"After the defeat at Stony Creek, the American army, in the most indescribable manner [helter-skelter, every man for himself] retreated towards Fort George [whence they came] without the least military order or subordination; in fact, such officers as could avail themselves of horses on the road, regardless of the means employed for that purpose, took them and made their way to the lines with all possible speed, and left the rest of the army to shift for themselves; they, therefore, retreated [or scampered] in small detached parties, some of whom had exonerated themselves of their arms and equipments. Thus did they travel [at double-quick] towards their headquarters from two or three to a dozen; and were, in compassion for their sufferings, succoured by those very people whose houses, a day or two previous, they had ransacked and plundered."[211]
PART VII.
GENERAL VINCENT, REINFORCED, PURSUES THE RETREATING ENEMY—BRILLIANT AFFAIR OF THE BEAVER DAMS, IN WHICH SEVERAL HUNDRED AMERICANS SURRENDER TO ONE-FIFTH THEIR NUMBER—THE AMERICANS COOPED UP IN FORT GEORGE—FORT SCHLOSSER AND BLACK ROCK ATTACKED BY THE BRITISH, AND THE PUBLIC FORTS AND MAGAZINES DESTROYED OR TAKEN—THE AMERICAN ARMY CANNOT BE INDUCED TO COME OUT OF FORT GEORGE INTO OPEN FIELD FIGHT.
In a short time General Vincent received some reinforcements, and assumed the offensive, advanced towards Fort George with a view to investing it—forming his line on the Four Mile Creek, with his left resting on the lake; but he ultimately extended his line from the Twelve Mile Creek (St. Catharines) to Queenston.
General Lewis, who now had full command (General Dearborn having resigned), finding his advance posts and foraging parties continually harassed and frequently made prisoners by small detachments of British and Canadian troops stationed at different posts through the country, in order to prevent the American camp at Fort George from obtaining supplies, dispatched Colonel Boerstler with about 600 or 700 men, by way of Queenston, with a view of dislodging a detachment or picquet posted at a place called the Beaver Dams, a few miles from Queenston. Colonel Boerstler was surprised by a small party of Indians under Captain Ker; and believing themselves hemmed in by superior numbers, surrendered to Lieutenant (afterwards Colonel) Fitzgibbon, of the 49th Regiment, who arrived in time to complete the victory with a detachment of forty-six rank and file. The prisoners were five to one to the captors, being 512 in number, including twenty-five officers, two field pieces, and a stand of colours.
By these successes, the Americans were compelled to confine themselves to Fort George and its neighbourhood; and before the 1st of July the British had formed a line extending from Twelve Mile Creek, on Lake Ontario (Port Dalhousie), across to Queenston, on the Niagara river; and the Canadians began now to retaliate the game of marauding which the Americans had been practising on the Niagara frontier. From Chippewa an attack was made on Fort Schlosser, on the American side ofthe river, during the night of the 4th of July, by a small party of militia and soldiers under Lieutenant-Colonel Clarke, who surprised the guard at that post, and brought away a brass six-pounder, upwards of fifty stand of arms, a small quantity of stores, with a gun-boat and two batteaux. At daybreak in the morning of the 11th of July, Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop, lately commanding Fort Erie, crossed over the river with 240 men, consisting of a small party of militia and detachments of the 41st and 49th Regiments, and effectually surprised the enemy's post at Black Rock, burning his block-houses, stores, barracks, dockyard, and a vessel, but were compelled to hasten their departure by a reinforcement of American militia and some Indians in their interest, who opened a smart fire under cover of the surrounding woods, killing thirteen of the British attacking party, and wounding a considerable number—among others, Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop, mortally; but the British party brought away seven pieces of ordnance, two hundred stand of small arms, and a great quantity of stores.
The two armies were almost in sight of each other at Fort George; the commander of the British wished to ascertain the extent of the enemy's works and his means of defence, and to draw him into an open field of battle, and therefore, on the 24th of August, made a demonstration as if to assault the fort, drove in the picquets; took several of them, advanced to within a few hundred yards of the enemy, who, though supported by the fire upon the British from their batteries on the American side of the river, could not be induced to leave their entrenchments and venture in the open field, although the force of the British did not exceed 2,000, while the American force exceeded 4,000, but wholly depending upon resources from the American side for their subsistence, and compelled to act solely on the defensive, from the hostile front assumed by the British in the neighbourhood. The American army of 4,000 men, being cooped up within the limits of the fort, depending for their supplies from the United States, and not daring to go out of their fortifications, could do little harm and be of little use to the American cause, the British commander did not think it advisable to incur the loss and risk of an assault upon the fort.
PART VIII.
WAR IN THE WEST—GENERAL PROCTOR'S UNSUCCESSFUL SIEGE OF LOWER SANDUSKY.
In the meantime General Harrison was on the Sandusky river, making preparations to prosecute the war with vigour, in order to recover the Michigan territory, as soon as the fleet fitting out at Erie (Presqu' Isle), under Captain Perry, who had been dispatched thither by Commodore Chauncey towards the end of May, should be sufficiently strong to co-operate with the land forces. General Proctor resolved to make another effort to defeat General Harrison's purpose to recover Michigan, and immediately besieged the American fort at Lower Sandusky; but in consequence of the withdrawment of the Indians out of the reach of the enemy's guns, and disinclined to the delay of a siege, and General Harrison with a respectable force at no great distance, General Proctor thought proper to raise the siege and retire to Amherstburg.
PART IX.
FAILURE OF THE EXPEDITION OF SIR GEORGE PREVOST AND COMMODORE SIR JAMES YEO AGAINST SACKETT'S HARBOUR.
During the absence of Commodore Chauncey and his fleet from Sackett's Harbour, engaged in operations on the Niagara frontier, an expedition was planned and fitted out at Kingston against that chief depot of American naval supplies on Ontario. Sir George Prevost, Commander-in-Chief, and the British Commodore, Sir James L. Yeo (just arrived from England), were both at Kingston, and much was expected from their joint counsels, and the arrival of some naval officers and sailors from England. On the 27th of May a body of 800 or 1,000 men were embarked on board the British flotilla at Kingston, consisting ofWolfe, 24 guns;Royal George, 24;Earl of Moira, 18; and four schooners, carrying from ten to twelve guns each, with a sufficient number of batteaux; and at noon the following day they were off Sackett's Harbour. The weather was propitious, and the troops were transferred to the batteaux tomake their landing under an escort of two gun-boats, commanded by Captain Mulcaster—the whole under the immediate direction of the land and naval commanders-in-chief. They had not proceeded far when a convoy of American boats, loaded with troops, was descried doubling Stanley Point, on their way from Oswego to Sackett's Harbour. The Indians, who had previously landed on an island, fired upon them as they passed, and threw them into confusion, while the British boats and batteaux bore down and captured twelve of them, with about 150 men; the remainder escaped to Sackett's Harbour.
The landing was deferred until next day, thus giving the Americans time to spread the alarm throughout the country—to collect reinforcements from all quarters—to collect and station their soldiers, with a field-piece, in the surrounding woods, and make every possible preparation for their defence. The fine day was followed by a dark, rainy, and stormy night, which scattered the boats, so that the British could not succeed in landing in the morning before the Americans had lined the woods with their men. Nevertheless the British succeeded in landing; the enemy retreated, but posting themselves securely behind large trees, kept up a smart fire on the British.
The fleet in the meantime, as well as small vessels intended to have been landed in time to support the advance of the troops, were, through the light and adverse wind, a long way in the rear. Under these circumstances, Colonel Baynes, the Adjutant-General of the Forces in British North America, who was charged with this service, found it impossible to bring up or wait for the arrival of the artillery, and ordered his detachment to divide and scour the woods. The enemy, dislodged from the woods at the point of the bayonet, fled to their fort and block-houses, whither they were pursued by the British, who set fire to their barracks.
At this juncture it was thought by the commanding officer, Colonel Baynes, that the enemy's block-houses and stockaded battery could not be carried by assault, even with the assistance of the field-pieces, had they been landed. The fleet were still too far out of reach to aid in battering them, while the men were exposed to the fire of the enemy, secure within the works. Thesignal of retreatwas therefore given to the indignant assailants, and the enterprise was abandoned at a momentwhen the enemy had so far calculated upon a victory on the part of the British as to set fire to their naval stores, hospital, and marine barracks, by which all the booty previously taken at York, and the stores for their new ship, were consumed. They had also set fire to a frigate on the stocks; but on discovering the retreat of the British, they succeeded in suppressing the fire, and saved her. The troops were immediately re-embarked, and returned to Kingston, after having sustained a loss of 259 in killed, wounded, and missing, while the loss of the enemy must have been double that number.
Thus terminated this expedition, to the disappointment of the public, who, from the presence and co-operation of the two commanders-in-chief, fondly flattered themselves with a far more brilliant result. This miscarriage, with other reverses at the commencement of the present campaign, destroyed in the opinion of the enemy the invincibility our arms had acquired the preceding autumn.[212]
PART X.
OCCURRENCES ON LAKE ONTARIO—NAVAL MANŒUVRES AND BATTLES.
On Lake Ontario the two naval commanders strove with indefatigable emulation for the dominion of the lake. Chauncey, after the capture of Fort George, returned to Sackett's Harbour to await the equipment of his new ship, thePike; while his adversary, Sir James Yeo, scoured the lake, and supplied the British army in the neighbourhood of Fort George with abundance of stores. In the early part of July, Sir James fitted out an expedition of boats for Sackett's Harbour, with a view of cutting out their new ship, then almost rigged and ready to appear on the lake. He arrived unobserved in the vicinity of that port, and would probably have effected his purpose had not the escape of two deserters from his party, which had landed for refreshments, and in order to remain concealed until night should favour the enterprise, given the alarm to the enemy. This unlucky incident induced him to relinquish the undertaking and return to Kingston.
Towards the end of July the American fleet again appearedwith augmented force upon the lake, and Commodore Chauncey having received a company of artillery, with a considerable number of troops under Colonel Scott, proceeded for the head of the lake, with a view of seizing and destroying the stores at Burlington Heights, the principal depot of the army on the Niagara frontier, then occupied by a small detachment under Major Maule. The design of the enemy against this depot being suspected, Lieutenant-Colonel Battersby, commanding the Glengarry Regiment, upon being notified to that effect by Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey, Deputy-Adjutant-General, moved forward from York, and, by a march of extraordinary celerity, arrived with a reinforcement in time to save the depot, which the enemy, on finding the British ready to receive them, did not deem it prudent to attack.
Commodore Chauncey, on learning that York, by the advance of Lieutenant-Colonel Battersby to Burlington Heights, was left destitute of troops, seized the opportunity and bore away for that port, which he entered on the 31st of July. Here the Americans landed without opposition, and having taken possession of a small quantity of stores found at that place, they set fire to the barracks and public store-houses, and having re-embarked their troops, bore away to Niagara.
It is a coincidence worthy of notice, that on the same day in which the American commander was employed in burning the barracks and stores at York, Lieutenant-Colonel Murray was no less actively employed on the same business at Plattsburg.
The British fleet sailed from Kingston on the last day of July, with supplies for the army at the head of the lake, and on the 8th of August looked into Niagara, where the enemy's fleet lay moored. The latter hove up and bore down upon the British fleet, with which they manœuvred until the 10th, when a partial engagement ensued, in which two small vessels (theJuliaandGrowler) were cut off and captured by the British.[213]
Commodore Chauncey, somewhat disheartened with the loss of these, and two other small vessels—theScourgeof eight, and theHamiltonof nine guns—upset by press of sail to escape, with the loss of all hands, except sixteen men picked up by the English, bore up for Niagara, from whence he sailed almost immediately for Sackett's Harbour, where he arrived on the 13th of August. Here he provisioned his fleet, and instantlymade sail for Niagara, where he remained at anchor until the British fleet appeared off the harbour, early in the morning of the 7th of September, when the American fleet again weighed and bore down upon the British fleet, with which they manœuvred until the 12th, when the latter returned into Amherst Bay, near Kingston. During these five days but few shots were exchanged between the larger ships, without any injury to either side. The Americans, however, had much the advantage in weight of metal and long guns.
The fleets again met on the 28th of September, off York, when an engagement ensued for nearly two hours, in which theWolfe, commanded by Sir James Yeo, lost her main and mizen-top-masts, and would probably have been captured had not theRoyal George, commanded by Captain Mulcaster, run in between theWolfeand thePike, taking the latter in a raking position, so as to afford theWolfean opportunity of hauling off and clearing away the wreck. This affair terminated in the retreat of the British fleet under Burlington Heights, whither the enemy did not think proper to pursue it.
On the 1st of October, the American fleet set sail from Fort George with a convoy of troops for Sackett's Harbour, where an expedition was preparing whose destination was as yet unknown. The British fleet left their anchorage under Burlington Heights on the next day, and came in sight of the enemy; but no attempt was made to bring on a general engagement. The American fleet, on their way to Sackett's Harbour; fell in with and captured five small vessels out of seven, with upwards of 250 men of De Watteville's Regiment, from York, bound for Kingston, where an attack was apprehended. This loss, though apparently trifling in itself, was severely felt, by reason of the few forces in the Upper Provinces.
For the remainder of the season nothing of moment occurred on this lake; and indeed the naval commanders appeared to have considered the question of too great importance to their respective Governments to stake the fate of war in Upper Canada upon a decisive naval engagement.[214]
PART XI.
OCCURRENCES ON LAKE ERIE AND IN THE WEST—LOSS OF THE BRITISH FLEET—EVACUATION OF DETROIT AND THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN BY GENERAL PROCTOR, WHO IS PURSUED IN HIS RETREAT UP THE THAMES, AND DEFEATED BY GENERAL HARRISON, AND IS AFTERWARDS TRIED AND CONDEMNED TO BE SUSPENDED AND DEPRIVED OF HIS PAY FOR SIX MONTHS.
The operations on Lake Erie and in the Westwere disastrous to the British cause during the latter part of the summer and early autumn of 1813. General Harrison, with an army of 8,000 men on the Miami river, only awaited for the equipment of the American fleet fitting out under Commodore Perry, at Presqu' Isle (Erie), to move his forces against Detroit, and to carry on offensive operations against the British in the neighbourhood of Lake Erie. Captain Barclay, who had early in the summer assumed the command of the British squadron on Lake Erie, blockaded the American fleet, so as to prevent their crossing the bar at Presqu' Isle (which they could not effect without unshipping their guns) until the end of August; when, having occasion to bear away for Long Point,[215]the enemy seized the moment of his absence and crossed the bar. Finding on his return the enemy ready for the lake, and too powerful for his small squadron, he bore away for Amherstburg, to await the equipment of theDetroit, recently launched.
Commodore Perry sailed shortly after him for the head of the lake, and appeared at the commencement of September, for several days successively, off Amherstburg, in defiance of the British squadron, retiring every evening to his anchorage atPut-in-Bay. The British forces in Michigan territory and its neighbourhood, under General Proctor, falling short of supplies for which they depended solely upon the fleet, the captain had no other alternative than that of risking a general naval engagement. With this resolution he made sail from Amherstburg on the 9th of September, manned with only fifty or sixty seamen (including a small reinforcement of thirty-six men from Lake Ontario), and detachments from the 41st and Royal Newfoundland Regiment as marines. On the 10th, in the morning, the enemy's fleet was descried at anchor inPut-in-Bay, which immediately weighed and bore down upon the British squadron, while the wind blowing a gentle breeze from the south-west, turning round to the south-east, gave the enemy the weather gage. At a quarter before twelve the British commenced firing, which was in ten minutes afterwards returned by the enemy, who bore up for close action. The engagement continued with unabated fury until half-past two, when the enemy's principal ship being rendered unmanageable, Commodore Perry left her in charge of his first lieutenant, Yarnal, and hoisted the pendant on board theNiagara. Soon after Commodore Perry had left theLawrence, her colours were struck, but the British, from weakness of their crews and destruction of their boats, were unable to take possession of her.
It was at this anxious and interesting juncture that the fate of the day seemed to poise in favour of the British; and Commodore Perry even despaired of the victory, when a sudden breeze revived his hopes, and turned the scale in his favour. This fortunate commander, finding theNiagarahad suffered lightly in the engagement, made a desperate effort to retrieve the fortune of the day, and taking advantage of the breeze, shot ahead of theLady Prevost, Queen Charlotte, andHunter, raking them with her starboard guns, and engaged theDetroit, which, being raked in all directions, soon became unmanageable. TheNiagarathen bore around ahead of theQueen Charlotte,and hauling up on starboard tack, engaged that ship, giving at the same time a raking fire with her larboard guns to theChippewaand theLittle Belt, while the smaller vessels, closing to grape and canister distance, maintained a most destructive fire. This masterly and but too successful manœuvre decided the contest. Captain Barclay being severely and dangerously wounded, Captain Finnis, of theQueen Charlotte, killed, and every commander and officer second in command either killed or disabled, theDetroitandQueen Charlotte, perfect wrecks, after a desperate engagement of upwards of three hours, were compelled to surrender.
By this decisive action, the whole of the British squadron on Lake Erie was captured by the enemy, who now became masters of the lake. The enemy lost in this action twenty-seven men in killed and ninety-six men wounded. The British lost three officers and thirty-eight men killed, and nine officers and eighty-five men wounded.
The prisoners were landed at Sandusky, and treated with the greatest humanity by the American commodore, who paroled Captain Barclay, and treated that gallant officer with all the kindness and attention which his unsuccessful bravery deserved.
The British army in possession of the Michigan territory and the neighbourhood of Detroit, by this disastrous defeat, were deprived of every prospect of obtaining future supplies from Kingston by way of Lake Ontario, and a speedy evacuation of Detroit, and a retreat towards the head of that lake became inevitable.
General Harrison having received reinforcements amounting to 7,000 or 8,000 men, including 4,000 volunteers from Kentucky under Samuel Shelby, the ex-governor of that State, and an old revolutionary officer, was conveyed by Commodore Perry, in his flotilla, with all the troops and stores, from the mouth of the Miami to the Canadian shore, except the thousand dragoons who were to advance by land, and so order their march that they might arrive in the neighbourhood of Malden at the same time with the infantry. General Harrison occupied Amherstburg the evening of the 23rd of September, General Proctor having previously abandoned it and fallen back upon Sandwich, after having set fire to the navy yard, barracks, and public stores at the former place.
General Harrison, on his arrival, having found the different points evacuated, invested General McArthur with the chief command of these garrisons, and prepared to pursue the retreating army up the River Thames, with a force of 3,000 men, including Colonel Johnson's corps of dragoons, consisting of 1,000. General Harrison occupied Sandwich the 27th of September, and on the 2nd of October he marched in pursuit of the shattered remains of the British forces under General Proctor. In this, his reverse of fortune, the Indians, under Colonel Elliot, of the Indian Department, with Tecumseh, still adhered to his standard with unshaken fidelity, and covered his retreat.
On the 4th of October, General Harrison came up with the rear-guard of the British, and succeeded in capturing the whole of their ammunition and stores. General Proctor, under this second reverse of fortune, by which he was left destitute of the means of subsistence or defence, found himself compelled to stake the fate of the remnant of his small army on a general engagement. Accordingly he assumed a position on the right bank of the River Thames, near the Indian village of Moravian Town—the left resting on the river supported by a field-piece, his right on a swamp, at a distance of 300 yards from the river, and flanked by the whole Indian force attached to the division. The intermediate ground, covered with lofty trees, was dry and somewhat elevated. Here General Proctor formed his troops into line, to the number of 500 or 600. The Indians under Tecumseh amounted to 1,200. In this position he awaited the approach of the enemy, who, on the morning of the 5th of October, passed the river at a rapid twelve miles below the Moravian village, and came up with the British in the afternoon. General Harrison drew up his men in two lines, and secured his left flank, which was opposed to the Indians, by a division thrown backen potence; and without any previous engagement by infantry, ordered his mounted Kentuckians (accustomed from their boyhood to ride with extraordinary dexterity through the most embarrassed woods) to charge at full speed upon (theopenline of) the British, which had effected before the latter had time to discharge their third fire. This cavalry charge of the enemy on the British line decided the issue of the day. The line gave wayat the charge; the troops, worn down with fatigue and hunger, dispirited by the unpromising appearance of the campaign, became totally routed, and for the most part surrendered themselves prisoners, while General Proctor and his personal staff sought safety in flight.
To the left of the enemy's position, which was opposed to the Indians, the battle raged with more obstinacy. This part of the enemy's line had even given way until a column under ex-Governor Shelby was brought up to its support. These faithful allies continued to carry on the contest with the left of the American line with furious determination, encouraged by the presence of Tecumseh, until finding all hopes of retrieving the day to be in vain—General Proctor and his soldiers having fled or surrendered—they yielded to the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, and left the field—upwards of 100 of them having fallen in battle, and the bodies of 33 of them being found around the dead body of their famous chief and warrior, Tecumseh; celebrated no less for his humanity than for his bravery, his eloquence, and his influence among the Indian allies of the British in the West.
Upwards of 600 of the British, including twenty-five officers, were made prisoners of war. Those who escaped made the best of their way to Ancaster, a few miles from Burlington Heights, exposed at an inclement season to all the horrors of the wilderness, of hunger, and famine. The number thus escaped to that place amounted to only 246, including the general and seventeen officers.
This disaster of the British arms in that quarter seems not to have been palliated by those precautions and that presence of mind which, even in defeat, reflects lustre on a commander. In rapid retreats from a pursuing enemy cumbrous and useless baggage is abandoned, and bridges and roads are destroyed and rendered as impassable as possible, in order to impede the progress of the pursuers; but General Proctor encumbered himself with a cumbrous load of baggage, and left the bridges and roads in his rear entire, to the advantage of his pursuers. Whether this error and neglect arose from contempt of the enemy, or from disobedience of the commanding officer's orders, is not well understood; but the defeat led to the harshest recrimination, and involved in unmerited disgrace the divisionof the brave troops that had served with honour in the Michigan territory; and General Proctor was subjected to a trial by court-martial for his conduct in the whole affair—censured and deprived of his pay for six months.
PART XII.
AMERICANS BURN MORAVIAN TOWN, BEFORE RETURNING TO DETROIT—FORM ALLIANCE WITH INDIANS, WHICH THEY HAD EXCLAIMED SO MUCH AGAINST ON THE PART OF THE BRITISH—ARE INTOXICATED WITH THEIR SUCCESSES IN THE WEST—MAGNIFICENT CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1813, AS OF 1812, IN BEHALF OF CANADIANS, BOTH IN UPPER AND LOWER CANADA—CANADIAN VICTORY OF ISLE-AUX-NOIS—SPLENDID CANADIAN VICTORIES OF CHATEAUGUAY AND CHRYSTLER'S FARM—AMERICAN ARMIES RETREAT INTO WINTER QUARTERS.
The American army returned to Detroit after the battle of Moravian Town; but before doing so, they consigned the town to the flames, assigning as a justification of the savage act against the unoffending Christian Moravian Indians, a retaliation for what they called the massacre of River Raisin.
During General Harrison's absence from Detroit, a few of the Indian tribes tendered their services to General McArthur, to raise the hatchet against the British, and their proffered services were readily accepted—showing that, according to the American rule of judging, the alliance of the Indians with the United States was quite right, while with England it was all wrong and barbarous.
The success of the American arms on Lake Erie and its surrounding shores so intoxicated and bewildered them, that, in their subsequent movements, they calculated upon nothing but victory and conquest, made no allowance for failure in any point. "Canada must now be ours" was their exulting and arrogant language. But they had overlooked the fact that, however gloomy the prospects of the Western Canadians were in October of the year 1813, there were remaining elements of strength with them—their courage and zeal were unabated, and even increased, by the transactions of the months of disaster; their loyalty to their principles, and their love of their independence, were intensified rather than enfeebled; they would not be aconquered people; and before the end of the year1813, the American armies had to relinquish every inch of Canadian soil both in Upper and Lower Canada.
But to present a connected and intelligent view of the magnificent close of the year 1813, as was that of 1812, we must first turn to the American campaigns against Lower Canada in 1813; and the defeats and want of success for several months in Upper Canada were more than compensated by the heroic deeds and splendid success of both the English and French defenders of Lower Canada, as well as by victories gained in Upper Canada in the months of November and December.
The Isle-aux-Nois was termed the key of Lower Canada, and its old fortifications had been repaired, and three gun-boats sent thither from Quebec. The little garrison was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel George Taylor, Inspecting General Field Officer (then major of the 100th Regiment), who, apprehending, from previous private information, a combined attack from the American naval force on Lake Champlain and the troops in the neighbourhood of his post, commanded by the Brigadier-Generals Smyth and Clarke, lost no time in equipping the three gun-boats lying unemployed for want of seamen; and Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor having no sailors, he manned the gun-boats from his regiment, with three artillerymen for each boat, and took the precaution to man two batteaux with a detachment of soldiers, for the double purpose of rendering assistance to the gun-boats in the event of their being either sunk or disabled in the engagement, or to assist in boarding if it should be found necessary. The enemy, discovered in approaching, consisted of the sloops of warGrowlerandEagle, fitted out in the most complete manner, each carrying eleven guns (eighteens, twelves, and sixes), long eighteens on pivots, with complements each of fifty-five men, comprehending a company of marines, which they had received at Champlain the evening previous to the engagement; the whole under the command of the United States navy. The admirable execution with their small arms of the two small detachments of soldiers landed on the east side of the river, and the well-directed fire from the gun-boats, of round and grape shot, completely decided the fate of the action, which the enemy gallantly contested from half-past four to half-past eight in the morning, and did notsurrender until further resistance became utterly unavailing—one of the vessels being run aground to prevent her from sinking.
The whole force of the British in this affair was only 108. The men killed on board the American vessels were thrown overboard by their surviving comrades; the prisoners amounted to 100 men, of whom many were wounded. Of the captors, not a man was killed, and only three severely wounded. The naval force of the enemy on Lake Champlain was, by the capture of these vessels, almost annihilated, while it afforded the British immediate and effectual means for offensive operations on that lake, and checked the invasion meditated on Lower Canada.
The American Government, with a view of conquering Lower Canada, had been at considerable pains and expense in erecting barracks, hospitals, and magazines at different points along Lake Champlain, particularly at Burlington, Plattsburg, Champlain, and Swanton, in the neighbourhood of the Canadian frontiers—all under the direction of the two American generals, Moore and Hampton. To counteract these movements, the captured vessels,GrowlerandEagle—re-named theShannonandBrock—were speedily put in commission, and the three gun-boats being put in repair, the small squadron was placed under the command of Captain Pring. Still there were no sailors; but, fortunately, at this juncture theWaspsloop-of-war arrived from England at Quebec, and Captain Everard, her commander, was ordered to transfer his crew to theShannonand other vessels, and take command of the little fleet on Lake Champlain.
On the 29th of July the fleet took 900 regulars from the 13th, 100th, and 103rd Regiments, with some artillery, and a number of Canadian militia, who acted as batteaux men, and proceeded up the lake, landing near Plattsburg on the 31st, without meeting any opposition—the American general, Moore, with 1,500 men, having retreated at the approach of the British. Colonel John Murray, who was in command of the British, took possession of the arsenals, etc., and after having embarked all the warlike stores, of which a considerable quantity was found in the arsenal, and having destroyed such as he could not conveniently take away, set fire to the enemy's arsenal, publicbuildings, commissariat stores, and barracks, recently erected, and capable of accommodating from 4,000 to 5,000 men. While the troops were thus employed during the whole of the night, Captains Everard and Pring, in theGrowlerandEagle, with a gun-boat proceeded to Burlington, where General Hampton lay encamped with 4,000 men, and threw that place into the utmost consternation. Having captured and destroyed, within sight of the American forces, four vessels, Captain Everard returned to Plattsburg, where the troops were re-embarked, and proceeded to Swanton. Colonel Murray, while on the way thither, sent a detachment to Champlain for the purpose of destroying the barracks and block-house at that port. The main body having visited Swanton, and effected the purpose of the expedition to the fullest extent of his Excellency the Governor-General's orders, returned to the Isle-aux-Nois, where they arrived the 4th of August, without the loss of a man, and having been completely successful.
But these successes were only preliminary to two victories remarkable in the annals of military warfare, considering the disparity in the number and means of the parties concerned—known as the battles ofChateauguayandChrystler's Farm.
General Hampton, after having transported his force across Lake Champlain, lay encamped some days at Cumberland Head, near Plattsburg. On the 20th of September he entered Lower Canada at Odletown, at the lower extremity of Lake Champlain, with upwards of 5,000 men. The road leading from thence to l'Acadie, and the open country in the neighbourhood of Montreal, lies through a swamp of about fifteen miles, which had been cut up and rendered almost impracticable by abatis since the preceding campaign, by the Voltigeurs under Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, and guarded by some Voltigeurs and Indians. Deterred by these obstructions, General Hampton evacuated Odletown on the 22nd of September, and moved with his whole force westward, toward the head of Chateauguay river, under pretext of the impracticability of advancing through the Odletown road for want of water for his cavalry and cattle, owing to the extraordinary drought of the season. Colonel De Salaberry, with the Canadian Voltigeurs, on ascertaining the route the enemy had taken, moved in like manner to Chateauguay, and by his skilful precautions and arrangements of defenceand attack, he gained advantage in several skirmishes with scouting and advance parties of the enemy—thus leading his Voltigeurs for the first time into action, and acquiring a just confidence in the valour of his countrymen, which a few days afterwards they nobly exemplified under their gallant leader at Chateauguay. Finally he assumed a judicious position in a thick wood on the left bank of the Chateauguay river, at a distance of two leagues above the Turk, or confluence of the English and Chateauguay rivers, where he threw up temporary breastworks of logs, covering his front and right flank with extended abatis, while his left was covered by the river. Here he resolved to await the enemy and maintain his ground with a Spartan handful of Canadians against the whole strength of the invading army. In his rear there was a small rapid where the river was fordable; this he covered with a strong breastwork and guard; keeping at the same time a strong picquet of the Beauharnois Militia in advance of the right bank of the river, lest the enemy, approaching under cover of the forest, might cross the ford and dislodge him from his ground.
The occupancy of this position General Hampton justly considered of the first importance to the ulterior object of the campaign against Montreal, as the country from thence to the mouth of the Chateauguay, being principally open and cultivated, afforded no strong points to check his progress to the St. Lawrence, and prevent his junction with General Wilkinson's division; but which in fact was not yet in readiness to move.
General Hampton, in the meantime, to distract and divide the attention of the British, directed Colonel Clarke to carry on a petty warfare on the eastern side of Lake Champlain; and that ruthless depredator invested the settlements in Missisquoi Bay, where he plundered the inhabitants in the most wanton manner.
On the 21st of October, General Hampton again entered Lower Canada, having early in the morning of that day dispatched his light troops and a regiment of the line, under Brigadier-General Izard, to dislodge a small picquet of sedentary militia, at the junction of the Outarde and Chateauguay rivers, where the main body arrived on the 22nd. On the 24th, having opened and completed a large and practicable road from his position at Four Corners (a distance of twenty-four miles), through woods and morasses, which Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, on returning from the Four Corners, had broken up and embarrassed with abatis, General Hampton brought forward the whole of his artillery (ten field-pieces) and stores to his new position—about seven miles from Lieut.-Colonel De Salaberry's post.
From this point General Hampton dispatched Colonel Purdy with a light brigade, and a strong body of infantry of the line, at an early hour of the night of the 25th, with orders to gain the Ford, and fall on the rear of Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry's position; while the main body were to commence the attack in front. Purdy's brigade proceeded, but were misled and bewildered in the woods, and did not gain the point of attack as directed by the commanding officer. General Hampton, however, advanced next morning (26th October) under the expectation of having the intended attack at the Ford, and at ten o'clock made his appearance with aboutthree thousand five hundred men, under General Izard, on the high road leading to the abatis, and drove in a picket of twenty-five men, who falling back on a second picket made a resolute stand, and maintained a smart fire upon the enemy. Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, upon hearing the musketry, promptly advanced with the light company of the Canadian Fencibles, commanded by Captain Ferguson, and two companies of his Voltigeurs, commanded by Captains Chevalier and Jucheseau Duchesnay. The first of these companies he posted on the right, in front of the abatis, in extended order, its right skirting on the adjoining woods and abatis, among which were distributed a few Abenaqui Indians. Captains Chevalier and Duchesnay's companies of Voltigeurs, in extended order, occupied the ground from the left of this company to the River Chateauguay, and the third company, under Captain L. Jucheseau Duchesnay, with the sedentary militia, under Captain Lougtain, were thrown backen potencealong the margin of the river for the purpose of flanking, or preventing a flank fire from the enemy in the event of his appearing on the opposite side of the river. The enemy in the meantime advanced with steadiness in open column of sections to within musket shot, when Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry discharged his rifle as signal to commence firing, at which a mounted officer was seen to fall. Thebugles sounded, and a quick fire was immediately opened upon the enemy who wheeled up into line, and commenced a fire in battalion vollies, which, from the position of their line, was almost totally thrown to the right of the Canadians, and of no effect whatever. They, however, soon changed their front parallel to their adversaries, by facing to the right, and filing up with speed, when the engagement became general.
The retirement of the few skirmishers, rather advanced in the centre of the line, being mistaken by the enemy for a flight, an universal shout ensued, which was re-echoed by the Canadians, and the reinforcements in reserve under Lieutenant-Colonel M'Donnell, while Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry as aruse de guerre(like Gideon with his trumpets and 300 men, Judges, vii.), ordered the bugles placed at intervals, in the abatis, to sound an advance; this had the desired effect, and checked the ardour of the enemy, who suspected that the Canadians were advancing in great numbers to circumvent them. The noise of the engagement brought Colonel Purdy's division on the opposite side of the river, which, having driven in the picket of the sedentary militia under Captain Bruguier, were pressing on for the ford at which Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry ordered the light company of the 3rd Battalion embodied militia, under Captain Daly, to cross and take up the ground abandoned by the picquet, Captain Daly with his company crossed the ford, and having advanced fell in with and drove back the advanced guard of the Americans on the main body, which still pressed forward and compelled him in his turn to fall back. Having repulsed Captain Daly's company, they were moving on in overwhelming numbers with eagerness and speed close to the bank of the river, until opposite to Captain L. Jucheseau Duchesnay's company, which hitherto lay concealed, and now at the word of command from Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, opened so unexpected and effectual a fire upon the enemy, as to throw him into the utmost disorder, and to occasion a tumultuous and precipitate retreat.
General Hampton finding his arrangements disconcerted by the total route of the division on the right bank, withdrew his forces in good order at half-past two in the afternoon, without having made a single effort to carry the abatis and entrenchments at the point of the bayonet, leaving Lieutenant-ColonelDe Salaberry, with scarcely 300 Canadians, masters of the field of action.
Towards the close of the engagement, Sir George Prevost, with Major-General De Watteville, arrived on the ground, and witnessed in person the judicious arrangements and successful exertions of Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry and his gallant comrades and countrymen, whose prowess on the occasion called forth the warmest encomiums of the commander of the forces, and gave them a just claim to the disinterested and impartial applause of history.
The fatigues and privations experienced by General Hampton's troops, exposed for several weeks to the inclemency of the season, demoralized them to the native rawness of new recruits, and rendered them no more capable of co-operating with General Wilkinson's division in the combined movement against Montreal. They shortly after fell back on Plattsburg and retired to winter quarters.
The Canadian Victory of "Chrystler's Farm."—The next expedition against Montreal was to proceed down the St. Lawrence, under the command of General Wilkinson.[216]The American forces to about 10,000 men rendezvoused towards the end of October on Grenadier Island, near Kingston, where General De Rottenburgh confidently expected an attack, and was prepared for it; but General Wilkinson was not so disposed, and, after experiencing much foul weather, commenced his movement under cover of the American fleet, and on the 3rd of November slipt into the St. Lawrence with a flotilla of upwards ofthree hundredboats of various sizes, escorted by a division of gun-boats. He proceeded to within three miles of Prescott and landed his troops on the American shore, who proceeded downwards by land to a bay or cove, two miles below Ogdensburg, in order to avoid the British batteries at Prescott, while the flotilla passed them in the night of the 6th, with little injury from the cannonade of the British batteries.
The movements of the flotilla down the St. Lawrence having been ascertained at Kingston, General De Rottenburgh detached a small force from that port, consisting of the 49thRegiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Plenderleath, of the 89th Regiment, and some Voltigeurs, which, when reinforced by Lieutenant-Colonel Pearson with a party of the Canadian Fencibles from Prescott, amounted to about 800 rank and file, the whole commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, of the 89th Regiment, and accompanied by the Deputy-Adjutant-General.
This corps of observation proceeded under the escort of a small division of gun-boats, commanded by Captain Mulcaster, R.N., in pursuit of the enemy; and on the 8th came up with them at Point Iroquois. General Wilkinson had on the preceding day directed Colonel Macomb to land on the British shore with 1,200 men, in order to clear the coast to the head of the Long Sault, of the militia along the shore, from various parts of the country. On the 18th this division was reinforced by Brigadier-General Brown's Brigade, with a body of dragoons from the American shore. On arriving at the head of the Long Sault, the whole of the effective men, except such as were required to navigate the boats down the Rapids, were landed under the orders of Brigadier-General Boyd, who was to proceed down the land in the rear of General Brown's division to the foot of the Long Sault.
On the 10th Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, with his gun-boats, visited the American post at Hamilton, where he landed and took possession of a considerable quantity of provisions and stores belonging to the American army, with two pieces of ordnance. Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey, in the meantime, followed up the enemy, who in the evening were observed advancing from the woods in considerable numbers, with a body of cavalry; but upon receiving a few rounds from three field-pieces fell back for the night. (Some smart cannonading took place in the meantime between the British and American gun-boats.)
Battle of Chrystler's Farm.—On the ensuing day, Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison pressed so closely upon the rear of GeneralBoyd's division as to compel him to concentrate his forces and give battle. The enemy's force, consisting of two brigades of infantry and a regiment of cavalry, amounting tobetween three and four thousand men, moved forward about two o'clock in the afternoon from Chrystler's Point, and attacked the British advance, which gradually fell back to the position which had been selected for the detachment to occupy—the right resting on the river, and the left on a pine wood, between which there were about 700 yards of open ground, the troops on which were thus disposed:
The flank companies of the 49th Regiment, the detachment from the Canadian regiment, with one field-piece, under Lieutenant-Colonel Pearson, on the right, a little advanced on the road. Three companies of the 89th Regiment, under Captain Barnes, with a gun, formed in echelon, with the advance on its left supporting it. The 49th and the 89th, thrown more to the rear, with a gun, formed the main body and reserve, extending to the woods on the left, which were occupied by the Voltigeurs under Major Herriot, and the Indians under Lieutenant Anderson.
At about half past two the action became general, and the enemy endeavoured, by moving forward a brigade from his right, to turn the British left, but was repulsed by the 89th Regiment formingen potencewith the 49th Regiment, and moving forward in that direction, in echelon, followed by the 89th. When within half musket shot, the line was formed under a heavy but irregular fire from the enemy. The 49th was directed to charge the American guns, posted opposite the Canadian guns, but it became necessary, when within a short distance of them, to check this forward movement in consequence of a charge from the American cavalry on the right, lest they should wheel about and fall upon the rear; but they were received in so gallant a manner by the companies of the 89th under Captain Barnes, and the well-directed fire of the artillery, that they quickly retreated; and by a charge from those companies one gun was gained. The enemy immediately concentrated their force to check the British advance, but such was the steady continuance and well-directed fire of the troops and artillery that about half-past four they gave way at all points from an exceeding strong position, endeavouring bytheir light infantry to cover their retreat, who were soon driven away by a judicious movement made by Lieutenant-Colonel Pearson.
The British detachment for the night occupied the ground from which the enemy had been driven.
This (called the Battle of Chrystler's Farm, from the ground on which it occurred) is, in the estimation of military men, considered the handsomest affair during the war, from the professional skill displayed in the course of the action by the adverse commanders; and when we consider the prodigious preparations of the American Government for that expedition, with the failure of which their hopes of conquest banished, the battle of Chrystler's Farm may be classed as an event of the first importance in the defence of the Canadas.
The American division, after leaving the field, re-embarked in haste, while the dragoons, with five field-pieces of light artillery, proceeded down towards Cornwall, in the rear of General Brown's division, who, unaware of the battle of Chrystler's Farm, had continued his march for that place.
The loss of the enemy, by their own statements, amounted to three officers and ninety-nine men killed, and sixteen officers and one hundred and twenty-one men wounded. The loss of the British amounted to three officers (Captain Nairne of the 49th Regiment, and Lieutenants Lorimier and Armstrong), and twenty-one men killed, and one hundred and thirty-seven wounded, and twelve missing.
General Wilkinson, who, during the action, lay confined to his barge from a protracted illness, in his official despatch to his Government, bears strong testimony to the loyalty of the inhabitants on the Canada side of the St. Lawrence, and to the bravery and discipline of the troops he had to contend with at Chrystler's Farm.
The day after the engagement, the American flotilla proceeded down the Long Sault, and joined near Cornwall the division which had moved towards that place, where General Wilkinson confidently expected to hear of the arrival of General Hampton on the opposite shore, to whom he had written on the 6th, to that effect, not being then acquainted with his late defeat. Here, to his unspeakable mortification and surprise, he received a letter from General Hampton, informing him thatthe division under his command was falling back upon Lake Champlain.[217]
This information, with the countless difficulties momentarily crowding upon the American army, effectually blasted every prospect of further success. So circumstanced, the American commander immediately held a Council of War, in which it was unanimously resolved, "That the attack upon Montreal should be abandoned for the present season, and that the army near Cornwall should immediately cross to the American shore, in order to take up winter quarters," a resolution which was carried into effect the following day, by their proceeding for Salmon river, where their boats and batteaux were scuttled, and extensive barracks for the whole army were erected with extraordinary celerity, surrounded on all sides by abatis, so as to render a surprise unpracticable.
Every appearance of danger having subsided, the commander of the Canadian forces dismissed the sedentary militia, by a General Order of the 17th of November, with acknowledgments of the cheerful alacrity with which they had repaired to their posts, and the loyalty and zeal they had manifested at the prospect of encountering the enemy.
With these operations terminated the campaigns of 1813 in Lower Canada; but new triumphs still awaited the Britisharms in the Province of Upper Canada before the end of the year.[218]
PART XIII.
GENERAL DRUMMOND ARRIVES IN UPPER CANADA—COLONEL MURRAY SENT TO ARREST THE PREDATORY INCURSIONS OF THE BRUTAL GENERAL McCLURE UPON THE INHABITANTS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF FORT GEORGE—McCLURE'S BARBAROUS BURNING OF THE TOWN OF NEWARK (NIAGARA), EXPOSING 400 WOMEN AND CHILDREN TO THE INTENSE COLD OF THE 10TH OF DECEMBER—McCLURE'S FLIGHT TO FORT NIAGARA ON THE AMERICAN SIDE OF THE RIVER—COLONEL MURRAY, BY SURPRISING FORT NIAGARA, TAKES THE WHOLE GARRISON PRISONERS, AND SEIZES LARGE QUANTITIES OF MILITARY STORES—GENERAL RIALL RETALIATES IN THE SAME WAY, IN REGARD TO LEWISTON, BLACK ROCK, AND BUFFALO—GENERAL DRUMMOND ISSUES A PROCLAMATION DEPRECATING SUCH SAVAGE POLICY AS INITIALED BY THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.
Early in December, Major General De Rottenburgh was relieved in the command of Upper Canada by Lieutenant-General Drummond, who proceeded from Kingston to York, and from thence to the head of the lake, where the army again resumed an offensive position. The country along the St. Lawrence, being freed from the incursions of the enemy, Colonel Murray, of the 100th Regiment, was ordered to advance from Burlington Heights towards Fort George, with a view at that time to prevent predatory incursions of the enemy under General McClure (then in possession of that fort) on the defenceless inhabitants of the surrounding country. But General McClure, having heard of the disasters which had befallen the army destined for Montreal, and conscious that a like fate might probably await him and his army, with that dastardly cowardice peculiar to himself and a few of his compatriots and traitors who joined themselves to his train, and against the very spirit of the law of nations and of civilized warfare, immersed the flourishing town of Newark (Niagara) in one continued sheet of flame, and ignobly fled with his followers into his territory. The historian laments that it isnot in his power to record one magnanimous act of that recreant General, to rescue his name from that gulf of infamy to which his nefarious conduct has forever doomed it.[219]
But retaliation was only delayed a week. On the evening of the 18th of December, preparations were made for taking Fort Niagara from the enemy, for which service Colonel Murray, of the 100th Regiment, was selected to take the command; and long before daylight next morning this gallant officer, at the head of the grenadier company of the Royal Scots, the grenadier and light companies of the 41st Regiment, and a detachment of his own corps, crossed the river about two miles above the fort, upon which they immediately advanced. On approaching the fortress, sentries, planted on the outer works, were surprised and taken, the countersign obtained, and in a few minutes the fort was carried at the point of the bayonet.
The loss on the part of the British in this affair was onlysix killed and five wounded: that of the enemy amounted to sixty-five killed and fourteen wounded (all with the bayonet), and the whole garrison was made prisoners, consisting of nearly 350. There were in the fort, at the time of its capture, twenty-seven pieces of ordnance of weighty calibre, 3,000 muskets with apparatus, besides large magazines of camp equipage and military clothing, which of course fell into the hands of the victors.
On the same day on which Fort Niagara was captured, the town of Lewiston, about eight miles above Fort Niagara, was taken possession of by a British force under Major-General Riall, without opposition; in which place the public magazines were well filled with provisions and other military stores.
Towards the latter end of the same month, General Riall crowed the Niagara river at Black Rock, at the head of a force consisting of about 600 men, detachments from the 8th or the King's Regiment, 41st, 89th, and 100th Regiments, with a few Militia volunteers, exclusive of six or seven companies of the Royal Scots, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, who were directed to land between the villages of Buffalo and Black Rock, about two miles distant from each other, with a view to divert the garrison of Black Rock, while the other troops were landing in front of that port; but in consequence of the severity of the weather, a number of the boats were stranded; by which means the troops were unable to land in time to effect the object for which they had been intended; however, the enemy was driven from both positions in a short time.
The American loss in this affair was upwards of five hundred, 130 of whom were prisoners of war; the loss of the British was inconsiderable compared with that of the enemy.
The state of exasperation to which the mind of every British subject had been wrought by the conduct of McClure in burning the town of Newark, and exposing all to the inclemency of a Canadian winter, both the helpless infant and infirm old age, was such that nothing but a similar retaliation could assuage; the whole line of frontier, from Buffalo to Fort Niagara, was therefore burnt to ashes.
Ample vengeance having thus been taken for the wanton conflagration and cruel outrages committed upon the defencelessinhabitants of Newark and neighbourhood, Lieutenant-General Drummond, on the 12th of January, 1814, issued a proclamation, in which he strongly deprecated the savage mode of warfare to which the enemy, by a departure from the established usages of war, had compelled him to resort. He traced with faithful precision and correctness the conduct that had marked the progress of the war on the part of the enemy, and concluded by lamenting the necessity imposed upon him of retaliating upon the subjects of America the miseries inflicted upon the inhabitants of Newark, but at the same time declared it not to be his intention further to pursue a system so revolting to his own feelings, and so little congenial to the British character, unless he should be compelled by the future measures of the enemy.