maritime frontier; and to intimate, that if the authority of the United States to call into service, and command the militia for the public defence, could thus be frustrated, the public safety might have no other resource than those of large and permanent military establishments, which are forbidden by the principles of a free government. On the coasts and on the ocean the war had been as successful as the circumstances, from its early stage, could promise: Great Britain had become sensible of the difference between a reciprocity of captures, and the long confinement of them to their own side. Commerce had been much protected by a squadron of frigates, under Commodore Rogers; and in the instance of the frigate Constitution, under the command of Captain Hull, in which skill and bravery were more particularly measured with the British, the American flag enjoyed an auspicious triumph. Between France and America affairs retained the posture which they held at the period of the last communication to the congress. Notwithstanding the authorised expectation of an early and favourable issue of the discussions on the tapis, they had been procrastinated to the latest period; and the only intervening occurrence meriting attention was the promulgation of a French decree, purporting to be a definitive repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees. The proceeding, although made the ground of the repeal of the British orders in council, was rendered by its time and manner liable to many objections. The president, in continuation, then shortly adverted to the relations between the United States and the other governments of Europe and Africa; and represented the Indian tribes, not under foreign instigation, as remaining at peace, and receiving the civilizing attentions which had proved so beneficial to them. Recurring to the measures to be taken for the vigorous prosecution of the war, the president recommended an arrangement, on the subject of the pay and term of inlistment, more favourable to the private soldier. The revision of the militia laws was also suggested; and while it was announced, that of the additional ships authorised to be fitted for the public service, two would be shortly ready to sail, a further enlargement of the naval force of the United States was recommended. On the subject of finance, the receipts into the treasury during the year ending on the 30th of September last, were stated to exceed sixteen millions of dollars, which had been found sufficient to defray all the demands on the treasury to that day, including a necessary reimbursement of nearly three millions of the principal of the public debt; but in the receipts into the treasury a sum of nearly 8,850,000 dollars, received on account of loans, was included. was not to be concealed that the country had difficulties to encounter, but at the same time it abounded with animating considerations, and the spirit and strength of the nation were considered by the president as equal to the support of all its rights; consoled as the people were by the reflection, that the war in which they were engaged was, on their part, a war of neither ambition nor vain glory; waged not in violation of the rights of others, but for the maintenance of their own. It Such was the view of the contest between the United States of America and Great Britain taken by the president in the month of November, 1812. On the 30th of the same month the parliament of Great Britain assembled, and the prince regent, in addressing the lords and commons on the same subject, said :— "The declaration of war by the government of the United States of America, was made under circumstances which might have afforded a reasonable expectation that the amicable relations between the two nations would not be long interrupted. It is with sincere regret that I am obliged to acquaint you, that the conduct and pretensions of that government have hitherto prevented the conclusion of any pacific arrangement. Their measures of hostility have been directed against the adjoining provinces, and every effort has been made to seduce the inhabitants of them from their allegiance to his majesty. The proofs, however, which I have received of loyalty and attachment from his majesty's subjects in North America are highly satisfactory. The attempts of the enemy to invade Upper Canada have not only proved abortive, but by the judicious arrangements of the governor-general, and by the skill and decision with which the military operations have been conducted, the forces of the enemy assembled for that purpose in one quarter have been compelled to capitulate, and in another bave been completely defeated. My best efforts are not wanting for the restoration of peace and amity between the two countries; but until this object can be obtained without sacrificing the maritime rights of Great Britain, I shall rely upon your cordial support in a vigorous prosecution of the war." From these documents, both emanating from the first magistrates in the states, it appears, that in each of the hostile countries, the original cause of the war, and the responsibility of its continuance, was imputed to the enemy. But when the angry passions in which this contest was engendered have subsided, an impartial posterity will probably adjudge-that although the existence of the British orders in council, and the impressment of American seamen, justified the United States in declaring war against Great Britain, in the first instance; yet, when the former of these evils was removed, and when an offer to suspend hostilities by sea and land was made through the medium of the British authorities in America, in order to adjust the still existing differences, it was the duty of the American government to have accepted the pacific overture. Since the revocation of the orders in council there was in reality no principle at issue between the two countries. The limits of the right of blockade stand fixed by the law of nations upon grounds that admit of no serious dispute. With regard to the impressment of seamen, America did not deny that Great Britain had a right to reclaim her own subjects: and the English government did not pretend to have any right to impress any who were really and truly American citizens. The whole quarrel then was about the means of asserting these rights; and had the ministers of both countries, as Mr. Burke expresses it, sought for peace in the spirit of peace, there is no reason to suppose that two nations, of the same kindred, speaking the same tongue, and bound to each other by a common interest, would have remained for a single month in a state of open hostility. CHAPTER II. AMERICAN WAR (Continued)-Seat of War-Objects of the hostile Armies-Surrender of Ge- THE war between Great Britain and the United States of America, though affording none of those scenes of imposing grandeur which in some measure compensate to the mind the contemplation of human misery, was nevertheless full of interest; and the novelty of some of its principles, with the political considerations it involved, fixed the attention more forcibly perhaps than the perpetual recurrence of similar events in the conflicts between long established governments. The widely extended scene of military operations in America lay principally upon the Canadian frontier, extending from the state of Vermont, on the southern confines of Lower Canada; to the Michigan territory, at the western extremity of Upper Canada. At the opening of the campaign of 1813, the American army of the west was placed at the foot of Lake Erie, 1813 under General Harrison; the army of the centre, BOOK V. under Generals Wilkinson and Dearborn, in the vicinity of the falls of Niagara, between Lakes CHAP. II. Erie and Ontario; and the army of the north, under General Hampton, on the banks of Lake Champlain. The object of these forces was to invade the two Canadas; and the duty which devolved upon Sir George Prevost, the governor-general, or British viceroy, and the armies under his command, was to resist their incursions, and to preserve the integrity of his majesty's North American dominions. For this purpose, the defence of the Detroit frontier was confided to Colonels Proctor and Vincent; while General Sheaffe, acting under the more immediate direction of the governor-general, was charged with the defence of Lower Canada. After the surrender of General Hull no operation of importance took place on the * The lakes of America, to which reference must so often be made in the history of the present war, form in extent a species of inland ocean, and are navigable for ships of large burthen. Lake Superior is esteemed the largest body of fresh water in the world, being four hundred miles long, and one thousand five hundred and twenty miles in circumference. Forty rivers pour forth their contributions into its vast expanse, and the waters are again discharged into Lake Huron through the straits of St. Mary. Next to Superior Lake Huron claims the pre-eminence. It is two hundred and fifty miles long, and one thousand one hundred miles in circumference, studded to the north with islands, and abounding with commodious harbours. Lake Michigan extends from the straits of Milchilemackinac to about forty-two degrees north latitude, being nearly three hundred miles in length, and at the broadest part seventy-five miles in width. Detroit river forms the southern part of the communication between Huron and Erie, and was the scene of several important military operations during the war. Lake E e is about two hundred and sixty miles long, and in some parts, seventy miles wide; it is the shallowest of the great lakes, and the navigation is the most difficult. The communication between Eric and Ontario is formed by the river Niagara, down which the water flows out of Erie with a fine majestic current, about a mile in width. About a mile below Chippaway the bank appears to recede from the river, and the current is increased to an awful velocity. The fall continues for about half a mile, and when arrived at the crisis, called the table rock, it sinks one hundred and seventy-six feet below the surface of the earth. In a deep channel, the work of ages, it continues to run with increased vehemence for upwards of nine miles, during which it falls about one hundred and fifty feet, when the current, bursting from beneath the rocks, opens to the breadth of half a mile, and holds a placid course between Queenstown and Lewistown, till the congregated discharges of all the Upper Lakes are received by Lake Ontario. The Niagara is thirty feet deep; and the water flows at the rate of three miles an hour; discharging about 128,000,000 of gallons every minute!-a quantity that might seem incredible, was it not a well ascertained fact, that the river Missisippi discharges 96,000,000 of gallons every second! Lake Champlain, which has no communication with the great lakes, is only, in comparison of them, a narrow slip of water; it is about one hundred miles long, situated between the states of New York and Vermont, having its outlet by the Sorrel, and like the Ontario, finds in the river St. Lawrence an ample receptacle for its redundant streams. BOOK V. Detroit frontier till the month of January, 1813, when the American General Winchester, comCHAP. II. manding the right wing of General Harrison's army, marched to the attack of Detroit, and 1813 concentrated his troops at the village of French town, on the river Raisin On the 22d, the Americans, amounting to about one thousand men, were attacked by a combined British and Indian force, consisting of about five hundred regulars and militia, and six hundred Indians, under the command of Colonel Proctor. The attack commenced early in the n.orning, on the right wing of the American army, and was made with so much vigour and effect, that after a contest of about a quarter of an hour they were driven across the river, where their retreat was cut off by a large body of Indians stationed in their rear. The left wing, being fortified behind a picket fence, sustained three separate charges, but finding themselves at length exposed to a concentric fire, their general, who had been taken prisoner by a Wyandot chief early in the day, agreed to capitulate, and his whole corps was surrendered prisoners of war. In this short, but sanguinary engagement, the number of killed and wounded on the part of the Americans amounted to about five hundred, and their loss in prisoners to an equal number. Of the British troops, twenty-four only were killed, but one hundred and fifty-eight were wounded. The slaughter made by the Indians on the retreating division of the enemy was terrible; scarcely one of them survived the battle.* After the defeat of the right wing of the American army, under General Winchester, General Harrison retreated to Fort Meigs, and occupied himself unceasingly in strengthening that position; while the brigade under General Cooks was actively employed during the remainder of the winter in fortifying Upper Sandusky. The frequent predatory incursions of the Americans on the Canadian border, near the river St. Lawrence, induced Sir George Prevost, who arrived at Prescot on the 21st of February, to direct an attack to be made upon the enemy's position at Ogdenburgh. On the 22d, Major Macdonnel, of the Glengarry light infantry fencibles, at the head of about five hundred regulars and militia, crossed the river, upon the ice, about seven o'clock in the morning. The right, commanded by Captain Jenkins, of the Glengarry regiment, was directed to hold the enemy's left in check, and to interrupt his retreat, while Major Macdonnel moved on with the left column towards his position in the town, where he had posted his heavy field artillery. The depth of snow, in some degree, retarded the advance of both columus, and exposed them, particularly the right, to a heavy cross fire rom the batteries of the enemy; but pushing on rapidly, the left column soon gained the right bank of the river, and after encountering a few discharges of artillery, obliged the enemy's infantry to seek refuge in the houses or in the woods. During these transactions Captain Jenkins gallantly led on his column, exposed to the heavy fire of seven guns, which he bravely attempted to take by the bayonet, though covered by two hundred of the enemy's best troops. Ou advancing to the charge his left arm was broken to pieces by a grape shot; still undauntedly running on with his men, he almost immediately afterwards was deprived of the use of his right arm by a discharge of case shot; disregarding all personal considerations, he continued nobly to advance, cheering his men, to the assault, till, exhausted by pain and loss of blood, he became unable to move; his company, however, continued gallantly to advance, under Lieutenant M'Auley; but the reserve of militia not being able to keep up with the regulars, they were compelled to give way, nearly about the time that Major Macdonnel gained the height. The enemy, hesitating to surrender at the summons of the major, his eastern battery was carried, and a detachment, under Captain Eustace, gallantly rushed into the fort, while the Americans, retreating to the opposite entrance, abandoned their works, and escaped into the woods. The gallantry and self-devotion of Captain Jenkins was the theme of universal admiration, and Sir George Prevost, in transmitting the report of this brilliant achievement to his government, earnestly recommended the mutilated hero to the favour and protection of his prince. In the battle of Ogdenburgh, which lasted little more than an hour, the lost enemy eleven pieces of cannon, all his ordnance, marine commissariat, commissariat, and quarter - master - general's stores; four officers, and seventy privates, were taken prisoners; and two schooners, and two gun-boats, together with the barracks of Ogdenburgh, were consigned to the flames. The American army of the centre, at the commencement of the campaign, consisted of about seven thousand men; four thousand of whom were stationed in the vicinity of Sacket's harbour, and the remaining three thousand at the head of the Niagara river, near Cape Buffalo. On the 22d of April, a corps of their best troops, amounting to sixteen hundred, under General Dearborn, embarked on board the flotilla, commanded by Commodore Chauncey, at Sacket's Harbour, and in the morning of the 27th arrived off York, on the northern bank of Colonel Proctor's Dispatches, dated Sandwich, January 25, 1813. Lake Ontario. The debarkation of the invaders was vigorously opposed by Major general Sheaffe, at the head of seven hundred British, and one hundred Indian troops; but the superior numbers of the enemy enabled him to surmount every difficulty, and to make good his landing without any material loss. No sooner had the whole of their troops gained the banks of the lake, than they advanced through an intervening wood to the open ground, and after carrying one of the British batteries by assault, moved in columns towards the main works. At this At this moment their progress was arrested by the accidental* explosion of a large magazine; an immense quantity of stones flew in every direction, and General Pike, to whom the command of the advancing column was confided, became one of the numerous victims of this dreadful casualty. Nor were the British troops wholly exempt from its effects; forty at least of their number fell before a force which neither skill nor bravery could resist. General Sheaffe, finding all further resistance unavailing, withdrew from the city with his regular troops towards Kingston, and left the commanding officer of the militia to treat with General Dearborn for the surrender of the capital of Upper Canada. The loss of the American army in the battle of York amounted to three hundred and twenty, including thirtyeight killed, and two hundred and twenty-two wounded, by the explosion. The British loss may be estimated at four hundred, of which number three hundred, at least, became pri 1813 not till he had sustained a loss of upwards of BOOK V. An action, greatly to the credit of the Bri- soners. The last operation on this scene of hostility, previous to the final retreat of the Americans, was undertaken by Lieutenant-colonel Boerstler, having under his command a force amounting to *This explosion is represented in General Dearborn's dispatches to the American Secretary at War as a preconcerted measure; no evidence, however, is given in support of the charge; and in the absence of all proof, we are bound to consider this imputation on the character of the British army as calumnious and unfounded. + Colonel Vincent's Dispatches.-Colonel Burn, of the American service, states, that their number in the 1813 BOOK V. about six hundred men. The object of this enterprise was to cut off the supplies of the British, CHAP. II. and to break up their small encampments. But on the 24th of June, the Americans themselves were attacked about nine miles west of Queenstown by a body of five hundred Indians, supported by one hundred regular British troops. The attack commenced on the rear, and was made with so much decision and perseverance, that Colonel Boerstler, and the whole of his corps, surrendered themselves prisoners into the hands of Lieutenant-colonel Bishopp. While the American army, under General Dearborn, and the flotilla, under Commodore Chauncey, were employed in the expedition against York and Fort George, a plan of combined operations was arranged by Sir George Prevost with Commodore Sir James Yeo, for the purpose of reducing the garrison of Sacket's Harbour, and taking possession of that place. In pursuance of this object, a fleet of between thirty and forty boats assembled in Kingston Harbour; and at ten o'clock on the night of the 28th of May, the expedition, headed by the commodore's ship, sailed for Sacket's Harbour. It was the intention of Colonel Baynes, to whom the military command of the expedition was confided, to have landed in the cove formed by Horse Island; but on approaching to that place it was discovered that the enemy had lined the neighbouring woods with infantry, and that a field-piece was planted on the shore to give effect to their resistance. The boats were now directed to pull rou to the opposite side of the island, where a landing was effected in good order, and with little loss, though in the face of a corps of the enemy. The advance was led by the grenadiers of the 100th regiment, with a spirit of gallantry which no obstacle could arrest. A narrow causeway, in many places under water, and about four hundred paces in length, which connected the island with the main land, was forced and carried, and a six-pounder, by which it was defended, taken. The gun-boats, which had covered the landing, afforded material aid by firing into the woods; but the American soldiers, secure behind their trees, were only to be dislodged by the point of the bayonet. Α vigorous charge now took place, and the enemy fled with precipitation from their block-house and fort. But here the energies of the troops became unavailing. The enemy having turned the heavy ordnance of his battery to the interior defence of his post; the British force first paused, and then re-embarked; having failed in the principal object of the enterprise, and sustained a loss in killed, wounded, and missing, amounting to two hundred and fifty-nine men.* One of the distinguishing characteristics of a popular form of government, consists in the necessity under which the executive power is placed to account to the country for the burthens and sufferings to which they become subject in a state of war; and to shew that no measure, compatible with the national honour and safety, is left unattempted to procure the restoration of peace. This policy was steadily pursued by the President of the United States; and when the negociations for an armistice between the belligerents had failed, he availed himself with avidity of the offer made by a neutral power-the common friend of both Great Britain and America, to mediate the existing differences. His decision on this point was communicated to congress at the opening of their extra session on the 25th of May; on which occasion the president's message informed them, that at an early day after the close of the last session of congress, an offer was formally communicated from the Emperor of Russia of his mediation, as the common friend of the United States and Great Britain, for the purpose of facilitating a peace between them. "The high character of the Emperor Alexander," continued the president, "being a satisfactory pledge for the sincerity and impartiality of his offers, the proffered mediation was immediately accepted; and as a further proof of the disposition of the United States to meet their adversary in honourable experiments for terminating the war, it was determined to avoid intermediate delay, incident to the distance of the parties, by a definitive provision for the contemplated_negociation." For this purpose, three citizens, of the first consideration in the United States, were provided with the requisite powers to conclude a treaty of peace, and dispatched to the Russian capital, to negociate with persons clothed with like powers on the part of Great Britain. The issue of this pacific manifestation on the part of the United States time alone could decide; but it was deemed highly probable that the sentiments of Great Britain towards the imperial mediator would produce a ready acceptance of his pacific services. In the subsequent parts of the president's message the subject of the impressment of American seamen is again discussed, and a vigorous prosecution of the war strenuously recommended. The extra congress, which concluded its sittings in August, conducted the public business with unaccustomed dispatch, and with a degree of unanimity strongly illustrative of the truth, that however reluctant a nation may be to involve itself in the burthens and embarrassments of war, the government, when the contest is * Dispatch addressed by Colonel Baynes to Sir George Prevost, dated Kingston, May 30, 1813. |