Part 4 (1/2)

Sir George Prevost evidently threw out some hints to the Legislative Council, which could not have been particularly palatable.

In Sir George's speech there was an allusion to peace not being at hand. Sir George made that reference doubtless in connection with the fact that Russia had offered to mediate between the contending powers, with reference to an amicable settlement of their differences. Indeed commissioners were appointed to negotiate, by the United States. Messrs. Gallatin, Adams, and Bayard were named. But Great Britain declined the proposal, though the Prince Regent offered a direct negotiation either at London or Gottenburg. The offer was accepted, and Messrs. Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, were added to the commissioners already in Europe, and sailed soon after for Gottenburg. Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams were appointed on the part of the Court of St. James, to meet them. The place of meeting was subsequently changed to Ghent, in Flanders, and the conference met in August. But while the conference sat the war was carried on.

The first fight of moment in 1814, occurred on the Pacific Coast. The American Commodore Porter had been cruising in the frigate Ess.e.x, for some time, in the Pacific, with wonderful success. He had with him as a consort, a captured whales.h.i.+p, which he had armed with twenty guns, and named the Ess.e.x, junior. Captain Hillyard, in the British frigate Phbe, accompanied by the sloop of war Cherub, had been sent in search of the successful cruiser, and on the 9th of February, gained intelligence to the effect that with two of her prizes she had put into Valparaiso. The American was no match, even with the aid of the whale s.h.i.+p, for two such vessels, and kept in port, the British vessels keeping up a strict blockade for six weeks.[23] At length, on the 28th of March, tired of the blockade, Porter attempted to escape, when Captain Hillyard succeeded in bringing her to action, in the roads of Valparaiso, before she could get back, and without the aid of her lesser consort. The American s.h.i.+p, in the hurry to escape, had spread every st.i.tch of canvas, to run past the Phbe, and as she was doubling the point a squall struck her, carrying away the main topmast. Both s.h.i.+ps immediately gave chase, and being unable to escape in his crippled state, Porter attempted to regain the harbor. Finding this to be impracticable, he ran into a small bay and anch.o.r.ed within pistol shot of the sh.o.r.e. The contest, which was a most unequal one, now commenced. Both the attacking vessels at first got into raking positions, and did great execution. Nevertheless, Captain Porter fought gallantly. Hillyard's s.h.i.+p having sustained serious damage in her rigging, and having become almost unmanageable, on that account, hauled off to repair damages, leaving the Cherub to continue the action. Hillyard manuvred deliberately and warily. He knew that his antagonist was in his power, and his only concern was to succeed with as little loss to himself as possible. Hillyard again attacked, and the Ess.e.x hoisting her foresail and lifting her anchor, managed] to run alongside of the Phbe. The firing was now tremendous, and the Ess.e.x's decks were strewed with dead. Both attacking s.h.i.+ps then edged off, and fired into the Ess.e.x, at convenient range, until she struck. The Cherub raked the Ess.e.x, while the Phbe exchanged broadsides with her. The Ess.e.x had twice taken fire during the action. The loss on board the Ess.e.x was fifty-eight killed, thirty-nine wounded severely, twenty-seven slightly, and thirty-one missing. On board both British vessels only five were killed and ten wounded. It is said that there were nearly a hundred sailors on board the Ess.e.x, when the engagement commenced, who jumped overboard, when it was likely she would be taken; that of these forty reached the sh.o.r.e, while thirty-one were drowned, and sixteen picked up when on the point of drowning, by the British. On the other hand it is alleged that when the Ess.e.x took fire aft, a quant.i.ty of powder exploded, and word was given that the fire was near her magazine. It was then that Captain Porter advised as many as could swim to make for the sh.o.r.e, which they did, or tried to do, while those who could not swim exerted themselves to extinguish the flames, which having done, the action was renewed, until fighting was impossible. When Porter summoned a consultation of his officers, only one appeared-Acting Lieutenant McNight.

Early in February, the American sloop of war Frolic, of 22 guns, was captured by the British frigate Orpheus, after two shots had been fired. But by way of compensation, the British brig Epervier, of 18 guns, towards the close of April, surrendered to the American sloop of war Peac.o.c.k, of 22 guns, and on the 28th of June, a most desperate encounter took place between the British sloop of war Reindeer,[24] of 18 guns, and the American sloop, Wasp. The preponderance of force was here, in a most extraordinary degree, in favor of the Americans, but, notwithstanding this advantage, Captain Manners, of the Reindeer, one of the bravest officers who ever trod a quarter deck, the moment he got sight of the American vessel gave chase, and as soon as it was evident to the American captain that he was pursued by the Reindeer alone, he hove to and the action commenced. Never were vessels more gallantly commanded and fought on both sides. The engagement lasted, yard arm to yard arm, for half an hour, at the end of which time the Reindeer was so disabled, that she fell with her bow against the larboard quarter of the Wasp. The latter instantly raked her with dreadful effect; and the American rifles, from the tops, picked off almost all the officers and men on the British deck. But Captain Manners then showed himself indeed a hero. Early in the action the calves of his legs had been shot away, but he still kept the deck; at this time a grape shot pa.s.sed through his thighs, but though brought for a moment on his knees, he instantly sprang up, and though bleeding profusely, not only refused to quit the deck, but exclaiming, ”Follow me, my boys; we must board!” sprang into the rigging of the Reindeer, intending to leap into that of the Wasp. At this moment two b.a.l.l.s from the American tops pierced his skull, and came out below his chin. With dying hand he waved his sword above his head, and exclaiming, ”Oh G.o.d!” fell lifeless on the deck. The Americans immediately after carried the British vessel by boarding, where hardly an unwounded man remained, and so shattered was she in her hull, that she was immediately after burned by the captors. Never, says Alison, will the British empire be endangered while the spirit of Captain Manners survives in its defenders.

There was some correspondence in the early part of 1814, relative to the prisoners captured at Queenston, supposed to be British subjects, and therefore sent to England to be tried for treason. The American government confined an equal number of British prisoners, who were to be retaliated upon, unless the British government consented to exchange them the same as other prisoners, and the Canadian government confined General Winder and a number of other officers and men, as hostages for the forthcoming of the British prisoners, and in retaliation for their confinement. The whole matter ended in smoke. The traitors were not made examples of, and negotiations and retaliations ceased. During the winter, stores of every kind were forwarded to Kingston, from Quebec and Montreal. In February, the 8th regiment, and two hundred and twenty seamen, arrived overland from Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Indians, Ottawas, Chippewas, Shawnees, Delawares, Mohawks, Saiks, Foxes, Kickapoos, and Winebagoes, came to Quebec to inform the Governor General that they were poor and needed arms, but would fight to the last drop of blood for the British against the Americans, who had taken away their lands, General Prevost was, of course, exceedingly glad to hear it, and having expressed his regret for the death of Tec.u.mseh, he loaded them with presents, entertained them for two days, and then sent them off to prepare for the campaign.

The Americans had not by any means been idle during the winter. They too had been making preparations, and when General Macomb crossed Lake Champlain on the ice, with his division, from Plattsburgh, about the end of March, serious doubts began to be entertained in Canada, with regard to the probability of another invasion. The general soon removed all doubts. He crossed to St. Armand and remained there unmolested, while General Wilkinson prepared to a.s.sault Odelltown and Lacolle Mills. As soon as Wilkinson was fully prepared for the a.s.sault, Macomb joined him, and the Americans, numbering about five thousand men, entered Odelltown. Despatches were immediately sent off by the officer in command of the stone mills at Lacolle, to Isle-aux-Noix for aid, and Captain Broke with a picquet of the 13th regiment, was sent to him. Major Handc.o.c.k set about making such preparations as he could for the defence of his temporary block-house, or rather stone tower, at Lacolle. Wilkinson did not immediately advance, but halted to reconnoitre. He made a feint too, upon Burtonville, which he suffered a few grenadiers and some light infantry to check. He wanted possession of Lacolle town, and accordingly, early in the afternoon, he determined upon taking it by a.s.sault. The Americans got into the woods with the view of surrounding the blockhouse and of simultaneously a.s.saulting it on all sides. Lacolle opened fire, but the Americans only replied by a cheer, and continued to advance. But the cheering was not of long duration, as the effect of Major Handc.o.c.k's fire was not by any means elevating to the Americans. It was so heavy and so hot, and so well directed that the effect was most depressing, and the enemy retreated, in some confusion, back to the woods, from which they had emerged. Thus repulsed the gallant Americans thought of battering a breach in the tower of Lacolle, with the aid of a naked 12-pounder, or battering gun, unprotected by an earthwork. The result was that the artillerymen being within musket range, were picked off with great facility, and with such marvellous rapidity, that it was no easy matter for the enemy to load and fire. The cannonading was, nevertheless, kept up for two hours and a half, but as little attention was paid to aim, under the exciting circ.u.mstances, only four round shot struck the mill, doing no harm at all. It would have been prudent for the gallant Handc.o.c.k to have kept the enemy for some time longer, in the snow and cold, keeping up so harmless a fire of artillery. But it occurred to him that the gun might be spiked, and he ordered the flank companies of the 13th regiment to charge the enemy, in front. The trees stood still, and the Americans retired a little, pouring a deadly fire upon the 13th, as they advanced in line through deep snow, as well as they could, which was not by any means very well. As the Americans still pertinaciously kept in the woods, the 13th could not, by any possibility, charge. They might have pursued the enemy individually, and the dodging and twining and twirling of the combatants would have been something extraordinary. But the 13th thought better of it and wisely retired, in good order, upon the mill. At this moment, however, the grenadiers of the Fencibles and a company of the Voltigeurs, arrived from Burtonville, and were ordered by Major Handc.o.c.k to support the retiring 13th, and charge again. The whole now advanced in columns of sections upon the gun, which the Americans had spiked during the first charge, and on which the Americans in the woods were ready to concentrate their fire. The enemy did not pull a trigger until the 13th, Voltigeurs, and Fencibles were within twenty-five yards of their centre, when the further advance of the sortie was checked by the fire of musketry so hotly poured in upon them on all sides. They were instantly recalled. But the Americans being by this time wearied, cold, and hungry, and now deficient in artillery, while they were as unable to carry the mill by storm, as the British were to charge in the woods, retreated about five in the afternoon, unmolested, and afterwards fell back upon Champlain and Plattsburgh. The Americans lost in this attempt to carry a stone tower, bravely defended, 13 in killed, 123 in wounded, and in missing 30. The British lost 10 killed, 4 missing, and 2 officers and 44 men wounded.

The Americans, while they were near Cornwall, under Generals Brown and Boyd, in the autumn previously to re-crossing the river, plundered some merchants of all their goods, wares, and merchandise, found en route for Upper Canada. But the American government had stipulated for their rest.i.tution with Colonel Morrison, of the 89th, and Captain Mulcaster, of the Royal Navy. Whether the repeated checks that they had lately received from the British, in consideration of their unwelcome, but not looked for, visits, had soured the authorities, south of 45., or no, it was now intended to sell the plunder for the benefit of the government of the United States, as British goods being rare in the American market, high prices would undoubtedly have been obtained. To prevent a consummation, not in the least devoutly wished for by the British merchants, Captain Sherwood, of the Quarter Master General's Department, suggested the idea of plundering them back again. Accordingly, Captain Kerr, with a subaltern, twenty rank and file of the marines, and ten militiamen, crossed the ice on the 6th of February, during the night, from Cornwall to Madrid, on Gra.s.s River, with horses and sleighs innumerable. The merchandise, or a great part of it, was secured, packed in the sleighs, and carried off. Indeed the inhabitants of Madrid made no opposition to Captain Kerr, but on the contrary, looking upon the expedition as rather smart, were considerably tickled, and positively helped the British to load their sleighs and be gone. Jonathan, fully alive to the ludicrous, chuckled as he thought upon the astonished countenances of the United States' officers, who were charged with the sale of the goods, when they should have ascertained their unlooked for disappearance. The inhabitants were, of course, not molested, and indeed living but a few hundred yards from the British sh.o.r.e, were only very moderate Americans.

There was also, during the winter, a skirmish at Longwood, in which the British, who were the a.s.sailants, retired with a loss of two officers and twelve men killed.

The campaign opened with the opening of the navigation, in May. Sir James Yeo, with the co-operation of that talented, skilful, and excellent officer, General Drummond, planned an attack upon Oswego, with the view of destroying the naval stores, sent by way of that town for the equipment of the American fleet in Sackett's Harbour. The British fleet having been strengthened by two additional s.h.i.+ps, the Prince Regent and the Princess Charlotte, General Drummond sent on board of it six companies of DeWatteville's regiment, the light companies of the Glengary militia, and the second battalion of the Royal Marines, with a detachment of Royal Artillery, and two field pieces, a detachment of a rocket company, and some sappers and miners. This expedition left Kingston on the 4th of May, and arrived off Oswego about noon on the day following. It was then however, blowing a gale of wind, from the northwest, and it was considered expedient to keep off and on the port, until the weather calmed. It was the morning of the 6th, before a landing could be effected, when about one hundred and forty men, under Colonel Fischer, and two hundred seamen, under Captain Mulcaster, Royal Navy, were sent ash.o.r.e, in the face of a heavy fire of grape and round shot from the enemies' batteries, and of musketry from a detachment of the American army, posted on the brow of a hill and partially sheltered by an adjoining wood. The British, nevertheless, charged the battery and captured it, the enemy leaving about sixty wounded men behind them, in their hurried retreat. The stores in the fort were taken possession of, the fort itself dismantled, and the barracks were destroyed. In this successful a.s.sault, Captain Holtaway, of the Marines, was killed, Captain Mulcaster was severely and dangerously wounded in the head, and Captain Popham was wounded severely, two officers of the line and two other naval officers were wounded. Eighteen rank and file of the army and marines were killed, and sixty wounded, and three sailors were killed and seven wounded. The naval stores, however, were not captured, as they had been deposited at the Falls of the Onondago, some miles above Oswego. The troops were re-embarked and the fleet sailed for Kingston on the 7th of May.

Sir James Yeo being still very anxious about the naval stores which the enemy were so industriously collecting at Sackett's Harbour, determined to try if possession of at least a part of them could not be obtained. Accordingly, he blockaded Sackett's Harbour, and on the morning of the 29th of May, a boat belonging to the enemy, laden with a cable large enough for a s.h.i.+p of war, and with two twenty-four pounders, forming one of a flotilla of sixteen boats from Oswego, containing naval and military stores, was intercepted and captured. Captains Popham and Spilsbury, having with them two gun-boats and five barges, were immediately sent in search of the other boats. They soon learned where the missing boats were. Fearing capture, the Americans had taken shelter in Sandy Creek. It was resolved to root them out, if possible, and accordingly the British gun-boats and barges entered the Creek. Captains Popham and Spilsbury immediately looked about them, and found the enterprise to be rather hazardous. The creek was narrow and winding. An attack was, nevertheless, determined upon. For about half a mile the a.s.sailants proceeded cautiously up the creek, when, as they turned its elbow, the enemy's boats were in full view. The troops immediately landed on both banks and were advancing when the sixty-eight pounder carronade in the foremost boat was disabled, and it was necessary to bring the twenty-four pounder in the stern of the boat to bear upon the enemy. But no sooner had an effort been made to get the boat round than the enemy took it into their heads that the attacking party designed to make off, and advancing hastily in considerable numbers, rifles, militia, cavalry, regular infantry, and Indians, the British, unable to retreat, were overpowered, the captured being with difficulty rescued by their humane American enemies, from the tomahawks and scalping knives of the Indians.

On Lake Champlain an attempt was made on the 14th of May, to capture or destroy two new American vessels building at Vergennes, by Captain Pring, of the Royal Navy, but finding the enemy prepared to receive him more warmly than courteously, Captain Pring desisted and returned to Isle-aux-Noix.

About the end of June, the Americans concentrated at Buffalo, Black Rock, and other places, on the Niagara frontier, for the invasion of Upper Canada, only waited for the co-operation of the fleet, which had not, as yet, come out of Sackett's Harbour. The army was commanded by General Brown, however, an officer, of considerable judgment, and now not by any means inexperienced in the art of war, who could not remain long inactive. On the 3rd of July, he despatched Brigadiers Scott and Ripley, with their two strong brigades, to effect a landing on the Canada sh.o.r.e. They landed from boats and batteaux, at two different points. One brigadier landed above Fort Erie, and the other below it, the brigades being two miles apart, and the fort in the centre. Captain Buck, of the 8th regiment, was in command of Fort Erie, and, oddly enough, although he had put it in a tolerably good state for defence, he at once surrendered it, and his garrison of seventy men, to the enemy. Scott and Ripley now marched on Chippewa, and were making preparations to carry that post when they were met by General Riall, with fifteen hundred regular troops, and a thousand Indians and militia, and offered battle. The offer was no sooner made than accepted, and at five in the afternoon, a battle was commenced, which proved disastrous to Riall. The enemy were overwhelmingly numerous. Riall's militia and Indians attacked the American light troops vigorously, but they were unable to cope with Kentucky riflemen, sheltered behind trees. Death came with every rifle flash, and the militia and Indians must have given way, had not the light companies of the Royal Scotts and 100th regiments come to their relief. Now came the main and, on the part of Riall, ill-judged attack. He concentrated his whole force, while the Americans stretched out in line. He approached in column, attempting to deploy under a most galling fire, and the result was, as might have been antic.i.p.ated, fearfully disastrous. With 151 men killed and 320 wounded, among whom was Lieutenant-Colonel, the Marquis of Tweedale, the British were compelled to retire. Riall's object in retiring was to gain his intrenched camp, but General Brown, who now commanded the Americans, discovered a cross road, and Riall, abandoning Queenston, fell back to Twenty Mile Creek. The loss of the Americans was 70 killed and 9 officers and 240 men wounded. This was the most sanguinary of any battle that had been fought during the war, and the enemy, gaining courage, advanced gradually, and made demonstrations upon Forts George and Mississaga. On the 25th of July, Brown, not considering it expedient to advance and, unsafe to stand still, retreated upon Chippewa, the village of St. David's having been previously set on fire, by a Lieutenant-Colonel Stone, whom Brown compelled to retire from the army for his barbarity. General Riall now again advanced, when the enemy wheeled about and endeavoured to cut him off from his expected reinforcement. But he failed in doing so, General Drummond having come up with about three thousand men, of whom eighteen hundred were regulars. The enemy was five thousand strong, but General Drummond seized a commanding eminence which swept the whole field of battle. Nothing daunted, however, by this superiority of position, the Americans resolutely advanced to the charge, and the action, which commenced about six in the evening, soon became general along the whole line, the brunt of the battle falling, nevertheless, upon the British centre and left. General Riall, who commanded the left division of the army was forced back with his division, wounded, and made prisoner. The centre firmly maintained their ground. It was composed of the 89th, the Royals, and the King's regiment, well supported by the artillery, whose guns, worked with prodigious activity, carried great havoc in the enemy's ranks. Brown soon perceived that unless the guns were captured, the battle was lost; and he consequently bent all his energies to the accomplishment of that object. He ordered General Millar to charge up the hill and take the guns. The order was vigorously obeyed and five guns fell into the hands of the Americans, the British artillerymen being positively bayoneted in the act of loading, while the muzzles of the American guns were within a few yards of the English battery. It was now night and extremely dark. During the darkness some extraordinary incidents occurred. The British having, for a moment, been thrust back, some of the British guns remained for a few minutes in the enemy's hands. They were, however, not only quickly recovered, but the two pieces, a six pounder and a five and a half inch howitzer, which the enemy had brought up, were captured by the British, together with several tumbrils; and in limbering up the British guns, at one period, one of the enemy's six-pounders was put, by mistake, upon a British limber, and one of the British six-pounders was limbered on one of the enemy's. So that although American guns had been captured, yet as the Americans had captured one of the British guns, the British only gained, by the dark transaction, one gun. It was now 9 o'clock, and there was a short intermission of firing. Apparently the combatants sank to rest from pure exhaustion. It was a terrible repose. The din of battle had ceased, to be succeeded by the monotonous roar of the Great Falls. The moon had risen and at intervals glanced out of the angry blackish looking clouds, to reveal the pale faces of the dead, with still unrelaxed features, and some even yet, as it were, in an att.i.tude of defiance. The field of strife was one sea of blood, and the groans of the wounded and the dying sent a shudder through the boldest. Occasionally the flash of a gun or a few bright flashes of musketry revealed more strikingly than even the moon's pale rays, the living, the dying, and the dead. Short as was the respite, the enemy was not idle while it lasted. Brown was busily employed in bringing up the whole of his remaining force, and he afterwards renewed the attack with fresh troops, to be everywhere repulsed, with equal gallantry and success. Drummond had not neglected to bring up Riall's wing which had been previously ordered to retire. He placed them in a second line, with the exception of the Royal Scots, with which he prolonged his front line, on the right, where he was apprehensive of being outflanked by the enemy. The enemy's efforts to carry the hill were continued until about midnight, when he had suffered so severely from the superior steadiness and discipline of the British that he gave up the contest and retreated with great precipitation to his camp, beyond the Chippewa, which he abandoned on the following day, throwing the greatest part of his baggage, camp equipage, and provisions, into the rapids. He then set fire to Street's Mills, destroyed the bridge at Chippewa, and, in great disorder, continued his retreat towards Fort Erie. General Drummond detached his light troops, cavalry, and Indians, in pursuit, to hara.s.s his rear.

The Americans lost, in this fiercely contested struggle, at least 1,500 men, in killed, wounded, and prisoners: among the wounded were the two generals commanding, Brown and Scott. There were 5,000 Americans engaged, and only 2,800 British. General Drummond received a musket ball in the neck, but, concealing the circ.u.mstance from his troops, he remained on the ground until the close of the action. Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, of the 89th regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Pearson, Captain Robinson, of the King's regiment, in command of the militia, and several other officers were severely wounded. The British loss, in all, was eight hundred and seventy men, including forty-two made prisoners, among whom were General Riall and his staff.

The Americans, now under the command of General Ripley, retreated upon Fort Erie, and intrenched themselves in its neighborhood. Gen'l. Gaines then a.s.sumed the command at Fort Erie, having come from Sackett's Harbour, in the fleet which was to have co-operated with the army, now cooped up in Fort Erie and altogether indifferent to such co-operation. The fleet went back again.

Still following up his successes, General Drummond laid siege to Fort Erie and the intrenched camp near it, and while he was doing so, three armed schooners, anch.o.r.ed off the fort, were captured by a body of marines, who pushed off in boats during the night, under Captain Dobbs, of the Royal Navy. General Drummond did not simply sit down before Fort Erie and the entrenchment, he did his best to effect a breach, and with that view kept up a constant fire from the two 24-pounder field guns which had proved more than ordinarily useful at the battle of Chippewa. It was not long indeed before he considered an a.s.sault practicable. He made the necessary preparations, and on the fourteenth, three columns, one under Colonel Fischer, consisting of the 8th and DeWatteville's regiment, and the flank companies of the 89th and 100th regiments, with a detachment of artillery, a second under Colonel Drummond, of the 104th regiment, made up of the flank companies of the 41st and 104th regiments, with a few seamen and marines, in charge of Captain Dobbs, and the other under Colonel Scott, consisting of his own regiment, the 103rd, and two companies of the royals. Colonel Fischer's column gained possession of the enemy's batteries at the point a.s.signed for its attack, two hours before daylight, but the other columns were behind time, having got entangled by marching too near the lake, between the rocks and the water, and the enemy being now on the alert, opened a heavy fire upon the leading column of the second division which threw it into confusion. Fischer's column had in the meanwhile almost succeeded in capturing the fort. They had actually crept into the main fort through the embrasures, in spite of every effort to prevent them. Nay, they turned the guns of the fort upon its defenders, who took refuge in a stone building, in the interior, and continued to resist. This desperate work continued for nearly an hour, when a magazine blew up, mangling most horribly nearly all the a.s.sailants within the fort. Of course there was a panic. The living, surrounded by the dying and the dead, the victims of accident, believed that they stood upon an infernal machine, to which the match had only to be placed. No effort could rally men impressed with such an idea. There was a rush, as it were, from inevitable death. Persuasion fell on the ears of men who could not hear. Persuasion fell upon the senses of men transfixed with one idea. Persuasion would have been as effectual in moving yonder blackened corpse into healthy life, as in moving to a sense of duty to themselves, men who could see nothing but the deadness around them, and whose minds saw only, under all, the blackness of immediate destruction. Those who were victors, until now, literally rushed from the fort. The reinforcements of the British soon arrived, but the explosion had again given the defenders heart, and they too, having received reinforcements, after some additional straggling, for the mastery, the British withdrew. The British loss amounted to 157 killed, 308 wounded, and 186 prisoners, among the killed being Colonels Scott and Drummond. The American loss was 84 in killed, wounded and missing.