Part 26 (1/2)
CHAPTER XV.
Sir Isaac Brock was succeeded in his civil and military commands in Upper Canada by Major-General Sheaffe, who was created a baronet for the dearly bought victory of Queenstown. After the battle, he paroled General Wadsworth and some of the princ.i.p.al American officers, the remainder proceeding to Quebec. Among the prisoners, 23 were found to be deserters from English regiments, and British born subjects; and they were sent to England for trial as traitors. This caused a retaliation upon British prisoners in the United States, and an equal number were put by the American government into close confinement as hostages for the security of the traitors.
On the 18th of October, General Smyth a.s.sumed the command at Niagara, and applied to the British general for an armistice; and notwithstanding the well-known prejudicial effect of the former one proposed by Sir George Prevost, it was agreed to by Major-General Sheaffe![118] This unaccountable proceeding, as might easily have been foreseen, proved of material detriment to the British on Lake Erie, as the Americans availed themselves of so favorable an occasion to forward their naval stores unmolested from Black Rock to Presqu'ile by water, which they could not otherwise have effected, but with immense trouble and expense by land, and equipped at leisure the fleet which afterwards wrested from us the command of that lake. When the enemy was prepared for a third invasion of Upper Canada, General Smyth did not fail to give the thirty hours notice required for the cessation of the armistice, which terminated on the 20th of November.
”After the surrender of Detroit,” said the inhabitants of Niagara in their spirited letter to Sir George Prevost, already quoted (page 279), ”the enemy were suffered unmolested to concentrate a large force on the Niagara, at Sackett's Harbour on Lake Ontario, and at Ogdensburg on the St. Lawrence; they were not interrupted in bringing forward to these places a large quant.i.ty of field and heavy artillery, with the requisite supplies of ammunition, and in equipping a flotilla, to dispute with us the superiority of the lakes. When their preparations were complete--when our regular and militia forces were nearly exhausted with incessant watching and fatigue, occasioned by the movements of the enemy, which kept them constantly on the alert by uncertainty as to the point of attack--they at length, on the 13th of October, attacked our line at Queenstown. The behaviour of both regulars and militia on that memorable occasion is well known to your excellency, and added another wreath to the laurels they had gained at Detroit: the glories of that day were, however, obscured by the death of our beloved and now lamented chief, whose exertions had prepared the means of achieving this great victory. This was another triumph for the militia; they had fairly measured their strength with the enemy, and derived additional confidence from the glorious result. Here was another opportunity that slipped away without being improved: Fort Niagara was abandoned by the enemy, and might have been with the greatest ease destroyed, and its guns brought away by a trifling force. It is neither necessary, nor do we feel inclined to enter into the causes why it was not done; we have, however, the strongest reason to believe that, had General Brock survived, it would have been attempted. In addition to this (as we consider it) capital error, Major Mullaney, and other natural born subjects of his majesty, actually taken in arms as commissioned officers in the service of the United States, were released and allowed to return on parole to that country; and a partial armistice was agreed to, liable to be broken off at thirty hours notice, which could be productive of no real advantage to us, nor give any repose to our hara.s.sed and suffering militia, though it enabled the enemy to recruit his strength and organize at will the means of attacking us anew. He was observed busily and actively employed, throughout a great part of the month of November, collecting boats on the Fort Erie end of the line; and when his preparations were complete, he gave notice of the termination of the armistice on the 20th.”
”When General Wilkinson complains,” observes the British historian James, ”that the executive has not rendered 'common justice to the princ.i.p.al actors in this gallant scene,'--not exhibited it to the country 'in its true light, and shewn what deeds Americans are still capable of performing,'[119]--who among us can retain his gravity? 'It is true,' says the general, 'complete success did not ultimately crown this enterprise; but two great ends were obtained for the country: it re-established the character of the American arms;'--it did indeed!--'and deprived the enemy, by the death of General Brock, of the best officer that has headed their troops in Canada throughout the war;'--truth undeniable!--'and, with his loss, put an end to their then brilliant career;'--yet the capture of General Wadsworth took place in less than five hours afterwards.
”The instant we know what the Americans expected to gain, a tolerable idea may be formed of what they actually lost by the attack upon Queenstown. General Van Rensselaer, in a letter to Major-General Dearborn, written five days previously, says thus: 'Should we succeed, we shall effect a great discomfiture of the enemy, by breaking their line of communication, driving their s.h.i.+pping from the mouth of this river, leaving them no rallying point in this part of the country, appalling the minds of the Canadians, and opening a wide and safe communication for our supplies; we shall save our own land,--wipe away part of the score of our past disgrace,--get excellent barracks and winter quarters, and at least be prepared for an early campaign another year.'
”It is often said, that we throw away by the pen what we gain by the sword. Had General Brock been less prodigal of his valuable life, and survived the Queenstown battle, he would have made the 13th of October a still more 'memorable' day, by crossing the river and carrying Fort Niagara, which, at that precise time, was nearly stripped of its garrison. Instead of doing this, and thus putting an end to the campaign upon the Niagara frontier, Major-General Sheaffe, General Brock's successor, allowed himself to be persuaded to sign an armistice.”
In November, the Americans were already in command of Lake Ontario,[120]
and their fleet, after chasing the Royal George into Kingston, captured on the 12th the transport sloop Elizabeth, on board of which was Mr.
Brock, paymaster of the 49th. He was paroled by Commodore Chauncey, who, to his credit be it said, immediately restored ”the plate and effects belonging to his late ill.u.s.trious relative,” which he was conveying from Fort George to Kingston. The box of letters and other papers from which this little work has been princ.i.p.ally compiled, was, we believe, among these effects; and we gladly seize this opportunity to express the obligation of Sir Isaac Brock's family to the commodore for his generosity on this occasion.
On the 27th April, 1813, York was captured by Major-General Dearborn, with 1,800 American troops, embarked in fourteen sail of armed vessels, that post being occupied by 700 regulars and militia, with from 40 to 50 Indians, the whole under the immediate command of Sir Roger Sheaffe. In resisting the enemy, the grenadier company of the 8th (the king's) regiment greatly distinguished themselves, losing their captain, M'Neal, and being nearly annihilated. By an explosion of the powder magazine, to which a train had been laid, 260 of the Americans were killed or wounded, including Brigadier Pike among the former; and they were thrown into such confusion, that an immediate and resolute attack would probably have sent them back to their s.h.i.+ps.[121] The British general ”drew off his regulars and left the rest to capitulate within the town, wherein considerable public stores were lost;”[122] and the Americans, having secured their booty, re-embarked and sailed on the 2d of May for Niagara. The inhabitants of York do not appear to have been satisfied with the conduct of Major-General Sheaffe in this affair; and, although it was not ascertained whether his removal was the result of the displeasure of the Commander-in-chief, he was replaced early in July by Major-General de Rottenburg, and on his arrival in the Lower Province he a.s.sumed the command of the troops in the district of Montreal. A few months after, the Baron de Rottenburg was in his turn succeeded by Lieut.-General Gordon Drummond, who commanded in Upper Canada to the end of the war.
We have alluded (page 278) to the discomfiture of Sir George Prevost before Sackett's Harbour, that naval a.r.s.enal whose destruction Major-General Brock was so unfortunately prevented from undertaking. The governor-general having proceeded in May from Montreal to Kingston with Sir James Yeo, who had just arrived from England to command the British naval forces on the lakes--the squadron on Lake Ontario now consisting of two s.h.i.+ps, a brig, and two schooners--the public was on the tiptoe of expectation for some decisive dash on the enemy's flotilla on that lake.
An attack upon Sackett's Harbour, in the absence of their fleet at Niagara, was resolved upon, so as to destroy ”the forts, the a.r.s.enals, and the dock-yard, where the Americans had a frigate almost ready for launching, and several other vessels; but when this wavering and spiritless general reconnoitred the place, he would not venture an attack, and returned across the water towards Kingston. Then he changed his mind and went back to Sackett's Harbour; and (but not without more wavering and loss of time) our troops, about 750 strong, were landed.
The Americans were presently driven at the bayonet's point into some loop-holed barracks and forts; and so panic-stricken were they that they immediately set fire to their new frigate, their naval barracks and a.r.s.enal, and destroyed a gun-brig and all the stores which had so recently been captured at York. While the a.r.s.enal was in flames, while the Americans were flying through the village, and when the complete success of the a.s.sailants was certain, Sir George Prevost sent a precipitate order for retreat, merely because a momentary resistance was offered by a party of Americans who had taken refuge in the log-barracks! The British troops reluctantly obeyed their general's order and returned to their boats, men and officers being acutely sensible to his folly, and wondering by what means so incompetent a commander had been placed over them. If Sir George Prevost had studied the history of the war of the American revolution, it could only have been with an eye to copy all the indecisions and blunders of the formalising, badly instructed English generals of that period. But the Howes, Clintons, and Burgoynes, were at least always ready to fight. As soon as the Americans could believe that the English were really abandoning their enterprize at the moment that it was all but completed, they rushed back to stop the conflagration: they were too late to save the stores which had been brought from York, the navy barracks, or the brig, but the frigate on the stocks, being built of green wood, would not easily burn, and was found but little injured. If the destruction at Sackett's Harbour had been completed, we should have deprived the Americans of every prospect of obtaining the ascendancy on the lake.”[123] And, as if to crown this miserable failure, the details were narrated by the adjutant-general, in a dispatch to Sir George Prevost, as if Colonel Baynes had commanded in chief, and the governor-general had been present as a mere spectator![124]
From these humiliating occurrences on Lake Ontario, we turn to the captured post of Detroit, which, it will be remembered, was left by Major-General Brock in charge of Colonel Proctor. No sooner had intelligence of the surrender of Hull reached Was.h.i.+ngton, than the renewal of the North-Western army for the recovery of the Michigan territory became the anxious object of the American government. That army, which eventually outnumbered the former one, was placed under the command of Major-General Harrison, (who died a few years since while president of the United States,) and in September was in full march for the Miami rapids, the spot a.s.signed as the general rendezvous. In January, 1813, Colonel Proctor received information that a brigade of that army, under Brigadier Winchester, was encamped at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, 40 miles south of Detroit. The British commander, although he had orders not to act on the offensive, promptly determined to attack this brigade before it was reinforced by the main body, a few days march in the rear; and with his disposable force, consisting of 500 regulars, militia, and seamen, he made a resolute a.s.sault, at dawn on the 22d, on the enemy's camp, which was completely successful. In this affair the Americans lost between 3 and 400 men killed; and Brigadier Winchester, 3 field officers, 9 captains, 20 subalterns, and upwards of 500 men, in prisoners. This gallant exploit secured Detroit from any immediate danger, but the day after it was sadly tarnished by the straggling Indians, who ma.s.sacred such wounded prisoners as were unable to walk, the guard left for their protection deserting their charge on a false alarm of General Harrison's approach. This success, for which Colonel Proctor was immediately promoted to the rank of Brigadier, together with the spoil obtained at Frenchtown, brought down several warlike tribes of Indians from the river Wabash, and even from the more distant Mississippi, to join the British standard. Towards the end of March, Proctor learnt that General Harrison intended to commence active operations for the recovery of the Michigan territory, on the arrival of considerable reinforcements which he was expecting. Resolved to try the issue of another attack before the enemy, already much superior in numbers, gained a fresh acquisition of strength, Proctor embarked at Amherstburg with 520 regulars and 460 militia, and made for the mouth of the Miami, which falls into Lake Erie. He ascended that river, about 1,200 Indians co-operating with him, and landed his troops, stores, and ordnance, on the 28th of April, near Fort Meigs, mounting eighteen guns, which he cannonaded from both banks of the Miami, On the 5th of May the enemy's long-expected reinforcements, under Major-General Clay, came suddenly down the river; they were 1,300 strong, but newly-raised militia; and as the boats drew near, Harrison ordered Clay to storm the British batteries on the opposite or north side of the river, while a sortie was made from the fort for the purpose of capturing the three British guns on the southern bank. For a short period the British batteries on both sides were in the hands of the enemy, but they were quickly regained by bayonet charges; and on the north bank Colonel Dudley, after spiking the captured guns, having marched with 400 men to attack the British camp, was drawn into an ambuscade by the Indians, and himself and about half his men were slain. Of the Americans, about 550 men were made prisoners, and their killed and wounded were estimated at nearly as many more. The far-famed Tec.u.mseh buried his tomahawk in the head of a Chippewa chief, whom he found actively engaged in ma.s.sacring some of the prisoners. But as the Indians retired, as is their wont after success, to enjoy their plunder; and as many of the militia were also returning to their homes, Proctor was compelled to raise the siege of Fort Meigs. Having re-embarked his small force of regulars, chiefly of the 41st, and the whole of his ordnance and stores, he proceeded to Sandwich; while General Harrison abandoned all intention of advancing against Detroit until the American squadron had gained the command of Lake Erie.
Major-General Proctor having determined to recommence his attacks against the American North-Western army, whose head quarters were then in the neighbourhood of Sandusky Bay, on Lake Erie, he landed on the 1st of August near the Sandusky river, and soon after invested with 400 regulars and between 3 and 400 Indians, Fort Stephenson, about 20 miles from its mouth. On the 2d, a fire was opened from two 6-pounders and two 5-1/2-inch howitzers against the fort, which appears to have possessed only one masked 6-pounder, and to have been garrisoned by about 180 men, under Major Croghan, but as the fire produced no impression, the place was ordered to be stormed. The a.s.sailants reached the ditch which was raked by the masked gun, and sustained in consequence so severe a loss, that they retreated precipitately, having their leader, Brevet Lieut-Colonel Short, of the 41st, with 3 officers and 52 men, killed or missing, besides 3 officers and 38 men wounded; while the Americans had only 1 killed and 7 slightly wounded. The Indians did not a.s.sist in the a.s.sault, withdrawing to a ravine out of gun shot. Thus foiled, Proctor retired on the 3d, and after abandoning ”considerable baggage and a gun-boat laden with cannon ball,” he returned to Amherstburg. The attack is said to have been ”ill digested,”
and the expedition to have ended with ”some disgrace.”
Towards the end of August, (1813,) the American squadron, under Commodore Perry, became too powerful for the British, under Captain Barclay, who now remained at Amherstburg to await the equipment of the Detroit, recently launched. The British forces in the neighbourhood falling short of various supplies, for which they depended chiefly upon the fleet, Captain Barclay had no other alternative than to risk a general engagement. With this purpose he sailed on the 9th of September, with his small squadron wretchedly manned, and the next day encountered the enemy. For some time the fate of the battle poised in favor of the British, as the princ.i.p.al American s.h.i.+p, the Lawrence, struck her colours; but a sudden breeze turned the scale against them, and the whole of their squadron was compelled to surrender, after a desperate engagement of upwards of three hours. Captain Barclay was dangerously wounded; Captain Finnis, of the Queen Charlotte, killed; and every commander and officer second in command was either killed or wounded.
Major-General Proctor's army was deprived, by this disastrous defeat, of every prospect of obtaining its necessary supplies through Lake Erie, and a speedy retreat towards the head of Lake Ontario became inevitable.
Stung with grief and indignation, Tec.u.mseh at first refused to agree to the measure, and in a council of war held at Amherstburg on the 18th of September, he thus delivered his sentiments against it:
Father, listen to your children! You have them now all before you.
The war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his red children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that war our father was thrown on his back by the Americans, and our father took them by the hand without our knowledge; and we are afraid that our father will do so again at this time.
The summer before last, when I came forward with my red brethren, and was ready to take up the hatchet in favor of our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry,--that he had not yet determined to fight the Americans.
Listen! When war was declared, our father stood up and gave us the tomahawk, and told us that he was then ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our a.s.sistance; and that he would certainly get us hack our lands, which the Americans had taken from us.
Listen! You told us, at that time, to bring forward our families to this place, and we did so; and you promised to take care of them, and that they should want for nothing, while the men would go and fight the enemy; that we need not trouble ourselves about the enemy's garrisons; that we knew nothing about them, and that our father would attend to that part of the contest. You also told your red children that you would take good care of your garrison here, which made our hearts glad.
Listen! When we were last at the Rapids, it is true we gave you little a.s.sistance. It is hard to fight people who live like ground hogs.
Father, listen! Our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought; we have heard the great guns; but we know nothing of what has happened to our father with that arm. Our s.h.i.+ps have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see our father tying up every thing and preparing to run away the other, without letting his red children know what his intentions are.
You always told us to remain here and take care of our lands; it made our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. Our great father, the king, is the head, and you represent him. You always told us that you would never draw your foot off British ground; but now, father, we see you are drawing back, and we are sorry to observe our father doing so without seeing the enemy. We must compare our father's conduct to a fat dog, that carries its tail upon its back, but when affrighted, it drops it between its legs and runs off.