Volume II Part 38 (2/2)

The prisoners were landed at Sandusky, and treated with the greatest humanity by the American commodore, who paroled Captain Barclay, and treated that gallant officer with all the kindness and attention which his unsuccessful bravery deserved.

The British army in possession of the Michigan territory and the neighbourhood of Detroit, by this disastrous defeat, were deprived of every prospect of obtaining future supplies from Kingston by way of Lake Ontario, and a speedy evacuation of Detroit, and a retreat towards the head of that lake became inevitable.

General Harrison having received reinforcements amounting to 7,000 or 8,000 men, including 4,000 volunteers from Kentucky under Samuel Shelby, the ex-governor of that State, and an old revolutionary officer, was conveyed by Commodore Perry, in his flotilla, with all the troops and stores, from the mouth of the Miami to the Canadian sh.o.r.e, except the thousand dragoons who were to advance by land, and so order their march that they might arrive in the neighbourhood of Malden at the same time with the infantry. General Harrison occupied Amherstburg the evening of the 23rd of September, General Proctor having previously abandoned it and fallen back upon Sandwich, after having set fire to the navy yard, barracks, and public stores at the former place.

General Harrison, on his arrival, having found the different points evacuated, invested General McArthur with the chief command of these garrisons, and prepared to pursue the retreating army up the River Thames, with a force of 3,000 men, including Colonel Johnson's corps of dragoons, consisting of 1,000. General Harrison occupied Sandwich the 27th of September, and on the 2nd of October he marched in pursuit of the shattered remains of the British forces under General Proctor. In this, his reverse of fortune, the Indians, under Colonel Elliot, of the Indian Department, with Tec.u.mseh, still adhered to his standard with unshaken fidelity, and covered his retreat.

On the 4th of October, General Harrison came up with the rear-guard of the British, and succeeded in capturing the whole of their ammunition and stores. General Proctor, under this second reverse of fortune, by which he was left dest.i.tute of the means of subsistence or defence, found himself compelled to stake the fate of the remnant of his small army on a general engagement. Accordingly he a.s.sumed a position on the right bank of the River Thames, near the Indian village of Moravian Town--the left resting on the river supported by a field-piece, his right on a swamp, at a distance of 300 yards from the river, and flanked by the whole Indian force attached to the division. The intermediate ground, covered with lofty trees, was dry and somewhat elevated. Here General Proctor formed his troops into line, to the number of 500 or 600. The Indians under Tec.u.mseh amounted to 1,200. In this position he awaited the approach of the enemy, who, on the morning of the 5th of October, pa.s.sed the river at a rapid twelve miles below the Moravian village, and came up with the British in the afternoon. General Harrison drew up his men in two lines, and secured his left flank, which was opposed to the Indians, by a division thrown back _en potence_; and without any previous engagement by infantry, ordered his mounted Kentuckians (accustomed from their boyhood to ride with extraordinary dexterity through the most embarra.s.sed woods) to charge at full speed upon (the _open_ line of) the British, which had effected before the latter had time to discharge their third fire. This cavalry charge of the enemy on the British line decided the issue of the day. The line gave way at the charge; the troops, worn down with fatigue and hunger, dispirited by the unpromising appearance of the campaign, became totally routed, and for the most part surrendered themselves prisoners, while General Proctor and his personal staff sought safety in flight.

To the left of the enemy's position, which was opposed to the Indians, the battle raged with more obstinacy. This part of the enemy's line had even given way until a column under ex-Governor Shelby was brought up to its support. These faithful allies continued to carry on the contest with the left of the American line with furious determination, encouraged by the presence of Tec.u.mseh, until finding all hopes of retrieving the day to be in vain--General Proctor and his soldiers having fled or surrendered--they yielded to the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, and left the field--upwards of 100 of them having fallen in battle, and the bodies of 33 of them being found around the dead body of their famous chief and warrior, Tec.u.mseh; celebrated no less for his humanity than for his bravery, his eloquence, and his influence among the Indian allies of the British in the West.

Upwards of 600 of the British, including twenty-five officers, were made prisoners of war. Those who escaped made the best of their way to Ancaster, a few miles from Burlington Heights, exposed at an inclement season to all the horrors of the wilderness, of hunger, and famine. The number thus escaped to that place amounted to only 246, including the general and seventeen officers.

This disaster of the British arms in that quarter seems not to have been palliated by those precautions and that presence of mind which, even in defeat, reflects l.u.s.tre on a commander. In rapid retreats from a pursuing enemy c.u.mbrous and useless baggage is abandoned, and bridges and roads are destroyed and rendered as impa.s.sable as possible, in order to impede the progress of the pursuers; but General Proctor enc.u.mbered himself with a c.u.mbrous load of baggage, and left the bridges and roads in his rear entire, to the advantage of his pursuers. Whether this error and neglect arose from contempt of the enemy, or from disobedience of the commanding officer's orders, is not well understood; but the defeat led to the harshest recrimination, and involved in unmerited disgrace the division of the brave troops that had served with honour in the Michigan territory; and General Proctor was subjected to a trial by court-martial for his conduct in the whole affair--censured and deprived of his pay for six months.

PART XII.

AMERICANS BURN MORAVIAN TOWN, BEFORE RETURNING TO DETROIT--FORM ALLIANCE WITH INDIANS, WHICH THEY HAD EXCLAIMED SO MUCH AGAINST ON THE PART OF THE BRITISH--ARE INTOXICATED WITH THEIR SUCCESSES IN THE WEST--MAGNIFICENT CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1813, AS OF 1812, IN BEHALF OF CANADIANS, BOTH IN UPPER AND LOWER CANADA--CANADIAN VICTORY OF ISLE-AUX-NOIS--SPLENDID CANADIAN VICTORIES OF CHATEAUGUAY AND CHRYSTLER'S FARM--AMERICAN ARMIES RETREAT INTO WINTER QUARTERS.

The American army returned to Detroit after the battle of Moravian Town; but before doing so, they consigned the town to the flames, a.s.signing as a justification of the savage act against the unoffending Christian Moravian Indians, a retaliation for what they called the ma.s.sacre of River Raisin.

During General Harrison's absence from Detroit, a few of the Indian tribes tendered their services to General McArthur, to raise the hatchet against the British, and their proffered services were readily accepted--showing that, according to the American rule of judging, the alliance of the Indians with the United States was quite right, while with England it was all wrong and barbarous.

The success of the American arms on Lake Erie and its surrounding sh.o.r.es so intoxicated and bewildered them, that, in their subsequent movements, they calculated upon nothing but victory and conquest, made no allowance for failure in any point. ”Canada must now be ours” was their exulting and arrogant language. But they had overlooked the fact that, however gloomy the prospects of the Western Canadians were in October of the year 1813, there were remaining elements of strength with them--their courage and zeal were unabated, and even increased, by the transactions of the months of disaster; their loyalty to their principles, and their love of their independence, were intensified rather than enfeebled; they would not be a _conquered people_; and before the end of the year 1813, the American armies had to relinquish every inch of Canadian soil both in Upper and Lower Canada.

But to present a connected and intelligent view of the magnificent close of the year 1813, as was that of 1812, we must first turn to the American campaigns against Lower Canada in 1813; and the defeats and want of success for several months in Upper Canada were more than compensated by the heroic deeds and splendid success of both the English and French defenders of Lower Canada, as well as by victories gained in Upper Canada in the months of November and December.

The Isle-aux-Nois was termed the key of Lower Canada, and its old fortifications had been repaired, and three gun-boats sent thither from Quebec. The little garrison was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel George Taylor, Inspecting General Field Officer (then major of the 100th Regiment), who, apprehending, from previous private information, a combined attack from the American naval force on Lake Champlain and the troops in the neighbourhood of his post, commanded by the Brigadier-Generals Smyth and Clarke, lost no time in equipping the three gun-boats lying unemployed for want of seamen; and Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor having no sailors, he manned the gun-boats from his regiment, with three artillerymen for each boat, and took the precaution to man two batteaux with a detachment of soldiers, for the double purpose of rendering a.s.sistance to the gun-boats in the event of their being either sunk or disabled in the engagement, or to a.s.sist in boarding if it should be found necessary. The enemy, discovered in approaching, consisted of the sloops of war _Growler_ and _Eagle_, fitted out in the most complete manner, each carrying eleven guns (eighteens, twelves, and sixes), long eighteens on pivots, with complements each of fifty-five men, comprehending a company of marines, which they had received at Champlain the evening previous to the engagement; the whole under the command of the United States navy. The admirable execution with their small arms of the two small detachments of soldiers landed on the east side of the river, and the well-directed fire from the gun-boats, of round and grape shot, completely decided the fate of the action, which the enemy gallantly contested from half-past four to half-past eight in the morning, and did not surrender until further resistance became utterly unavailing--one of the vessels being run aground to prevent her from sinking.

The whole force of the British in this affair was only 108. The men killed on board the American vessels were thrown overboard by their surviving comrades; the prisoners amounted to 100 men, of whom many were wounded. Of the captors, not a man was killed, and only three severely wounded. The naval force of the enemy on Lake Champlain was, by the capture of these vessels, almost annihilated, while it afforded the British immediate and effectual means for offensive operations on that lake, and checked the invasion meditated on Lower Canada.

The American Government, with a view of conquering Lower Canada, had been at considerable pains and expense in erecting barracks, hospitals, and magazines at different points along Lake Champlain, particularly at Burlington, Plattsburg, Champlain, and Swanton, in the neighbourhood of the Canadian frontiers--all under the direction of the two American generals, Moore and Hampton. To counteract these movements, the captured vessels, _Growler_ and _Eagle_--re-named the _Shannon_ and _Brock_--were speedily put in commission, and the three gun-boats being put in repair, the small squadron was placed under the command of Captain Pring. Still there were no sailors; but, fortunately, at this juncture the _Wasp_ sloop-of-war arrived from England at Quebec, and Captain Everard, her commander, was ordered to transfer his crew to the _Shannon_ and other vessels, and take command of the little fleet on Lake Champlain.

On the 29th of July the fleet took 900 regulars from the 13th, 100th, and 103rd Regiments, with some artillery, and a number of Canadian militia, who acted as batteaux men, and proceeded up the lake, landing near Plattsburg on the 31st, without meeting any opposition--the American general, Moore, with 1,500 men, having retreated at the approach of the British. Colonel John Murray, who was in command of the British, took possession of the a.r.s.enals, etc., and after having embarked all the warlike stores, of which a considerable quant.i.ty was found in the a.r.s.enal, and having destroyed such as he could not conveniently take away, set fire to the enemy's a.r.s.enal, public buildings, commissariat stores, and barracks, recently erected, and capable of accommodating from 4,000 to 5,000 men. While the troops were thus employed during the whole of the night, Captains Everard and Pring, in the _Growler_ and _Eagle_, with a gun-boat proceeded to Burlington, where General Hampton lay encamped with 4,000 men, and threw that place into the utmost consternation. Having captured and destroyed, within sight of the American forces, four vessels, Captain Everard returned to Plattsburg, where the troops were re-embarked, and proceeded to Swanton.

Colonel Murray, while on the way thither, sent a detachment to Champlain for the purpose of destroying the barracks and block-house at that port.

The main body having visited Swanton, and effected the purpose of the expedition to the fullest extent of his Excellency the Governor-General's orders, returned to the Isle-aux-Nois, where they arrived the 4th of August, without the loss of a man, and having been completely successful.

But these successes were only preliminary to two victories remarkable in the annals of military warfare, considering the disparity in the number and means of the parties concerned--known as the battles of _Chateauguay_ and _Chrystler's Farm_.

General Hampton, after having transported his force across Lake Champlain, lay encamped some days at c.u.mberland Head, near Plattsburg.

On the 20th of September he entered Lower Canada at Odletown, at the lower extremity of Lake Champlain, with upwards of 5,000 men. The road leading from thence to l'Acadie, and the open country in the neighbourhood of Montreal, lies through a swamp of about fifteen miles, which had been cut up and rendered almost impracticable by abatis since the preceding campaign, by the Voltigeurs under Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, and guarded by some Voltigeurs and Indians. Deterred by these obstructions, General Hampton evacuated Odletown on the 22nd of September, and moved with his whole force westward, toward the head of Chateauguay river, under pretext of the impracticability of advancing through the Odletown road for want of water for his cavalry and cattle, owing to the extraordinary drought of the season. Colonel De Salaberry, with the Canadian Voltigeurs, on ascertaining the route the enemy had taken, moved in like manner to Chateauguay, and by his skilful precautions and arrangements of defence and attack, he gained advantage in several skirmishes with scouting and advance parties of the enemy--thus leading his Voltigeurs for the first time into action, and acquiring a just confidence in the valour of his countrymen, which a few days afterwards they n.o.bly exemplified under their gallant leader at Chateauguay. Finally he a.s.sumed a judicious position in a thick wood on the left bank of the Chateauguay river, at a distance of two leagues above the Turk, or confluence of the English and Chateauguay rivers, where he threw up temporary breastworks of logs, covering his front and right flank with extended abatis, while his left was covered by the river. Here he resolved to await the enemy and maintain his ground with a Spartan handful of Canadians against the whole strength of the invading army. In his rear there was a small rapid where the river was fordable; this he covered with a strong breastwork and guard; keeping at the same time a strong picquet of the Beauharnois Militia in advance of the right bank of the river, lest the enemy, approaching under cover of the forest, might cross the ford and dislodge him from his ground.

The occupancy of this position General Hampton justly considered of the first importance to the ulterior object of the campaign against Montreal, as the country from thence to the mouth of the Chateauguay, being princ.i.p.ally open and cultivated, afforded no strong points to check his progress to the St. Lawrence, and prevent his junction with General Wilkinson's division; but which in fact was not yet in readiness to move.

General Hampton, in the meantime, to distract and divide the attention of the British, directed Colonel Clarke to carry on a petty warfare on the eastern side of Lake Champlain; and that ruthless depredator invested the settlements in Missisquoi Bay, where he plundered the inhabitants in the most wanton manner.

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