British fleet on Lake Champlain, before Plattsburg, September 11, 1814. Passed October 20, 1814.

15. To Captain Lewis Warrington, of Virginia, of the sloop of war Peacock, for the capture of the British brig L'Epervier, Captain Wales, on the 29th April, 1814. Voted October 21, 1814.

16. To Captain Johnston Blakeley, of North Carolina, of the sloop of war Wasp, for the capture of the British sloop of war Reindeer, Captain Manners, June 28, 1814. Voted November 3d, 1814.

17. To Captain Charles Stewart, of Philadelphia, commander of the frigate Constitution, for the capture of the Cyane, Captain Gordon Falcon, and the Levant, Captain George Douglass, on the 28th February, 1815. Voted February 22, 1816.

18. To Captain James Biddle, of Philadelphia, commander of the sloop of war Hornet, for the capture of the sloop of war Penguin, on the 23d March, 1815. Voted February 22, 1816.*

SILVER MEDALS

Were decreed for good conduct to the following officers, and on the following occasions: (passed at the same time as the gold medals:)

To each of the commissioned officers of the frigates Constitution, United States, and Wasp, for the capture of the Guerriere, Macedonian, and Frolic.

To officers of the same rank of the Constitution, Captain Bainbridge, for the capture of the Java.

To officers the same rank who served under the late Captain James Lawrence, in the Hornet, when she took the Peacock.

To officers of the same rank and to the officers of the army on board the fleet of Captain Perry, on Lake Erie, and the nearest male relation of Lieutenant John Brookst,

See an account of the action in the Port Folio, Third Series vol. 6.

+ Son of the present Governor of Massachusetts.

of the marines, who was killed in the action on Lake Erie.

To those citizens of Pennsylvania, who volunteered their services on board the American squadron on Lake Erie, in the battle 10th September, 1814, with each persons name thereon. Voted by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, January 31, 1814.

To each commissioned officer of the brig Enterprise, commanded by Lieutenant Burrows, in the action with, and victory over, the Boxer sloop of war.

To the same officers, and to the officers of the army, on board the squadron of Commodore M'Donough, in the victory on Lake Champlain; and to the nearest male relative of Lieutenant Peter Gamble, and of Lieutenant Stansbury, who were killed in that engage

ment.

To each commissioned officer on board the Wasp, Captain Blakeley, when he captured the Reindeer. To the same officers of the Hornet, Captain Biddle, for good conduct in the action with the Penguin.

To the same officers of the Constiution, Captain Steuart, when he took the Cyane and Levant.*

GOLD MEDALS

Were voted to the following named officers of the American army, during the late war with England, for gallantry and good conduct, in the battles of Chippewa, Niagara, and Erie, in Upper Canada.

To Major General Brown, Brigadier Generals Ripley, and B. S. Miller: also to Major General Porter of the New-York Volunteers.

To Major General Scott, for distinguished services at the battles of Chippewa and Niagara, and for uniform gallantry and good conduct.

For particulars of the actions between our navy, from the commencement of the American war, see "Clarke's Naval History of the United States." The details of those fought during the last war with England, are also given in "Bowen's Naval Monument."

To Major General Gaines, for defeating the British at the storming of Fort Erie, on the 15th August, 1814.

To Major General Macomb, for the defeat of the British, at Plattsburg, on the 11th September, 1814: repelling, with 1500 men aided by a body of militia, a veteran British army, greatly superior in numbers. Passed, November 3, 1814.

To Major General Jackson, "for valour, skill, and good conduct," in defeating the British under Sir Edward Packenham, before New-Orleans, January 8, 1815. Voted, February 27, 1815.

To Major General Wm. Henry Harrison, and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky, for defeating the combined British and Indian forces, under Major General Proctor, on the Thames, in Upper Canada, on the 5th day of October, 1813; capturing the British army, with their camp, equipage, and artillery. Voted April

4, 1818.

NOTES.

NOTE A.

THE district including the site of the battle fought between Gen. (then Col.) Armstrong's troops and the Indians, is now called "Armstrong County," and contained in 1812, according to the official census by the marshal of Pennsylvania, 6,413 inhabitants.

I read the copy of Col. Armstrong's letter to the Governor of Pennsylvania, (Wm. Denny) in one of the books of public documents in the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth, and can assure the Society, that the following account contains all the essential particulars of the action. The letter is very long, and minutely details the progress of his march, and the occurrences that took place during the expedition. The account is taken from "Franklin and Hall's Pennsylvania Gazette of September 23d, 1756."

Saturday last, arrived an express from Col. Armstrong, of Cumberland county, with advice that he marched from Fort Shirley, on the 30th past, with about 300 of our provincial forces, on an expedition against Kitanning, a town of our Indian enemies on the Ohio, about 25 miles above fort Duquesne (Pittsburg.) On the third inst. he joined the advanced party at the Beaver Dams, near Franks town; and on the seventh, in the evening, being within 6 miles of Kitanning, the scouts discovered a fire in the road, and reported that there were but three or at most four Indians at it. It was not thought proper to attempt surprising those Indians at that time, lest if one should escape, the town might be alarmed; so Lieut. Hogg with twelve men was left to watch them, with orders not to fall upon them till day break and our forces turned out of the path, to pass by their fire without disturbing them. About three in the morning, having been guided by the whooping of the Indian warriors at a dance in the town, they reached the river, 100 perches below the body of the town, near a corn field, in which a number of the enemy lodged out of their cabins, as it was a warm night. As soon as day appeared, and the town could be seen, the attack began in the corn field, through which our people charged, killing several of the enemy, and entered the town, Captain Jacobs, the chief of the Indians, gave the war-whoop and defended his house bravely through loop-holes in the logs, and the Indians generally refusing quarters which were offered them, declaring they were men, and would

not be prisoners, Col. Armstrong (who now received a wound in his shoulder by a musket ball,) ordered their houses to be set on fire over their heads, which was immediately done; when the Indians were told that they would be burnt if they did not surrender, one of them replied, "he did not care, as he could kill four or five before he died;" and as the heat approached, some began to sing. Some, however, burst out of their houses, and attempted to reach the river, but were instantly shot down. Capt. Jacobs, in getting out of a window, was shot, as also his squaw, and a lad called the king's son: The Indians had a number of spare arms in their houses, loaded, which went off in quick succession as the fire came to them; and quantities of gunpowder which had been stored in every house blew up from time to time, throwing some of their bodies a great height in the air. A body of the enemy on the opposite side of the river, fired on our people, and were seen to cross the river at a distance, as if to surround our men; they collected some Indian horses that were near the town, to carry off the wounded; and then retreated without going back to the corn-field to pick up those killed there in the beginning of the action. Several of the enemy were killed in the river, as they attempted to escape by fording it and it was computed that in all between thirty and forty were destroyed. Eleven English prisoners were released, and brought away, who informed the colonel, that besides the powder, (of which the Indians boasted they had enough for ten years war with the English) there was a great quantity of goods burnt, which the French had made them a present of but ten days before. The prisoners also informed, that that very day, two batteaux of French Indians were to join Capt. Jacobs to march and take fort Shirley, and that 24 warriors had set out before them, the preceding evening, which proved to be the party that kindled the fire the night before for our people returning, found Lieut. Hogg wounded in three places, and learnt that he had in the morning attacked the supposed party of three or four, at the fire place according to order, but found them too numerous for him. He killed three of them however at the first fire, and fought them an hour, when having lost three of his best men, the rest, as he lay wounded, abandoned him and fled, the enemy pursuing. Capt. Mercer being wounded in the action, was carried off by his ensign and eleven men, who left the main body in their return, to take another road."

*

Annexed, is a return of the killed and wounded, and the names of the released prisoners. Capt Mercer, with twenty-three persons, and four released prisoners afterwards returned safe. The Corporation of Philadelphia, on the 5th January, 1757, addressed a complimentary letter to Col. Armstrong, thanking him, his officers and men, for their gallant conduct, and presented him with a piece of plate, besides the silver medal. A silver

*Believed to be General Mercer of the U. S. ariny, who died near Princeten, of the effects of wounds received in the battle at that town, in 1776.