While these things were happening in the Far-Civilised-West of that

day, the British flotilla on Lake Champlain, had captured two American

schooners, the _Growler_ and _Eagle_, of eleven guns each, off

Isle-aux-Noix.

After it had become apparent that the Americans had the command of Lake

Ontario, and could visit to burn and destroy every village or

unfortified town, held by the British, some slight and very inadequate

exertion was made to remedy so distressing a state of affairs. In May,

Sir James L. Yeo, with several other naval officers and 450 seamen

arrived at Quebec, _en route_ for the lakes. Captains Barclay, Pring,

and Finnis, had been some time at Kingston, and were doing something in

the way of preparing for service the few, vessels at Kingston, by

courtesy called a fleet. Sir George Prevost and Sir James L. Yeo lost

little time in reaching Kingston together. The American fleet was off

Niagara, bombarding Fort George. It occurred to the two commanders that

an attack upon their naval station at Sackett's Harbour would not be

amiss, and it was resolved upon. About a thousand men were embarked on

board of the _Wolfe_, of 24 guns, the _Royal George_, of 24 guns, the

_Earl of Moira_, of 18 guns, and four armed schooners, each carrying

from ten to twelve guns, with a number of batteaux. The weather was

very fine. Everything was got in readiness for an expeditious landing.

The soldiers were transferred from the armed vessels to the batteaux,

so that no time might be lost in the debarkation. Two gun-boats were

placed in readiness, as a landing escort, The boats were under the

direction of Captain Mulcaster, of the Royal Navy, and the landing

under the immediate supervision of Sir George Prevost and Sir James L.

Yeo. It was expected that, in the absence of the American fleet and

army, the growing and formidable naval establishment of the enemy would

be temporarily rendered worthless. And the expectation was not an

unnatural one. It was, indeed, in a trifling degree, realised. There

was some injury done to Sackett's Harbor, but not of such a nature as

to produce a strong effect upon either Canadian minds or American

nerves. A number of boats, containing troops, from Oswego, were

dispersed, while doubling Stoney Point, and twelve of them, with 150

men on board, captured. But the loss to the British was the delay

caused by such an unlucky acquisition. The landing was deferred by it.

General Brown was put on the alert. He had time to make arrangements

and to collect troops. He planted 500 militia on the peninsula of Horse

Island, which is a sort of protection wall for the harbour. He ordered

them to be still and close, keep their powder dry, and reserve their

fire. And they did their best, in accordance with these instructions,

until the fleet opened a heavy cannonade to cover the landing of the

invaders, when General Brown's militiamen quaked exceedingly. When the

troops had landed, and the American militia had lost, by death, their

immediate commander, Colonel Mills, they fled with the utmost

precipitation. But it was the conduct of these very cowards that

afterwards alarmed, the ever suspicious Sir George Prevost, and caused,

to a very considerable extent, the almost failure of the expedition.

The British columns were advancing somewhat rapidly towards Fort

Tomkins, when they were met by Colonel Backus, at the head of 400

regulars, and some militia, hastily assembled from the neighboring

towns. A sharp contest ensued. Colonel Backus was mortally wounded. His

regulars still maintained their ground, but a serious impression had

been made upon his line. On the militia, so strong an impression had

been made that before General Brown could bring up, to the assistance

of Backus, 100 of the party dispersed at the landing, these irregulars

fled by a road leading south westwardly, through a wood. The regulars

stood firm. Captain Gray, commanding the British advanced corps fell,

and the suspicious mind of Prevost fancied a snare. He saw the regular

soldiery of the enemy standing unmoved; he had learned that a regiment

of American regulars, under Colonel Tutle, were marching at double

step, to the scene of action; and he fancied that the retreating

militia were not at all afraid, but brilliantly executing a circuitous

march to gain the rear of the British line, and cut off their retreat.

It was true Fort Tomkins was about to fall into British hands. Already

the officer in charge of Navy Point, agreeably to orders, and supposing

the fort to be lost, had set on fire the naval magazine, containing all

the stores captured at York; the hospital and barracks were

illuminating the lake by their grand conflagration; and a frigate on

the stocks had been set on fire, only to be extinguished, when Sir

George Prevost's mind became unsettled, concerning the ulterior designs

of the enemy. In the very moment of fully accomplishing the purpose of

the expedition, he ordered a retreat; the troops were re-embarked

without annoyance; the fleet returned safely to Kingston, and the

Canadian public suspected that Sir George Prevost, as a military

commander, had been weighed in the balance and found wanting. They

felt, indeed, most acutely, that Major General Isaac Brock was dead,

and that he was not replaced by Sir George Prevost.

In the west, the Americans, under Harrison, exerted themselves to

recover Michigan. They were blockaded, it is true, and inactive within

Fort George, but, on Lake Erie, the war was vigorously prosecuted.

General Proctor was kept particularly busy. The Americans were

inconveniently near. They showed no disposition to move. They had

settled down and were practicing masterly inactivity at Sandusky.

Proctor determined upon disturbing them. He moved rapidly upon Lower

Sandusky, and invested it with five hundred regulars and militia, and

upwards of three thousand Indians. The Indians were commanded by

Tecumseh. Having battered the fort well and made a breach Proctor

determined upon carrying the place by assault. The Indians, however,

were worthless for the assault of a fortified place. Concealed in the

grass of the prairie, or hidden in the trees of the forest, they could

fire steadily and watch their opportunity to rush upon the foe, but

they had a horror of great guns and stone walls. They kept out of range

of the American cannon. Nothing could induce them to consent even to

follow their British allies up to the breach. The assault was,

nevertheless, determined upon, and Colonel Short led the storming party

of regulars and militia. Under cover of the fire of cannon the gallant

band reached the summit of the glacis and stood with only the ditch

between them and the fort. The heavy fire of the enemy upon men in a

position so exposed at first produced some confusion; but the storming

party soon rallied and leaped into the ditch. It was then that they

were smitten with such a fire of grape and musketry as no men could

long withstand. The assailants retreated, leaving Colonel Short, three

officers, and fifty-two men dead in the ditch, and having forty-one of

their number wounded.

General Proctor, finding his force inadequate to carry the fort by

assault, raised the siege and retired to Amherstburgh.

Although it was all important to have and maintain the command of the

lakes, very little was done by the British with that view. It was

especially necessary to obtain the command of Lakes Erie, Ontario and

Champlain. No great aggressive movement could have been easily effected

while the British had the command of the lakes. But on Lake Ontario the

British fleet was inferior to that of the American, the American

Captain Perry had almost established himself on Lake Erie, and on Lake

Champlain the British had not a single vessel larger than a gun-boat,

and very few of them. The excuse was that every vessel cost a thousand

pounds a ton; that timber, nor iron, nor anything required for

shipbuilding was obtainable in a province which was even then

compensating for the check in the Baltic timber trade, in a province

which abounds in iron, and was then quite capable of building large

sea-going craft at Quebec. While it was in truth no more difficult for

England to cover the lakes with cannon than it was for the United

States to do so, England kept sending out, at great expense, timber,

pitch, materials in iron, water casks, and such like to Quebec and

Kingston, with some thirty or forty shipwrights, and less than a

hundred sailors to man the flotillas of three lakes. Neither the

Admiralty nor the Ordnance had time to make enquiries concerning

Canada, or even to think of the American war. All eyes were upon

Wellington in Spain. The attention of the people of England was not

directed towards Canada. A wide sea rolled between the two countries,

and, besides, there was an indistinct notion that Canada was wholly

inhabited by Frenchmen, who might take care of themselves or not, as

they pleased. The two first vessels belonging to the British on Lake

Champlain, were built by the Americans. The British were contented with

their fort at Isle-aux-Noix, and rejoiced in the luxury of two

gun-boats. It was on a lovely morning very early in June, that a sail

was seen stretching over a point of land, formed by a bed in the river

Chambly, and about six miles distant from the fort. Another sail

followed closely, and the shrewd suspicion seized upon Colonel Taylor,

of the 100th foot, commanding the garrison, that the visitants were

vessels of war. He determined to war with the two strangers, _per mare

et terram_. He converted some of his soldiery into marines, manned his

three gun-boats, and placing three artillerymen in each boat, proceeded

towards the enemy. But he took the additional precaution of sending

down both shores of the river a few detachments from the fort. The

sloops of war came up majestically, the star-spangled banner waved

gracefully in the gentle morning air, and the American commanders were

guessing the effect of their first broadside upon Isle-aux-Noix, when

they were met by a heavy and well directed fire of grape from the

gun-boats, and by a steady torrent of bullets from the shore. Still

they tacked shortly from shore to shore, and every time they were in

stays, a shower of bullets swept the decks, while the grape of the

gun-boats whistled through the rigging. From half past four in the

morning until half past eight, the battle raged, but then it was

necessary to run one of the sloops ashore, to prevent her from sinking,

and both surrendered. The _Growler_ and the _Eagle_ were worth the

trouble incurred in capturing them. Each mounted eleven guns. They had

long eighteens upon their forecastles, and their broadside guns were

composed of twelves and sixes. The crew of each vessel consisted of

thirty-five men and between the two vessels there was a company of

marines, who embarked on the previous evening at Champlain. Nor was the

cost to the captors very great. No one was killed and only three men

were severely wounded, while the enemy suffered severely in killed and

wounded, and a hundred men were made prisoners.

These vessels now called the _Shannon_ and the _Blake_, as

forget-me-nots of an action recently fought, but not yet noticed, in

Chesapeake Bay, were speedily turned to excellent use. It was conceived

expedient to destroy the barracks, hospitals and stores at Plattsburgh,

Burlington, Champlain, and Swanton, if possible, and an expedition was

accordingly fitted out at Isle-aux-Noix. The two captured sloops of war

were repaired and made ready for the lake. Captain Pring, from Lake

Ontario, was promoted to the rank of commander and sent to take

command, but the sloop of war _Wasp_, having shortly afterwards arrived

at Quebec, Captain Everard, with his whole crew, were sent to

Isle-aux-Noix, and as senior officer assumed the command of the two

vessels and the three gun-boats. The squadron sailed on the 29th of

July, with about nine hundred men on board, consisting of detachments

of the 13th, 100th, and 103rd regiments of the line, under Lieutenants

Colonel Taylor and Smelt, some royal artillery under Captain Gordon,

and a few militia, as batteaux men, under Colonel Murray. The

expedition was altogether successful. At Plattsburgh, the American

General, Moore, made no opposition to the landing of the British, but

retired with fifteen hundred soldiers, Murray, meanwhile, destroying

the arsenal, public buildings, commissariat stores, and the new

barracks, capable of accommodating five thousand men. Neither did the

squadron lie idly by. Captains Everard and Pring, in the _Growler_ and

_Eagle_, proceeded to Burlington, and threw the place into the utmost

consternation. Gen'l. Hampton, who was encamped there with four

thousand men, was unable to prevent the capture and destruction of four

vessels. And the two ships did not linger there either unnecessarily.

They went back to Plattsburgh, re-embarked the troops, and proceeded to

Swanton, Colonel Murray sending a detachment to Champlain to destroy

the barracks and blockhouse. At Swanton the object of the expedition

was accomplished, and the expedition returned without casualty.

Public opinion had its effect upon the Admiralty, notwithstanding the

stubborn resistance of the old Lords, who still privately persisted in

the notion that an old tub, manned by monkeys, if commanded by an

officer in the royal navy, was a match for the best American frigate

that ever floated. There had for some time back been considerable

activity in the English dockyards. Several vessels were commenced on

the model of the American frigates, and the commanders of frigates and

sloops of war, on the American coast, were cautioned not to expose

themselves to certain destruction by attacking large and heavily armed

vessels, only nominally of the same rank or class as themselves. There

was to be a real, not an apparent equality. There was to be an equality

in tonnage, an equality in the number of guns, an equality in the

weight of metal, an equality in the thickness of a ship's sides, and

above all an equality in men, so far as such equality could be

ascertained. Equality in sailing power was of great importance, but

where it was wanting, the superior sailor, if superior in metal and men

had an advantage which nothing but a calm or a lucky hit aloft could

destroy. The crews of every ship on the North American Station were to

be exercised in gunnery. Wisdom had been luckily forced upon the

Admiralty. And the result was good. Sir John Borlase, the naval

commander, in North America, blockaded every harbour in the United

States. American commerce was ruined. The carrying trade of the

Atlantic was no longer in American hands. The public revenue sank from

twenty-four millions of dollars annually, to eight millions. Even had

the Americans possessed the means of building new frigates, the

expenditure would have been useless, while Sir John Borlase had the

command of the sea. Congress did authorise the commencement of four new

seventy-fours, and of four forty-four gun frigates, with six new sloops

for the ocean, and as many vessels of every description, as

circumstances would show the necessity for, on the lakes.

Admiral Cockburn, at the head of a light squadron, was most annoying to

the Americans. Not only did he blockade the Chesapeake and Delaware

inlets, but he scoured every creek and river. Every now and then

gun-boats were sent on excursions, and marines landed to damage naval

stores and arsenals. He was a kind of legalized pirate, who darted in

to a harbour, bay, or port, doing every imaginable kind of mischief and

running off.

About this time there were cruising off Boston two ships of equal

strength, the _Shannon_ and the _Tenedos_. Captain Broke, the commander

of the _Shannon_, was the senior officer, and having determined upon a

combat, if it were possible to effect it, between the American frigate

_Chesapeake_, then in Boston harbour, where she had passed the winter,

and his own vessel, he sent the _Tenedos_ to sea, with instructions not

to return for three weeks. Captain Broke had laboriously and anxiously

drilled his men. He had sighted his guns and used them often. In a

word, he had by long continued training brought his crew to the highest

state of discipline and subordination. They could fire ball to a

nicety. At sea and in harbour he had kept his men at great gun

practice. He was in a position to cope with any forty-four gun frigate,

belonging to the United States, for, though the _Shannon_ was only

pierced for 38 guns, she carried 52. When the _Tenedos_ had put to sea,

Captain Broke sent in a challenge to Captain Lawrence, of the

_Chesapeake_, entreating him to try the fortunes of their respective

flags in _even combat_. The _Chesapeake_ had 49 guns. Captain Broke

immediately lay close into Boston Light House, and the _Chesapeake_ was

quickly under weigh. It is said that Captain Lawrence had not received

the challenge of his opponent when he stood out of the harbour, but,

however that may be, the _Chesapeake_ was escorted to sea by a flotilla

of barges and pleasure boats. Victory, indeed, was considered certain

by the Americans. Nay, so very certain were the inhabitants of Boston

that the _Shannon_ would either be sunk or towed into port that,

counting their chickens before they were hatched, they prepared a

public supper to greet the victors on their return to the harbour, with

their prisoners. It was otherwise. Captain Broke saw with delight, from

the masthead of the _Shannon_, that his challenge was to be satisfactorily

replied to. The _Shannon_ was cleared for action, and waited for the

_Chesapeake_. She had not long to wait. The _Chesapeake_ came bowling

along with three flags flying, on which were inscribed--"Sailors,

rights and free trade." The _Shannon_ had her union jack at the

foremast, and a somewhat faded blue ensign at the mizen peak. There

were two other ensigns rolled into a ball ready to be fastened to the

haulyard and hoisted in case of need. But her guns were well loaded,

alternately with two round shot and a hundred and fifty musket balls,

and with one round and one double-headed shot in each gun. The enemy

hauled up within two hundred yards of the mizen beam and cheered. The

_Shannon_ cheered in return, and then the bravest held his breath for a

time. A moment more and the _Shannon's_ decks flashed fire. With

deliberate aim each gun along her sides was discharged, and the enemy,

in passing, fired with good effect his whole broadside. The _Shannon's_

shot, however, told upon the rigging of the _Chesapeake_, and upon her

men, and after two or three broad sides, the _Chesapeake_ in attempting

to haul her foresail up fell on board the _Shannon_, whose starboard

bower anchor locked with the _Shannon's_ mizen chains. The great guns,

with the exception of the _Shannon's_ two aftermost guns ceased firing.

The _Chesapeake's_ stern was beaten in, and her decks swept. There was

now a sharp fire of musketry from both sides, but Captain Broke

perceiving that the _Chesapeake's_ men had left their guns, called up

his boarders, at the same time ordering the two ships to be lashed

together. And Mr. Stevens, the _Shannon's_ boatswain, set about the

execution of the latter order. His left arm was hacked off by the

enemy's marines, and he was mortally wounded by a shot from the

_Chesapeake's_ tops. He proceeded, nevertheless, in fastening the two

ships together, and then dropped in death between the vessels. Captain

Lawrence was wounded and carried below, when Captain Broke, at the head

of his boarders, leapt upon the _Chesapeake's_ quarter-deck. The

enemy's crew were soon overpowered and driven below. Forcing his way

forward, the _Shannon's_ men shut down the _Chesapeake's_ hatches and

kept up a fire on the men in the tops, while the _Shannon's_ men at the

same time, under Mr. Smith, forced their way from the foreyard to the

_Chesapeake's_ mainyard, and soon cleared the tops. Captain Broke was

at this time assailed furiously by three American sailors, who had

previously submitted, and was knocked down by the butt end of a musket,

but as he rose he had the satisfaction of seeing the American flag

hauled down and the proud old British union floating over it in

triumph. Fifteen minutes had only elapsed and the _Chesapeake_ was

entirely in the hands of the British. There was one lamentable mishap.

Lieutenant Watt, who hauled down the enemy's colours was, with two of

his men, killed by a discharge of musketry from the _Shannon's_

marines, in the belief that the conflict still continued. The

_Chesapeake_ had forty-seven killed and ninety-eight wounded, and the

_Shannon_ lost in killed twenty-four, while fifty-nine had been

wounded. It was so ascertained that on equal terms England still held

the supremacy of the seas, and the exultation in England was so great

that every right-minded man went with the government when they made

Captain Broke a baronet. The broadside guns of the _Shannon_ were 25,

of the _Chesapeake_ 25; the weight of metal in the former was 538 lbs.,

and of the latter 590 lbs.; while the _Shannon_ had 306 and the

_Chesapeake_ 376 men.

The _Chesapeake_ was carried into Halifax, where her gallant,

gentlemanly, and ill-starred commander died and was buried, with full

military honors, in the presence of all the British officers on the

station, who uncovered themselves as they laid into the grave all that

was earthly of their noble foe.

The tide of fortune on the sea had now turned in favor of Great

Britain. On the 14th of August, the _Argus_, of twenty guns, employed

in carrying out Mr. Crawford, the American Minister to France, was met

after having landed the minister off St. David's, at the mouth of the

Irish channel, by the British brig _Pelican_, of eighteen guns, more

heavily armed, though carrying fewer guns, and better manned than the

_Argus_, so that, everything considered, the vessels were tolerably

well matched. As a matter of course they fought, and the _Pelican_, one

of the improved brigs, soon out-manoeuvred and raked her antagonist.

Captain Allen, of the _Argus_, fell at the first broadside. The _Argus_

was ultimately obliged to surrender with a loss of six killed and

seventeen wounded, her opponent having only three killed and five

wounded.

It was not long after this that the British brig _Boxer_, of only

fourteen guns and sixty-six men, fell a prize to the American brig

_Enterprise_, of sixteen guns and one hundred and twenty men, but

afterwards, throughout the war, single combats, where there was even an

approach to equality, terminated in favor of the British. Captain

Blythe, of the _Boxer_, and the commander of the _Enterprise_,

Lieutenant Burrows, were buried in one grave, at Portland in Maine,

with military honors.

Thus were the favors of Mars still balanced with tolerable fairness

between the combatants.

Between Upper and Lower Canada the communication by either land or

water, in summer, was very imperfect, during the war. There was then no

Rideau Canal, connecting Kingston with the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence.

And there was neither the Lachine, the Beauharnois, the Cornwall nor

any other canal by which the dangers and difficulties of the St.

Lawrence rapids might be avoided. Only batteaux and canoes plied

between Upper and Lower Canada. A kind of flat-bottomed boat, of from

35 to 40 feet in length, and about six feet beam in the centre,

carrying from four to four and a half tons, was only available for the

transport of passengers, goods, wares, and merchandise. The boat was

worked by oars, a mast and sail, drag-ropes for towing, and long poles

for pushing them through the rapids, while the bow was kept towards the

shore by a tow line held by the boat's crew or attached to horses. From

ten to twelve days were occupied in the voyage from Montreal or Lachine

to Kingston. To convey stores from Lachine to Kingston, during the war,

required some tact. On one side of the river were the British

batteries, while exactly opposite was an American fort or earthwork,

which as the batteaux poled past Prescott or Brockville, could throw a

round shot or two in their immediate vicinity without very much

trouble. Indeed the Americans did very quietly send one or two cruisers

and privateers to dodge about that marine paradise, the Thousand

Islands, forming the delta of Lake Ontario, and covered to this day

with timber to the water's edge, islands of all sizes and of all forms,

gently rising out of the limpid rippling stream, or boldly standing

forth from the deep blue water, presenting a rugged, rocky moss-clad

front to the wonderstruck beholder. On the 20th of July, some cruisers

from Sackett's Harbour, succeeded in surprising and capturing, at

daybreak, a brigade of batteaux laden with provisions, under convoy of

a gun-boat. They made off with their prize to Goose Creek, which is not

far from Gananoque. At Kingston the loss of the supplies was soon

ascertained, and Lieutenant Scott, of the Royal Navy, was despatched

with a detachment of the 100th regiment, in gun-boats, to intercept the

plunderers. At the lower end of Long Island, he ascertained the retreat

of the enemy, and waited patiently for the morning. In the evening,

still later, a fourth gun-boat with a detachment of the 41st regiment

came up, and having passed the night in bright anticipations of glory,

the rescuing gun-boats proceeded at three in the morning to Goose

Creek. The enemy had gone well up and had judiciously entrenched

themselves behind logs, while they had adopted the Russian plan of

blocking up the entrance to their harbor where the Creek became so

narrow that the attacking gun-boats found it necessary to pole up even

that far. Lieutenant Scott set his men to work, to remove the barriers

to his ingress, but a brisk fire soon caused him to desist, and indeed

he was very nearly disabled. The only gun-boat that could be brought to

bear upon the enemy was already disabled, and the consequences might

have been disastrous but for the gallant conduct of the soldiers, who

leaped from the sternmost boats, up to their necks, carrying their

muskets high overhead, and charged the enemy on landing, causing them

to retreat with precipitation behind their entrenchment. While this was

being done, the gun-boats were got afloat and put to rights, and the

soldiers expeditiously re-embarking the re-capture of the provisions

was abandoned. Captain Milnes, a volunteer aid-de-camp to the Commander

of the Forces, was killed.

A second boat expedition from Kingston failed, Sir James Yeo, conceived

that he might out cut of Sackett's Harbour the new American ship

_Pike_, the equipment of which Commodore Chancey was superintending. He

arrived at the mouth of the harbor, but the enemy having accidentally

heard of his errand, Sir James abandoned a scheme that could only have

been effected by surprise. In July, the American fleet appeared on the

lake with augmented force. Colonel Scott, with a company of artillery

and a considerable number of other soldiers was on board, _en route_

for Burlington Heights. He was most anxious to destroy the British

stores there, the more especially as the place was only occupied by

Major Maule, at the head of a small detachment of regulars.

Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey, the Deputy Adjutant-General of the army,

shrewdly suspecting the design of the enemy, despatched Colonel

Battersby from York, who arrived in time to re-inforce Maule. Scott

made no attack, but with the advice, or at all events, the concurrence

of the commodore, did a much wiser thing. The expedition sailed upon

York, which Lieutenant-Colonel Battersby had evacuated to save

Burlington. A landing was effected at York, of course, without

opposition; the storehouses, barracks, and public buildings were

burned, and such stores as were worth carrying away, taken. In Lake

Champlain, on the same afternoon, Colonel Murray and Captains Everard

and Pringle were retaliating at Plattsburgh, Burlington, Champlain, and

Swanton. Commodore Chancey having effected his purpose sailed for

Niagara, whither he was followed by Sir James Yeo, and looked in upon

on the 31st of July. Chancey, without loss of time, raised his anchors

and stood out of the bay, bearing down upon the British squadron. Sir

James manoeuvred, keeping out of range, and indeed coquetted with the

enemy, until he had an opportunity of pouncing upon two of his vessels,

the _Julia_ and _Growler_, which he cut off and captured. He still

pursued the same tantalizing course of action, and Commodore Chancey

became completely disheartened, when the _Scourge_ of eight, and the

_Hamilton_ of nine guns, in endeavouring to escape from the British,

capsized under a press of sail, and went down, all hands perishing,

except sixteen who were picked up by the boats of the opposing

squadron. Immediately after this disaster he stood off for Sackett's

Harbour, and arrived there on the 13th of August. He merely took in

provisions, however, and again sailed for Niagara, arriving there early

in September. On the 7th the British fleet appeared off the harbour,

and Chancey stood out into the lake. The two fleets manoeuvred as

before, avoiding close quarters, and indeed, for full five days, hardly

exchanged a shot. But on the 28th of September, the fleets approached

each other, and a sharp engagement ensued between the two flag ships.

The _Wolfe_, in which Sir James Yeo's pendant was hoisted, lost her

main and mizen topmasts, and only that the _Royal George_ ran in

between the _Wolfe_ and the _Pike_, enabling the former to haul off and

repair, the British flag ship would have been captured. As it was, Sir

James Yeo made off with his fleet to take refuge under Burlington

Heights.[21] Soon after, the American fleet took troops from Fort

George to Sackett's Harbour, from whence an expedition was being fitted

out, in the way, capturing five out of seven small vessels, from York,

containing 250 men of DeWatteville's regiment, intended to reinforce

the garrison at Kingston.

[21] The fleet consisted of the _Wolfe_ 23; the _Royal

George_ 22; the _Melville_ 14; the _Earl Moira_ 14;

the _Sir Sydney Smith_ 12; and the _Beresford_ 12.

On the lakes of Upper Canada, the fair face of fortune was turned away

from the British. As yet the capricious lady had only frowned, but now

she was positively sulky. A serious and indeed dreadful disaster, which

could not be afterwards repaired, but entailed loss upon loss to the

British, occurred on Lake Erie. The British provinces were indeed

exposed by it to the most imminent danger. At one blow all the

advantages gained by Brocke were lost. On Lake Erie as on Lake Ontario,

both the British and the Americans exerted themselves in the

construction of war vessels. The great drawback to the British was the

want of seamen. Captain Barclay, when appointed to the command on Lake

Erie, in May, took with him fifty English seamen, to man two ships, two

schooners, a brig and a sloop, the rest of the crews being made up of

240 soldiers and 80 Canadians. Captain Perry, the American commander,

had two more vessels, an equal number of guns, double the weight of

metal, and was fully manned by experienced seamen. Captain Barclay

sailed from Amherstburgh and stretched his little squadron across the

entrance to Presque Isle. The American squadron, under Perry, was

riding at anchor, unable to put out, because the bar at the entrance of

the harbour prevented it from crossing, except with the guns out, an

operation not considered perfectly safe when done in the face of an

enemy. Captain Barclay was under the necessity of momentarily leaving

his station, and his opponent, Perry, crossed the bar. Barclay in turn

became the blockaded party. He made with all haste for Amherstburgh and

was shut in by Perry. Barclay practiced his soldiers at the guns, and

learned his Canadians how to handle the ropes. He was indefatigable in

his exertions to render his crew as efficient as such a crew could be

made on shipboard. He yet feared to meet Perry and his picked crews,

but his provisions fell short, and he was compelled to put out. The

result was a battle, the last thing to have been desired, where so much

depended on the issue. Victory was stoutly contested for on both sides.

At 11 o'clock, on the forenoon of the 10th of September, the American

squadron, consisting of nine vessels, and the British squadron,

consisting of six vessels, formed in lines of battle. At a quarter

before 12, Captain Barclay's ship, the _Queen Charlotte_, opened a

tremendous fire upon the _Lawrence_, the flag ship of Commodore Perry.

The _Lawrence_ was torn to pieces. She became unmanageable. Except the

Commodore and four or five others, every man on board was either killed

or wounded. Perry abandoned her, and the colours were hauled down; but

he only left one ship to rehoist his flag in another, as yet untouched.

He boarded the _Niagara_, of twenty guns, and a breeze springing up

behind his ships, which as yet had not been in action, he obtained the

weather gage of the British, and made it necessary for them to wear

round. It was in the endeavour to execute this manoeuvre that Barclay

lost the advantage. His inexperienced and, therefore, somewhat awkward

sailors, became flurried, and the vessels fell foul of each other. They

were for the most part jammed together, with their bows facing the

enemy's broadside. Captain Perry saw his advantage and raked the

_Detroit_, the _Queen Charlotte_, and _Lady Prevost_, at pleasure. The

_Chippewa_ and _Little Belt_ had been separated from the other ships,

and were hotly engaged by the Americans. The British line was, in a

word, broken. The carnage was now dreadful, and the result awfully

disastrous to the British. Barclay fell, severely wounded. Every

officer was either killed or wounded. And two hundred out of three

hundred and forty-five men were in a like condition. For three hours

the battle raged, but at the end of that time the British squadron was

capsized, and Perry, in imitation of Julius Cæsar, sent the message to

Washington:--"We have met the enemy, and they are ours." Of the

Americans, twenty-seven were killed and ninety-six wounded.

This was a sore blow and terrible discouragement to Canada. Supplies of

provisions were no longer obtainable by General Proctor from Kingston,

and Michigan was, consequently, untenable. The speedy evacuation of

Detroit, and a retreat towards the head of Lake Ontario, became

inevitable. Commodore Perry could, at any moment, land a force in

General Proctor's rear, and entirely cut him off from Kingston and

York, and the lower part of Upper Canada. General Proctor at once

retreated, abandoning and destroying all his fortified posts, beyond

the Grand River. He dismantled first Detroit and then Amherstburgh,

setting fire to the navy yard, barracks, and public stores, of the

latter place. And he had just done so in time. As soon after the

destruction of the British fleet, as circumstances would permit,

Commodore Perry transported the American forces, under General

Harrison, from Portage River and Fort Meigs, to Put-in-Bay, from whence

they were conveyed to Amherstburgh, which they occupied on the 23rd of

December. Proctor retreated through woods and morasses, upon the

Thames, hotly pursued by Harrison. The brave Tecumseh, at the head of

the Indians, endeavored to cover his retreat. But on the 4th of

October, the enemy came so close upon the British rear as to succeed in

capturing all their stores and ammunition. Destitute of the means of

subsistence, worn down with fatigue, and low-spirited by misfortune,

Proctor came to the determination of staking all on the hazard of a

die. He resolved upon bringing the enemy to an engagement, and took up

a position near the Moravian village upon the Thames. Tecumseh and his

Indians assumed a position, well to the British right, in a thicket.

Prescott drew out his right in line on a swamp, and supported it by a

field piece, while his left stretched along, towards the Thames,

supported by another field piece. The ground was not well chosen.

Between Proctor and his enemy there was a dry or rather elevated piece

of ground, covered with lofty trees, without underbrush. On the

following day the enemy came up. Harrison drew up his army in two

lines, the cavalry in front, and ordered the Kentucky Riflemen,

commanded by Colonel Johnson, to charge the British, which they could

not so easily or effectually have done, had the British been either on

the summit of the wooded knoll or some distance behind the swamp. The

Kentuckians slowly advanced through the wood, receiving two vollies

from the British line, before they were out of it. It was then that

they dashed forward at full speed, broke the British ranks, and wheeled

about. Taken, as it were, suddenly, in the rear, Proctor's men became

confused. To resist or to retreat was equally impossible. They could

only retreat by forcing the American infantry, in front, and they could

only resist by facing the Kentucky Riflemen in the rear, who had

already ridden through them and had now raised their rifles to decimate

them. The British threw down their arms and the Indians, with the

exception of Tecumseh and a chosen few fled, yelling, through the

woods. Tecumseh fought desperately, even with the mounted rifles. He

sprang upon their leader, Colonel Johnson, wounded him and pulled him

to the earth. But, at this moment, Johnson's faithful dragoons spurred

to his rescue. Tecumseh was surrounded and pierced with bullets.

Raising his hands aloft, to the great Father of all, this faithful ally

and courageous savage, gave one last, stern, defiant look, at the foe,

and breathed no more. General Proctor and his personal staff, with a

few men, had previously sought safety by flight to Ancaster. And this

remnant of the right division, including Proctor and seventeen

officers, amounting to only two hundred and forty-six men, arrived at

Ancaster on the 17th of October.

Harrison was greatly superior in numbers, and had cavalry, which

Proctor was entirely without. The Kentucky cavalry were accustomed to

fighting in the forest, and were expressly armed for it. Proctor did

not exhibit ordinary judgment in his selection of ground. He had hardly

time to cut down trees and to entrench himself, and the probability is

that he was not aware of the enemy's possession of cavalry, and

therefore was less prudent in his choice of ground than otherwise he

would have been. Harrison, the American commander, had no less than

3,500 men with him, and as he captured only 25 British officers and 609

rank and file, all that surrendered, while two hundred and forty-six in

all only escaped, the mishap to Proctor who was personally a brave

officer, as he had repeatedly proved, ought not to have excited

surprise. But the disaster following as it did, and as should have been

expected, the calamity on Lake Erie, the Governor-in-Chief was highly

incensed, and nearly sacrificed Proctor to public opinion. He abused

him and his army in no measured terms, in general orders. He contrasted

the conduct of the soldiery with that of Tecumseh and his Indians. He

charged the Adjutant-General Reiffenstein with gross prevarication. He

sneered at the captured, few of whom had been rescued by an honorable

death from the ignominy of passing under the American yoke, and whose

wounds pleaded little in mitigation of the reproach. The officers in

retreating from Detroit, Sandwich and Malden, seemed to have been more

anxious about their baggage than they had afterwards been about their

honor. The enemy had attacked and defeated Proctor and his right

division without a struggle. He could not indeed fully disclose to the

British army the full extent of disgrace which had fallen upon a

formerly deserving portion of the army. Sir George Prevost who had

himself behaved so well at Sackett's Harbour, and who afterwards acted

so honorably towards Commodore Downie, at Plattsburgh, did not spare an

officer whom he had himself raised to the rank of Brigadier-General for

previous gallantry in the field, and for distinguished success. Nay, he

brought him to a Court Martial. The Court found that he had not

retreated with judgment and had not judiciously disposed of his force,

considering the extraordinary difficulties of his situation; but it

further found that his personal conduct was neither defective nor

reproachable. He was sentenced to be suspended from rank and pay for

six months. George the Fourth, then Prince Regent, was still more

severe upon the unfortunate Proctor. He confirmed the sentence and

censured the Court for mistaken lenity.

There was this difference between Sir George Prevost and General

Proctor:--Prevost was excessively cautious: Proctor was incautious to

excess.

All Western Canada, with the exception of Michillimackinac, was now

lost to the British. The Americans had not only recaptured Michigan,

but the issue of one battle had given them a long lost territory, and

the garden of Upper Canada. Harrison did not move against

Michillimackinac, being persuaded that it would fall for want of

provisions, but went to Buffalo and from there went to Niagara and Fort

George, abandoned by General Vincent, who had fallen back, on hearing

of Proctor's discomfiture, on Burlington Heights. In retreating,

Vincent sent his baggage on before him, followed by the main body of

his army, some three or four thousand sickly men, and kept his picquets

in front of Fort George to deceive the enemy: seven companies of the

100th and the light company of the 8th regiment, and a few Indians,

more men than Proctor had altogether, constituted the rear guard, and

covered the retreat. The guard was closely pressed by 1,500 of the

enemy, under Generals McClure and Porter, from Fort George, but the

guard managed to keep them in check and enabled Vincent and Proctor to

effect a junction at the heights of Burlington. The rear guard halted

at Stoney Creek, but the enemy refused to give battle.

The result of these operations, in the northwest, so flattered the

Americans as to induce the government at Washington to attempt a more

effectual invasion of Canada. General Dearborn had been replaced, on

account of ill-health, in the chief command of the army of the north,

by General Wilkinson. The force intended for the contemplated invasion

of Canada amounted to twelve thousand men. There were eight thousand

stationed at Niagara and four thousand at Plattsburgh, commanded by

Hampton, in addition to which, the forces under Harrison, were expected

to arrive in time to furnish important assistance. It was in pursuance

of this policy that Harrison suddenly left Fort George for Sackett's

Harbour. General Wilkinson was concentrating his forces at Grenadier's

Island, which is situated between Sackett's Harbour and Kingston, at

the foot of Lake Ontario, and the plan was to descend the St. Lawrence,

in batteaux and gun-boats, passing by the forts and forming a junction

with Hampton, to proceed to the Island of Montreal. The plan was not by

any means an injudicious one, and its failure was almost marvellous.

The expeditions were checked, and indeed annihilated by petty

skirmishes, and that lack of decision, so fatal to military commanders.

Hampton advanced on the 20th of September. At Odelltown he surprised

the British picquet, and from thence he took the road leading to

L'Acadie. He had, therefore, to pass through a swamp, covered with

wood, for upwards of five leagues, before reaching the open country.

Colonel DeSalaberry had done his best with the aid of his Voltigeurs to

make the road a bad one to travel on. In the preceding campaign he had

felled trees and laid them across it, and he had dug holes here and

there, which soon contained the desired quantity of swampish water and

kept the road as moist as could be wished. It was on the advance of

Hampton, guarded by a few of the Frontier Light Infantry and some

Indians, under the direction of Captain Mailloux. To strengthen

Mailloux, Colonel DeSalaberry with his Voltigeurs and the flank

companies of a battalion of militia, under Major Perrault, took up a

position on both sides of the road among the trees, after the manner of

the Indians. Hampton did not like the general appearance of matters and

turned off the road, moving with his whole force towards the head of

the river Chateauguay. DeSalaberry, with his Voltigeurs, also moved

upon the Chateauguay. He was ordered, by the Commander of the Forces,

to proceed to the enemy's camp at Four Corners, at the head of

Chateauguay, create an alarm, and, if possible, surprise and dislodge

him. He had only with him one hundred and fifty Voltigeurs, the light

company of the Canadian Fencibles, and a hundred Indians, in charge of

Mr. Gaucher. The Four Corners were reached unobserved. But an alarm was

instantly given to the camp by the forwardness of an Indian, who

discharged his musket without necessity, and without orders.

DeSalaberry could now only close up his men and push forward. In a few

minutes his brave band were in the midst of the enemy, numbering about

four hundred, whom they drove before them, like sheep. His weakness, in

numbers, for only fifty men and a few Indians had come up, was,

however, soon apparent, and the enemy came to a halt, and another

section of the foe made a movement with the view of out-flanking the

assailants. DeSalaberry wisely fell back upon the position, from which

he had emerged, upon the camp, at the skirt of the wood, and shortly

afterwards the Indians having all fallen back, he retired altogether.

The loss was very trifling, but the effect was excellent, both upon the

enemy and upon the hitherto untried Voltigeurs. The enemy perceived or

supposed that he perceived great preparations made to dispute his

advance, inch by inch, while the Voltigeurs perceived that men are

hardly aware of how much they are capable of doing until they try.

DeSalaberry returned to Chateauguay, breaking up the road in his rear,

and having ascertained the road by which Hampton was determined to

advance, he judiciously took up a position in a thick wood, on the left

bank of the river Chateauguay, two leagues above its confluence with

English river. Here, he threw up breastworks of logs, and his front and

right flanks were covered by extended abattis. His left rested on the

river. In his rear the river being fordable, he covered the ford with a

strong breastwork, defended by a guard, and kept a strong picquet of

Beauharnois militia in advance on the right bank of the river, lest, by

any chance, the enemy should mistake the road which DeSalaberry

designed him to take, and crossing the ford, under cover of the forest,

should dislodge him from his excellent position. Fortune favors the

brave, when judicious. Hampton, having detached Colonel Clarke to

devastate Missisquoi Bay, prepared to advance. He sent General Izzard,

with the light troops and a regiment of the line, to force a militia

picquet at the junction of the rivers Outaite and Chateauguay, and

there the main body of the Americans arrived on the 22nd. Two days

later the enemy repaired DeSalaberry's road and brought forward his ten

pieces of artillery to within seven miles of DeSalaberry's position. He

had discovered the ford, and the light brigade, and a strong body of

infantry of the line, under Colonel Purdy, were sent forward on the

evening of the 25th, to fall upon DeSalaberry's rear, while the main

body were to assail in front. Purdy's brigade lost themselves in the

woods. But Hampton himself appeared in front, with his brigadier,

Izzard, and about 3,500 men. A picquet of twenty-five was driven in,

but it only fell back upon a second picquet, when a most resolute stand

was made. Colonel DeSalaberry heard the firing and advanced to the

rescue. He had with him, Ferguson's company of Fencibles, and Chevalier

Duchesnay's and Juchereau Duchesnay's companies of Voltigeurs. He

posted the Fencibles, in extended order, every man being at an arm's

length from his neighbor, in the night, in front of the abattis, the

right touching the adjoining woods in which some Abenaquis Indians had

distributed themselves. Chevalier Duchesnay's company, in skirmishing

order, in line extended from the left of the Fencibles to Chateauguay,

and Juchereau Duchesnay's company, and thirty-five militia, under

Captain Longtain, were ranged, in close order, along the margin of the

river, to prevent a flank fire from the enemy. The Americans advanced

steadily, in sections, to within musket shot, and DeSalaberry commenced

the action by discharging his rifle. The greatest possible noise was

purposely made by buglers, stationed here and there,--on the wings, in

the centre, and in the rear. It was indeed difficult to say whether the

noise of the bugles or of the firing was the most terrific. The enemy

wheeled into line and began to fire in vollies, but threw away their

bullets, as the battalions were not fronting the Voltigeurs or

Fencibles, but firing needless vollies into the woods, much to their

right where they suspected men to be. So hot was the fire of the

Voltigeurs, however, that the enemy soon found out his mistake, and

brought his vollies to bear, as well as he could, in the right

direction. Now, some of the skirmishers, under DeSalaberry retreated,

and the enemy cheered and advanced. Again the buglers sounded the

advance, and the sound of martial music echoed through the woods, so

that it seemed as if 200,000 men were being marshalled for the fight.

It was at this crisis that Colonel McDonell arrived with

reinforcements, and the ardour of the enemy was checked. Purdy, long

lost in the woods, was now guided towards the ford by the firing and

the music. He drove in Captain Brugueire's picquet, which was on the

opposite side of the river, and was pushing for the ford. DeSalaberry

sent Captain Daly with the light company of the 3rd battalion of the

embodied militia to cross the river and take up the ground abandoned by

the picquet. He did so gallantly, driving back the American advanced

guard, but was afterwards compelled to retreat. The enemy, as Daly

retreated, appeared on the verge of the river. DeSalaberry gave the

word to Juchereau Duchesnay to up and at them, and his men, rising from

their place of concealment, poured in a fire upon Purdy's Americans,

which was as unexpected as it was effectual. The Americans reeled back

and then turned and ran. Hampton seeing Purdy's discomfiture, slowly

withdrew, leaving Colonel DeSalaberry, with less than three hundred

Canadians, in possession of his position, and with all the honors of

victory. The loss was not great on either side. Of the Americans, forty

were found dead. The Canadians lost five killed and twenty wounded. For

this nicely managed skirmish DeSalaberry was justly loaded with honors,

his officers and men were publicly thanked, and five pairs of colours

were presented to the five battalions of Canadian embodied militia, by

the Prince Regent.

Hampton retired upon Four Corners, and afterwards retreated to

Plattsburgh, instead of co-operating with Wilkinson, as intended.

Simultaneously with Hampton's advance upon Chateauguay, or nearly so,

Wilkinson proceeded down the St. Lawrence, with a flotilla of upwards

of three hundred boats, protected by a division of gun-boats, until he

was within three miles of Prescott, when he landed his troops, and

marched down with them, by land, to a cove two miles below Fort

Prescott, so as to avoid the British batteries. The boats having past

during the night, without suffering any material injury from the

cannonading of the fort.

So soon as the American movement was ascertained at Kingston, General

DeRottenburg sent the 49th regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel

Prenderleath, the 89th regiment and some Voltigeurs after them. At

Prescott, they were reinforced by a party of Canadian Fencibles, and

the whole amounting to about eight hundred rank and file, was commanded

by Colonel Morrison, of the 49th regiment, aided by the Deputy Adjutant

General. Colonel Harvey, Under the escort of a small division of

gun-boats, commanded by Captain Mulcaster, R.N. This corps of

observation continued in pursuit of the enemy, and on the 8th of

November, came up with them at Point Iroquois. Twelve hundred of the

enemy, under Colonel Macomb, had landed on the previous day on the

British side of the river to drive off the Canadian militia, who were

collecting together in considerable numbers, at the head of the Long

Sault. On the 18th, General Browne's brigade, with a body of dragoons,

also landed on the British shore; and the remainder of Wilkinson's

troops were landed at the head of the Sault, under the command of

Brigadier-General Boyd.

Colonel Morrison, of the 8th British regiment, had landed at Hamilton,

on the American side, on the 10th, took possession of a quantity of

provisions and stores for the American army, and also of two field

pieces. Nor was Colonel Harvey idle. He kept close upon the heels of

the enemy. Seeing them one evening emerging from a wood, he tried the

effect of round shot upon them. They did not at all relish it, and went

back again. On the same evening, the opposing gun-boats came into

collision and some rounds were fired without any important result. Next

day Colonel Morrison pressed the American General Boyd, so closely that

he was compelled to stand and give battle. Boyd's brigade consisted of

between three and four thousand men, and a regiment of cavalry,

Morrison's entire force only numbered eight hundred rank and file. At

two in the afternoon, the Americans moving from Chrystler's Point,

attacked the British advance. The British retired slowly and orderly

upon the position which had been marked out for them. The flank

companies of the 49th, the detachment of the Canadian with one field

piece, somewhat in advance on the road, were on the right; the

companies of the 89th, 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

Voltigeurs and Indians. In half an hour the battle became general. The

artillery behaved nobly. They kept up a most steady and destructive

fire, and when the American cavalry attempted to charge, they were

literally mowed down and were compelled to wheel about. The infantry

charged the enemy's guns and captured one at the point of the bayonet.

The Americans had not, apparently, room to act. They were too much

cooped up. They attempted to turn the British flank, but the Voltigeurs

and Indians, secure behind the trees, poured forth a deadly fire and

drove them back. The enemy then concentrated his forces with the view

of pushing forward in close column, but the royal artillery,

concentrating their fire upon the solid mass, the Americans retreated,

leaving the British to pass the night without molestation, on

Chrystler's Farm. Indeed, the American infantry, after leaving the

field, re-embarked in great haste, while the dragoons trotted after

General Browne, who was on his way to Cornwall, entirely unconscious of

disaster. At the battle of Chrystler's Farm, the enemy lost in killed,

Brigadier-General Carrington, who fell at the head of his men, and

three other officers, and ninety-nine men, and they had one hundred and

twenty-one men wounded.

On the side of the British, Captain Nairne, of the 49th regiment,

Lieutenants Lorimier and Armstrong, and twenty-one men were killed, and

eight officers and one hundred and thirty-seven men were wounded, while

twelve men were missing.

General Wilkinson proceeded down the Sault and joined Browne, near

Cornwall. Hampton was confidently expected. The commander-in-chief had

positively instructed his general of division to form a junction with

the army from Sackett's Harbour at Cornwall, and he had not come.

Wilkinson, sick in body, and not a little mortified by the late defeat,

did not know very well what to do. To retreat by the way he came was

not quite so easy as to advance. The rapids presented innumerable

difficulties in the way of ascent, with an enemy lining the banks of

the river. And that which was more annoying forced itself strongly upon

his mind--the Canadians were both loyal and brave. His agony was most

excruciating when he received a letter from Hampton to the effect that

the Plattsburgh-Grand-Junction-Invading-Army was marching as

expeditiously as circumstances would allow out of Canada; that, in a

word it had been defeated and was in full retreat upon Champlain. An

anathema was about to be coupled by the worthy and much irritated

commander-in-chief with the name of Hampton, when Wilkinson recollected

that he too had been checked in the most extraordinary way, in the very

outset of a scheme so well calculated to subdue a country, only

occupied by three thousand soldiers, scattered over a frontier of

upwards of a thousand miles, and numbers of militia, formidable enough

in the woods, but no match for a well disciplined, well provided, and

numerous army, in the open field. The British regulars, elated with

their late success, were in his rear. A kind of highland glen was not

far in advance. He was fairly puzzled, and altogether wanting in that

energy and decision so necessary for success in war. He called a

council of his officers and communicated to them his fears. It was

unanimously resolved that, for the present season, the attack on

Montreal should be abandoned and that the army should cross the river

to the American side and go into winter quarters. And accordingly the

attack was abandoned. The Americans embarked again, and were taken to

Salmon River. The boats and batteaux were immediately scuttled; the

troops were made comfortable in long log huts or barracks, with

astonishing celerity, and the camp, at French Mills, was as speedily as

possible entrenched. Thus ended a campaign for which the Americans had

made extraordinary preparations, and of the success of which high

expectations had consequently been formed. The failures of Hampton and

Wilkinson were indeed so disgraceful and so humiliating to the

Americans that they were only compensated for, in kind, by the no less

stupid, disgraceful, and humiliating failures of the British at

Plattsburgh and New Orleans, with which the American war was, for both

Americans and British, unfortunately concluded. All chance of invasion,

on a grand scale, being now completely gone, the Canadian militia were

disbanded for the winter.

In December, Lieutenant-General Drummond assumed the command of Upper

Canada. He at once proceeded to the head of Ontario, with the view of

regaining possession of Fort George. He ordered Colonel Murray to

advance, which the gallant colonel did, and the American General,

McClure, prepared to evacuate the fort. McClure set the village of

Newark, the ancient capital of Upper Canada, on fire, agreeably to his

instructions from the American Secretary at War, with the view of

depriving the British army of comfortable winter quarters. He was

indeed ordered to lay waste the country as he retreated, if retreat

became necessary. It was on the 10th of December, a bleak, cold winter

day, that McClure fulfilled his instructions. One hundred and fifty

houses, composing the flourishing village of Newark, were reduced to

ashes, and four hundred women and children were left to wander in the

snow or seek the temporary shelter of some Indian wigwam in the woods.

On the 12th of December, the British troops occupied Fort George, there

being only five hundred men in all, militia and Indians, and not long

afterwards the gratification of revenge presented itself to the British

and vengeance was taken accordingly. General Drummond followed up the

occupancy of Fort George by an attack upon the American fort at

Niagara. On the night of the 18th of December, a detachment of the

royal artillery, the grenadier company of the 1st Royals, and the flank

companies of the 41st and 100th regiments, under Colonel Murray,

crossed the river Niagara, and were very quietly put on shore at the

Five Mile Meadows, the name of the landing place indicating the

distance from the fort. All was still. Every order was conveyed in a

whisper. Neither musket clattered nor sabre clinked. The 100th regiment

went off in two divisions, one under Captain Fawcett,[22] and the

other, under Lieutenant Dawson, stealthily. They seemed to be creeping

past the trees, with the softness of a tiger's tread. The wormlike

thread of men wound round picquet after picquet, and throttled the

sentries on the glacis, and at the gate. The hearts of the sentries

sank within them. They had hardly breath enough left, so

terror-stricken were they, to reveal the watch-word, or nerve enough to

point out the entrance to the fort. But the watch-word was obtained;

the entrance was pointed out; and the 100th regiment were inside of

Fort Niagara before a single drum had rolled or a bugle sounded. By the

time indeed that the garrison were alarmed the whole British force were

in the fort, and, after a show of resistance, the Americans

surrendered. Only one officer and five men on the part of the British

were killed and two officers and three men were wounded in this

adroitly managed assault. The enemy lost in killed two officers and

sixty-five men, and twelve rank and file were wounded. Three hundred

men were made prisoners. In this affair the colonel of the 100th

regiment, Hamilton, behaved with distinguished gallantry.

[22] A rather interesting anecdote is told of Captain Fawcett.

About the end of the war he had been wounded in the heel, and was

staying, in 1815, at Mrs. Matthew's boarding house, in Montreal.

At the table d'hôte there was a raw-boned young English merchant,

who remarked that Fawcett, to have been wounded in the heel, must

have been running away. Fawcett's Irish blood rose to his

forehead, and on the spur of the moment he felled the thoughtless

Englishman with his crutch.

The rule of General Drummond in Upper Canada had auspiciously

commenced. This affair was not only brilliant but well managed. The

fort was a prize of no ordinary worth. It contained an immense quantity

of commissariat stores, three thousand stand of arms, a number of

rifles and several pieces of dismounted ordnance. On the works were

twenty-seven heavy guns.

The greatest possible precautions were adopted to secure success.

Major-General Riall followed Colonel Murray, with the whole body of

Western Indians, stout, athletic, brave men, inured to fighting, the

1st battalion of the Royals, and the 41st regiment to support him, in

case of need. Success had been achieved without the general's aid; but

instead of resting satisfied with that which had been already

accomplished, Riall wisely pushed on before the news of the capture of

the fort could be spread about, on Lewiston, where the enemy, in some

force, had erected batteries, with the view of destroying Queenston.

Seeing Riall coming up in their rear, the enemy were compelled to

retreat, and they abandoned their position with such precipitation,

that two field pieces, with some small arms and stores fell into the

hands of the British. It was now that the burning of Newark was to be

revenged. The Indians and the troops were let loose upon the enemy's

frontiers and Lewiston, Manchester, and the country around were laid in

ruins. Determined to follow up his success, Drummond proceeded to

Chippewa. He fixed his head-quarters there on the 28th of December, and

on the morning after was within two miles of Fort Erie. Without loss of

time, he reconnoitred, and finding the enemy's position at Black Rock

assailable, he determined upon a second nocturnal attack. General Riall

accordingly crossed the river, with four companies of the King's

regiment and the light company of the 89th, under Colonel Ogilvy, and

two hundred and fifty men of the 41st regiment, and the grenadiers of

the 100th regiment, under Major Frend, together with about fifty

militia volunteers and a body of Indians. The landing was effected

about midnight. As before the advanced guard proceeded cautiously but

were not quite so successful as before in preventing alarm. They

surprised a picquet and captured not the whole, but the greater part of

it. They did still more. The bridge over the Conguichity Creek was

secured in spite of the repeated efforts of the enemy to dislodge the

assailants. But all did not yet go well with the British. The boats

required to bring over a second division had necessarily to be tracked

up the river as high as the foot of the rapids below Fort Erie.

Unfortunately they took the ground and could not be got off for a long

time. Indeed, morning had dawned before the royals, intended to turn

the enemy's position by attacking above Black Rock, while Riall's

division attacked below, suffered so severely from the fire of the

enemy that a landing was not effected in sufficient time for the full

accomplishment of General Drummond's purpose. Riall, nevertheless,

moved forward and attacked the Americans. They were strongly posted and

in considerable force, but Riall drove them out of their batteries at

the point of the bayonet, turning the enemy's one twenty-four, three

twelves, and a nine pounder upon the now retreating foe. Riall,

following up his successes, pursued the fleeing enemy into Buffalo.

There they rallied, but it was only for a moment. They drew out a large

body of fresh infantry, exhibited some cavalry, and fired a few rounds

from a field piece, unlimbered on a height commanding the road. The

British still pushed on and the enemy again gave way. They retreated

notwithstanding their reinforcement so hurriedly that the six pounder

brass gun on the height, an iron eighteen, and an iron six pounder were

left behind. At last they reached the woods and Riall considered that

for one day he had done enough, on land. But not yet fully satisfied,

he detached Captain Robinson with two companies of the King's regiment

to destroy three armed vessels, part of Perry's squadron, and their

stores, if it were possible to do so. These vessels were at anchor a

short distance below Buffalo, and Captain Robinson did as he was

ordered to the letter.

From the time of the landing at Black Rock until the full

accomplishment of the object of the expedition, with one, not

unimportant, exception, the Americans lost from three to four hundred

men in killed and wounded, and one hundred and thirty men taken

prisoners, while the British loss was thirty-one men killed, and four

officers, sixty-eight men wounded, and nine men missing.

The exception to the full accomplishment of the object of the

expedition, that is to say, the burning of private property, was an

exception to the general rule of the British army. But as evil, in some

cases, must be done that good may follow, the rule, now laid down by

General Drummond, was to pillage, burn, and lay waste, in retaliation

for Newark. In accordance with this new rule, therefore, General Riall

set about doing the only thing which he had left unaccomplished; the

destruction of private property. Buffalo and Black Rock, previously

deserted by their inhabitants, were set on fire and entirely consumed.

Clothing, spirits, flour, public stores, and, indeed, everything which

could not be conveniently carried off, fell a prey to the flames.

Thus was the campaign of 1813 terminated.

It might not unnaturally be supposed that during all this fighting,

business would have been nearly at a stand. But so far from such being

the case, the war had contributed in no small degree to bring Canada

and its capabilities into notice. And it could not be otherwise. So

large an expenditure as that required for the maintenance of the

regular soldiery and militia must have made money plentiful, and such

as were engaged in trade, whether in Quebec or Montreal, undoubtedly

profitted by an expenditure almost necessarily profligate. On account

of the militia alone, the province expended £121,366, and the

expenditure of the commissariat department must have been enormous. But

the grand source of wealth was the establishment of a kind of National

Bank, with specie, to redeem its paper, in the vaults of the Bank of

England. The circulation of fifteen hundred thousand pounds worth of

army bills, all redeemable in cash, with interest, could not have

failed to enrich a country in which there were not more than 350,000

inhabitants, the greater number of whom were actually in the pay of

Great Britain, while they had the privilege of attending, unless in

extraordinary cases, to their private pursuits. That Canada prospered

during the war is undeniable. There was a considerable falling off in

the number of vessels cleared at Quebec in 1813, in comparison with the

previous year, and which was in some degree attributable to the risk

attendant upon crossing the Atlantic, while the great frigates of the

United States were permitted to prowl about, but the provincial revenue

had, nevertheless, increased in the course of one year to the amount of

£30,006, while the provincial expenditure alone was nearly £200,000.

Indeed, Montreal, the temporary head-quarters of the commander-in-chief,

and literally alive with troops, who all ate and drank heartily, was

making rapid progress in the way of commercial advancement. Mr. Molson

gave some indication of the general prosperity by placing upon the St.

Lawrence a second steamer. On the 4th of May, 1813, the arrival of the

_Swiftsure_ is noticed by the Quebec newspapers. The _Swiftsure_ had

twenty-eight passengers, besides a serjeant with six privates of the

royals, having three Americans, prisoners of war, four deserters from

the 100th regiment, and one deserter from the American army, in charge,

on board, and had been twenty-two hours and a half in running down. She

had a good engine with a safety valve for blowing off surplus steam.

The ladies' cabin had eight reposing berths. The gentlemen's cabin was

thirty feet in length by twenty-three in breadth, and contained ten

berths on each side, and two "forming an angle with the larboard side."

The cabin was capable of lodging forty-four persons, and the steerage

could accommodate about 150. The _Swiftsure_ was in length of keel 130

feet, her length upon deck was 140 feet, and her breadth of beam was 24

feet.

Lower Canada was then a wheat growing and even wheat exporting country.

So early as 1802, Lower Canada exported 1,010,033 bushels of wheat,

besides 28,301 barrels of flour, and 22,051 cwt. of biscuit. In 1810,

the value of the exports from the St. Lawrence was £1,200,000 sterling.

And the farmer of Lower Canada profitted in 1814 by the presence of the

floating army population almost to as great an extent as the merchant.

Both animal and vegetable foods were largely in demand.

Sir George Prevost, as soon as the temporary cessation of active

hostilities, in his immediate neighbourhood, would permit, called a

meeting of the Parliament of Lower Canada, for the despatch of

business. Two sessions of parliament had been held in Upper Canada,

since the commencement of the war, one was opened by Major General

Brock, on the 3rd of February, 1812, when eleven Acts were passed, and

the other by Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe, during which other

eleven Acts became law. They show the temper of the times. An Act was

passed in General Brock's ruleship, granting a bounty for the

apprehension of deserters from the regular forces; another granted

£2,000 for the repair of roads and bridges; a third amended the militia

law; a fourth regulated the meeting of sleds on the public roads; a

fifth allowed £502 for clerks and the contingent expenses of

parliament; a sixth granted £5,000 for the purpose of training the

militia; a seventh extended an Act granting a certain sum of money to

His Majesty; an eighth granted £1,000 for the purchase, sale, and

exportation of hemp, and £423 for the purchase of hemp seed and payment

of bounties; a ninth afforded relief to certain persons entitled to

claim lands; a tenth amended an Act for the laying out of highways; and

an eleventh provided for the appointment of returning officers. While

General Sheaffe was President of Upper Canada, an Act was passed to

facilitate the circulation of the Lower Province Army Bills. They were

to be received in payment of duties and at the office of the Receiver

General. A second Act was passed to empower Justices of the Peace to

fine and, in the event of non-payment, to distress the properties of

persons offending against the militia laws; a third Act prohibited the

exportation of grain and other provisions and restrained the

distillation of spirituous liquors from grain; a fourth gave a pension

of £20 a year to such persons disabled in the war, as had wife or

child, to be continued to the widow or the fatherless, in the event of

the death of such disabled persons, and disabled bachelors were to

obtain, so long as they were unable to earn a livelihood, £12 a year; a

fifth prevented the sale of spirituous liquors to the Indians; a sixth

continued the Act to provide means for the defence of the province; a

seventh repealed the Hemp Encouragement Acts; an eighth continued the

Duties Agreement Act; a ninth amended an Act for the better regulation

of town and parish officers; a tenth amended and repealed in part the

Act for quartering and billetting the soldiery; and the eleventh

granted for the clerks of parliament £88 1s. 9d. The debates of course

were neither animated nor of particular interest.

In 1814, the parliament of Lower Canada was opened by the Governor

General, on the 13th of January. Sir George could meet the legislature

with heartfelt satisfaction and pride. The Canadians had acted nobly,

both in the field and out of it, while they entertained for himself,

personally, a feeling of respect, which he had done his utmost to win,

and which it was his aim to preserve. In the speech from the throne, he

congratulated parliament, particularly on the defeat of the enemy at

Chateauguay. He alluded triumphantly to the brilliant victory over

Wilkinson at Chrystler's Farm. He rejoiced that, notwithstanding the

various events of the past summer, by which the enemy had gained a

footing in the Upper province, the theatre of war had recently been

transferred to American soil, and that Niagara, Black Rock, and Buffalo

had been wrested from the enemy by British enterprise and valour. He

was proud beyond expression, at the determination manifested by the

Canadians to defend to the last extremity one of the most valuable

portions of His Majesty's dominions. He trusted to Canadian loyalty and

patriotism in the expectation that the sacrifices which the war might

yet require would be patiently submitted to. And he would faithfully

represent to His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent, the loyalty, zeal,

and unanimity of His Canadian subjects. The Houses trembled with

emotion. A thrill of intense satisfaction ran through every vein. Sir

George had touched that chord in the human heart, which was never

touched in vain. He had spoken of patriotism; he had acknowledged that

the brave were brave indeed; and he had admitted that those who had

been represented as treasonable were loyal to the core. The House of

Assembly expressed their sincere acknowledgements. They felt themselves

to have been rescued from most unfounded imputations that had been

industriously attempted to be fixed upon them. They were grateful to

His Excellency for the good opinion he had formed of them. They would

cheerfully co-operate with His Excellency in maintaining the honor and

promoting the service of their gracious sovereign. And they further

gratefully acknowledged that His Excellency, in his anxious desire to

forward the prosperity and to preserve the integrity of the province,

had been guided by a just and liberal policy towards His Majesty's

Canadian subjects, by which their loyalty, zeal, and unanimity had been

cherished and promoted, and they were so impressed with the sense of it

that, when His Excellency should withdraw, which they hoped would never

be, from the administration of the government of Lower Canada, he would

carry with him the good opinion and affection of the people over whom

he had ruled so conscientiously, so honorably, and so justly. Sir

George Prevost could not be otherwise than well satisfied with the

address in reply to his speech. Kindness and conciliation had not been

thrown away, but had been met with respect and affectionate regard.

The House proceeded almost immediately to business, and had not been

long so employed, when His Excellency sent a secret message, asking for

an increased issue of army bills, to meet the public requirements. The

House at once authorised an issue to the extent of fifteen hundred

thousand pounds. Afterwards the Assembly adopted a bill to amend the

militia laws, which the Legislative Council refused to concur in; then

a bill was passed to disqualify the judges for sitting or voting in the

Legislative Council, which the Council also refused to concur in, on

the plea that the bill was an interference with the Prerogative of the

Crown, and with their privileges; next a bill was passed in the

Assembly and negatived by the Council, to grant His Majesty a duty on

the income arising from civil offices, and on pensions, to be applied

for the defence of the province, in the war with the United States;

again the Assembly adopted a bill for the appointment of a provincial

agent in Great Britain, which the Council also set aside. Surprising as

so obvious an antagonism between the Legislative Council and

Legislative Assembly may seem, it is easily accounted for. The Council

were, many of them, placemen, and indeed the immaculate and

confidential secretary to Sir James Craig, Mr. Witsius Ryland, also

Clerk of the Executive Council, had himself a seat in the Upper House,

although Mr. Robert Peel, differing in opinion with Sir James Craig,

did not think that the situation which Mr. Ryland held was quite

compatible with a seat in the Legislative Council. Mr. Ryland has

favored the present generation, through the instrumentality of a near

relative, with a brief review of the political state of the province of

Lower Canada, from which some interesting facts can be gathered. He

states that the Assembly knew that their bill for disqualifying the

Chief Justice and Justices of the Court of King's Bench from being

summoned to the Legislative Council, would be thrown out in the Upper

House, but that the introduction of such a bill in the Assembly served

the purpose which the party who introduced it had in view: it impressed

the mass of the people with a disrespectful idea of the judges,

preparatory to a grand attack upon the whole judicature of the

province. In the bill for appointing an agent to Great Britain, Mr.

Bedard, the person who had been under confinement on a _charge_ of

treasonable practices, had been named as such agent, and a salary of

£2,000 per annum assigned him. Mr. Ryland knew that the Council would

throw out the bill. But, says that gentleman, the Council were

thwarted, as Sir George Prevost acceded to a request of the Assembly

for the appointment of two such agents, whom he accredited to His Royal

Highness, the Prince Regent, and the Legislative Council passed several

resolves expressive of their astonishment. The Council humbly

considered His Excellency's acquiescence with the wishes of the

Assembly to be an unequivocal abandonment of the "Rights" of the

Legislative Council, and a fatal dereliction of the first principles of

the constitution. And with regard to the income tax, proposed by the

Assembly, Mr. Ryland states that the whole saving that would have been

effected by it, would only have been £2,500 a year, and that the

officers of the government who had the utmost difficulty in subsisting

on their salaries, would have been, by such a measure, reduced to

extreme distress! Now, it is a noticeable fact, in connection with this

matter, that the Provincial Secretary, at the period alluded to, was an

official in the Colonial Office, and had never seen Canada, although he

afterwards received from the province a pension of £400 a year, in

consideration of his long and valuable services; and it is in a high

degree amusing to find Mr. Ryland informing this functionary

"decidedly" and "frankly", that he had acted wisely in not asking for

an increase of salary, although it was a different thing to solicit

additional assistance in an office where the public business was

constantly increasing! Mr. Ryland and a few other such cormorants could

not tolerate the impertinent interference of the House of Assembly with

their means of subsistence. Nay, it will even appear that Mr. Ryland

took it upon himself to privately lecture Sir George Prevost's

successor upon the impropriety of following a certain course of action,

and that he actually succeeded in dissuading the Governor from his

original purpose.

The Assembly, thwarted as it had been by the Council, still pursued its

reformatory course. Much time, indeed, did not elapse until Mr. Stuart

again brought forward his motion to take into consideration the power

and authority exercised by the Provincial Courts of Justice, under the

denomination of Rules of Practice. His motion was almost unanimously

carried. And who this Mr. Stuart was, Mr. Ryland tells. About 1813,

says the Clerk of the Executive Council, "Mr. Bedard, the judge, came

to Quebec, for the purpose of advising the measures to be pursued, but

not having a seat in the Assembly, the principal management was left to

an Anglo-American Barrister, named Stuart, who had been a pupil of the

present Chief Justice, (Sewell) when he held the situation of

Attorney-General. This gentleman obtained from Lieutenant-Governor

Milnes the appointment of Solicitor-General, from which he was

dismissed by Sir James Craig, in consequence of his pursuing a line of

conduct, which the latter considered utterly inconsistent with his duty

as a servant of the Crown." What the particular line of conduct pursued

by Mr. Stuart was, that so much offended Sir James Craig, even time and

Mr. Ryland have not yet revealed. Perhaps "the Anglo-American

Barrister" did not bow sufficiently low to confidential Secretaries and

Executive Clerks. He would have found such obsequiousness difficult.

Mr. Stuart was both vigorous in mind and body, and was very far from

being a common man. He stood more than six feet high, and was built in

proportion. His shoulders were broad, his chest ample, and his arms

long. His head was immoderately large. His countenance was commanding

and his bearing dignified. He spoke with great fluency and with

astonishing conciseness. His eye was large, his forehead prominent,

lofty and broad, with great depth between the brow and the occiput, his

nose was long and aquiline, with the nostrils open; his mouth was

large, but the lips were thin; and the chin was square and somewhat

prominent; viewed, in profile, the whole head was wall-sided. He was no

man to be trifled with, and none other than a fool would at any time,

have thought of doing so. The Chief Justice Sewell, also an

Anglo-American, was also an exceedingly talented man, but still a man

quite of another stamp of mind, to that of Mr. Stuart. Mr. Sewell was

thoroughly polished. No man could so well bow to power or so well bend

an inferior to his will as Mr. Chief Justice Sewell. To see him in the

street was to see him in the least, the lowest, and, consequently, the

worst point of view. He was knowing, well read, and well bred. He could

become sarcastic, but never condescended to be furious. If he was at

all sycophantic, it was his will rather than his nature to be so. On

the bench, he loomed large, being long in body, and looked stately and

agreeable. He could be stern, but sternness was less natural to him

than concealment. He never told all he knew, nor did his face ever

betray the innermost recesses of his heart. On the whole, Mr. Sewell

was a good man, and he was an excellent Chief Justice. Such are the

characters of the complainant and the defendant in this cause. Mr.

Stuart carried great weight, when on the right side, in a House of

Assembly, steadily bent upon fair legislation. Not only did he carry

his motion about taking into consideration the power and authority

exercised by the Courts of Justice, through the medium of Rules of

Practice, at variance with the law and the liberty of the subject, but

the House ordered the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, and the

Prothonotaries of the Courts to produce the Rules of Practice, or

certified copies of them, for the immediate use of members. The House

went into committee and talked the matter over, then rose, and reported

progress. The Rules of Practice had not been very long in use. They

were made for the Court of Appeals so recently as 1809, and the example

was so excellent that the Court of King's Bench followed it. The

Legislative Assembly not only considered the rules an infringement upon

their privilege of law-making but an infringement upon the civil rights

of His Majesty's subjects and subversive of the laws of the province,

rendering the enjoyment of liberty and property altogether insecure and

precarious, and giving to the judges an arbitrary authority. And the

Assembly without further ceremony proceeded to impeach the Chief

Justices of Quebec and Montreal, at the instance of Mr. Stuart, the

Anglo-American Barrister. It was said that Jonathan Sewell, Chief

Justice, had traitorously and wickedly endeavored to subvert the

constitution by the introduction of an arbitrary, tyrannical government

against law; that the said Jonathan Sewell had disregarded the

authority of Parliament, and usurped its powers by making regulations

subversive of the constitution and the laws; that Jonathan Sewell had

libellously published such Rules of Practice; that Jonathan Sewell had

substituted his own will for the will of the legislature; that Jonathan

Sewell being Chief Justice, Speaker of the Legislative Council, and

Chairman of the Executive Council, had maliciously slandered the

Canadian subjects of the King and the House of Assembly, and had

poisoned and incensed the mind of Sir James H. Craig, the

Governor-in-Chief, and had so misled and deceived him that he did on

the 15th of May, 1809, dissolve the parliament, without any cause

whatever to palliate or excuse the measure, the said Governor-in-Chief

having been at the same time advised to make a speech in gross

violation of the rights of the Assembly, grossly insulting to its

members, and misrepresenting their conduct; that to prevent opposition

to his tyrannical views the said Jonathan Sewell had counselled and

advised Sir James Henry Craig to remove and dismiss divers loyal and

deserving subjects, from offices of profit and emolument--now the head

and front of Mr. Sewell's offending has come nebulously to

light--without the semblance of reason to justify it; that to mark his

contempt for the representatives of the people and for the

constitution, he had procured the dismissal of Jean Antoine Panet,

Esquire, who then was, and for fifteen years preceding had been Speaker

of the Assembly, from his rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the militia,

without any reason to palliate or excuse the injustice; that he had

induced P. E. Desbarats, the law printer, to establish a newspaper

styled the "Vrai Canadien," for the purpose of vilifying such members

of the Assembly as were obnoxious to him; that with the view of

extinguishing the liberty of the press, and destroying, therefore,

effectually, the rights, liberty, and security of His Majesty's

subjects in the province, and suppressing all complaint of oppression,

he had, in March, 1810, advised and approved the sending of an armed

force to break open the dwelling house and printing office of one

Charles Lefrançois, there to arrest and imprison him, and seize and

bring away a printing press, with various private papers, which measure

of lawless violence was accordingly executed, the said press and papers

being then in the Court House of Quebec, with the knowledge and

approbation of the said Jonathan Sewell; that Jonathan Sewell had

advised the arrest of Messrs. Bedard, Blanchet and Taschereau, upon an

unfounded pretext; that Jonathan Sewell had instigated the oppression

of the old and infirm François Corbeil, by which the old man lost his

life; that Jonathan Sewell had instigated Sir James Henry Craig to

issue a proclamation causing the public to believe that Mr. Bedard had

been guilty of treason, and that the province was in a state

approaching to open rebellion; that Jonathan Sewell had read the wicked

proclamation in the Court House, to influence the Grand and Petty

Juries; that Jonathan Sewell had abused his powers simply with the view

of paving the way for American predominance in Canada; that with the

view of annexing Canada to the United States he had entered into a base

and wicked conspiracy with one John Henry, an adventurer of suspicious

character, for the purpose of sowing dissension among the subjects of

the government of the United States, and producing a dismemberment of

the Union; and had given artful advice to Sir James Craig, inducing him

to send Henry, the adventurer, on a secret mission, which had exposed

His Majesty's government to imputations reflecting on its honor, and

that he had labored to promote disunion between the legislative Council

and Legislative Assembly, and had fomented dissensions in the province

to prevent a reliance on the loyalty and bravery of His Majesty's

Canadian subjects. Mr. Chief Justice Monk was impeached as an

accessory.

With the view of effectually prosecuting the impeachment, the House

appointed Mr. Stuart its agent, and directed him to proceed to England,

to press upon His Majesty's ministers the necessity of giving heed to

the business. £2,000 were awarded for the payment of the expenses of

Mr. Stuart, but the Council expunged the award from the revenue bill,

and there was no more about it, until the House went to the Castle with

their Speaker, who presented an address to the Governor General,

requesting him to transmit the impeachments, and suggested the

propriety of the Chief Justices being suspended from the exercise of

their powers until the pleasure of the Prince Regent could be

ascertained. Sir George Prevost was somewhat taken by surprise. He was

in an exceedingly delicate or rather interesting situation. It was an

unpleasant, if not a disagreeable part, which he was required to play.

It was, in a word, to make complaint to the Prince Regent of his

predecessor. Sir George, however, blandly said that he would take an

early opportunity of transmitting the address, with the articles of

accusation against the Chief Justices, to His Majesty. With regard to

the suggestion of the Honorable House of Assembly, concerning the

suspension of the Chief Justices, he did not consider it necessary to

go to that extreme. The Legislative Council had not even been consulted

with regard to the articles of accusation; and he could not think of

suspending two officers of such rank, on the complaint of only the

third branch of the legislature.

In the Assembly, when the Speaker had returned to the chair, there were

murmurs, both loud and deep. Mr. James Stuart, seconded by Louis Joseph

Papineau, both determined men, and of consummate ability, moved that

the charges exhibited by the Assembly against Jonathan Sewell and James

Monk, Esquires, were rightly denominated, Heads of Impeachment; that

the House had the right to advise the Governor General without the

concurrence of the Legislative Council; that the House in pointing out

the existence of gross abuses, had performed the first and most

essential of its duties; that in framing and exhibiting the heads of

impeachment referred to in the address to His Excellency, the House had

exercised a salutary power, vested in it by the constitution; and that

His Excellency, the Governor-in-Chief, had violated the constitutional

rights and privileges of the House, by his answer to the address. But

afterwards, to show that a feeling of respect was yet felt for His

Excellency, greater than any of his predecessors had ever experienced,

the House resolved, notwithstanding the wicked and perverse advice

which he had received, that His Majesty's faithful Commons of Canada

had not, in any respect, altered the opinion they had ever entertained

of the wisdom of His Excellency's administration, and they were

determined to adopt the measures deemed necessary for the support of

the government and the defence of the province.

The Governor-in-Chief was, however, not by any means pleased with the

pertinacity of the Assembly. There were evidently men in the House, who

would neither be forced nor persuaded out of certain measures. He

hardly knew how to act in the emergency, and with his usual caution he

did nothing. The Chief Justice Sewell went to England for the purpose

of repelling the accusations against him, and as he was only the

instrument of, not under any circumstance the author of a wrong,

English public opinion, of course, went strongly with him. The

Executive Councillors, the merchants, and the other principal

inhabitants of Quebec presented addresses to His Honor, intimating the

high opinion in which he was held, and alluding to his conspicuous

ability, comprehensive knowledge, patient candour, liberal respect for

the opinion of others, and his equality and gentleness of temper,

pointedly and flatteringly. Mr. Chief Justice Monk was similarly

treated by the influential inhabitants. The Assembly continued,

notwithstanding the war exigencies of the times, in their factiousness,

as their persistence in some measures was considered. They again passed

a bill appointing a provincial agent to Great Britain, who was to

reside in London, after the manner of an ambassador. Mr. Bedard, the

Judge of Three Rivers, who had figured somewhat conspicuously in Sir

James Craig's time, was named as the agent in the bill. It was sent up

to the Legislative Council for concurrence. And it had not been long

there when it occurred to the House of Assembly that two agents would

be better than one, as the Council, desirous of sending one of their

own members to England, would thereby be induced to concur in the

expediency of despatching agents to London. But the Council begged that

the Assembly would mind its own business and not interfere with any

bill before the Upper House, unless a conference was officially asked

for by the Legislative Council, when any suggestion from the Assembly

would be attended to. The Upper House never encroached upon the

privileges of the Lower House. The agent was not appointed. The Houses

could not agree upon a messenger, and although the Governor promised to

send two messengers to London, at the public expense, if the Assembly

desired it, no one is to this hour very certain whether the address of

the Legislative Assembly, to the Prince Regent, ever reached his royal

fingers. These were the principal matters with which the time of the

House was occupied, but the opportunity was not overlooked of voting

the thanks of the House to Colonel DeSalaberry and his officers and men

under him, for their distinguished conduct at Chateauguay, and to

Colonel Morrison, of the 89th regiment, and to the officers and men

under him, for their exertions at Chrystler's Farm, in the defeat of

Wilkinson.

On the 17th of March, the parliament was prorogued, and so ended the

seventh parliament of Lower Canada. Sir George Prevost in his closing

speech, was not so flattering in his allusions as in opening the

session. He had seen with regret a want of unanimity and despatch, and

a want of confidence in himself, which had been attended with serious

inconveniences to the public service, in both Houses. He lamented the

course of proceeding adopted by the Assembly, which had occasioned the

loss of a productive revenue bill, to wit, tacking to the bill the

clause for the payment of a London agent, which had caused its

rejection by the Upper House, and a consequent misunderstanding by

which the bill had been lost. He regretted that in sacrificing the

liberal appropriations for the defence of the province they had been

swayed by any considerations, which seemed to them of higher importance

than the immediate security of the province or the comfort of those

engaged in its protection. He earnestly entreated the gentlemen of the

Legislative Council, as peace was not obtained, to impress on all

around them, by precept and example, a respect for the laws by which

they were governed, as well as a just confidence in those who

administered them, and to cherish and encourage that spirit which had

hitherto proved the firmest barrier against all the attempts of the

enemy. And as the parliament was about to expire, and he should avail

himself of an early opportunity of appealing to the sense of the people

for the election of a new Assembly, he recommended the honorable

gentlemen and gentlemen to give the inhabitants of the province a true

idea of the nature and value of the constitution which they possessed,

so that their choice of representatives might fall on those who would

endeavour faithfully to uphold it, and so promote the safety, welfare,

and prosperity of the province.

Sir George Prevost evidently threw out some hints to the Legislative

Council, which could not have been particularly palatable.

In Sir George's speech there was an allusion to peace not being at

hand. Sir George made that reference doubtless in connection with the

fact that Russia had offered to mediate between the contending powers,

with reference to an amicable settlement of their differences. Indeed

commissioners were appointed to negotiate, by the United States.

Messrs. Gallatin, Adams, and Bayard were named. But Great Britain

declined the proposal, though the Prince Regent offered a direct

negotiation either at London or Gottenburg. The offer was accepted, and

Messrs. Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, were added

to the commissioners already in Europe, and sailed soon after for

Gottenburg. Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams were

appointed on the part of the Court of St. James, to meet them. The

place of meeting was subsequently changed to Ghent, in Flanders, and

the conference met in August. But while the conference sat the war was

carried on.

The first fight of moment in 1814, occurred on the Pacific Coast. The

American Commodore Porter had been cruising in the frigate _Essex_, for

some time, in the Pacific, with wonderful success. He had with him as a

consort, a captured whaleship, which he had armed with twenty guns, and

named the _Essex, junior_. Captain Hillyard, in the British frigate

_Phoebe_, accompanied by the sloop of war _Cherub_, had been sent in

search of the successful cruiser, and on the 9th of February, gained

intelligence to the effect that with two of her prizes she had put into

Valparaiso. The American was no match, even with the aid of the whale

ship, for two such vessels, and kept in port, the British vessels

keeping up a strict blockade for six weeks.[23] At length, on the 28th

of March, tired of the blockade, Porter attempted to escape, when

Captain Hillyard succeeded in bringing her to action, in the roads of

Valparaiso, before she could get back, and without the aid of her

lesser consort. The American ship, in the hurry to escape, had spread

every stitch of canvas, to run past the _Phoebe_, and as she was

doubling the point a squall struck her, carrying away the main topmast.

Both ships immediately gave chase, and being unable to escape in his

crippled state, Porter attempted to regain the harbor. Finding this to

be impracticable, he ran into a small bay and anchored within pistol

shot of the shore. The contest, which was a most unequal one, now

commenced. Both the attacking vessels at first got into raking

positions, and did great execution. Nevertheless, Captain Porter fought

gallantly. Hillyard's ship having sustained serious damage in her

rigging, and having become almost unmanageable, on that account, hauled

off to repair damages, leaving the _Cherub_ to continue the action.

Hillyard manoeuvred deliberately and warily. He knew that his

antagonist was in his power, and his only concern was to succeed with

as little loss to himself as possible. Hillyard again attacked, and the

_Essex_ hoisting her foresail and lifting her anchor, managed] to run

alongside of the _Phoebe_. The firing was now tremendous, and the

_Essex's_ decks were strewed with dead. Both attacking ships then edged

off, and fired into the _Essex_, at convenient range, until she struck.

The _Cherub_ raked the _Essex_, while the _Phoebe_ exchanged broadsides

with her. The _Essex_ had twice taken fire during the action. The loss

on board the _Essex_ was fifty-eight killed, thirty-nine wounded

severely, twenty-seven slightly, and thirty-one missing. On board both

British vessels only five were killed and ten wounded. It is said that

there were nearly a hundred sailors on board the _Essex_, when the

engagement commenced, who jumped overboard, when it was likely she

would be taken; that of these forty reached the shore, while thirty-one

were drowned, and sixteen picked up when on the point of drowning, by

the British. On the other hand it is alleged that when the _Essex_ took

fire aft, a quantity of powder exploded, and word was given that the

fire was near her magazine. It was then that Captain Porter advised as

many as could swim to make for the shore, which they did, or tried to

do, while those who could not swim exerted themselves to extinguish the

flames, which having done, the action was renewed, until fighting was

impossible. When Porter summoned a consultation of his officers, only

one appeared--Acting Lieutenant McNight.

[23] So say the Americans. Mr. Alison says three weeks.