Plate 5.121314W. L. Ormsby, sc.
Plate 5.
12
13
14
W. L. Ormsby, sc.
Winfield Scott was born on the 13th of June, 1785, in the county of Dinwiddie, near Petersburg, Virginia. Designed for the profession of the law, he received a liberal education, and graduated at William and Mary College in that state. In 1806, having completed his studies, he commenced practice at the bar, with talents and acquirements which bade fair to introduce him to a very lucrative business. In 1807, the aggressions upon our defenceless commerce, by European powers, and the outrage upon the frigate Chesapeake, roused the indignant feelings of the nation. Redress was promptly called for, and the more ardent of our countrymen prepared for an immediate war. One of the first measures, at the next session of Congress, was to pass a bill for the increase of the army, and young Scott forsook the law, and was appointed a captain in a regiment of light artillery; in which capacity he remained prosecuting, with his usual zeal, his military studies, until the declaration of war in 1812, which opened a more arduous field for the exercise of his brilliant talents.
On the 6th of July, 1812, Scott was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the second regiment of artillery;and arrived on the Niagara frontier, with the companies of Towson and Barker, and was posted at Black Rock, to protect the navy yard at that place.
On the 13th of October, the attack upon Queenstown, under Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, took place.
On the day previous, Lieutenant-Colonel Scott had arrived with his regiment at Schlosser, twelve miles from Lewiston. The object of this movement was to dispossess the enemy from the fort and village of Queenstown Heights, and thus to make a lodgment for the American troops on the Canada shore, the invasion of Canada being then the leading object of the northern campaign. Anxious to be near the scene of action, Scott obtained permission to march his regiment to Lewiston, and to use his artillery as circumstances might direct. In the early part of the action which followed he bore no part; but Colonels Van Rensselaer and Fenwick having fallen severely wounded, Colonel Scott’s request to cross the river was finally acceded to. The enemy was driven from the heights, which were now in the possession of the Americans, who gallantly repulsed an attack under General Brock, who had come up with reinforcements, but was himself killed in the engagement.
On his arrival, Colonel Scott found the troops in great disorder. Announcing his name and rank, he immediately formed them into line. Colonel Scott’s attention was first directed to an eighteen pounder, which the enemy, in his retreat, had left in the hands of the Americans, after having hastily spiked it; and he proceeded in person to direct the measures for rendering the piece again useful. Returning in a short time, he was surprised to find a large body of Indians preparing to attack the American lines, while the troops, already in some confusion, were on the point of giving way. His presence soon changed the state of affairs, and the savageswere compelled to make a hasty retreat. With an unanimous burst of enthusiasm, the line suddenly rallied from right to left, threw itself forward upon the enemy, putting him to precipitate flight, and leaving the ground strewed with the dead and wounded. In this manner successive conflicts were kept up, till a reinforcement of British arrived, under the command of Major General Sheaffe.
Colonel Scott now perceiving that a crisis must be near at hand, every effort was made by the commanding officers to induce the American militia, on the opposite side of the river, to cross over to the assistance of their countrymen, but in vain. Entreaty was wasted upon them, and as all the boats were upon the American side, the little band under Scott was left to await a fate from which there was no retreat. All had now been done that was required by honor, and longer resistance would only have sacrificed in vain the lives of brave men. Terms of capitulation being agreed upon, Colonel Scott surrendered into the hands of the enemy his whole force, now reduced to one hundred and thirty-nine regulars, and one hundred and fifty-four militia; in all two hundred and ninety-three men. Thus ended the battle of Queenstown Heights; an engagement desultory in its movements, but unfortunate in its results. From Queenstown, Scott was sent to Quebec; whence, upon being exchanged, he soon after embarked for Boston. Previous to this, however, one of those scenes occurred in which the decision of character of Colonel Scott was most strikingly displayed.
When the prisoners were embarked on board the transport to be conveyed to Boston, they were first mustered on the deck by British officers, and every man whose accent betrayed his British birth, was set apart to be sent to England as a traitor, there to be tried and executed. As soon as Scott became aware of what was going on, he instantly forbade hissoldiers to make further answer. Twenty-three had already been set apart for a shameful death. After the command from their Colonel, no threats from the British officer could induce the men again to speak. Scott, amidst constant interruptions from the British officer, addressed the men, encouraged them to be of good cheer, and solemnly pledged himself to them, that if a hair of the head of one of them was touched, because of their having served in the American army, retaliation should be made upon British prisoners in the hands of the Americans. These twenty-three men, all Irish, were, nevertheless, put in irons and sent to England, bearing with them the pledge of a gallant soldier, who, they knew, would not fail them. His first care, on his arrival at Boston, was to lay the whole circumstances before the secretary of war, who communicated the same to Congress. A law was passed vesting the President with the power of retaliation, and two months after, at the capture of Fort George, Scott having made many prisoners, true to his pledge, selected twenty-three of his prisoners, and confined them to abide the fate of the twenty-three naturalized Americans. In making this selection, Scott was careful not to include a single Irishman.
The British authorities saw the peril, and, it may be presumed, the injustice of the step they had taken, and not one of the prisoners was tried or harmed. The sequel to the foregoing narrative is told by his biographer, and must be read with interest. In July, 1815, when peace had been some months concluded, and Scott (then a major-general), was passing along on the East River side of the city of New York, he was attracted by loud cheers and bustle on one of the piers. He approached the scene, and great was his delight to find that it was the cheer of his old Irish friends, in whose behalf he had interfered at Quebec, and who had that moment landed in triumph, after a confinement of more than twoyears in English prisons! He was quickly recognized by them, hailed as their deliverer, and nearly crushed by their warm-hearted embraces! Twenty-one were present, two having died natural deaths. Scott had not then recovered from the wounds he had received in the bloody battle of the Niagara, and was about to embark on a voyage to Europe. Yet, in conformity with the promises of friendship he had made with these men, he found time to write to the departments at Washington, and solicit for them their patents for land bounties, and their long arrearages of pay. He was successful, and they were at length restored both to their adopted country and their promised rewards. Several of these brave sons of Ireland are yet alive, and can testify to the truth of this narrative.
Shortly after the capture of York, the capital of Upper Canada, in 1813, Colonel Scott joined the army at Fort Niagara. He joined in the capacity of adjutant-general, (chief of the staff,) under the command of Major-General Dearborn. Though thus engaged in staff duties, he insisted upon the right, and it was conceded, of commanding his own regiment on extraordinary occasions. On the British side of the Niagara was a peninsula, of which Fort George was the defence. This position General Dearborn was determined to carry. The first act of Colonel Scott was in leading the advanced column of the attack, which so completely succeeded that the enemy was driven from the work and the field; and but for repeated and peremptory orders, Scott would probably have captured the whole British force. Fort George, the colors of which had been taken down by Colonel Scott himself, became the head quarters of the American troops, and in command of it Colonel Scott was left, when the main body of the army went down the St. Lawrence, in the summer of that year, to attack Montreal. The whole summerpassed without any attack from the British, when Scott obtained permission to turn Fort George over to General McLure, of the New York militia, and to join the main army at Sacket’s Harbor; marching to the mouth of the Genesee river, where the commander-in-chief promised that transports should meet him. It is well known that the expedition, after exciting much expectation, finally resulted in utter failure. The troops endured great fatigue, and encountered considerable danger in the difficult and perilous navigation of the St. Lawrence, without obtaining an opportunity of distinguishing themselves or benefiting their country. This unlucky campaign was, however, brilliantly redeemed by that of the following year. On the 9th of March, 1814, Colonel Scott was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and he joined General Brown on his route to Niagara, in the commencement of the next month.
Soon after General Brown was called to Sacket’s Harbor, and the command, in consequence, devolved upon General Scott, who immediately assembled the army and established a camp of instruction. His whole attention was now given to perfecting the discipline of the troops, to give them that celerity and combination of movement, which in modern times has made war a science, and rendered individual prowess of so little avail. For two months and a half the troops were drilled daily, from seven to nine hours each day, until finally they exhibited a perfection of discipline never before attained in our army. They were now prepared to meet on terms of equality the veteran troops of the enemy, and they soon had an opportunity of showing the advantages they had derived from their instruction. In June, Major General Brown reached Buffalo with reinforcements, and in the commencement of the next month the campaign was opened.
The Niagara was passed on the 3d of July in two brigades, Scott’s and Ripley’s, the former below, the latter above Fort Erie, which almost immediately surrendered. On the morning of the 4th, the army moved towards Chippewa, General Scott’s brigade being in advance; and on the evening of the same day, took up a position on the bank of Street’s Creek, about two miles distant from the British encampment. The stream was in front of the American position, having beyond it an extensive plain; its right rested upon the Niagara, and its left upon a wood. On the following day the British militia and the Indians having occupied the wood, commenced annoying the American piquets from it, until Brigadier General Porter, at the head of his brigade of militia and friendly Indians, drove the enemy from the wood back upon the Chippewa. The British regulars being here supported by their whole army, drawn out in line and advancing to the attack, General Porter, in his turn, was compelled to give way. The heaviness of the firing informed General Brown of the advance of the main body of the enemy. It was now about four o’clock in the afternoon. General Scott was at this moment advancing with his brigade to drill upon the plain, on which the battle was afterwards fought. On the march he met General Brown, who said to him, “The enemy is advancing. You will have a fight.” Beyond this brief remark, Scott received no further orders during the day. General Brown passed to the rear, to put Ripley’s brigade in motion, and to reassemble the light troops behind Street’s Creek. It was not till he arrived at the bridge over Street’s Creek, two hundred yards to the right of his camp of the night before, that Scott saw the enemy.
The army of Riall had crossed the bridge over Chippewa, and displayed itself on the plain before described. It was composed of the one hundredth regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel,the Marquis of Tweedale; the first, or Royal Scots, under Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon; a portion of the eighth, or King’s own regiment; a detachment of the royal artillery; a detachment of the royal nineteenth light dragoons; and a portion of Canada militia and Indians. The main body of these troops were among the best in the British army. This force was supported by a heavy battery of nine pieces, within point blank range of the American troops. Under the fire of this battery, the corps of General Scott passed the bridge in perfect order, but with some loss. His first and second battalions, under Majors Leavenworth and McNeil, after crossing, formed a line to the front, which brought them opposed respectively to the left and centre of the enemy. The third battalion under Major, (now General) Jessup, obliqued in column to the left, and advanced to attack the right of the enemy, which extended into the wood. Captain (now General) Towson with his artillery, was stationed on the right, resting in the Chippewa road. General Scott soon perceived that, although there were no intervals in the British line, yet their right wing outflanked his left.
To remedy this difficulty, the movement of Jessup was caused, and the interval between the battalions of Leavenworth and McNeil on the plain, was greatly enlarged. These evolutions were executed rapidly and with great precision, under the fire of both musketry and artillery. The action soon became general; Jessup, having engaged and broken off the right wing of the enemy, while their main body continued to advance, gave their army a new flank. Taking advantage of this circumstance, and assisted by the enlarged interval between the battalions of Leavenworth and McNeil, General Scott threw the battalion of the latter forward upon its right flank, so as to stand obliquely to the charge of the enemy, outflanking them upon the right. This movement, executedwith precision, together with the steadiness of our troops and the heavy fire from the artillery, decided the fate of the day. The British army retreated a short distance in good order, then broke, and fled in confusion to their entrenchments, beyond the Chippewa. Thus was the whole British line fairly routed, in a field action, on an open plain. They fled to their entrenchments beyond the Chippewa, hotly pursued by Scott, to the distance of half-musket shot of Chippewa bridge. He took many prisoners, leaving the plain strewed with the dead and wounded of both nations. Justly, indeed, did General Brown, in his official report of the battle, say:—“Brigadier-General Scott is entitled to the highest praise our country can bestow: to him, more than to any other man, I am indebted for the victory of the 5th of July.”
The fight was fierce and bloody in an unwonted degree, the killed on both sides amounting to eight hundred and thirty, out of about four thousand engaged—more than one in five. This gallant action was followed in just three weeks by another yet more decisive of the courage and discipline of the American army—that at Lundy’s Lane.
General Riall, unknown to General Brown, had been largely reinforced by General Drummond from below; and when, on the morning of the 26th of July, General Scott, in advance, was on a march to attack General Riall’s forces, he suddenly came upon the British troops, which, reinforced that very day by Drummond, were themselves bent on attack. Scott had with him but four small battalions, commanded by Brady, Jessup, Leavenworth and McNeil; and Towson’s artillery, with Captain Harris’ detachment of regular and irregular cavalry. The whole column did not exceed one thousand three hundred men. With this small force, Scott found himself in the presence of a superior body. His positionwas critical, but it was one of those where promptness and decision of action must supply the want of battalions.
Dispatching officers to the rear to apprise General Brown that the whole British army was before him, General Scott at once engaged the enemy, who all the while believed they had to do with the whole of General Brown’s army, not at all expecting that a mere detachment of it would venture upon the apparently desperate course of encountering such greatly superior numbers as the British knew they had in the field. The battle began about half an hour before sunset. The armies were drawn out near the shores of that rapid river whose current mingles lake with lake; and as his able biographer beautifully observes:—“Hard by was theCataract, whose world of waters rushes over the precipice, and rushing, roars into the gulf below! The ceaseless spray rises up, like incense, to the EternalFather! The beams of sun, and moon, and stars, fall ceaselessly on that spray, and are sent back in many-colored hues to the source of light! So it was when, wheeling into the field of battle, the slant beams of the setting sun, returning from the spray, encircled the advancing column with rainbow colors! The sun went down, to many an eye, no more to rise on earth! With the darkness came the greater rage of battle—charge after charge was made. For a time the faint beams of the moon struggled with the smoke, and gave a little light to the combatants; but it was but little. The moon itself became obscured, and no light, save the rapid flashes of musket and cannon, pierced the heavy clouds. The fight raged in the darkness of the night. From the height on the ridge, the battery of the enemy still poured its deadly fire. It was then the gallant Miller said, ‘I will try.’ It was then that Scott piloted his column through darkness to Lundy’s Lane. It was then that braveregiment charged to the cannon’s mouth. The battery was taken. The victory rests with the American army.”
Twice had Scott charged through the British lines—two horses had been killed under him—he was wounded in the side—and about eleven o’clock at night, on foot, and yet fighting, he was finally disabled by a shot which shattered the left shoulder, and he was borne away about midnight from the battle—his commander, General Brown, having been previously, in like manner, carried away wounded from the field. The wounds of General Scott, which were severe, confined him for a long time; nor had he again an opportunity of distinguishing himself before the conclusion of peace put an end to all active service in the field. In the mean time his sufferings were alleviated by the testimonials of the approbation and gratitude of his countrymen. Congress ordered a vote of thanks, and a gold medal (SeePlate V.). Virginia and New York each presented valuable swords. He was also elected an honorary member of the Cincinnati, and numberless states named new counties after him. In the long interval of comparative inaction which followed the close of the war, General Scott’s services were made available to the general government,—first, in that most painful task of reducing the army to a peace establishment, which necessarily imposed on the general great responsibility. The next important benefit rendered, and which, perhaps, was not the least of all the many he was capable of rendering, was to translate from the French, prepare, digest, and adapt to our service, a complete system of military tactics. In the execution of this trust, his previous military studies gave him great facilities and advantages over his brother officers.
In March, 1817, General Scott was married to Miss Maria Mayo, daughter of John Mayo, Esq., of Richmond, Virginia—a lady whose charms and accomplishments are much admiredboth in this country and in Europe. They have had several daughters, but no living son.
Such is the brief memoir of General Winfield Scott, extracted from his life, so ably portrayed by Edward D. Mansfield, Esq. General Scott is now in the sixty-second year of his age, and retains, to a remarkable degree, all the vigor and buoyancy of youth. At the head of our armies at war with a neighboring republic, all eyes are directed to him as the chief of that gallant band upon whom must depend the honor and success of our arms.
Occasion.—Battles of Chippewa and Niagara.
Device.—Bust of General Scott.
Legend.—Major General Winfield Scott.
Reverse.—Resolution of Congress, November 3d, 1814. Battles of Chippewa, July 5th, 1814; Niagara, July 25th, 1814. Surrounded by a wreath of laurel and palm entwining a snake.
Edmund Pendleton Gaines was born in the county of Culpepper, Virginia, on the 20th of March, 1777. His father, James Gaines, served in the latter part of the revolutionary war at the head of a company of volunteers, and having removed with his family to the north-west border of North Carolina, he was soon after chosen a member of the legislature of that state. He was the nephew of Edmund Pendleton, for many years presiding judge of the Court of Appeals, in Virginia, and one of those illustrious statesmen whose services were most prominent in the cause which produced a Washington, and enrolled the names of Jefferson, Madison, Randolph and Mason, among the most distinguished in the annals of American history. To the early affectionate solicitude and pious care of a highly gifted mother, may be imputed the strict integrity, and devoted sense of duty, which have always distinguished the subject of this memoir; to whose prudence and excellent example he acknowledges himself indebted for the high sense of honor and rectitude which have been his support amid the trying and eventful scenes of his life.
At the close of the war of independence, his father returned to his estate in North Carolina, consisting of some hundred acres. He, like most of his neighbors, had lost his money in the form of valueless continental bills. In these circumstances, at this period, all classes were more or less involved.
Edmund, now in his thirteenth year, assisted his father in the toils of agriculture. His heart became early imbued with the pleasures which result from the performance of duties, and his health invigorated by such wholesome exercise.
About this period, his father removed his family to Sullivan county, (afterwards the eastern part of Tennessee,) in the immediate vicinity of which the Cherokee Indians were constantly committing depredations. With these Indians the United States were at that time, and continued to be for several years afterwards, at war. Surrounded by hostilities, our hero’s thoughts now actually turned to arms, and he employed his leisure hours in the study of such military works as were within his reach. By the time he was fourteen, he had acquired such skill in the management of the rifle, as to excel most of his young associates. At the age of eighteen, he was elected lieutenant of a rifle company of volunteers, which was raised at that time as a terror to the Cherokees, who were a continual annoyance to the neighborhood. In January, 1799, he was appointed an ensign, and attached to the sixth United States regiment, and ordered on duty in the recruiting service. In the following year the sixth regiment was disbanded, and Ensign Gaines was transferred to the fourth infantry, as second lieutenant.
In 1801, Colonel Butler, who commanded the fourth regiment, was instructed to select the subalterns of that regiment best qualified for making a topographical survey from Nashville to Natchez, for the location of a military road.
He appointed Lieutenant Gaines, who, in the performance of this duty, and in the survey of certain Indian boundary lines, near the Choctaw nation, was engaged until the winter of 1804. In that year, Spain having refused to withdraw her troops from the military posts of Mobile and Baton Rouge, and deliver up the country lying between the island of Orleans and the rivers Iberville, Mississippi and Perdido, as a part of Louisiana, the President of the United States determined to appoint a military collector of the customs, for the district of Mobile, and appointed Lieutenant Gaines to that office.
He accordingly was stationed at Fort Stoddart, thirty-six miles north of the town of Mobile, in the confident expectation of sooner or later having the honor of taking possession of the disputed territory. In 1806, in addition to the duties hitherto assigned to him, Lieutenant Gaines was appointed postmaster, and also agent to the postmaster-general, with authority to suspend all postmasters and mail contractors who were in any wise aiding persons supposed to be engaged in the machinations of Colonel Burr. In the interim, he was promoted to a captaincy. Captain Gaines, as commandant of Fort Stoddart, was authorized to employ such of the United States troops as should be deemed necessary for the protection of the mail, and inspectors of the revenue between the city of Orleans and Athens, Georgia, then a wilderness of nearly six hundred miles in extent. Having performed the arduous duties of this situation to the perfect satisfaction of his government, for nearly five years, Captain Gaines determined to retire from the army, and engage in the profession of the law. But the increased probability of a war with England, for a time suspended this resolution. He at length decided upon asking for leave of absence.
In this interval he commenced the practice of law, in thecounties of Washington and Baldwin, Mississippi territory; but scarcely had he completed his first year’s practice, when war was declared against Great Britain, and Captain Gaines joyfully resumed his sword, never again to abandon it as long as his country should need his services.
In the war which followed, it will be seen that our hero was among the most steadfast in the performance of every arduous duty.
In the greatest danger he was distinguished alike by the fertility of his resources, the coolness of his courage, and the amiable simplicity of his manners. In his operations on the northern frontier, his gallant conduct received the highest commendation. At the battle of Chrystler’s Fields, on the 11th of November, 1813, Colonel Gaines commanded the twenty-fifth regiment of United States infantry. He was deprived of the honor of a participation in the glory of Harrison’s victory on the Thames, by a long and serious illness; but his brave regiment was one of the most effective, on the memorable 11th, covering the retreat of our several corps, after the check received by the enemy, to their re-embarkation on the St. Lawrence.
The relative strength of the two armies, when Colonel Gaines, who had recently been promoted to the rank of Major-General, arrived at Fort Erie, and took command on the morning of the 4th of August, 1814, was as follows:—the British veteran force amounted to a fraction over three thousand six hundred officers and men, besides six hundred Canadians and Indians—making altogether an aggregate of more than four thousand two hundred. This force was opposed by only nineteen hundred United States regulars, and six hundred New York and Pennsylvania volunteers, making the aggregate strength for duty, nearly two thousand five hundred. On the following day, August 5th, commenced the first of thoseactions, consisting of a vigorous cannonade and bombardment, with alternate sharp conflicts between the infantry and rifle corps of the two armies, with occasional skirmishing, which were kept up with a degree of vigor, daily and successively, until the morning of the 15th. These daily conflicts were so conducted as to pave the way for the more important victory which was to follow.
Although the losses in these smaller actions amounted to considerably more than those sustained in the battle of the 15th, still they were carried on in a spirit and temper, evincing a determination on the part of every officer and soldier to maintain the old-fashioned maxim, namely, “Victory or Death.” This sanguinary battle of the 15th, with the other actions of the following fourteen days, were altogether so conducted as to secure to a moral certainty, not only the safety of the whole northwestern frontier, but to cover the war-worn division with imperishable fame, by a series of triumphs extending throughout the months of August and September, 1814, thevalueandmoral effectof which, can only be rightly estimated by the statesman or soldier capable of counting the cost of blood and treasure, which must have followed the sacrifice of that division—and the consequent recombination of a British army flushed with victory—and their latelywhipt, and, therefore, doubly ferocioussavage friendsandallies—with free access to a sparsely settled and unprotected frontier of near twelve hundred miles in extent, from Buffalo to Lake Michigan, and thence to the upper Mississippi, Missouri and Arkansas: a frontier embracing an extensive section of the then suffering northwestern settlements, that had during the first fourteen months of the war been bleeding at every pore. And this deplorable catastrophe to have followed upon the heels of the fiendish and disgraceful scenes which terminated in the taking, sacking, and burning the capitol of our belovedUnion. The total defeat of this crippled and maimed remnant of Brown’s heroic division,a catastrophe which, from the night of the 25th of July, to the fourth of the following month—to many brave officers of high rank—(one of whom was at the head of a brigade,) seemed to be inevitable, without an immediate abandonment of Canada, might have prolonged the war, with its increasing horrors of the massacre and scalping of women and children, for seven years. This mutilated remnant of our noble division, however, gallantly met and gloriously triumphed over a veteran British army of near double our numbers during twenty consecutive days, and some nights, and accomplished these triumphs before the harassed and broken down war department could send on the requisite reinforcements, to give our operations theoffensivein place of thedefensivecast, and increased vigorous character.
The great and gallant state of New York, with her Tomkins, and her Clintons, and her Porter, and her Spencer, and hosts of other master spirits of this state, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, soon devised measures to put in rapid motion the chivalry—constituting the minute-men of the volunteers around them—and these sanguinary conflicts, which commenced on the 5th, and continued until the 28th of August, under the direction of the gallant Gaines, from thence until the 5th of September, under Miller, and to the 10th, under Ripley, were brilliantly terminated on the 17th of that month, under Brown.
It may safely be left to the future statesman and soldier to decide—and to the impartial historian to record—how far these triumphs of August, 1814, may have contributed to allay thepanicproduced by the victory of the British at Bladensburg, the capture of Alexandria and the city of Washington, with the destruction of the capitol; or to what extent they may have tended to arrest the exultation which thisvictory,and these captures produced in the ranks of the enemy; and to establish throughout the Union the moral power, and unshaken confidence reposed in the efficiency of our volunteers. They had never, before the month of August, 1814, given such indubitable evidence of their being in all respects equal to the best of veteran regulars, in an open field fight, and in the close conflict of repeated heavy charges of veteran infantry with the bayonet—in the deepest darkness of night. It is for posterity to decide (when the actors are all in the grave), how far the moral effect of those sanguinary struggles, and long-continued triumphs, may or may not have contributed to seal the fate of the enemy, from the 29th of August to the 17th of September, on the Niagara frontier, at Baltimore, at Plattsburg, and at New Orleans, in December, 1814, and January, 1815. The description of troops here referred to as so eminently distinguished at each place, had long been known to be invinciblein the woodsagainst Indians and their white allies, andbehind breastworks, against the best of British veterans. But they had never, before the month of August, 1814, afforded such incontestable proofs of their entire fitness for the close conflicts of the open field, as at that time near Fort Erie.
These triumphs were duly appreciated by the wise, the just, the virtuous Madison, as well as by the supreme judiciary of the United States; by the assembled wisdom of both houses of Congress, and by the enlightened and patriotic public authorities of the sovereign states of the Union—who promptly, and in most casesunanimously, testified in terms of high approbation, their sense of the value of the services rendered by that division of the army during the period here referred to.
General Gaines, in his official report to the war department, gives the following account of the battle of the 15th of August: He says, “I hasten to communicate particulars of thebattle fought at this place (Fort Erie, Upper Canada), on the 15th inst., between the left wing of the second division of the northern army, under my command, and the British forces in the Peninsula of Upper Canada.
“At half past two o’clock, on the morning of the 15th, the right column of the enemy approached; and though enveloped in darkness, was distinctly heard on our left, and promptly marked by our musketry, under Major Wood, and artillery under Captain Towson. Being mounted at the moment, I repaired to the point of attack, where the sheet of fire rolling from Towson’s battery and the musketry of the left wing of the 21st infantry, under Major Wood, enabled me to see the enemy’s column, of about fifteen hundred men, approaching on that point; his advance was not checked until it approached within ten feet of our infantry; a line of loose brush, representing an abattis, only intervened; a column of the enemy attempted to pass round the abattis, through the water where it was nearly breast-deep. Apprehending that this point would be carried, I ordered a detachment of riflemen and infantry to its support; but having met with the gallant commander, Major Wood, was assured by him that he could defend his position without reinforcements. At this moment the enemy were repulsed; but instantly renewed the charge, and were again repulsed.
“My attention was now called to the right, where our batteries and lines were soon lighted by a most brilliant fire of cannon and musketry. It announced the approach of the centre and left columns of the enemy, under Colonels Drummond and Scott. The latter was received by the veteran ninth, under the command of Captain Foster and Captains Broughton and Harding’s companies of New York and Pennsylvania volunteers, and were repulsed. That of the centre, led by Colonel Drummond, was not long kept in check; it approached,at once, every available point of the fort, and, with scaling ladders, ascended the parapet, but was repulsed with dreadful carnage. The assault was twice repeated, and as often checked; but the enemy, having moved around in the ditch, covered by darkness, added to the heavy cloud of smoke which had rolled from our cannon and musketry, enveloping surrounding objects, repeated the charge, re-ascended the ladders—their pikes, bayonets and spears, fell upon our gallant artillerists. The gallant spirits of our favorite Captain Williams, and Lieutenants M’Donough and Watmough, with their brave men, were overcome—the two former, and several of their men, received deadly wounds—our bastion was lost. Lieutenant M’Donough, being severely wounded, demanded quarter. It was refused by Colonel Drummond;—the Lieutenant then seized a handspike and nobly defended himself, until he was shot down with a pistol, by the monster who had refused him quarter, who often was heard to reiterate the order, ‘Give the damned Yankees no quarter.’ This officer, whose bravery, had it been seasoned with virtue, would have entitled him to the admiration of every soldier; this hardened murderer soon met his fate: he was shot through the heart by ——, of the —— regiment, while repeating the order to ‘give no quarter.’ The battle now raged with increased fury on the right; but on the left, the enemy was repulsed and put to flight; thence, and from the centre, I ordered reinforcements—they were promptly sent by Brigadier-Generals Ripley and Porter. Captain Fanning, of the corps of artillery, kept a spirited and destructive fire, with his field-pieces, on the enemy attempting to approach the fort. At this moment, every operation was arrested by the explosion of some cartridges, deposited in the end of the stone building, adjoining the contested bastion—the explosion was tremendous—it was decisive—the bastion was restored. At this moment,Captain Biddle, with his field-piece, enfiladed the exterior plain and salient glacis: although not recovered from a severe injury in the shoulder by one of the enemy’s shells, promptly served his field-piece with vivacity and effect. Captain Fanning’s battery, likewise, played upon them at this time with great effect—the enemy were, in a few moments, entirely defeated, taken, or put to flight, leaving on the field two hundred and twenty-one killed, one hundred and seventy-four wounded, and one hundred and eighty-six prisoners—total five hundred and eighty-one, including fourteen officers killed, and seven wounded and prisoners. Americans, seventeen killed, fifty-six wounded, eleven missing, total eighty-four.
“I have the honor, &c.”
It must be remembered that General Gaines had collected and arranged the requisite papers and memorandums, such as would have enabled him to make a faithful report of every material incident of each day’s operations, from the 5th to the 28th of August. But on this last-mentioned day he was crippled; and the British bomb-shell that wounded him, demolished his writing-desk, with so many of his valuable papers, including most of the reports and memorandums just now referred to, that his detailed report fell very short of what was intended, with the exception of giving to his officers that praise which their courage and bravery deserved; this report, as before intimated, was very hastily and imperfectly thrown together amidst the cares and constant interruptions of incessantdaily actionandnightly vigilance and preparation for increased vigorous action, unavoidably omitting some incidents of great interest to the service, to corps, and to individual officers and soldiers, gallantly engaged in this as well as in some of the smaller conflicts.
The official reports of the then acting Adjutant-General Jones, (now adjutant-general of the army,) and Major Hall, then acting Inspector-General, show, that in the smaller actions, before referred to, from the 5th to the 14th, the actual loss of United States regulars and volunteers, was altogether much greater than in the battle of the 15th, which, though resulting in a decided victory, in which the enemy acknowledged his loss to be greater than he sustained in any one battle during the year 1814 in America, yet this was, in truth, but one oftwenty-three days’ sharp conflicts—all crowned with success; although Gaines’ encampment near Fort Erie, from the daily flow of blood which it exhibited, was compared by the officers to a slaughter-pen. And from the 15th to the 28th of August, was still greater; amounting in all to nearly four hundred—officers and soldiers killed and wounded. The enemy took from us but one prisoner, it is believed, during the month; the brave Lieutenant Fontaine, who was knocked down from his battery in the dark.
For his gallant conduct in this ever memorable battle, General Gaines was honored by the federal government with an unanimous vote of thanks, and a gold medal (SeePlate V.), whilst the three great and patriotic states of New York, Virginia and Tennessee, awarded to him unanimous resolutions of thanks, with a fine gold hilted sword, which he received from each of these states. This gallant officer is now employed in the honorable and important service of his country. We are sensible that in so brief a space allowed us in this memoir, justice cannot be done to such bravery, magnanimity and patriotism as have marked his character, through a life which has ever displayed a highly intelligent and unremitted zeal for the welfare of his country.
Occasion.—Battle of Erie.
Device.—Bust of General Gaines.
Legend.—Major-General Edmund P. Gaines.
Reverse.—Victory standing on a shield, under which are a stand of colors and a halbert, and holding a palm-branch in her left hand, as in the act of placing a laurel crown on the cascabel of a cannon marked R, which is fixed upright in the ground, and is surrounded with a scroll inscribed “Erie.” On one trunnion rests a stand of British colors, and from the other is suspended a broad sword. By the side of the cannon are a howitzer, helmet, and several balls. Behind the cannon is a halbert.
Legend.—Resolution of Congress, Nov. 3d, 1814.
Exergue.—Battle of Erie, Aug. 15th, 1814.
James Miller, late Brigadier-General in the United States army, was born in the town of Peterborough, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire, April 25th, 1776. His grandfather, Samuel Miller, came from the North of Ireland, about the year 1720, and settled in Londonderry, New Hampshire, accompanied by his wife, (whose maiden name was Mary Shearer,) and their eldest child. They had seven children; five sons, Matthew, James, William, Samuel and John; and two daughters, Mary and Jane; all of whom, except Matthew, the eldest, were born in America. The four younger sons subsequently removed from Londonderry to Peterborough and settled on a tract of wild land, which, as tradition states, had been purchased for them, and paid for in linen cloth and thread manufactured by their mother, a woman of great energy and industry. The purchase comprised an extent of four hundred acres, and includes some of the best land in Peterborough. The eldest son, Matthew, remained in Londonderry with his parents.
Of the four who went to Peterborough, James, the father of General Miller, was the twin brother of William, and formany years they improved their land in common and divided the produce. He married Catherine Gragg, the first child baptized in Peterborough. She was the daughter of Hugh Gragg, who also came to America from the north of Ireland, and settled in Groton, Massachusetts, but subsequently removed to Peterborough, when his daughter Catherine was a child of about eight or nine years of age. James Miller and his wife, Catherine Gragg, had four sons, Hugh, Samuel, James and Jacob; and three daughters, Jane, Mary and Catherine: of these, James, the subject of this memoir, was the third son. His earlier years were spent at home with his parents. Although he was of a robust constitution, and had a muscular and powerful frame, he was never a very valuable assistant in the agricultural labors of the farm, if we may be allowed to judge from the appellation by which he is said to have been familiarly designated in the family, and perhaps in the neighborhood, that of “lazy Jem.” The facilities for education in that part of the country were at that period very limited, but they were then, as now, free to all so far as the town or district schools were concerned. He attended one of these, such portions of the year as it was kept open; and it so happened that his earliest military as well as literary instruction was received there. One of the persons employed for a time as teacher of the school, had been a sergeant in the army of the Revolution, and had still so much of his former military taste remaining, as to render it quite as much a matter of pride and gratification to him to drill the boys (provided with wooden guns for the purpose) in the manual and company movements, at intervals between school hours and on holidays, as it was to preside over their literary progress in doors. He was, withal, a strict disciplinarian, and the event now to be related would not, in all probability, have happened during his administration. In the time of one of his successorsin the school, the boys, incited perhaps by traditionary accounts of similar schoolboy doings in the old country, determined to gain a holiday, which had been refused them, by “barring out” the master and holding adverse possession of the school-house until their demand was complied with.
The plan was carried into effect by those who, from residing at a distance from the school-house usually remained at noon-time, (while the master and another portion of the scholars were temporarily absent,) aided by such as they had persuaded to stay with them and take part in the conspiracy. The door was accordingly shut and barricaded by those in the plot, but a window, which (in the scarcity of glass and window-frame, incident to a new settlement) was fitted only with a wooden shutter, could not be closed against the “executive” and “conservatives,” without at the same time excludingdaylight; a deprivation to which the young conspirators felt a distaste very similar to that attributed by Homer to the Grecian Ajax. It was, besides, highly desirable that an avenue for negotiations between the parties should be kept open, through which, at the proper time, the terms of an accommodation might be settled. The defence of this important and assailable point was committed to young Miller, although one of the youngest of this juvenile band: and when at the exhortation of the master, (who, after all, was possibly at heart as little averse to a holiday as any of his pupils,) an assault on the fortress was made by the advocates of “law and order,” so resolutely did he maintain his post, that thestorming party, headed by an older cousin of the young defender, were effectually kept at bay. A parley was now held, and the demand for a holiday having been acceded to on the part of the teacher, coupled with a stipulation for the entire immunity from punishment of all concerned, the door was once more opened and the affair terminated in amanner agreeable, doubtless, to all concerned, since all shared alike in the indulgence obtained.
He continued to attend the town schools during a portion of each season, until the autumn of his eighteenth year, when, desirous of greater facilities for education than his native town afforded, he left home for the purpose of attending the academy at that time established in Amherst, New Hampshire, some twenty-five miles distant from Peterborough. Hisoutfiton the occasion was neither very splendid nor extensive; consisting of a bundle of clothes, not at all burdensome to carry, and the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents in money.
The “credit system” was, in those days almost a matter of necessity, and although he had no personal acquaintance in Amherst, except with one or two of the students at the academy, he found no difficulty in making an arrangement for his board in the family of one of the townspeople, and his tuition at the institution. He remained at the academy for several months, and then left for the purpose of recruiting his finances and paying off arrearages by teaching; and having done so, was enabled himself to go to school again, and then open a new account with his boarding house and learning. He went on in this manner, alternately pupil and teacher, receiving knowledge by instalments, and disbursing it very fairly as it accumulated, until after years (when, having spent a short portion of the time as a student at Williams College,) he was qualified to commence the study of law, which he pursued in the office of the late James Wilson, Esquire, then of Peterborough, and latterly of Keene, New Hampshire, a gentleman at that time of extensive and successful practice in the law. Having completed the requisite term as a law student, he was admitted to practice in the state court, at the spring term for Hillsborough County, 1803.
He removed to the town of Greenfield, adjoining Peterborough,and continued the practice of the law there until, in the year 1808, he received from President Jefferson an appointment as major, in the Fourth Regiment of United States Infantry, the highest appointment made from New Hampshire under the act of Congress for increasing the army. He was in a great measure indebted, for this appointment, to the favorable opinion and influence of the late Governor Pierce of New Hampshire, himself a distinguished officer in the revolutionary army. James Miller had previously held a commission under the state government, as captain of artillery. His commission as major of the Fourth Regiment of United States Infantry, bears date the 3d of March, 1809, taking rank from 8th of July, 1808. In June, he joined his regiment, then commanded by Col. John P. Boyd, at Fort Independence, in Boston harbor, in the spring of 1809, where he remained (with the exception of a short interval, spent on duty at Springfield, Massachusetts, and on a march from there with a detachment of troops to Newport, Rhode Island,) until the spring of 1811, when he embarked with the fourth regiment, for Philadelphia—having shortly before been commissioned as lieutenant-colonel of the fiftieth regiment. The troops arrived at Philadelphia, on the 16th of May, and on the following day proceeded on their march to Pittsburgh, where they arrived on the 21st of June.
In consequence of hostile indications on the part of the Northwestern Indians, prompted by the master spirit Tecumseh, government had determined on a military expedition into the Indian country, and Colonel Miller was, with his regiment, ordered to prepare with all possible dispatch to proceed to Vincennes and join the forces under General Harrison. The first steamboat ever launched on the western waters was then on the stocks at Pittsburgh, and of course afforded matter for much observation and comment. On the 2d of August, the troops embarked in keel boots for Vincennes.They reached Newport, Kentucky, the distance of five hundred and twenty miles, in seven days, and there landed and remained until the 30th of the same month, when they again embarked and descended the river to Jeffersonville, Indiana, in order to meet General Harrison.
At the request of General Harrison, Colonel Boyd, then in command of the regiment, left the expedition and went with General Harrison across the country to Vincennes, leaving Colonel Miller in command of the troops, with orders to proceed by water.
They descended about three hundred miles to the farther Wabash, and then made their way up that river one hundred and seventy miles more to Vincennes.
The ascending the Wabash was at that time exceedingly toilsome and harassing; the river was very low, and they had eleven large boats from fifty to seventy-five feet long to pass over the bars and shallows of the river, which were of very frequent occurrence. It sometimes required the united efforts of an hundred men to lift or drag a single boat over a rocky shallow. On the 17th of September, the day of the great solar eclipse, they were engaged in passing the grand rapids of the Wabash.
To encourage and animate the men, Colonel Miller himself frequently went into the water to assist at the boats, as did every other officer, and for several successive days, had not the opportunity of a change of dry clothes. It was to this exposure and fatigue that Colonel Miller was probably indebted for the severe illness with which he was subsequently attacked.
The boats, with the troops, reached Vincennes on the 19th and there joined the militia under General Harrison. The combined force immediately commenced drilling for Indian warfare, and on the 27th of September, marched for the Prophet’stown, in the vicinity of the Tippecanoe ground. On the 2d of October, the army reached the spot, seventy miles from Vincennes, where they halted to build Fort Harrison, which was subsequently so bravely and successfully defended against the Indians by Lieutenant,nowMajor-General Zachary Taylor. The next day after his arrival at this place, Colonel Miller was seized with a violent bilious fever, which at once completely prostrated him, from the effects of which, and the treatment and exposure which he necessarily had to undergo, he has never entirely recovered.
Until the fort was built, he was sheltered in a tent, with a bearskin and blankets for bedding. The weather for the first few days was very warm, and then suddenly changed to cold, with snow and rain; to hasten salivation, the physicians applied mercury very freely externally, as well as administering it internally, with blisters on the neck and limbs.
He had never been confined by sickness for a single day in his life before. He received the kindest attention from General Harrison, Colonel Boyd, and other officers, particularly from Colonel Davis, of the Kentucky dragoons, who was afterwards killed at Tippecanoe.
When the army moved from Fort Harrison, on the 29th of October, Colonel Miller had so far recovered as to be able to walk a few steps with the assistance of a cane, but was utterly unable to accompany the troops. For fifteen days he had been unable to move from his hard bed without being lifted, a tent his only shelter; and the weather suddenly changed from warm to cold, sufficiently to allow the snow to remain on the ground for two days at a time. His regret at being compelled to remain behind, is thus expressed in a letter written some time after:—“I reflected that I had sailed, marched, and rowed in boats, more than two thousand miles in search of, and with the expectation of acquiring, in common with my brothersin arms, some military fame: to be brought to the ‘right about’ and obliged to halt within a few miles of the scene of action and consequent honor acquired by the glorious victory obtained—I thought my lot a hard one.” From the 4th day of May to the 18th of November, he had slept in a house but two nights. Colonel Miller was left in command of Fort Harrison, with the invalids of the army, and although thus debarred from participating in the battle which ensued, and resulted in the victory of Tippecanoe, he was fortunately able to be of essential service after the battle. For when apprised of the result, by express from General Harrison, he dispatched boats up the river, with hay in them for the reception of the wounded, and fresh provisions for the troops, to a point where the army would be likely to strike the river, on their return to Fort Harrison.
When the army left Fort Harrison, on its return to Vincennes, in the following November, although still an invalid, Colonel Miller requested to accompany them, and he was sent in command of the troops and boats, by way of the river: although it was considered the most easy way of traveling, he suffered much from exposure on the journey. He spent the following winter at Vincennes, and during that time became an inmate in the house and family of General Harrison, who with the most affectionate kindness urged this hospitality upon him. In May, 1812, he received orders to proceed with the fourth regiment to Dayton, Ohio, and from thence marched to Detroit, having joined General Hull at Urbana.
The communication with the state of Ohio being completely blocked up, thereby preventing the transportation of supplies of provisions for General Hull’s army, he saw it necessary to turn his attention to that point, and accordingly detached from the army a part of the regular troops, numbering about six hundred men, under the command of Lieutenant-ColonelJames Miller, of the fourth regiment United States infantry, for this object. Colonel Miller was permitted to take two field pieces with the detachment, one six pounder and one five and a half inch howitzer, with their appendages and ammunition.
The detachment having drawn two days’ provisions, being organized and everything prepared for the march, General Wayne was chosen to lead the spies to reconnoitre the country; these were volunteer citizens of Detroit well acquainted with the route.
At five o’clock P. M., on the 8th of August, 1812, the troops being ready to march, and drawn up in line in the main street of Detroit, Colonel Miller rode to the centre and in front of the line, and addressed the troops in the following words:—“Soldiers, we are going to meet the enemy and to beat them! The blood of your brethren, spilt by savage hands on the 5th, must be avenged by their chastisement, and by the chastisement of the enemy who employs them, more savage than they! I shall lead you—I trust that no man will disgrace himself or me—every man who is seen to leave the ranks, to give way, or fall back without orders, shall instantly be put to death. My brave soldiers! you have once faced the enemy in a hard conflict, and beaten them, and gained glory to yourselves and honor to your country! Let this opportunity be improved to add another victory to that ofTippecanoe, and new glory to that which you gained on theWabash. Soldiers, if there are any now in the ranks of this detachment, who are afraid to meet the enemy, they are now permitted to fall out and stay behind.” At which the words, “I’ll not stay,” ran through the ranks with a “huzza.”
The detachment then moved off in order and high spirits, and exhibited so much ardor to engage in the conflict, that the anxious citizens felt perfect confidence in the success of the enterprise. The detachment arrived at the river Rouge, six milesfrom Detroit, about sunset. There being no bridge and the water very deep, they were conveyed over in scows, and as two only were within reach, it was ten o’clock before the whole had crossed over. The weather being somewhat rainy and very dark, it was determined to encamp there for the night. They therefore stationed their guards and picquets, and permitted the men to rest on their arms till daylight. Accordingly, at daybreak, they commenced their march, with Colonel Miller at the head of a column of cavalry, accompanied by his aids, in the road and in a line with the heads of the columns of musketry. In this order the detachment marched from the encampment, near the river Rouge, on the morning of the 9th. They proceeded through the white settlement, which was about five miles, and entered the woods.
The country, from the river Rouge to Brownstown, is generally flat, and lies a little above the surface of the river Detroit. Indian huts and fields are interspersed through the woods; at that time the fields were covered with corn, which was grown to seven and eight feet high.
When the advanced guard had arrived at the farther edge of this wood, the spies advanced into the Indian opening; they were fired upon by a party of ten Indians, who were on horseback, and had concealed themselves behind the house of the celebrated chief,Walk-in-the-water.
The spies fell back. A citizen from Detroit, who accompanied them, was killed, and fell from his horse. The guard advanced quickly towards the house, and the Indians immediately fled without receiving much injury, though the guard fired upon them while they were uncovered by the house. The Indians bore away as a trophy, the citizen’s scalp whom they had shot; and the facility with which the scalp was taken, was astonishing. There scarcely appeared to have been time for the Indian to reach the spot where the man fell, beforethe guard arrived and found the scalp taken off, and the Indian gone. When the firing was heard by the columns, the order was given by Colonel Miller to march on with haste, but only some scattered Indians were discovered, who had been sent out by the British to watch the movements of the Americans, and to give information of their approach towards Brownstown, where the enemy, as it appeared afterwards, then lay in ambush to receive them. The position which the enemy had chosen, lay in an open oak wood, just at the declivity of a rising ground, over which the Americans had to pass. He had thrown up a breastwork of trees, logs, &c., behind which he lay concealed in force, and in order of battle. His works were thrown up in form of acourtinewith two flanks. The line of thecourtinelay across the road and perpendicularly to it. The banks formed an angle with thecourtineof about one hundred and twenty. Thecourtinewas lined with British regular troops, two deep of the forty-first regiment of foot, under the command of Major Muer of that regiment, who had long been in command at Malden. The flank of thecourtine, on the enemy’s right, and American left, was lined with Canadian militia and Indians, commanded byWalk-in-the-waterandMarpot. Most of the militia were dressed and painted like their “brethren in arms,” the savages. The left flank of the courtine was lined entirely by savages, under the command of the celebrated Indian warrior Tecumseh, of the Shawnoese nation.
The number of the British regulars and militia amounted to about three hundred; about two hundred regulars. The Indians amounted to four hundred and fifty, making the enemy’s forces about seven hundred and fifty men. The position and strength of the enemy were entirely unknown to Colonel Miller and to the army at this time.
At twelve o’clock M. the detachment arrived at a large openingwhich contained four or five Indian houses, gardens, and orchards, and the army halted to take some refreshment, and to bury the man who had been killed; there they lay one hour. The village was deserted, and nothing of any consequence left in the houses.
At one P. M., the troops resumed their march, and soon reached the woods, near Brownstown, where some guns were heard by them. In a few seconds a volley was heard from Captain Snelling’s advance guard, and another instantly returned from a great number of pieces. The troops, by this time, were in preparation for battle, when Colonel Miller rode towards the centre at full speed, halted, and with a firm voice ordered the columns to “form the line of battle,” which was executed with that order, promptness and zeal, which he had expected; after the first volleys, the firing became incessant in front. Captain Snelling stood his ground till the lines were formed, and moved to his relief. He stood within pistol shot of the enemy’s breastworks in a shower of balls from the regular troops in his front, who showed themselves after the first fire, and set up the Indian yell.
When the first line appeared before the breastwork, they received the fire of the whole front and a part of the flanks. At this instant, Colonel Miller discovered that the enemy outflanked him, when the second line and flank guards were brought upon the flanks of the front line of the enemy.
The savages, in unison with the British troops, set up a horrid yell, and a severe conflict ensued.
The incessant firing of individual pieces soon changed to volleys, and while silence prevailed for an instant, the discharge of the six pounder burst upon the ear. At this instant, Colonel Miller was thrown from his horse which took fright at the discharge. He was supposed to be shot; those near him flew to his aid; the savages who saw him fall sprang over the breastworkto take his scalp, but were repulsed. Colonel Miller instantly remounted and returned to continue his orders. The fire from the Indians, who were screened by their breastworks, was deadly.
Another discharge of grape from the six pounder, caused the British line to yield, then to break, and the troops to fly in disorder! Tecumseh, and some Indians under his command, who had leaped over the breastwork in the full assurance of victory, were driven back at the point of the bayonet. The British and some Indians fled directly down the river, and were pursued by Colonel Miller, and that part of the troops which had opposed them. Tecumseh, with his Indians, fled directly from the river westwardly, into the wilderness, and were pursued. After the British had retreated about one mile, they came to an opening, of about half a mile in diameter; here they attempted to rally again, but on the approach of the Americans they again broke and fled into the woods down the river. Colonel Miller immediately ordered the troops to follow in further pursuit of the British.
After following them through the woods for nearly half a mile, they came upon the beach of Lake Erie, and discovered the enemy all in boats, steering towards Malden, and out of reach of their shot. They had concealed their boats at this point, when they came over, for this purpose, if they should be defeated. The troops returned to the battle field, where they met the division which had returned from the pursuit of Tecumseh.
When the troops were formed in line, Colonel Miller rode in front and addressed them in the following words:—“My brave fellows! you have done well! every man has done his duty. I give you my hearty thanks for your conduct on this day; you have gained my highest esteem; you have gained fresh honor to yourselves, and to the American arms; yourfellow soldiers in arms will love you, and your country will reward you. You will return to the field of battle, to collect those who have gloriously fallen; your friendly attentions to your wounded companions are required.” Detachments were sent out with wagons to search the woods, and collect all the wounded and dead, and bring them to the ground then occupied by the troops. All the Indian houses, only three or four in number, were prepared to receive them, and the surgeons were industriously employed with them, during the whole night.
The troops encamped on the bank of the river, fronting the woods, the river forming their back. The time from the attack on the vanguard to the time of forming the line on the Indian fields, after the pursuit was finally ended, was two and a half hours. During this sharp conflict the conduct of each individual officer and soldier was so uniformly and strictly military, that the commander was scarcely able to make distinctions in his brief and modest report to General Hull. The physical powers of almost every man were called into action, and severely tried.
The troops then returned to Detroit, where they were apprised of the declaration of war between England and the United States.
Colonel Miller, on hearing the above news, determined to make an attempt to land on the Canada shore, with the fourth regiment, which he still continued to command, accompanied by Colonel, now General Cass, with a regiment of militia, together with a company of artillery, under Captain Dyson; the whole, under the command of Colonel Miller, embarked at a point about a mile above Detroit, crossed the river and landed on the Canada side without opposition. Colonels Miller and Cass had, on this occasion, the honor of planting with their own hands, on the bank of the Detroit river, the first American flag carried into Canada in the last war. Afterremaining but a short time in Canada, they re-embarked to the American side. Colonel Miller, it appears by official reports, took an active part in nearly all the principal battles of the western frontier. In a dispatch from General Harrison, at Lower Sandusky, he observes, “the detachment led by that brave officer, Colonel Miller, did not exceed three hundred and fifty men, and it is very certain that they defeated two hundred British regulars, one hundred and fifty militia men, and four or five hundred Indians.” Again, in a letter from Major-General Brown to the secretary of war, after the battle of Bridgewater, he says, “to secure the victory, it was necessary to carry this artillery and seize the height; this duty was assigned to Colonel Miller, who advanced steadily and gallantly to his object, and carried the height and the cannon.” He also observes, “from the preceding detail, you have evidence of the distinguished gallantry of that brave officer.” In the battles of Chippewa, Niagara and Erie, he is alike distinguished. After the battle of Chippewa, Colonel Miller was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General. Congress presented him with a gold medal (seePlate V.) with the unanimous thanks of that body.
After the close of the war, General Miller retired to his estate at Peterborough, New Hampshire, where he resided for some time, enjoying the sweets of quietude and the pleasures of agricultural pursuits; subsequently he received the appointment of collector of the port at Salem, Massachusetts, where he is now living in the bosom of his family. Although nearly deprived of the powers of articulation by paralysis, he enjoys his other faculties with comfort to himself and happiness to all around him.
The kindness and affability of General Miller made him a favorite in the field, as well as in the domestic circle. Before his affliction, it was indeed difficult to be long in his societywithout feeling happier as well as wiser. He was blessed with a great cheerfulness of disposition, which diffused its charms on all around him. He lives, commanding universal veneration and attachment from his illustrious services as a soldier, and his social virtues and generous hospitality as a man.