War of 1812.—Events of 1813.
IN the beginning of 1813 the American army was organized in three divisions: the Army of the North, under General Wade Hampton; the Army of the Center, under General Dearborn; the Army of the West, under General Winchester, who was soon superseded by General Harrison. Early in January the Army of the West moved toward Lake Erie to regain the ground lost by Hull. On the 10th of the month the American advance reached the rapids of the Maumee, thirty miles from Winchester's camp. A detachment then pressed forward to Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, captured the town, and on the 20th of the month were joined by Winchester with the main division.
Events in the West.
2. Two days afterwards the Americans were assaulted by a thousand five hundred British and Indians under General Proctor. A severe battle was fought. General Winchester, having been taken by the enemy, advised his forces to capitulate. The American wounded were left to the mercy of the savages, who at once completed their work of butchery. The rest of the prisoners were dragged away, through untold sufferings, to Detroit, where they were afterward ransomed.
3. General Harrison now built Fort Meigs, on the Maumee. Here he was besieged by two thousand British and savages, led by Proctor and Tecumtha. Meanwhile, General Clay, with twelve hundred Kentuckians, advanced to the relief of the fort. In a few days the Indians deserted in large numbers, and Proctor, becoming alarmed, abandoned the siege, and retreated to Malden.
Ft. Meigs and Ft. Stephenson.
4. Late in July Proctor and Tecumtha, with nearly four thousand men, again besieged Fort Meigs. Failing to draw out the garrison, the British general filed off with half his forces and attacked Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky. This place was defended by a hundred and sixty men under Colonel Croghan, a stripling but twenty-one years of age. On the 2d of August the British advanced to storm the fort. Having crowded into the trench, they were swept away almost to a man. The repulse was complete. Proctor now raised the siege at Fort Meigs and returned to Malden.
Perry on Lake Erie.
5. At this time Lake Erie was commanded by a British squadron of six vessels. The work of recovering these waters was intrusted to Commodore Oliver H. Perry. His antagonist, Commodore Barclay, was a veteran from Europe. With great energy Perry directed the construction of nine ships, and was soon afloat. On the 10th of September the two fleets met near Put-in Bay. The battle was begun by the American squadron, Perry's flag-ship, the Lawrence, leading the attack. His principal antagonist was the Detroit, under command of Barclay. The British guns had the wider range, and were better served. In a short time the Lawrence was ruined, and Barclay's flagship was almost a wreck.
6. Perceiving how the battle stood, Perry seized his banner, got overboard into an open boat, passed within pistol-shot of the enemy's ships, a storm of balls flying around him, and transferred his flag to the Niagara. With this powerful vessel he bore down upon the enemy's line, drove right through the midst, discharging terrible broadsides right and left. In fifteen minutes the British fleet was helpless. Perry returned to the hull of the Lawrence, and there received the surrender. And then he sent to General Harrison this dispatch: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours—two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop."
Fall of Tecumtha at the Battle of the Thames.
Battle of the Thames.
7. For the Americans the way was now opened to Canada. On the 27th of September Harrison's army was landed near Malden. The British retreated to the river Thames, and there faced about to fight. The battlefield extended from the river to a swamp. Here, on the 5th of October, the British were attacked by Generals Harrison and Shelby. In the beginning of the battle Proctor fled. The British regulars were broken by the Kentuckians under Colonel Richard M. Johnson. The Americans wheeled against the fifteen hundred Indians, who lay hidden in the swamp. Tecumtha had staked all on the issue. For a while his war-whoop sounded above the din of the conflict. Presently his voice was heard no longer, for the great chieftain had fallen. The savages, appalled by the death of their leader, fled in despair. So ended the campaign in the West. All that Hull had lost was regained.
General Jackson in Alabama.
8. Meanwhile, the Creeks of Alabama had taken up arms. In the latter part of August, Fort Mims, forty miles north of Mobile, was surprised by the savages, who murdered nearly four hundred people. The governors of Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi made immediate preparation for invading the country of the Creeks. The Tennesseeans, under General Jackson, were first to the rescue. Nine hundred men, led by General Coffee, reached the Indian town of Tallushatchee, burned it, and left not an Indian alive. On the 8th of November a battle was fought at Talladega, and the savages were defeated with severe losses.
9. During the winter, Jackson's troops became mutinous and were going home. But the general set them the example of living on acorns, and threatened with death the first man who stirred from the ranks. And no man stirred. At Horseshoe Bend the Creeks made their final stand. On the 27th of March, the whites under General Jackson stormed the breastworks and drove the Indians into the bend of the river. There, huddled together, a thousand Creek warriors, with the women and children of the tribe, met their doom. The nation was completely conquered.
Expedition against Toronto.
10. On the 25th of April, 1813, General Dearborn embarked his forces at Sackett's Harbor, and proceeded against Toronto. On the 27th of the month, seventeen hundred men, landing near Toronto, drove the British from the water's edge, stormed a battery, and rushed forward to carry the main defences. At that moment the British magazine blew up with terrific violence. Two hundred men were killed or wounded. General Pike was fatally injured; but the Americans continued the charge and drove the enemy out of the town. Property to the value of a half million dollars was secured to the victors.
11. While this movement was taking place the enemy made a descent on Sackett's Harbor. But General Brown rallied the militia and drove back the assailants. The victorious troops at Toronto reembarked and crossed the lake to the mouth of the Niagara. On the 27th of May the Americans, led by Generals Chandler and Winder, stormed Fort George. The British retreated to Burlington Bay, at the western extremity of the lake.
Expedition against Montreal.
12. After the battle of the Thames, General Harrison resigned his commission. General Dearborn was succeeded by General Wilkinson. The next campaign embraced the conquest of Montreal. On the 5th of November seven thousand men, embarking twenty miles north of Sackett's Harbor, sailed against Montreal. Parties of British, Canadians, and Indians, gathering on the bank of the river, impeded the expedition. General Brown was landed with a considerable force to drive the enemy into the interior. On the 11th of the month a severe but indecisive battle was fought at a place called Chrysler's Field. The Americans passed down the river to St. Regis, and went into winter quarters at Fort Covington.
13. In the mean time, the British on the Niagara rallied and recaptured Fort George. Before retreating, General McClure, the commandant, burned the town of Newark. The British and Indians crossed the river, took Fort Niagara, and fired the villages of Youngstown, Lewiston, and Manchester. On the 30th of December, Black Rock and Buffalo were burned.
The War on the Ocean.
14. Off the coast of Demerara, on the 24th of February, 1813, the sloop-of-war Hornet, commanded by Captain James Lawrence, fell in with the British brig Peacock. A terrible battle of fifteen minutes ensued, and the Peacock struck her colors. While the Americans were transferring the conquered crew, the brig sank. Nine of the British sailors and three of Lawrence's men were drowned.
"Don't give up the Ship."
15. On returning to Boston the command of the Chesapeake was given to Lawrence, and again he put to sea. He was soon challenged by Captain Broke, of the British Shannon, to fight him. Eastward from Cape Ann the two vessels met on the 1st day of June. The battle was obstinate, brief, dreadful. In a short time, every officer of the Chesapeake was either killed or wounded. Lawrence was struck with a musket-ball, and fell dying on the deck. As they bore him down the hatchway, he gave his last order—ever afterwards the motto of the American sailor—"Don't give up the ship!" The Shannon towed her prize into the harbor of Halifax. There the bodies of Lawrence and Ludlow, second in command, were buried by the British.
16. On the 14th of August the American brig Argus was overtaken by the Pelican and obliged to surrender. On the 5th of September the British brig Boxer was captured by the American Enterprise off the coast of Maine. On the 28th of the following March, while the Essex, commanded by Captain Porter, was lying in the harbor of Valparaiso, she was attacked by two British vessels, the Phœbe and the Cherub. Captain Porter fought his antagonists until nearly all of his men were killed or wounded; then struck his colors and surrendered.
British Marauding.
17. From honorable warfare the naval officers of England stooped to marauding. Early in the year, Lewiston was bombarded by a British squadron. Other British men-of-war entered the Chesapeake and burned several villages on the shores of the bay. At the town of Hampton the soldiers and marines perpetrated great outrages. Commodore Hardy, to whom the blockade of New England had been assigned, behaved with more humanity. Even the Americans praised him for his honorable conduct. So the year 1813 closed without decisive results.