_Elizabethtown, N.J., March 23, 1840_.
Brigadier-General R. JONES,
_Adjutant-General United States Army_.
SIR: I have received from your office copies of two resolutions, passed,
respectively, the 12th and 9th instant, one by the Senate and the other
by the House of Representatives, and I am asked for "any information on
the subject of both or either of the resolutions that may be in [my]
possession."
In respect to the naval force recently maintained upon the American
lakes by Great Britain, I have just had the honor to report to the
Secretary of War, by whom the resolution of the House of Representatives
(of the 9th instant) was directly referred to me.
I now confine myself to the Senate's resolution, respecting "military
[I omit _naval_] preparations of the British authorities on the northern
frontiers of the United States from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean,
distinguishing the permanent from the temporary and field works, and
particularly noting those which are within the claimed limits of the
United States."
I will here remark that however well my duties have made me acquainted
with the greater part of the line in question, I have paid but slight
attention to the forts and barracks erected by the British authorities
near the borders of Maine _above_ Frederickton, in New Brunswick, or in
Upper Canada _above_ Cornwall, being of the fixed opinion (which need
not here be developed) that all such structures would be of little or
no military value to either of the parties in the event of a new war
between the United States and Great Britain.
I was last summer at the foot of Lake Superior, and neither saw nor
heard of any British fort or barrack on the St. Marys River, the outlet
of that lake.
Between Lakes Huron and Erie the British have three sets of
barracks--one at Windsor, opposite to Detroit; one at Sandwich, a little
lower down; and the third at Maiden, 18 miles from the first--all built
of sawed logs, strengthened by blockhouses, loopholes, etc. Maiden
has long been a military post, with slight defenses. These have been
recently strengthened. The works at Sandwich and Windsor have also,
I think, been erected within the last six or eight months.
Near the mouth of the Niagara the British have two small forts--George
and Mississauga; both existed during the last war. The latter may be
termed a permanent work. Slight barracks have been erected within the
last two years on the same side near the Falls and at Chippewa, with
breastworks at the latter place, but nothing, I believe, above the
works first named on the Niagara which can be termed a fort.
Since the commencement of recent troubles in the Canadas and (consequent
thereupon) within our limits Fort William Henry, at Kingston, and Fort
Wellington, opposite to Ogdensburg (old works), have both been
strengthened within themselves, besides the addition of dependencies.
These forts may be called permanent.
On the St. Lawrence below Prescott, and confronting our territory,
I know of no other military post. Twelve miles above, at Brockville,
there may be temporary barracks and breastworks. I know that of late
Brockville has been a military station.
In the system of defenses on the approaches to Montreal the Isle aux
Noix, a few miles below our line, and in the outlet of Lake Champlain,
stands at the head. This island contains within itself a system of
permanent works of great strength. On them the British Government has
from time to time since the peace of 1815 expended much skill and labor.
Odletown, near our line, on the western side of Lake Champlain, has been
a station for a body of Canadian militia for two years, to guard the
neighborhood from refugee incendiaries from our side. I think that
barracks have been erected there for the accommodation of those troops,
and also at a station, with the like object, near Alburgh, in Vermont.
It is believed that there are no important British forts or extensive
British barracks on our borders from Vermont to Maine.
In respect to such structures on _the disputed territory_, Governor
Fairfield's published letters contain fuller information than has
reached me through any other channel. I have heard of no new military
preparations by the British authorities on the St. Croix or
Passamaquoddy Bay.
Among such preparations, perhaps I ought not to omit the fact that Great
Britain, besides numerous corps of well-organized and well-instructed
militia, has at this time within her North American Provinces more than
20,000 of her best regular troops. The whole of those forces might be
brought to the verge of our territory in a few days. Two-thirds of that
regular force has arrived out since the spring of 1838.