlessly, however, for his toes were ambitiously getting aliead of his shoes. We jogged on at a fair rate of speed, and met numerous " turn-outs" superior to our own, of whicli we were not specially proud. Among them was a jaunty little wagon and a span of black ponies, f^riven at full speed by the owner, the wife of a New York city editor. Her establio. lent was tlie " observed of all observers," but we Avere not jealous; indeed, all th'^ <■' \ji of the road and its frequenlers soon faded when, at five o'clock, we reached the •; jw of Lewiston Heights and beheld the mag- OP THE WAR OF 1812. 413 leytittoD HeightH, and the View from them. Villages of Lewtaton and Queeneton. The Snepension Bridge. nificekit panorama before us. At the turn of the road, where it descends the Heights, I alighted, and from the site of Fort Gruy,' now marked by slight mounds, I obtained a view of land and water both grand and beautiful. On the left was seen Queenston Heights, on which stands the new monument erected to the memory of General Brock. At their base lay the village of Queenston. Farther westward a glimpse of St. David^s was obtained ; and northwestward, as far as the eye could reach, the level country was dotted with Avobds and well-cultivated farms. At our feet lay the village of Lewiston ; and stretching away to the northeast was the vast plain, much of it covered with the primeval forest. In the centre was the glittering line of the blue Niagara River. Near its mouth tlie eye could discern the spires of Ni- agara (old Newark), on the Canada side, and the village of Youngstown, with the mass of old Fort Niagara beyond, on the American side. The whole horizon north- ward was bounded by the dark line of Lake Ontario, over which , was brooding a thunder-storm, flashing fire and bellowing angrily as it moved sullenly eastward. Leaving this grand observatory with reluctance, we made our way down the sinu- ous road to Lewiston, every where meeting, in the descent, geological evidences that this bank was the shore of an ancient lake when the Falls of Niagara were doubtless at this place, and that the plain on which the village stands was its bed. The ridge is composed of sand and gravel, and the usual debris thrown up by a large body of water in character essentially diiferent from the surrounding surface. The summit of the Heights is here thirty-four feet above the level of Lake Erie." We passed through Lewiston' (a village of about one thousand souls, very pleas- ant'y situated) without halting^ and crossed the Niagara River to Queenston, over the suspension bridge, a magnificent structure, with a roadway eight hundred and fifty feet in length, twenty feet in width, and sixty feet above the water.* We were atWadsworth's Tavern, in Queenston, and had engaged lodgings for the night before six o'clock ; and we immediately rode from there up the Heights to Brock's Monu- ment, near the summit. A short distance above the residence of David Thorbum, Esq, (then the superintendent of the Six Nations of Indians in Canada), at the turn of the road from the highway to the Falls, well up the acclivity, we passed a bury- iiig-gronnd which marks the site of the redan battery.* Soon after passing this, we came to the eastern entrance to the monument grounds (about forty acres in extent), and the lodge of the keeper, George Playter, u loyal old man, whose kind courtesies I remember witli pleasure. The gate is of wrought iron, highly ornamented, with out-stone piers surmounted with the arms of Ihe liero. The lodge is also of cut stone. From the entrance an easy carriage-way winds up the hill to an avenue one hundred tcet wide, which terminates at the monument in a circle one hundred and eighty feet in diameter. ' Sfe note 3, page 407. 1 Lalie Ontario Is 334 feet lower than Lake Erie. The current of the Niagara River that connect* them Is not very rapid above Schlosser and below Lewiston, and the river makes nearly the whole of that descent In the space of nine miles. It falls perpendicularly at the great cataracts, 164 feet on the Canada side of Qoat Island, and lUa feet on the American side. It Is supposed that the river originally flowed over the face of the precipice at Lewiston. By the grad- ml wearing away of the rocks tu the lapse of ages, the Falls have receded seven miles, becoming continually lower. ■The precipice over which the present Falls flow is composed of solid limestone, with shale above and below. The wearinf; away of the shale above has formed the Rapids, and the disintegration of that below ha« left the limestone in oterlianglng masses until they break off with their own weight."— French's (.'azettrer itfthe State nf A'eic York. ' Lewiaton v.'as so named in honor of Morgan Lewis, who was an ofiiccr in .lie Kevolution, and governor of the State otXewYorkin 1904. i ' This bridge was destroyed by a gale of wind at the closr of 180.1. Fortunately no life was lost. The Lndcpart Jour- Ml relates the following incident in connection with its det^i rnclion : " During the day upon which the Lewiston bridge was carried off by the wind, a boy, whoso parents reside In Canada, but Is at work In Lewiston, went over to Canada on iilioTt visit to his parents. Just before the bridge went down, the boy proposed starting for his place of business in Uwfrton. His father accompanied him. As they reached the bridge It was swaying to and flro over the boiling waters Iif Dencalh, The boy hesitated a moment, but, as this motion of the bridge was not unusual, he stepped npon It, his b- ibef Ftlll with him, and proceeded to cross. They both went to about the middle, when the rapid and unusual motion oftlie bridge greatly increased their fear. The father turned about, and the boy went on, both running at their fastest ^leed for the opposite shore. They bad Just time to reach the shore on each side before ilie structure was borne away.'t 'Seepage 398. ^^^^^^^K' B 1: 1 , 1 , ^■i 1 J- ■ • : j' Hi ^n ' :mM\\ -.; ^^H ^^^^^^^^HK 1 H^^^^H.h . ^H U : 1 1 K i;i.j .ji.v. wm ij WM^ ( 1 B--- 11 ■ Mil llj 1 IWi !■•• i ■ mmi fli : " f' i ^ i t i; 1, 11 1 m IB 1 y jil ..^llfiB ji t'l \ 1 mm II *'^ 414 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Honnment on QueeDston Heights. Tlie monument is built of the limestone is placed upon a slightly-raised plat- form within a dwarf-walled inclos- ure, seventy-five feet square, with a fosse around the interior. At each angle of this inclosure is placed mass- ive military trophies, wrought out of the same stone as th.it of the monu- ment, and about twenty feet in height. The monument is built upon a foun- dation of wrought stone forty feet square and ten feet thick, resting upon the solid rock of the mountain. Upon this stands, in a grooved plinth, a basement, thirty-eight feet square and twenty-seven feet in height, un- ^^^ der which, in heavy stone sarcopha- ^ gi, are the remains of General Brock ? and Lieutenant Colonel M'Donell. * On the exterior angles of this base- ment are placed well-carved lions rampant, seven feet in height, sup- porting shields with the armorial bearings of the hero. On the north of the Heights, quarried near the spot. It side of this basement is an inscription in bold letters,* and upon brass plates in the interior of the column are epitaph- ic inscriptions. 2 Upon the basement is the pedestal of the col- umn, little more than sixteen feet square, and just thirty-eight feet in height. Upon a panel on each of three sides of this pedestal is an emblem in low relief, and on the north side, facing Queenston, is a representation of a bat- tle scene in high relief, in which Brock is rep- resented at the head of his troops, wounded. The column is of the bbook'b moniihent oh qdkknbton ueioutb. Roman composite order, ninety-five feet in height. Tlie shaft is fluted, and is ten feet in diameter at its base, with an enriched plinth, on which are carved the heads of lions and wreaths in bold relief. The flutes terminate in palms. The capital of • The followlug Is a copy of the Inscription : " UrpKR Canaiia has dedicated this monnment to the memory of the late Hajob Qrnerai. Sir Isaao Brook, K.B., Provincial Lieutenant Governor and Commander of the Forces in this Province, whose remains are deposited in Ihf vault beneath. Opposing the invading enemy, he fell in action near these Heights on the 13th of October, 1S12, In the forty-third year of his age. Revered and lamented by the people whom he governed, and deplored by the sovereign to whose service his life had been devoted." ' On one plate is the following: " In a vault underneath arc deposited the mortal remains of Major Oenkr m, Sir Isaac Brook, E.B., who fell in k- tion near these Heights on 1.1th October, 1812, and was entombed on the 1' Mi of October at the bastion of Fort Oeorj:e, Niagara, removed from thence, and reinterred under a monument to the ci i ward of this site, on the 13th October, IsM; and, in consequence of that monnment having received Irreparable injury by a lawless act on the ITth of April, 1840, it was found requisite to take down the former structure and erect this monnment ; the foundation-stone l)eing laid, ind the remains again reinterred with due solemnity, on 13th October, 1863." The other pi.\te has the following inscription : "lu A vanlt beneath are deposited the mortal remains of Lieutenant Colonel Johm M'Dflinn.i,, P.A.D.C., and Ald.de- camn to the lamented Major Orneral Sir Isaac Brook, K.B., who fell mortally wounded in the battle of QncenstnD, on the 18th October, 181'^, and died on the foUowlog day. Hia remains were removed and reinterred with due eolcm' nity, on 18th October, 18S8." OF THE WAR OF 1812. 415 iiescripton of Brock's Monument. Ceremonies at tha laying of the Comer-ston'. Evening on Qaeentton Heights. the column is sixteen feet square, and twelve feet six inches in height. On each face ■ sculptured a figure of Victory, ten feet six inches in height, with extended arms grasping military shields as volutes. The acanthus and palm leaves are enwreathcd in antique style. From the ground to the gallery at the top of the column is a spiral staircase of cut stone, comprising two hundred and thirty-five steps, lighted by loop- holes in the flutings of the column. On the abacus is a cippus upoi which stands a statue of Brock, in military costume, seventeen feet in height, the left hand resting on a sword, and the right arm extended with a baton.* This monumental column is exceeded in height by only one of a similar character in the world. That is the one erected by Sir Christopher Wren, in London, to commemorate the groat fire that des- olated that city in 1666. It is only twelve feet higher than Brock's.^ It was sunset Avhen I completed the sketch of the monument, in which is included a distant view of Lewiston Heights, seen on the right, and the village of Lewiston and the plain beyond, seen on the left. Heavy clouds rolling up from the west, and rumbling thunder in the distance, gave warning of an approaching storm. This fact and the lateness of the hour prevented my ascending the shaft to obtain the mawnificent panoramic view from its summit, from which, it is said, smsui villages may be seen southward, the battle-ground of Lundy's Lane or Niagara, the Avhite spray from the cataract, and the turmoil of the great wliirlpool, in addition to the vast stretch of land and water seen at other parts of the compass. We made our way down the Heights to the village just in time to avoid the storm ffhich fell simultaneously with the darkness. It was severe, but short. The stars were visible soon after it passed by, and I found my way to the house of Mr. Joseph Winn, on the road to the suspension bridge. He was an old resident of Queenston, and familiar with every locality there connected with the battle, although he was not in the engagement. He kindly offered to be my guide in the morning. The night was a tempestuous one, but the sky was cloudless at dawn. At an early hour I visited the landing-place of the Americans near the suspension bridge, and made the sketch printed on page 395. I then followed the high bank of the river some distance, and made my way to the stone building in which the British took refuge after being repulsed by Wool f but the sketch I then made was lost a few days afterward. I This monument was designed by W. Thomas, Esq., of Toronto, and was erected under his superintendence. The contractor was Mr. J. Worthlngton. 1 We have observed that a former monument to the memory of Brock was shattered by powder in 1840. The act produced the greatest Indignation throughout Canada. A meeting was held on Queenston Heights in June following, composed of about eight thousand people. One of the most active men on that occasion was the late Sir Allan M'Nab. There was a military parade and salutes with artillery. In Toronto the day was observed as a solemn holiday. All the public offices were closed, and business was generally suspended. Delegations and crowds of citizens flocked to Queens- ton from Kingston, Toronto, Cobourg, and Hamilton. The lieutenant governor. Sir George Arthur, and his staff, were liere. Sir George presided. Ho addressed the meeting. Chief Justice Robinson, Sir Allan M'Nab, and several oth- ers, also made speeches. A number of Brock's surviving soldiers were also present. Resolutions were passed; and (ben the public proceedings were ended, six hundred persons sat down to a dinner under a pavilion erected on the spot where the hero fell, at which Chief Justice Robinson presided. The result of the affair was the formation of a building committee for the erection of a new monument, of which Sir Allan M'Nab was chairman." The money for the purpose m raised by the voluntary Bnbscriptlons of the militia and Indian VTirrlors of the province. A grant from the Pro- racial Parliament enabled the committee to lay out the grounds, and erect the gate and keeper's lodge. The fonn- ditlon-stoiio was laid on the 13th of October, 1853, and on the same day the remains of Brock and M'Donell were reln- ttrrcd with Imposing ceremonies. The day was very fine. There were pall-bearers and chief monrners.t When the remains were deposited in their last resting-place, the comer-stone wan laid by Lieutenant Colonel M'Donell, brother otone of the dead heroes. The late Honorable William Hamilton Merrltt, M,P., delivered an address, in which he spoke highly of the character and services of the Indians in the War of 1812. Mr. Thorbum, Indian agent, responded in their behalf, and read an address ftom the chipfi present, which breathed sentiments of loyalty and affection for the English qaeen. As a mark of respect, an Amc -team-boa': at Lewiston lowered its flag to half mast. > ijee page 398. ' The foMowlng named gentlemen constituted that committee : Rlr Allan M'Nab, M. P. ; Chief Justice Sir John Brush Sobinson ; Honorable Mr. Justice M 'Lean ; Honorable Walter H. Dickson, M. L. C. ; Honorable William Hamilton Mer- rill, M. P. ; Honorable Thomas Clark Street, M. P. ; Colonel James Kcrby j Colonel John M'Dougal ; David Thorbnni, &q.: Uentcnant Garrett ; Colonel Robert Hamilton ; and Captain H. Munro. t The pall-bearers were Colonels E. W.Thompson, W. Thompson, Dnggan, Stanton, Kcrby, Crooks, Zimmerman, Ciron, Thome, Servos, Clark, Wakeftcld, and Miller. Among the chief mourners were Colonel Donald M'Donell, the dtpaly adjutant general for Canada East, Colonel Tach6, Lieutenant Colonel Irvine, the gorvlvors of 1812, and the cbieli ol the Six Nations. ) ' 1 I i^^ill Pi I i \§^ II mmu W fi' 416 PICTORIAL FIELir-BOOK A Veteran of 181^. The Chief of the Six Nations of Indiana. The Place where Brock fell From the river I went up the Heights to the site of the redan, and then to the point where the Americans were crowded to the verge of the precipice. This was ac- complished before breakfast. When I came out of the dining-room at Wadsworth's, I found the venerable Major Adam Brown in the little parlor. He was a native of Queenston. At the time of the battle he was a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion of the Lincoln Mili'ia under Col- onel Claus, then at Fort George, and w^j not in the engagement. He was in com- mand of a hundred men at the battle of Niagara (Lundy's Lane), and was in active service during a greater part of the war. While I was writing some memoranda of his conversation in my note-book, he spoke to a person behind me whom I had not noticed, and asked, " Were you the chief who was with the Lidians at the dedication of the monument ?" " I was, sir," replied a pleasant voice. I turned and observed a fine-looking, dark-complexioned, well-dressed man, whose features and expression re- vealed traces of the Lulian race. We both arose at the same moment. I introduced myself and inquired his name. He informed me that he was George Henry Martin Johnson, a descendant, in the fourth generation, of Sir William Johnson, of the Mo- hawk Valley, and now Tekarihogea, or commander-in-chief of the Six Nations nf In. dians in Canada, his father having been the official successor of John Brant. To me this meeting was interesting and fortunate. I intended to visit the settlements of the Six Nations, on the Grand River, during this tour, but was doubtful concerning the best route, and the most important place for obtaining desired information. K\\ was now plain, and, before we parted, arrangements were made for Mr. Johnson to meet me at Brantford a few days later. On the day of my arrival at Queenston, a committee, appointed for the purpose, had decided upon the exact spot wliere MONDHENT WUEBB BBOOK VELL. Brock fell. I visited it in company with Major Brown. A space sixty feet square, within which was to be placed a memorial-stone, had been staked out, and in the centre, the very spot, as the committee supposed, where the iicro fell, was marked.' As early as 1821, John Howison, in his Sketches of CpiKi Canada, had said, " General Brock was killed close to the road that leads through Queenston village, and an iigcd thorn-bush now marks the place wliere he fell when the fatal ball entered his vitals." The spot marked by the com- mittee is about twenty rods west of the " road that leads through Queens- ton," and a little eastward of the "aged thorn-bush," which had become a tree twenty feet in height, with two large stems, when I saw it. Near the site a workman was fashioning the blocks of freestone of which tlie monument was to be composed, and from liim I obtained a sketch of it. After making > I was told that Bome old residents of the village declared that the place where Brock fell was weBtward of tht j thom-trec, and at least twenty paces from the spot selected. James Cooper, a blacksmith, who was within six feet of ' Brock when he fell, said it was west of the thorn-tree : and Houry Stone, who lived in the atone house near the field, declared that be saw the blood of Brock on rocks west of the tree. le purpose, spot where ipany with sixty feet be placed itaked out, pot, as the tlie hero as 1821, >s of rppa Jroek Avas lat leads id an aged ace where !ntercd his y the com- •west of ;h Queens- the " aged ime a tree two large the site a he blocks monument ■om liiml er making ^Tutward ot tk liiln six feet o( near tbe tleld, i OF THE WAR OF 1812. 417 Jonraey from Qneeneton to Niagara. Solomon Vrooman. Appearance of the Conntrjr, 1 drawing of the spot, showing the old thorn-tree on the right, and the stately mon- ument on the Heights in the distance, I introduced, in proper place and propor- tions the sketch of the memorial-stone to mark the place which Howison said " may be called classic ground." It is a small affair, being only about four feet in height. The ground around it was to be inclosed in an iron railing. The Prince of Wales (Albert Edward) was at that time* making a tour in Canada, receiving • Aumut, tokens of loyalty every where. He visited Queenston very soon after I ^^• was there, and laid the corner-stone of the little monument with imposing cere- monies.' I left Queenston for Niagara at about nine o'clock, afler riding to the point in the northern part of the village where the " old fort," or barracks, were situated, near the residence of Mr. E. Clements, of the Customs. We immediately passed a creek and deep ravine, and soon came to the first brick house below Queenston, on the left of tiic road, the residence of the venerable Solomon Vrooman, pleasantly situated, and surrounded by evidences of the liighest and most thrifty cultivation. He was the owner of the point on which the battery bearing his name was situated,^ and partici- pated in the battle by assisting in manning the nine-pounder that was mounted there. I called to see him, and spent half an hour with him most agreeably. He was a slender man, seventy-six years of age. His native place was in the Mohawk Valley, liut he had lived in Canada since the days of his young manhood. He Avent with me to the spot where the battery was, and pointed out the very prominent mounds that vet remain, near a bam, from which I made the sketch printed on page 391. He told me that one hundred and sixty shot were thrown from that battery during the day, wholly for the pur- pnse of obstructing the passage of the river by the Americans.^ Its range of the old tirry and the new crossing- place at the present suspension bridge was point-blank and effectual. On one occasion during the aflernoon, some Americans, trying to escape from Qneenston by swimming the river, Avere brought by the current Avithin rifle-shot distance of the battery, when one of the men in his company raised his piece to fire. Vrooman knocked up the piece, exclaiming indignantly, " Shame on you ! none but a coward would fire upon men thus struggling for their lives !" Tlie road from Vrooman's to Niagara was one of tlie most delightful that I had ever traveled. Most of the way it skirted the high bank of the winding river, which was covered with stately trees, through which continual glimpses of the American shore could be obtained. Landward were seen broad fields, from which bountiful liarvests were pouring into barns, or green waving Indian corn, or numerous orchards, whose trees were so heavily laden with fruit that they drooped like weeping willows. As we approached Niagara we passed through first an aromatic pine grove, and then a narrow forest of oaks, beeches, maples, and evergreens, and emerged upon an open plain, the property of the government, Avith the mounds of abandoned Fort George, C^^Wtr. CYU C/'^^'^^t^^^n/^Pi^^ I The Prince of Wales arrived at Qneenston on the ITth of September, and on the following day he laid the comer- itone of the little monnment. Near the spot was erected a triumphal arch, 03 which. In large letters, were the words ■ticToiiiA— wEi.nosiE." The veterans of 1812, who were present, formed a guard of honor for the young prince. In the bicksround were the St. Catharine's Riflemen \, :... a braes band. A silver trowel was presented to the prince with which 10 perform the ceremony. Upon It was engraved the followtug Inscription : "Presented to His Boyal Highness Aldket Emjeh, Prince of Wales, by the Brock Monnment Committee, on Queenston Heights, 18th September, 1860." On one slJeotthe monnment was placed the following inscription: "This stone was placed by his Royal Highness Ai.iiert EmuBi), Prince of Wales, on the 18th of September, 1800." On the other side, "Near this spot Sir Isaac Brock, K.B., Prorisiomil Ucntenant Governor of Upper Canada, fell on the 13th of October, 1812, while advancing to repel the Inva- mn otthe enemy." a gee Map on page 382. 'The battery was crescent-shaped. Engineer Gray, In his mannscrlpt report now before me, thus describes It : "It Isbnill m dorlwffe (that Is, withunt embrasnree), and has a high breastwork to the river. On the north, a frame honse, j tetaded for a bom ; on the west is a gun, mounted e»i ^nrhetlt (on the top of the breastwork), and flanked by the skele- I ton ot a house. Within five rods of this runs the high wa v to Fort George." f 418 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A Visit to Fort Ocorge. RemaluB of the French Magnzlne there. Hoipltallty of Mr». Ut, i ;. im :l 1 i ilti ill I a;' i ' 1 11 on the bank of the river, breaking the monotony of the level far to the right. Tlnrc were no fences to obBtruct the view or the travel on the jjlain. Cattle were fwdinn on the bhort grass, and hero and there a footman or a horseman might be seen. \\\. turned out of the beaten road to the right, and drove across the plain to one of the angles of the fort. Then' I left horse and driver, clambered np tlie steep grassy sides of the embankment, and commenced a hasty exploration of the interior of the fort. Tiie breast- works in all directions were quite per- fect, and the entire form of tiie t'urt could be traced without ditticulty, There were two or three houses within I'BEBEHT 0DTL1NK8 OF FORT oKOEOB. thc works, and the parade and othir portions were devoted to the cultivation of garden vegetables. In the most southerly part of the fort, about three hundred yards from the riv- er, is an old powder maga- zine, built by the French within a stockade. It was occupied as a dAvelling by the family of an English sol- dier named Lee when I was there in 1860. The higher building seen in the picture is the okl magazine. It was covered with slate, and its walls, four and a half feet thick, were supported by three buttresses on each side. The buildings on the left are more modem. Tlie in- terior of the magazine is arclied, and the doors were originally covered with plate? of copper fastened by copper nails. Mrs. Lee was an intelligent woman, very communicative, and free in the dispensa- tion of the hospitalities jf her humble abode. We were refreshed with cakes, liar vest-apples, and cold spring-water. She filled a small basket with copper coins ami other relics, and as I parted with her she wished me good luck in my journeyings. I clambered over an irregular and steep bank northward of the old magazine, visit- ed the site of the " cavalier battery" where Brock and M'Donell were buried, and sketched the "new magazine," erected by the British in 1812, delineated on page 405, It is of brick. Near it was a small house occupied by an Irish family, and the maga- zine was used as a pig-sty. From Fort George we rode to Niagara, half a mile below, halted long enough to obtain refreshments for ourselves and the horse, and then rode out over the garrison reservation, northeastward of the town, to Fort Mississaga,' a strong earth-work with a castle, which was constructed by the British during the war of 1812, Cattle were grazing upon the plain ; the waters of Lake Ontario, ruffled by a breeze, were spark- ling in the distance, and the whole scene was one of quiet and repose. Such, indeed, is i ' Misaitmpa or MmmMuita Is the Indian name of a small black or dark brown rattlesnake, twelve or fourteen InchM i in length, which nennlly iniiabits tamarack and cranberry swamps In Northwestern Ohio and Canada West. Tlile Is the ' name of nn Indian tribe ; also of a large stream in Canada West that empties into Take Huron. In the little riewot , Fort Hissiseaga given on the next page, Fort Niagara is seen on the right in the distance, and Lake Ontario on the vest J i'BEMOU UAGAZINE AT FOBT OEOBQE. Its- ■ dispensa- :akes, liar- coins auil nrneyings. zinc, visit- uried, and page 405. the maga- enougli to le garrison work witli attle were lere sparlc- .indeed, is lonrteen lactM \ \l. This i8 tie 1 J little view of Hoonttiewest. ; OF THE WAll OF 1812. 419 fortMlMl«9ag»'°'^'- Retnrn to Niagara Falla. Departure for the Orand Rirer. DISTANT VIEW OF FOnT 1IIB8IBBA0A. and jdt'asaiit town in appcaiiince, with a popuhition of about twenty-live liundrcd, seemed to be repos- ing in almost perfect rest. It was former- ly called Newark, and the present city oc- cupies the site of the little village vi ' ich the Americans de- stroyed in 1813. It • im. the impression on the mind in Canada, as compared with "the States." The turmoil and bustle that marks ;in American popula- tion in large or small immbers, was but siifthtly manifested there. I found appa- rent stagnation in Qucenston; and Ni- agara, though a fine was one of the oldest towns in the province, having been settled by Colonel Simcoc when he was the lieutenant governor." It was a place of considerable trade before the opening of the Welland Canal, about thirty years ago, and is now, as then, the capital of the Niagara District. We found the gate of Fort Mississaga wide open, and walked in without leave. Not a human face was visible. I went up to and around the ramparts, and, taking a position over the entrance- gate, from which I could sec most ot the interior and Fort Niagara beyond, I sketched the scene. In this view are seen the barracks and the castte, with Fort Niagara across the river in the extreme distance. The castle is built of brick. The walls are eight feet in thickness, and covered with stucco. While engaged with the sketch I was startled by a voice near me. It was that of the whole garrison, comprised in the person of Patrick Burns, Avho told me to make as many sketches as I pleased, for the fort was uninhabited except by his own family. At an early hour we started on our return to Niagara Falls. I attempted to drive, but soon became discouraged by the eccentric movements of the horse, when the boy told me for the 1 first time that he was " as blind as a bat." But I have no reason to complain of the I animal, for he carried us back in safety, and in time for dinner and for departure by the evenmg train for the West. Having placed my luggage in charge of a proper person at the suspension bridge station, I crossed that marvelous hanging viaduct on ' foot, along the carriage-road under the railway gallery, with my satchel in hand. As I I left the bridge to ascend to the station on the Canada shore I was hailed by a custom-house officer, of whose business I had not the least suspicion until informed by him. Believing my assurance that the satchel contained nothing contraband, he allowed me to pass, after I had expressed a wish, good-naturedly, that the United [States might soon be annexed to Canada, so that revenue officers might be allowed I to engage m some other employment. On entering the cars on the Canada side I met Chief Johnson. We traveled to- INTESIOB VIEW — FORT 1II88IB8AQA IN 1800. i U a It K h m 1 1 lii r !»» w ;l p-i m mm J 1::!: 420 PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK St. Catharine. Ilamllton, Paris, and Brantford. Chief Johnson and the Indian Hegervotioi gcthcr as far as St. Catharine, eleven miles, where I intended to spend a day or two and agreed upon the time when we should meet at lirantford. Tlie impressions made by the time spent at St. Catharine, the persons I met at thnt famous gathering ofin- valids around a mineral spring, a visit to the battle-ground of the Beaver Dams the journey to Hamilton, and a ride to Stony Creek, a. place made famous in the annals of the war we are now considering by a conflict and the oaptun of two American genends, arc ^.Iways summoned by memory with great pleasure. Of these I siiall hereafter write. On Tuesday evening, the 20th of August, I arrived at Hamilton, at the head of Lake Ontario, by the Great Western Railway, and spent the night at the " Koyal Hotel." Early on the following morning I rode out to Stony Creek, seven miles and returned in time to take the cars at meridian for Paris in company Avith a vounj Quadroon chief of the Six Nations, named M'Murray, whoso mother, wife of the lUv. erend Dr. M'Murray, of Niagara, was a half-breed Indian woman, and sister to tlie first wife of H. R. Schoolcraft, Esq. He was one of the finest formed and most attractive young men, in person and feature, I have ever met. The road from Hamilton to Paris, nearly thirty miles, passes through a very pic- turesque country. For five miles it skirts the northern high bank of the ffreat marsli that extends from Burlington Bay to Dundas, and follows, a greater portion of the way, a line parallel with Dundas Street, or the Governor's Koad. At Paris,' a large town, situated partly on a high rolling plain, and partly in a deep valley on Smith's Creek and the Grand River, I left the Great Western Railway, and took passage for Brantford, seven miles southward, on the Buffalo aid Huron Road, wliieli here intersects it. The country was hilly most of the way, but at Brantford it spreads out intOka beautiful plain, or high gravelly ridge, overhanging an extensive and well- cultivated region. The town derives its name from the great Mohawk^ chief, the In- dians having a ford across the Grand River here, which they called " Brant's Ford," it being near Jus residence.^ The situation of the town, on the north or right bank of the Grand River, is a healthful one. That river is navigable to within less than three miles of the village. Tlie deficiency in that distance is supplied by a canal. The population is about four thousand. Early on the moniing after my arrival at Brantford I was met by Chief Johnson, who had come up to the village the previous evening for the purpose We left ai six o'clock for the Onondaga Station, about nine miles below, from wliicli we walked to Mr. Johnson's house, half way between the villages of Onondaga and Tnscarora, the former inhabited by Avhite people, and the latter wholly by the Indians. Onon- daga is on the north side of the river, and Tuscarora on the south. We passed sev- eral pure-blooded Indians on the way, some of them, who ••emain pagans, wearini: portions of the ancient savage costume ; but most of them, men and women, were dressed in the style of the white people around them. ' Paris was so named on acconnt of the gypsum, or " plaster of Paris," which abonnds there. ' The word Mohawk, In that language, signifies " flint and steel." 3 Those of the Six Nations who Joined the British during the Revolntlon were promised by the govcmorr nf Canadu, Carleton and Ilaldlmand, that they shoald be well provided for at the close of the war. But in the treaty of iwnce in 17S3, no provision was made for the Indians. At that time the Mohawks, with Brant at their head, were temporarily residing on the American side of the Niiignrn River, near its mouth. The Senecas offered them a home iu the GeneMe Valley, but Brant and his followers had resolved not to live in the United States. He went to Quebec to cliiim frnm Gov- ernor Haldimaud the llilfillment of his promise. He had fixed his eye upon a large tract of land on the Bay of Qiiinle. But the Senecas did not wish them to go so far away, and they chose a large tract on the Grand River. This matter l)eing settled. Brant went to England at the close of 17T5, and during the remainder of his life he devoted much of bij time to the moral Improvement of his people. The grant of land on the Onlse, or Grand River, which Brant, In the behalf of the Indians, procured in liS4, com- prised an area of twelve hundred square miles, or, as Brant expressed it when asked how much wniild s.nllsfjr them, "six miles each side of the river from Its mouth to Its source." The whole country thus granted was fertile and Iwiin- tiful. Of jU that splendid domain, running up Into the country from Lake Krie toward Lake Huron to the Fallt of Elora, the" Indians now retain only comparatively small tracts In the vicinity of Brantford. In 1S30 the Indians made a surrender to the government of the town plot of Brantford, when It was surveyed and sold to actual settlers. It (oon grew into a large and thriving village. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 421 Mi»ilon-hou»e on Urand Hlver. C'uitnme of the Chief of the Hix Nalloni. Indian Wea|>un«. lll»UII>.\-UULIiK US tun UltA.>L' IIIVKU. Oil oiir way we also passed the old mission-houBc, constructed of logs in 1827, for ,l,e residence of the Reverend U()l)ert LusKt^r, the predecessor of the i)ivHent missionary among the Indians there. It is near the left bank of the Grand Itiver ; and from the road where the sketdi was made is a tine view of tiic beautiful valley through wliii'h tliat stream winds its way toward Lake Erie. A walk of a mile and a half liionfht us to " Chiefswodd," the residence of Mr. Johnson, situated on a gentle em- inence, with heautiful grounds sloping to the banks of tlie Grand River, and sur- roimded by his farm of two hundred acres of excellent land. It is a modest, square mansion, two stories in height, built of brick, and stuccoed. There I was cor- dially welcomed by Mrs. Johnson, a handsome and well-educated woman, daughter of a clcrgymnn of the Church of England, and the mother of three fine-looking, healthy children. While awaiting pre))arations for breakfast, Mr. Johnson proceeded to his business office, leaving me to amuse myself with the curiosities which adorned the little parlor. On a table were several rare Indian relics, and the daguerreotypes of some Indian chiefs. Among the lat- ter Avas one of Mr. Johnson himself, in the military costume of commander-in- ehief of the Six Nations, as seen in the engraving. In precisely this garb he appeared, in compliment to my curi- osity, when he came to invite me to breakfast. The coat and breeches were M'hite cloth, and the scarf and sash were rich specimens of Indian work, composed of cloth, ribbons, beads, and OENAMENTAI. TOMAHAWK. jwfcnpine quills. In one hand he holds a hand- some curled-maple handled, silver-mounted pipe- tomahawk,^ and in the other a most formidable wtapon, composed of the shank of a deer, with the bare shin-bone for a handle, dried in the angular position seen in the small engraving on the foUow- iiig page, and holding a thick glittering blade, which may be used either in giving deadly ' It will be observed, In the algnatnre of Mr. Johnnon, that a character In the form of a Z precedes the word " chlct" Thli indicates an arm bent at the elbow, and aignlfles that the head chief Is the right arm of the nation. 'These ornamental tomahawks are not for practical nee. The handle, fourteen tnche« In length, contains a tube that aswers the purpose of the stem of a pipe, and the head of the tomahawk is arranged as a pl|)e-bowl. In this specimen ilie blade and handle are connected by a silver chain. The blade Is brass except the attiel edge. i ^ : 1 ) *..«■! ,|f;iii|ii|ii:in:i 422 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A Stiver C'lluniot. Aoctent. Scalplng-knlfo sniS Iti Ulitorjr. Number and Character of Ikf blows or aH a Hcaljjiiisj-kiiife. Those, with a silver calumet, or i)ipo of j)cac(', Pomixisi. a part of the regalia of the civil anil military heads of the Wi.v Nations. Tliosu arti- ■II.Vr.R OAI.UUKT. nKRR-BnANK WEAPON. cles had been long in possession of the nation.' On the tabic was also a dactnom- otype of Oshawahnah, the lieutenant of Tecumtha at the battle of the Tiiaiiics, anl who in 1801 was yet living on Walpole Island, in Lake St. Clair, off the coast of Midi igan. Mr. Johnson kindly presented to me the likeness of himself and of tiiat vt'iu ra- ble chief. That of the latter, with some facts concerning him, Avill be given licivaftor. By the side of the fireplace hung an undressed deerskin sheath which uttiactil my attention. I drew from it an ancient scalping-knife, half consumed by rust, ns seen in the little picture. „ |,^ about to break i;rounil Its history, as related to ^||BB|^^^IH|^^^^^^|iV for the foundation me by Mr. Johnson, is ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ his house, two or tlim curious. When he was anoiictt 6calpino-ki«i«. years previous to my ■ AnpuBt, visit," the venerable Wliitecoat, a centenarian chief then living at Tiisoa is(HK j.Qj.jj^ Village, came to him, and, pointing to the huge stump of a tr iliat liad bee- lied within the prescribed lines of the building, said, "Dig there, ;; ,1 you will fir alping-knife that T buried seventy years ago. You know," he continued, "that bt. ..le laws of the white man governed us, it was the duty of the nearest of kin of a wounded man to avenge his death by shedding the blood of the murderer in iiivc manner, and that the weapon so employed was never afterward used, but buried. I thus took vengeance for my brother's blood, and at the foot of that tree I buried the fatal knife. Dig, and you'll find it." Johnson did so, and found nothing but the rusty blade, to which he has affixed a Avooden handle, made like the original. Whitccoat was among the warriors who were in the battle at Queenston. More than twenty of his companions on that occasion were living in the Grand River settlements in 1860. The whole number of the Six Nations, with the Chippewas, in those settle- ments Avas about three thousand. Of these about five hundred Avere pagans. Tlie iat ter arc chiefly Cayugas, Avho are usually of purer blood than the others, and conse- quently retain more of the Indian feeling and dislike of the Christians — the j)er.souiti- caticn of hated civilization. > I saw and sketched tliese objects at the store of Mr. Allan Oleghom, in Brantford, whogfi great intcrci't in the wel- fare of the Indians in that vicinity caused him to be elected to a chieftaincy among them, according to the old Indian custom— a compliment equivalent to the presentation of the " freedom of a city" to meritorious men. The silver cahtmet, or pipe of peace, rscd at councils and in making treaties, above dellucatcd, was nulte old. On Ho broad, ornamented silver plate under the bowl and part of the stem was the following Inscription : "To the M<il:aitk Indians, from the Nine Patentees of the Tract near Schoharie, granted In 17(19." On one side of the bowl wns the tipiro of a white man, and on the other that of an Indian. These were connected with the representation of the sun on ttc ft-out of the bowl by a union chain. Snspended from the stem in a festoon was, first, a stiver chain, and then strings ot wampnm. The stem was eighteen inches in lenf;th. The sword seen in the picture was presented to Mr. Johnson In 1849 by T. D. Beverly, Esq., of Three Elvers, Canada, because of the chief's speech to the Six Nations (when assembled on the queen's birthday). In deprecation of the actinii j of the Canadian Parliament in paying Mr.M'Kenzie and "other rebels" for their losses during the civil war inl«; | and 1838. It was an elegant sword. Mr. Johnson was born near Brantford on the 7th of October, 1818. He was a lineal descendant of Sir Wllllnm Join. SOD, through Sir John Johnson, whose son Jacob was bis grandfather. His military commisblon as chief of the Sii j Nations gave him the rank and pay of colonel. His influence was powerful, and he had the esteem of bis people and | of the white inhabitants. OF THE WAB OF 18 13. 423 The Mohawk Church. AppenrRnce of the IiiMrlor. VlllW of Ouond«K« nnd Muhawk. Immediately after breakfast I bade adieu to Mm. Jolinson ntid her interesting little family, and loll "('hiefswood" for Hrantl'ord, acconiimniod by the kind-heiirtcd leader ill hi« own conveyance. We went by the way of Onondaga and Mohawk or "The Institute," where IJrunt firnt settled. Near the former village Mr. Johnson has n tlirni, on the verge of which, and close by the town, is a free Episcopal church, built of biifk, and devoted to the use of the jioor white peoi)lc of that section. For that noble piirpose Mr. Johnson gave the ground and a considerable sum of iiioiu'V. I» the village, whicli is i)lea8- antly situated on a plain, is a small Mt'tliodist chapel and some neat cot- tages'. Oiily here and there an Indian family were seen, and these were found ill a stiite of excitement and grief be- cause of the death of a fine lad, a grand- son of Ihant, who had been killed by being tliroAvn from a horse tliat morn- ing. Wc readied the old Mohawk church (the lirst of the kind citcted hi the ]imviiicc) toward noon, found the door open, and entered. hSome carpenters were at work repairing the exterior, Itiit in no way changing its fonn from what it was originally. It is of wood, and was erected in tJie year 1783. It is a very plain, unpretending structure within and without. The only ornament, exocpt the upliolstery of the pulpit and the upper part of the fi-ames inclosing the Ten Command- ments, is 11 representation of the royal arms of England, handsomely carved and gilt, attached to the wall over the entrance -uoor, inside. Back of the pulpit are two black tablets with the Com- mandments inscribed upon them. On the right of it is another tablet, on which is written the Lord's Prayer, and on the left another, with the Apostles' Creed, all in the Moiiawk language. ' In front of the little chancel is a neat font. The seats have high backs. The one seen in the corner, at the right of the pulpit, was pointed out to me as that which Brant and ' The following is a copy of the Lord's Prayer, as written upon the tablet in the old Mohawk chnrch : "Shoegwaniha Karoahyakonh teKhslderouh, Wagwaghseanadokea^hdlste ; Sayanertsherah aodaweghtl; Tsineagh- wrehegh neayaweane ne oiighweatsyake tsioul nityonht nc Karouhynknnh. Takyouh ne Keah weghniseratc ne ni- Mdcwe(!hniK!rakc oegwanndarok : Neoni toedagwarighwyastea ne tsinfyoegwatswatouh, tsinlyouht ne oekyouhha tiite^akhirighwiyoesteanis ne waonkbiyatswatea. Neoni toghsa tagwaghshnrinet tewadadeanakeraghtoeke : Nok toe- MOHAWK oiimon. U4TEBIUB or MOBAWK OUUBOU, "^■ppp 1'i iJNII 424 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Bonding of tbe Mohawk Churcb. Its Bell. Tomb of the Brant Family. The "Mohawk Instltiue." his family occupied when he resided there. The area of tlie interior is only about thirty by forty feet, and is lighted by four arched windows on each side. The tim- ber for the church was floated down the Grand River, sawed and dressed by hand, and carried to the 8|)0t by the Indians. The communion service, still used in the church, Avas presented to the Slohawks by Queen Anne. It has been generally sup- posed that the bell was also a gift of the royal lady ; but, on examination, I found the following "card" of the manufacturer cast upon it: "John Warner, Fleet Street, Lon- don, 1786." It was doubtless brought from England at about that time by Brant. Near the south side of the church is the tomb of Brant and his son and official suc- cessors. His original family vault was built of Avood. It fell into decay, and in 1850 the inhabitants of the vicinity erected a new and substantial tomb, composed of light brown sandstone. The public ceremonies on the occasion were conducted ehietly by the Freemasons (Brant being a member of that order), assisted by a large gather- ing of the people from the surrounding country and from the States, especially fiom the Mohawk Valley, full five thousand in number. Upon a massive slab which com- poses the top of the tomb are appropriate inscriptions commemorative of both father and son.i A picture of the tomb may be seen on page 401. In front of the church, near the entrance-gate to the grounds, is the grave of the maternal grandfather of Chief Johnson, who was in the train of young Brant at the battle of Queenston. A stone slab, with an appropriate inscription, covers his grave.^ After sketching the exterior and interior of the ancient church and Brant's tomb, and visiting the much-altered house, a few rods distant, M'here the great chieftaui lived, we went to the "Mohawk Institute," the central point of missionary effort among the Six Nations, commenced and continued by " The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts."^ Their first missionary to the Mohawks was sent in the year 1702, and from that time to this they have followed the waning tribe and its confederates in the old league with motherly solicitude. This company have maintained a missionary among the Six Nations in Canada ever since their migration thither. They have contributed largely to the repairs of the old Mohawk church, erected a new one in Tuscarora Village, and now maintain at the " Institute" about sixty Indian scholars. These were under the charge of ti.e Reverend Abraham Nellcs, the missionary of the station, and his excellent wife, who had been in that useful field of labor since 1829. His family had bad ecclesiastical connection with the Six dagwayadakoh tslnoewe niyodaxhcab : Iken lese Boweank ne kayancrtsberab, neonl ne kashatsteagbsero, neonl te (Eweseaghtshero, tslnlj'eaheawe neonl tslnlyeaheawe. Anun," > The following are copies of the Inscriptions: "This tomb Is erected to the memory of TiiATE-TDANEQiiA, or Capta(n Joseph Bbant, Principal Chief and 'Varrior of the Six Nations Indians, by bis Fellow-Snbjects, admirers of bis fidelity and attachment to the British Crown. Boro on the banks of the Ohio River, 1T12 ; died at Wellington Sijuare,' I'. C, 1807. "It also contains tbe Keraains of his Son AnvouwAions, or Captain John Bbant, who sncceedeil his Father ag !■■ kaHhogea, and distinguished himself In the war of 1812-16. Born at the Mohawk VlUage, U. C, 1T94 ; died at tbe same place,1833. Erected 18B0." The tomb is surrounded by a heavy wooden fence. ' The following is a copy of the inscription : " In memory of Geoboe Maetin, Mohawk Chief. Bom at Kanajobara, V. S., Dec. 23, 1T07 ; died at Grand River, C. W., Feb. 18, 1803, aged S3 years." Chief Johnson has in his possession n silver medal, preneuted to his grandfather more than seventy years agobr George the Third. On one side is a prnflle of the king. On the other is a landscape. In the foreground ie a Hon in repose, and a wolf approarhlng him with awe. in the distance is a representation of the Mohawk church on Grand Biver and the mission-house near. » This society was Incorporated by Parliament in ITOl. i:t Is the successor or contlnnaUon of an earlier one, in IMl, nnder the title of The Conipanu for the Propagation of the Go»pel in Sew England and Partu Adjacent in America. It was composed partly of members of ,he Church of Englaml and partly of Protestant Dissenters. • Wellington Square is a pleasant little vllinge in Nelson Township, situated on Lake Ontario, eight miles fi-om Harall- Inn, and now (1807) contains between four and live hundred inhabitants. There, north of the beach which divides Lake Ontario ft-om Burlington Bay, Brnnt made his abode. In a handsome two-storied mansion, beautifully situated, lony be- fore the present village had existence. Ther he .ived, in the English stjie, until his death. Ills widow (third wifel, Catharine, wai 'jrty-cight years of age at the time of his death. She preferred the cus'oms of her people, and soou after her hnsb, ..d's departure she left Lake Ontario and returned to Mohawk, on the G-.'id River. Her eon aod daughter rcm'\luod at the " Braut ' ousc" on Lake Ontario, and ived in elegant style for several years, HI *-<"! OF THE AVAR OF 1812. 425 COMMUNION PLATE. The Work of the "Inntitute." The Commnniou Plate oftbe Mohawk Church. A pleasaot Day with the 8ix Nations. Nations for a century and a half. His faithfulness as a teacher of temporal and spir- itual things merits and receives the highest commendations. He resided at the old mission-house, near Tuscarora, delineated on page 241, until 1837, when he took up his abode at Mohawk. Unfortunately, our visit Avas at vacation time, and we were deprived of the coveted pleasure of seeing a group of threescore Indian children under instruction. We spent two hours very agreeably with the kind missionary and his family at the " In- stitute" and the parsonage at the glebe. These have each two hundred acres of fertile land, at the head of the Grand River, attached to them, and are separated by tLe canal, which carries the navigation of the river up to Brantford. We crossed the canal in a canoe, and at the parsonage, an old-fashioned dwelling near the old " Insti- tute" building, with beautiful grounds around it, we saAV many curious things connected with the mission. Among them was one half of the massive silver communion plate presented by Queen Anne to the Mohawks in 1 7 1 2. The other half, a duplicate of this, was lent to a church on the Bay of Quint6. Upon each was engraved the royal arms of England and "A. R." — Anne Regina — with the fol- lowing inscription in double lines around them : " the gift of iiek majesty anne, IIEB PLANTATIONS IN ij^OBTH AMERICA, QUEEN, TO HER INDIAN CHAPEL OF THE MOHAWKS." In addition to the three pieces given in the picture was a plate, nine inches in di- ameter, for receiving collections. Mr. Nelles also showed us a well-preserved folio liible, which was printed in London in 1701, and was sent to the Mohawks with the lomniunion plate. On the cover are the following words in gilt letters : " fob hep majesty's OUURCII of the MOHAWKS, 1712." We dined with the excellent missionaries, and then rode to Brantford, a mile and a half distant, where, after a brief tarry. I bade adieu to Mr. .Tohnson and the Six Nations, when I had only an hour in which to travel seven miles to Paris to take the evening train for Hamilton or Toronto. I had procured a fleet and powerful horse, and in a light wagon, with a small boy as driver, I traveled the excellent stone road, or " pike," between the two places on that hot afternoon with the speed of the trot- ting-course, yet with apparent ease to the splendid animal. I had four minutes to spare at Paris. That beautiful day, spent with the Six Nations and their military chief and spiritual ;;uide, will ever remain a precious treasure in the store-house of memory. I could think of little else while on my journey that evening from Paris to Toronto. Of my visit to that former capital of Upper Canada, known as York in the War of 1812, 1 shall hereafter write.' Let us return from oar digression from the strict path of history to the Niagara frontier, which Ave so recently left, and consider the record of events there during the remainder of 1812, after the battle at Queenston. The Pritish had erected some batteries on the high banks, a little back of the Niagara UiA-er, just beloAV Fort Erie, at a point where an invasion by the Americans ' The Indian mime was Darondo or Tarnnto, signifying " Trees on the Water." This was In allusion to the long, low, Kindtpoiiit (now un Island), within which wns the Bay of Toronto. On that point were, and still arc, many trees. The JifUioo is Bo great that from the shore at the city they socm to be on tlw, water. AVhen Colonel Simcoe became iien- ifDKt governor oftbe TTppor Province he endeavored to An!;llcljc the settlors by making them familiar with Eugllsb Mmei s.id things. With this object in view he gave English names to all places, and the Indian name of Taronto was (hanged to Kurt, Id honor of the Dui.e of York. It was known for many years as Little York. ■'' u i( ; ■pm iiiii :l i i '1 1' ii ^\- I' 1 'ill' i hI K' ,i 11 i:r.i i| hi 3 426 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Black Rock and Porter's Residence. Attack on the Works there. Bombardment of Fort Niagara might be reasonably expected. From these batteries they opened a severe fire on the morning of the 1 7th of November upon Black Rock opposite, then a place of (jiiite as much importance as Buffalo in some respects. There were the head-quarters of the little army under General Smyth, and there was the fine residence of General Peter B. Porter, who was then in command there of a body of New York miliria, and made that dwelling his head- quarters. There were some slight fortifications near Black Rock, but the heavi- est cannon upon the breast- work was a six -pounder, All day long, at intervals, the British kept up the fire at one time hurling a •25- pound shot against the upper loft of Porter's resi- dence, and soor aftcrwanl dropping another ball, of At length a bonib- QEMERAL FUBTER's BESIDBHOE, IILAOK BOOK.' the same weight, through the roof, while he was there at dmner. shell was sent into the cast barrack with destructive power. It exploded the maga zine, fired the buildings, and destroyed a portion of the valuable furs captured on • October 9, board the Caledonia a fcAV days before." This exploit being one of the ^^^'^- chief objects of the cannonade and bombardment, both ceased at sunset, Very little noise was heard along that frontier for a month afterward except the sonorous cadences of General Smyth's proclamations. At length British cannon opened their thunders.. E'-^ast works had been raised in front of Newark, ojjposite Fort Niagara, at intervals all the way up to Fort George, and behind them mortars and a long train of battery cannon had been placed. At six o'clock on the nicminu of the 21st of November these commenced a fierce bombardment of Fort Niagara, and at the same time a cannonade was opened from Fort George and its vicinitv. From dawn until the evening twilight there was a continual roar from five detached batteries on the Canada shore, two of them mounting twenty-four-pounders. From these batteries two thousand red-hot shot were poured upon the American works, while the mortars, from five and a half to ten and a half inches calibre, were shower- ing bomb-shells all day long. The latter were almost harmless, but the former set fire to several buildings within the fort, which, by the greatest exertions, were saved. The garrison, meanwhile, performed their duty nobly. They were quite suflicient in number, but lacked artillery and ammunition. The gallant Lieutenant Colonel George M'Feely^ was the commander, .''iid Major Armistead, of the United States Engineer Corps, performed the most important ser\'ices at the guns and in extinguish- ing the flames. Captain M'Keon commanded a 12- pounde* in the southeast block-house ; Captain Jacks, of the 7th Regiment of Militia Artillery, was in charge of the north block-house, where he was greatly exposed to a raking fire of the enemy ; and Lieutenant lieesj_ of the 3d LTnited States Artillery, managed an eighteen-pounder in the southeast bat- tery, which told heavily upon a British battery with a twenty-four-pounder en bar- bette. He was soon badly wounded in the shoulder by the falling of a pfirt of tiio parapet. On the west battery an eighteen and a four pounder were directed by Lien- > This Is from a sketch made by the writer in the snmmer of 1860, fhrai a pier in the Niagara River. The honee i! upon the high shore of the river. It was then owned by Mr. I^ewls P. Allen. ' M'Fcely was commissioned a mi\ior in March, 1S12, and in Jnly was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He beoai colonel of infantry in April, 1814, and was disbanded In June, 181B, OF THE WAR OF 1812. 427 Artillery Duel at Fort Niagara. A heavy Force near Buffalo. Order"" for Invading Canada at that Point. tenant Wendal, and on the mess-house,* Doctor Hooper, of the New York Militia, had charge of a six-pounder. South of Fort Niagara, and a dependency of it, was the " Salt Battery," so called, mounting an eighteen and a four pounder. It was directly in range of Fort George, and annoyed the garrison there exceedingly. It was com- manded by Lieutenants Gansevoort and Harris, of the 1st Artillery. From these several batteries on the American side many a destructive missile went on terrible errands during the day. Newark was on fire several times before night, and the buildings in Fort George were also fired, and one of its batteries was silenced." During the day an American twelve-pounder burst and killed two men. Two others were killed by the enemy's fire, and a lieutenant and four men were wounded. These were the casualties of the day on the American side. What injury was done to the British is not known. A shot from the Salt Battery sunk a sloop lying at the wharf on the Canada side. Night ended the artillery duel, and it was not renewed in the morning. We have observed that General Smyth expressed his opinion to General Van Rens- selaer, on his arrival on the frontier, that the proper place to cross the Niagara River for the invasion of Canada was somewhere between Fort Erie and ChippcAva.^ A few days after the bombardment of Fort Niagara, Smyth attempted to act upon that opinion. His proclamation had stirred tlie people of Western New York, and large numbers had flocked to his standard ; for his flaming sentences warmed their zeal, and they believed that all his glowing hopes would be realized and his flattering promises would be fulfilled. On the 27th of November, when Smyth called the troops to a general rendezvous at Black Rock, they numbered about four thousand five hund- red. They were composed of his own regulars, and the Baltimore Volunteers under Colonel Winder, the Pennsylvania Volunteers under General Tannehill, and the New York Volunteers under General Peter B. Porter. With these he felt competent to invade Canada successfully. As early as the 25th, General Smyth issued orders for " the whole army bo ready to march at a moment's wanung." "The tents," he said, "will be left st;' g. Ofli- cers will carry their knapsacks. The baggage will follow in convenient ti. ' Alter giving directions for the embarkation of the troops in the boats provided by Colonel Winder, ' whom that important service was intrusted, he gave the following direc- tions for iiuiiig the troips in battle order on the Canada shore; "Beginning <>n the vi'lit, iin fc)llow8: Captain Gibson's Artillery; the Sixth and Thirteenth Infantry; tain To wson's Artillery ; the Fourteenth and Twenty-third Infantr; i« one regi- (';i|i!ain Barkor'.s and Captain i ,. Ii's Artillery ; the T' clfth an Twentieth Infaiiiry; Capt.iiti Archer's Artillery, General Tannchill's Inlantry; a company of Riflemen; th '..I'antry of Colonel Swift and Colonel MC'lure; a comp.u \ of Rifle- men; General Port i-'h Infantrj Captain Leonard's Aiiiilcry; a battalion of Rifle- men on each flank, ui a line perptndi''ilar to that formi<t by the main army, extend- ing to the front and rear."* 1 The Indians were jealona of any !> .i^ of the French to build any thing like a fort among them. The French sncoecded by etratagem. They obta: inilsKion to erect a great wigwam, or dwelling, and then induced the In- dians to go on a long hunt. When tl n'turnc<t the walls were so advanced that they might defy the savages. They completed the building In a way that they might plant cannon on the top, and used It as a mess-house. Under it was idccp dnngeon, and In that dungeon wn- :\ w intLat dark prison. The water of the w die™ that at midnight the headless body had be-in mnrdered. ' Thompson, In his HUtorieal Sketehi' and men at this battery, that when, in i It Is believed that political prisoners from France were confined oisoned at one time, and a story was believed by superstitious sol- hman might be seen sitting on the margin of the well, where he • : War, page SO, says," Such was the spirited eamcstness of both officers list tremendous of the bombardment, they had flred away all their car- trHjes, they cut up their flannel waistcoats and shirts, and the soldiers their trow^ers, to supply their guns." He also ipealts of the wife oi an Irish artilleryman, named Doyle, who had been made a prls<mer at Quccnston, and to whom a parole had been refused, determined to resent the act by taking her husband's place as far as possible. On the occasion now under consideration she took her place at the raess-honse, and supplied the six-pounder there with hot shot. Re- gardless of the shot and shell that fell aronnd her, she never quitted her station until the last gun had been flred. ' S«! Smyth's letter to Van Rensselaer, note 2, page 389. ' Maunscript order, Novembi'r 26, 1812 : Winder Papers. In that order the directions for attack were given as followa : ill li 1 438 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK mi H « u ; 4^ i . •■ 11 ;■' 1 " p 1 I?! "■ iii '"' ULMI ).. Arrangctnonta for Crossing the Niagara River. The British, forewarned, are forearmed. Passage of the River • November, 1812. Every thing was in readiness on the 27th'' for invasion, and arrange- ments were made for the expedition to em>)ark at the navy yard below Black Rock at reveille on the morning of the 28th. Seventy public boats, capable of carrying forty men each; five large private boats, in which one hundred men each could be borne ; and ten scows for artillery, with many small boats, were pressed into the service, so that three thousand trooj)8, the whole number to be employed in the invasion, might cross at once. That evening Smyth issued his final order, dii-ecting Lieutenant Colonel Boerstler to cross over at three o'clock in the morning with the effective men of Colonel Winder's regiment, and destroy a bridge about five miles below Fort Eric, capture the guard stationed there, kill or take tlie artillery horses and, with the captives, if any, return to the American shore. Captain King was di- rected to cross at the same time at the " Red House," higher up the river, to storm the British batteries. It was loft to the discretion of Boerstler to march up the Can- ada shore to assist King, or to return immediately after performing his allotted work at the bridge. "It is not intended to keep possession," said the order. "Let the wounded be kept from the public eye to-morrow. You [Colonel Winder] will remain on this bank and give directions.'" General Smyth had so long and loudly proclaimed his dc^i'is against Canada, and had so fairly indicated his probable point of invasion, that the authorities on the other side were prepared to meet him at any place between Fort Erie and Chippewa. Jla- jor Ormsby, of the Forty-r.'nth, with a detachment of that and the Newfoundland regiment, was at the fort. The ferry opposite Black Rock was occupied by two com- panies of militia under Captain Bostwick. Two and a half miles from Fort Erie, at a house on the Chippewa road, Avas Lieutenant Lamont, with a detachment of the Forty- ninth, and Lieutenant King, of the Royal Engineers, with a three and six pounder, and some militia urtillerymen. Near the same spot were two batteries, one mount- ing an eighteen and the other a twenty-four pound cannon, also under Lamont. A mile farther down was a post occupied by a detachment under Lieutenant Baitlev; and on P^rcnchman's Creek, fou'r and a half miles from Fort Erie, was a party of sev- enty under Lieutenant ^. a part of the Forty-first M'Intyre. Lieutenant "T"^; Z^ ^? ' ^ J^ r-^ ^ Regulars, some militia Colonel Cicil Bisshopp {^^^-^O ^-^^ ^^^'yif^ and militia artillery, was at Chippewa with and near him was j\Iajor Hatt with a small detachment of militia. The whole number of British troops, scat- tered along a line of twenty miles, did not, according to the most reliable estimates, exceed one thousand men. Before the appointed hour on the morning of the 28th,'' the boats were in readiness under the general superintendence of Lieutenant Angus, of the navy, at the head of a ^ _ ter Watts, of Caledonia corps of marines and sea- . -^^/i /V^ ^ fame,* and seveial other men, assi.'ted by Lieuten- \^IX4^^ l/iyy ZXj i-^*// naval officers. It was a ant Dudley, Sailing-mas- ' cold and dreary night. At three in the morning" tlie advanced parties left the American shore for their respective destinations. One, under Lieutenant Colonel Boerst- ler, consisted of aoout two hundred men of Colonel Winder's regiment, in eleven boats ; and the other, under Captain King, was composed of one hundred and fit\y regular soldiers, and seventy sailors under Lieutenant Angus, in ten boats. King's party were discovered upon the water a quarter of a mile from the shore, and were "1. The ortillery will si)cnd some of their first shot on the enemy's artillery, ond then aim ot the Infantry, raking thfm where it is practicable. 2. The firing of musketry by wings or companies will begin at the distance of two liuiidreil yards, aiming at the middle and firing deliberately. 3. At twenty yards' distance the soldiers will be ordered to trail irms, advance with shouts, fire at five paces' distance, and charge bayonets. 4. The soldiers will be «i7c»i/, above all .hingfl, attentive at the word of cormand, load quick and well, and aim, («it>." > Manuscript order of Ocueral Smyth to Colonel Wluder, November 2T, 1812 : Witider Papert. ' Sec page M ■> Novemb jr. • November 29. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 429 Incidents of the Attempt to Invade Canada on the Upper Niagara. 80 warmly assailed by volleys of musketry and shot from a field-piece at the Red House that six of the ten boats were compelled to return. The other four resolutely landed in good order, in the face of the storm of bullets and grape-shot from flying artillery ; and before King could form his troops on the shore, Angus and Ins seamen, with characteristic impetuosity, rushed into the hottest fire and suffered considerably. Kinc formed his corps as quickly as possible, and the enemy were soon dispersed. He then proceeded to storm and take in quick succession two British batteries above the landing-place, while Angus and his seamen ruslied upon the field-pieces at the Red House, captured and spiked them, and cast them, with their caissons,^ into the river. In this assault Sailing-master Watts was mortally wounded while leading on the seamen.^ Angus and his party returned to the landing-place, with Lieutenant Kin<', of the Royal Artillery, wounded and a prisoner. Supposing the other six boats had landed (for it was too dark to see far along the shore), and that Captain King and his party had been taken prisoners, Angus crossed to the American shore in the four boats. This unfortunate mistake left King, with Captains Morgan and Sproull, Lieutenant Houston, and Samuel Swartwout, of New. York, who had volunteered for the service with the little party of regulars, without any means of crossing. King waited a while for re-enforcements. None came, and he went to the landing-place for the purpose of crossing, with a number of the British artillerists whom he had made prisoners. To his dismay, he discovered the absence of all the boats. Ho pushed down the river in the dark for about two miles, when he found two large ones. Into these he placed all of his officers, the prisoners, and one lialf of his men. These had not reached the American shore when King and the remainder of his troops were taken prisoners by a superior force. Hoerstler and his party, in the mean time, had been placed in much peril. The tiring upon King had aroused the enemy all along the Canada shore, and they were on the alert. Boerstler's boats became separated in the darkness. Seven of them landed above the bridge, to be destroyed, while four others, that approached the des- ignated landing-place, were driven off by a party of the enemy. Boerstler landed lioldly alone, under fire from a foe of unknown numbers, and drove them to the bridge lit the point of the bayonet. Orders were then given for the destruction of that struc- ture, but, owing to the confusion at the time of landing, the axes had been left in the boat. Tlie bridge was only partially destroyed, and one great object of this advance party of the invading army was not accomplished. Boerstler was about to return to liis boats and recross the river, because of theevident concentration of troops to that point in overwhelming numbers, when he was compelled to form his lines for imme- diate battle. Intolligence came from the commander of the boat-guard that they had captured two British soldiers, who informed them that the whole garrison at Fort Erie was appi-oaching, and that the advance guard was not five minutes distant. This intelligence was correct. Darkness covered every thing, and Boerstler resorted to stratagem when he heard the tramp of the approaching foe. He gave command- ing orders in a loud voice, addressing his subordinates as field officers. The British were deceived. They believed the Americans to be in much greater force than they really were. A collision immediately ensued in the gloom. Boerstler ordered the ilischarge of a single volley, and then a bayonet charge. The enemy broke and fled in confusion, and Boerstler crossed the river without annoyance.^ ' AcaiMoM is an anmnnttlon chest or wagon In which powder and bomb-shells are carried. ' See page asfl. ' Colonel Winder's manuscript report to General Smyth, December T, 1S1.2. Winder had attempted to re-enforce the Iroopf -in the (Canada shore, but failed. On the return of Angus and his party, he was ordered to cross the river with IKO hundred and fifty men. Within twenty minutes after the order was given, he and hU troops were battling wi'"> He current and the floating ice. Winder's boat was the iirst and only one that touched the Canada shore, the current Wng carried the others below. The enemy, with strong force and o piece of artillery, disputed his landing. Resist- .race wonld be vain, and Winder ordered a retreat, after losing six men killed and twenty-two wounded. On his return lie formed his regiment at once, to join In the embarkation at dawn. In the report above cited Colonel Winder paid the following compliment to Captain Totten, of the Engineers, who, ill ■ 1 ^^^^^^Bi i ! •:^- ', 1 ' \ Ifl^B Tf i ■' \\ v\ 430 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK General Sinyth's Incompetence. Ills foolish Swuf^gering. Another Attempt to cross the Biver, It was sunrise when the troops began to embark, and so tardy were the movoinonts that it was late in the afternoon when all were ready. General Smyth did not make his appearance during the day,' and all the movements were under the direction of his subordinates. A number of boats had been left to strand upon the shore, and beoanip liilcd with water, snow, and ice ; and as hour after hour passed by, dreariness and dij. appointment weighed heavily upon the spirits of the shivering troops. Meanwhile the enemy had collected in force on the opposite shore, and were watching every move- ment. At length, when all seemed ready, and impatience had yielded to hope, an order came from the commanding general " to disembark and dine /"^ The wearied and worried troops were deeply exasperated by this order, and nothing but the most positive assurances that the undertaking would be immediately resumed kept them from open mutiny. The different regiments retired sullenly to their respective quarters, and General Porter, with his dispirited New York Volunteers, marched in disgust to Buffalo. • November 28, Smyth now Called a council of officers.* They could not agree. The ^**^' best of them urged the necessity and expediency of crossing in force at once, before the enemy could make formidable preparations for their reception. The general decided otherwise, and doubt and despondency brooded over the camp tliat night. The ensuing Sabbath dawn brought no relief Preparations for another em- barkation were indeed in progress, while the enemy, too, was busy in opposing labor. It was evident to every spectator of judgment that the invasion must be attempted at another jjoint of the river, when, towai'd evening, to the astonishment of all, tlie general issued an order, perfectly characteristic of the man, for the troops to be ready at the navy yard, at eight o'clock the next moming,'' for embarkation. " The general will be on board," he pompously proclaimed. " Neither rain, snow, or frost will prevent the embarkation," he said. "The cavalry will scour the fields from Black Rock to the bridge, and suffer no idle spectators. While cm- barking, the music will play martial airs. Yankee Doodle will be the signal to get under way. . . . The landing will be effected in despite of cannon. The whole army has seen that cannon is to be little dreaded. . . . Hearts of War I to-morrow will be memorable in the annals of the United States."^ " To-morrow" came, but not the promised achievement. All the officers disapproved of the time and manner of the proposed embarkation, and expressed their opiiiiom- freely. At General Porter's quarters a change was agreed upon. Porter proposed deferring the embarkation until Tuesday morning, the Ist of December, an hour or two before daylight, and to make the landing-place a little below the upper end of Grand Island. Winder suggested the propriety of making a descent directly upon Chippewa, " the key of the country." This Smyth consented to attempt, intending, as he said, if successful, to march down through Queenston, and lay siege to Fort George.* Orders were accordingly given for a general rendezvous at the navy yard at three o'clock on Tuesday morning, and that the troops should be collected in the woods near by on Monday, where they should build fires and await the signal for gathering on the shore of the river. The hour arrived, but when day dawned only fifteen hundred were embarked. Tannehill's Pennsylvania Brigade were not present. Before their arrival rumors had reached the camp that they, too, like Van Rensselaer's militia at Lewiston, had raised a constitutional question about being led out of tlieii' state. Yet their scruples seem to have been overcome at this tinie, and they would nt the time ofhis denth In 1804, was Chief Engineer of the Army of the United Statci: -'U U w'.'h great ,)lea8uro I ac- knowledge the Intelligence and skill which Captain Totten, of the Engineers, haf. yielded to the works which are rais- ing. To him shall we be indebted for what I believe will bo a respectable state of preparation In a short time." ' Thomson's HMorical SUtchen, etc., page 86. ' Oeneral Smyth's dispatch to General Dearborn, December 4, 1812. ' Autograph order. Winder Pnnorg, dated " Hcad-qnarters, Camp near BnfThlo, Nov. 29, 1812." * Smyth's dispatch to Goucral Dearborn, December 4, 1612. "V ivovod )iiiions oposed lour Ml' end of y upon tending, to Fort vy yard in tlie gnal for ed only present. sselaerV of their 7 would ensure I ac- ich are r«lE- ne." d OP THE WAR OF 1812. 431 Rmvth's Coancll of Officers. The luvasion of Canada abandoned. Disappointment and Indignation of tlie Troops. have invaded Canada cheerfully under other auspices. But distrust of their leader, created l»y the events of the last forty-eight hours, had demoralized nearly the whole army. They had made so much noise in the embarkation that the startled enemy had soundecl his alarm bugle and discharged signal-guns from Fort Erie to Chippewa. Tanneliill's Pennsylvanians had not appeared, and many other troops lingered upon the siiorc, loth to embark. In this dilemma Smyth hastily called a council of the reg- ular officers, utterly excluding those of the volunteers from the conference, and the first intimation of the result of that council was an order from the commanding gen- eral sent to General Porter, who was in a boat with the pilot, a fourth of a mile from shore in the van of the impatient flotilla, directing the whole army to debark and re- pair to their quarters.' This was accompanied by a declaration that the invasion of Canada was abandoned at present, pleading, in bar of just censure, that his orders from Ids superiors were not to attempt it with less than three thousand men.^ The reg- ulars were ordered into winter quarters, and the volunteers were dismissed to their homes. This order for debarkation, and the fact that just previously a British major, bear- ini» a flag of truce, had crossed the river and held an interview with General Srayth, caused the most intense indignation, and the most fearful suspicions of his loyalty^ in the army, especially among the volunteers, whose ofticers he had insulted by neg- lect. The troops, without order or restraint, discharged their muskets in all direc- tions, and a scene of insubordination and utter confusion followed. At least a thou- sand of the volunteers had come from their homes in response to his invitation, and the promise that they should certainly be led into Canada by a victor. They had imposed implicit confidence in his ability and the sincerity of his great Avords, and in jiroportion to their faith and zeal were now their disappointment and resentment. Unwilling to have their errand to the frontier fruitless of all but disgrace, the volun- ti'crs earnestly requested permission to be led into Canada under General Porter, ])romising the commanding general the speedy capture of Fort Erie if he would fur- nish them with four pieces of artillery. But Smyth evaded their request, and the volunteers were sent home uttering imprecations against a man whom they consid- tred a mere blusterer without courage, and a conceited deceiver without honor. They tilt themselves betrayed, and the inhabitants in the vicinity sympathized with them. Tiicir indignation was greatly increased by ill-timed and ungenerous charges made liv Smyth, in his report to General Dearborn, against General Porter, in whom the volunteers had the greatest confidence.* His person was for some time in danger, lie was compelled to double the guards around his tent, and to move it from place to place to avoid continual insults.* He was several times fired at when he ventured out of his marquee. Porter openly attributed the abandonment of the invasion of Canada to the cowardice of Smyth. A bitter quarrel ensued, and soon resulted in a challenge by the gencral-in-chief for his second in command to test the courage of both by a duel.® In direct violation of the Articles of War, these superior oflicers of I Autograph etntement of Colonel Winder. ' General Smyth's report to General Dearborn, December 4, 1812. ' It Is proper to say, In justice to General Smyth, that there were no jnst grounds bcciiuse of that event for any sns- picions of his loyalty. Colouel Winder had been to the British camp with a flag two days before, to make some ar- tmgemcDt nboat an exchange of prisoners, and this visit of the British major was doubtless iu response. < Generui Porter was a partner in busiucss with Mr. Barton, the army contractor for the Niagara frontier, and General Smytli alluded to him in his report as " the contractor's agent." He charged him with " exciting some clamor" against ihc measures of General Smyth, and said, " He flnds the contract a losing one at this time, and would wish to see the arm; in Canada, that he might not be bound to supply It." ' 111! friend Colonel Parker, a Virginian, in an autograph letter before me, written to Colonel Winder on the second of December, said : " Major Campbell will inform yon of the insult offered to the general last evening, and of the lutcr- iiiption to our repose last night. God grant us a speedy relief from buch neighbors I"— Winder Vapera. ' There appeals to have been much quarreling among the officers on that frontier during the autumn of ISliS. Only IhTeo months before, Porter and Colonel Solomon Van Hensselaer had such a bitter dispute that it resulted in n chal- lenge from Porter, but they never reached the duellng-gronnd on Grand Island. General Stephen Van Rensselaer ntched them closely after he heard of the challenge, and was prepared to arrest them both when they should attempt to to lo the island.— Statement of Solomon Van Rensselaer, among the Van Rensselaer papers. it 1-; 1^1 4 ■ 1 1 1 1 mS^I^Fii ''i jW M r ^^^H^^^H i BE r llk-jllAJLJI wHi * i"«pp tils Un m i ' 1 1 i:> 111 ■II J^^w ! ■'■ < , ^^^hh Hi BHjtt ^■■IHI mm til II 1 \ m m J^ ■ !. L V 432 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A barmleaa Dael between Porter and Smyth. A Bulemn Farce. Smyth dlHbauded. His Petition to Canmiit the Army of the Centre, with friends d seconds,' and surgeons," put off in boats from the sliore near Black Rock, in the presence of tlieir troops, at two o'clock in the afternoon of the 12th of December, to meet eacii other in mortal combat on Grand Island.^ They exchanged shots at twelve paces' distance. Nobody was hurt. An exi)ected tragedy proved to be a solemn comedy. The affair took the usual ridicu- lous course. The seconds reconciled the belligerents. General Porter acknowleclrcd his conviction that General Smyth was " a man of courage," and General Smyth wns convinced that General Porter was " above suspicion as a gentleman and an officer."' Thus ended the melodrama of Smyth's invasion of Canada. The whole affair ivas disgraceful and humiliating. " What wretched work Smyth and Porter liave made of It," wrote General Wadsworth to General Van Rensselaer from his home at Gene- seo, at the close of the year. " I wish those who are disposed to find so much fault could know the state of the militia since the day you gave up the command. It has been 'confusion worse confounded.'"* The day that saw Smyth's failure was indeed " memorable in the annals of the United States," as well as in his own pri- vate history. Confidence in his military ability was destroyed, and three months afterward he was " disbanded," as the Army Register says ; in other words, he was deposed without a trial, and excluded from the army." Yet he had many warm friends who clung to him in his misfortunes, for he possessed many excellent social qualities. He was a faithful representative of the constituency of a district of Vir- ginia in the national Congress from 1817 to 1825, and again from 1827 until his death, in April, 1830. ' Lieutenant Colonel Winder was Smyth's second, and Lieutenant Angns was Porter's. » The finrgeon on that occasion we s Dr. Roberts, and the assistant surgeon was Dr. Parsons, afterward surgeon of Perry's flag-ship Lawrence, in the battle on Lake Erie, and now [13071 a resident of Providence, Bhode Island, 3 "rhls is a large island, containing 20,000 acres, dividing the Niagara River into two channels. (See map on page 3S2,) On this island the late Mordecai Manasseh Noah proposed to found a city of refuge for his co-religionists, the Jews, anit memorialized the Legislature of the State of New York on the subject In 1820. The project failed because the chief rabbi in Europe disapproved of it. Noah erected a commemorative monument there, but it and his scheme have passed away. * In a letter of Lieutenant Angus to Colonel Winder the next day, he said : " A meeting took place between General Smyth and General Porter yesterday afternoon on Grand Island, In pursuance of previous arrangements. They met al Dayton's tavern, and crossed the river with their friends and surgeons. Both gentlemen behaved with the utmost cool- ness and unconcern. A shot was exchanged in as intrepid and Arm a manner as possible by each gentleman, but wUh- out eflfect The hand of reconciliation was then oflcred and received,"— Autograph letter, WiMer I'apen. Jlu- other account says that the party returned to Dayton's, where they supped and spent a convivial evening together. * Autograph letter to General Van Rensselaer, December .10, 1812. ' General Smyth petitioned the House of Representatives to reinstate him in the army. That body referred the peti- tion to the Secretary of War— the general's executioner I Of course, its prayer was not answered. In that petition h asked for the privilege of " dying for his country." This phrase was a subject for much ridicnle. At a public celehrn- tlon of Washington's birthday in 1814 at Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, the following sentiment was offered at the table during the presentation of toasts : " General Smyth's petition to Congress to ' die for his country :' May It be ordered that the prayer of said petition be panted," A wag wrote on a panel of one of the doors of the Hall of Representatives — "All hail, great chief I who quailed before A Dimho]>p on Niagara's shore ; But looks on Death with dauntless eye, And begs for leave to bleed and die. Oh my 1 OF THE WAR OF 1812. 433 V llures of tbe Annlea. Acknowledged Naval Saperiorlty of Great Britain. Britlih Contempt for the American Navjr. "k CHAPTER XXI. * ' By the trident of Neptune,' hrnve Hull cried, ' let's Rtecr ; It polul» out the track of the bullylnj; Gturriere: Should we meet her, brave boys, " Seamen's rights 1" be our cry ; We flght to defend them, to live free or die.' The famed ConntUution through the billows now flew, While the spray to the tars was rcfrefihlug as dew, To qnlcken the sense of the Insult they felt. In the boast of tbe Ouerriere's not being the Helt." Bono, "Constithtion and Guebbiebe." "Ye brave Sons of Freedom, whose bosoms beat high For yonr country with patriot pride and emotion. Attend while 1 sing of a woni.tfrful Wagp, And tbe Frolic she gallantly took on the ocean." Olb Somo. N preceding chapters we have considered the prominent events of the war on land, and perceive in the record very little where- of Americans should boast as military achievements. The war liad been commenced without adequate preparations, and had been carried on by inexperienced and incompetent men in the Council and in the Field. Brilliant theories liad been promul- gated and splendid expectations had been indulged, while Phi- losophy and Experience spoke monitorily, but in vain. The vis- ions of the theorists proved to be " dissolving views" — unsub- stantial and deceptive — when tested by the standard of practical results. At the close of the campaign in 1812, the Army of the Northwest, first under Hull and then under Harrison, was occupying a defensive position among the snows of the wilder- ness on the banks of the Maumee ; the Army of the Cetitre, first under Van Rensse- laer and then under Smyth, had experienced a series of misfortunes and disappoint- ments on the Niagara frontier, and was also resting on the' defensive ; Avhile the Army of the North, under Bloomfield, whose head-quarters were at Plattsburg, had made less efforts to accomplish great things, and had less to regret and more to boast of than the others. Yet it, too, was standing on the defensive when the snows of December fell. Different was the aspect of affairs on the water. The hitherto neglected navy had been aggressive and generally successftil. We have already observed the operations of one branch of it, with feeble means, in the narrow waters of Lake Ontario, under Cliauncey ;' let us now take a view of its exploits on the broad ocean, where Thom- son iiad declared in song, " Britannia rules the waves." The naval superiority of England was every where acknowledged ; and the idea of I the omnipotence of her power on the sea was so universal in the American mind, that icrious expectations of success in a contest with her on that theatre were regarded as absurd. The American newspapers — then, as now, the chief vehicles of popular information — had always been filled with praises of England's naval puissance and examples of her prowess ; while tlie British newspapers, reflecting the mind of tbe riiHng classes of that empire, were filled with boastings of England's power, abuse of all other people, and supercilious sneers at the navies of every other nation on the ' Sec page 8T1. £b '^* \f.l: i ■^.: r' ■^ -^i m ^mm hllWl! m 1^ k. : IIB^^""!! Wl ■ H V Fil" H4 vtew If \ SB^R: t ' I iMj 3 1, . i III f i nlill ^ Fi 1 i ! 484 nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Number and Character of tht ASMfiean War Marine. Diatribntlon and Condition. American Merchantmen mrni face of the earth. That of the United States, her rapidly growing rival in national greatness and ever the object of her keenest jealousy, was made tlio s])ecial far- get for the indecorous jeers of her imblic writers and speakers. The Conntitution one of the finest vessels in the navy of the United States, and which was amonij the first to humble the arrogance of British cruisers, Avas spoken of as "a bundle (it'iiiiK boards, sailing under a bit of striped bunting ;" and it was asserted that " a few lnoad sides from England's wooden walls would drive the paltry striped bunting from the ocean.'" It was with erroneous opinions like these that the commander of the Alfri •AuKOBtis, attacked the JUssex,'^ and, as we shall observe presently, was undeceived i8i«- ty a conclusive argument. Yet, in spite of conscious inferiority of strength in men and metal, the distrust of the nation, and the defiant contempt of the foe thf little navy of the United States wont b Idly out upon the ocean to dispute with En- gland's cruisers the supremacy of the sta.^ When war was declared, the public vessels of the United States, exclusive of ono hundred and seventy gun-boats, numbered only twenty, with an aggregate armament of litle more than five hundred guns. These were scattered. Four of them had wintered at Newport, Rhode Island; four others in Hampton Roads, Virginia; two were away on foreign service ; two were at Charleston, South Carolina ; two were at New Orleans; one was on Lake Ontario; and five were laid up "in ordinary."' In view of this evident inefficiency of the American navy to protect its commerce, then was much alarm among the few merchants whose ships had gone abroad before the laying of the embargo, which saved many hundreds of detained vessels from exposure to capture or destruction, and thus furnished materials for the privateers that soon swarmed upon the ocean. These merchants sent a swift-sailing pilot -boat to the coasts of Northern Europe with the news of the declaration of war, and with diree- tions for the American commercial marine in the harbors of Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia, to remain there until the war should cease. By this timely movement a greater part of the American shipping in those ports was saved from the perils of British privateering. A sketch of that important branch of the American naval serv- ice during the war will be presented in a group in another part of this work. It is ■ This was alladed to in the following atanzas of a song of the time : " Too long onr tare have borne in peace Witt British domineering; But now they've sworn the trade should cease— For vengeance they are steering. First gallant Hull, he was the lad Who sailed a tyrant-hunting, And swaggering Dacrcs soon was glad To strike to 'striped bunting.'" • " While, therefore," says an English writer, " a feeling toward Americans bordering on contempt hn'l nnhappilv poi- sesscd the mind of the British naval offlcer, rendering hira more than usually careless and opiniouative, the Americm naval offlcer, having been taught to regard his new foe with a feeling of dread, sailed forth to meet him with the whole of his energies aroused."— A'ncal Oemirrenees nf the Late War, etc., by William James. ' The following is a list of those vessels, their rated and actual armament, the names of the commanders oftboK afloat, and the designation of those in " ordinary," or laid up for repairs or other purposes : NHine. Constitntion.. . United States . President Chesapeake . . New York Constellation . . Congress Iloiton KsHex , Adams , 44 44 44 36 86 m 86 32 Motint- ing. Employed. 88 58 88 44 44 44 44 Capt. Hull. Capt. Decatur. Com. Rodgers. Ordinary. Ordlnaiy. Ordinary. Capt. Smith. Ordinary, (ispt. I'orter. Ordinary. Name. iluliii Adams. Wiigp Hornet Siren Argus Oneida Vixen Nautilus .... Kntt'rprise . . Viper Rcited. 16 16 16 1(1 16 13 VI \1 Mount. ing. 18 18 Employed. Capt. Ludlow. Capt. .Tones. < 'apt. Ijiwrence. Meat. Carroll. Crane. Woolsey. tiadeden. Sinclair. lilnkely. Mainl)ridge. There were fonr bomb-vessels in ordinary, named respectively Vengeanee, Spitfire, jKtna, and Vesuvitu. The juii- boats were all numbered, from " 1" to " 170," and during the War of 1812 were distribnted as follows : In New York, 64 : New Orieans, 26 ; Norfolk, 14 ; Charleston, S. C, 2 ; Wilmington, N, C, 2 ; St. Mary's, 11 ; Wathing- ton, 10; Portland, 8; Boston, 2; Connecticnt and Rhode Island, 4; Philadelphia, 20; Baltimcre, 10. Of these otl; flity-two were in commission. Eighty-six were in ordinary, and some were undergoing repairs. There had been at Increase of Ave to the number, and some slight changes of position, when the war broke out. indersofttiiw ,u(llow. [(ines. jiwrcnce. (jarrolL The cH'.!- , 11 ; Wafhing- lof these only ■re had been ai OF THE WAR OP 18 12. 436 Commodore Rod)^n't Squndrun. Cruiao of the Prtnidmt. FIrat Shot on the Water. Chase of the lleltiUera. proposed now to consider the events of the regular service only, excepting where iit'ceHsity may C()mi)t'l an incidental allusion to the other. At the time of the dfoiaration of war, Commodore Uodgcrs, with his flag-ship Pres- ident 44; l!iisex,32, Captain Porter; and Jlornet, IH, Captain Lawrence, was in the port of New York. The iJaaex was overhauling her rigging ; the others might be ready for service at an hour's notice. On the 21st of June Uodgcrs received the news of the declaration of war, and with it orders for sailing immediately, lie had drop- ped down the bay that morning with the J*resi(lent and Hornet, and toward noon had been joined by a small s(juadron under Commodore Decatur, whose broad ])ennon floated from tlie United /States, 44. Her com})anion8 were the Congreaa, 38, Captain Smith, and Argus, 10, Lieutenant Commandant St. Clair. Rodacrs had received information that a large fleet of Jamaica-men had sailed for England under a strong convoy, and he believed that they must then be sweeping along the American coast in the current of the Gulf Stream. When his sailing orders arrived he resolved to make a dash at that convoy, and within an hour after receiving Ills dispatch from the Navy Department ho had weighed anchor. With the united siiuadron he passed Sandy Hook that afternoon. In the evening he spoke an Ameri- can merchantman that had seen the Jamaica fleet, and had been boarded by the Brit- ish frigate Belvidera, 36. Kodgers crowded sail and commenced pursuit. Thirty-six hours elapsed, and the enemy were yet invisible; but an English war-vessel was espied on the northeastern horizon, and a general chase of the whole squadron com- menced in that direction. The wind was fresh, and the enemy was standing before it.i The fleet President outstripped her companions, and rapidly gained on the fu- i.'itive. At four o'clock she was witlini gun-shot of the enemy, off Nantucket Shoals, when the wind fell, and the heavier President — heavier, because she had just left port— began to fall behind. To cripple the stranger was now Rodgers's only hope of success. With his own liand he pointed and discharged one of his forecastle chase-guns, the first hostile shot i,f the war fired afloat.^ It went crashing through the stern-frame of the stranger and into the gun-room with destructive effect, driving her peo])lc from the after part iif the vessel. This was immediately followed by a shot from the first division below, directed by Lieutenant Gamble, which struck and dan\aged one of the stranger's stem-chasers. Rodgers fired again, and was followed immediately by Gamble, whose i.'nu bursted, and killed and wounded sixteen men. It blew up the forecastle of the Resident, and threw Rodgers several feet into the air. In his descent one of his legs was broken. This accident caused a pause in the firing, when a shot from a stera- iliascr of the stranger came plunging along the President's deck, killing a midship- man and one or two men. It was now twilight, and the British ship having her spars and rigging imperiled ty the Presideni's fire, that vessel having yawed' for the purpose, began to lighten by cutting away her anchors, staving and throwing overboard her boats, and starting two tons of water. She gained headway ; and, as a last resort, the President fired three broadsides, but with little effect. Unwilling to lighten his own ship, as it would impair his ability for a cruise, Rodgers ordered the pursuit to be abandoned at midnight.* The British vessel, it was afterward ascertained, was the tjn„e23 frigate Iklmdera, 31', Captain Richard Byron, that had boarded the Ameri- '^^^'^■ can merchantman J ist mentioned. Her commander displayed great skill in saving liis vessel. She sailed for Halifax for repairs,* and gave the first information there ' The commander of the English vessel had not henrd of the declaration of war, and when he saw the squadron he !tflO(i toward it. But when he saw them suddenly take iu their studding-sniis and haul np in chase of him, frequently tftline the sails to profit by the lightness of the wind, he suspected hostility. ' The flrst on land was In the amphibious flght at Sackett's Harbor a month later. See page 308. ' To yixvs is to steer wild, or out of the Hue of the ship's course. ' The Mtiiera was badly injured in her hull, spars, and rigging. The President received a Dumber olf skots In her iilli and rigging, but was not materially injured. k iti 486 PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK CbM* of (lie Janmicn Mitrchaiit KImt. Britlih 8qa«dr«n at Hsllhx. Oaptnr* of the iVaMl,^ c/V/y~e^^*^^ and wounded by shot, ami /^ Heverul others by Hplintits, of the lutuiil t'xiMtenco of war, so ponitively communicated to her by the J^-esidant, In tl)iH action tlic American ^— biii-Htinji; of the gun. Tlic frigate had twenty-two men /^y^ /f^^, ^ /^ JielvUUtni h)8t Hcven killnl killed and wounded, sixteen ^^ of whom were injured by the Captain Uyron was wounth'd in the thigli by the hUtor,' Itudgers now continued the chase atler the Jamaica-men. Cocoanut shells, oranpe wkinH, and other evidences of his being in their track, were seen upon the wutci off the Hanks of Newfoundland on the first of July. On the ninth the coinmaiider ot'ai, English letj,er-()f-marque ca|)tured by the Hornet reported that he had seen the fleet on the previous evening, wlien he counted eighty-five sail, convoyed by a two-deck sliij), a frigate, a shM)p-of-\var, and a brig. This intelligence stimulated Kodgors to greater exertions, and he continued the chase, ineftectually on account of fogs, mi til the 13th, when he was within a day's sail of the chops of the Irish Chaimd. 'I'liin he relinqui.shed pursuit, sailed southwardly, and passed within thirty miles of the IWk of Lisbon, in sight of Madeira, the Western Islands, and the (Jrand Hanks of New- foundland, without fulling in with a single vessel of war, and entered liostoii llmlior after a cruise of seventy days. lie had captured seven English merchantmen, ne;i|i- lured an American vessel from a Hritish cruiser, and brought in about one hinidred and twenty prisoners. IMany of the seamen of the squadron were sick of the scurvv, and several hail died. The news carried into Halifax by the lielviilera created a )>rofound sensation there, The commandant of that naval station, P.ear Admiral Sawyer, took measures imme- diately to collect a squadron for the purpose of cruising in searcli of Uodgers's slii|i> or any other American vcsscIh, Within a week, the African, 04, Caj)tain Hustanl ; tin Shannon, .'18, C'aj)tain liroke; the Guerriere, 38, Cajdain Dacres ; the J}elvHkra,'ii. Captain Byron; and the y?Jolm, H2, Captain Lord .James Townsend, were unitwl in one squadron, under the command of Captain Broke, the senior officer, who niu.le the Shannon his fiag-ship. This force appeared oft" New York er.rly in July, ana made several captures, among them the United States brig Nautilus, 14, of Trij)olitan fame- Lieutenant Commandant Crane. She liad arrived at New York just after Kodsei^ left, and went out immediately for tiu purpose of cruising in the track of the English West Indiamen. On the very next day she fell in with the British squadron, and, after a short and vigor- ous chase, was compelled to strike lier colors to the Shannon, and surrender one hundred and six men. The NautiliiA was the first vessel of war taken on either skk in that contest. A prize crew was placed in her, and she was made one of Broke's squadron.^ She was .tfterward fitted with sixteen 24-pound carrouadcs, and commissioned as a cruiser. The Constitution, 44,* Captain Isaac TUK UUNBTITl'TION IM 1800. ' Roilcern's jonrnal nnd British ncconnt of tlie eneniiement, In Nilcs'a Weeltly Ecgieter, 111., 20 ; American account In the Bmtm Centincl, by nn offlcer of the eqnndron ; Cooper's Xc.nal History, ii., 160. ' See page W. 3 In naval nnmeuclatare, a numt>er of vusgeU under one commander, lees than ten, are called a tquadran; muretlun ten, a fleet. * The Crmntilution was hullt at Hart's ship-yard, In Boston, where Constitution Wharf now is, at a cost or$i!OJ,"IS. She was made very strong. Her fVame was of live-oak, nnd her pinnks were hent on without steam, as it was thonjrhl that process softened and weakened the wood. She was lauueJied on the 21st of October, 1797 (see pajje 100), In thf presence of a great gntherinp; of people. She dldiiot start upon a cruise until the following season, when she was w- mnnded by Captain James Nicholson, who died in New York on Snnday, the 5d of September, 1804, In the slxty-iiiiilh y mu.le the 11 lid mailc itan I'auu'.- Koilgi'in y ibr tlu' iick of tlic the very I' British and vigor- strike lllT •ender one mtiluA \v;i> either M: was placi'l of Br(ik('> avd fittnl lades, and itain Isaac can nccomit In See page 1*. |o»; more than «t of$3(«,-15. lit wns thonpM h she was ctwi- Ithe Riity-iiiii"' OF TU£ WAU UF 1819. HI Onili* of the (*!««<«<*>»»■ She niMti • Brlttih 8qa*dron. An ezclilng ChM* bvgnn. Hull rcluniod from fon^ipn Hcrvipc at iibottt the time of the (Icclnnitioii of wnr, niul wont into C'lu'Ha|ifiiki' Hiiy, wIuto hIk! Hhipjicd u now cn'w, tiiid on tlu; I'ith of .Inly wiilt'd from Annii|»oli8 on a crniHo to the northwiird.' Hh« was out of nij^lit of land on till' 17''>i f<i»'l'".U undiT I'UHy ciinvas with a lii,'lit hrcozo, when, at one o'clock in the atlcriioon, slu' dcHcricd fonr vchsi'Ih northward, heading westward. At four o'clock she (liHcovcrcd a fifth sail in a similar direction, which had the a|)|iearance o*'n vessel of war. Hv 'hh time the other four were so near that they were distiii;4uisheil as three ships and a hrig. They were in sight all the afternoon, evidently watching the Von- stitii(tL>i. At iialf past six a 'oreeze sprang nj) from the southward, which brought till' latter to the windward of the last discovered vessel. She was a Hritish frigate. Hull ilclcnnined to hear down upon and speak to her; and, to he ready for any eniej"- iieiioy, he heat to «|uarters, and prejiared his ship for action. The wind was very light, and the two frigates slowly approached eacli other during the evening. At ten o'clock till! Vomtitntion shortened .^ail and displayed a private signal. The lights were kejit aloft for an hour without receiving an answer. At a ipiarter past eleven they wore lotti'ii'd, and the (Constitution made sail again under a light breeze that prevailed all niglit. .lust befo. .' dawn the stranger lacked, wore entirely round, threw up a nj"ket, aiul fired two signal-guns. In the gray of early morning three other vessels wore discovered on the starboard (juarter of the Constitution, and three nu)re asteni, and at five o'clock a fourth was -icen in the latter direction. The American cruiser had fallen in M'ith liroki's sipiad- ron,and the vessel with which she had been manieuvring all night was the Ci'cn-iere, ;)8, Captain Dacros. The squadron was just otit of gun-shot distance from the CV-h- ditiition, and the latter found herself in the perilous position ol' having two frigatcb on licr Ice quarter, and a sMj) of the line, two frigates, a brig, and a schooner astern. Till' brig was the caj)tured Nautilus. Now commenced one of the most remarkable naval retreats and pursuits ever re- cordi'd. The Constitution was not powerful enough to fight the overwhelming force liosing around her, and Hull jiercived that her Siifety depended upon celerity in tliiilit, There was almost a dead calm. Her sails fl.;'>i>"d lazily, and she floated al- most independently of the helm on the slowly undidating bosom of the sea. In this mr of hie aiic. Shawns bo Btnneli b etiip that tha name nt froMuien wnn piven her. 8ho nlwayn wns favored with ficellent commnnderK .iiid performed gHlliint service. Sonic years njjo tlic Navy Ueparlment concluded to brenli her lip and Bell her timbers, as she was thought to be a decided "Invalid." The order had gone forth, when the execution iifll was arrested by the voice of public opinion, called forth by the magic wand of a ixiet— the jmmi of Dr. Oliver ^Veu- ilcll Hulmes, who wrote and pnhlished the following stirrlug protest ugaliist muMug merchandise of hei- : "Ay, tear her tattered ensign down ! Long has it waved on high. And many an eye has danced to seo That banne' in the sky. licneath it rung the battie-shout, And hurst the cannon's roar ; The meteor of the ocean air Shall sweep the clouds no more. Her deck, once red with heroes' blood— Where knelt the vanquished foe, When winds were humming o'er the flood, And waves were white below — No more shall fee', the victor's tread, Or know the conquered knee : The harpies of the shore shall pinck The eagle of the ecu ! 1 better thst her ihattored hnik Should sink beneath the wave : Her thunders shook the mighty deep, And there should he her grave. Nail to the mast her holy flag, Set every threadbare sail, And give her to the Ood of Storms, The lightning and the gale !" 'OM IrmKidef" was saved, repaired, and converted into a echool-shtp. Such it her vocation now [tfiCTl. She was lyini; at Annapolis in that capaci';' when the Great Rebellion broke out in ISGl. Our little sketcli exhibits her under Ml Mil, ns dhe appeared there in the autumn of ls«0. When the Naval Academy was temporarily removed from An- napolis t.) Newport, Rhode Island, on account of the Rebellion, the C-^uHtittion took her place at the latter ^lntion. ller latest commander li the war of 1812-'t8, Rear Admiral Charles Stewart, yet [I'^OT] survives, at the age of ninety- one years. He is sometimes called Old Irmuridee. His achievements In the CmiMftuHon will bo noticed hereafter. 1 The following la a list of the ofticers of the Conatihition at that time : Captain, Isaac Hull ; Ueutenatitit, Charles Mor- ti», Alexander 8. Wadsworth, Bcekman V. Hoffman, George C. Read, John T. Shubrick, Charles W. Morgan ; Sailiufi- wfer.John C. Alwyn; Z.iet(((<nan(ti «/ JfaWn«8, William S. Bush, .Tohn Contee; Utirg^n, Amos E. Evans; Swyton'it Mala, John D. Armstrong, Donaldson Yeatcs ; Pttrwr, Thomas J. Chew ; Mul3hi],m«n, Henry Giiiiain, Thomas Beatty, William D. Salter, Lewis Germain, William L. Gordon, Ambrose L. Field, Frederick Banry, Toseph Cross, Alexander Better, William Taylor, Alexander Kskridge, James W. Uelancy, James Gteenleaf, Allen Oriffln, John Taylor; Coat- min, Peter Adams ; Gumvr, Robert Anderson. H ! » i^ 438 VICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK Methous for Flight. How the C<m»tU:Uion eluded her PiirBUorfi. Her final Escape. listlessness tlicre waw danger. Down wont her boats with long linos attached and the sweeps wore bent in towing her with the energy of men struggling for iifo ami liberty. Uj) from hor gun-dock was brought a long cighteen-pounder, and placed on her spar-deck as a Htern-chaser, .vhile anothc, of the same weight of metal and for a sinular purpose, ^'.is pointed oft" tlie forecastle. Out of the cabin windows, when saws and aves had '.iiade them broad i.'nough, two twenty-four pounders wore run, snd ^\[ the light '.annr)ii that would draw was set. She was just beginning to got under her.dway, with a gentle northwest wind blowing, when exertion was stimulated by the booming of the jow-guns of the Shannon. For ten minutes she sent fortii her shot, but without eifect, for she was y t beyond range. Again the breeze died awav. Soundings showed twenty fathoms of waLer. A hedge' might be used. All spaic rope was spliced and attached to one which was carried out half a mile ahead ami cast into the deep. Quickly and strongly the crew " clapped on and Malked away with the shij), overrunnuig and tripping the kcdgc as she came up with the end of the line."^ This was frequently repeated, and the frigate moved oft" in a manner most mysterious to hor pursuers. At length they discovered the secret and adopted tiie method, when the Constitution, liaving a little breeze, fired a shot at the Shannon the nearest shij) astern. At nine o'clock that vessel, employing a large number of men in boats and with a kedge, was gaining rapidly on the flying frigate. A conflict, ui.oqual and terrible, sjcmed impending and inevitable, yet onboard the Constitution the best spirit prevailed. Nearer and nearer drew the Shannon, and almost as closely the Gu&riere was now pursuing on the larboard quarter of the imperiled vessel. AJl hope Avas fading, when a light breeze from the south struck the Constitution and brought her to windward. WiHi such consummate skill did Captain Hull take ad- vantage of the wind and bear gallantly away, that the admiration of the enemy was excited in the highest degree. As she came by the wind she brought the Guemtrt nearly on her lee beam, when that vessel opened a fire from a broadside. The shot fell short, the blessed breeze that had come like a Providence at the criticpl moment died away, and the boats Avere again got out to tow by both parties. So anxioun was Broke to get the Shannon near enough for action, that nearly all the boats of the squadron were employed for the purpose,'^ while the men of the Constitution niadi' up in spirit what they lacked in numbers. Thu-i the race continued hour after hour all that day and night, the pursuers and the pursued sometunes tOAVuig, sometimes kedging. The dawn of the second day of the chase was glorious. The sun rose with un- usual splendor. Not a cloud was seen in the firmament. The sea was smootli, and a gentle wind was abroad, sufticient to make the murmur of ripples under the bow of the vessels fall pleasantly on the ear. All of the ships were on the same tack, and three of the English frigates were within long gun-shot of the Constitution on her lee quarter. Tiio five frigates were clouded with canvas from their truck to their deeks. Eleven sail were in sight. The scene Avas a most beautiful and exciting one. No guns were fired, for the distance between the belligerents widened. Either better sailing qualities or superior seamanship gave advantage to the Constitution. With that ploa.sant breeze she gained on hor antagonists, and at four o'clock in the after- noon she was four miles ahead of the Belvidera, tlie nearest English ship. At seven heavy clouds began to brood over the sea, Avith indications of a squall. The Cointi- tution prepared for it. It burst with fury — wind, lightning, and rain — but left that 1 Kcdge, or kedger, U a small anchor with «n Iron stock, nsed for keeping a vessel steady or warping it along. a Cooper, ii., IM. ' CopKeshall, in his Hintor;i <\f the Amtriean Privateers and letters of Marque, relates (page 12) that his friend, Captain Brown, who was a prisoner ou board the Shanrum, was amuped to hear Captain Broke and his officers converse alwnt the "Yankee frigate." At one period of the chni>c they werd so confident of capturing her that a prise-crew were al- ready appointed to conduct her in triumph to Halifax. To all their questions abont her, as she was seen speeding be- fore thetn, CnptAlo Brown bad but one answer, namely, "Oeutlemen, you will never take that trigate." OF THE WAR OF 1812. 439 Bod of tho Chme attor the Corutitution. The Enaac sturta on a Cruise. She captnres the Alert. cood frigato unhanned. The pursuers and tlie pursued lost sight of each other for a vliilc in the murky vapor. In less than an hour the squall hstd passed to leeward, and the Constitution, sheeted home, her main and top-gallant sails set, was flying away fi'oni the enemy at the rate of eleven knots. At twilight the pursuers were in sight and at near midnight they fired two guns. Away went the (Jonstitutioii before the wind, and at six in the morning the topsails of the British vessel were seen from the American, beginning to dip below the horizon. At a quarter past eight the Eu- irjishman relinquished the pursuit, and hauled off to the northward ; and a few days iirterward the British fleet separated for the purpose of cruising in dift'erent directions. Thus ended a chase of sixty-four hours, chiefly oft" the New England coast, remarkabh; alike for its length, closeness, and activity. It was a theme for much newspaper com- ment, and a poet of the day, singing of the exploits of the Constitution, referred to this a8 follows : " 'Kenth IIiiU's command, with a tough band, And naught be»ido to back her, Upon a day, as loj^-books say, A fleet bore down to thwack her. A fleet, you know. Is odds, or so, A^ninst a single ship, sirs ; So 'cross the tide her legs she tried, And gave the rogues the slip, sirs." A few days after Rodgers left New York, Captain Porter sailed from that harbor in the Essex, 32, from the mast-head of which fluttered a flag bearing conspicuously tlie words, " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." lie captured several English mer- chant vessels soon after leaving Sandy Ilook, making trophy bonfires of most of them on the ocean, and their crews his prisoners. After cruising southward for some weeks in disguise, capturing a prize now and then, he turned northward again, and met with increased success. One night, by tlie dim light of a mist-veiled moon, he chased a iieet of English transports bearing a thousand soldiers toward Halifax or the St. Law- rence, convoyed by the frigate Mercury, 30, and a bomb vessel. They were sailing wide, and he captured one of the transports, with one hundred and fifty men, before dawn, witiiout attracting the attention of the rest of the fleet, for no guns were fired. A few days after this," while sailing in the disguise of a merchantman, ■ August 13, her gun-deck ports in, top-gallant masts housed, and sails trimmed in a ^'**'^- slovenly manner, the Essex fell in with a sail to windward. Tiie stranger came bear- ing down gallantly, when the Essex showed an American ensign, and kept away un- der short sail, as if trying to avoid a contest. Tliis emboldened the English vessel. She followed the Essex for some time, and finally running down on her weather quar- ter, set her national colors, and, with three cheers from her people, oj)encd fire. She was soon undeceived, and her temerity was severely punished. The ports of the Essa. were knocked out in an instant, and the fire of the enemy was responded to with terrible effect. The assailant was so damaged and disconcerted that the con- flict was made short. It was a complete surprise. A panic seized her peoj)le, and, in spite of the eftbrts of her officers, they ffed below for safety.' Scarcely eight min- utes had elapsed from the firing of the first gun, when the stranger, which proved to 1)0 the British ship Alert, Captain T. L. P. Laugharnc, mounting twenty 18-pound car- ronades and six smaller guns, struck her colors and was reported to be in a sinking condition. When Lieutenant Finch, of the Essex, went on board to receive her flag, lie found seven feet water in the hold. She was a stanch vessel, and had been built for the coal trade. She was purchased for the British navy in 1804, and the comple- ment of her crew was one hundred and thirty men and boys. She was every way in- ferior to the Essex, whose armament was forty 32-pound carronades and six long twelves, and her comjilement of men was three hundred and twenty-five. The cap- turc of th e Alert possesses no special historical interest excepting from the fact that > It Is said that some of them, after their exchange, were execated for deserting their gana. f 1 ■! J; 1 t H ■ » ! 1 W' ;4- '■'1 i^'M: AM liiii ,i 1 . '*ij ^^^^ li 1 . 440 PICTORIAL riELD-BOOK A Cartel-ship scut into Newfoundlnnd. Tlie K»«ex cliiuieH Britiali Vennclj she was the first British national vessel capttcred in the war. The Alert liad three men wounded, while the Essex sustahied no injury whatever. The Essex was now crowded with prisoners, and Porter became conscious of the fact that they had entered into a plot to rise and take the vessel from him. Tlic leaks of the Alert being stopped, and all things put in fair seaworthy condition Por- ter made an arrangement with Captain Laugharne' to convert her into a cartel ship, When this was accomplished, the prisoners were placed on board of her, and slie was sent h'.to St. John's, Newfoundland. On her return to the United States she was fit- ted up for the government sei-vice. The Essex continued her cruise to the southward, and on the thirtieth of Ani;ust just at twilight, fell in with a British frigate hi latitude 36° N. and'longitudo 02° W.2 Porter prepared for action, and the two vessels stood for each other. Night fell, and Porter, anxious for combat, ran up a light. It was answered at the distance of about four miles. The Essex sought the stranger m that direction, but in vain, and when the day dawned she had disappeared. Five days afterward Porter fell in witli "two ships of war to the southward and a brig to the northward — the brig in chase of an American merchant ship."^ The Essex pursued, when the brig attempted to pass and join the otlier two vessels. The Essex headed her, turned her course northward, and continued the chase until abreast the merchantman, when, the wind being light, the brig escaped by the use of her sweeps. When the Essex showed her colors to the merchantman, the two British vessels at the southward discovered them, fired signal-guns, and gave chase. At four o'clock in the afternoon they were in the wake of the Essex and rapidly gaining upon her, when Porter hoisted the American colors, and fired a gun to the windward, cxpectinn to escape by some manoeuvre in the approaching darkness. At sunset tlie larger of the two vessels was witliin five miles, and rapidly shortening the distance between lier and the Essex. Poi-ter determined to heave about after dark, and, if ho could not pass his ])ur8uer, give her a broadside and lay her or board. The crew were in fine spirits, and when this movement was proposed to them they gave three lioartv cheers. Preparations for action were immediately made. The Essex hove round and bore away to the southAvest, but the night being dark and squally. Porter saw no more of the enemy. Supposing himself cut off from New York and Boston by a British squadron, he made for the Delaware.* Soon after Captain Porter reached the Delaware a circumstance occurred wliicli created quite a sensation in the public mind for a few days. A week after the dec- laration of war a writer in a New York paper charged Captain Porter with cruellv treating an English seaman on board of the Essex who refused to tight against hi- countrymen, pleading, among other reasons, that if caught he would be hung as a de- serter from the British navy. This story reached Sir James Lucas Yeo, conunandcr of the frigate Southampton, then on the West India station. By a prisoner in liis hands, who was sent home on parole, he forwarded a message to Porter which ap- ' Thomiis Lamb Polden LaiiKliame entprert tiie Brilleh navy in 1788, at the age of twelve years. He was a most faith- ftil and active officer, and advanced steadily to the poe, of commander, which he attained In 1811. He was appointed td the command of the sloop Alert in Fcbrnary, 1812. His h-st appointment alioat was to the AcJiates, IS, in which hi cruised lu the Chanml until November, ISIB. In 1828 he became inspecting commander in the coa8t-guard, was ad vanced to post-caplain, when he retired from the service on half-pay. He is yet [18671 living. ' The reader who may consult a modern map while studying; this account should remember that at that time tho lon- gitude was calculated from the meridian of Oreenwlcli, in England. In modern American maps it is calculated fiuDi Washington City, the national capital. ' Manuscript letter of Captain Porter to the Secretary of the Navy, dated "At sea, September B, 1812." ♦ Porter's manuscript letter, September B, 1812. That letter is before me. It contains a rough sketch of the nautical movement Just described. " Conslderiujf this escape a very extraordinary one," he wrote, "I have the honor to in- close you a sketch of the position of the shipN at three different periods, by which you will perceive at once the plan of effecting it." According to a letter from un officer of the Sliaiinon, that frigate was the larger of the two vessels that chased the ii'dsea; on that occasion, and the other vessel, Instei'd of being a " ship of war," as Porter supposed, was thf PUmlfr, a recaptured West Indiaman. In the light of this fact we perceive that Porter's escape was not very "extra- ordinary." The American merchantman mentioned In the text was the AftiifrtJO, ftom Cadiz. She was burnt by the English on the morning succeeding the chase. OF THE WAll OF 1812. 441 yeo'8 Challenge and Porter's Acceptance. The Motto of the Kmex. The Constitution starts on another Crnlse. peared in the following language on the 1 8tli of September, 1812, in the Democratic Press, printed in Philadelphia: "A passenger of the hrig Lyon, i'rom Havana to New York, cap- tured by the frigate iSotithampton, Sir James Yeo commander, is requested by Sir James Yeo to present his compliments to Captain Porter, commander of the American frigate Essex — would be glad to have a tete-d-tSte any Avhere between the Capes of Delaware and the Havana, where he would have the pleasure to break his own sword over his damned head, and put him down forward in irons," To this indecorous challenge Captain Porter replied as follows on the same day : "Captain Porter, of the United States frigate E;<sex, presents his compliments to Sir James Yeo, commanding H. B. M.'8 frigate Southampton, and accepts with pleasure his polite invita- tion. If agreeable to Sir James, Cai)tain Porter would prefer meeting near the Delaware, where Captain P. pledges his honor to Sir James that no other American vessel shall interrupt their tete-d-tete. The Essex may be known by a flag bearing the motto Fkee Tkade and Sailoks' Rights, and when that is struck to the Sortth- ««?/)(!«« Captain P. will deserve the treatment promised by Sir James.' Here the matter ended. The coveted tete-d-tSte never occur- red. The Constitution did not long continue idle after her escape from Broke's squadron. She remained a short time in Boston to recuperate, and on the '2d of August sailed eastN72''d in hope of falling in with some one of the En- glish vessels of Avar supposed to be hovering along the coast from Nantucket to Halifax. Hull,^ licr conmiander, was specially anxious ■ The orii^iiml of Porter's acceptance is in the poeeession of Doctor Leonard D. Koeclier, of Philadelphia, who liludly allowed rac to make from it the /iK-«imifc of the paKigraph given in the text. ' Isaac nnll wan horn at Derby, Connecticut, in 17T6. He first entered the merchant service, and in ITflS became a fourth lieu- tenant in the infant navy of the United States, under Commodore Nicholson. In ISOfl he was promoted to first lieutenant under Commodore Tiilhot. In 1804 he commanded the brig Argwi, and distinguished himself at the stormini; of Tripoli and the reduc- tion of Derne. He Avns made captain in tSW, and was in com- maud of the Conntitvtion when the war broke out. Of his achieve- ments in her the text fiimislies a detailed account. Commodore Hull served in the American navy, afloat and ashore, with the rank of captain, thirty-seven years. He commanded in the Med- iterranean and Pacific, and had charge of the navy yards at Bos- ton and Washington. He was a member ol^thc Naval Board for treral years. Commodore Hull died at hl» residence in Philadilphia on the ftth of Febrnary, lS4il. His remains rest in I/itml Hill Cemeterii, and over them is a beautiful altar-tomb of Italian marble, nmde by ilohn Stnithcrs and Sons. ll is a copy of the tomb of Sdpio Barbato at Home, chastely ornnmeuted, and surmouutei'. by an American eagle In II 1 ■■ i i 1 ■" 1 442 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Churriere. The CmuititutioH off the Eastern Coast. She chaHes a strange Veiiei to full in with that famous frigate before whom he had been compelled to fly wlipp she was part of a squadron, and of whom it had been said, " Long the tyrant of onr const Retgned the famous Gtierriere; Our little 'lavy she defled, Public ship and privateer: On her sails, in letters red, To our captains were displayed Words of warning, words of dread : 'All who meet me have a cure ! I am England's Ouerriere.' "' The commander of the Gtierriere Iiad boastfully enjoined the Americans to re- member that site was not tho Little Jklt- and this offensive form of menace in- creased Hull's desire to meet her and measure strength Avith her. The Constitution ran not fivr from the shore down to tliQ Bay of Fundy with- out meeting a single armed vessel. She then bore away southward off Cape Sable, and eastward to the region of Halifax but with a like result. Hull now determ- ined to cruise eastward of Nova Scotia to thcGulf of St. Lawrence, with the hope of interrupting vessels making their wayto Halifax or Quebec. In this new field he made some winnings, but the promise of much harvest Avas too small to detain him. He turned his prow southward, and on the nineteenth, at two o'clock in the afternoon, in latitude 41° 40', and longitude 55- 48 V l''*^ heart was gladdened by the discovery of a sail from his mast-head, too re- mote, however, for her character to be determined. The Constitution immediately gave cnase to the stranger, and at half jiast tliieo o'clock it was discovered that she was a frigate, and doubtless an enemy. Hull let his ship run free until within a league of the stranger to leeward, when he began tw shorten sail and deliberately prepare for action. The stranger at once showed si!fn^ of willingness for a fight. Hull cleared his ship, beat to (piarters, hoisted the Amer- ican colors, and bore down gallantly on the enemy, with the intention of bringiiii; her into close combat immediately. ftill relief, in the attitude of defending the no- tional fla;,', on which it stands There is n can- non-hnll under the flag, on which rests one of the eagle's talons. Upon the soiith side of the tomb is the name oJIsaac IIpi.i.. On the north side is the following inscription, written by his friend Horace Blnney, Esq. : " Feubuary ix., MiKci-xi.m. In afTectlonate devotion to the I)rivnlc virtues of Isaac Ilri.i,, his widow has erected this monument." The above likeness of Hull is from an engraving by Edwin, from a painting by Stewart. ' A feminine warrior— an Amazon. The ffucr- rierc was originally a French ship, and was cap- tured on the 19th of July, tS06, by the British ship Blanche, Captain Lavic. She was built at L'Orieut upon a sudden emergency, and her timbers, not having been well seasoned, were in a somewhat decaying state ut this time, it Is said. a See page 1«4. ' S«e note i, page 440. uull'h MOMUUKM'. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 44t8 l^Querriere llres on the Comlitution. Hull's CoolnesB, Terrible ReHpoiisc uf the ConDtitutimi. " ' Clear ship for action !' sonnda the boatswain's call ; 'Clear ship for action !' hU three uilmica bawl. Swift round the decks see war's dread weapons barled, And lloatlnjj ruins strew the watery world. 'All hands to quarters 1' fore and aft resounds, Thrills from the fife, and from the drum-head bounds ; From crowded hatchways scores on scores arise, Spring up the shrouds, and vauU Into the ekies. Firm at his quarters each bold gunner stands. The death-fraught lightning flashing t^om his hands." Comprelicnding Hull's movement, the Englishman hoisted three national ensigns/ fired 11 broadside of grape-shot, filled away, and gave another hroadsidc on the other tack but without eftect. The missiles all fell short. The stranger continued to ma- lucuvre for about three quarters of an hour, endeavoring. to get in a position to rak? and prevent being raked, when, disappointed, she bore up and ran unde topsails and jib, witii the whid on the quarter. The Constitution, following closely, yawed occa- sionally to rake and avoid being raked, and firing only a few guns as they bore, as she did not wish to engage in a serious conflict until they were close to each other. It was now about six in the evening. These indications or: the part of the enemy to eii<'a<'e in a fair yard-arm and yard-arm fight caused the Constittition to press all sail to <^et alongside of the foe. At a little after six the bows of the American be- cran to double the quarter of the Englishman. Hull had been walkhig the quarter- iloek keenly watching every movement. Ho was quite fat, and wore very tight l)rceches. As the shot of the Guerriere began to tell upon the Constitution, the gal- lant Lieutenant .Morris, Hull's second in command, came to the captain and asked nennissiou to open fire. " Not yet," quietly responded Hull. Nearer and nearer the vessels drew toward each other, and the request was repeated. " Not yet," said Hull as;aiii, very quietly. When the Constitution reached the point we have just men- tioned, Hull, filled with sudden and intense excitement, bent himself twice to the deck, and then shouted, " Now, boys, pour it into them !" The command was in- stantlv obeyed. The Constitution opened her forward guns, which were double shot- ted with round and grape, with terrible eftect. When the smoke that followed the lesnlt of that order cleared away, it was discovered that the commander, in his ener- iietie movements, had split his tight breeches from waistband to knee, but he did not stop to change them during the action.'^ The concussion of Hull's broadside was tremendous. It cast those in the cockpit of the enemy from one side of the room to the other, and, before they could adjust themselves, the blood came streaming from above, and numbers, dreadfully mutilated, were handed down to the surgeons. The enemy at the same time was pouring heavy metal into the Constitution. They were only half pistol-shot from each other, and the destruction was terrible. Within fifteen minutes after the contest commenced the stranger's mizzen-mast was shot away, her main yard was in slings, and her hull, spars, sails, and rigging were torn in pieces. The English vessel brought up in the wind as her mizzen-mast gave way, when the Constitution passed slowly ahead, poured in a tremendous fire as her guns bore, luffed short round the bows of hor autago;:"st to pvrivont being raked, and fell foul of her foe, her bowsprit running into the larboard quarter oi' the stranger. In this situation the cabin of the Constitution was set on tire by the explosion of the forward guns of her enemy, but the flames were soon ex- liiiguishod. Bntli parties now attempted to board. Tlie roar of great guns was terrible, and ' Thin is alluded to In an old song called " Halifax Station," written and very extensively sung soon after the event commemorated occurred : "Then up to each mast-head he straight sent a flag. Which shows on the ocean a proud British brag; But Hull, being pleasant, he sent \\\\ but one. And told every seaman to stand true to bin gun." ! Statement of Lieutenant B. Y. Hofltean. M I \ m ilif^ 444 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Attempts St Boarding. The Uuerrkre BOddenly made a Wreck. Dacres unrrenders to Hon. the fierce volleys of musketry on both sides, together with the heavy sea that wa nimiiiig, made that movement impossible. The English piped all hands from below and mounted thorn on the forward deck for the purpose; and Lieutenant Morris Alwyn, the master, and Lieutenant Bush, of the Marines, sprang upon the taftVail ot' the Constitution to lead their men to the same Avork. Morris was severely but not fatally shot through the body; Alwyn was wounded in the shoulder; and a bullet through his brain brought Bush dead to the deck. Just then the sails of the Comtl tution were filled, and as she shot ahead and clear of her antagonist, whose fore-mast had been severely woundi'd, that spar fell, carrying with it the main-mast, and leav- ing the hapless vessel a shivering, shom, and helpless wreck, rolling like a log in tLe trough of the sea, entirely at the mercy of the billows, " Quick as lightulng, :\ \ U\U\\ as its dn^adcd power, Destruction and ih iih on the Quiirnn: did shower, AVhile the groans ■ the dying won- lieaid on the bhist. The word was, 'Tmki' aim, hoys, away with tlic mast !' The genius of Britain will long rue the day. The Guerriere 'e a wreck in the trough of the sea ; Her laurels are withered, her boasting is done ; Submissive, to leeward she Arcs her last pun."— Old Sono. The Constitution hauled off a short distance, secured her own masts, rove new rin- ging, and at sunset wore round and took a favorable position for rakinj the wreck, A jack that had been kept flying on the stump of the enemy's mizzen-mast was now lowered, and the late Commodore George C. Read, then a third lieutenant, was sent on board of the prize. She was found to be the Giiemere, 38, Captain James Richards Dacres, one of tlie vessels which had so lately been engaged in tin memorable chase of her present coiHiuer- or, and which Hull was anxious to meet, The lieutenant asked for the coinmander of the prize, when Captain Dacres a]i- pcared. "Commodore Hull's compli- ments," said Read, " and wishes to know if you have struck your flag ?" Captain Dacres, looking up and down, coolly and dryly remarked, "Well, I don't know; our mizzen-mast is gone, our main-mast is gone, and, upon the whole, you may fay we have struck our flag." Read then said, " Commodore Hull's compliments, and wishes to know whether you need the asijist- ance of a surgeon or surgeon's mate V" Dacres replied, " Well, I should sup])ose you had on board your own ship business enough for all your medical ofiicers." liead replied, " Oh no ; we have only seven wounded, and they were dressed half an hour JAJIE8 BIOUAItn DAOBEB. aero. "1 ' Statement of Captain William B. Ornc, in the New York Ereninri Post. He commai.ded the American brig Helm, and when returning from Nai>leB in the summer of 1812, she was captured by ttic Guerriere. Captain Orne was a pris- oner on board of her at the time of the action, and was treated by Captain Dacres with the greatest courti'sy. Wlion that commander's Interview with Read was concluded, he turned to Orne and said, "How have our siluulious beeo changed ! You are now free, and I am a prisoner." James Hl<'hard Dacres was a son of Vice Admiral J. R. Dacres, who was in command of the British schooner Carlitm, on Lake Champlain, in the flght with .Arnold's flotilla In ]77(i. Young Dacres entered the royal navy in ITOli, on board the Sceptre, M, ccmimanded by his father. His first service was against the French, In which he exhibited excolleut qualities. He was promoted to the command of the sloop Elk In 1805, and the next year was transferred lo the Barehantf, 24, He was appointed to the eommami of the Guerriere in March, ISll. She then carried 48 guns, and was called "a worn-out frigate." See O'Byrne's S'aval Binqrajihi. He was wounded In the action with the Conatitutiim. We was unanimously acquitted by the court-martial at nalifax that tried him for surrendering bis ship. He commanded tlir M ■: iiiMii ill OF THE WAR OF 1813. 445 ,0 luei't. miiuulor !rCS !l]l- coiniili- to know ICaptiiiii 11 y aiHl know ; i-niast is Inay m lieu saiil. le assist- liosc vmi an hour m- I a prii'- When latiohs beou • Carkim, , on lioiiril I'll cxcplleiit ( Haeehmit, |i8 called " a 1. lie waF nandeil the Bffect of the News of the Victory. null'a Reception iu Bolton. DMtrnctlon of the OuerHere . The Constitution kept near her prize all night. At two in the morning a strange jl yfj^s seen closing upon them, when she cleared for action, but an hour later the intruiler stood off and disappeared. At dawn the otticor in charge of the Guerriere liailed to say that she had four feet water in her hold and was in danger of sinking. Hull immediately sent all his boats to bring off the prisoners and their effects.' That duty was accomplished by noon, and at three o'clock the prize crew was recalled. The Gnerriere WHS too much damaged to be saved; so she wan seu on tire, and fifteen minutes afterward she blew up, scattering widely upon the subsiding billows all that was left of the boastful cruiser that was " not the iittle Jielt."^ " leauc did so maul and rake her, That the decks of Captain Dacre Were iu Biicli a woful pickle As if Death, with scytlie and sickle, With his Hilug or with his shafl. Had cut his harvest fore and nft. Thus, in thirty minutes, ended Miscliiefs that could not be mended; Masts, and yards, and ship descended All to David Jones's locker- Such a ship, in such a pucker 1"— Old Sonq. Tlie Constitution arrived at Boston on the 30th of August, and on that day Cap- tain Hull wrote his official dispatch to the Secretary of War, dated " U. S. frigate Constitution, off Boston Light." He was the first to announce to his countrymen the intelligence of his own victory. That intelligence was received with the most lively demonstrations of joy in every part of the repidilic, and dispelled for a mo- ment the gloom occasioned by the recent disasters at Detroit in the surrender of (ioiieral Hull. When the Constitution appeared in Boston Hai'bor, she was surround- ed by a flotilla of gayly-decorated small boats, and the hundreds of people who filled tlicni made the air tremble with their loud huzzas. At the wharf where he landed \w was received Avith a national salute by an artillery company, which was returned hv the Constitution. An imniense assemblage of citizens were there to greet him ami escort him to quarters prepared for him in the city, and th^ whole town was tilled with tumultuous joy. Tlie streets through which the triumphal procession passed were decorated with flags and banners. From, almost every window ladies waved their white handkerchiefs, and from the crowded side-pavements shout after shout of the citizens greeted the hero. Men of all ranks hastened to pay homage to the conqueror. A splendid public entertainment was given him and his officers by the inhabitants of Boston, and almost six hundred citizens, of both political parties, sat down to the banquet in token of their appreciation of the gallant commander's Tihtr from 1814 to 1818. He continued in service afloat. In 1838 he attained flag rank, answering to onr commodore, and Iu 1845 was appointed commander-in-chief at the Cape of Good Hope, his flag-ship being tlic I^esident, N). Vice Admiral Dacres died in England, at an advanced age, on the 4th of December, 1S53. The preceding likeness of Captain Dacre» (Vice Admiral of the Red) is from a prin. published in London in October, 1831. 1 "I feel it my duty to state that the conduct of Captain Hull and his oflicers to our men has been that of a brave ciicmy, the greatest care being taken to prevent onr men losing the smallest trifle, and the greatest attention being piud to the wonndcd."— Captain Dacres's Report to Vice Admiral Sawyer, September 7, 1S12. i Three day? before the action between the Comtitution and Guerriere, the JohnAininit, Captain Fash, fVom Liverpool, was spokeu by the English frigate. Upon Fash's register, which he deposited at the New York Custom-house, the fol- lowinc lines were found written : "Captain Dacrcs', cinnmander of his Rritannic majesty's frigate Guerriere, of 44 gnus, presents his complimentu to lommudore Rodgers, of the United States frigate I^eaidcnt, and will be very happy to meet him, or any other American friu'aleofcqnal force to the Premdmt, ofl" Sandy Hook, for the purpose of having a few minutes' tete-ij-t'te." To this fact a poet of the day, an American gentleman then living at St. Bartholomew's, thus alluded : "This Briton oft bad made bis boast He'd with his tcw, a chosen host. Pour fell de' truction round our coast, An-l work a revolution ; Urged by his pride, a challenge sent Bold llodgers, in the Pregident, Wishing to meet Him fteir-t'te. Or one his eqnal from our fleet — Such was the Conxtitution." m ■X i - 5; 1 ii fiiili 446! PICTORIAL FIELD-nOOK Tribute! of Honor by CItizeuH and Public Bo,Iie8. Congress presentg Hull with a Gold Medal services.' The citizens of New York raised money for the purchase of swords to be j)resei!ted to Captain Hull and his officers; and the Corporation offered the ijallani •December 28, victor thc freedom of the city in a gold box," with an appropriate in. ^^^'^- scription.^ Hull was also recpiested by the same Corporation to sit for his portrait, to be hung in the pict'ire-gallery cf the City Hall.^ In l*liihvdeli)liia tlic citizens, at a general meeting, resolved to present to Captain Hull "a piece ofpliit,, of the most elegant workmanship, with appropriate emblems, devices, and insciii,. tions," and that " a like piece of plate be presented to Lieutenant Morris, in the nanu. ' A stirring ode was sung at tlie table. It was written for the occasion by the late L. M. Sargent, Esq., then an emi- nent and highly estecme jfcitiiicii of Boston. The victory of Hull, so complete, and obtained over a foe so nearly eqnal ill streugtli, gave promise of futnre successes on the ocean, and Inspired the most doubtiug heart with hope. Tliie liope was expressed iu the following closing stanza of Mr. Sargent's ode : " Hence be our floating bulwarks Those oaks our niountalus yield ; 'Tis mighty Heaven's plain decree- Then take the watery field I ^ To ocean's farthest barriers, then. Tour whitening sails shall pour; Safe they'll ride o'er the tide While Columbia's thunders roar ; While her cannon's fire is flashing fast, And her Yankee thunders roar." » This Is a merely complimentary act, by which a person, for gallant or useful services. Is honored with the nominal right to all the priviieger and immunities of a citizen by the government of a city. When Andrew Hamilton, of Plilla- deli)liia, nobly defended thc liberty of the press, and procured the acquittal of John Peter Zcnger, o'NewYork printer, who was accused of libel by thc governor In 1735, the Corporation of New York presented that able lawyer the freedom of thc city in a gold box for his noble advocacy of popular rights. When Washington Irving returned to New Yurk, after twenty years' absence in Europe, the freedom of the city was given to him as a compliment for his distinctlou as an American author when snccessftil ones were rare. Thc ceremony of presentation to Captain Hull took place In the Common Council Chamber of the City Hall. A com- mittee, consisting of Aldermen Fish and Mesier, and General Morton, introduced Hull to the Common Council, when He Witt Clinton, the mayor, arose and addressed him. He then presented him with the diploma, elegantly executed in vellum,* and a richly-emDossed gold box, with a representation of the batt'c between the ConatiUUion and Guerrim paintecl In enamel. Hull responded In a few low and modest words, after ■which the mayor administered to him Ihe freeman's oath. ' In that gallery hang thc portraits of the successive governors of the State of New York. On that account it is known as the Governors' Room. * On one side of thiii medal, represented of the exact size of the original In the above engraving, is seen thc likenew of Captain Hull in profile, w'th the legend isaocb hci.i. pkbitos arte superat jrn.. mkoooxii. amo. oeuta.mine fortw. This legend (and date) seems to refer to thc skill of Hull in escaping fVom the British fleet the previous month, for it asserts that his stratagem overmatched the experienced English. On thc reverse of the medal is seen a naval ciii;Bge- ment. In which the Guerriere Is represented as receiving the deadly shots that cut away her mizzen-mast. The le(;encl Is uon/K MOMENTo vioTonrA, and the exergue intkh oonbt. nav. ameb et oiier. ^Av. anqi,. — the abbreviation of word» Indicating action " between the American ship Constitution and the English ship Ouerriere." ' The form of words In which this Instrument Is expressed will be found in aiiother part of this work, where an ac- connt Is given of a similar honor conferred on General Jacob Brown. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 447 Eiitlmate8 ot Its Importance. Kcmurki of the Uiudun Titna. nil. Awm- )iincil, when executed in 1(1 Gntrrim to him Ihi' tit la known the likciiw IINR KOBTKH. nonlh, tor it ivnl cni;agi'- The lojicnil lonofwordi Effect of the Victory on the Brl tl»h. tribiitcd as prize-money amonj» the officers and crew of the victor, whose example was " liighly honorable to the American character and instructive to our rising It is difficult to comprohond at this time the feehng which tliis victory of thi Amoricans created on botii sides of the Atlantic. The Hritish, as we have observdl. looked with contcmj)t upon the American navy, while the vVmericans looked upon thai of England with dread. The naval flag of England had seldnin been lowered to an enemy during the lapse of a century, and the people had come to believe her" woodei walls" to be iinpregnablc. Djicres himself, though less a boaster than most of his coiintrynien in command, had similar faith. He believed that an easy victory awaited him Avhenevcr he should l)e so fortunate as to meet any American vessel ii conflict; ,111(1 he constantly e.Kpressed a desire to show how quickly he would make the "striped Imntiii"'" trail in his presence. Very great, then, was the disaiipointment of the com- mamler of the Guerriere, the service, and the British people, when Hull's victory was sct'omplished. The Americans, on the other hand, as we have observed, had little lonfidcnce in the power of their navy, and a( that time they were cast down by the heavy blow to their hopes in the misfortunes of the Army of the Northwest at Detroit. This victory, therefore, so unex])ected and so complete, was like the sudden hiirstiiiij forth of the morning sun, without |)receding twilight, after a night of tem- l)oat, and the joy of the whole people Avas unbounded. It was natural for them to indulije in many extravagances, yet these were only the mere demonstrative evidences iif a new-boni faith that had taken hold of the American mind. This victory was, therefore, of immense importance, inasmuch as it gave the Amoricans confidence, and (liiipelled the idea of the absolute omnipotence of the liritish navy. Its momentous hearing upon the future of the war was at once perceived by statesmen and publicists on both sides, and zealous discussions at once arose concerning the relative strength, and force, and armament of the two vessels, and the comparative merits of the two commanders as exhibited in their conduct before sind during the action. There was a tendency on the part of the Americans to overestimate the importance (if the victory and the powers of their seamen, and there was an equal tendency of the organs of British opinion to underestimate it, and to detract from the merits of the conqueror by disparaging the strength and condition of the Guerriere. The very writers who had spoken of the Constitution as "a bundle of pine-boards" now called hir one of the stanchest vessels afloat ; and the G^ieiriere, which they liad praised US a frigate worthy of the exhibition of British valor when she was captured from llie French, and able to drive " the insolent striped bunting from the seas," was now spoken of as "an old worn-out frigate," with damaged n.asts, a reduced complement, and "in absolute need of thorough refit," for which "she Avas then on her way to Hal- ifax," Yet the London Timcs,ihGn, as now, the leading journal in England, and then, ,is now, the bitter enemy of the United States, and implacable foe of every supposed rival or competitor of England, was compelled, in deep mortification, to view the affiiir as a severe blow struck at Britain's boasted supremacy of the seas. "We have been accused of sentiments unworthy of Englishmen," it said, "because we described what we saw .and felt on the occasion of the capture of the Guerriere. We witnessed the gloom which that event cast over high and hononible minds ; we participated in the vexation and regret ; and it is the first time we have ever heard that the strikim/ of the Enylishflag on the high seas to any thing like an equal force should be regard- ed hy Englishmen with complacency and satisfaction It is not merely that an English frigate has been taken, afler, what we are free to confess, may be called a brave resistance, but that it has been taken by a new ei^emy, an enemy unaccustomed to mch triumphs, a,nd likely to be rendered insolent and confident by them. He must ?hcre an w- ' Besolutions of the Honso of Repreeentativea, November 5, 1S12. JLUMM '■i , 448 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Hurprlw and Chtgrln uftbe British. The Iwo VeDHelii compared. Coinmoduro Hull's Ueneroittt. be a woak politician who doos not wv liow iiiij)oitaiit tlic firnt triumph in in t;iviii(» a toni' an<l oiiaractt'r to tho war. Never before in the hitttonj of the world did mi E,,. (/VmIi frUjale strike to an American ^ and tlioiif^h wo can iinf say tliat Captain DacroH under all circumstances, is punishable for this act, yet w<! do say that there arc com- manders in the English nAvy who would a thousand times rather have jrone down with their colors flyintf than have set their brother-officers so fatal an exainiiio," William James, (me of the most bitterly partisan and unscrupulous historians of tb war, was constrained lo say, "There is no (piestion that our vanity received a wouml iu the loss of tho (i iierriere. Hut, poiun int as were the national feelings, lellcotinor men hailed the 10th ol August, 1812, as the commencement of an era of renovation to the navy of England."' The advantage in the action, in guns, men, and stanchness, was undoubtedly on tho side of the ConslitutioTi, y^'i not so much as (o make tho contest really an uncciual oji'.«. The V'ssels rated respectively 44 and !JH, while the Constitution actuallv car- ried in the action 50, and the Guerriere 49. The latter was pierced for !H and car- ried 50 when she was captured fi n the French.^ Her gun-deck metal \* ;ih liirhter than that of the Constitution, but ilie rest of her armament was the same. Notwith- standing this disparity, the weight of the respective broadsides, according to the most authentic account, could not have varied very materially.^ The crew of the Constitution greatly (iiitnumbered lliat of the Guerriere, being 408 against 2.5;). Tiiat of the latter hud a great advantage in experience and discipline; for they Inul hcwi long in naval service, Avhile the crew of the Constitution was newly shipped for this cruise, ami mostly from, the merchant service. According to tho official report of Captain Hull, the action lasted thirty minute? while Dacres said its duration was two hours and twelve minutes. This d^^cI•cpallcv may be reconciled by the consideration that the British commander probably counted from the time when the Guerriere fired her first gun, which the Constitution did not respond to, and the American commander computed from the moment when he poured in his first broadside. Tho Guerriere was maile a wreck — the Co7istitution was se- verely Avouniled in spars and rigging. The American loss was seven killed and seven wounded. The British loss was fifteen killed, forty-four wounded, and twenty-four (including two officers) missing. Dacres was severely wounded in the back. At that time there were more captains in the navy than vessels for them to com- mand ; and Captain Hull, with noble generosity and rare contentment with the laurels already won, gave up the command of his frigate for the sole pur[)ose of giving otii- era a chance to distinguish themselves. Captain Bainbridge, one of the oldest offi( rs in the service, and then in command of the Constellation, 38, which was fitting out for sea at Washington, was a])pointed Hull's successor. He was made a fiag officer, a;.d the Essex, 32, and Hornet, 28, was placed under his command. He hoisted his broad pennant on board the Constitution, and sailed from Boston on a cruise on the l.itli ot Septembc I-. Captain Charles Stewart was assigned to the command of the CunMella- tion / and not long afterward, Lieutenant Morris, Hull's second in command, who was severely wounded when gallantly attempting to lead a boarding-))arty to the decks of the Guerriere, was promoted to captain. Of Bainbridge's cruise I shall write pres- ently. Let us now consider a most gallant exploit of the Wasp, an inferior member of the United States Navy. The sloop-of-war Wasp, 18, was considered one of the finest and fastest sailers of her class. She was built immediately after the close of the war with Tripoli, and was thor- / %m : J-. ( »l C«»f J , ..t. i::.. :li J i¥ ' IfavcU Oemnenees, page 110. » Captniii Lavie's Letter to Lord Keith, July 2fi, 1800. "Le GtierrUre," he snid, "Is of the largest class of frigate!, mounting fifty guns, with a coniplcmciit of 317 men." ' By actual weighing of the balls of hoth ships by an officer of the ConaUtution, it was found that the American 24V were only three pounds heavier tliiiii the English IS's on that occasion, and that Ibere was nearly the same difference iu favor of the latter's 3'2's.— Cooper's yawl History, etc., 11., 173, Note *. OK TUE WAU OF 1818. 440 i.niwofihorfflfl*. 8bo ancoiinten a J«l«. ChMCi • V* CapUln JonM. to eom- hiiivcls [iiiii (itli- oHir rs out for icer, ar.il lis \)roail 15th of ;omtdk- Iwlio was lie decks j-ite pvpf- meiutoi' H-sofliPi' k'as thov- I of frigates ncrican 24'* le difference :i\v liav orouglily inannofl and cquijipod. Sho mount- fd sixtwn 32-|K)und oarroiittdi's and two long ri's, and also carried, usually, two small braHB iiuinoii in licr tops, llor officers were always proud of her, as an adiniraldc specimen of their country's naval architecture. At the kindling of the war she was on tlie European coast, the only govcnunent vessel, excepting the Cons(Uutio?i, then abroad ; and at the time of the declaration of hostilities by the Ameri- can t'ongress,fihe w as on lier way home as bear- er of dispatches from the dii)lomatic represent- atives of the United States in Europe. Ilcr commander was Captain Jacob Jones, a brave officer, in wliosc veins ran much pure, indom- itable Welsh blood.' On the thirteenth of October, 1812, the Wdup left the Delaware on a cruise, with a full complement of men, about omi hundn'd and thirty-five in number. She ran oft'soutli- eastcrly to clear the coast and strike the tracks of vessels tlial might be steering north for the West Indies, and on the sixteenth encountered a heavy gale, which carried ray Iior jib-boom, and with it two of her crew. The storm abated on the following ,v;' and towani midnight, when in latitude thirty -seven north, and •October is, liiistitudc sixty-fivo west, his watch discovered several sail, two of them ^*"" iiipparing to be large vessels. Ignorant of tlw true character of the str.ar.gers, Cap- tain Jones thouglit it prudent to keep at a resiicctful distance until the morning liglit >li(nil(l give him better information. All night the Waxp kept a course j)arallcl with tliat of the stranger vessels. At dawn she gave chase, and it was soon discovered ;|i,if the strangers were a flci't of armed merchant vessels under the protection of the liiitish sloop-of-war Prolic, mounting sixteen thirty-two-pound carronadcs, two lull' six-pounders, and two twelve-pound carronadcs on her forecastle. She was iiianncfl with a crew of one hundred and eight persons, nnder Cai)tain Thomas Wliiiiyates,^ who had been her commander for more than five years. She was con- 1 Jarob Jones was born lu the year 177(1, near the village of Smjriia, Kent Connty, Delaware. His father was a farm- er, and ihe maiden game of his mother was likewise Jones. Ho received a good academic cdncatlon, and at the age oteit'btecn years commenced the study of medicine and snrgery. He began the practice of his profc-'ishm at Dover, In hi! native state, but did not jjiirsue it loni;. He fonnd the fleUl well occni)icd, and, being active and ambitions, resolved M abandon his profession for one more hierative. He received the appointment of clerltof the Sni)rcme Conrt for Kent lonnly. Of this business he became wearied, and entered the service of his coniitry as n midshipman in the year 170!>. He made his first cruise nnder Commodore Harry, and was on board the frigate United Stntfs when she bore Ellsworth »n4 Uavlc to France as envoys extraordinary of the V'nited Slates to the government of that country. He was promot- tii 10 lieutenant lu February, 18(11. When the war with Tripoli broke out he sailed lu the Phi'adelphia under Baln- Ijrldi'P. and after the disaster that befell that vessel ho was twenty months a ca))tlve among the scml-barbarlans of Sottlicni Africa. He was commissioned master commandant In April, 1810, and was appointed to the command of the infArpu, wlilcli was stationed for the pi 'ectlon of our commerce on our southiM-n maritime frontier. In ISIl he wa^ Im^fcrrcd to the command of the Waup, ml lu the spring of 1811i was dispatched with communications from the United S;jif« Bovernnieut to its embassadors In France and England. While on that duty war between the United States and liffst Britain was declared by the former. Soon after his return, he went on the crnlse which resulted lu his capture ifihc fVo/if, and the recapture of his own and the prize vessel by a H itlsh frigate. In March, 1813, he was promoted iitipialn, and ever after^vard bore the title of Commodore. After thi^ peace he was employed alternately at home and (.Broad; and, finally. In his declining years, he retired to his farm In his native state, where he enjoye<l n serene old age. lit died at Philadelphia In July, 1S60, at the age of eighty years. The likenegs is copied from on engraving by Edwin, : (wm a portrait painted by the late Uenibrandt Pealo. = Tboinas Whlnyates entered the British navy ii Ii9>',iind obtained his first commissiun In Sep- I lembcr. lliW. He was promoted to the rank of coffloiandcr In May, 18(X5, and, after having com- mnd of Ihe Immb Zebra almost two years, he I »»! promoted to the command of the f'lolie In ■'(- mm 'tmill 1 ^^ 1 ^^ J, 11 11 450 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK PIgbl botwiwn the Wcup and the VroHt. TbaiV«N«lMMrded. Terrible Hcenei on brt Ii„i voyiiig six merclmHtmen from IIoiulurHS. Four of these vesseU were largi', mnj nudiiiti'd from Hixtet'ii t</i'igl\ti'i'ii nuim t'lu-li,' It wii« Siimlay morning. The nky was chuitlloHs, the atmoHphero bahny, aml,i stiff and incrfawiiig hvcczo from the northwest was giving white crests to the hilluu, Jones soon pereeived that tlie hostile HK)op waw ili-posed to tight, and was takii)! position HO as to allow the merehantmen to escnj»e by light during tlie engamiium The toi)-ganant yards of the Wa»p were immediately sent down, her toj>-Hails Wd,. close-reeted, and she was otherwise V)rought tnuU-r short fighting canvas. The /'/Wi, also carried very little sail, and in this condition they conunenccd a severe eiiL'!ii>(. ment at half j)aMt ten o'clock in the morning. The Waap ranged close up on the Mar board side of the Frolic, afli-r receiving a broadside from her at the distance (il'tilu or sixty yards, and then instantly delivered her own broadside, when the fire ofih. Englishman became so accelerated that the Frolic appeared to fire tliree guns tn the Wa8p''a two. The bree,;e had increased, and the sea was rollitig lu-avily. Within five minutes after the action commenced the main-tojj-mast of tlio U'k*,, was shot away. It fell, with the main-top-sail yard, and lodged across the hulHiuril and fore and forc-top-sail Iwaces, rendering the head yards unmanageabh; durini; iL. icmaindcr of the actio-.. In the course of three minutes more her gaff and iiiaiiHiii,. gallant-mast was shot away, and fell heavily to the deck; and at the end of twiiitv minutes from the opening of the engagement, every brace and most of the ritrginj was disabled. She was in a forlorn condition indeed, and had few promises of vk- tory. But, while tlio Wasp was receiving these serious damages in her rigging and tn|,,, the Frolic was more seriously injured in her hull. The latter generally tired wlmi on the crest of the wave, wliile the former fired from the trough of the sea, and seni lier missiles thiough the hull of her antagonist with destructive force. The twovtv sels gradually approached each other until tlie bends of the Wasp rubbed attaiii>i the Frolic's bows ; and, in loading for the last broadside, the rammers of the Wmp* gunners were shoved against the sides of the Frolic."^ Finally, the condiatants ran foul of each other, the bowsprit of tlie Frolic passing in over tlie quarter-deck dl'tln Wusp^ and forcing her bows up into the wind. This enabled the latter to throw in a close raking broadside that produced dreadful havoc. Thi^ crew oi i\wWasp was now in a state of the highest excitement, and could ni longPi' be restrained. With wild shouts they leaped into the tangled rigging liefon Caj)tain Jones could throw in another broadside, as he intended before boardinj; lii> enemy, and made their way to the decks of the Frolic, with Lieutenants Uiddle anl Rodgers, who, with Lieutenants Booth, Claxton,^ and liapp, had exhibited the iiio>t undaunted courage throughout the action.* But there was no one to oppose thm The last broadside had carried death ajid dismay into the Frolic, and almost cleaMJ her decks of active men. Tlie wounded, dying, and dead were strewn in every di- March, ISOT. He was commigeioned a post-captain in Angnst, 1S18, and In 1S40 was placed on the Hat of retired rrn admirals. 1 The Frt'lic had left the Bay of Ilondnras with abont fonrteen sail nnder convoy. W..cn off Ilavaiin her comimi I- or flret heard of the declaration of war. The British vei<sel8 experienced the same gale which the Fmlie euoonnlfn ', and they were separated. The FriMr Knstalned quite serlons damage, having had her main yard broken in two pin", and her main-top-mast badly s))rung, Ix ildes other Injuries. In this condition she entered upon ^he engagemenl. \)w- ing the engagement the merchant vessels with the Frolic escaped. See James's Naval Occurreiux». ' Captain Jones's Report to the Secretary of the Navy, November 24, 1S12. ' " LicntenoDt Claxton," sayw Captain Jones, in his report to the Secretary of the Navy, "who was confined by »i(t- nesB, left his bed a little previous to the engagement, and, though too indisposed to be at his division, rrninined nut deck, and showed, by his composed manner of noticing Its Incidents, that we bad lost by bis illness the eervicet uf ; brave ofllccr." * John (or, as be was familiarly called. Jack) Lang, a seaman of the ira«i>, who had once been impressed into the Bri;- Ish service, and was hot with the Are of retaliation. Jumped on a gun with his cutlass, and was springing ou board Ibt Prolie, when Captain Jones, Mrishing to give the enemy another broadside, called him down. But his Impclniwll.v orr- c?me his sense of obedience, and in a niomont he leaped upon the bowsprit of the frolic. The crew were all alive m'^ j excitement. Seeing this. Lieutenant Blddle mounted the hammock-cloth to board. The crew canght the eigiinl,iiil followed with the greatest enthusiasm. Lang wu.s from New Brunswick, New Jersey. OF THE WAK OF 1812. 451 Both VeiMli captured by the PoiMtri. Ckptaln Jonci upplkuded. »orrenderofthe*Vo<A^ n-ction. Several Hurviving offlcorB wore Htiindiiig aft, the most of tlu'in lilcoflinj;, nixl lint a ooniiuoii Hoainim or iiiiiriiie whh lit liis wtution, exct-pt nn oltl tiir lit the wliool, \s\\a liiul kept luH poHt throiij^hout the terrible eiieomiter. All who were able had luslu'il below to eHcape the raking fire of the Whsjk Tliu En<clish ortieerH east down their Mwords in HiibmiHsion, and Lieutenant IJiddie, wiio led the boarding-party, upringing into the main rigging, Htruek the colors of the /W/f with his own hand, not one of the enemy being able to do so. The prize pass- 0(1 into the possession of the coiuiuerors aller a eontest of three quarters of an hour, wlitii every one of her officers were wounded, and a greater part of her men yr/ete (itlicr killed or severely injured. Not twenty persons on board of her remained un- hurt.' Her aggregate loss in killed and wounded was estimated at ninety men. The Wusp had only live killed and five wounded. The Frolic was so injured that when the two vessels separated both her masts fell, and with tattered sails and broken rigg-ng covered the dead on her deeks. (She had lioi'ii hulled at almost every discharge from the Was}^ and was virtually a wreck be- fore luT colors were struck. The heat of the battle was scarcely over when Captain .Tones prepared lo continue his cruise in his victorious little vessel. lie had placed Lieutenant Biddle In cora- m-uid of the shattered Frolic^ with orders to take her into Charleston, or some other Soiitht'rn port, and was about to part coi::j?any Avith his prize, wluni a strange vessel was seen bearing down upon them. Neither the Waup nor her prize was in a eondi- tion to resist or tlee. The rigging of the latter was so cut, and her top-sails so nearly ill ribbons, that it would have been folly to attempt either. The strange sail drew near, and heaving a shot over the Frolic, and ranging up near the Waap, convinced them both that the most prudent course would be to sub- mit at once. Within two hours after the gallant Jones had gained his victory he was cnnipclled to surrender his own noble vessel and her prize. Tlie captor was the British sliip-of war PojWit'ra, of seventy-four gr.ns, commanded by Cai)tain John Poo liciesfoid.^ She proceeded to Bermuda with her prizes, where the American prison- ers were exchanged, and departed for home. From — " ■'- t,--j" 1 - ^ j New York Captain Jones sent his account of the -if/c? — ■*- <2^ occurrences to the Secretary of the Navy — a rc'port ^ that was received with the greatest satisfi.ctio').^ greatest Tlie victory of the ^Vasp over the FVolic— iXw. result of the first combat between the v'essels of the two nations of a force nearly equal — occasioned much ex'iltp.cion in tlie United States. The press teemed with laudations of Captain Jones and his gallant companions, and a stirring song commemorative of the event was soon upon the lips of singers at public gatherings, in bar-rooms, workshops, and even by ragged urchins ill the streets. The name (•*.' the author, if ever known, has been long forgotten, lint the following lines ar o.nembered by many a gray -haired survivor of the War: " Th-r fc ' 'ravely foupht, bnt hl8 arms were nil brokoii, And ho fled from his death-woiiiul ashiist ami iiffrlghted ; But the Waxp darted forward her dcath-dohig stiue, And full on his bosom, like llghtnin;;, alighted. She pierced throngh his entrails, she maddened his brain, And ho writhed and he groan'd as if torn with tho colic ; And long shall John Bull nic the terrible day Ho met the American H'cwp on a Frolic." ' Captain Whlnjalcs's dispatch to Admiral Sir J. Borlaeo Warren, from the ship Poi^liert, October 23, 1812. The loss otihe h'nUc must have been about one hundred. ' Report of Captain Jones to the Secretary of the Navy, November 24, 1812 ; Whinyates's dispatch to Admiral Warren, Octoljer 23, 1S12. ' According to general nsase, a court of inquiry was held on the conduct of Captain Jones in giving np tho Wairp and hctprize. The opinion of the court was, " That the conduct of the officers and crew of the Wasp was eminently din- 'iingiil»hcd for firmness and gallantry in making every preparation and exe'.'tlun of which their sitnatiou would sdniil." If. f;i,j iis^" t.'!^' lit' "'— "^^^I^BBHW tiiiJi 452 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK 1 Jill, Cariciiture of "A Wasp on n Frolic' Ilnnors to Captniii Jones. A Modal prcecnAd to him by Congrcaj. Jimett but ittticthausitiucnaiKittU^*^ Charlei , tlio Philadelphia caricaturist ma- terialized the idea, and sent forth a coloiod ))icture, called A Wasp on a Fkouc, ok a fcJTiNcj FOii John Buu,, that sold hy Inmrirocls during the excitement in tlie public mind.' Captain Jones Avas everywhere received with demonstrations of gratitude and admiration on his retuni to the United States. In the cities through which he had occasion to pass, hrilljunt entertainments were given in his honor. Tlif Legislature of Delaware, liis native state, ap- pointed a committee to wait on him witli their thanks, and to express "the pride and pleasure" they felt in recognizing liim as a native of their state, and at tlie same time voted liim thanks, an elegant sword, and a piece of silver phnte with appropriate engravings. The Common Council of New York, on motion of Aldormnii LaM'rence, voted him a sword, and also the " freedom of the city." The Congress of the United States, on motion of James A. Bayard, of Delaware, appropriated twenty-five thousand dollars as a compensation to Captain Jones and his companions for their loss of prize-money occasioned hy tlie re- capture of the Frolic. They also ordered a gold medal to be presented to the cap- A W'AHP ON A KIIOLIO. <■ )LI) MRPAI, AWABDKH IIY CTNQEEeB TO CAPTAIN JOSEB. tain, and a silver one to each of his oflicers. Tlic captain also received a more sii^ stantial token of his country's approbation by being promoted by Congress to tli fioramand >f the frigate Macedonian., which had lately been captured from the Brii ish ard taken into the service.^ ' Under Uip pictore were the i'dHowIuj! Hnea : " A Waup took n Fmlic, rttifl mot Johnny Bnll, Who nhvnys fm'iits beet when his bellv is ftiH. Tim Watij) thouglit him hungry by his month open wUi<!, So, Ills bel)> to All, put b etlng in his Bide." = The following are the namcf of the oticers of the IFus/jat the time of thcJI.m : .Tneob Jone?, (ymmander ; Onrc VV, Ro(l«prp, .lan-.ogHiddlp, RoninmlnBo ith, Alotnnder i laxlon, and Henry B. Happ, /.,i>t(feii(i»ita,- WlinaniKiii!|iil,.' i iiuj-m^ti>r; Thomas Ilarri", Hunjmn; Geoiifc S.Wise /"tiriirt . Jolin MTloiid, liuatxim-ln; (ieoryf Uackson, tfiiHiw (icorg. \an Oleve, A. 8. Ton Eyck, Richard Brf shear, John Holcorab, William J. M'Uluuey. t', J. Baker, and Cliar!. tiaunt, Midthipmen. , Waltor W. New, tiurmmt'i Mate. The engraving Ib a reprebcr.tation of the mcdalt tvW gize. t)ii 'we «1dc Is a bn»t of Captatu Jone«. Lepread-iAfion' ■ro.NEs, viBTCB IN ABDtiA Ti;M>iT. Od the m^tttt ut Boflu two 8*«pR closuly engaged, the bowsprit of the ICiiiip bclwec; m^Mm^^^mm OF THE WAR OP 1812. 453 Lloutenaut BiddV b. jiored ami rewarded. Lieutenant Biddleskared ill the liDiior^ The Lttrinla- iiireot PemiHylvuiua ■«■ 'ted liim tliankK ani a »w<»rd, and a number at' leading men ii' PJuiladelphia pre- sented him with % silver urn, l^aring am jfpMfriafer im-nptiiin, and a repi^ mentation •>*' the actk« be- •ween tlie Witup aHi»i the '■'ofe' He was shortly .imwaid promoted to the TIIK IlIIU'I.i; \ ItN. rank of iiiaHtcr command- ant, and received com- mand of the Ifornet sloop- of-war. Poetry wreathed coronals for the brows of all ti.e braves of that fight, and in the Portfolio for Jannary, 1813, a rather doleful ])ocm appeared in commemoration of the gal- lantry of Biddlo, of which the follow ng is a speci- men: " Nor shall thy merit?, Riddle, pnss untold. When covered with the cannon's (liiminH hronth, Onward he preKM'd, iincominerably hold ; He feared di»honor, but he spurned nt death." • i^- (ifthefVolfe Men on the bow of the H'a^pln the act ofbonrdinjt thnfrofc Themain-top-mn«t of the ITa/iji -ior iway. Lcfteiid— viotoriam nosrr .majori ori.rbriuk eapcit. Exergue— rNTEn wabi>. nav. amkri. kt moLio nav. AWi iiiK XVIII cot. Moceuxii. ■ This iiru and the silver medal presented to Lieutenant Blddle for his share in the capture of the Frnlie are in pos- >os»ioii of Lieutenant Jamc'a 8. Riddle, of Philadelphia. Also the cold medal afterward presented to the hers in ac- kmralertzment of his services in capt'irlng the J'eiigmn. The follo.ving is the inscription on tlie urn : "To Lieutcuant .James Riddle. Tlniled State.s Navy, from the early friends and companions of his youth, who, while ilicir couutry rewards hie public tervices, present this testimonial of their esteem for ills private worth. Philadelphia, 1S13." ? W9mm» 454 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Second Crulee of the Premdent, She chases n strange War-vessel. A severe Baltic. CHAPTER XXn. "The chiefs who onr ft-eedom snstatned on the land, Fame's far-spreadlug voice has eternized In story ; By the roar of our cannon now called to the strand, She beholds on the ocean their rivals iu glory. Her sons there she owns, And her clarion's bold tones Tell of Kull and Rccntur, of Balnbridge and Jones ; For the lars of Colnnibla are lords of the wave. And have sworn that old Ocean's their throne or their grave." HE victor J' won by thn Wasp was followed, precisely a week later,* by another more important. Commodore Kodg- . October 25 ers sailed in tlie President from Boston on a second '''''- cruise, after refitting, accompanied by the United States, 44, Cap- tain Decatur, and Argus, 16, Lieutenant Commanding Sinclair, leaving the Hornet in port. The President parted company with her companions on the 12th of October, and on the 17tli fell in with and captured the British packet Swallow, The United State and Argots, meanwhile, had also parted company with each other, and the former had sailed to the southward and eastward, liopiiii; to intercept British West Indiamen. Decatur was soon gratified by better fortune „ „ . , in the estimation of a soldier. At dawn on Sunday morning, the 25tli,' October. # ' when in latitude 29° and west longitude 29° 30 , not far from the island of Madeira, the watch at the main-top discover-jd a sail to windward. There was ,'i stiff breeze and a heavy sea on at the time. It was poon discovered that the stranger was an English ship-of-war, und"r a heavy press of sail. Decatur resolved to over- take and engage her, and for hat purpose he spread all his canvas. The United Stata was a good sailer, and she I'apidly reduced the distance between herself and the fugi- tive she was pursuing. The enthusiasm of her officers and men was unbounded; and as the gallant ship drew nearer and neaier to the enemy, shouts went up from the decks of the United States loud enough to be heard by the British before the Ameri- can vessel was near enough to bring her guns to bear. At about nine in the morning Decatur had so nearly overtaken liis prospective an- tagonist that he opened a broadside upon her. The balls fell short. The Unitm} States was soon much nearer, when she opened another broadside with effect. This was responded to in kind. Both vessels Avcre now on the sanv lack, and continued the action with a heavy and steady cannonade with the long guns of both, the dis- tance between them being so great that carronades and muskets Avere of no avail for some time. Almo.st every shot of the United States fell fearfully on the enemy, whe finally perceived that safety from utter destruction might only be found in closer quarters. When the contest had lasted about half an hour, the stranger, with hniti- lated spare and riddled sails, bore up gallantly for close action. The United Statdi readily accepted the challenge, and very soon afterward her shot, sent by the direc- tion of splendid gunnery, cue the enemy's mizzen-mast so that It fell overboard. Not long afterward the main yard of the foe was seen hanging in two pieces, her main and fore top-masts were gone, her fore-mast was tottering, no colors were seen float ing over her <leok, and her main-mast and bowsprit were sevcneiy wounded, while the United States remained almost unhurt. The stranger's fire had become feeble, OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 455 Capture of the Macedonian. InctdeutB of the Battle. Comi)arl8on of the United States and Slamlmtian. and Decatur filled his mizzcn-top-sail, gathered fresh way, tacked, and came up un- der the Ice of the Englisli sliip, to the utter discomfiture of lier commander, who, Avhen lie saw the American frigate bear away, supposed she was severely injured and about to flee from him. With that impression lier crew gave three cheers ;* but when the Cnited States tacked and brought up in a position for more eftectual action than be- fore the British commander, perceiving farther resistance to be • ain, struck lier col- (iis and surrendered. As the United States crossed the stem of the vanquished ves- sel Decatur hailed and demanded her name. " His majesty's frig.atc 3faccdonian, 38, Captain John S. Carden," was the response. An oflicer was immediately sent on board. Slie had suifered terribly in every part during a combat of almost two hours. She liad received no less than one hundred round sliot in her hull alone, many of them be- tween wind and water. She had nothing standing but lier fore and main masts and fore yard. All her boats were rendered useless except one. Of her officers and crew, three hundred in number, thirty-six were killed and sixty-eight were wounded.- The loss of tlie United States wixs only five killed and six woimded.^ The Macedotiian )vas a very fine vessel of her class, only two years old, and, though rated at 30, she carried forty-nine guns — eighteen on her gun-deck and thirty-two pound carronades above. The United States mounted thirty long 24's on her main deck, and twenty- two 42-pound carronades and two long 24's on her quarter-deck and forecastle. She 1 The cannonnflc by the United States was so ince^eant that her p'de toward the enemy Biiemed to be In n blaze. Cardon supposed she was on fire, and this belief caused the exultation on his ship. A contemporary rhymer wrote as follows ; " For Carden thought he had ns tight, •Inst so did Dacres too, sirs, But brave Decatur put him right With Yankee doodle doo, sirs. They thought thej' saw our ship in flame, Whicli made tlieni all liu/.za, sirs, But when the second broadside came. It made them hold their jaws, sirs." See in allusion to this battle Iri Note 1, page UO, quoted from Colibett's Register. ! Captain Curden thus stated his casualties: " Killed: 1 master'* mate, the school-master, 23 petty oiTlccrs and sea- men, .! boys, 1 sergeant, and T privates of marines— total, 30. ll'oujiderf daiifiermislij : T petty ofHcers and seamen. Severe- I:: 1 lieutenant, 1 midshipman, IS petty officers and seamen, 4 boys, and 6 private marines— total, dangerously and se- verely, 36. WnuvJed aliijhthj : 1 lieutenant, 1 master's mate, '20 petty officers and seamen, and 4 private marines— total, 32. .\ccordiug to the muster-roll found on board oi' the }facedonian, she had seven impressed American seamen among her crew, two of whom were Icilled in the action. Another had been drowned at sea, while compelled to assist in boarding on American vessel. Their names were Christopher Dodge, Peter Jolinson, John Alexander, C. Dolphin, Mayer Cook, Willlaia Tliompson, John Wallis, and John Card. During the whole war, American seamen, similarly situated, were (orapelled to tight against their countryn:en. When tlie fact I)ccame known that there were imjjressed Americans on liio Macetinnian, the exasperdtion of the [K-ople against Oreat Britain, because of her nefarious practice, was intcnslfled. ' KilM: Boatswain's mat?, t seaman, and 3 marines. Wounded: 1 lieutenant, 4 seamen, and 1 marine. The lieuten- ant (.lohu M. Funk) and ont seaman (.Fohn Arcliibaid) died of their wounds. The following is a list of 'he officers of the United States: Cmnmatuler, Stephen Decatur. Lieutenants, Wllllnm H. Allen, John Gallaglier, John M. Funk, George C. Rend, Waller Woos'er, John B. Nicholson. Sailiiui-inaiiter, John D. Sloat. Smgem, Samuel R. Trevitt. Surgeon's Mate, Samuel Vernon. Pur.vr, Jolin B. Timberlake. Midshipmen, John Stansbnry, Joseph Cassin, Philip Vnorhecs, John P. Zantzingcr, Richard Delphy, Diigan Taylor, Richard S. Heath, td- wnrd F. Howell, Archibald llamilt<ui, John M'Cnn, H. Z.W. Harrington, William Jamieson, Lewis Hinchma.i, Benja- min S. Williams. Gunner, Thomas Barry. Lientmants of Marines, William Anderson, James L. Edwards. There was a boy only twelve years of age on board the United States, the son of u l)rave sonninn, whose death had lefl the lad'8 "lolher in poverty. Wlien the crew were clearing the ship for action, the boy stepped up to Decatur and said, ' I wish my name may be put dow ,i on the roll, sir." " Why so, my lad f" asked the commander. " So that I may have ,1 share of the prize-money," was ttie carnesi reply. Pleased with the spirit of the boy, Decatur granted his request. The l.iyliehavcd gallantly throughout the contest. Ai the close of the action Decatur said to him, "Well, Bill, we have liken the Khip, and your share of th s prize-money may be about two hundred dollars ;* what will you do with it ?" "I Kill >end half to my nu)ther, and the other half shall send me to school." The commander was so pleui-id with the riiht epiiit of the boy that he took him under liis protection, procured a midshipman's berth for him, and supcrintend- ilhiseducntiou.- Putnam's Life lif ikcatur, jiage 198. • Congress decreed that In the dist' ibullpn of prize-moi.ey arising ft-om capture by national vessels, one half should po to the United States, and the other half, divided into twenty equal par'-, should be ilstrlbuted in the following man- lier: to captains, 3 parts; to the sea lieutenants and saiiing-m.istcrs, i parts; to the marine offlcers, surgeons, pursers, boatsttaiiiB. gunners, carpenters, master's mates, and cliaplains, 2 parts; to midshipmen, surgeon's mates, captain's rlalNBfliool-niaster, boatswain's mates, gunner's mates, carpenter's mates, steward, sall-i i 'k .', master at arm?, arm- 1 -, and coxswains, 3 parts ; to gunner's yeomen, boatswain's yt'omen, quartcr-m.isterf, qnai .. r-gunners, coopers, sail- _ wik-^r's r.iii!»», sergeants and corporals of marines, dnimniere and lifers, and jxtra petty offlcers, 3 parts; to seamen, ordlnaiyecamcn, mirlues, and boys, T parte. - . > ■"^•■'^^^■■IHH'" PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK m\h Hia Arrlv*! with his Prize. The Waeedonian at New York. WM manned iritk iicrwv of fwur hundred and seventv-eiglit. In men and metal tlic ////i/rcf Stot/« nra» jeavit'i* tlian the Macedonian, " but," says Cooper, " the dis; ropor- tiORi i^K't wt;( (. vv frjrce uf tlie two vossels was much less than that between the exc- Captain Cujil' 'it his .>iiip skillfully and bravely, and when he came on boanl the Vnited Htw^ ■ irtcr< <1 his sword to Captain Decatur, the latter generously re- marked, " Sir, I <ui) iWt re<«' io sword of a man who has so bravely defended bin ship, but I will receivf your ii;.iul." Suiting th. action to the word, Decatur took the gallant Carden's hand, and led him. to his cabin, where refreshments were set out and partaken of in a friendly spirit by the two commanders.^ When he took possession of his prize, Decatur found her not fatally injured, andlip determined to abandon his cruise and take her into an American port. Ilis own ves- sel was speedily repaired. The Macedonian was placed in the charge of Lieutenant Allen, who, with much ingenuity, so rigged her as to corivert her into a barcjue, wlun captor and captive sailed for the United States. Decatur arrived oif New London on the 4th of Deceraber,^ and at about the same time his prize entered Newport Harbor ' ' Then quickly met onr nation's eyes The noblest eight in nature— A flrst-ratc /ri'jate as a prize Brought home by brave Deoatub."— Old Sono. Both vessels made their way through Lono- Island Sound, the East River, and IIcll Gate, at the close of the month, and on the 1st of January, 1813, the Macedonian an- chored in the harbor of New York, where she was greeted with great joy as a "New- year's gift." "A more acceptable compliment coidd not have been presenttcl ton joyous people," said one of the newsj\ij>ers. "She comes with the compliments of \\\U VfHNOn from Old Neptune," said another. "Janus, the peace-lovuig, smiled,'" said a fiiK'l, \wm* flnssic^). The excitement of a feast had then scarcely died awav. 1 Nmal history qf the tTiiHed fitatcii, H., /?(/ jji't' ((ic ri^niinMltlintrhes of Decatur ntiil ('ari1(<ni CUtb't ffiiml flislmj; Waldo's IJfe nj t^tephen Ikmtur; Tlu' War; nIIio'h /(ii//ii/i ( / l|«|||»(f (if Ijecatur, In the AiuilMU\ Uittldiliu; \., Mil. ' All n( (he private property of the oflicero and nieii of llif lUiimidiiluil wild ifUmi up tn ilii>m. Among olliiif fhldyi I lulined aud rereli'"d by Captain Carden was a band of music and several timlis of wlin' <• iluednt eight liunil- red I'l.illars. Of Ibis generous conduct Captain Carden spolte iu the highest terms. Uuil i ti» t(|('/i|ifiiiii nncrc^ as we have seen, elicited the praise of that officer. The American newspapers called attention to (lie fai I Hint llic Brii Ish commander of the Poietierg, when he captured the Han]) aud her prhe from Jones, would not permit officers or men to retain any thing except the clothes on their backs. See The War, 1., 118. Decatur and Carden had met before. It was in the horbor of Norfolk, just before the beginning of the war, that Ihcy were introduced to each other. Before they parted Carden said to Decatur, "We now meet r.s friends; (Jod grant wc may never meet as enemies ; but we are subject to the orders of our governments, and must obey them." " I imnrlilv reciprocate the sentiment," rojilicd Decatur. "But what, sir," sail Carden, "would be the consequence to yimrsclfaiiil the force you command if we .-^liould meet as enemies ?" "Why, sir," responded Decatur, In the same playful siilrlt, " if we meet with forcog that might be fairly called equal, the conflict would be severe, but the flag of ray country 03 the ship I command shall never leave the staff on which it waves as long as there is a hull to support it." They parted, and Uieir next meeting was on the deck of the United Slate», under the circumstances recorded in the text. John Surman Carden was born on the 15th of August, 1771 at Templcmore, Ireland. His father. Major Cariicn, of the British army, perished in the war of the American Revolution. This, hie eldest son, entered the Biitlsh navy as captain's servant in 17S8 in the ship Edijar. In 1790 he became midshipman in tlic Vtrnevirance frigate, lie was made lieutenant in 1794. He re- ceived the commission of com- mander In 179S. He was ap- polnted to the comin.uid of tl.e VilU lie rariH in 1S08, and In ISH to that of the Macedonian. He was acquitted of all blame in the surrender of his ship to Decatur. Parliament was full of his prai«', and the cities of Worcester and Gloucester, and the borough of Tewksbury, honored him with their "freedom." lie was made a rear admiral in 1840, and died at Bonny->stle, Antrim, Ireland, in May, IStW, at the ago of eightj-seviii years. > Decatur's official dispatch to the Secretary of the Navy was dated "At Sea, October 30, 1812. Lieutenant Hamilton, a son of the Secretary of the Navy, was sent with it to his father, at Washington, immediately after the arrival of li;e (Iiiited States at New London. He bore the flag of the Macedonian to the seat of govc nment, where he arrived on the evening of the «th of December, at w'.ilch time a ball was In progress which had been given in honor of the uaval offi- cers. The Secretary of the Navy (Paul Hamilton) and his wife aud daughter wore present. The first intimation o'.he arrival of their son and brother was his cjtrance into the hull of the liilliaut assembly, bearing the trophy. Captalci Hun and Stewart received It, and Iiore it to Ihc accomplished wife of President Madison, who was present. The pleas- ure of the occasion was changed to patriotic joy, and at the supper one of the managers offered as a toast, " Commodofi Decatur, and the (ijjict-ri) and crvm n/ the frigate United States." Decatur's arrival at New L<mdon was hailed with joymi demonstraliong. The city authorities presected him the pub- lic thanks, and a ball jvos given In his huuor. smsf. 19 iwwnniiv OF THE WAR OF 1812. 457 that they grant wc I licarllly (misiltni"! ^lilrit.'if itry ij.i 'V.e [larwd, ami Icn.ottN' .i[ com- \vai> HI- imd of tl." andinlSll Ionian. Me )liirae In llio to Decatur, ithisprai"'. cdom." 11' glily-MVi-ii Celebration of Decatur's Victory. Banquets in tbo City of New York. Public Honors given to Decatur. for only three days before" a splendid banquet had been given, at Gib- . December ;», HOii'8 City Hotel, to Hull, Junes, and Decatur, by the Corporation and ^^^'^' citizens of New York,' and the newspapers of the land speedily became the vehicles of the " eft'usions" of a score of poets, who caught inspiration from the shouts of tri- uinpli that filled the air. Wood worth, the printer-poet, and author of 77ie Old Oaktn Bucket, " threw together, on the spur of the moment," as he said, a dozen stirring stanzas, of which the following is the first : "The banner of Freedom high floated unfinl'd, While the silver-tlpp'd surges in low homage curl'd, Flashing bright round the l)ow of Decatur's brave bark. In contest an eagU—\a chasing, a lark." And J. R. Calvert wrote a banquet-song, which became immensely popular, of which the following is the closing stanza : "Now charge all your glasses with pure sparkling wine, And toast our bravo tars who so bravely defend us ; While our naval commanders so nobly combine, We defy all the ills haughty foes e'er can tend us I While our goblets do flow. The prali<eH we owe To Valor and Skill we will gladly bestow. And may grateful the sons of Columbia be 4 To Deoatdr, whom Neptune crowns Lord of the Sea I" Decatur's victory, following so closely upon others equally brilliant, produced the iiKist profound sensations in the United States and in England. In the former they wfir impressions of encouragement and joy ; in the latter, of disappointment and sorrow. The victor was highly apjilauded for his soldierly qualities and generosity l»y each service ; and ho was spoken of with the greatest enthusiasm by his country- men. Public bodies, and the Legislatures of Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia gave him tha nks, and to these each of the two latter add- ed a sword. The same kind of weapon was presented to him by the city of Phila- tleli)liia; and the city of New York voted" him the freedom of the city inadfl' " n to the honor of a banquet jointly M'ith Hull and Jones, and requc his portrait for the picture gallery in the City Hall. The Corporation of New York also gave the gallant crew of the United /States a banquet at the City Ilotel.^ The national Congress, by unanimous vote, thanked Decatur, and gave him him the pub- '■ This bauquet was given on the day after the freedom of the city was presented to Captain Hull. He ond Decatur were present, but .rones was absent. At five o'clock about five hundred gentlemen sat down at the tables. De Witt I liiitoti, the mayor, presided. The room " had the appearance of a marine palace," said an eyc-wituci-s. It was " col- iiiinaded roimd with the masts of ships, entwined with laurels, and beuriiig the national flags of all the world. Every able had upon It a eliip In miniature, with the American fln<r displayed. In frout, where the President sat, with the officers of the navy and other guests, and which was raised ut three feet, there appeared an area of about twenty feet by ten covered with green sward, and In the midst of i as a real luko of water, in which floated a miniature frigate. Back of all this hung a raain-satl of a ship thirty-three by sixteen feet."— jTAi" War, I., 119. Decatur sat on the riifht of the President, and Hull on the left. When the third toast— "Our Navy"— was given with three cheers, the great mainsail was furled, and revealed an immense transparent i)ainting, representing the three naval battles in which Hull, .T.)nes, and Decatur were respectively engaged. Other surprises of a similar nature were vouchsafed to the guests, and :l:c whole ftfTair was oue long to be rerarmbcrcd by the participants. ' This banquet was given on Thursday, the 7th of January, 181.S, at two o'clock In the afternoon, under the direclioa of.Uderraen Van Dor Bill, Buckmaster, and King. The room had the same decoration as at the time of the banquet iiivfii to null, Jones, and Decatur, a few days before. The sailors, ni'mberiug about four hundred, marched to the hotel in pairs, and wer'i greeted by crowds of men and women in the streets, loud cheers from the multitude, and the waving of handkerchiefs from the windows. The band of the llth Regiment, among whom was an old trumpeter who had M^rved under Washington, received them with music at the door. At the table they were addressed by .Vlderman Van Dor Bllt, who was responded to by the boatswain of the f/m'ta/ Sta/<i«. In the evening they went to the theatre by i;i- vilation of the i.iauager, v^hlch was commii' cated to them in person by Decatur. The whole pit was reserved fr.r them. The orchestra opened with Vtmkee l>i,„J'e. Tlic drop curtain. In the form of a transparency, had on it a repic- fputation of the flght between the Vnited .S'l ,'<•« and Macedonian. Children danced on the stage. They bore largo letters of the alphabet in their hands, which, being joined in the course of the dance, produced in transparency the B.imesofHci.i., Jonkh, and Df.o.iti;u. Then Mr. M'Farland, as nn Irish clown, came forward and song a comic song of seven stauMs, written for this occauion, beginning, "No more of your blathering nonsenje 'Bout Nelsons of old .lohnny Bull ; I'll sing you a song, by my conscience, 'Bout Jones, and Deoatub, and Urvu -•^mmtm 458 PICTOIJIAL FIELD-BOOK ■I , i w- Gold Mcdiil prcseutcd to Decatur by Congress. Baiubrldge ft Command of a Squadron. Blographlcul Skcicl" a ssijleiulici gold medal, with appropriate devices and inscriptions,' From that time until now that comminder's name is the synonym of honor and gallantry hi the es- UOLI> MEDAL AWARDED TO DECATCB. timation of his countrymen. His subsequent career added lustre to his renown as the conqueror of the Ifaceclonian. We have already observed that Hull generously retired from the command of the Constitution for the purpose of giving some brother-officer an opportunity for gallant achievements in her, and that Captain Bainbridge was his appointed successor. A small squadron, consisting of ihe Constitution, 44; Essex, 32; and //onie;, 1 8, were ]ilaced in his charge. Wlien Bainbridge entered upon his duty in the new sphere of rtag-officer, the Constitution and Hornet were lying in Boston Harbor, and tlio E^sa, Captain Porter, was in the Delaware. Orders wore sent to the latter to cruise in the track of the English West Indiamcn, and at a specified time to rendezvous at certain jiorts, Avhen, if he should not fall in with the flag-ship of the squadron, ho would be at liberty to foUoAV the dictates of his own judgment. Such contingency occurred,an(l the Essex sailed on a very long and most eventful cruise in the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. That cruise Avill form the subject of a portion of a future chapter. Bainbridge- sailed from Boston with the Cotistitution and Hornet on the 20th of Dad Neptune has long, with vexation, Beheld with what insolent pride The turbulent, billow-washed nation Ha? aimed to control the salt tide. CuoBi'8— Sing lather away, jontecl and aisy, By my soul, at the game hnb-or-nob, In a very few minutes we'll plasc ye. Because we take work by the job." ' On one side of the medal U a profile of Decatur's bust, with the legend sTEPHANtrg nEOATrn >AT.iBonr!, rrosi« rLiBiiics vicjTon. On the reverse Is a representation of a naval engagement, one of the vessels reprcsentlD}; the ihw- donian much Injured in spars aud rigging. Over them le the legend oocidit 8iaNu.M hostile sideua srEGist. Ex- ergue— inteb STA. UNI. NAV. AMEKl. ET MACEDO. NAV. ANO. DIE XXV OOTOMKIS MIIOO'XII. ' William Bainbridge was born at Princeton, New Jersey, on the 7th of May, 1T74, and at the age of fifteen years went to sea as u common sailor, lie was promoted to mate in the cc urse of three years., and became a cai)tain at the age o( nineteen. When war with the French became probable, he entc-cd the navy with the commieBlon of a lieutPLint Iral the position of a commander, his first cruise being in the Retaliation, which was captured. He was promotPil to post- captain for good service in the year 1800, and took command of the frigate irn(i/ii»if7'"'i. His career lu the Modilcrraiiear lias been already mentioned in preceding chapters of this work. Between the war with Tripoli and that of 1S12 Cap- tain Bainbridge was employed alternately in the naval and merchant service. Afler the sncoessful cruise (pf theCmwft- tiitliin in lSt2, he took command of tlie navy yard at Charlestown, Massachusetts. After the war he went twice to thf Mediterranean in command of squadrons to protect American commerce there. For three years he was president id the Board of Navy Commissioners, and he prepared the signals which were In nsc In onr navy until lately. For several years Commodore Bainbridge suffered severely from bodily 111 health, aud finally filed at his residence in Philailelpliiii, on thii 2ith of July, 183,1, at the age of flftj--nlne years. His fai.eral was celebrated on the .tlst. Tht Clucirimli Sociotv attended, with a large concourse of citizens, and his body was laid In tlie earth with military honors by the United Sta;i - Marines and a flno brigadi) uf infantry, under the command of the late Colonel J. G. Walmough. His remains re^^; mi OF THE WAR OF 1812. 4fi0 ' 1812. Hilnbridce on the Coast of Brazil. The Hornet challcnf^ee a British Vessel. Cruise of the Cmuttitutiun dowu the Coast. October.* He touched at the appointed rendezvous,* and arrived off Bahia, or San Salvador, Brazil,^ on the 13th of December. He immediately sent in Cap- tain Lawrence, with the Hornet, to commu- nicate with the American consul there, when that commander discovered in the port the English sloop-of-war Bonne Ci- I .yevi'i; 18, Captain Greene, about to sail 1,1 E'ldand with a very large amount of c; , cie. Lawrence invited Greene to go out I ,111 the open sea with his vessel and fight, i.icd'nng himself that the Constitution AmM take no part in the combat, but the I'lvitish commander prudently declined the invitation. The Hornet then took a posi- tion to blockade the English sloop, and the Constitution departed'' for a ««■" ' "• cruise down the coast of Bra- zil, keeping the land aboard. Three days ul'tcrward, at about nine o'clock in the morning, when in latitude 1.S° O' south and longitude 38° Avest, or about thirty miles troin shore, southeasterly of San Salvador, Bainbridge discovered two vessels in shore mid to the windward. The larger one was !-ccn to alter her course, with an evident desire for a meeting with the Constitution. Tiie latter was willing to gratify her, and tor tliat purpose tacked and stood toward till' stranger. At meridian they both showed their colors and displayed signals, but ^* UAINimiUQEH MOSDUEMT. beneath a plain white marble obelisk iu Christ Church- yard in Philadelphia, and near it is a modest monument to mark the resting-place of his wife, Susan Ilcylcger. The following is tlie inscription on Bainbridge's mon- ument: "William Bainuiudpk, United States Navy. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, 7th of May, 1774. Died in Philadelphia 2Sth of July, ISSit. Patbia viotisqce LAiDATUB." See the Medal, page 40.'!. Bainbridgc was about six feet in height, und well built. His complexion was fair, his eyes black and very ex- pressive, and his hair and whiskers very dark. He was considered n model as an officer and a man in the navy. ' The places specified were Port Praya, in the island of St. Jago, luid Fernando de Noronha, an island iu the Atlantic 126 miles from the extreme eastern cape of Bra- zil. It is now used as a place of banishment by the Bra- zilian government. Tlie Comtitution and Hornet apjicar- ed in the character of British vessels, and at both places, letters wore left, directed to Sir James L. Yeo, of the Southampton. They C(uitaincd commonplace remarks, and also orders, in sympathetic ink, for Captain Porter, should they fall Into his hands, he havlni; been informed that letters at those places for him would be directed to Yeo. The stratagem succeeded. The whole transaction was In accordance with the privileges of war, and yet n writer in the London Quarterhi Revmn charged Porter with being guilty of an improper act in opening a letter directed to nuofher person 1 2 This is one of the most important places in Sonth America, and until 1701! \rafl the seat of the vlccroyalty of Brazil, when it was transferred to Kio dc Janeiro. It contains a population of 100,000, of whom one third are white, one third mulattoes, and the remainder negroes. "'^m liiK 460 PICTORIAL FIELD-UOOK Buttio butween the Cuiutituthn and the Jara, Incidents of the Battle. Wreck and Capture of the Jato. the latter were mutually unintelligible. The stranger was seen to be an EiKriJui, frigate. Bainbridge at once prepared for action, when the Englishman haiilutl (iown his colors, but left ii jack Hying. IJoth ships nin upon the same tack, about a mil,. apart, when, at almost two o'clock, the Hritisli frigate bore down upon the Cunstilu. tioii witli tlie intention of raking Iter. The latter wore and avoided the calamity and at two o'clock, both ships being on the same tack, the CmistUution fired a siiiijlo cnn across the enemy's bow to draw out her ensign again. A general caimonade iidm botli vessels immediately ensued, and a furious battle was commenced. When it jiad raged half an hour the wheel of the t'onslitiition was shot away, and her aiitiii^'onist being the better sailer, had a great advantage for a time. But Bainbridge niaiia"icl liis crippled sliip with such skill that she was the first in coming to the wind on tlio otlier tack, and speedily obtained a position for giving lier opponent a terrible rakini' fire. The combatants now ran free with the wind on their quarter, the stranircr be- ing to the windward of the Cotistitution. At about tlirec o'clock the straiitrcr at- tempted to close by running down on the Constitutioii's quarter. Her jib-booni pin. etrated the latter's mizzen rigging, but suffered most severely without receivin;,' tlic least advantage. She lost Iter jib-boom and the head of her bowsprit by shots from the Constitution, and in a few minutes the latter ]>oured a heavy raking broadside into the stern of her antagonist. This was followed by another, when the fore-mast of the English frigate went by the board, crashing through the forecastle and main deck in its ])assage. At that moment the Constitutio)i shot ahead, keeping aAvay to avoid being raked, and finally, after maiueuvring for the greater part of an hour, slie forereached her antagonist, wore, passed her, and luflTed up under her quarter. Then the two vessels lay broadside to broadside, engaged in deadly conflict, yard-arm to yard-arm. Very soon the enemy's mizzen-niast was shot away, leaving nothing stand- ing but the main-mast, whose yard had been carried away near the slings. Tiie stranger's fire now ceased, and the Constitution passed out of the combat of almost two hours' duration at a few minutes ])ast four o'clock, with the impression on tlie mind of Iter commander that the colors of the English frigate had been struck. Be- ing in a favorable weatherly ])osition, Bainbridge occupied an hour in repairing dam- ages and securing his masts, when he observed an ensign still fluttering on board ol' his antagonist. lie immediately ordered the Constitution to wear round and renew the conflict. Perceiving this movement, the Englishman hauled down his colors, and at six o'clock in the evening First Lieutenant George Parker' was sent on board to inquire her name and to take possession of her as a prize.^ She proved to be the Jaoa, 38, Captain Henry Lambert, and one of the finest frigates in the British navy. She was bearing, as passenger to the East Indies, Lieutenant General Ilyslop (jnst appointed governor general of Jiomljay), and liis staft', Ca})tain Marshall and Lieuten- ant Saunders, of the Royal Navy, and more than one hundred other otticers and men destined for service in the East Indies. The Java Avas a wreck. Her main-ina X had gone overboard dtiring the hour tliat Bainbridge was repairing. Her mizzcn-mast was shot out of the ship close by the deck, and the fore-mast was carried aAvay about twenty -five feet above it. Tlie bow- sprit was cut ort" near the cap, and she Avas found to be leaking badly on account of wounds in her hull by round shot. The Constitution Avas very much cut in lior sails ' The ofBccrs of llic '^ime'itution in tliis action wen— Captain, Willinra Bainbridge. Lieutenants, George Parlier, Beolinian T. Iloffmaii, Joiui T. Sbubriclt, Cliarles W. Morgan. fiaUing-maiitcrx, Joliu C. Alwin, John Nichols. Cliaphiii. John Carlcton. LieutenantJi ■>/ Marinea, William 11. Freeman, .lohn Contce. Surgeon, >mos A. Evant". Sunjeon't Mut/i, •Tohn D. Armstrong, Donaldson YcatCB. Piiriter, Robert C". Lndlow. Miilnhipmen, Thomas Beatty, Lewie Gerniaiii, Wil- liam L. Gordon, Amiirose L. Fields, Fredcricli B.airy, Joseph Cross, Alexander Btlchcr, AVilliam Taylor, Alcxaniiir Est- ridge, James W. Uelnncy, James Greenleaf, AVilliam D. M'Carly, Z. AV. Nixem, Jolm A. Wish, Dulauey Forest, (icorgf Levcrett, Henry AVnrd, John (!. Long, John Pacliet, Richard AVinter. Hoatstrain, Peter Adams. Guniur, Kn'kM Dar- ling. Actini) Midxhijniuin, Jolin C. Ciimings. a On this very dny, and at that very hoiifi Htn! and Decatur were at the public ban'juct given tEem iu the ciiy of Ke» York, tieo page 46T. OF THE WAU OF 1812. 461 lie laun of the Jam. C'lAnparimuii of tliu two Vengeli). Arrival uf the CmuiUtutiini at Boitun. (lillU- board of ml renew nrs, and board tn be tlu' sli navy, oj) (jibt Lieutcii- and iiK'ii cor.;e Parker, «l8. Chaphiii. iirjton'" .t/ii'". Germain. Wil- ilcxniii'iT Esk- [•'orest, (ieiirgf •, Knekiel Cur- .UecityofKeK and ritfi?'"?- Many of licr sjiars Avere injured, but not one wjis lost. She went into the action witli lior royal yurds mroHs, mid ciimc out of it will-, nil three of them in tlioir proiii'r j^laces. There lire coiiflit tin;; iiecountH concerning tlie loss of the Java ill men. Iler commander, Captain Lambert, uas morlally wounded, and iier otlier officers were cautious about the number of iier men and lier caHi'.alties. Aeeordinc; to <\ muster-roll found on board of lier, made out five days after she saileil, iier officers und crew numbered four liundred and forty-six. Tlieso were exclusive of the more than one liundred ])assengers, many of whom assisted in the engagement, and of whom thirteen were killed. The British published account states the loss of men on till' Juvti to have been twenty-two killed, and one hundred and one wounded, while iiaiiibridfjc rej)orted her loss, as nearly as he could ascertain from the British officers lit the time, at sixty killed, and one hundred and one wounded. This was, doubtless, helow the real number. Indeed, Baiubiidgc inclosed to the Secretary of the Navy evidences of a mticli larger loss in wounded. It was a letter, written by one of the ,,fficers ofthcJitva to a friend, and accidentally dropped on tlic deck of the Constitu- ^/o», where it was found a.id handed to llainbridge. The writer, who had no motive lit" public policy for concealing any thing from his friend, stated the loss to be sixty- tlve killed, and one hundred tind seventy Avounded.' The Constitution lost only nine killed and twenty-five wounded. Bainbridge was slightlj' hurt in the liip by a lauskot-ball ; and the shot that carried away the wheel of the Constitution drove a small copper be into his thigh, Avhic'. inflicted a dangerous wound, but did not cause iiini to leave the deck before miduight. The Java, as has been observed, was a superior frigate of her class. She was rated at thirtj'-eight, but carried forty-nine. The Constitutionr carried at that time forty- tive guns, and had one man less at each than the Java. On the whole, the iireponder- anee of strength was with the latter. Bainbridge might have saved the hull of his luizeby taking it into San Salvador, but, having proof that the Brazilian government was favorable to that of Great Britain, he would not trust the ca])tured frigate there. He was too far from home to think of conducting lier to an American ])ort; so, after lyinirby thee,^;(?^rt for two days, until the wounded and prisoners, with their baggage, cnuld all be transferred to tlie Constitution, he ordered the battered frigate to be lircd. She blew up on the Slst, Avhen Bainbridge proceeded to San Salvador with his prisoners, and found the Bonne Citbyenne about to attempt passing the Hornet and putting to sea. Ilis arrival frustrated the plan. Having landed and paroled his priMiners," Bainbridge sailed for the United States on the 6th of January, . jnmiury 3, 1813.= ^'*'^- Tlie Constitutioti arrived at Boston on Monday, the 15th of February, and Bain- bridite immediately dispatched Lieutenant Ludlow with a letter to tlie Secretary of the \avy. When Bainbridge landed he was greeted Avith the roar of artillery and the aeclaniation'5 of thousands bf citizens. A procession was formed, and he was escorted to the Excliange Coffee-house, the bands playing Yankee Doodle, and the throngs in • Letter rioni 11. D. Corncck to Lloutpnnnt Peter V. Wood, In the Inle of Friuicc, diitcd ou board the Ciiimfiltilion, .'aauarjr l.lSl.l. After speaking of the death of n friend in the liattle, he said, " Four other of his messmates Bhureil tbo same I \te, together with sixty men killed, and one hundred and seventy wounded." ! The following is a list of the British military and naval officers i)arolcd : Militanj, one lieutenant general, one major, uuc captain. Naval, one post captain, one master and coniniander, five lientcnanls, three lieutenants of marine, one furgeoD, two assistant surgeons, one ])ur?er, fifteen midshipmen, one gunner, one boatswain, one siiip carpenter, two ciiitaln's clerks— total, thirty-eight. (Japtain Lambert died on the day after the landing (January 4). Baiubiidgc treated ill of his prisoners with the greatest tenderness and consideration. Silver i)lnte to a large nmount, presented to Gen- i-al llyslop by the colony of Demarara, and which would have been lawful prize, was returned to that gentleman, who liiaukedBainorirtge for his kind courtesy, and iiresented him his sword (which Bainbridge would not receive when it was offered in token of surrender) in farther testimony of his gratitude. And yet, in the face of ail this, James, the earliest, as he was the most mendacious of the British historians of the war, and one nu)6t quoted by British writers uow, say* {Saral Oeatrrmcen, etc., page ISS), " The ma-.ncr in which the .fava's men were treated by the American offlrers fellerts upon the latter the highest disgrace." In a letter to n friend, written when homeward bound, Baln- hridge exhibited liis goodness of heart In thus speaking of the death of his antnuonist : " I'om' Lambert, whose death I fincercly regret, was a distinguished, gallant, and worthy man. He has left a widow and two hcljiless childrci; i But yjcotmtry makes provision for such sad events." 1 1'' 462 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Ilouorii k'vod to liuliihrldge. I'ublli lliinquet lu Boiton. Olfli uf Ihe CI tie* of Now York nud Albany. tho Htreets, balconies, aiiil windows dicoring loudly, the hidics waving their liaiKH,,,.. chiefs. Tho streets were strung with hunners and strcanuMH, ami Coniinodorcs iJoilij. crs and Iltiil, who walked witli Haiiihridge in the iiroicHsion, received a sliare of the popular honorH. The viitory was announced at the tluatrc that night, and iModuccil tho wildest cnthuKiasni. The Legislature of Massacliusetts bchig in sessiitii tlicv j)aHsed a resolution of thanks to Bainbridge and his officers and cnw,' and on tlic '2d of March a splendid bancjuet was Liiveii ut tho Exchange Coflbc-house to IJaiu- bridge and tho officers of the VonstUution,'* The cai)ture of tho Java., the fourth brilliant naval victory in a brief space ut time, caused great exultation throughout tlie United States, and the Constitution was popularly called from that time Old Ironsides. Orators and rliymcrs, the jjulpit and the ])re8s, made the gallant exploits of Hainbridgo the theme of many words in mis,. and prose.^ The Common Council of New York jjresented to him the freedom ot'thc city in a gold box,* and ordered his portrait painted for the picture-gallery in tiic City Hall* The city of Albany did the same;* and the citizens of Philadelphia pre- NKW YORK UOI.O IKfX. ALliANV OOl.l) It0\, sented him wiih an elegant service of silver plate, the most costly piece of wliicli \va> a massive urn, elegantly wrought.' The Congress of the United States voted th' ' By the Senate on tlie IBtti of February, and by the House of Representatives on tho 20th. » The procession was formed in Faneull Hall by Major Tllden, and was eccorted by the Boatim Light Infantr mltlip W'inMou' Blues, under Colonel Sargent. The Honorable Christopher Gore presided at the table, assisted by llarrlsii (ircy Otis, Israel Thorndike, Arnold Willis, Thomas L. WInthrop, Peter C. Brooks, and William Sullivan as vice-presi- dents. Intelligence liad jnst come that the British Orders in Council had hccn repealed, and that peace might be soou expected. Elated by this news, the Honorable Timothy Dexter offered Ihe following toast: "The British Ordcru in Council revoked, and our national honor gallantly retrieved. Now let us shut the lenii)lc of Janus till his duuble facr goes out of fashion." An ode was sung at the banquet, written, on request of the committee of arraugomcuts, by the late L. M. Sargent, Esq. 3 One of the most popular songs of the day was composed in honor of the capture of the Jam, and called " Bsin- bridge's Tld re I," in which, after every verse, the singer gives a sentence in prose, winding up witli the chorus "TiJ le I, Tid ro I, Tid re Id re I do." The following is a specimen of that kind of song, once so popular : "Come, lads, draw near, and you shall hear, In truth as chaste as DIau, O ! IIow Bainbridge true, and his bold crew, Again have tamed the lion, O I 'Twnn off Brazil he got the pill Which made him cry i>erravi, O But hours two, the Java new, Maintained the battle bravely, O I "But our gallant tars, as soon as they were piped to quarters, gave three cheers, and boldly swore, by the blood of the heroes of Tripoli, ttiat, sooner than strike, they'd go the bottom singing Tid re I, Tid re I, Tid re Id re I do." ♦ This box is three Inches In diameter and one inch in depth. On the inside of tho lid is the following insoriptioii; " The Corporation of the City of New York to Commodore William Bainbridge, of the United States frigate Ciiu/if"- Hon, in testimony of the high sense they entertain of his gallantry and skill in tlie capture of his Britannic Majcsi; • ship .Iava on the 29th of December, 1812." 4 The portrait was i>alnted by John Wesley Jarvis. The engraving on page 469 is from a copy of that picture. • The box presented by the city of Albany is of oblong form, and Is faithfully dellneat-d in tb" engraving. It is Ihw Inches and ahalf long and three fourths of an inch deep. On the inside of the lid Is the follow Inscription : ".\lrib- nte of icspect by the Common Council of the City of Albany to Commodore William Balnbriugc for his gallant navil services in the late war with Great Britain." This box is in the possession of the gallant commander's daughter, Mrt (Mary Bainbridge) Charles Joudon, of Philadelphia. '' This uru is eighteen inches in height. The lid is surmounted by an eagle abont to soar. Below each massive ban- OF THE WAU OF 1812. 408 )[|j.i pwgwUd to B>tobridge by Cungrcw. Kffoct of the iiAvnl ButtlM hi America ud Onat Hrltato. thanks to Bainl>ml>?e and his companions in anno, and aUo filly thouHaml <lollar8 in moni'V, bi'diUHr < I" till' iieceBsary dcHtnu'tion of their prizi-. They also ordered a j^old mi'iliii ti> be struck in honor ut'the eoMiinandir,' and silver ones for each of his otti- cers in token of the national approbation of their conduct. nAiNnniDUE iir.n\L. The conflict between the Constitution and Java was the closing naval engagement of tho year, and, with the previous victories won by t,he Americans, made the deei»- est imjirossions upon the ptd)lic mind in both hemisphnres. The United States cruis- irs, pulilic anil private, had captured about three hundred prizes from tho Britisli (luiiiiij; that first si.x months of war. The American war-jjarty — indeed, the whole .Vmorican people, excepting a few Submissionists, were made exultant by these events, ;iik1 the gloom caused by the failure of the land forces Avas disi)elled. The views of the Federalists, who had always favored a navy, were Justifictl, and the o])position to it, on the part of the Democrats, ceased. The llritish people were astounded by these heavy and ominous blows dealt at their supremacy of the seas, and some of the lead- iiiiT newspapers scattered curses broadcast. One of them, a leading London i)ai>er, «ith that vulgarity which too often disgraced journalism on both sides )f the At- lantic at that time, petulantly expressed its api)rehen8ions that England might be ■«tri]i]i(Hl of her maritime superiority " by a piece of striped buntiug Hying at the mast-head of a few fir-built frigates, manned by a handfvd of bastards and outlaws!" But this impotent rage sooii subsided, and British writers and speakers, compelled to acknowledge the equality of the American people in all that constitutes the true (lie Is 8 head of Neptune. On one side of the um In the representation of tho ivrcclicrt Jam and tlic trinniphant Can itiliUimt, and on tlio other the followlug inreriptloa: "Presented by tlie citizenH ofPhlladelplila to Commodore Wiiliam B«iiil)rld({e, of the U. 8. frigate Cons'itu- lirm, an u testimonial of tho higli sense ibty eiitertaiu of his skill and gallantry ill the capture of the British MgaV^Javn, of 4!t puis and ROfl men, and of their ad rairnlion of hln generous and maKuani moua conduct toward the vanquished foe. Loss In the action of 29th Decem- ber, 1S12_C., 9 killed, 25 wounded : J., Wkllled.Kil wounded." .\tier the death of Bainbridge's wid- ow, his ))late was diBtrll)ntod amouK hi» inrvivlng children. The um and other sih-cr pieces, and the New York gold 1)01, belong to Mrs. Stisan (Hain- BAl.MiMli'.K IIU<, bridtie) Ilaycs, widow of Captain Thom- as Hayes, of the I'nitcd States Navy, a resident of Philadelphia. To her kind courtesy I am indebted for the privileire of making sketches of the urn and Soi- cs. She also has in her possession the sword presented to ]!ainhrldge by Hy- 8lop(8eeNotc2, page4Cl). It Ik a straight dress sword, in a black leather si-abbird. .■Vlso another sword, with basket guard and elegant gilt mountings. Also a Turkish cimeter. ' On one side ofUie medal ii Rbnstof Bainbridjte, and the legend "iicliej-muh IIAlNnilinOK PATRIA VIOTOKISQUE LAUKA- 1U8." Keverse, a ship, tho stumps of her three masts standing, and her con- queror with only a few shot-liolcs in her sails. I.cgeud — "pfoNANno." Exergue — " INTSB OOMBT. MAY. AMEKI, KT *AV. NAT. AKSL. DtK XXIX. OEOEM. UDOOOXII." Ill :./.■* ^>. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ /. ^ J^4e, /^ \f<^\^' y. s ■/, i.O I.I us 2.0 L25 i 1.4 |J4 1.6 6" Sm W ew Photographic Sciences Corporation li WEST MAIN STREI-T WEBSTER, N.Y. \ 1580 (716) 872-4503 '^ i.S' i\ t w^ % s ^ '<*> ■ipwn I!' I 1 ^^ ma 1 1 ffi ■ ' i h ] 1 IP 404 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK JamoB's Bocalled " Histories" of the War. Meetlii)? of the Twelfth C'onjfreM, greatness of a nation, labored hard to show that in all cases the American vessels in force of men and metal, Avere greatly superior to those of the British encoiintored. They even went so far as to assert that the American frigates were all "seventy-fours in disguise !" These assertions were iterated and reiterated long after the Avar iiad ceased, to the amusement of thoughtful men, who clearly perceived the truth whtn the smoke had cleared away. The most notable exhibition of this folly is seen in tliree volumes, one on the naval and two on the military occurrences of that war, written by William James. These, aa we have observed, were among the earliest of the elaborate writings concerning that war, and have, ever since th<>ir appearance been the most frequently quoted by those British and British-American writers and spc-ik- ers who delight in abusing the government and people of the United States Tlic spirit manifested on every jiage bears evidence of the 2)overty of the authv..- lu .i.ll that constitutes a candid and veracious historian.' Having now considered in groups the military and naval events of the war (lurinT the first year of the contest, excepting those in the extreme southern boundaries of the Republic, which will be noticed hereafter, let us glance at the civil affairs of tlie United States, having relation to the subject in question, before entering upon a de- scription of the stirring campaign of 1813. The second session of ilw Twelfth Congress commenced on the 2d day of No- • isf2 ^'Pinber.* It was the eve of the popular election of Presidential eleetors. ' President Madison had been nominated for the oflice for a second term by a Congressional caucus, as we have already observed,* as the Democratic candidate; and the Legislature of New York had nominated De Witt Clinton, a nephew of the late Vice-president, and of tne same political faith, for the same office. The Federal- ists, conscious of their inability to elect a candidate of their oAvn, coalesced with the Clintonian Democrats. This course was decided upon in a Convention of Federalist leaders from all the states north of the Potomac, held in secret session, in the city of New York, in September.'' If the Avar must go on, they regarded Clinton as the possessor of greater executive ability than Madison, and better able to conduct it vigorously ; but their chief desire and hope was to bring about an early peace by the defeat of Madison, the repeal of the British Orders in ComiciF havini,' opened a door for that consuinniation so devoutly wished for. Jaied IngcrRoli, of Pennsylvania, a moderate F'ederalist, was nominated by the Convention for Vice- president. George Clinton having died, Elbridge Gerry, as we have seen,* was nom- inated for Vice-president by the Madisonians. When the elections occurred, nearly all the Federalists and a fraction of the Demo- cratic party voted for the Clintonian electors. All of the New England States, ex eepting Vermont, chose such electors.* New York did the same, in consequence of the adroit management of Martin Van liuren, a politician thirty years of age, Avho then appeared prominently for the first time.^ There Avac a similar result in New Jersey, L Wi11inm James wag an English emigrant to the United States early In the present centnry. He was a vetcrlunrj sn^eon {or " horse doctor," ns they are called in this coiiutrj) in Philadelphia, but was nnsucce!>8ful !u his (irofcunion. He left that city for his native country, thoroughly disgusted with every thing American, because tlu' people baii nol appreciated his talents. His chief employment afler his return fjecms to have been abuse of the Americans, tlieir piibiio men, their government, and their writers. He wrote angry reviews of some American books on the naval and millimy hislory of the War of It'ia, and these were published, in 181T and 1818, In three volumes. The first was entitled "A Full fldrf Correct Aeeount iif the N*vai. Ooocbrenokb tf tite IMe War, etc." and the other two, "/I FvU awl Cnrmt it- cnunt ef the. Mii.itabv OooraKKNoxs <(/■ the Late War, etc." They arc not histories, but violent tirades, and maiiiffft, «^ the Kilinburfl RnHew remarked, " bitter and persevering antipathy" to the Americans. " AInios* every orlgiimi rornnrk made by the author upon them," said the lieviae, " bears traces of the nnworthy feeling we have Just mcnIlDiied." In considering his performance in the light of two generations of tlionght and Investigation, the truth of the niotlo on the title-page of his volume on the Saval Oamrrmce^, quoted from Murphy'B Tacitus, Is very manifest. " Tratli ie alwars bronght to light by time and rofiection, while the lie nf the dan lives by bustle, noise, and precipitation." .lanies died In 1827. " See page 226. ' See page i-'-l. • Sec p«|;eV« » Ii. Massachnset'e, so strongly ncmocratlc, only a few months before, the "peace electors," a< the Cliutoniaus were called, obtained n mivjority of 24,000. « Owing to the dissonance In the Democratic party In New York, caased by the diuienslons between the Madlwinlani and t'liutonlans, the FederallstB «ho«« nineteen out of the twenty-three members of Congress. Those of New Ilimp- 1812. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 4«6 The Administration enatalned. Madison re-elected. Threats of Joeiah Qnlncy In Congreip. and for a time tlie re-election of Madison appeared doubtful. But before Congress had been in session six weeks it was definitely ascertained, from the official canvass, that Madison had one hundred and twenty-eight out of the two hundred and eighteen electors chosen, and that a large majority of the Congressmen elect were friends of the administration This result was regarded, under the circumstances, as a ve^•y stroin' expression of the public in favor of the war ; and the war-party in and out of Congress were greatly strengthened. They were also encouraged by the aspect of affairs abroad. Intelligence of apparent ('isasters to the English in Spain, the triumph of Bonaparte in the terrible battle of Borodino, and his victorious march upon Moscow, filled them with the hope that England, struggling with all Europe against her, must speedily be compelled to withdraw her soldiers and seamen from America, and give up the contest here, or else fall a prey to the conquering Corsican. But they were doomed to an early disappointment of their hopes by disasters that fell thick and faut upon the French army, exposed to Russia i snows and Russian cohorts. It was evi- dent, too, from the returns of the late elections, that the Opposition were growing stronger every day. Among the earliest national measures proposed in Congress was apian for increas- ing the t' my twenty thousand men, making the whole establishment fifty-six thou- sand. The President, in his fourth annual message," after giving a gen- 'November 4, cral statement of the position of affairs in relation to the war, called the ^*^^'*" attention of the national Legislature to the necessity of measures for the vigorous prosecution of it. A bill was introduced into the House of Representatives to raise the pay of private soldiers from six to eight dollars a month, to guarantee recruits against arrtst for debt, and to give them their option to enlist for five years or for the war. In the same bill was a clause allowing the enlistment of minors without the consent of their parents or masters. This elicited a very spirited debate, in which Josiah Quincy engaged with his usual vigor. He declared it to be an interference with the rights of parents and masters, and warned the House that if the bill passed with that " atrocious principle" contained in it, it would be met in Now England by the state laws against kidnapping and man-stealing. He opposed it as bearing par- ticularly hard upon the North, where the laborers are the yeomanry and the minors, while at the South the laborers were slaves, and exempted by law from military duty. The planter of the South, he said, can look around upon his fifty, his hundred, and his thousand human beings, and say, "These are mj property" — property tilling the l:md, and ' nriching the owner in Avar as well as in peace; while the farmer of the North has mly one or two eice lambs — his children, of which he can say, and say with pride, like 'Jie Roman matron, 'These are my ornaments.'" These, by the pro- posed law, might be taken from him, and his land must remain untilled.^ Williaras, of South Carolina, the chairman of the Military Committee, retorted fiercely. In reply to Quincy's assertion that the bill contained an " atrocious princi- ple," he charged the great Federal leader with uttering an "atrocious falsehood." Ills language was so offensively supercilious that it drew admonitions even from John Randolph. He argued well in favor of an increase of the army. " The British regular force in the Canadas," he said, " could not be estimated less than twelve thousand men. In addition to these were the Canadian militia, amounting to several thousands, and three thousand regulars at Halifax. To drive this force from the field, the St. Lawrence must be crossed with a well-appointed army of twenty thousand men, supported by an army of reserve of ten thousand. Peace is not to be expected ibire were all Federalists, and that party carried the Legislature of New Jersey and more than half of its Congressional dtle^tlon. ' Aqutwtlon npon similar premises arose in the Convention of 17S7, when it was proposed to malce three oni of every in (laves count as persons in determiulni; the representation of the states in Congress. It was observed that while the iil«Ye8 were culled persons for a political purpose, they were only chaiUU af other times, and could not be called into tie military eenlce of the country. This was a grievous wrong toward the non-glaveholding states. Go "I. \ ■ ^^^ '^'''-''^mmffmtmm If! ' 408 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK i'l ^^ - :t \Ja '■■■ ;. ■;;■'' 1 ^'"^ ||: Hl^rl ' The Policy and Leader> of the War Party denounced by Quincy. Response by Henry Cl«y. but al tho expense of a vigorous and successful war. Administrations have in vain sued for it, even at the expense of the sarcastic sneers of the British minister. The campaign of 1813 must open in a style and vigor calculated to inspire confidence iu ourselves and awe in the enemy. Nothing must be left to chance ; our movcmontst must every where be in concert. At the same moment we move on Canada, a corns of ten thousand men must threaten Halifax from the province of Maine. The lionor and character of the nation require that the British power on our borders sliould be annihilated the next campaign. Her American provinces once wrested from her ev- ery attempt to recover them will be chimericnl, except by negotiation. The road to peace thus lies through Canada." The bill passed the House of Representatives but the objectionable clause received only four votes in the Senate. The expensive volunteer system M^as taken up in Congress, and the law authorizintf the employment of that species of soldiers was repealed. Another was substituted which authorized the enlistment of twenty regiments of regulars to serve twelve months, to whom a bounty of sixteen dollars should be given. It also provided for the appointment of six major generals and six brigadier generals, and a correspond- ing increase of subordinate officers. Party spirit was aroused in the debate tbat en- sued, and the discussion took a range so wide as to include the whole policy and •Jannnrys, conduct of the war. Mr. Quincy led off* with great bitterness and tbe ^^^^- keenest sarcasm. " He denounced the invasion of Canada," says Hildreth,' " as a cruel, wanton, senseless, and wicked attack, in which neither plunder nor glon- was to be gained, upon an unoffending people, bound to us by ties of blood and gooil neighborhood ; undertaken for the punishment, over their shoulders, of another peo- ple three thousand miles off, by young politicians fluttering and cackling on the floor of that house, half hatched, the shell still on their heads, and their pin-feathers not yet shed — politicians to whom reason, justice, pity, were nothing, revenge every thing; bad policy, too, since the display of such a grasping spirit only tended to alienate from us that large minority of the British people anxious to compel their ministers to respect our maritime rights. So thought the people of New England, and hence the difficulty of getting recruits. The toad-eaters of the palace — party men in pur- suit of commissions, fat contracts, judgeships, and offices for themselves, their fatbers, sons, brothers,uncie8, and cousins — might assert otherwise, but the people had spoken in the late elections. There were in New England multitudes of judicious, patriotic, honest, sober men, who, if their judgments and their consciences went with the war, would rush to the standard of their country at the winding of a horn, but to whom the present call sounded rather as a jewsharp or a banjo. If the government would confine itself to a war of defense, it should have his support ; but for a war of conquest and annexation, whether in East Florida'^ or Canada, he would not contrib- ute a single dollar. Nor was he to be frightened from this ground by the old state cry of British connection, raised anew by a pack of mangy, mongrel blood-hounds, for the most part of very recent importation, their necks still marked with the collar, and their backs sore with the stripes of European castigation, kept in pay by the admin- istration to hunt down all who opposed the court." This contemptuous speech drew a most vigorous reply from Mr. Clay, the Speaker of the House, who felt himself specially aimed at by the expression " unfledged poli- ticians." He charged the Federalists, says Hildreth, " with always, throughout the whole controversy with Great Britain, thwarting the plans of their own government; clamoring alike against the embargo, against the non-intercourse, against the non-im- portation ; when the government were at peace, crying out for war ; and, now the government were at war, crying out for peace ; falsely charging the President with > BUtoT]! i\f the United States, si rood series, lit., 381. ' Tbe revolutionary and military operations in that quarter will be noticed hcreufter. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 4W Cla'i Speech In OpposUlon to Qulncy. Meatinres for Btrengtheiiing the Army and Navy. Government K:i;penBes. beine under French influence ;' heaping all kinds of abuse on Bonaparte ; assai'ing Jefferson with impotent rage ; spiriting up chimeras of Southern influence and Vir- ginia dictation, as if the people did not choosa their own presidents; going even so tar as to plot the dissolution of the Union." M-. Clay then presented a most pathetic picture of the wrongs inflicted upon, and miseries endured by, American seamen un- der the operations of the impressment system, to which Great Britain clung tena- ciouf'.y. " -As to the gentleman's sentimental protest against the invasion of Canada," he said in substance, '' was Canada so innocent, after all ? Was it not in Canada that the Indian tomahawks were whetted ? Was it not from Maiden and other Canadian ma 'azines that the supplies had issued which had enabled the savage bands to butch- er the garrison of Chicago? Was it not by a joint attack of Canadians and Indians that Michillimackinac had been reduced ? What does a state of war present ? The combined energies of one people arrayed against tlie combined energies of another, each aiming to inflict all the injury it can, whether by sea or land, upon the territo- ries property, and persons of the other, subject only to those mitigated usages prac- ticed among civilized nations. The gentleman would not touch the British Continent- al possessions, nor, for the same reason, it was supposed, her West India islands. By the same rule, her innocon*^ " V'iers and sailors ought to be protected; and as, accord- ing to a well-known max.n, ne king could do no wrong, there would seem to be nobody left whom, on the gentleman's principles, we could attack unless it were Mr. Steplien,^ the reputed author of the Orders in Council, or the Board of Admi'-alty, under whose authority our seamen Avere impressed." .... Mr. Clay's " plan was," he said, "to call out the ample resources of the country to the fullest extent, to strike wherever the enemy could be reached, by sea or land, and to negotiate a peace at Quebec or Halifax." Measures were adopted for strengthening both the army and navy, and the more perfect organization of each. The President was authorized to cause the construc- tion of four ships of seventy-four guns each, and six frigates and six sloops-of-war ;^ to issue treasury notes to the amount of five millions of dollars, and to create a new stock for a loan of sixteen millions of dollars.* A bill was also passed, chiefly through the untiring eflTorts of Langdon Cheves and Joh.i C. Calhoun, representatives from Sonth Carolina, by which the bonds of merchants given for goods imported from Great Britain and Ireland after the declaration of war, and seized under the provi- sions of the Non-importation Act, were canceled. For six weeks after the news of war reached England expoitat?ons had been allowed to go on ;' and the goods to which the law in question would apply were valued, at invoice prices, at more than 1 Qnlncy had Bald, In the speech just qnoitd flrom, that the " administration, nnder French influence and dictation, hid for twelve years ruled the country with anthority little short of despotic ;" and then referred to the continnous rule at "a narrow Virginia clique, to the exclusion from office and influence of all men of talents, even of their own party, not connected with that clique." > Author of War in Ditgtiise. See page 140. ' According tn a careful estimate made by the Secretary of the Navy, the force of three frigates would not be more ibin eqnal to one T4-gun ship. The expense of building and equipping a frigate of 44 guns, estimated from the actual coit of the Premlmt, was $220,010 ; the cost of a 74, $333,000. The annual expense of keeping a fHgate of that size in Htrice was estimated at $110,000, and that of a 74 at $210,110. The result fhim these calcnlations was, that while the tipenees of a T4 were something less than (hose of two frigates of 44 guns each, her value in service wai> equal to three frigates.— See Perkins's History of the Political atui Military Events of the Late War, page 160. This estimate determined Coigreii to build 74's. < The following were the Treasury estimates of expenditures for the year 1813 : For the civil list, and interest and reimbursement of a part of the principal of the public debt $8,600,000 Forthearmy, not including the new levies 17,000,000 For the navy, not iDcluding the proposed increase 4,0%,000 Total $30,426,000 The total appropriations made for the service of the year amonnted to $39,975,000. Such wa« the amount necessary to meet the entire expenses of the government of the United States fifty years ago, wher, it was waging a war with Qreat Britain. The expenditures of the government for a year (186!)) during the late civil *ar was ,$S<1B,234,000. 'This was under a false impression made by Mr. Russell, the American Char' , d'Affairen, that in consequence of lie repeal of the Orders In Council the Non-Intercourse Act would be snSpendr j. Immediately after the repeal (June i3d,lSI2), all the American ships then in British ports commenced loading wi ,n British goods. "I. i.i;n 'I. ( !i IliiNlii r^l i 408 PICTORIAL FIKLD-BOOK P«callat')ry Law. Report of the Committee on Foreign KeUtl ogi. eighteen millions of dollars, and were worth double that amount in the Ameiicin market. This act conciliated the mercantile interest. Cheves, who was chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, endeavored to procure a partial repeal of the Non-importation Act, but failed. The restrictive sys- tem was regarded with great favor as a powerful weapon In the hands of the Ameri- cans, and its friends adhered to it with the greatest tenacity, believing it to be a pol- icy potent in hastening the ruin of England. The Federalists failed to support the measure because the repeal was not complete, and on account of the provision in it for the more strict enforcement of what was left. We have already observed that a retaliatory law, first suggested by Colonel Scott on account of some prisoners taken at Queenston, and who had been sent to Eiifrland as desorttfrs because they were Irishmen, was passed.' It was so framed as not only to meet the special case of those persons, but such Indian outrages under British sanc- tion as had been committed at the River Raisin.^ Happily, there was no occasion for enforcing the law. On the 1 3th of January, Mr. Calhoun, from the Committee on Foreign Relations made an able report. It had been looked for with great interest. In tliat report the subject of itnjjressment held a conspicuous place. The President, as we have ob- • June 20, served, only a week after the declaration of Avar," proposed an immediate 1812. armistice, on conditions at once just and honorable to both nations. It was rejected by the British in terms of peculiar reproach and insult. At about the same time the British Orders in Council were repealed conditionally, but the practice of impressment was defended as just and expedient, and would rot be allowed to be- come a subject for negotiation by the British authorities. Thus niatt.?rs stood when the Report on Foreign Relations was presented. After alluding to the above facts the committee proceeded to say that " the impressment of our seamen, beins; de- servedly considered a principal cause of the war, the war ought to be prosecuted un- til that cause be removed. To appeal to arms in defense of a right, and to lay them down without securing it, or a satisfactory evidence of a good disposition in the op- posite party to secure it, would be considered in no other light than a relinquishment of it. . . . The manner in which the friendly advances and liberal propositions of the Executive have been received by the British government has, in a great measure, ex- tinguished the hope of amicable accommodations. , . . War having been declared, .and the case of impressment being necessarily included as one of the most important causes, it is evident it must be provided for in the pacification. The omission of it in a treaty of peace would not leave it on its foi-mer ground ; it would, in effect, be an absolute relinquishment, an idea at which the feelings of every American must re- volt. The seamen of the United States have a claim on their country for protection, and they must be protected. If a single ship is taken at sea, and the property of an American citizen wrested from him unjustly, it rouses the indignation of the coun- try. How much more deeply, then, ought we to be excited wlien we behold so many of this gallant and highly meritorious class of our fellow-citizens snatched from tiieir families and country, and carried into a cruel and afflicting bondage ? It is an evil which ought not, which can not be longer tolerated. Without dwelling on the suf- ferings of the victims, or on that wide scene of distress which it spreads among their relatives through the country, the pi*actice is, in itself, in the highest degree degrad- ing to the United StatCv. as a nation. It is incompatible with their sovereignty; it is subversive of the main pillars of their independence. The forbearance of the Unit- ed States under it has been mistaken for pusillanimity." To offect r, change in the British policy respecting impressments, the committee 1 See page 408. ' The British anthoritles excneed themtetves on thr plea that they conld not restrain the ladiant. Uflcatiou. The root of the iniquity was in the employment of the savages as allies. Thlswjiiiojaf- OF THE WAR OF 1813, 4e9 iltalfato of the Prince Regent. Charges againiit the Oovernment of the United States. 1813. >> January 13. ' January 9. recommended the passage of 1^ act, which vis appended to their report, similar to one proponed by Mr. Russell to Lord Castlereagh several months before, prohibiting, after the close of the present war, .he employment, in public or private vessels, ofeny persons except American citizens, this prohibition to extend only to the subjects or citizens of such states as should make reciprocal regulations. An act to that eifect, wiiich passed the House on the 12th of February, was adopted by the Senate on the last day of the session," against very warm opposition of some of the war- • March s, partv, who considered it as a humiliating concession. Only four days before the presentation of their report'' by the Commit- tee on Foreign Relations, the Prince Regent, acting sovereign of Great Britain, issued a manifesto" concernhig the causes of the war, and the sub- jects of blockade and impressment. He declared that the war was not the consequence of any fault of Great Britain, but that it liad been brought on by tlie pavtial conduct of the American government in overlooking the aggressions of the French, and in their negotiitions with them. He alleged that a quarrel with Great Britain had been sought because she had adopted measures solely as retalia- tive as toward France ; and that, as those measures liad been abandoned by a repeal of the Orders in Council, the war was now continued on the question of impressment and search. On this point tlie Prince Regent took such a decisive position, that the door for negotiation which the recommendation of the Committee on Foreign Atfairs nroposed to open seemed ii'revocably shut. " His royal highness," said the manilesto i'rora his palace at Westminster, " can never admit that in the exercise of the un- doubted and hitherto undisputed' right of searching neutral merchant vessels in time of war, and the impressment of British seamen when found therein, can be deemed auy violation of a neutral flag, neither can he admit the taking of such seamen from on board such vessels can be considered by any neutral state as a hostile meas- ure or a justifiable cause of war." After reaffirming the old English doctrine of the impossibility of self-expatriation of aBritifb subject, the manifesto continued: "But if, to the practice of the United States to harbor British seamen, be added their as- sumed right to transfer the allegiance of British subjects, and thus to cancel the ju- risdiction of their legitimate sovereign by acts of naturalization and certificates of citizenship, which they pretend to be as valid out of their own territory as within it,* it is obvious that to abandon this ancient right of Great Britain, and to admit these naval pretensions of the United States, would be to expose the very foundations of our maritime strength." The lanifesto charged the United States government with systematic efforts to inflame their people against Great Britain, of ungenerous (tonduct toward Spain, Great Britain's ally, and of deserting the cause of neutrality. " This disposition of the gov- ernment of the United States — this complete subserviency to the ruler of France — this hostile temper toward Great Britain," said the prince, " are evident in almost ev- ery page of the official correspondence of the American Avith the French government. Against this course of conduct, the real cause of the present war, the Prince Regent solemnly protests. "While contending against France in defense not only of the lib- erties of Great Britain, but of the world, his Royal Highness was entitled to look for a far different result. From their common origin — from their common interest — from their professed principles of freedom and independence, the United States was the last power in which Great Britain could have expected to find a willing instrument and abettor of Frencn tyranny."^ ' For a refntatfon of thiB erroneous aBsertion, see Chapter VII. 'This right of cithenbhip, Rcqnircd by natnralizntlon and the transfer of allegiance, has long ago been tacitly ac- Lowlcdged by the British anthorities. Indeed, the claim set up by the Prince Regent was practically abandoned dur- ing the War of 1812, for, excepting In the case of the Irishmen made prisoners with Colonel Scott, the British never tUlmed Brltish-bom prisoners as subjects. See page 408. ■ In the manifesto the Prince Regent also solemnly declared that " the cliarge of exciting the Indians to offensive i ■■;-; V ■ \ I / ,, 41b PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK PropoalMon from Ruula tu mediate. The Propopltton eDtertained. Napoleon'g Invanlon of Rnjii^ This manifesto, adroitly framed for effect in the United States as well as at homo was approved hy both houses of Parliament, and sustained in an address to the throne' It reached America at about the close of the twelfth Congress, and its avowals of the intended adherence of the British govenmient to the practice of impressment stood before the people side by side with the declarations of tlie report of their Committoc on Foreign Affairs, in which it was declared that it was against that practice the war was waging, and that it ought to bo waged until the nefarious business was aban- doned by the enemy. While pondering these documents, tho Americana were suddenly called by the march of events to contemplate other most important subjects in connection with the war. John Quincy Adams was then tho American minister at tho Russian court His relations with the Emperor Alexander were intimate and cordial. When intel- ligence of the declaration of war reached St. Petersburg the Czar expressed his regret. On account of the French invasion of his territory he was on friendly terms with Great •September 20, Britain, and his prime minister, Roman%off, suggested to Mr. Adams* the ^^^' expediency of tendering the mediation of Russia for the purpose of ef- fecting a reconciliation. Mr. Adams favored it, but for a while the victorious mareh of Bonaparte toward Moscow, the heart of the Russian empire, delayed the measure. The final defeat of the invader secured present tranquillity to the Czar, and he sent instructions to M. Dasehkoff, his representative at Washington, to offer to the United States his friendly services in bringing about a peace. This was formally done on tho 8th of March, 1813, only four days after President Madison, in his second inaucu- ral address, had laudably endeavored to excite anew the enthusiasm of the people in the vigorous prosecution of the war. At about this time official uitelligence had been received by the government of the result of Napoleon's invasion of Russia. He had indeed reached Moscow after tear- ful sufferings and losses, but when he rode into that ancient capital of the Muscovites at the head of his staff, on the 15th of September, it was as silent as the Petritied Citv of the Eastern tale. The inhabitants had withdrawn, and the great Kremlin in which he slept that night was as cheerless as a magnificent mausoleum. His slumbers were soon disturbed. The Russians had not all left. For hours a hundred unlighted torch- ep had been held by tlie hands of Russian incendiaries. When the great bell of t!ie metropolitan cathedral tolled out the hour of midnight, these were kindled by flint and steel, and instantly a hundred fires glared fearfully from every direction upon the coucli of the great Corsican. Tho city was every where in flames, and the wea- ried Frencii army were compelled to seek shelter in the desolate country around the blackened ruins of that splendid town. On that fearful night the star of Napoleon's destiny had reached its raeridian. Eve • afterward it was seen slowly descending, in waning splendor, the paths of the western sky. He perceived in the destruction of Moscow the fearful perils of his sit- uation, and sought to avert them. He proposed terms of peaceful adjustment, but the emperor flung them back with scorn. Retreat or destruction was the alternative. He chose the former ; and late in October, with one hundred and twenty thousand men, he turned his face toward France. For a few days the sky was clear and tlie atmosphere was genial. Then came biting frosts and blinding snow-storms, wiiile clouds of fiery Cossacks smote his legions on flank and rear with deadly blows. Suf- mensurcs against the United States is eqnally void of foundation." Tills denial was iterated and reiterated by Britlih statesmen and pntilicists, and lias been ever since. It is very natnral for a civilized and Christian people to reptl the charge of complicity with savage pagans in the practices of merciless and barbarous warfare. It is commendable, and evinces a proper sense of the heinonsness of the offense against civilization; bat the official declarations of even a prince, were he many times more vlrtnous than that libertine regent of England, can not set aside the Indelible recordi of history or the verdict of mankind. There are too many positive statements concerning such complicity to donbtll In addition to those given in the preceding pages of this worli, many more may be found in Nlles's Weekly Regiiter, U.,8tt. OF THE WAB OF 1812. 471 n'l Uiaut«n lu Ramla. RiOulclnga nf tho American Psaco-party. CommlnMluneni to treat for Peace. Mtpo leoi (mm Hiul death held high carnival among the fugitives. Honaparto saw that all was lost and he haHtenod to France, bearing almost the first intelligence of the terrible (lisiister. He loHt during the eiiinitaign one hundred and twenty-fivo thounand slain ill buttle, one hundred and tliirty-two thouHand by fatigue, hunger, diseaHe, and cold, iind one hundred and ninety-three thousand made prisoners; in all, four hundred and Mil thousand men! Notwithstanding this fearful loss of life, he had scarcely reach td Pai'is when ho issued un order for a general conscription, in number sufficient to take the places of the dead. At the same time Itussia, Sweden,. Denmark, Prussia, and Spain coalesced for tlie purpose of striking the cri))pled conqueror a crushing |)low iind early in 1813 they sent large annies toward the Elbe to oppose him. His fonscripts were already in the field, and with three hundred and fifty thousand men he invaded Germany, fought and won the great battle of Lutzen,* and, after .May 2, other conflicts, seated himself in Dresden, agreeably to an armistice, and list- '^"'• ened to offers of mediation on the part of Austria, with a view to closing the war. The intelligence from Europe was disheartening to the war-party, for it was evi- dent that the coalition of the great powers of Europe against the FrtMich would so relieve England that she might prosecute the war in America with great vigor. The President had been at all times anxious for peace on honorable terms. He perceived .1 chance for its accomplishment through Russian mediation, and he at once accepted thp offer of M. Daschkoff. That acceptance was followed by the nomination of Al- bert (Tallatin, the Secretary of the Treasury, and James A. Bayard, a representative of Delaware in the Senate of the United States, as commissioners or envoys extraor- dinary, to act jointly with Mr. Adams to negotiate a treaty of peace with Great lifitain at St. Petersburg. At the same time, William H. Crawford, of Georgia, a Peace Democrat, was appointed to succeed the lately deceased Joel Barlow' as min- ister at the French court. Ot the result of the efforts for peace through Russian mediation I shall hereafter write. The reverses of Napoleon, as <ve have observed, discouraged the war-party, and gave correspor.ding joy to the Federalists, especially to the wing of that organization known as the Peace-party, whose head-quarters were at Boston. There they cele- brated the Russian triumphs with public lejoicings.* In other places, too, these vic- > Mr. Barlow, as we have »een, was an ardent Repnblican (aee page 94). In October, 1312, the Unke de Baaaano, at Na(M)ii!on'fl reqiicat. Invited Barlow to meet the emperor at Wllna, In Poland, the nomlnnl object oi wh'ch waa to com- plete ' commercial treaty with the United States, for which the American minister har' long Importuned. It was be- kved hy some that the real object was to make an arrangement by which French ships, manned by American sailors, mlslit be Drought Into play against Great Britain. Whatever was the object remains a mystery. Barlow obeyed the rojal eummons immediately, and traveled day and night. The weather was very Inclement. The country had been vssted by war, and he suffered many pri vatlons. In consequence nf these and exposure to the weather, he was attacked with inflnmmatlou of the lungs, which caused his death in the cottage of a Jew at Zarnowice, near Cracow, on the 22d of December, 1812. Of course, the object of his mission was not accomplished. His last poem, dictated. It Is said, from bit (ieath-bed, was a withering expression of resentment against Napoleon for the hopes which he had disappointed. ' Services were held In King's Chapel, on the 26th of March, 1S13, In commemoration of the victories of the Russians <iver Napoleon, who aimed, it was said, " at the empire of the world." One hundred and tlfty amateurs and professional gentlemen assisted In the perfoi mance of sacred music. Among other pieces sung was the following recitative, com- posed (br the occasion : " For the hosts of Oallia went In with their chariots and with their horsemen Into the North, and the Lord chased them with fierce warriors, winter blasts, and famine ; but the children of Sclavia, safe and unhurt, through all the dauger passed." The closing prayer was made by the Reverend Mr. Channcey. The services lu the church were held In the forenoon. In the afternoon many hundreds of the citUens of Boston and the neighboriug country sat down to a public dinner. M. Eustaphieve, the Russian consul for New England, vas a ;uest. The room was appropriately decorated. Among the ornaments was a portrait of the Rnssian emperor, with the words, "Alexander, the deliverer of Burope." Harrison Gray Oris made a speech on the occasion. In which he declared hit 'onvlctton that the check, given to Napoleon by Russia had rescued pur country from Its greatest rtanTer— the Influ- eoce of the French policy. Several songs were sung. One of them contained the following verse : " Hall, Russia I may thy conq'Hng bands Sad Enropo from her chains release; Exalt tne hopes of farthest lands. And give us back an exiled psaok !" An ode was sung, to the air of " Ye Mariners of England," which concluded thus ; • ^ " Then fill to Alexander ! For him a garland twine, While shaded by our oaks, we taste The virtues of the vine. ' ■" • 1 " 1 )■■; lu 473 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Cabinet Changei. AmiRtroog rhiwen Socruturj of Wir. tories were hailed with joy, and became tiie themes for Hong and curatory,' to the r'reat difiguHt of the war-party and their newH[)aj)er organs, who censured the Presideiit for his huHte in snatching at Russian mediation. During the session of Congress which closed on the 3d of Msirch, 1813, tliore had been some important changes in President Madison's Cabinet. Public clamor against him had caused Dr. Eustis to resign the War bureau, and the affairs of that d(|)ait- ment were conducted for several weeks by Mr. Monroe, the Secretary of State. John Armstrong, who had been appointed a brigadier general in the army of the TTnittd States, and succeeded General Bloomfield in command at New York, was appointcil ■January 18, Secretary of War," and Paul Hamilton was dismissed from the Navy Ik: '***^' partment to make way for William Jones,'' who had been a ship-masipr "inary . j^^ earlier life, was an active Philadcl])hia politician of the DeniocTatic school, and at the time was Commissary of Purchases for the army. Madison's Cab- inet, at the opening of the campaign of 1813, was composed as follows: James Mon- roe, Secretary of State; John Armstrong, Secretary of War; William Jones, Secre- tary of the Nuvy ; Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury; and \yilliam Pinkney, Attorney General. And when those oaks adorn oar bill», Or bear our thunders far, Let each soul Fill his bowl * To vict'ry and the Czar— ' And give a long and loud hnzza To vict'ry and the Czar." 1 On the 6th of June, 1818, the late G. W. P. Cnstls, the adopted Bon of Washington, addressed a large audience nl Qeorgetowu, In the District of Columbia, on the Russian victories. Thi t address drew from tlie Russian niiiiimcr ai Washington a very complimentary letter, and a request for a copy to be transmitted to Russia. That letter, dated " .Tune 21, 1S13," was accompanied by a small medal containing a likeness of the Emperor Alexander. " Permit me to czpresB to you my gratitude," said M. DaschkolT, " that of my family, and of all my countrymen who shall pcriiRc yoiir oration, for the zeal and Interest you have displayed In our cause; and allow me to send yon a small medal, with the likeness of Alexander the First, the only one which la now In my possession."— Jf&'. Letter. It' i I l<. i i:);; PHii^lVi OF THE WAR OF 1812. 478 H«frtion'« PiwItloP on the MaumeB. BzpadlUon aKnIniit M«ldcii. Ita Failar*. CHAPTER XXm. " Oh, lonely Is our old grceu fort, Where oft, In diiyg of old. Our gallant xoldierH bravely fought '(liilnHt xavago alllvM bold ; But with tbo chnnKC of years have passed That unreluntlii); foe, Slucu wo fought bero with Harrison. A lung time ago.'" Bono— Old Fobt Hiiai. ^OTIIING of importance in military movements occurred (Miring tlie dead of winter, in 1813, excepting the terrible aflair at Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, already described," and some hostile demonstrations on the St. Lawrence frontier at Elizabeth- town and Ogdensburg by the opposing parties. The campaign of that year o])ened almost simultaneously on the shores of Lake Ontario, in the Valley of the Maumee, and on the coasts of Vir- ginia. Let us tirst consider the military events in the Northwest, where we left General Harrison, with a portion of his gallant little army, encamped amid the snows in the dark forests that skirted the Rapids of the Maumee.'' The position chosen by Harrison for a strong advanced post, which would give him facilities for keeping open a communication with Ohio and Kentucky, allow him to afford pro p' ion to the inhabitants on the borders of Lake Erie, and to operate airainst Detroit and Maiden, was one of tHfe most eligible in the Northwest, and its possession gave the British much uneasiness. Harrison's plan was to form simjily a ibrtified camp, and to procecute the winter campaign with vigor. For this purpose lie endeavored to concentrate troops there, and prepared to push on to the vicinity of Brownstown, for the purpose of operating directly against Maiden while the De- troit River was bridged with ice. Considering the destruction of the enemy's ves- sels, frozen up in the vicinity of Maiden, of great importance, he sent a small force, under Captain Langham,^ to perform that service. Op the 2d of Mfirch they set off in sleighs, with six days' provisions, and well equipped with combusti- bles. The party was one hundred and seventy strong. The particular incendiaries were under the immediate command of M. Madis, a Frenchman of European military experience, then conductor of artillery. They were instructed to leave the sleighs at Middle Bass Island, and, with their feet muffled in moccasins, proceed noiselessly, under cover of night, to the work of destruction. Harrison advanced with a support- ing detachment, but on his arrival at Maumefe Bay,*" not far below the pres- ent city of Toledo, he met Langham and his party returning. They had found the lake open, and of course the plan of the expedition was frustrated. Tlie mildness of the winter had been remarkable ; the roads were consequently almost impassable. There was no ice competent to bear troops and munitions of war. Harrison now abandoned all hopes of moving forward until spring, and continued the work of fortifying his camp with great vigor, for the preservation of his stores, < See Chapter XX. > See page 364. ' Augustas L. Langham, of Ohio, was an ensign la a rifle corps tn 180S. He resigned in 1809, and in March, 1812, was commiisioned a captain in the Nineteenth Regiment of Infantry. He distinguished himself at Fort Helge. In Atig;iiet Mowing he was promoted to major, was retainud in 1816, iind resigned in Octolier, 1810. ' 1813. ' March 3. il m, ik< IIJ N «i 41^ PICTORIAL FIKLD-BOOK Vortlflad GMnp (t the Hsainae lUpUU. RmlMnMS of the cummaadtiitf Offlcrr. A WMk Oirriiom oollocti'tl thorc in proat qnantity. ITih troops wore ihvn nbont piphlpcn hundred in nuiubi-r, iiiul woro employod on the wurku iiikIit tlio Hkillful direction of tliat com- ^ |K-t«'nt offif-r. Captain Wood, thv chief -/X^^n^ «ngini-er of Harrison'M army, ("a,„ai„ c^*^€.^v/ Grutiot,* tht-n lyinp jtroHtratc witli ii|. noim tliat lonjf continued. "The pamp" — said Captain Wood, waH about twoiitv- five hundred yards in circumference, the wlude of wliich, w>th the exception of hiv- eral small iiitervalH left for batteries and block-Iioubcs, was to be |)icketed with tim- ber fifteen leet long, from ten to twelve inches in diameter, and set three feet in the ground. Such were the instructions of the engineer; and so soon as the lines of tlic camp were (U'signated, large portions of the labor were assigned to each corps in tin. army, by which means a very laudable eamlation was easily excited. To conii)letf tlio picketing, to put up eight block-houses of double timbers, to elevate fo.ir largi' batteries, to build all the store-houses and magazines n'quired to contain the siipplieii of the army, together with the ordinary fatigues of the camp, was an undertaking of no small magnitude. Besides, an immense deal of labor was likewise recpiired in ex- cavating ditches, making abatis, and clearing away the wood about tlu^ canij) ; and all this was to be (b)ne, too, at a time when the weather was inclement, and the ground 80 hard tluit it could scarcely bo opened with the mattock and pickaxe. But in the use of the axe, mattock, and spade consisted tho chief military knowledge of our army; and even that knowledge, however trifling it may be supposed by some, is of the utmost importance in many situations, and in ours was the salvation of the army. So we fell to work, heard nothing of the enemy, and endcavo>-ed to bury our- selves as soon as possible."^ But the work so vigorously commenced was abandoned soon afterward, when the general and the engineer left tlie camj) — the former to visit liis sick family at Cinrin- nati, and to urge forward troops and supplies for his army; the latter to superintend the erection of defensive works at Santhftky. The camj) at the Rapids w as left in charge of Colonol Leftwich, o^ tlie Virginia militia, who appears to have resolved to desert the post as soon as possible. Kcgardless of the danger to the stores, and comfort and safety of those he miglit leave behind, ho not only allowed all work upon the fortifications to cease, but permitted the soldiers to burn the collected piok- etings for fuel, instead of getting it fiom the woods withui pistol-shot of the oamp. On his return from Sandusky on the 20th of P'ebruary, Captain Wood, to his great mortification, perceived the utter neglect of Leftwich, and the destruction of the works on tlie lines commenced before lie left. The consequence of thii conduct of Leftwich, whom Wood called " an old phlegmatic Dutchman, who was not even fit for a pack-horse master, much less to be hitrnsted with such an important command," was great exposure of the garrison to the inclement weather, and the stores to immi- nent peril from the enemy. When, on the expiration of their term of enlistment, tho Virginia troops under Leftwich, and others from Pennsylvania, left for home, only about five hundred men remained at the Rapids under Major Stoddard, with which to maintaiu possession of an unfinished line of circumvallation calculated to contain an army of two thousand men. Harrison's greatest concern during the winter of 1813 was the possibility of not keeping soldiers enough in the field for the spring campaign, as the terms of the en- ' Charles Oratiot wag a native of Miasonrl, and was appointed wacond llentenant of Englneen In Ttober, 18(K), ud captain in 1809. Ilarrlaon appointed him his chief engineer In 1S12. He was promoted to mivjor ii> 1816, llentemiit colonel in 1819, colonel and principal engineer Ip 18S8, and on the eame day (Hay 24) was breveted b.gadier General. He left the service In December, 1838. > The Itnea of the camp,inc)oainfr about eight acre*, were very irregular. They ware upon a high bank, abont oii( bnndred. feet above the river and three hundred yards. fh>m it. On the land side, commencing at the run, woa a dMp ravine that swept in a cresuent form qnlte round to the rear. OF THE WAR OF 1813. 471 iCdl li'' VulantMn nob); ariiwand. Armttroiiit'i InltrfarraM with HarrUoa't Pltnt. Uarrir tn*! ProlMrtt listinent of <Hfft'ivnt coij)H would hooii cxjdro. To prrvido for such continK«'ncy, he cilltMl for vol' titotTH from K( iitiuky luid Ohio, iiiiil iiict witli cordial ri'sjioiiHoM.* Ho was prcpniiii.'; to oollcct iiboiit four tiiouMiuid iru'U at the UajiidH for au early movi'- iiii'iit ajfaiu^* Maidi'n, when ho rcoeived iimtructionH from (ii>iH>ral ArniHtronj^, the new Secretary of War, which dcraujiud i'.ll iiin )>ianH. IJy llicwc he was directed to (ontiiiuo his denu)nstratiotm against Maiden, i)Ut only as a <liversioii i:i tiivor of at- ti'iiii)ts to ho uuido upon C<unada farther down. IFo was enjoined not to make an ■K'tiiiil attack upon the enemy until tlu consummation if measures for seciiiiui^ the lommaml <>f I-i'ke Kric, then just inaugurated, nd to be completed at I'resipu' Isle (now Eric, I'tunsylvania) by the middle of the ensuing May. Much to his mortitica- lioii iunl alarm, he was directed to dispense with militia as much as possible, and to till up the 17th, 10th, and 2-Uh Uegiments of Itegulars for service in the ensuing ■umpait,'"- il^' w*^ informed that two ntlier regiments of regulars bnd been ordered to bo ruistd, one in Kentucky and the other in Ohio. Hhouhl the old regiments not be tilled in time, he was jicrmittcd to make up the deficiencies from the militia. With thc80 ho was to garrison the dilferent po8tH, hold the position at the Kapids, aiul amuse the enemy by leints. This interference with his plans aimoyed Harrison exceedingly, and lie ventured to remonstrate with the Secretary of War. He gave him his views* very iMBrchis, freely, aixl with them some valuable and much-needed information concern- "*'"'• in" the country to be defended and tlie Indian tribes in alliance with the British. lie explained the causes of apprehended danger in attempting to carry out the new pro- ffrainmo, and assured the Secretary of War that the regular force to be relied on eoulil not bo raised in time for needed service, and that, even if it should, it wouhl be too small for the required duty — so evidently inadeipuite that enlistmcntH would be diseouraarcd.'' Armstrong, who seldom bore opposition patiently, did not like to be remonstrated wit»i,but he prudently forbore farther interference hi the conduct of the cam])aign in the Northwest at that time.^ General Harrison was yet at Cincinnati late in March, actively engaged in endeavors to forward troops and supplies to the Rapids. Informed that the lake was ".imost free of ice, that the Virginia and n-.ost of the Pennsylvania troops would leave at the ex- 1 IlarrlsDii requested tlint a corps of flfteeii hiimlred men might be raised in Kentucky Immediately, and marched to his l)ead-<itiarter(i without delay. The Legislature of Kentucky was then In session, and Harrison's request was sub- mitted to them tn i confidential mesg/igo by Governor Shelby. A law was immediately passed offering additional pay ufievcn di)lliirs a month to any flfi|Bu hundred Kentucklans who would remain in the service till u corps could be wilt to relieve them. This offer was accompanied by an appeal to their patriotism from the LcLrislature, which reached them on the Hth of February. They had suffered much, and were very anxious to return home, so they wou'd only ;'romi8e to remain an ludeflnltc time, but aald that If the general w.is ready to lead them against the enemy they would follow him without additional pay. Similar appeal to the Ohio and Pennsylvania troops met with similar success, bat the Virginians would not remain. Meanwhile the Legislature of Kentucky passed an act for detailing three tbou- !tnd men from the militia, of which Aftecn Iiundred were to mftch for Barriaon'B camp, and Qovernor Heigs ordered two regiments to be organized for the same service. ' In a letter to Governor 8hell)y, at about this time, Harrison eald : " Last night's mall brought mo a letter from the Secretary of War In which I am restricted to the employment of the regular trcmps raised in this state to re-enforce the post al the Rar!'' ■• There are scattered through this state about one hundred - 'orty recruits of the 18th Uegiment, «nd iflth these I nm to supply the place of the brigades from Pennsylvania am .rglnia, whose time of service will iioit be dally expiring. By a letter from Qovernor Melga I am Informed that the "cretary of War disapproved the call for militia which 1 had made on this state and Kentucky, and was on the point ol tonntermandlng the orders. I will JMt mention one fact, which will show the consequences of such a countermand. There are upf.u the Au Qlalz.e and Sl.M,irj'8 Rivers eight fortp, which cont-.ln within their walls property to the amount of half a million of dollars from actaal cost, and worth now to the United States four times that sum. The whole force which wonld have had charge of all these torts and property would have amounted to less than twenty invalid Boldlers."— Autograph Letter, March 21,1813. ' Armstrong attempted to arrange the military force of the country on the plan adopted by General Washington In the Revolntion. On the 19th of March he promulgated a general order, dividing the whole United States into nine military dislrictfl, as follows: 1, Massachusetts, with Maine and New Hampshire; 2, Rhode Island and Connecticnt; 3, New York below the Highlands and New Jersey; 4, Pennsylvania and Delaware; 6, Maryland and Virginia; 6, (imrgia; T, Louisiana. The rest of the States andTcrrlturiesbeingdlvidedbetween the 8th andltth, the first embraced the Fcat of war at the west end of Lake Ontario, and the other the Niagara portion, Lake Ontario, and the 8t. Law- rence and Lake Champlain. On the 12lh of Marcli commissions were Issued for eight new brigadiers, namely, Cnshing, Parker, Izard, and Pike, otthe old army, and Winder, M 'Arthur, Caes, Howard, and Swartwout. The latter succeeded Morgan Lewis m quarter-master with the rank of brigadier. 1 ^■fl^ h*^ ' 1 ' t 1 t '' I , 476 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Brigade of Qenural Green Clay, Their Rpndezvous anj March toward the Manmee. Cincinnati In Igrs piration of their term on the 2'i of April and that tlie enemy were doubtless in- formed of the situation of aftairs at the Rapids by a soldier who had been made a prisoner by them, he anticipated an early attack upon his camp there. It was, therefore, with the greatest anxiety that he awaited promised re enforce- ments from Kentucky. The governor had ordered a d'-aft of three thousand militia (fifteen hundred of them for Harrison's army) as early as the middle of February, to be organized into four regimentSjUnder Colonels Boswell, Dnd- ley. Cox, and Caldwell, forming a bri- gade to be commanded by Britjadier General Green Clay.' The regiments under the first two named oflicei-s ren- dezvoused at Newport, opposite to Cin- cinnati, at about *:he first of Apiil, Those companies which had arrived there eorlier had been sent forward to the Rapids on fcced marches, by the way of Urbana and " Hull's Trace," and the commander-in-chief followed soon afterward, leaving the remainder of the Kentuckians designed for his command to be forwarded as quickly as ])ossible. lie arrived at camp on the 12 th of April, and was gratified by finding more than two I- III TIKW or OINOINHATI mOM NKWPOHT IN 1812.' Ht <^ J.,.;, • In a letter dated at "Frankfort, March 6, 1818," Governor Shelby invited Mr. Clny to accept the commmd otihe brigade as brigadier general. Clay accepted the oIBcm, and in a letter, dated on the Iflth of the anmc month, Iho gov- ernor sent him his commission. In thf Urst letter, now before mc, t'le governor said that, had It been designed lo cross into Cr.nada at once, he should have talcen command of the Keiituoky troops In person. i Tbla view of Clnclnuati in 1812 la ttom an old priat. It then contained about two thousand Inhabitants. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 477 vTtMeIzs aud Its Vicinity. Harrison assuraeB HesponslbiUty. Proctor'B Preparations to Invade the Maumea Valley. hundred patriotic Pennsylvanians remaining, who their chaplain, Dr. Hersey.' Under the direction of Captain Wood, the for- tified camp, which had been named in honor of the ffovernor of Ohio, had assumed many of the features of a regular fortification, and was aigni- fied with the name of Fort Meigs. It was evi- dent that its defense would be the chief event in the opening of the campaign. Harrison had been informed while on his way of the frequent ap- pearance of Indian scouts in the neighborhood of the Rapids, and of little skirmishes with what he supposed to be the advance of a more power- ful force. Alarmed by these demonstrations, lie dispatched a messenger from Fort Amanda M'ith a letter to Governor Shelby, urging him to send to the Maumee the wliole of the three thousand militia drafted in Kentucky. This was in viola- tion of his instructions from the War Department respecting the employment of militia, but the seeming peril demanding such violation, he did not hesitate for a moment. E.Ypecting to find Fort Meigs invested by the British and Indians, he took with him from Fort Amanda all the troops tliat could be spare! from the posts on 1,he St. Mary and the Au Glaize, about throe hundred in all, and descended by water from his point of de- parture with the intention of storming any British batteries ^vhich he might find cmp'jyed against his camp. He was agreeably disappointed on his arrival by the discovery that the enemy was not near in great force. But that enemy, vigilant and determined, was preparing to strike at Fort Meigs a destructive blow. When the ice began to move in the Detroit River and the lake, Proctor foimcd his plans for an early invasion of tho Maumee Valley. Ever since his sanguinary operations at Frenchtown he had been using ev(>ry art and appliance in his power to conceati'ate av Amherstburg a large In- dian force for the purpose. He tired the zeal of Tecumth." a?id the Prophet by promises of future success in all tlieir schemes for confederating the savage tribes, and by boasting of his ample pow- er to place in the hands of his Indian allies Fort Meigs, its garrison, and immense stores. So stim- ulative were his promises that, at the beginning of April, Tecumtha was at Fort Maiden witli al- most fifteen hundred Indians. Full six hundred of them were drawn from the country between had been per8ua<ied to do so by ij ' These patriotic men informed the j^eneral that they were very anxious to i^o home to put in their spring seeds, bnt Ihst they wonld never leave him until he thought that their 8er^•lces could be spared without danger to the cause. On tb<arrlral of the three Kentucky companies be disch^ged the Pennsylvaulans. lii i;: m PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Expedition agalnit Fort Helgs. Harrlaon's Precautloi liake Michigan and the Wabash, much to the satisfaction of Harrison when he dis- covered the fact, for it so relieved him of apprehensions of peril to his posts from that direction that he countermanded his requisition on Governor Shelby for all the draft- ed men from Kentucky. Proctor was delighted with the response of the savages to his call, and visions of speedy victory, personal glory, and offi'^ial promotion fil'ed his mind. He became more boastful tlian ever, and more supercilious toward the Americans at Detroit • 1818. ^^^ ordered the Canadian militia to assemble at Sandwich on the 7th of April * when he assured them that the campa^n would be short, decisive suc- " *'"'"• cessful, and profitable. On the 23d'' his army and that of his sava<Te allies more than two thousand in number,' were in readiness at Amherstburg ; and on that day they embarked on a brig and several smaller vessels, accompanied by two mm- boats and some artillery. On the 26th they appeared at the mouth of the Maumee about twelve miles below Fort Meigs ; and on the 28th they landed on the left bank of the river, near old Fort Miami, and established their main camp there.^ From that point Proctor and Tecumtha, who were well mounted, rode up the river to a point opposite Fort Meigs to reconnoitre. They were discovered at the fort, ^v hen a shot from one of the batteries sent them back in haste. ^ Captain Dixon, of the Royal Engineers, was immediately sent up with a fatigue party to construct batteries upon a commanding elevation nearly opposite the fort in front of the present ]\Iaumee City, but incessant rains, and the wretched condition of the roads, so retarded the prog- ress of the work that they were not ready for operations until the first day of May. The approach of the enemy in force had been discovered by Captain Hamilton of the Ohio troops, on the 28th, wWle rec ^nnoitring down the river with a small force, Pe^er Navarre, one of Harrison's moot trustworthy scouts, yet (1867) living in Ohio first saw them. Hamilton sent him in haste to Fort Meigs with the intellifrence when Harrison instantly dispatched him with three letters, one tor Upper Sandusky, one for Lower Sandusky, and one for Governor Meigs, at Urbana.'* Although Fort Meigs was quite strong, several block-houses having been erected in connection with the lines of intrenchment and pickets, and a good supply of field-pieces had been mounted, Harrison was convinced, from the character and strength of the enemy, that his post was in imminent peril. He knew that General Green Clay was on his marcli with Kentuckians ; and as soon as Navarre was furnished with his letters, he dis- patched Captain William Oliver, the commissary to the fort, an intelligent, brave, and judicious officer (who had performed similar service for him), with an oral message to Clay, urging him to press forward by forced marches. Oliver bore to Clay the following simple note of introduction :* " Head-qnitrters, Camp Meige, 28th April, 1S13. " Dear Sir, — I send Mr. Oliver to you, to give you an account of what is passing here. You may rely implicitly upon him. Yours, "William Henry Harrison." Oliver was accompanied by a single white man and an Indian. He was escorted ' The combined force under Proctor consisted of 622 regulars, 461 militia, and about 1800 Indians ; total, 2482. The Americans at Fort HeigJ did not exceed 1100 effective men. > See the map on the preceding page, which covers the entire historic ground at and around the Maumee Baplds from Boche de Bout— perpendicular rock— where the river has a considerable fall, and where Wayne was encamped in ITM (sec page 84), to Proctor's encampment ncnr Fort Miami at the time we are considerliig. It shows the dIocc uf Hull'.' encampment in 1812 (see page 267), and iVayue'a battle-ground in 1794 (see page 88), with the site of j<"ort Meigs, and ofincidents connected with the siege abouUo be described in the text; also the present Maumee City on one side of Ihp river, Perryville on the other, and the rail and wagon bridges across. Between Fort Meigs and Pcrryville is seen a stream. It courses through the rarine mentioned in Note 2, page 474. > Statement of P.everend A. M. Lorraine, in the Ladiei' B^ioHtory, March, 1848. ♦ Oral statement of NavoTe to the author. ' The origtiul is before me, and a /ac-n'mib) of it appears on the opposit: page. It is one of the papers of Oenerr.l City kindly placed In oiy hands by his son, Qeneral C'—'-^t M. Clay, onr late minister at the Russian Court. It Is writteo on a half nbeet of foolscap paper, and Is thoronghly soiled by cont'ict with mnd and water. OF THE WAR Ol" 1812. <t« General IlarrisoD'B Note to Qeneral Clay. bevon<i ^^^^ immediate danger thaUfiurroundcd tlie camp by a company of dragoons under Captain Garrard. He found General Clay at Fort V/inchester (Defiance) witli twelve hundred Kentuckians, three companies of his command, aa we have observed,' liavinff been sent forward by Harrison at the close of March. Clay had left Cincin- ' '■'*. ' See png-c 4T(1. I ! 1 ' ■iiii^ III 1' n 1 r jffll 1 1 1 J !■■ '■mm. II 1 Ii!i 4afr PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Coiqbs commlBsluned a Cnptain ofSptei. lie gues on a perilous Expedition. Biographical Hlictch of Cumin • April 1, 1813. nati early in April, after issuing a stirring address' to his troops* in General Orders, and followed Winchester's route to the Mauraee.^ At Dayton he was overtaken by Leslie Combs, of Kentucky, a bold and ardent young man of nine- teen years, whose services as scout and messenger in the late campaign, whi^li ended so disastrously at the Raisin, were well known to General Clay. He at once com- missioned Combs captain of a company of riflemen as spies or scouts, to be selected by him from Dudley's corps. At St. Mary's block-house Clay divided his brigade. He sent Dudley to the An Glaizc, while ho descended the St. Mary himself with Colonel Boswell's corps. Uoth divisions were to meet at Defiance. While on their way down the Au Glaizc, intel- ligence reached Dudley of the perilous condition of Harrison at Fort Meigs. At & council of oflicers it was resolved to apprise the commander-in-chief of the near ap- proach of succor. Who shall under- take the perilous mission? was the im- portant question. It required some per- son acquainted with the country. Young Combs, eager for patriotic duty and dis tinction, volunteered to go. " When we reach Fort Defiance," he said, " if you will furnish me a good canoe, I will carry your dispatches to General Harrison, and return with his orders. I shall only re- quire four or five volunteers from my own coippany, and one cf my Indian guides to accompany me." A murmur of approbation ran through the company, and his offer was joyfully accepted by Dudley with words of compliment and gratitude.^ They ^^"ched Defiance the following morning. It was the first of May. As soon as a canoe could be procured Combs embarked on his peril- ous mission, accompanied by two broth- ers named Walker, and two others named respectively Paxton and John- • " Kentuckians," he said, " stand high in the estimation of onr common country. Our brothers in amis who have gone before us to the scene of action have acquired a fame which should never be forgotten by you— a fameworlhv jour emulation Should we cnconnter the enemy, remeviber the /ate qf ymir uvToiiEmv iikotuebs at the Rim Railin — that Bi Utah treachery produced their eUmtihter t" > As it may he interesting to the reader to know what constituted the private outfit of an officer of the army at thai time for service in the field, I subjoin the following " Ust of articles for camp" prepared for General Clay : " Trunk, portmanteau and fixtures, flat-iron, cofl"ee-mlll, r^zor-strop, box, etc., inkstand and bundle of qiilUi', ream of paper, three halters, shoc-bnisheu, blacking, saddle and bridle, tortoise-shell comb and case, box of mercurial oint- ment, silver spoon, mattress and pillow, three blankets, three sheets, two towels, linen for a cot, two volumes M'KeiizleV Travels, two maps, spy-glass, gold watch, brace of silver-mounted pistols, nmbrella, sword, two pairs of epurs— oneot silver. Ci.otiifb : Hat, one pair of shoes, one pair of boots, regimental coat, great-coat, bottle-green coat, scnrii ivalsl- coat, blue casslmere and buff cassimere waistcoat, striped jean waistcoat, two pair cotton colored pantaloons, one pair bottle-green pantaloons, one pair queen-cord pantaloons, one pair buff short breeches, one pair red flannel drnwerf, one red flannel waistcoat, red flannel shirt, five white linen shirts, two check shirts, nine cravats, six chamois, two pair thread stockings, three pair of thread socks, hunting shirt, one pair of woolen gloves, one pair of leather gloves." "A complete ration" at that time was estimated at fifteen cents, and was composed and charged as follows: meal, Ave cents ; flour, six cents ; whisky, three cents ; salt, isoap, candles, and vinegar, one fourth of a cent each. ' Captain Combs is ye' <1867) living in his native state of Kentucky, vigorous in mind and body, and bearing the title of general by virtne of liis commission as sucli in the militia of his state. He is descended, on his mother's Me, from • Quaker family of Maryland. His father, a Virginian, was a " Revolutionary Ofllcer and a Hunter of Kentucky " * say* a simple inscription on his tomb-stone. Leslie was the youngest of twelve children. He joined the army In I^IJ, when Just past eighteen years of age, and was af, once distinguished for his energy and bravery. He was employed, as we have seen (page .ISO), on perilous duty, and never disappointed those who relied upon him. He was made a caplain and wounded near Fort Meigs, and uarrowly escaped death. He was paroled, and late in May, 1818, returned home. He commenced the study of law, and was not again in the fleld until 18B0, when he raised a regiment for the south- woiteni frontier at the time of the revolution in Texas. He became very active in political life. His borne wai Lei- -^&>n^ 9— OF THE WAR OF 1812. 481 fW)8'« Voyage down the Maumco Klver. Qreetini; uf ihe Flag at Fort Meigs. Combs attacked by Indiana. . also by young Jilack Fish^a, Shawnoese Avarrior,' With the latter at tlie helm, the other four engaged with the rowing, and hmiseU' at the bow in charge of the rifles 111(1 ammunition of the party, Combs pushed off from Defiance, amid cheera and sad adieus (for few expected to see them again), determined t j reach Fort Meigs before jjjyli^ht the next morning. The voyage was full of danger. Rain was falling heavi- ly and the night was intensely black. They passed the Kapids in safety, but not until niiite late in the morning, when heavy cannonading was heard in the direction of the t'oit. It was evident that the expected siege had commenced, and that the perils of the mission were increased manifold. For a moment Combs was perplexed. To re- turn would be prudent, but would expose his courage to doubts ; lo remain until the •.ext nii?ht, or proceed at once, seemed equally hazardous. A decision was soon made by the brave youth. " We must go on, boys," he said ; " and if you expect the honor of taking coffee with General Harrison this morning, you must work hard for it." lie went forward with many misgivings, for he knew tlie weakness of the garrison, and doubted its ability to hold out long. Great was his satisfaction, therefore, when, on sweeping around Turkey Point,^ at the last bend in the river by which the fort was liidden frohi his view, he saw the stripes and stars waving over the beleaguered CP TUE MAIIMKR VAI.LKY. camp. Their joy wa evinced by a suppressed shout. Suddenly a solitary Indian appeared in the edge of the woods, and a moment afterward a large body of them were observed in the gray shadows of the forest, running eagerly to a point below to cut off Combs and his party from the fort. The gallant captain attempted to dart by them on the swift current, when a volley of bullets from the savages severely wounded Johnson and Paxton — the former mortally. The fire was returned with effect, when the Shawnoese at the helm turned the prow toward the opposite shore.^ There the voyagers abandoned the canoe, and, with their faces toward Defiance, sought safety in flight. Atler vainly attempting to take Johnson and Paxton with them, Combs and Black Fish left them to become captives, and at the end of two days and two nights the captain reached Defiance, whereat General Clay had just arrived. The Vi'alkers were also there, having fled more swiftly, because unencumbered. Combs ami his dusky companion had suffered terribly.* The former was unable to assunio Itjton, and he waa a neighbor and warm personal fHend of Henry Clay throughout the long pnblic career of that groat nun. The Mendship was mutual, and Clay always felt and acknowledged the power of General Combs. He was «l\vn.\v 1 Unent, eloquent, and most efl'ectlvo speaker, and now, when he has passed the goal of " threescore and ten yea^^/' he never Wis to charm any audience by his words of power, his apt illustrations, and genial humor. < ne vas a grandson of Black Fish, a noted warr'or who led the Indians in the attack on Boousboro', In Kentucky j taliiS. ' In the above picture, a view of a portion of the Maumee Valley, as seen from the northwest angle of Fort Melg>, I tookingnpthe river, Turkey Point Is seen near the centre, behind the head of Hollister's Island, that divides the river. k clmnp of trees, a little to the right of the three small trees In a row near the bank of t'ae river, marks the place. Thi' I Miomee it teen flowing to the right, and to the left the p1»in, when I made the sketch in the autumn of ISGO, was I weni with Indian core, gome standiug and some In the shocks. A canal for hydraulic purposes is seen In the fore- j groraid. It flows immediately below the ruins of Fort Meigs. ' It was first thonght that the Indians were friendly Shawnoese. So thought Blcrk Fi»h ; but when he discovered his I uliuke, he exclaimed, "Pottawatomie, God damn I" * Ptitoa was shot through the body, but recovered, during the political campai|i;n of 1S40, when General Hnrrlton Hu i ', - : I 48t PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK PreparstlonB for asMtllng Fort MetgE. Ilarrison'i Speech to his Soldlen, Fort Heigs strenglliened. the command of his company, but he went down the river with the re-enforcements and took an active part in the conflict in the vicinity of Fort Meigs. There we shall meet him again presently.' The British had completed two batteries nearly opposite to Fort Meigs on the BITE OP TUK IIKITIHU BATTEKIXB PBOU VOUT MKIUB.' • April, morning of the 30th,* and had mounted their ordnance. One of them bore 1818. ^^Q twenty-four-pounders, and the other three howitzers — one eight inches and the other two five and a half inches calibre. In this labor they had lost some men by well-directed round shot from the fort, but neither these missiles nor the drenching rain drove them away. Harrison had not been idle in the mean time, His force Avas much inferior to that of the enemy in numbers, but was animated by the best spirit. On the morning after the British made their appearance near, he ad- dressed his soldiers eloquently in a General Order ;^ and when he discoverefl the foe busy in erecting batteries on the opposite shore that would command his works, he began the construction of a traverse, or wail of earth, on the most elevated grouml through the middle of his caanp, twelve feet in height, on a base of twenty feet, and three hundred yards in length. During its construction it was concealed by the tents. When these were suddenly removed to the rear of the traverse, the British engineer, to his great mortification, perceived that his labor had been almost in vain. instead of an exposed camp, from which Proctor had boasted he would soon " smoke waB elected President of the United States, General CombB spoke to scores of vast assemblies in his favor. On one occasion he waB inthe neighborhood of Paxton's residence, who took a seat on the platform by the side of tho epeaier. Combs relatud the incident of the voyage down the Manmee and their Joy at the sight of the old flag on that mombg. " Here," said he, " is the man who was shot through the body. Stand np, Joe, and tbll me how many bullets it would have taken to have killed you at that measure." " More than a peek I" exclaimed Paxton. > I met General Combs at Sandusky City in the autumn of ISfiO, when he gave me an interesting account of his opera- tions in the Manmee Valley at that time. Speaking of his return to Defiance, be said, " Black Fish made his wa; to his native village, white I pushed on toward Defiance. It rained incessantly. I was compelled tu swim several swollni tributaries to the Maiimee, and was dreadfully chafed by walking in wet clothes. My feet were lacerated by travelini; in moccasins over burnt prairies, and my mouth and throat were excoriated by eating bitter hickory-bud!, the only food that I tasted for forty-eight hours. For days afterward I could not eat any solid food. I was placed on a cot In a boat, and in that manner descended the river with my gallant Kentucky friends." » The above little picture, sketched in the autumn of 1860 from the ruins of Croghan Battery (so named In hoiinrof the gallant defender of Fort Stephenson), Fort Meigs, looking northwest, shows the scattered village of Mnumoe ( iiv in the distance, with the site of the BritiBh batteries in front of It. This is Indicated in the picture by the distant bluff with two houses upon It, immediately beyond the two little figures at the end of the railway-bridge in ihe miildlt- ground. When I visited the spot In 1860, the ridge on which the cannon were planted, lower than the plain on wtilth the village stands, was very prominent. Behind It was a deep hollow, in which the British artillerymen were swrarelT posted. On the brow of the plain, Just back of the British batteries, Indicated by the second bluff with one houw upon it, was afterward the place of encampment of Colonel Johnson. The railway-bridge, seen In the mlddlo-grf ,niiof ibl" picture, has a common passenger-bridge by the side of it. Between the extreme foreground and the rallwsy cmbaiik- ment Is the ravine mentioned In a description of Fort Meigs on page 474, and indicated In the map on pajte *w by » stream of water. » "Can the citizens of a ft-ee country," he said, " who have taken arms to defend its rights, "hlnk of snbralttinKtoan army composed of mercenary soldiers, reluctant Canadians, goaded to the field by the bayonet, and of wretched, Mkfd savages ? Can the breast of an American soldier, when he casts his eyes ts „oe opposite shore, the scene of ills coun- try's triumphs over the same foe, bo influenced by any other feelings than the hope of glory J Is not this army mm posed of the same materials with that which fought and conquered under the immortal Wayne r Yes, lfellow-«o!difr> your general sees yonr coantenances beam with the same fire that he witnessed on that glorions occasion ; and, al- though it would be tho height of presumption to compare himself with that hero, he boasts of being that hero's pupil' To your posts, then, fellow-cltlzens, and remember that the eyes of yonr country are upon yon I" • Wayne's battle-ground in ITfti, and the theatre of his victory, were In sight of the soldiers thus addressed, Harrl- j «on was Wayne's aid-de-camp on that occasion, and, as wo have obs en-sd on page 88, was one of his most usefiil offlcen. | I' r I mm engUieoed. cements, we shall s on the them bore ;ht inches, lost some !8 nor the nean time, limated by icar, he ad- rec* the foe i works, he ted ground ty teet, and lied by the the British lost in vain. ion " smoke fiivor. On one of thcfpeaKcr, ^n that momiDg. bullets It would ant of his opera- le his way to his J several swollen Ited by travel'.oc }y-bud!, the only ced on a cot In a ncd In honor ol I of Mnomce Cilt |the distant MnH ■ In ihe middle- ! plain on whlrt |en were secure!' i one hi>UK upot. llc-Rrf lOilottlii' iallway emlitnk- Ion pajje m bj » lenbrnlttlngtoM I wretched, nsked Jceneofhlscw- It this army com- li, fellow-soldier". Iccaslon; si"l.»'- %8t hero's pupil-' Caressed. n«rri- bst useful o(llMf«. j OF THE WAR OF 1812. 468 Uritlib and Indians cross the River. A Onn-boat. Fort Meigs attaclied. •Colonel Christy. out the Yankees" — in other words, speedily destroy it with shot and shell, ho saw nothing but an immense shield of earth, behind which the Americans wore invisible and thoroughly shelterfed. Proctor accordingly modified his plans, and sent a. con- siderable force of white men iindci Captain Muir, and Indians under Tecuratha, to the eastern side of the river, under cover of the gun-boats, with the evident intention of preparing for an attack on the fort in the rear. When night fell the British bat- teries were yet silent, and remained so ; but a gun-boat, towed up the river near the fort under cover of the darkness, fired thirty shots without making any other im- pression than increasing the vigilance of the Americans, who reposed on their arms. Early in the morning the gun-boat went down the river barren of all honor. Late in the mornirg on the Ist of May,* notwithstanding heavy rain-clouds vere driving down the Maumee Valley, and drenching every thing with fitful discharges, the British opened a sevete cannonade .ind bombardment upon Fort Meigs, and continued the assault, with slight intermissions, for about five day ,' but without much injury to the fort and garrison. The fire was returned occasionally by eight- een-pounders. The supply of shot for these and the twelve-pounders was very small, there not being more than three hundred and sixty of each. They were used with .judicious parsimony, for it was not known how long the siege might last. The Brit- ish on the contrary, appeared to have powder, balls, and shells in great abundance, and they poured a perfect storm of missiles — not less than five hundred — upon the I A mrvivor of the War of 1812, and one of the most active and remarkable men of the day when the late civil war take out, was Colonel William Christy. He was acting qurter-master at Fort Meigs, and had charge of all the (tores and flags there at that time. He was only twenty- two years of age, yet he had, by his energy and patriot- Ian, ttcured the love and coi ' ience of General Harrison In t remarkable degree. W .len the first gun was fired jpon Fort Meigs, Harrison called him to his side, and aid, "Sir, go and nail a banner on every battery, where Itay shall wave so long as an enemy is in view." Chrij- i; olieyed, and there the Cags remained during the en- tire siege. Mr. Christy was born in Georgetown, Kentucky, on the nil of December, ITOl. \t an early age Le went with his ftlher to reside near the Ohio, not far dUtant from Cln- diiMti. He was left an orphan at the age of fourteen j(an. He studied law, and entered upon the duties of tint pMfesslou in 1811. V "oen war was declared he join- (dthc army under Harrison. That officer knew lAa fa- Her.and kindly gave the t,un of his old ft-iend a place in hi' military family as aid-de-camp, and, as we have just obserred, he was made acting quarter-master at Fort Keigi. He behaved gallantly there in the sortie in which Ciptaln Silver was engaged, and in which his company suffered terribly. Christy was in subordinate command inthat light, and received the commendations of his gcn- titl. He was promoted to lieutenant in the old First Rdment of United States Infantry. After tho close of !l( Harrison campaign, which resulted in victory at the Humes, he was ordered to Join his regiment, then at Sukett's Harbor, There General Brown appointed him idjnunt, and he was in active service in Northern New M for some time. When the army was dtsband- td. Christy was retained, and was stationed for a while ij Sew Orleans. He left the army in 1816, and com- Kntcd the career of a commission merchant in New Or- tai. He married there, and soon amassed a fortune, wbltli he lost, however, by the dishonesty of a partner. Beresnmed the practice of the law, and In 1826 published to "Digest" of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of die Stitc of Lonlsiana. Again he amassed a large for- iMe. He espoused the cause of Texas, and soon after- nri lost his property, but gained the praise of being " the flrst fllibuster in the United States." Eia natnre was Im- ("Wre, and daring his residence of more than forty years in New Orleans he had several "affairs of honor," growing * o' political quarrels chiefly. He was a ready and Bnent speaker, and dnring the campaign when Harrison was lUdldate for the Presidency, Colonel Christy >>ccompanled his chief in person throughout Ohio, and made more than oee handred speeches in his behalf. His kindness of heart and ungnidging hospitality ever gained blm hocts of wann Hfflds. "I, 'ii I it! 484 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK New Battery ope'ned on Fort MelgH. HarriBon'i Defenies. Critical Situation of the Port and Garrlwn PLAN OF FOBT MEIG8.* fort all of the first day, and until eleven o'clock at night.' One or two of the garri- son wore killed, and Major Stoddard, of the First Regiment, a soldier of the liovolu tion, who commanded the fort when Leftwitch retired, was so badly wounded by a fragment of a shell that he died ten days afterward.* On the morning of the 2d the British opened a third battery of throe twelve. pounders upon the fort from the opposite side of the river, which tliey had eom|)lt'te(l during the night, and all that day the cannonade was kept up briskly. Within the next twenty-four hours a fourth battery was opened.' Tliat night a detachment of artillerists and engineers crossed the river, and mounted guns and mortars upon two mounds for batteries already constructed in the thickets by the party that crossed on the 30th, within two hundred and fifty yards of the rear angles of the fort. One of these, nearest the ravine already mentioned, was a mortar battery ; the other, a few rods farther south ward, was a three-gun battery. Expecting an operation of this kind, the Americans had constructed traverses in time to foil the enemy ; and when toward noon of the 3d, the three cannon and the howitzer opened suddenly upon the rear angles of the fort, their fire was almost harmless. A few shots from eighteen- pounders, directed by Gratiot, «ho was convalescing, soon silenced th» gun -battery, and the pieces were hastily drawn off and placed in posi- tion near the ravine. Shot and shell were hurled upon the fort more thickly and steadiiv on the 3d than at any other time, but with very little efiect. This seemed to discourage the besiegers, and on the 4th the fire was materially slackened. Tlien Proctor sent Major Chambers with a demand for the surrender of the post. " Tell General Proctor," responded Harrison, promptly, " that if he shall take the fort it will be under circumstances that will do him more honor than a thou- sand surrenders." Meanwhile the cannonading from the "fort was feeble, because of the scarcity of ammunition. " With plenty of it," wrote Captain Wood, " we shoul'l ! have blown John Bull from the Miami." The guns were admirably managed, and I did good execution at every discharge. The Americans were well supplied with I food and watei** for a long siege, and could well aftbrd to spend time and weary the assailants by merely defensive warfare sufficient to keep the foe at bay. They ex- hibited their confidence and spirit by frequently mounting the ramparts, swuiginj I their hats, and shouting defiance to their besiegers. Nevertheless, Harrison was anxious. Hull and Winchester had failed and suffered. The foe was strong, wily, 1 and confident. So he looked hourly and anxiously up the Maumee for the hoped-for] re-enforcements. Since Navarre and Oliver went out, he had lieard nothing fronij ' Ae the enemy were throwing large nnraberg of cannon-balls Into the fort firom their batteries, Harrison offered a sill J (it whisky for every one delivered to the magazine-keeper, Thomas L. Hawkins. Over one thousand gills were tho'l earned by the soldiers. — Howe's HUtorical CoUectiona qf Ohio, page 532. An eyewitness (Reverend A. M. Lorraine) r^i lates that one of the militia took his station on the embankment, watched every shot, and forewarned the irarrisoul thus: " Shot," or "bomb," as the cose might be ; sometimes " Block-house No. 1," or "Look out, main battery," "Xo»| for the meat-house," " Oood-by, if yon will pass." At last a shot hit him and killed him Instantly. « Amos Stoddard was a native of Massachusetts, and was commissioned a captain of artillery in 1708. He ws« re-i tained in 1802. In 1804 and '06 he was governor of the Missouri Territory. He was promoted to major in 1S07. B^ was depi.ly qnarter-master in 1S12, but left the staff in December of that year. He died of tetanus, or lockjaw, on t' 11th of May, 1813. He was the author of " Sketches of Louisiana," published in 1810. > These were named as follows, as Indicated on the above map : a, Mortar ; b. Queen's ; c, Bailor's : and d, Ring's. ♦ This plan is fi-om a sketch made by Joseph H. Larwell, on the 19th of July, 1818. All the dotted lines represent tl traverses, a a a a a Indicate the block-houses ; b b, the magazines ; e o e e, minor batteries. The grand and mort batteries and tbe well are indicated by name. ' During the Arst three days of the siege the Americans were wholly dependent upon the rain for water. Thoie whi wet* sent to f«*3h it were exposed to the Are of the enemy. On the fourth they had completed a well within the M vblch gave them an ample supply. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 485 Qttttni Clay moving down the Manmee. Harriiiou'i Plans developed. Movement* near Fort Melgi. abroad. His suspense was ended at near midnight on the 4th, when Captain Oliver, with Major Uavid Trimble and fifteen men who had come down the river in a boat, made their way into the fort as bearers of the glad tidings that General Clay and ili'ven hundred Kentuckians were only eighteen miles distant, and would probably reach the post before morning. Captain Oliver had found Clay at Fort Winchester on the 3d. The cannonading it Fort Meigs was distinctly heard there, and Clay pressed forward as speedily as possible with eighteen large flat scows, whose sides were furnished with shields against the bullets of Indians who might infest the shores of the river. It was late in the evening when the flotilla reached the head of the Rapids, eighteen miles from the scene of conflict. The moon had gone down, and the overcast sky made the night so in'icnsely dark that che pilot refused to proceed before daylight. It was then that Tri.nble and his brave fifteen volunteered to accompany Captain Oliver to the fort, to cliecr the hearts of Harrison and his men by the tidings ' " succor near. It did cheer them. Harrison immediately ci iceive ? plan of operations for Clry, and dis- mtched Captain Hamilton and a subaltern in a canoe to meet the general, and say to him with delegated authority, " You must detach about eight hundred men from your briijade, and land them at a point I will show you, about a mile or a mile and a half above Camp Meigs. I will then conduct the detachment to the British batteries on the left bank of the river. The batteries must be taken, the cannon spiked, and carrias^es cut down, and the troops must then return to the boats and cross over to the fort. The balance of your men must land on the fort side of the river, opposite the first landing, and fight their way into the fort through the Indians. Tlie route they must take will be pointed out by a subaltern oflUcer now with me, who will land the canoe on the righi bank of the river, to point out the landing for the boats." Tills explicit order reveals much of Harrison's ^jivell-devised plan. He knew that the British force at the batteries was inconsiderable, for the main body were still near old Fort Miami, and the bulk of the Indians with Tecumtha were on the eastern side of the river. Ilis object was to strike simultaneous and effectual blows on both banks of the stream. While Dudley was demolishing the British batteries on the left bank, and Clay was fighting the Indians on the right, 1^ intended to make a gen- eral sally from the fort, destroy the batteries in the rear, rod disperse or capture the whole British force on that side of the river. It was almost stnirise when Clay left the head of the Rapids. He descended the river with his boats arranged in solid column, as in a line of march, each oflicer hav- ing position according to rank. Dudley, being the senior colonel, led the van. Hamilton met them, in this order, about five miles above the fort. Clay was in the thirteenth boat from the front. When Harrison's orders were delivered, he directed Dudley to take the twelve front boats and execute the commands of the chief con- [ cerning the British batteries, w^hile he should press forward and perform the part as- I signed to himself. Colonel Dudley executed his prescribed task most gallantly and successfully. The I current was swift, and the shores were rough, but his detachment efltcted a landing in fair order. They ascended to the plain on which Maumee City stands unobserved by the enemy, and were there formed for marching in three parallel columns, the I right led by Dudley, the left by Major Shelby, and the centre, as a reserve, by Acting Major Morrison. Captain Combs, with thirty riflemen, including seven friendly In- diiins,flanked in front full a hundred yards distant.' In this order they moved through I woods a mile and a half toward the British batteries, which were playing briskly I upon Fort Meigs, when the columns were so disposed as to inclose the enemy in a 'At the reqnest of General Clay, Captain Comba fornlshed him with mlnnte infoniiatioii respecting the operations I Bder Dudley, in a letter dated May 6, 1815. The writer has kindly Atmiahed me with « copy of that letter, fh>m which I Ike Duin beta of thia portion of the namtive have been drawn. .ff •i 1 ■) I I 486 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Dudley half wini Victory, and losei It. Sad Reanlt of Zeal and Hamaulty, Americana defeated and made Priwnin. crescent, with every prospect of capturing the whole force. Dudley had failed to in. form hiH Hubalterns of his exact plans, and that remissness was a fatal mistake. Shel- by's column, by his order, penetrated to a point between the batteries and the Brit- ish camp below, when the right column, led by Dudley in person, raised the horrid Indian yell, rushed forward, charged upon the enemy with wild vehemence, captured the heavy guns and spiked eleven of them without losing a man. Tlie riflemen meanwhile, had been attacked by the Indians, and, not aware of Dudley's designs thought it their duty to fight instead of falling back upon the main body. This was the fatal mistake. The main object of the expedition was fully acconij)lishe(l al- though the batteries were not destroyed. The British flag was ])ulled down, and as it trailed to earth loud huzzas went up from the beleaguered fort. Harrison had watched the moment with intense interest from his chief battery, and when he saw the British flag lowered, he signaled Dudley to fall back to his boats and cross the river, according to explicit orders. Yet the victors lingered, and sliarii firing was heard in the woods in the reai' of the captured batteries. Harrison was indignant because of the disobedience. Lieutenant Campbell volunteered to carry a peremptory order across to Dudley to retreat, but when he arrived the victory sd gloriously won was changed into a sad defeat. Humanity had caused disobedience, and terrible was the penalty. At the moment when the batteries were taken, as •vc have just observed, Indians in ambush attacked Combs and his riflemen. With quick and generous impulse, Dudley ordered fhem to be re-enforced. A greater part of the right and centre columns instantly rushed into the woods in consideiable dis- order, accompanied by their colonel. Thirty days in camp had given them very little discipline. It was of little account at the outset, for, disorderly as they were, tliev soon put the Indians to flight, and relieved Combs and his little party. That work accomplished, discipline should have ruled. It did not. Impelled by the entluisiasm and confidence which is born of victory, and forgetful of all the maxims of prudence, they pursued the flying savages almost to the British camp. Shelby's column still held possession of the batteries when this pursuit commenced, but the Britisli artil- lerists, largely re-enforced, and led by the gallant Captain Dixon, soon retuined and recaptured them, taking Sfime of the Kentuckians prisoners, and driving the otiiers toward their boats. > Meanwhile the Indians had been re-enforced, and had turned fiercely upon Dudley. His men were in utter confusion, and all attempts at command were futile. Shelby had rallied the remnant of his column and marched to the aid of Dudley, but he only participated in the confusion and flight. The Kentuckians were scattered in every direction through the woods back of where Maumee City now stands, making but feeble resistance, and exposed to the deadly fire of the skulking savages. The flight became a rout, precipitate and disorderly, and a greater part of Dudley's command were killed or captured, after a contest of about three hours. Dudley, who was a heavy, fleshy man, was overtaken, tomahawked, and scalped, and his captive companions, including Captain Combs and his spies, were marched to old Fort Miami as prisoners of war. Of the eight hundred'' who followed him from tlic boats, only one hundred and seventy escaped to Fort Meigs.* > When Proctor was apprised of the approach of the detachment nnder Dudley, he rappoeed It to be the advance of the main American army, and he immediately recalled a large portion of his force on the eastern side of the rinr. Abont seven hundred Indians were among them, led by Tecumtba. They did not arrive in time to participate In tlie battle, bnt they allowed Proctor to send large re-enforcements n-om his camp. !> The exact number of offlcers and private soldiers were, of Dudley's regiment, T61 ; Boswell's, 00, and regulars, 49- total, 806.— Manuscript Reports among the Clay papers. ' General Harrison censured Colonel Dndley's men in General Orders on the 9tb of Hay, signed by John O'Falloii, hip ictlng assistant adjutant general. " It rarely occnrs," he said, "that a general has to complain of the excenlTC ! nrdor of his men, yet such appears always to be the case whenever the Kentucky miiitia are engaged. Indeed, 11 ii the source of all their misfortnnes." After spealcing of the rash act in pursuing the enemy, he remarked, " Snch temer- ity, although not so disgracaftil, is scarcely less fatal than cowardice." In a letter to Governor Shelby on the 18th, Oen- •ral Harrison censured Colonel Dudley. " Had he retreated,"he said, " after taking the batteries, or bad be made i j dls]>osition to retreat in case of defeat, all would have been well. He could have crossed the river, and even If he bad j OF THE WAR OF 1 8 1 J. *^1 Ci«y'i iBCountw with tto ludlmi. K Sallylng-iMrty ud tlMlr Parlls. A ^lant MMMBgfr. \Vliile thcHC tragic Bcciiea were traiirtpiriug on the k>fl bank of the river, othem cuiially htirring were in progrcHsion in the vicinity of Fort Meigs. General Chiy had Httonipted to land the Hix remaining boats under his command nearly opposite the iilace of Dudley's debarkation, but the swiflness of the current, swollen by the heavy raiiiH drove five of them ashore. The other, containing General Clay, with Captiiin IVtur Dudley and fitly men, kept the stream, separated from the rest, and Hiially luiid- I'J on the eastern bank of the river opposite to llollister's Island. There they were aKsailed by musketry from a cloud of Indians on the left flank of the fort, and by round shot from the batteries opposite. Notwithstanding the great peril, Clay and his party return<?d the Indians' attack with spirit, and reached the fort without the lo88 of a nniri. Colonel iioBwell's command in the other boats, consisting of a part of the battalions of Kentucky militia under Major ■"illiani Johnson, and two other ^ ">^ /^l * • ) companies ofKentucky levies, land- /y^o^^ Q? . / CJ ^^ O^f't-'^C/ cd near Turkey Point. He was im- mediately o'i'.ered by Captain Hamilton, General Harrison's representative, to fight his way into the fort The same Indians who assailed Clay disputed his passage. IJoswell arranged his men in open order, marched boldly over the low plain,' engaged the savages on the slopes and brow of the high plati-au most gallantly, and reached the fort without suft'ering very serious loss. There he was greeted by thanks and shouts of applause, and met by a sallying-party'* coming out to join him in an imme- diate attack upon that portion of the enemy with whom he had just been engaged, nursuant to Harrison's original plan of assailing the foe on both sides of the river at tlie same time. There was but a moment's delay. Boswell on the right, Major Al- exander and his vohmteers on the left, and Major Johnson in the centre, was the or- der in which the party advanced against their dusky foe. They fell upon the sav- ages furiously, drove them half a mile into the woods at the point of the bayonet, and utterly routed them. In their zeal the victors were pursuing witlia recklessness that, if continued, would have resulted in disaster like that which overwhelmed Dudley. Fortunately, General Harrison, always on the alert, had taken a stand, with a spy- glass, on one of his batteries, from which he could survey the whole field of opera- tions. He discovered a body of British and Indians gliding swiftly along the bor- ders of the woods to cut off the retreat of the pursuers, when he dispatched a volun- teer aid (John T. Johnson, Esq.) to recall his troops. It was a perilous undertaking. Tlie gallant aid-de-camp had a hoi-se shot under him, but he succeeded in communi- cating the general's orders in time to allow the imperiled detachment to return with- out much loss. (ienoral Harrison now ordered a sortie from the fort against the enemy's works on the right, near the deep ravine. For this purpose three hundred and fifty men were loctone or two hnndred men, he would have brought over a re-enforcement ofelz hundred, which wonld have enabled inf touke the whole British force on this side of the river." Harrison did not then Icnow that Dadley had sacrificed lh( gtater portion of bis little army and his own life in the hnmane attempt to save Combs and his party from destmc- llon. Combs afterward called General Harrison's attention to the Injustice of hia censure. It was too late ; it had pamd into history, and has l>een perpetuated by the pens of successive chroniclers. WUIiun Dudley was a citizen of Fayette County, Kentucky, at that time, but was a native of Spottsylvania County, Virginia. U« was a magistrate in Kentucky for many years, and was highly esteemed. He was overtaken, as we have obwrved in the text, by the Indians, and sliot in the body and thigh. When last seen he was sitting on a stump in a fwtmp, defending himself against a swarm of savages. He was finally killed, and his body was dreadhilly mutilated. I wu mformed by Abraham Miley, of Batavia, Ohio, who was in Fort Meigs at the time of ths siege, that when the body of Diillcy was found a large piece had been cut from the fleshy part of his thigh by the savages, which they doubt- Im ate. ' 8e« pictnre on page 481, and note i on the some page. ■ CompoBed of Pennsylvania and Virginia Volunteers (the former, except a small company, known as the PitUitmrrf Bl«a, and the latter the PiCarsturi; Ko<iin(eer«), a company of the NIneteeBUi United States Begiment nnder Captain Waring, and Captain Dudley's company, who had followed Clay Into the fort. The PitUlmrg £jue< were commanded by Captain James Bntler, son of the General Butler vrho fell at St. Clair's defeat la 1T91. See pages 4T and 48. The Vir- iiiiana were under Captain M'Crea. iA.'i lii i *! ' lii: 481 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Sortl* IVom Port MalR*. Proctor 4MMWtM*d. H> III d— rfd by bU ftllow-wtm^ (lotaiU-d, uiul pliict'd uiidor tho cnniniitri<l of Colonel John Miller,' of tlip I'l'^iiJur w^y. ict', Tlu-y <'oiiMiMlfil of the eoni|niiiieM of United StiiteM troopM under ('ii|»luinH F.aiii/- hum, Croglian, Itmdford, Neiirinj;,^ Klliott,^ and <»wynne,* iintl I.ieuteniiiil ('iiiiiiiIh Ij. Major AlexanderV volunteern, and a eompany of KentiK-ky militia under ('aptain Sc' bree." Miller wan aeeompanietl by Major (Jeorjjje Todd, of the Nineteenth Iiil'atitrv and led his eoniinand with the tjreati'Ht bravery. They charged with the fiercent iin' {H'tucmity upon the motley foe, eight Inindred and tif\y Htrong, drove then> from tlicir batterieK at the point of the bayonet, Hpiked their gunw, and Keatteretl tliiiii in ((inrn. sion in the woods beyond the ravine toward the nite of the present village of iVrrys. burg. The enemy fought desijerately, and Miller lo8t fleveral of hin brave men. At one moment the utter deHtructiou of Sebree'w company Heemed inevitable. They werp surrounded by four times their number of Indians, when (iwynne, of the Nineteenth perceiving their peril, rushed to their rescue with a part of Elliott's company. Tlu'v were saved. The object of the sortie was aGcom|)Jis]ied, and the victors reliinud u, the fort with forty-three prisoners, followed by the enemy, who had rallied in con- siderable force.' Arter these sorties on the 5th the siege of F'ort Meigs was virtually abandoned by Proctor. The result of that day's fighting, conibinud with the ill success of all itrcccdini; efforts to reduce the fort, wvn so disheartei;ing that his In- dian allies deserted him, ami the Canadian militia tunitd their faces homeward.* The sjilendid Territory of Mirhi- gan had been promised to the Prophet as a ivward ftir his services in the capture of Fort Meigs, and Tecumtha was to Iiave the person of General Harrison, whom he had hated intensely since the battle of Tippecanoe in 18 II, as hig pe- culiar trophy. These prom- B1I;(JK or roBT uiiUB. ' Colonel of the Nineteenth Regiment orRcf^lara. He was a native of Ohio, and was commiaBloued colonel on the Olh of July, 1812. He was traniifbrred to tho Seventeenth Infantry In May, 1S14. In IfilS he left the army. He wu« gov- ernor (if Hluourl ft-om 1828 to 188S, and a representative In Cougreoei trom 183T to 1843. Ho died at Floriuunt, Mliuouri, on the IRth of March, 1840. > Abel Nearlug was trom Connecticnt He aarvlved the siege, bat died on the 18th of September following f^om the effect* of fever. ' Captain Klllott was a nephew of the notoriona Colonel Blltott In the British service, and then with Proctor, and of Captain Jengo Blltott, of the United States Navy, on Lake Erie at that time. ♦ David Gwynnc, as first lienlenant and regimental paymaster, had accompanied Colonel J. B. Campbell against the MIssisslnawa Towns (see page 84«). He was made captain In March, 181.1. In August lie was made brigade miOor to Oeneral M'Arthnr, and In 1R14 was raised to major of riflemen. He left tho army In 1816, and died near St. Loul« In l'i45. » Mt^or Alexander was a brave ofllcer. He commanded a rifle company, Pennsylvania Volunteers, in Campbell'e ei- pedltion against the Misslssinawa towns In December, 1812. ' Uriel Sebree was a captain in Scott's Kentucky Volonteera in Angnst, 1918, and was with Hi^or HadUon at French- ' '>' n, nnder Wlachester. He was >i gallant ofllcer. ^''he Americans lost in this sortie 28 killed and SS wounded.— ifS^. Report. • "I had notthe option of retaining my position on the Miami. Halfof the militia had left ns. . . . Before the ord- nance could be withdrawn from the batteries I was left with Tecumtha and less than twenty chicfi) and warrior9-« circnmstanco which strongly proves that, uiutrr praent cireuvutanca at Uxut, our Itidian force i»nota dispomUe oiw, or ptrmatwnt, thtmgk oeea»imuUly (( maU poaer/ul aid."— Proctor's Dispatch to Qovemor Prevoet. In his dispatch to Sir Oeorgc I'rcvost from Sandwich on tito Uth of May Troctor fairly acknowledged hlmrelf defeat- ed, and, admitting that he haA no data forjudging how many the Americans had lost In killed, " conceived" the nam- her to have been between a thousand and twelve hundred ; whereupon Sir Oeorga deceived the Canadians and (MM history by asserting, In a General Order, he had " crreat satisfaction tn annonncing to the troops the brilliant result of an action which took place r n the banks of the Miami River," Md " which terminated in the aimphte defeat 4/ the m- my, and capture, dispersioD, or destmction of thirteen hundred men I" By a comparison of the most reliable accoiuti OF THE WAU OK 18 12. 489 for his of Fort was 1(1 (ii'iicnil iid hiited battle of as his pe- ese prom- ell against the gado m«)or lo .LoulnlnW Dampbell'B ei- son at French- Ihlmcelfdefeit- liTed" the nam- ka and faleUM ImBDtroiuUot |u»b)e iccounti fUfkl MfthK Rrlll'h anil Indians, MMMtei* of PrUontn at fort lllaml. TeeaatlM'i Rabtte of Praetor. jKt'H wtTi' !tll imfulfilU'il. Tho Iiulmiifl \vft in dinKui*t, and probably nothinf:^ bnt Te- (iiMilliit'" ('iiiniiiiHHion and pay um hrigiidiiM- in thi! HritiHh urniy Hoourod Ium farthur stTviofH in tlio cauHC. IVix'tor^H t>yi>8 Haw hin nava^o allioH Icavini; him and bin Cana<lian militia diHcon- tciitt"! iiiidhiH cars heard tiic Hiartlinj; intt'ilini'nci! that Fort (tt-orgc, on tho Niuf^ara frontiiT waH in tlu! iiaiuJH of tlif AinoricaiiH. and tliat ri'-onforcftnonts wero coming fniin Ohio for the littlo army at Fori, Mcij^s.' Ho saw nothinfr bidorc him, if ho re- niuiiH'd hut the t-aptiirc or diwjH'rHion of liiH troopM, and ht' r»'Molv«'d to llco. Witb the (i(mii(n of cotK-i-aiinp tiiiH fiict that ho inifiht move ott" willi Hafoty, lu' ajjaiii sent Caiitaiii ChainberH to demaiul tho HiirreiuU'r of tlio tort. IlarnHon n-jjanU'd tiio ab- stiri inci'xn^o an an intended iiiHiilt, and re<{ueHted that it Hlioidd not bu repeated. It wiiH tlic InHt friendly eommnnieation between the belligerentH.* Proctor attempted to bear away from IiIh batterien Iuh unharmed cannon, but a few allots from Fort MeijjjH made him withdraw Hj)eedily. A parting roHponHO in kind I'rciin one of hiw gun-boatH, in return, nlew several, among them Lieiitemmt Uobert W'alkiT, of the Pittsburg IJlucH, whoso grave may yet Ix' identified within the re- mains of tho fort by a plain, riiiii^h stone, with « siin|)le in!trri|ition, that stands at its lit'ud.' This was tho last lit;, lost in tho siege. In the :.iimo vessels that brought him to the Maumee, Proctor (if tilt! Engineers, and others.* UKMAiNit ur wai.kkb'i momcmmt. roturiutd to Amherst burg with tho rumaiiis of his lit- tle army, leaving behind him a record of infamy on the shores of tliat stream in tho wihieniess equal in blackness to that upon the banks of tho Haisin.* Here, in few words, is the record, attested by Captain Wood, ()n the surrender of Dudley's command the prisoners were inarched down to Fort Miami with tin escort, and there, under the eye of J>oc- toraiidhis officers, the Indians, who had already plundered them and nmrdercd nuuiy on the way," were allowed to shoot, tomahawk, and scalp more than twenty of thorn. Tills butchery was stopped by Tooiinitha, who proved himself to be more huin{;ne li:an his British ally and brother officer, Henry Proctor.' im both tldei, the low of tin- Americans during the elege may fa'rly, It seema, he pnt down at ahout 80 killed, 470 wonnd- ed, »od 4'iO prigonera. The Brlttah loM was IB killed, 47 wounded, and 44 made priaouera. 1 vye have ohservcd {pago 47S) that Peter Navarre was nent from Fort Melga with a letter to the Governor .>f Ohio. Thit enersctlc man immediately aent meaaeuKera In all directloua for volunteers, and he waa very aoon on Ula way tc the relief of (he beleaguered (farrison. lila march was arrcatcd by tho (light of the bcalegerc. ' Ilurrlsdii'i! dispatches to the Secretary of War, May 9, 1S13 ; Proctor's dispatch t>< Sir Oeoryo Prevost, May 14, 1818 ; H'Mce'i HitbrriKif the l,aU War; Perklna'a and Thomson 'a Sktkhtt, rte. ; Captali. Wood'a Narratlvo. cited by M'Afee; Major Rlchurdson's Narrative ; Auchlnleck'e History qf the War a/lt^\9i Genera'. Clay's Letter to General Harrison, May 1J,1S13; Captain Combs'a Letter to General Clay, May B, 181B; General Harrison to Governor Shelby, Miiy IH, 1813; Amstrong's A'oOWa i\f the War nf ISli : Onderdonk's MS. lAft of Tectm\mK ; Speech of Eleutheros Cook, Esq., of San- aiifky City, at Fort Meigs, June 11, 1840 ; Narratives of Bev. A. M. Lorraine and Joseph R. Underwood, eyewitnesses, nooledhy Hmve; Boomer's Early Uintory o/ the Maumee Ko/to/,- oral statcnenls to the Author by Peter Navarre. > The little ninnnmciit, which contained only the words, Lieutenant Walker, May 9, 181!l, had been greatly mutilated, when I vUited the spot In the antnmu of 1800, by relic-seekers, those modem Iconoclasts whose bnslnees, when thns purraedtii simply infamous. The remains of the stone, as delineated In the picture, was only ahout Ave Inches alM>ve the (ground. It is of limestone, and was wrought by a stone-cutter In the garrison not long after his burial. A few rods eutofitls the grave of Lieutenant M'Culloch, who waa killed during the summer by Indians while out hunting. • See the close of Chapter XVII. ' In Howe's Hutorieal Collections nf Ohio, page B88, may be fonnd a very Interesting narrative of the horrid events at Fort Vlanil, by Joseph R. Underwood, who was present. It is more circumstantial than the letter of Captain Comba to General Clay, mentioned below. ' Mi^jor Richardson, of the British anny, who wrote an account of events under Brock and Proctor In the West, saya Ihit the Indians who made the attack, In spite of the eir<ir*« of the gtiard, were some who had taken no part in the bat- t'e "An old and excellent soldier," he says, "of the name oi Russell, of the Forty-flrst, was shot throngh tba heart iblle endeavoring to wrest a victim from the grasp nf his assailant." ' Major Richardson, Just quoted, says, lu speaking of the massacre: " More than forty of these unhappy men had fall- to beneath the steel of the infuriated party, when Tecumtha, apprised of what waa doing, rode up at fUll speed, and, nlflni! hia tomahawk, threatened to destroy the llrst man who resisted his injunction to desist. toeral Leslie Combs, then, as we have seen, n captain of spies, and one of the prisoners. In a letter to Oener:;: Clay, tlreail; alluded to, gave a very particular account of the aflfalr. A copy of that letter, (tarnished by General Comix in i WM before me. He aaye that the prisoner*, on their march toward Fort Meigs, met a body of Indians, who, in tb« ^IW .. !■ ^ * . . ' •■■ i ^ i'p' i P/H i - £i ■ i 11 ,»4<^*WI!^'. filUk..V < 480 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A VMt to tbe Maumee Valley. IntoTOBtlng traveling Compaulons. Peter Nanrw. I'KTKB MAVABKE. I visited the theatre of events just de- 8cril)ed, on the 24th of Septemher, 18(i0, and had the singuhir good fortune to he accompanied by L. H. Ilosmer, Esq., of To- ledo, author of The Early History of the Maumee Valley, and the vcnerahh! IVtei- Navarre (a Canadian P'renchman), General Harrison's trusty scout, already mention- ed.' Navarro resided about twenty miles from Toledo, and had come into the city on bushiess two or three days before. Mr. llosmor, aware of my intended viwit at that time, hid kindly detained hira until my ar- f ival. Only two days before, I had enjoyed a long conversation at the " West Uouse," in Sandusky Cityy with GentTal Leslie Combs, who had just visited Fort Meigs for tho firat tiriio since he was there as a soldier and prisoner in 1813. That visit had recalled the incidents of the campaign most viviilly to his mind, and he related them to me with his usual entliusiasm and perepicuit y. With the soldier's description in my memory, and the historian aud scout at my side, I visited Fort Meigs aud its historical surroundings under the most favorable circumstances. The night of my arrival at Toledo had been a tempestuous one — wind, liglitninc, rain, and a sprinkle of hail. The following morning was clear and cool, with a blus- teriiig wind from tht! youthwest. We left the city for our ride up the Maumee Val- ley at nine o'clock, in a light carriage and a strong team of horses. Mr. Ilosmer vol- unteered to be coachiuaii. Our road lay on the righ . side of the river; and when nearly seven milet, from Toledo we came to the site of Proctor's encanipmeut, on a level plateau a short distance from the Maumee, upon land owned, when we visited presence and withoat the Interference of General Proctor, Colonel Blllott, and other officers, as well m tho Britifh guard, commenced robbing the ■captives of clothes, money, watches, etc Combs showed his wound na a plea fnr con- sideration, bat withont effect. He too was stripped. A« they passed on, the prisoners saw ten or twelve dead mn. tisked and scalped, and near them two lines of Indians wete formed from tho entrance of a trisngnlnr ditch in front In 1 he old gate of the fort, a distance of forty or fifty feet Between tlicse the prisoners were comj,. oil to run tlic pauni- let, and In that race many were killed or maimed with pistols, war-clubs, Bcalplup-knives, and tomahawks. Tlie unm- ber of prisoners thus slaughtered, without Proctor's attempt at interference^ was estimated at a number nearly, if doI quite equal to those slain in battle. When the sur-ivlng p'isoners were all Inside, the savages raifed the war-whoop imd commenced loading their ptw. The massacre already accomplished, and this preparation for a teuc-.ynl of it, •.-ere made known to Teoumtlia, who li«»- tened to the fort witti all the rapidity of his horse's sjwed, and, more humane ihan his white ally, instantly intcriXMei! and saved the lives cf the remainder. Elliott then rodo In, waved his sword, and the savages retired. Drake, iu his Lifenf Tecuvitha, says that the warrior anthorltalvcly demanded, "Where Is General Proctor f" Sfoinf him near, he sternly Inquired of him why he had not put a stop to the massacre. " Your Indians can not be command- ed," replied Proctor, who trembleij wltli fear In tha presence of the enraged chief. "Begone I" retorted Tecnmiha, ir perfect disdain. " You are unfit to command ; go and put on petticoats !" The half-naked prisoners were taken In e cold rain-storm that night, in open boati, to the month of Swan Creek, anH thence to Maiden. After a brief confinement there they v.-erc sent across the river, and at the month of the Huron wm left to find their way to the nearest tjttiement In Ohio, fifty miles distant. ' Peter Navarre was a grandson of Robert Navarre, a French officer who came to America In 1T48. He settled at l)^ troll, and 'here Peter was born about the ycarlTlH), and, with his father and family, settled at the montii of the M.ium« iu ISflT. At that time Kan-fwk-ee-mtn, tho widow of Pimtiac, was living there with her son, Otiimi. She was rery old, and was held In great reverence. Navarre was at the Prophet's Town, on the Wabash, with a French trader, wlien Har- rison arrived thet :; Just before the battle of Tippecanoe, but escaped ' He Joined Hull s army at the Tinplds, w iih him at netiolt., and, after the surr.^ider, returned to the liaisiii and enlisted in Colonel Anderson's regiment- lie *»-* there when Brock was ordeied to surrender (see page 291), but w«s afterward compelled to accompany the BrltlaliaJi guide up the Maumee. where, as we have seen, he deserted and fled to Winchester's camp. He was an eyewltnei* «i the massacre at tbe Kiver Kiiislu. After that, Navarre and his brothers were employed aa ncouts, aud performed n- cellent service. He Is a stout-built man, of dark complexion, and la now [18(17] about eighty years of age. Hu tfttto Kngllih imperfectly, as the Canadian French tisually do. The above portrait is (t-om a daguerreotype taken In Toledo when be waa about seventy years of age, and kindly presented to me by Mr. Hosmer. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 401 It Mavam. {tematna of Fort Miami. Haamee City and ita historical Blm-t'.«e. Preaque lale Hill. usiasm and storiiiii and cr the mo8l 1, liglitning, with a bins- laumce Val- Ilosmer vol- ; and when iipiutut, ou a 11 we visited ■\1 n« Iho BrtUsli lis n plea fof t""- fwi'lvp ilcad men. |r ditch In from In to ruu the gaum- lawks. The rnim- iber nearly, il uol Uding their mi. Icumlba, who bu- Vantly iutcriKised Proctor?" tolnf Fuot be commMil- |rteclTecumtha,ir rSwaiif'rei'k.'"''' of the Huron vm J He settle* atll^ ■,thoftheM.mm« 1 She wa( very old, I trader, when Ito lRni)lil»,w "' Iciflraeiit. He*« %iy theBrilUh"' Ian ejewltnean of knil performed n- tfaKB. He »!«•'' % taken In ToWo BUINU or tURT MIAMI. it by Henry W. Horton. Across a small ravine, a few rods farther southward, were t'le remains of old Fort Miami, famous, as wo have seen, in Wayne's time, as one of the outposts of the British, impudently erected in the Indian country within the acknowledged territory of the United States.' It was upon the land of Benjamin Starbird, whoso dwelling was just beyond the south- ern side of the fort. It was a regular work, and covered about two acres of land. The embankments were from fif- teen to twenty feet in height. They were covered witli heavy sward, and fine hon- ey-locust and hickory trees were growing upon them. These were in full leaf, and the grass was very green, wlien we were there. From th'j northwest angle of the fort I made the accompany- ing sketch, which includes the general appearance of the mounds. On the right is seen a barn, which stands within the triangular- outwork, at the sally-port mentioned by Captain Combs in his narrative, substantially given in Note 1, page 489, where he was compelled to run the gauntlet for his life ; and on the left a glimpse of the Mau- ir.ce. All about the old fort is now quiet. For more than fifty years peace has smiled upon the Maumce Valley ; and Proctor aiui Tecumtha, Elliott and The Pro])het, and the other savages of the war, white and rj'l, are almost forgotten, except by those families who suffered from their cruelty. From Fort Miami we rode up to Maumee City, opposite Fort Meigs, a pleasant lit- tle village of about two thousand inhabitants, situated at the head of river naviga- tion, eight n.iles from Toledo. It is the capital of Lucas County, Ohio, and was l.iid out in 1817 by Major William Oliver and others, within a reservation of twelve miles square. The bank of the river, curving gracefully inward here, is almost one hund- red feet in height. Nearly opposite lies the little village of Pcrrysburg, and between them is a fertile, cultivated island of two hundred acres, with smaller islands around it. Directly in front are seen the mounds of Fort Meigs and a forest back of them ; and up the Maumce are the considerable islands known respectively as Hollistor's and Buttonwooil, or Peninsula. The latter view is delineated in the sketch on the next page, taken from the main road along the brow of the river bank in front of the village. In it is seen the magnificent elm-tree that stood near the old " Jefferson Tavern ;" and in the middlp, in the distance, over Ilollister's Island, is seen Turkey Point, memorable in connection with the adventures of Combs and the landing of Boswell. That elm is famous. We have observed that, at the beginning of the siege, the water used by the garrison was taken from the river at great risk. From the thick foliage of this elm several bullets from rifles in the hands of Indians went fin death-errands across the ri er to the water-carriers. These were returned by Kentucky riflemen, and tradition says that not less than six savages were brought to the gro'ind out of that tree by those sharp-shooters. From Maumee City we rode three miles up to Presque Isle IlilP (the scene of Wayne's operations), wandered over the battle-ground of The Fallen Timber,' and ' See page M. a See ^age 05. > See Mup on page OS. ■II .1 siinir 492 riCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Remains o t Fort Melge. The Well. Political RomlnlscencM. sketched Turkey-Foot's Rock, given on page 55. We then returned to the bridges (com- mon carriage and railway bridge), and crossed to Fort Meigs, the form of which we found dis- tinctly marked by thj mounds of earth. That of the Grand Traverse' Avas from four to six feet in iieight, and all were covered with green sward. The fort originally included about ten acres, but was somewhat reduced in size before the second siege, which we shall no- tice presently. The places of the block- houses were visible, and the situation of the well, near the most easterly angle of the fort, was mai'ked by a shallow pit, and a log in an upright position, seven or eight feet in height.^ DP TUB MACHEE, PROM HACMKE OITY. On leaving the frirt we strolled along the ravine on itK right and rear to the site of the British battery captured by Colonel Miller. There yet stood the primeval for- est-trees — the veiy woods in which Tecumtha and his Indians were concealed. A lit'le brook was .lowing peacefully through the shallow glen, and the high wind tliat > See Plan of Fort Meigs on page 484. » That log has a history. In 1840, General Ilarrison, tlien living nt North Bend, on the Ohio, was nominated for President of the ITnited States. It WftB snld that the hero lived in a log cabin, was very hospitable, and was ever ready to give the traveler a draught of hard cider. Politicians, who are al- ways anxious to And something to charm the popular mind, took the hint, and when the partisans of the general, during the political cnnvoss that en- sued, held large meetings, they erected a log cabin, and had a barrel of elder for the refreshment of oil comers. In a short time there were log cabins In every city and village In the land. The partisans of the general made a cap- ital " hit," and he was elected by an overwhelming majority. During that canvass a mass meeting of his partisans in Northern Ohio was appointed to 4 JPll Ji^"'^!:S#S;V- '^Ife^Vi^ be held at Fort Meigs, and, on the day previoH"* to the time appointed for it, ^^S^bAsT^ ■ 'V^^^^^SiMTA '•'SS were taken there for the purpose of building a cabin. On that night ~ ~ '" some po'.itical oppouents in the neighborhood s])olled the logs l)y favsing them in two. The cabln-bullding was abandoned. One of the lo^s was placed in an upright position in tlie nearly-filled old well, a large hole was bored in the end, a small pole was inserted, and upon It was raised ii banner before the eyes of the assembled multitude,* having on it a rude picture Jt man sawing a log, and the words " i,ooo kooo zeal." In those days the Den.- ocratic paity were called //oco F.ico*, the origin of which name was as follows : A faction of the Democratic party met to organize in the city of New York, when some opponents suddenly turned olT the gas. This trick had Iwen pln.ved be- fore, and they were prepared. In an instant loco foco matches were produced from their pockets, and the gas-lamps relighted. From that time they were called the Loco Poco Party, and it became the general name, in derision, of the whole Democratic party. • This meeting was held on the 11th day of June. It was estimated that forty .housand persons were present, The orator of the day was Elontherog Cooke, Esq., of Sandusky City. The Reverend Mr. Badeau, the clergyman who olll- elated, was the chaplain of Harrison's army, and in the fort at the siege. WEI.I. AT FORT UEIGS. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 403 Vlilt to Fort Meigg and lU Vicinity. J'jumev back to Toledo. Adieu to the Guide and Uiatorlau. made the great trees rock was scarcely felt in the quiet nook. There we three — his- torian scout, and traveler — liad a " picnic" on food brought from Toledo, and clear water from the brook, and at one o'clock we departed for the city, passing down the ri<Tht bank of the Maumee. Just after leaving the fort we rode through Perrysburg, a pleasant village about the size of Maumee City, and the capital of Wood County, Ohio. It was laid out in 1816, and named in honor of the gallant victor on Lake Erie three years before. When we arrived at the ferry station opposite Toledo, the boat had ceased ninning because of low water. The wind had been blowing stiffly toward the lake all day, and expelled so much water from the river that the boat grounded in attempting to cross so we left our team to be sent for, were borne over in a skitf at the moderate price of three cents apiece, and were at the " Oliver House" in time for a late dinner, and a stroll about the i-eally fine little city of Toledo' before sunset. At that hour I irtirted company with Mr. Navarre, with heartfelt thanks for his services, for ho had been an authentic and intelligent guide to every place of interest at and around Fort Meigs. I spent a portion of the evening with (' i-al John E. Hunt (a brother-in- law of General Cass), who was born in Fort Wayne in 1798. His father was an offi- cer under General Wayne at the capture of Stony Point, on the Hudson, in 1779, and composed one of the " forlorn hope" on that occasion. Although General Hunt was only a boy at the time, he was attached to General Hull's military family duri'^ff Mq entire campaign which ended so disastrously at Detroit at midsummer. At ten o'clock in the evening I bade good-by to kind Mr. Hosmer, and went tip the Manmee Valley by railway to Defiance, where I landed at midnight, as already men- tione d,'^ in a chilling fog. ^ I Toledo is on the left bank of the Maumee River, near its entrance into Manmee Bay, at the lake terminng of the Wabash and Erie Canal. It covers the site of Fort Industry, a stockade erected there about the year ISOO, near what is now Snmmit Street. It stretches along the river for nearly a mile and a half, and the business was originally concen- trated at two points, which were two distinct settlements, known respectively as Port Lawrence and Vistula. Toledo was Incorporated as a city in 1836, and has now [1867] almost twenty thousand inhabitant?. Little more than thirty vears ago Ohio and Michigan disputed firmly for the possession of Toledo— a prize worth contending for, for it is a port of great importance. They armed, and an inter-state war seemed inevitable for a while. It was Anally settled by Con- jress, and Toledo is within the boundaries of Ohio. For a ft\ll account of this " war," see Howe's Historical CoUectiom «/ Ohio, and Major Stlckney's narrative in Hosnier's Early History of the Maumee VaUey. » See page 332. ■■■..■'. :ii ^■i' |r 1 V ■ Wa' t ^ rt m'^' (present. Tlie lyman who offl- living at North Iteil States. It s, an J was ever IS, who are al- took the hint, mvnss that en- jbiirrel of elder le log cabins in ral made a cap- During that 18 appointed to jpointcd for It, ■ On that night ogs by sawiiii! \( the logs was Ilnrgo hole was (raised a banner |uilc picture v-t« J days the Den.- Iratlc party met llwenplayenl'e- the gas-lamp* derision, of the M Hi 404 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK BMTison'B Provision for the frontier Defence. At hie Hesd-qaarters In Ohio. Colonel Jobneon's propoaed Camn>i ^H — — . »'"p»igii. ^H joiinw CHAPTER XXIV. 'Sound, oh soand Columbia's shell ! High the tbnndering pean raise 1 Let the echoing bngle's swell, Loudly answering, sound bis praise I 'Tl8 Sandusky's warlike boy, Crowned with Victory's trophies, comeB I High arise, ye shonts of joy, Sound the loud triumphant sound, And beat the Orams." C. L. S. Jonxs. S soon as General Harrison was certain that Proctor had abandoned the attempt to gain possession of the Maumee Valley and had re- tnrned to Maiden, he placed the command of the troops at Fort Meigs in charge of the competent General Clay, and started for Lower Sandusky and the interior, to make provision for the de- fense of the Erie frontier against the exasperated foe. He left the fort under an escort of cavalry commanded by Major ^all, whose horses had been sheltered by the traverses during the siege. He arrived at Lower Sandusky on the 12th of May, where he met Governor Meigs with a large body of Ohio volunteers pressing forward to his relief. Believing that their services would not be needed immediate- ly, he thanked them cordially for their promptness and zeal, and directed them to be disbanded. He then hastened toward Cleveland, and ordered the country along the shores of Lake Erie, from the Maumee to the Cuyahoga, to be thoroughly reconnoi- tred. Having thus provided for the immediate safety of iIi" frontier settlements, he took up his quarters again at Franklinton, and inaugurated measures for meeting the future exigencies of the service in that region by the establishment of military posts not far from the lake, one of the most important of which was at Lower Sandusky. The general was delighted with the evidences of spirit, courage, and patriotism that appeared on every side. The Ohio settlements were alive with enthusiasm. The advance of Proctor had spread general alarm throughout the state, and hundreds, discerning the peril that menaced their homes, had hastened to the field at the call of the patriotic Governor Meigs. These revelations of strength and will assured Harrison that when he should call for aid, the sons of Ohio would immediately ap- pear in power. While these events were occurring in the extreme Northwest, the naval prepara- tions were going on vigorously at Presque Isle (Erie), and another and efficient arm of the service had been created, or rather materially strengthened. Richard M. John- son, a representative of Kentucky in Congress, who had been with Harrison the pre- vious autumn, had proposed to the Secretary of War the raising of a regiment of mounted men in his state, to traverse the Indian country from Fort Wayne along the upper end of Lake Michigan, round by the Illinois River, and back to the Ohio near Louisville. The secretary approved the plan, and early in January* laid it ■1818. before Harrison, The general perceived its utter impracticability in winter. Campbell's expedition to the Mississiniwa Towns' had taught him that. " Such an expedition in the summer and fall," he said, " would be highly advantageous, because the Indians are then at their towns, and their com can be destroyed. An attack upon 1 See page 847. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 496 DtBRatlsfiction of the Volnnteera. Proctor and the Indlani. .[ohnwn'i Muonteq Kentncklsng. a particular town in the winter, when the inhabitants are at it, as we know they are at Mississiniwa, and which is so near as to enable the detachment to reach it with- out killing their horses, is not only practicable, but, if the snow is on the ground, is perhaps the most favorable. But the expedition is impracticable to the extent pro- The projected incursion was abandoned, but Johnson was authorized* , pcbmary «6, to raise a full regiment of mounted men in Kentucky, to serve under Gen- ***'''• eral Harrison. As soon as Congress adjourned, he hastened homeward and entered zealously upon the business of recruiting. He published his authority with a stirring address. *" The regiment was soon raised ; and toward the close of May, Johnson wa' at the head of several companies, on their way to the appoint- ed general rendezvous at Newport, opposite Cincinnati, when a note from one of General Harrison's aids was handed to him. It had already been read to the com- manders of the advanced companies, and produced the greatest dissatisfaction among the troops. After thanking all patriotic citizens who had taken up arms in defense of the country in general terms, the note assured them that as the enemy had " fled with precipitancy from Camp Meigs," there was no " present necessity for their longer continuance in the field." Disappointment, chagrin, anger, and depression took the place of patriotic zeal for a moment ; but Johnson soon allayed these feelings. He did not choose to regard the note as an order for disbanding his troops, and he pressed forward to Newport. There he met General Harrison, when arrangements were made for the regiipent to enter the United States service, to traverse a portion of the Indian country according to Johnson's original plan, and to rendezvous at Fort Winchester on the 18th of Juna It was believed that the fleet on Lake Erie, designed to co-op- erate with the army, would be ready at that time for a movement against Maiden and Detroit. The regiment arrived at Dayton on the 28th of May, and there the final organization was completed. '^ Under the brave Johnson that regiment performed im- portant servi;e.^ Proctor appears to have been disheartened, for the moment, by his failure before Fort Meigs, and on his return to Maiden he disbanded the Canadian militia, and can- toned the Indians at different plpces in the neighborhood. Some of them were era- ployed as scouts, others hunted, but the most of them lived upon rations furnished by the British commissariat. Meanwhile British emissaries, white and red, were busy among the tribes of the Northwest, stirring them up to make war on the Americans. A Scotchman and Indian trader, named Dickson, was one of the most efficient of these agents. He was sent, before Proctor moved for the invasion of the Maumee Valley, 1 General Harrison's Letter to the War Department, Jannary 4, 1818. > Bichard H. Johnson was appointed Colonel; James Johnson, Lieutenant Colonel; Dnval Payne and David Thomp- lOD, Slajort; B. B. M'Afee (the author of a HUtory nf (A« War {n (A« We»t, already quoted freiinently), Richard Matson, Jacob KlUston, Benjamin Warfleld, John Payne, Elijah Craig, Jacob Stucker, James Davidson, S. R. Combs, W. M. Price, and James Coleman, Captaint; Jeremiah Kertly, Adjutant; B. 8. Chambers, (^varter-nuuter ; Samuel Theobalds, Mife Advocate; L. Dickinson, Sergeant-major ; James Suggett, Chaplain and Major of the Spies; L. Sandford, Quarter- muttr rieneral; Doctors Ewing, Coburn, and Richardson, Surgeon*. ' Richard Mentor Johnson was bom at Bryant's Station, Ave miles northeast of Lexington, Kentucky, on the ITth of October, 1T81. At the age of flfteen years he acquired the mdlments of the Latin language, and then entered Trunylvania University as a student. His mental and physical energies were remarkable. He chose the law for n profcsBlon, and he soon took a conspicuous place In that avocation. During the excitement In the South- west at the beginning of the present century, when hostilities between the Spaniards at New Orleans and the settlers of the MIsslaslppi Valley seemed imminent, Tonng Johnson took an active part, and volunteered, with others, to make an armed descent on New Orleans. Before he was twenty-two years of age he was elected to a seat in the Kentucky Legislature, where he served two years. He w«i elected to Congress in 180T d took his se^t when he was just twentyflve years of age. He took a prominent pos'- tlon fwm the beginutng. He 1 ■ild that seat by continued re-election until 1810. In the debates in Congress and move- ments in the fled he was very active dnrlng the Second War for Independence. These will And proper notice )n the teit When, In 1810, Color el Johnson retired IVom Congress, he was immediately elected to a seat in the Kentucky Legislatnre. He wti chosen a repr isentative of his state in the Senate of the United States, where be served his country faithftilly 'y^^^^^^C^^ if-B^ t 1 ; jit ^ K til P '^^^^^^^HP' ^ \ • wk' :" f L .^il 1 496 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Dickson and hia Savages. Teciimtha restive In Inaction. Fort Me igg to be again attacked. to visit all the tribes for that purpose on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers from Prairie du Chien to Green Bay, making desolated Chicago the grand rendezvous for liis savage recruits. There he had collected more than one thousand of them early in June.* He marched them across Michigan to Detroit, and barely missed falling in with Colonel Johnson and his mounted men at White Pigeon's Town on the way.' His influence had been such that the Indians were incited to many acts of violence in the Territories of Illinois and Missouri. They were even so bold as to invest Fort Madison, and at one time it was apprehended that the powerful Osage nation would rise in open war against the Western frontier. But that calam- ity was arrested by prompt measures in Illinois and Missouri. Tecumtha had not ceased, since their return to Maiden, to urge Proctor to renew the attempt to take Fort Meigs. Proctor was reluctant ; but, toward the close of June, he consented, and au expedition was organized for the purpose. At about that time, a Frenchman, taken prisoner on the field of Dudley's defeat, and kept at Mai- den ever since, escaped. As the enemy suspected, he fled to Fort Meigs, and inform- ed General Clay of tho preparations to attack him. Clay immediately communicated the fact to Harrison nt Franklinton, and Governor Meigs at Chillicothe. It was ru- mored that the expected invading force was composed of nearly four thousand In- dians and some regulars from the Niagara frontier. The vigilant Harrison was quickly in the saddle. He did not believe Fort Meigs to be the object of attack but the weaker posts af Lower Sandusky, Cleveland, or Erie. He ordered the Twenty- fourth Regiment of United States Infantry, under Colonel Anderson, then at Upper Sandusky, to proceed immediately to Lower Sandusky. Major Croglian, with a part of tlie Seventeenth, was ordered to the same post, and also Colonel Ball with his squadron of cavalry,* Harrison followed, and on the evening of the 26th he over- ton years. Then [1829] he again took a seat in the Lower Honse, and held that position until 1837, when, having been elected Vice- president of the United States, be took his place as President of the Senate. At the end of his official term he retired from pnb- lic life, and passed the remain- der of bis days on bis farm in Scott Connty, Kentucky, except- ing a brief period, when he was again in the Legislature of that state. While engaged in that service at Frankfort, he was prostrated by paralysis, and ex- pired on the 15tb of November, 1860. In the cemetery near Frankfort, Kentucky, is a splen- did monument erected to the memory of soldiers of the Com- monwealth who had fallen in battle, within its inclosure is a benutlftil monument, made of slightly clouded Italian marble, to the memory of Colonel John- son, bearing the following In- acriptions: on one side of the pedestal, " Righabd Mentor Johnson, bom at Bryant's Sta- tion, Kentucky, on the ITth day of October, 1781 ; died in Prank- fort, Kentncky, on the 15th of JOHNSON B MONCMENT. November, 1850." Outheoppo- site side: "To the memory of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, a faithful public servant for near- ly half a century, as a member of the Kentucky Leglslatore, and Representative and Senator In Congress; author of the Soa- diiy Mail Report, and of the law* for abolishing imprisonment for debt In Kentncky and In the United States. Distinguished bj his valor as colonel of a Ken- tucky regiment at the battle of the Thames. For four years Vice-president of the United States. Kentucky, his native state, to mark her eense of his eminent services In the cablaet and in the field, has erected this monument in the resting-place of her illnstriuus dead." On the northeast side of the pedestal Is a bust of Johnson in low relief; and on the southwest side an historical group, in the same style. In which he is repre- sented as shooting Tecumtha at the battle of the Thames. Some remarks on that subject will ta found in our account of that bat- tle. ' Dickson's recruits are repre- The principal cJUef among them was Jfo- "It Is remarkable," says M'Afee, sented by eyewitnesses as being the moat savage and cmel in their nature. ijpoek, whose girdle was covered with hnman scalps as trophies of bis prowess. "that After the savages joined the British standard tu combat fur ■ the Defciiders of the Faith,' victory never again d& dared for the allies in the Northwest. For the cruelties they had abeady committed, and those which were threat- ened by this inhuman association, a Just Qod frowned indignant on all their subsequent operations." fliatori/iif th £ate War, page 298. > General Harrison bad just held an important conncil with the Shawnoese, Delaware, Wyandot, and Seneca Indians OF THE WAR OF 1812. 4W aln atUcked. k'ers, from 2ZV0UB for liem early ily missed oil's Town I to many en so bold 3 powerful bat calam- r to renew lie close of about that jpt at Mai- iiicl inform- imunicated It was ru- tiousand In- irrison was 'attack, but bo Twenty- m at Up])er •witb a part all with his 5tb be over- 0." Oil the oppo- \> the mcraory ot d H. Johnson, a servant for neat- as a membei cky Legislalnre, tttlve and Siinator utlioroftlicSnn- audofthelavt impriBonmeutfoT acky and In tbe Distinguished by olonel of a Ken- at the battle For four yean of the United iicky, his native her sense of his les In the cabinet has erected this the resting-place us dead." beast side of tbe nst of Johnson in on the southwest leal group, in the whlchheisrcpre- ting Tecumlha at e Thames. Some at subject will be Mjountofthatbat- ecroits are repre- mg them was *«• le," says M'Afee, r never again de- hlch were threat- Bittory(ifttt d Seneca Indians 7 hDWn's Heconnolssanco to the Balsln. At Fort Stophenson. Departure for the Wilderness, and Itccalt. took Colonel Anderson. Scouts had reported tbe appearance of numerous Indians on the Lower Maumee, and tbe general selected tbree buiidred men to make a forced march to Fort Meigs. He arrived tbere bimself on tbe 28tb, ami tben ordered Col- onel Johnson, who bad come down from Fort Winchester with his seven hundred men after forty days of hard service in traversing the Wilderness, to make a recon- noissance toward the Raisin to procure intelligence. Obedience followed command. The movement was successful. Johnson ascertained that there was no immediate danf^er of an invasion from Maiden in force. Satisried of this, Harrison left Fort Jleiss on the Ist of July, escorted by seventy mounted men under Captain M'Afee (13 far as Lower Sandusky. From tbere be went to Cleveland, escorted by Colonel Ball to make farther defensive provisions. There be left Ball and bis cavalry in charge, and returned to bis head-quarters after ordering Colonel Johnson, with bis mounted men, to take post at tbe Huron River. That efficient officor again prompt- ly obeyed. He arrived at Lower Sandusky on the 4th of July. Flags were flying, and music filled the air. The garrison of Fort Stephenson,^ under Major Crogban, were about to celebrate the day with appropriate ceremonies, and, at their request, Colonel Johnson delivered a patriotic oration. Toasts were given, and good cheer abounded. But duty called from pleasure, and the mounted men resumed their sad- dles to press onward to tbe Huron. An order from tbe War Department arrested them. Johnson was directed to turn back, and hasten to the defense of the Illinois and Missouri Territories, then, in the opinion of the authorities tliere, seriously men- aced by Dickson and bis savage followers. He was disappointed and mortified ; but, at\er writing to Harrison expressing his strong desire to remain in the army destined for Detroit and Maiden, he turned bis horse's bead again toward the Wilderness. The commander-in-chief urged tbe Department to comply with Johnson's Avisbes, as- surintr the Secretary that Dickson's savages were on the Detroit. The order was countermanded, and, when far on bis Avay toward tbe Mississippi as an obedient sol- dier, Johnson Avas recalled. It Avas well fot the country that bo was left to serve under the direct command of General Harrison at that time. Late in July the British had collected on the banks of the Detroit nearly all of the warriors of tiie Northwest, full tAventy-five hundred in number. These, Avith Proc- tor's motley force already there, made an army of about five thousand men. Early in the month bands of Indians began to appear in tbe vicinity of Fort Meigs, killing and plundering Avbenever opportunity offered. Tecumtba, meanAvbile, had become at Us head-quarters ntFrnnkllnton. Circumstances had made him suspect their fidelity to their promises of strict neu- trality. It was a crisis when all should be made plain. Be required. them to take a decided stand for or against the Americans ; to remove their families into the interior, or the warriors must accompany him in the ensuing campaign, and tight for the United States. The venerable Ta-he, who was the' acknowledged represeutatlve of them all, assured the general of their uutlinching friendship, and that the chiefs and warriors were anxious to take part in the campaign. He accepted their assurances as true, and told them he would let them know when he wanted them. " But," he said, " yon must conform to our mode of warfare. You are not to kill defenseless prisoners, old men, women, or children. By your good conduct I shall be able to tell whether the British can restrain their Indians If they wish to do so." He then told them that he had heard of Proctor's promise to deliver him into the hands ofTecumtha. "Now," he said, jocularly, "id can succeed In taking Proctor, you shall have him for your prisoner, provided you will treat him as a squaw, and oaly put petticoats upon him, for he must be a coward who would kill a defenseless prisoner." ! Fort Stephenson was erected In the supipier of 1812. Lower Sandusky (uow the village of Fremont) was a mere !railiug-poft, the only buildings being a govenimcnt store and a Roman Catholic mission-house Iq charge of two priests. Thomas Butler, who had been in Wayne's array, was charged with the duty of selecting the site and superintending the coustmctlon of a stockade at that place. He drew tbe lines of the furt around the store-house, about one hundred yards In one direction, and about fifty yards in the other. The men employed In the work were a company under Cap- tain Norton, of Connecticut, who were ordered to Lower Sandusky by Governor Meigs for the parpose. Sergeant Eras- ins Bowe, of Tiffin, Ohio, one of the three known survivors of the detachment In 1800, was the first to break ground, ^a.ving, " Captain, I don't think there will be mnch fighting here, but I believe I will make a hole here." His remark was caused by the general belief that the British would never be able to penetrate so far. The pickets for the fort we cut near the present railway station, and In the course of twenty-five days they were all set. A block-house was cmstnicted on the northeast corner, and another In the middle of the north side of the fort. Croghan strengthened the fort in the lummer uf 1818 by the erection of two more block-hou!>es, one of which was built against the middle block- lionse on the north side, and the other on the southwest comer. He also i onstructed an embankment and dit^'^ , and In the block-house on the northeast angle placed his slx-pounder.— Sfafenu>iit (ifBrasUu Boire in the "San^ltuky Dtnw- ml," My 2T, ISOO. The other two known survivors of the constructors of the fort at that time were Samuel Scrlbner, o(Slarion,nnd Ira Carpenter, of Delaware, Ohio. Ti 1 i ■ I ■ 1 V 1 r i' i ' ■ pi i i!f 498 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Tecumtha'a Plan for Capturing Fort Hetg«. Vigilance of the American!. The Attempt a Fillure, very restive under the restraints of inaction, especially when ho saw so large a body of his countrymen ready for the war-patli, and he at last demanded tliat another at- tempt should be made to capture Fort Meigs, lie submitted to Proctor an iin»onioii> plan by which to take the garrison by stratagem and surprise. He proposed to land the Indians several miles below the fort, march through the woods, unobservi'd h\ the garrison, to the road leading from the Maumee to Lower Sandusky in the rear and there engage in a sham-fight. This would give Clay an idea that some approacli' ing re-enforcements had been attacked, and he would immediately sally out with tin garrison to their aid. The Indiana would form an ambuscade, rise, and attack the unsuspecting Americans in their rear, cut off their retreat, and, rushing to the fort gain an entrance before the gates could be closed.* Proctor accepted tlie plan and arranged for the expedition, but the vigilance and firmness of General Clay defeated the well-devised scheme and saved the fort. On tlie 20th of July Proctor and Tecumtha appeared with their combined forces about five thousand strong, at the mouth of the Maumee.* General Clay iinmediatelv dispatched a messenger to Harrison, at Lower Sandusky, with the information. The commander-in-chief, doubtful Avhat post the enemy intended to attack, sent the mes- senger (Captain M'Cune) back with an assurance for General Clay that he should have re-enforcements if needed, and a warning to beware of a surprise. He tliefi re- moved his head-quarters to Seneca Town,^ nine miles farther up the Sandusky River, from which point he might co-operate with Fort Meigs or Fort Stephenson, as eir. cumstances should require. There, with one hundred and forty regulars, he com- menced fortifying bis camp, and was speedily joined by four hundred and fifty mori' United States troops under Lieutenant Colonel Paul,* of the infantry, and Ball, of the dragoons ; also by M' Arthur and Cass, of Ohio, Avho had each been promoted to brigadier general. Colonel Theodore Deye O wings was also approaching with livi hundred regulars from Fort Massac, on the Ohio River. Tecumtha attempted to execute his strategic plan. On the afternoon of the •July, 25th,* Avhile the British were concealed in the ravine already described, just 1813. |)elow Fort Meigs, the Indians took their prescribed station on tin. Sandusky road, and at sunset commenced their sham-fight. It was so spirited, and tlie yells of the savages were so powerful, that the garrison had no doubt that the command er-in-chief, with re-enforcements, had been attacked. Tliey were exceedingly aiuioib to go out to their aid. Fortunately, General Clay was better informed. Captain M'Cune had just returned from a second errand to General Harrison, after many hair- breadth escapes in penetrating the lines of the Indians swarming in the woods. Al- though Clay could not account for the firing, yet he was so certain that no Americans were engaged in the contest, whatever it might be, that ho remained firm, even when ofliccrs of high rank demanded permission to lead their men to the succor of their friends, and the ti'oops were almost mutinous because of the restramt. Clay's firm- ness saved them from utter destruction. A heavy shower of rain, and a few cannoii- ' statement of Major Richardson, of the British army. " Proctor commanded the white troops in person. Dixon, of the Royal Artillery, commanded the Mackinaw nnd otb- er Northern tribes ; Tecumtha those of the Wabash, Illinois, and St. J')seph ; and Ronnd-Head (see page '291) thoE« of the Cbippewas, Ottawas, and Fottawatomies of Michigan.— Harrison's Letter to the Secretary of War, Seneca Tomi. Angnst 4, 1818. ' The IntUane who occnpied this region were called "the Senecas of Sandusky"— why does not appear, for they wtre composed of Cayngas chiefly, with a few Oneidas, Mohawks, Onondagas, Tuscaroras, and Wyandots. They iiumlioreii about four hundred souls at the close of the war, and were the remnant of the tribe of Logan, the chief immortalW by Mr. Jefferson. In 181T and 181S forty thousand acres of land lying on the east side of the Sandusky River werf granted to them. In 1831 they ceded their lands to the United States, and went west of the Mississippi. Seneca Counly, of which Tiffin is the connty seat, derived its name from these so-called Seneca Indians. The fortified camp of Harri- son itssnraed the form of a regular work known as Fort Seneca, having a stockade and ditch, and occupied several acra of a plain on the bank of the Sandnsky. Slight remains of the work were yet visible in 1800. * George Paul was a m^jor of Pennsylvania militia under General Harrison'. He afterward resided in Ohio, and m- tered the service again early in the war. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in April, 1818, and colonel at tlie close of June following. He resigned in October, 1814. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 490 Koti Stcphcn«on to be attacked. Major CroghsD'e InttrnctioDi. A Council of War. ,hot hurled from the fort in the direction of the suppoacd fight, put an end to the tirinir nnd that night was as quiet at Fort Meigs as in a time of peace. Tl»o strategy f To'cnmtha had failed, to the great mortification of the enemy. Ignorant of the Itrcnsjth of the fort and garrison,' they did not attempt an assault. After lingering iroiind their coveted prize about thirty hours, the besiegers withdrew" to .juiyzr, I'roctor's old encampment, near Fort Miami, and on the 28th the British ^'*"- e.mbnrkcd with their stores and sailed for Sandusky liay, with the intention of at- Fort Stephenson was garrisoned by one hundred and sixty men, nnder tlie command, ,19 we have observed, of a gallant young Ken- tuckian, Major George Croghan, of the Regu- lar Army, then only twenty-one years of age. Tlieir only ordnance was an iron six-pounder cannon, and their chief defenses were three block - houses, circumvallating pickets from fourteen to sixteen feet in height, and a ditch about eight feet in width and of equal depth. Already an examination of Fort Stephenson bv General Harrison had convinced him that it would be untenable against heavy artillery, and, in orders left with Major Croghan, he said " Should the British troops approach you in force with cannon, and you can discover them in time to cfiect a retreat, you wUl do so immediately, destroyhig all the public stores. You must be aware that to attempt to retreat in the face of an Indian force would be vain. Against such an enemy your gar- rison would be safe, however great the num- ber." On the receipt of the intelligence from General Clay, General Harrison called around him in council'' M' Arthur, Cass, Ball, Wood, Hukill, Paul, Holmes, and Gra- , ^ , • July 29. ham, and it was unanimously agreed that Fort Stephenson was untenable, and that, as the approaching enemy had cannon. Major Croghan ought immediately to comply with the standing order of his general. Believing that the innate bravery of Croghan would make him hesitate. General Harrison immediately dispatched to him an order to abandon the fort.^ The beai-ers started at midnight, and lost their way in the dark. They did not arrive at Fort Stephenson before eleven o'clock the next day, when the forest around was SAvarming with Indians. Major Croghan consulted his ofiicers concerning a retreat, when a majority agreed with him that such a step would be disastrous, and that tJie post might be maintain- ed. A few moments aft;er the conference, he placed in the hands of the mes- , j„, ^^ ....,.: from General Harrison the following answer to his chief:" "Sib,- 1813. I The garriaon nnmbered, In rank and flic, only abont eighteen bnndred men. There were a little over two thonsand It the close of May, but hill two hundred had died of camp fever. 'Theorderwassentby a whltemau (Conner) and two Indians, who found some dlfflculty in the performance of their mlMJon. The following is a copy of the order: " 8ie,— Immediately on rccclTlng this letter yon will abandon Fort SlfphenBon, set fire to It, and repair with yonr command this night to head-quarters. Cross the river and come up on Ihe opposite side. If you should deem and And it impracticable to make good your march to this place, take the road 10 Huron, and pursue it with the utmost circumspection." The order was dated 29th July. 1 i, V. 1 m • i ll 1 liHlll i 500 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK CroithMi diMil Ilta BzplnnatloiM jDitliy the Act. Colonel B«iri Fight with Indlu,,. I hiivf jiut wc'i'ived yours of yesterday, ten o'clock P.M., ordering me to dcstrov this iilacc nnd nmko good my retreat, wiiich was received too late to l»e carricil into execution. We have determined to maintain this place, and, by heavens! w can. This positive disobedience of orders was not intended as such. The gallant yotin" Kentuckian gladly perceived sufficient latitude given him in the clause of tlie ouHilt order, in which tlio tlangcr of a retreat in the face of an Indian force was nientiniu,] to justify him in remaining, especially as the later order did not reach him initil snd, force was apparent. But the general could not permit disobedience to pasH mino. ticed, and he inunediately ordered Colonel Wells to repair to Fort Stephenson and Hupcrsede Major Croghan.' The latter was ordered to head-quarters at Seneca Town, lie eliceifiillv <?(.^^K9BflBfli9^ obeyed the summons, and made so satisfiictory nii explanation to C4eneral Harrison that he was diioct. ed to resume his command the next mornini;, witL Avritten instructions similar to the ones he Iiad be- foro received. Croghan was now more dctciiiiiiieil than ever to maintain the post. General Harrison kept scouts out in all direc- tions Avatching for the foe. On the evening of Sat. urday, the 31st of July, a reconnoitring party, lin- VIKW AT KBEMONT, UB LUWBB BAMIIITHKY.' > Coloucl Wella was escorted by Colonel Ball, with his corps of draf;oons, and hore the f>/itowing letter to Major Croghan : " 8ik,— The general has Jnst received your letter of this date iufurmiug him that yon had thought pro|ier u disobey the order Issued from this office, and delivered to you this morning. It appears that the information vrlilih dictated the order was incorrect, and as you did not receive it in the night, as was expected, it might have been proptr that yon shonid have reported the circumstances and yonr situation before yon proceeded to its execution. This inlirbt have been passed over, bnt I am directed to soy to yon that an officer who presumes to aver that he has made liis nt- olution, and that ho will act In direct opposition to the orders of his general, can no longer be intrusted with a eeparat; command. Colonel Wells is sent to relievo you. You will deliver the command to him, and repair, with Colonel Bull'i squadron, to this place. By command, etc., A. II. Holmes, Assistant Ad,|ntant General." On the way, about half a mile southwest of the present village of Ballsville, Colonel r.ali's detachment were atlackid by about twenty Indians, and quite a severe skirmish ensued. Seventeen of the Indians were killed ; and, nntll withio a few years, an oak-tree stood on the site of the contest, bearing seventeen marks of a batchot, to indicate the uumbci of Indians slain. » This view was taken from the verge of the hill, near where the howitzer, or mortar, of the British was planted aflor landing, so as to be bronght to bear npon the fort. In the Ihint is seen a magnificent elm-tree, of large growth at the time of the invasion. Tradition avers that an Indian, who climbed Into its top to reconnoitre Fort Stephenson, was shot by one of the Kentucky riflemen in the garrison. In this view we are looking down tho Sandusky River, lu Ibe little cove, seen nearly over the roof of the small building nearest the left of the picture, is the place where tho British . landed. The island opposite is seen more to the left. In the extreme distance are store-housos, at which point tbf British gnn-boats were ftrst discovered by the garrison. On the extreme right Is the gas-honse, and over It, on the cast i Bide of the river, is the elevated plain where Croghanville was laid oat, and where the Indians were first seen. t with Indluu. to destroy 1)0 csvrru'il (avens! Wf llaiit youni; I' the oarliir mt'i\tioiic(l, ti tiiitil siicli pass umio ilu'iiRcm ami was onlertd e clu'crfiillv .isfactory an ) was direct- orniii<;, will, s he had In- ! determined in all dircc- eniiig of Sat. iig party, lin- ing letter to MaJT thought proper ii information wlilcn have been proptr cution. ThU ralilit hne made liis rev sled with a separai* with Colonel Ball's ment were ntlacW I ; and, until niihin ndicate the numte Bh was planted nflet large growth a( the )rt 8tephcnB0D,ira usky River. lu tie ;e where the BrlliA '. , at which point tie lover It, on the east : ) first seen. OF THE WAU OP 1812. 501 Fori 8ieph«n6on uninmoued to aurrender, Incldeuta under a V\ng uf Truce. The Surroudor teftiied. (forinjr wpo" t''* shores of Sandusky Hay, about twenty miles from Fort Steplien discovered the approueh of Proctor by water. Tliey hastened back, stopping at nson. the ■ August 1. (iirt on tlie way at about noon the next day." Croghan was on the alert. Vireiidy many Indians had appeared iijjon tiie eminence on the eastern side lit' the Sandusky Kiver (wliero Croghanville was laid out in 1H17), and had scamp- oit'd away afU-r a few discliarges of the si x-pouiuler in tiie fort. At four o'clock that afternoon the liritislt gun-boats, with Proctor and liis men, ■iiinoared at a turn in the river more than a mile distant. In the face of shots from the six-pounder tliey advanced, and, in a cove not quite a mile from the fort, the Hrit- i<li hiiuled, with a fivc-and-a-half-inch howitzer, opposite a snmll island in tlie stream. At tiio same time the Indians displayed themselves iu the woods in all directions, to iiit oflfa retreat of the garrison. General Proctor entered inmiediatcly upon tlie business of his errand. Ilis attack- iiifr force consisted of a portion of the P\)rty-fir8t Uegiment, four hundred strong, and H'veral hundred Indians. Tecumtlia, with almost two thousand more, was stationed upon tlie roads leading from Fort Meigs and Keucca Town, to intercept apprehended ic-cnforccments from those directions. Having di8[)08ed of his forces so as to cut off Croghan's retreat. General Proctor sent Colonel Elliott, accompanied by Captain Ciiaiabers with a Hag of truce, to de^ mand the instant surrender of the ibrt. Tliesc officers were accompanied l)y Cap- tain Dixon, of the Uoyal Engineers, wlio was in command of the Indian allies. Major Croghan sent out Second Lieutenant Shipp,' as liis representative, to meet the \\[\<r. After the usual salutations. Colonel Elliott said : " I arh instructed to demand tlie instant surrender of the fort, to spare the effusion of blood, which wc can not (111 sliould we be under the necessity of reducing it by our powerful force of regulars, Indians, and artillery." "My commandant and the garrison," replied Shipp, "are determined to defend the |,i)St to the last extremity, and bury themselves in its ruins, rather than surrender it I,, any force whatever." "Look at our immense body of Indians," interposed Dixon. "They can not be restrained from massacring the whole garrison, in the event of our utidoubted suc- cess." "Our success is certain," eagerly added Chambers. "It is a great jnty," said Dixon, in a beseeching tone, "that so fine a young man ;iv you, and as your commander is represented to be, should fall into the hands of the ^a\ ages. Sir, for God's sake, surrender, and prevent the dreadful massacre that will 111' caused by your resistance." Shipp, who had lately dealt with the same foe at Fort Meigs, coolly replied : " When the fort shall be taken, there will be none to massacre. It will not be given up while ;i man is able to resist." Shipp was just turning to go back to the fort, when an Indian sprutig from a bushy ravine near and attempted to snatch his sword from him. The indignant American was about to dispatch the savage, when Dixon interfered. Croghan, who had stood upon the ramparts during the conference, observed tlie insult, and shouted, " Shipp, eome in, and we will blow them all to hell !" The ensign hastened into the fort, the flag returned, and the British opened a fire immediately from their gun-boats, and tioin the five-and-a-half-inch howitzer which they had landed. For some reason, never 1 Edmnnd Sblpp, Jr., whs a native of Kentucky, and was appointed ensign of the ITIh regiment of infantry in May, l!jl2. He was promoted to second lieutenant in March, 1S13, and distinguished himself in the defense of Fort Meigs the following year. After the affair at Port Stephenson he became General M'Arthur's brigade major. In Mai ^h, l*H,lie was promoted to first nontenant, and to captain in May, and at the close of the war was retained in the serv- ice. He died at Bel'efontaine, Ohio, on the 22d of April, 1817. On the 13th of February, 1S38, the Congress of the United Slates voted a sword, to be received by bis nearest male relative, iu testimony of their sense of his services at Fort Ste- phenwn.— Gardner's Lictiotutry nf the Army. w. 1 n l! S09 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Fort HtephenioD besieged. The Oerrison. Approach for an Aiinnlt. until rt'coiitly j-xplftiiicd, they commenced the attack hi great liaHto, before proper ai- rungenientH were niiide.' All night long, five six-pounders, which had been landed from the IkitiHh guii-hoatu and the howit7,er upon the land, played upon the Htockade without HcrioiiH effect They were answered occasionally by the solitary cannon in the fort, which wan hIiU'i. ed from one block-house to another, so as to give the impression that the garrison lunl several heavy guns. Hut tlieir siipply of ammunition was small, and Major Crojriian determined to use his powder an<l ball to better a<lvantage than firing at raiulom in the dark. He silenced the gun, and ordered Captain Hunter,'' his second in cornniiind to place it in the block-house at the middle of the north side of the fort, so as to rake the ditch ui the direction of the northwest angle, the jMjint where the foe would doubt- less make the assault, it being the weakest pai't. This was accom|)lished before day- light, and the gun, loaded with a half charge of powder and a double charge of slugs and grapeshot, was completely masked. During the night the British had dragged tlirco six-pounderfl to a point of woods on ground higher than the fort, and about two himdred and fifty yards from it (near the sjjot where the court-house in Fremont now stands, westward of Croghan Street), and early in the morning they opened a brisk fire upon the stockade from those and the howitzer. Their cannonade produced but little effect, and for many hours tjic little garrison made no rejjly. Proctor became impatient. That long day in August was rapidly passing away, and he saw before him only a dreary night of futile effort in his jiresent position. His Indians were becoming uneasy, and at length he resolved to storm the fort. At four o'clock in the afternoon he concentrated the fire of all his guns upon the weak northwest angle. His suspected purpose was now apjiaicnt. Toward that Aveak point Croghan directed his strengthening efforts. Bags of sand and sacks of flour were piled against the pickets there, and the force of the cannon- ade was materially broken. At five o'clock, while the bellowing of distant thunder in the westeni horizon, ■where a dark storm-cloud was brooding, seemed like the echo of the great guns of ilio foe, the British, in two close columns, led by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Short and Lieu- tenant Gordon, advanced to assail the works. At the same time a party of grena- diers, about two hundred sti-ong, under Lieutenant Colonel Warburton, took a wide circuit through the woods to make a feigned attack upon the southern front of the fort, where Captain Hunter and his party were stationed. Private Brown, of the Pe- tersburg Volunteers, with half a dozen of Jiis corps and Pittsburgh Blues, happened to be in the fort at the time. Brown was skilled in gunnery, and to him and his coni- piinions was intrusted the management of the six-pounder in the fort. As the British storming-party under Lieutenant Colonel Short advanced, their ar- tillery played incessantly upon the northwestern angle of the fort, and, under cover of the dense smoke, tV^^y approached to within fifteen or twenty paces of the out- works before they we', ;■ discovered by the garrison. Every man within the fort was at his post, and these v.vre Kentucky " sharp-shooters !" They instantly poured upon the assailants such a shower of rifle-balls, sent with fatal precision, that the British line was thrown into momentary confusion. Tliey quicMy rallied, Tlie axe-men i.U i . : iiliii ■ The late Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, In his address at Fremont (Lower Sandnsky), on the forty-fifth anniversary of the defense of Fort Stephenson, explained the canse. Aaron Norton, of Portage County, Ohio, told him that on that Son- day afternoon, in total ignorance of the proximity of the British and Indians, he was approaching the fort on the oppo- site side of the Sandusky, when he discovered quite a large hody of Indians scattered along the bank of the river, half concealed by bushes. He wheeled his horse and fled in the direction of Seneca. The startled Indians fired several shots at him, but without effect. This occurrence was donhtless coromnnicated to the British commander. He knew Harrison was near, and feared that he might sally forth ftom his fortified camp with re-enforcements from Cleveland or Mansfield, beat back Tecumtha, and fall upon him at Sandnsky; hence his haste in assailing the fort. " James Hunter was a native of Kentucky, and was adjutant of the Kentncky mounted rifiemen in the battle of Tip- pecanoe. He was wounded there. He was promoted to captain in the 17th regiment of infantry In March, 1812. He left the army in May, 1S14. On the 18th of February, 1835, the Congress of the Ufaited States voted him a sword be- cause of hi8 distinguisbed services at Fort Stephenson.— Gardner's Dictionary of th» Army. OF THE WAR OF 1812. fi03 M„rmlM "f •'"" ■*••>'•«"*'' SiMgbMr of lb* AiMtlantt. Thfl BrilUh onil Indlsni repniMd. ri.AN OK I'OIIT mUrilK.NHON.' liravcly pushed forward over the glacis, and leaped into the ditch to assail the pick- ets. Lieutenant Colonel Short was at the head of the gallant party, and when a siif- ticient number of men were in the ditch behind him, ho shouted, " Cut away the pick- ets, my brave boys, and show the damned Yankees no quarter !" Now was the mo- ment for the voice of the unsuspected six-pounder to be heard. Tlie masked port flew open instantly. The gun spoke with terrible eifeet. Slugs and grapeshot streamed along that ditch overflowing with human life, and spread terrible havoc there. Few escaped. A similar attempf, Avas made by the second column of the storming-party, w! n another discharge from the eix-pou .der and a destructive volley of rifle-balls ended the contest. Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Short and Lieutenant Gordon, of the Forty-first Regiment, Laussaussiege, of the Indian department, and twenty-five pri- vates, were left dead in the ditcli,'^ and twenty-six of the wounded were made pris- oners. Captain Dixon and Captain Muir, and Lieutenant M'Lityre, of the Forty-first Kcgiraent, were slightly wounded and escaped. A precipitate and confused retreat immediately followed this repulse. Warburton and his grenadiers did not reach the south front of the fort until after the disaster. They were assailed with a destruc- tive volley from Hunter's corj)8, and fled for shelter to the adjacent woods. Tiie whole loss of the garrison was one man killed and seven slightly wounded. Tlie loss of the British in killed and wounded, according to the most careful estimates, was one hundred and twenty. The cowardly Indians, as usual when there was open 1 EspLANATioN OF TiiK Plah.— 1, Hdo of plcketB ; 2, embankment from the ditch to and against the pickets; 8, dry ditch ; 4, ontward embankment or glacis ; A, block-honse first attacked by cannon ; B, bastion or block-house from ffhich the ditch was raked by the slx-ponndcr In the fort ; C, gnard block-bonse ; D, hospital while attacked ; E E E, military store-honses; F, commissary's Rtore-honse ; O, magazine; H, fort gate; KKE, wicker gates; L, partition gate : 5, position of the five six-ponnders of the British on the night of the 2d of Angnst ; P, the graves of Lientenant Colonel Short and Lieutenant Gordon, who were killed in the ditch. The mortar or liowitzcr shifted position, as indicated on the plan. Tn the first ossanlt there were four six-pounders in battery, only one being left In the first position near the ri«r. This Plan was first published, from the oflicial drawing, in the Port Folio for March, 1815, and soon afterward in Thomson's carefully prepared Ilintorical Sketehea of the Late War. The graves of the two British officers are a few yards northcaihrard fl-om the junction of High and Market Streets. > It Is said that Lientenant Colonel Short, when he fell, twisted a white handkerchief on the end of his sword as a itippllcatlon for that mercy which bis battle-cry a moment before denied to his foe. 1 m- I ' 'ill '^m HllW 504 riCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Dead and V/ouudcd borne away. The Night succeeding the Struggii,, figliting or great guns to face, kept themselves out of harm's way in a ravine near by, find the wliolc battle was fought by the small British "force, Avlio behaved most gallantly. During the night Proctor sent Indians to gather up the dead a.-d wound- ed, and at tlirce o'clock in the morning" the invaders sailed down the San- dusky, leaving behind them a vessel containing clothing and military stores. At about tlin same Jiour the gallant Major Croghan wrote a hurried note to General Harrison, informing him of his victory and the retreat of Proctor. The assault lasted only about half an hour. The dark storm-cloud in the west passed northward, the setting sun beamed out with peculiar splendor, a gentle breeze from the southwest bore the smoke of battle far away over the forest toward Lake Erie, and in the lovely twilight of that memorable Sabbath evening the brave youn;; Croghan addressed his gallant little band with eloquent words of praise and grateful thanksgiving. As the night and tho silence deepened, and the groans of the wound- ed in the ditch foil upon his ears, his generous heart beat with sympathy. Buckets filled with water were let down by ropes from the outside of the pickets; and as tiie gates of the fort could not be opened with safety durhig the night, he made a com- municition with the ditch by means of a trench, through which the wounded were borne into the little fortress and tiieir necessities suj)plied.' Intelligence of this gallant defense caused the liveliest sentiments of admiration th )ughout the country, and congratulations were sent to Major Croghan from every quarter. His general, in his official report, spoke of him in words of highest praise.^ The ladies of Chillicothe, Ohio, jmrehased and presented to him an elegant sword ;^ and the Congress of the United States voted him the thanks of the nation.* Twenty- two years la*er the Congress gave him a gold medal, in commemoration of his signal service on that day. Posterity will ever regard his name with honor.* ' Major Croghnn'B Report to General Ilarrtson, Angnst 8, 1S18 : General Ilarrison's Renort to the Secretary of War. August B, ISia ; M'Afee's IlinUny of the. Lata War, pages 322 to 328 ; Auchlnleck's Hiatori, of the War nf 1812, pajjes 1S4 lo 1S7 ; James's Military Occurrences, etc., pages 2B2 to 200 ; Mles's Register, August 14, 1813 ; The Pirrt Folin, March, KK; The War, volume 11., pages 3(1, 43, 47, 49, 61, 01 ; Address of Colonel Elisha Whittlesey at Fremont, August 2, 1S5S; Ad- dress of Homer Everett, Ksq., at Fremont, February 24th and 25th, ISUO ; Perkins's History of the Late War, pages 23, 224 ; SkcteheK of tlu: War (Rutland, ISIB), pages 100 to lOS ; Atwater's Hietory of Ohio, pages 22(1 to 229 ; Dawson's Life of Oi'ncral llarrimn, pages 249 to 251 ; MS. of Dr. Brainerd, quoted by Homer Everett, Esq. 2 " I am sorry," wrote General Harrison to the Secretary of War on the 4th of Augu.ft, "that I can not trauemlt jou Major Croghan's official report. He was to have sent it to mo this morning, but I have just heard that he was bo much exhausted by thirty-six hours of continued exertion as to be unable to make it. It will not be among the least of Gen- oral Proctor's mortiflcatlouo to find that he has been baffled by a youth who has Just passed his twcnty-Urst year, lie is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle. General George Rogers Clarke." 3 This gift, at their request, was presented to him by Samuel Fluley and Joseph Whcaton, with the following letter bearing tho signatures of the donors : " Cnn.i.ioornE, August 13, ISl.l. "Sin,— In consequence of tho gallant defense which, under Divine Providence, was cfTected by you and the Iroiips under your command, of Fort Stephenson, at Lowor S.r .dusky, on the evening of tlie 2d inet., the ladies of tlic town ot Chillicothe, whose names are un-lorsigned, impressed with a high seiiBC of your merits as a soldier and a gentleman, and with great confidence in your patriotism and valor, present yon with a sword. Mary Flnlcy, Mary Stcrret, Aim Crelghton, Eliza CreJL'hton, ..:eanor Lamb, Nancy Waddle, Eliza Carlisle, Mary A. Southward, Susan D. Whcnton.of Washington City, Rlchamah Irwin, Judith Delano, Margaret M'Lnnburg, Margaret Miller, Elizabeth Martin, Nancy M'Arthur, ,Ti,no M'Coy, La-ina Fnlton, Catharine Fnllerlon, Rebecca M. Orr, Susan Wake, Ann M. Dunn, Marjarct Keys, Charlotte James, Esther Doolittlc, Eleanor Buchannnn, Margaret M'Farland, Deborah Ferree, Jauc M. Evaii'. Frances BriLsh, Mary Curtis, Mary P. Brown, Jane Heylin, Nancy Kerr, Catharine Hough, Eleanor Worthiugton, 5Isr- tha Scott, Sally M'Lean." To this letter Major Croghan replied at Lower Sandusky on the SKth of Angnst; "Lapiks or Cnii.i.inoTnR,— I have received tho sword which you have been pleased to present to me as a tost.raoiiial of your approbation of my conduct on the 2d instant. A mark of distinction so nattering and unexpected has cxiiuil feelings which I can not express. Vet, while I return you thanks for tho unmerited gift you have thus bestowed, I feci well aware that my good fortune (which was bought by tho activity of the bravo soldiers under my command), te raised in yon expectations from my future cITorts which must, I f ar, be sooner jr later disappointed. Still, I plcda myself (even though fortune should not bo again propitious) tliat my exertions shall bo such as never to couee yon in the least to regret the honors you '.uive been pleased to confer on your 'youthftil soldiei.' " * On the 8th of February, 1814, the Committee on Militar/ Aflfalrs reported a resolution, among others similar, to rfr quest the President to present an elegant sword to Colonel Croghan. This resolution was passed by at the time, and never called up again. » George Croghan was a son of Major William Croghan, of the Revolntionary army. His father was a native of Ire- land ; hie mother was a sister of General George Rogers Clarke, sometimes called the F.ither of tho Northwest. Ik W08 bom at Locust Grove, near the Falls of tho Ohio (now Louisville), in Kentucky, on the 16th of November, 1191. Ut the 8lri\gg\c. .vine near ived most .d wound- n the S;m- ary stores. to General 1 tl\c west ntle breeze ward Lake rave youiii]; .nd grateful the wound- f. Buckets ; and as the lade a com- >unded were [■ admiration a from every 'hcst praise.^ rant sword;' n.* Twenty- i of liis signal Secretary of War. 1812, paj;cs W lo ii'(i(/(),Mnrcti,l<W; .ugusti.lSS'*; Ad- ,ttte War, piigca 23, 129; Dawson's li/< a not transmit you lilt he was so much the least of Gcu- ■iily-urst year. Uc |,hc following letter kAusnstia.lStt Lou ami the trocips Wiesofthctownot Jpr nml ft Kcntlciunii. I, M«ry Sicrre'. ^™ IsaiiU. Whcatou.ot Tlicth Martin, Kiuicy JM.nmiu, Marc.ir*" lice, .laucM.Evaii'. \ Worthlugton, Mar- Ime nB a tcsl'.m™''' Ixpcctcd has cxriii'l IbuB bcstowcil, 1 tw'l 1 my commniiil). Ir.s Led. StilUl'Wa Ever to cause yon m LhcrBBimilnf.t<"«- I by at the time, »4 JwasnnRt>«°"!!; Itlic Northwest. W November, nol. U' OF THE WAR OF 1812. 605 Miidal presented to Croghan. A Visit to Sandusky. A Hide to C'astalinn 8priUK«. aOLD MEDAL AW ADDED TO OENER' L flB0nUAH.> It was a soft, hazy, half sunny day, late in September,* when I visit- ■September 24, ed tiie site of Fort Stephenson and the places of events that made it fa- ^*™" inous. I had come up by railway during the early hours of the morning from pleas- ant Sandusky City, where I had spent two or three days with friends, vainly en- deavoring to visit Put-in-Bay, where Perry's fleet rendezvoused before the battle n'hicli gave him victory and immortality. Tlie excursion steam-boat to that and otiier places had been Avithdrawn for the season, and the wind was too high to make a voyage thither in a sail-boat safe or pleasant. I was less disappointed than I should iitherwise have been, by the discovery that an artist (Miss C. L. Ransom), 11100 in Sandusky City, had made careful drawings of the historical points about Put-in-Bay. I had the pleasure of meeting her, and availing myself of her courteous permission to copy such of her drawings as I desired. Of these more Avill be said when giving an account of the naval battle near tliere. In company with Mr. Barney, with whom I was staying, I visited the famous Cas- talian Springs, at the village of Castalia, five or six miles south from Sandusky City. Tliey flow ''p from subterranean fountains, almost as limpid as air, and in volume so itreat that along the outlet, wliich is called Cold Creek, in its course of three miles tluongh a beautiful prairie of three thousand acres to Sandusky Bay, no less tlian wns graduated at William and Mary College, in Virginia, in the summer of 1810 ; entered its law Bchool, and remained ilicre until the fall of ISll, when he Joined the army under Harrison at Vincennea. He was volunteer aid to Colonel Boyd at the battle of Tippecanoe. On account of his services in the Wabash expedition, he was appointed a captain of iuf.uitry in the spring of 1S12, and in August he marched with the forces under General Winchester to the relief of Gen- eral Hall in Canada. In March, 1813, ho was promoted to major, and became aid-ue-camp to General Harrison. In that capacity he distinguished himjelf In the defense of Fort Meigs, and the sortie on the 8th of May under the gallant Col- onel Miller. For his gallantry at Fort Stephenson he was breveted a lieutenant colonel, and was appointed colonel of a rifle corps in February, 1814. At the close of the war he was retained In service, but married In ISU and resigned. In b!4 he wno appointed postmaster at New Orleans, and re'.irned to the service in tS25 as Inspector general, with the r„uk of colonel. In 1836 Congress awarded him a gold medal for his gallantry at Fort Stephenson. He died at New Orleans on the 8th of ilanuary, 1840. I On Tuesday, the 27th of January, 1S3B, a Joint resolution passed the House of Representatives, authorizing the Pres- ident of the United States to " present a gold medal to General Croghan" (he was then inspector general of the army), and swords to several officers under his command. These were Captain Jamss Hunter, and Lieutenants Benjamin Johuion and Cyrus A. Baylor, of the Seventeenth Regiment, Mcutennnt .lohn Meek, of the Seventh Regiment, and En- siuns Edward Shipp and Joseph Duncan. The latter was nfierward Governor of Illinois. lieiilennnt Johnson was promoted to captain of a rifle corps in Mnrch, 1814, and left the service at the close of the war, Lieutenant Baylor also left the servlrfl at the close of the war. Lieutenant Meek reslrrned in May, 1814. He was ai)|i()inted military store-keeper at Llllle Rock, Arkansas, In tlie summer of 1838, and was removed, on n change of ad- ministration, in 1841. Ensign Duncan was promoted to first lieutenant of infantry in July, 1814, and was disbanded 'n M5. lie wns a representiUive In Congress from Illinois fi-om 1827 to 1835, Governor of illluois from »834 to 18S8, and died at Jnrksoiiville on the 16th of January, 1844. It Is proper to observe that the representation of the fort an 1 its surronndlngo, on this medal, presented to General CroRhnn, is Incorrect. It was not a regular fort, but a picketed inclosiire, with rudely-built block-bousos. The 8an- ilusky River Is here a narrow s' earn, and not such an expanse of water as the place of the vessels represent. It may liarc been Intended for Sandusky Bay. 1. m i 1 1 506 riCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Appearance and Character of the Castalian Springe. Au Evening in Sanduslsy. Journey to Fremom. I.OWEU OAHTALIAN BPBIMO. fourteen sets of mill-stones were kej)t in motion by it. In a rough scow we liovirod over the centre of tin spring, and, peering clown into its cloar", mysterious depth?' saw logs, and plants' and earth in grotto form, made iridescent !^'- by the light in tiio aqueous prism.' AVe intended to visit the somewhat marvelous cave in the range of limestone about two miles from the springs, but the day Avas too far f^cnt when I liad completed mv sketch of the fountains to allow us to do so. We returned to the town by the way of Mr. Barney's fine vineyard, and arrived at sunset. I spent the evening with General Leslie Combs at the " West House," and in a public meeting.'* The next day was the Sabbath, and on Monday morning I started by railway for Lower Sandusky with impressions which have crystallized into pleasant memories of a delightful little citv on a slope overlooking one of the finest bays that indent the ^outl '• " shores of Lake Erie.^ On our way we stopped a few minutes at the little "v Clyde, whoro the railways from Cleveland and Toledo and from Cincinnati and Sandusky Citv cross each other. There a crowd had collected to sec and hear the late Judge Douo- las, then one of the andidates for the presidency of the United States, who was trav- eling foV his political health, weary and wayworn. Eager eyes, vociferous shouts. loud huzzas, and the swaying of a little mnltitude, is the picture of a few minutes of time impressed upon the memory. An hour later I was in Fremont, as the old vil- lage of Lower Sandusky was named a few years ago in honor of the accomitlishtil explorer in earlier years, and general in the army of the republic during a portion of the late Civil War. Very soon after my arrival I was favored with the company of Messrs. Sardis Biidi- ard and Homer Everett (residents of the village, and familiar with its history) in a pilgrimage to places of interest in and around that shire-town of Sandusky County.' ' The Castalian Springs are great natural curiosities, and are mnch visited'. There are two, Icnown respectively as Upper and Lower. They arc about one fourth of a mile apart, and are connected by a race. At the lower one, where Messrs. Cochrane and Weston had o flouring-mlll, a dike had been raised (seen in the above sketch) to p'- • im,,''- 'r.ll to the water. The two springs are of about equal dimensions. That of the lower one, which I visited. ' ; rir!j feet in depth. The water is so limpid that a white ol)Jcct an inch In diameter may be plainly seen lyin" . ■'• Imw. Tlie tcmiierature of the woter Is about 40° Fahrenheit, and holds in solution lime, soda, magnesia, and I ■ ' ■» i- fles every thing with which it conies in contact. This process makes the mill-wheels indestnictible. M.i. v -Mi a half from the sprint's is a limestone ridge covered with alluvium. From beneath this these sprlngo up; ; it ft and are doubtless the lirst appearance on the earth of a little subterranean river, like that of the Eutaw in S n. Una. ■ » See pnffe ;' , ' Sandusky City is the capital of Erie County, Ohio. It was named Portland when it was first laid out in isn, nhoo there were only two log houses there, ono on the site of the "Veranda Hotel," and the other about sixty rods cost of ll. The town stands upon an inexhaustible quarry of the finest limestone. It wns a favorite resort of the Indians, mi previous to the War of 1S12 it w.ns known as Ogontz's Place, Ogont/. being the name of a Wyandot chief who rosldoil there. A writer in the AmfHeaii I'Inneer, I., WD, says the name of Sandnsky is derived from that of a Polish trader who was with the French when they wen' establishing their lino of trading-posts on the Maumee and Wabash Hirers. Hi* name was Sanduski, and established himself near the present village of Fremont. Ills trading operations were cm:- flncd to the river and bay there, and these became known to both Indians and Euroi)eans as Sauduski's River mid Saii- ctii'ki's Bay. Sauduskl quarreled with the Indians, fled to Virginia, and was there killed by some of those who followcil him. On the peninsula, across the bay opposite Sandnsky, is a rough monument, erected there by the n-1cr and at the ex- pense of the late Honorable Joshua R. Oiddings, to ])erpetuate the memory of the spot where he am enty-oue ()tlier« had a skirmish with the Indians on the 20th of September, lSt2. He was a suljstltnte for an older bn'i jr, audwnsonlr fourteen years of age. The regiment to which he belonged was commanded by Colonel Rlchar' ■> i' and the little company, who had been ordered on duty on the peninsula after the defeat of General Hull, was lei. v ; ,.(nii' Colloii They had two skirmishes with the savages, in which, of the twenty-two soldiers, six were killed, and .in equal nninber were wounded. Mr. Oiddings was the youngest soldier of the regiment. • This town stands at the head of the navigation of Sandusky River, eighteen or twenty miles (^om Sandusky Biv H'ii 10 Fremont. liovcrod ;rc of tin peering its eloar, depths, 1(1 pliiiits, ill grotlii iriclescent it ill the sm.' Wo visit the marvelous 1 range of ibout two ipleted my the way of itli General it (lay was xlnsky with il little city jres of Lake Hyde, where idusky City [iidge Doug- ho was trav- rous shouts. y minutes of the old vil- iccomplishcil a portion of Sardis Birch- liistory) in ii vv County/ vu rcspeclivdy as lower one, where to p'- ted.' . iV ,ud I •V 1- •,)<C go ilpl aw In IS n. I See page •' • 1 out in isn, whfn xty rods cast o( it. if the Indians, ami , cliicf who refiilod Polish trader wlio ibiish Kivcre. His r.atlons were con- i'8 Uivcr nud San- hoae who foUO'Vwl rier and at the "• -entv-one olhers M, jr.iinclw""* liT. • and the lit* J-,.t ;,,.mlr Colton. Id .in equal immlur Lm Sandusky Ba? OF THE WAR OF 1812, 507 sue of Fort Stephenson. Its Locality and A;ipcsranpc. The Six-ponnder "Good Bess." The site of Fort Stephenson is in the bosom of tlie village of Fremont. It occu- pies about two thirds of the square bounded by Croghan, High, Market, and Arch SITK (IF FUllT BlEl'UENBON. ' Snoots. The dwelling of the late Honorable Jacques ITurlburd stands within the area of the old stockade, and a few yards south of the block-house in Avhich Avas iilacod the cannon that swept the ditch. The northwest angle, where the British made tlieir chief assault, is at the junction of High and Croghan Streets. Near the iiouse of Dr. J. W. Wilson, on Croghan Street, was the head of the ravine and small stream of water (sec Plan of Fort Stephenson on page 503) between the stockade and the British battery. It was to the shelter of that ravine that the aftrighted Lidians fled after the first discharge of rifle-balls from the garrison. From the site of the fort we went to the brow of the hill overlooking the landing- place of the British. When I had finished my sketch (printed on page 500) we vis- ited the Good Bess, the iron six-pound cannon that performed such fearful service ill the defense of the fort.^ I then rode, in company with Mr. Birchard, to old Cro- bvlts course. Here, at the Lower Rapids of the Sandusky, the Indians wer^, prantcd a rcser\-ation hy the treaty of Greenville. The French had a trading-station hero at an early day. Here was the residence of a hand of Wyandot In- dian!, called the Neutral Nation. They had two villages. They were " cities of refuge" for all. Whoever sought safe- ty In tbcm found it. During the bloody wars between the Iroquois and the Europeans, tliis band of Indians were nl- nav? peace-mi'.kers. Their two towns were walled, and remains of their works may yet be seen. Indian tribes at war recDsnized them as neutral. Those coming from tlie West might enter the Western City, and those from the East tho Easlcm City. The inhabitants of one city might Inform those of the oilier that war-parties had been there, but who llicy were, or where from, ntnst never be mentioned. At length the inhabitants of the two cities quarreled, and one de- ftraycd or dispersed the other.— Stickncy's lecture at Toledo, 184(1, quoted by Howe. ' This view is from the northern side of Croghan Street, opposite the residence of Dr. J. W. Wilson. Tlie building ffcn 111 the centre is the late residence of Honnrn- WcJiicqiiee Ilurlburd. Croghan Street descends in llie loft, to the business part of the village, and lliih Street passes to the right. On the extreme Ipfi.on IIi!;h Street, is seen a ham. This is just lieyomi tlic southwest angle of the fort, where Croghan placed a block-house. At the foot of the bank 1)1) Croghan Street is the site of the ditch ™opt by the six-pounder, and a little way cnst- wrd from the comer of High Street is the place TAUT OP shout's 8WORI)-8CA)lHABI). where tho body of Lieutenant Colonel Short was found, li' 1860, when the street and side-walk were being iog.i'ated, the brass piece at the top of a Bword-pcahliard was found upon that spot, supjioscd to have belonged to Lieutenant Colonel Short. It is now in the possession of Sardis Birch- ard, Esq., of Fremont. Tho ground occupied by Fort Stephenson be- longs to Chester Edgerton, Esq. Tlic citizens have manifested a laudable desire to purchase the prop- erty, that it may be converted into a public square, and the site kept ft-ee from buildings. ' The garrison named the ^\cce the Onnd Hens. It was taken to Pittsburg, where It remained nntil It was presented to the Corporation of Lower Sandusky (Fremont) in ISWI. It was then nicely mounted as a fleld-plece, and is used on the anniversary of the battle for salutes, and sometimes by political parties. Tho breech is somewhat mutilated, it having l^en jpllicd by contending political parties at different times. It was carcfUlIy preserved in a small building on Cro- etaD Street, l)etween Forest Street and the site of the fort. ~ ■ ^ -^ M i '■ * ■^ !i Hi* ' III mr 608 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Works of Art. Journey to Toledo. General Harrison's Military Character assailed and vlndicatei ghanvillo, on the eastern side of the Sandusky, and afterward to the place of Ball's skirmish with the Indians, mentioned in Note 1, page 600. It was between the dwelling of Mr. Villetti (the residence of Mr. Bircliard) and Mr. Piatt Brush on tlic road from Fremont to Tiffin and Columbus. The oak-tree, with the hatchet-maiks! stood on the west side of the road, near Mr. Brush's house. At Mr. Villetti's I enjoyed the pleasure of seeing some valuable paintings belong- ing to Mr. Birchard, among them the fine picture of The Dog and Dead Duck a, Avoik of art of the Dusseldorf school that attracted much attention during the exliibitiou in the Crystal Palace in New York in 1854. Leaving his attractive gallery, we re- turned to the village, stopping on the way in the " Spiegel Wood," a lovely spot not far from tlie banks of the winding Sandusky, where he was erecting an elegant sum- mer mansion. The day Avas now far spent. Dark clouds were gathering in the western sky, and in that direction I was soon moving swiftly over the railway toward Toledo, tliinv miles distant. I arrived at the " Oliver House," in that city, a few minutes before a heavy thunder-storm burst i pon it and the surrounding country. On the followiin' day I made the visit to Fort Meigs, up the Maumee Valley, already described on p c^i 490 to 493 inclusive. ! -i repulse of the British at Fort Stephenson, very little of importance oc- currt he Northwest until the battle on Lake Erie, at near the middle of Septem- ber, wilt, the aspect of aiFairs in that quarter was entirely changed. Harrison's re;;- iilar force in the field did not exceed two thousand men, yet he considered them suf- ficient for all present purposes. The din of a second invasion of the state had atraiii aroused the people, and hundreds of volunteers had flocked to the field only to lie again disbanded. These volunteers were ofiended. They regarded the action of tlie general as an indication that he believed them to be, as soldiers, unworthy of his con- fidence ; and their indignant officers, in published resolutions, attacked the niilitary character of General Harrison, and declared that they would never again rally to Iiis flag. His personal and political enemies joined in the hue and cry; and men sittiiis; at home in ease, utterly ignorant of military affiiirs, assailed him with jeers as an im- becile or a coward, because he did not, with his handful of regulars and a mass of raw troops, push forward against Maiden and Detroit, before the tardily-buikliiii; navy was completed. Misrepresentation followed misrepresentation, for the purpose of poisoning the public mind. Fearing their cflTects, his general, field, and staft' officers, " Angnst 14, fourteen in number,' held a niteting at head-quarters. Lower Seneca Town," 1*1^- and in an address to the public, drawn up by General Cass, they expressed their entire confidence in the military abilities of their chief, and their belief that liis coui-se " was such as was dictated by military wisdom, and by a due regard to cm' circumstances and to the situation of the enemy." Up to this time General Han-ison's efforts had been mainly directed to defensive measures ; now, the fleet at Erie being nearly ready, and Captain Perry, who was to command it, having received orders to co-operate with Harrison, the latter bent all his energies to the creation of a well-ajjpointed army for another invasion of CaT'.ada. Let us leave General Harrison for a while at his head-quarters at " Camp Seneca,'' and consider the naval preparations to co-operate with him. We have observed that General Huil's advice respecting the creation of a fleet on Lake Erie, before attempting an invasion of Canada, was unheeded,'^ and that tlu army of the Northwest was involved in disaster, and its commander was covcreil with a cloud of disgrace. The event taught the rulers wisdom, and they profited by ' General Cass ; ' oloncls Wells, Owlngs, Pnnl, ond Bartlctt ; Ltentenant Colonels Ball and Morrison ; M^ors ToiM, Trigg, Smiley, Graham, Croghon, Ilnklll, and Wood. The gallant Croghan, in a special let'er on the 27th, silenced the slanderers who were making political capital of Harrison's order for him to evacuate Fort Stephenson, and his dleok- dience. "The measures recently adopted by him," wrote Croghan, "so far from deserving censure, are the dearest )nif» of hit keen perutratimi and able generalship." » See page 251. OP THE WAR OF 1812. 500 Captain Perry ordered to Lake Eric. His Journey thither. Preaqn' leie and Captain Dobbiue. the lesson. They resolved to dispute the supremacy of the lakes with the British, and to Commodore Chauncey was intrusted the necessary preparations. During the summer and autumn of 1812, Captain Oliver II. Perry, of Rhode Island, ii zealous naval officer twenty-seven years of age, was in command of a flotilla of gun- boats on the Newport station. 11^ was very anxious for service in a wider field of action — on the lakes or the broad ocean — where he might encounter the enemy and win distinction. In November* he offered his services for the lakes ; and on • isi2. tlie first of February following'' he received a cordial letter from Chauncey, in ' 1813- which that gentleman said, "You are the very person that I want for a particular service, in which you may gain reputation for yourself and honor for your country." This service was the command of a naval force on Lake Erie. Perry was delighted ; and his joy was complete when, on the 17th of the same month, he received ordei's from the Secretary of the Navy to report to Commodore Chauncey, at Sackett's Har- bor, with all of the best men of his flotilla in Narraganset Bay. Before sunset that (lay he had dispatched Sailing-master Almy, with fifly men and officers, for the east- ern shore of Lake Ontario. Two days afterward an- other company of fifly men were sent to the same des- tination, under Sailing-master Champlin ; and on the •21st fifty more, under Sailing-master Taylor, left Providence and followed their companions. Twen- ty hours later Perry left his pleasant home in New- port, with his little brother Alexander, then only thirteen years of age, and was on his way in a sleigh. He stopped part of a day at Lebanon, in Connecticut, to visit his parents, and on the 26ch he met Chauncey at Albany. They journeyed together northwardly through the Wilderness, and arrived at Sackett's Har- bor on the evening of the 3d of March. There Perry remained a fortnight on account of an expected at- tack by the British. The menaces of danger ceased, and the young commander was ordered to proceed to Presqu' Isle (now Erie), and hasten the equipment of a little squadron then in process of construction there.^ He arrived at Buffalo on the 24th, ' Perry'8 house, a well-preserved mansion, stood, when the writer sketched it In 1S48, on the south side of Wushingtou Square, Newport, a few doors from Thames Street. It was a spacious, square building, and was erected almost a century aijo by Mr. Levi, a Jew. To that house Perry took his bride, a daugh- ter of Dr. Mason, of Ne\vport, and there she lived a widow al- most forty years. She died in February, 185S. » Erie was chosen for this purpose on the recommendation of Captain Daniel Dobbins, one of the most experienced naviga- tors on Lake Eric. He suggested Its advantages as a place for building gun-boats early In the autumn of 1S12. The bay being completely land-locked, and its only entrance too shallow for large vessels to enter, but deep enough for the egress of gun- boats, he regarded it as the safest place on the lake for the con- struction of small vessels. He was appointed sailing-master in the navy at the middle of September, 1S12,* and received instrnc- tions from the government to commence the ' ■♦'uctlon of gnu- boats f.t Erie. On the 12th of December _ >rmed the De- partment that, nnder the lead of Ebenezer Crosby, a good ship- wright, and such honse-carpcntcrs as he could supply, he had two of the gun-boats— 60 feet keel, IT feet beam, and 6 feet hold —on the stocks, and would engage to have them all ready by the time the ice was out of the lake. rEBBV's BESninsrE.' C^yO/vuU^ ]D a-^^trt^iy^^ • On his return from Detroit ha wos sent by Qeneral David Mead with dispatches to Washington. There he was summoned to a Cabinet council, and was ftally interrogated concerning the lakes. His opinions were received with deference ; and such was the confidence of the Cabinet in his judgment that he was ap- pointed sailing-master, and directed to construct gnu-boats at Erie. II i 1 m I M It II f 1 1 i* " ' ' -' i !fiir 6ie PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Harbor of Erie or Prcsqa" IbIc. History of the Locality. Villnj;eofErie. spent the next day in examining vessels on the stocks at the navy yard at Black llock, then superintended by Lieutenant Pettigru, and made arrangements for liaviii" stores forwarded to him. He pressed onward by land, and at an inn on the way he was informed by the keeper, who had just returned from Canada, tliat the British were acquainted with the movements at Erie, and would doubtless soon attempt to penetrate the hal-bor, and destroy the naval materials collected there. The harbor of Eric is a large bay, within the embrace of a low, sandy peninsula that juts five miles into the lake, and a bluff of main land on which the pleasant vil- lage of Erie, the capital of Erie County, Pennsylvania, stands. The peninsula has sometimes been an island when its neck has been cleft by storms, and the harbor has been entered from the west by small vessels. Within the memory of livinir men Presqu' Isle (the peninsula) has been a barren sand-bank ; now it is covered by a growth of young timber. It is deeply indented toward its extremity by an estuary called Little Bay. The harbor is one of the finest on the lake when gained, but at the period in question, and until lately, its entrance was by a shallow channel, tortu- ous and difficult on account of sand-bars and shoals. Although Presqu' Isle Avas a place of historic interest in colonial times,* it was an insignificant village in 1812, and less than twenty years of age.^ Many miles of wilderness, or a very sparsely-popu- lated country, lay betAveen it and the thick settlements ; and the supplies of every Cnptnin Dobbins was nn efficient man and faithful officer. He was duly appointed a sailing-master in the navy, and was highly esteemed by Commodore Perry. He was born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, on the Bth of July, ijto, ami first visited Erie, with n party of surveyors, in 1796. It was then a ivilderncss. He was there with General Wayne at the time of his death. He settled there, and became a navigator on the lakes. He was at Mackinaw with his vcfscl thcSiifina, when that place was captured by the Biitish in 1S12, and, with R. S. and William Held, of Erie, he was pa- roled. At Detroit he was again made prisoner, and paroled unconditionally. He was very efBclcnt in fittliig out tli» squadron at Erie, and in the expedition, under Commodore Sinclair, that attempted to retake Mackinaw. After the nar he was in command of the Wanliingion, and in ISlC he conveyed troops in her to Green Bay. She was the first vessel, ex- cept n canoe, that ever entered that harbor. A group of islands in that vicinity were named Dobblns's Islands In honor of him. He was ordered to sea iu 1820, when he resigned his commission In the navy, but remained in the government employment. In 1829 President Jackson appointed him commander of the revenue cutter /Jun/i, He left active senlce iu 1849, and died at the age of almost eighty-one, February 29, 1850. The likeness of Captain Dobbins, given cii the pre- ceding page, is from a portrait painted by Moses Billings, of Erie, when he was seventy-five years of age. 1 Here was erected one of the chain of French forts in the wilderness which first excited the alarm and jeiilonsy of the English colonies in America and the government at home. The remains of the ramparts and ditches, seen In the sketch on the opposite page, are very prominent upon a point overlooking the entrance to the harbor, which It com- mands, and a deep ravine, through which Mill Creek flows, wltliin the eastern limits of the borough of Erie. The fort is supposed to have been erected early in 1749, that being the year when the French sent armed emissaries thronghout the Ohio Valley to drive off the English traders. It was constnicted under the direction of Jean Cceur (commonly writ- ten Joucoire in history), an influential Indian agent of the French governor general of Canada. This was Intended by the French for an important entrepot ofstip- plles for the interior forts j but when Cauada passed into the possession of the English, a hundred years ago, the fort was abandoned, and fell Into decay. General Wayne established a small garrison there In 1794, and caused a block-house to he bnilt on the bluflf part of Mill Creek, at the lake shore of Garrison Hill. On his return as victor over the Indians iu the Maumee Valley, he occupied a lo;; house near the block-house. There he died of gout, and, at his own request, was burled at the foot of the flag-sti'^T. His remains were removed to Radnor ChnrcU-yard, Pennsylvania, in ISW. The block-house fell into decay, and. In the win- ter of 1813-'14, another was built oil Its site ; nlsu one on the Point of the Peninsnia of Presqu' Isle, The former remained until 1863, when some mis- creant burnt It. It was the last relic of the War of 1812 in that vicinity. I am indebted to B.F. Sloan, Esq., editor of the Brie Observer, for the ac- companying sketch of the block-house, made by Mr. Chevalier, of Erie. The view is fi-om the edge of the water at the month of Mill Creek, just below the old mill. On the left Is seen the open lake, and on the right of the block-house, where a small building Is seen, was the place of the flag-staff and Wayne's grave. ' It was laid oat in ITOfi, when reservations were made of certain lots for the use of the United States. The first while settler there ivas Colonel John Reid, fl-om Rhode Island, who built a log cabin, enlarged It, and called It the Presqu' We Hotel, entertained travelers, soldiers, traders, speculators, and Indians, and laid the foundation of a large fortase. His fson built the " Reld House," iu Krle, one of the finest hotels Iu the country out of the large cities. WATME B BLOOK-aODBE AT ERIE. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 511 lOKeofErle. at Black 31" liiiving e way lie le British tteiupt to peninsula easant vil- insula has liavbor has iviiiiT men leered by a an estuary lied, but at nnel, tortu- Isle was a .n 181 2, and ivsely-popu- es of every In the navy, and of July, I'TC, and Icnernl Wayne at V with his vessel, r Erie, he was pa- in flttlnK out the w. After the war he first vessel, ex- i Islands in honor 1 the govcrnrociit left active 6er\lce given I'n the prc- uiul Jeulonsy ot _ hcs. Been in the lor, which it com- ofErie. Thefott saries throughout (commonly writ- his was intended entrepot of sup- len Canada passed a hundred years id fell into decay, ittll garrison tliere sc to he hnilt on ihc lake shore of ^g victor over tlic tie occupied a los There he died ot .■asi hurled at tlio ins were removed sylvania, in 1S«. , and, in the win- t oil its site; also laofPresqu'lelc. when some mis- relic of the War [indehted to B.F. ...'tier, for the ac- ;.hoHse, made by Is from the edfc id on the right lit The first white fit the Prr»q«' '* Irgo fortune, nis Pcrrj'9 Arrival ut Krle^ Cuuatructlon of a Fleet begun. Cascade Creek, and Block-bonse near. yitW OF TUB BITE Of TUK FUE.NUU FUUT AND KMTBANOI TO KBIE IIAOUOB.' kind but timber, for naval preparations, had to be brought from far-away places with creat labor. Zeal and energy overcame all difficulties. Perry arrived at Erie, as we have observed, on the 27th of March. He established his quarters at Duncan's " Erie Hotel," and entered upon the duties of his important errand by calling around him the employ6s of the government there. Much pre- liminary work had al- ready been done under the direction of the ouergetic Sailing-mas- ter Dobbins and Noah Blown, a shipwright tVoni New York. For- est-trees around Erie li.id been felled and iiewn ; the keels of two twenty-gun brigs and ;i clipper schooner had been laid at the mouth ofCascade Creek; two gun -boats were nearly planked up at tlie mouth of Lee's Run,hetween the pres- ent Peach and Sassa- fras Streets; and a tiiird, afterward call- .5»ff~-- C'^^^. MODTII OF GABOAUE OBEEK." I This view of the entrance to Krle Harbor was taken from the site of the old French Fort de la Presqu' Isle, mentioned in the note on the preceding page. The mounds Indicating the remains of the fort are seen on the right, and near them, ill the centre of the picture, is a small building used as a powder-house. On the bluff on the extreme right is seen a little structure, indicating the site of the block-house mentioned in the note on the preceding page, which is not far from the present light-house. On the left, in the extreme distance. Is Presqu' Isle Point, and in the water, piers that have been constructed for the Improvement of the entrance channel, and a light-house. » This is a view of the site of the navy yard at the month of the uascade Creek, and of a portion of the harbor of Erie, made by the author early in September, 1800. The creek and the gentle cascade, which gives Its appropriate name, are seen in the foreground. Beyond It, and the small boats seen in Its waters, is the beach where the Laturenee, Xiagara, and Ariel were built. On the clay and gravel bluflr at the extreme right, the fence marks the site of a block-house built to protect the ship-yard, whose stout flag-staff, with cross-pieces for steps, served as an observatory. From its top a Ml view of the lake over Presqn' Isle could be seen. The lower part of the block-house was heavy, rough logs ; the upper, or battery part, was made of hewn timber. Ic the distance. In the centre of the picture, is seen the landing at Erie, and on the left the pier and llght-honse at the entrance to the harbor. Just behind the bluff, in the distance, is the mouth of Lee's Rua, where the Poreupine and njiTM were Imilt. The cascade is about flfteeu feet in perjiendlcnlar full In iU passage over a ledge of slate rock, and 1« alKint one mile from the public square lu Erie. BI.OOK-UIHSK. ! 1:1 I m 512 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A GaarJ at Erie. Perry baateiis to Cbaarcey. Eventa on the Niagara Frontier. ctl Scorpion, waa just commenced. To guard against surprise and the destruction of the vessels by the Britislj, a volunteer company of sixty men, under Captain Fos- ter, had been organized. Captain Dobbins had also formed a guard of the ship-cai. I)enter8 and other mechanics engaged on the vessels. On the arrival of Sailing-master Tiiylor, on the 3d of March, with officers and mon Perry hastened to Pittsburg to urge forward supplies of every kind for the comple. tion and equipment of his little squadron. He had already ordered Dobbins to Ijuf. • April 10, falo for men and munitions ; and on his return" ho was gratified to find that ^^^^- faithful oflicer back and in possession of a twelve-pound cannon, four cliests of small arms, and ammunition. The vessels, too, were in a satisfactory state of for- wardness. They were soon off tlio stocks. Early in May the three smaller ones were launched, and on the 24th of the same month the two brigs were put afloat.' ' M 21 "^' sunset of tlie day before the launching of the brigs,'' Perry k-ft Erie in an open four-oared boat, to join Chauncey in an attack upon Fort Geove at the mouth of the Niagara River. Tlie commodore had promised him the command of the marines in the enterprise. All night he buffeted the angry waves of Lake Erie and arrived at Buffalo the next day. Perry was accompanied from Erie as far as Lewiston by his faithful coadjutor, Captain Dobbins. From that point the latter was sent back to Schlosser, to prepare boats for seamen who were to be sent up after tlic reduction of Fort George, and to the Black Kock navy yard, to hasten the equipment of some government vessels that were to join the growing squadron at Erie. Fort George fell," Fort Erie was evacuated and burnt, and the British abandoned the entire line of the Niagara River. This enabled Perry to take safely from that stream ijito Lake Erie and the sheltering arms of Presqu' Isle five vesselswhich Henry Eckford had prepared for warlike service, and Avhicli had been detained belo^v Buffalo by the Canadian batteries. They were loaded Avith stores at the Black Rock navy yard; and on tlie morning of the 6th of June, oxen, seamen, and two hundred soldiers, under Captains Brevoort and Younge, who had been de- tailed to accompany Perry to Erie, with strong ropes over willing shoulders com- menced warping or "tracking" them up the swift current. It Avas a task of incredi- ble labor, and occupied full six days. The little flotilla'^ sailed from Buffalo on the 13th. Perry was in the Cakthin". sick with symptoms of bilious remittent fever. Head Avinds prevailed. " Wo inadi tAventy-fivo miles in tAventy-four hours," Avrpte Doctor Usher Parsons, Perry's sni- geon, in Ms diary.^ It Avas not imtil the 19th that they entered the harbor of Erie, just in time to avoid the little cruising squadron of the enemy under tlie gallant Captain Finnis, of the Royal Navy, which had been on the look-out for them. Of this Perry had been informed, on his way, by men in a small boat that shot out from the southern shore of the lake, and he had prepared to fight. "When the last vessel of the flotilla had crossed the bar at Erie, the squadron of the enemy hove in sicht off Presqu' Isle Point.* Three or four days afterward the flotilla went up to the mouth of the Cascade Creek, Avhere the tAvo brigs and a gun-boat lay. Perry's fleet was completed and finished on the 10th of July; but, alas! be had ' The timber for the veesels was fonnd on the spot. Their frames were made of white and black oak and chesliin!, the onteide planking of oak, and the decks of pine. Many trees found their places as timber In the vessels on the veir day when they were felled in the forest. " It consisted of the prize brig Caledonia («ce page 3Sfl) ; the schooner Homers (formerly Catharine), carrying one loog 24 ! schooner Amelia (formerly Ti;iress), carrying one long 18 ; and schooner Ohio, carryiii.; one long 24 ; the sloop Con- tractor (now called Trippe), carrying one long 18. The commanders of this flotilla,from Buffalo to Eric were Peirr, Almy, Uoldnp, Darling, and Dobbins. ' Doctor Usher Parsons, of Providence, Rhode Island, Is the last surviving commissioned officer of Perry's fleet. Iiiii greatly indebted to him for many valuable contributions to this portion of my work, both oral and written, cspfcijlly for the use of his diary kept daring the campaign of 1813. We shall meet him presently as the surgeon of Ihcioir- reiuf, Perry's flag-ship, In the battle of the 10th of Sepfernber. * This crnising squadron consisted of the ship Queen Clmrlotte, mounting IT gnns : the fine schooner Ladti Preml, mounting 13 guns ; the brig Hunter, a smaller vessel of 10 gnns ; the schooner Little Belt, of 3 guns ; and the CMppKt, of 1 gun. ti I ! ■■!■ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 518 Brig Xaic twt to bo the Flag-nhlp. Lnck of Men, Perry's Earue«tne9> uud UnnelOiibneM, Jnly 19. only men enough to officer and man one of the brigs, and he was compelled to lie idle in the harbor of Erie, an unwilling witness of the insolent menaces of the enemy on the open lake. The brig that was to bear his broad pennant was named (by order of the Secretary of the Navy, received on the 12th) LaxDrence, in honor of the gallant captain of the Chesapeake^ who had just given his life to his country." The .jnnc, other bris? was named Niagara, and the smaller vessels constructecl at Erie '^**- ttcre called respectively Ariel (the clipper schooner), Porcujniie, and Tigress. But what availed these vessels without officors and crews? The two hundred soldiers lent as a guard for the flotilla on its voyage from ButTalo had been ordered back. Only Captain lirevoort, who was familiar with the navigation of the lake, remained, and he was assigned to the command of the marines of the Niagara. Perry was sick and almost one fifth of his men were subjects for the hospital in the court-liouse, under Doctor Horsley, or the one near the site of Wayne's block-house, under Doctor Hoherts. And yet the government, remiss itself in furnishing Perry with men, was aUIn" loudly upon him to co-operate with Harrison. Twice within four days he re- (cfved orders to that eiFect from the Secretary of the Treasury.'' Ilarri- ^ snii too, was 8endin<i; messages to him recounting the perils of the situation iif his little array, f nd intelligence came that a new and powerful vessel, called Detroit, ffus nearly ready for service at Maiden. This was coupled with the assurance that the veteran Captain Robert II. Barclay, who had served with Nelson at Trafalgar, had arrived with experienced officers and men, and was in chief command oi the hos- tile squadron seen off Presqu' Isle. In the bitterness of a mortified spirit Perry iviotc to Chauncey," his chief, saying, "The enemy's fleet of six sail are now off the bar of this harbor. What a golden opportunity, if we had men ! Their object is, no doubt, either to blockade or attack us, or to carry provisions and re-enforcements to Maiden. Should it be to attack us, we are ready to meet them. I am constantly looking to tlie eastward ; every mail and every traveler from that iliiarter is looked to as the harbinger of the glad tidings of our men being on the way. Give me men, sir, and I will acquire both for you and myself honor and glory on this lake, or perish in the attempt. Conceive my feelings ; an enemy within strik- ing distance, my vessels ready, and not men enough to man them. Going out with those I now have is out of the question. You Avould not suffer it were you here. Tliink of my situation : the enemy in sight, the vessels under my command more than sufficient and ready to make sail, and yet obliged to bite my fingers with vexation for want of men."' Again, on the 23d of July, when Sailing-master Champlin >'ad ar- rived with seventy men. Perry wrote to Channcey : " For God's sake, and yours, and mine, send me men and officers, and I will huve them all [the British squadron] in a (lay or two. Commodore Barclay keeps just out of the reach of our gun-boats The vessels are all ready to meet the enemy the moment they are officered and man- ned. Oiu" sails are bent, provisions on board, and, in fact, every tiling is ready. Bar- day has been bearding me for several days ; I long to be at him." Tlien, with the most generous patriotism, he added, " However anxious I am to reap the reward of the labor and anxiety I have had on this station, I shall rejoice, whoever commands, to see this force on the lake, and surely I liad rather be commanded by my friend i than by any other. Come, then, and the business is decided in a few hours." Perry's importunities were almost in vain. Few and mostly inferior men came to him from Lake Ontario, and, so far as the government was concerned, he was left to I call them from the forest or the deep. When he gave Harrison the tnie reason for failing to co-operate with him, the Secretary of the Navy reproved him for exposing ' Two days aficrwnrd [.Tnly 81] the enemy were becalmed off the harbor, when Perry went ont with three gnn-boat* from Cajcnde Creek to attaoi. him. Only a few shots were exchanged, at the distance of a mile. One of Perry's shots Suck the mizzen-mast of the Qu«ett Charlotte. A breeze sprung np, and the enemy's sqnadron bore away to the open like. 1 1 , 1; '■ 1 '.,, . Hi ^ ^^^^^^BTii<^ ' jk ■V Ek iij. If' !! I hi fili PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Belatiunt ofC'hnuuccy iiud Perry. Erie menaced. Prepar«tlon« for nu AitMk. his wt'iiknosH ; and when ho complained to Chaunccy of tho inferiority of the men Bent to him — " a motley set, blacks, Boldiers, and boys" — he received from the irritated commodoi-e a letter ho tilled with caustic but half-concealed irony, that ho felt con- strained to ask for a removal from the station, because, as he alleged, he " could not serve longer under an officer who had been so totally regardless of his feelingg."' a nianly, generous letter from Chauncey soon afterward restored ^'le kindUness of fed- ing between them. In the mean time tho post of Erie had been Boriously menaced. General Porter at Black Koi'k, sent word that the enemy were concentrating at Long Point on tin- Canada shore of the lake, opposite Erie. At about the same time a hostile movement was made toward Fort Meigs, and tho British fleet mysteriously disappeared. Ko doubt was entertained of a design to attempt the capture of Erie, with the vessels and stores, by a combined land and naval force. A panic was tho conseijuence. Tlie families of many citizens fled with their valuables to the interior. Already a block- house had been erected on the bluif east of (Cascade Creek to protect the ship-yard,- and a redoubt mounting three long twelve-pounders had been planted on the heiglits (now called Garrison Hill), near the present light-house, and named J^ort Waynu. Barracks had been erectefl u the village,^ and a regiment of Pennsylvania militia were encamped near Fort ^^ ayne. The vessels were as well manned as possible, and boats rowed guard at tho entrance to the harbor. But these means of defense were not considered sufficient, and Perry called on Major General David Mead, of Mead- ville, to re-enforce the troops with his militia. This was done,* and in the course ofa few days upward of fifteen hundred soldiers were concentrated at a rendezvous near. But an invasion from the lake was not attempted, owing, as was afterward ascertain- ed, to the difficulty of collecting a sufficient number of troops in time at Long Point. At the close of July Perry had about three hundred eifective officers and men at ' Letter to the Secretary of the Navy, dated on board the Lawrence, at Eric, August 10, 1813. > See note 2, page 511. ' These occupied a portion of the space now bonnded by Third and Fifth and State and Sassafrne Streets. Th«( objects and locnlllies, and others, are indicated on the above map, in the constrnction of which I nclsnowledge jld kindly afforded mo by Giles Sanford, Esq., of Erie. The public square is indicated by the white space on the village plan, and the court-house by the shaded square within it. * Doctor Parsons wrote in bis diary, under date of Augnst 1, 1818, "General Head, of Headville, arrived two ortbrw : days afro, and, with his suite, came on board the Laurence under a salute of thirty-two guns." OF THE WAR OF 1812. 016 fuugt of V«Mel» over Krie Bar. FIrrt Crulie of Perry'i Fleet. Re^enforcements nnder Captain Elllolt. gric with which to man two 20-giin brigs and eight smaller veHscls. The enemy jj^jppeared ."••'' *-o lake was calm. lie was so restive umler the bearding of Bar- ilav and the chafing from superiors, that he resolved with these to go out upon the lake and try the fortune of war. On Sunday, tho first of August, he moved his flo- tilla down to the entrance of the harbor, intending to cross early the next morning. 'file lake was lower than usual, and the squadron would not float over the bar. Even the smaller vessels had to be lightened for the purpose, and at one time it was con- sidered doubtful whether the Lawrence and Niagara could be taken otit of the har- l,or at all. The flag-ship was tried first. Her cannon, not " loaded and shotted," as the historians have said (for they had been discharged in saluting General Mead), «cre taken out and placed on timbers on the beach, while the Niagara and smaller vessels lay with their broadsides toward the lake forlicr protection, iu the event of tiie reappearance of Barclay.* By means of " camels"^ the Lawrence was floated over on the morning of the 4th, and by two o'clock that day her armament was all on board of her, mounted and prc- iiiircd for action. The Niagara was taken over in the same way with very little (rouble, and the smaller vessels reached the deep water outside* without . Angust ^ much difficulty. The labor of this movement had been exciting and ex- ^^'*' hausting, and the young commander scarcely slept or partook of food during the four days. The enemy was expected every moment. Should he appear while the tliitilla was on the bar, H might be lost. Fortunately, Commodor.. liarclay's social wiakness — the inordmate love of public festivities — j)rolonged his absence, and his sniadron did not heave in sight until the 6tli, just as the Niagara M'as safely moving into deep water.^ The Ariel, Lieutenant Packet, and Scorpion, Sailing-master Cham- iiHii, were sent out boldly to engage and detain the squadron. Barclay was surprised at this movement, and ]K;rceiving that his golden opportrnity was lost, he bore away toward Long Point. The whole of Perry's flotilla was in perfect preparation before night. That evening it weighed anchor," and stood toward Long Point on its first cruise. Perceiving no farther use for the militia, who were anx- ious to get into their harvest-fields, General Mead discharged them, and the aimed citizens of Erie resumed their accustomed avocations. Perry cruised between Erie and the Canada shore for two or three days, vainly searching for the enemy, who had gone to INIalden to await the completion of the Detroit, a ship that would make the British force superior to that of the Americans. But the latter now received accessions of strength. On the 9th the squadron was joined at Erie by Captain Jesse D. Elliott,* who brought M'ith him about one hundred officers and superior men. With these he manned the Niagara and assumed com- mand of her. Thus re-enforced, Perry resolved to sail up the lake and report himself ready to co-operate with Harrison. The squadron left Erie on the 12tli° in double column, one line in regular ' August. battle order,' and rendezvoused in an excellent harbor called Put-in-Bay,'' " Auguat is. • 1 MamiBcript corrections of the text of M'Kenzle's Life qf Perry, by Captain Daniel Dobbins, who assisted .,n the EOTeraent. I am indebted for the use of these notes to his son, Captain W. W. Dobbins, of Erie, Pennsylvania. i 1 A "camel" Is a machine invented by the Dutch for carrying vessels over shallow places, as bars at tlie entrance of I hu!wr«. It is a huge box or kind of scow, so arranged that water may be let in or pumped out at pleasure. One of ihem is placed on each side of a vessel, the wafer let In, and the camels so snnkcn that, by means of ropes nnder the keel and windlasses, the vessel may be placed so that beams may bear it, resting on the camels. The water iu the j tsnieli is then pnraped out, they float, and the vessel, raised by them, Is carried over the shallow place. ' Captahi Dobbins, in his MS. notes on M'Kenzle's Life qf Commodore Perry, says that the citizens of Port Dover, a saisll village on Ryason's Creek, a little below Long Point, in Canada, oflTered Commodore Barclay and his officers a I [ubllc dinner. The invitation was accepted. While that dinner was being attended Perry was getting his vessels over I the bar, and thereby acquired power to successfully dispute the supremacy of Lake Erie with the British. At the din- jner Captain Barclay remarked, in response to a complimentary toasts "I expect to And the Yankee brigs hard and fast I on ihe bar at Erie when I return, in which predicament it will be but a smf.U Job to destroy them." Had Barclay been limmlndfnl of duty, his expectations might have been realized. Captain Dobbins makes this statement on the au- jihoriiyofan old lake acquaintance, Mr. Ryasou, who was at the dinner. ♦ See page .188. • Penj's nsgregato force of officers and men was less than four hundred. His squadron was composed as follows: Ir I. ' I » ^!l i sie I'ICTOUIAL FlKLU-nOOK bUndi aronnd Pnt-ln-Bny, HtrrUon vlilU Parry on hti Fl«g-*hlp. BIcknni In the V\m. formed by ii proup of iHliuuls known as the North, AliihUo, and South Huhr, Put-jn. Bay, Siij:jiir, (iihraltar, and Strontian,' and nuiucrous wmall iHlotB, Home of tluin con. taining not more than lialf an aero. These lie ott'Port Clinton, the eapital ofOttuw i County, Ohio. Nothint; wan Been of the enemy ; and on the following day, towanl evening, the wiuadron weighed anchor and sailed ft)r Sandusky Bay, when a straiii'. eail was discovered ott" Cunningham (now Kelly) Island by Champlin, of du. ,sv„,.. pion, who liad been sent out as a sort of scout. lie signaled and gave oliaxc i',,|. lowed for u short time by tlie whole sijuadron. It was a British sehoontT reconnoi. tring. She eluded her pursuers by darting among the islands that form I'ut-in Hnv under cover of the night. A heavy storm of wind and rain came with the darkness The Scorjiion j)artly grounded, the schooner ran ashore in the gale, and the ^(luadrnii lay at anchor all night.^ On the following morning the point of the peiiiiiMiiJa oti' Sandusky Bay was reached, when Perry fired signal-guns, according to agrecnicnt \» ap[)riBc Harrison at his quarters at Camp Seneca of his j)resencc. That eveninu ('(,i. onel E. P. Gaines, Avitli a few officers and a guard of Indians, appeared on board iIk Lmcrence, and informed Perry that Harrison, with eight thousand men — militia ric- ulars, and Indians — was only twenty-seven miles distant. Boats were innncdiatclv dispatched to bring the general and his suite on board. lie arrived late in the even- ing of the 19th, during a heavy rain, accompanied by his aids, M'Arthur and Cass, and other officers composing his staff, and a large number of soldiers and Indians, twenty-six of the latter being chiefs of the neighboring tribes, whose friendship it was thought important to maintain. The plan of the campaign was then anani;eil • AugiiBt, by the two commanders. The 20th,'' a bright and beautiful day, was spent 18111. ju reconnoitring Put-in-Bay, with the view of concentrating the army tlieu for transportation to Maiden, and on the 21st the general returned to his camp. Ah Harrison ns not quite ready for ' AngiiM ^ZtijHe^ the forward ' uent. Perry sailed'' on a )itring ex- pedition toward Maiden, first ordcrinff tin ever-trusty Captain Dobbins to hasten with the Ohio to Erie on the important e"rand of procuring additional stores. He found the enemy within the mouth of the Detroit River. The new vessel had not yet joined the squadron, and he rcsolvi 1 to strike a bold blow. Unfavorable wind- made the measure very perilous ; and be- fore the elements were pro])itious he was prostrated by an attack of bilious remit- tent fever, then very prevalent in the squadron. His surgeon and chaplain, and his young brother Alexandtr, who had accompanied him from Rhode Island, were also severely ill, and the assistant surgeon. Doctor Parsons, was too weak from a similar attack to walk.^ Tlie en- terprise was abandoned for the time, ami ryatrrerue, commanded by Commodore Perry; Niagara, Captain Elliott; CatefoiWn, Pnreer M'Orath; Ariel, Llcntenanl : I'ackct; Sarnert, Salltug-maBter Almy; Tirrrem, Master'g-mate M'Donald; Soorpion, Sailing-maBter Champlln; hra- \ pirn, Midshipman Senat ; Ohio, Sailing-master Dobbins ; TripjMt, Lieutenant Smith. I So named becanee of the quantity of that mineral found there. ' I'arsons's Diary, MS. statement of Captain Champlln, communicated to the Author. ' "Though 80 111 as to be incapable of wnlking," gays M'Kenzle, "with a humane self-devotion most honorable to 1 hhn, be continued to attend at the bedside oi the sick, to which he was carried, aud to prescribe for them, not oiil;oii i OF Tllli WAR OF 1813. »17 «• III the Vim |'ut.|ii-B»r- A Rsconnoliunca bjr Parry. The Clrcum>peetlon oftba Britlih eominapiter. Ih ; Ariel, LicnltMit %t Cliamplin; ft'«- \ oil the 27tli,* ftt c'itcht oVIock in tlio ovoiiing, the Bqundron ngnin nncliorocl • Aneuiit, ill I'lit-iii-Hiiy. Tlicrc, on tlu^ 31»t, IVrry rcccivctl from Harrison n tf-cn- '""'• ruT-iN-iur. forccment of thirty-six men, to act as marines and supply the i)lace8 of some of the sii'k. At the end of a week's confinement !*( rry gave orders for another cruise, and on the first of September the sqiiadron Meighed anchor and sailed again for ]Malden, where he challenged Barclay, who did not then choose to respond, but, under shore l)attcries, lay securely and unmoved. On the following morning Perry sailed for Siiiuliisky Bay, to communicate with General Harrison, and then, with his whole «(luiulron, returned to anchorage in Put-in-Bay.^ luiard of the Laierenee, but of the smaller vessclg, bein^ lifted for the purpose In his cot, and the sick brought on deck (ir tils prescriptions."— iy« nf I'ernj, i., 203. r»hcr Parsons was born at Alfred, Maine, on the 18th of August, 1T88. Ho chose the medical profession as a life- l-ur»ult, and Btiidicd with Dr. John Warren, of Cambridge, Massachnsctts. On the promulgatlim of the declaration of war ht entered the navy as surgeon's mate. lie volunteered to accompany Perry to Lake Erie with the crow of the John .\dams. In the battle on Lake Eric, described In the next chapter, he was on the flng-ship Latrmiee as acting snrcfon, his Biiperlor being too 111 to attend to his duties. Indeed, the duties of both Dr. Barton and Dr. Ilorseley devolved on Dr. Parsons wlien the battle was over. Speaking of him In a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, Perry (ail lean only say tliut In the event of my having another command,! should consluer myself particularly fortu- iialc m having him with me as a surgeon." In 1814 he served on the upper lakes under Commodore Sinclair, At the request of Perry, Parsons became the snrgeon of the new frigate Java, 44, commanded by the hero of Laka Erie. After ten years' service In the navy he retired, settled as a physician and surgeon in Providence, Rhode Island, wa.t professor In Brown University and other colleges, president of the Rhode Island Medical Society, and first vice-presi- dent of the National Medical Society. In 1822 he married a daughter of Rev. Dr. Holmes, of Cambridge, the author of \U Anml» ({f America. She died three years afterward, bearing one son. Dr. Charles W. Parsons, now [1S6T] president of the Rhode Island Medical Society. Dr. Parsons is the enthor of several medical works and historical discourses, and jvvcll-wrlttcn Li/e of Sir William Pepjtereii, liart. Dr. Pirsons is stUl [180T] In the enjoyment of perfect physical and mental health, at the ago of seventy-nine years. I Pul-in-Bay Harbor is on t'.ie north side of Put-in-Bay Island, one of the largest of the group of aboat twenty In that neighborhood. The view of the harbor from Pat-ln-Bay Island, given above, is from a drawing made on the spot, in September, 185!), by Captain Van Cleve, a veteran Lake Ontario steam-boat commander, who kindly presented it to me. llirectly In front is seen Oibraltar Island, and the place of "Perry's Look-out," delineated In the little picture at the lednning of the next chapter. Is Indicated by the flag. The smoke In the distance points out the place of the battle, ten itiilcs In a northwardly direction from Put-In-Bay. The Bass Islands are seen on the right, and Rattlesnake Island tn the left. The beaches of all are chiefly of white pebbles. The view is from Pat-iu-Bay Island, near the landing. ■fei a 101^' 518 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Perry's Antagonist in Sight. Preparations for Bnttle. Rcndczvoiis at Put-in-Bay. CHAPTER XXV, " September the tenth ftill well I ween, lu eighteen hundred and thirteen, The weather mild, the eky serene. Commanded by bold Perry, Onr saucy fleet at anchor lay In safety, moor'd at Put-in-Bay ; 'Twixt sunrise and the break of day. The British fleet We chanced to meet; Our admiral thought he would them greet With a welcome on Lake Eric."— Old Soaa. i-Sjc-^ AIL ho!" were the etirring words that rang out loud and clear from the mast-head of tlie Lawrence on the warm and pleasant morning of the 10th of September, 1813, That herald's pioc- lamation was not unexpected to Perry, Five days before lie had received direct and positive information from Maiden that Proctor's array were so short of provisions that Barclay was preparing to go out upon the lake, at all liazards, to open a com- munication with Long Point, the chief deposit of supplies llir the enemy on the banks of the Deti'oit River. Perry had made preparations accord- ingly ; and, day after dny, from the rocky heights of Gibraltar Island, now known as " Perry's Look-out," he had pointed his glass anxiously in the direction of ^lakleii.' On the evening of the 9th he called around him the offi- cers of his squadron, ami gave instructions to each in writing, for he was determ- ined to attack the enemy at his anchorage the next dav if he did not come out. His plan was to bring on a close action at once, so as not to lose the advantage of his short carronades. To cadi vessel its antagonist on thi' British side was assigned, the size and character of PEHBY's J.00K-ODT, QiBBALTAtt IS-.AND, I'UT-iN-iiAY." thcm haviug bccn commuiii- ' Perry also kept two of thr- smaller vessels as look-outs in the vicinity of the Sister* Islands. » This little picture is ftom ■» painting made on the spot by Miss C. L. Ransom, who kindly permitted me to copy it (sec pace B06). "Perry's Look-out" is on t.ie left, and is composed of limestone piled about fifty feet above tbe wa- ter. In front is a natural arch. On the uumrait is a representation of a monument jjroposcd to be creeled then', of which the comer-etone was laid several years ago with imposing ceremonies. On the left nre seen the griivcs of wrnic sailors who died of choiera. In the middle is seen Rattlesnake Islard. On the right, in the extreme distnncc, ia N'nnh BasK Island, and between tlie two ir, lie pissoge toward Detroit The Middle Bass is also seen on the rlpht. Tliisis a faithful copy of Miss RaDdom's picture, with the exception of tt ue. It has been made a moonlight eccuc, forcfTcci, instead of a day'ight one. Near the site of the propcseJ monument. Jay Cooke, an eml.ient banker, ha" a fine dwelling, oisd on the fonndatloi! OF THE WAR OF 1812, 519 Perry's Battle-flag. Ilia final Instracttona. The British Fleet in Sight. I on the foondJtlons cated to him by Captain Brevoort,' whose family lived in Detroit. The Lawrence was assigned to the Detroit ; the Niagara to the <^ueen Charlotte, and so on ; and to each officer he said, in substance, Engage your an+ajronist in close action, keeping on the line at half-cable length from the vessel of our squadron ahead of you. It was about ten o'clock when the conference ended. Tue moon was at its full, and it was a splendid autumn night. Just before they parted. Perry brought out a large square battle-flag, which, at his request, Mr. Hambleton,^ the purser, had caused to be privately prepared at Erie. It was blue, and bore, in lai-ge letters, made of white muslin, the alleged dying words of the gallant commander of the Chesapeake, " don't give vp THE SHIP !" "When this flag shall be hoisted to the main-royal mast-head," said the commodore, " it shall be your signal for going into action." As the officers Avere leaving, he said, " Gentlemen, re- member your instructions. Nel- son has expressed my idea in the words, ' If you lay your cncray (lose alongside, you can not be out of your place.' Good-night." The cry of " Sail ho !" was soon followed by signals to the fleet of "Enemy in sight;" "Get underweigb ;" and the voices of the boatswains sounding through the squadron and echoing from the shores the command, " All hands up ;, I'hor, ahoy !" At sunrise the British vessels were all seen upon the northwestern horizon — i DO NT GIVE UP THE SHIP PEHBY'S BATTLE-FI.AG.' " Six barques trnined for buttle, the red flag displaying, By Bniclny commanded, their wings wide outspread, Forsake tlieir strong-hold, on broad Erie essaying To meet with that foe they so lately did dread."— Old Ballad. A light wind was blowing from the southAvest. Clouds came upon it from over the Uhio wilderness, and in p-issing dropped a light shower of rain. Soon the sky be- cime serene, and before ten o'clock, when, by the aid of the gentle breeze in beat- jircpared for that monument he caused to be erected, II ISOfl, a small one, composed of yellowish limestone. It is abont ten feet in height, and sormounted by a bronze vase for flowers. On its sides arc naval devices of the same metal. ' Henry Brevoort, of New York, was commissioned Second Lieutenant in Third Infantry In ISOl. He commanded transports on Lake Erie, and in May, 1811, was promoted to caiitain. He distinguished himself In the battle of Ma^jua- ;a (sec page 279), and also as commander of marines lu the Niagara In the battle of Lake Erie. He received a silver meiliil for his gallantry there. He was promoted to major in 1814, and was disbaided in 1816. In 1822 he was made Inited Klnlcs Indian Agent at Green 'Bay .—QauXnar's Dictiotutry nf tlf. Army. 'Samuel llamblcton was a native of Talbot County, Marylai " where he was bom .n IT"",. He was first a merchant, then a clerk In the Navy Department, and in 180« was appointed purser in the navy. After the battle of Lake Kri j, the officers and crews of the American eqpadron appointed him prhe agent, and more than $200,000 passed throu/,'h his hanils. lie left the lake in 1814, and performed good service afloat and ashore tor many years. He died at h's reei- denre In Maryland, near St. Michael's, called " Perry's Cabin," Jannary IT, 1861. = This Is a picture of the flag as seen In the Trophy Room of the Saiiltary Fair In the City of New York in the month of .\pr;i, 19(!4. It is between eight and nine feet sqnare. The form of the letters is preserved in the engraving. They are about a foot in length, anO might be seen at a considerable distance. The ftjllowlng lines, in allusion to this flag, are from a fine poem on Tht Hero nfhake ErU, by Henry T. Tnckerman, Esq.: "Behold the chieftain's glad, prophetic smile, As a new banner he unrolls the while ; Hear the gf; y shout of his elated crew When the dear watchword hovers to their view, And Lawrence, silent in the arms of death. Bequeathe deflauce with his latest breath I" Ml m ^ ill ii 620 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Perry's Detormination to flght. NnmcB and Character of the opposing Vessels. Signal for Bntilc. ing and strong arms with oars, the squadron had passed out from the labyrinth of islands into the open lake, within five or six miles of the enemy, not a cloud was hanging in the firmament, nor a fleck of mist was upon the waters. It was a spkn. did September day. Perry was yet weak from illness when the cry of" Sail hoi" was repeated to him by Lieutenant Dulaney Forrest. That announcement gave him strength, and the ex- citement of the hour was a tonic of rare virtue. The wind was variable, and lie tried in vain to gain the weather - gage of the enemy by beating around to the wind- ward of some of the islands. He was too impatient to fight to long brook tlie wasto of precious time in securing an advantage so small with a wind so light. "Run to the leeward of the islands," he said to Taylor, his sailing-master.' "Then you will have to engage the enemy to leeward," said that ofiicer, in a slightly remonstrant manner. "I don't care," quickly responded PeiTy; "to windward or to leeward they shall fight to-day." The signal to Avear ship followed immediately, Avhcn the wuid shifted suddenly to the southeast, and enabled the squadron to clear the isl- ands, and to keep tlie weather - gage. Perceiving this, Barclay hove to, in close or- der, and awaited Perry's attack. His vessels, newly pauited and with colors flying, made an imposing appearance. They were six in number,^ and bore sixty-three car- riage-guns, one on a pivot, two swivels, and four howitzer.-?. Perry's squadron num- bered nine vessels, and bore fifty-tour carriage-guns and two swivels.^ Barclay had thirty-five long guns to Perry's yf/'/ccw, and possessed greatly the advantage in action at a distance. In close action, tlie weight of metal was Avith the Americans, and for that reason Perry had resolved to close upon the enemy at once. The British com- mander had one hundred and fifty men from the royal navy, eighty Canadian sailors, tAvo hundred and forty soldiiMs, mostly regul.ars, and some Indiii.-.s. His Avhole force, oflicers and men, Avas a little more than five hundred. The American commander had upon his muster-roll four hundred and ninety names. Of these the bearers of one hundred and sixtitu Avere sick, and most of them too Aveak to go upon deck. About one fourth of Perry's crew were from Rhode Island ; one fourth were regular seamen, American and foreign ; about one fourth were raw volunteers, chiefly from Kentucky ; and about another fourth Avere negroes. At a little past ten o'clock Perry's line Avas formed accordhig to the plan arranged the previous evening, the Niagara in the van. The Lawrence Avas cleared for ac- tion, and the battle-flag, bearing the Avords" don't give up the ship," in letters large enough, as Ave have observed, to be seen by the Avhole squadron, Avas brought out and displayed. Tlie commodore then addressed his officers and crew a fcAV stirring wo'"ds, and concluded by saying, " My brave lads ! this flag contains the last Avoids of Captain Lawrence. Shall I hoist it?" "Ay, ay, sir!" they all sl">uted, as Avith one voice, and in a moment it Avas run up to the main-royal mast-head of the flag- ship, amid cheer after cheer, not only from the Laicrence, but the Avhole squadron. It Avas till' signal for battle. ' William Vlgcron Taylor was of French descent, lie was n captain in the merchant service, and entered that of tbe navy under Perry as sailing-master. Perry esteemed him highly, and made him Bailing-master ofhls flag-ship on Liko Eric. He rendered efficient service in the fitting out of the squadron. In the battle on the 10th of Septemher he re- ceived a wound In the thigh, but kept the deck until the closi;. On the return of the Lawrence to Erie, Mr. Taylor wa< Hcnt with dispatches to Chaunccy. In 1S14 he was commissioned a lieutenant in the navy. lie was promoted to com- mander in 1S31, and to post captain in 1841. He commai'-'ed the sloops Warren and Erie In the Gulf of Mexico. After his promotion to post captain he was placed in command of the ship-of-thc-line Ohio, and took her around Cape Horn to the Pacific. He was then sixty-eight years of age. On the 11th of February, 1S61, he died of apoplexy, in tbe sevent.v- eighth year of his age. It is proper here to mention that most of the biographical sketches of the oflScers of Perry's squadron contained In tills chapter arc compiled from a paper on the subject from the pen of Dr. Usher Parsons, published In the Sew England Hixtnriml and Oenealortieal Refiinter for Janriarij, 188,1. ' These were as follows: Ship Detroit, 10 gun?, 1 in pivot, and 2 howitzers; ship Queen Charlotte, 17, and 1 howitzer; schooner Ladtj Prevont, 13, and 1 howitzer ; brig Hunter, 10 ; sloop Litlte Belt, 3 ; and schooner Chippewa, 1, and 2 swivel*. ' These were as follows: Brig TAiu)renee,W guns; brig Niagara, iO : brig Caledonia, S ; schooner Ariel, 4; schooner iSanrpion, 2, and 2 swivels ; sloo]) Trippe, 1 ; schooner Tigrem, 1 j and schooner Poraipint, 1. The Ohio, Captain Dob- bins, had gone to Erie for supplies, and was not in the action. ■555 OF THE WAR OF 1812. 521 Perry's Care for his Men. Change In the Order of Battle. Blofiraphlcnl Sketch of Perry. OUVliB U. I'iiUUV.' .As the dinner-hour would occur at the probable time of acti<)n, the thought- ful Perry ordered refresliments to be dis- tributed, Tiie decks were then wetted and sprinkled with sand so that feet should not slip when blood should begin to tlow. Then every man was placed in proper position. As the squadron moved slowly and silently toward the enemy, with a gentle breeze, at the rate of less than three knots, the Niagara, Captain Elliott, leading the van, it was discovered that Barclay had made a dis- position of his force that required a change in Perry's prescribed order of battle. It was instantly made, and the American squadron moved to the at- tack in the order best calculated to cope with the enemy. Barclay's vessels were The flag-ship Detroit, near together. 1 Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kinf;sli>u, Rhode Island, on the 23d of Angnst, 1785. His father was then 1 the naval service of the United States, lie entered the navy as midshipman at the age of rtfteen years, on board the «loop-of-warffim«-al Oreene, when war with France seemed inevitable. Ha 6rsl saw active service before Tripoli, m the squadron of Commodore Preble. He was coinraiesioned a lieutenant In KIO, and placed in command of the •chooner Hecenffe, attached to Com- modore Eodgcrs's squadron In Long Island Sound. She was wrecked, but liis conduct in saving public property was highly applauded. Early in 1812 he was placed in command of a flotil- la of gnn-boats In Newport Harbor. .\lter his victorious battle on Lnlie Erie in 1813, he was promoted to post- captain, and at the close of the war be was placed in command of the Java, 41, a flrst-class frigate, and sailed with Decatur for the Mediterranean Sea, VIEW Of 11., On his return, while his vessel was lying in Newport Harbor, In mid-wlu- ter, a fearful storm arose. He heard of the wreck of a merchant vessel upon n reef six miles distant. He Immedi- ately manned his barge and said to his crew, " Come, my boys, we arc going to the relief of shipwrecked seamen ; pull away !" He rescued eleven almost exhausted seamen h'om death. On account of piracies in the West Indies, the United States government delcri. iued to send a little squadron til lor the protection of American comnicrce. Perry was assigned to the command of It, and In 1810 he sailed m the John Adams, accomp 'ed by itii' yonmich. In Aiil'u ( .;is at- tacked by the yellow fi , ai on his birthday (August 23d) he expired, .r 'ho agi- of thirly-foiir year.-^. He was bur- led at Port Spain, Triuldad, witl itary honors. Uti (u ah prodncp'l a most profound sensation throughout the Uni! 1 Stales, tor it » regarded i- a great public calamity. Tributes of national grief were dis- played, and the Congress of the United States made a liberal provision for his fam- ily, and his mother, who was dependent on him for support. In 1820 his remains were conveyed from Trini- dad to Newport In the sloop- of-war Ijexington, and land- ed on the 2Tth of Novem- ber. On Monday (December 4th) following he was Inter- red with funeral honors due to his rank. Hin coflln rest- ed in a sort ot eatafnla}, the lower part being in the form OATAyAi.00. of a boat. The canopy was decorated with stars and jrimmed with black curtains, and at each corner were black plumes. The State of Rhode Island afterward caused to w erected a sttbstantial granite monument to his memory. It stands upon a grassy mound on the west side of the Isl- md remelery, and at the base rest the remains of the commodore and the deceosed of his family. The monument beam tue following Inscriptions. ii'<m< side : " Ouivee U azabi> Pkbbv. At the age of 27 years he achieved the victory of Lake pkbhy'h monument. '^ I, i warn 522 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Relative Position of the two SquadroDi<. Opening of the Battle. Choice of Autagonlji*. 19, was in the van supported by the schooner Chippewa, with one long 18 on a pivot and two swivels. Next was the brig Hunter, 10 ; then the Queen Charlotte, 11 com- manded by Finnis. The latter was flanked by the schooner Zadt/ Prevost, 13 and the Xittle Bdt, 3, Perry, in the brig Lawrence, 20, moved forward, flanked on tlie left by the schooner Scorpion, under Champlin, bearing two long guns (32 and 12), am! the schooner ylrisW, Lieutenant Packet, which carried four short 12'8. On the riirht ^4^ ^M 4^ J\ of the Lawrence was the brier Caledonia, Captain Turner with three long 24*8. Those were intended to encounter tlie Chippewa, Detroit, and Hunt- er. Captain Elliott, in the fine brig Niagara, 20, followed, with instructions to fight the Queen Charlotte; while Ahnv, in the Somers, with two lonr; tus two Bqn&DBOKB jcbt bifob^ tug battle. 32'8 and two swivels, Senat, in the Porcupine, with one lon^ 32, Conklin, in thj Tl- gress, with one long 24, and Holdup, in the Trippe, one long 32, were left in tlic rear to engage the Lady Prevost and Little Pelt.^ The sun was within fifteen minutes of meridian when a bugle "bounded on board the Detroit as a signal for action, and the bands of the British squadron struck up " Rule Britannia." A shout went up from that little squadron, and a 24-jjomKl shot from the enemy's flag-ship was sent booming over the water toward tlie Xaw- rence, then a mile and a half distant. It was evident that Barclay appreciated the advantage of his long guns, and Avished to fight at a distance, Avhile Perry resolved to press to close quarters before opening his fire. That first shot from the enemy fell short. Another, five minutes later, went crash- ing through the bulwarks of the Lawrence. It stirred the blood of her gallant men, but, at the command of Perry, she remained silent. " Steady, boys ! steady !" he said, while his dark eye flashed with the excitement of the moment — an excitement which was half smothered by his judgment. Slowly the American line, with tin' light wind abeam, moved toward that of the cnjmy, the two forming ?.n acute angh' of about fifteen degrees. " Snblltnc the panse, when dowr the gleaming tide The virgin galleys to the conflict glide; The very wind, as if in awe o/ grief, Scarce makes a ripple or dicturbs a leaf."— H. T. Tuckebman. Signals were given for each vessel to engage its prescribed antagonist. At five min- utes before twelve the Lawrence had reached only the third one in the enemy's line, and was almost as near the Queen Charlotte is the Detroit,\{\\ki tlie CWet?o««a hall- cable length behind, and the Nianara abaft ti:e beam of the Charlotte and opposite the Lady Prevost. The battle now began on the part of the Americans. The gallant young Champlin, Erie, September 10, 1813." North Mile : "Bom in Sonth Kingston, R. I., Au^nist 28, 1786. Died at Port Spain, Trinidad, AnguBt 23, 1819, aged 34 years." Went side: " lllb rPTialns were conveyed to i.is native land In a ship-of-wnr, accordln! to a resolution of Congress, and were here interred December 4, 1S20." .SotrtA siV.'.,. Erected by the State of Rhode Island." In person Commodore Perry was tall and well-proportioned, of exquisite symmetry, and graceful in every morfr ment. He was every Inch a man. He possessed splendid talents ; was prudent and brave in the highest degree. In private life he was gentle, and his con.|ngal love and faithnUncss were perfect. Ills respect for his wife araonnted lo reverence, and he was ever ready to acknowledge her salutary influence. Doctor Parsons relates that his Srst reranrk on regaining the iMwnnce, after the battle, was addressed to his friend Hambleton, the purser. He said, " The prajers of my wife have prevailed in saving me." ' The above diagram shows the position of the fwo squndrons when the American was approaching that of tlie Bril- ish In battle order. A is the British squadron, a' its v«»»ol8 are designated by Roman numerals. I., Ckippnea; II, Detroit; III., Hunter; IV., Qiieen Charlotte; V., / ./ Prevost; VI., Utile Belt. B Is the AmerlCiin squadron, nnrt the vessels are designated by Arabic numerals. 1, ."-.v.jjn'mi; i,Ariei; 3, Lawrence ; 4,CaMonia; 6,Xiamra; B, SomOT; I, Poreupine; 8, Ti(rre»ii; 9. Trippe. I have been I . nishcd wltl\ these diagrams by Commodore Stephen Champlin,"! the U. B. Navy, the commander of the Seorpion ii. the battle. OF THE WAK OF 1812. 523 ijT'fl^ Shot fired by the Americans. Salling-maater ChnDpUn. First Poeltlon of the Vegsels In the Fight. then less than twenty-four years of age, who still (1867) lives to enjoy a well-earned reputa- tion * had already fired the firet (as he did the last) Bhot of the battle from the guns of the Scorpioti. " But see that sliver wreath of cnrllng smoke— 'TIs Barclay's gnu ! The silence now Is broke. Cbamplin, with rapid move and steady eye, Sends back in thunder-tones a bold reply." Tilts was followed by a cannonade from Pack- et ^ of the Ariel; and then the Lawrence, which had begun to suffer considerably from the enemy's missiles, opened fire upon the De- troit with hor long bow-gun, a twelve-pounder. Tlie action soon became general. The small- er slow-sailing vessels had fallen in the rear, and when the battle began the Tri2ype was more l''^ two miles from the enemy. The ficorpion and Ariel, both without bul- warks, fought bravely, and kepi their places with the Lawrence throughout thv^ entire ac- tion. They did not suffer much, for the en- emy concentrated his destructive energies upon the Lawrence and neglected the others. From the Detroit, the Hunter, the Queen Charlotte, and even from the Lady Prevoat, shots were hurled upon the Amer- ican flag-ship, with the determin- ation to destroy her and her gal- lant commander, and then to cut up the squadron in detail. No ^ less than thirty-four heavy guns /\a were brought to bear upon her. g The Caledonia, with her long guns, was enabled to do good ex- AyZc^^^K-^n-cty^ Cyn-ofyyt^^.^^iA^ ^■A A -u 4 -4^ 7 FIB8T POSmOH IN THE ACTION.' 1 Stephen Champlln was bom In South Kingston, Rhode Island, on the 17th of Novenib*, 1789. His father was a TOlnntecr soldier In the Kevolntlon. His mother was a sister of Commodore Perry's father, making the two command- ers first cousins. He went to sea as a sailor at the age of sixteen years, and at the age of twenty-two, having passed through all grades, he was captain of a ship that sailed from Norwich, Connecticnt. On the 22d of May, 1812, he was appoiuted saillug-mastcr in the navy, and commanded a gun-boat, under Perry, f>t Newport. As we have seen, he was wnl to Lake Erie. On bis arrival he was appointed to the command of the Scorjiion, which he gallantly managed ihronghout the battle. Subsequently to the battle he was placed in command of the Queen Charlotte and Detroit, two prize-sliips taken from the enemy. In the spring of 1814 he was placed in command of the Tinreaa, under Commander Sinclair, and, with Captain Turner, he blockaded the port ofMackinaw. His serilccs on the Upper Lake will he noticed In tlie future text. Snfllce it to say here that he was severely wounded in the thigh while in that service by canister- ekot, and taken prisoner. That wound has been troublesome to him until this hour. In ISIO he was appointed to the tommand uf the Poretipine, and conveyed a party of topographical engineers to the Upper Lakes, who were to consider the boundary-line between the United States and Great Britain. His wound prevented his doing much active service. He was ordered to the steam-ship Fulton at New York, and had left her but a short time when she blew up. In 1R42 he wm placed in command of the naval rendezvous at BufTalo, and was successfnl in shipping apprei^lces for the service. In 1$45 ho was ordered to the command of the Michigan at Eric, and continued there abont four years and a half. A lew years ago he was placed on the reserve list, with full pay, and remains so. He now bears the title of commodore. He resides at Buffalo, and, with the exception of tbe sufTerings caused by his wound, he is in the enjoyment of fair health, ittbe age of seventy-eight year3. He Is a stout, thick-set man, of middle size. He is tbe last survivor of the nine com- numlers in Perry's squadron in the great battle In 1813. '• John II. Packet was a native of Virginia. He received his warrant as midshipman In 1809, and was commissioned a lieutenant a few days before this battle. Ho was with Bainbridge when the Constitution captured the Java. He ttnei at Erie some years after the battle, and died there of fever. The acting sailing-master of the Ariel in the battle, Thomas Brownoll, was fl-om Rhode Island, and went to Erie as raajter's-mate, where he was promoted. Ho was commissioned a lieutenant in 1&13, when he was placed on the retired Iltt. He now (1807) resides at Newport, Rhode Island. He was always an active and esteemed ofllcer. ' TiU diagram shows the position of the vessels at the beginning of the action. The British vessels. A, are indicated b;ltomaii nmnerals, and the American vessels, B, by Arabic. I., CMppttea; 11., Detroit; III., Hunter; IV., Qtier.n r^-^ik- I- ■n 'ill ,! ^j:|t :;j||y ^^ I'if'i'f ' 524 PICTOUIAL FIKLD-BOOK Perry clones upon Barclay. Prof^resg of the Fl);ht. Sceues oil board the Laicrentt, ccution from the beginning, but the shot of the carronades from the Nicujara fell short of her antagonist. Of her twenty guns, only a long 12 was serviceable for a while. Shifting another, Elliott brought two to bear with eflect, and these were served so vigorously that nearly all of thi' hhot of that calibre were exhausted. The smaller vessels meanwhile were too far astern to be of much service. Perry soon perceived that he was yet too far distant to damage the encniv mate- rially, so he ordered word to be sent from vessel to vessel by trumpet for all to make sail, bear down upon Barclay, and engage in close combat. The order was transmitted by Captain Elliott, who Avas the second in command, but he failed to obey it himself His vessel was a fast sailer, and his men were the best in the squad. ron, but he kept at a distance from the enemy, and continued firing his lonii guns, Perry meanwhile pressed on with tlie Latorence, accompanied by the Scorpion, Arid and Caledonia, and at meridian exactly, Avhen he supposed he Avas near enoiifjli for execution Avith his carronades, he opened the first division of his battery on the star- board side on the Detroit. His balls fell short, while liis antagonist and her consorts poured upon the Xatrrence a heavy storm of round shot from their long gmis still leaving tha Scorpion and Ariel almost unnoticed. The Caledonia meanwliile en- gaged with the Hunter, but the Niagara kept a respectful distance fi'om the Qmm Charlotte, and gave that vessel an opportunity to go to the assistance of the Detroit. She passed the Hunter, and, placing herself astern of the Detroit, opened heavily upon the Lawrence, now, at a quarter past tAvelve, only musket-shot distance from her chief antagonist. For two hours the gallant Perry and liis devoted ship bore the brunt of the battle M'ith twice his force, aided only by the schooners on his Aveather- boAV and some feeble shots from the distant Caledonia Avhen she could spare tlieni from her adversary the Hunter. During that tempest of Avar his vessel Avas terribly shattered. Her rigging was nearly all shot aAvay ; her sails were torn into slneds; her spars Avere battered into splinters ; her guns were dismounted ; and, like the Gwr- riere Avhen disabled by the Constitution, she lay upon the Avaters almost a helpless wreck. The carnage on her deck had been terrible. Out of one hundred and three sound men that composed her oflicers and creAV Avhen slie Avent into action, twenty- two Avere slain and sixty-one were Avounded. Perry's little brother had been struck doAvn by a splinter at his side, but soon recovered.^ Yarnall,^ his first lieutenant, had come to him bleeding, his nose swelled to an enormoue size, it having been perforated by a splinter, and his Avhole appearance the impersonation of carnage and ill luck, and said, "All the'officers in my division are cut doAvn; can I have others?" They Avere sent ; but Yarnall soon returned, again AVOunded and bleeding profusely, \\\\\\ the same sad story. " I have no more officers to furnish you," replied Perry ; " you must endeavor to make out by yourself." The brave lieutenant did so. Tliriee Avoundtd, he kept the deck, and directed every shot from his battery in pei'son. Forest, the second lieutenant, fell stunned at Perry's feet ;* and the gallant Brooks, Charlotte; V., t<idi/ Pretont; A^., Little Belt. l,Seorpion; 2, Ariel; 8, Lawrence; 4, Caktlonia; 6, Xiagara; 6, Sonifr*; 7, Pormpine; 8, Tirrresa; 9, Triqipe. ' Dr. Uehcr Pareons's Diaeour«e on the Battle of Lake Erie, delivered before the Rhode Island Historical Society, Feb- ruary 10, 1852, page 10. > Two muslcet-baVs had already passed through his hat, and his clothes had been torn by splinters. ' John J. A'amall was a native of Pennsylvania, and was commissioned a lieutenant in July, 1813, having been lu tht service as midshipman since 1809. Ten days after the battle on Lake Erie he was sent to Erie with the Laiorencr, and soon afterward was ordered to the John AdanM. Ho was appointed commander of the Epernier In 1816. She was the dedication of the statne of Perry in that city in September, 1800. I copied the followirg inscription trom thcWaile: "In testimony of the undaunted /.illantry of Lieutenant Jolin J. Yarnall, of the United States ship tatiwuiv, under Commodore Perry, in the captnre of the whole English fleet on Lake Eric, September lo, 1818, the State of VIrglnli '.«■ stows this cword." It was brought from Wheeling to Cleveland by Mr. Fleming, of the former place, * He was struck in the breast by a spent grape-shot. Perry raised him op, assured him that he was not hurt, as tbert cii'W^ C^>t-<ny lost at sea with all on board. ^ '^./C^ ^^ The State of A'lrglnlapremileil ^ ^i:yt/t^''9^.^CC.^^ Lieutenant A'arnall with n sword ^ soon after the battle of Lake Eric. It was exhibited at Ihc head-quarters of the Old SoWie^ at Cleveland, on the occasion o( UPPP^PP OP THE WAR OF 1812. 525 le Lawrentt. 'jam fell li)le for a n'se were tt'd. The my mate- for all to 31'clcr was ! i'ailtd to the scjuad- oiig guns, lion, Arkl, niough for n the star- cr Consort? guns, still nwhilc en- tile Queoi he Detroit. 2a\\\\ u])on •c from iicr ip bore the lis weather- spare them ivas terribly into shreds; ce the Gucr- it a helpless k1 and three ion, twenty- been struck utenantjhad n perforated and ill lucl;, 3rs?" They usely, witii •'erry; "you so. Thrii'c in pei-son, ant Brooks, jgara; 6, Somffi; rical Society, Fel> inving been in the i-llh nil on board. I'lrglnln prescntfil Tiinllwithn nvoril e battle of Lake cxliibileil at Ihf oftheOia Soldier* on the occislou ot on from theWailf: Ip Laurfnt*,wi(t ate of Virginia '.t- s not hurt, as ttert Death of lilenlenant Brookg. Terrible Scenes on board the Lamrmce. Strange Conduct of Captain Klllott. 80 remarkable for his personal beauty,' a son of an honored soldier of the old Avar for independence, and once governor of Massiachusetts, was carried in a dying state to the cockpit, where balls were crashing through, liis mind more exercised about his be- loved commander and the fortunes of the day tlian himself. When the good surgeon, Parsons, who liad hastened to the deck on hearing a shout of victory, returned to cheer the youth with the glorious tidings, the young hero's ears were closed — the doors of the earthly dwelling of his spirit were shut forever. ^^ While the Lawrence Avas being thus terribly smitten, officers and crew were anx- iously wondering why the Niagara — the swift, stanch, well-manned Niagara — kept aloof not only from Iter prescribed antagonist the Queen Charlotte, now battling the Lawrence, but the other assailants of the flag-ship. Her commander himself had passed the order for close conflict, yet he kept far away ; and when afterward cen- sured he pleaded in justification of his course his perfect obedience to the original order to keep at " half-cable length behind the Caledonia on the line." It may be said that his orders to fight the Queen Charlotte, who liad left her line and gone into the thickest of the fight Avith the Lawrence and her supporting schooners, Averc quite 83 imperative, and that it Avas his duty to folloAV. This he did not do until the guns of the Lawrence became silent, and no signals Avere displayed by, nor special orders came from Perry. These significant tokens of dissolution doubiless made Elliott be- lieve that the commodore Avas slain, and himself had become the cliief commander of the squadron. He then hailed the Caledonia, and ordered Lieutenant Turner^ to mre no signs of a woand, and, thns enconrngcd, he soon recovered ft-om the shock. The ball had lodged in his clothes. "1 am not hurt, sir," he said to the commander, "but this is my shot," and coolly put it in his pocket. I John Brooks was a native of Massachusetts. He studied medicine with his father. Haviug a military taste, he ob- tained the appointment of lieutenant of marines, and was stationed at Washington when the war broke out. He was sent to Lake Erie under Perry; and at Eric, while tno r-^uadrcn was a-buildiug, he was engaged hi recruiting for the (er\icc. There he raised a company of marines for the squadron. He was an excellent drill officer, and gave great promise of fiiture distinction. So intense was his agony when he fell, his hip haviug been shattered by a cannon-ball, Ihathebegged Perry to shoot him. He uied In the course of an hour. " Mr. Brooks," says Doctor Pnrions, "was prob- ably surpassed by no officer In the navy for manly beauty, polished manners, and elegant personal appearance." > The scenes in board the Lawrence, as described to me by Doctor Parsons, must have been extremely terrible. The vcwel was shallow, and the ward-room, used as a cockpit, to which the wounded were taken, was mostly above water, and eipoeed to the shots of the enemy ; white nothing I)ut the deck-planks separated it from the terrible tumult above, cansed by the groans and shrieks of the wounded ntfd dying, the deep rumbling of the gun-carriages, the awful explo- jions of the cannon, the crash of round-shot as they splintered spars, stove the bulwarks, dismounted the' heavy ord- nance, and cut the rigging, while through the seams ot the deck blood streamed into the surgeon's room in many a. crimson rill. When the battle had raged half an hoar, and the crew of the Latorence were falling one by one, the com- modore called from the small skylight for the doctor to send up one of his six assistants. In Ave minutes the call was rc|ieited and obeyed, and again repeated and obeyed, until Parsons was left alone. " Can any of the wounded pull a n\KV' inquired Perry. The question was answered by two or three crawling upon deck to lend a feeble hand in pull- inc at the Inst guns in position. Midshipman Lamb had his arm badly shattered. While moving forward to lie down, after the doctor had dressed the wonnd, a round-shot came crashing through the side of the vessel, stnick the young man in the side, dashed him across the room, and killed him instantly. Pohig, o Narraganset Indian, badly wounded, was released iVom his sufferings in the same way by another ball that passed through the cockpit. No less than six round-shot entered the surgeon's room during the action. Some of the incidents witnessed by the doctor were not so painfal. A cannon-ball passed through a closet contain- ing all the brig's crockery, dashing a greater portion of it in pieces. It was an iliustratlon— that ball from John Bull— ofabnll in a china-shop." The commodore's dog had secreted himself in that closet when the war of battle com- menced, and when the destructive intruder came ho set up a fiirious barking— "a protest," said the doctor, "against the right of such an invasion of his chosen retirement." Wc have observed that Lieutenant Yamall was wounded, yet kept the deck. He hod his scalp badly torn, and " came below," said the doctor, "with the blood streaming over his face." Some lint was applied to the wound and conflncd by a handkerchief, and the lieutenant was then directed to come for better dressing after the battle, as he insisted upon returning to the deck. It was not long before he again made his appearance, having received a second wound. On the deck were stowed some hammocks stuffed with reed-tops, or "cat-tails," as they are popularly called. These filled the-- air like down, and had settled like snow upon the blood-wet head and face of Yamall. When he made his appearance below, his visage was ludicrons beyond description ; his head appeared like that of a huge owl. The wounded roared with laughter, and cried out, "The de\ 11 has come among ne !" ' Daniel Turner was a native of New York. He was appointed a midshipman in 1808, and in 1813 was commissioned a lieutenant. He was efBcient in getting the little lake squadron ready for service. In its first cniisc across the lake, young Turner, less than twenty-one years of oge, commanded the Xiagara, On the arrival of Captain Elliott, he was ordered to the third ship, the Caledonia, and managed her gallantly during the action. He continued in the lake ser\'ice the followlDg year, and was made a prisoner and sent to Montreal. He was exchanged, and accompanied Perry In the Jam to the Mediterranean. For his services in the battlp of Lake Erie his native stAte presented him with an elegant sword. He was at one time commander of the naval station at Portsmouth ; at another of the Pacific squadron, and always performed his duties with the greatest promptness. He was temperate, brave, generous, and genial. He was H "f^^vmKfi : 1 .; S20 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Niagara'i Treatment of the Lawrence, Condition of the Lawrenee. Perry abanaons tier. leave the line and bear down upon the Ilmiter for close conflict, giving the Niagara a chance to pass for the relief of the Lmcrence. The gallant Turner inntantly oheyed and the Caledonia fought her adversary nobly. The Niagara spread her canvas be-' fore a freshening breeze that hadjufe* sprung up, but, instead of going to the relief of the Lawrence, thus silently pleading for protection, she bore away toward the lipnd \9. of the enemy's s(iu!uli-oii,i)ass- ing the American flag-ship to the windward, and leaving h^ exposed to the still galling _:<Ml ^''*' ^^ *^® enemy, because, a^ jj ^ „ - g, |/* was alleged in extenuation of y/ "^ Ai ~ ^ — "^^ *'"^ apparent violation of the W^ * a rules of naval warfare and BFCONP POSITION IN THE UATTLE.' ^Jj^ gjjjjj^g ^f humaility, both squadrons had caught the breeze and moved forward, and left the crippled vessel floating astern. Elliott seemed to notice her only by sending a boat to bring round shot from her to replenish his own scanty store. As the Niagara bore down she was assailed by shots from the Queen Charlotte Lady Prevost, and Hunter, and returned them with spirit. It was while she was abreast of the Latorence's larboard beam, and nearly half a mile distant, that Pern- performed the gallant feat of transferring his broad pennant from one vessel to the other. He had fought as long as possible. More than two hours had worn away in the conflict. His vessel lay helpless and silent upon the almost unruflled bosom of the lake, utterly incapable of farther defense. His last effective heavy gun had been fired by himself, assisted by his purser and chaplain. Only fourteen unhurt persons remained on his deck, and only nine of these were seamen. A less hopeful man would have pulled down his flag in despair; but Perry's spirit was too lofty to be touched by common misfortunes. From his mast-head floated the admonition, as if audibly spoken by the gallant Lawrence, Don't give up the ship. In the dash of the Cdl edonia and the aj^proach of the \ov\g-\aigging Niagaraho felt the inspiration of hope; and when he saw the latter, like the priest or the Levite, about to " pass by on the other side," unmindful of his wounds, resolutions like swift intuitions filled his mind, and M'ere as quickly acted upon. The Niagara M'as stanch, swift, and apparently unhurt, for she had kept far away from great danger. He determined to fly to her deck, spread all needful sail to catch the stiffening breeze, bear down swiftly upon the crippled enemy, break his line, and make a bold stroke for victory. With the calmness of perfect assurance. Perry laid aside his blue nankeen sailor's jacket Avhich lie had worn all day, and put on the uniform of his rank, as if conscious that he should secure a victory, and have occasion to receive as guests the conquered commander and officers of the British squadron.^ "Yarnall,"he said, "I leave the Laiorence in your charge, with discretionary powers. You may hold out or sunen- der, as your judgment and the circumstances shall dictate." lie had already ordered his boat to be lowered, his broad pennant, and the banner with its glorious words, to be taken down,^ but leaving the Stars and Stripes floating defiantly over the battered made master commonder m 1$2S, and post-captain in 1835. He died on the 4tli of Febraary, ISfiO, leaving a widovr and one daughter, who still survive him. ' This shows the relative position of the two squadrons at the time when tlie A'lci/ambore down upon the headottlie British Hue, the change of her course after Perry took command of her, and the penetration of that line by her. One dotted line, from 4 to 4, shows the attack of the Caledonia on the Hunter, and the other, from 6 to B, the course oftlie Niagara as described on this and the next page. The vessels of the British squadron, A, are desi^ated by Homan m- merals, thus: I., Chippewa; II., Detroit; III., Hunter; IV., Queen Charlotte ; V LadjI'revoBt; \i .. Uttle Belt. Thoseof the American squadron, B, are designated by Arabic numerals, thus : l,Seorp.on; i, Ariel; 3, Laurence; i,Caleamia; 5, Niagara; 0, Somers; 1, Pnrcupiiie ; 8, Tiijresa; 9, Trippe. ' Letter of Rev. Francis Vinton, D.D., son-in-law of Commodore Perry, to the Author. ' This was rolled up and cast to bim, after he had entered his barge, by Hosca Sargent, now [1807] living at Can' bridge, Massachusetts. ^j^mmiss^mm OF THE WAR OF 1812. 827 107] living «t emu- 'Zm'i Voyage from the taicrerue to the Siagara. Its Perils and Its Succocs. A British Sorvlvor of the Battle. hulk. With these, his little brother, and four stout seamen for the oars,' he started upon bis perilous voyage, anxiously watched by Yarnall and his companions. " A soul like his no danr^er fears ; Ills pendant from the ni/ t he tears, And in his gallant bosom bears, To grace the bold Xiaijara. See I he quits the iMtorenee't side, And trusts him to the foaming tide, Where thundering navies round him ride, And flash their red artillery."— Old Sono. He stood upright in his boat, the pennant and the banner half folded around him, a mark for the anxious eyes of his own men and for the guns of the enemy.^ The latter discovered the movement. Barclay, who was badlj wounded, and whose flag- ship was almost dismantled, well knew that if Perry, who had fought the Laiorence 80 gallantly, should tread the quarter-deck of the fresh Niagara as commander, his squadron would be in great danger of defeat. Ac therefore ordered great and little guns to be brought to bear upon the frail but riclily-laden vessel — laden with a hero of purest mould. Cannon-balls, grape, canister, and musket-shot were hurled in show- ers toward the little boat during the fifteen minutes that it was making its way from the Laiorence to the Niagara.^ The oars were splintered, bullets traversed the boat, and the crew were covered with spray caused by the falling of heavy round and grape-shot in the water near. Perry stood erect, unmindful of danger. His men en- treated him to be seated, for his life at tha*, critical moment seemed too precious ♦o be needlessly exposed to peril. It was not foolliardiness nor thoughtlessness, but the innately brave spirit of the man, that kept him on his feet. At length, when his oars- men threatened to cease labor if he did not sit down, he consented to do so. A few minutes later they were all climbing to the deck of the Niagara, entirely unharmed, ;in(l greeted with the loud cheers of the Americans, who had watched the movement 1 One of these was Thomas Penny, who <dlcd In the Naval Asylum, near Philadelphia, In 1S63, ot the age of eighty-one vears. 1 Perry's portrait belonging to the city of New York, and hanging in the Governor's Room, 1-om which ours on page HI was copied, l£ what artistb call a kit-kat, or thrce-quar- iors length. It was painted by John Wesley jarvis, and rep- ro>cnl9 Perry standing, with the banner floating like a huge jcarf ffom his shoulders. ' Among the survivors of the Battle of Lake Erie whom I Mvemet was John Chapman, a resident of iludson, Ohio, a ^mall, energetic man, who related his past experience in an attractive, dramatic style, lie was in the British fleet as •.tinner, maintop-man, and boarder In the Quern Charlotte, lud claimed the distinction of having flred the first shot at the Umreme from a 24-ponndcr. He also said that he aim- ed a eliot at Commodore Perry when making his perilous passage from the Lawrence to the Xiagara. Mr. Chapman was I native of England. He came from there in the transport todrici early in 1812, and landed at Quebec. From that I ily lie went up the St. Lawrence in May, and took post in Fori George, o« the Niagara River. He afterward went np 10 atsist la the erection of Fort Brie. Ho was present at the >nrrender of Hull, and participated in the battle of Queens- ton Heights. In the summer of 181.3 he was placed on board the schooner Lady Prevost, at Long Point, and arrived at .Maiden about three weeks before the battle of Lake Erie. He was with Proctor at the attack on Fort Stephenson. He vas one of the survivors in the fatal ditch (sec page 603), and escaped to the woods under cover of the darkness. On the retarn of Proctor to Maiden he went on board the Queen CkrtoHt', and was with her in the battle. He was sent to Ohio \yith other prisoners, and was one if those who were held as hostages for the safety of the Irishmen imder Scott who were sent to England, as mentioned on page 408. He was released on the 20th of Octo- ber, at Cleveland. He went Immediately to Hudson, a few miles distant, where he resided until his death In 1S6S. I nm indebted to the Rev. T. B. Fairchlld, of Hudson, for the substance of the above brief sketch of the pub- lic career of Mr. Chapman, and to the soldier himself for his likeness, taken in the spring of 1862. *i •' !■, ■'"■^^pup 528 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Meettn); uf Perry and Elliott. Surrender of the belpleii /yaiermM. Perry rtrilwttlwBt ltlih tint. with breathless anxiety. Perry was met at tlie paiigway by the astonished Elliott There stood the hero of the fifjht, blackened with the smoke of battle, but unharmed in person and unflinching in his determination to win victory — he whom the com raander of the Niagara thought to be dead. There were hurried questions and an- swers. " How goes the day ?" asked Elliott. " Bad enough," responded Perry ; " why are the gun-boats so far astern ?" " I'll bring them up," said Elliott. " Do so," lospomi. ed Perry. Such is the rej)orted substance of the brief conversation of the two conimaiid- crs,' at the close of which Elliott pushed off in a small boat to hurry up the lafcinir vessels. Having given his orders to each to use sails and oars with the greatest vigor he went on board the Somer8,a\\{\ behaved gallantly until the close of the action. At a glance Perry comprehended the condition and capabilities of tlie Niagara There had been few casualties on board of her, and she was in perfect order for con- flict. He immediately ran up his pennant, displayed the blue banner, hoisted tla signal for close action, and received quick responses and cheers from the whole Hcniad- ron ; hove to, altered the course of the vessel, set the proper sails, and bore down tn m the British line, which lay Iialf a mile distant. Meanwhile the gallant Yaniall, at'toi consulting Lieutenant Forrest and Sailing-master Taylor, had struck the flag of the Lawrence, for she was utterly helpless, and humanity required that firing upon hcv should cease. As the starry flag trailed to the deck a triumphant shout went nii from the British. It was heard by the wounded on the iMtcretice. When informod of the cause, their hearts grew almost still, and in the anguish of chagrin they refused to be attended by the surgeon, and cried out, " Sink the ship ! sink the ship ! Let us all sink together I"^ Noble fellows ! they were worthy of their commander. In les> than thirty minutes after they had offered themselves a Avilling sacrifice for the honor or their country's flag, they wore made joyful by hearing the step and voice oftlieii beloved commander again upon the deck of the Laicrence. Perry's movement against the British line was successful. He broke it ; passed at half pistol-shot distance between the Lady Prevosfi ancT Chippeioa on his larboard, and the Detroit, Queen Charlotte, and Hunter on his starboard, and poured in tremendous broadsides right and left from double-shotted guns. Ranging ahead of the vessels on his starboard, he rounded to and raked the Detroit and Queen Charlotte, M'liich had got foul of each other.* Close and deadly was his fire upon them with groat guns and musketry. Meanwhile, the Laicrence having drifted out of her place in the line, her position against the Detroit was taken by the Caledonia, Captain Turner; the lattcr's place in Hue, as opposed to the Hunter, was occupied by the Trippe, com- manded by Lieutenant Holdup.* These gallant young officers had exchanged signals ' Mr. Hnmbleton, the purser of the LatDrenee, hns left on record an ncconnt of this interview between Perry and El- liott. " Ab Perry reuched the dock of the Siagara" he says, " he was met at the gangway by Captain Elliott, who in- qnlred how the day was going. Captain Perry replied, Badly ; thot ho had lost almost all of his men, and that his ship was a wreck, and asked what tlie gim-boata were doing so far astern. Captain Elliott olfcrcd to go and bring them up; and, Captain Perry consenting, he sprang into the boat and went olT on that duty.— Uambieton'g Journat, died by M'Kenzie. » Oration by George H. Calvert, at Newport, Rhode Island, on the 10th of September, 1808, on the occnsion of the cel- ebration of the fortieth anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie. 3 Lieutenant Buchan, the commander of the Ladij Prevost, was shot through the face by a musket-ball from Pcrry'i marines. Perry saw him stn'iding alone, leaning on the companion-way, his face resting on his hand, andlonldiisimih fixed goze toward the Siagara. His companions, unable to endure the terrible Are, had all fled below. Perry immedi- ately silenced the marines en the quarter-deck. He afterward learned that the strange conduct of Buchan was omt to sudden derangement caused by liis wound. Poor fellow ! he was a brave ofHcer, and had distinguished blmeeir un- der Nelson. * The position of the Detroit and Qtieen CharUitte at this time may bo seen by reference to II. and IV. in the dingram on page 020. In the same diagram the course of the Siagara in breaking the British line may be seen along the dolKd line from tn 0. » Thomas Holdup wasanntivcofSomli Carolina, and was an inmate and pupil of the Orphan Asylnm in Charleston. He became a protegi of General Stevens, of that city, who obtained a midshipman'' warrant for him in 1^09. He was on board the John Adam*, at Brooklyn, in ISli, OF THE WAU OF 1812. 52» Perry brcnlw the B rltlfh Line. Brltiah VoimIi attempt to escape. Perry's Victory complete. to board the Detroit, when tlioy saw the Niayara with the commodore's pennant k'urlnj; down to break tlie Uritiwlt line. Turner followed her closely with the Col- edonia; and the i'reshened breeze having brought nj) the iSotuers, Mr. Aliny,' the Tigreis, Lieutenant Coneklin,'' and the Porcupine, Acting Master Senat,^ the whole \mcrican scjuadron except the JMicrence was, for tlie first time, engaged in the eon- Hict. The fight was terrible for a few minutes, and the combatants were comjdetely fiiveloped in smoke. Eight minutes after Perry daslied through tlie IJritish line the colors of the De- troit were struck, and her example was speedily followed by all the other vessels of . Barclay's scpiadron, excepting the I 1 4 4 ^Mk'^^A^ Little licit and Chippewa (I, and IV. in tlie annexed diagram), which attempted to escape to leeward. Cliami)lin with tlie t^eorpion, and lloldiij) with the Trij)j}e, made chase afler the fugitives, ami both fosmoH or tiik squapbons at tub closk ok thk batti.]!.* were Overtaken and brouglit back to crace the triumph of the victor, the Little Belt by the former, and the Chippewa 1)V tiic latter. It was in this chase that Champlin fired the last gun in that memo- rable battle. " So near were they to making their escape," says Champlin in a letter to the author, "that it was 10 o'clock in the evening before I came to an anchor un- ilcr the stern of the Lawrence with tlie Little Belt in tow." It was three o'clock in the aflernoon Avhen the flag of the Detroit was lowered. Till' roar of cannon ceased; and as the blue vapor of battle was borne away by the liK oze, it was discovered that the two squadrons were intermingled.* The victory \i:is complete. The flag of the lAiwrence had indeed been struck to the enemy, but '111 had not been taken possession of. She was yet free, and, with a feeble shout = -Tk ^1 I loccBsionofthecel- .md.wltli others, volunteeretl for the lake service vear.aiul was comniiBsloncd a lieutenant. In fqnudron there. lie fought his vessel brave- ly in the action of the 10th of September, and lie and Champlin pursued the two fiigi- lives of the British eqnadron. He was lu Mrvicc on the npper lakes the following ieir,and tliere was Invited to the Java by Perry. He had married, and declined the oJer ot a good post on that vessel. He sub- '■ leqnently commanded several different vcs- I Mlj,aDdwa8 promoted to master coramand- \ anllnlSM. lie was commisslpned post-ca])- ulninl836. He died suddenly while in com- raand of the Washington Navy Yard, in Jan- ; isrr,154t. His widow, who was a Miss Sage, I died soun aftcnvard. By act of the Legisla- 1 terc of South Carolina ho assumed the name I ot his bencfnctor, with a promise that he I ihould inhci it his fortune. From that time I [1815] he is known as Thomas Holdup Ste- He was possessed of a high order of I literary ability, and was beloved by all. His I M, Thomas Holdup Stevens, behaved gal- y In the naval action off Hilton Head In |tbe hlc civil war. 'Tliomas C. Almy was a native of Rhode lUlmd, of Quaker parentage. lie became a lailorin early life, and at the age of twenty- |oBf years he was commander of a ship. He « in the flotilla at Newport, went to Lake ■ perfbrmed gallant service near BnlTalo toward the close of the 13, he went to Erie with men, and assisted in fitting out the Erie, and was cftlclent, useful, and brave there. He died at Eric In December, 1813, only three mouths after the battle that has made his name immortal. His disease was pneumonia. The annexed engraving Is a picture of the hilt of the sword awarded to Almy, and which was given to his next of kin. On one side of the blade are the words "Tiio.\ias C. Aijkiv, Sailing-master commandinur. Lake Erie, 10th September, 1813." On the other side the words "AtTirs iupnt am ad bum- ma NiTCNTKii," with a little view of shipa-of- war. ' Augustus H. M. Concklln was a native of Virginia. Ho was appointed midshipmaU in 1S0«, and lieuteuautln 1813. He followed El- liott to Erie. On a dark night in 1814 bis vessel was captured by a party In boats ofif Port Erie. He left the service In 1S20, while stationed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. ' George Senat was a native of New Or- leans, of French extraction. He commenced active life as a sailor, but of his career pre- vious to his joining the squadron at Erie nothing appears on record. He served on the upper lakes In 1814. On his return to Erie ho bk.came involved lu a quarrel with Sailing-master M'Donald. A duel ensued, AI.UV 8 BWCRn, Bdyonng Senat was killed. They fought at what Is now the corner of Third and Sassafras Streets, Erie. [ ' In this, as in the preceding diagrams, furnished by Commodoro. Champlin, the British vessels are design-ited by Ho- un numerals, and the American vessels by Arabic numerals. This diagram shows the relative position of the vessels ^tihe two squadrons at the close of the battle. The respective iiumbers indicate the same vessels as In the other dia- mi. ' See the above diagram and note of explanation. Ll ^ 4* 08d PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Perry'a Triumph a roniarkable ono. IIli ramniiii DIapntch to llurrliion. IIli Dlipatch to hU Ooverninr that floated not far over (lie watern, her exhausted crow flung out the flag of thoir country from lier maHt-liead. ' This triumph was a remarkable one in AnMsrican and British history. Never he fore hud an Ameriean fleet or Hijuadron encountered an enemy in regular Hue of Imt. tie, and never before, since England created a navy, and boasted that " Britannia nilcn tho wave," had a whole British fleet or squadron been captured. It was a proud moment for Perry and his companions. "An IlftR thn «mnlie, what tongne can fltty toll The tranHportn which thotio manly boBoina hwoII, When Ilritniirn cnHi^n ilown tho reeling; niaat Sinks to proclaim the dospcrnto atrnei;lo pait I Electric cheers along tho Bhatterod fleet, With raptnrous hail, her youthful hero greet j Meek in his triumph, as in danger calm. With reverent hands ho takes the victor's palm ; Ills wreath of conqnest on Faltli'H altar lays,' To his bravo comrades yields the meed of praise."— II. T. Tdokxbman, When Perry's eye perceived at a glance that victory was secure, he wrote, in pen- cil, on tho back of an old letter, resting it upon his navy cap, that remarkable dis- patch to General Harrison whoso first clause has been so often quoted — " We have met the enemy, and they are ours : two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop. Yours, with great respect and esteem, O. II. Peurv.' FA0-8IMII.E OF TERBy'S DISPATCH. A few minutes afterward, when, as Bancroft says, " a religious awe seemed to como over him at his wonderfid preservation in the midst of great and long-contiiuictl dan ger,"^ he wrote to the Secretary of the Navy as follows : " U. 8. Brig Niatjara, off tho Western Sister,* Head of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813, 4 P.M. " Sir, — It has pleased the Almighty to give to the arms of the United States a si? nal victory over their enemies on this lake. The British squadron, consisting of two I ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop, have this moment surrendered to tk force under my command after a sharp conflict, " I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "O. II. Perrt. " Honorable William Jones, Secretary of the Navy." J "The shattered Lmorenet," soys Dr. Parsons, "lying to the windward, was once more able to hoist her flag, \tliMi I was cheered by a few feeble voices on board, making a melancholy sound compared with the boisterous cheering tin J preceded the battle."— iMdcourse, page 18. » See Perry's Dispatch to the Secretary of the Novy, printed above. ' Xew Yorl Mm. * This is the most southwardly of three Islands near the western end of Lake Erie, named respectively Eustera Sislir, I Middle Sister, and Western Sister, lying in a line from the southwest to the northeast. It was a little westward oftt(| island named in the dispatch that ttie battle occurred. ¥i OF THE WAR OF 18 12. A31 to aovcrniMm. Hurrander uf tba British OBeun. Burial at the Dead la the Lake. p,^ rtlani * to th« Uur mce. These hiirriod but iiiliuirably-wordcd diapatohes were Hcnt by the same express to loth Harrison uikI the 8ecrctury of the Navy.' Then the eeremony of taking jwm- PMnion of tli«' coiMiiu'rccl voshi'Ih, ami receiving the formal KubniinMion of llio vancjuinh- 1 ^.^g pcrforn>e<l. IVrry gave the wignal to anchor, and Htarted lor IiIh battered |i ' gliip determined, on her deck, and in the presence of her Hurviving officers and prew to receive the commanderH of tlio captured Hcpiadron. "It was a time of con- ftictiiil? emotionh," Hays Dr. I'arsons, " when ho Mtepped upon deck. The battle was won and ho was safe, but the deck was slippery with l)lood, and strewn with the boilieH of twenty officers and men, seven of whom had sat at table with us at our last meal a"J ''"' "'''P rcHounded every where with the groans of the wounde<l. Those of U8 who were spared an<l able to walk met him at the gangway to welcome him on board, hut the salutation was a silent one on both siiles ; not a word could find uttemnce."^ The next movement in tlie solemn drama was the reception of the Hritish officers, ono fro"> t''''"'' '^^ ^'"' <">ptnred vessels. I'erry stood on the afVcr-])art of the deck, iinil hin sad visitors were compelled to pick their way to liim among the slain. He received them with solemn dignity and unaft'ected kindness. As they presented llii'ir swords, with the hilts toward the victor, he spoke in a low but firm tone, with- out the betrayal of the least exultation, and recpiested them to "etaiii their weapons. lit! iiKiuired, with real concern, about Commodore Harclay and \.\h fellow-suft'erers from i<evere wounds ; and he made every captive feel, at that sad an<l solcnm mo- iiunt, the thrill of pleasure excited by the conduct of a Christian gentleman in the moment of the adversity of the recipient of his kindness. " A chaBtcned rapturo, Perry, fllls thy brenBt ; Thy Bacrcd tear cnibnIiiiB the herocH elaiu ; The i;cm of pity shines In jjlory's crcut More brilliant thuii the (llamoiid wrontli of fame." Wlien this sad ceremony was over, the con<|ucror, exhausted by the day's work upon wliieli he Iiad entered witli fever-enfeebled body, lay down upon the deck in the midst of his dead companions, and, surrounded by jirisoners, and with his hands fold- id over his breast, and his drawn sword held in one of them, ho slept as sweetly as a woiu'ieJ child.' There was yet another sad service to be performed. The dead of the two squad- iiiiw were yet unburied. When twilight — the rich, glowing twilight at the end of a .'iirgeous September day — lay upon the bosom of the lake like a luminous, deepening mist, the bodies of all the slain, excepting those of the officers, wrapped in rude -hroiids, and with a cannon-ball at the feet of each, were dropped, one by one, into ilif bosom of the clear lake, at the close of the beautiful and impressive burial serv- ice of the Anglican Church. " 'Neath the dnrk waves ofBrle now slumber the brave. In the bed of Its waters forever thoy rest J The flag of their glory floats over their grave ; The souls of the heroes In memory are bk'geed..'V-W. B. Tappan. ' The gsllant Lieutenant Dnianey Forrest was Perry's chosen courier. He was a native of the District of Colnmhia, 1 udhad bwa In the service since 1800, when he was appointed miilshipmnn. He was with Bainbrldge when the Con- I (dWioii captured the Jocn. He was acting lieutenant on board Perry's flag-sblp, and was chief signal officer. His con- j duct wi« brave, and he was greatly beloved by his companions. He bore to Washington not only the dlspntchos of his I commander, but the flags captured from the Drltish. Forrest also took with him the blue banner with the words of Uimncc, mentioned on page 620. Forrest accompanied Perry to the Mediterranean in the Java. He was commlsaion- I ri « lieutenant at that time. He died of fever in 1S2B. Colnuel Peter Force, of Washington City, has a piece of every flag captured In this battle, and of nearly every trophy- ! ti( of the war. Thoy were all tsken to Wnshington, where. In course of time, through neglent, they fell into decay. JThe pieces in the possession of Mr. Force are carefully preserved In a scrap-book, with the place and date of their cap- I tare recorded, and make an Interesting collection of bits of bunting. J Tlie Intelligence of the victory on Lake Erie was carried to Pennsylvania from Detroit by Samuel Docluft, Samuel JBiinietl,and Cyrus Bosworth. The first was a mail-carrier from Detroit to Cleveland ; the second from Cleveland to jWirren,Ohio, and the third from Warren to Pittsburg. They were nil three living at the time of the Inauguration of |fntj'«it«tuc at Cleveland In September, 1800. Mr. Bosworth participated in that celebration. ' Dinmrit, page 14. > CalveH's Oration, page 21. wma m fi ■ ' friiiiiiffii V 032 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Burial of Offlceri on the i there. Sad Effects of the Battle. "Illlnck"o ftheBritlii|i. TBK BDBIAI.-PI.AOK. • September n, The inoon soon spread her silver slieen over their common grave and ^*^^' all but the sufterinp; wounded slumbered until the dawn,» The. two squadrons weighed anchor at nine o'clock and sailed into Put-in-Bay Har- bor, and thp'v, twenty-four hours afterward, on the mn.gin of South Bass IhIs'iiI from whi^-h, on the right, may be Roen tiio channel leading out toward ('aiiada and on the left the open way toward Detroit where now wil ow, hickory, and maplu- trees cast a pleasant shade in summer three American and throe British officers' were buried^ with the same solemn fuTicral rites, in the "^'^^"^^'^'■ presence of their respective conntryraen.= The lialit of the morning of the lltli revea'od sad sights to the eyes of the bel- ligerents. Vessels of both squadroii.s were dreadfully shattered, especially the two flag-ships. Sixty-eiglit persons had bee- killed and one hundred and ninety wound- ed during the three hours that the battle lasted. Of these, the Americans lost one hundred and twenty-three, twenty-seven of xvhom were killed ; the Briiisli lost one hundred and thirty-f ve, forty-one of wliom wen killed.^ Barclay, of the Detroit (the British commander), who had lost an arin at Trafalgar., was first wounded in the thigh, and then so severely injured in tin shoulder as to deprive liini of tlie use of the other arm. Finnis, of the Queen Char- lotte, the fpiond in comniand, was mortally wounded, and died that evening, Uoth w^re jallant men ; and justice to all demands the acknowledgment that the Ameri- cans and Briiish carried ')n that lerrible conflict with the greatest courage, fortitude, and skill. It is also just to say that the British <>Xj)erienced what is called "ill luck" from the beginning. First, the wind suddenly turned in favor of the Americans a; the commencem'?. t of the action, giving them the weather- gage ; then the two prin cipal British commanders were struck down early in the action; then Iho niddordl the Lady Freoost was disabled, which caused her to drift out of the line ; the ontan glement of the Detroit and Queen Charlotte gave the Niagara, under Perry, an oppoi tunity to rake them severely ; and, lastly, the men of the British squadron had not. with the exception of those from the Koyal Navy, received the training Avith sjuns ' These worr Lieutenant Brooka and Midshipmen Lunt and Clarke, rf the American service, and Captain Finnis and Lienteuant« Stokoe and fSarland, of the British wrvice. The view here given of the burial-place of these officere 1 cop- ied, by pcrmii'slon, from one of the paintiugK of Miss 0. L. Kansom, already mentioned. » Samuel U. Brown, \,ho arrived at Put-in-Bay I»laud on the evening of the Otli, and from the head of it w.is a Mil ncsR of the battle at about ten miles distant, was present at the burial. " An oiKinlnti; <ra the inarpln of the b,iy,"hi says, " was selected for the interment of the biKllcs. The crews of both fleets attended. The weather was line; the elemeuts aeemcd to participate in the solemnities of the day, for every breeze was hushed, and not n wave ruffled the surface of the water. The pro.;es8ion of boats— the neat appearance of the officers and men— the music— the (low hlJ reunlated motion of ihc oais, striking in exact time with the notes of the solemn dirge -the mournful wavhifr "f Itf fines— the sound of the minute-gnus f.ot.i the difrerei\t ships in the harbor— the wild and solitary aspect of the plurp ■ "In stillnoss of nature— gave to the scjne an air of melancholy grandeur better felt than described. All acknowledjal its influence, all were sdisibly aft'ectod." -I'lVirs on Uike Kru^ printed in Albany in 1814. 3 The American loss was distrlba'ed as follows : On the Lmtrrmi*, SI) : Xiagara, 27 : CaMonta, !) ; Somert, 2 ; AritH. mi>f>i! and Seorpioti, 2 each. Besides the officers mentioned in Note 1, above, the British lost In wounded Midshiii- man Foster, of the (^uemCliarlutU; Lieutenant Commanding Bnchau and First Lieutenant Roulette, of the UnlttPf^ rmt; Lieutenant Commandant Briirnall and Master's Mate Oateshill, of the Hunter; Master's Mate Campbell, com- riiandlng the Chijtpnoa: and PiirsiT Hoffmeistet, of the Detrnit. Doctor Honw^ley, the siirgeo-i of the squadron, being ill, the duties devolved wholly upon Ms yonng assistant, Dnd'r ''sher Parsons, then only twonty-flve years of iigc. During the action he removed six legs, which were nearly divii' i by canuon-bnlls. On the morning of the 1 1th he went on board the SUujixrn to attend to her wounded, nn;l tln'ii tlioci of the other vessels requiring surgical attention were sent to the iMwreruv. The skill of Doctor Parsons Is atleeleil In ihe fact th.1t oi' the Thole nlTiety-«ix wounded only three died. He modestly altribnted the result to ft^sh nir, p>d spiriba ckused by the victory, and the "devoted attention of the commodore." %■■ w OF THE WAR OP 18 12. 533 rtbeBriUih. rave, and ■Bay Har- fiS Island, e ficen the mada, and ■d Detroit, nd niajiki- I suinnipr, all officers' ' September 12, nntrymen/ )f the lltli > of the hel- idrons were ly the tWii IS had k'(" lety wound- it the battle ans lost one wenty-scven )ne of whom I lost an arm jured in ttie Queen Char- :'iiing. Both ,t tlie Aniori- <j;o, fortitude, iod" ill luck" \iiicricans at K' two jirin- 10 rudder of the entail- rry, an opjior- on had not. with gun- .'ai)taiiiriiinl«aiiii hesc ofliccra 1 cop- nd of it was a »i! lu of the bay," 111 ither wttB tine-, the a wave riifBedlhe uBlc_tbe flow niiil nful waviiip "' ll" ^ 'cl of the place - All acknuwleitol onnilod Miil*!"!'- te, of the Lwh ''"• Btc Campbell, cura- g assUtant, Dofi"' ficn luuirly divi'' i dcil, and then tli« rsonslsatlesNlij 11 to fresh air, P'mI >g IraportWice of Porry's Victory. Its KffectH. Uow hie Cauuon were anemrard naed. that most of the Americans had just experienced, for they came out of port the mom- inif of the battle.' Perry's victory proved to be one of the most important events of the war. At that moment two arm'os, one on the north and the other on the south of the wamng sciiiadrons, were waiting for the result most anxiously. Should the victory remain with the Ihitisli, Proctor and Tecnmtha were ready at Maiden, with their motley arniv ^'ve thousand strong, to rush forward and lay waste the entire frontier. Should the victory rest with the Americans, Harrison, with his army in the vicinity of San- dusky Hay, was prepared to press forward by land or Avater for the seizure of IVFalden and Detroit, the recovery of Michigan, and the invasion of Canada. All along the borders of the lake witliin soimd of the cannon in the battle (and they were heard I'roin Cleveland to Maiden-), women with terrified children, and decrepit old men, sat listenim? with the deepest anxiety; for they knew not but with the setting sun they would he compelled to flee to the interior, to escape the fangs of the red blood-hounds ffho were ready to bo let loose u])on helpless uiaocency by the approved servants of a [Toveniment that boasted of its civilization and Christianity. Happily for Ameri- ca—happily for the fair fume of Great Britain — happily for the cause of humanity — the victory was left with the Americans, and the savage allies of the British were net allowed to repeat the tragedies in which they had already been permitted to en- mae. Joy spread over the northwestern frontier as the glad tidings went from lip itoiip. That whole region was instantly relieved of the most gloomy forebodingn of comiiij; evil. That victory led to the destruction of the Indian confederacy, and wi]>ed out the stigma of the surrender at Detroit thirteen months before. It opened the way for Harrison's army to repossess the territory then surrendered, and to penetrate Can- .ida. It was speedily followed by the overthrow of British power in tlie Canadian ncninsula and the country bordering on the upper Lakes, and the absolute security forever of the whole '■orthwestern frontier from British invasion and Indian de]>rcda- tions. From that moment no one doubted the ability of the Americans to maintain llie mastery of our great inland seas, and the faith of the people in this ability was well expressed by a poet of the time, who concluded an epic with the following lines: " And though Brltone may brag of their ruling the ocean, And that sort of thing— by the Lord I've a notion— I'll brt all I'm worth— who takes it f— who takes f— Though they're lords of the oot, we'll be lords of the Utke»."^ The effect of this victory upon the whole country was electric and amazingly in- 1 The great g"iis used by Perry, and those captured by hira from the British, remained In the United States Naval Dipot at Krie \intil the autumn of 1826, when they were transferred to the Naval Station at Brooklyn. They were .ilxral to he removed throngh the ugt'ucy of Dows, Cary, and Meecb, wlio had prepared a line of boats for the just com- fletcil Erie Canal. The happy thought occurred to some one that these rannon might be used for telegraphic iinvposes in connection with the celebration of the tlrst opening of the canal. Thoy were accordingly placed at lutervals of about !cii miles along the whole line of the canal. When the first fleet of boats left Buffalo (m thai occaxion, the fact was an- nnnncod to the citizens of New York in (mo hour and twenty minutes by the serial discharges of these cannon. This ;nn(jnneemcnt, literally conveyed in " thuuder-tones" from the lake to the sea-board, was responded to in like manner .i:(l In the same space of time.— Statement of Orlando Allen to the Buffalo Historical S.xlety, April, 18fi3. The authorities consulted lu the preparation of the foregoing account of the Battle of Lake Erie are the official dis- l«(hes of Perry and Barclay : Niles's Register ; The War ; Port Folio : Analectic Magazine ; Political Register : M'Kan- lios Life of Perry ; Life of Elliott, by a citizen of New York ; Cooper's Naval History ; Discourses by Parsons, Bur- '.■««!, and Calvert; oral and written statements communicated to the anthor by the sarviivors; Brown's Kifw« on toic ft-if, «nd Ix)g-book of the Laui-m/v, kept by Sailing-master Taylor. ' 1 was Informed by Captain Levi Johnson, whom 1 met at Cleveland In the autumn of IRBO, that he and others were ramL'cd in the last work upon the new court-honsc, which stood in front of the present First Presbyterian Church, on llie day of the battle. They thought they heard thunder, but, seeing no clouds, ('(included that the two squadrons had mel. He and several others went down to the lake bank, near the present residence of Mr. Whittnkcr, on Water Street. N'urly all the villagers assembled there, numbering about thirty. They waited until tt»e firing ceased. Although the dijunoe In a straight Hue was full seventy miles, they could easily distinguish the sounds of the heavier and lighter ?aD.». The last Ave reports were from the heavy guns. Knuwing that the Americans had the heaviest ordnance, they (Moclnded that victory remained with them, and wi,h that conviction they gave three cheers for Perry. Miss Reynolds, tisler of the venerable Robert Reynolds, of the British army, whom I also visited in the autumn of ISflO, told me Uiat the listened to the flring during the whole battle. The distance was less than forty miles. A letter dated at Erie, September 24. IStit, says that a gentleman from the New York state line heard at his house the ctiiao<:i>dliig on the lake one hundred ami MiUy viilen dittant I It was heard at Erie, and at first was supposed to be iltUuit thimder. ' AnaUctie Magiuitu, lii., 84. i'i'f:- ;'' POB^PilB^ ?mmmB I liifiit 694 PICTORIAL FIKLD-BOOK Bxaltation of the Americans. FabUc ColebratlunB. Songs and Carlcatoroi. spiriting. There had been a prevailing apprehension that the failures of 1812 were to be repeated in 1813. This victory dissipated those forebodings, and kindled hope and joy all over the land. " O'er the monntains the snn of our fame was decUning, And on Tbctis' billowy breast The cold orb had reposed, all his splendor resigning, Bedinuncd by tlie mists of the West. The prospect that rose to the patriot's sight Was cheerless, and hopeless, and dreary ; But a bolt burst the cloud, and ilhwnincd the night That enveloped' the waters of Eric."— Olu Sono. It is diiBcult at this time to iiuag'iie the exultation then felt and exhibitecl evorv where. Illuminations,' bonfires, salvos of artillery, public dinners, orations, and mim were the vi>*ible indications of the popular satisfaction in almost every city, viliatru and hamlet within the bounds of the republic. The newspapers teemed Avith eulo- gies of the victor and las companions, and the jiulpit and rostrum were resonant with words of thanksgiving and praise. The lyre^ and the peiiciP made many con- ' The City Hall and other buildings in New York were splendidly illuminated on the evening of Saturday, October 23, 1813. There was a band of music in the gallery of the portico, and transparencies were exhibited showing uaval battles; also the words of Lawrence, " don't uivf up tuk suit," and those of Perry's dispatch, " we have jiki m, KNEMY, AND TUKv ARK OCRS." The last-uamed transparency was exhibited at the theatre, with a picture of the tlgbi between the Hornet and I'eamek. ' Many songs were written and sung in commemoration of Perry's victory. One of the most popular of these wjs Avurican Perry, which commences thus : " Bold Barclay ona day to Proctor did say, I'm tired of Jamaica and Cherry ; So let us go down to that new floating town, And get some Araericau Perry.* Oh, cheap American Perry ! Most pleasant American I'erry I We need only all bear down, knock, and call. And we'll have the American Perry." ' Among t|ie caricatures of the day was one by Charles, of Philadelphia, representing John Bull, In the person of iht king, seated, with hie baud pressed upon his stomach, indicatlug pain, which tlie fresli juice of the pear, called perry, iXJimj/, mtllMutalie iome more Way? Oh! 'hny !!! Cunt tuhnyl >-p£r~ —Oiie c/isntlerc^r amHier - J/iaw "^ ^ham mt Inlf mmrred offfieBhedij iKH J golal iV'iJ^ tioxiagntulcli.' 2uwn diarltJk anJ Sohuuj VuUjBt thir dote tf &hru. will produce. Qiwmi Chariotte, the king's wife <a fair likeness of whom is given), enters with •\ bottle labeled mw. out of which the cork has flown, and in the foam is seen the names of the vessels composing the American «]»» ' ron. She says, " Johnny, won't you have some more Perry V .John Bull replies, while writhing in pain prodno ! tn perry, " Oh ! Perry ! ! I Curse that Perry ! One disaster after another— I have not half recovered of the bloody noa 1 got at the Boxing-niatch." This last exprenslon refers to the capture of the boxer by the American schnonsr AW/r prine. This caricature is entitled "Qiieen ChnrloUe and Johnny Bull got their done of Ptrrij." This will be better pet * See the next note on this page. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 536 Ilouorfl awarded to Perry. C'ongrees presents a Gold Medal to both Perry and Elliott. tributions to the popular demonstrations of joy, and public bodies testified their grat- itude by appropriate act». Tlie Legislatui'c of Pennsylvania voted thanks and a gold medal to Perry; also thanks and a ailver medal to every man engaged in the battle.' THE PERBT MEHAI.. The corporate authorities of New York ordered the illumination of the City Ilall in honor of the victory -^ and the National Congress voted thanks and a gold medal to both Perry and Elliott, to be adorned with appropriate devices,^ and silver ouee, with THE KLLIOTT HROAL. tlie same emblems, to the nearest male relatives of Brooks, Lamb, Clarke, and Clax- toii, who were slain. Three months' extra pay Avfi« also voted for eacli of the com- missioned officers of the navy and army who served in the battle, and a sword to reived by rcmemberlug that one of the principal vessels oftho British squndrou was named the Qut^i CAarioKi!, In honor of tlie royal consort. In a ballad of the day occurs the following lines : " On Erie's wave, while Barclay bravo, With Charlotte niakhif; merry, He chanced to take the l)elly-ache, Wo drenched him so with Perry." > Thf War, page 127. » Sec note 1, page HU. 'On one side of Perry's medal ia a bnst of the commodore, surrounded by the followlui; words: "oi.ivtBL's ii. riBBv. rBiNoKi-s BTAONo EBiKNBK. oi.ABBAM ToTAM ooNTiiiiiT." Ou thc rcverflc ft squadrou of vessels closely cngBKed, nud the legend "viAM invbnit virtcb act kaoit." ExcrKue: "intkb oi.ars. amrbi. et iibit. ihb x. bep. Hnoooxm," Ononesidoof Elliott's medal is a bust of the commander, and the words ".lEBSK i>. ri.i.iott. nil aotiim bepdtanb hi inn. budbebskt auendum." On the reverse a squadron engaged, and the legend "viam lmvenit virtcb axtt i-aoit." The exergue the eame as on Perry's. 51 V,\l ■ i 1? 536 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK " November. Effect of the Victory on the Britlab. A Pleii for a BrltlBh-Indian Alliance. Waehlngtou Irvine's PredlctionT each of the midshipmen and sailing-masters " who so nobly distinguished themselves on that memorable occasion."' In after years, when the dead body of Perry was buried in the soil of his native state, her Legislature caused a monument to be erect- ed to his memory,^ for she claimed, with much justice, a large share of the glory of the battle of Lake Erie for her sons.^ The effect of this victory was deeply impressive on the British mind, and the news- papcni in the provinces and the mother country indulged in lamentations over tlip want of vigor in the prosecution of the war manifested by the ministry. " We have • October, been conquered on Lake Erie," said a Halifax paper,* " and so we shall be **^' on every other lake, if wo take as little care to protect them. Their success is less owing to their prowess tlian to our neglect." A London paper consoled the people by saying,** " It may, however, serve to diminish our vexation at the occurrence to learn that the flotilla in question was not any branch of the British Navy It wfls not the Royal Navy, but a local force — a kimi of mercantile military." Others, conscious of the inability of the British force in Can- ada to cope Avitli the Americans, urged the necessity of extending the alliance with the Indians. "We dare assert," said a writer in one of the leading British Beviews' " and recent events have gone far in establishing the truth of the proposition that the Canadas can not be effectually and durably defended without the frieiulship ot' the Indians, and command of the lakes and the River St. Lawrence." Ho ur<>-e(l his countrymen to consider the interests of the Indians as their own ; " for men," he said, " whose very name is so very formidable to an American, and whose frieiulsliij) lias recently been sliown to be of such great importance to its, we can not do too mudi,'' The name of Perry is cherished with increasing reverence by successive genera- tions ; and the vast population that now swarm along the southern borders of Lake Erie regard the battle that has made its name immortal in history as a classical nos- session of rare value. Only a few weeks after the victory, Washington Irving, in a cha: ,,3 biographical sketch of Commodore Perry,* said: "The last roar of cannon that died along her shores was the expiring note of British domination. Those vast in- ternal seas will perhaps never again be the separating space between contendirg na- tions, but will be embosomed within a mighty empire f and this victory, which de- cided thcii" fate, will stand imrivaled and alone, deriving lustre and i)erpctuity from its singleness. In future times, when the shores of Erie shall hum with busy popu- lation ; when towns and cities shall brighten where now extend the dark and tangled forests; v\ hen ports shall spread their arms, and lofty barks shall ride where now the canoe is fastened to the stake ; when the present age shall have grown into venera- ble antiquity, and the mists of fable begin to gather round its history, then will tin inhabitants look back to this battle we record as one of the romantic achievements of the days of yore. It will stand first on the page of their local legends and iu the marvelous tales of the borders." This prophecy of the beloved Irving has been fulfilled. The archipelago that em- braces Put-in-Bay has become a classic region. At Erie, and Cleveland, and San- dusky, and Toleclo, where the Indian then " fastened his canoe to a stake," " ports ' We have cbeerved In Note 2, pnge BIO, that Mr. Hamblcton, purser of the fMvtreitee, was chosen prize ogcnt. .\ board of officers from Lake Ontario, assisted by Henry Eckford, naval constrnctor, prized the captured sqnadrou al $225,000. Commodore ("hauncey, the commander-in-chief on the lakes, received one twentieth of the whole eum, or 1(12,750. Perry and Elliott each drew $7140. The Congress voted Perry $6000 in addition. Each commniuler of a sjun-boflf sallinK-master, lieutenant, and captain of marines, received $22115 ; each midshipman, $811 ; each petty officer, $447; and each marine and sailor, $20!).— Miss I.anra O. Sanford's Ilintory nf Erie, page 273. » See pn:,'e K.\. ' Perry took with him from Rhode Island, as we have seen (page 509), a large number of men and officers. It wash; them chiefly that the vessels built at Erie were constnicted. The commodore and three of his commanders — Chaniijliii, Almy, and Turner, and Ave other officers— Taylor, Hrownell, Breese, Dnnham, and Alexander Perry, were ftoin Uliwlc Island. In the flght forty-seven of the flfty-llvo guns i.f the squadron wore commanded by Rhode Islandc.s. ♦ -Veic Quarterlii Rtvieii- and Britii* Cobmml HegMef, No. 4; 8. M. Richardson, Comhill, London. » Annlfrtir Mafiazinf, rem her, 1818. • He had .Inst heard of iarrlson's victorious Invasion of Canada, and It was believed at that time that the upper prov- ince would assuredly bect>mc a portion of thi- L'uitcd States. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 537 Predictions. smselves 3rry -was lie erect- glory of the news- over the We have shall be ir success isoled tlu' Dxation at ny branch -a kind of 'ce in Can- "mnee witli 1 Reviews,' sition, that cndship of 3 urged his in," he said, Midsliip has too much." dvc genera- [ers of Lalvc lassical pos- Irving, in a icannon that loso vast in- itendirg na- vvhich do- )etuity from )usy popu- aiul tangled re now the into vencra- ipn will the chievements 8 and in the igo that em- id, and Sau- ike," "ports prize agent. .\ jrcd squadron s! le whole mm, or commander ot a encli petty officer, See page 521. ,, leers. Itwa.'l'y idcns— Cliampliu, ,vcro from llhodc It the upper proT- Jonrney to Cloveliuid. HlUorlc Places at Brie. Night Travel. spread their arms ;" and every year the anniversary of the battle is somewhere cel- ebrated with appropriate ceremonies. Already tlie corner-stone of a monumental shaft in commemoration of the battle has been laid upon Perry's Look-out on Gibral- tar Island ;' and in the beautiful city of Cleveland — an insignificant hamlet on the bleak lake shore in 1813, now [1867] a nuxrt of commerce with about fifty thousand iiihfibitants — a noble statue of Perry, wrought of the purest Parian marble by a resi- dont artist, has been erected by the city authorities.^ I was present, as an invited guest, at the inauguration of that statue of Perry on the 10th of September, 1860. Never will the impressive spectacles of that day, and the inflixcnce of the associations connected with them, be effaced from memory, llie journey thither, the mementoes of history seen on the way, and the meeting of scores of veterans of the War of 1812 at the great gathering, made a deep impression on the mind. I lefl my home on the Hudson, with my family, on the morning of the Cth," Avith the intention of stopping at Erie (where a portion of Perry's . September, squadron was built) on my way to Cleveland. It was a day like one in ^**'^"* midsummer — sultry and showery ; yet in the railway carriage, whose steeds never (Trow w'cary, and wherein shelter from sun and rain are ever afforded, we traversed during the day, with very little fatigue or inconvenience, more than the entire length of the State of New York, through the Hudson and Mohawk valleys and the great levels westward, to Buffalo, a distance of three hundred and seventy miles. There I left my family in charge of the veteran Captain Champlin, one of the heroes of the fight, to accompany him by water to Cleveland ; and early the next morn- inc'' I pushed on by railway to Erie, where I had the good fortune to meet Captain W. W. Dobbins, son of the gallant officer of that name al- ready mentioned. Ho kindly accompanied me to the places of interest about Erie — tlie site of Fort Prestju' Isle^ — of Wiiyne's block-house — of Fort Wayne, on Garrison Hill, by the light-house* — of the navy yard at the mouth of C'ascade Creek,* and the old tavern where Perry made his head-quarters before and after the battle. When, at the close of the day, we returned to the village, heavy black clouds were brooding over the lake in the direction of the great conflict, and the deep bellowing of the dis- tant thunder gave a vivid idea of the tumult of the battle lieard from that very spot ■almost half a century before. I had completed my sketches and observations, and I spent the evening pleasantly and profitably with Captain Dobbins and his venerable mother, to whom I am indebted for kind courtesies and valuable information.^ At almost two o'clock in the morning'^ I left Erie in the railway cars for Cleveland, just after a heavy thunder-shower had passed over that re- gion, making the night intensely dark, and drenching the country. We arrived at Cleveland at six o'clock in the morning. Heavy mists were scurry- ing over the lake upon the wings of fitful gusts, and dashes of rain came down fre- quently like sudden shower-baths. For almost three liours I waited at the wharf where the passengers on the boat from Buffalo were to land. She was The Western Mdropolis — a magnificent vessel — one of th j finest ever built on the lakes. All night " September T. = September 8. ' See pictnrc on page 61R On the 4th of July, 1862, the national anniversary was celebrated on Put-in-Bay Island by Jte companies of Ohio vijiimtccr militia. Their encampment was the first ever seen there since Harrison loft it wltji Ml troops in the autumn of tSlS. At that time it was agreed to talie measures for erecting a monument iu coramemo- mlon of the victory, and The Ilattlc of Lake Krie Monument Aimoeiatvm was formed. A Constitotion was adopted, and (Jmcral Lewis Cass, of "Detroit, was appointed president of the association. J. G. Camp, E. Cooke, E. Bili, A. P. Ed- turd!, and J. A. Harris, were appointed a provisional executive committee. ' Tlie project of erecting a statue of Perry at Cleveland originated with the Hon. Harvey Rice, of that elty, who, as umber of llie Common Council, brought the subject before that body in June, 1S57, in a series of resolutions. A eom- mittce was appointed to take the matter in hand, composed of Harvey Kice, p. M. Ovialt, J. M. Coflinlicrry, J. Kirkpnt- tick, and C. D. Williams. They contracted with T. .Tones and Sons, of Cleveland, to erect a monument surmounted liy a itunc of Perry, for the sum of eight thousand dollars. The designs of monument and statue were made by William Wslcntt, the sculptor, of Cleveland, and the figures were executed by him. ' See page 511. « See note 1, page 510. 'See page 511. 'Mm. Dobbins is of English and Irish extraction, and was married to Mr. Dobbins at Canuonsbnrg, Pennsylvunia, iiily in the year 1800, by whom she had ten children. v-\ i |-.;ilH jljfl !iifj|(':-'j 638 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Pilot of the Ariel. Croivdi fill Cleveland. "Camp P erry" on Sundaj. long she liad battled with the storm, yet she was so staneli that her passoiicers had slept securely ami soundly. A line state-room liad been assigned to Captain Cliamp- lin. Among the survivors of the war who accompanied him was Captain Asel Wjl. kinson, of Golden, Erie County, New York, who was the pilot of the Ariel — a tall slender man, seventy-two years of age. He stood at the helm of his vessel all tlnoiu'li ^ ^^ ' the battle of the 10th of Soj). rifonf) yf//^/-? ' n tember. His cartridge-box ^J^ll^ ^y/Ci^CynyO'r^S.'V^yi/' ^vas shot from his side by a cannon-ball, and tlie tliunder of the great guns brought the blood from his ears and nose, and permanently ini|i;iir ed his hearing. I received many remiaiscences of the fight from his lips diii.ni^^ ^ brief hour that I spent with him. His vigor of mind and body gave promise \ years of future usefulness, but his days were nearly numbered. On the 4th of Julv, 1861 he was in Buffalo with liis wife to part'cipate in the celebration of the day. When they were passing tlie corner of Pearl and Mohawk Streets he suddenly fell to the pavement and expired. In the midst of a furious thunder-storm wo rode to the residence of a gentleman on Euclid Street, to the hospitalities of which we had been invited, and there we found a pleasant home during our brief sojourn in Clevelaiid. It was the last day of the week. On Monday the appointed ceremonies were to be performed, and visitors were pouring into the " Forest City" by tliousands from every direction. Tiiat evcnina the hotels and large numbers of private houses were filled with guests. Mr. Bancioit (the historian), who was one of tlie chosen orators for the occasion, liad arrived ; alsd a large delegation from Rhode Island, including Governor Sprague, Mr. Bartlett, the Secretary of State, Dr. Parsons, Bishop Clarke, and Captain Thomas Brownell, who was the acting sailing-master of the Ariel in the battle. Members of the Perry fam ily and scores of tlie survivors of the war were also there, and the bright and beau tiful Sabbath found Cleveland full of strangers. It was indeed a bright and beautiful Sabbath. The storm-clouds were gone, and the first cool breath of autumn came from the lake and gave warning of the ap- proaching season of hoar-fi-ost. At an early hour Euclid Street — magnificent Euclid Street — was full of animation, Crowds were making their way to "Camp Perry," on the county fair-grounds, the head-quarters of the military, who were under the command of Brigadier General J. W. Fitch. In the spacious marquee of that officer we met, just before tlie horn' for morning religious services (in which Bishop Clarke led), most of tlie Rhode Island delegation. Governor Dennison,of Oliio, and his staff, and Benjamin Fleming, of Erie, a lively little man, then seventy- eight years of age, who was a maintop- man in the Niagara during the battle, He was yet living in 1863, and was one uENJAMiN FLMiiNo. gf t^fpe gurvlvors of the battle who arc residents of Erie.' Fleming was a native of Delaware.'^ He was dressed in full sail- ' The other two Were John Murray, a mnrinc from Peniioylvanla, aged abont sevcuty-three, mid Jesse Wall, a colored man, nged about eeventy-four years, who was a flfer on board the Niagara. • ficujamiu Flemiot; was bom in LewlBtou, Delaware, on the 20th of July, 1T82. He entered the naval service on OF THE WAB OF 1812. fi39 Son IvldH Soldiers of the War of 1812. Tnaugnratloa of the Statne of Perry. PreUininai7 Proceedings. or's costume, and on liis right breast, in the form of a shield, on which was inscribed his name and the occasion, was the silver medal presented by the State of Pennsylvania.' pebby'b lantern. for some soldiers were on those vessels and upon Put-in-Bay Island. There was also Ilosea Sargent, of Cambridge, Mas- sachusetts, a survivor of the Lawrence, who handed Perry his flag as he was leaving his vessel for the Niagara. A mute relic of the battle was also on the ground. It was Perry's signal lantern, and be- longed to Lieutenant Selden, It was made of tin, with win- There wc also met Dr. Nathan Eastman, of Medina, Ohio, who, as volunteer surgeon, as- sisted in dressing the wounds of those injured hi tlu' battle who were taken to the marine liospital at Erie. He was after- ward appointed assistant sur- ijeon, and spent the dreary winter of 1813-14 in that ca- pjicit y on board the prize-ships Detroit and Queen Charlotte, of the " Wayne Guards" of Erie, who were present, (lows of scraped horn, and had a venerable appearance. Monday dawned gloomily. Tlie sky was lowering with heavy clouds, the tem- perature- was chilling, and as the time approached for the commencement of the pub- lic ceremonies there were indications of early rain. But these hindered nothing. At an oarly hour I went to the City Hall, the head-quarters of the " soldiers of 1812," anil assisted in the interesting task of making a register of the names and ages of tliose who were present, about three hundred in numb'.r.^ The air was full of mar- tial music, the streets and buildings were gay with b.anners, and as the appointed time for uncovering the statue drew near, the public square of ten acres, in the cen- tre of which it stoo;!, began to fill with people. I had made my way with difficulty through the crowd from the old soldiers' head-quarters to the stage erected for the ooiuluctors of the pageant and invited guests. Mr. Bancroft soon arrived, alone, but was followed almost immediately by the mayor of the city, the committee of arrange- ments, Dr. Parsons (the associate orator), the Perry family, and other invited guests. Very soon the immense military and civic procession came filing into the square in 2ay and sombre costumes, accompanied by a miniature brig Laiorence, on wheels, drawn by four horses. The inclosure was filled with the living sea, and broad On- tario ami Superior Streets were crowded with people as far as the eye could reach. " All Cleveland is out !" exclaimed a gentleman at my elbow. " All creation, you hiul hotter say," responded another. It was estimated that fifty thousand strangers wore present. The ceremonies before the statue were opened by prayer from the lips of the Rev- ireiid Dr. Perry, of Natchez, Mi88is8i])pi. Then Mr. Waloutt, the sculptor, unveiled the statue. There it stood, upon a green mound, surrounded by an iron railing, im- posing, beautiful, and remarkable because of its extreme whiteness.^ Tens of thou- •iinils of voices sent up loud cheers as that chaste work of art was clearly revealed, I'lirjust as the covering was removed, rays of sunlight, that had struggled thi^ugh board the fflgnte Eimx in 1811, and at New York volunteered for the Inke service. He \vi<>wUh Elliott at the captnre iif the Caltiionia and Adam». See list uf nnmcs In Note S, page 3S5. He had lived In Brie ( er since this war. Two of bis sons were in a Pennsylvania regiment during the late Civil War, and both were wonnded in the b.ittJeB befon^ Richmond. > See page BS5. > .\monf; these were Benjamin Le Reanx, a^d seventy-«even years. He was f^om La Salle City, Illinois. He ivas a imall, lively, spnrkliug-fnced man, and was dressed in the same military suit of gray in which, as orderly serc^uant, he tonghi under General Scott in the battle of Niagara, or Lundy's Lane. lie was in Jesnp's command. A liistory of that gray uniform will he given liereaftcr. Mr. Lc lieaiix's father was a Frenchman, and Kprved as captain nnder LafuyiUte. ' The monument and statue, represented ou the following page, present to the eye one of the most chaste memorials of sreatness to l>e found in the country. Indeed, it is believed that nothing equals it. The pedestal is of Khnde Island liraiiite, twelve feet in height, on one side of which Is sculptured. In low relief, the scene of Perry's passage from the Imrrma to the Maijara. On one side of It is a small statue of a Sailor-boji, bareheaded, and on the other one of a Mid- iki|)m(in, with his cap on, in the attitude of listening. The statue is of Parian marble, and remarkable for its purity. Il It i^l^lit fejt in height, but at the altitude of the top of the pedestal or monument it appears lilfa-slze. The entire litii;ht of the monument, including the base, is twenty-live feet. . i-M MO PrCTOBIAL FIELn-BOOK The Statnc unveiled. Orations by Bancroft and Pari>ona. A remarlcnblu Dinner ' li i |i 7f1 1 the clouds, fell full upon it. Mr. WuJPutt made a brief address, which was resiiondci^ to by Mayor Scnter. Then followed Mr Ban'^roft's oration,' and an historical dis^ course by Dr. Parsons.'* Oliver Hazard IVr- ry, the only surviving son of the ((.iiiiiio. dore, addressed the people briefly, when the masonic ceremonies of dedication were m- formed. The proceedings closed with a soncj, written by E. (4. Knowlton, of Cleveland and sung by Ossian E. Dodge. I had been invited to dine with the vof- crans of 1812, and when the eerenKniies he- fore the statue were ended,! hasi ened from the crowded city to the old soldiers' han- quet-hall in the railway buildings on the margin of the lake. The scene was a most interesting and remarkable one. Almost three hundred survivors of the war, who iiad been participants in its military events, wort- seated at the table, with their commander for the day (General J. M. Hughes), and Deacon Benjamin Rouse, the president of the Old Soldiers' Association, at their head. There were very few among them of foclih step. Upon every head not disfigured liy a wig lay the snows that never melt. It was ;i dinner-party,! venture to say, that has no |iarallel in history. The ages of the guests (excepting a few younger men, like niystlf, who were permitted by courtesy to be jires- ent) ranged from fftysev en to ninety years.' The average was about seventy years; and the aggregate age of the company Avas about twenty thousand years t When I left the banquet-liall a spectacle of rare beauty met the eye. Tlic high banks of the lake in front of the city were covered with men, women, and oliikhvn, thousands in numbei-, who had come out to be witnesses of a promised sham-fight on the lake, in nearly exact imitation of the real one forty-seven years before. Iciiuilnd the steep bank, up a long flight of stairs at the foot of Warren Street, to a good po- sition for observation, and found myself by the side of Mr. Fleming, the jolly little maintop-man of the Niagara, with his sailor's dress and silver medal. The clouds had dispersed, and the afternoon was almost as bright and serene as when the old battle was waged. One by one the vessels representing the belligerent squadrons of Perry and Barclay went out from the mouth of the Cuyahoga, not " with a light breeze" alone, but by the more certain power of steam-tugs. Captain Champlin com- manded the mock-American squadron, and Mr. Chapman* that of the mock-lJritisli. • Imtnedtately after the noncluBlon of Mr. Bancroft's addrcee, he wns presented with i\ cane, made of the ttrabcr of (he Lmcreiux, by the "Wayne Guards," of Erie. The head is of i»old, and tho fernle a spike fi-om the Lawrenoe. ' During the delivery of Dr. Parsons's disconrse, an intellii;ent old man. named Quiun, ttom Pittsburg, Poiinsylvania, came upon the stand, and reported himself as the man who made the corda^ nsed in rigging the vessels of Perrv'i eqnadron. He had with him, in a box, the identical tools that were nsed in that service. 3 The oldest man among them was a colored soldier named Abraham Chase. He was ninety. Two of them (8. F. Whitney and Bichard M'Cready) were only flfty-seven. They were boys in the service. « See page B2T, PERBV'S STATUE. the timber of thr OF THE WAR OF 1812. 541 Sbam BattU' on Lake Erie. VUit to early Reaidents of Cleveland. Captain Stanton Sboles. lUdO. . gingnlar coincidence occurred. Ab in the real battle, so in this, there waH a light Vn-e/t' ar Hrnt, which freshened before the close. It was lui excitinfj scene, and little Fli-niuB iUirly danced with exhilaration as he observed the flashes — the booming of groat guns — the fleet rnveloped in smokt; — Champlin, like Perry, leaving the Law- rence and going to the Niagara, and the latter sweeping down, breaking the Chap- inan-Harclay's line and winning victory. With this extraordinary pa^^eant closed the public ceremonies of the day.' On the following Jay, accompanied by the Rev. T. B. Fairchild, of Hudson, Ohio, 1 viiiited several jjcrsons and places in Cleveland connected with its history. Among the former were Judge liarr, to whose kind courtesy, through the medium of letters, I was under many obligations, and the widow of Dr. David J^ong, a daughter of John Wadsworth, one of the earliest settlers in that region. She was a resident of Cleve- land at the time of the battle. =* When I visited her* she and Levi John- .September, nor. and his wife were the only survivors of the inhabitants of that place in 1813. At the time of Hull's surrender there was great alarm at Clevelaiul, and Mrs. Long was the only woman who re- mained. Her husband would not desert the sick there, and she would not desert her husband. At that time they had no military ])rotection, but in the spring of 1813 Major Jesup was stationed there with two companies of Ohio militia. These were joined in May by Captain Stanton Sholes, now [l ^67] a resident of Columbus, Ohio,^ with a company of United States Artillery from Pennsylva- nia. He was cordially welcomed by Governor Meigs, and made his quarters at Major Carter's tavern. Tie immedi- iitcly set about felling the timber on the -iite of the present city of Cleveland, with which to build a small stockade fort. This was erected near the present light- house, about fifty yards from the lake. JtmJiM,'fh.di^, ' At lilt close of the pnbltc proccedingB the members of the Mnsonlc Order who were present dined together ot the Weddell Flonse. H. L. HoHmer, Dnpnty Grand Master of Ohio, presided. The banqueters were enlivened by toasts and spctflien, and the festivities closed with a song written for ihe occasion by William Ross Wallace, and sung by Ossian E. Doilgc— a song of three stanzas, of which the Idlowing scirrlng one is the conclu<-'on: " Roll, roll, ye waves ! otemni roll I For ye are holy from his might: Oh, Banner, that his valor wreathed, Forever keep thy victor-light 1 And if npon this sacred lake Slionld ever come invading powers, Like him may we exulting cry, Wk'vK met TIIK 1.-OK, ANB THEY AKE 0ITE8 1" ■ Dr. Long's dwelling was on the site of the present light-house at Cleveland. It still exists, bnt at some distance frnm the place where it was built. It now stands on the north side of Frankfort Street, between Bank and Water Streets. It in a small building, one story, about 20 by '2fi feet square. ' Mr.Sholcs is a native of Connecticut, born before the breaking ont of the Revolntlonary War, and Is now CISC") nbout ninety-six years of age. His father was a British soldier at the capture of (Jnebec ftom the French, and served four yeiirs in our old war for Independence. In early life Captain Gholes engaged in tlie bnslness of a sailor, and visited many parts of the world. He qnit the ocean in 1803, and settled In the Slate of New York. After a few years he took 'ip bi« abode on the banks of the Ohio River, about twenty miles below Pittsburg. In May, ISl'.!, he received from Pres- ident Madison a captain's comn\l88ion in the second division LTnited States Artillery, with orders to recruit a company ofonp hmidred men tor five years. This he accomplished, and in May, 1813, arrived with them at Cleveland, as we have ibjcrv'ed. He served faithfully in the Northwest, during the hostilities In that region, under Harrison. I am indebted loCnptain Sholes (br much valuable information concerning operations there. He is an honored hero of two wars, fbr hefore the close of the Revolution be ran away from home, and entered the service of his country as a boy-aoldler. ■ -V ill OM PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Parrjr tnd hia Csptlvei. Terrible Storm on IjUie Brte. Fate of the chief Vemelg In the Bwtit I, .1 IIo also erected a comfortable hospital. During that summer he was on active dntv there, but two ilays before the battle on the laki' he received orders from <i('noral Harrison to break up his encampment, and, with his comjjany and all the >Xf>veriiinont boats at Cleveland, movo on to the mouth of the Mauinee, preparatory to a Hpt^dy invasion (if Canada. • iMO ^ ^'''^^ Cleveland on the morning of the 1 2th of September" for Southern Ohio and the residence and ((tmb of lieneral Harrison. Of the incidents of tlmt jounioy I sh.iU hereafter write. Lot us occupy a few moments in consKU'ring tlic farther movements of the lake squadron so lately in battle. We left them in Put in- " September, l^ay on the morning of the t'ith,'' after the sad task of burying the slain •'A®'^- officers had been performed. In the course of the i' ly after the battle Perry visited the wounded Barclay oii board the battere<l Detroit. They met there for the first time face to face, and it was the beginning of a lasting personal friemlship. His kindness to IJarclay and his men on this occasion el'cited the i)raise8 of thiU officer in his official dispatch. Kvery tliin,, that friend could do for friend was performed by the victor toward the captive' Perry now prepared for the transportation of Harrison's army to C.-inada. I'nr that purpose he ji' ced all the wounded Americans on board the L<(wrence., and i|i|. wounded British on board the Detroit and Queen Charlotte,^ and arranired the Ki- agara and the lighter vessels of both sipiadrons as transports. Ho made the .Vwy. ara his flag-ship; and on board of her, on the 13th, while a furious gale from tin southwest was sweeping over the lake, he wrote a detailed account of the battle tin the Secretary of the Navy.' The shattered Britisii vessels were made to sutler liv that storm. It drove heavy swells into the harbor, which so shook the Detroit that her masts fell u])on her decV with a terrible crash, wrecking every thing near them. The main and m'zzen mas he Queen (Jharlotte also fell; and there lay the tlim vessels helpless hulks. Tluj •, ere converted into hospital ships. The crippled Lav- rence, devoted to the same uses, sailed sluggishly for Erie on the 21 st, and wns soon followed by the Detroit and Queen Charlotte.* She arrived ' September. Captain SIkiIom is the subject of an extraordinary phyBlological chii' re. For fifty years he was bald and woreanln Then he was afflicted with cevere headache, for the relief of which iluihs dipped In warm water and wriui),' out wen applied. The pain teaxcd and a new growth of hair commenced. In the summer of 1804, uh I was informed l)y hln pa*. tor, Rev. Mr. liyers, his head wa» thickly covered with glossy, snowy-white hair, so long that it was combed back from the forehead and tied with a ribbon at his neck. Ills face, also, which was formerly maclt wrinkled, had become smootb, " with much of the restored fairness of youth." ' While Perry was on the Dttrnil, two savages, who had been concealed in the hold of the vessel, were bronght to hlni They were Indian chiefs, and had been taken on board clothed in sailors' suits, and, with others, were placed in the to|i> as sliarp-shooters. The noise of great gnns and the dangers of the fight unnerved tliem, and they had lied to the hold in terror. Wlien brought before Perry they expected torture or scalping. Their astonishment was great when he gpokf kindly to them, directed them to be fed, and scut them on shore with assurances of protection from the Indiaus friendlj to the Americans. 2 The prisoners conveyed to Brie were sent to Pittsburg, In the Interior, for greater gecurlty. The wounded were well cared for. 3 In this dispatch Perry spoke In terms of praise of all his officers who were conspicuous in the battle. Captain El- liott received a bountlftil share, contrary to the judgment and wishes of many of Pc^r^'J^ officers. They expressed Iheir opinions fteeiy in disparagement of Elliott. A quarrel between the two commn«diis and their friends ensued. The controversy was revived in after years by Mr. Cooper, the historian of the United States Navy, and old animoslllcs wcrr awakened to unwonted vigor. They have ^^ t.'aptain George Miles, of Erie. Theymn now slept for many years, and I do not » |^M A converted into merchant ships, but In lb choose to disturb them by any remarks l^fl^HR course of five or six years they became Ufc here. The public verdict has determined ^^I^^H '^'^' "^'^ IMmit lay at Buffalo sonic time, the relative position of the two command- l^RBIA when she was purchased by the hotel-keep- ers in the history of the country. So let it wHPmI^&=:;^v. ers at Niagara Falls, with which to mskeii be. Ug^a^HMylft spectacle for the visitors there in the sum- * The liatrrmcf, Dftrmt, and Qtteen Char' fj|k_ I^RH^^^^a^ """''■ ''''"'y P'oeed a live bear and olhfr fo'te were afterward sunk in Little Bay (see j^^k I^^^B^BiifeB animals on board of her, and sent her map on page SU), on the northerly side of l|^^B ^^^^BSr^l adrift above the Fails, in the presence ofn the harbor of Erie. The .Vtar^m was kept '^^^K I^^^^^E^^ great crowd of |>eople, who expected to tee at Brie as a receiving ship for a long time. --M^K y^^^ B^^^^ J her plnnue over tlie great cataract. Bn; She was finally abandoned, and also sunk "y^^^^B^g^F^^^ T she lodged In the rapids above, and ther' In Little Bay. Here her bottom, partly ^^^^^HP^B?^?"^ went to pieces. Such was the end ofCom covered by sand, may still be seen. In ^^H^^^jT-**^!"' mander Barclay's flag-ship Ikrynii. Pieer* 1837 the Detroit and i^uen Charlotte were ^^^^^Ei'^^^vJ^ "f "i^ iMwrerwe have been sniinlit for »> pnrchasedofthe government, and raised by ■ >•-;- relics by the curious, and many caue« and m!> OF THE WAU OF 1813. Ai3 ,c wonndcd vrtre Pen, and tlii rrl«i)n at Brio. Their Horeptlon. Incident! at Biie. Biecutlon of BM. ri.UllV> gllAKTEBB. at Erie on the 'iail, and was grooted by a Kaliite of seventeen giiiiH on shore. A month .0.) later," wlien Canada liad been m;'- • siieeesstully uivaued by Harri- son, and Perry, as his vohmleer aid, had sliiircd in tlie lionors of victory, tlie Ariel sailed into K'"'« with these eonimaiiders, fllio were accoin])anied by Coniniodori' Barcliiy, then admitted to liis paroU^ and Colonel E. r. Gaines. Tiiese ottieers took locl'lniis ai Duncan's, Perry's old head- nuiirtd^, yet standinj,' (glorious because of its uHJtdciations, though in ruins), on the corner of Third and French Strei'ts. ' They were received -with the booming of can- non, the shouts of the people, and the kind- ly greeting of every loyal heart. The town wa» illiiuuiiated in the evening, and the streets were enlivened by a torch-liglit pro- cession, bearing transparencies, made at the suggestion and under the direction of the accomplished Lieutenant Thomas Holdup.^ On one of these were the words " Commodore I'erry, 1 0th of September, 1813;" on another, " (4eneral Harrison, 5th of October, 1813;" cm another, " Free Trade and Sailors' liights;" and on a fourth, " Erie." The Niagara arrived the same afternoon, and other vessels soon fol- lowed.^ The succeeding winter was passed in much anxiety by the inhabitants of Erie on acx'onnt of an expected attack by the British and Indians, who, it was reported, were preparing to cross the lake on the ice from the Canada shore. False alarms were frequent, and midnight 2)acking8 of valuables preparatory to an exodus were quite common. The summer brought guaranties of repose, and during the last half of the year 1814 only a company of volunteers were stationed there, most of them at the block-house at Cascade Creek.* ilifr artlclen have been made of the wood. Captain Chainplin and Dr. Parsons, snrvlvors of the battle, both hnvp lisira made from the oak wood of the flag-ship. Our little eniiraving on the opposite page shows the form '>f Chnni- liliii's chnlr. I saw the stern-post of the Lawretue In possession of Captain W. W. Dobbins, at Erie. 1 Tliis is known as the " Eric Hotel." The above picture shows its appearance when I sketched it in September, 1^C(|. Tlie most dii^tiuit window of the second story, seen in the gable of tho main building, and boarded up, was point- ed out to me as the one that lighted the room occupied by Perry. ' See Note S, page 528. ' Doctor Parsons's Diary. Mi.ss Laura O. Sanford's History of Erie. ' Tliree men wore executed at Erie for desertion in the autumn of 1S14. One of them was a young man of some standing, mimed Bird, who had fought gallantly on the Niagara in the battle on Lake Erie. Ills ofTenee could not be overlooked, and he was shot. It was thought by some that his pardon, under tho circumstances, might not have been detrimental to the public good. A doleful ballad, called The vmurnful Tragedn o,t James Bint, was written, and became very popular throughout the country, drawing te£ 's from nnrctlned and sensitive listeners. Older readers will doubt- less remember with what pathos the singers would chant tho following, which was the last of tho eleven verses of the ballad: "See, he kneels upon his cofHn 1 sure his death can do no good. Spare hini I Iliirk I Oh God 1 they've shot him ; his bosom streams with blood. Farewell, Bird ! farewell forever ! Friends and home he'll see no more I But his mangled corpse lies buried '^ Erie's distant shore." THOMAS nOLDUP STEVENB. 1 i »' Ml 044 I'ICTOHIAL FIELD-BOOK Arrapgemenu fur Invading Cansd«. narrlmn'a Dlilnt«fWt«dneM. Qowrnor Shelby and hia Full^liijr CITAPTEU XXVI. "'Twftd on LaTranche'H fcrtllo banka A KUlli'Xt l«>it iipiK'iircd ; But rmirtmn hundred fiirniivl their ranks— No chnnro of war they foiirt'd. Their counlry'B chuhc htid called them forth To Imttle'H Htormy Held ; They deemed the mnu of llltlo worth WhoHO rnind but tliou^'ht to yield. There onr Columhlit'K warrior bnnda The Htnr-Rtud enHli;n bear, And General llarrlHon commands The men to valor dear." g>ftPFjj|^;;-.2 ' ., 11 KN Perry's victory gave the sovereignty of Lake Eric ♦', tiio /Vlu AincricaiiH, General Harrison had conipleted liis arraiigoiiu'iits for invading Canachi. lie liad called on Governor SiuHiv of Kentuclvy, lor fifteen Inindred men, and, with the generosity of an nnselfish patriot as he was, invited that veteran to the field and to the chief command, Haying, "Wliy not, my dear Hit-, comp in i)erHon ? You would not object to a command tiiat would be nominal only. I have Huch confidence in your wisdom, that you, in fact, should ' be the guiding head and I the hand.' Tiie situation you would W placed in would not be without its parallel. Scipio, the concpieror of Cartliano, did not disdain to act as the lieutenant of his younger and less experienced brother Lucius." This invitation roused the martial spirit of Shelby, and he resolved to lea(l,nolto «cn(?lt H people against the foe. He called for mounted volunteers to assemble at •July 81, Newport, opposite Cincinnati, at the yiose of July." "I will meet you tlieiv *^'^- in person," lie said; "I will lead you to the field of battle, and share Avitli you the clangers and honors of the campaign." His words were electrical ; Kentucky instantly blazed with enthusiasm. " Come," said the young men and veterans, " let us rally round the eagle of our country, for Old KliHf''s Mountain^ will certainly lead us to victory and conquest." Twice the required number flocked to his standard; and with Major John Adair,'' and the late venerable United States senator .lolin J. Crittenden,^ as his aids, and wearing upon his thigh a sword just presented to 1 Oovernor Shelby wn» one of the lendcrB of the militia who defeated the bunded Tories nndcr Major Fcrgnfnn on Kiuij's Mountain, on the upper borders of South t'arolinu, on the 7th of Octobf r, 1781. Slielby'8 valor on that occusioo was conspicuous, and he was known in late* . cars by the familiar nairo of Old Kmg'n Mountuhi. ' John Adair was a North Carolinian, and emigrated to Kentucky in 1780, at the age of thirty-one years. lie wasnn active ofllcer in the Indian ware on the Northwestern frontier. He held the rommlBsiou of major In 1792. He was pop nlar in his adopted state until isn7, when his unfortunate connection with Burr obscured his rei)utatlon for a while, lie seems not to have been aware (like other of Burr's dupes) of the traitor's real desi^rns. In politics he was a Kcdorolist. His conduct during the campaign of 1813 was every way praiseworthy. lie was afterward apiiointcd adjutant geneml of the Kentucky troops, with the brevet rank of brigadier general. In that capacity he commanded the KcnIiicliUiis in the battle of New Orleans. In 1820 he was elected Governor of Kentucky, and was often a member of the Stale Ugls- lature. lie had been United States senator in ISO,"* ; in 1831 he was elected a member of the lower house of Confres!. He died on the l'.)th of May, 1S40, nt the age of eighty-three years. 3 John .T. Crittenden was born in Woodford County, Kentucky, in September, 17Sfi. His father was an early Mttler in that state. Young Crittenden studied law, and commenced Us practice in Russellville, Logan County. He was amonf the first voliuitcera raised by Oovernor Shelby for Harrison in 1S1S>. He accompanied General Hopkins in his cx|)Cili- tion on the Wabash (see page 330), and the next year was with Harrison on the Northwestern frontier. He performed gallant service In the battle on the Thames, after which ho resumed his profession at RnssellvlUe. He was several times a member of the State Legislature, and was elected United States senator in 1817. He afterward removed to Frankfort, where he practiced his professhm uutil IS36, Bcr\-ing bis constituents as legislator occasionally. That year OF THE WAU OF 1818. S40 li FuUi Eric t", iiio raiigcnu'iits p Slielby, of LMUTOsity (if to the iiflil iar sir, come i.at would 1)0 iin, lliiit yim, Oil would 1)1' !artlia;,'t', did ced brother, had, not to aKsonibli,' at set you tlii'i'c share witli Ki'iiluoky etcrans, " kt rtainly lead is Btandaiil; iiator Joliii ) resented to Injor ForRnson on ■ on that occasion years. Howium 7>.)2. Ilcwaspor )ii for a while. Hi' wns i> Federalist. ndjntnnt Kcnnal _ the Konlufklflns nftheStntoUiri?- lOUBC of Coiifrcss, ->■' as an early Mttlfr He was amon,; lis in his cxpcili- r. He iicrformcl He was several irwaril removed to onally. Thotyeu T^i^riart—ntei U> Ooternor Hhelbjr. Annr «' the Northwest In Mutlon. ItilabulMtion forC'iiniuU, him by Henry Clay, in tho iiamo of tho State of North CaroUnn, in testimony of ap- nreciittio" of liin HerviccH in t\w old war for independence,' lie led thirty-five hund- red mounted men, ineludinjx Colonel H. M. Johnsoii'H troop, in the direction of Lak<' Eric. At IJrhana he or<;anized Ium volnnteerH into eleven re^'imentH,'' and on the 12th (if September reached Upper Sandimky. From that poHt Shelby pnwiied forward with bin start", and at Fort l>.ill (Tittin) he heard of IVrryV victory. He dispatched a cour- ier to Major (leneral Henry, whom he had lell in command at Lower Sandusky, j^iv- iiiffhini the glorious news, and directing him to press forward with tho troops us fast as posnible. The intelligence of success nerved them to more vigorous action; and on the 15th am! 10th" the wliole army of the Northwest, excepting tho • seiiiombor, troops at Fort Meigs and minor posts, were on the bordera of Lake Eric, "'"• on the ])leasant peninsula between Sandusky Ihiy and the lake below llio nioutli of the Portatjc liiver, now i'ort CMinton.^ Shelby arrived there on llic 14th, a few inin- iit(» before a jtart of Perry's s(|ua<lron apjjeared bearing three Iniodred Hritish jiris- oiieis. These were landed at the mouth of the Portage, placed in charge of the in- fantry, and a few days afVerward were marched to Fianklinton and Chillicothe, es- corted by a guard of Kentucky militia unch/r (Quartermaster Payno. Preparations were now made for the embarkation of the army. Harrison had been joined at Seneca by about two hundred and si.xty friendly Wyandot, Shawnoese, and Seneca Indians under chiefs Lewis, IJlack Hoof,* and IJlacksnake. General M'Arthur, Clay's successor in command of Fort Meigs, was ordered to embark artillery, provis- ions, and stores from that now reduced ]>ost, and to march the icgulars there, with Clay's Keiituckians, to the Portage. Colonel Johnson was directed to remain at Fort Melius with his mounted regiment until the expedition sliould sail, and then nmrch toward Detroit, keeping abreast of the army on the trans))orts, as nearly as possible. The embarkation of the army commenced on the 20th.'' The Aveather was delightful. On tho 24th tho troops rendezvoused on Put-in-liay Isl- l;f was elected to the United .States Senate. lie was called to the cabinet of Picsldcnt Harrison, In 1S41, as attorney ; iicral. Ue was agahi elected to the Senate, and In 1S4.S was chosen Governor of Kentucky. President Fillmore called lira to his cnbinet In July, 1H60, as attorney general. Ho entered the United Slates Senate again as a nienilicr In ImM, :i!iil lield his seat there until IMl, when his term of ofllce expired. He took an active part, as u Union man, In leglsla- I .(' measures |H>rtalning to the Urcat Rebellion, and his proposition for conciliation will ever be known In history as ; . Critleiulen Cmnprnmiiie. In ISfil he was elected a representative of tho lower house of the Thirty -seventh Congress, uidili position he occupied until the close of the session on the 3d of March, 1S03, when he ." •> agam put In uomtna- i: 111 for the same offlce. But he did not live until the time for the election. His physical powers had been gradually L-ivinB way for some time, and at half past three o'clock on Sunday morning, July 26, lstl3, ho died at his residence at 1 ranlifort, without a struggle, at the age of almost seventy-seven years. 1 have before me Mr. Clay's autograph letter to Governor Shelby ou the subject. -The following Is a copy: " Lexinoto.v, 22d August, 1813. •Mr DEAB Sib,— I have seen by the public prints that yon Intend leading a detachment ft'om this state. As you will Hint a Bword, I have the pleasure to Inform you that 1 am charged by Governor Turner and Mr. Macon with delivering ; yiin that which the State of North Carolina voted yon In testimony of the sense It entertained of your conduct at Kiis's Moimliiin. I would take It will, me to Frankfort, In order that 1 might personally e-tecnte the commission, ar.* ■ Hie same time have the giatlflcatlon "f seeing you, If I were not excessively oppressed with fatigue. I shall not fr ' i rwcver, to avail myself of the first safe conveyance, and If any should offer to you I will thank you to Inform mo. t' ■ \\ aci|aire additional lustre in the patriotic and hazardous enterprise in which yon are embarking I "Your friend, H. Clav. Tlic Bword was placed in the hands of Mr. W. T. Barry, a mutual friend, on tho day when tho letter was written, who nveyed It to Ooveruor Shelby, at Frankfort. '■ The reglnu'iits were officered respectively as follows: I.lentenant Colonels Trotter, Donaldson, Poague, Mountjoy, Idinlck, Davfiijiort, Paul, Calloway, Simrall, Barbour, and Williams. They were formed Into Ave brigades, under Brig- !:fr« Calmes, Chiles, King, Allen, and Caldwell. The whole were formed Into two divisions, under Major Generals w illian Henry and Joseph Deaha. W. T. Barry was appointed the governor's secretary, Thomas T. Barr judge advo- , :ic scneral, and Doctor A. J. Mitchell hospital surgeon. • The Portage Is a deep, sluggish st'cam. It rises in the Black Swamp, and flows between thirty and forty mile*. litre is a nood harbor at Port Clinton. ' lllack Hoof was a famous Shnwnoese chief. He was born In Florida, and remembered his tribe moving from there ■ ' rcnnaylvanla and Ohio. He was promhient In tho fight against Braddock In I'M, and was In all the Indian wars uiili the Americans In the Northwest toward the close of the last century, until the treaty of Greenville in liflS. Up to : ilui lime he had been the bitter enemy of the white man ; afterward he remained falthftil to that treaty. Tecnmtha ■ tried to seduce him, bnt failed, and by his Influence he kept a greater portion of his tribe from joining tho British hi I the War of ISI'2. He became the ally of the United States, bnt bodily Infirmity kept him f^om active service. In the in- I lUnce of his fHeudsblp just mentioned, he simply brought his people to camp, and left younger chiefs to conduct them I in the campaign. Mm IV. ^>- ii 3. 640 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Army crosses Luke Erie. It lands wlihont Opposition. VeuKeniice of the Kcutncltiiuis iind Fenrs of I'roctor and, and on tho 25tli they were upon the Middle Sister, an island containintf six or seven acres. Upon that small space almost five thousand men were encamped. The Kentuckians had left tlieir horses on the peninsula, and were acting as infanti-y.' The elements were iavoring. There was a fresh hreeze from the south, and General Har- rison and Commodore Perry sailed in the Ariel to reconnoitre the enemy at llaidcn They acc<)ni|ilished their ohject fully and returned at sunset. Directions wore at once given for the embarkation of the troops the next morning, and in a general or- der issued that evening, the place and manner of landing, the arrangement of the order of march, the attack on the foe, and other particulars, Avere prescribed with gi'cat minuteness. It Avas believed that the (Mieniy would meet them at the laiuliiur. place. This order was signed by E. P. (iaines, the adjutant general, and contaiiud the following exhortation: "The genei'al entreats his bi-ave troops to remember tliat they are the sons of sires whose fame is immortal ; that they are to fight for (ho ri"lits of their insulted cotintry, while their opponents combat for the unjust pretension^ of a master. Kentuckians! remember the Kiver liaisin ! but remember it o?*/y wliile victory is suspended. The revenge of a soldier can not be gratified upon a fallen enemy,"^ •> September, The filial embarkation took place on the morning of the 2Vth.'' Xo lovo- 1813. jjpj. ..xntumnal day ever dawned upon the earth. The sky was eloiulles-;, the atmosphere balmy, and a gentle breeze from the southwest lightly rippled thi waters. In sixteen armed vessels and almost one luindred boats that little ainuMvas put aflo.at. All was in motion at nine o'clock, and as the great flotilla moved north- ward toward the hostile shore, Harrison's stirring address was j-ead to the nun on each vessel. From these Avent up a hearty shout of Ilamson and Victori/, and then all moved on silently into the Detroit River. The sjiectacle was lieaiitil'iil and sublime. Hartley's Point, three or four miles below Amherstburg (Maiden), and opposite the lower end of Bois lilanc Island, had been selected by Harrison and Perry ax the landing-place. The debarkation took place at about tour o'clock, on a low, sandy beach there, which stretched out in front of high sand-drifts, behind which it was be- lieved the enemy lay concealed. The army landed in perfect battle order, the Ken- tucky Volunteers on the right, the regulars on the U;ft, and Ball's Legion and th" friendly Indians in the centre. But no enemy was there. I'roctor, who Avas in com- mand at Maiden, taking counsel <»f Prudence and Fear,^ and contrary to the solemn advice, earnest entreatie, and indignant remonstrances of his more coura<>eous broth- er officer Tecumtha,"* had fled northward Avith his army, and all that he could take ' There were not vessels enough to transport tho horses with forage, and they were left behind. A .strong fence of brnsh and fallen timber was constructed across the iathmii from near Port Clinton, a dLstance of not more tlian twn miles, maliiug the whole peniiisnia an inclosnre for ilie horpet l-i pasture in. One of ever)- twenty Kcutuckinns wm draft'-'d to form a guard for the horse?, and these were placed iimliT the command of Colonel Christopher Rife. 3 The terrible niiissacre at the River Fai.'^iii, and tho circnnif "i ccs attending it, inspired the Kentucliiimn with dim"-' savage desires for -.cngcance. Quo "f their songs s'.ina; aiound camp-Hres recounted the cruellies of the Indians .hi. the inhumanity of Proctor on that ■ tcasiou. The following if one of the slanzati : Freemen 1 no lonaer bear snoh slaughters; Avenge v . r country's cruel woe ; ArnuBO, ami ■a\!^ yonr wives and dnughters ! • iv • Arouse, and smltr the faithless foe 1 • CuoBus.— Scalps ■ ro bought at stated prices, Ma'i'eu pays the price in gold." ' Proctor, like the Kentuckians, rmembered the Ihrer Raimn, ami was afraid of fnlUng into f^ie hands of th"M vrhwe eons and brothers had he 'n butchered a few months before by hii* iiermissloii. His scouts had peen tho Amcriiaii* mi the Sandusky Penliisula, ■ i.il had reported their number ntji/tcni thmuaiid, at le.:st ten tbunsand nf whom weioKfc- tuckiaiin buni'iig with revrnge. The fear of these cave tieetness to bis feet. * The defeat and r.ipttire of the British sipitidron h.t<i i)et>n foolishly irniucaled f'om Tecumtha f'/f fear of itsd'raorali!- Irg effect on his sa» il'c followers. The Iiidian leader waf thcrefoic gr»«tly astonislu li -.vhiin hii . Iisened Prnctor pre\i>T- ing to flee. Re hnd l^"en delighted when the British veBsels went out to fight. He crossed ever to Bois BUni WunJ to WBtcb the fln iiijH.irancf of them returning willi the vinqnishBd American siiuadron— an apparition which Pm- tor's boastirt' made him believe would certainly be rv v, .led. lie was disappointed, bewildered, and perpleicil: BUfi, with giiiii \i i.<>mcncc of manner, he addressed Proctor, saying, "Father, I Men! Our fleet has gone out , we know th^.y have fought ; w. iiavB heard the great guM; bat wc iiiii" BOU^ — OF THE WAR OF 1812. 5-JT ;ar8 of I'roctot. Tbe Americana |parK«n. gaiMi lint we taw* rilj^iha^ scornful Kebuke «f Proctor. The British and Indians fly toward tbe with hini) leaving Fort Maiden, the navy buildingK. and tbe store-housea smoking ruins. As the Americans approached the town, wita Goverwr Shelby in advance, 'hev met, not valiant Jiritissli regulars nor painted wavajjf^^but a ' roop of modest, well- hcssed women, who came to implore mercy and protet-.ion. Tbt- kind-hearted vet- eran soon calmed their fears. The army entered AmherstUurg with the bands play- iiiiY Yaiiliee Boodle. The loyal iidiabitants had fUA w't" ' army. The ruins of port Maiden, the dock-yard, and the public stores wer - ^ u]> iMfc^c volumes of smoke. _ * _ _ Proctor had impi'essed into his service all the horwK of the itihabitants to facilitate his fliffht, yet Harrison wrote courageou^i v to the S-cretary v*' War, on the evening after his arrival at Amherstburg," sayhig, • I will pursue the «»emy to- • September 27, morrow, although there is no probability '^4" overtakin)^ him, as he lias '*"*• upward of a thousand horses, and we lia\«' not one in the army. I shall think my- self fortunate to collect a sufficiency to nvmnt the general ofHcers." Only one, and tiiitt a Canadian pony, was procured, and «»« that the venerable Shelby was mounted. When Harrison's vanguard arrived at AuihrfTstburg, the rear-guard of the enemy had not been gone an hour. Colonel Ball immediately sent an officer and twenty of his cavalry after them, to prevent tli.m destroying the bridge over the Aux Canards, or Ta-ron-tee. They had just fin . it when the Americans appeared. A single vol- ley scattered the incendiaries, and the bridge was saved. The ne.\t morning Harri- son's army, excepting a regiment of riflemen under Colonel Smith left at Amlierst- burg, crossed it, and encanijx'd in tlie Petit Cote Settlement,' and at two o'clock on the 29th they entered Sandwich. At the same time the American flotilla reached Detroit; and on the, following day, Colonel Johnson and his mounted regim.'iit ar- rived tlure. M'Arlhur, wil'i seven hundred eftective men, had already crossed over, ihiven off a body of Indians who were hovering around the place, and retaken the town. General Ilarrison had also declared the martial law enforced by Proctor at an end, and the civil government of Michigan re-established, to the great joy of the inhabitants.^ On the arrival of Johnson the general-in-chief sent on one of his aids-de-camp. Captain 0. S. Todd,^ to order the colonel to cross immediately with his troops, for he nothing of what has happened to our father with one ami tCriptain Barclay]. Our ships have Koiie one way, and we aif much astonished to sec our lather tyiiiK up every thing, and jjreparing to run the other way, without letting his red tliililrcn know what his intentions arc. You always told us to remain here and take care nf our Innds. You always told ns you woalrt never draw your foot off British ground ; but now, father, wc see you arc drnxflng back, and we arc (orry to fee our father doing no without seeing the enemy. We must compare our father's conduct to a fat dog that curries its tail upon its back, bat when alTrighted It drops it between Its legs and runs oft. "Fatlier,li»tenl The Americans have not yet defeated us by land, neither arc we sure that thev have done so by iialer; itelher^are loi'nA to remain hfrc nrA Jieiht onr eiicm;/, Hhould tlieii nuike thrir appcarawe. If tliev defeat us we ' i\\ iki mreat v'ith our father. . . . Youhii.o got the arms and ammunition which our groat father, the king, sent .'ui his red fliildren. if yon have an Idea of going away, give tlicm to us, and you may go and w(>Iconie for us. Our lives are in ihc hauda of the Great Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and. If It be his will, we wish to leave our lune , upon them." This speech was addressed to Proctor at a ronncil held on the ISth of September in one of the store-houses at Am- hersthiirg. Its efle<t was powerful. The IiKliaus all started ti> their feet, and brandished their tcunahawks In a men- .itini; manner. Proctor had resolved to flee to the Niagara frontier, hut this demonstration maiie him hesitate. He Snilly (luietcd Tecumtha and his followers by promising to fall back only to the Moravian Towns, on the Thames, and ihere malte a stand. These were about half way between Amher.slburg and the outposts of tlie centre division of the Wlish nrray, on the western borders of Lake Ontario. On the day of the conncll Prortor left Amherstburg with a large ftiti'dii (if his r.irce. Mnjor Wurburlon remained, charged wltli destroying the public property on the appearance of lie Aii:ericans. ■ See Maj) on jinge '.'«(). ' iitfoi ^ the Americans landed, the joyons Inhabitants ran nj) the United States flag. They had suffered dreadfiilly. Fornioiilhs thf insolent savagr-s had made tiicir dwellings (ice qu.utcrs. When they fled ; e Indians tired the fort. TbeH.imc.i wore "i on extinguished. ' ilarriaon'j gallant aid-de-eamp, Charles Scott Todd, is yet [ISeT] 'Iving in his n..tlve state, Kentucky, where he was l»ni oil the i'ia of January, 1701. I met him In W.ishington ('ity at near the close of ISdl, wher. he wa^ almost seven- ivoiie years of agi;. llii mcnif.l and physical vigor seemed equal to those of most men at fifty, ile was there lO offer Mfwnkc '« the field t<i Ids government In Its war again.^t the (lieat Kcliclliop. Colonel Todd is one of the mostem- iaentof the public servants of this country. Ho was edncntcd at the College "f \i'llllam and M.iry, in VlrL'inla. where hfitasi:r(i.iuated with dlstlm-Jon In ISOi). Law oecnnie liia profession, but cr, the brj.ikliig out ,)f the war he entered : lltt military service as ensign of a company of vr.lnntceis raised for Ilarrison at Lexington, wtiere ho was engaged in j ki< [irofesiilmi. He became acting quarter-nir.ster and Judge advocate of Winchester's wing of the Northwestern Army, : ud Willi cjceudlngly active ia the wUderneas. " Ub combined," said Uarrisou »l taai time, " the ardor of yoiUh wlik 648 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Johnsuii find hlB Horsemen cross Detroit River. Vlgoroiia Pursuit of the British. Perry's Squadron In the Thamej 'was resolved to push on in pursuit of the enemy as quickly as possil)U.. ]j(, calletl a council of his general oHioers informed them of his intention and consulted with them concernincr \]^^ best route to pursue, only two IjciiK- feasible, namely, by land in rear of tho British, or by Lake Erie to Lou" Vm^ wlierc the Americans miglit make a rapid march across the country, and intercept the fugitives. The land route was chosen. Johnson and his mounted men cross- ed the river to Sandwich on the even- ing of the 1st," and on tiie .qco^ following morning the j)ur- '*"• ' suit M'as ex)mmenced. M'Artluir ami his brigade were left to hold Detroit' Cass's brigade and Ball's regiment were left at Sandwich ; and ahnut one hundred and forty regulars, JolinsonV mounted corps, and such of Slielljv's Kentucky Volunteers as were fit ihr long and rapid marches, the wliolc three thousand live hundred in number, left Sandwich, and pressed ou toward Clia*- ham, on the Thames,' near which, it was alleged. Proctor was encam])ed. Geinial Marquis Calmes, and Adjutant General Gaines were compelled by illness to reiiiiiiu iit Sandwich; and General Cass accompanied Harrison as volunteer aid. Information had been received two days before'' that some sinall v . " fleptomber 30. , . , , , -,, , i sels, Vt'itn the enemy s artillery and baggage, were escaping uj) Lalce^t. Clair toward the Tliames, when Commodore Perry dispatched a povtion of his sqiuii]. ron, consisting of the N^iagara, Lady Pi'evost, (Scorpion, and Tii/ress, under Cajitain Elliott, in pursuit. Perry soon followed in the Ariel, accompaniee. by the Caledinih ; and on the day when Harrison left Sandwich*^ the little squadron appea-eii oft" the mouth of the Thames, having in charge the baggnge, provisions, ani ammunition-wagons of the American army. Th'! enemy's vessels, having iiiiuli tin start, escaj>ed up the Thames.- Proctor seems not to have expected pursuit by land, and the Americans found all the bridges ov«'r the streams that fall into Lake St. Clair uninjiiieu. Harrison jiic's-tl the maturity of sge." In May, 1113, he was commlpsloned a captain In the Vnltcd States army, and IlnrrlBoii nppoliiK! him hie aid. His oonduct in llio campaign in the autnmn of that year was highly commendeil, cspecliiliy at llntanlt on the Thames. He sui cecilcd Major HukiU as deputy Inspector general of tlie Klgluli Military l)i8tri< ■., and was .1(1;: lant general of the district the followln'; year, when he served with General M'Arllmr with great accei)tnuce. Hi k- came iusiwctor general in March, isift, with the rank of colonel, Imt left the army in .lune following ; and after tlie n j Harrlsim said that "Colonel Toiiil was equal In bravery and superior in intelligence to any ofllrer of his raukio iht army." He resumed hie prn^ lire of the law r.t Krnnkfort, where he married a daughter of Governor Sliclliy. He sooi I became secretary of slate, tin n a meml)er of the Legislature, and was tlnally sent by President Monroe on a coniiiiemld ] mission to Colombia, South .'.inerlca- His services there were very important. In the spring of lR4fl he assisted, liy rt- iinesi, in the preparation o' a Mfe of General Harrison, and, as editor of a Cincinnati paper, he warnilv advocated fc general's election to the iiiesidency. In the summer of 1841 he was appointed United Stales minister to Rufsia.mt j served his eouiilry in that capacity to the perfect satisfaction of both governments. It was while he was there Ibatltt portrait from whi'h the above likeness was talcen was painted. In private, as In public life, Colonel Todd is a miit'. uf A Christian gentlvman. ' This consldornlile stream was called Im TVamhf by the French. It is sometimes called the Trait, but now Ukiic?! only by the name of Thames. In the poetic epigraph to this chapter it is called Im Tranrhf. ' M'Afee (page I'Xl) says that when the American armv arrived at the mouth of the Thames, an eagle was »fcu h"- ering over it. "Tliat," said Ilarri.wn, " is e presage of success." Perry, who had landed and was wtlli the goceral, remarked that an eagle hovered over his squadron on ilie morning of the inth of SJcplcmbei. OF THE WAU OF 1812. 649 * Octohfr, 1S13. an ia the Thamo in pursuit of possiljk'. Hi, iieral oSicers, iitentiou, uH mceniiiig the ly two bciii" in rear of tlic ,0 Long Toiiit, iiij^ht make a country, \m\ The luud vwiw itod mon cross- li on the evoii- 1 the })ur- M' Arthur and ) hohl Detroit; lall's regiment and ahont one ihirs, JolmsonV ich of Slii'Uiy's as ■wore tit for hes, the wliolc u toward Clia'- mped. GeiRMiil llness to remain lid. some small v )ing n|> Luke St. 1011 of his s(|uail' |, nndor ("ajitaiii the Caledonin : adron appoiireii , provihiims, anil aving much tlie h'lcans found all iLirrisoupros^i'il ! Ind HiirrlBou a;)piiiiiieJ i lcsi)ei'iiil!j' !it llii> iun't ll)istrif.,iiiul«f nil;-; Int (icceptancc. Hr K-- Iln(,'; aiidoftiTllicra leer of his rauklnltii j Irnor Sli<'ll>y. Ue » I li)nrnn on a oontUtntid I llR4nhens8i8'.cil,n,vrt- warmlv ndvocaleil Ik Inlnlstcr toRui-sia.ao'l lolic wiiiillien'lhalllif I iloncl Todd 1« a modt! hreiO, but now is km" j Ian eaijle wae m« li"'- 1 IwaBwUh lkgciier«l.| Pursuit up the Thames^ A Halt at DolHen's. The Amerlcau Truopu at Chatham, forward rapidly along the good road by the boi'ders of the lake for twenty miles, when seven British deserters informed him that Proctor, with seven hundred white men and twelve hnndred Indians, was encamped at Dolsen's farm, ahont fifteen miles from the mouth of the Thames, on its right or noi'thern bank, and fifty-six miles from Detroit by water. This information stimulated the Aniericaiis to greater exertions, I ^vlien they halted at night on the banks of the Kuscom, they had marched twen- tv-tivc miles from Sandwich. At dawn the next morning the ])ursnit was renewed, ind near the month of the Th.ime8 Johnson's regiment captured a lieutenant of dra- ,T(i(iiis and eleven privates, who had just commenced the destruction of a bridge over ■1 small tributary of the river. This was the first intimation to ILarrison that Proc- tiir was aware of the pursuit. Tlie capture of this little party was considered r, good , linen. The pursuit was continued, and that night the Americans encamped on Drake's farm, on the lefl bank of the Thames, about four miles below Dolsen's. The iScoi-jnon, commanded by the gallant Champlin, the Tigress, and the Porcupine., had followed the army up tlie river as convoys to the transports, and to cover the passage of the tiooiis over the mouths of the tributaries of the Thames, or of the river itself. At this tioini the character of the stream and its banks changed. Below, the channel «as hroad, the cur- rent sluggish, and the .-::^lr^^ siiores were extended ; ' Hat prairies ; here the country became hilly, the banks high and precipitous, the chan- icl narrow, and the c:rrent rapid. On these accounts, and hecausc of the expo- -ure of the decks to Iiiilian sharp-shooters from the lofty wooded hanks, it was conclud- eil not to take the ves- sels higher than Dol- sen's, Perry now left tl'.e vessels, ofl'ered his services us volunteer aid to General Harri- son, and Joined the army In the exciting pursuit of the fugitives. Harrison pressed forward on the morning of the 4th. Proctor fled up the Thames iiom Dolscu'.-i, cursed by Tecumtha for his cowardice, to Chatham, two and a half miles, where an impassable stream, called M'tiregor's Creek, flows into the Thames hetween steep banks. There Proctor j)romised Tecumtha he would make a final stand, " Here," he said on his arrival, " we will defeat Harrison or lay our bones." Tliese words pleased the wavv',or, and he regarded the position as a most favorable one. " When I look on these two streams," he said, "I shall think of the AV abash .md the Tippecanoe." A l)ri<lge at the mouth of tlie creek, and another at M'GregoiV mill, a mile above, had been partially dastroyed, and a consiilerablc body of Indians ■"''^'■;'i. . I>OL8EN*8,I ' The above skotrh if a vlow of Dolsen's lioii-3e, made whpii I visited the spot in the nntninri of 18(10. Il is a hewn kif Mructnrc, and atands very near the rljjht or north haiiU nf ihc Thames. It Is aoout two miles and a half iiclow Chatham. The owner snd resident there In isia, Isaai' Dolsen, Ksq., was then living in Chatham, but was absint at Ihe llmc of my visit He was then about clRhty years of a^e. He and his brother .Tohn were natives of the Molinwi; V«llpy, of Dutch desec't. On their return, after the battle some miles above, tlic Amerlcon army eniiimpell on the farm iitJiihii,haira mi''' mcIow Isaac's. The Tlianies Is here sluggish, and about three hundred yard* wide. m 4 650 rici^lffjetiL flkirmiah 8t M'Onwor'a Mill. DeM^»ili)t» aT Tiii p uMi, Thy Brltl«fa nearly overtnk^ VUIW »1 JLUXIO.N op ,41: THAMES AKD H'OSEUOBB CREKK. > ^•'^?t£i« wwre at each, to dispute the pamugfc of the pursiKTs or tbttir attempts to make re- fairs. Two six-pound n\\. iiTidi I thcflimitioiiof ,r^' VVood, soon drovi tliOBii. /' 'omthf liridrr, at ('WAtimuu and a dash nt (V/lonel Jolinson and his liorsemen upon the dusky foe at M'Grejtor's also stu't tliem flying after Proctor, JohiiHon lost two men kill. ed and six or Bcvcn wound- ed, The Indians had thir- teen killed and a larf'c miinbor wounded. Botli bridges were speed- ily repaired, and the troops were abowt Vr pns'h forw^ird, when Walk-in-tlie-water, the Wyandot chief ahc.iK mentioned, who iw^ left tht- banner of I'l'iH'tric Willi NJufy warriors, c/Mt\^ to Har- rison anil i\\\'i'iit\ III loin )iis army condi- tionally. The general iiad no I'liiir Ut treat ^♦H)) the Bavage, so ho told him tiitii St iw \i'\\ '|'|i('limlliil he must 'vcepout oftlie way ol'llie American army, f (<• ^id so, and re- ttirned (ii the Detroit River. Tlie enemy sjyread destrnclion in theii flight. Near Cliatham 'ley Hred a hoiis' containing almost a thonsand muskets. The flames were (juenched and the arms were saved. Half a mile flirther np the river they burned one of their own ves- sels laden with ordnance and military stores; and o](posite Bowles's farm, where Harrison mcamped, two more vessels and a distillery, containing ordnance, naval and military stores, and other property ol';in;it value, were in flames. The Americans secured two 24-pounders and a cpiautityot shot and shell. Certain intelligence was received that the enemy were only a few miles distant, and tlial night Harrison intrenclied his camp and set a double guard. At midnight Proctcn- and Tecumtha reconnoitred the camp, but prudently refraineJ from attacking it. 1 Tills sketch Is a view of the junction of tlie Thames and M'Gregor's Creek, from the i)re8eut bridge nt Challiani, looking lip the river. The Thonies Is seen on the left, and M'are;{or's Creek on the right. The ujiper tern utidii of ihc l)rl<l|;c, mentioned In the text, was betwein the two clump.') of trees on the bliifT. In the distance is sceu llu' cniir: hoHfi' und Jail of Chatham. On the flat belwoen it and the creek the British built two or three gun-bontK, nndcrlhi superinteiidcnce of Captain liakcr, the Kami person who constructed the barirn that bore M'as'iingtoii from Kliznlnih- town to New Y(nk in ITS'.i, wli-n going there to be iuaugiiniied President of the XTnlted .'^lalef^. Lookiu); bcydnd llir point of the blnlT, up the Thames, Is seen the residence of Henry .Tones. II is upon the site of llie bulidinj:, meiiliim ! ill the text, 111 which were e larpe quantity of muskets saved from tlic llanies by the .\nieric,ins. Farther up the fin mi lay a sunken steam-jioat, that craft being in the habit of plyin;: between Detroit and Chatham. On the opposite eide of the Thames is seen a tannery. The iilain on which tlie gnn-boats were built is now a ml!ifHry rcFSrve. ' This little skelrli siiows the appearance of the ruins of M'flreiror'smill when I visited 't in the autumn of 1S60. Tbc timbers of Ihc ends of the dam are seen on the shores. The bridge carried by Johnson cros?ed liie Hlmam vitv licit the mill. In this view wc are looking oast from the southwest uidu uf thu creek. Abeautifully shaded rainc, withi ■mall creek, Is seen here. .y oitKoims .Mii.i,. ■■rtjr o»f rtnken. dispute the pursiuTB ov to make re- ^-pound f'tui- clirectioii of ^oon (Irovi intlicliriilm id a dash nf on and lii> 11 tllL' (liiskv ar's also sent ftcr Proctnr. ,wo iiicn kill- leven wouiul- aiis had tliir- iiid a lar!.'p ded. 's wore speed- lid the ti(Mi]i« chief alreiiK I quaiiliiy "f 've only a t'lvi d:)iihle !iu:iril. nilly n'fraiiicil biidfre (it Chalham, liper k'rr ' itii'U «f ic« Is BCC'ii lh« com!- ;ini-l>i)Bti', under lt( jtoii from Eliinliclh- LdDkliijibcjomltk' l)ullilinfr, meiili""'! arthpr up the fWm the oppodlwi''"' srvc. mtumnoflSW. The llip Rtream virymir liaded ravine, wUbi OF THE WAK OF 1812. HI 551 The fugitive BrltlBh and Indlniis discovered. The chusen Battle-^rouud. Tecumtba'a cbief Lleutenaut. The Americans were in motion at dawn, the mounted lortimeuts in front, led by reiH'Viil Harrison and his; staff. The Kentuckians, under Shelby, iV.Mowed. They soon eai)tured two of the enemy's gun-boats and several bateaux, with army supplies and iinmunition, and several prisoners. At nine o'clock they reached Arnold's Mill, at the foot of rapids, where the Thames Avas fordable by horses. There Harrison de- termined to cross the river and tbllow directly in the rear of Proctor. The mounted men each took one of the infantry behind him, and at meridian, by this means and the liatcaux the whole American army was on the north side of the Thames, and press- ,,, y„ viijrorously after the fugitives. Every where on the way evidences of the pre- uitation of the retreat were seen in property abandoned. \t two o'clock, when eight miles from the crossing place, the Americans discovered e smouldering embers of the recently-occupied camp of the enemy's rear-guard, un- ,.r Colonel Warburton. It was evident that the fugitives were nearly overtaken. (iilonol .Toiin«^*>n dasheil forward to gain intelligence. Within about three miles of the .Moravian Town' he captuied a British wagoner, and from him learned that Proc- lor had halted across the pathway of the pursuers, only three hundred yards farther (,ii. Johnson, with ]\[ajor James Suggett and his spies, immediately advanced cau- tiously, und found the enemy awaiting the arrival of the Americans in battle order, lie obtained sufficient information resjiecting their position to enable General ITarri- «\n and a council of officers, held on horseback, to determine the proper order for at- t;nk. His force was now little more than three thousand in number, consisting of one hundred and twenty regulars of the 27th Regiment, five brigades of Kentucky mhinteers under Governor Shelby, and Colonel Johnson's regiment of mounted iii- .iitry. The ground chosen by the enemy to make a stand was M^ell selected. On his left IS ('u ilivcr Thames, with a high and precipitous bank, and on his right a marsh iintiiii(( ii\uiii:*l paralh I with the river for about two miles. Between these, and two iml (hree iiiin<lred yiinlH hnin l](b river, was a small swamp, quite narrow, with a iil|i of solid (fniiind between l( uiid the large ' fsh. The ground over which the >;k1 liiy, and liidt'cd Mn *vhole spiu'c between river and the great swamp, was iivered with beech, sugar-maple, and oak trees, with very little undergrowth. The llrilisli regulais (a piirt of the Forty-tirst Kegiinent) were formed in two lines, be- tween till' sm-dl swamp and the river, their artil' ly behig planted in the road near iiebank of the stream. The Indians were postetl between the two swamps, where lie undergrowth was thicker, their right, commanded by the brave Oshawahnah,'* ,; Chippewa ciiief, extending sciue distance along and just within the borders of the larger niarsli, and so disposed as to easily flank Harrison's left. Their left, command- ' This village is in tiio townsliip of Oxford, Caiiiida West, on the right bank of the Thames. The settlers were In- dians converted to Chrlstlnulty by the Moravians, who fled to Canada from the Muskingum, in Ohio, in 17'Jli. By an order of the Provincial Council In IT'.tlt, a large tract of land, comprisin)» about ttfty thousand acres, was granted for Itieir II6C, on which they proceeded to build a church and villace. The Rev. John Scott, of Bethlehem, ministered there for some lime. At the period we are consldcrinjj; this Christian-Indian vllliijrc had nearly one hundred houses, mostly well built. liiW.y of the Indians spoke Kn^jllsh. They had a scliool-houso and a chapol, and very rtne gardens. Village aud crops were destroyed by the American troops. It havlni' '.,een allegod that eonic of the Indians iCsldIng there had beoi' .'icmost In the massacre on the Raisin. In isao the Indians surrendered a large i)i)rtlon of their lands to tnc Ca- ladian government, for an annuity of one hundred and tifty pounds Btcrlliig. The present Moravian Tov.u Is back from ilic Thames, about a mile and a half from the original site. ' The likeness on the next page of this chief, Tccumtha's lleutenaut, or fecond in command, in the battle on the Thames, is from a daguerreotype taken from life at Brantford, in Canada, in Seplcmher, ISTiS, and pre.«entcd lo mo by G. 11. M. .Iiihnson, chief of the Six Nations on the Orand River (see page i-n), in the summer of tSCO. Tlie old chief at- tended a grand council of all the Indians in Canada, at Brantford, and was the guest of Mr. .lohnson. In tli" council ho appeared with all .i s testimonials of bravery— his " stars and gartiMs"-ns scon in the picture. Arou -d his hat was a filler l)au('. He also displayed a sliver go' .-et, medals, etc., a sash of bead-work, strings of wam|)uia, and an orna- menteil tomahawk pipe, like the one on iiage -t'.'l. He was then about ninety years of age. He had been a famous war- rior—the hero of tlfteeu battles. He was a mild-spoken, pleasant man, very vigorous in mind and body. lie was yet 'Iviiig in ISdl, the principal of seven or eight chiefs, on Walpole Island, In Lake St. Clair, opposite the town of Algomac, Michigan, llfty miles above Detroit. Walpolp Island Is about ten miles in length. The Indians are Chippewas, I'otta- ■(atomies, and Oltawae. They were settled hero by the Indian Agent of lh« British government at the close of the War "flite. They were placed in charge of a superintendent In is.ii). The number now (1S<)7) Is about one thousand. ■''VlrprluclpBl business Is huulirig In the country around the Canadian borders of Lake St. Clair. 552 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Ilarrlson'ii Arrangcmciita fur Battle. The British Llue of Battle. OHUAWAU.NAll. ed in person by Tecumtha, occupied the isthmus, or narrowest point be- tween the two swamps. In the disposition of his army for battle, General Harrison made arianrr,,. raents for the horsemen to full bmi; allow the infantry to make tlie attaik and then charge upon the British lines. For this puiijose General Cainus's brigade, five hnndred strong, undir Colonel Trotter,* was placed in the front line, which extended from the road on the right toward the greater marsh. Parallel with these, one Imnd- red and fifty yards hi the rear, was (4eneral John E. King's brigade, and in the rear of this was General David (^hile's brigade, posted as a reserve. These three brigades were under the command of Major General Ileniv. Two others (James Allen's and Cald- well's^) and Simrall's regiment, form. ing General Desha's^ division, vm formed uj)on the left of the front line, so as to hold the Indians in check ami prevent a serious flank movement by them. At the crotchet ft)rmed by Desha's corps and tlie front line of Henry's division (sec map on page 554), the venerable Gover- nor Shelby, then sixty-six years of age, took his position. In front of all these was Johnson's mounted regiment in two columns (one under the colonel, and the other commanded by his brother James, the lieutenant colonel''), its riglit extendiiif; to witliiirfifEy^yaitls of the road, and its left resting on the smaller swamp. A small corps of regulars, under Colonel Paul, about one hundred and twenty in numl)or, were posted between the road and the river for the purpose of advancing in concert with some Indians imder the wooded bank, to attempt the capture of the enemy's cannon, Tliese Indians, forty in number, were to stealthily gain the British rear, fire upmi them, and give them the fearful impression that their own savage allies had turned upon them. Tlie defection of Walk-in-the-water would be instantly remembered. When every preparaticm for attack was completed. Major Wood, who had just been reconnoitring the enemy's position, informed General Harrison that the British lines were drawn up in open order. This information induced the general, contrary 1 George Trotter wns then licntenniit colonel. He was a captain In Simrall's regiment, and was lUstlngnlshcil nn! womided in the action of Colonel Campbell at the Mississinlwa Towns in December, ISI'2. He was acting brlgailior general in the battle on the Thames. lie was a native of Kentucky, and died at Lexington, in that state, on tlic 13th of October, 1315. ' Samuel Caldwell was a distinguished Kentuckian. He was a major of Kentucky levies in 1T91, and diBtingiilfhed himseli' with Wilkinson In the Wabash country in August of that year. lie was lieutemiut colonel commaudlii); vdlnn- tecrs in the autumn of 1S12, and was in General Green Clay's brigade the following year. He was made brigadier geu- erril of volunteers in August, ISl,'!, and r-> such comn-anded in the battle on the Thames. ' Jotepli ncsha was a descendant Mt'i Huguenot family. He was born In Western Pennsylvania in December, Ki'\ and emigrated to Kentucky, with his laaier, in 17S1. In 171)0 he settled permanently in Mason County, Kentuck.v. H performed military service under Wayne in 17M and 'M, having, at the early age of fifteen, been engaged in coiillii; with the Indians. He represented Mason County in the State Legislature, and In ISIO was "lioseu a member of Con- gress, his only military service in the sVar of 1812 was under Harrison in the campaign in Canada. In lS241ie»a< elected governor of Kentucky, and held the office four years. He then retired to private llfb. He died at OeorgcloMi, Scott County, on the Uth of October, 1S42. * The spirit of the Keutnckians who formed thot corps may bo Inferred by the fact that Lie itenant ColonelJamM Johnson had with lilm his two sons, Kdwnrd P. and Willlnm, the one feventecn and the other only flftcsn yci.."8 of age. James Johnson was a representative In Congress In 1S25 and '20. Ho died In August, 1820. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 553 ChMgeofBattleOrder^ Battlo of the Thames. Flight of Proctor. to all precedent, to incur the peril of changing the prescribed mode of attack at 1 hst moment. Instead of having Henry'a division fall upon the British front, he the hst momeiii. insiuitu ui nuving nvmy a uiviBiuii liiii mjiMi iiiu uriiiHii jiuiii, iio Or- dered Johnson to charge their line with his mounted riflemen.' That gallant oflicer made immediate preparations for the bold movement, but found the space between the river and the small swamp too limited for his men to act efliciently. In the ex- ercise of discretion given him, he led his second battalion across the little swamp to attack the Indian left, leaving the first battalion, under his brother James and Major Payne, to fall upon the British regulars. The latter were immediately formed in four columns of double files, with Major Suggett and his two hundred spies in front. Col- onel Johnson formed the second battalion in t wo columns, in front of Shelby, with a company of footmen before him, the right column being headed by himself, and the l(>ft by Major David Thompson. Harrison, accompanied by Acting Adjutant Gen- oral Butler,^ Commodore Perry, and General Cass, took position on the extreme right, near the bank of the river, where he could observe and direct all movements. A bii"'lc sounded, and the Americans immediately moved forward with coolness and precision in the prescribed order, amoni? huge trees, some undergrowth, and over fallen timber. They were compelled to move slowly. When at some distance i'rom the front line of the British regulais, the latter opened a severe fire. The horses ut'the mounted Keiituckians were frighten- ed recoiled, and produced some confusion at the head of the columns. Before order was restored, anotlicr volley came from the enemy. With a tremendous shout the American cavalry now boldly dashed upon the British line, broke it, and scattered it in all directions. The second line, thirty |i;ices in the roar, was broken and confused in tlic same way. The horsemen now wlieeled right and left, and poured a de- stnictive fire upon the rear of the broken coinmns. The terrified foe surrendered as fast as they could throw down their arms, and in less than five minutes after the first shot of the battle Avas fired, the whole British force, more than eight hundn d strong, were totally vanquished, and most of thiin made prisoners. Only about fifty men and a single officer (Lieutenant Bullock), nt'thc Forty-first Regiment, escaped. Proctor fled in his carriage, with his personal ^lafl; a few dragoons, and some mounted Indians, hotly pursued by a part of John- son's corps under Major Payne. " When Proctor anw lost wns the day, He fled La Tranche's plain ; A carriage bore the chief away, Who ne'er rctunied again."— Old Sono. Tlie battle on the right was over before the advancing, columns of General Henry were fairly mi sight of the combatants. When the bugle sounded for attack on the right, the notes of another on the left rang out on the clear autumn air. Colonel Johnson and the second battalion of his VIEW O.N THE TUA.ME8-' 1 The measure," said General Harrison, in his report to the Secretary of War on the «th of October, " was not sanc- tlonodby any thing that I had seen or heard of, but 1 was fully convinced that it would succeed. The American back- woodsmen ride better in the woods than any other people. A mnsket or rifle is no impediment, they being accustomed tocirryliip; Ihoni on horseback from their earliest youth. I was ijersuaded, too, that the enemy would be qiUte unpre- pirort for the shock, and that they conld not resist it." 'Weehall meet Adjutant Robert Butler hereafter in the battle of Now Orleang. 'Thl8Ylo-.v ia from the road-side, on the hieh rive- l)ank, at the point where the British left rested on the Tliames, ana a few rods from the residence occupied by Mr. Wa ts. ! » ill '1 1 1 ■ i! j i; • \; ill !f 11 !'■ ■' li||' i 'Wi :iiil 554 nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Contest with tho Iiidiiius. The Fight n flerco one. The 8Bv»){e» Attuiti. troops moved against the Indians almost simultaneously with the attack on the Brit- ish line. The savages, under the immediate command of Tecumtha, reserved tlieir fire until the Americans were Avitliin a few paces of them, when tliey hurled a ninsf deadly shower of bullets upon tiiem, prostrating a greater i)ortiou of the vanifuard or forlorn hope, and wounding Colonel Johnson very severely. "Sudden, from tree and tliickct srecn, From trunk, nud mound, nnd 'junhy screen, Hharp llghtiiin<{ flashed with in>>tunt sbeeu, A tbousiuid death-bolts sung 1 Like ripcu'd fruit before the blast. Rider and horse to earth were cast, Its miry roots among ; Then wild, as If that earth were riven. And, poured beneath the cope of heaven, All bell to upper air was given, One fearful whoop was rung ; And, bounding each from covert forth. Burst ou their front the demon birth." The branches of the trees and the undergrowth in this part of the field were too thick to allow the mounted riflemen to do much service on horseback. PeiceiviiKr this, Johnson ordered them to dismount, and carry on the conflict on foot at close \ rtOMPSCv""' ''■'■'• - ■ '/ .. Cs J-' -' S) PIS llj ItBRITISHAtia * ^. -5^ .' Jl ^ Us II II WDIANS 1UTT1.E OV THE THAMES. quarters. For seven or eight minutes the battle raged furiously, and there were many hand-to-hand fights between the Rentuckians and savages, Avhile the foniifv raised the fearful cry, at times, " Kemember the River liaisin !" Victory was poiseil for a while. Perceiving this, Shelby ordered Lieutenant Colonel John Donaldson's regiment to the support of Johnson, and directed General King to press forward to the front with his brigade. The Indians had already recoiled from the shock ot'tlu Kentucky rifles, and only a part of Donaldson's regiment participated in tl-e fiirlit. Tlie savrges fled, and a scattering, running fire was kept up for some time aloMg tin swamp in front of Desha's division, and by the fugitives pursued by Major Tiiomp^ra and his men. Other movements were ordered by Governor Shelby, but the Iiuliaiis had given up the contest, and the battle was over before they could be efi'ected. Tlie «v OF THE WAR OF 181: 655 IlKjpe of Proctor. Death ofTecumttaa. Who killed Tecnmthar amp, and paf an allies of the British scattered througli the forest in rear of the greater sw: wliilt' Proctor and his few followers were tlyinj; like hunted doer before Payne Ills horsciiieii, who imrsncd hiiu fur beyond tlie Moravian Town, killing sonic Indians, (•■ii)tiiiiii'4 some ])risoners, and securing valuable s))()ils. Among the latter were six brass cinnion, three of wiiieii were taken from the Jiritisli in tlie War of the Uevolu- ijon and were retaken from Hull at Detroit. Majors John Payne, E. D.Wood, ('. S Todil John Chambers, and A. L. Langham, and Lieutenants Seroggin and Hell, with three )irivatC8, continued the pursuit of the fugitive general until dark, bub could not overtake him. lie abandoned his carriage, left the road, and escajied by some liv-nath. Within twenty-four hours he was sixty-tive miles from the battii uround ! liis carriage, sword, and valuable papers were captured by Major Wood.' and the party returned to i\[oravian Town, taking with them sixty-three prisonei -. They t'ouiid the little village deserted. So panic-stricken were some of the women that, when they left, being unable to carry tlieir children in their flight, they threw tliem into the Thames to prevent their being butcheri'd by the Americans I^ The loss in this short, sharp, and decisive battle was not large. The exact nundicr was not ascertained. That of the Americans was ])robably about fifteen killed and thirty wounded. The British lost about eighteen killed, twenty-six wounded, and six hnnilred made prisoners; of these, twenty-five were officers. Harrison estimated the ;,uml>er of small-arms taken from the enemy during the pursuit and the battle, with those destroyed by them, at more than five tliousand, nearly all of Avhich had been captnred from the Americans at Detroit, Frenchtown, and Dudley's defeat on the Mauince. The Indians left thirty-three of tlieir dead on the field. How many they lost by death and wounds in the contest was never ascertained. Tecumtha, their irroat leader, and really great and noble man, all things considered, was among the slain. He Avas much superior to Proctor in manhood, military genius, and courage, nml is wortliy to be remembered witli jirofoiind respect. He was killed early in the action, while ins})iriting his men by words and deeds. Tradition and History relate that he had just wounded Colonel Jolinson with a rifle-bullet, and was springing for- ward to dispatcli him \a ith his tomahawk, wlicn that oflicer drew a pistol from his licit and shot the Indian through the head. " The moment was feiuful ; n mij,'litier foe Ilml ne'er swung his battle-nxc o'er him ; But hope nerved his urm for ii ilciipernte blow, And Tcciimthn fell prostrnle before him. Ifc fought In defense of his kindred and king, With a spirit most loving and loyal, And long shall the Indian warrior "ijig The deeds of Tecumtlia the roj-al." The statement of tradition and history has been made in enduring marble by the sculptor on Johnson's monument in the cemetery at Frankfort, Kentucky.^ It has hoen questioned, and positively denied , and during the political campaign when Johnson was a candidate for the chair of Vice-President of the United States, the (|ucstion caustid much warm discussion. Johnson, it is said, never affirmed or denied the story. He killed an Indian under the circumstances and in the manner just re- lated, on the spot where two red warriors, stripped naked, were found after the bat- ik, one of whom it was believed was Tecumtha.'' ' In « letter to the author, Captain Stanton Sholes (see page 641), who was in the battle of the Thames, says, " I had « very pleasant ride back to Detroit in Proctor's beautiful carriage. I found in it a hat, a sword, and a trunk. The l.ittcr contained many letters, mostly written in the handsomest writing I ever saw, by Proctor's wife to her 'dear Henry.'" ' "I had this fact," says Samuel R. Brown, in his Vieica on Lake Erie, page 63, " from an American gentleman who was It C^ford when Proctor and vhe Indians passed through there. The squaws were lamenting the loss of their children." ' Sec page 4!>«. • Tlio solution of the question, "Who killed Tecumtha V" is of no historic Importance, yet. It having been the subject otmiich discussion, a few facts bearing upon It may be appropriately Introduced here. Thi se facts liavc been drawn fhleliy from a very i;,fere8ting written communication made to me in January, 1S(11, by Dr. Samuel Theobald, who was Johusou'a judge advocate, and with him in the battle. When Dr. Theobald (see a sketch of him in note 2, page 560) :f •il i ; : !;(, iiMI 650 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Tho (ittllaulry urciohiuci Jiilinaoii In the BiUtlc. Ills WonndB. Hamuei ThK,* JuhuHon bcliiivod most t;alluiitly in tli, action. He was niouiitcd on a wliito nony that his Horvant had riihh-ii, liis own hor/f having bei-ii disabloil. Tills maik' hini a conspicuotis mark for the enemy. At the sound of the bugle ciiargc he (hislicd for. ward at the head of Jiis Forlorn Hone, and nt. tacked the Indian left, where Tecunitlia \v;i< stationed.' The first volley of bullets fmin the foe wounded lilni in the hip and tlii,rl| He almost innnediately received anoilu'iliiil. let in his hand from the Indian that he shot which traversed his arm for some distance Ho was disabled, and said to Dr. Tlicoliald -• one of his start", who was dismounted anil fighting near him, " I am severely woundiil' where shall I go ?" " Follow me," answcml Theobald. lie did not know where to find the surgeon of the regiment, so he led him across the smaller swamp to the road, aiil about three Imndred rods in the roar, to llic stand of Dr. j\Iit(dudl, (4overnor Shelby's sur- geon g''neral. The colonel, fahit with the loss of blood, was taken from his horse, when the little animal, having performed its duty to the last, fell dead, having Iteen wound- ed in seven places. Theobald ran to the Thames for water, which revived the colo- nel. His woimds were dressed, and he was conveyed to a vessel a few miles below, WTote to mo lie wns residing near Grecnvlllp, WashltiKton Connty, Mleslsslppl. lie snys that, early in the cnmpilL'n. Johnson organized a small corps, composed of the Btaff of his regiment, which he denominated the Forlorn Ilnpc. |; was designed to accompany him immediately in the event of a hattlc. One of these was the venerahle Colonel William Whitely, who had been dIstinfinlBhed In conflicts with the Indians In the early years of scttloments In Kenlucky.aml then over seventy years of age. lie had volunteered as n j)rivate In Captain Davidson's company. The others who composed the Forloni Hope, and charged upon the enemy at the o))cnlng of the battle, were Benjamin S, C'linmlh ■■ Robert Payne (a nephew of t^olonel Johnson), Joseph Taylor, William Webb, Garrett Wall, Ell Sliort, and Dr. S. Tli. bald. Whitely was lillled, and was found lying near the two Indians mentioned In the text by Theobald and Wall, after th(' battle. They found th« Iwdies of the two Indians lying a little way apart. On the following moriilnsthf news spread that the body of Tecnmtha had been found. One of the Indians alluded to was designated as the fiilloi chief. Theobald felt a desire to identify the 1)ody of the chief, and took Anthony Shnnc', a half-breed Shnwnoese, who knew Tecuintlia well, to view it. The body was entirely naked, and several strips of skin had been taken frum Iho thighs l)y some of the Kentucklans, who had reason to renuvilier the River Itdwin, and, as I was informed by a soliliw who was In the battle, these strips were used for making razor-strops I Shane did not recognize the body as thnt of Te- cnmtha. The late Colonel John Johnston, of Dayton, Ohio, who, as Indian agent, often employed Shane, informcil mf that he told him that Tecnmtha once had his thigh-bone broken, and that a sort of ridge had been formed around the fracture that might he easily felt. No such ridge was observed in the thigh of the Indian claimed to lie Tecnmiha, found on the ground where the charge of the Forlorn Hope was made and Johnson was wounded. Dr. Theobnld far- ther infoi-ms me that his friend, ( aptaln Benjamin Wartleld, commander of a company in Johnson's regiment, tdid hiia that he was directed to search the l)attle-fleld for wounded soldiers. He found a British soldier, named Clarke, lyii; there mortally wounded. He was the Indian interpreter for I'roctor, and asserted positively thatTecutntha vimi kiileil, and his body was carried off by the Indians. I have since been Informed by Colonel C. H. Todd, one of Hnrripon's iiid< at that time <see page B47), that he was told by the celebrated chief Black Hawk that he was i)rcsent at that liatlle, and that Tecumtha's body was certainly carried off by his followers. These facts show that, wlille Colonel Johnson may have shot Tecnmtha, the body supposed to be hi'», and so barbarously mutilated by the exasperated Keutucklaui', was that of another warrior. ' Tccumtha, as we have seen, hnd reason to doubt the word and courage of Proctor. Ho doubtless took his position nt the junction of the British and Indian lines, so as to have a near and direct communication between hinifolf and Proctor. He knew that Proctor was flying throngh fear. Tlic Canadians (m the route of the retreat had told him Ihat Proctor would not fight if he could help it. Proctor knew that Tecnmtha would compel him to fight here, or feel ihe force of savage resentment, so ho fled at the commencement of the battle ; and no doubt the haste of his white troops to surrender was to secure themselves from the vengeance of Tecnmtha and his followers. ' Samuel Theobald was born near Paris, Bourlx)n County, Kentucky, on tho 22d of December, I'liO. He wa? "jrradi- ated In medicine" at Transylvania University, at Ixxington, and in tliat borough practiced medicine for twenty y^ ar^ For tho last thirty years he has been engaged in cotton-planting, most of tho time residing n(!ar Greenville, ilis>iv sippi. His ancestors, paternal and maternal, were Kentucky pioneers. His younger brotlier, James, was with him in the battle of the Tliames, and another brother, Thomas 8., was in tho military service on the frontier for twelve months as a lieutenant of rangers. -^fii^lllNFH' m OP THE WAlt OF 18ia, 507 muel ThaolMlii. itly ill the ivlliU' jioiiy own horse iiile liini !i ly. At tlic (luHhed for- loiii',iui(lat- I'llllltllll \VIIS l)iilli'ts tVum ) iiml llii^li. jviidtlu'vlnil- lial lie slint, ni' (listancc. r. Tlu'oliald,- lountcd, and ly Wdiindfil; e," aiiswcrfil ■lu'iv to find ) he led him he road, and I' roar, to tin- SliplliyV sur- hit with the s horse, when been wound- ivcd the colo- • miles hclow, r in till! cnmiialini. FdrWirn Uiipi'. It lie I'oloiiclWillijra n in Ki'iiliiiky, oiiil . The others who nmiii S, (.'hnraher?, rt, mid Dr. S. Tliw- heolwlil ami Wall, iwiiiK moriiliis till' iiateil as the fall™ ;il Shii\vnncsi\\vli.i en tiiliPii from thf irnu'il by a folilifr body as that (if Ti- iluiiie, iiiformcii nv formed around Ite 1(1 to lie TecnralliJ, Dr. Theobald far- ■('•.:impnt, t(ddW'n iiiiodrlarkp, lyiiii- cmiilba waskilM, f Harrison's aiils I at that battle, anil lonel JoliuBon may d Kentuckians, was US took his posllioii ctwccn hini>elf anil it Uiid told him Ibat jiht here, or feel Ht of his white troop! I. Hewa?"?rBdn- ,iC for twenty years. • Greenville, Miffif- iCB, was with hlni in ir for twelve months johiuoii cMVcyad Honi«wanl. Rejolclnsi bacauie of the Victory. Ilnrrlnou nuil I'nictur propwly rcnrudad. under charge of Captain CImnipliii, of the Scorpion, whieh that gallant ofHcer ha«l eaptiiied from the Mritinh. In that vesHcl lie wsis conveyed to the Sroipiou, at Dol- peiiV and in her to Detroit. There he reinaiiied a short time, and then, with iiiiuh Mitterinii, li" made his way honn waril.' lie reaehed Frankfort early in N<neiiil)er, and in Fein nary, after kind and Hkillfnl nurHing by Major C. 8, Todd, althouj^h «na- Ide to walk, he rewnined liis Heat in C-ongress, ui WaHliiiii^ton. IIIh journey thither was a eontinued o\ ation, for hiw gallantry (m the ThameH was known to the nation.'* Ilarrison'H Hncces«es, and the annihilation of tlie allied armies of tho foe westwanl ot'Liike Ontario, jirodiieed groat rejoicing throiight/ut the United States.' All tliat Hull had lost ha<l now hee.i recovered, and more. The hopes of the Americans wt're stiiiiulati'd. They felt that a really able general was in the iield, and all the arts of Harrison's ])oIitical and jKisonal enemies coidd not blind them to the fact tlnit, by (he c.vercise of military genius, indomitable perseverance, iind unHiiudiing courage, he had at'coinplished more than all thp other leaders, and had fnlly vindicated his coun- tiy's honor. His praises were on every honest lip. In the chief cities, from IMaiiie III (teorijia, liontires and illnminations attested the pnblie satisfaction, and in many iilact's joint honors were paid to the heroes of Lake Erie and the Thames — Perry and Ilanison.'' As iisnal, songs written i'or the occasion were heard in theatres and in tlie streets, and at every festive table Harrison was toasted as The Hero of Tijipeea- noc and of the Thames. The Congress of tlie United States, in testimony of their appreciation ol' his services, afterward gave liiin their cordial thanks, and voted him a gold medal. ^ rroctor received his reward in the form of the censnre of his sujieriors, the severe rohiike of his sovereign, and the scorn of all hcmorable men. lie had the meanness 1 shift the disgrace of defeat from his own cowardly slnmlders to those of his gal- lant regulars, and there it remained for more than twelve months. Upon liis mis- ivpieseiitations Sir (Jeorge Prevost severely censnred the detachment of the Forty- lirst Keginient that were in the battle, ir i general order issued at Montreal on the 24th of November." lint ihey were vimluited by the trial of Proctor in Ue- • iris. cemher the next year,'' when the cause of his defeat and the loss of the West- 'i^"' (111 province were found to be in his o\\ u demerits as a s(ddier, lie was found gnilty of misconiUict in not i)roviding measnres for a retreat, while the court, with singular inconsistency, acquitted him of any lack of personal bravery or indiscretion at the 1 He remained scvcrnl days under a stirgeon'a care at Urbnnn, tu a commiegary office near Uoollttlc's tnvcni, then the head-quarters of Governor Mc1(,'h. : The authorities from wliicli 1 luive drawn the chief ninterlnle for the forcijoinc narrative in this chajiter are the olB- ( ial reports of General Harrison to the Secretary of War ; the several histories of tlie period already cited ; written and oral statements of snrvivors ; official reports of the British officers ; tlic newspaiiers of the day, and biograpliies of Ilur- rison, Johnscjn, Cass, and Tccnnitha, etc. = Harrison, in his official letter to the War Department, spoke In the highest terms of his officers and troops. " I am It a loss," he said, " how to mention the coiidnct of Oovernor Shelby." After paying a well-merited compliment to the veteran, and the major generals and brigadiers, he said, "Of Governor Shelby's stafl', his adjutant general, tUilouel M'Dowell, and his (innrter-mastcr general. Colonel Walker, rendered great services; as did his aids-decamp. General Adair, and Majors Barry and Crittenden. The military skill of the former was of great service to us, and the activity iif the two latter gentlemen could not he surpassed." He highly commended Acting Adjutant General Butler, and said, "Myai(ls-de-camp, Lieutenant O'Fallon and Captain Todd, of the line, and my vulunteer aids, .lohn 8. Smith and .John Chambers, Es(iuires, have rendered nic most important ser\'lce from the ojicning of tho campaign. I have already Mated that General Cass and Commodore Pony assisted me in forming the troops for action. The former is an officer of the highest merit, and the appearance of the brave commodore cheered and animated every breast." lie highly com- |ilimentcd the officers and men of the mounted regiment, and Major Wood, of the Kngineers. < On the '23d of October the new City Hall in New York was splendidly illnmiiiatod In honor of these two victories. .\l™ Tammany, Washington, and Mechanics' Halls, the theatre, the City Hotel, and hundreds of private residences, were illaminatcd. In the windows of the City Hall were several transparencies. One of them represented the battle on Lake Erie, and the words "Don't oivk vv tiik Siiiv!" In front of Tammany Hall was a snpcrh painting exhibiting a full- li'nplh portrait of Harrison, and tlie figures of several Indian warriors, the chief of whom was on his bended kuoes su- inc for peace, and ofTerlng at the same tln--^ a sqnaw, and her papoose on her back, as hostages for their fidelity. On it was also rcjiresented the naval enpagem on Lake Eric. » On o'le side Is a hust of General Harrison, and the words Majob Oenkbai, Wii.uam H. HAuntsoN. On the reverse i« fccn a woman placing a wreath around two bayonets fixed on mnskets, and a color-staff, stacked over a drum and nnnon, bow and quiver. Her right hand rests upon the T'liion shield, and holds a halbert. Prom the jm lint of union of the stack haugs a banner, on which is Inscribed Fobt MKUiS— Battle of tiik Tiiamks. Over these. In i semicircle, .".re the words, Resoi.ctio.n or Conuukbs, At-Bii, 4, ISIS. Beneath, Batti.k of tuk Tiia.meb, OoToiiKit 5, 1S13. nm wm ..^.- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 l.-^l^ Ills 1.25 «<^-***- p^ v^ >^ Photographic Sciences Coipordtion 33 WeST MAIN STRiPT WeBSTIR.N.Y. I4SS0 (n6)«72-4S03 ^^■^ ^\. ^ ^47 i mmmms III I I 668 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Proctor's PuulBbment considered too mild by the Prince Regent. The Remnant of Proctor's Arniy TUK BARBI80N MEnAI,, time of the battle. He was sentenced lo be " publicly reprimanded, and suspended from rank and pay for six months." So notorious was the fact of his cowardly aban- donment of his army at the very beginning of the battle that the Prince liegent se- TIfF. BlIELnV UEnAI.. verely reprimanded the court for its " mistaken leniency," expressed his " regret that any officer of the length of service and the exalted rank" attained by General Proc- tor " should be so extremely wanting in professional knowledge, and deficient in those active, energetic qualities which must be required of every officer," and that the charges and finding of the court should "l)e entered in the general order-book, and x-ead at the head of every regiment in his majesty's service." General Proctor is represented as a stout, thick-set, fine-looking man. He died in Liverpool in 1858 or 1859. The few British regulars and militia who escaped after the battle of the 5th of October fled in confusion through an almost unbroken wilderness toward Lake On- tario. They rendezvoused at Ancaster, seven miles westward of Hamilton and tin' head of the lake, on the 17th, when their numbers, inclusive of seventeen officers, amounted to two hundred and fifty-six. Their flight spread consternation ove- all that region. The victory in itself and its subsequent effects was raoat complete. It broke u]> the Indian confcdci'acy of the Northwest, and caused the disheartened warriore to OF THE WAB OF 1812. 559 Effects of the Victories of Perry and Harrison. Disposition of thn Troops. A Jonrney to the Thame:<. forsake their wliite allies, and sue Immbly for peace and pardon at the feet of the Americans. Their very personal existence compelled them to endure this humilia- tion. The winter was approaching, and ihey and their families were destitute of provisions and clothing, without tlie means of procuring either. Their prayers were heard and heeded ^ and those whom they had fought against at the instigation of a professed Christian government, became tlieir saviors from the deadly fongs of hun- <ti'r and frost.' The base conduct of Proctoi', and the kindness of Harrison, gave a tii'.il blow to British influence among the Indians of the Northwest. The American troops occupied the battle-ground on the Thames, and on the :th' General Harrison departed for Detroit, leaving Governor Shelby in . ojtoi)er, ooinmanil. The army commenced moving that day in the same direction, ^'*'^- takiii<^ with them the property they had captured and the prisoners. On the 10th they arrived at Sandwich in the midst of a furious storm of Avind and snow, during which several of the vessels from the Tha r^es were injured, and much of the captured property was lost. Harrison and Perry had planned an immediate attack on Mack- inack, and Captain Elliott had volunteered to command the naval force, but the ex- treme cold and the blinding storm warned them of the near approach of winter and the dahgers that might be encountered, and they prudently abandoned the enter- prise. Rumors came that the enemy had fled from Maakinack; so, after concl "Vng an armistice with the chiefs of several of the hostile tribes, among whom was Mai- pock, the fierce and implacable Pottawatomie, and receiving hostages for their faith- fulness,' Harrison prepared to go down the lake witn M'Arthur's brigade, a battal- ion of* regular riflemen under Colonel Wells, and mounted men under Colonel Ball, to join the American forces on the Niagara frontier. The Kentuckians returned home, after stopping at the Raisin to bnry the whitened bones of their massacred countrymen, and on the Sandusky peninsula to recover their horses,^ suffering much from fatigue, hunger, and cold on the Avay. General Harrison appointed General Cass military and civil governor of Michigan, and directed him to retain his brigade (about one thousand in number) to keep the Indians in check, and hold possession of that portion of Canada lately conquered by tlie Americans west of Lake Ontui'io. Hari-ison arrived at Buffalo on the 24th of October, with about thirteen hundred men, only one thousand of them effective sol- diers. There he joined General M'Clure in active preparations against the enemy. I visited the battle-ground on the Thames on a cold, blustering day in Octo- ber,'' I860, accompanied by Miles Miller, Esq., of Chatham, Canada West, b octoher ii, formei'ly ■ litor of The Western Planet newspaper. I left Detroit in the ^®"''' morning with my family, crossed the river, took seats in a carriage on the Great Western Railway, and, after a swift journey of an hour and a half, over a space of fit'ty-foiir miles along the borders of Lake St. Clair, thi'ough oozy swamps, broad prairies, tangled forests, and wealthy farms to the Thames, following the route of llarrison's pursuing army, we alighted at Chatham, a pleasant village of six thou- sand inhabitants, on the left or south bank of the Thames, and the capital of the comity of Kent. It lies upon a plain in the midst of a fine agricultural country, at the head of steam-boat navigation on the Thames. It was originally laid out by ' An eye-witness says : " A few days after Proctor's defeat, Detroit was so fnll of famished savages that the issne of ralions to them did not Iteep pace with their hniiger. I have seen the women and children searching about the gronnd fjr lionci and rinds of porlc \vhlch had liccn thrown away by the soldiers. Meat in a high state of pntrefaclion, which kadbeen thrown into the river, was carefully piclced up and devoured. The feet, heads, and entrails of the cattle slaugh- lerod by the public butchers were collected and sent off to the neighboring villages. I have conntcd twenty horses in a drove fanclftilly decorated with the offals of the slnughtcr-ynrd."— V'ieiet on Ijoke Erie, by Samuel R. Brown, pnire !'B. ' Wc have already observed that Wallt-ln-the-water, and many of his followers, deserted Proctor at Chatham. Whih Hiirrlson was in pursuit of the enemy up the Thames, chiefs of the Mlamis, Ottuwos, Pottawatomies, Chippcwas, and Kioknpoos proposed to Oeneral M'Arthur, at Detroit, a suspension of hostilities, and agreed to"talte hold of the some lomihiiwlt tt-ith the Americans, and to strike all who are, or may he enemies of the t'nited States, whether British or Indians." They brought in their women and children, and offered them .f hostages for tljelr own good behavior." ' See page 540, ii in 1 1 i '■ 1 M J: . ■J ', ■ ; i m\ 1 I i\ ill: fii 660 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK AVIuit to tbc Battlfc-licld on the Thames. KecollectionB of an old Iteeident. Tecnmtha and his Pistol. Governor Simcoe, who reserved six hundred acres for a town plot. On the opposite side of the river, in the township of Dover, is the little suburban village of North Chatham, connected with the main town by a toll-bridge. We took rooms at the Moyal Exchange Hotel, and, as soon as a vehicle could be procured, I started with Mr. Miller for the Thames battle-ground, about eighteen miles distant. The sky was overcast by broken masses of clouds, and a bitincr nortii wind came from the great Canadian wilderness, with Winter Tales upon evei-y blast We followed the route of the American army, sketching the ruins of M'Gregor's mill (see page 550) on the way, and at about one o'clock in the afternoon were at the lit- tle village of Tecumseh (Thamesville Station), within a mile and a half of the historic ground. There we dined, and had the pleasure of seeing David Sherman, Esq. a life-long resident of that spot, who was a lad nine or ten years of age when the bat- tle occurred, and had a clear recollection of the events of the day Avhich came iinder his observation. He informed us that the Americans encamped on his father's farm, where tlic village of Tecumseh now stands, on the night before the battle. His fa- tlier was ;i soldier with Proctor, and left home twenty-four hours before. During the forenoon of the day of the battle, young Sherman went up to within half a inilc of the place where Johnson discovered the British line, and saw Tecumtha sitting' on a log near where a white cow that belonged to a neighbor had been killed and was then a-roasting. Tecumtha asked him whose boy he Avas. He told him, Avheii the chief, who was acquainted Avith his father, said, " Don't let the Americans know that your father is in the army, or they'll burn your house. Go back, and stay home, for there will be a fight here soon." Mr. Shennan said he scanned the great chief with the wide-open eyes of wonder and curiosity of a boy of his age, and, among other thipgs, saw two pistols in the warrior's belt, unlike the English ones he liad been accustomed to. Having satisfied his cuiiocity, he took Tecumtha's advice, and hastened homeward. He saw the Americans passing rapidly onwai'd toward the place where he left the chief, and heard the din of battle during the afternoon. All was quiet before sunset and dur- ing the night ; and early the next morning he ventured to go upon the battle-ground, where he saw the two Indians, one of whom was supposed to be General Tecumtha. On that spot a pistol precisely like cm- of those that he saw in Tecum- tha's belt was found by a neigh- bor, and was in his possessioa He has no doubt of its beinsr one of the great leader's weaji- ons, and cherishes it as such. teo^tbVb piBToi. j^ jg of American manufacture. fourteen inches in length, has a flint-lock, is rifled, and bears the name of "H. Al- bright," maker. I made a sketch of it, and, upon the circumstantial evidence of Mr. Shennan, present it to the reader as a picture of one of the pistols of the great Shaw- noese chief From Mr. Sherman we learned some interesting facts concerning the locality of the battle-ground, but he refused to indicate the exact place where Tecumtha fcdl,givin2 as a reason for his reticence on that point that he had been making efforts to induct the provincial government to erect a monument on the spot, and, until that should be accomplished, lie should keep the secret in his own bosom. I think the place desig nated on the map on page 554 is the correct one. After dinner we rode up to th;' dwelling of the old Watts Farm, on which most of the battle was fought, while the troops under Shelby occupied a portion of the iand^ ^ I 1 •..\. ' .■ ^ ; a and his Pigtol. OF THE WAU OF 18 12. .561 Auuearsnce of the Battle-flekl of the Thames. Moravian To\vu. Retarn to Chatham. owned by James Dixon at the time of our visit. We liad very little trouble in find- iu2 the places sought. The forest had disai)j)eared, and nothing remained of the crand old trees except a few ravaged and mo.stly dead stems, many of them black- ened by fii'C- The smaller swamp had also disappeared, but its jilace was distinctly marked by deep black mould. In the rear is the great swamp still, and in front, be- tween louy wooded banks, flows the beautiful La Tranche or Thames, near which are o>ave3 of the slain. From a corn-field between the smaller and larger swamps, near the spot where Johnson and Tecumtha met, I made a sketch of the battle-field. )i • ''^'mw- THAMES UATTI.E-fiUOU.Nll.' Around us were golden pumpkins and wealthy shocks of Indian com, and in the re- tiiitly-cleared field, where the small swamp loy, cattle were quietly grazing on the frost-nipped grass. It is an attractive spot for the historical student, and our visit was an item in the fulfillment of the poet's prophecy, that "Oft to La Tranche's battle-fleM In future times ehnll traveler come, To mute reflection's power to yield, And gaze on lowly warriors' tomb. 'Here,' shall he eaj-, 'our soldiers stood ; There were the Indians' unraerons host; Here flowed the gallant Johnson's blood ; There died the Shawnoean boast.' " We intended to visit the Moravian town,^ but, after sketching the battlc-grormd, and the little view of the Thames printed on page 553, the day was so fiir spent that w ft'lt compelled to turn back toward Tecumseh, where we partook of refreshments, ami at twilight started on our return to Chatham. We arrived at the " Royal Ex- change" at nine in the evening, cold and weary, but full of satisfaction. Before sunrise on the following morning I sketched the view at the mouth of M'Gregor's Creek, printed on page 550, and after an early breakfa-st, again accompa- ■ In this sketch the spectator Is looking southward, toward the Thames. Its line is marked by the distant trees. The leoM Men along the edge of those trees Indicates the position of the road hat leads to Detroit, across which stood Proctor's regulars, and on which were his cannon. The line of Proctor's aim ' was north and south, across the upper tkt ofihe Fmaller swamp, near where the cattle are seen. ' 1 WM Informetl that the Sloraviaus there were all Indians except their mini iter, the Rev. Mr. Vogler. There were I'lOUt Wty families, mostly Delawares, and descendants of the e.irly settlers. E ich family had a plank house and forty icrw of land, famished by the government. The houses appeared very mnrn like those of the pensioners at Am- kffftbmg, mentioned on page 290. They had a neat church. Some of the ' .a honses of the orieinal town, a mile and a hi'f from the present village, not destroyed in !>!.'!, were yet standing. The chief or military leader of the Indians itu Philip Jacobs, who lived ou the site of the old town. He was abou sixty years of age at the time of my visit. ria ■nit .llifjjii 1^ m i It* iJMfM : a fit . TTfl 562 riCTOllIAL FIELD-BOOK Dolsen'a. Journey eastward. Harrison on the Northern Frontier nied by the courteous Mr. Miller, crossed the river, and rode down to Dolscn's to pro- cure a drawing of his residence, made famous by the ave.its of the campaign of Har- rison against Proctor, We returned in time for myself and party to take the cars for the East at half past nine o'clock. We passed through London (a flouri8hin<» town of about seven thousand inhabitants, pleasantly situated at the confluence of the north and east branches of the Thames) at noon, and arrived at Paris, forty-seven miles far- ther eastward, in time for dinner. There we left the railway, and traveled in a pri- vate carriage to Norwichville, twenty-five miles southward, where we were received at twilight by relati.es — descendants of tie first settlers of that region, who built log huts, and felled the primeval forest there only a little more than fifty years a<ro, Now it is a fertile, well-cultivated, and highly-picturesque country, bearing few traces of a settlement so new that many of the inhabitants remember its beginning. Wo tarried there a few days, and then returned to our home on the Hudson by way of the Niagara Suspension Bridge, after an absence of more than five weeks, bearing rich treasures from the historic fields of the Northwest. As the campaign that closed on the banks of the Tliamcs was the last in which General Harrison was engaged, Ave will here consider a brief outline of his career from his arrival on the Niagara frontier until he left the service in the spring of 1814. Harrison, as avc have observed, arrived at Buffalo on the 24th of October. He Mcnt immediate.y down to Newark, the head-quarters of General M'Clure, of the New York Militia, and soon afterward commenced active operations, by order of the Secrctarr of War, for an expedition against the British at Burlington Heights, at the west ciiil of Lake Ontario, the " capture or destruction of which," the Secretary said in his letter, " Avould be a glorious j^«afc to his campaign," While in the midst of these preparations, another letter came from the same functionary, written only four days later than the former, requiring General Harrison to send M' Arthur's brigade t« Sackett's Harbor, as Montreal, not Kingston, would be the point of attack on the cii omy by Wilkinson's army, by which the country eastward of Lake Ontario might be exposed to the incursions of the British from the latter place. There were valuahlc stores at Sackett's Harbor, and it was thought to be mCxC important to save tlicse than to assail the enemy farther west. Like an obedient soldier, Harrison obeyed, His troops were embarked on Chauncey's fleet at the middle of November, Thepm- gramme having been changed, the Secretary of War gave General Harrison permis- sion to visit his family near Cincinnati. The general accompanied his troops to Sack- ett's Harbor, and then journeyed homeward by the way of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, every where receiving the plaudits of his countrymen. The campaign under the old generals (Dearbora, Hampton, and Wilkinson) on the northern frontier in 1813 having been fruitless of much good to the American cause, the eyes of the people tvere turned in expectation toward General Harrison, the suc- cessful leader, as the future acting commander-in-chief of the American army, or at least of that portion of it on the northeni frontier. Such was the expectation of his companions in arms. " Yes, my dear friend," Perry wrote to him, " I expect to hail you as the chief who is to redeem the honor of our arms in the North," "You, sir," wrote M' Arthur to him from Albany, in New York,i " stand the highest with the mi- litia of this state of any general in the service, and I am confident that no man can fight them to so gv ^at an advantage, and I think their extreme solicitude may be the means of calling you to this promotion." These expectations were not realized. For reasons unexplained, the feelings oi General Armstrong, the Secretary of War, appear to have been suddenly and greatly changed toward General Harrison, and his treatment of that ofiicer deprived the country of his military services at a most critical time. He persistently interfered > M'Arlhur was then In attendance as n witness npon the court-martial for the trial of Brigadier General Hull. See page 234. ■ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 663 rthern Frontier. Treatment of Harrison by the Secretary of War. Harrison leaves *be Army. A Journey In Ohio. fl-i ' Harrison's prerogatives as commander-in-cliiof of the Eighth Militaiy District, <ind the general became convinced, by circumstances not necessary to detail here, tliat the secretary disliked him, and was determined to deprive him of all active command, lie remembered Armstrong's unasked permission to visit liis family at Cincinnati, and he now construed it as a deliberate hint that he might retire from the army a while. These suspicions were fostered and confirmed by subsequent events, and on the 11th of May, 1814, Harrison, in a letter to the Secretary of War, and another to the Prfi- dent of the United States, oifered to resign his commission. When Governor Siielby heard of the movement he wrote an earnest letter to the President, urging him not to accept the resignation, and saying, " Having served in a campaign with General Har- rison, by which I have been enabled to form some opinion of his military talents and capacity to command, I feel no hesitation to declare to you that I believe him to be one of the first military characters I ever knew, and, in addition to this, he is capable of making greater personal exertions than any officer with whom I have ever served."' Harrison was then forty years of age. Unfortunately for the country, tlic President was absent from Washington, at his home in Virginia, when the letters of Harrison and Shelby reached the cajutal. They were both forwarded to Madison. Meanwhile the Secretary of War, without con- sulting the President, accepted the general's resignation. This was an assumption of authority never exercised before nor since. In a letter to Governor Shelby, the President expressed his sincere regret that the valuable services of General HariMson could not have been secured to the government for the approaching campaign. Har- rison left the army, and during the ensuing summer he Avas appointed, in conjunction ■vitli Governors Shelby and Cass, to treat with the Indians of the Northwest concern- ing all things in dispute between the tribes and the United States. As we shall not meet General Harrison again in active military service, nor men- tion his name except incidentally, I Avill take this occasion to notice a short journey in Ohio, in the autumn of 1 860, Avhile collecting materials for this Avork, in Avhich Avas included a visit to the home and grave of that faithful jjublic servant at North Bend, on the banks of the Ohio. In a former chapter (see page 542) 1 have mentioned my departure from Cleveland after the inauguration of Perry's statue, for Columbus, the capital of Ohio. The rail- way betAveen the tAvo places lies, much of the distance from Cleveland to DelaAvare, throuijli a flat, not very fertile, and a.ncAvly-cleared country, the latter fact being at- u'sted by a profusion of stumps of trees in most of the clearings. On the summit of the Avater-shed betAvcen Lake Erie and the Ohio River, the country is more rolling and fertile. We journeyed one hundred and thirty-five mUes in the course of five hours and forty minutes, and reached Columbus at about tAVO o'clock in the after- noon of a delightful September day.* At three I lefl for NcAvark, the • September 12. capital of Licking County, thirty-three miles eastAvard of Columbus, for ^**"*- the tAS'ofold pui-^ose of visiting an old and highly-esteemed friend,* and viewing, in the neighborhood, one of the most remarkable of the tumuli, or ancient mounds, Avith ! which the Ohio country abounds. I found my friend very ill — too ill to endure more [ tlian a few minutes' conversation. During the evening, in company with his son, I visited ^^r. David Wyrick, a resident of the village, an engineer by profession, and an enthusiastic antiquary, who had lately been made famous as the discoverer of a stone, with Hebrew inscriptions, in a portion of the ancient earth-works that abound in the neighborhood of NcAvark. I found him a plain, earnest man, and bearing, among those who know him best, a character above reproach for truth and sincerity. He sliowod me a large number of curious things taken from mounds in the neighbor- ' OoTemor Shelby to President Madison, May 16, 1814. ' Samuel 0. Arnold, Esq., editor and proprietor of the Xmark North American, and anthor of a Life of Pntriclc Henry, «j(l one or two other small volumes. m 1' \ 1, 1 h iiiUi li '^m^w 504 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK w wm ii.: Andent Monuda and Rclica nt Newark, Ohio. Ancieut Coffin and Inncrlbed Stucet HI-MAINH or AN ANCIENT UOFFIN. hooil. Among them was a portion of a coffin, made of a liollowed oak log, fouiul beneath a truncated circular jtyraniid for. ty feet in height, with a base one liniidii,! and eighty-two feet in diameter, evidi-ntiv constructed by a people ignorant of nu'tai- lic-cdged tools. ' But the most ctnious of nil the relics was the stone upon the four sides of which are words in Hebrew kt- ters. Mr, Wyrick found tl'em while searching for human remains in the centre of a small depression of the earth connected with the system of ancient earth-works in that region. The stone is in the form of a trunc- ated cone, five inches in length, with two sides broader tlian the other two sides, and a neck and knob, evidently Ibrmed for suspending it by a cord or chain. It has the appearance, in ™' '"•"' "'•"'•» o^ ^me holy stone. texture and color, of a novaculite, or " hone-stone," and is finely polished. Tho let- ters (said by those who are competent to decide to bo ancient Hebrew) are neatly made in intaglio upon each of the four sides. How, and Avhen, and for what iiiao- tical or symbolical purpose that stone was deposited in the earth there, may forever remain a mystery.^ > This coilin is quite shallow, nudmoro like the hollowed platform of a scaffolding. It bears evidence of lmvlii"licoi liollowcd by the processes employed by The coffin, when found, was in a cui' the aborigines when liuropeans first vis- >^--7>> MBife>t cavity of earth lined with clay mn(l» m Ited America, namely, by lire and stone ^. \l,l .^^HkI pcrvlonn to water. It lay In water twelve axes. With these they felled trees and l^s^ ^^^^^^ Inches in depth, resting npou seven niece, hollowed out logs for canoes. They first K|^S .^HH^^V "f ^^all timber, these resting npoii tm bnrnt the timber, and then removed the ^ pg Wfc ^^^^^^fc\ larger p'eccs, as seen in the above >ketcli charred part with the blunt stone axe, for ^gej ^HIHi^to^ These, like the coffin, wore coninleteiv these could not be made sharp euongh to JPK^ g-: - ^^T " water-sogged." The coffin was lined ci't.andondnrc. These processes were re- ^^^^^^§^^S| with a faliric resembling old carne-in' pcated until the requisite depth was ob- 9-^^- JM. ^^^SS^^ go fragile that it ernmblcd at the fliOu- taiued. Kvery part of the Iiollowed por- S,^_^ ^^^^^^ est touch. On this the body of thc'de- tiouH of the ancient coffin tliat I saw bore btone axes. ceased had been laid ; and thereon wa. clear marks of these operations. found the skeleton 'n fragments, lock- ol beautiful black hair, and ten copper rings lying near where the hands might have been folded over the breast. The whole were Imbedded in clay, over which was an arch of small and large stones. Over this was a mound ofclav, mak- mg the whole structure inclosing the coffin about seven feet in height. The remainder of the pyramid was cnmpnwd of stone. These the State of Ohio purchased for constructing the " Licking Summit Reservoir" for the use of the Oliin Canal, and removed about fifty thousand wagon-loads. The sepuichrc was found when these stones were removed, acd was explored by Mr. Wyrick. The clay was brought ft-om u distance, for there is none like it in the vicinity. The annexed diagram, kindly drawn for tne by Mr, Wyrick, shows a sectional view of the clay mounds, ite email stone arch, and the position of the coffin. A the I'p- per part of tho clay mound, and B the lower portion. In these the open dots indicate the places where it was evi- dent timbers had been placed, and had rotted away. C the arch of stone, 1111 Indicating two layers of small stones from six to ten inches in diameter, and 2 a layer of broad flat stones. D the coffin and skeleton, and E the conc.ivlty filled with water, in which they rested. The clay had evidently been formed into a kind of mort.-r, and ffa< as hard as sun-dried brick. The pyramid was on an en- Inence seven miles south of Newark, and five hundred feet above the level of any stream of water near. a The cavity in which Mr. Wyrick found this stone was about twenty feet in circumference, and nbont two feet in depth at the centre. When he had excavated through dark and rich alluvium about fourteen inches, he came to alighl- er soil of a clayey nature, in which were pebbles. One of these, of oblong form, composed of reddish quartz, tirst at- tracted his attention. Soon afterward he found the inscribed stone Imbedded in the "ilay. Gentlemen of learning ei- nmined it, and proved the letters to be obsolete Hebrnic. The Reverend J. W. M'Carty, of Newark, a Hebrew ffholar, translated the words on three of the four sides as follows : "Hnli/ of HhHok ;" " 7'he \y'ord u/ tlie Imw ;" and " The Wh) cf the Lnrd." At a meeting of some of the leading citizens of Newark, held at the Court-house about two months afte: my visit there, to consider tho character and the circumstances of tho finding of the " Boly Stone," General Dllle pre- elded, and Mr. M'Carty gave au interesting account of the whole matter. It was stated that only four or five of itc SECTIONAL VIEW OK THE PVnAMII). OF THE WAK OF 1812. 665 Bcrlbed Stonei. ortkm of a lo;^, t'omiil yramid tor- ue Imiiilnd r,evi(k'utly .lit of metal- t envious of llclji-ow lot- cd. The let- \v) arc neatly or what prac- }, may forever Mice ofhavinslicfii iiind, was in a cm;- with clay inail^ iiii- t lay in water twoU\ pg upon eevcn piece- resting upon two the aliove fkcick, were coraplelciy coffin was liueil Jinij old carpciin:, ;nl)lo(l at the fli:lit- the body of the ic- and thereon «i- fraiimcnts, locks "1 . . . the breast. Ttt monnd of clay, mak- ■amid was compnH-fl the use ot the Ohio were removed, aul vicinity. ■n for mc by Mr. jC clay moumls, Ibe he coffin. A the cp- lower portion. In _'8 where it was cvi- lad rotted away. C two layers otsmali nc^cr, and 2 a layer skeleton, and E the jey rested. The clay dofmorfr.onilffa' imid was on an ck- near, nd nhont two feet in s, hecametoallghi- Jdish quartz, tirst at. emeu of learning «• ■k, a Hebrew Bcholar, '10 ;" and'Tftf"*' out two months o(te: General Dille !«■ ly four or five of ttc An ancient stone Box and Its Contcntn. An Immense niicieut Enrth-work neur Newark visited and described. Early the following momiiiEf, ftccompanicd by my young friend, I visited the " Old Fort " i'** t''*^ i)eoi)le there call one of the most nia^nificunt of the ancient earth-works that abound in that section of Ohio. It is a mile and a half from Newark, in the miilst f * ''' pi'i'iicval forest, and forms a pleasant resort in fiummer. It is composed of a continuous mound, that sweeps in a perfect circle a mile in circumference, broken only )iy the entrance to it, wliero the banks, higher than any where else, turn outward foi'tifty feet or more, and form a magnificent gateway. The embankment averages QUKAT EABTll-HdKK NKAU MKU'ABK. from fifteen to twenty feet in height, and is covered with maple, beech, and hickory trees of every size, from the huge Anak of the forest to the lithe sapling — the formei* indicating the origin of the strncturc to be far more remote than the atlvent of Euro- iicaas in the New World. These also cover the area inclosed by the mound. The ditch from which the earth was thrown is within the embankment, and is visible around the entire line of the work, proving it not to have been a fortification. Li the centre of the area (which is perfectly level) is a slight elevation, in the form of a sprcau eagle, covering many yards, and is called the Eagle Mound.' char.ictcrs correspond to those now In use In the Hebrew books, but these furnished a key to the translation. It had al- ready been stated by a gentleman familiar Mth the history and practice of the Freemasons, and who was a member of the fraternity, that the stone was of the kind used by masons of a certain grade in the East soon after the b-iilding of the lirit temple by Solomon. It has in their system, he said, a well-known meaning, its principal use In ancient times be- ins for deposit beneath whatever structure the master mason might superintend. This symbol, he said, was uot nec- osrarily furnished with inscripticms, but masons entitled to use It might put buch sentences upon i* as that one has. It would be placed In the northeastern part of the foundation, and if it stood on Its point would Indicate that something more was deposited beneath. If it lay on Its broadest face, the point ir small end would indicate the direction where clhor deposits would be found. These, If found, would disclose facts connected with the building. Was uot the cavity in which the stone was found the foundation of a structure never erected f A few weeks subsequent to my visit, Mr. Wyrick found, in one of the mounds in that vicinity, a stone box, nearly eis'-shaped, the two halves fitting together by a joint whi"'. runs around the stone lengthwise. Within this box was a stone seven inches long and three wide, ou a smooth surface of which Is a figure, in dan relief, well cut, and surrounded by characters thus described by the Rev. Mr. M'Carty : "The words over the head of the human figure contain three letters. Two of them are Hebrew, Sheir and He (or Heth). The third I Inferred to be 3fpm— a conjecture most readily suggested by its form, It being exactly that of the old Gaelic Muin (M), and afterward fully borne ont by Its always an- swering thereto. This gave tlie word Mosheh (Moses) or MesMach (Messiah)." Of the characters Mr. M'Carty said " some looked like the Hebrew coin character, some like the Phffiulcian alphabet, a few bore resemblance to those on the Grave Creek stone,* and some I could not Identify with any known alphabet." He at last found that the language was really Hebrew, much like that found In the Bibles of the Gennan Jews, and, after great and patient labor, he discovered that tlie whole constituted an abridged form of the Ten Commandments. This is uot the place, nor has the writer the knowledge requisite for a discussion of the matter. I have simply stated the curious facts— facts well worthy of the earnest Investigation of archieologists, for they raise the ethnological and historical question whether the mound-bui'ders of this continent were of Asiatic origin, c .• were related to the Indian tribes whose remnants still exist. ' Other mounds In this vicinity are In the shape of animals. One of the most curious and extensive of these is about four miles from Newark, on the road to Granville. It Is in the shape of a lizard, and covers the whole summit of a hill. Its dimensions, in feet, are aa follows : Length of the head and neck, 32 ; of the body, 73 ; of the tall, 105 : width from the ends of the fore feet over the shoulders, 100 ; l^om the ends of the hliid feet over the hips, !)2 ; between tlie legs, across the body, 82 ; across the tall, close to the body, IS ; height at the highest point, 7 ; whole length, 210. It appears lobe mainly composed of clay, and Is overgrown with grass. Visitors have made a path from the nose, along the back, to wliere the tall begins to curl, at which point stands a large black walnut-tree.— See Howe's Historical ColUxtions of Ohio, page 298. ' A small stone tablet, fonnd in a large mound near Grave Creek, In the vicinity of Winchester, Virginia, having an inscription in cuneiform characters like the anclcut Phoenician. f,- 1 , ' wm\ 1 ) !■! I \ ■iw' 1 1 1 1 iH' A ' \ st'- -i^j oiid I'ICTOUIAL ilELU-BOOK TbuoKbti coucuruluK the Muund-biiilden. City of CiilumbUH. Jourui'y down the Hcl.ito Vulley. The ground covered by this ancient work is owned by the Licking County Agri- cultural Society, and witliln the earth-walled inclosure their annual lairs arc held lor the acconiniodaiion of which some buildingn have been erected. These, with the ijcn. oral aj)j)earance of the work, and the trees upon the banks, as seen from the ciitruini' may be observed in the picture on page 505. After finishing that sketch, and ex- j)loring every part of this strange old structure by an unknown people in an unknown age, I rettirned to Newark, the quickened imagination tilling the mind with Wdiidious visions of the earlier ages of our continent, while jNIemory recalled those suggestive lines of Bryant in his ' Prairie," in which, turning to the Past, he Boliloquizes concern. ing the mound-builders, saying, as introductory, " And did the dust or these fair BolitndcH once stir with Ufa And bum with passion t Lrt the mighty mounds Thnt overl<ioli the rivers, or lliat rise In tlic dim forest, crowded with old oaks, Answer. A rnco Hint long has passed away niiilt them ; a disciplined and popnions race Heaped with Ion;; toil the eaitli, while yet the Greek Was hewing the Pcntellcus to forms Of symmetry, and rearing; ou its rock The glittering Parthenon." I returned to Columbus in time to visit the magnificent State-house, dine, and leave in the stage-coach at two o'clock for Chillicothe, forty-five miles down the Scioto V.il. ley, toward the Ohio Itiver. CoUunbus is a beautiful city, of almost twenty tlionsaiul inhabitants, standing upon a gently-rolling plain on the eastern side of the Sciotn lliver,' about h.ilf a mile below its confluence with the Olentangy. The streets are broad, its public buildings are attractive, and many private mansions display great elegance. It is pleasant in every feature as the political capital of a great state. Where it now stands was a dark forest when Harrison had his head-quarters at Frank- linton, on the opposite side of the Scioto, in 1812 and 1813. Then a settlement wa< commenced there, and in 1810 it was made the seat of the state government. Tin county seat of Franklin was removed to Columbus from Franklinton in 1824, and tlie present city was chartered in 1834. The journey from Columbus to Chillicothe, in an old-fashioned elliptical stage-coaeli drawn by four horses, Avas a veiy delightful one. The day was perfect in purity of air and in temperature ; the sky Avas unflecked by the smallest cloud, and the whole country was green with verdure. I was granted the privilege of a seat by the side of the driver, and thus I secured uninterrupted views of the country, which exhibited all the picturesque beauty possible without the charms of mountains or high hills. Our route lay along tlie gentle slopes on the eastern side of the Scioto until we reached Shadeville, a pleasant little emboAvered village, Avhere we first struck the bot- tom of th.T Scioto Valley, nine miles from Conimbus. There we changed hoi'ses, and, eight miles farther on, stopped at Bloomfield, another little village, where fresh horses were waiting our arrival. A little before sunset we rode into Circleville, a large town at the head of the great Pickaway Plains.^ Our route had been through one of the most beautiful regions of Ohio, and would increase in interest, we were told, as we advanced toward Chillicothe. But the night was near. We liad passed broad fields of Indian corn, plants full tweh'c feet in height, heavily laden wutli ears, beneath whieli droves of swine Avere frequently seen. The streams were fringed with heavy-foliaged trees and shrubbery, interspersed with magnificent sycamores, while the little forests ' According to n statement of Rev. David Jones in his journal in 17T4, Scioto, in the Shawnoese language, elgnlflfs hainj ricer, so called because that stream in the spring was filled with hairs, from the immense number of deer tbat came to it to drink when shedding their coats. ' Circleville is the capital of Pickaway Connty, situated on the Ohio Canal and Scioto Blver. It stands upon the sito of one of the ancient earth-works that abound in that region, which was of circular form, and gave the name to the vil- lage. The court-honse stood in the centre of the circle, and the town grew up around it. For an interesting account of the mounds In that vicinity, the reader is referred to Howe's Historical CoUeetlona of Ohio, f age 410. OF Tllli WAU Ul'" 181 567 CIrclevllle. Arrival at Chllllcothe. lu Site and early Building*. and i)li'a8.iiit proves tlirouixli whicli we rode prosonted to the eyo timber-giants of a jjjjj. ni.ldom Hceii I'listwiinl oftlio Allenliiiiiy MoiintiiiiiH. \Ve tbmul Circlovillo crowded with ik'o])1o ofcvery sex, color, and condition, in nt- tendiinee upon a eounty fUir— ho crowded that our most earncHt eiidi-avors to pro- cure some Hiipper at tiie tavern where the eoaeh Htopjied failed. We tarried tliere l)iit a short time, and at Hunset resumed our jouniey with fresh horses. To avoid the heavy dew and chilly i:if,'ht air, I took a seat inside the eoaeh, with eight other adults and two children, and enjoyed a deli;j;htful ride across the I'ickaway Plains' during the strangely luminous twilight that lingered long at the close of that lovely Septem- ber ilav. J"St iis "'g''<^ ''^'l* "P"" ^'"' li»»l"cape, we diverged from the I'lains to jjass tliroui;h the village of Kingston, and at ten o'clock in the evening we sat down to an excellent supper, with keen appetites, at the" Valley Hotel" in Chillieothe. Cliillicothe, the capital of Uoss County, and centre of the trade of the Scioto rc- I'ion.is delightfully situated on a perfectly level plain, at a narrow and picturesque part'of the valley, with lofty and rugged liills rising around it. In ancient times it las a place ofgre.it attraction for the iiihabitants, and was one of the principal rcn- (lezvons of the Shawnoesc when the white man began to seat hii^self in the Ohio country. It was early settled, and in the year 1800 the seat of government of the Xorthwostern Territory was removed from Cincinnati to Chillieothe. The building of a state-house there was 1 '<I^«►. commenced the same year, and was completed early enouffh in 1801 for the Territorial Legislature to meet ill it.^ In the same room, the Convention tiiat framed the Constitution for the State of Ohio met in the au- tumn of 1802. It was built of stone, and was the first ]nil)lic edifice made of that material in the Territory. Tliat venerable and venerated structure was demol- ished about the year 1850, and on its sito was erected tlic present court-house ibr the county, of light brown fiet'stone, and remarkable as one of the most beautiful public buildings west of the Alleghanies. The old jail, also built in 1801, was yet standing when I visited Chillieothe. The above sketch of the state-house is copied, l)v permission, from Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio^ page 430. Chillieothe was an important rendezvous of United States soldiers during the War of 1812, as we have already incidentally observed. They were stationed at Cam]) liull, about a mile north of the town, on the west side of the Scioto. There several liundred British prisoners, captured by Perry and Harrison, Avere confined for some time. On the morning after my arrival I rode out to " Fruit Hill," the residence of Gen- eral Duncan M'Arthur during a greater portion of his life, and then (1800) tlie prop- erty and dwelling of his son-in-law, Honorable William Allen, late member of Con- gress. It was about two and a half miles from the court-house in Chillieothe, upon the lofty plain between the Scioto and Paint Creek Valleys, and was so situated as to com- 1 These j.lnlna He sonth of CIrclevllle, on the east side of the Scioto, and are snld to contain the rlchert body of land in Ohio. They are called respectively npper and lower plains. The black soil Is the rcKnlt of vegetable decomposition dnrin? many ages. Beneath It is a bed of pebbles and gravel, and the surface of the Plains is from forty to fifty feet above the Scioto. These plains were the resort not only of the monnd-bnllders, bnt of the Indians before the Enrope- aiiBcame. There they had a Rcneral conncll-flre for all the associated tribes in that region ; there it was that the war- riot! assembled to confront tlie army of Lord Dcnmore In 1TT4, and there the horrid rites of torturi ig prisoners were frequently performed. There, on that classic Indian prronnd, Logan, the bereaved Mingo chief, made '.he famons speech pre'crved by Mr. .lelTerson ; and there was "Camp Charlotte," on Sclppo Creek, seven miles sonthwest fl-om Clrcle- »illf, where, by treaty, Dnnmore's campaign was brought to a close. For a full acconnt of Dnnmorc's expedition, and l"?«n and his famous speech, the reader Is referred to Lossing'g Pictorial Field-book (\f the Revolution, 11., 281 and 284 In- tluslve. ' The first two sessions of the Territorial Legislature were held In a small, two-storied log house that stood on the corner of Second and Walnut Streets. This had a wing, la which were public offices. This building was used for bar- racks during the War of 1S12. TlIK 01.l> HTATK-IIOCSK. * -t 1 'fff IV li' if 'ii 668 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Vide tu "r.iilt IIIU" Md "Adeua." (Icvernor WurthiujftDii. yUlIT IIILI., UKNEHAI. U'AUIUI'U'S UlblllUNUC. inand a tints view ol'tlie town and tlie Hurroiuuliui? ckuii- try. It was rcacluMl iVoni tlic valley by a windinj; road amoii<? tliu liillH. The iiiaii- rtioii was ot'lii'Wn HaiulHtoiic, spacious and flugant in Hii- inli within and without. It was ert'Ctfd in 1802, and stood in tho midst of a pleasant grassy lawn, dot- ted with a variety of orna- raontal trees and fruit-Lcar- ing Osage orange -trees. I was disai)pointed in not find- ing the proprietor at home, but this was lessened by the kind hospitalities of a young woman, a member of tho family, who led mo to the observatory on the top of the house, from which may 1)o obtained charming views of the Scioto and Paint Creek Valleys. Having sketched the "Fruit Hill" mansion,' I rode to " Adena," the fine old res- idence of Govenior Thomas Wortliington, chief magistrate of Olii'i fiom 1814 to 181h, It is situated upon the same ridge, two hund- red feet above tho Scioto, and lialf a inilo north from M'Arthnr's mansion. It overlooks the same valleys, and, because of the beauty of its situation, it was called " Adena," or Par- adise. The building is of hewn sandstone, and Avas erected in 1805, at great expense, under the supervision of the elder LatroLe, of Washington City. Its elegance and nov- elty were such, in its form, its large panes of glass, its papered rooms, and marblo fire- places, that persons came from long distances to see it, and considered its name appropri- ate. It was the finest mansion m all that region ; and, so much was Worthington re- spected, that all agreed that man and dwell- ing were worthy of each other. He was an early settler in the vi- cinity. In 1798 he built the first frame house, with glazed win- dows, erected in Chillicothe, oiled paper being then the eubstitute for gla8S.2 He erected a saw ..nd grist mill for the acc.mmodation of the inhabit- ants, and in every way was a very public-spirited man.' /^^^^:{y2^^^^ 1 Thi« vtew is from the Inwr, looking toward Cliillicothe, a glimpse of which In seen on the extreme left of the picture. » The first dwelling for a white man on the site of Chillicothe was a bark cahin erected by General M'Arthnr. 3 Thomas Worthington was bom in Jefferson County (then Berkeley), Virelnia, about the year 1709. He took wiin him to the Ohio country quite a number .if slaves, whom he emancipated. He was one of the most energetic of tlio pi- oneers to that reclon, and soon bec.nme a leading man among the settlers. He was a member of the Convention m formed the Constitution of the State of Ohio in 180.1. Soon after that he was chosen to represent the new state in (lie wu ^ pip OF THE WAlt OF 1812. AOt fiirthluxton. rhii'h may 1)c fine old xv^- VVorthinstoii, 1814 to m\ gc, two liuml- d half a milo It ovorliMiks of the beauty ■vdciia," or Par- ivn sandstone, reat expense, dder Latrolje, lance ami nov- lai'ge i)anes ut' marblo fire- hong distances lame appvoitvi- »n in all tkit irthington re- an and dwell- jf each other. [ttler in the vi- built the iirst glazed win- lillicothe, oiled ;hc Euhstitute ,f the inhabit- [eleftoftheiilctmf' ll M'Arthnr. Ilea. He took ww Tenerpetkofthcpl- Ihe Convention m [be new etale In tbt p^riiHtoBoTVAdM^ M'ArlhurV I>ortnlt. ▲ VMi to CiMlasMl Mid It! VIctoity. AIIKMA, OUVIcaNUH wubtuinotom's buidkmok. Ader.a waH then owned by (tnveriior Worth- iiiBton's H«". Cieneml Jiinu'H Worthington. Tlio court in fron* of the ninnHion whh Klle<l with trecH, Hhrubbery. an<l I'owerH. On tlie liL'lit W.IH an onornutus cherry-troo, piantetl in 1708 by the Hitle of tho log cabin in wliicb (Jovcmor Worthington an.l hi« family li'ed until tho hou«c in Cliillicothe wan wimpieted. Thoro waH a fine garden attached to tlie nnm- >i(in and from varionw points in the vieinity most (harming views of tlio Seioto Valley may ho obtained. The proprietor was not at Imnic at the time of my viwit, but I liave very iili-awnl rccollcctionR of t!ic kind courtesy 1 received from his family in showing me works of art and curiosities, and imparting information. Among the relies of tlie j>ast which I saw there was a hatchet-pipe, almost precisely like the one shown me at llrantfoi-d, in Canada, and delineated on page 421. It was presented to Governor Woi'thington by Tecnmtha, and is higlily valued by the family. Leaving "Adena," I passed down the winding road through the hills to the plain, liy a beautif.d little lake at the foot of tho wooded acclivity, and, on reaching Cliilli- nithc, called at the residence of the Honorable C. A. Trimble, member of Congress, unci son in-law of M'Arthnr, who owns the fine portrait of the general from which tht- e'i<»raving on page 267 was copied. He, too, was absent, but, tlirongh the kind oftices of his brother, I was permitted to have a daguerreotype of the i)ainting made. This was completed just in time to allow me to take the cars on the Marietta a;id Cincin- nati Railway for tho latter i)lace at about three o'clock in the afternoon. We reach- n\ the "Queen City" at seven in tho evening, having journeyed ninety-six miles tiiroiigh an interesting country from the Valley of the Scioto to that of the Little Miami. During the three succeeding days I visited men and places of interest in and about Cincinnati. I crossed the Ohio to Covington and Newport, cities, on the Kent .^y i.horc, flanking the mouth of the Licking River. I also rode out to Batavia, the cap- ital of Clermont County, about twenty miles distant, one hot afternoon, fortunately occupying a portion of the driver's seat on a stage-coach. Our route lay along tho Ohio through Columbia, a suburban vilhige (settled before the seed of Cincinnati Avas jilanted), to the mouth of the Little Miami, the eye every where delighted Avith the li'.cturcsque beauty of the shores of the great river, covered with vineyards then wealthy with immense stores of grapes, on tl Ohio side. "There prows no vlii By the hnunted Rhi.ie, By Diuuibe or Guadalquivir, Nor on Ivlnnd or cape, That benrB such grape As grows by the Beautiful River."' We crossed the Miami, and made our Avay along the level country on its oastern side a few miles, when our course bent more eastward among lofty cultivated hills. Toward sunset we looked down from a rugged eminence into the fertile vale of the east branch of the Little Miami, then flooded with the evening sunlight, which i S«iif!e of the United States, and was an active pnpporter In Congress of Jefferson's administration. He was clccttd meraorof the state In 1814, and held tho office four years. After his retirement from the chief magistracy he was ap- pointed a member of the first board of Canal Commissioners, and held that office until his deatb la the year 1827, hav- I ii?b«en in public station abont thirty years. ' Olio U the Shawnocse word for Beautiful River. The French called it La Belle Riviere, • 1. i! 570 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Veterans of the War of 1S12 at Bntavia. An Evening with h IMnghter of General llarrlsca hrotight out, in luminous relief, against the grc en verdure back of it, the quiet villaTo of IJatavia, that lay nestled in the lap of the hills at the head of the valley. There at the houses of relatives and friends, I passed the Sabbath, and met three survivinir soldiers of the War of 1812, namely, John Jamieson, Abraham Miley, and James C'ln" t^r. Mr. Jamieson was fr«m Kentucky, and belonged to a comjKi.ny of spies in Pop ter's regiment. He was active on the frontier in the vicinity of Detroit durini; a greater portion of the war. In 1814 he saw the infamous Simon Girty on the rack of severe rheumatism at his house a few miles below Maiden. The villain's eabin was decorated with scalps. Mr. Miley was a rifleman in Fort Meigs at the time of the siege in May, 1813. Mr. Jamieson and Mr. Carter confirmed the horrid story of the conversion of some of the skin of Tt'iumtha into razor-sti ops. One of them had seen pieces of the skin in the hands of a Kentuckian who took it from Tecumtha's thigh ! • September IS, On tho evening after ray return to Cincinnati from Batavia" I de. 1800. parted for North Bend, fourteen miles westward, on the Ohio and Mis- sissippi Railway, where General Harrison was wedded while yet a subaltern in the army of the tTnited States, where he lived when he bore the honorc of a gallant Gen- eral of that arm}', and where he was buned while the laurels which composed the most precious civic crown in the power of a people to bestow were yet fresh unoa his blow. The atinual fair of the United States Agricultural Society was about to close in Cin- cinnati, an(l thousands of visitors were making their wa,y homeward. The cars were densely y .eked, and, because of oomc detentioi: in tho lower part of the city, we did not reacn North Bend until after dark. The nearest public h^use was at the little village of Cloves, a mile distant over the hills, and thitherward I made my way on foot, accompanied by a grandson of General Harrison, son of W. W. H. Taylor, Esq., at whose house I supped and spent the evening. Their dwelling is pleasantly situ- ated on a slope overlooking tlie village of Cleves and the Great Miami Valley at that point, and is only half a mile from the tomb of Harrison. 3Irs. Taylor is a daughter of the general She kindly invited me to pass the night under their roof, but cir- cumstances made it proper for me to take lodgings at the tavern in Cleves. In the possession of Mrs. Taylor were poilr-aits of her father and mother, the former painted in the winter of 1840-41 by J. G. H. Beard, of Cincinnati, and pronounced a faitliful likeness by the family. The latter, an equally faithful likeness, was painted in 1828 by a young artist named Corvin, who died in New York when about to embark lor Italy. It is the portrait of a small and beautiful woman at the age of fifty-three years. Mrs. Taylor khidly furnished me with photographic copies of the portraits. When I visited North Bend, Mrs. Harrison, who had'jusl. passed the eighty-fifth year '>f Iter age, was residing with her son, Scott Harrison, Esq.,' at Lawrcncobur<r, five miles farther down the Ohio. I was informed t' at she had not received visits from strangers for a long time, her sensitive nature instinctively shrinking from the notoriety which her husband's exalted position had given her. It was said tliat slie retained much of the rare beauty of her earlier years, and that the portrait of her given on the opposite page is a fair likeness of her in her extreme old age.^ Shewn- .\nua Symmes, daughter of the Honorable John Cloves Symmes, of New Jer ey, who, as we have observed (page 36), purchased an immense tract of land hetweeu ■ Mr. Hnnison liaJ. in his possession tho telescope used b.v Commodore Perry in tho engagement on Lalce Eric, wliiA that callaut commander presented to Oeneral Harrison as a token of his regard. » Mrs. Harrlscn died on the 2«th of Bebniary, 1884, when lacking exactly five months of being eighty nine years of age. She was born in Sussex County, New Jersey, on the 2Bth o.' July, 1T7B. Her remains were taker, to the lionw o( htr daughter, Mrs. Taylor, at Cleves, and at the Presbyterian Church In that village the Reverend Mr. Bus hnoll preach- ed a fimeral se'mon, fTom the text which she had selected for the occnjlon a year before—" Be still, and kno"- thai I - am God." Her remi.lns were then laid In the vault overlooking the North Bend, by the side of those o'her hiislmnil. Mrs. Harrison was distinguished for personal courage, good sense, modesty, and sincere piety. Uer life was made ap of alternate excitement and repose. She was loved most dearly by all who knew her. iern\ llarrlsca. OF THE WAB OF 1812. 571 S«uleniei.i at North Beud. BymmeB'H City to be the fiiiiirc Cnpitnl of Ohio. A BiicceMfr.l Uiviil. the Great and Little Miami Rivers, and who early in February, 1 TOO, landed with some settlers at the most northerly bend of the Ohio River in its course below Wheeling, and proceeded to found a set- tlement by laying out a village upon the el- evated plateau throu'^h which the White- water Caniil courses at the present North Bend Station. He commenced the con- struction of licwn-log huts, with substan- tial stone chimneys, and the town was named " Symmes's City." The first house erected is yet [1807] standing on the l)aiik of the canal, a few rods from the Ohio, and abo'.it eighty rods from the North Bend Station, The chimneys of two others might be setn at the time of my visit nearer the station and the river. Settlers on the "Miami Purchase" had already built ' v^- huts at Columbia and on the site of Cincinnati, but at North Bend Judge Symmes designed to plant the fruitful seed of a commercial city; but the choice of the site of Cincinnati for a block house to protect the Miami settlers deranged all the judge's plans anadestroyedhis liopes. The settlers that came preferred to place their families un- ilcrthe immediate wing of niilitary protec- tion, and Cincinnati, instead of "Symmes's City," or North Bend, became the great cn'.porium of the Ohio region. ' There Fort Washington was built and a garrison sta- tioned,'' and there, after the treaty of Orecnville' in 1795, Captain Harrison Avas stationed as commander. Meanwhile a j Uock-house had been erected at North Bend, and about a quarter of a mile above llie present railway station, on the bank of />i/<*a, CC ou/i/i-^<^ £ry<^ nOSEEIl H0U8K, NOBTII UESD. BLOOK-HOrSE AT MOBTII OKKD.* 'Ve have obsen-ed in Note 4, pnge 40, that Ensign Lnce, of the United States Army, In the Exercli>e of his discre- I im.cbose thj site of Cincinnati for the block-honse In opposition to the powerful influence of Judge Symmc.". Ac- I Miiiijto cummon tradition, It was passion, not judgment, that fashioned the ensign's decision. He had formed an I K'luintancL with the bennttful young wife of one of the settlers at the Bend. When the husband discovered the gnl- I liii officer's too great attention to his blaclt-eyed pponec, he removed to Cincinnati, th.it she might l)e beyond the power j rfihe tempter. This movement suddenly changed the mind of the ensign. He had resolved to build the block-house I iiiheBemt ; now he discovered that Cincinnati was a much more ellgltile site. He accordingly marched his troops to 1 ikjt Ikile settlement. Judge Symmes warmly remonstrated, but in vain. The ensign was fairly captivated by the I fpukling eyes, and they decided the question. " Thus we see," says Judge Burnet, from whose " Notes" these facts pvfbeen gleaned, "the incompHrable beauty of a Spartan dame produced a ten ye.'-s' war which terminated in the iKtiMilon of Troy, and the irresistible charms of another female transferred the commei 'al emporium of Ohio from |*plifc where it had been commenced to the place where it now Is. If this captivating ^kraerlcan Heiim had rcmaln- l«iit ihe Bend the block-house would have been erected there, population, capital, and business would have centred |«im. md there would have been the Queen City of the West." a Sec page 40. ' 8co page 67. 'Tliif It copied, by permltelon, from a sketch In Howe's Bistorical Collectiotu of OAio,pago 288. %\% ■ I , I , i^ •■ «• mm 672 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Captain Harrison nud Anna Symmes as Lovers. Their Marriage oppceed. Its Consummation and RiTT the river, Jtulge Syinmes had erected quite a commodiou,. house for himself, the ruins of whose cliimney and fire-place might yet be seen in 1860. To that dweliiiifr cj«,,, his family in January, 1795, one of whom was the beautiful Anna, tlien a girl twemv years of age. The block-house was a dependency of the post at Cincinnati, and it received the early personal attention of Captain Harrison, then a young man twenty. two yeai's of age. He was the son of a leading citizen of Virginia, and bcarinf tlf highest praises of his commander. General Wayne, as a gallant soldie;-. Ih; ^as i welcome guest in the hospitable house of Judge Symmes ; and his visits, whicli W- came more and more frequent, were especially ])lcasing to the gentle Anna, who hac] first met him at the house of her sister, Mrs. Major Short, near Lexington, Kentuckv The young friends soon became lovers, and tne judge gave his consent to tlieii niai- riage. Hearing some slanderous stories concerning Captain Harrison, he witli(li(.,v that consent, but the loving Anna, like a true M'oman, had implicit confidence in jifr affianced. She resolved to marry him, and her faithfulness verified the sayino' that " Love will llnd its way Throngh paths where wolves would fear to prey." On the morning of the day fixed for the marriage, Judge Symmes, without anv sii<. picion of such an event then, mounted his horse and rode to Cincinnati. The lovirs • November 22, were united at his house," in the presence of Anna's stcp-motber ami "^- many friends, by Dr. Stephen Wood, then a magistrate. The judge did not see his son-in-law until a few weeks afterward, when he met him at a duiner-par- ty given by General Wilkinson, then in command of Fort Washington, to General Wayne. " Well, sir," the judge said, somewhat sternlj^, " I understand you have mar- ried Anna." " Yes, sir," responded Captain Harrison. " How do you expect to sup- port her ?" the father inquired. '" By my sword and my oaVu right arm," quickly an- swered the young officer. Judge Symmes was pleased with the reply, and, like a sensible man, Avas reconciled, and gave them his blessing. He lived to be proud (f th.at son-in-law as governor of the Indiana Territory, and the hero of Tippecanoe, Fuii Meigs, and the Thames ; and the devoted wife, after sharing his joys and sorro\vs for five-and-forty years, laid him in the grave witliiu sight of tlie place of their nuptial*, while the nation mingled its tears with hers, for he was crowned witii the unsuipasj- able honor of being the chief magistrate of this republic' ' William Henry Harrison, the youngest of fifteen children, was born at Berkeley, on the James Eiver, in Virginia, a the 9th of February, 1773. He was descended from a celebrated leader of the same name in Crom^ieil's army. Ho\f;,i educated at Harapdeu-Sydney College, in Virginia. On the death of his father, Robert Morris, of Phlladelnhia, became l:< guardian. Contrary to the advice of that gentleman, he entered the army. He hastened to the Northwest, but tuols:? to share in the horrors of St. Clair's defeat. His services with Wayne have already (page 53) b-ien noticed. Soon if : his marriage he resigned his commiseiou, and entered npon the duties of civil life, at the age of twenty-fonr, as Seen; of the Northwestern Territory. In 1790 he was elected the first delegate in Congress for that extensive region. .^ aftenvard, when Indiana was erected into a separate Territory, he v. as appointed governor, and clothed witli exirs r dinary powers. He entered upon the duties of his ofBce at the old military post of V'ncennes in ISOl, and disoliarjci hit duties for several years with great wisdom end fidelity. His troubles with the Indians, and his military piovcmenii In the Wabash Valley, are recorded in Chapter X. of this work. In subsequent chapters may be found a deiaileJ .t- count of his conduct as a military commander. His services in the field ended with the battle on the Thames, tn Otto j ber, 1813, and in the following spring he retired to his farm at North Bend. He was frequently called to serve hie adof: od state in public capacities. De was a member of the Ohio Legislature and of the United States House of ReprtifM. j ntives. In IS"* he was elected to a reat lu the United States Senate, and In 1829 was appointed minister to rnlmf'ciJ Differing wi'h President Jackson In some \iews respecting Panama, he was recalled. In 1S40, after living iu retircnie!;! j many years, he was nominated by the party then called Whig for the chief magistracy of the United States, and wa.« eleci-l cd by an o- erwhelniingvotc. He was luangurated on the 4th of March, 1841, being then a little past si-cly-eightvcars of j B^e. Precisely a mouth afterward he died, leaving behind him a clean record of almost fifty years of public eerri% " Calm was the life he led, till, near and far, The breath of millions bore his name along, Throii;;h praise, and censure, nud continnons jar—" I'ot long at on Ohio's conrslng wave is borne one freeman toward the glowing West, HI" eye and tongne above the chieftain's grave Shall hail the marble honors of his rest ! And, long as Dian lifts her waning crest Where Liberty yet holds what she hath won, A pensive thought shall haunt the patriot's breast ■K*WW- ', the ruhb liing came ;irl twenty lati, and it lan twenty- scaring tlio He was ;i i, -whicli lie- la, who Iwil , Kentucky. then \m\- \c withdrew deuce in Iut saying th:\t OF TJIE WAR OF 1812. 573 An evly Settler In Ohio. A Visit to the Tomb of General lliirrlsou. C'nptuiu Syramca and his Theory. I passed the night, as I have intimated, at the tavern in Cleves, and in the niorn- inf had the good fortune to meet tlie venerable Daniel G. Howell, who was the first man-child bora on " Symmes's Purchase." That event occurred at North Bend, on the ^Sd of August, 1790. A child of the opposite sex, the first in the settlement, was l)oni nine days earlier. Mr. Ilowell's family were from New Jersey, and came West with Judge Symmes. He gave me some interesting particulars concerning the hai-d- ;hip8 of the early settlers, and his adventures as one of the volunteers for the relief of Fort Meigs. At first the settlers could not spare land enough for raising flax, but they fortunately found a useful substitute in a species of nettle that grew on the open (rlades in the Miami Valley to the height of about three feet. The autumn winds \\oukl prostrate it, beneath the winl v snows it would rot, and in the spring all the bovs of the settlement would be engaged in carrying the crop to North Bend, where it was treated like flax, spun by the women, and woven into cloth for summer wear. This was all the Unefi in use there for some time. It was very dark at first, but was sus- •cntible of bleaching. They used dressed deer-skin for external clothing, and wild tur- keys came over from Kentucky in abundance, like the quails to the Hebrews, ar d sup- plied them with mucli food. After breakfast I called at Mr. Taylor's, and his son ac- companied me to the tomb of Harrison. On an adjacent hill, about thirty rods west- ward from it, is a family bu- rial-ground, in Avhic'h is the crave of Judge Symmes, cov- ered by a marble slab, rest- ing a little above the ground, on brick- work.' From this little cemetery we crossed a srassy hollow and ascended to the tomb of Harrison, or. a beautiful knoll about two hundred foet above the Ohio River. It was built of brick, iuekison-s oravk. Of him, whose reign in her brief year was done, And fro.^ his heart shall rise the name of IlAnEiBON."— ' Ieohqe II. Coi.ton. 1 The followinfr Is the Inscriptiou on the slab : " Here rest the rcraaiua of John Cleves Symmes, who, at the foot of thtw hills, made the Jlrst settlement between the Miami Rivers. Born on Long Island, New York, July 21, A.D. 1T42. Died at Cinciunati, February iC, *..D. ISU." John Cleves Symmes was bom i\l Riverhead, Long Isl.ind, and in early life was a surveyor and school-teacher. lie carried a daughter of Governor William Livingston, o' New Jersey, and sister of the wife of John Jny. He was active during the Revolution, and in 1777 was made an associate jndpe of the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey. On his removal to the Northwestern Territory he was appointed one of the United States district judpcs. Near the present village of Cleves he built a flne house, at a cost of $12,(iOO, the brick for which was burned on the spot. A political enemy, named Hart, sot it on Arc on the Ist of March, 1811, and it was entiraly consumed. Judge Symmes died, as his monument says, In 1S14, at the ape of about seventy-four years. A nephew and namesake of Judge Symmos attracted much public attention and consid- erable ridicule, abont forty years ago, by the promulgation of his belief that the earth was o])en at the poles, and that its interior was accessible and habitable. He had held the of- fice of captain In the army In the War of 1812, and performed gallant service at Fort Erie. He petitioned Congress in 1822 for aid In performing a voyage of discovery to the Inner earth, setting fo.fi the honor and wealth that would accrue to his country from a discov- ery which ho deemed certain. His memorial was presented by Colonel Richard M. John- son, of Kentucky, b.it was laid on the table. He fo;ind very little enconragcment or sup- Dort from any quarter. His nrgnmiMits were ingenious, and he had a few believers. He died at Ilamlltcf., Butler Conni>, Ohio (the site of old Fort Hamilton), on the 2Sth of May, 182S, and some admirer of his caused a monument to his memory, havii.n; as a part of it a globe open at both ends, to be constructed. The picture of It here given Is from Howe's Hintoricat CoUeaioiu (\f Ohio, page 77. STXIIE8B MOMUHEMT. i! Il 'til ^ ' '§ m M 574 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Bite of General Ilairlsou's Hesldeucc. DeBtruction of h\f Huuee by Fire. Meincntocj, was ten by twelve feet in size, and was surrounded by trees, shrubbery, and greo, sward. At its foot was a noble mulberry-tree, and at its head was the entrance witl doors slightly inclined. The only tenants when I was there were the remains of Gpu eral Harrison and his second daughter, Mrs. Doctor Thornton. The engravini; show* the appearance of the spot, and a view of the great North Bend of the Ohio as we look eastward from the grave. On the right, near the bank of the river, is seen oii" of the stone chimneys already mentioned, a few rods from the North Bend Station Descending from Harrison's tomb, we crossed the Whit.- water Canal, and after sketching the old house seen on page 671, visited the site of General Harrison's resi- dence, on ti level spot at the foot of gentle hills, about three hundred yards from the UABBISUN H BESIDEMUli AT NUUTU IIKMI. Ohio, and in full view of the North Bend Railway Station. Nothing of it remained but the ruins of cellar and fire-places, and these were cove-red with bramb'cs. The house Avas set on fire by a dismicsed servant-girl, it was believed, a few years ago, and entirely consumed. All of General Harrison's military and other valuable papers were burned ; also many presents that were sent to him by political frieads duiinir the presidential canvass in 1 840, The family portraits and a few other things were saved.' I sketc?:'?d ♦he locality from the railway station. Placing a drawing of the mansion, from one in Howe's Ilistorical Collections of Ohio, in the proper position, I give to the reader a correct view of the residence and its surroundings before the iiio. The tvater seen in the foreground is that of the Whitewater Canal. I returned tn Cincinnati toward noon, and left the same evening for Dayton and the shores of Lake Erie. > Among these wa8 a beautiful black cane with a silver head, on which was engraved a log cabin, a cider-barrfl,,i sheaf of wheat, a steam-boat, and other devices ; also his name, and presentation " by o gentleman of Louisiana." The log cabin and cider-barrel refer to a peculiarity in the features of that campaign. The oastem end of Harrison's man- sion was one of '.he original log houses built by the settlers at North Bend, and clap-boarded over. His partiean(, wlifu he was nominated, started the story that he lived in a log cabin, whose latch-strlng was always on the outside, so that the traveler might enter, and that a mug of cider was alwayd ready there for the wayfarer. The story was popularirith the masses. Log caliins were erected all over the country, in which Harrison meetings were held, and n barrel of cidfr was always ready for li-ee distribution at these meetings. The canvass was known as " the Hard Cider CampalgD," aoJ the demoralization produced by it was very great. Many a song was composed in bis praise and eung at these mce:- ings, in one of the most popular of which occurs the following verse, that may be appropriately quoted iu this con- nection: " Hurrah for the log cabin chief of onr choice ! For the old Indian fighter, hurrah 1 Hurrah ! and from mountain to valley the voice Of the people re-echoes hurrah I Tlien come to the ballot-box— boys, come along, He never lost battle for you : Let us down with oppression and tyranny's tbrongi And up with Old Tippecanoe 1" ^ii-iH P!<BW»""«W««' ^'iiEilAi Mememoet. uiiel green •auce, with iu8 of Gen- ving shows )hio, as we is seen on" d Station. I, aiul, after prison's resi- (Is from the of it remaineil ramWcs. Tlic 'ew years ago, aluable papers friends during er things were drawing of the •per position,! [before tlie fire. I returned tn the sliores of Ibln, a cidcr-baml, n T of Louisiana." The a of Harrison's man- His partisans, whfu a the outside, so thai Jory\Tas popular wili land a barrel ofcidfr lider Campaign," anil I BUns at these mtei- quoted in this con- OF THE WAR OF 1812. 576 Tlie Energies of England displayed. Respect for the Skill and Valor of tbc Americans. CHAPTER XXVn. " Once this soft tnrf, this rlv'let's gands, Were trampled by a hurrying crowd, And flery hearts and armdd hands Kncounter'd In the bottle >'.;-•' Ah ! never shall the land forget How gash'd the life-blood of her brave— Gnsh'd, warm with hope and courage yet, Upon the soil they fought to suve."— Williaii Ccllen Butakt. IIILE the army of the Northwest, under Harrison, was slowly recovering what Hull had lost, and more, stirring and important events were occurring on the frontiers of Niagara, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River. England was then putting forth her mightiest efforts to crush Napoleon, and her display of energy and resources was marvel- ous. It required the most vigilant exercise of these on the Con- tinent, yet she withheld nothing that- seemed necessary to secure gnccess in America. The naval victories of the Americans during 1812 were very mortifying to the " Mistress of the Seas," and it was resolved by the British cabinet to prosecute the war on the ocean with the greatest vigor. A most profound and wholesome respect for the skill and valor of American seamen had been suddenly ci-e* ated in the British mind, and, to prevent farther disasters on that theatre of action, it was determined that no more conflicts with American ships should be hazarded but with such superior force as would seem to insure success. The American coast was to be practically blockaded, and Avith so much rigor as to prevent the egress of privateers and the return of them with prizes ; and the fiat went forth from the Brit- ish court that ever'^ thing American found afloat should be captured or destroyed, while all of her maritime towns should be menaced and annoyed by the presence and movements of British cruisers. Tlie success of the allied powers against Napoleon during 1812 greatly relieved England for the moment, and enabled her to give more force to her conflict in the Western world. During the winter of 1812-13 a body of troops were sent to Hali- fax, to re-enforce those in Canada in the spring, the ])rincipal object to be accom- plished in that quarter being the defense of the provinces against invasion, while the war should be carried on vigorously along the coast and on the ocean. i The Americans wore disheartened by the results of their campaigns on land during 1812, and it was diflicult to increase the army either by volunteers or militia. The I joveniment had determined to renew the efforts for the conquest of Canada, in which service nearly all of the regulars were to be employed. The remainder, to consist of militia and volunteers, were to compose, witii the regulav,*, an army of fifty thou- sand men. By an arrangement for an exchange of prisoners, many valuable oflicers were restored to command. Tlie states were divided into nine military districts,^ to each of which a general officer of the United States army was assigned, whose 'The districts were composed as follows : 1. Massachnsetts and New Hampshire. 2. Rhode Island and Connecticut. llSew York from the sea to the Highlands, and the State of New Jersey. 4. Pennsylvania from Its eastern limit to jtlK ille^hany Mountains, and Delaware. 5. Maryland and Virginia. 0. The two Carolinas. T. The States of Tenneg- Iw.Loaislana, and the Mississippi Territory. 8. Kentucky, Ohio, and the Territorial governments of Michigan. In- I liuis, nilnnls, and Missouri. ». Pennsylvania from the Alleghany Monntalne westward, Now York north of the Hlgh- liiadf, and Vermont. NfHlP^ \ HI 1 1 m 576 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Amerlcang prepare for vigorous War. Opcrattong in the St. Lawrence Region. Brockville and ita yiciiilT duty it was to superintend and direct all the means of defense witliin liis niilitarv district. Detachments of troops were stationed ot the most exposed places on the sea-board to form rallying points for the militia in the event of invasion ; and tlic commandant of each district was authorized to call upon the governors of tlio re- spcctive states for such portion of the militia most convenient to the menaced ixjint as he should deem necessary, the operations of such troops to be combined with tliosi of the regular force, and the whole to be under the direction of the commandant ut' the district, and while in service to be paid and supported by the United States. By this arrangement, designed to prevent any serious interference on the part of UK- governors of states who were opposed to the Avai-, there was in each district a mru- lar officer of rank equal with any militia officer who might be ordered out, and un- der the Articles of War, entitled to chief command. Strict orders were also issued to receive no militia major general into the service of the United States except at tlic head of four thousand men, or a brigadier general without half as many. Eight new brigadiers were commissioned ;' and each district, besides its commissary genera! was to have an adjutant, a quartei--master, and an inspector of its own. Meanwhile' vigorous preparations bad been making by the Northern Army on the St. Lawrence and its vicinity, and the Army of the Centre on the Niagara frontier, for an invasion of Canada. Early in February, 1813, some important movements were made on the St. Law- rence at Ogdensburg and its vicinity. In a former chapter we have observed some interesting occurrences between the hostile pai'ties in that region during the preced- ing autumn and early winter. Both were vigilant, and both had committed " inva- sions" and made i>risoners. British deserters had fled to the American linos and parties of troops from Canada had crossed the river, captured some of these, and <fciade prisoners of American soldiers and civilians. A number of these captives wor confined in the jail at Elizabethtowni, now Brockville, in Canada, eleven or twebc miles above Ogdensburg, some of whom expected to be shot by order of a couit- martial. An expedition to rescue the prisoners in Elizabethtown jail was planned by Jlajor (late Captain) Forsyth, tlien stationed at Ogdensburg, With his riflemen, Lyttle's company of volunteers, and some citizens, about two hundred in all, Forsyth left the village in sleighs at about nine o'clock in the evening of the 6th of Fcbruarv,' rode along the southern shore of the St. Lawrence to Morristown, and there engaged Arnold Smith,^ a tavern-keeper, to pilot them across the river, which is about two miles and a half wide there. It was a perilous passage, for the ice was not very strong. They crossed safely by keeping open order. The party was divided; For- syth led one division, and Colonel Benedict, of the New York State Militia, tlie other. Flanking parties were thrown out under the respective command of Licntonants Wells and Johnson. In this order they approached Elizabethtown, on the bank of the river, where the flanking parties took post at opposite ends of the village, to \ check any attempts at retreat or approaching re-enforcements. The summer tourist on the St. Lawrence must remember with pleasure the appear- ance of Brockville (Elizabethtown), and the beautiful green ridges around it, visini, I one above another, from and parallel to the river. It is at the foot of the group of j the Thousand Islands, in the St. Lawrence ; and in front of it, upon a bare rock a short | distance from the shore, there still remained, when I visited the place in 1860, a small j ' These were Thomas 11. Cnshlnf:, Thomas Parker, Qeorpe Iz;irii, and Zcbulon M. Pike, of the old army; WilliamHJ Winder, Dnncan M'Arllinr, Lewis Cass, aod Benjamin Howard. Bobert Swartwont, ofNew York, appointed quarter- master as snceessor of Morean Lewis, bore the rank of briiindler. a Mr. Smith was one of the earlier settlers there. Morristo^vn was laid ont in 1799 by Jacob (aflenvard Gcncra'.ii Brown. Colonel David Ford made an actnnl settlement there in 1808, and Arnold Smith and Thomas Hill took np Iheirl residence, at abont the game time, on the site of the village. Smith's was the first public bouse kept there. He als^ erected the first tavern at tbo present village of Edwardsville. Morrtstowu now (ISOT) contains about 400 iubabitjuiti. ] •fiisBsm mm •■=9 A Its Vicinity. s military CCB on the 1 ; ami tliv 1 of the i\- laced point withtliosc nandant uf States. By part of vk' tvict a rcgu- 3ut , and, iin- ! also issuc'tl ixccpt at \\w Eight new sary general, ^Icanwhlk' St. LaAvrence ir an invasion the St.IaTv- jbserved some r.g the ^ivcced- iniitteA " inva- [can lines, and ! of these, ami ! captives were pven or twelve der of a court- mned hy Major [\t'mcn,Lyttle"s orsjth left the lofFchruary,' [own, and there •which is ahoat ■e was not very divided; ¥or- lUtia, the other, of Lieutenants ,n the hAwV of the village, to luvo the appear- |roundit,visini:. pf the gronp of Hire rock a short' Iin 1860, a small I m B™y . WilliamB. Irk, nppolotcd quarter- (aftcnvMfl Genera! InBBnmtoolcnptte ■ kept there. He JlH bout 400 iuhaliltant'- OF THE WAR OF 1812. 677 A general Jail Delivery at KlUabethtowii. The BrittBh determine to retaliate. Otrdeiubnri; to be attacked. IILOOK-HOCSE AT IIBOOETII,I.K. block -house erected there during the "Hebellion" in Canada in 1837. On the first of those ridges was the principal business part of IJrockville, while on the one ibove stood a court-hous' and jail, of blue limestone, ■ind churches and other fine buildings. On the site of that court-house and jail stood the building used for the same purpose in 1813, described as an "elegant brick edifice." Toward this building Major Forsyth moved through the town, after detaching small parties to secure the different streets in the village. On reach- ing it he demanded the keys of the jailer. Tliey were imraediatelj surrendered, and the major proceeded to release every prisoner but one, who vos confined for ranrder. He begged 'piteously to share the fate of liis felloA -prisoners; but lie was a criminal, and could not bo taken from the hands of justice. Some of the prominent citizens were also seized and taken to Ogdensburg. A captured physician was pu- roled at Morristown and sent back. The only show of resistance was a shot from a window, Avhich slightly Avounded one man. Major Carley, the commander of the post, three captains, two lieutenants, with forty-six other prisoners, Avere taken in tri- umph to Ogdensburg, where the expedition arrived before daylight on the 7th, Avith- out the loss of a man. The spoils were one hundred and twenty muskets, tAventy rifles, two casks of fixed ammunition, and a quantity of other stores. P'or this gallant onterpriac, Avhich called forth universal applause, Forsyth Avas made lieutenant colo- nel hy brevet, his commission being dated the 6th of February, by Avhich it was made to himself and family o memorial of the event. This ctpK ,t led to early retaliation on the part of the British. At about that time Sir George Prevost, the Governor Geii'ral of Canada, arrived at Prescott on his Avay to the capital of the upper province. Lieutenant Colonel Pipr«on, commanding at Prescott, proposed an attack upon Ogdensburg. The goverr or Avas Avilling to have the attempt made ; but on learning that some deserters bad crossed the St. Lawrence, and would probably inform the Americans of the proximity c f a prize so precious as I his excellency, he became alarmed for his pereonal safety, and ordered Pierson to ac- j company him on an immediate journey to Kingston Avith an escort. Lieutenant Col- onel M'Donell was charged .vith the business of ."s. liling Ogdensburg, and Avas di- I reeled by the governor to first make a demonstnitifA! on the ice in front of the vil- laqe, to engage the attention of the American troops, Avhile his excellency should put much space between himself and his enemies. British spies informed Forsyth of the intended attack, and he immediately dis- Ipatched a courier to General Dearborn at Plattsburg, on Lake C/hamplain, for re-en- jfbrcements. " I can afford you no help," replied Dearborn. " You must do as Avell iMyou are able, and if you can not hold the place you are at liberty to abandon it." JHe intimated that the sacrifice of Ogdensburg might be of public benefit in arousirg Itlie flagging energies of the Americans. On the receipt of this reply, Forsyth called la council of oflicers, Avhcn it was resolved to hold the place as long as possible. Its iJefenses were feAV and feeble, yet stout hearts Avere there. Near the intersection of Kord and Euphemia (noAV State) Streets stood a trophy-cannon taken from Burgoyne I Saratoga — an iron six-pounder, on a wheel-carriage, commanded by Captain ICel- logff, of the Albany Volunteers. On the west side of Ford Street, between St^te and abella Streets, was a store used as an arsenal, in front of Avhich, like Aviso on a Avheel- riage, was a brass six-pounder, manned by some volunteers and citizens, under <ph York, Esq., then slieriff of the county and captain of a small company of vol- Bteers. On the river bank, a short distance from Parish's huge stone store-house,' ['Thliwas built by David Parish, u wealthy banker, who early in this century bought an extensive landed estate on Oo Hi' m pii i i r 1 Mi: ! > «M PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK fabisu'b stobi-uodbk. Preparations to receive the Brltleb. AUJutuut Church nnd hU Auoclatei. The British advance on U|{denibiir yet (1867) standing, near the International Ferry, wan i rude wooden breawtworii, on which was niountcd (m ., Hled-carriage, an iron twelve-pounder, also taken tVdiii Burgoyiie. This battery was commanded by Vapim, Joshua Conkey. On the point where the liglit-houst now stands, near the site of old Fort Presenta- tion, was a brass nine -pounder on a sled-carriage, in charge of one of Captain Kellogg's sergeants. Back of the old fort, and mounted on sleds, were two old-fashioned iron six-pounders, one of them commanded by Ad- jutant Daniel W . Church,^ and tlie other by Lieutenant Baird, of Major Forsyth's compa- ny. In front of the huge gateway between tlie two buildings then remaining of the old fort- was another brass six-pounder on a sled, and about twenty feet to the left of this was a six-pounder iron cannon on a sled. Several others were lying on the edge of the Oswegat- chie fast bound in ice. Below the town, on the square bounded by Washington and Wa- ter, Elizabeth and Franklin Streets, was an un- finished redoubt, wliich was commenced the previous autumn by M. Kaniee, a Frencli engineer, by order of General Brown, and named Fort Oswegatchie. All the troops then available for the defense of the placo were Forsyth's riflemen, a few volunteeiii, and iibont a dozen raw recruits. On the morning of the 22d of February, about eight hundred men, under Licuten ant Colonel M'Donell, appeared on the ice, and approached Ogdensburg in two col umiis. It was a singular spectacle, for only once or twice before had the river Imii closed between Prcscott aii<l Ondciisburt;-. TIic right cohiMin, three hundred fitroii!.',] composed of a detachment from the (ilengary Mght Tnfuntry Fencibies^ and abodvj of Canadian militia, was coinmanded by Capliiin .Tciikiiis. The left column, five i hundred strong, ijomposed of detachments^ of tiie King's Regiment and the IJoyalj Newfoundland Corjis, a liuily uf ('anadiaii Incal militia and some Indians, was ooni-j manded by Lieutenant Cdlimol IM'Doneli. Tlicsc; troops moved steadily toAvard I village, while some of the inhabitants were yet in bed, and otliers were at brcakfej The right column proceeded to attack Foreyth and his command at the old fort,or| " stone garrison," as it was called.* Forsyth formed his men behind the stone biiiidi the St. Lawrence frontier. He caueed the large stone store on Water Street, Ogdensburg, to be erected in 1810, a IS13 he constructed a blast-rnrnaco at Rossie. lie is regarded as the early benefactor of St. Lawrence County,! always spoken of with affection. > Daniel W. Church was born at Brattleboro', Vermont, In 1TT2, and emigrated to Northern New York in 1801,irtH* at Canton, St. Lawrence County, he commenced the business of millwrlglit by erecting the first saw-mill built thcti He was one of the pioneer settlers in that county, and acted a conspicuous part in its early history. He assisted in or<:; Izing the first court in that county, and was sitting on the bench as associate Justice, with Judge liaymond presiding,^ the court-house at Ogdensburg when the shot from Prescott passed through the building, as mentioned in uotel.i 680. He volunteered In the military service at the beginning of the War of 1812, and was appointed adjntant ofColonj Benedict's regiment. His particular services at Ogdensburg and vicinity are mentioned In the text. Twice during ll^ ■war he received the special thonks of General Brown. He was a man of fine personal appearance, fond ofhlsto^u science, and charming in society. He died at Morristown, on the St. Lawrence, on the Tth of January, 1867, in tbc ^ year of his age, universally esteemed and deeply regretted by the whole community. " See picture on pagf v ' These were Scotch Roman Catholics, of the families of refugee Loyalists from the domain of the Johnsons in i Mohawk Valley, the most of whom inhabit the County of Olengary. * Father Francis Picqnet was a priest of the Sulpician order, and was active, after his arrival In Canada in 173.1 In 4 ostabllshmeut uf the Catholic religion and French political dominion In the New World. For the purpose of atlaf >-)>t««9B?* 1 Ugdentbarg >rry, was ii lllttMl, (111 W Liiki'U from l>y Va\)\\w\ lighl-liousi' lanicc, a Frencli All tlie troops few voluntet'i's, 1, nnder Lieutcn- \\\\% in two col- li the vivev Iw" ' [luuulred stroiii!, j l)\os^ and a body I .ft column, five and the Koyalj idi.vns, was com-! idily toward tki ■re at hreaklast.l the old fort,ofj the stone buildl Wrence County, andl^ Lv York in 1801, itW Itsaw-mmOniUtbd I He assisted in oipj |Rttymondprc»l«iif.J lntionodin"»'«l'f'3 |tcdBdj«taiit';f':*3 Ipit Twice (lutincu Wrondoflil«.d lee picture on pagf* |oni»oJolm80Mta« aCanadftinimH f the purpose 01 1""! OF THE WAU OF 18 12. 071) Tbe Brlllsli driven back upo n the Ice. Surrender of a Part of the AmerlcsuH. Hiitorlcal Localttle*. iniru tt'"l directed them to reserve their lire until lie Hhoukl give the word of com- mand. IJiiiid, with the brass six-pounder, was on the rii^lit of liis line, and Church, witli tlic iron six-pouniler, was near the centre. Just as the enemy reached the flat, siiow-drifted shore, they tired, but without ett'ect. Forsyth then gave the wonl, and ■I full volley of musketry and a disclfarge of artillery swept down eight of the foe, iiul threw their line into utter confusion. They attempted to rally and charge upon tlie Americans, but the frightened militia failing to HU|)port the light infantry, the luovenieiit was not executed, and the assailing party, after losing, besides the killed and wounded, a number of prisoners, fled out u[)on the frozen river, seriously an- noyed by the nine-pounder on the point where the light-house now stands. While these events were in progress on the ujjper side of the village beyond the Oswcgatchiej Lieutenant Colonel M'Donell had nmrched up into the town, from a poiut below the battery, near the barracks, without resistance.' Captain Conkcy kept his twelve-poui: er silent, when he might have 8 we the enemy's ranks feart'ul'y, and perhajis ut- terly checked their advance ; and, without the least resistance, ho surrendered himself, his gun, and his mer, to the invaders. When this was accomplished they expected an easy conquest of the town, but they were soon confronted by the cannon undicr Captain Kellogg and Sherift" York. The gun of the foi-mer was soon disabled by the breaking of its elevator screw, and he and his men fled across the Oswegatchie BtTB OF FOBT l>BE8ENTATION. Iigas many of the Iroqnois confederac; of Indiana to the French and the Church as possible, he founded a mission nt j ihe mouth of the Oswegatchie in 1.748, and recommended the erection of a fort there. The river was called L:i Presentn- lion by the French. There he erected a substantial stone building, on the comer-stone of which, found among tlMt I rains many years ago, was the following inscription : "in nominr t bki omnipotentis nmo uaiiitatione initia nEnn- I rass. PicqnBT, 1T49." Translation : " Francis Picquet laid the foundations of this habitation. In the name of the Al- ■ilthty God, ill 1749." Another stone building of the same size was erected about sixteen feet from the first one \ and then a stockade fort was built there soon afterword, covering nbont an acre of ground, these edifices, standing on the ItokoftheOswegatc'ule, formed part of the fort, which was called Presvntation. Between the two buildings masslvo j jiies of oak, fifteen feet in height, were erected. " The remainder of the eastern or southeastern portions," says Mr. I tiesi, in his "Recollections of Ogdensburg and Its Vicinity," " was heavy stone wall ; indeed, this may be said to hove i inclosed the whole. Here was held the first court in St. Lawrence County, and here, iho, they had preaching when I lliey were fortunote enough to obtain a clergyman." Nothing now remains of these old works but a few traces of the jlmiilation. The Inscribed comer-stone occupies a conspicuous position In the State Armory, erected in Ogdensburg linlsM. I saw It in 1866 in a wall of the Hasbfonck estate on Ford Street. In the above sketch of the site of Fort iPitscntatlon, taken from In front of Judge Ford's mansion, the position of the stone buildings above mentioned is in- Ifalcdby Ihe two little figures seen between the low one-story building toward the right of the picture and the more Ifcunt landing-place at Ogdensburg. Toward the left of the picture, on the point projecting into the St. Lawrence, is Im Ihe light-house, and across the river a glimpse of Prcscott and Fort Wellington. Toward the extreme right, on the l&lant shore, are seen the ruined buildings on Windmill Point, desolated dnrtng the " Rebellion" of 18,17. The land- |li?pljce of the British, on the marshy shore, to attack Forsyth, was directly beyond the clump of trees on the extrcmo |Ul of the picture. ' The British stnick the shore nt the foot of Caroline (now Franklin) Street, and marched up that street to Wachinu |li«,ilong Washington, past Parl.-li's liouso, to siHto sirci'l, and halted : thou to the Arfcual in Ford Street, between '< ami Isabella Streets. , i! if; :| i .1 610 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK of 8h«rlffYork. Sketch ufh la Ufe, Vllght ofCUlMDS. PatrlotlRin, CnnruKo. ouil Fldollty of Mrr/v^ MAI* UF UI'UUATIUNH A'i tlUIIKiNblll.'lUi. and joined Forsyth, leaving the indomitable York to maintain the light alone.' Tin Hheriff continued to fire until two of his men were mortally wounded, and liimsill' and the remainder of ins party were made prisoners. The village was now in full possession of the enemy, and the citizens fled, mostly in the direction of Remington's, now Ilouvelton. M'Donell proceeded at once to • Joseph York was born In Claremont, New llampslilvo, on the SIh of Jan- nary, 1781, and when qnlto young settled with his father In Hanil(il;ph, Vot- mont. At the age of seventeen years (17»8) he Joined the Provisional Amiy under Lieutenant Nathaniel Leonard, ind served until the army wan ili<. banded In 1800. He emigrated to Ogdensburg In 1806. .He was do|iul,v fkr- Iff three years, and sheriff four years. When made prisoner on the orcifion above noted, ho was taken to Prescott, and thence to the Johii«tn»ii j i where, through the active exertions of his wife, he was paroled, auil :i :■ i weeks afterward exchanged. Mr. York's residence at that time was in tlie conrt-hoose, a frame bond- ing that stood on the corner of Knox and Euphoinia (now State) Streets. His widow was living when I visited Og- densbnrg In tht) snramer of 18(10. She was a small, delicate, and highly-Intel- ligent woman, and I remember my In- terview with her with great pleasure. She gave me a graphic account of the events of the invasion, and kindly al- lowed me to make a copy of the silhou- ette likeness of her hnsband. She said she did not leave her home In the court- hoffso until the British had tired several shots into it, and almost reached it, when she took some money and table- spoons, and ran as fast as she could into the country, with a number of other women. They retreated about fiflfenl miles. The next day she returned, and fbnnd the honse plundered, the fuJ ntture broken, and her husband a prisoner. The heroic little woman (wliol had made many cartridges for the soldiers) Immediately resolved to go overf into Canada In search of her hnsband. She crossed tbc riveil in a skiff, went to the honse of a fHend (Mrs. Yates) at Joliu!^ town, having a British ofllcer as escort, made personal applici tion to Lieutenant Colonel M'Donell, procured the release o her hnsband on parole, and took him back with her. Sherilfl York was very highly esteemed In St. Lawrence County, successive years he represented that county in the Leglalatareol New York. The town of York, in Livingston County, was namtj 8th of May, 1827, at the age of forty-six years. Mrs. York died in July, 1862, OOVRT-UOCSli, OUIIKNHIII'IUI. i/i honor of him. He died on the MWaML" ! r or Mm, York. it alone.' The id, and himself ens flod, mostly ded at once to ,;e, on the Rlh oMai!- icr 111 Kaniloliih.yt'- Iho rrovlsluiiai Amy l\ the iirmy wai" ilis- .;ie was ilciraly A"- floncr 1)11 the occafiou I) tlic Johiutowu jail, as paroled, and a (e» linui'c, a frame MM- Iretrcated about «tlfeii| InBepliiii'lered.tlicto-l lolc little woman («1»>| lely reBolved to go ontl fshe crossed the meil l(Mrs.Vntc9) atJotiui^ made personal apjlw -•ocnrcd the relea« « lack with her. Simla Iwrence County. ItyintheLeplsW""^ ItonConnty.waBnsraej |dlnJtlly,1862. OF THE WAR OF 181S. 081 Hrtrwit of the Amerlcani ffora OKdensburg. Plunder of the VIIMKe. Priioaeni carried to C«nwl*. coiiiplt'te tlio conqiU'Ht by tlinlod^ing KcrHytli and liin J>arty. lie jiaiiiiU'd IiIh troopH ,^ j|,y iiortliorn nIioh! of the OMWc^atchic, and Hciit a Hau; to FttrHytli Niiiniiioiiiiig him to mirrcndi'i- iimtantly. " If yon Mnrrcndcr, it shall ho. widl ; if not, I'vcry man nhali ho put to the bayonet," was a nu'HHai^e sent witli the HnininoiiH. "Tell Colonel M'Doncll," replied Forsyth, "there must be more tightinn done first." The bearers ,it'tlie rtai,' had just reached tlieir line on Ford Street, near llusbrouck's, when Church mill Hi>'''*l ^'■'"' *''^' ^^'" six-pounders that stood before tin; j^ate of the iort, both cliariji'd with j^rape and canister. The eft'ect was severe, but less frightful tiian it ininlit liave been had not Forsyth peremptorily ordered Chundi to elevate his jdece II little lii,c;her. The discharge frightened the enemy, and they took sheltt^r behind I'liiinh's store-house and other buildings, and began picking oft" the Americans in de- mil while another i^arty, overwhelming in numbers, were preparing to storm the ohl fort. Forsyth's quitik eye and judgment e'tmprehended the impending j)eril. It was heiu'liteiiL'd by the wounding of Church and Haird, and he gave orders for a retreat 10 Thurber's Tavern, on Black Lake, eight o;- nine miles distant, where, on the same day, ho wrote a dispatch to the Secretary of War, in which he gave a brief account ,(i the attairs of the morning, and said, "It you can send me three hundred men, all shall he retaken, and Prescott too, or I will lose my life in the atteini)t." Lieutenant Haird was too severely wounded to be taken away, and he was left at the mansion of Judge Ford,' where he was made a prisoner. The town now being in full pos-session of the enemy, the work of plunder commenced. Indians and camp-fol- lowerH of both sexes came over from Canada, and these, with resident miscreants, defying the earnest eft«)rts of the British ofticers to prevent plunder, carried oft* or de- jtroyed a great amount of private property. Flvery house in the village except three was entered. The public projierty was carried over to Canada. Two armed schoon- ers and two gun-boats fast in the ice were burned, the barracks near the river were laid in ashes, and an attempt was made to fire the bridge over the Oswegatchie.^ Fifty-two ])risoners were taken to Prescott, where those who were not Ibund in arms were paroled and sent back.^ Some of the prisoners were confined in the jail at Joans- town, three miles below Prescott,* and othei-s were sent to Montreal. Fourteen '^f the latter escaped from prison at Montreal, and the remainder were sent to Halifax. The Americans lost in this aftair, besides the prisoners, five killed and fifteen wound- od. The British lost six killed and forty-eight wounded. As the enemy immediately evacuated the place, the citizens soon returned. From that time until the close of the war Ogdensburg remained in an entirely defenseless state, whioh exposed the in- liabitants to occasional insults from their belligerent neighbors over the river.* A little east of Prescott, on the bank of the St. Lawrence, the British erected a small fortification during the war, which commanded Ogdensburg. It was called Fort Wellington. The present fort of that name was built upon an eminence back of the other, in 1838, at the time of the " Rebellion" in Canada." ' This mansion stood on a pleasant spot not far from the left bank of the Oswegatchle River. Nathan Ford, Its own- I eT,««8 among the earliest settlers of Ogdensburg. He was born in Morrlstown, New Jersey, on the 8th of Decemoer, I li(3. He served In the Continental army, and In JTfl4 and 1796 he was employed by Ogden and others, who had pur- I ctod lands In Northeni New York, to loofc after their affairs In that quarter. He was ft man of indomitable energy, lull early foresaw prosperity for the little settlement at the mouth of the Oswegatchlc. He died in April, 1S29, at the I ige of sixty-six years. ' The plunder of public property consisted of 1400 stand of arms, with accoutrements, 12 pieces of artillery, 2 standii |«(ti)lore, 300 tents, a large quantity of ammunition and camp equipage, with some beef, )>ork, flour, and other stores. ' The prisoners li^the jail at Ogdensburg represented to the liritish that tbey were only political offenders, and then Iwre all released. Most of them accompanied the invaders back to Prescott, when It was ascertained that they had de- iMivcd the British officers. Some were given up at once, and Sheriff York Anally recovered the most of Inem. •Thin jail was used as a place of public worship for a long time, to which the inhabitants of Ogdensburg ftcquently |ifcirted before the year 1812. Previous to that time there was no regular place of worship in Ogdensburg. in May, 1813, an officer came over from Prescott for deserters, and Insolently threatened to bum Ogdensbnrg If they Ixte not given up. "Ton will do no snch thing," said Judge Ford. " No sooner will I see the incendiaries landing IttiD I will set fire to my own house with my own hands, rally my neighbors, cross the river with torches, and bum ev- Ii7hnn8e from Prescott to Brockville." The British officer, perceiving the consequences that might ensue, afterward lipclojized for hie conduct.— Hough's History qfSt. Latcrence CourUij, page 685. ! I - ;r PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A Villi to Ogilriinlmr); unci I'rMCOtt. Th«"lUbtllloti"lB C.nin. T vi»itPfl thfl tliofttro of m'om'n jnut deflcrilx-d, mid placoH of IntoroHt in tlicir ii(i(F||. horliood, in July, IHOO, iUUt HjM'iidiiijj; ft day or two niiionjj thi' 'nioiisaiid Islaiidx j,, •.inivM, *'"' vicinity oC{'a|M' Viiicoiit. At dawn on a liraiitifiil inorninir" I cinluriicil on tlui Htoam boat Xcw York at tliat point lor Ogdcimburj;, and liad the plt'aouro of nu'iitiiij; an old a('(|iiaintanco (Captain Van ('lev*'), a votoran (ttimiiaiKlcr of ntcam-l)oatH on halic Kric and tiu' St. Luwivnco, and wlio wiih an invoiiinl'iry lutdr in till! Htiniiijj hci'Iics in the m-i^liltoiliood of tlit- OHWcgatchii' in 1H:)h, which wiljl),. noted ])reHentiy. Familiar with every iwlaiid, roek, and hush on t!ie route, I t'iiii,|,| him a nioHt iimtnietivo companion diiriiisx that delii^htlul voyajj^e ainoiii^ thcTliuii. sand IslandH. Another paHwenger waH Mr. Tierpont, of IMerpont Manor, .Icfl'iisun County, New York, who was one of the United Htate« commiHwionerH that tixcd tlic Itoiindary-liiie between the former and Canada Koon after the ehme of the War „f lsr.'-'15. With these two gentlemen as companions willing to impart iiifuriiiatinn. I lacked nothinu;. Just above Hrockville, as we emerj.'ed from the Tlionwand Islands, a settleiiicnt nf Tories of the Uevoliition was pointed out to me, and the house in which a f^raiidsdn of lJenc<Uet Arnold livt'd, and where he died a few years ago. We arrived at Ogdeiisburg early in the day, and I went out immediately to visit jdaces of historic interest there, aceoin|)anied by Messrs. Wentbrook ami (iut'st, td whom I am indebted for kind attentions while there. The landing-places of the Brit- ish from the ice ; the sites of the "stone garrison" and other Tiiilitary works; tlio ar- senal, court-house, and old burial-ground, on an eininenee south of the Oswegatdiio, were all visited before dinner.' Aflerward I went alone over to Prescott, and, in company with a citizen of that village, rode to Wind-mill I'oint, a mile below, to visit the scene of a serious tragedy late in the autumn of 18.TH. Allusion has already been maiU' several times to the " Ilebellioii" in Canada in \»r, and 1888. It was a violent efl'ort on the ])art of leaders and followers in both \tm- inces to cast off the rule of an oligarchy and establi^li constitutional goveninniit, whose administrators should bo resj)onsible to the people. The most eonspicuou* eader in the upper ])rovince was the late William Lyon M'Kenzie, a Scotchman, ami in the lower province the late Louis Joseph Papineau, a wealtliy French Caiiailiaii, These, with many followers, assumed the position of open insurrection against tin ))rovincial authorities. Tlity were Joined by many sympathizers from tlie Unite(f States frontier, and in the autumn of 1838 the affair had grown to alarming propor- tions — so alarming th ,t, on account of the active sympathy of tlie Americans with the Canadian "Patriots," it threatened to disturb the friendly relations between the United States and C4reat Britain. All the frontier towns on both sides of tlic line were kept in continual excitement, and none more so for a time than Ogdensburg ami Prescott. Matters were brought to a crisis there in this wise. One of the most act- ive of the "Patriots" on the American side was William Johnson, of Frcnchtown (now Clayton), commonly known as"Tiill Johnson," and sometimes called the " Patriot," and sometimes the "Pirate" of.the Thousand Islands. Of him we shall have oceasinn i 10 speak more in detail hereafter, for he was an active partisan in the War of IS12. j Johnson's knowledge of the St. Law-rence from Cape Vincent to. Ogdensburg math him a valuable auxiliary to the Canadian insurgents, and lie engaged with tliem in j-o-operative movements for seizing Foit WelHngton, which had just been completed j at Prescott. For this purpose a large number of" Patriots" went down the St. Law- j rence early in November, 1838. On tlie 12th, the steam-boat Wnited States, Csi\i[m\ Van Cleve,ju8t mentioned, took as passengers for Ogdensburg about two hundroilj > I vlnitpd tho fine mansion and benutihil grounds of Mr. PHrii)h, son or the early proprietor ofvaet landed estates inl 1h»t reijion. There for many years was the residence of Elena Vespucci, a lineal descendant of the Florentine Amerl-I PHi Vcspnrcl, in whose honor onr continent was named. She visited this country with the expectation of receiving il irrftnt of lanil or money f^om Congress. She was a brilliant, fascinating woman. She left for Europe in 1S59. Mauri «r<deucoi> <>l' her t:\ste were seen al)ont the raaneion. OF THE WAH OF 1818. 66a tlu'ir lU'igl). id Isluiids in ' I ('in<i.»rkc(l i\ii(l liail till' 1 ('i)nniiitii(lfr Umt'iry iictui' vliicli will Iw onto, 1 t'lmiul 1114 tlic 'riiiiii- luir, .1 1'ft'i'i'sim (liiit lixcltlic f the Wiir (if t iiil'onnatKm. settlomciit (if ch a grandson iVmtoly to visit iiml (iuest, to ces ;>f the Hrit- workH; tliear- e Oswogiitcliie, "rcscott, mitl, in „> below, to visit At Amrlcan Niramnr prciMd Into tb* IwrviM oftliv " I'litrluU." Hinge <>r II Knriiiniiril Wliiil-nilll. r^l^Tiftnded estates Ini f the Florentine AmfH-l lectatlonofreceWngij lEuropclnlSM. Mstjl (Mil fifty " I'iitriotH" from Siickctt'H Hurhor. On tlu' w:iy down the St. Lawrcnco, Van ( livi' diHCovtTi'd two HfliooncrH hiciilnu'd. Oni' of his pasHfiigcrs, a Htranjfcr of jjjon- ;,il jiiiiH'aianci', askoil him to taku them in tow, aH tlicy won' hidon with j^ooiIh for OifiU'iiHlmrg, and Ik> should he jrlad to liav them reach j)ort tlie next morninij. The ilfckft were covered witii boxes and barrels, iind only men »'nonj;h to navijjate tlie ves- s"\* were visible. 'I'lie sehooners were taken in tow, when Van Cleve was speedily umlceeived. Full two hundrnl arme(l inen <'anie from them on boiird of his vessel. Till' H('li<H)nerB were a sort of Trojan horses. N'an C/leve was perplexed. He resolved I,) "lay to" at Morristown, and send word to the authorities at ()ji;donsburg. This liccomim,' known to tlie " Patriots," about one hundred of those on the United Staten «|i(i took |)assaiije at Saekett's Harbor, and all who had eome from tlie schooners, wtiit on hoard t)f the latter, when they cast offfroni the Hteam-boat and sailed down ilii> f<t. Lawreiua'. On the following morning they were at anchor in the river be- iwi'cii Oudensburg and I'roscott, and created the greatest excitement in both towns. The Uritish armed HU'iinuir Experiment was lying at Prescott, and made immediate irrangeineiits to attai^k the schoonei-s. One of them meanwhile had run aground, ;iii(l the other had gone down to Wind-mill Point and landed her armed men. At iboiit the same time the United States arrived at Ogdensburg. The " Patriots" pressed jier into their service, and, with the assistance of the American steam ferry-boat Paul 7Vy, rescued the stranded schooner, and conveyed the other to a place of safety near Ogdensburg. She was also employed in carrying over some " Patriots" Avhom John- noil hiul persuaded to accomj)any liim to Wind-mill I'oint, in which service she lost hor pilot, Solomon Foster, an excellent young man, who was instantly killed by a ball from the Experiment that passed through the wheel-house of the United States. That evening Colonel Worth arrived at Ogdensburg with United States troops, aceompa- iiied by a marshal, who seized all vessels in the "Patriot" service, including the Vnited States, and effectually cut off supplies of men, arms, and provisions from Wind- mill Point. Tlic " Patriots" at the Point made a citadel of the strong stone wind-mill there,' took possession of some stone dwellings, and cast up breast- works. They Avore under the command of a brave young Polandcr named Von Sehoultz. On the morning of the • Nowmbcr, UHli" they were attacked with shot and shell by '**• the Experiment and two other armed steamers that had arrived. These were replied to by the battery that had been constructed on the shore near the wind-mill during the night. There were cowards among the " Patriots." So many had fled that when the cannonade 'ommenced only one hundred and eighty were left. When, soon afterward, British regulars and volunteers to the number of more than six hundred went out from Fort Wellington and attac . ed the "Patriots" in the rear, only one hundred and twenty-t"ght were left ; and yet these fought so desperately that, accoi d- ing to Dr. Theller's account,* they drove the British back to the fort, killing one hundred of them and wounding many, after a conflict of an lioui'. Little but burying the dead occupied the next day.*" That night, four hundred British regulars, sLxteen hundred volunteers, cannon, and gun- boats arrived from Kingston. The "Patriots" were doomed. Food, ammunition, and physical strength were exhausted, and they surrendered. They had lost thirty- six killed ; ninety were made prisoners. Von Sclioultz, only thirty-one years of age, [ and several Americans, were hanged in less than a month afterword. Some were re- ilrheller's Ctenodo <n 183T-'38. TUB UAITEBKU WINII-MM.I.. ii PI PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Fort Wellington. Retum to Ogdensburg and Deiiarture nmyiui leased, and twenty-three were sent to En- gland, and from thence to tlu> British pen- al colony in Van Dienien';' Laud. Eleven years later they were all released by a declaration of amnesty by tl'.e crown. The British burned the wood-work of the wind-mill and stone houses. In tliai desolated condition they yet remained wlien I visited the spot in lb60, and made tlu' sketch from which our little en<Tiav- ing Avas copied. The wind-mill still n- hibits many indentations made by the cannon-balls during the siege. It was toward evening when I returned to Prescott, stopping on the Avay to visit Fort Wellington, a strong work coverinj; about three acres of ground. It was not garrisoned, and eveiy thing within seemed neglected. The citadel, iv the form of a block-house, seen in the engraving, is a strong work, the lower part of stone, the upper of hewn timbers. The bar- racks are in good condition. A few can- non were on the ramparts, and on the river side of tlie fort lay a brass one, on which was inscribed the words and cliar- acters " S. N. Y., 1834. Taken from the j-ebols in 1837." It was a trophy. When I recrossed the St. Lawrence at near sunsot, heavy clouds were floatln^t down from the iCgion of the Thousand Islands, and low thunder-peals were lieard in the far soutliwest. I stopped on the International Ferry wharf just "'"^ wei-linuton in is«).i long enough to sketch the Parish store-liouse, and arrived at the Sej mour House a few minutes before a heavy shower of rain began to fall. I passed nart of the short summer evening with Mrs. Fork, already mentioned, at the house oi Mr. Chapin, her son-in-law, and at four o'clock the next morning, when the clonds, after a night of tempest, were breaking, departed in tlie cars for the eastward, tc visit French Mills (now Covington), Malone, Odelltown, Champla'u. Chazy, and Plattsburg. Of thosi visits I shall hereafter write. A second invasion of Canada, as we have observed, was a principal feature in the programme of the campaign of 1813. Quebec, on account of its military strenjrtli and accessibility to large vessels from the sea, was held to be unassailable ; but Moii- treal, the emporium of the vast Indian trade in the immense country westward of it, seemed to promise an easy conquest. The possession of that city, and of the entire Upper Province, was the prize for which the Army of the Noi'th Avas expected to contend. But the same lack of sagacity on the part of the cabinet, to which much of the disasters of 1812 were chargeable, now reappeared. Instead of sending " om- petent force for the cnpture of Montreal before the ice in the St. Lawrence should move and peririt British transports to bring le-enforcements from Halifax, it was de- termined first to reduce Kingstcii and York (now Toronto), on Lake Ontario, and ' In this view, looking toward tUe St. Itawrence, the village of Ogdembnrg is seen lo the extreme dtstauce, on He i height. OP THE WAR OF 1812. 586 ■^ arture eanwtnl. nearborn and Cbaancey ou Lake Ontario. Flans for Invading Canada. Preparations for active Movements. Forts George and Erie, ^n the Niagara River, recapture Detroit, and recover the Michigan Territoiy. The latter enterprise was successfui, as wo ha^e seen in the last chapter; it now remains for us to consider the events connected with the prosecu- tion of the former, namely, the capture of York, Forts George and Eric, and King- ston in the order hei e named. Early in the winter of 1813, Dearborn, who was in the immediate command of the Army of tlie North, had about six thousand troops under his control, and was em- powered to call out as many of the local militia as might be needed to supply any de- ficiencies in the regular army. Commodore Chauncey, by operatiord described in a former chapter,' had acquired such complete control of Lake Ontr rio that he could confine all the British vecsels of war to the harbor of Kingston. Orders were given for the concentration of four thousand troops at Sackett's Har- bor, and three thousand at BuiFalo. The former were to cross the ice to Kingston, capture that place, destroy all the shipping that might be wintering there, and then, as soon as practicable, either by land or water, proceed to York, seize the army stores collected there, and two frigates said to be on the stocks. Dearborn received a general outline cf this plan from the War Department on the 10th of February. He was then at Plattsburg with two brigades wintering there, amounting in the aggregate to about twenty-five hundred effective men. "Noth- iu" shall be omitted on my part," he wrote on the ISth," "in endeavoring •Pebmary, to carry into effect the expedition proposed."^ Major Forsyth, Avho re- '®^''- turned to Ogdensburg after tie British left it, was ordered to Sackett's Harbor. General Brown was directed to call out several hundred militia ; and Colonel Zebu- Ion K Pike (who was made a brigadier general » month later) was ordered to pro- ceed from Plattsburg to the Harbor with four hundred of his best men in sleighs. But Chauncey was detained in New York, and the expedition against Kingston was abandoned, partly on that account, and partly because the arrival at that place of Sir George Prevost with Pierson's escort^ from Prescott gave foundation for a report that the British there had received large re-enforcements.'' AVhen, about the Ist of March, Dearborn arrived at Sackett's Harbor, the story was current there, and (.'cuerally believed, that Sir George, with six or eight thousand men, collected from Quebec, Montreal, and Upper Canada, ^/as at Kingston, engaged in active prepara- tions for offensive measures. Dearborn found only about three thousand troops at the Harbor, and he sent ex- presses to hasten forward those on the way. On the 9th of March he wrote to the Secretary of War, saying, " I have not yet had the honor of a visit from Sir George Prevost," and expressed some doubts whether the knight would make his appearance at all. A week afterward all causes for apprehensions of an attack from Kingston had disappeared, and at a council of officers'' the expedition against that place was formally abandoned until the lake should be open and the co- operation of the fleet should be secured. To the strengthening of that arm of the service on the lake, the genius and industry of Henry Eckford, the naval constructor, were now earnestly directed, the President having, on the 3d of March, directed six sloops of war to be built on Lakes Ontario and Erie, and as many purchased as the exijfencies of the service might require. Tlie pay of seamen was advanced twen- ty-five per cent., and many of them were sent to the lakes for active service there. Early in April the brig Jefferson was launched" at Sackett's Harbor, and the « April t. keel of the General Pike was l.i' l.*" On the 14th the British launched two "April 9. large vessels at Kingston, and at about the same time received for the service on the ' Sep Chapter XVIII. » Genera) Dearborn to the Secretary of War. ' See page 677. ' "Chauncey has not returned," Dearborn wrote to the Secretary of War on the JBth of Pebrtiary. "I am latltfled that U he had arrived rs soon as I had expectsd hln, we miKht have made a stroke at Kingston on the lee ; bat bis preseoM was necessary fur having the aid of the seamen and marines." I« M\ ' I li J86 PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK The Troops at Sackett's Harbor. Expedition againet Little York. The British Defensej. water large numbers of seamen from the Royal Navy. On the 15th the ice in tho lake disappeared, and two days afterward Chauncey sent out the Growler to recon- noitre. Brigadier General Chandler had lately arrived. The effective force at Sack- ett's Harbor at this time consisted of about five thousand regulars and twelve months' volunteers, two thousand militia, and thirteen hundred sailors. At the middk of April Dearborn and Chauncey matured a plan of operations. A joint land and naval expedition was proposed, to first capture fork, and tiien to cross Lake Ontario and reduce Fort George. At the same time, troops were to cross the Niagara from Buffalo and Black Rock, capture Forts Erie and Chippewa, join the fleet and army at Fort George, and all proceed to attack Kingston. Every tiii' • being arranged. Dearborn embarked about seventeen hundred men on Chaunccy's fleet at Sackett's Harbor on the 22d of April, and on the 2Sth the fleet, crowded with soldiers, sailed for York.' After a boisterous passage, it appeared before tlie little town early in the morn ing of the 27th, when General Dearborn, suf- fering from ill health, placed the land forces under charge of Gener- al Pike,'* and resolved to remain on board the commodore's flag-shiii during the attack. The little village of York^ was then chiefly at the bottom of the bay, near a marshy flat through wliich the Don, coming down from beautiful fertile valleys, flower! slug- gishly into lake Ontario, and, because of the softness of the earth there, it was often called " Muddy Little York." It gradually grew to the ^\ cstward, and, while descrtiii!; the Don, it wooed the Humber, once a famous salmon stream, that flows into a broad hav two or three miles wesi of Toronto. In that direction stood the re- mains of old Fort To- ronto, erected by the French, and now (1 867) an almost shapeless heap. On the shore eastward of it, betAveen the present new bar- racks and the city, were two batteries, the most east- erly one being in the form of a crescent. A little far- ther east, on the borders of ' Chanticey's fleet consisted of the flng-shlp Madison, commanded by Commander Elliott ; the Oiteida, Lieutenant Com- mandin<; Woolsey ; the Fair A merican. Lleatenant Chauncey ; the Ilamiltttn, Lieutenant M'Pherson ; the Governor Tomjy kins, Lieutenant Brown ; the Conquest, Lieutenant Pettlgi-cw ; the Asp, Llentenant Smith ; the Pert, Lieutenant Adamii; the Julia, Mr. Trant ; the Grmeler, Mr. Mix ; the Ontario, Mr. Stevens ; the Scourge, Mr. Osgood ; the iMdij 0/ the Laki, Mr. Pllnn ; and liaven, transport. ' Zebnlon Mor. i^omery Pike was one of the earlier explorers of the wildemcss around the head-waters of the Mlsfif- slppl River. He was born in Lambcrton, New Jersey. . His father was an army ofBcer, and young Pike entered tlit army while yet a boy. His whole life was devoted to the military profession. Soon after the purchase of Louisiana, in 1803, President Jefferson decided to have the vast unknown territory explored, and sent Captains Lewis and Clnik. 10 accomplish a portion of it. At the same time, young Pike (who was born on the Mh of January, 1779) was coraniiHtiyiiPd to explore the present Minnesota region. That was in ISOB. In the following year he made a perilous but succeeftli'. rectmnoissance of the wilderness in the direction of Northern Mexico, and, returning In the summer of 1807, he reccivod the thanks of Congress. He reached the rank of colonel of Infantry In ISIO, and In March, 1813, he was cninmisfioiipd a brigadier. He lost his life in the attack on York (Toronto), In April, 1813, when he was little more than fliiity-fouryfart. of age. His name and memory arc perpetuated, not only on the pages of History, but In the titles often counties, uiid twenty-eight townships and villages In the United States, chiefly In the Western country. On the day before he left Sackett's Harbor, General Pike wrote as follows to his father : " I embark to-morro!v in thf fleet, at Sackett's Harbor, at the head of a column of 1600 choice troops, on a secret expedition. Should I be the happt mort.il destined to turn tht scale of war, will yon not rejoice, oh my father ? May heaven be propitious, and smllo m the cause of my country. But If we are destined to fall, may my fall be like Wolfe's — to sleep in the arms of victor)-," His wish was gratified. ' York, or " Little York,"*as It was generally called, was a village of abont nine hundred inhabitants, «Unatcd on tlif north shore of Ijake Ontario, a little west of the meridian of the Niagara River. It was founded by Qovcnior Siniroe, was made by him the seat of government In 17l>7, and designed to be, what It has since become, a large and floHri»liiiij city. In front of it is a beautiful bay, nearly circular, a mile and a half In diameter, formed by the main and a curioii?' OF THE WAR OF 1812 687 ritleh Dcfensei. e ice in th" er to recon- rce at Sack- ilve months' Bvations. A tlien to cross to cross the >\va, join the Every thi' ; 1 Chauncey's !row(lo(l with 'ore the litilc It gradually he ^v estwani, lie deserting it wooed the once a famous stream, that a broad hav iree miles -wesi tito. In that 1 stood the re- f old Fort To- rected by the and now (1 86 1) o s t shapeless On the shove d of it, between isent new har- d the city, were the most cast- ig in the form A little far- the borders of rfrffl, Lieutenant Com- i ; tlic Governor Tomp- [f, Lieutenant Adams; I the Lady of the Lakt, l-WRters of the MIffif- ling Pike entered tht thnse of Louisiana, in Lewis iind Clnil>' I" til) wns comnilPhiiiiK'il lerilouB but succeffrii! |er of ISO", be rccciveil ■ wns commisfioiicil a Ithantblvty-fourycarf Ir of ten counties, awl Lrk to-morro-v in the Rhould I be the happy tpltlous, and smile "O Ithe anne ofvlctori." |tant»,»ttnatedonlbt I by Oovenior Simcot. I large and llourlsliiiij ! main and o curiouf- Seglect of Defenses. General Pike's Instructions. His Troops conn-onted at their Landing-place. YORK IN Itilii, rSOM TUB 1ILOOK-UO(7BI! EAST OP TUP. DON. deep ravine and small stream, was a picketed block -house, some intrenchments ^ith cannon, and a garrison of about eight hundred men, under Major General Slieaffe. On Gibraltar Point, the cxti. no western end of the peninsula, that embraced the Harbor with its pro- tecting arm, was a small block - house ; and another, seen in the engraving, stood on the high east bank of the Don, just be- vond the present iiridge at the eastern termination of King and Queen Streets. These drfonses had been strangely neglect- ed. Some of the cannon were without trunnions , others, destined for the war vessel then on the stocks, were in frozen mud arid half covered with snow. Fortunately for the garrison, the Duke of Gloucester was then in port undergoing some repairs, and her guns furnislied some armament for the batteries. These, however, amounted lo only a few si.x-pounders. The Avhole country around, excepting a few spots on tlio lake shore, was covered with a dense forest. On the day when the expedition sailed from Sackett's Harbor General Pike issued minute instructions concerning the manner of landing and attack. " It h expected," lie said, " that every corps will be mindful of the honor of the American arms, and the disgraces which have recently tarnished our arms, and endeavor, by a cool and ilctcrmined discharge of their duty, to support the one and wipe off the other." "The unoffending citizens of Canada," he continued, " are many of them our own country- men, and the poor Canadians have been forced into this war. Their property, there- fore, must be held sacred ; and any soldier who shall so far neglect the lionor of his profession as to be guilty of plundering the inhabitants, shall, if convicted, be pun- ished with death. But the commanding general assures the troops that, should they capture a large quantity of public stores, he will use his best endeavors to procure them a reward from his government." With such instructions t^c Americans pi'o- ceeded to invade the British soil at about eight o'clock on the morning of the 27th of April, 1813. It was intended to land at a clearing near old Fort Toronto. An easterly wind, blowing with violence, drove the small boats in which the troops left the fleet full half a mile farther westward, and beyond an effectual covering by the guns of the navy. Major Foi^syth and his riflemen, in two bateaux, led the van, and when with- in rifle-shot of the shore they were assailed by a deadly volley of bullets by a com- pany of Glengary Fencibles and a party of Indians under Major Givens, who were concealed in the woods that fringe the shore. " Rest on your oars ! prime !" said Forsyth, in a low tone. Pike, standing on the deck of the Madison, saw this halting, and impatiently exclaimed, with an expletive, " I can not stay here any longer ! Come," he said, addressing his staff, "jump into the boat." He was instantly obeyed, (haped peninsula, which, within n few years, has become an island. It was only a few rodd wide, where, in IS-W, a siorm cut a channel and made most of the pe ilnsultt an island, while at its western extremity It was very broad, and tmbraced several ponds. See map on page BOrt. It is low and sandy— so low that, from the moderate elevation of the uimi (fifteen or twenty feet above the water), the dark line of the lake maybe seen over it. Upon it were, and still are, Mme trees, which, at first glance, seem to be standing on the water. This gave the name of Tarnntah, an Iitdian word lifiiifylng " trees on the water," to the place. When the French bnilt a fort there, westward of the extreme western fnii of the peninsula (which was called "Oibraltar Point"), they named It Fort Tarontah, or Toronto. In pursuance of liit plan of Anglicizing the tipper Province, SImcoe named it York. The people, at a later day, with singular good taste, resumed the Indian name of Tarontah, or Toronto. "• — n ■"#.. msm 588 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle in the Wuode. Cowardly Flight of the IndianB. The Biltiah driven to Toronto. and voiy soon they and their gallant commander were in the midst of a fight for Forsyth's men had opened tire, and the enemy on the shore were retnniing it hntiV. ly. Tiic vanguard soon landed, and were immediately followed, in support, by Ma- jor King and a battalion of infantry. Pike and the main body soon followed miii the whole column, consisting of the Sixth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-first Hcfr. imcnts of Infantry, and detachments of light and heavy artillery, with Major For- syth's rifllemen and Lieutenant Colonel M'Clurc's volunteers as flankers, pressed for- ward into the woods. The British skirmishers meanwhile had been re-enfoi-ced hy two companies of the Eighth, or King's Regiment of Regulars, two hundred strong, a company of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, a large body of militia, and sonic Indians. They took position in the woods, and were soon encountered by the ad- vancing Americans, whose artillery it was difficult to move. Perceiving tliis, the British, led by General Sheafle in person, attacked the American flanks with a m- pounder and howitzer. A very sharp conflict ensued, and botli parties suffered much. Captain M'Neil, of the King's Regiment, was killed. The British were overpowered and fell back, when General Pike, at the head of the American column, ordered his bugler to sound, and at the same time dashed gallantly forward. That bugle blast thrilled like electric fire along the nerves of the Indians, They gave one horrid yell then fled like frightened deer to cover, deep into the forest. That bugle blast was heard in tlie fleet, in the face of the wind, and high above the voices of the gale, and evoked long and loud responsive cheers. At the same time Chauncey was send i hi; to the shore, under the direction of Commander Elliott, something more effective than huzzas, for he Avas hurling deadly grape-shot upon the foe, which added to the con- sternation of the savages, and gave fleetness to their feet. They also hastened tlie retreat of Sheaffe's white troops to their defenses in the direction of the village, Avhilc the dnim and fife of the pui"suers were briskly playing Ya)ikee Doodle. The Americans now pressed forward as rapidly as possible along the lake shore in j)latoons by sections. They were not allowed to load their muskets, and were com- pelled to rely upon the baj onet. Because of many ravines and little streams, tlie ar- tillery was moved with difiicHlty, for the enemy had uc'stroyed the bridges. It was a strong right arm, and essential in the service at hand ; and by great exertions a tield-piece and a howitzer, under Lieutenant Fanning" of the Third Artillery, was moved steadily with the column. As that column emerged from thick woods, flank- ed by M'Clure's volunteers, divided equally as light troops, under Colonel Rij)ley,h was confronted by twenty-four pounders on the Western Battery, the remains of UKMAIMB OP TUB WESTERll IIATTKBY.' which are now (ISGT) plainly visible between the present New Barracks and the city on the lake shore. Upon that battery the guns of some of Chauncey's vessels, > In this sketch the appearance of the mounds in ISOO is given. On the left, in the distance, is seen a glimpse of a wharf and part of Toronto. On the right a portion of the peninsula, now an island. In the centre of the picture Is Ihc opening between the island and the remainder of the peninsula, looking out npon the lake. The steam-boat indicatct the present channel, which is narrow and not very deep. Iven to Toronto. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 689 B»ttle »t York. Explueiun of the British Powder-magaslne. Death of Ocueral Pike and uthen. which had beat up against the wind in range of the enemy's works, were pouring heavy shot. Captain Walworth was ordered to storm it with his grenadiers, of the Sixteenth. They immediately trailed their arms, quickened their pace, and Avere ibout to charge, when the wooden magazine of the battery, that had been carelessly left open, blew up, killing some of the men, and seriously damaging the defenses. Tlie dismayed enemy spiked their cannon, and fled to the next, or Half moon Battery. Walworth pressed forward, when that, too, was abandoned, and he found nothing within but spiked cannon. Sheaffe and his little army, deserted by the Indians, tied to the garrison near the governor's house, and tiiere opened a fire of round and grape allot upon the Americans. Pike ordered his troops to halt, and lie flat upon the grass, while Mijor Eustis, with his artillery battery, moved to the front, and soon silenced the great guns of the enemy. The firing from the garrison ceased, and the Americans expected every moment to see a white flag displayed from the block-house in token of surrender. Lieutenant Riddle, whose corps had brought up the prisoners taken in the woods, was sent for- ward with a small party to reconnoitre. General Pike, who had just assisted, with his own hands, in removing a wounded soldier to a comfortable place, was sitting upon a stump conversing with a huge British sergeant who liad been taken prisoner, his staff standing around him. At that moment was felt a sudden tremor of the (fround, followed by a tremendous explosion near the British garrison. The enemy, despairing of holding the place, had blown up their powder-mag- azine, situated upon the I'dge of the water, at the mouth of a ravine, near whore the build- ma of the Great West- ern Railway stand. The effect was terrible. Fragnients of timber, and huge stones of '^- , . 1 ,1 _ • POWDEK-MAOAZINK AT TOBO.NTO. which the magazine walls were built, were scattered in every direction over a space of several hundred vards.^ When the smoke floated away the scene was appalling. Fifty-two Ameri- cans lay dead, and one hundred and eighty others were wounded.^ So badly had the affair been managed that forty of the British also lost their lives by the explo- sion. General Pike, two of his aids, and the British sergeant were mortally hurt,^ while Riddle and his party were unhurt, the missiles passing entirely over them. The terrified. Americans scattered in dismay, but they were soon rallied by Brigade Major Hunt and Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell. The column was reformed, and the !;eneral command was assumed by the gallant Pennsylvanian, Colonel Cromwell ' The maKMino was abont twenty feet sqiinre. It contained live hnndrcd barrels of gnnpow-der, and on Imineniso Tjaiitity of shot and shells. It was bnilt of heavy stone, close by the lake shore, with a heavy stone wall on Its water [fimt. Its roof was nearly level with the surface of the ground. The descent to its vaults was by stone steps inside of ihc wall. It was so situated that the Americans did not suspect its existence there. The picture of it above given, as il .i|ipcared before the explosion, is f^om a pencil sketch by an English ofHcer. It is paid that some of the fragments otihe magazine were thrown by the explosion as far as the decks of Chauncey's vessels, and, says IngersoU, " the water vn! ehocked as with an earthquake." ' A late provincial writer, whose pages exhibit the most bitter spirit, says, in speaking of this destruction of life, "We hfurlllj: agree with James [the most malignant and mcndacioua of the British writers on the WarJ ' that, even had the whole column been destroyed, the Americans would hut have met their deserts ;' and if disposed to commiserate the poor soldiers, at least, wo wish, with him, 'that their places had been filled by the American President and the ninety- fight members of the Leg! .ur<) who voted for the war.' " — A History of tht Late War between Oreat Britain mirf the UaM S/atot <if Anurica, by G. Auchiuleck, Toronto, 1S88. ' One of General Pike's officers afterward wrote : " I was so much injured in the general crash that it is surprising how I survived. Probably I owe my escape to the corpulency of the British sergeant, whose body was thrown upon mine by the concussion."— Letter in The Aurora, quoted by Hough in his Uigtory c/ Jefferson County, page 4$8. ^^^^^^^1^ m '!! ''W 600 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Surrender ot York. £»ca|)e of Ueueral Sbeaffe and bl« Kegulnrs. The Americans In Poaaesglon of the Pom Poarce, of the Sixteenth, the senioi- officer.* After giving three cheers, iho troops pressed forward toward the village, and were met by the civil authorities and militia officers with propositions for a capitulation, in response to a peremptory demand for surrender made by Colonel Pearce. An arrangement was concluded for an absolute surrender, with no other prescribed conditions than that all papers belonging to tlu civil officers should be retained by them, that private property of all kinds Hhoukll), respected, and that the Furgeons in attendance upon the British regulars and Cana dian militia should not be considered prisoners of war.^ General Sheaft'e's b,•^(r(r^^r( and papers were captured. Among the former was a musical simff-box that attract- ed much attention. Taking advantage of the confusion that succeeded the explosion, and tlie time in- tentionally consumed in the capitulation. General ShealFe and a large portion of his regulars, after destroying the vessel on the stocks and some store-houses and tlicii contents, stolo across the Don, and fled along Dundas Street toward Kingston. When several miles from York they met a portion of the King's Regiment on their Avay to Fort George. These turned back, covered Sheaffe's retreat, and all reached Kint;. ston in safety. Sheaffe (who was the military successor of firock) was severely cen- sured for tlie loss of York, and was soon afterward s\iperseded in command in Upper .Canada by Major General De Rottenburg. He retired to Montreal, and took com niand of the troops there. On hearing of the death of General Pike, General Dearborn went on shore, and as- sumed command after the capitulation. At sunset the work was finished; and at the same hour (eight o'clock in the evening), both Chauncey and Dearborn wrote brief dispatches to the government at Washington, the former saying, " We are in 1 Cromwell Pearce was bom in WllHBto\vn, Chester Connty, Pennsylvania, on the ISth of August, 1772, on the farai where the celebrated " Paoli massacre" occurred in the autumn of 177T. His father was a native of Ireland. Cromwell was brought up a farmer. At the, age of twenty-one years Governor Mifflin commissioned him a captain of militia, anil In 1799 he entered the regular army of the United States as first lieutenant in the Tenth Regiment of Light Infantry. He was commissioned a colonel of the Sixteenth Infantry In July, 181S, and marched to the Northern frontier, lie bore a distinguished part in the capture of York, and yet his name was not mentioned in General Dearborn's report of the af- fair. Only Chauncey, In his official report, speaks of him. Pearce was brave, modest, and unassuming, and pertoratil his duties nobly throughout the war. In the autumn of 1813 he was in the battle of Chrysler's Field, on the St.Law- •reucB, when, on the fall of the commauder, he again b.ecame the leader of the contending forces. At the close of the war ; he retired to private life. In 1616 he was elected sheriff of his native county. In 1824 he was chosen a prcaiilentiil | elector, and was deputed to carry to Washington City the electoral vote of the state. In 1826 he was appointed an ae- j sociate judge of the County Court, which office he held until 1839. He died suddenly on the 2d of April, 1862, Ui the eigm. ieth year of his age.— XoUe Cestrientix, by William Darlington, M.D., LL.D. ■•' The following were the commissioners who arranged the terms of capitulation : Amtriemut: Lieutenant Colonel E. 6. Mitchell; MtOor Safoocl S. Conner, aid-de camp to General Dearborn : andCom-. mandcrKllldtt, of the Navy. Britinh : Lieutenant Colonel W. Chewctt, of the York Militia ; Mi^or W. Alleu, of the aarsc j corps ; and Uentenant F. Gaurreau. OF THE WAR OF 1812. Sdl jRRlon of the PoH. •9, ihe troops 28 and militia y (lemmul for )!• an absolute ongint; to the nds sho\il(l be ars ai\(l Cana- iiflV's l)agi;agc X that attract- ul the time in- portion of his uses and tliciv igston. When m their way to reached King- is severely ecn- mand in Upper , and took com- York abandoned by the Americans. General Pike's last Homents. A Scalp adorulDK the Parllament-hoiu*. an shore, and as- Ifinished; and at iDcarborn wrote ling, " We are in [gust, 1TT2, on the f«rm 1 of Ireland. Cromnell \ captain of miUtla.uil Jt of Light Infantry. He Irn frontier. Ilelwrea Iborn'a report of ihc «I- Isumlng, and perfnrmcil fFleld^on the S(.U»- I At the close otlhcwsr i chosen a presiilentiil | le was appointed an it- \ ipril,1852,lnthcolgM-' kl Dearborn ; and Com- : trW. Alien, of the same I full possession of this jjlaco," and the latter, " I have the satisfaction to inform you that the American flag is flying npon the fort at York." The post, with about two hundred and ninety prisoners besides tlie militia, the war-vessel Duke of Gloucester, I a largo quantity of naval and military stores, passed into the possession of the Xmericans. Such of the latter as could not bo carried away by the squadron were destroyed ; and before the victors letl, the public buildings were fired by some un- liiiown hand, and consumed.^ Four days after the cajjitulation the troops were re- einbarked, preparatory to a descent upon Fe t George. The post and village of York, possessing little value to the Americans, were abandoned." The IJritish re- , May s, possessed themselves of the spot, built another block-house, and on the site ^^'*- of the garrison constructed a regular fortification. The loss of the Americans in the capture of York was sixty-six killed and two hundred and three wounded on land, and seventeen killed and wounded on the ves- sels. The British lost, besides the prisoners, sixty killed r,nd eighty-nine wounded. General Pike A»as cnished beneath a heavy mass of stone that struck him in the back. He was carried immediately after discovery to the water's edge, placed in a boat, and conveyed, first on board the Pert, and then to the commodore's flag-ship. Just as the surgeons and attendants, with the wounded general, reached the little boat, the huz- zas of the troops fell upon his benumbed ears. " What does it mean ?" he feebly asked. " Victory," said a sergeant in attendance. " The British union-jack is coming down from the block-house, and the stars and stripes are going up." The dying hero's, face was illuminated by a smile of great joy. Ilis spirit lingered several hours, and then departed. Just before his breath ceased the captured British flag was brought to liim. He made a sign for them to place it under his head, and thus he expired. Ilis body was taken to Sackett's Harbor, and with that of his pupil and aid. Captain Xicholson, was buried with military honors within Fort Tompkins there. Of his final resting-place I shall hereafter write.' When I visited the site of York and the theatre of events there in 1813, in August, I860, 1 found on the borders of that harbor the beautiful — really beautiful city of Toronto, containing between fifty and sixty thousand souls. I arrived there by the Toronto branch of the Great Western Railway at eight o'clock in the evening, liaving left I'aris, on the Grand River, at about five in the afternoon. We reached Burling- ton Station at six, and occupied about an hour and a half in traveling the remaining < The Farllament-bonses stood on the site of the present jail in Toronto. It is said that the incendiary was instigated b; the indignation of the Americans, who fonnd baogiug apon the walls of the legislative chamber a huvian scalp ! tfritlsh writers, ever ready to charge the Americans with all manner of crimes, have not only affected to disbelieve this !toi7,but have charged American writers who have stated the fact with deliberate falsehood. It is not pleasant to re- late facts so shameful to the boasted civilization of that country as this incident furnishes ; but as one of the latest of British historians has, withont the shadow of an excuse, intimated that the scalp in question had been talcen by Com- modore Cbanucey ttom the head of a British Indian, " shot while in a tree," during the advance of the Americans on ibe town (see Auchinleck's History of the War of 1812, published in Toronto in 1865), I feel compelled, by a sense of jus- tice, to submit the prooft of this evidence of the barbarism of the British authorities in Canada at that time. On the 4th of Jnne, 1813, Commodore Chauncey wrote fi-om Sackett's Harbor to the Secretary of the Navy, saying, "1 have the honor to present to yon, by the hands of Lieutenant Dudley, the British standard taken at York on the 27th of April last, accompanied by the mace, over which hung a human scalp. These articles were taken from the Parliament- ioiwa bij one of my officers and presented to me. The scalp I caused to be presented to General Dearborn."— Autograph Letter, Navy Department, Washington City. Armstrong, who was Secretary of War at that time, writing in 1820, says, "One regimental standard was (by some strange conf^ision of ideas) sent to the Navy Department, and one human scalp, jpriie made, as we have understood, by the commodore, was offered, but not accepted, as a decoration to the walls of the War Department."— AWi'ces of the War of 1812, 1., 132. General Dearborn wrote, " A scalp was found in the execu- tive and legislative council-chamber, suspended near the speaker's chair, accompanied by the mace."— A'ffe«'» Btffister, iv., 190. Commenting on this, Niles says, " The mace is the emblem of authority, and the scalp's position near it is truly sjmbolical of the British power in Canada." The Canadian people had no part nor lot in the matter, and should not bear any of the odium. If British writers would fairly condemn the wrong-doingg of their rulers, they would be more just to their fellow-snbjects. 'The chief authorities consulted in the preparation of the foregoing narrative in this chapter are the official reports ot the commanders on both sides ; the histories of the events by Thompson, Perkins, James, Anchinleck, Armstrong, CbrisiT, Ingersoll, and minor writers ; Whiting's Biography of General Pike : Hough's Histories of Jefferson, Franklin, iii4 St. Lawrence Counties: Rogers's History of Canada : Smith's Canada, Past and Present ; Cooper's Naval History otthe United States ; The War; Niles's Register: the Port Foil ) ; Analectic Magazine ; mannscrlpt notes of Dr. Amasa Trowbridge; autograph letters of actors in the scenes, and notes f^om the lips of survivors. '%. ,ii' 'U 11 • 1 m ii! Ml ! il ll,= '^Tlflftft tm nCTOBIAL FIELD. nOOK A iOKHMj to Toronto. Experience In that City, A Veteran of tbe War of isij thirty-nine miles, Lieiiteimnt Franci't Hull, wlio tniveled the saino route in ihio more than ten yearn before the firnt railway was built for the eonveyance of iiaNscii- gerH, Hays, " It took us three hours to accoinplish the five miles of roail betwixt tin head of tlu^ lake and the main road, ealled Dundas Street, whieh runs from York to- ward Lake Erie antl And)erHtburf; The face of the country from the head of the lake to York is less varied than that of the Niajjara frontier. The thread of'sn. tleinents is slender, and frecjuently interrupted by long tracts of hemlock swamp anil pine barrens." Cultivation lias somewliat ehanifcd the features of the country since then, but, aller leavinii; tlio glimpses of J^ake Ontario on our right, we found the route rather uninteresting, tlie country being generally flat. We crossed the rocky bed of the liumber at twilight, and before nine o'clock, liav- ing supped, I was settled as a guest at the"l{ossin House" for two days. Diiriiii; the night a fearful tliunder-storm burst over the city, and the lightning fired two btiildings. Amid the din of tlie tempest came the doleful pealing of the fire-kll», At tlie midnight hour, "Oh, the bolls, I)cll8,l)e11a! What a liilc their terror tells Of (loHpiilr ! How they lulling, mid clnHh, aud roor; What a horror they outpour Ou the bosom of the palpitating air I"— Euoar A. Poe. For more than two hours I lay wondering when the tumult would cease. All tliin«s have an end, and so did this unwelcome disturbance — unwelcome, because I was woni and weary, and needed full rest for another liard day's work on the morrow. The sun, at rising, [leered longitudinally through a veil of mist that hiuig ovcrtlu land and tlu; lake. There was great sultriness hi the air. I went out early to find the venerable John Koss, one of the oldest inhabitants of Toronto, then in his seven ^ tieth year. He settled there in the year nt't- >^ ^^ y^^/ n^^^fl'^ ^'' *' ^^'^ made the seat of the ])iovin(ial ///^^J'^ly ^^^—^ ^/y /) government, and for sixty-two years lie Imd <^ watdied its growtli from a few scattered huts to a stately city. lie was born at "Butler's Barracks," just back of Newark. now Niagara. Some of Butler's Rangers, those bitter Tory marauders in Ceiitnd New York during the Revolution, who hi cruelty often shamed Brant and his braves, settled in Toronto, and were mostly men of savage character, who met death by vio- lence.' In the War of 1812 Mr. Ross belonged to a company of York Volunteers. He w^as with Brock at Hull's surrender, and in the battle of Queenstown,tAVO months later, where his loved commander fell. He assisted in the burial of the hero in Fort George, and he gave me many interesting incidents connected with the event. Mr. Ross gave me such minuto and clear directions concerning the intcrestinj places in and around Toronto that I experienced no difliculty in finding tlictn, I hired a horse and light wagon, and a young man for driver, aud spent a greater por- tion of the day in the hot sun. We first rode out to the plain AvestAvard of tlic eity, to visit the landing-place of the Americans and the remains of old Fort Toronto, Tlic latter, delineated on the next page, were on the margin of the lake, where tlic bank is only about eight feet above the water. The spot is about sixty rods west- ward of the present military post called the New Barracks. The princijial remains of the fort (in Avliich may be seen some timber-work placed there when the fort was parti.ally repaired in the winter of 1812-13) are seen ih the foreground. Thcj ;iu sented abrupt heaps covered with sod. On the right, in the distance, is seen Gibraltar Point, with the trees springing from its low, sandy surface. On the left are the Xew Barracks. A ic^ rods Avestward of the fort were the remains of a battery, the ■ Mr. Ross knew a Hr. O , one of these Bangers, who, when intoxicated, once told him that " the sweetest «faiibc \ ever ate was the breast of a woman, which he ait off and broiled 1" Ntffljii maaaamamer. iftbeWikrariMt OF TIIK WAU OF 18 12. 508 ^I]jjj|in7i)roi(l Fort Toronto, An Adtouture among the Portlflcatloni iit Toronto I)iii|i1eR8iii« of* Brittib Offlclai. KKUAlMt OF Ol.ll KdllT TOUONTO. mounds of which were four or five feet in liei^lit. I'asHliiff on toward the city, near tlic lake Hhore, Ave came to the remains of the Western I Jattery (see map on page 590), ililincatud on page 5H8, ten or fifteen rods eastward of the New Barracks; and, still nciUTr to tlic town, the moiuids of tlie Ilalf-moon Hattery. hiding into tlie city, we j)as8ed tlu'ougli the old garrison, where a few of tlie One IIiiii(lrc'(lth Hcgiment occupied a portion of the barracks. The gates were away, and tliu pul)lic road passed directly through the fort. For tlie purpose of obtaining a sketch of the old block-house of 1813,1 mounted the half-ruined parapet on the north side, when I was accosted by the fort adjutant just as I had set my pencil at work. With great discourtesy of manner he informed me that it was a violation of law to OLB FOBT AT TOBONTO IS ISOO. mnke sketches of British fouJifications, and that I ought to think myself fortunate in being allowed to escape without a penitential day in the guard-house, I assured him that had I for a moment dreamed that a few old mounds of earth, two deserted block- lioascs, and some tumble-down barracks, with a public road crossing the very centre ; of the group, constituted a fortification in the sense of British military law, I should not have been a trespasser. This intimation that a man with his eyes open could not, in the chaos around him, discover a British fort, did not increase the amiability of the j adjutant, and, with the supercilious hauteur of offended dignity, he gave me to under- I stand that he wished no farther conversation with me. This was tlie only instance Pp i . i ' I 1 1 1 li-fff ■ 594 I'ICTOUIAL FIELI'.BOOK A courteous Sergeant. Viilt to the Don. Chief JuiMce Roblnaon und William Lyon M'Kcnile of incivility that I received during all my travels in Canada. I cloned my jjorttblid passed out at tlie eastern gateway, and from the causeway that crosses the iiivincit the foot of Hathurst Street, a short distance from the site of the powder iiiai,'a;;iin that exploded, I obtained a much more interesting sketch than I should have (Kmc from the parapet.' This was full compensation for the fort adjutant's iiuivility When I had finished my sketch I started into and through tlie fort, and fell in will. Sergeant Barlow, a most courteous young man, who invited me to his quarters to st, his bride. There he showed me a number of relics of the War of 1812, lately thrown up by the excavators in the employ of the railway company. Among them was a military button marked "P. R." — Pennsylvania Rangers — some silver and copper coins found with a skeleton, and the remains of an epaulette. There I also met Sir- geant Robertson, a veteran Scotch soldier, who Avas one of the Glengary l{ei;inipiit during the War of 1812. He had served in the British army twenty years pii'vioih to that war. He was tall and vigorous, but somewhat lame, and about ninety years of age. He gave me some curious details of the operations of the famous Gleiifarv men during tlic strife. From tlie old fort Ave rode out to the River Don, at the eastern extremity of the city. It is there about seventy feet wide, and was spanned by a bridge at the jiiiRtidn of King and Queen Streets, made of heavy open timber-work. There (4eneral Slicaffo crossed in his flight, burning the bridge behind him. Looking up the Don from it about three fourths of a mile, where its Avooded banks are high, may be seen Si, James's Cemetery, in the northeast corner of Avhicli is the site of the first palaco or dwelling of the governor, which was built of logs and called Castle Frank. TIk spot still retains that name. I intended to visit it, but Avhen Ave were at the hiiili,'i the day Avas Avaning, and a thunder-shower Avas gathering in the Avest ; so avc turucil our faces cityAvard, and arrived at the hotel in time for a late dinner and a stioll around the city to view its very beautiful public buildings before dark. On^the folloAving morning I called upon Sir John Beverly Robinson, chief justice of Upper Canada, at his pleasant residence on the southeast corner of John and Qiictn Streets. He Avas an aged man, small in stature, and elegant and aifable in manners. His father was a member of Simcoe's corps of Queen's Rangers during our old War for Independence, and, Avith other Loyalists, fled to Nova Scotia at its close. He aft- erward settled in Upper Canada, where the chief justice Avas born. The son Avas des- tined for the legal profession, and finished his education in England, Avhere he was admitted to the bar. When the War of 1812 broke out he abandoned his profession temporarily, joined the army in Canada, and was Avith Brock, in gallant service, at Detroit and Queenston. He Avas rcAvarded Avith the office of solicitor general, and was afterward made attorney general and chief justice of the province. He died at Toronto early in 1863, at the age of seventy-one years. In the course of the morning I met the famous leader of the revolt in Upper Canada in 1837, William Lyon M'Kenzie, with whom I had been acquainted several jears, He Avas still engaged in his favorite profession of editing and publishing a newspaper, and, though at near the end of the allotted age of man, he seemed as vigorous as ever, and was conducting his paper with that boldness that ever characterized his career, He, too, has since been laid in the grave. Mr. M'Kenzi* accompanied me to the res- idence of the governor general, the Parliament-house, and the wharf, Avhere great preparations were making for the reception of the Prince of Wales, who Avas then at Montreal on his Avay to the Upper Province. Workmen were engaged in the con- struction of an immense amphitheatre and triumphal arch, not far from the Parlia- 1 In this view is seen the causeway and bridge over the ravine, and the general appearance of the fort in ISCO. lu the embankment Is seen a/raise, or pickets placed horizontally. On the left is the old block-house of 1813. In the cen- tre, to the right of the open gateway, is another block-house with a flag on it, built after the Americans left Yorlf. On the right is the governor's house, built after the war, with a poplar-tree near It. In the ravine, a little to the left of ihe cannon and horses, was situated the magazine that exploded. OF THE WAU OF 1818. 0OS m Lyon M'Kenile. my |)<)rtt(ili(i, tlic raviiicat tier inaiiiii'.iiii lid liavi' (lom It's incivility. ul foil in wiili lunrters to sci , lately thrown ig them WHS a er and coiiiicr 1 also met Sir- ;ary Rejiiniciit years i»revi(iih ut ninety yiiiis nious Gleiigary xtrcmity of tlic at the j\inctiun General Slieaffe ;he Don from it nay be seen St. B first palace ov .le Frank. Tin re at the bridi.'i ;t ; 80 we turned ner and a stroll rk. json, chief justice John and Quceii able in manners. ing our old War 8 close. lie aft- 'he son Avas des- Id, where he was |ed his profession Uant service, at itor general, ami ,ce. He died at fin Upper Canada td several years. |ng a newspaper, srigorous as ever, Irized his career. Id me to the res- krf, where great tvho was then at laged in the con- ■from the Pavlia- lofthe fort In ISM. lu lpeofl813. In the MB- jiericona left York. On I little to the left of Ibe ; ftante wroi« Uke Ontario. The Railway to Lewliton. Arrival at MiaKara i'allt. nient-howse, at the foot of wide IJrock Street, I think. Tlie veteran agitator wan to leave for Montreal that afternoon for tlio purpose of meeting the i)rln('e, and so we soon i)arted, he to (hish off some spicy editorials — to hurl a shot at some political or social evil — and I to dine and prepare for a voyage across tlie lake to the Niagara Klver. We left, Toronto towavd evening,* lioping to reach Lewiston in time to •AnKn»t28, take the train that would connect with one leaving Niagara Falls early *'*""• for the East, but in this we were disappointed. The voyage was a delightful one in a stanch steamer. We passed out of the harbor through the channel across the for- mer neck of the peninsula,' and in a short time Ave were out of sight of land. All alon" the western and northern liorizoiis heavy clouds were drift,ing, and the watery e.vi)aiise back of us was as black as the Styx. Before us, as Ave approached the mouth of the Niagara River, the white mist, which is eternally rising from the Great Cataract, was seen above Queenston Heights, at least twenty miles distant. When we entered the river a heavy thunder-shower was rapidly rising in the direction of Hiirlington Bay. It burst upon us at Lewiston, where Ave entered tlio railway cars. It Avas short and se- vere. As Ave moved along the fear- ful shelf in the rocks forming the perpendicular banks of the Niagara River — rocks a hundred feet above and a hundred feet below the rail- way that overlooks the rushing wa- ters—the setting sun beamed out in splendor, and revealed clearly the whole country fror.i (iueenston Heights to Lake Ontario. Just as we had passed a small rocky tunnel, we were detained for a few minutes liy some obstruction, Avhcn, from the back Avindow of the last car in the train at Avhich I was standing, I made the accompanying sketch. It will convey to the reader an idea of the nature of the road. BeloAV is seen the waters of the Niagara, span- ned by the suspension bridge at Lewiston, and, by a somewhat wind- ing way, floAving into Lake Ontario in the far distance. W^e ran into Niagara Falls village at dark in the midst of another heavy thunder- shower, and late in the evening de- parted in the cars for the East. I rested at Rochester that night, and on the following day reached my home on the Hudson, after a weari- some but most interesting tour of a fortnight in Canada and along the Niagara frontier. We have observed on page 591 that the victors at York abandoned that post pre- paratory to an attack upon Fort Geo rge, at the mouth of the Niagara River. On ac- > See note 8, page S86. VIEW ON TUB NIAOABA, KEAB LEWISTON. II « 11^ It - i:, ■ I I A IN PICTORIAL l-IELD-BOOK Kxpedltloa agalnit FortOMTgl. Prapkratlooi fur an Attack. The rflupcctlve t\ irrvK i||o„, count of aclvorto windH, the expedition did not leave York Harbor until the Htli i,r May, when the whole fleet crosHed the In!:: and anchored off the mouth of Foiir-miK. Creek, four niileH eastwurd of Fort Niiijifarii. Dearborn and Chaun(;ey, ami dtlur army and naval connuanilerM, had preeeded the fleet in the pilot Hehooner JauIi/ of the Lake, and selceted the place for an encampment near the mouth of tliu ciKk There the troopw were deborki-il, and (Jhauncey Hailed for Sackett's Harbor with iu,„i of his fleet, to obtain Hupjdies and re-enfbreementH for the army. lie arrived tlicii' . n •Miiy, the llth.» The Hmaller veHseJH wore continually employed in convcyiiifr Ktons isia. ^,„j troojm to Dearborn's eamj»; and on the 22d the il/rt(//so;j, with tlic cum- modore's pemiant flyinj? in her, sailed for the same point with three hundred ainl Hl'tv troops, including Macomb's artillery corps. She arrived at Four-mile Creek on tlio 25th, aiul on the evening of the same d&y Commander Perry, who had come (li,\v,| hastily from Erie,johied Chauncey, to the great delight of that oflicer. At the mo. ment of his arrival, all the officers of the squadron were assembled on board tlie ilai;. ship to receive orders. "No person on earth," Chauncey said to Perry, as lie cor- dially grasped his hand, " could be more welcome at this time than yourselt'." ()|, the following morning the commodore and Perry, in the Lady of the Lake, recon- noitred the enemy's batteries with care, i)lanted buoys for the government of tli( smaller vessels which it was intended to send close in shore, and arranged other pre- liminaries for the attack. They then called upon General Dearborn, who .vas quite ill at his quarters, when Chauncey urged the importance of making the attack tlu next morning. The general assented, and issued an order to that effect, which was signed by Winfield Scott, adjutant general and chief of staff. Tiie last clause of the order placed the landing of the troops in charge of Commodore Chauncey, and that Bj)ecitic duty was intrusted to Commander Perry. Information of this arraiifremeiit was communicated to the commanding general, Avho, it appears, had no definite plan of attack.' Fort Niagara and the troops there were under the command of Major General Morgan Lewis, of New York. During the occupancy of the camp at Four-mile Creek re-enforcements had come in from various points, and on the return of Chauncey, pre- pared for attackiii"- the British post. The American land force fit for duty was over four thousand in number, under the general command of Dearborn. He was too ill to take the field, and issued his orders part of the time from his bed. He was siip ported by Generals Lewis, Bbyd, Winder, and Chandler, and eminently so by Colonel Scott, whose skill and industry in disciplining the troops during their detention in camp was of the greatest service. The British force in the vicinity was composed of about eighteen hundred regular?, consisting of the Forty-ninth Regiment, and detachments from the Eighth, Forty-first, Glengary, and Newfoundland Corps, under the command of Brigadier General John Vinoent. Eight companies of the Forty-ninth, five companies of the Eighth or King's, thrt a companies of the Glengary, and two of the Newtbundland Regiment, and a por- no;! of the artillery, were stationed at Fort George and its immediate vicuiity, with i iiree hundred and fifty militia and fifty Indians. The right, from Fort Georie to Brown's Point (the first below Vrooman's, near Qneenston), was commanded hy Colonel Harvey ; the left, from the fort to Four-mile Creek, on the Canada side of the Niagara River, was commanded by Colonel Myers, the deputy quarter-master (gen- eral ; and the centre, at the fort, by General Vincent. In the rear of Fort George, in the several ravines, companies were stationed so as to support each other when re- quired.'' Besides Fort George, the British had several smaller works along the shores of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, in the vicinity. Five of the twenty-four-pounders j » Letter of Commodore Perry, sappoBed to be to bis parents, cited by M'Eenzie In his Li/e of Feny, 11., 138, > Merritt's MS. Narrative. ;il the 8lh of of Ftmr-milo ey, ami otlur jiicr JauIij 0/ of tlif cicik. i»or with iii(i>i rived tliciv ( n iivoyiiifi Htdns with th(! com- ulri'd aii'l til'iy ! Cr(.'C'l{ on tl\o ul come down r. At tlie inn- boanl the tliv,'- rry, as lie cor- yourself." On he Lake, recon- LTiiment of the nged other j)re- who .vas qiiitf tho attack the BFcct, wliieh was i8t clause of tk' lunccy, ami that Ills arranjiement no definite jilan f Major General <'our-mile Crecli Chauncey,prc- duty wan over He was too ill , lie was snp- y so hy Colonel loir detention in undred regulars, rhth, Forty-first, er General Jolui <:ighth or King's, mcnt, and a por- te vicuiity, with Fort Gcorie to comraandcil Itv Hinada side of tbe rter-master gen- Fort George, in other when re- Ithe shores of the Ity-four-pounders OF THE WAK OF 1813. 697 CiPDoaada batwMn Fort* Otorg* and Nlagar*. Tho Americnn Sqoadron off tba Nlagar* River. taken fio'n il"ll had been brouj^ht to that frontier, four of which had bci •:. .uounicu in Fort (Jeorgo, and tlio Hflli had been placed <;« f/arbette,* about half a mile from New- ark on or near tho Hitc of tlie prcHcnt Fort Alississagua. They liad another buttery at ihe month of the Two-mile Creek. Tho Americans had (juite a jiowerful work, caUcd ilic Salt Battery, in tho lower part of Voungstown, opposite Fort (ieorgc. There wire two other batteries above it, and two between it and Fort Niagara. Arrangements were made for the attack on Fort (ieorgc on the morning of the •.•7th of May. A large number of boats had been built at Five-mile Meadow, on the Niagara River, and orders were sent for them to be brought round to F'our-mile Creek. When they were launched, towc-''. evening on the 20th, a small buttery ojtpoHito the Meadows opened upon the workmen. This brought on a general caimonading be- tween the two forts and their dependent batteries, during wliich the Salt Hattery at Y'oungstown inflicted severe injury upon every wooden building in and near Fort Georce, while the return fire from the fort was slow and feeble, owing, it is said, to a scarcity of powder. Meanwhile night came on, and under its cover the boats went down the river and reached the American encamj)tnent in safety. During the night, ,ill tho heavy artillery, and as many troops as possible, were placed on the Madinon, Oneida, and Lady of the Lake, and instructions given for the remainder to follow in the smaller war vessels and boats, according to a prescribed plan. Generals Dearborn and Lewis went on board tho Madison, and between three and four o'clock in the morning the squadron weighed anchor. The troops were all era- harked at a little past four, and the wliole flotilla moved toward the Niagara with a very gentle breeze. The wind soon failed, and the smaller vessels were comi)elled to employ their sweeps. A heavy fog hovered over land and water from early dawn nntil tho sim broke forth in splendor, when a magnificent sight was opened to view on the lake. The large vessels, tilled with troops, were all under way, and the bosom of the water was covered with scores of boats, tilled with soldiers, light artillery, and horses, grandly advancing upon the enemy, wIjo had been greatly perplexed by the fog. The breeze had now freshened a little, and all tho vessels took their designated positions without difliculty. The Julia, Sailing-master Trant, and the Growler, Sailing-master Mix, took a posi- tion at tho mouth of the Niagara River, to keep in check or silence a battery near the light-house (on or near the site of Fort INIississagua), in the vicinity of which it was lUITBANCE TO TIIS HUOARA BIVBB.> intended to land some of the troops, The Ontario, commanded by Mr. Stevens, took a position north from the light-house, so as to entilade the same battery and cross the > That Is, on tlie top of an embankment, withont embrasures or openings in tbe banks by wliich the cannon is shel- tered and concenled. ' This view is from n drawing made In 1S19, previous to the attack on Fort George, and published in the Port Polio in July, 181T. On the extreme left Is seen Fort Niagara, and at a greater distance, across the river. Fort George and the vilage of Newark. To the right of the light-houee, over which is a flag, is seen the battery which the Julia and Oroickr < controlled. illHii til 598 PICTORIAL FIELD-EOOK Opeuing of the Battorieo. T.andtng of the American Troops. Gallantry of Commodore Perry, fire of the other two. The Governor Tompkins, Lieutenant Brown, and the Conquea commanded by another lieutenant of the same name, took position near Two-mile Creek, so as tc command a battery which the enemy liad erected tliere. Near tLis was tlie designated place for the debarkation of most of the troops. For the purpose of covering them in that movement, the Hamilton, Lieutenant M'Pherson, the Asn Lieutenant Smith, and the Scourge, Sailing-master Osgood, took stations near the otL- or two, but closer to the shore. While the vessels were taking their positions, and the troops were preparing to land, the batteries upon both sides were playing briskly. Colonel Scott, on accept- ing the position of adjutant general, had stipulated that he shovld be allowed to com- mand his regiment (Second Artillery) on extraordinary occasions. This he considered an extraordinary occasion, and he was placed in the command of the vanguard or for- lorn hope of five hundred men destined to make the first attack. The troops were tu land in three brigades, from six divisions of boats. Scott's advance was composed of his own corps acting as infantry, Forsyth's riflemen, and detachments from infontrv regiments. These were to be followed by General Lewis's division and Colonel Moses Porter with hio light artillery, and these, in turn, by the commands of Generals Bovd (who had succeeded General Pike), Winder, and Chandler. The reserve consisted of Colonel Alexander Macomb's regiment of artillery, in which the marines of the squad- ron, under Captain Smith, had been incorporated. Four Imndred seamen were also held in reserve, to land, if necessary, under the immediate command of Commodore whauncey. Before the expedition reached the place of intended debarkation the wind had in- creased, and a rather heavy sea rolling shoreward made the landing difficult. The Tompkins swept gracefully into her designated position. Lieutenant Brown coollv prepared for action, and then opened a fire upon the British battery with so much precision that it was silenced, and its people driven away in less than ten minutes. The boats now dashed in under the skillful management of Perry; and so eager were the troops of the van, under Scott, to meet the foe, that the ^ leaped into the water and waded to the shore. Captain Hindman, of the Second Artillery, being the first man who touched the beach. They had already been under fire ; for, as the first bri- gade, under Boyd, with Scott in the van, approached the shore, they were unexpect- edly assailed by volleys of musketry from more than two hundred of the Glengarv and Newfoundland regiments under Captain Winter, and about forty Indians under Norton, who was conspicuous at Queenston the year before. These had been con- cealed in a ravine and wood not far from the battery tliat had been silenced. The shot passed over the heads of the Americans; and, a few minutes afterward, Scott and his party were on the beach, sheltered by an irregular bank, varying from six to twelve feet in height, where they formed for immediate action. The enemy, from apprehension of the fife from the schooners, did not ai)proach the shore again innne- diately, but kept bnnk, with the intention of assailing the invaders when they shouhl ascend tlie bank to the plain above. The conduct of Perry on this occasion was remarkable. Unmindful of personal danger, he went from vessel to vessel in an open boat, giving directions personally concerning the landing. With S^ott he leaped into the water, and rushed ashore through the surf, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing the whole first brigade, un- der Boyd, landed in perfect order on the beach, flanked by M'Clure's Baltimore and Albany Volunteers. Meanwhile the schooners were not firing briskly enough to suit the young hero. He pushed oft' to the Hamilton, of nine guns, and while Seott and his party were attempting to ascend to the plain, ho opened a tremendous discharge of grape and canister shot on the Brit'sh, who were now advancing to repel the Americans, full one thousand strong, infantry and artillery, under Colonel Myers. The struggle of the Americans in ascending the bank was most severe, Tliroe Sa^t-awiiWAi-'. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 600 lommodore Perry. ;he Conquest, ear Two-raile 2. Near this r the purpose son, the Asp, near the otli- preparing to >tt, on accept- lowed to coin- he conskk'red nguard or for- troops Avere to s composed of from infantry Colonel Moses Generals Boyd fG consisted of s of the squad- men ■were also of Commodore le wind had in- difficult. The t Brown coolly ' with so mueli in ten minutes. Id' so eager were into the water jeing the first as the first Ijri- were inicxpeet- the Glenfjary Indians under lad heen eon- silenced. The fterward, Seott ing from six to 10 enemy, from )re again imme- len they should Iful of personal .ions personally rushed ashore rst brigade, uii- Baltimore and enough to suit vhile Scott and idous discharge ig to repel the oncl flyers. severe. Three A i«vere Contest on the Shore. Retreat of the British. Capture of Fort Qeorge. limes they were compelled to fall back, hard pushed by the bayonets of the foe. In the first attempt, Scott, at the head of his men, was hurled backward to the beach. Dearborn, who was anxiously watcliing the movement with his glass from the Madi- fon and who placed more reliance on Scott than any other man, seehig him fall, ex- claimed in agony, "He is lost ! he is killed !" Scott soon recovered himself, rallied liis men, rushed up the bank, knocked up the bayonets of the enemy, and took and lield a position at a ravine near by. He a, as supported by Porter's field train and a i)art of Boyd's brigade, in which service the Sixth Regiment, three hundred strong, under Colonel James Miller, performed a conspicuous part. A severe and gallant ac- tion ensued — gallant on both sides — Avhioh Avas chiefly sustained by Scott's corps, and the Eio'hth (King's) British regiment, under Major Ogilvie. The contest lasted only about twenty minutes, when the severe cannonade from the Jlamilton and the Avell- applied fire of the American troops caused the Britisli to break and flee in much con- fusion. The whole body of the enemy, including the Forty-ninth Regiment, which had been brought forward by Colonel Harvey as a re-enforcement, fled toAvard Queens- ton, closely pursued by Colonel Scott. Colonel Myers, their commander, Avas Avound- ed and taken from the field ; and the Avbolc corps, officers and men, Avho fought brave- ly, suffered severely. General Vincent Avas satisfied that the victory of the Americans was complete, and that Fort George was untenable, so he ordered its guns to be spiked, the ammunition to be destroyed, the fort to be abandoned, and the Avliole force under his command to retreat Avestward, by tlie Avay of Vrooman's and St. David's, to a strong position among the hills, at a place called the Beaver Dams, about eighteen miles dist"nt, and rendezvous tliere. Information of the im- pending destruction of the fort Avas comUiUnica- ted to Scott Avhile pass- ino; it with his pursuing eolumn by some prison- ers M'ho came running out. He immediately de- tached two companies, under Captains Hind- man and Suockton,' and, wheeling to the left, dashed on at their Jiead toward the fort to save the guns and ammuni- tion, if possible. When lie was about eighty paces from the works one of the magazines ex- ploded, and a piece of tlying timber thrcAV the impetuous leader from liis horse, and hurt him severciy. He soon recovered from the shock, and pressed forward. The gate Avas forced, the light- ed trains for firing tAvo smaller magazines were extingnished, and, Avith his uwn liands, Scott hauled doAvn the .British flag. Tlie Avhole manoeuvre occupied but a few minutes, and Scott AA'as soon again at the head of his column, in hot pursuit of the n.AN OF ©"-..BATIONB AT TUK .MOITU JF THE NIAGARA KIVEB. ' Tbomas Stockton was a native of Delaware, and wns appointed captain of artillery in 1S12. In If M he became ma- jor of the Forty-eecond Infantry, and at the close of the war was retained as captain, with the brevet ranit of miv)or. lie afterward served In the artillery. Uc resigned In 1828. In 1S44 he was governor of Delaware, and died at Now- c.i*llc In March, ISIC. m 'Ifi 600 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK PurBuit of the British chocked. Their Flight to the Beaver Dams and Burllugton Heights flying enemy, satisfied that he would overtake and capture them. Twice he disre- garded an order from General Lewis to give up the pursuit, saying to Lieuti'iiants Worth and Vandeventer, the messengers, " Your general does not know that I liavc the enemy within my poAver; in seventy minutes I shall capture his whole Ibrce' Just then Colonel Burn,' his senior, Avas crossing the Niagara Itiver from the Five- mile Meadows with precisely the troops which Scott deemed necessary to make hU successful pursuit of the enemy secure. While waiting for these he was overtaken by General Boyd, who gave him peremptory orders to relinquish the chase and re- turn to Fort George. He obeyed with regret. He had followed the' enemy five miles, and was then so near them that he was in the midst of the British stragrrl^rs Lieutenant Riddle, who was not aware of the order, pursued the fugiiives almost to \ Queenston, and captured and brought back several prisoners. At meridian, Fort George and its, dependencies, with the village of Newark, wore in*' the quiet possession of the Americans, the att.ack and conquest having occupied only three hours. The Americans had been eleven hours on duty since embarking at Four- mile Creek. Only a small portion of them had been actually engaged in the eouflict,- Their loss was about forty killed and one hundred wounded. The only officer slain was Lieutenant Henry A. Hobart, of the Light Artillery. The loss of the British rcir- ulars was fifty-one killed, and three hundred and five wounded, missing, and prison- ers. The number of British militia made prisoners was five hundred and seven making the entire loss of the enemy eight hundred and sixty-three, with quite a large quantity of munitions and stores saved from destruction at Fort George and the batteries. General Vincent and most of his troops reached the ' t- ;>j,ms toward suiiiJct, and during the evening he was joined by a " battalion company" of the Eightii, and a " detachment of the royal navy" under Captain Barclay, who had been escorted bv the gallant Cf^»tain Merritt, of the mounted militia, from the Twenty-mile Creek,' Between midnight and dawn, the troops from Fort Erie, under Lieutenant Colonel Bisshopp, and from Fort Chippewa, under Major Ormsby, reached the camp, orders having been sent to those commanders to abandon the entire Niagara frontier. Early in the morning Vincent resumed his march toward the head of Lake Ontario, lii> whole force being about sixteen hundred men. From Forty-mile Creek (now Grims- by) he wrote an official dispatch to Sir George Prevost that evening, giving an ac- count of his disasters, and suggesting the propriety of establishing a communieatioii with the army on Burlington Heights (whither he was marching) " through the me- dium of the fleet." On the 29th he took post on the heights, and was soon joined bv troops from Kingston. •May, ^11 tbe morning of the 28111," when it was known that Vinc^^^l I'ad fallen 1813. back to his deposit of provisions and stores at the Beaver Dam^ ^ t • \,il Lewi- was sent in pursuit of him with the brigades of Chandler and Winder, ' -^ accom- plished nothing. Ascertaining that Vincent had fled westward, tin. y : y Ircuit ' James Bum w;s a native of South Carolina. Ho was a captain of cavalry In 1799. He settled in Pennsyk. ^.u, and in the spring of 1812 was appointed colonel of the Second Light Dragoons. Ue left the service on the disbaudlng of Uf army In 1815. He died at Frankfort, near Philadelphia, in 18-.i!i. = General Deorborn, in a second dispatch to the Secretary of War, written on the 8th of June, spoke in the liisnoa terms of aH the officers and men engaged in the affair, especially of the "animating examples" of Scott and Boyd, ami the sen-Ices of Colonel Porter, Major Armistead, and Lieutenant Totlen, in their "judicious and skillful execution in demolishing the enemy's butteries." Lieutenant Totteu Anally became a brigadier genera', and was the Chief Eogi- neer of the United States Army fur feveral years before his death. ' " Wc formed again at the Coiiiicil-honse" [see plan on page 5!l«], snys Captain Merritt, "when I was sent np to or- der down the light company of the King's, who, we understood, were at the Eight-mile Creek. I rode throngli Ite woods, around tlie American regiments', followed up the lake to the Twenty-mile Creek (was two hours on the ro,ii!;, where I met Commodore Barclay with his sailors, and the King's. We hurried on to Shipt, . 's, where I Icanieu lh( army had retreated to De Con's [the Beaver Dams]. I took the party through the wool's, l. arrived there nt nine o'clock In the evening. Next morning the mllllla were allowed to remain or follow the ar ny This was a had day for many as well as myself. I went home, prepared my 'kit,' and with a heavy heart bid adieu, . bought, to the place of my nativity for a long time. I was determined to share the fate of the army."— MS. Narru.. ,v OF THE WAK OF 1812. 601 llugton IleighU. ice he (lisro- Lieutoiiants thai I havo rliok' force," 31U the Five- ■ to make liis as overtaken chase and re- e enemy five sh stragglers. ves ahnost to \ jwark, wercin*' occuijied only .rkiiig at Four- n the conflict.- ily officer slain ihe British rei;- ng, and prison- red and seven, th quite a lart^c ieorge and tlic toward sunset, the Eighth, and •een escorted liy ity-mile Creek,- utenant Colonel he camp, orders frontier. Early akc Ontario, liib lek (now Grims- ig, giving an ac- communicatiou through the me- 8 800U joined liy British Property destroyed by themeelvcs. In.'arions Delay. Expedition scut toward Burlington Heights. ■nc' It I'.id fallen .-■; dLewi" ' -'^ accom- ti ircuit i in Penni-yl' . '(...an'l ithediebaudiugotthf L epokc in the hlgiiMi Jof Scott and Boyd, anil Id skillful cxecntlon io Td was the Chief Engi- len 1 was sent np toot- k T rode through tte X'o lionrB on the roail\ I'e, where I Icnrneu the 1 arrived there at nine rhie was a Imil ilny t« bought, to the via" of many miles to assure themselves of tuu Eiitish evacuation of the frontier, and then returned to camp. Forts Erie and Chippewa, and all public property from the former down to Niagara Falls were doomed to destruction by an order received from General Vincent on the iftornoon of the 27th. In pursuance of that order, Major Warren, in command of the b.itteries opposite Black Rock, was ordered to open fire upon that place, and keep it up all night, until the troops should move oif. He did so ; and in the morning the magazine at Fort Erie was blown up, and magazines, barracks, and store-houses all alon" the frontier were fired. In the evening of Friday the 28th, Lieutenant Colo- nel James P. Preston, the commandant at Black Rock (who was Governor of Virginia iu 1810), crossed ovef with the Twelfth Regiment and took possession of Fort Erie. He at once issued an admirable proclamation to the people of Canada, by which he allayed their apprehensions and disarmed all resentment.' Two or three days were now consumed iu apathy at Newark, Dearborn and Chaun- cey not having been able to agree respecting future movements. The latter, who had anchored his fleet in Niagara River, sailed for Sackett's Harbor on the 31st. jMean- wliile a rumor came that Proctor was marching from the Detroit frontier to assist Vincent in recovering that of the Nir.gara. This determined the American com- mander to send troops in pursuit of Vincent immediately, for the purpose of attack- inij him among the hills or arresting his flight westward. For this purpose he de- tached General Wuider, at his own request, on the 1st of Juno, with about eight hund- red men, including Burn's dragoons, and Archer's and Towson's artillery. He took tlie Lake Road, and marched rapidly to Twenty-mile Creek, Avherc ho was informed of Vincent's position at Burlington Heights and his re-enforcements from Kingston. Winder prudently halted, sent to Dearborn for re-enforcements, and waited for their lurival. He was joined on the 5th by General Chantiler and about five lumdred men. Chandler, being the senior oflicer, took the chief command, and the whole body moved 1 "The Albany steara-boat which arrived yesterday (Snndny) brings intc'ligcncc that Fort Erie had surrendered to the troops of the United States, under Generals Dearborn and Lewis, with little or no resistance on the part of the en- emy," This announcement appeared In a New York paper on Monday morning, the Tth of Jnnc, ISl.'i. This form of (Uinonucemeut of war news ftom the North and West at that time was very common. Expresses from tne army at dif- ferent points were sent to Governor Tompkins, the chief magistrate of the State of New York, living at A 'any, and tic steam-boat was the most rapid method for conveying inteliigeuce then known. Every few days the New York pa- pers would say, " The Albany steam-boat brings intelligence," et cetera. It must be remembered that steam navigation nas theu iu its in'ancy. It was not six years since Fulton's first successful experiment had bean made. There were only three steam-boats on the Hudson at that time, whose owners had, by legislative grant, the monopoly of that kind of navigation. These were the I'aragon, Car of Xeptune, and yorthliiver. The average length of the passage from New Vorlc to Albany was then about thirty-six hours.* 'The following advertisement, taken from the New York ^'oiiii'' /'o"' of the date under consideration, with a fac- simile of a cut of " the steam-boat" at its head, will seem very curious to th», traveler now, at the distance of sixty years: HUDSON RIVER STEAM-BOATS. For the Informatinn of the l^iblic. The Parafion, Captain Wiswall, will leave New York ! every Saturday afternoon, at 5 o'clock. The Car of S'c])- ! (line, Captain Roorback, do., every Tuesday afternoon, I itJo'ciock. The Xorth Rir^er, Captain Bartholomew, do., I every Thursday aftemoi.n, at B o'clock. The Parmion will leave Albany every Thursday mom- \K, at o'clock. The Car of \ej>tune, do., every Satnr- t lijy morning, at o'clock. Tho .Vorfft Hiver, do., every I Tuesday morning, at o'clock. PBICKR OF PASBAOB. Frm .Vew York to Verplauck's Point, $9 ; W"8t Point, |$i.50;Ncwburg,.'(i8; Wnpplnger's Creek, $ii.2s ; Poughkeepsic, if-l.tlO ; nydcPark,$4; Ksopns, $4.28 ; Red Hook, $4.50 -. [Ciil!kill,$,'>; Hudson, $5; Coxsackie, $.VtiO ; Kluderhook, $6.75 ; Albauy,"$7. fVom.l/fiaMij toKindcrhook, $1.50; Coxsackie, $2 ; Hudson, $2; Catsklll, $2.25 : Red Hook, $2. i«: Esopup.$.T: Hyde |Pari[,$3.'.>5; Poughkeepslc, $3.50 ; Wappiuger's Creek, $4; Newbnrg, $4.26 ; West Point, $4.76; Verplauck's Point, |(S,!!5; New York, $T. .Mli'thcr way passengers to pay at the rate of one dollar for every twenty miles. No one can be taken on board and put on shore, however shct tho distance, for less than one dollar. Tonng persons from two to ten years of age to pay half price. Children under two years, one fourth price. Servants I'honse a berth, two thirds' price ; half price of none. t ■ i H! 602 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK BucouDter lit Furty-mlle Creek. Ameiljans at Stony Creek. Prepnrntlons to Biirprii-c their Camp forward briskly to Forty -mile Crook, where thoy rosted, after driving off a patrol of mount. ed militia und"r Captain Merritt. Thoy then moved forward to Stony Creek, ten miles fii ••. tlier westward and within about seven inijes of Vincent's camp, where they encountered a British picket-guard. These were dispersed and hotly pursued by the American advanee- guard, consisting of light infantry under Caii- tains Hindman, Biddle, and Nicholas, part of a rifle corps under Captain Lyttle, and a dotatli- ment of dragoons under Captain Selden. Near the present toll-gate, a little eastward of Ham- ilton, they encountered another picket. These, too, were driven in, and the victors pushed on in pursuit until they saw Vincent's camp on tlic groat gravelly liill at the head of Burliiiatmi Bay. Then thoy Avheeled, and made their aviu leisurely back to camp at Stony Creek. The main body of the army encamped upon ground rishig slightly above a meadow, throu!;h which flows a branch of Stony Creek, and occu- pied the space from the main stream north of the village to the house ofMr. Gasc, at the foot of the hills, on the site of which, when I visited the spot in 1 800, stood the residence of Nelson jMiller. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Regiments, and a com- pany of artillery under Captain Archer,' took post on the lake shore, near the moutli of the ereck, about three miles fi-om the main body. The troops in both camps, ex- pecting a night attack, slept on their arms, and every precaution was taken by Cliaml- ler in the posting of pickets, throwing out patrols, etc., to prevent a surprise. Ex- plicit directions Avere given by him where and how to form the line of battle in tli( event of an attack. The cannon Avere properly planted, and the horses that drew them Avere unharnessed. There Avas equal vigilance in the British camp. The audacity of the American vanguard in pursuing the pickets amazed and alarmed Vincent. lie Avas anxious to obtain immediate knoAvledge of the numerical strength and the disposition of his foe, and sent out Lieutenant Colonel Harvey, Avith the light companies of the Ei^litli and Forty-ninth Regiments, to reconnoitre the American camp. The duty was Avell performed, notAvithstanding the night was very dark, and Ilarvey reported, he- fore midnight, that " the enemy's camp -guards Avere fcAV and negligent; that hi- line of encampment Avas long and broken ; that his artillery Avas feebly supported. and that several of the corps Avere placed too far in the rear to aid in rcpellin!; a blow Avhich might be rapidly and vigorously struck at the front." He advised a night attack, and Vincent, heeding it, made immediate preparations to execute tlie movement. At midnight the British commander left; his camp with about six hundred men. composed of five companies of the King's (Eighth) Regiment and the Avliole of tin Forty-ninth, and marched for Stony Creek. Harvey's scout joined them, and at abow two o'clock in the morning they all halted Avithin a mile of the American cai Harvey had discovered the centre to be the Aveakest point in Chandler's line, liy one of the inhabitants of the neighborhood, Avho had treacherously joined the Amir- ' Lemuel B.Archer was a native of Virginia. He was a captain In Scott's Second Regiment of artillery, and ™| breveted major for his gallant conduct at F'.rt George on the 27th of May, ISl.S. He was retained in the service 1d1<u| and in 1921 became Inspector general, with the rank of colonel. He died on the lUh of December, 1823, OF THE WAR OF 1812. 603 irise their Camp. !reL'k, where I'ol of mount- They then en miles f!>"- I seven miles ncountcred si re iVis])erseil, ican advance- •y \inder Caji- olas, pavt of a and a detach- Sclden. Near twavd ofllam- pickct. These, tors pushed on t's camp on tlio i of BuiTnicttdii made their way ^ Creek. encamped npon iicadow,throui;li Creek, and ooch- use ofMr. Ga;;e, 11 18G0, stood tlic Lcnts, and a com- > near tlie nioiUli both canipi', ex- taken l)y Chanil- a sur\irise. Ex- le of battle in tk iiorses that drew 1 of the American Jc was anxious to [disposition ot'liis liies of the Eiiihtli The duty ^v;l> Irvey reported, V To;lia;ent ; that In- ^ocd)lv supported; [aid (n repellin? a I" lie adviseth Ins to execute tk j jriix bnndred raoii, the whole of tk I [hem,andatahout| American car landler's lino. IM . joined the Am«- ,„entof.>rtlllery,aud«| Inert In the eenlceinl*! nber,1823. j^tftalt on the Americnn Cnmp. UdufuHlon and Dlsaxter In the Dtirknesa. .■r ■ - -? ^^ ^ ^^T^-«^- ■ rm^g ■HiiliMiM'J//^4i!o^ B^.'iUJ.. ' -^^'w!^' ^^rr-::^rf^'' i'M''^' ''MJi,: BATTLE-OBOD-ND Or BTONY UUBEK.' > icans and deserted, Vincent had obtained the countersign for that night, and through it he was enabled to secure the sentinels without giving alarm. It was now two o'clock in the morning" — a warm Sabbath morning — and ■ jnne e, the little army of Americans Avere sleeping soundly, unconscious of impend- ^'"'• ill!! danger. Clouds covering a moonless sky made the gloom deep, but not impen- etrable. Five hundred iJritish regulars loaded their muskets, fixed their bayonets, and, led by General Vincent in person, rushed upon the Ainerican centre at double- quick, with the appalling Indian war-whoop, and plied the bayonet so fearfully that the line was cut, and that portion of it scattered to the Avinds. This furious charge was immediately followed by M.-ijor Plenderleath at the head of forty men of the Forty-ninth, Avho fell upon the artillery, bayoneted the men at the guns, captured two six-])ounders, and turned them with fearful eft'oct upon the camp. The greatest con- fusion prevailed, Chandler's centre and the assailants becomhig ahnost inextricably mixed in the dark, and each was unable to distinguish friends from foes. In the mean time Major Ogilvie, with a part of the King's Regiment, had fallen upon the American left, composed of the Fiflh, Sixteenth, and Twenty-third Regn- 1 IK, and some riflemen under General Winder, to which was attached Burn's dra- L'liis, who wore too far in the rear to render immediate assistance. Tiiis attack was at first gallantly resisted, the Twenty-fifth, of the centre, lending their aid ; but a fire ill tlie rear, from a detachment of the assailing party that broke througli the line, j threw them into great confusion. While Chandler^ was making preparations to meet this unexpected assault, a heavy ' Tills view, pketched In the morning snnllght, is from the residence of Daniel Lewis, Esq., llcntenant colonel of the I Wentworth Militin, who was in the battle. In the forcgronnd is eeen the meadow through which flows a branch of I Sinny Creek. Beyond it, on the left, is a gentle elevation, the estate of Mr. Thomas Wudr of Hamilton, and near the J village, ou which lay the encampment. Miller's (Gage's) honse is seen on the extreme i „ Ith a veranda and grove lollrees in front. In the distance is the range of hills which extend westwai'd from Qneenoton, and are called "the lllonntain" by the Canadians. iJoliii Chiiudler was born within thcbonndf of the present State of Maine (Kennebec County), then a part of Massa- Ithnsctts, ill the year 1700. His parents were very humble, and ho became an Itinerant blacksmith. Ills residence was lia General Dearborn's settlement of Monmouth, about fifteen miles west from Augusta. It Is recorded. In a late Hin- Y"j and OemipHon of Aeie Krutlaiui, by Coolidge and Mansfleld, that " h"- was the poorest man in the settlement." By lliKlujlry and |)cr.«cveranco he became wealthy. Ills talents were of a high order. lie was a representative In Congress llrom 1S05 to ISfis, and when the war broke out and he was commissioned a brigadier general, he was major general of iBilllln. His military career ended at Stony Creek, and he was disbanded in 1S15. He represented Maine In the Senate Icllhe United States from IS'.'O to 1S29. Uc died at Augasta, Maine, September 25, 18*1, at the ago of clghty-one years. m id 604 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Csptare of Qenernls Chnndler and Winder. Narrow Escape of Oeueral Viucent. Hctreat of the Araerlcani fire was opened on the right flank of the Americans. Perceiving this, he hastened in that direction to prevent its being turned, when, in the darkness, his horse stum- bled and fell, and the general was severely hurt. He soon recovered his feet suc- ceeded in providing for the safety of his right, and wae returning to the centre mov- ing with difficulty on foot, when he was attracted to the artillery, where there was much confusion. He was not aware that the two cannon were in possession of the enemy ; and, under the impression that those in confusion around the pieces were some of his own command, he gave orders for them to rally. To his utter astonish- ment he found himself among the enemy, and in a moment he was disarmed and made a prisoner of war. At about the same time General Winder and Major Van De Ven- ter' fell into the same trap and were made prisoners.* At this moment there was the wildest confusion every where. Towson's artillcn- had poured a destructive fire upon the assailants and had broken their ranks. Coi- onel Burn, with his cavalry, had cut his way through the British Forty-ninth ami was performing the samp feat with the American Sixteenth, when he discovered that he was fighting his own friends. They had combated severely for several minutes he- fore the fatal mistake Avas discovered. Meanwhile General Vincent, the British com- mander, had been thrown from his horse in the darkness, and being unable to find either his animal or his troops, had wandered oiTin the woods. His friends supposed him to be killed or a prisoner. The command devolved upon Colonel Harvey, who. finding it impossible to drive the Americans from their position, collected his scat- tered forces as quickly as possible, and while it was yet dark hastened back toward Burlington Heights with his notable prisoners. He sent Captain Merritt back tn look for General Vincent. He was unsuccessful, but captured two Americans, and •Jniiec, took them into camp as trophies.^ During the ensuing day* Vincent wa^ 1813. found by his friends in the woods, four miles from the place of conflict, with- out hat or sword, and almost famished. His horse and accoutrements had fallen into the hands of the Americans. In this confused and terrible night-battle the Americans lost seventeen men killed. thirty-eight wounded, and ninety-nine missing. The British lost twenty-three killed. one hundred wounded, and fifty-five missing. Notwithstanding the Americans held the ground, it was a substantial victory for the British, and the loss of the two gen- erals a severe one for the former. Through the gallantry of Lieutenant M'Chesnev one piece of artillery was immediately recovered, and the other the enemy was not able to take away for the want of horses.* They were endeavoring to do so when they were overtaken by Lieutenant Macdonough, and the piece was seized by him, The Americans, fearing a renewal of the attack, retreated so precipitately that thev left their dead unburied. Under the command of Colonel Burn they fleet to Fortv- mile Creek, near which they Avere met by Colonel James Miller and four hundred men sent to re-enforce them. " I can assure you," Colonel Miller wrote to his wife, " I can scarce believe that you would have been more glad to see me than that array Avas.^ On the follow'".g day,^ in the afternoon, they were joined by Generals Lewis and Boyd, with their staffs, and the little army encamped there, on a 1 Christopher Van De Venter was a native of New York. He was appointed lieutenant in Scott's regiment of artil- lery in 1809. In 1812 he was assistant military agent at Fort Columbus, In New York Harbor. He was afterward dtp- j nty quarter-master, with the rank of major, and in that capacity served on the Niagara frontier. He was token a pris- oner to Quebec. At the close of the war he was retained In the service, and In 1810 was ald-de-camp to Bri(.M(lier General j Joseph G. Swift. He resigned In August that year, and from 1817 until 182V he was chief clerk In the War Dcpartmect. j He died at Georgetown, D. C, on the 22d of April, 1838. ' Colonel William Fraser (then n sergeant), who was living at Perth, back of Brockvllle, In Canada, in ISOfl, took boii j the generals prisoners. He advanced upon the artillery, he said, with forty-six men, but when they drew near it ifcfT had only twenty-flve men. The American cannon In their front was loaded with all sorts of missiles. The primiiij j flashed, and the ptin was not discharged. They then nished forward, shouting " Come on. Brant !" The cannon «m j taken. Plenderleath was wounded. Fraser was binding up his wounds, when Chandler and Winder fell into thi" fnue j and were captured. ' Merritt's MS. Narrative. ♦ The satue » Antograph letter to his wife, dated Fort George, June 13, 1813. I the Americani. lie hastened horse stum- lis feet, snc- centre, mov- re there was ession of the piccca wore tter astonish- led and made Van De Ven- son's artillery r ranks. Col- irty-ninth, ami iscovered tliat ral minutes ho- le British com- unahle to fiml icnds supposed ■l Harvey, who. lected his seat- ed back toward Merritt hack to Americans, and ly* Vincent was of conflict, with- ,8 had fallen into iteen men killed. snty-three killed, Americans held of the two geu- mant IirChesney enemy was not to do 80 when seized hy him, litately that they .y fled to Forty- tid four liumlred ■rote to his wife, , than that anny lined by Generals Imped there, on a Icott'B regiment of anil- He waBaftc"™^''*f 1 J. Hcwastokcuavn*- Imp to Brigadier Genml IntheWarDcpartmeBi.! Lnda,lnimtook*o4! Ithevdrewneaiitttf?! jmlflsUes, Thcpriinix? Int t" Tbe camion «w ] Imder tell into the sum I 4 The same ■ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 605 A BriUsh Fleet 'n Bli?ht. Pursuit of tbe Americans. The Britlab at Sodua Buy. plain, its right flank on tlie lake, and its left on a creek which skirts the base of a very steep but not lofty mountain. At six o'clock that evening a British squadron under Sir James L. Yeo appeared in the distance. The Americans lay on their arms all night, and in the inoruing the hostile vessels ' ere near. There was a dead calm. At six in the morning an armed schooner was tt wed in, and opened a fire upon the American boats m which most of tlieir baggage and camp equipage was transported, which lay on the shore. Mean- while the artillery companies under Archer and Towson had placed four cannon in dit'ensivc position, and Lieutenant Totten had constructed a temporary furnace for lieatin<» shot. The hostile vessel was soon driven ofl". At about the same time some savasje allies of the British appeared on the bald brow of the mountain, and fired in- effectually into the camp, and intelligence came that the British were moving cast- ward from Burlington Heights, Sir James sent an officer, with a flag, to demand from General Lewis an immediate surrender of his force, reminding him that a Brit- ish fleet was on his front, a savage foe in his rear, and an approaching British aiTny on his flank. Lewis answered that the summons was too ridiculous to merit a serious icnlv. He had not lost a man in the whole aflair of the morning. The schooner had beeii driven away, and he was prepared to send oflF the boats with baggage and camp o(inipa!?e, accompanied by a guard of two hundred men under Colonel Miller. The bo-its started prematurely — before the troops were ready. They were chased by an armed schooner. A dozen of them Avere captured, and the remainder were run ashore and abandoned by the crews. At ten o'clock in the morning the whole army com- menced a retrograde movement, the savages and local militia constantly hovering on their flank and rear. They reached Fort George after losing several prisoners cap- tured by pursuers, and General Vincent came forward and occupied their camp at Forty-mile Creek. Lieutenant Colonel Bisshopp, who was placed in command of the riffht division of the British force, pushed forward with detachments, and took posi- tions which commanded the cross-roads from a little west of the present Port Dalhou- sie,on the lake shore, to the mountain passes at the Beaver Dams.' The British squadron in the mean time hovered along the lake coast, and interfered ireatly with the supplies for the American camp. On the evening of the 1 2th* . ju„e, tliey captured two vessels laden with valuable hospital stores in the mouth *^'^- of Eighteen-mile Creek, eastward of the Niagara River; and on Tuesday evening, the 15th, they made a descent upon the village of Charlotte, at the head of the naviga- tion of the Genesee River, and carried oft" a large quantity of stores. Sailing east- ward, they appeared off" Sodus Bay on Friday, the 1 8th, and on the following even- in? a party of about one hundred, fidly armed, landed at Sodus Point (now in Wayne I Comity) for the purpose of destroying the American stores known to be deposited I there. These had been removed to a place of concealment a little back of the village. The enemy were exasperated on finding the store-houses erajity, and threatened to [tetroy the village if the place of the concealment of their contents should not be re- Irealed. The women and children fled in alarm. A negro, compelled by threats, [save the enemy the desired information, and they were marching in the direction of [the stores, when they were confronted at a bridge over a ravine by forty men under ICaptaiii Turner, of Lyons. A sharp skirmish ensued, in which each party lost two I moil,' Both parties fell back, and the foiled British, as they returnea to their vessels, 1 The chief anthoritieB consulted are the official dispatches of commanders on both sides, and the several histories of IHewar already mentioned ; Mansfield's Life of General Scott ; antoijraph letters of Colonel James Miller: MS. state- lanit of Captain Willinm H. Merritt ; Armstrong's Notices of the War of 1812 ; Niles's Weekly Register ; The War, and Itnl «lat8raent8 of survivors. i An accoimt of my visit to tbe battle-Kronnds of Stony Creek and the Beaver Dams will be given in the next chapter. j ' Sutemcnt of Captain Luther Rcdfield, of Clyde, Wayne County, New York, in a letter to tbe author in Pebmary, p*wheii the old soldier was about elshty-six years of age. He says that in a log house a few rods north of the pres- BiPrcsbTterian chnrch, in the village of Junius, public worship was held. The attack of the British at Sodus was on Bitordaj: ercniug. Tbe next day. Just as the ofleruoou service was about to commence at the bunee above mentioned. H I ■■ C06 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK DeatructiuD of Property at 8odus. Brltlnh Flee t (iff OBWeyo. Tliev burned the public store-liouBcs, five dwellings, and the old Williamson Hotel, laid waste by fire property valued at about twenty-five thousand dollars. • Jnne20, From Sodus the British stjuadron sailed eastward, and appeared offO.. 1813. wego," with a wish to enter the harbor and seize or destroy stores there ■ but Sir James, who was a cautious commander, did not venture in, and on tlie morn- ing of the 21 St his squadron turned westward, and for several days lay oft' the Xi- agara River, a horseman came dasblnf; np at full speed with the news of the British invasion. Redflcld was a captain in the rem. inent of Colonel Philetns Swift. There were several non-commissioned oiBcers in the chnrch. These were fent t.i arouse the military of the neighborhood, and by Ave o'clock Captain Redfleld-was on the march with about one hnni- red men. They halted most of the night a few miles north of Lynns, and resumed their march by moonll).'lit tuwjri morning. They arrived at Sodus at a little after sunrise on Monday morning, when they met a funeral procc''«loii wih the body of Turner's slain soldier. The British bud gone, but the fleet waa in eight. "The company remained abuut s week at Sodus, and were then discharged. ^^^Si~ OF THE WAU OF 1812. 007 f'lcet oft Oswejp). ^«h De»lgiiii against Sackett'g Harbor. The Defences there. Oeiier^l Jacob Brown. [old 'Dicy i. cared off Os- stores thiTc; on the mom- iy oti' the Ni- captain in tbc nt- rhesc wutc Feul i.i Ith abonl one hnnj- y moonlichl lowanl crnl procpfflon wi'.h 3y remained about » CILVPTER XXVm. "To Sackett'B IlarborYeo steered, with PrevoBt's chosen blood-honnda, iiut Brown his duga of valor cheered, mUitin blood, but good lionud*. He chased them from the bloody tracic, and Yeo's bull-dog8 slighting, Though Chauucey was not there, he show'd Sir James the art of dghting. Bow, wow, wow 1 Fresh-water dogs can tntor them with bow, wow, wow !" Olii Soko — A NEW Bow Wow. ^IIEX the military and naval authorities at Kingston were in- formed of tlie weakening of the important post at Sackett's Har- bor by the withdrawal of troops and vessels for the expedition against York, they resolved to attempt the capture of the place, or to destroy the new ship-of-war then on the stocks,' and other public property there. The capture of York made them circum- spect, for the flushed victors might turn their faces toward King- ston ; but when it was known that Dearborn and Chauncey were about to attack Fort George and its dependencies, it was resolved to assail Sackett's Harbor immediately. Tlie prize was more attractive now than ovtr before. Besides being the principal place of deposit on the lake for military and naval stores, and a fine vessel was there nearly completed, all the property captured at York^ was de- iiosited there. The possespion or destruction of these by the British would have jiveu them the command of Lake Ontario, and a decided advantage during the whole (ampaign. With singular remissness of duty on the part of the commanding gen- eral, tliese had been left exposed. The guard detailed for their protection, under Col- onel Barker, was utterly inadequate for the task. It consisted of parts of the First and Second Regiments of Dragoons, numbering about two hundred and fifty men, fifty or sixty artillerists, and from eighty to one hundred infantry, composed chiefly of invalids, recruits, and fragments of companies left behind when the expedition sailed for York. The dragoons, dismounted, manned Fort Tompkins, a considerable work on the blufl", on the west side of the Hai'bor,^ and covering the site of the present i Ksidence and garden of the naval commandant of the station. The artillerists, un- der Lieutenant Ketchum, were albo there. A little north of the village, on the east I side of the Harbor, opposite Fort Tompkhis, was a small work, erected principally by [ the labor of a company of exempts, called Fort Volunteer. General Jacob Brown,* ' Aftpr the death of the gallant leader in the attack on York, this vessel was named General Pike. ■ Seepage 691. ' This cousistcd of a strong block-honee and surronn ling intrenchments, and occupied the place of the battery on likich the iron thirty-two-pounder that drove off the British In 1812 was mounted. See page 368. The single cannon |ti!h which it was armed at the time we are now considering was the same iron thirty-two-pounder,' The fort was liimni Tompkins in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, then governor of the State of New York. The bluff on which it Ic'od ovcrlcoki Navy Point, within which is the Harbor, where the ship-yard was. The place was named in honor Iri.injnstns Sackett, the first settler. Its Indian name was a long one, and signified " fort at the mouth of Great River." 'Jacob Briiwn was born of Quaker parents, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of May, 1776. He was well [lijeaied early. Wnen he was sixteen years of age his father lost his property, and the right-minded youth resolved to iro Ilia own livelihood. He taught scliooi in the Quaker settlement of Crosswicks, in New Jersey, from his eighteenth • twenty-flrst birth-day. For a while he was a surveyor in the vicinity of Cincinnati, and in 1T98 was a school- ttfher in the city of New York. Ue commenced the study of law, but it was distasteful to him, and he abandoned it. I« then pnrchased some land on the Black River, in .Tefferson County, and adopted the puniuit of a farmer. In 1809 he fu 8pp<ilnted colonel of a regiment of militia in that section, and on his estate a settlemert was forn.ed and named roinsville. In 1811 the Governor of New York commissioned him a brisradlcr general of militia, and, as we have seen f psge fiCrd), he was intrusted with important command. From that time until the close of the war General Brown's toMiccaree formed an Importaut part of the history of the times, and the record may be found in these pages. He ; ( :|l ili - I' J 1 i i 1 ( , - , ; f , 4li^ii. ii: eo8 PlCTOniAL 1 IKLD-nOOK Bfown'i Poaltlun. Apprnnch of tlio lirlti'h. Uruwii amiumeit C'liminnihl al Hm km'. ||;, of the Now York Militia, who, Imviiij; liiiJHli,,,! tho Hix montlm' Hi-rvico for wliich lie was call. etl to tho fichl at the bcj^iiuiiiig oi'ihc ^var as we have hcoii, was residinjf at liis lioinc iii IJrowiiHville, oil the Hhick Hiver, a liw inii,,, from Sackett'H llurhor, liad been r((|U(stii| by (Jeiieral Dearborn, and Jirged by ("olond JSIacoi'i' , to assume chief coininaiid in il|;,| region, lie was unwiiiinj^ to iiilerrcrc vitl, liis esteemed friend, Colonel liackiis aiKJ agreed to take command only in the event dt actual invasion. lie went to head-iiuartds frequently to advise with Haekus conceniiii" preparations for defense, and it was nndn stood between them that if the enemy sIkmiM threaten the post, IJrown was to call the w'y^],. boring militia to tho Harbor and lake ciruj command. Oil the evening of the 27th of iMny, tin lAuly of the Lake, which had been crnisiii- off Kingston to watdi tin movements of the pnciiiv, came into Sackett's Ilarliur with the startling infoima- that a strong Hritisli si|iia,l. ron, under Sir .lanios ].. Yen, had just put to sea. Colonel Backus sent an ex])res8 to General J}rown with tlic in- telligence. That vigilant officer immediately dispatched messengers to the inilitia officers of his district with orders to hasten, with as many men as possible, to tin Harbor. Tliis accomplished, he mounted his lu)rse, and before tlie dawn of tlic I'Htli he entered IJackus's camp, took command, ordered alarm guns to be ffred to arouse the country, and sent oft* ex- - .-, presses in various directions to militia officers, and to was rctBincd In the nrmy iit tlio close of tho wnr, nnd wns appointed to the com- mnnd of llic Nortliern Divlsl(in. lie became a general-in-clilcf of the armies of the I'nited States in 1S21, and held that oHlce nntil his death, at his hend-<|imr- ter« in the City of Wanhtnpton, on the 24th of February, 1S28, at the ago of flfly- three years. His wldo\y, yet (ISOT) living, resided, until recently, in the lino nnm- gion erected at Brownsville by the general In 1S14. General Brown's remains were interred with imposing ooremonlcs in the Congressional liiirial-gnmnd, and over them stands a bcantiful white marble moMumer.t, com ased of a trinicnted fluted column and tnbleted base, on which arc tho followln inscriptions: Emt Side.—" > icred to the memory of Major General .Iaoou Brown, by Birth, by Kducation, h\ Principle, devoted to Pom i'. In defense of his country, and In vindication of lu-r rights, a Warrior. To her ho dedicated his life— wounds re- ceived in her cnnsc abridged his days." .SmiM Wrfc— " lie was born in Bncks County, Pennsylvania, on tho 9th of May, 1775, and died at the City of Washington, commanding general of tho army, on the 24th of February, 1S28. " Let him whoe'er in after days Shall view this monument of praise, For Honor heave the Patriot sigh, And for his country learn to die." West .Sfefc— "In both by the thanks of the Nation and n golden medal from the hands of their chief magistrate— and by this marble erected to honor him, at the command of tho Congress of tho United States." North Side.— "In War his services are attested by the fields of Chippewa, Ni- agara, Erie ; In Peace by the improved organization and discipline of the army." Tho monument stands very near that of General Macomb, bis successor iu the chief command of tho armies of the United States. QENEB.VL UBOWk's MONDXEST, BRckett't llMbur. iviiij; fiiUHliod li 111' was call. H of the war, It liis lidmc in r, ii lew inilo WIl VlMlllcstcil I'd by ('i)l(iii(l iiniiiid in tliut iiitcrlfrc with liiickus, ami III tlic cvi'iit (if i hciitl-(|\iartir> kuw CDiiccrniii'.' it was uiidir- I' ciu'iny sluMiM ocall tli('iici>.'li- and lake chid' til of ^Iiiy, tlio d l)oc'ii ('nii>iii:; 1 to watcli till of the (Micniy, lacki'tt's llailmr artliiiit intormii- it l?ntish s(|u;iil- irJaiiioH L. Yen, own willi tlic ill- 's to the militia I possible, to tlic awn of the intli i^Aa »M 3j<if-.', €^ *JTP"' «^^ ^^i-' P^ m^>^' eown'b MOSCHCT. OV THE WAU OF 18 12. U09 A.i«mbllnsofth«MllUla^ The Brltlib Force upprnachei Berkett's Harbor. An Alarm. Colonel Tuttlo, who was ndvanciiif; with rej?ular». Diirinjj the day the people of the surrounding country continually arrived at head-<|uarlcrs. Some were armed, ,1,(1 HOine were not, and all were entirely without disei|iline, and alnumt without or- jiiziition. As fast an they appeared they were armed and nent to Horse Island, a mil,, distant, wliere C!olonel Mill.s and about two hundred and fifty Albany Volun- leers had been Btationed for a week. The island (on whi(!h the light-house stands') I.I0UT-UODHK ON UOKSE ISLAND. lommands the entrance to the Harbor, and there it was believed the enemy would attiiiipt to land. Then, as now, it was separated from the main by only a shallow strait, always fordable, and sometimes almost dry. Between it and the village was atliin wood that had been partly cut over, and was encumbered with logs, stumps, ami brush. The main shore is a ridge of gravel, about live feet in lieight, and at that time formed a natural breast-work. At midday on the 2!-th," the Uritish squadron, which left Kingston on the •«»>, oveiiiiig of the 27th, appeared off Sackctt's Harbor. It consisted of the Wolfe, ^*''"' •Jljust finished; Royal Georr/e, 24; EarlofMoira, 18; schooners Prince Regent, Simcoe, and Seneca, mounting from ten to twelve guns eadi, and ;;''out forty bateaux. The land troops, ten or twelve hundred strong, consisted of the grenadier company of the One Hundredth Kegiment, two companies of the Eighth or King's, a section of the Koyal Scots, four companies of the One Hundred and Fourtli, one comi)any of the Glengary Kegiment, two of the Canadian Voltigeurs, a detaehment of the New- foundland Kegiment, and another of the Koyal Artillery, with two G-pounders. There was also a considerable body of Indians attaelied to the expedition, and who accompa- nied it in canoes. Sir James Lucas Yeo commanded the squadron, and the whole expe- dition was under the direction of Sir George Prevost, the Governor General of Canada, who accompanied it as leader of the land forces. He was with Yeo ovi the Wolfe. The British squadron lay to about six miles from the Harbo'-, and u large number of troops were embarked in boats for the purpose of landing. While anxiously wait- ing for the signal to pull for shore, the soldiers were perplexed by an order to return to the squadron. They were still more perplexed when that squadron, without appa- rent cause, spread its sails to the light breeze and turned toward Kingston. Tlie se- ; cret was soon known, A flotilla of nineteen American gun-boats had been seen off ' This is a view of ttie liglit-tionee as It appeared when I visited the Islond In 1S.VI. It stands upon the spot where the I nem; landed, and the keeper at the time of my visit was Captain Samuel H'Nitt, of whom I shall hereafter speak. I The island contains about twenty-seven acres. Qq 1 ! i Wf^f 010 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Cbua and Capture of American Veiieli. PoittlonortheV A Panic and nig^, Six-towiiH Point, njjprouching from tlio wi-stward, and Sir (Joorgo Provost did „„. doubt tlifir lu-ing fillrd with arnu'd mon dcHtined to rt'-cnforco Suckett'H Ilarlior. It WUH even so. They were conveying part of a regiment under Lieutenant ('ol(jn(.| Thomas Aspinwnll from Oswego to the Harbor, The apparition had made .Sir (Jcorc,. nervous. Tlie Indians were not ho easily frightened as their pale-faced ally. Tlin darted in their eanoes toward the American Hotilla. This movement sliatnid Sir George. IIo listened to the advice of Sir James, turned the prows of his vesHcJH onoc more in the direction of Haokett's Harbor, and sent several boats with armed hkh t„ join the canoes. Aspinwall and his party, closely chased, made for the shore. Twdv,. of his boats and seventy of his men were captured. The other seven boats, niorc fleet than their companions or pursuers, reached the haven in safety. Tlie escaiKd i/artv on shore made their way thither by land. They arrived at nine o'clock in tiie even- ing, and added one hundred men to the effective force at Sackett's Harbor. • May, The niglit of the 28th'' was spent by the Americans in active i)r(])arations 1813. fy,. ^]^^, expected attack. Toward midnight, about forty Indians, \u\dvr J.ien. tenant Anderson, were landed on the shore of Henderson Bay, for the ])uijMjse of at- tacking the American militia in the rear. They were discovered, and Colonel Mills and hip force, about li>ur hundred strong, were withdrawn from Horse Island an] placed behind the gravel ridge, at a clearing of five or six acres on the main, witli ;i 6-pounder field-i)iece. The remainder of the militia, under Colonel Gershoni Tutth , were posted on the edge of the -voods, a little farther back ; and Colonel Backus wiih his dismounted dragoons, was stationed on the skirt of the same woods, nearer tin village. Lieutenant Colonel Aspinwall was posted on the left of Backus, and the ar- tillerists, under Lieutenant Ketchum, were stationed in Fort Tompkins, whose only armament was a 32-pounder mounted on a pivot. Not a zephyr rippled t'lj waters of the Harbor on the morning of the 29tli, and not a cloud flecked the sky. Calmness, serenity, and beauty were visible on every side, Tlie sails of the enemy's squadron coul " ^ot catch the slightest breeze, and it was im- possible for the large vessels to appro oar enough to join in the attack. At dawn, thirty-three boats, filled with armed r \ the British squadron and made for Unrso Island, where they landed under cover of two gun-boats directed by Captain Muicas- ter, of the royal navy. As the flotilla rounded the island, the huge pivot gun in Fort Tomj)kin8 hurled murder- ous enfilading shots in their ^A ^X I, ^^/plt'^^C^ t^/^^^ "'''^'*' '^^'i ^^'^^ t^'^^y «'^f^ near the shore they re- ceived a scattering fire from the muskets of the militia. This was promptly respond- ed to by Mulcaster's great guns, loaded with grape and canister, and by his first fire Colonel Mills, who was standing near bis men, was shot dead. The British formed in good order on the island, and with the grenadiers of the One Hundredth at their head, pommanded by Colonel Bayncs, they pressed rapidly across the shallow strait. The rank and file of the American militia had suffered no mat^ rial injury, but the Bonnd of bullets among the bushes, and the din of the oncoming ; foe, struck the whole line with an extraordinary panic, and before th»._, had time to j give a second fire they rose from their cover behind the gravel bank and fled with \ precipitation, leaving their 6-pounder behind. The efforts of the gallant Major Her- kimer to arrest their flight were vain.' This disgraceful retreat astonished and perplexed General Brown, who was on the j < It Is said that one of the militia commandere, who had talked very valiantly and hopefully, became mnch diuour-j aged ae soon as he saw the enemy's boata approaching the shore. As they came forward In a swarm he became lev : and less hopeful, until nt length he told bis men that he doubted the ability of the American force to cope with tlie ec-j cmy. " I fear we shall be compelled to retreat," he eald. After a pouee ho continued, " I know we shall, and as I ami a little lame I'll start now," and away he went npon the road leading to Adams, as fast as his legs could carry bin. josl J as Mulcaster's guns opened their fire. He was among the "missing" at the close of the battle. t\i OF TIIU WAIi UF 18 13. on Panic »nd miiht. Cow»rdly Flight of Mlllll«. OtIlMtry of Captain M'NItt. D««tnictiuii of Pnbllc StorM. Icftof lii« little army. lie expected the inilitin wouM Imvo reiimiiied firm until tlio cminy were finally on the niuin. IJut their movement wiiH so Hiidfleii, general, and raiiiil, that he found himself completely alone, not a man Htandiiijj; within ncvcral rodn of him. Stung l»y this nhameful conduct, lie ran idler the fugitivcH and endeavored to arrest their flight, lliw effortH were unavailing. Forgetful of their proiniMert of coiiniije, and unmindful of the orders tliey had received to rally in tlio woods in the (•vciil (»f^ their being driven hack, they continued their flight until they were sure of beinn out. of harm's way. Some of them were not lieard of again during the <fay. TlioHO under Colonel Tuttle were equally recreant to duty, and joined in the dis- (,'raecftil Hight, although they had not in any way been exposed to the enemy's fire. Hut there was an honorable exception. Captain Samuel M'Nitt, with uiitliuchiiig courage, had maintained his position on the extreme lefl, and stood blazing away ut the ciieiny after his companions had fled. Seeing the panic, he started in pursuit of the fugitives, and, with the aid of Lieutenant Mayo, succeeded in rallying almost one liundrcd of them behind some fallen timber. From that cover they annoyed the en- emy exceedingly, who were then marching through tjic woods toward the town.' Meanwhile Colonel Backus and his regulars had advanced, and, with the Albany Vol- unteers, who had stood firm when the militia fled, and liatl retired slowly along a wanon-road by the margin of the lake before superior uumbers, was disputing tbo march of the invaders incli by inch. These demonstrations of courage revived tlio sinking liopes of the commanding i;cneral. In hastening from M'Nitt's gallant band to liackus's line, his affrighted horse had broken from him in the woods. Fortunately, he soon met a man on horse- back, whoso animal he seized and mounted, and then pushed forward to the extreme ri^ht. There he found Colonel Backus with his dismounted dragoons on the right, assisted by Miijor Lavall, the gallant Albany Volunteers on the left, and infantry and artillery in the centi while the gun at Fort Tompkins was playing upon the advanc- iiii; column of the lie. For an hour the conflict continued, and so great was the weijjht of the enemy that the American line was constantly pressed back. Lieuten- ant Fanning, in command at Fort Volunteer, perceiving no danger of an attack there, had led his little force forward and engaged gallantly in the fight. Still the foe bore heavily upon them, and when the Americans were most in want of encouragement a disheartening event occurred. Dense smoke arose in their rear, and it was soon as- certained that the store-houses on the margin of the Harbor, filled with the spoils of York and a vast amount of other valuable property, also the new ship General Pike, were in flames. Had a portion of the enemy landed in the rear and apjilied the torch ? No. In the almost universal panic that prevailed when the militia fied. Lieutenant Wolcott Chauncey, of the Navy, who had the stores in charge, was informed that all was lost, and that the victorious enemy was rapidly marching upon the post. A train prepared for the emergency Avas lighted, and in a few minutes stores and ship were in flames. The friendly incendiary was soon named to General Brown, much to his relief, and he hastened to inform and reassure Colonel Backus. Ho arrived just in time to see that gallant officer fall, mortally .wounded, and to wipe his pallid brow with his own hand.^ Pressed back, back, back, the wearied and worried Americans took refuge in some new log barracks in an open space near the town. The enemy made desperate efforts to dislodge them. Brown saw that all would be lost should they be driven from that ' Samnel M'NItt was a Scotchman, and a brave and active man. He wbb for some time a member of ForByth'a corps, ind,as each, saw much active service at the beglnnlnp of the war. lie commanded a militia company at the time we ire now considering. He was In Wilkinson's expedition that went down the St. Lawrence In the antnmn of 1S13, and WM In command of a company of reRularg In the battle at Chryeler's Field. Ho died on the 9th of September, ISOl, at Hfpanvtlle, in .Jefferson County, at the age of about ninety years. ' Elettns Backus was a native of New York. He was commissioned major of the First Light Dragoons In October, IW.and In February following was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He died eight days after the battle (June T, 1813), ud m% burled at Backett's Harbor with military honors. f mm wtV'S i ■■ 1! 1 612 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Hllttin reosBembled. Prevost alarmed. Ills cUsjjraccful Hctrcat, shelter, and he determined to rally the fugitive militia, if possible, who, he was in- fcined, were on the outskirts of the villajfe and on the roads leading from it and with tiiem feign a descent upon the enemy's boats. lie sent out mounted dia<'()oib instructed to proclaim a victory gained, knowing that in the supposed absence of dan- ger most of them would return. The stratagem was successful. About thiii; lnuid. red of them were collected, tliough in great disorder, on the eastern side of tlic vi|. • lago, about three fourths of a mile from the place where the battle was still ra<fin(r. There they were addressed by the commanding general, who loaded them with re- proaches, and informed them that measures had been taken to shoot every man ol' them who should be found attempting to run again. Many of them, stung by tlic words of the general, begged to be led into the thickest of the fight, and ahnost two hundred of them formed nndej- the direction of Westcott, a Sackett's Harbor butclicr and Caleb, a volunteer, and, while others went toward the Britisli landing-place, tluv attacked a flanking party of the enemy under Captain Grey, the adjutant goiicrai, just as they were about to assail the log barracks. Grey was a gallant soldier. He was walking backward, Avaviug his sword, and had just shouted " Come on, boys ; re- member York! Tiie day is ours!" when a drummer-boy among the rallied militia cried out, "Periiai)S not yet !" and shot him. Grey fell, and instantly expired.' This rallying of tlie fugitive militia and menacing of the enemy's boats decided tlio fortunes of the d.'-y in favor of the Americans. Sir (ieorge Prevost, sweejjing tl-.o ho- rizon with his glass from a high stump, perceived the militia on his flank and roar, and sujjposii'^v them to be re-enforcements of regulars in large numbers, imiiiediatelv sounded a retreat while the way to their boats was open.^ It was conimenciHi in good order, but soon became a disorderly flight. It was so precipitate that tlK> fa- tigued Americans could not overtake them. They readied the squadron in safety, leaving a large portion of their dead and wounded behind.^ At about ten o'clock in the morning, Sir George, with cool imj)udence, sent a flag to demand the surrender of the posi which he had failed to capture. The summons was treated with deserved contempt. lie then asked permission to send surgeons to take care of his wounded. This was dei.i<'d ; but an assurance was given by General Brown that Americans were " distinguished for humanity as well as bravery." It was believed that the enemy intended to renew the attack. His squadron con- tinued at anchor, and his boats remained filled with soldiers for some time not t'n from Horse Island. At noon they returned to the squadron, and the whole flotill; sailed for Kingst m. It entered that port on the morning of the 30th, to the great mortification of the inhabita'its, who had expected to see the expedition return witli ' Captain Grey was a son of General Grey, tlie commander of tho corps In tlie massacre of a part of Wayne's delacb- inent at Paoll, In Penr«.lvania, In September, 177T. « Oral statement of E, 'ilam,/, Esq., of Sackett's Hnrtar 5 The British lost 60 killed ana -ill wounded. The Ameri os lost 4T killed, 84 wounded, and a* missing. Most of ihe latter were the cowardly militia, who were ashamed to sbovt ibelr faces t'gatu. OF THE WAK OF 1812. 613 Dgraccful Uctreai o, he was in- IVoin it, and ted drasiiooib isenco oi'tlan- t three huud- dc of llic vil- a Htill ru<,'iiiir. Jieui with re- jvery man nl' stuii'^ \>y {\\v id ahnost two iirhur \)utcli(r, iiig-l)hu'e, tln'j uliiiit goncKil, it soldier, lit e oil, hoys; rt- riiUied militia expired.' How public Property wan unved. Conceit and Inefflclency of Sir George Prevost. A Sort of "Greek Fire." ats deciJotltk' eepiiiji; tlio lio- auk and roar, •s, imniediatoly conuneiicoil in \te that tlu' la- idron in saiitv, ,t ten o'eloclv in the snrreiulov with deservotl f his wouiicli'il ,hat Ameriean^ squadron cim- le time not far whole flotilli' th, to the great Ion return witli L of Wayne's (letacb- 1, ofSacketl'sHiirhw Inlsslng. Mostofihe ■ill the garrison at Sackctt's ITarhor and the puhlic property tlu-re.' The whole af- fair on the part of tlie Britisli, was pronouiieed at the time, and lias heen hy tlieir own writers since, " in a high degree disgraceful."^ The skill, courage, and energy of (ien- cmI Brown, under the most appalling difti(uilties, seconded by the like <iiialities in a nart of the troops, made it a brilliant aehievomeht for the Americans, and a subject for jnst praise of the commanding general.^ As soon as the battle was eiuled the efforts of the men were turned to the salva- tion of the public property from the flames. Because of the gnienness of the timber „f the General Pike she had bunied but little, and was saved. The JMike of Gloiices- ur caiitured at York, also escaped destruction. She was saved by the gallantry of huMiteiKant Talman, of the army, who, notwithstanding he knew then* was a large iiuaiitity of gunjiowder on board of her, hastened to her deck, extinguished the kind- liiiir flames, and brought her from vmder the fire that was consuming the store-houses. 'X\\i> Imir American and Pert had cnt their cables and retreated up the Jilack Uiv- or Several of the guns on Navy Point were spiked. The value of the property de- stroyed by the fire was about half a million of dollars. The loss was severely felt, liccause tiie distance from Albany, from which most of these stores w-ere drawn, was such tlip.t they could not be seasonably replaced.* No further attempts were made by the enemy to capture Sackctt's Harbor, and it remained, as it had been from the beginning, the most important place of de|)osit for the army and navy stores of the Americans on the Northern frontier. During the HAUKKTt'h IIARIIOB I.N tS14.'^ 1 James's MiUtarij Ofrurrmcen, I., 17.1. : Thctfoiidiat of Sir Ocorjjc Prcvost In this and nthor occnrrcncee where lie became military commander was severely triliclsed. WilkliiHoii, in his Mminim, i., B'fn, dccli.res that Sir James Yeo was av-rsc to the retreat. He says he was iDtDrmeil that Major Drnmmond (afterward Liculcnant Colonel Drummond, kilW;d at Fort Krio), when Sir Cmrffe cave iho nrder to retn'nt, stepped up to him mid said, " Allow me a few inlnulc", sir, and I will put you in possession of the |.lifc." To this the hanRhty haronet replied, "Obey yonr orders, sir, and learn the first duty of a soldier." The oon- impt for Sir Georijc on the jinrt of the army, which his conduct on this occasion engenderetl, was mnch intensified by his iiijlorions retreat from Plattsburg the following year. ■ Tlie nuthoritles consulted In the preparation of this narrative are the official i 'port- ..f the respective commanders ; Uie wveral American histories of the war ; Auchlnlcck, Christie, and .lames on the British side ; Wilkinson's Memoirs : i.«)|ier'3 Naval History or the United States ; manuscript statement found among General Brown's papers, and narra- liiM of survivors. ' Id a letter to the author In October, 18«a, the late venerable Robert Carr, who was a lieutenant colonel on the North- (ra frontier, gave the following account of a sort of" Grjek fire" that wan exhibited at Sackctt's Harbor at about the meofthcovents recorded in the text. "AtSacketfs Ilarlmr," says Colonel Carr, "In September, WIS, a person from :(e«r England called on General Brown *o exhibit some preparation which he called (iijtii'f/ /frc, or some such name. lienml Cnvlniiton called at my tent and invited mo to go «lth him t<. witness the trial to be mndr that morning; bnt tflwaaamemher of a court-martial then sitting, I could not en with him. On his return he informed me that the af- fiirwaaniost astonishing The Hqnld resembled ink, and he had it in two small porter-bottles, one of which ho threw Wlnitasmall hemlock-tree, which was Instantly in a blaze from top to bottom. The other bottle ho also broke against ii'iihvr Iroe w'th a similar result. He asserted that water would not extinguish it. General Covington remarked that ^imijlitberalleu 'helljire.'" This view la from a print firom a drawing by BIrcb, pabllshcd In the Port Folio 'a ISIO. On the left Is scon Pike's i ' m 614 PICTORIAL WIELD-BOOK Sackett'B Uarbur, and Occurrences there. Description of Its Derciiscs. Map of the Some. summer and autumn of 1813 several expeditions were fitted out there, which we shal' hereafter consider, and labor was vigorously applied by the troops stationed there in the autumn, and by the sailors in the winter, in strongly fortifying the jtost. Kow I'l.AN or »iOKEl • S lIAItllliK A.M> ITS Dtl t.NM ■■, 1>, i-.J. Tompkins was strengthened, and several other works. were constructed, and Ix'foiv tlie midsummer of 1814 the post sceiuid to be secured agamst any force the enemy might bring to bear upon it.* cantonment, where were bnrrnckH erected bj' MnJor Darby Noon.-- Sec pace 2(i2. On the rocky binff nt the ri};lit is geen Fort T()mi)kiu8. Near Pike's cantonment is seen a block-hon»e, on the site of Fort Volunteer, and tmmedintcly l)aik of it, a circular building with battlementcd toj) represents Fort Chuuncey. The little figures near the Buiall boat, toward the centre of the picture, are on Navy Point, where the ship-house now stands. • Jopeph Bouchette, one of the most eminent writers on the statistics of the Canadas, gave the following dcsoripiinn of the place at the close of 1S14 : " A low point of laud rnns out from the northwest, upon which is tlie dock-yard, «iH largo storc-housos and all the requisite buildings bcUniging to such an establiKhmeut. Upon this point is a verjpow. crful work, called Fort Tompkins, having within it a strong Ijlock-liouse two stories high ; on the laud side it is covortil by a strong picketing, in which there arc embrasures ; twenty guns are mounted, besides two or three mortars, witlii ftirnace for heating shot. At the bottom of the harbor is the villr.ge, that contains from sixty to seventy housof, ami to the southward of it a barrack capable of accommodatii. • two thousand men, and gcunally used for the marines lielunp- iug to the licet. On a point eastward of the liarbor 'il.iids Fi-.rtPikc, a regular work surrounded by a ditch, in advance of which there is a strong line of picketing. In the centre of the principal work there is a block-house two stories lii:li. This fort is armed with twenty guns. About one hundred yards from the village, and a little to the westward of Fori Tompkins, is Smith's cantonment or barrack, strongly bnilt of logs, forming n squa.o, with a block-house at carli ror- lier. It Is loop-holed on every side, and capable of rnakinir a powerful resistance. Twenty-five hundred men liavp liic: accommodated in it. A little" farther westward another fort presents itself [Fort Kentucky], built of earth and stniiiLit palisaiied, having in the centre of it a block-house one story high. It mounts twenty-eight guns. Midway knvon these two works [a little farther iniandl is a powdc- magazine, inclosed within a very stong picketing. "l!y the side of the road that leads to Henderson Harbor stands Fort Virginia, a sipiaro work with bastions atHf angles, covered with a strong line of palisades, 1)U', no ditch. It is armed with sixteen guns, and has a l)lock-lio».«( is the middle of it. [See sketch on p.lilV.] Fort fhauncey is n small circular tower, covered with piank, and IcKjp-lioki for tlie nse of musketry, Intended for a small-arm defense only. It is sitnated a small distance from the villiij;c, aid commands the road that leads to Sandy Creek. In addition to these works of strength, there are several Ijlodi-hiis* In difl'erent situations, that altogether render the i)lace very secure, and capable of resisting a powerful attack ; iiulml, j ttmn recent events, the Americans have attached much importance to It, ann, with their accustomed celerity, have spared no exertions to render it formidable."— Bouchctte's CanaJn, page 620. To this account may be added the slaliiiiiiii thi.t, after the battle in May, lS1!t, a breastwork of logs was thrown up around the village from Ilorso Island to the «li 1 of Madison Barracks. The above map, showing a plan of Sackett's Harbor and its defenses in 1^14, as dcscril)ed by Bouchette, in from s | tnanuBcript drawing by Patrick May, a soldier who was staliouod there for two years. The topograi)hy may not be \ix- i OF THE WAll 01 1812. 615 Map of the Same. Iiicli we shall jned there in ) jiost. Fort A VUlt to Snckett's Unrbor. C'omtnuduro Tattnall. Illetoricul LuculitlcH, Henry Kekford. tV"":,,/ /^ ■, r.RAMDCAnAoc r.CHdUNCCY fe-^^jj TB 1)KIKNH1:S liN llU. iccl, and several ictecl,au(lbuf()iv le post seeintd it' luff at the rlijht is FPcn \A immediiilely hatk tlie Binall boat, toward ,; foUowiiic ilcsfript'aa J ibthcdock-jnril.wiih ii« poliil 1b a very \im- 1 laud side It in covcml ■ three mortars, Willi 1 seventy hoUBCf, ami tu for the niariiics Iwliiiii;- 1 by n ditch, in ailvaiicc liinisi! two stories liish. o the wcetwardoflorl lock-liouse at cacl> f» luudred men have Imis it oV earth and slron;i.t U118. Midway helwctB licting. •k with bastions at Ik' id has a lilock-lirai'o it J piank, and l"»l)-li"''i ;e from the villn.;' . re BGVcral l)lotli-li' »■ iwcrful attack; iiuK'l, led celerity, have fiawi le added the ftalcmriii j lorfio Island to liw' «k | r Bnnchette, 1« fn™ > j tgrnpliy may not \k ]i:(- ' I visited Sackett'8 Harbor in the summer of 1800. I roiln up from Sandy Creek diirin" a sultry moniinjjf, tlirough the wealthy agrieultural tinvns of Eilishiirg and lltiiderson, after a heavy rain. Before noon the sky was almost cloudless, and I spoilt the afternoon in visiting places of interest around Sackett's Harbor. Coinino- (loreJosiah Tattnall, one of the most accomplished men in the navy, and then in com- mand of the naval station at the Harbor, accompanied me. I found him an cxceed- iii'ly courteous man, of medium size in stature, and in tlie sixty-fourth year of his jiirc. He had been commander of the East India stpiadron for some time, having the i'oichatati for his Hag-shij), in which he brouglit over the seas tlic Japanese embassa- ilors in the spring of 18G0. Having be(;n for several years in arduous service, the ('overnnient had kindly orJ'ored him to the Sackett's Harbor station to enjoy a season lit" rest. There he deserted the flag of his country, under which he had been cherished for almost half a century. He rec;igned his commissic/ii, joined the traitors in the >lave-labor states Avho were then in open rebellion against his government, and be- came commander-in-chief of the " Confederate Navy."' Yet I can not forget the commodore's kindness. He accompanied mc to the ship- lioiise on Navy Point, in which is the JVeio Orleans, juiit as she was left in her untin- islicd state at the end of the war in 1815, He also went with mc to the site of Fort Pike, to Madison Barracks and the burial-ground, and to visit the Avidow of Ca|)tain William Vaughan, whose exploits have alrt ady been mentioned in these pages.^ Mm. Vaiiglian (a small, delicate woman) occupied the Sackett mansion, which was her resi- dence in 1 81 2. At the time now under consideration, Colonels JJuckus and Mills l)oard- (•(1 with her there. The house was near the site of Fort Tomi)kins. It was a substan- tial lianio building, with a fine portico, and was embowered in shrubbery and trees. The JV^eio Orleans was to have been a huge vessel, made to cope with the iSt.Zaw- rcnce,a, three-det'k man-of-war of 120 guns, which the British launched at Kingston in the autumn of 1 813. Henry Eckford^ Avas the constructor, and Henry Eagle, late uf Oswego, Avas foreman of the navy yard. Time was precious, and Eckford applied cisoly correct, bnt it gives n general idea of the pains taken, and the method adopted for making the post as secure from capture as possible. It Hhows the localities of the forllHcations, and of the vessels In the harbor in the nutumn of IS 14. 1 .losinh Tattnall was liorn at Hcniaveuture, four miles from Suvanunh, (leorgln, in November, ITflB. lie is a grandson 111 Clovernor Tattnall, lie entered the navy as a midshipn n in 1S12, and was commissioned a lieutenant in HIS. lie wan promoted to commander in February, lS;ts, and to cap; i in February, ]K60. lie tirst served In tlie frigate CuniiM- li/ii>ii,and was in the afl'air al Craney Island in June, 1813. He was in tlie Alpirii i war under Decatur, was with Perry niithccoaPt of Africa, and wiili Porter in his expedition nemnst the pirates In i im (inlf of Mexico. He was in command iiftlie Spitfire in the bombardment of Vera Cm/ ^ 'he war with Mexico, and in the attacks on Tuspan, Tampico, and .Mariidi). lie was In command of the Knst In(' uulwu during the trunblo with the Chinese in the minmcr of 18,W, andin the spring of ISfiO brought the Japanese Hudois to thU count ly. lie resigned his eomml^r . in ISfll, and acfcptcd one from the "government" of the so-calleil Confei! latoRtat^ of America." Hewa- in ■ mni indofthe ves- rtlsofllie rebels nt Norfolk when the Merrimack wa desti ^vfd, ni'd in l»«i:( was In command of "niusqnito fleet" at Savannah, (Jeorgia. His services were soon afterward dispensed th, and lie sunk Inin '■hseuril.v. = See pagctftS. : Ilcnry Eckford was born in Scotland on the 12th of March, U.:>, iiud at the ago of lixi. > ii became an apprentice to liis uncle, John Hlack, an eminent naval cinistnictor at Quebec. In 1700 be com- menced the business of Bhi|>-bnllding in tlie city of New York, and soon rose to /y^ / j^ L^^ /' -'"N liiclicadofhisprofession, and New York- .^'^ / ^^^^^''7'TL--/ /^"y- ..r^^ y J liailt (hips were most sought after. Eck- ^ ^"^ ^ X^, ^'^'^■-^A^^ <C- (^ ^ /^ fird liiid become thoroughly Identilled iviih the interests and destiny of his iiiopted country when the war coni- mi'iiceil in I^l'i, and he made large con- iracK with the govcninieiit for vessels on the Lakes. His achievements were wonderful, cr" lering (he theatre mi "hich they were performed. At the close of the war, his accounts with the government, lnv ; several millions of iliiliars, were promptly and hon<iral)ly settled. Soon after that he constructed the IhiWn r , ,i steam-ship of a tliou- ■iiiii tons, to run between New York and New Orleans, lie became naval constnictfji Brooklyn dock-yard of the .ivemment. His genius was too much hampered by government Interference, and be -non left the position and eii- sa.td extensively In his jirofession. Orders came to him from foreign governments to ccmstruct war vessels. At the wiuest of (Jcncral Jackson he furnished a plan for a new organlzalion of tlie navy. He had now amassed an ample firtnnc, and had set aside $'.'0,000 for the endowment of a iirofessorshlp of Naval Architecture in Columbia College, whou an mifortunatc c<mnectioii witli an insurance company reduced liim almost to penury. In IVil Mr. Kekford built loop of war for the Sultan of Turkey, and he sailed in her to Cimstantinople. The sultan made him chief naval con- Hractor of the empire. He died euddculy at Constantinople on the I'Jth of November, 1S3.', lu the llf.y-^cveuth year ol Ills age, I i\\ ,i mi '' h , 'fiS" ^ •y 'i'i 1 1 ; 1 i i 1 1 016 PICTOIUAL FIELD-BOOK The AVi» (trltan* Krlunlc. Madison Barracks. A neglected Mi)nmncni. to the work ull the force that ho coultl commaiul. So vigorous were liig efforts, ilmt ■ Jmiimry iind Within twcMity-sevt'ii (hiys'' from the time wlien tiie axe waH first laid to February, isiB. jj^j timber ill the Kurioiuulinii; fore«t for the great uliip slie was ahiidst ready to be huiiicheil. Hlie was to have been a tliree-deeker, jiierced for 1 10 guns Imu cajiable of carrying 120 eighlrcus aiiil forty - fours. Her frame was all com. pleted, and planks nearly all on, win,, tidings of jx-aee caused work ujion lur to cease. In the condition in wliich sin. was then letl she has ever sinro re iiiained. She was never laiiiulicd. ,\ sj)acious liouse was built over her, ami so well has she been taken care of tbt her timbers remain perfectly suiiiiil. Her keel, according to a slateinciit nt Mr. Henry Metcalf, tlic shiivkeeficr, is IH.'t feet 7i inches; breadth of licani, 5(i feet; depth, 47 feet ; length overall, 214 feet; tonnage, 3000. She was tu draw 27 feet. Within the time abov,. mentioned all the timbers for other pur- poses coiiii'ctcd with the vessel miiv got out. J he annexed sketch shows ihc apjiearance of her bow as seen at the entrance to the ship-house. Near this buiidiii!;, on the south side, may be seen the sunken hulk oi the Jtfi'ersov. From the Xeir Orleans we went up to MdJison Barracks, on the high ground over- looking the village, the harbor, Hlaek liiver Bay, and the wooded country beyoml. These barracks are spacious stone buildings, covering three sides of a square, ncur the remains of Fort Pike. Tlu y were erected soon after the war, under the direction ul Deputy Quarter-master (ieneral Thomas Tucker, at an expense of $85,000. Tluv have not been occiijiied by troojis for a number of years. AVe strolled into the burial-ground attached to the barracks, and visited tlie woodni monument erected to the memory of (Jeieial Pike and others who gave their lives to their country during tlie war. That monu- ment, utterly neglected, was rajiidly •rumb- ling into dust. I was there iive years be- 'Juiy, fore,'' when it was more leaniag than tlie Pisa tower, and fortunately made a ISfiS. sketch of it and copied the fading ii scrii)tions upon it. Sergeant Gaines, who wa.* then tak- ing charge of the barracks, accompMiied me, and assisted in deciphering the insfiptions. He liad placed a copy of them, writion on parchment, in a bottle, which was tightly scaled, and was then hanging under the uin, as tlie best way to j^reserve the precious rec- ords on the spot. When I was there in 1860 the urn and the bottle had disappeared, the jianels were niucli decayed, and the inscrip- tions were illegible. The remains of the gal- lant dead were collected there during the ad- niinstration of Colonel Hugh Brady, who commanded the post for ten years after tlio war; and the monument, w' ch was about eeven feet iu height to the top of the nrn, I'lKK H UUNUMKMT. OP THE WAR OF 18 12. 617 5^^^^^^^ glected MoDumcoi. i«on» Pike and Virginia. Au evening Ride to Watertown. A Vlalt to the Widow of (lenerul Brown. ff BEHAIMB Or^OUT PLKK. as erected by tlie officers of tlio garri- son.' 1'^*^^ '*'"n ^^''" ""'" "iitionivl gov- ifiimfiit sufVer just roproiich for neglect in not erecting enduring monuments over llie uraves of thcHo lierooH ? oil leaving the barracks wo wont out to A_ the roniains of Fort Pike, Houtli of them, L ,, "*■ whose grassy mounds skirt the brow of li^ai' the lii'-f'i hank. Within these were a mag- p|^^. azine a i\'sv cannon, and lieaps of balls; ;intl across the parade, the deelining sun, sliiniiig brightly, was casting long sliad- ows of the poitlar-trees whieh were i)lant- 0(1 there when the fort was built in 1814. It was a beautiful spot, and we lingered 119 long as time Avoidd ])ermit, when we returned to the village and went to the site of Fort Virginia, whose block-honse, made of heavy hewn timber, was yet stand- ing in perfect preservation, and used iis a barn. It was on the premises of Mrs. Tisdale, about twelve rods south from Washington Street. We returned to the commodore's residence at five o'clock, and after tea I started in a light wagon for Watertown, on the IMack River, about twelve miles distant, where I spent the Sabbath" with the fam- •An-jiista?, ily of an old friend. On Monday ***"''• morning he accomiianied mo to Brownsville, four miles distant, where I had the jileasure ui.<i<'K-iii>i»E, HAiKKTi'H HAiimiu. of sjieiiding a p.'irt of the forenoon at the ele- U.int mansion of the widow of General Hrown. There many mementos of that gal- lant officer wore j)resorved. Among them was the' portrait painted by John Wesley .larvis, from which the engraving on ])age 008 was copied; also a monochrome drawn by Sully, of Philadelphia (now [1867] the oldest painter in the United States), for the medal voted to General Brown by the American Congress for his meritorious con- duct on the Niagara frontier. That medal was also there. There too was his sword ; also the elegantly written and well ornamented diploma Avhich by vote of the Com- mon Council of New York conferred njion him the "freedom of the city," and the 2old box in which it was presented to him. Of the latter mementos of the gallant soldier I shall have occasion to write hereafter. The mansion of General Brown, which he built in 1814-'1.5,i8 spacious and elegant. It is of blue limestone, and stands on the borders of the village of six or seven hund- it'd inhabitants, in the midst of a lawn of about eight acres, ornamented with shrub- ' The following were the Inscriptions on the montiniont: ll'«( /Vint/.-" In memory of Hrigndler Gcnernl Z. Af . Pike, killed at York, IT. c, 2Tth April, 1818. Captain Joseph Nicliolsoii, 14th Infantry, iiirt-de-cnmp to General Pike, killed at York, U. C, 27th April, isia." Smth IMnel.—" In memory of Brigadier Oenernl L. Covinijtoii, killed at Chryfiler'g Field, U. C, Nov. 11, 1813. Lleu- :oiiaiil Colonel E. Hackns, lf>t nragoons, killed at SacV-'tt's Harbor, "nth May, 1S13." Katl AiiiW.— " In memory of Colonel Tuttle, Lientennnt Colonel T)lx, Major iTohnson, Llentenant Vandeventer."' ''Mlh I'anfl.—"lu memory of r.ieiitenant Colonel .Tohn Mills, Volunteer, killed at Sackett'fl Harbor, 20th May, 1818. Captain A. Spencer, 29th Infantry, killed at I.nndy's Lane, 2mh .I.ily, ISU." Ocncrnl Pike was first bnried near Fort Tompkins, not far from the ship-honse. The remains of all were deposited in the rcmotcry of the barracks lu ISIO, when the monnraent was erected. Those of Colonel Mills were token to Albany Immediately after the battle. !l ill ^Iffi: iJiJII ii 618 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Ueueral Browu'ii I{e!<Ulciicc In lirownvville. Return to Watcrtown. The Whitllewy Rock. bery and stately trees. The view of it here given is from tlie banks of a little stream that runs through a gentle SNtale along the skirt of the lawn. MAiNtllUM Ol' libKKlSAl, BliOWN. On our return to Watcrtown avc rode along the margin of the Black River, where it sweeps in swift current through the village after leaping the precipice at the fall , and halted at the entrance to a cavern which extends to an unknown distance ximh the town. In front of it, projectint! into the stream like a huge buttress, is a mass of limestone known as tlio Wliittlesey Rock, it being the place where the guilty wife of a man (if that name jumped into the stream and perished over fifty years ago. Her liusband Avas a lawyer from Connecticut, and settled in Water- town in 1809. Toward the close of the Avar he v.-as appointed brigadi paymaster, and in the performaiiee of his duties Avcnt to the city of New York for funds, accompaiiicil by lii'- wife. He received thirty tlioiisaml (hdlars. On the Avay back she ro1> bed him of several thousaTid dollars; W1IITTLE8KV BOCK, wATKBTowN. rj^j Jig -^y^s iuduccd by tlio inacliiiiii- tious of his Avife — a Avoman of education, but thorouglily dejjraved, who AA-orked ujwn liis fears — to report himself robbed of all, in order to secure the money for tliem selves. This was done on an occasion Avhen he Avent out on a tour to pay off the drafted militia. He oftered two thousand dollars reward for the robber, and made OF THE WAK OF 1812. 610 A Conresaion extorted. Suicide of the gnllty Party. Captaiu Uollina. Hovoments uu the Niagara Froutier, other demonstrations of honesty. But ho was not believed by many ; and his securi- ties Fairbanks and Keyos, of Watertown, were so well convinced of foul play, that they decoyed him into a lonely place* not far from the village, and extorted -July it, from him a confession, and the assertion that a larger portion of the money ***'"■ mifht be found with his wife. One of the sureties and two or three others proceed- ed to the residence of Whittlesey, which stood near the bank of the river, forcibly entered the house, and there, between beds and quilted in a garment, most of the money was found. Whittlesey was taken to his home, and husband and wife, bitter- ly criminating each other, were placed under a guard. Unperceived by these, in a moment of confusion IMrs. Whittlesey glided from the house, crossed the present cem- etery of Trinity Church to the river, and plunged in. Her body was found floating near tlic lower bridge. Public opinion fastened all the guilt upon the wretched wife, Wliittlesey went into a Western state, where he led a correct life, and held the offices of justice of the peace and county judge. Mr. Fairbanks, one of the actore in the af- fair is yet (1867) living at Watertown, and from his lips, on our return to the village, I received an account of the tragedy. > At the Woodruff House, in Watertown, I met Captain HoUins, of the navy, a stout, thick-set man, sixty-one years of age. He was a midshipman in our navy toward the close of the War of 1812, and in the course of long years rose to the rank of captain. He too, deserted his flag in the hour of his country's peril, went South, and, during the Great Rebellion, played traitor with all the vigor his abilities would allow.^ His accomplished wife, who was with him in Watertown, was a daughter of the pa- triotic Colonel Sterett, of Baltimore, and, true to her family instincts, tried, it is said, to persuade her husband to stand by his flag. She was in Poughkeepsie, New York, when he arrived at Boston from a cruise in the Massachusetts in IMay or June, 1861, and hastened to him to prevent his apprehended purpose. She failed, and he fell. I left Watertown on Monday evening for Cape Vincent, for the purpose of visiting places of historic interest on the St. Lawrence. Concerning my visit to Carleton Isl- and, French Creek, and other places near the Thousand Islands, I shall hereafter write. Let iis now return to the Niagara frontier, and consider the hostile movements there soon after the battles at Sackett's Harbor, Fort George, and Stony Creek. We left the Americans, under General Dearborn, at Foit George, and the enemy's advance, at the same time, occupied a strong position at the Beaver Dams, among the hills, and at Ten-mile Creek (now Homer village, three miles eastward of St. Catha- rine's), nearer the lake shore. At the former place, De Cou's house, a strong stone huilding, was made a sort of citadel by the enemy, where supplies were collected from the surrounding country, especially from those of the inhabitants who favored the American cause. The character and position of the place had been ascertained by a scout of mounted riflemen under Major Cyrcnius Chapin, of the New York Vol- unteers, who was under Tov»'son in the capture of the Caledonia at Fort Erie the preceding autumn.^ It was an important post, and General Dearborn determined to Attempt its capture. For that purpose he detached five hundred and seventy men, in- eluding Chapin's corps, some artillerymen, and two field-pieces, under Lieutenant Col- ; • , . 1 A mlnnte ncconnt of this affair, with a portrait of Mr. Fairbanks, may be found in Hough's Histanj qf Jefferson ''ountji, page 203. i Gcoijc N. Hollins was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on the 20th of September, ITOW. lie entered the navy a8 mid- fhlpmnn in Fcbrnary, 1S14, on the sloop-of-wur ISnlh'mnre, Captain Rldjiely. He was a volunteer, under Barney, in the battle ofllladcnsburg. He was also an aid of Commodore Rodgcrs during the attack on Baltimore, and carried mes- sages to Fort M'llenry. Up was in the battle between the Prem'dent and Enitirmwn, off Sandy Hook, in January, ISIB, nhen he was taken prisoner and carried to Bermuda. He is supposed to be the last survivor of the men of the Prm- itnl. lie was with Decatur in the Mediterranean. His exploit in the attack on Grcytown, Nicaragua, is fresh in mem- ory, »nd not productive of pleasant reflections on the part of American citizens. Hollins scorns not to have been highly prized by the leaders in the Rebellion, and is almost unknown to honorable fame among them. ' See pat,o 380. He was very efflclcnt as lieutenant colonel commanding in skirmishes near Fort George in October following. He died in Buffalo in February, 1838. ■I * 620 riCTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK Expedition against the British at the Beaver I)am«. Enconnter with Indians. An old Ocrmnn Chnrcb, <:J^ onel Charles G. Bo-rst. ^e^'t-^--'2>^l-^'''^f—^ Infantry.' Tluy !,,(■, Fort CJooi-rrc! oil the evening of the 2.'!(l of June, marched up the Niagara River to Queenstoii, niid tlan lialted for the night. Early the next morning they proceeded toward St. Da\ idV ibur miles west of Queenston, and Avhen near it several British ofticers were koch to leave houses, mount their horses, and ride off westward in haste. They fiied alann guns and sounded a bugle, by which means the several cantonments of the eiieim were aroused. The Americans moved steadily forward until they reached the " Ten Road," a lit- tle eastward of the present village of Thorold, and at an old German church^ commenced the ascent of the " Mountain" (as the Canadians call the gentle emi- nences that extend from the Niagara to Hamilton and beyond), through a forest of pine and beech trees, to the more level country on the summit, where they halted for some time. On resuming their march and proceeding about a mile, they saw In- dians in a cleared field (Hoover's) and open woods running toward a more dense forest of beech-trees that skirted each side of the read, near the p-esent toll-gate, close by the residence of the Rev. Dr. R. II. Ful- ler, rural dean. Cliapin was immediate- ly ordered forward with his mounted men, Avho Avere kept considerably in advance of the main body. These had passed the beech woods, and a greater portion of tlio otli- ers had also gone by, when a body of MohaAvk and CaughnaAvaga Indians, four Imnd- red and fifty in number, under Captain John Brant and Captain William John Kerr- (Avho afterward became his brother-in-law), AA'ho had been lying in ambush, foil upon BtErstler's rear, Avhere about tAventy light dragoons were posted. Bocrstler imme- diately recalled Chapin, formed his troops, charged upon the half-concealed foo, and drove them almost a mile. The Indians might have been entirely routed had B(crst- ler followed up the advantage gained. He hesitated. The Indians rallied, and hung upon his flank and rear, keeping up a most galling fire at every exposed situation. The Americans pressed onAvard, over the Beaver Dam Creek, fighting the wily foe to immense disadvantage, and made conscious that they were almost, if not altogether surrounded by them. For about three hours this annoying contest Avas kept up. Boerstler's cannon liad been posted on a rise of ground at the turn in the road near the residence of Mr. Schriner at the time of my visit, and the Indians fell slowly back before the American bayonets. At Icngtii Bccrstler defennined to retire and abandon the object of the expedition. ' Charles Q. Boerstler was n native of Maryland, and was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Fonrtecnth lufaiilr; In March, 1812. Ho was active, as wc have seen (page 428), In affairs at Black Rock toward the close of that je.ir. Three days hefore his unfortunate expedition to the Beaver Dams he was promoted to colonel of the Fourteenth. Ai the close of the war he was disbanded. » This is a view of the oldest building erected for the worship of God In that section of Canada remaining »1 tlit time of my visit. It was a little more than half a mile from the vlllogs of Thorold. The German refugees from lh( Mohawk Valley at the close of the Revolution built it. It was formed of logs, and was abont twenty-five feet sonare. It stood In the midst of a bnrlal-gronnd. ' Captain Kerr was a (rrandson of Sir Wlllinra Johnson, b., Molly Brant, sister of the great Mohawk chief, ond \rt! one qnartcr Mohawk. He married Elizabeth, the beantifDl and accomplished youngest child of Brant. GKBMAN CUUBCH. Wk^ 11 ii!l ,>: OF THE WAU OF 18 12, 921 Id Ocrmnn Charch. rlcs (i. HciTM- Kourtcciitli ' Tlu^y l,.f, orgo on the stoii, and then i-(l St. David's, i were Kt'i'ii tn oy tiivd alarm of tlie oueiiiv n Road," a lit- ion of tlio otli- ians, four luind- lam Jolui Kerr nbush, fell upon Boerstler immc- nccalcd foe, ami ited had B(crst- lied, and imng loscd situation. the wily foe to not altogether t was kept \\\). a the road near ans fell slowly tlie expedition. B ronrtccnth lufaiiiry le close of that year. f the Fourteenth. .M nclB remaining at ikf an refui!ec8 from Ihi ■enty-five feet snuiire. ihnwk chief, and \w tront. Rritlib Troopi Mved by a Uerolne. Hni. Secord's Services and Reward. Bontler and bis Command captnred. W'hile moving off he encountered a (unall body of militia, under Lieutenant Cohmel Thomas Clark, in tlie IJeech Woods. They had hastened to tlie field from all (iiiarters. Iterstler lialted, and sent a courier to Dearborn for re-enforcements. Very Boon after- ward Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon, ,vho was in coinniand at De (Jou's, iippeared with forty or fifty men of ihe IJritish Forty -ninth,' lie had lieeii warned of tlic expedition of Birrstler, and the danger to his post iind coinniand, by Mrs. Laura Hecord, then a resident of Queenston, and now (1S07) dwelling at Chi})pcwa, who liud been privately informed of the plans of General Dearborn, Ke- solviiig to reveal them to her endan- (rercd friends, she made a circuit of nineteen miles on foot, and gave tlie int'ormation which led to the Indian anibush and the check of IJaTstler's maich.^ Fitzgibbon displayed his men, and, perceiving much confusion in the American ranks, conceived the plan of boldly demanding their sur- render in the name of Major De Ha- ven, the commandant of the district. Fitz- ;!il)bon himself approached with a flag. He falsely assured Ba'rstler that his ])arty was the advance of fifteen hundred Jiritisli troops and seven hundred Indians, then approaching under Lieutenant Colonel Bissh- > A blacksmith in Smoky Uollow, two miles north from St. Catharine's, named Yocum, piloted Fitzgibbon from De Cou's to the Beaver Dams. I Mrs. Secord was then, as now, n woman of light and delicate frame, and her patriotic jonrney was performed on a very hot enmnier's day. She is now (1807) living at the Canadian village of Chippewa, on the Niagara River, at the age of ninety-two years, her mental faculties in full play, and her eyesight sufficiently retained to see to read without spcc- uclei. She is the widow of James Secord, Esq., who commanded a company of militia in the battle at (Jneenston In ni2,an(l was severely wounded there. In a letter to me, written on the 18th of February, ISOl, Mrs. Secord has given i!ic fiillowlni,' interesting acconnt of her exploit here mentioned : " After going to St. David's, and the recovery of Mr. Sicord, we returned again to Queenston, where my courage again was much tried. It was then I gained the secret |)lan :.iid to capture Captain Fitzgibbon and his party. I was determined. If possible, to save them. I had much difflcutly in .'itini; through the American guards. They were ten miles out in the country. When I came to a field belonging to . Mr. De Cou,'in the neighborhood of the Beaver Dams, I then had walked nineteen miles. By that time daylight had i-fi me. I yet had a swift stream of water to cross over an old fallen tree (Twelve-mile Creek), and to climb a high hill, which fatigued me very ranch. "Before I arrived at the encampment of the Indians, as I approached they all arose with one of their war-yells, which iiiiieed awed me. You may imagine what my feelings were to behold so many savages. With forced courage I went Done of the chlef:^, told him I had great news for his commander, and that he must take me to him, or they would be .11 loet. He did not understand me, but said, ' Woman 1 what does woman want here V The scene by moonlight to some :;iijhthave been grand, but to a weak woman certainly terrifying. With difflcnity I got one of the chiefs to go with me ' Ihdr commander. With the Intelligence I gave him he formed his plans and saved his country. I have ever found iif brave and noble Colonel Fitzgibbon a friend to me ; may he prosper in the world to come as he has done in this. "Laoba Seooud. "Chippewa, U. C, February 18, 1801." Lieutenant Fitzgibbon was promoted to the rank of captain in the British army, and is now (I86T) a Poor Knight of Hindmr Castle. Ue gave Mrs. Secord a certificate setting forth the facts above recorded. It is signed "James Fltzglb. iwn.rormerly lieutenant in the Forty-ninth Regiment." That certificate is printed In the Angto-Ameriean Magazine, mdon page 178 of Anchinicck's HUtonj qfthe War ()/1812, published in Toronto in 1(566. When the Prince of Wales was making a tour in Canada In 1S60, the veteran soldiers of 1812 on the Niagara fi'ontler went In Niagara to sign an address to his royal highness. Mrs. Secord apiilied for permission to place her name on the IM. "Wher,-!f()re?" was the natural question. She told her story, and it was agreed that she was one of the most em- inently deserving of honor among the patriots of thut war. The story was repeated to the prince on his arrival at ijuccniton, and it made such an impression on his memory and kind heart, especially when it was said that I ho. brave : ad patriotic woman was not " rich in this World's goods," that, soon after his return home, tie caused the sum of one linndred pounds sterling to be presented to her. The likeness above given la from a daguerreotype kind'y eonl Ui me !:m Mrs. Secord by the liand of Mr. J. P. Merrttt, of St. Catharine's. ^^t-f-tisi^ ■ r » ■ i imi i. i ' 1 Hi^ \ < 1 M \r ■K i fMi 5 ' ;' ' ': vlifflWi |i: rIBp i . i If IMilll 622 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Terms of Surrender violated by the ludlans. A bold Stroke for Lll)erty. Fort Qeorge inveated by the Brltlik opp, ftml that the savages were bccominj? ho cxaHpemted that it would bo (Htruult to keep them from massacring the Americans. Hcerstler believed, and was alarnicd lie agreed to surrender on the eonditions that the officers should retain their arms liorses, and baggage, and that the militia and volunteers, with Colonel liocrstler (wlio Avas slightly wounded), should be permitted to return to the United States on parole i By tlie time the capitulation was agreed to in final form, Do Haven, who had liccn sent for by Fitzgibbon, came up with two hundred men and received the sulmiissiou of the captives. The number of prisoners 8urren<lered was five liundred aiul j'oitv- two, and the spoils of victory wure one 12-pounder, one 0-pounder, and a staml of colors. The surrender ^'.as scarcely completed when the articles of the capitulation wcii violated. The Indians immediately commenced plundering the prisoners of tlicir arms and clotliing, and the militia and volunteers, instead of being released on parole, were taken to Burlington Heights and kept there as prisoners of war. ^./ine oi'tiieni escaped through the adroit management of Major Chajjin, Avho was soon sent, with a number of his volunteers, in two bateaux, in charge of Captain Showers and a guanl, to Kingston, there to be held as prisoners. When within two? vo miles of York tluv arose and overpowered the guard, crossed the lake in the night, .."'^ arrived safely at Fort Niagara with their jailers as prisoners. '^ Wlicn Boerstler's courier reached Dearborn, that commander sent Colonel Christii with three liundred men to re-enforce liim. They pushed forward rapidly to Queens- ton, Avhere they heard of the surrender of the Americans. Christie hastened hack to camp with tlie sad intelligence. It caused alarm there that was speedily justifitil by events. The British advanced upon Queenston, and, occupying that place ami vicinity, soon invested the Americans at Fort George with a formidable force. Gen- eral Vincent, with a small force, held Burlington Heights, and General De Kotten- burg was encamped with a strong body at Ten-mile Creek. Dearborn, whose career as chief had been singidarly unsuccessful, was soon superseded by a more iiieom- potent and less trustworthy man, General Wilkinson,^ Avhose movements on theJs'orth- ern frontier present a series of blunders and disasters.'' > This capltnlation, In four brief articles, the substance of which Is given In the text, was signed on the port of Colo- nel Boerstler by Captain Andrew M'Dowcll, and on that of Lieutenant Colonel Bieshopp by Major P. V. De Havon, Captain Merrltt, in his MS. Narrative, says that Captain Norton, of the Indian force, bnmorouely declared that ik( Caughnawagas fought the battle, the Mohawks got the plunder, and Fitzgibbon got the credit. "The greater part ot the Caughnawagas," says Merrltt, " were displeased, and returned home in a few days afterward, which at this time iti- a very great loss." ' Major Chnpin, in his Revieio o/ Armatromj's Notices of the War o/1812, page 10, says that he was placed in oiieboii with a principal part of the guard, and Captain Sackrlder and a greater portion of the prisoners iu the other bunt, (ir- ders had been given for the boats to keep some rods apart, one ahead of the other. After they had passed out of Bur- lington Bay upon the open lake, Chapln made a signal to Sackrider in the hinder boat, which the Ameriians were rnw- ing, to come up closer. lie gave the word in whispers to the men, and while the major was amusing the Britisli caplaio with a story, tlie hinder boat came up under the stern of the forward one. It was ordered back, when Chnpin, witli loa I voice, ordered his men not to fall back an Inch. Captain Showers attempted to draw his sword, and sonic of his rani thrust at Chapln with bayonets. The latter prostrated the captsin with a blow. He fell in the bottom of (he boat, ami two of his men who were thrusting at Chapln fell upon him. The latter Immediately stepped upon them. The mianl iu both boats were speedily overcome and secured. "I succeeded to the command of oar fleet of two biiteaus," mts Chapln, " with no little alacrity. We shifted our course, crossed Lake Ontario, and with the boats and prisoners arrived the next morning safe at Fort Niagara." » Congress was in session when this "climax of continual tidings of mismanagement and misfortune" renchedWa* ington. The late Charles J. Tngersoll, one of the historians of the war, was then a member of the House of Ifi-iircsenla- tives. The intelligence produced great irritation. " On the Cth of July, 1813, therefore," says lugersoll, " afier a fhon accidental communion of regret and impatience In the lobby of the House of Representatives with the Spealcer and General Ringgold, of Maryland, I was deputed n volunteer to wait on the President, and request General Ue.irlmni- removal fl-om a command which, so far, had been so unfortnnate." The recall of General Dearborn immediately fol- lowed this request, and on the 16th of July that officer, who had performed noble service in the Continental army, tool; leave of that on the Niagara fnmtier, at Fort George, puranant to an order from the Secretary of War that he (houlJ "retire from command until his health should be re-established." "The Northern army," says Ingersoll, "relieved of | a veteran leader whose age and health disqnalifled him for active and enterprising services. In his successor, General ; Wilkinson, did not get a younger, healthier, or more competent commander."— Hi'storica! Sketch of the Second War,iV.. 1., 28R. « The authorities consulted in the preparation of the foregoing narrative are the official dispatches; statements ot officers! the Histories of Thompson, Perkins, Conner, Brackenridge, Ingersoll, James, Christie, Auchluleck; Stone'.' j Life of Brant ; Chapin's Review of Armstrong ; MerrittJe MS. narrative ; personal narratives of sun-Ivors, etc. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 688 ited l)jf tbe Briilih, id bo dilViciilt wiiH alarmwl, in thoir arniii, liojrfitU'r (wild tes on purolc,! who had hww the suhmisMiMi red ami forty- nd a stand of )itulation wen ioners of tlit'ir jas'od on parole, ^^llnc• of them )on sent, with a rs and a ijuard, ?8 of York tiny irrivcd safoly at Colonel Christii' lidly to Qiu'cih lastcnc'd hack t'l pcedily jutitifiM that place aii'l Mo force. Gen- icral Do Kottin- irn, whose career r a more iueom- iits on the North- led on tliepartotCokv Mnjor P. V. De Hnveii. jiiHly declared that tb The grentcr pan of which at thiB limo n ■ was placed in one bi .u in the other boat. Or- hud passed out ut Bur- Americans were rm- Bing the BritlBh captain i-hen Chapin, with loud and some of his men iottomof theiiiiai,,,!.: ,p<)n them. The -i; . oftwo l)ateaus,"si;( 18 and prleoncrs arrivtl fortnne" reai-hodWash- le House ofllcirMenti- upersoll/'afiei' »''""' I with the Sjieaker acd est General Boarboni'! rborn immedlntel!: W- Continental army, tocli of War that he shoalJ InRersoll," relieved ot ^ ^1 his successor, General ' io/theSecondVat,tU' Ipatches: statement! ol ! \e, Anchliileclt; Stone's TsurN'ivorB, clc. A Vltlt to St. Catbartoe'i and tbe lleaver Unmi' Battle-gronnd. De Cou's and De Con'* Pallf . It was in sultry August, 1 860, that I visited the scenes of Bcoi-stler's march and dis- iifitcr and places in the vicinity. I have already mentioned my trip from Qnoenston to St. Catharine's, and so on to Hamilton, Paris, Brantfonl, and the Indian settlements on the (trand River in Canada.' It was at that time that I Hto]»i)ed at St. Catharine's for the purpose of seeing the Honorable William Hamilton i\Ierritt,tho brave British cavalry officer already mentioned, and of visiting places of interest near. I arrived there on Saturday evening, and at a boarding-iiouso wlicro I procured lodgings I had the iileasiiro of meeting the family of a once valued actpiaintance in Virginia, who were seeking health from tlie use of the powerful mineral waters that flow up copi- ously there from the deep recesses of the eartli.'* Little did I think that within a few montlis tlie accomplislied head of that family, Avhom I had learned to esteem most hi'dily, would bc.sedueed from his allegiance to the flag of his country, under which he liad served with fidelity and distinction for five-aiid-tliirty years, and become the .'eiieral-in-chief of armies in rebellion against the government of tlie Republic! Ho held tlie narrow view of American citizenship, engendered by the doctrine of supreme state sovereignty, expressed in the words "I go witli my state," and followed the terrible fortunes of his native Virginia when iier political charh.tans — her selfish trading politicians — declared her secession from tlie Union, and brought ruin on her licople. I was unfortunate in not finding Mr. Morritt at home. As a member of the Cana- dian Pai'liament, he had gone to (Quebec to receive the Prince of Wales. To his son, Mr. J. P. Merritt, I am indebted for many kind courtesies while there. He gave me free access to.his father's military papers, and kindly lent me the MS. Narrative of Events in the campaigns on the Canadian Peninsula already referred to. Early on Monday morning,* Jvfter a night made memorable by a f( rful •AuRnstso, tiiunder-storm, I started for the Beaver Dams, accompanied by Mr. Mer- ^*'''- ritt. On the way I sketched the ancient German church delineated on page 620 ; and early in the forenoon wo reached the house of the Reverend Dr. Fuller by the famous IJeech Woods where Boerstler was first attacked. From the roof of his dwelling we obtained a fine view of the Beaver Dams' battle-ground and the thea- tre of Bocrstler's misfortunes, and from that elevation made the sketch seen at the top of the pictn ■ the following page. On the right is seen the Beech Wooc'i, snd through tl , re Beaver Dams' Creek. On the left is seen the turn of the road where Bui filer's cannon were planted, and a little to the right of it is the stone house of Mr. Shrincr, whose orchard, adjouiing it, was the place where Bojrst- ier surrendered to De Haven. The two-story house on the right of the picture is De Cou's, and the cascade on the left is a view of Dc Cou's Falls, in Twelve-mile Creek. From Dr. Fuller's we rode on through Beaver Dam village to De Cou's, passing on the way the smoking ruins of a barn which had been fired by lightning during the night. The famous house Avas of stone, two stories in height, spacious, Avith or- namental shrubbery around it. It was in an elevated, fertile, and beautiful region. After sketching the building we passed on to the lake slopes of the hills, and, follow- ing a farm-road a little distance, came to De Cou's Falls, where the Twelve-mile Crc'k pours over a ledge of rocks, semicircular in form, hito a Avild ravine, in a per- pendicular cascade of sixty feet. The sides of the ravine are very precipitous, and covered chiefly with evergreens. With much difliculty and some danger, I made my 1 See page 420. ' The city of St. Catharine's, on tho Twclve-milo Creek, the Welland Canal, and the Great Western Railway, was known a8"Chipman's" during the war. It is between twelve and thirteen miles west from the Niagara River. It is a port of entry (Port Dalhonsie is at the month of the creek), is heantifuliy situated, and threatens to rival Hamilton. Its mineral springs are very noted for their belling properties, and St. Catharine's has become a place of great -esort for invalldB and fashionable people. It is a very desirable place for those who love a quiet watering-place for a few weeks in summer. The population is about seven thousand. 624 PICTORIAL VIELD.BQOK Skatch of Da Cun'i Falln. A Veteran of the War uf \HU. Meturn to 81. (.'uthirtiwi, A fourth of a mile licl IHV It'll, Biiaut'ii Dy cc dars and hemlocks, were tlie remains of an ohl mill. was another fall of thirty feet, wliere tlie ravine (Icciuns and darkens, for tlie whole declivity down which the stream pours toward the plain is covered with a tleuse forest. Wo made our way along a most picturesque road among tlie hills to tlio I'ertilc rolling plain below, and stopped at the little log cottage of Captain James Dit trick, a bachelor of seventy -five, and a veteran of ^//C^y^t^ the War of 181 2. ^-^ He was commandi r ot the Fourth Lincoln company, and was in the battles at Queenston, Fort George, and M. agara, or Lundy's Lane, and was active on the froiilin and over the peninsula during tlie whole of the Avar. Ik arrived at the Beaver Dams a few minutes after the sur- render of Ba'rstler, and participated in the joy of the oc- casion. C.'iptaui Dittrick was a bald-headed, heavy man, very pleasant and communicative — ready to " fight his battles o'er again" by his hearthstone. Our visit was made too short for our pleasure and profit by the mm. bling of thunder. We rode on to St. Catharine's, wlicrc we arrived in time to escape a drenching shower. I dined Avith Mr. Merritt and his fathei-'s family, and bad the pleasure of meeting at the table the widow of the eminent Jesse Hawlcy, who was a distinguished citizen of Western New York, to whom Governor De Witt Clin- ton (autograph letter now before me) gave the credit of being the chief projector of that great work of internal improvement, the Erie Canal. He published a series of UK UOU^ FALLS. > St. Cuthitlnt'i. OF TlIK VVAK OF 1812. 625 TWtWilMnlltoD Md Stony Creek. A Renjgee hrom the Wyomlnn Valtay. Departure Ibr Brsntford. ablp It'ttcrH ovpr the sipnnturo of "Hercules," whoso wise »upfjj[eHtionH led to tlie eon- striictioii *>' t'"^^ iiii^lity work wiiic.ii itnmortulizi'tl tin; nuiiKt of Clinton, und uddod millions to tho wimlth of New York.' I left St. Ciitharine'M toward ovcninj? for tho heantiful city of Hamilton, at the head ,,| ihc livke. The railway piisHeH throiiirh a most cliarininj; country lying between I lif "Mountain" or uneient shore of Ontario and the lake. This mountain approaches the liiko within three fourths of a mile at Humilton, and then, turning more soutli- «iir(l assists in forming the deep valley in which iJundas lies nestled. I passed the iiiifjit at the Royal Hotel in Ilamiltoit, and at six o'clock the ne.\t morning started in i liclit wagon for Stony tireek, seven miles eastward, over a tine stone road. I was iliriftt'tl to Colonel Daniel Lewis for information concerning tho battle and its local- jij,,^. His residence was a little northward of the village, but he was absent. From jif jlcuh's, residing there, I obtained all needful knowledge respecting tho place of ihc eiu'iunpment and the combat. After making the sketch on page t(0:3, 1 returned M till! village, made my way half a mile southward of it, and took a hasty glance at the pouring down of Stony Creek from the "Mountain" in a perpendicular fall of one liuiidred mid thirty feet into a deep, narrow gorge. Wishing to depart from Hamil- ton for I'jvris at twelve o'clock, I did not linger long at the falls. On my way back I stoppcil lit the house of Mr. Michael Aikman to obtain sonic information concerning ilie pliu'c of tho liritish encamjiment on Jiurlington Heights. He too was absent, but I -pout a most interesting half hour with his mother, Mrs. Hannah Aiknnin, a small, ililicate woman, then ninety-one years of age. She was the daughter of Michael Showers, a Tory refugee from the Wyoming Valley. She and her family were in Wiiiterino'^t's Fort, and her father was one of IJutler's liiingers. After the battle ilure they were comjielled to fly. They went up the Susijuehivnna, and across the (Oiintry by way of the Genesee, intending to go to Niagara by the lake in a small li(i;it whicli they took with them. It Avas so injured that it could not be tised. The liither walked to Fort Niagara for relief, and for a week his family subsisted on roots wlmli they dug from tho soil. They were timely relieved by some Mississagua In- ,li;iiis. Her father was one of the settlers with Butler's Hangers on tlie Canadian iHiiiiisula, and for almost seventy years she had lived at her then place of abode.-' \Vhcii I told her of my visil to Wifttermoot's house, and described it as she remem- liorid it, and sjioke of the Wintermoots, the Burnets, the Hallenbecks, the Dorrances, mil others whom she knew, her eyes brightened, and she said it seemed as if one of kr old neighbors had come to see her. 1 reached Hamilton^ just in time to take the cars for the West, and, as I have al- ready mentioned, arrived at Brantford, on the Grand River, that evening. Of my visit to the Indian settlements in that vicinity I have elsewhere written.* : It is proper to sny here that the project of a cnnal to connect the waters of Lake Krle with those of the Hudson Kivrr wi\8 contemplated by General Philip Schuyler, Elkanah Watson, and Christopher Colles, many years before Mr. llswley wrote his con"incing letters. ' I have liefore mentioned in this work that, after the Revolntion, Butler's Rangers and other refugees fVom the limed States settled on the Canadian peninsula. Each one of Butler's Rangers, almost tic hundred in number, was iri'H'nted with a thousand acres of land in this then wilderness, and that district, of which there were four in the prov- I intf.wns called Nassau. Governor Uuldlmand, a German, named tho four districts respectively, beginning at the De- I troll, Hesse, Nnssan, Mecklenburg, and Lunenburg. Haldimand was a great friend of the Canadians ; but Simcoe, de- I iltoo! of making the province as English as possible, and denoting native nationality, gave British names to almost I mrj place. In this spirit he changed the name of Toronto to York, in honor of a victory by the Duke of York on the I Continent. ' Hamilton was laid ont in 1813, and Is sitnated on the southwestern extremity of Burlington Bay. It is the chief city I ofWcst Canada, having a population of about 24,000. Burlington Heights are composed of an immense deposit of I invel, sand, aud loam. The village of Turlington was the germ of tho city of Hamilton, and stood on its site. The I Gtftt Western Railway passes along the shore of the bay, at the foot of the heights, aud crosses the Des Jardins Canal, I rtlch Is cut directly through the great hill north of the cemetery and the residence of the late Sir Allan M'Nab. The I present railway bridge over the canal is of iron, and seventy feet above the water. The first one was of wood. It gave I my, (rilh a train of cars uj)on It, in March, 1867, when flfty-six persons were killed. In the cemetery may be seen the I tenutas of General Vincent's fortitied camp. They form a ridge across the grounds (which comprise about twenty-seven I ims), mnning east and west. The palatial residence of the late Sir Allan M'Nab is called Dundum Castle. It is built I ollimestoiie, ft-onts sontbeast, overlooking the bay and Ilnmllton, and is sarrounded by about forty acres of laud. • See pages from 420 to 426, tnclnsive. Rb II ilm ' . I : -■ li n \ wiS' 1 i" m ■ "? ; ^1 ' ' w\ 626 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Raids on the Niagara Frontier. A Maesacn by Western Indians. Statement of Captain Merritt and othcrt Genera' BoyJ, liMng the senior officer on the Niagara frontier, became temporary commander-in-cliief there after the depurture of General Dearborn. He found liis .,0. sition an important and arduoas one. The success of the British at the Beaver Daiib made them bold, and they were gradually closing upon the Americans at Fort Geor<'( and Newark. Frequent picket skirmishing occumd, and bold raids into the Ameri- can territory were performed. One of these occurred on the night of the 4tli of July.* A party composed ot Canadian militia and Indians, and led hy Lieu- tenant Colonel Thomas Clark, crossed the Niagara from Chippewa to Schlosscr captured the (^""rd there, seized a large quantity '."provisions, one brass 6-pouiulci cannon, several .'^tands of arms, and some ammunition. With these spoils they re- turned in triumph to the Canada shore. Four days later a sad tragedy was performed near the residences of John and Peter Ball,' about a mile and a half from Fo'-t George. The gallant young leader, Merritt. then just twenty years of age, was sent with a, small party to recover some metlicini"- near Ball's wh'ch the British had concealed when they fled from Fort George in JIav. A body of one hundred and fifty savages, just arrived from the Western wilderiHw, under Captain M. Elliott, and led by the bloody Blackbird, of Chicago faino,^ wm employed as a covering party. Merritt was encamped, and while breakfastins; ai Bail's a skirmish vith an American picket-guanl took place not far off. Lieutciiam fi^ldridge (then adjutant), with *. irty-nine volunteers, went out to the relief of tin guard, and a larger force, undor M.ijor Malcolm, prepared to follow. Tiie irnjxtiious Eldridge dashed forward into the *.hick Avood. and fell into an ambush prepared for liim by Blackbird and hi.i followers. The foe was repulsed at first, but overwiulm- ing numbers crushad Eldridge and his little party.^ Only five escaped. The prison- ers and Avounded were butchered and scalped by the Western savages, whose con- duct on the occasion Avas marked by the most atrocious barbarity.^ This was su shocking and exasperatir..,' that General Boyd resolved to adopt Washington's ])lan of having " Indians fight Indians," and to accept the services of the Scnecas andTns- I The Ball family ftill occnpied ihls dwelling, I was 'uformed, when I visited Niagara In 1800. They have, as a cher- ished re'ic, the military f hapeau woni by the g;;llant Brock whc :. he fell at Qucemton. s Sec pr.L'c » ' Joseph C. Eldridge was a native ot New York. He entered the army as second lieutenant in the Thirteenth Wfii- lar Infantry in the spring of 1S12. A year afterward he was promoted to first lieutenant, and appointed adjutan; He was difitlnguislied for bravery at Stony Creek a month earlier, and was a yonng officer of great promise. ♦ Tlicrc are statements by American and British writers concerning this affair too widely differing to admit of rociu- • illation. Soiii 'if the American writei s say that the force which fell upon Eldridge was composed of liritith atiii In- dians, while Brit if U writers declare that un white man was present. The only statement that I have ever met from an oye-wiliicss Is that of the late Hon.AA'illiani Hamilton Merritt in his MS. narrative, now before me, and from thai 1 have drawn the facts up to the ambnsh. He says that he had no expectation of being in the tlglit, and that he and John fell were the only two white persons engaged ii, it except a boy thirteen years old, whose father was a jjrisoncr and d.in- geronely wounded, and whose eldest brother was killed at Fort George. "This little fellow," says Merrill, "was it- terminer to revenge the loss his family had sustained, and would not be pcrsm\ded to leave the field until his moiher ! Mrs. Law, whose house was on the ground] canic out and took him away in her arms by force." An American officer. writing from Fort George the nexi day, sold that two of the five survivors, and who were at first taken prisoners, Haini that there were British soldiers in the ambufii, i:airted as Indians, " with streaks of green and red around their eyet." — A'lJ. I's Heimter, iv., .S52. Mr. Merritt says that his \vho;c attention, after the fight, was given to the prisoners in the hands of Blackl)ird ie^ his followers, and that his own life was threatened because he made intercession for tliosc of the captives. "Tl ; ■ devils," he snys, "were crying nnd imploring me to save their lives, as I was the only white man they saw." II' ■ that the Indians, after getting an Interiireter, promised him that " the lives of the prisoners slnnild he spared-woui 1 only frighten thorn ft great deal, to prevent them coming again. I made a solemn vow," he continue.", "if a \mmn was killed, never to go out v 1th an Indian again." Tlie savages violated their pledge, and butchered their prisonvr; : witli a barbarity too revolting to bo repeated here. The American officer above allnded to says : " I break open ihi- j letter fo- the purpose of stating that the body (as is supposed) of Lieutenant Eldridge, the adjutant of the Thirlctnib. has been brought in this moment, naked, mangled in the manner mentioned of the other." The excuse made for ibf i murder of Eldridge was that, after he was made prisoner, he treiicherously drew a concealed pistol and shot one oflbe chiefs throutrl- the bead. This was Blackbird's reason for niuruering a/(. Mr. Merritt speaks of Eldridge as " the offl- rer who forfiiited his life by firing at an Indian while a prisoner." He does not speak from his own knowledge. At ] investigation proved th" assertion of the savage leader to be wholly untrue, and this crime (strange as it may appai; stands, unconrtcmned by British writers, one of pure barbarian cruelty. The following least revolting recital is from a letter from an American officer to his fUcnd In Baltimore, dated at Fun j George, July 12 : "A recital will make you shudder. I will merely mention the fate of a young officer who came nmln my UKiire, whose bod> was fcnind, the day after the action, cut and mangled in the most shocking manner Immlim I liirn fmii liM hmlii, and nis ueabt btukfeo in nis moctu 1 We are resolved to show no quarter to the ludiuus ato [ Uiis."— -Vi/i's's Weekli/ Itmjiiikr, iv., 362. OF THE WAli OF 1812. «27 11 Merritt and utheit. ame temporarv le found liif i)()- le Beaver Dams I at Fort Gcoi'iii' into the Amcri- it of the 4tli of ,nd led by Lieu- ;wa to Schlosscr, brass 6-poun(lcr ? spoils they n- f John and Peter r leader, Merritt, r some medicines t George in May. istern wildcrnet'S, cago fame,^ weve 3 Lreakfastinp; at • ofl". Lieutenant 1 the relief of tlie , The impetiimis l)ush prepared for t, but overwlielm- ,ped. Tlic prison- vages, whose eon- ty.* Tills was so rVashington's iil;i!i ! Senecas and Tus- iO. Thcyhave, asacher- '■ See \)t.i( >■ In the Thirteenth Uf.ii- nppolnted adjutaii! lit t promise. frei-iii? to ndmitotrf.uo- iipopcd of Ilrilitli nod In- I have ever met from sn nil-, iind from that 1 have ml that he and John Bell was a ))i-isoncr and iia- " i^ays Merritt, "was |^^ lie liold tiiitil his moihet '," An American oUccr, ■et taken priponcrp.ftaidi id red aroimd their ove.C hands of Blaclil)ird anJ Jthc captives. "Tl.eiiw Inan they saw." lie ^r^ Ishoiild he epnred-ivoiiH : 1 continues, "if a prisonei butchered their prisoners Lays : " I break op«n tbis Litant of the ThlrtccniK [The excuse made for the listol and shot one oftle ■ ,jofEldridgca8"thco(l- liis own kuowlcdRC. .At f trange as it rany appra -inaltlmore,datedatFoni Ig officer who came nnilfi Iking manner. /n>fii(rm» Irter to the Imliaus all« ' ;,Ti;i il:i ' u :i!,'HlnBt Black Roek. Qeueral Porter harrieii to its Detetae. Bepolse of the Britiiib. laroias, who had proffered them, under certain conditions which humanity would impfse. Clark's success at Schlosscr suggested another and more important expedition. It «as the surprise of the American naval station and deposit for stores and munitions of war at Black Hock- near BulValo. It was organized by the gallant Lieutenant Colonel (Veil liisshopp, of the British Forty-first, ile left his head-cjuarters at Lundy's Lane in the afternoon of the lOtli," with detachments from the lioyal Artillery, and • jaiy, The Eighth, Forty -first, and Forty -ninth Regiments, and at Chij)pewa was *^'^- joined by Lieutenant Colonel Clark, with a body of Lincoln militia and volunteers, iiiaking his whole force between three and four hundred in numlxT. They embarked it Chippewa early m the evening, and at half an hour before dawn^ landed iiiiperceived on the American shore, a short distance below Black Kock. Tiie block-house there, called Fort Tompkins, was in charge of less than a dozen ar- tillerists; and the only other available military force at the station was about two hundred militia, under ."Major Adams, with two or three pieces of artillery. At Buf- falo, two miles distant, were less than a hundred infantry and dragoon recruits from the South, on their way to Fort George, and a small body of hulians under Henry (VBail, the young tJorn-planter, who had been jiartially educated at Philadelphia, but who, Indian-like, could not brook the restraints of civilization, and had gone back to i IS blanket and feather head-dress. These forces were under the command of Gen- iral Peter B. Porter, who was then residing at his house near Black Rock.' Bicshopp was accompanied by Colonel Warren. They surprised Major Adam's tamp, and he and his alarmed militia fled precipitately to Buffalo, leaving the artil- li'iy unharmed on the ground. General Porter narrdw^ly escaped capture in his own hutise. lie made an unsuccessful attempt to reach Adam's camp when he learned iifthe flight of the militia and the garrison at the block-house. lie followed on foot t iward Buffalo, and on the way met Ctiptain Cummings, with one hundred regulars, who, having heard of the invasion, was advancing toward Black Rock. In the mean lime the enemy had fired the block-house and Itarracks, attacked the navy buildings and a schooner lying there, and the principal officers had gone to the house of(ten- I lal Porter, where they ordereil breakfast. Their followers, and the re-enforcenuuits luiitinually coming over from the Canada shore, were employed meanwhile in plun- <\emg the inhabitants and public stores not destroyed by fire. Oil meeting Captain Cummings, Porter ordered liim to lialt. Then, mounting the < of one of the dragoons, he hastened to buffalo, rallied about one half of Major .VilaniV militia, and, with these and about fifty volunteer citizens, he soon rejoined t'iiiiitnii:^'s. With the united force and about forty Indians, he attacked the invaders, at eiirht o'clock, from three different points. Tiu^ Indians, who were concealed in a nviiie, arose from cover, tmd gave the appallintj; war-whoop at the moment of the aSlaek, and added much to tiie surprise and ctnifusion of the British, who did not ex- ptet the return of the Amcricaus. After a short, spirited contest, the foe were beaten, jinl driven in confusion toward their botits, now nnxtred ne!>r the present ferry, where ility rnllic<L I'orter now concentrated his own. forces, and fell upon Bisshopp with so much power that, after a contest of not more than twenty minutes, he fled with ireeipitation to his boats, leaving nine killed and sixteen or eighteen ])risoners, among «!i(ini was Captain Saumlers, of Bisshopp's regiment, who was badly woundeil.'- He was earried gently by the Lxlians in blankets to General Porter's house.^ The Brit- ' ^ page 4M. ■ '<(one'» l.lfe of Brant, paijc 242; Lientenant Colonel Clarkc'o Oflfleial Report to Llcnteuaiit Colonel Hanrey, dated '»'«*««, July Vi, 1S13. Mr. Stone miyd th«t, after he had written his account of the affair at Black Hock, ho placed hlii "■.jiiiniript In the hands of Oeneral Porter, who was then llvtog. The general not only corrected It, bat rewrote the fh.lc narrative, the snhntnnce of which in (ilven In the text. Tlic Indians, after taking from Captain Hannder* his cap, ppnnlettes, sword, and helt, carried hlra (jrntly to Porter"* !«>■ llu was wonnded by a rlflc-bnll passing throiij;h his chest and lungs, and another shattering bis wrint. Ua re- iH 1. ^^^H m i^HBJI s ,'^iplisii m H ■ m 628 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Death of BUshopp. His Monnment. Expedition to Barliagton Heights. Descent on York. ish suffered a greater loss after they had reached their boats.' Among those mor- tally wounded was the commander of the expedition, a gallant .young man tliiitv years of age. He was conveyed in sadness to his head-quarters at Lundy's Lane where, after Ihigoring live days, he died. He Avas buried in the bosom of a ereen slope, in a small cemetery on the south side of Lundy's Lane, a short distance from the great cataract of the Niagara, by liis brother officers who erected over his grave a neat monument. In tlJ course of time it fell into decay, and thirty-three years afterward the sisters of the young soldier replaced it liy another and more elegant one. Upon the recumbent slaii that surmounts it is an appropriate inscription.^ During the remainder of the summer there Avoi-e fre. qucnt skirmishes in the ncigliborhood of P'ort Gi;or"c caused by attacks ttpon American foraging parties inu no enterprise of much importance was undertaken ex- ^^^<;>-^^v ->"— ' cepting an attempt to capture the British stores at Bur- uiBBHOPi-'H aoNUJfENT. llugtou Heights, knowii lo be in charge of a feeble (juaril under M.ijor Maule. This was attempted toward the end of July. Colonel Win- field Scott had just been promoted to the command of a double regiment (twenty companies), and had resigned the office of adjutant general. He was eager for dis- tinction and useful servitic, and he volunteered to lead any land force that mifrlit lie sent to the head of Ontario, Chaunccy was then making gallant cruises about iIk lake. He liad twelve vessels, and felt strong enough to cope with any force that might aj)pcar under Sir James Yeo. Tlie expedition to Burlington Heights was under the chief command of Chauncey, He appeared at the mouth of the Niagara River with his fleet on the 27th ofJnlv, and on the following day he sailed for the head of Ontario, with three hundred lan.l troops under Colonel Scott. Meanwhile Colonel Harvey had taken measures fertile security of the British stores at Burlington. Lieutenant Colonel Battersby was or dered fiom York with a part of the Glengary corps to re-enforce the guard umlw Major Maule. By forced marches Battersby joined Maule before Chauncey's arriyal. That officer and Scott soon perceived that their force was insufficient for the pro- scribed work. Convinced of thij, and informed of the defenseless state of York on account of the withdrawal of Battersby's detachment, Chauncey spread his sails, went across the lake, and entered that harbor on the 31st. Colonel Scott landed his troops without opposition, took possession of the place, burnt the barracks, public store- houses and stores, and eleven transports, destroyed five pieces of cannon, and boro maincd at Porter's, Itlndly treated nnd attended by Iiis wife, who wna sent for, for about three weelcs, when he waffif- ficientiy recovered to bo sent to the rende/.vous of prisoners at Willliimsvllie.— Stone's Life of lied Jacket, page 246. ' The entire loss of the British dnring this expcd'tion, in liiticd, wounded, and missinp;, must have been nlmont m- enty. Rome estimated it as hi-ih as one hundred. The loss of the Americans was three liilled and five wonndpd. T»ii of the latter were Indians. "The destruction of property was not so great as has been generally represented. The Americans did not lose, by destruction or plunder, more than one third of the valuable naval stores at Black HiK-k.rol. lected for Commodore Perry, nor did they reach a particle of the military stores for the use of the army, then doposiifJ at Buffalo. The enemy destroyed or captured 4 cannon, 17T English and French musljcts, 1 three-poiuuiertravcliiiL'car Hage, (! ammunition kegs, a small quantity of round and case shot, I'iil barrels of salt, 40 barrels of wiiisky, conBldoralli clothing and blankets, and a Bm.all quantity of other stores (lurk's Ofllcial Report. ' The following is a copy of the inscription : "Sacred to the memory of Lieutenant Colonel the ITonoraWc Cecil Bisshopp, 1st Foot QnnrdB, and tnspcciini; flel'- ofllcer in TTpper Canada, eldest and only surviving son of Sir Cecil BIsshop]), Bart., Baron de la Fouche, in Enj;liiiiil. After having served with distinction in the British army in Holland, Spain, and Portugal, he died on the ICth of.Iuly, 1.S13, aged .SO, in consequence of wounds received in action with the enemy at Black Rock on the llth of tlic same mouth, to the great grief of his family and friends, and is buried iicrc. "This tomb, erected at the time by his brother ofBrers, becoming much dilapidated, is now (184(1) renewed byhlsaf fectionate sisters, the Baroness de la Fouche and the Honorable Mrs. Rechcll, in memory of an excellent man and Ix- loved bro'iter." Lieutenant Colonel Bisshopp received n severe, but not mortal wourd while on shore, and four orflv-e other? after lif entered his boat. The gallant Fitzgibbon took charge of him, and conveyed him a» tenderly as possible from Cliip- pewa to Lundy's Lane. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 029 :ent on Totk. hose mor- an, tliiity iy's Laiu' )f a green ance from cr officers, t. Ill tin- hree years laced it In- inbent sluii 1.2 e were fre- irt George, |)artios,l)ut jrtaken ex- ires at Bur- icble guanl )lonel Win- (lit (twenty ,gcr for (lis- it might lie s about tli( ' force tliat f Chauncev. nh of July, uiulreil h]\'\ iurcs for the 'sby was or- Tuard uiulor cy's arrival. for the pro- of York on s sails, went (1 liis troops ubllc storu- n, and bore i-hen he was ful- ct, page 'M. Iheen almost wv- ! womulpd. If" bpvei-cntoil. Tkf J Black RiKk, col- ly, then (lf|iosili\l Voi'travcliiicta:- sky, coniiiiicrnblf J inspcctini! W- jclic, in Enslail. llth of tlif ^:i^!,■ Incweilbyhifst- lent man and bfr lo others after hi luible from Chip- (Jeneral Dcarboru Bucceeiled by Geuerul Wilkiuson. Arrival of the Latter at Wasbiugton. Indian eklrmlsbiug. away as spoilH one lioavy gun and a consitlorable quantity of provisions, cliierty of flour. The expedition returned to the Niagara on tlie 3d of August, carrying with tlieiu tlic sick and wounded of Boerstler's conunand found in York. No military movements of much importance occurred on that frontier after this until late iii the year.' Four days after the return to the Niagara, while Chauncey's fleet was lying at an- chor ill tlio nioutli of the river, a British squadron under Sir James Yeo made its ap- pearance. Chauncey went out to attack the bjironet. They manceuvred uU day, and after midnight, during a lieavy squall, two of the American vessels wore capsized and ]o8f witli all on board excepting sixteen. Tliis movement we sliall consider here- after ill giving a connected account of the naval o2)eratious ou Luke Outario dur- ing the year 1813. ' ,.s »,>;<•.■ , ' We have noticed the retirement of General Dearborn from the command of the Xortheiu Army. That measure had been decided upon by General Armstrong, tlie Secretary of War, full six months before it occurred. He considered the command of that army "a burden too heavy for General Dearborn to carry with advantage to the nation or credit to himself," and two remedies were suggested to the Secretary's ,pi„j — "the one a prompt and peremptory recall, the other such an augmentation of Ills staff as would secure to the army better instruction, and to himself the chance of wiser councils."^ The former remedy Avas chosen, and General James Wilkinson, tlien in command in the Gulf region, and General Wade Hampton, stationed at Norfolk, in Virginia, were ordered to the Northern frontier. These men had been active oflicers in the old War for Independence, the first on the staff of General Gates, and the sec- ond as a partisan ranger in South Carolina in connection with Marion. Unfortunate- ly for the good of the public service, they were now bitter enemies, and so jealous of each other that they would not co-operate, as we shall observe, at a critical moment. It was early in March when the Secretary's orders were sent to Wilkinson, and with them was a private letter from the same hand, breathing the most friendly spirit, and saying, " Why should you remain in your land of vyjyi-ess when patriotism and ambition equally invite you to one where grows the laurdf .... Lf our cards be well played we may renew the scenes of Saratoga."^ Wilkinson Avas flattered, and as soon as he could make his arrangements he left the " land of the cypress," jour- neyed through the Creek country by way of Fort Mims to the cajdtal of Georgia, and thence northward to Washington City, where ho arrived, Aveary and Avorn Avith several liuiidieds of miles of travel, and Aveak Avith sickness, on the Slst of July. He was cordially received l»y Armstrong and the President, and, after being alloAved to rest a few days, and becoming formally invested Avitli the power of commander-iii- ehiefoftlie Army of the North in place of Dearborn, a plan of the proposed opera- tions of that army during the remainder of the campaign, Avhich the Secretary had laid before the Cabinet on the 23d of July,'' Avas presented to him for con- « isia. sideratioii,'' Avith an expressed desire that if he should perceive any thing " -August 6. ohjeetioiiable in the plan he Avould freely suggest modifications. At the beginning of the campaign Armstrong Avas anxious to secure tbe control ' There were frequent picket Hklrmishes. Among the most oonoplcnons of these -n-ns one that occurred near Fort OeDrge on the Itlth of Angust while the belligerents were near each other. It wiis the first, of any accotmt, in which ihe Indians of Western New York engaged after their alliance with the Americans, which had been made with the ex- plicit understanding that they were not to kill the enemy who were wonndcd or prisoners, or take scalps. The occa- ►ion referred to was an effort to capture a strong British picket. About three hundred volunteers and Indians under Major Chapin and General Peter B. Porter, and two hundred regulars under Major C'nmmings, were sent out by General Ikiyd for the purpose. The primary ol)Jcct was defeated by a heavy rain, but a severe skirmish ensued, In which the ratmy was routed, and twelve British Indians and four white soldiers were captured. The principal chiefs who led thoAmorican Indians were Farmer's Brother, Red Jacket, Little Billy, Pollard, Blncksnake, Johnson, Silver Heels, Cap- lain Half-town, Major Henry O'Bail (Complantcr's son), and Captain Cold, chief of the Onondagas.— Boj/rf'.< Ih'upakh. ' SWm aS the War of 1812, 11., 28. ' .trmclronj; to AVilkinsoii, March 12, 1S13. Armstrong and Wilkinson were both members of General Oates'g mill- IMj (taff during the campaign which resulted in the aipturc of Burgoyne at Saratoga in the autumn of 177T. i Tssmmmmmm ir'i « 4 I'l B1 630 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Secretary ArmstroiiK aud Oeueral WilkinsoD. Generals Wilkinson and Hampton. IlanglitiuesB of Uarapton Oil' of the St. Lawrence by the capture of Kingston, but circumstances, as we have s prevented an attempt to do so. That project was now revived, and liad received the approval of the Cabinet. It did not strike Wilkinson favorably, and on the Ctli nf August, in a written communication to tlie Secretary, the general freely sutffrostcil modifications, saying, " Will it not be better to strengthen our force already at Fort George, cut up the IJritish in that quarter, destroy Indian estal>lishments, and (simiiM General Harrison fail in his object) march a detachment and capture IMaldeii? After which, closing our operations on the peninsula, razing all works there, and Icavinfr our settlements on the strait in tranquillity, descend like lightning^ with our w) ,1. force on Kingston, and, having reduced that place, and captured both garrison an,] shipping, go down the St. Lawrence and form a junction with Hampton's column'- it the lateness of the season should permit."-' The object of that junction was to mak, a combined attack on Montreal. The Secretary of War, always impatient when lii- opinions were disputed, at once conceived a dislike of his old comj)aiiion in ariih whom he had invited so kindly to come North and win laurels, and from that tinun widening estrangement existed. Long years afterward the Secretary wrote, "Tlii< strategic labor of the general had no tendency to increase the executive contiilwn, in either his professional knowledge or judgment. Still the President hoped tliatii the opinions it contained were mildly rebuked, the general would abandon tlioni, ami, after joining the army, would hasten to execute the plan already communicated tu him."'* Armstrong replied courteously to Wilkinson. He adhered to his own plan,bnt al- lowed that the fall of Kingston and the attahiment of the control of the St. Lawreiii.i might be as etfectually accomplished indirectly by a quick movement down tiie rivtr against Montreal, masked by a feigned at tack on the former place. But he decidedlv objected to any fixrther movements against the enemy on the Canadian peninsula, a« they would but " wound the tail of the lion ;"^ and Wilkinson departed for Sackott's • AiiKustii. Harbor* without any definite plan of operations determined upon, wliili 1S13. Armstrong sent instructions to General Boyd to keep within his lines at Fort George, and 8im])ly hold the enemy at bay, notwithstanding the American IW was much larger than that of the British. On his way to Sackett's Harbor Wilkinson sent from Albany his first orders i Hampton, as commander-in-chief of the Northern Army. This aroused the ire of tlif old aristocrat, whose landed possessions in South Carolina and Louisiana were almost princely, and whose slaves were numbered by thousands. His anger was intensifiod by his hatred of Wilkinson, and he immediately Avrote to the Secretary of War,'' insisting that his was a separate command, and tendering his resif nation in the event of his being compelled to act under Wilkinson. Wilkinson at tin same time was distrustful of Armstrong, and evidently quite as jealous of his own rights, for on the 24th of August he wrote to the Secretary of War, saying, "I trust you will not interfere with my arrangements, or give orders within the district of my command, but to myself, because it would impair my authority and distract the piiV lie service. Two heads on the same shoulders make a monster." "Unhappily for the country," says Ingersoll, " that deplorable campaign was a monster with tlin* heads, biting and barking at each other with a madness which destroyed them allaul disgusted the country."^ This calamity we shall have occasion to consider hereatlor, Wilkinson arrived at Sackett's Harbor late in August,'' and found liiiii self nomintilly in command of between twelve and fourteen tlioiisaml troops, four thousand of them, under Hampton, at liurlington, composing the riglii wing, and the remainder equally divided between Sackett's Harbor, the centre, ami I See pa^f 58B. » Hampton was on Lake Champlain, with his head-quarters at Burlingtci ' Noticfn 'fa! War i<1812, li , 31. « The same. » Amistri iig'8 letter to Wilkinson, Angust 8, 1313. « Hintorieal Sketch of the Setond War, etc., I., !9 | >• August 23. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 631 ,'htiiic«B of Uamplon. 1 we have -> tn,' lad received the i on the 6th of recly suggftitcil already at Fort iiits, anil (should INlaklen? After ere, and lcaviii',r with our w)' I )lh garrison und ton's columii,2 if ;ion was to make patient when liis iipanion in ariii-, from that tinn- u ary wrote, "Tlii« Mitivc coniiilwiic ent hoped that if landon them, and, communicated Id 1 own plan, hut al- i" the St. Lawrinct nt down the river But he decidedly idian peninsula, as arted for Saekett"s lined upon, vliile thin his lines at le American I'orw tiis first orders to scd the ire of tk isiana Avere almost er Avas intensififd o the Secretary of ndcring his rcsi2- Wilkinson at tlir alous of his own , saying," I triM tlie district of my distract the ])\^y "Unhappily fii: onstcr witl> tlun •oyed them all and consider hereaftor, it,<^ and found him- fourteen thousand I mposing the riglu lor, the centre, and Wllklnso" at Sackett's llnrbor. Afiuirs ou the Niagara Frontier. Scutt marcliea fur Sacliett's Harbor. Fort George, the loft wing.' But his real effective force did not exceed nine thousand men. It had been a sickly summer on the frontier, especially on the Canadian penin- sula and the hospitals were full. The British force opposed to him amounted to about eight thousand. Their right was ou Burlington Heights, their centre at Kings- ton, and their left at Montreal. Wilkinson called a council of officers on the 28th.* It was attended by n. August, Generals Lewis, Brown, and Swartwout, and Commodore Chauncey. It was ^**^' determined to concentrate at Sackett's Harbor all the troops of tliat department ex- cent those on Lake Champlain, preparatory to striking " a deadly blow somewhere."^ Wilkinson accordingly hastened to Fort George, leaving Lewis in command at the Harbor, and arrived there on tlie 4th of September, extremely ill, after a fatiguing voyage tlie whole distance in an open boat. As soon as his strength would allow he assumed active command there, and on the 20th held a council of officers, at which Generals Boyd, Miller, and Williams, eleven colonels and lieutenant colonels, and ten majors, attended. It was resolved to abandon and destroy Fort George, and transfer the trooj)S to the east end of Lake Ontario. But orders came from Washington to "put Fort George in a condition to resist assault; to leave there an efficient garrist)ii of at least six hundred regular troops; to remove Captain Nathaniel Leonard, of the First Regiment of Artillery, from the command of Fort Niagara, and give it to Cap- tain George Armistead, of the same regiment ; to accept the services of a volunteei' corps offered by (Tcneral P. B. Porter and others, and to commit the command of Fort George and the Niagara frontier to Brigadier General Moses Porter."^ These histruc- tions were but partially obeyed. Leonard was left in command of Fort Niag.'ra ; no arrangements were made for the acceptance of the volunteers ; and Colonel Scott, in- stead of General Moses Porter, was placed in command of Fort George, with a garri- son of about eight hundred regular troops, and a part of Colonel Philetus Swift's reg- iment of militia, instructed, in the anticipated event of the British abandoning that frontier, to leave the fort in command of Brigadier General JM'Clure, of the New York Militia, and with his regulars join the expedition on the St. Lawrence. Having com- l)leted his arrangements, Wilkinson embarked with the Niagara army on Chauntey's fleet, and sailed eastward on the 2d of October. Colonel Scott immediately set Captain Tottcn, of the Engineers, at work to strength- en the post over which, a few months before, he had unfurled the American flag for tlie first time. Much had been accomplished at the end of a week, when, suddeidy, to the surprise of all, the British broke camp and hastened toward Burlington Heights, (iencral Vincent had received intelligence of the defeat of Proctor on the Thames,* and he instantly directed the concentration of all. his forces at the head of the lake, to either meet Harrison, should he push in from the field of victory, or to renew the attempt to repossess themselves of the Niagara frontier. Proctor, with the small remnant of his vanquished army, joined Vincent on the 10th. This retrograde move- ment of the British was the contingency which Scott longed for, because he preferred ;i( tive service down the St. Lawrence to garrison duty. He accordingly placed Fort (ieorge in command of General M'Clure, and crossed the river to the American shorts with all the regulars on the 13th of October. '' He marched to the mouth of the Genesee River, where he expected to find lake transportati(Ui for his troops. He was disappointed; and in drenching rain, and through deep mud, he pressed on with his little army by way of the sites of Rochester* and Syracuse^ to Utica,'' where " 1813. ad-quarters at Burllngloi | lie Seamd War, etc, i., » j ' Report of tlie adjutant pcneral, August 2, 1818. ' Minutes of the council. ' Armstrong's Notices of the H'ar of ISli. * Sec page 664. ' The only dwelling then at the Palls of the Genesee, where the city of Rochester now stands, was the log house of Knos Stone, hnilt in ISilT. Now (18«7) the population of Rochester is about 66,000. ' Syracuse was then in embryo, in the form of a few huts of salt-boilers, and called by the village name. South Salina. It uow (1S«7) contains a population of about 34,000. ' Utica is on the site of old Fort Schuyler, a few miles eastward of the later Fort Schuyler, originally called Fort 9t«n- wii, uow Rome. It was then an incorporated post vlllngo, and considered the commercial capital of the great Western ^^ ', Mi H ^. .—• j.r]mn»CTiy.-,«.i~ 1,1 1 1 . It ■ I 'i 1 iii^^m mm '^ MmKm s IIP ';■' ' ( a^^ e; t u i !a " ; .B! wj5« S! S IHP!HWWI 632 ■I ^ ■ ' i PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK AmiRtroDg on the Frontier. The British threaten Fort George. It la abandoned. Newark buret. ^ November 10. he struck tlie road that from there penetrated the Black River country. • There he met General Armstrong, who luid left liis post at Washinajton for the double purpose of rec- onciling the differences between Wilkinson and Hampton, and to superintend in per- son the movements of the St. Lawrence expedition. The Secretary permitted Scott to leave tiis troops in command of Major Ilindman, and to push forward to Ogdeiishurc where he joined Wilkinson, and took part in subsequent events of the expedition. • October 13, When Scott left Fort George" it was believed that tlie British troops 1813. jiad been called from the west end of Lake Ontario to re-enforce the "ar- rison at Kingston. Such order had been sent to Vincent by the timid Sir George Prevost when he heard of Proctor's disaster. On the receipt of it Vincent called a council of officers, when it was resolved to disobey it, and not only hold the penin- sula, but endeavor to repossess every British post on the Niagara frontier. Mean- while M'Clure was sending out foraging parties, Avho greatly alarmt >| and distressed the inhabitants. They appealed for protection to General Vinccn . and he sint a de- tachment of about four hundred British troops under Colonel Murray, and about one hundred Indians under Captain M. EUictt, to drive the foragers back. The work was accomplished, and the Americans were very soon hemmed within their own lines Lv the foe, who took position at Twelve-mile Creek, now St. Catharine's. While affaii-s were in this condition at Fort George General Harrison arrived there as we have seen,^ Avith the expectation of leading an expedition against Burlington Heights. But he was speedily ordered to embark, with all his troops, on Chauncey's squadron, for Sackett's Harbor. M'Clure was again alone'' with his vol- unteers and militia. The time of service of the latter was about to ex- pire, and none could be induced to remain.^ Gloomy intelligence came from the St. Lawrence — Wilkinson's expedition had failed. Startling intelligence came from the westward — Lieutenant General Drummond, accompanied by Major General Kiall. had lately arrived on the Peninsula, with re-enforcements from Kingston, and as- sumed chief command ; and Murray, with his regulars and Lidians, was moving to- ward Fort George. Its garrison was reduced to sixty effective regulars of the Twen- ty-fourth United States Infantry. These were in great peril, and M'Clure determ- ined to abandon the post, and place his little garrison in Fort Niagara. The weather was extremely cold. Temperature had been faithful to the calendar, and winter hail commenced in earnest on the Ist of December. Deep snow was upon the ground. and biting north winds came over the lake. " Shall I leave the foe comfortable quar- ters, and thus increase the danger to Fort Niagara ?" he asked of the Spirit and Usage of War. They answered No, and with this decision, and under the sanction of an or- der from the itinerant War Department,* he attempted to blow up the fort while iiis men were crossing'' the icy flood.^ Then he applied the brand to the beautiful' village of Newark. One hundred and fifty houses were speed- ily laid in ashes.* The inhabitants had been given only a f^w hours' waruiiig ; and, District of New York. 1 ( was first called Old Fort Schuyler Village. At the time wc arc considering it had .ibont KOO Inhabitants, and was a central point for all the principal avenues of communication. Its population now is nboiil 'i5,(«M'. 1 Tlic present Jefferson County was then known as the Black River country. ' Sec piigo »!', 3 " I offered a bounty of two dollars a month," says M'Clure, in the Huffalu GazetW, " for one or two monthn, butwiti- out effect. Some few of Colonel Bloom's regiment took the bounty, and immediately disappeared." * From Sackett's Harbor the Secretary of War wrote as follows : "War Department, October 4, 1S13. " Sib,— Understanding that the defense of the post committed to your charge may render it proper to dextrmj the Ima of Newark, yon are hereby directed to apprise the inhabitants of this circumstance, and Ipvite them to remove ttiem- selves and their effects to some place of greater safety. John Ar.iibtkoso. " Brigadier General M'Clure, or officer commanding at Fort George." Behind this order General M'Clure took shelter when assailed by the public indignation. ' Mr. E. Giddings, a printer, kept the ferry between the fort and Youngstown opposite at that time, and for many years succeeding the war he had charge of Fort Niagara. He narrowly escaped capture when the British took the fort in De- cember, 1818. « Only one house was left standing. Mr. Merritt, in his Narrative, says : • Nothing but heaps of boats, and streets taW of furniture that the Inhabitants were fortunate enough to get ont of their houses, met our eyes. Hy old quarter;, Gordon's house, was the only one standing." « December 10. OF THE WAIi OF 18 12. 683 Newark buret. Fhcre he met Lirpose of rec- iitend in per- itted Scott to Ogdensburg, expedition. British troops force the gar- id Sir George icent called ii old the penin- )ntier. Mean- and distres-sed i he st'iii a de- aud about one The work was r own lines by 1 arrived there, inst Burlington , on Chauncey's e'' with his vol- ^as about to ex- me from the St. ( came from the ■ General Kiall. ingston, and as- Iwas moving to- vrs of the Twen- I'CUire dcterm- . The weather and winter had pen the ground, imfortable quar- pirit and Usage .notion of an or- iie fort while his le brand to the [1809 were speed- ' warning -, and, leringithadabontW Ton now is about '&,(**>■ r a See imj;e 8W. ItwomonlhB.butwitti- led." Jient, October 4, 1913. [oper to deatroy the Imn Ithem to remove ttteni- Jomi Abmbtboso. Ime, and for many years l8h took the fort in De- of boats, and streets tyes. Myoldqnnne"! SufferiDKB of the luhabitants. Jnst Indignation of the Brltieb. Furt Niatsora Burrendered. with little food and clothing, a large number of helpless women and children were driven from their homes into the wintry air houselesu wanderers.* Oh ! it was a cruel act. War is always cruel, but this was more cruel than necessity demanded. It excited hot indignation and the spirit of vengeance, which soon cau.sed the hand of retaliation to work fearfully. It provoked the commission of great injury to Amer- ican property, and leflb a stain upon the American cliaracter. Murray was at Twelve-mile Creek when he heard of the conflagration of Newark. He pressed on eagerly, hoping to surprise the garrison. lie was a little too late, yet his swift a])proach had caused M'Clure to fly so precipitately that he failed to blow up the fort or destroy the barracks on the bank of the river ; and he lefl behind tents sufficient to shelter fifteen hundred men. These, with several cannon, a large quan- tity of shot, and ten soldiers, fell into the hands of the British. That night the red cross of St. George floated over the fortress, and Murray's troops slumbered within its walls. "Let us retaliate by fire and sword," said Murray to Druramond, as they gazed, with eyes flashiiig with indignation, upon the ruins of Newark. " Do so," said the commander, " swntly and thoroughly ;" and on the night of the 1 8th of December — a cold, black night — Murray crossed the river at Five-mile JMeadows, three miles above Fort Niagara, with about a thousand men, British and Indians. With five hundred and fifty regulars he pressed on toward the fort, carrying axes, scaling-lad- ders and other implements for assault, and shielded from observation by the thick cover of darkness. They captured the advanced pickets, secured silence, and, while the garrison were soundly sleeping, hovered around the fort in proper order for a sys- tematic and simultaneous att.ack at different points. Five companies of the One Hundredth Regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, Avere to assail the main gate and escalade the adjacent works ; three companies of the same regiment, under Captain Martin, were to storm the eastern demi-bastion ; the Royal Scots Grena- diers, Captain Bailey, were to assault the salient angle of the fortification; and the tiauk companies of the Forty-first Regiment were ordered to support the principal attack.^ These preparations were unnecessary. Gross negligence or positive treachery had exposed the fort to easy capture. M'Clure had established his head-quarters at Buf- falo, and when he left Niagara on the 12th,* he charged Captain Leonard, > December, commander of the garrison, to be vigilant and active, for invasion might ^^^^■ lie expected. This vigilance and activity the invaders had prepared for; but when, :it about three o'clock in the morning, Hamilton went forward to assail the main gate, lie found it standing wide open and unguarded ! Leonard had left the fort the even- m before at eleven o'clock, and spent the night with his family at his house three miles in the rear. He gave no hint to the garrison of expected assault, and his de- parture was without their knowledge.^ They were between three and four hundred ^trong in fairly effective men, and, with a competent and faithful commander, might have kept the invaders at bay. They had neither, and when the foe came there was no one to lead. The sentinels were seized, and in fear gave up the countersign to the i"i,aiid the fort was entered without much resistance. The occupants of the south- lastera block-house, and the invalids of the Red Barracks, made such determined op- Kisitiou for a few minutes that Lieutenant Nowlan and fivo men were killed, and Col- ' The nnfcrnpulons James <il., 8) Bays : " General M'Clnre gave abont half an hour's notice to the Inhabitants of New- i Hk ttat he should bum down their village," and says very few believed him to be in earnest. G.;ncral M'Clnre, In a I coiumnnication to the BtiffaU) Oazette, says : " The luhabitants had twelve hours' notice to renovc their effects, and |;llios«wlio chose to come across the river were provided with all the necessaries of life." • Colonel J. Murray's Report to Lieutenant General Drummond, December 19, 1S13. ' Capinin Leonard was suspected of treason. It was stated by General M'Clure, six days after the capture of the fort, I Umt be had given himself up to the enemy, " and that his family are now on the Canada side of the strait." It is known lliat lie returned to the fort and became a prisoner. He was "disbanded," or dropped from the service not long after- tard. -^^PIPP ■n «34 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Muasncrc ut Fort NIngnra. Snvagc Atrocities near Lewistoii. Desolation of the Niagara Pruntier NTKKIOU OK KOIIT NIAOAHA. mtMm oncl ^Murray, three men, and a surgeon were wounded. This conflict was over bcfori the remainder of the garrison were fairly awake to the cause of the tumult, and tin fort was in possession of the foe. It might have been an almost bloodless victorv had not the unhallowed spirit of revenge for the outrage at Newark demanded vic- tims. Murray did not restrain that spirit, and a large number of the garrison, main of them invalids, were bayoneted after all resistance had ceased \^ This horrid work Avas performed on Sunday morning, the 19th of December, 1813. When Murray had gained full possession of the fort, he fired one of its largest can- non as a signal of success for the ear of General Riall, who, with a detachment of British regulars and about five hundred Indians, was waiting for it at Qucenston. Riall immediately put his forces in motion, and at dawn crossed the Niagara to Lcw- iston, and took possession of the village without much opposition from Major Bennett and a detachment of militia who were stationed on Lewiston Heights at Fort Gicy. At the same time a part of Murray's corps plundered and destroyed the little villajje of Youngstown (only six or eight houses), near Fort Niagara. Full license was given by Riall to his Indian allies, and Lewiston was sacked, plun- dered, and destroyed — made a perfect desolation.^ This accomplislied, the invaders] pushed on toward the little hamlet of Manchester (now Niagara Falls Village) ; bnt, when ascending Lewiston Heights, they Avere met and temporarily checked and driv- en back by the gallant Major Mallory, who, with foi'ty Canadian volunteers, caint I down from Schlosser and fought the foe for two days as they pushed him steadily I back toward Bufliilo.^ He could do but little to stay the march of the desolator, [ The whole Niagara frontier on the American side, from Fort Niagara to Tonewants Creek, a distance of thirty-six miles, and far into the interior, was swept with thcb^^l ■ The loss of the Americans was 80 killed— many of them hospital jjatients — 14 wounded, and 344 made prifojm. I Of the entire garrison only 20 escaped. The epulis consisted of 2T pieces of cannon, 8000 stand of arms and many rilK I nn immense amount of ordnance and commissariat stores, and a large quantity of clothing and camp equipage of evti; I description. I ' A letter to the editor of Xilea's Weekly RegiMer from a gentleman on the frontier said ; " They killed at and Dtnrlft-J iston eight or ten of the inhahitants, who, when fonnd, were all scalped with the exception of one, whouc hoadn-aMsil off. Among the bodies was that of a boy ten or twelve years old, stripped and scalped." ' General M'Clurc'e Report to Governor Tompkins, dated at liuffulu, December '22, 1813. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 635 NiRgara Fruntltr. peaolatton of the Niagara Frontier. New York Mllttla at Buffalo. The Brlllah at Black Rock. ^16»,. it was over bcforo ,e tumult, and \\\v bloodless victory irk demanded \ic- he garrison, many This horrid work of its largest can- a detachment of it at Queenstoii. Niagara to Lew- •om Major BeumU Its at Fort Griv, I the little villajie n .. was sacked, pliin- ishcd, the invaders j alls Village) ;H I checked and driv- in volunteers, caino I ushed him steadily of the desolator. gara to Tonewaiml swept with the be- j ^"^aiiinadeprUojml ind of arms and many* I ind camp equipage otevd! I Phcykllledatan(lne«fl"] ofone,whobehcadwa!« som of destruction placed by British authority in the hands of savage pagans.' Man- cliester, Schlosscr, and Tuscarora Village shared the fate of Youiigstowii and Lewis- ton.^ Free course was given to the blood-thirsty Indians, and many innocent persons were hutcliered, and survivors Avcre made to fly in terror through the deep snow to some forest shelter or remote cabin of a settler far beyond the invaders' track. Buf- falo too, would have been plundered and destroyed had not the progress of the foe been checked by the timely destruction of the bridge over the Tonewunta Creek. But the respite for doomed Buffalo was short, lliall and his followers returned to Lewiston, crossed over to Qucenston, and on the morning of the 28th appeared at Chippewa, under the command of Lieutenant General Drummond. In tlie mean time the alarm had spread over Western New York, and the inhabitants were thoroughly iiroused. General M'Clure had sent out a stirring address* to the "in- • December is, habitants of Niagara, Genesee, and Chautauqua," urging them to repair '*'^' immediately to Lewiston, Schlosscr, and Buffalo.^ General Amos Hall, with his usual alacrity, called out the militia c^. iind invited volunteers. His liead-qnartcrs were at liatavia, where the government had an arsenal, thirty or forty miles eastward from Buft'alo, and there General M'Clure resigned his command, and took orders from Hall. As fast as men were collected they were- sent to Black Kock and Ihitt'alo, and thitherward Hall hastened on the morning of the 25th. He reached Bull'ilo tAventy-four hours after his departure from Batavia, and there found " a considerable body of irregular troops of various descriptions, disorganized and confused. Every thing wore the appearance of consternation and dismay."* He ordered their immediate organization ; and when, on the 27th, he reviewed the troops, he found their number to be a little more than two thousand at Buffalo and Black Rock.* General Drummond advanced to a point nearly opposite Black Rock on the 29th, and reconnoitred the American camp. At midnight General Riall crossed with reg- iildrs, Canadians, and Indians, about a thousand strong, and landed where Bisshopp did, about two miles below Black Rock. JMoving immediately forward, they encoun- tered mounted pickets under Lieutenant Boughton, who, after a brief skirmish with the British vangimrd, fled across Shogeoquady Creek." The enemy took possession of the " Sailors' Battery" there and the bridge, and then paused, while Boughton 1 This was n hamlet. Augiistns Porter, Esq., had valuable mills there. These were destroyed. ' A linndbill printed at Montreal on the 28th of December, and cited by the Plattuhurri Republican of .lanuai-y 1, 1S14, fontniiied an extract of a letter from "an officer of high rank" (Lieutenant General Drummond?) at Queenston, written on the Ifltli, in which the following passage occurs : " A war-whoop from five hundred of the mn»t savage IntliaiM (which ihcy gave just at daylight, on hearing of the success of the attack on Fort Niagara) made the i,nemy take to their heels [M Lewiston J, and our troops ari' in pursuit. We shall not stop until we have cleared the whole frontier. The Indians are retaliating the conflagration of Newark. Xot a house within my right bttt is inflames. This is a melancholy but just retaliation." 'This address was Issued on the day preceding the capture of Fort Niagara, M'Clnre having been Informed by his sconta of the preparations of the British to make a descent upon the American side of the Niagara. ' Hall's Report to Governor Tompkins. s There were 129 mounted volunteers, under Lieutenant Colonel Boughton ; 433 exempts and volunteers, under Llen- Icnant Colonel Blakcslee, of Ontario; 13B Buffalo militia, under Colonel Chnpin : 9T Canadian volunteers, under Major Mallnry:* 332 Genesee militia, under Major Adams. These were at Buffalo. At, Black Rock were stationed .382 effect- ive men, under Brigadier General Hopkins, composed of corps commanded by Lieutenant Colonels Warren and Church- ill, exclusive of a body of 3T mounted Infantry under Captain R.insom; 83 Indians, under Lieutenant Colonel Granger; •a nrtillcry, under Lieutenant Seely, with a «-ponnder ; and about 300 Chautauqua Indians, under Lieutenant Colonel M'Mahnii.— WaU's Report to Oovemor Tompkins, January 0, 1814. ' See map on page 382. • Mi^or Benajah Mallory had been, in early yonth, in the military service toward the close of the Revolutionary War. He had settled in Canada, but, with others, took sides with his own country, and became the commander of the famous partisan corps known as the "Canadian Refugees." He was in the severe battle at Niagara Falls, or Luiidy's Lane, and ,i.«.«i»ted General Scott from the fleld after he was wounded. He resided many years In Lockport, New York, and when, iu 1^52, Scott stopped there ou a journey, he recogulzed the veteran as one of his loved companions in arras. ! •! ! H «M PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Bad Conduct of the MtlltU. Battle near Black Rock. The Amcricniii repulwa. hafiti'ncd with news of tho fact to General Hiill'8 quartci-H, between IJuffiilo and Hlmk Rock. Tlie niglit waH very dark. The trooj)H at liead-<)uarter« were panKhil, ainl Lieutenant Colonels Warren and I'luirohill ((General Hopkins was abfient from caiui,) were ordered to go forward with tlieir corj)s and feel the position and strength of ilic. enemy. Th(;y met the foe, and at the first fire they l)roke an<l fled, and were no hkhv seen during the following day. Hall then ordered Adams and Chapin, with tliiir eommands, to the same duty, and tho same result ensued; and at the dawn of the SOtli lie found himself in command of eight hundred troops less than at the evcnin,' twilight of tho 20th. They had actually deserted. Hall now advanced with his whole force, and ordered Lieutenant ('oluucl Blak(".|ic to move forward and commence the attack on the enemy's left. They iiiarelud to ward iJlack Rock on the Hill Road, and in tho dim light of early dawn •^aw a Hntillii of British boats making for the slioro near General Porter's mansion. Tliese hoic tin Royal Scots, eight hundred in number, who landed under cover of a five-gun battciv on the American shore, in the face of severe opposition. Their })lan of attack « ;,^ soon revealed to the American general, and he made his dispositions accordinirlv, Oolonel Gordon, of the centre, with about four hundred Scots, coni mnced the attack, while the JJritish lefl wing attempted to flunk the American right. Hall (luicklv foiled this design by throwing Granger and his Indians, and Mallory and his Caiiii- Jian Refugees, in the way of the enemy's advancing left wing. At the same time Blakeslee and his Ontario militia confroirted the centre, and M'Mahon and IiIh C'liau- tauqua troops were posted as a reserve at the battery of Fort Tompkins,' which w;i> commanded by the gallant Lieutenant John S'-e'y. The batteries on the Canada shore and the cannon of the Americans opened tin simultaneously and vigorously, while Rlakeslee's men, cool as veterans, disputed tlu ground with the foe inch by inch. But the Indians and Canadians, lacking iiiornl Btrengfl ve way almost before a struggle was begun, and M'Mahon and liis re- serves w .)rdered to the breach. They, too, gave way and fled, and could not In rallied by their officers. ILall's power was thus completely broken, and he was placed in great peril. Deserted by a large portion of his troojis, oj»posed by veter- ans, vastly outnumbered, and almost surrounded, he was compelled, for tlie safety of the remnant of his little army, to sound a retreat, after he had maintained the un- equal conflict for half an hour. He tried to rally his troops, but in vain. The gal- lant Chapin, with a few of the bolder men, retired slowly along the jiresent Niagara Street toward Buffalo, keeping the enemy partially in check,^ while Hall, with the remainder, who were alarmed and scattered, retired to Eleven-mile Creek, where ho rallied about three hundred men, who remained true to the old flag. With these he was enabled to cover the flight of the inhabitants, and to check the advance of the invaders into the interior. The British and their Lidian allies took possession of Buffalo,^ and proceeded ti plunder, destroy, and slaughter. Only four buildings were left standing in the town, These were the jail (built of stone), the frame of a barn, Reese's blacksmith-Kin ip, and the dwelling of Mrs. St. John, a resolute woman, who, more fortunate than her neigh- > This battery, of three Rtino, was on the elto of William Bird's house, and Fort Tompkins was on gruinid now ocrn pied by the stables of the Niagara Street Railway Company. It had six pretty heavy guns, and was the largest work there. a " Among these was Lieutenant John Scely, a carpenter and joiner, who lived on the comer of Auburn ami Nlaeara Streets, and was lieutenant of a company of artillery at Black Rock- lie had fought his pieces <m the brow of the hill, on what Is now Breckinridge Street, until he had bnt seven men and one horse left. Mounting the horse, which wa- harnessed to the gun, he brought It away with him, firing upon the enemy whenever occasion ofrerc<l Neiir where Mohawk Street joins Niagara was then n slough. Here Seely turned upon his foe. The gun was thrown off from it? carriage by the discharge, but was quickly replaced, and taken to the village.— Bi/jfoto duriruj the War qflS12; a paper read before the Buffalo Historical Society, March 13, 19«3, by William Dokkiikimeb, Esq. ' The place was nnoflicinlly surrendered by Colonel Chapin to prevent farther bloodshed. He approached the Brit- ish with a piece of his shirt as a flag of tmce, and agreed to surrender on condition that private pro))erty shonld he re spocted. It was agreed to, and he and some other clti7,on6 became prisoners. When General Rinll found that Chapii: had no authority to surrender the city, he declarcl his own agreement void, and gave bis marauders free play. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 037 Imeiicana rcpulwii. Dentructiun uf Buffulu uud Uliick Ruck. Hurden by the Indians. Uorroni of raUllatory Warfare. lior MrH. Lovejoy (who was murdered and burnt in her own house), saved her own lit;. uikI her property.' At Black ISock only a Hintjle Ixiiiding escaped coiiflagnitiuii. It \v;iH a log house, in which women and children liud taken refuge. The Ariel, LiU tie Belt, Chippewa, and Trippe, vcHMels that performed hcrvicc in the battle on Lake Kric a little more than a hundred days before, were committed to the Hames. Fear- ful was the retaliation for the destruction of half-inhabited Newark, w//erc not a life icas mcnjiccd! Six villages, many isolated country houses, and four vessels were consumed; and the butchery of innocient persons at Fort Niagara, Lewiston, Schlos- scr, Tiiscarora Village, Ulack Kock, and Buffalo, and hi farm-houses, attested the fierce- ness of the enemy's revenge.'* 1 Mrs. St. John was a stout, reeohitp wnmnn. I wna Informed by the vcnernbic Dr. Trowbridge, of Bnffnlo, who wag tbero i\t tho tlinu, ilmt ho went to the houBe of MrH. St. .Tohn, hcKucd her to leiu i' hccnudo the Indiana wiiiild kill her, olTircd her tho use <if hlH horse for the imrpose, and imHurcd her that he would take care of her iliildrcn. She Hnlil, " I i-an'l do It; here Is all I have In the world, anil I will stay and defend It." She did flo, not by force but kIndnoHS of iiiaiincr, and her life and i)rii|iorty wore spared. Mrs. Lovejoy was not so prudent. She, too, was resolute, hut resisted the linliiiiis by force when they canio to the house. They killed and sculped her, and left her body, covered with tho i<llk In which she was dressed, npon tho floor. On the following day, when the savaRes came Into tho town a(;aln to cora|)letc their work uf destnictlou, her house and corpse wen consumed. The latter had been laid out across the cords ,if a bedstead hy a nel{»hl)or. Her son, Henry Lovejoy (sec note 2, iiBRO 3S7), now (ISOi) living in Buffalo, was then a lad twelve yeiirii "T age, and was In tho alTalr nt Black Ruck when IJisshopp was repulsed, where ho carried u fllut-lock ransket, too liuu'e for his strength to bear It long. When tho enemy approached at the tlnio we aro considering, this lirave-hcarted woman said to tho boy, " Henry, you have fought against tho British ; you must run. They will take viin prlflouer. I am a woman ; they'll not harm mo." Ho fled to tho woods. Her house stood ou the situ of the pres- ent Phffiiilx Hotel. 'Ill ft letter of a gentleman to his wife in Albany, written on the «th of .January, 1814, from Lo Roy, he says: " Nu- merous wllnCBRes testify to the following facts; Tho Indians mangled and burned Mrs. Lovejoy In Bufl"alo; massacred wo Inrgo families at Black Rock, namely, Mr. LnlTcr's and Mr. I.ecort'8 ; murdered Mr. Gardner ; put all tho sick to death at Ymiiigstown, and killed, wcalpcd, and mangled sixty at Fort Niagara after It was given up. Many dead bodies arc vet lying nnhuried at Buffalo, mangled and scalped. Colonel Marvin counted thirty-three this morning. I met be- twecu Cayuga and this place upward of one hundred families In wagons, sleds, and sleighs, many of them with nothing but what they had on tlnir backs ; nor could they find places to stay at." The sufl'erlng of the fugitives was terrible. The almost universal condemnation of Ocnoral M'Clure for tho dosfnictlon of Newark, and the manifold greater enor- mities committed in retaliation, caused Sir George Provost to hasten before tho world with an assurance that he should ondeavor to stop that sort of warfare. He well knew that the Judgment of mankind would pronounce farther prosecu- tion 'if war on that plan to be atrocious, and. In a proclamation Issued on the 12th of •January, 1S14, after jUHlifying the retaliation thus far, said: "To those possessions of the enemy ah)ng tho whole line of frontier^ which have hit licrto re- mained undisturbed, and which are now at the mercy of the troops under his command, his ?;xcclloncy has determined III extend the same forbearance, and the same freedom from rapine and plunder which they have hitherto experienced ; and from this determlnatlou the future conduct of the American govemmcut shall aloue Induce him to depart." %\ i^^&fjSi- nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ihla PnrcM. Tba NMNtary of Wu >t Hackctt'i llartHir. Colonel J u |^^f^ CHAPTER XXIX . " For a nnutlral knight, ■ lady -bi'iKh-bo I - Fell her lioiirt and her heart-iitrln(t» to arhcj To vIkw hU ileiir iKtrmiii hIih liH>ku(l to iiinl fro. Tbr name of the knight wiin HIr Juinca I.iicai Yco, And the //odj/'-'twu iih« <^tlu- iMkr" Old H<>nd--Tiiii CoiRTKom Kniiibt, ok Tna Fi-viita (Ui.n.ii KNKllAL WILKINSON, aH w« hav«» wm, arrivotl nt Satictt'. Harbor on ihc. 20tli of August, 1813, whtTO lio I'oinially UNHiitmi (•oimnniid of tlio Nortlufii Aniiy, ami, with tho co-oporation , i loiuicil of oftitHirs, formt'il u gfiu-ial j)liin of o|)«rat ioim iii'inn. tho enemy at Kingston and down the St. Lawrence. IIin fj^ care waH to concentrate the forces ofliis conintand, which wn. scattered over an extensive and spar^cIy-settled counlry, sciin on the Niagara frontier, some at liie eastern end of Lake Ontan. and on tlu- Si. Lawrence, and some on Lake Champhtin. lie accordingly diivci, - tliose on the Niagara and at Sackett's Harbor to rendezvous on (irenadicr Islami, ii. the St. LaMrence, about eigliteen miles from the Harbor, and at French Creek (aovr Clayton), about the same distance further down the river. Tliose compoHim,' tin right wing, on Lake Chatnjthiin, were directed to move at the same time to the (an ada border, at " tlie mouth of the t'lmtcan gay, or other point which would favni tl. junction of the forces and hold ilic cin my in check." For t!ie purpose of promoting hamiom of action between Wilkinson ainl llaMi|, ton, as we have observed, and to add ifii cioncy to projected movements, the Sen tary of War, accoiii])anieil by the adjiitai, •general. Colonel Walbach, established th seat of his department at Sackett's llai bor." He, and Wilkinson, .8qm.rai,.r' and the late venerable (Jen- '''" eral Joseph (rardner Swill (then chief en gineer of the Northern Anny, and l)i:ir ing the commission of colonel') hold eon saltations with (Jovernor Tonipkins ni Albany, who, from the beginning, had em- jdoyed his best energies for the pninietinn of the general good, and especially furiiH defense of his commonwealth against ii; vasion. Before considering Wilkinson's expcli tiori, let lis turn back a little, and taki a ^^^^1 ' JnR«pb Oardnfr Swift wan horn In Nantnrket on the last day of the year 1TSS. He entered the army as « cuilftM Newport, Rhode Island, lu isfto, and was the tlrst cradiiate of the MHiljiry Academy at West Point. He beoBiiie ttl'.» 11 to a corps of United States Knirinceri", and in ISOT, having attained the rank of captain, he was «ii)>olnl<!(l cominaii lie: of West Point. Ue waa military agent at Fort Johnson, Soath Carolina, early In 1812, and was eoon afterward nmlf i.- m ^ J tlmtcl J.O.RwUL OF TIIK VVAll OF 18 13. 689 Uoner^l Oeuboni mai«Mlal»OMMl». Oowrni.™ Tonipkliu »iirt (l«laih». ithw'c "t niilitftry iiiul niival opcrntioiiH on Lnko Chnmplnin iip to the nutumn of 1818. \V(' sliall tlu'ii lii'ttor uiuUrHtiiiKl hi'vitiiI ivspcctrt ot'tlmt > puditioii. WIk'II Wiir was (ii-chinMl in Juin', IHI2, zciiltnis Hiipportt'is of tlu- iiiitional adininiH- tnitii'ii were govt-riiorH of New York and Vermont,' hi'tween wliicli lay important |,!iki' Cliamplain. Tlicsi' majjistratcN, HiiHtained by tlit'ir re»pt'C'tivo Le^iHlaturcs, si'C- (iiiili'd till' administration in all its nu-aHnri's. Tiu! Lci^islatiiri' of V^-rmont proliibitcd ;ill iiitcrcoiirHi! with Canada except with tlie permiHuion of the governor, and they ;i(l(ii)t(d ineasureH for eallinfj out the militia of the state when needed. New York was not a wliit behind her sister of the (ireen IVIonntains in zeal and ettieieney. Dmini' the summer of 1H12 J}ri<.;adier tieiieral Hloomiicld was sent to the Cham* ^ -^VWfX^r,. plain frontier with several regiments, and on the Ist of September had collceted about eight thousand men at I'hittsburg— regulars, volunteers, and militia — besides some small advanced parties at Chazy and Cliamplain. General Dearborn arrived tiiero soon afterward, and assumed direct connnand ; and on the lOth of November lie moved toward the Canada line Avith three thousand regulars and two thousand. militia, and encamj)ed upon the level ground near the jiresent village of Ko'tise's I'oint. There he advanced across the line towa'-d Odell Town, for what ultimaic ob- ject no one knew, ;vnd on the banks of the La Colle, a tributary of the Sorel, he was confronted by a considerable force of volti- (;cur8, chasseurs, militia, and Indians, under Lieutenant Colonel De .Salttberry, an active IJritisii commander. On the morning of the 20th, just at dawn, Colonel Zebulon JM. Pike, with about six < liiuulred men, crossed tl!e La Colle, and sur- rounded a block-house which had been occupied by a strong picket-guard of Cana- dians and Indians. These had tied during the previous evenirg. At about the same time a body of New York militia, who had been detached by an ■-} ;er road, approached for the same purpose, and in the dim light of the early m' iio; were mistaken by those at the block-house for enemies. Pike's men openc' liVe upon them, and for ] U-cflinp to Major General ( ■. {". PInckney, of South Carolina, with tlie rank of lieutenant colonel. lie succeeded ' nitlian Wmii'- ;« ns commander of the United States corps of En;;ineerfl, with the rank of colonel. For his valuable ■ rviira on tlie St. Lawrence frontier in IRIS and 1814, and in defense of the city of New York, he was breveted as brlf;n- : TL'onornl. He was connected with the Military Academy at West Point for several years after the war, and in 1S18 he, >::li >fvfrnl officers of the corps, left the service because of the appointment of Oencrnl Bernard, a French ofllcer of dls- " linn, t(i the control of itnpdi tant eucineering services on the coast. For nine years General Swift was Surveyor of !, port of New York, and from 1S20 to imti he was snporintendent of the harbor Improvements on the Lakes. lie was 1 1 liiirte of several important works as civil engineer, nnionc; which may be named the Baltimore and Snsquchanna I!ailro.'.d, the New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain Railroad, and the Harlem Railroad, lie went on a mission of peace, by imlpr of President Harrison, to the British American Provinces in 1S41, and in 1852 he made a tonr in Europe. Ocn- ml Swift contritmted many valuable papers to publications on scientific subjects. After ls;tO he resided in Geneva, Nfw York, spendinR his winters in Brooklyn, Lone Island. I am Indebted to him for many valuable letters relating to ihp fiilijcct of this work. He retained his mental faculties in great perfection until near the time of hia death, which vnrrrd at Geneva on the i.ld of .luly, ISWi. ■ Daniel D.Tompkins was Governor of New York, and Jonas Gnlnsha of Vermont. » mmmmmmmmm 040 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Repulse ot the Britleh at La Culje. They rally uud defeat the Amrricnns. Llcnt.Ward atid Lioiit. Col. Carr nearly half an hour a sharp contest was sustained. When they discovered their mistake, they found De Salaberry ap- proaching in force with a strong ad- vance guard, when Lieutenant Ward,* of the Twenty-ninth New York Militia, with his company of fifty men, moved slowly upon the enemy, and, after re- ceiving three discharges from them without returning a shot, gave the or- der to fire and charge. This was promptly obeyed, and the appalled foe, taken completely by surprise, were driven back to the main body. This gallant performance of the lieutenant elicited the highest praise from his su- l)eriors. But De Salaberry's force was too overwhelming to be successfully withstood. To the Americans a re- treat was sounded, and they fled so precipitately that they left five of their number dead and five wounded on the field.^ It was a fruitless expedition, and the army returned to , November 23, Plattsburg^ out of luuuor and de- pressed in spirits. Three of the regiments of regulars went into winter isia. ' Lieutenant Aaron Ward received hie commission on the 30th ><' April, 1813. He was i)roninted to captain ii yc jr later. At the close of the war he was charged with the conducting oi the first dotachnicnt of Dritlsh prisoners from the States to Canada. Law was his chosen iirofession, and in IS'JS he became a lawmaker by being elected a i f|irestnta- tive of his district in the State of New York in the National Congress. He was an actlvf and efHcicut worker, aiici his constituents were so well satislied with hi i services that he kept his seat twelve out of eighteen consecutive yenrs. Ui assisted in fiaming the new Constitution of the State of New York in lS4fc, and after that he declined 'r, cnc,age in pub. lie life. He traveled extensively abroad in 1859, and afterward jjublished a very Interesting volume, entitled ylroiind* Pyramids. For many years he was niiijor g(!tieral of the militia of Westchester County. He died early in ISiiT. Ills res- idence was at a beautiful spot overlooking the village of Sing Sing, and the Hudson and its scenery from the Ilighiand; to Hoboken. 'MS. Journal of Colonel Robert Carr. Chrinttc's HiHtori/ «/ tlte War in the Canadaii, page 90. Robert Carr, whose jour- nal Is here cited, was born in Ircl.iud on the '.".tth of January, H";*. He came to America at the age of six ye:^r^!, and m- tled, with his father, in Philadelphi", They lived next door to Dr. Frank'ln, and he was often employed by that jrest man as an errand-boy. Helearnnl the art of printing wit' Benjamin Franklin Bachc, a grondson of Dr. Franklin, viih whom he commenced his appreniicoship in 1792, He r .-o to the liead of Ills profession, and in ISW received n ilrM premium as the best ijrmter iu Philadelnhia. He printc . Wilmn's (>rnilholn<f;i from rannuscrlpt ; also Kees's Ciirtni^lin In M Tch, ISl'i, he received tlie commishion of major in ilie Sixteenth Ki'L'iment of Infantry, and in August, l-i:i,\™ pron-- ted to Lieutenant Colonel of the Ninth, from whicii he was transferred to the Fifteenth. He was disbauded in ISlft, and for several years he was the last surviving flelil-ofticer of the army of 181'J in Pcunsylvanla, Now .TiTwy.ot Dclmvare. He was a member of the M'l'ImHon lUmn of Philadelphia, and one of the tiring party on the occasion of ike Congressional funeral of Washington ip that city. See note 4, page lin. Colonel Carr married a danghter of William Bartram, proprietor of the celebrated Botanical Gardens nenr PliiU&l- pbin, and, ii. right of his wife, carried on tlie estnlilishment from the year ISfts to IStiO, a period of nin.-e than liiri.i years. Fr -n 1S21 to l'!24 he woe adjutant general of the State nf Pennsylvania : and, by order of the Legie'alure, te compiled .' work ou " Kiiles ond Regulations for the Field F.xercise." He was a long time an aldcrtnan and justice of the pt..co In Phiiii !■ Iphia, and has ever l)eeii held in the highest esteem by his fallow-citizer.s. Deprived of lii-* prop- erty in his eld age by the viclssitn;li"< ol fortnue, he was for some time gate-keeper at the Pennsylvania AHiiliimfnrik Iiuane, .iltiwited a a beautiful spm yond the Schuylkill. There 1 visited him on a blr.stiy afternoon late in Nmea- be.', ;S01, when he was almost eighiy-fo-ir years of age. IIo was In excellent health and spirits, and assured nu' t!i.ii be bad nut been sick in raon; than sixty yecrs. He had led a strictly ;emperi',te life, never having been intoxicat-d ba: once. It was when he was a boy, oud wan pr-,dnced by eating rum-chcrrles. A month before I vinited liim lietuJ been among the American camps in Vir-'ini.., near Arlingtji; Heights, where he walked deventecn miles in one d.iy, nil o"'3, ded a theatre in Washington the same evening. ' I could have danced a cotillon after thit," lie B«nt lie nlteml- cd the celebi.ition of Bradford's birth-day by the N w York HIsloriial So-^iety In May, ls«3, at- n delegate fl-om Phili- i lielphia, and \< is then doubtless the oldest printer in the United Siates. On the 22(i of February, ISM, Cnl'^ncl Cstr. then past eiglity-aix years of age, read W:;Hhington's Farewell Address befoe the 'eternp soldiers of the War of i-i; iit the t'lilon so'diers' ccleb-ation in Phiiadehdiia. He never used spectacles, eicep'mg when his photograph who Mtefc \ yet he ftnle with grace and facility niitil the time of his death, which recurred n Philadelphia on the l.^ih of .Mstcli. ;8<W1 I! kindly lent me his Diary, kept during the War of 15)12. It is written ! i a line hand, and cimtMns mnchvsl» ] ab'< loalter I shall ever rememl)er with plcoirare my interview with an errand'ho)ir, Ur.JfrmMtih, an>l utke ;rAo Wiu; t^t^r, asapriiiter,viith Pruide>\tWathi>igU>n >0.itia>rr(!rliiighi»(iv>neonip(i»itiQ>i*. OF THE WAR OF 1812. Lieut. Col. Carr. :^^^ i/cnt into winter intcd to cnptn\n n jcar llsli prisotRT^^ fi'im llic g elected a vcprcpcma- Bcleut worker, and ais conBCUlivo year». he liiiea •■■•. eiii,age in put)- mc, eutitlcilvlroiind* early linSCiT. IHsrf^- cry from the Uigtilonii^ oljcrt Carr, whose jour- >e of ?ix year!", and ►•'i- "mlilovcdliy lliii' ■' L,i „fl)r. Krauliliii.' jiii IBW receiveil n i. ■. • nlao Ree»'» r.i/clnjxilM. ml in August, lxlH,vrj( 1 He was disbanded in ylvani«,New.Ierfey,ot ' on the occasion o!ili« JoardpnBiiearPhil««tl- liod of mo.-o than hiitr Ter of the Leiris'.atnrcta aUlcrman ami ■ jnslin , Deprived oflii" prop- l8ylvBni,i-1";(l"'".'»'* ficmooii late in Kovf* J and assured met!* be |i<r bopn intoxiOiU"'' biij Iro I vi-H'^d him hf U l.nndlesin»iied.iy,Mi It " lie MK' "f """"'• . ft delejjalc from Phi* ilerVofthcWnrc.ii-'i ffphotoprnphwa"!*** WonthelS>hotM.rct. laiidcont-.insmncliv* In. oivi !«•«"'"' "*''"' Rsd of Deirborn'a Canada Bzpedltion. Praparatlons for War on I«ka CkampMB. Bwly If i 041 ther*. niiartors at Plattsburg, and three others at Btirlingto*, the former under the com- mand of Ooloiiel I'iko, and the latter under Jingadier liencral Chandler. The liylit artillery and dragoons returned to (Trcen1)u*H (opptjsit*' Albany), tW head-quartern ot'lTt'neral IVarborn, and the militia were disbanded. Tlicrc were no further military movements os Lake C'hamplain of special import- unco until July, 181.'}. Naval preparations ha<i b«»'n somewhat active under tlie su- iKiintondence of Lieutenant Thoini*« Mafdonoujrh. «ho, in the fall of 181'ii, super- -iUhI Lieutenant Sidney Smith in the eomBr«and fM Lake Oamplain.' When war was declared the whole American naval force on the jake "onsisted of only two gun- li.iats that lay in IJasin Harbor oi th«' Vermont shore. Two small sloops and four i,;it(iiux were fitted up and armed 'ach carrying a lonif cighteen-pounder. The IJrit- ;,|, liad two or three gun-boats ai-l armed galleys in the Richelieu, or Sorel Kiver, ilic outlet of Lake Champlain into ine St Lawr'-ne^. In ihe spring of 1813 Macdonouffh put the nt»w-armed sloops Growler and Eagle iiflnat, the former eominaiidi'd by Lieutenant Smith and the latter by Mr. Loomis. At tiie beginning of .Fune intelligi'W**' came that the Ibitish gun-boats had attacked Mime American small craft near I{<mi*<- * Point. Macdonough ordered Smith, with the Growler a. id Eagle, and one hundred and twelve men (including Captain Herrick and thirty-three volunteers), t look aJter the matter, and, on the evening of the 2d of Jiiiu',* these vessels anchr d near K<»yse's Point, within a mile of the Canada u>. On the fidlowing morning they went down the Sorel with a stiti favoring hivczc from the soutli, and at Arch Island gavi chase to three British gun-boats. Ww ]pui'siiit continued to a point within sight of the fortifications on Isle aux I^oia-, win rt^ prudence caused Smitl; to tack and beat up the Sorel against the wind. When tills iiiovenient was discovered by the British, thn'c armed row-galleys were sent out lioiii the shelter of the lialteries on the island, and gave chase. They soon opened iiiidii the Hying sloops with long twenty-four pounders. At the same time a land ; force was sent out on each side of the river, who poured severe volleys of musketry ii)H)n the decks of the Groicler and Eagle. Tliese were answered by grape and can- ister. This running fight had been kept up for about four hours, when a heavy can- [ii'iii-shot lore planking from the Eagle below Avater, and she M'cnt down almost im- mediately. At about the same time the Growler became disabled and ran ashore, [jiiiithe people of both vessels were made prisoners. The Americans lost in the en- jaacment one killed and nineteen wounded. Tlu loss of the British was much great- i— probably at least one hundred. But they gained a victory, and with it secured, [tor the time, the full control of the lake. The captured sloops were refitted by them, tiiamcd respectively Finch and Vhuhb^&wA placed in the British naval service. Mac- donough recaptured them at Plattsburg in September the follow ing year. I Vacdonough wis not dislieartcned by his loss. It stimulated him to greater ex- jenions, and bj tlie 6th of August he had fitted out and armed three h1oo})S and six jun-hoats. Meanwhile a British force of soldiers, sailors, and marines, fourteen hund- riil strong, under Colonel J. Murray, conveyed in two sloops of war, three gun-boats, pi forty-seven long boats, had fallen upon Plattsburg." That place was en- ^ ^ taly uncovered, tliere being no regular troops on the west side of the lake. fhi'eiu'my landed on Saturday afternoon without opposition, and began a Avork of WKtruction which lasted until ten o'clock the next day. Major General Ihimpton pw at Burlington, only twenty mil«>8 distant, with almost four thcmsand men, yet he 1 not attempt to en ss the lake, or in aiiy way oppose the inroad of x.Iurray. The 'rotlicur shamefully violated the promises made to the civil authorities of I'latts- 1 Sidney S.nHh T?a« flflh lionteriaii*, nndi>r C'nmmftdore Burron In the Chetapeakr at the time of her nfliilr with the In IKiii hp wi^a ordered tti Lnk« Champlain, and remained In command there nntil the arrival of'H&cdonougb jiOTfeir in rank. He diet! n. eommardcr in the .ctvico In ISSil . I' Hi'in Harbor '« eoBsldeicd the best on I^ake Chumplaln. It is near the sonthwest comer of Ferrlaburg, Addison p.y, Turnout, nud nearlv yppofite Wcslpml on the New York .>!dc of tlic lak?. I 042 nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Colonel Hurray's Knid. Movements ofUamptou in Northern New York. Operatlous on LakeOntaHo. ftifi#i bijrg when he entered the villaso, that private property should bo respected, and tliai non-i'oinbataiits should remain uiiniolestod. After destroyiiij^ the bloek-liuusc arw.. iiul, armory, and hospital in the town, and the military eantoninent (known as Pike's) near Fredenburg Falls, on the Saranac, two miles above the villaj^e, he waiitonlv burned three private store-houses, and plundered and destroyed private iner(liaii(lis(' furniture, etc., to the amount of several thousand dollars. The value of public pMi). erty destroyed was estimated at twenty-Hve thousand dollars. ^ Having accomplished the object of his raid, Colonel Murray retired so hastily tlim he left a picket of twenty men, who were eaj)tured. He went uj> the lake Rcvcnil miles above JJurlington on a marauding expedition, destroying transjiortation l)oiitk and on his way back to Canada he jilundered private property on Cumberland Ilra.| on the Vermont shore, and at ('hai.y Landing. Such w;is the condition of afl'aiis m. Lake Champlain at the close of the summer of 181 ;t, when Wilkinson took conuniiiKl of the Army of the North, and prepared for his expedition down the St. Lawrence. The right wing of the army, imder (Jeneral Hampton, was first put in motion, whin it was thought that Kingston would be the first point of attack. He was ordered k. penetrate Canada toward Montreal by way of the Richelieu or Sorcl,to divert the at tention of the enemy in that direction. For this purj)ose his forces were asseinMi,! on Cumberland Head at the middle of September, consisting of four thousand etl'eit. ive infantry, a squadron of horse, and a well-appointed train of artillery. On ili, "September, lOth* he inovcd forward to the Great Chazy Uiver, the infantry in |ji,;ii< isi.s. convoyed by 3racdi)nough's flotilla, and the squadron of horse and anil- '■ September. ^^^^ |^y jj^jj^j rjij^py formed a junction at Cham])lain on the 20tli,'' and im the same day the advance, under ALijors Wool, Snelling, and M'Neil, marched as far jis Ovlell Town, just within the Canada borders, westward of House's Point. A seven drought was jirevailing over all that region. Hami)ton was convinced that lie weiilii not be .able to procure water on the route northward over that flat country fur hi- ' September 21. horses and draught-cattle, and he at uiicc returned to Chanqdain' ami took the road westward, which led to the Chateaugay River. At the "FomCer ners," not far from the present village of Chateaugay, he cncamnei'- " September 'J4. ' • , i • • i • i ' and nunamed there awaiting orders twenty-six days. In the mean time preparations for the expedition were going or- at the easteni end I of Lake Ontario, over whose waters (.'ommodore Cliauncey and Sir Ji.ines Yen ' lieeii for some time pl.iying a sort of hide-and-seek game. As Chauncey's fleet w:;-, co-operative force in the expedition of Wilkinson, wc may here appropriately consider ! the naval movements on Lake Ontario not already described, up to the departure uf J the expedition down the St. Lawrence. We have already observed the active co-operation of the naval with the landforowj in the capture of York^ and Fort Oeorge,^ and the atteiiqit of Sir Janu^s Yeo tosiw I or destroy the post at Sackett's Harbor.^ Intelligence of the fact that the Hriiiskj Kqiiadron was out upon the lake reached Chauncey on the 30th of May, while iyinjl in the mouth of I lie Xiagara ?^>ver. He immediately v,'eighe<l anchnr, crossed >virj the lake and looked into York, and then ran for Kingston. Nt> foe was to be seen,} and he sailed for Sackett's Harbor, where the embers of the recent conflagration nm I smouldering. Chauncey felt some dcuibts of his ability to cope with the heavy v(*j sels of the enemy, and he used every exertion to have the new shiji, the General Pikl put afloat. She was a corvette, pierced for twenty-six long twenty-fours. Slie i vuj ' HUt':r;i nf iMKf Chaniptaiii frmn IBflft to I'iU, by PetiT S. I'nlmcr. pn^e t<W. Mr. Piihner snys: ".SiililiorHWrnililltitl into priviito (Iwclllngs, imd henr off bnck-lond.s of property to the hosts in the iiresence of British officer?, whi,"!- lemoniitmteii with by the pliiiulored cltlgcni", repHed that they could not prevent tt, nn the men did not hclont" ' partlealnr company.' Amoey the BUfferer? In thi« Wfiy. HceordinR to an inventory made at ihc time, and piililisi Mr. I'al'oir, were .Iiidije I). Lord, who lost properly to the amount of $10V!> s] : I'elcr.Siillloy, ifSST iT, heslilc* l«v honnes >'Blned at Jlimi ; .I-idfte Palmer. $3sn W: Pnctor Miller, *1«00: Hoi«twick Hiirk,$1«HP0; ,T:ii;ub l''iirlf,iiTi* lesser amounts by other citizens. A stor«-boaj<e belonging to Major Piatt was also burned. 2 R.M •pn(;c BST. » See page IBS. ♦Hecpat'-fW OF THE WAR OF 1812. 643 a nn Lake OiUirlo. ctcii, and thai :;k.-lioUM', iirse- iwn as I'iWs) , he wantonly p mi'rclian(Vis( , of iiublic \)v><Y 80 hastily thai \(i lukt- si'venil :)ortat\on IkhiIv nbcrhiiul \\m\. ioii of affairs (ni 1 took ("oiunaiiil St. LawreiK'f. in motion, whm L' was (iv(k'ivil 111 , to divert the at I were assonililci! ; thousand cffcrt- rtilli'vy. Cn tlk infantry in 1j»;i'~, if horse and arlil- the '2ntli,'' an.l nn ■il, marehcil a- in 8 Toitit. A si'vrti iced that ho vdaM lat country for 'm o Chainiilaiii • U the " Four * ay, he cncani) at the eastern cml i ;ir Jr.ines Yco hinil unoey s fleet \va< J ] )voi>riately omsiiltt \ [> I lie departure IviththclanAfoTO Ijjinies Yco tosoiif I let that the IiriiiAJ If May, wlulelyin;! Inehov, crossed vvii I Ifoe was to be sow. I eouflafijratioiiwmj Lith the heavy v»l |), the General Pk\ i^iy-dnir^. She f.»j tysT" 9"W'e™ would btt4| r British officer?, wti".''*^ LndUinnl betas I'-l Ju)cUmc,andimWW,rfH ♦ the pig? »* Commodore Cbauncey tries to engage Sir James Yeo. Serious DUaster. The British Commander avoids a Conflict launched on the 12t}i of June, and on the day before, Captain Arthur Sinclair had ar- rived and was placed in command of her. But it was late in the summer before she was fully equipped and manned, for niucli valuable material intended for her had liecn consumed, and men came from the sea-board tardily, a part of wliom were sent to the importunate Perry, then an.xiously preparing liis squailron on Lake Erie to co- uperate with (ieneral Harrison. Meanwhile the keel of a fast-sailing schooner, after- ward nainetl the Si/fp/i^v/as laid by Eckford at the Harbor; and a small vessel was kept constantly cruising as a scout between the Ducks (a group of islands) and Kings- ton, to observe the movements of Sir James. On the 10th of June the Lcufi/ of the 7;rtic, Lieutenant W. Chauncey, engaged in that serviiie, captured the Britisli schooner /;«(/(/ Murray, loaded with ]irovisions, shot, and fixed ammunition, and took lier into ll)e Ilarbor. At about this time the British squadron made a cruise .vestward, and, lis we have seen, interfered seriously with vessels hearing supplies for the Americans at Fort George, and destroyed stores at Sodus.' Sir James, as we have observed, had looked into Oswego, but thought it prudent not to land.^ We have alluded to the a])pearance of Sir James and his squadron off Niagara on the 7th of July, just after Chauncey, with the troops under Colonel Scott, had re- turned from the second expedition to York.' The lirilish squadron was first seen about six miles to the northwest. Chauncey immediately weighed anchor, and en- deavored to obtain the w'cather-gage of his enemy. He had thirteen vessels, but only tlirce of them had been originally built for war purposes.* The enemy's 8(iuadron oonsisted of two shi])s, two biigs, and two large schooners. These had all been con- structed for war, and Avere very etKcient in unnament and defensive shields. All day the belligerents manrouvred, with a good breeze, without coming into con- tliot. At sunset there fell a dead calm, and sweejis were used. When night came nn the American fleet was collected by signal. During the evening the wind came trom the westward, freshened, and at midnight was a fitful gale. Suddeidy a rushing -ainid was heard astern of most of the fie 't, and it was soon ascertained that the Umdlton, Lieutenant Winter, and Samrge, Mr. Osgood, had disappeared. They were lapsizedby a terrific squall, and all the officers and men, excepting sixteen of the lat- ter, were drowned. This was a cvere blow to the lake service, for these two ves- sels, carrying nineteen guns between them, were the best in it. Soon after dawn* the British squadron was seen bearing down, as if for ac- . jniy s, tion, but when within a league of the Americans it bore away. Again the *^^^- klligerents commenced mananivring for advantages. Alternate wind and calm made the service severe, and at length the considerate Chauncey, whose men had been at quarters full thirty-six hours, ran in and anchored at the mouth of the Niagara River. AU night the lake was swe[)t by squalls. When, in the morning,'' the enemy was seen at the northward, Chauncey weighed anchor and stood lout to meet him. Another day and night were consumed in fruill'ss manopuvres. : At length, at six o'clock on the morning of the 10th, having the weather-gage, Chaun- [oey, with a light wind, formed his fleet in battle order, and a conflict seemed immi- [iiont.' .But varying breezes, and an unwillingness on the part of the enemy to engage. ' July 9. 1 See pnpc «pB. » See pnpe OOfi. ' See psge 628. ' The I'ikf, ifnilimn, Ontida, Hamilton, Scourge, Ontnrin, Fair ArMriinn, Govtmot Trrmpktru, Conq^ifst, Growler, Julia, ji(«p, «nJ /V|■^ >Onthe iiiKht of the !>tti, t'hnnnccy, becoming convinced Hint lis, could not get tl;o wind of the British while the lat- llnirert (llpposed to avoid an nctlon, formed hin floi't in nn order of battle well culcul.dod to draw the enemy down. It Iwu consiilerert nn admirable movement, lllc vesBels were formed In two lines, one lo windward of the other. "The pesther line," pnys ('iii)per, in giving an ncrnunt of it, "connlslod altogether of tlie sninilest of the schooners, hnvlhg in 1,1b tlie order in which they nre named from the van to the rear, the .hiKa, Grnieler, /'.rf, Afp, Ontario, and Fair Amer^ Tl.e line to leeward eonlnlned, in the same ordiir, the Hkr, Onfirta, Mmlifnn, Gvvfrnnr Tompkins, and Oonquett."— i Hi«fm/ <\nhe Fnitrd .S7n/<'«, 11., 304. Commodore 1 'lintinrey, In his dispatch to the Secretary of the Navy on the Blh. Mid, " Tlie Mliooncrs, wiih long, heavy bnuH, ronm d nboiit six hundred ynrdj to wiriilward, with oidcrs to com- prace ,1 Are upon the enemy as soon as they could tiMith him with effect, and, an he approached, to edg • down the line nleeanni, Tue Jului, Grmeler, Pert, and .In;) in pass through the Intervals, and form to leeward, the Ontario anJ Fair fi u-an to tate their tlatlons in the line." The same dippositlou waa made ou the night of the '.Otb, when so action en- •B€)^K m :i ^ M Oaftant of American VmmhU. rtn^wrjr pmdant. A Battle at hut. Uni o'clock at nisjht the enfinv ••rnnioHl of the schooiicrH) op»;r»wi to draw uheacl, and a gi'iicrul ac- Im* <rroinler (Lieutenant Deacon) and i* iliiir vcMtels out of the pnscril),!^ Hf'cl, lid were captured after a I \va» hut littU- tightinp elscM'hcri' • •UTiipi ■'! ' run for she iter into ihc ^Aused anotlicr day t. Mild'' cha«(', and at el< \ . / /?/ 4: ftee n^Hi the advancinj? l<x». 'fJic ewmy tion SHf-^tM'd unavoidable. T Julia (iir, Trant'), in the ex( i >- i / Hfie. Th**Y became separated from the rest aevere hut short stnij/glc, with funall loss, i and »t midni<5ht, the gale increasing, ('haun<^_, Genese*". He o.h<»»}fed his course, however, and w«»t to j^a/'|i«at'8 Harbor, wheiv, after encountering a cairn, he arrived with th(! reniainn <»f IiIh fleet on the 13th. On the same day he took in provi^iouH for five weeks and sailed on andher cruise, witli iiu|,( vessels. Off Niagara, on the J 6th, he fl'll in with the enemy, who had the samt number of vessels ; )iut, afler a cruise of three days nu)re, lie returned to the Flar •Juiyij, bor," where lie found the new vessel (the Sylph) launched, (^ireat siekiH» \m. prevailed in the fleet, and Chauncey lay uiaclive in the Harbor for some tiine.^ On the 2Hth of August ('hauncey put out again upon the lake, but it was not until the 7th of Septendx^r that he came in sight of the enemy. At dawn of that day the Jiritish 8<ptadron wa« seen off the Niagara, and Chauncey, with the Pike, Madimn, aad a^ph, ea/'h v'itli a schooner in tow, made chase. For six days lie endeavored tii h r hy fciw antSkjKfonist into action; but Sir James Voo, following the strict iiij unctions «4Vm imperiors U/ rit»k nothing, avoided a contest. The critical situation of Canmlu at fhftt ijKK- made the preservation of a naval force sufficient to protect harbors im; \n'i>ii CliuMdcey employed, very important. i)H 1I//I \\\h Hir 3mtui> lay becalmed off the Genesee. Catching a gentle bree,:i from tlie nor(hw<'M(, Channcey bore down upon him, and was within gun-shot di- lance of his enemy when i\ii Mf(/I«h sails took the wind, and their vessels, beiiii.{ tin (HtftPr sailer'' escaped, not, howevof, ^U)ii\\\i Hiistnining considerable damage durin^' a niiinllig Hgiil fo;- more than three houiM. 'f'h< I'lkii jnirl been hiilliMl several tiinen. lull not seriously hurt, while the Urititli vessels were a good i\tn\ I III up. Vco tinal ly escaped to Amherst Uay, whoso navigation was strange to the Ainerlciiii j)||nIi, and he was not followed, t hannccy lay off the Pucks until the 1 7th, when Sir.lnimt made his way into Kingston harbor. Chauncey jiow ran into .Sackctt's Ilarhort'or supplies. On the 18th the American squadron sailed for the Niagara for troops fo he con veyed to Sackett's Harbor, and was followed by the enemy. AH or remaining a th days, Chauncey crossed the lake with the JH/ir, Madison, and Sylph, eaili with a schooner in tow, having been informed that the enemy was in York harbor. Whwi he approached, Sir James fled, followed by Chauncey in battle order and with tk wcatlu!r-gaga The ])aronet was now compelled to tiglit, or to cease boasting of un- satisfied desires to measure strength with Americans. An action commenced ;ii ii little past noon, when the Pike for more than twenty minutes sustained the dosiKrv. assaults of tin- heaviest vessels of the enemy. She was managed admirably, and de- livered tremendous broadsides upon her antagonists. She was gallantly as.'»ist(il s part of the time by the Tompkins, Lieutenant W. C. I?. Finch, of the Madimn ; and when the smoke of battle passed away, the Wolfe (Sir James's flag-ship) was found to sued. "Notliiiifr conldlinTC beon Blmplpr or b<-ttcr devtnp(l," snye Cooper, "tliaii ttiis order i^ aUln; nor Is It pw.-iii'i J to say wliat wonid have been llie coiise<-aonccB had circnmBlanccn allo-.iod tlio plan to be rigidly observed." A AMI of tlie poBltloua of the Tesael.-i in this en);a«;e>r.ent »'aB »ent by Chauncey with h(« report of the affair to itic X«h lk-| partment. 1 ilamea Trant was a nat've of Ireland, and came to America in ITSl with Cnpiain Barry, in the AUiawc V i«allinuiiiagtcr in the Unilcil State? Navy from it."^ forniution. He was marke^i by eccentricities of (tmriuioi InnB, iind for the nioet iinfllnclii.' jj con-nee. ITc livi-d nntil he wa."! nbont aevenf y years of ape. Toward tli.- Ilfi> 111- was commlwloned a lieutennnl (May f>, ISl"), which gave him <{reat comfort. He died at Phiiudili llthofSeptemlwr, I-hSO. • It appears, b-' the offloialreportJ'nindc at almnt that lime, l.hatom fifth of the men were left on shore incd: of illneM. Of tw<i hundred men on board the Madimm, eighty ware on the sick-llit at one time. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 64S ABtttleatliM. PeriloM Sltttltlon of the British Sqoadron. British Ti ansportB captared. A new Expedition. be too Boriously injured to sustain a ooiiHict any longer, Slic had lost hor main and mizz*"" top-masts, and her main yard, liosidcs recv'vinsr other injuries, and when dis- covered slie wa.i pushinji; away (lei'd heforc tius wind, c.owded with canvas, and gal- lantly protected by the Royal Georye in her flight. A general chase was immediate- ly commenced, and a running fight was maintained for some time. The pursuit was coiitiiiued toward Burlington Bay for two hours, wiien C'liauncey called ofl'his vessels. Xo doubt, by pressing sail, and with i)roj)er support, he might have captured or de- stroyed the British S(iuadron,' but the wind was increasing, and there was no good harbor or place of shelter on the coast, where, in tlie event of being driven ashore, capture by land troops would be almost certain. Taking counsel of prudence, Chaun- rcy s-fiiled into the Niagara, and there lay safely during a severe gale that lasted for- tv-ciglit hours. For two days after the gale had subsided the wind blew strongly from the east, when it shifted to the westwai'd.* All the transports with troops had now . October 2, ijcjiartod for Sackett's Harbor, and (!hauncey went out again in search of *'*^''- the foe. The weather was thick, and the Lady of the Lake, sent to reconnoitre Bur- linfjtonBay, reported that only two gun-boats were to be s(,'en there. Supposing the tiicniy to have escaped under cover of mist or darkness, Chauncey sailed away east- ward, and at sunset of the 5th of October, when near the Ducks, the Pike captured three British transports, (JonJiancCy ILxmiUoui,'- and Mary. The Sylph captured the !)rHi)iiuo)i(l cutter, and the armed transport Lady Gore. These carried from one to \.\iKC guns each. The whole numl>er of persons found on the five vessels, and made piitioners, including the ofl?cers, was two iiundred and sixty-four. Among the latter was a lieutenant and two muster's males of the royal navy, four masters of the pro- vinciiil marine, and ten army ofticerH. During the remainder of the season Sir James Vio remained inactive in Kingston harbor, and Commodore Chauncey was employed ill wiitcliiMg tlie movements of the enemy there, and in aiding the army in its descent „llliC HllMM/MfVti. .Mler much (lineKHdhx) (i( Hackett's Harbor between the Secretary of War, (ieneral WilMilHon, find other oflheis, it was det ined to pass Kingston and make a descent ii|i(iii Modlniil (''or weeks the busti i" preparation had been great, and many ;irmed boats and transports had been built at the Harbor. Everything was in readi- msi< by tlie 4th ofOctober.^ Yet final f>rdcr8 were not issued until the 12th, when apian of encampment and order of battle a as given to each general oflficer and corps comiiiaiider, to be olmerved when circumstances would permit. Four days more wcic consumed without any apparent necessity, when, on the 17th, orders were given for the embarkation of all the troops at the Harbor destined for the expedition. At tlie same lime, (teneral Hampton, who, as we have seen, bad been halting on 1 1 banks of the C'liateaugay, was ordered to move down to the mouth of that river. 1 Chuincey was indignant and loud in his complaints of a want of support on thin occasion. Bpeaklni; of this, the Eon. Alviii Broniidn, of Oswego, New York, in a letter to nic, dated Augimt 28, ISOO, iiii,v» : " While on board the British i Stft as » prisoner in May, 1S14, and asBoclntlnK familiarly with its mibordinate ofliccrB, I received ample conHrmntion of ifporU tliiit hn.i been cHrrciit in the army and navy of tlie bad conduct of sonic of the officcrH under Comnioiiorc < baun- I nylnatlien late naval cnKagemeut at the head ofthc lalie. It was a runnlnt; fight, and the British sailors facetiously iilMIt the IhirHngtan liofta, as it was fought partly off Hurllngtoii Heights. Chauncey was the assailant, and would j lire destroyed the British fleet, or have driven it on shore, bad he been properly sustained by his best and heaviest I tewli, pnrtlcularly the Madimn, tlommandcr Crane, and the lieavily-arnicd and fast-sailing brig Si/lpk, Captain Wool- I Ry. Tliesc vessels never gol into close action." The only excnso was that tliey had gnn-boats in tow ; but (liiiuncey'g Jiipul for close action, which he ktpt flying, implied that the vessels must cist ofl' every e- 'umbrance. "The British I titen," continues Mr. Bronson, " awarded Cliaunccy all credit for skill and bravery, and «d;nit jd that their fleet must I bjichpcn destroyed If ho had licen properly sustained by his subordinates " 'loiircr of a flag of truce whr went into Sackctt's Harbor on the \'Hh of October admit^.ed that Sir James Yeo wa« ' V hc;itf n on this occasion that he had made preparations to burn ;:N vessels, and would have done so had Choun- — : •nm twenty minutes longer. )'v. •yfjun f>!i tho ITot*'* starboard side was dlsmniintod.—I..etter to the Kdltor Mi(ic /VcM, dateil atSackett's B^ rbor.Octolier 13, 1818, and copied InTAs (Tar, ii., 80. ' ..Hiiiiiia' and llamilum were the (Irmeltr and Jttlii, captured fl'om the Americans on thb night of tb« 10th of An- I'lieir names had been changed by the captors. :.;icral Morgan Lewis's testimony on the trial of Wilkinson. it . tl !.! m 646 riCTOIlIAL FIELD-BOOK Wilkluaim'a Bxpaditlou leaves Sackett's Harbor. A disaatrouB Voyui;e. Oallantry of Capulii Mjet,'. With a reckleHS diHregard of life and property, tin- ti()(>]i,s under Major (n-neral Lewis were embarked at the beginning of a dark night, wlieii portentn of a Htorm wore liovering over tlie lake, at ;i aeasoti when sudden and vioh'iit gulen were likdv to arise. They weri' j)acked in seows, bateaux, Durham boats, and common hike suii- boats, with ordiuince, ammunition, hospital stores, baggage^, camp e()uipiige, and two months' ))roviHion8. The voyage was among islands and j)ast nunutrous j)oiiits u{ land where soundings and currents were known to few. Tliere was a scarcity uf pilots, and the whole flotilla seemed to have been sent out with very little of mjin's wisdom to direct it. The wind was favorable at the beginning, but towanl mid. night, as the clouds thickened and the darkness dee|)ened, it freshened, and latorc morning became a gale, with rain and sleet. The flotilla was scattered in every di- •October 17, rcctioii, and the gloomy dawn* revealed a sad spectacle. The shores ot '*'•'• the islands and the main were strewn willi wrecks of vessels and proi). erty. Fifteen large boats were totally lost, and many more too seriously daiuasici] to be safe. For thirty-six hours the wind blew fiercely, but on tlie 20th, there lim- ing been a comparative calm for more than a day, a large pro|)ortion xjf the troniis, with the sound boats, arrived at Grenadier Island.' These were chiefly the bilgaclis of Generals l?oyd, Hrown, ('ovington, Swartwout, and Porter^ (the three former liai| encamped at Henderson Harbor), which had arrived. General Wilkinson in the mean time was j)a8sing to ami fro between the Harbor and Grenadier Island, looking after the smitten expedition. A return made to him on the 2'Jd showed that a large number of troops were still behind, in vessels " wrecked or stranded." The weather continued boister- ous, and on the '24tii he was com])elled to write to the Secretary of War, " The ex- tent of the injury to our craft, clothing, arms, and provisions greatly exceed our ap- prehensions, and has subjected us to the necessity of furnishing clothing, and of making repairs and ecpiipments to the flo- tilla generally. In fact, all our hopes have been nearly blasted; but, thanks to the same Providence that placed us hi jeopardy, we are sur- mounting our diffi'nilties, and, God willing,! shall pass Prescott on the night of the Ist or 2d proximo." The troops remained encamped on Grenadier Island until the 1st of NovemWr, except General Brown's brigade, some light troops, and heavy artillery, which went ' The now venerable Ms^or Mordecal Myers, of Schenectady, New York, to whom I am Indebted for an iiilrwlin; narrative of the events of this campaitrn, was very active in savlnp: lives and property diirlnj; this boiateroiin woathft It was resolved to send back to Sackctfs Harbor all who could not endure acMve service in the campaien. Nearly rw.i hundred of these were put on board two srhooncrs, with hospital stores. The vessels were wrecked, and Captain Mmt on his own solicitation, was sent by General Jloyd with two liirtje boats for the rescue of the passenpers a..d crew, li found the schooners lylnu' on their sides, the sails napping, and the sea breaking over them. Many had pcrishcisDi! the most of those alive, '.uvlng drank freely of the llqnors among the hospital stores, were nearly all Intoxlrntnil. Tit hatches were open, and the vessels were half-illled with water. By great exertions and personal risk Captain .Mk> succeeded in taking to the shore nearly all of the two hundred persons v\\o had embarked on the schooners. For, or fifty of them were dead. ' t'olone! Parr's MS,,Ionmal. "October 10, first brigade, under Boyd— fith, 12th, and 18th Heglmenta; secomlbji gade, under Hrown— Gth, l.Mh. and 22d Regiments, already arrived and encamped. October 20, the third bripade. niwie Covington— »th, 10th, and 5Mh Regiments i and fourth brigade, nnder Swartwout— 11th, 21sl, and 14th, hnvo arrin-i The flflh, under Porter— light troops and artillery -arriving hourly. The weather sill! stormv, and continual ruii,* I the laat two days." V.tSk'.i ^u OF THK WAIi OF 1812. Ut otCip\.\\nU]»n. klivjor Ui'iKTal ts of ii storm 08 wiTi' likely imon laki' sail- |)ii<4(', mill t\\(i rous points uf ^ a scarcity dt little of iiunv ,t toward niiil- led, iintl bcldfc c<l in every iH- The shores of SHels iiiid |iroji- oiisly ilamai^cii iOtli, there liav- n xA' the tr()u|l^, fly the h'-isTiiiKs irce former IkuI flinipton In the Chateangay Country. Poittlon of the Belllfrerenti. Uampton'a criminal Negligence. limo." Ist of Novemlior, llery, which wtin Jebted for an liitcrMlin.' fills boisterous wcathei Irnmpai^n. >>«''> "" led, andCnptninMym, IsHcnpers ii..d crew. 11 Mnny hurt perished, «<' lly all intoxlonli^il- Thi linnl risk Captain M«rs the schooners. Font InenlmentB : sworn! W- Ithc third bricsdf, I'M'' land I4th, linv.^ sf'i'*' 1 and coutinnal niics [o: • October, down the St. Lawrence on the 29th,* and took post at French Creek. In the mean time Hampton, pursuant to Wilkinson's orders, moved'' down Wie- the ("hateaugay toward the St. Lawrence for the purpose of forming a ''" *' ' innction with Wilkinson from above. He found a forest ten or twelve miles in ex- ti'iit along the river in the line of his march, in whicii the vigilant and active De Siilaherry had felled trees across the obscure road, and placeil Indians and light troops to (li.spiite the passage of the Ameritans. (Jeneral (leorge Izard was at once sent out with light troops to gain the rear of these woods, and seize the Canadian settle- ments on the Chateaugay in the open country beyond, while the remainder of the aiiiiv ma<le a circuit in an opposit.' direction, and avoidetl the obstructed forest alto- irether. The movement was successful, and on the following tlay*^ a great- ^ er portion of the army encamped at Spear's, near the confluence of the Outard Creek and the Chateaugay Iliver.' It was an eligible position, and thery llam|)ton remained until the stores and artillery came u]) on the 24th. Iniiiiediately in front of the army at Spear's was ar> open comtry, seven miles along the river, to Johnson's,^ where another extensive forest lay in the way. These woods had hecn formed into abatis, covering log breastworks and a log block-house. On tlie latter were some pieces of ordnance. In front of ihese defenses were Indians and iiliuiht corps of Beauharnais inilitia, and behind th"m, under the immediate command of Lieutenant Colonel De Salaberry, was the remainder of the disposable force of the enemy, charged with the duty of guarding a ford at a small rapid in the river, and keeping open communication with the St. Lawrence. De Salaberry's force was almost a tliousand strong, and Sir George Prtvost and General De Waitville were within liiigle call with more troops. Ilanipton determined to dislodge De Salaberry, take possession of his really strong- hold, and keej) it until he should hear from Wilkinson, from whom no tidings had heen received for several days. lie was informed of the ford oi>])osite the lower flank iif the enemy, and on the evening of the 25th he detached Colonel Robert Purdy, ot tlie Fourth Infantry, and the light troops of Boyd's l)rigade, to force the ford, and fall upon the British rear at dawn. The crack of Purdy's musketry was to be the signal tor the main body of the Americans to attack the enemy's front. But the whole movement was foiled by the ignorance of the guides and the darkness of the night. I'lirdy crossed the river near the camp, lost his way in a hemlock swamp, and could mutlior find the ford nor the place from which he started. His troops wandered about all night, and diiFerent corps would sometimes meet, and excite mutual alann by the supposition that they Iiad encountered an enemy.^ In the morning Purdy ex- tricated his command from the swamp labyrinth, and, within half a mile of the ford, halted and gave them permission to rest, for they were excessively fatigued. In tiie iman time Hampton put three thousand five hundred of his "rmy in motion, under (li'tieral Izard, expecting every moment to hear Purdy's guns; but they were silent. The forenoon wore away ; meridian was past ; and at two o'clock Izard was ovdered 1 1 move for\\ ard to the attack. Firing immediately commenced, and the enemy's i j keta were driven in. The gallant De Salaberry came out with about three hund- ^~•^ Canadian fcncibles and voltigeurs, and a few Abenake Indians, but Izard's over- whelming numbers pressed him back to liis intrenchraents. Kiting was now heard on the other side of the river. Purdy, who seems to have neglected to post pickets or sentinels, had been surprised by a small detachment of 'This point Is seen at the junction of " Hamptou'H ronte" and "Smith's road" on the map on page 881. The stream *en along " Smith's road" is the Oiitard. • Sec Map on page SSI. '"Incredible as it may apjiear," said Pnrdy, in his ofBclal report to Wilkinson, "Oenernl Ilamptou intrusted nearly «M half of his army, and those his best troops, ti> the guidance of men foch n/ vhmn repeatfdlfi asmtred him that fA«y vri ml nn/iiaintf-d with the euuntrii, and were not compctciit to direct such an expedition." "Never, to my knowledge," Kill Pnrdy, in another part of his report, "during our march into Canada, and while wc remained at the Four Comers, alenn oftwenly-six days, did General Hampton ever send off a scouting or reconnoitring party, except in one or two cues at Speur's, lu Canada." m ;;, |:! 1 1 it if m 648 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Dlagraceftil Events. Hamptun't inglorioni Retreat Wllklu8ou'« Expedition on the Hi. Lawrence ^^ chasseurs and Canadian militia, who gained his rear. His troops, utterly dis<";ii(ertoi] fled to the river. Several oflicers and men swam across, bearing to (ienonil llaiiijiton alarming accounts of the gieat number of the enemy on the other side of the HtiCiim That enemy, instead of being formidable, had Hc^d atler his first tii-e, and the Uulicnju^ scene was presented of frightened belligereius running away from each other. All was confusion; and detachments of Purdy's scattered men, mistaking each otlicv tor enemies in the dark swamp, had a spirited engagement. The only sad fruit of tin. blunder was the death of one man. De Salaborry liad perceived that superior numbers might easily outflank him, am] he resorted to stratagem. He posted buglers at some distance from eadi ollur, and when some concealed provincial militia opened fire almost upon Hampton's Hank. these buglers simultaneously sounded a charge. Hampton was alarmed. Krdni tin seeming extent of the Britisli line as indicated by the buglers, ho sup- I)Osed a heavy force was about ii, fall upon his front and flank. He immediately sounded a retreat, and withdrew from the Held. The enemy in a body did not venture to follow, but the Canadian militia' harassed the army as it IMl slowly back to its old cpiarters at Cljateaugay Four Corners, where its inglorious campaign ended. The whole affair was a disgrace to the American arms, and, as om of the surviving actors in the scenes (now a distinguished mnjor gcnenil in tlic I'nitiil States Army) lias said, "no officer who had any regard for his reputation would vn] untarily acknowledge himself as having been engaged in it."'^ In this attair, wliiil has been uns.arrantabiy dignifled with the character of a battle, the Ameiiiiiiis lo>i about fifteen killed and twenty-three wounded. The British lost live killed, si-xtim wounded, and four missing.^ Storm followed storm on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. Snow fell to tk- deptii of ten inches, and the troops collected by Wilkinson on Grenadier Island siit'- fen'(l much. The season was too far advanced — a Canadian winter was too near— to allow delays on account of weather, and (ieneral Brown and his division moved for- ward, in the face of the tempest and of great ])eril, on the '20th of October. Tlicv landed at French Creek, and took post in a thick wood about half a mile up from tln' present village of Clayton. Chauncey in the mean time attempted tc blockade tlir enemy in Kingston Harbor, or at least to prevent his going down the river either to pursue the Americans or to take possession of and fortify the important old military post at the head of Carletoti Island, just below Cape Vincent, lint Chuuncey's l>lo(k- ade was ineffectual. British marine scouts were out among the Thousand Tslaml*: and when, on the afternoon of the 1 st of Xovember, they discovered Brown at Fremli Creek, two brigs, two schooners, and eight gun-boats, filled Avith infantry, were m\\ and ready to bear down upon hii»i. They did so at about sunset of the same (iuy. Fortunately Brown had planted a battery of three IB-pounders on Bart'.ett's Point,;! high wooded bluft' on the western shore of French Creek, at its mouth, under the cmii- mand of Captain M'Pherson, of the light artillery. This battery, from its elevation, was very effective, and it was served so skillfully that the enemy were driven away after some cannonading. Ai, dawn the next morning the conflict was renewed wiiL ' In Ills offlclal diBpntch Sir George Provost nnltcd /ron> t'le Prince Regent a stand of colora for each of the live >jl- talions of Canadian mllllin as ii mar); of opprohation. Tliey were granted. a Major Generjljohn E. Wool, who then held the commlsRlon of major In the Twenty-nluth HegimentUniieil Stain Infantry. I am Indebted to written and OTal statements of (Jcneral Wool for many of the facts given concemine ili( affair near Johnston's, on the Chateangay. Hon. Nathaniel S. Bentop, of Little Falls, New York, late Auditor of it. State of New York, and anth r of a Hintori/ of Herkimer Onivti/ and Ur <'pper Muliawk yallfij, wis captain of a iniliia company engaged in ihis affair. He informed me that his company n.imSered loa men, and oH of them his o 3 beigfc — eix feet. , ' American and British OfHclal Keporte ; General Orders ; Christie's, Auchinlcck's, Thompiion's, Perkins's, and lew toll's Histories ; Armstrong's Notices, etc. i I OF THE WAB OK 1912. hii \ the St. Lawrence. discoiioertcj, (Till llaniiiton oi" iho Hticiim. I the lu(^K•l•()ll^ ch otlu'v. All each otlii'v fur ttd fruit of till' Lflank him, and L'lK'h olhc'i', iiiiil imptoirH Hunk. It'll. From tin the British line bugU'Vs, 111! siiji- e was ahinii tn and flank. \h neniy ui a hoily army as it loll •e its iniiloriiiii- irnis, and, us urn ral in tho United ation Avoulil vhI- this afl'air, wliicli e Americans lost ve killed, sixteen Snow fell to the ladier Island snl- was too near— 1» ■ision moved for- ' October. Tliiy mile u]» from iIk- tc blockutlc tile he river ehlii'v to jtant. old military laimcey'shlock- 'housaml TslamU; Brown at Fremli iifantry, were out of the sanie d;iy. «artlett'sPoint,;i h, under the com- •om its elevation, ere driven away ■as renewed , witli I for each of the Ave M- jHeslmentUnileilSHW Its Riven coiiccraini; lk» fork, late Auditor of tt« I WAS captain of a railiw II of them hl» a beigb li's, Perkins'*, an^I^'?'^ Amerlctn Camp at French Creek. The attacktu^ Brttlih repulaed. Wllklnaon pursued down the 8t. Lawrence. the same result, the enemy in the two enpaffemi'nts having- snffered irinih loss. That of the Americans was two killed and four wounded. It was with much difficulty that tlie British saved one of their brigs from capture. Troops were coming down from Grenadier Island in the 'iieau time, and lamling upon llie point on which Clayton' now stands, and along the shoni of French Creek as far as tlic lumber and rafting yard on what is still known as Wilkinson's Point. Wilkinson arrived there on the ;ul, and on the 4th'' he issued a general or- . Novemtwr, dcr preparatory to final embarkation, in which he exhorted liis troops to ***"*• sustain well the character of American citizens, ami abstain from r ipine and plunder. "Tlie u'eiieral is determined," he said,*' to have the first person who sliall be detected in plundering an inhabitant of Canada of the smallest amount of property made an example of."* MODTU ur VKENOII UKKKK.* On the morning of the 5tli, a clear, bright, crisp morning, just at dawn, the whole flotilla, comprising al- most three hundred boats, moved down the river from Fri'iu'li Creek witli banners furled and music silent, for they wished to elude dis- covery by the British, wlio, until now, Avere uncertain whether the expedition was intended for Kingston, Pres- cott, or Montreal' The vig- ilant foe had immediately discovered their course, and, with a heavy armed galley and gun -boats filled with troops, started in pursuit. The flotilla arrived at Morristown early in the evening. It had been annoyed by the enemy all the way. Several times Wilkinson was dis- posed to turn upon them ; and at one time, near Bald Island, about two miles below Alexandria Bay, he was compelled to engage, for the enemy's gun-boats shot out of the British channel on the north, and attacked his rear. They were beaten ofl", and Wilkinson determined to run by the formidable batteries at Prescott during the night. It was found to be impracticable, and his boats lay moored at Morristown until morn- ini;. A corps of land troops from Kingston had also followed Wilkinson along the hoithern shore of the river, and arrived at Prescott before the American flotilla reached Ogdenshurg. For the purpose of avoiding Fort Wellington and the other fortifications at Pres- cott, Wilkinson halted throe miles above Ogdensburg, where he debarked his ara- iMUuition and all of his troops,^ except a suflicient number to man the ' November e. ' This wne formerly called Cornelia, and Is yet called by the name of French Creek. It was named In honor of Senator ' ilm M. Clayton, of Delaware, iu ISai!. French Creek was called by the Indians Fallrn Fort, from the circumstance that, : A\i bi'fcire a white man was ever seen there, a fort had been captured on its banks by the Oneidas. : IJeiiiTal Order, French e:rpek, November 4, 1813. ' The loat that conveyed Wilkinson and his military family was commanded by the now venerable William John- 't.iii, who was an active spy on that frontier during the war. lie is better known as " Bill Johnston, "by some called the llfro." and by others the " Pirate," of the Thousand Islands. Of Mr. Johnston and his remarkable career I shall write |)re«ently. ' Thifl is from a sketch made In the .inmnier of l.sflfl, fi-om the place of Brown's encampment, at the Inmber and raft- II:; yard on Wilkinson's Point. In the water, in the fire^round, ia seen a raft partly prepared for a voyage down the ^' Ijiwrencc. The bluff in the distance, beyond the little aail-vnssel, is Bartlett's Point, on which M'Pherson's battery • IS pinced, The vessel without sails Indlc tea the i)lacc where the British stjuadron lay when It was repulsed. Tiie ;:\ seen lioyond Is Grindstone Island, from behind which the British vessels came. The point In the middle dlstsnce, II ihe extreme right, la the head of Shot-bag Island. 600 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK 1 i ■ ■ - , ' ' Pll Mmi^4 DlfflcuUlei lu Wllkinaun'i W»y. A Council of Offlcem. Nomber and Poiltlon of tbo Hiiclib Porcr. U;ll,l> IHI.A.1II AM> UII.K1MIU.n'S tl.UTlLLA.> boats. These were to be conveyed by land to the "Red Mill," four miles IhIdwOo densbiirg, on the American shore, and the boats were to run by the batteries ihiu night. At the place of debarkation he issued a proclamation to the Canadians, in tended to n.ake them passive;-' and there, at noon, lu; was visited by ('oloml Kiuij Hampton's adjutant general. By him he sent orders to Hampton to press forward to the St. Lawrence, to form a junction with the descending army at St. liegis. By the skillful management of General Brown, the whole flotilla passed Prtscoti safely on the night of the Gth, Avith the exception of two large boats heavily laden with provisions, artillery, and ordnance stores,'' which ran aground at Ogdt tisbmi;. They were taken off under a severe cannonading from Fort Wellington, and soon •NovemberT, joined the Others* at the " Red JNIill." Wilkinson was now informed that ^*'^- the Canada shore of the river was lined with posts of musketry and anil lery at every eligible point, to dispute the passage of the flotilla. To meet and n move these impediments. Colonel Alexander Macomb was detached, with t\vilv( hundred of the Uitf of the army, and on Sunday, the 7th, landed on the Canada shore. He was soon followed by Lieutenant Colonel Forsyth and his riflemen, who did ex- cellent service in the rear of Macomb. The flotilla arrived at the " White House," opposite Matilda,* about eighteen milc> below Ogdensburg, on the 8th, and there Wilkinson called a council of his oftiecis, consisting of (ienerals Lewis, Boyd, Brown, Porter, Covington, and Swart wout. Alt- er hearing a report from the active chief engineer. Colonel Swift, concerning the re- ported strength of the enemy,* the question. Shall the army ])roceed with all |)ossil)li' rapidity to the attack of Montreal? was considered, and auswered.in the attinuative. ' This Is from ft sketch by Captnin Vnn Cleve (see note 1, page BIT), who kiudly allowed me the use of It. Bnld Island Is one of the Thousand Islands, and lies on the left of the American or steam-ljoat cbnuucl of the river. It ib mostli bare, and rises to the height of about thirty or forty feet above the water hi the centre. At some distance beyomlii. nortliward, Is the British channel. The gun-bouts that attacked Wilkinson's flotilla came out at the lower end ufBtld Island, through a lateral channel in which the sall-vesscl lies. » He assured them that he came to Invade, and not to destroy the province— "to subdue the forces of his Brltanni Majesty, not to war against unoffending subjects. Those, therefore," he said, " who remain qniet at home, should vic- tory incline to the American standard, shall be protected In their persons and property ; but tho.«e who are founii in arms must necessa'ily be treated as avowed enemies. To menace is unmanly ; to seduce, dishonorable ; yet it is juft and humane to place these alternatives before you."— ^Proclamation, November 7, 1813. ' Thi- tlolllla moved at eight o'clock in the evening, under cover of a heavy fog, General Brown, in his gig, leading the way. There waA a sudden change In the atmosphere, when the generaVs boat was di«c.->vered at Prescott, and aliiws! fifty 24-pound shot were fired at tier, vithout effect. The gleaming of bayonets on slmre. In the light of llic iuodh in the west, caused a heavy cannonade In the direction of the American troops on the march, also without effect. Browa baited the flotilla until the moon went down, but its general movement was perceived by the enemy. For three hniii- they poured a destructive Are upon it, aiul yet, out of about three hundred boats, not one was touched, and oulyom man was killed and two wounded.— General Wilkinson's Journal, November 6, 1S13. According to the statement of Captain Mordecal Myers, already referred to (note 1, page M6), there were traltoreic Ogdensburg. He says that the British at Prescott were apprised of the approach of the flotilla by the burning ofWof lights lu one or more honscs in Ogdensburg. * Matilda Is a post vlUa'^e In Dundas County, Canada West, on the Point Iroquois Canal. The " White House " hi.l disappeared when I visited the spot in 185B, when the place belonged to James Parlor. ' Colonel Swift employed a secret agent, who reported to him that the enemy's forces were as follows in number Mil position : aOO under Colonel Murray, at Coteau du Ijic, strongly fortified with artillery . about 300 men of tiie Briliih line of artillery, but without ammunition, at the Cedars; 300 sailors, 400 marines, and an unknown number uf militia (.; Montreal, with no fortifications; 2600 regular troops expected dally from Quebec; and the mllilla between Kinetlon and Quebec, 20,000. Wilkinson reported his own force to be 7000 men, and that he expected to meet 40<io, under Ilamp^ ton, at St. Regis.— Journal of Dr. Amasa Trowbridge, quoted by Dr. Hough lu his Uittmy nfSl. Latereuee Cuunlj, page 63t. OF TU£ WAIi OF 1819. esi the Britbh Font. 0<Derll Brown Invade* Caaad*. WIlklnMn In Ptrll. PrapAmtlou* for Buttle »t Chrjrslar't Farm. ' White House" hid (iiMiinil Hrowii WUH at onco ordcrofl to croHS the river with hi?* briirade and the drn- liiioim, for tiie purpowe of murchiiii^ down tlie Caiiadii nide of ilie river iu conuectioii ttiih Colonel M:i('oml), and the remaiinler of the day and nigiit waH coimmncd in the initii'l'ortation. ' Meanwliii<' Wilkinson waH informed that a British le-enforeenient, full i>ne thousand wtronj^, had been sent down from Kingston to Preseott, under the ,.,,iiiin;ind of Lieutenant Colonel Moi rison. They had come in the armed Hcliooners Ikn^/i'rd .md Sidney Sinit/ . txjul several gun-boats anil bateaux uiuler Captain Mul- eiiHter, whieh had eluded Chaiuieey's inetticient bloekading s(juadron. They were jciiiu'tl at Prcscott by provincial infantry and dragoons under Lieutenant Colonel irsoii, an<l on the nioriiing (/f the !Mh they were (dose upon Wilkinson with the visself in whieh they came down the river, and a large portion of the land troops wiTo debarked near Matilda for the puqmso of pursuing the Americaim. General Miiyd and his brigade were now dctacdied to re-enforc(! Hrown, with orders to cover his inarch, to attack the pursuing enemy if necessary, and to co-operato with tbo oilier commanders. Wilkinson now found liiinself in a perilous position. Tlie Hritisli armed vessels wore following his flotilla, and a heavy IJritish force was hanging upon the rear of iiis liuid troops, ready to co-operate with the water craft in an attack upon the Amer- ieuiis. They constantly harassed lirown and Boyd, and occasionally attacked the ri-aioftiie fljtilla. The forces on the shore also encountered detachments coming u|i from below, and were com|)elled to make some long and tedious circuits in their luiircli l)e(!aiise of the destruction of bridges in the f'-ont. On the morning of the lOth," when Wilkinson was approaching the "November, "Loiigue Saut," a perilous rapid in the St. Lawrence, eight miles in extent, **'"• he was informed that a considerable body of the enemy had collected near its foot, coiistnu'ted a block-house, and were i)repareil to attack hini when he should come (lott II. General Brown was ordered to advance at once and dislodge them, and at uooii cannonading was heard in that direction for some time. At the same hour the eiu'iiiy came pressing [)on Wilkinson's rear, ami commenced cannonading from his min-bouts. The Amer. an gun-barges were, so slender that the eighteen-])ounder8 could not be worked effectively, so they were landed, jdaced in battery, and brought 10 bear upon the ei.^iuy so skillfully that his vessels fled in haste up the river. In these operations the day was mostly consumed. The pilots were unwilling to enter the iJipids at night. It was necessary to hear from Brown, for when the flotilla should once be committed to the SAvifl current of tli(? rapids there could be no retreat. Tiiese considerations caused Wilkinson to halt for the night, and his vessels were mooiod a liitlc below Chrysler's Island, nearly in front of the farm of John Chrysler (ii British militia captain then in the service), a few miles below Williamsburg, while Hoyd, with the rear of the land force, encamped near. At ten o'clock in the morning of the 11th Wilkinson received a dispatch from Brown, addressed from " five miles above Cornwall," announcing his success in his attack upon the British post at the foot of the rapids, informing him of the wounding of Lieutenant Colonel Forsyth and one of his men, and urging him to come forward with the boats and supplies as quickly as possible, becatise his wearied troops were "without covering in the rain."^ This dispatch found W^ilkinson extremely ill, and his reply, in which he told Brown of the presence of the enemy upon his rear, and his apprehensions that he intended to pass him with bis guu-b«iats and strengthen the British force below, was addressed " From my bed." " It is now," he said, " that I feel the heavy hand of disease — enfeebled and confined to my bed while the safety ' A p«rt of th' fiirco Innded on the property of Christian Pelftbooifh, near Matilda, owned, In 1858, by Daniel Shaw. Another imrtin, luled at Snydcr'c, now Pillar's 15ay. ' General Brown's MS. Letter-book. Colonel Carr, In his MS. Journal before me, says ; " We are wet to the skin, and, bavin; no tents or shelter but boshes, must pass a very uncumfortable night." Dat^ " Near Cornwall, November 10, iiir.ii." Ea ,%. ^, 'V^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) i.O lA^lM ■2.5 |30 "^ Mm liii 112.2 Eui ■ 1.1 l.*^"! 2.0 L2I ill u 1 1.6 'V % Hiotograpbic ^Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 8TZ-4503 f^ '^^ v^^ \^ ^<^ \ w ir-ii 061 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Position of the British on CL.ysIer'a Fann. Character of the Oronud. Assault on the British Vaniftiart. CUUVbl.Kll'H IN ll~66. ' of the army intnistcd to my command, the honor of our armies, and the greatest in- terests of our country are at hazard.'"^ Wilkinson now ordered the flotilla to proceed, and Boyd and his command to re- sume their march. At that moment information reached the commanding general that the enQmy were advancing In column, and that firing from their gun-boats was heard. He immediately sent Colonel Swift with an order for Boyd lo form lii.i di- tachment into three columns, advance upon the enemy, and endeavor to outflank iiini and capture his cannon, At the same time the flotilla was ordered to lie moored v^i the Canada shore, just below Weaver's Point, while his gun-boats lay off'Cook's Point. The brave Boyd, anx- ious for battle, instantly obeyed. Swart wout Mas detached with tlieibnilh brigade to assail the van- guard of the enemy, which was composed of light troops, and Cov- ington was directed to take position at supporting distance from him Avith tiie thin! brigade. Swartwout, on a large brown horse, dashed gallantly into woods of second growth, followed by the Twenty-first Regiment, commanded by Colonel E. W.Kipley, and with them drove the light troops of the enemy back upon their main liiie in open fields on Chi-ysler's farm, below his house.^ That line was well posted, its right rest- ing on the St. Lawrence, and covered by Mulcaster's gun-boats, and the left on a black-oak swamp, supported by Indians and gathering militia, under Colonel Tlionias Fraser. They wore advantageously formed back of ''avinef. that intersected tiie ex tensive plain and rendered the advance of the American artillery almost inijiossible, and a heavy rail-fence.* • This is a view of Chofsler's honie and the ontbnildlngs as they appeared when I visited the spot In AnRUSt, lSSi,i cirnmstance to be noticed premsntly. The house fronted the St. Lawrence, The road, in which the oxen and cart m sect, Is the fine highway along the river from Cornwall to prescott. » General Brown'H MS. I,ctter-lrook. > This conHlct is usually called the battle of Chrysler's Field. It is sometimes called the battle of Wllllanidrarp, Ihit Village beinf; almost within cniinon-shot rauge of the battle-fleld. Chrysler's na-ne Is fl-fiucntly Hpelled with r t. ♦ Ttio British army, on this occasion, was slightly superior in numbers, countlnii; its Indian allies, to the Aracrlcum and had the double advanta^'u of stronc position behind ravines and of frcxhncss, for the Americans hnd nndcri;"n^ great fatigue. They were formed in what Wellington called m ichehtii, or the flgnre of steps, with one corps niorf ii- Tjaiced than another, as follows : Three companies of the Eighty-ninth Regiment were posted on the extreme right OF THE WAR OF 1812. ess the BrItlLh Vanguard. BatUe on Cbrjrsler'B Farm. locidenta of the Cuntoat. The Aniericanh repntaed. d the greatest iii- 8 command to re- imanding gen('r;il eir gun-boats was d lo form hi? do- or to outflank him I to lie moored o'l off Cook's Point. brave Boyd, anx- battle, instantly S wart woul was ed with tlie fourth to assail the van- of the enemy, ■was composed of ■oops, and Gov- im -with the third woods of second onelE.W.Kiplcy, main liae in open ted, its right rest- md the left on a r Colonel Thomas itorsccted the ox- Imost impossible, apot In AiiRMt,!*''''' II the oxen nml carl art Irown'B MS. Utter-l.ii"k tleofWinianiKlrarp.tbsi ly spelled with a I- allies, to the AracricMt icrlcana had nndcre"« flth one corpe more "a 1 on the extreme right, .1 ^ Swartwout's sudden and successful dash was qni( kly follo\,'('d by an attack on the enemy's ielt by the whole of the fourth brigade, and a part of the first, under Colonel Coles, who advanced across plowed fields, knee-deep in mud, in the face of a heavy shower of bullets and shrapnel-shells.' At the same time General Covington, mount- ed on a fine white horse, gallantly led the third brigade against the enemy's left, near the river, and the battle became general. By charge after charge, in the midst of diffieulties, the British were pushed back almost a mile, and the American cannon, placed in fair pontion by General Boyd, under the direction of Colonel Swift, did excellent execution for a few minutes. Tlu- squadron of the Second Regiment of Dragoons Avas early on tlie field, and much exposed to the enemy's fire, but, owing to tiie nature of the ground, was unable to accomplish much. At length Covuigton fell, severely wounded,^ and the ammunition of the Americans began to fail. It was soon exhausted, and the fourth brigade, hard pushed, fell back, followed by Colonel J. A Coles. This retrograde movement affected the third brigade, and it too fell back, in considerable disorder. The British perceived this, and followed up the advantage gained with great vigor, and were endeavoring by a flank movement to capture Boyd's cannon, when a gallant charge of cavalry, led by Adjutant General Walbach, who had obtauied A'-m- strong's permission to accompany the expeditioi,, drove them back and saved the pieces. The effort was re- newed. Lieutenant Smith, who commanded one of the cannon, was mortally wounded, and it fell into the ene- my's hauds.^ The conflict had lasted about five hours, in the midst of cold, and snow, anil sleet, when the Americans were compelled to fall back. During that time victory had swayed, like a pendulum, between the combatants, and would doubtless have rested with tlie Americans had their ammunition held out. Their retreat was ])romising to be a rout, when the flying troops were met by six hundred men under Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Upham,* of the Twenty-first Regiment of Infantry, and Major Mal- colm, whom Wilkinson had sent up to the support of Boyd. These checked the dis- orderly flight, and, taking position on the ground from which Boyd's force had been driven, they gallantly attacked the enemy, seized the principal ravine, and, with a se- vere fire at short ransket range, drove ^he British back and saved the day.* Mean- while Boyd ha! reformed his line in battle order on the edge cf the wood from which Swartwout dro ■ the foe at the beginning, and there awaited another attack. It was notmafle. Both parties seeired willing to make the excuse of oncomuig darkness a warrant for suspending farther fighting. The Americans, under cover of night, re- tired unmolested to their boats, and the British remained upon the field. Neither ^-/ c^.^fi!^t>tA^ ^ party had gained a victory, but the advantage was with the British.^ resting on the river, with a 6-,)onnrter, and commanded by Captain Bamea On their left, and a little In the rear, were llankinf; companies of the Forty-ninth and a detachment of fepclbles, with a fl-pounder, under Lieutenant Colonel I'ear- <on. Still further to the left and rear ■were other companiee of the Forty-ninth and Eighty-ninth Rpjfiments, and a 0- liounder, under Lieutenant Colonel Morrison, whose left rested on a pine foreat. In ftont of all were voltigeure, under Mulor Herrlott, und some Indians, nndcr Lieutenant Anderson. ' HIiellB cnntninlnpr a quantity of musket-halls, which, when the shell explodek, arc projected still farther. ' Covington was killed a short distance from Chrysler's barn (sec picture on pa^c 652), which was yet stnnding, well bored by inillots, when I visited the battle-ground In 1866. The British flred from that barn, and It Is belicv i 4 that a bullet from it was the one fatal to the general. The plaoe where he foil was on the site of a nursery of thrifty trees in IWB. ' William Wallace Smith was a cadet in 1809. He wos \ natlre of New Jersey. He was commissioned second lien- tenant of light artillery on the lat of June, 1812, and promoted to first lieutenant In October, 1813. In the battle on Chrysler's Field he was serving his field-piece himself, havinR loat all of hie men, when he was mortally wounded. He illeil. II prisoner, at Port Presoott, on the 13th of December, 1813. ' Hptiam wan a gallant soldier. We shall meet him ngnin on the NIajrnra frontier. ' MS. hkelch of the mlllt.iry career of Colonel Timothy Upham, by an officer of the army. ' OfflcinI dispatches of Wilkinson and Boyd, and LlentenanI Colonel Morrison ; Wilkinson's Journal ; Life of OenenI Hiconb, by Captain Oeorg* H. Richards ; Cl«neral Brown'i MS. letter-book ; Colonel Robert Carr'a MS. JoutuaI i the iji 'H '! jl '' 1 ^5 hi 654 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Thfl American Flotilla descends the 8t. Lawrence. Bad Conduct of General Uampum. JR -..., - ''.:fe»i^-^ ^ .yr^^ iJIMfB^MM^^ after the battle the ^^ '---"■^BiiiBME^^B^^^EMB^BSBi ^i^^^^ ^^ flotilla and gun-boat8 passed safely down the Long Kapids without discovering any signs of an ene- my, and at the same time the land troops marched in the same direction unmolest- ed. At Barnhart's, three miles above Cornwall, they form- ed a junction witli the forces under Gen- eral Brown, and Wil- kinson expected to hear of the arrival of Hampton at St. R{>. gis, on the opposite shore of tlie St. Lawrence. But he was disappointed. General lirown had written to Hampton the day before informing him of rumors of a liattit above, and saying, "My own opinion is, you can not be with us too soon," and beg- ging him to inform ihe writer by the bearer when he might bo expected at St. Rcijis.' Soon aller Wilkinson's arrival, Colonel Atkinson, Hampton's inspector general, ap- peared as the bearer of a letter from his chief, dated the 11th, in which the command- er of the left of the grand army of the North, who had fallen back to Chateaugay Four Corners, declari;d his intention not to join Wilkinson at all, but to co-operate in the attack on Montreal by returning to Champlain and making a descent from that place.2 Wilkinson was enraged, and declared that he would " arrest Hampton, ami direct Izard to bring forward the division." He was too feeble in mind aiul body to execute his threat, or do any thing that required energy ; and, after uttering a few varions pnbllshed Histories of the War; oral statementg to the author In 1866 by Peter Bronse, a survlvlDg flrltish sol- dier In the Dattle, living near the ground ; Dr. Amaea Trowbridge's narrative, quoted by Hough. The loss of the British In this engagement was 22 killed, 160 wounded, and 16 missing. The Americans lo?tl(l! hilled and 23T wounded. Among the killed and mortally wounded were General Covington, and Lieutenants Smith, Hunter, and Olmstead ; and their wounded olBcers were Colonel Preston, Majors Chambers, Cummings, and Nooii, df- tains Foster, Campbell, Myers, Murdoch, and Townsend, and Lleutenantsi Heaton, Pelham, Lynch, Williams, Browt. and Crary. Among the offlcers specially mentioned with praise were General Covington, Colonel Pearce, wlio took command of his corps when he fell. Colonels E. P. Gaines, E. W. Blpley, and Walbach, Lieutenant Colonel AKpinwa;;, Majors Cummlogs, Morgan, Grafton, and Gardner, and Lieutenants Whiting (his aid) and (late Mi^r General) W.J. Worth. The wounded In the battle were pitced In barns and log houses, and the mansion of Chrysler was made a hnspltai. \ bnllet passed through Cbptaln Myers's arm, near his shoulder, while at the head of his men In assailing the Hritisli if- hind the stone wall. The dcsperateness of the encounter may be conceived when the fact Is stated that of S9 men he lost 23. He shared General Boyd's qu.irter8 at French Mills. Dr. Man, a noted phypician, took him to his house. ini miles distant, where he remained four months. He there became acquainted with the daughter of Judge Wiiiiam B»i- li-y, of Plattsbnrg. and In March following they were married in that town. Mordecai Myers was born at Newport, Khodc Island, on the Ist of May, 17T6, and Is now <1867) In the nlnety-Mconj year of his age. He was educated In New York City, and became a mcrcliant in Richmond, Virginia. There he served In a military company under Colonel («(!■ erwnrd Chief Justice) Marshall. He soon returned to New York, engaged in bo! Ines3 there, and ser\-cd In an artillery company nnder the command of Cfliitir. .Tohn Swartwont. He was afterward commissioned an officer of infantry, aiiiKnr two years studied military tactics assidnonsly. When w.ir was threatenoii hew active in raising volunteer companies, and In March, 1812, he was commis-sioiinl » captain In the Thirteenth bntted States Infantry, and ordered to report to Colonel Peter B. Schuyler. Dnrinf; the m- he performed laborious and gallant services under several commanders In the Northern Departnent, and in ISIS Ihf disability produced by his wound caused him to be disbanded and placed on the pension roll fjr the half pay of « tip tain. Then ended his military career. He has resided n'any years iii Schenectady. He has been mayor r f that cily.iiii represented Now York city In the Legislature of the Statt for six years. ' Brown's MS. Letter-book » Letter of General J. G. Swift to the author of this work, dated "Geneva, N. Y., February l.t, 1S6fl." %^^^ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 066 of Oeneral Hampton. the tnoniing the battle the la and gun-boats ;d safely down Long II a ]) ids out discovering signs of an ene- and at the same ! the land troopg ohed in the same ction unmolest- At Barnharl's, • ee miles above ■nwall, they form- a junction witli forces under Gen- 1 Brown, and Wil- son expected t(] irofthe arrival of irnpton at St. lit- pointed. General munors of a hattli' 30 soon," and Vici;- .'Cted at St. Ueiris.i icotor general, iiji hich the commaiul- ick to Chatcaugay [but to co-operate lescent from thai rest Hampton, and mind and body td ler uttering a few se, a surviving SritlehBol- igh. The Americans lo?t 10! J and Lieutenants Smith, 'ammlng«,an(lNooii,(aiv Lynch, Williams, Brown, Colonel Pearce, who took tenant Colonel Afplii»a„, (lato Major General) W.J waemadeahoppitnl, A aMBiUugthcBritlelike- is stated that of S9 men h ■took him to his house, itn titer of Judge William B.! (IMT) in the nlnety-stconil jtid became a merchant i« mpany under Coloiirl|-« [ew York, enq«Kf " '" the command of Oa| i officer of Infantry, till f'" w-xrwaBthreatenenheirti 12 hewascommiwloiirt' Schuyler. DnrinRtbewK ep«rtnent,andinl815tb» ^11 fjr the half pay "'«'"; ecn ma vorrf that city, Mil 'Brown's MS. Utter-book 13, 1S60." j^ American Army at the French Mills. Character of tta chief Leaden. Hampton censured. 1H13. curses he called a council of war, and left Hampton to do as ho pleased. That coun- cil decided that the " conduct of Major General Hampton, in refusing to join his di- vision to the troops descending the St. Lawreme, rendered it expedient to remove the army to French Mills, on the Salmon River.'" " The opinion of the younger members of the council was," says General Swift, " that, with Brown as a loader, no character wou-d be lost in going on to Montreal ;"'^ but the majority said no, and on the folic winp day,* at noon, when information came that there was a . November i«, I'onsidcrable British force at Coteau du Lac, the foot soldiers and ar- tillerymen were all em- barked on the transports, under the direction of General Brown, and de- parted for the Salmon." Tlie horses of the dra- goons, excepting about forty, were made to swim across the cold and rap- idly-flowing river, there a thousand yards wide, and the squadron pro- ceeded to Utica. The flotilla passed up the Big Salmon liiver about six miles to its confluence with the Little Salmon, near the French Mills, when it was announced that the boats were scuttled, and the army Avas to go into winter quarters in huts.' Thus ended in disaster and disgrace an expedition which, in its inception, prom- ised great and salutary results. It was composed of brave and patriotic men; and justice to those men requires the humiliating confession from the historian that their failure to achieve complete success is justly chargeable to the incompetency of the chief commanders, and the criminal indulgence on the part of those commanders of personal jealousies and animosities. The appointment of Wilkinson to the command of the Northern Army was a criminal blunder on the part of the government. His antecedents were well known, and did not recommend him for a responsible position. Tlie weakness of his patriotism under temptation, and his too free indulgence in in- toxicating liquors, were notorious. Hampton was totally unfitted for the responsible station in which he was placed ;* and Armstrong, who was a fellow-soldier with them both in the old War for Independence, lacked some of the qualities most essential in the administration of the extraordinary functions of his office in time of war. His presence on the frontier during the progress of the expedition was doubtless detri- mei.tal to the service, and he left for. the seat of government at a moment when the poimsel and direction of a judicious Secretary of War was Uiost needed.' I-LM1E OK IIEUARKATIUN ON TUE SALMON UIVKU.* ' "The grounds ou which this decision was taken were— want of '.-road, want of meat, want of Hampton's division, •nil a belief that the enemy's force was equal, If not greater tl.an our own."— Oenernl J. G. Swift to General John Arm- nroiig, June 17, 1836. ' General Swift's Letter to Get eral Armstrong, June 17, 1886. ' In n general order Issued on the morning of the 13th, General Wilkinson said, " ' 'ho commander-in-chief In com- Vllfii to retire [from the Canada shore] by the extraordinary, nnexpecled, and, it iipp lars, unwarrantable conduct of M i.ii.r Oener.tl Hampton in refusing to join this army with a division of fonr thousand nen under ills command agree- I'llo to positive orders from the commauder-in-chlef, and, as he has been assured by the b jcretary of War, of explicit In- 'pn rions from the War Department." ' Tliln Id a view of the place where Wilkinson's flotilla was moored. The boats wer; soon frozen In the Ice, and in ''■'■■' i.iry, apprehensions being felt of their captnrr by the enemy, they were cut nni' i.'urnt do^vn even with the surface ' i!f kv, and sunk when It melted In the spring. ' Colonel Robert Carr's V.i. Illary. • See page 680. Uu Ibe Ulh of Noveml)er, General Brown, then in command of the army at I rench Mills, wrote, with coiwiderable P' t V i-.i ^"^"fll } ■ a * \\: ■fir f till ^ m J ■ - !- t m\ A '\ 056 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ^a^a^jA- 1S13. D«ath f nd fln-lal of (ieneral CoYtngton. Head-qnaitere of General Offl cer*. Hampton's Disobedience of OrdT" On arrivii:L,' at Salmon River the army was immediately debarked on the frozen shores, r.nd set to work in the construction of huts for wint«r quarters. Their first la- bor was the sad task of digging a grave for the remains of General Covington. He was shot through the body on the 11th, and died at Barnhart's on tlie morning of the 13th, just before the flotilla departed for French Mills.' Wilkinson at once loft for Malone, after transferring the coram«.r d •November 16, of the army to General Lywis,* who, with General Boyd, made LKWIS'C ANP BOVD'b lIRAD-QtlABTEIlg. his head-quarters at a long, low building, yet standing in 1860, a dingy red in color, on the left bank of the Salmon, near the present lower bridge over the river at French Mills or Fort Covington.^ Lewi< and Boyd obtained leave of absence, and the command of the army devolved upon Brigadier General Brown, who made las head-quarters on the right bank of the riv- er, in a house built by SpafFord in 1811 (store of P. A. Mathews in 1 860, corner of Water and Chateaugay Streets), and tiioro he received his commission'' of " Febmary ii, major general of the United '*'*■ States Army. Hampton, in the mean time, had retired to Plattsburg with his four thousand men. By special orders, sent from Malone by the hand of Colonel Swift (when on his way to Washington with dispatches),' Wilkinson directed Hampton tn join the army at French Mills. This, like other orders, were utterly disregarded by feeling to the Secretary of War, saying, " fou have learned that the grand army of the United States, after marching and countermarching most Inglorlouely, arrived at this place on the 13th instant. I must not express to yon my IndiL-- nation and sorrow. I did not expect you would have left us." In the same letter he said, " Colonel Scott will hand von this, and can give yon all the information you wish relative to our movements since he joined us [see page Kl-.'l, and the present situation of oar army. The public Interest would be promoted by the advancement of snch men as Scotl." —MS. Letter-book. ' Leonard Covington was n brave soldier. H'. was a native of Maryland, and bom In October, 176S. In 179-2 he was a comet of cavalry, and was dlstinguishcu lOr braver> under Wayne in the defense of Fort Recovery (see page 62) in June, ITM. He was i a the battle at the Manmee Rapids in August following, where Wayne achieved a victory over th« Indians. At the time of the first engagement he held the commission of lieutenant ; in the last he was captain. ]]f resigned in 1T96. From 1806 to 180T he represented a district of his native state in the National Congress. In isonhf was commissioned colonel of light dragoons, and In August, 1813, was breveted brigadier general. He accompunitd Wilkinson in his unfortunate expedition that ended at the French Hills. At the time of bis death, on the 13tb of No- vember, 1813, he was about forty-five years of age. » There was a block-house at French Mills sltnoted on the property, owned, when I visited there in Isso.byMr. M'Crea. General Covington's body was buried jnst outside of the hlock-honse, In the present gardjii of Mr. M'Cra. There also was buried the remains of Msjor John Johnson, of the Twenty-first Infantry,* who died at the station on lli» 11th of December, 1813. The block-house was named Fort Covington in honor of the slain general, and the villazf that grew up around the French Mills na also called Port Covington. The place was first settled by a few Frencli Canadians, who built mills there, and from this circumstance It was called i^'rench Milli- until after the war. 3 " I found Mr. Madisoa mn ;h grieved by the failure of the campaign," General Swift wrote to the author in Fcbn- ary, 1860. " It was generally believed that, had younger oiilcers been placed In command of the armies of Wilkinsra and Hampton, Montreal world uave been taken without the Inconseqnenthtl conflict at Chrysler's Field, thonih ihii affair gave distinction to several ofBcers for meritorious BerN'ices." M^or Totten sacceedcd Colonel Swift as chief™- gineer after he left, of whom Brown spoke in the highest terms. * MnJor Johnson was from Pennsylvania. He entered the service as a marine in 1800, and woa first lieutenar * nodcr Prsble St Tripoli in 18M. In April, 1813, he waa aulBtont a4Jatant general with the rank of major. In June be wu commissioned major. BBOWN 8 UBAD-OCABTIBS. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 657 ibedtctice of Ordert. hqdabtkm. g, low building, ajy red in color, Salmon, near the Br the river at nngton.'* Lewis of absence, an'! D- devolved upon I who made his t, bank of tlie riv- Spafford in 1811 1 1860, corner of trcets), and tLere n*" of FebniiTj U, nited urg with liis four of Colonel Swift ,cted Hampton to ly disregarded by Ld States, after maxchiog fcxpress to yoa rov innii:- flonel Scott win hand TOO due [6eepRge«l'>l,aDd at of Boch men asScoU. nerilTeS. InlTOvihPW! tec'ovcry (see page M> ia hleved a victory over ite last he was captain, llf lal Congress. InWto Incral. He accoinpawM \\eoth,onthel3thof:(o- ,veathereinlS6fl,l)yMr. ltgard::n"fMr.M'CK-s. Idied at the station on tli( 1 Boneral, and the villas J gettled by a few FrenA lafter the war. ■e to the author in Fcta- Ithe armies of Wilkin« Ller'g Field, thoash tlisl tolonel Swift OS chief ft- l»BBflrgtHeutenar'aii4tr f major. luJuncbcim nt Army relieved of Hampton's Presence. Sufferiugs of the Army at the French Hills. Departure of the Troops. Hampton. He had accomplished the defeat of eiForts to take Canada,' and, leaving General IzaT , of South Carolina, in command, he abandoned the service, and returned to his immense sugar plantations in Louisiana,'^ followed by the contempt of all vir- tuous and patriotic men. General Brown at once adopted measures for making the troops as comfortable as possible. Huts were constructed, but this was a work of much labor, and consumed several weeks. Meanwhile severe winter weather came. They were on tlie forty- lifth parallel, and at the beginning of December the cold became intense. Most of the soldiers had lost their blarkets and extra clothing in the disasters near Grenadier Island, or in the battle on Chrysler's Field. Even tlie sick had no shelter but tents. The country in the viciu ty was a wilderness, and provisions were not only scarce, but of inferior quality. A great quantity of medicines and hospital stores had been lost through mismanagement, and these could not bo procured short, of Albany, a dis- tance of two hundred and fifty miles. The mortality among the sick became fright- ful and disease prostrated nearly one half of the little army before they were fairly lioused in well-regulivted cantonments. ^ Taking advantage of this distress, British emissaries tried, by the circulation of written and printed placards, to seduce the suf- ferintj soldiers from their alL Ljlance. One of these written ])lacards (see a fac-sirailc on the next page), found one moniing upon a tree in one of the American camps, and presented to me by Colonel Carr, reads thus : "Notice. — All American Soldiers who may wish to quit the unnatural war in which they are at present engaged will receive the arrears due to them by the Amer- ican Government to th(! extent of five month's pay, on their arrival at the British out Posts. No man shall be required to serve against his own country." It is believed that not a single soldier of American birth was enticed away by such allurements. The enemy frequently menaced the cantonment at French Mills, as well as at Plattsburg, and toward the close of January Wilkinson received orders from the War Department to break up the post on Salmon River. Early in February the move- ment was made. The flotilla was destroye'l as fully as the ice in which it was frozen would permit, and the barracks wore consumed. The hospital at Malone was aban- doned ; and while Brown, with a larger portion of the troops, marched up the St. Law- rence and to Sackett's Harbor, the remainder accompanied the commander-in-chief to Plattsburg The enemy at Cornwall were apprised of this movement, and crossed the river on the ice on the day when the last American detachment left French Mills. Tacy were regulars, Canadian militia, and Indians, and plunder seemed to be their chief object. In tiiis they were indulged, and the abandoned frontier suflered much. No discrimination seemed to be made between public and private property, and it was estimated that at least two hundred barrels of provisions were carried away. Tims closed the events of the campaign of 1813 on the Northern frontier. I visited the theatre of the scenes described in this chapter partly in the year 1866, ' See note 8, page 2Se. ' lismpton tiad Immense sngar plantations in Louisiana, and was donhtless the most extensive planter and wealthiest man in tlie Sonthcrn States. He owned at one time five thousand negro slaves. He was a native of South Carolina, indwssbom in TTM. He was an active partisan soldier with Sumter and Marlon. In 1803 he was commissioned a ft rolosel of light dragoons, and a brigadier general in 1809. On the 2d ofMarch, 1S18, he was promoted to major general. Hi« inelllcient caroer is recorded '" i the text. In April, 1814, he resigned his com.nission, to the great Joy of the North- m .\rmy, with whom his deportment and habits had made him nnpopular. He died at Colambla, South Carolina, on ihe 4th of February, 1838, at the age of eighty-one years. ' The srmy was cantoned as ft)llows on the Ist of January, 1814: The artillery, under Colonel .^lexander Macomb, of the Engineers, at the block-honee on Mr. John H'Crea's property. Tlio woujded fi-om Chrysler's n ere taken Into the block-honse. This was called the Centre Camp. The Ecut Camp, un- il' r tlie charge of Colonel F.. W. Ripley, was on Selh Blanchard's properly. The North Camp, under Colonel James Mll- l»r. wan on Ihe property of Allen Lincoln. The Wett Crnnp, under Colonel Campbell, was on W. L. Manning's property. Tiiv Hmth Camp was on Hamlet Mear's property. The owners above mentioned were the proprietors of the land when Iv'itedForl Covington in tjie cummer of 1800. Tt a ' 'mm i ■ '■f tv m m wh 1:1 [M|i IttE "M« il mi: n '! n 658 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Attempt to eedace the American Boldlen from their Allegiance. ancl partly in 1860. In the evening of Monday, the 23d of July, in the latter }wl journeyed with a friend, as already mentioned on page 619, from Watertowu toCf I v OF THE WAR OF 1812. Mt Remains of Portlflotioni there. Lin the latter )W.l lnWatefto\viitoCai«l Their Illitory, TUIt to C»rIeton liland. , ^ ^ ^ ^ Vincent' by railway, and lodged in an inn connected with the road station tliere, standing on tiie margin of tlu' St. Lawrence. It waH a. chilly night. The next morn- ing was clear and blustering, and tiic siirfaco of the river was dotted with the white caps of the wavcK. After an early bi-eakfast we started for Carleton Island, three miles down the St. Lawrence, in a skift' rowed by a son of the proprietor of the hotel. As we approached the rocky blutt" at the head of tho island we oljserved several chim- neys standing alone (built of stone, some perfect, some half hi ruins), which mark the remains of strong and somewhat extensive fortifications erected there by both the French and English during the last century, that post being a key to the internavi- (jation of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. We moored our boat in a small sheltered creek by which the head of the island is made a pleasant peninsula of eiglit or ten acres. On this stand the residences of Mr. Chai-les Pluche, an intelligent French Canadian (who owns five hundred acres of the western end of the island*), and of his brother. That creek separates the peninsula from the higher bluff on which the ruins of Fort Carleton are seen. Mr. Pluche kindly accompanied us to these ruins and other interesting places near, and, but for the increasing violence of the wind, which became almost a gale at noon, our visit would liavc been one of unmixed satisfaction. Tlie ruins of Fort Carleton are upon the most elevated portion of the island, and from 'he ramparts may be viewed some of the most picturesque scenery of the famous Thousand Islands and the New York shore. At what precise time fortificat%ns were first erected there is not positively known. The English found it quite a strongly fortified post at the time of the conquest of Canada, at a little past the middle of the last century, and, perceiving its value in a military point of view (for it commands the main channel of the St. Lawrence), they greatly strengthened it.^ They occupied it until 1812, On the declaration ot war that year most of the barracks to which the now standing chimneys belonged wei-c in good order, and before Cape Vincent was settled two or three families resided on the island. A garri- son, composed of a ser- geant ind three invalid soldiers, and two women, occupied the fort when the war broke out. As soon as intelligence of the declaration reached tlie frontier. Captain Ab- ncr Hubbard, of Hub- bard's (now Milieu's) Bay, a soldier of the Rev- I olution, started in a boat, with a man and boy, to SKMAIHS OF rOBT CABLETON.* I This was Ijnown ns Gravelly Point at the time of the War of 1S12. It was laid out as a village in ISIT. It is the northenimost town of Jefferson County, and Is the terminus of the Rome, Watertown, and Cape Vincent Railway. From ihiK imint is a ferry to Klnffston, passing through Wolf or Orand Island by a canal dug for the purpo»e a few years ago. The railway wharf Is 3000 feet In lengtli, with large store-houses and a grain-elevator. ' The island contains 1274 acres. The portion here alluded to was a military class-right, located tliere In 1786. The island forms a part of Cape Vincent Township, Jefferson County, New York. The Island received Its name from Gov- ernor Sir Gay Carleton. ' \Mg. In his Voiia/iet, printed in London, 179t. after speaking of Oswegatchie (Ogdensburg), says, " Carleton is higher op the river, and has greater conveniences to it than Oswegatchie, having an excellent harbor, with strong fortifications, tmi well garrisoned, excellent accommodations for shipping, a naval store-house for Niagara and other porta." ^ • This view is from the N. N. E. point of the fort, and shows eight of the nine chimneys yet standing. On the ex- Itteme right, beyond the lltti" vessel, is seen Cape Vincent. I . !.a 6eo PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK IMUIAN AUHI.ET. FIniSetsDraor* MlMMyVoit lutcreitiDg Relica on Carlaton liUod. Perilous Vojrig* on the Ht. |..,u r „. capturo Fort Carleton. He sncceedcd, and thiH was the firut 8t>i/.urc of a military pOHt artiT the di'clarali"ii of Vf'ar. lie sent a boat on the lollowiiij; day to briiij^ away the HtoieH, and soon atlerward the l)arraek8 were burned. Niui^ bare cliinnieyM ha^ stood there ever ninee, gray and solitary tokeim of oliange. There were ai)out iweiity originally within the fort, Home of whieli are in rninB. There were also eliiinncys on the little peninsula near Mr. I'luehe's house, and ahnig the shore northwiinl, \vhiiv,oii a fine grassy point, vestiges of the gardens that were attached to the otVieers' (|u,'iiui> may yet be seen. The moot tliat surrounded the fort was dug in the rock, and so was the well in the norti»western portion of the works. A little northward of tlie fort was the garrison cemetery ; and beyond this, a fourth of a mile from the ramparts, is an ancient Indian burial-ground, in a grove of small trees on the verge of the river. In a grave that was opened there in the spiinij of 1H«0 was found the skeleton of a chief, bearing evidence that the body was Hm wiupped in the hide of a bufl'alo, then swathed in birch-bark, and next deposited in a board coffin. With the skeleton was found a sil- ver gorget, on which was engraved a runnini,' deer, also a line silver armlet (now in jiossession of tlio writer) bearing the royal arms of England,' silver ear-rings, and other trinkets. Near this burial- ground was found, tlie year before, a silver imdal giv(>n by the British government to Colonel .lolm IJutler. It is known that Hutler and Sir John .Johnson encamped, with the Iiidians from the Mo- liawk Valley, on Carleton Island in 1775, when on their M'ay to join the British at Montreal. The medal w.is doubtless lost there at that time, and the chief who bore the armlet ami gorget was probably one of the expedition, who perished there. After partaking of some refreshments from the hands of Mrs. PlucKe and daujjh'er, we re-embarked in our little boat at noon. The wind was blowing almost a gale from the direction of Lake Ontario, bringing down waves that made the voyage a dangerous one. At times, when in the trough, we could not see the land. Our oars- man, a stout, resolute young man, labored faithfully, with the boat's bow up sticain, but he could not make an inch of headway toward Cipe Vincent; so, alter heavy ex- ertions and some anxiety, we were driven to the southern shore of the river, at a point opposite our place of departure. There we abandoned the boat and stn.rted mi foot for Cape Vincent, when we met a farmer, with his wagon and rick, going to lii- field for hay. We hired him to take us to the Cape, and on soft, sweet dried "ii- we lay and rested in the cool air to the end of the wagon journey. The reniaimki of the afternoon was spent at the Capo in strolling about the little village, tor tin river .was too rough to make a wished-for voyage to Grenadier Island either safo er pleasant. There we met General W^illiam Estes, who was conspicuous in the " Patritt War" in Canada in 1 838, and visited the dwelling of Dr. Webb, the kitchen part oi which is the remnant of the house of Richard M. Esseltyne, which, with otherfs, wa- destroyed by the British. In it an American was shot. We lodged at Cape Vincent that night, and at five o'clock the next morning depnrti ' in a lake steamer for Clayton (French Creek), sixteen miles below, Avhere we lanli and breakfasted at the "Walton House," kept by a son of William Johnston, known among his British contemporaries in 1838 as "the Pirate of the Thousand Islands." 1 This armlet is little mare than ten Incbei In length and two and a half In width, and the ornamentntlon is emboswl work. In addition to the royal arms is a trophy group, composed of helmet and cnirase, cnnnon, 8pear!<, and bannen, the latter bearing the letters G. R., the monogram of the king ; and n group Inclosed within branches uf the olive ant palm, composed of a crown resting upon a sword and sceptre crossed. These armlets, gorgets, and other silver onu- ments were distributed freely among the Indian chiefs by the British government, as one of the means of secoringlW j loyalty. The gorget was always sospended tram the neck, and rested npon the upper part of the breast. OF THE WAK OF 1818. Ml on the HI. UwrcBcc. e of a miliuiry r to br'mi; awuy cir.mm'yn liavi re ubiiut iwi'uij Iso ohimm-yH im iwiir<l, wlii'iv,on ihi! rock, an J m Mill ihit*, a fourtl [V grovo of Hinall in tin! Hpniif: tit' e 1jo«ly wan tii>i ixt (Icpositcil ill a was founil a sil- (1 iiruuuinittlwr, ^)08«eHsioii of till' f England,' silver Near this Vmiial- ire, a silver iimlal t to Colonel .Tolin t,ler and Sir .Tuliii lians from the Mi I in 1775, wk'non at Montreal. Tii^ jre the aruilut ainl iche and daujjh'cr, .-ing almost a j;alo lUide the voyagi' a lie land. Our oars- .t's bow ui) strtam, BO, after heavy «• . of the river, at a joat and sto.rled mi [d rick, going to his 1 sweet dried siu- [V. Tlie remaiiui' I tie village, for the iland either Kafc it ions in the " Patri. t ■he kitchen part [h, with others, ws- [t morning deparu 1 ]-, Avhere we laiii'.oi. '.Johnston, known Irhousand Islamk" Jornamentatlon is emt« ■■ tnnon, speaw, and !!«■■«'■■• n branches of the olive .nd deeU, and other silver om- EhemeanBotBecunngito i)t the hteaat yUt to Rock bland, Ui« Home v/f Johniton of the ThoBMDd Iilands, Pc«l Itland ud Ito AModatloiif. Thew we were informed lliat tlie hero of many ft romantio legend of the frontier WM still living,'" the light-honHe <<f which he wan keeper, on a Holitary island a few rods in circumference, five inileH below, where, in comjmny with two young ladieH — trav- eling companions — I liad visited him two years before. Hiring a liout, and a good tisherinan as oarsman, we set out aflt^r breakfast to visit Mr. Johnston, prejmred with tisliing tackle to indulge in sport on the way. We trolled faithfully, but oidy a sol- itary pickerel of moderate size rewarded our watclifulness of the lines. Onr tlrearas (if iniglity inasipielonges, forty pounds in weight, which some young ladies, they say, ^ynietimes " hook," were dispelled ; but the kindly oarsman came to the assistance ofour humbkul pride as sportsmen with the pleasant suggestion that the late storm „f wind had so roiled the water that "nobody couldn't do nothin' at fishiii' when the (Tceturs couhln't see the spoon." And we were no more successful in catching a hero. Silence reigned on Itock Isl- anJ.' Not a living thing was seen. Johnston lived there entirely alone, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was now absent, and the island was dcscrted.2 After making a sketch of the light-liouse and Its locality, we left in disap- pointment, and again trolled unsuccessfully as we floated iloivn the current about two miles to Peel Island, the scene uf Johnston's exploit which laiiscd him to be declared an outlaw by his own govern- ment, and gave him tlie name of" Pirate." This exploit v as the destruction of the British mail steamer Sir Robert Peel at this jilace on the night of the 29th and 30tli of May, 1838, by Johnston and some disguised associates, who were engaged with the Canadians in their armed re- sistance to government. The immediate object of the assailants appears to have been the capture, and not the destruction of the steamer, and with her aid to seize, on the following day, the steamer Great Britain, and convert the two into cruisers on the lake. Johnston had but thirteen men with liim, but was promised that two hundred should be within call on the shore of the neigh- boring main. They were not there. He had not sufficient men to manage the powerful steamer, and, toward morn- ing, he committed her to the flames. She was seized at LK/UT-U0C8K KEPT BY JOUMSTON, ^t^.^?^ FEXI. IBLAKD. ' Tils Is an appropriate name. It I* a groap of bare rocke, with a few trees and shrnbs growing In the interstices. Johseton hnd filled some of the hollows with earth, bronght from the main shore in his boat, and we fonnd them cot- tni with vegetables and flowers. The barren island possessed a pleasant little garden. > Thi) is in the midst of the Tbonsand Islands, five miles be'ow Clayton, on the sonth side of the steam-boat channel. At the tini of my visit there in 1808 1 asc-^nded to the lantern, and from that elevation coanted no less than seventy uludt, valuing f^om rods to miles in clrcomference. ■Wi^i^ir" 602 riCTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK JotiiMtoii'i Kxplnlti amonir the ThooMUid IaUn4i. Ht« ArratU uid ImprtmnmenU. HI* CommlMlon u Commodoic Ki])l(>y'B dock, on VVt'lls'H IhIuikI, tak*>ii into tho Btrcam, set on tiro, and floated down and lodged uguinHt a Htnall island near (i'o|)i-(>Hent(>d in the Hkutuh on tlio liic-cciliiiir page), which liutt uince been known aH I'eel Island.' ' From the llpd of Mr. Johnston I received a very nilimto nncl partlcninr noconnt of thl« tranroctton. He wa* living tt Ciiiytiiii when the " I'atilol" war broke out. lloiug a bold, advuiiliironH man, a;id rordinlly hnlliiK thi; llrlivh Km. erumeut and Itn employ^o, he was easily iM-muiidcrl liy t|,(. American sympalhlzers with tho " I'atrliits" to eiiKii^i; |„ the strife. Ills thoroMgh knowledge of tlie rit. I^wrniri' from Kingston to th« l..imK><a Hault polntod tlw"i|i,tr|. ots" to him as u valuable man for the service on that rniiil. ler. lie says that tho leaders promised him aniiilo iimIk. anco In men and moans, hut disappointed him. Tlioy ciii. ployed lilm to cuptnrc the /Vtl and seiw" the (Irral llrilm,, The former was a new and stanch > 'ssel, built iil llrnrk. vUie In 1S8T. She was 110 feet wide ni d liio in li'n(;ili, miii was commanded by Captain John H. Armstrong, (in tij,. evening of tho KDth of Moy, IV,H, she was on lior way up from Proscott to Toronto, with nlnotef.n pnsBeiii!er», mul stopped at M'Donncll's Wharf, on Wells's Island, fiirwcm] Johnston and thirteen men In dlsjfulso were lyiun in wait at Uiplcy's wood wharf near by. Tlicy were nrmeil win, muskets and bayonets, and pnlntcd like ludlniin, Thry rushed onboard, crying out, " Ittnwmbrr Ihe (\:i .lUiu I" {m American vessel that the Drltish had destroyed at iin Amir lean wharf a lew months before), and conipoilcd the immen Jers, In terrible alarm, and In their nlKht-clothes, tti p, on shore. Their bttt!K«Ke was taken on shore llkowln', ami in this p'lght they remained, in a woodman's shanty, luuil morning, when they were conve cd to KiuRston l)y th,' Oneida. When the InsurRents hud taken pofischiou (ifihi Aw/, they hanled her out into the stream, exiu-otliii:, ii,< »v have observed In the text, to be Joined by u larj^e niiinlur of olbera from the main. They did not appear. JuhiiMoii jnd his men, who, he says, "looked liki- devils," could not mauiiL;o her, aii<i Khc was set on Are. Oovi nor Miircy de- clared Johnston an outlaw, and olTc reil n reward of !f,'iOO for his person, and small- er sums for each of his con federates whj might be convicted of the olTeuiie. The Earl of Durham, governor of Canada, offered $aOM for tlie conviction ol any person concerned lu tho " Infamoun outraije- " Johnston boldly avowed himself the leader of that party, In a proclamation which ho issued from " Fort Wiillace" dm th« Kith of June, 1838. lie declared that tho men under hi i command were nearly all Englishmen, and that liia lieail- quarters were on an island in the St. Lawrence, not within tho Jurisdicthm of the United States. " I act uucKt orderi'," ho said. "The object of my movements Is the Independence of the Canadas. I am not at war with the commerce or property of the United States." " Fort Wallace" was a myth. It was wherever Johnc- 1 .n happened to be, Johnston was now placed In peril between the officers of the two governments, and for several monllis he was a ref ugce, hiding among the Thousand Islands, and receiving food at night from his daughter, u boautifiil girl tij;htoeii years of ago, email lu stature aud delicate In appearance, who handled oars with skill, and who, in u light boat, i<nii<:ii! Ills hiding-places under cover of darkness. Slie was ofteu watched and followed by persons In the Intereiit of iln' I'nitcd States government, but her thorough knowledge of tho Islands and skill In rowing allowed her to elude llicni. Finally Johnston Joined in the expedition to Prescott, to " keep out of the way of both parties," he said. After tlie M- feat of the Insnrgentii at Windmill Point [see page SH31, he was seen publicly iu the' streets of Ogdensburg, where he had many syn^)athlzers, and was not arrested. He saw that all was lost, and, weary of hiding, he resolved to give bliu- self up to the authorities of the United States, and cast himself upon the clemency of bis country. Ho mad) nn nrrani;e- nient with his son John to arrest him and receive the $500 reward. On the ITth of November (1838) he left Oudeii*- hurg in a boat, with his son, when Deputy Marshal M'Culloch pursued him in aboat over which floated tho revenue li«;'. Johnston was overtaken about two miles above Ogdensburg. He was armed with a Cochran rifle, t^vo large rlHc-pUtol!. and a bowie-knife. Ho agreed to surrender on condition that he should give up hjs arms to his son. He was tlieu con- ducted back to the village, and delivered Into the custody of Colonel (late Major (Jeneral) Worth. He was taken tu Syracuse, tried before Judge Conklin on a charge of violating the neutrality laws of the United States, and acqniiliil. Ho was again arrested, and escaped, when a reward of $!!(K) was offered for his arrest. He gave himself up at All)ai..v. and, aftT lying three months lu jail, was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to one year's irapris"!iraent, aud a flue "( $250. Ills faithnil daughter, who had acquired tho Just title of the " Heroine of the Thousand I dands," hnsteiieil 1 1 Albany, and shared prison life with her father. After being there sir months, with his falthfr child at his side, hi found means, by making a key of some zinc furnished him by a friend, to escape. The plan w « made known to lii^ danghfcr, who left the prison, and waited for him at Rome. One evening, at eighl o'clock, he If '! the Jail, and Infore daylight had walked forty miles toward Rome. When he arrived there. Anally, at the bouse of a lend, he was dread- fully exhausted. He went home, and was unmolested ; but the " Patriots" were determined to i -Ive him into active j service, and he received a commission creating him commauder-in-chlef of all tho naval forces in " Patriot «ervicc" un ( the lakes.* This position had been accorded to him by common consent the year before. Eat he had seen enmi^'h of : that kind of service, and ho declined tho office. A year or more afterward, when the agitation on the frontier hud pretty j • Johnston's commission as commodore Is Iwfbre me, printed and written on thin paper. On the margin of It, onn- . pylng nearly one half of the space, is a rough engraving, a copy of which Is (fiven on tho opposite page, reduced to li.ilfj the size. Above this design (in which the American eagle is seen bearing off the British lion, whose crown has fallen- 1 » maple leaf, symbolic of Canada, aud two stars representing thfe two provinces) were little Fic'n"''* of the anusofitei ^"22::^^ or THE WAR OF iSlS. 668 I Commodon, aU'd tlown pvecciUng H« w»» llv'.nir tlu^ Hrlwh Kiiv- KM KUlull'l\ tiy lllP ,t»" to eiiKiiK" t" Ihe rtt. Lawroncc nlcd t>w"Biitrl- rice nil Uinl fro\il- lilin iunii\f umIiI- ;l him. Thoy cm- tlio Crwit Hrilniw e\, b\ilU M Bri"-k- Kill ill li'n(!lli,ii"'i rmntniiiK. "" H"' m« on li<T W'ly "V f.ll llllKWIll!"'". 'I'l'i i'b iBlullli, fur itm]. , were lyiiit! 1" «aii y wcru nrmcii wlili IkB luillnii"- fhcy «i-(/i«f'.J>"li"' •'"(«" Bdtroycd ttt lUi Amcr- onipellcrtllii'l""'*';''- ,.lit-clothc», til K" oil , lihorfl llkewl^^^ m\ ulniiui'" Kliaiity, «»lil to KliiR"""' >'y *'■ iheii poBKP.-blmi lit Itif eiiiii,«xiH-et'"l.'.«»«'' ed by a li'i;*' »"'"''" „ot appear. J;ili"»t"" maiiiiKe her, ami »he Oo\. iior MMiy '>'• n outl.iw, ami "(TerecU r hlH person, and mM- LfbiBcmifedcrnlcewho ■d (,f Ibe olT<-iii'e. Tlie lio"iiif aw"" ""'""'''■ iom " Fori WuH'icc" im .cii.WKltb.ilW"'"'* " 1 act ii»*'r ""^"'' with the commcfx ot ciicil to bo. •almoulbKhcwMttrct 'DcautlfulgW'^'t:'"''"; .!uaU!!htboai,.«u2 g iu tbeliileri'»'"'>'" Led ber to elude theni. Uc »ald. After the fc tOadeiiBburi,', where fe he resolved to give hi..^ L il« mad ) nn nrran* Ier('.838)helettOplo,«- aoatcdthereveiinefl.^ 'ie t-vo large rlfle-piet*' ,;ou He waa then con- Td8tate«,andacqi.Uod. ,ebiroHeU«patAltoi iB-....meiit,aiirtft«»Y' dldand.,"hfte.ml .f. ■lera,bewa8(bMil- L in ..patriot -ervice"' VhehadB.enenou«h| «tb«trOTj.ier^'i*Jf"- rutirmarginotlt,*;^^! t.„-,ottheanu»o(iM| johnitoD'i h- pit Oangbttr. III! BlrthpUc*. au SnrlMt tn tho War of Mil. We retunuMl to Clnytoii, ruul there Ibmul " C'ommotloro" Johnston, a hulo man, full of spirit, but Hutli'rinjj moiih' from recmt ilhioHH I Hjiont two hours pleasantly and iiroHtahly witii him ami his cuura^oouH daughter, liHtening to narratives .)f the Htir- rinj? BceneH in whieh they had l)een engaged twenty-two years before, a"d of wliieh I have given a meagre cutline in noie 1, page 002. 'Hie " Heroine of the Thousand Islands" was now Mrs. Ilawes, an intelligent and interesting woman, and mother of several children. Mr. Johnston is a man of nu'dium size, compactly built, and fidl of pluck. His life-liistory was a stirring oiu' previous to the "Patriot War." During the War of 1812 he was employed by Chauncey and Wilkinson in active servico on the frontier waters ; and he gave the British, whom he cordially disliked, n great deal of trouble. He was a n.itivo of Canada.' On the breaking out of the war lit^ was residing at Hath, above Kingston, and conveyed some Americans across the lake to Saekett's Harbor in a large bark canoe. Not being satisfied with the militia service, in wiiich he had been engaged, he remained on the Amorican side, and from that time until the close of the war was engaged in the secret service on Lake Ontavio and the St. Lawrence, with, a permit to capture all llritish public property that he might find afloat. His vessel was a gig, or light, swill boat, called the JiMffelci/, and his com- panions were a coqioral and live arnu'd sennieu. With tliese ho captured bateaux and stores; with these he conveyed Wilkinson down the St. Lawrence, beyond the Longue Hault f and with these lie bore the body of the gallant Covington from Harn- liart' i to the French Mills.^ On one occasion he captured the Canadian dispatch mail on its way from Governor Prevost at Montreal to tho lieutenant governor at Toronto, which, on delivery to Chauncey, was found t contain information of great value to the American commander. On another occasion he was out in Chauncey's boat, and nmch ccarcd, & petition for bla pardon was numerounly RJgned. He took It to Washington hlmnelf, and, Just at the close of Mr. Van Biircn's administration in March, IMl, presented It to the Fri's'ilent. "Mr. Van Hnren," ho said, "scolded me for presuming to come there with such a petition ; but I waltcil ten days, presented It to President Harrison, and he l>anioiied mo." Mr. .Johnston has lived at Clayton ever since. His ofTeuse was Anally overlooked, and for several years the govem- nifiit that offered a roivnrd of $500 for him as an "iitlaw Ihisbecn paying him $!160 a year for taking charge of one of its lighl-houscB, In sight of the spot (Peel Island) where the offense was oommitied ! Time makes groat changes. When Ihc late Kchclllon broke out in ISfll , Johnston, then about eighty years of age, v.'ent to Wa«hiugton City, called on Qen- iral Scott, and ofTered his services to his government. State of f'cw York, and below two others representing lui eagle on Its nest arrang- ing ears of wheat. The commission runs thus : " Utad-quarters, Windsor, U. C, September B, 1889. "William .ToHNBTOH, Esg. : " Sir By anthorlty of the Oranu Council, the Western Canadian Association, the v'roat Orand Eagle Chapter, and the Grand Kaglc Chapter of tapper Canada, on Patriot Executive duty— You are hereby CommiKiioncd to the Ranlc In Line of a Commodore of the Navy, Commander-in-Chief of all the Naval forces of the Ca- nadian Provinces, on Patriot service In Up'^ - Canada. " Yoani with respect, 11. S. ITanp, " Commander-in hief of the Northwestern Army on Patrlo, service iu Upper Canada, "E. J. KoHEBTB, Adjutant Oeneral, N.W. A. P. Si." This commission Is Indorsed by '.John Montgomery, of the Qrand Eagle Chap- ter of Upper Canada, on Patriot Executive duty. .' RoiiKiiT RonRBTsoN, Secretary." " Sworn to before me, at Windsor, TI. C, this 2Bth day of September. ISilH. "H, 8. IlANn." The seal attached to the commission appears to have been Impressed by a com- mon glass signet, on which are the words, "JUmfVtbfr me to aU/riendH." These "Chapters" refer to the secret leagues of sympathizers with the InHiirijents that were formed along the entire frontier, under the name of " Hunters' Lodges." These « < to suppressed by President Tyler, who issned a proclamation tor Ihe purpose on the Bth of September, 1841. ' He was bom at Three Rivers on the 1st of Febrnary, 1T82. Ills father was an Irishman, aud his mother was a Dutch firl ftom New Jersey. After the war he lived at Sackett's Harbor and Watcrtown, and kept a tavern for a while In the Ultcr village. He Anally settled ot French Creek (now Clayton), where he and niont of his family have since resided. ' S«e page (»1. Johnston was well acquainted with Chrysler, and tried to get the army below big residence, that It might not suffer during the engagement that seemed inevltoWe. During the battle of Chrysler's Field or Farm, John- itm carried powder n-om the boBt« to the dragoons, who delivered it to those in the Aght. It Is well known that Oen- ''iil Wilkiuson Indulged too fl-eely in spirituous liquors. Johnfcton assured me that, at the tirao of the battle of Chrys- M Field, the commauder-lu-chief was so intoxicated ("indisposed," as chaiity phrases it) that he could not leave his ^t. > See page 006. JObNSTON 8 OOUUIBHION. 664 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Johnston's Ferilg in Canada. Jonrney trom Clayton to Halone. Vblt to French Mills or Fort Covingtoo. was wrecked on the Canada shore in a stonn. The boat was a ruin. They were dis- covered. Johnston was identified, and a body of militia and Indians A'eie nent out trom Kingston (where he had been hung in effigy) to arrest him. He directeil liin men not to a' ^id capture, but to affirm that they had been sent out for deserters, and wore returning home when struck by the storm. Their story was believed, and within a week they were sent home on parole. Johnston meanwhile concealed himself in a huge hollow stump, in a field of oats, for several days, and it was three weeks before he found a way to retuni to Sackett's Harbor. There was a crowd "f visitors at the " Walton Hoi'.sc," for it is a favorite place of summer resort for those who love good fishiukf, boating, and the luost picturesque scenery of the Thousand Islands. The St. Lawrence, filled with these islands, is there about nine miles wide. During an afternoon I visited the place of Brown's encamp- ment when attacked by the liritish,' and made the sketch on page 649. Toward sunset the diet of the little village was disturbed, and the faces of all the inhaliitants were turned skyward to observe the passage over them of a man in a balloon, a thousand feet in the air, who had ascended from Kingston, and, as we were iiif'oinu'd next day, descended far toward the Sorel, the outlet of Lake Champlain. On tlie fol- lowing morning I went down the St. Lawrence to Ogdcnsburg, and made the visits th>'re and in the vicinity recoided in Chapter XXVHL On Friday, the 27th, I break- fasted at Malone,^ and after a brief interview with Sidney W. Gillett,Esq., whose ele- gant nf^w manaio" stood fronting on Main Street in that village, on the site of the arsenal establish d there in 1812,1 rode out to Fort Covington (French Mills), about fourteen miles northward, in a light wagon drawn by a sj)an of fleet black ponies. FHK.NOU KILLS IN ISUO.^ Tlie Honorable James Campbell, who was an ensign, and was stationed at Freneii Mills and vicinity during a greater portion of the war, in the service of the Quarter- master's and Commissary Departments, was yet living, and residing with his daugh- ter at Fort Covington. I had been at his liouse, on the road between Massena Sitriiii.'!- and St. Regis, a few years before ; and I found him now, as th'jn, able to say that lie had never been sick iu his life, though almost fourscore years of age. His nientnl ' See page 048. ' MaloQc Is the capital of Franklin Connty, and Is pleasantly sitnated on the Salmon ilWer. It was the only Iiicotk'- rated village in the connty, and had a popnIat<on of abont 2000. The banks of the river there, below the railway bridft. are rneKed and picturesaae- Settlements were made there i\t the beginning of this centnry. 3 The buUdlDg on the right, with its i^nble next to the dam, i« the original mill erected there by the French Caudlnu- )r Fort Coviugton. I the French Can«dli»i OF THE WAK OF 1812. 665 THE UL00K-U0D8E WKLI.. Veteran Soldiers ot Fort Covington. Journey to Rouse's Point La Colle. PasnAge of St. Lawrence Rapids. vifor seemed perfect, and his momory of events in his experiencp was vivid. He was stationed at French Mills early in the war, in clLirge of rations, which were served re«ci'lar!y to the St. Regis Indians in order to keep them quiet.' He was assistant store-keeper, and when Wilkinson left there he was placed in charge of all the provisions of the army. He continued in that serv- ice until its depai'ture in February, 181 i. Judge Campbell kindly accompanied me to places of interest about Fort Covington, namely, the original mill ;^ the head-quar- ters of Boyd and Brown ;3 the place of debarkation, where the gun-boats were destroyed ;* the site of the respective cantonments of the army ; and of the block- house on the M'Crea property,* whose well, contained within the building, was yet standing. While on the lower bridge over the Salmon, sketch- ing the picture of the Mills on the opposite page, an old gentleman approached, and was introduced to me by Judge Campbell. He was Colonel Ezra Stiles, the dep- uty collector of the port at Fort Covington,* who en- listed in the Eleventh Regiment in December, 1812, when a little moi-c than fourteen years of age. He was with Harapton in the affair at Chareaugay, and was with Gen- eral Brown in all of his military operations on the Niagara frontier during the re- mainder of the war He left the service when the army was disbanded in 1815. I returned to Malone in time to take the cars for Rouse's Po.nt at about three o'clock P.M. It WIS a bright and very delightful day. In that journey, fifty-seven miles, we crossed the foot of the great Adirondack slope, the noi thernmost portion of the Alleghany or Appalachian range of mountains, that travei'se tlie sea-board states from Georgia io the St. Lawrence level. The lofty peaks of the Adirondacks were in sight southwird, while the eye, glancing northward over an immense wood- ed prairie, rested upon the Mountain back of Montreal. At near six o'clock I took a hurried meal at the village of Rouse's Point, and hiring a light wagon, fleet horse, and intelligent driver, rode to La Colle River, a tributary of tl.e Sorel, and made a sketch of a block-house there before sunset. By a slight circuit we rode through La Colle vilbge and Odelltownin the twilight. J spent the night at Rouse's Point, and on the following morning journeyed to Champlain, Chazy, and Plattsburg. Of the eveits which have made all the places just named famous in our history, and of my visit tlier'.', 1 shall hereafter write. hi the summer of 1865 I spent a short time at Massena Suli)hur Springs, on the Racquette River, seven miles by road from the St.Lawr?nce. While sojourning there I visited St. Regis, as a'ready mentioned, and, on leaving, crossed th,; St. Law- rence from Lewisville, at the herd of the Longue Sault, for the purpose of visiting the battle-field on Chrysler's Farm, It wap a warm and pleasant day late in Au- liust,* and a friend accompanied me. At Lewisville we hired a water- t August 22, man, who engaged to take us safely across the switl and, in some places, ^^■ turbulent stream, there divided by two or three islands. W^e shot obliquely across ::ih1 down the first channel, rounded the lower cape of an island, went up its farther shore in an eddying ccrrcnt, and in a similar manner shot across to another island. In this zigzag way we made the really perilous passage of the rapids to the village of Chrysler, where we lunched on apple-pie, cheese, and coid water, and hired a con- veyance to the battle-ground and Williamsburg beyond. ' See page 376. • See picture on page 6fti. a See plctnres on pige 680. • See paeo C58. » See note 2, page (WO. ' Port Covington Is a port of entry ; but the steam-boats seldom go shove Dandcp, a small village a niUe below, and about hall way bctweei^ the HUls and the boundary-line between the United States and Canada. fill Irt 660 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Visit to the Battle-groand on Chrj-slcr'B Farin. A Brltiah Suldler and liig Hedal of Honor, Pceno on tlie St. Lawrence We were kindly welcomed at the Chrysler mansion, delineated on page 652, by llr. James Croile, the proprietor, who pointed out the various localities of the battle and accompanied us to the house of his nearest neigl,- bor, Peter Brouae, wlio waK a soldier in the Dun- -"H^ ///^ f/yQ^.>^,y^y^JL^ ^^^ militi-i, and partici- ^ 1/ L/ y'^ C^'^^^^^ pated in the fight. Mr. Brouse related AvitU mucli self-satisfaction the exploits of the British on that day, and, with much genuine pride, exhibited a small silver medal, suspended by a ribbon, which he had lately received. These had been presented to the surviving soldiers of that and otlier battles, from 1703 to 1814, by the British queen as a sort of "Legion of Honor." The picture here given is the exact size of the original, and exhibits both sides. On one side is the effigy of the queen and her name ; and on the other a repre- sentation of her majesty crowning a soldier with a civic wreath, and the words," To the BKITISn ARMY— 1814-1793." One of Chrysler's barns, pierced and battered by bullets, was 5'et standing, and appears the larger (tliough the most re- mote) i:i the group of outbuild- ings in the picture on page 662. In the orcliard, between the mansion and the river, may be seen the burial-places of the killed in the battle. We dined with Mr. Croile and his family in the Chrysler mansion, and at two o'clock started for Williamsburg, four and a half miles up the river. Our road lay along the margin of the stream, through one of the most fertile districts of Canada. We had not proceeded far before a small clpud, v.'hose gathering we had scarcely no- ticed, sent down a violent shower of rain. We sought shelter under a wide-spreaJ- ing tree in front of a plain dwelling, from which came the giggling of girls who wciv ftUH'sed at our plight. The ti-ee was no shelter, and we unceremoniously took ref- uge from the storm in the house, Avhere those who had innocently made merry over our di'enching kindly regaled us with strawberries and cream, and made the balance- sheet of courtesy in their favor. The storm was brief. The sun burst forth in sudden si)lendor, and its rays, wedded to the retirijig rain-drops, wove a gorgeous iridescent vail, marked, like the bow on the cloud, with specific curves, but lying prone upon tin bosom of the St. Lawrence, and bathing its surface and islands in prismatic beauty. It was a charming spectacle, and has left an inoftaceable picture on the memory. At fcnr o'clock we reached Williamsburg (whose name had just been changed to Morrisville, in honor of a distinguislied oflicer in the postal department of Canada), where we dismissed our carriage, ijitending to go by water to Prescott. We were directed to the " Grand Trunk Ilote^" as the best in the village, which is remarkable ni oui* recollection for swarms of flies, flocks of spiders, and an obliging host. Tiiere we supped and lodged, and before dawn took passage in » Montreal steamer for Prescott, where we breakfasted. Crossing to Ogdensburg, we spent the day and night then', and on the following day made a voyage through the Thousand Islaiuls to Cape Vincent, from whence I jounieyed by railway to ray home on the banks of the Hudson, VIOTOBIA MEDAL. OF THE WAR OF 1813. 667 the 8t. Lawrence. The Britlnh resolve on vigorous War. Blockade of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. The Blockadlnt; Squadron, CHAPTER XXX " She comes I the proud Invader comei To waste onr country, spoil car homes i To lay our tovr and cities low, And bid our mothers' tears to flow ; Our wives lament, our orphans weep- To seize the empire of the deep 1"— A»arB tTuPHBAViu.E. ASTISE THE Americans into submission ! was the fiat of the British Cabinet at the close of 1812, and it was determined to send out a land and naval force sufficient to do it. It was evi- dc'it that efforts such as have been recorded in preceding chap- ters would be made by the Americans for the invasion and con- quest of Canada, and that the successes achieved by them on the ocean would stimulate them to the performance of more daring exploits on the waves which Britannia claimed to rule. These efforts must be met, and Great Britain put forth her strength for the purpose. It was determined to blockade and desolate the coasts of the United States, lay waste their sea-port towns, destroy their dock-yards, and thus not only endeavor to divert tiieir military strength from the Canada frontier, but destroy the centres of their co?n- incrcial and naval power, dispirit the people, intensify the domestic resistance to the tartlier prosecution of the war, and secure the absolute submission of the nation to British insolence and greed. Admiral Warren's fleet in American waters was re-en- forced, and Sir Georjre Cockburn, a rear admiral in the British navy, and willing in- strument in the accomplishment of work which honorable English commanders would not soil their hands with, was made his second in command. lie was specially com- missioned to wage a sort of amphibious and marauding warfare on the coasts, from the Delaware River southward. On 'he 2(5th of December, 1812, an order in Council declared the ports and harbors in t'lG Ciiceapeake and Delaware Bays to be in a state of rigorous blockade. Soon afterward additional ships of war and transports arrived at Be rmuda, bearing a con- siderable land force, and well furnished with bomb-shelis pnd Congreve rockets, to be used in the conflagration of sea-board towns.' A part of the land force consisted of Fieiich prisonera of war, who preferred to engage in the British marine service to risking indefinite confinement in Dartmoor Prison, in England. The first appearance of blockading vessels was on the 4th of February," when four 74-gun ships and several smaller armed veosels* entered the Virginia Capes and bora up toward Hampton Roads. The fleet was under the command of Admiral Cockburn (tvliose flag-ship was the Marlborovg/i), assisted by Commodore Beresford, whose 5)ennant was over the Poictiers.^ They bore a land force of about eighteen iiundred men, and were well >nipplied with small surf-boats for landing. Tb'ir ap- ]Karance alarmed all lower Virginia, and the militia of the Peninsula and the region about Norfolk were soon in motion. An order soon went out from the Secretary of ' Ttla rocket is a very destructive si^ecles .)f flrc-work. Invented by Sir William CongreTC, an English artillery officer, In 1804, and flrst used against Boulogne ip liOfi. The body of the machine Is cylindrical, and Ita hea>. conical. It is Itlled with very inflammable materials, ou the combustion of nhich, as in the common sky-rocket, the body is impelled I'llli continued accoleratlon. ^ Afni»«)ro«^A, Admiral Ooc.kbnm ! DrojTOfi, Captain Berry ; /\)fc<i(T«,Coramiinder Beresford; and rict')Wot(«, Captain Tilbot, were the T4>. These were accompanied by the A rnula, 44, Kerr ; Jitwn, 38, Kerr ; fStatira, S8, 8t«chi«)le ; MaU- I'w, ,10, Bni iletl ; Kdviilera, 30, Byron : Sitrcimnts, 3i, Aylmer ; Laurittimus, 21, Gordon ; Tartartu, W, Pnt-to. Others foon juiced these, making a very formidable fleet. ' Bee page 461. • 1813. 688 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK MBFcb 10, 1813. Defeiuea ofNorfulk anJl Haroptca Konds. Discretion of the Blockaders. Patrlotlam on the Shores of Delaware But the Treasury' for the extinguishment of ali the beacon-lights on the Ches- apeake coast. It was supposed that Hampton and Norfolk would be attacked. The latter plucp was pretty well defended by fortifications which General Wade IIami)ton had caused to be thrown up on Craney iHlaiul, five miles below the city, under the superin- tendence of Colonel Arm'-^tead. The masters and mates of merchant vesstlR in Norfolk harbor joined themselves iiito volunteer military companies and jrarrj- soned old Fort. Norfolk. The frigate Constellation, 38, Captain Tarbelle, was lying near, supported by a flotilla of gun- boats. Old Point Comfort soon bristled with bayonets ; and the British com- manders thought it more prudent at that time to destroy the small merchant craft found in Chesapeake Bay than to enter Hampton Roads. They did little more than this for several weeks, when Com- modore Beresford was sent, with the iNTEmoB or OI.I. KOBT NOBFoi.K IN 1SB8. .PoictieTs, BclvicUra, and some smaller vessels, to blockade the Delaware Bay and River, and teach the inhabitants along their shores the duty of submission. He found his unwilling pupils very refractorv; for when, on the 16th of March, he pointed the guns of the Poictiera toward the vil- lage of Lewis, near Cape Henlopen, and said, in a note to " the first magistrate" of that little town, " You must send me twenty live bullocks, with a proportionate quan- tity of vegetables and hay, for the use of Lis Britannic majesty's squadron," oficring to pay for them, but threatenhig, in the event of refusal, to destroy the place, the " first magistrate" of Lewistown, and all the people, from Philadelphia to the sea, said in substance, as they every where prepared for resistance, " We solemnly refuse \(\ commit legal or moral treason at your command. Do your woist." They had hoard of his coming, and had already, on both sides of the bay and river, assembled in armed bodies at expected points of attack to repel the invaders. The spirit of the fatiier. Avas aroused, some of whom, full of the fire of the flint, were yet abiding among thorn. At Dover, on the Sabbath day, the drum beat to arms, and men of every denomina- tion in politics and religion, to the number of almost five hundred, responded to the call. Among the:n was Jonathan M'Nutt, an age-bent soldier of the Revolution, wlio exchanged his staff for a musket and engaged in the drill. Pious Methodist as he was, he did not regard the day as too holy for patriotic deeds, and he spent the whole afternoon in making ball-cartridges.' This was the spirit every where manifested. At Smyrna, New Castle, and Wilmington, the inhabitants turned out with spades or muskets, prepared to cast up the earth for bat> teries and trenches,^ or to be soldiers to meet the foe. At the latter place, the venerable soldier of the Revolution, Allan M'Lane, took the direction of military aflTairs.^ The specie of the banks of New Castle and Wilmington was sent to Philadelphia lor safety ; and in the latter city Captain William Mitchell and his Independent liltees, and Captain Jacob H. Fis- m > Niles'i WeeUj) Begitler, W., 08. • They erected a stronR work, to completely command the Chri«tiana Creek, at Wilmin^on, which was called Port Union. It waa believed that It conld wlthatand any force that might approach It by water.— See SIceteh qf Military Oiur oMoiM on tht Delaware during the lot* War. > Nilea'i Weekly BtgUUr, It., ^- 1^^ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 669 Tlie Britixh threaten and heiltate. Attack on MwUtown. Cockbnrn'B Operations. ler ami his Junior Artillerists, formed in three days for the occasion, volunteered to j/arrisou Fort Mifflin. Bercsford was astonished by the spirit of the people, and held the thundere of his threat at bay for almost three weeks. Governor Ilaslet, in Jie mean time, summoned the militia to the defense of the menaced town, and on his arrival at Lewis on the 23d he reiterated the positive refusal of the inhabitants to furnish the invaders with supplies, Bcresford continued to tlireaten and hesitate ; but at length, on the even- ing of the 6th of April, ho sent Captain Byroti, with the Belvidera and smaller ves- sels, to attack the village. They drew near, and the Belvidera sent several heavy louiicl-shot into the town. These were followed by a flag of truce, bearing from By- ioi> a renewal of the requisition. It was answered by Colonel S. B. Davis, who com- manded the militia. He repeated the refusal, when Byron sent a reply, in which he expressed regret for the misery he should inflict on the women and children by a horabardraent. " Colonel Davis is a gallant ofiicer, and has taken care of the ladies," was the verbal answer. This correspondence was followed by a cannonade and bom- liiuduient that was kept up for twenty-two hours. So spirited was the response of a battiTy on an eminence, worked by Colonel Davis's militia, that the most dangerous of the enemy's gun-boats was disabled, and its cannon silenced. Notwithstanding tilt" British hurled full eight hundred of these eighteen and thirty-two pound shot into tiie town, and many shells and Congreve rockets were sent, the damage inflicted was not severe. The shells did not reach the village ; the rockets passed over it ; l)ut the lieavy round shot injured several houses. No lives were lost. An ample supply of powder was sent down from Dupont's, at Wilmington, while the enemy supplied the balls. These fitted the American cannon, and a large numbtr oi" them \si^\\' sent back with effect. • On the afternoon of the 7 th the British attempted to land for the purpose of seiz- ing live-stock in *.he neighborhood, but they were met at the verge of the water by the spirited militia, and driven back to their ships. For a month the squadron lin- sioreil, and then, dropping down to Newbold's Ponds, seven miles below Lewistown, boats filled with armed men Averc sent on shoi-e to obtain a supply of water. Col- onel Davis immediate. y detached Major George II. Hunter with a few men, who drove them back to the ships. Failing to obtain any supplies on the sliorcs of the Delaware, the little blockading squadron sailed for Bermuda, where Admiral Warren was fitting out re-enforgements for his fleet in the American waters. The blockaders within the Capes of Virginia were very busy in the mean time. The fleet was under the command of Admiral Cockburn, and took chief position in Lynn Haven Bay.^ He continually sent out marauding expeditions along the shoces of the Chesapeake, who plundered and burnt fann-houses, carried off negroes and armed them against their masters, and seized live-stock wherever it could be found. The country exposed to these depredations was extensive and sparsely settled, and it was diflicult to concentrate a military force at one point in sufficient time to be effective against the marauders. In some instances they were severely punished, but these were rare. More felicitous and more honorable exploits were sometimes undertaken by the blopkaders under Cockburn. On the 3d of April a tlotilla of a dozen armed boats from the Brit- /^ /x y^ ^f i«h fleet, under Lieutenant Polkingthomo, of the L^ ,/r '^ ^^'t^'i/^ ^ at.Dominffo, 74, entered the month of the Rappa- hannock River, and attacked the Baltimore pri- vateer /)o/;)A?*m, 10, Captain Stafford, and three armed schooners prepared to sail for France. The assault was unexpected and fierce. The three smaller vessels were soon taken, but the struggle for the Dolphin was severe, i^he was finally boarded, > NUet'a WteOy BtgiUtr, iv., 118. > See page IIMI. i^ii ^^^Hlitl ; ^^^Hi ! , i nil 610 PICTORIAI< FIELD-BOOK Cockbarn's OealreH reitraiued by Fear. The Brltlih capture Frenchtown. Havre de Grace -hrcatened. and for fifteen minutes the contest raged fearfully on her deck. Overpowered by numbers, Captain Staftbrd was compelled to submit.' Li this affair the loss \vas much heavier on the British than on the American side. No official account of tlu- casualties were ever given by either party, but contemporary writers agree that the capture of the Dolphin cost the victors many lives. Emboldened by this success, Cockburn resolved to engage in still more ambitious adventures. He thought of attacking Annapolis and Baltimore, and even dreumi'd of the glory and renown of penetrating the country forty or fifty miles and destroy- ing the national capital. Prudence restrained obedience to his desires. His friends among the " Peace men" of Baltimore doubtless informed him that the vigilance of the people of that city, under the eye of the veteran General Smith, was sleepless; that look-out boats were far down the Patapsco ; that riflemen and horsemen were stationed along the shores of the river and bay ; that Fort M'llenry was beiiif; strengthened by the mounting of thirty-two-pounders ; that the City Brigade num- bered almost two thousand men; and that an equal number of volunteers for the de- fense of the place were within trumpet-call. He wisely concluded to pass by tlio po- litical and commercial capitals of Maryland, and fall upon weaker objects. Witli a large force he menaced Baltimore as a feint on the 16th of April, and on the 29th, with the brigs FmUome and Mohaick, and tenders Dolphin, Racer, and IRghflyer,\[Q entered Elk River, toward the head of Chesapeake Bay, and proceeded to destroy Fienchtown, on the Delaware shore. It was a village of about a dozen buildings, composed of dwellings, store-houses, and stables. The blockading vessels had driven the trade between Philadelphia and Baltimore from the ordinary line of water-travel, and this place had become an important entrepOt of traflic between the two cities. Admiral Cockburn made the Fantotne his flag-ship, and sent First Lieutenant West- phali, of the Marlborough, with about four hundred armed men in boats, to destrov the public and private property at Frenchtown. The only defenders were quite a large number of drivei-s of stages and transportation wagons who were assembled there, and a few militia who came down from Elkton. The former gan-isoned tiie re- doubt, which had just been erected, upon which lay three iron four-pounders, first used in the old War for Independence. They fought manfully, but were compelloil to retire before overwhelming numbers. The store-houses were plundered and burnt, but no dwelling was injured. The women and children were treated with respect. Property on land to the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars was consumed, and on the water five small trading-vessels.' This incendiary work accomplished, the in- vaders withdrew, and on the Fantonie, the following day. Sir George wrote an ac- count of the affair to Admiral Warren, taking care to assure that humane commander that he was following out his orders in giving a receipt for property taken from non- combatants. Havre de Grace, near the mouth of the Susquehanna River, was the marauding knight's next object for visitation. It was a small town, two miles up from the head of Chesapeake Bay, and contained about sixty houses, built mostly of wood. It was on the post-road between Philadelphia and Baltimore, as it now is upon the railway between the two cities. For some time the enemy had been expected there, not be- cause there were stores or any other seductions for him, but because the love of plun- der and wanton destruction appeared to be Cockbuni's animating spirit. Several companies of militia had been sent to the vicinity; and upon the hi^^h bank of tlie > NIles'B Weeldy Regitter, It., 119. » Nlles's Waikly RegUter, iv., 104. A letter In The. War (I., 196) enyg : " On their arrival at the Stage Tavern, which wu nearest their landing, the British otHcer told th<! landlady not to be ft-ighteued, ai they woald not hnrt her or her prop- erty, and ordered eomethinf; to regale himneir. Soon afterward some nnder officers came la and said they had poswfion of the stores, and asked what they should do with them. The officer replied that if there was any thing they w«iitf<l they might take It and then bum the hojses. In a few minutes every British sailor was rigged In an American mi form, after which they set the stores on flre, and consumed them and all the goods In them to a consldernble araonnt * A greater portion of the merchandise consumed was private property. IIMf »{ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 671 I OTKce '.hTcatened. Prep*ratioDi for the luvndcra at Havre de Qrace. Cockbnm agsalls the Village, Flight of the Inhabitant*. river, just below the village, near the site of the present (1867) iron-works of Whitta. ker A ^o., a battery was erected, on which one eighteen-pounder and two nine-pound- ers were mounted. This, for reasons unexplained, was called the "Potat-^ Battery." On the lower, or Concord Poin* where the light-house now stands, was a smaller bat- terv and both were manned by militia exempts. Patrols watt'hed the shores all the way to the Bay looking for the enemy, and for about three weeks this vigilance was nnslunibering. The enemy did not appear. All alarm subsided ; and the spirit that brought out armed men began to flag. Some returned home, and'apathy was the rule. Cockburn was informed of this state of things at Havre de Grace, and prepared to fall ujwn the unsuspecting villagers on the night of the Ist of May. A deserter car- ried intelligence of his intentions to the town, and the entire neighborhood was speed- ily aroused. The women and children were carried to places of safety, and about two hundred and fifty militia were soon again at their posts. But Cockburn did not come. He purposely lulled them into repobo by a postponement of the attack. The deserter's story was disbelieved. It was thought to be a false alarm. What is there to call the British here ? common sagacity queried. Tlie militia again became dis- organized, and many of them rctumed home. On the night of the 2d of May there was perfect quiet in Havre de Grace. The inhabitants went to sleep more peacefully than they had done for a month. They were suddenly awakened at dawn by the din of arms. It was a beautiful serene morning; "not a cloud in the sky nor a ripple on the water," said the venerable Mr. Howtell, of Havre do Grace, to me, in the autumn of 1861, as we stood upon the site of the "Potato Battery." He was there at the time, and participated in the scenes, p'iftecn to twenty barges, filled with British troops, were discovered approaching Concord Point, on which the light-house now stands. The guns on higher Point Comfort, manned by a few lingering militia, oi)encd uj jn them, and the^l• were returned by grapeshot from the "ue- my's vessels. The drums in the village beat to arms. The affrighted inhabitants, half dressed, rufhed t'^ the streets, the non-combatants flying in terror to places of safety. The confusion was cruel. It v, as increased by a flight of hissing rockets, whi-^h set houses in flames. These were followed by more destructive bomb-shells ; and while the panic and the f.re were raging in the town, the enemy landed. A iitrong party debarked in i>e cove by the present light- house, captured the small battery tliere, and pressed forward to seize the larger one. All but eight or ten of the militia had fled from the village ; and John O'Neil, a brave Irish- man, and Philip Albert, alone remained at the battery. Al- & '>■ r- 4 i*^ ":'^;«a<^ •0iL-'r*'mmm-' LAjmiNO-ptAOB nr thi UKinsn. bcrt was hurt, »nd O'Neil attempted to manage the heaviest gun alone. He loaded and discharged it, when, by its recoil, his thigh was injured, and he was disabled. 'Fliey both hurried toward the town, and used their muskets until compelled to fly ward the open common, near the Episcopal Church, pursued by a British horse- hJ liiiiifl W8 I'lCTOKIAL FlELD-l'OOK Luic .u-£ p' ;ti«> British at Havre de Qrace. Their cmel Couduct. Ueatnictluu of private Projiertj. mfvii. There O'Neil was captured, but Albert escaped. The brave Irishman was carried on board the frigate Maidstone, and in the course of a few days was set at liberty. The guns of the captured battery were turned upon the town, and added to tho destruction. A greater portion of the enemy (almost foi;r hundred in number) went up to the site of the present railway ferry lauding, and debarked there. They rn.slied up to the open common, separated into squads, and commenced plundering and de- sti'oying systematically, officers aud men entering into the business with equal alac rity.> Finally, when at least one half of the villaj;;(' had been destroyed, Cockliurn, the instigator of tlie erinie went on shore, and was met on the common by several ladies who had taken refucc in an elegant brick liouso, some distance from the vil- lage, known as the Piingle manhion. They entreated him to spare the remainder of the village, and especially the roof that sheltered thcra, He yielded with reluctance, and at length gave an order for a stay of the plundering.* Meanwhile a large detacii- ment of the enemy went up the Susquehanna about six miles, to the head of tide-water, and there destroyed tlie extensive iron-works and cannon foundery belonging to Colonel Hughes. A number of vessels that had escaped from the Bay and were anchored there were saved from the flames by being sunk. At a point be- low, Stump's large Warehouse was burnt. Finally, when all possible mischief had been achieved along the river bank — wlien farm-houses had been plundered and burnt a long distance on the Baltimore road — when, after the lapse of four houn?, forty of the sixty hovises in the village had been destroyed, and nearly all the remainder of the edifices, except the Episcopal Church,^ were more or less injured, the marauders assembled in their vessels in the stream. TUE PBIMULK UOC8E. SPISOOPAaitOIItrBOH. > The late Jared Spark?, LL.D., was on eye-witness of the conduct of the maranders, and has left on record, in tbr North American Hevieu) (July, ISIT), an account of real barbarities committed by them ; and William Clmrlcs, the car caturlst, perpetuated their cmeitles and robberies with bis pencil. A few of the British ofiicers, who did not eharsiu the spirit of Cockbiim, remonstrated, but In vain. » Among those who took shelter there were the wife of Commodore Rodgers, Mrs. William Plnkncy, and Mm. Golds- borough. The latter begged the ofBcer who lind been sent np with a detachment to bum Mr. Pringle's house to simr it, for nhe had an aged mother In It. He replied that his orders were from Admiral Cockbnm himself, and that she niii»i gee him. This was the occasion of the deputation of women meeting hira on the common. >^en they returned ito house was on flre,«nd mka were leaving it with .plunder. By great exertions the flames were extlnguiiihed. Sucb ms the statement of a lady living near to her brother In Baltimore, published in Niles'siZciTistn-, iv.,l()S. She mentionssef- ernl instances of vandalism. ' This building is of brick, and gtanda on the comer of Union Street and Congress Avenue. It was two stories i; 1 of private Propcrtj. he. It WM two stories Ip OF THE WAR OV 1813. 678 AVWt to Havre Ue Orace. Ulatortcal LocalitleB there. John O'Neill, hli 8word and Dwelliug, and at sunset sailed out into the Bay to pay a similar visit to villages on the Sassa- fras River.' Havre de Grace was at least sixty thousand doUarH poorer when they left than when they came twelve hours before. It was a sunny but blustery day" when I visited Havre de Grace and • November w, the scenes around it, made memorable by its woes. I arrived in the ^^'• cvt'iiiiig by railway from Baltimore, Avhere I hud spent three days in visiting the battle-ground at North Point and other interesting places hereafter to be described. The town was full of soldiers, many being stationed there to guard the ferry and public property from the violence of the sympathizers with the rebels in Maryland. The only hotel in the place was entirely filled with lodgers, and private houses were in like condition. The prospect for a night's repose was unpromising. For myself, f. settee or an easy-ohair might have sufficed ; but I had a traveling companion (a young woman and near relative) who required better accommodations. The obliging pro- prietor of the hotel, after much eftbrt, succeeded in placing ub in the unoccupied fur- nished house of his son-in-law, wh"ve we -^assed a dreary night, the windows of my room clattering continually at the oiddin^, of" the gusty wind. Early the next morn- ing I went out, in search of celebrities, and, after sketching the old resideuc e of Com- modore Kodgers, printed on page 182, 1 fortunately fell in with Mr. Ilowtell, already mentioned, who became my cicerone. Under his direction I was enabled to fiud every piace sought after. While sketching the landing-place of the British near the light-house (page 671), the keeper of the pharos came to know my business. He was an aged man, and I soon discovered that he was one of the oldest resi- dents of the place, having been a half-grown boy at the time of the Brit- ish visitation. " Did you know John O'Neil, who behaved so gallantly at the Potato Battery ?" I asked. " I ought to," he replied, " for he was my father." Caii you tell me any thing about the sword presented to him by the authorities of Philadelphia for his bravery on that occasion ?" I in- quired. " If you will go with me to the house," he replied, " it will speak for itself." When I had finished my sketch of the weather-beaten light- house (from which most of the stucco had been abraded) and the cove, with the distant Turkey Point, Spesutia Island, and the Maryland main on the right, I followed Mr. O'Neil to his little cottage near by, and there not only saw and sketched the honorary sword, but from the brave John O'Neil's own family Bible obtained a few ficts concerning his personal history. He was born In Ireland on the 23d of November, 1 768, and came to America at the age of eighteen years. He was in the military service under General Harry Lee in quelling the Whisky Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania, and in 1798 entered the naval service against the French. He became an extensive nail-maker at Havre de Grape, sometimes em- ploying as many as twenty men. The destruction oithe place ruined his business. When the present light-house was built on Concord Point in 1829 he became its keeper; and on the 26th of January, 1838, he died in the house where his son and successor resides. The sword had a hand- somely-ornamented gilt scabbard, on which was the following inscription : "Presented to the gallant John O'Neil fob hib valor at Havkb DE Grace, by Philadelphia — 1813." In Charles's caricature just men- tioned, a British officer, who has arrested the bold cannonier and con- JOHH O'nEIL'B aWOKD, hclsht at the time of the destmctlon of Havre de Grace. Between thirty and forty years ago It was fired by a lightning ftrtikt and partially consamed. The aqnare apaces in the walls over the windows show the lower portions of the old windawa In the aecond story. Althongh the British did not apply the torch to the chnrch, they amused themselves by hnrllnir atones throneh the windows. ' Tn the alTair at Havre de Grace the Americans lost one man (Mr, Webster), killed by a rocket. The British lost three kUled oud two wounded. Uu e74 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ii 'Tjn.-:OTi "4<fff^ '31* I vMMmI H 'M' ■ ii The " Pringle Iloau." Iti Owner sVoternu of tbe War. PInudor aud Ueatructlon of Villages bjr Cockbum fronts him, is made to say, "I tell you what, Mr. O'Neil, you are certainly a bravo fellow, but as a prisoner of war must go on board with us." Tliey did not kcoj) him long, for on the 10th, seven days after his capture, he wrote to a friend in Baltiniorc saying, " I was carried on board the Maidstone frigate, where I remained until re- leased three days since." Ills letter opened with the quaint sentence," No doubt bi- fore this you have heard of my defeat /" and this was followed by a brief narrutivi. of the affair. Toward noon I rode up to the " Pringle House," the residence of the Honorable Elisha Lewis, who had just been elected a member of the State Legislature by the Unionists of his district. His estate is called Bloomsbury, an old English title, ami contains six hundred acres of land, with a front of a mile on Chesapeake Bay. When the mansion was built in 1808 by Mark Pringle, a wealthy Baltimore merchant, ii was the finest country residence in the state, and even when I visited it few rivale(l it either in appearance or comfort. It stood upon an eminence overlooking Ilavie dc Grace, the Susquehanna River, and Chesapeake Bay. It was very large, and sub- stantially built of pressed brick. Mr. Lewis was one of the brave defenders of Balti- more in 1814, when that city was threatened by General Ross and his army Hf served as a volunteer sergeant in Captain Perring's company. Twenty-seventh Rofri- ment — the brave Twenty-seventh — Maryland 3Iilitia, which did such gallant service in the battle of North Point, His gun was disabled by a shot through the stock, when he took the musket of a slain companion by his side, and continued the hAw. Founder of a commercial house in Baltimore, he was engaged thirty years in trade, and passed much of his time in England. For sixteen years he had been enjoyin,' the quiet of country life. After spending an hour pleasantly at Bloomsbury I rode back to the village, and to the quarters of Colonel Rodgers, son of the commodore, who was then raising a Maryland regiment for the war. At half past three we left Havre de Grace, and weiv with friends in Philadelphia in time for suppc* Let us resume the historical narrative. Cockburn and his marauders went up the Sassafras River, that separates Cecil and Kent Counties, Maryland, and attacked the villages of Fredericktown and George- town, lying on opposite banks of that stream, about eleven miles from its mouth, The former is in Cecil County, the latter in Kent County. Both of them at tliat time, and especially Georgetown, had a flourishing trade with Baltimore. Those vil- lages contained from forty to fifty houses each, and at Fredericktown several small vessels that had run up from the bay for shelter were moored. It was on the 6th of May, a warm and beautiful morning, that Cockburn, with six hundred men, in eighteen barges, went up the Sassafras. He first visited Frederick- town, on the northern shore of the stream. Less than one hundred militiamen, under Colonel Veazy, were there, with a little breastwork, and a small cannon to defend it. When the enemy opened his great guns all but thirty-five of them fled. With these Veazy made stout resistance, but was compelled to retire. The marauders landed, and the entreaties of the women to spare the town, especially the more humble dwell- ings of the poor, were answered by oaths and coarse jests and the application of the fire-brand. The store-houses, the vessels, and the beautiful village were set in flames after the invaders were glutted with plunder. The marauders then crossed over to Georgetown, and served it in the same way. So delighted was Cockburn with his success in plundering and destroying unprotected towns, that, with characteristic swagger, he declared he should not be satisfied until he had burned every building in Baltimore, After having plundered and destroyed these quiet villages, and despoiled them of an aggregate of at least seventy thousand dollars, Cockburn and his pirates returned to their ships. This kind of warfare, so disgraceful to a civilized government, created ^m OF THE WAR OF 18 12. e7» >f Villages b; Cuckbuni. certainly a hravc did not keep him end in Baltimore, eniained until re- ce, " No doubt W- r a brief narrutivi' of the Honorable jegislature by the English title, and icake Bay. When more merchant, 'n, lited it few rivaled srlooking Havre df ry large, and sub- defenders of Bait i- ,nd his army. ]h enty-seventh Recti- ich gallant service through the stock, ontinucd the fight. rty years in trade, had been enjoyin;; to the village, ami was then raising u de Grace, and were leparates Cecil and town and George- .es from its moutii. th of them at timt timore. These vil- town several small ICockbum, with si-x It visited Frederick- militiamen, under lannon to defend it. fled. With these marauders landed, tore humble d well- application of the w^ere set in flames len crossed over to ICockburn with his with characteristic d every building in despoiled them of lis pirates returned lovernment, created The blockadlDg Korcc itreuKtheued. Nurfulk meiuiced. Stirring Hcenet In Ukinptoii Koadi'. the most intense liatred of the enemy, and uroused a war spirit throughout the land that for a time appalled the cowardly " Peace Party," and nearly silenced the nows- papci-H in their interest. On the 20th of May a British order in Council extended the blockade to New York and all the Southern ports ; and on the Ist of June Admiral Warren entered the Ches- apeake with a considerable naval re-enforcement for Cockburn and Beresford, bearing a large number of land troops and marines under the command of Sir Sidney Beck- with. The British force now collected within the Capes of Virguiia consisted of eight ships of the line, twelve frigates, and a considerable number of smaller vessels, and it was evident that some more important point than defenseless villages would be the next object of attack. The citizens of Baltimore, Annapolis, and Norfolk were equally menaced, but when, ak the middle of June," three British frigates entered Hampton Itoads, and sent their boats up the James Kiver to destroy some small American vessels there and pluhd<u' the inhabitants, it was evident that Nor- folk would be the first point of attack. The Constellatioti^ and a flotilla of twenty i»un-bottts, as well as Forts. Norfolk and Nelson (one on each side of the Elizabeth kiver), and Forts Tar and Barbour,'- and the fortifications on Craney Island, were all ' 1813. <Si.^''-^«!'^^<__ UK.NEKAL VIEW OF OKAHKY I8LAMU. put in the best state of defense possible; while Commodore Cassin, then in commanr' of the station, ordered Captain Tarbell to organize an expedition for the capti.. :> '^f the frigate that lay at anchor at the nearest distance from Norftlk. Toward midnight on Saturday, the 19th of June,*" Captain Tarbell, with fifteen gun-boats, descended the Elizabeth River in two divisions, one under Lieutenant J. M. Gardner, and the other under Lieutenant Robert G. Henley. Fifteen volunteer sharp-shooters from Craney Isl- ^^--^ and were added to the crews of the boats. -^-"^'^ Because of head winds the flotilla did not .^^^i/^ c/co^f^, approach the nearest vossel until half past three in the morning. She lay about three miles from the others, and under cover of the darkness just before daylight, and a heavy fog, the Americans approached within easy range of the vessel without being discovered. At four o'clock Tarbell opened fire upon her. She was taken by sui"prise, and her response was so feeble and irregular that a panic on board was indicated. The wind was too light to fill her sails, while the gun-boats, managed by sweeps, had every advantage. They were formed in crescent shape, and during a conflict of half an hour Tarbell was contin- ually cheered by sure promises of victory. It was snatched from his hand by a breeze that suddenly sprung up from the north-northeast, which enabled the two frigates anchored below to come up to the assistance of the assailed vessel, supposed to be > Daring the spring efforts had been made by officers of the British blockading sqaadron to capture the CenfteUation, then in command of the now (186T) renerable Admiral Stewart Some stirring events bad occnned in connection with these efforts. > Fort Tar was a small redoubt south of Armistead's Bridge. Fort Barbour was east of Church Street and south of the Princess Anne Road. These were to defend the land-side approaches of the enemy. H^^^^^^^^H h l« 670 I'ICTUUIAL FIKLD-UOOK Hklnnlih In Utmptua Road*. A Brltlvb FlMt eotan tb* Roada. Admiral Dhobrlek'i pobllc Lib. S^^m^ tho Junon, 3H, Captain SiuiderR. Thcftc opened a Hcvori) {'amionade on i\\v, Hotillu, and tho Aiiiofi- cans were obligi'd to Imiil of!'. jVh tliey retired in go()<l order, they kept up a tiro on tho liritish ves- Bcla for almost an hour.' Tlioy damaged their cnomy Heriously, while Home of tiieir own boats were ba<lly bruised. Master's Mate Allison was killed, and two seamen were slightly wounded. Tlioso composed tho entire Ionh of the Americans, llow mueh the liritish seamen suft'ered is not known. This attack brouglit matters to n cri- sis. Kft'ortH for the capture of Norfolk with its fortilicartons, tlie armed vcswis there, and tho navy yard, were iiniiic- diately made by the British admiml. The cannonade had been diHtincily heard, and *vitli the very next tide aft- er tho conflict on that foc^gy Suiidnv morning fourteen of the enemy'H ves- sels entered the Koads, ascended to tli« m^uth of tho JanicH River, and took position between tlie point called Xcw- j)ort-Newce and Pig Point, at the mouth of the Nanseniond. These vcHsels 1 ad on board the One Hundred and Socoiul Regiment of British Infantry, the hoy- al Marino Brigade, and two companies of French volunteer prisoners, who, in compliment to their language, Merc called Chasseurs Jirita.mques. These /^ ^ t^^ J y^ - ^f"if^ troops were /y/// ^ y J // y ^y commanded by Gen- (i>^J>V y^4>»i.^^^^^7->/^>4.^^^ eral Sir Sidney Beck- ^ Avith, asfiisted hy 1 In tbtfl affair Llentenaut (uuw Admiral) W. B. Shubrick performed a gallant part. I was Informed by Commodore Tattnall tliat after the engagement had conttn> ii. about an hour Captain Tarbell made general signal to withdraw frum the contest. The boat commanded by Sbubrick at that time happened to be nenreat the enemy, and that brave yuuiig ofBcer, then twenty-three years of nge, satisfied that a few more shots would damage the enemy, obeyed the order vcrj slowly, and continued to l)1aze away at the frigate. This caused the concentration of the enemy's Are upon his «iDglc boat. Still be moved off slowly, tiring on his retreat, until a signal made specially for him directed him to leave, and take In tow a disabled gun-boat. This he did without losing a man.— A'otes of Convtrmtion with Commodore Tattnall in Julij, IMO. William Branford Sbubrick was bom near Charleston, South Carolina, on the Blst of October, 1790. He was at tchool in New England about three years, from his twelfth to his fifteenth year, the latter part of the time In Harvard Univer- sity, from which he was called home, and In Charleston wan Instructed In the science of navigation. In June, ISOC, lie entered the navy as midshipman, but continued his studies until 180T, when he Joined the sloop of war Wasp at Norfolk. She left that port about three days before the attack of the Leopard on the Chemptake. He was actively engaged in service until the war broke out, when be made a cruise In the Hornet with Commander Lawrence, when he was traat fbrred to the ConsleUation, then under the command of the now venerable Admiral Stewart. He then bore the conimlB- elon of u lieutenant. He behaved gallantly In the attack on the Junon and In the defense of Craney Island. After thai he followed Stewart to the Conntitution, and In that vessel he served until the close of the war, always taking an nciive part li her brilliant conduct. Pursuant to a resolution of Congress (February 22, 1S16), he received a silver medal as one of Stewart's officers. In 1834 the Legislature of South Carolina presented him with an elegant sword In testimony of their appreciation of his gallant services In the ConaHtutimi when she captured the Cjiane and T^ant. He was acting first lieutenant during her remarkable escape ft'om the British squadron, hereafter to be recorded in these page). M the close of the war he was commissioned first lieutenant, and In the Wa»hinttton, 74, under Chauncey's flag, he crulred In the Mediterranean. He was promoted to master commandant In 1820 Eleven years later, after several wdl-con- dncted cruises, he was promoted to captain, and until 1838 was engaged In service on shore. He was afloat again in 1888 as commander of a squadron In the West Indies. In 1846, on the breaking out of the war with Mexico, he was «i- signed to the command of a squadron In the Pacific, and actively participated In events there. In 1863 be was In com- mand of a squadron on our Eastern coast for the protection of the fisheries, an Important and delicate duty. In 1888 he commanded a powerhil squadron sent to demand satisfaction for Injuries trom the government of Paraguay, and having dlacretionar; power to commence hostilities should that satisfaction not be made to the United States Commluiunert. OF THE WAU OF 18 12. 677 linbrlek'i pabltc LIfc. ^^ VliiloU Mllttta OMtf Nurfolk. Orutjr UlMd. American Kurcei than. Ganarkl Taylor. ^ u> ciitiro lo«» of n. timttprs to a cri- )ture of Norfolk, ,lu) armed vcsseU iml, were iinmc- IJritish lulmiriil. been distinetly ?ry next tide aft- it foggy Suiidiiy tlie cnemy'H vcs- s, iiHceiuled to tli" Uiver, and \mV point called Now- 'oint, at the mouth These veHselH 1 iid ndred and Sccaml [nfantry, the U.'y- id two companies prisoners, who, in r language, were ta.'niqucs. Tiicso lid troops wi'ie mmanded by Gen- ial Sir Sidney Beck- th, assisted by Informed by Commodore Ll s\gDa\ to withdraw from [ny, nnd that brave young Ly, obeyed the ordir verj Vmy's Are upon his single jllrected him to leave, and ith Commodore Tattnall in If, 1190. He was at Khool I time In nar>'ard Unlvcr. Igatlon. In Jiiiic,18«i,lic p of war Wtup at Norfolk. I was actively engaged in ence, when he was trans- lie then bore the commlB- praney Island. After thai i, always taking an active lived a silver medal as one IntBWordlntcBtlmonyot Id /-want. He was acting lirded In these pages. At Ihanncey'sflag.UecmW ler, after several wclkon- 1 He was afloat again in Ir with Mexico, he was u- \ In 1868 he was In com- J delicate dnty. inmit It of Paraguay, and having led Stales Commtalonen. Lieutenant Colonel Napier and other eminent leaden. The whole force of the one- iiiy, iiii'luding sailors, was about five thousand men. Jiiines Harbour was tlicn (Jovernor of Virginia. lie was patriotic and active, and by untiring energy ho had nssenibled several thousand militia. A large portion of tlii'Kt", with some United States regulars untler Captain I'olliird, were at old Fort Nor- folk mill vicinity. They had been <lrawn chiefly from the coast districts most iinme- (liatt'ly menaced by the enemy. Tim governor had been zealously seconded in Ids oD'orts by the Richmond press and leading provincial journals, who, as usual, a]^)ealed voiiiinently to state pride. The appeal was eifectual, and gallant men flocked to the standard of their common country. C'rancy Island, then in shape like a ])ainter'H pallet, and rising a few feet aVwve the water, was separated from the main by a strait that was fordable at low or half tide. Across this a temjiorary foot-bridge had been constructed, which led to Stringer's faini-house. The island at that time contained about thirty acres of land. On the southuastern side of it, and commanding the shij) channel, were intrenchments, on which two 24, one 1 8, and four pound cannon were planted. These formed the most remote outpost of Norfolk, and were the key to the harbor. The defense of this island was demanded by stem necessity, and to that end the efforts of the leaders in that vicinity were directed. The chief of these was Brigadier General Robert B. Taylor, the commanding officer of the dis- tiict. Tlie whole available force on the island when the British entered Hampton Roads consisted of two companies of ar- tillery from Portsmouth, led by Captains Emerson and Richardson, under the com- mand of Major James Faulkner, of the Vir- ginia State Artillery; Captain Roberts's company of riflemen ; and four hundred and sixteen militia infantry of the line, commanded by Lieutenant Cclonel Henry Bcatty, assisted by Major Andrew Wag- goner. These were so situated that, if attacked and overpowered, they had no means for escape, and yet, as one of the newspapers of the day said, they were " all cool and collected, rather wislung the attack." On the arrival of General Taylor^ at Norfolk he perceived the necessity of re- enforcing the troops on Craney Island, President Lopez compiled with the demand, and he returned in 1850. Before leaving he visited General Urqulza, Pres- ident of the Argentine Republic, who presented him with a splendid sword. The United States Congress by Joint res- olution authorized him to accept it. This closed his sen service, In which he has held every rank and ezercli<cd every command, from midshipman to rear admiral. He has aliio performed faithful shore service of every kind pertaining to his rank. lie has commanded three different navy yards, and held two bureaus In the Navy Department. He has been chairman of the Light-bouse Board since Its establishment In 18S3, and In a service of over sixty-one years has been only six years and eight months unemployed. His father was an officer of the Revolution. ' Robert Barnard Taylor was an eminent man. He was bom on the -/0th of March, 1TT4, and wab educated at Wil- liam nud Mary College, Williamsburg. He studied law with Judge Marshall, and was associated at the bar with Wil- liam Wirt, L. W. Tazewell, and other eminent lawyers. In 17»8-'99 he was a member of the Virginia Assembly, of the Federal school. He was one of the grand Jurors (John Randolph, foreman) In 1807 who found a bill of indictment against Aaron Burr, charged with treason. During the same year he was counsel for Commodore Barron, after the af- fair of the Chesapeakt and iMipard. Ho took pride in military affairs, and at the breaking out of the War of 1812 he was appointed to the command at Norfolk as brigadier general oi the Virginia forces. He was very .t<9cient lu defense of thai city lu the summer of 1818. He retired from tlie command In February, 1S14, when General Parker succeeded to his place. On that occasion the citizens of Norfolk gave him a public dinner, and flrom the ml'.lury^ he received the most flattering teatlmonies of their esteem and affection. When, as the national guest, Oencrnl Lafuyette visited the ii'l' 678 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ArtlllorisU on C.'aney Island. Lauding of the British. Preparations for Battle. where the first blow of the coming battle was likely to fall. He accordingly sent down thirty regulars under Captain Richard Pollard, from Fort Norfolk, and tliirtv volunteers under Lieutenant Johnson, of Culpepper, and Ensign Archibald Atkinson (member of Congrees in 1849), of Isle of Wight, most of them riflemen. Tliese were followed by about one hundred and fifty seamen, under Lieutenants B. J. Neale W. B. Shubrick, and James Sanders, and fifty marines under Lieutenant Breckin- ridge These, on the solicitation of Gen- eral Taylor, were sent by Tarbell to work the heavy guns. The whole force on the island, on the evening of the 21st, num- bered sf ven hundred and thirty-seven men. At midnight the camp was alarmed by the crack of a sentinel's musket. Ho thought he discovered a boat in the strait.' The troops were called to arms, and stood watching until dawn, when a bush, and not a boat, was found to have been the cause of the commotion. The troops were dismissed, but they had scarcely bnjkcn ranks when a horseman came dashing rcross the fordable strait, and reported that the enemy were landing in force r ear Major Hoffleur's, a little more than two miles dis- tant. The drum beat the long roll, and as the daylight increased the British were seen passing continually in boats from the ships to the shore. Major Faulkner at once ordered the three heavy guns in the southeastern portion of the island to be trans- ferred to the northwestern part, and had them placed in battery tlicre with tlio four 6-pounders. These seven pieces constituted a pretty formidable battery. A short distance in the rear of it, the infantry, riflemen, and Richardson's artillerymen acting as infant- ry, were formed in line, so as to face the strait at the mouth of Wise's Creek. The command of the IS-poundcr ^^ as given to Lieutenant B. J. Neale, assisted by Lieuten- ants Shubrick and Sande.'s, and about one hundred sailors and marines, chiefly from the Cotistellation. The two 24's and four G's were under the charge of Captain Emerson, with his company of artillery, and aided by Lieutenants Godwin and Howie, Sergeants Young and Liv- ingston, Corporal Motlatt, and Captain Thomas Rooke, master of the merchantmiin Manhat- tan, who had been of great service in transfer- ing the heavy guns from one end of the island to the other. These heavy guns were worked chiefly by the men from the navy. The entire battery was under the supreme command of Major Faulkner, a cool and skillful artiller- Jy /^ j. ist.^ The whole force on the island was P/1 / J^j MAJ>'^'^''Z>nJLyl commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Beatty. 'J United states in 13'i4, and a grand reception wan given him at Yorktov.'n, In Virginia, the scene of his warfare nod tri- umph In youth, flenerai Taylor was the chosen orator for the assomhlcd mnltitnde. " In all my time I never heard smh eloquence," said a vcleran to me iu the spring of 18C3. " In all my time I never saw so many m«i In tears." General Taylor filled the position of judge and legislator with distinction. He was in the Convention in lSl-,iO, -charged with amending the Constitution of Virijinia. In that body he iutrodnced enlightened raeasnres In rcaanltn the elective franchise, i ■ the winter of lh31-'32 he was made Judge of the Oeneral Court of Virginia, and held the offict until his death on the 13th of April, 1S34. ' This sentinel was William Shutte. He wis stationed upon a small Island that once lay near the month of ffiK'f 'I'reelc. See map on page 679. Shutte made tho usual challenge, and, receiving no answer, fired, and continued tulire uiutil the camp was (\illy aroused. ^ James Faulkner was bom In Ireland in 1T70, and came to Atnerica when a boy under the charge of a dUtaiit reli- OF THE WAK OF 18 12. 679 paratlons fi>r Battle. l^ofhiBwarfmcamltri- Iny time I never heard siitti ly mm In tears." lie Convention !n 18i-30, led meaBuren In m»nj« hrgiuia, and held the offlct Advaoce of the British on Land. A sharp Conflict. Advance of the British on Water. A long pole was procured, the national flag was nailed to it, and then it was planted iirmiy in the redoubt. The gun-boats were anchored in the form of a segment of a "ircle extending from Craney Island to Lambert's Point, while the Constellation lay nearer the city. Thus prepared, the Americans calmly awaited the approach of the foe. The British landed about ^^- twenty-five hundred men, in fantry and marines, at Hof- fleur's Creek. The morning ,;ky was cloudless ; and for more than two hours tho flash- ing of their burnished arms micht be seen by the Ameri- cans as they manoeuvred on tlie beach and on the edge of an intervening Avood. Stealth- ily they crept through the thick undergrowth of the for- est, and appeared suddenly on the point at the confluence of Wise's Creek and the strait. They immediately opened a cannonade from a field-piece and a howitzer, and sent a bevy of Congreve rockets upon the island, to cover the move- ment of a detachment sent to cross Wise's Creel:, and gain tlie rear of the American left flank in position on the main. They were partially sheltered liytiie house ofCaptairi George Wise, known as Wise's Quar- tos, and a thick wood. Some of the heavy guns of the bat- tery on the island were opened upon them with great preci- sion and rapidity, and a show- er of grape and canister shot soon drove the enemy out of reach of the artillery. Almost simultaneously with this advance of the British land -force fifty large barges, filled with full fifteen hundred sailors and marines, were seen approaching t'lom the enemy's ships. They hugged the main shore to keep out of range of the gnn-boat artillov ?, and moved in column order, in two distinct lines, in the direction of the strait, led by Admii-al Warren's beautiful barge. This vessel was fifty feet in length, painted a rich green, and employed twenty-four oars. Because of her shape ami numerous oars she was called the Centipede. In her bow was a brass 3-pounder, live. He established himself in mercantile business in Martinshnrg, Berkeley Connty, Virginia, at the age of twenty- irae years, and that was tho place of his res'dence nntil his death, lie long tried in fain to obtain a commission in the reeiilar army of the United States. When \ '« brolie out he hastened to Norfolk with the volunteer troops of his ado|)t- fd state, and was there commissioned a major of artillery. In that capacity he served gallantly on Craney Island, and wss the cJMef actor in the repnlse of the Erltlsb. Major Fanlkner married the only daughter of Captain WlUlnm Mackey, iif the Bevc'ationBry Army. He died in 181T fi-om the effects of exposure and fatigue (n camp. His wife was then dead. They left but one child, who thus became an orphan In tender years. This was Charles J. Faulkner, who was an active imbllc man In Virginia, and who was sent to the French court as minister pltnipolentlary by President Buchanan. To him I am Indebted for the likeness of his father on the opposite page. When the Orcal Rebellion broke out he took •idee with the insnrgents, and dishonored the memory of hij gallant and patriotic father by ubaudouiug the flag which his ancestor had so nobly defended. Point NOnfOLH I'LAM OF Ol'KUATIONB AT DBANKV IBI..VM>. ^^' w^^^- ^^H^ ; ^P5^!T 1 \ 1 \ ' \ 1 i ■ 1 iPiPPIP^iH ^mk n\ l A iWiiii M 111; 680 riCTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK Tho nrltinb KlottllR driven buck. AttomMt to iolrc Norfolk and the Navy Yard abandoned. Hnmpton, ^.^ onger, M called a " grft88hop])er," and hIio was comniandod by Captain Hanchett, of the flag, ship Diadem, a natural Bon of Gcvorge the Tliird. Ah tho firRt division oi thp flopt of barges approached, tho eager Emerson onuM hardly be restrained by the more prudent F'aulkner. At length they reached the fair range of the gui-i. Faulkner gave a Hignal, when Emerson shouted, " Now, niy 'orovo boys, are you ready?" "All ready," was the quick respoiise. "Fire!" ox- tiaimea Faulkner. The whole battery, except two dismounted guns, inanft<];ed by Goodwin and Livingston, belched forth fire and smoke, and round, grape, and cnnistpr shot. The volley was fearful, yet in tlu^ face of it the barges moved steadily forward until the storm of metal was too terrible to be endured. The boats were thrown into the grerttest confusion. The Centipede was hulled by a heavy round shot that pa.s8i'(l through her diagonally, wounding several of the men in i.c, cutting ofl' tho Io<;8 of one of them, and severely hurting the thigh of Captain Hanchett. Orders for retreat were given. The (kntipede and four other barges were sunk in shoal water, and tlie remainder of the flotilla escaped to the ships. Lieutenant Neale was directed to send some of his bold seamen to seize the admiral's barge and all in it, and Inuil it on shore, This was gallantly performed under the direction of Lieutenants Tattnall' and (Jeis- onger, Midshipmiiii lila- Dulaney, and Act- ('^^ ^■''^Z^C'-Ol/^T^ r^//^i,,.^/«'7'7^,<j^ C^ f'^'^ '".'? Master Goortrc F. '{oche. Tiu'v se- cured several prisoners and tho admiral's fine barge. This was aflerward repaired, and performed good service as a guard-boat during many a cold, dark night in the ensuing autumn.* Thus ended the battle. "Tims, not long before the time when the Regent of Great Britain congratulateil his kingdom on the pitch of grandeur it reached by dictatini; peace to France in the Fiench capital, a brother of that regent was repulsed bv a liandful of militia in an attempt to capture a small island in Chesapeake liay."^ It w as a most mortifying i-esult for the British.* So certain was Sir Sidney Beckwith of success, that ho promised the troops the opportunity of l)r»'akfa8ting on Cramv Island that morninj,;. Some of the officers took their shaving ai)paratuH with tlieiii, and others their dogs. At ten o'clock the scene was changed, and before sunset the British commanders, abandoned all hope of seizing Norfolk, the Constellation, and tlie navy yard. It was the last attempt there during tlie war. Exasperated by their ignominious rejjulse at Craney Island, the British proceeded to attack the village of Hampton, a flourishing borough on the west side of Hampton Creek, two miles and a half from Old Point Comfort. It was the capital of ElizalK'tii City County, Virginia, and was a mile from the confluence of the creek with the wa- ters of Hampton Roads. It was defended at the time by about four hundred ami fitly Virginia soldiers under Major Stapleton Crutchfield, whose adjutant general was Robert Anderson, Esq., whom I had the pleasure of meeting at Yorktown in 1848. . Tliey were composed chiefly of militia infantry, and a few artillerymen and ' Soo page (116. » "Wo waded out to the Ontipedf," Raid Commodore Tattnall, "and found a Frenchman In her with both Icp rtot off. Soversl othern were In her, wounded In the legB and fi'ot by the pnfinase of the bal'. We carried the Frenchman ashore In a hammock, and he died noon aft- erward. We b1»o found a little terrier dog sitting upon ■he small cannon in hor bow, and Rcvernl cntlaft.'es, plH- lols, et cetera. I had many a oohl nteht's gnard dnty In the admlrnl'i" haree after that." .VofM o/a ronvrrnnlvm inU ('i)inmorfor<» Tnltnall at S<xkrtf» Harbor in Ih* Summrr nf 1800. Onr little picture of the CfrtUprit Is from iin exact nimlf! of It, on a mnall scale, which was made by order of Commodore Warrington, Tho black spot near the stem sho«« llK place where the cannon-hall entcri>d It. ' Ingcrsoll's HiMoriral Skrtfh <\f thr Sfrond War, etc. He la mistAken as to the locality of Craney Island. It i( In (he Ellzaheth River, and not In Chesapeake Bay. « The Americans met with no loss. The British, according to their own account, loat 6 killed, M wounded, m^ lit missing. Of the latter 40 were prisoners and deserters. OF THE WAU OF 1812. 681 Id. Hnmptnn, Anwriuiu at UimpUiu. Landing of the Brttiih near Hampton. Armed Boats appear lu Front. lott. of thi' flag- Emerson ro\iltl hey reached the ute<l,"Now, my ge. " Fire !" ox- inB, manafrpd hy ■ape, and canister steadily forward were tlirown into I shot that passed ig off the Uvj;8 of Orders for rctroat )al water, and tlie g directed to send d haul it on shore. 'attnall' and (ieis- r, Midshipman 151a- Dnlaney, and Aot- Masler George F, I lioche. They 8o- fterward repaired, , dark night in the le Regent of ( J rent ■ached by dictating was repnlsoil by a sapeake Bay."' It Sidney lk>ckwith listing on Craiuy vratus with tluni, I before sunset tin mstellation, and the British proceeded St side of Hampton capital of Elizabeth creek with the w;i- t four hundred and e adjutant general ng at Yorktown in w artillerymen and In her with l)oth leg* A»i ] .V„fM of a Cnnrfrmlim rf* IjWnBfrnTHnnPxactm™!'. lot near the stem ehoiraiM [craneyWand. It 1« lull* killed, M wonndcd, an'' H* cavalry. Tlicy were encamped on the " Little p]iigland" estate of five hundred acres, a short distance southwest from the town, where they had a heavy battery composed of four 6, two 12, and one IR pounder cannon, in charge of Sergeant William Uurke, to defen'i the water-front of the camp and the village.' On Friday night, the 24th of June, twenty-five hundred British land troops, includ- intr the rough French prisoners (Chasseurs Britanniques), were placed in boats and oniall sailing vessels, and between dawn iind sunrise of the 25111* were lan/'.ed ..nine, l)ehind a wood near the house of Daniel Murphy, a little more than two miles *•*'*• from Hampton, under cover of the guns of the Mohawk sloop of war. llu'se were designed to fall upon Il'impton and the little American camp in the rear, while Ad- miral Cockburn, with a flotilla of armed boats and barges, should make a feint in front. Tlie land troops, under the general command of Beckwith, assisted by Lieutenant Colonels Napier* and Williams, moved stealthily and rapidly forward toward the doomed town, while the armed boats appeared suddenly oft" Blackbeard's Point, at the mouth of Hampton Creek. The latter were first discovered by American patrols at Mill Creek, who gave the alarm. Tlic camp was aroused, and a line of battle was formed. At that moment a messenger came in haste with intelligence that the Brit- isii were moving in force on the rear of Hampton. The woods toward Mur])hy'8 were iTJowing with scarlet, and a grain-field near was verdant with the green uniforms of the French. Tlio inhabitants of the village, who yet remained, fled toward York- town, excepting a few who could not leave or who were willing to trust to British lionor and clemency. The brave Crutchfield resolved to stand firm and defend the town against the in- vaders on land and water. He sent Captain Servant and his rifle company, out to ambush on the road leading to Celey's plantation, beyond Murphy's, who were to at- ' ThlB picture, sketched In the sprlnpr of 18M from a window of Burcher'n Hotel, near the ^team-boat wharf In Hamp- ton, '8 a view of the portion of the " Little Rnglnnd" estate, lylnpr on Hampton Creek, mentioned In the text. A line drawn porpendlrtilsriy beneath each nnroeral on the cloads wonld touch the locality Intended to be Indicated by Huch namcral. Figure 4 shown the place of Cmtchflold'a encampment, and 1 the place where the fonr-RUn battery was plant- M. Flmre 2, the place of n smaller battery j 8, Bla ■;kl)enrd"s Toint, at the mimth of Hampton Creek, from behind which ilic Brltli'h flotilla came ; 5, the forest behind which Bcckwith's troops landed ; fl, Hampton Roads ; 7, n portion of the old maiKlnn of the Little Rnpland estate ; K, the month of the west branch of Hampton Creek ; and, 9, Bully's bouse, that ftopd there In 1818. The " Little England" estate was the ancestral possession of the family of Commodore Barron. In (hp foregnmnd of the picture Is seen the steam-boat wharf at Hampton, with the creek on the rliiht. ' Thin was Charles James Napier, afterward a dlstlnenlshed general In the British Army, who was kni|;hted for his «n1rp« In the East Indies, where he became commander-in-cbief of the British forces. He was bnm in 1782, and died \n .\nCTst, lS!i6, bearlns the honors of a worthy llentenant general. He was a sprightly writer, and his biographer tays ;:.iit "when he was not lighting he was writing." w •tm m t (llfll i : p iiili;' il\i :ii 682 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Tbo British Invaders confronted. A severe Skirmish. Struggle for the Possession of Hampton. tack and check the enemy ; and when Cookburn ventured within Blackbeard's Point and opened fire on the American camp, Crutchfield's heavy battery responded with 80 much spirit and effect that the arch-marauder was glad to escape for shelter behind that point, and content himself with throwing a shot or rocket occasionally into the American camp. Crutchfield gave special attention to the movement in his rear, being convinced that Cockburn's was only a feint. From his camp was a plantation road, that crossed cultivated fields, and by the edge of the woods behind which the British had landed unobserved, to a highway known as Celey's Road, that connected with the public road to Yorktown a short distance from Hampton. Connected with this road was a plantation lane leading to Murphy's, on the banks of the James River. Along this lane or road the British moved from their landing-place, and had reached rising ground and halted for breakfast when they were discovered by the Americans. Captain Pryor of the artillery in camp, immediately detached Sergeant Parker and a few picked men, with a field-piece, to go up the Yorktown Road to Celey's Junction, to assist the ambushed riflemen. Parker had just reached his position and planted his cannon, when the British moved forward with celerity. They had just crossed the head of the west branch of Hampton Creek, at the Celey Road, when the advanced guard of Servant's corps (Lieutenant Thomas Hope and two others), who were concealed by a large cedar-tree (yet standing when I visited the spot in 1853), opened a deadly lire with sure aim upon the French column in front, led by the British sergeant major, a large and powerful man. That officer and several others were killed ; the invaders were checked, and great confusion in their ranks ensued. The main body of the rifle- men now delivered their fire, and the commander of the Marines, the brave Lieuten- ant Colonel Williams, of the British army, fell dead. The British soon recovered from their temporary panic, and pressed forward, com- pelling the riflemen to fall back. In the mean time, Crutchfield, hearing the fiiins, had moved forward from his c mp with nearly all of his force, leaving the position on the Little England estate to be defended by Pryor and his artillerymen from tlie at- tack of the barges. While he was marching in column by platoons along the lane from the Little England plantation toward Celey's Road and the great highway, ho was suddenly assailed by an enfilading fire on his left. He immediately ordered hu men to wheel and charge the enemy, who were on the edge of the M'oods. This was done with the coolness and precision of long-disciplined soldiers, and the foe fell back. The victors were pressing forward, when the British opened a storm of grape and canister shot upon them from two G-pounders, and some Congreve rockets, and ai> peared iu force directly in front of Crutchfield. Tlie Americans withstood the fire a few minutes, when they fell back, and a part of them broke and fled in confusion across the Yorktown Road and the Pembroke estate. Parker in the mean time had worked his piece with good effect. Now his ammu- nition failed. Lieutenant Jones, of the Hampton Artillery, hastened to his relief; but when they saw an overwhelming force of the enemy moving along the Celey Road, they fell back to the Yorktown Pike. Jones now found that his match was extin- guished, so he ran to a house near by, snatched a brand from the hearth, and con- cealed himself in a hollow near a spring. When the British drew near and almost filled the lane, supposing the cannon to be abandoned, he arose and discharged his piece with terrible effect. Many of the foe were prostrated by its missiles, and dur- ing the confusion that ensued in the British ranks he attached a horee to his cannon and bore it off toward the camp. When he drew near that camp he saw that it was occupied by the enemy, who had come in force from the barges and compelled Pryor to spike his guns and flee. This he did in safety. He and his command, after fight- ing their way through the surrounding enemy with their firelocks, swam the West Branch of Hampton Creek, .and, making a circuit in rear of the enemy, fled to what is oBsesBion of Hampton. .ckbeard's Point, responded with or shelter behind .sionally into the being convinced ■cad, that crossed ritish had landed with the public li this road was a . Along this lane rising ground and Captain Pryor, ind a few picked ction, to assist the anted his cannon, ossed the head of idvanced guard of ere concealed by a lened a deadly fire I sergeant major, a illed ; the invaders in body of the rifle- the brave Lieuten- jssed forward, corn- hearing the firing, j-ing the position on •ymen from the at- )on8 along the lane great highway, he lately ordered his woods. This was ,d the foe fell back ;torm of grape and ve rockets, and ai> ithstood the fire a fled in confusion t Now his ammu- jd to his relief; hut ng the Celey Road, match was extin- \e hearth, and eon- w near and almost and discharged his ts missiles, and dur- horee to his cannon . he saw that it was ,nd compelled Pryor jmmand, after fisiht- ^ks, swani the West icmy,flcdto vhatis OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 683 imericans driven from Hampton. The Vlllago t,'iven up to Rapine and Pillage. A Committee oflnveBtigatton. now known as Big Bethel, without losing a man or a musket. Seeing this Jones turned and fled, after spik- ing his gun. He followed Pryor's track to the same destination. Crutchtield, with the remainder of iiis troops, liad rallied on the flank of Servant's riflemen, and renewed the fight with vigor. He soon ob- served a powerful flank movement by the enemy, yhich threatened to cut off his line of retreat, when he with- drew in good order, pursued almost two miles across and beyond the Pem- hroke farm. Tlie pursuit was term- inated at what is now known as New- bridge Creek. Thus ended the bat- tle. The British had lost about fifty in killed, wounded, and missing, and the Americans about thirty. Of eleven missing Americans, ten at least liad fled to their homes. Tlie victorious British now entered Hampton by the Yorktown Road, bearing the body of the* brave Lieu- tenant Colonel Williams. Beckwith and Cockburn made their head-quar- PLAN OF OPEKATIONB AT IIAUPTUN 11E1I)-I41'ABTEBS or UEOKWITH AND COOKnrBN. ters at the fine brick mansion of Mrs. West- wood, which stood upon the street leading to the landing. In her garden the remains of Williams were buried with solemn funeral rites on the same day. Then the village was given up to pillage and rapine. The atroci- ties committtJ. at that time upon the defense- less inhabitants who remained in Hampton, particularly on the women, have consigned the name of Sir George Cockburn to merited infamy, for he was doubtless the chief author of tliem.^ The reports of them at the time were much exaggerated, but sufficient was proven by oflicial investigation to cause the cheeks of every lionest Briton to tingle with the deepest blush of shame. " We are sorry to say," said Commissioners Thomas Griffin and Robert Lively, appointed to investigate the matter, " that from all information we could procure, from sources too respectable to permit us to doubt, we are compelled to believe tliat acts of vio- lence have been perpetrated which have disgraced the age in which we live. The sex hitherto guarded by the soldier's honor escaped not the rude assaults of superior force."' A correspondence on the subject occurred between General Taylor and Sir ' There can be little donbt that Cuckbnra promised his men " Booty ar.d Beanty" to their hearts' content. It waB like him. But no one conld gnfiect the right-minded Admiral Warren, or even the more latitudinarian Sir Sidney, of nch a crime against civiliznti and Christianity. ' In his dispatch to Governor Barbonr on the iSth, Major Crntchflcld, the American commander at Hampton, said, after giving an account of the battle and the excesses of the soldiery, " The imfortunste females of Hampton who could not leave the town were abnsed in the most shameAil manner, not only hy the soldiers, bnt by the venal savage blacks, who were encouraged in their excesses. They pillaged, and encouraged every act of rapine and plunder, killing a poor man by the name of Klrby who had been lying on hlB bed at the point of death for more than six weeks, shooting bis i#|!> f : i : : • : i ; ' ' ' : ■ ( ll 1 ■ 1 ; 1M..| } .u ; 1 ^tt'{iif ' 1 ' ■■- W|^" - ■ 1 1 1 aMJC ' 1 Slfl 11 J aW iHi^ 684 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Official Correspoudonce coiiccrulng Ontrages, A Visit to Norfolk and lt» Vicinity. Old Fort Norfolk. • March 13 and 14. Sidney Beckwith, in which the latter, while ho did not deny the charges, attempted to justify the atrocities by pleading the law of retaliation, falsely alleging, as was proven, that the Americans had waded out from Craney Island after the battle there and deliberately shot the crew of a barge which had sunk on the shoal.' And wliilc it was not denied that British officers and soldiers had engaged zealously in the bus- iness of plundering the private houses at Hampton of every thing valuable that might be easily carried away,* the more horrid crime of ravishing the persons of mar- ried women and young maidens, was charged by the British commanders upon tlie French soldiery. " The apology," said the commissioners just mentioned, " that these atrocities were committed by tlie French soldiers attached to the British forces now in our waters appeared to us no justification of those who employed them, bolievinff as we do, that an officer is, or should be, ever responsible for the conduct of the troops under his command." So shameful were these atrocities — too gross to be repeated liere — that the most violent of the British partisan writers were compelled to de- nounce them ; aiid Admiral Warren and General Beckwith, in obedience to tlie in- stincts of their better natures and the demands of public opinion, dismissed the C'/uts- aeitrs Britanniquis from the service. At the '"ides of March," in the year 1853,* I visited Norfolk, Craney Island, and Hampton, for tlse purpose of collecting materials for this work, and I had the good fortune to meet several persons who were well acquainted with places and events in that region pertaining to the War of 1812, I had spent the 4th of March at the national capital, " assisting," as the French say, at the inau- guration of President Pierce; a day or two with the late George Washington Parice Custis at his beautiful seat of " Arlington," opposite Washington City ; then a few days in Richmond; a little time in a trip and visit to '' Monticello," near Char- lottesville, the home of the living and the grave of the departed Thomas Jeifereon; and then part of a (iay on the James and Elizabeth Rivers on a voyage to Norfolk. I intended to go to Orkney Island the next morning, but the wind was so high that no boatman was willing to venture upon the water, so that day I visited the Navy Yard at Gosport, Old Fort Norfolk, and other places of interest in and around tiip city. At the former place wtre seen the skeleton of the famous Constellation ; tiie useless monster ship Pentisylvania ; the work-shops and yards where full eight hund- red men found employment, and .more than twenty-five hundred huge iron cannon, with a complement of balls. All of this property, valued at several millions of dol- lars, with other government vessi^ls, was destroyed or seized by the insurgents of Virginia in April, 1861, at the breaking out of the late Civil War, Old Fort Norfolk, a structure made during the old War for Independence, on the right bank of the Elizabeth River, was in a dilapidated state, and was occupied only by a keeper and his family. That custodian was a queer old man, seventy years of wife In the hip at the same time, and killing a falthfbl dog lying under his feet. The mardered KIrby was lying lait night weltering in his blood." Sir Charles Napier (see note 2, page 681), In his diary of these events, In which he bore a part, says, " Every horror wi; perpetrated with impunity— rape, murder, pillage— OTid not a man tpaa punished," Again : " Strong is my dislike to rtii is, perhaps, a necessary part of our job, viz., plundering and mining the peasantry. We drive all their cattle, imd o( course ruin them. My hands are clean ; but It is hateful to see the poor Yankees robbed, and to be the robber." ' General Taylor addressed Admiral Warren, and was answered by Sir Sidney Beckwith as the commander of Ihf land forces. In bis note to Admiral Warren General Taylor said: "The world will suppose these acts to have In approved. If not executed by the commanders, If suffered to pass by with Impunity. I am preptred for any species of warfare which yon are disposed to prosecute. It Is for the sake of humanity that I enter this protest." Oenernl Beck- with, as we have observed, charged cruelty on the part of the Americans as a palliation ; to which Taylor replied thit he was satisfled that no such act as charged ever took place, and if it had, It was no excuse for the crimes committed il Hampton against the helpless and innocent. A board of officers was convened to investigate the matter, when It wm ascertained that, during the engagement off Craney Island, two of the British boats were sunk by the American psw, nnd the crews were In danger of being drowned ■ that, beiii); In line of action, the firing necessarily continued, but Hut, In order to avoid Injuring those in the water and helpless, the firing of grape was discontinued. One man, who btd em- rendered, but endeavored to escape, was fired npon to bring him back. » Among other "property," according to the laws of Virginia, taken away by the British, were negroes. Cnderi promise of freedom, a large number of them flocked to the British standard. Most of those whom Cockbum enticed » board his vessels by these promises were afterward sold Into a worse slavery lu the British West Indies. wm OP THE WAll OF 18 13. 68S Old Fort Norfolk. irgcs, attempted alleging, as was the battle there, oal.' And while lously in the bus- ng valuable that c persons of mar- oanders upon the ioned, " that these iritish forces now i them, believing, duct of the troops )89 to be repeated compelled to de- ledience to the in- ismissed the C'/km- jd Norfolk, Craney ; materials for this re well acquainted 1812. I had spent sh say, at the inau- Washington Parke 1 City ; then a few ticello," near Char- . Thomas Jefferson; voyage to Norfolk. ,d was 80 high that ; visited the Navy in and around the Constellation; the lere full eight hund- lUge iron cannon, eral millions ofdol- the insurgents of dependence, on the was occupied only m, seventy years of rderedKirby was lying lad rtrt, says, "Every horror TO Strong iB my aiBlike to vrhJt Irivealltholr cattle, imd of «nd to be the robber." S BS the commnnrtcr otm .88 these acts to have ton prepired for any epeciw o( ilB protest." General Beck- o which Taylor replied that for the crimes committed It rate the matter, when it wM Innk by the American pln^ peBsarHy continued, but tlnl, ed. One man, who had m- teh, were negroes. Coder I 1863. liniTlSU UONHUl'h UOL'SK.' ( whom CockbumentlcedoB t West Indies. BritUi Consul at Norfolk and hU Hevldence. Thomas Muore and the Lake of the Utsmul Swamp. Craney lalaud. jjge, With boundless garrulity he gave me his domestic history, and insisted upon bringing out his last baby, the sixth child by his fourth wife. His third wife appears to have been " a thorn in his side." When speaking of her, he thrust his hands into his pockets, looked upon the grass, sighed, and, in a subdued voice, said, " The Lord was good to me, and took her away soon, I really believe she would have died happy could she have seen me die first. I didn't think it best to gratify her, and so she had to give it up." On leaving the fort I went to the residence of Robert E. Tay- lor Esq., son of General Taylor, the defender of 'Norfolk, to whom I am indebted for much information concerning events in that vicinity in 1813. On the folowing morn- ing' I breakfasted with the British consul, the late G. P. R. James, the cm- .March u, inent novelist. The circumstance is mentioned to introduce the fact that his residence was the same (118 Main Street) as that occupied by Mr. Hamilton, the British consul at Norfolk in 1807, at the time of the affair of the Chesapeake and Leopard, whose personal popular- ity alone saved his house from demolition by the exasperated people.* In that house Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, lodged in 1 804, and there he wrote his beautiful poetic paraphrase of a popular legend connected with the Lake of the Dismal Swamp. I passed the morning delightfully with Mr. James and his interesting family, and at ten o'clock started for Craney Island in a skiff manned by a negro seventy years of age, and a mulatto boy of sixteen, both slaves. The air was balmy. Scarcely a ripple ap- peared on the water, and the sun was pleasantly obscured by a slight haziness of the atmosphere. Just after passing Fort Norfolk we came abreast Lambert's Point, and, stretching far to the right, toward the Rip Raps, was seen Sewell's Point, made famous to this generation by the stirring events of the late Civil War with which it is associated. The waters in that vicinity were dotted with oyster- vessels at anchor, engaged in receiving cargoes from numerous small boats that were hovering over the oyster-beds in every direc- . tion, each bearing two men with fishing rakes. As we ncared the head of Craney Island,! hailed a brace of these fishermen in a boat, and asked them for a " fip's worth" of oysters for my watermen. To my astonishment, they dropped two rake's- fuU— at least a peck — into our boat, and on them the oarsmen feasted while I strolled over the island, viewing and sketching the remains of military works erected there during the War of 1812. These are seen rising above the common surface of the isl- and in the little sketch on page 676. These works were erected immediately after the repulse of the British from the island in June,'' and were quite formidable.^ „ They consisted of a fort on the southeast part of the island, and a magazine > See page 158. ' This is ft-om a aketrh made by the author on New Year's Day, 1800. ' The troops on the island at the time here mentioned were n-itho\ t any shelter excepting indifferent tentB, and suf- fered much for lack of water. They dug hollows on the island In which they caught rain, and then strained th« mnddy Baler for uee. OYBTEB FIBUIKQ. 'I M ! t ( •m PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK The Fortlflcations on Cranoy Uland. BKMAINH or ruHTiriUATlONB ON UIIANKY IgLAMD. and brcast-worka on the north wostorn nide/on tlie spot where Faulkner's dlicionl battery was planted. There was an intervening and connecting line of intrineli. mentH along the channel side of" the island, with emhraRures for camion. Tlicsi' liad almost disappeared, hut the eiiibank- ments of the fort wereten or twelve feet in lieight. They indoKcd a lu x- agonal block-liouse,huilt of hri(k,aii(l surrounded by an arcade below the jjorts. It was two stories in height, but the upper floor docs not aiiiRai to have been laid. Near tlic block house was a magazine, also built uf brick. Nothing remained of tiicdlil main gate, on the land side, but nii iron hinge, and of the gateway a broken arch. This block-house, or citadel, when I was there, was per- fectly preserved. The magazine on ihc opposite end of the island was also built of bricik, and was well preserved. Around it were Bome remains of breastworks, but many had perished from the encroachments of the sea, These and the whole island were almost wholly submerged during a very high tide 1II.OUK-UOIIBK ON OIIA^KY IHI.A.NU. HAQAZIME ON OBANEY I8LANII, a few weeks before my visit there. Much of the old em- bankments was washed away, but the solitary cedar, mentioned as being there in 1813, remained unbanned on the southern slope of the island.* From the maga- zine we had a fine view of the entire scene of action on the 22d of June. The schooner on the right, in the annexed picture, designates the place of the barges at the time of their repulse ; and the distant ) point between the vessel and the shore by the magazine shows the landing-place of the British, who moved through the woods up to Wise's Creek. Jiut ' This tree la seen in the Eketcb on page OTS. \.i [o Wise's Creek. hA OF THE VVAU OF 1812, 687 , g|)VD'» Krucilom |)ur('liui<«(l liy lilii Wife, A VIelt to IlnmiHon and VIcltiily. NiiiiilliiK-pluco of the UrltlHli. ill tlu( It'ft of the magiizino, across the strait, is soon a small lioiise, at the mouth of \Vi«''« t'rt'ck. It was near tlie site ofWise's (iuiirtor," which was demoliHhed many yi'in's nj?"- 1" *^l'*' more modern house we found an intelligent colo'-ed man, al)()ut eigiity yearw of age, rejoicing in tlu! fact that his freedom had just been pur- cliiistHl hy his wife, a wonuin almost as old as himself. She earned money by mid- witi'ry, iu wliich proft'ssiou she was very proficient. " IJress de Lord!" said the old man, " f<>'' <i'' *'''y when 1 murriiMl Dinah. She ailers said Pomp shoiUdn't die a slave, 1ml she's worked hanl almost fifty years afore she made her promise sure." lie was liviiijr near there at the time of the light, and assisted in the orectiuu of the fortifica- tions on Craney Island. It was about four o'clock when I returned to Norfolk. I spent the remainder of till! atVernoon in strolling' about the city, and im the following morning departed in the steamer Seklun for Hampton, eighteen miles distant. There \ ha<l the good for- tune to meet Colonel Wilson W. Jones, brother of the lieutenant who went to the as- sistance of Parker with his cannon, and so gallantly took it from the field.' The col- onel was a sergeant in Servant's rifle company, and was in the battle on Celey's lload when the British sergeant major and Lieutenant Colonel Williams were killed. He kindly accompanied me to places of interest around Hampton. First we visited the lipiul-ipiarters of JJeckwith and Cockburn (printed on i>age 0H.3), and were kindly shown the rooms occupied by them, and the grave of Williams in the garden, by Mrs. Savage, who then resided there. We • ._^.,'^' %' V then rode up to the latuling-plac(! of the liritish, where stood Captain Mur- phy's house in j)icturesque ruins upon a grassy point, from which we had a fine view of Hampton Roads. From Murphy's we followed the line of march of the 13ritish to the place whore they were attacked by the rifle- 1.AN1>1.VU-I'I.AI1K UF llIK UUITIBII AT MUUI'IIY'B men, and afterward by Jones with his field-piece, and then went to the mansion of the Pembroke farm, over which the Americans fled toward Little Bethel, In that mansion lived an aged couple at the time, named Kirby, whose treatment by the ])ur- suing British soldiers who entered tlie house was the cause of the invoking of many an imprecation throughout the land upon the head of the enemy. '^ Near it stood the mansion of the Bethel estate, the dwelling of another aged man, named Hope, under whose roof great atrocities were committed.' From these we returned to llampton ' See page 6S2. • Mr. Klrby was an aged man, very sick, and at the point to die when the soldiers entered the bonee. His wife was hyhle bedside, when they shot bim thmnjih the body and wonnded her In the hip. This was procluimcd as a wanton murder, aud excited the greatest Indignation. Colonel Jones know Mrs. Kirby well, and her version of the story was tliat, with vcngeftil feelings, the soldiers chased nn ngly dog into the hotise, which ran '.inder Mr. Kirby's chair. In which he wa8 Bitting, and, in their eagerness to shoot the dog, shot the aged invalid, the bnllct grazing the tilp of Mrs. Kirby. Mr«. Kirby always considered the shooting of her hnsband an accident. ' The conduct of the British at Mr. Hope's was barbarons In the extreme. He was sixty-flvc years of age. They 'tripped hini entirely naked, wounded him intentionally with a bayonet, and tort\ired him with menaces of death. They would doubtless have killed him had not their attention been directed to a woman who bad sought refnge la bis ! I , f m i'l ir: 1 Wm 688 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Commodore Bu-ron'B DanKhter. ColoDal Jooci ud bU Family. D— trnetlon of Hampton, ^"^:'.vV KIBUY UOU8K.> by the Yorktown Hoad, still foUowiiiji; tint line of the invailor'a march, and viHitod Mrs. Jain' A. Hope, daughter of Commodore Jaiiu-H Bur- ron, who kindly furnished me with the por trait and autograph of her father, copies of which are printed on page 159. She Mpokc feelingly of the treatment her father received at the hands of the government, and exprcsHed a hope that History might yet be just to his memory. She was a somewhat aged lady delicate in form and feature, and excecdiiigly pleasing in convei-s'ation. When the blight of the Rebellion fell' upon Hampton, Mrs. Hope went to Warrenton, in North Carolina, where she died in January, 1862. I spent the evening with Colonel Jones and his excellent wife, and saw in their lit- tle parlor two original crayon drawings by the eminent Sharpless, the faithful delin- eator from life of the profiles of Washington and his wife. These were profilcH of Jefferson and Monroe. I made a careful copy of the former. Early the next morn- ing I drew the sketch from my window at the hotel presented on page 681, and at the appointed hour left Hampton for Richmond in the James River steamer. This was my second visit to Hampton, with an interval of five years, and both times I carried away with me pleasant remembrances of courteous inhabitants and a cliarm- ing village. All is now changed. Hampton has been made a desolation by the smit- ings of civil war. Very few of its inhabitants were faithful to the old flag, and that county of which Hampton was the capitrd furnished no less than six companies to the rebel army. Colonel Jones remained a stanch Union man — faithful among the faith- less — and was the last man to leave the doomed village when, at a few minutes past midnight on the 7th of August, 1861, the torch was applied by order of the rebel Gen- eral Magruder during the maudlin delirium of intoxication. He (the aged veteran of 1812) was not allowed to take any thing from his house — the house in which the family of Commodore Barron long resided — and he and his equally aged companion had scarcely left it when they saw it in flames. Within twelve hours, four churches and four hundred and seventy dwellings were laid in ashes. Among the churches was one of the most ancient in Virginia,^ which stood apai*t from the town. Iih de- struction was an act of purest barbarism, •June, The British remained in Hampton until the 27th,'' when they re-embarked, ^***- and on the morning of the 29th Major Crutchfield entered the plundered vil- lage and took possession. On the Ist of July the blockading '•.juadron, consisting at that time of seven ships of the line, seven frigates, and eleven smaller vessels, left Hampton Roads and entered the mouth of the Potomac River. A portion of the fleet went up that stream, exciting the most intense alarm at Alexandria, George- town, and the national capital. The only fortification on which those cities could rely at that time for the arrest of the invading squadron was old Fort Warhurton, then called Fort Washington,^ situated on the Maryland side of the Potomac, a few miles below Alexandria. This was strengthened and its garrison increased by call- house. They left him, seized her, and subjected her to Indignities of which savages would be ashamed. Becanse of these atrocities, M'Ijiws, of the Veteran Corps at Wilmington, need the word Hampton, in place ot Attention, when call- ing them to order. > This house was of brick, and beantiAilIysltnated. At the time of the British invasion It belonged to John SWeit- wood. MThen I visited it it was the property of his family. In trout of it were some tomb-stones, near the site of the old Pembroke church. > For a drawing and ftill historical description of this ancient chnrch, see Lossing's Pietorlal IHHd-book of the Radf^ t<pn, U.,S2«. ' This fort bad been put in good condition. It had about twenty 18 and 88 pounder cannon moonted, that bore im- mediately upon the channel ; also a water battery of eight 82-pounders advantageously placed. OF THB WAR OF 1813. iMtraction o( Uunpion. bllowiiijj; tlm lino viHited Mrs. imv )dorc Jami'K Bur- nc with tlni por I'uther, <H)j)ie8 of 169. She spoke •r father received )iit, and expresned yet bo juHt to his what aged laiiy, 1, and exeeedingly When tlie Wight itnpton, Mrs. Hope ,h Carolina, where nd saw in their lit- , the faithful dulin- 10 wore profiles of rly the next morn- n page 681, and at Br steamer, lars, and both times itants and a charm- olation by the smit- old flag, and that ix companies to tlu ul among the faitii- a few minutes past cr of the rebel Gen- (tho aged veteran house in which the ly aged companion lours, four churches mong the churches the town. Its de- they re-embarked, the plundered vil- idron, consisting at Ismaller vessels, left A portion of the Alexandria, George- those cities could |d Fort Warhurton, the Potomac, a few increased by call- J be oBhamed. Because o( lace ot Attention, when Mil- I belonged to John S.Weit- Istoneg, near the site of tte MPMd-iooko/theRad'- \>n monnted, that tore in- hi. unckburn Id the Potomac and on the Cooit of North Carolina. Alarm In Booth Uarollna. in({ in the militia from the surrounding country. Breastworks wore thrown up at Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washington, and vigorous measures were taken to meet the foe. The alarm soon subsided. The British did not approach nearer to Wnsli- iiiL'toii than seventy miles, and then withdrew, went around to the Chesapeake, and ereated equal alarm at Annapolis and lialtimore. Assured that those cities were amply defended, they withdrew, and a ])ortion of the fleet, under Admiral C'oekbum, went southward to plunder, destroy, and spread alarm along tho coasts of the Caro- linas and Georgia. His vessels wera tho Sceptre, 74 (flag-ship) ; Jiormilns, Fox, and On the 12th of July Cockbnrn anchored off" Ocracoko Inlet, and dispatched Lieu- tenant Westphall, M'ith about eight liundred men in barges, to the waters of Pamlico Somul. They found within the bar the Anaconda, of New York, and Atlas, of Phil- adelphia, both pi-ivatc armed vessels. Tliey fell upon the Anaconda, whose thirteen men after stout resistance, blew holes in her bottom with her own guns and esenped. The British plugged the holes and saved her. They captured the Atlas and some smaller craft, but a revenue cutter escaped, and gave timely warning at Newborn. Westphall proceeded to attack that place, but it was too well defended by the new- ly-rallied militia to warrant an attack, so ho proceeded to Portsmouth, not far ofl', took possession of the town, and for two o/ three days engaged in the pastime of plundering and desolating tho surrounding country. The rapid gathering of tho mi- litia caused them to decamp in haste on tho 16th, carrying with them cattlo and other property, and many slaves, to whom freedom was falsely promised. These Cockburn, it is said, sold in the West Indies. Leaving Pamlico Sound, the arch-marauder went down the coast, stopping at and idiindoring Dewoes's and Capers's Islands, and filling the whole region of the Lower Santee with terror. Several plantations on Dewees's were desolated, and from Ca- pers's a largo quantity of live-stock was taken away, with a few slaves. Other ex- ]ioscJ places along the coast expected a simi- lar visitation. Breastworks wore thrown up around Charleston ; Fort Moultrie and other fortifications wore strengthened, and a con- siderable body of militia were assembled on lladdrell's Point, or Point Pleasant, where might have been seen, before the late Civil War, a monument erected to the memory of some soldiers who perished there by.disoaso.^ No battle was fought on South Carolina soil during the war. Her politicians were among tiie most clamorous for hostilities, and some of her citizens made fortunes by privateer- ing; but few of her sons were found in the ranks of their country's defenders. She suf- fered most from the fear of losing property, especially slaves, which her state law de- clared to be property ; and during tho time eoiniKBe' jioncmen-, point pleasant. ■ This monnment was bniU of brick, having in shallow recesses in the base of the crowning pyramid marble tablets bearing the following inscriptions: fiMtSMe.— "On the 18th of June, 1812, the United States of America declared war against Great Britain. At the first sinnd of the trumpet the potriot soldiers who sleep beneath this monnment flew to the standard of Liberty. Here they fell beneath the scythe of Death. The sympathies of the brave, the tears of the stranger, and the alow dirge of the camp lUeaded them to the tomb. " ' How sleep the brave, who sinlt to rest With all their country's wishes blest The laurel wreath of shining preen Will still around their tomb be seen.' " Tet; SUt,—" Sacred to the memory of Sergeant Troman Goodrich and Adam C. Spencer. Also of Bnvld Aarantj Xx m i 'J i ' 11 j; • ' 'jet i tj t;in| llil 11 II 690 PICTORIAL PIKLD.BOOK ti«re> OrgaalMtlant MBoag lh« >I*t«*. A rtvolntlonarj Bjnnii. Tb«Oni»ei.r()iir*,l, when Cockbiirn wiim hovcriiiK aloii^ the comt l\w larfifc Kliivt!lii)l<l(»rM wero iiKilutcd U tlu< <l('0])(mt aiixit)t,y l(>Ht n torco of tint HriliHli mIioii!,! IiukI iukI dfcliirtt fVctMloiii to all ■orfH who should join their Htuudiini. Iliiil tlioy «lon(i ho, ih) doubt lui iirniy orniiiiiy thuuHnnd colort-d pcoplo wotdd hiivo flocked to that Htaudiird, Ibr tlui ncj^rocn liml h«'ard of tho liberiition of tlioir bri-tliren in Virj^inia by tlu) HriliHli, but not oftlu. \,f\\^. mo»i8 treachery of their Ht'ducer, who hoM tlu'ui iiito worHc Hcrvitu(U! in tlic West h|. dicH. All alonf? tho coaHt, and far into the interior, Heoret orf^ani/atiouH j'xiHtcd anions the lU'grocH for united efTortH to obtain their freedom ; aiul, in anticipation of tin. ,.„iii hig of a HritiHh army of liberation, they were prepared to riHe in large numbcrH, at ;i given Nignal, and Htrike for freedom.' Hut Co(!kbuni waH content to fill \m ])<tvh'{>i by plundering, and a petty Hiave-trade on his own account ; ho, after kec^ping the Cur olinaH in a state like fever and ague for many weekH,* ho went down to the (Jeoriri,., ooaHt, and at " DungenncsH IIouhc," the neat of the fine CHtate of (Jcneral Natlmnicl Gi-eenc, of tho Itevolution, on Cumberland iHland, he nuide his head-cpiarterH for tji, winter. His marauderH went out in all diroctiouH upon the neighboring (iouHtjHpicad. ing desolation ond alarm. Among tlio estates visited was that of IJonaventurcjUiinv Wllllnm KntlaDd, John William*, WllllBm M'l^llnn, Ilonry KIlKoro, John Tnylur, Johu Bruce, and Ilarrla Uiicuicr, prlvntn Kolillom oflliti Tlilrd KcKlniniit orHliitv Triiopn." Whoii I vlnllBd tli« "pot u fow ycarii iMiforo llio IhIo wnr, tho tnhlota worn much rtcfnci-d l)y tho cffoctH orbiillctn whirli had bcoii flrvd at thorn fur Iho Mport of Homo youiiK mun ofCharloiitoii, It wan xnd to hco mich cvidviircH iif utter cart. lensnoB* uf Iho moniory of thoKa whom another and better Kcnoratlon had delighted to honor. And yet there won ira. tiuiony not flir off- Jnat ncrou a broad chaanol— that rcnpuct for.a really Krcat man, tliouKh rnnkod In hUtory aa aur- ago, was not wautln|{. I refer to Oiceola, tho celebrated Heniliinln warrior, wlio for a lon)( lime out|{oiioralcd Homo of tho boat commundorH nt tliti rriiul)- lie— Scott, Taylor, Ualnei<, and Jeiiup— In their attompta to expi.'l hla |)C(i|,;e IVom tho KverKladca of Florida, which had belonged to hlH fnlherii rnimtlmc Immemorial. A ntouo alab marka hla laat roatlnK-placn on CHrth.JuKtntlhe cntrance-|;ate to Fort Moultrie ; and when I waa thero not nvuu n pciicll.mark defaced tho aurface, ou which wna Inacribed, In lar^o Icttera, 0h<ik(ii,a. Ami HO It remained through tlio late Civil War, unacutbed amid the riilnn aroiiml it. I aaw it, well preaerved. In the aprin){ of IHOO. Oaceolu woa made a iiri-- oner by treachery, having boon arreatcd In tlio camp of Oonoral Jcsnp, whlH- or ho had been invited to a conforonco under the generally aucred protcctli'n of a flag of truce. Ho wna imprlaoncd, and hla great heart woa brnkcn. The warrior became like a llttio child, and died nt the close of January, 1839, Xn ouo can look upon that pimple monument, Juat outalde of thegntv of a putter- fill fortreaH, without flndlng In it nnd the huge walla near Hlgnlflcnnt cmblrirH of the comparative atrength of tho European and tho native American od ibe continent; nor can an American citizen, acquainted with the history of the latter yeara of that warrlor'a life, avoid the blnab of ahamo for the govemmcni that aancttoned auch treachery. 1 I am indebtod to nn accompliahod American acholar and profeaaor in one of onr collegoa for on accnont of oncot these secret organizations, which mot regularly during the aummcr of 1818 upon an ialand In tho vicinity of Charleston Tho lender waa a man of great angnclty and influence, nnd their mcotlnga wore opened and closed by aingliig ihc mb- Joined hymn, composed by that leader. They hold roeotlnga every night, and had arranged a plan for the rising of all the Hlavca in Charleston whon the nrttiah should appear. At one of their meetlngB, tho qucHtion " Whot shall be done with tho white people t" waa warmly discussed. Some advocated their indiscriminate slaughter aa tho only scourlly for liberty, and thia aeemod to be tho prevailing opinion, when the author of tho hymn came in and said, "Brother!' yon know me. You know that I am ready to gain your liberty and mine. But not one needleas drop of blond mtut be shed. I have a rr^nster whom I love, and the man who takes hla lifb must paaa over my dead body." Tho fullowlDgU a copy of thoh). .n -a sort of parody on the national aong "Uait, Columbia:" UHOKOLA 8 QBAVK. (11a".! .;i ' «!11 ye Afi-lc clan I Septal. "I llaa I y> oppreased, ye Aflrlc band ! (who t li and awcnt In slavery bound, And when your health and atrength are gone, Are left to hunger and to mourn. Lot indepmdenee bo your aim. Ever mindful what 'tis worth ; Pledge your bodies for tho prize, Pile them ever to the skies 1 CAoru*.— Firm, united lot us be, Besolved on death or liberty ! Aa a band of patriots joined, Peace and plenty we aball And. f Look to heaven with manly trust, Rrpeat. ■< And swear by Ulm that's always Jnat (That no white foe, with impious hand, Shall slave your wives ond daughters more, Or rob them of their virtue door I Bo armed with valor firm and true, Their hopes are flzed on Heaven nnd yon, That Truth and Justice will prevail. Chorus.— Tlrm, united, etc. I Arise! arise! shako off your chains! Bspeat. i Your cause la in",t, so Heaven ordains ; (To you shull freedom bo proclaimed I Raise your arms and bare your breasts, Almighty Ood will do the rest. Blow the clarion's warlike bloat; Call every negro ft-om his task ; Wrest the scourge Crom Buokra's hand. And drive each tyrant ttom the land 1 CAoru*.— Firm, united, etc. > Cockburn londed at Hilton Head and one or two other places, from which he carried off aome cattle and a nointo of slavea ; and Savannah waa much agitated for a time with the fear of hla grasp. OF TlIK WAIl OF 1813. UUI \\\ Thil «»r«v«of()w«()|i WiTt) Ilu'llllU'd liy irii rri'cdoni t(i nil nil iiniiy of many • tlu! in'^rofH liml imt not oft lie inl'ii. U' in tlif West. In oim I'x'mti'd iuiwiii;; l)ution ot'tlu^ ciiin ir^o nunibtTH, III ;i to till tiiH i»H'k('t!. ir koopiiifj; tin? I'm wn to tli«i (iiMirj^ia (Jcncnil Niilliaiiicl iiil-cjUftitcrH lor the Drill j^ c.oiiHt, t<|»r('i\il- IJoiiaventuif,ai'i'\v uce, and Ilnrrta LancMtn, the effof in of bnllctn wbkli icli ovUtoiircn (if utter care- or. And y«t thoro wm iw- 1 rnnkod In hlHtory a« a Mr- iloWrntod Sfniliioli! warrior, tcommandcrHiif tlinrrirali .tomiitn to exiii'l hid \Ki<\i,f HoA lo hl» fnthflrs trnm time H-plnci) on CHrtli.Juntntthi; llipro not ovon n pcurll-matk Inrgo letterc, Ohokh.a. Anil ithod ntnld llm rulim aroiiiiil 1. Oncoola wnn mnilc a iirl«- mp of (Icnornl .Icmip, whllh- I goncrnlly Hucreil protcctlm rcM liciirt wnn lirokeii. The 1 eloBO of January, ISSK. Nn ilHlilo of the Katoi'f «!><«"'■ illH near Bluiilflcant cmblfiw I tho native American on ih« ntod with tho hiatorynfthe of shamo for tho govemmenl igoB for an account of one ot In tho vicinity of Chnrleslon. id cloBod by ulnRhiK 't>c "'>■ BdaplanforthcrlBlngotjIl uestlon " What Bhall 1)0 doM laughter an the only aecnrlt; ame In and "Bid, "Brother!: edlcBS drop of blond mniilbo !adbody." ThefuUowbgii Us and daughters more, r virtue dear 1 _• firm and true, Id on Heaven and yon, Itlce will prevail. 1 united, etc. i oir your chains I |o Heaven ordains-, n be proclaimed 1 J bare your brcaste, jdo the rest. tarllke blast; Im his task ; Jiom Br.ckra's hand, Intftom the land! 3 nnlted, etc, lofTBOme cattle and a number ■nTIANOC TO IIONAVENTDBB. (-Mkhnrn on Um OomI of a«orgl«. DMatnr riiH Dm WMkada at N«w York. Ua U driven iino iim' rhninm. iiiiU'H '•■oni Hiiviuiniih, tho |tro|)i'rty of tlu' Tiilliiiill tUinily, on whicli, in 11 Ki-ovn «)f livtMmk (lnii)(!<l with llio S|i!iijiMli nioHH, in OIK' of tin' ">oHt |ii(!- liiromiui) oi!inoteri('» ill the world, tlio cn- iranctt to whi(!h Ih Hoon in tlio i)i(!tnro, iiittde from ft Hkt!t(di by tlid nrtiHt T. Ad- dlBon ItichnrdH. Wliilo Oo(5kl>urn, tiie murftuder, wftH on the Soutliem coftHt, Hiirdy, tho pontlc- iiian, was blockading 11 portion of tho N»!\v England coast. Tho hftrbors from tho IJolawarc to Nantucket wcro regularly watched, and ingrcHH and t'grt'88 were very difficult. We have given an account of tl»c arrival at New York of tho frigates UhiteAl States and Macedonian,^ tho former in tho American service, under Decatur, and tho latter a prize captured by him from tho IJritiwh in tho previous autumn. These had been repaired and fitted for sea, and tho gallant Captain Jones had been placed in com- mand of the Macedonian. At this time the Poic^ierfl, Captain Bcresford, and a num- Iter of other vessels, were carefully guarding the entrance to New York Harbor through tho Narrows, but Decatur, anxious to get out upon tho ocean, resolved to run the blockade. Ho found it unsafe to attempt it at tho Narrows ; so, with his two frigates, accompanied by the sloop of war //omef, Captain Biddle, which was anxious to join the Chesapeake at Bosto*\ he jjassed up the East lliver and Long Island Sound for the purpose of escaping between iVIontauk Point and Block Island.* For a month Sir Thomas Hardy, with his flag-ship the liamiUies, the Orpheus, Captain Sir Hugh y^ I^igot, the Valiant, Acasta, ^ and smaller vessels, had been keeping vigilant watch in that region. During that time Sir Thomas had won the good opinion of the inhabitants along the coast because of his honorable treatment oftliein. When Decatur approached tho mouth of tho Tliames," he was met by the • jnne i, Valiant and Acasta, and, knowing that tho Ramillies and Orpheus were **'^- near, he deemed it prudent to ri»n into New London Harbor. He was pursued by the enemy as far as Gull Island, at which point tho British anchored in position to command tho mouth of the Thames. Then commenced a regular blockade of New London, which continued full twenty months, and was raised only by tho proclama- tion of peace. The squadron in sight of Now London was soon strengthened, and when, at the latter part of June, Hardy assumed command of it, it consisted of two 74's, two frigates, and a number of smaller vessels. ■ See page 480. > This is ont at sea, sonth of Rhode Island, and forma a part of that State's Jurisdiction. The British had now raised their standard on this island. lim. ^oiA^^ I ' •flKJl ' ^^^^^^^1 wKf '■'^ m' ''" ' ' m -l,4Mi.^-- !- If 'i' ' .■ i ■■'■ i 9 693 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Blockading Squadron off New London. Alarm of the InhabitantK. Decatar finds a Place of Safety, MKW LONDON IH ItJiU.' The presence of this fleet created much anxiety. The more aged inhabitants, who rem nbered Arnold's incursion in 1781, were filled with apwi'ehensions of a repetition of the tragedies of that terrible day. It was generally expected that the enemy would enter the river p.nd attack Decatur's squadron, and the neighboring militia were summoned to the town ; the specie of the banks was conveyed to Norwich, at the head of ti(^e-water; and women, and children, and portable property were sent into the interior. The character of Sir Thomas was a sufficient guaranty that neitlicr life nor private property would be wantonly destroyed ; but, in the event of the bom- bardment of the ships, the town could not well escape destructioiL by fire. Decatur, in anticipation of such bomba.dment of his vessels, after lightening them, took them five or six miles up the river, beyond the reach of the enemy, and upon an emiiience near Allyn's Point, from which he had a fine view of the Sound and New London Harbor, he cast up some intrenchments, and placed his cannon upon them. The spot was named Dragon Hill.^ At about this time an event occurred oiF New London which caused great exas- peration in the blockading squadron, and came near bringing most disastrous effects upon the New England coast. It was the use of a torpedo, or submarine mine, whose invention, construction, and character have already been given in these pagos.^ Tlie government of the United States, it will br remembered, refused to employ them. It was left for private enterprise to attempt the promotion of the public good by their use in weakening the power of the enemy. One of these enterprises was undertaken in New York city. In the hold of the schooner Eagle, John Scudder, junior, the orii;- inator of the plot, placed ten kegs of gunpowder, Avith a quantity of sulphur niixwl with it, in a strong cask, and surrounded it with huge stones and other missiles, whitli, in the event of explosion, might inflict ^reat injury. At the head of the cask, on the inside, were fixed two gun-locks, with cords fastened to their triggers at one end, and two barrels of flour at the other end, so that when the flour should be removed the ' In thie view, looking down the river, the old conrt-house, yet standing on State Street, is seen near the centre of Ihe picture. Upon the rocky peninsula ftirther to the right (erroneously made to appear like an Island) Is seen Port Tram- bull. Beyond it, in the distance, at the mouth of the river. Is seen the ilght-honse, and in the open sound the Brilifh blockading squadron. In the extreme distance is seen, as if In connecting line, Oull and Fisher's Island. Ou the ex- treme left are the Heights of Qroton, east of the Thames. a IlUUmj of New Lmulnn, by Miss Frances Manwaring Canlkins, author of a Bistnri/ of Norwich, Connecticut. Tlie'C volumes justly rank among the best arranged and most interesting of the local histories of our country. ' See pages from 238 to 240 inclusive. km OF THE WAR OF 1812. 093 inde a Fliicc of HaHy. A Torpedo Vessel off New London. Alarm and Precaatlons of the British. Other Torpedo Vessels. I inhabitants, who on8 of a repetition i that the enemy 3ighboring militia 'ed to Norwich, at roperty were sent iranty that neitlier [ event of the bom- by fire. Decatur, them, took them upon an emiiieiico and Now Loudon them. The spot sausod great oxas- , disastrous effects larine mine, whose hese pagcs.3 The (Mnploy them. It blic good by their !8 was undertaken T, junior, the oris- of sulphur mi.veil ler missiles, which, jf the cask, on the irs at one end, anil d bo removed the ten near the centre of ite ilanfl) is seen Fort Trmn- lo open sound the Brltith her's Island. Onthces- Hch, Connecticut. Thc-e Ir country. Q locks would bo sprung, the powder ignited, and the terrible mine exploded. Thus prepared, with a cargo of flour and naval stores over the concealed mine, the Eagle, Captain Riker, late in June, sailed for New London, where, as was expected and de- sired, she was captured by armed men sent out in boats from the Ramillies. The crew of the Eagle escaped to the shore at Millstone Point, and anxiously awaited the result. The wind had fallen, and for two hours unavailing etforts were made to get the Eagle alongside the Ramillies for the purpose of transferring her cargo to that vessel. Finally boats were sent out as lighters, the hatches of the Eagle were opened, and when the first barrel of flour was removed the explosion took place. A column of fire shot up into the air full nine hundred feet, and a shower of pitch and tar fell upon the deck of the Ramillies. The schooner, and the first lieutenant and ten men from the flag-ship on board of her, Avere blown into atoms, and most of those in the boats outside were seriously, and some fatally injured. The success which this experiment promised caused others to be tried. A citizen of Norwich, familiar with the machine used by Bushnell in attempts to blow up the Eagle, British ship-of-war, in the harbor of New York during the Revolution, invented a submarine boat in which he voyaged at the rate of three miles an hour. Li this he went under the Ramillies three times, and on the third occasion had nearly com- pleted the task of fixing a torpedo to her bottom, when a scrcAv bioke, and his effort was foiled. He was discovered, but escaped. A daring fisherman of Long Island, named Penny, made attempts on the Ramillies with a torpedo in a Avhale-boat, and Hardy was kept continually on the alert. So justly fearful was he of these mines, that he not only kept his ship in motion, but, according to Penny, who was a p'-:soner on the Ramillies for a while, he caused her bottom to be swept with a cable every two hours night and day. He finally issued a warning to the inhabitants of the coasts that if they did not cease that cruel and unheard-of warfare, he should proceed to destroy their tOAV'ns and desolate their country.^ An attempt of Mr. Mix, of the navy, in July, to blow up the Flantagenet, 74, lying off Cppe Henry, Virginia, was almost successful. The torpedo was carried out, under cover of intense darkness, in a heavy open boat called The Chesapeake Avenger, and dropped so as to float down under the ship's bow. It exploded a few seconds too' soon. The scene was awful. A column of water, twenty-five feet in diameter, and half luminous with lurid light, was thrown up at least forty feet, with an explosion as terrific as thunder, and producing a concussion like the shock of an earthquake. It burst at the crown. The water fell in profusion on the deck of the Plantagenet, and at the same moment she rolled into the chasm made by this sudden expulsion of water, and nearly upset. Torpedoes were also placed across the Narrows, below New York, and at the entrance to the harbor of Portland. This fact made the British commanders exceedingly cautious in approaching our harbors, and they and their American sympathizers expressed great horror at this mode of warfare. It was re- plied that the wanton outrages committed on the defenseless inhabitants of the coast, from Havre de Grace to Charleston, fully justified any mode of warfare against such marauders, and that stratagem in the horrid business of war was always justifiable.^ > Hardy had been in the habit of allowlnar trading vessels to pass, the blockade being chiefly against Decatur's little sqnadron ; but on the morning after the explosion of the EarjU he informed Qencral labam, the commander of tLe mi- lillo at New London, that no vessel would thereafter be allowed to pass the British squadron except flags of truce. And on ihe 28th of August, after an attempt npon the RamiUie» by Penny from the south side of Long Island, Hardy wrote to Justice Terry, of Southold, desiring him t > warn the Inhabitants along the coast that if they allowed a torpedo boot to remain another day among them, he would " order every house near the shore to be destroyed." The leniency and courtesy extended to the Inhabitants by Captain Kardy gave him claims to their respectful consideration. "The Philadelphia Anrnra said. In xpcaklng of the complaints of the mischievous " Peace party" of that day, "Wc would respecli^iUy solicit the pioiis men to explain to us the difference between waging war with mibmarine macMnes and with aerial doscructive weapons -fighting under water or fighting In the airr The British, too c wardly to meet U! on shore (except when they are certain of finding little or no opposition) like men and soldiers, send us Cungreve rwHji to burn oar towns and habitations ; wc, iu tarn, dispatch some of our torpedoes to rub the copper off the bottoms of their ships." m i f m 1 vUft^^^l W' M 694 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK VlgoroDS Blockade of tbe Coast of Connecticnt. The local Militia. Colonel Burbeck. Although Hardy did not execute his threats, he made the blockade more rigoroog than ever, and many trading vessels became prizes to the British cruisers. A tiny warfare was kept up along the Connecticut coast, for, whenever a chased vessel was driven ashore, the inhabitants would turn out to defend it. One of these encounters occurred a little west of the light-house late in the autumn.* The sloop Roxana was chased "November 28 ashore by three British barges, and grounded.. ^**^- Within half an hour a throng of people had assembled to rescue her, when the enemy set her on fire and retreated. The Amer- icans attempted to extinguish the flames, but a heavy cannonade from the ships drove them oif. Although many were exposed to the cannon-balls on that occasion, not one was hurt. " Dur- ing the whole war," says Miss Caulkins, " not a man was killed by the enemy in Connecticut, and only one in its waters on the coast."' i,iuur-uui;a£ at new lumiu2<. At near the close of June, the veteran colonel of artillery in the regular service, Henry Burbeck, who had been stationed at New- port, arrived at New London to take charge of that military de- partment.^ He f-^'.ind the militia, who were b' on 'mbued with the mischie\^ iS i/ (otrine of state supremacy, unwilling to be trans- ferred, according to late orders from the Secretary oi War, from the service of the state to the service of the United States. He accordingly, under instructions from Washington, dismissed them all. The people, misconstruing the movement, were alarmed and exasperated. They re- gai-ded themselves as unwarrantably deprived of their defenders, and betrayed to the enemy, who might come and plunder and destroy to his heart's content. At the same time, it was known that Hardy's fleet had been re-enforced by the arrival of the Emlymjon and Statira, vessels equal in strength to the United States and Mact- donian. A panic of mingled fear and indignation prevailed, and it was only allayed by the quick response of the Governor of Connecticut to the invitation of Colonel > History of Xew London, page 034. » Henry Burbeck was born in Boston on the 8th of June, 1764. He was a soldier of the Rcvolntlon, and in 1T87, ander the Confederation, he was commissioned a captain. He was appointed y^^4^ yt captoin of artillery In 1789, and promoted to major in 1791. He was raised — - — y/^TifJ^^ijP i i '^ to lieutenant colonel of artillery and engineers in 1708, and to colonel In ^ fCy C*^»-«-*'-^ *>^ 1802. During his service at New London, on the Iflth of September, 1813, . ^— — — "" x he was breveted a brigadier general, and held that commiseion until the x-- — ~2>^^^ ' '\ dose of the war, when, after thirty-eight years of military service, he re- ' '■" ^''^~^»,-— "' ' tired from the army, and took up his abode in New London. He died tl.^ ' the 2d of October, 1848, at the great age of uincty-lbnr years. He was bnii j in the Cedar Grove Cemetery at New London, and over his grave the Maeea- ch'isetts Society of the Cincinnati, of which, at the time of his death, he w«s president, and last survivor but <me of the original members, erected a band- some granite monument, under the direction of Honorable R. G. Shaw, of Bos- ton, the late General H. A. S. Dearborn, of Roxbury, and the Reverend Alfrfd L. Baury, of Newton Lower Falls, a committee of the society. Upon the front i)f the obelisk, on a shield, is the following inscription : " Brigadier General Heniiy BuBiiKiiK, bom In Boston, Mass., June 8, 17IM. Died at New London, October 2, 1848." Upon the cube on which the obelisk stands the following words are deeply engraven : " The Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati dedicate this monument to the memory of their late honor?'' President. He was an officer of the United States from the commoncemcr ' the Uevoln- tlonary War nntll near the close of his life. By a patriotic - d fttltlil\il dU- charge of the high and responsible duties of a Gallant '^ ' ■' and nn Ex- emplary Citizen, he became as Justly ond eminently distlUj," >;: ti iw lis wu uobuxok's mumumknt. rightfully and universally respected. Erected MDCCCL." PVP OF THE WAR OF 1812. 695 Colonel Burbeck. [e more rigorous ruisers. A tiny lascd vessel was defend it. One light-house late 3ed • November 28, ed.. ''''■ emblcd to rescue ted. The Amer- heavy cannonade ny were exposed vas hurt. "Dur- a man was killed its waters on the lose of June, the )f artillery in the Henry Burbeck, tationcd at New- New London to that military dc- f-^und the militia, ty; ■ 'mhued with V lotrine of state illing to be trans- g to late orders •vice of the United ismissed theui all. perated. They re- I, and betrayed to content. At the jy the arrival of States and 3Iace- t was only allayed vitation of Colonel rolutlon, una in 1787, andet ) .ondon. He died tl.. anr years. He was bni. .; over his grave tbe Massa- time of his death, lie was members, erected a hand- lorable K.G.Shaw, of BoE- , and the Reverend AIM I'e society. Upon the troDt itlon: "Brlpadicr General iM. Died at New Loudon, ellsk stands the followinp Society of the Cliiclmnu te honorp'' President. He loncemer. ' the Revoln- patriotic - .1 faithW ^" i4. lallant ly dIstlUii X'CL." and m Ki- u*slis Vfil Decatur endeavors to get to Sea. The BIne-llghts and the " Peace Party." A Challenge. Tour In New England. Burbeck to call out the militia for the temporary defense of the menaced town. Brig- adier Gential Williams was appointed to the command of the militia, and the alarm subsided. Decatur watched continually during the summer and autumn for an opportunity to escape to sea with his three vessels ; and hoping, as the severely cold weather came on to find the enemy at times somewhat lax in vigilance, he slowly dropped down the river, and at the beginning of December was anchored in New London" Harbor, opposite Market Wharf. With great secrecy he prepared every thing for sailing. He fixed on Sunday evening, the 12th,'' for making the attempt to run the . December, blockade. Fortunately for his plan, the night was very dark, the wind ^*^^- was favorable, and the tide served at a convenient hour. When all things were in readiness, and he was about to weigh anchor, word came from the row-guard of the Macedonian and Hornet that signal-lights were burning on both sides of the river, near its mouth. They were ft^we-lights, and Decatur had no doubt of their being signals to warn the enemy of his movement, which was known in the village that evening. Thus exposed by " Peace Men," of whom there were a few in almost every community, he at once abandoned the project, and tried every means to discover the betrayers, but without effect. The Opposition, as a party, denied the fact, while oth- ers as strongly asserted it. In his letter to the Secretary of the Navy*" ^ on the subject, Decatur said, " Notwithstanding these signals have been repeated, and. have been seen by twenty persons at least in this squadron, there are men in New London who have the hardihood to affect to disbelieve it, and the ef- frontery to avow their disbelief." The whole Federal party, who were traditionally opposed to war with Great Britain, were often unfairly compelled to bear the odium of actions which justly pertained only to the " Peace" faction. They were compelled to do so in this case, and for more than a generation members of that party were stigmatized with the < pithet of "Blue-light Federalist." The United States and Macedonian were imprisoned in the Thames during the re- mainder of the war.^ In the spring of 1814 they were dismantled, and laid up about three and a half miles below Norwich, and their officers and men made their way by land to other ports and engaged actively in the service. The Hornet lay at New London almost a year longer, when she slipped out of the harbor and escaped to New York. Of the more stirring operations of the blockading fleet in this vicinity the follow- ing year I shall hereafter write, and it remains for me now only to make brief men- tion of the circumstances of my visit at New London and its vicinity late in the au- tumn of 1 860. I had been on a tour East as far as Castine, at the mouth of the Pe- nobscot, and up that river to Bangor, and was thus far on my way homeward, after spending Thanksgiving-day with the acting surgeon of Perry's fleet. Dr. Lusher Par- sons, at his house in Providence, Rhode Island. I had reached New London at an early hour, and, with a pleasant day before me, went out to visit places of historic in- terest in the town and its neigliborhood. Before doing so, I called on the accom- plished author of the History of New London (Miss Caulkins^), and, after the brief in- ' In January, 1814, Captain Moran, master of a sloop that had been captnred by the blockaders, reported that Hardy, in his presence, expressed a desire that the Micedunian and Statira should h.ive a ',on.hat, they being vessels of equal power, but that he would not permit a challenge to that effect to be sent DecF.mr at once Infoi-med Hardy (ITlh of January, 1,S14) that he was ready to have n meeting of the Maoedonian and Statira, and the United Statei and Kndymion, and invited him to the contest. This messagi was sent by Captain Blddle, of the Hornet, who was informed that an answer would be sent the next day. The crew « of the two American frigates were assembled, and when the proposi- lion was submitted to them they received It with hearty cheers. They were eager for release, and did not duubt their ability 10 secure a victory. On the following day an answer came. The challenge was accepted so far as the Maeedo- ilmian and Statira were concerned, but a meeting between the United Slates and Endymion was declined because of an olle^'ed disparity In strength, which would give great advantage to the American vessel. Decntnr, being under sailing orderii, and anxious to get his little squadron to sea, would not consent to its separation by detaching the Maeeidonian for a duel, so the matter druppcd. > Ml88 Caulkius Is also the author of an admirable History of Norwich, Connecticut. m > I i 4 : ■■HI 1 I iKI i .1 i ^ ...'iiiii 696 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OOUUOUOBK KOUUBBHH UONCSIINT. Cemetery at New London and its OccnpantH. Commodore Rodgers. New London Harbor and Fort TrumbnII terview which limited time allowed, I was well prepared to find the places (and ap- preciate the interest attached to them) in and around that pleasant little city of ten thousand uihabitants. I shall ever remember that intervicv with pleasure. Near New London is the " Cedar Grove Cemetery," in which are the graves of many of the honored dead, Among these, over which affection has reared monii- ments, may be found those of General Burbeck and Commodore George W. Rodgeis. I made sketched of the monuments erected t(i the memory of each, and present them to the readers of these pages. Commodore Rodders was a gallant officer of the navy, and died in the service of his country at Buenos Ayrcs, in South America, on the 21st of May, 1832, at the age of forty-six years. He was then in com- mand of an American squadron on the coast of Brazil. He was a veteran officer, having been a midshipman in 1804, and a lieutenant in active service during the War of 1812.' By order of the Navy Department, his remains were brought home in the ship Lexington in 1850, and conveyed to New London in cliarje of Commodore Kearney. Their re-intcrmcnt in " Cedar Grove Cemetery"^ was the occasion of a great civic and military display, in which the Governor of Connecticut and his suite joined/ His monument is a plain obelisk of freestone, on which is a simple inscription. From the cemetery I rode back to the town by another way, which passed by the older part of the place, and the " Hempstead House," the last remaining of the three original houses built at New London. It was erected and occupied by Sir Robert Hempstead, whose descendants yet own it. It was fortified against the Indians at one time, and was the nearest neighbor to the mansion of Governor Winthrop, at the head of the Cove — that cove out of which, within twenty rods of the " Hempsteail House," sailed the first vessel that went from New London to the West Indies. From the "Hempstead House" I rode down to the light-house at the mouth of the Thames, sketched the view of it on page 694, and, returning, visited Fort Trumbull, so called in honor of the first Governor of Connecticut of that name. It is a most delightful drive along the river fro.n the light-house and Pequot House to the city, and it is much traveled for pleasure during the summer season. Outward is seen the broad expanse of the Sound, with Fisher's and Gull Islands in the distance ; while up the river is seen the fort and city on one side, and Fort Griswold, the Groton Jlomi- ment and village, and the green hills stretching away toward Norwich on the other. Fort Trumbull is a strong w^ork, built chiefly of granite from the quarry at I\Iillstonf Point. It is the third fortress erected on the spot. In 1775 a strong block-liouse was built upon that rocky point, some embankments were cast up around it, and the whole was named Fort Trumbull. In 1812 these embankments were only green mounds. These were cleared away, and a more formidable work Avas erected, leav- ing the old block-house within the lines. This fort, retaining the original name, fell into decay, and all but the ancient block-house was demolished preparatory to the commencement of the present structure. There the block - house still stands, a monument to the memory of the patriotism of our fathers of the Revolution. The I He was nade master commandant in 1810, and captain iu1R28. One of bis sons (Lieutenant Alexander P. Bodttn) was killed at cbe battle of Chapaltepec, in Mexico, In Septem1)e.', 184T. > This cemetery was laid ont by Dr. Horatio Stone for an association in 18S0, and consecrated In 1861. Tbe flretii- tennent of a person living when it was laid out was fnat of Joseph S. Sistare.— Hiss Caolklus. ' Cunllcins'a History of Conixtelimt, 002. or imd Fort Trumbull, places (and ap- little city often Icasure. e the graves of as reared n\onu- rge W. Hodgers, raents erected to 3cnt them to the imodore Kodgcrs :iavy, and died in Buenos Ayres, in •May, 1832, at the was then in com- an on the coast of fficcr, having been 1 a lieutenant in ^Tar of 1812.' By ment, his remains ship Lexington in London in charge [leir re-interment in ft' as the occasion of isplay, in which the nd his suite joined.' e inscription, sfhich passed hy the [laining of the three ipied by Sir Robert ainst the Indians at lor Winthrop, at the of the " Hempstead e West Indies, at the mouth of the ited Fort Trumbull, name. It is a most „ House to the city, Outward is seen the distance ; while up d, the Groton Monu- rwich on the other. quarry at ^Millstone . strong block-house ip around it, and the its were only green .-k was erected, leav- le original name, fell i preparatory to the ouae still stands, a ,e Revolution. The ^TAle^rP.Rodef") IcratedlnlSBl. Theflrttin- OF THE WAR OF 1812. eoT Block-houBe erected in 1812. The old Conrt-hoase and its ABsociations. Peace. new fort was built under the superintendence of (then) Captain George W. Cullum, of the United States Engi- neers, and was completed in 1849, at a cost of about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The views from its battlements are extensive; and from the grassy espla- nade sloping to the water AHOHKT BLOOK-nOCBK, FOBT TBCHOCLL, NEW LONDON HABBOB KBOM FOBT TBUUBDLL. southward may be obtained a very pleasant view of the harbor, the mouth of the riv- er, and Long Island Sound beyond. The last object of interest visited in New London was the old court-house built in 1784, three years after its predecessor was burnt at the time of Arnold's invasion.' It stands at the head of broad State Street, upon a rocky foundation. It had an ex- ternal gallery around it at the second story, but this was removed at the be- ginning of the present cimtury, and it now bears the appearance that it did at the close of the Second War for Inde- pendence, when it was the scene of joy- ous festivities immediately after the Pres- ident's proclamation of peace reached the town in February, 1815.2 Friendly greetings between the British blockading squadron and the citizens then took place. The latter soon went to sea, and the U^iit- ed States and Macedonian departed for Xew York after an imprisonment of about twenty months. Then " the last shadow of war departed from the town." I left New London for Stonington by railway at evening, whither I shall invite the reader before long. We have now considered the military events during the year 1813 in the North and West, on the Lakes, and along the Atlantic coast ; let us now look out upon the ocean, and observe the hostile movements of the belligerents there. In the mean time sounds of war with the Indians come up from the Gulf region. See Miss Caulklns's Histanj qf Xcw London, page 628. ' Admiral Hotham, wliose flag-ship was the Superb, then commanded the blockading sqnadron iff New London. On he 21.st of February the village was splendidly illnmlnated. Ilothaui determineJ to mingle in the festivities. An- iionnctng the parole on the Superb to be "America,' and the countersign "Amity," he and his offlcers went ashore and mingled freely and cordially with the inhabitants. The admiral was received with distinguished courtesy, for, like Hardy, he bad won the merited esteem of the citizens by his gentlemanly conduct. At about this time the Pactolu» and i'ordMii* came Into the harbor, bringing Commodore Decatur and Lieutenant (now Admiral) W. B. Shnbrick, who had been captured in the frtgate Pre»ident. A public reception, partaking of the character of a ball, was held at . the court-house, to which all the British offlcers on the coast were invited. Several were present, and the guests were received by Commodorce Decatur and Shaw, TUB OIJ> OOUBT-UOnSB. , : 1 H ' ■ ■ '« . ' I 1 I ■11*^ I' 'If _Ji_L ' '"' . .- J.I . J 'li 698 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Homtt on the Coaat uf 8uuth America. Her Contest with the I'tanirt, CHAPTER XXXI. "O, Johnny Ball, my Joe, John, year Peaeoek* keep at home, And ne'er let British seamen on a Frolic hither come, For we've Hornets and we've Waupa, John, who, as yon donbtless know, Carry stingers in their tails, O, Johnny Bull, my Joe." BnoTUXB Jonathan's Epistle to Johnny Bcll, 1814. " Then learn, ye comrades of the illustrious dead. Heroic faith and honor to revere ; For Lawrence slumbers in his lowly bed, Bmbolm'd by Albion's and Columbia's tear." HoNODT ON Tns Death of Lawberoe. FTER the destruction of the Java off the coast of Brazil in De- cember, 1812, Commodore Bainbridge, as we have observed, sailed for the United States,* leaving the Hornet, Cap- . jannanj tain James Lawrence, to blockade the Bon Citoyenne, '^'^ a vessel laden with treasure, in the harbor of San Salvador.' On the 24th of January, the British ship of war Montagu^ 74, made her appearance. She came up from Rio Janeiro to raise the blockade. The Jlornet was driven into the harbor, but es- caped during the very dark night that followed, and went cruising up the coast. She was thus employed for a month, and captured a few prizes. Finally, on the 24th of February, at half past three o'clock in the afternoon, while chasing an English brig off the mouth of the Demerara River, Lawrence suddenly discovered a vessel, evi- dently a man-of-war, with an English ensign set, just without the bar.^ He determ- ined to attack her. The Carobana bank lay between the Hornet and this newly-dis- covered enemy. While she was beating around this another sail was discovered, bearing down cautiously on her weather quarter. When she drew near she proved to be a man-of-war brig, displaying British colors. The men of the Hornet were called to quarters. The ship was cleared for action, and as the American ensign was flung out she tacked, contended for the weather-gage unsuccessfully, and then stood for her antagonist. The latter was on a like errand, and both vessels, with their heads different ways, and lying close to the wind, passed within half pistol-shot of each other at twenty-five minutes past five, delivering their broadsides from larboanl batteries as the guns bore. Immediately after passing, the stranger endeavored to wear short round, so as to get a raking fire at the Hornet. • Lawrence closely watclieil the movement, and promptly imitating it, and firing his starboard guns, compelled the stranger to right his helm. With a perfect blaze of fire the Hornet came down upon her, closed, and in this advantageous position poured in her shot with so raucli vigor for fifteen minutes that her antagonist not only struck her colors, but raised the union down in the fore rigging as a signal of distress. Very soon afterward tlif mainmast of the vanquished fell, and went over her side. Lieutenant J. T. Shubrick was sent to take possession of her, and ascertain her name and condition. She was the British man-of-war brig Peacock, 1 8, Captain William Peake. Her coramander was slain, a great portion of her crew had fallen, and she was in a sinking condition. She already had six feet of water in her hold. Lieutenant David Connor and Jliil shipman Benjamin Cooper were immediately dispatched with boats to bring offtk wounded, and endeavor to save the vessel. For this purpose both vessels were an- > See page 401. > She was the Knpiegle, muuuting sixteen 32-pound carrouades and two lung 9 wmmm OF THE WAR OF 1812. 690 uutOBt with the I'mnri. Conduct of Captain Lawrence. Prowess of the Americana respected. 1 Bull, 1814. OF Lawbkhce. ast of Brazil in De- we have observed, niet. Cap- • Jannarj 6, 'Uoyenne, jr of San Salvador.' of war Montagu, 74, Rio Janeiro to raise o the harbor, but es- ig up the coast. Sk nally, on the 24tli of sing an English Irig jovered a vessel, evi- le bar.'* He determ- it and this newly-dis- sail was discovered, [rew near she proved of the Hornet were [American ensign was jfuUy, and then stood [th vessels, with their lin half pistol-shot of adsides from larboard ranger endeavored to Irence closely watched loard guns, compelled lie Hornet came down ler shot with so mncli [her colors, but raised vy soon afterward tk itenantJ.T.Sluihrick condition. She was ike. Her commander In a sinking condition. [avid Connor and Mid- boats to bring off tit both vessels werejui; "cwTouSeTandtwotog !>''■ Xlie Deitrnction of the Ptaeock. chored. The guns of the Peacock were thrown overboard, the holes made by shot were plugged, and every exertion was made to keep the battered hulk afloat until the wounded could be removed. Their efforts were not wholly successful. The short twilight closed before the work of mercy was accomplished. The vessel filled rapidly ; and while thirteen of her crew and several men belonging to the Hornet were yet on board of her, she suddenly went down. Nine of the thirteen, and three of the ffomefs men,* perished. Connor and several other Americans, and four of the Peacock's crew, had a narrow escape from death. The latter saved themselves by running up the rigging to tlie foretop, which remained above water when she set- tled on the bottom, for she sunk in only about five fathoms. Four prisoners, in the confusion of the moment, had lowered the Peacock's stem boat and escaped to the shore. Those who were saved received every attention from the victors. The crew of the Hornet cheerfully divided their clothing with those of the Peacock; and so sensible were the officers of the latter of the generosity of the American commander and his men, that, on their arrival in New York, they expressed their gratitude in a public letter of thanks to Captain Lawrence.'' The loss of the British in this engagement, besides ship and property, is not ex- actly known. Captain Peake and four men were known to be killed, and four offi- cers and twenty-nine men were found wounded. Nine others Avere drowned.- The entire loss of life on the part of the enemy was probably not less than fifly. The Hornet was scarcely touched in her hull, but her sails and rigging were considerably cut, and her mainmast and bowsprit were wounded. Of her crew only one man was killed^ and two wounded in the fight, and three, as we have observed, went down with the Peacock.* Two others were injured by the explosion of a cartridge. The strength of the Hornet in men and metal was slightly greater than that of the Pea- cock She carried eighteen 32-pound carronades and two long ! 2's. The Peacock was aimed with sixteen 24-pound carronades, two long 9'8, one 12-pound carronade in the forecastle, one 6-pounder, and two swivels. Her men numbered one hundred and thirty, and those of the Hornet one hundred and thirty-five. Captain Lawrence found himself with two hundred and seventy-seven souls on board, and short of water. He determined to return immediately to the United States; and he did not cast anchor until he reached Ilalmes's Hole, Martha's Vine- yard, on the 19th of March. On that day he wrote an official letter to the Secretary ofthe Navy giving an account of his success, and on the 25th he arrived at the Brook- lyn Navy Yard. Intelligence of the exploits of the Hornet went over the land, and produced the liveliest joy, as well as the most profound sensation in both countries. The prowess and skill of American seamen were fully vindicated and acknowledged, and the " Mistress of the Seas" found it necessary to move with the humiliating cau- tion of a doubter conscious of danger. " If a vessel had been moored for the sole purpose of experiment," said a Halifax (British) newspaper, " it is not probable she , could have been sunk in so short a time. It will not do for our vessels to fight theirs single-handed. The Americans are a dead nip." The President ofthe United States, in his message to Congress at the special session in May, said, " In continuance of the [brilliant achievements of our infant navy, a signal triumph has been gained by Cap- ' John Hart, Joseph Williams, and IlaDnibal Boyd. : "So much," they said, " was done to alleviate the uncomfortable and distressing sitnation In which we were placed Nhen rmeived ou board the ship yon command, that we can not better express our feelings than by saying we cpiiscd ho consider ourselves prisoners \ and every thing that friendship could dictate was adopted by yon and the officers of rthcWwM to remedy the inconvenience we otherwise should have experienced from the unavoidable loss ofthe whole lofour property and dotheg by the sndden sinking of the Peaeoek." This was signed by the first and second lieuten- {IM», the mafter, the surgeon, and the purser of the Peacock. ' John Place, who was in the top. It Is a sln^lar fact that there was scarcely a mark of a ball seen below the main- top. The captain's pennant was shot tram the mainmast at the beginning of the action. ^ ' To Ibis fhct ft poet of the time. In an elegy on the death of Lawrence, wrote : " For 'twas the proud Peacock to the bottom did go ; He lost more in mvimj than conquering bU foe." M^ ^M PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Uonon to Captain Lawrence and bin Men. Pabllc Dinner in New York. The Lawrence Mednl. tain Lawrence and his companions, in the Hornet sloop-of-\var, Avith a celerity so un- exampled, and with a slaughter of the enemy so disproportionate to the loss m tln' Hornet, as to claim for the conqueror the highest praise."' The Common Council of New York resolved to present the "freedom of the city" with " a piece of plate with appropriate devices and inscriptions," to Captain Law- rence, and to give a public dinner to the officers and crew of the Hornet? Afterward • jannary 4, when Lttwrenco was slain, the Congress of the United States requL'sted* ^^^^- the President to present to his nearest male relative a gold medal com- memorative of his Bervices,^ and a silver medal to each of the commissioned officers UKllAl. AWABIIKD TO CAPTAIN LAWBENOE BT CONUKE88. who served under him in the Hornet. Every where throughout the land the namo of Lawrence was honored; and, as usual after a victory, Art and Song made contri- butions to the garland of praise with which the people delighted to crown the chief victor.* ' Message to Congress, Special Sesslpn, May 25, 1813. In tlie Memoirs of Sir Charles Napier inuy be found the fol- lowing paragraph : " When in Bermuda, in 1S13, with his regiment. Colonel Napier, writing to his mother, aays : 'Tm packets arc quite due, and we fear they have been taken, for the Yankees swarm here ; and when a frigate goes out to drive them off by force they take her 1 Yankees light well, and are gentlemen in their mode of warfare. Dccatnr re- fused Cardeu's sword, saying, "Sir, you have used it so well I should be ashamed to take it from you." These Yankees, though so much abused, are really line fellows.'" ' This dinner was given at Washington Hall, on Tuesday, the 4th of May. I have before me one of the origoal to- vitations Issued by Augustus H. Lawrence, Ellsha W. King, and Peter Mesier, Corporation Committee. It lias a »im;i wood-cut at the head representing a naval battle, which was drawn ana engraved by Dr. Alexander Anderson, whoi- yet <lS(i7) engaged In his profession, though in the ninety-third year of his age. " In the evening the gallant tare were treated to a seat in the pit of the theatre," says TheWar, "by the managers, and roused the house by their jollily ami applause during the performance. The representations wore adapted to suit the taste of the visitors and gratify lh( patriotic enthusiasm of the audience. Captain Lawrence, with General Van Rensselaer, General Morton, and a nra- ber of other official characters, fllled one of the side boxes, and made the house ring with huzzas on their appearance." ' The above is a picture of the medal, proper size. On one side Is seen the bust of Captain Lawrence, with the legetj " lAO LAWRENCE. UULOE ET DEOOBnSI EST I'BO PIIIU MOBi." On the reverse is seen a vessel in the act ofsint- ing— her mizzen mast shot away ; a boat rowing towari her fl-om the American ship. Legend— "MAnnrnm MAJ. QUAM vioTOBiA." Exergne— " inter ikirmit mi A.MERI. ET PEAOOOK NAV. AKQ. BIE XXIV. FEII. MI1CCC5III." « Amos Doollttle, an engraver of New Haven, Com«- I ticut, who ensraved on copper, Immediately after ll» skirmishes nt Lexington and Concord, fonr lUiMtn- tlons of the events of that day, drawn on the ppol bi Earl, engraved and published a caricature concfraiK the light of the Hornet and Peacark, of which the annnfi picture is a miniature copy. An immense hornet, ctrii; [ out "Free trade and sailors' rights, yon old raKsl,'» seen alighting on the head of a bull (John Bull) with*' I wings and tail of a peacock, and, by piercing W^\ with his sting, makes the mongrel animal roar"B(»* | UORNET AJtl> PEAOOOK, 0-0-hOO I 1 I" OF THE WAR OF 1812. The Lawrence Mednl. li a celerity so un- to tho loss m till' odom of the city," " to Captain Law- ^met? Afterward, States reciuestcd" a gold medal com- mmissioncd officers Cruise of the Cht»apeake. Her Character. Lawrence in Comniuud of her. A Challenge. iut the land the namo Hid Song made contii- id to crown the chief , Napier mnyte found the tol- [iuctohls mother, says: 'Two Ld when a frigate goes out to Lode of warfare. Uecaturn- It from you." These \aiike«, iforemeoneoftheorignalfc Ion Committee. IthasMmil \t Alexander Anderson, Ab le'evcnlng the gallant tar. «re d the house by their jolty. ^ ^ of the visitors and gratify ihf L General Morton, au4 a Ml- Ih'huizas on their appemnc, Lin Lawrence, with the les-.d L FT I.EC0BUM EBT rBO PATW VJenavesselintheacto* lot away; a toat rowing town! Ship. i«?e»1-"MA«.rna Sxergne-" •""■"'"""'"" InOTaveT of New Haven, Com* teer, immediately »«H In and Concord, four ilW» [hat day. drawn on the .pot bj iHshed a caricature con«m« While the Hornet was making her way homeward, tlic Chesapeake, 38, Captuiu Evans, wliich luul been lying in Boston Harbor for some time, was out on an extensive cruise. She 'l^^Uy left Boston toward the close of February, passed the Canary and Capo Verd Islands, crossed the equator, and for si.v weeks cruised in that region. She tiien went to the coast of Soutii America, passed the spot where the went down, sailed througli the West Indies, and up the coasi of the United States to the point of departure. During all that long cruise she met only three ships of war, and accomplished nothing except the capture of four merchant vessels. As she en- tered Boston Harbor in a gale she lost a top-mast, and several men who were aloft went overboard with it and were drowned. Tlie Chesapeake had tho reputation of heing an " unlucky" ship before the war, and this unsuccessful cruise and melancholy termination confirmed the impression. A superstitious notion prevailed in the navy cdnccrning " lucky" and " unlucky" vessels, and officers and seamen wore averse to serving in the Chesapeake on account of her " unlucky" character.' Captain Evans Avas compelled to leave the service at the close of this cruise on account of the loss of the sight of one of his eyes, and danger that menaced tho oth- er. Lawrence, who had just been promoted from master commandant to captain, was assigned to the command of the C/iesapeake. He accepted it with reluctance, because the seamen would not sail in her with the spirit that promised success. British vessels were now blockading the harbors of Massachusetts. Hitherto that blockade had been very mild on the New England ccr.ot, for the British Cabinet be- lieved that the people of that section, being largely opposed to tho ".ar, would, it properly cajoled, prove recreant to patriotism, and either join the enemy outright, or separate from and thus materially weaken the remainder of the States. This delusion now began to yield to the stern arguments of events, and the blockade was made more rigorous every hour. Blockading ships hovered like hawks along the New England coast, and the Shamioti, 38, and Tenedos, 38, were closely watching Boston Harbor at the close of Maj'. Tlie Hornet was now commanded by Captain Biddle, and had been placed under the orders of Captain Lawrence. They were to cruise together if possible, going east- ward and northward from Boston for the twofold purpose of intercepting the British vissels boimd to the St. Lawrence, and ultimately to seek the Greenland whale-fish- tries. Every thing was in readiness at the close of May, Avhcn the Shannon, the com- plement in strength of the Chesapeake, appeared alone off Boston, in the attitude of a iliallenger. She was observed by Lawrence, and on Tuesday, the 1st day of June, that commander wrote as follows to the Secretary of the Navy : "Since I had the honor of addressing you last I have been detained for want of men. I am now getting under weigh, and shall endeavor to carry into e-vocution the instructions you have honored me with. An English frigate is now in sight from my ileek. I have sent a pilot boat out to reconnoitre, and should she be alone I am in hopes to give a good account of her before night. My crew appear to be in fine spir- its, and, I trust, will do their duty."^ (See fac-simile on page 702.) At a later hour Captain Philip Vere Broke, the commander of the Shannon, wrote • a challenge to Captain Lawrence, saying: "As the Chesapeake appears now ready f for sea, I request you will do me the favor to meet tho Shannon with her, ship to sliip, |to try the fortunes of our respective flags. To an officer of your character it requires |some apology for proceeding to farther particulars. Be assured, sir, it is not from "In the navy, at this particular Juncture, the Corwtitvtion, Conttellation, and Enterprise were the luchj vessels of the f lenice, and the "hempeake and Pretident the unUichj. The different vessels named went Into tho War of 1812 with [Ihi^se characters, and they were singularly confirmed hy clrcnmstances."— Cooper, 11., J4fl. ' Atitograph letter in tlie Navy Department, Washington City. This was the Inst letter written by Captain Lawrence. pi!i liiiiii!* ..ai a i ;iit ! r^ ll • i! :o2 PICTORIAL I'lEL -BOOK Captain Lawrence's lait Offloial Letter. any doubt I can entertain of your wishing to close with my proposal, but merely to i provide an answer to any objection which might be made, and very reasonably, upo« j the chance of our receiving any unfair support." Captain Broke then, in a long appendix to his challenge, explained his object, men- 1 tioned his own strength, the disposition of other British vessels in the neighbor^ tf ( H ■ (it OF THE WAR OF 1812. 103 jroposal, but merely to , very rea8onably,«p«M CipUin Broke's CballeDge. The Shannm. ilosignated the place of combat,' asked for a plan of mutual signals, offered arrange- ments concerning the presence of other vessels, and assured him that th(.' Chesapeake could not get to sea without " the risk of being crushed by the superior force of the Biitish squadron" then abroad.'' The Shannon ranked as a 38-gun ship, but mounted fifty-two gun?.'' According ' "I will send all other ships beyond the power of Interfering with ns, and meet yon wherever It Is most agreeable lo yon, within the limits of the under-mentioned rendezvous, viz., Prom six to ten leagues east of Capo Cod Llght- hoQic, from eight to ten leagues east of Cape Ann's Light, on Cashe's ledge, in lat. 48° N., at any bearing and distance you please to fix, off the sooth breakers of Nantucket, or the shoal on 8t. George's Bank."— J/S. Chal'enge. ' MS. Letter, with Captain Broke's signature, In theNavy Department, Washington City. This letter was sent by the iiandofOnptain Slocnm, of Salem. He was landed at Marblehead, and made his way to Boston as speedily as possible. The Chempeakc had gone to sea, and he placed the letter in the hands of Commodore Bainbrldge, the commandant of the station. ' The Shannon was bnllt at Chatham, in England, in 1806. She wag also known as " unlucky" by the British seamen liecaase two ships of the same name had been previously lost. One, a 32-gun frigate, was built in 1T96, and lost by iihipwrcck In 1800 ; the other, of thirty-six guns, was bnllt in 1803, and in the same year struck the ground in a gule, and was wrecked under the batteries of Cape la Ilogue.— James's .Vnval OcctiTTtnctt. Ilil m nmn 704 I'lCTOltlAL FIELD-BOOK Condition of the Chtmpeake. A mutluoai Foeliug dlicuvered. Lawroiics uccpti Broke'i Chdleacg, to Broke's challenge, she " mounted twenty-four guns on her broadside, and one liirlit boat-gun; IH-pounders on her main-deck, and 32-i)ound carronades on her <iUiiitir- deck and forecastle ; and was manned with a complement of three hundred men iiml boys, besides thirty seamen" who had been taken out of captured vessels." SIk' was perfectly equipped, and her men were thoroughly disciplined ; and officers and men had unwavering confidence in each other. Quite different was the case of tin. Chesapeake, The seamen, as we have observed, naturally superstitious, reganUd lui as " unlucky," and this opinion was disliearteuing. Captain Lawrence had latii in command of her only about ten days, and was unacquainted with the abilities of her officers and men. Some of the former were absent on account of ill health. First Lieutenant Octavius A. Page, of Virginia, a very superior officer, was sick with a iiuii' fever, of which ho died in Boston soon afterward. Second Lieutenant Thompson was absent on account of ill health, and Acting Lieutenants Nicholson and Pearce were also absent from the same cause. The consequence was that Lieutenant Augustus Ludlow, who was the third officer under Evans in the last cruise of the Chcmpeuke, became Lawrence's second in command. Tie was very young, and had never acted in that capacity, yet he was an officer of merit, and already distinguished. Thurc was but one other commissioned sea officer in the ship. Captain Lawrence was beset with other difficulties. The crew wore almost mutin- ous because of disputes concerning the {.rize-raoncy won during the last cruise. Tlieri' were also a large number of mercenaries on board, among them a troublesome Por- tuguese, who was a boatswain's mate. Many of the crew had but recently enlisted; and in every way the Chesapeake was wholly unprepared for a conflict with an equal in men and metal. But in armament she was almost equal to the Shannon. Siie mounted twenty-eight long IS-pounders on the main-deck, sixteen 32-lb. carronades on the quarter-deck, and four carronades of equal weight and a long 1 8-pounder on the forecastle.^ After Captain Broke had dispatched his ( ygo to Salem he prepared his shiji for combat, displayed his colors in full, and Is Joston light-house under easy sail. Captain Lawrence understood this as a challenge, and when the pilot-boat, sent out to reconnoitre, returned with the assurance that the Shannon was alone, he determ- ined to accept it. lie well knew his disabilities, and told his officers that he would rather fight the Shcmnon and Tenedos in succession, after a twenty days' cruise, than to fight either alone on first putting to sea, when the thoughts of homes just left, sea- sickness, and other depressing circumstances would seriously affect his men. Yet, innately brave, and always self-reliant, ho acted upon his own impulses, and, without consulting any one on shore, he weighed anchor toward noon.^ Captain Lawrence attempted to conciliate his crew by giving them checks for their prize-money, and addressed them eloquently for a few minutes. He then ran up three ensigns, one on the mizzen-royal-mast-head, another on the peak, and a third in the starboard main-rigging, and attempted to stimulate the quickened enthusiasm of iiis men by unfurling at the fore a broad white flag bearing the words first used n tin Essex* Free Trade and Sailors' Rights. Yet they still murmured, for the lortii- guese was rebellious, and active in fomenting discontent. ' Captain Broke'B MS. Letter to Captain Lawrence. Lientenant George Badd, who became a pnrser on board the Shannon, said, in bis dispatch from Halifax to the Secretary of the Navy, that she had, in addition to her complemeii, " an officer and sixteen men belonging to the Brffe Pmde, and a part of the crew of the Tenedos" ' The guns of the Chesapeake were all named. James, in his XavaX Occurrences, page 232, has preserved the names ol those composing one broadside of the main-deck, and some of those on the qnarter-deck aad forecastle, as fullow< Main-deck— Urotto- Jonathan, True Blue, Yankee Protection, Putnam, Raging Eagle, Viper, OenertU Warren, Had An- thony, Anieriea, Washimiton, Liberty /or Ever, Dreadnmufht, Defiance, Liberty or Death. Qcartkb-peok— £uB-''»'< Spit- fire, Naney Dawsoi%, Revenge, Bunker's Hill, Pocahontas, Towser, WiU/ul Murder. The Chesapeake was bnilt at Norfolk, Virginia, in 1797, at a cost of $221,000, and was considered one of the fluest tcv sets of her class. 3 At nine o'clock the Shanrton captnred a small schooner off Boston Light. The Cheaapeake saw this, fired a gun, mi loosed her foretop-sail as a signal for putting to sea. * See page til. OF THK WAU OK I H I a. 706 ccpU DroUo't ChaUeDg^ side, and one light iH on her qiiiirtir- hundn-d nu'u imd red voHse-ls.' S!h' . ; and oflici-rw and ?a8 the case of tlic tious, roij;ar<U'(l her rrenco had hotii in the abilities of Iut )f ill health. First -as sick with a Imii,' lant Thompson wus )n and Pearco wiro icutcnant Augustus of the Cfiempeab, ,nd had never aotcd stinguished. Thtrc were almost uiutiii- ic last cruise. Tlioro a troublesome For- ut recently enlisted; lonflict with an e([u:il 1 the Shannon. She een 32-lb. carronades L long 18-pounder on he prepared his ship ouse under easy sail, pilot-boat, sent out as alone, he detenu- fficers that he would ty days' cruise, than if homes just left, sen- ffect his men. Yet, pulses, and, without them checks for their IHc then ran up three jk, and a third in the led enthusiasm of his ^rds first used n tlie luredjfortheiortu- lecnme a pnrBcr on board the \ adaitlon to her complemeni, b, has preserved the names ot tk oad forecastle, as foUo^ti: ler, General Warrm, Jfud -I'l- nBldered one of the finest ve-- ! saw this, fired a gna. ml « See page «!■ im Chimptakt goes out U> fljfht. (Ircat Kxcllemeut In lluDtun, BeglnoliiK of the Battle. * June 1, 1N13. It was now noon — a pleasant day in early summer," after a chilling mist had hrooded for a week over Boston Harbor. The anchor of the Vhesapeake was lifted, and she rode gallantly out ii.to the bay in the direction of her menacing fi)C, followed by the eager eyes of thousands,' Ah her antagonist was in sight, her decks were immediately cleared for action, and both vessels, under easy sail, bore away to a position about thirty miles from Boston Light, between Capo Cod and Cape Ann.* At four o'clock the Chesapeake fired a gun, wliieh made the Shannon lieavo to. She was soon under single-reefed top-sails and jib, while the Chenapcake, under whole top- sails and jib, was bearing down upon her with considerable speed. The breeze was freshening, an<l as the latter approached her movements were watched on board the Shannon with great anxiety, because it was uncertain on which side she was about to close upon her antagonist, or whether she might not commence the action on her quarter. Having the weather-gage the Chesapeake had the advantage; atid "the history of naval warfare," says Mr. Cooper, " does not contain an instance of a ship's bciiif more gallantly conducted than the Chesapeake was now handled."^ Onward came the Chesapeake until she lay fairly along tlio larboard side of the Slutmion, yard-arm and yard-arm, within pistol-shot distance. It was now between half past five and six o'clock in the evening. The Chesapeake was luflTed, and ranged up abeam, and as her foremast came in a line with the Shannon^s mizzen mast the latter discharged her cabin guns, anu the others in quick succession from afl forward. Tiie Chesapeake was silent for a moment until her guns bore, when she poured a de- structive broadside into her antagonist. Now came the tug with lieavy metal. For six or eight minutes the cannonade on both sides was incessant. In general effect tlic Chesapeake had the be t of the action at this juncture, but she had suffered dread- fully hi the loss of ofticci uid men. Compared with that of the foe, it was as ten to one,* While passing the Shannoii's broadside, after a contest of twelve minutes, the Ches- apeake's foretop-sail-tie and jib-sheet were shot away. Her spanker-brails were also loosened, and the sail blew out. Tims crippled at the moment when she was about to take the wind out of the Shannon's nails, shoot ahead, lay across her bow, rake her, and probably secure a victory, the Chesapeake would not obey her helm ; and when the sails of her antagonist filled, she by some means got her mizzen rigging foul of tlie Shannon's fore-chains. Thus entangled, the Chesapeake lay exposed to the raking iire of the foe's carronades. These almost swept her upper decks. Captain Lawrence was slightly Avounded in the leg ; Mr. White, the sailing-master, was killed ; Ludlow, the first lieutenant, was badly Avounded in two places by grape-shot ; and Mr. Brown, the marine officer, Mr. Ballard, the acting fourth lieutenant, and Peter Adams, the ' There was great excitement at Boston and in Its neighborhood when it was Icnown that the Chempeake had gone ont to meet the Shannon. Thousands of hearts heat quicker with the desire that Captain Lawrence should add new janrcls to those he had already won in his combat with the Peacock, and the harbor was soon swarming with small craft making their way out to the probable scene of action. Yet there were those who were moved by opposite feelings. The party opposed to the war was strong in Massachusetts, and when, a fortnight afterward, it was proposed in the Legislature of that state to pass a vote of thanks to the then slain Lawrence for his gallantry in the capture uf the /Va> fofi, a preamble and resolution were adopted by the Senate declaring that similar attentions already given to military and naval officers engaged In a like service had "given great discontent to many of the good people of the Common- wealth, it being considered by them as an encouragement and excitement to the continuance of the present unjust, nu- necessary, and Iniquitous war. The resolution was as follows : "Tto'IixW, asthe sense of the Senate of Massachusetts, that in awarlike the present, waged without justifiable cause, and prosecuted in a manner which indicates that conquest and ambition are its real motives, it is not becoming a moral and religious people to express any approbation of military or naval exploits which are not immediately connected with the defense of our sea-coast and soil." — June 15, 181S. > From the high grounds near Salem the inhabitants had a distant view of the engagement, and the booming of the cannon was heard far inland. ' Cooper's Wmal Hittnrn of the TTnited States, ii., 248. ' "Of one hundred and fifty men quartered on the upper deck," said Lieutenant Ludlow to an officer of the Shannon, "1 did not see fifty on their legs after the first fire." The Shannon's topmen reported " that the hammocks, splinters, and wreclig of all kinds driven across the deck formed a complete cloud."— Stati-ntfitt uf Captain R. U. King, qf the Bayal Xavij. Yy ^K i : 1 hh ' i 706 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle of the Chesapeake and iVmnjioi*. Captain Lawrence mortally wounded. "Don't give up the Shin " 'lUK UUEHAPKAKE UIUAllI.KD UT TU£ SUAMNO^'h UBOADalDEB. > boatswain, were all mortally wounded. The latter was boatswain of the Constitutm in her action with the Guerriere. Whftii Captain Lawrence perceived the entanglement of the ships he ordered his boarders to be called up. Unfortunately, a negro bugler was employed to give the signal instead of the drummer, as usual. Dismayed by the aspect of the fight, the bugler skulked under the stern of the launch, and when called to duty he was so ter- rified that he could not give even a feeble blast.^ Oral orders were immediatclv sent to the boarders, but these Avere imperfectly understood amid the din of battle. At that moment, while Captain Lawrence was giving directions concerning the diiai- aged foiesails, that the ship might be rendered manageable, he was fatally wounded by a musket-bpU, and carried below by Lieutenant Cox, aided by some of the men/ Ilis last Avords when he left the deck Avere in substance, " Tell the men to fire faster and not give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks !" These words of the dying lieTi were remembered, and '^ Doii't give up the Shijy''' was the battle-cry of the Aiiiericaii Navy during the whole war. It was the motto upon the banner borne by Perry's flag-ship in battle thi-ee months later, and is still a proverbial word of encouragement to the struggling and faltering in life's various battles.* The keen and experienced eye of Captain Broke quickly comprehended the weak 1 Thin Is from a Bkeii.h hy Captain B. H. King, of the Royal Navy, who was with Captain Broke In the Shannon from ISOC nntil 1814, excepting a short time In the spring of 1813. Ho rose to the rank of commander in 1828, and to captaiD in 1839, when he withdrew from service afloat. ' His name was George Brown. He was exchanged. Afterward he was tried at New London, fonnd guilty of cow ardicc, and sentenced to the punishment of three hundred lashes on his bare hack. ' Lieutenant Cox commnndcd the middle division of the gun-dock. He heard the oral orders for the bourileii', ant ran up at the moment when Lawrence fell. * The following are the f.rst and last stanzas of a stirring poem by R. M. Charlton : " A hero on his vessel's deck " Oh, let these words your motto be, Lay weltering in his gore. Whatever Ills l)efall ; And tattered sail aun shattered wreck Though foes beset, and pleasures flee, . Told that the ilght was o'er ; And passion's w'les t. /tU.all. But e'en when d>,ath had .'lazed his eye, Though danger spreads her ready snnro nis feeble, quivering lip Your erring steps to trip, Still uttered, with life's latest sigh, Bemomber hat dead hero's prayer, • 1/oj't, don't give up the ship I' And ' dont yive vp the. ship V ' OF THE WAR OF 1812. 101 "Don't give up the Ship," A desperate Struggle. Treachery of a Portnguese. Capture of the Chcsapeate. tin of the Constitutm B Bliips he ordered his lemployed to give the ipect of the fight, \h [to duty he was so tor- ■rs were immediately jmid the din of battle, s concerning the dn.ai- was fatally wounded by some of the men.' the men to fire taster jrds of the dying he'-o ,e-cry of the Amerleaii pner borne by Perry's ord of encouragement iprehended the wcnk Jain Broke In the Shannon from lmnnderlnl828,andtocaptm • London, found gnllty of co« lal orders for the boarder?, am! Rg your motto \>e, Jefall ; It, and plcafinrca nee, Vies I itli.all. treads her ready Buaro Ipx to trip, lend hero's pmyer, \ip the ship r ' ness of the Chesajteake at this moment, she having no officer on the quarter-deck shove the rank of midshipman. He immediately ordered his boarders forward. Placing himself, with his first lieutenant, at the htad of twenty of them, and passing cautiously from his fore-channels, he readied the q>iarter-deck of the Chesapeake without opposition, for the gunners, finding all their officers fallen, and themselves exposed to a raking fire without the means of returning a shot, had left the guns and fli'd below. Meanwhile Lieutenant Budd had ordered the boarders to follow him up. Only fifteen or twenty obeyed, and with these he gallantly attacked the British at the gangways. He was almost instantly disabled by a severe wound, and thrown down on the gun-deck. His followers were driven toward the forecastle. These disasters aroused the severely-wounded young Ludlow, Having laid his commander in the guard-room, he hurried upon deck, where he almost instantly received a fatal sabre-wound, and was carried below. Broke now ordered about sixty marines of the Shannon to join him, Tliese kept down the Americans who were ascending the main hatchway, I'rovoked by a shot iiom below by a boy, they fired down the hatches, and killed and wounded a great many men. The victory was soon made easy by treachery. The boatswain's mate (the mutinous Portuguese already mentioned) removed the gratings of the berth- deck, and then, running below, followed by a large number of the malcontents of the morning, he shouted, maliciously, " So much for not paying men prize-money !" This act gave the British complete control of the vessel ; and while a few gallant marines, animated by the injunctiors of the bleeding Lawrence, were yet defending the ship, First Lieutenant Watts, of the Shannon, hauled down the colors of the Chesapeake and hoisted the Bi'itish flag. At that instant he was slain by a grape-shot from one of tlie foremast guns of his own ship, wliieh struck him on the head.* History has recorded but few naval battles more sanguinary than this. It lasted only fifteen minutes, and yet, as Cooper remarks, " both ships were char- nel-houses." They presented a most dis- mal sjjectacle. The Chesapeake had lost forty-eight men killed, and ninety-eight wounded. The Shannon had lost twen- ty-six killed, and fif^y- eight wounded. Among the killed were Lieutenant Watt, already mentioned, Mr. Aldham, the pur- ser, and Mr. Dunn, the captain's cK-rk.^ Both ».hips presented a most dismal ap- pearance. ]\Iarks of carnage and desola- tion every Avhere met the eye.^ Captain Broke, who luid ordered the slaughter to eease when the victory M^as gained, had become delirious, Lawrence, too severe- :%■'- I'llIMP U0WK8 VEBE UKOKK. 'Captain Broke behaved most KaUnntly in this coi.llict, lie received, according to hla report, "a eevcre eabre- mmA at tlin first onset while charging a part of the enemy who had rallied on the forecastle," yet he continued his 'irlpn until he was assured of victory, when ho partly fainted from loss of l)loo(l. While a soiiman was tying n hand- kcrciiicf nriiiind the captain's wounded bead, there was n en,-, " Thero, sir, there troes up the old cisign over the Yankee I olors !" Washington Irving, In an account of the engagement. In the A nalivtic. ifaijazine, says that Samuel Llvermore, "f Boston, who, from personal attachment to Lawrence, bad nccomi)anied him as chaplain, attempted to avenge his fall. He shot at Captain Broke, hut missed him. Broke made a stroke at Livcrmore's head with bis sword, which the latter warded off, bit In so doing received r. severe wound 1" the arm. " Captain Br<ikr's Report. ' There Is a cii, ions coincidence In the history of the Shannon and the American ft'igate roiuttihiHim. Within a few (lava of each other, in the summer of 1«(I0, these two vessels, whose names are deurtotlieir respective nations, and both, ill maritime parlance, ranking as inrnliilit, were equipped and saileci on a cruise. The conqueror of the Chenapeake left PorUmouth, Eogland, nud at about the same time the Constitutimi left Portsmouth, Virginia, on a short cruise, preparn- PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Chesapeake taken to Uulifax. Biographical Slcctcli of Captain Lawrence. r ' n I. ■■:i i % -i i 1 f ' m^ '■■' ly wounded to bo earned to his shattered cabin, was left in the ward-room Avith his own surgeon, seldom uttering a word except to indicate his wants. White lav- dead,' Ballard,^ Broome,^ and Adams were dying, and the gallant Ludlow was sui- faring severely from a mortal wound. TllK SHANNON AMU GUESArEAKE ENTEBINU THE UAUUOtt Or UALIKAX.* As soon as the two ships were disentangled, the Sfiannon started for Halifax with •Jnne, her prize, where she arrived on the 7th.* Lawrence had expired the day be- 1813. foxQ^ and his body, wrapped in the flag of the Chesapeake, lay upon the quar- ter-deck.* As the ships entered the harbor, the men-of-war there manned their yards tory to her talcing her .«tation at Annapolis as a school-ship. Each was abont to be broken up many years ago, and each was saved by poetical remonstrances — one by Tennyson, and the other by Holmes. Tbo stirring poem by Holmes may be found on page 4i)7. ' William Augustus White was a native of Rutland, Vermont, and was only twenty-six years of age. He was repre- sented as a noble and generous youug man. His loss was greatly deploi !;d by bis friends, who regarded him as a yonog man of great promise. A friendly hand wrote : "Columbia's page In gcn'rons strain shall tell Those deeds of courage where her Lawrence fell ; Honor shall gild the JicrcTs spotljss shrine, And thine, O Wiiitk ! willi kiudred lustre shine." ' Edward J. Ballard was an active ond very promisinf yonng man. He was appointed ft midshipman in Fcbrn.irT. 1609, and was commissioned a lieutenant on the day after the action in which he lost his 1'';. The commi^slnii wnn is- sued before news of the action reached the Department. " Anxious to render himself useful, f.ri to '^{••■•■•p 'n (lie plory acquired by ^ur naval heroes," wrote n fUcnd, "he left ('hough scarcely recovered from an indisposition of several months) the y ;aceful asylum of friendship for his home on the ocean, aiid terminated with honor a well-spent life of virtue." ' James Broome, the commander of the marines, was n native of New Jersey. He was appointed a midshipman in July, ISOT. Of the forty-four marines under his commend on board the Chesapeake, twelve were killed and twenty wounded. • From a sketch by Captain R. H. King, R. N. « James LawTcncc was bom ot Bnrlington, New .lersey, on the Ist of October, 1T81. Ho was left to the tender cm of two sisters, his mother having died a few weeks after his birth. He exhibited a passion for the sea nt the nw ot twelve years, but his father designed bim for the profession of the law. He entered upon a course of studies with hi( brother John at Woodbury at the ape of fourteen years, and soon afterward lost his fatlier. Law was distasicful to him. He longed for the sea, and bis brother gave him the opportunity of acquiring preparatory knowledge. He ap- plied for a situation In the navy at the age of eighteen years, and entered the service as a midshipman In tlie nhip Ganges, Captain Tingey, in the autumn of 179S. He was transferred to the Adams. He was commissioned a lienlenani, and was first officer of the Enterimse in the war with Tripoli. Hecntur, in his offlclol reports, acknowlcdircs his son- ices In the bombardment of Tripoli. After his return from the Mediterranean he was for some time attncheil to He Navy Yard at New York. He became first lieutenant on the Cnnstittition, and in succession commanded tlie Vii^ Wasp, Argus, and Uurnet. He married in New York In 1808. At the commencement of the war in 1812 be sailed In OF THE WAB OF 1812. 700 tch of Captalu Lawrence. ard-roora with his rants. White lay t Ludlow was suf- Joy of the British. Admiral Warrcu's Thanks to Cnptalu Broke. Effect of the Victory in Knglaud. •ted for Haliftix with expired the day he- lay upon the quar- manned their yards up many years afjo, and each tlrriug poem by Holmes may years of ago. He was reprc- nho regarded him as a younf a midshipman in Fcbniarr. '\ The commission wan it- 'fui, r.*-a to'•^.■•.••p"^tIlcs'.o^y „ nn Indisposition of several ith honor a well-spent life of J appointed a midshipman in elve were killed and Iwenly ,„ was left to the tender CM ion for the sea at the aeeo a course of studies with hi( her Uw was dlBtasicful lo laratory knowledge. He «P- M a midshipman in the ship IB commissioned a lieutenant, lorts, acknowlcdicK his fon- ,r sometime attarhci tnlht ,sion commanded the VJi'^ f the war In 1812 he sailed it in honor of the conqueror. The eager inhab- itants crowded to the water-side, and cov- ered the wharves and houses. Shout after shout went up from the multitude, and joy- tilled every heart on shore, except of those who mourned friends among the slain. ^ The capture of a single ship of war prob- ably never produced a greater effect upon the contending parties tl.an this victory of the Shannon over the Chesapeake. Tlie re- cent almost uninterrupted b'uccess of the lit- tle navy of the United Stales had made the Americans believe that it was invincible, and a similar idea was taking hold of the British miucl. The spell was now broken. The Americans were desponding, the British jubi- lant. In his letter of thanks to Captain Broke and the men of the Shannon, Sir Jolin Borlasc Warren, tlie com- mander-iii-cliief of tlie Brit- ish Navy on the Ameri- can station, observed that they had "restored the re- nown which luid ever ac- companied the British Navy from the foul and false aspersions endeavored to be BIO>ArCBE ANI> SEAL OF AllMllUl .iaih>. tlirown upon it by an insidious • .iv, m\A had by their exer- tions added one of the brightest ■.mrels to the wioath which liail hitherto encircled the British aniiS." Tiie joy in England was intense. It was ,.ccd by publi( speeches in and out of Parliament,^ bonfires, and il'mninations Tlie Tower guns were fired as in the event of a victoi y like those of the Nile and Trafixlgar. The freedom of the city of London ami Nword of the value of one hundred guineas ($500) were voted to Captaii Brokc^ by the Corpora- lommand of the Hornet, having been made master commandant In November, 181 OfTDemerara he fought the Pea- mk and euuk her. He returned to New York, where he was soon ordered to Bostou to take command of the CAeao- ixakf. In her he died on the 5th of June, 1S13. ' Cooper's Xaml Ilinlarij of the United States; Thomson's SketcIieK of the War; Perkins' 'lirtory of the late War; .faracs's Xaval Occiirreneen ; Memoir of Captain Broke, in Xaral (London) Chrmuele; !rvi Memoir of Lawrence, AiiaUetk Magazine; Nlles's Iteijister; The War; Captain Brokc's Report of the BiittI' iliinlcck's lliKtori/ of the War; Lieutenant Budd's Beport to Secretary of the Navy; O'Byrne's \aval Blojira; The Essex Register, lloston Chrniiicle, and Xational Intelliqeneer. ' Mr. Croker, principal secretary to the Lords of the .\dmiralty, said In his place in the House of Commons, " It was not-nnd he knew It was a bold assertion which ho made— to be equaled by any engagement which graced the naval auniilj of Oreat Britain." ' Philip Bowes Vere Broke was bom In Snffolkshirp, England, on the 9th of September, ITTfl. He was educated at the Royal Academy in Portsmouth, and entered the navy In 1792. He served In the war between Prance and England, imd commanded the Shanntm in cruises for the protection of the British whale fisheries in the Greenland seas. Ho wan In that service when war between the United States and Great Britain was declared. He was then dispatched with a mnall fqiindron to blockade the New England ports. Because of his services in the capture of the Chesajteake he was rai'od to the dignity of baronet, and made Knight Commander of the Bath. Sir Philip married in early life Sarah Lou- is.!, daughter of Sir William Fowle Mlddleton. He was one of the most active and useful offlcers of the British Navy un- 710 PICTORIAL riELD-liOOK Honura to Captuin Broke. Silver Plate presented to him by bis Ncighborf tion of that city. He was knighted by the Prince Regent ; compliments were show- cred upon him from every quarter ; and the inhabitants of Suffolk, his native county presented him with a gorgeous piece of silver plate as a testimonial of their sense of his eminent services.* SILVER ri.ATK PKKf KNTEI> TO CAPTAIN HKOKE. til liis retirement, bearing the commission of Rear Admlr.M of the Red. He died in SuflTolk County on the .-(d of Janu- ary, 1841, at the nfre of pixty-flve years. 1 A picture of this plntc was published in London on the 2d of December, 1816, a copy of which, on a reduced realf, is Riven above. The piati' is describe'' us being made of silver, and forty-four inches in diameter. It was ciirlchtil with emblematical devices runimemovative of the acts of the ricipient on the occasion of his capture of the Chmimiii. These devices are described as follows: The centre, enriched wiih a wreath of palm and laurel leaves, with prniipsot Nereids and Tritons, presents llie spectacle of the battle between tLe Shannon and Chesapeake. A deep and hiL'lily-lin- ished border composes the exterior of the circle, in which are signiflca.it devices in four principal divisions. In the flr^i compartment, in the form of an escalop-shell, U seen Neptnne receivin - the warrior. The former is issuing from thf fCA with his attendants, and presenting to the hero (who is home in a triumpnal car, attended by Britannia and IJI- erty bearing the British flag) the naval coronet. In the compartment opposite Britannia Is seen on a sen-horso, liolJ- ing the trident of Neptnne in one hand, and with the otherhurls the thunder of her power at the American engic, which is expiring at her feet in the presence of ocean deities. In n third compartment the device represents the triumph of Victory. The winged goddess, bearing a coronal, approaches in her shell-car drawn by ocean steeds, and offers pfaco to the vanquished. In the fourth compartment Is represented the four quarters of the worid, in the form of fl mires, »«■ sembled under the protection of the British lion, commerce having been secured to the world by British prowess. Be- sides these are the figures of Fortitude, Justice, Wisdom, and Peace, Intended to represent the charactcrietics of tlie British nation. On the plate the following inscription was p Tared: "Struck with the gallantry, skill, and decision displayed by Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, Baronet, K.C.B., commander of his Majesty's frigate, the Shannnn, in the attack, boaiitin". and capture of the American frigate, the Chr-^'pmkr, of superior force in men and metal, and under the comn^aiid ofi dlBtinguiehed captain of light horse, on the 1 of June, 1813, achieved In the short space of fifteen minutes, the liilwbi:- >^!^aBMM OF THE WAR OF 1812. 711 to him by hlB Ncij'hborp. iments were show- , his native county, .al of their sense of l)lk County on the 3ii of Jatu- 1 of which, on a reduced rale, In diameter. It was eiirichcl 1 hlB capture of the ChcmiKai'. llniirel leaves, with eronpsol Irate. A deep and hi-tilyHn- Irlnclpal dlvl3ior.8. In the UN Ihc former Is Issuing from iht Itended by Britannia andli''- la la seen on a sea-hor*c. b* I- at the American cn?lp,wliK6 [ice represents the tnuinpli"! locean steeds, and offers pcaco brld,lntheformofflinire!,»- L.rld by British prowess. Be- tent the characteristics of lie J, and decision displnyert by Sir Imion, In the attack, boarfc T and under the comn.aiid ot J k)f fifteen minutes, the iiilwW- Respect for the Itemalns of Lawrence and Ludlow. Funeral Ceremonies. The Bodies of the Slain taken to Balem. The most gratifying respect was paid to the remains of Captain Lawrence on their arrival at Halifax, and also to those of Lieutenant Ludlow, who died there on tlie 13th of the month.' The garrison furnished a funeral party from the Sixty-fourth Kcgiment three hundred strong. The navy also furnished a funeral party, with pall- bearers, and at the appointed hour the body Was taken in a boat from the Chesa- peake to the King's Wharf, where it was received by the military under Sir John Wardlow. Six companies of the Sixty-fourth Regiment preceded the corpse. The officers of the Chesajjeake (headed by Lieu- tenant Budd,^ who became the command- ^.,/^j, / ^ y^P • er after the fall of his superiors) followed y^'-^^^^t-X^ <>b^-t^ cC^ ^(^ it as mourners. The officers of the Brit- ^ ish Navy were also in attendance. These were followed by Sir Thomas Saumerez, the staff, and officers of the. garrison. The procession Avas closed by a number of the in- liabitants of the town. The funeral services were performed by tlie rector of St. Paul's Church, and three volleys were discharged by the troops over the grave. Tlie feeling of depression in the American mind passed away as soon as reflection ■ n-ted its dignity. All the circumstances Avere so unfavorable to the Chesapeake • lat it was reasonable to suppose that such a misfortune would not occur again, 'flic deep mortificatioii that assumed the features of censure was momentary, and the irallant Lawrence and his companions were honored with every demonstration of re- spect. The most remarkable of these was exhibited in the patriotic and successful efforts of Captain George Crowninshield, Jr., of Salem, Massachusetts, to restore the bodies of Lawrence and Ludlow to their native land. He, with others, had seen the contest in the distance from the hoio^hta around Salem, and the feelings then excited were deepened by the intelligence of the fate of the gallant Lawrence and Ludlow, and some of their companions. ' He opened a correspondence with the United States irovernmcnt, asking permission to proceed to Halifax in the brig Henry, of Avhich he was master, with a flag of truce, to solicit from the authorities there the remains of the honored dead. Permission was granted. The President of the United States gave him a passport for the purpose," and on the Tth of August he and some • juiy 28, associates sailed in the Henry from Salem for Halifax.' He arrived there on ^^'^• the 10th. His errand was successful, and on the i:ith of the same month he sailed from Halifiix for Salem with the remains of Lawrence and Ludlow. The Henry reached Salem on the 18th of August, and on the following day Captain Crownin- shield wrote to the Secretary of the Navy informing him of the fact, and saying, "The relatives of Captain Lawrence have requested that his remains might ultimate- ly rest in New York, but that funeral honors might be paid here, and, accordingly, the ceremonies will take place on Monday next at Salem. Commodore Bainbridge has been consulted on the occasion." The funeral obsequies were performed at Salem on Monda^, the 23d of August. The morning was beautiful. The brig Henry lay at anchor in the harbor bearing her precious freight, and near her the brig Rattlesnake. Almost every vessel in the wa- mits of Suffolk, the victor's native county, anxious to evince their sense of his spirited, judicious, and determined con- duct in thus adding another brilliant trophy to the unrivaled triumphs of the British Navy, with a spoutaneons bnr^t of feeling voted him this tribute of their atfectlon, gniiitude, and admiration." ' Angnstus C. Lndlow was son of Robert Ludlow, Esq., ond was born at Newbuig, New Vork, in 1702. He entered llie navy as a midshipman in April, 1S04, and in the summer of that year sailed in the Premlent for the Mediterranean Sea. He relumed home In the ConnHtution, then commanded by Captain Campbell, in ISflT. lie remained in her, under Commodore Rodgers, until promoted to lientenant, in dnne, 1810, when he was placed in the Hornet. When Lawrence lieeamc her commander ho was charmed with Lndlow's character, and his knowledge of his young friend's worth made liim choerflilly continue him in his service on the Chemjieake as his first lleuteniint. " For Lieutenant Budd's dispatch to the Secretory of the Navy from Halifax, June 16, 1813, see Brannan's Official Letr 'iTii,Jfi(iy<ir?/ niirf AVirr/.Washingtor, 1823, page lOT. He was appointed midshipman in the antunin of 1S05, commis- sioned a lieutenant in itny, 1812, and master commandant in March, 1820. He died on the 3d of September, 1837. ' These were Holton .L Breed, first officer ; Samuel Briggs, second officer ; and .lohii Sinclair, .leduthan Upton, Ste- phen Burchmore, Joseph L. Lee, Thomas Bowdltch, Benjamin Upton, and Thorndike Proctor, all musters of vessels. -Mark Messnrrey, cook, and Nathaniel Cummings, steward. ■1 I :i' ! '^iP^' 712 PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK 11 mm )mi Funeral CeremunleH at Snlcm. Removal of the Bodies to New York. TestimoulalB of Regard. THB COFFINS. ters, !iml flag-.staif in the town, exhibited the American ensign at lialf-mast, and im- merous flags were displayed in tlie streets through which the funeral procession was to pass. Thousands poured into the town from the surrounding country at an caily hour. The streets were thronged. The Boston South End Artillery were theio with the " Adams" and " Hancock," brass cannon of the Revolution, and men of distinction in every pursuit of life participated in the funeral obsequies. At a little past meridian the bodies were taken from the Henry and placi'd in barges, accompanied by a long procession of boats manned by seamen in blue jankots and white trowsers, their hats bearing the words on Lawrence's Avhite flag, Fri:e Trade and Sailors' Rkjuts. At India Wliarf hearses were ready to receive tlicm, and at the same time the Henry and Rattlestiake were firing minute-guns altcrnattly,' The bells commenced tolling at one o'clock,^ and an immense procession moved to slow and solemn music, escorted by a company of light infantry under Captain J. C. M'mn, They passed through the principal streets to the Rev. Mr. Spalding's meeting-house.' The corpses were received by the clergy at the door, and placed in the centre of the large aisle by the sailors who bore them to the shore. These stood leaning upon the coflins dur- ing the services. The coflins were covered with black velvet, with the monograms of the heroes inclosed in Avreaths, swords crossed, and a marginal border all embroidered in silver. Tiie interior of the church was hung in black, and decorated with cypress and evergreens ; and in front of the sacred desk the names of Lawrenck and Litdlow appeared in letters of gold. An eloquent and touching funeral oration was delivered by the Honorable Joseph Story, and the rites of sepulture were performed by the Masonic societies and the military, when the bodies were placed in a vault.* Preparations were soon made for removing the remains of Lawrence and Ludlow to New York. Because of some delay in procuring an extension of the passport of the Henry (so as to allow her to go to New Yoi'k) from Acting Commander Oliver, of the British blockading squadron off" New London, they were conveyed to the navy yard at Charleston on the 3d of September, and from thence taken to New York by land. They were placed on board the United States sloop of war Alert, lying in New York Harbor, while the city authorities made arrangements for a public funeral.' 1 A company under Captain Peabody flred minnte-guns In Wneliington Square. » Tl:e bells In Boston, fifteen miles distant, were tolled at the same time, and the flags upon the shipping in the hai. bor were displayed at half-mast. Minute-guns were fired by the Comtilulim and other vessels there. ' The committee of arrangements applied for the use of the North Meeting-liousc <Dr. Barnard's), " particularly on account of its size and tha fine organ which it contained." They were refused, the committee of the proprietors Baying that they had no authority "Jp open the house for any other purpose tiian public worship." • The death of Lawrence was the theme of several ele- giac poems written and published In different parts of the country. Some of them were printed on satin, with em- blematic devices, and were framed and hung up in houses. The annexed rough picture is a fnc-simlle of one of these devices, i>ne third thu size of the original, designed and en- graved by A. Bowen, of Boston, and i)ri!itert at the head of an elegy, on satin, at the offlce of tlie Boston Chrnmde. I am indebted to the kind courtesy of Mi.»5 Caroline F. Ome, of Cambridgeport, for a copy of the original, and for other interesting papers made use of in this work. 1 In the arrangements made for the fnneral a substan- tial testimonial of regard was agreed to, in the form of an appropriation of one thousand dollars each for tl'(! two children of Captain Lawrenre, to be vested in the Com- njtssioners of the Sinking Fund of the Corporation, the Interest to be applied to the use of the recipients, and the principal to be given to the daughter when she should •rrive at the age of eighteen years, and to the son at the age of twenty-one years. i.ah kenoe me.\iokiai.. OF THE WAR OF 1812. TeatlmonialB of Regard. lit III il III Funeral Ceremonies In New York. MonumenU to the Memory of Lawrence and Ludluw. The luxcrlptiong on them. These were completed on the 1 4th, and on Tliursday, the IGth, the romauia of the gaUant dead were laid in their resting-place near the southwest corner of Trinity Churcli burying-gi'ound, far removed from public observation.' Soon after the war the Cor- poration of the City of New York erected ivn elegant marble monument over the re- mains of Lawrence, bearing approi)riate inscriptions.^ In the course of time it be- came dilapidated, and in 1847 the Corpo- ration of Trinity Church resolved to re- move the remains to a more conspicuous place. They were deposited near the southeast comer of the church, a few feet from Broadway, and over them the vestry erected a handsome mausoleum of brown freestone in commemoration of both Law- rence and his lieutenant.^ Eight trophy cannon were pliiced around the mauso- leum, which, with chains attached, form an appropriate inclosure.* LAWBENOE ANU LUDLOW 8 MOMMEM'. ■ This wnB the third time that funeral honors had been paid to the remains of the hero. On this occasion the procos- bioa, composed of members of both branches of the mllltar) service and civilians, was very large, and moved from the Pattcry through Greenwich Street to Chambers, up Chambers to Broad- way, and down the latter street to Trinity C'lmrch-yarJ. ' The design of the monument was simple and appropriate, for Lawrence was a young man at the time of his death. It was a broken column of '.vhlte marble, of the Ionic order, the capital broken off and lying on the base. The inscription, simple and dignified, was as follows : "In memory of Captain James Lawrence, of the (Tnlted States Navy, wlio fell on the lat day of June, ISIIt, In tlie thlrty-scc(nid year of his aire, in the action between the frigates Cliemjieake and Sliannnn. He dlftin- guished himself on various occasions, but particularly when he command- ed the sloop of war Ilorm-t, by capturing and sinking his Britannic Majes- ty's sloop of war/Vacocfc after a desperate action of fimrteen minutes. Ilia bravery in action was only equaled by his modesty in triumph and his mag- nanimity to the vanquished. In private life he was a gentleman of the most gei'.erons and endearing qualities; and so acknowledged was his public worth, that the whole nation mourned his loss, and the enemy con. tended with his countrymen who most should honor his remains." On the reverse v/cre the words: "The hero whoso remains are here de- posited, with his expiring l)reath expressed his devotion to his country. Neither the f\iry of battle, the anguish of a mortal wound, nor the horrors of approaclilng death could subdue his gallant spirit. His dying words were, ' Don't GIVE VV THE Snlf r " I saw fmcjinents of this old monument lying by the side of a small building in Trinity Chirrch-yard late In the autumn of 188H. The slabs bearing the above in- scriptions were afterward deposited in the Lll)rary of the New York Historical So- ciety, where thev may now bo seen carefully preserved. 3 It bears the following inscriptions : North Side.— " In memory of Captain James Lawrence, of the United States Navy, who fell on the Ist day of June, 1S1;(, in the thirty-second year of his age. In the action between the Chempeake and Shannon. He was distinguished on various occasions, but espe- cially when, commanding the sloop of war Jliirnet, he captured and sunk his Britannic Majesty's sloop of war reaeoek after a desperate 6"tion of fourteen minutes. His bravery in action was equaled only by his remarkable modesty In triumph and his magnanimity to the vanquished. In private life ho was n gentleman of the most generous and endearing qualities; the whole nation mourned his loss, and the enemy contended with his countrymen who should most honor his remains." KaM shie.-" The heroic commander of the frigate Chfmpmke, whose remains are here deiiosited, expressed with his cxplr- iiiL' breath his devotion to his country. Neither the fury of battle, the anguish of a mortal wound, nor the. horrors of aitpronchliig death could subdue his gallant spirit. His dying words were, ' Don't give vp the Ship I' " Hf't .Sirfc— A lon-.rcllef sculpture representing the hull of n douWe-deckcd slilp of war. Svulh Side.-" In memory of Lieutenant Au- L'ustiis C. Ludlow, of the Ignited States Navy. Born in Ni-wburg, 1702. Died at Halifax, isii). Scarcely was he twenty- unc years of ngc when, like the blooming Enryalus, he arcompaiiled his beloved commander to battle. Never could It liiive been more tnily said, ' Rir amor «n»M erat paritnrqvf in Mia r^irhnnt' The favorite of Lawrence, and second in lommand, he emulated the patriotic valor of his friend on the bloody decks of the Chesapeake, and when required, like him, vieldlng with courageous resignation his spirit to Him who gave it." ' These cannon were i-nrchased from the government by Oetieral Prosper M. Wctmore, then Navy ^g«nt at New York, and by him presented to the Corporation of Trinity Church for the use to which they are devoted. They were MUEKNCKS EAK' 1.V .MO.MMENT. PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Stirring Scene in ChesnpeRke Bay. Capture of the Aii}>. >l - Ij ■' i I The Argun beorH Minister Crawford to Fr«nc«. Tlie loss of the Chesapeake was followed by the capture of the little sch(,.)ner Asp and the sloop of war Argua^ the former in the waters of Virginia, and the latter off the British coast. The career of each was brilliant — the former in its death-stniiriri,. and the latter in its bold cruise just previous to its capture. Their misfortunes were 80 tempered, in the estimation of the American mind, with deeds of great prowcs^ that they did not seriously affect the hopeful feelings of the nation. The Asp was one of the small vessels fitted out by the United States government for the purpose of defending the harbors and tributary streams of the Chesa])eakc from the British marauders. She carried three small guns, and was commanded liv Midshipman Segauny. She and the Scorpion Avere in the Yeocomico Creek at tlio middle of June, and went out together on the morning of the 14th on a cruise of ob- servation. At ten o'clock they were discovered by a flotilla of British light vessels, which immediately gave chase. Their number was overpowering. The Scorpion fled up the Bay, and escaped ; but the Asp, being a slow sailer, ran back to the Yeocomico, hoping to find shelter in shallow Avaters beyond the reach of the enemy. She was fol- lowed by two hostile brigs. They anchored at the mouth of the stream, and sent armed boats after the little fugitive. She Avas overtaken by three of them, Avlien a sharp fight occurred. The assailants Avore repulsed, and retreated to the brigs. In the course of an hoar, five boats, filled Avith three times as many armed men as the oflicers and crcAV of the As}), attacked her. A desperate engagement folloAved, MidsJiijjnian Segauny and one half of his companions Avere disabled by death or Avounds. Fifty of the enemy boarded the little vessel, overpoAvcred her pcojde, and refused to give quarter to tliose Avho remained. The unhurt fled from her, Avhcn the enemy, in full possession, set her on fire and returned to the brigs. On their departure, Midsliij)m!ni M'Clintock, the second oflicer of the Asp, Avho had escaped to the shore, returned td her, and, after great exertion, extinguished the flames.' Her commander's body wa> consumed on the deck where he Avas barbarously murdered.^ The Argus sailed from Ncav York on the 18th of Juno," bearing William II. Crawford, of Georgia, Avho had recently been appointed resident minister at the French Court in place of Joel Barlow, deceased. She had lately returned from ;i cruise under the command of Lieutenant Conmianding Arthur St. Clair, and Avas now in charge of Lieutenant William Henry Allen, a brave Ithode Islander, Avho had re- cently served in the United States frigate as Decatur's second in command. She wa> a fine vessel of her class, and carried twenty 32-pound carronades and tAvo bow guns. She eluded the British cruisers, and, afler a voyage of tAventy-three days, laiuki Mr. CraAvford in safety at L'Orient.'' b July 11. , "^ , . , At that time the merchant marine in the waters around the British Island^ was under no apprehensions of danger from American cruisers, and there Avas no na- val force in the British or Irish Channels for the protection of commerce there. In- formed of this, Allen resolved to repeat the exploits of Paul Jones in the Bonhommt Jiichard. He tarried only three days at L'Orient, and then sailed on a cruise in Brit- selected by him from among the cannon at the navy yard which had been captured from the English during the war, as most appropriate for the purpose. The strict requirements of the law were complied with In the transaction. Ear. gnr bore its national insignia, with an inscription declaring the time and place of its capture. When the cinnou wef planted .'u the place they now occupy, the vestry of the church, with singular courtesy, put them so deep In th' ground thai the Insignia and trophy-marks are out of sight. The reason given was that, In a community like New Yuri: where there are so many English residents, it might seem like an unfriendly act to parade such evidences of triunip before the public eye. 1 Midshipman M'Clintock's Letter to the Secretary of the Navy, July 13, 181.1. » Thomson, in his Historical Sketches of the War, page 22B, says that Commander Segauny was shot through the bod,' with a mnsket-ball, and was sitting on the deck against the most when the British brought down bis colore. In tbi< attitude, and while suffering severely, he animated his men in the fight around him to repel the boarders. Seeing thi" a cowardly British marine stepped np and shot him through thi .lead, killing him iii.>«tantly. Observing this, and cot- eluding no quarter was to be given, M'Clintock ordered a retreat for shore. This was safely accomplished by aboa: half of the twenty-one defenders of the Anp. .1. B. Segauny was fVom Boston, and had served nnder Lawrence In the llornet. He waa only about twentynjne yfsR of age at the time of bis death, and had been tlve years In the service. OF THE WAR OF 1812. na lister Crnwford to Fr«ncf. little Hchooncr Asp and the liittcr off its (U'atli-str\i(,'<.'lc. ir misfortunes wfro s of great prowess, 11. States government I of the Chesapeake was commai\ile(l \i\ ■omico Creek at tlie th on a crniso of oli- Britisii light vessels, r. The Scorpion fleil Ik to the Yeocomico, enemy. She was fel- the stream, and sent irec of them, Avlien a 1 to the brigs. In the ed men as the officers Uowed. Midshijjman th or Avovinds. Fifty e, and refused to ji'ive lieu the enemy, in full leparture,Midsl\i])m!ii! the shore, returned tu oramauder's body wa^ [.,» bearing William 11. ] resilient minister at ately returned from n St. Clair, and was \m Islander, who had n- n command. She wa> los and two bow guns. ity-three days, landed und the British Islan(V I, and there was no na- 'commerce there. In- jues in the Iionhomm> iled on a cruise in Brit- ,m the EngUsU during the TO. Iwithinthotrnnsiiction. tau »pture. When the camion «er- tUy, put them bo deep in tl> InR community like New\.r, UdeBUcU evidences of triunip LnywM shot through the boJ! ■ought down his colors. In ti- fenel the boarders. Seetagtte Vntly GbservinRthlMnaco"- L safely occompliBhedhyato Las only about twentyoM yw nuAf'.nm In UrItlHh Waters. Her Uestrnctlon of Property thorn. Her t'omliat with the I'elioan. \Mi.Li.v.u nE.snv allk.n. ish waters. lie roamed the " cliops" of the Channel successfully. When satisfied with operations tliere, he sailed around Land's End, and by celerity of move- ment, audacity of action, and destructive energy, spread consternation throughout commercial England.' In the course of thirty days he captured and destroyed no less tliaii twenty valuable IJritish mer- chantmen, valued at two millions of dol- lars. Too far away from friendly ports into wliich he might send liis prizes, Allen burned them all. He was a generous foe, and elicited from the enemy vc'untary acknowledgments of_>ustice and courtesy. He allowed all non-combatant captives to remove their private property from the captureil vessels before he a])plied the torch. All prisoners Avere jiaroled, and sent on shore as speedily as possible. The Argus, after playing a winning game for a month, became the loser. On the 13th of August she captured a ship from Oporto Ijwlen with wine. Some of her cargo was taken secretly on board the Armies in the evening, and was so freely partaken of Ijy her exliausted crcAV that many of them were disabled for a time when tlieir best energies were required. She had set fire to her prize, and Avas moving away under easy sail, just before daAvn, Avhen a British brig, Avhich had discovered her by the light of the blazing vessel, Avas seen bearing doAvn upon her under a clone! of canvas. The British authorities had been aroused to vigorous action by the daring of the Art/us, and had fitted out several cruisers to attempt lier capture. The hostile vessel that noAV appeared Avas one of them, the Pelican, 18,^ Captain J. F. Maples. She came dashing gallantly on, and Commander Allen (then master commandant by a commis- sion dated July 24, 1813), finding it impossible to get the Avind of his enemy, short- ened the sail of the Argus to alloAV the brig to close. He flung out her colors, and at six o'clock wore and delivered a larboard broadside at grape-shot distance. The fire was immediately returned, and Commander Allen's left leg Avas carried aAvay by a round-shot. He bravely refused to be carried beloAV, but in a fcAV minutes, Avhen un- conscious from loss of blood, he Avas taken to the cock-pit. First Lieutenant Watson took command. He too Avas soon disabled and carried below% having been stunned by a grape-shot that struck his head. Only one lieutenant (William Howard Allen) now remained. He continued to fight the brig gallantly under the most discoura- f;ing circumstances. Her main-braces, main-spring-stay, gaft', and try-sail mast Avere shot aAA'ay, yet never Avas a vessel more admirably liandled. The enemy attempted to get under the stern of the Argus so as to give her a raking broadside, but young Al- len,' by a skillful manoeuvre, gave his antagonist a complete and damaging one. The • Her operations were so alarmin? that for a while very few vessels left British ports, and the rates of Insurance rose to niinoua prices. In several instances insurances could not be effected at all, so great was the rlslc considered. ' She carried one 12 and sixteen 32 pound carronades, and four long 6's. ' William Howard Allen was not nearly, If at all, related to Commander Allen. His career in the navy was an honor- alile one. He was in command of the United States schooner Alligator in 1822, and in the autumn of that year he lost Wi life in a contest with pirates. The main incidents of his life are given briefly In the following inscriptions on his monnment, a structure eighteen and a half feet In height, erected to his memory in the Hudson Cemetery, in the city of Ilndson, Colnmbia County, New York, his birth-place : We»t Side.—" To the memory of AVii.liam Howabu Allex, lieutenant in the United States Navy, who was killed in the act of boarding a piratical vessel on the coast of Cnba, near Matanzas, on the 9th of November, 1S22, M. 82."* * On her way home, after this encounter with the pirates, the Alligator was wrecked. This accident was the occasion of « poem by John Q. C. Bratnerd. (S't;. 718 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK itii II I "W i' !™" i At! BliiHfir — Harrander of the Argu». Her Luhh Iu Men. Monument to the Memory of Lientennnt Allen. Commander Allen. Arffus was nadly wouiuled, and began to rod. All her braces were sliot iiwiiy and she cDuld not bo kept in position. The J'elican now crossed her stern ami raked her (Ireadliilly, and at twenty-five niinuteB past six, her wheel-ropes and nearly nil \in running rigging being gone, the An/us itecame unmanageable. Five minutes later Lieutenant Watson came on deck, when the Pelican, lying under the Ari/us\'i sttrn was pouring in a terrific fire without resistance. Farther contest seemed useless, yet an effort was made to lay the crippled American alongside of the vigorous eiieiiiy for the j)urpose of boarding her. The effort failed, ami, after a most determined coinbat for about three fourths of an hour, Avhen the JSea J/orse, the J'elicati'a consort, hove in sight, the colors of the Argus were struck. At that moment the enemy boarded her at the bow and took possession. The loss of the Argus was six killed and seventeen wounded. Of the form, were Midshiimieu Delphy and Edwards, and of the latter Commander Allen, Lieutenani Watson, boatswain iM'Leod, and Carpenter White. The Pelicdu lost two killed ami five wounded. Conunander Allen survived until tlie next day, liaving in the mean time been taken into Plymouth, and ])laced in the Mill Sj)ring Priso. Hospital with the rest of the wounded of the yir//'^». On the 21st his remains were buried in a Plymouth church-yard Avith military honors.^ A month before the intelligence of the loss of the Argus reached the United States, a naval victory liad been gained by the Americans Avithin sight of the Now Eiiglainl coast, which compensated, in a measure, for the loss of the Chesapeake, Among tho smaller vessels of war, such as the Nautilus and Vixen, eacli 14, Avas tho J'Jnterpm, 14, Avhose reputation for being "lucky" has already been mentioned. Her sisters, with the Sire?i, 1 0, of the class of the Argus, had been unfortunate. The Nautilttn, a> Ave have observed, was captured by the enemy at the beginning of the Avar. Tin South Side.—" William IIowabd Ai.i.kn. His rcmnlno, flrst burled at Matao- zas, were removed to this city by tlio United States Bovcriiinciit, and liiterrod, under the direction of the Common Council of this city, beneath this marble erected to his honor by the citizens of his native place, 1833." Jiast Sitle.—" William Howard Allen was born In tho city of Ilndson, JnljS, 17110; appointed a midshipman In 1801 and a lieutenant In 1811, he tooli neon- Hplcuous part in the engagement between the Argun and Pelimii iu lS13,and was killed while In command of tho United States schooner Alligator." North iS)'i(/c.—" Pride of his country's banded chivalry, Ills fame their hope, his name their battle-cry; He lived as mothers wish their sons to live — He died as fathers wish their sons to die 1" A beautiful model of this monument may be seen in the navy yard at Cliarlc!- town, Massachusetts. William Leggett wrote a poem on the death of Allen, In which occurs ttae fol- lowing stanza : "Mother of Allen, weep not for your son ! Ills race was glorious, but too soon 'twas run. Yet weep not I Vengeance sleeps. She is not dead ; She yet will thunder on his murderer's head. Sisters of Allen, dry your tearful eyes ; The hero's soul hath down to yonder skies, And long his name, iu memory's holiest shrine, AVill wear the wreath which matchless virtues twine 1" > William Henry Allen was bom at Providence, Khode Island, on the ik[ «i October, 1784. His father was an olBcer in tho Hcvolution. He entered the natj in Ills eighteenth year (April, 1800), and made his first cruise with Dalnbridi'* in the Washington. In 1305 he was acting lieutenant in the ConMtiition, under Rodgers, and was the lientennnt ofik* Chesapeake when she was attacked by the Ijcopartl In 1807, who touched off, by means of a live coal, the <inly fn.. M at the enemy on that occasion. See page IftS. He was with Decatur in the capture of the Maeeilonian, and gained ptn. credit at that time as executive ofHcer of the ship, and for his skill and celerity In repairing the damage to the priic. See page 450. He was esteemed as one of the best men of his class in the navy. He was very gentle in his dcpiirtmeni. and, as we have observed in the text, he won the esteem of the British nation while spreading consternation thron»h- out its commercial circles. That esteem won for him an honorable burial among those who were his enemies oulyii war. He was not quite twenty-nine years of age at the time of his death. A London paper of August '27, 1813, contained a long account of the ceremonies on the occasion of the funeral of Com- mander Allen. Officers of the Royal Marines formed a guard of honor, attended by the Royal Marine Band. Kidit csf- tains of the Royal Navy were pall-bearers. Allen's own officers were chief mourners. The American vice-consul »|| in at' lance, and a large procession of the Inhabitants followed the hearse. The colUn was covered with the Amni- can fl<,„. In the church (St. Andrew's) to which it was taken the vicar read the funeral service of the Auglicin Cbunl LIKU■^E.NA^T ALLEN H MO.NljMKNT. OF THE WAU OF 1812. 717 n. Commundcr Allen rc shot iiwiiy, and eni tiii'l viiktd lur mid noivrly nil licv ^'ivc miiyitcs later the Aryus'H storii, socTnt'd UHi'lfss, yet kfigorous I'lieiiiy tor ilctcrm'uH'd comlui h'« fonsortjhovc in enemy bourdt'd liir Of tlic form, wiro >r Allen, Lieiiteiianl lost two kilU'd ami hav'uis; in the iniim >n8o.- Ilospitul witli lis were buried in a ed the United States, of the New Ennlaiul mpeake. Ani(m<,' ih I, was the Enterprut itioned. Her sirters, ite. The Nautilus, a> ing of the war. Tlu rematnc, flrst burled at Matan- itcs government, and tnterrfj, [this city, bciictttU tills matblt place, 1833." I In thocity ofllndsmi.JnljN utcnautlnlSll.lictookacou- |u,„wnndAd>ni. lnlS13,and c9 schooner AlligaUir." liiviilry, Wir battle-cry ; [gons to live— ,„s to die '." niuthcnavyyardatCharlcf. r Allen, In wWch occurs the M- leonl 'twas run. She Is not dead ; ler'8 bead. lea ; Ir skies, fllcst fhrlne, lesB virtues Uvlncl leHbodcWaud,onthe2l!to! Solution. He entered the a»T; lis tirst cmisc with Bninlirulw I, and was the llcutcnaiil ottbf If a live coal, tlie (.Illy !:n..«red lc.Vnr«!mi'an,and!:aliie(lpMl Irln" the damage t.. the jm Ivcrv senile m his depcrtraeM. leading consternation thronr ■ 5 who were his enemies oBlyn (occasion of the funeral of » Lval Marine Band. Ei.l. c.^ iThe American vlce-comul« In was covered with the Amm L^-icc of the Anglican CUutd Cniltc of the Knttrprim. Her Combat with the Axxr. Death of th« two 1818. Vixen^ after cruising a while on the Southeni coast and among the islands, command- ed first hy Captain (Jadsden, of South Carolina, and Cajdain Washington Hoed, was captured hy the (S'oM</ja»</><wn, 74, Commodore Sir James Lticas Yeo, ofLake Ontario farao. Hotli vessels were soon afterward wrecked on the coast of one of the ISerinnda Islands, where Captain livvA perished hy the yellow fever. Tlie Siroi performed very ^^^^^^ service, and in the summer of 1HI4, while cruising tar southward, undo.' Lieutenant Nicholson (her commander. Captain Parker, liaviiig died on the voyage), sill' was captured hy the British ship Medwai/, 74, Captain Bruce, and taken into Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope. These, as we have seen, had won renown in the Mediter- ranean Sea.' Hotter was the fortune of the " lucky" J^nterpnsp. She cruised for a long time otf the Now England coast, the terror of British ju-ovincial privateers, under Johnston Blakoloy, until he was promoted to the command of the new sloop of war TFcf.'i;), when Lieutenant William Burrows l)ecame her commander. She continued on her old cruising ground, watching for the enemy from Caj)o Ann to the Bay of Fiindy. On the morning of the 1st of Scptemher* the Enterjyrise sailed from J'orts- mouth, New Hampshire, and chased a schooner, suspected of being a British privateer, into Portland Harbor on the morning of the 3d. The ne.xt day she put to 80.1, steering eastward in (piest of British cruisers reported to ho near Manlu gan Isl- and, oft' Lincoln County, Maine. When approaching Pcmaquid Point on the ."ith, Burrows discovered in a bay what he supposed to be a vessel of war getting under way. He was not mistaken. She was a British brig. On observing the Enterprise she displayed four British ensigns, fired several guns as signals for boii -; that liad been sent ashore to return, and, crowding canvas, bore down gallantly for the Enter- prise. Burrows accepted the challenge, cleared his ship for action, and after getting at proper distance from land to have ample sea-room for conflict, he shortened sail and edged toward the stranger. It was now three o'clock in the afternoon. At twenty minutes past three the brigs closed within half pistol-shot, and both vessels opened fi>'e at the same time. The wind was light, there little sea, and the cannonading was destructive. Ten min- utes later the Enter] iiged ahead of her antagonist, and, taking advantage of her position, she steered a ross the bows of the stranger, and delivered her fire Avith such precision and destructive energy that, at four o'clock, the British officer in command shouted through his trumpet that he had surrendered, but his flag, being nailed to the mast, could not be lowered until the Enterprise should cease firing. It was done. The brig was surrendered, and proved to be the Boxer, 14, Captain Samuel Blyth, who, in the engagement, had been nearly cut in two by an 18-pound ball. Almost at the moment when Blyth fell on the Boxer, Burrows, of the Enterprise, was mortally wounded. He was assisting the men in running out a carronade, and, in doing so, phccd one foot against the bulwark to give lever power to liis efforts. While in that position, a shot, supposed to be a canister ball, struck his thigh, and, glancing from the bone into his body, inflicted a painful and fatal wound. Both commanders were young men of great promise, and were highly esteemed in the service to which they respectively belonged. Blyth was killed instautly. Bur- rows lived eight honrs.^ He refused to be carried below until the sword of the com- ' .See Chapter VI. ' Portland Argxin, September R, 1813 ; Perkins, page 181. William Burrows was bom at Kenderton, near Philadelphia, on tbe 6th of October, 1TR6. His father was wealthy, and he was left mostly to the guidance of his own Inclinations concerning life pnrsnits. He gave early indications of a lute for the naval service. In November, IVOD, he entered the service as a midshipman, lie was in active service until ihc cloee of dlfllcnlties on the Barbary coast, and applied himself diligently to the study of his profession. He contin- ned in service until the breaking out of the war, when, on his way to the United States from the East, he was made a |irl8oner. Be reached home In .Tune, 1813, and went Immediately Into the service. His movements with the Enterprise are recorded in the text. His death was a cause for sincere grief throughout the Land. No portrait of the young hero ' was ever painted, and for that reason the medal struck In honor of the victory of the EnUrpriae does not contain hla tUSh as usual. * urn ' j IM 1 : ' ■< m igM rSS- ■ i|| «l ' Ifl iB ■ V ■ 1 m IS' ■ S(!' ^ 4 jH 718 PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK (Mllantry of Lleiitonnut M'Ciill. Funeral of Burrown and Blyth. Their Mnmiineni,. iiiatulor of the viiiKiuiMhed vessel slioiild 1h' pn'scntt'd to liitn. Ho prasp('<l it cii^'crlv ami HiU(l,"N«>w I am siitisti* d ; I diii coiitonttMl." IJolli rocoivod tlii'ir dfivtli-wimiKK at tlio hogimiiiii; of the action ; and tlio rominand of the JiJntcrjvine devolved npii,, the j^aiiant Lieutenant Kdward IJ. M'Oall, of South Carolina, wlio condueted iiis pari of the eiiLiai^enientr to the close with j^reat skill and couraixe.' lit; took hotli vessels into Portland Harbor on the inornini; of the 7tli, and on the followint? day the re- mains of both commanders were conveyed to the same cemetery, and buried sido Ijy side, with all the honors which their rank and powers couhl claim. The reiiiaiiiH df Midshipman Kervin Waters, of the J'Jiitcrjtn'.ie, the oidy one of her jjcopie nimtallv wounded except her commander, were laid by the side of those of his gallanl leaiKr ill less than twenty days afterward, and over the graves of ail commemoialive nioii- uinents have been erected.* ' Eilwiircl Itiitlcdgc M'CuIl was bom nt CliiirlpBtoii, South Cftrollnn, on the Btli of Angimt, ITW, nnd wan flvo yrm ihf Junior of hid comnmnilcr. Ilo cnterud the navy iih i» nildKhlpnmn at the ago of Hfteen yearx, and was Hrnt mi dulvln tha Hornet, (Japlain Dent. He Joined the Kiili-r-iiriiic, under Hhikcley, In isil, as n llenlenant, and waH Kervliiir ||, (lu, capaelly under Burrows nt the time of the battle above recorded. He wrote to I'oniniodore Hull a very Inlere; [ingu- count of that engagement. Ilo wan afterward trannfcrrcd, tlrxt to the (hitnrui, and then to the Jitfa, ('omniodorc IVrrv nnd with that oflUer cruised In the Mediterranean Hen until lsl7. On his return he took command of the olcjo), uf »,|J I'Menck, nlHo preparing to crulBO In the Mediterranean. In March, isan, ho was promoted to matter commnudum, and lu Mnrch, is;ift, he received the commission of captain. ' The funeral ceremonies on the occasion were s<dcmn nnd Imposing. I nm Indebted to the Ilonnrnble Wll!;nmffi|. Ill, of Portland, who participated In them, for much Informnllon concerning the event. At his soUcltnllon, Mr. l'harlf« E. Beckell, of the name city, kindly furnished mo with the sketch of the tombs of Burrows, Blyth, nnd Waters printed below. The two bruised vessels lay nt the end of the Union Wharf, and from them tho coffins of tho two deceased nfflctrj wore received by the civil and military procession, which had been formed at the court-house nt nine in the immilii,; of the 9th of September, under the directlim of Hobert Ilsley nnd Levi Cutter, nsslsted by twelve mnrshnls. The rofflu, containing the bodies were lauded from the vessels in bnrges of ten oars each, rowed by minute strokes of shlp-mnsierj and mates, nccompanled by most of the barges nnd boats In the hnibor. When the barges commenced to move, ami during the solemn march of the procession from the whnrf up Foro nnd Pleasant Streets to High Street, thence iun Main and Middle Streets to the Rev. Mr. Payne's meeting-house, minute-guns were tired by the artillery conipiiiiies ot (Captains Bird and Varnnm. These were continued while the i)rocession marched from the meeting-house to the Ea«i. em Cemetery, about a mllo distant. The chief mourners who followed tho corpse of Lieutenant Burrows were Dr. Washington, Captain Hull, and officers of the Kntrrpriw. Those who followed tho corpse of Captain Blyth wore He officers of the ftacr, on parole. Both were followed by naval and milit;\ry officers In the I'nited Slates scrvlce.thf crews of the two vessels, civil officers of the state and city, military companies, and a large concourse of cltljcne. Cap. tain Blyth was one of tho pall-bearers at the funeral of Lawrence, at Halifax, a few weeks before. The remains of Burrows, Blyth, and Waters were burled by the side of each other. Over their graves stand obloiiL' monuments about six feet In length, two and n half feei In width, and about the same In height. Blyth's, seen nearw In the accompanying sketch by Mr. Beckell, Is n brick foundation covered with a marble slab, on which is the fdlloaim Inscription: "In memory of Captain Samuki. Bi.vtii, late commander of his Britannic Majesty's brig Boxer, lie iiuMv fell, on tho Bth day of September, ISlii, in action with tho United States brig tMei-priiie. In life, honorable ; In death, glorious! Ills conntry will long deplore one of her bravest sons, his fii'iiils long lament ono of the best of men! ,£ 20. The surviving officers o' his crew offer this feeble tribnte of admiration nnd respect." Burrows's monuniciit Is com- posed of red snndstnne, form. lug deep, broad panda on sifc and ends, nnd bearing a return- bent marble slab. It is the mid. die one in tho sketch. On ih« slab Is the following inscripliua — " Beneath this stone niouM- crs tho body of Wii-i.nn Bn- nows, late comnnnider of Ik-' United States brig KnUqim. who was mortally wounded m the Bth of September, 1S13, ii an action which contributed to Increase t*io fame of Araericu valor, by capturinu' liln Briiai- nic Majesty's brig lloxn iideri severe contest of fortv-Hvp min- utes. M. 28. A pnssini; Mm- ger has erected this mcmraw of respect to the niaues of a pi- trlot who, in the honr of peril obeyed the loud summons ofaa Injured country, and who ga'- inntly met, fought, and coc- quered the focmnu." Stilr-iCw ''-■ UltAVLa OF liUUUOWB, liLYlUi ANX> WATEES. OF THE WAK OF 1812. 710 Tbeir MDmimfntu rrnspoil it oiii^'crly, iii'ir (U'ivtli-W(iuiul> iae tlevolvcil ujwn ) took l)otli vtsscU owiiit? iliiy till' re- juul buried nidc by 1, Tho roiniiiiis nf iT j)i'o|)k! nutrtally if bis giillaiil Iciidir mmeiuorali\ e moii- ITOn, mill wn« live yiMirs thf irK, and wtt« flrxt mi iliily In nt, iiiul wn» »«nliiu' In thai (. Hull 11 viTy liitcros lliig u- llic ./cira, Ciimintiilnri' I'crry, ■omninml of tlio cluoiiof war I master commnndunt, and lu , the llonnriililp \Vll!;am\Vil. ,t bin BolkltntUiii, Mr, Charlen 1-9, Ulylh, axil Wii'ura lirlulcd I of tho two deceased nfflcfrs House at nine In llie indniliii; twelve marshiils. Tlic niffln* iilnutc HtrokcH of Btili)-mn»lor! •gen rommenced tu move, ami 8 to IllRh Street, tliciuc Aun l)y ilie artillery ci)inimiiU» ul l\\e mcetlni;-lioil«e to the Ea-i- Lieutenant BurrowH were llr, i,»c of Captain Blylli wore ihc the I' lilted States xorvlce.lho ■c concourse of cltlzeiiB. tap. [s before. Ivor tliolr Rravcfl stniul nWont liol"1>t. niytli'i'i seen neatftt .hliili'on which is the followinE ajesty'H brig Boxer, lie iiubly In life, honorable ; In death, it one of the bent of men! .£ in The Furvlvlnt! "fllccrs of liVs crew offer thl» feeble tritac ifadmiratlon and respect." Burrows's monument Is com- lOPed of red sandstone, form- iiiL' deep, broad pniicl« "D sidti liiid ends, and beariii}? a recum- bent marble slab. It is the mid- dle one In tho Hketcli. On the ilab Is the following inscriptioa _.i Beneath this stone nwiiM- icrs the body of Wii-i-ns Bn- C,„WB, late comiuiiiider of ih- United States brig K"'^"*. who was mortally wounded OB the 6th of Heptember,lS13,in L action which contrlhutcdw Lcrcasc ttio fame of Amen« valor,bycapt.irln.-hi»Br.!»- nic Majesty's brlp/;"W«to' Perecontestofforty.iive.»- utes ^.28- Apasshigi'tra- Cr has erected this n.e«.» Sf respect to the n>anca Ota p- trlotwho,lnthehonrofp«n obeyed the loud smnmon«o»^ Injured conntry, and who ^■■ lantly met, fought and c» queted the foeiuau. SUtUia awarded to Hurrowii and M't.'nII. Thit OnivH of Burrow*. Oil the 0th of January followintj^* tlio CongroHs of tlio United Stfttos, by , joint R'Holution, roquosted tlio CJIiicf MiigiHtrato of tlio Kt'puMio to j>ro8t'iit to tlic in'iUTHt niiilc! roiativt! ut" Lit'iitonunt lliirrows "ji ji;old medal, with stiitivhle em- liU'iii!* and devicoH, in testimony of the hi<;h Hensu entertained hy Coni^ress of the ,i;al- liiiitry and j^ood eondiiet of the ottieerw and erew in the confliet with the Ihitish hloop Ihrer on tho 4th of September, 18i;t."' Hy tho BUtno joint reHohition CongresH re- TIIK nCBBOWH MKTIAI.. quested the President to present to Lieutenant M'Call,"as second in command of the Enterprise iu tho conflict witli the lioxer, a gold medal, with suitable emblems and devices.* In this engagement tho Jiosrer was very much cut up both in hull and rigging, while the Enterprise suffered very little. The battle was a i'air test of the compara- tive nautical skill and good gunnery of tho combatants. Justice accords the palm tor both to the Americans. A London paper, speaking of the battle, said, " The fact seems to be but too clearly established that the Americans have some superior mode The "passing stranger" above mentioned was Silas M. Burrows, of New York, who, being In Portland, visited tho lemetery, saw tlic neglected condition of the youug hero's grave, and ordered n monument to be built. A poet uaknowu ',0 the author afterward wrote thus : " I saw tho green turf resting cold Ou Burrows's hallowed grave ; No stone the Inquiring patriot told Where slept the good and brave. Heaven's rains and dew conspired to blot The traces of the holy spot. At length a 'passing strnnger' came, Whose hand Its bounties shed ; He bade the sparkling marble claim A tribute for the dead ; And, sweetly blending, hence shall flow The tears of gratitude and woe." The tomb of Midshipman Waters Is a marble slab resting on four round sandstone pillars. On the slab is the following inscription ; " Beneath this marble, by the side of his gallant commander, rest the remains of Lieutenant Kcrvin Waters, anative of Georgetown, District of Columbia, who received a mortal woniul, September B, 1S13, while a midshipman on board the United States brig Enterprine, in an action with his Britannic Majesty's brig Dnxer, which terminated in the capture of the latter. He languished in severe pain, which he endured with fortitude, until September 25th, 1813, when he died with Christian calmness and resignation, aged eighteen. Tho youug men of Portland erect this stone as a tes- timony of their respect for his valor and virtues." ' The pictnre above given is the exact size of the medal. On one side Is seen an urn standing upon an altar, around which arc grouped military and other emblems, on one of which (a trident) hangs a victor's chaplet of lanrel leaves. Upon an elliptical panel on the side of the altar Is seen " W. Briinows," In prominent letters. Around the whole is the legend" VioToaiAM xim olaram. patri^. m*stam." On the reverse is Ecen the two brigs engaged in combat, the main- top mast of the Boxer shot away. Over them the legend " V-vrrr bat vinoerk." Kxergue, " Inter Kntebprizs mav. .\«Ksi. ET Boxer mav. Brit. i>ie it Sept. mdooooxiii." The date should be the 5th Instead of the 4th. ' On one side the bust of Lieutenant M'Call and the legend " Edwarp R. M'Call navis Enterpeisb rB.EPBCTUB." Ex- ergue, " 8io itdr An ASTRA." The reverse the same as on that of Burrows. |i 720 nCTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK Li/88 of Life (. the two ' jgsels. Last CruUe of the Enlfrprut, ' ; . if ' i m '1 1 ^^ INTEB ENTERFBIZE VAV. ^^ AMEBI. ET BOXER WAV. >^s. BHIT. DIE rVSEPT. ^^^ MDCCCXm. TnS M'OALL MEDAL. of firing, and we CVi,n not be too anxiously employed in discovering to what circum- stances that superiority is owing. The loss of the Boxer was a great mortification; and there can bo no doubt thar, Captain Blyth felt full assurance of victory when k Avent into the contest. Indioative of this was the nailing of the fl.ig to the mast, al- Avays a most foolish and perilous boast in advance.' The loss of the Boxer was sev- eral killed besides her commander, and seventeen wounded. The HJntcrprise lost only one killed besides her commander, and ten wounded. This was the Boxer's last "ruise as a war vessel. She was sold in Portland, and sailed from that port for scv- eri.l years as n, merchantman. The Eittcrjyrise made only one more cruise during tin war, under the command of Lieutenant lienshaw. She sailed southward as far as tlie Wc'i, indies in company w'th the fiist-sailing brig Rattlesnake, Lieutenant Crcigliton. While ott" the coast of Florida she captured a Pntish privateer, and both vessels were chased by an English seventy-four. The liattlesnake soon fled from the sight of Ixitli consort and pursuer, while the Enterprise Avas hard pressed by the Englisliinaii tor seventy liouvs. Kenshaw cast all her guns overboard in order to increase her sjiiiii. It was of littio avail. Nothing saved the " lucky" little brig from capture but a tii Torable sliifting of the wind. Not long afterward she sailed into Charleston Harbor. and was there made a guard-ship. She did not appear again at sea during the war. The melancholy tolling of the funeral bells over the slain Burrows and Blyth had scarcely died away when merry peals of joy were heard all over the land in attesta- tion of the delight of the people caused by Perry's victory on Lake Erie, already fullr recor'^ed in these pages. With that victory ceased rejoicings over the exploits of the vessels of the regular navy during the remahider of the year, because, with a sin- gle exception, they were rot remarkable ; but the privateers then swarming upon tin ocean were doing excellent service every where. The history of their doings may W found toward the clofe? of the volume. 1 Coopp"- relaiei (ii., 200, nolo) tlmt, whcu the Enterprim hailed to liiiow if the Roxcr had strucic, as nhe Iccpt herflaf flylujl. one <>f the oftlccrs of the British vc«sel leaped upon n pun, Bhoolc both flsta at tlic AmericaiiB, and shoiitod"X', U(t, no '." at the same time nsinpr some strong opprobrions epithets. The excited uentlemau's superiors were coiupclieJ to order him do'vn. His movcmcut created much merriment on board the Unterpriae. OF THE WAU OF 1812. 721 t CrulBC of the Entfrpritf. VTt kucsa of the American Navy. Beginning of the wondorfnl Crnise of the K»»ae. CHAPTER XXXII. ^^^ rins to what circnm- X great mortitii'ation; -e of victory Avlieii he 10 flag to the mast, al- ol' the lioxer was scv- lie -E>(<crp-isc lost only was the Boxer's h<\ rom that port for «'\- more cruise Auriiig tin fouthward as tiir as \h Lieutenant Crciglitoii. and both vessels woro 'from the sight of luitli ,y the Engiishmai ti>r to increase her hymi Worn capture hut a fa- iito Cluirleston IIail)OT, vt fca during the war. lurrows and Blyth had ,.cr the land in attesta- .akc Eric, already fully k over the exploits of iar, because, with asm- Lcn swarming upon tk oftheir doings may l>e le Americans, and slw""''' ]\ Imau's superiors were compeliri " War-doom'd the wide expanse to plow Of ocean with a Bingle prow, Midst hosts of foes with lynx's eye And Hon fang close hovering by, You, Porte-, dared the dangerous course. Without a home, without resource. Save that which heroes always find In nantic skill and power of mind ; Save where your stars in conquest shone. And stripes made wealth of foes your own." Ode to Davih Pobteb, 1614. S we take a survey from a stand-point at mid-autuimi, 181.3, we observe with astonishment only three American frigates at sea, namely, the President, 44 ; the Congress, 38 ; and the Es- sex, 32. The Constitution, 44, was undergoing repairs ; the Constellation, 38, was blockaded at Norfolk ; and the United States, 44, and Macedonian, 38, were prisoners in the Thames above Ne\f London. The Adams, 28, was undergoing altera- tions and repairs, while the John Adams, 28, iVti/c York, 36, and Boston, 28, Avere virtually condemned. All tlie brigs, ex- cepting tlie Enterp'ise, had been cap- tured, and she was not to be trusted at sea much longer. The Essex, Commo- dore Porter, was tlie only government vessel of size which was then sustain- ing the rej)utation of the American Navy, and she was in far distant seas, with a track equal to more tlian a third of the circumference of the globe be- tween her and the home port from which she sailed. Slie was then making one of the most remarkable cruises on rec- ord. Let us liere consider it. We have observed the Essex starting from the Delaware in the autumn of 1812,* with orders to seek a junction with the Constitu- tion and Hornet, under Commodore Ihiinbridge, at designated places, but al- lowed, in the event of failure to do so, to folloAV the dictates of the judgment of her commander.' She did not fall in with her consorts of Bainbridge's little squadron, and she sailed on a Ions cruise in the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In anticipation of such cruise Captain Porter took with him a larger I See piige 488. Zz ' Octoher 23. 722 nCTOBIAL FIELD-BOOK The Jfocton a Prize to the Jiimai. A Search for Batnbrldge. An EngltBh Governor deceived. 1 1 . m fit i lunnber of officers and crew than was common for a vessel of that size. Ilcr mus- ter-roll contained three hundred and nineteen names ; and her supplies were so am- ple! that she sank deep in the water, which greatly impaired her sailing quality. The Uasex took a southeast course for the purpose of crossing the tracks of vessels bound from England to liermuda, but met only a few Portuguese traders with whom she had no hostile business. On the 27th of November she sighted the bold mount- ains of St. . J ago, and ran into the harbor of Port Praya in search of the commodorp, There Porter received unbounded hospitalities from the Portuguese governor; ami when he had waited a proper time for the expected arrival of Bainbridge, he depart- ed with his ship loaded with pigs, sheep, fowls, and tropical fruits of every kind. Ih concealed his destination fro.a the governor, and, sailing eastward when he loft port gave the impression that he was bound for the coast of Africa. When beyond ttle- scopic range he changed his course, stood to the southwest, and crossed the equator on the 1 1 th of December in longitude 30° west. On the following day he captured his first liritish prize, the Nocton, 10, a government packet, with a crew of thirty-ono men, bound for J^almouth. She had fifty-five thousand dollars in specie on hoard. This treasure and her crew were transferred to the Essex, and Lieutenant Finch (aft- erward Captain William Compton Bolton), ^vith a crew of seventeen men, was diicct- ed to go to the United States with her. She was captured by a British frigate he- twcen Bermuda and the Capes of Virginia. Only the specie of the Nocton Avas se- cured by Porter, • Deccmi)er 14, Two days after this victoiy* the pyramidal mountain peak of tlio 1812. dreary penal island of Fernando de Noronha, whereon no woman was allowed to dwell, loomed up sullenly from the waste of waters. This was one of the specMfied places of rendezvous of Bainbridge's squadi'on. Disguising the Essex as a menthantnnm, and hoisting English colors, Porter sailed close to the island, anchored and sent Lieutenant Downes to the governor with a polite message, asking the piiv- ilege of procuring water and other refreshments. Downes soon returned with a pres- ent of fruit iVom tiu; governor, and intelligence that only the week before the Ihitiiili ships Acasta, 44, and Morgiana, 20, had sailed fi'om the island, and left with the mac- istrate a letter for Sir James Yeo, of Hi?; Majesty's ship Southamjyton. Porter \v;\s satisfied that the "British shi})s" s[)oken of were the Constitution nwA Hornet; that the writer of the letter was Commodore Bainbridge, and the Sir James Yeo addiesij- ed was himself With this conviction, he sent Downes back to the governor with tiie truly English present of porter and cheese, and the assurance that a gentleman on board his vessel, intimately acquainted with Sir James, and who intended to sail directly to England from Brazil, would be happy to carry the letter to the haroiiet, The governor sent the letter to I'orter, The latter broke the seal and read as follows: "My dear Mediterranean Friend, — "Probably you may stop here. Don't attempt to water; it is attended with twi ranch difficulty. I learned before I left England that you were bound to the Brazil coast ; if so, we may meet at St. Salvador or liio Janeiro. I should be happy to meet and converse on our old affiiirs of captivity. Ktcollect our secret in those times. " Your friend of His Majesty's ship Acasta, Kerk." f The last clanse in this letter gave Porter a needed hint. lie called for a liglitcl candle, and, holding the sheet of paper near the flame, the following note, written in .symi)athotic ink,' was revealed by tlie heat: " I am bound off St. Salvador, thence off Cape Frio, whore I intend to cruise until ' Sympathetic luk is coinposod of compounds which, when written with, wHl remain liivisllile until heated. Mo- tions of cobalt thus become blue or green, lemon-Juice turns brown, and a very dilute aniphuric acid btncken;. OF THE WAll OF 1812. 728 :ngUBh Oovernor deceived. at size. Her mus- ppUes were so am- lailing quality, lie tracks of vessels traders with whom ted the bold mount- I of the commodore. ;ue8C governor; and liiibridge, ho depart- 8 of every kind. He rd when he k-ft port, When beyond tele- i crossed the equator ring day he captured 1 a crew of thirty-one s in specie on l)oard. ;jicutenant Finch (aft- itcen men, was direct- ir a British frigate be- o{ the Nocton was se- mountain peak of the icreon no woman was This was one of the guising the ii'sw.? as ;i to the island, anchored, pssago, asking the priv- n returned with a jues- kvcek before the Uritisli and loft with the mas;- 'hampton. Porter \v;\s ition unA Hornet ; iU ir James Yen address- , to the governor with ■ance that a gentleman who intended to sail letter to the hnroiict. •al and read as follows: it is attended with tw jrc bound to the Brazil lould be happy to \m\ jcrct in those times, Kkkr." Tic called for a lishtf'l llowing note, written 111 It intend to cruise nntil in invlfllhlc nntil heated. Solf iBnlphurlc acid bl.ickcuf. Failure to find Bnlnbridge. The b'sHiiX sails Tor the Pacific Ocean. llcr Arrival at Valparaiso. tho Ist of January. Go off Cape Frio, to the northward of Rio Janeiro, and keep a look-out for me. Youk Friend."' With these instructions Porter sailed for Cape Frio. Ho came in sight of it three days before the Constitution captured tho Java^ and for some time cruised up and down the Brazilian coast between Cape Frio and St. Catharine. He met many Por- tucnese vessels, but could obtain no reliable informii,tion concerning the s(puidron. His situation was becoming more and more perplexing. English influence was pow- erful all along the coasts of the South American continent, while the power of his own government was little known or respected, lie was, in a degree, in an enemy's waters, with no friendly port into which he might run for shelter, carry prizes if ho should catch them, or procure necessary supplies. lie was compelled, as he says in his Journal, to choose between " capture, a blockade, or starvation." lie was letl to Ills own resources, for he could not find the commodore, and he resolved to sweep around Cape Horn, pounce upon the English whalers in the Pacific Ocean, and live upon tho enemy. The specie obtained from the Nocton would be a reliabU? resource in an hour of need, and he could not doubt his success. With this determination he spread the sails of the Essex to tho breeze in the harbor of St. Catharine on the '26th of January, 1813, and after a most tempestuous and jjeriloiis voyage made Cape Horn on the 14th of February. At the close of that month the pleasant southwest breezes came over the calmer ocean, and under their gentle influence the inhospitable coasts of Patagonia and Lower Chili were soon passed. Or. the 5th of March the glittering peaks of the Andes were seen hundreds of miles distant, and on the evening of that day the anchor of the Essex Avas cast at tho island of Mocha, oft' the coast of jVrauca- nia,for the first time after leaving St. Catharine. Its solitary mountain pe.ak towered more than a thousa.id feet in the clear blue firmament ; immense flocks of birds hov- ered over its unpeopled shores, and in its surrounding waters shoals of seals were sporting in the surf. A joyous hunt for a day by the delighted crew brought to the ship an ample supply of coveted fresh meat, for the island, inhabited by S])aniard8 before the reign of the buccaneers in that ix'gion, abounded with fat wild hogs and horses. The flesh of the latter proved more savory than that of the former, and was preferred by the people of tho Essex. Porter had now spent two months without falling in with a hostile vessel. His supplies of naval stoi-es were portentously diminishing, and he anxiously hoped for prey by which he might replenish his exhausted materials. With that hope he cruised northward, enveloped for several days in thick fogs, when suddenly, on the 14th of March, as the liksex 8we])t around the Point of Angels, the city of Valpa- raiso, the chief sea-port town of Chili, burst upon the vision like the creation of a ma- sjieian's wand. She liad been runnuig gallantly before a stiff breeze ; now she was suddenly becalmed under the guns of a battery, so unexpectedly and near had tiie turning of that point brought her to the town. Tho harbor and its shipping were in lull view. Several Spanish vesselsi were about departing ; and an armed American brig, heavily laden, seeing the English colors at the mast-head of the Eisex, had triced up her ports and prepared for action. Unwilling to have a knowledge of the arrival iif an American frigate in those waters spread by tlie Spanish vessels along the coast, and perceiving a British whaler preparing for sea, I'orter bore off to the northward, and in an hour or two lost sight of the town. He returned on the following day, ran into port and anchored, and soon learned two important facts, namely, that Chili had 'just become independent of Spain, and the people were prepared to give him a cor- dial reception ; and that the Viceroy of I'eru had sent out cruisers against the Amer- ican shipping in that quarter. Porter's appearance with a strong frigate was there- ' Jburnaf -a Cfuitie niailn to the Pae{fte Octan by Captain David Porter, in the United State* Frigate Ennex, in the Ymr» 1S12, 1813, and 1814, 1., .10. » Sec page JiiO. ) III liii I !,[: 1 724 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK FriendlioeaH of the Cbillang. The Essex in Search of British Whalers. Cruise amung the Oalapngos Uhu fore exceedingly opportune, for American commerce lay at the mercy of English pri- vateers among the whalers, and the Peruvian coi-sairs. The Essex was welcomed by the Chilian authorities by a salute of twenty-one guns at the forts, and of nine guns from the American brig, which proved to be the Colt 1 8 ; and Mr. Poinsett, the American Consul General, hastened from Santiago, the cai)- ital of Chili, to join in the festivities which had been arranged for giving Porter a formal reception. Dinners, balls, excursions on land and Avatcr followed, and the ofli- cers of the Essex never forgot the delightful hours which they spent with the Cliiljan beauties, by whom they were exceedingly petted. In this welcome, these entertain- ments, and the bright prospects of usefulness to their countrymen and a profitable ciuise for themselves, the people of the Essex found full compensation for all tlieir hardships during the teriible voyage from the stormy Atlantic around the dark cape into the Pacific Sea. As soon as she was tolerably victualed the Essex put to sea, and on the 25th fell in with an American whaler, from whom Porter learned that two other vessels, the Walker and Barclay, haA just been captured by a Peruvian corsair off Coquimbo, ac- companied by an English ship. Porter pressed on up the coast, and soon oveihauled the corsair. She was the Nereyda. He took from her all her captured Americans and, after casting her cannon, ammunition, and small-arms OA'erboard, sent her to Cal- lao with a letter to the Peruvian viceroy, in which he denounced the piratical con- duct of the commander of the cruiser, and asked for punishment due for his crime. Tiie Essex then looked into Coquimbo, but, seeing nothing discernible, sailed for Cal- lao. As she neared the harbor she recaptun 'I the Barclay, and, making her her con- sort, sailed for the Galapagos Islands, the alleged resort of English whalers. Fi-om the master and crew of tiie Barclay Vortcr ascertained that there were twenty-thid American and about twenty English whale-ships in that region. The latter were, in general, fine vessels of between three and four hundred tons burden, and would af- ford good prizes for the Essex. The most of them were armed, and bore letters of marque. On his way over the quiet Pacific toward the Galapagos, Porter made preparation? for fierce struggles with the armed English whalei-s. The ships were put in perfect order, and then seven small boats were arranged as a flotilla and placed under the command of Lieutenant Downes.^ They made Chatham Island on the 17th of April, but found no enemy there. Similar disappointment awaited them at Charles Island on the following day. Lieutenant Downes went ashore, and found a box nailed to a post, over Avhich was a black sign with the words Hatha way's Post-office painted on it in white letters. The contents of the post-office were conveyed on board tlic Essex, and gave, by a list of English whalers that had touched there a few month* before, positive evidence that those islands were a resort for British vessels in that service. With this assurance Porter ciiiised eagerly among the Galapagos, but al- most a fortnight was spent without seeing a single vessel. On the morning of the ■April, 29th* the welcome cry of "Sail, ho!" was heard, and a ship Avas seen to the 1813. westward. Soon afterward two others were observed a little farther to the south. Porter immediately gave chase to the first-seen vessel, and at nine o'clock in the morning she was his prize. She was the English whale-ship Montezuma, with fourteen hundred barrels of oil on board. Placing a prize-crew in her, he made sail alter the other two vessels. The wind fell, and there was a dead calm. The flotilla of small boats under Downes pushed forward. Tiiey pulled for the larger of the two 1 John Dowoes was born in Massnchusetts. He entered the naval service as midshipman in 1802, and was activtir: lii.> attaclt on the shipping in the h:irl)or of Tripoli. He accompanied Porter, as lieutenant, In the entire cruise ofilif &«»», and l)ecan. i-nmmaoder of lln^ Essex Junuir. In 1831 he was promoted to captain, and commanded the ftforaf in the piinishmeL, if the Qnallah Bui loo people for outrages on American commerce. Hin Inst sea service was In is3t He died in Boston on the Uth of August, 1884, and was burled with the honors due to his rank. Secretary Dobbin di- rected the officers at the Navy and Marine Con's to w .r crape on the left arm for thirty days. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 725 mg the QalapagoB Inlani.. ;rcy of English pri- of twenty-one guns (ved to be the Colt, 11 Santiago, the caj)- for giving Porter a llowecl, and the ofli- ent with the Chilian »me, these entertain- len and a profitahlo nsation for all tlitir round the dark cape and on the 25th fell wo other vessels, tlie lair off Coquimho, ac- and soon overhauled captured Americans, joard, sent her to Cal- led the piratical con- ■nt due for his crime, erniblo, sailed for Cal- I, making her her con- iglish wiialers. From ere were twenty-thm II. The latter were, ill burden, and would at- id and bore letters of •ter made preparation? ms were put in perfect and idaced under \h lion the iVthof Avril, Ihem at Charles Island jnnd a box nailed to a I's rosT-OFFu:E painted •onveyed on board tin >d there a few montlis [British vessels in tlwt (the Galapagos, hut al- >n the morning of tlie ship Avas seen to tlic a little farther to tk [ and at nine o'clock in ■ship Montezuma, will ?w in her, he made pail >adcalm. The flotilla Ir the larger of the two Itann In 1S02, and wnfactiveir ■nant.lnthecntirocrmfeoftl' ln,audcommandodtheM.(»^^ I lliHlni-t Ben service was Id 1»^ Ills rank. Secretary Dobbin ili- Ity days. t'lptnre of the Ocorijiana and other English armed Whaling-shlps. Porter in Command of a Squadron. ■May. vessels, which kept training her guns upon the flotilla as it approached ; but between two and three in the afternoon she surrendered without firing a shot. She was the KnuTish whale-ship Oeorgiana. Her companion was captured in like manner. She was the PoHcj/, also a whaler. These three prizes furnished Porter with many need- ed su])p!ies. Among these were beef, pork, cordage, water, and a large number of the huge Galapagos turtles, whose flesh is delightful to the appetite and healthful to the stomach. Captain Porter fitted up the Georgiana as a cruiser. She had been built for the service of the East India Company, and liad the reputation of being a fast sailer. She was pierced for eighteen guns, and had six mounted when taken. The Policy was also pierced for eighteen guns, and had ten mounted. These were added to the ar- mament of the Georgiana, and she became a fitting consort of the Essex, with sixteen lidit guns, under the command of the gallant Lieutenant Dovnes, Avith forty-one men. He raised the American jiennant over her on the 8th of May," and it was saluted by seventeen guns. Tlie crew of the Essex, officers and men, was now reduced to two hundred and sixty-four souls. Tlie reputation of the Georgiana for fleetness was unmerited, yet Porter expected to make her useful. She and the Essex parted company on the 12th of May, Avith a clear understanding concerning places for rendezvous at specified times. The Essex, accompanied by the Policy, Montezuma, and Barclay, did not cruise far from tl;c Gal- apagos, and it was sixteen days before a strange sail was seen by her. On the after- noon of the 28t]i'' one was seen ahead, and a general chase w.as made. At sun- set she was visible from the frigate's deck, and she was still in sight on the following morning. It was not long before tlie Essex got alongside of and captured her. She was the English whale-sliip Atlantic, mounting eight 1 8-pounder carron- adcs, and manned by twenty-three men, under the command of a renegade Nantucket captain. Slie was pierced for twenty guns. During this chase another vessel was seen. With characteristic energy. Porter placed Lieutenant M'Knight, of the Montezuma, in command of the Atlantic, and or- dered him to chase the newly-discovered stranger. The Essex also joined in the pur- suit, and the Greenicich, a vessel little lighter than the Atlantic, mounting ten guns, and manned by twenty-five men, was added to the list of prizes in Porter's liands. The Atlantic and Grecmoich had letters of marque, and, being fast sailers, were very danirorous to American commerce. AVith all his prizes but the Georgiana, now five in number, Porter sailed for the mouth of the Tumbez, in the Gulf of Guayaquil, on the South American Continent, where he anchored on the lOtli of June, off" the miserable village of Tumbez. There the little squadron was joined by the Georgiana^ bringing with her two prizes, the Hector, 1 1 , and Catharine, 8. Downes had captured a third, the Rose, 8, which he liad filled with tlie superabundant prisoners and sent to St. Helena. She was a dull sailer. Ho removed h jr oil, threw her guns overboard, and gave the prisoners the sliip on condition that they should sail for that rocky isle in the At- lantic. Porter now found himself, at the end of eight months after he sailed from the Del- aware, in command of a squadron of nine armed vessels ready for formidable war- fare. The Atlantic being every way superior to the Georgiana, Lieutenant Com- manding Pownes was transferred to her, with his crew. Twenty guns were mount- ed in her, and she was named Essex Junior. She was manned by sixty picked men. The Georgiana was also armed with twenty guns, and converted into a store-ship, under the command of" Parson" Adams, the cliaplain of the Essex. Tlic squadron left Tumbez on the 30th of June, the^.'?ea; and Essex Junior sailing in company until the flth of July,"^ when the latter was dispatched for Val- paraiso with the Catharine, Hector, Montezuma, Policy, and liarday in con- ' June 24. ' 1613. *f, !'' ^W• ■■■i ■■':{ '1 . .Jili ummak ill, l^^l IH k 1 'fVH^H nK lal ' 1 '" "^ 1 |i 1 ^ f H:i— ^1 pi: , s. Mm-' ' (i %" ^ ■ ^^^^ if 726 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ^Jnly. Capture of the dreaded Seringapatam. Sncoesgfnl crnlsiiig among the Galapagos Islaude. Porter warned uf Danger. voy. Tlic £Jssex at the same time, accompanied hy the Oeorgiana and Greeincich ■July, sailed westward toward the Galapagos. On the ISth" she captured the En- 1B13. glish whale-ship Charlton, armed with ton guns, and manned by twenty-one men. Two other vessels had been seen in her company, the larger of which, the pris- oners from the Charlton said, was the Serimjapatam, mounting fourteen guns, and manned by forty men. She had been built in England for the Sultan Tippoo Saib for a cruiser, and was the most fonnidable enemy of American shipping in the Pacific Ocean. Porter longed for her capture, and was soon gratified. The Greenwich hoiv gallantly down upon her, and, after exchanging a few broadsides, the English vessel surrendered. She soon afterward made an unsuccessful effort to escajie. The small- er vessel, called the New Zealander, was captured without difficulty. Porter's prisoners were now so numerous that he was compelled o admit a large number to parole. These were placed in the Charlton, and sent to liio de Janeiro under a pledge of honor. The guns were taken out of the Neio Zealander and placed in the Seringapatam, giving her an armament of twenty-two heavy pieces, but with an insufficient crew. She Avas thus converted into a formidable cruiser. The Oeor- oiana, with a hundred thousand dollars worth of spermaceti oil, was sent to tlic United States, bearing in irons the captain of the Seringapatam, who was found with- out a commission as privateer, and liable to the penalties of piracy. The Essex, with the Greenwich,, Seringapatam, and Neio Zealander, now sailed for Albemarle Island, the largest of the Galapagos group. On the morning of the 28th'' they discovered a strange sail. Chase was given, and continued all day, but she eluded her pursuers during the ensuing night. This was the first time that the Essex had failed to place herself alongside of an antagonist since she entered the Pacific Ocean, and Porter and his people were much mortified. The cruise continued, and on the 4th of August the little squadron anchored off James's Island, a short distance from Albemarle. There they remained more than a fortiiisiht, and on the 22d anchored in Banks's Bay, between Narborough Island and the north head of Albemarle, where the prizes were moored, and from whence the Essex pro- ceeded" on a short cruise alone. After sailing for some time along the Galapagos without meeting any vessels. Porter was gratified by the ap parition of a strange sail on the 15th of September, apparently lying to, far to the southward and to the windward. The Essex, disguised, approached her, and discov- ered her to be an English Avhale-ship engaged in the process of" cutting in," or get- ting on board the ship the blubber of the great fish. When the Essex was within about four miles of the whaler, the latter became alarmed, cast off her fish, and made sail. The Essex threw off her disguise and pursued, and at four o'clock in the after- noon had the stranger within range of her guns. A few shots brought her to, and she became a prize She was the Sir Andrew Hammond, armed with twelve guns, and manned by thirty-one men. She was the vessel that escaped the Essex on the night of the 28th of July. She had on board a large supply of beef, pork, bread, wood, and water, of which the Essex was in need. With this prize she returned to Banks's Bay, where she was soon afterward joined by the Essex Junior from Val- paraiso. Downes had there moored three of the prizes, and sent the fourth, the Pol- icy, to the United States with a cargo of spermaceti oil. While at Valparaiso Downes learned two important facts, namely, that the exploits of the Essex had produced great excitement in the British Navy, and caused the gor- emment to send out the frigate Phoebe, with one or two consorts, to attempt her cap- ture ; and that the Chilian authorities were becoming more friendly to the English I than to the Americans. Surveying the situation in the light of this information, Por- ter resolved to go to the Marquesas Islands, refit his vessels, and return to the United States. His cruise had been remarkably successful. He had captured almost everj' English whale-ship known to be off the coasts of Peru and Chili, and had deprived = August 24. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 12t Sorter warned of Danger. la and Gi-eemcich, s captured the En- iied by twenty-one ■ of which, the pris- fourteen guns, and sultan Tippoo Sail) pping in the Pacific rhe Greenwich horu 1, the English vessel e8caiH>. I'lie small- Ity. ed ;o admit a large it to T'io de Janeiro lealander and placed avy pieces, but with cruiser. The Ocor- oil, was sent to the ■who -was found witli- icy. ander, now sailed for the morning of the jn, and continued all it. This was the first antagonist since she nuch mortified. The anchored off James's nore than a fortnight, Island and the north rhence the Essex pro- some time along the Is gratified by the ap- ly 'lying to, far to the ached her, and discov- If" cutting in," or get- the Essex was within off her fish, and made [ir o'clock in the after- ts brought her to, ami ,ed with twelve guns, iped the E^»ex on the J of beef, pork, bread, prize she returned to Lear Junior from Val- jnt the fourth, the Pol- nely, that the exploits ^, and caused the gov- Its, to attempt her cap- l-iendly to the EngUsli ■ this information, For- i return to the United i;apturcd almost ever)- [lili, and had deprived Porter, with his Squadron, sallH for the Marqnoi!a8 lelande. Arrival at Nooulieuvah. White Kesideuts ou the Island. the enemy of property to the amount of two and a half millions of dollars, and three hundred and sixty seamen. He had also released the American whalers from danger, and inspired the Peruvians and Chilians with the most profound respect for the American Navy. Accordingly, on the 2d of October, he spread the sails of the Es- sex to the breeze, and she sailed westward from Banks's Bay, followed by the Essex Junior, Serinyapatam, New Zealander, Sir Andrew Hammond, and Greenwich. Moat of these were slow sailers, and kept the Essex back. The impatient Porter, fearing the delay might cause him to miss an English vessel bound for India of which he had heard, sent the Essex Junior forward to the Marquesas with instructions to at- tempt to intercept and capture her. Meanwhile the squadron crept lazily over the calm sea, and on the 23d of October the group of the Marquesas was seen looming up from the western horizon. On the following day they neared the shores, and saw the natives thronging the beaches and swiftly navigating the waters in light canoes. After passing among the islands a few days, the Essex finally anchored in a fine bay of Nooaheevah with her prizes, except the Essex Junior, which came iu soon after- ward. "The situation of the Essex^'' says Cooper,' "was sufiiciently remarkable at this moment to merit a brief notice. She had been the first American to carry the pen- nant of a man-of-war around the Cape of Good Hope, and now she had been the first to bring it into this dietant ocean. More than ten thousand miles from home, Avith- out colonies, stations, or even a really friendly port to repair to, short of stores, Avith- out a consort, and otherwise in possession of none of the required means of subsist- ence and efficiency, she had boldly steered into this distant region, where she had found all that she had acquired through her own activity ; and having swept the seas of her enemies, she had now retired to these little-frequented islands to refit with the security of a ship at home. It is due to the officer who so promptly adopted and so successfully executed this plan, to add, that his enterprise, self-reliance, and skill indi- cated a man of bold and masculine conception, of great resources, and of a high de- gree of moral courage — qualities that are indispensable in forming a naval captain." The bay in which the squadron was moored, and its surroundings, presented very picturesque scenery to the navigators. A beautiful valley was seen extending back from it among the lofty hills, and here and there a native village dotted its margins. Rich vegetation crowned the eminences, and cultivated fields smiled along the slopes and beautiful intervales. The natives every where among the group of islands had appeared very friendly, and Captain Porter expected nothing but quiet and full suc- cess in fitting his vessels for his long homeward voyage. In this he was disappoint- ed, for during his stay he was compelled to engage in a military campaign, and take possession of Nooaheevah by force of arms. It happened in this wise : The anchor of the Essex had just been cast when a canoe shot out from the shore and came alongside the frigate. It contained three white men, one of whom was naked and tattooed like the natives. This man was an Englishman, named Wilson, and had been on the island twenty years. One of his companions was Midshipman John Maury, of the United States Navy, who had been lc*'t on the island to gather sandal-rt'ood while the merchant vessel that bore him to it should go to China and return. He was accompanied by a seaman. These were the only Avhite men on Nooaheevah. They informed Porter that war was raging on the island between the native tribes who inhabited the different valleys, and that it was quite fierce between the Taeehs, who dwelt in the one before them, and the Happahs over the mountains. He was farther informed that he would j)robably be compelled to take the part of the Taeehs against the Happahs in order to get from them such supplies as he de- siied and the island afforded. Wilson understood the native language well, and became Porter's interpreter. \h 1 SavaX BUtorg of the Unitti Statu, U., 222. :!^'~s'iiii^ llf Pi jJ ■ i . i 4 i ' .'?; ilp, "" -■ '■ fPi; . ; \ -^Mji^^ fc^ 1 1 C'tyll War In Nooahcevah. Porter tlireatcna to engn^o In It The "mighty Oattanewa." With him the captiiin landed, and was met on the beach by a throng of men, wniiii'n and children, who not only Avelconied him, bnt gave cordial greetings to the marines, who followed him with beating drums, and tired volleys of musketry in tlu' air, These unusual sounds brought swarms of the Haj)pah8 to the crest of the niountuin where they brandished their spears and clubs in the most threatening manner. Tliov had lately spread desolation through portions of the valley of the Taeehs, dcHtroyini; houses, plantations, and bread-fruit-trees. Porter immediately sent them word that he had come with force stilficient to take possession of the whole island, and tliat if they ventured into the Tienhoy Valley as enemies while he remained h.e would ))iin- ish them severely. He gave them permission to bring hogs and fruit to the shore, and promised them protection while trafficking. Tins bold message delighted the Taeehs, and filled the IIa|)i)ahs with awe, because of the powerful ally which good fortune had brought to their enemies. Porter had just returned to his ship when ho was informed that the great Gatta- newa, the mighty King of the Taeehs, a descendant of Oateia, or Daylight, tlirouijli eighty-eight generations, had returr jd from a tour of inspection to one or two ot'liis strong-holds among the mountains. A boat was sent to bring the monarch on boanl the J2ssex, and all hands waited in expectation of seeing a most digni- fied personage, for their eyes had already seen the really beantiful and stately granddaughter of the monarch. They were disappointed. Be- fore them appeared a tottering man leaning u{)on a rude stick, bent with the weight of years, naked, excepting tem- ples covered with with- ered palm - leaves and loins swathed in dirty tappa or native cloth, his skin black with tattoo- ing, and made almost leprous in appearance by the eficcts of excessive indulgence in the use of kava, a native intoxicat- ing drink. He was then stupefied by its effects, and it Avas not until aft- er he had slept long in the cabin of the Essex that he was able to talk of public affauu Porter agreed to assist Gattanewa against the Happahs and Typees, his chief enemies. He established a camp in a shady plain not far from the beach, and at the same time active labor wa> commenced in the service of preparing the Essex for her long voyage. Days passeii on, and so peaceful did the Americans appear that the Happahs were emboklemil, TUE MIUUTY OATTANEWA. OF TlIK WAU OF 18 12. i2i rho "mighty Oattiinewa." ing of men, wnu.cn, iijjs to the lUiuiiu's, .iKkctry in the air, st of the iii()ui\tiiiii, line; manner. Tluv s Tacchs, dcHtroyiii!; cat them word thai e island, and thiit it lined h.e woukl jiiin- id fruit to the shore, issage delitjhtoil the rful ally which good Aiat the great Gatta- or Daylight, thront;li I to one or two ofliis he monarch on hoard Battlea with the NotlvcB. Purter victurluua. Cbuu(;e lu tbo Name of tbo Island and Uarbor. ^ i .' t\ lA ^^^^B ^F ^^ '^'"^fM}. -'■■l^Sm: r,.srj^'Y '\/i ^km^Hj^.' K^'i^ I^P^^^^i. m^s^ ^ ^^^^^3 ■7?»^- gi3^i « ^■'j A^^jjr >>s _.^P: 1^^' ^/l q^fWi m • 1 1 ^m ^^m K«/ -^ rJK lies. He established a time active labor « 1 voyage. Days F^^fJ Lbs were eraboUeiuHl Tlii'v poured into tlio valley, menaced the camp, and sent a messenger to Porter to tell liiui that he was a coward. The old monarch and his chief warriors urged Por- ter to strike a withering blow. lie complied with their reipu'st. Ili' lauded a 0- pounder cannon, and the natives carried it to the summit of tiie mountain. He then sent Lieutenant Downes, with forty men with muskt'ts, to attack \\\v lliippahs. They were driven from hill to liill until they reached one of their forts on the brow of an eminence. There, four thousand strong, they made a stand, and hurled spears and stones at the assailants. The fort was stornu'd and cajiture<l, and tlu^ awe-struck Ilappahs fled in every direction. Their hostility was overcome, and they hastened to send messengers with prayers for peace. Within a week envoys from almost ev- ery tribe on the island appeared bearing tribute-treasures and tokens of friendship. Porter's power was supreme. lie took possession of a conieal hill overlooking his encampment and the harbor, cast up a breastwork formed of Water-casks filled with earth, mounted four guns upon it, raised the American flag over it, and on the 19th of November took formal possession of the island. He named Nooaheevah Madison Island, and the breastwork Fort Madison, in honor of the i'resideiit of the United States; and to the beautifid expanse of water before him he gave the name of Mas- sachusetts liay, in token of his attachment to his birth-place. The fort was )>laced •niK i;hmi;x and iieu riu/.KH in masbachi skits uav, nooaukkvaii.' in command of Lieutenant John M. Gamble, of the Marines, and Messrs. Feltus and Clapp, midshipmen, with twenty-one men, were placed under liis orders, and remained there until the squadron was ready to sail. This was wise precaution to secure the speedy repairs of the Essex. The powerful Typees had rcmrvined hostile, and became more and more defiant, to the great discomfort of Gattanewa's people and the annoyance of the Americans. At length Porter resolved to make war upon them. An expedition, consisting of thirty-five Americans, including Captain Porter and five thousand Taeehs and TLip- pahs, moved against the incorrigibles. The Typees, armed with slings and spears, met them with such overwhelming numbers and fierce determination, that at the end of the first day they were compelled to falhback to the beach, and numbering among their casualties a shattered leg belonging to Lieutenant Downes, caused by a blow from a sling-man's stone. That night the valley of the Typees resounded with shouts of victory, and the sonorous reverberations of many beaten drums. Porter renewed the attempt the next day, and led his motley army boldly over the nigged hills into the Typee Valley, in the midst of great exposure to hostile mis- > From a drawing by Captain Porier. IJIi: (hi ? \m 130 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Tba Typau Valley UeNolated. The Women of Nuouheevab. Porter arrive* at Vaiparalro. MAUOCEHAH J ..ut Biles irora concealed foc8, ami many privations. Village after village WiiH deHtroyod until they came to the principal town, in which were line l)uil(lingH, a large public wiuare, lempleB and gods, huge war-canoes, and other exhibitions of half-sav- age life. These M'crc all reduced to ashes, and by the broom of desolation that beautiful valley, four miles in Avidth and nine in length, was made a blackened desert. The Tyi't'es, utterly ruined and humbled, now submissively paid tribute, and Porter could say " I am monarch of nil I survoy ; My rljjlit there Ih iiouo to illsptlto." Porter i.ad allowed his crew full indulgence while at Nooahevah. The natives were lavish in that species of savage hospitality which gives concubines to straiiirurs in the persons of their wives and daughters. The women of that island were really bp^^ntiful in figure and feature, and not much darker in complexion thtu' most Spanish women. Warm attachments were formed between them and the seuiiieii, and when on the eve of departure. Porter forbade his men going on shore, they were greatly disc ntented. For three days during this restraint they became almost mutinous, "The girls," says Porter in his ./oMr«a^, " lined the beach from morniiii; imtil night and every moment importuned me to take the taboos off the men, and laughingly ex- pressed their grief by dipping their fingers into the sea and touching their e\ is, so as to let the salt water trickle doAvn their cheeks. Others would seize a chip, and, hold- ing it in the manner of a shark's tooth, declared they would cut themselves to pieces in their despair; some threatened to beat their brains out with a spear of grass, some to drown the'" ^Ives, and all were determined to inflict upon themselves some dread- ful punishni t'l did not jjcrmit their sweet-hearts to come on shore."' Porter's men did not tune the deprivation so good-naturedly. Their situation, they said, Avas worse than slavery ; and a man named Robert White declared, on board the IJusa Junior, that the crew of the Essex had come to a resolution not to weigh her anclior, or, if they should be compelled to git the ship under weigh, in three days' time aller leaving the port to seize the ship and hoist their own flag. Porter thought it neces- sary to notice the affair. He assembled his men and addressed them kindly. He spoke of the reported threat, expressed his belief that the rumor could not be true, but added, " should such an event take place, I will, without hesitation, put a match to the magazine and blow you all to eternity." He added that perhaps there might be some grounds for the report, and said, "Let me see who are and who are not dis- posed to obey my orders. You who ai-o inclined to get the ship under weigh, conn on the stai-board side ; and you wlio are otherwise disposed, renniin where you are.' All hastened to the starboard side. The men showed great willingness to be obe- dient. Then White, the ringleader of the mutineers, if there were any, was calleil out. After infonning the crew that this was the man who had slandered tlicni, I'di- ter sent him ashore in one of the numerous canoes in Avhich the natives were .swarm- ing around the ship, and left him behind. The Essex was thoroughly fltted for her long voyage and for encountering ene- mies early in December, and on the 12th'' slie sailed, with her prizes, from Nooaheevah, taking with her Mr. Maury and his companion. They stretcheii away eastward to tlie South American continent, and early in January the peaks of the Andes were visible. On the 3d of February'' Porter entered the harbor of Valparaiso, exchanged salutes with the fort, went on shore to ])ay liis re- spects to the governor, and on the following day received a visit from his Excellency and his wife, and some other officers. Meanwhile the Essex Junior cruised off the port as a scout to give warning of the approach of any man-of-war. Notwithstaud- 1 See Porter's Journal, U., 13T. • 1S13. » 1S14. OF TUE WAR OF 1813. 781 ter nrrivei at Val|iuralto. iDcldenM In the Horbor of Valparalio. Porter's Oenoroclty. He tries tu flt;bt,or run the Blockade. MAUtJlIKSAH I .CM. ovah. The natives cubim'rt to Htraugurs it island were really n thiin most Spanish e Heiuiii.'U, and wIumi, 0, they were prcatly ne almost nuiti\ious. morniuL; until night, n, and laughingly ex- •hing their eyi'S,8oa9 eize a chip, and, hold- , themselves to pieces a, spear of grass, some craselvcs some dvcail- on shore.'" Povtir's tuation,they said, was , on board the Ensu to weigh her andior, three days' time aller .•ter thought it neces- sed them khidly. He ^or could not be true, citation, jiut a miitcli perhaps there might and who are not (lis- ip under weigh, coiiu main where you are.' . illingness to be ohe- were any, was calW slandered thcni, I'uv- natives were swarm- for encountering ene- With her prizes, tVom liion. They stretched January the peaks of [r entered the harhor _ shore to pay his re- It from his Excellency \inior cruised off the Iwar. Notwithstaud- intf the friendly dcnionstnitions of the governor, it was evident to Captain the English were in higher favor than the Americans with the Cliilian gi Porter that the English were in higher favor than the Americans with the Cliilian government. J'orter had not been long in Viilj)araiNO when two Englisli men-of-war were report- ed in the offing. They saileil into the harbor all pre|)ared for action, and seemed ready to violate the hospitalities of a neutral port. These vessels were the Phoebe, 3C Captain Ilillyar, and the Cherub, 20, Captain Tucker. The former mounted thirty loD'^ IH-pounders, sl.vteen 32-p()und carionades, and mw howitzer, and si.v ;J-pounders in iter tops. Her crew consisted of three- hundred and twenty men and boys. The Cherub mounted eighteen .'J2-ji()iind earronades below, with eight 24-pound carron- iides and two long O's above, making a total of twenty-eiglit guns. Her crew mus- tered one hundred and eighty. Tho^sea; at this time could muster only two hund- red and twenty-live souls, and tlie -Essex Junior only si.xty. The Unsex had forty 32- iiound earronades, and six long ri-pounders; and the Essex Junior bore only ten 18- pound earronades, and ten short O's. The weight of men and metal was heavily in favor of the British vessels. As the Phii'he canu! sweeping into the harbor with her men all at quarters, and ran close alongside the Essex, Porter warned Hillyar that if his vessel touched the Amer- ii an frigate he should open upon her, and much blood would be shed, for he was fully prepared for action. " I do not intend to board you," exclaimed the Englishman, who perceived Porter's readiness to fight, but as he luffed up his ship was taken ahack, and his jib-boom was thrown across the forecastle of the Essex in a menacing manner. Porter summoned his men and bade them spring upon the Pho'he, cutlasses in hand, the moment when the two vessels should touch each other. She was com- pletely in the power of the Essex., and with the aid of the Essex Junior the American tVicate might liave sunk the Phoebe in fifteen minutes. Hillyar saw his helplessness, and, throwing up his hands in consternation, declared that his present position was an accident. The chivalrous Porter accepted the apology, and the frightened En- glishman was allowed to ])ass on. It was afterward generally believed that Hillyar had positive orders to attack the Ekscx, even in a neutral South American port, and that his intentions were hostile untii the moment when he discovered his imminent ptri! in the poAver of the gallant American. • Alter obtaining some supplies, the English vessels went out and cruised off Val- paraiso. During a period of more than six weeks Porter tried in vain to bring on an engagement Avith the Phcebc singly, or with the Essex Junior in company. On the 2Tth of February he felt sure of a tight, for the Phoebe stood close in for the harbor, displaying a banner on which were the words " God and our Country ; British Sailors' best Rights ; Traitors offend both." Porter accepted this as a challenge, quickly pre- pared his vessel, and hoisting a banner under his old motto, "Free Trade and Sailors' Kights," with the words " God, our Country, and Liberty ; Tyrants offend them," he eaiiedboldly out. Ilillyar, who liad doubtless been instructed not to light the Essex alone, quickly showed the stern of his ship, and ran down to the Cherub, to the great disgust of the Americans. Informed that other English cruisers might be expected soon, Porter determined lo run the blockade and put to sea. On the 28th of March he spread his sails to a stiti" southwest breeze, and made a bold dash for the open Pacific. A heavy squall struck the Essex as she rounded the Point of Angels, carrying away the maintop- mast, and over into the deep the men who were aloft reefing. They were lost. The British ships, lying in wait outside, immediately gave chase, while the crippled frig- ate crawled toward the friendly port to repair damages. She could not reach her old anchorage in time to escape the enemy, so she took shelter in a bay not far from a battery, and anchored within pistol-shot of the shore. Notwithstanding that was neutral ground, the enemy's vessels bore down upon the Essex, and Captain Hillyar, unmindful of the courtesy rter when the Phoebe was within his power, proceed' 732 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK m The Kmtx cripptvil. I'lirtur'a Ueneroalty not reclpmrated. Battle betweoa thn Kiuex and tw(> ilrltliih N|i|m •d to (ifta(!k her. Tho I'Jkhcx prcpftivd for coiitl'uit, ivikI cndi'iivonMl to place n sjirinir on her eiihlo. IJcforc thin could he lU'compliHlicd tlic Phivhe fi;ot, in an udvaiita"('oii» •Mnroh lis, position, and, at a li'w iiiiimlcs hi'forc live o'clock in t'lc allcrnoon," oiu'ikhI iHU. (j,.^, „|„,|, j^in, Htcrn of tlio American frij^ate witli liim ionjj muiH. The Vjhtr- nh at tlie same time assailed tlie starboard bow of the Kaatjc, while the Eaiex Junior was nnabic to render her consort any assistance. The Chcruh was soon driven ott'by the bow-<j;uns of tlie Aiacr, and joined witli tlio Phd'he. in a severe rakini? fire on the American. For a while tlu! latter was uiialilc to reply, bnt at length three of her lonj? twelves were run out of her stern ports, ninl were handled with so much dexterity and power that, at the end of half an hour aft. cr the action commenced, both of the Knjjjlish ships were compelled to haul oil" and repair damacjes. The ^Jnaex had heeii much bruised in the conflict, and many tif'licr crew 'vcro killed or wounded. Her ensijjn at the fjaff and her battlc-flafj had Wn shot away, but her barnier, inscribed " Fki:k Tuadk and Sailous' liiuirrs,"' was still flyint? at the foro. Every man, from the commander down, resolved to defend lur to the last. The Phcehe and Cherub soon renewed their attack in a position on the starbodid quarter of the J^Jsscx where she could make no effectual reK'.ntance, tlie distanci' be- tween her and her antacjonists being too great to he reached by her carroiiadcs, Their fire was very galling, and I'orter was driven to the alternative of surrendeiiiiir, or running down to close quarters with his enemy. lie decided on the latter iiiovi'. ment, notwithstanding his ship had suffered a farther loss of important sparH and rigging. So badly was she crip|)led that the only sail that could be made availatdf was the flying jib. This was hoisted, the cable was cut, and slowly the 7im« cilijcd away toward the Pha'he until she was within range of tlm frigate's carronados, wlicn for a iaw minutes the firing on both sides was tremendoiis. The PluD'hc changed her position to a long range, and ke])t up a terrific cannonade upon her helpless aiita',ni- nist, whose deck was now strewn with the dead, her cockpit and ward-i'oom filled with the wounded, and a portion of her hull in Hames. Many of her guns were disabled; and at one of them no less than fifteen men — three entire crews — fell dead or iudf- tally wounded. Yet she drove off tl>e Cherub, and for two hours maintained the terrible combat with her principal antagonist. Porter now perceived no chance for boarding the Plwebe, and the raking of liir long guns was producing horrible carnage in his ship. lie resolved to attempt t" run her ashore, land her people, and set fier on fire. The wind was favoniliic; Imt when she was within musket-shot distance from the beach, it sliifted, payiiin; tlio shi[)'s head broad off, leaving her exposed to a raking fire from the Phcehe. At this moment of extreme peril, Lieutenant Downes came from the Essex Junior in an ojion boat to receive orders. He was directed to defend, or, if necessary, to destroy hi.« own vessel. He returned Avith some of 1;he wounded, and left three sound men who came with him. The slaughter .;n the Essex continued, the enemy's shot hulling her at almost every disdiarge. Still Porter held out, hoping to lay his ship alongside the cautious Ph'At He let go an anchor, by which the head of his vessel was brought round and cnableJ to give his enemy a broadside. It was efiectual. The Phoebe was crippled by it, and began drifting away with the tide. Porter was hopeful of success, wlioii his hawser parted, and the Essex, an almost he'pless wreck and on fire, floated toward her antagonist. The fiames came up both the main and forward hatchways. Tliero was no longer a chance for saving the ship. The magazine was threatened. Already an explosion of powder had added to the confusion. Porter was unhurt. He calN a council of officers. Only one man (Lieutenant Stephen D. M'Knight'^) came ! Tlif ' See pope 441. » Stephen Decatur M'Knight was a native of CoDDecticnt. After the capture of the Essex, he, with a companion OP TIIK WAll OF 18 12. 7a8 « mill two Brltlth Hblpo. I to pliu'o a h\ty\wji 1 an mlvunliii,'c(ms iilYcrnooii," oikikmI ; tjfunH. Tlic aiicr- J the J'jUSi'J'' >li>ni(ir 111(1 joiiiofl Avitli tlio ', livttor WHS mialilc lior Btcrn ports, iiml of half an lioiir iift- Hod to liiiiil otV ii'iil ct, and many of her battU'-flaf? had hcin ' UuiiiTH,"' wa-i still ved to defend her to ion jn the Btavhoaid iiicc, the distance be- I liy her carroiiudcs. itive of suriTiulcriiiir, il on the hvtter movt- hniiortant siiars ami lid he made availnbk' owly the J'JsKCX i'(li;wl ite's earronadcs, wlu'ii he rh(*'he (^han<,'wl her n her helpless autai.'u- ward-room tilli'il witli (runs were disiibk'il; ^^,g_fell dead or \m- hours niaintained tlic ;uid the raking ofkr (■solved to attempt tu d was favorable; but lit shifted, pay ilia; tk I the Pfuvbe. At tliis Lea; Junior in an o\m hessary, to destroy lii? [three sound men wlio Ins her at almost every lie the cautious P/mk iht round and enabled the was crippled by it, II of success, when Ins Ion fire, floated toward Ird hatchways. Tliere .threatened. Already fas unhurt. Ho ealW I'Knisiht*) came ! Tbe riurnuilnr of tha The Uoodnot of the Urltl^h ('(iiniiiiiinlcr. PorUr ntBTM 8a«M. rent were either slain or woiindi'd. llo then told his men tiiat thoHc who jircliricd Id tiikc the risk of <lr(>wiiiii}^ liy jumping ovcrhoard and Mwiinmiim for llm shore, to tlie ccrtuinty of being Idown up, might ilo so. 3Iuiiy atreepted the otVer. Some reached llif beucli ; a large nuinher were drowned. JV>rler hauled down liis tiag. Tiie ves- gi>| was surrendered, and the flames were extinguished. Of tiie two hundred and t«iHlv-tive l)rave men who went into tlu^ light, only seventy-live* effective ones re- mained. Kilty-eigiit had been killeil, sixty-six wouinled, and thirty-one weri' missing, 'flic two vessels of tlie enemy lost, in the aggregate, only five killed and ten wounded. m AtniDN IIF.TWer.N TIIK 1.HHKX AMI TIIK I'luKDK A.SI> DIIKllUU. I Thus ended the wonderful and brilliant cruise of the E88ex. Her closing exploits were as gallant as her former career. "We have been unfortunate, but not dis- graced," wrote her noble commander. "The defense of the JiJunex has not been less lionorable to her ofticers and crew than the caj)ture of an equal force; audi now eonsider my situation less unpleasant than that of Commodore Ilillyar, who, in vio- lation of every princijile of honor and generosity, and regardless of the rights of na- tions, attacked the Esnex in lier crippled state within jiistol-sliot of a neutral shore, wiicn for six weeks I had daily oftered him fair and honorable combat."^ IJy an arrangement with the victorious Ilillyar the Essex Junior was made a car- tel, and in her Porter and his surviving companions sailed for the Un't-od States. Aft- er a voyage of seventy-three days they arrived on the coast off Lo'.'' ^ dand, and fell in with the Saturn, a British ship of war, whose commander (Nn questioned the papers of the Essex Junior, and detained her. The indignant I'c .'jv considered this treatment a violation of his arrangements with Ilillyar, and escaped in a whale-boat. After sailing and rov.ing about sixty miles, he landed near Babylon, on the south side of Long Island, where he was suspected of being a British officer. His commission settled the question, and he enjoyed unbounded hospitality. He made his way to New York, where he was received with demonstrations of most profound respect ; anil when intelligence Avent over the country of the exploits of the ^«ea;, every city. named Jnmes liytnnn, were sent to Rto de Jniiciro as prisoners of war, where they were shipped for England In a Swed- ish vcgsel. They were never heard of afterward. The vessel arrived In safety, but the captain of the ve»sel never gave auy account of them. ' From a drawhij^ by Captain Porter. ' Porter's DUpntch to the Secretary of the Navy, July ii, 1S13. Porter relates that when he was about to part with Ilillyar at Valparaiso, he alluded to his conduct in attacking the Essex under such circumstances, when the Brit Isb com- mander, with tears in his eyes, said, "My dear Porter, you know not the responsibility that hnni; over me with respect to your Bhip. Perhaps my life depended on tnklnjj her." "I asked no explanations at the time," says Porter, when witlni; of the alTalr several years afterward. " If ho can show that the responsibility rests on his government, I shall Jo liira Justice mth more pleasure than I now impeach his conduct."— Jour;iai, II., 15T. fHu village, and hanilot was vocal with his praises. Municipal honore were lavislie 1 upon him ; and several State Legislatures and the National Congress thanked him for hjs services. By universal acclamation he was called the Hero of the Pacific. Piiilip Freneau, the popular bard of the Revolution, wrote a dull ode on " The Capture of tin Essex;" and a livelier poet, in his "Battle of Valparaiso," thus sang: "From tho laurel's fiiircat bouffli Let the muse her garland twiue, ,^ . To adorn our Pi)rtcr's brow, Who, beyond the burning line, Led his caravan of tars o'er tho tide. To the pilgrims fill the bowl, Who, around the southern pole, Saw new constellations roll. For their guide." This cruise was Porter's most eminent service afloat. ITo aided in the defense of Baltimore a few weeks after his return home ; and at the close of the war he was aii- pointed one of the commissioners on naval affairs. In 1817 he commanded a small fleet sent to break up a nest of pirates and freebooters in the Gulf of Mexico. In 182i3 he resigned his commission in the navy, and afterward became the representa- tive of the United States in Turkey, as resident minister, at Constantinojilc, He died near that city in 1 84.'?, at tin age of sixty-three years. His remains were brought to the United State*; landed at Philadelphia; borne to 8t, Stephen's- Church, South Tenth Stieti. wherein religious services for the o(( i sion were performed ; and he was buiid on the north side of that cliurch. Tlicy were afterward removed to the grounds of the Naval Asylum on the banks of the Schuylkill, pikI buried at the foot of the flag-staff. Once more they Avcre re- moved, and now find a resting-place !«- leath a beautiful monument in Wood- lawn Cemetery, Phila(lelj)hin. Ills coim 1 rymen remember him with just pride, Wliile Commodore Porter was in \\.> Pacific with the Essex, Comraodcnv Rodgers was on a long cruise in tm North Atlantic in his favorite fngate. uAviu i-osTKK'B MOMUMENT. thc JF^csident, i'i. Hc lefl Boston uii > David Porter was born in Boston on 1*10 1st of Pcbrnnrj-, 17S0. Ills first cxpcriorce in tho navy was in tlie friolf r<mat"llatiim, iu wlikh ho entered as mid•^i|.•nl.'^n in ITltS. Me was In the xilou l)etwecu that vespcl uud l,'IimirijMi, In February, 1T0«, wlien bis gallantry was -o consniciions that -k- was Immediately promoted to lieuteuaut. He mm- panied the flr«i' I'nitcd States squadron that ever saji. ! to tho Miuliterrnnean in ISOii, and was on board the yhPMd/i),' • when she slriu k on the rock in Ih'i Harbor of Tripoli. The'P he suffered imprlHonnui.t. In ISOfl he was npimiii! the cominnni! of the Entfrprixi; mid rruiflcd Ir the ivledlterrnnoan lor six years. On his return t.) the United ht was plar :l in command of the lloUlla station near Now Ori ans, where he remained until war wn' Icclarod n i when he was promoiod to captain, and assigned to the command of the frigate Kaaex. Tlis exploits .n her hnvelmii recorded in tho text ■•f this chapter. The following are the inscriptions on Porter's monumer:t in Woodlawn Cemetery, Phiiao .'Iphia ; A'rtrtA .Vide. " (^ommotoihk Oavio Porter, o'lr of themeit heroic sons of Pannsylvanl ., having long reprcscnti 1' ' rouutry wiih Adellty as minister resident at Cortstantlnopie, died at that citv in the r-itriotic discharge of lil» 1: Afnrch h, I'-t" " South ,s "In the War of 1812 his merits were pxblhitcd not merely as an intrepid commander, b.it in ctplut; . new fteliW ' luccess and ^.dory. A career of brillian' s^oc.d fortune was crowned by an en,i.'agement again«l sniv ■ force and fearfnl advantages, which history records as an event among tho most remarkable in nnval warftirc.'' Wifi Kide.— 'll\«cin\y youth was conspicuous for skill and gallantry in tho naval servien* of tho United Hui>- > the American airog were exercised with romar.tic chivalry before the battloments of Tripoli. He wan on ull oc' .s- mm OF THE WAR OF 1812. yfP SiH Death and Munumcut were lavishelupon hanked him foi- his }ui Pacific, riiilip The Capture oi'ilie mg : Uojgern'B unBUCcossfiil Cnileo. Caplimv »r Merrtiant . . n^elg and the Bi^ftiMV. led in tbe defense of )fthe war he wasap- commanded a small Gulf of Mexico. In icame the representa- d States in Turkey, er, at Constantinopk'. t city in 1 843, at thf 1 years. His remains , the Unitfd States; Iclphia; home to St. ;, South Tenth Strci services for the oit i lod; andhe washuTinl of that ciiurch. Tiny imoved to the groim.U lum on the hanks of ,d buried at the foot of |nce more they were n- find a resting-place tu- 1 monument in Wood- I'hiladelphin. Iliscoun- ir him with just pvick- lore Porter was in il; Essex, Cominodui. a long cruise in • u his favorite fn.aiui'. He left Boston un IcinthenavywaBintlietriiiiw lciillKavc8!'el..uii;//"''i'r!l.'»"' Inotert to Ikmteuant. Hy«.»- ll was on board the ;•/..:<■<"¥■« It iulS0flhewauapt>«™»«'" Is'tcturn to the United wm.-JK I until war wa- .l--clare1 i» .. ■ His exploits -n her have 1« |;.Ur;ou'm.chur.oofbi.« irt.nnn..,>naer,butinexplon"! |„en>..«^emcnt«i:nl«>";"l>*«" ir!,.ftl>c United SUt.-l« frlpui.. Hewa^jooallo..:.':.*' the 27th of April, 1813, and President. Road <j»n the 9*«A, in company with the Con- ifrm, 38, an(^ after a cruise of one hundit-d and f<»rty-«s^t days, arrived at Newport, Rhotle Island, having captured eleven sail of rae*«-hant vessels and the British armed schooner Highflyer. Rodgers sailed northeasterly, in the dire*;tion n<" the southern tidge of the Oulf Stream, until the 8th of May, when the P/-m«fcn< imA Hon^nmn parted company,' tlio former cruising off more to the southward in <f»e«t of the Ritish commercial ships in the West India trade. She wsi unsueccss+^ul, and Rod^rs turned Iter head in a direction that promised the good I >rtune of i«-<terceptiH«: vessels trading between the West Indies and Halifax, St. JohnV and Quebec. Again there was no success; and after beating about among almost ?*)rpef ual fogs, the President was off the Azores early in June. Rodgers now determined to try his fortune in the North Sea in soardi of British merchantmen. Afuch t'- his astonishment, he did not meet witii a single vessel until he made the Shetland Hands, and there he found only Danish ships trad- iiiif to England under liritish licenK*-*^. Kodgers's supplies now began to fail, and he put into North Bergen, in Norway, for tlie imrpose of replenishmti.i. In thiK, too, he was disappointed, An alarming scarc- ity of iiiod prevailccl over ;. i the country, .and he was able to obtain only water. lie nut to sea, and cruised about in those high latitudes with the hope of falling in with a fleet of English merchantmen wliich were to sail from Aichangel at the middle of .fiily At the moment when he expected to make prizes of somjc of them, he fell in with two British ships of war. Ihi.able to contend with them, the President fled, jiotiy pursued by tlie foe. Owing to the perpetual daylight (the sun at that season li(ino' there several degrees above the horizon at midniglit), they were enabled to keep up the chase more than eighty lioiirs, during which time they were much nearer liie President than was desirable on the part of the ])Hr8ued. She finally escaped; and Rodgers, neither daunted nor disheartened, and having his stores somewhat re- ]ilenished by those of two vessels w-hich fell into his hands just before the apj)earancc of the Avar-.ships, turned westward to intercept merchantmen coming out of and gohig into the Irish Channel. Between the 2.5th of July and the 1st of August he captured three vessels, when, finding that the enemy had a superior force in that vicinity, he t'nund it expedient to (ihange his ground. After making a complete circuit of Ire- land, and getting into the latitude of Cape Clear, he steered for the Banks of New- t'.'undland, near which he made two more captures. From one of these he learned that the Bellerophon., 74, and Ili/pcrion frigate (both British vessels) Avere only a few miles front him. lie did not fall in with them, however, and soon stood for the coast ntti' United Stat;s.2 ()ii the 23d of September the President toward evening fell in Avith the British limed schooner Jlighflyer, tender to Admiral Warren's flag-ship St. Donrivffo. She >vas a tine vessel of her class; a fast sailer, and was eomni.mded by Lieutenant Hutchinson. Wlieii discovered shi> was six or seven miles distant. By a stratagem liodiTcrs decoyed her alongside the President, and captured her without firing a gut;. Hlip did not even discover that the President was her enemy until the stratagem Imd succeeded. It was done in this wise : Previous to his departure on this cruise Rodg- vn was placed in possession of some of the Britisli rignals. These h." had ordered to he made on board his ship, and li<^ now resolved to try their efficacy. He hoisted •M English ensign over the President. The Jlir/hflifer answered by displaying an- other, and lit the same lime a signal from a nuist-liead. To Rodgeis's delight, he dis- anirag the bravest of the brave ; zciIohh In the i)P''formanco of every duty ; ardent and resolute In the trying honr of i,.„iuity; composed and stcad.i' in the blR7.i> of victory." Kw'.SiVfc— No Inscvlption. On the upper piirt of the column the word " Pouter," In a wreath. On the lovper part K iriilfiit and anchor crossed. • The Cmmm conthined at 80;i until tlic 12th of Dccemher. havlnsj crnlscd In the fnr-dlf tnnt waters of the Sonth Amctlran const. She caplnied sevcrnl (Iritisl! vessetf. H.nonir them t'.vo nrred Ikikb often pins each. ' Letter of Commydora Rodgers to tlio Nocretarj- of the Navy, dated Nowpo;; September 2T, lalS. '- ^wmr im (B! 4' 730 PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK Bow Rodgers captnred the Bighfiyer. Antonishment of her Commander. Rodgere'* Service to hi« Countrj. covered that lie possessed its complement. He then signaled that his vessel was the Sea Horse, one of tlie largest of its class known to be then on the American coast The Ilu/hjlyer at once bore down, hove to under the stern of the President, and re- ceived one of Kndgers's lieutenants on board, who Avas dressed in Britisli unifoim He bore an order fi-om Rodgers for the commander of the Highflyer to send liis m. nal-books on board to be altered, as some of the Yankees, it was alleged, had obtainecl possession of some of them. The unsuspecting lieutenant obeyed, and Rodgers was put in j)osscssion of the key to the whole correspondence of the British Navy.' The commander of the Highflyer soon followed his signal-books. He was pleased with every tiling on board the snpposed Sea Horse, and admired even the scarlet uniform of Rodgers's marines, whom he mistook for British soldiers. When invited into the cabin, he jilaeed in the commodore's hands a bundle of dispatches for Ad- miral Warren, and informed his supposed friend that the main object of the Biitish naval eomniander-in-cliief on the American station at that time was tlie capture or destruction of the President, which had been greatly annoying British commerce and spreading alarm throughout British waters. The commodore inquired what kind of a man Rodgers was, when the lieutenant replied that he had never seen him, but liaj heard that he Avas " nn odd fish, and hard to catch." " Sir," said Rodgers, witii start- Ihig emphasis, " do you know what vessel you are on board of?" " Why, yes, sir" he replied, " on board His Majesty';^ sliip Sea Horse P " Then, sir, you labor uiuler a mistake," said Rodgers. " You are on board the United States frigate P'esidcnt,'Aw\ I am Commodore Rodgers, at your service !" At the same moment the band struck up Yankee Doodle on the President's (piarter-deck, and over it the American eiisimi was displayed, Avliile the uniforms of <he marines were suddenly changed from red to blue I" The British commander could hardly be persuaded to believe the testimony of his own senses ; and he was astounded when he found himself in the hands of Com- modore Rodgers. He had been one of Cockburn's subalterns when that marauder plundered and burned Havre de Grace^ a few months before ; and it is aftirmod that Lieutenant Hutcliinson had now in his possession a sword which he carried away from Commodore Rodgers's house on that occasion.* He had been warned by Captain Oliver, when receiving his instructions as commander of tiie Highflyt.r,trt take care and not be outwitted l)y the Yankees. " Especially be careful," said Oliver, "not to fall into the hands of Commodore Rodgers, for if he coinos across you, he will lioist you upon his jib-boom and carry you into Boston I"' But Rodgers treated che sin- ner w ith all the courtesy due to a prisoner of war, and he was soon allowed to go at large on parole.'' Tliree days after the capture of the Highflyer'' Rodgers sailed into Newport Har- bor, accom]ianied by his prize, her commander, and lifty-five other prisoners. His cruise, as he said, ha<l not been productive of much additional lustre to the Amorifan Navy, but he had rendered his country signal service by harassing the enemy's omii merce, and keeping more than twenty vessels in search of him for several weeks, lii had caj)ture<l eleven merchant vessels, and two hundred and seventy-one prisoners, All of the latter, excepting thi' fifty-live, had been paroled, and sent home in the cap tared vessels. ' Spo b deBcr1[ition of .IfrnaU on pages 182-184. » .Statoniont of Cornmodore Rodire'-f iifter the wnr to a ftiead at hU own table In WflBlilugton City. Letter of Com- modore Rodders to the Secretary of ttic Navy, September 27, ISia. ' See page 072. • A'nimial A ilrncale, Noveinbt r, 1813. ' A'iJc*'* HegiHter, v.. IS, • Oeorse nutcliiiison entered the Brltinh navy a« midthipman In ITIMI, and wa« active In the variinia official i;r,iilr< throHtrh which he pai>f<cd up U> that of commander in the autumn of 1S21. Uo wag commiasloned a lieutenant in HI •vnd in 1^11 he was assifrned tit a utalion on ttii- SI. f>nmin(iii, preparing for llie .\merican coaBt. lie first cninniuiiili'ililt Oolpliiii. a vpHiii'l captured l)y the Britisli from the Americans at the mouth of the Rappabannoclt early In .\|)ril, 1>13, and converted into n lender of the St. Dominrio, Sc' patre 1)09. lie was aflerM'ard commander ;)f 'lUDthiT tender oflln (lac-ship, (he Hiiihili/FT, and was captured In her, as we have observed in (lie (ext, on the 26th of September, 1S1,1. ,W- er his pnmiodon to commander in the British navy in 19-ii], he retired from active seri'ice, and was yet on the tinlf-pj; lUt In 1S4». 8co O'Byme's Naval flioffraphy. ' This was the only man-of-war eve.' captured by H(ii:ir: um- li OF THE WAR OF 1812. 787 b Service to bin Countrj. his vessel was the e American coast. > President, and re- in Britisli unii'ovm, ijer to semi liis sig- leged, had o])tainc(l \, and Rodgors was Iritish Navy.* .8. He was pleased ed even the scarlei iers. When invited f dispatches for Ad- abject of the Brltisli I was the capture or ii-itish commerce, and iqnired what kiml of fer seen him, hut had I Kodgors, with start- f f " Why, yes, sir," sir, you labor under a frisxate B-esldent,M\i ,m>.mt the band stvuek D the American ('iisign y changed from red to believe the teslimony If in the hands of Com- 9 when that mtiraudtr and it is affirmed tliiit Ih he carried away from ,n warned by Captaia Ijlhj/ifiyo', to take care 1," said Oliver, " not to rross you, he will hoist lodgers treated che sin- soon allowed to go at |u'd into Newport liar- otiier prisoners. His J lustre to the Amoncan Ling the enemy's com- 1 for several weeks. Ik seventv-onc prisoners. id seat home in ll>e QA\y lashlugton city. Letter otC«». ' 5 See pnpc «'^- live In tlic various omHul sraKr ImmiBBloued a lleuieuam '":;;; lnp,.l-m.nockearlylnA.rl, 1^ li.o onth of September, mi- ■■>« ^;:w;rcve/c«ptt>redbyK,%n. Another C'rulBC of tlie J'reitideiU. She ruus the Blockade at Mew York. Honors to Commander Kodgers. Cominodore Rodgers sailed from Newport on another cruise in tlie President on the 5th of December,* witli a stitt' breeze from the nortli-northwest, and got well to sea witliout falling in with a British squadron, as lie expected to. On tlie following day he captured the Cornet, whicli had been taken from the Americans by Britisli cruisers, and then sailed southward. In the vicinity of Barbadoes lie captured a British merchantman on the 5th of January,'' on the Tth anot}\- bi8i4. er, and on the 9th another. He remained to the windward of Barbadoes until the ICtli," when he ran down into the Caribbean Sea, and cruised ""^""""y- unsuccessfully in that region for a while. He finally captured and sunk a British merchantman, and then sailed for the coast of Florida. Proceeding .lorthward, he was otf Charleston Bar on the 11th of February,'' but did not enter. He con- ^ tinned his voyjige up the coast, chasing and being chased, and, dashing through a vigilant British blockading squadron off Sandy Hook, he sailed into New York liarhor on the evening of the 18th.' Ho was greeted with lienors by the citizens of New York ; and on the 7th of March a dinner was given in compliment to him at Tammany Hall. Most of the notables of the city were present ; and it was on that occasion that Rodgers gave the following toast, which was received with great en- thusiasm by the company present, and praised by the administration newspapers throughout the country : " Peace — if it can be obtained without the sacrifice of na- tional honor or the abandonment of maritime riglits ; otherwise war until peace shall bo secured without the sacrifice of either." More than three hundred gentlemen were at the dinner, among Vrhom were many ship-masters. A toast to the commodore elicited eighteen cheers, and a song hastily written that morning was sung by one iif the guests.^ The President being in need of a thorough overhauling, the Secretary of the Navy atlered to Commodore Rodgers the command of the Giw-rriere, which might mucli sooner he made ready for sea.^ The commodore accepted the ofter, and repaired to I'liiladcliiliia, where the Guemere, 44, was being fitted out. Finding her not so near- ly ready as he liad 8U])posed \wv \ > be,' the commodore informed the secretary that he preferred to retain command of the President. But the Secretary, in the interim, had offered the President to Decatur. Rodgers courteously allowed that command- or to take his choice of vessels, when h(^ chose that which had borne the broad pen- nant of Commodore Rodgers for several years.^ Here closes the story of the naval operations of the war for the year 1813. An- other field of observation now claims our consideration. 1 Letter of Commodore Rodgers to the Secretary of the Navy, February 19, ISI.B. » See Xilea'» Register, vi., M. ' "Commodore Rodgers," said a writer at this time, " is, we conjecture, between forty and forty-flve years of age ; a raan of few words, and not conspicuous for the love of parade or dress ; but his ship, for Interior order, neatness, ele- gance, and taste, may vie with any that floats on the ocean. It is said that his discipline is perfect ; and this, perliaps, mnj account for the opinion tliat he is distant and very reserved to those under him i but his reserve in company car- rip« tlie air of the reserve of the studions man, without the least trait of hanghtiiiess, for humanity and great atteiiliou to tlio care of the youth under his command is a pleasing trait in this brave man's character."— r/ie Vobjanlhxts, Boston. ' The Guerrirre, was launched ou the 20th of Jnly, and wa« the first two-decked ship that ever properly belonged to the .\mcrican Navy.— fnopfr. ' RiKlfiers's evasion of the tihickade Was n cause of deep mortification to the Britisti, for three of their large ships of war were on tlie alert, the nearest of which was the I'lantwjenet, 74, 1'aptaln Lloyd. Rodgers expected a brush with ihem, and cleared his ship for action. Uc even flred a pun to windward as u prool of his wllllngncos to fight, but he ws not molested. On returning to Enirlnnd, Lloyd excused himself by alleging a mutiny in ills ship, aud on that 'W},'e several of ib"" ^ailors were executed. 3 A I I I 4 ^m OOK IronlwIiiM md the Flurldax. Events at Baton Konpe. CHAPTER XX)(m. "M.dlm waned the moon through the flitlinj? clouds of uit^ht. With a dnbiouH inul Khndowy gli'nniintr, Where the ramparts of Mhn» rose stilly on the sight, And the star-spangled banner was streaming. • •#•«•« And fur i^lll that wild horde of savage birth thoy decm'd, And fur »"very fearful intnision, Till the war-hatchet swift o'er their fated fortress glnam'd, Midst despair, havot, death, and confusion." A SoL'VENIK OK Four MiMB, »V C. L. S. JoNE?. yU~t VVHFAiTO, in the course of our narrative, wo liave only observofl liiiitK of liostile operations in the more soutliern portion of tlic republic, beginning with the endeavors of Tecumtlia to iiKbue t}>f Creeks, Cherokees, ("hoctavvs, iiiul other tribes in tlio Gulf ■/i'lii' to become a part of his or(>nt Indian Confederacy against ^y the wliite people. We Iiave now reached a point in the storv ■whey*' a cx>nsideration of the events of the war in that region is necessary to the unity of the history. Let us first consider ()(/■ ^jfcographical and political aspect of the Gulf region. In u former chapter we have eo//^)/|/'/'7'd llio jturciiase by and cession to tlie riiilt,i HlulM III' III'' v!i ' Territory known as LolMimiiL* %mtwnrt\ of llial TerrittU'y, at the lime of the brciiki/ig i id of the war in 1812, and bordering nil MlP (liilf of lilii^im, was a region in possession of the S|)uiiiaras, known as East and WcmI Moriilii, Tin former extended from the Perdido iiiver (now the boundary-line between the Ht;itt> of Florida and Alabama) eastward to the yVtIantic Ocean, including the great penin- sula lying south of Georgia, and stretching over almost six degivis oriatitiidc. Tlic latter extended westward from the Perdido t(/ (as the Si)aiiiar(ls claimed) I lie islMud of Orleans, on the Mississij)pi. The northern boundary was partly on and jiartlya little below the thirty-first parallel. During the autumn of 1810, and Avinter of 1810 and 1811, movements were iiiimini- rated which finally led to the absolute jxissession of l)oth Floridas by the T'nitnl States. In October, that portion of the tilaimed Spanish territory lying on the Mi- sissippi became the tlieatre of insurrectionary operations. It Avas inhabited cliiilly by persons of British and American birth. These seized the old fort at I5,it(in Ivenuc; met in Convention ; deelared themselves independent of Spain ; and adopted a Aw: with a lone star iipdu if,ns the revolutionists in Texas did many years later.^ The ' These families came under the general name of Mohilinn tribes ; and their territory originally was next in crtwit lo that of Ihc Algonqiiins, stretching along the (iulf of Mcxiru fnini 111'' Ailanlic to the Mississippi River more lliiiii fix hundred miles, up the Mississippi to tlie mouth of tlic Ohio, unil uloiig llie Atlantic to the Cape Fr -. It oompriHi! n greater portion of the present State of Qeorgia, a part of South Carolina, the whole of Florida, Alabama, and Mis«is»ip- pi, and portions of Tennessee and Kentucky. The nathin was divided into tnroe grand confederacies, namely, .lf"«* invD or rrefks, Clinelnivn, and rhM:a»iii'H. The Creek confederacy included the Crei-ki pinpcr, the Nnninikg of Florlila, and the yamoDuen, ■ r Sit raniiahn, of Georgia. The Creeks occupied the ciuutry fi-om the Atlantic westward to the high lands which separato the waters oftlv >'' bama and Tombigbee Rivers. The (;hoctnws inhabited the beoutlful country bordering npop ibfl Oulf of Mexico, i.u.l extending west of tliu i lo the Mississippi. The Cherokces were the mountaineers of the South, nnd Inhabited the veiy benutlfiil land extending from the Car Ilua Broad River on the cast to the Alabama on the west, iiicluilinu the whole of the upper portion of Oeorgia from v head watei-s of the Alatamaha to those of the Tennessee. It is one of the most dcllghtftil regions in the United Sisi' » See page 131. 5 There was a family named Kemper In that region who hail snfl'ereri much at the hands of the 8p:>i \u.l\ T' « OF TlIK WA]l or 18 12. 739 Events at Baton Ronije. \Vc»t Florida claimed by the United Stales, Military Mo\ imonts therein. Intermeddling of a Brltlxh OfHclul. ' ISIO. „fthe8par<ards. THeywr. Spanish Loya.ists made slight resistance, but it wab soon overcome; anil the iiisur- (veiils a^<kell the government of tlie United States to give them aid and recognition. Ah't'iidy tliat government liad ehiiined a rigiit, under the act of cession, to the entire Territory of West Florida, and tiiat claim was a topic for dispute between it and that of Spain. Instead, therefore, of countenancing the insurgents in their ettbrts to set up for themselves, the President issued a [»ro(!lamation on the 27th of October, in which he declared the Territory of West Florida, as far east as the Pearl lliver, to be iu the i)ossession of tlie United States. W. C. C. Chiiborne, the governor of the Orleans Territory (afterward called the State of Louisiana), then in Washington, was hinried oif to take ))ossession of it, avowedly not only as a right, but as a friendly act toward Spain, wlmse rights were as mucli Jeoparded by the revolutionary move- ment as was those of tiic United States. Claiborne was clothed with ])owers to em- iildv trooj)s then in the Mississippi Territory, if necessary, to enable him to take and liold possession of t he country. Not long after tiiis, a body of men, chiefly Americans from Fort Stoddail, on the Mobile Kiver, led by Colonel licuben Keinj)er, who professed to be acting under the .iiitliority of the Florida insurgents, menaced the port of Mobile' Tiiey wei'c driven iiway, but still threatened that post; and the Spanish governor, Folch, thoroughly :ilarined, wrote a letter to Mr. Monroe, the American Secretary of State, ui wliich he expressed a desire, in the event of his not being speedily re-enforced from Havana or Xvrti Cruz, to treat for the surrender of the whole province of Florida. At about the Mime time, Morier, the liritish ("liarge d' Affaires, residing at Baltimore, formally pro- tested against such acquisition ua tlie part of the United States as au act unfriendly t ) S)).iin, then struggling with the gigantic power of Napoleon. Whi'U Congress assemlded in December," the question of the occupation of riiiridii by (lie Cniled States iiad assumed a very important aspect in tlie pub- lic mind. The I'cdcnilifls were vehemently opposed to all farther acquisition of ter- litdiV! nnd when, early in January,'' letter of the Spanish governor bj,„„mry3^ mill llie pinlrn( of the Mritish charge ., .e laid before Congress, they ju'o- ^*"' iluced consideraide excileinent. Morier's protest was considered simply an imper- liiicnee by the government jiarty, while 'he intimations of Folch w^ere jjondered se- lioiisiy, and acted upon after some debalt . In secret session a resolution was adopt- eil, ill which was expressed an unwillingness on the part of the United States to al- low the Territory iii question to pass from the possession of Spain into that of any iitlier power. An act was also passed in secret session*^ authorizing the I'resideiit to take j)ossession of both Floriilas under any arrangement that might be entereil into with the local authorities; or, in the event of an attempt to do tlie same by any foreign [lOwer, to take and hold jjossession by force of arms. It was lielieved, and with reason, that the British were about to assume control of that coiintry, under the provisions of some secret arrangement with Spain; and, to fore- . men (Reiilicn and 8amncl),nnd resolved to get rid of their hated nilers. Imjiatienl of the delay of the United ■■ ;iti'8 in taking possession of West Florida, they excited the i>cople of Bayon Kara, and others In the neighboihood, to Mkt up iirms. Tliey assembled at St. Franclsvlllc, marched upon Baton Uoiige, took it by suri)rise afcer a slight skirm- i-h, in which Governor firandpre was killed, and the town and fort became the possession of the Insurgents. The f-IJiiniards fled eastward, some to Mobile, nnd some to Pcnsacola. The revoliiticniists then assemlvled in Convention ; irepnrcd and Issued a declaration .if Independence, modeled after that omposed by Jcffert ju, and declared their rljjht ami intention to form treaties and establish commerce with other nations. ' His professhms were true. He was dispatched to the Tomblgbee by the Convention fo/ the purpose of enllstln<r men to expel tile Spaniards from 'he Mobile district. In that business he was assisted by a wealthy citizen, Ci.hmel ■Iiraios Culler, who, like most of the residents In that region, hated the Spr.niards. Troops wore secrclly raised. Fliit- Inials, w itli provisions, were sent down the Tensaw Kiver to Smith's plantation. Iiarlnn spirits gathered around the Icaderei and « company ofhorsemcn, under Captain Uernard, scoured tlie country for arms, ainniiiniiion, and provl- i^'un?, Aynunj,' man, named Sibly, was sent to demand She surrendc. of the fort, then C(mimanded by (iove.iior Kolch. Till- iiivnilers gathered near Mobile, and there drank and frolicked to their hearts' co-itcnt. An old man. who drank their whisky nnd won their confidence, betrayed their weakness to the governor. TI: 'itter sent two hundred regu- Inr soldiers, under a competent leader, who surprised them at near midnight, and br:i, up their «' !"i! . This w«. In V'lvcmber, isin. Major Hargrove and nine men were captured, Ironi .. •■ o.::a lo Uavaua,wli.';v tiiiv Kufl>rred#^■e ;i!iir« in the diingeous of Moro Clsile.— See Plckett'B UlxUiry vf JfeV-iir !i., 235. lauuary S. ^ ■1' I. !'' Jfipj^ Y40 PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK Sveute near Mobile. Admlaition of Louisiana. IniinrrectioQ In KuHt Flurid^, stall Ruch action, Governor Claiborne had already asserted the jurisdiction of tlio United States over a considerable portion of Florida eastward of the jVIississippl, aft. er some opposition from Ful- war Skipwith, formerly a dii). ^;?-r? ^^ // yp lomatic agent of the Uiiittd ^ / yi l/i > ' Hyf — ' States in France, who had been I (jf-'l/W/hy elected governor of their do- main by the insurgents. Find- ing himself supported chiutiv by the dregs of society only, Skij)with yielded, and retired to private life. Soon uti- crward, a small detachment of American regulars, under Captain (afterward jMajnr General) Edmund P. Gaines, appeared before Mobile and demanded its snrreinlcr. Governor Folch refused. Presently Colonel Cushing arrived from New Orleans with gun-boats, artillery, and troops, and encamped three weeks at Orange (4rovc, wlien he marched up to Fort Stoddart, and formed a cantonment at Mount Vernon, He came professedly to defend the Spaniards against the insurgents, who made uo farther efforts to obtain possession of Mobile. Louisiana was admitted into the Union as a state on the 8th of April, 1812. By a separate act, that part of Florida, as far eastward of the Mississippi River as tlic •April 14, Pearl River, was annexed to that new state;* and by another act the ii>- ^®**' maining territory, as far as the Perdido River, eastward of Mobile Bay (with the exception of the post of Mobile, yet in the hands of the Sj)aiiiards), ^vas » M 14 ^"nexed to the Territory of Mississii»pi,'' then asking for admission as a state. An insurrection had broken out in East Florida in the mean time. Its chief llieatro was on the coast, near the Georgia border. Brigadier General George Mathews, of the Georgia militia (a soldier of the Revolution), who had been a])pointed commis- sioner under the secret act of the session in 1810-'ll,to secure the province should it be offered, was the chief instigator of the disturbance, for the Georgians were anx- ious to seize the adjoniing territory. Amelia Island, lying a little below the bound- ary-line, seemed to be a good as well as justifiable base of operations. The fine harl)or of its capital, Fernandina, was a place of great resort for smugglers during the days of the embargo ; and, as a neutral port, might be made a dangerous place. The pos- session of this island and harbor was therefore important to the Americans. A piv- tcxt for seizing it was not long wanting. The insurgents planted the standard of revolt on the blufli' opposite the town of St. Mary's, on the border-line, in March, I8I1;. Some United States gun- boats, under Commodore Campbell, were in the \ y (7V^, /^ y^y'<^—t:^ Oi^-* St. Mary's River, and Ma- thews had some United States troops at his command near. \u^..p^C^^-^^ '>?^^^^^ • 1812. On the 17th of^Lnrch'' the insurgents two hundred and twenty in nnmhor, sent a flag of truce to Fernandina demanding the surrender of the town ami island. The American gun-boats came down at about the same time. The author- ities bowed in submission, and General Mathews, assuming the character of a pro- tector, took possession of the place in the name of the United States. Commodoiv Campbell declared, in a letter to Don Justo Lopez, the commandant of Amelia Island, that the naval forces were not intended to act in the name of the United States, "l)ut to aid and sujjport," he said, "a large proportion of your countrymen in anus, wlm have thought proper to declare themselves independent."' A flag was raised over Fernandina on wliich %^Trc inscribed the words "T'oaj/w- ' MS. Letter In the Navy Department. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 741 rrccllon lu East Flurid;i. iristliction of the ic MissiHsippi, aft- josition tVom Ful- th, formerly :x i\\\\- >nt of the United ancc, who luiAbcon ernor of their do- ( insurgents. Fiiul- f 8npi)ortc(l chietly ■ate life, ^oon aft- 1 (.iftcrward Major idotl its MirrtMiilcr. from New Orleans 1 at Orange Grove, it at Mount Vernon, rents, who made uu f April,! SI 2. By a issippi River as the another act the re- vard of Mobile Bay the Spaniards), was for admission as a ne. Its chief theatre George Mathews, of n aiipointed commis- thc province should Georgians were anx- ,tlc below the bound- ons. The fine luivlior rlers during the days ous place. The pos- ■, Americans. A pro- ited the standard of •-line, in March, leii Seiiure of Kaat Florida by United Stutes Offlcinls. Expcditiun agaluKt Mobile. General Wilkinson. Id twenty in number, lider of the town and le time. The authoi- L character of a im- Istates. Connnodoiv lant of Amelia Ishuul, |e United States, "Init Itrymcn in arms, -ffhii the words "r<«_F- puli lex sahitia" and on the 19th the town was formally given up to the United States autliorities. A custoni-liouse was immediately establisiied ; the floating prop- erty in the harbor was considered under the protection of the United States flag, and smuggling ceased. Then the insurgents, made eight lumdred strong by re-en- forcements from Georgia, and accompanied by some troops furnished by General Ma- thews, besieged the Spanish governor in St. Augustine, for it was feared that the Hrit- ish might help the Spaniards in recovering what they had lost in the Territory. Tiiis was a kind of lilibusteriiig which the United States government would not counte- nance, and David B. Mitcliell,' govi-inor of Georgia, was appointed to supersede Ma- thews* as comni'ssioner. But the change of men did not eft'ect a change • April lo, of measures. Mitchell believed that Congress would sanction Mathews's ^^^'^' proceedings. The Lower House did actually pass a bill,^ in secret session, "Ji'neai. authorizing the President to take possession of East Florida. The Senate rejected it, for it was not desirable, at the moment when war had been declared against Great. Britain, to provoke hostilities with another power uiuiecessarily. There was incon- sistency in it, which the Opposition were not slow to perceive and make use of. "Say nothing now," they said, " about Sir James Craig, of Canada, and John Ilenry,^ or Copenhagen."^ They denounced the whole movement oi' the government in Flor- ida, East and West, as dastardly — a seizure of the possessions of a friendly power "by Madison's army and navy." We have observed that the United States claimed, under the act of the cession of Louisiana, all of West Florida, including Mobile ; and that a large portion of that territory had been annexed to that of Mississipj)i. When the Congress and the Cabinet had determined upon war with Great Britain in the winter and spring of 1S12., tiie importance of the post of Mobile to the United States was very apparent, and as early as March in that year. General Wilkinson, then in command of the United States troops in the Southwest, Avas ordered to take jjossession of it. At near the dose ofMarch'^ he sent Commodore Shaw, with a detachment of sjun-boats, to . r> ? c 1312 occupy the Bay of Mobile and cut oft" communications with Pensacola ; and Lieutenant Colonel Bowyer, then stationed with a respectable number of troops at Fort Stoddart, about forty miles above Mobile, was ordered to march on the latter post at a day's notice, for the purpose of investing Fort Charlotte. Wilkinson left New Orleais on the 29th of March, and embarked on board the sloop Alligator. The troops were ordered to rendezvous at Pass Christian. The weather was unfavorable for the schooner, and ihe general took a barge. He came near losing his life by the upsetting of this little vessel. He and his fellow-jiassen- i,'crs clung to its upturned keel a long time, when, exhausted and famishing, they were jjicked up by some Spanish fishermen, who towed their barge ashore and right- ed it, and allowed the rescued men to proceed. Tliey reached Petit Coquille at mid- 'litfht, and on the following morning an express was sent to Boyer with orders for lum to come dow^n the river, and take a position opposite the little village of Mobile. Tlie troops from New Orleans arrived in Mobile Bay on the 12tli of April,'' and at two o'clock the next morning landed oi)posite the site of the Pavilion, not far from the fort, then commanded by Captain Cayet.ano Perez.* The garrison was surprised. The first intimation given them of the presence of an enemy was the sounding of Wilkinson's bugles for an advance. Six hundred men, in column, ap- peared before Fort Charlotte at noou, and demanded its surrender. The negotia- •> 1812. ' Iliivirt B. Mitchell wns a native of Scotland, and at this time was forty-seven years of ape. He arrived at Savannah ill 1TS3, to take possession of property there which had been bequeathed to him, where he studied law. lie became bo- lirltor general of Georjria in 17(15, and for several years held various offices civil and military. He was elected governor orGoorRln In ISO!), and held that office until 1S13. lie was re-elected in ISIB. He was actl\o in public affairs until hie ilratli, which occurred In lialdwin County, Oeorgla. ' See pages 21fl to 221 Inclusive. ' Note 4, paijc 17T. ' On the 13th, General Wilkinson issued a proclamation and sent It into the town of Mobile, In which he assured the iiihabitnits that he came not to Injure, but to protect them, and to extend over them the rltjhtftil Jurisdiction and laws "ttUc United Slates. He gave permission to those who chose to leave the place, to go, with their goods, in safety. r 1 i I'l Hif 742 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Surrender of Mobile by the Bpimiardn. Teiincssocnim iinrter Andrew JiickHon preparing for War. tiotis to tliat end were sliort, and on the 15tl» the Spaniards evacuated the fort and retired to I'ensacola. The Americans at once entered, took |)ossession, and procecilcd to strengthen tlic j)ost. Wilkinson sent nine ])ieees of artillery to Mobile I'ojnt which were ))lace<l in battery there, and, marching to the Perdido, began the con- struction of fortifications there nnih'r the superintendence of Colonel John Uowyor. This work was soon abandoned, :ind Fort Howyer was commenced on iMobilci I'oint by some workmen under Captaui Kcuben Chamberlain. Such was the beginnin<^of movements which resulted in the acquisition of all Florida by the Americans. When the war broke out there was an already fanu)us militia general in Tennessee. Avell known all over the settled portion of the iMississippi IJasin. It was Andrew ,Ta(dison, who, as we have observed, became somewhat entangled in tlie toils of tln' wily spider, Aaron Hurr, for a while.' lie was living on a fine plantation a few nijiis from Nashville. "War was declared on the 19th of June by the proclamation of tlie President. Ti- dings of it readied Jackson on the 20tli, and on the same day ho authorized Govcnuir Blount to tender to the President of the United States the services of liimself and twenty-five liundrcd men of his division as volunteers for the war. Under other eii- cumstaiu'cs the offer would liavc been rejected. Jackson was no "court favorite;" on the contrary, he was obnoxious to the President and his Cabinet. lie had souiidiv berated the governineiit, when Madison was chief minister, in a speech in the streets of Riclimond, as the "jiersecutor of Aaron IJurr." He had openly shown his prefer- ence for j\Ioiiroe over ^ladison, and had called the Secretary of AVar an " old grannv.'' ]?ut the government needed strength, and was not Avilling to reject any that nii;;lit be offered. The President received Jackson's generous offer witli gratitude, and ac- cepted it, he said," with peculiar satisfaction." The Secretary of War wrote a cordial •April 11, Jftter of acceptance to Governor IJlount," and tliat officer publicly tliaiikei] J'^i"'^- Jackson and his volunteers for the honor they had done the State of Toiuies- seo by their jjatriotic movement.^ For several weeks Jackson remained on liis farm impatiently aAvaiting orders to en to the field. All was cal'.iness in the Gulf region, fill" the energies of the governinent were bent to the one great labor, apparently, of invading and subjugating Canada. When that effort failed, and Hull's camjjaign ended in terrible disaster ai Detroit, sagacious men believed that tlie British, not needing so many troops on the Xortheni frontier, would turn their attention to the seizure of Gulf ports and an invasion of the sparsely settled country in that region. The government was also impressed M itli this surmise, and late in October'' called on Governor ]>louiit for tif ** Octol)6r 21. teen hundred Tennesseeans to bo sent to New Orleans to re-enforce Gen- eral Wilkinson. Blount made a requisition upon Jackson for that purpose, and the general at once entered upon that military career wliich rendered his name inuiiortal. On the 10th of December, a day long romeml)ered in IMiddle Tennessee because i>( deep snow and intense cold, Jackson's troops, over two tliousand in number, assem- bled at Nashville, bearing clothing for both cold and warm weather. When organ- ized, they consisted of two regiments of infantry of seven hundred men each, com- manded respectively by Colonels William Ilall and Thomas II. Benton, and a cnrp< of cavalry six hundred and seventy in number, under Colonel John Coffee. William B. Lewis, Jackson's near neighbor and friend, M'as his quartermaster; and his briijado inspector was William C.-irroll, a young man from Pennsylvania. The troops won composed of tlic best })liysical and social materials of the st.'ite, many of the youiii; men being representatives of some of the first families in Tennessee in jwiiit of posi- tion; and on the 7th of January, 181;3, when every thing was in readiness, the little army went down the Cumberland liiver in a flotilla of small boats, excepting tlif mounted men, whom Coffee led across the country to join Jackson at Natchez, on tlie > Sco page ISO. » Partou's /i/,' o/Amlrew Jackson, l.,3fli5. k«»n preparing for War. iitctl tl\o fort and oil, aixl \ir(>(H'('(UMl to Mo^'ili' Voiiit, 0, lK><j;ai» tl\c con- iiiel John Bowye'V. [\ on Mobile Point H tlio l)C'Q;iiiiiin;.i nf Aniorii'ans. ;ner:il in Tonnessui'. 1. It wiis Andrew . in the toils of i\\v mtatiou a few inik's the Prcsiilcnt. Ti- authorized Governor /ices of himself iunl r. Under other cir- 110 " court favorito ;"' et. He l>i^'^ souniUy sjiccch in the streets ily Bhown his ywivr- riir an " old granny." oieet any that niitrlit ith (gratitude, aiitl i\(- fWar wrote a eordiul icer publiely thanked te the State of Tenues- awaiting orders to jro s of the government subjugating Caiuidii. ^ disaster at Detroit, •oops on the Xortlicm s aT\d an invasion ot Avas also impressed pernor I>lount for fil- ms to re-cnforee Uen- that purpose, and tlie d his name inmiortiil Tennessee because ol ud in number, assem- ather. When orsraii- idrod men each, com- Ik'uton, and a corps „hn Coffee. William ister; and his brigade ia Tlie troops wero o','many of the yoniK ossee in pmnt of poJi- iu readiness, the littk' |l boats, exceptin;/ tk Ison at Natchez, on Ac ,/ ,1 mb-eto Jackson, 1., 305. »V OF THE WAIl OF 18 12. 743 The TcuncsBecaiiB on the MlHtisHlppI Ulvcr. Their Trcutmeut by the (luvernmcnt. Jackaou'n KludnoaR, Mississippi. With sly sarcasm, wlmso shaft was pointed at some New York and Pennsylvania militiamen on the Niagara frontier at that time, the energetic leader, ill !i letter to thc! Secretary of War, said : " I am now at the head of 2070 volunti-ers, the dioicest of our citizens, who go at the call of their country to execute the will of the government, who have no constitutional serii})les, and, if thc government orders, will rejoice at the opportunity of placing the American eagle on the ramparts of 3fo- hili\ I'ensacola, and Fort Auynstine, effectually banishing from the SoaUiern coasts all liritish inrtuence." Jackson Avas then in his prime of manhood, being forty-six yeare of age. After many stirring adventures among the ice in the Cumberland and the Oliio, and the Hoods and tempests of the Mississippi, for nine-and-thirty days, the little flo- tilla reaclieil Natchez," a thousand miles, by the rotite it liad taken, from •February is, its place of departure. Colonel Cotlee, with his mounted men, was al- ''*'■'• ready near tliere to welcome them. The troops were in glorious 8])irits. Tiie love (if adventure had been heightened by its gratification, and all were im|)aticnt to push forward to New Orleans, a land of warmth and beauty as it aj)j)eared to tiieir imag- inations. The officers, especiiilly, wished to go rapidly forward, for they dreamed of ;,'iory in the conquest of Mobile and Pensacola, and delicious resting-places among the orange groves of the Gulf shore. Tiu-y were il '^appointed. A messei ger had ar- rived at Natchez with orders from AVilkinson for them to remain where they were, as lie had no instructions concerning them or their employment in his department, nor liad lie any (piarters prepared for their accommodation. lie was evidently ll'arftil of being superseded by Jackson, who was a major general of volunteers in the United States service, for he said in his letter to that leader that caused him to halt, tiiat he slionld not think of yielding his command until regularly relieved by superior aii- tiiority. Jackson disembarked his troops, and encamped them in a jjleasant spot near \ateliez, to await farther orders. February passed by, and the -^arly flowers of March were budding and blooming, and yet the Tennessee army was at Natchez. On the first of that ntonth Jackson wrote an impatient letter to the Secretary of War. lie saw little chance for the em- liloynient ofliimself and his followers in the South, and suggested that they might be usefnl in the North. lie hud gone to the field as an tuiselfish patriot, and, as he said in his letter to Wilkinson, "had marched with the s])irit of a true soldier to serve his toiintry at any and "every point where service coidd be rendered." Day after day he waited anxiously for orders to move. At length he was cheered by the receipt of a letter from the War Department. His heart beat quickly with the thrill of delight- ful e.\pectations as lie broke the seal. Icy coldness fell upon his spirits for a moment when his eyes perused the contents. It read thus: "Sin, — The causes of embodying and inarching to New Orleans the corps under yonr coimnar.d having ceased to exist, you Avill, on the rec(}ipt of this letter, consider it as dismissed fro'ii public service, and take measures to have delivered over to Major General Wilkinson all the articles of jiublic property which may have been put into its possession." To this was appended a cold tender of the thanks of the President to Jackson and his conis, and the signature of John Armstrong, the new Secretary of War, who, on the date of the letter, had been only two days in office. That Avas practically a cruel letter, under thc circumstances. It j)lacod the little itnny in a sad plight, for it was dismissed from service without i)ay, sufficient clotl» Ing, means of transportation, provisions, or accommodations for the sick, more than five hundred miles from their homes by the nearest land route, which lay much of the way through a wilderness roamed by savages, Jackson instantly resolved on diso- bedieuce. lie determined not to dismiss the men until they were restored to their liL.iios; and with that decision and coura-Tfe in assuming responsibility which always marked his career, he made every necessary preparation possible for a return to Ten- Jackaon'a flery Lettent. Return ii htu Troupa to Noahvllle. His pecuniary Truoblm on tbeir Account. m nesHco, at large exi)oiiHi', ami without any money. Tie impressed wagons and teams, and gave orders for pay on the (luarter-muster ot'tiie Suuthorn Department. lu likt manner he incurred other exj)enae8. So confident were the merchants of Natchez in his integrity and tlie justice of their government, that they turned over to iiini l;iicr(. (luantities of shoes and clothing, telling him to pay for them at Mashville when tun. venient. * Meanwhile Jackson had written fiery letters to the President, the Secretary of War, Governor lilount, and General Wilkinson. ' He despised the latter, and suspiicted liim of sinister designs; and when, in due time, he received a reply from that officer, in which he suggcmted that great public service miglit be rendered by promoting enlist- ments into the regular army, Jackson's anger knew no bounds. lie watched for re- cruiting officers \<ith hawk-eyed vigilance, and when one was found in his camp, ho notified him that if he should catch him trying to seduce one of his volunteers into the regular army, he would have him instaiitly drummed beyond his lines.^ The Sec- retary of War, on the other hand, by a courteous and explanatory letter, mollified his passion by assuring him that wdien he wrote the letter that appeared bo cruel, he did not suppose that the little army had moved far from Nashville. Late in March Jackson commenced his Immeward movement. It was an under- taking of great hazard and difficulty, but was well .accomplished in the course ota month, for tiioy travelel at the rate of eighteen miles a day. lie shared all the pri- vations of the soldiers, and he was beloved by them as few men have ever been be- loved. His endurance was wonderfid during the march, and his men declared that he was "as tough as hickory." From that day until his last on earth, he was famil- iarly and alfcctioiuitely called " Old Hickory." Finally, on the borders of his state, Jackson sent a messenger to Washington to convey an oflt'er of the services of himself and volunteers on the Northern frontier, whither Harrison had been sent as chief commander. No response came, and on tlie '22d of May he drew up his detachment on the public square in Nashville, where they were presenjied with an elegantly wrought stand of colors by the ladies of Knoxville.^ There they wei-e dismissed, and dispersed to their homes with feelings of great dis- satisfaction toward the national government. Such was Jackson's first effort to serve his country in the field in the War of 1812, and it resulted in holding the fear of absolute pecuniary ruin over his head for some time. His transportation orders were dishonored, and the creditors looked to him tor pay. He was prosecuted for amounts in the aggregate much larger than his entire fortune. The suits were postponed to give him an opportunity to appeal to the na- tional government for justice and protection. The late Thomas IT. Benton was his messenger and advocate on that occasion; and when it was intimated to him that nothing could be done for the general's relief, he boldly assured the President and his cabinet that if the administration desired the support of Tennessee in the war, tlie ' "Tliese brave men," he wrote to Wilkiuson, "at the call of their country, voluntarily rallied around its iiisiilioil standard. They followed me to the field ; I shall carefully march them back to thc'.r homes. It is for the agentB of Ihe povernment to account to the State of Tennessee and the whole world for their singular and unusual conduct to tbis detachment." ' Parton's Life ttfJackmm, i.,!!*. 3 The preparation of these fags %vas commenced soon after the departure of the troops from Nashville. One w:i* i simple national banner made of silk ; the other was a regimental standard. The embroidery, performed by the lailic- in the most exquisite manner, was on white satin. Near the top, in a crescent form, were eighteen stars in oranse color, denoting the then nnmber of states. Next below were two sprigs of lat rel lying atliwnrt. Under these were Ike ^■ords, " Tennessee Volunteers — Independence, in a state of war, is to be maintained on the battk-groiind of the IlepuUie. Tli' t.nted field is the post of honor. Presented b;i the Ladies of East Tennessee, Knoxvillo, February Iflth, Ifil.')." Below all. implements of war were represented, beautifully wrought. The wing of the colors was beautiful fancy lutestrini;, dove color, ornamented with white fringe and tassels. In reply to the presentation letter, written by the wife of Governor Blonnt, Jackson said : " While I admire the ele- gant workmanship of these colors, my veneration is excited for the patriotic disposition that prompted the ladles to be- stow them on the volunteers of West Tennessee. Although the patriotic corjis under my command have not had one opportunity of seeing an enemy, yet they have evinced every disposition to do so. This distinguished mark of re^pftl will be iong remembered, and this present shall be kept as a memorial of the generosity and patriotism of the ladles of Bast Tennessee."— Jra»/itii7fe Whig, quoted by Parton, L, aS3. OF THE WAU OF 1812. 746 roublM on tbelr Accon&t. A-aj^ons and ttamR, nurtiiK'iit. Ill likt' Hints ol'NatclR'/, in I ovor to him \:ir»v iiihhvillc when fun- e Secretary of War, •, iiiul susi)t'ftc(l iiim from tliiit ollii'iT, in by |)roniotin!4 enlist- 111! wiitc'hcil for re- lund in hin ciinii),lic f IviH volunteers into his lines.'' Tlie Sue- y letter, mollified his •aved BO cruel, he ilid b. It was an muVi ;d in the course il a Lie shared all the pri- n have ever been l)c- lis men declared that n earth, he was famil- »er to Washington tn the Northern iVontiuv, onse came, and on tln' NashvillCjWhere tlK>y ladies of Knoxvilk' feelings of great dis- 1,1 in the War of 1812. hver his head for some litors looked to him for larger than his entire ly to appeal to the na- lias H. Benton was hie intimated to hun that . the President and his iicssee in the Avar, the fiwHied aronnd its tmnllrf Ines Iti^forthenKentsotthf l,r ana unusual conduct to to Ill-ton's U/e iifJaff!»"i'' '••*"■ Ips from NashvUle. Oncwivss l,Ulery, performed by the lute Iwere eighteen star, in orm'. Ithwart. Under the.c«ercOe Xttle-^oundofthelkpubh'- T- lbnrrylOtl.,lH13." Bclo«»ll. Ibcautlful fancy lutestring, to. fcaid- " While 1 admire tho * Ithat prompted the InrtK-H tot*- Vcommandhavonothadon, |,<llBtlnfrni»hedmarkofro*P« laud patriotism of the late «t Tlie Oovernment Jniit. Vienratha In the Oraek Conntrjr. Ills dnccPKiirtil Appenln to the Croekt, (jovprnment must aflsnme the payment of tho bills in question, for tho volHiiteors un- der Jackson were drawn from the most substantial tiiniilies in the Htato. This argu- ment was convincing. Tho gnvernnictit met the draft promjttly, all concerned were satisfied, aiiilJackson was saved from baiikniptcy antl niin. Omens «>f a war tempest soon appeared in tho Southern tirinaniont, and .I.-ickson was not allowed to remain long in (luiet on his plantation. Ilritisii emissaries, ))ale ;iiiil dusky, were busy among the Indians of the (iiiU' region, endeavoring to stir them 111) to war against the Amerieans around them, hoping thereby to divide and weaken the military power of the United States, and lessen the danger that menaeed (Canada with invasion and con(|ue8t. Chief among these emissaries in zeal and intliience was 'IVcumlha, the great Shawnoesc warrior, who, as early as the spring of 1811, as we liave seen, had, with patriotic designs, visited the Southern tribes, and labored to se- luiv their alliance with Northern and Western savages in a grand confederation, whoso prime object was to stay the encroachments of the white man. lie went among the Seminoles in Florida, the Cherokees and Creeks in Westiin ( Jeorgia and in Alahama, and the DesIMoines in Missouri, but without accomplishing little more than sowing the seeds of discontent, which might in time germinate into open hostility. He ntiirnod to his homo on the Wabash just after the battle of Tippecanoe,* . Novemhor, which his unworthy brother had rashly brought on, and which destroyed ***"• his hopes of a purtdy Indian confederacy. Thereafter his ))atriotic efforts were put forth in alliance with the British, who gladly accepted the aid of the cruel savages of the Northwest. In the autumn of 1812, after the surrender of Detroit and the Michigan Territory iiromised long (piiet on that frontier, Tecumtha Avent again to the Ciilf region. lie took his brother, the Prophet, with him, partly to employ him as an instrument in managing the superstitions of the Indians, aiul ])artly to prevent his doing mistdiief at home. They were accompanied by about thirty warriors. The Clioctaws and Chiek- asaws, ainonrj whom they j. sed on their way, would not listen favorably to Teeum- tlia's seductive words ; but the Seminoles in Flf)rida and (Jeorgia, and the Creeks in Alabama, lent to hinr Avilling ears. He was among the latter in October, where he crossed the Alabama Kiver at Autauga, in the lower i)art of the present Aiit.'iuga County, and there addressed the assembled Creeks for the first tinu?. His elotinenco, Ills patriotic appeals, and his fame as a warrior Avon him many folloAvers, and Avith these and his OAvn retinue he Avent on to CoosaAvda on the vVlabania,' and at the Hick- ory Ground addressed a large concourse of Avarriors avIio had flocked to see and hear the mighty ShaAvnoesc, Avhose exploits in the buffalo-chase, on the Avar-path, and in tiie council had tilled their ears, even in boyhood, Avith wondrous tales of achieve- ments won. It Avas a successful daj^, and Tecumtha Avas greatly encouraged. He iTossed the Coosa, and Avent boldly forward in the direction of the great falls of the Tallapoosa (in the soutlnvest part of the present Tallapoosa County) to Toockabatcha, the ancient Creek capital, Avhere Colonel HaAvkins, the United States Indian Agent, had called a great council of the Creek.s. HaAvkins Avas liighly esteemed by them, :!iid at his call full five thousand Indians responded in person, besides many negroes ami white people mingled Avith them. Tecumtha approached this great gathering Avith Avell-feigned modesty. He kept at the outer circle of spectators until the conclusion of the agent's tirst day's address, when, at the head of his thirty followers from the Ohio region, he marched Avith dig- nity into the square, all of them entirely naked excepting tiieir flaps and orimnunts. Tiieir faces Avere intcd black, and their heads were adorned Avith eagles' feathers, while buffalo tails dragged behind, suspended by bands around their Avaists. Like appendages Avere attaclied to their arms, and their whole appearance Avas as hideous ' This Indian town was at the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa RIvcrB, where they form the Alabama. It was on the western side of the Alabama, lu the sonthenslcrii part of Autauga Co\inty. ili IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ /. :/. ^ ^ A. f/. «« 1.0 I.I 11.25 ui liii S us 120 U 11.6 p% <^ /i 7. c# Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 MEST MAM STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^\% iV \ :\ ^<b r$ '>%* 'F^^ tt. i 1 1 il ! Ill In I "746 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Tecumtha at a great Council He traverses the Creek Country. Ills Threat and U« Fuimimcni, as possible, and their bearing uncommonly pompous and ceremonious. They marched round and round in the square, and then, approaching the Creek chiefs, they conlially gave them the Indian salutation of a shake at arm's length, and exchanged tobacco in token of friendsiiip. Only one chief (Captain Isaac, of Coosa wda) refused to irittt Tecumtha. On his head were a pair of buffalo horns, and these he shook at the Shaw- noose visitor with contempt, for he said Tecumtha was a bad man, and no greater than he.i Tecumtha appeared in state in the square each day, but kept silence until Hawkins had finished his business and departed for the agency on the Flint River. Tlien ho was silent no longer. That night a grand council w as held in the great round-house. It was packed with eager listeners. In a fiery and vengeful speech Tecumtha poured forth eloquent and incendiary words. He exhorted them to abandon the customs of the pale-faces and return to those of thair fathers. He begged them to cast away tlie ])low and the loom, and abandon the culture of the soil as unbecoming noble Indiuii warriors, as they were. He warned them that servitude or extinction at tlie hands of the white race would speedily be their doom, for they were grasping and cruel; and iie desired thtm to dress only in the skins of beasts which the Great Spirit had gixen them, and to use for weapons of war only the bow and arrow, the war-club arid the scalp'ng-knife. He concluded by informing them that their friends, tiie Brit- ish, had sent him from the Great Lakes to invite them out upon the war-path for the purpose of expelling all Americans from Indian soil, and that the powerful Kiiiij of Englanvl was ready to reward them handsomely if they would light under liis ban- ner. The wily Prophet at the same time, who had been informed by the British when a comet would appear, declared to the excited wa»'riors that they would see the arm of Tecumtha, like pale fire, stretched out on the vauli: of heaven at a certain time, and thus they would know by that sign when to begin the war. It was almost dawn be- fore this famous council adjourned, and then more than half o^ the braves present had resolved on war against the Americans. Tecumtha, full of encouragement, went forth, visiting all of the important Creek towns, and enlisting many recruits for the British cause. Among the most distin- guished of these was Weathersford, a powerful, handsome, sagacious, brave, and elo- quent half-blooded chief. But others equally eminent withstood the persuasions of the great ShaAvnoese. One of the most conspicuous of these was the Big Warrior of Toockabatcha, whose name was Tustinuggee-Thlucco. Tecumtha was extremely anx- ious to win liim, but the Big Warrior remained true to the United States. A length the angry Shawnoese said, with vehemence, as he pointed his finger in the liii; War- rior's face, " Tustinuggee-Thlucco, your blood is white. You have taken my red- sticks and my talk, but you do not mean to fight. I know the reason. You do not be- lieve the Great Spirit has sent me. You shall believe it. I will leave directly, and go straight to Detroit. When I get there I will stamp my foot upon the ground, ami shake down every house in Toockabatcha !" The Big Warrior said nothing, but Icrj pondered this remarkable speech.^ It was, indeed, a remarkable speech. Events soon proved it to be prophetic. Nat- ural phenomena — one that might be foretold by astronomers, and the other always beyond the knowledge of mortals — combined to give tremendous effect to Tecumthas words and mission. The comet, the blazing " arm of Tecumtha" in the sky, apripared; and at about the time when the common Indians, who believed in the great Shaw- noese and his mystical brother, knew, by calculation, that Tecumtha must have ar- rived m Detroit, there was heard a deep rumbling beneath the ground, and a heav- ing of the earth that made the houses of Toockabatcha reel and totter as if about to fall. The startled savages ran out of their huts, exclaiming, " Tecumtha is at Detroit I Tecumtha is at Detroit! We feel the stamp of his foot!" It was the shock of an > Pickett's History qf Alabama, 11., 342-3. « Pickett's Bittan/ qf Alabama,i\.M OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 747 eat and Its Fulflllinenl. , They marched ifs, thoy cordially changed tobacco I refused to greet lOok at the iSliaw- ,1, and no greater ice vantil Hawkins , Kiver. Then he freat round-house. Tecunitha poured on the customs of a to cast away the ming noble Indiiiu ction at the hands rasping and cruel; le Great Spirit had ri-ow, the war-cluh >ir friends, the Brit- lie war-path for the ! powerful King of iifht under his ban- by the British when would see the arm , a certain time, and ,'a8 almost dawn he- braves present had le important Creek ing the most distin- [ious, brave, and clo- the persuasions of the Big Warrior of was extremely anx- |l States. A length ^^er in the Bij: War- lave taken my red- ion. You do not be- .ave directly, and go )on the ground, and ,id nothing, but Icrj I bo prophetic. Nat- lid the other always JeffecttoTecumtha's lnthesky,ari^wed: I in the great Shaw- Imtha must have ar- Iground, and a heav- 1 totter as if about to lumthaisatDetrmt! Ivas the shocJ(J)f^an It.e Creek Natli)U and their Pimitliin. General James Rnbert8i)n. C'hoctawH and ChlckasawH. earthquake that was felt all over the Gulf region in December, 1812.' But it did not move the Big Warrior from liis allegiance. Tecumtha's visit proved to be a most sad one for the Creeks as a nation. It brought terrible calamities upon them — first in the form of civil war, and then in almost utter destruction at the hands of the exasperated Americans. lio left seeds of discontent to germinate and expand into violent agitations. Chief was arrayed against chief, iind family against family, on the question of peace or war with the Americans. They were strong as a nation, numbering about thirty thousand souls, of whom at least seven thousand were warriors ; yet iicace was the guarantee of their exist- ence. They Avcre hemmed in by pow- erful and rapidly-increasing communi- ties of white people, and between them and the Northern t ibes were the Choc- iaw8 and Chickasaws,^ over whom that i;rand old patriot. General James Rob- ertson, held a powerful sway, like that of a kind fT,ther over loving children.^ Tliese stood as a w^ll of separation bc- tuoen the actual followers of Tecumtha north of the Ohio, and those in the Gulf region whom he was endeavoring to reduce from the pursuits of peace into the war-path under tlie British banner. They were not only opposed to an alli- ance with the British, but Avere ready to fight for the Americans, " My heart is straight," said tlie brave Too-tuma- stnhblc, the " medal chief" of the Choc- taivs, " and I wisli our father, the Pres- ident, to know it. Our young warriors want to fight. Give us guns and plen- ' See Pickett'i Alabama, li., 240. Drake, in his Hook iifthe Indimm <\f Xorih Avierica, eleventh edition, page 024, men- lions ttint circnmstance as occinring in December, 1811, and cites Francis M'Henry as denying that if. ever took place. Dut Mr. Pickett, in his carefully-prepared work, .says this earthquake was remembered by all th3 old settlers, and places tlie (inte in December of 1812, which agrees with the incidents of Tecumtha's mission there. ' The Choctaws inhabited the country along the Mississippi from the northern borders of the Choctaw domain to the Oliio River, oud eastward beyond the TenuesKee to the lands of the Cherokees and Shawnoese. 'James Robertson, who has jnitly been called the Father of Tennessee, was a native of Virginia, lie emigrated to the rich regions l)eyond the mountains about the year 17B0, and on tht banks of the Watauga, a branch of the Tennci-- fee.t"! made a settlement, and lived there several years. He was often called upon to contest for life with the savages of llie forest. In 1770 he was chosen to command a fort built near the month of the Watauga, lii 1770 Captain Rob- ertson WHS at the head of a party emigrating to the still richer country of the Cumberland, and on Christmas eve of that ye,ir tliey arrived upon ihe spot where Nashville now stands. Others joined them, and in the following summer they numbered about two hundred. A settlement was established, and Robertson fmuided the city of Nashville. The Cher- okee UAb.Bs attempted to destroy the settlement, hut, through the skill and energy of Robertson aud a few compau- inostlint cnlnmity was averted. They bnilt a log fort on the high bank of the Cumlierland, and in that Ihe setlleis •xm defended against full seven hundred Indians in 1781. The settlement was erected into a county of North Carolina, m\ Roliertson was its first representative In the State Legislature. In 1700 the " Territory sonth of the Ohio River" n> formed, and Washington appointed Robertson brigadier gencriil and commander of the militia in it. In thr.t ca- pacity he wns very active In defense of the settlements against the savages. At the same time he practiced the most eia''t jiirtlce toward the Indians, aud when these children of the forest \i irc no longer hostile, his kindness toward the op- P'esfeil nmnng them made him very popular. At length, when the emissaries, white and red, from the British in the N'orth t>ej{nn to sow the seeds of discontent among them at the breaking out of the war in 1812, the government wisely inpnlnled General Robertson agent to the Chickasaw tribe. He was ever wntchfnl of the national interest. As enrly as March, 1S13, he wrote : " The Chickasaws are in u high strain for war against the enemies of the country. They have ilcclared war against nil passin;; Creeks who attempt to go through their nation. They have declared, If the United States "ill tnke n cnmpnign against the Creeks fbecaui i of some murders committed by them near the mouth of the Ohio], that ilicy are ready to give them aid." A little later he suggested the eraployr.-.ent of companies of Chickasnws and Choc- 1.1WS to defend the frontiers and to protect travelers, and he was seconded by Pitchlyn, an active and faithful Indian. Dnrinp; the war General Robertson rcm"lned at his post among the Indians, and invited his aged wife to "hare his pnv.itions 1)» quaintly saying to her by a messenger, "If you shall come this way, the very best chance for rest and tke\) which my bed affords shall be given you, 'irovlded aiwn;-i5 that I shall rij'ain a part of the same." He was theu fc- ii i ' M I 1 1 ' ■; 1 748 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Oivll War In the Creek Nation. TliR white Inhabitants in Peril. The Mllitln called ont. ty of powder and lead, wc fight your enemies. We fight much ; Ave fight stroiij,', .... Our warriors good Americans — fight strong. You tell him so. You, General Robertson, know me ; my heart straight. Choctaw soldiers good soldiers. Give epaulettes, guns, and whisky — fight strong." Tecumtha had enjoined the leaders of the war-party to keep their intentions sec et and for many months, while civil war was kindling in the bosom of the Creek na- tion because of a powerful and zealously-opposing peace-party, and the land was filled with quarrels, fights, murders, and violence of every kind, it was difficult for the public authorities to determine with any certainty whether or no aiiy considera- ble number of the Creeks would join the British standard. Colonel Hawkins tlic agent, believed that nothing more serious than a war between native factious Avould ensue. It was well known that Peter M'Queen, a half-blood of Tallahassee, who was one of the leaders of the Avar-party, was doing every thing in his power to accomplish that result, while Big Warrior Avas equally active in eflbrts to avert so great a e.n- lamity. On one hand was seen the hideous " Avar-dance of the Lakes," taught them by Tecumtha, and on the other the peaceful, quiet, anxious, determined deportment of men resolved on peace. Tlie Avhole Creek nation became a seething caldron of l)assion — of angry words and threatenings, which were soon developed into sanguin- ary deeds. On account of the civil Avar raging here, and there, and every where in the Creek country, the white settlers were placed in great peril. In the spring of 1813 thev Avere made to expect an exterminating bloA\'. They knew that a British squadron Avas in the Gulf, and in friendly intercourse with the Spanish post at Pensacola. They knew that the fiery M'Queen and other leaders had gone to that post Avith about three hundred and fifty warriors, Avith many pack-horses, intended doubtless for the conveyance of arms and supplies from the British to the war-party iu the interior. Every day the cloud of danger palpably thickened, and the inhabitants of the most populous and more immediately threatened districts of the Tombigbee and Tensaw petitioned the governor of Mississippi for a military force sufficient for their protec- tion. The governor Avas willing, but General Flournoy, who succeeded General Wil- kinson in command of the Seventh Military District, persuaded by Colonel Hawkins, the Indian agent, of the civilization and fi'iendly disposition of the Creeks, would not grant their prayer.* Left to their own resources, the inhabitants of the menaced districts prepared to defend themselves as well as they might. They sent spies to Pensacola, who returned Avith the positive and startling intelligence that British agents, under the sanction of the Spanish governor, were distributing supplies freely to M'Queen and his follow- ers, that leader having exhibited to the chief magistrate of Florida a list of Creek toAvns ready to take up arms for the British, in which, in the aggregate, Avt re nearly five thousand warriors. On hearing this report, Colonel James Caller, of Washing- ton, called on the militia to go out and intercept M'Queen and his party on their r^ turn from Pensacola. There was a prompt response, and he set out with a few fol- feventy-one, and she sixty-three yeara of age. She wont to him, and was at his side when he died at his poet In the In- dian country the year following. His death occurred on the Ist of September, 1814, and on the 2d his remains were buried at the Agency. In 1S26 they were removed to Nashville, and, in the presence of a large conconrse of ciiizeiM. were reinterred In the cemetery there. A plain tomb covers the spot. The remains of his wife rest by his slde.ud the observer may there read the following inscripticms : " GENKBA.L James ^.obkbtbon, the founder of Nashville, was bom in Virginia, 28th June, 1T42. Died 1st September, 1914. " CuABLOTTE R., wiffe of James Robertson, was bom In North Carolina, 2d January, 1T61. Died 11th June, 1543." She was then ninety-two years of age. Tlieir son. Dr. Felix Robertson, who waa bom In the fort, and the llrst whit! child whose bi.-th was in West Tennessee, died at Nashville in 1804. ' Thomas Flo-'raoy was a native of Georgia, and a distinguished member of the bar at Augusta, his place ofr«i- dence. lie was In feeble health at this time, and his fhrce was Inadequate to perfbrm the arduous nervices required of tliem. He was commissioned a brlgr.dier general on the 18th of June, 1812, and resigned In September, 1S14. Whra AVilklnsou was summoned to the Northern fhintler, Flournoy wag made bis successor In the Gulf region. In ISIW' he was a commissioner to treat with the Creek Indians. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 749 The Militia called ont. ne,lT42. Died 1st Septemta. Tho Militia in the Field. MuiCb of M'Queen and Ills Followers fl-om Pensacola. Battle of Burnt Com Creek. lowers, crossed the Tombigbec into Clarke County, passed through Jackson, and biv- ouacked on the right bank of the Alabama Kiver, at Siseniore's Ferry, opposite the southern portion of the present Monroe County, Alabama. He crossed the river on the following morning," and marched in a southeasterly direction across .jniyzo, the Escambia Kiver into the present Conecuh County, Alabama, toward tiie **"*• Florida frontier. lie had been joined m Clarke County by the famous border- er, Captain Sam Dale, and fifty men, who were en- (Tflged in the con- struction of Fort Madison, toward the northeast part of Clarke, and was now re-enforced by others from Tcnsaw Lake and Little River, under various leaders, Olio of whom was Captain Dixon IJailey, a half-blood Creek, who had been educated a' " i'delphia. Caller's command now numbered about one hundred and eighty KxO, ilivided into small companies, wel' mounted on good frontier horses, and pro- vided with rifles and shot-guns. During ihat day they reached the Wolf Trail, cross- ed Burnt Corn Creek, and bivouacked. On the morning of the 27th Caller reorganized his command. Captains Phillips, M'Farlane, Wood, and Jourdan were appointed majors, and Captain W^illiam M'Grew was created lieutenant colonel.' They were now on the main route for Pensacola, and were moving cheerily forward, down the east side of Burnt Corn Creek, when a company of fifteen spies, under Captain Dale, who had been sent iii advance to recon- noitre, came galloping hurriedly back with the intelligence that M'Queen and his parly were only a few miles distant, encamped upon a peninsula of low pine barrens formed by the windings of Burnt Com Creek, engaged unsuspectingly in cooking and eating. A hurried council was held, and it was determined to attack them. For this purpose Caller arranged his men in three columns, the right led by Captain Smoot, the left by Captain Dale, and the centre by Captain Bailey. They were upon a gentle height overlooking M'Queen's camp, and down its slopes the white men moved rapidly, and fell upon the foe. M'Queen and his party Avere surprised. They fought desperately for a few minutes, when they gave way, and fled toward the creek, followed by a portion of tho assailants. Colonel Caller was brave but overcautious, and called back tho pursuers. The re- mainder of his command were engaged in capturing the well-laden pack-horses of the enemy, and Avhen those in advance came running back, the former, panic-stricken, turned ard fled in confusion, but carrying away their plunder. Now tlie tide turned. M'Queen's Indians rushed from their hiding-places in a cano-brako with horrid yells, and fell upon less than one hundred of Caller's men at the foot of the eminence. A severe battle ensued. Captain Dale was severely wounded by a ball that struck his breast-bone, followed the ribs around, and came out near the spine, yet he continued to fight as long as any body. Overwhelming numbers at length compelled him and his companions to retreat. They fled in disorder, many of them leaving their horses behind them. The flight continued all night in much con'iision. The victory in the Batik of Burnt Corn Creek — the irst in the Creek war — rested with the Indians. Only two of Caller's command wer \ killed, and fifteen wounded. Tho casualties of the enemy arc unknown. For some time it was supposed that Colonel Caller and Major Wood had been lost. They became bewildered in the forest, and wandered about there some time. When th.;y were found they Avere almost starved, and were I The principal enbordlnate ofBcers werf PhHlips, Wood, M'Parlaue, Jourdan, Smoot, Dixon, Be.ird, Cartwright, i Crejgl), May, Bradberry, Rjbprt Caller, and >ale. I ' i: -A ill 760 PICTOUIAL FIKLD-BOOK General Clalboruv in the Creek fimntry. RcfliKte Setcler*. Mlins'a lluune foriKfi), nearly senseless. Thoy had been missinjj fifteen days ! Caller's command never re- assembled. M'Queen's retraced their stejjs to Pensucola for more military 8U|)|ilit.s.i But for the fatal word " retreat" the Indians might have been scattered to the winds. While these events were transpiring in the Indian country above Mobile, (JiiuTal F. L. Claiborne/ who Inid been a gallant soldier in Wayne's army in the Indian coun- try north of the Oliio, was marching, by orders of General Flournoy, <'rom Haton Ilouge to Fort Stoddart, on the ]Mobilo liiver, with instructions to direct lii.s priim- jial attentions to the defeiise of iSIobile. He reached Mount Vernon, in the ndrtli- ern part of the present Mobile County, three days after tlie battle of Burnt Corn • July 30, Creek." lie found the whole population trembling with alarm and tcrribK' 1813. forebodings of evil. Already a chain of rude defenses, called forts, had been built in the country between the Tombigbec and Alabama liivers, a short distance from their confluence where they form the Mobile Kivcr,^ and were tilled witli al- frighted white people and negroes, who had sought shelter in thein from the iuijx'nj- ing storm of war. Claiborne's first care was to aftbrd protection to the menaced people. He was anx- ious to march his whole force into the heart of the Creek nation, in the region of tlic Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, but tliis P"'lournoy Avould not allow. " If Governor Holmes [of the Mississippi Territory] shoi'ld send his militia into the Indiiin coun- try," he wrote, "he mast, of course, act on his own responsibility; the army oftlic United States, and tlie ofticers commanding it, must have nothing to do w itli it. " Claiborne was compelled to do nothing better than to distribute his troojjs tlnongli- out the stockades for defensive opcations, lie sent Colonel Carson, with two hund- red men, to the confluence of the Tombigbee aiii] Alabama Rivers, and dispatduil Captain Scott with a company to St. Stephen's, in the northeast part of Wasiiinjjton County, where they occupied an old Sjianish block-house. M.-ijor Hinds, Avitli ilra- goons, was ordered to scour the country in various directions for information ami ns a check ; and some of the militia of Washington County were placed in the stock- ades in Clarke County, between the Tombigbee and Alabama. Captain Dent w;is sent to Okeatapa, within a short distance of the Choctaw frontier, and assumed the command of a fort there. Previous to Claiborne's arrival, wealthy half-blood families had gone down the Ala- bama in boats and canoes, and secreted themselves in the thick swamps around Ten- saw Lake. There they united with white refugees in constructing a strong stockiulc around the house of Samuel Minis, an old and wealthy inhabitant of that region, situ- ated a sliort distance from the Boat-yard on Tensaw Lake, a mile east from the Ala- bama iliver, ten miles above its junction with the Tombigbee, and about two rniles below the Cut-oiF.* The building was of wood, spacious in area, and one striy in height. Strong pickets were driven around it, and fence-rails placed between thm; and, at an average distance of three feet and a half from the ground, five hnndred port-holes for musketry were made. The pickets inclosed an acre of ground, and tlie stockade was entered by two ponderous gates, one on the east and tlie other on the west. Besides Mims's house there were several other buildings within the pickets: ' Pickett's Alabama, li., 26B. Life and Timex qfGen-r,tl Sam Vale, l)y J. F. H. Clalboruc, pnges 68 to 82 Inclusive. - Fcrdinnnd Leigh Claiborne, n brother of William C. C. Claiborne, at that time governor of the Orleans Torrltiin-, was born in Snesex County, Virginia, in 1773. Ills family was one of the oldest In that commonwealth. In Ills tmii- tieth year he wr.s appointed an ensign in Wayne's army, and became much attached to Major Ilumtrnmck. Ouc uf lis sons, now (ISlH) living, bears the major's name. lie was in the battle of the Fallen Timbers, ut the Kapids of the Mm- mec, in 1704. He was statiimcd atKichmond and Norfolk after the war, holuing llrst the rank of lieuteiiimtaudllicQ of adjutant. In 1799 he was promoted to captain, and was active as such, and adjutant gencnl In the Northwest, iu,iil 1802, when he was ordered to Natchez. He resigned, settled in the Mississippi Territory, presided over the deliberating of Its Legislature, and in 1811 was appointed brigadier general of the Misf ' jsippi militia. In March, 1813, he was coiniiiis- sloned a brigadier general of volunteers in the Ignited Stales Army, and ordered to the command of the post nt Bniiii Rouge. He was nctlvo, as the text avers, during the Creek War. He was a legislative councilor of the Mlsslssipiii Tw- ritory Immediately after the close of the Creek War In 1S14, and died the following year. ' These were Forts Cnrry, Madison, Kevler, Siuqueflcld, oud White, situated upon a curve sweeping eastward of Biis- Bctt'e Creek and across Us Lead waters. * Sec Map on the uppueile ]/»(<■ OF THE WAU OF 181;!. 751 Mima's HoUM fortlM. muiiuuil \w\vr ic- nilitary suinilii's,' •reel to the' \\m\f, e Mol)iU', (ifiicnil 11 th<' luiliiiii conn- ,rnoy, A-oiu Hauui ) ilireot his ])riiiii- iion, ill the imitli- tie of IJurut Corn ahirin :iiul torrilili> lied forts, hail lii'i'ii rs, r. short distaiicf ,-ere tilled with :if- u from the iuipuml- oplo. llo was aux- in the region of tlic ow. " If (iiovernor to the Indian couii- y ; the army of tlio in"- to do with it." Ilia troops througli- son, with two huml- i'crs, and dispatchiHl part of Washiivjton jor Hinds, with (h;i- r information ami a- placed in the stock- Captain Dent was |icr, and assumed tlio gone down the Ala- 5wamps aroiuul Tcii- jicr a streng stockiulo It'of that region, situ- le oast from the Ala- md about two miles •a, and one story in [aced between them; ;ro\ind, five hundrwl re of ground, and tlw land the other on the within the pickets; li^KCB C8 to SO Inclu'lvc. fiorofthcOrleftuaTOTitop. lommonweaUh. Iuhl«l«™- lijor lliimtrumck. One oil"* V«,ttt«>eU.>l>Ul8onheM». tnmk oflioulciiautaudilion irc-illu the Northwest, ni,i'J Iresldcd over the aeliberaliou. TMttrcli,18l3,h«w«»«:o'™* J>mmau(loftUeiH«t»tB«M |»uclloroftUcMlBite>PP'T^'- )lip<)rii I'lirt of the Creek Co- itry. Furt Mini* nnd iu OccupAuU. ,e Bweeplug eastward of B;^- EC Map on the opposite V''lf' also cahins and board shelters. At tlio southwest comer was a partially-finished block-house. The whole work, which Avas called Fort Minis, was upon a slight ele- vation, yet not eligibly situated ; but such confidence had the people of the surround- iiig country in its strength, that, as soon as it was finished, they poured into it in large mimhers with their effects. It soon became the scene of a terrible tragedy that dis- Jiclled the pleasant dream of Creek civilization and friendship, and inflamed the peo- jile westward of the /Moghanios, Avho had suffered much from savage cruelty and treacherj , with a thirst for vengeance. liii '^ — -w \ lii i ii!i •t 788 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Clalbornr'H Anxiety alxiat the Hettlen. Knmun nf liii|>cn<lli]); IiiiUan Ilixitllltteii. Psclflcatlun of the Chuctawa T.*<» fliijM nl\fr ho roacluMl Mount V'onioii (u'lioral Claiborne waVkA Flournoy's per- mission to cull for tlio militia. " I am not myHclf auth(>ri7x>d to do so," hiH coiiiniitiul. or ropliod, "an yon will porcoivo if you turn to tlio lato roj-ulatiouH of tlio V'ar Di,. jiartmout." Ajjain foilod in liisgonorous ondoavorw l>y official intorforonco, Claiborne resolved to do wliat lie might in Htrongthouing Fort .Slims. Already Lieutonaiit Os- •Jnlysis, home, and xixtoon soldiers under him, had taken post there." He now dls- l»i:i. patehed Majttr Daniel IJeasley thither, with one hundred and seventy-Kve vol- untoors, who was accompanied hy C'aptains Jack, iJatcheldor, and Middleton. Thcv "Autpnto. found seventy citizens there on volunteer duty,'' under Captains Dunn ami ' AuKHKt T. I'lummer, who were inexperienced ottieers. On the following day'^ the HttK. garrison was cheered by the presence of General Claiborne, who had come to make a jiersonal inspection of the fort. lie saw its weakness, and issued orders for it to be strengthened by the addition of two block-liouses. "To respect an enemy," ho said. wisely, " and prepare in the best possible way to receive him, is the certain means of success." He also authorized Major Beasley to receive any citizens who would assist in the defense of the station, and to issue rations to them with the other soldiers un- der his command. Under this order the seventy citizens just mentioned were en- rolled, an<l they immediately elected the brave Dixon Bailey their captain — the half- bl,)o<l who distinguished himself at the battle of Burnt Corn Creek. Claiborne alsn organized a small company of scouts under Comet Rankin, composed of that officer, one sergeant, one corporal, and six mounted men. Every day the war-cloud thickened. I?unu)r8 came to Claiborne from the north- ward that there was growing disaffection among the powerful Chcctaws, and he per- ceived the value of an immediate blow at the Creeks before they should be ready t» strike one themselves, or draw over to the interest of the war-party their more i)eaet- ably-inciiued neighbors. He again applied to Flournoy for permission to penetrate the heart of the Creek nation, but with no better success than before. "I liave to entreat you," Flournoy wrote to Claiborne, " not to permit your zeal for the imblic good to draw you into acts of indiscretion. Your wish to penetrate into the Indian country with the view of commencing the war docs not meet my approbation, ami I again repeat, our operations must be confined to defensive operations."' Flnur- noy was impressed with tlie belief that the hostile movements in the Creek countrj- were only feints in the interest of the Spaniards, to draw the American troops from Mobile, so that tlie former might, while that post was weakened and uncovered, at- tempt its capture with a chance of success. Again foiled, Claiborne addressed himself to the important task of securing the neutrality, at least, of the Cherokees, for every day gave signs of their constantly- growing disaffection. A belief was gaining ground, and with good reason, that a general Indian war in the southwest was possible, and even probable, and the whole country from the Perdido to the Mississippi was filled with alarms. The stockades were crowded with refugees from their menaced homes early in August, and douht, and dread, and great fear filled the hearts of the white people. Claiborne went up to St. Stephen's, and from thence dispatched a deputation to Pushamataha, the prin- cipal chief of the Choctaws, who was balancing between equally powerful inclina- tions toward peace and wai-. He listened, and was finally induced to visit Claiborne's head-quarters at Mount Venion.'' The general received him with much military pomp, and presented him with the uniform and other insignia of a brigadier general.^ By this means his friendship was secured, and he and a band of his Choctaws — chosen warriors — immediately prepared for the war-path under the flag of the United States, while the rest of the nation agreed to remain neutral. ' Angast 15. • Flournoy to Clnlborne, August to, 181S, from " Bay St. LouIb." Seo Claiborne's tt/e of Gimeral Sam Dale, page M. ' He gave him a suit of rich regimentals, go'.d epaulettes, sword, silver spurs, and hat and feather, ordered from ^' bile at a cost uf three hundred dollars. ■«!}■■<*«■ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 7S8 ■!ii|i*l IcatluD of the Chucuws. •)l Flournoy's per- M>," luH <'()miiiaiiil. m of tht' V'ar iK- •foreiice, Clailxirnc dy LiuiiU'iiiint Os- re." lie HOW ills- k1 Hcveuty-tivc vol- Ikliadleton. 'Diev 'aptains Dunn ami wins dfiy'' till! litllo [u\ conic to make a ordors for it to hv in enemy," lie said. le certain means of 18 who would assist c other soldiers un- nentioncd were cn- r captain — the half- ck. Claiborne also )08ed of that officer, irnc from the nortli- licctaws, and he per- r should bo ready to •ty their more i)eacf- mission to penetrate before. " I liave to r zeal for the imhlic trate into the liuliau itiy approbation, and jperations.'" Flour- in the (!reek countr)- incrican troops from and uncovered, at- Itask of securing the of their constantly- good reason, that a Ibable, and the whole Irms. The stockades August, and doubt, Claiborne went up Ishamataha, the \m\- [Uy pov/erful inclina- U to visit Claihornes ived him with much md other insignia of ., and he and a hand |e' war-path under the 1 remain neutral. r general Sam Vale,V»S<i^ nd feather, ordered fronO' glixkadoa threatened. Fort Mima crowded with Kefhgeea. Wamlngt of Olsvei unheeded. IndlMii near the Foit. Having accomplished tlie pacification of the Choctaws, the ;'?u'rgetic Claiborne turned his attention to the defense of the several slock.idi's in tiie Indian country. Late in August," wiiile he was at St. Stephen's, he was informed that four • Autrnm m, hundred Creek warriors were about to fall upon Fort Kasley, a leeble "*'"• post sixty miles nearer the enemy than Fort Alims, and that Fort Madison would he next attacked. Tlic women and children in Easley had oidy abt)ut a dozen defend- ers, and Claiborne resolved to hasten to tlieir relief, lie left the cam]> at Mount Ver- uon in charge of Captain Kennedy, and, with twenty mounted dragoons, and sixty men from the companies of Captains Dent and Scott, he pushed on toward Kasley Station, or Fort Easley. Major licasley, in the mean time, finding Fort Minis too small for the swelling multitude that flocked into it, commenced its enlargement by driving a new row of pickets sixty feet beyond the eastward end. The work went oil slowly and carelessly. Every day, and sometimes several times a day, the inmates were alarmed by rumors of approaching savages, until they became iuditfereut, in the belief that they were all false. On the morning of the 29th of August, two slaves (one of them belonging to John Randon, and the other to a man named Fletcher), who had been sent out r. short dis- tance from the fort to attend to some beef-cattle, came rushing through one of the wide-open gates almost out of breath, and their eyes dilated with«mortal fear. They declared that they had counted four-and-twenty painted savages on the edge of a swamp. Captain Middleton was immediately sent out with two mounted men to re- connoitre, but returned at sunset without seeing any trace of hostile Indians. Beasley charged tl c negroes with lying, and ordered them to be severely flogged for raising a false i.h'rm. Ilandon's negro received the lashes, but Fletcher, who believed the story of his slave, refused to have him flogged. This so exasperated Beasley that he ordered Fletcher to leave the fort, with his large family, by ten o'clock the next day. At that time there Avere five hundred and fifty-three souls within the stockade, con- sisting of white people, Indiars, oflicers, soMiers, and negroes. Many of them were sick, for there arose around them continually the malaria of Alabama swamps swel- tering in the rays of an August sun. Most of them were non-combatants, for the iii- fatnatcd Beasley, who believed himself and charge to be perfectly secure, had greatly weakened the garrison by sending men *,o neighboring posts from which came pite- ous cries for aid and protection. The mornirig of the- ."JOth was clear and sultry. The alarm caused by the story of the negroes on the previous day had subsided, and Fletcher, tho owner of one of them, had consented to liavc his slave whipped rather than be driven from the fort with his family. Full of confidence, Beasley at ten o'clock had dispatched a messen- serAvith a letter to General Claiborne, in which he assured his commander of his per- fect safety, and his " ability to maintain the post against any number of Indians."' The women in the stockade were preparing dinner ; the soldiers were loitering list- lessly about, or were playing cards, or lying on the ground asleep ; and almost a liuiid- n d children were playing gleefully among the cabins ard tents. Young men and maidens were dancing, and every appearance gave promise of an evening of sweet re- pose. Nothing marred the happy aspect of tlie scene but the form of Flctcher'spoor negro, who was tied up and his back bared for the lash because he had told a terri- We truth, and it was believed to be a lie. But it was a moment of awful peril. In ;i siiallow ravine, overshadowed by trees and filled with luxuriant vegetation, lay al- most a thousand Creek warriors, not more than four hundred yards from the eastern gate, preparing, like fierce and famished tigers, to spring upon their prey at the first opportune moment. They were mostly naked excepting the usual " fl.^.p." Many of them were hideously painted, and all were well armed. The prophets, in whose care were the superstitions of the dusky horde, lay with the warriors, their heads covered 'i^if 1 Mivjor Beasley to Qenerul Claiborne, August SI, ISIS. 3B iiip Irl I •4 I!} 7«4 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Indian Leaden. Qatherini; of the hmitlle 8av«Kei. False Conlldeuce of the Commnnder at Furt Minn with feathers, their faces painted black, and their medicine-bags and mat^ic rodg by their sides. It was a host devilish in ajipearance, and on a demoniac errand. WIioir',. came they ? Let us see. We liave observed that iM'Queen and l»is followors, after the battle of Hiirnt Com Creek, went back to Pensacola, where they were ajjain well supplied with ])rovisi()iis and ammunition, and instructed by the British and Indian agents there to fiirlit tin Americans, and, in the event of their being defeated, to send their women and oliil- drcn to Pensaooia. " If you should bo comjjelled to tly yourselves," they said, "ami the mericans should prove too hard for both of us, there are vessels enough to carry us otr altogether to Havana."' M'Queen was associated with Josiah Francis and William Wcathersford, both half- bloods ; the former a son of a Creek woman by a Scotchman named Francis,^ and the latter a child of Charles Wcathersford, of Georgia, by the beautiful Schoya, a half-sister of General M'Gillivray, of the Creek nation.^ Wcathersford was an ex- traordinary man ; commanding in person, powerful in physical strength, honorable, and as humane as circumstances would allow. lie was the superior of M'Qucon ami ITrancis in ability ; and when, after the return of the well-supplied Indians from Pen- sacola, there was a great gathering of warriors at Toockabatcha, on the Tallapoosa, and preparations M^re made for opening the war by an incursion into the country on the Lower Alabama, he became the principal leader.* • An(m8t20, Late in August* Wcathersford conducted his followers to the planta- ^^"'- tion of Zachariah M'Girth, not far from the site of the present villajfe of Claiborne, in Monroe County, Alabama, ninety miles below Montgomery. There lu captured some negroes, and from them learned the condition of Fort Mims. One of his captives escaped, and bore to Major Beasley intelligcjnce of impending danger, while Wcathersford for several days deliberated and prepared for an exterminatiiif,' blow. As the Indians did not make their appearance, Beasley supposed the nesm fugitive's 8tory>to be a mere fabrication ; and, as Ave have observed, the commander and the inmates of the fort were resting in fancied security, whon, on the 2fltli, Wcathersford and his host approached the ravine in which they lay on the mornin!; of the 30th. There they were again seen by the slave, who had been whipped for supposed lying on the previous day. He might have warned Beasley, which warn- ing, if heeded, might have saved the fort ; but his back was yet smarting from the severe flogging, and, fearing a repetition of it, he fled to Fort Pierce, a stockade about two miles from Fort Mims. At noon the garrison drum at Fort Mims beat for dinner. Tlie eastern gate stoml wide open, with some drifted sand against it. The first tap was the signal for the savages to rise from their cover and rush to the fort ; and the first intimation of their presence was a horrid yell,^ that filled the p'r as they came streaming over a field to- ' Pickett's Alabama, it., 2(17, note. ' Francis assumed to be a prophet Inspired by the Shawnoe seer, Tecnmtha's one-eyed brother. He plnccd Franc!.' in a cabin by himself, aronnd which he danced and howled for ten days. Then, he said, Francis was blind, but thnt bf would again see, and then he would know all of things future. At the expiration of ten days the Prophet led him forth, and Francis walked like a blind man all day. Toward night his sight came to him suddenly, when he became the greatest prophet In the Creek nation, with the power to create lesser prophets. That power he used freely. ' Alexander M'Gillivray was the head chief of the Creek nation during Washington's ndminietration. He waa a m of a Creek woman by a Scotch Tory of Georgia, whose property was confiscated at the close of the old War for Indf- pendencc. This son took refiige among the Creeks, and became the "beloved man," or head chief. Ke was an do- rated man ; brave, Huent in speech, and personally popular. The Spanish authorities honored him with the coirmi!- sion of a colonel ; and he was received in New York In 1790 with great honors when he came, with a retinue of follnvr- ers, to negotiate a treaty between the Creeks and the United States— the very treaty whose spirit his countrymen wen- now about to violate. His mother's family were among the first in the Creek nation ; and his half sister, Sehoyj. Weathersford's mother, was celebrated for her beauty and mental excellence. Wcathersford was born at the Hickory Ground, near Coosa wde, on the Alabama. « Warriors fi-om thirteen Indian towns marched in a southward direction, while others from Tallahassee, Anlto», and Ockftiske formed a corps of observation in another direction, to conceal the movement. » There seem to have been no sentinels on duty, for the Indians were within thirty steps of the fort before they were discovered.— Letter of Fletcher Cox to General Claiborne, in Life itf General Sam Dah; page 100. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 756 immnnder at Furt Mlmt. ml iims^ic rods liy ! crraiul, VVhunci ttle of Ruriit Com ed with provisions there to fisht tliv r woiiu'u iind cliil. s," thoy Hivid, " ami jls enough to carry ;hersforcl, both Imit- innod Francis,^ and beautiful Si'hoya, a lersford was an ox- strength, lionorable, •ior of M'CJuoon and d Indians from Pon- ,, on the Talhipoosa, into the country on iwers to the planta- ic present villai^c of tgomery. There lie Fort IVIims. One of if impending danger, for an exterminatim,' supposed the negro •ved, the commander whan, on the 2fltli, r lay on the morning ad been whipped for ieasley, whicli Avarn- it smarting from the rce, a stockade about lie eastern gate stood ras the signal for the [•st intimation of tlieir [lining over a field to- aodden AppMurance of the Indloui. B'nrlooi AaMUlt on tha Fort. A lerrllile Battle In Furt Himi. n brother. He placed Franci! trancis was blind, bm that ht Icii days the Prophet led him hi enddcnly, when he became jt power he tised freely, fdmlnlstration . He wns a m Tlose of the old War for Inde [head chief. Kewnsanedo- Imorcd him with the coiimi!- fame, with a retinne of tollni- Ise spirit his countrymen were 1. nnd his half sister, Schnyn. Iford was born at the Uiciiory ■rs from Tallahassee, Anitwf. i of the fort before they W« lixe 109. ward the open gate. Bcasley flew to close it, and his soldiers nishod with their arms to tilt' port-holes, wliiie the uiiarnied men, and tlie women and children, hiiddh'd, pale and trembling, and alinost paralyzed with sudden fear, in the liouses and cabins witli- in tlie main inclosure. Jieasley was too liiti-. Hefore he could remove tiie drilled sand and sliut the gate, the savages were upon him. He was felled by clubs and tomahawks ; and over his dying body the dusky torrent rushed into tlie new inclo- sure, where Captains Middleton and Jack were on duty. lie (irawled beliiiul the |. e and soon expired, using his latest breath in exhorting his men to fight valiantly. 'llie Indians soon tilled the outer inclosure, wliile the field beyond swarmed with a yelling muUitude of blood-thirsty men. Their propliets commenced incantations and dances. Tiiey had assured the warriors that the white men's bullets would s])lit harmlessly on the sacred bodies of the seers and the multitude behind them. The delusion was soon dispelled. Five of the invulnerable prophets were shot dead. The dismayed savages recoiled for a moment in doubt and fear. Many rushed wildly out of the gate, but others filled their places, and, with yells ''nd howls, they poured a deadly fire upon the inmates of the fort through the port-holes of the old pickets and the outside stockades. The poor bound negro, who was awaiting the lash, was shot dead on the spot where he was to have been punished for doing all in his power to avert the dreadful calamity then impending. Captain Middleton, wiio was in charge of the eastern section, was slain, with all of his commaml. Captain Jack, in the south wing, with a rifle company, maintained the conflict nobly. Lieutenant Kandon fought from the guard-house on the west ; and Captain Dixon Bailey, the gallant half-blood, on whom the command of the garrison devolved after the fall of beasley, was seen in every part of the fort, directing the military and encouraging the otlier inmates. The situation was terrible. Tlicre were two inclosnres, separated by a row of log pickets with port-holes, and an open gate. On one side were unarmed men, women, and children, thickly crowded, with few soldiers, for a larger portion of them wore in tne outer inclosure with Middleton and Jack. On the other side were lusty sav- iiges, maddened by the sight of blood and ravenous for plunder; and all around Avere human fiends filling the open field and eager for slaughter and spoils. Victory or deatii was the alternative offered to the inmates of the fort. After the first shock of surprise their conr.age returned, and, under the direction of the intrepid Bailey, those who had arms manned the dividing pickets, and through the port-holes poured vol- leys that made wide lanes in the thick ranks of the foe. These, however, were imme- diately filled, and the terrible conflict went on. Sometimes the guns of a Christian and pagan Avould cross in a port-hole, and both would fall. Old men, and even wom- en and boys, fought with desperation. Bailey's voice constantly encouraged them. "Hold on a little longer," he said, "and all will be w^ell. The Indians seldom fight long at a time." He endeavored to induce some of them to join him in a sortie and a dash through the enemy to Fort Fierce to procure re-enforcements, and, returning, attack the enemy in the rear and raise the siege. The movement seemed too peril- ous and hopeless, and none would follow him. He determined to go alone, and was actually climbing the picketing for the purpose when his friends pulled him back. The horrid battle raged for three hours, wiien, as Bailey expected, the Indians be- gan to tire. Their fire slackened, their bowlings were less savage, and they began to carry off plunder from the head-quarters of Major Beasley and the other buildings in the outer inclosure. The people in the main fort were thrilled with a hope that the savages were about to depart. That hope was soon extinguished, Weathersford was not a man to accept of half a victory when a complete one was within his grasp. He beheld with scorn the conduct of many of his warriors who were more intent on plunder than conquest. Seated upon a fine black horse, he rode after the departing hraves, addressed them vehemently with words of rebuke and persuasion, and soon ill "^^■^■1 i * |(|i' i^ 756 riCTOUIAL FIELD-IJOOK TO In Fort MImi. Scalping lb* Dead ud Dying. I'rirc for Hcsip* iittend bf ttf BlttMl AgMt led thoin l)ack to complete the buHinoss in hand. Willi demonine yolls the wivacis resnined tlic work ol' destruction. Tliey hooii filled the outer ineloMiire ui^iiiii lim were kept ut bay by brotherH of Captain Hailey antl other Kharp-shooterH, who limj nunle port-lioles in Miit.s'H houHe by iviiockin)^ oil' Home shini^les, and from thence sini deadly bullets into muiiy a lunty warrior who was endeavorintj to press throuirh the inner f?ate. J{ut very soon, under the direction of Weatherstbrd, iire was ..iciit td Miins's roof on the winj^s of arrows, and it burst into a flame Some of the scorcluij inmates of the house fled to othei buildings, and some were roasted in the hdriiil oven. The house was soon in cinders, with its extensive sheds and out-l)uil(liii.rs, The firo spread to other buildin<j;s, and in a few minutes alniost the entire area df the fort was scathed by the crackling flames. The shrieks of women and childri'ti lidded ti) the horrors of the scene. Only one place of refuge now remained, and to it the doomed j)eoplc rushed fmn- tically. It was Patrick's loom-house (7 in the diagram below), on the north side of the fort, which had been inclosed with strong pickets, and called the JJastion. Tliis was Cai)tain IJailey's original stand, and there ho and the survivors of his coinpanv now took position and poured fiital volleys uj)on the savages. The assailants were now in the main fort, and every ir.inato pressed frantically to- ward the Bastion. In doing so many were killed by the Indians, while the wciik, wounded, and aged were tramj)led under foot and jtressed to death. The veiiciaMo Samuel Minis, when tottering toward this last place of refuge, was shot, and wliik' lie was yet living the knife of his assassin ^^as passed around his liead, and his siain, with its hoary locks, was waved cxultingly in the air. The fire and the savages attacked iho Bastion at the same time. The former was more merciful than the latter. Tlie Indians broke down the pickets, and butchered tlu inmates in cold blood. The children win seized by the legs, and their brains knockoil out .against the stockades. Woiiicii wm disemboweled, and their unborn cliildivn were flung in the air. The British agent at Pensacola had offered five dollars apiece for scalps, and the long tresses of women, as well as the coverings of men's heads, were 8j)eedily in the hands of the sav.iijes as marketable commodities in a Christian mart ! In the midst of the pcrfcrniaiiic of these horrid deeds Weathersford rode up. Like Tecunitha, he was noble and liumanp. He nproached his followers for their cruel- ty, and begged them to spare the women ■■•...'•■... and children at least. His interference / nearly cost him his life. Many clubs were FOBT MTMB.1 Talsc I threateningly ovcr lils hcad, und 111' was compelled to retire. In afler years the s enes he then witnessed filled him with ' The above plan of Port Mims was fonnd among the manuscrii 9 of General Claiborne, and first pnbllshcd by Pick- ett In his History <if Alabama, 11., 2i)6. It may also be fonnd in Claiborne's Li/e and Times of lieneral Sam Mf, pap 112, and is printed here by permission of the author. The following Is an explanation of the reference flpnrcs : 1. Block- Jiiouse ; 2. Pickets cut awayr by the Indians ; 8. Guards' station ; 4. Gnard-honse ; 5. Western gate, bnt nut up; 0. Tlii« gate was shut, but a hole was cut through by the Indians; T. Captain Bailey's station; 8. Steadham's house; 0. Mn. Dyer's house; 10. Kitchen; 11. Mims's house; 12. Randon's house ; 13. Old gateway, open ; 14. Ensign Chambllss's lent: 16. Randon's ; IT. Captain Middleton'fl ; 18. Captain Jack's station ; 19. Port-holes taken by Indians ; 20, 21. rort-holf« taken by Indians ; 22. Major Beasley's cabin ; 23. Captain Jack's company ; 24. Captain Middleton's company ; 26. Where Beasley fell ; 20. Eastern gate, where the Indians entered. OF THE VVAli UF 18 12. 767 Ml by the Biittnh Ak^i yv'llH the H!l\uj;iH loHiirc iijjuiii, l)iit lioDterH, who had 1 tVotn tlifiici' siiii j>rt'SH tlmnv^li III,. , tire was aent to no of the ficort'hcil iti'd in tlio hiiiriil iukI out-lniildiiiiis. tlic t'litiiv iircii of )inen and childivn )Ooplc rushcfl fiaii- 1 tlio norlli si(h' of tlie liawtion. Tli'w irs of his coinpiuiy ?sse(l frantically to- IS, while the weak, th. The vciicriililc ras shot, iuitl wliilf head, and liis 8i'ai|p, vas;o8 attacked tlip 10. The lovnier «as hitter. The Indians ^, and bntcliered tiic Tho children wciv :hoir brains knockoil ,do8. Women wen dr unborn children The British agent ■d live dollars apicn ijT tresses of wonun, itrs of men's heads, [andd of the savages iVitios in a Christian theperfcrnianoeof sathorsford rode up. noble and lumiano. (wers for their cruel- ;o spare tlie women His interference Many clubs were [v-er his head, and lie essed filled him with Ln<lflretpnWl9hccl1)yPitk- L (/ Urneral Sam Me, pip t reference flpurcs : !• Btak- fro gate, but not up; «.» fc Steadham's house; 9. Mrs. |l4 Ensign Chambliss's tent; lyindlanB;20,21.rort^oln %leton'g company! 26. Wtert NiimlMrorilMn«ln. IndlaM.nwudtd ^ ite Britlib Agent. Uorron of the KuMcre. BurUI of the De ' it'inofRe, for he waH chief author of tho calamity. lie liad raised tlie etorm, but ho was unable to control it. "My warriorH," ho said," were like famished wolves, and tho Hrsl taste of Idood made their i'|)|ietites insatiable."' At noon on that liilal noth of Anijust, when ihe drum was beaten for dinner, there were live hundred and fit\y persons in Fort Mims, happy in tin lu lief that they were sciure from daiiu;er; at sunset of tlie same day four hundred ol them were dead! Not one white wonuii. ..()r one child escaped. Every avenue of tlii,'ht from tlie hor- rid slaujjhter-peii was sentineled. Yet twelve men of the jjarrison did cut through the pickets and escape to the swamp. AmontiC these was Captain Bailey; but he was severely wounded, .iiid died by the side of a cypress stump.^ Hester, a iie>j;ro woman, who had received a ball in her breast, had f.;'.lowed them out. She reached a canoo iiiTensaw Lake, paddled it into and down tho Alabama to P\»rt Stoddart, which she reached on Tuesday night," and was tho first to give information to (Jen- • AnKontai, eral Claibonie of tho horrible tragedy. Most of tho mj^roes were spared '^'•'• hy the Indians, and were nuido their slaves. Tho battle lasted from twelve o'clock until five, when the fort was a smokinfj; ruin. The savages then retired about a mile east of tho fort, where they slept that night, ;it\cr snioking their pipes and triiumiuti; their scalps. They had siitrered severely, for the garrison had sold their lives as dearly as ])ossible. Not les.s than four hundred Creek warriors were slain or wounded. On tho morning afler the confiict they com- meiieed burying their dead, but soon abandoned the labor. Putting their wounded into canoes, a part of the warriors wont iij) the river; some staid in the neighbor- hood to j)lundor and kill,^ and others went to Pensacola, with their tropby-sealps on poles, to receive their reward from tho Hritish agents there. Ten days afterward. Major Kennedy, who had been sent by General Claiborne to hiay tho dead at Fort Minis, arrived there.'' His eyes met a sad and horrid spectacle. Tho air was filled with glutt')nous buzzards who had loinc to feast on tlio dead bodies, and a largo number of dogs were disputing with the foul birds for the banquet. The mutilated remains of the dead were buried iu two pits.* " Indians, negroes, white men, women, and cldldren," Kennetly said in his report, " lay in one jn-omiscuous mass. All were scali)ed ; and tho females of every age were butchered in a manner which neither decency nor language 'ill permit me to describe. The main building was buriud to ashes, which were fided with bones. The plains and the woods around were covered with dead bodies. All tho Louses were consumed by fire except the block-house and a part of the pickets. The sol- diers ai:d officers, with one \ oice, called ou Divine Providence to revenge the death of our murdered friends."^ The massacre at Fort Miins created the most intense excitement and alarm through- out the Southwest. This was \r ' rased by the operations of the powerful prophet, Francis, who at the same time wu. spreading destruction and consternation over the country between the Alabama and rombigboe Rivers, from the forks northward, now Clarke County, in Alabama. The little stockades were filled with tho aftrighted in- > Claiborne's Life nf General Sam Dale, page 123. ' When the flames began to reach the people In the Bastion, Dr. Thomas Q. Holmes, an assistant snrgeon of the gar- rison, seized an axe, cut some piclcetB in two, but left them standing till an opportanity for escape oBered. Bailey now tiled out, "All is Imtl" and begged the people to e8cai)e. The piclvetH were thrown down, but, as we have observed, only twelve escaped. Bailey's little stclt son, only thirteen years of age, was carried safely to the woods by his negro nun Tom, who, half mud with fear and dire confusion, ran back with the boy to the Indians. The savages toolc the child by the legs, and wliile he cried " Father, save me i" they dashed out his brains. The following are the names of the persons who escaped from the fort and lived : Dr. Thomas O. Holmes ; Hester, a negro woman ; Socca, a friendly Indlui; Peter Randon.lientenant of citizens' company; Josiah Fletcher; Sergeant Mathews ; Martin Rigdon; Samuel Smith, a half-blood ; Mourrice and Joseph Perry, of the Mississippi Volunteers ; John Hoven ; Jones ; and Lientenant W. R. Chambliss, of the Mississippi Volunteers Pickett's A labama, ii., 276. Sec diagram on opposite page for the houses of the Steadhams and Randons, and the tent of Lieutenant Chambliss. ' The inmates of Port I'lerce, a small stockade two or three miles from Fort Mims, fled down the river and reached Mobile In safety. * Two hundred and forty .seven bodies were buried. > Kennedy's MS. Report to General Claiborne, quoted in Pickett's Alabama, ii., 2S.>. ' September 0. ■i ■ ; j U'\: lilii ; ■•■ tj ?58 PICTORIAL FIELD-BCOK DlstresB In the Creek Country, Response of the TennesseeanB to a Cry for Help. Jacksou'B Appeal, aud Its Effects. habitants, and aickness and death were their constant companions. The distress in tlie Creek country can scarcely be imagined. A fearful cry for help went northward, not, as it would now, on the wings of tho lightning, but by couriers on swift horses. Yet they were tardy messengers measured by travel-speed to-day. It took thiity- one days to carry the newc to the city of New York, wliere it produced very little sensation, for the heart of the whole country was then yet tremulous v/ith the joyous emotions created by the recent victory won by Ferry on Lake Erie, and excited by intense interest in the movements of General Harrison, who was then penetrating Canada, and nobly retrieving the national misfortunes at Detroit the previous year. These absorbed the public attention northward of the Ohio and eastward of the Alli"- ghany Mountains, while the fiercely-kindled Creek War equally absorbed the atten- tion and awakened the most fervid syirpathies and hottest indignation of the people of the Mississippi and Gulf regions. Tiie sons of Tennessee quickly and nobly responded to tho cry for help from below. Governor Blount promised to do what he might, but General Jackson was then too ill to take active measures in the same direction immediately, but he assured his fel- low-citizens that h3 would do so as speedily as possible. He was then lying at the Nashville Inn, prostrated by the effects of serious wounds received from the late Thomas 11. Benton in an affray in the streets of Nashville with deadly weapons, He was convalescing, and, full of the " fire of the flint," ho issued a stirring address to those volunteers who followed him a thousand miles tp Natchez a year before. He begged them to go forward in a cause " so worthy the arm of every bvavc soldier and true citizen ;" and expressed his regret that he was not able to go with them, at the same time assuring them of his belief that he might soon join them, which he did. Jackson's appeal touched the hearts of the Tcnnesseeans ; and the action of the Leg- islature, then in session, was consonant with the wishes and feelings of the people. On the 25 th of September* they authorized Governor Blount to call out three thousand five hundred volunteers, in addition to fifteen hundred already mus- tered into the service of the United States, the commonwealth of Tennessee guaran- teeing their pay and subsistence, and appropriating three hundred thousand dollars for the payment of expenses to be immediately incurred. On the same day General Jackson issued another spirited address, calling his division to the field. He ordered tliem to assemble on the 4th of October at Fayetteville, near the northern boundary of Alabama. Already his first address had set the military spirit of the state ablaze; now a Ictter-writor at Nashville declared'' that " in a few days there will be but few young men left in town. Nearly all h'ave volunteered — some have gone, and others are getting ready. . . . Colonel John Coffee has already start- ed with the cavalry. Infantry and mo»mted volunteer companies are flocking to the standard every da j . Had not reneral Jackson been confined by his wound, I think all would have been on the way bj tiiis time."' On the 26th General Jackson dispatcher the energetic Colonel Coffee, with his regiment of dragoons, five hundred strong, and as many mounted volunteers as could join him immediately, to take post at Huntsville,^ in Nort^jem Alabama, for the en- couragement and protection of the inhabitants there, and to cover a depot of supplies which he intended to establish on the Tennessee River south of Huntsville, at Ditto's Landing. Coffee pushed forward with celerity, and reached Huntsville on the 4th of October. His force had been augmented almost hourly on the way by volunteers who flocked to his standard, and he found himself on the borders' of the Creek coun- try with full thirteen hundred men. Jackson meanwhile, with his arm in a sling and suffering intensely, was making his way to the prescribed rendezvous of his troops ' 181S. 1 The War. II., T3. » HantBville Is the present capital of Madison County, Alahams, one of the finest regions of that state, at the foot of the monntaln slopes which there gradually melt into the level Gulf region. \m OF THE WAli OF 1812. 159 i'8 Appeal, and Its Effectt. 3. The distress in p went nortliward, rs on swift horses. y. It took tliiity- roduced very Uttle lus >vith the joyous ric, and excited by B then penetrating the previous year, istward of the Alk- ibsorbed the atten- lation of the peopk' or help from helow. [jkson was then too t he assured his fel- IS then lying at the lived from the late jadly weapons. He Btirting address to a year before. He ry brave soldier and ro with them, at the ;m, which he did. lie action of the Leg- dings of the people. int to call out three ^ndred already mus- if Tennessee guaran- ed thousand dollars same day General field. He ordered northern bouiidaiy of the state ablaze; few days there will volunteered— some ee has already start- are flocking to the his wound, I think lol Coffee, with his volunteerc as could \.labama, for the en- a depot of supplies :unt8ville, at Ditto's svillc on the 4th of way by volunteers fof the Creek coun- arm in a sling and !ZV0U8 of his troops Oeoeral Coffee in Northeiii Alboama. liackBon in the Field. Mobile threatened, but saved. !Ofthat(!tate,atthofootot at Fayettev ille, on the 4th of October, full eighty miles south from Nashvi-ie. He could not reach there at the pre- scribed time, but sent forward a spirit- ed address to the soldiers, to be read to them on that day. It was an appeal to their pride and patriotism ; and called upon them, in an especial manner, to be obedient to discipline, for it was essen- tial in preparing them for the noble task before them. While these movements were in prog- ress in West Tennesse,\ others of like character and importance were going on iu East Tennessee, where General John Cocke was in command. Under the direction of Governor Blount, he ordered his division to rendezvous at Knoxville ; and so promptly did thay respond, that he wrote to General Jack- eon on the 2d of October* that his men, twenty-five hundred in number, were ready to march, and that he could doubtless contract for a thousand barrels of flour to be sent to Ditto's Landing imme- diately. Jackson reached Fayetteville on the 7th of October, where he remained a week waiting for the arrival of troops, organizing them, and making arrangements for sup- plies. He was greeted by cheering news from Coffee. It was generally supposed that the Indians would hasten to the capture of Mobile, under the auspices and di- rection of the Spaniards, after the destruction of Fort Mims, It might have been an easy matter; but they lingered, as usual, after their 'ictory, and then pushed north- ward.' This good news came from Coffee, and Jackson, acting upon it, was making vigorous preparation to meet them, when, on Monday, the 11th of October,'' a courier came dashing into his tamp with intelligence from Coffee that the sav- ages were near. The general gave instant orders for his troops to march. Two houra later they were in motion ; and at eight o'clock the same evening they were in Hunts- ville, having marched thirty-two miles almost without halting. On the following morning Jackson was informed that the rumor of the near approach of the Inuians was false. He leisurely led his troops across the swift-flowing Tennessee at Ditto's Lauding, joined Coffee's command, and, on a high bluff overlooking the beautiful river, opposite a charming island, encamped. JUUM OOFFEE. > 1813. I The TndiauB, as uenal, stopped to enjoy their victory after it was achieved, instead of secnring Its solid advantages. Snch consitrnotion was produced by the massacres on Tcnsaw that Mobile might have becomb an easy prey to the ravages. But while they lingered, the Spanioh nccomplices at Pensacola appeared to have become alarmed lest the savages might destroy Mobile, which they hoped to recover uninjured. Governor Maniqne accordingly wrote to Weath- ereford and his associates on the subject. After congratulating them on their success at Port Mims, assuring them of Mendshlp and a desire to aid them, and thanking them for their offers of assistance in the recapture of Mobile, the governor dissuaded them from attacking it, or at least destroying it. " I hope," he wrote, "you will not put In execu- tion the Project you lell n.e of to bum the 'c-i, since these houses and properties do not belong to the Americans, but to true Spaniards."— I/etter dated Pensacola, September 29, 1813, quoted by Pickett in his HisUrry of Alabama. It is amoag the Claiborne papers alreaciy alluded to. It is positive proof of the complicity of the Spanish authorities at Pensacola with the British and Indians in waging an exterminating war against the people of the Mississippi Terri- tory, and jusUfled the seizure of Pensacola ly the Americans which occurred afterward. . li 1 i (M ' »t,j. I? rii|im|i|/'l mm I: I \ i 760 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK JactuoD'B impatient waiting for Snpplies. Cries for Help from the Coosn. Jnckson mnrclies In that Direction CHAPTER XXXIV. "Alas for them I their day is o'er ; Their fires are out from shore to shore ; ho more for then- the wild deer bounds— The plow is ou their hunting-gronnds. The pale man's axe rings through their woods— The pale man's sail skims o'er their floode." CUABLEB SPBAOm. '^^ACKSON'S little army, under his immediate commai d, was now about tAventy-five hundred strong, and the difficulties of the campaign, with all their gloomy suggestions, arose in colossal proportions before Lis judgment und experience. His supplies, promised by General Cocke, had not arrived, and before him was an untried wilderness filled Avith hostile savages. Twenty- five hundred' men and thirteen hundred horses must be fed. " Such a body," says a late writer, " will consume ten wagon- loads of provisions every day. For a week's subsistence they require a thousand bushels of grain, twenty tons of flesh, a thousand gallons of whisky, and many hund- red weight of iH^scellaneous provisions." Jackson was grievously disappointed, and stormed furiously at fate, the shallow Tennessee (on which the provision vessels would not yet float), the contractors, and even at General Cocke. Then he sent his quarter- master. Major W. B. Lewis, to Nashville for supplies, and Colonel Coflfee, with six or seven hundred mounted men, to scour for food the country watered by the Black Warrior River, an important tributary of the Tombigbee. He was cheered by infor- mation that General White, with the advance of General Cocke's division of East Tennesseeans, had already passed the site of Chattanooga and the now famous Look- out Mountain — made famous by the events of the great Civil War, which occurred there in the autumn of 1863 — and would jirobably join him in the course of a few- days. Jackson set about drilling his troops thoroughly, and while engaged in that duty a Creek chief of the peace-party informed him that a large number of his nation were preparing to attack a fort filled with friendly Indians at the Ten Islands of the Coosa • October 19, River. The general immediately broke camp upon the bluff',* and with 1813. immense labor and fatigue^ made his way twenty-two miles in that direc- tion along the course of the Tennessee to Thompson's Creek, one of its tributaries, all the while watching anxiously, through the eyes of scouts, for the appearance of the expected supply flotilla. But they did not come. He wrote to fi-iends and public authorities in every direction, and the burden of his letters were, " Give me food, and I will end this savage war in a month." And yet he did not wait for the expected supplies to begin it, for such piteous entreaties came from the Coosa that he resolved to press forward at all hazards. He established a depository for supplies at the mouth of Thompson's Creek, cast up fortifications to defend them which he named Fort Deposit, and on the evening of the 24th of October he started for the Ten Isl- ands of the Coosa, fifly miles distant, with only two days' supply of bread and six of meat, swearing that he would " neither sound a retreat nor suffer a defeat"^ before the ' The country In that region Is exceedingly rough and mountalnons, and the troops were compelled to endnre the most appalling labors. " We have cnt out way," wrote Hajor Held, Jackson's ald-de-camp, " over monntains more tre- mendous than Alps." ' Letter of Major John Keld to Qr.arter-master W. B. Lewis, October 24, 1818, quoted by Parton, 1., 4!12. OF THE WAR OP 1812. TBI relies In that Direction. immai d, was now difficulties of the I, arose in colossal ice. His snpplics, d, and before him savages. Twenty- jrses must be fed. )nsume ten wagon- require a thousaml cy, and many liund- y disappointed, and mion vessels would be sent his quarter- Coffee, with six or tered by the Black as cheered by infor- .'s division of East now famous Look- ar, whicli occmioO be course of a few [gaged in that duty Ir of his nation wore Islands of the Coosa [he bluff," and with 1 miles in that dircc- -)f its tributaries, all appearance of tlip friends and pul)lic [' Give me food, and dt for the expected La that he resolved [for supplies at the n which he named ted for the Ten Isl- |of bread and six of defeat"^ before the iTMmpenedVendnre ttie " over monntalne more tre- krtoii,l.,*8«- Tbe Army threatened with Famine. AyTairs in the lower Creek Cunntry. Courage and Honor of Captftln Dale. savages. Coffee, who in the space of twelve days had marched two hundred miles, burned Black Warrior's Town and another Indian village on the Black Warrior Riv- er and collected about three hundred bushels of corn, had Joined him, and the whole army went cheerily forward toward tlie Coosa. Ho cut his way over the rugged mountains with indomitable perseverance to Wells's Creek," where his .October 28, supply of bread failed, and he remained encamped for several days, that ****• his foraging parties might collect i)rovisioiis. His little army was there threatened witli actual starvation, for the contractors had entirely failed to meet their engage- ments. The foragtirs were usually successful. One party, under Colonel Dyer, two hundred stro' nj, fell upon the Indian village of Littefutchec, at the head of Canoe Creek, twenty miles from the camp, captured tAventy-nine prisoners and a good sup- ply of corn, and laid the town in ashes.'' Then the army marched on, and in less than a week afterward it was encamped on the right bank of the Coosa, not far from the Ten Islands and the mouth of the Canoe or Littefutchec Creek. Let us here leave the resolute invaders a few momeui s, and consider the condition of affairs in the Creek country. We have observed that the massacre at Fort Minis spread consternation over the whole regipn, and white people and friendly Indians sought shelter in ihe stockades or safety in flight toward the Gulf. Sickness prevailed in all the stockades, and there was distress every where. Murders, robberies, and conflagrations were seen on every hand. Claiborne was harassed with almost hourly messages bearing piteous impor- tunities for help, and from none more loudly than from St. Stephen's, one of the most important posts in the country. > Information had reached the general that the gar- rison and refugees in Fort Madison, in the eastern part of Clarke County, were likel}' to share the horrid fate of those in Minis from a combined attack of the savages. Umler the direction of General Flournoy, he ordered Colonel Carson, the commander, to abandon the fort and hasten to the relief of St. Stephen's, if his judgment should sanction such movement. Carson left Madison reluctantly, followed by about Ave hundred settlers of both sexes, and all ages and conditions, and marched westward. He had arrived on the banks of the Tombigbee, on his way to St. Stephen's, when an- other letter from Claiborne reached him, in which he was urged " not to abandon the fort [Madison] unless it was clear that he could not maintain it." It was too late. He crossed the river and entered St. Stephen's. Fort Madison was not wholly abandoned. There were bold men there who re- solved to remain and defend it, togeMier with Fort Glass, a small stockade only a fourth of a mile distant. The leader ^ras Captain Sam Dale.^ He was still suffering from the effects of his woiind received at Burnt Corn Creek. When Carson's drum beat for his troops to march, Dale beat his for volunteers to remain ; and when the last of the United States soldiers marched out of the fort. Dale marched in at the head of eighty brave citizens, among them Captain Evans Austill. Dale received a note from General Flournoy advising liim to repair to Mount Vernon, as he was sure to be attacked by an overwhelming force. Dale replied tiiat he had sworn to defend the women and childre^^ under his charge ; that he had a " gallant set of boys" under liim; and that when the general should hear "of the fall of Fort Madison, he would find a pile of yellow-hides to tan if he could get his regulars to come and skin them !"^ Dale maintained his position with boldness, and was not attacked.* ' 8»e page 760, and Map on page 761. a See page T49. ' Lift ami Ti'nts o/Ganeral Sam Dalf, pages 110 and 117. Dale says Flonnioy was opposed to the stockade system, »iidwas determined to concentrate his tr«)opg at Mobile, Mount Vo-ion, and St. Stephen's. Claiborne's order for the eTacas.ion of Port 1 adison, inspired by Flonmoy, \faa cursed by the settlers In the forks of the Alabama and Tomblg- bw, who coii8ldere<l themselves cnielly abandoned. ' "During the day," says Dale, "sentinels were posted nronnd this fort. At night I illnminatcd the approaches Ihr a clrcnit of one hundred ynrds by a device of my own. Two poles, fifty .'ect long, were firmly planted on each -Ide of the fort ; « lung lever, npon the plan of a well-sweep, worked upon each ot "hese poles ; lo each lever was attached a bar otitou about ten feet long, and to these bars were fastened with tr:.ce-chaing huge fagots of light wood. The illumina- i ' PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK The Choctaw Allieg. Sppech of PaBhamataha. Coffee'8 Expedition against Tallasehatclic. While there was still a doubt in every mind whether the Choctaws would remain friendly to the Americans, Pushamataha removed every suspicion by suddenly ap- pearing at St. Stephen's and oftering to enlist several companies of his warriors to take up arms under the banner of the United States. He was conducted to Mobile by George S. Gaines, where he had an interview with General Flournoy. That strangely blind officer declined the chief 't; ofter, and Gaines and Pushamataha went back to St. Stephen's filled with mortification and disgust. The assembled citizens had be- gun to curse the commanding general Avithout stint, v/hen a courier appeared riding in haste. He bore authority from Flournoy for Gaines to recruit in the Choctaw nation. His advisers had caused him to repent of his folly in refusing the generous oflfcr of Pushamataha. Gaines and the brave chief started northward for the Choctaw country. Tliey were met at John Peachland's by Colonel John M'Kee, agent of the Chickasaws, with whom they held a consultation. Pushamataha and Gaines then went forward. The former called a council of his people of the eastern district of the nation.' He ha- rangued the assembled multitude in an admirable speech ; and it was so efTt'ctive that when, at the conclusion, he said, " If you have a mind to follow me, I will lead you to glory and victory," a warrior arose, slapped his hand npon his heart, and said, "I "M a man ! I am a man ! I will follow you !" All the others did likewise, and raised a shout that filled the heart of Gaines with jby.^ Colonel M'Kee was equally successful with the Chickasaws. A large body of them volunteered to follow him, and did so to tlu Tuscaloosa Falls, for the purpose of attacking a Creek town there. They found it in ashes, and the centre of a solitude wherein no Indian was visible. M'Kee returned to Peachland's, at the mouth of the Octibaha, where his dusky follow- ers separated, some going to their homes, and others making their way to join the standard of General Claiborne, then at St. Stephen's.^ It was while the consternation of the inhabitants on the Alabama and Tombigbee was most intense that Jackson was making his way toward the sanguinary theatre on which, as we have seen, he appeared at the close of October. lie now became chief actor in the terrible drama. On his arrival upon the Coosa, Jackson was informed that the Creeks were assem- bled at Tallasehatche, a town in an open woodland only thirteen miles from the camp.* He resolved to attack them at once, and on the morning of the 2d of No- vember he summoned the stalwart Coffee tj his presence. That brave officer had • September 24, lately been promoted to the rank of brigadier." He Avas anxious to he 1813. Qjj ^Ijp Tffing yfiili his mounted men, and was soon gratified. The com- manding general ordered him to take one thousand horsemen, and fall suddenly and fiercely upon the offending town in Avhich blood-thirsty enemies were harbored, and destroy it. He left camp for the purpose toward evening, his troops accompanied by Captain Richard Brown and a company of friendly Creeks and Cherokecs, whose tion from such au elevation was brilliant,, and no cover* attack could be made npon my position. As a precautloa against the Indian torch, I had my bloclc-houses and their roofs well plastered \\ .ih clay. We displayed oareclves in arms frequently, the women wearing hats and the garments of their husbands, to imprecs (jpon the spies that we knew were lurking around an exaggerated notion of our strength. For provisions we shot such cattle and hogs as graied within the range of our guns, bnt I carefully noted the marks and brands, and afferward indemnifled the oviuers."-Lifi of Dale, lagc IIT. ' The Choctaw nation was then composed of three distinct governments. The Eaxtem district was ruled over by Pushamataha, the Western by Puckshenubbee, and the Northv!c»tern by MuxheUitubba. > " Yon know Tecumtha," said Pushamataha. " He is a bad man. He came through onr nation, but did not turn our heads. He went among the Mnscogees [CrcekB], and got many of them to join him. Yon know the Tcnsnw peo- ple. They were our friends. Th«y played ball with ns. They sheltered and fed ns whenever we went to Pciisacnls Where are they now? Their bones rot at Sam Mims's place. The people at St. Stephen's are also our flrtendi. The Muscogees intend to kill them too. They want soldiers to defend them. ^Here he drew his sword and flouriehed It.) Yoa can all do as you please. You are all freemen. I dictate to none of you. Bnt I shall Join the St. Stephen's peopl.. If you have a mind to follow me, I will lead yon to glory and Tictory."— Pickett's .A ioianui, il., 891. > Pickett's Alabama, ii., 292. « Not far ft-om the present village of Jacksonville, the capital of Benton Connty, Alabama, on the soutbeaet side u( TalUsfahatcbe Creek. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 763 igainat Tallasehalcht. ^9 would remain by suddenly ap- ' hiB warriors to ted to Slobile by That strangely ha went back to [ citizens had be- • appeared riding , in the Choctaw iing the generous i country. They Chickasaws, with ent forward. The 3 nation.! He ha- lt was so effective ow me, 1 will lead his heart, and said, J did likewise, and M'Kee was equally jred to follow him, t Creek town there. Indian was visible. ■re his dusky follow- leir way to join the ^ma &nd Tombigbee sanguinary theatre lie now became Creeks were asscm- heen mi^es from the ng of the 2d of Ne- at brave officer had e was anxious to he gratified. The com- f d fall suddenly and were harbored, and lops accompanietlhy id Cherokecs, whose ly position. Asaprewutta ■ We diBplaycdoureelrts"! uon the spies that we knc« Kh cattle and liogs as mf llemnlttcdtlieownerB. -W' .district was ruled over b! I our nation, imt did not tnr. I You know the Tcn.»wp^> l„everwewenttoFoma»* ■•g are also onrWonds.W Ihls ?word and flourished il Ijoin the St. Stephen's peopl- 1, 11., 891. La, on the southeast Bide «( Battle of Tallascbutcbe. Aunihllatlou of the Town and the Warriors. Jackson's Army on the Coosa. heads were tastefully ornamented with white feathers and deer's tails. They forded the Coosa at tlie Fish Dam, four miles above the Ten Islands, and at dawn on the morning of the 3d halted within half a mile of the doomed town. There Coffee quickly divided his forces mto t wo columns, the right composed of cavalry, com- manded by Colonel Allcorn, and the left of mounted riflemen, under Colonel Cannon. With the latter the newly-made general marched. Allcorn was directed to encircle one half of the town with his cavalry, while Camion and his riflemen should encircle the other half. This was promptly accomplished at sunrise, when the foe sallied out with beat of drums a;;cl "'■vage yells, their prophets being in the advance. The battle that speedily began was brought on at about eight o'clock by the com- panies of Captain Hammond and Lieutenant Patterson, who had made a manoeuvre for the purpose of decoying the foe from the shelter of their liouses. It was success- ful. The Indians fell upon them furiously, when the two companies, according to in- structions, fell back, pursued by the enemy, until the latter encountered the right of Coffee's troops. These first gave the Indians a deadly volley of bullets, and then charged them violently, while the left division closed in upon the doomed foo. Never did men fight more gallantly than did the Creeks. Inch by inch they were pushed hack to their bouses by the ever-narrowing circle of a^jailants. They fought desper- ately and with savage fury. They were shot and bayoneted in and out of their houses. Not one Avould ask for quarter, but fought so long as lie had strength to wield a weapon. None survived. Every warrior was killed. In falling back to their dwellings they mingled with the women and children, and in the fury of the contest some of these were slain. The victory for the assailants was complete ; and at the close of this short, sharp battle, one hundred and eighty-six Indian warriors lay dead around the victors.' It was believed that full t^ > hundred perished. Eighty-four women and children wero made prisoners. The loss of the Americans was only five killed (no oflicers) and forty-one wounded, most of them slightly. Having destroyed the town and buried his dead, the victorious Coffee marched hack in triumph to the camp on the Coosa, followed by a train of sori'owful captives. It was a terrible sight for the eye of Pity. Retributive justice, evoked by the slain at Fort Mims, was satisfied. Tallasehatche was wiped from the face of the e.irth, and every survivor was sent a prisoner to Huntsville.'^ Thus commenced the fearful chastisement of the infatuated Creeks who had listened to the siren voice of Tecum- tlia, and the wicked' suggestions and false promises of the Spaniards and British at Pensacola. Jackson now made his way over the Coosa Mountains to the Ten Islands, and on the right bank of the Coosa commenced the construction of a second fortified deposit for supplies. Strjong pickets and block-houses soon began to rise, and the work was well advanced whon, just at sunset on the Tth of November, an Indian chief from the Hickory Ground, who, by stratagem, had made his way from the beleaguered fort, came with swift foot and informed the general-in-chief that one hundred and sixty ' General Coffee said in his report (November 4, 1813) : "They fongbt as long as one existed ; and when the last of Ihe devoted hand, still struggling for the mastery, had fallen beneath the hatchets and hunliug-knives of his cucmies, one hundred and eighty-six warriors wero stretched lifeless on the fine open woodland in which their village was sit- uated." > k tonching tale of trnth is told in connection with the battle of Tallasehatche. Among the slain was found an In- dian mother, and npon her bosom lay her infant boy, vainly endeavorli g to draw sustenance from the cold breast. The nrphan was carried into camp, and Jackson tried to indnco some of the mothers amon;; the captives to give it nonrish- ment. "No," they replied ; "all hU relatives are dead, kill him too." The little boy v.'as taken to the gcnernl's own tent, fed on brown Bni?ar and water until a nurse could be procured at Hnntsvillc, when it was sent to Mrs. Jackson. Tlie senersl was a childless man, and ho adopted the forest foundling as his son. Mrs. Jackson watched over him with a mother's care, and he grew to be a beautiful youth, fhll of promise. But consumption laid him in the grave among the thades of the " Hermitage" before he reached manhood, and his foster-parents monmed over him with a grief as sincere as that of consangnlnity. This boy was no exception to the nile of India.' instinct for wild and forest life. He delighted to roam in the woods, decorate his head with feathers, and start out from ambosb and frighten children with loud yells and horrid grimaces, ne was apprenticed to i harness-maker in Nashville. 1 11 1! Ill IP' Uc Bnrroondg the Bcsiegerii ut Talludcga. friendly Creek warriors, with their i'amilies, were hemmed in at Talladega, in Lash- ley's Fort,' thirty miles distant, with no hope of" escape. The besie-rers were a tliou- sand strong, and they so completely siu-rounded the little stockade that no man could leave it unobserved. The inmates had but little food and water, and must soon perish. TIio foe was well provided, and, feeling sure of their prey at the hands of Famine if by no quicker way, were dancing around the doomed people with demo- niac joy. This messenger, who was a prominent man, had made his escape by cov- ering himself with the skin of a hog, and in the darkness of night, while imitating its gait, and grunting, and apparent rooting, was allowed to pass slowly through tiie hostile camp until he was beyond the reac!i of their hearing and arrows. Then lie cast away his disguise, and with speed heightened by desperation, he fled to Jack- son's camp on the Coosa. The commander-in-chief resolved to give immediate relief to the people at Talin- doga. He had just heard of the near approach of General White with the van of General Cocke's division of East Tennessee troops, so he ordered his whole force, ex- cepting a small guard for the camp, the sick and the wounded, to make immediate preparations for marching. He wrote a hasty note to General White, informing that officer that he should expect him to protect Fort Strother and its inmates during • November 8, his absence, and at little past midnight" he commenced fording the Coosa 1S13. f^ jjjiie above the fort, with twelve hundred infantry and eight hundred mounted men, each of the latter taking a foot-soldier on his .lorse behind him. All were across at four o'clock in the morning, aKd then they commenced a very weary- ing march through a perfect wilderness. At sunset they were within six miles of Talladega, when the general commanded his followers to seek repose, for active work would be required of them in the morning. The chief slumbered not. All night long he was on the alert for the reports of spies whom he sent out on scouting expeditions. At midnight he received a note by an Indian runner from General White, telling him that General Cocke had recalled liim, and he would not be able to protect Fort Strother. Jackson was perplexed. Strother and Talladega both needed his presence. He resolved to rescue the latter, and then fly to the defense of the former. Silently his troops were put in motion in the dark, and before four o'clock in the morning'' they had made a wide Novcnioer 9. . circuit and surrounded the enemy, who, a thousand and eighty strong, were concealed in a thicket that covered the margins of two rivulets flowing out from springs.'* Jackson disposed his troops for action so as to inclose the foe in a circle of armed men. The infantry were in three lines, the militia on the left, and the volunteers on the right. The cavalry formed the two extreme wings, and were ordered to advance in a curve, keeping their rear connected with the advance of the infantry lines, so that there should be no break in the circle. In this position were the troops at sunrise, when Colonel William Carroll Avas sent forward with the advanced guard, composed of the companies of Captains Dederich, Caperton, and Bledsoe, to commence the a^ tack. He delivered a heavy fire, when the savages rushed forth, with liorrid yells and screams, in the direction of the militia under General Roberts, from whose brigade > This fort wa8 a little eastward of the Coosa River, In Talladega County, Alabama ; and a portion of Its site Ib row covered by the pleasant village of Talladega, the capital of 'he county, which had a population of about two thonsaiiii when the late Civil War broke out in 1801. It Is in a deiightfbl valley, with very attractive scenery in view ' The order of march is seen in the uppir part of the diagram on page 706. The cavalry were commanded by Colonel AUcom, and the monnted riflemen by Colonel Cameron. The infantry were commanded by Brigadier Generals Hall' and Roberts,! assisted by Colonels B-adley, Pillow, M'Crorsney, Carnill, and Dyer. The position of tlie trpops In the attack, when they had surrounded the enemy, is seen in the lower part of the diagram, commencing with the reservci under Colonel Dyer. This diagram is copied, by permission, from Pickett's Hutonj 0/ Alabama, II., 402. • WIlMam Hall had been a colonel in the Tennessee mllltia who followed Jackson from Nashville to Natchei uid back, and was made brigadier general of three-months' volunteers on the 2(lth of Soplcmher, ISIS. t Isaac Roberta. lie was commUcioned brigadier general of three-months' Tennessee Volanteers pn the 4tb of Oc- tober, 1813. OF THE WAR OF 1812. ^68 esiegere at Talladega. ladcga, in Lash- ers were a thou- at no man could and must soon at the hands of iople witli demo- 18 escape l)y cov- bile imitating its wly through the arrows. Then he I he fled to Jack- people at Talla- 3 with the van of lis whole force, ex- make immediate White, informing its inmates during 1 fording the Coosa and eight hundred e behind him. All need a very weary- vithin six miles of lose, for active work t for the reports of 3 received a note hy Cocke had recalled ■son was perplexed. I to rescue the latter, ere put in motion in ;y had made a wide , and eighty strong, icts flowing out from , in a circle of armed lid the volunteers on t ordered to advance Infantry lines, so that Ihe troops at Bunrise, Iced guard, composed Ito commence the at- with horrid yells and , from whose brigade LrmencinBwHhtT^ereBene. ^N^»»et°Natche.aBd 'voCteer»pntbe4thofOc. femporary Panic among the Mllltla. Battle at Talladega. Dealructlun of the Indiana. Carroll had been detached, and who, pursuant to or- ders, had fallen back, so as to bring tiie enemy ui)0ii the niiiin body. Their horrid noise and devilish uj) pearai 'C so terrified the militia that some of them (Tiive way. Seeing this, Jackson ordered Colonel Bradley to fill the chasm with liis regiment, wliich was lagging behind the line. Bradley failed to obey, and Lieutenant Colonel Dyer, in command of reserves composed of the companies of Captains Smith, Morton, Axune, Edwards, and Hammond, was ordered to that duty with his men. Tiiese were immediately dismounted, and met the yelling savages so resolutely that the fugitive militia took courage, resumed their station, and foug.t gallant- ly. Tlie battle now became general, and had lasted about fifteen minutes, when the Indians, who had fought well, suddenly broke, and fled in all direc- tions toward the surrounding mountains. But for tlie giving way of the militia, and the forming of a gap in the circle by the tardiness of Bradley, and a too wide circuit made by Allcorn and his cavalry, it is believed that not a warrior would have escaped. They were hotly pursued, and the woods for miles became a resting-place for tlic bodies of dead savages. Two hundred and nine- ty of the slain were counted. Many were, doubtless, not seen. The number of the wounded could not be iiacertained, but they wei-e numerous. The loss of the Americans amounted to fifteen killed and eighty-five wounded. Four were badly hurt, and only two of the latter died from the eftect of injuries received. Among the wounded were Colonels Wil- liam Pillow and James Lauderdale, Major Richard Boyd, and Lieutenant Samuel Bar- ton, the last mortally.^ These and other wounded men were placed on litters, and when the dead were all buried the victorious little army marched with the maimed to Fort Strother, followed by li'e grateful rescued Creeks.^ Among the few trophies of victory borne back to the Csjosa was a coarse bsnner on which were the Spanish arms. This evidence of the complicity of the Spaniards with the liostile Creeks was sent hy Jackson to the Irdies of East Tennessee, who, as we have observed, presented a stand of colors to the Tennessee Volunteers.' When Jackson and his troops reached Fort Strother, wearied and half famished, they found the place almost destitute of provisions. None had been brought in during the absence of the little army, and now starvation threatened all. Almost mutinous I General Jackson's Dispatch to Governor Blonnt, November 11, 1813. Report of Adjutant General Sitler, Novem- ber 15. ' These conBlsted of one hundred and sixty friendly Creek warriors, with their wives and children. The crushing blow was to have fallen upon them on that very day. They were almost ready to die of thirst. Their gratitude and Joy were commensurate with the distress from which they had been relieved. ' See pace T44. The following note <prluted In Parton's Life of Jackson, I., 448) Rccompanied the colors, and containe a history of the aflfair : " General Andrew Jackson, with compliments to Governor Blonnt, requests hin to Inform the ladies of East Ten- ncBsec, who presented the colors to the Tennessee Volnnteers, that Captain D^-nderich, who, with Captain Bledsoe's and faptain Caperton's companies, under the direction of Major Carro'l, were sent to bring on the attack, and lend the en- Pitiy.ljy a regular retreat, on the strongest point of my Infantry, went Into action with their colors tied round him, and th,it they were well supported. And, in return , I send y on n stand of colors (although not of such elegant Btnflf or mag- nilicent needle-work) taken by one of the volunteers, which I beg you to present to them as the only mark of gratltnde rte volnnteers have It In their power to make. With his own hand he slayed the bearer. They will be handed by Mr. Flctrher, who I send for that purpose." A letter dated Nashville, November IT, 1813, said, " Mr. Thomas II. Fletcher, nflhis town, has Just arrived f^om General Jncksou's army. lie was the bearer of a stand uf colors taken ft'om the en- emy, and bearing the Spanish cross." i: f 766 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK f! HftljJ II iiiii A divided Command. Tbo IndiuDa, diaplrlted, sue tor Fence. Separate Actluu ofOoDeral Cocke and hia CummaDd. murmurs wore hoard amoncf the Hufleriuij Boklit'rs, but tlioir pciioriirH words and ex- ample kept them witliiii the homuls of obedience. He was ever eheerful, and sliand with his sohlierw in all their privations, eatiiip, like them, tiie aeoriiH found in tlic for- est, to sustain life. It was o. very critical period in the campaign, but it was passed in safety and honor to all concerned. The severe cha-stisement administered upon the Creeks at Tallasehalchc and Tal- ladega had an immediate and jxjwerful etlect upon th(i spirit and temper of the sav- ages, and promised a speedy termination of the war. That desired end was post- ])oned by an unfortunate circumstance growing out of the ever-dangerous fact of a divided conmiand in the campaign. Tliero was an existing jealousy between the East and West Tennessee troops; and, notwithstanding Jackson was the senior offi- cer, and properly commander-in-chief of the campaign against tlie Creeps, Goiicra! Cocke maintained, up to the time in question, a separate and indcpender.t coniinand, and attempted to operate against the hostile Indians at first even witli out consulta- tion with General Jackson. This produced trouble, as we shall observe presently. Many of the warriors who fought at Talladega were from the Ilillabee towns on the Tallapoosa River, in the present Clicrokee County, Alabama. Those who escaped to the mountains on that dreadful morning were so thoroughly convinced of the futil- ity and danger of making farther resistance to the Tennesseeans, that they rcstdveil to sue for peace and reconciliation. For this purpose they sent Itobert Grayson, an aged Scotcliman and old resident among them, to make peaceful propositions to Gen- eral Jackson at Fort Strother. Jackson cordially responded to the proposition, hut at the same time told the messenger, in tirni language, that he had come to chastise those wlio had committed gross wrongs toward the white jjcoplc and friendly Indians in the Creek country, and that he must have full evidence of the sincerity of peaee professions before he would consent to stay his hand, " The prisoners and property which they have taken from us and the friendly Creeks," he said, " must be retiuned; the instigators of the war and the murderers of our citizens must be snrrendi red ; the latter must and will be made to feel the force of our resentment. Long shall tliey remember Fort Minis in bitterness and tears. Upon those who are disposed to re- main friendly I neither wish nor intend to make war." Grayson hastened back with the conciliatory message. It was never delivered, for destruction had fallen upon the Ilillabee people while the messenger was away nn liis errand. That destruction came from the East Tennesseeans under Generals C'oeko and White, who liad come dv.wn in a separate column, and encamped on the bank of the Coosa, seventy miles above Fort Strother, late in October. There Cocko, with the main body, awaited supplies and built a fort, which he named Armstrong, in hon- or of the then Secretary of War. It was in the present Cherokee County, Alabama, not far westward of the Georgia line. But the supplies came not. The continued low water in the Tennessee would not allow the contractor to fulfill his promises. Famine stared the little army in the face. Cocke was sorely perplexed. He knew that Jackson, who depended upon the same source of sunplies, must be as much em- barrassed as himself by lack of food. What shall be done ? was a very serious ques- tion that needed an immediate answer. Jackson had called for a junction of the armies. Shall we go forward and increase the dangers of famine by having a com- bined array of five thousand men in the wilderness ? was another pertinent and im- portant question. A council of officers was held. The question, Shall we follow Jackson ? was decided in the negative by unanimous vote. Shall avo cross the Coosa and proceed to the Creek settlements on the Tallapoosa ? was a second question, and it was unanimously decided in the aflinnative. General White wa^ then within a day's march of Jackson's camp, and Cocke sent an order for him to return immediate- ly to Fort Armstrong. " It is the unanimous wish of the officers and men also," he said. " If we follow General Jackson's army," he continued, " we must suffer for OF THE WAU OF 1812. »«t ocka wd hli Uomnuuid. [Vv. wovda and cx- certvil, :uul sliarid H tbuiul in thi' for- but it was iiassi'd isehatdic iviul Tal- tcmiHT of the sav- irc'd I'Utl was post- liuiij;ero\ia fact of a iloHsy betwt'i'ii tlio was the w\\\ov dfli- ihc Creeps', Geuiral cpemler.t cominiiiKi. ■a witii'JUt conswltii- obsovvc presently. Ilillabee towns on Tliosc who escaped oiivinccdof thefutil- m, that they rosohoa t Robert Grayson, an propositions to (icn- ) the proposition, hut had come to chastise c and friendly buliaiis the sincerity of peace irisonera and pvoiiorty Id, "must be returned; iiuist be piirrenilereil; lent. Lonii shall they lo are disposed to re- as never delivered, for ■ssenger was away on under Generals Coekc amped on the hank of •. There Cocke, with .ed Armstrong, in lion- kee County, Alahania, ! not. The continuea to fulfill his promises perplexed. He knew must be as much cm- iS a very serious qucs- for a junction of the Ane by having a com- Jier pertinent and im- Ltion, Shall we follow kail we cross the Coosa a second question, and lite wa'. then within a a to return immediate- •crs and men also, k « we must suffer tor (jwcrol Corko fallM iipoii ii IIIHiihcc Town. MniRacro of !t« Peuplo. EximiieriUlaa OftlM supplies ; nor can we ex|)ect to gain a victory. Let us, then, take a direction in which ffc can share some of the dangers and glories of the field." Tliis message, and the note from (4encral Jackson, already mentioned, urging him to hasten to the ])rotec- tioii of Fort Strother, reached While at tiie same time. lie considered his obedience due first to his immediate sui)erior. General Cocke, and he marched his lialf-starved bri"ade back to Fort Armstrong. General Cocke, too remote from General Jackson to act in concert with him, was, consequently and unfortunately, ignorant of the peaceful mood of the Ilillabee ])eo- ple. lie had been informed that one of the most eiu-rgetic of the C'reek leaders (Hill Scott, who commanded the Indians at Talladega), was among tiiem, tilled with the hellish jmrpose of massacring every white person and friendly Creek in all that re- c;ion. lie accordingly dispatche<l General White, with scmie mounted nuM\ and a hand of (^herokee allies, to attack the Ilillabee town. White took only three days' rations with him, and marched with jreat rapidity toward the ])rineipal village of tlic Ilillabee, n the ' order between the present Talladega and I{andol|)li (-ounties, Alabama, full a hiKHirel miles from Fort Armstrong. He spread desolation in h' ) iiatli. Ockfuske and Genalga, two deserted towns, one of thirty and the other of ninety houses, were laid in ashes, and at dawn on the morning of the 18th of Novem- lier — the very day when (iniyson hf't Jackson's camp — White appeared before the chief village. The inhabitants were unsuspicious of danger, and nmde no resistance; and yet White, for the purpose of inspiring terror in the minds of the Creek nation, tell furiously ui)on the non-resistants, and murdered no less than sixty warriors before his baud was stayed. Then, with two hundred and fifty willows and orphans as ])ris- oners in his train, he returned to Fort Armstrong, without a drop of a Tennesseean's blood being shed. The inhabitants of the other Ilillabee towns, ignorant of any other commander than (icncral Jackson, regarded this massacre as the nuist foul perfidy on his j>art, and were intensely exasperated. They felt that their humble ])etition for peace had been cruelly responded to only by the sword and bullet, and thcncelbrth they carried on iiostilities with the most malignant feelings aiul fearful energy. Jackson's anger against General Cocke was eipially hot. In the absence of correct iufonnation, he regarded him as a rival, willfully withholding sujjplies, and seeking glory on his own account. This was unjust, and the irate commander was convinced of the fact in the course of two or three weeks, when, in a friendly letter, he invited the East Tennesseean to join him with his army at Fort Strother on the I'ith of De- eomher. Cocke cheerfully complied, and was there on the appointed day, having in the mean time scoured the Cherokee country for provisions, and caused a considera- ble quantity of supi)lies to be haided froni the Tennessee to the Coosa for the use of the combined army. He found that of Jackson greatly demoralized. Disajjpointed, starving, inactive, the troops at Fort Strother wore dreadfully himiesick, and filled with a mutinous spirit. This the courage and tact of the commander controlled, but with great difticulty. The militia, on one occasion, prepared to go back to the set- tlements. They started in a body, when the yet faithful volunteers, with Jackson at their head, stood in their path. Then the volunteers attempted to leave the camp and go home — the very men to whose fortunes their leader had so tenaci'^",Rly ad- hered at Natchez the year before — when the militia, with Jackson at their head, stood in the path of the new nuitineers. At length almost the entire army of West Ten- nessee, despairing of relief, determined to abandon the expedition and go home. Some of the militia actually started, and the volunteers were about to follow. The general had no suflicient force to restrain them, and he was compelled to rely upon himself alone. He mounted his horse, seized a musket with his right hand, while the disabled arm was yet in a sling, and, placing himself in front of the malcontents, with the weapon resting upon his horse's neck, he declared that he would shoot the first 1 1 .J.; (If, M h I, ■ ' ' 1 1 :? 9t ■J ...^ . fi'- '* 1 ■'' \ - 1 i K i. : i 768 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Mutlnaen checked. The Creek CoDUtry Invaded from (lonrKla. Battle or Authat. man who should take a stt'|) in advance. Aniazt'd at his boldness, tlioy pazod nt liju, in sih'iiot'. Kortuiiatciy, at that inoniont, ('otl'eo and two coinpanios offaithriil iiuiiiiit cd men came uj), and the mutineers, afler consultation, agreed to return to duty. Vet discontent was not allayed, and Jackson finally allowed all volunteers ho disposed to return to their homes, and he orttanized a force out of other materials. Could he liave had sutHcient supplies atler the battle at Talladega, and been met by innncdiutc concert of action by the East Tennessee troops, he miufht have ende<l tlu? war within a fortnight. It was protracted for months ; and for ten long and weary wooks he was comp(dled to lie in idleness at Fort Strother, suffering the ve.vations which givw out of positive demonstrations of discontent. In the mean time the Creek country was invaded from anotlier cpiarter. The prv for help had filled the ears of the Georgians, and late in November, Hrigadier Ocncnii John Floyd, at the lieadof nine hundred and fifty militia of that state, and four jiniid- red friendly Indians, guided by Mordecai, a Jew trader, entered th. region of the hostiles from the cast. He crossed the Chattalioochee into the ])resent Itussell Coun- ty, Alabama, on tlie '24tli of November," and ])ushcd westward toward the Tal- lapoosa, where lie was informed a large number of hostile Indians had ccilict- cd in the village of Auttose, on the " holy ground," on Avhicih the proj)hets had tiiiiirlit the Indians to believe no white man could set foot and li'c. This town was on tlio left bank of the Tallapoosa, about twenty miles above its conffucnce with the Coosa, at the mouth of the Calebec Creek. Floyd encamped within a i'cw miles of it on the evening of the 28th, and at an hour past midnight inarched to the attack. At (hwn ho was before the town with his troops arranged for battle in three columns. The right was composed of Colonel Booth's battalion ; the left of Colonel Watson's ; and the centre of the rifle companies of Captains Adams and Merri weather, the liitttr commanded by Lieutenant Ilendon. The artillery, under Captain Thonnvs, was post ed in front of the right column. The friendly Indians were led by William M'In- tosh,' a half-blood, and a cl.ief called The Mad Dog's Son, Floyd intended to surround the town, but the morning light revealed the fact that there were two villages in front of the invading column, aiid that it was necessary to change at once the disjiosition of the forces. This was skillfully done. One town was below the other, a hundred rods apart. To the lower one three companies ot'in- fantry, Merriweather's rifles, and two troops of dragoons, under Irwin and Stt'do, were sent, while the remainder of the troops marched upon the upper town. Iinnic- diately after the attack commenced the battle becatne general. The Indians ap- j)eared at all points, and fought gallantly for a while, when the booming of heavy ai tillery, and a furious bayonet charge, so terrified them that they fell back and Nought shelter in the out-houses, thickets, and copses in the rear of the towns. Overpowering numbers pushed them hard, and they at length fled to cane-covered caves cut in the blulls of the river. Their dwellings, auout four hundred in number, some of them commodious and containing valuable articles, were fired and destroyed, and the poor smitten and dismayed savages were hunted and butchered with a fiendish barbarity which ought to have made the cheeks of the actors burn with the blushes of shame. It was estimated that full two hundred Indians were murdered. Floyd lost eleven killed and fifty-four wounded.^ The loss of the friendly Indians, who held back at the beginning, but fought bravely toward the last, is not mentioned in the official re- ports. ' William M'liitosh wns the chief of the Coweta tribe of the Creek nation. He was the son of a Scotchman by a Creek woman. He was conspicuoug iu the memorable battle at Horse-shoe Bend in March, 1814. In 1828 he lost caxt with bis people because of his having evidently been bribed to make a certain treaty for the glviuj; np of Creek terri- tory. He and an adherent were afterward shot as they attempted to escape from M'Intosh's dwellins, which some es- asperated Indians had tired. His residence was on the Chattahoochee. See Drake's Book of the IiuliaiM, elevcntli edi- tion, page 391. ' General Floyd's dispatch to Major General PInckney, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Department, Decem- l>er 4, 1818 ; Pickett's UUtory of Alabama, 11., BOO. OF THE WAR OF 18 13. 1M Battle or AutloM. Clslbonie ordered into tho Creek Country. Expedition under Cuplnln Rale, Scene on the Altbama. thcv Rttwd at him I ot iiiithfiil luoiini turn to (hity. Yi-t iH'i'H R<> iliwi'O!*'''! to iterialK. (.\>iilil lie iiu't by iinmciliiiic led tht! war witliin ul woury wpi'ks be cations which },'ii\v r quarter. Tlic cry r, Hrigadier (Icncral ^tat(>,an<ll«»ii'limul- (1 th. rcijion of tlic resent llussell I'niin- vnvi\ toward tho Tal- Indiana had cc'.lcct- prophets had ttiuiilit 'his town was on the encc with the Coosa. few miles of it on tlio he attack. At dnwii three eoltmins. Tlic Dh.iiel Watson's; and ■rriweather, the liittw ain Tliomas, was post- led by William M'hi- revealed the fact that that it was necessary uUy «lo"e. One town three companies ofiii- lor Irwin and Steele, upper town, luime- •al. The Indians ap- booming of heavy ar- fell back and sought owns. Overpowering cred caves cut in the umber, some of them .stroyed, and the poor h a fiendish barbanly the blushes of shame, d Floyd lost eleven vns, who held back at loned in the official re- Isu In 1S28 he lost cwuvul" I the clvlni? np of Creek tern- iKwelUn,, which some «■ [southern Department, Decern- In tho space of sovcn <l.ayfl Floyd had marched one liundred and twenty miles ninl committed tho massacre. He was now Hi.\ty miles from a dejxwit of |)rovisioim, luul his rations were nearly exluiusted; so, after buryiim liis dead and preparin;^ litters for his wounded, lu' liastened back to Fort Miteliell, on tlie Cliattahooilioe. On his de- imrture, and when a mile eastward of the ruined towns, his rear was attacked by some desperate survivors of Anttose, who were dispersed after receiving a i'ew volleys. While these events were transpiring in the uj)per country of the Creeks, stirring scenes were witnessed in tho present Clarke County, in the forks of the Toinbigbee and Alabama, and vicinity. The Indians, under the direct intluenee of WeatlierslinJ ami the British and Spanish officers, were very active and sanguinary in that region, ami General Flournoy, who had kept General Claibonie on the defensive, was at last aroused to a sense of the necessity of offensive measures. Accordingly, on the 12th of October, ho ordered that otHcer to advance with his army into the heart of the Creek country for the purpose of defending tho citizens while gathering their crops vet in the field ; " to drive the enemy from the frontiers; to follow them up to their contiguous towns, and to kill, burn, and destroy all their negroes, horses, cattle, and other property that could not conveniently be brought to tho depots." This san- triiinary order was justified by the Georgia general, by tho conduct of Great Britain, ami the acts of her Indian allies. Claiborno instantly obeyed. He crossed the Tombigbec from St. Stephen's, and pcourcd the country on its eastern side in all directions with his detachments, meeting and dispersing bands of Indians here and there, but without bringinji; them to battle any where. In the mean time Captain Sam Dale, who had recovered from his wounds, was ])repariiig for active operations. He had held Fort Madison ; and, on the return of Colonel Carson to that post early in November, he had obtained his leave to go ont and drive the small bands of marauding savages from tho frontier. He was joined by a detachment of thirty of Captain Jones's Mississippi Volunteers, .iiider Lieutenant Montgomery, and forty Clarke County militia, having for his lieutenant (icrrard W. Creagh, Avho was attached to his company in tho battle of Burnt Corn Creek. They marched southeasterly to a ferry, where Cn3sar, a irec !"'gro of the ])ar- tv, had two canoes concealed. In these the party crossed the river, and on a frosty night, with very thin clothing, they lodged in a cane-brake. At dawn* tliey marched up the river, the boats in charge of five picked men each, and keeping abreast of the party on shore. Some Indians were soon encountered on land and water, and, aflcr a brisk skirmish, the dusky foe fled up the stream out of sight. Dale's party were then separated, some following the trail on the east side of the river, and others following that on the west side. At half past ten they reached Rando.i's Landing,' where they found evidences of Indians near. Directly a large canoe, made from the trunk of an immense cypress-tree, came floating down the stream, bearing eleven naked and hideously-painted savages. They were about to land at a cane-brake, when Dale, calling his men to follow, dashed for the spot to con- test their landing. They shot two of the Indians, and tho others backed tho great eanoe out into deep water, three of the Indians swimming on the side not exposed to the bullets, and the remainder lying flat on its bottom. A stirring scene now ensued. One of the warriors in the water called out to Wcathcrsford, who was in the neighborhood, for help. Dale stopped his voice by putting a bullet in his brain, when the great canoe, deprived of the guidance of the three Indians in the stream, who had been killed, floated sluggishly down with the current. Dale ordered six men on the eastern bank to fetch the boats for the piir- ' On the hlnff above this landinj; Fort Claiborne was afterward bnllt, on or near the site of tho village of Claiborne, Id Monroe Connty, Alabama. The picture on pntre 770, Randon's (now Claiborne) Landing, is ft-om n sketch by tho Av thor, made from the deck of a steamer in April, IRflfl. The covered way is for cotton-bales and other thlni^g to slide down from the snmmlt of the bluff, two hundred feet, to the margin of the river, whence merchandise and agricultural prod'icta |> are taken on board of steamers. Uere was the scene of the canoe fight recorded in the text. 3C * November 18, 1S13. ft : 1! ^^ J?. i 1 1 : ^ ^ - 5 fiffil 770 riCTOIilAL JTlIuLU-BOOK A terrible laeamitor In C«noM, Dalt'i luu>(l-to-h*D(t right. H« wins tb« Victor;. po«> ofnttiickin^ Uit« Iii<lian« ill thoir huf^»? criill. An iluy iipproaclu'd and looked iutii it, oiu! of tliotn Hcriuiiud " Livo IiidiiuiH, by (ioill Hiick wntt'i", boyH ! buck wa- ter !" niid they went Ixick to the place of enibarkiitinii fiiHter than they came. Dale WUH exiiHperated by tliiir eowardiee, and quickly or- dered Cicsar to brinjr a ca- noe. He jumped into it, fol- lowed by Jeremiah Austill and James Smith. It would hold no more Bafely. Cicsar paddled it within forty yaids of the craft of the Havages, when Dale and his compan- ions rose to [)our a volley into the great canoe. Kacli gun missed fire. Water had spoiled the priming. A mo- ment afterward and the twu vessels were side by side, when the stalwart Dale, or- dering Cajpar to hold tlioiii together, clubbed his mus- ket, and, placing one foot in his own canoe and the other in that of the enemy, com- menced a furious contest. Austill and Smith joined in the fray with clubbed mus- kets, but Caesar could not liold the boats together, the current was so strong. They parted, leaving Da' i alone in the canoe of the savages, one of whom lay wounded in the stern, and four others, strong and fierce, confronted him as he stood defiantly hi the middle of the great canoe.' Two warriors lay dead at his feet. At the instant when Dale planted himself in the middle of the great canoe, the sav- age neurest to him directed a terrible blow at his head, which the soldier parried skill- fully with the barrel of his gun, and, as quick as lightning, slew his assailant with his bayonet. The next one instantly sprang forward, Avhen a bullet from Austin's rifle, sent from the boat that was drifting a few yards off, pierced his heart, and he fell in the bottom of the canoe. The third then made for Dale with his tomahawk, when he too fell, pierced by the brave captain's bayonet. The last warrior was Tar-cha-chee, a noted wrestler of powerful frame. He and Dale were old acquaintances. As the savage's keen glance met that of Dale, he shook himself, gave the horrid war-Avhoo]i, and then cried out, " Big Sam, I am a man — I am coming — come on !" He then bounu- ed over his dead companions with a terrific yell, and directed a furious blow at the head of Dale with his clubbed rifle. Dale dodged it, but it fell upon and dislocated his shoulder. At the same moment Dale darted his bayonet into the body of the In- dian, who exclaimed, as he tried to escape, "Tar-cha-chee is a man ! He is not afraid to die !" Dale then turned to the wounded warrior, who had been snapping his piece ' It was duR out of a hnifo cypresB-tree. It was between thirty and forty feet long, four feet deep, and three fetl abeam. It bad been need for the special purpose of transporting com. BANUOM 8 OB OLAIBUUME LANUINU. OF TIIK WAB OF 1812. 771 HawtutttTlMoij. ,ackutg the Indians igc cratl. Ah tluy ><( aiul looked into f tlu'in Hcriiiimd, uliaiiH, l>y (iodi or, boyH ! hi»'k wa- il ihcy went Imck aco of cinbiirkiUiiiu 111 tliey ennu>. Dale .spcnvted by tliiir 10, and quickly or- CBftr to 1»rin^' a ca- ) jumped into it,f(il- y Jeremiuh Austill icH Smith. It would more safely. Ca>Kar it within forty yards raft of the savages, alo and his conii)aii- se to pour a volley > great canoe. Kacli ssed fire. Water had the priming. A mo- [Icrward and the twn were side by side, ho stalwart Dale, or- Cffipar to hold them jr, clubbed his ihuk- ;1, placing one foot in (1 canoe and the other , of the enemy, cora- ly with clubbed nuis- vas so strong. They hom lay wounded in he stood defiantly in feet. great canoe, the sav- i soldier parried skill- his assailant with bis ■t from Austin's rifle, heart, and he fell in tomahawk, when he [ior was Tar-cha-cliee, ^uaintances. As the ,e horrid war-whoop, in !" He then bounu- , furious blow at the upon and dislocated ;o the body of the In- an ! He is not afrai.l |en snapping his piece tour feet deep, and three f«i nnMurthe "CauM Sight." CuMlnictloii iif Kurt Cliiniciriii' itt Kniidon'i LiMidln(, Anitlll and Dale, m at him during the whole conflict, a'ld was now <lefiantly exclaiming " I am a warrior ! I am not afraid to die !" and pinned him to the canoe wkh his baytmut. " He fol- lowetl his ten comrades to the land of spirits," said the rugged Indian fighter after- ward. ' Tlu'.H resulted, after a struggle of about ten miiuites, one of the most remarkable of naval and jiersonal combats on record. Just as it ended. Dale's men came running to tiie bank, and shouted " VVcatliersford is coming!" He immediately crossed with his whole party, ami made his way with them safely to Fort Madison. The fame of this e.\ph»it nmde Dale a hero of history, and the "canoe fight" is yet a theme for ro- mance and song among the common ])eo[)le in tiic Southwest.* At about tliis time Claiborne pushed across Clarke County to the Alabama for the purpose of establishing a deposit for supplies at Handon's Laiuling,' awaiting there the arrival of (leorgia and Temu'sseo troops, and to act as mucli as possible on the de- fensive, as circumstaiu'cs might require. He marched with three hundred volunteers, some dragoons and militia, and a band of Choctaw Indians under (ieneral Pushama- taha and Cliief MuHhullatubba. Ho crossed the Alabama on the 17th of November and encamped, and thero he was joined on the 28th by the Third Uegiment of national troops, under Colonel Gilbert C. Ilussell, from Mount Vernon. Tiiere Claiborne con- structed a strong stockade two hundred feet square, with three blockhouses and a lialf-nioon battery that commanded the rear. It was intended as a dejjosit of provis- ions for the Tennessee troops above. It was completed before the close of Novem- ber, when it received the name of Fort Claiborne, in honor of the commander. On its site, as we have observed, stands Claiborne, the capital of Monroe County, Alaba- ma. From that point early in December Claiborne apprised General Jackson and (iovcrnor Blount of the establishment of this depot, and also of the arrival of more English vessels in Pensacola Bay, with many soldiers and Indian supplies. He said lie " wished to God that he was authorized to take that sink of iniipiity [Pensacola], the depot of Tories and instigators of disturbances on the Southern frontier."* Claiborne now determined to penetrate the Creek country toward its heart, and share with Jackson and Coffee the honors of bringing the savages into subjection."^ I Pickett's Bittory qf Alnlnma, II., 300. Claiborne's Li/e and Timet of Omeral .lam Dale, page 121. When Claiborne wroir in 18G0, Jeremiah AuKtill, one of Dale's companions, was a highly-esteemed commissinn merchant In Mobile, und be was still living when the v^riter of these pages visited that city in the spring of 18(!0. He had been a state senator of that district. All of the circumstances of the canoe llKht here given were vfcrlfled before the Alabama Legislature In I8!!l. Austin Is a native of Pendleton District, South Carolina, where he was t:orn im the Kith oi August, 1TD4, and was only nloetean years of age at the time of the canoe flght. llo la a son of Captain Evans Austill, already mentioned as one who remained with Dale In Port Madison. lie afterward bceainc colonel of the militia, and is represented as a powerful man physically. James Smith, his compa.lon In the canoe with Caesar, was a native of Georgia, and was then twcuty-flve years of age. lie was a daring fToni.'er man, aud died In East Mississippi several years ago. lie and Aus- till tried hard to bring their canoe into the fight In aid of Dale, but the current prevented. "Their guns had become melc89, and their only paddle had been broken," said Dale. " Two braver fellows," he continued, " never lived. AOs- llll's first shot saved my life." ' Samuel Dale was a remarkable man. He was of Irish eitractlon, and was bom in Rockbridge County, Virginia, In 1772. His father removed with his family to Glade Hollow, on the Clinch River, In 17TB, and In 1T84 emigrated to the vicinity of Qreensburg, Georgia. Not long afterward Dale and his wife died, leaving eight children, Shmuel being the eldest. He took part In movements for keepipg In check the hostilities of the Creek Indians in the time of Washing- ton's ndminlstration. He became a famous i)orderer and Indian fighter, and afterward a trader among the Creeks and Cherokces. He was also a gnlde to parties emigrating to the Mississippi Territory ftom Georgia. During the war with the Creeks now under consideration, he was very active and efflclent. He received the commission of brevet brig- adier peneral. After the war ho settled at Dale's Ferry, on the Alabama, and engaged in merchandising. In 1810 he was u member of the Convention called to divide the Mississippi Territory, and the following year he was a delegate to the first General Assembly of the Territory of Alabama- the eastern portion of Hississlppi. He served sevcial terms In the legislature of Alabama, and In 1824 he was on a committee of the body appointed to escort Lafayette to the cap- ital of the state. He was engaged much In public life until his death, which occurred at his residenc c in Dalevllle, Lau- derdale County, Mississippi, on the 24th of May, 1841, when he wac in the seventieth year of his age. ' See note 1, page 769. This was named from Its owner, who perished in Fort Mlms. It was In the county whence the hostile Indians procnred most of their supplies. * Pickett's A labama, IL, page 820. ' This enterprise was deemed so hazardous that a memorial against It was signed by nine captains, eight lieutenants, and Ave ensigns of the Mississippi Volunteers in behalf of themselves and their men. They urged the feeble condition of the men, lack of provisions, clothing, blankets, and shoes, the Inclemency of the weather, and the want of trans- portation through a country where there was not even a hunter's trail. Yet I'ley expressed their willingness to fol- low the general if he should resolve to proceed. He did so resolve, and they checrthlly followed. "Not a murmnr wu beard ; not a complaint was made," said General Claiborne afterward. " Babordinatlon to their officera marked it . j r72 PICTGRI/L FIELD-BOOK Claiboruc travereef the Creek Country. Battle of Ecoiiochaca. Escape of Weathcrsford. • 1313. On the 1 2th of December lio left Fort Claibonie with a little army about one thou- sand strong, and marched in a northeasterly direction toward the present Lowndes County, Alabama. His force consisted of a detachment of Colonel Russell's regulars • Major Cassell's battalion of horse ; a battalion of militia under Major Benjamin Smoot, of which Patrick May was adjutant, and Dale and He :rd captains ; the twelve months' Mississippi Volunteers under Colonel Carson ; and one hundred and fifty Choctaws un- der General Pushamataha. After marching eighty miles he halted, and built a sta- tion for provisions, which lie called Fort Deposit. P was in the present Butler Coun- ty, Alabami. When this was completed, he pushed on nearly thirty miles farther through a pKthless wilderness, with as little baggage and provisionri as possible, and approached Tiiconochaca, or Holy Ground, which was situated upon a blutf on the left bank of the Alabania, just below the present Powell'c Ferry, in Lowndes County. The village had been built in an obscure place by Weathersford a few months before, and dedicated by the Shawnoese prophets whom Tecumtha had left to inflame the Creeks as a place of refuge for the wounded and dispersed in battle, fugitives from their homes, and women and children. No path or trail led to it, and the prophets assured their dupes that the ground on which Econochaca, like that of Auttose, stood, was so holy th.it no wliite man could tread upon it and live. There these savage priests per- formed horrid incantations, and in the square in the centre of the town the most dread- ful cruelties had been already perpetrated. White prisoners, and Creeks friendly to them, had been burned to death there by the directions of those ministers of the Evil Spirit. ClaiboiTie was before Econochaca in battle order on the morning of the 23d of De- cember.* It was pretty strongly guarded in the Indian manner, and tlio in- mates had no suspicion of danger. The prophets were busy with their incan- tations, and at that very hour a number of friendly half-bloods of both sexes were m the square, surrounded by resinous wood, ready to be consumed ! The troops advanced in three '"olumns, with mounted men under Captains Lester and Wells acting as reserves. The right column was commanded by Colonel Carson, and f^onsisted of twelve-months' volunteers ; the centre was composed of a detach- ment of the Third Regiment United States Infantry, and some mounted j-iflemeii un- der Lieutenant Colonel Russell ; and the left of militia, and some Choctaws under Major Smoot. Their duty was difficult, for the town was almost surrounded by swamps and deep ravines, and the Indians, regardhig the place as holy, and having property there of great value, were prepared to 2 ;ht desperately. They had, on the approach of the invaders, conveyed tlieir women and children to safe places in the thick forests of what is now known as the Duich Bend of Autauga County, and they liad no hinderances to a vigorous defense. The three columns closed upon the town by a simultaneous movement. Carson's came in sight of it at noon, and was furiously attacked. It resisted the assault with great spirit, and before those of Russell and Smoot could get fairly into the iight, the dismay.'d Indians broke and fled. A larger portion of them escaped, owing to the failure of Major Cassell to occupy the bank of the Alabama, westward of the town, with his battalion of horse. They fled in droves along the bank of the river, and by swimming and the use of caroes, escaped to the other side, and joined their families in the Autauga forests. Weathersford, when he found himself deserted by his war- riors, fled swiftly on a fine gray horse for the salvation of his own life. He was hotly pursued to a perpendicular bluff flanked by ravines, whcr ais powerful steed made a mighty bound from it, and horse and rider disappeared beneath the water. Tiiey immediately rose, Weathersford grasping his horse's mane with one hand, and his their every net, and no RnfTerinf; conld scdnce them from their duty. Their patience was equal to their cnnrnge." Most of them were young men accustomed to the comforts and I",riirle8 of life. Among them were Gerard W. Brandon nnu Abraham N. Scott, both afterward governors of the state.— Claiborne's Li/e of Dale, page 188. OF THE WAR OF 1813. 773 Escape of Weallicraturil. y about one thou- present Lowndes Russell's regulars; r Benjamin Smoot, ;he twelve months' fifty ChoctawB un- !cl, and built a sta- •esent Uutler Comi- hirty miles farther >nri as possible, and 1 a blutf on the loft ^ndes County. The months before, and inflame the Creeks ugitives from their tie prophets asburod ittose, stood, was so [> savage priests per- 3wn the most dvead- d Creeks friendly to ministera of the Evil ng of the 23d of De- manner, and the in- Lisy with their incan- )f both sexes were in J ider Captains Lester a by Colonel Carson, mposed of a detaeh- nounted riflemen un- mc Choctaws under |most surrounded by as holy, and having They had, on the [to safe places in the ga County, and they Jipvement. Carson's Tted the assault with lly into the ught, the leaped, owing to the Istward of the town, I of the river, and by I joined their families Idesertcd by his war- n life. He was hotly Uwerful steed made th the water. They fh one hai.d, and his Unl to their conrnge." Most kere Gerard W.Brandon aw. Dettrnction of Econochaca. Dlaaolutlon of the Armiee In the Creek Country. Gathering )t new Voaiuteers. rifle with the other. He regained his saddle in a moment, and the noble animal bore him safely to the Autauga shore. ^ General Claiborne laid Econochaca in ashes after it was plundered by the Choc- taws. At least two hundred houses were destroyed and thirty Indians killed. The loss of the assailants amounted to only one killed and six wounded. After spending a day and two nights in the vicinity, completing the work of destruction ar d disper- sion, and suffering much from Avet and cold, the little array turned southward, and on the 29th'' reached Fort Clp.iborne. They had suffered much on the . December, way, the officers and men alike subsisting chiefly on boiled acorns until ^*^^" they reached Fort Deposit. The term of Carson's Mississippi Voluniters and cavalry had now expired, and they were mustered out of the service. By this process the little army of volunteers and militia melted away, and on the 23d of January General Claiborne was com- pelled, in writing to the Secretary of War from Mount Vernon, to say that he had only sixty men left, ard their time would soon expire. Colonel Russell and his reg- ulars garrisoned Fort Claiborne, and did what they could in furnishing supplies to the Tennessee troops above ; at the same time they made some unimportant raids in the Lidian country, but without accomplishiiig any great results. Let us now observe the movements of Jackson in the region of the Coosa and Tal- lapoosa Rivers. We lefl him at Fort Strother, comparatively inactive because of a lack of supplies and the discontents of his troops. Nor was this all. The terms of enlistment of most of his men were near expiration, and he saw before him, in the temper of bis troops, the inevitable disintegration of his army at the moment when their services were most needed. He was urged by his chief. General Pinckney, to hold all the posts in his possession, for it was of vital importance to deprive the Brit- ish of these new Indian allies, Tlie skies at that moment appeared lowering. Seven sail of British vessels, with troops and two bomb-ships, were off Pensacola. New Orleans was menaced, and Mobile was in imminent danger. St. Augustine would doubtless be soon occupied by a British force, with the consent of the treacherous Spaniards ; and in every direction clouds seemed gathering, portentous of dismal events in the southwest. Thus closed the year 1814, while Jackson, with his army substantially disbanded, was looking anxiously toward Tennessee for another. He had written most stirring appeals for men and food, and the patriotic Governor Blount was doing all in his power to provide both. General Cocke had gone back to East Tennessee with or- ders to raise fifleen hundred men and rejoin Jackson in the Creek country ; and a band of Cherokee Indians were garrisoning Fort Armstrong, on the upper waters of the Coosa. Jackson himself was continually in motion. Almost alone he traversed the wilderness between the Coosa and Tennessee, backward and forward, in endeav- ors to hasten onward supplies for the new army. At lengtli the advance of that army began to appear. First came two (mostly mounted) regiments to Fort Strother, comn)!i,nded by Colonels Perkins and Higgins, numbering about nine hundred men, who had been enlisted for only sixty days. Thor were raw recruits, yet Jackson de- termined to put them in motion toward the bRnded enemy immediately. That en- emy, recovered somewhat from the late disasters, was showing an aggressive disposi- tion which must be checked; and accordingly, on the 15th of January ,'' b isu. Jackson led his new troops across the Coosa to the late battle-field at Talladogt, where he was joined" by two hundred Cherokee and Creek In- ° "wnaryis. dians, and Chief Jim Fife. He had brought with him an artillery company who had remained at Fort Strother when the other troops left, and a six-pounder. His whole force, exclusive of the Indians, was nine hundred and thirty. With these he made a raid (" excursion" the general called it) toward the Tallapoosa, preceded by two cora- 1 Pickett's autory d/ AUOama, il., 8M. 774 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK JacluoD on the War-path again. Battle of Emncraa. Bravery of the Creeks. >> January 22. panieB of spies. Ho was accompanied by General Coffee, whose men had all deserted him but about forty, who now followed as volunteers. He reached the Ilillabce Creek, on the eastern line of the present Talladega County, on the 20th, and encampod that night at Enotochopco, in the southern part of Randolph County. On the follow- • January 21, iig moming* he pushed forward toward Emucfau, twelve miles distant **"• on the bend of the Tallapoosa, and toward evening, when near Emucfau Creek, fell upon a much-beaten trail, which indicated the proximity of a large force of Indians. Jackson thought it prudent to halt and reconnoitre. He disposed his troops in a hollow square, doubled his sentinels, sent out spies, and in every way took measures to meet an attack during the night. Toward midnif^xit the savages wore observed prowling about, and at the same time the general was informed that a lar^e body of Indians were encamped witbin three miles of him, some engaged in a war- dance, and others removing the women and children. An immediate attack seemed impending, and Jackson, fully prepared, calmly awaited it. The night wore away, and the dawn approached, when, at six o'clock,'' the Indians fell suddenly and with great fury upon the left flank of Jack- son's camp, occupied by the troops under Colonel Iliggins. General Coffee was witli them, and, under his direction, assisted by Colonel Sitler, the adjutant general, and Colonel Carroll, the inspector general, these new recruits fought gallantly, and kept the assailants in check. At dawn, w^en the whole field might le seen, they were re- enforced by Captain Ferrill's company of infantry, and the whole body were led to a vigorous charge upon the savages by General Coffee, supported by Colonels Iliggins and Carroll, and the friendly Indians. The savages were discomfited and dispersed, and fled, hotly pursued by the Tennesseeans, with much slaughter, for full two miles. Inspirited by this success, Jackson immediately detached General Coffee, with four hundred men and the whole body of the Indians, to destroy the encampment of the foe at Emucfau. It was found to be too strongly fortified to be taken without artil- lery, so Coffee marched back for the purpose of guarding the cannon on its way to a position to bear upon the town. This retrograde movement encouraged the In- dians, and a strong party of them fell upon the right of Jackson's encampment. Cof- fee at once asked and obtained leave to lead two hundred men to the support of tiiat wing, and to fall upon the left of the foe, while the friendly Indians should fall u])on their right flank at the same moment. By some mistake only fifty-four men followed Coffee. The gallant general fell upon the Indians with these, and Jackson ordered two hundred of the friendly Indians to co-opcrato with him by attacking the right flank of the savages. " This order was promptly obeyed," said Jackson in his report, " and on the moment of its execution what I expected was realized. The enemy iiad intended the attack on the right as a feint, and, expecting to direct my attention thither, meant to attack mo again, and with their main force, on the left flank, wliicii they had hoped to find weakened and in disorder. Tliey were disappointed." The general, with wise discretion, had not only ordered his left to remain firm, but Iiad repaired thither himself, and directed a part of the reserves, under Captain Ferrili, to hasten to its support. In this Avay the whole main body met the advancing enemy. They gave the foe two or three volleys, and then charged them vigorously with the bayonet. The Indians broke, and fled in confusion, hotly pursued some distance: and the friendly Indians, unable to withstand the lemptation, left their post on the right flank and joined in the chase, all the while pouring a harassing fire upon the fugitives. General Coffee in the mean time was straggling manfully against the assailants on the right of the encampment. The desertion of his Indian supporters placed him in a critical situation, for the odds were greatly against him. He was soon relieved by the return from the chase of Jim Fife and a hundred of his warriors, who were imme- diately summoned to his support. The aid w^as timely. Coffee aud his little party OF THE WAR OF 1812. 116 Bravery of the Creeks. 1 had all deserted led the llillabee th, and encamped . On the follow- ve miles distunt, en near Emucfau jr of a large force He disposed his in every way took the savages wore jrraed that a large engaged in a war- ate attack seemed len, at six o'clock,'' I left flank of Jack- ral Coffee was with utant general, and gallantly, and kept seen, they were re- body were led to a ,y Colonels lliggins fitcd and dispersed, r, for full two miles. ral Coffee, with four encampment of tlie taken without artil- annon on its way to encouraged the In- encampment. Cof- the support of that |ans should fall upon ■,y-four men followed [nd Jackson ordered attacking the right [ackson in his report, jd. The enemy had I direct my attention the left flank, which disappointed." The •cmain firm, hut had ,r Captain Ferrill, to 16 advancing enemy. vigorously with the (ued some distance; .ft their post on the •assing fire upon the [nst the assailants on Lrtcrs placed him i" Ivas soon relieved hv lors, who were inune- aud his little party Jackson's retrograde Movement. Battle on Snotochopco Creek. A severe ContMt. charged the savages vigorously, who, dispirited by the flight of their main body, gave way, and ran for their lives in every direction, many of them falling before the de- structive weapons of the pursuers. The victory, in the fonn of a repuls?, was com- plete, but it had been won at the cost of a severe wound in his body by General Cof- lee, and tlie loss of his aid-de-camp. Colonel A. Donolsou, and two or three others. Several of the privates were also wounded. Jackson was astonished at the courage and bravery of the Creeks, and thought it prudent to abandon any farther attempts to destroy the encampment at Emucfau. His movement was simply a raid, witjh the twofold object of striking a quick and de- structive blow at the enemy, and to make a diversion in favor of General Floyd, tiien in the vicinity of the Chattahoochee. He therefore determined to return to Fort Strother. At ten o'clock on the moming of the 23d the retrograde march commenced, and the little array reached Enotochopco Creek before sunset, and there planted a forti- fied camp for the night. Great vigilance Avas exercised, and no serious molestation was observed during the d.n ' lOSS. Well rested, the troops moved forward early the next morning. Tlie savages, who had interpreted this movement as a flight, had ibl- lowed stealthily, and, just as the advanced guard and part of the flank columns, with the wounded, had crossed the creek," they appeared suddenly in force on t ja„„nry24, their rear. The firing of an alarm-gun brought them to a hrit, when Jack- ^'*"- son immediately changed front, and prepared to meet the foe in good battle order. He placed Colonel Carroll at the liead of the centre column of the rear-guard, its right commanded by Colonel Perkins, and its left by Colonel Stump. He chose his own ground for battle, and expected to have entirely 'at oft' the enemy by wheeling the right and left columns on their pivots, recroesing the creek above and below, and fall- ing in upon their flanks and rear. To Jackson's great astonishment, his troops, who liad behaved so well at Emucfau, now foiled ; and when the word was given for Car- roll to halt and form, and a few guns had been fired, the right and left columns of the rear-guard precipitately gave way and made a disastrous retreat. They drew along with them a greater part of the centre column, leaving not more than twenty-five men to support Carroll. These maintained the ground gallantly, and order was soon restored. The battle was now sustained by only this handful of the rear-guard under Captain Quarles, the artillery company under Lieutenant Robert Armstrong, and Captain Russell's company of spies. The solitary 6-pcunder that composed the heavy ordnance of tlie expedition was dragged to the top of a hill in the midst of a galling lire from ten times the number of the Teiinesseeans engaged, when they poured upon the foe a storm of gra])e-8hot that sent them yelling with attVight in every direction.' They were pursued more than two miles by Colonels Carroll and Higgins, and Cap- tain? Elliott and Pipkin. The venerable Judge Cocke, then sixty-five years of age, was in the engagement, and joined in the pursuit witl' all the ardor of youth. The slaughter among the Indians was heavy, while that among the Tennesseeans Avas comparatively light. The exact number of casualties among the latter was not re- corded. Captain Hamilton, from East Tennessee, was killed, and Lieutenants Robert Armstrong, Bird Evans, Hiram Bradford, and Jacob M'Givock, and Captain Quarles, were wounded. Evans and Quarles soon afterward died. Li the two engagements, Kmucfau and Enotochopco, Jackson's entire loss was twenty killed and seventy-five ' The Rallnntry of two yonni; men In this cngnRcmcnt deserves a record. These were Constantino Perkine nnd Criivcn .laokson. The former was a graduate of Cumberland (Tennessee) Collepp, wa« with Jacksoii at the battle of Talladcf;a, nnd WHS one of the few who refused to desert him nt Fort Strother. In the linrry and confusion In eeparaling the can- imn from the limber, the rammer and picker of the piece were left behind. lu the midst of the shower of bullets from tlic Indians, Jackson coolly pulled out his Iron ramrod fl-om his musket nnd used it as a picker, primed with a cartridge from his side, and fired the cannon. Perklna then slipped off his bayonet, used his musket for a rammer, and drove down the cartridge for another discharge. These two brave young men kept the flcld-i>icce working, and drove the Mvnges to the deep forest Armstrong lay wounded near by, and called out to those ariniiid the piece, "My brave fel- lows, some of you may fall, but you mnst save the cannon 1" fll 770 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Jackson at Fort Struther. Battle on the Calebee Rtver. The Georgians retire to their Frontier. wounded. The loss of the enemy was not accurately ascertained. One hundred and eighty-nine of their warriors were found dead.' • January 28, Jackson made his way back to Fort Strother'' after an absence of twelve 131'*. days, not perfectly satisfied with the results of his raid, yet he presented it to the public in the best aspect possible. His force was almost double that of the Indians, for at that time the larger proportion of them were below, watching the movements of Floyd and his Georgians, while a considerable force were strongly for- tifying the Horseshoe, and other places, preparatory to a desperate defensive war. His expedition, however, had been useful, and General Pinckney, in a letter to the ^ War Department,*" said, " Without the personal firmness, popularity, and exertions of that officer, the Indian War on the part of Tennessee woii'd have been abandoned, at least for a time." We will leave Jackson at Fort Strother a few moments while we consider the movements of Floyd below. We left that officer at Fort Mitchell, on the Chatta- hoochee. Floyd reposed more than six weeks awaiting supplies, and during that time recov- ered of his wound received at Auttose. Then he marched toward Toockabatcha, on the Tallapoosa, with over twelve hundred Georgia volunteers, a company of cavalry, and four hundred friendly Indians. He established communicating posts on the way, and at length, on the night of tho 26th of January, encamped on the Calebee or Chal- libee River, on the high land bordering the swamp of that name, in Macon County, Alabama, fifty miles west of Fort Mitchell, The camp was carefully watched, but hi the gloom, more than an hour before the dawn of the following morning, a band of Creeks, who had stealthily assembled in the swamp during the night, shot the sen- tinels, and pounced like fierce tigers on Floyd's front and fiank. The attack was snd- den, yet not unprepared for, and the savages were gallantly opposed, in the front, by the artillery under Captain Jett Thomas, riflemen commanded by Captain William E. Adams, and a picket-guard led by Captain John Broadnax. The fo rushed desperately up within thirty yards of the cannon, and smote the troops severely. Broadnax and his party were cut off from their companions for a while, but with the aid of the half-blood chief Timpoochy Barnard, leader of some Uchees, they cut their way through the encircling savages. Most of the other In- dians took shelter in the camp, and were scarcely felt in the battle, which was con- tested fiercely in the darkness, which was rendered more intense by the umbrageous branches of the heavy pine forest in which they were fighting. When daylight came, and Floyd was enabled to survey the field of action, the contest was soon end- ed. The general ordered the right wing of his little army, composed of the battalions comraanded by Majors Booth, Cleveland, Watson, and Freeman, and a troop of cav- alry under Captain Duke Hamiltn", to charge on the foe. The Indians were dismayed by the glittering bayonets, a,nd fled in great terror. The infantry pursued, and the cavalry joined in the exciting chase, followed by the friendly Indians and Meriweath- er's and Ford's riflemen. They were chased through the swamp, and many of the fu- gitives were slain. They left thirty-seven dead in the pathway of their flight. Tlie Georgians lost seventeen killed and one hundred and thirty-two wounded, and the friendly Indians had five men killed and fifleen wounded. Colonel Newman, a gal- lant officer, was wounded by three bullets and disabled, at the beginning of the action. Floyd's wounded were so many, and the hostile Indians in his vicinity were so nu- merous, and might be speedily re-enforced, that he prudently concluded not to pene- trate tlie country farther, but to fall back to the Chattahoochee. On the day of the battle he retired to Fort Hull, one of his newly-erected stockades, and on the following day the Indians occupied the late battle-field. Leaving a small garrison at Fort 1 Qeueral Jackson's official Letter to General Plnckiioy, January 89, 18U. OF THE WAR OF 1812. m retire to their Frontier. One hundred and absence of twelve , yet he presented iouble that of the ow, watching the were strongly for- ite defensive war. in a letter to the 89, popularity, and f Tennessee woiiUl e we consider the lell, on the Chatta- ng that time recov- d Toockabatcha, on ompany of cavalry, g posts on the way, he Calebee or Chal- >, in Macon County, ally watched, but in morning, a band of night, shot the ficn- The attack was sud- 3sed,in the front, by by Captain William mon, and smote the ;ir companions for a lard, leader of some tost of the other lu- [ttle, which was con- by the umbrageous ;. When daylight j'ntest was soon end- fsed of the battalions and a troop of cav- iians were dismayed try pursued, and tlie [ians and Meriweath- and many of the fu- |of their flight. The ) wounded, and the )ncl Newman, a gal- le beginning of the Ivicinity were so mi- ^cluded not to pene- On the day of the and on the following kll garrison at Fort 11814. KMt TenneBBeeans on their Way to the Creek Couiitry. The Choctaw Allies In Arms. Preparation of the Creeks. Hidl, the general continued his retrograde movement to Fort Mitchell, where his men were honorably discharged, their term of service having expired. No other ex- pedition against the Creeks was organized in Georgia. Let us now return to Jackson at Fort Strother. On his return from his twelve days' " excursion" or raid to the Tallapoosa, Jackson set his few militia that remained to constructing flat-boats in which to bring supplies dowTi the Coosa, and to transport them to regions below, where materials for his new array were rapidly approaching from Tennessee. He discharged the troops who had been with him on the late expedition, their tenn of service being about ready to ex- pire. Tliey left for homo full of admiration of and enthusiasm for their general, and their return gave a new impetus to volunteering. At the beginning of February two thousand troops from East Tennessee were in the shadows of Lookout Mountain, pressing on toward the Coosa, and at about the same time as many more West Ten- uesseeans arrived at Huntsville. Intelligence of these approaching troops filled Jackson's heart with gladness. His joy was increased by the arrival on the 6th, at Fort Strother, of Colonel Williams and the Thirty-ninth Regiment of the United States Army, six hundred strong, who had been induced to hasten to the relief of Jackson by the late Honorable Hugh L. White, of East Tennessee. Very soon afterward a part of Coffee's brigade of mounted men came into Fort Strother, and also a troop of East Tennessee dragoons. Tl e Choctaw Indians now openly espoused the cause of the United States ; and before the close of February Jackson found himself at the head of an 'army of five thousand men, lacking nothing to enable them to sweep the whole Creek country with tlie besom of destruction but adequate supplies of food. Great exe?tions were put forth suc- cessfully to that end, and at the middle of March every thing was in readiness for a forward movement. The hostile Creeks were aware of the formidable preparations for their subjugation, and were, at the same time, taking measures to avert, if possible, the impending blow. They had suffered severely at the hands of Jackson, Floyd, and Claiborne, and had already begun to have such premonitions of national disaster that they determined to concentrate their forces, and rest their fortunes upon the cast of the die of a single battle with the foe. For this purpose the warriors of the Hillabee, Ockfuske, Eufau- lahache, New Youka, Oakchoie, Hickory Ground, and Fish-pond towns had gathered hi the bend of the Tallapoosa, in the northeast part of Tallapoosa County, Alabama, called Tohopeka, or the Ilorseshoe, the river there assuming the shape of that object, forming a peninsula of about one hundred acres. By the aid of white men from Pen- sa.ola, and some hostile half-bloods, they built a very strong breastwork of logs across the neck of the peninsula, and pierced it wnth two rows of port-holes arranged in such manner as to expose the assailants to a cross-fire from within. Back of this breast- work was a mass of logs and brush ; and at the bottom of the peninsula, near the river, was a village of log huts, where hundreds of canoes were moored at the banks of the stream, so that the garrison might have the means of escape if hard pushed, A greater portion of the peninsula was covered with forest. The Indians had an ara- ble supply of food for a long siege. Their number was about twelve hundred, one fourth being women and children. There the Indians determined to defend them- selves to the last extremity. They regarded their breastwork as impregnable, and were inspirited by recent events at Emuckfau (about four miles distant) and Enoto- chopco. When Jackson was informed by some friendly Indians of the gathering of the •^reeks at the Horseshoe, he resolved to march thither immediately and strike an ex- terminating blow. He sent his stores down the Coosa in flat-boats, in charge of Col- onel Williams and his regiment of regulars, and leaving a garrison of four hundred and fifty men in Fort Strother, under Colonel Steele, he commenced his march with Wn the remainder of his army toward the Tallapoosa on the 16th of IMarch," tlic only musical instrument to cheer them on the way being a solitary drum. Tlie : OF THE WAK OF 1812, 779 Jickion marches upon the Siivnges at Ihe Iluneahoe. A (lenperatc Battle there. Bravery of both Partlea. jouniey was slowly performed, for much of the way a road had to be cut through the woods. On the 2l8t they were at the mouth of Cedar Creek, where they were joined by the supply-boats the next day, and there Fort Williams was built to keep open the communication with Fort Strother. Then Jackson pushed on eastward, and early on the morning of the 27th halted within a few miles of the breastworks at the Horseshoe, and sent out parties to reconnoitre. His army now numbered about two thousand effective men. Jackson's spies informed h' n of the position of the Indians, and he at once compre- hended the folly which had jjcrmitted them to assemble in a pen, as if offering facili- ties for him to carry out his threat of extermination. He sent General Coffee, with ull the mounted men and friendly Indians, to cross the river about two miles below the Bend, and take position on the bank o])po8ite the village and boats. When, by signal, he was certified of the execution of his order, he went forward Avith the main body of his army toward the peninsula, and planted two field-pieces upon a little hill within eighty yards of the nearest point of the fortifications on the neck. At a little past ten o'clock these opened fire on the works, under the direction of Captain Brad- ford, chief engineer, but without seriously affecting the wall. As the small balls were buried in the logs and earth, the Indians set up a shout of derision, and the general was fairly defied. Simultaneously with the attack on the Indians' breastworks, some of the Cherokees with Coffee SAvam across the river, seized the canoes, paddled back in them, and full two hundred men were jit once conveyed over the stream, and, under the direction ofColoncl Morgan and Captain Russell, set the little town on fire, and moved against the enemy in the rear of their works. The smoke from the burning huts assured Jackson that all was going on well in that quarter, but the slackening of the assail- ants' musketry gave evidence that they were too few to dislodge the savages, and were probably in peril. The general at once determined to storm the breastworks wliich he had been battering for full two hours with cannon-balls almost in vain. The lliirty-ninth United States Infantry, under Colonel Williams, formed the van of the storming party. They were well supported by General James Doherty's East Tennessee brigade under Colonel Bunch, and the whole assailing party beliaved most valiantly. They pressed steadily forward in the face of a deadly storm of bullets and arrows, and maintained for some time a hand-to-haiui fight at the port-holes. This (k'spcrate conflict lasted several minutes, when Major L. P. Montgomery leaped upon the breastwork, and called upon his men to follow. They did so, and at the same moment he fell dead with a bullet in his head. Ensign Sam Houston, a gallant youth at his side, was severely Avounded in the thigh at the same time by a barbed arrow, blithe leaped boldly down among the savages, and called upon his companions to fol- low. They did so, and fought like tigers. Very soon the dexterous use of the baj-- onct caused the Indians to break, and flee in wild confusion to the woods and thick- ets. They had fought bravely under great disadvantages, and believing that torture awaited the captive, not o'le would suffer himself to be taken, or asked for quarter. Some attempted to escape by swimming across the river, but were shot by the uner- ring bullets of the Tennes oceans. Others secreted themselves in thickets, and were driven out and slain ; and a considerable number took refuge under the river bluffs, wliere they Avere covered by a part of the breastworks and felled trees. To the lat- ter Jackson sent word that their lives should be spared if they would surrender. The snmmons was answered by a volley that sent the messenger (an interpreter) back bleeding from severe wounds. A cannon was then brought to bear upon the strong- hold, but it made little effect. Then the general called for volunteers to storm it, and the wounded Ensign Houston' was the first to step out. While reconnoitring ' This wag the afterward soldier and statesman, General Sam Ilonston, one of the bravest of the leaders In the Texas RcTolatlon, first President of the independent Republic of Texas, and for man; years n member of the National Legit- $ m§^ ^-;«l -I-! ■ ■ - 'If . ' j to?. ':i m m m riCTOUlAL FIELD-BOOK The Creeks defeated at the Battle of the Iloriieshne. Note.— The obove plan of the battle of Cholocco Lituhtxcc, or the Horseshoe, Is nrrangert from one In Pickett's H.i tory of Alabama. A shows the position of the hill f^om which Jackson's caunon played upon the breastworks, C C C represent the position of Coffee's command. the position above, he received from the concealed savages two bullets in his slioiil- dcr, and ho was borne helpless away. Others lost llicir lives in attempts to clislodsc the foe. It was conceded that the place was impregnable to missiles, so the torch was applied, and the savages, as they rushed wildly from the crackling furnace, were shot down without mercy by the exasperated riflemen. Tlie carnage continued until late in the evening, and when it was ended five hundred and fifty-seven Creek war- riors lay dead on the little peninsula. Of the thousand who went into the battle in the morning not more than two hundred were alive, and many of these were severely wounded.' Jackson's loss was thirty-two killed and ninety-nine wounded. Tlie Cher- okees lost eighteen killed and thirty-six wounded. Among the slain were Major Mont- gomery^ and Lieutenants Moulton and Somerville. The spoils of victory were over laturc of the United States. He was n remarkable man. He was born In Eockbrldji^ County, Virginia, on the 2(1 of March, 1703, and, while yet a child, he went with his widowed mother to Tennessee. He spent several years mth tbe Cherokee Indians, and became enamored with their roving, restless life. Ue eulUteil in the army iu 1$13, and at the close of the war bad reached the position of lieutenant. Then he studied law at Nashville, and there commenced bij long political life. In 1823 he was elected to Congress, and continued in that body until 1827, when he became Govercor of 'Tennessee, Before the expiration of his term he resigned, and took up hia abode among the Cherokecs in Arkan- sas, where he bcfrtcnded them much in *heir intercourse with dishonest agents of the Government. He became com- mander-in-chief of the little army of revolutionists in Texas, which achieved its independence in 183C. He was twice elected presi(l<'-.i of that republic, and when Texas was annexed to the United States he was sent as her rcprcsentatite to the Senate, where he remained until just before the breaking out of the great Civil War, • ' he was Governor o( Texas. He died in November, 1803, aged seventy years. ' Pickett relates (Uistory of Alabama, ii., 84.3) that many suffered long from grievons wounds. "Manowa," he sat!, "one of the bravest chiefs that ever lived, was literally shot to pieces. He fought as long as he could. Be saved fain- self by Jumping Into the river where the water was fonr feet deep. He held to a root, and thus kept himself bcneatli the waves, breathing through the long Joint of a cane, one end of which he held in his mouth, while the other end came above the surface of the water. When night set in, the brave Manowa rose from his watery bed, and made his way to the forest, bleeding from many wounds. Many years after the war we conversed with the chief, and learned from bim the particulars of his .-emarkable escape. His face, limbs, and body, at the time we conversed with him, were marlied with scars of many horrible wounds." » Lemuel Paruell Montgomery was bom In Wythe County, Virginia, In 1786, and was distantly related to the hero ot OF THE WAR OF 1812. 781 refl from one In PickcU's H* ipon Ihe breastworks. C C C bullets in liia shoul- attempts to dislodge missiles, so the torch ackling furnace, were .■nage continued xmtil fty-seven Creek par- ent into tlic battle ' (fthcse were severely •wounded. Tlie Cher- lain were Major Mont- of victory were over |!onnty,Vl7ginla,on the 2d o( . spent several years with He > the army In 1S13, and at tht lille, and there commenced bi! I27, when ho became Governor long the Cherokees in Arlian- tvernment. He became com- laencc m 1830. ncwastmcc Ivns sent as her representative L, • • ■ be was Governor 01 lounas. "Manowa/'heMJt, lasheconW. Heeavedhta. InathnskeptWmselfbenerti lith, while the other end came Terjl bed, and made h sway to le chief, and learned from hiffl Icrsed with him, were marked Ltantly related to the hero ot .lackunn retires from the Fields of Conflict. The snbdaed Indians sue fur Peace. Wcathersford In Jackson's Tent. three hundred widows and orphans who wcro made prisoners. Tlie blow was appall- inir, and fatal to the dignity and i)ower of the Creek nation. On the morning after the battle* at the Ilorseslioe Jackson commenced . March ss, a retrograde march toward Fort Williams, carrying his wounded witli liim '**'''• on litters, and leaving the bodies of most of liis dead beneath the watera of the Coosa, safe from desecration by siivage liands. They were five days on tlie way, and during as many more they rested there. They encountered some hostile Indians on the march, but tliey generally fled at their ajjproacL. The spirit of the proud Creeks was broken, and they had no heart to make a defensive stand any where. From Fort Williams Jackson pualicd on toward the Hickory Ground of tlic Creeks, at the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, over a country flooded by s])ring rains and swollen streams, and halted at the head of the peninsula, where tlie rivers approach each other within si.x hundred yards b-.fore uniting four miles below. There, on the sight of Fort Toulouse, erected by Governor Bienville a hundred years before, he built a stockade, cleaned out and deepened the old French entrance, and raised the national standard over a fortification named, in his honor. Fort Jackson. Thither dep- utation after deputation of humiliated Creek chiefs made their way to sue for pardon and peace in behalf of themselves and their people. They were received with court- esy, yet with sternness. " Give proof of your submission," said the general, " substan- tially by going and staying above Fort Williams, where you will be treated with, and the final demands of my Goveniment will be made known to you. But you must first bring in Wcathersford, the cruel leader of the attack on Fort Mims, wlio on no account can be forgiven." They cheerfully complied ; but little did Jackson know the true character of Wcathersford, or the plasticity of his own nature at that time. Wcathersford did not wait to be caught and dragged like a felon to the feet of the leader of the pale faces. He was a stranger to fear, and sagacious in plans. Ho WW clearly the flight of hope for his nation, at the Horseshoe, and resolved to sub- mit. Mounting his fine gray horse, with whom lie leaped from tlie bluff" at the Holy Ground,' he rode to Jackson's camp. He arrived just at sunset.'' The gen- ^ iral was alone in his tent when the chief entered it, drew himself up to Ids lull height, and, folding his arms, said, " I am Weathersford, the chief who command- ed at Fort Mims. I have nothing to request for myself You can kill me if you de- sire. I have come to beg you to send for the women and children of the war-party, who are now starving in the woods. Their fields antl cribs have been destroyed by your people, who have driven them to the woods without an ear of corn. I hope that you will send out parties who will conduct them safely here, in order that they may be fed. I exerted myself in vain to prevent the massacre of the women and thildien at Fort Mims.^ I have come now to ask peace for my people, but not for myself."' Jackson expressed astonishment that one so guilty should dare to appear ill his presence and ask for peace and protection. " I am in your power ; do with me as you please," the chief haughtily replied. " I am a soldier. I have done the white jieople all the harm I could. I have fought them, and fought them bravely; and if I had an army I would yet fight, and contend to the last. But I have none. My people arc all gone. I can now do no more than weep over the misfortunes of my nation." the same name who fell at Quebec at the close of 1TT6. His family settled originally in North Carolina, and were Scotch- Iriih. In early life the major became a resident of East Tennessee, near Knoxville. He studied law, and became a rival of the eminent Felix Grundy. He was a darini; horseman, and flill of soldierly qualities. _ President Madison ap- pointed him major of the Thirty-niuth Regiment, and he fell at their head when storming "the breastworks at the Horseshoe, as we have ob? ervod In the text. Jackson wept over his body like a child, and exclaimed, " I have lost the Bower of my army I" He was buried near where he fell, and in long after years the citizens of Tallapoosa County hon- ored his memory by exhuming his remains, and burying them with mllitaiy ceremonies at the capital of the county. The County of Montgomery and the political capital of the State of Alabama were named in honor of this brave sol- dier.— Pickett. ' See page 772. » See an account of his exertions on page 750. ' Weathersford's appeal for the women and children was kindly responded to, and not only to the women and chil- JreD.bnt to the remnant of the nation succor was given. For a cousldcrablc part of the ensuing summer, five thousand Creek Indians drew rations from the public stores. But for this aid a large number of them must have perished by ftarvatlon. m 5 ■ ■ ^ ! i i i : '']: t * i 1 1 1 '.>' I 1 ' i'i t ^ 1 iiliiii :!n!M|j,|| 9B2 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK WMtlMnAird'H mniily Tiilk. JacluoD admlrei and raleiaea him. The Creok Niillim ruined. Hero was a man after Jackson's own heart. A patriot who loved his peo|»l(., had foujifht to protect the liiiul of his birtli from the inviuler, and now feiirleHsly expressed his |)atrioti8m in the presence of one wlio had power over his life. Juekson imme- diately informed him that submission and the acceptance of a home beyond tlie iMis- sissippi for his nation was the only wise policy for him to pursue. He added," It; however, you desire to contimie the war, and feel i)repared to meet the conseiiueiues, you may depart in peace, and unite yourself with the war-party, if you clioose," Half scornfully, half sorrowfully, Wcathersford replied, "I may well be addressed in such language now. There was a time when I had a choice and could have an- swered you ; I have none now — even hope is ended. Once I could animate my war- riors to battle, but can not animate the dead. My warriors can no longer hear inv voice. Their bones are at Talladega, Tallaseliatche, Emucfan, Econochopco, and To- hopeka. I have not surrendered myself thoughtlessly. While there was a cdianw for success I never left my post nor supplicated peace. But my people are gone, and I now ask it for my nation, not for myself. On the miseries and misfortunes brouglit upon my country I look back with deepest sorrow, and wish to avert still greater calamities. If I liad been left to contend with the Georgia army, I would liavo raised my corn on one bank of the river and fought them on the other. But your peopii- have destroyed my nation. You are a brave man ; I rely upon your generosity, You will exact no terms of a conquered people but such as they should agree to. Whatever they may be, it would now be folly and madness to oppose. If they an opposed, yc i will iind mo among the sternest enforcers of obedience. Those wlm would still hold out can be influenced only by a mean spirit of revenge, and to this they must not and shall not sacrifice the last remnant of their country. You have told our nation where we might go and bo safe. This is good talk, and they oui^ht to listen to it. They shall listen to it."' Thus spoke the truly noble Wcathersford for his nation. Words of honor respond- ed to words of honor, and Wcathersford was allowed to go freely to the forest tn search for his scattered followers and counsel peace. But there was no safety for him in that region, for the relatives of those massacred at Fort Mims sought to kill him. He fled, and remained away until the cud of the war, when he returned, and became a respected citizen of Alabama.'* General Pinckney arrived at Fort Jackson on the 20th of April with troops from North and South Carolina. Informed of the general submission of the Creeks, ami considering the war virtually at an end, he directed the West Tennesseeans to march home, and four hundred of General Doherty's brigade to garrison Fort Williams. The order to the West Tennesseeans was so gladly and promptly obeyed that within • April 21, two hours after its utterance* they were in motion up the Coosa. They *^"' pushed forward with great celerity*, crossed the Tennessee River, and at Fayetteville were discharged. There Jackson bade them farewell in a stirring ad- dress, and then hastened to his own home at the " Hermitage," near Nashville, ami indulged a short time in needed repose. Here we will leave the consideration of the fearfully-smitten Creeks for the pres- ent, with the remark that they showed themselves to be a brave people, and, on many accounts, deserving of the respect of mankind. > Drake's Book of the Indians, eleventh edition, page 390. » Wenthersford ccttled upon a farm in Monroe County, Alabama, well supplied with negro slaves, where he maintain- ed the character of an honest man. Soon after his return he married, and General Sam Dale, frequently menlioneii in this chapter, was his groomsman. His birth-place was the Hickory Ground, but he could not live there. He said lint bis old comrades, the Uostile Creeks, ate his cattle from starvation , the peace-party ate them from revenge; ond the squatters because he was "a damned Red-skin :" so, he said, "I have come to live among gentlemen."— See W^o/Cffl- ercU Sam Dale, page 129. Weatbersford died from the effects of fatigue produced by a desperate bear-buut in 1S2I!, ■3 i \ OP THE WAU OF 18 12. 7P.'l rhe Creek Niillmi rulneO Civil Affair* In l»ia. Pdllllcnl Compoiltlon ofC'niigreM. CummlaKliiiipm tu trent tut Paac* appolnletl. rnd his peo\)U', hml I'urlcHHly t'xi)rcssi'(l L«. JiickwDU iiiimc- iie boyond the Mis- 10. lie addo.V'lt; t the consi'([in;iU'i's. ■ty» if y*'** chodw." iTcll be atldi'i'sscd in and could have an- Id animate my war- L no longer hear my conochopco, and 'IV there waa a cliamt' people arc gone, ami misfortunes hrouglit ,0 avert still greater r, I would have raistMl Jr. But your people pon your generosity. hey should agree to. . oppose. If they aro )edience. ^hose wlio .f revenge, and to thi* r country. You have 1 talk, and they oufjlit iords of honor rospoml- ■reely to the forest tu lere was no safety k •t Mims sought to kill hen he returned, ami Lpril with troops from fou of the Creeks, ami fennessecans to mavdi krrison Fort Williams. [ly obeyed that witlnu i up the Coosa. Tliey Innessec Kiver, and « lewell in a stirring ad- near Nashville, ami L Creeks for the pros- |e people, and, on many Lero slaves, vrhere he maintam- I m,e, frequently mcuuonc" L not live there, lle-a.dt L them from revenBC;«na^ LBenllemen."-SeeW;/(^ Icsperutebear-huutlnlSiC. CHAPTER XXXV. " Farewell Pence ! Another crl«l» Onlls un to ' the liiBt nppenl,' Miido when monnrchH and their vices Ix^nve no iir^iinivnt hnt ^lecl. Let not 111! the world united Hob u» of one siicrcd rlijht: Every patriot heart'ii dellt;htcd In hU country's caUHO tu flgbt,"— Oi.n Sono. here, before >f mill 18 proper Here, betore resuming a narrative or military events in the North, to take a brief survey of civil alfuirs in 1813. In conformity to a law passed in February* pre- • February ««, ceding the inauguration of Mr. Madison, the Thir- ^'''^■ teenth Congress assembled on the 24th of May, when Henry Clay was chosen Speaker of the House of Kepresentatives. In that body ardent young men like Cheves, Calhoun, Lowndes, Grundy, and Troup had become leaders. Quincy had declined a re-election, but the extreme Federalists were well represented by the venerable patriots of the Revolution, Timothy Pickering and Egbert Benson. There was a strong administration working party in both houses, and the President felt well supported, notwithstanding there had been decided gains for the ])eace- jiaity in New England at the spring elections. But in New York, where the Feder- alists were expecting a triumph, they had been defeated, and New Jersey, and Penn- sylvania, and all of the slave-labor states, and their children in tiie Mississippi Val- ley, were decided friends of the administration. With his message tlie President sent into Congress a letter from the Emperor of Russia offering his mediation. The President stated that it had been accepted by the government; that commissioners had been appointed to conclude a treaty of peace with persons clothed with like powers on the part of the British government, aiuUhat two of the American commissioners (Albert Gallatin and James A. Bayard) had already departed for St. Petersburg, there to meet John Quincy Adams, a third commissioner. While the President expressed a hope that a speedy peace might be the result, he conjured Congress to shape legislation as if the object might be ob- tained only by a vigorous prosecution of the war. He called attention, in a special manner, to the national finances, which Avere not in a promising condition, and laid before Congress an estimate of expenses for the year 181.3, to the amount of about thirty million dollars.' Tlie subject of an increase of internal revenue and of direct taxation had been agi- tated a little, but was deferred until after the Presidential election. Now the admin- istration party felt strong enough to try these measures. Bills for the imposition of taxes and excise were adopted, and a new loan Avas authorized. No effort was spared for providing adequate means for the vigorous prosecution of the war, and only in Xew England was a voice of serious opposition heard. Governor Strong, of Massa- chusetts, denounced the Avar as cruel and unjust, and urged the Legislature to adopt measures for bringing about a speedy peace. The tAvo houses being in political ac- cord with the governor, they agreed to a remonstrance, in which they, too, declared ' The civil list for the year, !$9nO,000 ; payment of principal and Interest on the national debt, $10,610,000 ; and for the War irnd Navy Departments, $lT,S20,OflO ; making a total of $29,230,000. i' lllll ( ; :l _. |l: 1 1 ■l 1 ■ ; i > Wm' i' ?" i 194 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK TiM War fMer tenminced. Illicit Trsfllc Cdiiiililareit. Hecent Krcnti autplctou*. The Hoiiir puf,,. the fkrther prosociition of tlio war to be impolitic niid unjuHt, ftiul implored Conifrtss to atlopt iiicnsurcH for nrresting it T!jcy doi-lari'd tiiat tlioy woro iiiHuonccd (tnly },y a HciiHo of duty to the Constitution and tiit^ country, and appealed to (lod as u y,\l neH8 of the rectitude of their intentiouH. Thiw renioiiHtranco wuh presented to the 'Juno 10, House of Kepresenttttives* by Timothy Pickering. It was courteous] v re- ceived on account of that venerable man, when it was laid on the tiilili, anil iMia. there remained during the rest of the sessiuu, but excited much remark and sevi'r« condemnation throughout the country.' During the session ctrectual ineasures were taken for stopping a traffic curried nn extensively by American merchant vessels, disguised as neutrals, with the lliitisli West India Islands and ports of Spain under licenses issued by the British govern- ment, by which they gave aid and comfort to the enemy, and injured their ctmiitrv. Congress also considered the charges of cruel and unusual conduct on the part dt'iln British in making war, and a committee was appointed, with the eminent Natlimml Macon, of North Caroliona, as chairman, to gather information on the subject. TIair <::^C€>e7Zu report, now on file at the national capital, is a melancholy picture of wrongs and nut- rages, especially in the Northwest where savages were employed, and on the Vir- ginia coast.* The special business of Congress at this early session was the providing of iiipans for prosecuting the war vigorously. This was accomplished before the close of July, ^ and that body adjourned on the 2d of August'' to reassemble on the Otii of December. Before that meeting very important events had occurred, wliidi liave already been recorded in these pages, such as Harrison's campaign for the recov- ery of Michigan; Perry's victory on Lake Erie; Chauncey's operations on Lake On- tario; victories on the ocean; Wilkinson's unfortunate campaign on the St. Lawrence border ; and Jackson's operations in the Creek country. England had refused to ac- cept the mediation of Russia on the terms proposed, and peace seemed more remote than ever; and the National Legislature perceived that the honor, prosperity, and per- liaps the very existence of the republic depended upon a vigorous prosecution oftlie war. This conviction was forcing itself upon every thoughtful mind even in New England, and the opposition of magistrates and law-makers was severely condcmneil as unpatriotic and shameful. The nation was involved in a war with a powerl'ul, tmculent, and haughty foe, and every right-minded man felt that it was the duty of every good citizen to lay aside his political prejudices, and to do all in his power to extricate his country from its serious trouble by first vanquishing the enemy with vigorous blows, and then treating with him as an equal for an honorable peace. Yet the peace-party was pow^erful and active in New England, and endeavored to con- vince the people of that section that the administration was a tyrant intent upon their injury. They pointed to the sad fact of the interference with their commerce, navigation, and fisheries ; and the people were reminded that for years the Govern- ment, under the guidance of Virginia politicians, had been controlled by the planting interest in the slave-labor states by whom the war had been kindled. They justly complained that the statesmen of the free-labor states, and especially of New En- gland, had been proscribed, and denied a share in the management of public aflfairs, > Compare ttiis action of the Masaachnaetts Legialatore with a statement of its doinga recorded In note 1, page iK. » See page 088. . OF THE WAR OP 1819. 78S I. Th* Ptif* Pwrty inil)lori'(l C"()iit;ri'!t« inrtuoncotl only )\\- .(1 to t»o»l ii'* 11 wit- 118 presentiMl to the ttiis courteously n- ful on the tiilili', mill remark ami siaiti; ^ ft traffic cdrricd on lis, with tht' Ihltisli tho liritish liovcrn- ijured thfir country. ,ct on tho piirt dftlii' lO oininciit Niitlmniil u tho subject. Thuir A T««olatloDU7 PropiMiltton, ConiUtion uf iha Country. A new Bmbiritu Act. f^ ire of wrongs and out- oyed, and on the Vir- hc provuVinj? of means efore the close of July, iSomWc on the Otli of .8 had occurred, which lampaign for the rccov- iperations on Lake On- rn on the St.Lawrenco ^uid had refused to ai- le seemed more remote lor, prosperity, and per- rons prosecution of the [ful mind oven in Kew 18 severely condcmne4 war with a powerful, liat it Avas the duty of do all in his power to shing the enemy with honorable peace. Yet |nd endeavored to con- a tyrant intent upon with their commerce, for years the Govern- trolled by the plantinj kindled. They justly ■specially of New En- (ment of publicjiffau^ -Trecordeclluiiotel, page TOO. and tliat tho nutioiial govenunont had left tlicni wholly unprotec*'-.! »itile w.ir was 111 their doors, their coasts blockaded, and their sea-port towns ex|)08ed to instant do- Htn.'tion. In view of these untleniable facts, some «)f the popidar leatU'is sujjgested tho propriety of tho New Kiij^laiid States taking care of themselves, irrespective of the national welfare, by concluding a separate peace with CJreat Hritain, atul allow- inn the states beyond and south of the Hudson lliver to light as long as they pleased. This revolutionary proposition did iu>t tind favor among patriotic men. Such was tho general aspect of public atVairs when Congress met in December. The tone of tho President's message to that body was hopeful ami even joyous, for the late achievements oft'".' natiomil power gave promises «)f great good. Financial mutters were quite as favorable as when Congress adjourned in Atigust. Abundant harvests had rewarded the labors of the husbandman. The j)eo[»le were becoming more and more a unit in opinion concerning tho righteousness of the war on the part of the Govenmient, and its beneficial effects in developing the internal resources of the country; also in demonstrating the ability of a free govennnent to protect itself iiiiainst a powerful foe. "The war," said the President in his message," is illustrating tlie capacity and tho destiny of tho United States to be a great, l flourishing, and a powerful nation, worthy of the friendship wliich it is disposed to cultivate with all others, and authorized by its own example to require from all an observance of the laws of justice and reciprocity." In a confidential message* the President recommended the passage of • Docomi)er », ail Embargo Act to prevent supplies being furnislied to the enemy from ***'"• American ports by unpatriotic men, and the introduction of British manufactures in professedly neutral vessels. Such traffic was extensively carried on, especially in New England, where the magistrates were often willingly lenient toward violators of restrictive laws already in operation. A bill, in accordance with the I'resident's (iusgestions, Avas j)as8ed by both houses of Congress on the iTth,*" the pro- visions of which were excessively stringent. It was provided that the act should remaui in force until the Ist of January, 1815, uidess hostilities sliould sooner cease, 1 It prohlblteil, nnder severe penalties, tho exportation, or an attempt at exportation, by land or water, of any Roods, ]iri ilure, upccle, or live-stock ; and, to Ruard as ftilly as possible against evasions, even the coast-trade was fu entirely liri)lilbltcd that It became necessary to pass an act afterward to prevent the crews of coasters, Intercept ;d li> the rm- itargo when away from home, to employ their empty vessels as vehicles for their return to port. This provision bore very severely on the towns of the New England sea-board, for many of them depended on the coasting vesaftis for fuel, and other necessary articles.. Their supply was suddenly stopped by It In tho heart of winter. No transportation was allowed even on inland waters eTceptlng by the special permission of tho President. Wide latitude was given to cus- tom-house officials and cruisers 1 1 the felziirc of suspected goods ; and fisher- men were not allowed to go out with- out giving bonds not to viol.ito the Em- hargo Act. "The effect of tho meas- ure," said the National Intelligencer of liecember 23, " will be to curtail onr en- emies of necessary supplies precisely to the amount of onr exports, except tho very small proportion of them which found their way to tho ports of France. It can essentially Injnre no honest man -no man who would disdain to afford M and comfort to the enemies of his country. . . . Speculators, knaves, and traitors shall no longer enrich them- selves at the expense of the commn- uily." A epiiited caricature of the effect of this Embargo Act was designed and en- pravcd by Dr. Alexander Anderson [see note 1, page 787] for David Longworth, « highly -esteemed publisher of New York. It will be recollected that a for- mer embargo, during Jefferson's administration [see page 162], was called by the Opposition, or Federalist party, " a ter- rapiu policy." That idea is embodied In the caricature before ns, In which the Embargo Act of 1813 is personified by a 3D iw? — >^*"^v IV ft I \\ m. 1 i W^ m m i ' J f 1 i mmi^ Mii^ 786 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Napoleon humbled. Rumors of Peace. Re|)cnl of the Embargo Act. ' 1814. Very soon after the promulgation of the Embargo Act, intelligence came from Eu- rope which caused a change in the views of the administration concerning the neces- sity for the measure. An English flag of truce schooner arrived at Annapolis, Mary- land, at the close of December, with the news of great disasters to Napoleon in tin- field. His triumphant march toward the German Ocean and the lialtic had betn checked in a great battle at Leipsic, and he had been compelled to fall back across the Rhine with his magnificciit army sadly shattered. Thoughtful men supposed tiie hour of the conqueror's downfall to be near, and reasonably concluded that such an event would allow the British government to withdraw its soldiers from the Con- tinent and send them hither. The schooner also brought oflicial assurance to our government that the British Cabinet was willing to treat for peace, and accept the mediation of Russia upon certain conditions. In his letter to Secretary Monroe com- municating this fact. Lord Castlereagh was careful to say that his government was willing to treat with that of the United States" upon principles of perfect reciprocity not inconsistent with the established maxims of public law^ and with the maritiiiie rights of the British empire.''^ The Pi-ince Regent, in his speech at the openiiif of Parliament, had used similar language on the subject."^ He was willing to treat di- rectly with the United States government through commissioners, but was unwillini; to "accept the interposition of any friendly power in the question which formed thf principal object of dispute between tJie two states." Notwithstanding it was evident that the British government did net mean to recede a line from its assumptions con- cerning the right of search and impressment, and proposed the opening of negotia- tions at London, or at some point vjU the Continent near Great Britain, the Presi- dent, sincerely desiring peace on honorable terms, acceded to the proposition of the prince, and nominated Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell as additional commission- ers ; and the five,^ by the concurrent rction of the Senate in January," weru duly commissioned to treat for peace, at Gottenburg, with Bi'itish represent- atives.* This movement toward peace, and the pro-^pect of a general pacification of Europe, made the Opposition clamorous for a repeal of the Embargo Act. These considera- tions, and a desire to increase the revenue by impost duties so as to fully sustain tlif public credit, caused the President to recommend'' such repeal. That rec- JaDuary 19. ... ommendation was hailed with great delight throughout the country, ami an act of Congress for the repeal of the measure became a law ou the 14 th of April huge terrapin, who pelzca n violator of the law by the ecnt of his breeches. It was aimed at the New Englniul peoplp, who, it was alleged, were contlniinlly supplying the British cruisers with provisions, and thereby saving their coast from that devastatlou to which those of the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays iiad been subjected, and also putting money in their pockets by the infamous traffic. A British vessel of war is seen in the distance, with a boat, on the arrival of the knave with a barrel of flour, marked "sitperflnc." The Embargo terrapin seizes him, and the fellow cries out, "Oh: this cursed O-grub-me :'' th.^ ii-ord embargo spelled backward, making these words. The government official, wlio ha^ charge of the arrestiug terra|)iu, calls out in high glee, " Damn It, how ho nicks 'cm." One claw of the terrapin is upon a " license," such as the British authorities gave to professed neutrals. The designer and engraver of this caricaturo is . I (close of 1807) engaged in the practice of the art of engraving on wood at the age of almost ninety-three jcars. The copy of the caricature, seen ou the preceding page on a reduced scale, was redrawn and engraved by liiin at the age of eighty-eight years. i See note 1, page S4. ' In this speech the Prince Begcnt said : " I am happy to inform yon that the measures adopted by the Unlletl State? for the conquest of Canada have been frustrated by the valor of his majesty's troops, and by the zeal and loyalty of his American subjects." It was a singular coincidence that in the London Courier, November 4, 1813, iu which tills spocch was printed, was an account of the signal victory of Perry, and the capture of the entire British fleet on Lfike Erie, which was immediately followed by the connucst of ail Canada west of the Grand River, an event that had already ha; • pencd when that paper was printed. In the same issue of the paper was Lord Castlereagh's letter to Monroe propo.'- ing negotiations for peace. ' Albert Gallatin, James A. Bayard, John Qnlncy Adams, Jonathan RusRcll, and Henry Clay. * Clay and RiiHsell sailed on their mission fnmi New York on the 2iid of February, iu the tiMp John Adams, which bail been fitted out as a cartel. They were instructed to in.iist upon a cessation, on the part <if the British, of the dcfrail- Ing practices of search and impressment of seamen. "Onr flair," said the Instmctions, " mnst protect the crew, or the United Plates can not consider themselves an independent nation." And to remove all pretexts on the part of Great Britain for evading this dei.iand, the President expressed a willingness to exclude all British seamen, anil Hllna- lives of Great Britain, excepting the few already naturalized, from American vessels. Thus armed with rigliloouewei|)- ousi the envoys went forth ou their errand of peace. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 787 peal of the Embargo Act. lice came from Eu- icerning the neces- ,t Annapolis, ^Mary- ;o Napoleon in thf le Baltic had bt'cn to fall back across 1 men supposwl the luded that such an iers from the Con- il assurance to our ace, and accept the retary Moin-oe cora- lis governnieut was f perfect reciprocity [ with the murititM 1 at the opening of willing to treat di- 8, but was unwilling m which formed the. idinQ: it was evident its assumptions eon- opening of negotia- It Britain, the Prcsi- ic proposition of the Iditional oonmiission- te in January," were th British reprebent- icification of Europe. •t. These considera- [s to fully sustain the ich repeal. That rec- lOUt the country, and Ion the 14th of April Provlnlons for the Increase of the Army. The Navy neglected. ' Death of the Embargo.' . at the New Englnnrt people, Icreby eaving their const from Id, and also putting money in V a boat, on the arrival of the Id the fellow cries out, "Oh; [government official, who lia* le claw of the tcrrupiu is upon Id engraver of this caricntute af almost ninety-three year?. and engraved by him at the d 1 See note 1, page S4. ladopted by the United State. Vythezealandloynltyofhl! t 4, 1813, in which thin eFc'' le British fleet on Lalie Erie, li event that had already lui;- k"8 letter to Monroe propos- fship John Adams, which h«il If the British, of the dei.'riHl- InnBt protect the crew, or ttc [all pretexts on the part ot 111 British seamen, and all na- i armed with riglitoottsweap- following. This was claimed to be a victory for the Federalists — an evidence that the wisdom of the peace-party was perceived by the people and Congress.^ The providing of recruits for the army and its permanent increase was really the most important business of the session of Congress whose doings we are now eonsid- erinf. Expectations concerning the increase of the army had not been realized. Sixty-one thousand men was the intended number of the regular force : at the begin- niii<^ of 1814 it was but a trifle more than half that number. Something must be (lone speedily, or the cause would be lost. Short enlistments, as usual, had proved disastrous, and provision was made for engaging men for five years. Volunteers were to be accepted for a less term. Liberal bounties were to be ofliered ; and power Wa.3 given to the President to call out the militia of the country for six ins^tead of three months, if he should consider it necessary. Provision was made for a large in- crease of the navy by a bill passed by the lower house, but it was lost in the Senate, where only an appropriation of five hundred thousand dollars was authorized for the construction of a steam frigate, or floating battery, for harbor defense, suggested by Robert Fulton. The subject of finance occupied much of the time of the session f 1 The claim was not valid. There had, indeed, been many violent, threatening, unpatriotic words spoken throngh- ont New England against the government, more especially in Massachusetts, where the extremest doctrines of state sovereignty, on which the rebels in 1800- 01 founded their claims to tlie right of secession, were iterated and reiterated a thousand times. Even open defiance had been hurled in tlio face of the national government, and menaces of dls- nnioa had been uttered daily ; yet there was a war-party in New England altogether too powerful and restraining to cause the President to be affected by any apprehensions of secession or serious obstructicnis to the machinery of the na- tional government. Tliis was more eloquently proclaimed by acts than words. Notwithstanding the unpopularity of the war in that region, and especially in Massachusetts, that state furnished, during the year 1S14, over fourteen thousand recruits, to whom two millions of dollars in bounties were paid. Indeed, Massachusetts furnislied more recruits than any single state, and lukewarm New England more than all the hot slave statcc, >vho were ever clamorous for war, put together. The " Death of the Embargo" was celebrated in verses published in the Federal RejmWcan newspaper of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. These were reproduced in the New York ICvenini) Pout, witli an illustration designed by John Wesley Jarvis, the painter, and drawn and t ngraved on wood by Dr. Anderson. The picture was redrawn and engraved by Dr. Anderson, on a reduced scale, for this work, after a lapse of exactly fifty years. The lines which it Il- lustrates are as follows : Tebuafin's AnUBEBS. "Reflect, my frtend, as yon pass by, As you are now, so once was I : As /am now, so you nmy be- laid on your back to die like me 1 I was, Indeed, true sailor bom ; To quit my friend in death I scorn. Once Jemmy seemed to be my fl'iend. But basely brought me to my end ! Of head bereft, and light, and breath, 1 hold Fidelity in deatli : For'Sillors' Rights' I still will tug ; And Madison to death I'll hug, For his i)erfidlou8 zeal displayed For 'Sailors' Righte and for Free Trade.' This small atonement I will have— I'll lag down Jemmy to the grave. Tli^n trade and commerce shall be fVeo, And sailors have their lll)erty. Of head bereft, and light, and breath. The Terrapin, still tni,". in death, Will punish Jemmy's perfidy— Leave trade and brother sailors free 1" Fabsenokb's Rbplt. " Ye«, Terrapin, bereft of Ijre.ith, Hear him bnt oflf, and we shall see We see thee faithftil still in death. Comiiicriv! renti.fed and mihim fne ! Stick to 't— ' Free Trade and Sailors' Rights.' ling. Terrapin, wi.h all thy might- Hug Jemmy— press htm— hold him— bite. Now for ' Free Tra<le and Sailors' Right.' Never mind thy head— thou'lt live without It; Slick to him. Terrapin ! to thee the nation Spunk will preserve thy life— don't doubt It. Now eager looks— then die for her snlvntion. Down to the grave, f atone for sin, " Floboat Rebpcblioa. Jemmy must ^'o with Terrapin. "Ba>\kii of GooM Creek, City of Wa«hin;jtnn, \tith April, 1814." « A bill, authorizing a loan not exceeding twenty-five millions of dollars In amount, was offered in the House on the JIh of Fehraary. The delialcs on the Bu1>ject took a very wide range, anr' the cause, origin, conduct, and probable re- snlts of the war were freely .ind sometimes acrlmonionsly discussed. Much that was said, especially by the Opposition, ivns irrelevant. The bill finally passed both houses of Congress by n large majority, and becai le ". law by the approval of the President on Uie 'i6th of March. Then commenced among the leaders of the peace-party, or more ultra Fcdoral- KEATU or TUB TEBBAPIN, OB TUB IIUUAUUO. I . i 788 PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK Proceedings concerniug Prisoners of War. Retaliatory Measures. Prisoners held as Uostages. and that concerning the exchange of prisoners became a very interesting topic. Dif- ficulties, as we have observed, in regard to such cxcliange, appeared at the bcginnintf of hostilities, caused by the British refusing to consider the Irislimen captured at Queenston as prisoners of war, claiming them to be British subjects. These were sent to England to be tried for treason. Scott then told the British authorities at Quebec that he should lay the matter before his government, and that an equal num- ber of British prisoners should be held as hostages for their lives and freedom. Ho did BO, and Congress, early in 1813, vested the President with the power of retaliation.' Ists, a factions and at times treasonable efforts to destroy the public credit, and to so paralyze the sinews of war as to compel the government to make peace on any terms which the enemy might dictate. Of these efforts and their results I shall hereafter write. ' See page 409. Scott was faithful to his promise. As adjutant general and chief of Dearborn's staff, he seiectej from the prisoners captured by himself at Fort George [see page 599] twenty-three men as hostages for the nufortuuaie Irishmen sent over the sea. These were placed in close confluemtnt, to await the action of the British government and to be treated accordingly. Sir George Prevost immediately comnuinlcated this fact to the home government, and at the same time addressed a note to our government through General Dearboni. The latter was so negligent that it was three months before his letter reached Washington. Of this Sir George complained, and had even cominenc»(l Bending prisoners to Halifax because of his inability to keep the large number which had accumulated on his hands in Canada while waiting a reply from our government. This neglect caused distress and inconvenience to the prisoners In Canada. They complained of their long detention, and Prevost gave them proof that Dearborn alone was to blame. • A 1 19 Then General Winder, who was captured at 8t(my Creek [see page 6041, wrote to the Secretary of War> lsl3 ' "" "'" subject. After expressing a hope that Prevost would be promptly answered, he said, " But snch nnaccountable neglect or omission in answering the communications of Sir George has already taken place on the part of General Dearborn that I feel fearful that the same fatality may also attend that last commuuicn- tion." Winder's letter stirred the government to action, for already, as we have observed, prisoners bad been sent u t , . . Halifax from Canada,"" and Sir George Prevost threatened to send a large number to Knglaud. Tlu ° " ■ whole business concerning the exchange of prisoners was placed in charge of General J. Mason, commis- Bnry general of prisoners, under the direction of the Sec- retary of state. That officer at once dispatched the o'v [1S67] venerable Colonel Charles K. Gardner to Cpi.: i as agent for the prisoners, empowered by the proper ' thorities to negotiate their exchange. While these movements were in progress, an order for retaliation came to Sir George Prevost trom the Prince Regent, through Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State. It was •■ 181S promulgated at Montreal on the 2Ith of October' by a proclamation from the baronet, in which ho stated that he was commanded " forthwith to put in close confinement forty-six American officers and non-commissioned officers, to be held as hostages for the safe kco|i Ing of the twenty-three British soldiers stated to have been put in close confinement by order of the .\merican coven:- meut." He was also instructed to apprise General Dearborn that "if any of the said British soldiers shall suffer death by reason that the soldiers now under confinement in England have been found guilty, and that the known law, not only of Great Britain, but of every independent state under similar circumstances, has been in consequence execntcd, he has been instructed to select ont of the American officers and non-commissioned officers put into conflucinent a- many as double the number of British soldiers who shall have been so unwarrantably pnt to death, and cause sticlKitB cers and non-commissioned officers to snRer death immediately." He further stated that he was commanded to de- clare that instructions had been sent to the British commanders on land and sea " to prosecute the war with unniiii- gated severity against all cities, towns, and villages belonging to the United States," if, after a reasonable timi from thi- proclamatiim, the American government should " not be deterred from putting to death any of the soldiers who now ore, or who may hereafter be kept as hostages for the purpose stated." -^ jf 9l^uy^(U4^ f^Uy^ I 'mprisoned forty-six American olli - '■.)C. Among these was Major C.Vnii ' ■< in the War Department), who wai V. He and two room companions i«- X tt State of Maine, when they were I" November IT. Prevost obeyed orde cers in Beanport jail, • De Venter (afterwar' captured with Generr caped, and had alt. .mi captured and taken back. Under the humane caro of General Glasgow, these and the other prisoners were well treated, but chafed under the long detention while the two governments were menacing the prisoners of each with peril. Madison re- sponded to the order of the Prince Regent by directing"' the imprisonment of a like number of British officers. This fact was communicated to Prevost at Montreal by Colonel Macomb, who had been sent for thi' purpose by General Wilkinson under a flag of truce. Wilkini-i)n assured the boronet that the American government Intended to adhere strictly to the principles and purposes avowed in relation to the twenty-three Irishmen sent to Kr, gland; whereupon Prevost, by n pcncnil order by Adjutant General Bnynes, on thel'ith of December, directed n/iAmer lean officers, without distinctlnn of rank, then prisoners In his department, to be placed in close confinement. Ilillieri > Generals Winchester, Chandler, and Winder had been allowed a wi "• parole around Beauport ; now they were com manded not to go beyond the premises of their respective board'ng-.. ses In that village, which lies oJJ the St.La»- reuce, in full view of Quebec* Letter of General Winder to the ^' ■iry oi'War, OF THE WAR OF 1812. 789 sonera held ae Hostages. !8ting topic. Dif- l at tlic bcginr.iiig hmcu Oiiptured at ects. Those were tish authorities at Lhat an equal mini- 1 freedom. He did rer of retaliation.' ze the sinews of war a» to ige efforts aud tlieir resultg earborn'8 staff, ho selected ostages for the tiufortunatc of the British government, the home government, and ter was bo negligent ttial it , and had even commeiic»d !ccun)nlatcd on his hands in anvenienco to the prisoners jarborn alone was to lilarae. ote to the Secretary of War' nswered, he said, " But sucii ir George has already takcu attend lhat last coranninlcn- 1, prisoners had been sent to e number to England. Tlie it General J. Mason, commis- ns hostages for the safe VLeop. )rder of the .\nierican pivon:- tlsh soldierB shall suiTer deatli and that the known law, uoi vu in consequence cxecatf.l ..leers put into conllucmeiit i* |t to death, and cause sucliulB lat he was commanded to i./- rosccnte the war with nnmiii- er a reasonable tim* from ihi- Jient should " not be deterred [iers who now are, or who may Ipnrpose stated." lonod forty-six American ofB- [mong these was Major CWan lie War Department), who ii;v< land two room corapanioas t<- .ate of Maine, when they were ^^^^2^ JitT-thrce Irishmen sent |->E»- If December, dlrectcdnll.\mer I, close contliiement. llilli"i Ittuport ; now they were com Ige, which lies oil the St. U.- • 1814. Campaign on the Northern Frontier. Proposed Expedition to the Upper Lakes. Preparations on Lake Champlaln. Let US now coLoider the military events of 1814, which occurred more in accord- ance with the necessities of developing exigencies as the seasons passed on than with that of any Avell-digested plans excepting as to the Northern frontiers. It had been agreed in cabinet council that an expedition under Colonel Croghan, the hero of Fort Stephenson, with the co-operation of Commodore Sinclair, should proceed against the British on the upper lakes, and attempt the recovery of Mackinaw and St. Joseph's, ■nhich were lost at the beginning of the war.^ An army, under Major General Brown, was to be collected on the desolated Niagara frontier of sufficient strength to seize the Canadian peninsula between Lakes Ontario aud Erie, while General Izard, in com- mand in thti Lake Champlain region, should cut the connection on the St. Lawrence between Montreal and Kingston. It was at the close of March* when the campaign was opened on the North- em frontier by the incompetent General Wilkinson, who, we have observed, took post with a part of the Army of the North, at Plattsburg, when the cantonment at French Mills was broken up.^ There were indications that efforts would be made in the spring by the British in Canada to gain possession of Lake Champlain, penetrate the State of New York to the valley of the Hudson, and attempt, by a movement similar to the one unsuccess- fully put in operation by Burgoyne in 1777, to sep.arato the New England common- wealths (wl.orc, they foolishly supposed, an overwhelming majority of the people were their friends) from the rest of the Union. To meet and frustrate such efforts countervailing measures were adopted. Vessels of war were constructed at the mouth of the Onion River, in Vermont, under the superintendence of Captain Macdonough; and General Wilkinson sent Captain Totten, of the Engineers, to select a site for a strong battery at or near Rouse's Point for the purpose of keeping the little British squadron, then lying at St. John's, « n the Sorel, within the limits of Canada. Before tills work could be accomplished, the breaking up of the ice in the streams earlier than common changed the aspect of affairs materially. Intelligence reached Wilkin- son that a British force of twenty-five hundred men was about to be concentrated Thcfe retaliatory measures were relaxed toward spring."" At the middle of January Sir George Prevost al- , ..„.,. lowed General Winder to go home on parole, with a promise not to reveal any thing of obvious disadvantage to the British, and to return to Quebec by the 16th of March. The general too that occasion to communicnte fl-cely in person with his government on the subject of an exchange of prisoners. He deprecated the retaliatory measures, and tlirough his Influence the Senate, first on the 2d of Fcbrnary and then on the 9th of March, by resolution, requested the President to cause to be laid before them such information as he might possess concerning the subject of prisoners and retaliatory measures, and " of the cases, with their circumstances, in which any civilized nation had punished its n,iti\e subjects taken In arms against, and for which punishment retaliation had been Inflicted by the nation In whose service they had been taken." Also, " on what gronnds, and under what circumstances. Great Britain has refused to discharge native citizens of the United States Impressed Into her service ; and what has been her conduct toward Amer- ican seamen on board her ships of war at and since the commencement of the present war with the tJnltcd States." This was a task of no ordinary labor; and tl.e Secretary of State, to whom the resolutions were referred, remarked, in a report which he submitted on the 14th of April, that a f\ill onswcr ftom him on the subject of retaliation would require more extensive research into the history and jurisprudence of Europe than proper attention to his ofllcinl duties would allow before the close of the session— an event then just at hand. He gave reasons, however. In justiflcotlon of the course of the United States in the matter so satisfactory that a bill was Introduced similar to the one at the last session of the Twelfth Congress giving the President flill powers to retaliate. For reasons then presented, it did , auHI 18 not become a law. Four days after the presentation of this report Congcss adjourned." General Winder promptly returned to Quebec at the middle of March, bearing to Sir George Prevost fi-om Mr. Mon- roe, Secretary of State, a letter, dated the 9th of March, In which a mutual exchange of prisoners was solicited. Gen- crsi Winder was clothed with fiill powers to negotiate for snch exchange. Prevost met the proposition with a friend- ly spirit, nnd appointed Colonel Baynes, his adjutant general, a commissioner for the purpose. The negotiation was 'imraenccd, but temporarily suspended, when, In a Irtttr *o General Winder, dated the 22d of March, Mr. Monroe posl- livelv prohibited any consent to the release of tiK- .wenty-three British prisoners who were held as hostages for the Irishmen sent to England eighteen months before, unless it shou d be stipulated that they, too, should be released. The negotiation was resumed, oud on the 16th of April Winder ai.d Baynes signed articles of a convention for the mntnal release of all prisoners of war, hostages or others, except the twenty-three Queenston prisoners, the twenty- three Fort George prisoners held by the Americans In retaliation, nnd the forty-six American officers who were held for the last-named twenty-three. The mutual release took place on the 16th of May. Soon after that.M-. Beaslcy, airent for the American government in England, sent word that no proceedings had ever been Inslituted against the Q'leenston prisoners, and that they were restored to the condition of ordinary prisoners of war. The hostages on both fides were immediately released, and early In .Inly a cartel for the exchange of prisoners was ratified and executed. Thns ended n controversy unwarrantably begun by Great Britain, aud which had produced much suffering. The just position taken by our government was firmly maintained. > See page 270. * See page C8T. -iiir.'U f i: Y90 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Wilkinson crosses the Canada Border. The British at La Colle Mill. Positions of the opposing Forces • 1S14. at La Colle Mill, on La Colle Creek, a small tributary of the Sorel, three or four miles below Rouse's Point. For the purpose of preparing for a ma-ch on Montreal, and to confront the expect- ed force at La Colle, Wilkinson advanced his little army to Ch'^uiplain, and on the 30th of March* crossed the Canada border, and pressed on toward La Colle, It was composed of about four thousand effective men. Five miles from Cham- plain, at a hamlet called Odelltown, the army stopped for refreshments ; and, on re- suming their march, they encountered the enemy's pickets, and drove them back. At about three o'clock in the afternoon they came in sight of La Colle jMill, a heavy stone structure, with walls eighteen inches in thickness, and its windows barricaded with heavy timbers, through which Avere loop-holes for muskets. It stood on the south- ern bank of La Colle Creek, at the end of a bridge. On the opposite bank was a block-house and a strong barn, and .around them were intrenchments. For two lumd- red yards southward from the mill, and half that distance nortliward from the block- house, was cleared land, surrounded by a thick primeval forest which covered the country in every direction. The flat ground was half inundated by melting snows, a.id the highway was so obstructed by the enemy with felled trees and other hirukr- ances that the Americans were compelled to diverge some distance to the right of it, The .advance of Wilkinson's army was commanded by Colonel Isaac Clark an.l Major (at that time lieutenant colonel by brevet) Benjamin Forsyth. These wore followed by Captain M'Pherson, with two pieces of artillery, covered by the brigades of Generals Smith and Bissell. General Alexander Macomb commanded the reserves under Colonels Melancthon Smith and George M'Feely. Clark and Forsyth, with portions of their commands, crossed La Colle Creek some distance above the mill, fol- lowed by Colonel Miller's regiment of six hundred men, and took post in the rear of the enemy to cut off' his retreat. At this time the British garrison at the mill consisted of only about two hundred men, chiefly regulars, under Major Hancock, of the British Thirteenth. Re-enforce- ments were on the way, and it was important for Wilkinson to dislodge the enemy at the mill before their arrival. Macomb endeavored to send forAvard an 18-poiind cannon to breach the walls, but failed on account of the softness of the grouiid. Hoping to perform the same service with M'Pherson's heavy guns, which consisted of a 12-pound cannon and a 5i^-inch mortar, these were placed in battery at the dis- trntrmr^^ OF THE WAR OF 1812. %91 ^liiii: 1 of the opposinj; Forces. lireo or four miles nfront the expect- iiplain, ami on the toward La Colle, ; miles from Clmm- mcnts ; ami, on re- )ve them back. At I^lill, a heavy stone iS'9 barricailed with stood on the soulh- »posite bank was a its. For twolmud- ard fro.n the hloek- which covered the [ by melting snows, es and other hinder- ce to the right of it. mel Isaac Clark and /orsvth. These were Irered by the hn^Aie^ limanded the reserves l-k and Forsyth, witli pe above the milljol- fk post in the rear of about t\vo hundred Irteenlh. Re-enforce- L dislodge the enemy kbrward an lB-po"nd tness of the gromul. inns, which consisted In battery at the dis- Wilkinson attacks the British Oarrison. The Latter re-enforced. The Americans repulsed. The Battle-ground. tance of two hundred and fifty yards from the mill. They opened fire upon that citadel, but their missiles were harmli'ss. They were responded to by Congrcvc rockets ; and the whole American line, being in open fields, was exposed to the gall- in" tire of the enemy. M'Pherson was wounded under the chin, but fought on until his thigh-bone was broken by a musket ball, when he was carried to the rear. Lieu- tenant Larrabce, his next in command, was shot through the lungs, and Lieutenant Sheldon kept up the fire with great gallantry. The conduct of these officers was so conspicuous as to attract the admiration and comment of their brethren in arms. While this contest was waging, two flank companies of the British Thirteenth, un- der Captains Ellard and Ilolgatc, arrived from Isle mix Noix, seven miles distant, and gave much strength to the beleaguered garrison. Major ILincock now det ti-m- ined to storm the American battery, and gave orders for an immediate and vignrous sortie by the two companies just arrived. They made several desperate charges, and were as often repulsed by the infantry supports of the artillery under Smith and IJis- sell. They were finally driven back across the bridge, and compelled to take refuge in the block-house on the northerly side of the stream. There they were soon joined hy some Canadian Grenadiers and Voltigeurs from Burtonvillc, only two miles dis- tant. These joined the companies of Ellard and Ilolgate in another sortie more des- perate than the first, which, after a severe struggle, was repulsed by the covering brigades, and the cannonade and bombardment wont on. They made no impression, liowever, upon the walls of the mill. The garrison had been augmented by re-en- forcements to almost a thousand men, and, after a contest ot two hours, "Wilkinson withdrew, having lost thirteen killed, one hundred and twenty-eight wounded, and thirteen missing. The enemy lost eleven killed, two oflicers and forty-four men wounded, and four missing. I visited the scene of this conflict on a pleasant evening towai'd the close of Jtily," 18C0. I had been to French Mills (Fort Covington) in the morning, ., i »t and had arrived at Rouse's Point, as before observed (page 665), towaid evening. In a light wagon, behind a fleet hoi"se, I rode from the village to La Colle Mill in time to make a sketch of the scene — the bridge, and the block-house, then part '^■'TKSW^WCSg.^ 1.A COLI.b .MILL AM) ULOCK-lIUUbK. of a dwelling, the property of Mi*. William Bowman — and to obtain fi'om that gentle- man 80 exact a description of the form and size of the old mill, which had been de- < i J 5 ( i • tlfc. 792 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Oriives of the Slain In the Battle. End of Wilkinaon'i military Career. Brown ordered to the Niagara Frontier, molishod only two years before, as to enable mo, by observing the relative position of its ruins to the bridge, to reproduce the likeness of it given in the picture on tho preceding page. Mr. Bowman accompanied me to the Ferry-road, opened by hinisolf a little southward of the bridge, where, about thirty rods southeast from the highway might be seen the mounds which cover the remains of tho slain in the battle tliere, Those of the Americans were buried on the right side of the road, and those of tlic British on the left side, about twenty feet from each other. Only one grave was made for the dead of each nation. At twilight I passed through La Colle village and Odelltown, the road ruiminc; through a level, well-cultivated region, which was covered by forest at the time of the war. I spent the night at an indifferent inn at Rouse's Point village, and on the following morning journeyed to Champlain and Plattsburg. Of this journey I shall hereafter write. With the discreditable affair at La Colle Mill tho military career of General Wi|. kinson was closed. By an order from the War Department, issued a Aveek previous • March 24, to that affair," he was relieved of the command of the army in the Depart- ^®'''' ment of the North, and his conduct while in command of that district was subsequently committed to the scrutiny of a court-martial. He proved that durin,' the most important operations of the disastrous campaign, which ended at Froiioii Mills, the War Department, in the person of Minister Armstrong and Adjutant Gin- eral Walbach, was on the Northern frontier, and that he acted under the Socretai y's immediate instructions ; tliat the failure of Hampton to meet him at St. Regis' justi- fied his abandonment of an attack on Montreal ; and that his encampment and stav at, and departure from French Mills, was in accordance with the views of the Secre- tary of War. Tliese proofs being positive, Wilkinson was acquitted, and the puhlie placed the chief blame, where it seemed to properly belong, on the War Department. Like Harrison, who had felt the baletul effects of the administration of that depart- ment, Wilkinson threw up his commission in disgust. Many official changes Avere necessary. Dearborn was in retirement on account of ill health ; Hampton had left the service in disgrace : and Winchester, Chandler, ami Winder were still prisoners of war in the hands of the enemy in Canada. On the 24th of January Brigadier Generals Brown and Izard were commissioned major gen- erals ; and Colonels Macomb, T. A. Smith, Bissell, Scott, Gaines, and Ripley were ap- pointed brigadiers. On the retirement of Wilkinson, Brown became chief commander in the Northern Department. General Brown, as we have seen, left French Mills with a division of the army for Sackett's Harbor at about the middle of February.^ He arrived there on the 24tl), after a rather pleasant march for that season of the year. There he received a letter ^ from the Secretary of War, dated on the 28th,'' informing hira that Colonel Scott, who was a candidate for a brigadiership, had been ordered, with the accomplished Major Wood, of the Engineers, to the Niagara frontier. "The truth is," Armstrong ss'd, "public opinion will not tolerate us in permitting the enemy to keep quiet possession of Fort Niagara. Another motive is the effect which may be expected from the appearance of a large corps on the Niagara in restraining tho enemy's enterprises to the westAvard." After expressing doubts concerning the abil- ity of the force under Scott to recapture Fort Niagara, the Secretary, " by command of the President," as he said, directed Brown to convey, with the least possible delay, the brigades which he brought from French Mills to Batavia, Avhere " other and more detailed orders" Avould aAvait him.' On the same day, by another dispatch, the Sec- retary directed Brown to cross the ice at the foot of the lake, and attack the enemy at Kingston, if, on consultation with Chauncey, it should be considered practicable. • Sec pnpe 0B4. > MS. Letter of Secretary Armstrong to General Brown, February 28, 1813.- ' See pacp W>T. -Qeueral Brown'a Letter-book, pWlli OP THE WAR OF 1812. 798 the Niagara Frontitr. relative position he picture on iho pencil by himsolt', rora the highway, the battle thoro. , and those of the y one grave was the road ruiniint; est at the time of village, and on the his journey I shall or of General Wil- jd a week previous rray in the Depart- of that district was proved that duriiv^ ;h ended at Frenoli and Adjutant Gui- lder the Secretary's 1 at St. Regis' justi- campment and stay 1 views of the Score- itted, and the puhlio ne War Department, ition of that depart- ment on account of lester, Chandler, ami in Canada. On the ssioned major gen- Mid Ripley were ap- me chief commander ision of the army for there on the 24tli. he received a letter ing him that Colonel en ordered, with the ontier. "Thetrutl. rmitting the enemy he effect which may ra in restraining tlie concerning the ahil- jtary, " by cominaivl least possible delay, (ere " other and nion' ler dispatch, the Sec lul attack the enemy iisidered practicahlc. a See pace W' I Brown's Letter-book. Brown moving toward the Niagara. Ridiculous Urdere from the War Department. Public Property in Danger. In that event he was directed to use the instructions in the first letter of that date as a mask. The two commanders considered the force of four thousand men at the Harbor in- sufficient for the capture of Kingston under the circumstances ; and, mistaking the real intentions of the government, which was to make tlie movement on Kingston the tnain object, and that toward Niagara a./l;m^, Brown put his troops in motion to- ward the latter at the middle of March. Tlioy numbered about two thousand, con- sisting of the Ninth, Eleventh, Twenty-first, and Twenty-fifth Regiments of Infantry, the Third Regiment of Artillery, and Captain Towson's company of the Second Ar- tillery.' These troops had reached Saliiia, in Onondaga County, and Brown was at Geneva, when General Gaines thought he discovered his commander's mistake. Brown acquiesced in his opinion, and resolved to retrace his steps. He hastened back to Sackett's Harbor " the most unhappy man alive.''^ There Chauncey "and other confidential men" convinced him that his first interpretation of the Secretary's in- struction was correct. " Happy again," he hastened back to his troops, and resumed the march westward. At the close of the month tiiey arrived at Batavia, where they remained about four weeks, when they moved toward Buffalo. In the mean time Armstrong had written a soothing letter to the perturbed Brown, saying, " You have mistaken my meaning If you hazard any thing by this mistake, correct it promptly by returning to your post. If, on the other hand, you left the Harbor with a competent force for its defense, go on and prosper. Good consequences are soraetimes the result of mistakes."^ While at Batavia and vicinity Brown was made very uneasy by alarming letters from Chauncey, and also from General Gaines, who had been placed in command at Sackett's Harbor. The British were in motion at Kingston early in April, the ice having broken up, and there were indications of another attack on the Harbor. With this impression, and feeling the responsibility laid upon him by the grant of discre- tionary power given him by the Secretary of War, Brown hastened back to that post, leaving General Scott in command of the troops on the Niagara frontier during his ahsence. Observation soon taught him that an attack on the Harbor was " more to be desired than feared,"* and that the real point of danger was Oswego, at tlie mouth of the Oswego River. At the Great Falls of that stream, twelve miles from the lake, where the village of Fulton now stands, a large quantity of naval stores had been col- lected during the autumn and winter for vessels on the stocks at Sackett's Harbor. These would be very important objects for the British to possess or destroy ; and, ex- cepting the partly-finished vessels at Sackett's Harbor, they formed the most attract- ive prize for Sir James Yeo, the British commander on Lake Ontario. For the pro- tection of this property. Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell, with a battalion of light artil- lery, was sent to garrison the fort at Oswego. At the beginning of May Sir James Yeo sailed out of Kingston Harbor with an ef- fective force of cruising vessels. Chauncey was not quite ready for him. Both par- ties, one at Kingston and the other at Sackett's Harbor, had been bending all tlieir energies during the preceding winter in making preparations for securing the com- mand of Lake Ontario, an object considered so important by the two governments ' MS. Letter to Colonel E. Jenkins, March 12, 1S14. » MC. '.otter to the Secretary of War, March 24, 1RI4. ' MR. Letter, March 20, 1814. It must be confessed that many of the orders issued from Washington at this time were eireeilliigly perplexing to the officers iu the flcld. A great portion of the frontier was yet in a wilderness state, nnil the lopoL'raphy and geography of the country was very Imperltectly known. In a letter before mo trom the venerable Jiihn II. Kellogg, of Allegan, Michigan, dated 15th March, 1S04, some amusing anecdotes bearing npon this subject are rfvcn. He says that he heard Captain (afterward Commodore) Woolsey relate to Chauncey and other officers, In the old twn-story wood tovern at Oswego, the fact that he had received the following order from Washington : "Take the Mi; "/ the Lake and proceed to Onondaga, and take in, at Nicholas MIckle's Funiace, a load of ball and shot, and |)ro- cced at once to Buffalo." In other words, go over Oswego Foils, then up th" ''swego and Heneca Klvers to Onondaga Lake to Saiina or Syracuse, and then two miles south of that city by land, where the furnace was situated, and, return- ius to Oswego, proceed to the Niacrara, and up and over Niagara Fall' to Buffalo I « MS. Letter to the Secretary of War, April 26, 1814. iili-l Wii 704 PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK TUe Navy on Lake Ontario. Naval Stores. The British Squadron leaves Sackett's Hnrlmr. OIIAU.NUEV U DIH.MA.N 1 LED KI.AO-81111" Sll'EIilOH. that tlu'y withdrew officers and seamen from the ocean to assist in the lake service. Tlie American government also addetl twenty-five per cent, to the pay of those en- gaged in that service. In February Henry P>kford' had laid the keel of three vessels, one a frigate flc- signed to carry fifty gwns, and two brigs of five hundred tons each, to carry twcntv- two guns. Deserters who came in reported heavy vessels in great forwardness at Kingston ; and Chauncey, who reliiriicd from the national capital at the close of February, ordered the size of the frigatu to be increased so as to carry sixty-six guns. The brigs, named respectively Jtf. ferson and Junes, were ready for service, except their full armament, at the close «( April ; and the frigate, which was iiamed 77(6 /Superior, was launched on the '2d of May, just eighty days after her keel was laid !- But the naval stores and lieavy guns designed for her were yet at Oswcffo Falls, to which point they had been car- ried by tedious transportation from Al- bany up the Mohawk, and through AVood Creek and Oneida Lake into the Oswetjo lliver, the roads across the country from Utica to Sackett's Harbor being iinj)assal)lc with heavy ordnance. They were kept at the Falls for security from the enemy, mi- til schooners employed by Captain Woolsey for the purpose could be loaded and dis- patched singly from Oswego. The ice, as we have remarked, broke up earlier than usual, and the British made attempts to destroy the large frigate at the Harbor. On the night of the 25tli of April, Lieutenant Dudley, while out with tAvo guard-boats, discovered three others in Black River Bay. Not answering his hail, he fired. They fied. On scarcliinu, six barrels of gunpowder were found, each containing a fuse, and slung in pairs by a rope in a way that a swimmer might convey them under a ship's bottom for the pur- pose of explosion. A few days afterward the British squadron was seen in sailiiiL' trim at Kingston; and on the 4th of May Lieutenant Gregory, in the Zadi/ of tin: Lake, saw six sail of the enemy leave Kingston Harbor and move toward Amliei-st Bay. This was the squadron of Sir James Yeo, bearing a little more than one thou- sand land troops, under Lieutenant General Sir George Gordon Drummoiid. The active cruising force of Sir James consisted of eight vessels, ranging from 12 to 62 guns, making in the aggregate 222 ])ieces of ordnance, besides several gun-boats and other small craft, Avhosc armament, added to the otliers, gave to the British much su- periority in the weight of metal. When Sir James sailed his squadron was so much superior in strength to the one that Chauncey could then put to sea that the latter prudeivtly remained in SackettV Harbor, and the enemy moved unimpeded against Oswego on the morning of the 5th of May. His vessels were seen at reveille from that port, and preparations were speed- ily made to dispute his landing. The village, standing on the west side of the har- ' See page 015. » Ou the 1st of Jnne the American eqnadron consisted of the following vessels : SH^jcnor, 00, Lieutenant Ellon, Chniincey's flag-ship; /^rte, 2R, Captain Crane; floftnicj;, 42, Captain Jones; Waiim. 24, CaiJtalnTienchard: ./(-/^n-mn, 22, Captain Ridgeley ; yon<!«, 22, Captain Woolsey ; .firfp/i, 14, Captain Elliott; OneWn, 18, Lieutenant Commandant Drown ; and /xirf;/ of the Lake, 2, Lieutenant Mix, a look-out vpsspI. Besides these were sevjral gnn-boats and other small craft, among the best known of which were the Oorernnr Tirmpkinn, 0, Midshipman EV.iott; Pirt,a,Ucntcnant Adams ; ^on(/I«•»^ 2, Lieutenant Wells; Fair Armriean, 2, Licntcnant Woicott Chatincey: Ontario, 2, Sailing-master Stevens ; A nji, 2, Lieutenant Jones ; Hamilton, 8 , Qrowler, S ; Julia, 2 ; BViabcth, 1 ; and Iwmb- vessel May. The aggregate number of guus was 282. ii^m OF THE WAR OF 1812. 795 eaves Sackett'a Harbor. the lake service, pay of those ei>- one a frigiite <\v- , to carry twinty- at forwardiuss at !ey, who ret\inie(l ill at the close of size of the frisrate to carry sixty-six il respectively Jef- ! ready for service, lent, at the close of , which was uiimcd uched on the '2d of ( after her keel was 1 stores and lieavy were yet at Oswcjzo they had been car- ;|)ortution from Al- and through Wooil !kc into the Oswego Dor being impassable from the enemy, mi- ld be loaded and dis- ind the British made night of the 25th of overed three others llled. On searching, il slung in pairs by a bottom for the pur- was seen in saiUiisr 1, in the Lady of ik ' ve toward Amlierst Imore than one thou- in Drummond. Tlu' Inging from 12 to 62 jveral gun-boats ami the British much su- . strength to the one [cmained in Sackctt's morning oftheotli [arations were speed- rest side ofthelwr- L, Captain Jones: Jfod.* I 14, Captain Elliott ;Onfl*. I'vpl»el Besides the?c vsw Im-r-nnpiMn^.CMiashipina" Intcnant Woloott Chamc^y; Tbe UefeneeK and Defenders of 0»we);o. Attack uii Flirt Ontario. Lundint; of Britleh Troup«. BIB JAME8 LUUA8 YEO, l)or formed by the mouth of the Oswego Uiver, contained less tlian five hundred inhabitants. Upon abluft'on the north side of the river was old Fort Ontario, i)artly built in colonial times, spacious, but not strong. It tlien mounted only si.v old guns, three of which were almost useless because they had lost their trun- nions. The garrison consisted of Mitch- eU'o battalion of less than three hundred men. The schooner Growler, having on l)oard Captain Woolsey and Lieutenant Pearce, of tlie Xavy, was in the river for the purpose of conveying guns and naval stores to the Harbor. To prevent licr ialUiig into the hands of the enemy she was sunk, and a part of \\>^v crew under Lieutenant Pearce joined Mitcliell, who liad sent out messengers to arouse and bring in the neighboring militia. Mitchell had too few troops for the defense of both the village and the fort, so lie ordered all the tents in store there to be pitched near the town, while with his whole force he took position at the fort. The deception had the desired effect. To the en- emy the military array seemed mucli stronger on the side of the village than at the fort, and the British proceeded to assail the latter position. Leaving the absolutely defenseless village unmolested, the Briti.sli tro(/ps, in fifteen large boats, covered by the gun-boats and small armed vessels, moved toward the shore, near the fort, early in tlie afternoon, while the cannon on the larger vessels opened tire on the fort. Mean- while Captain James A. Boyle and Lieutenant Thomas C. Legate had been sent down to the shore with an old iron 12-pounder, and as soon as the enemy's boats were within jiroper distance they opened on them with deadly effect. Some of the boats Avere l)adly injured ; some were abandoned, and all of the remainder hastily retired to the ships. Just then a heavy breeze sprung up, and the entire squadron jmt to sea. Drummond, in a general order, stated that he did not intend to attack on that day. He was only feelingthe position and strength of the Americans. On the morning of the Cth the fleet again appeared off Oswego, and the larger ves- sels iniinediately opened a lieavy tire on the fort. Tlie Magnet took station in front (if the village, and the Star and CharweU yxeva towed in near the mouth of the river for the purpose of covering the spot selected for the landing of troops. Under this -liiekl were landed the flank companies of De Watteville's regiment, under Captain I)e Bcrsey ; a light company of the Glengary Regiment, under Captain iM'Millan ; a battalion of marines under Lieutenant Colonel ^lalcolm; and two hundred seamen, iirined with pikes, under Ciptain Mulcaster. The whole force, about twelve linndred in number, was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Fischer. A reserve of troops was left on the vessels. The enemy effected a landing early in the afternoon, and were compelled to ascend a long, steep hill in the face of a heavy fire of the Americans in the fort, and of a small botly-of the militia, who had been hastily summoned, and were concealed in a wood.' These, however, fled when the enemy had secured a footing on the shore. Finding it impossible to defend the fort with so few men, Mitchell left the works, and met the invaders in fair fight, covered only by woods. With the companies of Cap- tains Romeyn and3Ielvin, lie gallantly moved forward and attacked the front of the ' The British landed near where the City Ilospital now stands, and the battle was just in the rear of it. IV! * II v:l i 790 I'lCTouiAL kii:l»-book Tbe Drltish capture Oawei[o. The Fort diamuntled nuil Uurracki bDri^ed. Conduct of Veo and UrnromniKl, ATTACK OH oBWKuo.— (From au old Prtut.) enemy, while the remainder of liis command, under Captains M'Intyre and Pierce ol the heavy artillery, annoyed them prodigiously on the flank. By desperate figlit- jng the enemy was kept in check for a long time, but overwhelming numbers finally compelled Mitoh.ell to fall back. The British took possession of the fort and all tlic works and stores in the vicinity. Mitchell retired up the river to a position whore lie might protect the naval stores should the euemy attempt to penetrate to the Falls in search of them. In this gallant but hopeless defense tlie Americans lost the brave Lieutenant Blaiiey, and five killed, thirty-eight wounded, and twenty-five missing. The British lost nine- teen killed and seventy-five wounded. Among the latter were Captain jVIulcaster, of the Princess Charlotte, severely, and Captain Popham, of the Montreal, slightly. At five o'clock on the morning of the 7th the invaders withdrew, after having em- barked the guns and few stores found there, dismantled the fort, and burneil the har- racks. They also raised and carried away the Growler and two sunken boats ; ami, under circumstances not at all creditable to Sir James Yeo as an oflicer and gentle- man, several citizens, who had been j)r()mised protection and exemption from all mo- lestation, were abducted and borne away by the squadron. Among these was the att- ^^,^ erward eminent merchant of Oswego, ./^y^ ' y^^2^yo-3^ ^/>^L^ y^ IIonor.able Alvin Bronson, who was tlun C^^Ci/^i-.^^ ^ ^/^O^f<E^ c^f^r^^ ^jjj, jj^j^jj^ store-keeper, and who is still (1867) a resident of that place.^ After the capture of the post, and while Yeo was personally superintending the load- ing of his boats with salt and public stores, that oflicer applied to Mr. Bronson I'or pilots to conduct the boats out to the squadron. When he replied that all the men had left the place, and that he had none under liis control. Sir James angrily growleil out, with an oath, " Go yourself, and if you get the boat aground I'll shoot you.'' The gallant and gentlemanly Colonel Harvey, who was standing on the bank above, ' His clerk, Carlos ColtoD, then a boy, was taken with him. Mr. C. was clerk of the County of Monroe, Mlchlgnn, ia 1S55. p:] it u M, ..A I'll ^llfel of Yeo tad Orammoad. SS5»===2-. :ntyre and Pierce ot IJy desperate fi;,'lit- nina; mimbers finally {■ tlie fort and all X\w to a position where to penetrate to the c Lieutenant Blaney, riie British lost nine- Captain Mulcaster, Montreal, sliglitly. ew, after having cm- and burned the har- sunken boats; ami. m officer and gi nllo- jmption from all nu> ,ng these was the alt- icrehant of Oswe;.'(\ •onson, who was then per, and wlio is still f that place.' After 1 post, and while Yeo lerintending the loiul- ,1 to ^Ir. Bronson lor lUed that all the men unes angrily growled [,und rU shoot you, on the bank ahove. tntT^indo^oe, Michigan, i» OF THE WAU OF 1812, m FirmneM of Store-keeper Brousiin. Ills Captivity and Koleane. Niirvlvon of the Wnr In Oswego. called out to Sir .lames," Tliat, 8ir, is the public storc-keopcr, and may bo useful to lis." Sir James called Mr. Bronson back, and said," You art' my prisoner, and I shall expect you to inform me what stores have recently been forwarded for the army and navy, what remains in the rear of the post, and what, if any, are secreted in its neigh- borhood. "My books and papers," replied Mr. Bronson, have been removed for siife- ' ty, and I can not, theretbre, give you the desired information ; nor would it be j)roper tor nio to do so if I could." Sir James threatened to take him off with liim if ho withheld the coveted information. " I am ready to go, sir," was INIr. Bronson's calm reply. This was followed by an onler to Captain O'Connor to take him on board the flagship Prince Jiit/ent, At midnight tho naval and military officers came on hoard the Jtegent. Among them was General Sir George Gordon Druminoiid, who lavished upon tho captive store-keeper such coarse and vulgar abuse that Colonel Harvey, as soon as an opportunity w.as afl'orded, a])ologized for the brutality of his superior officers, of whom he was evidently ashamed.' jVfr. Bronson Mas confined a short time in the guard-house at Kingston, and again taken to tho squadron when it proceeded to tho blockade of Sackctt's Harbor. He was well treated, and associated t'amiliarly with the subordinate officers. lie was soon afterward released. Among the survivors of the war, besides Mr. Bronson, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Oswego, were the late Henry Eagle and Matthew M'Nair ; tho ven- erable bookseller James Sloan ; r/ ^ii^B-n^ 0/L the lively but aged light-house- keeper Jacob M. Jacobs ; and the late Abram 1). Hugunin. Mr. Eagle was a Prussian by birth, and possessed a fine figure when more than threescore and ten years of age. He learned the bus- iness of a ship-carpenter of a Scotchman on the border of the Baltic Sea, and worked his passage to America as such. He was the constructor of the Oneiikt at Oswego in 1808, and he accompanied Eckford to the frontier in 1812-'13. He became jjiir- ser at the Navy Yard at Sackctt's Harbor, where he Avas very active. He gave me many interesting particulars concerning the building of the New Orleans. Five Imndrod and fifty-three men were employed on her. The timber for her masts was out near Watertown, in Jefferson County, and the cost of their transportation to the Harbor was one hundred and sixty dollars apiece. They Avere afterward used in the construction of the ship-house. Mr. M'Nair, a Scotchman, was government commissary at Oswego, and had a store- house there and at the Falls. At the time of the British attack he had twelve hundred barrels of bread and other provisions in store at Oswego, and a (piantity of whisky.2 These became spoils for the enemy. Mr. Jacobs h.-cd been a companion in cruises with Commodore Rodgcrs, and went to Lake Ontario in 1812 with a midsliip- num's warrant. Although, Avhcn I last saw him [1864], he was eighty-eight years uf age, his complexion was so fresh and his step so elastic thnt he appeared like a man less than sixty years old. Mr. Sloan was Macdonough's clerk on the Saratoga at I Colonel nnrvey was ns gCDcroiis ns lie was brave. He was Rovcnior of Nova Scotli. in IS-TO when flcncral Scott was fentby his government to settle the dispute concerning the bonndnry-llnc between that country and the State of Maine elilier by arms or neKotiation. Scott and Harvey were ad.iutant generals in their respective armies on the Niagara fmiiticr, and at that time formed an intimacy which ripened into friendship. On going to the capital of Maine, Scott "pcned a friendly correspondence with Oovenior Harvey, which resulted In an amicable settiemcut of a difficulty which threaloncd to involve the United States and Great Britain In wnr. ' Mr. M'Nair died at Oewcgo on the aist of March, 1S02, at tho age of elghty-clght years. Ho had resided in Oswego sixty years. 'ISi^ I 1'. I ! l! ffi H fl^B^^n' J I i&K^^^^ ■ i ' ;l i ;: m ' ■lif:^i-i \ ^ii The Britlib raturu to Klnititon, PICTOUIAL KIKLD-IH Huckett'n Harbor bluckudud. WoolMjr'i SxpadliloD. the timo of till' battle of Pliittsburij in tlie nutumn of ini !. Jfr. TTu<?tinln, wlio dud lit Osweifo in Frbniury, IHOO, hiul lived in tliut jdaee Hince 1H()6. IIo was in the mil. itary service when Oswejju was eaptured in 1814, and waw made a i»riwoner. The eonduet of Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell in his defense of ()swe,t,'o received tlic commendation of his superiors. His i»rudence and jxalhintry secured the laryit anioimt of ordnance and naval stores at the Falls,' and the British derived very little advan- tage from their attack. With their small booty they returned to Kini^ston, and (K- weyo was not again attacked during the war. The dilaj)idated fort was repaired, the garrison strengthened, and the enemy was defied. For many years that fort has hcoii a strong and admirably-appointed fortress, but without a garrison, and in charge of a sergeant. Its situation and appearance, as seen from the lantern of the light-house, is given in tho little engraving below from a sketch made in 1H55. The place wheri' the British landed is seen at tlie point on the extreme left of the picture. FUUT AT OftWKUO IN 18&5. Tlie British troops were landed at Kingston, and the vessels were thoroughly over- hauled during the succeeding fortnight. On the 19th the renovated sipuvdron again weighed anchor, and, a few hours aftc d, drove Chauncey's look-out, X«<(y o/Mi Luke, into Saekett's Harbor, and est d a strict blockade of that port, to tlie great discomfort of tho American commander, who was making untiring efforts to get his squadron, and especially the /Superior, ready for sea. Heavy guns and calilcs destined for lier were yet at the Oswego Falls. Tho roads Avere in such condition that they could not be taken to the Harbor by land, and tho blockade made a voyage thither by water extremely perilous. But something must be done, or Sir James Yeo would roam over Ontario unrestricted lord of the lake. The ever-active and gallant AVoolsey Avas sufficient for the occasion. He declared his willingness to attempt car- rying the ordnance and naval stores to Stony Creek, three miles from Saekett's Har- bor, where they might be carried across a narrow portage to Henderson Harbor, and reach Chauncey in safety. The commodore gave Woolsey permission to attempt the perilous adventure, and before the close of May he had a large number of the heavy guns sent over the Falls in scows, preparatory to an embarkation when the vigilance of the blockading squadron should be relaxed. At sunset on the 28th of May Woolsey Avas at Oswcgc with ninetec. boats heav- ily laden with twenty-two long 32-pounder8, ten 24'8, three 42-pound carronades, and twelve cables. One of the latter, destined for the Superior, was an immense rope. The flotilla Avent out of the harbor at dusk, and bore Major Appling and one hundred and thirty riflemen under his command. About the same number of Oneida Indiuns Avere engaged to meet the flotilla at the mouth of Big Salmon River, near the present village of Port Ontario, and traverse the shore abreast of it, to assist in the event of an attack by the British gun-boats. Woolsey found it unsafe to attempt to reach Stony Creek, for the blockaders were ' The public store-houses nt the Falls (now Fulton) were on the east side of the river, a little above the Cnsividc.". The surrounding land bclouired to the goi-ernment. When I visited the spot in 18H, the land belonged to Timothy Pratt, Esq., a large laud-holder at the Falls. The stores were demolished after the war, and not a vestige of them now remains. OF THE WAll OK 18 12. 799 WookNT^ Bqwdltlon. utjunin, who dii'd It! wuH ill till! mil- nrisoncr. ,vog<) rocoivod tlie I tlie large luuouiit very littU' iulvuii- Kin;4Ht<)n, uiiil Os- t wiiH ro[>!iiriMl, tlii' I that fort liiis 1>cen ivml in c'liarge ofa f tlio light-liouse, is The place whcri' )icture. Wo<il«e>'i Forcv ou B\g Sundjr Creek. Ths confldent Ilrltlnl) In I'uriutt. ere thoroughly over- atecl Bquadron again \oQk-out, Ladj/ oftk of that port, to the untirhig cffuvts to ■avy g"ii8 fi"'^ c'Mi^'i ■e in such conditidii lado matlc a voyage ne, or Sir James Yeo ir-active and gallant ness to attempt car- from Sackett's llar- nderBon Harbor, and ission to attempt tk lumber of the lieavY ■when the vigilance ninetet. boats heav- lund carronades, and 18 an immense rope. ing and one hundred er of Oneida Indies Lver, near the present issist in the event of Itheblockadersjme te land belonged to Timothy Td not a vestige of them no« Pr«|iarattonii to r«c«lv*TlMIB. vigilant, bo ho determined to run up Big Sandy Creek, within a few miles of the Har- bor, aii<l debark the preciotm treasiiren there. The night was very d.-irk, ami there WHS little danger of tliseovery under its friendly nhadows. Hy dint of hard rowing, nil the boats reached the llig Salmon at dawn excepting one which had fidlen out of tin' line during the night. It was bewihlered in the fog, and was ea])tured by the IJriti.sii at sunrise the next morning. The Oneidas were tiu're, and flotilla and Ii:- iliaiis moved on toward the liig Sandy, where they all arrived at noon.» Sir . Mny .^ii, .laiiu'S, meanwhile, had gained information of the flotilla from the crew of '^"• ihc lost boat. He immediately sent out two gun-boats, cummanded respectively by Captain I'opham, of the J/wj^/*t'<//, and Captain Spilsbury, also of the Koyal Navy, ac- companied by three cutters and a gig, to intercept them. They cruised ail day in vaui, hut at evening learned that Woolsey and his boats had gone up the JJig Sandy. Confident of their al)ility to capture the whole flotilla, and ignorant of the presence of Major Api)ling and his riflemen, or of the Indians, the British cruisers lay oft" the mouth of the creek all night, and entered it early in the morning. In the door of a fisherman's liouse (yet standing when I visited the spot in 1800) Pojdiam saw a wom- an, and ordered her to have breakfast ready for himself and otticers Avhen they should ivtnni Sbo knew how well Woolsey was prepared to receive his juirsuers, and said, significantly, " You'll find breakfast ready up the creek." The Britisli passed on in jolly mood up the creek, but soon became very serious. I'LACE OF llATTLE AT SANDY OBF.EK.' For two miles or more the Big Sandy winds through a marshy plain, and empties into the lake through a ridge of sand dunes cast up by the winds and waves of C3nta- lio. That plain is now barren of timber, but at the time we are considering the stream was fringed with trees and shrubbery. In these, about forty rods below a bend in the creek, seen in the engraving, and half a mile below where the flotilla was moored, Major Appling ambushed his riflemen and the Indians. At the same time, a squadron of cavalry under Captain Harris, and a company of light artillery under Captain Melvin, with two 6-pound field-pieces and some infantry, about three hund- red in all, whom General Gaines had sent down from Sackett's Harbor, were stationed near Woolsey's boats. The confident and jolly Britons approached with little caution, and when they came '• This view is from the bridge, about one bnndred and fifty rods above the point where the engagement took place. Tlie stream is about eight rods wide, nrd the portion of it seen in the foreground was tlic poBltlou of the flotilla. The liirht strip seen in the extreme distance is Lake Ontario, and the irregular shore-line shows the sand dunes spoken of. The fisherman's house alluded to is seen between two of them, toward the extreme left of the picture. \l M 'V- \\ Ill If in sight of the flotilla they coraraenced hurling solid shot upon it, but with slight ef- fect. At the same time strong flanking parties were landed, and marched up each side of the stream, their way made clear, as they supposed, by discharges of grape and canister shot into the bushes from the gun-boats. These dispersed tlic cowardly Indians, but the gallant young Appling's sharp-shooters were undisturbed.' It was now ten o'clock. When the invaders reached a point within rifle range of the ambuscade, Appling's men opened destructive volleys upon them, and occasional shot came thundering from Melvin's^ field-pieces, stationed on the bank, near the pres- ent bridge. So furious aud unexpected was the assault on front, flank, and rear, that the British surrender'^d within ten minutes after the first gun Avas fired in response to their own. They had lost Midshipman Iloare and seventeen men killed, and at least fifty men dangerously wounded. The Americans lost one rifleman and one Indian warrior wounded, but not a single life. They gained the British squadron,^ with of- ficers and men as prisoners, in number about one hundred and seventy. A negro on one of the gun-boats, who had been ordered to throw the cannon and small-arms over- board in case of danger, did so when the fight was ended. The Americans called on him to desist or they would shoot him. He paid no attention to them, and, with a sense of duty, had cast overboard one cannon and many muskets, when he fell dead, pierced by twelve bullets. The wounded British were taken to the house of John Otis, yet standing,* and still occupied by the then owner when I visited the spot in • July 20, 1800. It was the second house above the is«o. bridge. Otis, a venerable man when I saw him, gave Woolsey the first notice of the presence of ])ursucr8. He had been out upon the lake since mid- night, watching for the enemy, and, discovering them at early dawn making for the mouth of the creek, he hastened up the stream with the information. He pointed out to me the place, near a large chestnut-tree in a lot adjoining his garden, where the British dead were buried. He took care of many of the wounded for m6re than a fortnight, for which service and expenses liis country rewarded him after a lapse of forty-three years. In 1857 Congress voted him a little more than nine hundred dollars ; but one of those harpies known as lobby agents, who know how to approach legislators of easy virtue, took one half of it as compensation for his serv- ices in procuring the " appropriation." The cannon and cables were landed safely from the flotilla, end transported by land sixteen miles to the Harbor. The great cable for the Superior had occupied, in pon- derous coils, one of the boats of ten tons burden. Tlie cable was twenty-two iiielics in circumference, and weiglied nine thousand six hundred i)ounds. No vehicle couM be found to convey H over the country to the Harbor; and, after a delay of a week, « Daniel Appling was born In Columbia County, Georgia, in 1T87, and entered the army as second lieutenant of riUc- men In isns. lit was promoted to captain in the sprini? of 1812, and major of the First Rifle Corps in April, 1S14. For his gallant conduct at Sandy Creek he was hrevc'tcd lieutenant colonel in Aiif;ust. lie was breveted colonel for tll.<lic- palshcd services at Plattsbnrg in September folldwing. lie was r"talned on the peace estahllshnient In I'^I,'), l)nt rf- signed In June the following yeir. lie died at Montgomery, Alabama, in March, 181T, at the age of only thirty mirs, » George W. Melviu was a native of Georgia, lie entered the military ser^'ice as second litMitennnt of artillery at ih' close of isns. In August, 1812, he was commissioned captain. lie was retained on the peace establishment, and re- signed in August, 1820. OTIS 8 lIOt'Bl. dANDY OREKK. ^-^ ' One of the baata monnted a fts-pound carronado; one a long .12-pounder; one a long 24; one two long I'J's, aol another two small brass howiizors. * Dr. Alfred Ely, who was an assistant of Snigenn .\ma*> Tro"b'^"dge, was at Sandy Creek, and attended the Bound- ed British at the house of Mr. Otis. I h.id the jilenf nrt "( meeting him at the inaugnration of the statue o;'''frry,«i Cleveland, in SeptomVer, 1800. He is now (1807) a n.MtH of Oberliu, Ohio. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 801 It Cable for the Stiperior. but with slight ef- , marched up each ischargcs of grape Brsed tlie coAvardly isturbccl.i ithin rifle range of icm, and occasional bank, near the pres- flank, and rear, that fired in response to 1 killed, and at least nan and one Indian I squadron,^ with of- iventy. A negro on and small-arms over- Americans called on to them, and, with a ts, when he fell dead, et standing,* and still L'8 llOliBl iASDV OEKEK. country rewarded him liim a little more thm agents, who know how ipensationforhisserv- Ind transported hylaml \r had occupied, in pon- Las twenty-two inAos Inds; No vehicle cou.l Tfteradelayofawcoli, b^fcconrtllenteimntotr*- llRifle Corps 111 Apnl,W4^. I waB breveted colonel or W,. Icee8t«Wbhnieiitinlsl6,l.U« I at the age of only thirty >«". loml lieutenant of artillery at tte l„teaaC8-p.)un'l««'°°t,;™; I long M ; one two loD!? «».««« K";«%tar.tofS«rseonAm.« rCr"pVnn<Jntten<1e,llheivo™«- |ltU.nofthe.tatueo^tW^«, \m. UelanowO!>i.7)ar«''"" %^ yyyJCrf'Zy Cirrying the great Cable to Sackett'a Harbor. Vlgtt to the Saudy Creek Region. Snrvlvors of the War met there. men belonging to the militia regiment of Colonel Allen Clark, who had hastened to the creek on hearing the din of buttle, volunteered to carry it on their shoulders. About two hundred men were selected for the labor. They left the Big Sandy at noon, and arrived at the Harbor toward the evening of the next day. They carried it a mile at a time without resting. Their shoulders were terribly bruised and chafed by the great rope. They were received by loud cheers and martial music. A barrel of whisky was rolled out and tapped for their refreshment, and eacli man received two dollars extra pay. In less than a fortnight from the time of the battle all the cannon and naval stores were at Sackett'a Harbor.* But many difficulties had to .jnneio, be overcome, and the fleet was not ready to leave the Harbor on a cruise ****• until the Ist of August. It was a sultry moniing in July when I visited the theatre of events just described. I arrived at Little Sandy Creek Village on the previous evening, and there met Har- mon Ehle, a sprightly little man, now (1867) eighty-seven years of age, who was one of the two hundred who carried the great cable to Sackett's Harbor. From him I learned most of the facts concerning it just related. I spent the evening very pleasantly with him. For forty-nine years he had lived there, and had seen the country transformed from a wilderness to the pleasant abode of civilized man.* The night succeeding our interview was tempestuous. At dawn a heavy thunder-shower drenched that whole region ; yet at an early hour I started in a light wagon for Sackett's Harbor, on the road that would lead to the battle- ground oil the Big Sandy. When within about a mile of it, we saw standing at a rustic gate, resting upon crutches, a venerable man of seventy-five years, with palsied legs, beard of a fortnight's growth, a slouched felt hat on his head, and a blue linen sack covering all that we could see of him. It was Jehaziel Howard, a native of Vermont, an old seaman of the lake, who was with Woolsey at the time of the battle of the Big Sandy. He had been with him since early in the war, and was with Chauncey at the tak- ing of Fort George.2 He saw the negro shot on the Brit- ish gun-boat in the Big Sandy, and assisted in taking the British wounded to Otis's. Bidding him good-morning, we rode to the bridge, where I made the sketch on page TOO. There we spent half an hour with Mr. Otis, aid then rode on to EUisburg, where we breakfasted between nine and ten o'clcck. Meanw hile very heavy clouds were gath- ering in the web.% and we had ridden only two or three miles from the village, through the " garden of Jefferson County," when a thunder-storm burst upon us with great fury. We took refuge in a tavern by the way-side, and arrived at Sackett's Harbor at litde p.ist m'lridian, in pleasant sunsliine, as already mentioned.^ Let us now leave the more easterly shores of Lake Ontario, and consider event an the Niagara frontier, where the broom of destruction during the year 1813 had swept away almost every thing worth contending for excepting territory. But Canada was to be conquered by one party and defended by the other, if possible, and the posses- sion of the Ontario and Erie peninsula was of vast importance to the contestants. For that possession the military movements we arc about to consider were com- i menced. JEHAZISL nowABn. > In Fcbmary, 1861, CongresB granted Mr. Elite a penaion of $16 a month during hifi natural life. ' See page SaO. ' See page 61B. 8E / i! I if fi If i 10 1: If i ■n J I ! 802 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Army on the Niagara Frontier. Its Composition. Red Jacket and hU Mcd»l. We left a portion of the Army of the North on its march from Batavia to Buffalo under the command of Brigadier General Scott, while Major General Brown, the com- mander-in-chief, hastened back to menaced Sackett's Harbor. That post and others on Lake Ontario were soon considered safe from attack, and, with the bulk of his army, Brown stood on the east bank of the Niagara Kiver at the close of June, 1814. He made Buffalo his head-quarters, and on the Ist of July he found himself at the head of a military force strong enough, in his judgment, to carry out the orders and wishes of the War Department by invading Caiuxda. Ilis army consisted of two brigades of infantry, commanded respectively by Generals Scott and Ripley, and to each of these was attached an efficient train of artillery, commanded by Captair Nathan Towson and Major Jacob Ilindman, and a small squadion of cavalry under Captain Samuel D. Harris, These troops were well equipped and highly disciplined.' They were the regulars. There was also a brigade of miscellaneous troops, composed of five hundred Pennsylvania Volunteers ; si.v hundred New York Volunteers, of whom one hundred were mounted ; and between five and six hundred Indian warii OTij, embracing almost the entire military force of the Six Nations then rcmainliif in the United States. These had been aroused to action by the stirring eloquence of the then venerable Red Jacket, the great Seneca orator, chief, and sachem,^ wliose in- ' General Scott had taken special pains to discipline these troops thoroughly. (!3cneral Jesnp (then major), In a man- uscript "Memoir of the Campaign on the Niagara" now before me, says that "he t Jesnp] began, under the orders of Oen'^ral Scott, a course of Instruction, and kept his command [Twenty-Hfth Infantry] under arms from seven to ten hours ft day. A similar course was pursued by the chiefs of other corps. The consequence was, that when we took the field in July our corps manoenrred in action and undei' the tire of the enemy's artillery with the accuracy of parade." ' Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, or Red Jacket, was born about the year 1750 where the city of Buffalo now stands, that bein" Iht chief residence of the leaders of the Seneca tribe of the Si.\ Nsulons. He was a swift-footed, fluent-tongncd bcinp. During the Revolntlon he, in commo'i with his tribe, took part with the British and Tories. His business was more in the way of arousing his people to action by his eloijuence than the performance of great actions himself. Indeed, Brant spoke very disparagingly of him, and called him a trai'or and dislionest man; and he was charged with hnvini; lioen fonnd in a place of safety cutting up a cow belonging to another Indian (which he had killed) while Sullivan was raarcli. Ing through the Seneca country in 1771), fighting the warriors whom Red .lacket had aroused by his eloquence. He Am appears conspicvtons lu history at the treaty of Port Stanwix (now Rome, New York) in 1784, when, by certain concc.<- f ions of territory by the Six Nations, those of the tribes who bad not emigrated to Canada were bronght under the pn- tection of the government of the United States. It was on that occasion that Red Jacket's fame as a great orator wa- established. Two years afterward he was prominent at a council held at the mouth of the Detroit River ; and in all the disputes between the white people and Indians respecting land-titles in Western New York Red Jacket was ever tlip eloquent defender of the rights of his race. His paganism never yielded to the influence of Christianity, and he was iho most Inveterate enemy to all missionary etforts among the Senecas. Under his leadership the Senecas becunie tlie al- lies of the Americans against the British in the War of ISia, and In the battle of Chippewa In the summer of ISU he he- baved well as a soldier, although be seems to have been constitutionally timid, and always braver in council than '•<! the field. For many years he was the head chief of the Senecas. The inflncnce of Christianity and the civllizatiou thai affected his people disturbed the latter years of his life, and he was made more unhappy by the intemperate use of in- toxicating liquors. So great and disgusting became his excesses that in 1827 he was formally deposed by an art in writing signed by twenty-six of the leadiniT men of the Senecas. This blow was severe. He went to the Nntio;i,ii cap- ital for redress, and he returned to his peopi» with such evidences of reform that he was reinstated. But he soon Iw- came an imbecile, and in a journey to the At! antic sea-board he permitted himself to be exhibited for money. How hit proud spirit in its vigor would have sconml such degradation ! He died on the '20th of January, 1S30, at the age of almost cighiy years. Ills remains were buried iu thr church-yard of the Seneca mlssioii, thre<;or four miles from Buffalo, and over his gran Henry Placide, the comedian, furninlicJ wiib funds by a subscription which he set m foot among the actors connected with thf Buffalo theatre, placed a slab of raarbli' in ISiin, upon wliich were enprnvcii lhf« words: "Saoovkwatiia (ne-kcpps-lliem- awake), Hal Jacht: chief of the Wolf TriV of the Senecas; the friend and prottclorol the people. Died January 20, 1830, agsi seventy-eight years." Toward the close of the Revolntina «Bri; ish oillter gave the young chiefa riohly-fm- broidered scarlet jacket, from the wcarinc of which he derived his English nnmo, In his later years he wore, with pride, a law medal, which was presented to him by Prov- ident Washington In 17il2 on the concliifioa of a treaty of jwace and amity between tlx BKD JACKRT'b MEDAI. OF THE WAU OF 1812. 808 IliltN ed Jacket and hln Medal. Jatavia to Buffalo, il Brown, the cora- at post and others th the bulk of his close of June, 1814. »unti himself at the out the orders and y consisted of two and Kipley, and to Handed by Captair on of cavalry under I hi<j;hly disciplined.' 3U8 troops, composed York Volunteers, of undred Indian warri- ,na then remaining in jtirring eloquence of [id sachem,^ whose in- I Jesnp (then major), In a man- ml began, iimler the orders ot >r arms from seven to ten ho.irs Is that when wc took the flcU he accuracy of parade." nlo now stands, that bein? tht fl-footcd, nucnt-tonsncd bcu.c ■ies His businesB was more in actions himself. Indeed, Brm! was charged with havMisV™ Uled) while Sullivan wtt« m«rfli- usedby his eloquence llefim „ 1784, when, by certain concc- ,dn were brought imder the pr.- \cfs fame as a great orator «. ;„c Detroit River -.and in aUb. York Bed Jacket was ever tko , of Christianity, and he w«»ttic l.liii, the SenecBs became tlie al- '.he summer of ISU he 1.. Iw wB braver in council than ■. Lrnityandthccivillzationta ',y by the intemperate n«co In- formally deposed by an act iu lie went to the Natio:,.^ rap- ;« reinstated. But he soon ^. k exhibited for money. Howta It ^n its vigor wouidhavcBCornc 'lalUml nedledonthe»o( S^ the age of almost c.ta; J remains were buried m ftc L ft"c Seneca mission, hrwo, rm hifralo,«nd..vcri,sgrav de thccomedlan,furui»hoJ«i.l. '"sXription which he .et ™ • the actors connected with >k catre, placed a slab of niajb^ br:;thcBevoi.ion^ fcHe^nS^---* VcderivcdhisEusliHhna'n';'" ears he wore, with pride a 1«^ The Volunteers and Indians. Chief Engineer M'Ree. Furt Eric and the Invasion of Canada. fluence among his people had been very great since the close of the Revolution, in which he took a part, not, howevci, very much to his credit as a soldier. The volunteers and Indians were under the cliief command of General Peter B. Porter, who was then quarter-master gen- eral of the New York Militia, and, as w<' have seen, was not only an eloquent ad- vocate of the war in Congress' before it was commenced, but a reatly and patriotic actor in its more stirring and dangerous scenes in the field, llie accomplished Ma- jor William M'Ree, of North Carolina, was the chief engineer in Brown's army,^ and he was assisted BEn JAOKKT, by the equally accomplished and gallant Ma- jor Elea.'-er D. Wood, with whom wo have liccomc well acquainted while following General Harri- son in his campaign in the far Northwest. On the Canada shore, at the foot of Lake Erie, nearly opposite Buffalo, stood Fort Erie, then garrisoned by one handled and seventy men, moscly of the One Hundredth Regiment, under the command of Major Buck, of the Brit- ish army. It was the most serious impediment in the way of our invasion of Canada ui that quarter; but Avhen, on the 1st of July, Brown n cived orders from the Secretary of War to cross tlie river c upture Fort I rie, and march on Cliippewa, at the iiwuuli ot Cliippewa Creek, where some fortificatio lad been tlirown up, menace Fort George, aiic ii iHsntid of the co-operation of Chaimcey's fleet, and ii^ «! liability of with- I'nlted States and the Six Nations after ilic R" •Intton. It Is m )e of sliver, with a heavy rim, ami Is Ave inches In wUllh, and iKMirly seven Inches In length. The. ic™ upon it woi. .ui^avcd, It Is said, by the crai ::t D.ivid Kitten- iwuse, the philosopher, who, as a jeweler in his younger days, had acquired nue facility In the use of ih.' Iniriii. It will be ohscrvcd that the painter of the above portrait did not correctly draw i device on tip medal whkli is given In the engraving on the preceding page from a photograph. The r'nlal is now , i-iflTl in the piissession of Brevet Brigadier General Parker, of General Grant's staff, chief Sachem of tl> "- rti tiji. I saw It In his possession at City Point In ha. Red Jacket's children being all dead at the time of ii, liiis ingignia of leadership passed out of the pos- fcfslon of his Immediate family. The stricken chief regar' iic death of his eleven chUdren as a punishment for his ilrankcnucsfl. The late venerable Mr. Uosmer, of Avon, Livuigston County, t(dd the writer In 18.Vi that on one occasion a lady at his table with Red Jacket, who did not know of his bem.avement, iniptlred after his children. The old chief, *ilh deep sadness, replied with unsurpassed eloquence, " Red Jail^ct v dhoo a great man and In favor with the Groat Spirit. He was a lofty pine among the smaller trees of the forist. iifter years of glory, he degraded himself by lirinkini! the flre-watcr of the white mau. The Great Spirit hu lon> ' aown upuu him in his auger, and his lightning has stripped the pine of its brunches." i See page '21'i. ' William M'llee was born In Wilmington, North Carolina, ■ l.tth of December, 17'>T. He was of Irish descent. Ili« father was an active ofllrcr In onr old War for Indepi'iidem ,■, and this son was educated at the Military Academy :il West Point. He entered the corps of Knglneers In 1805, and was commissioned a major, and assigned to the duty of fliicf engineer of the Northern Army in 1S13. He was conspicuous In the events on the Northern and Niagara frontier iloringthc war, at the close of whlcli his government sent iilm on a tour of military liispccticui In Europe. After serv- lat on a commission of engineers to determine upon a system of fortlrtcations for the United States, he retired from llie •TOT in ISll). He became United States surveyor general, and was almost cimlinually In public employment until his ileath, which occurred at St. Louis. Missouri, In May, 1S38. He was never married. The silhonette from which the above engraving was made U the only likonesa of him extant. I am indebted fur its lue to his nephew, Griffith J. H'Kee, o( • Wilnalngtou. •:■: , . if i * 1 , 804 PICTOniAL FIELr-BOOK Plan of thi^ iiew luvaiilon uf Canada. General Ripley. American Troops croRB the Niagara. Major Oardner. standing that of Sir James Yeo, to seize and fortify Burlington Heights, at the licad of Lake Ontario, he did not hesitate a moment to set about its execution. If these results could be obtained, the Americans would not only hold the peninsula in their grasp but might proceed leisurely to the conquest and occupation of all Upper Canada. In obedience to his instructions. General Brown issued orders on the 2d of July for his troops to cross the Niagara River from Black Rock. Accompanied by Generals Scott and Porter, he made a reconnaissance of Fort Erie and the upper part of tiie Ni- agara, and concerted a plan of attack. His means of transportation were few. Tiic arrangements for embarking and debarkhig were made with the brigadiers and tin senior engineers, M'Ree and Wood. General Scott was to cross with one division through a difficult pass in the Black Rock Rapids, and land about a mile below Fort Erie, and at the same time General Ripley was to cross from Buffalo, and land at the same distance above the fort. This was to be accomplished by the dawn of the 3(1, and tiie fort was to be immediately invested. The boats that conveyed these divi- sions were to return immediately to Black Rock, and transport the residue of the army, ordnance, and munitions of war to the Canada shore.' Toward the evening of the 2d, when the arrangements were all completed. General Ripley expressed a desire *or a change. He believed that his division wouU" ' ve to bear the brunt of battle should the enemy oppose the crossing, and he asktd for a larger number of troops. He complaineci that he could not ci'oss with sufficient forou to promise success ; and when General Browi., who knew that delay would be peril- ous, endeavored to convince him that his force would be adequate, and assured liim that no change could then be made in the arrangement, Ripley was angry, aiul ten- dered his resignation. It was not accepted, and the movement went on. General Scott crossed the river while it Avas yet dark on the morning of the ad, with the Ninth, Eleventh, part of the Twenty-second, and the Twenty-fifth Re<i;i- ments, and a corns of artillery under Major Ilindman, and landed below Fort Erie unmolested. His movements were so prompt that in less than two hours after he embarked, his brigade was formed on the Camula shore. General Brown, with his suite, consisting of his adjutant general (the now venerable Colonel Charles K. Ganl ner, of Washington Ctt^^)^ Major Jones, the assistant adjutant general. Majors M'Kee and Wood, of the EngineerF, and Captains Austin and Spencer, his aids-do-camp, pre- pared to follow in a small boat. He would have landed on the Canada shore as oailv as the rear of Scott's division did, had not Ripley been tardy in his obedience of or- ders. It was broad day'ight before that officer's brigade was embarked. Brown j was disappointed. He pushed across the river, leaving ordei'S for Ripley to follow | as soon as possible, and join Scott, who by that time had formed his troops on tli" Canadian beach. ' In his general orders annonnclng the contemplated Invasion Oenoral Brown prescribed stringent rules for liia tmops in the treatment of the inhahitai ts and their property. Ail found in arms were to be treated as enemies, nud all olh- ers na friends. I'r'vate property ("as to be held sacred, and public property, when seized, was to be disposed ofbythf commanding foneral. lie prescribed the punishment of death for all plunderers. » Chiirles K. Gardner was born in i.'orris County, New Jersey, in 1787, and in 1791 removed with his parents to Now- bur;;, on the Hudson, where he flnishci.! his education. He was a student of medicine with Dr. Ilosack, in New York. when he received the appointment of ei.sign in the old Sixth Regiment of Infantry in ISOS. In the fullowlng year, while on dnty at Oswego, he was appointed .'djutant of his regiment. He served as sucli at various points, and nlBalon Koufie, Louisiana, General Wade Hampton ap^ointed him his brigade inspector. In July, 1812, he was appoiiileil cap- tain of the Third Artillery, and in the following n.-.r.t;. General Armstrong, then in command at New York, nindc liiu his brigade inspector. In March, 1S13, he was In charge of the adjutant general's offloe at Washington as a«si?l.iiil,tat was soon afterward promoted to major of the Twenty-flflh Infantry, and ordered to the Northern frontier at Snckflt'f Horbor. He was in the battle of Chrysler's Field. In the following spring he accompanied General Brown's divlfloi first from French Mills to Sackett's Harbor, and then to BntTalo, and in April received the appointment of adjutant if o- eral, with the rank of colonel. For distinguished services on the Niagara frontier he was breveted lieutenant cnlniifl. but, being then colonel, he declined it. In May, 181(1, he was recommissloned adjutant general of the Army of thc^Xurtti. and In ISIS he married and resigned. In 1822-',') he edited the .Vi^io York Patriot, and was appointed corropnnilinf clerk in the Post-offli Department. In 1829 he became assistant postmaster general. He became auditor of the trot- nry for the Post-offlc opartment In laid, and was afterward postmaster at Washincton City and surveyor general <>l Oregon. Colonel Gai .Inor is now (186T) a resident of Washington City. He is the author of a Compend ttfln/antrii Tji- He», and a very com|n-(^licn8ive Dictionar]] lif tlu Army. ' ■•«•■ OF THE WAR OF 1812. 808 gar». Major Gardner. ;ht8, at the heail of ,n. If these vosults mla ill their gnisp, Upper Canadiv. 1 the 2d of July for paTiied by Generals pper part of the Ni- ioH were few. The I brigadiers and the 8 with one division t a mile below Fort falo, and land at tlio the dawn of the 3(1, conveyed these divi- •t the residue of the [I completed, General vision wouU'- ' ve to r, and he asktd for a 's with sufficient force clelay would be pcril- late, and assured liim ^ was angry, and ten- , went on. le morning of the ad. le Twenty-fifth R('!;i- ided below Fort Eric m two hours after lie ncral Brown, with liis onel Charles KG anl- roneral, Majors M'Uoi \is aids-dc-camp, lire- Canada shore as early m his obedience of or- is embarked. Brown , for Ripley to follow ined his troops on tli" trM»itrulc« fori. U top Vrcated a% enemies, «ud.. * loved with hlH parents to >;«• t,v»hDr.nomick,i..New\ork. in ISOS lu tlic following ycat, L,1812,lvewaaappou.tcJaf- tmand at New York, made !» LwnBhlngtonaBa«s.et I, iNorthcrn frontier at SaoUt inled General Brown'Mlmw Pappolntmentofadinto,^.- laB breveted Ueutenant eta VneralofthcArmyotthcN'rtti. t «•. 8 appointed corre^po,,,!...? IVclty and surveyor trcner»U Kort Erie captured by the Aincricaue. Re-enforccmenU for It sent too late. Oeuerul Riull. Brown ordered Scott to push for- ward a battalion nearer the fort, to observe the movements of tlie garri- son. This battalion, consisting of light troops and a few Indians, were under the command of Major Jesiii), of the Tweiity-fiftli. They drove in the ene- my's pickets ; and so favorable to suc- cess was every appearance, that Brown resolved to invest the fort with Scott's brigade, without waiting for the land- ing of Ripley's. Taking Avith hiiu a corps just formed by Major Gardner, he pushed into the woods, in tlie rear of the fort, where he seized a resident, and compelled liim to act as guide. He then directed Gardner to press for- ward through the forest to the lake shore above the fort, extcjid his left so as to connect with Jesup's command, and in tliat manner inclose the post. Tliis movement was accomplished be- fore Ripley, at a late hour, crossed tlu' river with the Nineteenth, Twenty- lii'st,and Twenty-third Regiments, and met at the landing the adjutant general with orders for his brigade to take the invcsthig position in connection with Scott's forces. This Avas promptly done. No time was lost in crossing the ordnance and selecting jiositions lor batteries un- der the direction of Ciiief Engineer 3rRce. A long lR-))ound cannon Avas mounted and ready for action upon an eminence called Snake Hill, Avhen Brown demanded the surrender of the fort, giving the commander, Major Buck, two hours for considera- tion. Very soon afterward a Avhito flag came out, and Avas received by Major Jesup ; the fort, Avhicli Avas in a very Aveak condition, Avas surrendered; ami at six o'clock in the evening the British soldiers, almost tAvo hundred in number, including seven offi- cers, inarched out and stacked their arms, became prisoners of Avar, Avere sent acioss tlie river, and posted immediately for the Hudson, During the morning the British had fired cannon from the fort, Avhich killed four Americans, and Avounded tAVo or t]ir?c others. When the pickets Avero driven in the British had one man killed. These Avere all the casualties attendant upon the capture of Fort Erie. Pioinj)t measures Avere taken to secure the advantage gaine<l by the capture of Fort Erie. Had Ripley's desire for delay prcA^ailcd, the prize Avould not have been won, for the British commander on the frontier. Gen- ^^<r2\__ cral Kiall,' had been apprised of the danger impend- / ^^^^~^/^^ /9 ing over the fort, and at eight o'clock that morning //^ //r ^ * tJ^ had sent forward five companies of the Royal Scots ^ L-''c-^i>it./ tore-enforce it. In front of Chippewa thcj' Avcro met and checked by intelligence of the surrender of the fort. General Riall then determined to make an immediate at- tack on the Americans, but Avas induced to forbear by the assurance that the Eightli Regiment Avas hourly cxj)ccted from York, now Toronto. He agreed to postpone the attack until the next morning. ' History la almost silent concerntuR the character of General Rlail. A contemporary, who served under him at th» time we are now considering, speaks of him as a (rallanl man, but possc8(.ed of very little military skill ; who had " at- tained hiB rank by the purchase of all purchasable grades." He was from Tlpperary, iu Ireland, ii little less than mid- ' (He age, and a man of fortnuo. it I iii 'I 806 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Scott moves down the Niagara. Preparations for Battle at Street'ii Creek. Origin of the " Cadet's Gray," stbeet's gbekk uuiimE.i To confront and drive back this force of British regulars, Scott was sent toward Chippewa with his brigade, accompanied by Captain Towson's artillery corps, on the morning of the 4th. It was late in the afternoon before the second brigade, under Ripley, and Hindmsi I's artillery, were prepared to move. Scott marched down the Canada shore of the Ni- agara River to a posi- tion on a plain behind Street's Creek, opposite the lower end of Navy Island, and little more than a mile above Chip- pewa. On the way lie met a considerable Brit- ish force under Lieu- tenant Colonel Pearson, and, after a sharp skirm- ish, he drove them be- yond Street's Creek. In fact, the march, for sixteen miles, according to Jesup, was " a continual skirmish,"^ chiefly with the British One Hundredth Regiment, under tlie Marquis of Twccddale, who were driven to their intrenchraents beyond the Chippewa. Believing Scott's troops to be only "Buffalo militia," the marquis could account for their bravery only by the fact of its being the anniversary of American Independence, which gave them patriotic inspiration and courage. He was undeceived on the fol- lowing day.^ On the plain between Street's Creek and the Chippewa River, Captain Turner Crooker, of the Ninth, with a detachment of light infantry, received and re- pulsed a detachment of the Nineteenth British Dragoons. Finding the enemy strong- ly posted beyond the Chippewa, General Scott called in his light troops, and took a position behind Street's Creek, whore he encamped for the night. At about midnight the main body of Brown's array, embracing Ripley's brigade, a field and battery train, and Major Ilindman's artillery corps, came up, accompanied by the commanding gen- eral. With only the small creek between them, the belligerent armies slumbered that hot July night. The morning of the 5th of July dawned gloriously. The positions of the two ar- mies were simple. On the east was the Niagara River, along the margin of whicii was a road. On the west was a heavy wood, and between the parties conung in from the woods were two streams, namely. Street's and Chippewa Creeks, the latter, some- times called the Welland Creek, being the larger in volume.* Below the Chippewa, and about two miles from Scott's camp, was that of Riall. On one side of it Avas a ulock-house, and on the other was a heavy battery. At the mouth of the Chippewa, on the south side, some fortifications had been thrown up to cover the bridge, called a tete-de-pont (or head of the bridge) battery, whose ruins are still (18G7) visible, A little farther up the river the British had a small navy yard and some barracks. > This is a view of the bridge at the mouth of Street's Creek looking up the Niagara, from a sketch made by the au- thor ill the summer of 1800. On the extreme right is seen a chimney, which composes the remains of the hoasoofUf. Street, f^om whom the stream derives its name. In the distance, on the left, is seen Grand Island. ' Jesup's MS. Memoir, etc. » General Scott explained to the \vrlter the cause of the marquis's mistake. While at BnflTalo Scott wrote to ti,c qnar- temiaster for a supply of new clothing for his regulars. Word soon ccme back that blue cloth, such as was iiacd in thf army, could not be obtained, owing to the stringency of the blockade and the embargo, and the lack of inniiufnctarei in the country, but that there was a sufficient quantity of gray cloth (now known as "Cadet's Gray") in Phlladelphls Scott ordered it to be made up for his soldiers, and in these new gray suits they marched down the Niagara on Canadi soil. Believing them to be only militia, Riall regarded them with contempt when preparing for battle on the 6th. B^ cause of the victory, won chiefly by thorn, at Chippewa on the 6th, and in honor of Scott and his troops, that Btyle ot cloth was adopted at the Military Academy at West Point as the uniform of the cadets. It has been used ever since. anil in known *o be the best color for field service. ♦ Tlie Chippewa is navigable with small boats for abont forty miles. It is obstrncted, however, by its connectioa with the Welland Canal, al>oat nine miles from Its month. OF THE WAR OF 1812, 807 n of the " Cadet's Gray," Dcolt re-eu forced. British Mght Triiopa aud ludlaus dlslodijed by Porter. Captalu Joseph Trent. t, was sent toward illery corps, on the 3nd brigade, under tnarclied down the ^da shore of the Ni- •a River to a posi- on a plain beliind •ct's Creek, oppoHite lower end of Navy ind, and little more ,n a mile above Chip- va. On the way he t a considerable Ihit- force under Lieu- lant Colonel Pearson, d, after a sharp skinn- 1 he drove them be- ording to Jcsup, was I Regiment, \iiHlcr the beyond the Chippewa, uis could account for nerican Independence, undeceived on the ibl- ippewa River, Captain mtry, received and re- ling the enemy strong- laht troops, and took a [t. At about midnight [field and battery train, the commanding gen- armies slumbered that ..ositionsofthctwoar- L the ranrgin of which parties coming m from Greeks, the latter, sonu- Below the Chippewa, )u one side of it was a Uoutb of the Chippewa ;„ver the bridge, called u-e still (1867) visible. and some barracks. ['tbcreniainBofthchouBOotMi Land Island. It Buffalo Scott wrote to tucinB' l^T^t-^otninrhUad^lS^: Ted down the Niagara on CaD.to P„g for battle on he «h.I^ tott and his troops, that yte Its. It has been used ever 8B«, Led. however, by lUconnectl* BRMAINH OF TETE-llK-FONT JIATTEBY At about noon of the 5th Scott was joined by three hundred Pennsylvania Volun- teers, and about four hundred Indians under Captain Pollard and tlie famous Red .lacket. The whole were commanded by General Porter, who had been accompanied from Black Rock by Majors Wood and Jones, of Brown's staff. Tlie British were re- enforced during the night by the expected Eighth, or King's Regiment, from York or Toronto, and small parties went out from their line at dawn on the beautiful plain between the Chippewa and Street's Creek — a plain then bounded on the Avest, three iburtlis of a mile from the river, by a dense wood. For several hours the belligerents were feeling each other, the pickets and scouts of each keeping up a desultory fire all the morning. '^ Finally tlie American pickets on the extreme left of Scott's line be- came so annoyed by a heavy body of British light troops and Iiidians in the woods, that at four o'clock in the aftei'noon General Porter ^vas sent with his corps to dis- lodge them. He was successful. The enemy fled in affi'ight toward Chippewa, dread- fnlly smitten by the pursuers. Tliere Porter found himself within a few yards of the entire British force advancing in battle order. In this affair, uj) to the meeting of the British in force, the Indians behaved well. Tliey were in the woods, on the left of Porter's column, with Red Jacket on their ex- tremity in the forest. Porter, with Caj)tain Pollard, the Indian leader, took post in the edge of the woods, betAveen the pale and dusky soldiers. The Indians, led by 1 The engraving represents the remains of this battery when I visited the spot and sketched them in the snmmcr of 1(160. lu the front, between the two figures and the mounds, are seen the waters of the feeder of the Welland Cnnnl. On the left Is the mouth of Chippewa Creek, aud beyond, the Niagara River at the head of the Great Rapids. Beyond that is the New York shore ; and to the left, looking by the head of Goat Island, is seen Niagara Falls Village. Over ilie most westerly point of the remains of tetc-dc-pont battery, on the New York shore, Is seen the residence of Colo- licl Peter Augustus Porter, sou of the general, who accoi.ipa:iied me at that time. This gentleman lost his life while at ilie head of his regiment lighting for the rcpublir in the Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, in 1SC4. ' It was dur,lng these movements early in the morning that Captain Treat, in command of a picket-guard of forty men and a patrol of ten, " retired disgrocefully, leaving a wounded man on the ground," as General Brown said in his re- port. For this alleged oiTense, Browu ordered Treat, on the spot, to retire from the army ; and, in his report of the af- fiir, he advised the dismissal of the captain aud one of his lieutenants fi-oni the service. " This punishment " says Drown, in a manuscript " Memorandum of Occurrences, etc., connected with the Campaign of Niagara," " though severe, was jnst, and at the moment indispensable It had the happiest effect upon the army." This affair gave rise to much feeling in und out of the army. Captain Treat was a most valuable oSBcer, and had been highly esteemed by General Brown. On the day after his disgrace ho called on General Brown and demanded a fonrt-martial. It was finally granted, after long and tedious delays, bat the result was not reached until the 8th of May, 1815, when the court declared, "After mature deliberation on the testimony deduced, the court find the accused. Captain Joseph Treat, not guilty of the charge or spcclflcation preferred against him, and do honorably acquit him." This finding of the court was approved by Major General Brown atSackett'a Harbor on the 3d of July following. At about the same time Captain Treat published a vindication " ogainst the atrocious calnmny," which was dedicated to President Madison. It contains a report of tho proceedings of the court-martial, and occupies slxly-two pages. The vindication of his character as a soldier was triumphant. Captain Treat was the son of one of tho earliest settlers on the Penobscot, in Maine. He entered the army as captain of the Twenty-first Regiment of Infantry in the spring of 1812. With his company, recruited chiefly at Bangor, he Joined the Northern Army. On the day of his disgrace on Chippewa Plain he volunteered to fight as a private ; and such was the confidence of Major Vose, of the Twenty-first Regiment, in Captain Treat, that he requested him to take command of a platoon In the fight. lie declined, but fought bravely in the ranks. He became brigadier general of militia in his native state in 1820, and the memory of Geueral Treat is cherished with the moat cordial respect. I !tJ m iMMt their war-chiefs, were allowed to conduct their share of the hf '3 as they pleased; and, when the enemy had delivered his fire, they rushed forward with horrid yuUs spreading consternation in the ranks of the foe, and making feaiful havoc with toma- hawk and scalping-knifo. They fought desperately, hand-to-hand in many instances, and in every ^^iy they won the applause of their commanding general. Hut tlie tide of fortune soon changed. The heavy line of the foe, after an exchange of two or three rounds of musketry, charged Porter's troops with the bayonet furiously. Ileaiinir nothing of General Scott, and finding no support against an overwhelming force near, Porter gave an order to retreat and form on the left of Scott's brigade, beyond Street's Creek. The retreat became a tumultuous rout. Riall, it seems, had intended to fall upon the American camp with his whole force, and for that purpose he had led it across Chippewa Creek. Tliere Porter had con- fronted it, as we have observed. General Brown was on the extreme left, watdiinrr Porter's movements at this time, and, seeing an immense cloud of dust in the direc- tion of Chippewa, at once comprehended its meaning. He correctly supposed tlie whole force of the enemy to be advancing, and at once dispatched Colonel Gardner with an order to General Ripley to put in motion the Twenty-first Regiment of In- fantry and Biddle's Battery. He also or- dered Captain Ritch- ie, with his artillery company, to follow him to the ])laii), where he properly posted him, and tlica rode to the quarters of General Scott to direct him to cross Street's Creek at oncf with his whole bri- gade and Tow son's artillery to meet the advancing foe. He found Scott almost ready, with his horse before his tent, to lead his brigade over for the purpose of drilling them on the jjlaiii. lie did not believe the enemy to be so near in force, but, like a true soldier, he obeyed the order promptly, rather captiously remarking that he would march and drill his brigade, but did not believe he would find three hundred of the enemy thcre.^ Just then Porter's flight was observed. It uncovered Scott's left, and exposed it to great peril ; but Ripley had been ordered to advance cautiously through the woods, under the direction of Colonel Gardner, and produce a diversion in Scott's favor by falling on the rear of the British right. General Riall's advancing army was composed of the One Hundredth Regiment, commanded by the Marquis of Tweeddale ; the First, or Royal Scots, under Lieuten- ant Colonel Gordon ; a portion of the Eighth, or King's Regiment, under Major Evans; a detachment of the Royal Artillery, under Captain Macconnochie; and also of the . ^_^ ' This is n view of the bridge over Street's Creek, looking down the Niagara River. Across the Niagara, in the ex- treme distance, immediately to tlie right of the figures on the bridge, is seen Schlosser Landing, and, nearer, the fool of Navy Island. The house beyond the willow-tree, on the left, is on a portion of the battle-ground, and bcloiised. when I was there, to Mr. William Gray. It was the scene of a tragedy during the troubles in Canada in 1837 and 1S3S. Some miscreants came over fl-om Navy Island on .light (among thrm the scoundrel Lett, who destroyed Brock's Mon- ument), and, after enticing a Mr. Edgworth Usher, who was at this houae, to come to the door, shot him through tbe side-lights as he was seen approaching with a candle in his hand. ' Ueneral Brown's MS. Menwir q/ Events in the Niagara Campaign. BIBKET's CBEEK URIUGE, LOOKUta ^0BTU.> OF THE WAR OF 1813. 8Cf ;lon of Iho Brllleh Force. as they pleased ; with horrid ytUs, havoc with toiiia- in many instances, sral. lint the tide igc of two or tlnee iriously. Hearing lehning force near, de, beyond Street's ith hia whole force, !rc Porter had con- remc left, watching f duat in the direc- •ectly supposed the ed Colonel Gardner rst Regiment of In- ntry and Biddle's , attery. He also or- ered Captain Ritch- !, with his artillery ompany, to follow im to the plain, /here ho properly ,08ted him, and then ode to the quarters >f General Scott to lirect him to cross Itrcet's Creek at once ith his whole hvi- adc and Tow son's rtillery to meet the dvaucing foe. He bund Scott almost •eady, with his horse ig them on the plain, uc soldier, he obeyed march and drill his enemy there.^ Just lI exposed it to great igh the woods, uikIov oU's favor by falling [undredth Regiment, ±5C0ts, under Licuten- fnnder Major Evans; Ihie ; and also of Uic b^BetbeNiRRarn.mthe"- Lumng. and, nearer, the tool rbattle-sroiu.d,an(n)eloMeil. Ib In Canada In Ism ami 1S3» T who destroyed BriKk's Mod- ! door, shot him through the BegtnnlDg of the Battle of Chippewa. Charge of the Eleventh Regiment. Nathan TowMMk Royal Nineteenth Dragoons, under Major Lisle ; a regiment of Lincoln militia, under Lieutenant Colonel Dixon, and a body of Indians. Tlioae Mere 8ui)ported by a heavy battery of nine pieces. lie advanced from his intrenchments at Chippewa in three columns, liis vangirird being composed of light companies of tlie Royal Scots and of the One Hundredth Regiments, and the Second Regiment of Lincoln militia. These were commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Pearson. On his right, in tlie edge of the woods, were about three hundred Lulian warriors. It was these, witli the vanguard, who fell upon Porter. On the road that skirts the Niagara River, Riall placed two light 24-pounder8 and a 5j-inch liowitzer. Scott in the moan time had crossed Street's Creek over the bridge with the great- est coolness, in the face of a heavv camionade from the enemy's full battery within ])oint-biank range, and formed in battle order with the Ninth and part of the Twenty- second Regiment, under Major Leavenworth, covered by Towson's artillery, on the extreme right, the Eleventh Regiment, under Major M'Neil (Colonel Campbell, its commander, liaving received a severe wound in tlic knee), in Llie centre, and the Tweiity-tifth Regiment, commanded by Major Jesup, on the extreme left. In this movement Scott was greatly aided by Towson,' whose artillery, placed near the bridge, kept the enemy at bay, and at times caused him to slacken his cannonade. When Porter's corps came flying in confusion from tlie enemy's right, they were partially cliecked by Captain Harris's cavalry behind a ravine fronting Brown's camp, and Jesup, by an obli([ue movement, covered Scott's left, while Ripley was making un- availing ettbrts to gain the position to which he was ordered by Brown. Jesup ^. as joined by Porter and his staif, and some of the more courageous volunteers, and as the conflict became general, the major engaged and held in check the enemy's right wing. The battle raged with fury along the entire line of both armies. Several times the British line was broken, and then closed up again ; and it often exposed as many flanks as it had regiments in the field. This unskillful manoeuvring had been ob- served by Scott, wlio had advanced, halted, and fired alieniately, until he was within eighty paces of his foe. Observing a gap in his lines which made a new flank, he ordered a quick movement in that direction by M'Xeil's Eleventh Regiment. He shouted with a voice tliat was heard above the din of battle, " The enemy say that we are good at long shot, but can not stand the cold iron! I. call upon the Eleventh instantly to give the lie to that slander ! Charge .^"2 This move- ment was immediately made, with the most decisive effect. A similar charge was made by Leavenworth, ' Nathan Towson was one of the moat useful officers of the army at this limp. He was bom in Maryland in 1784, and was appointed captain in the Second Regiment of Artillery in March, 1S12. He aided Lieutenant Elliott, of the navy, as we have seen (page 3S6), in capturing the Caledonia at Fort Eric in October of that year, and for his gallant conduct there he was brevet- ed a major. In repelling the attack of the British on Fort George, Upper Canada, iu July, 181.1, he was wounded. He greatly distinguished himself un- der Brown as an artillery officer, and was breveted lieutenant colonel for his good conduct in the battle of Chippewa. lie performed equally distinguished service at Niagara and Fort Erie. In the latter a bastion was named in his honor, after the Americans took possession of it, early in July, 1814. He was retained in the service at the close of the war, and was made paymaster gen- eral in 1S19. In 1S34 he was breveted brigadier general ; and for his dlstin- gnished services In the Mexican War he was breveted major general in March, 1S». He died in Washington City on the 20th of Jnly, 1864, at the age of seven- ty years. His remains lie interred on a pleasant slope in Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, District of Columbia, by the side of those of his wife, and over lliera is a beautiful white marble monument on which is the following simple inscription: "Nathan Towson, Brevet Major General and Paymaster Gen- erai, United States Army. SoruiA Towso.n, wife of Nathan Towson." ' Mansfield's Li/e o/SeoU, page lOT. iilN' ili' iWKBBfii ''If Ml M ■ 810 nCTOKIAL FIELD-KOOK lI'Nflir* flank Muvement. The Britlah mated. The Luuea of the CumbatanUk who held an obliquo position on the Aincriciin rii^ht. At tho saino tinm 'Wtw. Hon's battery ponrod in lui ()l)li(|uc tiro of ninrdcroHH oanistor-Hliot, ai'tcr silenc- ing tlio eneniy'H most cflbctivo batliTv by blowing np an anununilion-wagon; and ptTHL'ntly tho whole left and cciitro of tho liritiwh broke and fU'd in conl'ii- Hion. That effective flank movement by M'Neil was the one, there can be no doubt, which gave tho victory to the Americans, "lie deserved," said (icn- eral Scott in Ids ropoi ,, "every lliiii<; which conspicuous skill and gallantly can win from a grateful country." Ho was soon afterward breveted a lieuten- ant colonel " for his intrepid behavior on the 5th day of July, in tho battle of Chippewa." At this time Josup, hotly pressed hy the British right, and finding his inon falling thickly around him, ordered his soldiers to " support arms and advance !" In the face of a deadly and destructive lire this order was obeyed, and a more secure position was gained, when Jcsup opened such a terrific lire on the enoniy that they broke and fled toward their in- trenchments beyond the Chippewa. Cap- tain Ketchum, with one of the light com- panies of the Twenty-fifth, hotly pur- sued the fugitives, and halted only when Avithin half musket -shot of Chippewa Bridge, where they received some dam- age from the tCte-de-pont battery. Tiioy captured many prisoners. The British did not cease their flight until tiiey were fairly behind their breastworks lie- low Chippewa Creek, and taken up tlie planks of the bridge. Tho plain was strewn with the dead and the dyini; of both nations. The American loss diir- N<)TK.-The above map Indicates the movemcntB of the ing the moming skirmishing and in the troops in the battle of Chippewa. A H show the position of (.ydinjr battle On that long, hot Juiv M'Nell and Leavenworth when thev made the flnal charge. *' , 1 -ll 1 T 1 'l o, o, n, the point to which Porter drove the British and In- day, waS SlXty-OUC killed, twO llUIiared dians (see page SOT), ft, Street's bam. ^^^^l fifty -five woundcd, and nineteen missing. The British lost two hundred and thirty-six killed, three himdred and twenty-two wounded, and forty-six missing.' The horrors of the battle-field were » The American musketry was very effective. Over each ball, in loading, the Americans placed three buckshot, vfhlch Bcattered and did severe execution. The British lost largely in officers. A member of the Marqnis of Tweeddale'n One Hundredth Regiment afterward stated that two officers of that regiment were killed and twenty wounded. Among the latter was the marquis himself. Fourteen of the British were made prisoners. These, added to the prisoners captured at F.)rt Erie two days before, made the number 151. The writer above alluded to says that the American officers were Men on the field fteely exposing themselves In front of their men. "As to General Biall, as soon as his line tied, he OP THE WAR OF 1812. 811 of the Oumbutanu. LO position Oil ilie the Hixinotinu' Tow- ill iin oltluiui' tiro .>r-Hl»ot, at'ti-r siU'nc- Ht t'tVoctivo battery vmiuunition-\vii;^(m; hole k'tl luitl ccnlre ■ iiiid tU'd in confu- ! tiiink movcituMit \)\ le, there can \k no tho victory to tlio IcsiTVL'd," Baid (Ion- ■opoi , , " ovcry tliiu-j: Bkill anil gaUautry iteful country." Ho d breveted a lieuton- , intrepid behavior on ily, in tlic battle of 3up, hotly pressed by and tii\ding his mon )und him, ordered his i-t arms and advance r eadly and destructive 8 obeyed, and a moiv as gained, when Jcsiiii rific lire on the enemy id tied toward their in- id the Chippewa. Cap- hone of the light com- ^-enty-fifth, hotly pur- , iuid halted only wIumi Lt-shot of Chippewa .y received some dam- 7e.^jon< battery. Tiioy risoners. The British iicir flight until tlioy fl their breastworks lio- •eok, and taken up the •idgo. The plain was |lead and the dying of he American loss clur- skirmishing and in the fl that long, hot July te killed, two hundred ounded, and nineteen h1 three hundred ami ,f the battle-tield were LTnlaced three huclishot, wWch Itwontywounded. Amongth T«dTedtothepriBoner,cnptn^ that the American offloerBWC klall.MBoonashiBUnefleJ.l'e Bravery of Adjutant O'Cunuer. The Brttlah Pualtlon at Chippewa. The Americana fltU back. ludiani disheartened. mitigated by a gentle shower, that eanic like an angel of mercy at the close of the coiiHict to cool tlie throbbing teinjtles and moisten tiie feverish lips of the wounded. At the close of the battle on the plain, when Scott was about to commence a vig- oidiis pursuit of the enemy, Porter was ordered forward to his support witli two jiuiidred I'eiinsylvania militia who had been left in camp as reserves. These took |Hist on Scott's left, where tliey awaited the arrival of Uipley's brigade, which had not reached the field in time to participate in the .action. The gallant Adjutant O'C'on- iior' (laslied forward alone to reconnoitre the enemy's positi(ui. He saw them tear- ing up Chippewa I^ridge, and comprehended the situation at a glance. Having satis- tied himself, he wheeled his horse and galloped back to the lines, followed by several bullets from the men at the bridge, which did no harm. Scott pressed forward, and at a point of woods came into an open field in full view of the enemy. Tlie guns at the (cte-cle-pont battery and at the British camp opened upon them, the ecu-ps of I'or- ter receiving the first discharge. .lust then a building near the bridge, touched by a British torch, burst into flame; and at the same moment a thuntler-gust, followed by ircntle rain, went skurrying up the river, filling the air with blinding clouds of dust. The commanding general resolved to bring up all his ordnance, and force the enemy's position by a direct attack, when M.ajor Wood, of the Engineers, and Ca|)taiii Austin, the general's aid, who had been forward and made observations, assured him that the position of the enemy was too strong to be easily moved. This report, and the ad- vice of Scott and Wood, caused the general to issue an order for a retrogr.ade move- ment. The victorious little army marched slowly b.ack through mud where deep (lust had lain only an hour before, and at sunset reached their encani])ment behind Street's Creek. On that eventful night Chii)|)ewa Plains were lescrteil, and the two armies occujjied the s.amc relative position which they did at dawn. In the morn- ing (icneral Brown had assured (General Porter that not a British regular would be seen on the south side of the Chippewa that day, and in this belief Scott had shared.^ lint they h.ad been there, left a sanguinary record, and were gone; and the stars look- ed down that night on a scene of repose, triinquil and profound, where the horrid de- tonations of fierce conflict had been heard, and tlie smoke of battle liad obscured the light of th iiing sun. There y in the American camp that night. A decisive battle had been fought by small ..mibers,^ .and gallantly won by the Americans. The chief glory properly helonged to General Scott, whose brigade was the principal instrument in the achieve- ment.' It was very import.ant in its results — more important, perhaps, th.an any pre- ceding battle of the war. The Indian allies of the British were disheartened. Their disaft'ection, begun at the Thames, was now made complete. Nearly all of the sav- rode np straight to the enemy's line, as if to court death ; but, as is usual in snch cases, he failed to find it, while his faslilonnble and well-dressed aid-de-canip, obliKcd to accompany bira in what he must have thought not a very agreea- Wb enterprise, was seriously wounded lu the tliigh."— See The Spirit of our Timeit, Montreal, March 10, ISfil. Among the American officers who were wounded was Colonel Campbell, and C:nptalns KiuR, Read, and Harrison. Tlic flrst-uained fell, as we have seen, at the very beginning of the action. Captain Harrison had his leg shot off by a cannon-ball, but heroically refused to allow a man to be taken ft-om the ranks to bear him off until the liritish retreat- ed. Lieutenants Palmer, Barron, De Witt, Patchin, and Brimhall were also wonnded. ' John Michael O'Connor was a native of New York. He was commissioned first lieutenant in the Third Artillery In Marcli, 1812. He was soon afterward appointed regimental quartermaster, and in the spring of 1S13 was promoted to captain. On the 20th of June, 1814, he was appointed assistant adjutant general, under Gardner, on General Brown's staff, and held that office at the time of the battle of Chippewa. He was retained in the army at the close of the war, and left it iu 1321. In 1S24 he translated for the Military Academy at West Point Guy dc Vernon's Scienee of War and Fiirlifications. ' Mannscript Narrative of the Battles of Chippewa and Niagara, by General Porter General Brown expressed this Mief to General Porter while the latter was marching from Black Rock to Scott's enciiinj-ment. He informed Porter that the British militia and Indians were annoying his pickets very much, and when proposing to that officer to em- ploy his Indians in driving the former from the woods lie promised him ample support, and gave him the assarance that no regulars would be seen.— See Stone's Life of Red Jacket, page 2BT. ' According to the most careful estimates, the whole number of troops actually engaged in the battle did not exceed 3000, namely, 1300 Americans and 1700 British. * "Brigadie, General Scott," said Brown, In his report to the Secretary of War on the 7th of .Tuly, "is entitled to the hichest praise our country can bestow ; to him more than any other man I am indebted for the victory of the Bth of July. Ulsbrigadehas covered itself with glory The family of General Scott were conspicuons in the field— Liea- hi •l : 1 ■ i ;!' *' ■ •«! PICTOItlAL ilELU-DOOK The People Iniplrlted. Recralting active. Sketcbei ormbordlntle Offlcen, agPH, who had been ii terror to nil in every diHtriet in the West in which miliiurv movt'incntM oecurrcd, now letl tiie Hritinh army iiiid returned to their hoineH. 'ri,,. victory alHo gave a nee(lcd impetus to enlistineiitH, It created great joy tiiroiigliout the (country. The jieopli! were amazingly inspirited, and recruiting Itecanie so active that ahnost any numher of men migiit iiave been added to the army for anotiier cam- paign. This victory also won more genuine respect for the Anierieans from the ene- my than had over been accorded before; and among the peevish exjn'essions of nior- tcniint Hmlth, of the Sixth Inrnntry, major of hrlt;nclp," niid LIcutcniintfi Wortht and WiitlH.t IiIh iiIiIh. From Ooiicml Ripley and his brinado I rccfived cvnry adiiliitaiico that I ^javc them an oiiiiortiiiiily of rpiidcrliif,'." He jjave eciiiajlv warm praJHO to Uciieral I'orlci- niid hix command, and ail the other onicerH and troopn. of (lardiicr and Jones,; uf lili own military family, he made particular mention, and said, " I Hhnll have oecanion a^ain to epcak to vou." • Gerard 1). Smith, who wnn made adjutant In 1«13, was now Hcolt'H brigade niiOor, having been appointed In Marcli. lie wan a native of \ew York, lie hail iieen promoted to ciiptain In June, hut IiIh comnilHHhui liail not vet lieen iii.mIi' itnown to (lenera! Ih'own. in the battle of NiaKaiii he ho dlHtiuKulfihed hlinrelf that he wan breveted a major. IIu »»■ wounded there, with hJH chief. lie wan retained In the army at tlie peace, but renitjned In ISUI. t William .lenklniiWortii wan a tmtlve of t'ohimbla County, New Vorl<, and died a major general by brevet in tlie army of the I'liiinl Staten. lie entered the army an llrnt lieutenant, and wan iildilv. camp to Major Oenerni I.ewin in 1SI3. In March, IS14, he hcciunc aid to Hris;adlcr (lenerai Scott, and wan breveted eaptale fur hl« gallant nerviccs in the battle oi' Chippewa. For bin dli<tlni;iLi»lml conduct In the battle of Niaijara, twenty days later, he wan hrcvcteil a major. In that battle lie wan ncverely winnided. ilo wa» cum- miseloned « captain the next month, and wan retained In the ncrvice at the clone of the war. In l<*Vi ho wan brevileil brl)?adier for bin valuable nervicen in Florida, havini; previously attained to the rank of full ecdoucl of the Kijjhlli In- fantry. He commanded with dlntinctlon during the Seminole War ; and for bin (jallant con- duct at Monterey, In Mexico, he wan breveted a major (jeneral. In March, 1S47, the Con- gress of the United States voted him a sword for his merltoricms conduct there. Ills ca- reer in Mexico was highly honorable to him and his country. It wan he who received the message from the authorities of the city of Mexico, on the nif-ht of the 13th of September, 1S-1,H, offering to surrender the capital. He died at his head-quarters at San Antonio, Texan, on the 7tli of May, IS40. Nine years afterward, a monu- ment, composed of Qulucy granite, llfly-onc feet In height, on which is liiHcrlbed the names of the several battles in which he hiul been engaged, was erected In the city of New York, at the Junction of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Anthony Street, In the same city, was named Worth Street at about the same lime, in houor of the liero. } George Watts, who was a native of New York, greatly disiinguished blni^cif on this occasion. In a letter to General Brown, written ten days after the battle. General Scott spoke In the high- est terms of Worth and Watts. " They both ren- dered essential scrvi( -," III' said, "at critical mo- ments, by assisting the lotnmandnnt of corps In forming the troops under circumstances' which precluded the voice from being heard. Their conduct has been hnndsomflt acknowledged by the officers of the line, who have Joined In requesting thnl i( might be particularly noticed." Y'oung Watts was Ijrcveted first lieutenant Tor his good behavior on that occasion, lie belonged to the First Light Dragooii.', of which he was third lieutenant. In Brown's sortie from Fort Erie, n In weeks later, he distinguished himself. He was retained In the army iis ilri lieutenant of Infantry In 1816, but resigned the following year. A fine portrait of him is in the possession of OeneraiJ. Watts Depeyster, of Tlvoli, New York. 5 Hogcr Jones was a native of Virginia. On ttio southern border of the Congressional Bnrying-ground at Washington City, overlooking the enntern branch of the Potomac, Is a beautiful clouded Italian marble moiniment, creel- ed to his memory, upon which is inscribed the foUowing brief history ofhii life: "Bom in Westmoreland County, Virginia; died at Washington on the 16th day of July, 1852, in the (Mth year of his age. He entered the servirc of his country as a lieutenant of marines in 1800, and was appointed captain of artillery ot the commencement of the war with Great Britain, and 8er\e(l «ilh honor 43 years. He was twice breveted for distinguished gallantry and cod- dnct on the field of battle— at Chippewa and the sortie at Fort Erie. A bravo soldier and a good man." For his services at Chippewa Jones was breveted a major, and at Fort Erie lieutenant colonel. He was retained In the army, and was made ald-de-camp to General Brown in Jnnc, 1S16. He was appointed adjutant general, with thf rank of colonel. In ISIS, and in 1824 wos breveted colonel for ten years' faithful service. In June, 1832, he wnabrcvelfil a brigadier general, and relinquished his rank in line in 1835. lie engaged In the Mexican War, and for his acrvices there was breveted major general in March, 184!). On the west side of Jones's monument are the names of the battles in which he was engaged in the War of 18U namely. Fort George, Stony Creek, Chippewu, Niagara, and Fort Erie sortie. On the east side of the obelisk is eculp- tared, in high relief, a atraigbt sword, garlanded by laurel and olive leaves. WOHTII S MO.NVMENT. JONES'S UONrMEMT. OF THE WAR OP I 8 1 J. 813 ai of Mbordlnnte OOem. ill wliK-h iiiililiiry tlu'ir lioiiu'H. '[%' fivt joy lliruujjlioui 11' \)i'ciinie so lu'tivc iiy lor iinotluT ciim- riciins from tlic imk- oxpressions ot'inor- ,,t lilB nldii. Fniin (liMicml idiTliii,'." He Kovi' cciuullv rdiinliicr anil .luiifs,} othlB ) xpeiik to vou." ly lit'im iippolntcd In Murch. .(.liui Imil iiiit yet been nmilo fl hrcvcletl n mnji>r. He wn? isin. ve ofColnmlilftCmiiily.New vet In the urii>yi)ftlii'l'iniiii I lleuteiiiiiit, mill wii" nl<l'l'- In Mnrcti, ISU, lie I"''"""' [vns breveted enptiiUi fur hU |)ewii. V'>'' !>'" <llstl"i.'iii»lui! ly diiyx Inter, lie wiih brcvctnl rily wonmled. He wuk nmi- vur. In \><Vi ho wim hroveiwl full r.iloncl "fllie KItiUlli In- WOBTU'U MONUMENT. conduct hns liecn hnndsomcly ,ave joined In requesting thai il W118 breveted first lieutenant tor ■cd to the Flr^t Lit!ht DnigooM, "a sortie from Fort Eric, a tn rctnined In the army as «w .oUowln- year. A fine portrait ,)ci)ey8tcr,ofTlvoll,New\"'k On the Bouthern border ot the City, overlooking the ca«teni tallan marble monument, cretl- following brief history of hi! ■ died at Washington on th.- gi He entered the servue ^f and was appointed captain. I n Great Britain, and 8cr^c(Uull Istlngulshed gallantry anJ cod- id a good man." t colonel. He was retained » ited adjutant general, with lie InJnne,1832,hcwasbr«vete.l clean War, and for his servlcM IM engaged In the War oflSU W side of the obelisk is Bculp- ' July, ' July. Bmwn cxiiects the Co-opcirstlon of Chaunri-y. rii-|iiiriitliinH to ( niMH tli<' clilppewn. TardluexH ofdeueriil KIpley. tifioivtion wliich it t'lifitod from Kutflisli writers luiil wjn'iikcrs wore futind lionurablo a('i<iii>wli'<lj^mi'iits of tlio prowi'HS uiid jicniuN of Amcrioiin soldicrH.' [t wiiH liitu ill tilt) I'Vi'iiiiii^ ailcr tlii- Imttio" iii-forf tlii' womidi'd of both nr- •juiyj, iiiics could be tiiltiTi care of.'^ Tlie ileiid reiiiiiiiied iiiibiiried all iii^^lit, i)iit curly ""*• on tiie morrow tbey were soiiijlit for over llie open l»iittie-tield and in tlie woods, and eoiniiiitted to the eartli willi great respect. Miiclioftlie Otii and 7tii'' was oc- cupied in tliis business, while (Jeneral Hrown was impatient to advance, for lie ('.\])i'cted the arrival of Channeey at the mouth of tiie Niagara Hiver to co-operate with liiiii. He was satisfied that the passage of the ("liippewa liridgc in the face of the intrenched enemy would be too hazardous to warrant the undertaking, and, in- formed that an interior route for (iueenston would lie through a heavy forest, almost imiiiissablc because of a lack of roads and paths, he sent a small reconnoitring party in search of a place to cross tlie (Chippewa not far above the camp of the enemy, .Vii iiiiiabitant informed them thivt an old and deserted timber road, seen at the rear of Street's house, led by a circuitous route to the Ciiijjpewa, at the month of Lyon's Creek, about a mile above the Hritisli camji. Early on the morning of the 7tli,° (iciicral IJrown, accompanied by (Jeneral I'ortcr and Colonel M'Kee, the senior engineer, went out to explore it, and were satisfied that it might soon be made pass- iililc for artillery. A heavy detail was sent out for the purpose, and before evening tiic way from Street's to Lyon's Creek w s ready for the eontemjilated movement. Anxious to diffuse the right spirit of emulation throughout his army, (Jeneral Scott icrtolved to send Itipley in advance, as he wns not alih; to participate in the fatigues ami honors of the battle on the 5th, while Scott, who had already won laurels, should ki'cp the left of ^lic enemy at Chippewa IJridge in check. Kijiley was accordingly (irtU'ied to lead his own brigade and that of I'ortcr, with two companies of artillery iiiKlcrllindman, to the extreme right of the enemy, cross the Chippewa at the mouth of Lyon's Creek, and fall upon his flank. This order did not suit General liipley, and lie hesitated in obe- dience. The day was rapidly wearing away, .^.^^^■■PE^**V|^1^^^^^^BP^ $^ imd General Jirowii, impressed with the im- portance of a prom])t inovenieiit, rode to the front and took . com- mand in person. The materials for the con- struction of a tempo- rary bridge over the C'hippewfi were soon on its southern bank, and Ilindmnn posted his artillery on a rise of ground so as to cover the field of operations.^ Kiall in the mean time had discovered Brown's movement, and perceived his own I)eril involved in it ; and while a few troops, with some field-pieces, that were sent up ' " The important fact Is," said an English writer quoted by Mansfield, " that we have now got an enemy who fights us bravely as ourselves. For some time the Americnim cut no figure on land. They have now proved to us that they iiiily wanted time to acquire a little discipline. They have now proved to ns what they arc made of; that they arc the 8iimc sort of men as those who captured whole armies under liurgoyne and Comwallis ; that tbey are neither to be frlglitcned nor silenced." ' Among the British ofllcers who were wounded was the present [1807] Sir James Wilson, governor of Chelsea Hospi- tal. He received five wounds in the battle of Chippewa. He has been over sixty years in the British military service. ' When I visited the spot In 18(10, the rise of ground on which Hindman placed his guns was occupied by the steam »aw-mill of Mr. Barnabas Crane, whose smoke-stack Is seen In the above picture rising like a steeple above the trees of an Intervening orchard. Lyon's Creek, a small stream named after the first settler there. Is seen in the foreground, making its way through a boggy gwole, and the Chippewa beyond the two trees. This is about u mile from the mouth of Chippewa Creek. Mourn oc lvun'u <;ukek in IbtiU, m . M'l ' (!':■■' • FIELD-BOOK !l ! Riall rc-enforccd. '-W RlfflP^t •(tl^l ^^^K^Ih' u^iim ■^i 1 1 Sip i : MIK i ', 1 ■ \ iOKVBlBKSfiMi^ ^V^bI^^b.' ■SaHH B^^p ll ' ^jBIBj I^v^B^^^SK 1 '1 i^bP ■ Brown advances toward Fort George. ' Julj . to opnose the passage of the Chippewa by the Americans, were performing that duty he broke camp and fled with his whoir; army to Queenston. Brown's opponents, aft- er a brief cannonade, retired, the bridge-building was abandoned, and Ripley's brigade was marched down the Chippewa and formed a junction with Scott's, which had ad- vanced to the southern margin of t'.o stream. The British had destroyed the Chip- pewa Bridge but by the use of *:yoats both brigades and some of the artillery crossed • Tuiy, the stream before the morning of the 8th. " On that day the whole American 1S14. force under Brown, excepting Porter's brigade, which was left to guard the baggage and rebuild Chippewa Brie ^e, pursued the flying enemy down the Niatiara Rivor. They encamped at Queenston on the 10th,'' and toward the evening of that day Porter, who had been re-enforced by some New York Volunteers came into camp Avith the baggage from Chippewa. Riall had retired on the approach of Brown, thrown part of his troops into Forts George and lately-constructed Missis- sauga, and established his hoad-quarters at Twenty-mile Creek. Brown resolved to wait at Queenston for the arrival of Chauncey, for he could draw no supplies from the Genesee or Sodus without the fleet. The government had assured him of its co- operation, and the 10th of July v/as the day appointed for its arrival. The general an"'ioualv Avatched from the heights of Queenston for its approach, and hour after hour he spent in expectation of seeing its white sails on the waters of Ontario, which were only sever m .es distant. But word soon came that Cnauncey was sick, and his fleet blockaded in Suckett's Harbor. Expected re-enforcemeuts Avere also detained there. Riall in the mean time had marched with fifteen hundred men for Burlington Heights, at the head of Ontario, leaving some veteran soldiera of tlA Forty-first and Eighth Regiments, and seamen and marines from tAvo of Yeo's vessels in the Niagara River, to garrison the forts. Riall expected to be re-enforced at Burlington, and was agreeably surprised by meeting the One Hundred and Third, and the flank companies of the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment on the way. He turned back, took posi- tion at Fiftcen-mi'e Creek (only thirteen miles from Brown's camp), and there AA'atcliod the movements of his foe. At that time General Brown was contemplating an advance upon Fort Gcor<;e. On the 14th he called a council of officers to consider the mattci-. A majority vrcn in fovor of attacking Riall that very night, before he should receive re-enforcements; while the minority, coinciding with the wishes of the commanding general, advised an immediate i.ivestment of Fort George, notAvithstanding there Avas no competent siege-train Avith the army, nor provision made for the safe transportation of supplies from Bufialo.' In the mean time foraging and reconnoitring parties Avere out contin- ually. One of the latter, composed of the venerable John SAvift, of the Ncav Yorli militia, and one hundred and tAventy volunteers, advanced toAvard Fort George to ob- tain information. They captured a jjicket-guard of five men near an outpost of the fort," and SAvifib was conducting them back to head-quarters, when one of them, Avho had begged and obtained quarter, murdered the general by shoot- ing him through the breast. The discharge of this gun brought out fifty or sixty of the cn-^my. Terribly wounded as he was, the brave Swift, Avho had served his conn- try in the field during the entire War of the Revolution, formed his men, and ad- vanced at their head to attack the foe. He fell, exhausted. The enemy Avere driven back to Fort George, and the dying general was conveyed to Queenston.^ " After serving his country seven years in the War of the Revolution," said General Porter in his brigade order the next day, "he again stepped forAvard as a volunteer to give 1 AccordinR to Wilkinson {Memoim, i., 609 and 071), Brown's engineers (M'Ree and Wood), and Generals Elpley and Fortur, advised an Immediate attack on Riall, while Oeneral Scntt and Adjutant General Gardner advised an invcit- ment of Fort George. Major Hindmau declined to give any opinion. ' Oeiieral Pyrtcr's Briuade Orders, dated (Jiieenston, July lil, 1804. General Swift was a brother of the late Genenl Joseph O. Swift, the accomplished engineer olUcer in the War of 1S13. ■= Jan. 12. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 815 inces toward Fort Gcorije. •forming that duty, vn's opponents, aft- nd Ripley's bvijraJe jtt's, which had ad- iestroyed the Chip- the artillery ciossed A\Q whole American IS left to guard the If down the Niagara toward the evening !W York Volunteers, ired on the approach y-constructed Missis- Brown resolved to ■aw no supplies from issured him of its co irrival. The general •oach, and hour after ;ers of Ontario, which iicey was sick, and liis ,s were also detained [ men for Burlington of thi Forty-first and vessels in the Niagara vt Burlington, and was id the flank companies urncd back, took posi- ip), and there watched ce upon Fort George. XM-. A majority were jeive re-enforcements; \ding general, advised ire was no competent hsportatiou of supplies .rties were out oontin- ift, of the New Yorl; .rd Fort George to o\> near an outpost of the /|uarters, when one of [l the general by shoot- M out fifty or sixty of o had served his conn- jmed his men, and ad- 'he enemy were driven ) Queenston.2 "After l" said General Porter as a volunteer to give t^^dMMG^nerols Klpley and tal Gardner advised an invest- La brother of the late Gcneisl St Davld'g Vinage burnt. Fort George approached. Brown falls back to Chippewa. the aid of his experience in support of the violated rights of his country; and never flras that country called on to lament the loss of a firmer patriot or braver man." A few days after this sad occurrence, Colonel Stone, of the New York militia, while out on a foraging expedition, wantonly burned the little village or hamlet of St. Da- vid's, a short distance from Queenston ; and similar uup/arrantable acts caused great c-xasperation against the Americans. General Brown promptly dismissed Stone from the service as a punishment for his crime, in accordance with the sentence of a court- martial' While Brown's council of officers were debating, word came of the retrograde movement of Riall to Fifteen-mile Creek, but no intelligence Avas received of liis re- enforcements. Brown evidently did not believe that any were near, for on the pre- ceding day* he wrote to Chauncey, saying, " All accounts tgree that the . jn,y 13 force of the enemy in Kingston is very light. Meet me on the lake-shore ^^^*- north of Fort George with your fleet, and we will be able, I have no doubt, to settle a plan of operations that will break the power of tlie enemy in Upper Canada, and that in the course of a short time I doubt not my ability to meet the enemy in the field, and to march in any direction over his country, your fleet carrying for me the necessary supplies. We can threaten Forts George and Niagara, and carry Burlington Heights and York, and proceed directly to Kingston and carry that place. For God's sake let me see you. Sir James will not fight." With such opinions and expectations General Brown prepared to invest Fort George. Generals Porter and Ripley were ordered to reconnoitre the position of the enemy, one along the river, and the other in the interior, by way of St. David's; and on the 20tli the military works at Queenston were blown np, and the whole army ItH that post and advanced toward Fort George. There Brown was apprised of the arrival of Riall's re-enforcements, when he withdrew, and occupied his old posi- tion at Queenston on the 2 2d. On the morning of the 23d Brown received a letter from General Gaines at Sack- ett's Harbor apprising him of the sickness of Chauncey, the blockade of the fleet, and the peril to be apprehended to re-enforcements that might be sent by water in small vessels hugging the coast. Abandoning all hope of co-operation by the fleet, or the speedy reception of re-enforcements, the general changed his plan of operations, and at once ordered a retreat to the Chippewa, there to be governed by circumstances. He expected by this retreat to draw Riall on to the Niagara again, or, failing in this, .0 draw a small supply of provisions from Schlosser, on tfi" opposite shore, disencum- ber his army of all baggage which could possibly be dispensed with, march against Riall by way of Queenston, and fight him wherever he might be found. The army reached the Chippewa on the 24th, encamped on the south side of it, on the battle- groimd of the 5th, and prepared to make the 25th a day of rest. On the night of the •24th, General Scott, ever anxious for duty and ambitious of renown, requested leave to lead his brigade immediately in a search for Riall, not doubting his ability to win victory for his troops, glory for himself, and renown for the army. He repeated the request on the morning of the 25th, and was vexed because General Brown would not consent to divide his army.'^ He had an opportunity to try his powers and skill in combat with the enemy sooner than he expected, and in that trial he won fadeless laurels. The story is told in the following chapter. ' "The militia have bnrnt several private dweltiiig-hoiiees," wrote the pnllnnt Major Daniel M'Farland, of IhoTwenty- tliW Infantry, who was killed a few days afterward at NinRara Falls, " and on the 19th bnrnt the vniapc of St. David's, consisting of al)ont thirty or forty houses. This was done within three miles of the camp I never witnessed snch a scene; and had not the commanding ofilcer, Colonel Stone, been disgraced and sent out of the army, I should have reslfjned my commission." ' General Brown's manuscript Memorandum of Oceurrentxt of the Camjiaigii on the Xiagara Frontier, :t:^ ;? ! all ■*t! 18 ■ 816 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Rumors of an Advance of the British. They appear in Force at Lundy's Lane. Their Advance unsuspected CHAPTER XXXVI. " O'er Huron's wave the sun was low, The weary soldier watch'd the bow Past fading from the cloud below The dashing of Niagara. And while the phantom chain'd his sight, Ah ! little thought he of the flght— The horrors of the dreamless uight, That posted on so rapidly."— Old Sono. lEAUTIFUL to the senses was the morning of the 25th of Julr 1814, on the banks of the Niagara River — a day memorable in the annals of the Republic. It was serene and sultry. Not a cloud appeared in the heavens, nor a flake of mist on the wa- ters. The fatigued American army lay reposing upon the field of its late victory, with the village of Chippewa in front, and had enjoyed half a day of needed rest, when a courier came in haste with intelligence from Colonel Philetus Swift at Lewis- ton that the enemy were in considerable force at Quecnston and on the Heights; that five vessels of Yeo's fleet had arrived during the night ; and that a number of boats were in sight moving up the river. A few minutes afterward another courier arrived from Captain Denman, of the quartermaster's department, with a report tliat the enemy, a thousand strong, were landing at Lewiston, and that the American bag- gage and stores at Schlosser were doubtless in imminent danger of capture. These rumors were true only in part. Vessels had arrived in the river, boats had ascended it, and a considerable British force was occupying Queenston. Lieutenant General Sir George Gordon Drummond had arrived with re-enforcements from Kings- ton, composed in part of some of Wellington's veterans, and landed at Fort Niagara, and in boats manj of them had gone up and disembarked at Queenston. Li the mean time the troops under Riall had been put in motion. Loyal Canadians had early informed him of the retreat of the Americans to Chippewa ; and at near mid- night of the '24th he sent forward a column under Lieutenant Colonel Pearson, com- posed of a regiment of the ever-active Glengary militia, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Battersby ; the incorporated and sedentary militia, under Lieutenant Colonels Robinson (late chief justice of Canada) and Parry; detachments from the Royiil Ar- tillery, with two 24-pounders, three 6-pounders, and a howitzer ; and the One Hund- red and Fourth Infantry, under Lieutenant Colonel Drummond, and a troop of tlio Nineteenth Light Dragoons. Pearson moved forward with celerity, and at seven o'clock on the morning of the 25th took position on an eminence in and near Lundy's Lane, a public highway leading directly westward into the heart of the peninsula and the head of the lake from the road along the river from Chippewa to Queenston. The position was a short distance from the great cataract of Niagara, and a com- manding one. Of Pearson's movement Brown seems to have had no intelligence, and his efforts to counteract the supposed invasion at Lewiston were rather tardily begun. He heard of the invasion at noon, but it was quite late in the afternoon before he ortiorod a forward movement of any of his troops. At two o'clock IVIajor Jcsup, who had crossed Chippewa Bridge, brought him word from Lieutenant Colonel Leavenworth,' ' Henry Leavenworth was bom in Connecticnt, December 10, 1T83, and was made captain in the Twenty-llftti Rofi- ment United States Infantry iii April, 1812. He was promoted to major in the Ninth Infantry in August, 1813. Fur OF THE WAR OF 1812 817 lir Advonce unsnspected. of the 25th of July, I day memoraV}le in and sultry. Not a of mist on the wa- osing upon the field ppewa in front, and ■n a courier came in ;tu8 Swift at Lewis- md on the Heights; nd that a number of (vard another courier it, with a report that at the American bag- r of capture. 1 the river, boats had eenston. Lieutenant rcements from Kings- led at Fort Niagara, Queenston. In the '^oyal Canadians had •a -, and at near mid- Soloncl Pearson, com- manded by Lieutenant r Lieutenant Colonels ,3 from the Tloyal Ar- , and the One llund- d, and a troop of the ;elerity, and at seven e in and near Luinly's jcart of the peninsula ippewa to Queenston. Niagara, and a com- igence, and his effort? r tardily begun. Ih" lOon before he ordered llajor Jesup, who had :)olonel Leavenworth,' llufantry In August, 1813. roi Scott ordered to march on Port George. The Widow WHbou's Story. Scott suddenly confronted by the BritUh. the officer of the day, that a considerable '>ody of the enemy had been seen at Niag- ara Falls, not more than two miles distant;' but so impressed was the general with the idea that the enemy were after his supplies at Schlosser that he would not be- lieve that more than a few light troops on a reconnoissance were in front. Conceiv- ing the best plan for recalling the foe would be a menace of the forts at the mouth of the Niagara River, he ordered General Scott to march rapidly upon them with his brigade, Towson's artillery, and all the cavalry and mounted men at command. This order was issued between four and five o'clock in the afternoon," and with- .juiy26, in twenty minutes afterward the impatient Scott had all his troops in mo- *^'*- tion. He crossed Chippewa Bridge between five and si-t o'clock, and pushed on to- ward the great cataract, fully impressed with the belief that a large force of the en- emy was on the other side of the river, and not directly before him. His battalion commanders were Lieutenant Colonel Leavenworth, Major M'Neil, Colonel Brady, and Major Jesup, Towson was with his artillery, and Captains Harris and Pentland commanded the mounted men, Tlic whole force numbered full twelve huudred persons. A widow named Wilson lived in a pleasant white house at the great Falls, near Table Rock; and when the vanguard of Scott's command came in sight of her dwell- ing they discovered a number of British officers there, who mounted their horses and rode hastily away after surveying the approaching column of Americans with their glasses.^ The widow, with the skill of a diplomat, assured Major Wood, of the En- gineers, who were in the van, that she extremely regretted their tardiness, as they might have captured General Riall and his staif, whom they had seen riding off. She iilso assured them, with more truthfulness, that eight hundred regulars, full three hundred militia, and two pieces of artillery were just below a small strip of woods near. Scott, who had come up with his staff and heard her story, did not believe it. Had not the British army been beaten on the 6th ? And was there not in the pos- session of the commander-in-chief positive information that a large part of that army had been thrown across the Niagara at Lewiston? He believed that only a remnant of it was in his front, and he resolved to obey his instructions to " march rapidly on the forts." He sent a message to his general by Lieutenant Douglass, to inform him of the appearance of the enemy, and then dashed gallantly into the woods to dis- perse the foe. What was his astonishment on finding the story of the widow literally true ! Riall had been re-enforced, and there he was, with a larger number of troops than Scott had encountered twenty days earlier, drawn up in battle order in Lundy's Lane— a highway, as we have observed, running from the Niagara River to the head of Lake Ontario. His position was one of extreme peril. To stand still would be fatal ; to retreat would be very hazardous. The latter movement might jeopard- ize the whole army by the creation of a panic, especially among the reserves under Ripley, who were not in the former battle. There was no time for reflection, for a heavy fire of musketry and cannon had been opened upon him. From that wonder- ful wealth of resource, at the moment of great need, which always distinguished him, Seott drew immediate inspiration, and resolved to fight the overwhelming number of the enemy, and impress Riall with the conviction that the whole American army was at hand. hiK bravery at Chippewa he was breveted lieutenant colonel, and for his distinguished eervices at the battle of Niagara I'llls he was breveted colonel. He was retained in the army, and made lieutenant colonel of the Fifth Infantry in Pob- rnary, 1918. He performed able service In the wilderness westward of the Mi-afit^slppi, far up the Missouri, and a fort in tliat region bears his name. In July, 1824, he was breveted brigadier general for ten years' service, and the follow- iog year he was made full colonel. He died near the Cross Timbers, on the False Washita River, .July 21, 18ii4. I Jesup's Manuscript Memoir, etc. ' Within three or fonr days the Rritish had erected beacons in this vicinity in order to give alarms. These were con- ftrncted under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Myers, an ofBcer who was madi' jjrisoncr at Fort George the year hefore, and afterward exchanged. Writing to Captain James Cumminga (now of Chippewa) on the '2l8t of July, he said, "The best place at Wilson's is on the cleared point, near the paling of Wilson's garden, and not far ft-om the head of the path that goes down to the Table Rock."— .jluiotf)-aj>/t Lcttfr. 3F mmi PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK f Jnnctton of British Forces. Their Line of Battle. Scott attacked. The British flanked. Trusting to rumor instead of actual observation through scouts, Brown was wholly uninformed, or at least misinformed, concerning the movements of the British. Not a soldier of that army had been sent across the Niagara at Lewiston. Every man left fit for service since the late battle was with Riall preparing for this advance movement. On the night of the 24th Lieutenant General Sir George Gordon Drum, mond, as we have observed, had arrived at the mouth of the Niagara liiver in the British fleet from Kingston. He brought eight hundred men with him, and sent Lieutenant Tucker, with about five hundred of them and a body of Indians, to dis- perse or capture a small American force at Lewiston, This movement gave rise to the report of invasion. Drummond had apprised Riall of his intentions ; and thpw oflScers, with their respective commands, Jiad formed a junction on the Niagara with- out discovery by General Brown. These united forces, not less than four thoiipand five hundred strong, with the exception of a portion of the re-enforcements, were con- fronted by Scott and his " twice six hundred men," with two field-pieces. When forty minutes before sunset, the battle began, the line that opened fire on Scott was full eighteen hundred in number, well-posted on the slope and brow of au eminence over whicli Lundy's Lane passed. The enemy's line was a little inclined to a crescent form, the wings being thrown forward of the artillery in the centre. Its left, rested on the Queenston Road, and extended over the liil!, on the brow of wiiid, was planted a batten- of seven guns, nearly in the rear of tlie Jletli- odist church on Lun- dy's Lane, and not far I south of the house of Mr. Fraleigh when I visited the spot in 1800. Into the bowl of this crescent Scott sudden- ly found himself ad- vancing with his little force, within canisiter- shot distance of a greatly superior army and powerful field-bat-. tery. His quick eye instantly discovered 3 j blank space between the British extreme left and the river of two hundred yards. covered with brushwood. He saw the advantage it afforded, and directed Major Jes- up to creep cautiously behind the bushes in the twilight, with his command, and at- tempt to turn tlie enemy's left flank. Jesup obeyed with alacrity. In the moan time Scott was hotly engaged with the British veterans, some of them from Wellington- army, while the battery on the hill poured destruction upon his men. Towson, with | his little field-pieces right gallantly handled, could make but a feeble impression. Brady, and Leavciiworth, and ]\I'Neil managed their battalions with skill, and fought j bravely themselves ; not, however, with the expectation of conquering the enemy,! only of keeping him in check until the reserves should come up. This was done, and | more. Tlicre they stood, the brave Ninth, Eleventh, and Twentieth, mere skeletons of regiments, hurried into battle without warning or preparation, while .Tesup'sTwen-j ty-fifth, unaided, was battling manfully and successfully with more than a tliousandj of the enemy to gain possession of the Queenston Road. '^^t}m TiKwr AT lunoy'h lane in 1S60. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 819 The Brlttoh flunked. s, Brown was wholly of the British. Not wiston. Every man ing for this advance oor<TC Gordon Dnim- Sliagara liiver in the with him, and sent dy of Indians, to dis.- ovement gave rise to intentions ; and these on the Niagara with- 38 than four thousaml iforcoments, wore con- ) field-pieces. When, cncd fire on Scott was I brow of an eminence ic wings being thrown ! Qucenston Road, and extended over tlie liil!, on the brow of wliicli was planted a battery of seven guns, nearly in the rear of the Jletli- odist church on Lun- dy's Lane, and not far south of the hoiise of Mr. Fraleigh when 1 visited the spot in 18G0. Into the bowl of this crescent Scott sudden- ly found himself ad- vancing with his little force, within canister- shot distance of a greatly superior army and powerful field-bat-, tery. His quick cyt instantly discovered a of two hundred yards, and directed Major Je- ■h his command, ai\cl at- ■rity. In the mean tim, ,hem from Wellington'^ Ins men. Towson, «nh ! ,ut a feeble impression. ,a with skill, and fonght iquering the enomyJwi p This was done, anil I ventieth, mere skeletons! ion, while Jesnp'sTwen- li more than a thousand Cipture of Oeneral RiaH. Bruwu advuncvs from Chippewa. lie orders a formidable Battery to be taken. The sun went down, the twilight closed, and the darkness of night, relieved by a waning moon, enveloped the combatants. Josup had gallantly turned the liritish left, gained liis rear, kept approaching re-enforcements of Drummond in check, and secured many prisoners. Among the latter was General Riall, several officers of his staff, and one of General Drummond's aids. Captain Loring. Their capture was an accident. One of liiall's aids saw one of Jesup's flanking parties, commanded by Captain Ketchuni, and, mistaking them for a company of their own troops, called out, "Make room there, men, for General Kiall !" Captain Ketchum immediately replied, "Ay, ay, sir!" allowed the aid to pass by, and then directed a portion of his own men, with fixed bayonets, to surround tlie general and his officers, seize the bridles of their horses, and make them prisoners. Riall was astonished, but made no resist- ance. He was, indeed, quite badly wounded. Ketclnim delivered him to General Scott in person, who ordered him to be taken to the rear, and every attention to be jriven to his comfort. Jesup, perceiving that his own position was not tenable, gal- lantly charged back through the British line, and took his place in that of the .'Vmer- ieans. It was now nine o'clock in the evening. The British right, which made a furious assault, had been driven back by General Scott with a heavy loss ; their left had been turned and cut off by Jesup's bold movement, and their centre, on the ridge, support- ed by the artillery, alone remained firm. The most of Drummond's re-enforcements had come up, and the remainder wiu-e only a short distance off, and pressing forward. Let us leave the battle-field a moment and turn back to Chippewa. We have seen that a messenger liad been scut to apprise General Brown of the presence of the en- emy. This messenger was immediately followed by another (Major Jones), who bore the startling intelligence that the whole British army was within two miles, and that General Scott had attacked them to keep them in check. Already the cannonade and musket-firing had been lieard in the camp, and (ieneral Brown had ordered Gen- eral Ripley, with liis brigade and all the artillery res rvc, to press forward to the sup- port of Scott. Mounting his horse, and leaving Adjutant General Gardner to see that his orders were promptly executed, he rode forward, and met Major Jones near the Falls with the exciting message from Scott. Brown ordered Jones to continue his journey to the camp with directions for Porter and his volunteers to follow Ripley as speedily as possible. On his arrival upon the battle-field, accompanied by Major Wood, General Brown Hmght and obtained correct information of the situation of affairs from General Scott himself. l?y this time Jesup had accomplished his bold operations on the enemy's , and Ripley's briga<le was near. Convinced that the men in action were greatly exhausted, and knowang that they had suffered severely, the commanding general de- termined to form and interpose a ncAV line with the fresh troops, disengage (iener- [ al Scott, and hold his brigade in reserve for rest. Orders to this effect were given '' to General Ripley, and the second brigade advanced in the pale moonlight on the : Qiuenston Road toward the enemy's left. It was now perceived that the key of the iiiimy's position was their battery on the hill, and Colonel M'Ree assured General Brown that he conid not hope for success until that height was carried and tlie can- hion taken. (General Brown instantly turned to the gallant Colonel Miller (now of [the Twenty-first, and former leader of the Fourth in the campaigns under Hull and [Harrison) and said, "Colone'^ take your regiment, storm that work, and take it." t 111 try, sir," responded Miller, promptly, and immediately moved forward to the [perilous task.' At that moment the First Regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel ' "Who gave thin order tn Miller?" has bpon an Hnpetlled qnesllon. A Intc writer on this biittic says, "I nm con- litraiiicd to believe, nn the Ustinum'i nf Cohmcl Miller him/iil/, ns well as that of Captain M'nonald, that the idea on which i«f l)ii5od the Rsfinnlt was Oeneral Ripley's ; that Ac ordered iti< exccntlon ; and that the troops had moved to execute ptefore General Brown knew any thine ahont the matter." I have before me an antojrraph letter of Oeneral Miller, trtlcD to his wife three days after the battle from Fort Eric, In which he says, "Major M'Ree, the chief engineer, told 111) liii J- Nicholas,' wliich had arrived tlmt day, and Avas attached to neitlicr of tlio \,ji. gades, and which had been ordtTod to draw the fire of the enemy and direct his attention from Miller's moveincnt gave way. Miller paid no attention to that disaster, but moved steadily for- ward up the hill with less than tlirce hundred men, mostly conccjiled by an old rail fence, along which was a i^rowth of thiclx. low shrubbery. They apijruaoh- ed undiscovered to a point witliin two rod of the battery, where the guniur* were seen with their lighted niatcluN waiting for the word to tire. In whis- pers Miller ordered his men to rest tlicir pieces across the fence, take good aim, and shoot the gunners. This was prompt- ly done, and not a man was left to apply the matches. Miller and his men foi- lowed the volley with a shout, and, ru4 ing forward, were in the very centre df the park of artillery before the enran had a chance to resist. A British lim, formed for the protection of the eanimii. j were lying near in a strong position, and immediately opened a most destructiye ic filading fire, Avhich slew many of the gallant jMiller's men. They then attcmptiil to I charge with their bayonets, but the Americans returned their tire so warmly that I they were kept in check. Hand-to-hand the combatants fought for some timc,aiijl so closely that the blaze of their guns crossed. The British were finally pushed bad;, [ General Drown ho conld do no good until that height was carried, and those cannon taken or driven from thcirfos I tion. It was then night, but moonlight. General Brown turned to me and said, ' Colonel Miller, take your re^'iae:! I and storm that work, and take it.'" General Brown, in his Manuscript Menwrandum, etc., says, "The coramandi-.' I general rode to Colonel Miller, and ordered him to charge and carry the enemy's artillery witli the bayonet, llert [ plied, in a tone of good-humor, that he would try to execute the order." See, also, Silliraan's ClaW>p among Amrivl Scenemj. This positive testimony of the chief actors settles the question. It was General Brown, and not Geucrnl R:,--! ley, who gave the order. Miller's modest response, " I'll try, sir," is one of the sayings which Americans dclighUorf-I member, and History loves to repeat. James Miller was born iu Peterborough, New Hampshire, on the 88th of April, 17T6, and was thirty-eight ycBrs oti.iI at this time. He was educated for the bar, but in 1808 he entered the United States Army as major of the F(inrtbR«-| iment of Infantry. In 1810 he was made lieutenant colonel, and, as we have already observed in this work, perfr gallant services under Harrison in the campaign that ended at the battle of Tippecanoe. In August, 1812, he h'i<I veted as colonel for his distinguished services near Detroit, which wo have already recorded ; and in May the follo»i vear he commenced an equally distinguished scries of services on the Niagara frontier in the Sixth ResjimcnI. March, 1814, he was promoted to full colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment, and accompanied General Brown, in il brigade of General Ripley, in the invasion of Canada in July. He fought gallantly at the battles of Chippewa anj Nil agara Falls, and also at Fort Erie ; and for his services in capturing the battery in Umdy's Lane, and gcncrni coodre duct on the Niagara frontier, he was breveted a brigadier general, and received trum Congress a gold medal, with fjii able emblems and devices, delineated in the engraving on the opposite page. General Miller resigned his comnii* In the army in 1819, when he was appointed governor of Arkansas Territory. Ho hold that ofBce until March, 13 when he was appointed collector of the port of Salem, Massachnsetta, which position he held twenty-four yennsora til 184!>, when he was prostrated by paralysis. He had a second stroke of paralysis on the morning of the 4tli of JslJ 1851, and died on the 7th at the age of eeventy-flve years. He was then living at Temple, New Ilampshi'-o, wlicKpc| nf his family still reside. The gold medal presented by Congress is the slue delineated on the following page. On one side is a biifl offt eral Miller, with his name and title, and the words " i'li. tet." On the other, a battle scene on a slope and eniiinij iis at Lundy's Lane. Troops are seen advancing in the distance. Over the scene are the words " BEBOi.imox mm ■iKESs, NOVEMiiEB 8, 1814." Below, the words " hattlkb ok ohippkwa, julv 6, 1814; niauaba, jot.y 20, 1814; ror,si^ TKMI'IIR 17, 1814." ' Robert Carter Nicholas, of Kentncky, entered the army as captain of the Seventh Infantry In 1808. ncbKjiii| major in 1810, and lieutenant colonel of the First Infantry in August, ISI'2. After the battle of Niagara he vuf moted to colonel of the Nineteenth (September, 1814), and was retained at the peace. Ho resigned inlS19,»ndii became United States Indian Agent for the Chickasaws. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 821 tches of MlUer and Nichola; ad arrived that day, to neither of the Ijri- had been orderud to he enemy and iVirect X Ikliller's movement, r paid no attention to moved steadily for- with less than tlircc istly concealed hy aii ig which wiis a growth ,f.ery. They aiivroach- to a point within two ;ry, where the guimer< their lighted matclus (vord to tire. In wliis- •ed his men to rest their a fence, take good aim. liners. This was prompt- a man was left to apply Ikliller and his men t'ol- pvitha8hont,and,nisli- re in the very centre of illery before the enemy 3 resist. A British line, protection of the cannon, ! ed a most destructive en- They then attempted to heir tire so warmly tkil night for some time.atil were finally pushed l);wU ,n taken or driven from their i»?:j Colonel Mmer, take your re:iH- 1 ,,(„,,., etc., BayB," The command::,: artillery wltb the bayonet He :^ 1 Smiman'sGaliopnnioiij^nimanl eneral Brown, and not General Rifl lugs which Americans delight to »l L and was thirty-eight years oliJ i Army bk major of the FonrthliK-I Rv observed in this work, perl :^'!« fcanoe. In August, 1812 he w|. '- rrecorded;andinMaythetoto:i Lntier In the Sixth Regiment. Lcompanled General Bro«-.u.ft^ "atthebattlesofCl.ippcvrar,.'\-l n nndy's Lane, and gcncrnl c-ivu KngresBagoldmedaUUhwj Icral Miller resigned hscomn..*J Eo held that oflace until Marcti,l!» Ion he held twenty-four year.. j« Uon the morning of the 4tl. of J'4 pemple, New Hampshire, wher, 1.1 ■„Bce. on one side is a bust cf4 Knle scene on a slope and ennrd Ite the words ••BP.ou"^J ; mAOABA, Jni.v 26,1814. IW - Uh infantry m 1808- nohea».| ir the battle of Niagara he w««? lee llere-lg"«'l'"l^''''""^"1 Compusltlon of the British Battery. Appreciation of Hiiler's Exploit. The Eleventh Regiment and Major M'Nell. fiiul compelled to abandon their wliole artillery, ammunition-wagons, and every thing tlse. Seven splendid brass cannon remained with Miller, one of which was a 24- poiinder with eight horses, some of them killed. Twice the British attempted to ex- pel Miller from the height, but were repulsed, when Uipley, with the First and Twen- ty-third Regiments, came gallantly to his aid. At that moment the last of Drum- mond's re-enforcements, which had been ra])idly advancing from Queenston under Colonel Scott, nearly fifteen hundred in all, came up, when the enemy rallied, and made a fourth unsuccessful attempt to drive the victors from the heights and regain tlieir battery.' The exploit of Miller elicited universal ad- miration. The American officers declared that it was one of the most desperate and eallant acts ever known. It was the MAJOn JOUN M'.-il.ll.. most desperate thing we ever saw or heard of," said the British officers, who were made prisoners. The moment that General Brown met ]Miller afterward, he said, " You have immortalized yourself! My dear fellow, my heart ached for you when I gave you the order, but I knew th.at it was the only thing that would save us."^ Meanwhile the first brigade, command- ed by General Scott, had maintained its po- sition with the greatest pertinacity under terrible assaults and destructive blows. The gallant Eleventh Regiment lost its commander, Major John M'Neil,by severe wouiuls,^ and all of its captains. Its am- m.aiition became spent, and as a regiment ' .Autograph Letter of Qeueral Miller to his Wife from Port Erie, July 28, 1814. ^ Miller's Autograph Letter. ' John M'Neil was born in New Hampshire in 17S4. He very early evinced u taste for military life. At the age E of seventeen years he was an ensign, and soon afterward a captain of a grenadier company in his native state, which \in> remarkable for its physical vigor, ills youth and early manhood were spent in rural labors and sports. In March, |t<12, he entered the army as captain of the Eleventh Infantry, and in August the next year ho was promoted to major. iFor his gallant conduct at Chippewa, where he commanded his regiment, he was breveted lieutenant colonel, and for I elmilar conduct in the battle oi" Niagara he was breveted colonel. In that battle he behaved with the greatest gallant- When the Twenty-second Regiment broke and was about to flee In disorder, M'Neil spurred his horse In fl-ont of itliem, and, with his tremendous voice uttering persuasions and throats, ho succeeded in rallying them and leading them Tito action. Ills horse was killed under him, and he was wounded in both legs by canister-shot. A six-ounce ball l(aseed through and shattered his right knee, and nearly carried away the limb. But he continued tu flght until, be- mi PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A deuperute Struggle in Oarkneas Both Parties re-enfurced. SIcetclies of Colonels Brady and Jemp te^ifiii i ■ ^f=**''^ ^^nj^^ni. it retired from the field, its more gallant spirits rallying around the flags of the Ninth and Twenty-second as volunteers. Very soon Colonel Brady, of the Twenty. second, was severely wounded,' with several of his subordinates. Its ammunition became exhausted, and it, too, dissolved, and its remnant clung to the baniiei- ol'tlic Ninth, commanded by the brave Lieutenant Colonel Leavenv/orth, as voluiitecis, This was now the only regiment remaining of the first brigade, and it fought with a courage that partook of the character of dcrfpei-atioii. The thi-ee skeleton regiments were consolidated, and contended fearfully in the darkness. Finally Scott ordeieil them to chai'ge, and they were moving gallantly forward for that purpose when tiio taking of the battery turned the current, and the order was countermanded. They took their old position at the foot of the slope, ready for any emergency. It was now about half past ten o'clock at night. The troops were enveloped in thick darkness, for the smoke of battle, untoucfied by the slightest breeze, hung Jiki. a thick curtain between them and the palo light of the moon. Around the tattered colors of the Eleventh the shattered fi-agmeiits of the first brigade were rallied, commanded by the oflicers of the Ninth who remained unhurt. The Twenty-fifth, under Jesnp,^ with their i-eg- imental banner piei'ced witli scores of bullet-holes re- ceived at Chippewa and in this engagement, reposed a moment after their victory on the river side of the Queenston Road, where the village of Drummondsville now stands, while the second brigade, skillfully handled by Ripley, bore the brunt of the battle in the fierce con- tention for the battery on the height. Yet the others were by no means idle. Every corps was engaged in the desperate struggle, Avhich had continued for more than two hours, the way of the combatants lighted only by fitful gleams of the moon darting through the murky battle-clouds, and the lurid flashes of exploding powder. Both parties were re-enforced during the struggle ; the British by Colonel Scott's coming faint from loss of blood, he was carried off the flcUl, a cripple for life, and his Iron constitntion shattered. He was retained in the army at its reduction as major of the Fifth Infantry, and served upon the Western fl-ontier. He was breveted brigadier general in 1824, and in 182U promoted to the rank of full colonel. He was appointed an ludian com- missioner in 1829. In 1S30 he resigned his coraniission, and was appointed by President Jackson surveyor ofthe pon of Boston, which office he held until hig death at Washington City, on the 23d of Febrnary, 1860. Ho mairied a half- Bister of Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth President of the United States. He was a powerful man, standiu;; sii feet six inches in his stockings. ' Hugh Brady was a Pennsylvanlan by birth, and was born in Northumberland County in 170S. He entered Iht army as ensign in 1T92, and served in the Northwest under General Wayne. He was captain ofthe Fourth Infantry in 1799, and was out of service from June, 1800, until July, 1812, when he was commissioned colonel of the Twenty-second Infantry. He was distinguished at both Chippewa and Niagara Falls. He was retained in 1816, and in 1S22 was bre- veted a brigadier general. He was in the war with Mexico, and for meritorious conduct there, at the age of eighlj years, he was breveted major general. He died at Detroit on the 16th of April, 1851, aged eighty-three years. » Thomas Sidney Jesup was a native of Virginia, and was bom in 1788. He entered the array as second lieiitenu: of infantry in May, 1808. Ho was General Hull's brigade major in the campaign of 1812, in which he was also acticL adjutant general. He was promoted to captain In January, 18i;i, and major of the Nineteenth Infantry in April follm- ing. Early In 1814 be was transferred to the Twenty-flflh— a regiment which he had raised mostly by his own eier- tions in Hartford, Connecticut, and its vi«inity. For his gallant conduct at Chippewa he was breveted lieutenant col- onel, and for like distinguished conduct in the battle of Niagara, where he was wounded, ho was breveted colonel. He | was retained in the army in 1816, and was made lieutenant colonel ofthe Third Infantry In 1817. The followlni; yea; he was made adjutant general, with the rank of colonel, and shortly afterward qnartermaster general, with the rnniiol j brigadier general. In May, 1828, ho was breveted major general for ten years' faithful service. In 1830 he wi.s appolnl- i ed to the command of the army In the Creek Nation, and the same year succeeded General Call in command oftke army in Florida. He was active during the war with the Seminole Indians, and was wounded In one ofthe battles. He was succeeded by Colonel Zachary Taylor, and retired to the duties of the quartermaster general's department, in the performance of which he continued until his death at Washington City, at the age of seventy-two years, on tlie lOlli j of June, 1860. » This picture of the tattered banner and its broken staff of the Twenty-flfth Regiment, as it appeared on the day ill- er the battle of Niagara Falls, is from a drawing made then, belonging to the Rochester Light Guard, and hnnglngli I their armory in the spring of 1862, when a careful copy was kindly sent to me by Mr. Jeremiah Watts, one of the meffl- 1 bers of the Guard. The flag was white silk, with a yellow ffinge, and the words " Tub Twbnty-fiftu RKoijiiiit w | U. 8. iNrAMTBY" were inscribed upon a blue ribbon, with gilt scrolls at each end. TUE FLAG OF THE TWENTT-nFTB.' OF THE WAU OF 1812. 623 Colonels Brady and Jejop. id the flags of the cly, of the Twciity- i. Its ammunition o the banner of tlic )rth, as vohintLHMs. nil it fought with a skeleton regiments nally Scctt onleroil it purpose when tlw ntermanded. Tky srgency. ig were enveloped in est breeze, hiuis,' like FL\a OF TUE TWENTV-nnn, tish by Colonel Scott's rmTconBtitntion Bhnttered. H( li the WcBtern frontier. He was |c was appointed an Indian com- lit Jackaon surveyor of the port narv,1860. Uo mm ricd a hit- Lowcrful man, standiug sii fw lounty In ITOS. He entered tlie untain of the Fourth Infantry m 4 colonel of the Twentj-sccMl ,edinl81^,andinlS22wa>br^ flnctthero,BtthcngeofelsMy Tcd eiuhty-three years, rt the array as second lieuleniit m in which he was also actio? He'enth Infantry in April fota- 'raised mostly hyhi» own ««• he was breveted Ucutenam CO, Ed ho was hrcveted colonel. II' ftryinlSlT. The following 5". 'naster general, with the rank « service. In 1830 he wu appoi».- ^cneral Call m command of » Pdedinoneofthebatto. . Lcr general's departmen ia k [f seventy-two years, on tbelOti I Int a* It appeared on the day rf- 1 Ito Light Gnard, and hangtas^ leremlahWatts.oneottheinm- |nETvENTY.FiFTuREO.M>.T0r Oeuerals Brown and Bcott wounded. The Troops fall back to Chippewa. lnJurlouD Tardiness of General ni|>ley. cornniaiul, as wo liave seen, and the Amerieans by a part ofl'or- ter's brigade, whieh took post on Kipley's left, and participated in the closing events of the battle. The enemy was beaten off by sheer hard blows gi\en by the muscle of indomitable Persever- ance, but at the expense of pre- cious blood. Generals Brown and Scott were severely wound- ed and borne from the field, and the active command devolved on General Ripley, the senior officer on duty.' When the absolute repulse of the enemy was manifest, and General Brown observed great numhers of stragglers in a'.l di- rections from the broken regi- ments, he ordered the new com- mander to fall back Avith the troops to Chippewa, there reor- ganize the shattered battalions, u'ivo them a little rest and rc- tresliments, and return to the field of conflict by daydawn, so as to secure the fruits of victory by holding the ground and se- (uiing the captured cannon, which, on account of a lack of iioises, harness, or drag- ropes, could not be removed at once. Ripley had not moved from Chippewa when the day dawned, and Brown, disappointed and angered by his tardiness, ordered his own staff to go to the commanders of corps and direct them to be promptly prepared to march. It was sunrise before the army crossed the Chippewa, and they were halted by Rip- ley at the Bridgewater Mills, a mile from the battle-gi-ound, where he was informed that the enemy was again in possession of the heights of Lundy's Lane and his can- non, had been re-enforced, and was too strong to be attacked by a less force than the entire army of tiie Niagara with any promise of success. With this information Rip- ley returned to head-quarters. The commanding general was irritated. He resolved not to trust the brigadier with the command of the army any longer than necessity required; and he dispatched a courier to Sackett's Harbor with an order for General 1 Tlie gailant Mi\jor M'Farland was mortally wounded while fighting at the head of his battalion of the Twenty- third Regiment. Daniel M'Farland was a Penusylvaulan, and entered the army as captain in the Twenty-tecoud In- fantry iu March, 1812. In August, 1813, he was promoted to major in the Twenty-third, and was killed iu the battle of Niagara Falls. Captains Biddle and Ritchie, of the artillery, were both wounded in that battle early in the action, and the brnnt of the artillery service fell on Towson. Thomas Biddle, Junior, was a gallant officer from Pennsylvania. He entered the snny as captain of infantry in the spring of 1812, but Joined the Second Artillei? soon afterward. He was dlstlHguished in tlic capture of Fort George, and also at Stony Creek in May and June, 1813. In September he was brigade major un- der General Williams. He was slightly wounded nt Niagara, and for gallant service at Fort Erie afterward he was bre- vtled a major. There he was again wounded. In December following he was ald-de-camp to General Izard. He re- mained in the army some years, and was finally killed in a duel at St. Louis, Missouri, August 29, 1831. ; John Ritchie, who was also in this battle, was a Virginian. He entered the army in the spring of 1812 as captain in Ihe Second Artillery. Although severely wounded in the battle of Niagara Falls, he stuck to his gun, and was killed. ilc liud declared that he would never leave bis piece, and, true tu that declaration, he fell by it, covered with wounds. m f li Wfl 824 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ClrciimRUncei of tbo Battle nf Niagara. Namber nf Troupa eogaged lu It. Tbe Victory claimed by both Partlei, (iaiiies to come and l:ikc the temporary leadership of tlie Niaj^ara forties.' UiplcyV delay had doubtless deprived the Americans of all the substantial advantapes of vic- tory, for the enemy was allowed to return, reoccupy the field of battle, and retake the captured cannon, excepting one beautiful brass O-pounder, which was prescntcil to Colonel Miller's regiment on the spot. This they bore away with them as a pic- cious trophy of their prowess. Tlio remainder were retaken by the British a few hours afterward.'* Thus ended the sanguinary Battle op Niagara Falls, sometimes called Lundy\i Zone, and sometimes Bridt/ewater,^ It has few purallcls in history in its -wealth of gallant deeds. It was fought wholly in the shadows of a summer evening between sunset and midnight. To the eye and ear of a distant spectator it must have bet n a suolime experience. Above was a serene sky, a placid moon in its wane, and innu- merable stars — a vision of Beauty and Peace; below was the sulphurous smoke of battle, like a dense thunder-cloud on the horizon, out of whicli came the quick Hashes of lightning and the bellowing of the echoes of its voice — a vision of Horror and Strife. Musket, rocket, and cannon cracking, hissing, and boouiing ; and the claslidi' sabre and bayonet, with the cries of human voices, made a horrid din that commin- gled with the awful, solemn roar of the great cataract hard by, whose muffled thun- der-tones rolled on, on, forever, in infinite grandeur when the pmiy drum had ceased to beat, and silence had settled upon the field of carnage. There the dead were buried, and the mighty diapason of the flood was their requiem. According to the most careful estimates, the number of troops engaged in the hat- tic of Niagara Falls was a little over seven thousand, the British having about four thousand five hundred, and the Americans a little less than two thousand six hund- red, ''oth parties lost heavily. Tlie Americans had one hundred and seventy-one kille. \ hundred and seventy-one wounded, and one hundred and ten missing— a total of eight hundred and fifty-two. The British lost eighty-four killed, five hund- red and fifty-nine wounded, one hundred and ninety-three missing, and forty-two pris- oners — a total of eight hundred and seventy-eight. A large proportion of those taken by Jesup on the British left , and by Miller on the height, escaped during the night. Both parties claimed a victory, the Americans because they drove the enemy from the field and captured his cannon, and the British because their foe did not retain the field and the cannon he had won. While the American people rejoiced over the af- fair as a genuine triumph, as it undoubtedly was, as a victory in battle, the governm general of Canada was right in complimenting his troops for their steadiness and valor ; and the Prince Regent did a proper thing when he gave permission to one of the regiments to wear the word Niagara upon their caps. Major General Brown was twice severely wounded, yet he kept the saddle until the victory was won. First a musket-ball passed through his right thigh ; and a few ' General Brown's Mnnnscrlpt Memoir, etc. He says, "OeDernl Brown entertained no donbt of tin; iiitelllgence or bravery of General Ripley," but his conduct on the morning of the 26th was such that " his confldcnce in him as a com- miindcr was seueibly diminished. The j,'encral believed that he dreaded reapojiaibility more than danger. In short, that he had a greater share of physical than moral courage." ' Miller's Autograph Letter to his Wife, July 2a Brown's Memorandum, etc., and his Official Report to the Secretarj of War, dated " Buffalo, August, 1S14." In that report the commanding general spoke in the highest terms of nil hi* officers and troops. He particularly mentioned the gallant services of Scott, Porter, Jesup, Towson, nindman, Blddlf, Ritchie, Gardner, his adjutant general, M'Ree and Wood, his engineers, his aids-de-camp Austin and Spencer, and Lieu- tenant Randolph, of the Twentieth Regiment, " whose courage was conspicuous." " The staff of Generals Rlpiey and Porter," he said, "discovered great zeal and attention to duty." 3 The battle was fought within sight and hearing of the great Falls of Niagara, and should bear that dignified name. It was so called in one of the first pnblished accounts of it. "The battle of Niaoaba," said the Albany Argus atthf beginning of August, " commands, like the achievements of our naval heroes, the admiration of all classes of the Amer- ican people, a few excepted." The hottest of the contest having occurred in the struggle for the battery in Lwviiii Law caused the battle to be called after the name of that road. About a mile above the field of battle, on the banks ot the Niagara, were mills called The Bridgewaler Mills. A person attached to the American army, but not In tho battle. wrote while it was in progress to some fric^iid in the interior of New York, paying that a great battle was then ragin; near the Brldgewater Mills. This letter w:ih published extensively, and the conflict wos called the B(UtUo/ liri(lgtwi\Ur It was HO announced in Niles's Register, August 13, 1814. im-: '■'ilW OF THE WAR OF 1812. 885 id by both Pnrtlm. OBIcera wonndad ia tiM Battle of Niagara. Scott proceed* to Waahlngton. Honora conterred upon Mm. forces.* Riploy'K advantages of vic- hattle, and retake lich was i)n'sc'nli'il nth them as a jirt- tho British a few mos called Lumh/n ivy in its wealtli of 3r evening between it must have hem ;i its wane, and innu- ilphurous smoke of mo the qniek flashes irtion of Horror and ng ; and the elasluil' id din that commin- whose muffled ihun- my drum had ceased :'hcro the dead were B engaged in the bat- sh having ahmU four o thousand six hund- Ared and seventy-one ;d and ten missing- Pfour killed, live lumd- g, and forty-two pris- portion of those taken cd during the night. .rove the enemy from ^ ] foe did not retain tln' rejoiced over the at- battle, the govenmi their steadiness and permission to one ot kept the saddle until ight thigh ; and a few doubt of ll... intelligence or alsconfldeuce in him as a con- more than danger. In short, pfflclal Report to the Sccrclary in the highest terms of alte ,up,Towson.ninaman,Bll*. J Austin and Spencer, and Ucii- leetaff of Generals Ripiey and lonld bear that dignified n»me. •said the Albany Argus at the Lion of «U classes of the Amer- leie for the battery in l^fP rfleldofbattle,onthebank»o Ian army, but not in the bate, fft great battle wa. then ragte 1 called the BottK of linitit«<^ minutes afterward tho gallant Captain Spencer, his aid-de-camp, received a mortal wound.' Then came a ball of some kind which struck Brown in the side, not lacer- ating, but sev(>rely contusing it. Both hurts were so severe that the general felt (loid)tful of his ability to keep his seat, and so informed Major Wood, his confidential friend. That bravo officer, deeply engaged in the battle, exclaimed, " Never mind, my dear general, you are winning the greatest battle ever gained for your country !" The eni'my were soon repulsed, and tho general, supported by Captain Austin, his only remaining aid, moved from tlic field, leaving the command, as we have seen, with General Ripley. Brown rapidly recovered, and was able to resume the command of the army of the Niagara early in September. General Scott was wounded by a bullet tliat entered his left slioulder while he was conversing with Major Jesup on the extreme right. lie had been exposed to death on every i)art of the field, and had two horses shot under him. lie was spared until the last struggle of the battle, when his aid. Lieutenant Worth, and Brigade Major Smith, were very severely wounded. His own luirt was so great that he could no longer remain on the field, and he was borne first to the Chippewa camp, then to Buf- falo, and finally to Williamsville, a hamlet in the east part of the present town of ■Java, Wyoming County, New York. At the latter place ho found the wounded General Riall well-cared for. Seott suftcred intensely, and for a month his recovery was considered doubtful. He was finally removed to the house of a friend (Mr. Brisbane) in Bivtavia, where kind nursing made his convalescence rapid; At length, when able to bear the motions of a litter, he was carried on the shoulders of gentlemen of the country from town to town, to the house of a friend (Mr. Nicholas) in Geneva, where lie remained until he was able to resume his journey, wlien he went to Philadelphia, and placed himself in cliarge of the eminent Doctors Physic and Chapman, of that city. He was every \ where received with demonstrations of the warmest respect and admiiaiion for his Irtrsonal achievements, and as the representative of the now glorious army of the Ni- agara.'' From Philadelphia he passed on to Baltimore early in Septetnber, then threatened by the British, who had just destroyed the public buildings of the na- tional capital; and on the I6th of October he was so far recovered as to be able to take command of the Tenth Military District, whose head-quarters were at Washing- ton City. Honors were conferred upon him by public bodies in many places. The Congress of the United StJites, by a resolution on the 8th of November, 1814, voted him the thanks of the nation, and requested the President to have a gold medal, with suitable devices, struck in his honor, and presented to him.^ The Legislatures of 1 Ambrose Spencer, of New York, was commissioned a first lieutenant In the Twenty-ninth Infantry In April, 1S13, and promoted to captain in February, 1S14. lie had been made aid to General Brown in August, ISU, and remained in Ills family until his death. He was greatly distingnlshod In the battle of Niagara Falls. General Brown relates. In his Manuscript Memoir, etc., already cited, that when the last heavy rc-cnforcements of the British were coming up iu the dim raoonlight, and he was watching them with intense interest. Captain Spencer suddenly put spurs to his horse, and rode directly to the front nf the advancing foe. Then, turning to the enemy's right, he inquired, in a firm, strong voice, "What regiment is that?" He was promptly answered, "The Royal Scots, sir." "Halt! Royal Scots," he re- plied, and they obeyed. With this Information he returned to his general, and soon afterward received a wound which caused his death, at Fort Kric, on the 5th of August. General Dtumniond hnii ^ent a message to Brown asking an ex- change of their aids. Spencer was mortally wounded, but Lorin^ »»» well. A ifcction for his aid caused Brown to de- part from the usages of war, an^ he complied. On the very day 1|(W*Pcncer was brought to Port Erie he died, and Captain Loring was sent back to his general. ' It was the annual Commencement at the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, when General Scott arrived i here on his way to Philadelphia. The faculty of the college invited him to attend the ceremonies at the church. He was carried Ihlther on a litter, pale and emaciated from suffering, and was placed upon the stage among the professors and invited Rnesti. He was greeted by both sexes with the greatest enthusiasm. The orator of the day was the now deceased brother of Bishop M'llvaine, of Ohio, and his subject happened to be " Tho public duties of n good citizen in peace and war"— an appropriate one for the occasion ; and toward Its close he turned to Scott and pronounced a most touching eulogy of his conduct. This compliment was followed by the conferring upon the wounded hero the honorary degree of Master of Arts. With grateful heart Scott passed on, and was met, when approaching Philadelphia, by Governor Suydcr and a division of militia.— See Mansfield's Life nf Scott, Chapter XI. ' Our engraving on the following page Is a representation of the medal, a trifle smaller than the original. On one ■ 1" i» a bust of General Scott, with his name. On the <ii lier side, surrounded by a wreath, composed of palm and olive leaves entwining a snake, "uiblem of youth and immortality, are the words "besolutioh of oonobess, noveuuib ?, ItM* ill 820 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Medkl awarded u> Ncott. Other Olfti. Blu|{rapblcul Sketch. Appointed Bravet Uauluutnt Cleuintl. • Febninry 12, ISlfi. ' February, 1810. • 1S15. i><ll.li UEUAL AWABOEO TO OINtBAL BOOTT. Virrfinia" and New York'' tliaiikod him, and each vo^ed liim an elcn;unt sword.' The Society of the Chicinnati, founded '-j Washington and liis companions in arms, elected liina an honorary member,' and many towns and counties were named in his honor in the course of time. He was breveted a major general ; and for almost fifty years longer he served his country actively in its military operations, ten of them as general-in-chief. When, in the au- tumn of 1861, the great Civil War assumed immense proportions, the Nestor of the republic, feeling the disabilities of increasing physical infirmities, retired from act- ive service, bearing the commission given him a few years before of lieutenant gtu- eral.2 ISU. Uatti.fb of niirpKWA, jhi.y 6, IS14; NiAOAnA, .idi.y 25, 1S14." This medal was uot prcpoutcd until about the close of Mr. Moiiroe'8 udmiuistrotioii (February 20, 1825), when the President, In the presence of his cabinet, handed ii to bim with tt brief address. Many years afterward, while it was In the City Bank for safe keeping, the safe of that cor- poration was entered one ui^ht by robbers. They carried off $260,000, but left the medal. Several years afterward, one of the rogues, when on trial for another offense, said that " when he took the moui^y from the City Bank he saw nnd well knew the value of the medal, but scorned to take from the soldier what h.td beeu given by the gratitude of hij country." The protllo uf General Scutt on the medal is said tu be the best likeness extant of the hero at the time ho won the honor. ' The New York sword was presented to General Scott by Governor Tompkins in the City Hall, New York, on " Evac- uation Day" (November 25), isifl. Tlic Virginia sword was not presented until 1826, when it jvas bestowed by Govern- or Pleasants. It was an elegant weapon, with suitable devices on the scabbard, hilt, and blade. On one side of the blade is seen Scott, Just as Miller had carried the Lundy's Lane battery, mounting a charger, another having been torn in pieces under him. Below this is an eagle between two scrolls, bearing the names and dates of his two battles. On the opposite side of the blade are the words " Presented by the Commonwealth of Virgiulo to General Winflcld Scott, 12th February, ISlii ;" and below this the arms of Virginia. " Winfleld Scott was born in Petersburg, Virginia, on the 13th of June, 1TS8. He was left an orphan in his boyhood, and was educated, uuder the care of friends, at William and Mary College, lie chose the law for a profession, but boou chauged it for that of arms. He entered the United States Army as a captain of light artillery in 180S, and was slati(mcd at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, under General Wilkinson. He hud some difficulty with that officer, and during a temporary suspension from duty returned to bis profession in his native state. Ilcrejoincdthcarmy, and, as lieu- tenant colonel, went to the Canada ft-ontler in 1812. His career there vatjLOte close of the battle of Niagara Falls has beeu delincntod in ifl^ptt of this work. As we have observed, he took comnuuid of the Tenth Military District, with his heod-qu:u-t«ni.j^(»»«liington City, late In the atltnmn of 1814, when he held the commission of major general by brevet. His wuaiAw4*'ei'y severe. It was in the left shoulder, and his arm was left partially disabled. He was offered and declined a place in ilio cabinet as Secretary of War. After assisting in the re- duction of the army to a peace establishment, be was tent to Europe In a military and diplomatic copacity, where he met some of the most distinguished of Napoleon's generals. He compiled some useful military text-books, and was in active service wherever there was a speck of war until that with Mexico broke out, in which he was chief actor on the part of the United States. He was then gcueral-iu-chief of the armies of the United States, with the rank of major gen- eral. For his distinguished services in that war he received many civic honors. In 1862 he wos an nnsuccessfnl can- didate for the Presidency of the United States. In 18'!6 the brevet rank of lieutenant general was revived and confer- red upon him. When the great Civil War broke out he was found, unlike a great proportion of the officers of the reg- ular army who were born in the Slave-labor states, a powerftil supporter of his government, and by his skill and cour- age secured the jjcaceful inauguration of Mr. Lincoln as President of the United States at a time when the national capital and the life of the chief magistrate elect were menaced by banded rebels. He retired from active service in the automu of ISCl, and died at West Point, on the Hudson, May 29, 1SC6. 6- OF THE WAR OF ISIS. 827 It U«uteuaat Uciivral. VUlt to the Nlngars Frontier. Colonel Cummingf. Uattle-Kround of NlR|{«ra Ht Landy'i Lane. Ml him an elegant ''ashingtoii ami liis ,"= ami many towns of time, lie was icrved his ci)Uiilry When, in the iui- , the Nestor of the ■<, retired from act- ! of lieutenant guii- prcfcnted until about the oc of his cabinet, handed il [■eying, the safe of tlmtcor- i-v'cr»l years afterward, one the City Bank he saw imd 'cn by the gratitude of liis of the hero at the time he lilall.NcwYork, on"Evnc- t \v:\9 bestowed by Oovcrn- hhido. On one side of the [• another having been torn itcB of his two battles. On to General Wiuttcld Scott, J an orphan In his boyhood, L for a profession, but «oou I the United States Army as [s stationed at Baton Rouce, lie had some difBcuUy with Inslon from duty returned to loined the army, and, iislieu- |erlnlS12. His career there VttllH has been dcllnciitea in irvcd, he took command of In of ISU, when he held the juidcr, and his arm was left 1 After assisting in the re- tlomatic capacity, where lie ftary text-books, and was in L he was chief actor on the with the rank of major gen- pe was an uusuccessful can Iral was revived and confer lonoftheoflScersofthorec It, and by his skill and cour- \ a. time when the national fd from active service m the I viHited the theatre of ovents descrihcd in this and u ])ait of the preceding ehap- ter in the Hiiminer of 1800. I was at Niagara Kails, as already observetl (page 412), on tlie evening of the lOth of August. On tlie following mornini,', accomj)aiiifd by IVter A. I'orter, Ks(|.,son of (Jeneral Peter 15. 1'orter (and conveyed in his carriage), 1 crossed the Niagara on the great Suspension IJridge, and rode up to the Chippewa hattle-grountl. We went over the great chasm at about ten o'clock, and halted at Chippewa Village, where wo were joined by Colonel James Cummiiigs, a veneiable Canadian, seventy-two years of age, who was an aid to (Jeneral Kiall in the battle of the 5th of July, 1H14.' lie seemed as vigorous as most men at sixty, and we were fortunate in iiaving the company of so fjjood a cicerone, for he was familiar with ev- ery place and event of that battle, lie owns a part of the land whereon it was fought; has resided near there for more than fitly years, and is full of reminiscencca of the past. lie cherishes, as a precious iicir-loom for his family, the cocked hat and plume which he wore when lie was fighting for his king and country. Afler viewing the diflerent portions of the battle-ground at Street's Creek and Chip- pewa Plains, and making the sketches printed on pages 800, '7, and '8,^ we returned to the village, where I made a drawing of the remains of the tcte-de-pont battery,^ not far from tlie mansion of Colonel Cummings. There we partt-ok of some refreshments, and, accompanied by the colonel, rode U|) to the month of Lyon's Creek, where the Americans prepared to cross the Chippewa and Hank the British, causing Riall, as we have observed,* to Iiastcn back to Queenston. On returning to Chippewa we spent an hour with Colonel Cummings an<l his family, and then left with enduring recollections of time spent pleasantly and j)rofitably We rode slowly by the great cataract, observing the site of the Widow Wilson's house, near Table Kock, the stu- pendous falls, and the grand flood as it rushes in wild and resistless energy toward the gn>at bend in the river at tlic seething whirlpool. At Drummondvillc, a pleasant little town of about five hundred inhabitants, skirt- Mig the highway from Chippewa to Queeiiston, wc turned into Lundy's Lane, ;',''.d rode to the top of the hill on which stood the Hritish battery captured by Miller. It is a pleasant spot, and sufficiently elevated to command extensive views of the coun- try ill Canada and New York. On the crown of the hill was the ilwelling of Mr. Fra- loigh and a Methodist church ; and on the slope toward Drummondville was a small cemetery, a view of which may be seen oi. /'^ge 818. A little to the left of the large tree in that picture was the site of the British battery taken by Miller. Near the mid- dle of that cemetery was the grave and monument of Lieutenant Colonel Bisshopp, de- lineated on Jiage 628 ; and on its western margin, close by the fence, was the grave of Captain Abraham F. Hull, who appears somewhat conspicuously in the narrative of the surrender of Detroit by his father, General William Hu)'., in the summer of 1812. On the spot where he fell, gallantly fightuig in the batt'. : Niagara, the brother officers of Captain Hull erected a wooden slab, with a &'■■ do inscription, to mark the spot;* and in after years his friends erected the r.-> of marble, which, with an ^^^■^^-^■yv^- :»2-«^L^j^ 1 Colonel Cummings is yet (18GT) living at Chippewa, at the age of eighty years. He enterud the military service as llentcnant of- volunteer flank company in 1812, and was stationed on the spot where the battle of Chippewa was fought two years later. He was promoted to the cavalry, but was soon called to Fort George by General Brock, and ^^^ -^^^ appointed deputy quartermaster general of militia, with _««^«S;??^.i^<T t--'^^^ the rank of captain. He was in the battle at Stony Creek, the taking of Bcerstler nt the Beaver Dams, and was the one who received Colonel Chapin's sword when he surrendered there. He was with Llentecant Colonel Bis- shopp at the taking of Black Kock, and was near him when he fell. He was in several Bkirmishcs, and participated in the battles of Chippewa and Niagara as aid to General Riall. He was an active ofllcer, and between these battles had charge of the establishing of beacons between Chippewa and Queenston, under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Myers. These heacons were made by setting up a pole, from which was suspended an iron basket filled with resinous bark. » Nothing of Samuel Street's house was left but the chimney, as delineated on page 800. His orchard, on the south »ide of the stream, which wag young at the time of the battle, now appeared venerable, but vigorous. ' See page SOT. * See page 813. ' The cut on the following page represents the board slab which I found near the grave of Captain Hull, ou which %\ n i W;\ tn ii«t' 8!28 nCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Observatory at Luiidy's Lane. ObjcctJ seen from It. Daring Feats at the Niagara Suspension Bridge. inscription, now (1867) btands at the head of his grave, seen near >he fence in the pic- ture on page 818.' Fronting on Lundy's Lane, a little northwestward of the position of the Britisli battery, was an observatory, made of timbers, and latticed. It was one hundred and thirty feet in height, and was ascended on the interior by one hundred and twenty- live steps. We climbed wearily to the top, and were richly rewarded for the toil by a magnificent panoramic view of the surrounding country, including in the vision, by the aid of a telescope, the statue of Brock on its lofty pedestal on the Heights of Queenston. Westward we looked far over the Canadian peninsula to the broken country around the Beaver Dam region, and eastward as far over tlie cultivated lands of the State of New York, while at our feet was the great cataract, which gave a tremor to the pile of timber work on which we stood, and formed a conception in the mind of the amazing power of that mighty pouring flood. An elderly man, who acted as guide to the surrounding scenery as seen from the observatory, ascended with ns, and, in monotonous tone, began his well-learned task of repeating the record of historical events there. We only wanted to know the exact locality of certain in- cidents of the battle, and, after four times preventing him going farther in his tedi- ous details than the words "In the year one thousand eight hundred and fourteen," we obtained what we wished, and descended. We climbed into the little cemetery, and I sketched the tomb of Bisshopp and the view on page 818, and at the same time Mr. Porter made a neat pencil drawing for me of a small house in Drummondville, which was used as a hospital after the battle, as seen from Bisshopp's grave. It is copied in the annexed engraving. On returning to the Suspension Bridge to reeross the river, Ave observed large crowds of people on both banks, above and below the aerial highway, who had come to see the peril- ous feats of Blondin and a rival upon sl.nck ropes stretched across the river from bank to bank. They were both performing at the same time, cheered on by their re- spective friends, one above and the other below the bridge. Beneath these daring acrobats was the foaming river, r'lshing down hill to the great whirlpool at the rate of thirty miles an hour. It was -..n unpleasant spectacle, for a sense of fearful danger oppressed the mind of the beho.der. We rode slowly across the bridge, viewing the foolish and yet heroic performances of both young men, and arrived at Niagara Falls village in time for a late dinner. Toward evening I rode down to Queenstf n, behind a blind horse, to make the visits on the Canadian peninsula described in pre- ceding chaptt iH.' Let us now resume the narrative of events in which the Army of the Niagara was engaged in the summer and early autumn of 1^]4. General Riplc's tardiness, if not absolute diKobedicnce, as we have observed, left the battle-field ot ^Niagara, so gloriously won by the Americans, in tlie posnession of HOSPITAL NEAB LUNDT'S LANE. WOOOkN HLA was \hp fo'lowliig Inccrlptlon : "Tljio was erected by his bi ither ofllce'~i to tnaik the spot wher> Captain Hnll. I'. S. Army, fell in the memorablf anion at Lnu<l.r'H Ijmc, With July, HI', gallantly leadinp hi men to the ol!ii!u;(\ ' ' ThiH Is a plain «tone, two and n half feet in Iiel};'nt, which bears the fc'.lowing ir.iicriptloa " Here lies the body of Abraham Hnll, cap'-aln In the Ninth Regiment U. 8. Infantry, who fell near this spot in the battle of Bridgewater [sep note 3, page 824), July 25, 1S14, aged twenty- eight years." Captain Abraham Fuller Hnll entered the amy an inptalu iii the Ninth Inftntry on the U'li of April, ISI'J. and was with his father during the mnrch of 'he arniy frcm Dayton to Detroit He was mni'>' f>'d-<le-cntnT l.i his father In May, lai?, and served as snch until the snrrendfr in August. Wiun he again assumed bin place in the line, ho took romimmd of hl« old cumpaiiv In the Ninth, under Major Lcivenworth. He was au excellent ollke' und his loss was niiicli lamented. ' Bee poge 41-'. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 820 ra Siisponsion Bridge, fence in the pic- lilpiey attempts to abuudSw Caoadii. a Ind'.gnar'oD. He orders the Army to Fort Krie. the foe on the morning of fie 26th «<rJuly. At tl»t tinic Gene i, vis Brown and Scott, Major Jesup, and other wounded cA^re, were placet! in boats for 'onveyance to Buf- falo, and they departed with t^he expectation that Ripley would liold the strong po- sition at Chippewa until the i»rrival of re-enforcement 8. The commanding general fiad scarcely disappeared behind Navy Island in his upward voyage when I{i[)ley ordered the destruction of the nasjiiriry works and bridge, and some of his own stores at Chippewa, and made a precipiti.e fli::.i, with the whole army to the Black Rock Ferry, a short distance below Fort En.. His intention was to lead the whole army 'across the river and att^rly abandon Canada. This design would have been accom- plished had noi the firmi»w»s of the r>rincipal officers, by a vehement opposition, pre- vented. Ripley <tosw<1 the river to Black Rock, where Brown lay, to get from liiut an order for the »rmy to paos over; but that indignant commander not only refused, hut treated tit*- brigadier with scorn.' Ripley returned, and, by order of General Brown, he led ickj army to a good position, just above Fort Erie, along the lake shore, encamped it tht-rf-. and proceeded to strengthen the old works, and to construct new and more extensive <>ne8 preparatory to an expected siege.^ General Porter, at about the saiT^e time, issued a stirring appeal to his fellow-citizens, asking for four thousand volunt 'IS. The labor at Fe-i, Erie for that purpose was commenced with great zeal and en- ergy by the engineers, and from the 27tli of July until the 2d of August the troops were employed in the business day and night, casting up intrenchments, constructing redoubts, making traverses, and preparing abatis. Fortunately for the Americans, Drummond did not know their real weakness, and he remained quietly at Lundy's Lane and vicinity, resting his men and receiving re-enforcements for two or three days. Finally, on the 29th, having been re-enforced by about eleven hundred men of General De Watteville's brigade, he prepared to push forward and invest Fort Erie. At this time Fort Erie was an indifferent affair, small and weak, standing on a plain about twelve or fifteen feet above Lake Erie, at its foot. Efforts to strengthen it having been made ever since it was captured at the beginning of July, it was be- ginning to assume a formidable appearance. On the extreme right of the American encampment, and near the lake shore, a strong stone work had been erected, and two guns mounted on it,en barbette, ov on the top without embrrsures. It was called the Diiuglass Battery, in honor of Lieutenant David B, Douglass, of the Engineer corps, under whose superintendence it was built. From the left of this battery to the right of the old fort continuous earthworks were thrown up, seven feet in height, with a ' "While the wounded," pays Major Jesup, " were moving by water to niiffnlo, the army abaudoned Its strong posi- tion behind the Chippewa, and, after destroying a part of its »toree, fell baclt, or, rather, tied to the ferry opposite Blaclt Roclt, but a short distance below Fort Erie ; and General Ripley, but for the opposition made by M'Hee, Wood, Tow- son, Porter, and other otBccrs, would have cronged to the American shore. Had the enemy availed himself of this blun- der, not a man of our army eruld have escaped The Anicrican general could have maintained his position [at t'hippcwn], and have held General Diuminond in check du.Ing the remainder of the campaign."— Jesup's Manuscript Urmoiro/thf Xiagani Oamjtnujn. Early on the morning of the 27th the commanding general at Black Rock " was advised that the army had fallen back in haste, and was then near him on the opposite side of the strait. This movement was unexpected, and greatly ef- fected t'.'e general. General Ripley intended to have proceeded with the army immediately to the American side of the strait, but the honorable stand taken by t.ie officers whom he consulted induced bin to sbrlnk from this Intention. Majors M'Ree, Wood, and Towson, as well as Gencr,,! Porter, deserve particular honoi' for their high-minded conduct on this (coasiou. General Ripley left the r.rmv, and came to General Brown with a hope of obtaining an order for him to rnss with the forces. No proposition could have been more flurpi: ng to the major general : and perhaps, at this Interview, he treated General Ripley with u'justlflable Ipdignation and scorn."— General Brown's Manuscript ifemo- randum nf Omun\ncei mm^'eteil viiiK I'm Campaiqvt nf Siagara. > When General Ripley leR Genersi Brown's chamber an ' went be1;iw, he remarked to persons there that he would not be responsible f.-r t'.e army if it rcmnl'^icd in Canada, and insisted that a written order should be given him. When inrorincd of this. Brown sent to RIoley the fallowing note • " Hoad-qnarters. Buffalo, ZTth July, 1814. •' Si*,— All the sick and wounded, and the surplua baggage, will be immediately removed to this place. Those men v.'io .ire sound and able to fight will en.^amp at Fort Erie, so as to defend that post, and, at the same time, hold fne ferry lielow unf.l this wounded, sick, and surplus baggage have crossed. You will (end MtOor Wood or Major M'Ree to me uniuedlatcly.'— General Brown's Manuscript Ljlter-book. % ijit 830 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Fort Eric and its RevetmentH. The Britisli attacic Block Rucli. Hbcldeuts of the Movement, ■ ^-/^4ws«»*8i«r: KKM.MNH (IF IMlK.LASH'h HA TTKBY ANI> lOUT EKIE. ' ditch in front and slight aba- tis ; and from tlie left of the fort, and in a line nearly paral- lel with the lake shore, strong ])arapet breastworks wero commenced, Avith two ditches and abatis in front. At the southwestern extremity of this lino of works, on a natural sand-mound called Snake llil!, a sort of bastion, twenty feet in lieitjht, was cast up, hve gims mounted on it, ami named Towson's Battery, in honor of the gallant artillery captain in whose charge it was placed. From this battery to the lake shore, near Avhich lay at anchor the three armed schooners Porcupine, Somers, and OA/o, was a lino of a6a<?s, thus complotinij the inclosure of the American camp, with defenses on land and water, within an area of about fifteen acres. All of these works, excepting old Fort Erie, were incomplete when, on the 2d of August, it was discovered that the British army was approach ing. They moved steadily onward in considerable force, drove in the Americaji pick- ets, and in the woods, two miles from Fort Erie proper, formed a camp, and com- menced casting up double and irregular lines of intrenchments, and constructing bat- teries in front at points from which an effectual fire might be poured upon the Amer- ican works. Drummond perceived the importance of capturing the American batteries at Black Rock, and seizing or destroying the armed schooners in the lake, before proceediiiij to the business of bebieging Fort Erie ; and before dawn on the morning of the 3d of August, he sent over Lieutenant Colonel Tucker with a detachment of the Fortv- first Regiment, in nine boats, to attack the batteries. Tliey landed about half a iiiilo below Shogeoquady Creek, wliere they found themselves unexjiectedly confronted by a band of riflemen, two hundred and forty in number, and a small number of mi- litia and vol'intcers, under Major Morgan. Tliat oflicer had been intrusted with the defense of Buffalo. lie had perceived the advance of the British on the 2d, and be lieving their intention to be to feign an attack on Fort Erie, but really to attempt the capture of I^uifalo and the public stores there, and the release of (Tcneral JJiall, he had liastened to Black Rock, destroyed the bridge over the creek, and during the night had thi-own up a breastwork of logs. Morgan's movement was tincly and fortunate. When the British conmienccd an attack at dawn, and ". party moved forward to repair the bridge, the An.ericans of- fered very little resistance until the foe Avcre within full and easy range of their rifles, when they poured upon them such destructive volleys that the invaders recoik'd. In the mean time Drummond sent over re-enforcements, whicli swelled the number ofTucker's troops to about twelve hundred. With these he attempted a flank move- ment, but was gallantly met at the fords of the creek by a small ])arty under Lieu- tenants Ryan, Smith, and Armstrong, who disputed their passage \\'\i\\ success. Aft- er a severe contest the British fell back, withdrew to Squaw Island, and with all pos- sible dispatch recrossed the Niagara and joined in the investment of Fort Erie. The British lost a considerable numbei", of which no official record seems to have been given. The Amci-icans lost two priv.-ite soldiers killed, and Captain Hamilton, Lieu- tenants Wadsworth and M'Intosh, and five private soldiers woundeil. While Tucker was busy in the invasion at Black Rock, Drummond opened fire with some 24-pounders in front of Fort Erie; but from that time until the 7th can- ' This little Kketr.h shows the general appearitnce of the rcTnains wheti I violted the Bpot In the summer of ISfiO. In the front, on the eittrcmc rifrht, are the crumbled walls of nou(,'lftBs'i' Bnttery, nnd In the extreme distr.nce those of Fin Erie. Intcrmedmtcly are seen the mouuds of the Intrenchments which connected the old fort with Towscm's Dn!ter.v. t OF THE WAR OF 1812. "bsi euts of tbe Movement. , and slight uba- n tbe left of the line nearly pural- like shore, strong reastworks Avero with two ditches n front. At the a extremity of orks, on a natural called Snake Hill, ounted on it, and 11 whose charge it [, anchor the three f, thus completing ;er, within an avfii B, were incomplete my was approach- ,he American pick- a camp, and com- \ constructing bat- ■ed upon the Anier- 1 batteries at Blaek before procecdiii'j; morning of the ;kl imcnt of the Forty- ;d about half a mile lectcdly confronted mall number of mi- i'ltrusled with the . on the 2d, and he- It really to attempt L of General Itiall, |eek, and during tlie Itish conmieneed an I., the An.ericans of- lasy range of their [le invaders recoiled, ^welled the number [npted a flank mow- || ])arty under Lien- I with success. All- Id, and with all pnf- l of Fort Erie. Tli. teems to have been ain Hamilton, Un\- ided. Immond opened fin |c until the 7th can- fin the fumnirroflRf'" In Irnmcdlstr-iiocthosoofK'fi l.rt with Tovrfon'i" UnMery Preparations for Battle. General Oaiucs takes Command of the Army. A Reconnoissancc and its GfTeets. nonading was seldom heard. Both parties were laboring intensely in preparing for the impending battle, Drummond in constructing works for a siege and assault, and Ripley in preparations for a defense. On th.U day most of the new works about Fori Erie were completed. Towson's and Douglass's batteries were in readiness for action. The parapeted breastworks from Fort Erie to Towson's Battery Avcre com- pleted ; two ditches were dug in front of them, and ahatis were laid in continuous line from Douglass's Battery around the front of the fort and breastAvorks to Tow- son's, and from thence to the lake shore. Between Towson's and the old fort two other batteries had been constructed. One, mounting two guns, was placed in com- mand of Captain Biddle, and the other, also two guns, was put in charge of Lieuten- ant Fontaine. The dragoons, infantry, riflemen, and volunteers were encamped be- tween the southwestern ramparts and the water; and the artillery, under Major Huidman, were stationed in the old fort.* General Gaines^ arrived at the camp at Fort • Augnst, Erie on the 5th,* and was welcomed !*"■ with delight by the little army. lie immediately assumed the chief command, and his presence inspired them with confidence and courage. General Ripley, who had labored faithfully in preparations for defense, yet not without gloomy forebodings, resumed the com- mand of his brigade, and perfect good feeling pre . ailed. Gaines soon made himself acquainted with the condition and position of his force, and on the morning of the Gth'' he sent out Major Alorgan and his riflemen (who h.ad been called over from Buftalo) to recon- noitre the enemy, and, if possible, draw him out troui his Intre-^chments, Morgan soon encoun- tered some of the British light troops, and at- laeked and drove them back to their lines ; and for two hours he maincuvred in ^--^ a way calculated to draw the y — Tn y y (^^ /x, main body out, but without sue- (J ^_ . ^. V tA t^ (CSS. lie returned to the camp ^ — ^ € with a loss of five men killed aud tour wounded. This reconnoissancc was followed by the British, early on the morning of the 7th," hurling a tremendous storm of round shot upon the American works t'rom five of their heavy cannon. Tliis drew from tlie assailed a severe response from all their lieavy guns that could be brought to bear on the enemy, and from that day until the l.Tth the si'-ge went slowly and steadily on, the garri- son, on all occasious, behaving most gallantly. Having on that morning completed i?- >-v^tA>a..^^ ^^<H-C-c^ ' Sec mop on page 5.19. ' Edmniid Peudletun Qaincs was boru In Cnlpcppcr Coanty, Virginia, on the 20th of March, 1777. At the close of the UeTolution his father returned to North I'arolinn, where he 'lad resided, and there the son toiled on a small farm. When lie w,i9 about thirteen years of afje the family enilcrated to Tennofsee, and at the age of eighteen young G.iincs was • lectpd a lieutenant of a rifle company. He entered the tJnited States Army an an enslpn in ilanuary, 1S09. Ue re- iialncd in the army six yours, and then became collector of the port of Mobile. He was promoted to captain in th» irray, and In th.it capacity « i\s placed in command of Fort Stoddart, and was active In the arrest of Burr (sec page l.TO. lie was commissioned a nmlor in 1S12, and rose through the varlons grades to brlgadisr general in March, 1S14. He wm breveted a major gciicial for bis gallant conduct at Fort Eric, where lio was wounded. Congress rewarded him ivllh thauks and a gold medal. He was retained In 1S15. He was active In tbe Souihern Indian country, particularly In the Seminole War. He died at New Orleans on tbe flth of .Tune. 1S4!). at the age of seventy-two years. The slgna- iiire here given Is from a leilerto .ludge llui^h L.White, dated "Fort Erie, Vpper Canada, August 24, ISU. mm lit I 8S*3( AUack ►EJAL FIELD-BOOK t an Aaasult. Situatiun of the American TruopB. Secret Order. the mouiKift^ of iii) tnus he —y ambance, Drammond commenced a cannonade, bom- bardment, an4 M^jketefe/w)^, whaea wa*t continued througliout the day, and renewed on the morning ■>/ >h" 1 4i' ftwaamtd at seven o'clock in the evening, w lien very little impression haW 'A^in ni;i,4« -on the American defenses. Gainew was convinwjd that I)/ vw<iond intindedto resort to a direct assault should his cannonading prove meffec' \ with this impression, he kept the garrison con- tinually on the alert. Men w liled *''/r wij^ht service m such manner that part wer*t resting and part were under arjj),i< c^/iRtJniially. The guns in the batteries had been <'harged afresh several evenings in succession with a variety of shot ; dark lan- terns were kept burning, and linstocks ready for firing were near every cannon. Tlie engineers and the commanding officer watched every movement with the eyes of ex- portH, and they agreed in the belief that an assault would be made on the night of tlio 14tli. On that evening Gaines visited and inspected every part ol the works, gavt explicit directions to every officer, and words of encouragement to the men ; ami En- gineers M'Ree and Wood examined every part of the intrenchraents most carefully. In the mean time, while the garrison were on evening parade, a shell came screamini; across the space between tlie hostile camps, fell within the American lines, and lodged in an almost empty magazine, which was blown up with a tremendous report. The ***my huzzaed long and loud, supposing they had destroyed one of Gaines's chief m»^;tzines. Hoping to profit by the confusion and loss, they prepared at once to as- sail the American works. Their gun-flints were removed from their muskets, scaling- ladders vf(-'Te collected, and the arrangements of the columns for attack were carefully made in a<t«ordance with a secret order' issued by Drummond, and special secret in- fed ((^MoHS given to Lieutenant Colonels Scott, Fischer, and Drnmniond, At that iUliii l}iii Americans were situated as follows: Small, unfinishod Fort Erie, with a 24, 18, and I'd plllUllUir, forming the northeast angle of the intrenched camp, u'rts under the command of Oaplai/i Willi/(((|H, wllh ftliijor Trimble's Ninctecndi ]iv<i. iment of liifiintry. The Douglass Battery, will) all id iimln |iii(lii(lfr, and fonniiig tin southeast angle, was commanded by Lieutenant Douglass, wliiise owil liniiio it hor'' On the loft, forifiirig the southwest angle, was Towson's Redoubt Battery, on the lUlli ' Three copies wen made of this Becrct order l)y Licntenttnt Colon,-! Ilnrvpy, Prnmmond's assiBtuiit Bfljutmil gpiiitril for the use respectively of Lieutenant Coionel Drnmmond, Lieutenant Colonel Fischer, .ind Colonel Scott. A copyo/ the one given to Drumraoud Is before me. It is in the handwriting of Harvey, and was found on the body of Dnini moud after his death, with another paper mentioned in the subjoined pnrr.graph in a letter of General Gaines to Judpi Hugh L. V/hite, of Tennessee, tho original r)f which is also before me. It is dated at Fort Eric, August 24, IRU. Opc era! Gaines says: "The Inclosed papers, numbers one and two, were in the pockets of Colonel Drummond. The In" that killed him passed through the latter, and a bayonet through the form<!r. I send them to yon as trophies, and ciiri osities which I wish preserved." The paper number one, through which the bayonet was thrust, was the ecrrel orilrr above mentioned. Number two is a rough topographical pencil-s.ietch of Fort Erie, the position of the British wurk- that of the three vessels on the lake, and the relative position of Buffalo and Black Rock. Through this the fntal liui let went, and left a fracture in each of its four folds, aronnd which the biood-stiin may be still seen, having the appear ancc (if sepia In color. 1 uese interesting mementoes of the sanguinary field of Erie are in the possewion of Samuel iluudon, Esq., of New York, a relative of Judge White by marriage, to whose courtesy I ani indebted for their use. In the secret order Is the following paragraph, of which I have made a fac-simile : " The lieutenant general moF! strongly recommends a free use of the bayonet." The bayonet that wounded Drnmmond passed through the paragraph ^1?^?^ ^k^^^Z^S-^l^-'-y'^^/S^^^'-^i^^t^'-'^J^ yf^^^-t^-if^ <i^i 'C-d^^^' immediately »bove this, and left a fracture In the paper »hont an Inch In letigth and half an Inch In width, cret order the parole was "Steel," ind the coaatenign "Twenty." Id the k- OF THE WAR OF 1812. 833 fOOpB. Secret Order. Fort Krie Oarrison expecting nn Attack. The Fort osBailed. The British repnlacd. i cannonade, bom- day, and renewed feuing, wiieu very •ect assault should it the garrison con- I manner that part II the batteries liad of shot ; dark lau- very cannon. Tlie vith the eyes of ex- 1 on the night of the of the works, gavi' the men ; an<l Eii- ents most carefully. lell came screamin«,' !an lines, and lodged •ndous report. The [le of Gaines's chief spared at once to as- leir muskets, scaling- ittack were carefully and special secret in- mnioiid. uiitinishcd Fort Erie, the intrtn<!ie<l ciimii, jle's Nin<^t<"«'fitli Hcif- Oder, and forniinij; llic BO (IWll IIIIIIM* i' '""■'' Battery, on the llllk' L-saBsIstanlnajutuntKcnBral, „1 'Colonel Scott. A copy o' fonndon the body of Drain- |,.r of General Gaines to Judge rtErie,AngURt24,lR14^ Oon- !olonel Drummond. Tlie tail a to von KB trophies, and cnn- ,8 thrust, was tlic scrret nnW position of the BrltlHtiwnrt- Through this the fnUl 'nil- P still seen, having the appear [e in *he possewion of Samod ',r.i indebted for their use. 'The lieutenant general moH passed throng\i the paragrapb ,^C^- r^-^ Ifan Inch in width. InthcK eminence called Snake Ilill ; a.'d the two two-gun batteries in front, already men- tioned, were in cha-ge of Captains iiiJdle and Fanning, the latter outranking Fon- taine. The whole of the artillery was in charge of Major Ilindiii.an. Parts of the Ninth, Eleventh, and Twenty-fifth liegiinents (the remnants of Scott's veteran bri- (rade) were posted on the right, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Aspinwall. General Ripley's brigade, consisting of tlie Twenty-first and Twenty-tliird, was post- ed on the left, and General Porte-'s brigade of New York and Pennsylvania Vohm- tcers, with the riflemon, occupied the centre. An ominous silence prevailed in both camps at midnight of the 14th. It Avas the lull before the bursting forth of the tempest in its fury. It was not the silence of inactivity on the ])art of the British ; on tiie contrary, there was micommon but cau- tious stirjring within their lines. In the American camp alone, where, as tlie night wore away, a doubt of immediate danger and the eft'ects of great fatigue were wooing the garrison to slumber, did the quiet of rest prevail. It was soon l)rokcn. At two o'clock in tlic morning an alarm came from a picket-guard of one hun'^rcd men, com- manded by Lieutenant Belknap, of the Twenty-third Infantry, who were posted in the direction of the enemy's camp to watch their movements. The duties of this picket were important and perilous, but were intrusted to good hands. Belknap managed tb*> aflair with skill and bravery.' The sky was overhung with clouds. Sound, not sight, gave intelligence of the approach of the enemy. Belknap fired an alarm, and then fell steadily back to camp. The enemy came dashing on in the '.doom, full fifteen hundred strong, under Lieutenant Colonel Fischer, and charged fu- riously upon TowHon's Battery and the abatis on the extreme left, between that work and the lake shore. They expected to find the Americans asleep, but were mistaken. Colonel Miller's brave Twenty-first Regiment, then in charge of Major "Wood, of the Kngineers, was behind the abatis, and Towson's artillerists, gallantly supj)orted on ilic right by the Twenty-third Regiment, were on the alert. At a signal, Towson's \imH 'ii |)'/iiiiders sent forth such a continuous stream of flamt from the h^ummit of Snake Hill that the foe )d it the "Yankee Light-house." At the same instant a I li(/M flame beamed for. . .rom the line of the Twenty-first, and sent a brilliant illu- mination high and far, and revealed the position of the enemy to the garrison. It was as evanescent as the I'ccht of the Roman candle of the pyrotechnic, and in a few moments lieaviest gloom ,- itled upon the scene, relieved only by the Hashes of the cannon and musketry. While one assailing column Avas endeavoring by the use of ladders to scale Tow- son's embankment, the other, failing to penetrate the abatis, waded in the shallow water of the lake under cover of darkness, and attempted to < irge the Twenty-first in the rear. But both columns failed. After a desperate struggle, they were re- pulsed and fell back. Five times they came gallantly to the attack, and were as often driven away. Finally, having suffered great loss, chiefly from the destructive effects of grape and canister shot, they abandoned the enterprise. Almost simultaneously with this movement on the extreme left, an assault was I William Goldsmith Bell«nnp was born in NewlMirg, Orange Connty, New York, on the 14th of September, 1794. He entered the army as third iiciitenant in the Twenty-third Regiment of United States Infantry in the spring of 1S14, and 111 the following autumn was in Wilkinson's ex|)cditlon down the St. Lawrence, lie followed the fortunes of CJeneral Brown, nud was with him on the Ninsnra frontier In 1S14. Ili.s services at Port E.ie, where he was severely wounded, nteived the warm pommendations of his superior oHicer.'i.* He was i, ained in the army at the peace as first lleuten- aut in the Second Kegimont, Colonel Brady. At the reduction of the ariny.n 1S21 he was transferred to the Third, and tiic fdllowing year was i)rnmoted to captain. He was promoted to maj>.: in 1842, and, having lieen active and useful in the Seminole War in Florida, lie was breveted lieutiMiant colonel. Ho was with General Taylor in Texas and Mexico, and III the battles of Palo Alto and llcsaca do la Palina ho gallawtly commanded a brigade. During the remainder of I'uc service he was Taylor's Inspector general. For his gallant conduct at the battle of Bnena Vista he was breveted lirigndicr general. He was with General Taylor in all 'li i battles. From December, 184S, to May, IW], General Bel- knap was in command of Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee i'.ition,and his memory is cherished with graiitude by that peo- ple He died near Preston, Tcxa.i, on the lOlh of November, 1861. ' III a letter to Major Belknap in 1S41 (kindly placed in my hands by a daughter of that galKint oflicp'S Brigadier Gen- eral Towsoi) gave most interesting details of the operations of the picket and tin itlack of tho caemj 3 G . ^ nCTOUIAL riELD-BOOK The Battle of Fort Erie. The BrItlBh iii u Biutlon. i Mr ( , made on the riglit by five Immlrod infantry and artillery, with a reserve of Indiiins composing the centre and left columns of the enemy, under Lieutenant Colonels Diuin- mond and Scott. They advanced rapidly, under a blaze of fire from cannon and mus- ketry — Drummond toward old Fort Erie, which the mortified British had determiiitd to recover at all hazards, and Scott toward the Dougl.iss Battery and the coniioctiiiL; intrenchments. The latter were received by the veteran Ninth, under the conniiiiiiil of Captain Foster, and Captains Broughton and Harding's companies of New Ydik and Pennsylvania Volunteers, aided by a 0-pounder between Douglass Battery aiul the lake shore, managed by Major JVI'ltee, the chief engineer. The enemy was soon re- pulsed in this quarter; but the centre, led by Lieutenant Colonel Drummond, was not long kept in check. It approached every assailable jioint of the fort at once. Tluv brought scahng-laddcrs, and, with the greatest coolness and bravcrj-, attempted to force an entrance over tiie walls, Captani Williams, and Lieutenants Macdonoui;!! and Watmongh, in the fort, met thera gallantly, and twice repulsed them. TIkh Drummond, taking advantage of the covering of a thick pall of gunpowder smoke which hung low, went silently around the ditch, and with scaling-ladders ascended tn the para})et with great cclerit y, and gained a secure footing there with one huiulud of the Royal Artillery before any cfVectual opposition could be made. Alrciuly tin exasperated Drummond, goaded almost to matlness by the murderous repulses wliidi he had endured, had given orders to show no mercy to the " damned Yankees,"' ami had actually stationed a body of pauited savages near, Avith instructions to rusli jntu the fort when the regulars should get possession of it, and assist in t'.ie general mas- sacre.^ Finding himself now in actual possession of a part of the fort, he instaiitiv directed his men to charge upon the garrison with pike and bayonet, and to " show no mercy." Most of the American officers and many of the men received deaillv wounds. Among the former was Lieutenant Macdonough. He was severely limt. and demanded quarter. It was refused by Lieutenant Colonel Drummond. Tiie lieu tenant then seized a handspike, and boldly defended himself until ho was shot down with a pistol by the monster who had refused him mercy, and who often reitoratil the order, "Give the damned Yankees no quarter !" lie soon met his deserved iiiio. for he was shot through the lieart, was severely bayoneted, and fell dead by the siili of his own victim.^ The battle now raged with increased fury on the right, while on the left the enemy was repulsed at every jjoint and put to flight. Thence, and fi'om the centre, Gaines promptly ordered re-enforcements. They were quickly sent by Ripley and Porter, while Captain Fanning kept up .n spirited cannonading on the enemy, now to he seen approaching the fort, for the day had dawned. The enemy still held the bastion, in spite of all eflbrts to dislodge them, Ilindman and Trind)le had failed in their at tempts to drive them out, Avhen Captain Birdsall, of the Fourth Rifle Itegimeiit, rushed in through the gateway, and with some infantry charged the foe. They were repulsed, anil the captain was severely wounded. Then a detaciunent fron< the Elev- enth, Nineteenth, aiid Twenty-second Infontry, under Captahi Foster, of the Eleveiilli, was introduced into the interior bastion for the purpose of cliarging the enemy. The movement was gallantly maele — I"\jster was accompanied by Major Hall, the assist- ant inspector general — but, owing to the narrowness of the passage, it failed. It was often repeated, and as often checked; yet these attacks greatly diminished the mira- her of combatants in the bastion. A more furious charge was about to be made. when, days an eye-witness, " Every sound Avas hushed by the sense of an unnatural • " I sHveral times hcnrd," Bays General Gniiieg in his report to the Secretary of War, "and mauy of our officer hoard, iirdors jiiven ' '« (/tic the damneil I'mitet" rancale nn quarter I' " ' Statement of "A Veteran of 1812, In Porter's Corps," who was n participant In the ttgM, writing from Troy, Np« Vorlt. Sec Old Soldirrs' Advnaite, Cleveland, Ohio, Orfolirr, IfiBtl. Alludlnp to the capture of Lieutenant Fottaine.ot the artillery, who fell among the Indians, and was kindly treated by them, G 'neral Gaines iu his report said, "Itwonl! teem, ihen, that these savaRcs had not Joined in the rcs<dntion to give no quarter." ' General Uaiues'e utBcial Uisputch to the Secretary of War. m OF THE WAU OF 18 12. 835 The British In a Bimtlon. reserve of Iiidiiiiii-. liviit ColoiH'lsDium- )m cannon luul iiius- tisli hivd iletenuiiKMl iuul the connci'liii;,' \intlcr the coniiiuind [Kinies of New York t)Ui>;Ui88 liattery aihl > enemy was soon re- Drunimond, was not ! fort at once. Tlioy i-avery, attqmptcHl to tenants Macdonou[;li ?pulsed them. Then of gunpowder smoke jr-ladders ascended to ere with one huiuhid • made. Ah-eady the derous repulses whicli imned Yankees,"' and itructions to rush iutu st in the general mas- ■ the fort, he instantly jayonct, and to " sluiw nien received deadly lie was severely luul 3rummond. Tlie liin- [ntil he was shot down 1 -who often rcitoiat^ 1 met his deserved fate, |d fell dead by the side on the left the enemy fiom the centre, Gaines by Ilipley and Porter, enemy, now to he seen ;illheld the bastion, in had failed in tlunr at- onrth Rifle Kegimeiit, ed the foe. They were ichmentfrom thcElev- 'oster,oftheElevenili, [rging the enemy. The Major Hall, the assist- ^ssage, it failed. Itms ly diminished the nnm- Ivas about to be made. sense of an unnatiu:il leflKht.wrltiiis from Troy, N-f' I'es in Wb report ealrt, "11 «»« A BaatloDi with the BrltiBh, hlown up. The Actors In the Mutter. An Amwiora panradlng ftrtj. tremor beneath our feet, like the first heave of an eartlKjuake. Almost at the same inHtanttlie centre of the bastion burst up with a terrific explosion, and a jet of flame, minified witli fragments t)f timber, eartli, stone, and botlii's of men, rose to the height of one or two hundred feet in the air, and fell in a shower of ruins to a great distance all around.'"' Tliis explosion, so destructive and appalling, was almost the final and decisive blow to tiu' Hritisli in the contest.^ It was followed immediately by a galling cannonade, opened by Uiddle and Fanning, and in a l\'\v moments the Hritish broke and fled to their intrenchments, iciiving on the field two hundred and twenty-orie killed, one hundred and seventy-t'cur wounded, and one liundred ami eighty-six prisoners. Some of their slightly wounded were borne away. Tiie loss of the Anu'ricans was seven- teen killed, fifty-six wounded, and (deven missing. Among tlie officers lost were Cap- tahi Williams and Lieutenant Macdonougli, killed ; Lieutenant Watmough, severely wiHuided, aiul Lieutenant Fontaine, wlio was blown into the ranks of tlie Indians wlien the bastion exploded, but was not severely hurt. Tiiese were of tlu" artillery, and were all injured in defending the bastion. Captain Biddle, of the artillery, had been previously injured, and Wutinougli had also received a contusion. Of tlie in- fantry officers injured were Captain Birdsall, Lieutenants Huslinell and Urown, and Ensign Cisna, wounded in defending the fort, and Lieutenant Belknap, wounded in defending tiie picket-guard wiiieh he commanded. General (Raines called the affiiir a "handsome victory," not merely a defense and a repulse,' and in this opinion the impartial liistorian must agree. lie sj)oke in high- est terms of all his officers and men, and particularly of the good conduct of (Jenerals Itiploy and Porter, Captain Towson, and 3Iajors llindmaii, M'Wee, and Wood. The iiitidligence of tiie event was reeeiveil witii great joy tiiroughout tiie country; and for liis gallant conduct and valuable services at this time, and in tiie second siege of Tort Erie, wiiich soon followed, (ieneral Gaines received substaiiti:il honors. On the Htii of September he was breveted a major general, and on the Hd of November the President approved of the action of the national Congress in voting liiiii tlie thanks of the nation and ordering a gold medal, with suitable devices (see next Jiage), to be struck and presented to him. Tiie three great states of New York, Virginia, and Tennessee each rewarded him with reseilutions and an elegant sword. There were drawbacks npon tiie joy and the honors of the victory besides those of the less of life in the conflict, for two of the three schooners tliat lay at anchor off" the fort, as we have observed, were caiitured by the enemy, and on the day succeed- ina; tlie victory a marauding party brought dishonor npon the American name at Port Talbot, on tlic Canada shore. Tiie schooners 0/iio and f^oincrs were captured on tiie iiiglit of tiio Tiili of August by Captain Dobbs, of the Uoyal Navy, and sev- enty-live men in nine boats. They were taken down the river halfway to Cliippewa and secured, but the Porcupine beat off her assailants.'' The marauders referred to 1 Miinuscript Reminiscences of Mnjor (thin Lieutenant) Donglaes, quoted by Dawson in his Dattlcf <\f the United States Ij Sm anil ImucI, il., 30S. ! "The cause of this explosion," says nn oye-wltnons (one of Porter's men), "has never been officially ejtpl'ilncil, llis- Mry ascribes It to accident ; and pcrliaps it would not lie proper for me to etato what I learned at the time. Even if it wan design, I think the end justified the means. It was that mysterious explosior which, through Providence, saved ■Jiir gallant little army from the horrors of a tjeneral massacre." The venerable Jabez Fink, nov.- (lS(i7) living near Adrian, Michigan, who was in the flght, is not so reticent concern- ing the explosion. In a letter to me, dated May 20, ISOIl, he writes : " Three or four hundred of llie enemy had got in'o lif liastion. At this time an American ofllcor came rnnning up, and said, 'General (iaines, the baHtion i.s full. I can ! l(i\v them ail to heil in a minute !' They both passed back throngh a stone building, and in a short time the bastion m] the British were high in the air. General Gaines soon relumed, swinging his hat, and shouting ' Hurrah for Little Yorli !' " This was in allusion to the blowing up of the British magazine at Little York, whore General Pike was killed. Sec pa!;e tlSft. ' Letter of General Gaines to the Secretary of War, August 2fi, 1S14. " It is due," he said, " to the brave men 1 have <\w houor to command that I should say that the affair was to the enemy a sore beating and a ilc/ml ; and it was to us n handmmr rMnry." < In this nlTair the Americans lost one seaman killed, and three officers and four seamen wounded. The enemy loBt two fcamcu killed and four wonnded. The />wi';"»i' sailed for Erie. ^Hm 1/ 't\ 830 riCTOUIAL riELD-BOOK Honnra to Oenernl Onlnei. Cnnnnnade of Fort Erie. Brown resumes Command of the Army. " .\ GKNEBAL OAINEB'b VEnAL.I . i ' T were a party of ono linndrcd AmcM'icans and Indians, wlio landed at Port Talhot nn tlie night of the 16tli. and robbed about fifty families of A'aluable property, siicli iiv horses, liousehold furniture, and wearing apparel, and several respectable citizen- were carried off as prisoners of war; one of them, Mr. IJarnwell, was a member of tin Canadian Assembly. As a dutiful historian I record the affair, but with slmmc. Happily, such conduct on the j)art of the Americans was so rare that these pages have not been often stained by the recital. Both parties at Fort Erie immediately prepared for another struggle, and dniiii',' the remainder of August and until the middle of Sejitember each received and eiv- ated strength by the arrival of re-enforcements and completing of their respeetivi defenses. The Americans had by that time mounted twenty-seven heavy guns, and had over tliree thousand men behind them. Drummond also received re-eiifoiee- ments a few days after his defeat on the 15th, and from some new batteries he opened a caimonadc and bombardiront of Fort Erie with the design of compelling the Amer icans to evacuate it. Alm.ost daily, until the close of August, he threw hot shot. shells, and rockets into the fort, and annoyed the garrison much ; and finally, on tin 28th, a shell fell through the roof of Gaines's quarters, destroyed his writin£r-(le<k, and, exploding at Iiis feet, injured him so severely that he was compelleil to reliiiijiiii.li his command ana retire to Buffalo. When General Brown, then at Batavia, heard of this accident, he became exceed- ingly uneasy, and with shattered health and unhealed wounds he hastened to Buf- falo, and on the 2d of September crossed over to F'ort Erie. lie found the garrison in charge of Colonel James Miller, Avhose rank was not sufficient for the position. Unable to remain himself with safety, he at once issued an order for General Kipley, the senior officer, to take command ; and, returning to Buffalo, he established tliciv the head-quarters of the Army of the Niagara, of which he now resumed coutiol. Some of his officers followed him directly, and gave I'.im such assurance of the unpop- ularity of Ripley with the army, and the dangers therefrom to be apprehended, tliiit, though weak and suffering mucli, he returned to Fort Erie, and assumed tiie com- mand in person. The fort was still closely invested, and Brown perceived that peril was impend- i Ou on-i Bide of the medpl is the bust, name, and title of General Gaines, i od on the other a flprnre of Victory slaiiit- ini; ou a shield, under which is a flag and a halliert. She holds a palm branch In one hand, and with the other is plac- ing a lanrf>l wreath on the end of a cannon which is staudinfr uprleht, its muzzle downward. Around it is n fcroll Inscribed " erie." On one trunnion rests British colors, and from the other is snspetidcd a broadsword. By the (i* of the cannon lies a howit/.cr, helmet, and balls. Behind the cannon is seen .1. halbert. Around the whole arc l!if words "BEBOLexioN of uo.nubkbs, nove-mueb S, 1S14; and bulow, "uattlk of ebie, acqcbt 18, 1814." OF THE WAU OF 1812. 837 en Commmul of the Army, BrUlib Wurkii and Furt Eric. Brown determineB on a Cortie. Prcparatiuna fur It. h\ at Port Talbot on jlc property, such as respc('tal)lc citizpiis was a member of tliu 'air, but with sliaiue, rare that these pages Btruggle, and durini! ach received and oiv- \<r of their respective even heavy guns, and ) received re-eiiforcc- w batteries he opened compelling the Amei- t, he threw hot shot, h ; and finally, on the yed his writinji-ilesk, impelled to rclinquisli it, he became exceed- lie hastened to Unf- ile found the garrison ;icnt for the position. M- for General Ripley, I, ho established tlien liow resumed control. Isuraiice of the unpop- Ibe apprehended, tliiit, nd assumed the com- Ut peril was impend- Ittier ft flpnir" of Victory stand- liid, iind witli tlic ottior Is plnc- liwftril. Arinmd it is n fcroll. Id ft broadsword. By the Mf Around tlic wliolc are lli* IsT 16, 1814." ing. The British camp was in a field encircled by woods, two miles from their works, beyond the range of shot and shell from the fort or lihu-k Rock. Tiie army was divided into three brigades of from twelve to fifteen hundred men each; and one of these, daily relieved by another, was constantly at the works, with artillery. These works had now been advanced to within .uiir or five hundred yards of the old fort, and at that distance two batteries had already been completed, and a third, from which almost certain destruction might be hurled, was nearly finished. Ibown saw iliis impending danger, and took measures to avert it. Circumstances were favor- able. Heavy and continuous rains had flooded the country for several days. Drum- inond's camp was on low, marshy ground ; and stragglers from it, who bad been picked up by the American jiickets and deserters, informed IJrown that the Ibitish force was so much weakened by typhoid fever that the lieutenant general' was con- lemiilating a removal of the camp to some healthier position. So broken was bis power by camp sickness that tor several days he had been unable to make an offensive movement. Now was Brown's golden opportunity, and he improved it. A sortie was planned, and the time appointed for its execution the morning of the I7th of September. He resolved, as he said, " to storm the batteries, destroy the cannon, and roughly bandit.' the brigade upon duty before those in reserve [at the campl could be brought into action."' His preparations Avere made a ith great secrecy. Va knew the hazards of the enterprise, and desired the full co-operation of his oflicers. He sounded their opin- ions as well as he might without fully disclosing his designs. They were not in con- sonance with his own ; and he made his preparations in a manner to conceal his in- tentions from the army until all should be in readiness, for he determined to attempt tlie bold design as soon as Porter should join him with his militia re-enforcements.^ These came, two thousand strong, and on the morning of the 17th the commanding general explained his plans to Ciencral Ripley (his second in command), bis adjutant ffeneial, and engineers. All evinced a desire for hearty co-operation excepting Gen- eral liii)ley, who considered the enterprise a hopeless one, and desired to have noth- in<; to do with it.^ Toward noon Brown's sallying troops were in motion in the friendly and fortunate ol)scurity of a thick fog. They were separated into three corps. One, under General I'orter, and composed of his Volunteers, under the immediate command of jNIajor Gen- eral Davis, of the New York militia: detachments from the First and Fourth Rifle Regiments, undei* Colonel Gibson; detachments from ttie Twenty-first and Twenty- tliiid Infantry, and a few dismounted dragoons acting as infantry, under JNIajor Wood, of the Engineers, was directed to move from the extreme left of the American camp, by a circuitous route, through the woods (which had been stealthily marked and pre- pared by Lieutenants Riddle and I'Vazei-), of the Fifteenth Infantry, to within pistol- shot distance of the enemy's right wing, and attack the British right flank. The sec- ond division, composed of fragments of the Ninth, Eleventh, and Nineteenth Regi- ' fldierol Brown's Letter to ttic Secrctnry of War, Scptpml)cr 29, 1S14. ■ The council of oflicers was licld on tlic 9th. Major Jesnp, tiien recovering from liis wounds, was at Bnffalo, and ivis iuvited to participate in the conference. The lalcc was so rough that he did not get over until after the meeting h:ul broken up. " General Brown," says Jcsup in his manuscript Memoir, etc., " was evidently much (lisai)pointed at ilif rcsull, of the conncil. In the course of the evening he expressed himself with great warmth in regard to his disap- lirinlmcnt, and in relation to some of the oflicers who had been present at the council. But he added, in a manner pe- culiarly emphatic, ' Wo must keep our own counsels ; the imp^e^<«ion must be made that we are done with the afl'air : luit.iw mire a/t there in a God in heaven, the eiiem;i nhall lie attacked in hin workn, ami beaten too, ax noon an aV the rolunteem >*«(( harejmnned over I' " " Prom this time," says the -manuscript Mmiorandum already quoted, " the major general atied niul spoke as though he relied for safety on the defense of his camp ; and, to confirm this opinion in tlie army, he look measures to floor the tents, and in every way to improve the condition of his forces in quarters, as if they were to reniaia stationary for ft long time." lie sent spies, asdeserters, to the British camp to give information of these move- mpnle in tlie American camp : and so adroitly was the whole afliilr managed, that a spy was sent on the dry of the sor- tip,.nt the very honr when the American forces moved, and was received by the British without snsplcion. ' "General Ripley contented himself with saying that the enterprise was a hopeless one, and he should be well sat- Isfled to escape from the disgrace which, in his Judgment, would fall upon all engaged iu it."— Brown's Manuscript Mem- vmndum, etc. 888 PICTOUI AL !• I KI.D-HOOK BriUaat SnccesR of Uenoral Torter, Death ofvalukblo UBtcen. Blogrnphlcal Sketch ut I'oricr inentH (the flrHt conimaii<U'rt by Lieutenant Colonel Aspinwiill, and the last \>y Miijin Trinil)l('), under James Miller (who had been breveted u brit,'iiilier t^enenil threi iIhvs before for his gallantry in the liattle of Niajjjara Kails), was ordered to move I'r. imi,,. riijht by way of a ravine between Fort Erie and the enemy's batteries, and attm ' ilu. British centre. The remainder of tiiu Twenty-tirst Kej^iment, eominanded by (iincnil JJijtley, was posted as a reserve near the fort, and out of sight of the eneniyV works. General Porter' and his comiiiaml moved from the eneanipment at noon, and, followincj Lieutenants Hiddlc and Fra/.er through tiie woods, readied u position within a few rods of the Hilt. ish right wing at a quarter before time o'eloek, before their movement was eviii suspected by the enemy. An assuuli was immedi.'itely commeneiil. It was a eomplete surprise, and the startled en- emy on that flank fell back and left the Atnerieans in ])ossession of the groniMJ. The 1)atterie8 Nos. 3 and 4 were imin.- diately stormed, and, after a (dose ami tierce contest for about thirty minutes, both were carried. This triuni])li m^ " ^'^~^ — 'yPv C^ ,^ — followed by the capture of the bloekdinuse yt^OC^X/^J . yaTL.^<^.yi^ i„ the rear of No. 3. The garrison were •' \ ' made prisoners, the cannon and carriages were destroyed, and the magazine blown up. Porter's victory Avas complete, hut it was obtained at a fearful cost. His three ])rineipal leaders, namely. General Davis, CJolonel (Jibson, and I^ieutenant Coloiiel Wood, all iidl mortally wounded; and the commands of the two latter officers devolved respectively on Lieutenant Colonel M'Donald and IVfajor Hrooks. I Peter Bnel Porter was Ixirii in Snllsbury, Connecticnf, on the 14th of Angii§t, 1773. lie wns grndmited at Yale Col- leije with hlfjh honorH, Rtiulled liiw, and ciitcreil upon its practice in his native town. He removed to Wcslorn Xen Yorlt in 17!I5, was elected to l'on),'rc88 In 180S, and in that body, as we have oliscrvcd (page 212), he became prdniincni as a supporter of the administration, and eoiispicuouH as a member of tlie Committee on Foreign Reiatioiin when the country was approacliiiifj a war with Kii)jland. His residonee was at Black Rock, near Iliitraio, on tlic Niaspra Kiver, when tlie war broke out, and he at (nice engaged In the military service of his country. lie was appointed hv Governor Tompkins Major Oeneral of New York Volnntecrs in July, IHI'i, and In that capacity he performed dgiial service for his country during that and the succeeding year, as our record in the text attests. In 1815 he was again elected to Congress, and was appointed a commissioner to run the bonndary-line between the United States and Can- i.drt. He remained In public life much of the time until 182!), when, having served a year in J. Q. Adams's Cabinet as Secretary of War, he left government employment for the quiet of private life. He possessed large estates on the Niagara frontier, and the wealth accumulated thereby !3 now enjoyed by his descendants. His name and serv- ices are identified with the growth and prosperity of West- ern New Y'ork. lie died at bis residence at Niagara Falls on the 20th of March, 1844, In the seveuty-flrst year of his age. Ills remains rest in a quiet cemetery there, under :i beautiful monument, mi which Is the following Inscription : " Peteii Buki. PoKTEn, a i)loneer in Western New Y'ork ; n statesman eminent in tlic annals of the nation and the state: a general in the armies of America, defending in the tleld what be bad maintained in the conncll. Born In Salisbury, (Jonnccticut, August 14, 1773. Died at Niagara Tails, March 2(), 1844, known and mourned throughout that extensive region which he bad been among the foremost to explore and to defend." I am indebted to the pencil of bis son, the late Colonel Peter Augustna Porter, lor the accompauylug sketch of the mouumeut. rOBTEHS TOMll. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. igrniihlcnl Sketch uf formr 1(1 llic liiwt l>y Major rgi'iu'riil tlirci ilavs tul to move IVniu tile iM-ics, mill aU;ii ' tlw umsuuk'tl l)y (uiieral aa a reserve near tlic <'ht of the enemy's and Ilia cotniiiand iicanipiiu'nt :it ihmmi, utenaiitH Itidille ami le woods, readied u few rodrt of tlic Uiit- I (juarter hel'ore llinc r movement was even enemy. An asHmili lommenctil. Itwasii , and the startled cm- lell back and lii't the session of llio grouiiil i. 3 and 4 were in\im- vnd, after a elosc and about thirty miimtis, i. This triuin])li \v;b ire of the bloek-lieusi' . The garrison won cannon and carriages f was complete, hut it amely, General Davis, II y wounded; and the jn Lieutenant Colond IIo wn8 grndmitcd at Yule Col llo removed to Western New iii^e 'il'i), lie becftmc pniminral (in Foreign Uclmions when k, near lluflalo, on the Niagara iiimtry. Ho was appointed by |t capiicity lie performoa signal attests. In 1818 he was again Plan ofSlrgc und Dafttutl brVbrt Xrte. Triumph of IDDir ifld Vfihtm. Esri.ANATioN oi» THE AiiovK Map.— A, old Fort Eric ; n, a, demi-hnctions ; 6, u ravelin, anil r, <•, block-hou.-.eH. These were all built by th,8 British previous to its capture at the beginning of July, rf, d, bastlouB built by the Americans uur- iiig the siege ; f, c, a redoubt built for the security of the deinl-bastlons, a, a. B, the American camp, secured on the right by the line ;/, the Douglrss Battery, f, and Fort Erie ; on the left, and In front, by the lines/,/,/, and batteries on the extreme right and left of them. That on the right, immediately under the lotlen. in the words t.kvei. plain, is Towson's; ft, ft, etc., camp traverses ; »i, nwiin traverse; o, magazine traverse, cov- irias also the head-quarters of General Oaincs ; i>, hospital traverse ; 17, grand parade and provost-guard traverse ; r, General Brown's head-quarters; «, a drain ; t, road from Chippewa up the lake. C, the encampment of Volunteers outside of the Intreiichments, who joined the army a few days before the sortie. D, D, the British works. 1, 2, 3, their first, second, and third batt.'ry. r, the route of Porter, with the left column, to attack tl' ritish right flank on the 17th ; x, the ravine, and route of Miller's command. I am iiii...uted to the late Chief Engineer General Joseph G. Totten for the manuscript map of which this is a copy. In the mean time, General Miller, aided by the gallant T^ieiitenant Colonel ITphara, liad executed his orders well. He penetrated between the British first and second bat- teries, and, by the aid of Porter's successful oj)eration8, carried them both, and block- EJl IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT 3) 4 *, A «y^ ^^. LO I.I l^lul 12.5 I' i « mil 2.0 11.25 6" Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEttSTER.N.Y. 14510 (716) 872-4503 m V ^ iV \ ^ :\ [v \ ^\^^ .<f /^ liii' 1 1' FIELD-BOOK Result of the Sortie at Fort Erie. The Hopes of ttie British blasted. The American People •nsjjlrited. houses in the rear. One was abandoned before the assailants reached it. Within forty minutes after the attack commenced by Porter and Miller, four batteries, two block-houses, and the whole line of British intrenchments were in the possession of the Americans. Just after the explosion of the magazine, and at near the close of the action. General Ripley was ordered up with his little band of reserves, and while engaged in observations he received such a severe and dangerous wound in the neck that he fell to the ground. His aid. Lieutenant Kirby, caused him to be removed to the fort, and the command of the reserves was given to Lieutenant Colonel Upham. Notwithstanding Drumraond sent strong re-enforcements from his camp to the imperiled British line of action, the object of the eortie was fully accomplished. The British advanced works were captured and destroyed, and Fort Erie was saved, with Buffalo and the public stores on that frontier, and possibly all Western New York.' In this memorable sortie the Americans lost almost eighty killed, and more than four hundred wounded and missing. The loss of the British in llilled, wounded, aud missing was about five hundred, exclusive of three hundred and eighty-five who were made prisoners, "Thus," said General Brown, in his letter to the Secretary of War twelve days afterward, " one thousand regulars, and an equal portion of militia, in one hour of close action, blasted the hopes of the enemy, destroyed the fruits of fifty days' labor, and diminished his effective force one thousand men at least." The " hopes oi the enemy" were indeed " blasted ;" and, after hastily collecting his scattered forces, Drummond broke up his encampment on the night of the 21st, &nd retired to Riall's old and partially demolished intrenchments behind Chippewa Creek. So sudden and precipitate was his flight that he abandoned some of his stores in front of Fort Erie, and destroyed others at Frenchman's Creek, on the line of his retreat. It has been said, in praise of British courage and pugnacity, that thev " never know Avhen they are whipped," and such seems to have been the case in the present instance, for General L. De Watteville, writing in the camp two days af^er the action, spoke of the " repulse of the Americans at every point ;"'* and General Drummond, in a later dispatch, also spoke of a " repulse of an American army of live thousand men by an inconsiderable number of British troops."' This victory, following so soon those at Chippewa aud Niagara Falls, and occur- ring so nearly simultaneously with the glorious one on land and water at Plattsburg, and the expulsion of the enemy from before Baltimore, diffused unusual joy through- out the country, and dispelled, in a measure, the gloom which had oversprc.id the whole larid because of the capture of t o national capital by the British less than a month before.' General Brown, in his official report of the affair,* gave a generous list of • September w, heroes, with allusions to their ^^"' gallant deeds," and the loyal public hastened WOODS MONDHEMT. ' Mnjor Jesnp, in his MS. Memoir, etc., says: "The sortie from Fort Erie was by far the most splendid achievement of the campaign, whether we consider the boldness of the concep- tion, the excellence of the plaii, or the ability of the exccutioD. No event in military history, on the same scale, has ever wr- passed it. The whole credit is due to General Brown. The writer was in a e'tuatlon to know that the conception, plan, and execution were all his own." » L. De Watteville to General Drnramond, Septembe. 10, 1814. ' Thomson's Wntorival Sketches of the late War, page W. * See Chapter XXXIX. » General Brown •'poke In terms of warm enlogy of Me en- gineers M'Ree and Wood. "No two afHcers of the grade," he said, " could have contributed more to the safety and honor of this army. Wood, brave, generous, and enterprising, died a« he had lived, without a feeling but for the honor of his country and glory o/her arms. His name and example will live to guide the soldier iu the path of duty so long as tme heroism is held ii^llffi OF THE WAR OF 1812. 841 imerlcan People tinplrited. •cached it. Within , foal- batteries, two n the possession of It near the close of f reserves, and whik' 8 wound in the neck im to be removed to mt Colonel Upham. )m his camp to the accomplished. The Erie was saved, with t^estern New York.^ :illed, and more than billed, wounded, ami eighty-five who were the Secretary of War portion of militia, in yed the fruits of fifty a at least." ter hastily collecting the night of the 21st, !nts behind Chippewa aandoned some of his m's Creek, on the lino d pugnacity, that they c been the case in the camp two days af^er point -P and General merican army of five [gara Falls, and occur- water at Plattshurg, unusual joy through- , overspread the whole ipture of to national ^s than a month Vefore/ [is official report of the IS list of •September!!?, ^, . 1814. to their loyal public hastened Lnofr.etcsnyB: "The ^ Imoat splendid achievement o( Ider the boldnesB of the concep- Tor the ability of the exccntloo. 1 the same scale, has ever wr- ; due to General Brown. The » that the conception, plan, "h" ,Dmmmond,Scptembe.l»,16W. |e8 of the late War, page .W. ims of warm enlogy of his «• |o two officers of the grade, he lore to the safety and h.mor of Ions, and enterprising, died as Lt for the honor of his counry Land ««.".}* will live tog* Iso long as trae heroism is hcM Honors awarded to Qeneral Brown. The Freedom of the City of New York cuuferied on him. The Certificate, etc. to honor thero individually and collectively. The national Congress, by a resolu- tion, approved by the President of the Republic on the 3d of November," awarded the thanks of the nation and a gold medal, with suitable devices, to each of the general officers.' To General Brown, of whom it has been truthfully said OBKEBAL BBOWm'b MKDAI.. that " no enterprise undertaken by him ever failed,'"^ the Corporation of the City of New York gave him the honorary privilege of the freedom of the city in a gold box ;^ in estimation." The general not only admired Wood as a soldier, bnt loved him as a A-iend; and lie caused a hand- fome marble monument to be erected at West Point (see opposite page) in his memory, with the following inscription npoD it : Xorth Side: " To the memory of Lieutenant Colonel E. D. Wood, of the corps of Engineers, who fell while leading a charge at the sortie of Fort Erie, Upper Canada, 17th September, 1814, in the thirty-flrst year of his age." ffeat Side : "He was exemplary as a Cliristian, and distinguished as a soldier." South Side: "A pupil of this institution, he died an honor to his country." Most Side: " This memorial was erected by bU frltud and commander. Major Qeneral Jacob Brown." * On the uneven liorth slope of West Point, near the Laboratory Buildings, this monoment is seen, upon a grassy knoll, eliooting up from a cluster of dark evergreen trees. 1 On one side of the commanding general's medal is the bust and name of Major General Brown. On the other the Roman fisccs. Indicative of the Union, the top encircled with a laurol wreath, from which arc suspended three tablets tearing the inscriptions ouippkwa, niaqaba, and ebie, surrounded by three stands of British colors. Below is seen a mortar, cauuon-balls, and bomb-shells, a:. a in front of all is the American eagle with wiu,;s outspread as if about to soar. Below tliLse are the names and dates of the above battles. » See Mnmirs qftM QeneraU and Comviodoree, and other Commanderi, etc., of the American Army and Navy, by Thomas Wyatt, A.M., page 133. ' The certificate of tho*. freedom and the gold box with wlilch it was presented arc in the possession of his widow, yet (18u7) living. The box, delineated in the engraving, is of fine gold, elliptical In form, three inches in length, two and a half in width, and three fourths of nn Inch In depth. On the under sldo of th>.' lid is the following inscription: "The Corporation of the City of New York to Major Qcn- ersJ Jacob Brown, in testimony of the high sense they enter tain of his valor and skill in defeating the British forces, su- perior in number, at the battles of Chippewa and Bridgewa- ter,on the 6th and 26th of July, 1814." The following is a copy of the certificate, or diploma <en- •Irely exocuted with a pen), giving General Brown the free- ilom of the city of New York. At the head is a fancy design of the battle of Chippewa, and then the word" : "To all to whom these presents shall come, De Witt Clin- ton, Esq., Mayor, and the Aldermen of the City of New York, rend greeting : At a meeting of the Common Council, held at the Common Council Chamber in the City Hall of the City of New York, the following resolutions were unanimously agreed to : "'Whereas the Corporation* of the city entertains the most lively eenee of the late brilliant achievements of Qeneral Jacob Brown on the Niagara frontier, consi(<8rtng them as • Bere is inserted a device of a spread eagle In the middle ; an ancient war-chariot on the right j cannon, flag, and dram on the left. ORNKRAI. UBOWM B 00U> BOX, l^l 'H p 1 \'i'\ mi 842 PICTCBIAL FIELD-BOOK Medal awarded to Generals Porter and Ripley by Congress. Ripley honored by Gifts from several States. not long after the National Congress voted him a medal. An elegant sword was also presented to him by Daniel D. Tompkins, governor of the State of New York, in the name of that commonwealth.' To Generals Porter''* and Ripley,^ as well as to Scott, Gaines, and Miller, as we liave already observed, the National Congress awarded the thanks of the nation, and a gift ^»- __ of a gold medal to each ; and to Ripley the States of New L^t Ci/t/iy^'M.''^ York, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Georgia each ^ ^ gave expression of approbation, and visible honorary to- kens of their appreciation of his services. The spirits of all the general officers in OENKBAL POBTEB'b MEDAL. proud evidences of the skill and intrepidity of the hero of Chippewa and his brave companions in arms, and affording ample proof of the suporior valor of our hardy farmers over the veteran legions of the enemy, " ' Resolved, That, as a tribute of respect to a gallant officer' and his intrepid associates, who have added such Instre to our arms, the freedom of the city of New York be presented to General Jacob Brown, that his portrait be obtained and placed iu the gallery of portraits belonging to this city.t and that the thanks of this Corporation be tendered to the officers and men under his command.' " Know ye that Jacob Brown, Esquire, is admitted and allowed a freeman and a citizen of the said city, to have, to hold, to use, and enjoy the freedom of the city, together with all the benefits, privileges, franchises, and immunities whatsoever granted or belonging to the saiu city. " By order of the Mayor and Aldermen. " In testimony whereof the said Mayor and Aldermen have cansed the seal of the said city to be hereunto affixed. " (Witness), De Witt Clinton, Esquire, Mayor, the fourth day of February, in the year of onr Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, and of the Independence and Sover- eignty of the United States the .SOth. "J. MoETON, C'crk." ' The following inscription is trpon the scabbard ; " Presented by his Excellercy Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor of the State of New York, pursuant to resolutions of the Senate and Assembly of the said stnte, as a testimony of gratitude, to Major General Jacob Brown, for his eminent services, and as a memorial of the repeated victories obtained by him over the enemies of his coun'ry." On the other side, " Major General Jacob Brown, U. S. Army." » On one side of Porter's medal is his bust in profile, name, and title, and on the other the figure of Victory, stand- ing, 'aolrting in one hand a palm branch and wreath, and in the other three little flags, on which are the names respeot- ively of eiiirpEWA, niaoaba, and eeie. Sitting near, the Muse of History is recording the events. Around are the words " eesolution of oonobksb, November 8, 1S14," and below the names and dates of the three battles. ' On one side of Ripley's medal is his bust, r.anie, and title in profile , and on the other a figure of Victory holding np a tablet amf-.ig the branches of a palm-tree, inscribed with the words ouippewa, niaoaba, and ebie. In her right hand, which is hanging by bar side, are seen a trumpet and a laurel wreath, and around the whole and below, the same inscriptions as upon Porter's medal. EieaTer Wheelock Ripley was bom in Hano^ er, New Hampshire, in 1T82, and was a grandson of the Rev. Dr. Whee- lock(w) ose name be bore), the fbnnder of Dartmouth College. He was a lineal descendant of Miles Standish. Hewa.< • Here is a monument with memorial nm. On one side a woman with a wreath, about to crown it ; on the other a woman on one knee inscribing on the monument, and back o/ her a tent, t This portrait, a copy of which may be seen on page 608, is in the Uovemor's Room In the City Hall, Wew York. , |: OF THE WAR OF 1812. 843 ly Gifts from eeveral States. Bat few of the Army uf the Niagara now alive. Two remarkable Survivors. How they were wonnded. ,6 caused the seal of the Bald cltj OINEBAI. BtPLET'S MEDAL. the Arniy of Niagara at that tir le, and of nearly all of the subordinate officers, h".v^ passed away from earth, but their memories are clicrished with honor and affection. And of all the rank and file of that army, whose existence as an organization ended soon after the siege and defense of Fort Erie, very few remain among us, and these are men "with the snow that never melts" upon their heads. Fifty-three yeais or more have elapsed since they were there in arms for their country.' Major Geneial George Izard, who was in command on Lake Champlain, having, as educated at Dartmouth, and was graduated in the year 180O. He adopted law as a profession, and in 180T was elected aracmber of the Massachusetts Legislature, he being a resident of Winslow, in that state. He succeeded the late Judge Story as its speaker. He entered the army as lieutenant colonel of infantry in March, 1812. He rose to brigadier gen- eral in the spring of 1814, and was breveted major general for his gallant conduct in the battle of Niagara. He was severely wounded at Fort Erie, when he was removed to Buffalo. For three months his life was despaired of. He was a brave, eltillful, and patriotic soldier. He did not do himself or his country justice on the Niagara frontier owing to a very serious misunderstanding between himself and General Brown, which became an open quarrel after the war. General Ripley was retained in the army at its reduction, but resigned in 1820. He became a resident of Louisiana, and represented that state in Congress. He died at West Feliciana on the 2d of March, 18iiB, at the age of flfty-scveii years. I Tliere are two survivors of that army yet (18CT) living with whom I have had correspondence, who are worthy of no- tice here because of their remarkable escapes from death, having been wounded so desperately that no hope could have been entertained of their recovery. Yet for over fifty years since they have lived as B'<eful members of society. I refer to Robert White, of Morrlsson, Whiteside County, Illinois, and Jabez Fisk, mentioned in note 2, page 835, living near Adrian, Michigan. The former had both arms shot off above the elbows, and the latter was shot through the neck and cast upon a brush-heap as a dead man. White was wonnded on the evening of the 15th of Angust, Fisk during the sor- tie on the 17th of September. " Just at twilight," says White, in a letter to a friend (Lorenzo D. Johnson), " as my arms were extended in the act of lifting a vessel on the fire, a 24-pounder came booming over the ramparts and struck off both my arms above my elbows! The blow struck me so numb that at first I did not know what had happened, and liie dust and ashes raised by the force of the ball so filled my face that I could not see. My left arm, as I was subse- quently informed, was carried from my body some two rods, and struck a man in his back with such force as nearly brought him to the ground. This same shot tftok off the right arm of another soldier standing not far from me, and, passing on to the other side of the encampment, killed three men ! It was the most destructive shot of any that the enemy sent into onr works." Fisk, who was \vith General Porter, says in a letter to me in May, 1803, " Immediately after attacking the block-house General Porter was taken prisoner. The companies of Captains Harding [In which Fisk was] and Hall rushed forward and retook him. In this manoeuvre I was shot through the neck. The ball passed between the windpipe and the gul- let, cutting both. Passing obliquely it came out near the backbone. I fell as if dead. All appeared dark as midnight. I was conscious, but thought I was dead and in the other world. I was thrown on a brush-heap, and shonld have found a final resting-place in a mud-hole near by had not dolomon Westbrook, a member of our company, discovered and laiien me to the fort.'"* • When the surgeons dressed Mr. Fl ik's wounds they had no idea that he would survive until morning ; bnt he rap- idly recovered. He wns taken to the i eneral hospital at Willlamsville, and then to Bntavin, where he was discharged, ind, weak and penniless, started for hi i home in Tlogn County, New York. He worked and begged his way. He was .ifterwiird pensioned, and received hou <ty-land. On the latter he settled, and now owns it. He was bom in Franklin County, Massachusetts, and Is the son o, a Revolutionary soldier. His family moved to Albany in 1802, and soon aft- erward fettled in Tiopt Connty. Ther; he enlisted ',n Coptaln Harding's company, under General Porter. He was with the Army of the Niagara during f'lc entire campaign of 1814 until he was woimded. He was present when Gen- eral Swift was shot at Port George, '..id assisted in carrying him back to Qneenston. " Every member of Captain Hard- iiiE's company is in heaven," Mr /Isk writes in a letter to me In May, ISG), "excepting Solomon Westbrook and my- self." He visited Mr. Westbrool , in the State of New York, In 1502. They had not met since the latter bore young Fisk from the battle-field. Mr. I sk Is now nearly eighty years of age, and Is full of vigor of body and mind. :is; 11 i PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Robert White, an armlesa Soldier. Qeneral Izard sends Troops to the Niagara Frontier. i ' I 1 i 1 ■■( •i ' ^ !■ fjiHf .1 1 -* i 'i ['- ■■ ■ iv ill ii 1 .-. — , i. II i -t'l r 1 i|,i' '■i J F' J ' V he believed, a competent force to protect that frontier, moved toward Sackett's Har- bor early in September, under the direction of the Secretary of War, with about four thousand troops, either to divert the British from their evident purpose of heavily re-enforcing Drummond, by menacing Kingston and the St. Lawrence communica- tion with Montreal, or moving on to the aid of General Brown. At the Harbor lie received a letter from the laitei', dated the 10th of September,* stating the ef- fective force on the Niagara frontier to be not much more than two thousaiid men, and urging him to move on with his troops and form a junction with the Array of the Niagara at Buffalo. Porter, be said, would probably raise three thousand vol unteer recruits ; but, said he, " I will not conceal from you that I consider the fatt of this army very doubtful unless speedy relief is afforded." Izard's division arrived at Sackett's Harbor on the very day of the successful sor- tie at Fort Erie,'' and at the same time he received a dispatch from Gen. eral Macomb giving an inspiriting account of the repulse of the British from Plattsburg. He at once resolved to move westward, and on the 2l8t he em- barked on Chauncey's fleet twenty-five hundred infantry, at the same time directing his mounted and dismounted dragoons and light artillery to move by land by way of Onondaga. ' September IT. White was then about twenty years of age. His vounda were dressed by the late Dr. Simon Hunt,* of Rochester, New York, and a week afterward be was taker to Buffalo nud placed in the care of Jeremiah Johnson, who . ;aa then in charge of the hospital at that place. That kind-hearted gentleman nursed him tenderly and became his benefac- tor, and be was chiefly instrumental in procuring for the maimed young soldier a generous life-pension of four hand- red and eighty dollars a year. After the war he settled in Vermont and married the widowed daughter of Mr. John- son (whose young husband was killed at Fort Erie), who is still (1867) his excellent companion. They are the pa- rents of a large family, ail of whom are ueefUl members of society in the West. Three of their sons are eminent ministers of the Gospel. Mr. White contrived on opparatus, composed of a pen fixed In a triangular piece of wood, by which, holding it between his teeth, he was soon enabled to write not only with facility, but with remarkable clearness. His penman- ship failed in excellence only when he lost his teeth. I give below a fac-slmlle of a part of a note written to me in March, 1800, and a part of a letter written twenty years be- fore, to which he alludes. He has always worn tin arms and bands, so that, with long-sleeved coats, a stranger would not detect his mutilation. The engraving was made from a daguerreotype kindly procured for rae by L. D. Johnson, Esq., of Washington City, son of the benefactor of Mr. White already mentioned. BOUEET WHITE. FAC-siMii.R OR white's wbitino im 1840 Ann 1800. * Doctor Hnnt »~.8 a pioneer settler at Rochester, where he lived fifty-three years as a practicing physician, lie died on the I2tb of April, 1864, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 846 pg to the Niagara Frontier. ^ Jy^. npr^otlclngphy»lelftn- Ucdlcd Icard takes Comi-»nd of the Army of ine Niagara. He asanmen the oirenstvc. BIssell'B Victory at Lyon'a Creek. Izard and his infantry reached tlie Genesee River on the 21st, where they dis- embarked the next day, TJiey could not commence their march until the 24th, \\\\KV. they moved slowly, it being ■wilderness most of the way, and heavy rains were falling. They finally arrived at Lewiston on the 6th of October ; and 80 unexpected was their appearance to the enemy that, if they could have pro- cured boats, they might have surprised and captured a British battalion at Queenston. On that evening Izard was visited by Generals Brown and Porter. His design was to attack Fort Niagara, but it was agreed to form a junction of the two armies southward of Chippewa. Izard moved np to Black Rock, crossed there on the 10th and 11th, and en- camped two miles north of Fort Erie. Ranking General Brown, he assumed chief command of the combined forces, and the latter retired to his old post at Sackett's Harbor. General Izard was soon in command of almost eight thousand troops, and prepared to march upon Drummond. Leaving Lieutenant Colonel Hindman and a sufficient garrison to hold Fort Erie, he moved with his array toward Chippewa, and vainly endeavored to draw the enemy out. lie was informed that there was a considerable quantity of grain belonging to the Brit- ish at Cook's Mill, on Lyon's Creek, and on the morning of the 1 8th of October he sent General Bissell, with about nine hundred of his own brigade, a company of rifle- men under Captain Irvine, and a squadron of dragoons commanded by Captain An- spaugh, with instructions to capture or destroy it. They reached the vicinity of the mill that night, and encamped. Two companies, under Captain Dorman and Lieu- tennnt Horrel, with Irvine's riflemen, were sent across the creek as pickets for the se- curity of the main body, and Lieutenant Gassaway,^ at the head of a small party, was posted still more in advance, on the Chippewa Road. At midnight a detachment of Glengary infantry attacked these pickets, and were repulsed ; and early in the morn- ing Colonel Murray, with detachments from three regular regiments, the Glengary infantry, some dragoons and rocketeers, and a field-piece, renewed the attack. For fifteen minutes these gallant few of Bissell's men maintained their ground, when his main body came up to their support. Colonel Pinckney, with his Fifth Regiment, was ordered to turn the right flank of the enemy, and cit ofl^ his field-piece, while Major Barnard advanced in front with instructions to make free use of the bayonet. These orders were quickly and eflectively carried into execution, and, after some very sharp fighting by both parties, the British fell back in confusion and .led, leaving their killed and many of their wounded in the field, with a few prisoners. The fugitives were pursued some distance, when Bissell called back his men. The British fled to the main camp at Chippewa, and the Americans destroyed about two hundred bush- els of wheat at the mill. The loss of the former was not exactly ascertained, but is supposed to have been about one hundred and fifly in killed, wounded, and prison- ers. The Americans lost twelve killed, fifty-four wounded, including five officers, and one man mad - prisoner. Satisfied that he could not withstand the increased power I Jubn Oaseaway was a native of Maryland, and oerred with honor during the whole war. •■rv HI PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Furt Erie blowD up. Disposition of tlie Troopa. Commodore Cliamplln. of the Aiiny of Niagara, phy»ically and morally, Druramond now fell back to Fort George and Burlington Heights.' General Izard clearly perceived that farther offensive operations on the peninsula so lato in the season would be imprudent, and perhaps extremely perilous to lils army. He fell back from Street's Creek to the Black Rock Ferry. Soon afterward the whole army crossed to the American side and abandoned Canada. General Win- der, who had lately arrived from Baltimore, led General Brown's infantry to Sack- ett's Harbor. About a thousand men were sent to Grcenbush, opposite Albany, on the Hudson ; some of the troops commenced the erection of huts for winter quarteni, and the remainder, excepting the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Regiments under Gen- eral Miller, who went to Erie, were cantoned in that vicinity.^ Knowing Fort Erie to be of little service, Izard, after consulting Major Totten, of the Engineers, and oth- ers, caused it to be mined, and on the 6th of November it Avas blown np and laid iu ruins. So it has remained until now.' KUIN8 OF rOBT EBIE, 1860. I was at Fort Erie and other distinguished places near, and in Buffalo, a day or two before I visited the battle-grounds of Chippewa and Niagara in August, 1 860. It was my good fortune to have the company, on that occasion, of the venerable and war- scarred soldier of 1812, Captain (now Commodore) Stephen Charaplin, of the U.'iitcd States Navy, whose gallant exploits on Lake Erie with the brave Perry have been already recorded in this work.* When he learned my errand he seemed to forget his painful wound, unhealed since he received it in the naval service in 1814, and, order- 1 General Izard's Official Correspondence, page 101 ; Genera! Bissell's Beport to General Izard, October 22, 1814; Ii- ard's General Order, October 2a, 1S14. > To cover and protect the stores at Bntavia, Major Helms was stationed there with a battalion of dismonntcd dra- goons. Lieutenant Colonel Enstls, witb a battalion of light artillery, was stationed at Willlamsvllle to gnard the er tensive hospital there. Colonel Ball's sqnadron of dragoons were stationed on the Genesee River, near the villafrcol Avon, for the convenience of forage ; and the whole of the remaining infantry were cantoned on the margin of the wi- ter between Buffalo and Black Rock.— Izard'e Letter to the Secretary of War, November 26, 1814. ' Our engraving shows the appearance of the ruins of Fort Erie from Towson's Battery on the sonthweatem angle, looking toward Buffalo, which is seen in the extreme distance toward the right. The woter in the foreground Is in thf ditch. This was its appearance when I visited the spot in 1860. The main portion of the ruins, 'seen toward the n!:lii. w'th windows, Is that of the mess-house built by the British. This was not fortified by them, hut was intrenched by Iht Avnericans. On the left is seen the riitos of the magazine, between which and the met s-honse a portion of Bufalo ap- pears. Jnst back of Towson's Battery, a part of which U seen in the foregroimd on the kft, Lieutenant Colouel DrniU' mond and others were buried. « See Chapter XXIV., and his portrait and biography on page 628. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 847 Commodore Champlln. (V fell back to Fort ns on the peninsula lely perilous to \m •y. Soon afterward lada. General Win- 's infantry to Sack- opposite Albany, on 1 for winter qiiarteri*, egiments under (Icn- Knowing Fort Erio e Engineers, and oth- blown up and laid in In Buffalo, a day or two \i August, 1860. It was [be venerable and war- kamplin, of the United Lrave Perry ha\el)ecii |he seemed to forget his ace in 1814, and, order- \xer%\ Uftrd, October 22, 1814; U- It a battalion of dismounted dra- ft WilllamBvUle to guard the ex- lenesec River, near the vlUapeoi Intoned on the margin of the wJ- ler 26, 1814. Ittery on the sonthwestcm angle. 1 water in the foreground is in tbf Vthe nilns,-8een toward tlicneht. I them, but was Intrenched Ijyihe tfs-houBe a portion of Buffalo ap- Ee left. Lieutenant Colonel Drnm- lOUT KBIE M11.1.H, FOKT KUIE. VUitto Fort Krie and historic Places In and near Buffalo. Veteran* of the War In that City. Forent Lawn Cemetery. ing his light carriage, he took mo to every jilaco of interest to the historian, the stu- dent, and the stranger, Wc finst rode to F'ort Eric, crossing the head of the swift-flowing Niagara River from the Frontier Mills at the old Black Rock Ferry to tlie village of F'ort Erie, which was once called Waterloo. Tlic ruins of the fort are some distance up tlie Canada slittre from the village. On our way we passed old Fort Erie Miil, on the margin of tiic foot of the lake, which stood there during the ,.= war, as many scars and ball-holes still in its clap- boards fully attest. On the left of the mill, delin- eated in the engraving, across the river, upon a high bank, is seen F'ort Porter, and in the ex- treme distance on the right is seen the wharf of the Buffalo and Lake Huron Railway Company. On our right, as we passed on to the fort, an elevated ridge was pointed out, on which the British batteries were erected for the siege of Fort Erie. No. 1 (see map on page 839), nearest the fort, was on property belonging to Captain Murray, of the Royal Navy, and No. 2 on the promisee of Mr. Thompson. I did not ascertain on whose land were the mounds of No. 3. The ruins of all were quite prominent. We spent about two hours in the hot sun on the site of Fort Erie and the battles, examining the theatre of scenes described in this chapter, and sketching some of the ruins; and, returning to Black Ro^l^, we visited the site of the old navy yard,^ a lit- tle way up Shogeoquady Creek, and called on the venerable James Sloan, the last sur- ^ vivor of the captors of the Caledo- ^^ Cy ^/^ P '^^^ ^"'^ Adams in the aritumn of CJyCt/yyl-^ %7^^r!^0 Ci'^'y^ ^/^J'J'V- I8I2.2 He was then past sevcnty- ^^ one years of age. From his lips we lieard an interesting narrative of some of the events of that daring enterprise, illus- trative of the courage, fortitude, and skill of the actors. Leaving Mr. Sloan, we rode to the office of Dr. Trowbridge, of whom I have already spoken as a phyoician in Buffalo when the Bi'itish destroyed it. lie was seventy-five years of age, yet vigorous in mind and body. He gave us some interesting particu- lars of his own experience, and the bravery of the widow St. John. His son accom- ])anied us to the room of the City Councils, where wc saw the portrait of Mrs. Mer- rill (Miss Ransom), who was the first white child born in Western New York, on the domain of the Holland Land Purchase. At a late hour we returned, heated and weary, to'the delightful residence of Captain Champlin, in the midst of gardens, and dined. There I saw the elegant straight sword presented to the hero,^ and the rich- ly-caived easy-chair made of the wood of the Lawrence^ Perry's flag-ship, delineated on page 542. On the following morning" I rode out with Captain Champlin to a beau- ■ Angnst i6, tiful depository of the dead in the suburbs of Buffalo, called Forest Lawn '^^'^■ Cemetery. The ground is pleasantly undulating, is much covered with trees of the primeval forest, and is really a delightful resort during the heats of summer for those ' See page 385. ' See page 380. ' The following is the inscription on one side of the blade of the sword : " Stephen Champlin, Actino Sailins Mab- TiB, L\KK Eeik, 10th Skptkmbes, 1818." On the other side, " Ai.tics ibdnt <jue ad sumna niiunteb." Ill !:|' iii hit;'i .! '' * 111 848 PICTOlllAL FIELD-BOOK Buldlera' Mo iiiment. Other HonumenU, sod luwriptloni on them. ^■Jn*. ■ who are not saddened by the sight of graves. There, in an elevated open Hpaco, within ground one hundred loot Hiiuare, Hliglitly j^. closed, stands a fine monument of nmrlilo, twenty-two feet in height, whi<th was eroctcd by the corporate authorities of Buffalo in tlic autumn of 1852 in commemoration of several officers of the United States Army who were engaged in the War of 1812; also oj'a cele- brated Indian chief, and to mark the Hpot where the remains of over one thousand per- sons, which were removed from the city, lie buricd.i Near the nonumcnt (and seen in tlic foreground on the right) is a tomb of brick, bearing a recumbent slab of marble, over the grave of Captain Williams, who \ayt liis life at Fort Erie. The inscription on it is historical and briefly biographical.^ Southward of this is a handsomely-carved slab, lying on the ground, placed there in commemoration of a Connectic\it soldier killed in the battle of Niagara.^ Northeasterly of the monu- racnt is .-inother slab, over the grave of Captain Wattles ;* and south of it is another over the grave of Captain Dox.* Not far from this public monument, on a gentle, shaded slope, is the grave of Gen- eral Bennet Riley, who was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was distinguished in the Seminole War and the contest with Mexico, Over it is a handsome marble mon- ument, bearing a brief inscription.^ Near this, in the cool shadows of the treei, we BOI.IIIEBS ao.Nl'MllNT. ' The folloM'Ing are the insicriptinns on the monument : feat Side.— "In memory of Major Lodowick Morgn\' * Captain Alexander Williams, Captain Joseph Kenney, Captain Simeon D. Wattles, Captain Myndert M. Dox, and Sergeant Tay- lor,t officers of the United States Army, who were engaged in the War of 1S12." North .S'l'rfc.—" farmer's Brother, Chief of the Seneca Nation of Indiius."} South Side — "The remains of 1168 persons are bnried in this lot, all of wlilch were removed from the old bnriai-gronnd on the west side of Delaware Street, between Church and Eagle Street*, in the city of Buffalo." East Side.— " Erected Octobe , 18B2, by the Common Council of the City of Buffalo— Uiram Bar- ton, Mayor." » The following Is a copy of the inscription : " Sacred to the rae'^'ir- of Captain Alexander John Williams, of the Twcnty-flrst Regiment United States Artillery, son of Ocneral Jonui.hHii> and Marianne Williams, of the city of Phila- delphia, who was killed In the night attack by the British on For". Erie, August l-t-15, 1814. In the midst of the con- flict, a lighted port-flre In fi-ont of the enemy enabled them to direct their fire with great precision upon his company. lie sprang forward, cut it off with his sword, and fell mortally wounded by a musket-ball. lie eacriflced himself lo save his men. Born October 10, 1700. Died August IB, 1814. Fratri Dilecto." > His name is on the monument. The following inscription is on the slab: "Memorial tribute to Joseph Rlnney,of Norwich, Connecticnt, senior captain in the Twenty-flfth Regiment United States Army, shot through the breast althf battle of Bridgewater, July 25, 1814. To the friendship of George Colt, Esq., his relatives are indebted for his burial «; this place. Erected by a brother, July, 1829. « Ills name is on the monument. The following is the Inscription on the slab : "In memory of Captain Simeon I). Wattles, of the United States Army, who g killed In the memorable sortie of Fort Erie on the 17th of September, 1814, M. 33 years. As a Christian, he was pious and exemplary ; as a Soldier, brave and magnanimous ; as a Cltiseo, benevolent and sincere." Below this was a verse of poetry, but it was too much effaced to be deciphered. 'His name is on the monument. The following Is the inscription on tho slab : " The grave of Myndert M. Dox, late captain In the Thirteenth Regiment Uni'ed States Army, son of Peter and Catbalina Dox, of Albany. Bom JanaarjO, 1790. Died September a, 1830, in the forty-flrst year of his age." • The following is tho inscription: "Major General Bennet Rlley, United States Army. Died June 9, 1853, in tk sixty-sixth year of his age." General Riley was a native of Maryland, and entered the army as ensign in a rifle corps in January, 1813. He re- • Lodowick Morgan was a native of Maryland, and entered the army as second lieutenant in arifle corps In May, 1805. He was promoted to captatn in July, 1811, and to major In January, 1814. He was a very efficient officer, and received the highest praise for his conduct In repelling the British invasion near Black Rock on the Bd of August, 1S14, ^Iremlj mentioned in the text. He was killed, as we have seen. In a skirmish before Fort Erie on the 12lh of the same raonlh. t The graves of all of these, excepting Morgan and the sergf ant, as observed In the text, are marked by inscribed slab!. t Ho-na-ye-wuo, or Farmer's Brother, was a conspicuous contemporary of Cornplanter and Red Jacket. He was e^ teemed as one of the noblest of his race. lie was a warrior on principle and practice, spurning every art of civilized life. He was probably bom about the year 1T30. He was in the battle with Braddock in 1766, and during his whole life he was a foremost chief among the Senecas. He was eloquent in speech, and brave on the war-path. He died ii the autumn of 1314. { He was long at the bead of the Engineer Department of the United States Army, and was one of the fonadera of the Military Academy at West Point. See page 236. He superintended the constraction of many fortificatiuii& OF TIIK WAR OF 1812. 849 and luKTiptlonB on them. the Bight of gravi'8. open Bpaco, witli'm s<iviure, Hliglitly in- )iuiincnt of n>!iil)lo, i, which waH L'lTcti'il iics of Bufl'aio in tlic cmoration of sovt'iiil iteB Army wlio wito 1812; also ot' a cc'.o- i to mark tlie ^n<\ cr one thousand \m- ed from tho city, I'k iment (an<l focn in llic t) IB a tomb of briik, i\) of marble, over the m8,whoh->?'tl>islifeat tion on it is hisloriciil 1.2 Southward of this in commemoration of lieastcrly of the monu- 1 south of it is anotliiT no, is tho grave of Gcn- ,d was distinguished in handsome marble mon- ladows of the trwi, ^-e [;;j;;;i;^o^;M^kM^">' • cnptata „1ertM.Dox,an(l8erge«nlT.y. Z Church and Eagle SlreeUio theCUyofBuffalo-UlramBar- I Alexanrter John Williams, of tho ,Ve Williams, of the city of Phil- 1814 InthtmldBtoflhecoi,. real precision upon his compatiy. [eT-UTl. IleBacrlflccdhimBeKto torialtrlbnte to Joseph Klnaey.ol rny, shot through the breast ftth fves are indebted for his burW.; Iln memory of captain SlmcoDTi. Ke on the nth of September, fand magnanimous; as a Clti««, Ud to be deciphered. Idox, of Albany. BomJannaryO, lArmy. Died June 9, 1853, la the L corps In January, 1813^3«; fc^^iliit^i^rlfle corps In May, » I very efBclent officer, and rcccv^ loTthe3aofA«snst,W4,ulre»* Iteontheiathofthcsamcnonlb, lxt?are marked by inscribed si* Inter and Red Jacket. Hew ei- Ice spurning every art of cIvlM IrckTn 1T66, and during his «« lave on the war-path. Uediedin |y and was one of the founders of ftionofraanyfortlflcatloiiB. Sxpcdltlun of Captain liolmea into Canada. Battle at the Longwoodi. Lost Poats to be recaptorcd. QKNEIUI. KII.KV H MONIi'MKHT, UUVKALO. lingered some tinto, when a thunder-peal from the direction of l^ake Erie warned us of the ;ipproaeh of a Biimmor shower. We rodo back to tho city deli^'htod with tho morning's ex- perience, and between two and three o'clock I left for Niag- ara Falls in a railway coach, whore I arrived, as before ob- served, in the midst of a heavy thunder-storm. While tho events we have been relating were occurring on tho Niagara frontier, others of great importance were occur- ring in other portions of tho wide field of action, especially on Lake Champlain, and on and near the sea-coasts. Before we proceed to a consideration of these, let us take a hasty glance at movements in tho Northwest, which closed active military opcrr.tioiis in the region of the upper lakes. For many weeks after Harrison's victory on the Tliames nothing of great importance occurred in that region. The most stirring event was an expedition under Captain Holmes, a gallant and greatly beloved young officer, sent out by Lieu- tenant Colonel Butler in February," whore he was in temporary command at Detroit. It consisted of one hundred and sixty men, including artillerists, with two 6-pounders, and its object was the capture of Fort Talbot, a British outpost a hundred miles down Lake Erie from Detroit. Difficulties caused Holmes to change his destination, and he proceed- ed to attack another outpost at Delaware, on tho River Thames. In that movement, too, ho was fo'led by the watchfulness and strategy of the foe, who lured him from his expected prey. Finally they came to blow3 toward the evening of the 3d of March,'' at a place called the Longwoods, in Canada, where they fought more than an hour, and then each glaJly withdrew under cover of the night-shad- ows. In this aifair the Americans lost seven men in killed and wounded, while the enemy's loss, including the Indians, was much greater.* The expedition was fruitless of good to any body.^ In former cliapters we have a record of the capture of Fort St. Joseph and the post and island of Michillimackinack, or Mackina\7, by tho British, immediately preceding (and partly inducing) the fall of Detroit in the summer of 1812.^ The latter post, with all Michigan, as we have observed,* was recovered from the British in 1 81 3. For the better security of these acquisitions against British and Indian incursions. Gen- eral M'Arthur, the commandant of the Eighth Military District, caused works to be erected at the foot of Lake Huron, or head of the Straits or River St. Clair. It was called Fort Gratiot, iu honor of the engineer of that name who superintended its con- struction. The Americans were not contented with the recovery of Michigan only, but de- termined to recapture Mackinaw and St. Joseph. Tlie latter was the key to the vast traffic in furs with the Indians of tho Northwest, and tlie British, knowing its im- portance in its commercial and political relations to their American possessions, as resolutely resolved to hold it. Accordingly Lieutenant Colonel M'Douall was sent thither with a considerable body of troops (regulars and Canadian militia) and sea- mained in the army, and in 1828 was breveted a major for ten years' falthCal service. He was breveted a colonel for good conduct in Florida, brigadier general for his bravery at Cerro Oordo, and major general for his gallant conduct at Contreras. He was made military commander of the Department of Upper California, and was ex officio governor in 1349 and 1850. > Captain Holmes's Dispatch to Lieutenant Colonel Butler, March 10, 1S14. ' A similar expedition had been sent out by Butler a short time before. Butler was informed that a considerable . Dumber of regulars, Canadians, and Indians were collected on the River Thames, not far ftom Chatham. He sent Cap- tain Lee with a party of mounted men to reconnoitre, and, if feasible, to attack and disperse them. Lee gained the rear of the enemy nnobseTved, fell upon them, and scattered them in all directions. He took several of them prisoners. Smmg them was Colonel Babie (pronounced Bawbee), whose house, we have observed, was the hcad-qnarters of Gener- al Hull, and yet standing in the village of Windsor, opposite Detroit. See page 203. Colonel Babie had been a leader otindians in the invasion of the Niagara fhintier at the close of 1813. ' See Chapter XIV. < See page 667. SH ■ H60 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Kipedltion to tbe Upper Lskei. Operatluni at tha Haiit 8t. Mule. Battle on Mackliuw Inland. men, accompanied by twenty-four bateaux laden with ordnance. 'I lero ho found a hir<;<' body of Indiaim waiting to join him as allien. The Americans planned a land and naval expedition to the upper lakes ; and ho ciirly an April, when M'DduiiH O /^) /p went to Mackinaw, Conunander •?-^ ^2.,A^^ Arthur St. Clair waH placed in charge of a little squadron for tiic purpose, consisting of the Niagara, Caledonia, .^'. Lawrence, Scorpion, and Ti(jress, all familiar names in connection with Commodore Perry on Lake Krie. A land hnv under Lieutenant Colonel Croghan, the gallant defender of Fort Stephenson, was jjrc- pared to accompany the squadron. Owing to differences of opinion in Madison's Cabinet, the expedition was not in readiness until the close of June. It left Detroit at the Itegimung of July. Crmrhnn had five hundred regular troops and two hundred and fifty militia; and on the ar- rival of the expedition at Fort Gratiot on the 12th he was joined by the garrison of that post, composed of a regiment of Ohio Volunteers, under Colonel William Cot- greave. Captain Gratiot also joined the expedition. They sailed for Matcliadach Bay to attack a newly-established British post there. A lack of good pilots for the dangerous channels among islands, rocks, and shoals leading to it, and the perpetna! fogs that lay upon the water, caused them to abandon the undertaking after a weck'H trial, and the squadron sailed for St. Joseph, in the direction of Lake Superior. It anchored before it on the 20th. The post was abandoned, and the fort was commit- ted to the flames. This accomplished. Major Holmes, of the Thirty-second Ivfantry, and Lieutenant Turner, of the Navy, wore sent with some troops and cannon to de- stroy the establishment of the British Northwest Company at the Saut St. Marie, or Falls of St. Mary. That company had been from the beginning, because of its vital interest in maintaining the British ascendency among the Indian tribes, with whom its profitable traffic was carried on, the most inveterate and active enemy of the Americans. Its agents had been the most effective emissaries of the British author- ities in inciting the Indians to make war on the Americans; and, in every way, it merited severe chastisement at the hands of tliose whose friends had suffered from the knife and hatchet of the cruel savages. •July, Holmes arrived at St. Mary's on the 21 st* John Johnson, a renegade mag- **"• istrate from Michigan, and an Indian trader, who was the agent of the North- west Company at that place, apprised of his approach, fled with a considerable amount of property, after setting on fire the company's vessel above the Rapids. She was saved by the Americans,' but every thing valuable on shore that could not be carried away was destroyed. Holmes then returned to St. Joseph, when the whole expedi- tion started for Mackinaw, where it arrived on the 2(jth.'' It was soon ascer- tained that the enemy thore were very strong in position and numbers, and the propriety of an immediate attack was a question between Croghan and St. Clair. The post could not be carried by storm, nor could the guns of the vessels easily do much damage to the works, they were so elevated. It was finally decided that Cro- ghan should land with his troops ou the back or western part of the island, under cov- er of the guns of the ships, and attempt to attack the works in the rear. This was done at Dowsman's farm on the tth of August, without much molestation, but Cro- ghan had not advanced far before he was confronted by the garrison under M'Douall, who were strongly supported by Indians in the thick woods. M'Douall poured a storm of shot and flhell from a battery of guns upon the invaders, when the savages fell npon them. A sharp con3ict ensued, carried on chiefly on the part of the enemy by the Indians under Thomas, a brave chief of the Fallsovine tribe, when Croghan I They enoeavored to bring this regsel away with them, but ahe bilged while paasing down the Rapids, and was then destroyed. ' July. 'V.^Ll.v OF TUB WAR OF 18 12. 8S1 Bfttlle tin M»ckln«w Inland '1 icro ho found u upper lakes ; iiiid ho iril, when M'Doiiiill Lckinaw, Coimniuidir Jlair wan placed in ittlo squadron for tlic j^io/i,and 7VV/rcM,ull Erie. A land forcf, Stephenson, wiis pre- jxpcdition was not in iujr of July. Croirlian illitia; and on tlic ai- led by the garriHou of Colonel William Cot- sailed for Matchaducli ; of good pilots for tlic it, and the perpi'tiiiil crtaking after a wooli's 1 of Lake Superior. It d the fort was coniniit- Thirty-second l-ifantry, ■oops and cannon to do- t the Saut St. Marie, or ling, because of its vital idian tribes, witli whom id active enemy of tla- .8 of the British author- ; and,m every way, it lends had suffered from ohnson, a renegade mag- the agent of the North- h a considerable amount > the Rapids. She was ,hat could not be carried ivhcn the whole expcdl- th.^ It was soon asccr- lition and numbers, and . Croghan and St. Clair. of the vessels easily do jnally decided that Cro- ofthe island, under cov- in the rear. This was [^h molestation, but Cro- rarrison under M'Douall, !d8 M'Douall poured a aders, when the savages ?n the part ofthe enemy ne tribe, when Crogbn Blockade of Mackinaw. Capture of the blockading Veiaeli. Commander Jhamplln wounded. waH compelled to fall back and flee to the shipping, with the h)ss of the much-be- loved Major Holmes, who was killed, and Captains Van Horn and Desha, and Lieuten- ant Jackson, who were severely wounded. He also lost twelve private soldiers killed, lifty-two wounded, and two missing. The loss ofthe enemy is unknown. Croghan and St. Clair abandoned the attempt t<> take Mackinaw ; and as they were ahout to dep.irt, they heard ofthe successful cxpcditii^n of Lieutenant Colonel M'Kay, who, wltli nearly seven liundretl num, mostly Indians, had gone down the Wisconsin lliver and taken from the Americans the j)()st at Prairie du Chien, at the mouth of that stream.* Yet they were not disheartened, and resolved not to return . .T„iy n, to Detroit empty-handed of all success. They proceeded to the mouth of '^'^ the Nautawassaga River, assailed and destroyed a block-house three miles up from its mouth, and hoped to capture the schooner Nancy, belonging to the Northwest Company, and a quantity of valuable furs. They failed. The furs hnd been taken to a place of safety, and the schooner was burnt by order of Lieutenant Worseley, who was in command of the block-house. Very soon after this the scjuadron sailed for Detroit, with the exception of the 'PiQreas, Captain Champlin, and Scorpion, Captain Turner, which were left to block- ado the Nautawassaga, it being the only route by whicli provisions and other sup- plies might be sent to Mackinaw. They cruised about for some time, eflectually cut- ting off supplies from Mackinaw, and threatening the garrison with starvation. Their useful career in tliat business was suddenly closed early in September, when they were both captured by a party of British and Indians, sent out iu five boats (one mounting a long 6, and another a .3 pounder) from Mackinaw to raise the blockade, under the general command of Lieutenant Bulger, his second being Lieutenant Worse- ley. They fell first upon the Tiffress, off St. Joseph's, when her consort was under- stood to be fifteen miles away. She was at anchor near the shore. The attack was made at nine o'clock in the evening of the 3d of September. It was intensely dark, and they were within fifty yards of the Tigress when discovered. The assailants were warmly received, but in five minutes the vessel was boarded and carried by overwhelming numbers, her force being only thirty men, exclusive of oflicers, and that of the assailants about one hundred. " The defens') of this vessel," said Bulger, in his report of the affair, " did credit to her oflicers, whn were all severely wound- ed."' Her oflicers and crew were sent prisoners of wai .<j Mackinaw the next mom- ing.^ Bulger and his men remained on board the Tigress. Her position was unchanged, and her pennant was kept flying. On the 5th the Scorpion was seen approaching. Bulgor ordered his men to hide. The unsuspecting vessel came within two miles, and anchored for the night. At dawn the next morning** the Tigress , g ^^ . ran down alongside of her, and then the enemy, starting from his con- " *' cealment, rushed on ard, and in a few minutes the British flag was floating over her. The loss on eacl 3ide in these captures was slight. Vessels and prisoners were taken to Mackinaw, and their arrival produced great joy there. So exhausted Avere the supplies of the garrison that starvation would have compelled a surrender in less than a fortnight. These captures were announced with a great flourish by the Brit- ish authorities ; and Adjutant General Baynes actually stated, in a general order, that the vessels "had crews of three hundred men each !" He only exaggerated five hundred and seventy in stating the aggregate of the crews of the two schooners. Croghan and St. Clair reached Detroit, on their return, late in August, and for a while no military movement was undertaken in that region. At length General < Lient>snant Bulger to Lieutenant Colonel M'Douall, September T, 1814. Captain Champlin had his thigh-bone shat- tered by a ball In that fight, and he has not only been a cripple ever since, but a palnAU sufferer from a seldom-healed woand. In the jrear 1808 several pieces of bone were taken from his thigh. ' Chunplir's Report to Lieutenant Turner, commanding. !ll(l if,. ill !! I M' Arthur madu a terrifying raid into Canada. IIo had been ordered to raise mount- ed men for the purpose of chasti'-inK liie Indians around Lake Michigan, and on die 9th of October lie liad arrived at Detroit with about seven hundred mouMted men from Kentucky and OJiio, accompanied by Major Charles S. Todd as adjutant gen- eral. The critical Hituation of tlio American arniy under (eJcnoral Brown, at Fort Erie, at that time induced M'Arthur first to make a diversion in favor of that gcnicral. Accordingly, late in the month, ho left l)e:roit with seven hundred and iifty men and five field-pieces, and, to mislead the enemy, passed up Lake and River St. Clair toward Lake Huron. On the morning of the 20th ho suddenly crossed the St. Cliiir Ilivcr into Canada, pushed on to the thriving Baldoon settlement of Scotch faniilies, and then made his way as rapidly as possible to tlio Moravian Towns, on the scene of Har- rison's exploits a year before, spreading great alarm in Ids path. On the 4tli of No- vember ho entered the village of Oxford. He came unheralded, and tho inhabitants were greatly terrified. Ho disarmed and paroled the militia, and threatened instant destruction to the property of any one who should give notico to any British post of his coming. Two men did so, and their liouses were laid in ashes. On the follow- ing day lie pushed on to Burford, where the militia Avere casting up intrcncshmcnts. They fled at liis approach, and tho whole country was filled with alarm. Fear mag- nified the estimate of his number, and the story went before him that he had two thousand men in his train. H'aBTUIIB'8 BAtU, Burlington, at tlie head of Lake Ontario, was M' Arthur's destination. On ''.c pressed from Burford, but when ho arrived on the bank of the Grand River, at Brant ford, lie found his passage of that considei-able Btream disputed by a large force of the Six Nations who icsidod near, with militia and dragoons. He was informed tliat Major Muir was not far distant, in a dangerous defile on tho road to Burlington, wiili a considerable force of r jgulara and Indians, and some cannon. M'Arthur concludeil it would not bo prudent to aitempt to go farther eastward, so he turned down the Long Ponu Road, anr" proceeded to attack seme militia, who had a fortified cam]i at Malcolm's Mill, on the vTrund River. They fled at his appi-oach, and in liis piii suit of them M'Arthur killed and .^^ounded seven, and took one hundred and thirty one prisoners. His own loss was only one killed and six wonndsd. Tlie mill was bunied, with all the property in it. This accomj lished, the invaders pushed on to Dover, destroying several mills on the way, which were making flour for Drum- mond's army. There he was informed of the evacuation of Canada by Izard, aini of a web of perils that were gathering around; so he tunied his faco westward, aiul hastened toward Detroit, by way of St. Thomas and the Thames, pursued some dis- tance by eleven hundred British regulars. He arrived at Sandwich on the 17th of November, and there discharged his brave band. M' Arthur's raid was one of the boldest operations of the war. For almost foar weeks he had skurried hundreds of miles through the enemy's country, spreading alarm every where, and keeping the militia from Drummond's ranks ; destroying property here and there that might be useful to the enemy, and then returning to OP THE WAR OF 1813. 853 M'Anliur'i! UcluFD. iorcd to raise mount- Michigan, and on die Lunlrcul mounted )ncn o«ld aH adjutant )?(mi- iueral Brown, at Fori favor of that gciu'ral. Ired and iifty nun iuid River St. Clair toward lod the St. Cliiir llivcr )f Scotch fau\ilics, and 18, on the Bconeofllar- th. On the 4th of No- sd and the inhabitants and threatened instant ) to any Brititth post ni' ashes. On the foUow- ting up intrcn(!hmcnts. yrith alarm. Fcav niag- •0 him that ho had two r» 1I0H .^< '^^'^ jicbf'_^OTVCff Ir's destination. On ''p e Grand River, at Bratit ited by a large force of , He was informed that 1 road to Burlington, with n. M' Arthur concludeil I 80 he turned down tlie riio had a fortified oamp ippvoaeh, and in his pui- one Inmdred and tiiirty fvoundod. The mill A^as c invaders pushed on to making flour for Drum- ,f Canada by Izard, awl Ihis faco westward, aiul uimes, pursued some dis- ;andwichonthenthoi Ic war. For almost font Iray's country, spreading Iond'8 ranks; destroying ly and then returning to M'Arthnr'B Bravery and Qu-T'^oiliy. the place of departure with the loss of only one life I' lie was generous n^* well as bold; and ho ])ublicly acknowledged that nmch of his Huc<^eHH was due " t' die mili- tary talents, activity, and intelligence of Major Todd," his adjutant general, who yet [1807] lives in liis native Kentucky, in the vigor of a green old age. I M'Afc'j'8 UUUtry of the late War in the Weeteru Co\.ntru, page 440. annul. wumsLU eoorr im 1860. § Ill \ ll. il llji PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK General Izard in Command In Northern New York. Napoleon's Fortunes change. Washington Benevolent Societiea. CHAPTER XXXVH "Hail to the day which, in splendor retnmlDg, Lights r;a to conqaest and glory agair I Time, hold that year I Still the war-totcb was bnmlng, And threw its red ray on the waves of Champlain. Roused by the spirit that conquered for Perry, Danntless Macdonongh advanced to the fray ; Instant the glory that brightened Lake Erie Burst on Champlain with the splendor of day. Loud swells the cannon's roar On Platt^bi.rg's bloody shore, Britons retreat trua the tempest of war, Prevost deserts the field, While thj gallant ships yield ; Victory ! glory, Colnmbiuis, huzza I" Old Bono— Ebix Ain> CaAjiPt.AtN. (ROM the Niagara frontier and the portion of the Army of the North engaged there we will now turn to the consideration of the events upon Lake Champlain and its vicinity during the year 1814, where the other portion of that army was in active servico. "We have already taken a brief glance at military oi> erations in that quarter to the close of the campaign of the pre- vious year, A/hen General Wilkinson, relieved of command, re- tired from the army, and General Hampton, another incompe- tent, also left the service for his country's good.' His lieutenant. General George • May 4, Izard, of South Carolina, was soon afterward* placed in command of the right 1314. wing of the Army of the North, with a competent staff,'* and made his head- quarters at Plattsburg. Since the opening of the campaign in the spring a great change had occurred ir. the aspect of foreign affairs — a change which made a deep impression on the Ameri- can mind in its contemplations of the war. We have already alluded to the disasters of Napoleon at Leipsic in the autumn of 1813. Notwithstanding brilliant achieve- ments on his part after that, the Allied Powers finally pushed him back, and not only confined him to the soil of France, but hemmed him and his army almost within thf walls of Paris. There was no chance for his escape. On the 3l8t of March, 1814, the Emperor of Russia and the Duke of Wellington entered the city as conquerors, and on the 11th of May Napoleon abdicated the throne of France and retired to the island of Elba.^ His downfall was hailed with great joy, not only in Europe, but by the great Federal party in the United States,* who considered his ruin as the most > See page 6ST. » Brigadier Qenera! Winder, just exchanged, was appointed his chief of staff; Alexander Macomb and Thomas A. Smith were bis brigadier generals ; William CumiLing was adjutant general, and H^jor Joseph G. Totten was cliief engineer. » The fickle populace of Paris received the conquerors of Napoleon with acclamations of Joy, and the French Sena(c lsi.ely Napoleon's pliant instrument, now declared that, by arbitrary acts and violations of the Constitution, he bsd for- feited his right to the throne. * The Wathington Benevolent Societies' (Federalist associations) had made Napoleon'c dlsasterB the subject of orttiosi • These Washington Benevolent Societies originated in Philadelphia very soon after the declaration of war In the summer of 1812. They were political organizations, with attractive social and benevolent features. The first orgaB- ization was frilly comr'ated on the i9.d of February, 1818, under the title of the Washington Benevolent Society of Pennsylvania, and each member was required to sign the Constitution and the following declaration . " We, each of m, do hereby declare that we a>e firmly attached to the Oonstitntion of the United States and to that of Pennsylvania ; to the principles of a f^ee republican government, and to those which regulated the public conduct of Oeobox Wabuiiio' TON ; vhat we will, eacii of as, to the best of our ability, and so far m may be consistent with our rellgtoas prhiciplo OF THE WAR OF 1812. 855. Ington Benevolent Societies. Q )n of the Army of the to the consideration of its vicinity during the liat army was in active f glance at military oi> he campaign of the p^^ ilieved of command, re- ipton, another incompe- tenant, General George in command oi tiie right aff,'^ and made his head- change had occurred ir. ipression on the Ameri- alluded to the disasters inding brilliant achieve- him back, and not only army almost within ihv ;he 31st of March, 1314, the city as conque^o^, ■ranee and retired to the t only in Europe, but hy •ed his ruin as the .nost Lander Macomb and ThonwiA^ \aJor Joseph G. Totten was chief InBofjoy. and the French Sen,tf. Inii of the ConBtUntlon, he h»d for- L dUaaterB the subject oforaUw tj^T^d^dmtto^ war In te Volent featnres. The flrst organ- bashlnRton Benevolent Society of P„gdeclaration.''We,eacbof^ Land to that of Pennsylvania; to Lie conduct of GkoeokWasbt.^ Lent with our rcliglouB principle- The Downfall of Napoleon celebrated. English Troops releaxed for Service !•? America. damaging blow that could be given to their political opponents and the war party. Pulpits, presses, public meetings, and social entertainments were pressed into the serv- ice as proclaimers of their satisfaction, notwithstanding it was evident that the release thereby of a large British army from service on the Continent would enable the com- mon enemy to send an overwhelming force across the Atlantic that might crush the American armies, and possibly reduce the states to British provinces. Their hopes and the limit of their wishes doubtless were that the changed aspect of foreign af- fairs, and the consciousness of the great peril that might reasonably be apprehended, would cause the administration to seek peace on any terms. They were mistaken, as the se "uel will show. The retirement of Napoleon to Elba did release from Continental service a large body of English troops, and several thousands of them were immediately dispatched to Canada to re-enforce the little army there. They were sent from the Garonne, in Spain, and many of them were Wellington's veterans, hardy and skillful. They ar- rived at Quebec late in July and in August," aad were rapidly pushed up to Montreal. In the mean time, the forces under T i-evost, the Governor of Cana-- * **"' da and general-in-chifif, had been very busy in preparations for an invasion of New York, and the little flotilla in the Richelieu, or Sorel River, h>d been greatly aug- mented in numbers and strength during the winter and spring. '' b igu. On the 9th of May" General Izard was informed that the enemy were in mo- " ism. tion below. Captain Pring, of the Royal Navy, was moving up the Sorel in the brig Linnet as his flag-ship, accompanied by five armed sloops aad thirteen row-galleys. On the following day he anchored his flotilla behind Providence Island, in Lake Cham- plain, where he remained until the 1 Sth,"* preparing for an attack on the Amer- ican flotilla, then nearly ready for .,ea at Vergennes, in Vermont, at the head *^' of the navigation of Otter Creek.' Captain Macdonough, who was in comr land of the little squadron, was apprised of this movement, and sent Lieutenant Cassin, with a party of seamen, to reenforce Captain Thornton, who had been ordered from Bur- lington with a detachment of light artillery to man a battery of seven 12-poundera and toasts on the anniversary of Washington's birthday (22d of February, 1814) ; and in Albany, where the Dutch ele- ment was very predominant in the population, the emancipation of Holland from hU thrall was celebrated. 'Relig- ions eervlces we.e held in the Dutch church on the occasion, and a sermon was preached by the pastor, Rev. Dr. Brad- ford. These were followed by a dinner at the Eagle Inn. General Stephen Van Rensselaer prerided, assisted by John H. Wendell as vice-president. Several songs were sung, and toasts given. In Dutch. Ill June and July foiloiving, the downfall of Napoleon was celebrated in several of the commercial cities of the United Slates. In Boston and New York It was celebrated by religious ceremonies and public dinners. In New York the dinner was In the Washington Hotel, thei i the principal pnblic house in the city, which stood on the siie of Stewart's marble store, on Broadway, between ChaiUbers and Reade Streets. It was on ';he 2»th of June. Three hundred geu- tlemen sat down to the table. Ruths King presided. The vice-presidents were Generals Nicholas Fish, Ebenezer Ste- vens, Mr. Clarkson, John B. Coles, and Comelins J. Bogart. All the foreign consuls but the French were present. Richard Stockton, of New Jersey, gave as a toast : " Louis XVIII., King of France and Na.arre, heir-at-law to Ameri- can gratitude." On the 4th of July the event was celebrated by religious services and publi'; dinners. Rev. Timothy Dwight, Presi- dent of Yaie College, presided at a dinner at Butler's Hocel, In Hartford, where one hundred gentlemen were assembled at table. Among the toasts were the following : "The Minority i,% Congre^.—Uaa they appealed to patriots they would have been heard." "The Administration.— VroAlgtd enough, but too proud to return." " The Rcnjal Family of Trance.— Oxa friends in adversity, we rejoice at their prosperity." " The Democratic Party of America If not satisflec? with their own country, they may seek an asylum in the island ofBlbn." < The flotilla then at Vergennes consisted of the following vessels : 1 ohip of 20 guns, 1 schooner of 20 guns, 2 sioops ofs, 6 row-galleys uf 2, and 4 gun-boats of 1 each. rciipcctively, preserve the righto and liberties of our country against all foreign and domestic violence, A-aud, and asnr- lution ; and that, as members of the Washington Benevolent Society, we will in all things comply with its regulations, support Its principles, and enfcrce its views." .''lie Itands of the society were used for the purposes of charity among Its members and their familiep, and for other parpos-q which might be prescribed. They had anni.drsary dinners ou 'he birthday of Washington. Such econ- nmy was used '.bat all the members might afford to participate in the festivities. The cost of the dinner to each, with a bfluDtiftil supply of beer and choice ardent spirits, wa.' seventy-flve cents. They built Washington Hall, on the weal i^iile nf Third Street, between Walnut and Spruce Streets It was dedicated with religious ceremonies, led by Bishop White, in the autumn of 1816. These associations rapidly maltiplied throughout the country di^ring the war, but dis- appeared with the demise of the old Federalist party. *i ii Wl^ Ki m nw.-.i-iu i I it i! -vf-- struggle for the Control of Lake Cbaraplaln. on sea-carriages at the mouth of the creek. Governor Chittenden also ordered out a brigade of Vermont militia to oppose the thi eatened invasion ; and when, on the morning of the 14th, eight ofPring's gal- leys and a bomb-sloop anchored off thu mouth of the creek, they found ample preparations for their reception. A brisk fire was opened from the battery. It was answered from the water, and for more than an hour a cannonade was kept up, when the British vessels were driven off. They then entered the Bouquet River for the purpose of destroying flour at the falls of that stream. On their return they were compelled to run the gauntlet of a sho^ver of bullets from some militia who had has- tily assembled. Many of the British were killed and wounded. Foiled and disheart- ened, Pring returned to Isk awx, Nou a wiser man, for he had learned tliat even in Vermont, whose governor was a zealous member of the " Peace Par- ty," the people were ready to fight the common enemy any where. A few days afterward Macdonough sailed out of the creek with his flotilla, and anchored it in Cumberland Bay, off Plattsburg. Both parties now prepared for a struggle for supi-emacy on Lake Champlain. The British, as we have observed, had adopted in a degree the plan of Burgoyne for sep- arating New England from the rest of the Union, while the Americans were as de- termined to resist the meditated invasion at the very threshold, and defend the lake region and the valley of the upper Hudson at the gates of Canada. Both parties were also le-enforced during the remainder of May, and General Izard caused a bat- tery of four 1 8-pounder8 to be planted on Cumberland Head instead of at Rouse's Point, at the entrance to the Sorel River, as directed by the Secretary of War,' and urged by Major Totten, his chief engineer. At the middle of June Izard disposed his troops for a movement into C&nada. He sent Brigadier General Thomas A. Smith, with a light brigade of about fourteen hund- red men, to occupy the village of Champlain,^ five miles below the Canada line. Col- onel Pearce, of the Sixteenth, was at Chazy with about eight hundred men composed of consolidated regiments, and about twelve hundred men occupied the cantonment at Plattsburg, on the peninsula between the lake and the Saranac, the works on Cum- berland Head, and a position at Dead Creek, about two miles below Plattsburg, Macdonough, with his flotilla, was below Cumberland Head, watching the little Brit- ish squadron, which lay at the Isle aux TStes. The British had thirty-six hundred troops at La Colle ; Meuron's Swiss regiment, a thousand strong, was at L'Acadie, am! two brigades of artillery and three hundred cavalry were at Chambly, making a total of five thousand five hundred and fifty men. There was also a reserve of two thou- sand regulars at Montreal. There was feverishness among the people and the soldiery along the Canada bor- j der, which was frequently manifested. The armed belligerents were eager for a trial > Letter of the Secretary of War, May 2^ 1814, In Izard'e Official Correapondenee, page 28. « This brigade was composed of the Fourth and Tenth Regiments eonsolldnted, and commanded by Colonel Pnrdr, the Twelfth, under Major Morgan, Lieutenant Colonel Porgyth'g riflemen, and a company of artillery under Captali Branch, OF THE WAR OF 1812. 857 antrol of Lake Chumplain. mouth of the creek, also ordered out a lilitia to oppose the and when, on the sight of Pring's gal- »p anchored off thu they found ample reception. A brisk the battery. It was ivater, and for more lonade waa kept up, ;8el8 were driven off. le Bouquet River for lying flour at the falls iieir return they were gauntlet of a sliONvei' , militia who had lias- ny of the British were Foiled and dishcart- med to Isle mix Noix r he had learned that t, whose governor .vas ,er of the "Peace Par- vere ready to hght the mgh sailed out of the ■ Plattsburg. ^ake Champlain. The fofBurgoyneforsep- ^ericans were as dc- d and defend the lake Janada. Both parties ral Izard caused a bat- instead of at Rouse's Secretary of War,' and nent into Canada. He of about fourteen hund- r the Canada line. Col- nundred men composed [cupied the cantonment Inac, the works on Cum- liles below Plattsburg. Latching the little Brit- Ihad thirty-six hundred Ig.wasatL'Acadie.anu kambly, making a total a reserve of two thou- I along the Canada bor- Its were eagerfoi^a^' f^~^dedl.y colonel Pn^^ '.pany of artUIery under CapUlB Inrailon of Canada. Death of Forsyth. Vengeance. Preparations to meet an Invasion ttom Canada. of prowess. Finally, on the 22d of June, Lieutenant Colonel Forsyth, the accom- plished partisan commander, with seventy riflemen, crossed the frontier line, and at a little hamlet northwesterly from Rouse's Point, called Odell Town, ho was attacked by two hundred of the niemy's light troops. Forsyth heat thera ofl^, and retired in rrood order to Champlain with the loss of one man killed and Ave wounded. A few (lays afterward he was again sent in that direction for the purpose of drawing the enemy across the lines. He formed an ambuscade, and then sent a few men forward !i8 a decoy. They were soon met, and immediately fell back, followed by Cantain Mahew and one hundred and fifty Canadians and Indians. When the pursuers were near the ambuscuuc, Forsyth stepped upon a log to watch the movement, when he was shot through the breast by an Indian. His mvjn immediately arose, and poured such a deadly tire upon the foe that they retreated in wild confusion, leaving seven- teen of their dead upon the field. Forsyth was greatly be- loved by his followers. Hot- ly incensed because of the employment of savages by the British, they resolved to avenge the death of their own leader by taking the life of the leader of the In- dians. A few days after- ward some of thera crossed the line and shot Mahew, that leader. He was taken to the house of Judge Moore, in Champlain,' where he died about a week afterward.^ Skirmishing along the bor- der was a frequent occurrence, but no movement of importance took place until the close of July, when General Macomb's brigade, composed of the Sixth, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-ninth Regiments, embarked in boats at Cumberland • jniy 31, Head* for Chazy Landing, at the mouth of Chazy Creek. On the same day ^^^*' General Bissell's brigade, composed of the Fifth, Fourteenth, Thirtieth, Thirty-first, Thirty-fourth, and For- ty-fifth Regiments, started for Chazy Village by land. /^^^/^ • Two hundred effective men and a corps of invalids of y/^yA^/j^ /^^ Macomb's brigade were left to complete the works on ca^-^^^^^c/^^f^l^^ Cumberland Head, and a fatigue party four hundred £ strong, taken from Bissell's brigade, was left in command ' of Colonel Fenwick to complete three redoubts on the peninsula between the lake and the Saranac River at Plattsburg. There were now four thousand five hundred effective men ut Champlain, within five miles of the Canada border. But these were few compared to the numbers of the enemy, which were constantly augmenting. During the months of July and August not less than fifteen thousand troops, chiefly veterans from Wellington's armies, as we have observed, arrived at Montreal. Only one brigade was sent westward, and the remainder were kept in reserve for the con- templated invasion of New York, in such overwhelming force as to overbear all op- I This honsL, the residence of the late Judge Pliny Moore, is a fine old mansion on a pleasant shaded slope in the tU- Isge of Champlain, not far n-om the banks of the Big Cbazy, Just north of the bridge, in the village. It was the bead- qnarters of the British commander whenever that village was occnpled by him ; and Dearborn, Wilkinson, and Izard were in turn sojourners under its -oof. This is from a sketch made by the author in 1860. It was then the residence of Pliny, son of Judge Moore. * Palmer's Hittory qf Lake Champlain, page 184. JDDOU MOOKES uocsi:. m !*lf ti!i t ' mm^ |f:i||! till Mi 8A8 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK PrevoBt comma.itiing In Person. Alarmlcg Order from the War Department. Izard's Protojt. position. These newly-arrived troops were encamped in the level country between Laprairie on the St. Lawrence, and Chambly on the SoreL Very soon after the advance of the Americans to Chazy and Champlain, Sir George Prevost* arrived at the Isk aux Noix, where he had concentrated a considerable body of veterans, and took chief command in person- and strong detachments of seamen were sent from Quebec, by order of Sir James L, Yeo, to strengthen the naval power at the same place. It was evident that a speedy invasion of Northern New York was in contemplation ; and yet, with full informa- tion on the subject, the American government, as if fearful of a conqueiit of Canada whenever a spirited general was in command near assailable points,'* ordered Izard at that critical moment, when danger was never more apparent, to march a larger portion of his force westward to co-operate with the Army of Niagara. It was an open invitation to invasion ; and the army and people, expecting a great battle soon at the foot of Lake Champlain, and hoping for a decisive victory, were astonished by the ordei. The disappointed Izard could scarcely restrain his indignation. On the 11th of August he wrote: "I will make the movement you direct, if possible ; but I shall do it with the apprehension of risking the force under my command, and with the certainty that every thing in this vicinity but the lately erected works at Platts- burg and Cumberland Head will, in less than three days after my departure, be in the possession of the enemy. He is in force superior to mine in my front ; he daily threatens an attack on my position at Champlain ; we are all in hourly ex- pectation of a serious conflict. . . . Let me not be supposed to hesitate about ex- ecuting any project which the govern- ment I have the honor to serve think proper to direct. My little army will do its duty."^ Izard continued to protest against the movement as unwise and perilous,* but, like a true soldier, he made preparations for it as speedily as his limited transpor- tation would allow. He set about four thousand men in motion by the way of the head of Lake George, Schenectady, and the Mohawk Valley,* and, as we have observed, arrived with them at Sackett's Harbor at the middle of the month, and immediately started a portion of them by land and wa- > Gteorge Prevost was bom In the city of New York on the 19th of May, ITflT. His father was a native of Genevj, Switzerland. His mother way a Dutch woman. He was created an Bnglish baronet in 1805. » See note S on page 2B9. ' Izard's Official Correspondence, pnije 65. ♦ Ou the 20th of August Izard wrote to the Secretary of War : " I must not be responsible for the consequences of abandoning my present strong position. I will obey orders and execute them as well as I know how. Miijor Qenenil Brisbane commands at Odell Town. He is said to have t>etween five and six thousand men with him. At Cbambl; m ■aid to tie about four thousand." > This route was chosen because the uppSr route by Chateangay and Ogdensbnrg would be altogether ton perilnns. He submitted the question of route to his offlcers, who decided unanimously to goby the way of Schenectady.— See Iiard'i Official Correspondence, page T3. ^>-t?-£yZ^ OF THE WAR OK 1812. 850 Izard'B Proteat. The Militia called out. Concentration of Troops near Platteburg. The British invading Force. rel country between I father was a native of Ocmth, ■> 1806. Iclal Corresponacnce, pase 65. Insible for the consequences of si know how. Mnjor General Inen with him. AtChamblysre gibe altogether too perilnns. Hf fay of Schenectady. -See Imd« Soptsmber IT, 1814. ter* for the Niagara front- ier,' He left all his sick and convalescents, and about twelve hundred effective men, to garrison Piatt's Point, as the peninsula was called, and Cumberland Head. In obedience to an order of the War Department, he made a requisition upon Major General Mooers, the commander of the militia in that district, for the assembling, without delay, of one regiment of infantry and one troop of light dragoons at the vil- lage of Chazy, riflemen to be accepted as infantry. Brigadier General Alexan- der Macomb was left in chief command, with his head-quarters at Plattsburg. Immediately after General Izard left, Macomb concentrated all his troops at Plattsburg, and worked vigorously in preparations for de- fense. He had, at the close of August, about three thousand five hundred troops under his control,'' but they were in a weak condition, for there was only on'- organized battalion among them, and full fourteen hundred of them were invalids and non-combatants. The garrisons at the different points were composed of convaleiicents and new recruits ; the condition of the ordnance and stores was chaotic, and the defensive works were all unfinished. On the day when Izard hift his camp at Champlain,'' General Brisbane <• August 29. advanced from Odell Town, and occu- _ -£r; ^--: pied that village and its vicinity ; and on the 3d of September full fourteen thousand British troops were gathered there, under the jicneral command of Sir George Prev:ot, assisted by General De Rottenburg as his second. There he avowed his intention to take and hold possession of the country as far down as Ticonderoga; and he issued orders and proclamations inviting the people to cast off their allegiance to their government, and to furnish him with supplies. On the following day they moved forward to Chazy Village ; and on the 5th they encamped near Sampson's, now (1867) oc- bami'son's.' > See page 844. » These troops were composed of detachments of the regiments that had left, amounting to TO in namber; Captain Leonard's company of light artillery, 100 ; Cnpta'n M'Glassin's company of the Fifteenth Regiment, 60 ; the Sixth, Tvrenty-ninth, Thirtieth, Thirty-third, and Thirty-fourth BeglmenU, 1771 s Captain Spronll's detachment of the Thir- teenth Regiment, 200 ; sick and invalids, HOi ; two companies of artillery under Captain Alexander Brooks ; and abont 200 infantry on board the fleet serving as marines. ' This is a view of the Sampson House looking north toward Chazy, which is six miles distant. It Is brick, and when I sketched it in 1860 It was stUl a Uvem, and kept by Mr. Harvey Bromley. The old barn, just as it was in 1814, it Been Just beyond the house. / 1/ I li!P ii. ' •H 860 PICTOllIAL FIELD-BOOK IndlcatioiB of an Advance of the Brltteb Army. Poiltlon of American Worka at Plattaburg. cupiccl as a tavern, about eight miles from Plattsburg. Captain Pring, with the British squadron, moved at the same time, anchored oSJsle la Motte, and on the wost side of that island erected a battery of three long 18-pounders to cover the landing of supplies for Prevost's troops. Macomb, at the same time, was straining every muscle at his command in preparations for defense, for the impressment of trains by the British at Champlain and Chazy, and loading wagons with heavy baggage, indi- cated a speedy advance upon Plattsburg. By great exertions (the soldiers working day and night), the redoubts and block-houses were completed and manned before the enemy appeared before them, for he made short and cautious marches. These were on the high level peninsula between the Saranac and the lake, gently sloping toward the latter. The redoubts were on a curved line across the neck of tho penin- sula, and were named respectively Forts Brown, Moreau,' and Scott. The first- named stood on the bank of the river, at its head, about ha'f way between the lower bridge at the village and near its mouth, and the upper bridge, a mile higher up, ou the road leading to the Salmon River. Fort Moreau, the principal work, was hal<" way between the river and the lake, fifty rods eastward of Fort Brown ; and Fort Scott was near the bank of the lake. Northward of it were store-houses and a hos- pital Between the lower bridge, and some distance above Fort Brown, the right bank of the Saranac is steep, and from fifty to sixty feet in height ; and about sixty rods above the lower bridge it is cleft by a deep ravine that extends from the river almost to the lake. Near this ravine a block-house was built, and on the point near Foquet's Hotel, overlooking the modem steam-boat landing, was another block-house. At the mouth of the river, a short distance from the lower bridge, stood (and yet stands) a stone mill, which served an excellent defensive purpose. To create a spirit of emulation and zeal among the troops, General Macomb di- if'^Tftiul • Port Moreaa was named by Izard in honor of a celebrated French genera' of that name, whom Bonaparte exiled flrom France becanse of hia snppoaed complicity with Fichegro and others In a conspiracy against the newly-created emperor. He remained In the United States nine years. The Bmperor Alexander invited him to Russia, and while en- gaged in his military service, near Dresden, a cannon-ball f^om Napoleon's guard broke both his legs, ttom the effects of which he died. Hacomb gave the names of Brown and Scott to the other two redoubts, in honor of those two offi- cers, whose gallantry on the Niagara (h>ntier had won his admiration. OF THE WAtt OF 1812. 861 ican Work! at Plattiburg. in Pring, with the tte, and on the wi'st ) cover the landing r&B straining every ssment of trains by eavy baggage, inili- he soldiers working and manned before us marches. These lake, gently sloping le neck of the penin- 1 Scott. The first- f between the lower , a mile higher up, on icipal work, was haK ort Brown ; and Fort ore-houses and a hos- 'ort Brown, the right ght ; and about sixty xtends from the river ind on the point near I another block-house, ridge, stood (and yet je. General Macomb di- ame, whom Bonaparte exiled •ttcy against the newly-created Tl htm to RuBBla, and while en- rboth hlB legs, from the effectt Its, In honor of those two oil- Occupants of the Plattsburg Forts. Puaitlon of the Troops. The British advance on Plattsbnrg. vided them into detachments, declaring in orders that each detachment was the gar- rison of its own work, and bound to finish it and defend it to the last extremity. Colonel Melancthon Smith,* with the Sixth and Twenty-ninth Regiments, was placed in command of Fort Moreau. Fort Brown was intrusted to Lieutenant Colonel Storrs, with detachments of the Thirtieth and Thirty-first Regiments ; and Major Vinson, with the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Regiments, garrisoned Fort Scott Captain Smith, of tlio Rifles, with a part of his company and the convalescents, occu- pied the block-house near the ravine ; and Lieutenant Fowler, with a detachment of artillery, held the block-house on the Point. The light artillery, under Captain Leon- ard, were ordered to annoy the enemy whenever and wherever an opportunity should oftcr. The main body of Macomb's nrmy lay within tlie triangular portion of the peninsula formed by the ravine, the river, and the lake. When the British advanced to Chazy, Macomb ordered Captain SprouU to take a position near Dead C»-^ek Bridge, on the lake road, with two hundred of the Thir- teent' Regiment'' and two field-pieces, while Lieutenant Colonel Appling, the hero ofSai.ay Creek, was sent farther in advance, with a little more than a hundred rifle- men, and a troop of New York Cavalry under Captain Stafford and Lieutenant M. M. Siandish. Their business was to watch and annoy the enemy, and obstruct his marcii by felling trees in the road. It was theiv appearance that caused his Jialt at Sampson's. General Mooers had called for the entire militia force of his district to repel the invasion, and Macomb made an earnest appeal for troops to Governor Chit- tenden, of Vermont. On the evening of the 4th Mooers had seven hundred men imder his command, and with them, by order of Macomb, he advanced a few miles northward on the Beek- mantown Road, on an errand similar to that of Sproull and Appling. He was in- structed to watch the enemy, skirmish with his vanguard, break up the bridges, and obstruct the roads with felled trees. He went forward on the morning of the 5th, and bivouacked that night near the stone church in Beekmantown. On the morning of the 6th the British army, full fourteen thousand strong, mostly veteran troops, marched upon Plattsburg in two columns from their encampment near Sampson's, the right crossing over to the Beekmantown Road, and the left fol- lowing the lake shore that led to Dead Creek Bridge. General Edward Baynes was the adjutant general, and Sir Sidney Beckwith, who was conspicuous at Hampton and in Hampton Roads the previous year,' was quartermaster general. The right column was composed of General Powers's brigade, supported by four companies of light infantry and a half brigade under Ma- jor General Robinson. The left was composed of General Brisbane's brigade, and was led by > Uelancthon Smith was commissioned a mnjor of the Twenty- ninth Infantry on the 20th of February, 1818, and was promoted to colonel on the 12th of April following. He left the army at the close of the war, and died at Plattsburg on the IBth of Au- gast, 1818. In the eastern extremity of the old bnrial-gronnd at Plattsburg I found his grave in 18(X>, and at the bead of it an elab- orately-wrought tombstone, of bine limestone, on which is the following Inscription : "To the memory of Colonel Mkiabotiion Sxnu, who died Angnet 18, 1818, aged 38 years. As a testimony of respect for his virtues, and to mark the spot where rests the athes of an excellent Father, this stone is erected by his son Rion- siu. United with many masculine virtues, he had a tear for pity, and a hand open as day for melting charity." ' This was always a famous regiment. We first met portions of It following the gallant Captain Wool up Queenston Heights. See page 897. At this time [1867] only three of its offlcers enr- vive, namely. Major General Wool, Dr. M'Call (then surgeon's mate, and now superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum at Utica), and Captain Myers, mentioned in the note on page C51. ' See page 683. 1 ■ \ V) •■» COLOnn. BMITU'S MOMCIUUIT. n v\ , i . f i 1< y ... set PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Mi\)ur W<H)1 gent tci meet the Brltlah. A Hkirmlah at Beekmantown. BngaKement on Calver'n Hill. Ilim in person. The whole were under the immediate command of Major General De Uottenburg. Macomb was informed of this movement being in contemplation on the eveninjr of the 5th, and prepared to meet it. The gallant Major John E. Wool, ever ready tor a daring enterprise, volunteered to lead some regulars to support the militia and on. }»ose the advance of the foe. At about the time in the early morning of the fltli when the British broke camp at Sampson's, Wool moved from Plattsburg with two hundred and fifty regular infantry and thirty volunteers, with orders to set the mi- litia an example of firm- ness. This was done. He reached IJeckinan- town before the oni'inv appeared, and took po- sition near the residence of Ira Howe. There tiie first collision occurred. The enemy came march- ing on rapidly, anticipa- ting no resistance, wiien they were suddenly checked by a heavy vol- ley of musketry from Wool's little corps. Tiie militia broke and fled toward Plattsburg, but the regulars stood firm. The enemy was in over- whelming numbers, but Wool moved slowly back toward Culver's Hill, disputing the way inch by inch in desperate skirmishing:. On that hill, a short distance below Beekmantown, he made a stand, and as the British advance ascended the slope, fill- ing the entire road, he made another gallant attack upon them. Some of the militia had been rallied, and were in position behind the stone wall that bounded the road.' The enemy's advance was driven back upon the main body, and their leader. Lieu- tenant Colonel Willington, of the Third Regiment of Buff's, and Ensign Chapman of the same regiment, were killed.' Captain Westropp, of the Fifty-eighth, was severe- ly wounded. Captain Partridge, of the Essex militia, and several other Americans. were killed. The fight was severe, but very short. The heavy column of the enemy came pressing steadily onward with irresistible force, filling the entire roadway. At the same time Wool discovered a formidable movement to turn his flank and gain his rear, when he again fell back in order to Halsey's Corners, within a mile and a half of Plattsburg Bridge. There he was joined at about eight o'clock in the morning by Captain Leonard with two pieces of artillery. These were immediately placed in battery at an angle in the road. They were masked by Wool's infantry and a small body of militia, and as the enemy came steadily on in heavy mass, Leonard opened Tipon them, and his balls cut fearful lanes through their ranks. Three times that battery hurled its deadly missiles through the lines of the foe, yet it did not check them. The British bugles sounded, and the men, throwing away tlieir knapsacks, rushed forward at double quick to charge with the bayonet. Leon- ard was compelled to fly toward the village. He carried his guns with him, turning > This honee was the residence of Mr. Joel Smith when I visited Beekmantown in 1860. It was naed as a bospiul, with others, after the skinnigh there and at Calver's Hill. > This heavy stone wall, bnilt by some Vermonters before the war, was yet standing when I rode over Calrer's Dill in the gammer of 1860. ' To Samuel Terry, who was living at Pern, Clinton County, New York, is awarded the fame of having shot Willlngloii. IKA UUWK H, UKGKliA^TUWN. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 803 gagement on CaWer'a Rill. i of Major Gciu'ral the lines of the foe, men, throwing away the bayonet. Leon- Bins with him, turning lot of tba Britl*b. They praw on tu Plattibarg. PIght In and near the Village. Otone-mlll Ctudel. IBAAO O. PLATT'd RKBII>KNUE.> them occasionally upon the ptirsuing foe, and, crossing the Saranac at the lower bridge, he pluntod thoni in battery on a gentle eminence in tlie roatl, near the stone mill, to co\er the crossing of the rest of the Americans if they should find it neces- sary to retreat. In the affair at Ilalsey's Corners several of the British were killed. Among them was Lieu- tenant Kingsbury, of the Third Bufi's, who was mor- tally w^oundcd, and tak- en into the farm-house of the now (1807) venerable Isaac C. Piatt, Esquire, near by, where he soon afterward died.' llie more rapid march of the British right col- umn imperiled the de- tacliments of Appling and Sproul, who were await- ing the approach of the left, Macomb perceived this, and ordered them to tall back toward Plattsburg, and attack the enemy's flank. They did so, and their riflemen galled the foe severely. They reached the lower bridge just in time to avoid being cut ofl'by the British right, and to cross it with Wool's retiring troops. When ail were safely over, the bridge was torn up in the face of a heavy fire from the head of the enemy's right, which had reached the little village. The militia in the mean time had fled across the upper bridge, and destroyed that in the same way. The British lefl column soon aflerward appeared. It crossed the Dead Creek Bridge, and, while making its way along the beach of Plattsb-irg Bay to unite with the right, it was severely harassed by an enfilading fire L^t^ «ome of Macdonough's galleys which had been sent to the head of the bay for the purpose. A heavy blow came on, and Macdonough sent Midshipman Silas Duncan in a gig to order the galleys to return to the fleet. His boat was fired upon by the enemy, and he was severely wounded, but he delivered the order and escaped with his life. The British were checked at the village by the destruction of the lower bridge, whose timbers were used in the construction of a breastwork for the infantry. They took position in some store-houses near the Saranac. Upon these Captain Brooks hurled some hot shot, and burned out the enemy. Their light troops endeavored during the day to force a passage of the Saranac, but were each time repulsed by the guards at tlie bridge and a small company known as Aiken's Volunteers, of Platts- burg, who were stationed in the stone mill (see engraving next page) already men- tioned. These young men had been out on the Beekmantown Road in the morning and behaved gallantly, and they garrisoned that mill-citadel most admirably.^ In the mean time a division of the British had pressed toward the uppc: bridge, where General Mooers and his militia, as we. have observed, crossed the bridge, tore it up, ' Palmer'8 Hiftorij of Lake Champlain, page 192. Statement to the aathor by Mr. Piatt In 1860. > Tbiii was the appearance of Mr. Piatt's hou le in 1860. The main building is of bricli. The Immense bnttemnt- trce near the house was a fine bearing tree at the time of the battle, and two bullet scars npon Its trunk were pointed oDt to me. We shall notice this honse and its owner hereafter. ' The following are the names of these young men, or rather lads, for none of them were old enough to be legally i-alled into the military service: Martin J. Aiken, Azariah C. Flagg, Ira Wood, Qustavns A. Bird, James Trowbridge, Hazen Mooers. Henry K. Averlll, St. John B. L. Skinner, Frederick P. Allen, Hiram Walworth, Ethan Everest, Amos Soper, James Patten, Bnrtimeus Brooks, Smith Bateman, Melancthon W. Travis, and Flavins Williams. They were highly praised by Macomb for their gallantry, aud he promised that each of them should receive a rifle. This promise Congress redeemed in 1826 by ordering a rifle to he presented to each member of that little volunteer company. Sev- eral of these lads afterward became distlnguisbed men. h 'if 804 riCTOIUAL FIELD-BOOK Tbe Btltlib checked tt the Bridge in Plettibarg. Prepanitlonii for liattle on Land and Witer, OLD BTONB MILL.* and UHod its timhorN for n breastwork. The ea- einy made extraordina- ry efforts to for(!o a pan- Hage there, but Alooers and his men stood lirm, and kept thcni at buy. Finding the passage of the stream impoHNibie under the cirruinstan- ceSjPrevost ordered hu troops to encamp \ipon an elevated ridge about a mile back from the rivei", and upon the liigh ground north of the village. IIo made his head - quarters at Al- len's farm-house on the ridge,' and gave orders for vigorous prepara- tions for attack. Not- withstanding he was at the head of overwhelm- ing numbers, the events of that day* convinced him that the task before him was not a light one. He had lost, in killed and wounded, since the dawn, over two hundred men, while the loss of the Americans did not exceed forty-five.^ Prevost employed the time between the 7th and 11th in bringing up his battering trains and supplies, and in erecting several works that might command the river, the bay, and the American forts and block-houses on the peninsula.* The Americans in the mean time were not idle. They labored without ceasing in strengthening tiieir wo\ks. They removed their sick and wounded to Crab Island, two miles distant, in the lake, and there erected a two d-pound gun battery, and manned it with convales- cents. Wliile these preparations were under way on land, the belligerents were making ready for a combat on the water. A greater portioii of the British flotilla, under Captain Pring, had advanced, as we have seen, to Isle la Motte, where they were joined'' by the remaindet of the squadron and Captain George Downie, of the Royal Navy, late of the Montreal on Lake Ontario. Macdouough, at the same time, had the American squadron at anchor in Plattsburg Bay, and calm- ly awaited the approach of his enemy. For almost five days the seamen waited for a general movement of the landsmen, wh ich was to be a signal on the part of the British for the weighing of anchors and > This was a large two-storied ftame hoase, nearly square, and stood on the site of the residence of John H. Sanborn, Esquire, in 1860, when I visited Plattsbnrg. It was on a little hill west of the village. General Robinson mode hi; head-quarters at the house of the Honorable William Bailey, not far distant. Judge Bailey (mentioned In the note on page 660) took refuge, vdth his family, in the house of Dr. Man (mentioned in the same note), some distance from Flatls- burg. Judge Bailey married the daughter of Zepbaniah Piatt, a patentee of Plattsburg, and was the father of Admiral Bailey, of our navy, who performed gallant service in the battle of Ports Jackson and Philip, below New Orleans, in tlie spring of 1803. » This was the appearance of the old stone mill when the writer sketched it In 1860 fh)m the gallery of the UnlW States Hotel. On the left is seen a portion of Plattsburg Bay, and Cumberland Head in the distance. ' Palmer's Biatory of Lake Champlain, page 194. * These consisted of threr block-houses erected at points within range of the American works ; a battery on the lak« shore. Just north of the mouth of the Saranac ; another on the steep bank above the mill-pond ; a third near the burial- ground ; and one for rocketeers on a hill opposite Fort Brown. ' September 6, 1814. ' September 8. br Battl* on Land and Wtttr, OF TUB WAK OF 1818. 805 Drive Kxplult uf CapUin M'Uliuialn. A Britlih Batttrjr eaptand. Biittah land and naval fomi In Motion. VmW UP TUK BAKANAO, rKUM fOKT UUUWN,> preparing ships for action, and during that time no military operation of great im- portance occurred. There were some minor movements worthy of notice. One of them, on the part of the Americans, was a bold one. On the night of the 9th there was tempestuous weather. There was liglitning, and rain, and wind, and thick dark- ness. The British had been seen at sunset busily engaged in the erect ion of the rocket battery opposite Fort Brown. Captain M'Glassin, who was described to me as a "little beardless Scotchman" anxious to distinguish liimself, asked (Jencial Ma- comb to allow him to load fifty men tliat night to an attiusk on the builders. Ma- comb complied, and M'Glassin, who had arisen from a sick-bed, sallied out in the gloom with his men, from whose gun-locks the flints were removed, crossed the Sar- anac about half way between F'ort Brown and the upper bridge, and, unobserved, reached the foot of the hill on which the battery was rising. There he divided his men into two parties. One went to the rear of the battery by a circuitous route, and, Avhen all was ready, lie Ehouted " Charge ! men, charge ! upon the front and rear !" His men rushed forward with frightful yells. The British, believing over- whelming numbers were upon them, fled precipitately to their main body. The work was taken, the guns were spiked, and M'Glassin returned without the loss of a single man. Over three hundred veteran troops had been surprised and frightened into tliglit by only fifty men, and Sir George Prevost was much mortified. The morning of the 11th dawned brightly, and at an early hour in the forenoon the British land and naval forces were in motion for a combined attack on the Americ'^ns. Prevost had arranged the movement with Downie. It was agreed that when the Brit- ish squadron should be seen approaching Cumberland Head, the advance of the army, under Major General Robinson, sliould press forward, force the fords of the Saranac, climb tlie steep banks, and with ladders escalade the American works on the penin- sula, while the several batteries around Plattsburg village should open a brisk fire. Between seven and eight o'clock the squadron was seen advancing, and at eight it rounded Cumberland Head. It consisted of the frigate Conflance, 38, Downie'c flag- ship; the brig iiVme^, 16, Captain Pring; the sloops ^At<J, Lieutenant M'Ghee, and Mnch,^ Lieutenant Hicks, carrying 1 1 guns each ; and twelve gun-boats, manned by ' Thli view is from the monnds of Fort Brown, looking np the Sp.ranac. The bnildlngs In the extreme distance are at the upper bridge, where Mooers's milltta were stationed. H'Qlassin forded the Saranac at the point indicated by the drift-wood lodged in the atream. He crossed the little narrow plain where the cattle are seen, and np the slope to the Hght. ■ These were the Eagle and Qroaler, captureti trom the Americans on Lake Chomplaln bj the British, who changed their names to Chvb and Fimh. 3l 1. 1 M '.I r! * 866 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Force and Pogltlon of the hoBtile Fleeta. HacdonoDgh Implores divine Aid. Beginning of the Battle. about forty-five men each. Eight of them carried 2 guns, and four of them 1 gun each. At that moment Macdonough's squadron lay in Cumberland or Plattsburw Bay, on a line north from Crab Island, a id almost parallel with the shore, at an aver- age distance of two miles from it. On the extreme left, and at the head of the Hue were two galleys at anchor, and next to them lay the brig Eagle, 26, Captain Henley, just within the point of Cumberland Head. Next south of her was the Saratoga, 20, Macdonough's flag-ship ; and the next in line was the schooner Ticonderoga, 1 7, Lieu- tenant Cassin. Next southward in the line lay the Preble, Lieutenant Charles BuOd, armed with 7 guns.> This vessel lay so near the shoal extending northeast from Cuvb Island, that it was impossible for the enemy to turn that end of the line. In the .'ear of these larger vessels were ten gun-boats or galleys, six of them mountinjr one long 24-pounder and one 18-pound Columbiad each, and the other four carrying each a 1£ pounder. These were so arranged as to fill up the openings between the larger vessels in the line, making the order of battle in two lines, about forty rods apart. The larger vessels were at anchor, while the gun-boats were kept in position by the use of oars. ^ The American line of battle had been formed with great skill by the young com- mandci, reference being had to the confonnation of the land. It extended completely across the entrance to Plattsburg Bay from Crab Island to Cumberland Head, and the enemy, rounding the latter, was compelled to approach the Amsrican squadron with his bows on, giving the latter a great advantage at the beginning.^ The firet vessel that made its appearance was a sloop, which, it is said, carried a company of amateurs, who kept out of the action that ensued. It was immediately followed by the Finch, which led the van of the British squadron, and made for the right of the American line, in the direction of the Preble, near Crab Island, At the same time the Chub moved toward the head or left of the Americans, near Cumberland Head. keeping well to the windward of the Eagle, to support the Linret in a direct attack on that vessel, while the gun-boats coming up in order, their commanders received from Commodore Downie ".nal instructions for action. He then attempted to lay tlic Conjiance athwart the Saratoga, while the Finch and the gun-boats should attack the Ticonderoga and Preble. He was baffled by shifting winds, and was compelled to anchor his vessel within two cables' length of its antagonist, Macdonough, in the mean time, had thoroughly prepared to receive the enemy. When his vessels were cleared for action, springs placed on his cables, and all was in readiness, lie knelt upon the deck of the Saratoga, near one of its heaviest guns, witli his oflicers and men around him, and, in tew words, asked Almighty God for aid, and committed the issue into his hands,* He arose with assured courage, and as the en- emy came bearing down upon him, hip vessels sprang their broadsides to bear, and the Eagle opened the action by hurling the first shot. It discharged in quick suc- cession its four long 1 8-pounders in broadside. This was followed by the fire of a long 24-pounder on the Saratoga, which the young and gallant commodore had sight- ed himself The ball entered the outer hawse-hole of ihe Confiance, the enemy's flag- ship, and went crashing through every obstacle the entire length of her deck, killing ' The SarcUoga wai built at Vergennee in the spring of 1814. The Ticonderoga was in conrse of construction for n steam-boat when she was taken for the public service by Macdonough and converted Into a sloop-of-wnr. The EagU was also built at Vergennes in the summer of 1R14. So rapid was her construction that she was launched In uinetMQ days after her keel was cut in the woods. She Joined the sqaadron early in August. • The American force consisted of one ship, one brig, one schooner, ' . sloop, and ten gnn-boats, carrying 86 gum in all, and manned by 882 mer. The British had one fVlgate, one brig, two sloops, and twelve gnn-boats, cnrryin;; hi all 96 giins, and manned by a little more than 1000 men. The metal of each was unusually heavy. That of the Amer- icans was as follows: Fourteen long 24'8, six 42'8, twenty-nine S2"«, twelve long IS's, twelve 'ong IS's, seven lonp 9'», and six 18-ponnd Columblads. The British had thirty-one long 24'e, seven 18'e, sixteen 12's, Ave fl's, twelve 84-ponini carronados six 24's, seventeen 18's, and one 18-pound Columbiad. ' See Map on page 871. * At ■ pnblic dinner given to Hacdonongh at Plattsburg a few days after the battle, the following toast was olferfd after he had left the table: "Theplons and brave Macdonongh— the professor of the religion ofthe Redeemer— prepar- ing for action, he called on God, who forsook him not in the honr of danger: may he not be forgotten by his coontry." OF THE WAR OF 1812. 867 BegiDDing of the Battte, [ four of them 1 gun erland or Plattsburw the shore, at an aver- the head of the line, !, 26, Captain Henley, waB the Saratoga, 2G, Viconderoga, 1 7, Lieu- tenant Charles Budd, iding northeast from , end of the line. In six of them mounting e other four carrying >peningB between the nes, about forty rods were kept in position 11 by the yoimg com- i extended completely umberland Head, and e Amsrican squadron leginning.^ The fii-st carried a company of nediately followed hy le for the right of the 1. At the same time ar Cumberland Head, iret in a direct attack commanders received 1 attempted to lay tlie boats should attack and was compelled Cock crowing on Uacdonongh's Flag-ehip. Fight between the Flag-ebips. The Battle general. 3 receive the enemy, cables, and all was in ;8 heaviest guns, with jhty God for aid, and luraae, and as the en- jadsides to bear, and larged in quick suc- iwed by the fire of a !ommodoro had sight- nce, the enemy's flag- 1 of her deck, killing _ conrse of construction for n to a Bloop-of-wnr. The Kijk she was launched In ulnetran gtin-bo8t«, carrying 86 gtrai twelve gnn-boatu, carrylnR la ly heavy. That of the Amer- jlve long IS's, (even lonf 9>, 12's, five fl'B, twelve 32-ponu(l ' See Map on psjre 8J1, _ following toast was nfferfd Ion oftheRedeeiner— preptr- be forgotten by his conntry." several men on its way, and demolishing the wheel. The Linnet, as she was passing to attack the Eagle, gave the Saratoga a broadside, but without serious effect. One of her shoto demolished a hen-coop on the Saratoga, in which was a young game- cock which some of the seamen had lately brought on board. The released fowl, startled by the noise of cannon, flew upon a gun-slide, and, clapping his wings, crow- ed lustily and defiantly. The sailors cheered, and the incident, appearing to them as ominous of victory for the Americans, strengthened the courage of all. ' The Conjiance made no reply to the Saratoga's savage 24-poiTnder until she had secured a desirable position, notwithstanding the entire American line had become engaged in the combat. When rear'.y, she exhibited a sheet of flame. Her entire larboard broadside guns, consisting of sixteen 24-pounder8, doi .ble-shotted, leveled point-blank range, coolly sighted, aiid favored by still water, were discharged at one time. The effect was terrible. The Saratoga shivered from round-top to hull as with an ague, and forty of her people, or almost one fifth of her complement, were disabled. But the stunning blow was felt only for a moment. Almost iinmediatelj Macdonough resumed the conflict, and the fire of the Saratoga was steady, and gal- lantly conducted. Among her lost was her first lieutenant, Peter Gamble, who was on his knees sighting a bow-gun, when a shot entered the port, split the quoin, drove a part cf it against his breast, and luid him dead without breaking the skin. Fifteen minutes afterward an American ball struck the muzzle of a 24-pounder on board the Conjiance, dismounted it, sending it bodily inboard against the groin of Commodore Downie, killing him also without breaking the skin.'' The battle had now become general, steady, and active between the larger vessels. Tlie Chub, while nianceuvring near the head of the American line, received a broad- side from the gallant Henley,^ of the Eagle, which so crippled her that she drifted helplessly, and, after receiving a shot from the Saratoga, she struck, and was taken possession of by Mr. Piatt, one of the midshipmen of that vessel,* who had her towed > statement to the anthor by Commodore Samuel L. Breese, who was commander of the gnn-boat NeUey In the ac- tion,* anr". James Sloan, of Oswego, who, as we have observed [page 7BT], was Macdonough's clerk, and was a witness to the affair. He says that some of the sailors were fond of cock-flghting. This particnlar bird, owned on shore, had been a formidable antagonist, and, by " hook or by crook," they had obtained possession of him. The following allusion to this event Is contained iu a rhyming " Epittk qf Brother Jonathan to Johnny BvU, said to have been ,vritten at near the close of 1614 : " O, Johnny Bull, my joe, John, Behold on Lake Champlain, With more than equal force, John, Yon tried your fist again ; But the cock sew how 'twas going, And cried ' Cock-a-doodle-doo,' And Macdonough was victorious, O, Johnny Bull, my Joe !" > Cooper's yatal Hiiitory of the United States, ii., 434. ' Robert Henley was bom In James City County, Virginia, on the Bth of January, 1783. He was educated at William ind Mary College. He obtained a midshipman's warrant in ITflO, and made his first cmlee with Commodore Trux- tun in the ConnteUation. He showed much gallantry in several engagements, especially with La Vengeance (see page 104), when Truxtnn said, "That stripling Is destined to be a brave officer." He was appointed to the command of the Eagle iu the spring of 1814, :md after the battle of Plattsbnrg in September, his commander, Macdonough, said, in Ills official report : "To Captain Rob«rt Henley, of the brig Eagle, much is to be ascribed ; his courage was conspicu- ous, and I most earnestly recommend him as worth) of the highest trust and confidence." The National Congress thanked him, and gave him a gold medal.t He was also promoted to captain. He died at Charleston, Soath Carolina, in the year 1829. • The late Commodore Charles T. Piatt, who died ai Kcwburg, New York, on the 12th of December, 1860. He was a native of Plattsbnrg, and a gallant officer. He entered the navy as midshipman In 1812 on Lake Champlain. During the battle here recorded he passed three times through the line of the enemy's fire in an open boat carrying orders. He was promoted to lieutenant, and accompanied Commodore Porter to the West Indies in 1822, in command of the schoon- -;» jiif! * Samuel L. Breese is a native of New York. He entered the navy as midshipman in December, 1810. He was pro- moted to lieutenant in the spring of 18in ; to commander in December, 1835 ; to captain In September, 1841 ; and to rear admiral in 1802. He Is on the retired list, and is now (1S(17) light-house inspector. t The picture on the next page Is a representation of Henley's medal. On one side is abnst of Captain Henley In pro- iUe, with the legend, " hob. inir«i.i!T, kaolk pii<«f7ot. palm* virtu. p«b «txiinit fi.ohibit." On the reverse is a repre- Kntatlnn of a fleet ongaged before a town (Plattsbnrg), enveloped in smoke. Several small boats are seen on the lake. X/egend— " dmo latsbe piboitsso. altisum. bhpibavit." Esergne— " lntxb olass. aioibi. bt but. vim xi. ibft., WIOOOXUII," I., i\ ^^^^^K ^^^^^^^B 'W s' ' ' / . • n i ill 868 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Capture of the Fnush. BrilUh Qun-boatB in Action. (Jold Medals awarded by Congresa. benlet's meual. into Plattsburg Bay, and anchored near the mouth of the Saranac. She had suffered very severely. Almost half of her people were killed or wounded. An hour later the Finch was driven from her position by the TYccK/ero^a, commanded by the in- trepid Lieutenant Cassin; ard, being badly injured, drifted upon Crab Island shoal oabsin's medal. of rocks, and grounded. The invalid corps on the island brought their little two-gun battery to bear on her, when she struck, and surrendered to this small band of con- valescents.' The British gun-boats now entered vigorously into the action, and soon compelled the Prebk, Lieutenant Budd, to cut her cables and flee to a safer place near the shore, where she anchored, and was of no farther service in the fight. This success embold- ened the British galleys, and they made a combined and furious attack on the Ticon- deroga, fourteen in number, with an average of fifty men in each.'* Cassin walked the taffrail in a storm of grape and canister shot, watching the movements of the assail- er BtagU. In this war against tlie pirates Piatt distln^lslied himself. He was attached to the steam fV!<;ate Fulxm when she blew np, and was severely Injured. His last service was in command ofthe Navy Yard at Memphis. « That inaccurate historian, Sir Archibald Alison, In his HUtonj of England, in writinp; of this event, remarks, "The FltieK, a British brit;, grounded out of shot, and did not engage!" Again, he speaks of her ge'ting on rocks, and not being able to engage In the action. Her commander, Captain Pring, in his ofilcial report, says truly that she struck on a reef of rocks to the eastward of Crab Island, nbvut the middle 0/ the engagement, which prevented her rendering such a!<sistance, etc., etc Alison, with these facts befui? him, calls a sloop-of-war with eleven guns and forty men a brifr, and keeps her from action altogether ! > Statemeut to the author by Admiral Paulding. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 869 3dal8 awarded by Congreu. ic. She had suffered ided. An hour later )ramanded by the iii- on Crab Island shoal IS. AMEBI' ■XISEBT. M It their little two-gun [is small band of con- l, and soon compelled ■ place near the shore, I This success embold- attack on the Ticon- Cassin Avalked the /cments of the assail- Id to the Bteam ftlsate Fulton \iy Yard at Memphis, lof thU event, remarks, "The Ver geHing on rocks, and not I says truly that she struck on fcrovented her rendering such fnns and forty men a brig, and Lor by Admiral Paulding. Victory doubtful. The Flag-ships disabled. Surrender of the Confianoe. Cassin and Paulding. ants, and directing effective discharges of musket-balls and other light missiles, which kept the enemy at bay.' Several times they were within a few feet of the sides of the Ticonderoga with the intention of boarding her. They behaved with the utmost gallantry, but with equal gallantry the Americans repulsed them. The Ticonderoga maintained her position, and covered her extremity of the line to the last, winning from the commodore and all beholders unqualified praise for her commander and people.' While the fortunes of the day were thus fluctuating at the lower end of the line, the Americans were suffering at the other extremity. The Eagle lost the springs of her cable, and b&came exposed to the combined fire of the Linnet and Conjiance, Henley at once dropped her between and a little astern of the Saratoga and 7?con- deroga, and, anchoring her there, opened his larboard guns afresh on the Conjiance and the British galleys. But the Saratoga was left exposed to the whole fire of the Linnet, which sprang her broadsides in such a manner as to rake the bows of her an- tagonist. Very soon th> , wo flag-ships became disabled. Tlie Saratoga had not a single serviceable starboard gun left, and was silent. The Conjiance was not much better off. Now was the moment for Macdonough to exhibit his splendid seamanship. He did 80, quickly and effectively. With the aid of Philip Brum, his skillful sailing-mas- ter, he wound the ship, by means of a stream ar^chor and hawsers, so that he brought the guns of his larboard quarter to bear on the Conjiance., which had vainly endeav- ored to imitate the movement. Under the direction of Acting Lieutenant Lavallette, these poured such a destructive fire or. the British flag-ship that she soon surren- dered. The Saratoga's fire was then uirected upon the Linnet, and in the course of 1 Stephen Cassin, eon of Commodore John Cassin, of the navy, was bom in Philadelphia on the 16th of February, nS3. He entered the navy as a mldah'pman in the year 1800, and was in the Philadelphia with Decatur in the Mediter- ranean. He was active, aud beiiaved bravely in the naval operations in that quarter from 1801 to 1804-'6. He was ap- pointed to the command of the Ticonderoga in the spring of 1814, and Macdonough, in his official report of the b&ctle off Plattsburg, in September of that year, said, " The Ticonderoga, Lieutenant Commandant Stephen Cassin, gallantly fustnined her full share of the action." For his good conduct on that occasion Cassin was promoted to a post cap- taincy, and received from Congress a vote of thanks and a gold medal. The latter is delineated in the engraving on the Dpposite page. On one side is a bust of Cassin in profile, with the legend "stkf. cassin tioondkrooa PE^rsoT. quvg iiEoio IN TXBBiB NOB. MON PLiNA LAB." On the reverde Ui the same design, legend, and exerguo as ou that of Captain Henley. > Among the brave spirits on board the Ticonderoga was Midshipman Hiram Fanlding, now (186T) a rear admiral. He was then a lad not seventeen years of age, but, for want of officers, he v/as placed in command of a division of eight guns. When the British galleys approached it was discov- ered that the matches for firing the cannon were useless. Young Paulding saw no resource but the flash of a pistol, and with his own hand he thns fired the gnns of his sec- tion during a combat of more than two hours ; and in the interval of the cannon-firing, when the enemy were with- in pistol-shot, he discharged his weapon against them. These facts I had fk'om the lips of the late Commodore Tattnall. Hiram Paulding, a son of one of the captors of AndrA, was born in Westchester County, New York, on the 11th of December, 179T. His first service In the navy was as a midBbipman, at thirteen years of age, on Lake Ontario, in 1S12. During the remainder of the war he was confined to like Chaniplain. In 181S he accompanied Decatur in the CmiUllation frigate to the Mediterranean. He was pro- moted to lieutenant, and served under Bainbridge and Downes. He was on shore for some time in 1821 engaged In study preparatory to a more useful career In the navy. He accompanied Porter In his expedition against the West India pirates, and from that time until 1806, he was in active, nrdiion!<, and most useful service, afloat and ashore, as sub- ordinate and commander, having been promoted to captain Id 1843. He took an active Interest in the suppression of the rebellion that broke out In the Slave-labor states in 1861, and in 1868 (when the annexed portrait was drawn) was pro- moted to rear admiral. He was the first American com- mander who received a ftall admiral's salnte. It was given bjr a French frigate lying In New York Harbor, August 1, 19<i, on the occasion of the admiral's visit to that vessel. ^fe-^^g^-^^ ' I 11 ll ' iT'^m ' M i ' i ; : W' ,.j 870 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Surrender of the British Fleet. Escape of the British Galieys. Spectators of the Battle. fifteen minutes she too struck her colors. The British galleys in the mean time had been driven by the Tioonderoga half a mile in the rear of their stately associates, and they lay scattered, and giving feeble aid to them. Seeing the colors of the larger vessels go down, they too dropped their ensigns, and at a little past noon not one of the sixteen national flags which were so proudly floating over the British squadron when it rounded Cumberland Head could be seen. Finding they were not likely to be pursued, the galleys bent theii* sweeps with en- ergy and escaped down the lake, followed by a store-sloop which had been lying during the battle near the point of Cumberland Head on which the light-house now stands. The American vessels were too much crippled to follow, and were, moreover VIEW AT XUE LIOUT-UODeS 0« OUMJi£IU.AMU UiSAU.' engaged in the humane business of saving the survivors of the Confiance and the Linnet, which wci reported to be in a sinking condition.^ " I could Only look at the enemy's galleys going off in a shattered condition," Macdonough wrote to the Sei^re- • September 13, tary of War," " for there was not a mast in either squadron that could ^^"- stand to make sail on ; the lower rigging, being nearly all shot away, hung down as if it had just been placed over the mast-heads." "Our masts, yard?, and sails were so shattered," wrote Midshipman Lee, of the Confiance, who was wounded in the action, " that one looked like so many bunches of matches and the other like a bundle of rags."^ For two hours and twenty minutes this severe naval battle raged, while the tluin der of cannon, the hiss of rockets, the scream of bombs, and the rattle of musketry were heard on the shore. It was a sublime sight, and was beheld by hundreds of spectators on the headlands of the Vermont shore, who greeted the victory with shouts.* It was a battle characterized by a vigor and destructiveness not excelled ' This view is from the light-house on Cumberland Head, and Includes the theatre of the battle of Lake Champlain, The island in the centre of the picture is Crab Island, and the one nearer the left is Valcour Island, near •- .h Bene- dict Arnold's famous naval battle was fonght in ITTfl. The hills in the distance are the lofty Adirondack ilonntaliu. » This is the accepted reason for the flight of the gnn-boats. Cooper says that, after the surrender, a cannon on board the Conftaruse was accidentally discharged, and in the direction of Cumberland Head. Up to that time, he enye, the British galleys appeared to have been waiting to be taken possession of. They regarded this gun as a signal for e>- cn|«.i, and they acted accordingly. Macdonongh made a signal for his gun-boats to follow, but they were recalled to the relief of the J/inTut and Cot\ftance, ' Letter to his brother, December U, 1S14. * AiMlectic Magazine, vii., 2U Spectators of the Battle. n the mean time had tatcly associates, and colors of the larger past noon not one of the British squadron their sweeps with on- hich had been lying I the light-house now ■, and were, moreover, the Conflance and the could only look at the Lgh wrote to the Sc^re- ler squadron that could nearly all shot away, > " Our masts, yard?, he Confiance, who was les of matches and the |j raged, while the tlmn Ithe rattle of musketry Ibeheld by hundreds of Leted the victory witli luctiveness not excelled M the hnttle of Lake Champlnin. ^alcour Island, near •■ -hBcns- le lofty Adirondack Wonntnins. Ihe Burrendcr, a cannon on board I Up to that time, he Biiyf,tta Irdcd this gnn as a signal for ee- low, bnt thoy were recalled to llic I * il»iototi« Magazine, vU.,21l OF THE WAK OF 1812. 871 Vijtory for the Americans complete. Macdonough's Announcement of It. Cunalties. PLAN OP TDK NAVAL ACTION ON LAKE OIIAMPLAIN.' by any during the war, indeed seldom equaled any where or at any time.' The vic- tory for the Americans was complete and substantial; and from the Saratoga,\\aM an hour after the Linnet struck and the galleys fled, Macdonough sent the following dispatch ashore in a gig, to be forwarded to the Secretary of the Navy : " Sir, — The Almighty has been pleased to grant us a signal victory on Lake Cham- ])lain in the capture of one frigate, one brig, and two sloops of war of the enemy." Two days afterward he sent Lieutenant Commanding Cassin to the Secretary of ♦he Navy with a more detailed yet brief account of tlie battle, in which he statea that the Saratoga had fifty round shot in her hull, and the Conjiance one hundrqjl and five. He added, " The Saratoga was twice set on fire by hot shot from the enemy's ship."' Very few officc-s or men on the Saratoga and Conjiance were uninjured. Indeed, the same might be said of those of the other large vessels of both parties. Macdon- ough was twice prostrated upon the deck, and his venerable sailing-master, Peter Brum, had his clothes nearly torn off by a splinter while winding the ship.* Acting ' This map was compiled from a large one in the Engineer Department, Washington City, and a rongh pen-and-ink sketch made at the time of the battle by the late Chancellor R. U. Walworth, then Macomb's adjutant general. The coast Hues are from the report of the Coast Surrey. « " The havoc on both sides was dreadful," Midshipman William Lee wrote. " I don't think there are more than five of our men, out of three hundred, but what are killed or wounded. Never was a shower of hail so thick as the shot whistling about our ears. Were you to see my jacket, waistcoat, and trowsers, you would be astonished to know how I escaped as I did, for they are literally torn all to rags with shot and splinters ; the upper part of my hat was also shot sway. There is one of the marines who was in the Trafalgar action with Lord Nelson, who says it was a mere flea-bite In comparison with this."— Letter to his Brother, December 14, 1S14. Midshipman Lee rose to the rank of lieutenant, and died "on the 24th of Febniary, 1817, at the Telegraph, West Square."— O'Byme's Naval Biography. Mr. James Sloane, of Oswego, Informed me that, a few days before the battle, he gave one of the seamen a very nice glazed hat. After the battle was over the sailor came to him with the hat in his hand, having a semicircular cut in the side and crown made by a cannon-shot while it was on his head. " Look here, Mr. Sloane," said the sailor, "how the damned >John Bulls have spoiled my hat." He did not seem to reflect for a moment how nearly the cannon-ball came to spoiling his head. ' On page 8T9 is a fac-siinile of this paragraph of the dispatch, copied from the original in the archives of the Navy Department, Washington City. When the Confianee was captured she was found to have ovens for heating shot. There were no others in any vessel on the lake. ' Macdonongh sighted a favorite gun much of the time during the action. Wliile doing so at one time, bending his body, ft shot cut the spanker-boom in two, and it fell upon his back with such force as to prostrate him senseless on the (Ifck. The cry went through the ship that the commodore was killed. He soon recovered and resumed his station. A few minutes afterward a shot drove the head of the captain of his favorite gun in upon him, and knocked him Fensa- kfi into the scupper^ when bis death was again announced ; but he speedily recovered. Mr. Bnim had a splinter HI..' I I \ ' ( 1 ( i 11 1 i 1 ' J- ! ■ iwfp P WW i i L ' m 872 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK CaBualties on the Sbipa. Haccionoagh'g Reception of the captive British Offlcen. /^-i"^ c^c^^ ^/^v-7^ >^ (S^^t^My^J- rA0-8IMILE OF A PART OF MAOnONODOR'B DIBPATOH. Lieutenant Lavallette had a shot-box, on which he was standing, driven from tin- der hiin by a ball, and was knocked down by the flying head of one of the st-iimen.' Lieutenant Gamble, as we have seen, was killed at the beginning of the action. Lieutenant Stansbury suddenly disap- peared from the bulwarks, and two days afterward his body, cut in two, rose to the surface. Joseph Smith, first lieuten- ant of the Eagle, received a severe wound, but returned to his quarters during the action.* The British officers suifered se- verely. Commodore Downie, Captain Anderson, of the Marines, Midshipman Gunn, of the Confiance, and Lieutenant Paul and Boatswain Jackson, of the Lin- net, were also killed, and many others were wounded. The wife of the steward of the Conjiance was also killed.' The entire loss of the Americans was one hundred and ten, of whom fifty-two were killed. The total British loss was more than two hundred.* Macdonough received the offi- cers of the captured vessels with ^n at courtesy of manner and «peech. When they offisred him their swords, he instantly replied, " Gentlemen, your gallant conduct makes you worthy to wear your weapons ; return them to their scabbards." They did so, and they all walked the deck of the victori- driven bo near his body rb to strip ofThia clotheB and prostrate bim senselesB. He soon gained his feet, and, makisg an apron of his handlierchief, continued his labors. See Cooper's A'avai History, ii,, 444, note. > Elie A. F. Lnvallette is a native of Virginia. He entered the navai service as Baliing-maBter a week after the decla- ration of war in June, 1812. He was acting lieutenant In the battle of Lalce Champlain, and received a commission at ftiU lieatenant at the middle of December following as a slight reward for bis gallant conduct. In March, 1831, be was promoted to commander, and in 1802 to rear admiral. He is now (1867) on the retired list and awaiting orders. » Joseph Smith, now (1807) rear admiral on the retired list, has been chief of the Bnrean of Yards and Doclts for sev- eral years. He is a native of Hassachnsetts, and entered the navy as midBhipman in January, 1809. When he was abmt to go to Lake Champlain he had an order to get a clerk. He fonnd Sloane (already mentioned) in a bookBtore in Bog- ton, and persuaded bim to go with him. Smith behaved most gallantly on the Bogle in the battle of Lake Champlain, He had been appointed lieutenant in July, 1818. He was promoted to commander in 1827, and to captain In 1837. He was created rear admiral in 1802. ' Letter in Niles's Weekly Regitter, vli., 43. Mr. Sloane Informed me that, while abb was stooping in the act of binding np the wounded leg of one of the men, a cannon-ball cam" through the side of the ship, carried away both of her breasts, and, driving her across the vessel, killed her instantly. ♦ Macdonough's official Letter to the Secretary of the Navy, September 13, 1814 ; Letter of Captain Prlng to Sir Jamfs L. Teo, September 12, 1814 ; Cooper's SavcA History, ii., 430 to 441, inclusive ; Palmer's History of Lake Champlain, pagea lOT to 203, InclDBive. z^r^:^^^^^^..^^. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 873 the captive BrtllBh Offlcere. lud of the Battle of Lake UhamplaiD. ing, driven from tin- ' one of the s^'anien,' our weapons; return e deck of the victori- gained hie feet, and, making ote. naeter a week after the decla- ind received a commission as duct. In March, 1831, he was and awaiting orders. of Yards and Docks for ecT- iry, 1809. When he was ab^ut -loned) tn a booketore in Bos- he battle of Lake Champlaln. f, and to captain in 183T. He stooping In the actof blndhig rled away both of her breasts, if Captain Prlng to Sir James my of Lake Champlain, pages Movements of the land Troopg. The Britlnh cross the Saranac River. 0U8 Saratoga, American and English officers, more in the character of friends than of enemies. Lieutenant Lavallette, who had taiten formal possession of the Cotijiaitce, was soon directed to prepare the prisoners for Crab Island, and before sunset all was quiet on the lake. Thus ended the famous Battle of Lake Champlain. The Brit- ish vessels were taken to Whitehall, at the head of the lake, and scuttled. The Sara- toga shared the same fiite afterward. I saw the remains of this vessel and the Con- fiance there » , late as 1850. We have observed that while the roar of the battle-storm was heard on the water, its thunders were bellowing over the land. According to arrangement, when the pennants of the British fleet were seen over Cumberland Head, a part of the British land force, under Major General Robinson, moved in three columns to force their way across the Saranac at the site of the two bridges, and a ford at Pike's cantonment, three miles from the mouth of the stream, and carry the American works by storm.' When the first gun was fired on the lake, the British land batteries were opened, and, under cover of the shot and shell which they hurled toward the American works, g^^ ■b JK ^^JIUT~k ■'■ ^V.l^fefr;. '■ .^. '^■'. ■ "■t^P'il.f _ Jm^r ^fi^^^imm "^^''^^^B ■ J-', -ci^jg^-t/^' » %i»ss- ■5 s^^»-»^;; ~4 w^ iS^ UATTLK OP PLATTsiitma. (From an old print.)" their three assailing columns moved. At the lower bridge they were repulsed by the guards, block-houses, and artillery of the forts, served by Captains Brooks, Richards, and Smith, and Lieutenants Mountfort, Smyth, and Cromwell. At the upper bridge the riflemen and pickets, under Captain Grosvenor and Lieutenants Hamilton and Riley, aided by some militia, successfully disputed their passage. Thoy Mere a little more successful at the upper ford, where the Clinton and Essex militia, mder Major General Mooers and Brigadier General Wright, were stationed. After being driven back several times with considerable loss, some companies of the British pushed across the stream, then shallow and rapid, firing briskly by platoons as they advanced, but doing very little harm.' The militia fell back. They were soon joined by a large detachment of Vermont Volunteers, and a party of artillery with a field-piece, under Lieutenant Sumter. The flying companies were now rallied, and drawn up in battle array to meet the pursuing foe, when Walworth, one of Mooers's aids,* came dashing up, his horse 1 These troops consisted o'" light infantry companies, 3d battalion Twenty-seventh and Seventy-sixth Seglmenfs, and Mi^or General Powers's brigade, consisting of the 3d, 6th, and Ist battalion of the Twenty-seventh and Fifty-eightli Regiments."— Sir George Prevost to Karl Bathnrst, September 11, 1814. > This view is ft-om the right bank of the Saranac, at its month. Toward the left is the three-storied stone mill, and in the distance Furt Brown. A portion of the lower bridge, from which the planks were torn up, is seen. Some of tbe British are attempting to ford the stream. The conrt-honse is seen on Are. The church observed In the picture was saved, and survived until September, 186T, when it perished in a great conflagration in the village. ' Participants in ;he fight told Mr. Palmer, the historian of Lake Champlaln, that most of the enemy's bullets struck the trees above thera " »t least fifteen feet from the ground." • Reuben II. Walworth was bom in Bozrah, Connecticut, October 86, 1T89. His parents removed to Hnosick, New Tork, where his early years were spent. Be received only a common school edncatior., and at tbe age of seventeen U *iJ Ul ^'1 .1 ' it .'■1*1* ! ?!•* 974 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK British Troops recalled. Their Leader alarmed. Uprising of the Penpis, TUK BABAMAC AT I'IKK 8 OANTUNMENT. flecked with its own foam, and gave tliem tlio joyful intelligence that the British fleet had just surrendered. These glad tidings were greeted with three liearty cheers. At the same moment they ob- served the pursuers with their backs tum- ed, and making their way in haste toward the Saranac. Sir George Prevost, mIio al- ways played the coward when near dan- ger, according to British historians, had become terribly alarmed, ann recalled these vigorous and only successful troops. lie had experienced " the extreme morti- fication," he said, " to hear the shout of victory from the American works" when the fleet surrendered on the lake. They had been loud and mighty cheers, iterated and reiterated by corps after corps, as the eye and ear caught knowledge of the vic- tory ; and Sir George wisely saw, as he said, that " farther prosecution of the service was become impracticable." He had assumed the position of co-operator with the fleet rather than principal, leaving to Downie the brunt of the service, but ready to receive and wear the garlands of honor which might be won. Seeing the British flags humbled on all their ships, and their gun-boats fleeing, ho resolved to fall back toward the Canada border, and halt until he should ascertain the use the Americans intended to make of their naval ascendency just acquired on Lake Champlain.' It was a wise determination, Notwithstanding his number was overwhelming,^ Pre- vost was really in peril. He might have crushed Macomb and captured the post at Plattsburg, but it would have been at the expense of many lives without obtaining any permanent advantage. The British had lost the lake absolutely, and Avithout any fair promise of its i-ecovery; and the militia of all that region were thoroughly aroused, and were rapidly gathering. (Tovemor Chittenden, of Vermont, had issued a patriotic address at the beginning of the invasion, calling upon the militia of his state to hasten to the aid of their brethren across the lake. It had been heartily res- spcnded to, and at the close of the memorable day of the battle not less than twenty- five hundred Green Mountain boys were on the Saranac, under Major General Strong. The militia of Washington and Warren counties were also streaming toward Platts- burg at the call of General Mooers, and re-enforcements of regulars were on their waj'. Prevost's array would very soon have been equaled in numerical strength, and perhaps surrounded and supplies from Canada cut ofl". He perceived these dangers when the navy was lost, and the moment the forces under General Robinson returned to camp, he made preparations to abandon the siege, notwithstanding General Bris- bane offered to cross the Saranac in force and carry the American works in twenty minutes. The fire from his batteries were kept up until sunset, and Fort Brown, un- der the immed'ate command of Lieutenant Mountfort,' sent back responses with great commenced the Btndy of law. He settled in Plattsburg for Its practice, and in 1811 was appointed a Master in Chan- cery. He was the favorite aid of General Mooers, of whose division th' ' - Colonel David B. M'Neil was Inspector General. He was a member of Congress twelve consecutive years. He beca.ne u judge ; and in 1828 he was appolnttd Chancellor, then the highest Judicial office In the state. He held it twenty years. After he left office he resided at Sar- atoga Springs until his death late in 1807. He was long identified with Uie leading religious and benevolent movo- ments of his day. I Sir George Prevost to Bart Batbnrst, September 11, 1814. • The BritUh had 14,000 troops and the Americans 4700 on the eventftal day of the b&ttle. The former conplrted of Hobinson's brigade, 8700 ; Powers's, 3800 ; Brisbane's, SlOO ; light troops, 2800, composed of Menron's Swiss regiment, Canadian chasseurs, voltlgenre, and frontier light infantry ; a troop of light dragoons, 800 ; Royal Artillery, 400 ; rock- eteers, sappers and miners, 100. The AmfTiearM had 1600 regulars, commanded by leaden of various ranks; 2600 Vep mont Volunteers, under Major General Strong ; and 700 Clinton and Essex militia. > John Monntfort was born in Boston in November, 17iH), and was the son of a patriot of the Bevolntion. He en OF THE WAR OF 1812. 876 Upriiing of the Penplt. ; of the Hevolntton. He en Flight of the British from Plattaburg. Cause of their great Haste. They re-enter Canada. BtmiB OF roET nsowN.' spirit.* So excel- lent was the fir- ing that the Brit- ish believed that French artiller- ists were employ- ed by the Ameri- cunH. When night fell Prevost cftjisod his cannon to be withdrawn from the batteries. At nine o'clock in the evening he sent them Canada-ward, with all the baggage for which he could find transportation, and at two o'clock in the raoming of the 12th the entire army fled with a precipita- tion wholly unaccountable at the timc.^ The sick and wounded, and a vast amount of munitions of war, were left behuid ; and the foe reached Chazy, eight miles dis- tant, before the Americans were a])prised of the movement. Light troops, volun- teers, and militia, under General Mooers,* at once started in pursuit. They made a few prisoners, but heavy rains compelled them to relinquish the chase. Prevost halt- ed and encamped at Ohamplain, and on the 24th left the territory of the United States, and retired to Montreal with the main army. Thus ended the Battle op Platts- BUKG and the second invasion of New York. Many of the British deserted, and the loss of Sir George after he crossed the frontier line, in killed, wounded, missing, and tered the army as second lieutenant of the Third Artillery In March, 1S12, and was promoted to first llentenant In May, 1S13. This was won by his gallantry at York, where, In consc- qnence of the absence of his superior officer, he commanded his company. He assisted In the capture of Fort George. After that he and his company acted as marines In Chauncey's fleet, volunteering for the service. He accompanied Wilkinson down the St. Lawrence, and be- haved so gallantly at Plattsburg thot he won the promotion to captain. He was major of ar- tillery in the Florida War, under Geuernl (Jaines, and afterward was the commander of sev- eral forts In succession. He left the army in 1S38, and iu 1861, just as he was about to leave for Europe with his family, he died. His death occurred on the 22d of October. While I was in Boston in the autumn of 1800, his brother, George Monntfort, Esq., showed me a gunner's quadrant, still smeared with gunpowder and blood, which the gallant officer took from un- der the slain soldiers In one of the British redoubts at Plattsburg. The engraving is a rcprc- MUtative of it. It Is a graduated quadrant of six-inch radius, attached to a rule a little more than twenty-three Inches in length, and all made of brass. It has a plumb-line and bob. The quadrant is applied either by the longer branch to the face of the piece, or this branch is run Into the bore parallel with the axis. It was in the original oaken case in which it vcub car- ried by the gunners of the Royal Artillery. Mountfort wok always coul. A fellow-soldier (Itobert Keith, of Boston), in a communica- tion before me, has related an example. During the battle, he says, he saw a small bomb- shell fall at the feet of the gallant lientenant,'when he caught it, threw it over the parapet, and said, "Don't be alarmed, boys, it is nothing but a humbug." ' Dariug the hostilities at Plattsburg, fh)m the 0th until the evening of the 11th, scarcely a building in the village escaped injury of some sort. Many houses were completely riddled. Nine dwellings, thirteen stores and shops, and the court-house and jail, were burned. Some of these were destroyed when the enemy were burned out by Brooks's hot shot, as mentioned on page 803. » These monnds are on the banks of the Saranac. Plattsburg is seen In the distance across the river. » The late Reverend Eleaier Williams (see page 3T7), who was in the military service of the United States at Platts- burg as commonder of the Secret Corps of Observation, Informed me that Sir George, naturally timid, was intensely alarmed by a clever trick arranged by Williams. Colonel Fassett, of Vermont, came over from Burlington on Friday Ware the battle, and assured Macomb that the Vermont militia would cross the lake to old him in spite of Governor Chittenden. Williams suggested to the general after Fassett left that a letter from that officer, declaring that a heavy body of the militia were about to cross the lake, sent so as to fall into the hands of Prevost, would have a salnlary ef- fect. Mncomb directed Williams to carry out the plan. He went over to Burlington, and received from Fassett a let- ter to Macomb, in which he said that Chittenden was marching with ten thousand men for St. Albans ; that five thou- sand more were marciiing ft'om St. Lawrence County ; and that four thousand from Washington County were in mo- tion. This letter was placed in the hands of n shrewd Irish woman on Cumberland Head, who took it to Prevost. The alarmed baronet immediately ordered the flight spoken of in the text, and at a little past midnight his whole army was on the wing. The trick played npon Hull at Detroit (see note 1, page 286) was repeated upon Prevost with equal success. « Benjamin Mooers was a soldier of the Revolution. He was bom in Haverhill, Massachusetts, In 1701, and entered the military service in 17T6, at the age of fifteen years. He was commissioned first an ensign, and then first lieutenant, and was an active officer during all the later years of the Revolution. When summoned to the field in 1814 he was fif- ty-six years of age, and living in quietude on the borders of Plattsburg Bay. He obeyed the summons with alacrity, and peiformed his duties nobly. He died at his residence on Cumberland Head on the J8th of February, 1888, at the \ I iili v PICTOKIAL FlELD-nOOK Public OlDoer given tu Macdonough. Bong, " Hiege of Platti'l)um.' deserters, did not fall much short of two thousand, according to careful ostimateg made at the time. The American loss was less than one hundred and fifty. Only one commissioned officer, Lieutenant George W. Kunk, was mortally wounded. He died the next day. The events on land and water at Plattsburg on the 11th of September, 1814, pro- duced a thrill of intense joy throughout the country, and with delight the people read the stirring General Orders in which, on the 14th of September, Macomb an- nounced the result to his little army." Spontaneous honors and praises were given by the people to him and Macdonough conjointly.'* Bonfires and illuminations blazed in almost every city and village in the land, and the recent disaster at the national capital was almost unthought of for the moment. Legislative resolves, artillery, ora- tory, and song' were pressed into the service of rendering homage to the two herocg and their men. The newspapers teemed with eulogies, and at all public gatherings and entertainments their names and deeds were mentioned with applause. Governor age of eeveuty-seTen years. HU remains are in tlic Plattsburg burying-gronnd ; and at tlic head of the grave, near the entrance to the cemetery, is a handsomely-wronght commemura- tlve slab of marble with the following inscription : " In memory of General Bknjamin Moo- XES, who died February 28, 1888, aged seventy-seven years. He served as lieutenant auil iidjn. tant in the Revolutionary War. lie commanded the militia at the battle of Plattsburg, Sep- tember 11, 18U. lie was the first settlor In this county, and for thirty years county trcnBurer. He repeatedly represented this scctlou of country in the Assembly and Senate of the Stale, and discharged the important duties which devolved upon him as a citizen, as a soldier, and B Christian, with fidelity to his country and integrity to his Qod." ' After alluding to the designs of Prevost, he said " he brought with him a powerful army and flotilla— an army amounting to fourteen thousand men, completely equipped, and accom- panied by a numerous train of artillery, and all the engines of war— men who had conqnered in France, Spain, Portugal, the Indies, and in various other parts of the globe, and led by the most experienced generals of the British ormy. A flotilla, also superior to ours in vessels, men, and guns, had determined at once to crush us both by land and water." He then spoke of the boastings of the governor general, and his attempts to seduce the Americans from llicir allegiance, and then gave a concise history of the battle and the precipitate flight of (he enemy. ' A few days after the battle, the citizens of Plattsburg, who had re- turned to their homes, resolved. In public meeting, to give a public dinner to Commodore Macdon- ough. A committee, of which Hen- ry De Lord was chairman, waited upon the hero on board his ship with an invitation. It was accepted, and on Tuesday, the 28d Instant, at three o'clock P.M., the commodore, with Generals Macomb and Mooers, and other officers of the army and navy, who were Invited guests, and a number of citizens, sat down to a bountiful din- ner at the United States Hotel, kept by Thomas Green, and yet standing in lS6n, between the stone mill and the bridge over the Saranac, In Plattsburg. General Macomb's band furnish- ed the music on the occasion. Peter Sailley, Esq., presided. Seventeen regular toasts were drank. The distinguished guests, as they retired, were toasted , and one was given in respectful silence to "The memory of Commodore Downie, our brave enemy." The fallen brave ofMacdonough's fleet were also remembered in the regular toasts. " Much credit," says a writer who was present, "Is due to Hr. Green for the excellent dinner which he provided for the occasion, it being generally conceded to be the best that was ever given in Plattsburg." A f^iU report of the proceedings was published In a band-bill, a copy of which Is before me. This Is a view of the United States Hotel at Plattsburg as it appeared In 1814. The clap-boards on the visible gable exhibited the perforations of bullets flrom British muskets on the left bank of the Saranac when I saw it in 1860. On the right is seen Plattsburg Bay, and Cumberland Head in the distance. 5 The victories of Macdonough and Macomb were the subject of one of the most popular songs written and snng dur- ing the war. It was written by Mioajah Hawkins for the proprietor of a theatre In Albany, arfd snng by him lu the character of a negro sailor. Qovemor Tompkins was present when U was first snng. Hawkins gained great npplaase and a prize by his performance. He was afterward a grocer In Catharine Street, New York. The following is a copr of th6 IkmouB ballad : SIEGE OF PLATTSBURG. Tnne—Boyne Water. " Backside Albany stan' Lake Champlatn, On Lake Champlain Uncle Sam set he boat. Little pond half full o' water : An' Mossa Macdonough he sail 'em ; Plat-te-bnrg dar too, close 'pen de main ; While Glneral Macomb make Plat-te-bnrg he home Town small— he grow bigger, do', herearter. Wid de army, whose conrage nebber fail 'em. UNITED STATES UOTEL. I'li (!' ,ng, "Blegc of PUttrburg.* OF THE WAU OF 18 12. 877 Booora to OanerBl Macomb. Biographical Sketch of blm. Uli MoDDmant Tompkins, in the name of the State of Now York, i)reHentod General Macomb with a gupcrb sword. Do Witt Clinton, Mayor of New York, presented him, in the name of the Corporation, the " freedom of the city" in a gold box similar in character to the one given to General Brown ;' and he was requested by the same body to sit for his iwrtniit, to bo placed in the gallery of distinguished men. Congress gave him the thanks of the nation, and voted him a gold medal.^ lie was commissioned by the President major general by brevet. When he returned to his family at Belleville, Xcw Jersey, the village was illuminated, and he was received with the most gratify- ing tokens of respect. " Never, on the return of any hero to the peaceful bosom of his family," said the New York Eoening Post, an opjjosition paper, " was evinced so universal a sense of sincere joy and heartfelt satisfaction." fATES UOTEL. "On 'Icbenth day Sep-tem-bor, In eighteen hun'rcd and funrteen, Qubbernor Proboeo and be British eoj-er Come to Plat-te-burg a tea-party courtin' s An' he boat come too, arter Uncle 8am boat. Massa 'Donougb, ho look sharp out do winder; Den Qlneral Macomb (ah I bo always a-homo) Cotch flre too, sirs, like a tinder. "Bam; ! bang I bang ! den de cannons 'gin to roar, In Plat-te-burg and all 'bout dat quarter ; Gubbernor Proboee try he ban' 'pon do shore, While he boat take be luck 'pon de water ; Bnt Massa Macdonongh knock he boat In he bead, lirciik he bciirt, break ho shin, 'tovo be caff In, An' Oinoral Macomb start olo Probose home— To't me soul den I muss die a lafUn'. "Probose scare so ho Icf all boblne. Powder, ball, cannon, tea-pot, an' kittle ; Some say he cotch a cole— trouble In he mine 'Cause he eat so much raw an' cole vittle. Undo Sara berry sorry, to be sure, for he pain, Wish ho nuss hosolf up well an' hearty, For Oinoral Macomb and Massa 'Donough home When he notion for anudder tea-party 1" 1 See page «1T. < A repreuentatlon of this medal Is given on the next page. On one side is a bust of Macomb In profile, with his name and title. On the reverse a battle on laud. In sight of a large town, troops crossing a bridge, and war-vessels lighting on a lake. Above this scene are the words " bebolctiom or oonqbess, mov. 8, 1814." The exergue—" battlk or riATTBHtnto, sept. 11, 1814." Alexander Macomb was the son of a fnr merchant of Detroit, who married one of the highly respectable family of Nn- varre. Their son was bom In Detroit on the 3d of April, 1782. Ho became a resident of Now York In Infancy, and was educated In New Jersey. He was a member of the " New York Rangers," a volunteer corps raised lu 1779, when war with France was expected. Gonerol North, of the Revolution, placed him on his staff. lie became permanently at- tached to the army as a dragoon, and was very useful, lie was with Wilkinson In the Southwest, and, being after- ward attached to a corps of engineers as first lieutenant, be was sent to West Point, where he compiled a treatise oti martial law. He became captain In 180B, and was ordered to superintend the erection of fortliicatlone on the frontiers. He was promoted to m^Jor in 1808, and when the war commenced in 1812 he was placed In command o(an artillery corps. We hove already mot blm sev- eral limes in the course of this narrative of the war. His crowning achievement was at Plattsbnrg. After llie war he was stationed nt Detroit. He was made cliief engineer in 1821, and removed to Washington. He remained In that bareau until 1836, when, on the death of General Jacob Brown, he was promoted to general - In - chief of the army of the United States. He (lied at Washington City on the 26th of June, 1541, aged flfty-nlne years. He was burled with mil- itary honors in the Congressional Bnrying-ground at Washington, and over his grave now stands a Iwaotiful white marble monnment bearing the fol- lowing inscriptions : Wnt Si'rfe.— "Alexakpeb Maoohb, Mi^or General Commandlng-in-chief United States Army. Died at Wasliiugton, the seat of government, SSth June, 1*»1." fiwf Side.—" It were but small tribute to his mem- ory to say that. In youth and manhood, he served his conutry In the profession in which be died, during a period of more than forty years, without stain or blemish upon his escutcheon." Smih Side.— "The honors conferred on him by President Madison, received on the field of victory for distinguished and gallant conduct in defeating tbe enemy at Plattsbnrg, and the thanks of Congress, bestowed with a medal commemorative of this tri- umph of the arms of tbe Republic, attest tbe high estimate of bis gallantry and meritorions services." On the west side, over his name, is an olive wreath ; on the Bonth side an hour-glass with wings, and a scythe; on the east side a simple cross, and on tbe north side a serpent and butterfly. In tbe above sketch, the little monument to Commodore Patterson Ik eeen in an iron ratling. Over one comer of it, in tbe distance, is seen William Wirt's monument, and between it and Macomb's is neeu that of Commodore Cbanocey. HAOOMBS MO.NDIIBifT. •iliin* i«:»iMiil Macdonoiigh, too, was nobly honored. The State of Now York pave him two thou- sand acres of land. The State of Vermont purc'.ascd two hundred acres on Ciiinbcr- land Head and presented it to him. It was on the borders of Cumberland, or Platts- burg Hay, and the farm-house upon it overlooked the scene of his gallant exploits. The cities of New York and Albany each gave the hero a valuable lot of land. 'Thus," said Macdonough to a friend, while team stood in his eyes, "in one month, from a poor lieutenant I became a rich man." Congress gave him the thanks of thy nation, and with his brave commanders, Henley and Cassin, voted him a gold medal, with suitable devices and inscriptions.' MAOnONOrOU'B MEDAT.. ' See page 808. The above Ih a representation of the medal given to Macdonongli. On one side is a bust of Ibe hero in profile, with the legend " tuo. maoikinouqu, btaqno onAMPt.AiN oi.as. rko. nair. bitpebavit." The reverse beare the eame device and inscriptions as those of Henley and Cassin, given on page 808. Thomas Macdonough was bom in the connty of New Castle, Delaware, on the 23d of December, 1T8S. His father was a physician, and a major in the Continental array. Thomas entered the navy as midshipman In 171)8. He was with Decatur In the Mediterranean, where he behaved with great gallantry, especially In the affair of the Philadflphia. S« page 120. His spirit was shown in the harbor of Qlbraltar on one occasion. He was then first lieutenant of the Sim. Near her lay an American merchant brig. A boat from a British man-of-war went alongside of her, and its crew seiiwl a seaman who was claimed as a British subject. Macdonough saw it. His commander was absent. He instanllj armed and m- aned his gig and gave chase. Ho overhauled the boat under the guns of the British frigate, released hini, and took him back to the merchant vessel. The British captain, in great rage, appeared on the Siren, and inqnlrcd o! Macdonough how he dared to take a man fi-om his boat. " He was under the protection of my country's flag, anil il was my duty," was the reply. With warm oaths the captain swore he would lay his fUgate alongside ind sink the Siren. "While she swims yon shall not have the man !" said Macdonough. "You'll repent of your rashness, yooni! man," rejoined the Englishman. " Sappoee I had been in that boat, would yon have dared to commit such an actf" V OF THE WAR OF 161S. 879 k|!' nitreM to the Commandtn. rk gave him two thou- clri'd acres on Cuinljcr- Cumbcrlaml, or I'latts- of his gallant exploits. I, valuable lot of land, is eycB, " in one month, • him the thanks of the oted him a gold medal, bh On one side is a bust of Ite ..BUPBBAViT." The reverse bew Jf December, 1T88. His father w« L affair of the />MWP*-«J« Ithen first lieutenant of the S.r«. lngBiaeofher,anaUBCrewfel«fa Inder was absent. He in, «nt^ I the British Wgate, re easeflWm, |redontheS<r«».andinci..irc<l° lctlonofmyconntry'sflas,«"d |» frigate alongside ind sink W In repent of your rashness, yo.»f ■( dared to commit such an act. Eflbot of the Victory at Plattibiirg. OniTM of Brltlih Oflcen. The Colt of Prevost's Bxpodltlon. The rcHult of the battle of I'liittHburg was deeply mortifying to tlio Brit- i.Mh. The Canadian news- paporw otl'ered many jere- miail», and Sir (4eorge Prevost was censured in unmeasured terms for his incomp'jtency and coward- ice. It was estimated tliat he led behind hira in his fligiit munitions and stores MAui.ommuu-» kaem-uodm om oo-berlanp bkai... wortii almost one hundred tliousand pounds sterling, and that his fruitless expedition cost at U-iiot five hundred thousand pounds, or two million five hundred thouwaiul dol- lars. It was dislicartening to the enemy, and wan a powerful instrumentality in the speedy restoration of peace. Prevost abandoned all idea of renewing the attempt at invasion, and retired to Quebec. He was soon afterward dismissed and dishonored by his government, and he did not long survive the anxiety it occasioned and liis ef- forts to get home to England and vindi- cate his character. Three days after the battle, when it Avas ascertained that the British were making their way toward the St. Lawrence, (tcner- al Macomb discharged the New York and Vermont militia, and the solemn rites of burial were accorded to the dead of both nations. Fifteen officers, including Com- modore Downie, were laid in the Platts- burg Burying-ground, and a neat marble slab, with the name of the commemorated cut upon it, was placed at the head of each grave. On each side of Downie's grave a pine-tree was planted. These Avere noble in stature when I made the annexed sketch, but one has since disappeared. A few years ago a near relation of the British commander laid a recumbent marble slab, suitably inscribed, upon brick walls, over his remains.^ Around it are the graves of the other officers. ■:^:f^m^^r^K^^^^ downie'b OBAVB.3 'Yon "Ishonld have made the attempt, sir !" ".What I would i/ow Interfere if /were to Impress men from that brig f" hare only to try It, sir," was Macdonongh's cool reply. He did not try It. Macdonongh was sent to Lake Champlain when the War of 1812 broke out There he won unfading laurels, as wc find recorded In the text. From the close of the war his health gave way, yet he lived for more than ten years with the tooth of consumption undermining the citadel of his life. On the 10th of November, 1826, he died In Middletown, Con- Dcclicnt, where he married his wife, the excellent Miss Shaler, and who had died only a few months before. Ho was only forty-two years of ago. HIa portrait on page 8M Is from the one painted from life by John Wesley Jarvis for the Corporation of the City of New York, and now occupies a place In the Governor's Room. I This picture Is from the title-page of the twelfth volume of the A naUetie Magazine. On page S8 Is some poor verse latended as an accompaniment. In the distance Is seen the mouth of the Saranac and the village of Plattsburg. On Cumberland Head at that time was the Plattsbnrg port of entry, and the leading men of that section resided on that pleasant promontory. Among them was General Helancthon Woolsey (whose house is yet standing). General Mooers, Peter Sailiey, Major Adams, and others. ' The following is a copy of the inscription : " Sacred to the memory of Gkokok Downii, Esq., a post captain In the Royal British Navy, who gloHousIy fell on board his B. M. S. the Conjlanee while leading; the vessels under bis command to the attack of the American flotilla at anchor In Cumberland Bay, off Plattsburg, on the 11th of September, 1814. "To mark the spot where the remains of a gallant officer and sincere friend were honorably Interred, this stone has been erected by bis affectionate slster-inlaw, Mary Downii, 1881." ' In the above picture Downie's tomb is seen between the trees. The head-stones of the other officers are seen » t I 1 ] B ' 8^ PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Visit to historical Placea in Northern Now York. Journey to Plattsbarg. Graves of slain Offlcera. I visited the theatre of the British invasion of Northern New York, and points of interest at Plattsburg and in the vicinity, in August, 1860. I have already men- tioned the passing of a night at Rouse's Point' Village after visiting La Colic Mill and journeying on tlie next morning toward Plattsburg." I went to Cliaini)laiii five miles south of the Canada border, by railway, and there strolled over the j)lace of Dearborn and Wilkinson's encampments on the hill eastward of the railway sta- tion, then (1860) the land of Francis Nye. I also went to the site of Izard's encamp- ment, on rising ground south of the village, and of his battery on the brow of a \n\\^ then (1860) the property of Noac^Jah Moore. After sketching the mansion of Judge Moore, w^Iiich was used for officers' quarters by both parties,^ I left for Plattsburg i^ a light wagon, accompanied by a very intelligent elderly gentleman of Chainplain,* whose name I regret I can not now recall. He was familiar with the whole region, and the events and localities which make it notable. TIEW IN UEKUHANTOn'N. We passed through Chazy, upon the Little Chazy River. Just before reaching it, we saw at his house Captain Hiram Ferris, an old lake pilot, who gave us some of hiii reminiscences of adventure as commander of a sloop in which Vermont militia vm taken ."..ross the lake to Plattsburg before the battle. We rode on to Sampson's, JJi. n iwiiP II ;;,„[! grouped aronnd it. The annexed diagram shows the position of each of the graves, indic.lted by numerals as follows: 1. Commodore Dow- L<ic; 2. Boatswain Charles Jackson; 3. Lieutenant William Qunn; 4. Lieutenant WUiinm Paril; t. Captain Alexander Anderson, nf thcMs- rlnes ; 0. Captain John Purchase. These were of the Brltieh Navy. except Purchase, who was of the British Army. 7. Pilot Joseph Bar- ron ; 8. Lieutenant Peter Gamble; 9. Lieutenant John Stansbiiry; 10 Sailing-master Rogers Carter ; 11. Midshipman James M. Baldwiii These were of t'le American Navy. 12. Lieutenant Oeorgc W. Runt, of the American Army ; 13. Colonel Willington ; 14. Lieutenant John Chapman, of the British Army. A, A, the pine-trees. I am indebted to Captain J. Van Cleve for the diagram. It vra? made by him In 1S8C. He has omitted the grave of Lieutenant R Eingsbnry, of the British Army. It Is near No. 12 in the dlngrani, > Named from Jacques House, a French Canadian, who settled there In 1T88. • Boe page m. * See engraving on page 86T. ♦ Champlain is a lively post-village of less than two thousand inhab- itants, on the Chazy River, or Creek, and contains fine water pdwer. It is the southern tcrminns of the Northern Railroad from Ogdenaburi:, Mid from it most of the lumber brongbt down on that road ' . Khlppeil OF THE WAR OF 1812. 881 Oraves of slain Offlcera. fork, and points of have already men- Lting La Colic Mill, vent to Chami)lain, ailed over the place I of the railway sta- ,e of Izard's encarap- n the brow of a lull, \e mansion of Judge eft for Plattsburg i^ graan of Champlain,* ,tb the whole region, Ride tbruagb Beekmautown and over Calver's Hill. The Seat of War in Northern New York. Just before reaching it, [ho gave ub some of bis \ Vermont militia were rode on to Sampson's, Lam showB the position of escti h follows: 1. Commodore Do«- Is Lieutenant WllllnmGunn; 4. rAlexantier Anderson, of the Ma- lhe6ewereoftheDritW.>»vy, llshArmy. T. Pilot Joseph B«- ■Lieutenant John Stanslmry:. lidshipman James M B.ldw . l2. Lieutenant George W. Rmt Ivmington; U. LicutenanlJota I, the pine-trees. Icleve for the diagram. H ■«» Ited the grave of Licntcnsnt R. 1g near No. 12 in the dlmrrani. fuch Canadian, who settle.. here ■ • See page '»«• Lf less than two thonsandlahiV 1 and conUins fine water p»«" Ihern Railroad from Ogto'urc. V down on that road .»lilppeU • 1814. and southward of the tavern, the place of the British encamp- ment from the 5th to the 6th of Septem- ber* was point- ed out to us, on the farm of Mr. Phelps. We soon aflerward tui-ned westward to- ward Beokmantown,^ and in that little vil- lage, and upon Cul- ver's Hill southward of it, we spent about two hours. I sketch- ed the house of Ira Ilowe^ in the upper part of the viiiago; and in the delightful shadow of grand old elms, which wore flour- ishing trees in the time of the war, I made the sketch on the preced- ing page, on the left of which is seen the stone meeting-house, built by the Method- ists in 1830, and in the distance tlie road pass- ing over Culver's Hill, on which Wool fought his second battle with the invaders ' See sketch of the honse on page 8151). < Named In bouor of William Beeknian, to whom, with tweuty-nlue others, the township waa granted in the spring of 17W. ' Sec page 862. SK ' September, on the morning of the 6th.* A little south of the church (at a spot indi- 1814. cated by the two figures), we were shown a spring, by the side of the road, near which Colonel Willington was buried ; and directly in front of Francis Culver's house, on Culver's Hill, a flat rock was pointed out as the spot where Wil- lington fell' It is said that the stains of his blood were upon it a long time. There too, we saw the moss-covered stone fen'"o, built before the war, which formed an ad- mirable shelter for the American militia during the fight on the hill.^ Plattsburg was now eight miles distant, and the long summer day was passin" away. We rode on, Avithout stopping, by Ilalsey's Corners, where Leonard made a stand with his cannon,^ and at near sunset entered Plattsburg. I became the guest of a kinsman (Philander C. Moore), and pnssed a part of the evening profitably with P. S. Palmer, Esq., the historian of Lake Champlain. At an early hour the next morning, accompanied by my kinsman, I went out to visit the historical localities in and about Plattsburg; and just at twilight, after a day of incessant labor, we returned, having fully accomplished the object of my er- rand. We first rode up to the site of Pike's cantonment (where the British forced a passage of the Saranac), crossing the river at the upper bridge, and traversing a roiicli road most of the way for about two miles. The cantonment was on a low, narrow plain at the foot of rapids in the river, which are seen in the little sketch on page 874. We returned on the lake road by the United States military station, visiting the re- mains of Forts Moreau, Brown, and Scott, and sketching the old store-houses on the margin of the lake, which were erected ii: 1813 for the use of the Ameri- can troops. We rode back to the villatje, and, after skctchini' the stone null* and the United States Hotel," we crossed the Saranac, and made our wav along the lake shore road toward Cumberland Head. Soon after crossing Dead Creek Bridge over the sluggish stream, and among sand dunes drifted by southerly winds from the bay shore, wo passed ,^-vi: the site of Macdonough's farm- house,* on a rise of ground at the left of the road, a mile and a half from the light-house. The place of the cellar was marked by a luxuriant growth of weeds and bushes. Near there avo met a farmer on his way to Plattsburg, who, to our mutual surprise, proved to be Mr. J. J. Mosher, who was my scliool- master when I was a boy twelve years of age. It was an agree- able meeting. He turned back, accompanied us to various pla- ces of interest on the Head (where he has a farm), and en- HTORE-IIOD8ES. QENRHAL HOOKBS B BOUBI, OUMUKHLANn UKAI>. • Sec pnce 86?. « The old Culver manstnii, bnilt of wood, was on the site of the pretteut brick mansion of Samuel Andrew?, on ihf gQUthem (loi'J ofthe hill. 'Seepage 802. « See paije 364. 'Seepage 878. « Sec page SS. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 883 Islt to Cumberliiud Iloail, rcli (at a spot indi- by the side of the in front of Francis -10 spot where Wil- , long time. There, aiich formed an ad- liU.^ er day was passing ere Leonard made a I became tlie guest ning profitably witli sman, I went oiat to ,t at twilight, after a the object of my er- e the British forced a nd traversing a rougli was on a low, narrow Ic sketch on page 8(4. station, visiting tlic re- Forts Morcau, Brown, t, and sketching the oW ises on the margin of which were erected in the use of the Ameri- )ps. Wc rode back to ire", and, after sketching e mill* and the Uniteil lotel," we crossed the and made our way •or crossing Dead Creek cd by sontherly wuuis Besldencee of Mooers and Woolsey. Bemains of " Wilkinson's Folly." Mr. Piatt and hia Remintscencea. Lion of Samuel And-.on.V k page 8iO. W00L8KT UOCSE. tertained us with an excellent dinner and pleasant intercourse with his family. Taking the inner road to the light-house on tlie extreme point of the Head, we pass- ed the pleasantly situated old mansion of General Mooers (page 882), where he lived many years, and where he died. It over- looks the bay and the lake. We visited and sketched the light-house, and from its lofty gallery obtained a fine panoramic view of the entire theatre of the naval battle near.* Passing along the lake side of the Head, in full view of Grand Island and the Green Mountains, we came, at tlie distance of a mile from the light-house, to the residence of General Woolsey, father of the active commander on Lake Ontario. Near it was Colonel Durand's, the dep- uty collector (when this was the place of the Plattsburg port of entry), which was the custom-house ; and between Woolsey's and the light-house is the dwelling of Mr. Mosher. It Avas a tavern during the war, and in front of it was the landing-place of the troops brought over by Captain Ferris. When the British galleys were escaping down the lake, and were passing this tavern, several men were sitting on its porch. One of them called out to the fugitives in derision, when a British marine fired a mus- ket-ball at the group. It passed just over their heads, and through a door, whicli Mr. Moslier preserves as a memento of the incident. About three fourths of a mile from the light-house, on the farm of J. T. Ilagar, we saw the prominent remains of tlie ramparts and ditch of a large redoubt cast up by Hampton, and which received the name of " Wilkinson's Folly." It is about forty rods from the lake, on high ground, and on the shore in front of it was a water bat- tery. Its ramparts were of earth and stone. From its top we had a fine view of the surrounding country, and we lingered some timo in the sliadow of a tree that over- hung one of its bastions. The day was now far spent, and we turned back toward Plattsburg, where we arrived at dusk, well satisfied with our day's excursion. On the following morning I visited the venerable Isaac C. Piatt, then in his eight- ieth year, whose residence is on the Beekmantown road, not fitr from Ilalsoy's Cor- ners. He was living there at the time of the British invasion, and took his family over to Middlebury, in Vermont. On his return the skirmish liad occurred at Ilal- soy's Corners. He found his house in possession of the enemy, and used as a sort of hospital.^ He asked and obtained from General Brisbane protection for himself and his property. That ofiicer gave hira a general parole of honor to go where he j)lcased. When the British fled they left about forty liorscs in his fields, and tlicsc he consid- iTod a fair equivalent for hay and other property whicli they had appropriated to ilieir own use. The British behaved very honorably, ho said, generally paying for whatever they procured from the inhabitants. During a delightful interview of an limir with the liumorous octogenarian, he related many stirring incidents of the iiiva- ■iii, which limited space will not allow me to record. He still [1867] lives ui the iiij')ymefit of good health. Leaving Mr. Plijtt's, wc passed a huge old butternut-tree between his house and llilsey's Corners, its trnnk terribly scarred by the passage of one of Leonard's can- 1 ii-halls completely through it. It stands as a memento of the affair at that point. (We passed on to the burial-ground, and visited and sketched the freestone memorials Icf Downie and the slain, already mentioned ; of Colonel Melancthon Smith ; and of > See page STO. . > See page SOS. tfitil ill!! 884 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Orave of Hiss Davidson. A Shot In Macomb's Ilead-qoarters. Chauucey kept from active Service. General Benjamin Mooers.' Tliere, too, I found the grave of the wonderfully preco- cious child-poet, Lucretia Maria Davidson, who was th j author of a volume entitled Amir Khan, and other Poems^ and yet she died I ./ore she was seventeen years of age. A neat white marble monument marks the resting-place of her remains, and bears those beautiful lines written by William Cullen Bryant on the occasion of her burial : " In the cold motst earth we laid her when the forest cast Its leaf, And we wept that one bo lovely should have a lot so brief; Yet not unmeet It was that one, like that young friend of ours. So gentle and so beautiful, should perish with the flowers." , In the course of the day I called on General A. C. Moore, whose fine mansion, not far from the old stone mill, was the head-quarters of General Macomb before the bat- tle. In the hall, near the foot of the staircase and protruding from the upper edge of the wains- coting, was a 24-pound iron ball, which British cannon hurled across the Saranac. It had come crashing through the house, and lodged there. With good taste and patriotic feeling, it had been left undisturbed. It was painted black and var- nished, and on it, in white letters, were the words September 11, 1814. Toward evening of the same day I embarked at Plattsburg in a steamer for Whitehall, and on the following evening I was at my home on tht Hudson. With the flight of Prevost and his army from Lake Champlain ended all military movements of importance on the Northern front- ier. Hostilities soon afterward ceased on the Niagara frontier, as we have observed; and during the entire season, Chauncey, one of the most vigilant and active of naval commanders, had been compelled by circumstances to remain almost inactive at Sack- ett's Harbor a greater part of the time. He was blockaded by a British squadron tmtil early in June, when the completion of the armament of the Superior made Sir James Yeo prudently withdraw his blockading vessels. And when the Mohawk, which was launched* in thirty-four working days after her keel was laid, was prepared for sea, and the movements on the Niagara frontier with vvhicli Chauncey was to co-operate had commenced, that commander was prostrated bv severe illness at the Harbor. His re-enforcements came tardily, while the enemy was increasing his strength in vessels, arms, and men. It was the last of July before the squadron was ready for sea. Meanwhile Chauncey had set in motion minor operations. Supplies for the Brit- ish were continually ascending the St. Lawrence in small boats. He resolved to at- tempt the capture of some of them, and sent Lieutenant (late Rear Admiral) Fran- cis H. Gregory,^ with Sailing-masters Vaughan and Dixon, in three gigs, for that pur- BALL IH MOORe'B UOUBE, FLATTBBITItO. > Jnne 11, 1814. ' About a rod north of General Moocrs's grave is that of Samuel Norcro^^s, who, with two other nnarmcd cillzeni. met three British soldiers on the retreat on the morning of the 12th, and slnmltanenusly sprang upon them and ffiui their guns. A desperate struggle ensued. His antagonist wrenched the gnu from Norcross, and with it shot him, kill- ing him almost instantly. This occurred not far from the place where hie ' <idy was buried. > This volume was published in 1S29, and contained a biographical skii i li of the author by Professor Samnel F. B, Morse. She was born in September, 1S08 ; was educated at Mrs. Willard's seminary in Troy, and died in August, ISS. She was very beautiful. ' l^runcis II. Gregory was born at Norwalk, Connccticnt, on the 9th of October, 1789. He entered the merchant «n- ice in 1S02, and the navy as a midshipman in 1809 in the Heveiuje, commanded by Lieutenant O. H. Perry. He was pro- 1 moted to acting master in 1811, and in the spring of 1812 he was placed under Chauncey's command on Lake Ontario. In tbit service he performed many gallant exploits as acting lieutenant, for his skill and bravery were so consplcnci' I that he was employed in the most dangerous and diOlcult service. In August, 1814, be was captured and sent to En- gland a prisoner of war, and was kept there until the close of the contest ; not in close confinement, but on wide parok j in Devonshire, where the " vivacious little Yankee" was a great favorite with the ladies, and graced many a festal o«i- j ►ion. In 18-25 Lieutenant Gregory commanded the Drandytoine when she conveyed Lafayette to this country; nndii OF THE WAR OF 1812. 885 cey kept from active Service. le wonderfully preco- of a volume entitled IS seventeen years of e of her remains, and )n the occasion of her af. s, hose fine mansion, not lacorab before the bat- ! foot of the staii-casp, pper edge of the waing- ron ball, which British Saranac. It had come )use, and lodged there, iotic feeling, it had been 1 painted black and var- 1 letters, were the words e same day I emhaiked er for Whitehall, and on was at my home on thi' svost and his army from e on the Northern front- ;r, as we have observed; ilant and active of naval almost inactive at Sack- , by a British squadron if the Superior made Sir .nd when the Mohmcl :cr her keel was laid, ^\ as ;ara frontier with whiili 'nder was prostrated by ily, while the enemy was c last of July before tk Supplies for the Biit- jats. He resolved to at- [ate Rear Admiral) Fran- three gigs, for that pur- I with two other nnarmcd citizens t„gly ".prang upon them amUfi'rf \orcroL,andwithitBhothira,Wl- 'a"t''hor'byProfe!..or Samuel F_B. iu Troy, and died in August, is- Isg He entered the merchant ot Inienant O.H.Perry. He«»»f">] tncey^ command on LalceOnUn.! I land bravery were 80 couspku.^ I4 he waa captured and .eut to EH i;e confinement, hut on «i<iepj|« lie., and graced many a (e.tal «• lLafayetretothlacounlry;..a'» Exploits of lileutennnt Gregory. Chaoncey's Squadron leaves Sacketl's Harbor. Its Composition, pose at the middle of June. They lay in ambush among the Thousand Islands, be- low Alexandria Bay, on the 19th. They were discovered, and a British gun-boat sent to attack them. They did not wait for her approach, but boldly dashed upon and captured her. She was the Black Snake, Captain Landon, carrying an 18- pound carronade and eighteen men, chiefly Royal Marines. Gregory returned to the Haibor with liis prisoners, but was com- pelled to destroy the lilack Snake to pre- vent her recapture. For this gallant serv- ice the National Congress, tlurty years • May 4, afterward," gave Gregory and his 1^- companions three thousand dol- lars.' Ten days afterward, Gregory and the same assistants started in two gigs for Nicholas Island, seven miles fromPresque Isle, on the Canada coast, to intercept some transports expected to pass there for York and Fort George. They did not come ; so, finding his presence was known to the British authorities, Gregory landed at Presque Isle, burned a schooner pierced ^-'^^.--^^ for fourteen guns and nearly ready to bo launched, and a building containing her stores, crossed the lake, and reached Sack- ett's Harbor on the 6th of July"" without the loss of a man. Chauncey was carried on board the Su- perior in a convalescent state on the 3l8t of July, and on that day his squadron left, the Harbor. It consisted of the flag-ship Superior, C2, Lieutenant Elton ; Pike, 28, Captain Crane, Chauncoy's second in com- mand ;2 3fohawk, 42, Captain Jones ; Mad- ison, 24, Captain Trencliard ; Jefferson, 22, Captain Ridgeley; Jones, 22, Captain Woolsey; Sylph, 14, Captain Elliott; Oneida, 16, Lieut. Commanding Brown; and the look-oftt boat Za«?y of (he Lake. They appeared off the mouth of the Niag- ara River (then in possession of the Brit- ish) on the 6th of August." Leav- ing the Jefferson, Sylph, and Onei- da to blockade some British vessels in the ' 1814. 1S2(1 he commanded the 64-gnn ship sent to the Greeks from New York. He was promoted to commander in 1828, and WM in active service afloat until 1882, when he was placed in charge of the Boston Navy Yard. When the Rebellion liroke out he was anxious to enter into active service, but he was more ucefiilly employed as general superintendent of the construction of the iron-clad or armored vessels engaged in the Civil War. He was promoted to the rank of rear sflralral in 180-2, and died in Brooklyn, October 4, 1806, at the age of seventy-seven years. Few men hold a more worthy place on the records of our navy. ' Hough's HUtory of Jeffrrmn Cmintti, page 616. ' Mr. Crane was one of Chauncey'a most intimate friends and active commanders. He was born in ElizabethtowD, New Jersey, on the Ist of February, 1T84, and was n son of General Wllliflm Crane, who was one of Montgomery's army, luid made a prisoner in Quebec. He entered the nary in 1T90 aa midshipuian, and was in active service in the Hedtter- mm :||'} H ( I 886 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Chaoncey tries to draw oat Yeo. A heavy British Ship on the Lake. AmericauB prepare to match her. river, Chauncey crossed the lake with the remainder of the squadron, looked into • Augnst 9, York, and then sailed for Kingston," where, with four of his vessels, he ^''"- blockaded the squadron of Sir James Yeo for six weeks. He vainly tried to draw him out for combat ;' and in the mean time, as we have seen, he conveyed a part of Izard's troops to the Genesee River.^ During this blockade, Lie.. Lcuant Gregory, while reconnoitring, was captured. At the close of September it was ascertained that the St. Lawrence, pierced for one hundred and twelve guns, which had been all the season in preparation at Kingston, was ready for sea. Chauncey prudently raised the blockade, i-etired to Sackett's Harbor, and prepared for attack. On the 15 th of October the St. Lawrence sailed, bearing Sir James Yeo and more than a thousand men.^ She was accompanied by four ships, *,wo brigs, and a schooner, and from that time the baronet, with his great ship, was lord of the lake. The Americans resolved to match the St. Lawrence before the opening of the lake the following spring, and the keels of two first-class frigates were speedily laid — one at Sackett's Harbor, to be called the iVeio Orleans, and an- other at Storrs's Harbor, farther up the bay, to be called the Chippeica. Of the for- mer we have already taken notice on page 616. These vessels were partly finished, when the proclamation of peace caused work upon them to cease, as well as all far- ther hostilities in that quarter. Yeo did not venture to attack Chauncey* in Sackett's Harbor; but so imminent ranean early in the present century. He was promoted to Ueatenant in 1803, ami rose to the rank of captain in 1804. He was in command of the NautUun when she was captnred (see page 436), and after his exchange was in continual service on Lake Ontario. He was in the service of his government, afloat and ashore, un- til his death, when he was chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography. Commodore Crane was buried with naval honors in the Congressional Burying. ground In Washington City, and over his remains is a fine white marble moun- ment with the following inscriptions: West Side.— "Saerei to the memory of William Montgomebt Crane, a cuptaln in the navy, who was bom in Elizabethtown, New Jereay, on th* Ist of Febmar;-. 1784, and died at Washinston on the ISth of March, 1848." South SWe.—'- En- dowed with uncommon Judgment, skill, and ability, he was conspicuous amongst the most distinguished of his professional compeers." Eatt Stdc— "The manly qualities which he on all occasions exhibited endeared hijii to his associates, anil forty-seven years of arduous service proved his devotion to his country.' Sorth Side.—" In the war with France, with the Barbary Powers, and with England, lie was actively engaged, and with undiminished reputation." 1 The fact that Sir James Yeo, after boasting of his desire to meet ChnnnceyV fleet, and his look-outs often feigning a design to encounter the Lady of the Lake. Chauncey's gallant little scout, caused many squibs. Among others was a short poem entitled " The Courteous Knight, or the Flying Gallant." After stating that a British knight (Sir James) of high reputation had jilted an American lady who had already made some noise in the world {Ladj/ of the Voice), the poet said: "He Hed like a truant; the lady in vain Her ogling and glances employed : She aimed at his heart, and she aimed at his brain, And she vowed f^om pursuing she ne'er would refrain— The knight was most sadly annoyed. • , At length from love's fervor the recreant got clear, And may have for a season some rest; But if this fair lady he ever comes near, For breaking his promise he'll pay very dear. The price gallant Chauncey knows best." See epigraph at the head of Chapter XXIX. » See page S84. ' Soon »fter the St. Lawrence sailed, Mr. M'Gowan, a midshipman, accompanied by William Johnston, the " Hero of the Thousand Islands" (see page 602), went with a torpedo to Kingston Harbor to blow her up. Her departure foiled the enterprise. See Cooper's HavoA History, 51., 423. * Isaac Chauncey was a native of Fairfield County, Connecticut, and was bom in 1773. He went to sea early In life from the port of New York, and was master of a vessel at the age of nineteen years. He made several successful voy- ages to the East Indies in vessels belonging to John Jacob Astor, and In 1798 he entered the navy of the United States with a lieutenant's commission under Truxtun. He behaved gallantly In the Mediterranean, and for his good conduct there Congress presented him with an elegant sword. He was promoted to commandant in 1804, and in 1806 he re- ceived the commission of captain. He was appointed to the command of the embryo navy on the Lakes at the begin- ning of the War of 1812, and by his gallant and judicious conduct there he won Imperishable fame. He commanded a squadron in the Mediterranean after the war. He returned to the XTnited States In 1818, and was soon afterward called to the post of navy commissioner at Washington City. He was afterward commander of the naval station at Brook- lyn, but vras appointed navy commissioner again in 1S33, which office he held until his death, when he was president obasi'b monuuent. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 887 ricans prepare to match her. [uadron, looked into ur of his vessels, he ks. He vainly tried ,'e Been, he conveyed blockade, Lie - ;,euant rence, pierced for one )aration at Kingston, , retired to Sackett's 1 St. Lawrence sailed, was accompanied by ironet, with his great e St. Lawrence before wo first-class frigates Neio Orleans, and an- hippe^oa. Of tlic for- were partly finislied, ase, as well as all far- t)or; but so imminent loted to llentenant in 1S03, and ommand of the Nautilwi when lange was in continual service ernment, afloat and ashore, un- rdnance and Hydrography. , in the Congressional Burying- I is a fine wtiite marble mouu- MoNTGOMEBT Cbane, a cptnta Jersey, on tlft Ist of Februari-. rch, 1846." South Side.—'- En- ', he was conspicuous amonget jrs." £o«f Side— " The manly tired hijd to his associates, anil 'votion to his country.' Sorth Powers, and with England, he itation." his desire to meet Channccv's encounter the Lady of the Lake. je. Among others was a fhort r GaUant." After stating that a ilted an American lady who had iote), the poet said: rain i: ned at his brain, ne'er would refrain— )yed. creant got clear, rest; near, very dear, ws best." » See page R84. illlam Johnston, the " Hero ot her up. Her departure foiled ,. He wont to sea early In life ie made several surcessfal tot- S the navy of the United SUles jnean, and for his good conduct dant in 1804, and In 180C he re- lavy on the Lakes at the hegin- hablefame. He commanded s and was soon afterward called of the naval station at Brook- I death, when he was president Cbanneey caHa for Militia. Washington Irving's Rebniie. Close of Hostilities on the Northern Frontier. 'i^<^2^ ^y^^2-t^^^ seemed the danger, when it was known that the St. Lawrence was ready for sea, that a request was made by the com- manding officer at that post, of Govern- or Tompkins, to send thither some mili- tia re-enforcements, the entire militaiy strength which had been left there by Izard being some artillery under Lieu- tenant Colonel Mitchell, and two battal- ions of infantry, commanded respect- ively by Majors Malcolm and Brevoort.. The governor at once sent his aid. Col- onel Washington L'ving,^ with orders for the commandant at the Harbor to make such requisition on the militia as he should think best. The result was that General Collins called out the en- tire body of the militia of Herkimer, Oneida, Lewis, and Joffiarson counties, and at the close of October the mili- tary force at Sackctt's Harbor was about six thousand. When the lake closed, and all apprehensions of an attack by the British subsided, the militia were disbanded, and the war was closed on the Canada frontier. of the board. He died at Washington City on the 27th of Jannary, 1(540, at the age of about sixty-flve years. He was interred with appropriate honors la the Congressional Burying-gronnd, upon the slope ovcrloolcing the East Branch of the Potomac, and over his grave stands a superb monument made of white clouded marble. On the pedestal, in relief, is the name CnAtmoKT. On another part are the names of several of his family. On the east side is the following inscription : " Isaao CnAiracEv, United States Navy, died in this city January 27tb, 1840, while President of the Board of Navy Commis- sioners, aged sixty-seven years." The monument is about eighteen feet in height. Upon the obelislc is a wreath of laurel and a sword, cut in relief. > This was the beloved Washington Irving, one of the purest of the planet- ary lights of American literature. Mr. Irving was at that time editor of the Amkctic Magazine, for "which he had'furnished some brilliant biographies of the heroes of the war. Natnrally peaceful and retiring, he felt no special am- bition to become a conspicuous actor ; yet his soul was full of patriotic flame. It was increased intensely by a circumstance which occurred on a Hudson River steam-boat late in August, 1814, when the news of the capture and de- Rtmction of the national capital was fliling all loyal men with sadness. His biographer thus relates the story : "It was night, and the passengers had be- ttlicn themselves to their settees to rest, when a person came on board at Ponghkeepsic with the news of the inglorious triumph, and proceeded, in the darkness of the cabin, to relate the particulars : the destruction of the Presi- dent's House, the Treasury, War, and Navy Ofliccs, the Capitol, the Depository of the National Library and Public Records. There was a momentary pause after the speaker had ceased, when some paltry spirit lifted his head from a rettee, and, in a tone of complacent disdain, 'wondered what yt'mnit/ Madison wonid say now ?' ' Sir,' said Mr. Irving, glad of an escape to his swelling in- dignation, 'do you seize on such a disaster only for a sneer? Let me tell you, sir, it is not now a question about Jimmy Madison or Johnny Armstrong. The pride and honor of the nation are wonndc' the country is insulted and . disgraced by this barbarous success, and every loyal citizen would feel the ig- nominy, and be earnest to avenge it.' ' I could not see the fellow," said Mr. Irving, but I let fly at him in the dark.' "—The Life and Letters of Wa»hingtim Irving, by his nephew, Pierre M. Irving, i., 311. The fellow was cowed into silence. He was a prototype of a small class which obtained the name of Cop- perheads during the late Civil War, to whom the loyal men of the nation ad- ministered a similar rebuke. Mr. Irving's feelings were so much stirred by the incident that, on his arrival In New York, he offered his services to Governor Tompkins as his aid. They were accepted, and he became his excellency's aid and secretary, with the rank nf colonel. His name first appears attached to n general order dated September 2, 1314. He remained on the govern- or's itaff until the close of the war, a few months afierward. rUAUKOEY 8 MO.WHENT. I , i 'i : ini - 1 888 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK A trjrlng Time for New Bngland. The Blucknde of New London . Commodore Lewli In Long Island Sound. CHAPTER XXXVm. "Then, warriors on shore, be brave, Tour wives and homes defend ; Those preclons boons be tme to save. And hearts and sinews bend. Ob, think upon your fathers' fame, For glory marked the way ; And this foe aimed the blow, Bnt victory crowned the day. Then emulate the deeds of yore, Let victory crown the day."— Old Somo. ^EW ENGLAND experienced very little actual war within its bor- ders, yet it felt its pressure heavily in the paralysis of its peculiar industries, the continual ^rain upon its wealth of men and money, and the wasting excitement caused by constantly impending men- aces and a sense of insecurity. From the spring of 1813 until the ■.„<^^ -y W close of the contest, British squadrons were hovering along its ^rw^ coasts, and, in connection with the Embargo Acts, were double- barring its sea-ports against commerce, and threatening the de- struction of its maritime cities and villages. The year 1814 was a specially trying one for New England. The British govern- ment, as we have observed, had determined and prepared, at the beginning of that year, to make the campaign a vigorous, sharp, and decisive one on land and sea. Hitherto the more northerly coasts of the United States had been very little molest- ed by the enemy excepting by threatenings, for Commodore Hardy's blockade of New London and its vicinity had been so mild that it was practically little more than a jailor's custody of two prisoners — Decatur's vessels — above that town. Now a sys- tem of petty invasions commenced, and were followed by more serious operations. The blockade of New London was kept up in 1814, and as early as April a party of British seamen and marines, in several small vessels (each armed with a 9 or 12 pounder), under the command of Lieutenant Coote, of the Royal Navy, went up the ■ April 8, Connecticut River in the evening, and at four o'clock the next morning" land- ^"*- ed on Pautopaug Point, seven miles from the Sound, spiked the heavy guns found there, and destroyed twenty-two vessels, valued at one hundred and sixty thou- sand dollars. At ten o'clock they went down the river two or three miles to Brock- way's Ferry, where they indulged in similar incendiary sport. In the mean time a body of militia, with some marines and sailors from Decatur's vessels in the Thames, under Captain Jones and Lieutenant Biddle, gathered on the shore and endeavored to cut off their retreat, but, under cover of darkness that night, and with the silence of muffled oars, they escaped. At about this time Commodore Lewis made his appearance in the Sound with thir- teen American gun-boats for the protection of the coast-trade against the Jjiverpool Packet privateer, which was cruising very mischievously all along the Connecticut shore. She fled eastward at Lewis's approach, and when he reached Saybrook he found more than fifty vessels there, afraid to weigh anchor for fear of this corsair. Lewis told them to follow his flotilla, and he would endeavor to convoy them safely to New London. The entire fleet sailed on the 25th,'' and during the after- ** ' noon Lewis had a shai-p engagement with a British frigate, sloop, and tender. \wn OF THE WAR OF 1812. 889 wis Id Long Island Sound, I war within its bor- alysis of its peculiar 1 of men and money, ntly impending men- ingof 1813 untilthe hovering along its ) Acts, were doublo- threateuing the de- The British goveni- he beginning of that ine on land and sea. :n very little molest- ilardy's blockade of ally little more than ,t town. Now a sys- lerious operations. ,rly as April a party Irmed with a 9 or 12 ,1 Navy, w ent up the next morning" land- iked the heavy guns |idred and sixty thou- ;hree miles to Brock- In the mean time a issels in the Thames, ore and endeavored and with the silence the Sound with thir- Lgainst the Liverpool long the Connecticut leached Saybrook he ' fear of this corsair, convoy them safely ind during the after- Ite, sloop, and tender. I«wis attnclu the Blockaders. Ampblbluns Warfare on tl.-e New England Coast. New Bedford and Fair Haven. The merchant fleet entered the Thames in safety, and Lewis, inspirited by his suc- cess, determined to attack the blockading squadron with his gun-boats. He began by hurling hot shot, which set the British vessels on fire. He soon disabled the sloop, which, with the frigate, had attacked him while convoying the coasting vessels. He 80 maimed the frigate that she was on the point of surrendering, when night set in and the fire of the gun-boats ceased. It was excessively dark, and at dawn Lewis saw the enemy in the far distance towing away the wounded vessel. He was about to pursue, when several other frigates made their appearance, and he prudently aban- doned the design. Early in Juno the enemy commenced depredations on the coasts of Massachusetts. On the 13th a detachment of two hundred men, in six barges, were sent from thi Su- perb and Mmrocl, then lying in Buzzard's Bay, to destroy the shipping at Wareham, a village at the head of the bay. The elevated rocky neck at the mouth of the Nar- rows concealed the approach of the barges, and the inhabitants were taken by sur- prise. The enemy fired a ship, brig, and several schooners and sloops. The ship was partially saved, and so also was a cotton factory, which was set on fire by a Congreve rocket. The estimated value of the loss was $40,000. Quite a number of. the lead- ing inhabitants were seized and carried away as hostages, so as to prevent the mili- tia from firing on the vessels. These were released when the ships arrived at their anchorage. Similar destruction was inflicted at Scituate and smaller places. Some- times the militia would meet the marauders and drive them away, but in most cases the blow would be struck before a foil could be raised to avert it. On the 16th of June the Bulwark, 74, Captain Milne, carrying about ninety gnns, anchored oflT the mouth of Saco River, in Maine, and her commander sent one hund- red and fifty armed men, in five larg" boats, to destroy property on the Neck belong- ing to Captain Thomas Cutts. That gentleman met them with a white flag, and pro- posed a money commutation. The matter was referred to Captain Milne, who soon afterward came ashore in his gig. He assured Cutts that he had positive orders to destroy, and could not spare. The torch was then applied, and two vessels ^one fin- ished, the other on the stocks), valued at $15,000, were destroyed, and another one taken away, which the owner afterward ransomed for $6000. They also plundered Mr. Cutts's store of goods to the amount of $2000.' At about the same time the Nimrod and La Hogue were blockading New Bedford and Fair Haven, little villages on each bank of the Acushnet River, an inlet from Buzzard's Bay, They lay in Tarpaulin Cove, watching vigilantly the privateer Yan- /tee, belonging to De Wolfe, of Bristol, Rhode Island, the great slave-merchant. This vessel, and all others of her class, wei-e unwelcome to the New Bedford people, who were Federalists, but right welcome to those of Fair Haven, who were Democrats — a difference of opinion which led to the separation of the two towns. The Fair Haven people cherished all privateers and other enemies of the British, and had, moreover, a fort on their Point, built in the time of the threatened war with France in 1798 on the site of a battery of the Revolution. It now had about a dozen iron cannon on its rampart.^:, and was guarded by a small garrison under Lieutenant Selleck Osbonie, the poet.'* Of course, the British blockaders did not like the Fair Haven folk, and one dark night they planned an attack on the fort and the destruction of the village. Every thing was ready long before daylight, and the Nimrod was to be the executor of the plan. Just then the tin horn of a solitary mail-carrier was heard, and the clat- ter of his horse's feet as ho galloped across the Acushnet bridge and causeway sound- ' History of Saco and Blddcford, by George Folsom, page 309. » Selleck Osborne was a native of Connectlcnt, and a printer by trade. He printed a paper in Lltchfleld abont the fesr 1806. He was afterward an editor in Wilmington, TA-laware. He was commissioned first lientennnt of light dr»- Boons in .Tuly, 1808, and made captain in 1811, His company was disbanded In May, 1814, and be was acting as lieuten- ut in garrison at Fair Haven. He went to Lake Chnmplnin, and was engaged in the battle of Plattsbnrg. In 1893 ho published a volume of poenu. He died in Philadelphia on the 1st of October, 1820, II t! 800 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Baa-port Towns uf New England blockaded. Appearance of Hardj'i Squadron. The Britltih capture Eiutport cd loudly upon the night air. The honi was mistaken for the braying of a trumpet sounding an advance, and the rattle of hoofs was interpreted as the foi-erunner of the approach of a large American force. The Nimrod hastened ♦" "' didraw to a Hufi! distance from the fort, and New Bedford and Fair Haven were spared the notoriiiy of a battle. The fort and its iron cannon yet (1867) remain, monuments of the wis- dom of ample preparation for evil. Other places were mcaced, and some were attacked. Formidable squadrons were kept before New York, Now London, and Boston. Eastport and Castine fell into tiie hands of the British, and Stonington became the theatre of a most distressing bom- bardment. All along the eastern coast, from the Connecticut to the St. Croix, tlie enejny carried on this kind of warfare, in most cases marauding on private property in a manner which degraded the actors in the eyes of all honorable men to the level of mere freebooters. The more respectable portion of British writers condemned the policy, for it was damaging to the British interest. Hitherto lukewarm New En- gland now became intensely heated with indignation against the common enemy, and burned with a war-fever which made the peace party in that region exceedingly cir- cumspect. A more serious invasion of the New England coast now occurred. Early in July • July 6, Sir Thomas M. Hardy sailed secretly from Halifax* with a considerable force 1814. fjjp \an({ and sea service. His squadron consisted of the Ramillics, 74, his flag-ship ; the sloop Martin, brig Borer, the Bream, the bomb-ship Terror, and several transports with troops, under Colonel Thomas Pilkington. The sqnidron entered Passamaqnoddy Bay on the 11th, and anchored off Fort Sullivan at Euhtport,' which was then in command of Major Perley Putnam, of Salem,* with a garrison of fifty men and six pieces of artillery. The baronet demanded an instant surrender of the post, giving the commander only five minutes for consideration. Putnam promptly refused compliance, but, on account of the vehement importunities of the alarmed in- habitants, who were indisposed to resist, he yielded his own judgment, and gave up the post on condition that while the British should take possession of all public prop- erty, private property should be respected. When this agreement was signed, a thou- sand armed men, with women and children, a battalion of artillery, and fifty or sixty pieces of cannon, were landed on the main, and formal possession was taken of the fort, the town of Eastport, and all the islands and villages in and around Passama- qnoddy Bay. Declaration was made that these were in permanent possession of the British,^ and the inhabitants were called upon to take an oath of allegiance within seven days, or leave the territory.* Two thirds of them complied. The custom- house was opened under British officials ;' trade was resumed ; the fortifications around Eastport were completed, and sixty pieces of cannon were mounted ; and an arsenal was established. Several vessels, and goods valued at three hundred thou- sand dollars, accumulated there to be smuggled into the United States, were made prizes of by the British. The enemy held quiet possession of that region until the close of the war. Having established British rule at Eastport, and left eight hundred troops to hold ' Eastport Is on Moose Island, In Passamaqnoddy Bay, which the British claimed as belonging to New Brunswick nnder the treaty of 1TS3. » After the declaration of war in June, 1812, the United Slates kept a garrison at Fort Sullivan. At first there were two militia companies, from General Blake's brigade on the Penobscot, under the command of Major Ulmer. The United States afterward took possession, and snbstitnted regular troops for militia. In the autumn of 1813 Major Pal- nam was appointed to the command there. » It was declared that "the object of the British government was to obtain possession of the islands of Pnsunmnqnod- dy Bay, in consequence of their being considered within their boundary-line."— Letter fi-ora Lieutenant Colonel J. FItz- herbert to Oenorai Brewer, of the Washington County Militia, July 12, 1814. . « A " royal proclamation" to this effect wag made by Commodore Hardy on the 14th, In which notice was given that "all persons at present on the island are to appear before ne on Saturday next, at ton o'clock in the forenoon, on the ground near the school-house [at Eastport], to declare their intentions," etc. ; • They took all the public property from the custom-house, and vainly endeavored to compel the collector tr sign nn- flnlahed treasury notes of the value of $9000. He reftised, saying " hanging will b« no compnleion." mfiirt , OP THE WAH OF 1812. fiOl Brltlab capture Butport. Ired troops to hold nging to New Brunswick Tne BrltUb Hqnadron off PorUmoath. the conquered region, Hardy sailed west- ward with his squiulron, spreading alarm along the coast. I'reparations for his re- ception were made every where. Vigilant eyes were watching, and strong arms were waiting for the appearance of the foe at Portsmouth, where little Fort Sumner was manned. The energetic General Montgom- ery,' of New Hampshire, ordered every tenth man of his brigade to repair to Ports- mouth for its defense, and there he com- manded in person. Little F'ort Lilly, at Gloucester, was armed. Fort Pickering, near Salem, and Fort Sewall, at Marble- head, were strengthened and garrisoned. Fort Warren, on Governor's Island, and Fort Lidependenco, on Cawtie Island, in Boston Harbor, were put in readiness for action, and well garrisoned by Massachu- setts militia. An attack npon the important city ofBoston was con- fidently expected after intelligence was received of the bombardment of Vlgtlance of Qflneml Hont|;omei7. Alluik ov BoitoD ox|)«eted. • Angnst 9, 1814. VOUT FIOKERINO.' Stonington,* which we shall presently consider. It was the capital of New England, and the moral effect of its capture or destruction would be great. It was a place for the construction of American war-vessels, which the enemy feared more than armies. On this account its destruction was desirable. It was also a wealthy town, and offered a rich har\est for plunderers. It was well known, too, that it was almost defenseless, for it was not until the descent of the enemy upon Eastport, and his hostile operations elfiewhere, had aroused the authorities of Massa- • John Montgomery was bom in Massachnsfctt!! In 1769, and was a relative of General Montgomery who was killed at Qaebec. He became a spirited and snccessful n irchant, and when the War of 1812 broke out he had just cent a heavy consignment ofgoods abroad, which were totally lost to him. At that time he was a brigadier general of New Ilamp- »l)ire militia. He was a Federalist in politics, but when his country was in danger he gave the government his snpport. When Portsmouth was threatened by the British squadron, he took command in person at that place, and there he re- mained until the danger disappeared. General Montgomery married a daughter of General Henry Knox, of the Bevolntlon, by whom he had six children, nil danghters. He died at Haverhill, New Hampshire, on the 99tb of February, 1825, at the age of fifty-six years. I am indebted to his danghter, Mrs. Samuel Bachelder, cf Cambridge, for the above portrait. ' This view is from the slope back of the fort, looking seaward. On the extreme left, in the distance, is seen Beverly. A little to the right, Misery Island. Still Earther toward the right, Baker's Island light-boase. On the extreme right la Marblehead Point. h\ «» * lift' liii 1 802 PIC AL FIELD-BOOK AUrm tn Botlon. Preparattoni fur th« UnbDie or tb« City. Cltiuni at Wurk un FontflcBitoni, chusctts from their dreams of peace that any important preparations wore made to repel an attack.' Tlio people had seen tlie blockading squadrons from the topH of their houses, and trembled for the safety of the town, but it was not until the close of August that any energetic measures were taken by the leading men of the city •Augnitso, toward providing for its defense. Then' a public meeting was called to '"*• consider the matter; and a committee, consisting of Harrison Gray Otis, James Lloyd, Thomas II. Perkins, and others, were appointed to wait on the govern- or, and present to him an address on the defenseless state of the city. They assured him that the people were ready to co-opcrato in any way for the security of the cap- ital and the stato. Governor Strong, whose opposition to the war was intense, listened to this appeal, and at once instituted measures for the defense of the whole line of the coast of Mas- sachusetts and of the District of Maine, its dependent. The high ground on Noddle's Island (now East Boston), known as Camp Hill,^ was chosen for the site of a new and heavy fort, and it was resolved to place its erection under the supervision of Laoinmi Baldwin, a graduate of Harvard College, as engineer. He issued his first official no- tice on the 10th of September, when he asked for tools and volunteers to work on the fortification. The response was patriotic. Large numbers of the inhabitants might be seen, day after day, toiling like common laborers with pickaxe, spade, shov- el, and barrow. Every class of citizens was represented. " I remember," says an eye-witness, " tho venerable Rev. Dr. Lathrop, with the deacons and elders of his church, each shouldering his shovel and doing yeoman's service in digging, shovel- ing, and carrying sods in wheelbarrows."' The volunteers were soon numbered by hundreds. A regular system of employment was adopted, confusion was avoided, and the work went on rapidly.* The fort was completed at the close of October. On the 26th of that month it was formally named, in honor of Governor Strong, Fort Strong, Lieutep Governor Phillips ofliciating as the chief actor in the ceremonies. The flag was 1 ^ amid the roar of artillery from Noddle's Island, North Battery, and India Wh. , ...id on the 29th the Selectmen of Boston announced that " the im- portant post of Fort Strong was completed," to the great joy of the people.* Hap- pily, it was never needed.' A battery of heavy guns was placed on Dorchester Heights (South Boston), and other defenses were prepared on prominent points at Roxbury and Cambridge. When Commodore Haidy left Eastport he rejoined the blockading squadron off New London. He was not long inactive. He was charged with a part of the duty " 1814 ®"j<'i"^*l "1 ^^^ terrible order of Admiral Cochrane, to destroy the coast towns and ravage the country, and on the 9th of August** he appeared off the bor- ' The demonstrations near Saybrook and In Buzzard's Bay had caused some alarm In Boston early In the summer ; and on the Iflth of Jane the governor and conncll appointed the Honorable David Cobb, John Brooks, and Tlmotliy Pickering commissioners for the defense of the sea-coast. » On the crown of present Webster Street, East Boston, near Belmont Square. The fort was between the square and brow of tho hill, near tjo dwelling of Mr. Lamson In 1800. ' Funeral sermon at the burial of Dr. Lathrop, by his successor, T. -''erend Dr. Parkman. ♦ A superintendent was appointed, who entered in a register the i-ames of the inhabitants who offered their service). The laborers were classified, and particular days assigned for particnlar classes. The newspapers of that period were filled with accounts of the patriotic ardor of the people of all classes. Notices like the following appeared : " Twenty- five mechanics from each ward in this town will labor on the fortifications on Noddle's Island. This day (September 14) to embark tram the ferry ways at half past six o'clock."— Sen/ine!, September 14. " Dealers in dry goods and in hardware to meet the next Thursday (20th) to do a day's work on Fort Strong," the name which it had already been determined to give the new fortification. Other Industrial pursuits, trades, and professions, as well as military and civil organizations, were continually represented on the work. Citizens also came firom the Interior. The Bosuin Ga- utte of October 8 has the following paragraph : " Fort Strong progresses rapidly. On Saturday the citizens of Ooncoril and Lincoln, to the number of two hundred, performed labor on It; the punctuality of the patriotic husbandmen de- served the highest praise of their fellow-citizens of the metropolis. The volunteers from wards 1, 8, and 4, together with others, amounted yesterday to five hundred." » Sumner's History of East Boston, page 416. • Governor Strong had called an extraordinary session of the Legislature on the 6th of October, and in his short mes- sage to that body, after giving the General Government a blow, he said : " Bnt, though we may be convinced that the war in its commencement was unnecessary and unjust," etc., "and though, in a war thus commenced, we may have de- clined to afford our voluntary aid to offensive measures, yet I presume there will be no doubts of our rights to defend oar dwellings and possessions against any hostile attack by which tbelr destruction is menaced." OP THE WAR OF 18 13. 8M 'Mi' I Bt Wurk un Purllflcailoni. itions wore made to 118 from tho topH of s not until the done ing men of the city eeting was called to IlarriBoii (iray ()ti», wait on the goverii- city. They assured 3 security of tho cap- itcncd to this appeal, s of tho coast of Mas- 1 ground on Noddle's tho site of a new and ipervision of Laoinmi •d his first official no- )lunteers to work on rs of tho inhabitants pickaxe, spade, shov- remember," says an ns and elders of his !e in digging, shovel- re soon numbered by nfusion was avoided, the close of October. Jovernor Strong, Fort tor in the ceremonies. Bland, North Battery, lounced that " the ira- of the people.* Ilap- )laced on Dorchester prominent points at jkading squadron off ith a part of the duty lestroy the coast towns ajjpearcd off the bor- BoBton early in the eumraer; lb, John Brooks, and Timothy rt was between the square and intB who offered their servlcei. ewspapers of that period were [)Uowiug appeared : " Twenty- Island. This day (Septeral)cr " Dealers in dry goods and In imo which it had already been isions, as well as military and the interior. The Bmwn Go- iturday the citizens of Concord the patriotic husbandmen dc- ■om wards 1, 8, and 4, together tory of East Boston, page 416. October, and in his short me«- we may be convinced that the I commenced, we may have de- doubts of oar rights to defend lenaced." The Brlttih Hquadron off Htonlogton. Surrender of the Town demanded and refused. It Is bombarded. ongh of Stonington, in Connecticut, for that purpose, with tho Jiamillies, 74, Pactohta, 44, bomb-ship Terror, tho brig JJispatch, 22, and barges and launches. He anchored his little squadron within two miles of the town at four o'clock in the afternoon, a mile and a half being the nearest point to tho village which the depth of water would allow the flag-ship to approach. He then sent a Hug of truce ashore, bearing to tho selectmen of the town the following mcHsage, dated half past live o'clock P.M. : " Not wishing to destroy tho unoffending inhabitants residing in the town of Stonington, one hour is granted them from the receipt of this to remove out of tlu; town."' " Will a flag bo received from us in return V" inquired the magistrates of the bearer of Hardy's letter. " No arrangements can bo made," was the reply ; and in answer to a question whether it was tho commodore's intention to destroy the town, they were assured that it was, and that it would be done eftcctually. Satisfled that no accom- modation could bo effected, tho magistrates returned the following answer: "Wo shall defend tho place to the last extremity ; should it be destroyed, wo will perish in its ruins I" The inhabitants were now in a state of great consternation. Tho sick and infirm, the women and children — all who were incapable of bearing arms, left the village, and the most valuable articles were immediately removed or concealed. A few mi- litia under Lieutenant Hough were stationed on the point of tho narrow peninsula on which Stonington stands, to watch the enemy and give notice of his nearer approach ; a precaution adopted none too soon, for toward sunset they reported the Terror mov- ing nearer the town by warping, accompanied by barges and launches each carrying a carronade. At eight o'clock the bomb-ship commenced throwing shell from a 13 and a 15 inch mortar, and tho launches hurled rockets. This assault, grand in appear- ance but teri'ible in fact, was kept up until midnight, when it ceased, and it wa.s as- certained that no life had been lost, and no serious damage inflicted on the shore. In the mean time an express had been sent to General Cushing, the United States commander of the district, who regarded the movement as a feint to cover a real at- tack on Fort Griswold, at Groton, and an attempt to seize Decatur's frigates in the Thames above New London. He made corresponding arrangements with General Williams, tho commander of the militia of tho district. A regiment was ordered to Stonington ; another to the head of tho Mystic, to oppose tho landing of the enemy there ; a company of artillery and ono of infantry were sent to a point on the Thames above the frigates ; and another company of artillery and a regiment of infantry were ordered to re-enforce the garrison of Fort Trumbull, for the protection of New Lon- don. These prompt dispositions of troops disconcerted the enemy's movements to- ward the Thames, if he ever liad a design of making any. During the bombardment on the evening of the 9th, some bold spirits at Stoning- ton took measures for opposing tho landing of the enemy. The only ordnance in the place consisted of two 18, one 6, and one 4 pound cannon. They dragged the 6 and one 18 pounder down to the extreme point of the peninsula, cast up some breastworks, and placed them in battery there. The other 18-pounder was left in a slight battery on the southwest point, near where the present breakwater leaves the shore. By the streaming light of the rockets they watched the approach of the enemy, reserving their fire until the barges and a launch came in a line near the southeast point of the peninsula, when they opened upon them with serious eff"ect. The guns, loaded with solid balls, were double shotted, and these so shattered the enemy's vessels that the little flotilla retreated in confusion toward the larger warriors. From midnight until dawn quiet prevailed, and during that time considerable numbers of militia and vol- unteers assembled in the neighborhood. At daylight on the morning of the 10th the frigate Pactolus and brig Dispatch were seen making their way up nearer the town, and at the same time the barges and 1 This was received by two magistrates, and Ueutenant Hongh of the militia.. !ii« Hi III 1 8B« PICTOni/L FIELD-BOOK Borabnrdment of StoningtnD. Captain llolmes and his Oun. Hi8 Flag nailed to its Staff. a launch had approached the eastern side of the peninsula, out of reach of the battery, aud commenced throwing rockets. A number of volunteers, with muskets and tlie 4-pounder, immediately crossed the ptninsula to oppose an expected landing of the enemy, but they could eftect little. The Dispatch came beating up, the Terror hurled her shells, and the rocketeers of the barges were industrious. The Pactolus ground- ed too far distant to hurt or to be hurt, and she was not engaged in the fight that ensued. So severe was the bombardment of the Terror that the mi- litia and volunteers who had assembled dared not enter the town. Most of the missiles went over the borough, but some of them went crashing through the village. One of them, called a carcass,' unex- ploded, may still (1867) be seen on a granite post on the corner of Main and Harmony Streets, in Stonington. It weighs two hundred and fif- teen pounds.2 At about six o'clock in the morning some bold volunteers came over from Mystic, among whom was the now (1867) venerable Captain Jer- emiah Holmes, who had been a prisoner in a British war-ship some years before, and had learned the art of gunnery well. He and his OAROASB. companions made their way to the battery on the point, when Holmes took charge of the old 18-pounder. At uhat moment the Dispatch was making her last tack preparatory to anchoring. Holmes sighted the gun, which Avas double-shot- ted with solid round biills, and at a favorable moment gave the word to fire. Both shots struck the hull of the brig. She at once cast anchor, with springs on her cable, and opened fire Avith 24-pound shot. The Terror sent shells in quick succession, Avhile Holmes and his companions kept the old iron cannon busy. The fight was now fiiirly opened, and it continued briskly for about an hour, when Holmes's ammunition gave out, and the borough was searched in vain for more. At eight o'clock he ceased fir- ing; and to prevent the great guP; which they could not drag away, being turned upon the tOAvn by the enemy, he had it spiked. Stonington was now wholly defenseless, for the militia were )>t a respectful distance from danger. It was at the mercy of the invaders, and a timid citizen, who was at the battery, proposed a for- mal surrender by lowering the color that was floating- over their hoads. " No !" shouted Captain Holmes, indignantly, " that flag shall never come down while I .im alive !" And it did not, in submission to the foe. When the wind died away, and it hung drooping by the side of the staflf", the br.ave captain held out the flag on the point of a bayonet that the British might see it, and while in that position several shots passed through jt. To prevent its being struck by some coward, Holmes held a companion (J. Dean Gallup) upon his shoulders while the latter nailed it to the staff. It was completely riddled by the British balls fired at the battery. I saw it in Stonington in the autumn of 1800, and the above engraving is a correct sketch of its appearance. The old cannon was not long silent. Six kegs of powder, taken from the privateer Halka, and belonging to Thomas Swan, had been concealed by sea-weed behind a BTONINQTON FLAO. 1 Theaa carcasses were generally made of iron honpg, canvas, and cord, of oblong shape, and filled with corabneti- bies fi.t burning towns and ships. This one Is of cast-lrou, and was one of the missiles filled with fetid substances, and called " sttnk-pots." ' Their weight varied from sixteen to two hnndr'id ai. 1 tixt^en ponnds. One of the car-iasses was set on flre, and burned with a flame ten fpel in height and emitting a horrible stench. Some of the rockets were shu'p-pointed, others not, and all were made o hick sheet-iron, with a fuee. The rocket (which is still In use in modified foim) contniuR in Its cylindrical case a comijosition of nitre, cHtrcoal, and sniphnr. propori oncd so as to burn slower than gunpowder. The bead is either a so''d shot, shell, or spheiical case-shot. It has a guide-stick attached, like the common rocket in pjToto(!hnic displays. ai8 Flag nailed to Ita Staff. respectful distance Captain Holmes reopens Are an the Br E WAR OF 1812. 895 Deputation sent to Hard;. The Resnit. Tarting Shots. rock. Their hiding-place was revealed by a lad, and at about nine o'clock the pow- der was placed in care of Captain Holmes. The cannon was dragged by oxen to the blacksmith-shop of Mr. Cobb, the spiking taken out, and then it was drawn back again to the little redoubt and placed in position. To the astonishment of the Brit- ish, it reopened fire vigorously. The gun was always double-shotted, and so telling were its missiles that by noon the DisjMtch was so much injured that she slipped her cables and hauled off to a place of safety. The Terror kept throwing shells until night, but she was out of reach of the little battery. During the day quite a number of militia assembled at Stonington, and General Isham took chief command. Order was soon restored, and many of the inhabitants, somewhat reassured, came back to their homes. During the afternoon, a deputation, consisting of Colonel Williams and William Lord, went with a flag to the liamiUies as bearers of a note from the authorities of the borough (signed Amos Denison, bur- gess, and William Lord, magistrate), in which Hardy was informed that all unoffend- ing inhabitants had left the village, and asked what was to be the fate of the place. They gave him assurances that no torpedoes had been fitted out from that port, and that none should be in the future; and he agreed to cease hostilities and spare the town on condition that they should send on board the flag-ship, by eight o'clock the next morning, Mrs. Stewart, a resident of New London, and wife of James Stew- art, the late British consul at that place, who was then in the squadron. The depu- tation returned, and the Ramillies and Pactolus took station within cannon-shot of the village to await an answer. Hardy having threatened, in the event of noncompli- ance with his demand, to lay the village in ruins. At eight o'clock on the morning of the 11th, the authorities, under the direction of General Isham, sent a message to Commodore Hardy,' saying (what he already knew) that the borough of Stonington had no power to comply with the requisition. "I will wait till twelve o'clock to-day," said Hardy, " and if the lady shall not be on board my ship at that hour I shall renew the assault on the town." At three o'clock the Terror resumed the bombardment, and threw shells until even- ing. A suflicient military force had now arrived to prevent the landing of the ene- my, but they could do his shipping no hprm. The night of the 11th was an anxious one for the inhabitants of Stonington. There was an ominous quietude on the water. It was broken at runrise," when • Angast 12, the Terror opened her mortars again. The Ramillies and Pactolus warped ^®'^- up near the town, and at eight o'clock opened fire. At this time an order was given by General Isham for the cannon on the Point 10 be removed to the north end of the town, where it was supposed the enemy would attempt to land. About twenty of t'e Norwich artillery, under Lieutenant Lathrop, volunteered to perform that peril- ous service. They did ^:0 without the slightest accident. In the mean time the Ramillies and Pactolus had given three tremendous broad- sides with spiteful vigor, which proved to be a parting salute, and quite harmless. They then withdre'- . ^ut the Terror kept np a bombardment until past noon. At four o'c' ^ck the assailaits ..'n withdrew, and the little squadron anchored far away toward I'isher's Island.^ , During this whole series of assaults not a single life was lot One person was mortally wounded,^ and five or six slightly. Among the latter was Lieutenant 1 It was signed Isaac Williams, William Lord, Alexander G. Smith, magistrates ; John Smith, warden ; George Ilnb- liard, Amos Denison, burgesses. ' Perkins's History, rtr., nf the last War ; Reverend Frederick Denbon's paper on the linrnbarilment of Stonington, in Thf Miittie Pimter; On\ statements to me by Captain Jeremiah Holmes ; Report of General t•uAln^'. ' This was Frederick Denison, from Mystic Bridge, a highly-respected young man, nineteen years of age, who was in the battery with Captain Holmes. While ontside of tho battery relighting the match-rope with which to Are the old cannon, he was struck by a ball f-nm the Vispateh, which shattered his knea. He lingered In pain many weeks, and :heu died. Over hl« grave was placed a stone with the following inscription; "If thy country's freedom Is dear tc Ihoc, contemplate here congenial virtue. HU life was ihort, but Its eacilflce deserve;; a grateful reccllecliou. Uii li W^ * ifii* 896 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK THE OUUII UOOSE. Btlecti of the Bombardment ai StonlngtoD. The Numbers engaged in the Affair. The Imputeucy of the Attuck. Hough. About forty buildings were more or less in- jured, and two or three were nearly ruined. The rock- ets and shells set several of them on fire, but the flames were extinguished. Among the four houses then on tlit Point, only one remained unaltered when I visited the spot in 1860. This was known as tIie"Cobb House." It was ancient in form, covered on the sides with shin- gles instead of clap-boards, and presenting manj"^ a scar of wounds received during the bombardment. It stood on Water Street, not far from the site of the battery, and was owned in 1 814 by Elkanah Cobb. Of my visit at Stonington and in its vicinity in the autumn of 1860 I shall write presently. The repulse of the British at Stonington was one of the most gallant affairs of the war, and the spirit there shown by the few who conducted the defense caused Hardy and his commanders to avoid all farther attempts to capture or destroy Connecticut sea-port towns. The assailing squadron had about fifteen hundred men, while the number actually engaged in driviiig them away did not exceed twenty.' It was computed that the British hurled no less than fifty tons of metal on to the little pen- insula during the three days.^ The loss to the British was twenty lives, over lifty wounded, and the expenditure of ten thousand pounds sterling. The affair spread a feeling of joy throughout the whole country, and the result was a deep mortifica- tion of British pride. The impotence of the attack was the point of many a squib and epigram.^ Hardy's easy conquest at Eastport and its vicinity encouraged the British to at- tempt the seizure of the whoij country lying between Passamaquoddy Bay and the body moulders beneath this stone, but his spliit has fled to the seat of immor- tality. "There the brave youth, with love of virtue flrcd, Who gallantly in his country's cause expired, Shall know he conquered." In ISM the State of Connecticut caused a handsome marble monnment, eight- een feet in height, to be erected over his grave in the cemetery at Mystic, on which are the following inscriptions: Eastern Side: "Frederick Denison, died Nov. 1, 1814, aged 19. He was mor- tally wounded by a shot ffom the enemy's brig-of-war Dispatch while acting as a volunteer in the defense of Stonington against the attack of the British squad- ron, August 10, 1814." Northern Side: "Erected by the State of Connecticut, 1S56, that the deed of patriotic devotion may be handed down to other genera- tions, inspiring them with ridelity to our liberties, and prompting them to such sacriflces as shall win their country's meed." Southern Side: " His life was his legacy, and his country his hei'.'." The tablet with the earlier inscription was lying near this monnment. Young Denison w:is born in Stonington township .... the 2Tth of December, 1796. He heard the roar and saw the smoke of battle from Mystic on the morning of the 10th, and, borrowing a gnn, he crossed the r:ver in a canoe, stopped a moment to speak with his sick father at the homestead, and hastened to the post of danger, where he received his death-blow ' The followiig are the names which have been preserved of the most prominent of the defenders of Stoninpton : Jeremiah Ilolme,'", George Fellows, Simeon Haley, Amos Denison, J. Deane Gallnp, Isaac Miner, Isaac Denison, Uora- tio Williams, Jeremiah Haley, Asa Lee, William Lord, Nathaniel Clift, Ebenezer Denison, Frederick Denison, Pot- ter, John Miner. » About flflecn tons were picked up by the inhabitants «)f Stonington, and sold to the United States government. The following advertisement appeared in a New York paper on the 10th of November following : " Just receive!, and offered for sale, about three tons of BorNO snoT, conslBtlng of 6, 9, 1'2, 18, 24, and 32 pounds, very handsome, b^ing a mnall proportion which were fired from his Britannic majesty's ships on the unoffending iuhnbltants of Stonington in the recent brilliant attack on that place. Likewise a few carcases, in good order, weighing about 200 pounds each. Apply to S. Trumbull, 41 Peck Slip." ' The occasion was the theme of one c f the most popular ballads of the time, written by Philip Freneau, the bard of the Revolution, In which the Impotence of the attack was set forth In the following verses : " The bombardiirs, with bomb and ball. They dashed away— and, pray, what theu f Soon made a farmer's barrack ftill. That was not taking Stonington. And did a cow-house sadly mm] „ ^^g g^ells were thrown, the rockets flew. That stood a mile from Stonington. jj^j „ot „ ^hell of all they threw, " They killed a goose, they killed a hen, Thongh every house was full In view. Three hogs Ihcy wounded In a pen— Could bum a bouse In Stonington." nENlSON's MONUMENT. OP THE WAR OF 1812. 807 e Impoleucy of the Attack. 3re more or less in- ruined. The rock- I fire, but the flames r houses then on the when I visited tlie the " Cobb House." the sides with sliin- senting many a scar bardment. It stood site of the battery, Cobb. Of my visit in the autumn of gallant affairs of the efense caused Hardy destroy Connecticut dred men, while the ed twenty.' It was [ on to the little pen- enty lives, over fifty The affair spread a r&s a deep mortifica- oint of many a squib Ted the British to at- iquoddy Bay and the i, Brlti'b loud aud naval Expedition leaves Halifax. It appears off Caitioe, at the Month of the Penobreoi. Ieni8on'h munumeht. le 10th, and, borrowing a gm, Imestead, and hastened to the |the defenders of Stoniiipton ; Miner, Isaac Denison, Uora- , Frederick Denison, Pot- le United States government. llowing : 112, 18, 24, and 32 ponnds.very In the nnoffending inhabitants lod order, weighing about 2(« ly Philip Freneau, the bard ot nnd, pray, what then? Jing Stonington. vn, the rockets flevf, I they threw, Iwas full In view, lae In Stonington." Penobscot River. For this purpose a IJritish fleet, consisting of the Bulwark, jytagon, and Spencer, 74 guns each ; the frigates Bacchante (late from the Med- iterranean) and Tenedoa ; sloops-of-war ^\jll)h and Perwoian ; and schooner Pic- ton, with ten transports, sailed from Halifax on the 26th of August, 1814.> The latter bore almost four thousand troops, under the command of Lieuten- ant General Sir Jolin Cope Sherbrooke, jToveinor of Nova Scotia, assisted by Major General Gerard Gosselin and Col- onel Douglass. The fleet was in com- mand of Rear Admiral Edward Griflith. It was the intention of Sherbrooke and Griffith when they sailed to stop and take possession ofMachias; but on • August, t'^*' 30th* they learned from the i^i^' commander of the brig jRifle- nuxn, with whom they fell in, that the United States corvette John Adams, 24, Captain Morris, had gone up the Penobscot, so they hastened to the mouth of that riv- er to blockade her. Passing up the Green Island channel, they ar- rived in the fine harbor of Castine, oif Cape Bigaduce,^ on which the pleasant village of Castine now lies, on the morning of the 1st of September. I Jouteiuint T,i"wis, of ther»iited States Army, with about forty men, was occupying a half moon redoubt UAkr-MOON BEDOrilT.— FOBT POBTEB.' which the Americans had erected in ^ ^08. That redoubt, whose embankments were il Artillery; two rifle companies of the Tth battalion ofthe Sixtieth ixty-second, and Ninety-eighth Regiments— the whole divided into ' The troops consisted of the 1st compai Rejiraent; detachments from the Twcntj Iwn brigades. ' This Is a cormptlon and diminutive of Majahiipiaduiv, the Indian name ofthe peninsul.i, which the Baron Castlue, of whom I shall presently write, wrote Mnrch4-M^Uu», the u in the last syllable being pronounced long. It is on the east side of Penobscot Bay, in full view of the ocean. ' The engraving is a view of the remains ofthe Ilalf-moon Redoubt as it appeared when I visited the spot in the an- 'iimn of IRSn, looking soutliward. On the extreme left, in the distance, are Noddle's Island, Cape Rozler, aud Hook's Macd. Directly over the redoubt is ceen the ocean ; on tlie right, the main, with a porll(m ofthe Camden Mouutaine. K little to the right of the redoubt is seen a small beacon at the entrance to the March6-blg8duce, or Castine Creek. This redoubt was to command that entrance. .". L lli' ^^ r '' 1 1 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Flight of Americans from Caatine. The John Adams up the Penobscot River. The British go np that Stream. very conspicuons on the edge of the water southward of the village when the writer was there in 1860, was armed with four 24-pounders and two field-pieces. Lieuten- ant Colonel Nichols, of the Royal Engineers, who had been sent in a small schooner to reconnoitre, sent a summons to Lewis, at sunrise, to surrender. Lewis saw that resistance would be vain, so he resolved to flee. He gave Nichols a volley from his 24-pounder8, then spiked them, blew up the redoubt, and, with the field-pieces, he and the garrison fled over the high peninsula to its neck, and escaped up the Penobscot. Colonel Douglass immediately landed from the fleet at the back of the peninsula with a detachment of lloyal Artillery and two companies of riflemen, and took quiet possession of Castine, and with it the control of Penobscot Bay. The number of troops landed was about six hundred. Governor Sherbrooke made the house of Judge Nelson his head-quarters, and the court-house and other suitable buildings were occupied as barracks for the soldiers. A number of women also Avere landed.' The John Adams had just arrived from a successful cruise, and on entering Penob- scot Bay in thick Aveather had struck a rock and received so much injury that it was found necessary to lay her down for repairs. She was taken as far out of harm's way as possible. It was with great difficulty that she was kept afloat until she reached Hampden, a few mil^c below Bangor, when she was moored au Crosby's Wharf, with several feet of water in her hold. Some of her crew were disabled by scurvy, and she was almost helpless. This condition and position oixXie Adams was made known to Sherbrooke on landing at Castine, and he and Griffith immediately detached a land and naval force to seize or destroy that vessel, and treat the inhabitants of the towns on the Penobscot as circumstances might seem to require. The expedition consisted of the Sylph and Peruvian, a small schooner as a tender, the transport brig Harmony, and nine launches, commanded by Captain Robert Barrio, of the Royal Navy (commander of the Drajon, 74), who acted as commodore. The land forces, seven hundred strong, were unde'' the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry John, assisted by Major Riddle. The expedition sailed in the afternoon of the day of the • September 1, iirrival at Castine," and, passing Buckston at twilight, anchored for the 1S14. night in Marsh Bay. In the mean time Sherbrooke and Griffith had is- sued a join i; proclamation, assuring the inhabitants of their intention to take posses- sion of thf, country between the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy, and oflering them protectiori on condition of acquiescence. All persons taken in arms were to be pun- ished, ard those who should supply the -^ j ij>_ British with provisions should be paid and protected. There Avas no disposition among the in- habitants along the Penobscot to submit quietly unless absolutely compelled to. On the da/ when the expedition sailed up the river. Information of the fact was conveyed by express to Captain Morris, at Castine, and he at once sent word to Brigadier General John Blake, at his home in Brewer, opposite Bangor, asking him to call out the militia immediately. Blake mounted his horse, and late in the afternoon was at Bangor, issuing or- ders for the assembling of the brigade of ^^^^/^ ^exy^^^t^ PBNKBAI. UI.AKe'B BKSlSKNan. > On the l8t and 5th of S("i)tember Sheibrooke and Orlftltli Issi-od joint proclamations assuring the inhabitants nmjile protection and quietude iflliey should CDiiduct thcmsolvee peaceably. m OF THE WAR OF 1812. 809 M British go np that Stream. The ■fohn Adams at Hampden. Preparations there to oppose the British. Gathering of the Hilitia. I.akk'b nKfiiDKNo:;. I assuring the Inhabitants ami.le the tenth Massaclmsetts division, of which he Avas commander, and the same evening he rode down to Hampden. Tlicre he found Captain Morris engaged in preparations for defense. lie liad dismantled the Jo/m Adams, dragged her heavy guns to the summit of the liigh right bank of the Soadabscook, fifty rods from the wharf, and placed them in battery there, so as to command the river approaches from below. Oil the following morning Blake held a consultation with Morris, and citizens of Bangor and Hampden, on the best methods of defense, but opinions were so various that no specific determination was arrived at. Morris had not much confidence in the militia, and declined any immediate co-operation with them. He approved of a proposition to meet the foe at his landing-place, wherever that might be, and ex- pcssed his resolution to destroy the Adams should the militia retreat. On the morning of the 2d, Belfast, on the western side of Penobscot Bay, was taken possession of by General Gosselin, at the head of six hundred troops, without resist- ance ; and, at the same time, the expedition under Bavrie and John, after landing a detachment from the Sixtieth and Ninety-eighth llegimonts at Frankfort, at the head of Marsh Bay, proceeded up the river. The detachment marched up the western side of the Penobscot unmolested, and the iittle squadron arrived at Bald Hill Cove, near Hampton, at five o'clock in the evening. The troops and about eighty marines were landed, and bivouacked there during the night in the midst of a drenching rain- storm. During the 2d, about six hundred raw militia, who had never seen any thing more like war than their own annual parade, assembled at Hampden, and General Blake posted them in an admirable position on the brow of the hill, where the residence of ill'. James A. Swett was standing when I visited Hampden in 1800. He had been joined by Lieutenant Lewis and forty regulars who filed from Castine. The artillery company of Blake's brigade, commanded by Captain Hammond, was there with two brass s-jjounders ; and an iron 18-pound carronade from Morris's vessel was placed in battery in the highway near the meeting-house, in charge of Mr. Bent, of the artillery. Many of the militia were without weapons and ammunition, and these were supplied, lis far as possible, by Captain Morris. Such was Blake's position on the dark and gloomy mornhig of the 3d. Morris in the mean time had mounted nine short 18-pounders from the Adams upon his redoubt on the high bank over Crosby's Wharf, and placed the battery in charge obobuy's WUAKF. I of Lieutenant Wadsworth, the first of the Adams, assisted by Lieutenants Madison :in(l Purser. With the remainder of his guns he took position in person on the wharf with a'-out two hundred seamen and marines and twenty invalids, prepared to defend Ills crippled ship to the last extremity. ' This is a view of Crosby's Wharf from the month of the SondabBcnolc Crook, north side, looklns; sonth. The place where the Adavm lay is indicated by the vessel at the end of the wharf Hampden is seen in the distance over the wliarf Toward the right is Crosby's old storc-honse, and the cleared spot to the richt and above it Is the place where MorriK's battery was planted. It Is the property of the Honorable Unnnibnl Hamlin, late [18041 Vice-President of the I'nlied States. Another store-house, like the one seen in the picture, stood on the end of the wharf, and was barnt when the John Adam» was destroyed. 'M M: 900 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The British arrive at Hampden. Panic and Flight of the Militia. The British march on Bangor. The whole region of the Penobscot was enveloped in a dense fog on the morning of the 3d. The British at BaUi Hill Cove had been joined by the detachment who landed at Frankfort, and at five o'clock all were in motion toward'IIampdcn. They movt 1 1 cautiously in the mist, with a vanguard of riflemen. On the flanks were de- tachments of marines and sailors, with a 6-pound caniion, a G^-inch howitzer, and a rocket apparatus. The British vessels moved slowly up the river at the same time within supporting distance. Blake had dispatched two flank companies to watch and annoy the approaching enemy. Between seven and eight o'clock they reported them crossing the little stream that divides Hampden Corners from Hampden, and ascending the hill to at- tack the Americans. The fog was so thick that no enemy could be seen, but Blako pointed his 18-pounder4n the direction of the foe, and with his field-pieces blazed away with considerable effect, as was afterward ascertained. He had resolved to re- serve his musket-firing until the enemy should be near enough to be seriously hurt, but the ordeal of waiting, AvitLout breastworks in front, was too severe for the un- tried militia. The enemy suddenly advanced at a " double-quick," firing volleys in rapid succession. The militia, panic-stricken, broke and fled in every direction, leav- ing Blake and his oflScers alone. Lieutenant Wadsworth, at Morris's upper battery, perceived the disaster in its full extent, and communicated the fact to his chief on the wl arf Morris knew the impending danger. His rear and flank were exposed, and he saw no other way for salvation than flight. He oi-dered Wadsworth to spike his guns, and with his men retreat across the bridge over the Soadabscook while it was yet open, for that stream was fordable only at low water, and the tide was ris- ing. Wadsworth did so, his rear gal- lantly covered by Lieutenant Watson with some marines. The John Adams was fired at the same time, the guns on the wharf were spiked, and the men under the immediate command of Mor- ris retreated across the Soadabscook bridge. Their commander was the last man to leave the wharf. Before he could reach the bridge the enemy were on the bank above him. He dashed across the stream, arm-pit deep, under a galling musket-firing from the Brit- ish, unhurt, and, joining his friends on the other side, retreated, with Blake, his officers, and a bare remnant of his command, to Bau'^or. From there Moi*- ris soon made his way to Portland over- land. The British took possession of Hamp- den without farther resistance, and a part of their force, about five liundred strong, with their vessels, pushed on toward Bangor. They met a flag of truce a mile from the town, with a mess^ige from the magisti-ates asking terms of capitulation. No other was ' Charles Morris was horn in Woodstock, Connecticut, on the 20th of Jnly, 1734. He was one of the most useful men In the American Navy. He entered the service as midshipman in July, 1799, and from that day until his death, a pe- riod of flfty-seven years, his furlonghg and ahscncea from active duty amounted only to two years. He was dlslln- guUhed io the Mediterranean durinj; the wars with the Barbar; powers; and as a volanteer with Decatnr in the de- le British march on Bangor. OF TUE WAR OF 1812. 901 pinnderiug at Baagor. Destraction of Veesels. Oatrages at Uumpden. Commodore MorriH. promised excepting respect for private property. They entered the village at about ter o'clock,* when Commodore Barrie gave notice that, if required, sup- plies should be cheerfully sent in, the inhabitants should be unharmed * *^ *"* " in persons and property. This assurance was scarcely uttered before Barrie gave tacit license to his sailors to plunder as much as they pleased ; and almost every store on the western side of the Kenduskeag Creek, which there enters the Penobscot, was robbed of all valuable property. Colonel John, on the contrary, did all in his power to protect the inhabitants. The British remained at Bangor thirty-one hours, during wbich time they were quartered on the inhabitants, and compelled them not only to bring in and surrender all their arms, military stores, and public property of every kind— ^even a few dollars in the post-office — but to report themselves prisoners of Avar for parole, with the agreement that they would not take up arms against the British. They compelled General Blake to come to Bangor, surrender himself as a prisoner, and sign the same parole. One hundred and ninety citizens were thus bound to keep themselves fron; hostilities. When this work was accomplished, the selectmen were required to give a bond, in the penal sum of $30,000, as a guaranty for the delivery of vessels on the stocks at Bangor to the commander at Castine by the end of October. The speedy appearance of peace canceled this bond. Having finished their work, and despoiled the inhabitants of property valued at $23,000, and destroyed several vessels,' the marauders left Bangor, and spent the 6th in similar employment at Hampden. There the soldiers and sailors, unrebuked by Barrie, performed scenes which had been enacted at Havre de Grace under the eye ofCockburn. They committed the most wanton acts of destruction. The village meeting-house (now the town-house — see engraving, next page) was desolated. They tore up the Bible and Psalm-books, and demolished the pulpit and pews. They de- stroyed cattle and hogs as at Havre de Grace. They carried away much private property, and compelled the selectmen to sign a bond for $12,000 as a guaranty for the delivery of vessels at Hampden to the commander at Castine.'' This bond sha>-ed stmctlon of the Philadelphia, he was the flrst on her deck. lie was a lieutenant when the War of 1812 hroke oat, nud was the executive officer of the Comtitution at the lime of her CBCapc from a British squadron (see page 439), and her capture of the Oueniere. In that action be was shot through the body by a mnsket-ball. He was promoted to post captain in September, 1813, for special cervices, and toolt command of the John Adamt floop-of-war. The following year, as we have seen in the text, he was compelled to destroy his vessel. The war closed soon afterward, and he was employed in im- portant services. lie was captain of the Brandi/ioine when she conveyed La Fayette back to France In 1825, ,i!!d ne afterward commanded squadrons on the Bra7.il and Mediterranean stations. His last cruise was in the DtUucare in 1S44, after which he was almost continually at the head of one of the bureaus in the Navy Depart- ment at Washington. At the time of his death, which occurred at Washington on the 27th of January, 1850, he was chief of the Bureau of Hydrography and Repairs. No man in the navy ever stood higlier in the estimation of his countrymen for wisdom and Integrity. He was liuried, with appropriate honors, upon a beautlftil wood- ed slope In Oak Hill Cemetery, near Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, and over his grave Is a beautiful white marble monument, delineated in the engraving, with this simple inscription on Its western side, under an anchor enwreathcd : "Com. Chahles Mobeis. Bobn JuLV 20, 1784. Died Jancarv 27, 1860." ■ The number of vessels burned was fourteen, and six were carried away. The entire property destroyed or carried away from Bangor was valued at $40,000.— Wil- liamson's History «/ Maine, il., 048, note '. commodohb morhib's .monumknt. ' HiMory of Aauiie, Penohiteot Hay and River, etc., by Joseph Whipple, 1S16 ; MS. HtHtury of tlie Briiinh Operations on lAe Pa.iA)»eot, by the late William D. Williamson, author of a Uintory of the Slate of Maine. i ! 1 i 1 mi il i^ the fate of the one given at Bangor. The total Iohs of property at Ilampilen, cxclu- siv of a valuabh' cargo of brandy, wino, oil, and silk whicli they found on hoard the schooner Commodore Decatur, was estimated at «44,000.> The indignant suft'ercrs ciiarged a greater portion of their misfortunes to the feeble resistance made by General lilakc at Hampden. His tardiness; his non-compliance with tlie wishes of Morris and others to attack the t.; emy at their landing-place; his neglect to throw up breastworks on the ridge at Hampden, and other evidence of inefficiency, Avere regarded as crimes ; and he was charged with cowardice, and even treason. The clamor against him was vehement for some time. He was hung, shot, and burned in effigy ;^ and for a while his per- sonal safety was not considered secure in some districts. The public indignation finally cooled, and sober judgment, on considering the crude materials of his little force, acquitted him of every other fault but a lack of competent military ability and experience for the extraordinary occasion. A court of inquiry investigated his con- duct, and acquitted him of censure or suspicion.* On the 12th of September Sherbrooke and Griffith, with most of the troops and a greater part of the fleet, left Penv)b8Cot Bay, and, after capturing Machias,* returned to Halifax. General Gerard Gosselin, a gentleman in manners and a brave so'dier, was left in command at Castine, and immediately prepared to maintain his position by thoroughly repairing the fortifications thei-e. Old Fort George, in the centre of the peninsula, which was built by the British in 1779,* was repaired, fraised, and > In the midst of the rapine a committee waited on Harrie, and told him that the people expected at his hand? thn common safeguards of humanilii, if nothing more, when the brntal officer rcplhul, " I have none for you. My buKiiiess is to burn, sink, and destroy. Yonr town Is taken by storm, and by the rules of war we ought botn to lay your vlllnt'e in ashes and put its inhabitants to the sword. But I will spare your lives, though I dou't mean to spare your huusca." — WilliamiKm'ii Hiatory iif Maine, ii., 046. » This Is a view of the old mecting-honse, now used as a town-honse, as it appeared In the antnmn of 1800. On tho left is seen the old hcnrsc-house, and in the distance is seen the dwelling of Mr. Swett, mentioned on page 8U9 as the position of General Blake when attacked by the British on the morning of the Sd of September. ' A small building was yet standing in Hampden when I was there in 1800, ,« .,^, _ in which the efflgy of General Blake was made. It was a cabinet-maker's shop, the property of George C. Reed, standing abont ninety rods from the town- house. In one corner of it I saw a post into which ft cannon-ball entered dur- ing the action, and was still lodged. In the shop was a rnde candelabra, used on the occasion of exhibiting the efflgy. That shop is one of the scarred relics of the fight, and is represented in the annexed engraving. ♦ Williamson's IlUtonj of Maine, ii., 049. » Machias is on the west branch of the Machlas River, and capital of Wash- ington County, Maine. At thfe time we are considering, the fort at that place was garrisoned by flftv United Stntes troops and ten militia, under the com- mand of C^aptain Leonai-d. When the British appeared, and it was evident that the fort could not be held, It was blown up. and the garrison retreated to the block-house near. They were forced to fly fiom that, and escaped. • In 1771), the British, under General Francis M'Lean, took possession of the peninsula of Bigaduce [see note 2, page 897], and commenced the erection of ft fort on the high central part of the land. The people of Massachusetts resolved to expel them, for they were on their territory, Maine being then a dependent of the Old Bay State. They sent a fleet of nineteen armed vesrels mid twenty-fonr transports, with almost four thousand men. Commodore Saltonstall was the naval commander, and Gen- eral Lovell led the troops. M'Lean was informed of this expedition four days before Us arrival In Penobscot Bay, and prepared to receive the Americans. They arrived on the 28th of July, and landed on the 28th. They at once com. menccd a siege of the fort, and continued it until the 1.1th of August, when Lovell was informed of the arrival of Sir George Collier with a heavy naval force. Tie immediately re-embarked his troops on the transports, and had the flo- tilla drawn up in crest .t form across thi I'cnobscot, to dispute the passage nntll the troops in the boats could flee np the river. Collier sailed boldly in, chased the Americans np the river, destroyed all their vessels, and compelled them to find their way home through the wilderness. The British then completed tiie fort, which they named George, in hon- or of the king. The Twenty-ninth British Regiment, that was at the taking of Castine, was the same that was stationed at Boston RERI> S BUOP. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 608 CsBtloe in Ihc Kevtilutton. of tho one givfii at The total Iohs of at IImiii)ilen,exclu- i valuable cargo of wine, oil, and silk hey found on board looner Commodore was esthnated at 1 indignant sufferers I a greater portion of ic at Ihunpden. His hers to attack the i.. orks on the ridge at 1 crimes ; and he wiis St him was vehement 1 for a while his per- he public indignation materials of his little It military ability and f investigated his con- )8t of the troops and a ing Machias,^ returned rs and a brave soUlier, ) maintain his position rcorgc, in the centre of s repaired, fraised, and [■■■lie expected at hli> hands the live none Tor you. My biiMiiesf e onRht botn to Iny your vl)l«|.'e n't mean to spare your houses." in the nntnmn of 1800. On the , mentioned on page 8i)9 as tbc pteuiber. Dew military Worki at Caatlne. An Oath of Allegiance exacted. Popularity of Qeuvrul OoiiBcUn. ill RESI>'8 8U0P. „ expel them, for they were on k of nineteen armed veps-els mid fthe naval commander, mid Gcii- Its arrival in Penobscot Bay, and hn the 28th. They at once com- lis informed of the arrival of Sir Ji the transports, and had theflo- Itroops in the boats conid flee np Their vessela, and compelled them yhich they named George, In hon- , that was stationed at Bojtoii UKMAINB OK roKT UE(IU<il':. armed. Tho half- moon re- doubt was rebuilt. In vari- ous parts of the peninsula new -vorks were thrown up ;' and through the Neck, from Hatch's Cove to PerkinsV Hack Cove, a canal was cut. (ieneral Gosselin issued a .October 81, proclamation," by ixii- which he directed all the male i">habitaiits be- tween the I'enobseot and the boundary-line of New IJruns- wicl above sixteen years of age, to take an oath of alle- uiaiicc to his majesty,^ and iiluo of neutrality. By the latter they agreed that they would peaceably and quietly demean and conduct themselves while in that territory ; that they Avould not carry arms, harbor lirit- isli deserters, nor give intelligence to the king's enemies during the current Avar.^ The select- men of different towns were authorized to administer these oaths of allegiance and neutrality ; and the permanent occupation of the country by the British was quietly accepted by the inhabitants as an inevitable necessity. General Gosselin m.-ide himself very popular at Castinc. The officers were quar- tered in private houses, and paid fairly for all they received from the inhabitants.* The soldiers were housed in the court-house and public school building. The barn of Mr. Hook, the collector of the port,* was converted into a theatre, and play-act- ors from Halifax afforded mucli amusement. Had these new-comers been friends in- stead of enemies, the inhabitants of Castine would have enjoyed their visit, notwith- standing the citizens suffered many inconveniences. It was not very long. Peace was proclaimed early in 1815, and on the 25th of April'' the British sailed out of Penobscot Bay.^ The event was celebrated by the people with festivities i\t the time of the " massacre" there In ITTO. The celebrated Sir John Moore, whose burial was the Buoject of Wolfe's immortal poem, commencing " Not a gnn was heard, nor a fnneral note," etc., was an ensign in this regiment, and, in a letter to a fi-lond, said that the first time he ever heard an enemy's gun was at Cnstlne on the occasion in question. He then commanded a picket. ' The following defensive works ganiishcd the peninsula at the close of the year : Fort George ; batteries Shcrbrooke, Gowelln, Penobscot, Grlfnth, Furlense, Castine, and United States ; a redoul)t called Fort Anne ; little batterlcB on North and West Points, and a block-house. Battery Cnptinc was old Fort Castine, now in the vlllnpe, and flattery United States was the hnlf-moon redoubt blown up by Lewis. It was originally called Fort Porter, it having been construct- ed by an officer of that name in ISOS. ' The following was the form of the oath of alleciance, copied from an original, in manuscript, before me : "I, A.B., do swear that I wHl be faithful, and bear true allegiance to his majesty King George the Third. So help me Ood." ' The seal and signatnre of General Gosselin above given I copied from Ills proclamation in manuscript. • See note 1, page 004. » Mr. Hook had the good fortune to escape fl-om Castine with the public papers before the British landed. • llittory of Aeadie, PenobHeot Ban ""li IH^fr, by .Toseph Whipple, 1810; //tViton/ of the State of Maiw, by William D. Wlllinms, In two volumes, 18ii2 : MS. Xarralive of the War in Maine, placed In the author's hands by the Hon. .Toseph Williamson, of Belfast ; Oral and written statements to the author by Dr. John Mason and the widow of the Rev. WII- » 1816. MBMINTO OP TUB BBITIBO AT OABTtNS. and rejoicings. Within a few days aft. erward not an armed enemy remained westward of the St. Croix River and Passamaquoddy Bay. Peace, joy, tran- quillity, and prosperity came with the birds and blossoms in the spring of 1815- and from that day until now no foreign enemy has ever appeared on our coast with hostile intentions, and probably never will.' T visited most of the places mentioned in this chapter in the month of Novem- ber, 1800. Leaving New York in the afternoon of the 16th, I arrived in Bos- ton at midnight, and spent three days there visiting men and places associated with the War of 1812, in company with a friend,^ to whom I had been indebted for kind attentions and information while seeking materials for my Pictorial Field-book of the Eevoliition twelve years before, In East Boston^ wo visited Mr. Samuel Dillaway, who was a soldier and a priva- teersman in the war. He was captured on board the privateer Sine qua nan, put into a prison-ship at Gibraltar, sent to England, and finally exchanged. He informed us that the authorities in charge of the exchange of prisoners, and sending them in cartel ships to America, generally subjected their victims to as much annoyance as possible. They were in the habit of sending prisoners whose homes were in the Northern States to some Southern port, and those from Southern States to Northern ports. This produced exasperation, and in miiiiy instances the prisoners rose and took possession of the ship. That was the case when Mr. Dillaway came in the biig Shakespeare. The captain was ordered to a Southern port. The prisoners too' session of the ship and sailed her into Boston. We went to the site of Fort Strong, in East Boston,* saw some of its reiiiiuung mounds, and then started to visit Fort Warren, on Governor's Island, which became famous as a prison for political oiTenders during the late Civil War. The sea was too rough for a skiff, and we contented ourselves with gazing at the venerable fort- ress from the highest part of East Boston. We turned, and in a two-wheeled chaise rode over to Charlestown, dined with Mr. Frothingham, the accomplished author of The Siege of Boston,^ who then lived in the shadow of Bunker's Hill Monument, on Monument Square, and with him visited Mr. Byron, one of the last survivors of the crew of the frigate Constitution. He was a Baltimorean and a musician. He en- tered the land service, but, preferring the sea, became a fifer on board the Constitu- tion, and was made a " minute-man ;" that is to say, one ready to fight at a mo- ment's warning. As such he fought gallantly in the actions of that vessel, and was highly commended by his superiors. Mr. Byron was lively and fluent in conversa- tion, and entertained us for an hour with grave and humorous narratives of his expe- rience in the service. He has passed away since my visit. liam Mason, of Bnngor ; Major Croflhy and Mrs. Stetson, of Hampden ; Dr. Joseph L. Stevens and Samnel T. Noycf, of Castine, and Jndge WilUams, of Belfast. 1 A curious memento of the British at Castine was yet in existence when I visited that place in 1860. It was an out- line of the British flag above that of the American flag, and the words " Yanlcee Doodle npeet," cut by Lieutensnt El- liot, of the British Army, with a diamond on a window-pane In the house of Mrs. Whitney, where some of the officers were qoartered. That pane of glass was the only one In the sash at the time of my visit that was not badly cracked. The above engraving is a fac-simile of the diamond-etching, slightly reduced. ' Frederick Kidiier, E*). 3 Noddle's Island. It contained 26,000 Inhabitants iu 1800. ♦Page 892. » Uistory qfthe Sieye ({fJBoaton, etc., by Bichard Frothingham, Jnn. OF THE WAR OP 1812. 005 on the New England Uuut. thin a few days aft- L'd enemy remuined t. Croix River and y. Peace, joy, tran- rity came with the n the spring of 181 5; until now no foreign peared on our coast tions, and probably the places mentioned j he month of Novcm- I g New York in the 3th, I arrived in Bos- md spent three days and places associated B12, in company with I I had been indebted and information while I twelve years before, a soldier and a priva- 3er Sine qua non, \M hanged. He informed i, and sending them in 18 much annoyance as se homes were in the prn States to Northern .he prisoners rose and away came in the brig le prisoners too' some of its rcn.uiaiij; Island, which became War. The sea was at the venerable fort- . a two-wheeled chaise ccomplished author of r's Hill Monument, on last survivors of the d a musician. He en- on board the Constitn- sady to fight at a mo- of that vessel, and was md fluent in conversa- narrativesofhisexpe- Nivjr Yard at Cbarlentown, The Figure-head of the CotutUuHon. The Place of her Conitrnctlon. ilfN Itevens and Samnel T.Noyw,ot ,at place In 1800. Itwasanojt- die upset," cut by Llentenant E)- Itney, where some of the offlceri risit that was not badly cracW. ■^ a Frederick Kiduer, Esq. 4 Page S92. •1834. BILLET-UEAD. At Charlcstown wo visited the national dock-yard, and at tiio head of the dry-dock saw upon a post, over a lunij), the billet-head which the Constitution had boi-ne during lier bat- tles in the War of 1812.' It was the one which Coininod(»re Elliott removed in 1834 while she was lying at that station, and put in its place a bust of (ieneral Jackson, then President of the United States. The substitution of tliat image for the old billet-head which had braved tlie storms of battle and the seas during the War of 1812 was considered an unpatriotic act, and was vehemently denounced by the Opposition as a partisan outrage. Elliott was assailed in newspapers, hand- billH,2 and speeches, and was threatened with violence in anonymous letters if he did not remove the obnoxious efti- gy. He disregarded all complaints ; so, one night, early in July,» during a feaiful storm of wind, lightning, and rain, a daring young man from New York went out to the ship in a skiff, sawed off the head of the image, and car- ried it to Boston. Great efforts were made to discover the mutilator of a government vessel, but in vain. The excite- ment died away, and at near the close of Jackson's adminis- tration the iconoclast went to Washington City, called on the President, frankly acknowledged his exploit, and assured him that it was only a "young man's daio-dovil adventure." Fie amused more than angered the President, who told him he should not be harmed. In the museum of the Navy Yard at Charlestown we saw a beautiful alabaster model of the monument erected to the memory of Lieutenant Allen, at Hudson, New York, Under it, in a glass-case, were a lock of Allen's hair, and the bullet which caused liis death. We found little else of interest connected with the history of the War of 1812, and, after a brief visit to Bunker's Hill Monument, returned to Boston. On the following day ihe writer went out to Salem by railway, sixteen miles from Boston, and visited Fort Pickering, Marblehead, and other points of interest, in com- pany with a citizen of Salem. If was a cold November morning, and with difficulty the pencil was used in sketching the exterior of Fort Pickering, seen on page 891, and the view of the interior (see next page), drawn while standing on t!ie southern ram- parts of the fortification, looking northward toward Beverly. This fort was built in 1798, and named in honor of the eminent Timothy Pickering, who was born in that town, and whose remains lie buried in its soil. It was an irregular work, occupied about an acre of ground, and commanded the harbor and the entrance to the North 1 . ' The original flsure-head of the Conxtitution was a bn«t of Ilcrcnles. It was shot away In the Tripolitan war [see Chapter VI], and its place supplied with the blllct-hcad delineated lu the engraving. 'One of these, posted about the streets of Boston, was headed, "Fbekmen, awake! or the CoNSTirnTios wm, piSKi!" It then went on to sny that the President had issued orders "for a colossal figure of his royal «?(/, in Roman costnme, to be placed as a flgurc-head on Old Ironbideb." It appealed to the most excitable people and passions to "save the ship" by the cry of "all hands on deck." It asked the citizens to assemble at Fnneuii Hail to take action affainst the outrage. "North Enders!" It exclaimed, "shall this Boston-bnilt ship be thus disgraced without remon- strance f Let this wooden i/orf— this old Roman, builded at the expense of three hundred dollars of tiie people's money, be presented to the office-holders, who glory in such worship, bnt, for God's sake, save tub suir from this foul disgrace." It was signed " A North Ender." The Constitution was built where Constitution Wharf now is, at what was called, even before the Revolution, The North Eud— that is, of Boston. It was the place for ship-building, and trom the Revolution until the War of 1812 it was the focus of groat political power. Samnel Adams was bom in that section of the town, and always had great influence with the people there. The caulkers were a numerous class, and with these Adams held ir.any secret meetings when the revolntionary movements were going on from 1704 to 1774. These were known as the " Caulkers' meetings," where revolutionary measures were proposed and perfected. From this fact has come the word caucus in our political nomen- clature—the private gathering of politicians to arrange for a political campaign. It is said that these caulkers of Adams's time were mostly descendants of the Huguenots. ' Oral statement to the author by the adventurer. He is yet (1807) living— a small, fearless, shrewd, energetic busl- nesB man, with a character above reproach in private life. Upon his address card he yet has the device of a iiand-saw, aad the words of Csesar— " I came, I saw, I conqaered," in allusion to the exploit of bis earlier daya. \ lit! I I !|, ;I-! '1 f " 000 PICTORIAL FIKLD-nOOK ForU PIckorlug and I^e, Balem Harbor and itR HurroondliiK' BItuatton of Marblchcnd. aiifl South Hivprs, ns tlio cs- limi'u'H lire called wliiiii cm- imco the |)('iiiiiH\ila. Uh oin- (Uukiiu'iitM, coiupoHcd ot'cartli and sl(»ii(',c'X('ej)tiiijj tho hiick wall ill till! rear {hvv ])i('tuiv oil \)n<^^' Hl)l), wore alxjiit eijj;ht leet in hei<jlit, and well |)reserveil. TliedHicer.s'iiiiai- ters (seen on the ii,i,dit),liuilt of brick, an<l wliadod by balm ofClilead trccH, were well \nv served. There the keejicr, Sergeant llouben Cahooii, w- Hided. He was Heveiily-(me years of" age when I was tlieii'. I le was a soldier on the North- Hjui' noKKBiNo, NKAB sAiKM, IN 1800, (jfn frotitior jii 1812, aiid yt't carried a ball in his leg which he received at the battle of Plattsburg. His wife was his only companion. Not far from Fort Picker- ing wc passed the remains of Fort Lee, near the house of Mr. Welch, at the western end of the causeway leading to Winter Island. It was an ir- regular work, built at the be- ginning of the War nf 1812, and occupied a very com- manding position, especially as the guardian of JJeverly Harbor. It also commanded Salem Harbor, in a degree. From its mounds, now eight or ten feet in height, we ob- 'i^ tained fine views of Salem, Beverly, and the Avhole outer harbor. The Avater which it was chiefly designed to watch over and protect was the estuary called Bass River. It extends up to Danvers, or Old Salem Village,* and was the one spanned by the famous "Leslie Bridge"^ of tlii' Revolution. Returning- to Salem, we rode out to Marlilehead. After passing a fine avenue skirt- ed with lofty elms, we crossed the Forest River, near the Forest City Mills, anil, as- cending the gentle slope of Marblehead promontory, soon came to the village lyins; at the head of a bay in which there is a good harbor. The village is situated amom.' rocks, and the street lines are so irregular in some places that it appears as if the houses might have dropped from the clouds, and the ways among them had been laid out afterward. It was quite natural for the celebrated Whitcfield, on entering tho » At Danvers Governor Endleott and his associates made the first settlement In 1628. There was the scene of " Salem Witchcraft," and there the famons General Israel Pntnam was bom. A pear-tree planted by Governor Endlcott yet (IMT) bears frnit. It was planted at about the time the Stiivvesnnt pear-tree In the city of New York, that died in lS6fl, wag brought ftom Holland. » See Losslng's Field-book of the Bevolutum, 11, 8T4, note 2. UKMAINH OF FORT LEK, bAI.LM. OF THE WAR OF 1819. 907 BltuattoD of Mkrbltheiui Kurt s«wiitl and lU Keeper. AKumllyorHoldlen. Marblehend diirInK the lievulutlon. town, and M'l'injj no vcrdnn- us in<lit'!iliv(> of Koil, to in<|iiin', " I'luy, wlu'iv do they bury llii'ir dfiulV"' It wuh inlmbilod chictly bfciuisu of itH udviiiitanfH und ron- voniencc as a fishing jmrt, ti churactt-r which it has alwayH bonu'.'' Its tradu wuh alinoat wliolly tk'stroyed during tho Uevohition,^ but it revived booh afterward. MABIILEUBAI) lURIIOH.* Mil ith ^' -fSf'r H>ltT HKWAI,!,.'' 3I0UH, With many rocky islaiidR trance. On the liigh promon- tory near tlie viUage was Fort Scwail, built 'n the year 1800, and rebuilt eauy in tlic War of 1812. When I visited it Mrs. Maria T. Perkins was tlie United States Agent in charge of tlie property there, liaving been a resident of Fort Sewall since 1835. She was an ener- getic woman, and with the greatest courtesy she received and entertained us. On the floor of one of lier rooms was a carpet ofwliich she was just- ly proud. It was made en- tirely of the clothes of her fa- ther (Sergeant Stephen Twist, of the Continental Army) and her two brothers, worn by th-^m during tlie War of 1812. They were ever afterward in the military service of the United States up to 1857." She was engaged in piecing it during twenty years. The carj)et was woven by Mrs. Perkins and her daughter, in Fort Sewall, a few months before my visit, and took a premium at a Fair in Boston. On returning to Salem I liad the pleasure of meeting T)r. Benjamin F. Browne, a native of that place, who entered the naval service as surgeon's mate in the })rivateer Alfred, in September, 1612, when lie was only nineteen years of age. While in the schooner Frolic, in the West Indies, he was captured, taken to Barbadoes, sent to En- 1 Barber's Ilietorical CoUffiliotvi of MasmrhunHts, pnge 201, note. 2 A hundred years ngo there were between thirty and forty ships, scows, and topsaii-scliooners owned in Marblehead, and cngafied in foreign trade ; and In 1770 it contained a greater number of inhabitants than any town in Massachn- wlt« excepting Boston. 'The inhabitants were very patriotic. In 1774, when the port of Boston was closed by order of Parllnmcnt, the in habitants offered the nse of their harbor to the Boston mcrcliants. They also ftirnished an entire regiment, fully offl- rerert, for tbe Continental Army. Blbridge Gerry, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born at Marblehead. • This slcetch was made from the gravelly beach. On the left is seen Fort Sewall, and on the extreme right, In the liletance, Marblehead Point. Toward the left, and extending behind Fort Sewall, is seen Lowell Island. ' In this view, ft-om the entrance to the fort, with baclf to the harbor, is seen the row of boml)-proof casemates, with arched windows and doors. Above them is seen the offlcers' quarters, builtof briclc, in which Mrs. Perliins resided. * The aggregate tipie of military service by her father and two brothers was about one hundred years. I 1^ i il; i ^l*fit«*H^» 903 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK /: //C/>yyo .^s. '/njfjjtie^ A Survivor of the Dartmoor Prison. Rettiin to Boston from Sr.lem. Journey to Boston and Voyago to Castine. gland, and confined six months in the notorious Dartmoor prison, of which I shall write hereafter. The cartd sliip Anne^ in which he was sent homo, was ordered to Norfolk. Most of the priv oners were from New England and New York. They seized the ship, and sailed into New York in .Tune, 1815. Dr. Browne was in the Dartmoor pris- on at tht time of the massacre there, and published an interesting sketch of it in the Democratic Heview, 1845.' The prisoners were chiefly privateers- men, and a verj"^ large proportion of them were from New England. He furnished me with a list of the names of more than one hundred survivors k»'own to be living in the vicinity of Salem at the time of my visit. In the evening I had an interview with Mr. William Leavitt, a teacher of navigation at Salem, who was living there during the war, and saw the Con- stitution chased into Marblehead by liic British frigates Junon and Tenedos, early in April, 1814. Mr. Leavitt was a careful investigator and chronicler ; and he furnished me with a most interesting list of all the privateers fitted out at Salem during the war, and of the names, armament, ton- nage, oommanders, etc., of all the prizes taken by them during that period. I passed the night at Salem, returned to BonLon the next day, and toward evening departed on a visit to the theatre of the sti'ring historic scenes on the Penobscot Bay and River, in Maine, in the year 1814. I traveled on the Eastern Railway to Port- land, one hundred and seven miles, where I embarked for Belfas-t, at ten o'clock in the evening, in the steamer Daniel Webster. It was a rough and stormy night on the Atlantic, but we made the voyage of one hundred and thirty miles in good lime. When we entered Penobscot Bay at dawn, the storm-clouds had passed away, and the sun shone out brilliantly when we landed at Belfast between seven and eight • November 19, o'clock in the morning." Soon after breakfast I sailed in the little piiek- ***"'*■ et Spy (formerly a Boston pilot-boat), with raking masts and schooner- rigged, for Castine, on the eastern side of Penobscot Bay. A stiff breeze had sprung up from the northwest, and before it we ran across the bay, thirteen miles, in little more than an hour. It was an exhilarating voyage. We entered the picturesque harbor of Castine at eleven o'clock, and, after a pleasant and profitable interview Avith Dr. Joseph L. Stevens and Samuel T. Noyes, Esq. (the former a physician and the lat- ter a ship-builder of Castine), I rambled over the interesting peninsula with an intel- ligent lad who was familiar with the historical localities. A portion of the peninsula is high, rocky, and covered with evergreens, while its southwestern slope is wet and spongy, bare, and abounding in juniper bushes. Tiie village of Castine is beautifully situated on a slope overlooking several picturesque islands. It is said to be the wealthiest town in Maine in proportion to its size, and is the seat of customs of the Penobscot district. '^ • Dr. Browne was a member of the MaBsaclniBetts Le^elature In 1831, and of the State Senate in 1848. He was In the enjoyment of remarltal)le health, having never been sick in his life. > Castine is a pleasant town of about fifteen hundred inhabitants, whoso principal business Is fishing and ship-bailil' OF THE WAR OF 1812, 909 on and Voyage to Castlne. MementoB of the War at Castine. Fort George and View from It. Kemaina of Fort Oantine. We first visited Fort Geort^e,' the principal military work on the peninsula, which lies northwestward of the town. A sketch of a portion of the ruins from the south bastion is given on page 903, in which one of the casemates is seen. In that bastion was tiie bomb-proof magazine. That, and all of the casemates, excepting the one de- lineated, built of brick and stone, had becij carried away for building purposes. The fort was a quadrangle, with bastions at each angle. The ditch was dug down to the flat rock, about six feet deep. The banks were about eighteen feet in height from the bottom of the ditch when I visited it, and were covered with a hard sward. Near the fort lay a 24-pound iron cannon — a relic of the War of 1812 — on a decayed carriage, whic^. the citizens on some occasion had dragged up from the old half-moon redoubt (Fort Porter) on the shore, where two of the same kind yet lay. The view from the banks of Fort George is very interesting at every point. The little picture gives an outline of the scenery around the head of Penobscot Bay, look- VIEW FROM FORT OKOROE. ing northwestward from the fort. On the extreme right is the entrance to the canal across Castine Neck, cut by the British. This canal was about twelve feet in width and eighty rods in length, and made Castine, or Bigaduce j)enin8ula, an island. It is now crossed by a bridge. Between the promontory seen beyond Brigadier Island ing. It derives its name fi'om tlie Bnron de Castin, a French no1)1eman, who established a residence there in 188T, married the daughter of Modockawando, a Penobscot Indian chief, built a fort, and opened a profitable trade with the natives, among whom he introduced Christianity in the form of the Roman Catholic Church, and gaimil the greatest influence over them. The baron lived there thirty years, and then returned to France, leaving his domiiin in possession of his hnlf-blood son, Cnstln the Younger, who was a man of dome education. When the country fell into the control of the English, after the fall of Louisburg in 1746, the Castine family abandoned it, and it became permanently settled bytheEugiishin 1700. Castin was a foe to the New Englanders. lie taught the Indians around him the nse of fire-arms, and he frequently co-operated with them in their attacks on the frontier New England settlements. The penalty for these sins of the fa- ther was unrighteously visited npon the son, who was really a friend to the English. In IT'il he wjs secured and car- ried to Boston, and there kept a prisoner for several months. The ruins of Castin's fort, now (1S07) in the suburbs of BEMAIH8 OF FORT OASTINE. Ihe village of Castine, on the property of Mr. Oeorgo Webb, arc nearly obliterated. Indeed, the monnda now seen are the remains of the embankments cast up In 1S12 on those of the ancient fort. In the above view are seen the remains ofthefort, Castine River, and the islands In front of Ihe village, with the high head of a peninsula. The highest |)otnts are called the Caterpillar and Ilnekctt's Hills. The lillle Island with the evergreens, between the two vessels on the rljht, is Noddle's. ' Ou the land of the heirs of Captain Joseph I'erkln'', near the vcsidcuce of Charles Abbott, Ksq. 910 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Remains of Fortifications near Castiue. Voyage up the Penobscot. Historical Localities. BKMAI^H Of FORT OBIKFITII.' (then the pi-operty of David Soars, of Boston), near the centre of the picture, is sion the mouth of the Penobscot River. On the extreme left, over the cedar-covered point of land called Banks's Head, is seen Belfast, thirteen miles distant. J'rora Fort George we wont down the northwestern slope toward the Neck to the re- mains of Fort Griffith, one of the larger redoubts built l)v the British, and named in honor of the English admiral. It was intended to guard tlic Neck. There was another, called Fort Gosselin in honor of the general, just above tlu' present bridge over the canal. After sketching the remains of Fort Griffith, we visit- ed those of two or three others, and then hastened back to Castine, and embarked in the Spy for Belfast. It was toward evening, and the light wind was directly aiiead. The voyage was long and tedious, and it was almost eight o'clock before I was ad- mitted to the comforts of a warm supper at our destined haven, where I hud the pleasure of meeting Judge Joseph Williamson, son of the historian of Maine, and to whom I am indebted for valuable information. On the morning of the 21st I left Belfast for Hampden on the steamer Sanford. Cai)tain C B. Sanford, which plied between Boston and Bangor. The voyage up th( Penobscot — the winding, picturesque Penobscot — was a delightful one, and was made particularly instructive to me by Captain Sanford, who ,, ■ i: i. ■\^"'*: " ^ ^ '^^^"^^ kindly pointed out every a^ place and object of interest on the way. Fourteen miles from Belfast we passed Fort Point, a bluff with a light- house upon it.^ Opposite Bucksport, on the rugged hills, the solid mason- ry of a stupendous fortifica- tion, called Fort Knox, in process of erection, was seen, with the small village of Pros- pect nestled near. A little above we passed Indian Point, made famous as the site of a conflict between the savages and Captain Ciiui-ch, the decapitator of the slain King Philii). Farther on we entered Marsh Bay, in which the British invading squad- ron lay one night on their way toward Hamj)den.^ It is an expansion of the Penob- scot, and at its head lies the pretty little village of Frankfort. Westward rises tlu' Musquito Mountain, a huge mass of granite, ivhere, it seems, quarrying might bo car- ried on for a thousand years. In Frankfort, M'Glathry's store-house was jKjintod o\il as the recipient of a British cannon-ball when the invaders landed there in Septoni- ber, 1814;* and about a mile above the landing my attention was called to a thick Norway pine, the only one in that region, which bears the name of " Tiie Bacon Tree." It is a round, compact ti'ee, its short trunk composed apparently of a groii|i of smaller ones, and the limbs so near the ground that it is difficult to get under it. ' On the left is seen Banks's Head, on which were batteries. One was named Furieute, as It was armed with cannon taken from ii French vessel of that name, by the Kngllsh. On the rlpht Is BriKndier Island and month of the Penobecol 1 For the protection of the Penobscot Kivcr, Governor Pownnll oauscd a fort to be built on this point In 17HB. Ho made an expedition from Iloston for the imn'ose with three hundred and Ihlrly-thrce men. It was completed In July at a cost of nearly ilSOflO. It was named Fort Pownall. Some remains of It may yet be seen. It was (garrisoned until the Revolution, when It was betrayed into the hands of the British by a Tory commander. ' Page 898. ♦ Pago 899. FOBT POINT. Illstorical Localities. the picture, is seen cedar-covered point t. ''ort George we wont > northwestern nlopc :he Neck to the ro- Fort Griffith, out' of n- redoubts built hy tish, and nanu'd in the English admiral, itended to guard the Tliere was anotlicr, ort Gossclin in lionor sneral, just o,bovc tlio fort Griffith, wo visit- ine, and embarked in 1 was directly ahead. ,ock before I was ad- vex\, where I had tlu' rian of Maine, and to Lhe steamer Sanford. The voyage up the till one, and was made small village of Pros- lo famous as the siti' capitator of the slain itish invading squad- )ansion of the Peuob- Westward rises thu arryiug might be car- louse was pointed out idod there in Scpteni- was called to a thick name of "The Bacon .pparently of a grouji fficult to get under it. ., as It was armed with cannon 1(1 and mouth of tlin Pciii)bsoot. iillt on this point in ITim. He icn. It was compli'tcd In July seen. It was garrisoned nnf.l 3 Page 888. «Fa({cSii9. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 911 The Bacon Tree. A Visit to Hampden. Jonmey to Buugur. THE HACON TKKK. I had a good view of it th»-iigh a telescope, by which I was enabled to make the annexed sketch. It derived its name from the circumstance that when the British land- ed, a citizen of Frankfort, having a large quantity of ba- con, carried it to this tree, and hung the pieces in the branches to conceal them from the foe. The measure was successful. The British passed along the road a short distance from the tree without observing its savory fruit, and the man saved his bacon. In a cove oif Oak Point, two or tliree miles above Frankfort, we saw the ribs of the Warren, one of the Massachusetts vessels destroyed by the British when they took Castine in 1779.' We landed at Hampden at an early liour, and T went immediately in search of the historical localities of that pleasant town. I called on the venerable Mrs. Stetson witli a letter of introduction from a friend in Boston. She was then eighty-seven years of age, and lived in a fine old mansion in the Upper Town, not far from the Soadabscook. Her husband was one of the citizens who was confined as a prisoner on board the Decatur.'^ She gave me a most vivid description of events in Hampden at the time of the invasion; and s]i(> furnished me with such directions that, with the aid of a young man wiiom I had engaged to take me to Bangor in a light wagon, I experienced no difficulty in finding all I had come to sec. I went down the winding road to the mouth of the Soadabscook, and sketched Cros- by's Wharf,3 climbed to the place of Morris's hill battery, and visited the meeting (now town) house and the site of Blake's brief encounter with the invaders near the Lower Town. When these pleasant tasks Avere accomplished, we dined at the liotel, near which I saw a small building, with a little Aveather-beaten signd)oard over the door, that was innocent of all paint excepting the black letters wliich composed the name of IlAxxinAL Hamlix. It was the law office* of that distinguished United States Senator, who a few Aveeks before had been elected V^ice-President of the Re- public. At three o'clock in the afternoon I left Hampden for Bangor, following the road which the British traveled in their march to that place.* I spent the remainder of the afternoon in ram- bling about that fine inland city of the pic- turesque State of IMaine, and Avas sur- prised by the great number of schooners that lay in the Penob- scot and in the mouth of the Kenduskeig. There Avere no less than two hundred and thirty. It Avas the VIEW AT TUH MOUTU Of TUK KENUimKEAO. ' Note «, pace W2. " Page 902. ' CroshyV Wharf (see pirtnre on pasje SiW) was erected liy (Jeneral John Croshy, one of the early settlers, wlio came from Woolwich in ITW. He entered Into commercial businesB there, and carried on an extensive trade with Europe ami the AVest Indies. He was a ft-iend and correspondent of Washinslon durinir the Revolution. General Crosby died .It Hampden in May, 1S4.S, at the age of eighty-six yeiirs. Vm a more minute account of Hampden and its people, see Cnolliige and Mansfield's llintiini and Ikiurriptinn »/ .Vcic Knfilnnd— Maine, ' Mr. Hamlin settled In Hampden as a lawyer in the year is:i2. ' Bangor is a line city of about seventeen thousand Inhabitants. Ills a port of entry and a great lumber dfpiH. It Is Miont thirty miles from the mouth of the Penobscot, and wae originally culled Kenduskeag, from the Indian name of lhe stream that there enters the river. \i 912 PICTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK Bangor. Henry Van Meter and his History. From Baugor to New Bedford, time for these vessels, engaged in the lumber-trade, to lay up for the winter, and they were rapidly lilling tlie stream below the bridge. I remained in Bangor two days, and spent a greater part of the time in the com- pany and under the hospitable roof of br. John Mason. With him I visited places of interest about Bangor; rode over to Brewer, and sketched the resi- dence of General Blake,' and spent some time in the humble dwelling of Henry Van INIeter, a remarkable black man, then ninety-five years of age. He was a slave to Governor Nelson, of Virginia, during the Revolution, became a sea- man in long after years, and was one of the crew of the privateer Lawrence which sailed from Baltimore in 1814.^ He was captured, sent to Plymouth, and confined in the Dartmoor Prison, where he saw the massacre in the spring of 1815. Van Meter's history, as he re- lated it to me, was an eventful one.^ His mind seemed clear, and his body not very feeble ; and when I had finished the annexed sketch of him, he wrote his name, Avith my pencil, ^,^^ . 9^^ ^^'^~6 /~\rO y^yr~ >0 under it, as well as he could with- O^^*/^ ^^ >icy /C/^^L^^ ^^ out glasses. I left Bangor on the morning of the 23d,* and, traveling by railway, reached Boston the same evening. A few days afterward, just at twi- light, I arrived at New Bedford,'' spent the evening with Dr. Charles L. Swasey, and made arrangements for a ride the next morning to the old fort near Fair Haven, across the Acushnet, spoken of on page 889 as having been saved from an attack by the British on a dark night in 1814 by the blast of a postman's tin-horn and the clat- ter of his horse's hoofs, which frightened them away. A heavy storm of wind and rain arose during the night ; nevertheless we made the journey, and at ten o'clock ' About a mile and a half above Bangor, on the same side of the Penobscot, was the residence of General Joseph Treat. See note 2, page SOT. • See page liwo, s Henry remembered peeing Washington many times. When Governor Nelson's estate was sold after the war to pay hi« debtK, Henry became the property of a planter beyond the Blue Ridge, on the extreme frontier. He wiis lli^ contented, and wished to leave, notwithstanding his master was kind. He wished Henry to marry one of his tiliivi' girls, and raise cliildrcn for him, offering, if he would do so, to order in his will that he should bo made a free man at his death. " I didn't like the gals," said Henry, " and didn't wani to ' wait for dead men's shoes.' So master sold me to a man near Lexington, in Kentucky, and there was only one log house in that town when I went there." He wa* sooA sold to one of those vile men engaged in the slave-trading business, who treated him shamefully. Henry inouut- ed one of his master's horses one night, and fled to the Iventnclty River, where he turned him loose, and told him to go home if he had a mind to, as he didn't wish to steal him. Some benevolent white people helped b'-n on to the Ohio, and at Cincinnati, then a collection of houses around Fort Washington, he took the name of Van Meter, borne by some of the family of his kind master of the Shenandoah Valley. Henry became a servant of an officer in St. Clair's army, and served in the company, in the Northwest, with that com- mander a-il General Wayne. After the peace in 171)6, he was living in Chlllicothe, and came East with some E.ifrtifh- , men with horses, by way of Wheeling, to Philadelphia. In the latter city some Quakers sent him to school, and he learned to read and write. When the war broke out he shipped as a common sailor in the privateer Lawmirr, having previ- ously been to Europe several times In the same capacity, and when cast into Dartmoor he held a prize ticket which was worth, when he got home, one thousand dollars. He let a captain have it as security for sixteen dollars. The man died of yellow fever in the South, and Henry never recovered his ticket. ♦ The half-shire town of Bristol County, Massachusetts, on the west side of the Acushnet River, an arm of Buzzard'? Bay. It is beanlifully situal.d upon rising ground, and is the child of the whale-flshery, that, and other branches con- nected with it, having been from the beiriuning the chief business of the inhabitants. During the Revolution It was a Kreat resort for privateers. A force of four thousand men, under General Grey, fell npon it, and destroyed buildings, wharves, vc ^els, and merchandise to the amount of more than $3'20,O0O. • November, 1800. m Bangor to New Bedford. for the winter, and le time in the com- traveling by railway, fterward,just at twi- harles L. Swascy, and brt near Fair Haven, ed from an attack by tin-horn and the clat- ■y storm of wind and r, and at ten o'clock e residence of General Joreph « See pnge im. ate was sold after the war to !Xtreme frontier. lie was (lis- nry to marry one of liis slave slioHld bo made a free man at i'8 shoes." So master sold nic wiicn 1 went there." He was i,n shamefully. Henry mount- I him loose, and told him to go )le helped bii on to the Obio. ic of Van Meter, borne by Bomc the Northwest, with that com- came East with some E.itrlifh- , nt him to pchool, and he learned vateer Lavrence, havinft previ- ,e held a pri7,cticliet which was sixteen dollars. The man died net River, an arm of Vrnmi't rf, that, and other branches con- luring tlie Kevolution it wne a on 11, and destroyed buiWiugJ, OF THE WAR OF 1812. 913 Thfl Port at Fair Haven. Captain Lemuel Akin. Providence. Mew London. Stonington. rode into the parade of the ruined fortress as far as the rocks would allow. The re- mains of the fort were upon a very vough cape opposite New Bedford, and a mile be- low the Acushnet Bridge and causeway. It was called Fort Phoenix, and was little more than an 8 or 10 gun battery, whose walls were of hewn stone and earth. Sev- eral of the iron cannon (24-pounder8) with which it was armed were lying within it, never having been removed since they were placed there in 1812. The storm was beating so furiously as it came driving in from the sea that our horse became very restive; so the kind Doctor stood out in the blind- ing tempest, and held him in quietude while, under the cover of tlic little carriage, I made the annexed sketch of the interior of the fort with all possible dis- patch.' Then we re- turned to Fair Haven village, and rode out to the residence of Cap- tain Lemuel Akin, an exceedingly intelli- gent and well-read gen- tleman, whose home had been on the sea during a large portion of his long life.2 For the good cheer with which he welcomed us, and for much valuable information which he gave me then, and afterward in letters, I feel grateful. While at his house the storm abated somewhat. Wc rode back to New Bedford, and in the aflcrnoon I traveled by railway to Providence, Rhode Island, where I passed Thanksgiving Day most profitably with Dr. Usher Parsons, the surgeon of the Lawrence, Perry's flag- ship at the time of the battle of Lake Erie, whoso name and record of services are fiimiliar to the readers of this volume. From this last survivor of Perry's commis- sioned officers I received much valuable and minute information concerning the army and navy on the Niagara frontier and on Lake Erio.^ Dr. Parsons is still (1867) liv- ing, in the enjoyment of excellent health of body and mind. Early on the morning of the 29th'' I left Providence for New London, •November, on the Thames, fifty miles westward, whore I spent the day, as already re- ^®™' corded in the latter part of Chapter XXX. of this work. At sunset I left for Ston- ingto'., a few miles eastward, and became the guest of Dr. George E. Palmer, whose house bears evidence of the cannonade in 1814. On the following morning, accom- panied by Dr. Palmer, I visited places of interest about Stonington, among others the old arsenal at the upper end of Main Street, in which were two or three cannon. It ' Between the walls of the fort and the wooden bnllding more in the foreground Is seen Ceres Island, with the city of New Bedford beyond. Since my visit the fort has been revived. " For five months," Dr. Swasey wrote to me in September, 1861 (six months after the great Civil War had begun), " the old fort has been thoroughly repaired, and gai-- risoned by the Home Guard of New Bedford and Fair Haven. IIow little did you or I dream of the events and neces- lities which have brought about this change, as wc stood on that old place that day when you sketched the fort ! How mild and gentle was even that storm that beat on our unsheltered beads compared with the tempest of war that has (Ince burst over our beloved land 1" ' Mr. Akin was engaged in the merchant service. He was captured ofT the Carolina coast by the British fri..'ate Sewm, taken to Amelia Island, and sent ftom there to Bermuda, where he was exchanged. Captain Akin died in 186T, at the age of gcvouty-flve years. ' See Chapter XXV. 3M BEMAIhS OF FOUT PUUiNlX, FAIB HAVEN. f If ill ffr ! i 014 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Ileru ofStoalngton and bis Wife. The Kim Grove Cemetery. The Denlsuu Fiimily, AB8KNAJ. AT bTOMlKUTON. ward, the joyful news of peace came, and the men of Stonington and Mystic were celebra- ting the event at a public dinner, Mrs. Holmes, justly consid- ering her sex entitled to recognition in the public demonstrations of delight, procured some powder, andjwith the aid of other young women, loaded and fired, with her own hands, a heavy cannon, in joyful commemora- tion of the great event. She bears the distinc- tion of having fired the first salute in that re- gion as a voice of wel- come to Peace. While at Mystic we was a brick building, somewhat altered since the war when the door was in the centre where the arch is seea Toward noon we rode over to Mystic, to visit the vcn- erable liero, Captain Holmes, who performed so conspic- uous a part in the defense of Stonington, as already re- lated in this chapter. We found him and his aged wifu in the enjoyment of good health of mind and body and such is still their condition." • December Mrs. Holmes is a small woman, and retains ^^''■ many mail<s of the beauty of her earlier years. She was as tuergetic and patriotic as her husband, and did all a woman i ould do at the trying time when Stoninsiion was attacked. When, several months after- IIKMBON B U visited the beautiful Elm Grove Cemetery, in wliich, as we have observed in note on page 896, the State of Con- necticut erected a monument to the memory of Freder- ick Denison, who lost his life in defense of Stonington. Near that monument was one (delineated in the anne.\ed engraving) in commemoration of the first of his franily who resided in that vicinity;^ and near it (seen to the left of the monument in the picture) was the first tomb- stone erected in the town of Stonington.^ It is of dark t Upon it Ih the following inscription : " Oeoroe Denison, a flrst settler in Stonington, and founder of the Denlenn family. Died Oct. 23d, 1694, aged T4 years. This stone is erected by his descendants in 1S66. Ann B., his wife, died Sept. 26, 1712, aged 07 years." « It bears the following inscription : "Here lyes y« body of Ann Denison, who died Sept. y' 2«th, 1712, ngecl 9' years." This stone is abont twenty inches in height. The modem mounment is of granite, fifteen feet in height. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 018 The Denlnou Family. tered since the war, lere the arch is seen. itic, to visit the von- erformed so conspic- iigton, as ahviuly re- im and his aged wife of mind and body, • December, id retains ^'"^^^ r earlier years. She 18 her huBband, ami e trying time when several months after- i/^. -^2^ ICemetery, in which, as 896, the State of Con- [he memory of Freder- [defense of Stonington. Vneated in the annexed the first of his franily id near it (seen to the fre) was the first tomb- ungton.2 It is of dark ton, and fonnder of the nenUon Tin 1868. Ann B.,hlB wife, died lied Sept. y 26th, 1712. aged 9; lanite, fifteen feet In height. Bnrun de Steubeu'a Gold Box. The fftithftil Daughter. Return Home. slate, witii the cherub on the arched upper part, which was a fashionable ornament a hundred and fifty years ago. We returned to Stonington toward sunset, and called on the Rev. Mr. Weston, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, where we saw the beautiful gold box in whicli the freedom of the city of New York was publicly presented to the Baron de Steuben by the hands of liis old friend and aid-de-camp, General North. Around its edge was the following inscription : " Presented by the Corporation of the City of Neto York, with the Freedom of the City." On the lid are the arras of the city, engraved by Maverick. We also saw, in the course of the evening, the famous Stonington flag, delineated on page 894, bearing sixteen stars, the then number of States in tlie Union. It is bunting, about six yards in length and three yards and a luilf in width. It was in the possession of Captain Francis Amy, of Stonington. During that evening I heard many relations of stirring incidents connected with the attack on Stonington. I will repeat only one, a touching narrative of a dying mother and her faithful daughter. The mother (Mrs. Hall) Avas a poor woman, liv- ing in the old barracks near the " Cobb House" (page 896), in the last stages of con- sumption, and exposed to tlie British balls when they were Inirled upon the town. Tlie people had fled in terror, and none but Huldah, the daughter of the dying Avom- an, remained. She was faithful. Sometimes, Avhen the balls came crashing through the building, she would fly to the cellar, and sometimes to the garret, and then im- mediately return to the bedside of her mother. At length two or three soldiers rushed into the building, and bore the poor woman away on her bed to tlie burying- ground near the present Watawanuc* Institute, by the railway, where tliey thought she would be safe. Just as they had laid her on the greensward, a bomb-shell struck near and exploded, by which a deep trench was scooped from the earth. The shock was too much for the poor woman, and she expired. In the grave dug by the shell she was hastily buried, and then tlie faithful Huldah hurried away to a place of great- er safety. At a late hour in the evening I bade adieu to Dr. Palmer and his excellent family, rode over to New London, and then embarked in a stanch steamer for New York, where Ave arrived tlie next morning at the beginning of the first snoAv -storm of the season. I had seen snow but once before since my departure from the city, and that was on the summits of the lofty Katahdin mountains of Maine, while vieAving them from the hills around Bangor at a distance of almost a hundred miles in the far north- east. So ended a delightful and instructive visit to the eastern coast district of New En- glnnd, Avhere I gleaned much valuable materials for History, and enjoyed open-hand- ed hospitality that can never be forgotten by the recipient. 1 AA'atawannc was the Indian name for the site of Stonington. fti \u i 1 1 i k' ■...rt t ,■ i CHAPTER XXXIX. " A veteran hoit, by vetcrnnB led, With Ru88 and Cockbum at thoir head, They came— they saw— they burned— and fled I They left oar Congress naked walls— Farewell to towers and capltols I To lofty roofs and splendid halls ! » To conquer armies in the field Was, once, the surest method held To make a hostile conntry yield. The warfare now the invaders make Must surely keep us all awake, Or life is lost for freedom's sake. PniLip Fbkneau. niLE tlic events recorded in the preceding chapter were occurring on the New England coast, others of a more important character in the vicinity of Chesapeake Bay were attracting public atten- tion. We have already observed how audaciously the British op- erated along the shores of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays during the year 1813, continually menacing not only the smaller coast villages, but the larger cities. The national capital itself, situated at the head of the navigation of the Potomac, was in peril at times, and yet the government seemed to have been paralyzed by a strange delusion — a conviction that the British would never attempt to penetrate the country so far as the city of Washington, and that the archives of the nation were safe there. Tokens of danger were not wanting. First came intelligence, late in January, that fonr thousand Brit- ish troops destined for the United States had landed at Bermuda. This was folloAvcd by the appearance of Admiral Cockburn, the marauder, in Lynnhaven Bay, on the 1st of March, with a 74 line-of-battle ship, two frigates, and a brig, and who commenced at once the practice of his wicked amphibious warfare. At the close of April a ves- sel from Europe brought the startling news of the downfall of Napoleon ; and soon afterward came the announcement of his abdication and retirement to Elba, and the probable release of a large British force that might be sent to America. For several months previous to the advent of Cockburn, thoughtful men had called the attention of the President and his constitutional advisers to the exposed state of the entire District of Columbia, and especially the capital, and to the importance of adopting vigorous measures for its defense.' The President appears to have feared danger, but his cabinet were unmoved. Ev*n when the foe was so near that the booming of his cannon could almost be heard, they could not be impressed with a sense of impending danger; and on the 14th of May the government organ {National Intelligencer') said : " We have no idea of the enemy attempting to reach the vicin- ity of the capital ; and if he does, we have no doubt he will meet such a reception as or, when ^ . he mem- ^-^ -^^m^^mmmmjL-. 1 So early as the middle of July, the previous year, when the enemy were no nearer the capital than at the question. General Philip Stuart, of the Maryland militia fered a resolution In Conjtress for the distribution among the people of the District of Columbia and the i bers of Congress for the defense of the capital. a This paper is still (1S6T) published at Washington City, and, until recently, by Gales and Soaton, the proprietors in 1S14. OF THE WAR OF 1812. Oil ipalhy of the Government. lapter were occurring ! important charactor racting public attoii- jioualy the British op- I and Delaware Ikyi? ; not only the smaller lational capital itself, leril at times, and yet [elusion — a conviction r so far as the city of •e. Tokens of danger at four thousand Brit- This was followed haven Bay, on the 1st and who commenced c close of April a vcs- Napoleon ; and soon mcnt to Elba, and the America. ghtful men had called the exposed state of to the importance of ppears to have feared was so near that tlie be impressed with a .ment organ {National ing to reach the vicin- eet such a reception as ^ ^^^uM/rO les and Soaton, the proprietors A Dearth of Troops for the Deftonae of Washington. The Qovemment alarmed. The Prealdent'i Plan for Defense. he had a sample of at Craney Island. The enemy knows l)cttpr than to trust him- self abreast of or on this side of Fort Washington." This idle boast and the govern- ment apathy were terribly rebuked a little more than three months afterward by British arms and British torches. At that very time hostile marauders were in tlie waters of the Potomac, and their leaders, employing competent spies, had made them- nelves perfectly acquainted with the condition of the country, and of military afluirs around Washington. June came, and yet there was strange apathy in official circles, and very little prep- aration for defense. In the entire Fifth Military District, of which the District of Columbia was a part, there were only two thousand one hundred and fifty-four effect- ive enlisted men, of whom one half were at Norfolk, one quarter at Baltimore, and the remaining quarter divided between An- napolis, Fort Washington, and St. Mary's. There were, besides, only a company of ma- rines in the barracks at Washington, and a company of artillery at Fort Washington (late Fort Warburton), on the Potomac, twelve miles below the capital. Five hund- red recruits for the regular army from North Carolina, under Lieutenant Colonel Clinch,* who had been in camp near Washington for the purpose of drill and exercise, were al- lowed to leave for the Northern frontier (juite late in June, when the public mind was filled Avith alarm because of the men- aces of the enemy. At length the government was aroused to a sense of danger and responsibility by in- telligence that a number of the largest class of transports had been fitted out at Ports- mouth, England, " as well as all troop-ships in that port," for the purpose, it was believed, of going to Bordeaux and taking on board there the most effective of Wellington's reg- iments and conveying them to the United States. This was confirmed at near the close of June by the arrival at New York of a cartel from Bermuda, which brought intelligence that she left at that port " a fleet of transpoi-ts, with a large force, boimd to some port in the United States, probably the Potomac." Official intelligence of this fact reached the government on the 26th, and on the 1st of July the President called a cabinet council and laid before them a Avell-considered plan of defense against threatened invasion, which had been suggested, if not actually prepared, by General William H. Winder, who had lately been exchanged, and had returned from Canada.^ It contemplated the establishment of a camp of regular troops, two or three thousand strong, somewhere between the Eastern Branch of the Potomac and the Patuxent Rivers, in Maryland, and the concentration of ten thousand militia in tlie vicinity of Washington City. ' Di.ncan L. Clinch wns one of the most mcrltorions officers in the United Stntcs service. lie was n native of North Carolina, and entered the army as first liontcuant of infantry in 180S, and was soon made regimental paymaster. lie ffas promoted to captain in 1810, and lieutenant colonel in August, 1813. At the close of the war he was retained in the array, and was promoted to colonel in 1810. In 1829 he was breveted brigadier general for ten years' meritorious serv- ices. He was an efficient officer in the war with the Seminolcs in 1836 and 1830. He resigned in September, 1S36. From 1843 to 1846 he was a representative in Congress from Georgia. He died at Macon, Georgia, on the 28th of Octo- licr, 1849. He was a bravo soldier and noble-hearted man. I am indebted to his daughter, the wife of General Robert Anderson, of Fort Snmter fame, for the above portrait. " U;tter to the Secretarr of War, June 80, 1814, in Winder's Letter-book. i ; -^^ /r^^^^^^^^^w^ I ■ if r 918 PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK I'rupuratious fur defeudlnK the Capital. Oeaeral Winder iu military Command. Tbe Htatca called on for Troopn, Tho Cabinet approved the Prosi- dent'H plan.' A n»'\v military diHtrici, entitled the Tenth, was formed, com- prising Maryland, tho Distrit^t of Co- lumhia, and tho portions of Eastern Vir^'inin lying between the I'otouuK and Uappahannot^k Kivors. Brigadier General Winder^ was appointed to the command of it, and tho goveniinoiu made a niiiisition upon the several States for militia to the aggregate of iiinely-tliree thousand men, who were to be organized at home and held in readiness.^ The District of Colnnihia and the State of IVIaryland were ( ailed upon to furnish their respective quo- tas immediately, the former being two thousand men and the latter six thou- sand. Pennsylvania was directed to send five thousand and Virginia two thousand to tho militia rendezvous at once. The naval defenses were in- trusted to Commodore Barney, a vet- eran commander, who was in tho Patuxent with a small flotilla of gun-boats. In oflicial orders there appeared an army of fifteen thousand militia for t he defense of Washington, and General Winder was envied as the fortunate commander of a larger force than had yet appeared in the field. But that army remained hidden in .^i^-^'^^^^^-LPe^ > The Secretnry of War could not be made to believe, even as late as Aiignst, when the enemy was almost at the door of the capital, tlmt Washington City was his object. " What the devil will they do here f" was his qnestion to one who expressed a belief that the cnpitnl was in dnnjier. "No, no; Baltimore Is the place, civ : that Is of so much more coii- sequence."— Statement of Ocncrnl Van Ness before a Committee of Inquiry. In his Xotirrn of the War of 1S12, tiie Spc ro- tary says that the attack on Wiishlngton was an after-thought of Admiral Cochrane when he had caused the destruclion of IJarney's flotilla. Cochrane, in a letter to the Board of Admiralty In September, says that the presence of n flotilla at the head of the Patuxent gave him a "pretext for ascending that river," while " the ultimate destination of thi' com- bined force was Washington, should it be found that the attempt might be made with any prospect of success." And at the beginning of August, a letter, written by some one on compulsory duty in the British fleet in the Chesapeake, dated July 27th, was placed In Winder's hands, and submitted to the Secretary of War, in which the Intentions of the enemy to rush to the capital were fully revealed. "The manner In which they Intend doing it is," said the writer, "tn tnlie advantage of a fair wind in ascending the Patuxent, and, after having ascended it a certain distance, to land their men at once and to make all possible dispatch to the capital, batter it down, and then return to their vessels immediately. In doing this there is calculated to be employed upward of seven thousand mou."— Winder Papers. On the contrary, Mr. Gleig, the now (1S07) venerable chaplain general of the Uritish Army, who accompanied the in- vaders, soys that thr destruction of Barney's flotilla was the sole oliject of the passage up the Patuxent, and that ilio capture and destruci ion of Washington was suggested by Cockburn, tlic marauder, wlien that work was accompli.«lio(l. ' William II. Winder was born in Somerset County, Maryland, on tlie 18th of February, 1775. Ills ancestors were among tbe earliest settlers In that state, and were influential nicii. lie was graduated at the University of Pennpylva- nin, studied law, and entered upon Us practice. He went to Nnshvlllc, Tennessee, to settle, but fonnd so little encour- agement that he returned to his native state. At the age of twenty-three he was elected a member of the Maryland Legislature. In 1802 he took np his residence in Baltimore, and soon stood in the foremost rank at the bar in that city, where his rivals and friends were William Plnkney, Luther Martin, and men of that character. In March, 1S12, lie received the commission of lieutenant colonel of infantry, and was promoted to colonel In July following, and with troops from his state performed eminent service on the Niagara frontier. He was commissioned a brigadier in March, 1843^ and in June following he was captured at 8t<mv Creek, in Canada, and held as a prisoner of war until the eprini; of 1814. In May of that year he was appointed adjutant and inspector general, and at the beginning of July he was as- signed tn the command of the Tenth Military District. He was active iu efforts to defend Washington City, and after- ward Baltimore. After the retirement of the British he was ordered to the Northern frontier. Ho left the army in 1819, and returned to the practice of his profession with a ruined constitution. He was twice elected state senator. Ili« health finally gave way, and he died in Baltimore on the 24th of May, 1824, at the age of forty-eight years. He was Grand Master of the Masonic Order in Maryland. No private citizen was ever before or since honored with such a fu- neral as his; and the pen of William Wir; indited a most eloquent eulogy of his characlei. ' The requisition upon the several States was as follows: New Hampshire, S600; Massachusetts, 10,000; Rhode W- and, 1500; Connecticut, SOOO; New York, 13,600; New Jersey, 6000; Pennsylvania, 14,000; Delaware, 1000; Maryland, 6000 ; Virginia, 12,000 ; North Carolina, 7000 ; South Carolina, 6000 ; Georgia, S800 ; Kentucky, B.'iOO ; Tennessee, '" '^ ■ I<oulsiaua, 1000 ; Missigsippi Territory, 600. Of this force 8400 were to be artillery, and the remainder Infantry. OF THE WAR OP 1812. 019 •Itutei called ou for Truopr. iprovcd tlio Pri'wi- •w mUitiiry diHtrict, I, W118 foniu'd, (Mini- the District of Co- jiortioim of Eiistcni tweou the I'otomui i. Rivers. Brigadiir vas apiiointeil to tlic 11(1 the govcrnnient m upon the several to the aggrefiiitc of saml n\en, who wcw \t home and held in District of Columhia ^laryland wore imIIoiI their resptctive qiio- the former heing two d the latter six thou- vnia was directed to lid and Virginia two militia rendezvous at al defenses were iii- lodore Barney, a vet- \ of gun-boats, militia for the defense nate commander of a ly remained hidden in enemy was almoBt at the door ' was his question to one whD that Is of so much more con- a 0/ the War of 1S12, the Secro- he had caused the dcstnictioii „ that the prcpcnce of n flotilla Itlmato destination of Un com- y pr( ispect of success." Ami al 1 llect 111 the Chesapeake, dated ch the intentions of the enemy it is," said the writer, " to take ain distance, to land their men to their vessels immediately. , r Papers. i-niv, who accompanied the in- np' the Patuxent, and thiit tlic ,1 that work was nccompllfliod. lary, 177». His anccBtors were ttt the University of Pcnnpylvn- ittle, but fonnd so Utile enconr- ;ted a member of the Maryland lost rank at the bar In thiit city, character. In March, lS12,hc lel in July following, and with nlssioned a brii;adier in Miircli, irleoner of war until the eprini; ic beginning of July he was as- k1 Washington City, and aflcr- frontier, lie left the army iu wlcc elected state senator. Ilis of forty-eight years. He was since honored with such a fu- issnchusetts, 10,000; Rhode IrI- flO: Delaware, 1000; Maryland, ntucky, KM; Tennessee,'' ''■ the remainder Infantry. Turdiucsji of the Secretary of War. Apathy of the People. Winder's Advice and Wanilngt. official paragraplis, ami only a small portion of it confronted the invader, for he camo before the States on whom the government had made a requiHition ftu militia had moved in the matter. There was extraordinary tardiness every where, and indiea- tions of the most fatal oflieial ai)athy or weakness. The Governor of Maryland, re- siding within an easy day's ride of tlie War Offitie, did not receive a copy of that req- uisition until six days alter it was orde^'d; and the (iovernor of Pennsylvania did not receive his until ten days afterward. And it was not until the day when the IJiitish ai)peai'ed in heavy force in Chesapeake Hay (July 12, 1814) that the Secretary of War placed a copy of it in the hands of (Jeneral Winder, and then it was accom- panied by a cautious order ilirecting him, in the event of an invasion, to call for a liart or the whole (piotii required of Maryland, but to "be careful to avoid unneces- sary calls, and to ap])o!lioii the call to the exigency."' Five days afterward another order from the War Department reached him, which gave him authority to draw, in addition to the Maryland quota, two thousand men from Nirginia and five thousand iVoin Pennsylvania, and assuring him that the whole of the militia of the District of Columbia, amounting to about two thousand, were kept in a disposable state, and subject to liis orders. General Winder had comprehended the difficulties of the situation from the begin- ning. As early as the 9th of July, before he had received notice of his afipointment to the comnnmd, he wrote a letter to the Secretary of War, full of sound advice, wholesome Avarning, and sagacious predictions, but that functionary never deigned to reply to it.^ He issued orders in accordance with his own judgment alone, and with an ajiparent obliviousness to stern facts — orders which inqilieil the organization and readiness of the troops mentioned when there was not a shadow of such force in existence. The Governor of Maryland (Levin Winder), after issuing dtafls for three thousand men, foimd that scarcely so many liuiidreds could be collected; and the Governor of Pennsylvania informed the Secretary of War that, in consequence of the ilefcct of the militia laws of that commonwealth, the executive liad no power to en- force the draft. General Winder entered upon nis duties with alacrity, under the inspiration of se- ductive promises by the government; and, notwithstanding lie was soon made to feel that he was the victim of official incompetency, he was untiring in his exertions to make the defenst" of the District a certainty. He visited every part of the region to be defended, inspecting every fortification under his command, and reconnoitring every position thought to be favorable for the defense of the capital.^ He was in daily communication with the government, giving information, sounding notes of alarm, and making wise suggestions. " The door of Washington" (meaning Annapo- lis), he wrote on the 16th of July, "is wide open, and can not be shut Avith the few troops under my command." Fort Madison there Avas utterly defenseless, and too iiiihcalthfid for a garrison to occupy it. He Avarncd the government that its heavy armainuut might be easily seized by the invaders, and turned upon the town and Fort Severn Avith fatal effect.* He begged in vain for efforts to save that post, and made stirring appeals to the people to come forward for the defense of the state. Yet, not- withstanding the danger that threatened, and his great personal popularity, height- ened by good deeds on the Northern frontier. Winder Avas compelled to report on the 1st of August that he had actually in camp only one thousand regulars, and about ' The Secretary of War, as we have seen, did not believe that the British would attempt to penetrate to Washington ; and on the day when he gave this cautious order, the Satioiuil Tntelliijeneer (the government organ) said, " It is not prob- able they will be required to be embodied unless the enemy should attempt to execute his threats of invasion." ' Autograph Letter, Winder Papers ; Report of an Investigating Committee of Congress. ' It is related that n f:irmer living near Bladensburg, who having, with some of his neighbors, followed some direc- tions for deep plowing given iu a book, struck the gravel below his soil, and allowed all his manure to leach through and Ihns ruin his land, saw General Winder one day, when the British were near, with a map in his hand, inspecting that region. " He'll be whipped," said the farmer. " Why f " asked a by-stander. " Because he's going to book-flght- ing the British, as we have been book-farming, and got whipped." * Autograph Letter. I 020 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Tbo lirltlih sppcBr In Chesapeike Bay. Barney'i Flotilla. Ueneral Winder's Ualla fur Tniopa, four thousand militia (.'iirollcd, a larger proportion of them yet to be collected. Tlie jjovcrnincnt had neglected to rail for cavalry and riflemen, very important braiieheg of the service. While these feeble efforts were in operation the enemy ;ij)[>oared in strong force. On the Iflth of August the small Hritish sciuudron in the Chesn, "ake was re-enforcuil by a fleet of twenty-one vessels under Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, the senior commander on the American station. These were soon joined by another umlur Commodore Sir Charles Malcolm. These vessels bore several thousand land troops commanded by General Ross, an Irish officer, and one of Wellington's most active leaders. Washington and J$altiiuore ajipear to have been chosen objects of attack simultaneously. A part of the British naval force, under Captain Gordon, went up the Potomac, and another portion, under Sir Peter Parker, went up the Chesapuaku toward IJaltimore. At that time Commodore Barney, with a fl(»tilla of thirteen armed barges and the schooner Scorpion, with an aggregate of about five hundred men, was in the Patux- ent River. Ilis vessels had been clased out of the Chesapeake, and blockaded in St. - Leonard's Bay. Of this confineiiient jj)/^ . ^^ ^ J?y, <j^ v*^ *^''"y ^* '""' '■^'I'l'vcd by some artillery ^JjC^n^yJl^ i^^in^-C^TQn under Colonel Henry Carbory," witJi / ^r^ which he drove away the ZoeVe, the blockading frigate, when the released flotilla went up the Patuxent, first to Benedict, and then to Nottingham, that it might be within co-operating distance of both Washington and Baltimore. Seeing this, the Jiritish determined to capture or destroy it, and on the 18th of August a force of a little more than five thousand men, composed of regulars, marines, and negroes,^ went up the Patuxent, and landed at Benedict with three cannon under cover of an armed brig. Most of the other large British vessels were below, some of them aground, and all too heavy to ascend the comparatively shallow stream. Bamey, then at Nottingham,^ promptly informed the Navy Department of this movement, and of a boast of the British admiral that he would destroy the American flotilla, and dine in Washington the following Sunday. General Winder, by direction of the War Department, immediately ordered General Samuel Smith's division (the Third) of the Maryland militia into actual service. He also called upon General John •AoifUBtis, P- Van Nc88,» com- 1814. mander of the militia of the District of Columbia, for X// //7/% // 7 /y/jL''ty\^ two brigades, to be encamj)ed //// ^' t-^ C/ ' C^ f^^ near Alexandria ; and he sent a circular letter*" to all b Ancmst ID the brigadiers of the Maryland militia, asking for volunteers to the atnount of one half of their respective commands. By his orders, his adjutant general, Ilite, issued a stirring aj)peal to the citizens to come forward, " without regard to sacri- fices and privations," in defense of the national capital. Winder also asked General Strieker, of Baltimore, to send to Wasliington his volunteer regiments of infantry and his rifle battalion. These calls for volunteers were approved by the Secretary of War, who enjoined Winder so to word the requisition as " to guard against interfer- ing with the legal draft."* ' Henry Carbery was n captain in the American Navy In 1T92, and reslprncd In 1704. He entered the military serv- ice In Maryland In the spring of 1813 as colonel. lie died on the 20th of May, 1822. » These "dieciplined negroes" hod been forced by threats, and bribed by promises of freedom, to enter the Britisli service. 3 Bamey had been very active with his flotilla in opposinfj the maranding expeditions of the British. On the Mb of July he wrote from Nottingham to a friend, sayiuR, " Six times In one month I have beat the enemy, always increajlD? In their force, so that I believe they are tired of me. They now lie at the mouth of the Patuxent."— Autograph Letter, * Autograph Letter, Winder Papers. OF THE WAK OF 181t. 831 I WIndtr'i C«1U fur Trnopi. OatherlngofTriMjpi. ' )ie BritUb In the Pttuxent. OMtraetlon of Ilarnajp'i Flotilla. for aof ive hitvico, addinf?,"Tho third brigade ia now under the pay of the Un.tod States, in it« Borvicc, and Huiijoct to tiic Ai*- ' August 20. The veteran patriot, General Smith, promptly reHponded to the call of tlie goveni- meiit. He at onee isHued a diviHion order," in which he j^avo notice of the • Ainru"t i», invasion, and directed the whole of General Staimbury's hrifjade (the ""''• ^^ Third) to be held in readinenK tides of War."' Tliat corps General Smith declared to bo " the finest set of men lio ever saw."* They paraded at foiir o'clock the same day, and on the following' morn- ing General Staimbury' lell lialtiiuoro for Washington with tiiirteen hundred of hia corps. Another force, un- der Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Sterett, consisting of the Fifth Regiment of Baltimore Volunteers, Major Pinkiiey's* ritlo battalion, and tho artil- lery com])anies of Cap- tains JMyers and Magru- (ler, left Baltimore on tho evening of the 20th, and joined Rtansbury on the evening of the 2nd. With wise precaution. General Smith ordered'' tho eleventh brigade and Colonel Moore's cavalry to hold tliemselves in readiness to march to Baltimore at a moment's warning, for it seemed probable that the enemy would strike at both cities simultaneously. They were ordered to Baltimore on the 23d. The British in the mean time had moved up tho Patuxont from Benedict, the land troops being accompanied by a flotilla of launches and barges that kept ai)reast of thcni. The naval forces were under the command of the notorious marauder, Cock- burn. Tliey reached Lower Marlborough on the 21st, when Barney's flotilla, then in charge of Lieutenant Frazier and a sufficient number of men to destroy it if neces- sary, moved up to Pig Point, where some of the vessels grounded in the shallow wa- ter. Barney hau landed with four hundred seamen and pushed on toward Winder's head-quarters, then at the Wood Yard, on the road between I '^jjper Marlborough and Washington, and twelve miles from tho latter, where he had established a slightly- intrenched camp. Frazier was instructed to destroy tho flotilla at Pig Point rather than allow it to fall into the hands of the foe. This order was obeyed, and the flotil- la was blown up on the morning \*" he 22d, when the enemy moved up from Notting- ham in forty barges, and comir ' ,'td firing u])on it with cannon and rockets.* They found only the ruins of Baraf -^ vessels at Pig Point. Their land force pressed for- ward to Upper Marlborough, -.vhence a road led directly to Washington City, and there encamped, leaving Cockburn and the British fiotilla at Pig Point. Now let us see what forces were at the disposal of General Winder for the defense of Washington- There were two small brigades of District troops. One of these comprised the militia and volunteers of Washington and Georgetown, arranged in two regiments under Colonels Magruder and Brent, and was commanded by General Walter Smith, of Georgetown. Attached to tho brigade were two companies of light ' General Smith's MS. Order-book. I am Indebted to the kind courtesy of Qencrnl .lohn Spoar Smith, of Baltimore, HOD of General Samnel Smith, and hie aid-de-camp in 1814, for the use of hla father's military papers of this period. ' Autograph Letter to General Winder. ' Tobias E. Stansbnry lived to the great age of ninety-three years. He was an activa public man f^om the commence- ment of the Revolution almost to the time of his death, which occurred in Baltimore County, Maryland, on the 26th of October, 1849. He was repeatedly a member of the Maryland Legislature, and was Speaker of its Honse of Delegates. He always enjoyed the perfect confidence of his fellow-citizens. • See sketch of William Finkney on page 148. * Barney's autograph Letter to the lavestigating Committee, October 30, 1814. 1^ I' II > I *i 922 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Forces gathered for the Defense of Washiugtoii and Baltimore. ' * : !■« i 1 • i 1 1 artillery, commanded respectively by Ma- jor George Peter, of the regular army, and Captain Benjamin Burch, a soldier of the lievolution. There were also two rifle companies under Captains Doughty and Stull. This brigade numbered, on the morning of the 2l8t of August, one tliousand and seventy men. The second bri- gade was commanded by General Robert Young, and numbered live Iiundred mon. It comprised a company of artillery led by Captain Marsteller. It was chiefly em- ployed in defending the approaches to I'^ort Wusiiington about twelve miles below the capital. Brigadier Gen- ral West, of I'rince George's County, Lad troops on the w/ ———— - • look-out toward the Potomac. The troops from lialtimore comprised a greater portion of the brigade of General Stansbury, formed in tAvo regiments under Lieutenant Colonels Kagan and Scliiitz thirteen hundred and fifty in number; and the Fifth Regiment, under Colojiel Stci- ett, with ariillery and riflemen already mentioned, the latter under the celebrated William Pinkney. The whole force from Baltimore Avas about two thousand two hundred, commanded by General Stansbury as chief. Besides these there were vari- ous detachments of Maryland militia, under the respective command of Colonels W. D. Beall (of the Revolution) and He id. Lieutenant Colonel Kramer, and "Majors Waring and Maynard — in all less than twelve hundred. There was also a regi- ment of Virginia mililia under Colonel George Mi- nor, six hundred strong, with one Iiundred cavalry. The regular army cf)ntribiite(l three hundred men from the Twelfth, Thirty-sixth, and Thirty-eighth Regiments, under Lieutenant Colonel William Scott. To these must be added the sailors of Barney's flotilla, four hundred, and one hundred and twenty marines from the nnw yard at Washington, furnished with two 1 8-])oiiml ers and tiiree Impounders. There were also various small companies of volunteer cav- alry from tlie district, Maryland, and Vir- ginia, under Lieutenant Colonel Tilghmun, and Maiors O. II. Williams and Charles Ster- ett, three Iiundred in number, and a squad- ron of United States dragoons commanded by Major Laval. Tlie whole force was about seven tliousand strong, of .vhom nim hundred were enlisted men. The cavaliy did not exceed four hundred in miinber. The little army had twenty-six pieces of cannon, of which twenty were only O-pouiid- ei-3. This force, if concentrated, would have been cumpotent to roll back the inva- sion had' the commanding oflicer been untrammeled by the interference of the Presi- dent and his Cabinet. Winders v igilanee was sleepless after the apjiearance of the invaders in th-j P.i- tuxent. He was actively employed with the cavalry in reconnoitring; and on lln morning of the 22d lie ordered Lie.itcnant Colonel Scott's command, Laval's cavalry. Major Peter's artillery, and the rifle company of Stull, and another under Cai»taiii Davidson, acting as riflemon, with 8o\'tral tieid-j.ieces, numbering about eight hiuidied men, to proceed immediately to Nottingham, where the onomy had encamped during the night just passed, and reconnoitre and liarasp (hem. The remainder of WiiuU'i's force in hand was directed to follow iu their supp«>rt. The general himself, accompa- OF THE WAR OF 1812. 923 The British move ou Waabla^hn. AlBTnlnr Note Secretary Honroe. Remnval of the Pnblic Records, jz:^^ .•11. Tlie pccond hri- 1 five liuiulrc'd inen, It was cliicfly oiii- ;0 Fort, Wasliingtoii, tal. Brigadier Gen- y, Lad troops on the e brigade of General ! Ragan and Sebutz, ,, under Ccjloiiel Stei- under tlie celebrated it two tbousand two these there wore vaii- ilar army contributcri Twelfth, Thirty-sixtli. ts, under Lieutenant these must be uddcil ], four hundred, ami rines from the navy with two 18-])oun(l- strong, of -vhom niii' hundred in number, ty were only C-pound- to roll bacik the invn- erferenco of the Presi- le invaders in the P;i- moitring ; and on tlu' nand, La^'al's cavalry, lother under Captain g about eight liundnnl had encamped during emainder ofWiiidor's -val himself, accompa- nied by his liaofCed stjdt Proceeded in advance of the troops, and soon discovered the enemy movieg ap the rrver. He was convinced that an encounter with that over- whelming force would fce perilous, and he ordered Scott and Peter to fall back to the Wood Yard and vait for him. The main body of the trocps, under General W. Smith, had arrived m the mean time within two miles of the advr.nce; and the whole American foree, th« within five miles of the invaders, including Barney's men and marines from the Wanffiingt -fi Navy Yard, numbered about twenty-five hundred, fair- iv iriiUHl with musket* an., rilles, and five pieces of heavy artillery. )n arriviitc at the junction of the roads leading respectively to Marlborough and ;i Wood Yard,GeuefnB Ross, who led the British column in person, turned into the la; r with the seeming intention of pushing on toward Washington. He was in- duced to do so by Cockburn, who thirsted for plunder, and who argued that the pres- isj-e which the British ^Vould accpjire by the capture of the 'netropalis of the re])ublic Tv'-nld be of immense advantage to the cause, and that no doubt the government, to ■ city, would make a liberal oifer of money, a circumstance that would greatly 111, 11" the marauder's amount of prize-money. After proceeding a short distance, Ross hanged his course and j)roceeded toward Marlborough. Vv^inder deemed it pru- dent to avoid an encounter, an<? in the afternoon he retreated toward the capital, and encan-Med at a place called Long Old Battalion Fields, about eight miles from the city, where he might be within easy striking distance of Bladensburg, the bridges over the East Branch of the Potomac, and the road leading to Fort Washington.' Colonel James Monroe, the Secretary of State, who had been several days with Winder reconnoitring the enemy, and watching all military movements, believed that Washington was in great peril, for he well knew the weakness of the American forTS. While Ross was yet advancing, and before he retraced his steps and went toward Marlborough, Monroe sent the following dispatch to the President : "The enemy are advanced six miles on the road to the Wood Y'"ard, and our troops are retiring. Our troops were on tlie march to meet them, but in too small a body to engage. General Winder proposes to retire till he can collect them in a body. The enemy are in full march to Washington. Have the materials prejiared to de- stroy the bridges. J. Monroe. "P.S. — You had better remove the records."^ This message produced the wildest excitement in the national capital, tiieu a strag- ijling town of between eiglit and nine thousand inhabitants, and caused a sudden and confused exodus of all the timid and helpless ones who were able to leave. Winder's situation was an unenviable one. With a comparatively strong foe on liis front, ready to fall upon him or the capital he was expected to dcll'iid, he had only aboiit twenty-five hundred armed and effective men in camp, and many of these iiaJ been from their homes only three or four days. They Avere undisciplined and untried, and surrounded and influenced by a crowd of excited civilians, to wliose officious but well-intended information and advice" the general was compelled to listen. In addition to this intrusion and interference of common men, he was einbar- ' S<p Map nil page 920. ' Mr. S. Pleueanton, then eniployt.1 In the office of the Secretary of State, made immedln.te arranijcmenlo for the re- raoval of thj booka snti pr.per-i of the State Department. Ho had lluen hajjs made In Vi'hlch tlii'y were placed, and tlicii conveyed In cnrt3 a'jroBB the Chain Bridge, ovi , 'he Potomac, two miles above Georgetown, to the grist-mill of Srtsnr Patterson, lu Virgin.a. Consideung them iniBafe there, Irtr. Plea.wnton had them conveyed to Leesburp, iliirty- live miles from Wnshington, where they were locked up in an iinoccupied hnnse, and the keys ^Iven to the Kcv, Mr. Litflejohn, who had been one of the collectors oftlic intern.il rcvenne. Thus the prccions docnmciitc of the Revola- :ioniiry period uid other valuable papern rum in the Ofllce of the Rolls at Wnshineton City wore saved fj i in de.sl ruction. -Antnjrnph Letter of S. Pleasanton to (Jeneral Winder, August 7, 1S48. Mr. I'leasanton, in his account of tills trans- action, 5ayR : " Whilj engaged in the pnss.ige-wny of the buildings with tlie papers, tlio nepartment of State being on due side, and the War Department on the other side of the passage, General Arnistron;;, then Secretary of War, on his »sy to his own room, stopped a short time, and observed to me that he thonght we were under unnecessary alarm, as V did not think the lirltish were serious in their imenJoaa of coming to Waehlugton." To this belief the Secretary odlierud until tbej' were iu fiili mcrcli upon the capital. I«:| ) 1 ■;| i i ■ 1 f| 924 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Prcparattone for Battle. DlspoBitlon of Troops. Battle-Hue formed near Bladensburg. rassed by the presence and snggestions of the President and his Cabinet ministers the most of them utterly ignorant of military affairs. Bettor would it have been for Winder and the country if these civilians, from the President down, had kept awav from the camp and the field, and prudently j)reServed silence. The fatigued little army at Long Old Fields had reposed but a short time when, at two o'clock in the morning (August 23), a timid sentinel gave a false alarm, and tliey were summoned to their feet in battle order. They Avere soon dismissed, and slept on their arms until dawn. At sunrise they were ordered to strike their tents, load the baggage wagons, and have every thing in readiness to move within an hour. When every thing was prepared for marching they Avere reviewed by President ^lacl- ison. In the mean time Winder had ascertained from scouts that the British Avero resting quietly in their camp at Upper Marlborough, and lie resolved to concentrate all the troops within his reach at some point between his present camp and that of the enemy. He accordingly sent orders to General Stansbury, at Bladensburg, to march with his own and Lieutenant Colonel Sterett's troops, and take position in the road within seven miles of Marlborough. The same order was sent to Lieutenant Colonel Beall, supposed to be then approaching with his corps from Annapolis. A detachment from General Walter Smith's brigade, under Major Peter, composed of the same companies as the detachment sent forward the day before, was ordered to move from camp in the same direction and for the same purj)ost — to approach as near the enemy as possible without incurring too much risk, and annoy him whetlier in motion or at rest. General Winder himself, accompanied by a troop of Laval's cavalry, started for Bladensbnrg at noon for the purpose of holding a conference with General Stansbury. When within four or five miles of that place, he was overtaken by Major M'Kenney with intelligence that Major Peter had met and skirmished with the vanguard of the advancing enemy, two or three miles from Marlborough, on tlio road toward the Wood Yard, had been driven back toward the Old Fields, and that General Smith had sent off the baggage toward Washington across the Eastern Bran(!h, and had drawn up his own troops and Banuy's seamen in battle order to await an attack from the foe. Winder 'mraediately sent orders to Stansbury, now- moving forward, to fall back toward Bladensburg, take the best position possible witli his own and Sterett's troops in front of that village, and resist the enemy if attaciied. if driven, lie was to re- treat toward the cap- ital. He then h; sten- ed bad. to the Old Fields, where he found Smith and Barney well posted. Stansbury's force took ])osition in an orchard (near a mill yet standing near Bla- densburg) on a gentle eminence, and there, behind a slight breast- work, he placed si.x heavy guns in position to command the pass into the town and the bridge sonthwestward of it. Al>out one hun- dred yards in the rear Ol.l> MILL UUMi lll.AI>l'..'<IHnilllU IM ISlil.' > Thin in a sketch of the old mill made near the close of ISOl. Bladensburg uud the bridge are seen In the dietauce. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 928 formed near Bludeiwburg. Advance of the British. Retreat of the Americans. Winder invites the Government to a Council. Uge arc seen In the dlstauce. of this position, in the small dwelling on Tourneclifte's farm, the surgeons of the com- mand were placed, to receive and take care of tlie wounded soldiers. ' General Ross rested at Upper Marlborough until after noon of the 23d, when, being joined by Cockburn and his seamen and marines, he moved fonvard at two o'clock, and, as we have observed, encountered and drove back Major Peter and his command. He then pressed steadily on unmolested to the junction of the roads leading respect- ively to Washington City and the Alexand.-ia Ferry, on the Potomac River, not far above Fort Washington. There they halted. The Americans were puzzled. Some believed that an attack on Fort Washington in the rear, simultaneously with an as- sault by the British fleet in front, was contemplated ; but more, and among these General Winder and Colonel Monroe, believed the national capital to be the prize sought to bo won. Impressed with this conviction. Winder issued orders toward sunset for the troops to retire across the Eastern Branch Bridge and take position on the borders of the city, where greater facility would be afforded for assisting General Young, who was covering Fort Wasliington with a small force, and for drawing to himself Stansbury and Sterett if the enemy should advance rapidly upon tlie capital. Late at night the troops, greatly wearied and dispirited, encamped within the limits of the city. " Thus," said General Smith, " terminated the four days of service of the troops of this District. They had been under arms, with but little intermission, the whole of the time, both night and day ; had traveled, during their different marches in advance and retreat, a considerable tract of country, exposed to the burning heat of a sultry sun by day, and many of them to the cold dews of the night, uncover- ed. They had in this period drawn but two rations, the requisition therefor in the Srst instance heing but partially con.pliod with, and it being afterward almost ini- poesib'c to procure the means of transportation, the wagons employed by our quar- tiimaster for that purpose being constantly im])ressed by the government agents for the purpose of removing the public records when the enemy's approach was known, and some of them thus seized while proceeding to take in provisions lor the army." '.lie night of the 23d of August was marked by great excitement in the National ( iqiital. The President and his Cabinet indulged in no slumbers, for Ross, the invad- er, was bivouacked at Mclw ood, near the Long Old Fields, about ten miles from the city, and Winder's troops, worn down and ''spirited, were fugitives before him. La- val's horsemen were exhausted, and Stansbury's troops at Bladcnsburg were too wearied with long marching to do miu'h fighting without some repose. What the morning would reveal no one could tell, and the daik hours were passed in great anxiety by the troops and people. The Secretary of State was in his saddle half the night; and .it midnight he had visited the hcad-quaiters of Stansbury, acquaint- ed him with the relative [)OHitions of Winder and Ross, and advised him to fall in the rear of the latter. Fortunately the military leader did not follow the advice of the eivilian. Winder's head-quarters were at Combs's, near the Eastern Branch Bridge, and at (lawn the President and several of his Cabinet minister were there." Before tlieir irrival, General Winder (who was greatly fatigued' in body and mind, and had re- i^eived a severe injury from a fall during the night) had sent a note to the Secretary if War, expressing a desire to have the counsel of that officer and of the government. Tills was a mistake. lie had had too miu'h of (hat bane to success already, and it was now administered too libei-ally for the good ri>putation of liimself and his coun- try. These government officera were so officious as well as fickle — fickle, because im- l>nl,m>, and not judgment, guided them— that the general's thoughts and plans were 1 1 have heforo mi> a vci v intcrcstlnc narrative in manuscript of the events of the Iiattle, which came under thp ob- serration of Dr. 8am\u:l B. Martin, cue of the surpeons stationed at Tminici-llffe's honcc, whnro he was made a prisoner at tlie doie of the battle. a Secretarie* of War, Navy, and Treasury, and the Attorney Genor»I. m iWB PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK WfllMMix iianflMtaiilnirg. The Field of Action. The Secretary of War and General Winder. »teffer<i^ wifli akmwmment when one mind sliould control all movements, a id that 4KMt4 be frtA t^ acKaHMnmrneled and unbiased.^ WkMe yithli4¥ •wi "(fe government were in council, Ross moved toward Bladcns- burg. //avarw .'/ ' -■ first br^ ight intelligence of the fact to head-quarters. They were soon followc y an <xpres8 from Stansbury, giving positive information tliat the British weif .arching in tlmt direction, T^ith the view, no doubt, of crushing the little force of Baltii/iorcans lo Bladonsbin-L'^ Mill. \Tp to that moment the coun. cil believed that Ross won in . ve on Fort \V isliington, or on the city .by the very bridge near which they were in consultation. This delusive idea now vanished, anil government, general, and troops all moved off toward the point of danger. Winder ha/1 now under his command at Washington and Bladensburg five thousand oni hundred effective men. The force of f lie enemy was about the same. It was ten o'clock in the morning wlien Winder ordered General W. Smith, with the whole of his troops, to hasten tOAvard Bladensburg. Barney was soon afterwanl ordered to move with his five hundred men, and the Secretary of State, who had seen some military service in the Revolution, was requested by the President and General Winder to hasten to Stansbury and assist him in properly posting his troops, Mr. Monroe was immediately followed by General Winder and his staff. The Secrctaiv of War then followed; and lastly the President and Attorney General, accompanied by some friends, all on horseback, rode on toward the expected theatre of battle.- Stansbury seems not to have been well pleased with the aid of the Secretary of State for he afterward intimated that " somebody," without consulting him, cluingecl and deranged his order of battle. That "somebody" wan Colonel Monroe, as we shall prpsontly observe. ' ' li< / i/rt fur n moment take a glance at the theatre on wliieli the opposing forces were soon to meet litm la fiipo, |f, wfis III'' Hhines and plain ariMiiwI lihideiisl/uig, then a little straggling village at the |l|i|j/| ((rHIIinll-nrMCl navigation on I he KimtUf/i Brnneh of the Potomac, up which for four rnili's vessels itl' lummi elnss might ride. Tho vil l^ge is about six miles from Washington by the old post-road fiu/ii Ihdl city to Bal- iAtlioTi'. Another road from Georgetown joined the Washington Road at ((// (je(i(e angle a few yards from the bridge less than a hundred feet long, that spanned the stream at Bladensburg. Above the bridge the creek was every where fordable. In the triangular field formed by the two roads just mentioned, and near the mill, Generjil Stansbury's command was posted on the morning of the 24th. On tlie hmw of a little eminence in that field, three hundred and fifty yards from the Blinlensbr.ra Bridge, between a large barn^ and the Washington Road, a barbette earth-work had been thrown up for the use of heavy cannon. Behind this work were tlic arli'lerv companies from Baltimore, under Captains Myers and Magruder, one hundred and fifty strong, with six 6-pounders. These were too small for the high embankment, and embrasures were cut so that they might command the bridge and both roads. Major Pinkney's riflemen were on the right of the battery, near the junction of the < It Appears from contcmporaneons testimony that, at the interview at Winder's head-qnnrtcrs that mominp, it was resolved by the President to give the supreme control of military nffiiirs to the Secretary of War, lint that in a short time ihe President changed his mind, who toJd the Secretary that "the military functionaries should he. left to the dis- charge of their own duties on their own rcsponsibtlitieH.'' See General Armstrong's account of the matter in his SDlim (ff Ihe War of ist2. The now (1867) venernble .Jacob Barker, of New Orleans, who was at the seat of government at this time, in an interesting narrative of these events, says : " The President left Washington at about 9 A.M. [August ^41, in great haate, to recall General Armstrong, who had preceded hini ahont an hour witli the President's order to saperwde General Winder in the defense of the capital, and reaching the ground a few minutes before the flght began, said lo General Armstrong, ' It is too late to make any change. Come with me, and leave the defense with the military au- thorities, where it lielongs." "—Letter to Mr. Carrol', February 8, 1848, in reply to one from that gentleman in the New York //croW, December 1, 1847. General Armstrong was offended, and, as he eays In his narrative, "now became, of courpc, a more spectator of the combat." a Richard Rush, then Attorney General, says tliat the President informed him, when they were riding ont toward Bladensburg. that one motive that caused his going to the Held was to be on hand to give the requisite sanctiou to the claims to superior command of (Jeneral .Armstmug. ' This barn, on the Georgetown Road, was yet standing In 18G1, A small drawing of it is seen In the corner of the ttsiller section of the map on page 9129, OF THE WAR OF 1812. 927 •War and General Wluder. ovcments, a id that ed toward Blailcns- lad-qiiarters. Tluy ve information that lubt, of crushing tlif it inomei\t the co\in- :,hc city .by the very a now vanished, ami of danger. Winder y five thousand one »ame. icral W. Smith, witli r was soon afterward t" State, who had seen 'resident and General ting his troops. Mr. staff. Tlie Secretary Kcneral, accompanied ed theatre of hattle.- he Secretary of State, ng him, cliaugcd and I Monroe, as we shall 1 opposing forces wen rl Uhideiislmrg, thena n till" KiiHli'ilt MniiKli niinlit ride. The vil rnilil lli/it ('|t|rtoBal- Iton Road al an miili ong, that spanned the |y wiiere fordahle. lied, and near tin* mill, ic '24th. On the hrow IVom the Bladeiisbr.rg rhette earth-work had ,;rk were the arti'lery |der, one hundred and die liitrh embankment, ■idge and both roads. ar the junction of the |l-qnnrt^eie that momlnp, it wan Inry of Wnr, hnt that In n ftwrt liarlcs phouUl he left to the dif- [mnt of the matter ill his .V»(i«« T the seat of (rovertiinent ntilils |atabout9A.M.[Angnsf!41,in I Prosiflent's order to Hupcrwde Iheforc the flpht heRnn, fwl 'o 1 defence with the military nn- |)m that pentleman in the Now Vsuarrallvc," now became, or m they wero riding ont toward Ivc the requisite aanctlon to the r It l8 seen In the corner ottta Arrangements for Battle near niadensbiiri;. lUli IIUIDOK AT ULAUKNHUCUU IN 1$G1.> roads, and concealed by tlie shrubbery on the low ground near the river. Two com- panies of militia, un- der Captains Ducker and Gorsuch, acting as riflemen, were station- ed in the ronr of the left of the battery, near the barn and the Georgetown Road. About fifty yards in the rear of Pinkiiey's riilemen was Sterett's Fifth Regiment of Baltimore Volunteers, while the regiments of Ragan and Schutz were drawn uj) en eche- lon,'^ their right rest- ing on the left of Ducker's and Gorsuch's companies, and commanding the George- •own Road. The cavalry, about three hundred and eighty in all, were placed some- what in the rear, on the extreme left, and seem not to have taken any part in the bat- tle that ensued. This, all things considered, seems to have been a judicious arrangement ; but Colo- nel Monroe, without consulting General Stansbury, and in face of the enemy, then on the other side of the Eastern Branch, proceeded to change it, by moving the Balti- more reg nts of Sterett, Ragan, and Schutz a quarter of a mile in the rear of the artillery una riflemen, their right resting on the Washington Road. This formed a second line in full view of the enemy, within reac' of his Congreve ro(!kets, en- tirely uncovered, and so far from the first line ac not to be able to give it immedi- ate support in case of an attack. This was a blunder that proved disastrous, but it was made too late to be corrected, the enemy Avas so near. General Winder in the mean time had arrived on the field, and posted a third and rear line on the crown of the hills, near the residence of the late John C Rives, proprietor of the Washington Globe, about a mile from the Bladens- burg Bridge. This line embraced a reg- iment of Maryland militia, under Colonel BEBIDENOG or TBE LATK JOHN O. R1VK8.' ' This view Is ft-om the right hank of the Eastern Branch, on the road leading to Washington. ' See note 4, page 652. " ThiB mnnnlon stands between the Baltimore and Washington Railway and the turnpike lending from Washlnpton In Bladensburg. It 1b abont four ni'!"9 from the national capital. Mr. Rives, who died there on Sunday, the inth of April, 1864, at the age of eiity-nine j'.>ar«, was one of the foiindern of the Washington Globe, the official ofu'sn of Prcsl- dcntJackson. His partner in the cstablishmeut of that paper, Mr. Blair, survives hiin. Mr. Blair was thf editor of the (Hobf, and Mr. Kiver v. as the business manager. The latter was the publisher of the Mnbf at the time of his death. H« ». 1 a uoble and generous citizen. For a long time duriii(T the great Civil War he gave from his private purse nbout SliXK) 1. month to the famillea of the volunteer soldiers It tb< District of Columble. M^^ . K.^'-r' .^■'-'■'^\-r-<f- i Beall, which liad just arrived from Annapolis, and was posted on the extreme riglit- Barney's flotilla-men, who formed the centre on the Washington Road, with two 18 pounders jjlanted in the highway a few yards from the site of llives's barn, a portion of the seamen acting as artillerists ; and Colonel Magruder's District militia, rejftilai'H under Lieutenant Colonel Scott, and Peter's battery, who formed the left. About five hundred yards in front of this position the road descends into a gentle ravine, which was then, as now, crossed by a small bridge (Tournecliffe's), on the north of which it widens into a little grassy level, and formed the dueling-grouud where De- DL'ELIMa-UUUUNI) NEAIi lll.AUEMHUritU.' catur and others lost their lives. Overlooking it, about one hundred and fifty yards from the road, is an abrupt blufi", on which the companies of Captains StuU and Da- vidson were posted in position to com- ^y ^ \^ I '/7 mand that high- ^^^ ~P^^^^^^^-^^ <=^<^ ^^.^C^^-'Z^C^-'O'i^^^ way . L i e u t e n- ant Colonel Scott, with his regulars. Colonel Brent, with the Second Regiment of General Smith's bri- gade, and Major Waring, with the battalion of Maryland militia, were posted in the tear of Major I'eter's battery. Magrudcr was immediately on the left of Barney's men, his right resting on the Washington Road ; and Colonel Kramer, with a small detachment, was thrown forward of Colonel Beall. Such was the disposition of Winder's little army when, at noon, the enemy were seen descending the hills beyond Bladensburg, and pressing on toward the bridge. At half past twelve they were in the town, and came within range of the heavy guns . ' This Is a view of Toumccliffo's Bridge and the Dnelinft-ground from the north side of the road from Wnshiiiiton to niiuleushurg. The place where Decatur and Barron fouKht was on the low ground by the creek, eeeu immediaiely over the two figures in the picture, nearest the left of it. These officers fought with pistols on the 22d of Miinli, 1S'20, when Dccatnr was mortally wsnndcd, and died lu the arms of his distracted wife at Kaloranin, near Georgetown, tlic same night, at the early age of fo.-ty years. The even'. Is olsewhere mentioned in this volume. Here, also, a duel was fought by Jonathan Cilley, of Maine, and W. J. Graves, of Kentucky (both members of Congress), on the 24th of Fcbra- ary, 183S. They fought with rifles at eighty yards' distance. Cilley was mortally wouuded at the third flre. The hlglicr ground seen toward the right of the picture is the place where Captains Davidson and Stnll were posted. Other duels have been fought on this ground. The first was In 1814, when one of the parties (Edward Hopkins) wu killed. The next was in ISISI, by A. T. Mason and .lohn M'Carty. Mason was killed. Decatur and Barron foughtthcrc the next year. In 1822, Midshipman Locke, and Gibson, Chief Clerk of the Troafcury Department, fought there. Olbsoii i«as shot. Key and Sherborn fought there in 18.18, when Key was killed. The duel of Graves aad CUIey, as wc hnvc eeen, was in 1838. There was a duel there in 1848, when a lawyer named Joues killod Dr. Johnson. Hoole and Dallaj exchanged shots there in 1860 or 1861. OF THE WAU OF 18 12. 029 ng-groind nt Blftdounburg. the extreme right; lload, with two 18 /es's harn, a portion rict militia, regulai-s ccl the left. Al)Oul tito a gentle vaviiit', j's), on the north of g-grovmd where Do- ,-«^ Battle-nroiiiiil nt RlnilvDHburi;. andred and fifty ymds Captains Stull auJ Da- i^^^V^' C-^^Z-'v-^ X General Smith's hri- itia, were posted in the oil the left of Barney's Kramer, with a small noon, the enemy were Ion toward the bridge. Mige of the heavy guns L of the road from WnshlMt™ I by the creek, eeen immcdiaiels Ltolsonthe22dofMnr.h,b», Valoran.n.nearQeorKClowMh fvolume. Here, also ttducUn^^ lcoiiKreBe),onthe5!4thorFehni- lied at the third fire. TheUighcr latnll were posted. \ parties (Edward Hopkins) w peCur and Barron foughUhojc tpartn-cnt, fought there, (to™ |f Graves uadClUey, as rf MAS (D K of jbfia Pf]ITOH ARMY* fra^f BEMCDICT TO BLApCNS^{« ^BATTLE GROW W0 AT 1I,A0EMSPW!??G' of the first American line.' The British commenced hurling rockets at the exposed Americans, and attempted to tlirow a heavy force across the bridge, but were driven baek by their antagonists' cannon, and forced to taivc shelter in the village and be- hind Lowndes's Hill, in the rear of it.^ Again, after due preparation, they advanced in (lonble-quick time; and, when the bridge was crowded Avitli them, tlie artillery of ' Sec Note on page 943. ' Ross made the house of Mr. Lowudes his head-quarters on that day. 3N ^'^9lmM ^s ^M 1- i / / ■ i t ' 1 m I T 1 ii t 930 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle iieiir HInileiiBbiirg. Gallant aud cflTcctivo Stuiid by Coinmodoro Ilurney. "Winder's first and second lines opened upon tliem with terrible effect, sweeping down a whole coni))any. The concealed ritlenu'ii, under l*i»>kney, also poured deadly vol- leys into their exposed ranks ; hut the British, continually rc-enlorced, pusheil gul- lantly forward, some over the bridge, and some fording the stream above it, and I'lH so heavily upon the first and unsupported line of the Americans that it was com- ))elled to fall back upon the second. A company, whose commander is minaimd in the reports of the battle, were so panic-stricken tliat they fled after the first fire, leav- ing their guns to fall into the liands of the enemy. The first British brigade were now over the stream, and, elated by their success, did not wait for the second. They threw aAvay their knapsacks and haversacks, aiul pushed up the hill to attack the American second line in the face of an annoying tire from Captain Burch's artillery. They weakened their force by stretching out so as to form a front equal to that of their antagonists. It was a blunder which Windei' (piickly j)erceived and took advantage of. He Avas then at the head of Sterett's rc;;- iment. With this and some of Stanobury's militia, who behaved gallantly, ho not only checked the enemy's advance, but, at the point of the bayonet, pressed their at- tenuated line so strongly that it fell back to the thickets on the brink of the vivor. near the bridge, where it nuiintained its position most obstinately until re-enfoicwl by the second brigade. Thus strengthened, it again pressed forward, and soon turiK'd the left flank of the Americans, and at the same time sent a flight of hissing rockets over and very near the centre and right of Stansbury's line. The frightened rei,'i- ments of Schutz and Kagan broke, and fled in the wildest confusion. Winder tried to rally them, but in vain. Sterett's corps wounded, and General Ross had his horse sliot under him. maintained their ground gallantly until the enemy had gained both their flanks, when Winder ordered them and the sup- porting artillery to retire up the liiil. They, too, became alarmed, and the re- treat, covered by riflemen, was soon a disorderly flight. The first and second Hnc of the Amer- icans having been dispersed, the Britisii. flushed with success, pushed forward to attack the third. Peter's artillery an- noyed, but did not check them ; and the left, under the gallant Colonel Thornton, soon confronted Barney, in the centre, who maintained his position like a genu- ine hero, as he was. Ilin 18-poundors en- filaded the Washington Road, and with them he swept the highway with such terrible efl'i-ct that the enemy filed oti' into a field, and attem])ted to turn Bar- ney's right flank. There they were met by three 1 2-pounders and marines, under Captains Miller and Sevier, and were badly cut u]>. They were driven baek to the ravine already mentioned as tlie dueling-ground, leaving several of their wounded oflieers in the hands of tlio Americans. Colonel Thornton, who brave- ly led the attacking colunm,was severely OF THE WAR OF 1812. 931 (1 by Commodore Barney. ct, swccpiti;^ ilown poured doiidly vol- Ibrccd, piishi'd <j;al- u abovo it, ami till H that it V.-M cdin- [kIlt is uiniiiiiH'(l ill sr the first liie, leav- ed by their success, iiid haversacks, iuul of an annoying; tiro stretching out so as inder whidi Wiiukr lead of Stcrett's reg- ed gallantly, he not net, pressed their at- e brink of the river, ely until re-enforccd ard, and soon turned ;ht of hissing rockcU The frightened rogi- ision. AV inder tried vain. Stcrett's corps round gallantly until led both their flanks, red them and the suii- o retire up the hill, alarmed, and the re- riflemen, was soon a loud line of the Amor- dispersed, the Britisli, ss, pushed forward to Peter's artillery an- check them ; and t'lo ;mt Colonel Thornton, iirney, in the ccntiv, . position like a genu- irnlS-poundcrscn- vton Road, and with "highway with suoli „ the enemy filed oft' :temi>ted to turn Bar- There they were met rs and marines, under ,nd Sevier, and were lioy were driven haik ady mentioned as tlu' [iving several of tluii in the hands of tli>' ■1 Thornton, who hravi- column, was severely Carney wounded, mude Prisoner, and paroled. Blcigraphical Sketch of Uarnejr. VIEW AT U.VBNEV'b Bl'Bl.NO The flight of Stansbury's troops left Harney utisujjported ill that direction, while a lieavy column was hurled against J}eall and his militia, on the right, with such force as to disperse them. Tiie British light troops soon gained position on each flank, and Barney himself was severely wounded near a living fountain of water on the estate of the late Mr. liivc's, which is still known as Barney's Spring.' When it became evident that Minor's Vir- ginia troops could not arrive in time to aid the gallant flotilla- men, who were obstinately main- taining their position against fearful odds, and tliM farther re- sistance would be i.-^eless. Win- der ordered a general retreat. The commodore, too severely hurt to be moved, became a pris- oner of w\ar,2 but was immediate- ly paroled by General Ross, and sent to Bladensburg after Ins wound was dressed by a British surgeon.^ Tiiere he was joined by his wife and son, and his own surgeon, and on the 27th was conveyed to his farm at Elkridge, in Maryland. The great body of the Americans Avho were not dis- 1 The picture is n view at "Barucy's Spring" wlien I viBltcd and eltctctied it in Decenibcr, 180(1. It is n little fiontli of the road leading between Wnsliington and Bladensburg, and about two hundred yards southwest from the mansion of the lute 5Ir. Rives. Barney's battery was in the road near by ; and the stumps of two cedar-trees, a short distance from the site of the battery, indicate the spot where the commodore's horse, which was shot under him, was buried. 2 Joshua Barney was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on the fith of July, 17.59. He went to sea when a small boy, and at the age of fourteen years was second mate of a vessel, and at sixteen was commander. After many adventures abroad, he arrived in the Chesapeake in October. 1775. The following .lunc he was appoint cd a lieutenant in the United States Navy, and was the first to unfurl the Amer- ican flag in Maryland. Ho was a very active oftlcer during the whole war. He brought the first news of peace with Great Britain, on the 12th of March, 17S;(. Continuing in service, he was one of the six comnmndcrs appointed under the act of 17'.)3, but he declined the honor. He went to France with Monroe, and was the bearer of the American flag to tlie National Convention. He entered the French service in command of two fine frigates. He resigned his French com- mission in 1802, and returned home. He again entered the naval service of the United States in 1812, and distinguished himself during the war that ensued. He died of a bilious fever at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of December, ISIR, at the age of fifty-nine years. His renntlns were interred in the burjiiig-ground of the First Presbyterian Church at Pittsburg, and over them a plain white mar- ble slab was laid by his widow. They were removed to the Alleghany Cemetery on the 12th of May, 1848, where they repose in the shadow of thrifty young trees, without a record there on wood or stone. The bullet which finally caused the death of Commodore Barney was never extracted during his lifetime. In obe- dience to his orders, it was sought for after his death, and found. It is preserved in a disc of brass, with an inscription, in the archives of the Navy Department at Washington City. The annexed engraving is a representation, the exact size, of the bullet, the disc, and the inscription. The portrait uf Barney on the oppo- • fitc page was painted by Joseph Wood, of Washington City, in 1S18. ' Dr. Martin, In his MS. Kcminisccnccs, already mentioned, says that when he and other prisoners were going np the hill toward where Barney fell, they met a litter with the wouuded commodore on It. He desired his guard to halt, and call the prisoners to him. The leader called out to them, " Coom over here, Yankees, to see your.coonthrymau, Barney ; lie Iiiciks like a spread aigle, Yankees !" The prisoners shook hands with the brave old commodore, who gave them words of cheer. ;S.:*S-^^*»»=*«»we ' ?■■ ■ /I '■ i'^ 1; : 932 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK CUmo of the Ilnttlo of UlailvniibiirK. 1'lic BritiHh inarch uii WoithliiKtun. Au Bxciire for burulUK tho City wiiijied. pcrHcd retreated toward Alontgoinory Coiirt-hoiiHc, in Maryland, leavins; tho battle- field in full j)OHse8Hion of the enemy, and their Avay to the national capital unobstruct- ed except by the burnini» of the two bridjjeH over the Eastern Hranch of the Poto- mac.' Tho AmericanH lost twenty-six killed and lifty-on wounded. The HritJHh loss was manifold greater. According to one of their officers who was in tho battle and yet living (Mr. Gleig, Chaplain General of the British Army), it was " upwiinl of five hundred killed and wounded," among them "several ortiic ^ of rank and dis- tinction." The battle commenced at about noon, and ended at four 'dock. Up to this time tho conduct of the British had bi'on in accordance with the rules of modern warfare. Now they abandoned them, and on entering the national capi- tal they performed deeds worthy only of barbariatis. In a proclamation issued by the President on tho 1st of September ho submitted tho following indictment : "Tluy wantonly destroyed the public edifices, having no relation in their structure to oper- ations of war, nor used at the time for military aiuioyance ; some of these edifices being also costly monuments of taste and of the arts, and others depositories of the public archives, not only precious to the nation as the memorials of its origin and its early transactions, but interesting to all nations as contributions to the general stock of historical instruction and political science." Let us briefly examine the testimony of history. When Koss was assured of complete victory, lie lialted his army a short time on the field of battle, and then, with the fresh Third Brigade, which had not been in the conflict, he crossed the East- ern Branch Bridge. Assured of the retreat of the Americans beyond Georgetown, Uoss left the main body a mile and a half from tho Capitol, and en- tered the town, tl.cn contain- ing about nine hundred build- ings, lie came to destroy the public property there. It was TUB oAPiToi. IN isu, F1.0M ,-KN.N8Yi.vANiA AVENUB. j^,^ crraiid, it Is Said, uot at all coincident with his taste or habits, and what was done by him appears to have been performed as humanely as the orders of his superiors would allow.^ When, on his arrival in the Chesapeake, he had been informed by Admiral Cochrane that he (the •admiral) had been urged by Sir George Provost, tho Governor General of Canada (who was not satisfied with tho terrible devastation of tho Niagara froYitier at the close of 1R13),3 to retaliate in kind upon the Americans for the destruction of the gov- ernment buildings at York* and the village of Newark,' lie demurred, saying that they ' The lowor bri(l<rp, near the nnvy yard, had been left in charge of Captain Crelghton, with orders to destrr.y It on Ihp approach of the enemy. If was flred at four o'clock in the afternoon. ' Hoping to spare the town, Ross had sent an agent to negotiate for n pecuniary ransom. There was no compotput authority to meet his agent, and if there \vm>, the proposition would, as tho President afterward said, have been Ircf.tcil with contempt. ' See page f).S4. * See page (i-29. » See page (Ki2. Evidently ashamed of the barbarism committed by Britislj hands, Vice Admiral Cochrane attempted to pnllinte ii by a pitifitl trick. After the destruction of the capital, and the invaders were safely back on their vessels in the Piitiixent, Cochrane wrote a letter to Secretary Monroe, in which he said to him, " Having been called npni by the fiovernor Clonerttl of the Canadas to aid him in carrying into effect measures of retaliation against the inhabitants of the United States for the wanton destruction committed t)y their army in Tapper Canada, it has become imporionsly my duty, conformably with the governor general's application, to issue to the naval force under my command nn order to destroy and lay wasti such to\vTis and districts upon tlie mast as may le found assailable." Cochrane t*- expressed a hope that the "conduct of the csiuitive of the United stnieg would huthorlzc him in staying such pr^-.^-edlngs, by roakiuL' • :i:iration to the sufferint 'nhabitants of Upper C':'nnda," etc. This letter wan nn talaUd Ansnul IS, or six days before rhi lattle of Bladensbnrg, so :ik t^ appear like a huniane sucrgcstion, in the non-compliance with which might be found an exi use for the iles'ructinn nl' the national rapitni. It did not reach Mr. Monroe until tlie morning of the 3l!t <* August, a week after Washington was devastated, when that officer, in a dignified reply, reminded tho vice admiral that the wanton destruction by the British of Frenchto^vn, Frederick, Georgetown, and Havre de Grace, and tho ont- figes at Hampton by the same people, had occurred long before the dcstraction of Newark. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 088 iruluK tho City wiimcd. iviiiij the l)iittl(- ipiliil unubntruct inch of the I '"to- ed. The Hnii«h was ill the battle, , it was " ujiwiird 4 of rank and dis- r I 'clock, ice with the rules the national capi- imation issued by idiotnient: "They structure to nper- e of these ediiiees depositories of the ,f its ori<?in and its ■y the tfoncral Ktotk nine tho testimony ly a short time on uid not been in tlie i crossed the East- i Bridge. Assured lat of the Americans ■orgetown, Uoss left body a mile and a the Capitol, and en- town, tl.on contain- nine hundred Imild- came to destroy the porty there. It was it is said, not at all )pears to have been )W.- When, on his •hrane that he (the (U'ucral of Canada fara frotitier at the [truction of the gov- ,d, saying that they The BrItUb eulor Wuiiblii)(iun. Cuckbuni in hia Element. '?'^1 I orders to destrry it on Ihc ■ There was no competent lard Buid, have been trcf.tea J t Sec page IV2'<. Idmlrnl Cochrane nttomptcd Ipofely back on their vessels BavinR been called npnr by lion asninst the inhabitants l it has become imperimisly lider mv command an order > Coctiranef- expressed liying ench pr>. ..iedingf , by [,/«WAnKUHtlS,or8ixday9 lllnnce with which micht 1)6 liin tlie morninRofthfiawt I reminrtrd the vice adinirsl livro de Grace, and the ont- Dvatructiun ufthe Public Bollding*. had carried on the war on the Peninsula and in France with a very different spirit, and that he could not sanction the destruction of public or private property, wit li the exception of military structures and warlike stores.' " It was not," says one of Itoss's surviving aids, Sir Duncan M'Dougall, in a letter to the author in 1 80 1 , " until he was w arinly iinssid that he consented to destroy the Cai)itol anil President's Iiouse, for the piirjiose of preventhig a repetition of the uncivilized proceedings of tlie troops of the United Mates." Fortunately for Ross's sensibility there was a titled incendiary at hand in the person of Admiral Sir George Cockburn, who delighted iu such inhii- inaii work, and who literally became his torch-bearer. The bulk of the invaders, having crossed the Eastern Branch, halted ui)on the plain between the Cajiitol and tiie site of the Congressional Hurying-ground, wlii-n (iciieral Ross, accompanied by Cockburn and a guard of two liundred men, rode into the city at eiglit o'clock in the evening. They were fired upon from behind the house of Rob- ert Sewall, near tiie Capitol, by a single musket, and the horse on wliicli the general was riding was killed. Mr. SewalFs house was immediately destroyed. The same fate awaited the materials in the office of the National Iiitelllgencer, ihc government organ, whose strictures on the brutality of Cockburn had filled that marauder with hot anger.^ These, and some houses on Cajiitol Ilill, a large rope-walk, and a tavern, comprised the bulk of private property destroyed, tlianks to the restraining power of tJeneial Ross. Several houses and stores Avere also plundered. The iiiifinished Cap- itol, in which was tho library of Congress, the I'resideiit's house, a mile distant, the Treasury buildings, the Arsenal, and barracks for almost three thousand troops, were soon in flames, whose light was jilainly seen in Baltimore, about forty miles north- ward. In the course of a few hours nothing of the superb Cajiitol and the Presiden- tial mansion was left but their smoke-blackened walls.^ Of the public buildings only the Patent-office was saved. All the glory that the British had won on the battle-fiekl was lost in this barbarian v.-^<'^^* BKMAINB OF TU£ UAI'ITOL AFTKB lUK FIBE. i^onflagration. " Willingly," said the London Statesman newspaper, " would we tiirow a veil of oblivion over our transactions at Washington. The Cossacks spared Paris, but we spared not the capital of America." The British Aimnal Register for 1814 denounced the proceedings as " a return to the times of barbarism." It can not be concealed," the writer continued, " that the extent of devastation practiced by the victors brought a heavy censure upon the British character, not only in America, but ' Dr. Martin (eec note 1, pnpf fl25) snya : " General Ross was the perfect model of the Irish gentleman, of easy and 'leantiful manners, humane and br.ive, and dij»niflcd in his deportment to all. lie was beloved by all bia officers, and tlie prisnnerK had no reason to rcf^ret falling into snrli hands." ' Cockburn was about to apply the torch, when lie was prevailed upon by the women of adjoining residences not to do so, as it would endanger their dwellingf. lie caused all the type and otlier printing materials to be thrown into the street, the printing-presses to be destroyed, and the library, contaiuing several hundred volumes, to be burned. IIo as- sisted in this work with his own liiinds. Ilia companions in the business were some sailors and soldiers. ' These buildings were flred under the direct superintendence of Lieutenant George Pratt, the second of the Sea-Iiorse, who was shot In the gun-boat battle on Lake Uorguo, near New Orleans, a few montha afterward. ■!■ %. '^ r.%. Sf^.W^ V^.'^ ^ „0. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT 3) .^ ^ ^^ A f/. ^ 6^ 1.0 illll I.I l^|2il |2.5 ■^ 1^ 12.2 " 142 iiiiii:0 IL25 Illll [.4 1.6 Va >^ Photograpliic Sdences Corporation %^ 23 WiST t^AIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. US80 (716) 872-4503 \ ^ •^ \ :\ <^.^" ■^i 5? ./W 984 riCTOllIAL FIELD-BOOK The Barbarities of the British condemned by their Countrymen. The Navy Yard destroyed. The Long Bridge l)artiL SKIIAIM8 UF TilU I'UKblDKNX's UUUSE AFTER TUK FIRB. on the Continent of Europe." Continental writers and speakers condemned the act in unmeasured terms ; pud yet the government of England, which has seldom repre- sented the sentiments of the pecple, caused the Tower guns to be fired in honor of Ross's victory ; thanked the actors through Parliament ; decreed a monument to that general in Westminster Abbey at lis death; and, making additions to his armorial bearings, authorized his descendants forever to style themselves " Ross of Bladeiis- burg !"' While the public buildings in Washington were in flames, the national shipping, stores, and otiier property were blazing at the navy yard; also the great bridge over the Potomac, from Was'aington City to the Virginia shore. Commodore Thomas Tingey was in command of the navy yard, and, before the bat- tle, had received orders to set fire to the public property there in the event of the British gain- ing a victory, so as to prevent its falling into the hands of the invaders. Tingey delayed the execution of the order for four hours after the contingency had occurred. When, at half past eight in the evening, he was informed that the enemy was encan)ped within the city limits, :icar the Capitol, he applied the torch, and property valued at about a million of dollars was destroyed. The schooner Lynx was saved, and most of the metallic work at the navy yard remained but little injured.'^ The fine naval monument, delineated on p.age 124, was somevt'hat mutilated, but Avhether accidentally at the time of the con- flagration, or wantonly by the British, who went there the next day to complete the destructive work, is an unsettled question.^ At the same time, the Long Bridge over the Potomac was fired at botli ends. The Americans on the \ irginia side thought a large body of British troops were about to pass over, and fired that end to foil them, while the British on the city side, perceiving, as they thought, a large body of Americans about to cross over from the Virgiriia side, fired the Maryland end of the bridge. The value of the entire amount of property destroyed at Washington by the ' The London Timet, then, as now, the exponent of the principles of the niling classes in England, and the lilitcr foe of the American people, gloried over the destmction of the public buildings, and the expulsion of the Prcsiilcnt and C'lblnct from the capital, and Indulged in exulting prophecies of t*ic speedy disappearance of the great repnlilic lu the West. "That ill-organized association," said the Tim&t, "is on the eve of dissolution, and the world Is speedily to be delivered of the mischievous example of the existence of a government founded on democratic rchellion." In loiij; after years, when Cockbnrn died at the age of eighty-two, the Time» lauded him chleHy for his marauding exploits in thit country, and his " splendid achievement" lu firing onr national capital. « Letter of Commodore Tingey to the EJecretary of the Navy, August 2T, 1814. The ofBcers and other persons at the navy yard fled In boats to Alexandria. ' On the dny after the entrance of the British Into Washington (August 20), a party of two hundred of them were sent to finish the work of destruction at the navy yard. A large quantity of powder, shot, and shell had been thrown into a well. A British ar".lleryinan accidentally dropped a match into it, when a terrible c:cp1oslon occurred, and com- municated Are to a small magazine of powder near by. That also exploded. Earth, stones, bricks, shot, shell!", etc.. were thrown Into tbe air, and, falling among the Invaders, killed twelve men, and wonntleil more than thirty others. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 935 The Long Bridge bniit. acers and other persons nt the flight <if the President nud bis Cabinet. MfH. Madixon'g Patrlotlem. Jacob Barker at the President's House. British and Americans was estimated at about two million dollars. The walls of the Capitol and President's house stood firm, and were used in rebuilding. President Madison, and other civil offi- cers wlio went out to see the fight and give such assistance as they might, re- mained on the field until Bjirney fell, when they fled to the city as fiist as swift-fiDOted horses could carry them, and were among the first to announce the startling intelli- ireiicc that the British, victorious, were probably marching on the town.' Mrs. Madison'^ had already been a' 'prised of the dfjiger. Wlien the flight ^v" Congreve rockets caused the panic-stricken militia to fly, the President sent messengers to in- form her that the defeat of the Americans and the capture of the city seemed to be promised, and to advise her to fly to a place of safety. These messengers reached iier between two and three o'clock. Mrs. Madison ordered her carriage, and sent away in a wagon silver plate and other valuables, to be deposited in the Bank of =0"^^.^, ■&Jt 5 Maryland. She anxiously waited for her husband, and in the mean time took meas- ures for preserving the full-length portrait of Washington, painted by Stuart, which hung in the presidential mansion.^ Finding the process of unscrewing the frame from the wall too tedious for the exigency, she had it broken in pieces, and the pic- ture removed with the " stretcher," or light frame on which the canvas was nailed. This she did with her own hands. Just as she had accomplished so much, two gen- tlemen from New York, one of whom wab the now (18G7) venerable New Orleans hanker, Jacob Barker,'' entered the room. The picture was lying on the floor. The sounds of approaching troops were heard. They might be the invaders, Avho would be delighted by the possession of so notable a captive as the beautiful wife of the President. It was time for her to fly. " Save that picture," she said to Mr. Barker ;ind Mr. R. G. L. De Peyster, his companion — " save that picture, if possible ; if not possible, destroy it : under no circumstances allow it to fall into the hands of the ' Tlic Opposition press and speakers were merry over the flight of the President and his Cabinet from the battlc-fleld. A New Yolk paper said ; " Should some Walter Scott in the next century write a poem, and call it Madison, «r tite Bat- ik (/ Bladeivsburg, we wonld suggest the 'bllcwing lines for the •jonchision, to be put into the mouth of his hero : " ' Ply, Monroe, fly I run, Armstrong, run ; Were the last words of Madison.' " ' Dolly Payne was the maiden name of Mrs. Madison. She was the daughter of Qoaker parents, residents ofVlr- ;'lnia, and was bom on the 20th of May, 1T07, while her motlier was visiting some friends in North Carolina. Her fa- ther manumitted his slaves, and made Philadelphia his residence. There Dolly married a young lawyer named Todd, who was also n Quaker. He died, leaving her a yonng ividow with an infant son j and in 1704 she married Mr. Madi- son, then a distinguished member of Congress, and Montpellier, in Virginia, became their home. She adorned every slntioii in life in which she was placed. She died In July, 1S60, at the age of eighty-three years, haviug survived her hnsbnnd fourteen years. ' Mrs. Madison wrote to her sister at Intervals. At three o'clock she wrote: "Mr. Madison comes not. May God protect him ! Two messengers, covered with dust, come to hid me fly, but I wait for him Our kind friend, Mr. Carroll, has come to hasten my departure, and is In a very bad humor with me because I insist on waiting un'll the large picture of General Washington Is secured, and It requires to he unscrewed from the wall." ' Jacol) Barker Is one of the remarkable men of this country. He was bom In Maine on the 17th of December, 1770. nia mother was a Quaker, and he has been a member of that Society through life. He entered early into mercantile life, and became largely Interested In commerce as an extensive ship-owner. He wa i a firm and efficient snpporter of ihc administration during the war, and aided the govem-ncnt largely in It* flnanelal operations. He was an Intimate family friend of President M.-.dlson. Ho became extensively engaged in banking, and his long and active life has been a scene of many vicissitudes for bim. He Is now (18<i7), ot the age of eighty-nine years, engaged In banking In tlie city "f New Orleans. ■1.1 1 1^! I n 4. i^ mm mt » ■hib jp' h v m m 936 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ^fiH^^l!'^^ The Declaration of Iiulepcniloncc Hiived. Origlual Object of this Britinh Invasion. Their Fears of the aroused People. British." Then, snatching up the pre- cious parchment on which was written the Declaration of Independence and the autograpliti of the signers, whicli she had resolved to save also, she hast- ened to the carriage with her sister (Mrs. Cutts) and her husband, and tAvo servants, and was borne away to a place of safety beyond the Potomac' Just as Barker and De Peyster had taken the picture from the stretcher and rolled it up, a portion of the flying American army came up, and halted in front of the President's house. Some refreshments were given to them, when they marched on toward Montgomery Court-house, the appointed place of rendezvous for the broken armj"^, fol- lowed by those gentlemen Avith the pic- ture. They left it in charge of a farmer in whose house they lodged that night, and a few weeks afterward Mr. Bai'ker restored tlie portrait to Mrs. Madison.* It now hangs upon the wall in the Blue Room of the Presidential mansion. It was not the design of the British to hold the territory which they had, unex- pectedly to themselves, acquired. Indeed, the whole movement up the Chesapeake was originally intended as a feint — a menace of Baltimore and Washington, to en- gage the attention of the govei'nment and people, and to draw in that direction the military force of the country, while the far more important measure of invading Lou- isiana with a formidable force, and taking possession of the Mississippi Valley, should be matured and executed. Accordingly, Avhen Winder's forces were defeated ami routed, the President and his Cabinet driven from the national capital, and the pub- lic buildings Averc destroyed, the invaders retreated precipitately, evidently in fear of a reactive blow. While the British Cabinet, judging from metropolitan influence in European countries, were disposed to believe that, with the loss of their capital, the Americans would consider all gone, and would yield in despair to their victors, those conquerors, on the spot, saw too vrell the danger to be apprehended fi'om the spnit of a people aroused to greater exertions, and with more united energy, because of that very misfortune. ' The flight of the President from the battle-fleld, and of Mrs. Madison from the Presidential mansion, formed the subject of many sqnibs for the Opposition. Among others was a witty parody on Jnlin Gilpiii'a Hide, only one sinnzji of which I can now recall. It is descriptive of Mrs. Madison's directions for the flight of the family, where she says to the President : " Sister Ciitts, and Cntts and I, And Cutts's children three, Shall in the coach— and you shall ride On horseback after we." Accotiling to letters among General Winder's papers, the President and his Cabinet fled to different vlaccs. On the 2«th, the day after the British withdrew from Washington, the President, with General Mason, the Commissary of Pris- oners, and Richard Rush, the Attorney General, was at Brookvllle, in Maryland; the Secretary of the Navy was with the President's fiimlly in London Connty, Virginia; and the Secretary of War and Secretary of the Treasury wore at Frederick, In Maryland, on the Momcacy River. As soon as the President was certified of the flight of the Invaders to their ships, he summoned his Cabinet to a reunion at Washington. The President, with the Secretary of State, arrived thcre.on the 38th, The reaDion took place <m the 99th Autograph Letters of Monroe and Armstrong, Augnst 2« and 21, 1814. » Oral atatement of Mr. Barker to tht author at New Orleans in April, 1S«1. ars of the aroused People. ^^i;^^^^^ ion. fiich they had, unex- up the Chesapeake Washington, to en- n that direction the ure of invadinp; Lo«- ssippi Valley, should were defeated ami capital, and the pnb- ly, evidently in fear etropolitan influence 0S8 of their capital, jair to their victors, prehended from the ted energy, because (Ipntifil mnnslon, formed the ilpin'K linie, only one stnnza ,he family, where she Bays to to different iiUece. On the son, the CommiBsnryofPri!- retnry of the Nnvy was with nrv of the Treasury w<!re at fthcilislitofthe invaders to e Secretary of State, arrived .1 Armstrouir, Angnst 28 and lew Orleans In April, ISOl. OF THE WAK OF 18 12. 987 Brllish retreat A-um Washington. An Account by an Eye-witness. Effect of the Invasion. '^.f£e^ Impressed with a sense of this danger, Ross and Cochrane moved away with their forces with great secrecy on tlie night of the 25th of August, after order- ing every inhabitant of Wasliington to remain within doors from sunset till sun- rise, on pain of death, aiid increasing tlieir camp-fires, so as to deceive the Ameri- cans. It was immediately after the pas- sage of a terrific tempest of wind, light- ning, and rain, during wh.ich houses were unroofed and trees were uprooted. Soft- ly these victors stole away in the gloom. "No man spoke above his breath," says one of the British officers who was pres- ent. " Our v I y steps were planted lightly, and " .eared the town without exciting obse; vation."! At midnight, just as the moon arose and cast a pale light over the scenes, they passed the battle-field and Bladensburg, leaving tlieir dead unburied, and full ninety of their wounded to the humanity of Com- modore Barney and his men. It was hu- miliating to the British troops tlius to steal away in the dark from the field of their conquest. They moved sullenly onward, so wearied with fatigue aiid loss of sleej) that, wlien the columns halted for a few minutes, the roads would be filled with sleep- ing soldiers. At seven o'clock in the morning, finding themselves but little annoyed by pursuers, they halted for rest and refreshments for several hours. At noon tliev moved forward, encamped at Marlborough, and, marching leisurely, reached Benedict on the 29th, where they embarked on the transports the next day."^ •Anpustao Tiie loss of the battle at Bladensburg and of the national capital filled ^'*^''- the American people with mortification, and produced the most intense excitement throughout the country.^ Crimination and recrimination kindled widespread anger, ihat burned intensely Avhile the actors lived. The public Aveie disposed to hold the Secretary of War responsible for the misfortune, because of his alleged obstinaov and inefficienoy, and on the 3d of September he left the Cabinet, and retired to private ' Rev. George R. Gleig, now (1807) chaplain general of the British Army. He entered the army at an early age, was in the Pc; insular War with Wellington, and served as a subaltern in America at Haltiinore, and Washington, and New Orleans. He was severely wounded in the battle of Bladensourg. He has published two works on these campaigns, jne entitled The Subaltern inAmirica, and the other Campaigns of Washington and Xeio Orleans. To these books, writ- ten with great candor, I am indebted for much information concerning the movements of the British in these cam- paigns. Mr. Oleig has been an indnstrions book-maker. After the war in this country he took orders, and was chap- lain of Chelsea Hospital for some time. He was made chaplain general to the forces In 1S40. A line lithographed por- trait of him, fi-om which the above picture was copied, and his signature, I r jceived from him through the hands of a gentleman residing in London. 'The chief anthorities consulted in the preparation of the narrative of the capture of Washington are the official reports of the commanders; Wilkinson's Memoirs ; Armstrorg's Uotlces of the War of 1812 : flics of the National In- telligencer; Niles's Register ; Ingraham's Sketch of the Event which preceded the Capture of Washington ; Ingersoll's liistorlcal Sketch of the Second War, etc. ; Williams's Histcrj of the Invasion and Capture of Washington ; the MS. Papers of General Winder and Commodore Barney ; Glelg's C. mpaign of Washington, etc. ; Statements of Survivors, ftc, etc. ' Intelligence of the disaster reached Cincinnati on the 0th o* September. General Harrison was there. Forgetful »f the ill treatment which he had received from those in power and anxious to save his country, he at once addressed a letter to the Governors of Ohio and Kentucky, to whom ny ,.cal8 had never been made in \ ain, suggesting the i)roprl- oty offending a volunteer force of dragoons and monntr j riflemen to the aid of the people on the sea-board. Move- ments for that purpose were set on foot, when the repuls ■ of the British at Baltimore, and their abandonment of expe- (llllors (If ever conceived) against Philadelphia and New "^ork, rendered farther operations in the West unnecessary.— .\ntograph Letter of General Harrison to Governor Shelh •, Septe- bcr 0, 1S14. Mk4 w t|HD| PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Who was to blnmc for the Unfeat at hluilcuBburg. Slavery the Oulprit. Fort W: iuiugton. Hie.* The g.yvernment glndly afiempted to fix the otliiim upon the milit of Maiy. land and the District of Columbia, who were easilj' panicftricken, and who, on hii'iwr driven from the field, fled in disorder to their homes; and General Wlnc'er ieco''o(] a full share of bkrao, how worthily let the preceding narrative determine. O.ily Bar- ney and his seamen were praised. Historians, pui.zled by contemporaneouH quarrel?, have generally agreed in condemning both tiie government and the militia — the I'o;- mer for imbecility, and the latter for cowardice. A culprit more cuipable i,lian 'jitl.er may be discovered by close research. The lato Alvan Stewart, in a lettc: to Or. Bailey on the .'<Oth of Auif ust, 1845, gives us a clew to tl'.r: identity of the criniii)al. He says: "General Smith,'' of Georgetown, District of Columbia, told me hi 1818, Avhile passing over this ^ery ground [between Bladensburg and the national cap-fall in a journey I i^-?'- taking to Washington City, that he commanded a b; igade in the fleeing army of ours, ji-id that the secret of our disgraceful flight war -hat a story liad been clvcuhited through the District and ailjucent counties of the two states, tliat on that day the slaves were to rise and assert then' liberty,' aud that each man mon feareil th? enemy he had left behind^ in the shape of Ci slave in his own house or plan- tation., than he did any thing else.* The ofticf rs and soldiers had their minds distract- vf^ with the possibility of this insurrection," paid General Smith/' and therefore fled to their homes before an inferior force, and left Washington to liio mercy of its cap- tors. '"^ J^arney's men, having no such fears, fought gallantly and persistently. 'Shx wc not look for the chief cause of the disaster fit Pladens'jurg, and the loss of the na- tional capital iii 1814, to the slave system, which ha^ cursed evCi-y thing upon which the blight of its influence has fall?! 's While C'ochrane ai-d Ross were making their way toAvard Washington, a portion of the British fleet, consisting of two fv-gates of thirty-six and thirty-eight guns, two rocket-ships of eighteen guns each, two bomb-vessels of eight guns each, and or-" ischooner of two guns, sailed up the Potomac River, under Commodore Gordon, of the Sea-horse, to co-operate Avith them. The only obstruction to the passage of the fleet on which the Americans might place the least icliance was Fort Washington (late Wa'"^ "1 ton), on the Maryland side of the Potomac, about tn-elve miles below theNa- tion.il capital. It was a feeble f(>rtress, but capable of being made strong. So early as May, 1813, a deputation from Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washington waited upon the Secretary of War, and represented the importance of strengthening f'lat ^,--^ f^^ ^^ 5 X, post- -An engineer (Colonel Decius AVads- -.~^^ . '^^^^ C^i^''^-'^'~V~''^^'^C' ^orth) A\ns sent to examine it. He re- ^^^^^ X ^^1 ported in favor of additional works in the rear, while he believed that the armament of the fort, and its elevated situation, would enable a well-managed garrison to re- pulse any number of ships of war that might attempt to pass up the river. Nothins more was done. In July, 1814, when a British fleet and army were in the Chesa- peake, the authorities of Alexandria again called the attention of the Secretary of War to the feeble condition of Fort Washington. The Secretary did not believe tlie enemy would push for the capital, anfi nothing was done. The Alexandrians appealed ' On the 29t. of August President Madison Informed General Armstrong that there was a high degree of oxciieracnt iigainst him among the militia of the Blstrict, and that an officer of a corps had given notice that he wonld no loiipor obey any order coming through the then Secretary of War. He told Armstrong that he must so far yield to public clamor as to permit some other person to perform the duties of his office in relation to the defense of the District. Arm- strong would not consent to a division of hie dnries, and resigned. In his letter of rcsi^rnation, and in a euhscquoDt paper, he offered a vindication of his conduct, in the year ISilfi General Armstrong published a still nrore elaborate vindication, in two small volumes, entitled Noticen of the War 0/I8I2. » General Walter Smith. See page 922. > On several occasions during the war the British had offered liberty to the slaves if the latter wonld join them, nnd on one occasion, as we have seen (page 090), preparations were made, on that account, for a general insurrection In South Carolina. « See the testimony of John Randolph on this point in a speech on the floor of Congress in the yearlSll. Sec page 214. » WV«in<7» and Speeches (if Alvan Stewart on Slavery, edited by his aon-in-law, Luther B. Marsh, page 372. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 039 Fort Wi juiugton. the milit of M.ny Fort \Va«hi:igtou neglected. It is denerted and blown up. British 8litpB pass up tlio Potomac. .Inly 28, 1S14. to General Winder, who, in a letter to the Secretary of Wai-," recommended the streug^hening of the post. Three of the banks of Alexandria oftered to loan the government fifty thousand dollars for the construction of more defenses for the District. The money was accepted, but nothing was done to Fort Washington. v,'l)on the battle of Bladensburg occurred, a!id the seat of government was left to the lueicy of the invaders, Fort Washington was as feebly armed as ever, and its gar- rison consisted of only about eighty men, under Captain Samuel T. Dyson, who had received orders from General Winder to be very watchful, and, in the event of its be- ing apji reached by the enemy on land, to blow up the fortification and retreat across I'lC rivtr. The British squadron appeared before Fort Washuigton on the 27th of August, t^ - -■.'.«.rf FOKT WABUINQTON, three days after the capture of the capital. Captain Dyson cither misunderstood General Winder's order, or was influenced by mortal fear, for he blew up and aban- doned the fort without firing a gun.'* No doubt the British fleet could have been kept below by the heavy cannon of the fort. Dyson chose not to try the experiment, and for his injurious conduct he was dismissed from the service. The British squadi'on now had nothing to fear, and without hinderance it sailed on, and was anchored off Alexandria on the evening of the 28th. On the morning of the 29th it assumed a hostile attitude a hundred yards from the wharves, and was well prepared to lay every building in the town in ashes. The citizens had done Avhat they could to protect their city.^ The able-bodied men and their heavy guns had been called to the defense of Washington City, and only exempts and a few others, not more than one hundred in all, were left. When the squadron came they had no effective means to oppose the intruders, aiid the citizens sent a. deputation to Com- modore Gordon to ask upon what terms he would consent to si)are the town. He replied that all naval stores and ordnance ; all the shipping and its furniture : mer- chandise of every description in the city, or which had been carried out of it to a place of safety ; and refreshments of every kind, must be immediately given up to him. Also that the vessels which had been scuttled to save them from tlostruction must be raised, and delivered up to him. " Do all this," he said, " and the town of Alexandria, with the exception of public works, shall be spared, and the inhabitan*;8 ' 'ijls is a view of Fort Washington from the roar, loolcing across the Potomac to the Virginia shore, as it appeared In November, 1801. It is on the Maryland shore, abont three miles higher up the river than Mount Vernon. ' In a letter to the Secretary of War, dated "Camp at Macon's Island, August 29, 1S14," Captain Dyson excused his conduct by saying he had been Informed that the enemy had been re-cnforced at Benedict by six thousand men, and w°ro marching on Fort Washington to co-operate with the fleet. This was a false rumor. He acted too precipitately 10 And out the truth, but not until it was too late t« be usefiil. ' At about the time vthen the British fleet appeared in the Potomac, General Winder received from nn nnknown hand niketch of a simple torpedo for blowing np vessels, with a description of Its construction and use. The engraving of it on the next page is a fac-simile of the original pen-and-ink sketch found among the Winder papers. General Winder lielieved It was from General Guy, of Alexandria, who had conversed with him on the subject previously. The torpedo's construction and use were described as follows : Ascertain the depth of the channel in which a row of torpedoes are to be placed, and cut trees three feet in diameter of such length as will allow ships to pass over them ivhcn they stand perpeudicular. Bore them ont with a pnmp auger, the hole being large "inough for a IS-ponod ball. I I / ft • !• 1 ' ■ V jl- I' tt9 )i I -L'ff at 'SSI i \ 1 r: 040 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Alexmidrlu plundered. I'ropuratious tu intercept tbe BrltiHh Vessela lu the Putumac. A Toriwdo. shall remain unmolested. These were harsh and humiliating terms, and the iiiliabit- nuts were allowed only one hour for consideration. They were powerless, and wiio compelled to submit. The merchandise that had been carried from the town iiud iln. sunken vessels could not be given up to the invader, so ho contented himself by I»uin. ing one vessel and loading several others, chiefly with flour, cotton, and tobacco. With these in charge, the squadron weighed anchor aud sailed down the Potomac.' On hearing of the surrender of Alexandria, the government determined to annov and, if possible, capt.iro or destroy the British squadron in its descent of the Potomac. The Maryland and District militia could not be rallied in time, so the Secretary of tlic Navy sent an express to Commodore Rodgers, at Baltimore,^ for him to hasten to tlic Potomac with as large a number of seamen as he could collect. These were ])laccil under the command of Commodores Rodgers, Perry, Porter, and Creighton.^ Armed boats and fire-ships Mere soon prepared, and the seamen, in conjunction with tiie Vir- ginia militia, gave the enemy a great deal of trouble. Batteries were erected on the river bank at the " White House," a short distance below Mount Vernon, and on In- dian Head, both commanding points on the Virginia side of the stream. Musketeei's were stationed on the thickly-wooded shores. Cannon M'cre taken by District Volun- teers, and placed in battery with all possible dispatch, and for several days from the , 1st of September they kept the British war and plunder vessels from descend- ing the river. Meanwhile the batteries and the militia were strengthened hy accessions of guns sent down from Washington and men from the neighboring coun- try, and at times there was heavy fighting. Finally the war vessels, ten in number, with an aggregate of one hundred and seventy-threo guns, brought their concentrated ^X^>v^ /o Ccririyvui^ .fc^c^^"^ Then flII the place with liot tallow, so that it will llioronjh- '^ ly enter tlic pores of tlic wood, and make it impervious to wa- ter. Tlien bore it oiitas.iini.nndimtin powder in flannel cartridges. Overthc powder p!ncc two balls, and tlicr. pour in melted tallow again, so as to com- pletely inclose the powder. Over the balls put a wad of oakum, also covered at top with tallow. Beioro putting in the powder, a hole must be made in the log, and a wire inserted so as to penetrate the cartridge, and the hole then made water-tight. This wire was to extend to the shore. It was to be a conductor of an electric spark to the po-vder. To secure the trees from bursting with the powder explosion, they were to be hooped. The following are the directions for the working of the torpedo, given by the projector: t, a tree on the shore, serving as a mark by day, and having a lantern hanging upon it by night. 2, position of a sentinel, who views an object on the water be- tween himself and the tree 1 through a fixed tube, it, another tree, with a lantern at night. 4, 6, C, 7, 8, other sentinels on the shore, who look through fixed lubes upon tree number 3, their vision crossing that of sentinel number 2 at different poaitlons. The circles in the channel of the river show the position of five tree torpedoes. Thus stationed, the differ- ent sentinels would all see a vessel, as it crossed their vision between them and tree 3, at differ-jnt points. When the sentinel at 4, 5, 0, 7, or 8 sees an object on his line of vision, he will immediately pull a cord to convey information of the fact to number 2, and if, at the same time, that object covers the vision of the sentinel on line 1 and 2, the vessel must be over one of the torpedoes. Then number 2, having in charge the electric wire, will communicate the spark to the powder of the torpedo. ' The loss sustained by the Alexandrians by the surrender of the city consisted of three shlpc, three brigs, several small bay and river craft, 10,000 pounds of flour, 1000 hogsheads of tobacco, tBO bales of cotton, and $5000 worth of wines and segurs. • Commodore Rodgers was at Philadelphia when the British captured Washington. As early as the 20th he hod re- ceived an order from the Secretary of the Navy to hasten to Washington with all the force under his command, lie started with four hundred seamen and fifty marines armed with muskets, and four pieces of artillery (12-poHnders), bnt before he reached Unltlmore he heard of the fall of the capital. At Baltimore he awaited farther orders.— Rodgers to Winder— Autograph Letter among the Winder Papers. ' Perry and Porter were in Baltimore at the time, and accompanied Rodgers to Washington. The former was In com- mand of the frigate Java, recently launched at Baltimore. F;l0-8IMILE OK DRAWINO OF TOBPEDO. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 041 A Torpedo. rms, and the inhabit- j)Owei-lt'8s, and wito orn the town iind tlic ited himself hy burn- cotton, and tobacco. down the Potomac' Ictermined to annoy, icent of the Potomac. 3 the Secretary of tlic hint to hasten to the These were jjlac'cd . Creighton.^ Armed unction Avith the Vir- 8 were erected on tlic lit Vernon, and on hi- stream. Muskcteei's en by District Vohin- Beveral days from the vessels from desccnd- were strengthened by the neighboring coun- essels, ten in number, Tht their concentrated Then fill the pl.ice with hot tallow, so thnt it will thoron;.'!!- '^ ly enter the pores of tlie wooil, and make it impcrvinns to wa- ter. Then bore it out ns'^in.andputin powder in flannel cartridges. Over the powder place two balls, and then pout In melted tallow again, so as to com- pletely inclope the powder. Over tlic balls put a wad of DUtting in the powder, ii hole .0 penetrate the cartiidgc, and extend to the shore. It was To secure the trees from )e hooped. The following arc by the projector : and having a lantern hanging ws an object on the water be- 3, another tree, with a lantern vho look through fixed lubes lentinel number 2 at difTercnt Thus stationed, the differ- . difi"ennt points. When tlie !ord to convey information of lel on line 1 and 2, the vessel ■ill communicate the spark to — 7 — 6 S ree shlpn, three brigs, several :ton, and $5000 worth of wiues LB early as the 2flth he had re- rce under his command. He of artillery (12-ponnder9), but d farther orders.— Kodgers to ■ton. The former was in com- British Ships pass American Uatteries and escape. Visit to the Battle-ground at Bladensbnrg. Oak IIIll Cemetery. power to bear upon Porter's battery at the " White House" and its bupports, and drove all away. Perry's battery at Indian Head received like attention. His guns were skillfully managed by Lieutenant (late Commodore) George C. Read ;' but Perry, like Porter, overwhelmed by a vastly sui)erior force, was compelled to retire, and allow the enemy, with his plunder, to pass on to Chesapeake Bay.^ Tlius ended the invasion which resulted in the capture of Washington City, the de- struction of its public buildings and navy yard, the surrender and plunder of Alexan- dria, and the profound regret and humiliation of the American people.^ I visited the theatre of many of the events described in this chapter, in the years I860 and 1861. At the close of the former year I was in Washington City, on my way southward to go over the region of tlie Creek War in Alabama* from the Ten- nessee River to the Gulf of Mexico, and to view the grounds of conflict in the vicin- ity of New Orleans. I was met there by a letter from a distinguished South Caro- lina author, informing me that on a certain day a Convention would declare that state seceded from the Union,* and advising me to defer my visit on account of the excitement and confusion that must inevitably follow such revolutionary action. On the day after receiving this letter," and while conversing with the ven- • Decemi-er 20, erablo General Cass (who had lately left Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet in dis- ^**'**'- gnst) at his own house, a messenger brought to him the startling intelligence of the passage of the Ordinance of Secession by the South Carolina Conven- '...,, December 20. tion of politicians." I shall never forget the extreme sadness of counte- nance, voice, and words of the eminent statesman after chat announcement. " I hoped," he said, " to leave to my children, as an inheritance from patriotic men, a united, prosperous, and happy country ; but all is over ! This is but the beginning of the end!" Tlie political finnament was so cloudy th.at I concluded to defer my visit to the Gulf region until a more propitious time, and so I spent a week among the public reccrds in the Departments at Washington, and in visiting the battle-ground at Bla- densburg. I had the good fortune to go over that field of strife with the late John C. Rives, whose residence, we have observed,^ was near the place where Barney fought and fell. Beuig his guest for a day, we spent nearlj'^ the whole time in exploring the battle-ground, and making the sketches on preceding pages. Not long afterward the great Civil War broke out, and it was a year after the visit now considered before I was again in the National capital in the prosecution of this work, when it was filled with soldiery and all the paraphernalia of war. Accompanied by a young kins- woman, I then visited localities of interest connected with the War of 1812 in and around Washuigton City, at Baltimore, North Point, Havre do Grace, and other places. It ^^-as a bright day in November'' when we rode over to Oak Hill Ceme- ^ tcry, near Georgetown, to visit the graves of General Towson and Commodore Morris. It was 3, beautiful spot. The burial-pla(!es were spread over the slopes of a broad ravine that went down to Piney Branch Creek, where the gentle murmur of a small cascade was heard. The ground was covered with stately oaks, and among them stood many commemorative monuments. I sketched those of Towson "nd Mor- 1 Commodore Read died at Philadelphia, v.hero he was Governor of the Naval Asylum, in August, 1863. ' On the 6th of September twenty-six sail passed Point Lookout, and at four o'clock on the afternoon of the l)th twenty-one ships, six brigs, and three smaller vessels were seen beating up the Chesapeake. — Autograph Letters from Thomas Swann, at Point Lookout, among the Winder Papers. ' The slight resistance offered to the invaders during their operations in the space of twelve days excited great sur- prise, alarm, and indignation. They had been performed In the midst of n population most interested In the events, sDd capable of furnishing at least 20,000 able-bcdied men for the defense of their homes and the National capUal. The tatlonal honor required an investigation, and early in the next session of Congress a committee for that pnrpoee was sppoirted by the House of Representatives. Their report exculpated the President and General Winder, but left Con- gress and the people to form their own judgment from the facts presented. ♦ See Chapters XXIII and XXIV. ' Tho writer was William Gilmoro Simms. His letter was dated December 13, 1860. " In ten days more," he wrote, "South Carolina will have certainly seceded ; and in reasonable Interval after tlilB event, if the forts in our harbor are not eurrendered to the state, they will be taken." ' See page 027. \\ > lii ," 042 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Kalorama. Barlow'a Vault. The Death of Decatur. Van Kenaaeluer'it Letter. ■IIIE UNKNOWN. Klope, at the foot of which was a circiUar plain of ten or twelve acres, then beat- en hard by the tread of troops, for it had been made a camp-groiind. On the edT;e of this plain, overlooking a steep slope covered with oaks, was the family vault of Mr. Barlow,^ in which the ris,' and a small uninscribed stone, witlt a cross upon it near tiie latter, and tiieii we rode back, crossed I'liicy Creek, and, a mile from (Jeorgetown, entered a pkasant lane sliaded with oaks, that led to tiie beautiful mansion of Kalorama, on the brow of a hill, which was oiiec tlic residence of the eminent Joel IJarlow.'* At the time of our visit it was used as a hospital for soldiers sick with small-pox and measles. Uefore it was a gentle woodtil KAl.UUASIA. uaklow'h vault. body of Commodore Decatur was laid on the 24th of March, 1820, two days after he fell in a duel with Commodore Barron, nei\.' Bladciis- burg.* It was followed to this tomb by a vast concourse of people, and was plactil in it with military honors.® We returned to Washington just as the stars were appearing. Early the next day we rode out to the Congressional Burial-ground, which lies party upon a plain, ami • A picture of Towson's appears on page 809, and Morris's on page 901. ' See pnjie 04 'On each side of the entrance door to the vau't was a white marble slab, suitably Inscribed. Commencing on one, and running across to the other, are the words " Sacred to the repose of the dead and the meditation of the living." On the left-hand slab we read : " Joel Barlow, Patriot, Poet, and Philosopher, lies burled at Zarowltch, Poland, where he dieii, 20th December, 1812, aged flfty-seveu years." "Judith Baldwin Barlow, his wife, died 29th of May, 1818, aged sixty-two." " Abraham Baldwiu, her brother, died a senator In Congress from Georgia, 4tb of March, 1807, aged fifty-two years. nis memory needs no marble ; hU country is his monument ; the Constitution his greatest work." Mr. Baldwin was a member Irom Georgia of the Convention that framed the National Constitution in 17ST. On the right-hand side arc luscrlptions commemorative of the Bomford family. * General Solomon Vau Beusselacr, then in Washington City, wrote as follows to Mrs. Van Rensselaer: "Washington, March 50, ISM. "Dear Habeiet,— I have only time, after writing to several, to say that an affair of honor took place this mornin; between Commodores Decatnr and Barron, in which both fell at the first fire. The ball entered Decatur's body Hvi inches above the hip, and lodged against the opposite side. I just came from his house. He yet lives, but wDl neve: see another sun. Barron's wonnd is severe, but not dangerous. The ball struck the upper part of his hip, and turucil to the rear. He Is mined in public estimation. The excitement Is very great." On the following day Vau Rensselaer wrote of his death, and said : " His poor wife (they have no children) is dis- tressed beyond expression. She would suflfer no one to be in her room, and, strange to say, she did not see him unlil after his death." General Vau Rensselaer was misinformed, for she was present when he died. Mrs. Decatur surviwil her husband about forty years. She died at Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, in ISOO. » Decatur's remains were taken from his late residence in Washington City at four o'clock in the afternoon, and Iwmf to Kalorama by the following officers : Commodores Tlngey, Macdoiiongh, Rodgers, and Porter, Captains Cassln, Bal- lard, and Chauncey, Generals Brown and Jesup, and Lieutenant M'Phersim. The funeral was attended by iicnrly all the public functionaries in Washington, American and foreign, and a great rumber of citlzeus. While the processiuu was moving, minnte-gans were fired ut the navy yard. OF THE WAU OF 1812. 043 Van Keniaelaer's Letter. with a cross upon it, I back, crossed I'iiuy '11, entered a pliasant the beautiful iniuisidn , which was oiu'e tlic ow.'* At the time of for soldiers sick with was a gentle woodwl The CniiKreailonBl BuryluK-Kround. A Visit to Fort WuhiiiKtoD. Departure rrom the NatlonI Otpttal.' 1 laid on the 24tli of Barron, nciw Bladcns- people, and was placed Early the next day >arty upon a plain, ami » See pnfrc M. ■Ibecl. CommencinK on one, anfl cditntion of tliclivlnj:." On the irowitch, Poland, where he dW, larch, 180T, aged fifty-two years. eatcst work." Mr. Baldwin was :ST. On the right-hand side are rs. Van Rensselaer: Washington, March £0, 1S20. honor took place this morniii? ball entered Decatur's body Hfo ise. He yet lives, but will never pper part of his hip, and turned K (they have no children) Is dif- to say, she did not see him until ho died. Mrs. Decatur survivcil in ISCO. :lock In the afternoon, and home nd Porter, Captains Cassiu.Bal lernl was attended by nearly all • citizens. While the processiou l)iirtly upon an uneven slope toward the Anacostia, or East- ern Hraiicii of the Potonitic. It contains many beautiful moiiunients, and also monotonous rows of small marble cen- (itiiplis erected to the memory of members of Congress who r died while representatives of districts, but who were not buried there. Anionij: the most elaborately wrought of the tine monuments is that of Elbridgc (icrry, who died suildenly while he was Vice-President of the United States.' It is of white marble, about thirteen feet in height, with a netit iron railing around it.^ ./vfter sketching this monument and those of several other distinguished ])ublic servants, we returned to the city, and ])as8ed the evening pleasantly with Colonel C. S. Todd, one of (leneral Harrison's staft" in the War of 1812, already mentioned,^ and the late ven- erable Elisha Whittlesey, Comptroller of the Nation- til Treasury, who was also an active jiarticipant in the Second War for Independence.' Having procured a special letter of permission from General M'Clellan, we st.-yted for old Fort Wasliington, twelve miles down the Potomac, on the following morning, accompr.nied by Mr. Samuel Yorke At Lee, Librarian of the Treasury I)e])art- ment. Beyond Cue Potomac, from Arlington Heights to Alexandria and below, we saw the white tents of At Fort Washington, v.'hich stands upon the high bank of the Potomac, on the Maryland side, at the mouth of the T'jscatiiway Cret'., we were courteously received by Major Haskin, the comtrande- jf the garrison ; and while making the sketch seen on page 939, we heard the heavy guns of the Confeder- ates, Avho then blockaded the Potomac. It was twilight Avhen we returned to Wash- ington City. At an early hour tl-.o next morning we crossed the Long Bridge into Virginia, m.ade a journey of almost twenty miles among camps and forts in the vicin- ity of the National capital, and returned to Washington at dusk. On Monday morn- ing we departed for Baltimore, to visit places of historic interest there and in its vicinity. ' Mr. Gerry was boarding at the house of Mrs. Wilson, and was on his way from there to the Capitol when the death- Eummons came to him in the street. At his ftincral his body was taken from Mrs. Wilson's to the hall of the House of Representatives In charge of a committee of arrnngcments. From there it was conveyed to the Congressional Bury- ing-g;round by Messrs. Tallmadge, Macon, Browcr, Sevier, Wright, Findicy, Nelson, and Brighum, chosen pall-bearcrs, fallowed by all the public functionaries in Washington, domestic and foreign. ' Mr. Gerry was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and had ever been conspicuous In public life. The following is a copy of tlie inscription on his monument : Eaiit Siile—" The tomb of Ei.»nti)OK Gkbrv, Vice-President of the United States, who died suddenly In this city, on his way to the Cai)ltol as Pre.<ident of the Senate, November 23d, ISU, aged seventy, thus fulfllling ills own memorable injunction,* It is the duty of every citizen, though he may have lint one day to live, to devote that day to the good of his country.' " West Side—" Erected by order of the Conurees of the United States, 1823." ' See page 648. « See page 341. Note.— In the smaller section of the map on page 929 are figures which Indicate the iiosition Ok certain troops, as fol- lows: 6, Second Regiment, of Smith's brigade; 0, Major Peter's battery; 7, Mn.|or Warlng's battnlion; fi, Scott's rcgn- lars; 9, companies of Stull and Davids(m ; 10, Ragan's regiment: 11, Schntz's; 12, Fifth Baltimore Regiment; 13, Bnrch's artillery ; IC, militia and riflemen ; 17, Baltimore artillery ; 20, the British. I I okkuv'h mondmsnt, various military encampments, lli'Sj' i H;;^:r .■; 1 f' 1 w 1 i 1'' 044 PICTOlilAL FIELD-BOOK The Brltlih tn CbeMpcnke Day. An Atuek on 8t. MIchMl'f CHAPTER XL. "The eon'rnl (jave orders for the troop* to mnrrh down. To meat tho proud Hdhh, nnd to chock Mo nmblliou; To tiiform him w« have dccrcnd In our town Thiit hrre he cnn't enter without our pcrmUiilon. And If life he rettnrdn, he will not preKH too hard, For Hiiltlniorc frflenicn iire ever prepared To check the prcRuniptuoua, whoever they be, That may raahly attempt tu ovado our decree."— Old Bono. \ALTIM0RE was menaced while Washington was assailed. In- deed, the whole coast of tho ChoHapeako Bay, front its mouth to the Patapsco, wa.s continually harassed by the invaders diirin<; August and September, 1814. "Whenever a favorable oppor- tunity presented itself," wrote a British officer who participated in the capture of Washington, " parties landed, plundered or de- stroyed the government stores, and brought off all the shipiiinir which could be reached. In a word," he says, with great cuiidor, "the hostilities carried on in tlie Chesapeake resembled the expeditions cf tlie aii- ciont Danes against Great Britain ratlier than a modern war between civilized na- tions." He added, "But these hasty excursions, though generally successful, were not always performed Avithout loss to the invaders."' We will hero record two events in proof of the truth of the last observation, in which tho courage and spirit of the M.aryl.and militia were very conspicuous. Among other places on the Chesapeake which received special attention from the British was the little village of St. Michael's, in Talbot County, on the eastern shore of the bay. It was founded by ship-builders, and was famous as the place wiiore most of the swift-sailing priva'.eers, called " Baltimore clij)per8," were constructed. At the time in question seven of these wene on the stocks there. Cockburn, the ma- rauder, determined to destroy them, the ship-yards, and the town. Intimation of iiis intentions had been received at the village, and the veteran General Derry Benson, commander of the militia of Talbot County, prepared to receive them. He construct- ed two batteries, one at tho entrance to the harbor or creek, mounting three Opoiind- ers and one long 9-pounder, and the other on an emincnue in front of the town, armed with two 6-pounders. Two companies from Easton, and two or three from the adjacent country, were called to the defense of St. Michael's, numbering in the aggregate about three hun- dred souls. They were in readiness for some time, AVJiiting for the invaders. They appeared oarly in August," in a small squadron, that entered Eastern Bay be- tween the Talbot County main" and Kent Island. Between midnight and the dawn of the 11th, while the darkness was intensifi ,1 by thick clouds, they made their way in eleven barges (each armed with a 6-poun(I field-piece), with oars muffled, so secretly that the booming of their cannon was the Irst intimation the Americans re- ceived of their near presence. The Maryl.inders were a little surprised, yet they be- haved most gallantly. They returned the fi/e with spirit from the lower battery. Tlie 9-pounder was in charge of Captain William Dodson, of St. Michael's, and did terrible execution. He had literally crammed it with grape and canister shot, nnd ' Campaign* of WathingUm and Nem Orleans, by the Hev. Q. K. Qleig. See page 981. • 1814. i.r,\^ n Atuck on Bt. MIchtel'P 1 was aHsaile<l. In- , from Uh mouth to he invaders duriii;^ a favorable o]i|)or- ar who participated !(1, phuulored or dp- off all the Hhii)]iini,' i, with great candor, peditions cf the an- ['tween civilized na- illy Bucccssfiil, were ill hero record two courago and spirit 1 attention from the )n the eastern siiore as the place wliore ' were constructed. Cockburn, the ma- Intimation of his iieral Dcrry Benson, lem. He construct- iiting three O-pound- of the town, armed Lcent country, were ke about three hun- the invaders. They ted Eastern Bay be- Jn midnight and the lids, they made their >ith oai-8 muffled, so In the Americans re- l-prised, yet they be- the lower battery . Michael's, and did canister s hot, and I page 98T. OF THE WAR UF 18 12. 948 1'h« I>ef«DM of Bt. Iltellli«rs. Bsplolti of Sir Pttw Parker. lufHinnaii Cimduct of Admiral Cuckbnm, ' 1814. being well acquainted with every foot of the locality, ho know precisely, by soundB, where to (ire most eftectively in the gloom. The invadoi>, under cover of their heavy guns, had landed in a campaet body for the purpose of storming the batteries, and whun Dodson opened his great gun ujx)!! them, a wide swathe was cut tlirough tiieir Hue. Nineteen of the British were killed, aiul many were wounc'ed. Tin- Ameri- eans, fimling themselve" outiMind>ered, fled to the upper battery, whose guns, worked liy C!i])taiiis Viekers and Auld, kejit up a eontintuu's tire on the foe. The fight con- tinued until daylight, when the Britisli fle<l to their boats and abandoned the enter- |irise. They had spiked the guns in the lower battery, and this was the |»rinei| al lo,«s sustained by the* Americans.' St. Miriiaers and its siiip-yards were savetl by the gallantry of a few spirited militia, and no attempt to enter its harbor was ever afler- v.ard made by a British arme<l vessel. It is yet a flourishing town of about eight liundred people, surrounded by fertile land and deep estuaries of the Clx'sapeake. Soon after the expulsion of the invaders from St. Michael's, Sir Peter Parker, of the Royal Navy, appeared in the Upper Chesapeake for the purpose of patrolling its wa- ters and blockading the harbor of Baltimore with two vessels iinder his command, while Cochrane, and Ross, and Cockburn were penetrating the country to Washing- ton. His flag-ship was the frigate Menelaiw, 38, and his deportnu-nt was so haughty, and his acts, under the direction of his superior, Cockburn, were so cruel,'^ that the Americans became greatly exasperated, lie frequently sent parties ashore to plun- der and destroy private as well as public prcperty, and he swept domestic commerce from the bay. He boasted to his 8n})eriors that during the month of his blockading service not a single American boat crossed the waters of the Chesapeake. On the fall of Washington Sir Peter was ordered to proceed down the bay. " I must first have a frolic with the Yankees," he said.^ Accordingly, on the night of the 30th of August," after a jolly dinner with his oflieers, and Indulgence in drinking; .and dancing, he proceeded to engjvge in tlie sport. He had been in- formed that a body of Maryland militia were encamped at Moorfields, near th.e George- town Cross Koads, on the eastern shore of Maryland (not far from Chestertown), anu he prepared to surprise them. They were loss than two hundred in number, under the vigilant Colonel Read, who was fully apprised of the movement. The Menelaus ran into one of the numerous estuaries, and at eleven clock at night landed a force of seamen and marines, armed with muskets, pikes, and cutlasses. 1 rommnnlcatloiiB to the author by Mesers. Dr. Ooldsborongh, M. Spencer, and William H. Qroome, of Easton.Mnry- liind, in Miirch, ISuO. » A British ofBccr, who gerved with Cockbnm and Parker, publlehed ennie spicy sketches of his experience in nM- rmidliig expeditions along the shores of the Chesapeake. He relates one, commanded by Cockbiirn In person, wfUi Parker and General Ross as " amateurs," as he expresses it. The object was, he says, " to destroy a factory village, wliich was not only the abode of innocent labor, but likewise the resort of some few militiamen guilty of the unnatar>U fin of defending their own county." Their apr .. *i being known, all but women and children had fled fl-om the town. "We therefore," he says, "most valiantly set fl' o the unprotected property, notwithstanding the tears of the wom- en, and, like a parcel of savages, as we were, we d -ced round the wreck of ruin." The excuse was the necessity of re- tallntion for the destruction of Newark, In Oanadii. See pages 034 and 932. " Eveiy house," uc continues, "which we conld by ingenuity vote Into the residence of a military man, was burned." He then gives an account of scones at a dwellln^-house neor the beach which they surrounded. "Like midnight murderers," he says, "we cautiously ap- proached the house. The door was open, and we unceremoniously intruded ourselves upon three young ladies sitting quietly at teo. Sir George Cockburn, Sir Peter Parker, and myself enterml the room rather suddenly, and a simultane- ons fcream was our welcome." Sir George, he said, was austere, but Sir < ;ter " was the handsomest man In the navy," and to the latter the ladles appealed. Cockbnm told them that he knew their father to be an American officer — a col- onel of militia, and that his duty being to bum their house, he gave them ten minutes for removing what they most de- fired to save. The youncr womeu, on their knees, begged the admiral to spare their house. " The youngest, a girl of flxtcen, and lovely ijeyoiid the general beauty of those parts, threw herself at Sir Peter's feet, and prayed him to inter- fere. The tears started from his eyes in a moment, and I was so bewildered at the afflicting scene that I appeared to fee Ihrongh a thick mist." Cockburn was unmoved, with his watch on the table, measuring the fleeting minutes. The other girls were In tears, and asking for mercy. Sir Peter had opened his lips to plead for them, when the brutal Cock- ^bnrn stopped him, and ordered men to bring the flre-balls. "Never shall I forget the despair of that moment. Poor ' Sir Peter wept like a child, while the girl clung to his knees and Impeded his retreat. The admiral walked ont with his usnal haughty stride, followed by the two elder girls, who vainly implored him to countermand the order. In a mo- ment the house was in flames. " We retreated from the scene of ruin, leaving the three daughters gazing at the work o( destruction, which made the innocent houseless and th-s affluent beggars By the li?ht of that honse we em- harked and retumed on board. It was a scene which impressed itself apou my heart, and which my memory and my liand anwUUngly recall and publish." ' Niles's Wetkbj RegitUr, vii., 11. 30 II ' ! m !i ••lit ^ PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Death of Sir Peter Parker. The Britlnh Fleet in the Chesapeake. The mo(>n was shining brightly. Stealth- ily they moved forward, and fell furi- ously upon the Marylanders, who were in battle order to receive them. A fierce conflict of an hour ensued, when the in- vaders, repulsed, fled back to their frig- ate, leaving thirteen dead and three wounded on the field. Among those mortr.lly hurt was the gallant Sir Peter, a brave and generous Irishman, descend- ed from Archbishop Parker and Admiral Byron, and then only twenty-eight years of age. He was at the head of his men, cheering them on, when a musket-bali cut *V.e main artery in his thigh. " They have hit me, Peaice," he said to his first lieutenant, " but it is nothing ; push on, my bravo boya, and folio%v me !'' He attempted to cheer, but his voice failed him. He fell in the arms of Pearce, and ' efore he could be conveyed to the frig- ate or receive surgical aid he bled to death. ' The invaders fled to their ship, and the Mcnelaus sailed down the bay. Sir Peter's body was preserved in spirits and sent to England, and on the 14th of May, 1815, it was deposited in the family vault in St. Margaret's Church, West- minster.^ Let us now observe the movements of the British army and navy, under General Ross and Admiral Cochrane, after the flight of the former from the smoking ruins of Washington City. We left the invaders re-embarked on their vessels in the Patuxent. They re- mained tlier« several days to rest, recruit, and make provision for their wounded. These were placed on board vessels, and sent, some to Halifax and others to England and by the Iphigenia dispatches were sent to the home government. Preparacions were made in the mean time for other oflensive operations. At daybreak on ihe eih of September the whole fleet weighed anchor, and stood toward the Chesapeake with a fair wind. Down that bay they sailed, ana on the morning of the Vth entered the Potomac. For two days they moved up that stream to assist Gordon in his operations against Fort Washington and .Jexandria. Hearing of his success, they • September 9, turned,* hastened back to the Chesapeake and stood for the mouth of IS"- the Patapsco,'' spreading terror along the entire coasts of the bay. TIio " September 10. pgopig ^^^ ft-om their dwellings and the villages with their most valued property that might be carried away, and at every light-house and .ugnal-statioii alarm guns were fired. On Sunday, the 11th, they entered the Pat ipsco with fifty > Dallne'e Bioijraphieal Memoir of Sir Peter I'arker, Barf. » Sir Peter Parker w;ib a son of Admiral Christopher Parker, and first cousin of the eminent poet, Lord Byron. Hi- i.iherlted from his f.ther a love of the naval service, and fl-om his mother much personal beauty. He was educated ai Westminster Sch.)ol, and entered the navy at the age of thirteen years, with his grandfather. Sir Peter Parker, who fom- manded the British fleet at Charleston in the summer of 1T78. He rose rapidly In hlf, profession under Lord Nelsnii. Earl St. Vincent, and others, and in 1810 he wag made commander of the MimeUiuK, a new ship, in which he performed gallant service. He accompanied Admiral Malcolm to Bermuda in the spring of 1814, and -vith him went with hi' frigate to the Chesapeake, whefe, as thj text relates, he lost Ms life. His body was flijt conveyed to Bcrmnda, and there received the honors cf a public funeral. It was afterward conveyed In the same vessel (the Hcbrxui) to Kngland. apd was again burled with a public funeral. Lord Byror. wrote r poetic eulogy of S'r Peter. HIg ft'lend, and one of the chief mourners at his ftineral, wrotfl a touching Biographical Memoir of him, dedicated to his wife, from which the above portrait, fl-om a painting by Hoppner, of the Royal Academy, woa copied. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 947 Fleet In the Chesapeake. BaltiiTiore threatened. Exasperation against it. General Samuel Smith. 1, and on the 14tli of ravet's Church, West- navy, under General le smoking ruhis of Patuxent. They re- n for their wounded. nd others to England, nment. Prcparacions At daybreak on ihe ward the Chesapeake ling of the 7th entered assist Gordon in his jg of his success, they ood for the mouth of oasts of the bay. The ith their most valued se and .xignal-statiou le Pat ipsco with fifty imtnent poet, Lord Byron. n> 1 beauty- He was educated at MX, Sir Peter Parlter, who corn- profession under Lord Nelson » ship, in which he per ormet 4, and vdth him went with hl» vjt conveyed to Bermuda, ami reasel (the ff«bn«) to hnRland, ter. His friend, and one of je I to Ws wife, from winch tbc sail of vessels, bearing at least six thousand fighting men, for the purpose of attack- ing Baltimore. The victorious Ross, elated by his good fortune, had boasted that he would make that fine city of forty thousand inhabitants (one fifth negroes) his win- ter quarters. Saltimoro stands on the Patapsco River, ten miles from the Chesapeake. Tlie har- bor is entered by a narrow strait, commanded by Fort M'llenry, 'vhich stood there at the lime we are considering. The growth of the city had been extremely rapid. In 1814 it was the third in population, and fourth in wealth and commerce, in the United States. Intelligence of the capture of Wash- ington, created intense excitement in Baltimore. It was believed that the victorious Ross would fall upon it im- mediately, either by land or water; and the V3teran soldier of the Revolution, General Samuel Smith,' renewed his ex- ertions for the defense of the city, and Annapolis, the political capital of Mary- land. That v'igilant officer had been active ever since the first appearance of danger in the spring of 1813, when a British squadron appeared in tlie Ches- apeake. It was well known that the enenriy felt great exasperation toward the I'altimoreans because they had sent out so many swift " clipper-built" ves- sels and expert seamen to smite terri- bly the commerce of Great Britain on the high seas. " It is a doomed town," declared Vice-admiral Warren. " The American navy must be annihilated," said a London paper; his arsenals and dock -yards must be consumed, and ' Samuel Smith was born in Lancaster County, PcniiBvlvania, July 2T, 1T52. Hia education, commenced at Carlisle, was completed at an academy at Elltton, in Maryland, after his father made Baltimore his place of residence. lie was in his father's counting-house five years, and thcu, in 1TT2, sailed for Havre in one of his father's vessels as supercargo. Having traveled extensively in Europe, he returned home to find his countrymen in the midst of the excitements of tlic opening' of tlie Revolutionary hostilities. The battles of Lexington, Concord, and Banker Hill bad been fought. Fired with patriotic zeal, he sought to serve his country in the army, and In January,lITO, obtained a captaln'r- commission in Colonel Sraallwood's regiment. He was soon after- ward promoted to the ranlt of major, and early In 1777 he received n lieutenant colo- nel's commission. In that capacity he served with distinction in the bfittlus of Brandywine and Fort Mifflin, suflfcred at Valley Forge, and participated in the action on the plains of Monmouth. For his gallantry at Fort Mifflin, Congress voted him thanks and a sword. At the close of the war he was ap- pointed a brigadier general of militia, and commanded the Maryland quota of troops In the " Whisky Insurrection" in Pennsylva- nia. He served as major general In the War of 181?, anO commanded the troops assembled for the defense of Baltimore in 1S14. At that period he was spending much of his time at his elevaut country-seat of Mit/ifeMdi, north 01 Baltimore, which is yet (1307) standing MONTItl;KI.I,0. During a riot In Baltimore in 1$S6, when the civil power was Inadequate to 1 1 m \m I mil 948 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Preparations for the Defense of Baltimore in 1813 and 1814. Patriotism of tlie Cilizcng, ' 1818. the truculent inhabitants of Baltimore must be tamed with the weapons which shook the wooden turrets of Copenhagen." So early as the 13th of April, 1813, the City Councils of Baltimore appropriated twenty thousand dollai's to be used for the defense of the city, under the direction of the mayoi', Edward Johnson, and seven other citizens, who were named as a Com- mittee of Supply.' The gc .ernor of the State (Levin Vfinder) also called an extra- ordinary session of the Legislature, to meet at Annapolis on the third Monday in May. Meanwhile a rumor reached the city that the enemy were approaching, aiid within a few hours at least five thousand armed men were found i?i their proper places, and several companies of militia from the country came pouring into Balti- more. Several persons Avere arrested as traitors and spies. These deraonstritions of preparation and power undoubtedly saved the city from assault at that time. Very soon afterward, Strieker's brigade, and other military bodies in the city, full five thousand strong, with forty pieces of artillery, were reviewed. At the beginning of June a batt'jry was erected at Fort M'PIeury for the marine artillery of Baltimore one hundred and sixty in number, under Captain George Stiles, and composed of mas ters and master's-mates of vessels there It was armed with 42-pounders.2 In September* the British fleet went to sea, and Baltimore enjoyed a season of repose. The blockaders, as we have observed, reappeared in the Chesa- peake in the spi-ing of 1814, and all tLe summer and early autumn infested its wa- ters, during which time occurred the destructive invasion recorded in the preceding chapter, when every thing that could be done by vigilant men for the safety of Bal- timore was accomplishe(?. A Committee of Vigilance and Safety, of which Mayor Johnson was Chairman, aiid Theodore Bland was secretaiy, co-operated unceasingly with General Smith and the military. On the 27th of August, three days after the capture of Washington, that committee called upon the citizens to organize into working parties, and to contribute implements of labor for the purpose of increasing the strength of the city defenses. The city was divided into four sections, and the people of each 'abored alternately on the fortifications. The exempts from military service and free colored men were required to assemble fof labor, with provisions for a day, at Hempstead Hill (equally well known as Loudenslager's Hill), on Sunday, the 28th of September ; at Myer Garden on Monday ; at Wasliington Square on Tues- day ; and at the intersection of Eutaw and Market Streets on Wednesday. Eoch portion, comprising a section, was under the command of appointed superintendents. The response of the citizens in men and money was quick, cordial, and ample ; and volunteers to work on the fortifications came from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vii- ginia. By the 1 0th of September General Winder was in Baltimore, with all the forces of the Tenth Military District at his command. The principal fortifications constructed by the people consisted of a long line on Hempstead, or Loudenslager's Hill, now the site of Patterson Park. At proper dis- tances several semiaircular batteries were constructed, well mounted with cannon and qnell the violence of the mob, the aged generrl, then oigtity-fonr years old, appeared in the streets with the United i'tates fliig, placed himself at the head of peaceful citiaMins, and very soon restored order and tranquillity. In the an- tnmn of that year he was elected mayor of the city, which office he held until his death on the 2'id of April, iS.tn, at thr age of eighty-seven years. General Smith waj elected a representative In Congress In 1793, and served until 1803. He was again elected in 1816, and served six years longer. He was also a member of the TTnlted States Senate for a period of twenty-three years. The portrait on the preceding page is from a painting in possession of his son, Qenernl Jnliii Spear Smith, who was his volunteer ald-de-camp during the defense of Bnltimnre In 1S14. It was painted by iJlllicit Stuart when the general was about forty-flve years of age. lie is in the uniform of a miOcr general of that day (1791). and shows the Order of thi Cincinnati suspended from a button-hole. 1 These were James Hosher, Luke Tiernan, Henry Payson, Dr. J. C. White, James A. Bnchannan, Samuel Sterett, and Thorndike Gha«e. « This corjffl was celebrated for its gallantry. Dr Martin (see note 1, page 928) says, in his MS. Reminiscences before me, that when he was atBladensburg, the British officers, who were expecting re-enforcements for Winder from Ball!- more, " were particularly anxious about the marine ar'Jllery— the material of which it was c.imposed, the weight of pietal, number of men, etc. I exaggerated the condition of its ability to do effective service," he said, "and I coiifldent- ly believe that, had they been part of our force at Bladensburg, we would have succeeded In driving back the enemy, It not lu capturing the whole force, for I never eaw men so completely exhausted as were the foe." OF THE WAR OF 1812. 049 airlotism of the Cillitns, ipoDS which shook nore appropriated er the direction of named as a Com- 80 called an extra- 3 third Monday in 3 approaching, and ind in tlielr proper pouring into Balti- ese deraonstrntions sault at that time, ies in the city, full At the beginning' tillery of Baltimore id composed of mas lounders.^ ire enjoyed a season jared in the Chesa- imn infested its wa- led in the preceding or the safety of Bal- 3ty, of which Mayor •perated unceasingly three days after the 3n8 to organize into lurpose of increasing )ur sections, and the [empts from military ', with provisions for [r's Hill), on Sunday, ton Square on Tues- Wednesday. Enr-h ited superintendents, ial, and ample ; ami ,, Maryland, and Vir- ,ro,with all the forces 3d of a long line on [ark. At proper dis- Ited with cannon and 1 the streets with the United land tranqumUy. lu the an- il the Md of April, 1S39, nt t>.r la, and served until 1803. Ho led States Senate for a period Won of his son, General .lohii u. It was painted by Oillici; Icr general of that day (ITO^. Ichannan, Samnel Sterett, ord his MS. Bemlniecences before ments for Winder from Bait!- Us cimposed, the weight ot ie," he said, " and I confldent- Iln driving back the enemy, H le toe." Fortifications at Baltimore. Troops for Defense, and their Uispositlon. ably manned, some of them by volunteer artillery companies of Baltimore, but chiefly by men-of-war's men, about twelve hundred in number, under the general command of Commodore Rodgers. The spaces between these batteries were filled with mili- tia. One of the larger of these bastions, known as Rodgers's Bastion, may now (1807) ilUUOEBS's BASTION.' be seen, well preserved, on the harbor side of Patterson Park, and overlooking Fort M'Henry and the region about it. Four of the smaller batteries on this line M'orc ui charge of officers of the Cruerriere and Erie, the former then lying in Baltimore Har- bor.^ A brigade of Virginia Volunteers and of regular troops, including a corps of cav- alry under Captain Bird, were placed under the command of General Winder ; the City Brigade of Baltimore was commanded by General Strieker ; and the general management of the entire military force destined \ov the defense of the city was in- trusted to General Smith. Fort M'Henry was garrisoned by about one thousand me:i, volunteers and regulars, commanded by Major George Armistead. To the right of ii, guarding the shores of the Patapsco. on the I'erry Branch, from the landing of troops who might endeavor to assail the city in the rear, were two redoubts, named respectively Fort Covington, and City, or Babcock Battery. The former was manned by a detachment of seamen under Lieutenant Newcorab, and the latter — a 6-gun bat- tery — by another detachment from Barney's flotilla under Sailing-master John A. Webster. In the rear of these, upon high ground, at the end of Light Street, near the present Fort Avenue, was an unfinished circular redoubt for seven guns, in charge of Lieutenant (Seorge Budd. On Lazaretto Point, across the entrance channel to Bal- timore Harbor, opposite Fort M'Henry, was also a small battery, in charge of Lieu- tenant Rutter, of the flotilla. To these several batteries, and to Fort M'Henry, the citizens of Baltimore looked most confidently for defense.' Such were the most important?preparationa for the reception of the enemy, when, on Sunday evening, the 11th of September, they were seen at the mouth of the Pa- < This view Is f^om one sidt of the bastion, looking toward the harbor. On the point on the right is seen Fort M'Henry. The point opposite Is Lazaretto Point. ' These were Lieutenant Onmblc, the first of the Gturriere, Midshipman Field, Sailing-master Hamate, and Mldchlp- man Salter, of the same vessel, and Sailing-master Dc la Roche, of the Erie ' Letter of Commodore Rodgers to the Secretary of the Navy, September 28,1814; Letter of Sailing-master (now Cap- tain) John A. Webster to Brantz Mayer, Esq., Jtil; 22, 18SS, I i [till ■ ' i t |.,|f I t':! hi 960 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK "'i The British land at North Point. Preparations for advancing on Baltimore. General Strieker sent to oppose then. tapsco, in strong force, preparing to land at North Point, twelve miles from Balti- more by Avater, and fifteen miles by land. Off that point the fleet anchored that evening. The night was a delightful one. The air was balmy, and the full moon shone brightly in a cloudless sky. The sarth was refreshed by vhe falling of a heavy dew. The fleet lay two miles from the shore. Brief repose was given to its people, • September 12, for, at two o'clock in the morning," the boats of every sliip were low- 1814. ered, and then the land troops and scan, n went to the shore, under cover of several gun-brigs anchored within a cable's length of the beach. The boats went in divisions, and the leading one of each was armed with a carronade ready for actioii. At about seven o'clock in tlie morning, General Ross and Admiral Cockburn were on shore, with a force nine thousand strong, composed of five thousand land tioops, two thousand marines, and two thousand seamen, led by Captain E. Crofton. They were furnished with cooked provisions sufiicient for three days. Each combatant bore eighty rounds of ammunition, and carried as little baggage as possible, for they were to march rapidly and take Baltimore by surprise, where Ross had boasted that he should eat his Sunday dinner. At the same time, a frigate was sent to try the depth and take the soundings of the channel leading to Baltimore, as the navy, under the immediate command of Captain Nourse, of Cockburn's flag-ship Severn, was to co-operate wi' h the arif y. Intelligence of these movements produced great alarm in Baltimore. A large number of families, with portable articles of value, were sent uito the interior of the country, and every inn, for almost a hundred miles northward of the city, was crowded with the refugees. When it was known tnat the Britisli fleet was anchor- ed ofl" North Point, General Smith, who had about nine thousand troops under his command, sent General Striek- er' with three thousand two hundred in that direction to watch the movements of the enemy and act as circum- stances might warrant. He left the city toward even- ing, and just before sunset reached a meeting-house (yet Stan d- r^\ METnODIST UEETLNU-UOl'BE. ^jj^^-T^^*^ '^/^c^c^t VJ'Z^ ing) almost seven miles from tlie town, near the junction of the roads leading respectively to North Point and Bear Creek. Meanwhile Major Randall, of the Maryland militia, had been sent with a light corps from General Stansbury's brigade, and the Pennsylvania Volunteers, to tiie mouth of Bear Creek, to co-operate with Strieker, and to check the de- barkation of the enemy, should it bo attempted at that point. Strieker's little army rested until morning at the meeting-house, not far from what was then called Long Log Lane (now the road to North P«int), with the exception of a de- tachment of one hundred and forty horsemen xmder Lieutenant Colonel Biays, who were ordered forward, three miles, to Gorsuch's farm, and I The Kbove portrait of General Strieker Is fhim a painting in the possession of the Maryland Historical Society, erol Strieker died in Baltimore on the 2Sd of June, 1820, Gen- OF THE WAR OF 1812. 051 ker eent to oppose them. miles from Balti- eet anchored that and the full moon falluig of a heavy ;iven ♦o its people, •ry sliip were low- shore, under cover , The boats went ie ready for actioil. ral Cockburn wore tusaud land tioops, E. Crofton. They Each combatant vs possible, for they 88 had boasted that yas sent to try the , as the navy, imder ship Severn, was to uced great alarm in calue,were senthito miles northward of Position of the American Troops. Disposition of the British Troops. Preliminary SlEirmish. lODIST IIEKTIKO-UOCBB. /en miles from the junction of the roads [vely to North Point , Meanwhile Major ^laryland militia, had a light corps from jury's brigade, and [ia Volunteers, to the Creek, to co-operate Ind to check the de- enemy, should it he lat point. [le army rested until meeting-house, not -as then called Long the road to North e exception of a de- |e hundred and forty r Lieutenant Colonel fre ordered forward, Gorsuch's farm, and land Historical Society. Gen- one hundred and fifly riflemen under Captain Dyer, who were directed to take posi- tion at a blacksmith's shop one mile in the rear of the cavaliy. So they remained until the moi'ning of the 12th, when information was received fi-om the vedettes that the enemy had landed at North Point, w^en Strieker immediately sent back his bag- gage under a strong guai'd, and disposed his troops for battle in three lines, stretch- ing from a branch of Bear Creek on his right, to a swamp on the mai-gin of a branch of Back River on his left. The sevei*al corps v/ere posted as follows: the Fifth Bal- timore Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Sterett, five hundred and fifty strong, were placed on the right, extending from Long Log Lane to a branch of Besy Creek ; the Twenty-seventh Maryland Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Long, numbering the same, were on the lefb of the Fiflh, extending from the Lane to the swamp ; and the Union Artillerymen of Baltimore, seventy-five in number, with six 4-pounders, under Cap- tain Montgomery, then Attorney General of the State, were in the Lane. The Thirty- ninth Regiment, four hundred and fifty men, under Lieutenant Colonel Fowler, were posted three hundred yards in the rear of the Twenty-seventh and parallel with it ; and on the riglit of the Thirty-ninth, at the same distance in the rear of the Fifth, were the Fifly-first Regiment, inider Lieutenant Colonel Amey. These formed the second line. About half a mile in the rear of this line, near the site of the present (1867) Battle-ground House, was a reserve corps, consisting of the Sixth Regiment (six hundred and twenty men), under Lieutenant Colonel M'Donald. Thus judicious- ly posted, Strieker awaited the approach of Ross. The British general disposed his troops as at Bladensburg. A coi'ps composed of the light companies of the Fourth, Twenty-first, and Forty-fourth Regiments, the en- tire Eighty-tiflh, a battalion of "disciplined negroes," and .. company of marhies, num- bering in the aggregate about eleven hundred men, under Major Jones, were sent in advance. These were followed by six field-pieces and two howitzers d wn by horses ; and the whole formed the first brigade. The second brigade, under Colonel Brooke, was composed of the Fourth and Forty-fourth Regiments, about fourteen hundred strong, and was followed by more than a thousand sailors led by Captain Crofton. The rear, or third brigade, consisted of the Twenty-first Regiment, and a battalion of raa.'ines, numbering in all about fointeen hundred and fifty men, under Colonel Pat- terson At the same time, the fleet moved toward Baltimore to attack Fort M'Henry. Feeling confident of success, Ross and Cockburn rode gayly forward at the head of the troops for about an hour, when they halted at Gorsuch's farm, and spent an- other hour in resting and careless carousing. The American riflemen in the advance had fallen back in the mean time, with the impression that the British were landing on Back River or Bear Creek to cut them off, and they were placed on tlie right of Strieker's front line. When the general was informed of the exact position of the invaders, he sent forward to attack them the companies of Captains Levering and Howai-d from Sterett's Fifth, one hundred an'i fifty in number, under Major Richard K. Heath, and Asquith's and a few other riflemen, numbering about seventy, with a small piece of artillery and some cavalry under Lieutenant Stiles. They met the British advancing, and a skirmish ensued near the house occupied, when the writer visited the spot in 1861, by Samuel C. Cole as a store and dwelling, seven and a half miles from Baltimore, and about seven from the landing-place of the Biitish. Ross was mortally wounded by one of two young men, natives of Maryland, belonging to Asquith's rifle corps, and who had both fought in the battle at Bladensburg. Their names were Daniel Wells and Henry C. M'Comas. They were concealed in a hollow, and fired the fatal shot when Ross appeared upon a little knoll near them. That commander died in the arms of his favorite aid, the now (1867) venerable Sir Duncan M'Dougall, of London,' before his bearers reached the boats at North Point. " He ' Sir Dnncan M'Don^all, K.C.F., son of Patrick H'Souf^ali, Esq., of Argyleshire, Scotland, was bom in 1789. He en- tend the army in isai, and served in several regiments, and on the staff in Portugal, Spain, France, America, Cape of :l'i i: --i [ 032 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Death orUeoeral Rosa. Advance ^f the BrItlHh. A spirited Battle. lived only long enough," Hays Glelg," to name his wife, and to commend his fum- ily to the protection of his country.' In this skirmish Heath's horse was sliot under hira, and several Americans wore killed or wounded. Among the slain were the two young men whose bullets brought Ross to the earth.' Tiie ad- vancing British far outnumbered Heath's detachment, and he ordered them to fall back. Finding the com- panies of Levering and Howard too fa- tigued to engage efficiently in the im- pending battle, Strieker ordered them to the rear to attach themselves to the reserve. On the fall of Ross the command of the British troops devolved on Colonel A. Brooke, of the Forty-fourth Regi- ment, and under his direction the entire invading force pressed vigorously forward. At about two o'clock in the afternoon they came within cannon-shot of the American line, and were immediately formed in battle order. Their first brigade, supported by the For- ty-fourth Regiment, the seamen and marines, menaced the entire front of the Amer- icans, and commenced the action by opening a brisk discharge of cannon and rockets upon them. The British Twenty-first remained in column as a reserve; and the Fourth made a circuitous march to turn the left flank of the Americans, against which also artillerists and rocketeers directed their missiles, and were replied to by Captain Montgomery's cannon. General Strieker instantly comprehended the meaning of the flank movement and artillery attack, and brought up the Thirty-ninth Regiment, with two field-pieces, to its support in a line with the Twenty-seventh, which was behaving most gallantly. He also ordered the Fifty-first, under Colonel Aniey, to form in line at right angles with the first line, with its right resting on the left of the Thirty-ninth. This movement was productive of some confusion, but Strieker's staff" soon brought out order. The battle was continued with great spirit on botli sides, in the mean time, with Victory coquetting first with one and then Avith the other, and the armies swaying backward and forward with mutual pressure. When the contest had been carried on for about two hours the enemy's right col- umn fell upon and endeavored to turn the i^.merican left. The Fifty-first were sud- denly struck with dismay, and, after firing a voUey at random, broke, and fled in wild disorder, producing a like effect in the second battalion of the Thirty-ninth. Good Hope, and West Indies. He has the distinction of having received into his arms two eminent British generals when they fell In battle, namely, General Boss, killed .loar Baltimore, and General Pakenham, slain near New Orleous. He commanded the Seventy-ninth Highlanders for several years. His son and heir. Colonel Patrick Leonard M'Dou- Kall, l« commandant of the Royal Stall College. The family is descended, in a direct line, trom Somerled, the Prince of the western coaet of A'gyleshlre, and famons " liord of the Isles." The above portrait of the gallant soldier Is from a carte de visite likeness, gent to me at my reqnest by Sir Dnncan in the enmmer of 1861. ' The remains of these young men were reinterrod In a vault in Ashland Square on the 12th of September, 18B8, with civic and military honors. The mayor of the city, Thomas Swann, made some remarks, and was followed by Hon. John C. Le Grand, who pronounced an oration. A dirge was executed by the East Baltimore band, and before the retnalns were laid in the vault, over which a monument Is to be erected, the Law Greys flred a volley over them. :ir OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 908 A spirited Buttle. rb,"8ay8Gleig,"to I coinineml his fam- of his country.' In I's liorse was shot ral Americans were Among the slain men whose bullets e earth. ^ The atl- r outnumbered it, and he ordered Finding the com- and Howard too fa- fficiently in the im- icker ordered them h themselves to the )88 the command of devolved on Colonel Forty-fourth Regi- 3 direction the entire duig force pressed rously forward. At it two o'clock in the I mo on they came lin cannon-shot of American line, and ipported by the Fov- •e front of the Amer- Plcture ufthe Battle of Nortb Puint. cannon and rockets a reserve ; and the ricans, against which )lied to by Captain the meaning of tlu' ■ty-ninth Regiment, seventh, which was er Colonel Amey, to ESting on the left of fusion, but Strieker's great spirit on both and then with the .al pressure, le enemy's right col- Fifty-first were sud- n, broke, and fled in of the Thirty-ninth, wo eminent BrltUh generals ,am, slain near New Orleans, incl Patrick Leonard M'Dou- from Somerled, the Frince of the gallant soldier is from a 12th of September, 1858, with d was followed by Hon. John land, and before the remaina ej over them. I ' |l|l All efforts to rally the fugitives were vain. But the remainder of the Thirty-niuth M ,1 * 054 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK W-\ II ; ni^-; Retreat of the Amerlciina. The BritiHh Fleet approaches Baltlmure. PreparutlonH tu attack Furt M'Uturv. and the gallant Twenty-seventh (whose tattered bat- tle-flag, now in the possession of its bearer in the fight Captain Lester, of Baltimore, attests the severity of their conflict) bravely maintained their position. Fi- nally, at about four o'clock, when the superior force of the enemy could no longer be kept in check. General Strieker ordered a retreat upon his reserved corps. This movement was performed in good order. Some of the wounded and two field-pieces were abandoned. Strieker reformed his brigade, and then fell back to- ward the city as far as Worthington's Mill, about half a mile in advance of the intrenchments car.t up by the citizens. There he was joined by General ^V^inder, with General Douglass's Virginia Brigade and Captain ^^ Bird's United States Dragoons, who took post on his "^"I^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^— ^ left. The British bivouacked on the battle-field that "^ '^ night, after calling in some pursuers and collecting the stragglers. While these movements were in operation on the land, the British fleet was pro- paring to perform a conspicuous part in the drama. Frigates, schooners, 8loop.s, aiul bomb-ketches had entered the Patapsco early in the morning of the 12th, while Hoss was moving from North Point, and anchored oft" Fort M'Henry (then about one htJf its present dimensions), beyond the reach of its guns, near the present Fort Carroll. ^.;--.B;^. BATTLB-FLAO OP TIIB TWKNTT-BBVKMTH BKUIliEHT.' I'OBT M'UKNBY in ISUl. During the day and evening the bomb and rocket vessels were so posted as to act upon the fortifications on the hill, commanded by Rodgers, as well as on Fort M'Henry, while the frigates were stationed farther outward, the water being so slial- ' low that they could not approach nearer the city than four or five miles, nor the fort within two and a half miles. The Americans had already sunk some vessels, as ve have observed, in the narrow channel at Fort M'Henry, which prevented any pas?a(;e by the ships of the enemy.^ During the night of the 12th the fleet made full prepa- rations for an attack on the fort and hill intrenchments on the morning of the 13tli, when Brooke was to move on Baltimore with the British land force from the battle- field of the day before. The fleet prepared for action consisted of sixteen heavy ves- sels, five of them bomb-ships. Fort M'Henry was commanded by a brave soldier, and defended by gallant com- ' This little picture represents the tnttered battle-flag of the Jeferson BhieM, Twenty-seventh Regiment of the Mary- land Militia, who fought gallantly on the 12th of September, 1814. It was in the poseesHlon of Captain John Lester, of Ball,imore, when I made a sketch of It In 1862. He has presented It to the Maryland Historical Society. It is blue (ilk, with the designs in gold. Its width is four feet six inches. It is qnlte tattered. The black spots represent the forms of cannon-ball holes made during the battle. On scrolls are the words Jefferson liluea and Hon tibi »ed patria. » General Smith, on the recommendation of Commodore Rodgers, caused twenty-four vessels then lying In the harbor to be sunk in the narrow channel between Fort M'Henry and Lazaretto Point. These were afterword raised at the ex- jwnse of the United States. The aggregate amount of money paid to the owners afterward was about $100,000. H»P"s^ OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 055 nB tu uttuck Furl M'lU'ury. whose tattered bat- i bearer in the fight, '8t8 the severity of their |iosition. Fi- ,he superior force of pt in clieck, General his reserved corps. good order. Some jes were abandoiitd. d then fell back to- on's Mill, about iialf ncnts caf.t up by tlic General ^Vinder, with rs. 3ritish fleet was pre- icliooners, sloops, and the 12th, wliile Ross (then about one lit»lf present Fort Carroll. Xli» Defenders of Fort M 'Henry. Bombardment of the ?ort. Ita effective Beply. e so posted as to act as well as on Fort water being so slial- e miles, nor the fort some vessels, as ^e •evented any passaj^c fleet made full prcpa- morning of the 13tli, brce from the hattle- of sixteen heavy vcs- ided by gallant cora- venth Regiment of the Mary- lu of Cnptiiln John Uster.or irlcftl Society. It Is bine Mlk, ick BpotB represent the forms J jVonsiftioedpatna- ssels then lying In the harbor •,re fttlerward rnlsed ntthe ei- :d was aboat $100,000. ^^c^^^^^ ^ <^t^^Z^- nanions. The latter were composed of one company of United States Artillery, iin- iler Captain Evans ; two companies of Sea-fencibles, under Cai)taiiiH Hunbury and Ad- dison ; two companies of volunteers from the city, named respectively the " Washiiijj- ton Artillery" and the " Baltimore Independent Artillerists," the former commanded by Captain John Berry, and the latter by Lieutenant Commanding Charles Penning- ton ; the " Baltimore Fcncibles," a fine company of volunteer artillerists led by Judge Joseph II. Nichol- ^ iion; a detachment (j of Barney's flotil- la-men, command- // ^ od by Lieutenant Redman ; and de- tachments of regulars, in all six hundred men, furnished by General Winder from the y^ ( /^ Twelfth, Fourtee...,h, Thirty -sixth, and Thirty-eighth Uegi- C-<^ JLTiA d / ''*'^' ""J*^"" t^'^ command of Lieutenant Colonel Stewart and ^J c^ V\JLJ Major Lane. The regular artillerists under Captain Evans, and the volunteers under Captain Nicholson, manned the bastions in tlie Star Fort. Tiie commands of Bunbury, Addison, Redman, Berry, and Pennington were stationed the lower works ; and the infantry, imder Stewart and Lane, were placed in the outer ditch, to meet the enemy at his landing, if ho should attempt it. Tlie bomb-vessels opened a heavy fire upon the American works at sun- rise on Tuesday morning, the 13th, at about seven o'clock, at a distance of two miles, and kept up a well-directed bombardment until three o'clock in the afternoon. Armistead immediately opened the batteries of Fort M'llenry upon them, and kept up a brisk fire for some time from his guns and mor- tars, when, to his great chagrin, he found that his missiles fell short, and were harmless. The garrison was ex- posed to a tremendous shower of shells for several hours without power to in- flict injury in turn, or even to check the fury of thu assault ; yet they kept at their posts, and endured the trial with cool courage and great fortitude. At length a bomb-shell dis- mounted one of the 24-pound- ers in the southwest bastion, under the immediate command of Captain Nicholson, killing his second lieutenant (Clag- geit), and wounding several of his men. The confusion in the fort produced by this accident was observed by Cochrane, who commanded the fleet, and, hoping to profit by it, he ordered three of his bomb-vessels to move up nearer the fort in order to increase the eflfectiveness of their guns. This movement delight- ed Armistead. His turn for inflicting injury had come, and he quickly took advan- tage of it. He ordered a general cannonade and bombardment from every part of the fort ; and so severe was his punishment of the venturesome intruders, that within ! ' \\\ if 111'! m !: 956 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Attempt to aelze Kort Covington. Tbe Invadura driven off. Knd of the Bombnrtlmeni. half an hour they fell back to their old anchorage. The rocket-vesHcl M-ehus was so mucli injured that they were compelled to send a diviHioii of Hinall boats to tow her beyond the range of Armistead'a guns to save her from deutructiou. The garrison gave three cheers, and the firing ceased. After resuming their former stations the vessels kept up a more furious bombard- ment than before, with slight intermissions, until past midnight, when it was discov. ered that the enemy had thrown a considerable force up the Patapsco to the right of the fort, and between it and the city, under cover of the darkness, for the purpose of capturing Fort Covington, commanded by Lieutenant Newcomb, of the United States Navy, and the City Battery, in charge of the gallant sailing-masfcr of Barney's flotil- la, and assaulting Fort M'llenry in the rear. For this service twelve hundred ami fifty picked men were sent in barges, with scaling-ladders and other implements for storming the fort. For the purpose of examining the shores, wh. i near Covington they threw up sonic small rockets. These gave the alarm, and Fort M'llenry, as well as the two redoubts on the Patapsco, opened a heavy fire upon the invaders. It was kept up for nearly two hours, when the enemy were driven away. The concussion was tremendous. The houses in the city were shaken to their very foundations. Itodgers's men in Fort Covington worked their guns with great effect, but to tiio continuous and skillful cannonade kept up by Webster with his six-gun battcrv, nearer the sliore. Major Armistead said he was " persuaded the country was miicli iii- debted for the final repulse of the enemy." It is not too much to say, I think, that Captain Webster's gallant conduct on that occasion, which frustrated the plans of the British boat expedition, saved Fort M'llenry and Baltimore. Two of the enemy's vessels were sunk, and a large number of his men were slain. Sailing-master (after- ward Captain) Webster yet (1867) lives, at the age of eighty years, to enjoy the re- spect and gratitude of his countrymen. He was in active service until the year 1852. The bombardment from the vessels was continued until seven o'clock on the morn- ing of the 14th, when it ceased entirely.' The night had been passed in the greatest .inxiety by the inhabitants of Baltimore, for in the maintenance of Fort M'llenry was y . their chief hope for the safety of the city. An incident V^ jf^i^^f^^oyj which occurred at that time gave birth to one of the most popular of our national songs, the Star-spangled Hanner,^ in which that anxiety is graphically expressed. It was written by Francis S. Key, who was a resident of George- town, in the District of Columbia, and then a volunteer in the light artillery com- manded by Major Peter.' ' The bombardment of Fort M'Hcnry lasted twenty-five honrs, with two slight intermissions, and it was estimaleil by Armistead that during that time from 1500 to ISOO shells were thrown by the enemy. A few of them fell short, tnl a greater number burst over the fort, throwing their fragments among the garrison. Abont 400 Aielis fell wllhlu the works, some of them, afterward dug up, weighing 210 and 220 pounds. " Wonderful as it may appear," said the com- mander in his report, " our loss amounts only to fonr men killed and twenty-four wounded. The latter will nil recov- er." The wife of a soldier, while conversing with her husband before the tents outside of the fort, was cut in two by a cannon-ball. A shell fell into the magazine, but did not explode. ' The fac-simile of the original manuscript of the first stanza of the " Star-spangled Banner," given on the opposite page, was first published, by permission of ite owner (Mrs. Howard), daughter of the author, in "Autograph Leaves of our Country's Authors," a volume edited by John P. Kennedy and Alexander Bliss for the Baltimore Sanitary Fair.lWl. 3 On the return of the British to their vessels after the capture of Washington City, they carried with them Dr. Beanes, an influential citizen and well-known physician of Upper Marlborough. His friends begged for his release, but Cockbum refused to give him up, and sent him on board the flag-ship of Admiral Cochrane. Mr. Key, well known for his affability of manner, was solicited to go to Cochrane as a pleader for the release of the doctor. He consented. The President granted bim permission, and, in company with the late Oeneral J. 8. Skinner, he went In the cnrtel-shlp Minden, under a flag of truce. They found the British fleet at the mouth of the Potomac, preparing to attack Bnlllmore. Cochrane agreed to release Beanes, but refused to let him or his friends return then. They were placed on board the Surprine, where they were courteously treated. The fleet sailed up to the Patapsco, where they were transferred to their own vessel, but with a guard of marines to prevent their landing and communicating information to thtir conntrymen. The Mindm was anchored in sight of Fort M'Henry, and fh)m her deck the three friends saw the bombardment of that { fortress which soon ensued. It ceased, as we have observed In the text, soon after midnight. Having no communicj- tion with the shore, these anxious Americans did not know whether the fort had surrendered or not. They awaited the dawn with the greatest sollcltnde. In the dim light of the opening morning they saw through their glasses that OF THE WAR OF 1812. 067 Knd of the Bnmhnrdmenl. -vcHHcl ijrefnis waa 80 mull boats to tow her Action. The garrwon lore furious bombard- t, wlicn it was discov- ta|)8CO to tbc right of 38S, for tbo ])uri)08e of \), of tbc Unitiul Stall's isfer of IJarucy's flotil- B twelve bundreil ami otbcr iniplemi'iitH for wli. 1 near Covington Fort M'llenry, as wdl I tbc invaders. It was way. Tbo ccxussion bcir very foundations. reat effect, but to tiic li bis six-gun battery, ! country was much in- cb to say, I think, tii;it rustrated tlic plans of B. Two of tbe enemy's Sailing-master (after- years, to enjoy the re- servico until the year in o'clock on tbe morn- i passed in tbe greatest e of Fort M'llcnry was tlie city. An incident )irtb to one of the most Star-spangled Banner^- Uy expressed. It was 8 a resident of George- he ligbt artillery com- rmisBlons, and U was cstlmatetl A few of them fell short, tut About 400 Shells fell wllhlu tk it may appear," said the com- inded. The latter will nil recov- of the fort, was cut lu two by a Banner," given on the opposite uthor. In " Autograph Lcnvcs of he Baltimore Sanitary Fair, ISM. Ity, they carried with them Dr. ft-iends begged for his release, Cochrane. Mr. Key, well knom 96 of the doctor. He consented. inner, he went In the cartel-ship :, preparing to attack Baltimore. They were placed on board tke re they were transferred to their iformatlon to thtir conntryraeo. Is enw the bombardment of thai Jnight. Having no communlo- rendered or not. They awaited saw through their glasses that The Stor-ipangled Banner. I ' Simultaneously witb the movement of tbe fleet toward Fort M'Henry, on the raorn- "oar flag woa still there !" To their great Joy, they goon learned that the attack on Baltimore had failed, that Horb was killed, and that tbe Britleh were re-embarktng. When tbe fleet was ready to sail. Key and bis friends were released, iDd returned to the city. It was during the excitement of the bombardment, and when pacing the deck of the Minden with Intense Anxiety be- tween midnight and dawn, that Key composed that song—" The Star-spangled Banner"— which immortalUed him, and ohose first stansa expressed the feelings of thousands of eye-witnesses of the scene : A OfiS PICTUUIAL FIELD-BOOK Tba BrItUrti move towkrd Baltlmon. AmmKcnieiiU tat «n Auault on the Dehniieii nfthe ing of the inth, was that of the land forces of the Uritish from their Hmoiil(l(riii(» caiii|»-Hres on tlie hattle-tield, until they arrived at the brow of the Hlojje on whiili lav- Surrey Farm (now the valuable estate of Mrs. Jane Diinj^an), then the fine reNidonci, of Colonel Sterett,' of the Fifth Maryland Uefi;iinent, who was busily eni^aged in nut. inu; up intrenchments on Loudenslat^er's Hill, about two miles distant, between then, and Haitimore. There they halted to reeonnoitre, and Colonel IJrooko made liix Ikh,]. quarters at the old farm-house of Mr. Ernest, liirther in the rear. They were in sjulii of the American intrenehments, behin<l which were the brigades of Stansbury and B\)reman ; the Pennsylvania Volunteers, under C'olonels Cobeau and Findlay; tin marines, under Uodgors ; the Baltimore Artillery, under Colonel Harris; and the Marine Artillery, under Captain Stiles, who had spent the night under arms, exinjct- ing a vigorous j)ursuit and attaek by the Hritisli. The enemy manceuvred a good deal in tlu* morning toward the left of the American works, and at one time seemed disposed to move upon them by the York and liar- ford Roads; but they were baffled by eountervailing movements on the part ot'Otti- crals Winder and Strieker. At noon tJiey eoneentrated in front, and moved to within a mile of the intrenehments, when they made arrangements for an assault that even- ing. Perceiving this, (Jeneral Smith ordered Winder and Strieker to move to the right of the enemy, and, in the event of their making an attack, to fall upon tluir flank and rear. ]irf)oke was cautious and watchful, and clearly saw the peril ot his ])ro])osed undertaking. He was also aware that the bombardment of Fort Al'Ilcnry from morning until evening had produced very little effect upon that work, and that the vessels could not run by it because of the obstructions in the chaimel. Insttad of opening a battle, he sought and obtained a conference with Admiral Coclirano dur- ing the evening. The result of the interview was the conclusion that the eHbrt of "O Bny ! can yon gee, by the dawn's cnrly light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Wh<)80 broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous light, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting In air, Gave proof through tlie night that our flag was still tiicre : U say ! does that star-s|>unglcd banner yet wave O'er the laud of the free and the home of the bravo ?" The rude substance of t;'.e song was written on the back of a letter which Key happened to have In his pockol, ind ho wrote It out In full on the night after his arrival In Baltimore. On the following morning ho read It to hl» iinclp, Judge Nicholson, one of the gallant defenders of the fort, and asked his opinion of It. The judge was so pleased with It that he took it t the prlntlng-ofBco of Captain Henjnmin Edes, on the corner of Ualtimore and (lay Streets, mid di- rected copies of It to be struck off In hand-bill form. Edes was then on duty with the gallant Twenty-seventh licgl- ment, and his apprentice, Samuel Sands, who, 1 believe. Is yet living In Baltimore, net up the song In type, printed it, and distributed it among the citizens.* It was first sung in a restaurant In Baltimore, next door to the Holidii.v Street Theatre, by Charles Durang, to an assemblage of the jiatrlotlc defenders of the city, and after that, nightly at the tliei- tre. It created intense enthusiasm, and was every where sung In public and In private. "The Star-spangled Banner" ili^elf, the old garrison flag that waved over Fort M'llenry during that bombardment, Is still In existence. I saw it at the house of Christopher Hughes Armlstead (a son of the gallant defender of the fort) iu Baltimore during the late Civil War. It had eleven holes in It, made there by the shot of the British during tbc bombardment. ' When the British discovered that they were in actual possession, for a day, of the mansion of one of the nfBcersnf the American army then confronting them, they made Its contents the object of their special attcntl(m. The fnmliy had fled that morning, leaving the house in charge of only the colored butler and cook. Some Britleh ofUcers toul; possession of It. In the cellar was found a large quantity of choice wine. It was ft-cely used, and what was not con- sumed on the premises was carried away as lawfnl plunder. Wax-candles, bedding, and other things were also carried away, and all the bureau-drawers were ijroken open Iu a search for valuables. Among other things prized by the fam- ily which the plunderers seized was the Order of the Cincinnati that had belonged to the deceased father of Mrs, Ster- ett. Finally, after keeping the cook busy, and faring sumptuously, and when they were about to depart, the following good-natured but Impudent note was written and left on the sideboard : "Captains Brown, Wilcox, and M'Namara, of the Fifty-third Regiment, Royal Marines, have received everything' they could desire at this house, notwithstanding It was received at the hands of the butler, and in the absence of tiie colonel." I saw the original of this note In ISGO, iu the possession of a daughter of Colonel Sterett, the wife of J. M. Uolllns, then a captain in the United States Navy. It was written on a piece of paper on one side of which an epitaph for the tomb-stone of Mrs. Sterett's father had been prepared. * The words of the song were inclosed iu an elliptical border composed of the common type ornaments of that day. Around that border, and a little distance from it, on a line of the same form, are the words " Bombardment of Furl tPHmrit." The letters of these words are wide apart, and each one Is surrounded by a circle of stars. Around the ' four edges of the hand-bill is a heavy border of common typo ornaments. Below the song, within the ellipse, ate the words " Written by Francis S. Key, of Geurgetowu, D. 0." OP THE WAR OF 1 8 H. OSO III ( . i Miilt on tha Dehnieii ofthc (,'it;. from thoir RiiKmldi'ring if'tho h1<>|u' on wliich lay , tlion till- fine icsidfiKL. 1 biiHily cnj^agi'd in cant. ■H (liHtiintjlK'twccn thciu •1 Brooko niadt' hi.s luad. ■ar. Tlicy wurc in siirlit jrades ofStuiiHhury ami )l)eau and Findliiy; tli( :!oloiitd Harris; luul tlif iglit undor anus, expect- . the left of the American ni by the York and Ilm-- iients on the imrl (it'(ien- ont, and moved to witliiu for an assault that even- Strieker to move to tlie attack, to fall upon their early saw the peril ot'iiis vrdment of Fort ^I'llenry upon that work, and tlwi in the ehaniud. Instead til Admiral Cochrane dm- iclusion that the effort of nmlng, rUoiis fli;ht, camiogt I here: inppened to have In his pocket, jnd lU morning ho rend it to til* uurle, it. The judge was no jilcaswl with llaltimore nnd Ony Streeti', mid dl- 111 tlio gallant Twcnly-scvenlh Kcsi- ] -ct up the song In type, printprt it, [ore, next door to the Holldiiy Sirect r, and after that, nightly at the then- Ivate. ,.. 'Henry during that hombnrdmcnl, 1 of the gallant defender of the furl) the shot of the DrltlBh during tlic Ihe mansion of one of the ofBcere of Vhelr special attention. The family 1 cook. Some British olflccrs tocilc [fi-eely used, and what wna not con- k and other thlngn were also carried long other things prized by the fair- I to the deceased father of Mrs.Stcr- I were about to depart, the toilowing iMarlncs, have received every thin; Le butler, and In the absence of the lof Colonel Stereit, the wife of J. SI. Iper on one side of which an epitaph innmon type ornaments of that day. le the words " Bombardnienl o) Fort Id by a circle of stars. Aronnd the ■the song, within the ellipse, are the Th< I'riiliih fall bkck and rttoin to tiMir 8kl|w. Rflkct of tha RcpulM of the Invadart. Tha iirltliih Programme. the combined forces to capture Haltiujore was already a fiiilure, and that priulenco (leniiiuded an immediiite relinquishment of the enterprise. Hrooke liiist('iie<l back to camp. Tlie rain, which eommeiu'ed <lropi>iiij^ twenly-foi'r liours before, was yet fall- inir copiously, and the nii^ht was very dark. In the midst of the j^loom, at three o'idoek in the morning of the 14th, while the 8hij)s kept up the bombardment to di- vert the attention of the Aiiu'ricans, the Hritish stole otf to North Toint, and tied in boats to the fleet. The latter also withdrew at an early hour, and llaltimore was sftveil. When, at dtiwn, the retreat of the liritish was discovered, (4eneral Winder, with the Virginia brigade, Captain Bird's dragoons, Major Randall's light corpf, and all the cavalry, were immediately detailed in pursuit. But the troops were so exhaust- ed by continued watidiing and working after the battle and retreat, having been un- der arms during three days and three nights, a portion of the tinu! drenched by rain, that it was found impossible to accomplish any thing of moment beyond the picking up of a few stragglers of the enemy. The troops were taken on board the fleet on the evening of the 14th, and on the following nu)rning the entire land and naval ar- mament of the enemy went down the bay, crestfidlen and badly punished. In the l)attle of the I'ith they had lost their general, a lieutemmt, and thirty-seven men killed, and eleven ofticers and two hmidred and forty men wounded. The Americans lost twenty-four men killed, one hundred and thirty-nine wounded, fifty jjrisonere, and two field-pieces. In the attack on the forts by the shij)ping the British lost not a man killed or wounded, while the Americans lost four men killed and tAvcnty-four wounded, as wo liavo before observed, chiefly by the explosion of the shell that dis- mounted Nicholson's 24-poundcr. The successful defense of Baltimore was hailed with great delight throughout the country, and trembling Philadelphia and New York breathed freer. It was a very humiliating blow to the British, for great confidence of success was felt throughout the realm. After the capture of Washington, that of Baltimore seemed but holiday sport ; and so well assured of Ross's success there was the Governor General of Can- ada, tliat the proposed public rejoicings at Montreal because of the capture of Wash- ington were postponed, bo that they might celebrate that of Baltimore at the same time ! lu England no one seemed to doubt that an army from Canada would meet that of Ross on the Susquehanna or the Schuylkill as conquerors of the country, and that Baltimore would be their base for future operations. " In the dij)lomatic circles ii is rumored," said a London paper as early as the llth of June, " that our naval and military commanders on the Am'^rican station have no power to conclude any armis- tice or suspension of arms. They carry with them certain terms," the supercilious writer continued, " which will be ofibred to the American government at the point of the bayonet. There is reason to believe that America will be left in a much worse situatior , as a naval and commercial power, than she was at the commencement of the war." This programme, so delightsome to British arrogance and British commercial greed, was not carried out. On the very day when Ross and his army anchored off" North Point,* Sir George Prevost, the Governor General of Canada, and his . September ii. army, making their way toward the Susquehanna, were so smitten at **^'*- the very beginning of their march — within the sound of cannon-booming of the Can- ada line — that they fled back toward the St.Lawrence in wild disorder.' Instead of monrning as captives, the Americans were jubilant as victors. The prowess of Colonel Armistead and his little band in defending Fort M'Henry was a theme for praise upon every lip. The grateful citizens of Baltimore presented hira with a costly and appropriate testimonial of their appreciation of his services in the shape of an elegant silver vase, in the form and of the size of the largest bomb- 1 See page 8T5. I! •1 *l |i ii mi n f 1'9 960 PICTOBI\L FIELD-BOOK Honors to Colonel Armistcnd. Tokens of pnbllc Gratitude. The Artnlstead Faniilj. shell thrown into the fort by the British ; also goblets and salver of the same ma- terial.' These are in the possession of his son, who. as we have observeil, has the old " Star-spangled Han- ner," and also a sword voted to him by the Stato of Vir- ginia.'' After his death a tine marble monument was erected to his memory, on which the following words were written with a pen of steel : " Colonel George Ar- MisTEAD, in honor of wliom this monument is erected, TIIK AllMIBTEAl) VABK, was the gallant defender of Fort M'Henry during the bombardment of the British fleet, 13th September, 1814. He died, universally esteemed and regretted, on the 25th of April, 1818, aged thirty-nine years. "^ The grateful citizens were not contented with bestowing praises upon their defenders, so tliey devised a memf>rial as perpetual and enduring as marble could make it. ~ i the now great city of Baltimore, containing (1867) full two hundred and forty thousand souls, may be seen a noble monument designed by Maximilian Godefroy, and wrought in Avhite marble. It was erected in 1815, at a cost of sixty thousand dollars, in commemoration of those who, on the 13th and 14th of Septem- aiuiibteaii'b monument. ' The vase was made to answer the pnrpose of a pnnch-bowl. The iaa.e is in the form of a shrnpuel shell. The bndj rests upon four eagles wiih outspread wings. Upon one side Is an engraving, surronndcd by military trophies, repre- senting the boTibardment of Fort M'Henry. Upon the other side is the following Ini^cription': " Presented by a niim- ber of the cilizens of Baltimore to Lieutenant Coioiicl George Annistead. for his gallant and successful defense of Fort M'Henry during the bombardment by a large British force on the 12th and 13th of September, ISU, when upwnrd of IBOO shells were thrown, 400 of which fell within the area of the fort, and some of them of the diameter of this vase " I am indebted to the kind courtesy of Mr. C. Hughes Armistead for the photograph of the vase and surroundings from which the above picture was engraved. » That sword was presented to his son, C. Hughes Armlitead, and baars the following inscription : " The State of Vir- ginia to Colonel George Armistead, U. 8. A. Honor to the brave. Presented by the State of Virginia to the eon of Col- onel Georjje Armistead, late of the Army of the United States, as an evidence of the high esteem and admiration enter- taincdbyhis n ''ve state of the courage and soldierlike conduct of Colonel Armistead in the cannonade of Fort Gcorgf by Niagara, and ia the gallant defense of Fort M'Henry, September 14, 1814." » George Armistead was born at New Market, Caroline County, Virginia, on the 10th of April, 1T80, and was rchtfd to several of the most distinguished families in that state. He entered the army as second lieutenant in 17W. lie vu appointed assistant military agent at P"rt Niagara in isn2, and a^ sistant paymaster in 1806. He rose • ihe rank of major of the Third Artillery in 1813, and was distinguished at the captnrc of Fort George, in May, 1818, where his brother, William Keith Armistead, as chief engineer on the Niagara, was conspicuous in the bom'o.ir(l- mt.it of Fort NIagpra In November, 1812. For his gallantry at Fort Ger.rge, the subject of this notice was breveted lieutenant colonel. He had Hve brothers In the army during the War of 1812, three in the regular service and two In the militia. Lieutenant Colonel Annistead served mnch among the Indians previous to his marriage with a sister of the eminent Christopher Hnghcs, In 1810. While in command of Furt M'Henry, after the war, a number of chiefs villi- e'd him, and partcok of refreshments oat of the allver bomb-shell. OF THE WAR 0? 1812. 961 The Arinlstciid Family. thrown into the fort le British ; also gu'olets salver of the same ma- 1.1 These are in tho Bssion of his son, who, ve have observed, lias )ld " Star-spanglod JJan- ' and also a sword voted im by the State of Vir- 1.2 After liis death a marble monument was ted to his memory, on }h the following words 3 written with a pen of I : " Colonel George Ah- ead, in honor of Avhom monument is erected, Battle Mouumeut in Bnltimure. A ViBtt to i^ultimore. Services of a valuet Friend. - — ir- ',. ii. \'M m ■ i liiii. .!■ w.wi:iiii<«:i W4M ^ AIL fc3 — - .a •IH II ■ ■ " ' ! 1 P ■»! .••• ■ ■ '■,"■ ,. ■"" •■ :;;;"" B.: bTEAV's lIONimENT. rm of n shrnpuel shell. The bojT inded hy mllltnry trophle?, Kfrf- Lcrlptlon: " Prcpcnted by ft niim- [nt nnd enccessfiil defense of Fort feptemher, 1814, when iipwnrd of \m of the diameter of this vnce" f the vase and anrroundings from -! inscription : " The State of Vir- late of Virginlft to the eon ofCol- Igh eB»eem and admiration enter- lin the cannonade of FortGcorgf Ih of April, 1T80, and was rehleii lond lieutenant In 17ii9. He was t at F"rt NlBRBra in 1S02, and a."- i)«e • ihe rank of ninjor of the itinRTilshed at the cnptnre of Fort lother, William Keith Armlsteail, jfas conspicnona In tho bonu.ir(l- Uect of this notice was breveted 1 tho regnlar service and two Ir. I to his marriBRO with a sister of Ibe war, a number of chiefs visit- ber, 1814, fell on the field and in the fort. The en- graving depicts it as it ap- peared, with its surround- ings, in the autumn of 1861, when the writer sketched it liom the stops of Bar- num's Hotel. I visited the theatre of scenes described in the few preceding pages in Novem- ber, 1861, on my return homeward from Wasiiing- ton, mentioned on page 943. On arriving at the E".taw House, Baltimore, in the evening, I had the good fortune to meet an esteemed friend, Brantz Mayer, Esq,, a resident of that city, and perfectly fa- miliar with the mtn, events, and localities we have just been considering. To his kind courtesy I am indebt- ed for much valuable infor- mation, and for facilities for BATTLE MOMCUENT.' Armlstcttd was In command of Fort MS'Jenry when the war brolce oat, and held It until its close. His gallant defense of that position is made more consplcuoui; from the fact that he, and he alone, Itnew that the magazine was not bomb- proof when the foe approached. He dared not reveal the fact, for feai' his men might refnse to remain in the fort. With these enormous chances against him, he faithfully sustained that siege, and won a victory and a namt. The sense of responsibility, and tho tax upon his nervous system during that bombardment, left him with a disease of the heart, and three years and n half afterward, or on tho 2ISth of April, 1818, he expired, at the age of thirty-eight years. Colonel Ar- ralstcnd was bur'-!d with military honors. There was an Immense funeral procession, civil and inlll'ary, and during the Mrcmonies artillerists tired minute-guns on Federal Hill. It was said to have been the largest procession that had ever been seen in Baltimore. The lllieness of Lieutenant Colonel Armistead or. page 965 is f^om a miniature in |)ossession of his daughter, Mrs. Mary Bradford, of Westchester, Pennsylvania, to whom I am indebted for much minute and valu- able information. I The monument represents a cenotaph surmounted by a short column, and rests upon a plinth, or terrace, of the fame material, forty feet square and four feel high. At eaoh angle is placed a cannon erect, having a ball apparently iesning from Itt month. Betwseu the cannon are continuous rows of spear-shaped railing, and eight heavy supporting fasces, all of iron. Outside of all is a chain guard. The lower part of the monument is of Egypt'.iu form and ornament- ation, composed of eighteen layers of stone, the then number of the states of ti5C republic. At each of four angles of the surmountlBg cornice Is a massive grlflln, wrought of marble. The column represents a huge fasces, symbolical of the Union, the rods of which are bound by a fillet, on which. In bronze letters, are the names of the honored dead, whose brave conduct strengthened the bands of that Union. Wreaths of laurel and cypress, emblems of glory and mourning, bind the top of the great fasces ; and between them, in bronze letters, are the names of the following officers who per- ished on the occasion : Jamks I.,owbv DoNAi.nsoN, Adjutant Twenty-seventh Regiment ; Gbkooricf Anorek, Lieutenant First Rifle Battal- ion ; Lkvi Ci.aooktt, Third Lientenant Nicholson's Artillerists. On the fillet are the following names of the slain non- commissioned officers and privates .- John Clemm, T. V. Beaston, 8. Haubert, John Jephson, T. Wallace, .1. II. Marrlot of John, K. Marrlot, Wni. Ways, J. Armstrong, J. Richardson, BcnJ. Pond, Clement Cox, Cecllins Bc't, .Tohii Garrett, H. O.M'Comas, Wm. M'Ciellan, .Tohn t. Bird, M. Desk, Daniel Wells, Jan., John R. Cop, BenJ. Neal, C. Reynolds, D. How- nrd, Uriah Prosser, A. Randall, R. H. Cooksey, J. Gregg, J. Kvaus, A. Maas, G. Jenkins, W. Alexander, C. Fallicr, T. Bnnicston, J. Dunn, P. Byard, J. Craig. On the lower part of the fasces are two hasso-rellevos, one representing the battle of North Point and the death of Oenernl Ross, and the iher a batter;, of Fort M'Henry at the moment of the bombardment. On the east and west fronts are lachrymal urns, emblematic of regret and sorrow. On the sonth part of tho square base of the fasces, below the basso-relievos, is the following inscription In bronze letters: "Battle of North Point, 12th September, A.D. 1814, and of Ihe Independence of the United States the thirty-ninth." On tho north front, corresponding to this, is the following : "Bombardment of Port M'Henry, 18th September, A.D. 1814, and of the independence of the United States the thlrfy- ninlh." That base and fasces together form a column :hirty-nlne feel in height, to show that the events commemorated ocenrrert In the thirty-ninth year of tho Independence of the republic. The whole monument, including the exquisitely- wronght female figure, representing the City of Baltimore, that surmounts It, rises to the height of almost flfly-three fcct. Ujiou the head of ttat figure is a mural crown, the emblem of a city. In one bund she holds an antique rudder, 3P PICTORIAL riP:LI).B(JOK A Visit to Patterson I'ark and other historical Localities. The Cltj- Sprlnj;. acquiring more. His introiluotion was a key to the treasures of the Maryland His- torical Society. He acconipanietl me to many places of interest in the city aiul its vicinity, ainong others Patterson Pai'k and R<nlger8's Battery, There we met tin venerable John M'Lean, the keeper of the park, who was then peventy-eight years of age. He was a member of Captain Benjamin Ringgold's company in the battle of North Point. After listening with pleasui-e to his reminiscences, we returned to tho city, where I was introduced to General John Spear Smith, a son of the cliivf com- mander in the defense of Baltimore, and his volunteer aid on that occasion. GciK'ial Smith subsequently placed in my hands his father's military papers of that period, which I freely used in the preparation of the foregoing narrative. We went to the pleasant inclosure of the City Spring, to see the monument erected TUI OITT SraiNd ANU AltMIHTEAU's tld.xrMKNT.' there to the memory of Colonel Armistead (delineated on page 960), but found it re- moved, and the embattled edifice around it, seen beyond the figures in the above jiio- ture, nearly demolished. Nor could we find any clew to it. On leaving that sluuli'l 5pot, where so many Baltimoreans have promenaded during the heats of summer, i was inti'odnced to Captain John Lester, a veteran soldier, seventy-one years of agf. Avho (then an ensign) was the color-bearer of the gallant Twenty-seventh Marylaii'l Regiment in the battle of North Point. He seemed quite too young to claim tin .patriarchal honors of threescore and ten yeai's. I found in his possession the tatternl flag of the Twenty-seventh (delineated on page 054), whose wounds were receivtMl while it was borne in his hands forty-seven years before. Twenty-seven years atler- symbnllc of navigation, and in the other n crown of laurel j while, with a graccfiil Inclination of the head, flic lookc In the direction of the theatre of conflict. At her feet, on hci right. Is an eagle, and near it .1 bomb-fhell, connncmoraliv.' of the bombardment. This monument, in its cuiireption and execution. Is worthy of the great events commciiioraicd A few years ago, a thin volume was published In Baltimore entitled The Citizen SohUfri at Xorth Point nnrf Fiirl M'llrnni, Srptembitr 12 and 18, 1R14. It contains the names of all the men, ofllrers and privates, who were on dnty at that time, and Is dedicated to " Major Qeiieral Samuel Smith, the Hero of two Wars." ' This Is a view of the City Spring and Its surrouudlngs taken fl-om Saratoga Street a short time before the monn- ment was removed. That monnmcnt was placed In a recess of tho building with bnttlements, seen townrrt the left of the picture, with an Iron railing in front. The City Spring Is under the temple-shaped pavilluu In the foregrouud, wlild is yet (1S07) standing, I believe, with the same lantern banging beneath Its dome. The City Sprlnj!. i" the Maryland Ilis- , in the city and its There we met tlie /cnty-eight years of any in the haltle of , we returned to the on of the chief com- t occasion. Gcni'ral ipers of that jjeriod, le monument creeled OF THE WAU OF 1812. 068 The Color-bearer of the Twenty-seventh Begiment. Visit to North Point Battle-ground. •1841. ward* he bore the same flag at the head of about thirty surviv- ors of the Twenty-seventh, who were in the funeral procession at the burial of President Harrison, the distinguish- ed soldier of the Second War for Inde- pendence. Captain Lester accompanied my traveling companion and myself to the North Point battle-ground on the 'November, morning of the 20th.'' The 1800. jjjj. ^yjjg very chilling, but ill a covered carriage, with fleet horses and a good postillion, we made the journey comfortably and quickh 'o the battle-ground, seven miles Iroiu the city. On our way, as we approach- ed Long Log Lane, I sketched the Methodist meeting-house, whicli was used for a hospital after tlie battle, and where General Strieker biv- ouacked on tlie night of the 'September, Hth^ A sllOl't dis- ^^^*- tance from it, on the comer, where a road leads to Hancock's Pavilion, on Ik-ar Creek, was a place of refresliment called the Battle-ground House. In a field adjoin- ing it we saw a roughdiewn block of granite, with a square hollow in it, which was piiited out as the corner-stone of a mominient which it is proposed to erect on the tield of strife. This was on the right of Long Log Lane going out. On the opposite side of the lane (which is now the highway to North Point) was the scene of the lieavicst of the battle, which was then an open oak wood, as delinoated in the accora- piiiiying picture of the battle-ground, drawn a few days after the conflict by Thomas 'I 1 1 M 9G0), but found it n- lures in the above yw- h leaving that shade.l lie heats of summer, 1 Inty-one years of agi, ity-M'venth ]\Iarylaiul young to claim the pssession the tattercJ [-ounds were received ity-seven years after- Jition of the head, die 'ookp in 1.1 bomb-shell, comniomorativ.' 1 great event* commemoraled. [Xorthi'mntand Fort H'lUnrii. \o were on duty at that llnw, I short Umo before the niona- JnentK, feen townrd the left "I liliou la the foreground, vh\di im^^0itimmM:i:m!^ *mt',^~^;"i^i WOllTU POINT UATTLE-OUOCNI).' Rmkle, who was hi the fight. The view is from the site of the Battle-ground House. Tlie stately oaks which then shaded the ground have disappeared, and it is covered by a new and smaller growtli, and in some places by a tangled undergrowth. We rode on to the house of Richard Brady (occupied at the time of our visit by 1 In thlf view, copied fl-om Rnckle's picttu-e In the Maryland Hlgtorlcnl Society, LonR Log Lane Ib Been over the oqnpplrlan flcnres townrd the right, and on the extreme right the head of Bear Creek. The conflict occurred within the (paces included in the picture. > u ' ' ! 1 ^ i 'I { » 1 I: :; i \m. . Si ii, -': ''•i|!l ' h 664^ PICTOniAL FIELD-BOOK Monumeut where Ross fell. AViBtttoPortM'Henry, Samuel Cole), in front of which General Ross received his death-wound, as related on page 951. Near that spot, by the side of the road, the soldiers, commanded by Cap- tain Benjamin C. Howard on that occasion, and known as the First Mechanical Vol- unteers, erected a monument, about eight feet in height, partly in commemoration MOKCUENT WUEBE BOSS FELL. of the action, but specifically, as the inscription declares,' " as a tribute of respect for the memory of their gallant brother" in arms, Aquila Randall, who fell there. Tlio view in the engraving was sketched from Mr. Cole's house, in which is seen, towaid the left, the venerable oak-tree under which Ross was laid for a few minutes by Cap- tain M'Dougall, and in the centre, over the horseman, a part of Bear Creek. Ross was shot on the gentle rise of ground in the road a few rods eastward of the monu- ment. We returned to Baltimore at a little past noon, turning off from the direct road to visit the homestead of Colonel Sterett, mentioned on page 958. The mansion was upon a beautiful terraced slope along the old Philadelphia Road. "We did not stop in the city, but riding through it to Fort Avenue, which traverses the length of Fell's Point to Fort M'Henry, we passed along that fine stone road a full mile, to the en- trance-gate to the outer grounds of the fort. A pass from General Dury^e, then in command at Baltimore, opened the portals. We were kindly received by the courte- ous Colonel (afterward General) W. Morris, the commandant (since doad), and were allowed to visit every part of the venerated fortification. After making the sketcli on page 954, we returned, stopping on the way to make a drawing of the circular seven-gun battery mentioned on page 949, and to find the sites of Fort Covington and the City Battp: y, which was commanded by the gallant Webster. These were ■ The following are the inscriptions on the raonnment: A'ortfc Side: "Sncred to the memory of Aquila RASDiLi. who died In brnvely defending his country and his home on the mcmomble 12th of September, 1814, aged 24 years." EaM Side : "In the skirmish which occurred at this spot between the advanced party nnder Mnjor Richard K. Ileath. of the Pth Regt. M. M., and the fl'ont of the British column. Major General Ross, the commander of the British forces received his mortal wound." West Siik : " The First Mechanical Volunteers, commanded by Captain Benjamin C. Hon-- ard, in the 6th Regt. M. M., have erected this monument as a tribute of their respect fur the memory of their gallant ' brother." South Side : " How beautiful is Death when earned by Virtue." AVUtttoFortM'Henry. •wound, as relatuil on commanded by Cap- rirst Mechanical Vol- y in comraeraoration 3. 1 tribute of respect for ,who fell there. The which is seen, toward few minutes by Caj)- of Bear Creek. Ross jastward of the menu- rem the direct road to The mansion was ad. We did not stop ses the length of Fell's a full mile, to the en- eneral Duryfie, then in ■eceived by the courtc- since dead), and were ter making the sketcli •awing of the circular tes of Fort Covington Webster. These were P memory of Aquii-a Randaii. ieptember, 1814, Bgefl 24 yearsT nnder Major Hlchnrd K. Heath, immander of the British fcirce«. Iby Captain Benjamin CHmv- or the memory of their gallant OF THE WAR OF 1812. 965 The Circular Battery auii Its Outlook. New York and Philadelphia relieved. Philadelphia Troops. BEMAINS OF THE UIBODLAB U^TTKBY. situated on the river bank, below the circular battery, and nearly half a mile distant. Webster's battery was on a line with it, in the direction of the river, and Fort Cov- ington was about five hundred yards farther up the stream. The circular battery was at the end of Light Street, that skirts Federal Hill, on which, at the time of my visit, were heavy earth-works, in charge of Duryfce's Zouaves, thrown up as a protec- tion to Fort M'Henry against land attacks by insurgents. The mounds of the old cii'cular battery were six or eight feet high in some places. It was in a commanding position. Our \dew, taken from within it, comprises the entire theatre of the opei-a- tions of the British boat expedition on that eventful night. "We are looking toward Chesapeake Bay. On the left is seen Fort M'Henry, and in the extreme distance, ap- pearing like a speck near the mouth of the Patapsco, is Fort Carroll. On the following morning* I made a careful drawing of the Battle • November 21, Monument, delineated on page 960. We afterward spent several hours ^®''^- in the rooms of the Historical Society, and in the afternoon called on Mr. Armistead, where we were kindly shown the old garrison flag, tattered and faded — the identical S^ar-spangkd Banner on which Key and his companions so anxiously gazed " at the twilight's last gleaming." On the same evening we left Baltimore for Havre de Grace, where, as we have observed on page 943, we passed the night and the follow- ing day. We have remarked that when the British were driven away from Baltimore, the trembling citizens of Philadelphia and Now York breathed freer. Both felt them- selves seriously menaced by the heavy British force in the Chesapeake, and both had made juch vigorous preparations for attack that the enemy did not deem it prudent to attempt it. Indeed, it was not their intention to do so at that time, and they sailed away to the Bermudas to join in the more important work of mvading Lou- isiana. When, as we have already obsei-ved, the depredations of Cockburn on the shores of the Delaware, in the spring of 1813, were made known at Philadelphia, an intense martial spirit was aroused in that city, and along the shores of the Delaware River and Bay. At the beginning of the Avar that spirit was almost dormant. The fine corps known as the M'^Pherson Blues^ had been disbanded twelve years before the ileclaration of war, and another, called Sheets Legion, was no more. Only three or four volunteer companies of any note then existed in Philadelphia, the oldest of which, a company of cavalry, was called the First, or old City Troo}), Captain Charles Ross, which was formed in the autumn of 1774, and did good service in the Revolution un'''r Captain Morris. They formed a body-guard for General Washington when he traveled from "Philadelphia to New York in 1775 to take command of the army at Cambridge. These, with Captain Rush's old Philadelphia Blues, and Captain Fottevall's Independent Volunteers, both large companies, composed the most of the 1 See page 111. . Ill I ' V f 96& PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Volunteer Compauies uf Philadelphia. Protection for Duponts' Powder-mllb. Captain Junies Page. uniformed militia of that vicinity. During the summer of 1812 a new uniform company was formed, called the State Fenciblea, which, like the City l^roop, is still an organized corps, and until a few years ago was led by Captain James Page, who was elected its commander in June, 1818.' The original manuscript, contain- ing the call for the formation of this company, is before me, having been kindly placed in my hands by the veteran Captain Page, of Philadelphia, who was a private in that company during the War of 1812, The first name on tlie list is that of one of Philadelphia's most honored sons, lion, Joseph R. Ingersoll, and the third is that of the late Colonel Clement C. Biddle. The latter, who was the originator of the company, was chosen captain, and the former first lieatenant. Captain Page is yet (1867) a vigorous man, nearly eighty years of age, and to him I am indebted for much valuable information concerning military affairs in and around Philadelphia during the war,* When the news of the presence of the British in the Delaware ^ -. . reached Philadelphia, great alarm was felt because of the defense- *^^™ fenoiule i> isu. less state of the city. Fort Mifflin, just below, its only defense on the water, was gar- risoned by only eleven recruits, under Captain James N, Barker, Something must be done immediately to strengthen that post. James M. Porter, Secretaiy of the " Youii(» Men's Democratic Society" of Philadelphia, a young lawyer, called a meetin"' on the 20th of March at Stratton's Tavern. It was fully attended, and about seventy youii" men who Avere present formed a volunteer company for artillery service on that very evening. They organized by the election of officers the next day, with the name of The Junior Artillerists. They at once tendered their services to General Bloonifiold the commander of the district, to re-enforce the garrison at Fort Mifflin. They were accepted, and within three days after they were organized they marched to Fort Mifflin, under Captain Fisler, each Avith a cockade in his hat, and Avearing a coat Avitli bright buttons, accompanied by Captain Mitchell's volunteer corps of eighty n^cn dressed in bh;e and buff, and known as the Independent Blues. The latter, Avith the Independent Volunteers, and a ncAvly- organized company called the Washington Guards, Captain Raguet — the first new company of infantry formed in Philadelphia at that time — left the city for the State of Delaware on the afternoon of the 12th of May, under the command of Colonel Lewis Rush, They proceeded to Staunton, about six miles bi^yond Wilmington, and near that place formed a camp at a spot se- lected by OeneiT.l Bloomfield, At about that time it Avas rumored that Duponts' powder-mills at Wilmington Avere about to be attacked. Colonel Rush disposed his troops in that vicinity so as to protect them, and there they remained until the invaders left; the neighboring Ava- ters. The inhabitants of DelaAvare, in the mean time, had raised several volunteer companies; and the names of the Duponts, Rodney, Young, Van Dyke, Warren, Wil- 1 Captain Page was commander of the First Company. AVhen, in April, 1801, the President of the United States railed for scveuty-flve thousand troops to put down the great insurrection of the slaveholders against the government, the Fencibles offered themselves as volunteers, and were mustered into the service of the United States, and formed ii I)art of the Eighteenth Hegiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. They served the full term of three months, when they were mustered out of the service, and honorably discharged. Many of them afterward entered the service as volunteers in different corps. The Pennsylvania militia law of May, 1804, dissolved the organization, and the Htnte Fmdhkx, after an honorable career of more than half a century, passed into History as an extinct military association. The Inst captain was John Miller. Among the brave men of the corps who went into the War for the Union, Captain Hesscr, made colonel of the Seventy-second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, deserves honorable mention. He fr'l at the head of his regiment, at Orange Court-house, Virginia, in November, 1868. a In is.'ift former members of the State Fencibles presented to Captain Pu^e a sword, on which is the following In- scription : " Presented to Captain James Page by retired members of the State Fencibles, as a token of their esteem f(ir him as a citizen and soldier, and of their appreciation of his services as commanding officer of that corps for a pe- niod of forty years. Philadelphia, December 20, 1SS9." OP THE WAR OF 1812. 967 Captain Jume« Page. Orguulzation of Troops. Camp DnpuDt. Camp at Marcan's Ilook. jg. BTATE FBNOUILE IN ISU. a the water, was giir- Something must be retaiy of the "Young led a meeting on the about seventy young service on that very ly, with the name of ) General Bloomfield, f Mifflin, They were ey marched to Fort wearing a coat witli orps of eighty ircn, The latter, with the led the Washington med in Philadelphia ;rnoon of the 12th of ceeded to Staunton, a camp at a spot se- nilis at Wilmington in that vicinity so as the neighboring wa- ed several volunteer Dyke, Warren, Wil- isident of the United States lere agninst the government, UnUed States, nnd formed ii iree months, when they were the service as volunteers in d the fitnte FencihlcK, nfler an ^sociation. The last captain Tnion, Captain Hesser, made entlon. He fr'l at the head n which is the following in- B, as a token of their esteem jfflcer of that corps for a pe- son, Leonard, and others, are held in grateful remembrance to this day as prominent actors in the business of state defense. On the receipt of the requisition for troops from the War Department early in July, 1814, Governor Snyder, of Pennsylvania, caused a general order to be issued for the mustering of the militia and the raising of volunteers, in which several military com- ])anies of Philadelphia, and elsewhere in the state, who had ottered their services to tlic government in the sumir 3r of 1812, were named as accepted volunteers, and as forming a part of the quota of the state.' Recruiting Avent briskly on, and it was greatly promoted by intelligence of the capture of Washington toward the close of August. Volunteers flocked to the standard of General Bloomfield in great num- bers.* Kennet Square, in Chester County, thirty-six miles southwest from Philadel- phia, was the designated place of rendezvous, and there, at the close of August, a camp was formed, under the direction of Cr.ptain C. W. Hunter, and named Camp Bloomfield. On the 7th of September, Lieutenant Colonel Clemson, of the United States Army, assumed the command, and on the 14th he was succeeded by Brigadier General Thomas Cadwalader. The troops were brigaded, and the corps was called The Advanced Light Guard.^ Captain Ross, with his First City Troop, took post on Mount Bull, a height overlooking the Chesapeake, thirteen miles below Elkton, to watch the approach of the enemy, and held communication with the camp and Phila- delphia by a line of vedettes. The brigade changed its position several times, but was continually in the vicinity of Wilmington. The last one that it occupied was called Camj) Dupont, about three miles west of Wilmington, where it remained until the 30th of November, when, all danger seeming to be distant, the troops were marched back to Philadelphia, and there disbanded on the 3d of January, 1815.* In the mean time a body of almost ten thousand men was assembled near Marcus's Hook, on the Delaware, twenty miles below Philadelphia, which was at first organ- ized by Adjutant General William Duane, under the command of Major General Isaac Worrall. It was composed of Pennsylvania militia and volunteers. Its rendezvous was called Camp Gaines, in honor of General E. P. Gaines, who succeeded Bloomfield in the command of the Department, in September. This camp was broken up on the 5th of December, 1814. Besides these, several companies were organized in the city and county of Philadelphia who did not take the field.^ When Gaines left for New Orleans in December, General Cadwalader' succeeded him as chief of the Fourth Military Department. While the volunteers were hastening to the camps to be enrolled as soldiers, the inhabitants of Philadelphia were vigorously making preparations for the defense of 'These were the Ilarrialntrrf rohtnteers, C!t\)Mn Thomas Walker: State Ftm^^Mfi.Capiain C. C. Biddlc; three rifle companies, commanded respectively by Captains Andrew Mitchell, Nicholas Bcckwith, and Samuel Dunn ; Benevolent Blws, Henry Reed ; and Light Dracioont, James Noble. » "The very flower of the yonth and best hopes of the nation," wrote an eye-witness—" citizens of erery rank and profession, and of every political name, were there commingled in the ranks, united In a common cause for the defense nf their country, and exhibiting to the monarchs of Europe the glorious spectacle of practical equality."— Author of A Short liketch of the MiUtanj Operations on the Delaware durinj the late War, etc. Philadelphia, 1820. 'The brigade staff consisted of the fbllowlng officers: Thomas Cadwalader, brigadier general; John Hare Powell, brigade major. In place of Hnnter, promoted ; Richard M'Call and John G. Biddle, alds-de-camp : Henry Sergeant, as- eistant quartermaster general : David Correy, assistant deputy quartermaster general. The number of officers and prl- v.itesmaybe stated as follows : Brigade staff, 7; one companyof flying artillery, Captoin Richard Bache, 01 ; two troops of cavalry, 116 ; one artillery regiment, 689 j one infantry regiment, 1203 ; riflemen, 11T9 ; one militia battalion, 280. Total, 3604. ' Among the gallant officers at Camp Dnpont was Captain John Ross Mifflin, of the Washington Guards. He was a nephew of Captain Ross, and died, unmarried, in Philadelphia in 1826. He wrote a series of interesting letters IVom C»mp Dnpont, copies of some of which were kindly placed in my hands by Miss Elizabeth Mifflin, of Philadelphia. Tliese give a lively picture of camp life there. » A Short Sketch of Militarii Operations on the Delaware during the late War, pages 8 to 29 Inclusive. • Son of General John Cadwalader, of the Continent! 1 Army. He was born on the 28th of October, 1"T9. He wai admitted to the bar In Phlladfilphia In ISOl. He studied military science Intently, and entered the service as captain in 1S12. He rose to the rank of briiradier general in 1814. After the war he became major general of Pennsylvania mllU lla. Be assisted tn forming a system of cavalry tactics in 1S26. He died on tb« 20tb of October, 1341. f i 1 ■ 1 '■ ' ! i 1 -r :! > til w 068 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Public Mcotlu)Jt In I'blliiilclphlii. Committee of UereuHO. CItlicenK coiiBtruct Fortlflcmidiu. the city. When intelligence of the capture of Washington reached them, a public meeting was held, and a committee of defense was appointed, with ample powers to adopt such measures as the exigency seemed to require.' "They determined," says Mr. Wescott,'' " that, for the safety of the city, field fortifications should be thrown up in the most eligible situations on the western side of the town, and where an at- tack might be expected. A fort was planned near Gray's Ferry, on the west side of the Schuylkill River, at the junction of the Gray's Ferry and Darby Roads ; also a redoubt opposite Hamilton's Grove, another upon the Lancaster Road, and a third upon the site of an old British redoubt on the southern side of the hill at Fainnomit which would command the bridge at Market Street .and the roads leading to it. " To construct these works required much labor, and, under the circumstances, tiiey could not have been built without the voluntary assistance of the citizens. A hearty enthusiasm was shown in the service. Companies, societies, and the artificers of the difierent trades organized themselves for the purpose. Day after day these parties assembled, and left the city at from five to six o'clock in the morning, and, with knap- sacks or handkerchiefs containing a supply of food, marched out to the fortifications to a dj>v of toilsome labor at an occupation to which but few of them were accus- tomed. Labor commenced on the 3d of September, and from that time until .about the 1 st of October, when the field-works were finished, the toil was participated in by parties having' the following numbers: House carpenters, 62 ; victualers, 400 ; the Tammany Society, 400 ; painters, 70 ; hatters and brickmakers, 300 ; Philadelphia Be- nevolent Society and Fourth Washington Guard, 160; Rev, Mr. Staughton and tlie members of his church, 60; printers, 200 ; crew of the Wasp, 140; watchmakers, sil- versmiths, and jewelers (on Monday, September 11), 400 ; cabinet-makers and joiners, 300 ; Washington Association, 70 ; Tioie Republican Society, 70 ; teachers, 30 ; friend- ly aliens, 500 ; Freemasons, grand and subordinate lodges, 510 ; Washington Benev- olent Society, 600 ; Sons of Erin, citizens of the United States, 2200 ; Tammany Soci- ety, second day, 1 30 ; friendly aliens, second day, 150; German societies, 540 ; colored men, 650; citizens of Germantown, 400 ; Scotchmen, 100 ; Sons of Erin, second day, 350. The colored people also gave a second day to the work. Small bodies, not enumerated, including beneficial societies and social clubs, participated. The physi- cians and artists of the city also labored at the works. When the fortifications were completed, it was found that about fifteen thousand persons had labored on them. In lieu of work, many who were unable or unwilling to assist in that manner gave money. The collections from this source amounted to about six thousand dollars. " Arriving at the fortifications, the citizens, having been previously divided into companies, were put to work. At ten o'clock the drum beat for ' grog,' when liquor suflicient for each company was dealt out by its captain. At twelve o'clock the drum > The public meeting was held In the State House Yard, on the 26th of Angnst, 1814. Thomas M'Kean was chair- man, and Joseph Reed was secretary. A committee, of which Jared IngersoU was chairman, was appointed "to con- sider and report what measares ought, in their opinion, to he adopted for protection and defense." They reported resolutions, the first of which nominated a number of gentlemen as a committee of defense, for the purpose of orgiiniz- Ing the citizens of Philadelphia, and of the northern and southern districts, for defense, with power to appoint cotiimit- tees under them, correspond with the state and general governments, malce arrangements for supplies, fix on places of rendezvous, etc. This committee consisted of the following named persons: For the city of Philadelphia— Charles BIddle, Thomas Lelper, Thomas Cadwalader, Gen. John Steel, George Latimer, John Earlier, Henry Hawkins, Liberty Browne, Ci.urles Ross, Manuel Eyre, John Connelly, Condy Raguet, Wm. M'Faden, .Tohn Sergeantj John Geyer (ilnyof). and .Toseph Reed. For the Northern Liberties and Penn Township— Colonel Jonathan W - ■>. John Goodman, Dan- lei Groves, John Barclay, John Naglee, Thomas Snyder, J. W. Norris, Michael Lieb, Jacob HniT, anJ James Whltehend. For the district of Southwarlt and townships of Moyamensing and Passynnk— James Josiah, R. M'Mullen, John Thomp- son, K. Ferguson, James Ronaldson, P. Mlercken, R. Palmer, and P. Pitts. These citizens met on the day of their appointment, at the State House, where they were organized into a committee of defense, with Chories Biddle as chairman, and .Tohn Goodman as secretary. The labors of the committee were very nseta\ and Important. The organization was continued until the 16th of August, 1815, when, at the eighty-second meet- lug, their labors ceased. The minutes of the committee, caref^iHy kept by Mr. Goodman, and giving the details of tlieir proceedings, were published in 1S6T as the eighth volume of the Memoirs of the Historical Society ^f Penntvlvania, accom- panied by brief biographical notices of the members of the committee. • Hixtoni of the Citu of PMlmMphia frcm 1682 to 1864, by Thompson Wescott,E8q. This history was in manuscript when Mr. Wescott kindly allowed me to copy the matter quoted in the text. OF THE WAIl OF 18 12, 909 in coustruct Fortlflcatluni, hed them, a public h amplo powern to ■ ckteriniiied," says Hhould be thiuwii II, and where an al- on the west side of arby Roads ; also a • Road, and a tliiid e hill at Fan-mount, I leading to it. circumstances, they I citizens. A hearty the artificers of the er day these parties ling, and, with knap- , to the fortifications of them were acciis- liat time until about was participated in victualers, 400 ; the 00 ; Philadelphia Be- ■. Staughton and tlic .0 ; watchmakers, sil- ;t-maker8 and joiners, teachers, 30 ; friend- Washington Benev- 200; Tammany Soci- jcieties, 540 ; colored of Erin, second day, Small bodies, not icipated. The pUysi- lie fortifications were labored on them. Li manner gave money. Id dollars, viously divided into ,r ' grog,' when liquor 'Ive o'clock the drum New York stirred up. Committee of Defense. Pntrtotlc Action of the CltUens. Thomas M'Kean was chnlr- man, was appointed "to con- tnd defense." They reported L, for the purpose of orgaiiiz- llth power to appoint commit- \ for supplies, ax on places of (city of Phlladelphla-Chnrles fker, Henry Hawkins, Liberty Icreeant, John Gcyer (Mayor), "■ ■ •.. .lohn Goodman, Dao- ■> HniT, an.: James Whitehead. |h, R. M-MuUen, John Thomp- le organized Into a committee \s of the committee were very len, at the eighty-second meet- f nd Riving the details of ttieir hoeietij of Penn«vlnani<t< """""■ lis history was In manuecript beat for dinner, when more ' grog' was furnished. This was also the case at three and at five o'clock in the afternoon. At six the drum beat the retreat, when it was sug- gested in General Orders, ' For the honor of the cause we are engaged in, freemen to live or die, it is hoped that every man will retire sober.'' " So did Philadelphians prepare for the invader. Happily the enemy did not come, and their beautiful city was spared the horrors of war. New York was likewise fearfully excited by apprehensions of danger during tlio ginnmer and autumn of 1814, Like Philadelj)hia and Boston, its defenses were few and weak at that critical moment. The appearance of the powerful British force in the Chesapeake aroused the citizens to a sense of their immediate danger, and they soon put forth mighty efforts ui preparations to repel the invader. The mayor of the city, De Witt Clinton, issued, through the medium of the City Council, a stirring ad- dress to the people on the 2d of August, in which he set forth the importance of New York to the enemy on account of its wealth and geographical position, which in- creased its liabilities to attack. He recommended the militia to hold themselves in readiness for duty, and called upon the citizens to offer their personal services and means cheerfully to the United States officers in command there, to aid in the com- pletion of the unfinished fortifications around the city. In response to the mayor's appeal, a large meeting of citizens was held in the City Hall Park, on Tuesday, the 9th of August,' when a Committee of Defense, chosen from the Common Council, was appointed,^ clothed with ample powers to direct the ef- forts of the inhabitants in the business of protection. On the same morning the ofli- cers of General Mapes's brigade, to the number of two hundred, gave the first prac- tical response to the mayor's appeal by crossing the East River from Beekman's Slip, and, with Captain Andrew Bremmer's artillery, marching to the lines traced out for the fortifications on the heights around Brooklyn by General Swifl, and taking pick- axes, and shovels, and every other appropriate implement at hand, breaking ground at. eight o'clock, and working lustily all day. They were followed the next morning by as many carpenters and cabinet-makers ; and only four days after the meeting in the Park, the Committee of Defense announced* tliat three thousand persons were at work on the fortifications. They also reported the receipt of large sums of money ; and on the same day it was announced that " two hundred journeymen printers, one thousand Sons of Erin, thirty pilots, seventy men from the Asbury (African) Church, with one hundred and fifty other colored men, two hundred weavers, and many heads of manufacturing establishments," were at work on the lines. Two days afterward the city newspapers were suspended, that all hands might work on the fortifications ; and on- the 20th of August five hundred men " left on the Jersey steam-boat for Harlem Heights," to work on intrenchments there ; and, at the same time, fifteen hundred " patriotic Sons of Erin" crossed the ferry to Brooklyn for the same purpose. Two days afterward nearly one thousand colored people crossed the Catharine Ferry to work on the fortifications between Fort Greene and GoAvanus Creek ; and on the 25th the Washington Benevolent Society, an organization opjiosed to the war, inspired with zeal for the common cause, went over in a body, with their banner bearing the portrait of Washington — the largest number belonging to one society that had crossed over at one time. On the same day the butchers went to the lines to labor, bearing the flag, on which was the figure of an ox prepared for slaughter, which had been used by them in the great " Federal Procession" in honor of the ratification of the National Constitution in 1789, Masonic and other societies went in bodies to the patriotic task ; and school-teachers and pupils went together to give their aid. Little boys, too small to handle a spade or pickaxe, carried earth on tH Jv r ,1 ' ' ' The call was signed by Henry Eutger and Oliver Wolcott. The chief organ of the Opposition— the Evening Pott— denounced it, and asked, " Has it not a squinting toward the charter election ?" * The committee consisted of Nicholas Fish, Gideon Tucker, Peter Mesier, George Bnckmaster, and J. Nltchle. I.d 1) i 070 riCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK NolicbborH usrIhI Now York. tintherliiK of T.'unpi in and aronnd th« Oity. " The Patriotic Ulggon." flhinglea, atid ho adilud their niitos in roarinj? tln» breastworkH. It was a scene like that of cairii-l)uil(liiig in the olden time. The infection Hpread, and every day ciil- zenw from neighboring towim on Long Island,' on the Hudson, and from New Jersey, j)rottered their services. Nor were the nights undisturbed by the sound of the patri- otic toil. On that of the 31st of August it is recorded that full six hundred men went over to Brooklyn, and worked " by the light of the moon." Intelligence of the capture of Washington City reached New York on the 27th of August, three days after that sad occurrence. The zeal and patriotism of the citi- zens were increased tiiorc- by. In General Orders, , y •' / >^ y l''"''^'l T^- Tompkins, gov- ^1 J^. /7 / (^ a yvOtoT^ ^yt yW^..^i^ yf ernor of the State of Now York, who had been untir- ing in his exertions for the public good from the be- ginning of the war, ea'led on the inhabitants to send arms of every description to the State Arsenal, where all fit for service would be paid for. The call was ])roniptly answered. He also ordered the organization of a battalion of Sea Fencibles, to be commanded by Captain James T. Leonard ; and expressed a desire to enroll volun- teers for one or two months' service. Already nearly four thousand militia had come do rn the Hudson in sloops; and Commodore Decatur had been assigned to the command of the naval force in the harbor of New York, with orders to co-op- erate with the military in defense of the city. On the Ist of September the gov- ernor issued a proclamation for an extraordinary session of tlie Legislature of the State, to commence on tlie 27th of that month. On the 3l8t of August there was a grand military review in the city of New York, Avhen about six thousand men were under arms. On the 2d of September the militia were mustered into actual service, when the division of General Ebenezer Stevens was transferred to the command of Major General Morgan Lewis, Cadwallader D. Golden was appointed to the command of all the uniformed militia companies of the city and county, and every thing pertain- ing to the military was put upon the war footing of actual service. The citizens con- tinued their zealous labors on the military works all through September and in Octo- ber, and made the lines of fortifications around New York truly formidable.^ ' On the 17th of August, the people of Biishwick, Long Island, led by the Rev. Mr. Bnssett, repaired to Fort Swift (erect- ed on the old redoubt of the Revolution on Cobble Hill) to labor on that work. The venerable pastor of the flock that followed him opened the operntlons with prayer, and be remained with them throughout the day, encourngiiig tliera aud distributing refreshments among them. a These displays of patriotism inspired Samuel Woodworth, an American poet of considerable eminence, and then the editor and publisher of a weekly record of events entitled The irar, to write a very popular ballad called V/m; J'alriolic Diggtrri, of which the following is a copy : "Johnny Bull, beware. Keep at proper distance. Else we'll make you stare At onr firm resistance ; Let alone the lads Who are freedom tasting, Recollect our dads Gave yon once a basting. Pickaxe, shovel, spade. Crowbar, hoe, and barrow, Better not invade, Yankees have the marrow. "To protect onr rights 'Gainst yonr flints and triggers, See on Brooklyn Heights Our patriotic diggers ; Men of every age. Color, rank, profession, Ardently engage. Labor in succession. Pickaxe, etc. " Grandeur leaves her towers, Poverty her hovel. Here to join their powers With the hoe and shovel. Here the merchant toils With the patriot sawyer. There the laborer smiles. Near him sweats the lawyer. Pickaxe, etc. OF THE WAR OF 1813. 911 Tbe Patriotic Ulgi;en." WHS ft scene liki- d every day citi- IVom New Jerney, ouiul of the patvi- BIX hundred men .rk on the 27th of iotism of the eiti- increased tliere- (ieneral Orders, ). Tonii)kins, s^ov- the State of New 10 liad been uiitir- 9 exertions for the ;ood from the he- T description to tlie call was promptly ea Fencibles, to bo re to enroll voluii- ousand militia had 1 been assigned to th orders to co-op- leptember the gov- Legislature of the 3 city of New York, ptember the militia Ueneral Hwin> Kepnrt uf tbo Fortlflcntliinii nMnnd Now York. The citizens con- 'mber and in Octo- [brmidable.2 I'pnired to Fort Swift (erect- iible pnstor of the floek that the Any, encouraging tliem iblc eminence, and then the • ballad called Tlie Patriotk Iggets; 'I ofeBeton, aeloD. her towers, )vel, r powers ind shovel. nt tolls ot sawyer, !r smiles, Its the lawyer. Earlier than the movements of the public authorities and inhabitants of New York and l'hiladel|)hia for the defense of their cities, recorded in the preceding pages, the "Uero the ninson hiitldii Frecdom'8 nhrlno uf ^lory, WhWe the painter i;ild8 Tno Immortal story. filacksmilhH eutch the flame, Grocers feel the spirit. Printers Hliare the fume, And record their merit. Pickaxe, etc. "Scholars leave their schools With their patriot teachers , Farmers soixe their tools, lleadc<l hy their prencliers. How they break the soil ! Hrewers, butchers, bakers ; Here the doctors toll. There the undertakers. Pickaxe, etc. " Bright Ap(dlo'» sims Leave their pipe and tabor, 'Mid the roar of guns Join the martiiM labor; Round the embattled plain In sweet concord rally. And In freedom's strain Sing the foe's flnale t Pickaxe, etc. Plnmbers, founders, dyers. Tinmen, turners, shavers, Hwecpers, clerks, and criers, Jewelers, engravers, Clothiers, drapers, players, Curtmen, hatters, tailors, Gangers, sealers, weighers, Carpenters and sailors. Pickaxe, etc. "Better not invade; llecollcct the spirit Which our dads displayed, And their s(mH inlierlt. If you still advance, Friendly caution slightltig. You mny get, by chance, A bellyful of tlghling. Pickaxe, shovel, spado, Crowbar, hoe, and burrow, Better not invade, Yankees liave the marrow. The most onthentlc account of the fortifications thrown up around New York in the summer and autumn of 1S14 may lie found in the report of General Joseph Swift, Chief Engineer (sec page (>:!S), to the Common Council Committee of Defense, made at the close of the year H14. 1 have complied the following statements from the original mauuscrliit of tiiat report, with Its maps, and landscape and topographical drawings, which are now before me. The city of New York might be approached by un enemy by way of Sandy Uook and the Narrows, Long Island Sound tnd the East River, and across Long Island. To guard against invasion by either one of these approaches, and to l.'o prepared at all points, old fortifications, built during the Revolution, or when war witli France seemed inevitable In ITI S and 1791), were strengthened and new ones were erected. The commanding situations near the dangerous passage In the East SIvcr known as Hell Gate, at the mouth of the Hurlem River, were occupied by batteries, some of which were oovcred by towers. The heights overlooking Harlem Plains, and those around Brooklyn, on Long Island, were also covered with military works, within which necessary magazines and barracks were erected. The jjosltlon of these va- rious works, and those around and In the harbor of New York, may be seen at a glance by reference to the map ou the uext page. In the rear of Brooklyn works were erected which completely Isolated the town. On the high ground overlooking the Wttllabout and the navy yard was Fort Greene, mounting twenty-three heavy cannon, and between it and Oowauua Creek, which ran through a low morass, Kcdoubts ('niniiiin;;s and MiisDnic, WaHliiii^itoii HiUtcry and Fort Firemen were erected. These were united by lines of In- ■■:^''l^^'-^^BillllgBilUtSE)^KaitiiiiiiUMltllt8iS^- ta trcndnnents. In each of these redoubts, as well as nt the salient nnijlcs of the lutrench- meuts, twelve -pound- ers were placed. The intervals between them did not exceed half grape-shot distance of ^nns of that capacity. On a email eminence ou the margin of Gownuus -JfeijtubO TOWKK AT IIAl.Lr.TTS POINT. rOBT STEVENS AND MILL BOCK.' Creek, on the right flank of these lines, was a little redonbt, op- in the rear, cal- culated for three heavy guns, to defend the ralll-dam and bridge. On a com- manding conical hill forming a part of Brooklyn Heights, and nearly on the site of Port Stirling of the Revolution, was a strong redoubt called Fort Swift ; and another, named Fort Lawrence, was constrncted at the southwestern extremity of the heights, and overlooking Gowanue Bay and Governor's Island. On Hnllett's Point, Long Island, near Hell Gate, was quite an extensive work called Port Stevens, In honor of General Ebenezer Stevens, who had been In command of the troops In and around New York. On Lawrence's IIIII, In the rear, and commanding an extensive view, was a tower. In front of It, In the middle of the East River, at the month of the Oarlcm River, stood (and yet stands) Mill Rock. On this a very strong block-house and a powerful battery were erected. On the shore of York I:«land, opposite, at a place Icnown as Rhine- lander's Point (Horn's Hook In the Revolution), not far above the present Asto- Mi:!' ii-\-\ ' This Is a view from the tower ou La\vrence'8 Hill, back of Fort Stevens, at d looking up the Hnrlem River. Directly over tbe fort is seen the block-bouse on Mill Rock. Over the island on the left is seen Rbiuelauder's Point. At the extreme right Is Hell Gate. m ii mij I i U72 PICTOKIAL FIELD-HOOK ,(' 1- t jtii Ul: ■ ■ , f I Fiirtldcatloni aroaml New Yurk. subject of harbor defenses had occupied much of the public attention in sea-coast rla Ferry, wag a redoubt to cover the Hell Gate passage. These works, in the aggregate, were of sufficient capacity to mount thirty large cannon, beside, mortars, so arranged that half of them might be concentrated at one time upon nny object in the river. At Benson's, nearly on a line with the present Second Avenue, was a redoubt to guard a mill-aam and fording-place on the Harlem Creek, which empties into the Harlem Hiver near by. Intrenchments extended bad to another short creek, where they were flanked by a battery. At the head of Harlem Creek commenced a pnrnpct anil ditch, running to Fort Clinton (delineated on the next page), which was situated on an elevated rock at M'Gownn'i' OF TUli WAK OF 1812. 078 IK HOUSC ttention in sea-coast ■were of sufficient capacity to itrated at one time upon nny redoubt to gnard a miU-dara —atrenchmentB extended back ek commenced a pnrnpct and elevated rock at M'Gowan'f Ooueral Swlft'a HaporL towns, oipccially in tlio fast-f?rowing conimorcifti city of Ncv, Yurk. Among tlio scl- Piiiia, now called Moimt Ht. Viiii'uiit, III tliv niirtlieiintttrn |iurt»rili<!('eii<i'<il I'lirk. tim- Mt'clcil Willi Kort C'liiitiin, ami oxii'iiilliiK like n l)ridi;e over M'Uiiwiiirii I'ujia, wore a lilock- liDiiHi! and Niittor'a llattvry (u •ki'toh of wlilcli U ;{iv(<n on the foliowiiiK paijfl), the whole jnliK'il to and coiiimaniluil liy Fort FIhIi (a vi«w of l\w lii>i>- rliir of wlilcli, with lliirli m In the diHtancc, will aUo be r<iniiil on the following pn^'e), on an- other cniincncu wi'Htward of the paHR, on which llvu heavy cannon were piiintert. Thin pane, on the old KliiK"l)rld,.-i' Road (between the prcHoni Fifth and Hixth AvenneH nmi One Hundred and Fifth and Une Ilnndred and Kif;lilh Htreeti<)i was a very Important point, and (;rcat cffortu were used tu make It a Tliermopylog BUCK AM) IIH M'UIU'K^VTIONH. rOBT CLINTON AT M'QOWAN'b PAPH. ward the Earl of Dev- on), was a Btronp «tone tower (see picture on pni?e 976) which com- manded Mnnhattnn- ville, and from which was a fine view of the Paiifodes of the Ilud- xtn, and of the river al- most to the II!;»hlands. Such were the fortiflca- tlons described In Gen- eral Swift's report,* at the conclneion of which he raid ; "The worka compre- hended In the foregoing to any foe that might attempt to go throHKh. Immediately woBt of Fort Fish, and at the foot of tlie worke, wn» a deep, ronph, wondod valley, whiili Is now within the Coiitral Park, and jirc- Hcrvod In all Its original riideness. On the opposite side of this valley was a raiife of wooded and rocky heights, of difllcuit ascent excepting In one place, and there for only the lightest troops. On these heights, extending to Mnnliattanvilie, several block -houses were erected, mostly of Btonc, within supporting distance from each other. These extended from near SrOowan's Pass almost to the Bioomingdale Road. The one nearest that road, and overlook- ing Manhnttanviiie, was called Fort Luiglit. All of them had heavy guns mounted en barMte, that Is, on the top, without embrasures. From Fort Lalglit ran a line of in- trenchments wcstwardly across the Bioomingdale Road, which ended on the high, precipitous bank of the Hudson. Here, near the tlien resi- dence of Viscount Courtenay (after- FOBT CLINTON AND UABLKM CREEK. ' General Swift's aid-de-camp. Lieutenant Oadsden, of the United States Engineers, superintended the erection of the works at Brooklyn, assisted by Messrs. Nlcholls and Merceln. Ma.lor Horn snperlntended those In the vicinity of Har- lem. The snrveys, maps, and small views presented in the report were flirnlshed by Captain (late Professor In Colum- bia College, New York) Renwlck, of General Mapes's brigade, aided by Lieutenants Oadsden, Craig, Turner, De Russy, Kemble, and Oothont. The larger views were drawn by Mr. Holland, W i j; ■B 974 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK r'i m.. m I mm i \i : ii' j; .1.' -r: tli.S, . . i Fortifications arotind NcwYorlc. A proposed Revolving Batter)-. entific men of that clay, John Stevens and Robert Fulton appear most conspicuous in proposing plans for that pui-pose. Earlier than this (in 1807), Abraham Blood'food of Albany, suggested the construction of a floating revolving battery, not unlike in its essential character, the tuiret of Captain Ericsson's Monitor of 1802.' In March description liave been chiefly con- structed by the labor of the citizens of tbe city of New Yorlc, Lon;,' Isl- and, and of the neighboring towns near the North River, and iu Xew Jersey, all claeses volunteering daily working-parties of from five to flf- teen hundred men. The fortifica- tions are testimonials of patriotic zeal, honorable to the citizens anfi to the active and assiduous Commit- tee of Defense." Besides these works there were old Fort George, at the foot of Broad- way ; the North Battery (given be- low), at the foot of llubert Street; and a partly finished work near the foc't of the present Twenty -third Street, called Fort Ganscvoort. At Princes Bay, Staten Island, a towc?r was erected to command the oniv secure auchorago for the shipping and safe landing-place of a foe. For- tifications were commenced on the WOBKS AT m'OOVAn's PASS. Staten Island Shore at the Narrows, and near there a brigade of two thousand militia from the Hudson River counties were stationed from August to December, 1S14. On Governor's Isl- and, very near the city, were Forts Jay and Castle Williams. Of all these works only those on Governor's Island remain, ex- cepting one of the block-honses near M'Gowan's Pass, in the upper part of the Central Park, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, at One Hundred and Fifth Street, overlooking Har- lem Plains. Its massive walls are well preserved, as may be seen from the drawing of it given on page 976. The mounds of Forts Fish and Clinton, at M'Gowan's Pass, were also well preserved as late as ISOO, when, from the north, they presented thi. appearance given in the engraving on the opposite page. nouth battery. yiKW FBOM roRT Ftsn, looking toward uablku. > In a volume containing the proceedings of the Sneietji/nr the Promotion nf Vne/vl A rt» in the fitate of AVie Tori; pnl>- llshed at Albany in ISOT, is th? following account of Mr. Bloodgooi. s plan, reference being had to nccompanyini: diaw ings: "The model of this battery was exhibited to the society with a verbal description only. The annexed plalc shows an exact profile of its body, the shape of which, as seen above, is circular. It Is to be connected at the centre of its bottom with a strong keel, in such a manner that, while the keel is held by cables and anchors in one position, Ihi batterri U made to turn ronnri on tts centre. This motion may be given to it either by tlie tide acting on float-boards at- tached to the body of the battery, by sails raised ou its exterior parts, or by manual application. In this last way it may upoeed Hevolving Baitery. lost conspicuous in irahain Bloodgood, ;tery, not unlike, in ri862.> In March, m have been chiefly con- by the labor of the citizens ly of New York, Loii;,' M- of the neighboring towns North River, and in Xew II classes volunteering daily parties of from five to flf- idrcd men. The fortiftcii- ! testimonials of patriotic orable to the citizens anc! live and assiduous Commit- fense." B these works there were Seorge, at the foot of Broad- 3 North Battery (given Ije- the foot of Uubert Street; rtly finished work near ilie the present Twenty - third ailed Fort Gansevoort. At Bay, Staten Island, a towor :ted to command the only inchorage for the shipping landing-place of a foe. For- 18 were commenced on the OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 975 i\ Description of proposed Itevolving Battery. A proposed Iron-clad Vessel. Remains of a Block-house. 1814. Thomas Gregg, of Pennsylvania, obtained a patent for a proposed iron-clad be effected by men in the hold liriiwing on a lever fastened to a po!<t flxed to the keel and rising through a well-hole in the centre of the battery. The strength of horses might perhaps be applied to the same purpose. The cablta ))T which the keel is held are to Je entirely under water, and thus secure from an enemy's shot. The advantages of such a battery would be — 1. Ita rotary motion would oiing all its cannon to bear successively, as fast as they could be loaded, on objects in any direc- tion, ii. Its circular form would cause every shot that might strike it not near the centre to glance. 3. Its motion, as well as its want of piirts on which grapplings mijs'ht be fastened, would rendn- boarding almost impossible. 4. The steadiness with whica it wu\ild lie on the water would ren- der ii8 fire more certain than that of a ship. 6. The guns would be more easily worked than is com- mon, as they would not require any lateral movement. C. The cornTENAv's and tiik utrusoN towkb.' thr State (^Xeto YnrV, pnli- nd to nccompanyini; diaw only. The annexed pink connected at the ceiitro of irhors in one position, Ik acting on float-hoards at- In this last way It tuuy !1 II i BEMAINH OF ULOOX-UOl'SE OVEBLOOKLNO UAUr.EM I'l.AINB IM ISCO.t men would bo completely sheltered from the Are of the 1 l{?ntod parts of an enemy's ship. 7. The battery might Iki made so strong ae to be impenr trable to common shot. ■ Th'' house in which Vlncount Oonrtenay, son of the Eiirl of Devon, lived was bnllt by the elder Doctor Post, cf Now York, and named Clennont. There .Joseph Boua- pnrtf resided for a while. It Is now (ISfiT) kno«ii as Iiinoa's Ci.iremont Hotel, and Is a place of great resort In lliic weather for pleasure-seeker . who frequent the Blooni- iiiLMiale and Kiiigsbridgc Road.s The appearance of the man.«ion has been entirely changed by ndditiims. t This sketch shows the character of the rocky heights nil which the line of hlock-houseg was built. In the dis- tance is seen the "High Bridge," or Croton Aqueduct, iwr Harlem River. The w.iIIh of the bloek-liouse arc i«elve or fifteen feet In height, and four feet in tbick- nc<«. . ) 'Hic remains of Fort Clinton nre seen on the left. H'aOWAJt'a I'ABH l.N ItMXi.t 1. ii ill I .: H: 976 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Iron-clad Gan-boat. A Floating Battery authorized by Congress. Launch of the Battery. Steam vessel of war, resembling in figure vessels used during our late great Civil War. Drawings of it may be seen in the Patent-office, with full specifications.' Our little sketch below was copied from one of these drawings. At about the same time a committee of citizens examined a plan of a floatino' bat- tery submitted by Robert Fulton, and approved by such tried naval officers as Cui)- tains Decatur, Jones, Evans, Biddle, Perry, Warrington, and Lewis. It was to bo in tlie form of a steam-ship of peculiar construction, that might move at the rate of four miles an hour, and furnished, in addition to its regular armament, with subniaiine guns. Tlie committee memorialized Congress on the subject, and asked the Secre- tary of the Navy to give it his official favor. It was objected that a discussion in Congress would reveal the matter to the enemy, and also that the President was not authorized to make an appropriation without the special authority of law. To meet these objections, the committee agreed to have the vessel constructed at their own expense and risk, provided assurances should be given that the government, which alone could employ her, would receive and pay for her when her utility should be demonstrated. It was estimated that she would cost nearly as much as a first-class frigate, or about three hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Tlie liberal offer was • March, accepted, and Congress authorized the President" to liave one or more float- ing batteries built, under the supervision of the Coast and Harbor Defense Committee.^ They appointeil Mr. Fulton the engineer, and Adam and Noah Brown the architects. The keel was laid at the ship-yard at Corlcar's Hook, in tlie city of Now Yoik, on the 20th of June, 1814, and she was launched at 9 o'clock in the morning of the 29th of October following, in the presence of a vast assemlda^'c 1814. ^^d l^/^ •.■.*^'~.. of people. The scene was described as vei-y exciting. It was a bright autumnal day. Fleets of vessels and crowds of spectators might be seen on every hand ; and she went into the water amid the roar of cannon and the shouts of a multitude full twenty thousand in number.' Her engines were put on board, and her machinciy ' The foliowing is a portion of the specifl- cation : "The l)08t is framed on an angle of nbont eighteen degrees all round the vessel, when the top timbers elevate the balls, and the lower ones direct them under her. The top deck, which glances the ball, may be hung on a muss of hinges near the ports. Said deck is supi)orted by knees and croes-tlmbers on the lower Hide?, so that it may be sprung with powder, if required (when boarded by the enemy), to a iM-.rpendicnlar, when the said deck will be checked by stays, while the pow- er of powder will be exhausted in the open air, and then fall or spring to the centre of the deck again. The aforesaid deck will run up and down with the angle, which may be coppered or laid with iron. The gun-deck IROM-OLAU TKUSKL IN 1814. may be bored at pleasure, to give room, if required, as the men and guns are under said deck. The power is apiilicd between her keels, where there is a concave formed to receive them from the bow to the stern, except n small distHiicc ill each end, forming an eddy. The power may be reversed to propel her cither way. Said power is connected lo ni)- right levers to make horizontal strokes alternately. The elevation of her timbers and gearing will be proportioned by her keel and tonnage." ' That committee consisted of General Dearborn, then commanding the district, Colonel Henry Rutgers, Oliver Wol- cott, Samuel L. Mitchell, and Thomas Morris. ' The New York Eveniiu) Pout published an account of the launching of r dimensions and capacity for armament : " She measures one hundred aid breadth of beam, draws only oi^xht feet of water, mounts thirty 82-pound "' drod pounds each. She is to bn commanded by Captain Porter." It may b( vessel, and gave the following as her £y-five feet on deck, and flfly-flve foot ies, and two coliimhlnds of one liuti- cha'. it was a structure resting upon two boats and keels, separated from end to end by a channel flftceu feet wide .luu sixty-six feet long. One boat ciiu- I 'l\ Launch of the Battery, OF THK WAR OF 18 12. 977 gteam-Bhip or Floating Battery, Fulton the First. Extravagant Stories concerning her. • 1816. tested, in the month of ^<l^.y foHowing,* when Fulton was no more, he having (lied in February.' She made a trial trip to the ocean and back, fifty-tltree miles, on tho 4th of July, at the rate of about six miles an hour by her engines alone. In September she made another voyage to the sea, with her whole armament on board, at the rate of live and a half miles an hour against wind and tide. The vessel was named Fulton, the First. At the close of 1814 active war had ceased in the Northern States. Its chief thea- tre of operations was in Louisiana and on the ocean, to which we will now turn our attention. Uined the boiler for generating Bteam, which was made of copper. The machinery occupied fhe other boat. The wa- ter-wheel (A) revolved in the space between them. The main or gnu-deck supported tho ar- mament, and was protected by a parapet four feet ten inches thick, of solid timber, pierced by embrasures. Through twenty-flve port-holes were as many SU-pounders, Intended to lire red-hot shot, which could be heated with great safety and convenience. Her upper, or spar-deck, upon which many hundred men might parade, was encompassed with a bulwark, for safety. She was rigged with two stout masts, each of which supported a large lateen yard and sails. She hud two bowsprits and jibs, and four rudders, one at each extremity of each boat, so that she might be steered with either end foremost. Her machinery was calculated for an additional engine, which might discharge an immense column of water, which it was intended to throw upon the deckj and through the port-holes of an enemy, and thereby deluge her armament and ammu- nitlon.— See Colden's Li/e of Robert Fulton, page 229. The most extravagant stories concerning this monster of the deep went forth at abont the time of her being launclfcd. In a treatise on steam-vessels, published in Scotland soon after- ward, the author said : " Her length is 300 feet ; breadth. 200 feet ; thickness of her sides, 13 feet, of alternate oak plank and corkwood : carries 44 guns, four of which are 100-pounders ; can discharge 100 gallons of boiling water In a few minutes, and by mechanics Ijrandlshes 300 cutlasses with the utmost regularity over her gunwales ; works, also, an equal number of pikes of great length, darting them from her sides with prodi"ioU8 force, and withdrawing them every quarter of a minute." ' See page 242. 3Q bEOIION OF TUP. KLOAT- INO UATTERV. i ! Inenry Rutgers, Oliver Wol- rULTUM TUE FIB6T, h i ! i ij m mm M '• 1 H ■■•■ ' 1 w IE i I 978 PICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK New yessels for tbe American Navy. The Adams runs tbe Blockade. Her Escape from Danger. CHAPTER XLL "We had sailed ont a letter of marque, Fourteen guns and forty-five men, » And a costly freight our gallant barque Was bearing home again. We had ranged the seas the whole summer tide, Crossed the main and returned once more ; And our sails were spread, and from the mast-head The look-out saw the distant shore. A sail 1 a sail on our weather-bow 1 Hand over hand ten knots nn hour ; Now God defend it ever should end That we should fall in the foeman's power."'— Caeoline P. Obne. fUR story of the operations of the American Navy during the year 1813 closed with the cruise of the Pr^ident, imder Commodore Rodgeis, and her bold dash through the British blockading squadron off Sandy Hook into the harbor of New ifork, at the middle of February, 1814, when the broad pennant of Commodore Decatur was unfurled over her deck. The Guerriere, 44, the first frigate built by the United States gov- ernment on the sea-board since 1804, was launched at Philadelphia on the 20th of June, 1814, in the presence of fifty thousand persons, and was placed under the command of Commodore Rodgers. On the 20tli of July, the Independence, 74, was launched at Charlestown, amid the roar of cannon and the shouts of a great multitude. She was placed in charge of Commodore Bain- bridge. The Ind^endence was a two-decker, the first that had ever been built for the service of the United States. '^ The keels of two others were laid, but they were not put afloat until the war had ceased. The Java, 44, was launched at Baltimore on the 1st of August, while twenty thousand people were looking on. She was placed under the command of Commodore Perry. Several new sloops of war were made ready for sea during the summer of 1814 ; and the Adams, 28, had been cut down to a sloop and lengthened the previous autumn at Washington, and armed with the same number of guns, but on a single deck. On the night of the 18th of January, 1814, the Adams, Ca^ioXn Charles Morris, passed the blockading squadron in Lynnhaven Bay, put to sea, and ran off to the northeast to cross the track of the British West India merchantmen. She made a few prizes. On the 25th of March she captured the Indiaman Woodbridge, and, while taking possession of her, observed twenty-five merchant vessels, with two ships of war, bearing down upon her with a fair wind. Morris abandoned his prize, and gave the Adams wings for flight from danger. She escaped, sailed down the coast, and entered the harbor of Savannah for supplies in the month of April. On the 5tli of May she sailed for the Manilla Reef to watch for the Jamaica convoy. The fleet passed her in the night. She gave chase in the morning, gained uji ii the fugitive?, but was kept at bay by two vessels of war. The Adams now stood to the northward, and on the 3d of July was off the Irisli coast, where she was chased by British frigates at different times, but always escaped. ' Prom a spirited poem, 'n manuscript, written by Miss Orne, of Cambridge, Massnchnsetts, entitled "The Letter of Marque." 9 The America, of the same class, was presented to the French government while she was yet on the stocks. Her Escape from Danger, OF THE WAR OF 1812. 979 Destruction of the Adama. Cmlse of the Wanp. She carv^ares the Reindeer. The weather was cold, damp, and foggy for nearly two months, because the ocean was dotted with icebergs floating down from circumpolar waters. Her crew sick- ened, and Captain Morris determined to go into port. He entered the Penobscot liiver, in a somewhat disabled condition, on the afternoon of the 17th of AugiSt, and made his way with the Adams to Hampden, far up the river, where he was soon afterward compelled to destroy his vessel to prevent its falling into the hands of the British, as we have already ob- served.' Captain Johnston Blakeley left the har- bor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the 1st of May, 1814, in command of the new sloop-of-war Wasp, 18, and soon ap- peared in the chops of the British Chan- nel. There he spread terror among the merchant ships and the people of the sea- port towns, and revived painful recollec- tions of the exploits of the Argus."^ On the morning of the 28th of June, Avhile some distance at sea, the Wasp was chased by two vessels. These were joined by a third at ten o'clock, when the foremost one showed English colors. After a good (leal of manoeuvring until a little past three o'clock in the afternoon, when the foe was within sixty yards of the Wasp and on her weather-quarter, the former opened fire with a 12-pound carronade, and gave four heavy discharges of round and grape shot before her antagonist could bring one of her guns to bear. At about half past three the Wasp opened fire, and in a few minutes the action became very severe. Several times the men of the stranger attempted to board the Wasp, but were re- pulsed. Her crew finally boarded the stranger, and at the end of twenty-eight min- utes after the combat commenced the latter was a prize to the Wasp. The van- quished vessel was the British sloop-of-war Meindeer, Captain William Manners. She was terribly shattered. Her people had fought bravely, and her captain and purser (Barton), and twenty-three others, were killed, and forty-two were wounded. The Wasp was hulled six times, but was not very seriously damaged. Her loss was five men killed and twenty-two wounded. She was every Avay the superior of the Eein- deer. She was new, mounted twenty 32-pound carronades and two long guns, and her complement was one hundred and seventy-three men. That of the Jiei7ideer was only one hundred and eighteen. Blakeley put some of his wounded prisoners on a neutral vessel, and with the remainder sailed for L'Orient, where he arrived on the 8th of July. He had burned the wrecked Reindeer. For his gallant conduct on this occasion Congress voted him a gold medal.^ Blakeley left L'Orient on another cruise ' *\\c Wasp on the 27th of August. On the evening of the Ist of September he disco v^ered four sail ahead, two on the lar- board and two on the starboard bow of the Wasp. He bore down upon them, and at almost half past nine in the evening he was so near one of them that he opened ' See page 899. ' See page 716. ' On one side of the medal Is a bmt of Captain Blakeley In profile, with the words aronnd It " johnston iimkelev ««ir. F.KD. AM. WAV. WABP vivx." On the other side 1b represented a naval action, with the legend " khmi I bib tio- TOB. TATBIA TUA TB LVQXT rLAlTOITO." BelOW, " INTKB WABP NAV. AMKBI. KT BEINDEEB NAV. AMQ. DIE XXTIII. JUNItB HBOOOXIT." 1 I h 980 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Combat between the tt'aup and Avon. Loss uf the Waup aud all un buard. Blakeley and Warriugtoi M ' i 1 1 i i l:t ill !> IILAKELGY 8 MEDAL. fire upon her with a 12-pound carronade. The shot was promptly returned. Tlie night was intensely dark, the wind was blowing freshly, and the vessels were run- ning at the rate of ten knots an hour. After the exchange of shots, the commanders of both vessels hailed ; and soon afterward the Wasp opened a broadside upon her antagonist. A severe engagement ensued. Thirty minutes later the fire of the stranger ceased. " Have you surrendered ?" inquired Blakeley. He was answered by a few shots, when he gave his foe another broadside, followed by the same ques- tion. It was answered in the affirmative, when a boat was lowered from the Wasj), with an officer to take possession of the prize. Just then another vessel appeared astern, rapidly approaching ; then another, and another. Blakeley felt compelled to abandon his prize, so nearly in his possession. He could not ascertain the name or power of his antagonist, but believed her to be one of the largest brigs in the British Navy. It was afterward ascertained that it was the Avon, 1 8, Captain Arbuthnot, and that the vessel that first came to her aid was the Gastilian, 18. The Avon was so much shattered in the contlict that she sunk almost immediately. The survivors of her people were rescued by their friends in the other vessels. The Wasp continued her cruise, capturing several prizes. Among others, she took the Atlanta, nG?kr the Azores, on the 21st of September. The prize was so valuahlc that Blakeley sent her home in command of Midshipman (late Commodore) David Geisinger.' She arrived safely at Savannah on the 4th of November. On the 9tli of October the Wasp was spoken by the Swedish bark Adonis, making her way to- ward the Spanish Main. On that occasion two officers of the Essex (Acting Lieuten- ant M'Knight and Master's-mate Lyman), who were passengers in the Adonis, left her for the Wasp. This was the last that was ever heard of that vessel and of those on board of her at that time. She and all her people perished in some unknown way in the solitudes of the sea.^ In March, 1814, the Peacock, 18, Captain Warrington,^ sailed on a cruise from New ' Commodore Gelsluger died at hU residence In Philadelphia on Saturday, the 10th of March, 1800, at the aec of nhoiit seventy years. He was among the oldest officers of the navy. His commission as captain was dated May 24, 1S3S. For several years he was stationed at the Naval Asylum in Philadelphia. ' Johnston Blakeley was a native of Ireland, where he was born in the month of October, 1T81. His father emigrated to the United States with his family in 1T83, and settled in Charleston, South Carolina, and afterward made Wilminj;- ton, in North Carolina, his home. He sent Johnston, his only surviving son, to New York to be educated. He fliiishcd his education at Chapel Hill, in North Carolina. He entered the navy as a midshipman in the year 1800. He served with faitlifulness, and rose to the rank of captain. In 1814 he was appointed to the command of the Wa«p, in which, as we have observed in the text, he perished toward the close of that year, when he was only thirty-three years of age. 3 Lewis Warrington was born at Williamsburg, in Virginia, on the Sd of November, 1782. He was educated at Wil- liam and Mary College in that state. He entered the naval service as midshipman in January, 1800, and made hi« flrft cruise with Captain Barron in the Chesapeake. He was promoted to lieutenant in 180T, and to master commandnnt nn the 24th of July, 1813. This was the office which he held, by commission, when he started on the cruise In the PokocI lakeley and Warrlugtun. ,tly returned. Tlic e vessels were run- its, the commandevs broadside upon her ,ter the fire of the He was answered i by the same ques- ered from the Wasp, her vessel appeared ey felt compelled to [certain the name or brigs in the Britisli Captain Arbuthnot, The Avon was 8. The survivors ong others, she took •ize was so valuable Commodore) David ember. On the 9th making her way to- sea; (Acting Lieuten- in the Adonis,M{ . vessel and of those some unknown way a cruise from New irch, 1800, at the age of nbont tttlu was dated May 24, 1S3S. ,1781. nisfatlicrcmit^ated id afterword made Wilroinj.-- to he educated. He fiiiisti<"l In the year isno. He cerved *nd of the Wasp, in wh'clit »« thirty-three years of nw- I. He was educated at Wil- lary, 1800, and made his flrrt d to master commandnnt nii on the cruise In the /Vofwt. OF THE WAIl OF 18 12. 081 Fight between the Peacock and Epervier. Capture of the latter. Her Escape (torn Recapture. York. She went down the coast, and was off tlie shores of Florida for some time without encountering any conspic- uous adventures. Finally, on tlie 29th of April, Warrington discovered three sail to the windward, under convoy of an armed brig of large dimensions. The mcrcliantmen were an English brig, and a Russian and a Spanish ship. Tlie two war vessels made for each other, and very soon a close and severe battle com- menced. The Peacock was so badly wounded in the rigging by a broadside from her antagonist, which proved to be the Epervier, 1 8, Captain Wales, that she was compelled to fight " running large," as the jjhrasc is. She could not manoeu- vre much, and the contest became one of gunnery. The Peacock won the game at the end of forty minutes after it be- gan, when the Epervier struck her col- ors. She was extensively injured. No less than forty-five round shot had struck her hull, and twenty-two of her men were slain or disabled. The hull of the Pea- cock was scarcely bruised, and witliin an hour after the conclusion of the combat she was in perfect fighting order. Not a round shot had touclied her hull, and not a man on board of her was killed. Only two men were wounded. The Peacock was ihe heavier of the two vessels, fully manned, and in stanch order. The Epervier was also fully manned. Slie was a valuable prize. The vessel sold for fifty-five thousand dollars, and on board of her were found one hundred and eighteen thousand dollars in specie. She was so rich, and the waters of the Southern coast was then so much infested by British cruiisers, that Warrington determined to con- voy her into Savannah, He placed J. B, Nicholson, liis first lieutenant, on board of her, and on the evening of the day of the capture started for port. On the following day, when abreast Amelia Island, on the coast of Florida, they encountered two Brit- ish frigates. Arrangements were at once made to send the prize into St. Mary's, and to haul to tlie southward with the Peacock. By this means the frigates were separated, and the one in chase of the Peacock iras led off the coast, and lost sight of her intended victim on the 1 st of September. The Epervier, while veering along the coast toward Savannah, fell in with the other frigate. The w\ater was shoal in which the prize vessel ran. The bo.ats of the frigate were lowered, filled with armed men, and sent in chase of the Epervier, which moved slowly before a very light wind. Tlie boats gained upon her, .and her position became critical, for Nicholson had only sixteen officers and men with him. He employed a stratagem successfully. Using the trumpet, as if his vessel was full of men, he summoned them, in a loud voice, to prepare to fire a broadside. Tlie men in the boats heard the order, and fled. Had they known the real state of affairs, they might have captured the Epervier in less than five minutes with little loss. She escaped, and reached Savannah on the Ist of May. The Peacock entered the same port on the 4th. Recanse of his bi;ccps», i.e was promoted to captain in November, 1814. He had served with distinction under Decatur snd others. He was a very active and nscfnl ofBcer during the whole of the second War for Independence, and subse- quently performed much important service afloat and ashore. For many years he was a member of the Board of Navy Commissioners ; and in September, 1842, he was appointed chief of the Burean of Ordnance and Hydrography, which office he held at the time of his death. That event occurred at Washington City on the 12th of October, 1851. t i i ■ ^ ! ■I' i ;i' I! II; -.f !: if if <; -i ■ I™ 1 IjH'i : A- mu . y 111 982 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Baruey'i Flotilla In Cheaapeake Bay. It is blockaded. Bight with the Blockaderi. Tho capture of the Epervier produced much exultation throughout the country. The name of Warrington was upon every lip in phrases of honor, and the CongrcHs of tho United States ordered a gold medal to be struck and presented to him because of this exploit.' WABEIJIOTO.n'h MEnAL. Soon after her return to Savannah the Peacock went on another cruise, and entered the Bay of Biscay and the waters on the coast of Portugal. She captured fourteen merchantmen, but had no engagement with a ship of war. iSho returned to New York at the end of Octobei*. We have alluded to Barney's operations with a flotilla in the Chesapeake in the summer of 1814. The brave and active veteran left the Patuxent on the Ist of June, with the Si'OTpion as liis flag-ship, two gun-boats, and several large barges, in chase of two British schooners. By the vigorous use of sweeps he was fast overhaulintc the fugitives, when a large ship was se^in at the southward. The wind commenced blowing freshly, and the great vessel, being to windward, was seen bearing down upon the flotilla. Barney signaled the return of his boats, and all fled back to the Patux- ent, followed for a while by the huge enemy, a two-decker, which anchored at the mouth of the river. On the 6th of June this ship was joined by two others, and Bar- ney's flotilla was thoroughly blockaded. On the 8th, the ship of the line, a brig, two schooners, and fifteen barges sailed up the Patuxent with a fair wind, and Barney moved to St. Leonard's Creek, two miles farther up, and there, in battle order, await- ed their approach. The heavier British vessels anchored at the mouth of the creek, and the barges advanced, led by a rocket-boat. Barney, with thirteen barges, ad- vanced to meet them, when they retreated. Tiie movement was repeated in the aft- •Jnneo, ernoon. Twenty-four hours afterward* the enemy sent twenty barges up *^^*- the creek, which, after a sharp skirmish, fled back to the protection of the large armed vessels. On the 11th, twenty-one barges, and two schooners in tow, re- newed the attack, when, after receiving a more severe punishment than at any time before, they were again compelled to fly, with considerable loss. Barney now caused some small earth-works to be thrown up on the shore to pro- tect his flotilla. These were placed in the command of Captain Miller, of the Marine Corps, and a considerable force of militia, under Colonel Decius Wadsworth, of the Ordnance Corps. The combined force attempted to end the blockade on the 26th. A raking shot ripped a plank from the bottom of the large British ship,'* and she was I On one side of the mednl Ig a bust in profile of Captain Warrington, and the words " i.itdovioijb wABniNnTO.s on NAVAUB AHRi." On the other side is a representation of a naval battle, and aronnd it the legend " pro patria tara- TUB ACT YINOEBR ADT liOBI." BcloW, " INTEB PEACOCK BAT. AUBI. ET EPEBTIEB NAT. ANO. DIE XXIX HABOU HOOCCXIV." ' This was either the Severn or the Loin. !l OF THE WAR OF 1812. 988 I I ght with the Blockadert, Reappearance of the Oarutitution, 8be U chaied Into Marblehead Uarbor. Again pata to Sea. compelled to run on a Band-bank to avoid sinking. The engagement continued about two hours, during which time Barney lost thirteen men in killed and wounded. The blockade was eifectually raised, for the enemy prudently dropped down the Patux- ent. Barney and his flotilla remained in that river until about the middle of Au- gust, when the British commenced those operations which resulted in the destruc- tion of his vessels by order of its commander,' and the capture of Washington City, as recorded in a preceding chapter. Now the gallant Constitution, 44, again appears on the scene of strife. When Bainb ridge relinquished the command of her in 1813 she was thoroughly repaired. A greater portion of her crew were sent to the Lakes, and when she was ready for sea a new one was entered, and she was placed under the command of Captain Charles Stewart. She left Boston Harbor for a cruise on the 30th of December, 1 813, and for seventeen days did not see a sail. She was on the coast of Surinam at the beginning of February, and on the 14th of that month she captured the British war schooner Picton, 1 6, together with a letter-of-marque which Avas under her convoy. Return- ing northward through the West India Islands, she chased" the British • February is, frigate La Pique, 36, Captain Maitland, off Porto Rico. Night coming ^^^*- on, that vessel escaped through the Mona Channel. The Constitution continued her way Homeward, and early in the morning of Sunday, the 3d of April, when off Cape Anne, discovered two large sail to the southeast standing for her, and nearing her rapidly with a fair breeze. They were two British frigates of great weight, the Jto- nan and La JVjttnphe. Boston Ilarbor was her destination, but she was compelled to seek safety in that of Marblehead. By great exertions, superior skill in manage- ment, and lightening her of much of her burden, Stewart succeeded in reaching the harbor of Marblehead in safety. The situation of the Constitution was still one of great peril. An express was in. mediately sent to Commodore Bainbridge, at Boston, who proceeded with all the force at his command to her relief. Several companies of militia, artillery, and infantry hastened to Marblehead. The pursuers kept at a respectful distance, and the Constitution was soon afterward safely anchored in the harbor of Salem, from whence she sailed in due time to Boston, where she remained until near the close of the year. At the close of December,'" the CowttitHtion, still commanded by Captain Stewart, put to sea. She went to the Bay of Biscay by way of Bermuda and Madeira, and then cruised some time farther southward off Lisbon. While in sight of the Portuguese capital, Stewart observed a large ship seaward, and immediately gave chase. Stopping to capture and secure a prize, he lost sight of her. She was the Elizabeth, 74, on her way to the port of Lisbon. On her arrival there her com- mander was informed of the presence of the Constitution on the coast, and he went out at once in search of her. He was unsuccessful. Stewart sailed farther southward toward Cape St. Vincent, and on the 20th of Feb- ruary, 1815, he discovered a strange sail and made chase. At about two o'clock in the afternoon a second vessel appeared farther to the leeward. Both were ships, and evidently in comppny. Toward evening ori^ signaled the other, and they drew to- gether. The Constitution still kept up the chase, and crowded all sail to get the near- est of the two under her guns before night should set in. At near sunset she fired a few shots, but they fell short. Stewart found he was slowly gaining on the fugitives, and cleared the Constitution for action. At six, being within range, he showed his I colors, when the two strangers flung out the British flag. The position of the three vessels now became very interesting. The Constitution shot by, and the three ships were so ranged that they formed the points of an equi- lateral triangle, Stewart's vessel to windward of the other two. In this advantageous position the Constitution commenced the action, the ihree vessels keeping up an un- '1814. ru > See page 921. MM! 'i ; li 1- ]i '• )I<!J 'I ' i, f. 1 984 PIC 'ORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle between the Canntitution and British Vesieli Cyan* and Levant. The CtnuM(u««n capturea both. ceasing and terrific fire for about fifteen minutes, when that of the enemy slackened. An immense volume of heavy smoke hung over the combatants, admitting only an occasional gleam of moonlight. The Constitution also became silent; ^r. '. as the cloud of smoke rolled sullenly away as a very light breeze sprung up, Stewart per- ceived the leading ship of the enemy to bo under the lee-beam of his own vessel while the stcrnmost was lufiing up as il' with the intention of tacking, and crossing the stern of the Constitution. TLj latter delivered a broadside into the shij) abreast of her, and then, by a skillful management of the sails, backed swiftly asteui, com- pelling the foe to fill again to avoid being raked. The leading ship now attemi)ted to tack so as to cross the bow of the Constitution. For some time both vessels manoeuvred admirably, pouring heavy shot into eacii other whenever opportunity offered, when, at a quarter before seven, the British ves- sel fired a gun to leeward and struck her flag. Lieutenant Iloff'man was sent to take possession of her. She was the frigate Cyane, 30, Cajitain Falcoln, manned by a crew of one hundred and eighty men. Stewart now looked after the Cyane's consort, which had been forced out of tlu! combat by the crippled condition of her running gear, and to avoid damage from the Constitution's heavy cannonading. She was ignorant of the fate of her consort. About an hour after the action had ceased, having repaired damages, she bore up, and met the Constitution coming down in search of her. They crossed on opposite tacks, each delivering a broadside as they did so. For a time there was a brisk run- ning fight, the Constitution chasing, and her bow guns sending shot that ripped up the planks of her antagonist. The latter was soon overpowered, and at ten o'clock at night she fired a gun to leeward and surrendered. Lieutenant (now Admiral) W. B, Shiibrick was sent to take possession of her. She was found to be the Levant, 18, Captain Douglass. The Constitution at this time was equipped with fifty-two guns, and her comple- ment of men and boys was about four hundred and seventy. The Cyane was a frigate-built ship, mounting twenty 32-pound carronades on her gun-deck, and ten 1 8-pound carronades, with two chase-guns, on her quarter-deck and forecastle, making thirty-four in all. Her complement of men was one hundred and eighty-five. The Levant was a new ship, mounting eighteen 32-pound carronades, a shifting 18 on her top-gallant forecastle, and two chase-guns, making twenty-one in all. Her regular complement was one hundred and thirty souls. Both vessels had additional nuniliers on board, going to the Western Islands to bring away a ship that was being built there. The loss of the Constitution in this gallant action Avas three killed and twelve wounded. That of the enemy, in the two vessels, was estimated at seventy-seven killed and wounded. The Constitution was so little damaged that in three hours after her last conflict she was again ready for action. She had been engaged for three hours with her an- tagonists, but the actual fighting had not occupied more than forty-five minutes. She had not a single officer hurt. It was a most gallant fight in that moonlit sea by the three vessels; and the commanders of Till received, as they deserved to, the highest praise. Placing Lieutenant Iloff'man on the Cyane, and Lieutenant Ballard on the Levant., as commanders. Captain Stewart proceeded with the Constitution and her prizes t<i Porto Praya, the capital of Santiago, one of the Cape de Verde Islands, where he ar- rived on the 10th of March, 1815. On the following day, while Lieutenant Shubrick ^j was walking the quarter-deck, he heard one of the prisoners, a midshipman, exclaim, " There's a large ship in the offing !" One of the English captains severely repri- manded him in a low tone. Shubrick's vigilance was aroused. The ocean was cov- ered with a thick fog resting low on the water. Above it, in thick luminous mist, he saw the sails of a large ship, set portward. He immediately reported to Stewart, O^ THE WAR OF 18 12. 086 mtittUinn capturca hciih. enemy slackened, dmittiiig only an ilent; -:'. ' as the f up, Stewart per- >f his own vesHel, iing, antl crossing the ship abrt'ust rit'tly aatcin, coni- )f the Constitution. vj shot into eacli ;n, the British vos- n was sent to tiike manned by a crew forced out of the il damage from the ,te of her consort, lages, she bore up, irossed on opposite re was a brisk run- hot that rippeil u)) , and at ten oVinek low Admiral) W.B. 1 be the Levant, 18, ns, and her comple- 1 The Cyane was ii gun-deck, and ten forecastle, raakinj; eighty-five. The shifting 18 on her all. Iler regular additional nunihers it was being built killed and t welve at seventy-seven ler her last conflict lours with her an- five minutes. She moonlit sea by the irved to, the highest iird on the Levant, . and her prizes to ilands, where he ar- lieutenant Shubrick idshipman, exclaim, ains severely rcpri- riie ocean was cov- { luminous mist, he sported to Stewart, The CofvUitutiun eK«p«i frum three Brltliih Frigate Fate of her Priiei. Ilonon to Comm«>dore Stewart. 1IILI.ET-11KA]). who was below. That officer coolly replied that it was probably an Knglish frigate, and directed Shubrick to return to the deck, call all haiuls, and get ready to go out and attack her. Shubrick did so, wlien he discovered the sails of two other vessels above the fog-bank, and tliey were evidently those of men-of-war. Again he reported to Captain Stewart, when that officer, perfectly unmoved by what he knew to be im- minent peril to liis vessel, immediately ordered the cables of the Vonstitutioii to bo cut and signals made for the prizes t«) follow. lie well knew that the English would have no resjiect for the neutrality of that port, and that he was too feeble to cope witii three heavy men of war; autl within fifteen minutes afler the first shij) had been seen, the Constuution was mak- ing her way out of tiie roads of Porto Praya, followed by the two prizes. They were chased by the strangers, which were the British frigates Leander, 50, Sir George Collier; Neiccastle, 50, Lord (ieorge Stuart ; and Acasta, 40, Captain Kerr. Tiu-y jiressed hard ujton the fugitives. The Cyane was falling astern, and must soon become a prey to her pur- suers. Stewart signaled for her to tack. Ilofi'nian ])roni|tt- ly obeyed, and she was soon lost to view in the fog, under cover of which she escaped, and reached New York on tho 10th of April.* The three sliips continued to chase the Constitution, and finally the Nerccastle began to fi..' her chase-guns, but withe it eftect. Meanwhile the Levant had fallen far in tho rear, and Stewart signaled for her commander to tack. Ballard obeyed, when the three British ships, abandoning the chase of the Constitution, ytnrsnvd him. He ran the Levant back to port, and at four o'clock in the afternoon anchored her Avithin one hundred and fifty yards of the shore, under the shelter of what he supposed to be at least a neutral battery of thirty or forty guns. He Avas mistaken. Tlie English pris- oners, one hundred and twenty in number, Avhom Stewart had landed there on parole before the British squadron hove in sight, regardless of the neutral character of the port (Portuguese), took possession of the battery and opened it upon the Jjcvant. She received the fire of her pursuers at the same time, and was compelled to strike her colors. She was sent to Barbadoes in charge of Lieutenant Jellicoe, formerly of the Cyane. With these exploits, performed after peace had been proclaimed in the United States, ended the career of " Old Ironsides," as the Constitution was called, in tho War of 1812. Stewart landed many of his prisoners at Marauliam, in Brazil ; and at Porto Rico he heard of the proclamation of peace. He immediately sailed home- ward, and arrived in New York at the middle of May, bringing with him the intel- ligence of the capture of the Cyane and Levant. The arrival of the Constitution was hailed with delight. The Common Council of New York gave him the freedom of the city in a gold box,'^ and tendered to him and his officers the hos])italities of the city at a public dinner. The Legislature of Pennsylvania gave him thanks in the name of the state, and voted him a gold-hilted sword ; and the Congress of the United States voted him and his brave men the thanks of the nation, and directed a gold medal, commemorative of the capture of the Cyane and JjCvant, to be struck and presented to him. His exploits and that of his ship became the theme for ora- tory and song, and from that day to this the people of the United States have held that vessel in peculiar reverence. She was always fortunate in having skillful com- manders, and brave and intelligent men. Her crews were principally men of New England. From the time of the Tripolitan War until she left oflf" cruising and be- came a school-ship, she always ranked as a " lucky vessel." ' The billet-head of the Cijane, finely carved, is preserved at the Philadelphia Na^-y Yard. It is about three feet six inches in height, and baa the representation of a dragon carved upon it. > See note 3, page 841. i I I' If \i II ' i ill' 1 I Mihpl : !•■!:! •N I'ICTORIA JLD-UOOK Admiral 8tew»rt. nil Home In New Jetiey. Bl(>2r*phleal Sketch, GT2W art's 1IIDAL.> couMonoBE btewabt'b rkbii>enoi. The gallant commaiulor of the ConstUntioti at the close of the war, who was then a veteran in the serv- ice, still (1807) survives, and is oft- en called affectionately by the nanii' siven to his vessel — " Old Iron- sides." lie lives in retirement, with a sufficiency of this world's goocb, in an unostentatious dwelling on the banks of the Delaware, at Bor- dentown, New Jersey, around which are delightful grounds attached to the mansion.* In the summer of 1814, Commo- dore Decatur, who had been endur- I The ftbo' e picture represents tlie medal, flill size. On one side Is a bust of Stewart, with the words nronnd It " ca- HOLDS sTEW.iRT NAV18 AMER. CON8TITDTION DUX." On thc Other sldc ft represeulatlon of the capture of the Ci/atie and lAtvant, and 'he words " una viotoriam erm'Uit ratihdb iiinis." Below, "inter oonbtitc. WAV. AMEBI. ET LEVANT ET OYANE NAV. ANQ. PIE XX EKIIR. MPOOOXV." s The writer visited Admiral Stewart at his pleasant home, near Bordentown, In the snmmer of 1803, In company with Dr. Peterson, his neighbor and friend. I was then on my return from the then fresh battle-field at Gettysburg. At that time he was cighty-slx years of age, a firm and compactly-knit man, about five "eet nine Inches In height, and possessed of great bodily and mental vigor. Ills narrative of adventnres on sea and land In the service of his country for more than sixty years were full of romance of the most stirring character. lie showed us a plain sword, the blade of which was presented to hira by the King of Spain In 1S04 because of his services, while In command rtthc Experiment, in the West Indies, in saving from destruc- tion about sixty persons, many of them women, who were flying from Insurgent blacks of St. Domingo. He could not constitutionally receive a sword from a foreign potentate, but he might a blade for his defense. He had it plainly mounted, and wore it on the occasion of the combat with the Cyaiw. and f^vant. During that contest the guard was carried away by a cannon-ball that grazed the commander's side. The blacksmith of the Comtitulian constnicted a rude guard, and It still remains. He also showed ns a dirk, a foot long, with a handle made of a rhinoceros tooth, which was In the hands of the Turk with whom Decatur engaged In mortal struggle on the deck of the PhiVidelphia In the harbor of Tripoli, mentioned on page 122. Chorles Stewart was bom In Philadelphia on the 22d of .July, 177«. His parents were natives of Ireland. His father, who was a mariner In the merchont service, came to America at an early age. Charles was the yonngest of eight children, and lost his father before he was two years of age. He entered the merchant service on the ocean at the age of thirteen years as a cabin-boy, and rose gradually to the office of captain. In March, 1X08, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Navy of the United States, and made his first cniise under Commodore Bar- ney. In 1800 he was appointed to the command of the armed schooner Experiment. At the beginning of the autumn of that yeor he fonght and captured the French schooner Twn Friendg, after ap action often minutes, without incurring loss on his part. From that time the caveer of Lieutenant Stewart was a most honorable one to himself and the navy of his country. Ha was conspicuous in the war with Tripoli, and was greatly beloved by the brave Decatur for his STEWART'S 8W0«I). BliiiP'iphlcal Hkctch, OP THE WAR OP J8ia. 987 Owalur'* Hqundrun. lU pats tu 8«a In tho I'raiMtnt. The />»•<•'•/ chiued. ing inaction for a long time on account of the blockade of his vcsHcltt in the Thames above New Lon<l()ri, was trsinHferred to the coiuinimd of tho President, 44, which Kodgers lind li'ft for tho new Hhip Ciuerriire. Captiiin iiiddle, comnuuider or the Jfoniet, which iiad been long engaged in protecting the Cnitcd IStutes and the J\I<ice- duniun in tlie Thames, was iinally ordered to join Deeatur, and, with joyous alacrity, he obeyed. He soon found an opportunity to avoid the bloeivading mpnidron, and in November he joined Decatur with his ship at New York, when that commander's 8(iuadron, assembled there, consisted of the President (the flag-ship) ; Peacock, 18, Captain Warrington; 7/<>r/<67, 1 8, Captain Hiddle; and 7'om /yoW/ziC, store-ship. Decatur had been engaged all the summer and autumn in the vicinity of New York, watching for tho ajtproach of the enemy, who were ravaging the cotmtry in tho vicinity of the Chesapeake Bay. Ignorant of tiie real destination of the Uritish when they left those waters, the government detained Decatur so long as there were any apprehensions of an attack on New York. lie finally received an order to pro- pare for a cruise in the East Indies, to si)rea<l havoc among the British shipi)ing in that ren\ote (juartcr of the world. He was ready at the middle of January,* • ism. and on the niglit of the 14th'' tho President dropped down to Sandy Hook, ' Jtuumry. leaving the other vessels at their ancliorage near Staten Island. Hhe grounded on the bar in the darkness of the nigiit, but was floated off by the rising tide in time to clear the coast and the Hritish blockading Sipiadron before morning. Tl)ere had been a heavy gale on the 14th, and Decatur, believing that tho block- aders had been driven by it to the leeward, ke|»t the President close along tho Long Island shore for about five hours, when he sailed boldly out to sea in a southeasterly by easterly direction. Two hours after changing his course ho discovered by the starlight a strange sail ahead, and within gun-shot distance. Two others soon mai'e thi i appearance, and at dawn the President was chased by four ships of war, two on iicr quarters and two astern. These were the Endymion, 40; Pomone,?>% \ Ihnedos, )l BTEW art's SWOJD- eerviccs there, and his generous friendship ever afterward. In tho month of May, 1804, he was promoted to the rank of master commandant, and tu that of captain in ISOO. During that and tho foiiuwing yeak ho was employed in snpcrintendiniJt the construction of gun-boats. In isi'i lie was appointed to tho command of the frigate Cimilitutinn. lie was with her in Hampton Roads in February, 1813, where, by Gkillful management, lio eliulcd the enemy, and took his ship safely to Norfolk. In tinnc following he was appointed to the command of the OmalilHliim, and in her ])erformed the gallant servirca recorded in the text. After the war ho was placed in command (ISIC) of the Franklin, 74, and con- veyed the Hon. Richard Rush, American minister, to England. Until very recently he has been employed, adoat or ashore, in the naval service of his country, and on all occasions evincing eminent executive ability and statesmanlike views. The annexed portrait of the venerable admiral is from a photograph taken In 1SG4. Admiral Stewart is the only surviving officer in the civiior military service of the United States who holds a commission dated in the last century. He is a most interesting link between the fathers of the Revolution and the patriots and heroes of our day. Our visit with tiim in his pleasant homo was fur too short for our own inclination, and we reluctantly parted with one so fa- mous in our nnnals, and so fluent In speech In the re- cital of tho events of his wonderful experience. We bade the hale old admiral farewell with feelings coin- cident with those of an anonymous poet, who wrote, "Oh, oft may you meet with brave Stewart, The tar with the free and the true heart ; .\ bright welcome smile, and a soul free from guile, You'll find in the hero, Charles Stewart. A commander both generous and brave, too, Who risked his life others to save, too; And thousands that roam by his neat Jersey home Bless thekindheart of gallantCharlesStewart." 988 PICTORIAL FIKLD-BOOK Battle Mil t-en the /'resident nnd Endyviion. Cap'ure of the I'rmiiieitt. ' ) W'A 1 1 38 ; and Majestic, razee, of the blockaJing squadron, which had been blown off the coast by tlie gale, and were now returning to the cruising-ground off Sandy Hook. The chase continued during the mornintj with a light and baffling Avind, and the Prai- dent, deeply laden with stores for a long cruise soon found the Endymion, Captain Hope, the nearest vessel, rapidly overtaking her. Deca- tur at once gave orders for lightening his own ship for the purpose of increasing her speed. It availed but little. At three o'clock in tlio afternoon the Endyinion came down with a fresh breeze, which the President did not leel, and opened her bow-guns upon the fugitive. The President promptly returned the fire in an effort to damage the spars and rigging of her pursuer, but without effect. Iler sliot moved feebly and fell short, as if propelled by weak powder. On came the En- ' y/ y^ — - dymion, and at five o'clock she ^^T'lyC^^^^'i^''^^ ■€ C CC^^i^C^ ^^~* gained a position in which she terribly annoyed her antagonist, The President could not bring a gun to bear upon the foe, and was lacerated by every shot of her pursuer. It was evident that the Endymion was endeavoring to secure a victory by gradually crippling the President, and reducing her to an unmanageable wreck. Decatur quickly penetrated the design of his enemy, and prepared to frustrate it by boldly running down upon the Endymion, carrying her by a hand-to-hand fight, and, abandoning his own vessel, seize his antagonist as a prize, and in her ■ an away from the other pursuers. But the commander of the Endymion was as wary as he Avas skillful, and was not to be caught in that manner. He .accommodated the move- ments of his own ship to those of his antagonist, until at length they were brought abeam of each other, and both opened tremendous broadsides. Every attempt of Decatur to lay the President alongside the Endymion was foiled by Captain Hope, who adroitly kept his ship a quarter of a mile from his antagonist. Decatur no\\« determined to dismantle the Endymion. The two frigates kept run- ning dead before the wind, head and head, each discharging heavy broadsides upon the other for two hours and a half, when the Endymion, having most of her sails cut from the yards, fell astern. The President, no doubt, could have compelled her ad- versary to strike her colors in a few minutes, but just at that moment the other ves- sels in chase were seen by the dim starlight to be approaching. The}' had been joined by the Dispatch. The President tlierefore kept on her course in efforts to escape, Il> this she failed. The pursuers closed upon her. At 11 o'clock the Pomone got on the weather-bow of the President, and gave her a damaging broadside. The Ihiahi was coming up and closing on her quarter, and the Jfajestic .iid Dispatch were with- in gun-shot distance astern. They all fell upon her wii' energy. Farther resistance would have been useless. The President struck her colors, and Decatur surreiulcreil his t word to Captain Hayes, of the Majestic, which was the tiist vessel that came alongside of the vanquished frigate. In the chase and running fight the President lost twenty-four men killed and fifty- six wounded. Among the s'-'in were her first, fourth, and fifth lieutenants, ]\fessis. Babbitt, Hamilton, and How .11. "he Endymion had eleven killed and fourteen !n OF THE WAR OF 1812. 989 Capture of the I'reMmL f the blockading lown off the coast returning to the Look. •ing the morning, iu(l, and the Fred- >s for a long cruise, Captain Hope, tlie taking her. Deca- lightening his own reasing her speed. Iircc o'clock in tlic !ame down AviUi a sident did not I'eel, upon the fugitive, eturncd the fire in lars and rigging of effect. Her sliot t, as if propelled by On came the En- It five o'clock she tion in which she ^ed her antagonist. i lacerated by every leavoring to secure to an unmanageable larcd to frustrate it land-to-hiind fii^lit, nd in her ■ an away was as wary as he miodatcd the niove- they were brought very attempt of by Captain Hope, o frigates kept rnn- \-y broadsides uiion [lost of her sails cut compelled her ad- Tieiit the other vcs- ley had been joined 1 efibrts to escape, he Fomone got on side. The Tenahs ^ispatch were witli- 1 Farther resistance lecatur surrendered It vessel that came len killed and fifty- lieutenants, ^Messrs. lilled and fourteen The rest of Decatur's Squadron puts to Sea. Biographical Slietch of Decatur. wounded. It was found that her hull had been struck by many balls which did not penetrate, and this fact confirmed the impressions of Decatur at the beginning of the contest that the powder Avas inferior. After the action, the Presicltn', accompanied by the Etulymion, sailed for Bermuda. Both vessels were dismasted in a gale before reaching port. Decatur wrote an offi- cial account for the Secretary of War on board of the Endymion on the 1 8th. He was soon after paroled, and returned to New York at the beginning of March. A court of inquiry was convened, and he and all of his officers, tried for losing their sliip, were honorably acquitted. It was proven, and was admitted by the English, that the President was captured by the squadron, and not by a single vessel. • And when the details of the combat became known, the heroism of Decatur and his men pro- duced the most profound sensation. Language was too feeble to express the admi- ration of the American people.* On the 22d of January* the Peacock, Hornet, and Tom liowline followed the President to sea. Their commanders were ignorant of her fate. They passed the bar at daylight, regardless of the blockading squadron, and passed out upon the broad ocean unmolested. Each made its Avay, sometimes alone and sometimes con- sorting with another, for the port of Tristan d'Acunha, the principal of a group of islands in the South Atlantic, in latitude 37° S., and longitude 12° W. from Washing- ton. That was the place of rendezvous designated by Decatur. Tiie Peacock and ' 1810. 1 The force of the President was thirty-two long 24-ponndcr8, one 24-ponn(l howitzer, twenty 42-pound carroiiades, and dvc small pieces in her tops. The Kmbjmiun mounted tweuty-six long 24-p()unders, twenty-two !t2-i)ounrlerH, one 12-pound carrot ade, and one long IS. The Majestic rated 60 guns ; the Tetudoa, 38 ; the funnoiu, 38. That of the Dis- patch is nnknovn. » We have noticed on pages 457 and 45S the honors showered npon Decatur on another occasion, when Congress voted him a gold medal. Stephen Decatur was born in Worcester County, Maryland, on the 6th of January, 1779. He en- tered the navy as a midshipman in the frigate United States, Commodore Barry. In isni he was promoted to licutennnt, and sailed in the Essex, then of Commodore Dale's squadron, to the Mediterranean Sea. On account of an affray with a British ofHcer at Malta, ht was suspended, and returned home. An investigation proved him to have been blameless, and he was appointed to the command of the Argus, of Preble's squadron, tiieu lying before Tripoli. Ilis services in tliat field of duty have been noticed in the text. On his return to America he was appointed to superintend llic build- ing of gim-boats, and Unally succeeded Barron in com- mand of the frigate Chesapeake. His services during the Second War for Independence have been recorded in the text. After the peace with England he was sent to the Mediterranean with a sqnadron to chastise the Alge- rines, and his vigorous actlim there caused the discon- tinuance of tlie practice of paying tribute to the Barbary powers, not only by the United States, but by the pow- ers of Western Europe. On his return home lie was ap- pointed one of the Board of Naval Commi88i(mers, and resided at Kalorama, near Georgetown (see page !t42), until hi^ death in March, lS2n. He was mortally wound- ed in a iiiel with Commodore Barron, fought near Bla- ilensburg (see page !I2!S) on the 2nth of that month, and (lied at Kalorama the same evening. Ills remains were laid in the family vault o ' Joel Barlow, where they re- mained until 1S4C, when they were reinterred, with ap- propriate ceremonies. In the burial-ground of St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, by the side of those of his father and family, and over them a beautiful monument, de- picted in the anne.xed engraving, was erected, bearinf- llic following inscriptiims : Sorth Side: "Stephen Decatur,! ^m January 5,1 779. l^ntercd llie navy of the United Sta'ea as midshipman .\pril ;tn, 1793. Became lieutenant June 3, 179!). Made (iiptain for distinguished merit, passing over the rank iif commander, Fel)ruary 10, 1S04. Oied March 22, 1820." Kail Side: "Devoted to his country by u patriot father, tie cherished in his heart, and sustained by his intrepid ;i'"llonH, the Inspliing sentiment, 'Our country, right or wrong.' A nation gave him in return its applause and gratitude." Smith Side: "The gallant officer whose p.ompt and active Valor, always on the watch, was .iiided by a Wisdom and supported by aPlrmuess which never tired. Whosi exploits ii. arms reflected the daring featnrcs of Romance and Chlvalr/." WestSiile: "A name lirilllant from a series of heroic deeds on the coast of Barbi.ry, and Uiustrious by acUievcmeuvs agaliiBt more disciplined enemies ; the pride of the Navy, the glory of the Republic." 1 ' 1 . 1 , s ATIIK B HONIUIEMT. 990 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle between the llomet and i'enguin. //^ c- ' t2^i>t^^,e^ Tom Bowline arrived there togetlier at the middle of March, and were driven away by a storm. The Hornet, Captain Biddle, entered the port on the 23d, and was about to cast her anchor, when a strange sail was discovered to the wind- ward. Captain Biddle immediately spread the sails of the Hornet, and went seaward to reconnoitre. The stranger soon came running down before the wind, and at a quarter before two o'clock in the afternoon approached the Hornet within musket-shot distance, displayed English colors, and fired a gun. The Hornet accepted the challenge, and for about fifteen minutes a sharp cannonade was kept up. The fire of the Hornet was so severe that her antagonist ran down for the purpose of boarding her. The vessels became entangled, and a good opportunity was oftered to the stranger to accomplish her purpose. But her first lieutenant could not in- duce his men to follow him. Biddlc's men, on the contrary, were eager to rush into the British, ship for a hand-to-hand fight. Ilia advantage lay with his guns, and he would not allow his people to leave the ^hip. His broadsides raked the foe terribly, and very soon an officer on board the stranger called out thiit she had surrendered. Firing ceased, and Captain Biddle sprang upon the taffrail to inquire whether his an- tagonist had actually surrendered, Avhen two British marines fired at him. One bul- let wounded him severely in the neck. The assassins wore instantly slain by bullets fired from the Hornet. She immediately Avore round, after being disentangled from her foe by a lurch given by the sea, and Avas preparing to fire another broadside, when at least twenty men appeared on her antagonist throwing up their hands aiii, asking for quarter. It was difficult to restrain the indignant Americans, who wanted to avenge the injury done to their commander. It was done, however. The van- quished vessel, after a contest of twenty-three minutes, struck her colors. She was the brig Penguin, 18, Captain Dickenson, which had been fitted and manned express- ly to encounter the privateer Young Wasp, a more powerful vessel than herself. She mounted nineteen carrin^^c-guns, besides guns on ner tops, and her size and weight of metal was the same as that of the Hornet. Her complement of men was one hun- dred and thirty-two. The Hornet lost one man killed and ten wounded. Among the latter were Cap- tain Biddle, Lieutenant (afterward Commodore) Conner, and eight men. Not a round shot marred the hull of the Hornet, but her rigging was much cut, while tiie Penguin was terribly riddled. Her foremast and bowsj)rit were shot away, and her mainmast was so riiuch shattered that it could not be secured for farther use. Amojg her slain were her commander and boatswain. After taking from her all that was valuable. Captain Biddle scuttled her on the morning of the 25th, and she went to the bottom of the deep South Atlantic Ocean. The conflict between the Hornet and Penguin was regarded by naval men as one of the most creditable actions of the war, and the American people testified their ajipre- elation of the services of Captain Biddle by the bestowal of special honors upon him.' > James Biddle waa boru in Philadelphia on the 18th of February, 1T83, Ho wai edocated at the University of Pcun- re eager to rush into n\\\ his guns, and he ikcd the foe terribly, she had surrenderod, juire wliether his an- d at liim. One hul- intly slain by bullets tr disentangled from another broadside, up their hands an., icricans, who Avanted lowever. The van- icr colors. She was and manned exprcss- ,el than herself Slie ■r size and weight of men was one hun- hc latter were Cap- eiglit men. Not a much cut, while the shot away, and her red for farther use. taking from hor all of the 25th, and she naval men as one of testified their aiipre- ■al honors upon him.' ed at the Unlvorslty of Pcun- Hooors to Captain Biddle. OF THE WAR OF 1812. J — 991 fiiugrupblcal Sketch. Wlien lie arrived in New York a public dinner was given liim in that city. Citizens of his native town, Philadelphia, presented to him a beautiful service of silver plate ;' and the Congress of the United States, in the name of the Republic, gave him thanks, and ordered a gold medal to be struck in commemoration of the victory, and pre- sented to him. bidsle's medal.' On tlie same day," and a few hours after the action with the Penguin, • March 28, Captain Biddle discovered another sail in sight. It proved to be the Peor ^^'°- nock, having the Tom Bowline in company. He converted the latter into a cartel ship, and sent her to Rio de Janeiro with his prisoners. They then continued on tlieir course, after remaining in Tristan d'Acunha the length of time appointed by Decatur (until the 13th of April), and, in the mean time, they had intelligence that the President was probably captured. While sailing onward toward the Indian Seas on the morning of the 27th of April, Captain Warrington, o* the Peacock, signaled to Captain Biddle that a strange ves- sel was seen in the distance. Both ^'oops started in chase with a light wind, and before evening tiny had rapidly gained on the stranger. She was yet in sight in the morning. The K^ock was two leagues ahead of the JTomet between two and three o'clock in the ali< noon.' and at that time bcsjan \' si \v some caution in 1 I , • T 1 ■ 1 April 28. her movements. It wa- soi n discDveriMl that tn< stranger was a heavy , line-of-battle ship and an ■ .uiny, and that she was about to give cli:ise. The Pea- »ylvania. He and his brotlicr Edward entered the navy in 1800 an mirt«"ilpinen In the frigate i>/-. "iAent. James made a cruise in the Mediterranean under Captain Murray, and afterward ' Icr Bninbridge. Ilis condiiit while in those waters, and especially at Tripoli, was distinguished by gnat courage aii nnntioal skill. He was a prisoner among the semi-barharianB of that region for nineteen months. On ! - rctnni in If'O.'i ho was promoted to a lieutenancy, and was in active service most of the time until the war broke on; u 1S1'2, when he sailed in the Wafp, Captain Jones, in which he acquired special honor in the flght of that vessel witt .«■ PrnlU\ Soon after that affair Lieutenant IJiddlc was pro- moted to master commandant, and assigned to the command of the Hornet. With her he gained new laurels, as record- ed ill the text. On his return to the United States in the summer of 1816 he was promoted to post captain. He con- mportant. In 1817 he took possession of Oregon ■38 to 1842 he was Governor of the Naval Asylum, t Indies, be exchanged the ratillcations of the flrst r.iclflc, he engaged In some of the scenes in the war larch, 1S4S, and died at Philadelphia on the 1st of Oc- tinued in active service until his death. Ills special servlci - wi Territory ; in 1820 he signed a commercial treaty with Turkey , fi Pliiladclphla ; and in 184(1, while in command of a squadron in " American treaty with China. lie was at Japnn, and, cros"- with Mexico on the coast of California. He returned her » tol)cr following. The portrait of Commodore Biddle on the opposite page was copied from one in the possession of the Navy Department at Washington. > He had already received from his townsmen and friends a beautiful testimonial of their esteem the previous year. See page 4.'B. ' The above plctnre represents the medal, the exact size. On one side Is a bust of Captain Biddle, and the words "the onNOBESS OK THE tl. B. TO OAPT. J.\MKH UIDOI.E FOB IMS nAI.I.ANTnV, OOOI) OONIICOT, ANTJ BERVIOKS." On the Other side is represented a naval action, with the Peak of Tristan d'Aounhu in sight beyond the smoke. Around this are the words " (^APTUBE or tue ubitisii ubiu i>ii«uiin uy tue u. b. buii> uounet. Below, " off tristan u'AuuNaA, mabou xxiu. UDOOOXV." ii fiCTORIAL FIE'.D-BOOK The War over. The American Navy at the close of the War. cock and tlie Hornet spread their sails /or flight, Tlie latter was more particularly in peril, as she was a slower sailer than her consort. The huge Englishman was gain- ing upon her. Biddle began to lighten her, and the chase became intensely interest- ing during the entire night of the 28th and early morning of the 29th. At dawn the enemy was within gun-shot distance of the Hornet on her Ico quarter. At seven o'clock English colors and a rear admiral's flag was dis] layed by the stranger, and she commenced firing. On sped the Hornet, casting overboard shot, anchors, cables, spars, boats, many heavy articles on deck and below, and all of her guns but one. At noon the pursuer Avas within a mile of her, and again commenced firing, three of the balls striking the Hornet. Still on she sped, her gallant commander having ic- solved to save his ship at all hazards. He did so. By consummate seamanshij) and prudence, he soon took the Hornet out of harm's way, and with her single gun, and without boat or anchor, she made her way to New York, where she arrived on the 9th of June. Biddle's skill in saving his vessel elicited the unbounded praise of his countrymen. It was afterward ascertained that the pursuer of the Hornet was tlio CormoaliiSy 14, on her way to the East Indies, and bearing the flag of an oflicer in that service. Warrington continued his cruise in the Peacock, and on the 30ir ^Junc," when off" Anjer, in the Straits of Sunda, between Borneo and Sumatra, he fell in with the East India Company's crnhcr Nautilus, 14, JAQ.utena.nt Charles Boyce, Broadsides were exchanged, when the Nautilus struck her colors. She had lost six men killed and eight wounded. The Peacock lost none. This event occurred a few days after the period set by the treaty of peace for the cessation of hostilities. War- rington was ignorant of any such ti'eaty, but, being informed of its ratification on the next day, he gave up the Nautilus, and did every thing in his power to alleviate the sufferings of her wounded people. He then returned home, bearing the lionor of hav- ing fired the last shot in the Second War for Independence. The combat betAveen the Hornet and Penguin was the last regular naval battle, the affair between the Pea- cock and Nautilus being only a rencounter. When the Peacock reached America, every cruiser, public and private, that had been out against the British Jiad returned to port, and the Avar was over. "The navy," says Cooper, " came out of this struggle with a vast increase of reputation. The brilliant style in which the ships had been carried into action, the steadiness and rapidity with which thoy had been handled, and the fatal accuracy of their fire on nearly every occasion, 'jroduced a new era in naval Avarfare. Most of the frigate ac- tions had been as soon decided as circumstances would at all alloAV ; and in no in- stance was it found necessary to keep up the fire of a sloop of Avar an hour Aviion singly engaged. Most of the combats of the latter, indeed, AA^ere decided in about half that time, i'h.i execution done in these short conflicts Avas often equal to that made by the largest vessels of Europe in general actions, and in some of them the slain and wounded co.nprised a very large proportion of the crcAvs. It is not easy to say in vhich nation th?s unlooked-for resnlt created the most surprise The ablest and bravest captains of the English fleet Avere ready to admit that a ncAV pow- er Avas about to appear on the ocean, and that it Avas not improbable the battle for the mastery of the seas would have to be fought over again."' It noAV remains for us only to cwnsider the principal exploits of the American pri- vateers, whose services appear in most admirable conspicuousness at every period of the war, from the month af^or it was proclaimed until some time after peace Ava;; as- sured by solemn treaty. Although privateering is nothing less than legalized piracy, it has ever been sanctioned by the laws of nations since such codes Avcre first estab- lished, and th< foremost of the American statesmen at the period we are considering advocated it . a just and expedient measure for a nation so feeble as ours in mari- ~~ • 1 Naval nistory of the United Statet, iT, 47o! y at the close of the War. more particuhiily ;lishinan was gain- intensely inteix'st- )lli. At dawn the uarter. At sovcn ' the stranger, aiul ot, anchors, cahlcs, lier guns bnl oiip. eecl firing, three of niantler having rc- ite seamansliii) and ler single gun, and she arrived on the unded praise of his ,he Hornet was tl>c las of an officer in 1 the 30u- ^'.Tunc,* nd Sumatra, he fdl ant Charles Boycc. 3. She had lost six vent occurred a few of hostilities. War- is ratification on the wer to alleviate tlip [ig the honor of hav- he combat between lir between the Pea- private, that had was over. "The ■ease of reputation, the steadiness and acy of their fire on )st of the frigate ac- ow ; and in no in- war an hour wlicn decided in about often equal to that some of them the It is not easy to iirprise The init that a new pow- bable the battle for )f the American jiri- at every period of after peace wa;. as- lan legalized piracy, ties were first estah- we arc considering ■ble as ours in mari- OF THE War OF 1813. 993 '/•rlvatcerB commiesloned. Tlie flfBt Crulserg ofthnt Class. PrlvateerluR approved. Ul.iri'£U-UUlLT rlllVATKKU HCIIUUNtll. time strength when contending with one so powerful as Great Britain.' So regard- ing it, Congress, in the act declaring war, sanctioned it, by authorizing the President to " issue to private-armed vessels of the United States commissions, or letters of marque and reprisal," as they were termed, in such manner as he should think proper. The President was not tardy in issuing such commissions under a specific act of Congress passed on the 2Gth of June," and very soon swift-sailing brigs and schooners, and armed pilot-boats, were out upon the high seas in search of plunder from tlie com- mon enemy. Of these the clip- per-built schooner represented in the engraving was the favorite. The most noted of these were huilt at Baltimore. They gener- ally carried from six to ten guns, with a single long gun, called "Long Tom," mounted on a swiv- el in ti;e centre. They were usu- ally manned with fifty i)ersons, besides ofiicers, all armed with muskets, cutlasses, and hoarding-pikes, commanded to "burn, sink, and destroy" the property of an enemy wherever it might be found, either on the high seas or in British ports. Into the pon of Silem, Massachusetts, which became famous as the home of priva- teers during the contest, the first prize captured on the ocean after the declaration of war was taken. On the 10th of July the private-armed schooner i^tme, Captain Webb, took into that harbor two British ships, one laden with timber and the other with. tar. On the same day the privateer Dash, Captain Carroway, of Baltimore, en- tered Hampton Roads and captured the British government schooner Whiting, Lieu- tenant Maxey, who was bearing dispatches from London to Washington. On the 14th of July, a stanch privateer of Gloucester, Massachusetts, named the j)/tf(//so«, fell in with a British transport ship from Halifax bound to St. John's. She liad been under convey of the Indian, a Bntish sloop of war, which had just given cliase to the Folhj and Dolphin, two American privateers. The Madison pounced on and captured the transj)ort, which, with the cargo, was valued at $50,000. She was sent into (Tloucester. On the following day the Indian, after chasing the Polly for sonic time, manned her launch and several boats, and sent them to capture the fugitive. The Polhj turned, and resisted so gallantly that she caused the launch to strike her colors. By this time the Indian was almost within gun-shot, when the Volhj took to her sweeps and esca])ed. The Madison soon afterward caj)tured a Brit- ish ship of twelve guns, name not given, and the brig Eliza, of six guns. On the 18th of July the letter of marque schooner Falcon, of Baltimore, armed ' Immediately after the declnrattoii of war, Thomax Jefferson wrote on the snbject (July 4, 1S12), and after asking "What Is war?" answered, "It Is ciniply n contest between nations of trylni; whhh can do the other the most harm." .\g3lii he asked and answered as follows : " Who carries ou the war? Armies are formed and navies n.aniied by indl- viiliinls. What jirodnces pence? The distress of Individuals. What difference to the sufferer Is It that his property Is taken by a national or private-armed vessel ? Did our merchants, who have lost !>17 vessels by British captures, feel any sratillcation that most of them were taken by his majesty's mtn-of-war ? Were the spoils less rifrldly enforced by a 74- pin ship than by a privateer of four jinns, and were not all equally condemned ? .... In the United States every pos- flble enconrapement should oe piven to prlvateerlnj; in time of war with a commercial nation. We have tens of thou- tands of seamen that without It would be destitute of the means of support, and useless to their country. Our national ships are too few in number to (jIve employment to one twentieth part of them, or retaliate the acts of the enemy. By liceiisinc private-armed vessels, the whole naval force of the nation Is trnly brought to bear on the foo ; and while the contest lasts, that it may have the speedier termination, let every individual contribute his mite, in the best way he can, to distress and harass the enemy, and compel him to peace." So arizued Mr. Jefferscni, the founder of the Democratic party, thou admluisterlnj; the national government, and which was a unit in favor of war with Great Britain. 3 11 S■^^ I I I if: 094 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK EffectH of American PrIvatcerlDg. Cruise of the Hostie. ' 1812. ■ July 22. with four guns and si-xteen men, fought the British cutter Hero, five guns and fifty. five men, on the coast of France, for two hours and a lialf, and drove her off. On tlie following day the Falcon was attacked by a British privateer of six guns and forty men. She resisted for an hour and a half, wlien, her captain having been killed and several of her (icw wounded, she struck her colors, and was taken into a Guernsey port. The first prize that arrived at ]Jaltimore was a British schooner laden with a cargo of sugar, valued at $18,000. She was captured by the Dolphin. This was on the 2Cth of July. A little more than a month had elapsed since the declaration of war, yet within that time such displays of American valor had been made on the soa that the British began to feel some respect for their new foe on that element. Dur- ing the month of July more than fifty vessels were taken from the British by Amer- ican privateers, and taken into the harbors of the United States. Toward the middle of July se^'en privateers sailed from Baltimore on a cruise. One of them was the swift clipper-built schooner Jiossie, fourteen guns and one hun- dred and twenty men, commanded by the veteran Commodore Barney. His manu- script journal of that and a second cruise lies before me, and bears evidence that it was one of the most exciting voyages on record. He sailed from Baltimore on the 12th of July," and cruised along the eastern coast of the United States for forty-five days without entering port. He was almost daily capturing English vessels, cliasing and being chased, and informing all American vessels that fell in his way of the beginning of war. Nine days after lie left Baltimore'' Barney fell in with the brig Wi/wph, of Newburyport, and seized her for violating the Non-importation Act. On the following day the liossie was chased by a British frigate, which hurled twenty- five shota after her, but without effect. The Jiossie outsailed the frigate, and es- <• July 80. caped. Six days afterward'' she was chased by another frigate, and aiiaiii outsailed the pursuer. On the following day Barney took and burned tlie ' August 1. giiip Princess lioyal, and the day following'' took and manned the ship Kltti/. On the 2d of August he took and burned the brigs Fame and Devonshire, and schooner Squid ; and on the same day he captured the brig Two Drothers, \m on board of her sixty of his prisoners, and ordered her as a cartel to St. John's, New Brunswick, to eflect an exchange for as many American prisoners. Barney sent his compliments to Admiral Sawyer, the British commnnder on tlie Halifax station, desired him to treat the prisoners well, and assured him, very coolly, that he should soon send him an- other shipload of captives for exchange. On the next day he took and sunk the brig Henry, and schooners Race-horse and IMl- fax, captured and manned the brig William, and added forty prisoners to the num- ber on board the Tico Brothers. On the 9th of August he captured the ship Jcunij, of twelve guns, after a brief action ; and on the following day he seized the brig Re- becca, of Saco, from London, for a breach of the non-importation law. On the 28th he seized the Euphrates, of New Bedford, for the same reason ; and on the 30tli he ran into Narraganset Bay, and anchored off Newport. During his cruise of forty- five days he seized and captured fourteen vessels, nine of which he destroyed. Their aggregate capacity amounted to two thousand nine hundred and fourteen tons, and they were manned by one hundred and sixty-six men. The estimated value of his prizes was $1,289,000. Barney remained in Newport until the Tth of September,"' when the Rmk started on another cruise. On the 9th she was chased by three British ships of war, but by superior speed she soon lefb them out of sight. On the 12th she was chased by an English frigate for six hours, when she, too, was left so far ' September 10. behind that she gave up the pursuit. Four days afterward' she fell i !!l OF THE WAR OF 1812. 995 Cruise of the Houiie. Cruise of the Hossie. First Prize in Baltimore. Cruise of tlie Olobe. " 1812. with and captured the British armed packet Priiicess Amelia, They had a severe engagement for almost an hour, at pistol-shot distance most of the time. Mr. Long, Barney's iirst lieutenant, was severely wounded; and six of the crew were injured, but not so badly. The Princess Amelia lost lier captain, sailing-master, and one sea- man killed ; and the master's male and six seamen were wounded. The Rossie suf- fered in her rigging and sails, but not in her hull, while the Princess Amelia was ter- ribly cut uj) in all. Barney had just secured his prize when he fell in, on the same day,* • September 12, with three ships and an armed brig. From tlie latter the Possie re- ^***'^- ceived an eighteen-pound shot through her quarter, which wounded a man and lodged ill the pump. She dogged the three vessels for four days in hopes of seeing them separated, and thus aifording an opportunity to pounce on one of them. They kept together, and he gave up the game. On the 23d he spoke the privateer Globe, Cap- tain Murphy, of Baltimore, and the two went in seai'ch of the three ships, but could not find them. On the 8th of October, while they were sailing together, they cap- tured the British schooner Jubilee, and sent her into port. On the 22d Ba.ney seized the ship Merrimack for a violation of law. She was laden Avith a valuable cargo. On the 10th of November'' he returned to Baltimore. The result of his two cruises in the Rossie since he left that city was 3698 tons of shipping, valued at $1,500,000, and two hundred and seventeen prisoners. The Dolphin, of Baltimore, Captain Stafford, was a (Successful privateer. She car- ried twelve guns and one hundred men. Tlie first prize sent into Baltimore after the declaration of war was hers, as we have observed on the opposite page ; and other ports received her captives. She entered Salem, Massachusetts, on the 23d of July, after a cruise of twenty days, during which time she had taken six vessels without receiving tlie least injury. She was repeatedly chased by British cruisers, but al- ways outsailed them. Captain Stafford Avas remarkable for kindness of manner to- ward his prisoners. Such M'as its power, that on several occasions, when he was com- pelled to use sweeps to escape from the ICnglish men-of-Avar, they volunteered to man them. Tiie privateer Globe, of Baltimore, Captain Mui-phy, carrying eight guns and about eighty men, went to sea on the 24tli of July in company with the letter of marque Oora, On the 31st of that month she chased a vessel about three hours, when she was within gun-shot, and commenced firing. The fugitive hoisted British colors, and returned the shots from her stern-chasers, consisting of two long 9-pounders. The Ghhe could only bring a long nine amidships to bear during an action of about forty minutes, for it was blowing very fresh, and the enemy crowded all sail. The Globe Snally gained on her, .and commenced firing broadsides. Her antagonist returned broadside for broadside, until the Globe, getting within musket-shot distance, fired deadly volleys of bullets. After a brisk engagement of an hour and a half at close quarters, the British vessel struck her colors. She proved to be the English letter of marque Boyd, from New Providence for Liverpool, mounting ten guns. No person was injured on eitlier ship. Tlie Boyd's boats were destroyed, and she suffered much in hull and rigging. The Globe suffered in sails and rigging, but was able, after send- ing her prize to Philadelphia, to proceed on her cruise. On the 14th of August she captured a British schooner of four guns, laden with mahogany ; and, a few days aft- erward, she arrived at Hampton Roads, accompanied by a large British ship carrj'- ing twenty-two guns, richly laden, and bound for Glasgow, which she captured not far from the Bermudas. Having secured her prize in port, the Globe started immedi- ately on another cruise.' i ' Willie cruising off the const of Portiifrnl. the Glohe hnd n severe eniragemcnt with an Algerlne sloop of war, which lastctl three hours, at iialf gun-shot distance. The Algerlnc shot lilirh. The Olohe received 110 less than eighty-two (hot through her Bails, bat had not a roan killed, and only two wounded. It was a drawn battle. !' ' I i ,: 006 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Cralees of the Highflyer, Yankee, nnd Shadow. The Highflyer., Captain Gavit, of Baltimore, was ano'''"ir successful cruiser on pri- vate account. She was armed with eight guns, and manned by one hundred men. She left Baltimore early in July, and on the 20th captured the British schooner Ilm- riet, in ballast, but with $8000 in specie on board. On the 10th of August, while in the G'jlf of Mexico, Captain Gavit discovered the Jamaica fleet of merchantmen, ami gave chase. He soon observed that they were convoyed by a British frigate. That vessel gave chase to the Highflyer. The latter outsailed her, and on the 2l8t pounced upon the Diana, one of the fleet, and captured her. She was of three hundred and fifty tons burden, and laden with a valuable cargo of rum, sugar, coffee, etc. Gavit took out her crew, and sent her as a prize to the United States. On the following day the Highflyer fell in with and engaged two other British vessels at half gun-shot distance, giving them about sixty shot. The breeze was too stiff" to allow safety in boarding them, and so he hauled oflTand left them. These were the Jamaica, of Liv- erpool, and the Mary Ann, of London, the former carrying seven guns and twenty- one men, and the latter twelve guns and eighteen men. On the 23d the Hig/ijfi/er fell upon tiic vessels again, the wind having moderated.. Her people, after a severe cannonading and musket firing from both sides, boarded the Jamaica, and captured her. The Mary Ann struck her colors at the same time. During the action Captain Gavit was shot thiough his right arm by a musket-ball, and one of his seamen was wounded in the cheek. These were the only casualties, excepting the damage (which was considerable) done to the sails and rigging of the Highflyer. Her antagonists were severely bruised. Several of their seamen were wouuded. Both ships were richly laden with the products of the West Indies. On the 1st of August, the privateer Ya7ikee, carrying ten guns, while cruising off the coast of Nova Scotia, fell in with the letter of marque lloyal Bounty, also can y- ing ten guns. She was a fine vessel of six hundred and fifty-eight tons, and manned by twenty-five men. The Yankee had the advantage of wind, and, bearing down upon the weather quarter of the Royal Bounty, o^^iva her a division broadside, whieli made her quake in every fibre. Making a quick movement, she gave her an entire broadsid(!, which was returned with spirit. The mariners of the Yankee were most- ly sharp-shooters, and their execution was terribly galling. At the same time tiie ship was well managed, and her great guns were making havoc with her enemy's sails and rigging. The Royal Boi(nty''s helmsman was killed, and she became so un- manageable that, after fighting an hour, she was compelled to surrender. She was terribly wounded. All her boats were stove, and no less than one hundred and titty round shot of various kinds went through her rigging and sails, or lodged in her hull and spars. The schooner Shadow, Captain Taylor, of Philadelphia, had a severe encounter with the British letter of marque May, Captain Affleck, from Liverpool bound to St. Lucia. carrying fourteen guns and fifty men. At noon on the 4th of August the Shadow discovered the May, and gave chase. It continued until almost sunset, when an ac- tion was fought. At six o'clock, Avhen the vessels wore within gun-shot of each otli- er, the 3fay commenced firing from her stern guns. The action commenced at seven, and at half past seven the May hoisted a light in her mizzen rigghig. The Shadow then hailed her, and Captain Taylor ordered her to send her papers on board of his ves- sel that he might examine them. This was only partially compjied with. Taylor im- mediately sent a boat's crew to the May with a demand for the instant surrender of all her papers. The British captain refused. He sent a note to this effect to Captain Taylor, stated the character and force of his vessel, and informed him that a change of ministry had taken place in England, and that the Orders in Council had been re- scinded. Again Captain T ylor dcmandrd Affleck's papers, and again they were re- fused. At half past eight o'clock the action was renewed. The night was squally and dark. The vessels kept near each other, occasionally exchanging shots, and in OF THE WAR OF 1812. 997 ssful cruiHcr on pri- one hundred num. itish schooner ILn- of August, while in f merchantmen, iiml itish frigate. That on the 21 8t pounced "three hundred and , cotFee, etc. Gavit On the following sels at half gun-shot ff to allow safety in the Jamaica, of Liv- n guns and twonty- e 23d the Jliff/ifyer eople, after a severe naica, and captured g the action Captain e of his seamen was I the damage (whicli °r. Her antagonists J. Both ships were IS, while cruising off I Bounty, also cari'v- ;ht tons, and manned I, and, bearing down ion broadside, which e gave her an entire e Yanhee were most- t the same time ♦he )c with her enemy's id she became so un- surrender. Slio was ne hundred and tit'ty or lodged in her hull Dvere encounter with il bound to St. Lucia, August the Sliadov , sunset, when an ac- run-shot of each otii- ■ommenced at seven, jging. The Sfiadow •s on board of his ves- ed with. Taylor im- instant surrender of this eiFect to Captain d him that a change Council had been re- again they were re- le night was squally anacing shots, aud ui Salem and Baltimore Privateers. ^1 the morning early they commenced a severe fight. Captain Taylor was shot through the head and instantly killed, and tlie Shadow was so much damaged that she with- drew, and by superior sailing escaped, and returned to Philadelphia. On the 3d of August, the schooner Atlas, Captain David Alaffit, attacked two Brit- ish armed sh'ps at the same time. Aller an engagement of about an hour the smaller vessel of the foe surrendered, and the fire of tlie Atlas was wholly directed upon tlte larger one. Suddenly the smaller one, notwithstanding her colors were down, again opened her fire; but tha Atla^ soon silenced her, and in less than an hour and a half from the time of the attack both vessels were captured. They proved to be the ship Pursuit, sixteen guns and a complement of thirty-five men, and the ship Planter, twelve guns and fifteen men. Tliey were both stored with valuable cargoes from Surinam, and bound to Loudon. They were sent to the United States. The Atlas was badly damaged in the contest. At about this time the privateer «7t»/(M, Captain Benjamin Crowninshield, of Salem, returned to that port after a cruise of three weeks, during whicli time she made eleven captures. All along the coasts of the United States and the West Indies the American privateers were now exceedingly active. None were more so than the Paul e/bwt's. Captain Hazard, of New York. Within a very short space of time slie captured fourteen vessels near the island of Porto Rico, some of them of considerable value; and she obtained a crowning glory by the capture, early in August, of the British ship Hassan, fourteen guns and twenty men, sailing from Gibraltar for Ha- vana with wines and dry goods valued at $200,000. This was accomplished after a contest of only half an hour. One of the boldest of the privateersmen was Captain Thomas Boyle, of Baltimore, who sailed the Comet, of fourteen guns and one hundred and twenty men. One of his earliest exploits in the Comet was the capture, in August, 1812, of the British ship Ifopewell, carrying fourteen guns and twenty-five men. She was bound from Surinam for London with a cargo valued, with the ship, at $150,000. The two vessels had an obstinate combat, but the Comet was the victor. The prize was sent into Baltimore. Of the Comet and her captain we shall have more to say hereafter. Another active and successful Baltimore privateer was the Nonsuch, Captain Leve- ley, armed with twelve guns, and carrying about one hundred men. She was one of the famous "Baltimore clippers." On the 27th of September, when cruising near the island of Martinique, she fell in with a British ship mounting sixteen guns, Avith about two hundred troops on board, and a schooner mounting six 4-pounders, and manned with a crew of about fifty or sixty men. The Nonsuch ran in between the two vessels, within pistol-shot of each, and commenced a hot contest which lasted three hours and twenty minutes. It was a fierce fight. The guns of the Nonsuch (carronades) became much heated by continual firing. Their bolts and breachings were carried away, and they were all dismounted. Captain Leveley now deter- mined to board his antagonists ; but the damage done to the rigging of the Nonsuch so disabled her that he was not able to bring her alongside for the purpose. In con- sequence of this disability the two vessels escaped, but not without severe punish- ment. The larger ship was much damaged in hull and rigging, and lost twenty-three of her men killed and wounded. The schooner was also much damaged.' The per- formance of the Nonstich yvds called, by the journals of the day, "gallant, but un- profitable conduct." The British spoke of the attack upon them as " exceedingly brave." Several persons of distinction in these ships were injured. The privateer Saratoga, of New York, Captain Riker, armed with eighteen guns and one hundred and forty men, was a successful cruiser. In the autumn of 1812 she captured the ship Quebec, sixteen guns, from Jamaica, with a cargo valued at $300,000. In December following she had a desperate fight o9"Laguira, Venezuela. It was on • Log-book of the Somuclh qaoted In The War, 1., 92 ; and NUes's SegMer, ill., 1T2. m\ 098 I'ICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK Privateering to the cloae uflilU. Captain Shnler'a Letter. The Comtt, of Baltimore tho 11th of that month, and she was then in command of Captain Charles W. Woos- ter. She entered tlie [)ort oFLuguira the lOth, but was warned ott", tlic authorities be- ing neutrals. Going out of the bay, siio captured a vessel with goods wortii ij!20,()00, •December 11, in*l ^^ ""'^ '" ^''0 morning Oil the following day," after the elearini; up i*''*- of the fog, she fell in with the brig Jiachcl, from (ireenock, S(!otl,iii(l, which mounted twelve guns and carried sixty men. They were in sight of the town, and almost the entire population, from the beggar to the commander, turned out to see the conflict from the house-tops. The combat was quick and furious. It result- ed in victory for the Saratoga, whoso loss was only one man slightly wounded. The liachel sutfered much. The second mate was the only officer alive after the action.' Such is a brief record of some of the most prominent events in tho history of American privateering, from the declaration of war in 'une, 1812, until the close of tho year. Tho record is of a small i)ortion of the swarm of private-armed vessels which were out at the beginning of 1813. These were harassing IJritish comnurcc in all directions, and uttbrding powerful and timely aid to the little navy of the re- public. The business was recognized as legitimate, useful, and practically ijatriotic. Merchants and other citizens of the highest respectability engaged in it,^ and Con- gress passed laws to encourage it by the allowance of liberal privileges, making pro- visions for pensions for tliose engaged in the service, and for the families of those who might be lost on board private-armed vessels, etc. The history of American privateering in 1813 opens with a letter from Captain Shaler,^ of the schooner Governor Tompkins, which was armed with fourteen cai- ronades and one " Long Tom," and manned by about a hundred and forty men. She was built in New York, and was first commanded by Cajjtain Skinner. Shaler wrote on the 1st of January that on the 25th of December he chased three British vessels, which appeared to be two ships and a brig. The larger he took to be a transport, and ran down to attack her, when he found himself within a quarter of a mile of a large frigate, which had been completely masked. He boldly opened fire upon her, and received a terrible response. Of course he could not sustain a contest witli such overwhelming odds, so he spread his sails to fly. He was successful. " Thanks to her heels," he said, " and the exertions of my brave officers and crew, I still have the command of her." He got out all his sweeps, threw overboard all the lumber on his decks, and about two thousand pounds cf sliot from the after-hold, and at halt' past five o'clock in the evening had tho pleasure of seeing his pursuer far beliiiul, heaving about. The Tomjikins lost two men killed and six wounded. One of tiie former, a black man named Johnson, " ought to be registered on the book of fume," Captain Shaler wrote, "and remembered with reverence as long as bravery is con- sidered a virtue. A 24-pound shot struck him in the hip, and took away all the lower part of his body. In this state the poor brave fellow lay on the deck, and sev- eral times exclaimed to his shipmates, *' Fire away, boys ; neber haul de color down !" The other man killed was also colored, and was wounded in a similar manner. " Sev- eral times," says Shaler, " he requested to be thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of the others. While America has such sailors she has little to fear from the tyrants of the ocean." We have already spoken of the Comet, of Baltimore, and her brave commander, Captain Boyle. She sailed from that port late in December, 1812, passed througli the British blockading squadron on a dark night, and went on a cruise toward the 1 Letter from Lagnira, quoted In Coggeshall's ITintory of the American Privateers, etc., page TO. » Washington and other patriots were specnlators in the profits of privateering during the Revolution. In a loiter before me, written to John Parke Cnstis, and dated at Whitemarsh, November 14, ITTT, In answer to one from that gentleman on the subject of a sale of a portion of a privateer ship, Washington aald : " It is perfectly agreeable, too, that Colonel Baylor should share part of the privateer. I have spoken to him on the subject. I shall therefore con- sider myself as possessing one fourth of yonr ftill share, and that yourself, Baylor, Lund Washington, and I are equally concerned In the share you at first held."— 3f.S. Letttrr. ' Quoted by Coggeshall in bis History qf the American Privateers, page 140. OF THE WAU OF 1812. 099 Tbe Camtt, of Bullimore I'liiirlos W. \V()08- ;ho authorities be- ds worth i|!20,()n(), cr the cloiirini^ ii|) reenock, ScioUaiHl, sight of the town, iler, turned out to furious. It ri'siilt- ,ly wounded. Tlic 2 after tlie aetioii.' in the liistory of until the close of irate-arnied vessels British comniercu tie navy of the re- actically vatriotic. ed in it,^ and Con- ileges, niakinu; pro- e liirailies of those )ttor from Captain with fourteen car- id forty men. She iner. Shaler wrote ree IJritish vessels, to be a transport, irter of a mile of a encd fire upon her, ivhi a contest witli cccssful. " Tiianks crew, I still have ard all the hunher r-hold, and at half jursucr far beliiml, inded. One of tlie the book of fume," as bravery is con- took away all tlie the deck, and sev- ul de color down !" !ir manner. " Scv- ying he was only s little to fear from brave commander, 12, passed througli cruise toward the eTO. le Rcvolntion. In ii letter answer to one from that is perfectly agreeable, too, 3ct. 1 shall therefore con- ihington, and I are equally Crolw ufthe Comet. Uer wouderfal Career. The C ha m i u r . coast of Ilrazil. On the 0th of January, I HI H, she was oft' the harbor of I'ernanibuco, antl Hoyle was informed by a coaster that some Jiritish vessels were about to sail from that jtort. The Comet watched until the 14tii, when, at a little jtast noon, four sail appeared. Boyle waited mitil they were well clear of the land, and then gave chase. The Cornet was a switl clipper, and soon overhauled them ; and at seven in the evening, Imving prepared for action, she hoisted her colors, and made for the larger of the four vessels, wliich proved lo be a I'ortiiguese brig^ mounting twenty heavy guns (;{2-pounders), and manned by one hundred and sixty-five men. She was convoying three English merchant ships laden with wlieat, aiul warned Captain JJoyle not to molest them. To this injunction Boyle replied that his commission authorized him to capture them if he could, and that the Portuguese warrior had no right to in- terfere. All the vessels were now crowding sail with a stiffi'iiing breeze. The Comet shot past the others, when Boyle summoned the Englishmen to heave to, with a threat tiiat if they did not ho would open a broadside upon them. The Portuguese gave chase to the Comet. The latter tacked, came alongside of the meichantinen at half past eight o'clock in the evening, and so distributed a heavy fire that she wounded all three. The Portuguese suftered severely in the contest which followed, for the quick movements of the clipper gave the latter great ad\ .intages of position. Tlie combat continued until an hour past midnight, whin the moon went down, and the night became dark and squally. In the mean time the merchantmen had surrendered, and one of them was taken possession of by IJoyle. At dawn, the Portuguese brig, with the other two English vessels, fied for Pernambuco, while the Comet and her prize, the i^owt'«, proceeded liomeward. Boyle - ion afterward cajjtured the Scotch i]xvp Adelphi, andi outsailed the famous British frigate Surprise, ihiii gave chase. On the 0th of February the Comet captured, first, the brig Alexis, of Greenock, and soon afterward an armed brig v/hich formed part of a convoy for nine merchantmen from Demerara. At the same time another man-of-war, called the Sina(j(jerer, ap- peared, Boyle was anxious to get his prizes oft", and he amused the brig until that desired end was accomplished. In the mean time he added tiie Dominica, a Liver- ■ool packet, to his list of prizes. When these were fairly on their way he turned his heels ui)on the Swdf/r/erer, and soon outsailed his pursuer. At three o'clock in the afternoon he captured the schooner Jtme, and before sunset he lost sight of the tiwag- gerer entirely. Soon after this encounter Boyle turned his face homeward, and on the way met and fought a terrible battle for eight hours with tho British slii]) Ilibernia, eight hun- dred tons, twenty-two guns, and a full complement of nun. The Comet lost three killed and sixteen wounded. The Jlihernia lost eight killed and thirteen wounded. Tlie Comet put into Porto Rico for repairs, and the Ilibemia into St. Thomas. Both were much injured. The Comet arrived at Baltimore on the 17th of jVIarch. Boyle was not long on land. His next cruise was in the beautiful C/iusstiir, a pri- vateer brig, elegant in model, and formidable in men and arms. She was the fieetest of all vessels, and the story of her cruises is a tale of romance of the most exciting kind. She seemed as ubiquitous as the " Phantom Ship." Sometimes she was in the West Indies ; then on the coasts of Spain, Portugal, and France ; and then in the Irish and British Channels, spreading the wildest alarm among England's commercial marine. So much was she feared in the West Indies and the islands of the Carib- bean Sea, that the merchants there implored Admiral Dunh.im to send them "at least a heavy sloop of war" to protect their property. The admiral immediately sent them the frigate Barrosaa, which the fleet Chasseur delighted to tease. The Chasseur captured eighty vessels, of which thirty-two were of equal force with herself, and eighteen her superior. Many of the prizes were of great value. Three of them alone were valued at $400,000. She seemed to sweep over the seas with im- I I ' ' 1000 PICTORIAL FIKLU-UOOK Boyle'i Proclamation of Blockada. i u OrallM of the Dolphin, Saratnga, l^iU«ry,iun\ ymttm. punity, and wnH n« itn|)ii(k>iit an ho was bold. On one occasion, while in the liritish Clmiinel, ho inMuod a proclnniation, as a ImrlcHquc on thone of AdniiralH Warren and Coelirane concerning the hlocknde of the portH of" the Tfnited States, in which he de- clared " all the ports, hurhors, bays, creeks, rivers, iidets, outlets, islands, and Hca-eoast of the United Kingdom of <«reat Jiritain and Jrelutid in a state of rigorous hloekadc." He assured the world that he possessed a sutHcient force (the ChiiKseur) to eonipcl obedience. This proclanrntion he caused to be sent in a cartel to London, with a re- quest to have it j)ost( <1 up at Lloyd's C'ottee-house 1 We have already noticed some of the earlier operations of the Dolphin, Cii]Asm Stafford. On the 25th of January, 18i;J, she fell in with a largo ship and a brig off Cape St. Vincent, and, as was common with the njore daring American privateers, en. gaged them both. After a severe tight they were cai>tured, and sent to the United States. They were richly laden, and were valuable j)rizes. The wounded Captain Brigh.am, of the liritish ship {IJef)e, 10), thought his capture "extronary." Tie did "not expe(;t to find a damned Yankee jjrivateer in that part of the world !" and when assured by Stafford that they would appear in the Thames by-and-by, his eyes ijilat- cd with mute wonder. Stafford's kind good-nature won Hrigham's heart ; and in a card, published on his arrival in Boston in Februal-y, he thanked the commander of the Dolphiii, ,ind his associates for their attentions, saying, " Should the fortune of war ever throw Captain Stafford or any of his crew into the liands of the British, it is sincerely hoped he will meet a similar treatment."' We again find the Saratoga, Captain Woolsey, on lior destructive errand in Febru- ary, 1813. On the 0th of that month she captured the Lord Nelson, o\' Kix hinidred tons, and one of the finest vessels in the British mercliant service. She was sent into New Orleans. At about the same time tlie Saratoga captured the Britisli packet Morgiana, eighteen guns. The Saratoga liad just been chased by a British frigate, and h.^d been compelled, in order to lighten her to increase her speed, to throw over- board twelve of her guns. She had only four to attack the Morgiana with. Her annory was replenished with several of the fine brass pieces of the captive, and the prize was sent to Newport witli her caj)tain. The kindness of the prize-master w.is so conspicuous that the captain of the Morgiana thanked him in the Newport news- papers. On the 15th of February* the letter of marque Lottery, of Baltimore, anned with six guns and manned by thirty-five men, had a desperate fight in Ciiosa- peake Bay with nine British barges containing two hundred and forty men. She fought them an hour and a half, during which time it was believed that more of tlie foe were killed than the number of the whole crew of the letter of marque. At length Captain Southcote, commander of the schooner, Avas severely wounded, and the ene- my, in overwhelming numbers, boarded the vessel, hauled down the colors, and made her a prize. At about tliis time we find the privateer Yankee, whose exploits we have already observed, entering the harbor of Newport after a cruise of one hundred and fifty days, during which time she had scoured the whole western coast of Africa, taken eight prizes, made one hundred and ninety-six prisoners, and secui'ed as trophies sixty-two cannon, five hundred muskets, and property worth almost $300,000. The merchants of New York fitted out no less than twenty-six fast-sailing priva- teers and letters of marque within a hundred and twenty days after the declaration of war, carrying almost two hundred pieces of artillery, and manned by over two thousand seamen. Among the most noted of these privateers was a moderate-sized schooner, mounting a Long Tom 42-pounder, and eighteen carronades.^ Her comple- ment was one hundred and forty men, and her first commander was Captain Barnard. 1 History of American Privateers and Letters of Marqtu, by George Coggeshall, page 129. 3 See table of New York privateers in Niles'B Register, iil., 120. OF TlIK VVAll OF 18 12. 1001 000, Lotttry, and I'artktt. lilc in tin- British inils WiiiTi'ii and s, ill which he dc- iuIh, ivikI Hca-coiiKt jforouH hloeitiKh'." asaeiir) to compel joiidon, with a re- Dolphin, Cii\>\im lii]i and a hriu; off can in-ivatciM's, en- sent to the UiiiliMl wounded Caiitaiii Toiiary." He (Uil world I" and wlioii -by, his eyes dilat- 's heart ; and in a tlic commander of lid the fortune of Ib of the British, it ^c errand in Fehru- son, of six iniiidred She was sent into the British packet y a British iriuato, ced, to tlirow over- rgiana witli. Iler lie captive, and the e prize-master was he Newport news- |f Baltimore, aniied •ate fight in Chesa- Id forty men. Slio Id that more of the arque. At length mded, and the enc- le colors, and made [;a we have already hundred and fifty Ist of Africa, taken jcufed as trophies [st $300,000. fast-sailing priva- ter the declaration Inned by over two Is a moderate-sized |les.2 jier complc- Captain Barnard. L page 129. CrolMi of the Utntral AmuOnmg, Xtd, tud Seourgi. Valuable Prlua taken by th« KanjM. Early in March, 181.1, the General Armatrong was in command of (luy 11. Cham- plin, and cruisinn otV the Surinam Uiver, on the coast of South America. Karly in ilio morning of the 11th she gave chase to the Coquette, a British sloop of war iiKuint- ing twenty-seven guns, and manned by one liundred and twenty-one men and b lys. lletween nine and ten o'clock the vessels were within gun-shot, and commenced a brisk engagement. Convinced by observation that liis antagonist was a Ibitish loi- ter of maniue, Chani|)liii and his men agreed to board her, and ft)r this purpose they ran the Armatroiuj down upon her, when, too late to retreat, they discovered her to he a much heavier vessel than they imagined. The two vessels poured heavy shot into each other, and for a while the fight was fierce and obstinate, witliin piwtol-shot distance for almost an hour. The Annsfrotig was severely injured, and her captain received a ball in his shoulder, but continued some time on duty after the wound was dressed, and from the cabin gave orders until his vessel was fairly out of the clutches of the enemy. By the vigorous use of sweeps the Annstronr/ escaped, under a heavy fire from the Coquette. For his gallant condmit on this occasion, and his skill in sav- ing his vessel, the stockholders, at a meeting held at Tammany Hall on the 14th of April, presented Captain Chainplin an elegant sword, and voted thanks to his com- panions in the coiiibat. We shall meet the Armdrovf; !;crv.'after. The Ned, Captain Dawson, a New York letter of marque, arrived at tliat port ten days after the sword-preseitation to Champlin, and brought with her the !{ritish let- ter of marque Maluina, of Aberdeen, mounting ten guns. The N^ed captured her after an action of almost an hour. Her ca])tain was killed, and in the combat the ^ed had seven men badly wounded. The Malvina was laden with wine from tlio Mediterranean, and was a valuable prize. Another successful privateer, owned in New York, was the Scouiv/c, Captain Nicoll. She mounted fifteen guns, and sailed from port in April, 181. 'J, for a long cruise in European waters, and was frequently in consort with the ii««fc»Mrt^t', ofl'hiladelphla. Captain David Mattit. This commander went into tlie business at the beginning of the war, with the Atlas, and continued its pursuit until the close of the contest in 1815. The Rattlesnake was a fast-sailing brig of fourteen guns. Captain Nicoll was often absent from the Ificourge while on the coast of Norway, because he found it more profitable to remain on shore and attend to the sale of prizes brought or sent in, while his first officer skillfully commanded her in cruises. The Scourge made a large number of captures on the coast of Norway, and these were nearly all sent into Drontheim and disposed of there. The aggregate tonnage of prizes then and there disposed of, captured by the Scourge and Rattlesnake, was 4500. The trophies were sixty guns. On her homeward passage from Norway the t>coiirge made several captures. She arrived at Cape Cod in May, 1814, liaving been absent little more than a year. During her cruise she had made four hundred and twenty prisoners. Her deeds made her name an appropriate one, for she scourged British commerce most severely. The Yankee, already mentioned, left Newport on a cruise on the 2:kl of May, 1813. A month afterward, when off" the coast of Ireland, she captured the British cutter sloop Mirl Camden, valued at $10,000. Eight days afterward" she cap- tured the brig Elizabeth, valued at $40,000, and the brig Watson, laden with cotton, valued at $70,000. On the 2d of July she took the brig Mariner, with a cargo valued at $70,000. All of these prizes, Avorth in the aggregate about $200,000, were sent to French pprts for adjudication and sale. The work was accomplished in the space of about six weeks. The Yankee returned to Providence, Rhode Island, on the 19th of August, without having lost a man during the cruise either killed or wounded. The records of privateering during the summer of 1813 present one dark chapter iu the deed of a desperate wretch named Johnson, who commanded the Teaser, a lit- • June 30. H«|«n ■ 15' • i! 91 f t 1002 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK PestrucUou of tho TeoMr. Capture of the BagU. Cruise of the Decatur. 1*9 !l tie two-gun vessel, that went out from New York with fifty men. When that vessel was captured by one of Admiral Warren's fleet, Johnson was released on his parole. Soon afterward, without waiting to be exchanged, he entered as firnt lieutenant ou board another privateer named the Yoimg Teaser, Captain Dawson. In June, isi.s^ slie was closely pursued by an English man-of-war. She was likely to be overtaken, and Johnson knew that death would be his fate should he be oauglit. Dawson called liis orticcrt- aft in consultation, and while they were deliberating on tlie subject one of the sailors called out to the captain that Lieutenant Johnson had just gone into the cabin with a blazing fire-brand. The next instant the Teaser was blown into fragments. Only six of all her people escaped desiruction. Tlie captain, Joinison, and all tlie others, had perished in a moment. Toward midsummer, 1813, an affair occurred off Sandy Ilook, New York, winch created a great sensation. It properly belongs to the history of privateering. Com- modore Lewis was then in command of a flotilla of gun-boats on that station, anil the British man-of-war Foictiers, 74, waa cruising in those waters. She had for ten- der the sloop Uar/le, and on the 5th of July Lewis sent out a little fishing-smack named Yankee, which he borrowed at V\y Market, in New York, to capture this ten- der hy stratagem. With a calf, a sheep, and a goose secured on deck, and between thirty and forty well-armed men below, tlie smac': stood out for sea with only three men in sight, in tishermen's garb, as if going to the fishing-banks. The Aht/le gave i>ba«o, overhauled her, and, seeing live-stock on board, ordered her to go to the com- modore. The watchword "Lawrence" was then given, when the armed men rusheil to the deck, and delivered a volley of musketry which sent the crew of the L'a;/le he- low in dismay. Sailing-master Percival, who commanded the expedition, ordered tho firing to cease, when one of the Ragle's company came up and struck her colors. The surprise was so complete that her heavy brass howitzer, loaded with canister-sliot, remained undisoharged. Her crew consisted of her commander, a midshipman, an<l eleven seamen. The two former and a marine were slain. The Eagle and prisoners were taken to the city in view of thousands of the inhabitants, who were on the Bat- tery celebrating the anniversary of the National Independence.' They were received with shouts, salvos of artillery, the waving of hats and handkerchiefs, and the ring- ing of bells. A month ufter the capture of the iSagle, the privateer schooner Commodore Deca- tur, Captain Diron, of Charleston, South Carolina, carrying seven guns and a little over a hundred men, had a dcsjierate encounter with the British war schooner Do- minica, Lieutenant Barrette, carryhig sixteen guns and eighty-eight men. The De- catur was cruising in the track of the West India traders on their return to England, and on the morning of the 5th of August" gave chase to a ship and a schoon- er. At about one o'clock in tho afternoon they were so near each other that the schooner fired a shot at the Decatur. The latter was immediately prei)arcd for action, not with heavy guns alone, but with implements for boardinrt. Diron intend- ed to run down near his adversary, discliarge all his guns, great and small, and then bGiMtl her under cover of the smoke. This was not immediately accomplished, t'of the Dominica was on the alert, and manoeuvred so as to give the Decatur some dam- aging broadsides. Twice her crew attempted to board her antagonist, but failed, and the contest was kept up with cannon and musketry. Finally, at about half past three o'clock, the Decatur forced her bowsprit over the stern of the Dominica, and her jib-boom penetrated the Englishman's mainsail. In face of a murderous fire of musketry, the Decatur's men, led by P^irst Prize-master Safifth and Quartermaster VYasborn, rushed from her bow along the bowsprit, boarded the enemy, and engaged in a most sanguinary fight, hand-to-hand, with swords, pistols, and small-arms. Both parties fought with the greatest courage and determination. The decks were cov- 1 It fell ou Sunday lii 1818, aud the event was celebrated on Monday, the Bth. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1003 Crnise of the Decatur. When that vessel asctl on liis jmrole, tir.it lieutenant on Ml. In June, 1813, ly to bu overtaken, [it. DawHon called on the subject one had just f^one into ler was blown into e captain, Johnson, , New York, wliicii irivateering. Com- in that station, and I. She liacl for ten- little fishing-smack to capture this ten- deck, and between sea with only three 8. The Miffle gave r to go to the com- I armed men rushed •ew of the A\i(/le he- ledition, ordered the ick licr colors. The with canister-shot, a midshipman, and Eagle and prisoners lio were on the IJat- ^hey were received liefs, and the ring- Commodore Beca- n guns and a little war schooner Do- <rht men. The Be- ■eturn to England, ship and a schoon- lear each other that lately prei>are(l for ni'r. Diron intend- and small, and then accomplislicd, for Decatur some dam- agonist, but failed, . at about h.alf past the Dominico, and murderous fire of and Quartermaster nemy, and engaged small-arms. Both he decks were cov- he otb. CruUe of the David Porter, Ulubt, and Uarpy. ered with the dead and wounded. The colors of the Dominica were hauled down by the boarders, and she became the Decatur's in'he. The Dominica lost sixty-five killed and wounded. Among tlio former were the captain, sailing master, and purser. The Decatur lost twenty killed and wounded. Diron started with his prize for Charles- ton, and on the following day captured the London Trader, bound f"om Surinam to London with a valuable cargo. She reached Charleston in safety with both prizes.* In the autumn of 181-1, Captain George Coggeshall, whose History of the American Privateers luis been alluded to, commanded the letter of marque schqpner David Por- ter, of New York. Late in October she was lying at Providence, Rhode Island, where the President, Commodore Rodgers, was blockaded. In a thick snow-storm on the 14th of November, and under the cover of night, the Porter passed the blockading squadron and p'.t to sea. She reached Charleston, lier destined port, in safety, where she was freighted for France with Sea Ishind cotton, and sailed for " Bordeaux, or a port in France," on the 20th of December. In the Bay of Biscay she encountered a terrible and damaging gale, but weathered it, and on the 20th of January entered the port of La Teste. Coggeshall sent his vessel home in cliarge of hja first officer, and remained in France some time. The Porter captured several prizes on her way to the United States. We have noticed the arrival at Hampton Roads, with a large British ship as a prize, the privateer Globe, of Baltimore, and her departure on another cruise.^ She was successful in the capture of prizes, but did not meet with any foir tests of her sailing qualities, or the valor and skill of her men, until November, 1813, On the Ist of that month, while cruising off the coast, of Madeira, she fell in and exchanged shots with a large armed brig, but considered it prudent to keep at a respectful distance from her. She then proceeded to the offing of Funchal, where, on the 2d, she chased two vessels in vain, for night came on dark and squally, and she lost sight of them. On the .3d the Globe again chased two vessels, and at eleven o'clock were so near that the larger of the fugitives opened her stern guns on her pursuer, A severe action ensued, when, at noon, the crew of the Globe attempted to board her adversary. They failed. Their vessel Avas much damaged, and while in this condition the other vessel came up and gave the Globe a terrible raking fire, which almost disabled her. Yet they fought on at close quarters, and at half past three o'clock the larger vessel was compelled to strike her colors. The other one poured in broadside after broad- side within half pistol-shot distance. The Globe was reduced to an almost sinking condition, yet she managed to give her second antagonist such blows that she, too, struck her colors. She then hauled to windward to take possession of the first prize, when that vessel hoisted her colors and gave the Globe a tremendous broadside. She was compelled to haul off for repairs, and the two vessels, believed to be severely in- jured, sailed slowly away. They were packet brigs, one mounting eighteen and the other sixteen cannon, mostly brass. The Globe lost eight men killed and titleen wounded in tliis desperate encounter. During the first eight or nine months of the year 1814, although the American pri- vate-armed ships were active and successful, there seems not to have been any per- formance by them that deserves the name of a naval action. This monotony of quiet business Avas broken in September, when the privateer Harpy fell in with the British packet Princess Elizabeth, and captured her after a short but sharp confiict. The Elizabeth was armed with ten guns, and manned by thirty-eight men. She had on board a Turkish embassador for England, an aid-de-camp to a British general, a lieutenant of a 74 line of battle ship, and j!10,000 in specie. This specie, with sev- eral pipes of wine and some of the cannon, were transferred to the Harj)y, The re- mainder of her armament was thrown overboard, and the ship was ransomed for 12000, when she was allowed to proceed on her voyage. !M: ' Coggeshall'a HUtory of AtMiican Privateers, page 172. > See page 095. h 1604 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The Cureer of the General ,1 rviatnnuj. How New Orloana waa saved. The most desperate and famous combat recorded in the history of privateering during the war Avas that maintained by the Getieral Armstrong, of New York, Cap- tain Samuel C. Rcid (whose earlier exploits we liave already noticed), in the liurbor of Fayal, one of the Azores islands of that name belonging to Portugal. It occurred on the 20th of September, 1814. While she lay there at anchor, in a neutral port she was attacked by a large British squadron under the command of Commodore Lloyd. The attacking vessels consisted of the flag-ship Plantayenet, T4 ; the frigate J^o^a, 44, Captai^i Somerville; and the brig Ca»via<iOM, 18, Captain Ijontham, each with a full complement of men. The Armstrong carried only seven guns and ninety men, including her officers. In flagrant violation of the laws and usages of neutrality, Lloyd sent in, at eight • September 20, o'clock in the evening," four large and well-armed launches, manned by ^'*^^- about forty men each. At that time Keid, suspecting danger, was warping his vessel under the guns of the castle. The moon was shining brightly. These and the privateer opened tire almost simultaneously, and the latniches were driven olFwith hwivy loss. The tirst lieutenant oi t\\G Armstrong was wounded, and one man was killed. Another attack was made at midnight with fourteen launches and about five lum- dred men. A terrible conflict ensued, which lasted forty minutes. The enemy wore repulsed with a loss of one hundred and twenty killed, and one hundred and thirty wounded. At daybreak a tiiird attack was made by tlie brig of war Carnation. She opened heavily, but was very soon so cut up by the rapidly-delivered and well-di- rected shots of the Armstrong that she hastily withdrew. The privateer was also much damaged. It was evident that she could not maintain another assault of equal severity, so Captain Reid, who had cool- ly given orders from his quarter-deck during the attacks, directed her to be scuttled, to prevent her falling into the liands of the enemy. She was then aban- doned, when the British boarded her and set her on fire. It is a curious fact that, while the British lost over three hundred in killed and wounded during ten hours, the Americans lost but two killed and seven wounded. > In addition to the glory won by the bravery of this resistance to the British squadron, Ca})tain Reid and his gallant men deserve the just credit of having thereby saved tlie city of New Orleans from capture. This squadron was part of tise expedition then gathering at Ja- maica for the purpose of seizing New Orleans, and the object of their attack on the Armstrong was to capture her, and make her a useful auxiliary in the work. She so crippled her assailants that they did not reach Jamaica until fidl ten days later than the expedition expected ' For a detailed account of this affair, see American Stale Papim, xiv., Navai AffairB, pnge 40.1, and CopKeshnll's Wi'*- tory of the American Privatecm, page 370. The Portnguesc covemmcnt demanded and received from that of Enulnnd an apoingy for this violation of neutrality ; also rpRtltution for the dcstmction oiPortnguepe property at Fayal during the action. That sfovernnient also demanded satiKfaction and Indemnlflcallon for the destruction of the American ves- sel in their neutral port. This England refused, and from that day to this the owners of the privateer and their heirs have never been able to procure iudemnlflcatlon for their losses either from England or Portugal, or from their own government. J ^^^vv^^e/rteA:^ w UrleaoA was saved. >cfiition expected OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1005 Honors to Captain Reid. The American Flag. Cruise of the Prirue de Xev/chdtel. to sail from there. Tliat expedition wa *ecl for Commodore Lloyd ; and when it final- ly api)roached New Orleans," General Jackson was liastcniiig to make • December c, competent arrangements for its defense. Had the fleet arrived ten days ^^''*' sooner, that city would have been an easy prey to the British, for it was utterly de- fenseless until that general's arrival with his troops. The defense made by the Armstrong, and the circumstances of the attack, pro- duced a great sensation throughout the United States. Captain Keid was justly praised as one of the most daring of American naval commanders, and he received various honors in alnindance. The State of New York gave him thanks and a sword, and he was every where received with the greatest enthusiasm on his return to the United States.' The New Yorkers sent out a splendid vessel of seventeen guns and one hundred and fifty men, called the Prince de Keiifchdtel, in command of Captain Ordronaux. Slie was a very fortunate privateer. During a single cruise she was chased by no less than seventeen armed British vessels, and escajx'd them all ; and she brought to the United States goods valued at $300,000, with much specie. On the 11th of Oc- . tobcr, 1814, she encountered tivc armed boats from the British frigate Endymion oft" Nantucket. The Neufchdtdv{^% then very liglit lianded, having, when the fierce bat- tle that ensued commenced, only thirty-six men at quarters. Eai-ly in the forenoon the engagement began. The boats were arranged for the assaidt one on each side, one on each bow, and one under the stern. Witliin the space of twenty minutes the assailants cried for quarter. It was granted. One of the boats had gone to the bot- tom with forty-one out of forty-three of her crew. The wliole number of men in the five boats was one hundi-ed and eleven, a larger portion of whom were kiHed, wound- ed, or made prisoners. The privateer lost seven killed and twenty-foiir Avounded. She returned to Boston on the 15th of October. The NmfchCitel was afterward cap- tui'cd and sent to England. At this time the terror inspired by the doings of the American privateers was in- tense. The British began to seriously contemplate the probabilities of the complete destruction of their commerce. Fear magnified the numbers, powers, and exploits of ' On his return to the United States Captain Reid landed at Saviinnnh, and made his way north by land. At Rich- mond he was invited to u public dinner by members of the Vi.j,'inla LcfriHlature, at which were seated the governor, members of his c(,uncil, judges of the Supreme Court, and other distinijuished men. It was the tiri-t oppoitiinity the Virginians had enjoyed of liaying their p-^r.^onal respects to a hero of ttie war, and they did it witli cnthusiai-m. The •penker of the Ilonse of Burgesses presided, and William W'irt was vice-president. When Captain lieid retired, the chiiirman gave as a sentiment, " Captain Held— his valor has shed a blaze of renown upon the character of our seamen, and won for himself a laurel of eternal bloom." On the 7th of April, ISlft, the Legislature of New York voted the thanks of the state and a sword to Captain Reid. At Tanmtany Hall, in Now York, lie was presented, in the name of the citizens, with a handsome service of plate. Sanniel Chester Reid was born at Norwich, Connecticut, on ttie '2.Mh of August, 1783. He went to sea at the age of eleven years, and was captured by a French privateer and taken to Gnadahuiiie. He was a midshipman with Commo- dore 'i'ruxtun. The occasion in his puldic life which gave him most fame wae this defense of the Ueneial Armslronri at Fayal. After the War of 1S12 Captain Reid was appointed a sailing-master in the United Stales Navy, and held that office until liis death. Ho was port-warden at New York for some time, and a weijrlier of customs. He was about be- ing made collector of the customs there, in place of Swarlwnut, by Secretary Duane, when that oflicer was removed by President Jackson. He invented and erected the signal telegraphs at the Battery and the Narrow.-, and is also distin- guished as the designer of the present arrangement of the stripes and stars on onr national standard.* Captain Reid was simple in his habits and manr.ers, upright in condnct, and hoiie.Kt in all his ways. He was the cliosen social com- panion of many of the l)CBt and most distingnished American citizens, and his memory is sweetest to those who knew him best. He died In the cityof New York on the 2Hth of January, 1>*01. His funeral took place at Trinity Clmrch, and w:i» largely attended. His remains were escorted to their last resting-place in Greenwood Cemetery by the mariuea of the navy yard at Brooklyn. • Our flag originally bore th'rieen stars and thirteen stripes. As new states came in, the number of the stars and ctrlpes was correspondinzly increased, pursuant to an act of Congress jias'ed in 1704. Tliis was found to he impracti- cable : for, as the states increased, the tvidth of the striiies had to he lessened. Besides, tliere was nothing in the device to recall the original confederacy of thirteen states. To return to the use of only thirteen stars and stripes would be innpprop-inte, because the device would give no hint of the growth of the rcpul)lic. t'aptain Reid proposed to retain the oriirlnal tliirteen stripen as a memento of the original Union, and to add a new alar whenever a new state was ad- mitted, as indicative of the growth of the states. This suggestion was adopted. A flag with this new arrangement was first raised over the Hall of Representatives at Washington on the 4lh of April, ISIS, at two o'clock in the afternoon. M that time the Seimte Chamber and Hall of Kei)rcsentatives of the (Capitol were separated, the centre of the building not being completed. Resiihitions of thanks to Captain Rold "for having designed and formed the present flag of the United States" were oQercd iu Congress. ! l! 1 ; » iMil 11 ' ' |-li.:M-^ ^ '1 i 1006 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Effect of Amcriciin Prlviitcerlng on British Comniei-cc. Cruiee of tiie Saucy Jack iiud Knnp, tlie privateers. Meetings of merchants were held to remonstnile against their depre- dations. It was asserted that one of these " sea-devils" was rarely captured, and tliat they impudently bid defiance alike to English privateers and stately seventy-foiu-s. Insurance was refused on most vessels, and on some the premium was as high as thir- ty-three per cent. "Thirteen guineas for one hundred pounds," said a London jour- nal, " was paid to insure vessels across the Irish Channel ! Such a thing never hap- pened, we believe, before." The Board of Admiralty and the Prince Regent weie petitioned for aid in checking these depredations ; and the government was com- pelled, because of the state of public feeling, to give assurances (which they had no power to support) that ample measures should be taken for the protection of British commerce. We have referred to the impudence, as well as boldness, of tlie American priva- teers. A small one belonging to Charleston, mounting six carriage guns and a Lonir Tom, appropriately named Saucy Jack, affords an illustration. She was every where, and, being clipper-l)uilt and skillfully managed, was too fleet for the English cruisers. On one occasion, when cruising off the west end of St. Domingo, she chased two ves- sels. It was on the 31st of October, 1814, at midnight; and when near enough, at one in the morning, she fired upon them. On coming up, it was ascertained that one of them carried sixteen, and the other eighteen guns. Nothing daunted by this dis- covery, she boarded one of them at seven in the morning, when it was found that she was full of men, and a war vessel. The boarders fled back to the Saucy Jack, ami the little privateer made haste to get away. The two ships chased her, pouriiin; gra)>e and musket-balls upon her, but within an hour she was out of reach of even their great guns. She lost eight men killed and fifteen wounded. Her chief antag- onist was the British bomb-ship Volcano, with the transpoi't Golden Fleece. One of the lieutenants and two of the men of the Volcano were killed and two were wound- ed. On Sunday, the 1st of May, tlie Saucy Jack ca|)tured the fine English ship Pel- liam, carrying ten guns and thirty-eight men. She Avas bound from London for a West India port, and had a cai-go valued at $80,000. The schooner Kemp, of Baltimore, was a very successful privateer. She was com- manded by Captain Jacobs. At the close of Novembci-, 1814, she sailed on a cimise in the West Indies from Wilmington, North Carolina. On the 1st of December she chased a squadron of eight merchant ships in the Gulf Stream iinder convoy of a fiig- ate. The frigate, in turn, gave chase, but the Kemjy dodged her in the darkness of the ensuing night, and the next morning again gave chase to the merchantmen. At noon the following day'' she found them drawn ui) in battle line, and at ' December 3. ^ j a _ ' two o'clock they bore down upon the privateer, each giving her some shots as they passed. She reserved her fire until, by a skillful movement, she broke through the line, and discharged her whole armament into the enemy. This pio- duced the gi'eatest confusion, and within an hour and a half four of the eight vessels were the prizes of the Kemp. She would liave taken the Avhole of them, but she iiad not men enough to man them. The other four proceeded on their voyage. The con- voy frigate all this time was absent, vainly looking for the saucy privateer ! These prizes, which gave an aggregate of forty-six cannon and one hundred and thirty-four men, were all sent into Charleston. It was a profitable cruise of only six days. Tae Monmouth privateer, of Baltimore, at about the same time was dealing destruction to British commerce off Newfoundland. She liad a desperate encounter with an En- glish transport ship with over three liundred trooj)s on board. Her superior speed saved her from capture. Another successful Baltimore privateer was the Laicrence. of eighteen guns and one hu?\di"ed and eleven men. During a single cruise, Avhicli terminated at New York on the 25111 of January, 1815, a month before the proclama- tion oi' peace, she captured thirteen vessels. She took one hundred and six pi-isoners. and the aggregate amount of tonnage seized by her was over three thousand tons. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1007 le l^attcy Jack aud Konp, gainst their depre- laptured, and tliat ely sevonty-lburs. as as high as thir- lid a London jour- I thing never bap- ince Regent wore irnment wJis com- k'hich they had no otection of British B American priva- 3 guns and a Long > was every where, e English cruisers, lie chased two ves- en near enough, at jcertained that one lunted by this dis- was found that she le Smicy Jack, and iiased lier, pouring it of reach of even Her chief antag- en Fleece. One of 1 two were wound- e Englisli sliip Pel- from London for a icr. She was corn- sailed on a cruise it of December she cr convoy of a frig- in the darkness of merchantmen. At battle line, and at 1 sriving her some ovemcnt, she broke enemy. This pro- :)f the eight vessels them, but she had voyage. The con- privateer ! Those red and thirty-four mly six days. T.io t'liling destruction >unter with au En- Her superior speed Avas the iMtorence, iingle cruise, Avhich efore the proclama- 1 and six prisoners, iree thousand tons. Cruise of the Manlunowjh naA Ainelia. Close of the War. The American Privateers aud their Uolugg. One of the original crew of the Lawrence was a colored man named Henry Van Me- ter, mentioned on page 912, The Macdonoufjh, of Rhode Island, had a severe fight with a British ship, whose name is not recorded, on the Slst of January, 1815. The action commenced at mus- ket-shot distance at half past two o'clock in the afternoon. The tremendous musket- lire of the enemy caused the people of the Macdonough to suspect her of being a troop-ship. Such proved to be the case. She had at least three hundred soldiers on hoard besides her crew. The Macdonoiujh suflered terribly in sails, and rigging, and loss of men, for her antagonist, in addition to the overwhelming number of men, car- ried eighteen 9-pounders. She succeeded in escaping from the British vessel, and reached Savannah on the 7th of March. The war ended early in 1815, but it was some time after the proclamation of peace had been promulgated before all of the fifty privateers then at sea were apprised oi it, and many captures were made after the joyful event had occurred. One of the latest arrivals of successful privateers was that of the ^?«e^<V/, of Baltimore, in April, 1815. Siie had a full cargo of valuable goods. During her cruise she had cajjlured ten British vessels. Some she destroyed, others she sent into port, and one she gave up as a cartel for her prisoners. She carried only six guns and seventy-five men. The vessels she captured amounted in the aggregate to about two thousand three Inindred tons, and her prisoners numbered one hundred ^,nd twelve. Her trophies in arms were thirty-two cannon and many muskets. She was frequently chased by English cruisers, but her fleotness allowed her to escape. Li this outline sketch of American privateering* during the Second AVar for Inde- pendence, notice has boon taken of only the most prominent of the vessels which ac- tually sustained a conflict of arras on the ocean of suflicient importance to entitle the act to the name of a naval engagement. The record shows the wonderful boldness and skill of American seamen, mostly untaught in the art of naval Avarfare, and the general character of the privateering service. Nothing more has been attempted. The full history of the service as it lies, much of it ungarnished, in the newspapers of the day and the manuscript log-books of the commanders, exhibits marvelous ac- tions and results. After the first six months of the war the bulk of naval conflicts was carried on upon the ocean, on the part of the Americans, by private-armed vessels, which "took, burned, and destroyed" about sixteen hundred British merchantmen, of all classes, in the space of three years and nine months, while the number of American merchant vessels destroyed during the same period did not vary much ^rom five hundred. The American merchant marine was much smaller than that of the British, and, owing to embargo acts and apprehensions of war several months before it was actually de- clared, a large proportion of it was in port. When war was declared many vessels were" taken far up navigable rivers for security against British cruisers and maraud- ing soldiers, while others were dism.antled in safe places. The American private-armed vessels which caused such disasters to liritish com- merce number jd two hundred and fifty.^ Of these, forty-six were letters of manpie, and the remainder were privateers. Of the whole number, one hundred and eighty- four were sent out from the four ports of Baltimore, New York, Salem, and Boston alone. The aggregate number sent out from Philadelphia, Portsmouth (N. II.), and Charleston was thirty-five. Large fortunes were secured by many of tlie owners, and some of them are enjoyed by their descendants at the present day. ' The materials for this sketch have been (jnthcrcd from official documents, the newspapers of the day, Coggeshall'B Hinlnrii ofAmeriean PrivateerK, and personal and written communications to the author. 5 This was IIB less than were commUsioned while there were difficulties with France In the years 1708 and 1709. The number of private-armed vesgcls then commissioned was 806, Their tonnage was 00,991, Number of guns, 2728 ; and of men, 0847, I , W- r: i. { 1 1 1008 riCTORIAL l-IKLD-BOOK A Peuco Faction. Boaton the Centre of Illicit Trade. The Qoverameiit a« a Borrower. CHAPTER XLH. " Bravo sons of the West, the blood In yonr veins At dauRer's ajiproaoh waited not for persuaders; You rnshed from your monntains, ymu hllN, mid yonr plains, And followed yonr streams to repi . i!ic invaders." Ol.I> SONO. ET US now take a glance at some prominent civil affairs durintr f;he year 1814, before proceeding to consider the great and de- cisive military events in the vicinity of New Orleans with which the war on the land closed. From the beginning of the contest, as we have seen, there was an active and influential body in the Federal party known as the Peace Faction, many of whom were selfish and unpatriotic politicians, and who, by their endeavors to thwart the government in its efibrts to provide means for carrying on the war, brought discredit upon the great and patriotic party to which they belonged, and deeply injured their country. These politicians were chiefly confined to New En- gland, whose commercial interests had been ruined by the war, and Boston was their head-quarters. Embargo acts had closed all American ports against the legal admis- sion of goods from abroad, and these could only be obtained through contraband trade. Such trade was carried on extensively at the New England capital, where, as we have seen, the magistrates were not zealous in the maintenance of the restrictive laws. Smuggling became almost respectable in the eyes of many because of its prev- alence,' and foreign goods, shut out from other sea-ports, found their v/ay there. Many valuable British prizes were taken into that port, and upon Boston the mer- chants of other cities became dependent for a supply of foreign goods. For tiieso they paid partly in bills of the banks of the Middle and Southern States, and partly in their own promissory notes. By this means Boston became a financial autocrat, having in its hands despotic power to control the money aft'airs of the country. This fact suggested to the leaders of the Peace Faction in New England a scheme for ciip- pling the government financially, and thereby com])elling it to abandon the struggle with Great Britain with dishonor. They Avcrc quick to act upon the suggestion and to pnt the scheme into operation. From the beginning of the war the government was compelled to ask for loans, and thn Peace Faction made such persistent opposition, for the purpose of embarrassing the administration, that in every case a bonus was paid for all sums borrowed. In January, 1813, a loan of $16,000,000 was authorized. It was obtained principally from individuals at the rate of $88 for a certificate of stock for $100, by which lenders re- ceived $2,100,377 as a bonus on that small loan. In August the same year a furtlier loan of $7,500,000 Avas authorized ; and in March, 1814, a loan of $25,000,000 was au- thorized. This was the darkest hour of the war, and then it was that the Peace Fac- tion at political meetings, through the press, and even from the pulpit, cast every obstacle in the way of the government. That opposition now assumed the form of ' One of the most eminent members of the Federal party (Harrison Orny Otis) charged the administration and the war with the nuthor!<:iip of that "monstrous depreciation of morals" and "execrable course of smucKlinfC and fraud," and said that a class of citizens, "encouraged by the Just odium n<rainst the war, sneer at the restraints of conscience, I'luch at perjury, mock at leiral restraints, and acquire Ill-gotten wealth at the expense of public morals, and of the more sober, conscientious part of the community." OF THE WAU OF 1812. 1009 vernmeut as u Borrower, Tbe pnbllc Credit aBsatled. ) SONO. civil affairs during tlic great and de- )rleans with wliich ave seen, there was 3ace Faction, many their endeavors to rying on the war, ,hey belonged, and ifincd to New En- d Boston was tliciv ist the legal adinis- irough contrahaud 1 capital, where, as c of the restrictive jecause of its prnv- their way tliere. n Boston the mer- goods. For tlicso States, and jiartly financial autocrat, the country. Tliis a scheme for crip- mdon the struggle le suggestion and ask for loans, and e of embarrassing ms borrowed. In d principally from which lenders re- ime year a furtluT 25,000,000 was au- lat the Peace Fac- pulpit, cast every umed the form of e ndminiftrntion niul the of smncglinu and fraud," I restrniiits of conscience, Ic morals, and of the more The WeakuesB of the Qoveroment a lieason fur rejoicing. 1 — — — — — — — — virtual treason. The government was weak and in great need, and its internal ene- mies knew it, and in jjroportion to its wants they became bolder and more outspoken. Their denunciations of the government, and those who dared to lend it a helping hand, were violent and effective. By inflammatory and threatening publications and personal menaces, tiiey intimidated many capitalists.' The result was, that only !|ll 1,400,000 of the projjosed loan were raised in the spring of 1814, and tliis by pay- ing a bonus of $2,852,000, terms so disastrous that only one more attempt was made to borrow money during the war, the deficiency being made up by the issue of treas- ury notes to the amount of ^ftl 8,452,000. Over this failure of the government these unpatriotic men rejoiced. One of them, writing from Boston in February, 1815, said, exultingly, "This day !j(20,000 six per cent, stock was put up at auction, $5000 of which only was sold for want of bidders, and that at forty per cent, under par. As for the former war loan, it would be considered little short of an insult to offer it in the market, it being a very serious question who is to father the child in case of na- tional difficulties." The last expression referred to the hopes of the conspirators that a dissolution of the Union would be brouglit about by the body known in history as the Hartford Convention, which had adjourned, to meet again if necessary — a body of men inspired by motives and actions too lofty to be compreliended by the vulgar politicians who were the leaders of the Peace Faction of that day. But these machinations failed to produce the full effect desired. Patriotic men in New England of the Opposition party subscribed to the loan ; and in the Middle States they did so openly and liberally, to the disgust of the Peace Faction, who noAv resorted to a more reprehensible scheme for embarrassing the government. We have observed that, for reasons named, Boston became the centre of financial power. These men determined to use that power to embarrass the administration, and they did it in this wise : Tlie banks in the Middle and Southern States were the priticipal sub- scribers to the loan, and measures were adoj)ted to drain them of their specie, and thus produce an utter inability to pay their subscriptions. Some of the Boston banks became parties to the scheme. The notes of those in New York and cities farther south held by these banks were transmitted to them, with demands for specie, and at the same time drafts w.ere drawn on the New York banks for the balances due the 1 "Will Federa'.ists subscribe to the loan? Will they lend money to onr national rnlcrs?" a leading Boston paper significantly asked. " It is impossible, first, because of the principle, and, secondly, because ot principal and interest. If they lend money now, they make themselves parties to tlie violation of the Constitntlon, the cruelly oppressive measures in relation to commerce, and to ull the crimes which have occurred in the field and in the cabinet. . . . Any Federalist who lends money to the government will be called infavioiis !" The people were then adroitly warned that money loaned to the government would not be safe. " IIow, where, and when," asked this disloyal news|)aper, " are the government to get money to pay interest?" Then, in language almost the same as that of a distinguished leader of a Peace Faction of our day, a threat of future repudiation was thrown out, to create distrust in tlie government se- curities. " Who can tell," said the writer above alluded to, " whcthCT future rulers matj think the debt enntracted umler tiich circttmslattcffi, and by men who lend money to help out measures which they have loudly and constantly cmuiemncd, ought to be jjoid t" Another newspaper said of the Boston merchants : " They will lend the government money to retrace their steps, but none to persevere in their present course. Let every highwayman find his own pistols." And a doctor of divinity tliouted from the pulpit at Byfleld: "If the rich men continue to furnish money, war will continue till the mountains are melted with blood— till every field in America is white with the bones of the people;" while another said, "Let uo man who wishes to continue the war by active means, by vote or lending money, dare to prostrate himself at the allar on the fast-day, for such are actually as much partakers in the war as the soldier who thrusts his bayonet, and the judgment of God will await them." These extracts give but a faint idea of the violence of the leaders of that faction. Many capitalists were intimidated, and were afraid to negotiate for the loan openly, a fact which brokers at that time have idaced on record. Gilbert and Dean advertised that the "names of all subscribers shall be known only tj the undersigned." Another made it known that " the name of every applicant shall, at his request, be known only to tlie subscriber." Another assured the people that he had made arrangements "for perfect secrecy in the transact* jn of his business." These advertisements excited the venom of the Peace party exceedingly, and they poured abuse upon the subscribers and the govcrimient together. " Money," said one of the most prominent nmond them, with great bitterness, " is such a drug (the surest signs of the former prosperity and present insecurity of trade), that men, against tlieir consciences, their honor, their duty, their professions and promises, are willing to lend it secretly to support the very measures which are both intended and calculated for their ruin." Another said, " How degraded must our government be, even in her "wn eyes, when they resort to such tricks to obtain money, which a common Jew broker would be ashamed of. They must he well acquainted with the fabric of the men who are to loan them money when they offer that if they will have the goodness to do it tholr uamea shall not be exposed to the world." 3S jll I!! 'I 1010 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Condact of Boaton Bniikerr Effect!) of the Conspiracy agaiuat tho public Credit. Boston corporations, to the amount, in the course of a few months, of about 18,000,000. The New York bankers were compelled to draw largely on those of Philiulel])hiii, and the latter on those of Baltimore, and so on. A panic was created. No one could predict the result. Confidence was shaken. Wagons were seen, loaded with specie, leaving bank doors with the precious freight, going from city to city, to find its way finally into the vaults of those of Massachusetts.' The banks thus drained were com- pelled to curtail their discounts. Commercial derangement and bankruptcies ensued. Subscribers to the loan were unable to comply with their promises, and, so uncertain was the futui-e to the minds of many who uitended to subscribe, that they hesitated. Tho effect of tho conspiracy against tho public credit was potent and ruinous, and for a while it was thought impossible for tlie government to sustain its army and navy. The banks out of New England were compelled to suspend specie payments, and the effect upon the paper currency of the country was most disastrous. '^ Nor was this all. To make the blow against the public credit still more effectual, the conspirators made arrangements with agents of the government authorities of Lower Canada whereby a very large amount of British government bills, drawn on Quebec, were transmitted to New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and offered on such advantageous temis to capitalists as induced them to purchase.' By this means an immense amount of gold was transmitted to Canada, placed beyond the reach of the government of the United States, and put into the hands of tlie enemy, to pive succor to the war they were waging against the independence of the republic. Had the conspirators fully succeeded, the national armies must have been disbanded, and the country reduced to a dependency of Great Britain. It was during the despondency incident to the gloomy aspect of financial affairs, the capture of Washington and the destruction of the public buildings and archives, the utter prostration of business, the certainty that a very large British force would be speedily sent to our shores, and the neglect and discourtesy with which the Brit- ish government had treated the American ministers sent to Europe to negotiate a treaty of peace, that a convention of representatives of the Opposition party in New ' When, hi deference to public opinion, the Boston bankers attempted to expliitn their movement in this mattpr. tliev made the specious plea of their right to the balances due them from other banks. This was not satisfactory. Mimliew Carey, one of the ablest publicists of the day, says that tho demand was made at a season of the year when frcij:lit on the specie, on account of the bad state of the rnnils, was from twenty to thirty per cent, more than It would h.ive heen had they waited a few weeks. That they cniiid have waited without detriment to any interest is made mnnifc»t b.v the following statement of the condition of the banks In Massachusetts in January, 1814, just before the moveineut was made: Specie. Nottii In Clrculntlon. Massachusetts Bank $2,114,lf4 $082,708 Union ftlTiTflS. Boston 1,182,S72. State BB(t,006. New England 284,4Bfl. Mechanics' 47,301. 2S,'),225 300,003 600,000 101,170 44.505 $4,045,444 $2,000,001 By this statement it appears that they had in their vaults about $250 in specie for every $100 of their notes in circ nla- tlon : " a state of things," says Carey, " probably anparallcled in the history of banking from the days of the Lomljard! to the present time." » The injurions effects upon the paper currency of tho conntry may be seen by the following price current, published on the 7th of February, 1815: Below Pv. All tho banks in New York State, Hr-lson and Orange excepted. .. 19 to 20 per cent. Hudson Bank .,.,. 20 " Orange Bank 24 " Below Par. Philadelphia City Banks 24 per cent. Baltimore Banks 30 " Treasury Notes 24to25 " United States six per cents. 30 ' These transactions with the public were made so boldly that advertisements like the following appeared iu tlic Boston papers : "Ibin for. £800 ) British Government Bills, 1 do a 260 f Forsaleby 1 do. 203 f CuAni.KS W. Orrks, £1,263 ; No. 14 India Wharf." So great was the drain caused by the transmission of gold to Canada, and the demand for specie to pay for smuijiled goods brought from Canada and Nova Scotia, that the specie In the Massachnsetts banks was reduced In the course of six months nearly $3,600,000— the Bmount being $6,468,004 on the Ut of July, 1814, and only $1,989,808 on the 1st of Jau- uary, 1815. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1011 Cabinet Changes. New flnancial Meaauroa proposed. Revival of the pabllc Credit. England, to conBidor public affairs, was conceived, not by the factious politicians we liavo just noticed, l)ut by thoughtful and eamcst patriots of the Federal party. After tlie invasion of Washington there were some changes in President Madison's Cabinet. Mr. Monroe continued in the office of Secretary of State, and was Acting Secretary of War after the close of Septem- /^. ^ y ber, 1814, when Mr. Armstrong had resigned.' '^^^^Jr^^^ George W. Campbell, of Tennessee, the Secre- tary of the Treasuiy, was succeeded by Alex- ander J. Dallas — a man of courage, energy, and decision — early in Octo- . October o, ber.* The new secretary entered upon his duties with a determination to ***'•*• revive the public credit, if possible, and he did it. The prospect was unpromising, Campbell's report of the condition of the Treasury immediately preceding his resig- nation was a deplorable picture of the national finances. So great was the general distrust that, when an attempt was made to borrow $6,000,000,'' there were b aukmi, not bids for one half the amount ; and so great were the government needs, ^^"• tliat, in order to procure $2,500,000, the secretary liad been compelled to issue stock to the amount of $4,206,000. There were $8,000,000 treasury notes outstand- ing, one half of wliich would fall due the next year. The entire amount to be paid within the fiscal year was not less than |!25,000,000, while the new revenues, al- ready provided for, including new taxes, could not be expected to produce above $8,000,000, owing to the total destruction of commerce. Yet Dallas was not dis- mayed, nor even discouraged. He pro- posed methods which startled Congress and the people. The crisis demanded im- mediate and effective measures, so he pro- posed new and increased taxes ; and, as a means for furnishing a circulating medium and immediate resources in the way of loans, he recommended the establishment of a national bank, the government to be a large and controlling stockholder, and the bank to be compelled to loan to the gov- ernment $30,000,000.2 Congress consider- ed the propositions favorably; and such was the confidence which the character and ■ ^ ' Jolin Armstrong was bom at CnrllBle, in Pennsylvania, on tbc 25th of November, 1758. He was a student at Prince- ton CoUetje when tlie old War for Independence broke ont, when he joined the army, and soon became a member of the staff of General Mercer. He was afterward on the utaff of General Gates, and was for a while adjutant general of the Southern Army under that leader. He remained with that officer nntll the close of the war. Young Armstrong was the author of the celebrated ^ewhurg Adilresxes just at the close of hostilities. While their tendency was most danger- ous to the public welfare, Washlni,'ton bore testimony to the patriotic motives of the writer. Armstrong was Secretary of State of Pennsylvania. After marrying the sister of Chancellor Livingston, of New York, he settled on the Hudson, in that State, near Red Hook, where he resided until his death on the 1st of April, 1833. He was United States senator in the year 1800, and in 1804 President Jefferson appointed him minister to France, where he performed his duties with ability. He was appointed brigadier general when the war broke out In 1812, and the following year he was called to the ofiBcc of Secretary of War, which he reluctantly accepted. When he retired from that post he left public life forever. ' Dallas's proposition contemplated a national bank with a capital of $50,000,000, one tenth in specie and the remain- der In government stocks ; the government to subscribe two fifths of the capital, and to have the appointment of the president and a third of the directors, and power also to authorize the suspension of specie payments. A bill charter- ing a national bank was passed in 1816, but was vetoed by the President of the United States. Finally, in April, 1816, an act Incorporating a national bank became a law. This was the famous United States Bank, whose existence terml- uated in 183U. Alexander J. Dallas was bom in the island of Jama'.ca in 1769. His father was a Scotchman, and an eminent physi- cian there. This eon was educated at Kdlnburg and Weetmiuster. After the death of his father he settled in Fbiladcl- ^. J JbikyCUyf f ' 1012 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Meiunres for Increiinlng the Army. Peace apparently remote. DUcunteiUi) in New Kn^lund, § ' :; ■ .4 - :. . :: ■-■)■■ . "'1 • f V ' . '- igU^ 1 Ai immediate acts of Dallas inspired, that the loan vainly attempted to ho made in Au- gust was laviiiiibly nejrotiated in October; and treasury notes, which then "none but nccessitons creditors, or contractors in distress, or conunissaries, quartermasters, and navy agents, a'jting as it were officially, seemed willing to accept," were, early in Jan- nary following, sold at par, with the interest added. Mr. Monroe, as iicting Secretary of War, proposed vigorous measures for giving strength to the army. Volunteeriii'4 had ceased, and he proposed to raise, by eon- scription or draft, sufficient men to luako the existing army minilxr nearly sixty-lhroi' thousand, and to provide forty thousand men as a k ^^ular force, to be locally im. ployed in the defense of the frontiers and the sea-coast. 1 Jills for this purpose were • ootoiiorST, introduced in Congress;" and this and other war measures were more fa- 1814. vorably received than usual, because of tlu; waning prosjjects of peace with Great liritain excepting on terms humiliating to the United States. Negotia- tions for peace were then in progress at Ghent, in Belgium ; but the unfair deniandH and denials of Great Britain, through her commi sjoners, gave very little promise of satisfactory results. That hanghty power woul . not consent to make peace excejit ing on very humiliating terms for the Americans; and yet there were those who could not value national independence, nor romprehend their duty to posterity, wIki thought that peace would be chea])ly purchased even on such temis. While tlu' Legislature of New York called them "extravagant and disgraceful," and that of Virginia spoke of those terms as " arrogant and insulting," the New England l^'gis- latures had no word of condemnation. The ])ropo8ition to raise a large force by conscription brought matters to a crisis in New England. In some of the other states the matter of local defenses had Iicun left almost wholly to the discretion of the respective governors. But the Presidint. made suspicious of the loyalty of New England because of the injurions action oftlic Peace Faction, insisted upon the exclusive control of all military movements tliorc. Because the Massachusetts militia had not been placed under General Dearborn's or- ders, the Secretary of State, in an official letter to (lovernor Strong, refused to jmy the expenses of defending Massachusetts from the common enemy. Similar actimi for similar cause liad occurred in the case of Connecticut, and a clamor was instantly raised that New England was abandoned to the enemy by the National (.iovernniont. A joint committee of the Massachusetts Legislature made a report on the state of public affiiirs, which contained a covert threat of independent action on the part of the people of that section, saying that, in the position in which that state stood, no choice Avas left it between submission to the enemy, M'hich was not to bo thought of, and the appropriation to her own defense of those revenues derived from the people, but which the General Government had hitherto thought proper to expend elsewhere. The committee recommended a conference of sympathizing states to consider the pro- priety of adopting " some mode of defense suited to the circumstances and exigencies of those states," and to consult upon a radical reform in the National Constitution. The administration minority protested against this action, and denounced it as a disguised movement to prepare the way for a dissolution of the Union. Their pro- test was of no avail. The report of the committee was .adopted by a vote of throe to one, and the Legislature addressed a circular letter to the governors of the other New England States, inviting the appointment of delegates, to meet in Convention at an early day, it said, "to deliberate upon the dangers to which the states in the east- ern section of the Union are exposed by the course of the war, and which there is too much reason to believe will thicken round them in its progress ; and to devise, if practicable, means of security and defense which may be consistent witii the pres- phia in 1T83, and studied law. He wag fond of literary pitrsnits, and at one time edited the Columbian Magazine. In ISOl President Jefferson appointed him United Slates Attorney lor the Eastern Olstrict of Pennsylvania. lu October, 1814, he was appointed Secretary of the Treasnry, and in March, 1S16, assnmcd the additional duties of Secretary of War. In November, 1810, he resigned, and returned to the practice of his profession. He died on the Iflth of January, ISIT. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1013 jutenta in Now Engluml. ,o 1)0 iimdo in Au- •h then " HOIK! but mrtonii;iHtcrs, and were, early in Jan- ■asurofl for giving I to raise, by con- nearly sixty-tliree to be locally em- this pur|)(iM(' were treH Avcre more fa- irosjjects of peace StateH. NcuDiia- :ie unfair demands Y little promise of lake peace excc]ii e were those \vli<i ■ to posterity, wlui iemis. Wliile tlu' eful," and tiiat of 3W England Legis- matters to a crisis defenses had bcuii But the President. irious action of tlic movements there. [^ral Dearborn's or- ng, refused to ]my Similar action imor was instantly ional Ciovermnent. t on the state of on the part of tlie te stood, no choice )0 thought of, and 3m the people, but .vpend elsewhere. consider the pro- CCS and exigencies al Constitution. denounced it as a nion. Tiieir pro- ;i vote of three to I' the other New Convention at an states in the east- ,nd which there is ; and to devise, ent witii the pres- A Conventtun called at Uartford. CumpiMitlon or tbe Convention. Iti propoied Work. mtr!an^fa(|a:;hw. InlSOl Ivanin. In October, 1814, of fiecrctary of War. In Sthof Jiinaary.lSlT. crviition of their resources from total ruin, and adapted to their local situation, mu- tual relations and habits, and not rejiugnant to their obligations as members of the rnion." They also proposed a consideration of some amendments to the Constiiii- tion on the subject of slave representation, that might secure to the New England States equal advantages with others. The i)r<»position of the Massachusetts Legislature was acceded to, and on Thursday morning, the 15th of December, I si 4, a Convention, composed of t\\ <iity-six didegates, representing Massachusetts, Ct)nnecticut, llhode Island, New Ilanipshirc, ami Ver- mont, assembled at Hartford, in Connecticut, then a town of four thousand inhabit- ants, and org.'inized by the apj)ointmeiit of Ceorgc Cabot, of Boston, as president of that body, and Theodore Dwight as sei retary.* The sessions of the Convention continued three weeks, and wore held Avith closed doors. The movement had created much alarm at the seat of government, especially because at about that time the Legislature of Massachusetts appropriated a million dollars toward the support often thousand men to relieve the militia in service, and to be, like that militia, exclusively under state control. All sorts of wild rumors and suggestions were put afloat, and the government found it convenient to have Major (afterward General) T. S. Jesup at Hartford, with his regiment, at the opening of the Convention, nominally for the purpose of reeruit- hig for the regular army, but really under instructions, no doubt, to watch the move- ments of the supposed traitorous conclave. On the second day of the session, a committee, appointed for the purpose, submit- ted a series of topics proper for the consideration of the Convention, which were as follows: "The powers claimed by the Executive of the IFnited States, to determine conclusively in respect to calling out the militia of the states into the service of the United States ; and the dividing of the LTnited States into military districts, with an officer of the iirmy in each thereof, with discretionary authority from the executive of the United States to call for the militia, to be under the command of such officer. The refusal of the executive of the United States to supply or pay the militia of cer- tain states, called out for their defense, on the grounds of their not having been called out under the authority of the United States, or not having been, by the Executive of the state, put under the command of the commander over the military district. The failure of the government of the United States to supply and pay the militia of the states, by them admitted to have been in the United States service. The report of the Secretary of War to Congress on filling the ranks of the army, together with a bill or act on that subject. A bill before Congress providing for classifying and drafting the militia. The expenditure of the revenue of the nation in otfensive oper- ations on the neighboring provinces of the enemy. The failure of the government of the United States to provide for the common defense, and the consequent obligations, necessity, and burdens devolved on the sc] irate states to defend themselves, together with the mode, and the ways and means in their power for accomplishing the object." Such was the work Avhich the Convention^ at the outset, proposed for itself On the 20th of December a committee was appointed to " report a general project of such measures" as might be proper for the Convention to adopt ; and, four days afterward, they adopted a report that it would be expedient for the Convention to ' The following ore the rmmes of the delegates : George Cabot, Nathan Dane, William Prcscott, Harrison Gray Otis, Timothy Blgelo'v, Joahna Thomas, 8amu<'l Sumner Wlltle, Joseph Lyman, Stephen Longfellow, Jr., Daniel Waldo, Ho- (lijah Baylies, uud George Bliss, from Masmchunettfi ; Chauncey Goodrich, John Treadwell, James Hlllhouse, Zephaniah Swift, Nathaniel Smith, Calvin Goddard, and Roger Minot Sherman, from ConnecHntt; Daniel Lyman, Samuel Ward, Edward Manton, and Benjamin Hazard, from Rhode Mand; Benjamin West, and Mills Olcott, fi-om A'cio HavipsMre; IL ''urn Hall, Jr., from IVnnont. m 1014 nCTOBIAL FIELD-BOOK HIgiittnrei of tbc Member* of the lUrtfurd ConTcntlon. PropiiMil AmeudmentK tii the ruimtltiitlon. i if / y prepare a general statement of the iineonstitutional attempts of tlie executive government of tlic United States to ii fringe upon the rights of tlie iniliv idual states in regard to the military, etc. ; and to recommend to the Legis- latures of the states the adoption of the most effectual and decisive measures to protect the militia and the states from the usurpa- tions contained in those proceed- ings. Also to prepare a state- ment concerning the general sub- ject of state defenses, and a ree- omraendation that an application be made to the national goveni- ment for an arrangement with the states by which they would be allowed to retain a portion of .2yf^^^-iyg__^ the taxes levied by Con- / gress, to be devoted to the expenses of self-de- FAO-BIHILE OF TUK BIONATCKF-B TO TUR BEPORT OF THE UAKTFORD OONVSNTION. „ , ^ rm fense, et cetera, lliey also proposed amendments to the Constitution.' ' They proposed, by umendmentB to the Constitation, to accomplish the following results : 1. The restriction of the power of Congress to declare and make war. 2. A restraint of the exercise of anlimited power by Congress to make new states and admit them into the Union. 8. A restraint of the powers of Congress in laying embargoes and restric- tions on commerce. 4. A stipulation that a President of the United States slinll not be elected ft-om the same state two consecutive terms. 6. That the same person shall not be elected President a second time. C. That alterations be made concerning slave representation and taxation. ^^^pc^ OF THE WAR OF 1112. 1015 nm t() the Cunitltutlnn. AtUouromint of the Hartrord CuiiTenUoD. Himptclnni rMpectluK Ita Wi>rk. The Sabetane* of that Work. / > y ^. loral statement of itional attomi)ta of government of tlic \ to ii fringe upon le indiv ulual states le military, etc. ; nend to the Lcgis- states the adoption cctual and decisive n-otect the militia from the usurpa- in those procced- preparo a statc- ng the general siib- lefenses, and a rec- that an application le national govorn- arrangement with which they woiiW retain a portion of ixes levied by Con- , to be devoted to xpenses of sclf-de- et cetera. Tbey ; 1. The restriction of the jwer by Congress to make ng embargoes and rcstrk- d from the same state two . That alterations be made The laborH of the Hartford Convention ended on the 4th of January, 1810, with a report and reHolutions, Higncd by tlie delegatCB present, to be laid before the LegiMla- tureH of llie rewpective states represented in the Convention. The report and resolu- tions were adopted as expressions of the sentiments of the Convention.' On the fol- lowing morning,* at nine o'clock, after prayer by tlie Kev. Dr. Strong, the •Januarys, Conventi<»n adjourned, but with the impression on the part of the mem- '**"'• hers that circumstances might eom])el it to reassemble. For that reason the seal of secrecy was not removed from the proceedings. This gave wide scope for coi lecture concerning them, some declaring tliat they were patriotic, and others that they were treasonable in the extreme. Because the members of that Convention were of the political party to which the Peace Faction belonged, they incurred much odium. They and the party became the target at which the shafts of sharpest wit, as well as bitter denunciations, were hurled; and at the next election in Massachusetts, the ad- ministration, or Democratic ^, party, issued a h,ind-bill, with ~ "vNi^'^V z^^^- a wood-cut indicative of the "" character of the opposing par- ties, a copy of which, on a re- duced scale, is given in the annexed cut. lie wiio will take pains to in- quire, witiiout prejudice, will be satisfied that the twenty- six eminent men who com- posed the Hartford Conven- tion were as wise, as loyal, and as patriotic as the aver- age of the legislators and pol- iticians of that day or since. Tliey rejjresented the conservative sentiment of discon- tented New England during a season of great trial.'' > The report, moderate bnt firm, able In constroctlon, and forcible thongh heretical In argnments and concluBlons, was Immediately published, and ey'.enslvcly circulated throughout the country. It was read with the greatest avidity. It disappointed the cxpectnllons of i..v radical BYdcnillats and the Busplclous Di-mocrntB. The few dlsuulonists of New England fouiid In it no promises of a separation, and the administration party jiercelved in It no signs of sedition or treason. It presented a concise view of the current and past policy of the government, and summed up the sentiments of the Convention In the following resolutions, which were recommended for adoption to the slate Legislatures: "7ic«i(i'«/, That It be and hereby 's recommended to the Legislatures of the several states represented In this Conven- tion to adopt all such measures as may be necessary effectually to protect the citizens of said states from the oi)eration nnd elTiicts of all acts which have been or may be passed bv the Congress of the United States, which shall contain pro- visions subjecting the mlUtla or other citizens to forcible ^i. i<^s, coDscrlptlons, or Impressments not authorized by the Constitution of the United States. " Kmolrfd, That It be and hereby Is recommended to t' •" 'J Leglslatnres to authorize an Immediate tnd earnest ap- plication to be made to the government of the United ' ■ •. loquestlug their consent to some arrangement whereby the said states may, separately or In concert, be etr.no led to assnme upon themselves the defense of their territory ngalnst the enemy; and a reasonable portion c: the ii...e8 collected within said states may be paid Into the respective treasuries thereof, and appropriated to the payment of the balance due said states, and to the fliturc defense of the same. The amount so paid into the said treasuries to be credited, and the disbursements made as aforesaid to be charged, to the United States. " Itetohed, That it bo and it hereby is recommended to the Legislatures of the aforesaid states to pass laws (where It has not already been done) authorizing the governors or commanders-in-chief of their militia to make detachments of the same, or to form voluntary corps, as shall be most convenient and conformable to their Constitutions, and to cause the same to be well armed, equipped, and disciplined, and held in readiness for service ; and, upon the request of the i;overnor of either of the other states, to employ the whole of such detachments or corps, as well as the regular force uf the state, or such part thereof as may be required, and can be spared consistently with the safety of (he state. In as- sisting the state making such request, to repel any invasion thereof which shall be made or attempted by the public enemy." There were other resolutions, bnt they referred to amendments of the Constitution already alluded to. The most that ran be said against the resolutions just quoted is, that they abandon the doctrine of a consolidated nation formed by ihe ratiflcj^tlon of the Constitution by the people, for which the Washlngtonlan Federalists so strenuously contended, and are deeply tinged with the fatal heresy of state supremacy, or, at least, state Independence, which has produced fearful effects in our day. > The author is indebted to the kindness of Messrs. K B. and G. C. Kellogg, of Hartford, Connecticut, for a carelbl copy of the signatures of the members of the Convention, printed on the opposite page, precisely as tbey are attached :r ;! li! l ■y^ «*»-(,..i^ s ^'^^m^mmfwt 1016 I'ICTOKIAL FIELD-BOOK Sketches of the MemborB of the Hartford Convention. i "' While the country was agitated by the political events just recorded, and the peo- ple were despondent because of the seeming rcnioteuess of p^ace and the gloomy as- pect of public affairs in general, other events of great importance, and having a most powerful influence in the direction of peace, were occurring on the southwestern bor- ders of the republic. Let us consider them. We have seen how the Creek Indians in Alabama were led into war, and tlicrcby to the ruin of their nation, by white enemies of the republic and the nitiuonce ofTe- to the address and rssohitlonB. The following brief notices of those members, compiled from sketches made by Mr. Dwight, 'he secretary of the Convention, will give the render some idea of the dignity of that body : George Cabot, the president of the Conventii'i, was a dcccendant of one of the discovererH of the Americiin ciuti. nent of that name. He wiis a warm Whig durii.g the Uevolntionary wtruggle, and, soon after the adoption of tlif Sn- tional Constitution, was chosen a senator in Congress by the Legislature of Massacliusetts. lie was a pure-heiirtci] loffy-minded citizen, a sound statesman, and a luau l)olovetl by all who knew liim. Nathan Dane was a lawyer of eminence, and was also a Whig in the days of the Revolution. He was a r'-'prcsiiitn- tlve of Ma.«sachu8ett» in Congress during the Confederation, and was specially noticed for his services in proftiriu^. [[,(, Insertion of a provision in the famous Ordinance of 17*7, establishing territorial governments ovt^r the Ti'rritorii's i„,rili- west of the Ohio, which forever excluded slavery from those regions. He was universally esteemed for his wisduiii and integrity. William Preecottwas a son of the distinguished Colonel Prescott, of the Ke volution, who was conspicuous in the bat- tle of Bunker Hill. He was an aMe lawyer, first in Salem, and then in Boston. He served with distinction in both branches of the Massachusens Legislature. Harrison Gray Otis was a native of Boston, aid member of the family of that name distinguished in tlie Hi vdlmioii. He was a lawyer by profession, and served tl\e public ir the Massachusetts Legislature and in tlie National t DiigrcBs, He was an eloquent speaker, and as a public man, as well as a privsite citizen, he was very popular. Timothy Bigelow was a lawyer, and for several years was speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Joshua Thomas was judge of Probate in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, and was a man of unblemished reputation in public and private life. Joseph Lyman was a lawyer, and for several years held the office of sheriff of his coimty. George bliss was an eminent lawyer, and distinguished for his learning, industry, and integrity. He Wis fevcrtil times a member of the Massachusetts Legislature. Daniel Waldo was a resident of Worcester, where ho established himself in early life as a merchant. He was n stale senator, but would seldom consent to an election to office. Samuel Sumner Wilde was a lawyer, and was raised to a seat on the bench of the Snpreme Court of MaeBn(lni«elt> Hodijah Baylies w.as an officer in the Cimtlnental Army, in «lii(;h position he served with reputation, lie Wiis fur many years juilge of Probate in the county in which he lived, aud was distinguished for sound understanding, tine tal- ents, and unimpeachable integrity. Stei)hen Longfellow, Jr. was a lawyer of eraiufuce In Portland, Maine, where he stood at the head of his iirofrsnion He was a representative in Congress. Chauncey Goodrich was an eminent lawyer, and was for many years a member of the Legislature of Conncc'icul in both of its branches. lie was also a member of both houMv of (VrngresB, and lieutenant governor of Connecticut. Ili-^ reputation was very exalli'<l as a pure statesman and i.set'i;! '^'izen. John Treadwcll was in public stations in Connecticut a greater part of his life, where he was a memuer of both li di- lative branches of the government, was a long time a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and was both liculiiiant governor and governor of the state. He was a Whig in the Revolution, and a politician of the Washington schoi.l. Jan es Hilllionse was a inuii of eminent ability, and v.-idf-ly known. He was a lawyer of celebrity, served ae a mem- ber of the Legislature of Connecticut, md was for more than twenty years either a senator or representative in Coii- grecs. He fou|^i bravely for big count'7 in the old War for Independence, and was always active, energetic, anil pub- lic-spirited. Zcphaniah Swift was a distinguished lawyer. He served as sneaker of the Connecticut Assembly, and was a member of Congress, a judge, and for a number of years chief justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticnt. Nathaniel Smith was an extraordinary man. He was a l,iwy»T by profession, and for many years was considered as- one of the most distinguished member of his profession in Connecticut. He was a member -if Congress, and a judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. His whole life was marked by purity of morals and love of country. Calvin G<vidar(i was a native of Massachusetts, but studied and practiced law in Coiinoctitiit, and became a distin ffnighed . Uiy-en of that state. He arose to greiit eminence in his profession, and was in Congress four years. He vm^ repeateilly elected a member nf the General Assembly, and was dppointtd a judge of tie Sui,.>ime Court of that i-tati Rii;;i I Miuot Sherman was another distinguished lawjer .)f (.lonnecticnt, and was for a long time connected with tlic government of that state. He was a man of highest repntntlon as the possessor of the quailties of a good i itiieu. Daniel Lyman wis a soldier of thi- R,-volutlon, and rose to 'he rank of m^jer In the Continental Army. After ilic peace he settled ii> i lawyer in Rhode Island, where he beca.:ie distlugnlshed for talents and intCT.ity. He was chief JoBtlce of the Supreme Court of that st.ife Samuel Ward was a son of < tov?ru,,.r Ward, of Rhode Tslan ', and at the age of ei^r'.itcen years was a captain In fio Continental Array. He was wilh An old in his expedition to Quebec in 1T75. At that city he was made a prisoner. Before the close of the iv:uhc rose t<i fiic rank of colonol. lie was elected a member of the Couventhm held iitAnnap- Jls, in Maryland, in Uhd, which was i ..• inception of the Convention which ft-anied the National Constitution. Benjamin Hazard was a native of Rhode Island, end a lawyer, in which profession he was eminent. He served for many years in the Legislature of his state. Edward Manton was a native of Rhode Island, aud rarely mingl>'a la ttio political dlgcasslons of his day. He vsa a man of sterling worth in e-ery rchUlon in life. Benjamin West was a native of New Hampshire, and a lawyer by profession, in which he had a gord reputiiilon. Mill.s Olcott was a nativB of New H:irapBhlrp, and a son of Chief Justice Olcott, cf thai dtate. He was a lawyer by piofessiim. William Hall, Jr., wis a natrv.- of Vermont. Hie business was that of a merchant, and he was firequeatly i< meaibcr of the State Legislature. Hs was uaiverutlly cs'-^enied aud respectfld i>y all good m«u. w OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1017 cl, and the pco- tlie gloomy as- having a most ith western lioi- ar, and thereby influence of re- ketches made bv Mr, I' the American ronii- c adoption of the Na- e was a pnre-heartcd, He wttB a r'.'prcseiita- vices in yrociiriuj: the ■ the Territories unrlh- ed for hifi wiKdom aud oufpicnous in tlie l)at- th dletiuction i;i both bed In the Kcvolutioii. he National (.'oiii.'rc8s. lar. ; of Keprosentatives. nbleniished reputation jrlly. lie w<;e several chant, no was a state mrt of Mas«a('hir>ett(. eptilntlon. llf wun for iinderstunilins:, tine lal- head of hie profebnion. itiire of Connec'iculiii )r of C'ounecticul. llii^ member ofbothlcgle wac both licuteuaiil IViiKliington school, ity, sen-eil as ii mem- prcfcnttttive In ('oli- ve, eDcrKetIc, and puli- bly, and wae a member t. ars was considered as \)ni»reB!<, and a judge f ccnntry. and l)ecainB a diBtin Bs four years. He wa.« ae Court of that rtate. me ccmnccted with the of a Rood ritiicn. ntal Army. Aflir llie ity. He was chief 9 was a captain in the wap raade a prinouer. cntion hi'lii at Annop- CouBtitiitlou. nineut. He served for ofhtadfty. Hc»a»a a gord rcpntiillon. Ho wsB a lawyer by thiunently » mejito Cieneral Jackaoo recalled into active Service. His TifHIanec Hostile Movnaent* at Penaacola, cumtha, the Indian al- ly of the British ;' and we left General Jaek- . April, son," who had 1814. been the chief instrument in tlie d<- struction of that na- tion, resting at "die Ilerinitagi'," ! is man- sion and cstii •, a fe'w miles from N.ishvillc, in Tennessee. Fro'n that pleasant retreat he was soon recalled to active duty, having been appointf <f & ma- jor general iu the army "^f the Uait«i States,*" and coinmandL'r of ' April. 'rue UKK.MITAOE" IN 1M)1.» ' 1814. the Seventh Military District, witli his Iread-quarters at Mobile, which post the Amer- icans liad taken posSefsion of as early as April, 1812,^ when the Spaniards retired to Pensacola. Jackson was instructed to stop on his way to Mobile to make sy defini- tive treaty with the remnant of the Creek nation, which he did at Fort Jackson* on the Mill of Aiignst.'^ .fackson's vigilance was sleepless. It was in marked contrast with the slum- bering apathy or indifference at the War Department. He was promptly informed of what was occurring not only in his own department, but in the whole region around him, for he had trusty spies, pale and dusky, every where. Jle had observed with indignation and alann that the authorities at Pensacola, with usual Spanish du- plicity, while professing neutrality, were in practical alliance with the Uritish and In- dians. Of this the government was promptly informed ; but .lacksiin received no responses to his warnings. He continued to receive evidences of gathering danger at Pensacola, and finally, late in August, the mask of Spanish neutrality was removed. Nine British ships of war then lay at anchor in tlie harbor there. Marines were land- ed from them and allowed to encamp on the shore. Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Nichols, was made a welcome guest of the Spanish governor, and the British flag was unfurled over one of the forts. Indian runners were sent on swift errands among the neighboring Creek and Seminole Indians to invite them lo Pensacola, there to be enrolled in the service of the British crown. The response to their call was the speedy gathering of almost a thousand savages at that Spanish post, where they received arms and ammunition in abundance from the British otticers. Tlien went forth a general order from Nicht)ls to liis soldiers, followed soon afterward by a proclamation to the inha^»itants of Louisiana and Kentucky, both of which re- vealed hostile intentions. To his troops Nichols spoke of their being called upon " to perform long and tedious marches through wildernesses, swamps, and water-courses," aud ho exhorted them to conciliate their Indian -iliies, and to "never give them just cause for offense." In hi? proclamations he addressed the most inflammatory appeals to the prejudices of the French and the aiscontents of the Kentuckians, « Inch a seem- ing neglect l»y their government and the arts of politicians had engendered.* In fact, ' > See Chapter XXXIIL ^ ~ "^ ' Thl« was tlie appeimnce otThf Hern-itagt when the writer vinlted and sketched It In the sprinfi; of 1981. ' See pn^'e 14!i. « See page TS2. * The B.'ltliih counted largely npon the paeBlve acqniettence, If uoi actual aselstBoce, of the French and Spanish lu^ \4 fw 1018 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Outlaws at Barataria Hay. Their Leader. Invitation to Join ttie British Navf . Nichols, with a strange impi-udence, seemed to take particular pains to proclaim that the land and naval forces at Pensacola were only the van of far more formidable ones composing an expedition for the seizure of New Orleans and the subjugation of Louisiana. There was another revelation of impending danger made to the Americans at this time, and this, with the proceedings at Pensacola, aroused the people of the Soiiili- west, and the civil and military authorities, to the greatest vigilance and speedy prep- arations to meet an invasion. This was an attempt on the part o4' the British to ob- tain the aid of a community of outlaws on the borders of the Gulf Those were pri- vateersmen and smugglers, whose head-quarters were on a low island called Giand Terre, six miles in length and one and a half in breadth, which lies at the entrance to Barataria Lake or Bay, from the Gulf of Mexico, little less than sixty miles southwest from New Orleans in a direct line. From that island there is a water communica- tion for small vessels through lakes and bayous to within a mile of the Mississippi River, just above New Orleans. Toward the Gulf is a fine beach, and to it inhabit- ants of the " Crescent City" resort during the heats of the summer months. The bay forms a sheltered harbor, in which the privateers of the Baratarians (as the smug- glers were called) and those associated with them lay securely f«om the besom of the " Norther" that sweeps occasionally over the Gulf, and also from the cannon of sliips ^ of war, for the bay was inaccessible to such ponderous and bulky crafl as were tlien used. The community of marauders there formed a regularly organized association, at the head of which was Jean Lafitte, a shrewd Frenchman and blacksmith fiom Bordeaux, and late resident of New Orleans. He had caused a battery of heavy guns to be pointed seaward for the protection of his company ; and there might be seen at all times shi'ewd and cautious men from New Orleans, having " honorable mention" in that community, purchasing at cheap rates for profitable sales the rich booty of the sea-robbers, and thereby laying broadly the foundations of the fortunes of many a wealthy family living in the Southwest when the Civil War brok'^ out in 1801. Lafitte became Ijnown in history, romance, and song as the " Pirate of the Gulf," of whom Byron erroneously said he " Left a corsair's name to other times, .. ;: , ,, , Linked with one Tirtoe and a thonsanU crimes." He was not a corsair in the meaning of the law of nations ; and his crimes, such as they were, were not against humanity, but were violations of the revenue and neu- trality laws of the United States. " I may have evaded the payment of duties at the custom-house, but I have nev^r ceased to be a good citizen." said Lafitte, on one oc- casion ; and then, wi^li the usual plea of a culprit, he added, " All the offenses I have ever committed have been forced upon mo by certain vices in the laws." The fact that the United States government had, by legal proceedings, made the Baratarians outlaws, and, as a natural consequence, it was supjiosed, the bitter ene- mies of that government, caused the British to seek an alliance with them, not doubt- ing that it would gladly be alforded. Accordingly, on the 1st of Septeinbor," the Brit ish sloop of war Sophia, Captain Lockyer, sailed from Pensacola with dispatches for Jean Lafitte, among which was an invitation from Lieutenant Colonel Nichols, already mentioned, inviting that leader and his band to enter the British Bovvice, and a letter from Captain W. II. Percy, a son of Lord Beverly, the comniaiul- cc of the British squadron nt Pensacola, in which Lafitte's fears were appealed to.' Lafitte took the offered documents, and was assured by Lockyer that his vessels and ' 1814. ^nm #1 P habitants of Lonisiana, who iiad l)ecn opposed to the rnle of the ITnited fltatcn gove-nment, and also npon the aid of Itic glaves, whos» freedom was to l)e proclaimed when the British sbonld obtain a sure foothold on the borders of the Mlf- ■issippi River or the fliilf of Mexl''«. I The package contained, besides tliese two letters, Nichols's proclamation to the Inhabitants of Lonlslana, nr.d n copy of Captain Percy's orders to Captain Lockyer, in which the latter was directed, if succcssftil in his misalim. la "concert nieasnres for the annoyance of the enemy, havliiR an eyn to the jancture of the small armed vusscla" of the Baraturiuus wllb those of tbti BrUtah "for the ea^ura <i/ Mobik," etc. _i.r ..II OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1019 join the BrltlBh Navy. o proclaim tl\ai formidable ones subjugation of mericans at this lo of the South- ukI Bjieedy prep- lie British to ob- These were ])ii- iid called Gniiiil , the entrance to miles southwest iter communica- f the Mississippi md to it inhiihit- lonths. The bay ns (as the siniii:;- thc besom of the B cannon of ships raft as were tlieii nized association, blacksmith from ;rv of heavy guns might be seen at Dorable mention" ;he rich booty of fortunes of nuxny ■ok'^ out in isoi. ! of the Gulf," of is crimes, such as revenue and iieu- of duties at the ,afitte, on one oc- le offenses I have W9." lings, made the . till' bitter one- them, not doubt- Bt of September," Pcnsacoia with eutenant Colonel enter the Britisli y, the comniaiul- ere ajipealed to.' it his vessels ami A Leader of Smugglers tunis Patriot. Jackson perceives Mischief. Mobile and its Defences. also upon the iildoftho I the bord<!r8 of the Mlf- ints of Lonlslana, nr.d n •nsfii) In his mission. 10 II armed vossulb" of tlio WILLIAM O. C. CLAIUOBNB, men would be received into the honorable service of the Royal Navy. These docu- ments Lafitte sent to William C. C. Clai- borne, then governor of Louisiana, with a letter, saying, " Though proscribed in my adopted country, I will never miss an occa- sion of serving her, or of proving that she has never ceased to be near to me."' Before these revelations were made, Jack- son's sagacity and forecast, when consider- ing rumors and positive information that reached him from time to time, had made him suspicious that such hostile movements were in preparation ; and, while a handfijl of men were trampling upon the national capital, he was planning a scheme for crush- ing at one blow the tripie alliance of Brit- ish, Spanish, and Indians at Pensacola, and ending the war in the Southwest. Now, with positive testimony of danger before him (copies of the documents furnished by Lafitte having been sen*;, to iiim), he resolved to act promptly, without the advice or sanction of iiis government.^ He squarely accused Manrequez, the Spanish governor at Pensacola, Avith ba^^ faith, when a spicy correspondence ensued. This Jackson ended by saying to the governor, " In futui-e T beg you to Avithhold your insulting charges against my government for one more inclined to listen to slander than I am ; nor consider me any more a diplomatic character unless so proclaimed from the mouth of my cannon." Then he sent his adjutant general. Colonel Robert Butler, into Ten- nessee to beat up for volunteers, witli a determination to give tangible shape to the threat contained in the last clause of his letter. In a very short time no less than two thousand of the sturdy young men of Tennessee were ready for the field. Meanwhile, hostilities had actually commenced in that quarter. When Jackson reached Mobile, late in August, he was satisfied that an attempt would be made to seize that post as soon as tlic great expedition of Avhich he had rumors should be pre- pared to move. Mobile was then only a little village of wooden houses, with not a thousand inhabitants, with no defenses against artillery, and scarcely sufficient to withstand an attack from the rifles of Indians. At the entrance to Mobile Bay, thirty miles from the village,was Fort Bowyer (now Fort Morgan), occupying the extremity of a narrow sand cape on the eastern side of that entrance, and commanding the en- tire channel between it and Dauphin Island. It Avas a small work, semicircular in form toward the channel, and of redan shape on the land side. It was weak, being without bomb-proofs, and mounting only twenty guns, and all but two of these were 12-pounders and less. And yet this wr.s the chief defense of Mobile; for, the enemy once inside of the bay, there would be no hope for holding the post with the troops then at hard. So, when Jackson perceived, early in September, that a speedy move- ment against Mobile from Pensacola ^■>•as probable, he threw into Fort Bow yer one hundred and tlnrty of the Second regular infantry, under Major William Lawrence, ' Lafltte had amaescd a large fortune l)y his lawless pursuits, and perceived the dancer that menaced his trade, his possessions, and his liberty. Already bis brother, who had been his chief ai;ent In New Orleans, w:is in prison for his offenses, and the authorlllcs of the United Htotes were preparing to strike a withering blow nt Baratarla. Lafitte, will- ing to save himself miil his nossesslons, and preferring to be called a patriot rather than a pirate, asked t^c British mcs- eengers to allow him a few days for consideration. When Lockyer depa.ted LaflUe sent the documenfj up to New Or- leans, as mentioned In the text. » An order was actually Issued (Vim* the War Department authorizing Jackson to seize Pensacola, but it did not reacU him until als months afterwiud, when the war had ceased. . , ^ \ i 1020 PICTOEIAL FIELD-BOOK t<M Howfj^ j|S««Mm ABritlafa Hqnadruu threnteus it. PreparatlouH for Attack. one of t^ rri/M i^^bmb ■illiiiiiiii i im the service. At tb« aiiipe -tHne^iie Hunt orders for ' '•■r^' '^ *'- toi«Btt.««t the cni'olK < '.^MMlMMll, and have them jted imm<>»/*t^ly to Mobile, Major Lawrence made vigorous* preparations to resist the <ii' ny by strengthening the fort as niueli as pos- sible, and providing against attacks upon it from cannon that might bo planted upon sand-hills near, which commanded it. These preparations were not completed when, on the morning of the 12 th of September, Lieutenant Colonel Nichols appeared on the peninsula, in rear of the fort, with one hundred and thirty marines and si.Y hundred Indians, the latter led by Captain Woodbine, who had been attempting to drill them at Pen- sac<^>^a. Toward evening four British vesselx ')f war hove in sight, and an- chored within six miles of Mobile i'tihii. Those were the Hermes, 22 ; Sophia, / H ; / '///'////, «0 1 ftnd Amtcon- </a, 18, the whole undo/ /'/ipliiiii I'or- (sy, the commander of the stiuadron i. of nine vessels in Pensacola Bay, ill- ready mentioned, of which these were a purt. In (he presence of these for- midable forces, the little garrison slept uj)on th.'ir arms that night. On tlie following morning Nichols reconnoitred the fort from behind the sand-liills in its rear, and, dragging a liowitzer to a sheltered position within seven Inmdri'd yards of the work, threv.' some shells and a solid shot upon it without much etiect. Responses from Major Lawrence were equally harmless ; but when, later in the day, Percy's men attempted to cast up intrenchmer.ts, LaAvrence's guns quickly dispersyil them. Meanwhile several light boats, engaged in sounding the channel nearest the fort, were dispersed in the same way. • September 14, The succeeding day" was similarly employed ; but early on the morn- 1^'^- iiig of the 15th it was evident to the garrison that an assault was about to be made from land and water. The forenoon wore away, while a stiff brce/^e was blowing, and when it slackened to a slight one from the southeast, toward noon, t lie ships stood out to sea. They tacked at two o'clock and bearing down upon the foil in order of" line ahead," the Hermes (Percy's flag-ship) leading, took position for at- tack. The Hermes and Sophia lay nearly abreast the northwest face of the fort, while the Caron and Aiiaconda were more distant. Lawrence then called a council of oflicers, when it was determined to resist to the last, and not to surrender, if finally compelled to, unless upon the conditions that officers and privates should retain their armc and private property, be protected from the savages, and be treated as prison- • This Is from the portrait of General Jackson In the City RiiU, New Ynr!:, which was painted by order of the Com- mon Coiinc'I for the city by .Tnhn Vanderlyn, lu 1819, whi'ji Jackeou waH tifty-two years of age. ANIIBEW JACKSON.' OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1021 repiiratlous for Attiick. Attack on Fort Bowyer. The British repnlsed. Effect of the Repulco. Iiind the saiul-liills liu seven InindrcHl hoiit much eftect. , Inter in the day, (juickly (lispersL'il lannel nearest tbe ?aily on the morn- I assault was about 1 a stiff breeze was toward noon, tlio )wn upon the fort pk position for at- facc of the fort, In called a council lirrender, if finally Ihould retain tlair treated as prison- k-d by order of the Com- ers of war, Tliis being their resolution, the words '■'■ DonUt (jive up the forV Avere adopted as the signal for the day.' The Ilemieb drew nearer the fort, and when within range of its guns the two 24- pounders were opened ui)on her without much eftect. She made a faint reply, and anchored within musket range of the work, while the other three vessels formed in battle line under a heavy fire. It was now half past four in the afternoon. The four vessels simultaneously ojiened fire, and the engagement became general and fierce, for broadside after broadside was fired upon tlie fort by the ships, while the circular battery was Avorking fearfully upon the assailants. Meanwhile Captain AVoodbiiie opened fire from a howitzer and a 12-poiinder from behind a sand dune seven hun- dred yards from the opposite side of the fort. The battle raged until half past five, when the fiag of the Hermes Avas shot aAvay, and LaAvrence ceased firing to ascertain Avhether she had surrendered. This humane act Avas followed by a broadside from the Caron, and the fight Avas rencAved Avith redoubled vigor. Very soon the cable of tlif Hermes was severed by a shot, and she floated away Avith the current, her head toward the fort, and her decks SAvept of men and every thing olse by a raking fire. Then the flag-staff" of the fort Avas shot aAvay and the ensign fell, Avhen the ships, con- trary to tlie humane example of the garrison, redoubled their fire. At the same time. Woodbine, sup]»osing the garrison had surrendered, approached Avilh his Indians, when tliey were driven back in great terror by a storm of grape-shot. Both sailors and marines found the garrison in full A'igor, and only a fcAv mimites after the flag fell it was seen floating over the fort at the end of a sponge-st.",ff to whi('li Major Lawrerce had nailed it. The attacking vessels, batter- ed and in i>eril, soon AvitlidrcAv, cxfi pting the helpless Jlermes, wtii'l) grounded unon a sand- bank, when Per( 'red and ih/iiidoned her. At almost mid- night the magazine of the Her- mes exploded. So iided, in a repulse of the British, the attack on Fort BoAvyer, upon which ninety-tAvo pieces of artillery iiad been brought to bear, and OA'er thirteen hundred men had been arrayed against a garrison of one hundred and tliirty. The latter lost only eight men, one half of Avhom AATre killed. The assailants lost two liundred and thir- ty-tAvo men, of Avhom the unusual proportion of one hundred and sixty-tAvo Avere killed. The result of the strife at Mobile Point Avas very mortifying to the British. It was Avholly unexpected. Percy had declared that he should alloAv the garrison only twenty minutes to capitulate. That garrison — that handful of men — had beaten off his ships and his co-operating land force with ease. Tiie repulse Avas fatal to the l>restige of the British name among the Indiuu". and a large portion of them deserted their allies and sought safety from the Avral'i of Jackson, whom they feared, by con- cealment in the interior of their broad country, Tlie result Avas most gratifying to the Americans, and gave an impetus to volunteering for the defense of Noav Or- ' Latour says that the officers of the (rarrtKon took an oath not to recede from this determination In any case, nor on any pretext, and that in the event of the death of one of them all the oihi;re ehouid adhere to it.— fliotorica! Mfnoir u/lhc IPur iu West Florida and LouUiaiu,, by Major A. La Carrlere Lafour. 1022 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK lieception of the BritiBh at Pcnsacola. Jackson marchcH on that Place. Violation of a Flag of Truce. leans. Jackson wrote a commendatory letter to Major Lawrence, andthat officer received one also from Edward Livingston, chairman of the Defense Committee of New Orleans, assuring him of the joy and gratitude felt by the inhabitants of that city when they heard of his gallant defense of P'ort Bowycr. At the same time it was resolved to present to Major Lawrence an elegant sword in the name of the cit- izens of New Orleans,' When the discomfited British returned to Pensacola they were publicly received as friends and allies. This circumstance, the attack on P^ort Bowyer, and the revela- tions just made concerning an attempt by the British to engage a band of outlaws to assist them in an attempt to capture New Orleans, which we shall consider presently, kindled the hottest indignation in the minds of Jackson and the inhabitants of the • September 21, Soutliwcst. The general issued" a fiery proclamation to the inhabitants ^''"' of Louisiana as a counterblast to that of Nichols, in which he set fortli the conduct of the British and the perfidy of the Spaniards, calling them to arouse in defense of their threatened country. He also put forth an address on the same day to the free colored people of Louisiana, inviting them to unite with the rest of their fellow-citizens in defending their common country from invaders. The people were already much excited by the threatening aspect of aflairs. and these appeals aroused them to vigorous action, Jackson had determined to march on Pensaccla as soon as the Tennessee Volunteers should arrive, and break up that rendezvous of the enemies of the republic. The time for such movement was looked for with great impatience. It was even weeks remote, for it was the beginning of November before Jackson had his forces on hand for the purpose. These were assembled .at Fort Montgomery, due north from Pensa- cola, four thousand strong,^ and marched for the doomed fort on the 3d,'^ some Mississippi dragoons in advance. The whole army encamped within two miles of Pensacola on the evening of the 6th, when Jackson sent Major Pierre with a flag of truce to the governor, with an assurance that the expedition was not to make war upon a neutral power, nor to injure the town, but to deprive the ene- mies of the republic of a place of refuge. He was instructed, also, to demand tlie surrender of the forts. But when the flag approached it was fired upon by a 12- I)Ounder at Fort St. Michael, which was garrisoned by the British, and over whicli the Spanish and British flags had been conjointly waving until the day before. Wlicii Pierre reported these facts, Jackson sent a Spanish prisoner, whom he had captured on the way, to the governor, with a message demanding an explanation. Manrequcz denied all knowledge of the outrage, and gave an assurance that if another flag should be sent it would be respected. Pierre went again at midnight, and submitted to the governor a proposal from Jackson that American garrisons should be admitted into Forts St. Michael and Barancas imtil the Spanish government could procure a suf- ficient force to enable it to maintain its neutrality against violations of it by the British, who had possessed themselves of the fortresses, notwithstanding the alleircil remonstrances and protests of the Spanish governor ; also that the American trooji^ should be withdrawn as soon as such a respectable force should arrive, Jackson's proposition was reinjected by the governor after consultation with liis chief officers. The consequence was, that, before dawn, troops were marching uj)on Pensacola, three thousand in number,^ for Jackson had resolved to have no fartlier '' November. 1 Wllltam Lawrence was a native of Maryland. He entered the service as> second llcntenant of Infantry in June, ISOl. He was adjutant in 1807, captain in 1810, major in April, 1814, and wag breveted lieutenant colonoi for his gallant ecrv- icci at if'ort Bowyer. He was made full llcntenant colouol in 1818, and in 1824 was breveted colonel for ten years' failb- ful services. He was made full colonel in IS'iS, and resigned in Jul; 1S31. a These consisted of about one thousand logulars, composed of the Third, Thirty-ninth, and Forty-fourth Infantry, the Tennessee Voliuitners, and a battalion of volunteer dragoons fror-. the Mississippi Territory. 5 The right of the column consiiicd of Tennessee Volunteers, nndc- General Codec : tho centre, of the Thirty-third and Forty-fourth regulars, .luder Major Woodruff; and f<\e left, of the Tennessee militia and Ohoctaw Indians, unilei Majors Blue and Kennedy, with a battalion of Mistissippi dragions commanded by Major Hinds. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1023 Hon of a Flag of Truce. The Americans In Peusaculn. Flight oftho British and Indiana. New Orleuna aroancd. parley with the authorities. They took a direction, under the mask of some mount- ed men, to avoid the fire of Fort St. Michael and the ships in the harbor. Their course lay along the beach, toward the east part of the town, but the sand was so heavy that they could not drag the cannon through it. Tlien the centre of tlie col- umn was ordered to charge into the town. This was gallantly done, and in the prin- til)al street they were met by a two-gun battery, which opened upon them with balls and grape-shot, while a shower of musketry was poured upon them from the gardens and liouses. Captain Laval and his company charged the battery and captured it, when the frightened governor appeared with a Avliite flag, and made promises to comply with any terms Jackson might propose if he would spare the town. An in- stant surrender of all the forts was demanded and promised, and after some delay this was done. But Fort Barancas, six miles distant, and cominaiuling the harbor, in which the British ships lay (the most important of all the fortifications), was yot in the hands of the enemy. Tliis Jackson determined to march suddenly upon the next morning, and, seizing it, turn its guns on the British sliips, and capture or greatly in- jure them before they could escape. But before morning the fort was abandoned and blown up, and the British squadron had left the port, bearing away Lieutenant Colonel Nichols, Captain Woodbine, and a considerable number of Lidians, with the Spanish commandant of the fort, and its garrison of about four hundred men. Jackson suspected that the British, who had so suddenly left Pensacola, had re- turned to make another attempt against Mobile while he was absent, so lie immedi- ately withdrew, and hastened with his troops in the same direction by way of Fort Montgomery, leaving Manrequez indignant because of the flight of liis British friends, and the Indians deeply impressed with a feeling thjit it would be very imprudent to again defy the wrath of Andrew Jackson. That leader had, by this expedition, ac- complished three important results, namely, the expulsion of the British from Pen- sacola ; the scattering of the Lidians through the forests, alarmed and dejected ; and tiH- punishment of the Spaniards for much perfidy. lie was denounced by the Opposition, and was not fully sustained by his government, in thus invading the ter- ritory of a neutral without orders ; but tlie people of the West and South, and the Democratic newspapers, applauded his act, which the circumstances of the case seemed to justify. Jackson reached Mobile on the 11th of November,* where he found mes- sages urging him to hasten to the defense of New Orleans. The revelations made by Lalltte had not been accepted as true by the government ofiicials ; but the people believed them, and held a large meeting, in consequence, at tlie St. Louis Ex- change, in New Orleans, on the IGth of September. They were eloquently addressed by the late Edward Livingston, then a leading citizen of Louisiana, who urged the iiiliabitants to make immediate prejjarations to repel the contemplated invasion. They appointed a Committee of Safety,' composed of the most distinguished citizens of New Orleans, with Li^^ingston as chairman, who sent forth a stirring address to the people. Governor Claiborne, who, like Livingston, believed the statements of Lafitte, fixjut copies of the British papers to General Jackson, then at Mobile. Then it was that the latter issued his vigorous counter-proclamation, and proceeded to the prosecution of measures for breaking up the nest of enemies at Pensacola, as just re- corded. Jackson departed for NeAV Orleans on the 21st of November, and arrived thei'c on the 2d of December, making his head-quarters at what is now 80 (formerly 104) Royal Street (sec engraving on next page). lie found the city utterly defenseless, and the councils of the people distracted by petty factions. The patriotic Governor Claiborne had called the Legislature together as early as the 5th of October. The I Thia committee consisted of Edward Livingston, Pierre Foncher, Dnssnn tic la Croix, Benjamin Morgan, George Og- ilen, Dominique Bouligny, .'/. A. Dcstrehan, John Blauque, und Augustine Macart..'. 1024 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK !!■ ^im Tlje WcakucBs of New UrlvaiiB. Jackson's Arrival hailed with Joy. Approach of the Invaders. members were divided into several factions, and tliere was neitlier union, nor harmony, nor confi- dence to be found. Tlie people, alarmed and dis- trustful, complained of the Legislature ; that body, in turn, complained of tlie governor ; and Claiborne comj)lained of both the Legislature and the people. Money and credit were equally wanting, and arms and ammunition were very scarce. There was no effective naval force in the adjacent waters ; and only two small militia regiments, and a weak bat- talion of uniformed volunteers, commanded by Ma- jor Plauche, a gallant Creole, constituted the mil- itary force of the city.' The store- houses were tilled with valuable mer- chandise, and it would be natural ^fi- ::^-^; -:._ JAOKBON 8 I.ITV llKAIP-yUAKTEUS. MAJdll IM.AL'OIIK. for the owners to prefer the surrender of the city at once to a seemingly in- vincible foe, to incurring the risk of the destruction of their property by a resistance that should invite a fiery bombai'dment. Li every aspect tlie situation was most gloomy when Jack- son arrived, worn down witli sickness, fatigue, and anxiety. Ilis advent Avas hailed with great joy by the citizens, for he was regarded as a host hi him- self; and the cry of " Jackson's come ! Jackson's come !" went like an electric sjiark in eager words from lip to lip, giving hojjc to the desponding, courage to the timid, and confidence to the patriotic. Jackson did not rest for a moment. lie organized the feeble military force in tlK city ; took measures for obstructing the large bayous, whose waters formed conveiiioiit communications between the Mississippi near New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico, and proceeded to inspect and strengthen the fortifications in the vichiity and to erect new ones. Fort St. Pliilip, below the city, was the object of his s]>eeial cai'e, for on that he mainly relied for preventing the passage of the river by the vessels of the invaders. The expected enemy soon appeared. The army that captured Washington and was repulsed at Baltimore had left the Chesajieake toward the middle of October, three thousand strong, and sailed away for the West Lidies in the fleets of Admirals Cochrane and Malcolm. These were soon joined by over four thousand troops uinler General Ke.n-ne, a gallant young Irish officei-, who had sailed fr^mi Plymouth in Sep- tember. The combined forces were assembled in Negril Bay, Jamaica, and in over fifty vessels of all sizes more than seven th.ousand land troops were borne across tlu Gulf of Mexico in the direction of New Orleans. They left Negi-il Bay on the 20tli of November, and first saw the northern shore of the Gulf, off the Chandeleur Islaiuls, ' This battalion numbered three hnndrcfl and eiirhty-flve moTi, and was composed of the companies named respect- Ively Uvlann, or foot dragoons, under Capialn St. Genre ; Francs, Captain Hudry j Louisiana Bhtes, Captain Maunsf' WLife ; and Chaaseura, Captain Ouibert. PI) roach of the InvurtcrH. OF THE WAU OF 1812, 1025 nV llKAli-WUAttfKUS. )refer the surrender to a seemingly in- ;urring the risk of their property hy a DuUl invite a fiery I every aspect the gloomy when Jack- down with sickness, y. Ilis advent was joy by the citizens, •d as a host in him- )f " Jackson's come ! went like an electric irds from lip to lip, esponding, courage military force in tli' s formed convciiioiit the Gulf of Mexico, icinity and to erect i51>oei!il care, for on y the vessels of the ed Washington nml middle of Octohcr, le fleets of Admirals )usand troops mnUr in Plymouth in Scj)- amaica, and in over ere borne across tlie ril Bay on the 2(itli Chandeleur Islands, le companies named rcupect- iana BhM, Captain MauBSf' The British deceived. Preparntlons to receive the Invaden. The British prepare for a Fight on Lake Barffne. hetwoen the month of the Mississippi and Laho Horgno, in the midst of a furious stoi-m, on the Otli of December. Music, dancing, tlieatrical performances, and liilarity of every kind had been indulged in diiring the i)aHsage of the (iulf, for every man felt confident that an easy coiupiest of Louisiana awaited them. Tlic wives of many ofii- cei's accom])anied tiiein, and were filled with the most delightful anticipations of |)lcasure in the beautifid New World before thom. The Hritish supposed the Americans to be pi'ofi)undly ignorant of their expeclition. They anchored the fieet in the deep channel bet\r>'cn Siiip and Cat Islands, near the eiitraTice to Lake Jiorgne, ami ])repared small vessels for the transportation of troops over the shallow waters of that region with gi'cat expedition, hoping to surprise and captui'c New Orleans before their presence siiould be fairly suspected. Tliey were disappointed. The revelations of Lafitte had made ofticers and people vigilant ; and eaily in December, Commander Daniel T. Patterson,' then commanding the naval sta- tion at New Orleaii-, was warned by a letter from Pensacola of the apjjroach of a powerful British land and naval armament. That vigilant officer immediately sent out five gun-boats, a tender, and a dispatcli-boat toward tiie ])!isses of jMiiriana and Ciiristian, as scouts to watch for the enemy. They were commanded by Lieutenant (late Commodore) Tliomas Ap Catesby Jones, who sent two gun-boats, under the re- spective commands of Lieutenant M'Keever and Sailing-master L^lrick, to Dauphin Island, at the entrance to Mob le Bay, to catch the fii it intelligence of the foe. They discovered the great fleet on tlie 10th of December, and hastened to report the fact to Lieutenant Jones. Patterson had ordei'cd tiiat officer to take such position as M'ould enable him, in tlie event of the enemy making their way into Lake Borgne, to cut off their barges and prevent the landing of troops. If Jones should be liard pressed, he was to fallback to the mud fort of Petites Coquilles, near the mouth of the Kigolets, between Lakes Borgne and Pontcliartrain, and shelter his vessels under its guns. When, on the arf'ternoon of the 10th, the fog that succeeded the storm had cleared away, and the iJritish fleet were in full view, Jones made for tlie Pass Christian witli liis little flotilla, where he anchored, and waited the ai)i)roach of the invaders. He was discovered by the enemy on the i:3tli, much to their astonishment. It i.'as evi- dent that the Americans were acquainted Avith the intentions of the British, and had made preparations to meet them, Cochrane immediately gave orders for a cliange in the plan of operations. It would not do to attempt the landing of troops while Amei'ican gun-boats were patrolling the waters of Lake Borgne. So he prepared a flotilla of almost sixty barges, the most of them carrying a carronade in the bow and an ample number of armed volunteers from the fleet, and sent them, in command of Captain Lockyer, to capture or destroy tie American vessels. These were observed by Jones at four o'clock in the afternoon, when, in obedience to orders, he proceeded with his flotilla toward the Rigolets. A calm, and adverse Avater currents would not allow liim to pass the channel between Point Clear of the main and Malheureux Isl- and, and there he andiored at two o'clock on the morning of the 14th. Jones's flag- ship was a little sloop of eighty tons, and the other ves- sels of his tiny squadron were commanded respectively by Sailing-masters Ferris and Ulrick, and Lieutenants M'Keever and Speddon. The total number of men was one hundred and eighty-two, and of guns twenty-three. 1 Daniel T. Patterson was born In the State of New Tork, and entered the navy as a miLlshipmau in ISon, nndcr Commodore Bainljrid^e, and was with that ofllcer as a captive hi Tripoli. He was promoted to lieutenant in ls(i7, and to master commandant in 1813. After his valuable services near New Orleans he was promoted to captain, in February, 1S15. From 1828 to 1SS2 ho scrv»d as navy commissioner, and from 1S;12 to ISiis commanded a squadron In the Mediterranean. lie died while in command of the navy yard at Wash- inglnn on the 16th of August, 1S3!), and was buried in the Coiifrrcssionnl Bury- ing-ground aear that city, where a Bmall, neat monument marks his grave. 3 T pattebson's uondmemt. m 1C26 PICTOKlAi, FIELD-BOOK I 1 Lj 1 i ■ ! liiil&ii ' ^ Battle uf Hiirgei and Onn-boat«. Capture of the Amerlcau Floltlla. Prcparatloiu to attack Mew Orlttaot. With a cool mornint; Itroczo, tin' ISiitish biii'LCPH, containing twelve Imndrctl men, bore down npon Joih's'h flotilla, wliilu the tender, . \llii/<itoi; was in the distance, vainly endeavoring to join the AnierieanH. The barges, with six oarH on each side, lornied a long, straight line, and in that order swept rapidly forward, whilv .lones reserved his fire until they were within close range. Then M'Keever hurled a t'J-pound ball ovci the water, and a shower of grape-shot, which broke the liritish line ami made great confusion. Hut the invaders pushed forward, and it half i)ast eleven o'clock the en- gagement became general and desperate. At one lime Jiuies's boat was ittackcd by no less tlian fifteen barges. The Alligator was captured early, and, by the force of jT •• ffunffaufjiu IS BARQC ATTAOniN OAPuJONES -1 ^_^;-.--' ;... «rTWJKIIWI t O^T or THE REAOH OF !> P *. I "jj ite ^ ONEMILI 7Vae£,' t.V.V/.V.£^V?'A!iAW««.Wi/^A*A ImM^ DEC.14TH.iei4. W^ overwhelming numbers, the British, after a combat of almost an hour, gained a com- plete victory. It was at the cost of several of their barges, that were shattered and sunk, and about three hundred men killed and wounded. The Americans lost only six men killed and thirty-five wounded. Among the latter were Lieuteuiints Jones, M'Keever, Parker, and Speddon. The British commander (Lockyer) was severely wounded; so also was Lieutenant Pratt, who, under the direction of Cockburn, had fired the national buildings of Washingtoii City a little more than a hundred days before. The capture of the American gnn-l)oats gave the British complete control of Lake Borgne, and the lighter transports, filled with troops, immediately entered it. Ship after ship got aground, until at length the troops were all placed in small boats and conveyed about thirty miles to the Isle des Pois (or Pea Island), at the m<nith of the Pearl liiver, and that desert spot was made the place of general rendezvous. Thoiv they landed between the 16th and 20th of December, and there General Keane organ- ized his army for future operations. Cochrane had been informed by some former Spanish residents of New Orleans that at the northwestern extremity of Lake Borgne there was a bayou (Bienvenu) navigable for large barges to within a short distance of the Mississippi River, just bck)W New Orleans. He sent a party to explore it. They followed this bayou, and a canal across V^illere's plantation, to a point half a mile from the Mississippi and nine miles below tlu' city, and, hastening back, reported that the transportation of troops through that bayou wan feasible. Vigorous measures were immediately adopted for an advance upon New Orleans, where the British troops were assured that wealth and ease awaited them. They Avere encouraged by ex-ofticials of the old Spanish gove* ment of Louisiana, who went to the British camp from New Orleans and represented Jackson as ^mi ignorant tyrant, letested by the people, and void of any efficient means for defending the city. Jack8<Hi was informed of the capture of the American gun-boats early on the 15th, OF TliK WAU OF 1812. 1027 I to stuck New Orl«»ni. ve hundred mon, 10 distance, v:\iiily caoli Hido, luniii'd I ones reserved liis I'J-poiind ball over and made ;j,n iit en o'clock the cm ,t was ittacked hy id, by tlK' force of Jucknun'i Preparatloni for DeteiiM, A grnud Review. Ulapoiltton of Troopt, hour, gained a eom- Iwere shattered ami inericans lost only Liontenantfi Jones, kyor) was severely 11 of Cockbuni, liml lan a hundred days etc control of Lake entered it. Sliiji in small boats and at the mouth of tho ndezvous. There iieral Keane organ- its of New Orlenns bayou (Hiinvenu) ssissippi River, just ,ved this bayou, ami Mississippi and niiu' ,portation of troojjs diately adopted for red that wealth and old Spanish gove-^ ans and represented any efficient means 8 early on the 15th, when returning from a tour of observ.ntion in the direction of the l{iver ("hef Men- leur, iiorllieastward of the city. He at once pcireiveil (lie importance of securing ihe passage of tiie Chef Meiiteur Road, that crosses the plain of (ientilly in that di- rection finm the city to tlie strait between hakes lioigne and I'oiileharl rain, and he ordered Major Lacosie, with his niililia battalion of colored men and the drai;o(ms of Feliciana, to proceed at once with two pieces of artillery, take post at the eontbience of Hayoii Sjuivage and the River ('hef Menteur, guard the road, cast up a redoubt at its terminus, and watch and ojipose the enemy, lie also proceeded to fortify and strengthen every point of approach to the city; sent messengers to Generals C'ott'ee, Ciinoll, and Thomas, urging them to hasten to New Orleans with their commands as (|iiickly as ]iossiltle, and forwarded a dispatch to General Winchester, in command at Mobile, directing liim to bo on the alert. Then he appointed the 18th of December tor a grand review of all the remaining troojis in New Orleans, in front of the old Cathedral of St. Louis, in the Place d'Armes (now Jackson S(piare), one of the yet re- maining relics of the Spanish dominion in Louisiana. It was a memorable day in TlIK l)I.l> HI'AMhJI (;ATUi:i>ItAI. AMI UUVh.U.NMKNT IKIIBE.' Xcw Orleans. Tlie whole population were out to witness the spectacle. The imjiend- iiig danger was great, while the military force Avas small and weak. Strength and resolution were (iommunicated to it by stirring sentences from the lips of Jackson, :ind a thrilling and eloquent appeal which was read by his aid-de-camj), Edward Liv- inu'ston.^ The enthusiasm of the soldiers and citizens was intense; anrl J.acksoii, tak- ini; advantage of that state of public feeling, silenced the distracting voices of faction liy declaring martial law and tlie suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. AVhcn the review was over. Major Plauche was sent with liis battalion to the Bayou St. John, northward of the city; and at its mouth, on Lake Pontcliartrain, Major Hughes was in command of Fort St. John. The Baratarians, on the urgent ; solicitation of their chief, Lafittc, were accei)ted as volunteers, mustered into the ' This is from a sketcli made by the author in April, ISCl, from Jackson Sqnnrc. The Qovernment IIonBe is t>eeu on I llie rljht. ' Edward Livingston was born on the Livineston manor, on the Hudson, iu I'M. He was Rrnduated at Princeton [Collcjie in 1781, and was admitted to tho bar in 17S5. He was elerled to a sent in Congress in WM, to which he was re- [ flortcd nntil 1801, when President Jefferson a;)pointed him Unili'd States District Attorney for New York. He made I New Orleans his residence. He was the anthor of the penal codo of Louisiana, adopted in 1824. He was <igain in C'on- LTess in ls23, and iu the National Senate in 1K2(>. He « is appointed American minister to the French Court in 1833. f He died at his residence in Duchess County, New York, on the 23d of May, 1S37. :i ! ./ ' w e^"^,. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k A {./ ^Ae y. fei f/. 1.0 I.I 11.25 Ki2 122 ■ iO Ui US IS u 14 L 2.0 WM '^1^ 6" V2 ^ Va ^. 7 % J" "=«• 7 ^^» W V C>^-s^. PhotDgrajJiic Sciences Corporation 23 vyt»T MAIN STREir WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0 (71«) •72-4903 m V iV S> % '^ %'' fei »<" .ILL. ,k 1028 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Temper of the People. The British approach the MlBslRstppl. They capture a Picket-guard. FOET BT, JOHN IN ISCl. ranks, and drilled to the per- formance of important serv- ices, under the command of Captains Dominique You,Be- luche, Songis, Lagaud, and Co) son, at Forts Petites Co- quillcs, St. Philip, and St. John. The people cheerful- ly submitted to martial law ; and, in the languages of En- gland, France, and Spain, the streets were made to resound Avith "Yankee Doodle," tlie " Marseillaise Hymn," and the" Chant du Depart." The women were as enthusiai-tic as the men, and at windows, on balconies, in the streets, and public squares, they applauded the passing soldiers by waving of scarfs and handkerchiefs and uttering cheering words. Martial music was continually heard, and New Orleans appeared more like a military camp than a quiet mart of commerce, Business was mostly suspended, and the Legislature passed a law for prolonging the term of payment on all contracts until the first of the ensuing May. Military rule was complete. Able-bodied men of every age, color, and nationality, excepting Brit- ish, were pressed into the service ; suspicious persons were sent out of the city, and no one was allowed to pass the chain of sentinels around it without a proper official permission. While these preparations for the reception of the invaders were in progress, the Brijtish were making, unceasing eiforts to press forward and take New Orleans by surprise. They had determined to make use of the Bayou Bienvenu and Villcre's Canal for the purpose ; but with all their exertions, and after pressing the captured gun-boats into the cervice, they could not muster vessels enough fitted to navigate that bayou to carry more than one third of the army. Keane felt so confident of success, even with a small part of his forc;>, that he could not brook farther ilrday; and on the morning of the 22d of December — a rainy, chilly, cheerless morning— a flotilla filled with troops set out, the advance, comprising eighteen hundred men, commanded by L'eutenant Colonel Thornton, who had been wounded at Bladensburg. These were accompanied by General Keane and his staif and other important, ofiiccrs, and werp followed by the remainder. Admiral Cochrane was in a schooner, at a prop- er distance to watch and direct the squadron. All day and all night they were out upon the lake in open boats. A clear sky and biting frost came at sunset, and tlu wet clothing of the soldiers was stiffened into icincss by the cold night air. Their discomforts ended in a measure at dawn, when they reached the Fisherman's Village (inhabited by Spaniards and Portuguese, who were spies and traitors), at the moutli of the Bayou Bienvenu. They were only twelve miles from New Orleans, and not a soul in that city suspected their approach. Yet there were vigilant eyes, wide open, watching the invaders. At the head of the Bayou Bienvenu was the plantation of General Villere, the commander of the first division of Louisiana militia. Jackson had instructed his son. Major Gabriel Viller6, to watch that bayou with a competent picket-guard. He did so, faithfully; but when the British landed at Fisherman's Village they captured the most of them. It proved to be a fortunate circumstance, for these men so magnified the number of Jackson's troops, and the strength of the defenses around New Orleans, that they They capture a Picket-guard. and drilled to the per- nce of important serv- mder the command of ihi8 Dominique You, He- , Songis, Lagaud, and n, at Foils Petites Co- e's, St. Philip, and St. The people cheerful- bmitted to martial law; in the languages of En- 1, France, and Spain, the tB were made to resound "Yankee Doodle," the irseillaise Hymn," and ^ Chant du Depart." The len were as enthusiat-tic le men, and at windows, balconies, in the streets, )y waving of scarfs and c -was continually heard, t qniet mart of commerce. a law for prolonging tlie uing May. Military rule itionality, excepting Ihit- sent out of the city, and b without a proper official lers were in progress, the md take New Orleans hy [u Bienver.u and Villere's ter pressing the captured ■nough fitted to navigate :eane felt so confident of not brook farther .blay; ,ly, cheerless mornii. — a t "eighteen hundred men, ■wounded at Bladensburg. k other important. officers. Is in a schooner, at a proi> d all night they were out | t came at sunset, and tlu j Ihe cold night air. Tlieiv ] |d the Fisherman's Village lid traitors), at the moutli In New Orleans, and not a avaders. At the head of | fe, the commander of thi Jed his son, Major Gahricl hi. He did so, faithfully; iiptured the most of them, [magnified the number of New Orleans, that they OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1029 The BrltiBh at Villere's. Jackson warned of Danger. The Response to his Call for Troops. moved cautiously, and failed to surprise the vigilant hero in the city. They moved slowly up the bayou ; but when they reached Viller6'8 Canal the active Thornton pushed forward with a detachment, surrounded the mansion of the plantation, which b in sight of the Mississippi, and succeedec" in capturing Major Villere. He soon es- VILLEB^'S MANSION.! caped, fled to the house of his neighbor, the gallant Colonel De la Ronde, and in a boat they hastened across the Mississippi. There, at the stables of M. De la Croix, one of the Committee of Public Safety of New Orleans, they procured fleet horses, and with that gentleman rode swiftly up the levee on the right bank of the river, and crossed again at New Orleans to wavn Jackson of the approach of the foe. Augustus Rousseau, an active young Creole, who had been sent by Captain Ducros, was already there. He iiad reached Jackson's head-quarters in Royal Street with the startling intelligence at about one o'clock, and a few minutes afterward Major Villere and his party entered. " Gentlemen," said Jackson to the officers and citizens around him, "the British are below; we must fight them to-night !" He then ordered three dis- charges of cannon to give the alarm, and sent marohing orders to several of the mil- itary commanders. Jackso.i's call upon Coffee, Carroll, and others, had been quickly responded to. Coffee came speedily over the long and tedious route from Fort Jackson, on the Ala- bama River, to Baton Rouge, and was now encamped, with his brigade of mounted riflemen, on Avart's plantation, five miles above New Orleans. The active young Carroll, who had left Nashville in November with Tennessee militia, arrived in flat- boats and barges at about the same time, and brought into camp a regiment of young, brave, well-armed, but inexperienced soldiers, expert in the use of the rifle, and eager for battle. They landed on the 22d of December, ami were hailed by Jackson with great joy. A troop of horse, under the dashing young Hinds, raised in Louisiana, came at about the same time. When, in the afternoon of the 23d, Jackson issued his marching orders, Coffee's bri- gade was five miles above the city ; Plauch6's battalion was at Bayou St. John, two miles distant ; the Louisiana militia and half of Lacoste's colored battalion were three miles ofl^, on the Gentilly Road ; and the regulars (Forty-fourth) under Colonel Rosf;, 1 r ^■1 1 1 \\ i 1 i 1 k > This is from a sketch made by the author in April, ISO), trees, were the sugiir-works of the plantation. The bul'.uiugs seen in the distance, beyond the Avenue of ^S99 '?; I ' ii. 1030 PICTORIAL FIEI.D-BOOK Jsckaon moves against the Invaders. Tiietr Camp broken up by the CaroUtia. American Troops hasten to the Scene. with Colonel M'Rea's artillery, a little more tlian eight hundred strong, were at Fort St. Charles, on the site of the present United States Branch Mint in New Orleans, and in the city barracks. Within an hour after Jackson was informed that the in- vaders were on the direct road to the city, along the river, and only nine miles dis- tant, these troops were all in motion under special orders. Carroll and his Tenrtos- seeans were dispatched to the upper branch of the Bayou Bienvenu ; farthor up tlu' Gentilly Road Governor Claiborne was stationed with the Louisiana milit?a ; an<l Coffee's brigade, Plauche's and D'Aquin's battalions, Hinds's dragoons, the New Or- leans Rifles, under Captain Beale, and a few Choctaw Indians, commanded by Captain Jugeat, were ordered to rendezvous at Montreuil's plantation, and hasten to Canal Rodriguez, six miles below the city, and there prepare to advance upon the foe. Commodore Patterson was directed to proceed down the Mississippi to the flank of the British at Villcre's with such armed vessels as might be in readiness. Such was the scanty force with which Jackson proceeded to fight a foe of unknown numbois and strength. While Jackson was assembling his troops, the invaders were making ready to march on New Orleans that night and take it by surpiise. Thoy sent forward a negi'o to distribute a proclamation, signed by General Keano and Admiral Cochrane, printed in French and Spanish, which read thus : " IiOtdsianians / remain quietly in your homes; your .•slaves shall be preserved tu you, and your property respected. We make war only against Americans." Tl)'; British were bivouacked on the highest part of Villcre's plantation, at the side of the levee and on the plain ; and in the court between Villcre's house (in Avhicli Keane and some of his officers made their head-quarters) and his sugar-works' they had mounted several cannon. They were in fine spirits. Full one half of the invad- ing troops had been brought to the banks of the Mississippi, only nine miles from New Orleans, without firing a gun after capturii,g Jones's flotilla, and they believed their near approach to be wholly unknown, and not even suspected, in the city. They were soon undeceived. At seven o'clock in the evening, the schooner Carolina, the only vessel in readiness at New Orleans, commanded by Captain Henley, dropped down the river, and an- chored off Villcre's, within musket-shot distance of the centre of the British camp. At half past seven she opened a tremendous fire from her batteries, and in the course of ten minutes killed or wounded at least a hundred men. The British extinguished their camp- fires, and poured upon the Carolina a shower of bullets and Congrevo rock- etfc, but with no serious effect. In less than half an hour the schoone'; drove the enemy from their camp, and pro- duced great confusion among them. The American troops in the mean time, startled by the concerted signal of the Carolina's cannonade, were moving on, guided by Colonel De la Ronde, who was a volunteer with Beale's riflemen, and Major Viller6, who accompanied the commander in -chief. The right, under Jackson, was composed of the TENNIS I>B I.A BONIIK. > See note and picture on page 1029. lean Troops haHten to the Scene, eil strong, were at Fort Mint in New Orleans, s informed that the in- ,nd only nine miles dis- CarroU and his Tennos- envenn ; fiirthor up tlio Louisiana militia ; and dragoons, the New Or- commanded by Captain m, and hasten to Canal advance upon the foe. saissippi to the flank of in readiness. Such was le of unknown numbers I making i-eady to marcli ;ent forward a negro U miral Cochrane, printed 3s shall be preserved to ist Americans." 's plantation, at the side illere's house (in whicii d his sugar-works' they ill one half of the invad- )i, only nine miles from ptilla, and they believed cted, in the city. They only vessel in readiness own the river, and an- OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1031 The British A'.armed and Cocf^ised. A Night Battle. regulars, Plauche's and D'Aquin's brigades, M'Rea's artillery, and some marines, and moved down the road alni>g the levee ; while the left, under Coffee, composed of his brigade, Hinds's dragoon.?, and Bealc's rifles, skirted the edge of a cypress swamp for the purpose of endeavoring to cut off" the communications of the invaders with Lake liorgne. Such was the simple plan of the battle, on the part of the Americans, on the night of the 23d of December, 3 81 4. The alarm and confusion in the British camp, caused by the attack of the Carolina, had scarcely been checked when they were startled by the crack of musketry in the direction of their outposts. Keane now gave full credence to the tales of his prison* (jrs about the large number of troops — "more tlian twelve thousand" — in New Orleans, and gave the dashing Thornton full liberty to do as he liked. Thornton at once led a detachnw*nt, composed of the Eighty-fifth and Ninety-fitJ.h Regiments, to the support of the pickets, and directed the Fourth, five hundred strong, to take post on Villere's Canal, near head-quarters, to keep open the communication with Lake Borgne. Thornton and his detachment were soon met by a resolute column under the immediate command of Jackson, He had made the Canal Rodriguez, w^lich con- nect ^ ;;» Mississippi with the cypress swamp, his base of operations. He advanced with a» out fifteen hundred men and two pieces of artillery, perfectly covered with the gloom of night. Lieutenant M'Clelland, at the head of a company of tho Seventh, filing through De la Ronde's gate, advanced to the boundary of Lacoste's plantation, where, under the direction of Colonel Piatt, the quartermaster general, he encoun- tered and attacked the British pickets, who were posted in a ditch behind a fence, and drove them back. These were speedily re-enforced, and a brisk engagement en- sued, in which Piatt received a wound, and M'Clelland and a sergeant were killed. In the mean time the artillerists advanced up the Levee Road with the marines, when the British made a desperate attempt to seize their guns. There was a fierce struggle. Jackson saw it, and hastening to the spot, in the midst of a shower of bul- lets, he shouted, " Save the guns, my boys, at any sacrifice !" They did so, when the Seventh Regiment, commanded by Major Pierre, advanced, and, being joined by the Forty-fourth, the engagement became general between them and Thornton's detach- ment. Plaucho and D'Aquin soon joined their comrades, and the tide of success turned in favor of the Americans. The British, hard pressed, fell sullenly back to their original line unmolested, for the prudent Ross, commanding the regulars, would not allow a pursuit. Had it been permitted, it would have resulted, as was after- ward discovered, most disastrously for the invaders. This conflict occurred not far from De la Ronde's garden. General Coffee in the mean time had advanced to the back of De la Ronde's plan- tation, Avhere his riflemen were dismount- ed, and their horses placed in charge of a hundred men at the canal that separated De la Ronde's from Lacoste's farm, the latter now the propei'ty of D. and E. Vil- Icre. The ground was too much cut up with ditches to allow successful cavalry movements, and Major Hinds and his men remained at one of them, near the middle of Lacoste's. Coffee's division ext mded its front <a& much as possible, and n\oved in silence, while Bealo and his rifle nen stole around the enemy's extreme left, on Villere's plantation, and by a sudd^:, move- ment penetrated almost to the ' cry heart of the British camp, killing so- oral, and ULUUSTE'b liANSlUN. i : I I ': I I I i •' .! 1032 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK iM * ; ii; ;iiiiR;i The British fall back to shelter. Strength of the Combatants. Sir De Lucy Evauii. making otliers prisoners. By a blunder, made in consequence of the darkness, a . im- ber of Beale's men were captured. In the mean time, Thornton, with the Eighty- fifth, fell heavily on Coffee's line, and for some time a battle raged fiercely, not in regular order, but in detachments, squads, and often duels. In the darkness fricids fought each other, supposing each to be a foe. The Tennesseeans and British jiflc- men were almost equally expert as sharp-shooters ; but the short weapons of tho En- lish were not so efficient as the long ones of tho American backwoodsmen. The Ten- nesseeans also used long knives and tomahawks vigorously. At last the British fell back, ond took shelter behind the levee, more willing to incur the danger of shots from the Carolina than bullets from the rifles of the Tennesseeans.' AFFAIR BELOW > The loBS of the Americans in tbe affair on the night of the 23d of December was tweniy-fonr Itilled, one liun- dred and fifteen wounded, and seventy-fonr prisoners ; in aii, two hundred and thirteen. Among the liilled was the brave Lieutenant Colonel Lauderdale, of Coffee's bri- gade of mounted riflemen. The British loss was about four hundred men. According to the most careftal esti- mates, the number of Americans engaged in the battle vras about eighteen hundred, while that of the invaders, including the re-cnforceraents that came during the en- gagement, was about twenty-five hundred. The Caro- IvM gave the Americans a great advantage, and made the effective power about equal to that of the foe. One of the distinguished British ofBcers wounded in this engagement, and who yet (1807) survives, was Sir De Lacy Evans. Ue was also wounded in tlie battie nearer New Orleans, which occurred a little more than a fortnight later. Sir De Lacy was bom in Ireland in 1T87. Be entered the British Army in the East Indies as ensign, and served there fl"om 180T to 1810 in the war again. Ameer Khan. He also served with distinction in Spain. In 1814 he became brevet iientenant colonel of a West India regiment, and was with General Ross in the battle of Bladeiisbur)^, where he had two horses shot under him. He led the column into Washington City. He was active also in tllB movement on Baltimore. Aft- er his second wound before New Orleans be was sent home, and was afterward with Wellington at Qnatre Bras. When the Crimean War broke out he was ap- pointed lieutenant general, and commanded tbe second division of the British Army. He greatly distinguished himself in that war. For his per\'ices there he received the Grand Cross of the Bath, a"-^ Louis Napoleon made him grand officer of the Legion of Honor. B IIR I.AOr KVANS. OF THE WAR OF 18 12. 1033 sir De Lttcy EvauB. lie darkne88, a: ..m- I, with the Eighty- ged fiercely, not in he darkness friends ns and British ritie- weapons of tho En- jodsraen. Thf Ten- last the British fell the danger of shots The Americans Withdraw. A Sklrmiiib on JumoDvlUe'n Plautallon, A Memeuto of the Buttle. During the engagement the second division of the British arrived from Bayou Bien- venu, and were in the thickest of the light with Coflee for a while ; but the fear of being cut ofl'from communication with the lake and their ships made the enemy too cautious and timid to achieve what their superior numbers qualified them to perform. They kci)t within the lines of iheir camj), and by concentration presented a strong front. Jackson perceived that in the darkness, intensified by a fog that suddenly appeared, he could not follow up liis victory with safety, so }ie led the right division back to the main entrance to De la llonde's plantation, while Coffee encamped near De la Ronde's garden.' It was about half past nine when the conflict ceased, and at half past eleven, when ill was becoming quiet in the respective camps, musket-firing was heard in tho direc- tion of Jumonville's plantation, below Villcre's. It was caused by the advance of some Louisiana drafted militia, stationed at .i sharp bend of the Mississippi called the English Turn, under General David Morgan, who liad insisted upon being led against the enemy when they heard the guns of the Carolina early in the evening. They met some British pickets at Jumonville's, exchanged shots with *.hera, encamped there for the night,^nd at dawn returned to their post at the English Turn. > In the room of the Iliatorical Society of Tennessee, in the Civpltol at Nashville, may he seen an interestinj; memento of the battle on the night of the 23d of Doceml-or, 1S14. It Is a tattered flag that was borne through that battle by a company from Shelbyville, Tennessee, command-id by Captain James M ,orc. It was presented to that com|)any by the women of Bedford County. It is of silk, of the pattern of the nati(.nal flap, on which was painted a gray eagle bearing a national shield, and a ribbon inscribed Liiikrty anh ImEPENUEMCE. Its appearance when the writer made a sketch of It iu the spring of ISOl is indicated iu the picture below. mM ,■ '] « ] ' i , .l ,|! fi-il ' riCTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK Jackaou'a Work not yet done. lie ciiHtD up a LInu ufBerenBoa, TUo Lcvcc cut. CHAPTER XLIII. "America's glory, which dnzzled the world When the toils of our sires had achieved independence, Was brightened when Jackson her banners nnfnrled To protect the dear Ijoon for their yrateful descendants— When the conqueiors of Spain Crossed the boisterous main. Boldly threat'ning to rivet onr fetters agalu ; But a happy new year for Columbia begun When our Jackson secured what our Washington won." Saucil Woodwobtb. " Whlte-wInged Peace, the dove from heaven's portal, '' Brought with its olive-branch a song immortul, That filled all hearts with melody supernal. While yet was heard the battle din infernal." ROMPTNESS and vigor marked tlie whole conduct of General JackHon at the critical moment we are considering. By liis ad- vance to meet the invaders he had saved New Orleans from cap- ture, and Louisiana and the Mississippi Valley from conquest. The whole country blessed him for the act. But his full task Avas not accomplished, and he knew it. A host of veteran sol- diers, fresh from the battle-fields of Continental Europe, were be- fore him, and they were not likely to relinquish the footing they had gained on Amer- , ican soil without a Vv^i^I^.^ v, desperate struggle, so " he prepared for it. Leaving the regulars and some dragoons at De la Ronde's to watch the enemy, he fell back with the re- mainder of his armji^ to Rodriguez's Canal, and sot his soldiers to work casting up in- trenchments along its line from the river to the cypress swamp. All day they plied the implements of labor with the greatest vig- or. At sunset a breast- work three feet in height appeared along the entire line of Jackson's army; and the soldiers spent that Christmas eve in much hilarity, for the events of the previous evening had given them the confidence of veterans. Li the mean time, Latour, the chief engineer, had cut the levee in front of Chalmette's plantation, so as to flood the plain between the two armies, and two 6-pounder8 were placed in battery at tlio I This is ft-om a sketch made by the author in April, 1801. DE 1.A BONDK'b mansion.' Tho Lcvec cut. L WOOBWOETU. conduct of General (idering. By his ad- !w Orlonns from cap- nUey from conquest, t. But his full task host of veteran sol- iital Europe, were be- uish the footing they ison's army ; and the 'ents of the previous lean time, Latour, the ion, 80 as to flood the !ed in battery at the OF THE WAlt OF 18 12. 1035 Effect of cutting tlip Levee. A gloomy Day. Arrival nf General Pakenham. Deatrnctlon of the CoMilina. levee to command the road. The river was so low that the overflow was of little account. Behind these intrenehmeiits, of which each worker was j)r()ud, Jackson's little army spent the Christnuis day of 1814 in preparations for a determined defense of New Orleans and their common country.^ On tiie same day General ^lorgan re- ceived orders to evacuate the post at English Turn, ])hu'{i his cannon and a hundred men in Fort St. Leon, and take position with the remainder on Flood's jjlnntation, opposite Jackson's camp, on the right bank of the Mississi])))!. The cutting of the levee at Chalmettc's and Jumonville's helped the enemy more than it did the Amer- icans, for it caused the almost dry canals and bayous to be filled with sutticient Avater to allow the British to bring up their heavy artillery. Had the jNIissisMppi been full, the invaders would have been placed on an island. Tliat Christmas day dawned gloomily for the invaders. The events of • December, the sad" had greatly depressed their spirits, and the soldiers ha<l lost con- ***"• fidence in Keane, their commander. The sky was clouded, the ground was Avet, and the atmosphere was chilly, and shadowing disappointment Avas seen in e.ery face. The gloom AA'as suddenly dispelled by an event Avhich gave great joy to the Avhole army. It was the arrival at camp on that gloomy morning of Lieutenant General Sir Edward Pakeidiam, the "Hero of Salamanca," then only thirty-eight years of age, Avho came to assume the chief command of the invading army. He Avas a true soldier and an honorable man ; and the charge (which might be justly brought against some of the subordinate commanders in that army) that he ottered his soldiers, as a rcAvurd for their services, in the cAcnt of their capturing New Orleans, "the beauty and booty" of the city, is doubtless AvhoUy untrue, for his character Avas the very op- posite of the infamous Cockburn's. There is proof on record that some of the officers made calculations of personal profit from the spoils that Ncav Orleans Avould aftbrd. Pakenham came fresh from Europe, Avith the prestige of eminent success as a com- mander, and his advent at Villere's mansion^ Avas hailed with delight liy officers and soldiers. He, too, Avas delighted Avhen he perused the list of the regiments Avhich he was to command, for those troops, excepting the Ninety-third and the colored regi- ments, had fought all through the Avar on the Spanish Peninsula. "While Jackson Avas intrenching, the British were not idle. Thoy Avere employed, day and night, in preparing a heavy b'ttery that should command the Carolina. It was completed on the morning of the 27th, and at seven o'clock a heavy fire Avas opened from it upon the little schooner from several twelve and eighteen pounders, and a hoAvitzer. They hurled hot shot, which fired the Carolina, when her crcAV aban- doned her, and she blew up with a tremendous explosion. The t^chooiicr Z/Ouisiana, commanded by Lieutenant Thompson, had come doAvn to aid her, and Avas in great peril. She was the only armed vessel in the river remaining to the Americans. By great exertions she was towed beyond the sphere of danger, and Avas saved to play a gallant part in events the folloAving day. She was on the opposite side of the riv- er, anchored nearly abreast of the American camp. The destruction of the Carolina gave fresh confidence to the invaders, and Paken- ham issued orders for his whole army, then eight thousand strong, to move forAvard and carry the American intrenchments by storm. He had arranged that army into two columns. One Avas commanded by General Keane, and the other by General Gibbs, a good and experienced soldier, who came with Pakenham as his second in command. Toward evening the entire force moved forAvard, driving in the American pickets and outposts, and at twilight they halted on the plantations of Bienvenu and Chalmette, Avithin a fcAV hundred yards of the American lines. There a part sought repose, while others commenced the construction of batteries near rhe river. Sleep was denied them, for all night long Hinds's troopers and other active Americans an- ■ The common Impression that Jnckson'fi breastworks wore conetrncted chiefly of cotton biiles Is an erroneons one. A few were used at tbo end next the river, but they were not usefU), and were rejected. a See page 1029. i 1 ;■ ■ f A J J. .3 1036 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK B'i t| Boat of War iu Loulaluua and Florida. \^ tr^'-^ — »"«»'«ijC-^,|==^ noyed thoir flanks and rear with quick, sharp attacks, which the British denounced " barbarian warfare." as OF THE WAK OP 1812. 1037 Jni-kiinn prepared to receive the Rrltlah, Thoy advance to an Attack. A nevere nattle. \ ■X Jritish denounced as MAOAHT^'h, JAOKHON'h IIKAIl-gHAltTKlCH.' •MiV*,.. Jackson, in the moan time, had been preparing to receive them. He was aware of tile arrival of Pa- Itoiiliam, and oxpoctod vijjorous warfiiro from liim. His head-(niar- ters were at tho spa- cious cliatcan of M. Macart<i, a wealthy Creole, and from its wide gnliery and a dormer window, seen in the accompanying picture, aided by a tel- escope, ho had a full vievr of the whole field of operations. From thiit chateau, which is yet standing, he sent forth his orders. They were numerous and prompt ; for that night of the 27th of December, when a flushed foe in his immediate front was ready to pounce with tiger-like fierceness upon liim at dawn, was an exceedingly busy one for the commander-in-chief He had caused Chalmette's buildings to be blown up when the enemy a<lvanccd, that the sweep of his artillery might not be obstructed, and he had called to the line sonie Louisiana militia from the rear. He also planted heavy guns; and by the time that the couchant foe was ready for his murderous leap, Jack- son had four thousand men and twenty i)iece8 of artillery to receive him, while the Louisiana was in position to use her cannon m ith signal eflSect in co-operation with the great guns on land. The 28th dawned brightly, and as soon as the light fog of early morning had passed away a battle began. The enemy approached in two columns. Gibbs led the right, Avhich kept near the great swamp, throwing out a skirmish line to meet those of the left column, commanded by Keaiie, who kept close to the river, Avith artillery in his front. There was also a party oi skirmishers and light infantry detailed from Gibbs's command, under Colonel Robert Keniiie, a very active ofticer, who was ordered to turn the American left flank and gain the rear of their camp. Pakenham and his staif rode nearly in the centre of the line. At this moment Jackson saw, with great satis- faction, I band of rough-looking armed men coming down the road from the direction of the city. They were Baratarians, under You and Beluche, who had run all the way from Fort St. John. They were immediately placed in charge of one of the 24- pounders, and performed excellent service. They were folloAved by the escaped crew of the Carolina, under Lieutenants Norris and Crawley, who were placed in the line as managers of a howitzer on the right. The British under Keane advanced in solid column, in the face of a galling fire of musketry, when they were suddenly checked by the opening of some of Jackson's heavy guns and the batteries of the Louisiana, Avhich swept their line obliquely with terrible effect. More than eight hundred shots were hurled from her guns with dead- ly power. One of them killed and wounded fifteen men. At the same time the Brit- ish rocketeers were busy, but their missiles did very little damage, and tl e Americans soon became too familiar with their harmless noise to be much affected by them. For a short time Keane's men endured the terrible storm that was thinning their > This la from a sketcb made by the author in April, 1S61. h ( 1088 PICTORIAL FIELU-BOOK TiM BrttUb vauquUbed aud repulwd. Tbejr bold a (Jouudl of War. The American Llnea of Defeime. :i:i ' ' • 1 ■ *. H ;i T <i ranks, wlu'ii tlic nmiiiti'imiice of tlit'ir position lii'Ciuno men; fool-liiinlincHs, tiiid Ihi-y wore ordcrod to Hoeit HJu'ltcr iit t'.e littlo faimlK. Away tiit-y ran, ja'il-inoll, to thcHe pljifUH of refuge, and in mud and watiM- ahnost waist-deep tliey "leaned forward," as one of their eomj/anions wrote, "eoncialing tlieinselves in the rushes wliieh grew on tlie hanks of the canal." It was a humiliating position for " Wellingtoirs veterans" ill the faeo of a few rough hackwoodsiiien, as they regarded Jackson's troojjs. Their hatteries were half destroyed, and were ahandoned, and the shattered colun.n, thor- oughly repulu'd, fell hack to a Hheltcr behind tho ruins of Chulmettc's buildings and the perfect ones of IJienvcnu, (iil>bs in the mean time wns actively engaged on tlie British riglit. Tlie gallant Ilennie dashed into the t'dge of tlie swainj) to flank the American left, and, driving in tho pickets, approached, within a hundred yards of tho lino behind which, lay Car- roll and his Tennessceaus. Tho movement was obser\(d by Carroll, who sent Colo- nel Henderson, with two hundred Tennessoeans, to gain Reniiie's rear and cut him off from the main body. Advancing too fiir, Henderson encountered a large IJritish lorce, and ho and five of Iiis men wore killed, and several were wounded. The re- mainder retraced their steps. Itennio was then pressing Carroll's left very severely, when Gibbs, observing tho ficrconoss of tho fight on the part of Keanc's column, or- dered the dashing colonel to I'all back on tho main line. Uennio reluctantly obeyed, and was coinpoUed to be an idle spectator of Keano's disaster. At length Pakeii- ham ordered a general retrograde movement, and he retired to his head-<|uarters at Vil- lere's deeply mortified by the failure of his plans, of whose success ho had not allowed liimself to doubt. In this repulse the Louisiana, Avhich was stationed near tho right bank of the Mississippi, played the most efficient part, and lost but one man killed. Tho loss of tho Americans was nine kiliod and eight wounded. The British loss was about one hundred and fifty. Pakonhtim called a coinicil of war, when it was resolved to bring forward heavy siege-guns from the navy before making anotlier serious attempt to carry .Jackson's linos. The British established their hospital on Jumonville's plantation, next below Villero's, and prej)ared for heavy work. The experience of tho 28th had given Pa- konham a tost of the spirit of his opposers, and ho was convinced that the task before Jiim was not only difficult, but dajigorous, and that the very salvation of his army de- pended upon cautious movoments, courage, and perseverance. J,ack8on was busy at tho same time strengt) ening his position at Rodriguez's Ca- .nal, over which not a single British soldier had passed except as a prisoner. He placed two 12-pounder8 on his extreme loft, near the swamp, in charge of General Garrigue Flauzac, a veteran French soldier who had volunteered ; and also a six and an eighteen pounder under Colonel Perry. His lino of intrenchments was extended into tho swamj), so as to prevent a flank movement. Ho ordered a lino of similar structure to bo established on the opposite side of the Mississippi ; and Commander Patterson, pleased with the effects of the guns of the Louisiana from the same side, established a battery behind the levee on Jourdan's plantation, which he armed with heavy guns from the schooner, and manned with sailors enlisted or pressed into the service in New Orleans. It commanded tho front of Jackson's lines, and soon com- pelled the British to abandon Chalmette's plantation and fall back to the line be- tween Bienvenu's and De la Rondo's. A brick '.;iln on the bank opposite New Or- leans was converted into a square battery, avIucm was armed with two heavy guns that commanded the city and the river road, and ) laced in charge of Captain Henley, of the Carolina. At Jackson's head-quarters, at Macarte's, was a company of young men from the best families in the city, under Captain Ogden, who constituted his body-guard, and were subservient to his immediate orders alone. These were posted in Macarte's garden. There was incessant activity every where among all his troops, for his own spirit was infused into them. The Tennessee riflemen, in particular, de- OF TlIK WAK OF 1813. 1030 rlcao Llnea of Uercims, Itedoubu tecretly conitructed bj the BritUb. A heavy Fire ftam them. J«ckwn driven from bli Ue»d-<iuart -in. nlincsH, and llit-y (I'll-IlloU, to lllCHC lied forward," an H wliirh grow on igton'H vet oralis" i'h troops. Tlieir red eoluu.ii, tlior- e's buildings and ;ht. Tlie gallant ft, and, driving in I whicli lay Car- 11, who sent Colo- i-ear and cut liim ,'d a large Hritish juiuled. The re- eft very severely, .'aiic's column, or- liictantly ol)eyed. At length P.iken- id-<iuarter8at Vil- e had not allowed led near the right t cue :uan killed, e British loss was iig forward heavy [o (larry .Jackson's ation, next below !th had given IV at the task before )n of his army de- t Rodriguez's Ca- 1 a prisoner. He harge of General md also a six and nts was extended a line of similar and Commander im the same side, ;h he armed with pressed into the 's, and soon com- c to the line be- pposite New Or- two heavy guns Captain Henley, irapany of young constituted his 'hese were posted ng all his troops, in particular, de- OUALMKTTK'h rLAMTATlON.I lighted in going on "hunts," .is they called them — that is to say, expeditions alone, to i»ick oif sentinels and annoy the enemy. This was carried to such an extent on Jackson's extreme left that the British dared not post sentinels very .lear the swamp. They contented themselves with throwing up a strong redoubt in that direction, which Captain You and Lieutenant Crawley continually battered with hea\y shot from their cannon. The enemy persevered, and at the close of the month had several iiivat guns mounted on the redoubt. On the 31st the guns of the new redoubt opened vigorously on Jackson's left ; and that night the whole Hritish army moved rai)idly forward, took position within a few hundred yards of the American lines, and in the gloom commenced vigorous work with pickaxe and spade. They had brought up heavy sioge-guns from the lake, and all night long that army labored in the construction of redoubts for them, under the superintendence of Colonel Sir John Burgoyne, with the intention " nuikipg an im- mediate eftbrt to break the American line. Before dawn they had completed three sol- id demi-lunettes, or half-moon battel ies, right, centre, and left, six hundred yards from the American lines, at nearly equal distances apart. They were constructed of earth, hogsheads of sugar, and every thing that might produce resistance; and u]joii them were placed thirty pieces of heavy ordnance, manned by picked gunners of the fleet, who had served under Nelson, Collingwood, and St. Vincent. These works were hidden by " ?avy fog on the morning of the 1st of January, which hung thickly over the belligerei, armies until after eight o'clock. When it was lifted by a gentle breeze the British opened a brisk fire, not doubting that in a few minutos the contemptible intrenchments of the Americans Avould be scattered to the winds, and that the army, placed in battle order for the purpose, would find it an easy mat- ter to rush forward and take them. Every moment their cannonade and bombard- ment became heavier, and the rocketeers sent an incessant shower of their fiery mis- siles into the American lines. Jackson's head-quarters at Macarte's was a special tar- get. In the course of ten minutes more than a hundred balls, shells, and rockets struck the building, and compelled the commander-in-chief and liis staff to evacuate it. The marks of that furious assault may be seen in all parts of the house to this day." > This l8 from a sketch made by the author in April, 1S60, from tho foot of the shaft of the unfinished monnment, aear Jackson's head-quarters and line of totrenchments. This shows the principal field on which the batt'.es in De- cember and January, 1S16, were foaght. The plain Is a dead level. In the distance !a seen the Hue of the swamp which flanked both armies. M ti '1867. Jackson, in the mean time, had opened Ins heavy guns on the assailants. The can- nonade was led oft' by the gallant and imperturbable Humphrey on the left, followed by tho fierce You and his Baratarians — Crawley, Norris, Spotts, and the veteran Gar- rigue. The American artillery thundered along their whole line, to the amazement of the British, who wondered how they got their guns and gunners. Pakenhara soon saw that lie had underrated the strength and skill of his adversary; and Cochrane, whose gallant tars were at the guns, did every thing in his power to encourage them. The conflict became terrible. Batteries on the Levee fought t\ '^h Patterson on the OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1041 ns to the Britieh Attnik. ry ; and Cochrane. Tbe British again vanquished and repulsed. New Arrangements for Attack. The British re-enforced. opposite side ; and iu them were kept in readines.t red-hot shot for the destruction of the Louisiana, if she should come within i-ange of the guns. Pakenham also sent a detachment of infantiy to attempt the turning of the American left, in the swamp ; hut they were driven back in terror by Coffee's Tennesseeans ; so only the battle of the batteries went on. Toward noon the fire of the British visibly slackened, while that of the Americans was unceasing. The demi-lunes of the foe were crushed and broken. The sugar hogsheads had been converted into splinters, and their contents, mingling with the moist earth, soon lost their volume. The guns not dismounted ■« ere careened, and were worked with great difficulty ; and by the time their voices ceased altogether the batteries on the Levee were nearly demolished. The invaders abandoned their works at meridian, and fled in inglorious haste, helter-skelter, to the ditches, in search of safety ; and, under cover of the ensuing night, they crawled sullenly back to their camp, dragging with them over the spongy ground a part of their heavy cannon, and leaving five of them a spoil for the Americans. Their disappointment and chagrin were intense, and it was equally shared by officers and men. Their New- Year's Day was a far gloomier one than that of Christmas. They had been without food or sleep for nearly sixty hours. They al) cast themselves down on the damp ground, too wearied for thought, and their tnmbles were soon ended for the time by deep slum- ber. Pakenham was in his old quarters at Villerd's, which he had left in the morn- ing with ihe confident expectation of sleeping in New Orleans that night as a con- queror.' In the American camp there was great joy that night. It was intensified in the morning by the arrival of Brigadier General John Adair with intelligence of the near approach of more than two thousaad drafted militia from Kentucky, under Major General John Thomas. They arrive! in the city on the 4th of January, and seven hundred of them were sent to the front under Adair. Pakenham was disheartened, but he by no means despaired of success. He conceived the bold and hazardous plan of carrying Jackson's lines on both sides of the river by storm. Those on the right bank had been strengthened, but were feebly manned, and were under the chief command of General Morgan. Pakenham resolved to send over fifteen hundred infantry, with some artillery, and, under tho cover of night, at- tack Morgan, carry the works, occupy them, and, from batteries there, enfilade Jack- son's line, while the main army should be engaged in stonning it. The transportation of these men to the other side of the river was confided to Admiral Cochrane, who, in opposition to the opinions and wishes of the army officers, set the wearied soldiers and sailors to work widening, and deepening, and prolonging to the Mississippi, Vi)- lero's Canal, for the purpose of bringing over boats from the Bayou Bienvenu, instead of dragging them on rollers as they had heavier cannon. The labor was completed on the 7th, when the army was in fine spirits because of the arrival, the day before, of a considerable body of re-enforcements under Major General John Lambert, a young officer of Wellington's army, who liad sailed from England toward the close of October. Pakenham's own regiment (Seventh Fusileers) was among them ; and the army that confronted Jackson jow consisted of ten thousand of the finest sol- diers in the world. These were divided into three brigades, and placed under the respective commands of Generals Lambert, Gibbs, and Keane. Pakenham's plan of operations fc* the new attack was simple. Colonel Thornton was to cross the Mississippi on the night of the 7th with the Eighty-fifth and one > The forlorn condition of these troops, as a body, was such that Jackson was at a loss \o determine whether their presence shoald be considered fortnnato or uufoi tnnate for the canse. They had come with the erroneous belief that an smple supply of arms and clothing would be fumlB.. d fhem lX New Orleans, and alarge number of thorn were sadly defi- cient In these. Of the seven hundred sent to the fk-onl only five hundred had weapons of any kind. The commisera- tion of the citizens was excited, and by ai.' appmprlation by the Leglslatare and the liberal gifts of the citizens the mm of sixteen thousand dollars was speedily raised, with which goods were purchased and placed in the willing hands of the women of New Orleans. Within a week these were converted by them Into blankets, garments, and bedding. The mea ''onstitated exceUont raw material for soldiers, and they were very soon prepared for efficient service. 8U If iff 'J'! mk '! 1042 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK The British Plan of Attack. The Americr i Line of Intrenchmente. Olepositton of Forces on it. West India regiment, marines and sailors, and a corps of rocketeers, and fall upon the Americans before the dawn. The sound of his guns was to be the signal for General Gibbs, with the Forty-fourth, Twenty-first, and Fourth regiments, to storm the Amer- ican left ; while General Keane, with the Ninety-third, Ninety-fifth, and two light companies of the Seventh and Forty-third, with some West India troops, should threaten the American right suffic'ent to draw their fire, and then rush upon them with the bayonet. Meanwhile the two British batteries nem the Levee, which tho Americans destroyed on the 1st, were to be rebuilt, well mounted, and employed in assailing the American ri^fht during Keane's operations. Keane's advance corps were furnished with fascines to fill the ditches, and scaling ladders to mount the em- bankments. Such was the substance of Pakenham's General Order issued on the Vth of January, 1815. Jackson penetrated Pakenham's design on the 6th, and prepared to meet and frus- trate it. H» s line of de- fense, extending, as we have observed, from the Mississippi to an impassable cypress swamp, a mile and a half in length, along the line of tlie half- choked Rodriguez's Canal, was very irreg- ular. In some places it was thin, in others thick; in some places the banks were high, in others very low. They had been cast up, not by the soldiery alone, nor by the slaves, b>;t by the hands of civilians KKMAIN8 OF RODBIOUKZ'S OANAI.' from thc Clty, iuclud- ing merchants and their clerks, lawyers and physicians and their students, and many young men who never before had turned a spadeful of earth. Along this line artil- lery was judiciousljr placed. On the edge of the river a redoubt was thrown up and mounted with cannon, so as to enfilade the ditch in front of the American lines. Be- sides this there were eigi't batteries, placed at pi-oper distances from each other, com- posed of thirteen guns carrying from six to thirty-two pound balls, a howitzer, and a carronade. Across the river was Patterson's marine battery for auxiliary service in the defense of this line, mounting nine guns ; and the Louisiana was prepared to perform a part, if possible, in the drama about to open. Jackson's infantry wee disposed as follows: Lieutenant Ross, with a company of Pierre's Seventh Regiment, guarded the redoubt on the extreme right, in M'hich tents were pitched. Between Humphrey's battery and the river, on the right, Beale's New Orleans riflemen were stationed. P^-om their left the Seventh Regiment ex- tended so as to cover another battery, and connected with a part of Plauche's* bat- talion and the colored corps under Colonel Lacoste, which filled the interval between « This is a view of the cholced canal at the wood that sltirtB the levee, sketched by the author in April, 18(11. There i« a lane, near the end of which stands the unfinished monument to be erected in commemoration of the battles here fought and the victory won by tho Americans. The iiartly-Hnlshed i>hBft is seen on the left. It is made entirely cf marble from Westchester County, New York, and is to be one hundred and flfty feet in height. It Is erected by the State of Louisiana. » Jean B. Plauch6 was a native of New Orleans, and wafc bom there when it was a Spanisii colony. He was a French Creole, and tbrongb life bore the character of one of tho most esteemed citizens of New Orleans. After the war be rt- OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1043 lupoeition of Forces on It. I, and fall upon the signal for General o storm the Amcr- fth, and two light iia troops, should n rush upon them 3 Levee, which tlio i, and employed in o's advance corps 3 to mount the em- ir issued on the 7th i to meet and frus- eit. Hi=i line of de- le, extending, as we e observed, from Mississippi to an passable cypress imp, a mile and a f in length, along line of the half- oked Rodriguez's iial, was very irreg- ,r. In some places was thin, in others ck; in some places ! banks were high, in lers very low. They been cast up,not by soldiery alone, nor the slaves, b';t by hands of civilians the city, includ- students, and many long this line artil- was thrown up and merican lines. Be- )m each other, coni- ,ll8, a howitzer, and [or auxiliary service hia was prepared to I with a company of ^ght, in M'hich tents the right, Beale's lenth Regiment ex- It ofPlauche's^'bat- le interval between tthor in April, 1881. There knratiot) of the battles liore tft. It Is made entirely cf ]elght. It Is orestefl by the \ colony. Ho was a French eauR. After the war he re- Character of the American Troops. Interior Lines of Defense. The Tombs of Plauchi and You. Batteries Nos. 3 and 4 (see map on page 1040), the guns of the latter being covered by D'Aquin's free men of color. Next to D'Aquin was the Forty-fourth Regiment, which extended to the rear of Battery No. 5. The remainder of the line (full two thirds of its entire length) was covered by the commands of Carroll' and Coffee.^ The former had been re-enforced that day (7th) by a thou'jand Kentuckians under General Adair, and with him, on the right of Battery No. 7, were fifty marines under Lieutenant Bellevue. Coffee, with five hundred men, held the extreme left of the line, on the edge of the swamp, where his men were compelled to stand in the water, and to sleep on floating logs which they lashed to the trees. Captain Ogden, with cavalry (Jack- son's body-guard,, was at head-quarters, yet at Macarte's chateau ; and on De Lerey's plantation, ui the rear of it, Hinds was stationed with one hundred and fifty mounted men. Near Pierna's Canal a regiment of Louisiana militia, under Colonel Young, were encamped as reserves. Jackson's whole force on the New Orleans side of the river on the 7th was about five thousand in number, and of these only two thousand two hundred were at his line. Only eight hundred of the latter were regulars, and mosiu of them were new recruits commanded by young oflicers. His army was formed in two divisions, the right commanded by Colonel Ross, acting as brigadier, and the left by Gcerals Car- roll and Coffee, the former as major general and the latter as brigadier general. A mile and a half in the rear of his main line another intrenchment had been thrown up, behind which the weaker members of his army were stationed with pickaxes and spades. Tliis line was prepared for a rallying-point in the event of disaster following the impending conflict. Jackson also established a third line at the lower edge of the city. General Morgan, on the opposite side of the river, prepared *o defend his lines with only eight hundred men, all militia, and indifferently armed. On his left were two 6-pounders, in charge of Adjutant Nixon, of the Louisiana militia, and a 12- pounder under Lieutenant Philibert, of the navy. Patterson's battery, in Morgan's romed his vocation ae merchant. He generally declined public offlcee, yet he was induced to take that of Lieutenant Governor of Louisinna. He died in Janaary, I860: "nd in an elegant tem- ple - shaped tomb in 8t. Louis Cemetery in New Orleans his remains rest The annexed picture of the tomb is from a sicetch made by the author in April, IbOl. It is built of white marble, with black inscription tablets in fl"ont. On one of these is the following : " G^nt'ral J. B. PLAConi;, n6 h la Nouvelle Orleans le 28 Janvier, 1785, di cedo le 2 Janvier, 1800. En 1814-'16 mi\)or com- mandant le batnillon d'OrWans. En 1860 lieutenant gouvcmeur ("iB l'(5tflt de Louisinnc. Homme vertneux, bon pire ct bon ci- toyen, il a bien miTitd de sa patrie et legue it aa famille an nom honorable." ' • In the same ceme- tery, and not farfrom the tomb of the Plau- chd family, was that of Dominique You, mentioned in these pages as a noble de- fender of New Or- leans. On bin tomb, made of brick and stuccoed, the writer found the following inscription written j,, , J J _ 1 1 PLAUOUt S TOMll. on a clouded marble slab : " DoMiMQUB Yon. Intr^plde guerrler snr la terre et snr I'onde, il sut dans cent combats signaler sa valeur j et ce nouvcan Bayard, sans reprocbe et sans peur, aurait pn, sans trembler, voir s'l^cronler le monde." > Wil'iam Carroll was bom in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1778. In 181B ho became ii.spectnr get ;ral of the Tennessee Militia and Volunteers niider Jackson. He v-as commissioned a colonel, nnd served with distinction m the war with the Creek Indians. He left the service at the close of the war. He was Qovernor of Tennessee A'ora 1821 to 1827, and from 1330 to ISSfi. He iMed on the 22d of March, 1844, > John Coffee was a native of Nottaway County, Virginia, and entered 'he military service under Jackson in 1812. He was active with him in the Creek War, and in the attack on Pensacola in ;he autumn of 1814. Ho was distinguished in the battles near New Orleans. In March, 1817, he was appointed surveyor of public lauds. Hi died near Flurencc, In Alabama, on the 7tb of July, 1844 l)OMINig"B TOC'S TOMB. ii.; rinl I ' \ I i. s 1044 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK m >^m\ f !■ i. I HI' t 't r, Position of the Anny on the Tth of January. A Moseage ft-om Patterson. Jackson calls his Staff to Action. rear, could render him no service, for its guns were turned so as to command the plain of Chalmette, in front of Jackson's line. Such was the strength and position of the two armies on the night of the memora- ble 7th of January, 1815, preparatory to the great conflict on the following day. It was not until the afternoon of the lih that Jackson could determine with any cfirtainty whether the enemy would first attack his own or Morgan's line. Then, from the gallery of head-quarters, with his telescope, he could see such preparations by the foe as convinced him that his own line would first feel the shock of battle ; and when the darkness of uight fell he could distinctly hear the sounds of labor in reconstructing the British batteries which the Americans had destroyed. His pick- ets and sentinels were strengthened, and sleepless vigilance marked a large portion of the troops behind his intrenchments that night. The Chief lay down to rest on a sofa, after a day of great fatigue, surrounded by his aids, and was slumbering sweet- ly when, at a little past midnight, he was awakened by an aid of Commander Pat- terson (Mr. R. D. Shepherd), who had been sent to inform the general that there seemed tc be positive indications in the British camp that Morgan was to be first at- tacked, and that he needod more troops to maintain his position. " Hurry back," said Jackson, " and tell General Morgan that he is mistaken. The main attack will be on this side. He must maintain his position at all hazards." Then, looking at his watch, he spoke aloud to his aids, " Gentlemen, we have slept long enough. Arise ! for the enemy will be upon us in a few minutes. I must go and see Gcreral Coffee." One '' .-r OF THE WAR OP 1812. 1045 1 calls big Staff to Action. } to command the ;l)t of the memora- following day. '^•*Hi h letermine with any rgan's line. Then, 3 such preparations he shock of hattle ; sounds of labor in stroyed. His pick- led a large portion y down to rest on a slumbering sweet- )f Commander Pat- general that there 1 was to be first at- " Hurry back," said in attack will be on loking at his watch, •h. Arise! for the ^eral Coffee." One Thornton crosues the River to attack Morgan. Advance of the British Line. Opening of Battle. of his first orders was for General Adair' to send over five hundred Kentuckians to re-enforce Morgan. Let us observe the movements in the British camp on that memorable night. According to the plan already me itioned, Colonel Thornton proceeded to cross the Mississippi for the purpose of attacking Morgan. He marched to the levee, at the end of the newly-cut canal in extension of Villcr6's, and there waited with the great- est impatience the arrival of the boats that were to carry him and his troops ov^r. The banks of the ditch had caved in in some places, and the falling of the water in the river had made that of the canal so shallow that the sailors were compelled to drag the boats through thick mud in many places. It was three o'clock in the morn- ing before even a sufficient number of vessels to convey one half of the detachment had arrived. Farther delay would be fatal to the enterprise ; so, with Pakenham's sanction, Thornton dismissed half of his force, embarked the remainder, and crossed the river in a flotilla commanded by Captain Roberts, of the Royal Navy. Ignorant of the fact that the Mississippi was flowing with a quiet, powerful current, at the rate of five miles an hour, and making no provisions for this obstacle to a quick and direct passage, they were landed, aftnr great fatigue, at least a mile and a half below their intended point of debarkation. Before they had all left the boats the day dawned, and the roar of cannon was heard on the plain of Chalmette. Pakenham and his officers had passed an almost sleepless night, and at the time when Jackson aroused his slumbering staff the divisions of Gibbs and Keane were called up, formed into line, and advanced to within four hundred and fifty yards of the American intrenchments. Lambert's division was left behind as a reserve. There stood the British soldiers in the darkness and the cliiiiy morning air, enveloped in a thick fog, and anxiously listening for the booming of Thornton's guns in his attack on Morgan. He was yet battling with the ctsirent of the Mi8si^ i>pl Tediously the minutes and the hours passed, and yet that signal-gun remained silent. Day dawned and tlie mist began to disperse, and as the dull red line of the British host was dimly seen in the early morning light through the veil of moisture, Lieuten- ant Spotts, of Battery No. 7, opened one of his heavy guns upon it. It was the sifj- nal for battle. As the fog rolled away the British line was seen stretching two thirds ucross the plain of Chalmette. From its extreme left and right rockets shot high in air, and, like a dissolving view, that red line almost disappeared as it was broken into columns by companies. Gibbs now advanced obliquely toward the wooded swamp, with the Forty-fourth in front, followed by the Twenty-first and Fourth, terribly pelted by the storm that came from Batteries Nos. 6, 7, and 8, and vainly sought shelter behind a bulging pro- jection of the swamp into the plain. These batteries poured round and grape shot incessantly into Gibbs's line, making lanes through it, and producing some confusion. Tins was heightened by the fact that the Forty-fourth, with whom had been intrust- ed fascines and scaling-ladders, had advanced without them. To wait for these to be brought up was impossible in the focus of that cannonade. So Gibbs ordered them forward, the Twenty-first and Fourth in solid and compact column, covered in front by blazing rockets and cheered by their own loud huzzas. Whole platoons were prostrated, when their places were instantly filled by others, and the column pressed on, without pause or recoil, toward the batteries on the left, and the long and weaker line covered by the Tennesseeans and Kentuckians. By this time all the American batteries, including Patterson's on the right bank > John Adair was bom In Sonth Carolina In ITBT, and entered the military service nnder General St. Clalr. He served nnder Wilkinson in the Northwest, and was lieutenant colonel in Scott's division in 1TD3. He was for two years United Stateu Senator ttom Kentucky, where he had made his home. He was volunteer aid to Governor Shelby in the battle of the Thames, and in 1814 was brigadier generrl of Kentucky militia. He left the service at the close of the war. He was Governor of Kentucky (h)m 1820 to 18S4, and representative In Congress fl-om 1S31 to 1838. He died at HarrodB- bnrg, Kentucky, on the 19tb of Hay, 1S40. if i !■ !ii \ l ' ' .1 i 1046 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle of New Orleans. -I of the river, were in full play. Yet steadily on marched Wellington's veterans, step- ping firmly over the dead bodies of their slain comrades until they had reached a point within two hundred yards of the American line, behind which, concealed from the vie\v^ of the invaders, lay the Tcnnesseeans and Kentuckians four ranks deep. Suddenly the clear voice of General Carroll rang out. Fire I His Tennesseeans arose from cover, and, each man taking sur» aim, delivered a most destructive volley on the foe, their bullets cutting down scores of the gallant British soldiery. The storm ceased not for a moment ; for when the Tennesseeans had fired they fjjll back, and the Kentuckians took their places, and so the four ranks, one after another, participated in the conflict. At the same time round, grape, aiid chuin shot went crashing through the ranks of the British, making awful gaps, and appalling the stoutest hearts. The line began to waver, and would have broken but for the cool courage and untiring energy of the officers, and the inspiriting cry, " Here comes the Forty-fourth with the fascines and laddera !" A detachment of the Forty-fourth had indeed come with scaling implements, and Pakenham at their head, who encouraged them by stirring words and bold deeds for a few minutes, when his bridle-arm was made powerless by a bullet, and his horse was shot under him. He at once mounted the black Creole pony of his favorite aid, the now (1867) venerable Sir Duncan M'Dougall, of London.' Other officers fell, until there were not enough to command, and the column began to break up into detachments, a greater part of them falling back to the shelter of the projecting swamp. There they were rallied, and, throwing away their knapsacks, they rushed forward to scale and carry the works in front of Carroll and his sharp-shooters. At the same time, Keane, contrary to instructions, but with zealous concern for the cause, wheeled his column into line and led a portion of it to the assistance of the right wing. Tht^ were terribly scourged by the enfilading fire of the American batteries as they strode across the plain. Among them was the Ninety-third Regiment, composed of nine hundred sinewy Highlanders, who had won victories on many a field in Continental Europe, and were now unmoved by the storm that poured in such fury upon them. Their presence and example encouraged the broker, column of the right, which, with these Highlanders, rushed into the very heart of the tempest from Carroll's rifles, having Gibbs on their right and Pakenham on their left. In a few minutes the right arm of the latter was disabled by a bullet, and as he was riding to the rear on the led pony, shouting huzzas to the troops, there came a terrible crashing of round and grape sliot through the ranks, that scattered dead men all around him. One of the balls passed through the general's thigh, killed his horse, and brought both to the ground. Pakenham was caught in the arms of his faithful aid, Captain M'Dougall, Avho had performed a similar service for General Ross when he fell, mortally wound- ed, near Baltimore a few months before.'^ The commander was conveyed to the rear in a dying condition, and placed under a venerable live-oak tree, which disappeared only a few years ago. There he soon expired in the arms of M'Dougall. General Gibbs was also mortally wounded, and died the next day ; and Keane was 80 severely shot through the neck that he was compelled to leave the field. Tlie command was then assumed by Major Wilkinson, the officer of highest grade left in the saddle. Under his leadership the broken battalions endeavored to scale the breastworks. They were repulsed, and Wilkinson fell on the parapet mortally wounded. His discomfited men fell back, and all of the assailants withdrew in wild confusion. Of the gallant nine hundred Highlanders, with twenty-five oflicers, of the Ifinety-third Regiment who went into the fight, only one hundred and thirty men and nine officers could be mustered at its close. The Twenty-first Regiment lost five hundred men, and every company came out of the terrible conflict a mere skeleton in numbers. > See page 962. > See page 9B1. )n'8 veterans, step- ley had reached a ch, concealed from four ranks deep, rennessecans arose tractive volley on diery. The storm Y f«ill back, and the other, participated t crashing through utest hearts. The irage and untiring fty-fourth with the ig implements, and and bold deeds for ,, and his horse was lis favorite aid, the cers fell, until there into detachments, ng swamp. There ;d forward to scale At the same time, cause, wheeled his right wing. Thc^ iries as they strode composed of nine ield in Continental h fury upon them. right, which, with )m Carroll's rifles, minutes the right to the rear on the shing of round and him. One of the ought both to the aptain M'Dougall, , mortally wound- nveyed to the rear which disappeared )ugall. ; and Keane was ve the field. Tlie ghest grade left in ored to scale the parapet mortally withdrew in wild five officers, of the id and thirty men Regiment lost five a mere skeleton in Bl. OF THE WAR OF 1 8 i 2. 1047 Battie of New Orleang. I wl L( While this sanguinary work was in progress on the British right, a more snccessftil movement, for a time, was made by them on their left. Keane's whole division moved when he led the Highlanders to the right. Nearly a thousand men, under the active h, 1048 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Battle of New Orleana. i r\ s Colonel Rennie, composed of the Ninety-fifth Rifles, companies of the Seventh, Nine- ty-third, and Forty-third Infantry, and some West India troops, had pushed rapidly forward near tho river in two columns, one on the road, and the other nearer the water, under shelter of the leve?, and, driving in the American pickets, succeeded in taking possession of the unfinished redoubt on Jackson's extreme right. Tliey drove out the Americans, but they did not hold it long. The invaders on the road were terribly smitten by Humphrey's batteries and the Seventh Regiment, and were kept in check. At the same time Rennie led the column along the water's edge, where they were greatly annoyed by Patterson's battery, and, with several other oflicers, scaled the parapet of the American redoubt. The New Orleans Rifles, under Bcalc, now poured upon these officers and the inmates of the redoubt such a terrible fire that nearly every man was killed or mortally wounded. Rennie had just exclaimed "Hurrah, boys, the day is ours !" when he fell to rise no more. This attacking column also fell back in great disorder under cover of the levee, and, like those on the British right, sought shelter in the plantation ditches from the terrible storm that came from Jackson's lines. General Lambert, with his reserves, had come forward on hearing of the disasters to Pakenhara, Gibbs, and Keane ; but he was in time only to cover the retreat of the battered and flying columns, and not to retrieve the fortunes of the day. The fire of the mus- ketry had ceased by half after eight in the morning, but the artillery kept up their fire until about two o'clock in the aftemoon. It is worthy of note that, from the fliglit of the first signal rocket of the British to the close of the contest, the New Orleans Band (stationed near the centre of the line, and not far from the spot where the monument now stands, and where the American standard was kept flying during the struggle), played incessantly, cheering the troops with national and military airs. The British, on the contrary, had no other musical instrument than a bugle, and as their columns advanced no drum was heard in their lines, nor even the stirring tones of the trumpet. From their first landing at the Fisherman's Village, the experience of that army had been almost unbroken drear- iness.' Let us now turn our attention to the movements on the right, bank of the Mississipp:. We left Colonel Thornton and his men just debarked, after battling with the current of the Mississippi for some time. Morgan had sent forward his advance of less than three hundred men (one third of whom were Arnaud's Louisiana militia) under Major Tessier, and the remain- der, fatigued and poorly-armed Kentuckians under Colonel Davis, chosen from those sent over on the 7th by General Adair, were directed to take po8iti<)n on Mahew's Canal, about a mile in advance of Morgan's line, near which it was supposed the Brit- ish would land. The line which this small force was expected to hold extended from the river to the swamp, a distance of a mile, and required at least a thousand men and severai pieces of artillery to give it respectable strength. Davib's troops were placed on the left, resting on the levee, and Tessier's were on their right, extending > Latonr oays tt wbs reported tbat there were diriBions in the conncils of the Brttteh officers concerning the point of attack, and that Admiral Cochrane, with a feeling o> contempt for the American militia, ueclared be wonld undertiike to storm Jackson's lines with two thoasand sailors, armed only with swords and pistols. This confldeuce in the iuviu- cibllity of the British on this occasion contributed largely to their disaster. ' This monument, between the site of Jackson's lines and bis head-quarters (Macart^'s), was nnflntshed when the writer visited the spot in April, 1861. Work upon it bad then ceased. The stones bad been laid to tlie height of about seventy feet See note 1, page 1012. HONUUENT.' OF THE WAR OP 1812. 1040 he Seventh, Nine- id pushed rapidly other nearer the kets, succeeded in ight. Tliey drove on the road were jnt, and were kept ater's edge, where eral ctlier officers, titles, under Beulc, I a terrible fire that ad just exclaimed cover of the levee, m ditches from the ,, with his reserves, as, and Keane ; but ig columns, and not rhe fire of the mus- in the morning, but bout two oVlock in ;hat, from the flight 1 to the close of the )ned near the centre rhere the monumt ..t standard was kept icessantly, cheering r airs. The British, il instrument than a no drum was heard ines of the trumpet, erman's Village, the lost unbroken drear- e movements on the men just debarked, Mississippi for some advance of less than hom were ArnancVs lier, and the remain- is, chosen from those )08iti<>n on Mahew's IS supposed the Brit- hold extended from jast a thousand men Davib's troops were leir right, extending cere concerning the point of lieclared he would undertake This confidence In the Invln- '»), was unflnlehed when the Btt laid to the height of about Battle of New Orleant. lu ReiulU. to the Bwamp. Both watched vigilantly for signs of the coming of the invaders. Their vigilance was vain, for Thornton landed a mile below them under cover of three gun-boats under the command of Captain Roberts. Pushing rapidly up the road, Thornton encountered Morgan's advance, when he divided his superior force, sending a part to attack Tessier, while with the remainder, and aided by Roberts's carronades, he assailed Davis. Both commands were soon put to flight, and fell back in confusion on Morgan's line. Tessier's men could not gain the road, and many of them took refuge in the swamps, where they suflored much for several hours. When Thornton gained the open fields in front of Morgan's line he extended his force, and with the sailors in column on the road, and the marines placed as a reserve, he advanced upon the American works under cover of a flight of rockets, and with the aid of Captain Roberts's carronades. As the sailors rushed forward they were met by volleys of grape-shot ^'om Philibert which made them recoil. Seeing this, Thorn jn dp ?d forward with the Eighty-fifth, and, handling the men with great skill and celerity, soon put the Kentuckians to flight, who ran in wild confusion, and could not be rallied. Following up this advantage, Thornton soon drove the Louisi- anians from the intrenchraents, and gained possession of Morgan's line after that gen- eral had spiked his cannon and cast them into the river. He next made for Patter- son's battery, three hundred yards in the rear. Its guns, which had been playing ef- fectually on the British in front of Jackson's lines, were now trailed on the nearer foo en the river road. But Patterson, threatened by a flank movement, was compelled to give way ; so he spiked his guns, and fled on board the Louisiana, while his sail- ors assisted in getting her into the stream, out of the reach of the enemy. A largo number of the troops were rallied and formed on the bank of the Boisger- vais Canal, and prepared to make a stand there. But the British did not advance beyond Patterson's battery. There Thornton was informed of the terrible disasters on the opposite side of the river, and soon afterward received orders from General Lambert to rejoin the main army. Jackson, in the mean time having heard of Mor- gan's disaster, sent over General Humbert (a gallant Frenchman who was acting as a volunteer) with four hundred men to re-enforce him. Their services were not needed. Thornton had withdrawn, and at twilight re-embarked his troops. That night the Americans repossessed their works, and before morning Patterson had re- stored his battery in a better position, and announced the fact to Jackson at dawn by discharges of heavy cannon at the British outposts at Bien Venn's.' After the conflict had ceased, Jackson, accompanied by his staff", passed slowly alo ig his whole line, addressing words of congratulation and praise to the oflicers and men every where. Then the band struck up " Hail, Columbia," and cheer after cheer for the hero went up from every part of the line. These were echoed from the lips of excited citizens who had been watching the battle at a distance with the greatest anxiety. Then the soldiers, after partaking of some refreshments, tunied to the performance of the sad duty of caring for the wounded and the bodies of the dead, which thickly strewed the plain of Chalmette for a quarter of a mile back from the front of Jackson's lines. These were the maimed and slain of the British army. No less than twenty-six hundred were lost to the enemy in that terrible battle, of whom seven hundred were killed, fourteen hundred were woundeo. and five hundred were made prisoners. The Americans lost only eight killed and thirteen wounded ! The history of human warfare presents no parallel to this disparity in loss. The Americans were thoroughly protected by their breastworks, while the British fought in front of them on an open level plain. 1 The loss of the British on this occasion, In killed and wonnded, was a little more than one hundred. The Ameri- can" lost one man killed and five wounded. On that side of the Mississippi the British acquired their sole trophy dar- ing their efforts to capture New Orleans. It was a small flag, and now [IStT] hangs conspicuously among other war trophies In Whitehall, London, with the Inscription, " Taken at the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 181B." \ i 1060 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK I t !. \\ Tho Burial of the Dead. UlnpusltloD uf tliu UiHllea uf the •lulu iirltlab Offlcen. After the battle General Lambert sent a flag of truce aHking for an armistice in order to bury his deiul. Jackson f^ranted it on the condition that it should not bo extended to openitionH on the right bunk of the river. The result of this exception was, as we have observed, the immediate withdrawal of Thornton from Morgan's line. On the following morning detachments from both armies were drawn up three hundred yards in front of the American lines, when the dead bodies between that ]toint and the intrenchments were carried and delivered to the IJritish by the Ken- tuckians and Tennesseeans on the very scaling-ladders left by the enemy when driv- en back. The British then carried their dead to a designated spot on IJienvenu's plantation which had been marked out as the cemetery of "the Army of Louisiana." There tliey were buried, and to this day that consecrated " God's Acre" has never been disturbed. It is distinguislied ir. the landscape by a grove of small cypress- trees, and is a spot regarded with superstitious awe by the negroes in that neighbor- hood. The wc uided, who were ^^r^m^:M l-KUAN-TBKEB. made prisoners, were carefully con- veyed to New Orleans, where they were placed in the barracks, and tenderly cared for by the citizens. The bodies of tho dead British officers were carried to Villere's, the licad-quarters, in whose garden some of tlicm were buried by torch- light that night with solemn core- monies. Those of Pakenham,Gibb9, Rennie. and one or two other offi- cers, were disemboweled, placed in casks of rum, and sent to their friends in England. Their viscera Averc buried beneath a stately pe- can-tree, which, with another quite as stately, seen in the annexed sketch, was yet standing in vigor- ous health on the lawn a few yards from Villere's house when the writ- er sketched the two in April, 1861. It is said to be a notable fact that this tree, fruitful before its branches were made to overshadow the re- The tree nearest the figure of the mains of the invaders, has been barren ever since, man is the historic one. While the armies were burying their dead on the field of strife, a portion of the British were seeking to secure the free navigation of the Mississippi below New Or- leans for themselves by capturing Fort St. Philip, at a bend of tho stream seventy or eighty miles below the city in a direct line, and which was considered by botli par- ties as the key of Louisiana. It contained at that time a garrison of three hundred and sixty-six men, under Major Overton,' of the Rifle corps, and the crew of a gun- boat which had been warped into the bayou at its side. On the morning of the 9th, at about the time when disposition was being made of the British dead in front of Jackson's lines, a little squadron of five hostile vessels appeared near the fort. Tliey consisted of a sloop of war, a gun-brig, and a schooner {Herald, Sophia, and Tender), I Walter H, Overton, orTennesBee, entered the army In 1808, and was commissioned a major in Febmary, 1814. For hla gallantry in defending Fort St. Philip he was breveted lieutenant colonel. He resigned in ISIO. He was a member of Congress from Lonisiana from 1829 to 1831. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1051 he ilaln Brltiih Ofllcen. ir an ariiiistico in it hIiouUI nut bo of this exception 111 from Morgan's e drawn up three iea between that itish by the Ken- .Miemy when driv- )ot on IJienvenu's my of Louisiana." I Acre" has never of small cypress- in that ncighbor- mded, who were rere carefully con- rleans, where they the barrpcks, and r by the citizens, the dead British rried to Villere's, i, in whoso garden re buried by torch- with solemn cere- rPakenham,Gibb9, or two other offi- boweled, placed in mCL sent to their id. Their viscera eath a stately pe- 4'ith another quite in the annexed standing in vigor- awn a few yards ISO when the writ- wo in April, 1801. notable fact that )cforo its branches rershadow the re- the figure of the a portion of the n below New Or- Btream seventy or ered by both par- of three hundred le crew of a gun- orning of the 9th, dead in front of iv the fort. Tliey >hia, and Tender), ' In Febnmry, 1814. For 1816. He was a member Atlitck on Kurt St. Philip. Capture of Fort B4>w]rer. Jackion's Army eutera New Orleani. and two bomb vessels. They anchored out of range of the heavy guns of the fort, the bomb vessels with tlieir broadsides toward St. I'liilip. At three o'clock in tlie afternoon they opened fire, ami, fin<liiig the^ had the range of the fort, eontiniu-d tho bombardment, with little interruption, until daybreak of the IHth, easting more than a thousand shells, with the expenditure of twenty thousand jiounds of powder, besides many round and grape shot. For nine days the Americans were in their battery (five days without shelter), exposed to cold rain part of the time. The proceeds of this expenditure secured by tho British consisted of two Americans killed and seven wounded. The assailants withdrew on the 18th without gaining either the fort, spoils, or glory.' On the 18th of January, in accordance with an arrangement made the previous diiy, a general exchange of prisoners took place; and on the lOtli the British, under Lambert, were wholly withdrawn from the Mississippi, having stolen noiselessly away under cover of darkness the previous night. They .C'^hed Lake Borgne at dawn on tho 19th, but they were yet sixty milos from their fleet, exponod to quite keen wintry air, and considerably annoyed by mounted men under Colonel De la Hondo, who hung upon their rear. There they remained until the 27th, when they embarked, and two days afterward reached the fleet in tho deep water between Cat aiki Ship Islands. The vigilant Jackson, in the mean time, had made sucli disposition of his forces as to guard every approach to the city, for ho thought the foiled enemy, enraged by disap- pointment, might attempt to strike a sudden blow at some other quarter. When the British departed from tho vicinity of Now Orleans they proceeded to invest Fort Bowyer,* yot in command of Major Lawrence.'^ TJiey be- •Febmaryo, sieged it for nearly two days, when the gallant Lawrence was compelled ^*"*" to surrender'' to a superior force. IVIobilo was then at tho mercy of the ^ February 12. foe ; but their farther conquests were arrested by news of peace, brought directly to General Lambert by a ship sent from England for the purpose. On the 21st of January, Jackson, with tho main body of his army, entered I~ew Or- leans. They were met in tho suburbs by almost the entire population of all ages and 80X08, who greeted the victors as their saviors ; and they entered the town in tri- umphal procession, with far more honest pride than ever swelled the bosoms of vic- torious conquerors or emperors of other centuries of time.^ 1 The chief sources from which the materials for the account of the battles near New Orleans were drawn were the of- flcial reports of the officers engaged In them ; Latonr's Memoir of the War in West Florida and iMuiaiaita; Judge Walk- erV Jaekmn and New Orleans; the several histories of the War of 1812 ; and numerous statements to the author, oral aud written, by actors In the scenes. > Bee page 1021. 9 Two days afterward' New Orleans was the theatre of a most Imposing spectacle. At the request of ^^ nnrvM Jackson, the Abb6 Du Bonrg, Apostolic Prefect for loulslana, appointed that a day for the public offer- «'*D'""7 • lug of thanks to Almighty Qod for bis iuterpositlon in behalf of the American people and nationalitr. The dawn was iKi ml 1052 PICTORIAL FIELDi-BOOK Ilonori aoritrded to Jickaon knd bli Troop*. Tho nowB of tho Riillant dofenso of Now Orleans produced Ji thrill of intense joy throughout tlie land. State LegiHlaturoH and other public bodies tiiankcd the hero who commanded tho victoriouH little army. A small medal was struck and exten- sively circtilated among tho people. Congress voted him tho thanks of tho nation, and ordered a ooinmemorativo gold medal to bo given him. OOLD MCnAL PEUBKNTUn TO JAOKRON.' greeted by tho boomlnf; of cannon. It was a bright and boautinU winter morning on tho vorge of tho tropics. The religious ceremonies wore to bo held in tho old Spanish Cathedral, which was decorated with evergreens for the occasion. In tho centre of the pnblic sqnare, in front of the Cathedral, where the equestrian statue of Jackson now stands, was erected a temporary tri- umphal arch, supported by six Corin- thian columns, and festooned with flowers and evergreens. Beneath the arch stood two beautlAil little girls, each upon a pedestal, an 1 holding in her hand a civic crown of laurel. Near them stood two dimsels, one person- ifying Liberty ai.J the other Jiutiee. From the arch to the church, arranged in two rows, stood beautiful girls, all dressed In white, and each covered with a blue gauze veil and bearing a silver star on her brow. These per- sonified the several States and Terri- tories of the Union. Kach carried a flag with the name of the state which she represented, upon it. Each also carried a small basket trimmed with blue ribbon and filled with flowers ; and behind each was a lance stuck in the ground bearing a shield on which was Inscribed the naici and legend of the state or territory which she represented. These were linked by ^»!»w^'":;j^s^»^3?«»^^« BTATDK or JAUK80N IN FBOMT Or TUB OATUEDBAL. evergreen festoons that extended ft"om the arch to the door of tho Cathedral. At the appointed time, Qeneral Jackson, accompanied by the ofllcers of his staff, passed through the gate of the Grand Sqnare fronting the river, amid the roar of artillery, and was conducted between lines of Planchi's New Orleans battal- ion of Creoles (which extended ttom the gate to the church) to the raised floor of the arch. As he stepped upon It the 1 On one side of the medal Is a profile of the bust of Jackson, and on the other a flgure of Victory seated, supporting a tablet before her with her left hand, in which Is also a lanrel wreath. She is making a record of the triumph on the 8th of January. She has written the word " Orleans," when she Is Interrupted by another flgnre, personating Peace, who holds an olive-branch in her right hand. With her left she points to the tablet, as if directing Victory to record the peace which had already been agreed upon by the belligerents. Victory is in the act of listening. The inscriptions on tho medal are simple—" majob qknxbal andbxw jaossom. battli or new obleakb, jahdabt 8, 1815. besoldtioh or OOHOBBSB, TIBBDABT 2T, 1815." OF THE WAH OF 1812. 1063 Runora uf i'oaca dtareiiiirilcd. MRrtliil I.nw am) mllllary Diirlplliin c<ii)tltuii>d. 11 of intense joy lianki'd tlic hero TUck niul extcn- {g of the nation, Wm WiO Iatueubal. Ingh the gute of the Grand jicWs New Orlettns battal- B he stepped upon it the pTctory seated, supporting ord of the triumph on the ignre, personating Peace, ilreotlng Victory to record Itenlng. The InscripUone |rABY8,1816. BESOtOnOH Although no one bu|)- poscd the Hritish would return, JackHoii, like a true soldier, did not re- lax his vigilance and dis- cii)line. Martial law waH rigorously maintained after rumors of peace reached New Orleans through seemingly relia- ble sources. lie did not feel bound to bo govern- ed by rumors. lie retain- ed all the troops; kept up the regular discipline of the camp; made drafts and bills of exchange on his government as usual for funds to prosecute hostilities (a fac-simile of one of which is given in the annexed engraving), and in every way acted as if war was in full ca- reer. Finally a messen- ger arrived from Wash- • March 0, ington* with ^^^'^ an official an- nouncement of peace. Jackson was then in- volved in a contention with the civil authori- ties. Tliis culminated in great public excitement.^ It soon ended, and on the 30th of March the "Hero of New Orleans," as Jack son was ever afterward called, departed from that city for his humble home in Tennessee, a log house in the forest. I visited the theatre of war around New Or- leans, with a young kins- two little girls leaned gently forward and placed the laurel crown upon his head. At the same moment a charming Creole girl (Miss Kerr), as the representative of Louisiana, stepped forward, and with modesty supreme in voice and manner addressed a few congratulatory words to the chief, eloquent with expressions of the most profound gratitude. To these words Jackson made a brief i«ply, and then passed ou toward the church, his pathway strewn with flowers by the sweet representatives of the states. At the Cathedral entrance the honored hero was met by the Abb4 Du Boarg In his pontlflcal robes, and supported by a college of priests In their sacerdotal garments. The abbi addressed the general with eloquent and patriotic discourse, after which the chief was conducted to a conspicuous seat near tV.u great altar, when the Te Deum Laudamua was chant- ed by the choir and people. When the Imposing pageant was over, the general retired to his quarters to resume the stem duties of a soldier; and that night the city of New Orleans blazed with a general illumination. > The story of Jackson's difflcnlties with the civil authorities may be told in a few words. In the lieglslatnre of Lon- If'' 1054 PICTOItlAL FIELD. BOOK 'i-i inmttfl ■' 1 i i : '(I ll t i JocIuod'r Obedieuce io Civil Law. Scene tu tlie old Conrt-bouse. Biographical SketcU ofjacluon. woman as a traveling compjinion, in tho month of April, 1861, We left New York on the 28th of March for Baltimore, from which city we passed over the Baltimore arc! Ohio Railway to Parkersburg, in Virginia, on the Ohio River, stopping over night at Harper's Ferry, where, tliree weeks later, the torch of civil war, then just lighted, made sad devastation. We crossed the Chio River at Parkersburg, and There we again crossed that stream to Cov- journeyed by railway to Cincinnati ^9'^^^^^ Iflana wos a powerful raction pereonnlly opposed to Jackson— eo powe-''aI tliat, when the offlcert and troops were thanked by that body on the 2d of February, the name of their chief leader was omitted. This conduct highly Incensed the people. Thei.' Indignation was inii iisifled by a seditious publication, pnt forth by one of tho members of the Leg- islature, which was -alculated to products d'eaffection in the army. This was a nubile matter, and Jackson felt bound to notice it. He ordere'J tlie arrest of the anthr-.', and bis trial by martial law. Judge Dominic A. Hall, of the Supreme Cov.rt of ^^ w- ».^ — — ^ • x.,^ — >,^^ f_^ €^^l^<7 £^» the United States, Issued a writ of habeas corpus in favor of the offender. Jackson considered this aviolation of martial law, and ordered tae arrest of the Judge an 1 bis expul- sion beyond the limits of the city. The judge, in turn, when the military law was revoked on tho 13th of March, in consequence of the official proclamation of peace, required Jackson to appear before him and show cause why he should not be punished for contempt of court. He cheerfully obeyed the sum- mons, »nd entered the crowded court-room In the old Spanlsb- bullt court - house, 209 Roynl Street, in citizen's dress. He had almost reacaed the bar bo- fore he was recognized, when hj was greeted with huzzas by a thousand voices. The judge was alarmed, and hesitated. Jackson stepped upon a beuch, procured silence, and then, turning to the trembling judge, said, " There Is no danger hei e — there shall be none. The same hand that protected this city ft'om outrage against the luviders of the country will shield and protect this court, or perish In the effort. Proceed with your sentence." With quivering lips the judge pro- u(mnced him guilty of con- tempt of court, and fined him a thousand dollars. The act was greeted by a storm of hisses. Jackson Inimediutcly drew a check for the amount, handed It to the marshal, and then made his way for the coort-house door. The excitement of the people was intense. Tlicy lifted Jackson upon their shoulders, bore him to the street, and then the immense crowd sent up a shout that blanched the cheeks of Judge Hall, and gave evidence of the unbouuaed popularity of the heroic soldier who was so prompt In his obedience to the mandates of the civil law. He was placed in a carriage, from whlcii the people released the horses and draggea it themselves to Maspero's house, where ho addressed the populace, urging them to show their apprecia- tion of the blessings of liberty and free government by a willing submission to the authorities of their country. In the mean time a thousand dollars had been collected by voluntary subscriptions and placed to his credit in a bank. Jack- son oolltely refused to accept it, and begged his ft-icnds to distribute It among the relatives of those who had fallen In • 1843. "'^ '"'^ battles. Nearly thirty years afterwaid Congrnss refunded* the sum, i j interest, amounting in all to , ' two thousand seven hundred dollart. Andrew Jackson was bom in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, on the IBth of March, 1T«T. He was designed by his mother for the Christian ministry, but his studies were interrupted by the old War for Independence, whfie tumults were loud in the region wh'sre the boy resided, his home then being in the northern part of South Carolina. He went into the service a mere !<td, and was made a prisoner in ITOl. His mother, his only surviving parent, died at that time, and he was left alone. He studied law, and was admitted to tho bar In 1780. He settled in Tennessee, and at Nash- ville, which he made his home in 1700, he was married to an eT<'elle"t woman. In 1795 he assisted in forming a Stale Constitution for Tenneusee. He was the flrst-elected Congressman fVom that state, and represented it in the Senate of the United States in 17C7. He was soon appointed judgs of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and for many years he TUK OLI> OOCET-UOCSE. OF THE WAll OF 18 12. 1055 phlcal Sketcii of Jackson. Ve left New York ver the baltimore er, stopping over ivil war, then just Parkersburg, and at stream to Cov- ofBcerc and troops were Is conduct highly incensed r the members of the Leg- aud Jackson felt bound to Jonmey f^om Baltimore to Lexington, in Kentucky. 'Ashland.' Clay's Monument. Jackson's Tomb. pear before him and show le why he should not be Ished for contempt of court. :heerfully obeyed the sum- is, and entered the crowded rt-room in the old Spanish- t court -house, 209 Roynl let, in citizen's dress. He almost rcacoed the bar bc- he was recognized, when •as greeted with huzzas by ousand voices. The judge alarmed, and hesitated. [SOU stepped upon a bench, urcd silence, and then, ing to the trembling judge, There is no danger hei e iere shall be none. The _ nand that protected this from outrage against the (IcTs of the country will Id and protect this court, irlsh in the effort. Proceed your sentence." With ering lips the judge pro- iced him guilty of con- it of court, and fined him a sand dollars. The act was ted by a storm of hisses, son immedlutcly drew a for the amount, handed leople was intense. They up a shout that blanched ler who was so prompt in leople released the horses I to show their apprecia- of their country. In the 8 credit in a bank. Jack- ^f those who had fallen in erest, amounting in all to T67. He was designed by spendeiice, whf ie tumults South Carolina. He went parent, died at that time, Tennessee, and at Nash- isisted Id forming a State eented It In the Senate of le, aud for many years be ington, and traveled southward through a beautiful region of Kentucky to Lexing- ton, where we tarried a day and a night. We rode out to Ashland, the residence of Henry Clay, a short distance from the town, for the purpose of seeing the dwell- ing-place of that eminent man for many years before his death, and tendering our respects to his venerable widow, then re- siding there. We were met by disap- pointment. The venerated mansion had been demolished by a son of the states- man (James B. Clay), and upon its site stood a pretentious brick dwelling — so pretentious that persons living long dis- tances from it went to see it. Mrs. Clay was too feeble to receive strangers,' and after a brief interview with the proprietor ■S;. of the estate we turned with sadness from the shadows of the grand old trees under which the former master delighted to loiter in his retirement from public life. It is to be regretted that his son did not conif ly with the desires of the people of Kentucky that the mansion at Ashland should belong to that state, and be preserved as a perpetual memorial of her honored son. We returned to Lexington, and rode out to the pub- lic cemetery wherein lie the remains of Henry Clay and his family, and where, on the verge of a plain, stands a beuutiful monument (a sketch of which is given on the next page) erected to the memory of the statesman. -«SS llOIll.F.V'S onAvn.' JAgikSON B TOSIU. was chief military commauderln that section. His services in the War of 1312 are recorded in this volume. Ho rep'alned in the service some time after the war. In 1S21 he was ap- pointed Governor of the Territory of Florida, and in U24 he was an unsuc- cessful candidate for president of the Republic. He was elected to that of- fice in 1828, and served two consecu- tive terms. In 1S3T ht retired from public life forever, and passed the re- mainder of his days at the " Ilcrmlt- Bgc" (see page 1016), where he died on the Sth of June, 1846. Beneath the roof of a little temple-like structure in the garden of the "Hermitage" rested the remains of Genera! Jack- son, by the side of those of his wife, when the author visited the place In the spring of 1801. ' Mrs. Lncrctia Hart Clay was the daughter of Colonel Hart, of Lexing- ton, and sister of Captain Hart, who was killed at Frenchtown (s,-o page 380), on the Raisin River. Mrs. Clay had eleven children, of whom only three now (180T) survive. She died at the residence of her son, John M., near Lexington, on the evening of the Cth of April, 1864, at the age of eighty-three years. » Tlie slab bears these few words : " General Thomas Boih.kt. Born 4tli July, nT2. Died Uth June, 1883." ■,:k\' liii :*fi :! m 1056 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Fraukfort and Its Cemetery. Oraves of Daniel Boone and hie Wife. clay's monument.' His body was laid by the side of the remains of his mother, in the western p, "t of the cemetery; and not far from them were the grave and modest little monument of General Thomas Bodley (see preceding page), who was the deputy quartermas- ter general to the Kentucky Volunteers under General Harrison in 1813, with the rank of major. From Lexington we jour- neyed by railway through the rich " blue-grass region" to Frankfort, the capital of the state. It is on the Ken- tucky River, and is the cen- tre of a theatre of romantic events in the early history of Kentucky, in which Dan- iel Boone and his compan- ions were so corspicuous. There we were favored with the company and kind offices of General Leslie Combs, whose gallant services in the War of 1812 are recorded in this volume. With him we visited the Frankfort Cemetery, on the high right bank of the Kentucky River, a short distance from the city, where, side by side, under the shadows of magnifi- cent sycamore - trees that stood there when the pioneers were fighting the Indians, were the graves of Daniel Boone and his wife, with nothing to mark their place of sepulchre but little mounds covered with green grass and wild flowers of the woods.^ Not far from these humble graves we found the fine monu- ment erected to the memory of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, delineated on page 496 ; and in its vicinity 1 Tills monnment Is of white marble. It is composed of an Egyptian cenotaph, upon which stands a Cor{ntb<an cap- ital bearing a statue of the statesman. • These graves were near the steep bank of the river, which the Indians in Boone's time called Kain-tnck-ee. The bank was here aboat one hundred and fifty feet in height. Near the grnves and covering a slope were stumps, stones, shmbliery, and vines, purposely left with nide aspect as appropriate to the resting-place of the remains of the pioneer. The tall shaft seen beyond the trees In the picture is that of the Soldiers' Monument given on the next page. 8BAVES or nANIKL UOONS AMI) niS WIFK. niel Boone and hU Wife. was laid by the le remains of his I the western p. n letery; and not far n were the grave St little monument il Thomas Bodley seding page), who Leputy quartei-mas- al to the Kentucky irs under General in 1813, with the najor. Lexington we jour- y railway through "blue-grass region" ifort, the capital of ;. It is on the Ken- iver, and is the cen- thoatre of romantic n the early history ttcky, in which Dan- le and his compan- ire so corspicuous. moral Leslie Combs, volume. With him Q Kentucky River, a W Ich Btands a Corinth'an cap- le called Kaln-tnck-ee. The fk slope were Btumps, stones, fthe remains of the pioneer. I on the next page. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1061 LoaisTllle and Nashville. A Visit to the Hermitage. Dr. Felix Robertson. stands a lofly and elegant wliite marble shaft, upon a rich pedes- tal, and with more elaborated sur- mountings, that was erected by the State of Kentucky in commemora- tion of its deceased soldiers who had served in any war.* We spent much of the day in that "city of the dead," and on the following morning went by railway to Louis- ville, at the " Falls of the Ohio," so often spoken of by the early voya- gers on that stream. Thence we. traveled by the same means to Nashville, on the Cumberlsi ' Riv- er, where we spent the liubbath, and on Monday rode out to the " Hermitage," the home of Andrew Jackson,'' about twelve miles from the city. It was a spacious brick mansion, built in 1835, after the earlier one was burned. There we were hospitably entertained by Mrs. Jackson, wife of the adopt- ed son of the President, who per- mitted me to copy from the origi- nal the portrait of General CoiFee seen on page 759. Tliere we saw two of the general's old house-serv- ants — Aaron and Hannah — the for- mer nearly eighty, and the latter almost seventy years of age. Hannah went with us to the tomb of the patriot in the garden, where I raade the sketch seen on page 1056. She gave us many inter- esting incidents of tlie latter days of her old master, and pointed to two thrifty wil- lows near the tomb which she saw him plant with his own hand a few evenings after Ids wife was buried there. On our return to Nashville toward evening,! passed an hour with the late venera- ble Dr. Felix Robertson, a portrait of whom is given on the next page, whose resem- blance to Jackson was very re^iarkable. He was the son of General James Robert- son (see page 747), and was the first white child bom on the site of Nashville, his mother then being in the little log fort there. On the following morning we departed by railroad for New Orleans, going by way of Decatur, in Northern Alabama, then westward to Grand Junction, and then southward to the " Crescent City." We ar- rived in New Orleans at noon on the 11th of April, took rooms at the St. Charles, and remained there nearly a week, visiting places of historic interest in and around the city, and gathering materials, by the use of pen and pencil, for the narrative of the events of the war there, given in this and the preceding chapter. For much in- I; and in its vicinity ■ formation, and for facilities for acquiring more, I am greatly indebted to the kindness KPHTUOKT BOLDIXBS' HOMUMXIIT. > This mouoment stands npon a monnd. Upon the bands which are seen embracing the sqnare shaft are the names of battles, and beneath each are the names of soldics who foil in those- battles. The shaft is a single piece of marble. Upon a tablet on the south front of the pedestal is a gronp in relief, composed of two feminine flgnre?, one on each side of an altar. One. with an open book in her hand, represents Hlntory ; the other, with a short Roman sword and olive wreath, represents Victory. The other hands of the two flgnres arc employed in holding a wreath over the altar. Al each comer of the top of the pedestal Is an eagle. The shaft Is sarmounted with a figure of Fame, with anne extended, nu4 holding a wreath in each band. ' See page iniT. 3X 11'^ Ih: !i i 1058 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK ?=■ m HUtorlcal Places in New Orleans. One of Jackson's UTe-gnardsmen. A Visit to the Batlle-ground, i -f - V!i i M i 'I est' f, -T of Judge Walker, author of Jackson and New Orleans / the late General H. W. Palfrey, who was a participant in the battle ; and especially to Alfred Hen- ner, Esq. (a leading lawyer in New Or- leans), who was one of Jackson's mount- ed life-guard, and was engaged in active and perilous duty on the memorable 8th of January, 1815,* It was chiefly under the direction of Mr. Henner that we found the various localities of interest in the city and its suburbs. • April 12, On the morning after our ar- 1861. rival* we rode down to the battle-ground in a pleasant barouche. General Palfrey had made arrangements to accompany us, but on that morning news had arrived of the attack of insur- gents on Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, and he was too busy with public matters to go J^V^ ^' y^ ^-V' ~ ~?*— » ^ with us. That outbreak of y^ ^^A? //y W/k/^^ yC^y'f'2^ ^ the Great Rebellion ab- /V^^^^^ (/ C^ C^^^^d^^M^^^^ sorbed all minds. Our driver had been over the battle-ground often, and was a com- petent guide, so we rode down alone along the Levee, the water in the brim- ful Mississippi being quite four feet higher than our roadway, with only twenty-five feet thickness of earth be- tween us and the flood. It was a clear and very warm day. The gar- dens were full of blooming roses, and the orange hedges around them were bright with the golden fruit. Wo were kindly entertained by Madame ]\[acart6, at Jackson's head-quarters,- and we found a cordial welcome at the Villero mansion by the family of the gra.nd8on of Governor Villero, where we were regaled Avith orange sherbet and the delicious elfe^ or Japan plum, trees of which, full of the fruit, formed a grove near the house.^ Aft- er making drawingH of that mansion, the pecan-trees,* and the dwellings of Lacoste* and De la Ronde,^ we returned to Macarte's, and while seated on the base » Captain Ogdcn was the cnmmander of the Ufe-gnard. The officers alone were nnlformed. Mr. Henner was one of only three snrvivora of '.aat guard at the time nf my visit, the other two being Ex-Qoremor nenry Johnson and JniiiM Hopkins. Tie becs'je a resident of New Orleans In 1809, when the city contained abont 14,000 Inhabitants. He wac there in 1801, hav).ig been sent by his father on a flat-boat with the first bales of cotton ever taken to that city. He placed them in the Jesnits' warehouse, on the site of the St. Charles Hotel, above Canal Street, It was in the fields ont- sidc of the palisades, which then occnpled the line of the present broad Canal Street. ' See page 103T. ' See page 1029. This fi'nit grows In clusters like cherries, on trees about the size of cherry-trees, and overages the site given In the engraving at the head of the opposite page. Some are larger. When ripe it U of a yellow color, ami it filled with a boontifttl supply of dellcioiu acid juice. * e«e page lOfiO. • S«e page lOSl. * See page lOU. itrBED UENNBB. OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1050 Bit to the Battle-ground. Port Sd'"*''' taken by Insurgents. tTprising of the People. ten, and was a cora- ?e rode down alone le water in the brim- [ing quite four feet roadway, with only lickness of earth be- flood. It was a irra day. The gar- looming roses, and around them were golden fruit. We •tained by Madame on's head-quarters,- jordial welcome at m by the family of Governor Villerc, galed with orange licioua elfe, or Japan ich, full of the fruit, lar the house. ^ Aft- igs of that mansion, nd the dwellings of seated on the base id. u. Mr. Henner wai one of Hcnrv Johnson and Jnniw 14,000 inhabitants. He was pver taken to that city. He et. It was in the fields out- 3 See page 103T. irry-trees, and averages the 1 it U of a yeilow color, anti • See page 1084. Negotiations for Peace proposed. of the monument there,' at a little past two o'clock, sketching the plain of Chalmette,* we heard some discharges of cannon at the city. " Fort Sumter is doubtless gone," I said to my companion. So it was. The news had reached the city at that hour, and these cannon were expressing the joy of the secessionists of New Orleans. On our return we found the city alive with excitement ; and during our stay there, a few days longer, and on our journey northward to the Ohio River, we saw the uprising of the insurgents in the slave-labor states at the be- ginning of the Civil War. After crossing the Ohio River and journeying eastward through Ohio State, over the Alleghany Mountains, and through Pennsylvania and New Jersey to New York,» we saw the more marvelous uprising of the loyal people, with a de- .Mayi, termination to suppress the rebellion. The whole country, whether on the ***'• ' mountain tops or in the valleys, seemed iridescent, for the national flag, with its " red, white, and blue," was every where seen.^ We have observed that, very soon after the battle of the 8th of January, 1815, near New Orleans, rumors reached that city that peace had been concluded between the United States and Great Britain, and that an official notification of such action was speedily given to General Jackson. It was a consummation ardently desired by the Americans. Tlicy had taken up arms JAPAH PLim. JOHN QUINOY ADAMS. most reluctantly, after the gravest prov- ocations, and only in defense of the in- dependence of the nation. From the be- pinning of the war they were anxious jr a reconciliation with Great Britain on honorable terms; and we have ob- served (page 470) with what eagerness the President, at an early period of the war, acted upon a proposition for the mediation of the Emperor of Russia to that end, by appointing James A. Bay- ard and Albert Gallatin commissioners to act with John Quincy Adams,* then American embassador at StPetersburg, in negotiating a treaty of peace. The British government refused to treat un- der the mediation of Russia, but offered to open negotiations in London, or in Gottenburg, in Sweden. The President accepted the proposition, and chose the ' See page 1048. » See page 1089. ' Sec Losslng's PMoritU Field-book of the Civtt War, Chapter XIV., volOinc i. ' Jolin Qnlncy Adams was bom it the homestead of his family at Qnincy, MBSsachusetts, on the 11th of July, 176T. When only eleven years of aj^e he accompanied his father to Europe, and was much in the society of diplomatists and other distinguished men. He received much of his education abroad, and when only fourteen years of age he was the private secretary of Mr. Dana, United States minister at St. Petersburg. He was graduated at Harvard University in July, 1T8T, ana studied law and entered upon its practice In Boston. He took an active part in politics. In 1704 Wash- ington appointed him resident minister in the Netherlands. He afterw.ird held the same olflce in Portugal and Pms- Kla. He returned to Boston in 1801, and was elected to a seat in the Massachusetts Senate. He was sent to the Na- tional Senate in 180i). In 1809 he was sent as minister to the Russian court, where he was a great favorite with the Emperor Alexander. He was at the head of the American commissioners in the negotiation of the treaty of pence at Ghent In 1814, and in 1815 be wae appointed minister vo the British conrt He was appointed Secretary of State In J I 1060 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Peace Commlnlonerg. Ncgotlatloiu opened at Ghent. Adams, Bayard, Clay, and Oallatlu. r li- i > iS , f Ih: i i JAMES A. BATABD. latter place for the meeting. The ancient city of Ghent, in Southern Netherlands (now in Belgium), was afterward substi- tuted.' There the American commission- ers assembled in the summer of 1814. These consisted of John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard,* Henry Clay,' Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin.* There they were joined* by the British com- . Angnsto, missioners, Lord Gambler, Henry **"• Goulburn, and William Adams ; and Chris- topher Hughes, Jr., one of the most at- tractive of men in social life, and a diplo- mat without a rival, who was then our charge d'affaires at Stockholm, was ap- pointed secretary to the American com- missioners. Negotiations were speedily opened, when a wide difference in the views of the com- missioners of the respective nations threat- 181T, in which office he remained nntll he took the chair of President of the United States In 1926. In 1831 he was elect- ed a member of the National Honee of Representatives, which position be held by re-election until his death, which oc- curred ki the Speaker's Boom at the Capitol on the 22d of February, 1848, in the elghty-flrst year of his age. His last words were, " This Is the end of earth." His remains were buried on the family estate at Quincy. In the accompany- ing picture are representations of the blrthplnci-, the later residence, and the tomb of John Quincy Aclams. » Qber-.i IB tne capital of the province of Bast Flanders, in Belgium ; Is situated at the confluence of the Scheldt and Lv!, and is one of the most interesting localities in the ancient Netherlands. » James A. Bayard was born in Philadelphia on the 2flth of July, 1T6T. He was graduated at Princeton in 1T84, be- came a lawyer of eminence, and took a scat in Congress in 1T9T, to which he had been elected by the Federalists. He held that position until 1804, when he was elected to the National Senate, in which he became a leader. He was op- posed to the War of 1813, but cheerfully acquiesced in the action of the majority. After assisting in the negotiation of the treaty of peace he went to Paris, where he became seriously ill. When he arrived in England, on his way home, he was met with the commission of minister to Bnssia. He declined the honor, hastened home, and five days after his ar- rival (August e, 1816) he died. » Henry Clay (see page 211) was bom near Hanover Court-house, in Virginia, on the 18th of April, 1T7T. He was edu- cated In inferior district schools. He began the study of the law at the age of nineteen years, and at the age of twenty he was admitted to its practice. He went over the mountains into Kentucky, and settled at Lexington in 1799. With a display of remarkable talents, he entered upon the practice of his profession, and as a politician, with vigor. At that early period he worked for measures for the emancipation of the slaves, and through life was an advocate of the abolition of slavery in some form. He was chosen a member of the Kentucky Legislature in 1803, and was sent to the National Senate in 1806. He entered the House of Representatives as a member in 1811, and almost immediately afterward was elected its speaker. He remained In Cofigress, as a member of one branch or the other of that body (with the excep- tion of four years, when he was John Quincy Adams's Secretary of State, and a brief retirement thereafter), until his death, which occurred at Washington City on the 29th of June, 1862. * Alberi Gallatin was bom on the 29th of January, 1T61, in the city of Geneva, Switzerland. He was graduated at the University of Geneva in 1TT9, came to America In 1T80, and entered the r -.llitary service in Maine. After the Revolu- tion he was a tutor In Harvard College for a while, and finally settled In Western Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Convention to revise the Constitution of that state in ITSn, and was elected to the State I.«giBlature. He was chosen a member of the National Senate in 1T93, bat, being ineligible, he was elected a member of the other house, and became OF THE WAR OF 1813. 1061 rd, CUy, and Oallatlu. g. The ancient ra Netherlands Tterward substi- 3an commiBsion- immer of 1814. Quincy Adams, Clay,^ Jonathan in.* There they h com- •Angttste, Henry *^**- lams ; and Chris- of the most at- Ufe, and a diplo- was then our ckholm, was ap- 1 American corn- lily opened, when fiewB of the com- ve nations threat- 26. In 1831 he was elect- intll his death, which oc- ear of his age. His last r^jtflS^ incy. In the accompany- flncy AtlaniB. faence of the Scheldt and 1 at Princeton In 1T84, be- i by the Fcderallsta. He jie a leader. He was op- flng In the negotiation of ind, on his way home, he id five days after his ar- April,im. Hewasedn- [and at the age of twenty cxlngton In 1799. With ttan, with vigor. At that ladvocate of the abolition I was sent tr the National Imedlately afterward wai> Iftt body (with the excep- lient thereafter), nntU his I He was gradoatttd at the lalne. After the Heroln- la. He was a member of llslature. He was chosen I other house, and became Delay in the Negotlationa. Sympathies of the People of Ghent with the Americans. The Treaty concladed. ened the most formidable obstructions to agreement. At times it seemed as if the effort to negotiate a treaty would be fruitless. The discussions continued several VIEW OF TUE CITY Or QUENT, rKOli TUE SOUELDT. months. The leading citizens of Ghent (whose sympathies were with the Ameri- cans') took great interest in the matter, and mingled their rejoicings with the com- missioners when their work was ended.^ That result was reached on the 24th of December, 1814, when a treaty was signed by the respective commissioners.' It was immediately transmitted to London by the hands of Mr. Baker, secretary to Lord the Republican leader of It. Jefferson appointed him Secretary of the Treasury In 1801, which ofllce he held until 1813, when he was sent to St. Petersburg aa a commissioner to treat for peace. His communications from Europe on public affairs at that time were mostly written in cipher, composed of numbers, of which (copied f^om one of them in the State Department at Waahbigton) a fac-simile is here given from a letter dated at London, June 13, 1814. Each number rep- IS 44- IZp. S0(^J33S: 3o8. 8^^- af/^ f(^0. ///3o. 327. SI 6 o-^^^ ^. /5^ /o4^. /07S. 7o^.'ZCg'./42/,.22o- /4Z3.JS76. ^il8. /3/ o.^ I3SS: /o4j^./o33. ^^i./433JS76. id^. 6s6'$i. looU- lloZ. 1^18. ^oo. resents a word or sentence, perfectly Intelligible to a person with a key. Mr. Oallatin assisted in negotiating the treaty at Ghent He remained in Europe, and ftom 1816 until 1823 he was our resident minister at the French court, and was employed in other diplomatic services. He declined offices of high honor at home, and remained abroad until 1828, when he returned to the United States, and fixed his residence In the city of New York, where he engaged in the busi- ness of banking. He took an active part in literary pursuits, and at the time of his death, which occurred at Astoria, Long Island, on the 12th of August, 1849, he was President of the New York Historical Society. ' On the 2Tth of October, 1814, the Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts at Ghent Invited the American commissioners to attend their exercises, when they were all elected honorary members of the Academy. A sumptuous dinner was giv- en, at which the Intendant, or chief magistrate of Ghent, offered the following sentiment : "Owr disKn^vfsAcd ^ueste and /elhnc-memben, th* Amerlean ministers— may they succeed In making an honorable peace to secure the liberty and independence of their country." The band then played " Hail, Columbia." The British commissioners were not present. ' After the treaty was concluded the American commissioners gave a dinner to the British commissioners, at which C3onnt H. Von Steinhnyse, the Intendant of the Department, was a guest Sentiments of mutual friendship were offered. A few days afterward the Intendant gave an entertainment to the commissioners of both nations. ' On the next two pages is a fac-simile of the last paragraph of the treaty, with the signatures of the respective com- missioners, and representations of the seals set opposite their names. These were careftilly copied by the writer fhim the original in the Department of State at Washington City. The Impresaiona of all the seals od the red wax were im- perfect, as the engravbigs represent them. ^ ; ;|, { !^ i i 1062 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK (• :i f I BIgnatures and 8eali to the Treaty of Peace. Gambler, and Mr. Can-oil, ouo of tbu Hccretarios of tho American coiuniissionerB. c^y^t-^ . .Cftyf^ Oy'y^Ot -»5<i»-ZX i^^?-^*-^ a^-^^f^^t^ u crn/n dui/ytctf JicLu/yyU OF THE WAR OP 1818. 1068 in comraissionerB. Ratlflcatlon of the Treat; of Peace. ArrlTuI of the News In New York >nd WaahliiKtoii, ., t ill I!!| Cy^^e^ ^aJU;z:> There it was ratified on the 28th of the same month by the Prince Regent, and then sent to America by the same messen- gers. They sailed in the British sloop of war Favorite on the 2d of January, 1815. She arrived at New York on the evening of Saturday, the 11th of February. Mr. Hughes left Ghent with a copy of the treaty at the same time the other messengers did, proceeded to the Texel, and there embarked for the Chesapeake in the schooner Transit. She arrived at Annapolis two days aft- er the Favorite reached New York, and Mr. Hughes' was at Washington City with his copy of the treaty before the ratified copy arrived there. News of the arrival of the Favorite soon spread over the city. The glad tidings of peace which she brought were wholly unexpected, and produced the most intense satisfaction. No one inquired what were the terms of the treaty; it was enough to know that peace had been secured. The streets m 11 cy^y^ /^, > Hr. Hagbei U represented as a man of very attractive personal appearance, exceedingly active In body and mind, and more widely known personally daring his long residence in Europe than almost any other man. A writer, in speak. 1M4 PICTORIAL flELD-BOOK imolelDg* becaOM of Peace. now the New* wm ipread oTer the Cunnlry. lUJotcingt Id OrMt Britain. ( , were soon filled with people, and a placard issued from one of the newspaper offiecB> and thrown out of the window, was eagerly caught up and read by the multitude, who made the night air vocal with huzzas. Cannon thundered, bells rang, and bon- fires and illuminations lighted up the city until ailcr midnight. Expresses were sent in various directions with the glad news.* The newspaperH were filled on Monday 'Febrnaryia, morning* with shipping advertisements and commercial announcements 1815. Qf every kind. Government stocks advanced,^ and coin and merchan- dise rapidly declined.* There was joy all over the land, and especially along the whole maritime frontier. Banquets and illuminations marked the public satisfaction in towns and cities.* There were also great rejoicings in the Canadas because of the deliverance of the provinces from the terrors of invasion by which they had been dis- turbed for almost three years ; and the British government, appreciating the loyalty of the inhabitants of those provinces, as manifested in their gallant defense of their territory during the war, caused a medal to be struck in testimony of its gratitude.* There was rejoicing also in Great Britain because of peace, especially among the manufacturing and mercantile classes, for it promised returning prosperity ; and a medal was struck in commemoration of the great event, which bore upon one side the words, "trkaty of peace and amity between gueat Britain and the united STATES OF AMERICA, SIGNED AT GHENT DECEMBER 24, 1814," and Upon thc Other a feiU- Ing of bim said, " He li the beat known man in the world, ft'om New York to Knmtschatka," and woa remiirkablo for "Mying more wise things, strange things, droll things, than ever tongne uttered or mind conceived." Ills pcrsonnl popalarlty made him a most skillAil diplomat. Ue obtained a knowledge of the most profound state secrets, .Tohn <}uincy Ad.'^ras said, "by no improper acts, and at no cost of secret service money, but by the art of making friends by his goclul qualities wherever hi goes."— Adams's speech in Congress, September 4, 1841. Mr. Hughes was a native of Baltimore, and was a brother-in-law of Colonel Armistead, the gallant defender of Fort M'Uenry. He died in Baltimore on the IStb of September, 1849. > It was Issued from the ofBce of the Mereantil: Adverttter, on a slip of paper Ave by six inches in size, and was posted and scattered all over the city. The following la a copy of one of these placards, in the possession of John B. Morean, Baq., of New Torlc City : " New York, Satorday Evening, 9 o'clock, February 11, 181B. "PEACE. "The great and joyftal news of PEACE between the United States and Great Britain reached this city tbia evening by the British sloop of war Favorite, the Hon. J. U. Mowatt, Esq., commander, In forty-two days f^om Plymouth. "Henry Carroll, Esq., Secretary of the American I.egation at Ghent, Is the welcome bearer of the treaty, which was signed at Ghent on the 24th December by the respective commissioners, and ratified by the British government on the SSth December. Mr, Baker, late Secretary to the British Legation at Washington, has also arrived In the sloop of war with a copy of the treaty ratified by the British government." * Mr. Goodhue, an eminent merchant, sent an express at his own expense ($225) to Boston In thirty-six hours, which scattered the glad tidings along the way, Jacob Barker (see page 986) sent an express in like manner to Governor Tompkins at Albany in twenty-foar hours. Mr. Carroll, on bis way to Washington with a copy of the treaty, gave the first news of peace to Philadelphia, Hngbes bad already gladdened Baltimore with the tidings. * Six per cents rose IVom TO to 86, and treasury notes from 92 to 98, * Coin, which was twenty-two per cent, premium, fell to two per cent, in the conrse of forty-eight hours. Within the same time sugar fell firom $20 per cwt to $12.fi0 ; tea f^om $2.20 per lb. to $1 ; tin horn $80 n box to $2S. These are mentioned, among scores of articles, as specimens of the sudden effect of the news on commercial values, * Philadelphia was the first to illuminate. It took place on Wednesday evening, the 16th of February, Robert Whar- ton, the mayor, in bis proclamation concerning It, suggested t>>at, as the religious principles of the Quakers would not permit them to Illuminate, the police should see to It that ibey should be protected " in their peaceful rights," Thc mayor directed all the lights to be extinguished at ten o'clock. On that occasion brilliant !!ghts were exhibited bam the top of a shot-tower one hundred and sixty feet in height. The Illumination in New York took place ou the 22d of February, On the evening of the Iflth of March a " superb ball," as the newspapers of the day said, was given at Wash- ington Hall, the dancing-room of which was sixty by eighty feet In size. The "number of ladles and gentlemen was six biudred." The room was so arranged as to present the appearance of a beautiful pavilion, or temple, with eighteen pillars, on each of which was the name of a state. It was called the Temple of Concord, On one side of the room, un- der a canopy composed of flags, was the Bower of Peace, surrounded with orange and lemon trees covered with fhilt. The Evening Pott of the 21st of March said of the scene In the hall, " It was a picture of female beauty, fashion, and ele- gance not to be surpassed in any city in the Union," Among the most active women at this entertainment were those who composed the managers of the Association for the Relief of the Soldiers 'n the Field, formed in 1814. These con- sisted of Mrs, General Lewis, Mrs, William Few, Mrs, David Gelston, Mrs. Philip Livingston, Mrs, Colonel Lalght, Mrs. Thomas Morris, Mrs. Marlnus Willet, Mrs, Williiim Ross, Mrs, Nathan Sanford, Mrs, Daniel Smith, Mrs. L. Bradlsh, Miss M. Bleecker, Miss H, Lewis, and Miss H, E. G. Bradlsh. * The device on one side of the medal is emblematic of the United States and Canada. On one side of a river and lake (l^t. Lawrence and the Lakes) is the eagle, representing the sovereignty of the republic, threatening to fly over into Canada, whose emblem is the beaver. There the British lion conchant Is seen, emblematic of the protecting sovereignty of Great Britain, The device on the other side explains itself. The medal was made by Thomas Wyon, Jr,, a young engraver, then only twenty-three years of age. He died In 181T, at the age of twenty-flve years, when he was at the head of his pToftssion. Copies of the three medals here mentioned are in the rare numismatic collection of Chas, I, Bushnell, Esq., of New York, to whose courtesy I am Indeuted for the privilege of having two of them engraved for this worlc lolcingt In Ureal Britain. nowttpaper offices' by tho multitude, ills rung, and bon- icprcsscs were sent filled on Monday al announceinentH oin and morchan- |)e«!ially along tho public Batisfuction lias because of the they had been dis- nating the loyalty it defense of their J of its gratitude." ecially among tho prosperity; and a tore upon one side N AND TUB UNITED on the other a fem- " and wa» remarkable for H)iicelve(I." Hl» i)er«<)iml >roun<l ntatc secrets, Juhii e art of making flrienda by r. na(?heB was a native of nry. He died iu Baltimore les In size, and was posted lesslon of John B. Korean, clock, February 11, 181U, ■A this city this evening by ■om Plymouth. of the treaty, which was Iritlsb government on the ■rived in the sloop of war jin thirty-six honrs, which lliko manner to Governor ]py of the treaty, gave the Sl- eight honrs. Within the I box to $26. These arc 1 values. pebruary. Robert Whar- r the Quakers would not • peacefkil rights." The Lhts were exhibited f^om ftook place ou the 22d of |sald, was given at Wasli- dies and gentlemen woe or temple, with eighteen \me side of the room, nn- Itrees covered with fhiit. I beanty, fashion, and ele- ntertalnment were those tied in 1814. These cor.- Irs. Colonel Lalght, Mrs. Itb, Mrs. L. Bradlsb, Hiss I one ride of a river and leatenlng to fly over into \ protecting sovereignty [mas Wyon, Jr., a young irhen he was at the head Hon of Chas. I. Bnahnel), graved for tbia work. OF THE WAR OP 1812. 1065 Uadalt and Pictn^'ea In Commemoration of Peace. RatlfletUoii of the Treaty by the Dnitnd States Senate. UKKAI. Iir (illAIIiniiR. inine figure standing on the segment of a globe, bearing the cornucopia of plenty, and holding in on.j hand tho olive-branch of peace. Partly encircling the figure were the words, " on the earth peace, good-will to men." Another medal commemo- rative of the treaty was struck, on one side of which was a feminine figure standing upon a shell in tho midst of tho ocean, with the olive-branch in one hand and rays of light emanating from the other. Partly inclosing the figure were tho words, " PEACE HPREAD8 HEB INFLUENCE o'eR THE ATLANTIC SHORE." On the Other sidc WaS a dove surrounded with light, and desccndint,' toward a wreath of palm leaves in- JUKDAL COMMEMUUATIVK OF TUE TREATY Of I'EAOK. closing the words " concord between great britain and America." A fine alle- gorical picture was painted and engraved in this country commemorative of the war and the treaty of peace, a copy of which is given on the next page.' The treaty of peace was ratified by the unanimous vote of the Senate of the United States on the 17th of February, 1815, and it was promulgated the nt^j day by proc- lamation of President Madison. It did not, as the text of the treaty given in the Appendix shows, secure to the Americans that immunity from Search and Impress- ment for which they went to war, and for this reason it was pointed to exultingly by the Opposition as a proof of the wisd'om of their prophecies, the patriotism of their > This picture, entitled The Ptare of Ghent, 1814, and Triumph of Amtriea,y/M drawn by William Planton and en- graved by Chataiguler. It was published by P. Price, .Ir., Philadelphia. The design is thus described : "Minerea rep- resents the wisdom of the United States, Mercury their commerce, HerevUa their force. Minerea dictates their condi- tions of peace, which Mcrrunj presents to Britannia, and Hereules forces her to accept them. On the shield of Minerva are the names of those who signed the treaty ; on tho obelisk, those of the braves. On the other side America passes in triumph through the arch on her way to the Temple of Peace. She Is attended by Victory, and followed by a numerous train. Several trophies are seen, and in the bactigronnd are the ruins of the Capitol." Below the picture, in a circle composed of links, on each of which is the name of a state, ie the following luspriptioii : "Under the presidency of Had- ison. Monroe, Secretary of State." 'U'- : n loee riCTOUIAL FIELD-BOOK Allegoric*! I'lctnre of the Treatjr of Peace and Triumph of flmiflw in t M i (I. J if ,. ■JPl'^liff'^nl^Hyil A ' 1 1 V ' .IT jiiv^'^ ;t " U' 1 jf " 41 liRKfiHlHii 1 ill:! ( . % 1 'ijIKi HMP" 'IIIIIUIIIII' iJJM he 1 ^'Wi ^4 . - Ilk. i!:>^» S-':»W*'%.)>'i|'^ ^^ i ''^\ ''■^•"4m^\ ' -..^K' \^"y \\ — . "g-i:fl:Tl '^' S f - ■ isBlji s;S^^^Sb,,-^^_ " ■ ill. course, and the truth of their declarations that the war was a failure — " waged to no OF THE WAR OF 1813. 1067 HbeU of the Treat;. PiulUon of tlM Republic tt the Cloae of the Ww. Rexljaitmeut of National Aflklre. lure — waged to uo end."' It by no moanH Rocurcd all that tho Adminintratio'' hoj^d for ; yot, in addi- tion to the boon of pnaco, it gave to the AnicricanH advantiigus to be derived from u final Htftthini'nt ofboundarinB and the excluMivo riglit to the niivigation of tho MIwhIb- sipld l{ivur, wliilo it took from them the important privilege, whieh the marinerH of New Kngland had always enjoyed, of catching and curing iiHh on tho shores of tho Gulf of tSt. Lawrence.* It also Hccured, iu the interoHt of our common humanity, tlie co-operation of the two uatious iu efibrta to ouppross the iuhumau aud ua-Christian trailiG in slavoH. But fur more Important to this country and the world than tho Boourity of inci- dental advant.;^08 was the cHtablishment, by th<' v. ar, of the positive and permanent iudependenco of tho United States, and with it a guarantee to tho postorities, of the perpetuation and growth of free institutions. (4reat Britain had been taught, by the lessons of tho war, that tho young republic, tho offspring of her oppressions,^ growing more lusty every hour, would no longer tolerate an insult, or sufler its sovereignty to bo questioned without resenting tho offense; and she was corajHjlled to sign a bond, as it wei-o, to keep tho peace, in the form of an acknowledgment that she had, in that republic, a formidable rival for tho supremacy of the seas, which she was bound to respect. Her aristocracy, as a rule, and tho public writers in their interest, remained, as before, the bitter enemies of the Kopublic. They condemned the treaty because it yielded too much to what they were pleased to call tho " insolent Yankees,"* and omitted no opportunity to disparage and libel the American people and tho American Republic. It was, perhaps, a natural exhibition of tho weakness and selfishness of hu- man nature. That Republic, with its free iustitutions and equality in acknowledged citizenship, was and is a perpetual menace against tho oxistcnco of privileged classes, and a silent but potential champion of the rights of man enunciated in its j)rime po- litical creed, that " all men are created equal." Hence it is that tho privileged class- es of the Old World are its natural enemies, and are willing to disparage its institu- tions and people in the estimation of the toiling millions who are struggling for the light and air of a better human existence. When the treaty of peace was ratified, tho government of tho United States took measures immediately for tho adjustment of national affairs in accordance with the new order of things. An appropriation was made for rebuilding tho public edifices.* Plai J were considered for the maintenance of tho public credit and the extinguish- ment of the national debt, then amounting, in round numbers, to |1 20,000,000. The > The OppoB'Mon newnpapers contaiuod gome well-pointed epigrams, keen satires, and genalne wit, aimed at the friends of the wi r, and iu illnfitration of the shortcomings of the treaty ; and there waa also an abundance of coarre abuse ponred out, through the same channels, upon the Administration. The usually diguifled Evening Pout bad some severe critlclsmai and Jostifled the following stanza in its Sew Year'» Aiidreu, printed a few weeks before : " Your commerce Is wantonly lost, Your treasures arc wasted and gone ; You've fought to no end, but with millions of cost, And for rivers of blood you've nothing to boast But credit and nation undone." > The treaty provided for the appointment of commissioners, and such were tho final results of their labors. ' Half a century before (1705), when Charles Townshend, in an eloquent speech In the British House of Commons, spoke of fhe "ungrateftil Americans" as "children planted by our care," Colonel Barri-, in an indignant reply, exclaim- ed, "They planted by your care I No I your oppression planted them in America ; they fled from your tyranny to a then uncultivated and inhospitable wildemesf, exposed to all the hardships to which hnman nature is liable." * The Luadon Publie Advertiser, at that period, fursished many Ulustratlona of the feclhig against the treaty. The following will enfflce: "Advxbtibkhents ExTKAosniHAaT. "Wanttd.— The spirit which animated the conduct of Elizabeth, Oliver, and William. " />o«t.— All idea of national dignity and honor. " fotind.— That every iuslgnlflcant state may insult Tray which tuied to call herself HisTana or tdb Beab." » The value of the public buildings destroyed was estimated as follows : The Capitol, original cost, alterations, etc., $78T,1«8.«8 i President's house, including all cosU, $.184.834 ; public offices. Treasury, State, War, and Navy, $it,613.8i ; making a total of $1,216,111. The walla of the Capitol and of the President's bouse (see pages 933 and 934) remained strong* and only needed repairs. It was estimated that $440,000 wonid restore them to their condition before the fire. No estimate was made of the value of the pnblic library that was barned. The estimated cost of rebuilding the navy yard was $62,370. The value of property destroyed at that establishment was estimated at $669,174.04, of which $417,746. 61 waa movable property. See page 934. w Hi m M II II =fifi-^' 1068 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK Redaction a> the Armj. The Nav". Privateer*. CapUves released. Dartmoor Prisoners. army was placed on a peace footing, and was reduced to 10,000 men, by which reduc- tion about 1800 officers were compelled to leave the service. The navy was left where it stood, with an additional appropriation, for its gradual increase, of $200,000 annually for three years. The national vessels and prtvateers were drawn from the ocean as speedily as possible,^ and prisoners in the hands of both parties were released as quickly as proper arrangements could be made for their enlargement. In connection with the release of captives, a circumstance occurred at a ddpfit for prisoners in England which caused great exasperation on the part of the American people. That d6p6t was situated on Dartmoor, a desolate region in Devonshire, where it was constructed in 1809 for the confinement of French prisoners of war. It comprised thirty acres, inclosed within double walls, with seven distinct prison- houses, with inclosures. At the time of the ratification of the treaty of peace, there were about six thousand American prisoners there, iiicluding twenty-five hundred impressed American seamen, who had refused to fight in the British Navy against their countrymen, and were there when the war broke out in 1812. Some had been there ten or eleven yearo. "rn-.- place was in charge of Captain T. G, Shortland, with a military guard. That officer was charged with much unfeeling conduct toward the prisoners, accounts of which reached America, from time to time, and produced great irritation in the public mind. There was much delay in the ralease of the Dartmoor prisoners. It was nearly three months after the treaty of peace had been signed before they were permitted •March 20, to know the fact. From that time* they were in daily expectation of re- 1816. lease. Delay caused uneasiness and impatience, and there was evidently a disposition to attempt an escape. Symptoms of insubordination appeared on the 4th of April, when the prisoners demanded b-ead instead of hard biscuit, and refused » A riL *° receive the latter. On the evening of the eth,** so reluctantly did the pris- onera obey orders to retire to their quarters, that, when some of them, with DABTMOOB PBISON IN ISlOw' > The whole namber of Britlrh vesf els of every class captured by Americans dnring the war was estimated at i 780. An ofllclal British retnm stated that, daring the same time, British ships bad captnred and destroyed 168S American vessels of every clasn, manned by npw;ird of 18,(i<)0 eenmen. See puffe lOOT. ' This is a carefhl copy of an engraviUK attached to a Journal nf a Yountf Kan <t/ Ma»»aehumtt», late a Surgeon on board an Amerioan Privateer, who was a prisoner there at the time of the massacre, and an eye-wltnesi of macb of OF THE WAR OF 1812. 1069 Dartmoor Prl»oner«. Sad Event at the Dartmoor Prisons, Prosperity of tbe Repabllc. Its Kelations to the Nations. the appearance of mutinous intentions, not only refused to retire, but passed beyond the prescribed limits of their confinement, they were fired upon, by orders of Captain Shortland, for the purpose of intimidating all. This firing was followed up by the soldiers without the shadow of an excuse, according to an impartial report made by a commission appointed to investigate the matter. ' Five prisoners were killed and thirty- three were wounded. The act of the soldiers was regarded by the Americans as a wanton massac/e ; and when the British authorities pronounced the act "justifi- able homicide," the hottest indignation was excited. But Time, the great healer, has interposed its balm, and the event appears in history as one of the inevitable cruel- ties of ever-cruel war. At the close of the Second Wae fob Independence, the events of which are re- corded in this volume, our Republic had achieved, as we have observed, the most im- portant of all its triumphs, and was still wealthy with the fruits of a wonderful prog- ress in the space of twenty-five years since its nativity.' It then started afresh upon a grand career of prosperity, with marvelous resources developed and undeveloped — known and unknown. The rulers and privileged classes in other lands persisted in calling it an experiment, and were ever prophesying the failure of the republican prin- ciple in government, of which it was a notable example. Recent events have silenced all cavil, and dispelled all doubts on that point. Fifty years after the close of its last struggle for independence, our Republic emerged* from the fiery furnace of a Civil War unparalleled in proportions and operations hitherto, purified and strengthened by the ordeal. The most skeptical observer of that trial and its results can no longer consider our Govern- ment an experiment. It is a demonstration. Its history is an affirmative answer to the question whether republican institutions have elements of vitality and power sufiicient for the demands of every exigency of national life. Henceforth it will stand before the nations a trusted oracle for the guidance and encouragement of all aspirants in other lands for the privileges of free thought and action. what he recorded. The following is a description wf the picture : A. Surgeon's House ; B. Captain Shortland'a Quar- ters ; C. Uospital ; D. Barracks ; E. Cachot, or Black-hole ; F, F, F. Ouard-houses ; O, G. Store-houses. The Arabic numerals refer to the numbers of the prisons as they were alluded to in narratives and official documents. The out- ward of the two encircling walls of stone (of which the prisons were built) was amlle in circumference. The inner wall wag used as a military walk for the sentinel*. Within this wall were iron palisades, ten feet In height. The guard was composed of a little more than two thousand well-dlsciplliied militia, and two companies of Royal Artillery. The pic- ture not opiy gives a blrd's-«ye view of the post, but the position of tbe guards at the time they fired, and of the killed where they feU. ' The American commisMoners to negotiate the treaty of peace, then in London, appointed the late Charles King, president of Columbia College (then a young man, who was on a visit to England), a commissioner on the part of the Americans, and the British authorities appointed Francis Seymour Larpent to act with him. • John Bristed, in his admirable work on The RemxirctA of the. United Staten, published in ISIS, gives the following sum- mary of the real and personal capital, and the income of the people of the Repabllc, at abon^ the time of the close of the war: Real Prnpertii.—VuhMc lands, 600,000,000 acres, a( $2 an acre, $1,000,000,000 ; cultivated lands, 800,000,000 acres, at $10 :.ii acre, $3,000,000,000 ; dwelling-hon.ie8 of all kinds, $1,000,000,000. Total of real property, $6,000,000,000. Personal Property. — Capital to the holders of government storks, who were American citizens, $100,000,000; banking stocks, $100,000,000; slaves, 1,600,000, at $160 tach, $2'26,000,000 ; shipping of all kinds, $226,000,000; money, farming stock and ntensils, manufactures, household fiimiture and plate, carriages, and every other siwcles of p»r8onal proper- ty not above cnnmemted, ,v1,660,000,ooo. Total of personal property, $2,200,000,000. Qrand total of American capital, in real and personal property, $7,200,000,000. h \ iM :! 'Hi ^1 ^! i '] r I m ! I: r 1 L ; ! i i APPENDIX. TREATY OF PEACE AND AMITY BETWEEN HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY AND THE TJNITBD STATES OF AMERICA. Hie Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, desirons of terminating the war which has unhappily snb- slsted between the two cuantriee, and of rectorlng, upon principles of perfect reciprocity, peace, (Hendship, and good anderstanding between them, have for that purpose appointed their respective Plenipctcnthries — that is to say : His Britannic Majesty, on his part, has appointd the Right Honorable James Lord Qambier, Inte Admirai of the White, now Admiral of the K«d squadron of His Majesty's Fleet, Henry Goulburn, Esq., a member of the Imperial Parliament, and Under Secretary of State, and William Adams, Esq., Doctor of Civil Laws ; and the President of the Uuited States, by a^d with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, has appointed John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, citizens of the United States— who, after a reciprocal communicatlou of their respective fktll powers, have agreed upon the following Articles: Articli thx Fibst. There shall be a firm and nnirersal peace between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, and between their respective coantries, territories, cities, towns, and people, of every degree, without exception of places or persons. All hostilities, both by sea and land, shall cease as soon as this treaty shall have been ratified by both parties, as hereinafter mentioned. All territory, places, and possessions whatsoever, taken by either party from the other during the war, or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty, excepting only the islands hereinafter mentioned, shall be restored without delay, and without causing any destruction or carrying away any of the artillery or other public property orig- inally captnred in said forts or places, and which shall remain therein upon the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, or any slaves or other private property. And all archives, records, deeds, and papers, ei'her of a pnblic nature or belonging to private persons, which in the course of the war mny have fallen into the hands of the ofBcers of either party, shall be, as far as may be practicable, forthwith restored and delivered to the proper authorities and persons to whom they respectively belong. Such of the islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy as are claimed by both parties shall remain in the possession of the party in whose occupation they may be at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty until the decision respecting the title to the said islands shall have been made In conformity with the fourth article of this treaty. No disposition made by this treaty as to such possession of the islands and territories claimed by both parties shall In any manner whatever be constmed to affect the right of either. Abtiolx thb Skookd. Immediately after the ratiflcations of this treaty by both parties, as hereinafter mentioned, ordem shall be sent to the armies, squadrons, officers, subjects, and citizens of tlie two powers to cease trom all hostilities. And to prevent all ctuses of complaint which might Hrise on account of the prizes which may be taken at sea after the said ratifications of this treaty, it is reciprocally agreed that all vessels and effects which may be taken after the space of twelve days Irom the said ratifications, upon all parts of the coast of North America, trom the latitude of twenty-three degrees north to the latitude of fifty degrees north, and as far eastward in the Atlantic Ocean as the thirty-sixth degree of west longitude from the meridian of Oreenwlch, shall be restored on each side; that the time shall be thirty days in all other parts of the Atlantic Ocean north of the equinoctial line or equator, and the same time for the British and Irish Channels, for the Qulf of Mexico, .;nd all parts of the West Indies ; forty days for the North Seas, for the Baltic, and for all parts of the Meditenanean ; sixty days for the Atlantic Ocean south of the equator as far us the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope ; ninety days for every part of the world south of the equator ; and one hundred and twenty days for all other parts of the world, without exception. ABTIOI.S THE Tntan. All prisoners of war taken on either side, as well by land as by sea, shall be restored as soon as practicable after the rntifications of this treaty, as hereinafter mentioned, on their paying the debts which they may have contracted during their captivity. The two contracting parties respectively engage to discharge, in specie, the advances wUch may have been made by the other for the sustenance and maintenance of snch prisoners. AitTioi.1 mi FomtTB. Wliercas It was stlpnlated by the second art'.cJe In the treaty of peace of one thonsand seven hundred and eighty-throe, between His Britannic Majesty and the Uuited States of America, that the boundary if the Uuited States should compre- hend all Islands within twen( ■ leagues of any part of the shores of the Cnlled Staces, and lying between lines to be drawn due east IKim the points where the aforesaid boundaries, between Nova Scotia on the one part and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fnndy and the AtlanMc Ocean, excepting such islands as now are or heretofore have been within the limits of Nova Scotia i and whereas the several Islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which Is part of the Bay of Fnndy, and the Island of Grand Menan, in the said Bay of Fundy, are claimed by the United States as oeing comprehended vrithin their aforesaid boundaries, which said islands are claimed as belonging to His Britannic Majesty, as having been at the time of and previcms to the aforesaid treaty of dne thonsand seven hundred and eighty-three within the limits of the province of Nova Scotia ; In order, therefore, finally to decide upon these claims, it is agreed that they shall be referred to two CommlwioDers, to be appointed In the following manner, vti. : One n ■ V r 'h loii APPENDIX. Commissioner shall be appointed by His Britannic HiOesty, and one by the President of the United States, by and witli the advice and consent of the Senate thereof; and the said two Commlsstonera so appointed shall be sworn impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims according to snch evidence as shall be laid before them on the part of His Britannic M^esty and of the United States respectively. The said Commissioners shall meet at St. Andrew's, In the Province of New Brunswick, and shall have power to adjonm to such other place or places as they shall think lit. The said Commissioners shall, by a declaration or repoi . under their hands and seals, decide to v/hlch of the two contracting parties the several islands aforesaid do respectively belong, in conformity with the trr-. intent of the said treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three. And if the said Commissir .srs shall agree in their decision, both parties shall consider such decision as final and conclusive. It is farther agreed, that in the event of the two Com- missioners differing upon all or any of the matters so referred to them, or in the event of both or either of the said Commissioners refusing or declining, or willfully omitting to act as such, they shall make. Jointly or separately, a report or reports, as well to the government vfUls Britannic Majesty as to that of the United States, stating In detail the points on which they differ, and the grounds upon which their reapcctive opinions have been formed, or the grounds ni«)n which they, or either of them, have so refused, declined, or omitted to act. And His Britannic Mii)esty and the Oovem- meut of the United States hereby agree to refer the report or reports of the said Commissioners to some fHcndly sover- eign or state, to be then named for that purpose, and who shall be requested to decide on the differences which may be stated in the said report or reports, or upon the report of one Commissioner, together with the grounds upon which the other Commissioner shall have refhsed, declined, or omitted to act, as the case may be. And If the Commissioner so refusing, declining, or omitting to act shall also willfully omit to state the grounds upon which he has so done, in snch manner that the said statement may be referred to such friendly sovereign or state, together with the report of such other Commissioner, then such sovereign or state shall Aeciie ex parte upon the said report alone. And His Britannic Majesty and the Qovernment of the United States engage to consider the decision of such ft'iendly sovereign or state to be final and conclusive on all the matters so referred. Abtic:.e thx Firm. Whereas neither that point of the highlands lying due north from the source of the River St Croix, and designated In the former treaty of peace between the two powers as the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, nor the northwestern- most bead of Connecticut liivcr has yet been ascertained ; and whereas that part of the boundary-line between the dominions of the two powers which extends from the source of the River St. Croix directly north to the almve-men- tloned northwest angle of Nova Scotia, thence along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence from those which fall Into the Atlantic Ocean to the northwesterumost head of Connecticut River, thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-flfth degree of north latitude, thence by a line due west on said latitude until It strikes the River Iroquois or Cataraguy, has not yet been surveyed, it Is agreed that for these several purposes two Commissioners shall be appointed, sworn, and authorized to act exactly in the manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in the present article. The said Commissioners shall meet at St. Andrew's, In the Province of New Brunswick, and shall have power to adjourn to such other place or places as they shall think fit. The said Commissioners shall have power to ascertain and deter- mine the points above mentioned, in conformity with the provisions of the said treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and shall cause the boundary aforesaid, from the source of the River St. Croix to the River Iroquois or Cataraguy, to be surveyed and marked, according to the said provisions. The said Commissioners shall malie a map of the said boundary, and annex to it a declaration, under their hands and seals, certifying it to be the true map of the said boundary, and particularizing the latitude and longitude of the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, of the northwesterumost head of Connecticut River, and of snch other points of the said boundary as they may deem proper. And both parties agree to consider such map and declaration as finally and conclusively fixing the said boundary. And In the event of the said two Commissioners differing, or both or either of them refusing, declining, or willfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements shall be made by them, or either of them, and such reference to a fi-lendly sovereign or state shall be made, in all respects, as in the latter part of the fourth article is contained, and in as full a manner as if the same was herein repeated. Abtiolx tue Sixth. Whereas by the former treaty of peace that portion of the boundary of the United States ttora the point where the forty-fifth degree of north latitude strikes the River Iroqnois or Cataraguy to Lake Superior was declared to be " along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario, through the middle of said lake until it strikes the communication by water between that lake and Iiake Krie, thence along the middle of said commiuication Into Lake Erie, through the middle of said lake until . arrives at the water communication into Lake Huron, thence through the middle of said lake to the water communication between that lake and Lake Superior ;" and whereas doubts have arisen what was the middle of the said river, lakes, and water communications, and whether certain islands lying in the same were within the domin- ions of His Britannic Majesty or of the United States: In order, therefore, finally to decide these doubts, they shall be referred to two Commissioners, to be appointed, sworn, and authorized to act exactly in the manner directed with re- spect to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in this present article. The said Commissioners shall meet, in the first instance, at Albany, in the State of New York, and shall have power to adjonm to such other place or places as they shall think fit. The said Commissioners shall, by a report or declaration under their hands and seals, designate the boundary through the said river, lakes, and water communications, and decide to which of the two contracting parties the several Islands lying within the said river, lakes, and water commnnlcations do respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the said treaty of one thousand seven bnndred and eighty- three. And both parties agree to consider such designation and decision as final and conclusive. And in the event of the said two Commissioners differing, or both or either of them refusing, declining, or willfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements shall be made by them, or either of them, and such reference to a fMendly sovereign or state shall be made. In all respects, as in the latter port of the fourth article Is contained, nn'd in as full a manner as if the same was herein repeated. AbTIOIK TBI SXTXHTB. It Is fhrther agreed that the said two last-mentioned Commissioners, after they shall .we cvecnted the duties as- signed to them in the preceding article, shall be, and they are hereby authorized, upon their oaths, impartially to fix and determine, according to the true intent of the said treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, that part of the boundary between the dominions of the two powers which extends from the water communication between Lake Huron and Lake Snjierior to the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, to decide to which of the two parties the several Islands lying In the lakes, water commimications, and rivers forming the said boundary do respect- ively l>elong, in conformity with the true Intent of the said treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty- three, and to cause such parts of the said boundary as require It to be surveyed and marked. The snlil Commissioners ihall, by a report or declaration nnder their hands and seals, designate the boundary aforesaid, state their decision on the •«M npppp wmamm:-- APPENDIX. 10T8 I United SUteB, ty and with 1 shall be Bwora Impartially ore them on the part of His tieet at St. AndreWe, In the as they shall think flU The yhlch of the two contracting Intent of the said tteoty of hall agree in their decision, In the event of the two Com- )f both or either of the said olntly or separately, a report 8, stating In detail the polnU 'ormed, or the grounds ni>on inlc Miilesty and the Govem- jners to some frtendly sover- the differences which may be the grounds upon which the And If the Commissioner so rhlch he has so done, In snch ether with the report of such rt alone. And Uls Britannic i» flrlendly sovereign or state Iver 8t Croix, and designated Scotia, nor the northwestem- .e bonndary-llne between the ictly north to the above-men- I rivers that empty themselves itemmost head of Connecticut adc, thence by a line due west yod, It Is agreed that for these xactly In the manner directed :d In the present article. The d shall have power to adjourn power to ascertain and detcr- if iieace of one tho\i8and seven le Klver St. Croix to the Klver The said Commissioners shall eals, certifying It to be the true sst angle of Nova Scotia, of the lary as they may deem proper, ixlng the said boundary. And declining, or willfully omitting and such reference to a ft-lendly e U contained, and in as full a ates ttom the point whero the rlor was declared to be " along !B the communication by water ke Krle, through the middle of the middle of said lake to the arisen what was the middle of ! same were within the domln- ide these doubts, they shall be 1 the manner directed with re- thls present article. The said id shall have power to adjourn a report or declaration under communications, and decide to :eB, and water communications and seven hundred and eighty- uclusive. And in the event of willfully omitting to act, such •ference to a fHendly sovereign aed, an'd in as full a manner as 1 liave evecnted the duties as- eir oaths, impartially to «x and hundred and eighty-three, that water communication between , to decide to which of the two , the said boundary do respect- and seven hnndred and eighty- ked. The said Commlfsloners isald, state their decision on the points thus referred to them, and particularize the latitude and longitude of the most northf-estem point of the hake of the Woods, and of such other parts of the said boundary as they may deem proper. And both parties agree to consider such designation and decision as final and conclusive. And in the event of the said two Commissioners differing, or both or either of them refusing, declining, or willfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements shall be made by them, or either of them, and snch r'-ference to a frtendly sovereign or state shall be made. In all respects, OS In the latter part of the fourth article is contained, and in as fUU a manner as If the same was herein repeated. Abtioli thi Eiqiitb. The several boards of two Commissioners mentioned In the four preceding articles shall respectively have power to appoint a secretary, and to employ such surveyors, or other persons, as they shall jndgo necessary, '^nplicates of all their respective reports, declarations, statements, and decisions, and of their accounts, and of the Journr.i of their pro- ceedings, shall be delivered by them to the agents of His Britannic Majesty and to the agents of the United States, who may be respectively appointed and authorized to manage the business on behalf of their respective governments. The said Commissioners shall be respectively paid in such manner as shall be agreed between the two contracting parties, such agreement being to be settled at the time of the exchange of the ratification of this treaty. And all other ex- penses attending the said Commissioners shall be defrayed equally by the two parties. And In the case nf death, sick- ness, resignation, or necessary absence, the place of every such Commissioner respectively shall be supplied in the same manner as such Commissioner was first appointed, and the new Commissioner shall take the same oath or affirmation, and do the same duties. It is farther agreed between the two contracting parties that in case any of tin islands men- tioned in ,iny of the preceding articles which were In the possession of one ol the parties prior to the coniiiiencement of the present ^^^ar between the two countries should, by the decision of any of the boards of Commlsslonore aforesaid, or of the sovereign or state so referred to, as in the four next preceding articles contained, fall within the dominions of the other party, all grants of land made previous to the commencement of the war by the party having had such possession shall be as valid as if such island or Islands had by such decision or decisions been adjudged to l>e within the domin- ions of the party having had such possession. Article tue Nintd. The United States of America engage to put an end, immediately after the ratification of the present treaty, to hostili- ties with all the tribes or nations of Indians with whom they may be at war at the time of snch ratification, and forth- with to restore to such tribes or nations respectively all the possessions, rights, and privileges which they may have enjoyed or been entitled to In 1811, previous to such hostilities : Provided (Uteaya, that such tribes or nations shall agree to desist from all hostilities against the United States of America, their citizens and subjects, upon the ratification of the present treaty being notified to snch tribes or nations, and shall so desist accordingly. And His Britannic MfOesty engages, on his part, to put an end. Immediately after the ratification of the present treaty, to hostilities with all the tribes or nations of Indians with whom he may be at war at the time of snch ratification, and forthwith to restore to such tribes or nations respectively all the possessions, rights, and privileges which they may have enjoyed or been en- titled to In 1811, previous to such hostilities: Provided always, that such tribes or nations shall agree to desist ft^im all hostilities against His Britannic Majesty and his subjects upon the ratification of the present treaty being notified to such tribes or nations, and shall so desist accordingly. Abtiole toe Tenth. Whereas tae t^^rafflc in slaves is irreconcilable with the principles of hnmanity and Justice, and whereas both His M^esty and the United States are desirous of continuing their efforts to promote its entire abolition. It Is hereby agreed that both the contracting parties shall use their best endeavors to accomplish so desirable an object. Abtiole the Eleventh. This treaty, when the same shall have been ratified on both sides, without alteration by either of the contracting parties, and the ratifications mutually exchanged, shall be binding on both parties, and the ratifications shall be ex- changed at Washington in the space of four months from this day, or sooner if practicable. In faith whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed this treaty, and have hereunto affixed our seals. Done In triplicate, at Ghent, the twenty-fourth (24tb) day of December, one thousand eight hnndred and fourteen. [LS.] Oambieb. [L.8.] HenBV GOCLBtTBN. CL.S.] William Adams. tUS.] John Quimcy Adajis. [L.S.] J. A. Batabd. tUS.] H. Clay. [L.8.] JONATBAN RtrSSELL. [L.a] Aluibt Oallatih. INDEX. Aeademy, MIlttHry, Weat Point, 4KB. Ai>AiR, John, lilli ; nketch of, 844, 1((41, l(k45. .IrfclJiid ami hibrrtu, or1(;iii of, i)7. AiiAMS, John, Minister I'leiilpoteiitiary to England, 19, 24 ; elected Vice-President, 8H ; difl'erH from .Iftferaon, tis ; liis opinions on ('overnment, 70; propoeed ua second Presi- dent, !l'i ; elccied President, Oi! ; Ilia flrat ineasnge, 116 1 up- fiolnt8W«8hiu(fton coinnmuder-ln-chief,»8; (ippointsWil- lam Vane Murray iniulsler to France, (Hi ; opposed l)v his own party, liM); traits of character of, loil; diamlssea dick- ering and M'Henry from his cabinet, UKS. Adams, John (Ju iNcy, hecomes a Uemocrat, 101 ; votes for the embnreo, \m, T83, 7S0; aketcb of, 10D9; peace com- missioner, 1«M». AiiAMH, William E., 776. AAena, visit to, fMW ; description of, 609. AdminUtralinn, war against, IM. Africa, Northern, march across, 125. A fairs, Civil, In 1818, 7S3. Akin, Lemuel, Captain, 913. Alahima, Oeneral Coffee in, 759. Alba»]i, reception of the first captured flag there, 376. . Aliikkt, PniLir, 701. ' Alexandria, plundering of, 940. Alijierii, Dey (if, tribute to, 91 ; he Is humbled, lis. .l(]7J«r», diraculties with, 89; lets corsairs loose (m Unite ti States commerce, 89 ; pride and avarice of the dey, 'M ; captives, release of, 91. AUeijiatue, attempt to seduce the soldiers from their, OSS. Allkn, William IIknkv, commander of the Argus, 714; death of, 71(1; monument to, "10; sketch of, 710, Allen, Horatio, engineer, 218. Aijuv, Thomas C, sketch of, B20. ,4jn<'iia, privateer, cruise of, 1007. Aitieriean Seamen, British Impressment of, SK, 142, 144, 247. American Cmimiw-p, effects of difflculties with Algiers, 89 ; elTect of Milan decree on, 154. Americnns, their indignation against the French Directory, 9(i; tlieir prowess respected, 099. Amifican Shipn, seizure of, IftH. Aiiurican Walem, British cruisers in, 164; British vessels ordered to leave, 159. American Harbnrs, preparations to defend, 159. American l^cateerinij, effects of, 994 ; effect on British com- merce, IWHl. .Imericrt, the prosperity of her commerce, 130; the only neutral power, 152. AmhcrHlbiini, vicinity of, 299 ; Ilarrison'a army at, 647. Andkrson, Alkxanokb, engraver, 786. Aniikrson, Robkrt, flSO. Anuits, Samuel, Lieutenant, 428. Annapolis, Convention at, 20 ; naval monument at, 124. Api'lino, Danieu sketch of, 800. AEruKB, Sami'el B., sketch of, 002. .4ri;tM goes to France, 715; her destruction of projierty tiiore, 715; her combat with the I'elicau, 715; surrender of, 710. Ariel, the pilot of the, MS. Abmihteao, QeoBUE, General, 956; honors to, 060; sketch of, 900. Armistice, 1812, 247 ; effects of, 3.83. Armstrong, John, American minister to Prance, 102 ; 8ec- retarv of War, 472 ; interferes with Ilarrlson'B plans, 476; his treatment of Harrison, 503 ; his Interview with Wil- kinson, fl.W; visits the frontier, 032; at Sackctt'a Harbor, 0;iS; sketch of, 1111 1. Ab.mstuoso, Roiiebt, Lieutenant, death of, 776. Ami II (British) in Canada, 234: Indicatio'is of advance c' 80<t. -4nHi/ (United States), augmentation of, 217 ; volunteers for, 821; difllcultles of transportation of, 3i?9; divisions in Northwest, 340; on the Niagara frontier, 3s3; ofllcers killed and wounded of, 395; measures for strengthening the, 407 ; character of the chief leaders of, 066; provislou for the increase of, T87; reductiou of, 1068. Arbdale, John Van, 17. Abtoib, Count i>', 00. Asp, capture of, 714. Assembly, Sational, of France, CO. ArsTiLL, Jeremiah, 701; llgbta with Dale, 770; sketch of, 771. .4ti((o«e,battteof,708. Babik, Fsanoib, Colonel, 862. Baokw*, Elki'Tdh, sketch of, Oil. liaain IVw, 911. Bailkv, Dixon, 765. Bainihuixik, W., Commodore, goes to Algiers, 117; com- mands the squadron, 45S ; sketch of, 469 ; honors to, 402 ; medal to, 403 ; a search for, 722. Ball, Colonel, his light with Indians, 60O. Ilaltimare, riot In, 2411 ; menaced by the British, 944 ; prep- arations for the defense of, 948; fortiflcatlous at, 949; Battle Monument In, 901 ; a visit to, 901. BAN(!itoKT, Oeoroe, oratlon by, 540. Baiuiur, British march on, 900; destructlou of vessels, 901 • plundering at, 9()1 ; journey to, 911. Dankinri Cnpilal of United Slates, 05. Barataria Hay, outlaws at, 1018. Barbary CiMist, abandonment of, 119. Barlnnj rowers, tribute to the, 110 ; they are humbled, 128. Barino, Alexander, 104 ; his Iiiquirij, and its effect, 109. Barker, .Ia<:oii, sketch of, 938. Barlow, Joel, 94; sent niinister to France, 226; action on Milan and Berlin decrees, 245; residence of, 942. Barney, JosHPA, Commodore, flotilla of, 920; destruction of, 921; gallant defense of Washington, 930; wounded and taken prisoner, 931 ; sketch of, 931 ; In the Chesa- peake, 982. Barbie, Hoiiert, commander of the Harmony, 898. Barron, Jamfs, Commodore, In Mediterranean, 124; com- mands the Chcsajieakc, 1,W, 167; sketch of, 159; his pun- i»liment, 159 ; daughler of, 088 ; duel of, 942. Barron, Josepu, misf ion of, 191. Babbv, John, commander of frigate ITnitni Statea,V)\. Hatama, Veterans of the Wai on812 there, 670. Ilatterij, proposed revolving, J74. IlatfU-i flrst of the war, 204. Ilatmi Rmiye, 7.18. Hastile, destruction of, 01. « Bayard, James A., 7S3, 780; peace commissioner, 1060; sketch of, KKJII. Baylies, Hoiiijaii, 1010. Hayonne Decree, Vii. Beall, Reazin, sketch of, 343. Bkasley, Daniel, Major, 7.%2. Heaver Dams, flight of the British to, 600; expedition against, 020; battle of, 020; a visit to the battle-ground of, 083. Beckw iTn, Oknebal Sib Sidney, 070 ; head-quarters of, 083. Ileeknianluvii, skirmish at, 801 , 802 ; ride tlirough, 881. Belknap, William Goldsmith, Major, sketch of, 838. BELfOlIK, 1037. Ileleitlere, chase of the, 436. Benkihot, J. B., Colonel, ordered to guard the frontier, 307. Benton, Thomas H., 742. Hkbesfobd, .T. p., captain of the Poictiers, 461. Bebkeley, Bishop, 34. Bmlin Decree, Issue of, 160, 162 ; revocation of, 179 ; nnre- l)ealed, 228. BiDDi.K, James S,, U. 8. N., 463 ; captain nt Hornet, 990 ; hon- ors to, 991 ; sketch of, 991 ; medal to, 991. BiDDi.E, Thomas, Captain, wounded, 828. BiGELon', Thomas, lulO. Hit) Sandy CVrvX;, Wools cv at, 799; British in pursuit, 7»9; battle at, 800 ; the British defeated, 800. BiNcaiAM, A. B., commander of the LiUle Belt, 184. Bird, James, cxecullon of, 543. BissELL, D., appointed l)ri.i;adler general, 792 ; victory at Lyon's Creek, 846, 857. Bissiiopp, Ceiii., 428 ; death of, 028. Blauk Hoof, Shawuoesc chief, 548. Black Rock, residence of Peter B. Porter, 420: attacked by the British, 420; expedition against, 027: repulse of the British, 027 ; the British at. 036 ; bad conduct of the mili- tia at, 030 ; battle near, 030 ; Americans repulsed, 037 ; destruction of, 667 ; British attack, 830. Bladenslmrg, battle-line formed near, 924; the field of ac- tion, 926; arrangeniciits for battle near, 927; dueling- ground of, 92S ; battle of, 930 ; defeat of, 937 ; visit to bat- tle-ground of, 941. Blake, General, much censured, 902. Blakeley, Johnston, Captain, commander of the Watp, 979 ; sketch of, 980. Bi.KNKERuAiisETT, ILa&man, his bome, 136. 1076 INDEX. I . ; Hi: i; Bi.iBH, OriiROi, 1016. ' Bli-rkail,- of the European cuiut, 161 ; paper, 161 ; proclamn- tloll oi', lOIKI. Blurk-huuKt erected in 1R12, 69T. Bi.oNiiiN nt Niagara, 8W. Wondy Itun, tlKht of, SOI ; origin of the name, SOI. Bi.ooMKiKi.K, •loHF.i-ii, Hrlniulier Gfiionil, 6;il». Bi.iiK .Iaiikkt, chief of tlie HhawiiiM'se, Mi, 47. Bi.YTiiK, Hahuki., commander of ttie llt/xer, TIT ; death and fiini^ral of, TIH. BiKHhri.Kii,CnABLKii O., «kotch of, fl'iO; his command cap- tured, Oal BoNAi-ARTK, Nai-oi.ron, victories in Italy, 08 ; vIctorleH of, on the Danube, 96; made flrnt consul, KK); maken friend of Oeorjfe III., 113; hla achievcnientu, 112; hin Influence In Europe, 112; hiu insolence toward the Ku);llah, I'ifl; declared consul for life, \'20; proclaimed emperor, 128; Berlin Decree, 120; giveH England a naval rival, lUit; «ellH Louisiann, lii3; 8ei«e» Hanover, 151; adheres to Conti- nental System, 162; Milan Decree, 164; In Hpain, 170 ; Armstrong letter, ITS; seizes American vessels, ITU; his marcli toward Moscow, 2!lil ; '•\ 8paln, 446; Invades Kus- Ria, 4T0; disasters in liussia, 4Tl ; hnmbled, 78G; abdi- cates the throne, 864; retires to Elba, 866. BnoHK, Daniki,, grave of, 1060. Jl'irgne, Lake, Ilrltish prepare to flght at, 1025. Jliirodvw, batllo of, 4(16. /(I'Kfon, reception uf Hull, 416; expected attack, 801 ; alarm in, 802; prciiarations lor ('efcnse, 8'.i2; journey to, 008; privateers from, 007 ; the centre of illicit trade, 1008 ; bankers of, 1010. BoswKi.L, William E., Colonel, in command of the boats, 487. Bourn r.TTE, Jobki-ii, his account of Sackett's Harbor, 614. Iliiwyer, Purt.attack on, 1021. Bovii, .John P., Colonel, 104. BovLK, •Jamp.b a., Cai)tain, T06. BKAnv, Hi'uu, Colonel, sketch of, 823. /lrntit/(ir(l, town of, 420 ; departure for, 026. Brant, John, sketch of, 401 ; tomb of the fhmily of,424 Brrksk, Samuel L., Commodore, statement of, 8UT. liritiah a^cialit, interference of, 61 ; hostile intentions of, 62; alliance with Indians, 62; bumbled, 65; holding pos- session of Western military posts, 60 ; goveniment, dis- courtesy of, 03 ; Orders in Council, 84; armed neutrality, 84; interference of, 80; outrages of, on American flag, 102; merchants, their Jealousy, 138; their pertldy defend- ed by English writers, 130 ; cruisers, depredations of, 140, 141; refune to listen to remonstrance, 146; ministry, change of, 140; cruisers in American waters, 164; ships, deserters from, 166 ; their surrender reftised, 160-16S ; ves- sels ordered to leave American waters, 169 ; government, reparation demanded of, ICO ; provinces, eulistraents in, 246; government, liaughty assumption of, 24T; letters of marque and reprii-iil, 248; officers In Canada, 260; their employment or Indians, 2ii ; force of, 2T9; defeat of, nt Ain'guaga, 280; commanders purchase scalps, 310; ashamed to call Indians their allies, 860; vessels, seizure of, on Lake Ontario, SOT; their violation of neutrality, 870; squadron at Halifa.x, 430; Indians cross the Mau- mee, 483 ; eflect.s of the battle of Lake Erie on the, 530 ; they fly to Beaver Dams and Burlington Heights, OoO ; they destroy their own property, 601 ; at La Colte, repulse of, 040 ; number and position of, 080 ; they resolve on vig- orous war, flOT ; strengthen their blockading force, (1T6 ; at La Coile, TOO ; battle of the Chippewa, 810 ; at Lundy's Lane, 810; their line of battle, S18; repulsed at Otter Creek, 866; at Champlain, S69 ; Beekmantown, their loss at, 803 ; lose comniand of Lake Champlain, 8T4 ; officers, graves of, 8T9 ; CJipture Eastport, 890 ; leave Penobscot Bay, 903, 904; move on Washington, 923; advance on Bladensburg, 926; thoy want an excuse to burn Wash- ington, 932 ; enter Washington and destroy public build- lugs, 933; their barbarities condemned by their country- men, 934; invasion, original object of, 0.S6; retreat from Washington, n3T : appear before Fort Washington, 939 ; in Chesapeake Bay, 944, 940 ; repulse of, at Baltimore, 940; land at North Point, 060; fleet of, approaches Balti- more, 964, 968, 969 ; repulsed at Fort Bowver, 1021 ; arrive at New Orleans, 1026 ; defeated there, 1049. BnOADNAX, JoHM, TT6. BiiooK, General, energy and vigilance of, 273, 274; before the Canadian Legislature, 2T6 ; iuflurnce of, 2T6; procla- mation of, 2T6 ; proceeds tr) Fort Maiden, 2as ; pecuniary aid for, 283; knighted, 202; offers amnesty to Indians, 284 ; at Fort George, SWT ; hostens toward Quecnstoii, S'.>8; attacks Wool, .390; death of, 398; funeral nonors to, 406, 400 ; his monument, 414 ; the place where be fell, 410. BruckoiUe and its vicinity, 6Tfl. BiioKR, Pmi.ir Bowks VenK, captain of the Shannon, Tor> : gallantry of, TOT ; sketch of, 700 ; honors to, TIO. Bbon8o:«, Alvin, his captivity and release, 797. Bbooks, .loiiN, Lieutenant, sketch of, 626. Bbououam, Hknbv, M.P., 109. Dbousk, Pctkb, survivor of tho battle of Chrysler's Farm, 006. Urouni, Fort, Ruins of, 876. BsowN, Jaoob, Cteueral, 60T; hla pos'tlon, 608 ; assumes command at Sackett's Harbor, 60S ; a visit to the widow of, 017; his residence at Brownsville, Ols; carries flotilla past Prescott in the night, 060; invaues Canada, 061 ; be- comes generai-ln-chieJ, 792; moves toward Niagara, 798; expects the co-operation of Chauncey, 813 ; advances to Fort George, 814 ; faiisback to Chippewa, 816; wounded, 823; Indignation of, 829; orders the army to Lake Erie, 820 ; resumes command of the army, 8.H0 ; determines to make a sortie, 837; honors awarded to, 841 ; the freedom of tlie city of New York conferred on, 841 ; medal award- ed by Congress, 841. Bbown, Kiuhaki), Captain, 702. BiiowN, Samukl li., 632. Bkownk, Benjamin F., survivor of Dartmoor Prison, 908. Hbusu, Captain, ei-cort sent for, 286. Bryant, Williau Cullen, writes on the Embargo, 164 : his ode, 282. BnoK-oNo-A-BKLAS, chtcf of the Datawares, 46, 4T. Buiin.GKOROK, 711. Buffalo In 1812, 379 ; heavy force there, 427 ; New York mi- litia at, 636; destruction of, 637 ; survivors of 1812 there, 847. Bunker Hill Uonument, visit to, 804. BuRiiECK, U., Colonel, sketch of, 694. Bubooynk, Sir John, 1039. BuRKK, Edhdnii, reflections of, on the French ReTolntioD, 09. Burlmijhin UeiqhU, flight of the British to, 600 ; expedition to, 028. Burnt Corn Crfk, battle of, 749. Burr, Aaron, Vice-President, 108 ; hi" duel with Hamilton, l;t6 ; his scheme for his own profit, 130 ; deceives .lackson and Adair, 130 ; is suspected of treason, 137 ; his arrest and trial, 137; his exile, 137 ; acquittal of, 162. Burrows, William, commander of the Enlervrinr, TIT ; sketch of, TIS ; funeral of, T19 ; medal awarded to, T19. Byron, 8ib Hiciiard, captain of the Belciilera, 435. Cabinet, changes in, 472, 1011. Cahot, Gkokok, 1010. Cadet'n (Iraij, origin of, 800. Caiioon, Rkuuen, survivor of 1812, 006. Calabee Jiiver, battle at the, 770. Caldwkll, SamdKi, sketch of, 662. Cakdunia, the affair of, 386, 887. Calhoun, John C, sketch of, 216; his reply to .Undolpb, 210; bis report on tlie ciusea of the war, 220; ill Com- mittee on Foreign Relations, 408. Cavipaign, tlie plan of, 261. Campukll, Gkorok W., of Tennessee, 1011. Caupukll, Huou O., Commodore, 740. Camimiell, James, 004. Cami-iiei.l, John B., his expedition to the Missisaiuiwn, .340 ; attack ou his c^unp, 347 ; distressing retreat to Greenville, 347. Cauaila, people very unhappy about war, 244 ; address to the Legislature of, 244 ; British oftlcers in, 269 ; impa- tience of United States army to invade, 200; first iuva- si(m of, 262; symptoms of disloyalty in, 276; boundary- line of, 3V9 ; second attempt to invade, 393 ; opposition to invaders, 396 ; third invasion, 427, 429 ; invasion aban- doned, 431; arrangement for fonrth invasion of, 644; re- belliim in, 682 ; an American steamer seized for the benefit of the rebels, 683 ; siege of a garrisoned wind-mill, 683 ; fate of captured patriots, 684 ; plans for a fifth invasion of, 685, 803, 804: abandoned by the Americans, 840; ex- pedition of Captain Holmes into, 849, 867, 876. Canning, Geoboe, 161 ; British minister of Foreign Afittirs, 168 ; his offensive letter to the Americas minister, 171. Canoe Fight, the, 709, 770, 771. Cabamalli, IIamrt, alliance with, 126. Carden, JonN 8., captain of the Macedonian, sketch of, 466, 466. Carleton Tularut, a visit to, remains of fortiflcatious, 650 ; In- teresting relics, 000. Canniujiiule sung iu New York, 81. Carolim, Xiirthweatfrn, revolt of, 24. Carolina, destruction of the, 1086. Caroline, destruction of the, 880. Cabr, Robert, sketch of, 040. Cascade Creek, block-house near, 611. Cass, Lewis, Colonel, 202, 208, 264; writes energetic letter to the government, 282; crosses the Rimge, 2§*; goes to Washington, 292; his statement of the surrender of De- troit, 293; sketch of, 293; apiwlntcd military governor of Michigan, 669. Casbin, Stephen, commander of the Tieonderoga, 886; re- ceives medal, 808; sketch of, 809. Castalian Springs, a ride to, 606 ; appearance of, 506. Castiiu, filght of Americans from, 898 ; during the Revolu- tion, 902 ; new military works at, 903 ; Vfiyage to, 908 : mementoes of war at, IKIO ; remains of fortiflcatious near, 910. Castlxreagu, Lord, Secretaiy of Foreign Affairs, iiSS. Chalnutte, plantation of; battle near, 1037 ; British repulsed, 1038. CuAMrAOHT, H. DE, Ft«Dch minister of Foreign Affoira, ?'3, 178, 179. ' Mrii d. .|m^^^ (A 'f^U^M'XAkA^ U/o INDKX. 1077 8 : a vlBlt to the widow Ulc, 01'*: carries flolUla ivttdCB Canadii, tlM ; "»- en toward Niagara, TO3 ; ancev, S18 ; advaucca to iiliipcwa, 81B ; wounded, llie army ti> Lake Erie, rniy, «!« : dctermlneH to Jed to, Ml; till- freedom idon,s41; medal award- r Dartmoor Prison, 909. im the Embargo, 164 ; hl» slawarcB, 40, 4T. here, 42T ; New York ml- ; aurvivora of 18W there, M. 104. n the French Revolntlon, aritl8hto,600; expcdiUon I • hi', dnel with Hamilton, o'm.liiO: decelveHJackBon Df treason, 187; his arrest icqulttal of, 162. . r of the k>iterpmf,ni : ■ medal awarded to, 719. the Beimdera, 436. 12, 900. »2. 15; his reply to .landolph, !S of the war, 220 ; In Com- ,408. lessee, 1011. ire, 740. Utlon to the MisslBslnlwn, 47; distressing retreat to about war, 244; address to \\*h officers In, 269 ; Impa- r, to invade, 200; flrst luva- |sloyaltyin,275; boundary- ' to Invade, UOS ; opposition m 427, 429 ; Invasion abau- fourth invasion of, 644 ; re- teamer seized for the beiient earrlKoned wind-mlM, o»» . • plans for a fifth invasion ^'ty the Americans, 846 ; ex- ito, 849, 867, 876. iluister of Foreign Affaire, American minister, 171. Ih, 126. . ^ ^ . . .„ 1 MacetUmian, sketch of, 486, 1 of fortifications, 688; In- L24. V4 • writes energetic letter £9 "the Ronge, 2§S : goes to Kit of the surrender of De- olnted milltBry governor r the Tieonderoga, 886; re- 1O9 I appearance of, 60«. Ii, 8M : during the Hevo In- L at, 90a ; vovage to, W8 ; lalns of fortifications near, I Foreign AlTalrs, 888. lar,10O7; BriUsh repulaed. Iter of Foreign AflWr*. ? "8, Chttmplain, iMkf, preparations on, 789 ; strngglo for the control of, swi ; batlle of, sim, H(;7, STO; American victory complete, 871 ; end of the buttle of, 878. CiiAMiM.iN, Htki-iikk, ComnioUore, sketch of, 623, 840, .8ftl. Chanulrk, ■IniiN, General, sketch of, 008 ; capture of, 004. CiiiNNiNM, Wii.i.iAM Bi,i.Eav, dlscourse of, 282. CuiiPMAN, John, survivor of the batlle of Lake Krle, 627. CharUttown, navy yard at, IHI6. ChoMOtr privateer, cruise of the, 909. Chalhavi, American troopc at, 649; visit to, 601. CuAiiNiiKY, Ihaai-, created commander-in-chief of the navy on Iho lakes, 870 ; his first cruise, 871 ; captures three merchant vessels, 872 ; and Perry, relations of, 614 ; on lake Outarlo, 686: sails for Hackett's Harbor, 001; tries to eni;a);e HIr James Yeo, 048; the British commander avoids a conflict, 048; sickness of, 816: kept fl-om active service, 884; his squadron leaves Sackott's Harbor, 886: tries to draw out ¥00, 886 ; sketch of, 880 ; calls for mili- tia, 887. Chesapeake, United States friitato, watched by the British squadron, 180 : she is boarded, 1.^7 ; fired into by the />o- pard, 167 ; surrender of the, 168 ; cruise of the, 701 ; Law- rence in command of the, 701 ; condition of the, 704 ; fight with the A'Aaniwn, 706; capture of the, 707. Chempeake Bay, blockade of, 007; British appear In, 920; blockade of, 982 ; stirring scenes in, 714. Chicago, Journey ft-om, 297 ; Its name, settlement, and posi- tion, 802 ; ijarrlson at, 303 ; order for the evacuation of, 806; massacre at, survivors, SU; block-house at, 312; great growth of, 812, 313. Cnirka»aw», 747. Chillimthe, destruction of, 41 ; description of, BOT. Chif>peiea, Fori, doomea to destruction, 001. Chippewa, hattie of the, 809; charge of the Eleventh Reel- ment at, 8IO; British position at, 811 ; the Americans fiill back, 811 ; sketches ofsubordinate officers at the, 812, 818, 814, 828. Choetaies, 747 ; pacification of the, 762 ; the allies of the, 762, 777. Chbistv, William, sketch of, 483. Chritrtera Farm, preparations for battle at, 061 ; position of the British at, 062 ; battle of, 063 ; visit to the battle- ground of, 000. CHnvsTiB, John, Colonel, 892 ; he takes Wool's place, 401. CncBou, Danikl VV., Adjutant, encounters the enemy near Toussalnt Island, 873 ; sketch of, 678. Cincinnati in 1312, 470; a visit to, 809. Cinlevilk, 607. C'laiuor.ne, F, L., Major, In the Creek country, 760; his anxiety about the settlers, 762 ; sends Kennedy to Port Mims, 767; ordered to the C, !ek country, 709; deter- mines to penetrate it, 771 ; traverses Creek country, 772. Claiborne, Fort, construction of, 771. Claek, Isaac, 790. Clay, Gbkfn, General, brigade of, 470 ; moves down the Maumee, 486 ; his encounter with the Indians, 487. Clay, Henry, appointed to fill the vniaut sent of fJeneral John Adair, lot ; chosen speaker, 210; advucates.war, 223 ; opposition to J. Qiiiucy, 4<10 ; second time chosen speaker, 733, 780; tomb of, 1066; monument to, 1080; peace commissioner, 10«IO: sketch of, 1060. Clay, Lcorktia Hart, sketch of, 106S. CUii/Um, visit to, 004. Cfetiefand, Ohio troops welcomed to, 842 ; journey to, 8*0. Clinch, Udnoan L., sketch of, 917. Clinton, De Witt, 220 ; mayor of New York, 842. Clinton, Georuk, Vice-President, 109 ; nominated for Vice- President, 226 ; his death and tomb, 220. Coohrane, Sir Alexanueb, commander of the British squadron, 920. CooKuuBN, Sir Geoboe, Admiral, made second in command, 607 ; operations of, 009, 070 ; assails Havi'e de Grace, 071 ; ascends the Sassafras River, 074 ; head-quarters of, 083 ; Jn the Potomac and on the coast of North Carolina, 089 ; anchors off Ocracoke Inlet, 089 ; on the coast of Georgia, 691 ; lights the fires at Washington with his own hands, 9.')S ; infamous conduct of, 946 ; lands near Baltimore, 060. Cooke, John, General, 769 : separate action of, 700 ; liills on Hlllabee town, 707 ; massacre of its people, 707. Coffee, John, In Northe^a Alabama, 769 ; sketch of, 1043. Coles, J. A., 063. CohniHbi, British, snppoeed republican procllvltleB of, 214. Columbrm, city of, 600. Couiis, Leslie, sufferings of, 360 ; commissioned captain of spies, 480: sketch of, 480 ; his voyage down the Manmee, 481 ; is attacked by Indians, iSl. C&iMt, privateer, cruW of, 9!i.n, 999. Cominerce, cotton king of, 178k Commimioners, Peace, list of, 4T1. Committee, report of, on Foreign Relations, 212, 213, 468. Con/ederation, Articles of, 19, 28; ratified by the several status, 83. Conjianee, capture of the, 809. Congrem, United States, endeavors to oblige England to open trade, 23 ; dissolution of, 34 ; authorizes the raising or troops, 40; authorizes Increase of regular army, 60; arranges the executive departments, 69 ; reflises to con- firm uominatluns, 99 ; actluu tm the death of Washing- ton, 110; Non-lmportatton Act passed, 148; enlarges army and navy, 107 : endeavors to find supplies for the war, 28(1; awards vote of thanks to Elliott, il88; author- ises retullatlon, 409 : awards gold medal to Hull, 440; awards Kold medal to Captain Jones, 462 ; to Decatur, 468 ; to Balnbriilge, 108 ; silver medals to his ofltcers, 408 ; plan proposed fur Increasing the army, •UI6: awards gold medal to Croghaii, 804 : to Elliott, 6;t5 ; to Perry, 636 : to Harrison, 667 : to Lawrence, 7(K) ; silver mediils to his ofil- cers, 71MI; to Burrows and M'C'all, 719 ; political position of, 1H13, 7S8 ; finds means to prosecute the war, 784, 787 ; gold medal awarded to James Miller, 820; toHcott, 820: to Gaines, 886 ; to Brown, 841 ; to Piirtcr and KIplcy, 842 : to Henley and Casslu, 808 ; to Macomb, 878 ; to Macdon- oiigli, 878; authorizes a floating huttcrv, 970; gold medal to BIddle, 991 ; to Stewart, 988 ; to Jackson, 1062. Congreiuiiiiuil llurtjing^ground, 948. Com>e>-tievt, governor of, refhses to comply with the call for trmips, 243 ; charter of, 840 ; blockade of the coast of, 094; local militia of, 094. Coiuttellation captures Vliunirgejitf, 103. ConxtHMion, United States, ratification of, 38 ; amendments of, 69 ; proposed amendments of, I014. Conntitutiiin, a, granted to the French people, 67. Cmutitulinn, frigate, 101 ; named "OUI /rOTWridtw," 487; cruise of, 437 ; escape from the (luerriere, 488 ; second cruise of, 44it ; fight with the Overriere, 44!1 ; cruise on the coast of Brazil, 467; battle with the Jam, 4tKi; arrival at Bos- ton, 401; rtgure-bend of the, 906; chased Into Marble- head Bay, 983 ; battle with Cgatie and X/<!i)an<— she cap- tures both, 984. Conventiiiu, Hartford, 1018-1016; jketchea of members of the, 101(1. Cmiventinn to propose making Maine into a state, 24; con- stitutional, and members of, 27-33. Coom Rirer, cries for help from the banks of, 700; Jackson at, 703. Council, Orders in. United States vessels excluded firom West Indian ports, 28 • modlficatlini of the, 170 ; main- tained, 17U ; unrepealed, 226 ; conditional revocation of the, 240. Cimnril, Grand, of Indians, 61. CoviNOTON, Leonard, General, death and burial of, 060. Coviiuitnn, Fort, visit to, 004 ; veteran soldiers at, 006 ; at- tempt to seize, 960. Craio, Sir Jauks, governor general of Canada, 220. r 'VNE, William nu>NTuoMERv, commander of the /*tit<', 886 ; monument to, 8S0. Craney Mand, landing of the British, 073 ; a sharp conflict, 079; British driven hack, 080; visit to, i'86 ; foruflcatlons on, 080. CRAttKORi), W. H., minister to France, 714. Craie/onlmiillf,, 198. Cbeauii, Gerrarii W., 769. Credit, public, efforts for the establishment of, 64 ; It la as- sailed, 1009. Creeks, their position, T47 ; civil war, 748 ; bravery of the, 774-777 ; defeated at the battle of the Horseshoe, 780 ; mined, 782. Owi Countrji, settlers in, 760 ; distress In, 788 ■ affairs in, 701 ; invaded from Georgia, 708-773. Crittenden, Joun J., sketch of, 614. Croouan, G., Major, his Instructions, 409 ; disobeys orders, 600 ; his report to Harrlso'i, 604 ; medal presented to, 806; reaches Detroit, 867. CRDToiiriELii, Stapleton, Major, 080, 681, 082 ; sends die- patch to Governor Barbour, 683; takes possoslon of Hampton, 088. Cuhvr'n mil, engagement at, 802 ; ride over, 881 ; battle- ground of, 882. Ctimbertand Head, light-house at, 870; visit to, 882. Cdmmimos, James, Colimel, 827. Owrrenej/, paper, 20; decimal, adopted, 66; paper, In France, 74. Ccyler, W. Howe, sketch of, 887. Daores, James Rk.habi), surrenders to Hull, 444. Dale, Riohard, Commodore, In the Mediterranean, 118 ; monument to, 1 19. Dale, Samuel, courage and honor of, 761 ; prcparcH for act- ive operations, 767 ; wins a victory, 770 ; sketch of, 771. Dallas, A. J., sketch of, 1011. Dana, Samuel W., 162. Dane, Nathan, 1016. Danish fleet destroyed at Copenhagen, 113. Dartinoor, prison of, 1008 ; outrages on prisoners there, 1060. />at>trf I'orter, privateer, cruise of, 1003. Datiubon, John, 928. Davioson. Lcobetia Maria, child poet, grave of, SS4. Daviess, Major, gallantry of, 204; death of, 206; life aud character of, 207. Davis, General, mortally wounded, 888. Davis, S. B.. Colonel. 609. Dacbhan, 'Jj'ptaln, 270. Dai/ton and Sandttakt/, country between, 264. Deabborn, Hknby, General, appointed commRDder-ln-chief, 249; residence of, 260 : slgni^ arinittice, 293; instructodto make demonstration? on the frontier, 381 ; on ]jake Qa* -•^^ i: 1078 I N I) K X. |i I' A I, ' » tnrlo, BRfl; nt Furt NliiRiirR, WiT ; expedition ; iniit the BritUh lit Heaver Uiiiiim, iWO; U mvnvi\«t\ hy S\ ilkliimiii, 0!!»; moves lull) <'iiiiiiilii, tUIT; end oroxiwdliUiu, IMI. Debt of Unilnl SlaU'*, 17s|, w ; isift, KHII. iKailtir, privateer, criilrie of, UKW. DsrATirn, 8TK1MIKN, C'oniiiiodore, cnntiirea U Crojiable, 101 ; Ktillnntry of, 121 ; i-oiiinmiuler or the Vnitnl Slateii, Vtft, 4B«!; vliaory of, -WT ; nolil medal ijlven to, ■«>(< ; iiltenilitn to run the nlockiido of New York, iWI ; tlndn ii |)lure of Rafety, tWi; cndeavorn to ^et to xea, litift: i{oc« to sen In the rrenlilenl, UST ; iikctch of, UMi ; duel umfdcalh of, W'^. Dk t'irti, fuiiH of, ar.t. Vtrreen, Kreneh, proponed reviHtttlon of, ITS. Dk i.a ItoNnK, Colonel, UKIII. Delaware llan, pnlrhitiHm on the shorex of, 008; blockade of, iH)7. Iv(nuxirc«, expedition ajfaliiet the, "M. Devwcrali, their tactlcH, 1(17; their cunfldcuce In Jefferson, 101 J chief leader." of, 102. Dknihon, Krkukkick, wonndcd, S96. I)k Hott«niiijr(i, .Major (ioneral,BOO. Uk Salaiikrhy, a., 0:iI). Dkhiia, JoHKPii, Kketch of, nn2. Uelroit In 1S12, 200; Bites of fortlflcatlons In, 201 : British before, 2S2 ; breparatlons for af.aikln^;, 2,s4 ; demand for mirrcnder of, 2Sfi: homhardmeut of, '.NT, 2S8 ; Kurrender of, 2.>«» ; elTeelR of the snrrender, 2(ili, 2111 ; disposal of the nrlsoncrs, 2!i1; Hrltish occnimtion of, 202; a .Sunday in, 297 ; hesloKCd by Pontlac, .'101 ; cltlicns of, 8(12 ; siiireu- der of, 746; expedition leaves, Sfto. DiTTEiOK, James, veteran of 1S12, (124. DoMiiiNs, Danik.i., sketch of, BO!'. DonoK, KionAKo, UrlKitdier UenernI, arrives at Watertown, New York, ;t7it. JMphm, privateer, cruise of, 1000. D0NK1.S0N, A., Colonel, 77B. Dorothea, Danish brijj, destruction of, 240. DotsKT, Duke of, 111. I)ouoi.A»H, Davii> B , Lieutenant, 8211, 881. I)owNi!8, .John, sketch of, T2B ; at Valparaiso, 720. Drcumond, Okokok (Jokdo.n, Lieutenant Ueueral, 810, SIS, 810, 830. Dom.iiY, William, 480. DiijMiil, Ccmp, 907. DvBON, Caplalu, blows up Fort Washtngtoo, 989. Kaoi.e, Hknrv, 707. EoMtport caiilured by the British, 1814, 890. BnKKitmi, IIknbv, slielch of, <t1B. Hroiux'hai-a in ashes, 77:t. KiiLK, Hakmon, survivor of 1312,801. Ei.iiRindK, .losKiMi C, 020. Ulrctiim, Presidential, 404. HlmlorH, method of choosini;, 108. KHzabethtnwn, 577. Ei.KBWATAWA, liidiaii propliet, ISS; his vision, 189; his treachery, 20H ; disgrace of, 200. Ei.uoTT, J'kssk I)., Captain, sent to Lake Erie, 871, !)8B; co- operation of military \vltl|, .1S,%; sketch of, 8S7 ; re-en- forcements under, 6IS ; strautfe conduct of, 026 ; meeting with I'crry, 628 ; medal nwaraed to, 536. El.LSU DUTII, Ol.lVKtt, 58. Kim Orove, cemetery of, 914. Kbmrmil, cemetery of, 801. Ely, ALyuKo, Doctor, 800. Embargo, the, passed in Congress, 102 ; effects of, 10.1 ; par- ty spirit aroused by, 108; vlobitlons of, 104, 108; de- nounced, 100 ; iufractlous of 172 ; war proclaimed as the alternative to, 174; repealed, 176; pro|)Osed, 222; pa-s- sage of, 228; supplementary, 224; opposition to, 224; a new act of, 786 ; repealed, 780, 787. Emott, .Ta.mkb, 21T. Kii' "./at/, liatlle of, 774. iiii. iH<i refuses to be just, 180; a regency in, 283; displays al 1 her energy, 575. Bnct'chovcn Creek, battle on, 776. £iik: in, British, pulled down, 17. Ent' iprlm', the, i;rulse of, 717 ; her conflict with the Boxer— death of the two commanders, 717; last cruise of, 720. Brii\ Fort, doomed to de.strnction, 001 ; captured by Amer- icans, 805 ; armv ordered to, Sii) ; an attack on, ^U'2, 888 ; battle of, 884, a8.'>, S80, S:i7, S40 ; blown up, 840 ; visit to, S47. Eri<; iMke, Perry ordered to, 509; battle of, 522 ; tlrst shot fired l)y Americans, 623 : dose of the battle of, 525, 520, 627, 52!) ; sad eftect of the battle of, 5:12 : exultation of the Americans, t>M ; chief veBSols on, 542, (AH,. Erie, village of, 510, 512 ; menaced, 514, 615; historic places at, 687. Ebskink, David Montaoiik, British minister, 175, 170 ; his arrangements repudiated l)y his ghvernmcnt, 177 : makes arrangements for renewed trade, 177; recalled, 177 ; bio- graphical sketch of, 177. K»»ex, cruise of the, she captures the Mfrt, 4.89, 440; cap- tures the Nncloii, 721, 722 ; sails for the Pacific, 723 ; ar- rives at Valparaiso, 728, 724 ; captures the Georgiana and other whalers, 726; captures iho .'frn/iya/Mrfa™, 720 ; she is crippled, 782 ; surrender of the, 733. Europe agaiuiil France, 72. Evans, Sir Dk Laov, sketch of, 1082. l-'air llnern, «'<« : fort at. 01.1. h'uHfn '/'i>iiljrri>, OHttle of, 64. h'anlmm; i\H)i-A\\\>, 0711. Fiifl-iliiii, proclnniatiiui of, 281, 282. Kaui.k.nkr, .Ta.mfs, sketch of, 078. thlrraliatH and Kepubli^all^ 72; tmuldn among the, 100; policy of the, 210; patriotism of the, 217. h'liuh, capture of the, 808. h'in; Greek, 018. Kihk,.Jaiik/, survivor of the battle of Niagara, 84S, h'lan, ttrnl British, taken, 370. Kl.ujkao, (lAUKiiieK, Oeiieral, 1088. I /•'livt, .lamaica merchant, cliase of, 480; British, ships of, 007; first ajipearance of, 007: eiiti'is Hampton Ibiads, 070; alxiiit New York, UV1 ; surrender of, on l.ake Cham- plain, 870. Kl.KMINII, Bknjamin, KI8. Floriila, East, liimrrectlou In, 740, 741 ; West, claimed by the r!':ted Htatcs, 739. Flotilla, American, cai)ture of, 1020. Ki.ocRNOV, n*n(fMAH, sketch of, 748. Kuivo, John, Bilgadlcr (ieiieral, at the battle of Auttose, 108 ; at Fort Sirother, 777. Fdrmt Lairn, 1 ciiielery of, 847 ; soldiers' monuments, 848. I'ViiinnKT, Dri.ANKV, 520; sketch of, 5;il. I''oiisvTii, BKN.IAMIN, Mijor, 870 ; cxiiedltloii of, 872 ;*open» jails in Elir.aliethlowii, 577, 7IM); (feath of, 857. Forlifieatimut, British frontier, 284. Fort», Bowyer, loill ; caiiliire of, 1051 ; Brown. 806, 882 ; Cas- tlne, 908; Cllntcui, |I|3 ; (Covington, 950 ; Dearborn, :^(I3, 811; Defiance, .828 ; remains of, 832, 33Si Erie, 8(18; Pish, 974; fieorgc, 1109 ; (Jratlot, 849; (Jriswold, 898 ; Jackson, 1029; Lee, 900; Mackinaw, 2(18, 209; M'lleury, 070, 947, II.M, 906; Madison, 701; Moiean, S0», 882 ; Necessity, 257; PhfEUix, 913; Pickirln.', 906; Pierce, 756; Pike. 017; Plattsbnrg, 801 ; St. Philip, attack on, 1051 ; Scwail, 907; 8<;olt, 8,82; Stephenson, 497 ; Stone Mill, Ml8; Strong, M12 ; Tompkins, 007 : Toronto, 6S7, 588 ; Trnmlinll, 090; Wash- ington, 088, 925, 939 ; Warbiirtou, 088 ; Wayne, 60 ; Wel- lington, 684. FosTKB, AcmiBms J., envoy extraordinary to the United Slates, 180. Fell oiiKT, M., French minister, 88. Fox, CnAiii.Ks Jamkk. premier of Kugland, 128, 149. Fiance, friendship of, 59; revolutionary movements In, 00; i.narchy In, 78 ; paper currency in, "4 ; National Conveii- 1 Ion established, 75; overthrow (f the monarchy, 75: re- action, 88; the Directory offended, 91 ; difflcullics with the United States, !I2; her aci|Uisiiion of Spain, 98; her arms successfnl, !i5 ; prepaniiloiis for war with, 90; a minister appointed to, ll» ; three envoys sent, 100; secret designs of, 182, 138; her change ol policy, 16.8, 103, 180. Franiis, .losiAii, 7M. Franklin, Bknjamin, 19, 2T. FuASKii, William, 004. /■Vrtiioii^ journey to, 500. Frnirli Creek, American camp at, 049. FreiH'h Hilln, American army at, 068; snfferlugs at, 057; visit to, OM. Freiuhtown threatened, .861 ; its suffering Inhabitants, 862 ; battle and massacre of, 352; nnlval of re-eoforcomouts, it5,f ; fearful night at, 857 ; In 1800, 300; cajiturod, 070. Fiiiiaten, building of, 91. Frolic, surrender of the, 450. Frontier, Northern, dose of hostlUticB on the, 1814, 88T. Fruit Hill, visit to, 608. Fii.TON, KoiiKKT, sr.ggcsts a new system of uaval warfare, 280 : sketch of, 242. Fnltim the Fiml, floating battery, 977. Gainks, EiiMDNi) P., Qeneral, 540 : demands the surrender ofMobile, 74i1; appointed brigiidier general, 7!12; at Sack - etfs Harbor, 816; takes command of tlic army, 831; sketch ('1,881; made major general, ^.85; gold medal awarded to, 8.85; calls the baltlc of Lake Erie n "hand- some victory," 836. Ou.LATiN, Aliikut, Scccctary of tlie Treasury, 221, 7S3, 780 ; peace commissioner, 1000; sketch of, inOO. (xAr.i SUA, Jonas, governor of Vermont, 030. (Jaiiaii<Hi<ii, siiolls taken at, 373. (Urdinieb, Bauent, 102 : duel of, 104. (Jaiidner, CiiARLKB Ic, Miijor, sketch oi; S04. (ivRDNER, J. M.,075. Ij-iural A nn»triinij, privateer, cruise and career of, 1001, 1004. Gknet, Citizen, arrival in Charleston, 77; recet>tlon, 79; iirivateers commissioned by, 79; interview with Wash- ington, 80; rebuked by .loffersrui, 81 ; attempts to create a iobellion, 82 : recalled to France, 88 ; sketch of, S3. (iKoiKiR III., friendly with Bonaparte, 118. Oeokoe IV., Pilnce Regent, 283. Heorije, Fort, (ieneral Brock at, 897 ; a visit to, 418 ; expedi- tion against, 590 ; cannonade between Fort Niagara and, 597; capture of, 599; invested by the British, 022; it Is abandoned, 082, 815. (l.'oritid, Cockburn on the coast of, 091 ; her trooiM return to their frontier, 770. I N D K X. 1079 rouble Rmoni? the, WO ; ilif, 'ilT. ■ 4;iO: BrItUh, "Mm of, siitiirn llaiii|it<>ii Kiiiidi', Mider of, oil Luko Cliiim- , T41 ; We»t, clntrocd by It ilio battle of Aiittoie, dlors' moiiumi'iiti), S48. r, Kii. ixpeilUlim of, an ;«oi)eiiB dcalh of, ^T. f>l ; Blown, S(», S82 ; Cnii- 'toii, \M ; beiirboni, WIS, HM, «:llt| KHc, WIS; Kinh, (lrli>wi)lil, S1I3 : ■liicksoii, , mi; M'llciiry, iITIi, 1147, 1, mil, sS'2 : NoiewHity, iiftl ; I'lcrcc, IIW; Tike, (IIT: ick on, liiM : Scwall, HOT; >iicMill, >-ii;i; HlroiiL'.Mta; iH- Tnimlmll, O'.IB ; W'nBh- .u, 088; Wnyiic, 60; Wcl- rnordliiary to the Uultod Eiitilnntl, V2S, 149. tioimiy inovcmeiitn In, «•; I in, T4; NalionnM'oiiven- ,v « f llip nuinnvchy, i5; re- ikUmI, 111 : diffl<-iiltlc!< with nnisillon of Kimin, 113; hoc liiiiK for war with, ««; ft ■0 I'livoyt'Pcnt, U«i; cecret i! ol policy, 1B3, m, ISO. (566; enfferhigB at, (16T; frnrhig lnhal)!tniit», BB2 ; -.jlviil of rtM'iirorcpmouts, mi, aOO ; cnptuicd, 010. UtloB on the, 1S14, 88T. eystem of uaval warfare, 97T. . demands the imrrcnder dier |.'«n(^ral, VM : at Sack- iiiand of the ariny, N31 ; -'nnernl, ^'M: K"''' """'','' lo of Lako Erie n "hand- ...Trcamuy, 221,783,786; ,ch of, HKK). moiil, 039. , liVl. jtch oC, S04. oeftud career of, 1001,1004. CBton, 77 ; rece|)liou, 79 ; 9; interview with Wiwn- in, 81 ; attem|:tH to create itc, 8a ; nketch of, 88. arte, 113. I7 ; a viclt to, 418 ; expedi- letwccn Fort Niagara and. by the British, 022 ; it U kf, iV.)l ; her trooiis return Ofurffiann, prlxe-nhlp, 'if>. Uekkv, Ki.iiKiixiK, noinlinitpd for Vlce-l're«ldcnt,4(U; birth- place of, IM17 ; nioniiini'iit to, IMJt. ()errj/-nuiiulrr, hlntory of the, ill. nhfnl, treaty of, lOt'iO. UiHiiH, (leniTal, 1037 ; death of, 1047. ()lllHON,.l.,40a. OiiiHo.y, Colonel, morlnlly wounded, 1^18. Oi.KUo, .1. H., aid to (liMiiTil Brock, 2H8. (ll.KIO, (tKOROK l{., Hkl'tch nf, tl!l7. GUilie, privateer, crulfc of the, 996, 1008. Uoiin,viin, Cai.vin, 1010. OoOItlllOll, C'l AI'NOKV, 1010. (iraiul «iwr, departnre lor, 419; miKBloii-honte at, 421. (iBATiiir, I'., cnnliieer, 474. Great llrilaiii refn^cB to wild niinlBler to the I'niled Staten, 24; atleiniit to Kalii JUHilce from, Oi! ; Btroiit? fei-liiiif auainnl, INI; triiiinphaiil, U.'l; ilt'clareH war au'iiiOMt France, 120; cffectB of tho declaration, I'W ; niiikcH lu- ■illtliiK propoHltlon fin- trilinte, liir>; lier einldaarleis nt work, IHM ; acknowli!ili,'ed naval diiprcinacy of, 4JI8. OicKooKV, Franoih II., sketch of, sM; exploits of, SSfl. (iBirKiTii, KiiwAiio, Hear Admiral, 807. (ionnoN, ('aptnln, 169. floKBKi.iN, Okuauo, (UMieral, 902 ; popularity of, 908. UoMTnment <if the Vuilml Slalm, newly ordanizcd.Rs : Ita pol- icy Indicated, ^'< ; putB forth vlgoronM efTurlH for "iijirem- acy on the Lakes, IITO ; sirance apathy of, !)10; 1 alia for troops from dKTcrenl states, 918. Oiurrd, SaHmml, formation of, til ; demorallzntloii of, 07. irtirrrlrre, llic, Impresses residents of .Maine, 181, 137; light with the ( iiiiHliiHlioii, 443 ; destruction of, 448. Gun-boat, Iron-clad, 1814, 970. Hall Cnlunibia, souk, history of, 97. Ilttli/iix, British squadron at, 430; British expedition leaves, 897. IIai.i., a., Major (Jeneral, «il6. IIai.i., William, Colonel, 74'.'. Hall, William, Jr., in Hartford Convention, lOKi. Uamilton, Alf.xam'Kii, 2ft, 29; Hecrolary of the Treasury, 69; protests aifnlnst teinporiziuK wiih the national hon- or, 04 ; his tinanclal scheme assa!' m1, O.'k; considers the Eiiu'lish «i)vernineiit a model of ex.,.:lleiice. Oft ; his feud with. Jefferson, 71 ; actln;; iiencrai-in-ehief, 98 ; coudeinus eecession, 134; his death, 13."*. IIamiitom, I'vei., Secretary of the Navy, sends cipher al- phabet to (.'hauncev, 370. Hamilton, vlliaite of, 4i0 ; visit to, 026. Hamlin, Hannuiai., Vice-President of United States, Oil. IIamitom, W., Oeiieral, haiiirhllness of, 030; inuiorious re- treat of, (W ; bad conduct of, 0,M ; censured, (166 ; disobe- dience of orders, 050 ; the army Is relieved of his pres- ence, 067. Hampinn HiiaiiK, defenses at, (108; skirmish in, 070; Amer- icans at, 070; landiii}' of the Ilritish near, 081 ; a severe skirmish, ()8'J; Americans driven from, (Vs3; a visit to, 687 ; destruction diirinu the Civil War, 088 ; preparations to oppose the British, 8ii<»; the./o/m.4(/ai«s at, S'.KI; Brit- ish arrive at, 900 j outrages at, 901 ; loss of property at, 902; visit to, 911. IlAMTaAMOK, Major, 40, 60. Hanoks, Ueulenant, 270. Uardv, 81U Thomas M., commander of the British squad- ron, flol ; allows no vessels to pass, 093; appears on the New Enitlaiid coast, 890 ; leaves Eastport, 892. IIarmah, .Ioseimi, aeneral,41 ; his defeat, 43. Ilarpii, privateer, cruise of the, 1(H)3. llammm, Furl, buildiug of, 196 ; siege of, 317 ; Indians driv- en from, 318. HAiittiBON, Mas. Anna, wife of (Jen. Harrison, a visit to, 670. U.VKKIHON, William IIkniiy, (Jeneral, Joins the army, 60; governor of Indiana Territory— liis wise admiiilstralion, 187 ; denounces the Indian Prophet, 190 ; concludes treaty with the Indian tribes, I'.IO; speech of, 192; calls for vol- untary aid, 194; march to the Wabash, 196, 200 ; his en- campment on the Tippecanoe battle-ground, 202 ; Itis camp furiously attacked 204 ; victor at Tippecanoe, 206, 208 ; active in building Iilock-hoiises, 321 ; goes to Ken- tucky, 321 ; made brigadier general, 322, ,323 • marches to- want Piqiia, 323 ; his intiuehce, 324 ; his army In the vil- dernesg, 326; calls a council of oflii'ers, 326, 320; orders •Tennings to escort duty, 328; his campaign arrai.iied, 329; makes urgent appeals for supplies, !12ii; expedltiim aiwinst the Indians, XVi ; in Central Ohio, 332 ; sutt'crlngs and difflculties of, :t48 ; his arinv, 349 ; at Upper Sandii?- ky, 361 ; unjustly censured, 3(i;i ; his army nt Maumee Rapids, 304, 473; at Cincinnati, 476 ; inecaiitions of, 478 ; his note to General Clay, 479 ; his aiiiircsses, 482 ; his de- fense of Fort MeiL's, 484; his plans developed, 486; or- ders a sortie, 4.87 ; Ills head-quarters, 494 ; council of war, 499; his character assailed and vindicated, 608 ; visits Perry's ship, 610, MJ), 544; at Amiierstburg, 647; his ar- rangements for the battle of t lie Thames, 6,V2 ; gold medal awarded to, ttft'i • appoints Cass (rovernor of Mlchiiran, 689; effects of the victories of. ft,Mi; brief outline of his career,«662 ; leaves the army, 603 ; sketch of, 872 ; tomb of, 673. IlARUownY, Ear! of Lord President of the Council, 288. Il4in, Natiianiicl O. T., death and sketch of, 869 llarl/iiril, Ciuiventiou at, 1MI8, 1016, 1010. Hartlrii'H hiiiil, 640. Iliivrf lie liriiif, threatened by Ihe British, 070; prepara- tions at, 071 ; assailed bv Cockbiirn, 071 ; landing of the Ilritish ul, 072 ; visit to— historical lisallties there, 073. IIkalk, Mrs. Captain, great braverv of, 309, UlQk Hki'KKWKliikk, Joiianka Maria, ii'l. IlKoKK»'KLi,|rn, Hkv. JollN, iiloiu'er, 30. IIknlkv, ItouKHT, coiiiinamler of the Kaiilr, 675 ; sketch of, 807 ; ri^ceives medal fi-om Congress, Hlis. IIknnkii, Al»kki>, 1(168. Hknhy, iIoiin, his mission to New England, 220 ; his corre- spinidence, 221 ; his disclo.-iirc«, 222; skelcli of, 222. Iliilhlliirr, privateer, capture < if the, 736 ; crulec or the, Wfl. Ilillubiv Tiiirn, massacre at, 707. IIilliiocsk,,Iami's, 1010. HiNiiMAN, .Iai'oh, 81)2, 804, 8:i6. HoLine, Thomas, sketch of " '8. lliillaiul issues a decree likt: ,lie Milan Decree, 164. lloLLiNS, Okokiik N., sketch of, 019. lliiLMKH, Anna B., 914. Uoi.Mr.s, Jf.rkmiaii, rajitahi, his expedition Into Canadi, 849; returns to St.,lo^epli,8.W; nails his flag to the inaMt, 894; reopens tire on tlie Ilritish, 896; the hero of Ntou- IngKm, 914. HopK, .Iank a., daughter of Commodore Barron. 008. Iloi'KiNS, Hamiikl (V., his expedliion au'ain»t llie Indians, 338; his expedlthm to the VVahash, .'i30 ; close of the snll- Itary career of, 337. Ilnruoit, the, American ship, stranded on the French coast, 16!l. Unmet, the, challenges a British vcsel, 169 ; her contest Willi the /Vnn«*, 098 ; her light with the /'e»»</t(/(i, !I90 ; cruise of, 992. Uirriuhiu; battle of the, 779. Hoi sTON, Hami'KL, wounded, 779 ; sketch of, 709. IIo» AKo, >Ikiia/.iki., 801. Hull, Aiiraiiam K., Cantain, grave of, 827. Hl'LL, IsAAo, coninuiiider of the ('muitituHou, 441 ; sketch of, 442; bis coolne>s, 443; his reception ill Boston, 444; gives np the coinuiaml of the ('(iimtilutioii, 448 ; presented with a gold medal, 440. IIin.L, William, his iuvasiou of Canada, 261 ; made briia- dier general, 252; takes coniniHiid of Ohio troops, •>lt!>; inarcnes toward lletroit,267; hears of declaral ion of war, 268; capture of his bairgau'c, 268 ; his army at Detroit, 269 ; determines to invade C'anada, 2(Ki ; heao-tiiiarters of, 202; a reconuoi^sallclMoward Maiden, 203 ; fall of Mack- inaw, 272; nuitlnons spirit of his army, 272; lond com- plaints ULtainst, 277; disposilion to deprive iilin of his command, 282; siirrenders Detroit -a laiMUier, and tak- en to Fort George, 291 ; his arrival at Montreal, 298 ; cap- tivity of, 2ii4 ; pard ined l)y the President, 296. IIcNTKR, Gkorok H., Major, '(109, HuNTKii, .Iamks, sketch of, 602, Itijmn, KcV(dutioiiary, 090. lmpremiti<'i)ti>, arguments against, 146. //i'/ijjmk/chcc, Declaral ion of, 20; engrossed copy of, saved by .Mrs. Madison, 930. Imliana Titritorii, the, 187. ImiiaiiH, councils of, 39 ; beset with British emissaries, 46 ; confederacy, efforts to form one, 40; alliance with the British, 62, treaty with, 57 ; encroaciimeiitsun. IsS; their sui>erstltion excited, 189; signs of hortilily, 101, 192; friendly deputation from, 196; defcm i.i, 20(i"; alarming reports coiiceruln;;, 267; their einijlMynient by the Brit- ish, 271; scouts, 279; cimfe^ence witii Brock, 2Sii; signs of tnmble with, .304 ; treaty with, 3ii0; Intention to mas- sacre the whites, .307; treachery ul, 308; massacre in Scott C(mnty, 314 ; nt .Miami Viliag,', :;10, 318, 819 ; towns, deslrnction of, 325; they are generally hostile, 334, 348; chief of the Six Nations, 410; cosiunies and weapons of, 421, 422, 426; Wc'^lern, massacre by, 020; murders liy, 037; hostilities of, 762; leaders of, 754 ; rewarded for innV- der by the British, 767; destruction of, al Talladega, 706- tliey sue for peace, 700, 781. Itiimrijente, the, captured by the OinnteUation, 103. fiiiurtecti(»t In the Wyoming Valley, 24. IiiiitirrectiDii, Whisky, quelled, SS. Iiur,-piil, the, 122; tier destruction, 123. /iivanwn, elTecIs of, 937. IiiviNo, Wabiiinuton his prediction, 630 ; rebuke by, S8T. UARp, Gkohok, .Major General, 792, 843; sends tr(M)ps to the Niagara tnuitier, 844; lakes command, 846, 864, 886, 868 ; leaves his camp at Cliamplain, 859. Jaokbon, Antibew, commander of tlie Tennessee militia, I'iti, 742, 74:1; at Natchez, 742 ; returns to Nashville, 7-i*; pecuniary troubles of, 744 ; nft'ers his services to the gov- ernineut,' 7.'i8; in the Held, 759; marches to the CiMwsa, 700 ; his army thvealeued with famine, 701, 702, 703; adopts an Indian orphan, 703; goes to the relief of Tal- ladega, 704, 700; ciuitiminlly in mot\on, 773, TT4 ; aston- ished at the bravery of the I'leeks, 7V6 ; at Firt Strothcr, 776, 770, 777 ; nt the Horseshoe, 779, 781 ; releases Wea^'' 1080 INDEX .i eraford, T81 ; recalled tn utlrs irrrlce, 101T s gntm to Mo- bile, lOlV; marcheii to PennacolH, Um- iiooii tii New Or- leann, IW8, KIM; preimrea rnrdcronm, KMT, I1I8O; at work below Now Urieana, HIM, I'MT; driven rrom hlR beail- quartem, WM; battle of NewOrleiinn, Um-, cullii hia atuir Into action, 1040; entorit Ni^w (IrlcunH with liU nrniy, lOftl ; racelvea iroUl medal, KIOJ ; skotch uf, KiM: tomb of, IflU Jaokbon, Ca*TaN, TTB. Jaiikion, PaANoia J., BngUih mlnlater, ITT; bli mlacon- duct, ITH. jAnaaoN, WiLMAM, mcretnry of the Couventloa, M. Jueohin Club, rormiuloii of, 6T. JaaMnt, Prenrh, rail of, N«. Java, wreck and capture of, 440. Jay, .loiiN, Hiwclal mlnlater to England, 8S; treaty with Great Hrltiiln, S(l. JtrncamiN TnouAK, Hecretary uf Foreign AflTalr*, DO ; re- ception In Now York, 0*1, IW ; dla);uHt and alarm of, TO; feud with l(Hmllton,Tl ; rt^oiikea Oenet, SI, n2 ; elected Prealdeut, 1(M, 114; foreahadowH bla policy, IIS; hIa pup- nlarlty, US; hia viewa on the retroceaalon ofLoulalann, IBl; minora Burr, IM: dlaantlaDictlon at the acquittal of Burr, Ui ; algna the embargo, im ; makea provlaion for streuKthiMiini; the army and navy, lOT ; compared with New Rnulaiid dlaunionlHtH, ITS. Juarr/rniivAH Hidniy, Colimel, aketch of, HIK, lOlB. .T«TT, TniiMAS, 770. Juhn Adnnu, friirate, capture of, 880; aacenda the Penob- scot, ttOH; at Hampden, HttO; mns tlie blockade, 1)7H ; de- ■tructlon of. l)7U. JoiiMNON, O. H. M., Indian chief, 42n, 421 ; aketch of. 4'i2. JuiixHON, KuiiiAai) M., 1""' laauea addreaa calibii; for mounted volunteera, B'JS, 320; bla proposed campaign, 494, 406 ; aketch of, 406 ; at Kort Strnhenaon, 49T ; at Mo- ravlau Town, 681: croasen Detroit Itlver, ftiS; gvcnt ga\- lautry at the battle of the Thiimca, CM ; wounded and conveyed homeward, 0B7. JouNHoN, William, hlH exploit* among the Thonaaud lal- anda,U02; bin heroic daugbte., 008. JouNBTOH, JouN, u vUlt to. 268, 810, 824. JoNCK, Jaooii, captain of the Waup, aketch of, 440 ; honors to— recelvea gold medal, 462. JoNKH, TllOMAH AP CATK8BT, 102fi, JOMKH, KoOKU,812. Jvdiciary of Uulted States, arrangement of, 00. JcMONviLLK, plantation of, sklrmisb on, 1038. Kalnrama. 912. K'mp, urivateer, crnise of, 1000. K»ntiuilc!i frontier threatened, 46 ; her wealth and patriot- iam, .186 ; aullerluge of her anldlera, 88T, ir Kentuekiaiig, war cry of, 300; vengeance o' Kaaa, William John, 020. K«T, Franiiih 8., author of "Star -apaugi r," 986. Key, Philip Babton, 102. Kino, KuKim, American minintcr to GnKlauo, 148. Kingtton, operations near, !l"2 ; the Brltiab return to, TBS. . KiNKiK, Jou.N, attacked l>y Indians, 8U4, 806, 306 ; leaves the fbrt, 806 ; allowed to return to his bouse, 810 ; sketch of, 811. I KiNziE, JoBN IL, Mrs., 312. IKnauoh, .rAMKa,302, 308. I Knox, UxMBY, Secretary of War, 89. la Colte MiU», repulse ' if the British at, 040, 068 ; British at, TOO : baltle-ground a% TUl ; British troops at, 860. La Co»U, plantation of, Little at, 1031. Lapayrttk, Marquis de,0o, 01; atMaubenge,T3; before the National Assembly, T4 ; Imprisoned, 76. Lapittk, Jean, 1018, 1010. Laket, Upper, proposed expedition to, TSO, 860. La Salle, Marquis de, 00, Lauguton, John B., 298. Latalrtte, K. A. F., skotch of, 872. lawrenct, flag-ship, 818; scenes onboard of, 825, C2(I; sur- render of, 628. Lawrknor, James, captain of J/ocn*;, 698 ; hrnors to, 700; gold medal to, TOO ; in command of the Ch mpeala; 701 ; last oBIcIbI letter of, T02 ; chulleni^ed by Broke, 703 ; ac- cepts, 704; mortally wounded, TOiP; bis last words, TOO; sketch of,T08; respect to the remains of, Til; monument to, T13. Lawbenoe, William, 1019 ; sketch of, 1022. lMtr», alien and sedition, lOT. Leaijue, contemplated dissolntion of, 24. Lkavbnwobtu, Henry, Colonel, SOB ; sketch of, 816. Z« CroyabU, capture of, 101 gra/e of, SIC, I riirk, expedition agalual, 6H6. L», MtSm hospitality of, 418. LiUATI, TUOMAS C, Ll< , Lieutenant, T96. Lb Rradx, Benjamin, tiS9. IdtSTEB^OHN, Captain, 063. Mwia, Blkba, veteran of 1813, 6T4 Lbwis, Moboan, OTO. LBWia, WuuAM, sketch of, 880 ; in Long Island Sonnd, 888, - ttvU t o n Heights, Lorett at, 40T; view fh>m Heights, 413; Tlllagt' ot, tin ; railway at, 888 ; savage atrocities near, 048. . Din.B, Chief of the Mlainis, 40, 4T ; counsels peace, l>H; I " - ' "■" LitlU j LiVEaPfMiL, Li>«i>, int. Livin4ihtiin, RiiwAai), appoinled to sap«ribt«nd the par- •haae of Ixminlana, 182 ; aketch of, 102T. /xMifM, Uovenimeiit, IOOn. UHiAN, John, Captain, services and death of, 845. I.ONI1PELI.OW, Samuel, Jr., lOlO. Ijimii lnUttul, NM8. hmti WikkU, battle at the, 849. Uiek'h I'kavkh written in Indian, 42S. ImUmtv, privateer, cruise of, liNNI. lAMinana, purchase of, 182, 188 ■ tranafer or 184; luiurrec- ttonary movement In, T8H ; admission of, 140. LimMaiui, man-of-war, 108T. LiiiiiH XVI., Ml ; execution of, Tt. liovsTT, JouN, sketch of, 4<lT. LuiiLow, AuuusTiis C, respect for the remain* of, Til. huntly't iMtte, N28. Lyman, Daniel, 1016. Lyman, Josepu, 1016. Lipm Haven, bay of, 660. Lyon't Crttk, victory at, 845. MAGABTt, M., lOST. Maalmwwih, privateer, cruise of, IftOT. HAnmiNDUiiii, TllOMAH, l,ieuteiiuiit,041 ; commander of the Sarataya, WMl ; his announcement of victory, 8T1 ; his re- ception of British captives, 872; medal to, MT8; sketch i>f, Maeetlnnian, capture of, 466 ; at New York, 486. Mofkinack, expedition against, 2T0. Mackinaw, Americans determine to capture, 840. Mackiiuiw Itttand, battle at, 860; blockade of, 861 ; rarrender of, 271. Maudmii, Alexaniieb, 790; appointed brigadier general, 792, 8011; medal awarded to, 8X8; sword presented to, 8TT sketch of, 871. Ma(m>n, Natiianiei., T84. Matlinun Ikirraehi, 010. Mndimm, F'rrt, uttacli on, 819. Madison, Oeorhe, sent to Quebec, sketch of, 880. Madison, James, 20 ; leader of the House of Kepresenta- tlves, 88; Secretary of State, 181 ; elected President, 100; as a politlclau, 173; takes presidential chair, 176; pro- claims that trade can he renewed, 170; proclaims the revocatiim of the French Decrees, 1711; feeble war trump of, 211; anxious to avoid war, 212; recommends an em- bargo, 210 ; his message, 221 ; renominated for the Presi- dency, 226 ; his accusatory message, 220 ; proclaims war, 228; instructs Mr. Monroe to try and make peace, 246; listens to Hull's advice, 261 ; re-elected, 408 ; reviews the troops, 924 ; flight of, 986. Maihson, Mrs. James, patriotism of, 930. Mamuuja, battle of, 280 ; battle-ground of, 281. ^ Maiilen, expedition against, 4T8. /v . ^ \ » t.<,i iVdfotw, Journey to, OM. r.> ■' ' _ I MaNTON, KOWARII, 1016. »-- «« •«•...•-<' I Marblehtad, 006. Marctu Hook, camp at, 90T. Maboy, William L., takes flrst British flag, 8T6, Maeie Antoinkttk, Uneen of France, ST. Marque and repriml, letters of, 248. ifararut»as Inland*, arrival of the Eaex at, T2T ; civil war Id, Mabsuall, Secretary, writes to Ruftis King, 144. Mason, J. , Ueneral, 788. Maiuachuselts, Qovernor of, refuses to comply with requisi- tion for trooiifl, 248. Matmere, Indian, 268 ; of whites, 804 ; at Fort Mlms, T8T. Maumer. Rapidn, light with Indians at, 848 ; fortlfled camp at, 474; British and Indians cross the, 483,490, 491. Macrv, John, T2T. M'Artuub, Ddnoan, 266, 266, 267; goes to relieve Miller, 281; crosses the Rouge, 286; fulls to communicate with Hull, 290 ; his raid into Canada, 852 ; bravery and gener- osity of, 863. M'Call, Euwabd RtTTLiDox, gallantry of, T18; medal awarded to. Tie. M'DouALi, Ltentenant Colonel, 840. M'DouoALL, Sib Dunoan, sketch of, 081. M'Farlanh mortally wounded, 828. M 'Feely, Geobue, Commander, 420, H'GiLLivBAr, Alexandib, slcetch of, T84. • M'Gi.a8sin, Captain, brave exploit of, 866w M'Gowan'H I'axH, works at, 0T4. M'Orajnr'i) Mill, skirmish at, 880. M'Hmnj, Fort, a visit to, 964. M'Intosh, William, sketch of, T6i M'Kek, Colonel, punishment of, 54. M'Kbnxib, William Lton, 504. M'Laitb, Allan, revolutionary veteran, 668. M'NAia,MATTUEw, death of, TOT. M'Neil, .John, Mn)or, 800; flank movement of, 810, 81T, 818, 819 ; sketch of, 821. M'NiTT, Sahdel, gallantry of, 611 ; sketch ot, 611. M'NuiT, Jonathan, revolutionary veteran, 668. c- INDEX. 1081 1111(10 urlaoii- reniuln* u(, Wi; vInU 'or the ramatiM of, Tl 1. Vatex at, T2T ; civil war Id, [uftii King, 144. to comply with requlal- ^04 ; at Fort Mlras, 76T. PS at, 843 : fortilled camp Ibs the, 483, 400, 4111. I; goes to relieve Miller, \IU to communicate wltli , 852 ; braver; and gener- illantry of, T18; medal kran, 006. kvement of, 810, 817, 818, M'QuraH, marrh of, 740. MlliK, chief Kiiglne^r, okHch of, SOB, «(M, SSft. Mkih", (iovoriiDr of Ohio, Itil; pollrotn iriwipn, .'IKI. SIrtil', l''i>rl, 477; exi«'illlliin iiKiiliiiit, 47'<, i^'i; ii«w battery opened on, In4: Aiui-rlciiiiK (li'fuati-il iiml niado em, IHU ; Hurtle from, 4H»t, 4Utt, 41>8 to, 41)3. Mki.vin, nnoauii W., ikotch nf, ma, Mkikitt, W. H., (.'aptain, at Htony Creek, 003; italemont of, «•.'«. Miami, A'orf, dHvantatlnnii nround, M: built, 810; manaacro <>r prlHonerx iit, 4j<II : rcinulnn or, 401, MiaviiH, rxjiPdllloii ii);iiliii<t, 114(1. Mirhioan, Hrltiiih oocnputluu of, iWi. MifhiUiiiDUkiiutck, ?«7. Milan Drrrrf, 1(M ; revocation of, 170. Mililanj l^failem men to be clionen an, 219. Militia of NfW York, bad fonduct of, 4<W. Mii.i.iea, Jahrii, Lieutenant (.'oloiicl, vnO; hla men, 278; dketvo of, HtM); gold medal awarded to, 820 ; triumph of, 830. MImii, Fort, K\ ; crowded with rcfu)fpen, 7li.'l ; fiiUe conft- denci! of tlin comniitnder o', 7M; Budden iippoiiranco of IndiiuiH, 7nn; maamirre In, 7M1; number uf the HJaln, 757. MiMH, Nahiiki., house of, 700. Mi'tiixuia, t'urt, 410. JUixMiimipjH Riwr, event* near, 834 ; Britiah approach, 1028 ; till! levee cut, 1(W4; effect of, loilS. JlfoWld, 74<l ; expedition tt({«l""t, 741 ; aurrendor of, by the HiinniardH, 74l!; threatened, 750 ; lt« defuiiaoa, 1010. Miihairk, village of 41!3. MoNHoi!, Jamkh, Mlniater to Franco, Wl; recalled, OS; as- slatH In the purchnvo of U>uialana, 13'i, 155 ; demnnda rep- aration from EnRland, IfiO; at the hiMid of the War De- partment, 340 ; Secretary of Htate, ns, 020, 1012. Mo.sTOOMKKY, ■IiiiiN, Oeneral, aketch of, 801. MoNTooMaav, L. P., 770 ; aketch of, 7''0. MnoKRH, Bknjamin, MnJor Ueneral, 860; In command at Beckmantown, 801 ; sketch of, 870 ; grave of, 870; resi- dence of, HS3. MnoKK, TiioM.iN, poet, 601. Miiranian Vku'ii, 501. MoHOAM, Daniki., OonernI, 1088, MoaoAN, Lom>wii)K, aketch of, 848, Miirifco, xettletnout of difllcultli'a with, 120. itoRHiH, CuABLEH, Commodore, aketch of, 000; monument to, 001. , MoKHiB, GoDVKRNEnR, gocB to Loudoo— Intorview with the I )iike of Leeda, 82 ; recalled, H5. .iiaa, Sahvki. F. B., Inventor, 218, •lorNTKORT, Jons, akclch of, S'i4. .MUI.<lA8TRB,W.U.,fllO. MdRAT, JoAOHiu, occupies MsdHd, 170, Mfrray, J., (^)lonel, 034 ; raid of, <M2. Mykr«, MoHiiKOAi, Captain, gallantry of, 048; aketch of, 864. Xathvllle, return of Tennesace troops to, 744. Xautilitt, capture of, 4it6. J^^avaf eiufa^enwnta, io3. Xaval Heri'uv, reor;fanlzatlon of, 156. Aai'o/ irar/aie, between Kraiice and the United States, 100. Navaiire, Pktkb, aketch of, 41M). yavii, British, very cautious In approaching the coast, 698 ; Hent at Halifax, 234, 4!S0. Audi/, United States, Urat steps towards Its creation, 00 ; powerftil opposition to, 90 ; Secretary of, Inatrnctloiis to, 102; Increase of, 103 : reduced, 110, 168; gunboats ridi- culed, 108; Huaucceaafiil attempt to liicreaac, 218; repulse Britiah arjuadron on l.nkc tliitarlo, ;i(10 ; commanders of 871; mcaaures for atreiigthBiilny the, 407; stations cf men-of-war of, 4.14, 436 ; Briti.sh contempt for, 4.')3; weali- neas of, 721 : ships of, 721 ; n%'lected, 7h7 ; on Lake On- tario, 704 : list of ships, 794 ; new vessels for, 978 ; a', the close of the war, 092, 1(KJ8. A'oej/ yard, Charlestown, Hosa,, 906 ; at Wagbington, de- « stniction of, 034. Nralr, B. J., Lieutenant, 878. A>rf, privateer, cruise of, 1001. Nki.bon, Loan, victor of Trafalgar, 152. Seutral itatiiniA, tribute exacted from, 188. Xeutrality violated by the Britiah, 375. Sewark, Ohio, ancient relics at, 604; Canada, bnmlng of, 632; snirerlnKS of the Inhabitants of, 633. jVew Bedford, 880 ; visit to, 912. Sew Ennland, politicians of, propose secesaion, 134 ; dis- unionfsts In, 172 ; state sovereignty proposed in, 173 ; In 1814, 888; warfare on the coast of, 880; sen-port towns blockaded, S!M) ; visit to, 004 ; discontents ii<, 1012. Nao JIampsliire, armed mob snrround Legislature of, 24 Xfxo Jertey, Lecislature of, 243. New London, blockade of, 601 ; torpedo off of, 693 ; ceme- tery at, 090; harbor of, 696; old conrt-house of, 607; blockade of, 888. Sew Orteans, United States flrigate, 616. Sew Orleans, 1004 ; defenseless, 1023 ; preparations to at- tack, 1026; battleofijun-boiits near, 1026; American lines of defense at, 1038; battle of, 1040, i049 ; battle-ground of, visit to, 1008. .V«u>atia)iera. war nf the, 71. Xtw York, Hiaie LfKlaialure of, anpport national gnvam- nient,241l; enforcCB revenue lawa, .166; City, reception of Hull, 446; blockaded, 075 ; funiTnl i olcniiiUies to Law- rence In. 713; relieved, 946; great excitement In, 960; aaaUied by lla n«lKhlM>ra, 9TU; furtlllcatlout round, 074. .V,U(/(ini, battle of, 824, 826. Siiiiiaru, Fort, account of, 4<I8 ; bombardment of, 426, 427, 507 ; surrender of, 633 ; maaaacre at, 034. Siatiara /■'n.iifiiT.itNl, 301,512, «19; raids ou, 026, 031; deso- lation of, «VA, HtH; u visit to, ml. Suuiara lilmr, eventa at the mouth of, 408, 428 ; tha Amer- ican squadron off of, 697, 608, 804. Siagttni, aettlnmeut of, 880 ; arrival at, 412 : lusueuilon bridge at, 413, 828. Niciioi.As, Koiixrt CAaTRR, sketch of, 820, .Vm^i/iifiuA, capital of the Maniuesas, 728. Noon, Darby, Captain, ride of. 202. Sor/olk, defenses of, «W, 1177; attempt to Mlie the n«VT yard at, 6H0 ; a visit to, Oh4 ; British consul at, 686. Snrlh Itriul. settlement at, 571. Sorth Carolina, nm»l of, t!ockl urn on, 680. .Vor/A fuiiit, battle of, 962, 953 . battle-ground of, visit to, 963. Oak Hill Cemftfr;i,H\. O'Connor, .John Mu'Uarl, hrn-' cry of, 811, Ocraevke Inlet, Cockburu off of, 0n9. t*<;rf«wifttir(/, attack on, 374, 677, 578; sarrender of Amerl- cana at, 570, 5f>l ; a visit to, 6S2, 684. OAm, aettlement of, 87 ; adopts a State Conatltntlon, 130; niUllary preparatlona In, 137; organiiatlon of troops of, 252; a Journey to, 563; an early settler In, 573. Ol.dOTT, Mll.KS, 1010. Oi.ivKB, W., Mi^jor, carries news of re-eufurcemonts to Fort Wavne, 314. (huiifu, 307. O'Nkil, JouN, 071 ! his sword and dwelling, 678. (hunulatfa, village of, 423. Ontario, Furl, attack on, 798. t)ii/(iri», /,<iA.r, 305 ; active operations on, 879, 413; passage across, 595, 042 ; capture of Aim^rlcan vessels on, 644 ; the navy on, 704. OsHoaNE, Hrllkok, sketch of, 889. UsoKoi.A, grave of, 000. Osuooii, Sahiiei., I'oatniaster General, 69. OsuAWAUNAii, Indian Chief, 662. Onwefialehie, Fori, 373. UKweijo, British fleet at, 600 ; the de.'ensc and defender! of, 796; capture of, 7iMl ; survivors of the war at, 797. Otia, Harhibon Ouay, 1008, 1016. Otib, John, 8(K). Otter Creek, skirmish at, 866, OvKBTOM, Waltku U., rketch of, 1060. Paokit, John H., sketch of, 828. Pahr, Jamkb, Captain, 906. Painr, Tuomas, 60; "Rights of Man," effects of, 71 ; vis- its France, 76 ; writes abusive letter to Waehlugton, 02, SI Pakknbah, Sir Edward, arrival at New Orleans, 1086; calls Council of War, 1088, 1041 ; death of, 1046. /"arts, excitement in, 60. Paris, town of, 420. Pabker, Sir Pktrr, exploits of, 046; sketch of, 046. J'arliavient, British, passes ret In fa^or of neutrals, 1(0, Canadian, house of, adorned with scalps, 601. Parsons, Uhiier, sketch of, 617 ; address by, 040, /"artieii, war and anti-war, 148. Patterson, Uaniei. T., sketch of, 1026. I'atterwn Park, a visit to, 002. Pacldino, Hiram, sketch of, 860. y'wicc. Treaty of, 18 ; neglect to comply with conditions of, 19; negotiated with Indian tribes, 36; secured, 67; Party, organization of, 230 ; negotiations, 248 ; commissioners to "treat for, 471,783; part V for, 784; rumors of, 780 ; pro- claimed in the United Stales, 988 ; Faction, 1008 ; Treaty of, 1059; commissioners of, 1060; Treaty of, concluded, 1(M!1 : rejoicings for, 1064, 1006 ; ratlflcatiou of, 1068. Peacork (EngllBh), 090. Peacock (U. S.), her flght with Jiper'ier, 9S1 ; cruise of, 092, Pearck, Cbomu'Ei.l, M. Peel lalami, 061. Penn»ylvania, Legislature ol sapports national govern- ment, 243 ; votes sword to Com. Stewart, 980. Petwbumt, voyage up the, 910. Peiutaeola, march of M 'Queen fl'om,749; hostile movements at, 1017 : reception of British at, 1022 ; Americans In, 1023. PeopU, exhanstion of the, 24. Pebkins, ('onstantink, 778, Perkins, Maria T., keeper of Fort Sewall, 907, Pebkins, Simon, General, sketch of, 330, 349. Pbbby, O. H., aiTival at Erie, 809. 611 ; hastens to Channcey, 812; lack of mei: 513; relotions toChauncey,B14; recon- noiasance by, 617 ; prepares for battle, 618 ; his final in- structions, 610 ; sketch of, 521 : relative position of the two squadrons, 022 ; abaudous the Lawrefict, 626 ; meel- 1082 INDEX. • Ins with Elllntt, 528 ; brenkn BritlRh lino, 821) ; "I'j victory complete, 52U, 5ii(i ; fiiirreiKler of Hriliiih offlcerx to, ftSl ; Importnmi! of liis victory, Nta ; hoiiorH iiwardtul to, 6!t6 ; mcilal to, 5:in: i>tHtue to, Mill; hlH prioonerH, M'i ; with Hiirrimiii nt Erie, 643 ; hU Bquaciroii In the Thuracg, 64i>i effect of the victories of, BOS ; gallantry of, 698. Philmlflph-M, frltfiitc, captnre of,l2fl ; demtruction of, 121. Philadelphia, reception of llull, 440; preventa O'Nell with (!wor<l,073; relieved, U(j6; public meeting In, 1)03 ; fortill- cntlons at, »0S. PioKKKiNo, Timothy, Secretary of State, 143, 784. l*i(^gi)KT, P>*N0I8, sketch of, 670. PiKK, Zkhulon Montoomkrv, pioneer, sketch of, 686, 68T; death of, 689 ; la»t moments of, 6i)l ; monument to, ijlti. PiNnKNKV, CiiABLEH CoTKHwoHTii, appointed minister to France, 92; ntters the memorable sentence, "MllliouE for defense, not one cent for tribnte," 98. PiNoKNEv, Thomas, British mi,)ibter, 04; appointed second in command, 240. \ PiNKNKv, Wii.i.iAM, Minister to England, 147, 149,106; de- mands reparation from England, l(i(i, 171. Pitt, Wii.i.iAM, 21, 22. Pi.ATT, C'liARi.KS T., Commodore, sketch of, 807. Pi.ATT, Isaac C, residence of, 80!) ; visit to, SS3. I'lalliiburii, position of the American works at, sdfl; British advance on, SOI, 803, 804, 875 ; victory at, 8i(i, Mil, SSO. PLADnHfe,jRAN B., MiiloT, 1024 ; sketch of, 1(>42. PuMitm, frigate, J. B. Beresford captain of, 451. Polieii, gnn-boat, 166. Poi.i.v, John, Captain, veteran of 1612, 379. Po.NTiAo, Ottawa chief, 20S, 801. PoRTEB, David, commander of Ksnex, T21 ; scnrches for Balnbridge, 722, 720: in command of a squadron, 7J6, 720; sails for Marquesas, 727, 728; battle with the natives, 720 ; at Valparaiso, 730, 731 ; hauls down his Hag, 733 ; honors to, 734 ; death and inonHincnt, 7."4. PoiiTKii, Petkb B., residence of, 426 ; commands New York Volnntcers, 427 ; harmless duel with Smyth, 432 ; Imrrles to Black Hock, 027, 807, 808; sketch of, S3S; receives gold medal, 842. Portitiiumlh, British squadron off, 891. \<A<fy^ Post, .Ioiin Fbkiierick, Ukv., pioneer, 80. Piitotiuic /I'l'rpc, Cockburn in, ()S9. ^imler Millx, Duponts', 900. 1 KKDi.K, Eiiu'ARi), C\>inmodore, appointed to the command of the Mediterranean Squadron, 120; medal to, 123; sketch of, 123. Pkksikitt, Wii.i.iAM II., 1016. J'renaitt, visit to, 5"i2. /'rfniilent, frigate, 181 ; on a cruise, 182; conflict with lAttU Bell, 184; cVuiso of, 464; runs the blockade, 737 ; captnre of, OSS. Piviiiiite hir, 401 ; the harbor of, 610. I'nK.V(viT, Siii Okiihof:, Governor (iencral of Canada, 216, 273; arrives at Prescott, 877 ; dlsgracefni retreat of, 012, 013 ; allows iirlsoucrs to return on parole, 780 : orders trooiis to Plattsbur!", 804 ; arrives at Isle aux Noix, S6S ; cost of the expedition of, 879. Pbioe, Kiimi\hi>, 09. Prinat de .\eii/ch(Uel, privntcer, cniieo of, 1006. PiiiNOE Hkoent, Manifesto of, 469. Piiinilr llMute, 074. Prirakvring at the close of the war, 099. /'lie :teerH ordered to leave American waters, 81; Injury of, to British commerce, 214; comn.i88ioned,993, lOOS. ProclanuUion concerning British seamen, 100 ; of renewed trade, 176. Pb<h)t.0r, Henry, Colonel, jirepares to Invade the Mnnmee Valley, 477; calls savages to Maiden, 478; dlr-heartencd, 488 : flight of British and Indians, 489, 40R ; before Fort Stephenson, 601 ; fears of, 540; flight of, 56it; a disgrace to the B.itish army, it65; escape of, 566 ; rebuked nuddr- splscd, 61)7; his punishment considered too mild, 568; remnant of his arm/, 658 ; death of, 56S. Protest, signers of, 229. Pi;hhamataiia, Choctaw chief, 712. Put-in-lhiu, islands around, 510. PiTTNAU, Hiici 8, founds Marietta, SO. , Qiieeimtdn, appearaiice of the country, 147, 890 ; skirmish near, 30.5; Inndiug of Americans nt, 395; battle of, 404, 412; vlllaae of, 413. QtuvH^tim HeifihtH, lauding at the fort of, 304 ; cai)ture of, 399 ; battle of, 403 ; Brock's monument at, 414, 416. QuiN<v,.Jo8iAH, 162; prophecy of, 103; denounces the who'c policy of Great Britain as fallachnis, 100; denounces tlie War Pa:ty, 174; reasons for his course, 217; opiiosltlon of, 228; called "Josiah the First," 228; denounces the policy of the War Party, 466, 406. Haiti a;/, the first traveler on a, 218. U,iitiii Kivrr, rc-pufor aments and supplies at, 270; march toward, 279 ; distrt ss on, 342. Raniioi.hi, EiiMnNi>, 27; Buggcsts n national government, 2S; attorney general, 6I>. Ha>')Oi.pii, JoHN.one of the six secessionists, 148; on slav- iir),214; s( >ld» the Democrats, 215 ; ; itch of 216; Im- . ii^ore«4ib« ItJtise to net with cnntton, V. ,., 03'~ Remoerji, FnrL battle of, 62. Heii Jaokkt, Indian chief, sketch of, 802. Keonier, French minister of Jnstice, 163. llKiii, Samuei. C, captain of the Uinieral Armatrung, 1004 sketch of, 1005. Rennib, Koiikrt, Colonel, 1037 ; death of, 1048. JiejireneiUaliveii, Uoiue o/— Imports oud exports, 68 ; secret sessien, 227. Republic, an attempt to destroy the, 220 ; prospe.-' , y of, 1009. Heimlulii'tui, French and American contrastca, 81. ItKY.Noi.iit, RoiiEBT, veteran British officer, 300. .';n«ii\ iMiiul, Governor of, refuses to comply with requisi- tions for troops, 243. BiAi.i., I'.,bu6; re-enforced, 814; c&pture of, 819; wonoded, 825. RioiiARDviLi.E, Indian chief— birthplace of, 44. Kii^HiK, John, 828. Kichnumd, scene of Bnrr's trial, 13T. HiLKV, Bennet, 84S. Ripi.^v, Ei.EAZEB W., appointed brigadier general, T02, 804; tardiness of, 813, 823 ; attempts to abatidcm Canada, 820; highly spoken of, 836, S37 ; received gold medal and other to>tiinonialB, S42 ; sketch of, 842. RoiiERTS, C'autalu, 270. KiuiERTSoN, Fei.ix, Dr., 10,57. HoiiERTsoN, James, General, sketch of, 747. HoHiNsoN, John Bkveri.v, Canadian chief Justice, 604. Jtiic': Maiul, n visit to, 001. RoiioKRS, Georgr W., Commodore, burial-place of, 090. RonoEiis, J., Commodore, sketch of, 185; takes command ofllic/Y««iiMif, 181 he is assailed, 180; squadron of, 4.16; services to his country, 730; hiuiors to, 737; unsuccessnil cruise of, 735; captures the Hiiihiti/tr, 735. Rose, II. O., special envoy to the I'nited States, 101. m Ross, General, death of, 052 ; monument where he fell, 904. n'^ Ross, James, survivor of War of 1812, 502. * Iloimie, privateer, cruise of, 094. H(iiuie'i) Point, journey to, 005. RutsKi.L, Jo,.ATiiAN, minister ta England, 224, T80; peace commissioner, 1000. RrssELi,, William, Colonel— expedition against the In- dians, 330. fiiiHMin Invaded by Napoleon, 470 ; proposes to mediate, 470; Emperor of, enters Paris, 864. Sackelt'ii Harbor, SK; British designs upon, 607; Brown as- snmes command, flOS ; an alami, 009 ; chase and rapture of American vessels at, OlO; destruction of public slorcs, Oil; militia assembled, 012; its defenses, 614; a visit to, 015; blockade of, 708; the cable at, hoI. Salem, fnnerai solemnities of Lawrence at, 712 ; Its harbor, 000; privateers from, 097. Saniikrs, J., captain titjiinnn, 070. Naiul-.i^ki/, a visit to, 6ii6, 5fl0. Saiuly Creek, a visit to survivors of the war there, SOI. Naranae River, British troops at, 873. SaratiKja, flap-ship— lialtle of Lake Champh lU, SOU. tSaratofja, privateer, cruise of, 1000. SaROENT, WlNTIIROP, i!8. .Srt'i'i/ Jacic, privateer, cruise of, 100<J. Stt'ili St. Marie, m). Si-lihsner, Fort, remains of, 380. SiatoValleji o/,6m. Si o1-r,Wl^FlEI.ll. Lieutenant General, 46; arrives ct Fort Schlosser, 303 ; ot Lewiston, 894 ; at (^ueenston, 400 ; his harangue to his troops, 4<I2 ; at Niagara, 404, 406 ; his bold protection of fellow-prlsouers, 409 ; maiehes to Sack- ett's Harbor, 031; appointed brigadier general, 792; moves down the Niagara River, SOO; rc-cnforred, 807; advances to nicet the lirltlsh, SOS ; ordered to Fort (jeorge, 817,818,819; woHiirtcd, 823 ; goes to Washington, 8:6; medal awarded to, 820, appoir.ted lieutenant general, 820. fieoarge, privateer, cruise of, loot. 8oi;i>i>ER, John, 692. Search, the right of, assorted, 143. Sroobii, LaI'Ha, saves British troops, G'A. % Shadow, |)rlvateer, cruise of, 900. Shannon, 438, 703 ; flght with Chrmi-eake, 706. 811AV8, Daniel, rebellion ol' ^'4. SiiEAFKE, R. H., approach of British under, 401.402; sketch of, 406 ; escape of, 500. SiiKFi'iELii, LoBi>, pamphlet of, 23. BiiKL'iiinNK, Earl of, 21. SiiELiiv, IsAAi, Governor n' '.lentncky, 322; his appeal to Kentucky, 384; at *' .rtvlan Town, 644, 561 ; he Is pre- sented with a sw'.i, 646. HllKRIIROOKE, 81. . :>nN CoPE, 807. HllEttMAN, R<"'.iB MiNOT, 1010. Suipp, Edmund, Jr., sketch of, 601. 8iioi.Es, Stanton, sketch of, 641. SiioRTLAMi, Ckptain, comm" dant of Dartmoor Prison 1009. SiiiiRRioK, W11.1.IAM Branfokii, sketch of, 676. Sidmouth, liOBii, Serrntttry of State, 283 SignaU metliod of, 182, 183. Sims, Lieutenant, treachery and cowardice of, 892. Skipwitii, Pui.» All, 7441. Slave, a, his freedom purchased 6y his wife, 687. iCAj^OVxJ C. ■ ^ INDKX 1088 ch of, 802. Btice, 163. e Uinieral Armstrung, 1004 ; death of, 1048. >rt8 aud exports, &S ; secret the, 220; proBpc.-'.yoClOflJ. Clin cDiitrnstcd, 81. ItlsU officer, 3(Ki. loeg to comply with requlsi- : cf>ptttreof, 819; wounded, irtbplace of, 44. ,187. 1 brigadier general, T02, 804; >t.« to nhniiaiin Ciiuntin, Siift; ceived gold medal and other S4'2. etch of. 747. adian chief Justice, 604. lore, burial-plncc of, 096. ch of, 186; takes commaiul ^niU-d, ISO; pqiiadron of, 4.16; honors to, 737; unsiiccci^iiriil 7('(/irfv'»', 736. he I'nitod State?, 161. M loiinmeiit where he full, U04. /r ^ >f lSli>, 602. ' ta EaglRDd, 224, 786 ; peace expedition against the In- rO; proposes to mediate, 470: Iceigns npon,C07; Brown as- arni, flOO: chape and ciiptnrc destruction of public stores, its defenses, 014; a visit to, ible at, KOI. ■awrtMice at, 712 ; its harbor, 076. s of the war there, sni. il, S73. iilve Chaniph lU, $U0. (HHI. 7,1000. rV4t ieneral, 46; arrives pt Fort I, 394 ; at t^uecuston, 400 ; 1)2; at Niagara, 4<M, 4116; his liners, 401' ; niaiches to Sack- ed bripadier jrciicral, 702 ■. |iver, SOO; re-ciifiirced, 807; ?0S; ordered lorml (icorse, );oc» to Washiniriiiii, ^-^x ,ted lienteuant general, 820. II. i). loops, ewi. « p<'<<nj.'«nif, 106. kish under, 401.402; sketch Intucky, 822; his appeal to Ifown", 644, 661 ; he is prc- hl. nut of Dartmoor Prison Iketch of, 670. ]llc, 23S cowardice of, 892. U his wife, 687. Slaves, secret organization among, 090. Sloan, James, survivor of 1H12, 847. .Smith, Uerard D., sketch of, 812. Smith, Johkpii, sketch of, 872. Smith, Melanotiion, sketch of, 801. ^.^ Smith, Natiiamki., 1010. Smith, Samvkl, sketch of, 947. Smith, Thomas A., Brigadier Oeneral, 799, 886. Smoot, Hknjamin, Colonel, 772. Smyth, .Vlexanhku, fJeneral, bad conuuc* of, 389, 390; snc- rccds Van Rensselaer, 410 ; he is ridicn;ed, 411,427; in- competency and treachery of, 430; his couicll of officers, 431 ; harmless duel with Porter, 432. Soeietien, Democratic, 80, 88 ; VVasiiington Benevolent, 864. Sodiu Day, the British at, 006, («i6. South Carolina — no battle fought on her soil, 689 ; secession of, 941. flpain, 62 ; dislikes purchase of Lonisiaiin, 134 ; Issues de- cree like Milan Decree, 164; resists Joseph Bonaparte. 170. SpAKKS, Jakei), LL.D., 072. SvKNOEK, Ambkosk, inortally wounded, 826. STANSiiRnnv, ToniAB B., Oeneral, 921. Statea, League of, 20 ; tlieir ((uotus of troops, 91S. "atar-Himiuilnl llanrur," when and where composed, 960. St. Catheniu'K, 420 ; a vIbU to, 023. St. Ci.ask, AiiTHiTU, 47; battle with Indians, 48; defeat of, 49; rcsigniition of, 50, 861. St. Daviil'ti ViUaiif, burning of, 815. St Jimi'ph'ii, Americans determine to capture, 349. St Lawrence (British), 880. St. iMvrencf, tight on the, 370; British expedition on, 374, 670; a day on the, 682; the American Hotilla dofcends the, 064; perilous voyage on, 660; Rapids, passage of the, 665 ; storm on the, COO. St. Mnr;'i>, 328. .SY. MiciiaeVn, defense of, 946. St Iteijin captured by Americans, 374, 876; avlslt to, 877, 37S. Stephomm, Fint, to be attacked, 499 ; summoned to surren- der, 601 ; besieged, 602 ; storming of, 503 ; site of, 607. Stebiies, Bauon, gold box of, 916. Stevens, Ehenkzek, 970. Stewa rt, t 'haui.ijb, captain of Cniutitiitinn, 983 ; honors to, 986 ; sword and medal to, '.ISO ; sketch of, 980. Stoortin, Thomas, sketch of, 5nii. Stone, Colonel, di: missed from the service, SIB. Stoninqtim, lionibnrdment of, K91 ; British siiuadron off, 803 ; bom^iartiinent of, 894, 896, 896 ; ancient name of, 916. Stonii Creak, Americans at, 002, 008 ; battle of, 603, 604, 606 ; a visit to, 026. Story, .Toskph, 176. StreeV» Cretk, preparations for bottle at, 806. Strong, Oovernor of Massachu!<ctts, denounces the war, 783. Strnther, Fnrt, peril of, 704, 767 ; Jackson at, 770. Swift, J. «., sketch of, 033. 8wi f-T, (Sencral, his report of New York fortifications, 971. SwifT, Zki'iianiah, 1010. Symmeb, John C'i.eveb, 36; sketch of, 678. Symme»'it City, 671. Tallfidfua, battle of, 706, TnUiijiiKiM, raid to the, 777. T(iU(whatche, battle of, 703. Tai.i.kvrani) thinks of concillition, 99. Tarhei.i., Josei'h, 675. Tarontee, the affiiir of, 264. Tattnall, Johiah, t'ommodore, sketch of, 615; gallantry of, 0.S0. Taylor, Boiiert Beh.nard, sketch of, 077. Tavlou, William Vigkron, sketch of, 520. Taylor, ZAiiHABv,ciminiander at Fort Harrison, 317; char- acter aud servf 'es of, 318 ; sketch of, 319. ■:. \Tea»er, privateer, destrnolioii of, 1002. Teoumtii A, Indian chief, 188; his craft, 189; his project for a confederation, 190; goes to Viucennes, 192; alarm of, 193; his influence against Americans, 267 ; his conference with Brock, 283; liis intention to reduce Fort Wagner, 813; on the Mississiniwa, iM"; at Fort Maiden, 477: ills re- bukeofProctor,489;,hisplanfcircaptnr'r , 'cMelgs,498; his chief lieutenant, 651; death of, 666; ills ,/i, tol, l"!.',. Teleyram, first, 2 US. Tmhe*»,c—it» tr(M)pB prepare for war, 742 ; its troops on the Ml.sBissippi, 74i), 768, 777. T.'rre fluute, 19i. 'I'ehrv, Samuel, 862. IVxt of the Treaty of Pejcc, 1071. Thame» River. British and Indians fly toward, 64i ; Perry's squadron on the, 648, M9 ; hiitllc of the, B6S, 664 ; a Jour- ney t(; th«, 669 ; a visit to the battle-field, 600, 661. Tiieobalu, SaMIT.l, sketch of, 550. Tiidmab, .1oh:<, Major Gcucral, 10.11. TuoMAB, Joshua, 10!<!. TiUit, the Peace of, 163. TmaRY, Tiiom/.b, commander of navy yard, Washlncton, !).(.;., 93 V. Typpecnnoc, battle-ground of, 200, 202; battle of, 205; bat- tle-grouud of, in 1860, 209. Tonn, Charles Scott, aid-de-camp to Harrison, sketch of 547, 666, 862. T<ile<lo, description of, 498 ; Jonrney to, 608. Tompkins, Daniel D., Oovernor of New York, 639, 970. Too-Tn.»iA-BTiii!iiLK, ludiau chief, 747. Tortmto, a journey to — veteran of 1812, 692 ; old fort, remains of, 693. Turimlo, its use, 228, 289 ; in New York harbor, 241 ; alarm of the British at, 693 ; in the Potomac, 940. ToiTEN, Joseph G., 403. TowaoN, Natuan, sketch of, 809. Tra/altiar, battle of, 562. TraJHc, illicit, considered, 784. Traimjiorts, British, capture of, 016. Tkant, iTameb, 044. TrEADWELL, JllIlN, 1016. Treamiry, t'nitcd StatcB, 114. Treait, Joseph, Captain, sketch of, 807. IVeaty, Jay's, with Great Britain, violent opposition to, 87; between Great Britain and the riiiled States in 1«14 agreed to, 160: sigustnres of signers of, l(Ki3. Tripoli blockaded, 119, 121, 122; floating mine in the harbor of, 122; its explosion, 122; peace wl.h, r.:6. Tkollope, Mrs., at Cincinnati, 41. TriMifiH, want of, 917. '1'rotter, GRoKciK, Lienteiiant Colonel, 662. . TRiixrijN, cimimunder of ('(inntellaliim, 103; his flght wtih the French frigate ha Vnijicaiiei; 104; welcomed at l-oine —honored by Congress, 105. , Ti'Nis, Bey of, 118. 'I'l ITER, Colonel, C(mduct of, 332, 343. TiKKEY Foot, Indian Chief, death of, 65. ITiiited Staten, 19, 24 ; difilcnItleB with Oveat Britain, 24 ; hit- ter feeling of, S4 ; diffitiilties with Krance, ii2 ; prepares for war with France, 98; goveriiuiont of tlio, 102; hi thrift, 188; her foreign relallims, 140; merchants present memorials to Congress, 140, 141, 146; her frlei;dly proiwi- sltions unheeded, ISO; indignation of the people, 185; coast defenses of, 236, 230, 237 ; at peace with the world, m-. power broken, 913 ; the people aroused, 320; char?ei« against the government of the, 409; prepares for a vigor- ous prosecution of the war, 670 ; Peace Party hails down- full of Napoleon with delight, 864; flag of the, 1006. t'nitfd Stat**, frigate, 464, 466 ; imprisoned in the Tliamos, 095. Upham, Lieutenant Colonel, triumph of, 839. ValiHirnim, the Kuva arrives there, 723 ; friendliness of the Chilians, 724; incidents In tlie harbor of, T31. Van i>e Venter, Chribtopher, sketch of, 0O4, 788. Van Hohne, Ti.oMAB U., defeat of, 270. Van Meter, Hrsrv, 912. Van Nebs, John P., General, 920. Van Renhbklaer, Solomon, General, transferred fnmi yueenston to Albiiny, 407 ; ►ketch of, 408; letter of, 942. Van liENBBELAKR, STEPHEN, General, appointed command- er-in-chief, 381 ; diplomacy of, !N3 ; skelch of, 383; calls for re-enforcements, 384: proposal to Invade Canada, .'184; preparec to attack (;ueen6town,3!'0; renews the attempt to invade Canada, 392 ; wounded, 890 ; rcsiguution of, 410. Vansittart, Chancellor of the Excheiner, 233. Varntm, Jobeph B., Speaker of the Hoise, 210. VAtrciiiAN, William, Captain, sketch of, 868; fights with the Koyal Georye. 308, 369. Vkazy, Colonel, 674. Vietoria, medal of, 600. VIL..ERE, Gaiiriel, Miijor, 1028 ; British at mansion cf,ll2l. Viiuxtivfii, return of the army to, 20(5. Vincent, General, 001 ; narrow escape of, 004. Virijinia, Fort, 017. V'iryiniit, Southwestern, sympathizes with revolt, 24 ; West- ern fr<nitiei- of, threatened, 46 ; secession of, proposed, 87 ; Capes of, 609. I'iryiniarm, h<nior Burr for his duel with namilton. 135. Vol/uiiteerH, call for, response to, 252 ; a call for, 475. VnooMAM, Solomon, 41 1. WAiis-yoRTH, Di.LiiB, Colonelj 938. Waiibwobth, Elijah, General, sketch of, 840; energy 342,400. ,/ . -, / ,. -^ Waliiai'h, Adjutant General, 663. „.<..■■■■ ;■ Waliio, Daniel, 1010. Wales, I'binoe or, visit of, 417. Walk-in-the-Wateh, Indian Chief, 279. Walworth, Reibbn H., sketch of, 873. Wa-pifjli-hi-iu'lta, Indian village, 346. Wari"', Aaron, 040. Wabo, Samcel, 1010. Waii.;kn,Joun B., Admiral, 607,679; thanks Captain Broke, 70'.i. Warrinoton, Lewis, sketch of, 980; commander of the I'mnxk. 980. W<{iihtniil<iii, city of, in great peril, 910 ; great want of troops, 91": preoiiratlons to defend, 918; General Winder in ccmimann at, 918; removal of the public records of, 928. British retreat from, 937. of.W.V 'I 1084 INDEX. Wtuhington, Fort, a visit to, 048. Wasuinoton, Gkorok, propoeed a confederation of a com- merciiil nature, !i8; choHcn iireslrtent of llic CJimvciiltou, 26 ; elected Prcnideut, 33 ; expression of indlgimtlon of, 49; kiudiiosa to St. Clair, BOj appointB his cabinet, 6'J: approves Hamilton's financial scheme, 65; wisdom and prudence of, 73; difficulties with France, 77; his procla- mation of neutrality, 78 ; his Interview with Genet, 80 ; attempt to intimidate, 87 ; calm and falthfiil, 88 ; Issues proclamation, 88; recommends a navy, 90; attacks on character of, 92, close of administration of, 92; appoint- ed commander-in-chief, 98 ; death of, 109 ; action of Con- Kjess on death of, 110; medal lu honor of. 111; sketch of person and character of, 111 ; picture of, saved by Mrs. Madison, 936. War, preparations for, 216, 231 ; predicted, 223 ; declaration of, 228; action against, 243; officers of, 2B0; first blood shed in the, 267 ; survivors of the, 361,416, 589; prisoners of, 403; first shot fired afloat, 43S ; vigorous prosecution of, 876; British resolve on, (167 ; Department of, 793; Sec- retary of, 919 ; end of, 992, 1007. Wait]), cruise of the, 449; fight with the Frolic, 480; captures the AVimicer, 979; combat with the ^1 son, 080; loss of the, with all ou board, 980. Watawamu, ancient name of Stoniugton, 916. iratertotcn, X Y., arsenal established there, 866; visit to. Watts, Oeobok, 812. Wayme, Anthoict, General, appointed commsnder, 60; visits the Indian country, 51 ; battle of Fort Recovery, 62; expedition down the Mauinee, 53; makes ofler of peace, 63; baKJcof Fallen Timbers, 64, 198. ./oi'/w, Fort batt.'e nesr, 42 ; designs against, 313 ; attack on, 814; siege of, .^16; built, 310; relief, 326. Weatherhfobd, WiLi lAH, 784 ; deserted by his warriors, f 772; visits Jackson, 7^, 782 ; sketch of, 782. • Webstee, Daniel, 232. Wellinoton, Duke of, head of the English army, 283 ; en- ters Paris, 884. Wells, Captain, death of. 309. Wells, Samcel, Colonel, sent to Elk Ilart Ri*!r, 826; marchch for Frcuchtown, 353. Wells, Lestkb, 772. West, Benjamin, 1016. White, Roiiebt, survivor of the battle of Niagara, 8*3. Wjiitlook, A.MI1B08E, Major, 199. WuiTTLESEY, Elisiia, skctcli of, 341, 943. Wilde, Samckl Sumnee, 1016. Wilderness, the army in the, 266 ; transportation in, 349. WiLKTHBON, James, General, 638 : succeeds General born, 029; his interview with Armstrong, 630; at Sac) Harbor, 630 ; concentrates his forces, 0& ; his exped leaves Sackett's Harbor, 646 ; ou the St. Lawrence, 649 : holds councU of officers, 660, 661 ; leaves Nev leauB, 741: conBldered Incompetent, 789; crosses the ada border, 790 ; attacks British garrison, 791 ; en military career of, 792. Williams, Elxazab, the I^ost Prince, 8T7, 876. Williams, Jonathan, sketch of, 236. Wiliiiinijbm, powder-mills at, 906. WiNoiiraTEB, James, General, arrival of at Fort Wa 326 ; march of through the wilderness, 326 ; at Fort ancc, 328 ; his troops In a deplorable condition, 880 ; : understandings with brother officers, 831; re-enfc ments for, ;i45; attempts to relieve Topper, 844; si troops to Fienchtown, 881 ; arrival of relief party for, head -quarters of, 888; lack of vigilance of, 864; ta prisoner, 366 ; sent to Quebec, 869. \f iju-hej)ter, Fort, remains ot, 333. Winder, William H., General, capture of, 604, 854; pn command in Washington, 918 ; sketch of, 91R, 919; c for troops, 920; the forces at his command, 921; Inv the government to a council, 928. Wood, Lieutenant Colonel, mortally wounded, 838. Wool, John E., General, wounded, 896 ; takes comma 896 ; sketch of, 397; sent to meet the British, 862. WooLBEY, commander of the Oneida, 367 ; prepares for fl on Lake Ontario, 867 ; purchases vessels for the no 871 ; expedition of, 798, 799. WoETii, William .Tenkinb, General, 812. WoBTiiiNOToN, TuoHAB, skctch of, 668. Wvllvb, Major, 42. Wymniiuj I'dZity, refiigees tcom, 62& Yankee, privateer, cmise of,1000; takes valuable prizes, IC "Fa?i*e« Doodle," when played in derision, 869. Yabnall, John J., sketch of, 824. Yeo, Sir ,Tames, challenges Captain Porter, 440 ; commai British squadron, 009; sails from Kingston, 793 ; cond of; 796; sends troops to Quebec, 368; does not venture attack Chauucey, S86. York, descent on, 628; battle at, 689; surrender of, 6( abandoned bv the Americans, 691. York, Joseph, bravery of, 880 ; sketch of, 880. York, Mrs. Joseph, bravery and patriotism of, 680. YoD, Dominique, 1037 ; tomb of, 1048. j Yocno, Gitilfobu DnuLKY, gallant exploit of, 874, 87 sketch of, 376. THE END. A' •■St , General, B3S : sncceeds General Dear- jrview with ArmBtroUK, 030; at Sacketf g centrales hl8 forces, 0& ; his expedition ^},"^,"'^'J*^' "" "'« St. Lawrefice, 048. ilof officers, «60, m ; leaves New Or- [B^ed incompetent, T89j crosses theCan- , attacks Bt^tlsh garrison, TBI; end of I, the Lost Prince, 877, 876. iN, sketch of, 286. •-mills at, 966. i. General, arrival of at Fort Wayne ongh the wilderuess, 328 ; at Fort Defi; Tu"!," "l^P'orable condition, .-JSO ; mis- dth brother officers, 831 ; re-enforce- ttemi)t8 to relieve Tapper, 844 ; sends Tko' ^^ ! ""'v"! of relfef pirty for, 882 ; 863; lack of vigilance of, 864; taken t to Quebec, 869. nalns of, 833. [., General, capture of, 604, 864; pnt in llnKton,918; sketch of, 918, 919; calls le forces at his command, 931: invites 1 a council, 926. olouel, mortally wounded, 838. leral, wonnded, 390 ; takes command. ; sent to meet the British, S«2. ■L^^'-^^ Oueidn, 367 ; prepares for fight SO' : purchases vessels for the navy, NKiNS, General, 812, AS, sketch of, 668. gees from, 626. lise of.lOOO ; takes valuable prlzes,1001 ;n played in derision, 869. ;etch of, 524. enges Captain Porter, 440; commands TO; sails from Kingston, 793; conduct 18 to Quebec, 368 ; does not venture to j; battle at, 689; surrender of, 690- \merlcan8, B91. y of, 680 ; sketch of, 680. ravery and ijatriotism of, 680. ; 'omb of, 1048. DULitY, gallant exploit of, 874, 876;