VII.—War on the Canadian Border.
Up to this time the English navy had been called the "Mistress of the Seas." England's vessels could be numbered by the hundred, and the crews by the ten thousand.
When this war of 1812 was declared, the entire United States navy comprised about half a dozen frigates, and six or eight sloops and brigs. Along the American coast alone the English had seven times this number of war vessels.
The first few months of the war were full of naval surprises. In that brief time the Americans captured more British ships than the French had taken in twenty years.
On August 19th, the American frigate Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, in one half hour captured the English frigate Guerrière. The English lost one hundred men, and the vessel was so disabled that she was left to sink. The Americans lost but fourteen men, and in a few hours the ship was ready for another battle.
Several other victories followed in quick succession. In all this time the Americans did not lose a ship.
In December, Commodore Bainbridge, the same officer who had been taken prisoner years before by the Tripolitans and had afterwards been promoted, was cruising with the frigate Constitution off the coast of Brazil. He there encountered and captured the British frigate Java.
But though so successful on the sea, the Americans were defeated many times on land.
The possession of the Great Lakes was of the utmost importance to both the English and the Americans.
Ever since the Revolution the English had kept a naval force on these lakes. They had hoped that some time they might be able to extend the Canadian territory along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi to New Orleans. This would give them the possession of the great west.
Many prosperous towns and trading posts were scattered along the Canadian shores. To capture some of these was the task given to the American army.
The campaign was opened by General William Hull. With two thousand men he crossed the Detroit River, and marched into Canada.
After a few skirmishes with the Indians, he fell back to the fort at Detroit. Then, without firing a single gun, he gave up this fort to the English. This surrender was a great loss to the Americans for many reasons.
There was, in the west, a bold Indian warrior whose name was Tecumseh. He had a brother whom the Indians called the Prophet, because he was a medicine man and could do wonderful things.
TECUMSEH.
These two Indians wished to form a union of all the tribes from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. They hoped that in this way they might prevent the white settlers from taking their hunting grounds.
"The white men are continually driving the red people toward the west; by and by we shall be driven into the Great Water," they said.
The governor-general of Canada made the Indians many promises, and tried to incite them against the United States. In this way he persuaded many warlike tribes to give aid to the English. Tecumseh himself crossed into Canada and joined the British army under General Proctor.
After Hull's surrender of Detroit, the British and Indians took possession not only of that fort, but also of Fort Dearborn, where Chicago now stands. The territory of Michigan was completely in their hands, and the settlers along the lakes and all through the northwest were at the mercy of the Indians.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
General William Henry Harrison tried to regain Detroit. His advance guard was met and defeated at the River Raisin, a few miles south of Detroit. Every American prisoner was murdered by the Indians; and for years afterward the River Raisin was a name of horror.
The Americans felt that something desperate must be done. The first great thing to be gained was the control of the lakes.
At this time nearly the whole of the western country was a wilderness. The only way of moving men and supplies from place to place, was by the use of boats on the lakes and water courses.
On Lake Ontario a small fleet had been built, and a skirmish or two had been fought. But the thing of most importance was the control of Lake Erie. This would not only give back Detroit to the Americans, but would also be the means of recovering the whole of the Michigan territory.
The task of building a fleet and driving the English from the lakes was given to Lieutenant Perry.
At the beginning of the war he had left his quiet home in Newport, and had hurried to Washington to ask for active service.
He was promised the first vacancy, but in the meantime he was ordered to protect the harbors of Long Island Sound with a flotilla of gunboats.
During the year 1812 he performed this duty faithfully, all the while drilling his men, in hopes of being intrusted with a larger responsibility.