During the summer, acting under a hostile message received from the

governor, the Massachusetts Legislature drew up a remonstrance,

denouncing the war as wrong and unwise, prompted by desire of conquest

and love of France, rather than the wish to maintain the rights of the

people. The report of a committee against the incorporation into the

Union of Louisiana, as the commencement of western annexation,

destined, if not arrested, to destroy the preponderance of the Eastern

states, was also sustained in this remonstrance, which closed with a

solemn appeal to the Searcher of all hearts for the purity of the

motives which prompted it. Quincy in the House, and Otis and Loyd in

the Senate, were the Federalist leaders. Not content with taking this

hostile attitude to the General Government, the Legislature soon after

refused to pass resolutions complimentary to Captain Lawrence for his

gallant conduct in capturing the Peacock, and passed instead, the

following resolution introduced by a preamble, declaring that such

commendations encouraged the continuance of the war. "_Resolved_, as

the sense of the Senate of Massachusetts, that in a war like the

present, waged without justifiable cause, and prosecuted in a manner

showing that conquest and ambition are its real motives, it is not

becoming a moral people to express any approbation of military or

naval exploits, which are not immediately connected with the defence

of our sea-coast and soil." This was not a mere expression of feeling,

but the utterance of a principle acted on from that time to the end of

the war. This proud assumption of state rights and denunciation of the

war when our coasts were blockaded by British cruisers and our

frontiers drenched in blood, met the stern condemnation of the people

throughout the land, and raised a clamor that frightened the authors

of it. Party spirit had made Massachusetts mad, and blinded by her own

narrow views, she wished to wrap herself up in her isolated dignity

and keep forever from the great brotherhood of the Union those western

territories where the hardy settler had to contend not only with the

asperities of nature but a treacherous foe. That West which she then

abjured has since repaid the wrong by pouring into her lap countless

treasures, and furnishing homes for tens of thousands of her sons and

daughters. Allowing the spirit of faction to override the feelings of

nationality, she refused to rejoice in the victories of her country or

sympathize in her defeats. South Carolina has since assumed a similar

hostile attitude to the Union, but it yet remains to be seen whether

she would not sink her private quarrels when the national rights were

struck down and the country wasted by a common foe. As a state, not

only repudiating the authority of the general government and the

sacredness of the Union, but also refusing to stand by the republic in

the hour of adversity and darkness, Massachusetts occupied at that

time a preeminence in our history which it is to be hoped no other

state will ever covet.

CHAPTER XII.

Perry obtains and equips a fleet on Lake Erie -- Puts to sea

-- Kentucky marines -- Description of the battle -- Gallant

bearing of Perry -- Slaughter on the Lawrence -- Perry after

the battle -- Burial of the officers -- Exultation of the

people -- Harrison advances on Malden -- Flight of Proctor

-- Battle of the Thames, and death of Tecumseh.

But while the country, torn with internal strife and wasted by

external foes, looked with sad forebodings on the prospect before it,

there suddenly shot forth over the western wilderness a gleam of

light, like the bright hues of sunset, betokening a fairer to-morrow.

Perry's brilliant victory, followed by the overthrow of Proctor a few

weeks after, thrilled the land from limit to limit. On the frontier,

where we had met with nothing but disgrace, and towards which the

common eye turned with chagrin, we had cancelled a portion of our

shame, and relieved the national bosom of a part of the load that

oppressed it.

After the capture of Forts York and George, by which the river of

Niagara was opened to American navigation, Captain Perry was able to

take some vessels bought for the service from Black Rock into Lake

Erie. The Lake at the time was in the possession of the British fleet,

commanded by Captain Barclay, and Perry ran great hazard in

encountering it before he could reach Presque Isle, now Erie, where

the other vessels to compose his squadron had been built. He, however,

reached this spacious harbor just as the English hove in sight. Having

now collected his whole force he made vigorous preparations to get to

sea. By the first of August he was ready to set sail, but the enemy

lay off the harbor, across the mouth of which extended a bar, that he

was afraid to cross under a heavy fire. To his great delight, however,

the British fleet suddenly disappeared--Captain Barclay not dreaming

that his adversary was ready to go to sea, having gone to the Canada

shore.

Perry was at this time a mere youth, of twenty-seven years of age, but

ardent, chivalrous, and full of energy and resource. From the time he

arrived on the frontier, the winter previous, he had been unceasing in

his efforts to obtain and equip a fleet. Materials had to be brought

from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, dragged hundreds of miles over bad

roads and across unbridged streams. But after his vessels were ready

for sea, he was destitute of crews. To his repeated and urgent calls

for men, only promises were returned, nor did they arrive till the

English had been able to finish and equip a large vessel, the Detroit,

which gave them a decided preponderance. Perry was exceedingly anxious

to attack the hostile fleet before it received this accession of

strength, but prevented from doing this through want of men, he was at

last compelled to abandon all his efforts, or take his chance with his

motley, untrained crew, in an action where the superiority was

manifest. He boldly resolved on the latter course, and taking

advantage of Barclay's sudden departure, gave orders for the men to

repair immediately on board ship, and dropped with eight of his

squadron down the harbor to the bar. It was Sabbath morning, and young

Perry, impressed with the great issues to himself and his country from

the step he was about to take, sent his boat ashore for a clergyman,

requesting him to hold religious services on board his ship. All the

officers of the squadron were assembled on the deck of the Lawrence,

and listened to an impressive address on the duty they owed their

country. Prayer was then offered for the success of their cause. Young

Perry reverently listening to the voice of prayer, as he is going

forth to battle, and young Macdonough lifting his own in supplication

to God, after his decks are cleared for action, furnish striking and

beautiful examples to naval men.

Next morning the water being smooth, the guns of the Lawrence, the

largest vessel, were taken out, and two scows placed alongside and

filled till they sunk to the water's edge. Pieces of timber were then

run through the forward and after ports of the vessel, and made fast

by blocks to the scows. All being ready, the water was pumped out of

them, and the vessel slowly rose over the bar. She stuck fast,

however, on the top, and the scows had to be sunk again before she

finally floated clear and moved off into deep water. The men worked

all night to get this one brig over. The schooners passed easily and

moored outside. The Lawrence was scarcely once more afloat before the

returning fleet hove in sight. Perry immediately prepared for action.

But Barclay after reconnoitering for half an hour crowded all sail and

disappeared again up the lake.[39] The next day Perry sailed in

pursuit, but after cruising a whole day without finding the enemy,

returned to take in supplies. [Sidenote: Aug. 12.] He was about to

start again, when he received information of the expected approach of

a party of seamen under the command of Captain Elliot. Waiting a day

or two to receive this welcome aid, he set sail for Sandusky, to put

himself in communication with Gen. Harrison and the north-western

army. He then returned to Malden, where the British fleet lay, and

going into Put-in Bay, a haven in its vicinity, waited for the enemy

to come out. [Sidenote: Aug. 25.] Here many of his crew were taken

sick with fever, which at last seized him, together with the three

surgeons of the squadron. He was not able to leave his cabin till the

early part of September, when he received an additional reinforcement

of a hundred volunteers. These troops came from Harrison's army, and

were mostly Kentucky militia and soldiers from the 28th regiment of

infantry, and all volunteers for the approaching battle. The

Kentuckians, most of them, had never seen a square rigged vessel

before, and wandered up and down examining every room and part of the

ship without scruple. Dressed in their fringed linsey-woolsey

hunting-shirts, with their muskets in their hands, they made a novel

marine corps as ever trod the deck of a battle-ship.

[Footnote 39: It was said he had accepted an invitation to dine in a

Canadian town, and expected to be back before the departure of his

enemy.]

[Sidenote: Sept. 10.]

On the morning of the 10th of September, it was announced that the

British fleet was coming out of Malden, and Perry immediately set sail

to meet it. His squadron consisted of three brigs, the Lawrence,

Niagara and Caledonia, the Trippe, a sloop, and five schooners,

carrying in all fifty-four guns. That of the British was composed of

six vessels, mounting sixty-three guns. It was a beautiful morning,

and the light breeze scarcely ruffled the surface of the water as the

two squadrons, with all sails set, slowly approached each other. The

weather-gauge, at first, was with the enemy, but Perry impatient to

close, resolved to waive this advantage, and kept standing on, when

the wind unexpectedly shifted in his favor. Captain Barclay observing

this, immediately hove to, and lying with his topsails aback, waited

the approach of his adversary. With all his canvass out, Perry bore

slowly and steadily down before the wind. The breeze was so light that

he could scarcely make two miles an hour. The shore was lined with

spectators, gazing on the exciting spectacle, and watching with

intense anxiety the movements of the American squadron. Not a cloud

dimmed the clear blue sky over head, and the lake lay like a mirror,

reflecting its beauty and its purity. Perry, in the Lawrence, led the

line.

Taking out the flag which had been previously prepared, and mounting a

gun-slide, he called the crew about him, and said, "My brave lads,

this flag contains the last words of Captain Lawrence. Shall I hoist

it?" "Aye, aye, sir," was the cheerful response. Up went the flag with

a will, and as it swayed to the breeze it was greeted with loud cheers

from the deck. As the rest of the squadron beheld that flag floating

from the mainmast of their commander's vessel, and saw "Don't give up

the ship!" was to be the signal for action, a long, loud cheer rolled

down the line. The excitement spread below, and all the sick that

could move, tumbled up to aid in the approaching combat. Perry then

visited every gun, having a word of encouragement for each captain.

Seeing some of the gallant tars who had served on board the

Constitution, and many of whom now stood with handkerchiefs tied round

their heads, all cleared for action, he said, "Well, boys, are you

ready?" "All ready, your honor," was the quick response. "I need not

say anything to you. _You_ know how to beat those fellows," he added

smilingly, as he passed on.

The wind was so light that it took an hour and a half, after all the

preparations had been made, to reach the hostile squadron. This long

interval of idleness and suspense was harder to bear than the battle

itself. Every man stood silently watching the enemy's vessels, or in

low and earnest tones conversed with each other, leaving requests and

messages to friends in case they fell. Perry gave his last direction,

in the event of his death, to Hambleton--tied weights to his public

papers in order to have them ready to cast overboard if he should be

defeated--read over his wife's letters for the last time, and then

tore them up, so that the enemy should not see those records of the

heart, and turned away, remarking, "_This is the most important day of

my life._" The deep seriousness and silence that had fallen on the

ship, was at last broken by the blast of a bugle that came ringing

over the water from the Detroit, followed by cheers from the whole

British squadron. A single gun, whose shot went skipping past the

Lawrence, first uttered its stern challenge, and in a few minutes all

the long guns of the enemy began to play on the American fleet. Being

a mile and a half distant, Perry could not use his carronades, and he

was exposed to this fire for a half an hour before he could get within

range. Steering straight for the Detroit, a vessel a fourth larger

than his own, he gave orders to have the schooners that lagged behind

close up within half cable's length. Those orders, the last he gave

during the battle, were passed by trumpet from vessel to vessel. The

light wind having nearly died away, the Lawrence suffered severely

before she could get near enough to open with her carronades and she

had scarcely taken her position before the fire of three vessels was

directed upon her. Enveloped in flame and smoke, Perry strove

desperately to maintain his ground till the rest of the fleet could

close, and for two hours sustained without flinching this unequal

contest. The balls crashed incessantly through the sides of the ship,

dismounting the guns and strewing the deck with the dead, until at

length, with "every brace and bow-line shot away," she lay an

unmanageable wreck on the water. But still through the smoke, as it

rent before the heavy broadsides, her colors were seen flying, and

still gleamed forth in the sunlight that glorious motto--"_Don't give

up the ship!_" Calm and unmoved at the slaughter around him and his

own desperate position, Perry gave his orders tranquilly, as though

executing a manoeuvre. Although in his first battle, and unaccustomed

to scenes of carnage, his face gave no token of the emotions that

mastered him. Advancing to assist a sailor whose gun had got out of

order, he saw the poor fellow struck from his side by a twenty-four

pound shot and expire without a groan. His second lieutenant fell at

his feet. Lieutenant Brooks, a gay, dashing officer, of extraordinary

personal beauty, while speaking cheerfully to him, was dashed by a

cannon-ball to the other side of the deck and mangled in the most

frightful manner. His shrieks and imploring cries to Perry to kill him

and end his misery, were heard even above the roar of the guns in

every part of the ship. The dying who strewed the deck would turn

their eyes in mute inquiry upon their youthful commander, as if to be

told they had done their duty. The living, as a sweeping shot rent

huge gaps in the ranks of their companions, looked a moment into his

face to read its expression, and then stepped quietly into the places

left vacant.

Lieutenant Yarnall, with a red handkerchief tied round his head, and

another round his neck, to staunch the blood flowing from two wounds,

his nose swelled to a monstrous size, from a splinter having passed

through it, disfigured and covered with gore, moved amid this terrific

scene the very genius of havoc and carnage. Approaching Perry, he told

him every officer in his division was killed. Others were given him,

but he soon returned with the same dismal tidings. Perry then told him

he must get along by himself, as he had no more to furnish him, and

the gallant man went back alone to his guns. Once only did the shadow

of any emotion pass over the countenance of this intrepid commander.

He had a brother on board, only twelve years old. The little fellow

who had had two balls pass through his hat, and been struck with

splinters, was still standing by the side of his brother, stunned by

the awful cannonading and carnage around him, when he suddenly fell.

For a moment Perry thought he too was gone, but he had only been

knocked down by a hammock, which a cannon ball had hurled against him.

[Illustration: Battle on Lake Erie.]

At length every gun was dismounted but one, still Perry fought with

that till at last it also was knocked from the carriage. Out of the

one hundred men with whom a few hours before he had gone into battle,

only eighteen stood up unwounded. Looking through the smoke he saw the

Niagara, apparently uncrippled, drifting out of the battle. Leaping

into a boat with his young brother, he said to his remaining officer,

"If a victory is to be gained, I will gain it," and standing erect,

told the sailors to give way with a will. The enemy observed the

movement, and immediately directed their fire upon the boat. Oars were

splintered in the rowers' hands by musket balls, and the men

themselves covered with spray from the round shot and grape, that

smote the water on every side. Passing swiftly through the iron storm

he reached the Niagara in safety, and as the survivors of the Lawrence

saw him go up the vessel's side, they gave a hearty cheer. Finding her

sound and whole, Perry backed his maintop sail, and flung out his

signal for close action. From vessel to vessel the answering signals

went up in the sunlight, and three cheers rang over the water. He then

gave his sails to the wind and bore steadily down on the centre of the

enemy's line. Reserving his fire as he advanced, he passed alone

through the hostile fleet, within close pistol range, wrapt in flame

as he swept on. Delivering his broadsides right and left, he spread

horror and death through the decks of the Detroit and Lady Prevost.

Rounding to as he passed the line, he laid his vessel close to two of

the enemy's ships, and poured in his rapid fire. The shrieks that rung

out from the Detroit were heard even above the deafening cannonade,

while the crew of the Lady Prevost, unable to stand the fire, ran

below, leaving their wounded, stunned, and bewildered commander alone

on deck, leaning his face on his hand, and gazing vacantly on the

passing ship. The other American vessels having come up, the action at

once became general. To the spectators from the shore the scene at

this moment was indescribably thrilling. Far out on the calm water lay

a white cloud, from out whose tortured bosom broke incessant flashes

and thunder claps--the loud echoes rolling heavily away over the deep,

and dying amid the silence and solitude of the forest.

An action so close and murderous could not last long, and it was soon

apparent that victory inclined to the Americans, for while the enemy's

fire sensibly slackened, the signal for close action was still flying

from the Niagara, and from every American vessel the answering signal

floated proudly in the wind. In fifteen minutes from the time the

first signal was made the battle was over. A white handkerchief waved

from the taffrail of the Queen Charlotte announced the surrender. The

firing ceased; the smoke slowly cleared away, revealing the two fleets

commingled, shattered, and torn, and strewed with dead. The loss on

each side was a hundred and thirty-five killed and wounded.

Perry having secured the prisoners, returned to the Lawrence, lying a

wreck in the distance, whither she had helplessly drifted. She had

struck her flag before he closed with the Niagara, but it was now

flying again. Not a word was spoken as he went over the vessel's side;

a silent grasp of the hand was the only sign of recognition, for the

deck around was covered with dismembered limbs, and brains, while the

bodies of twenty officers and men lay in ghastly groups before him.

As the sun went down over the still lake his last beams looked on a

mournful spectacle. Those ships stripped of their spars and canvass,

looked as if they had been swept by a hurricane, while desolation

covered their decks. At twilight the seamen who had fallen on board

the American fleet were committed to the deep, and the solemn burial

service of the Episcopal Church read over them.

The uproar of the day had ceased and deep silence rested on the two

squadrons, riding quietly at anchor, broken only by the stifled groans

of the wounded, that were echoed from ship to ship. As Perry sat that

night on the quarter-deck of the Lawrence, conversing with his few

remaining officers, while ever and anon the moans of his brave

comrades below were borne to his ear, he was solemn and subdued. The

exciting scene through which he had safely passed--the heavy load

taken from his heart--the reflection that his own life had been

spared, and the consciousness that his little brother was slumbering

sweetly and unhurt in his hammock beside him, awakened emotions of

gratitude to God, and he gravely remarked, "I believe that my wife's

prayers have saved me."[40]

[Footnote 40: See Mackenzie's Life of Perry.]

It had been a proud day for him, and as he lay that night and thought

what a change a few hours had wrought in his fortunes, feelings of

exultation might well swell his bosom. Such unshaken composure--such

gallant bearing--stern resolution, and steadiness and tenacity of

purpose in a young man of twenty-seven, in his first battle, exhibit a

marvellous strength of character, and one wonders more at him than his

success.

It was a great victory, and as the news spread, bonfires,

illuminations, the firing of cannon and shouts of excited multitudes

announced the joy and exultation of the nation. The gallant bearing of

Perry--his daring passage in an open boat through the enemy's fire to

the Niagara--the motto on his flag--the manner in which he carried his

vessel alone through the enemy's line, and then closed in half pistol

shot--his laconic account of the victory in a letter to the Secretary

of the Navy, "WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND THEY ARE OURS"--furnished

endless themes for discussion and eulogy, and he suddenly found

himself in the front rank of heroes.

The day after the battle the funeral of the officers of the two fleets

took place. A little opening on the margin of the bay, a wild and

solitary spot, was selected as the place of interment. It was a

beautiful autumn day, not a breath of air ruffled the surface of the

lake or moved the still forest that fringed that lonely clearing. The

sun shone brightly down on the new-made graves, and not a sound

disturbed the sabbath stillness that rested on forest and lake. The

fallen officers, each in his appropriate uniform, were laid on

platforms made to receive them, and placed with their hands across

their breasts, in the barges. As these were rowed gently away the

boats fell in behind in long procession, and the whole swept slowly

and sadly towards the place of burial. The flags drooped mournfully in

the still air, the dirge to which the oars kept time rose and fell in

solemn strains over the water, while minute guns from the various

vessels blended their impressive harmony with the scene. The day

before had been one of strife and carnage, but those who had closed in

mortal hate, now mourned like a band of brothers for their fallen

leaders, and gathering together around the place of burial, gazed a

last farewell, and firing one volley over the nameless graves, turned

sadly away. There, in that wild spot, with the sullen waves to sing

their perpetual dirge, they slept the sleep of the brave. They had

fought gallantly, and it mattered not to them the victory or defeat,

for they had gone to that still land where human strifes are

forgotten, and the clangor of battle never comes.

This impressive scene occurred off the shore where the massacre of

Raisin was committed, and what a striking contrast does it present to

the day that succeeded the victory of Proctor. By his noble and

generous conduct Perry won the esteem and love of his enemies, while

Proctor by his unfeeling neglect and barbarity received the curse of

all honorable men. The name of one is linked to the spot where he

conquered, with blessings; that of the other with everlasting infamy

and disgrace.

Harrison, after this victory, collected his army of seven thousand

men, and concentrated them at Put-in Bay. Perry's fleet rode

triumphant on the lake, and he offered its service to Harrison. The

latter ordered the regiment of horse, one thousand strong, to proceed

by land to Detroit, while the rest of the army was embarked on board

the vessels and set sail for Malden. [Sidenote: Sept. 13.] Proctor

commanded at the latter place, and hearing of Barclay's defeat and

Harrison's advance, was seized with alarm, and dismantling and blowing

up the fort, and setting on fire the navy yard, barracks and store

houses, and taking with him all the horses and cattle, fled towards

the Thames. The Americans followed in swift and eager pursuit.

Governor Shelby, of Kentucky, though sixty-two years of age, was there

with his brave Kentuckians, a volunteer, shaking his white locks with

the merriest. Perry and Cass also accompanied the army, sharing in the

animation and eagerness of the men. Sending a detachment across the

river to drive out the hostile Indians from Detroit, Harrison, on the

30th, saw with relief the mounted column of Colonel Johnson winding

along the opposite bank, announcing its approach with the stirring

notes of the bugle. Resting one day to complete his preparations, he,

on the 2d of October, resumed the pursuit, and soon, abandoned guns

and shells, destroyed bridges, and houses and vessels on fire,

revealed the haste and rage of the enemy. Proctor, after reaching the

Thames, kept up the river, with the intention of striking the British

posts near the head of Lake Ontario. But Harrison pressed him so

closely, it soon became evident that a battle could not be avoided. On

the 5th, Colonel Johnson, with his mounted Kentuckians, marching two

or three miles in advance, came upon the retreating army drawn up in

order of battle, on the bank of the Thames near the Moravian

settlement. Proctor had taken an admirable position upon a dry strip

of land, flanked by the river on the left and a swamp on the right.

Here he placed his regulars, eight hundred strong, while Tecumseh with

his two thousand Indian allies occupied the eastern margin of the

swamp. Harrison, with his troops jaded out, encamped that night in

front of the enemy. [Sidenote: Oct. 4.] After dark Proctor and

Tecumseh reconnoitred together the American camp, when the latter

advised a night attack. This, Proctor objected to, and strongly urged

a retreat. The haughty savage spurned the proposition, and in the

morning the British general finding he could not escape an engagement,

resolved to give battle where he was. Thinking only of retreat he had

neglected to erect a breastwork or cut a ditch in front of his

position, which would have effectually prevented a cavalry attack. To

ensure the complete success of this blunder, he formed his troops in

open order, thus provoking a charge of horse. [Sidenote: Oct. 5.]

Colonel Johnson, at his earnest request, was allowed to open the

battle with his thousand mounted riflemen. But just as he was about to

order the charge, he discovered that the ground was too cramped to

admit of a rapid and orderly movement of the entire force, and he

therefore divided it into two columns, and putting his brother,

Lieutenant Colonel James Johnson, at the head of the one that was to

advance on the British, he led the other against the Indians. These

two battalions moved slowly forward for a short time parallel to each

other, the infantry following. The column advancing on the British

was checked at the first fire--the horses at the head of it recoiling.

Their riders, however, quickly recovered them, and sending the rowels

home, plunged with a yell of frenzy full on the British line. A few

saddles were emptied, but nothing could stop that astonishing charge.

Those fiery horsemen swept like a whirlwind through the panic-stricken

ranks, and then wheeling, delivered their fire. Nearly five hundred

rifles cracked at once, strewing the ground with men. It was a single

blow, and the battle was over in that part of the field. Scarcely a

minute had elapsed, and almost the entire British force was begging

for quarter. A charge of cavalry with rifles only, was probably a new

thing to those soldiers. Proctor, with forty men and some mounted

Indians, fled at the first onset. His carriage, private papers, even

his sword, were left behind, and goaded by terror he was soon lost in

the distance. He remembered the massacre at Raisin, and knew if those

enraged Kentuckians, whose brothers, fathers and sons he had given up

to the savage, once laid hands on him they would grant him short

shrift. Cruelty and cowardice are often joined together.

The other battalion not finding firm footing for the horses could not

charge, and Johnson seeing that his men were being rapidly picked off,

ordered them to dismount and take to the cover. Tecumseh led his men

gallantly forward, and for a few minutes the conflict was sharp and

bloody. Johnson was wounded in three places, yet stubbornly maintained

his ground. At length Tecumseh fell, when the savages with a loud

whoop, the "death halloo" of their leader, turned and fled. The death

of this remarkable chieftain was worth more than a whole hostile tribe

destroyed, and broke up forever the grand alliance of the Indians with

the British. Not more than twenty-five hundred American troops mingled

in the battle at all; of these but fifty were killed and wounded.

Among the latter was Colonel Johnson, who was borne from the field in

a blanket, with the blood running out at either end. Six hundred

prisoners were taken, a large quantity of stores, ammunition, etc.,

and six pieces of artillery, among which were three captured from the

British during the Revolution, and surrendered by General Hull at

Detroit. The news of this important victory coming so quick on that of

Perry's, filled the nation with increased confidence, and placed a

cheerful countenance once more on the war party. The cloud that had

hung so darkly over the land seemed lifting, and if Chauncey on Lake

Ontario, and Wilkinson on the St. Lawrence, would give equally good

accounts of themselves, the season would close with Canada within our

grasp.

CHAPTER XIII.

Wilkinson takes command of the northern army -- Plan of the

campaign -- Hampton entrusted with the 5th military district

and takes position at Plattsburg -- Quarrel between the two

Generals -- Hampton advances, against orders, into Canada;

is defeated -- Concentration of Wilkinson's army -- Moves

down the St. Lawrence -- Its picturesque aspect -- Harassed

by the enemy -- Battle of Chrystler's field -- Hampton

refuses to join him -- The expedition abandoned and the

armies retire to winter quarters -- Disappointment and

indignation of the war party, and gratification of the

Federalists -- Abandonment of Fort George and burning of

Newark -- Loss of Fort Niagara and burning of Buffalo and

the settlements along the river -- Retaliation -- Gloomy

close of the campaign.

[Sidenote: 1813.]

While Perry and Harrison were thus reclaiming our lost ground on Lake

Erie and in the north-west, Armstrong was preparing to carry out his

favorite plan of a descent on Kingston and Montreal. When he accepted

the post of Secretary of War, he transferred his department from

Washington to Sackett's Harbor, so that he might superintend in person

the progress of the campaign. In April previous, the United States had

been divided into nine military districts, that portion of New York

State north of the Highlands and Vermont, constituting the ninth.[41]

Although Wilkinson had superseded Dearborn, as commander-in-chief of

this district in July, he did not issue his first orders to the army

till the 23d of August. Three days after a council of war was held at

Sackett's Harbor, in which it was estimated that by the 20th of

September the army would consist of nine thousand men, exclusive of

militia. The garrisons at Forts George, Niagara, Oswego and

Burlington, were therefore ordered to rendezvous at Grenadier Island,

near Sackett's Harbor. General Wade Hampton, who had been recalled

from the fifth military district to the northern frontier, encamped

with his army, four thousand strong, at Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain.

The plan finally adopted by the Secretary was, to have Wilkinson drop

down the St. Lawrence, and without stopping to attack the English

posts on the river, form a junction with General Hampton, when the two

armies should march at once on Montreal. These two Generals were both

Revolutionary officers, and consequently too advanced in years to

carry such an expedition through with vigor and activity. Besides, a

hostile feeling separated them, rendering each jealous of the other's

command, which threatened to work the most serious mischief.

Armstrong, however, being the friend of both, thought by acting

himself as commander-in-chief, he could reconcile their differences,

sufficiently to insure harmony of action. Chauncey, in the mean time,

after an action with Yeo, in which both parties claimed the victory,

forced his adversary to take refuge in Burlington Bay. [Sidenote:

Sept. 28.] He then wrote to Wilkinson that the lake was clear of the

enemy, and reported himself ready to transport the troops down the St.

Lawrence.

[Footnote 41: Massachusetts and New Hampshire constituted the first;

Rhode Island and Connecticut the second; New York, south of the

Highlands, and a part of New Jersey, the third; the remaining section

of New Jersey, with Pennsylvania and Delaware, the fourth; Virginia,

south of the Rappahannock, the fifth; Georgia and the two Carolinas,

the sixth; Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, the seventh;

Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri, the eighth.

A tenth was erected during the summer, including Maryland, the

District of Columbia, and that portion of Virginia lying between the

Potomac and Rappahannock rivers.]

The greatest expectations were formed of this expedition. The people

knew nothing of the quarrel between Wilkinson and Hampton, and thought

only of the strength of their united force. The victories of Perry and

Harrison had restored confidence--the tide of misfortune had turned,

and when the junction of the two armies should take place, making in

all nearly twelve thousand men, the fate of Canada, they fondly

believed, would be sealed. No large British force was concentrated on

the frontier, while a garrison of but six hundred held Montreal. The

press, deeming Canada already won, had begun to defend its conquest.

The question was no longer, _how_ to take it, but to reconcile the

nation to its possession.

[Sidenote: Sept. 19.]

While Wilkinson was preparing to fulfill his part of the campaign,

Hampton made a bold push into Canada on his own responsibility.

Advancing from Plattsburg, he marched directly for St. John, but

finding water scarce for his draft cattle, owing to a severe drought,

he moved to the left, and next day arrived at Chateaugay Four Corners,

a few miles from the Canada line. Here he was overtaken by an order

from Armstrong, commanding him to remain where was, until the arrival

of Wilkinson. But jealous of his rival, and wishing to achieve a

victory in which the honor would not be divided, he resolved to take

upon himself the responsibility of advancing alone. Several

detachments of militia had augmented his force of four thousand, and

he deemed himself sufficiently strong to attack Prevost, who he was

told had only about two thousand ill assorted troops under him.

[Sidenote: Oct. 21.] He therefore gave orders to march, and cutting a

road for twenty-four miles through the wilderness, after five days

great toil, reached the British position. Ignorant of its weakness, he

dispatched Colonel Purdy at night by a circuitous route to gain the

enemy's flank and rear and assail his works, while he attacked them in

front. Bewildered by the darkness, and led astray by his guide,

Colonel Purdy wandered through the forest, entirely ignorant of the

whereabouts of the enemy or of his own. General Hampton, however,

supposing that he had succeeded in his attempt, ordered General Izard

to advance with the main body of the army, and as soon as firing was

heard in the rear to commence the attack in front. Izard marched up

his men and a skirmish ensued, when Colonel De Salaberry, the British

commander, who had but a handful of regulars under him, ordered the

bugles, which had been placed at some distance apart on purpose to

represent a large force, to sound the charge. The ruse succeeded

admirably, and a halt was ordered. The bugles brought up the lost

detachment of Purdy, but suddenly assailed by a concealed body of

militia, his command was thrown into disorder and broke and fled.

Disconcerted by the defeat of Purdy, Hampton ordered a retreat,

without making any attempt to carry the British intrenchments. A few

hundred Canadian militia, with a handful of regulars, stopped this

army of more than four thousand men with ten pieces of artillery, so

that it was forced, with a loss of but thirty men killed, wounded and

missing, to retreat twenty-four miles along the road it had cut with

so much labor through the forest. Hampton, defeated by the blasts of a

few bugles, took up his position again at the Four Corners, to wait

further news from Wilkinson's division.

[Illustration: Wilkinson Flotilla Amid the Thousand Isles.]

The latter having concentrated his troops at Grenadier Island,

embarked them again the same day that Hampton advanced, against

orders, towards Montreal. Three hundred boats covering the river for

miles, carried the infantry and artillery, while the cavalry, five

hundred strong, marched along the bank. Beaten about by storms,

drenched with rain, stranded on deceitful shoals, this grand fleet of

batteaux crept so slowly towards the entrance of the St. Lawrence,

that the army, dispirited and disgusted, railed on its commander and

the government alike. They were two weeks in reaching the river.

Wilkinson, who had been recalled from New Orleans, to take charge of

this expedition, was prostrated by the lake fever, which, added to the

infirmities of age, rendered him wholly unfit for the position he

occupied. General Lewis, his second in command, was also sick. The

season was already far advanced--the autumnal storms had set in

earlier than usual--everything conspired to ensure defeat; and around

this wreck of a commander, tossed an army, dispirited, disgusted, and

doomed to disgrace. General Brown led the advance of this army of

invasion, as it started for Montreal, a hundred and eighty miles

distant. Approaching French Creek, eighteen miles below Grenadier

Island, it was attacked by a fleet of boats from Kingston, but

repulsed them with little loss. The news of the invasion, however,

spreading, the British detachment at Kingston, reinforced by the

militia, followed the descending flotilla, harassing it whenever an

opportunity occurred. To a beholder the force seemed adequate to

secure the object contemplated, for the spectacle it presented was

grand and imposing. As the head of that vast fleet came winding around

the bend of the stream and swept out of view below, the long

procession of boats that streamed after seemed to be endless.

Scattered in picturesque groups amid the Thousand Isles, or assailed

with artillery from British forts--now swallowed up in the silent

forest that clothed the banks, and again slowly drifting past the

scattered settlements, or shooting the long and dangerous rapids, it

presented a strange and picturesque appearance. When it reached the

head of the long rapids at Hamilton, twenty miles below Ogdensburg,

Wilkinson ordered General Brown to advance by land and cover the

passage of the boats through the narrow defiles, where the enemy had

established block houses. In the mean time the cavalry had crossed

over to the Canadian side and with fifteen hundred men under General

Boyd, been despatched against the enemy, which was constantly

harassing his rear.

[Sidenote: Nov. 11.]

General Boyd, accompanied by Generals Swartwout and Covington as

volunteers, moved forward in three columns. Colonel Ripley advancing

with the 21st Regiment, drove the enemy's sharp shooters from the

woods, and emerged on an open space, called Chrystler's Field, and

directly in front of two English regiments. Notwithstanding the

disparity of numbers this gallant officer ordered a charge, which was

executed with such firmness that the two regiments retired. Rallying

and making a stand, they were again charged and driven back. General

Covington falling fiercely on the left flank, where the artillery was

posted, forced it to recoil. But at this critical moment, while

bravely leading on his men, he was shot through the body. His fall

disconcerted the brigade, and a shower of grape shot at the same

moment scourging it severely, it retired in confusion. This restored

the combat, and for more than two hours that open field was the scene

of successive and most gallant charges. The front of battle wavered to

and fro, and deeds of personal courage and daring were done that

showed that the troops and younger officers only needed a proper

commander, and they would soon give a report of themselves which would

change the aspect of affairs.

At length the British retired to their camp and the Americans

maintained their position on the shore, so that the flotilla passed

the Saut in safety. This action has never received the praise it

deserves--the disgraceful failure of the campaign having cast a shadow

upon it. The British, though inferior in numbers, had greatly the

advantage in having possession of a stone house in the midst of the

field, from which, as from a citadel, they could keep up a constant

fire, without being injured in return. The conflict was close and

murderous, and the American troops gave there a foretaste of Chippewa

and Lundy's Lane. Nearly one-fifth of the entire force engaged were

killed or wounded; a mortality never exhibited in a drawn battle

without most desperate fighting.

General Wilkinson, who lay sick in his boat, knew nothing of what was

transpiring, except by report. Brown's cannon thundering amid the

rapids below--the dropping fire in the rear of his flotilla, and the

incessant crash of artillery and rattle of musketry in the forest,

blended their echoes around him, augmenting the power of disease, and

increasing that nervous anxiety, which made him long to be away from

such turbulent scenes, amid occupations more befitting his age and

infirmities.

The army, however, still held its course for Montreal. Young Scott,

who had joined the expedition at Ogdensburg, was fifteen miles ahead,

clearing, with a detachment of less than eight hundred men, the river

banks as he went. Montreal was known to be feebly garrisoned, and

Wilkinson had no doubt it would fall an easy conquest. He therefore

sent forward to Hampton to join him at St. Regis, with provisions.

Hampton, in reply, said, that his men could bring no more provisions

than they wanted for their own use, and informed him, in short, that

he should not cooperate with him at all, but make the best of his way

back to Lake Champlain.

On receiving this astounding news, Wilkinson called a council of war,

which reprobated in strong terms the conduct of Hampton, and decided

that in consideration of his failure, and the lateness of the season,

the march should be suspended, and the army retire to winter quarters.

This was carried into effect, and Wilkinson repaired to French Mills,

on Salmon river, for the winter, and Hampton to Plattsburgh. Thus, for

months, an army of twelve thousand men had marched and manoeuvred on

the Canadian frontier without striking a single blow. Confidence in

the success of this campaign had been so great, that its disgraceful

issue fell like a sudden paralysis on the war party, and on the nation

generally. Like Hull's defeat, it was unredeemed by a single glimmer

of light. The mind had nothing to rest upon for momentary relief. The

failure was so complete and total, that the advocates of the war were

struck dumb, and Washington was wrapped in gloom. The Federalists, on

the contrary, were strengthened. Their prognostications had proved

true. The nation had concentrated its strength on Canada for two

years, and yet been unable to make the least impression. A Boston

paper that from the first had denounced the war, said, "Democracy has

rolled herself up in weeds, and laid down for its last wallowing in

the slough of disgrace."

Now lift ye saints your heads on high,

And shout, for your redemption's nigh.[42]

[Footnote 42: Vide Ingersoll.]

The Federalists knew their advantage and prepared to use it, for this

was not a lost battle that might in a few days be retrieved; it was a

lost campaign, and a whole winter must intervene before an opportunity

to redeem it could occur. In that time they hoped to make the

administration a hissing and a bye-word in the land. The war party

looked glum and sullen in view of the long and merciless scourging

which awaited it. Armstrong was loudly censured, while on Wilkinson

and Hampton it poured the whole vials of its wrath. Armstrong was

doubtless too much of a martinet, and could carry through a campaign

on paper much better than practically; still, the one he had proposed

was feasible, and ought to have succeeded. He could not be held

responsible for the insubordination of officers. He however committed

one great error. Aware of the hostile feeling that existed between

Wilkinson and Hampton, he should have remained on the spot and acted

as commander-in-chief, or else if his duties rendered his absence

imperative, accepted the resignation of Wilkinson. Old and sick as the

latter was, no commander could have been more inefficient than he,

while the enmity between him and Hampton was certain to end in

mischief. The junction of the two armies would not have prevented, but

on the contrary increased it. He knew, or ought to have known, they

would not act harmoniously together, and it required no prophet's

vision to foretell the fate of a divided army acting on the enemy's

territory. If he had remained to urge forward the expedition, and sent

home Hampton for disobeying his orders, and compelled the army to form

a junction with that of Wilkinson, no doubt Montreal would have

fallen. But knowing, as he did from the outset, that Hampton would

never harmonize with his enemy--to allow the success of the campaign

to depend on their concerted action, was committing a blunder for

which no apology can be made.

Wilkinson came in for more than his share of public abuse. Sickness

must always cover a multitude of sins. There are very few men whose

will is stronger than disease. The firmest are unstrung by it. Even

Cesar, when prostrated by fever, could say:

"Give me some drink, Titinius,

As a sick girl."

This is especially true of men advanced in years. Age tells heavily

enough on both physical and mental powers in an arduous campaign,

without the additional aid of fever. Wilkinson was perfectly aware of

this, and requested twice to be released from the command. Forced to

retain a position he felt unequal to, his conduct was necessarily

characterized by no vigor; and insubordination, disgraceful quarrels,

and duels, combined to make a sorry chapter in the history of the

expedition. It must be confessed, however, that for some of his

conduct, age and disease are but sorry excuses, and it is pretty

apparent he was in character wholly unfit for the enterprise he had

undertaken. For Hampton there is no apology. His disobedience of

orders in the first place should have been followed by his immediate

withdrawal from the army, while his refusal to do the very thing he

had been sent north to perform, was a crime next to treason. All the

forts we occupied on the frontier had been emptied of their garrisons,

and great expense incurred by the government to carry forward an

expedition, the chief feature in which was the junction and united

advance of the two armies. His resignation saved him from public

disgrace. The withdrawal of our troops from Lake Ontario and Niagara,

together with the suspension of hostilities on the St. Lawrence, was

followed by the capture of all the posts we had been two years in

taking.

When Scott obtained permission to join Wilkinson's army, he left Fort

George in the command of General McClure of the New York militia. The

fort had been put in a complete state of defence by Scott, and was

supposed able to repel any force that would be brought against it.

Vincent, who had abandoned its investment after Proctor's overthrow,

returned when he heard of Wilkinson's retreat. McClure, under the plea

that his militia had left him, and that those volunteers promised

could not be obtained, resolved to abandon the fort without risking a

battle.

[Sidenote: Dec. 10.]

He therefore dismantled it, and then in order to deprive the enemy of

shelter, set fire to the neighboring village of Newark and drove four

hundred women and children forth to the fierce blasts of a northern

winter. The English, who during this war rarely waited for an excuse

to resort to the barbarities of savage warfare, of course retaliated

with tenfold violence.

[Sidenote: Dec. 19.]

Nine days after, Fort Niagara was surprised by a party of British and

Indians, under the command of Colonel Murray, and sixty of the

garrison murdered in cold blood. The manner in which it was taken

created a strong suspicion of treachery somewhere. The British made no

secret of the premeditated attack, and the day before, General McClure

issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of Niagara, Genesee and

Chatauque counties, calling on them to rally to the defence of their

homes and country. To this was appended a postscript, stating, "since

the above was prepared, I have received intelligence from a credible

inhabitant from Canada (who has just escaped from thence) that the

enemy are concentrating all their forces and boats at Fort George, and

have fixed _upon to-morrow night for attacking Fort Niagara_--and

should they succeed they will lay waste our whole frontier." On that

very "morrow night" the attack _did_ take place, and yet the

Commandant, Captain Leonard, was absent, having left during the

evening, without entrusting the command of the post to another. The

picquets were taken by surprise, and the enemy entered by the main

gate, which, it is said, was found open.

It seemed at this time as if the government had carefully selected the

most inefficient men in the nation to command on our frontier, in

order to show what a large stock we had on hand, before those more

capable and deserving could be given a place. General McClure not only

fixed the _time_ of the attack, but declared that the fall of the fort

would be followed by the desolation of the whole frontier, (in both of

which prognostications he proved an admirable prophet,) yet not a man

was sent to reinforce it, no orders were issued to its commander, and

no precautions taken. Had Scott been in his place, fort Niagara would

have enclosed him that night--every door would have been bolted and

barred, and the 27 guns it contained rained death on the assailants

as they approached. McClure was right, the enemy did "lay waste the

frontier." Marching on Lewistown, they burned it to the ground.

Setting fire to every farm-house as they advanced, massacring many of

the inhabitants, and mutilating the corpses, they burned Youngstown,

the Tuscarora Indian village, and Manchester, kindling the whole

frontier into a glow from the light of blazing dwellings. Eleven days

after another party crossed at Grand Island, and burned Black Rock and

Buffalo, leaving scarcely a house standing in the latter place.

[Sidenote: Dec. 30.] At Black Rock they burned three of the schooners

belonging to Perry's gallant fleet. Cruel and merciless as was this

raid, it had a justification, at least in the burning of houses, on

the principles of war. The destruction of Newark was a barbarous act,

and in no way borne out by the orders of government, which authorized

it only on the ground that the defence of the fort rendered it

necessary. To fire a town, turning forth houseless and homeless women

and children, because an attacking enemy might employ it as a shelter

from which to make their approaches: and destroy it on the plea that

it affords merely the shelter of a bivouack, after the position is

abandoned, are totally different acts, nor can they be made similar by

any sophistry. These outrages inflamed the passions of the inhabitants

occupying the frontier to the highest degree. No epithets were too

harsh when speaking of each other, and no retaliation seemed too

severe. This feeling of hostility was still farther exasperated by the

treatment of prisoners of war. The imprisoning of twenty Irishmen,

taken at Queenstown the year before, to be tried as traitors, was no

doubt a stroke of policy on the part of England, and designed to deter

adopted citizens from enlisting in the army. It was announcing

beforehand, that all English, Scotch and Irish taken in battle would

not be regarded as ordinary prisoners of war, but as her own subjects

caught in the act of revolt. Our government could not in any way

recognize this arrogant claim, and twenty-three English prisoners were

placed in close confinement, with the distinct pledge of the

government that they should meet the fate pronounced on the Irishmen.

Prevost, acting under orders, immediately shut up twice the number of

American officers. Madison retorted by imprisoning an equal number of

English officers. Prevost then placed in confinement all the prisoners

of war; Madison did the same. The treatment of these prisoners was

alike only in form, for while we showed all the leniency consistent

with obedience to orders, the English, for the most part, were

haughty, contemptuous, and insulting.

The Creek war commenced this year, and though the Indians were not

subdued, no defeat had sullied the American arms. This, together with

the capture of Detroit, summed up the amount of our successes on land

for the year. York and Fort George were lost to us, while Fort

Niagara, standing on our soil, was in the hands of the enemy. Such,

the administration was compelled to exhibit as the results

accomplished by a regular army of thirty-four thousand men, _six

thousand volunteers_, and the occasional employment of _thirty

thousand militia_. This report following on the heels of the disasters

of the previous year, would have completely broken down the government

but for the exasperated state of the nation, produced by the cruelties

and atrocities of the English. Tenacity of purpose has ever been

characteristic of the nation, and ever will be; disasters make us

sullen and gloomy, but never incline us to submission. Armies may be

beaten, but the nation, never, is a sentiment so grounded and fixed in

the national heart that to question its truth excites only amazement.

To deepen still more the shadows that had closed upon us, Bonaparte,

at this time, was evidently in his last struggle. Although battling

bravely for his throne, and exhibiting in more brilliant light than

ever the splendor of his marvellous genius, yet the "star" that had

led him on was already touching the horizon; and soon as his vast

power should yield and fall, England would give us her undivided

attention, and then our little navy, our pride and solace, would be

swept from the seas.

CHAPTER XIV.

1813--1814.

Winter operations -- Decatur challenges Commodore Hardy to

meet the United States and Macedonian with two of his

frigates -- Wilkinson's second invasion of Canada -- Battle

of la Cole Mill -- Holmes' expedition into Canada --

Romantic character of our border warfare -- Inroad of the

British marines to Saybrook and Brockaway's Ferry.

During the autumn and winter of this year, while Congress was shaken

with conflicting parties, and deeper gloom and embarrassments were

gathering round the administration, reports of conflicts ever and anon

came from the bosom of our northern and southern wildernesses.

Wilkinson was endeavoring to redeem his failures along the St.

Lawrence, and Jackson was leading his gallant little band into the

fastnesses of the Creek nation. Most of the national vessels were

blockaded in our harbors and rivers, but still our bold little

privateers were scouring the ocean in every direction. At this time,

too, a single war vessel might be seen struggling in tempestuous seas

off the stormy cape, on her way to the Pacific ocean to finish in

disaster the most remarkable cruise found in our naval annals.

Decatur, with his squadron, lay blockaded at New London, and it was

said that every attempt to get to sea was thwarted by some disaffected

persons, who burned blue lights at the mouth of the river to give

information of his movements to the enemy. He wrote a letter to Mr.

Jones, the Secretary of the Navy, on the subject, and a proposition

was made in Congress to have it investigated, but it was dismissed as

of trivial importance. Irritated at his inactivity, he challenged the

Endymion and Statira to meet the United States and Macedonian in

single combat, offering to reduce his force till they said it equalled

their own. To this Commodore Hardy at first gave his consent, but

afterwards withdrew it. If the challenge had been accepted, there is

little doubt but that the Chesapeake would have been signally avenged.

At one time Decatur was so confident of a fight, that he addressed his

crew on the subject.

Wilkinson soon after his retirement to winter quarters at French

Mills, on Salmon river, resigned his command to General Izard, and

proceeded to Washington to recruit his health. He here planned a

winter campaign which for hardihood and boldness exceeded all his

previous demonstrations. He proposed to pierce by different routes

with two columns, each two thousand strong, to the St. Pierre, and

sweeping the defenceless cantonments as he advanced, stop and occupy

them or turn with sudden and resistless energy against the Isle Aux

Noix, or go quietly back to his winter quarters again. At the same

time, four thousand men were to cross the St. Lawrence, take Cornwall,

fortify and hold it so as to destroy the communication between the two

provinces. Nay, he proposed at one time to barrack in Kingston. The

secretary, however, distrusting the feasibility of these plans,

ordered him to fall back to Plattsburgh with his troops. Brown, in the

mean time, was directed to take two thousand men and proceed to

Sackett's Harbor, for the defence of our flotilla there, while young

Scott was stationed at Buffalo.

[Sidenote: 1813.]

Matters remained in this state till March, when Wilkinson resolved to

erect a battery at Rouse's Point, and thus keep the enemy from Lake

Champlain. The latter, penetrating the design, concentrated a force

two thousand strong at La Cole Mill, three miles below the point. The

early breaking up of the ice, however, had rendered the project

impracticable. Still, Wilkinson resolved to attack La Cole Mill,

though it does not appear what use he designed to make of the victory

when gained. With four thousand men, and artillery sufficiently heavy,

it was supposed, to demolish the walls of the mill, he set forth. The

main road was blockaded for miles with trees that had been felled

across it. He therefore, after arriving at Odletown, was compelled to

take a narrow winding path only wide enough for a single sleigh, and

which for three miles crept through a dense wood. With a guide who had

been forced into the service to show the way, and who marched on foot

between two dragoons, the advance, led by Major Forsyth and Colonel

Clarke, slowly entered the wintry forest. An eighteen pounder broke

down before it reached the woods, a twelve pounder lagged on the way,

so as to be useless. A twelve pounder and a howitzer were got forward

with great labor, for the wheels sunk into the yielding snow and mud,

and thumped at almost every revolution against the trees that hemmed

in the narrow path. The column was necessarily closely packed, and as

it waded through the snow the fire of the concealed enemy soon opened

upon it. But the two guns, what with lifting and pushing, lumbered

slowly forward, and at length were placed in a position in a clearing

in sight of the mill, which proved to be garrisoned by only two

hundred men. The snow was a foot deep, and the panting troops, though

full of courage and confidence, were brought with difficulty forward.

The woods were so thick that the mill was hidden till directly upon

it, and the only open space where the cannon could play unobstructed

on the walls was so near, that the sharp shooters within the building

could pick off the gunners with fatal rapidity. The first shots told

heavily on the building, but in a short time, of the three officers

who commanded the guns, two were severely wounded, and of the twenty

men who served them, fourteen were dead or disabled. The troops as

they came up were posted so as to prevent the escape of the garrison.

Sortie after sortie was made to take the guns, but always repulsed by

the American troops, who fought gallantly under their intrepid

leaders. Larribee who commanded the howitzer was shot through the

heart, and Macpherson who had charge of the twelve pounder, though cut

by a bullet under the chin, maintained his ground till prostrated by a

frightful wound in the hip. The infantry was of no avail, except to

repel sorties, and stood grouped in the forest waiting till the enemy,

forced by the cannonade to retreat, should uncover themselves. But it

was impossible to serve the guns under the concentrated fire of two

hundred muskets and rifles in such close range. Men dropped in the act

of loading; in one case, after the piece was charged, but a single man

remained to fire it. A portion of the garrison seeing it so

unprotected, rushed forth to seize it. The single man, however, stood

his ground, and as the enemy came, fired his piece. At the same time

the troops in the wood poured in a volley. When the smoke cleared away

but a single man was left standing. The whole column had been shot

down. At length a hundred and forty or fifty having fallen and night

coming on the troops were withdrawn. It was resolved to renew the

attack next morning, but a rain storm set in during the night, turning

the snow into a half fluid mass, and rendering a second approach

impracticable. The chilled and tired army was therefore withdrawn, and

Wilkinson ended at once his invasion of Canada and his military

career. He retired from the army, and younger and more energetic men

were appointed over it, who should lead it to victory. [Sidenote:

1814.] On the 24th of January, Brigadier-Generals Brown and Izard were

promoted to the rank of Major-Generals, and later in the spring took

command on our northern frontier.

While these unsuccessful plans were maturing on the St. Lawrence,

Colonel Butler, commanding at Detroit, dispatched Captain Holmes with

a small detachment into Canada to destroy Fort Talbot, a hundred miles

inland, and what ever other "military establishments might fall in his

way." [Sidenote: Feb. 24.] He had less than two hundred men and but

two cannon. Pushing his way through the forests he found the road when

he reached Point Au Plat, so filled with fallen trees and brushwood

that his guns could not be carried forward. Leaving them therefore

behind, he kept on until he ascertained that his approach was

expected. Seeing that all hopes of a surprise must be abandoned, he

changed his course and marched rapidly against Fort Delaware, on the

Thames, occupied by the British. But when he arrived within fifteen

miles of the place he was informed that his attack was expected, and

that ample preparations had been made to meet it. He immediately fell

back behind Twenty Mile Creek, where he had scarcely taken position,

before the rangers left to protect his rear emerged on a run from the

woods that covered the opposite bank, pushed fiercely by the head of

the enemy's column. He immediately strengthened his position by every

means in his power, and on the following morning was ready for an

attack. Only a small body of the enemy, however, appeared at day

break, and soon after retreated. Holmes at first suspected this to be

a ruse to draw him from his position, but ascertaining from a

reconnaissance that not more than sixty or seventy men composed the

force, he started in pursuit. His first conjecture, however, proved

true, for after marching a few miles he came upon his adversary, well

posted, and expecting him. His great anxiety was now to get back to

his position, and at the same time practice the very deception which

had beguiled him from it. He succeeded admirably, and the British

imagining his retreat to be a hasty and disorderly flight pressed

after, and on coming to the creek resolved at once to attack him.

Crossing the stream they ascended the opposite bank boldly, and

without opposition, till within twenty yards of the top, when they

were met by such a sudden and destructive volley that they broke and

fled. Hiding behind trees they then kept up a harmless fire till

night, when under cover of darkness they effected their retreat with

the loss of nearly a hundred men, or one-third of their force, while

some half dozen killed and wounded covered the loss of the Americans.

This half partisan, half regular warfare, in the midst of our vast

forests, combined much of the picturesque and marvellous. There was

not the pomp of vast armies, nor the splendor of a great battle, but

courage, skill and endurance were required, sufficient to make able

commanders and veteran soldiers. The long and tedious march of a

hundred miles through the snow-filled forest--the solitary block-house

with its small garrison, situated in a lonely clearing, around which

the leafless trees creaked and groaned in the northern blasts--the

bivouack fire gleaming red through the driving storm--the paths of

wild beasts crossing the wilderness in every direction, their cries of

hunger mingling with the muffled sound of half frozen torrents--the

war-cry of the savage and the crack of his rifle at still midnight,

waking up the chilled sleepers to battle and to death--the sudden

onset and the bloody hand-to-hand fight, made up the experience and

history of our border warfare. Far away from the haunts of

civilization, men struggled for the control of an imaginary line, and

many gallant and able officers, fell ingloriously by some Indian

marksman. At far intervals, stretching from the St. Lawrence to

Mackinaw, the faintly heard thunder of cannon amid those vast

solitudes, announced that two nations were battling for untrodden

forest tracts and undisturbed sheets of water. Those tracts are now

covered with towns and cities, and those sheets of water freighted

with commerce. Then it was announced as a great miracle of speed, that

a steamboat made four miles an hour in passing up the Ohio--now the

northern lakes are ploughed with steamers, going at the rate of

eighteen or twenty miles an hour, and wrapped round with railroads,

over which cars are thundering with a velocity that annihilates

distance, and brings into one neighborhood the remotest States.

[Sidenote: April 8.]

An unsuccessful attempt on the part of the British to destroy the

American vessels just launched at Vergennes, and which were to compose

Macdonough's fleet, and a bold inroad of the English marines from the

blockading squadron off New London, in which twenty American vessels

were burned, the men pitching quoits, drinking and playing ball during

the conflagration, till night, when they quietly floated down the

river, constituted the other chief movements that terminated in the

early spring.

CHAPTER XIV.

THIRTEENTH CONGRESS. MAY 27, 1813.

Democratic gain in Congress -- Spirit in which the two

parties met -- Russian mediation offered and accepted, and

commerce opened -- State of the Treasury -- Debate

respecting a reporter's seat -- Direct tax -- Webster's

resolutions -- Governor Chittenden -- Strange conduct of

parties in New Hampshire -- The embargo -- England proposes

peace -- Commissioners appointed -- Army bill -- Webster's

speech upon it -- Sketch of him -- The loan bill -- Defended

by Mr. Eppes -- Sketch of Mr. Pickering, with his speech --

Sketch of John Forsyth, and his speech -- Calhoun --

Grosvenor -- Bill for the support of military establishments

-- Speech of Artemus Ward -- Resolutions of Otis in the

Massachusetts Senate -- Repeal of the embargo -- Calhoun and

Webster -- Strange reversal of their positions -- Strength

of our navy and army.

Soon after the capture of York the Thirteenth Congress assembled. By

the new apportionment made the year previous, a hundred and eighty-two

members had been added to the House of Representatives. One remarkable

man, Randolph, had disappeared from the arena, having been defeated by

Mr. Eppes, son-in-law of Jefferson. As the two great parties came

together they surveyed each other's strength--prepared to close in

combat with the same determination and hostile feeling that had marked

the proceedings of the last session of the Twelfth Congress. In the

accession of members the Federalists had made important gains, chiefly

from New York, so that the House stood one hundred and twelve for the

war and sixty-eight against it, and the Senate twenty-seven to nine.

In the latter, however, the party lines were not so strongly drawn,

and on many questions the Democrats had much less majorities than

their nominal superiority would indicate. Among the new members were

Pickering, who had succeeded Quincey, and Cyrus King, from

Massachusetts, and Daniel Webster, from New Hampshire, Federalists.

Forsyth, of Georgia, M'Lean, of Ohio, Taylor, of New York, and

Findley, of Pennsylvania, were Democrats. Mr. Clay was elected speaker

on the first ballot. The President's message was short, and related

wholly to the war. He informed Congress that an offer of mediation had

been made by the Emperor Alexander, of Russia, on the 8th of March

previous--and accepted, and that Mr. Gallatin, Mr. Bayard, and Mr.

Adams, had been appointed Commissioners under it, to negotiate a peace

with England, and also a treaty with Russia. He expressed the belief

that England would accept the mediation, whether it resulted in any

settlement of difficulties or not.

The receipts into the Treasury during the six months, ending the last

day of March, including sums received on account of Treasury notes and

loans, amounted to $15,412,000, the expenditures to $15,920,000. A

balance, however, was in the Treasury previously, so that there

remained $1,857,000 unexpended. Of the loan of sixteen millions,

authorized in February, one million had been paid in, and formed

[Sidenote: Feb. 18.] part of the receipts mentioned, so that the

remaining $15,000,000, together with $5,000,000 of Treasury notes, and

$9,700,000, the sum expected from customs, sales of public lands,

making in all $29,000,000, constituted the provision for the remaining

nine months of the current year. To avoid the necessity of loans,

which were made at rates injurious to the government, and to give a

more permanent basis to the revenue, additional taxes were

recommended.

The first act of Congress was the passage of a resolution, introduced

by Clay, to refer that part of the message which related to the

barbarous manner in which the enemy waged war to a select committee,

of which Mr. Macon, of Georgia, was chairman. Mr. Eppes was made

chairman of that of Ways and Means, and Calhoun of that on Foreign

Affairs. The gentlemen constituting the latter were Calhoun, Grundy,

Desha, Jackson of Virginia, Ingersoll, Fisk of New York, and Webster.

The extreme sensitiveness of the two parties, and the readiness with

which they seized upon the most trifling matter as a bone of

contention, were strikingly exhibited in some of the earliest

proceedings of Congress. The reporter of the Federal Republican, the

paper which had been mobbed by the Democrats at Baltimore, and was now

published in Georgetown, presented a petition, asking a place to be

assigned him, like that of the other reporters, and stating that the

Speaker had refused to give him one. The implication was, that Mr.

Clay had denied him a place on account of his politics. Mr. Clay said

this was not so, that the true reason was, he had no place to give;

all of those furnished by the House being pre-occupied. This

statement, however, could not satisfy the members, and it was proposed

to make an extra provision for the gentleman. Calhoun was opposed to

the admission of any reporters. Almost the entire day was occupied in

discussing this trifling affair, when such momentous questions asked

the attention of Congress. It even adjourned without coming to a

decision, and not until next day was it disposed of, by rejecting the

prayer of the petitioner.

[Sidenote: June 14.]

Mr. Eppes, from the Committee of Ways and Means, made a report, in

which, after showing that the expenditures for the next year, 1814,

would exceed the revenue by $5,600,000, twelve bills were offered, one

for direct taxation, another establishing the office of Commissioner

of the Revenue, and others laying duties on imported salt, on licenses

to retailers of liquors, on foreign merchandise, carriages, distillers

of liquors, on auction sales of foreign goods and vessels, on sugars

refined in the United States, on bank notes, notes of hand and certain

foreign bills of exchange, and on foreign tonnage.

Mr. Webster then rose and delivered his first speech in the House,

introduced by four resolutions, the purport of which were to inquire

into the time, manner, &c., with the attending circumstances, in which

the document, asserted to be a repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees,

was communicated to this government. Although these resolutions had

their origin in Federal hostility, and were designed to sustain the

old charge against the administration, of being under French

influence, because it was well aware those decrees had not been

repealed when it declared war against England, yet Webster carefully

avoided implying it in his speech. He felt bound to offer these

resolutions in justice to his constituents. A heated discussion

followed their introduction, but young Webster conducted himself with

great prudence and caution. At home he had made inflammable speeches

against the war, but after he got out of the atmosphere of

Massachusetts, and came in contact with such ardent young patriots as

Clay and Calhoun, his sympathies, doubtless, were moved, and his

patriotism received an impulse which went far to neutralize the views

of Federalism, with which he had been inoculated. The political

opponents of that war having been successively thrown overboard by

the nation since its termination, much effort seems to have been made

by the friends of Webster to omit entirely this portion of his life,

but I have no doubt were it truly and honorably written, it would

exalt his character and enhance his fame. Coming from the very furnace

of Federalism--educated under the influence of men whose opinions he

had been taught to venerate, and who, throwing aside their party hate,

were the wisest statesmen of the land, sent to Washington on purpose

to represent their views, it seems unaccountable that he, a young

aspirant for fame, did not at once plunge into the arena and win

reputation by crossing swords with such men as Clay and Calhoun.

Standing for the first time on the field where political fame was to

be won, and goaded on by attacks upon principles he had been taught to

venerate, he nevertheless carefully stood aloof, and shortly after

retired entirely on leave of absence. How is this strange conduct to

be accounted for in one who ever after never refused to close like a

lion with his foes? With his powers he would soon have been a leader

of the opposition, and yet this soul, full of deep thought and

slumbering fire, looked apparently cold and indifferent on the strife

that was rending the nation asunder. Did not this conduct grow out of

a sense of duty and of patriotism? He could not do less, as a

representative of Federalism, than offer resolutions of inquiry, and

without turning traitor to his constituents, he could not do more for

the administration. Did not that judgment, on whose decisions the

nation afterwards so implicitly relied, tell him even then that his

country was right and his teachers wrong on the great question of war

or no war, and did not that grand heart, which heaved like the

swelling sea when he spoke of the glorious Union, even then revolt at

the disloyal attitude of New England? If this be not true, then his

conduct is wholly inexplicable and contradictory to his after life.

The first session of the Thirteenth Congress continued till August 2d,

when it adjourned to December. In the mean time, a direct tax,

amounting to $3,000,000, apportioned to the eighteen different states,

was laid. A bounty of $25 was voted to privateers for every prisoner

taken, and heavy penalties were placed on the use of British licenses,

and provisions made to raise ten companies for the defence of the sea

coast. The disasters of our northern army, during this autumn,

increased the boldness of the Federalists, and a paper of Boston

openly advocated the proposition for each state to take care of

itself, fight its own battles, and make its own terms. Governor

Chittenden of Vermont, attempted to recall a brigade of militia,

appointed to garrison Burlington, during Hampton's march into Canada,

on the ground it had been unconstitutionally ordered out. The

commander and a part of the brigade refused, when the former was put

under arrest. The Legislature of New Hampshire, in order to get rid of

the democratic judges, appointed by Langdon and Plumer, abolished all

the courts in the state, and constructed an entirely new system, with

new judges. To this high-handed measure the democratic judges refused

to submit, and held court sessions as formerly, side by side with the

new judges. In those counties where the sheriff was democratic, their

decision was sustained by this functionary, confusing and confounding

every thing. By such measures, party spirit was inflamed to the

highest pitch, dividing friends and families and societies. It became

a frenzy, a madness, obliterating, in many parts of New England, all

traces of former urbanity, justice, affection and courtesy. The

appellation of Democrat and Federalist, applied to one or the other,

converted him, in his opponent's eye, into a monster. The charge of

highway robbery, rape or murder would not have been more instantaneous

and direful in its effect. The Boston papers advocated the most

monstrous doctrines, creating great anxiety and solicitude at

Washington. But soon as the New England line was crossed, passing west

and south, the feeling changed. To go from these fierce, debasing

broils, into the harmonious feeling in favor of the war, was like

passing from the mad struggles of a vessel amid the breakers to a

quiet ship moving steadily on her way. The governors of the several

states in their proclamations and messages firmly upheld the

administration, and the legislatures pledged their support.

In the midst of such excitements, oppressed by the failure of

Wilkinson's campaign, and dreading the use which the Federalists would

make of it, Congress, according to adjournment, reassembled.

[Sidenote: Dec. 6.] Mr. Eppes was still continued chairman of the

Committee of Ways and Means. Among the first measures was the

introduction of an embargo act. Madison, in a special message,

strongly recommended it, on the ground that under the present

non-importation act the enemy on our shores and at a distance were

constantly furnished with the supplies they needed. An illegal traffic

was also carried on with foreign ports, not only exporting forbidden

articles, but importing British manufactures. To stop this illicit

trade in future, an act was passed in secret session, laying an

embargo on all the ports of the Union. To prevent evasion, it was

guarded by the most stringent provisions and heavy penalties, so that

the coasting trade suffered severely. Fishermen were compelled to give

bonds that they would not violate it, before they were allowed to

leave port. That portion of it, however, which related to the

importation of woolen, cotton, and spirits, was rejected by the House,

as that prohibiting the release of goods on bonds was rejected by the

Senate.

Soon after, a great excitement was caused in the country by a rumor

that a British schooner, the Bramble, had arrived in Annapolis,

bearing a flag of truce, and despatches of a peaceful nature to our

government. [Sidenote: Jan. 7.] Seven days after, the President

transmitted a message to Congress, informing it of a proposition on

the part of the English government, to have commissioners appointed to

negotiate a peace. This announcement was the signal for the Federalist

papers to indulge in laudations of Great Britain's generosity and

magnanimity. She had taken the first amicable steps, and that, too,

when she was in a condition, owing to Napoleon's sinking fortunes, to

direct her entire power against us. The same vessel brought the news

of the disasters of Leipsic. There was, on the other hand, much

distrust among the Democrats, because the offer of the Russian

mediation had been coldly rejected three several times.

John Quincy Adams, and Henry Clay, and Jonathan Russel and Bayard who

were already abroad, were appointed Commissioners, to whom Gallatin

was soon after added, to proceed to Gottenberg. Russel, after the

negotiations closed, was to remain as minister to Sweden. [Sidenote:

Jan. 19.] Mr. Clay, in an eloquent address, resigned his station as

Speaker of the House, and Mr. Cheves was elected in his place.

[Sidenote: Dec.] One of the most exciting debates during this session

of Congress arose on the introduction of resolutions by the editor of

the Federal Republican, demanding an inquiry respecting a letter

written by Turreau, in 1809, then Minister from France, to the

Secretary of State, said to be withdrawn from the files. The

disappearance of the letter was proof positive that its contents

committed, in some way, the administration. A vehement debate of three

days duration followed. Endless changes were rung on the old charge of

French influence. At length the question was taken, and the

resolutions voted down, and a simple call on the President for

information substituted. This shell which had been so suddenly thrown

into the House, threatening in its explosion to shatter the war party

to fragments, proved a very harmless thing. Turreau, it eventually

turned out, had written a letter of complaint to the Secretary of

State, so overbearing in its tone, so absurd in its complaints, and so

undiplomatic in every respect, that he was requested to withdraw it,

which was done. In such a sensitive and excited state was party

feeling at this time, that the most trivial matters became distorted

and magnified into extraordinary proportions.

The army bill, providing for the filling of the ranks, the enlistment

of men to serve for five years instead of twelve months, and the

re-enlistment of those whose term of service had expired; and another

bill authorizing a new loan of $25,000,000, was the bugle blast

summoning the combatants to battle. Mr. Webster was for the first time

roused. The army bill was evidently designed to provide for a third

campaign against Canada. From the first, almost the entire military

force of the nation had been employed in these futile invasions. The

successive failures, especially the last, gave the opposition great

vantage ground in declaring against the scheme altogether. They

condemned it not only as an aggressive war, and therefore

indefensible, but declared the acquisition of that country worse than

worthless if obtained. The whole project was not only wrong in

principle, but would be evil in its results, if successful.

The clause extending the term of enlistment, and authorizing the

raising of new regiments, making the money bounty $124--fifty of it to

be paid on an enrollment, fifty on mustering, and the remainder at the

close of the war, if living, and if not to go to his heirs, was

assailed with vehement opposition. [Sidenote: Jan. 3, 1814.] Mr.

Webster, who had been cut short in an attack on the administration by

the Speaker, on the ground that no question was before the house, now

rose to speak. Carefully avoiding the asperity which distinguished

his colleagues, he levelled all his force against the embargo act, and

the conquest of Canada. [Sidenote: Jan. 10.] The former he denounced

unjust and unequal in its bearing, and ruinous in its consequences. He

called on the administration to remove it at once, as the first step

towards the acquirement of a just position. He then denounced the

Canadian war, to prosecute which this extraordinary bill was

introduced, whose provisions if carried out would swell the regular

army to sixty-six thousand troops, to say nothing of the power

conferred on the President for calling out the militia for six months

instead of three. Let us, he said, have only force enough on our

frontier to protect it from invasion--let the slaughter of our

yeomanry cease, and the fires along our northern boundary be

extinguished. Already the war had cost nearly half as much as the

entire struggle for independence; and said he, in conclusion, if war

must be, "apply your revenue to the augmentation of your navy. That

navy, in turn, may protect your commerce. Let it no longer be said

that not one ship of force built by your hands since the war, floats

on the ocean. Turn the current of your efforts into the channel which

national sentiment has already worn broad and deep to receive it. A

naval force competent to defend your coast against considerable

armaments, to convoy your trade, and perhaps raise the blockade of

your rivers, is not a chimera. It may be realized. If, then, the war

must continue, go to the ocean. If you are seriously contending for

maritime rights, go to the theatre where alone those rights can be

defended. Thither every indication of your fortune points you. There

the united wishes and exertions of the nation will go with you. Even

our party divisions, acrimonious as they are, cease at the water's

edge. They are lost in attachment to national character, on that

element where that character is made respectable. In protecting naval

interests by naval means, you will arm yourselves with the whole power

of national sentiment, and may command the whole abundance of national

resources. In time you may enable yourselves to redress injuries in

the place where they may be offered, and if need be, to accompany your

own flag throughout the world with the protection of your own cannon."

This speech produced a marked impression on the house. Succeeding as

it did, the resolutions of the Legislature of Massachusetts, refusing

to compliment our naval commanders for their victories, on the ground

that encouragement would be given to the war, it looked like a change

in that quarter. The war was not denounced as it had ever been by the

Federalist leaders--he quarrelled only with the mode of carrying it

on. Nay, it implied that we had wrongs to redress at sea, and thither

our force should be directed. The policy proposed in this speech

should doubtless have been adopted at the commencement of the war, and

might have been wise as late as 1814, but Webster did not propose it

for the purpose of having it acted upon. This fine peroration was

simply a safety-valve to his patriotism. He dared not--he could not

uphold the war, or put his shoulders to any measures designed to carry

it on with vigor. He represented a State opposed to it in principle,

not in mode. Still, the language he used was so different from the

other leading Federalists, that the Democrats, on the whole, did not

wish to complain. Webster at this time was but thirty-one years of

age, and little known except in his own vicinity. This speech,

however, delivered with the fervor and eloquence which distinguished

him, gave clear indications of his future greatness. Though a young

man, he exhibited none of the excitement and eagerness of youth. Calm,

composed, he uttered his thoughts in those ponderous sentences which

ever after characterized his public addresses. Large, well made, his

jet black hair parted from a forehead that lay like a marble slab

above the deep and cavernous eyes; there was a solemnity, and at times

almost a gloom in that extraordinary face, that awakened the interest

of the beholder. There was power in his very glance, and the close

compressed lip revealed a stern and unyielding character. Even at

this age he looked like one apart from his fellows, with inward

communings to which no one was admitted. When excited in debate, that

sombre and solemn face absolutely blazed with fire, and his voice,

which before had sounded sharp and unpleasant, rung like a clarion

through the house. His sentences fell with the weight of Thor's

hammer--indeed, every thing about him was Titanic, giving irresistible

weight to his arguments.

The bill having passed the house, the other authorizing a loan of

$25,000,000 and a reissue of treasury notes to the amount of

$10,000,000, came up. The expenditures for the coming year were

estimated at $45,000,000, to meet which the ordinary means of revenue

were wholly insufficient. A violent and bitter debate arose on its

presentation, which lasted three weeks. Regarded as so much money

appropriated to the conquest of Canada, it met with the determined

hostility of the opponents of the war. Mr. Eppes defended his bill,

and went into a long and statistical account of the revenue and

expenditures of the nation--showed how she could easily, in time of

peace, pay off every dollar she might owe--estimated the value of the

land and produce and capital of the country, and proved, as he deemed

satisfactorily, that the loan combined "all the advantages of safety,

profit, and a command at will of the capital invested." The long

debate upon it had little to do with the bill itself, but swept the

whole range of politics for the last four or five years. The history

of the war was gone over--orders in council, and Berlin and Milan

decrees revived with fresh vigor--the influence of Bonaparte in our

councils, though now struggling for life, was charged anew on the

administration. Personalities were indulged in, and the most absurd

accusations made by men, who on other subjects, exhibited sound

judgment and able statesmanship. Mr. Pitkin spoke a part of two days,

making a frightful exhibit of expenses, and denounced the war in

Canada. Pickering, with his large, powerful frame and Roman features,

not belying the fearless character of the man, came down on the

administration with all the power, backed by the most unquenchable

hatred he was master of. A distinguished man in the Revolution, he had

from that time occupied a prominent place in the political history of

his country. A "Pharisee of the Pharisees" in the Essex Junto, he

cherished all the intense hatred of that branch of the Federalists for

the war and its supporters. Built on a grand scale, yet with a heart

hard as iron towards a foe, fierce and bold, denouncing his old friend

and patron, John Adams, because he did not hate France as cordially as

he thought every good Christian should, having no sympathy with

Washington's quiet and non-committal character, he looked upon

Bonaparte and our war and its supporters, as the most monstrous births

of the age. His indignation at their existence was only exceeded by

his wonder that heaven, in its just wrath, did not quench all

together. Probably the administration had not such a sincere and

honest hater in the whole Federalist ranks. He was an honest man and

possessed of most noble traits, but his feelings obscured his judgment

when speaking of the war, and he gave utterance to the most

extraordinary and absurd assertions. In this speech he wandered over

the whole field--took bold and decided ground--advocated openly the

doctrine of the right of search, as defended by our enemy--declared

that our complaints were unjust--denied the statement respecting the

number of impressed seamen, saying that many Americans served

voluntarily on board of British cruisers--glorified England for her

efforts to overthrow Napoleon, calling her the "world's last hope."

Having thus defined his position so clearly, that there could be no

doubt where he stood, he turned to the Speaker and looking him sternly

in the face through his spectacles, and "swinging his long arm aloft,"

exclaimed, "I stand on a _rock_ from which all Democracy--no, _not all

Democracy and hell to boot_ can move me--the rock of integrity and

truth." Mr. Shelby and Mr. Miller followed in a similar strain, and

Canada, with its disastrous campaigns, was flung so incessantly in the

face of the war party, that it hated the very name. Grundy defended

the bill, and Gaston, of North Carolina, opposed it. Grosvenor

launched forth into a violent harangue, and was so personal and

unparliamentary in his language that he was often called to order.

Very little, however, was said on the merits of the bill. This served

only to open the flood-gates of eloquence, which embracing every topic

of the past and present, deluged for twenty days the floor of

Congress. Langdon Cheves, the Speaker, though opposed to the

restrictive measures of the administration, upheld the war, and

defended the bill in a long and temperate speech. One of the best

speeches elicited by it, was made by John Forsyth. Hitherto he had

taken but little part in the debates of the House, and hence his

brilliant effort took the members by surprise and arrested their

attention. Handsome, graceful, fluent, with a fine voice and

captivating elocution, he came down on the Federalists with sudden and

unexpected power. Their unfounded assertions, unpatriotic sentiments

and personal attacks had at length roused him, and as they had

wandered from the question in their blind warfare, so he passed from

it to repay the blows that had been so unsparingly given. Turning to

the New England delegation, he charged boldly on Massachusetts the

crime of fomenting treason to the State, if not intentionally, yet

practically, by her legislative acts, inflammatory resolutions and

violent complaints of injustice, which were the first steps towards

more open hostility. "I mention them," said he, "not from fear, but to

express my profound contempt for their impotent madness. Fear and

interest hinder the factious spirits from executing their wishes. _If

a leader_ should be found bad and bold enough to try, one consolation

for virtue is left, that those who raise the tempest will be the first

victims of its fury." Calhoun, with his clear logic, demolished the

objections that had been raised. He said they could all be reduced to

two. One was, that the loan could not be had--the other, that the war

was inexpedient. He declared both false, going over the ground he had

been compelled so often to traverse since the commencement of the war.

He took up the question of impressment--declared our war a defensive

one--bore hard upon those who voted against supplies--showed that the

war had liberated us from that slavish fear of England which had

rested like a nightmare on the nation--and started into vigorous

growth home manufactures, destined in the end to render us independent

of foreign products, and furnishing us with ampler means to carry on

any war that might occur in the future.

This debate might have lasted much longer but for a violent harangue

of Grosvenor, full of gross personalities, discreditable to himself

and insulting to the House. It was resolved to put an end to such

disgraceful scenes, and the previous question was moved and carried by

a majority of forty. A similar fierce conflict, however, took place

soon after on the bill for the support of military establishments, in

the ensuing year, and on the motion to repeal the Embargo Act. In a

speech against the former, Artemus Ward opposed not only the invasion

of Canada, and reiterated the old charge of subserviency to France,

but openly and boldly defended England in the course she had taken;

declared that impressment was in accordance with the law of nations,

and that the doctrine "the flag protects all that sails under it" was

untenable and false. He then went gravely into the reasons of the war,

and laid down the following propositions, which he proceeded soberly

to defend:--

"1st. Napoleon had an ascendancy in our councils through the fear or

hopes he inspired.

"2d. The administration wished to destroy commerce, and make an

agricultural and manufacturing people.

"3d. It wished to change the form of our government."

These extraordinary propositions were severally defended, and declared

by himself fully proved. In reply to the charge that the Federalists

were nullifiers, he pronounced it unjust and unfounded, and said that

the Federalists of Massachusetts would "cling to the Union as the rock

of their salvation, and will die in defence of it, _provided they have

an equality of benefits_. But everything has its 'hitherto.' _There is

a point beyond which submission is a crime._ God grant that we may

never arrive at that point." Such language, though guarded, was

significant, and justified the very charges it was designed to rebut.

Coupled with the action of Massachusetts, it furnished ground for the

gravest fears. [Sidenote: Jan. 6.] A motion having been introduced

during the session to the effect that the Attorney-General of the

United States should prosecute Governor Chittenden, of Vermont, for

recalling the militia of the state from Burlington, Otis presented a

resolution to the Massachusetts Senate, declaring that the State was

prepared to sustain, with her whole power, the Governor of Vermont in

support of his constitutional rights. [Sidenote: Jan. 44.] In the mean

time the Legislature voted an address, denouncing the war altogether,

ascribing it to hatred of the friends of Washington's policy, to the

influence of foreigners, to envy and jealousy of the growing

commercial states, and desire for more territory. The Pennsylvania

Legislature, on the other hand, censured the conduct of both

Chittenden and the Massachusetts Legislature, declaring that the

State would support the General Government in meting out justice to

all violators of the Constitution. [Sidenote: Feb. 12.] New Jersey was

still more enraged, and after giving utterance to her contempt and

abhorrence of the "ravings of an infuriated faction, whether issuing

from a legislative body, a maniac governor, or discontented and

ambitious demagogues," "Resolved, that the State was ready to resist

internal insurrection with the same readiness as the invasion of a

foreign foe." Thus the storm of political hate raged both within and

without the halls of Congress, threatening in its fury to send the

waves of civil strife over the already distracted and suffering land.

But there was a large party, composed of the middling classes of New

England, in favor of the war. This, together with the outward pressure

of the entire Union, combined to make the Federalist leaders extremely

cautious in their movements. The farmer was benefitted by the war, for

his produce commanded a higher price in the market, while the

manufacturing interests, which the restrictive acts had forced into

importance, were also advanced, thus creating a new antagonist to the

Federalists. The embargo, however, pressed heavily on a large portion

of the country, calling forth loud denunciations and petitions from

the whole New England coast.

Fortunately for the administration, circumstances soon rendered it

useless. After struggling with almost superhuman courage and endurance

to repel the allies from the soil of France, Napoleon saw them at last

enter Paris in triumph, and demolish with a blow the splendid

structure he had reared with so much skill and labor. With the

overthrow of the French Empire ended the Continental War, and of

course the Orders in Council, the Berlin and Milan Decrees fell at

once to the ground. The grand cause of the restrictive system having

been removed, Madison sent a message to the House of Representatives,

advising a repeal of the Embargo and Non-Importation Act. A bill to

this effect was reported by Mr. Calhoun from the Committee on Foreign

Relations. [Sidenote: Apr. 4.] He spoke at some length on the first

section, embracing the embargo, supported it on the ground of the

recent changes in Europe, resulting from Bonaparte's downfall. Russia,

Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Prussia, and Spain, might now be considered

neutral nations, and by opening our commerce to them, we should in

time, in all probability, attach them to us in common hostility to

England, should she continue her maritime usurpations. This country

had from the first contended for free trade, and consistency required

we should allow it to neutral powers, just as we had claimed it for

ourselves. In short, there was no reason for its continuance, except

the plea of consistency. But he contended that a change of policy

growing out of a change in the circumstances that had originated it,

could not be called inconsistent. Mr. Webster replied to him, saying

that he rejoiced it had fallen to his lot to be present at the funeral

obsequies of the restrictive system. He felt a temperate exultation

that this system, so injurious to the country and powerless in its

effect on foreign nations, was about to be consigned to the tomb of

the Capulets. After ridiculing the whole restrictive system, saying it

was of like faith, to be acted--not deliberated on, and that no saint

in the calendar had been more blindly followed than it had been by its

friends, he went on to show that it was designed, originally, to

cooperate with France. He denounced any system, the continuance of

which depended on the condition of things in Europe. Such policy was

dangerous, exposing us to all the fluctuations and changes that

occurred there. If this universal application of a principle was

unsound and extraordinary in a statesman, what followed was still more

surprising. Speaking of the effect of the system to stimulate

manufactories, he said he wished none reared in a hot-bed. Those

compatible with the interests of the country should be fostered, but

he wished to see no Sheffield or Birmingham in this country. He

descanted largely on the evils of extensive manufactories and populous

towns, and intimated strongly that any protective legislation in

reference to them would be unwise. What complete summersets those two

great men, Webster and Calhoun, and the sections of country they

represented, have made since 1814. Then South Carolina firmly

supported the union against the doctrine of state rights, and Calhoun

reasoned eloquently for manufactories, against Webster, opposed to

them. Years passed by, and Massachusetts, through her Webster, pleaded

nobly, sublimely, for the union, against the nullifying doctrines of

South Carolina, and those two men, standing on the floor of Congress,

fought for the systems they had formerly opposed, and in fierce and

close combat crossed swords each for the cause of the other. Webster

in 1814 condemning measures that forced manufactories into existence,

and afterwards pleading earnestly for a high tariff, and Calhoun at

the same time defending even the embargo on the ground that it

encouraged them, and afterwards fighting sternly against that tariff,

are striking illustrations of the changes and fluctuations of

political life. And yet there may be no inconsistency in all this.

"_Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis_," is a sound maxim.

Webster, when he charged inconsistency on the administration for

advising the repeal of the embargo act, after the great change in

European affairs, little thought how soon he would be compelled to

shelter himself behind this Latin maxim. In 1814 the interests of New

England were closely allied with free commerce, and her destiny

pointed towards the sea. In a few years her capital was largely

invested in manufactures, and could the tariff have been made a

permanent policy, all her crystal streams and dashing torrents

hurrying from the mountains to the sea, would have been mines of

almost exhaustless wealth. The times being changed, the dictates of

true wisdom required a change of policy. There is no inconsistency so

glaring and injurious as a stubborn adherence to old dogmas or

systems, when events in their progress have exploded both.

Added to the acts of Congress already mentioned, the most important

were those making appropriations for the support of the navy--for the

building and equipment of floating batteries for the defence of the

harbors and rivers of our country. The Yazoo claim was also disposed

of during this session. [Sidenote: April 18, 1814.] After an

ineffectual attempt to introduce a bill for the establishment of a

national bank, and the transaction of some minor business, Congress

adjourned to the last Monday in October.

Our naval force in service in January of this year, independent of the

lake squadrons, gun-boats, etc., for harbor defences, was but seven

frigates, seven sloops-of-war, four brigs, three schooners, and four

other small vessels. The secretary, however, reported in February

three seventy-fours and three forty-fours on the stocks, besides

smaller vessels, which would make thirty-three vessels, large and

small, in actual service or soon to be afloat, while thirty-one were

on the lakes. The army, by law, was increased at this session to

64,759 men, while the militia of the union amounted to 719,449 men.

Added to this, the president was authorized to accept the service of

volunteers to the number of 10,000, their term of service not to

exceed one year.

With such an imposing array of force on paper, with the increased

revenue from the direct tax laid the year before, with a loan of

$25,000,000, and treasury notes amounting to $10,000,000, the

government prepared to enter on a third campaign.

END OF VOL. I.

J. T. HEADLEY'S WORKS.

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"Whatever critics may choose to say, Mr. H. will never lack

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LIVING ORATORS OF AMERICA. By Rev. E. L. MAGOON 1 vol. 12mo., with

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THE ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. By Rev. E. L. MAGOON. 1 vol.

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Mr. Magoon is a decided original. Both his thoughts and his

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Mr. Magoon, who is a vivid, nervous writer, has thrown a

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delineated, that will cause the book to be read with unusual

interest.--_Christian Secretary._

These volumes contain exceedingly clear sketches of our

greatest orators; so arranged, contrasted and compared, that

the peculiar powers and excellencies of each are set before

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Every American will read these works with national pride,

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THE WOMEN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. By Mrs. E. F. ELLET. 3 vols.

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The work fills a place in our Revolutionary history that

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it as one of the most valuable contributions that have been

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We counsel especially the young women of our country to lay

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Women of the Revolution." Those of them who have souls will

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Tribune._

The narratives are brief, spirited, and profoundly

interesting; especially as showing how the toils, the

privations and dangers of the war, made themselves felt,

perhaps even more keenly, in the homes than on the

battle-fields of the Revolutionary champions.--_N. Y.

Commercial._

The authoress has succeeded in collecting a large amount of

new and important facts, illustrative of the heroism evinced

in action and suffering, by the women who bore their part in

the Revolution, which have no place in the political

histories of the time, and have been derived almost entirely

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The rich store of information contained in these volumes,

has been procured at the cost of much and laborious

research, from the surviving relatives of the heroines,

scattered through various parts of the Union. Personal

recollections have been recorded, family papers and letters

examined, and the work thus made a faithful and vivid

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The conception of the book is at once beautiful and

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worthy of the reputation of its gifted authoress.--_Albany

Atlas._

These sketches are of thrilling interest, as we gather from

a hasty glance at their pages. The narrative is clear,

concise, and very agreeably written.--_N. B. Mercury._

[Transcriber's notes:

Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. Hyphenation and

accentuation have been standardised, all other inconsistencies are as

in the original. The author's spelling has been maintained.

This book does not have a chapter VI.

Some dates were misprinted in the original (e.g. Jan. 44), they have

been left as it is.]