{097}
_The Armaments--Preliminary Operations--Expedition against York
--Death of General Pike--Capture of Fort George--Attack on Sackett's
Harbor--Battle of Stony Creek._
|The importance of the great navigable lakes lying between the United
States and Canada had not been overlooked by either party to this
war. As soon as it broke out, both began preparations to secure the
ascendency on those waters--which, besides its direct advantages, would
be almost necessary to either in making invasions around the coasts. A
large portion of the shores on both sides--more especially, perhaps, on
the American side--was at that time a wilderness, and the few open ports
would naturally hold out strong temptations to the enemy.
The chief advantage was with the British, both because the oldest and
largest settlements were on their side of the lakes, and because they
had possession of the St. Lawrence River, which made it easy for them
to bring up supplies from the seaboard. The Americans, however, had
regularly trained naval officers in command of their few vessels on
{098}lakes Ontario and Champlain, while the English had not. The largest
American vessel on the lower lakes was the _Oneida_, of sixteen guns;
the largest British vessel, the _Royal George_, of twenty-two. The enemy
also had several other vessels, carrying from a dozen to sixteen guns
each, which it would be useless to specify, as their names and character
were several times changed during the war. As soon as hostilities
were declared, both sides began building new ships and arming merchant
schooners.
In July, 1812, the British fleet had made an attempt to capture the
_Oneida_ and a prize schooner, both of which were at Sackett's Harbor.
Lieutenant-Commander Woolsey anchored the _Oneida_ in the harbor, where
she could command the entrance, placed half of her guns in a battery
on shore, and easily drove off the enemy's fleet, whose performance
exhibited very little of the character of serious warfare.
In October, of that year, Captain Isaac Chauncey arrived at Sackett's
Harbor, with authority to organize a fleet. He brought from New York
forty ship-carpenters and a hundred officers and seamen, and a supply of
naval stores. He bought ten or a dozen schooners, armed them--generally
with long swivel guns--and fitted them up for naval service as well
as their character would admit. These, with the {099}_Oneida_, carried
forty guns and four hundred and thirty men.
Chauncey's first exploit with this fleet was to chase the _Royal George_
into the harbor of Kingston, and attack the batteries there; but nothing
was accomplished by it save the capture of two small prizes. He lost one
man killed and eight wounded--five by the bursting of a gun. About the
same time (November, 1812), an expedition was made to clear the Canadian
shore of batteries at the head of Niagara River. Four hundred soldiers
and sailors, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Boerstler and Captain King,
crossed from Black Rock in twenty boats, assaulted the batteries, and
after desperate fighting captured them. They then spiked all the
guns, burned the barracks, and retreated to the shore. The usual bad
management seems to have entered into this, as into all the other
enterprises of the sort, and the boats were not at hand for the
recrossing; in consequence of which Captain King and sixty of his men
were made prisoners.
Nothing can be done on the lakes in winter, as the harbors are closed by
ice; but the building of vessels went on, and with the opening of spring
General Dearborn and Commodore Chauncey began operations which showed
no lack of activity and energy, however well or ill judged they may have
been. {100}York (now Toronto) was at this time the capital ===of Upper
Canada. It was a place of about twelve hundred inhabitants, situated
on a beautiful landlocked bay, about two by three miles in extent. The
British were known to have a large vessel there, the _Prince Regent_,
and to be building another. Mainly for the purpose of seizing this
vessel, and destroying the one on the stocks, General Dearborn planned
an expedition against York. He had seventeen hundred men available for
the purpose, and Commodore Chauncey had fourteen vessels.
The expedition was organized, and sailed from Sackett's Harbor on the
25th of April. The winds were unfavorable, and the passage was somewhat
tedious; but the fleet arrived off the harbor of York on the 27th. The
intention was to land the troops by means of boats, at a point about two
and a half miles west of the town, the guns of the fleet covering the
landing, and march at once on the defences of the place, where General
Roger H. Sheaffe was in command. But the water was rough, and the boats
were driven half a mile farther westward, where they were compelled to
land with but little protection from the vessels.
Here a body of British and Indians, concealed in the edge of a wood,
were ready to receive them.
A column of riflemen, under Major Forsyth, were {101}in the first boats,
and as they approached the shore the enemy opened upon them with a
destructive fire. Forsyth lost a considerable number of men before he
could land. But his riflemen stood up in the boats and returned the fire
with some effect, and he was followed quickly by a battalion of infantry
under Major King, and this by the main body under General Zebulon M.
Pike, who was in immediate command of the entire military force. The
fleet at the same time contrived to throw a few effective shots into the
woods, and the landing was effected without confusion.
The skirmishing party of British and Indians had been gradually
strengthened till, by the time General Pike's forces were on shore, they
had an almost equal force to dispute their passage toward the town. The
enemy were still in the woods, and as soon as the Americans had been
formed in battle order they advanced. The nature of the ground made
it almost impossible to move or use their artillery; but the enemy had
three pieces, with which they attacked the flanks of the column.
The fighting soon became hot and deadly. There were charges and
counter-charges, one and another part of either line alternately giving
way and rallying again; but on the whole the advantage was with the
Americans, and the British were gradually forced {102}back into the
outer defences. The Indians are said to have fled from the field early
in the action.
The approach to the town, along the shore, was crossed by numerous
streams and ravines, and the enemy destroyed the bridges behind them as
they retired. Two pieces of artillery were with great difficulty taken
across one of these ravines and placed where they could be brought to
bear on the enemy.
The orders to the infantry were, to advance with unloaded muskets and
carry the first battery at the point of the bayonet. This was easily
done, as the enemy only remained long enough to discharge two or three
cannon-shots hastily, and then fell back to his second battery, nearer
the town.
General Pike led the column forward at once to the second battery, which
the enemy also abandoned, after spiking the guns. Here he discovered
that the barracks, three hundred yards still nearer to the town,
appeared to be evacuated. Suspecting that there might be some scheme on
the part of the enemy for drawing him into a disadvantageous position,
where a stand would be made, he halted at the second battery, and sent
forward Lieutenant Riddle with a few men to find out the true state of
affairs.
The Lieutenant found the barracks deserted, and was about to return
with the information, when sud{103}denly the ground was shaken by
a terrific explosion, and in a moment the air was darkened by flying
boards, timbers, and stones, bars of iron, shells, and shot. The
magazine, containing five hundred barrels of powder, had been blown
up. It was situated in a little ravine, the bank of which protected
Lieutenant Riddle's party, all of whom escaped. But a considerable
number of the beams and masses of masonry, passing over their heads,
fell within the battery. General Pike, who had just been removing a
wounded prisoner to a place of safety, at the moment was seated on
a stump, questioning a British sergeant who had been captured in the
woods. As the shower of débris came down within the battery, the General
was crushed to the earth by a section of stone wall, and two of his
aides and the wounded sergeant were also struck down--all of them being
fatally injured. By this explosion, fifty-two Americans were killed
outright, and one hundred and eighty wounded. About forty British
soldiers also, who were near the magazine, were killed.
General Pike being disabled, the command devolved upon Colonel Cromwell
Pearce, who pushed on with his troops as soon as possible, though not
in time to prevent the escape of the British General Sheaffe and all his
regulars who remained unharmed. Sheaffe drew up terms of capitulation,
and left {104}them in the hands of the officer who commanded the
militia. As the Americans approached the town, they were met by this
officer with the offer to surrender, the capitulation to include the
town and all government stores therein. While the parley was going
on, Sheaffe destroyed most of the military stores, set fire to the
war-vessel that was on the stocks, and made off, but his baggage and
private papers were captured. Two hundred and ninety officers and
men--of the British navy and militia--became prisoners and were paroled.
General Pike had enjoined upon his soldiers the duty of protecting
private property in the town, and given orders that marauding should
be punished with death. His wishes were carefully observed; but the
government buildings were burned.
General Pike, when his wound was found to be mortal, was borne off to
the fleet. A little while afterward the British flag that had floated
over York was brought to him. He asked to have it placed under his head,
and in a few minutes calmly expired. He was but thirty-four years of
age, but had performed valuable services for his country, especially in
the command of two exploring expeditions, one about the headwaters of
the Mississippi, and the other in what is now western Louisiana and
Texas--of both of which he published accounts. {105}The war-vessel that
the Americans expected to capture at York had left the harbor two days
before their arrival. The troops abandoned the place, and on the 1st of
May were taken again on board the fleet, which as soon as the weather
would permit, on the 8th, sailed away. In this expedition the loss of
the American land forces was fourteen killed and twenty-three wounded,
besides those who suffered from the explosion of the magazine. In the
fleet, seventeen men were killed or wounded. The British regulars lost
sixty-two killed and ninety wounded; the loss of the Indians and militia
was unknown.
Two episodes of this battle have been discussed with considerable
warmth. The first is the explosion of the magazine. It is not certain
that this was done purposely. General Sheaffe, in his report, attributed
it to "an unfortunate accident," but two English historians speak of it
with commendation as a regularly laid plan. American writers who condemn
it have done so on the ground that, as the commanding General had
made arrangements for a surrender, the place was virtually surrendered
already, and he therefore had no farther right to destroy life or even
property. Commodore Chauncey probably gave the correct view of the
matter when he wrote: "I'm much inclined to believe that General Sheaffe
was correct when he stated that it was accidental. {106}Nor could I
condemn the enemy, even if a train had been laid. It is a perfectly
legitimate mode of defence, as every student of history knows; and why
should we censure the garrison for thus employing an acknowledged means
of defence, to check the progress of an invader?" If the surrender had
not virtually taken place, it is difficult to see why the defenders
of the town are to be any more blamed for firing a stone wall at their
enemy than they would have been for firing a thousand bullets.
The other point discussed is the burning of the government buildings.
They were undoubtedly set on fire, though without orders from
headquarters. It was said that the soldiers were incensed at finding a
human scalp--presumably that of an American, taken by some Indian, and
sold to the British authorities for the proffered premium--hanging on
the wall of the legislative chamber. This scalp and the Speaker's mace
were sent to Washington, where the British troops found them when they,
in turn, burned our government buildings a little more than a year
later.
When Chauncey's fleet left the harbor of York, it sailed due south, and
landed the troops at a point four miles east from the mouth of Niagara
River, where they went into camp. From here a small expedition was
fitted out under Lieutenant Petti{107}grew, of the navy, who with
a hundred men sailed in two schooners to the head of Lake Ontario, to
capture a large quantity of stores deposited there. They landed on the
10th of May, drove off the guard, burned the buildings, and brought away
the stores. Chauncey himself, with the remainder of the fleet, carried
the wounded to Sackett's Harbor, whence he returned on the 25th with
provisions, guns, and a reënforcement of about three hundred and fifty
men.
General Dearborn immediately planned the capture of Fort George, just
above the village of Newark, on the western side of the Niagara, two
miles from its mouth. It was arranged that the troops should be landed
on the lake shore, and, marching southward and eastward, attack the
British works from the land side. The enterprise was admirably planned,
and brilliantly executed. The water at the proposed landing-place was
carefully sounded, and the stations marked with buoys. A considerable
number of boats, to be used in landing the forces, had been built on the
shore of the river, were launched on May 26th, and immediately drew the
fire of the enemy's batteries.
Before daylight on the morning of the 27th, the fleet weighed anchor.
Five of the vessels took positions where they could annoy with
a cross-fire the {108}batteries that were within gunshot of the
landing-place. Others took position for the immediate protection of the
troops, and at the same time Fort Niagara opened fire on Fort George,
which was returned with spirit. All the batteries on the river joined
in the contest, and there was a grand chorus of artillery firing. The
battery immediately opposite Fort George was the most effective, and
considerably damaged that work.
The troops were under the personal command of General Boyd, who had
succeeded General Pike. With him were many most skilful and efficient
officers, some of whom afterward became famous. The gallant Major
Forsyth was there, with his riflemen, and Colonel Macomb with his
artillery. Winfield Scott, then a colonel, was there, and Captain Oliver
Hazard Perry had hurried down from Lake Erie, to offer his services and
take part in the enterprise.
The preparations for the defence had been quite as well made as those
for the attack. When the boats loaded with troops approached the shore,
a column of two hundred men, posted in a ravine, opened a sharp fire
on them. The fire was returned from the boats, which moved on without
stopping for a moment or being thrown into any confusion. Captain
Hindman, of the artillery, was the first man to land on the enemy's
coast; and many of the {109}officers and men were so eager to follow him
that they leaped into the water and waded ashore.
The fire of some of the vessels was brought to bear upon the enemy
in the ravine; and as soon as the advance column landed, it formed in
battle order and moved forward to the charge. The enemy soon gave way,
but retired slowly, and at the same time a second and stronger column,
which had been posted in another ravine, half a mile in the rear, moved
forward to protect the retreat of the advance guard and oppose the
progress of the Americans.
Every step thus far had been contested, and the roar of cannon and
rattle of small arms, both on the water and on shore, had been almost
incessant from the beginning of the engagement. But the bloodiest work
was to come. The combined columns of British troops, numbering eight
hundred or more, took a strong position at the top of a steep bank. The
advance, under Colonel Scott, moved directly against this position; but
as his men attempted to climb the bank in the face of the enemy, they
were mercilessly cut down by a sharp and steady fire. Three times they
tried to reach the top, and three times were driven back. But when
Colonel Moses Porter's light artillery and a portion of Boyd's brigade
had come up to his assistance, Scott was at length enabled to carry the
height. {110}The victory at this point decided the day. The flying
enemy were pursued as far as the village of Newark, at which point Scott
detached a force to cut off the retreat westward toward Burlington,
while with the remainder of his troops he pressed on at once to Fort
George. This work had been so much damaged by the bombardment, and the
garrison now left in it was so small, that it was easily captured. As
Scott approached it, one of the magazines was exploded, and a heavy
stick of timber struck him and knocked him from his horse. Hurrying
forward, the soldiers in the advance discovered that trains had been
laid for the explosion of two other magazines, and they were just in
time to put out the matches. When the gates of the fort were broken
open, Scott was the first man to enter, and with his own hands he hauled
down the British flag. Close behind him was Colonel Moses Porter, who
could not help exclaiming, "Confound your long legs, Scott, you have got
in before me!"
A few prisoners were taken with the fort; but Scott, bent upon making
his victory complete, made but a brief halt there, and then hurried on
his forces in pursuit of the retreating enemy. Twice orders were sent to
him to turn back, and both times he refused to obey them. "Your General
does not know," said he to a lieutenant who brought one of {111}these
orders, "that I have the enemy within my power; in seventy minutes I
shall capture his whole force." Colonel Burn, who ranked Scott, but
had consented to serve under him, had crossed the river with a troop
of cavalry, and was waiting for another now in midstream, to land, when
with his whole force he was to join the pursuit. But the fifteen minutes
thus lost in waiting enabled General Boyd to ride up in person and
peremptorily order the pursuit discontinued, which of course put an
end to it. Just why the General did this--whether he feared the victory
might be turned into a disaster, or was only apprehensive that Colonel
Scott was getting too much glory--has never been explained.
In this action, which was over by noon, the Americans lost one hundred
and fifty-three men, killed or wounded. The British loss, as nearly as
can be ascertained, was two hundred and seventy-one killed or wounded,
and over six hundred unwounded prisoners, five hundred of whom were
militia and were paroled.
The British seized the opportunity while Dearborn and his forces were
absent on this expedition near the western end of Lake Ontario, to make
an attack on Sackett's Harbor, at the eastern. The importance of that
place to the Americans consisted mainly in the fact that they had
established there a {112}large depot of naval and military stores, and
were building ships.
The expedition sailed from Kingston in four war-vessels, a brig, two
schooners, and two gunboats, all under command of Sir James Lucas
Yeo. The land forces, commanded by General Prevost, numbered about
a thousand, besides a party of Indians, said to have numbered three
hundred.
About noon of the 28th the squadron appeared off Sackett's Harbor, and
preparations for landing were made. But after the troops had been in
the boats about half an hour, an order was issued--for some mysterious
reason, which has never been explained--commanding them all to return to
the ships, which then stood off for Kingston. But while this was
going on, a fleet of nineteen boats was observed near the south shore,
bringing American reenforcements from Oswego to the Harbor. The Indians;
who thought they were there to fight, and could not understand why they
should return to the ships without firing a gun, disobeyed the order,
and paddled off to attack the Americans in the boats. The squadron
then wore round again, and sent out boatloads of troops to the
assistance of the Indians, who drove ashore and captured twelve of the
American boats, after their occupants had escaped to the woods. The
other seven reached the Harbor. {113}This little affair inspired the
British General with new courage, and he resumed the purpose of landing
his whole force for an attack on the village.
But meanwhile the Americans were busily preparing for defence.
Lieutenant-Colonel Electus Backus, who commanded the remnant of regular
troops left at the post, had sent word the evening before to General
Jacob Brown, of the militia, who had been requested by General Dearborn
to take command in case of an attack during his absence. A militia force
numbering about five hundred was hastily gathered from the surrounding
country, and added to the small body of regulars and volunteers, The
militia were posted behind a ridge of sand which had been thrown up
west of the village, where their fire would sweep that part of the shore
which offered the only good landing-place for the enemy. On their
right were posted the volunteers, with a single piece of artillery. The
regulars were formed near their camp about a mile distant.
Early in the morning of the 29th the enemy landed. As their boats
approached the shore, the militia and volunteers rose and fired into
them, and were fired upon in return by two gunboats that had been sent
to cover the landing. The enemy's boats then pulled around to the other
side of Horse Island, which is near the mouth of the harbor, landed, and
{114}marched steadily across the narrow causeway that connects it
with the mainland. As they approached the ridge, the militia gave them
another volley, and then fled to the woods, abandoning the piece of
artillery. Colonel Mills was killed while trying to hold them to their
work. General Brown, who was borne away with the fugitives, succeeded in
rallying about eighty of them, whom he posted behind a huge fallen tree,
at the edge of a small open field. From this cover they gave the still
advancing enemy three or four volleys, and then retreated.
Thus the left of the American line was completely swept away. The right,
composed of volunteers, gave way more slowly, and retired in good order
along the shore, skirmishing all the way with the enemy's advance, till
they reached and formed in line with the regulars. They were annoyed on
the way by the enemy's gunboats, which swept portions of the road with
grapeshot; but on the other hand the enemy suffered considerably from
the fire of their rifles and from parties of regulars sent out by
Colonel Backus to join in the skirmishing.
The volunteers took position on the left of the second line of defence.
The right was occupied by dismounted light dragoons, and the centre by
regular infantry and artillery. The enemy, elated, as he had cause to
be, at his first success, came steadily {115}on to attack this line,
and as he approached was subjected to an artillery fire from a small work
called Fort Tompkins. He struck the right flank of the Americans, but
found it made of different stuff from militia. Again and again the
attempt was made to force this part of the line; but the dragoons,
commanded by Backus in person, stood firm, delivered their fire with
coolness, and drove back the assailants. The fight was kept up for an
hour, and at length the weight of numbers told, and the Americans fell
back.
A portion of them next took possession of the log barracks, and here
made a third stand. The enemy came on as gallantly as ever, intent upon
driving everything before him. Colonel Gray, Quartermaster-General,
led the red-coats, and as they came up to the attack, an American
drummer-boy picked up a musket, levelled it at the Colonel, and shot him
down. Lieutenant Fanning, who had been severely wounded at York, and
was not expected to be on duty, took charge of a gun. As the enemy
approached, he carefully sighted the piece, and gave them three rounds
of grapeshot in quick succession, which broke the force of their onset,
and they began to fall back in some disorder. At this moment Colonel
Backus fell mortally wounded.
The officer in charge of the stores had been in{116}structed to set
fire to them in case the enemy seemed likely to capture the place.
Seeing the probability of this, he now applied the torch, not only to
the storehouses but also to a new vessel that was almost ready to be
launched, and to one that had been recently captured from the enemy.
With the Americans driven to their last stronghold, and the smoke from
their burning stores rolling over their heads, the day appeared to be
irretrievably lost. But though the enemy was strong in good troops,
gallantly led, he had a weak spot in the constitutional timidity of the
commander, Sir George Prevost. And General Brown at this point of
time made a fortunate movement which struck that weak spot in a most
effective way. He had succeeded in rallying about three hundred of the
militia, with whom he suddenly emerged from the woods, and made a feint
of marching for the boats by which the expedition had landed. Sir George
took the alarm at once, imagining he was to be surrounded by a superior
force and entrapped. He therefore issued an order for retreat, and his
victorious forces withdrew to their ships without securing any result of
their victory, or even bearing off their wounded. A reënforcement of
six hundred men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Tuttle, who had inarched
forty miles in one day, reached the vil {117}lage just as the enemy were
pushing off in their boats.
The Americans succeeded in putting out the fires, but not till half a
million dollars' worth of stores had been destroyed. The new ship was
but little injured, as her timbers were so green they would not burn
readily. The prize vessel was on fire, and she had considerable powder
in her hold; but Lieutenant Talman, at the risk of his life, boarded
her, suppressed the flames, and brought her off to a place of safety at
a distance from the burning buildings.
Sir George, not content with making a needless fiasco of his expedition,
made himself ridiculous by sending a flag of true to demand the
surrender of the village and the military post, which of course was
refused. He then sent another flag, asking that his dead and wounded
might be properly cared for, and on receiving assurances that they
would, sailed away with the whole fleet.
The loss of the Americans in this action was about one hundred and
seventy, killed, wounded, or missing; that of the British, about two
hundred and sixty.
A few days after the loss of Fort George, General Vincent concentrated
the British forces at Beaver Dams, and retreated westward to Burlington
Bay, the head of Lake Ontario, where he intrenched him{118}self on the
heights. General Dearborn, after being baffled for some time by false
information which Vincent had caused to be conveyed to him, at length
found out where he had gone, and sent the brigades of Winder and
Chandler after him. The Americans, following the "ridge road" that
skirts the whole shore of the lake, came up with the enemy's pickets at
Stony Creek, a small stream that crosses the road at right angles, on
the 5th of June. There was considerable skirmishing, and the enemy's
pickets were driven in.
General Chandler, with a wise caution thus far seldom displayed, placed
a company of artillery at the mouth of the creek, three miles from the
road, to cover a landing of boats expected there, with the rest of his
forces took a strong position on the high eastern bank of the creek,
where the road crosses it, threw out pickets in all directions, gave
orders how the line should be formed in case of an attack, and ordered
that the artillery horses be kept harnessed.
One regiment at first encamped in the low meadows on the western bank,
but after nightfall it withdrew to the heights, leaving its camp-fires
burning, A picket guard that had been posted at a little chapel a
quarter of a mile in advance was left there.
The officer in command of the enemy's rear guard had sent word
to General Vincent that the Ameri{119}cans were in straggling
detachments, and if the first were attacked at once it could easily
be defeated before the others came up to its support. The General
therefore, as he had little chance of further retreat, planned a night
attack. A little before midnight of the 5th he left his camp, at the
head of about a thousand men, and marched stealthily back by the road
he had come, to surprise his foe. The night was absolutely dark, and
the sentinels at the little chapel were suddenly seized and silently
bayoneted before they could fire their muskets or make any outcry. The
assassination of pickets is one of the sickening incidents of war that
seldom find mention in the reports of the general or the pages of the
romantic historian, but that cost many a poor fellow his life without
even the pitiful compensation of what is called glory.
Seeing the camp-fires in the meadow, with no signs of life among them,
the British forces imagined that the Americans were all asleep and would
fall an easy prey to massacre. They advanced confidently, and as they
reached the deserted fires sprang among them with a hideous yell--in
which part of the performance they were materially assisted by a few
score Indian allies--expecting to see their foes arise from the ground,
and rub their eyes open just in time to catch the gleam of the British
bayonets and {120}savage tomahawks before they were buried in American
flesh.
Instead of this, while they stood dazed among the waning camp-fires,
looking about in vain for somebody to massacre, the line on the heights
blazed out with musketry and artillery, and the shot tore its way
through the ranks of the red-coats. But the English soldier has always
been good at obeying orders, and as soon as this volley revealed the
whereabouts of the Americans, their enemy pressed on in the face of the
fire, climbed the bank, entered the lines in the darkness, and captured
several guns, the artillerists not being able to distinguish friend from
foe.
Then began a horrible mêlée, in which nearly every man fought on his own
account, and many of them could not tell whether they were striking at
comrades or enemies. Hearing a few shots fired in the rear of his camp,
General Chandler imagined he was attacked from that direction also,
and faced about a portion of his line, which increased the dreadful
confusion. After this wild work in the darkness and tumult, the British
managed somehow to retreat, carrying off with them two pieces of
artillery, which, however, were afterward recovered.
When the morning dawned, it was found that the American commanders,
Chandler and Winder, were {121}both prisoners in the hands of the enemy;
while the British commander, Vincent, had been thrown from his horse,
lost his way in the woods, and after floundering about all night was
discovered in a most pitiful and ridiculous plight. Chandler was taken
while trying to manoeuvre a British regiment, which he had stumbled upon
in the darkness and mistaken for one of his own.
In this affair the Americans lost one hundred and fifty-four men,
killed, wounded, or missing; the British, two hundred and fourteen. The
victory, so far as there was any, must be accorded to the British, since
it broke the advance of the Americans and caused them to turn back.
When they had retreated as far as Forty-Mile Creek, they were attacked
simultaneously on both flanks--on the land side by a band of Indians,
and on the water side by the fleet under Sir James Yeo. But they
succeeded in repelling both enemies, and returned to Fort George with
the loss only of a part of their baggage, which was conveyed in boats.
After this, Yeo coasted along the shore and captured stores in
Charlotte, at the mouth of the Genesee, and in Sodus, on the bay of that
name. As he met with some resistance at Sodus, and had difficulty in
finding the stores, which were hidden, he burned the buildings there.
{122}There was a British depot of supplies at Beaver Dams, about seven
miles southwest of Queenstown and the same distance northwest of the
Falls. General Dearborn planned its capture, and on the 23d of June sent
against it, from Fort George, an expedition of five hundred and seventy
men, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles G. Boerstler. The enemy had
strong works at Beaver Dams, but at this time they were not very well
manned.
The Americans, who had about fifteen miles to march, started in the
evening, with the intention of surprising and capturing the post in the
morning. But the enemy had been apprised of the movement, and when the
Americans reached the present site of Thorold they fell into an ambush,
where they were suddenly attacked by four hundred and fifty Indians,
commanded by John Brant (son of the celebrated Mohawk chief, Joseph
Brant) and Captain Kerr. Though surprised, Boerstler was not confused.
He coolly but quickly formed his men in battle order, and charged
through the woods in the direction of the attack. To little purpose,
however, as the wily savages, following their usual tactics, fled before
the line of bayonets, and soon attacked the Americans from another
direction, firing from the thickets and other hiding-places. After
keeping up a desultory contest of this sort for three hours, with
{123}no prospect of any termination, Boerstler fell back to a position
in an open field, encountering on the way a body of Canadian militia.
Scarcely had he taken this new position, to wait for reënforcements
which he had asked General Dearborn to send, when a small detachment
of British regulars approached to reconnoitre. They were commanded by
a Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, who had been warned of the ap proach of the
Americans by a woman who had walked nineteen miles to tell him.
Seeing that his enemy was somewhat disordered, and not disposed, to take
the offensive, Fitzgibbon, though he had but forty-seven men, conceived
the idea of capturing the whole force by one of those tricks which
are generally supposed to be peculiarly Yankee. Displaying his little
detachment in such a way as to make it appear to be the advance of a
much larger body of troops, he sent a flag of truce to Boerstler and
boldly demanded an immediate surrender, saying that fifteen hundred
regulars and seven hundred Indians were but a short distance in the
rear, and would soon come up. For the truth of this he gave his word,
"on the honor of a British soldier." Boerstler, supposing escape would
be impossible, surrendered, on condition that his men should be paroled
and permitted to return to the United States. A Major De Haren, who
had been {124}sent for in all haste by Fitzgibbon, now came up with two
hundred additional troops, and received the surrender, which included
five hundred and forty-two men, two guns, and a stand of colors. Major
Chapin, who was present, says: "The articles of capitulation were no
sooner signed than they were violated. The Indians immediately commenced
their depredations, and plundered the officers of their side arms. The
soldiers, too, were stripped of every article of clothing to which the
savages took a fancy, such as hats, coats, shoes, etc." The British
commander also violated the articles by refusing to permit the militia
to be paroled, whereupon many of them rose upon the guards, overpowered
them, and escaped, taking some of the guards along as prisoners.
This ridiculous affair excited the deepest indignation throughout the
country; and, in obedience to public sentiment, the President soon
removed General Dearborn from command.
It was hardly more than a fortnight later, July 11th, when
Lieutenant-Colonel Bisshopp planned an attack on Black Rock, a few
miles north of Buffalo, where the Americans had a dockyard and large
storehouses. With about three hundred men, before daylight of July 11th,
he crossed the river in boats, surprised and took possession of the
place. {125}and proceeded to burn and plunder as rapidly as possible. He
set fire to the block-houses, the barracks, the navy-yard buildings,
and a schooner that lay at the wharf, and carried off a considerable
quantity of stores. But before he could accomplish all this, General
Peter B. Porter had got together a small force, consisting of regulars,
volunteers, militia, and a few friendly Indians, and vigorously
attacked the invaders. A fight of twenty minutes' duration ended in the
precipitate retreat of the British, who left behind them a captain and
nine men killed or wounded, and fifteen prisoners. After the boats
had pushed off, the Americans renewed their fire, by which Bisshopp,
commander of the expedition, was killed, and many of his men were either
killed or wounded. The loss of the Americans was three men killed and
three wounded. That of the enemy is supposed to have been about seventy.
They had carried off four guns, besides spiking all they left. Bisshopp,
who had proved himself an energetic and skilful officer, was a serious
loss.
Commodore Chauncey, who was a most meritorious naval commander, though
he never made a very brilliant reputation, was all this summer trying to
bring Sir James Yeo to a decisive battle on Lake Ontario; but Sir James
had a genius for not fighting, and could only be chased to shelter
under the {126}guns of the British forts. It was said also that his
instructions forbade his fighting except under the most favorable
circumstances. Once there seemed to be a prospect of a square battle
near the mouth of the Niagara, in August; but Chauncey's plan was
frustrated by the captains of two of his schooners, who in disobedience
of orders tried to get to windward of the British line, and were
captured. On the 28th of September there was a partial engagement
between the two squadrons; but from their unequal sailing, it was only
possible to bring three of the American vessels into action. One of
these was badly crippled, but another handled the British flagship so
severely that she crowded on all canvas and made off, followed by the
entire fleet, which the Americans could not overtake. On the 5th of
October Chauncey gave chase to a squadron which proved to be seven
British gunboats used as transports. One of them was burned, one
escaped, and the other five were captured, together with more than two
hundred and sixty men. Two of the prizes were those taken from Chauncey
near the Niagara.
These successes left Lake Ontario virtually in the possession of the
Americans; and meanwhile the command of Lake Erie had been gained by a
most brilliant and memorable battle. During the winter {127}of 1812-13
two large brigs, intended to carry twenty guns each, and several
gunboats and schooners were built at Presque Isle (now Erie, Pa.), where
there was a fine harbor. For this work a force of carpenters was sent
from New York. The timber of which they were to construct the vessels
was growing in the woods, and the trees had to be felled and worked
up at once; there was no time to wait for the wood to season. All the
ironwork, canvas, cordage, and stores had to be brought from New York or
Philadelphia, and as there was neither railroad nor canal, and much
of the intervening country was a wilderness, the difficulties of
transportation were very great. A bar at the mouth of the harbor, on
which there was but seven feet of water, prevented the British cruisers
from sailing in and destroying the vessels before they were launched.
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, who, though quite young, had seen
considerable service afloat, was ordered from the seaboard to take
command on Lake Erie, and arrived at Buffalo in March. His volunteer
service in the attack on Fort George has been already mentioned. The
fall of that work was followed by the abandonment of Fort Erie, which
released the vessels that had been blockaded by its guns in the upper
part of the Niagara, and early in June they rendezvoused at Presque
Isle. {128}Perry now had his entire force in one harbor, and pushed on
his equipment with the greatest possible speed. One of the new brigs was
made his flagship, and was named the _Lawrence_. The bar that had thus
far protected the fleet was now a hindrance to its sailing, for it could
be passed by the larger vessels only in calm weather, and even then they
must be lightened of their guns and heavy stores. The British commander,
Captain R. H. Barclay, was watching with his entire fleet for Perry to
come out. If, as is supposed, he intended to attack him while crossing
the bar, when he could probably have won a victory, he lost his
opportunity by attending to pleasure before duty. A gentleman living on
the northern shore of the lake invited him to dinner one Sunday, and he
crossed over with his whole squadron. At the same time the water became
smooth, and Perry, who had been eagerly watching for such a chance,
proceeded to take out his fleet at once.
The _Lawrence_, which was his heaviest vessel, was provided with a large
scow on each side, and on her arrival at the bar these scows were nearly
filled with water, and sunk very low. Great beams were then passed
through her port-holes, the ends projecting over the scows. Piles of
blocks were provided for these ends to rest upon, and then the holes in
the scows were plugged up, and the water pumped out. {129}As the scows
rose, they lifted the brig with them. But though her guns had been taken
out and left on the beach, as well as all other heavy articles that
could be removed, she still drew too much water to pass the bar. Another
lift was made, which occupied the night, and finally she floated across.
The other brig, the _Niagara_, was not quite so large, and was taken
over with less difficulty. The lighter vessels had crossed the bar
without assistance; and on the approach of the English squadron at
eight o'clock the next morning, it was received with a cannonade, which,
though it did no harm, prevented Barclay from running in close and
seizing the prey he had been so long watching for. The _Lawrence's_ guns
were taken on board as soon as she was afloat outside, and the broadside
was trained to bear on the enemy.
This was Monday, the 5th of August, and Perry was now afloat on Lake
Erie with ten vessels, carrying fifty-five guns and--after he had
received several reënforcements--about four hundred men. Captain Barclay
had about the same number of men, in six vessels, carrying sixty-five
guns, his flagship being the _Detroit_. As soon as the American fleet
was fairly over the bar, the British sailed away up the lake, and it
took Perry a month to find them and bring them to action. He was at
Put-in-Bay; in {130}one of the islands near the western end of the lake,
when at sunrise on the morning of September 10th the British fleet was
sighted from the masthead, bearing down from the northwest, apparently
bent on having a fight.
Perry had given the commanders of his several vessels careful
instructions what to do in case of an engagement, ending with the remark
that "they could not be out of their proper places if they laid their
enemy close alongside." Within an hour after the enemy was sighted, the
squadron was beating out of the bay. The wind was from the southwest,
which made it impossible for the Americans to get the weather-gage,
unless by circumnavigating some of the islands. As there was apparently
no time for this, Perry determined to accept the chances of battle
without that advantage, and accordingly passed to leeward of the
islands. But fortune favored him unexpectedly, for the wind soon shifted
to the southeast, giving him the weather-gage, which for vessels armed
as his were was very important.
At ten o'clock the British squadron, having failed in manoeuvres for the
weather-gage, hove to, in line of battle, with their bows to the west
and south, and awaited the approach of their enemy, now about nine miles
distant. One of the smaller vessels was at the head of the line, and
the _Detroit_, Barclay's {131}flagship, next; then came another small
vessel, and then the _Queen Charlotte_, a large one, and then the two
remaining small ones. The British vessels were all freshly painted, and
had new canvas, presenting a handsome appearance to the eye of a sailor.
As Perry approached and observed this order, he formed his own line to
correspond with it. He placed two schooners in the van, one carrying
four guns and the other two; then his flagship, the _Lawrence_; then the
_Caledonia_, of three guns; then the _Niagara_, of twenty; and then the
other vessels, which, however, as the wind was light, did not come up
very promptly. The orders were, that the vessels should be but half a
cable's length apart.
As he approached the enemy. Perry displayed a blue flag bearing the
words, "Don't give up the ship." * A few minutes before twelve o'clock,
a bugle was sounded on the British flagship, which was answered by
cheers from all the other vessels in the line, and followed by the
discharge of one of her long guns, pointed at the Lawrence. As the
American was still a mile and a half distant, the shot fell short; but
this space was being gradually lessened, and the battle was soon fairly
opened. One of the two schooners in the van replied with a
* For the origin of this motto, see page 199.
{132}long gun, while the _Lawrence_, being armed with carronades, bore
down upon the British flagship, to engage her at short range. This she
succeeded in doing, but not without suffering considerably, and the
three largest of the British vessels concentrated their fire on her. The
two foremost schooners fought their long guns well; but as they had been
ordered to keep to windward of the flagship (that is, a little farther
from the enemy) they did not draw off any of the fire from her. But,
after two hours of this, the _Niagara_ drew ahead of the _Caledonia_,
thus assuming the place in the line next to the _Lawrence_, and fought
most gallantly; still, this hardly lessened the fire that was poured
into the flagship, which the enemy seemed determined to sink. Many of
her spars were shot away, all of her guns on the starboard side, but
one, were rendered useless, and of a hundred men on board, twenty-two
were killed and sixty-one wounded--a proportion of casualties that had
never been equalled in any similar battle.
The _Lawrence_ dropped out of the fight, and Perry transferred his flag
to the _Niagara_, which pulled ahead to a position for engaging the
_Detroit_. When the enemy saw the flag come down, they supposed they had
gained a victory, stopped firing, and cheered. But the decisive struggle
was yet to come. Captain Elliott, of the _Niagara_, passed down {133}the
line in a small boat, delivering to the commander of each vessel Perry's
order to close up and attack the enemy at half pistol-shot with grape
and canister. He then remained with and commanded one of the last
vessels in the line, leaving the _Niagara_ to Perry.
At this time the wind freshened, Perry showed the signal for close
action, an answering cheer passed along his line, and once more the
whole squadron bore down upon the enemy. Barclay attempted to manoeuvre
his vessels so as to bring his uninjured broadsides to bear; but his
line got into confusion, and two of the vessels fouled.
Perry took prompt advantage of this. The _Niagara_ sailed right through
the confused British line, having two of their vessels on one side, and
three on the other--all within short range--and delivered her deadly
broadsides in both directions as she passed. Then she luffed across
their bows, and raked them, and the cries that came from the _Detroit_
told that this merciless operation had had its usual deadly effect. At
the same time, the other American vessels came into close action, and
their guns were served with great rapidity. This destructive work had
lasted about twenty minutes when an officer of the _Queen Charlotte_
displayed a white handkerchief on the point of a pike, and four of the
{134}British vessels struck their colors. The other two attempted to
escape, but were overtaken in about an hour and compelled to surrender.
In this battle, the entire loss of the Americans was twenty-seven killed
and ninety-six wounded. Twelve of these were quarterdeck officers. As
more than a hundred out of four hundred on board had previously been
rendered unfit for duty by dysentery and cholera, the proportion of
casualties to effective men was more than one in three. The British lost
forty-one killed and ninety-four wounded, including twelve officers.
Captain Barclay, who had lost his left arm in a previous engagement, in
this one lost the use of his right.
The masts of the _Detroit_ and _Queen Charlotte_ were so injured that
they snapped off two days later, from the rolling of the vessels in the
bay, while riding at anchor during a gale.
In a despatch to General Harrison, Perry announced his victory in words
that have become famous: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours: two
ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop." Congress voted him
a gold medal for his achievement. As the question of the fighting
qualities of the black man has since been considerably discussed, it is
worth noting that in this bloody and brilliant battle a large number
of Perry's men were {135}Negroes. Much of the credit of the victory has
been claimed for Captain Jesse D. Elliott, who undoubtedly deserved
it, and his services were generously acknowledged in Perry's official
report.
Many interesting incidents of this famous action have been related
by different participants. At the opening of the battle, the English
musicians played the well-known air of "Rule, Britannia!--Britannia,
rule the waves!"--on which the result of the fight was a ludicrous
comment, proving that an exception must be made in favor of the waves of
Lake Erie.
On the British flagship there was a pet bear, and when the victors
stepped on board they found it eagerly lapping up the blood from the
deck.
The British commander had repeated the silly performance of nailing his
colors to the mast, which never has any other effect than to sacrifice
lives that might have been saved if the signal of surrender, when
surrender became necessary, could have been displayed instantly.
On Captain Barclay's vessel were three Indians, whom he placed in
the tops, or cross-trees, with rifles in their hands, to pick off the
American officers, that kind of work being exactly suited to their
taste. But as the first part of the action was fought at long
cannon-range, beyond the reach of rifle-shot, they found themselves
in danger from numerous {136}large balls that went tearing through the
rigging, and at the same time totally unable to murder anybody on
the distant vessels. Indians have always stood in mortal terror of
artillery. So they descended to the deck; but here they found it still
more dangerous, and finally the disgusted braves retreated down the
hatchway. When the Americans came on board, they found them hidden in
the hold. This is probably the only instance of Indians taking part, or
attempting to take part, in modern naval warfare. But they have a legend
of a great Indian naval battle that took place on the waters of this
same lake two hundred years before.
The Senecas--so runs the story--who inhabited the southern and eastern
shores of Ontario and the St. Lawrence, had declared war against the
Wyandots, who inhabited the northern and western shores. A Wyandot
chief, gambling with a Seneca, had won his wife; but the Seneca refused
to give her up. Shortly afterward she eloped with the Wyandot, and they
escaped to the country of the Pottawatomies, in Michigan. This was the
cause of the war, which the Senecas began by crossing the St. Lawrence,
surprising a Wyandot village, and cruelly murdering a large number of
the inhabitants.
Finally the whole Wyandot nation fled before their enemies, passed along
the northern shore of Lake {137}Ontario, crossed the peninsula north
of Lake Erie, and after great suffering and serious losses escaped by
crossing St. Clair River on cakes of floating ice.
The next summer the Senecas planned a naval expedition against the
Wyandots, to be fitted out at the eastern end of Lake Erie, near the
present site of Buffalo, pass up the lake and through Detroit River, and
rescue the stolen squaw and exterminate the tribe. But the Wyandots had
early information of this design, and several of the tribes inhabiting
the peninsula of Michigan joined with them in preparations to repel the
threatened invasion.
The war-canoes built by the Senecas were "dug-outs," hewn from the
trunks of large trees. The Wyandots and their allies prepared a fleet
of birch-bark canoes, which were much lighter, swifter, and more easily
manoeuvred, and went down the lake to meet their enemy. They coasted
along the northern shore as far as North Point, where they waited to
make a reconnoissance. The Wyandot who had carried off the woman crossed
the lake alone, climbed a tall tree overlooking the rendezvous of the
Senecas, and counted their craft and noted their preparations. Then he
passed by a wide circuit around their encampment, swam the Niagara below
the Falls, and the next day rejoined the fleet of the allies, to whom he
was able to give all necessary in{138}formation as to the number and
equipment of their enemy.
They set sail--or rather pulled paddles--at once. But when in full sight
of the Senecas, pretended to be frightened, and retreated. The Senecas
gave a war whoop, launched their heavy canoes, and pad-died after them
as fast as possible. When the allies had thus drawn their antagonists
far away from the shore, they suddenly turned upon them, and a bloody
and merciless battle ensued, which lasted for several hours. Indian
after Indian was cut down, or gradually hacked to pieces, or knocked
overboard. Some of the canoes were run down; others were grappled
together while their occupants fought hand-to-hand. The lighter boats
of the allies were a great advantage, and finally the Senecas were
defeated. The dead and the badly wounded were then thrown overboard,
while the prisoners were reserved for torture. One Seneca was found to
have concealed himself in the bottom of a canoe, feigning death that
he might escape captivity. The victors cut off his nose and ears, and
knocked out his teeth, and in that disgraceful plight sent him home to
bear the news of the disaster to his tribe. On the bank of Niagara River
the captured canoes were piled up for a funeral pyre, and a hundred
of the wounded Senecas were tied and laid upon it, Fire was set to it.
{139}and as one and another escaped when his shackles were burned
off, he was shot down with arrows or brained with a war-club. When the
victims were all reduced to ashes, the allies celebrated their victory
with a feast and dance, and then returned home. Such was the legend told
by Walk-in-the-Water, a Wyandot chief, when he heard of Perry's victory,
which he thought was a small affair in comparison with the exploit of
his ancestors.
By the capture of the British fleet, the lakes were cleared of the
enemy, and but one more movement was necessary in order to restore
to the United States all that had been lost by Hull's surrender. How
successfully that movement was executed will be shown in the next
chapter.