CHAPTER VII. WAR ON THE LAKES.
The Armaments—Preliminary Operations—Expedition against York —Death of General Pike—Capture of Fort George—Attack on Sackett's Harbor—Battle of Stony Creek.
The importance of the great navigable lakes lying between the United States and Canada had not been overlooked by either party to this war. As soon as it broke out, both began preparations to secure the ascendency on those waters—which, besides its direct advantages, would be almost necessary to either in making invasions around the coasts. A large portion of the shores on both sides—more especially, perhaps, on the American side—was at that time a wilderness, and the few open ports would naturally hold out strong temptations to the enemy.
The chief advantage was with the British, both because the oldest and largest settlements were on their side of the lakes, and because they had possession of the St. Lawrence River, which made it easy for them to bring up supplies from the seaboard. The Americans, however, had regularly trained naval officers in command of their few vessels on lakes Ontario and Champlain, while the English had not. The largest American vessel on the lower lakes was the Oneida, of sixteen guns; the largest British vessel, the Royal George, of twenty-two. The enemy also had several other vessels, carrying from a dozen to sixteen guns each, which it would be useless to specify, as their names and character were several times changed during the war. As soon as hostilities were declared, both sides began building new ships and arming merchant schooners.
In July, 1812, the British fleet had made an attempt to capture the Oneida and a prize schooner, both of which were at Sackett's Harbor. Lieutenant-Commander Woolsey anchored the Oneida in the harbor, where she could command the entrance, placed half of her guns in a battery on shore, and easily drove off the enemy's fleet, whose performance exhibited very little of the character of serious warfare.
In October, of that year, Captain Isaac Chauncey arrived at Sackett's Harbor, with authority to organize a fleet. He brought from New York forty ship-carpenters and a hundred officers and seamen, and a supply of naval stores. He bought ten or a dozen schooners, armed them—generally with long swivel guns—and fitted them up for naval service as well as their character would admit. These, with the Oneida, carried forty guns and four hundred and thirty men.
Chauncey's first exploit with this fleet was to chase the Royal George into the harbor of Kingston, and attack the batteries there; but nothing was accomplished by it save the capture of two small prizes. He lost one man killed and eight wounded—five by the bursting of a gun. About the same time (November, 1812), an expedition was made to clear the Canadian shore of batteries at the head of Niagara River. Four hundred soldiers and sailors, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Boerstler and Captain King, crossed from Black Rock in twenty boats, assaulted the batteries, and after desperate fighting captured them. They then spiked all the guns, burned the barracks, and retreated to the shore. The usual bad management seems to have entered into this, as into all the other enterprises of the sort, and the boats were not at hand for the recrossing; in consequence of which Captain King and sixty of his men were made prisoners.
Nothing can be done on the lakes in winter, as the harbors are closed by ice; but the building of vessels went on, and with the opening of spring General Dearborn and Commodore Chauncey began operations which showed no lack of activity and energy, however well or ill judged they may have been. York (now Toronto) was at this time the capital ===of Upper Canada. It was a place of about twelve hundred inhabitants, situated on a beautiful landlocked bay, about two by three miles in extent. The British were known to have a large vessel there, the Prince Regent, and to be building another. Mainly for the purpose of seizing this vessel, and destroying the one on the stocks, General Dearborn planned an expedition against York. He had seventeen hundred men available for the purpose, and Commodore Chauncey had fourteen vessels.
The expedition was organized, and sailed from Sackett's Harbor on the 25th of April. The winds were unfavorable, and the passage was somewhat tedious; but the fleet arrived off the harbor of York on the 27th. The intention was to land the troops by means of boats, at a point about two and a half miles west of the town, the guns of the fleet covering the landing, and march at once on the defences of the place, where General Roger H. Sheaffe was in command. But the water was rough, and the boats were driven half a mile farther westward, where they were compelled to land with but little protection from the vessels.
Here a body of British and Indians, concealed in the edge of a wood, were ready to receive them.
A column of riflemen, under Major Forsyth, were in the first boats, and as they approached the shore the enemy opened upon them with a destructive fire. Forsyth lost a considerable number of men before he could land. But his riflemen stood up in the boats and returned the fire with some effect, and he was followed quickly by a battalion of infantry under Major King, and this by the main body under General Zebulon M. Pike, who was in immediate command of the entire military force. The fleet at the same time contrived to throw a few effective shots into the woods, and the landing was effected without confusion.
The skirmishing party of British and Indians had been gradually strengthened till, by the time General Pike's forces were on shore, they had an almost equal force to dispute their passage toward the town. The enemy were still in the woods, and as soon as the Americans had been formed in battle order they advanced. The nature of the ground made it almost impossible to move or use their artillery; but the enemy had three pieces, with which they attacked the flanks of the column. The fighting soon became hot and deadly. There were charges and counter-charges, one and another part of either line alternately giving way and rallying again; but on the whole the advantage was with the Americans, and the British were gradually forced back into the outer defences. The Indians are said to have fled from the field early in the action.
The approach to the town, along the shore, was crossed by numerous streams and ravines, and the enemy destroyed the bridges behind them as they retired. Two pieces of artillery were with great difficulty taken across one of these ravines and placed where they could be brought to bear on the enemy.
The orders to the infantry were, to advance with unloaded muskets and carry the first battery at the point of the bayonet. This was easily done, as the enemy only remained long enough to discharge two or three cannon-shots hastily, and then fell back to his second battery, nearer the town.
General Pike led the column forward at once to the second battery, which the enemy also abandoned, after spiking the guns. Here he discovered that the barracks, three hundred yards still nearer to the town, appeared to be evacuated. Suspecting that there might be some scheme on the part of the enemy for drawing him into a disadvantageous position, where a stand would be made, he halted at the second battery, and sent forward Lieutenant Riddle with a few men to find out the true state of affairs.
The Lieutenant found the barracks deserted, and was about to return with the information, when suddenly the ground was shaken by a terrific explosion, and in a moment the air was darkened by flying boards, timbers, and stones, bars of iron, shells, and shot. The magazine, containing five hundred barrels of powder, had been blown up. It was situated in a little ravine, the bank of which protected Lieutenant Riddle's party, all of whom escaped. But a considerable number of the beams and masses of masonry, passing over their heads, fell within the battery. General Pike, who had just been removing a wounded prisoner to a place of safety, at the moment was seated on a stump, questioning a British sergeant who had been captured in the woods. As the shower of débris came down within the battery, the General was crushed to the earth by a section of stone wall, and two of his aides and the wounded sergeant were also struck down—all of them being fatally injured. By this explosion, fifty-two Americans were killed outright, and one hundred and eighty wounded. About forty British soldiers also, who were near the magazine, were killed.
General Pike being disabled, the command devolved upon Colonel Cromwell Pearce, who pushed on with his troops as soon as possible, though not in time to prevent the escape of the British General Sheaffe and all his regulars who remained unharmed. Sheaffe drew up terms of capitulation, and left them in the hands of the officer who commanded the militia. As the Americans approached the town, they were met by this officer with the offer to surrender, the capitulation to include the town and all government stores therein. While the parley was going on, Sheaffe destroyed most of the military stores, set fire to the war-vessel that was on the stocks, and made off, but his baggage and private papers were captured. Two hundred and ninety officers and men—of the British navy and militia—became prisoners and were paroled. General Pike had enjoined upon his soldiers the duty of protecting private property in the town, and given orders that marauding should be punished with death. His wishes were carefully observed; but the government buildings were burned.
General Pike, when his wound was found to be mortal, was borne off to the fleet. A little while afterward the British flag that had floated over York was brought to him. He asked to have it placed under his head, and in a few minutes calmly expired. He was but thirty-four years of age, but had performed valuable services for his country, especially in the command of two exploring expeditions, one about the headwaters of the Mississippi, and the other in what is now western Louisiana and Texas—of both of which he published accounts. The war-vessel that the Americans expected to capture at York had left the harbor two days before their arrival. The troops abandoned the place, and on the 1st of May were taken again on board the fleet, which as soon as the weather would permit, on the 8th, sailed away. In this expedition the loss of the American land forces was fourteen killed and twenty-three wounded, besides those who suffered from the explosion of the magazine. In the fleet, seventeen men were killed or wounded. The British regulars lost sixty-two killed and ninety wounded; the loss of the Indians and militia was unknown.
Two episodes of this battle have been discussed with considerable warmth. The first is the explosion of the magazine. It is not certain that this was done purposely. General Sheaffe, in his report, attributed it to "an unfortunate accident," but two English historians speak of it with commendation as a regularly laid plan. American writers who condemn it have done so on the ground that, as the commanding General had made arrangements for a surrender, the place was virtually surrendered already, and he therefore had no farther right to destroy life or even property. Commodore Chauncey probably gave the correct view of the matter when he wrote: "I'm much inclined to believe that General Sheaffe was correct when he stated that it was accidental. Nor could I condemn the enemy, even if a train had been laid. It is a perfectly legitimate mode of defence, as every student of history knows; and why should we censure the garrison for thus employing an acknowledged means of defence, to check the progress of an invader?" If the surrender had not virtually taken place, it is difficult to see why the defenders of the town are to be any more blamed for firing a stone wall at their enemy than they would have been for firing a thousand bullets.
The other point discussed is the burning of the government buildings. They were undoubtedly set on fire, though without orders from headquarters. It was said that the soldiers were incensed at finding a human scalp—presumably that of an American, taken by some Indian, and sold to the British authorities for the proffered premium—hanging on the wall of the legislative chamber. This scalp and the Speaker's mace were sent to Washington, where the British troops found them when they, in turn, burned our government buildings a little more than a year later.
When Chauncey's fleet left the harbor of York, it sailed due south, and landed the troops at a point four miles east from the mouth of Niagara River, where they went into camp. From here a small expedition was fitted out under Lieutenant Pettigrew, of the navy, who with a hundred men sailed in two schooners to the head of Lake Ontario, to capture a large quantity of stores deposited there. They landed on the 10th of May, drove off the guard, burned the buildings, and brought away the stores. Chauncey himself, with the remainder of the fleet, carried the wounded to Sackett's Harbor, whence he returned on the 25th with provisions, guns, and a reënforcement of about three hundred and fifty men.
General Dearborn immediately planned the capture of Fort George, just above the village of Newark, on the western side of the Niagara, two miles from its mouth. It was arranged that the troops should be landed on the lake shore, and, marching southward and eastward, attack the British works from the land side. The enterprise was admirably planned, and brilliantly executed. The water at the proposed landing-place was carefully sounded, and the stations marked with buoys. A considerable number of boats, to be used in landing the forces, had been built on the shore of the river, were launched on May 26th, and immediately drew the fire of the enemy's batteries.
Before daylight on the morning of the 27th, the fleet weighed anchor. Five of the vessels took positions where they could annoy with a cross-fire the batteries that were within gunshot of the landing-place. Others took position for the immediate protection of the troops, and at the same time Fort Niagara opened fire on Fort George, which was returned with spirit. All the batteries on the river joined in the contest, and there was a grand chorus of artillery firing. The battery immediately opposite Fort George was the most effective, and considerably damaged that work.
The troops were under the personal command of General Boyd, who had succeeded General Pike. With him were many most skilful and efficient officers, some of whom afterward became famous. The gallant Major Forsyth was there, with his riflemen, and Colonel Macomb with his artillery. Winfield Scott, then a colonel, was there, and Captain Oliver Hazard Perry had hurried down from Lake Erie, to offer his services and take part in the enterprise.
The preparations for the defence had been quite as well made as those for the attack. When the boats loaded with troops approached the shore, a column of two hundred men, posted in a ravine, opened a sharp fire on them. The fire was returned from the boats, which moved on without stopping for a moment or being thrown into any confusion. Captain Hindman, of the artillery, was the first man to land on the enemy's coast; and many of the officers and men were so eager to follow him that they leaped into the water and waded ashore.
The fire of some of the vessels was brought to bear upon the enemy in the ravine; and as soon as the advance column landed, it formed in battle order and moved forward to the charge. The enemy soon gave way, but retired slowly, and at the same time a second and stronger column, which had been posted in another ravine, half a mile in the rear, moved forward to protect the retreat of the advance guard and oppose the progress of the Americans.
Every step thus far had been contested, and the roar of cannon and rattle of small arms, both on the water and on shore, had been almost incessant from the beginning of the engagement. But the bloodiest work was to come. The combined columns of British troops, numbering eight hundred or more, took a strong position at the top of a steep bank. The advance, under Colonel Scott, moved directly against this position; but as his men attempted to climb the bank in the face of the enemy, they were mercilessly cut down by a sharp and steady fire. Three times they tried to reach the top, and three times were driven back. But when Colonel Moses Porter's light artillery and a portion of Boyd's brigade had come up to his assistance, Scott was at length enabled to carry the height. The victory at this point decided the day. The flying enemy were pursued as far as the village of Newark, at which point Scott detached a force to cut off the retreat westward toward Burlington, while with the remainder of his troops he pressed on at once to Fort George. This work had been so much damaged by the bombardment, and the garrison now left in it was so small, that it was easily captured. As Scott approached it, one of the magazines was exploded, and a heavy stick of timber struck him and knocked him from his horse. Hurrying forward, the soldiers in the advance discovered that trains had been laid for the explosion of two other magazines, and they were just in time to put out the matches. When the gates of the fort were broken open, Scott was the first man to enter, and with his own hands he hauled down the British flag. Close behind him was Colonel Moses Porter, who could not help exclaiming, "Confound your long legs, Scott, you have got in before me!"
A few prisoners were taken with the fort; but Scott, bent upon making his victory complete, made but a brief halt there, and then hurried on his forces in pursuit of the retreating enemy. Twice orders were sent to him to turn back, and both times he refused to obey them. "Your General does not know," said he to a lieutenant who brought one of these orders, "that I have the enemy within my power; in seventy minutes I shall capture his whole force." Colonel Burn, who ranked Scott, but had consented to serve under him, had crossed the river with a troop of cavalry, and was waiting for another now in midstream, to land, when with his whole force he was to join the pursuit. But the fifteen minutes thus lost in waiting enabled General Boyd to ride up in person and peremptorily order the pursuit discontinued, which of course put an end to it. Just why the General did this—whether he feared the victory might be turned into a disaster, or was only apprehensive that Colonel Scott was getting too much glory—has never been explained.
In this action, which was over by noon, the Americans lost one hundred and fifty-three men, killed or wounded. The British loss, as nearly as can be ascertained, was two hundred and seventy-one killed or wounded, and over six hundred unwounded prisoners, five hundred of whom were militia and were paroled.
The British seized the opportunity while Dearborn and his forces were absent on this expedition near the western end of Lake Ontario, to make an attack on Sackett's Harbor, at the eastern. The importance of that place to the Americans consisted mainly in the fact that they had established there a large depot of naval and military stores, and were building ships.
The expedition sailed from Kingston in four war-vessels, a brig, two schooners, and two gunboats, all under command of Sir James Lucas Yeo. The land forces, commanded by General Prevost, numbered about a thousand, besides a party of Indians, said to have numbered three hundred.
About noon of the 28th the squadron appeared off Sackett's Harbor, and preparations for landing were made. But after the troops had been in the boats about half an hour, an order was issued—for some mysterious reason, which has never been explained—commanding them all to return to the ships, which then stood off for Kingston. But while this was going on, a fleet of nineteen boats was observed near the south shore, bringing American reenforcements from Oswego to the Harbor. The Indians; who thought they were there to fight, and could not understand why they should return to the ships without firing a gun, disobeyed the order, and paddled off to attack the Americans in the boats. The squadron then wore round again, and sent out boatloads of troops to the assistance of the Indians, who drove ashore and captured twelve of the American boats, after their occupants had escaped to the woods. The other seven reached the Harbor. This little affair inspired the British General with new courage, and he resumed the purpose of landing his whole force for an attack on the village.
But meanwhile the Americans were busily preparing for defence. Lieutenant-Colonel Electus Backus, who commanded the remnant of regular troops left at the post, had sent word the evening before to General Jacob Brown, of the militia, who had been requested by General Dearborn to take command in case of an attack during his absence. A militia force numbering about five hundred was hastily gathered from the surrounding country, and added to the small body of regulars and volunteers, The militia were posted behind a ridge of sand which had been thrown up west of the village, where their fire would sweep that part of the shore which offered the only good landing-place for the enemy. On their right were posted the volunteers, with a single piece of artillery. The regulars were formed near their camp about a mile distant.
Early in the morning of the 29th the enemy landed. As their boats approached the shore, the militia and volunteers rose and fired into them, and were fired upon in return by two gunboats that had been sent to cover the landing. The enemy's boats then pulled around to the other side of Horse Island, which is near the mouth of the harbor, landed, and marched steadily across the narrow causeway that connects it with the mainland. As they approached the ridge, the militia gave them another volley, and then fled to the woods, abandoning the piece of artillery. Colonel Mills was killed while trying to hold them to their work. General Brown, who was borne away with the fugitives, succeeded in rallying about eighty of them, whom he posted behind a huge fallen tree, at the edge of a small open field. From this cover they gave the still advancing enemy three or four volleys, and then retreated.
Thus the left of the American line was completely swept away. The right, composed of volunteers, gave way more slowly, and retired in good order along the shore, skirmishing all the way with the enemy's advance, till they reached and formed in line with the regulars. They were annoyed on the way by the enemy's gunboats, which swept portions of the road with grapeshot; but on the other hand the enemy suffered considerably from the fire of their rifles and from parties of regulars sent out by Colonel Backus to join in the skirmishing.
The volunteers took position on the left of the second line of defence. The right was occupied by dismounted light dragoons, and the centre by regular infantry and artillery. The enemy, elated, as he had cause to be, at his first success, came steadily on to attack this line, and as he approached was subjected to an artillery fire from a small work called Fort Tompkins. He struck the right flank of the Americans, but found it made of different stuff from militia. Again and again the attempt was made to force this part of the line; but the dragoons, commanded by Backus in person, stood firm, delivered their fire with coolness, and drove back the assailants. The fight was kept up for an hour, and at length the weight of numbers told, and the Americans fell back.
A portion of them next took possession of the log barracks, and here made a third stand. The enemy came on as gallantly as ever, intent upon driving everything before him. Colonel Gray, Quartermaster-General, led the red-coats, and as they came up to the attack, an American drummer-boy picked up a musket, levelled it at the Colonel, and shot him down. Lieutenant Fanning, who had been severely wounded at York, and was not expected to be on duty, took charge of a gun. As the enemy approached, he carefully sighted the piece, and gave them three rounds of grapeshot in quick succession, which broke the force of their onset, and they began to fall back in some disorder. At this moment Colonel Backus fell mortally wounded.
The officer in charge of the stores had been instructed to set fire to them in case the enemy seemed likely to capture the place. Seeing the probability of this, he now applied the torch, not only to the storehouses but also to a new vessel that was almost ready to be launched, and to one that had been recently captured from the enemy.
With the Americans driven to their last stronghold, and the smoke from their burning stores rolling over their heads, the day appeared to be irretrievably lost. But though the enemy was strong in good troops, gallantly led, he had a weak spot in the constitutional timidity of the commander, Sir George Prevost. And General Brown at this point of time made a fortunate movement which struck that weak spot in a most effective way. He had succeeded in rallying about three hundred of the militia, with whom he suddenly emerged from the woods, and made a feint of marching for the boats by which the expedition had landed. Sir George took the alarm at once, imagining he was to be surrounded by a superior force and entrapped. He therefore issued an order for retreat, and his victorious forces withdrew to their ships without securing any result of their victory, or even bearing off their wounded. A reënforcement of six hundred men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Tuttle, who had inarched forty miles in one day, reached the vil lage just as the enemy were pushing off in their boats.
The Americans succeeded in putting out the fires, but not till half a million dollars' worth of stores had been destroyed. The new ship was but little injured, as her timbers were so green they would not burn readily. The prize vessel was on fire, and she had considerable powder in her hold; but Lieutenant Talman, at the risk of his life, boarded her, suppressed the flames, and brought her off to a place of safety at a distance from the burning buildings.
Sir George, not content with making a needless fiasco of his expedition, made himself ridiculous by sending a flag of true to demand the surrender of the village and the military post, which of course was refused. He then sent another flag, asking that his dead and wounded might be properly cared for, and on receiving assurances that they would, sailed away with the whole fleet.
The loss of the Americans in this action was about one hundred and seventy, killed, wounded, or missing; that of the British, about two hundred and sixty.
A few days after the loss of Fort George, General Vincent concentrated the British forces at Beaver Dams, and retreated westward to Burlington Bay, the head of Lake Ontario, where he intrenched himself on the heights. General Dearborn, after being baffled for some time by false information which Vincent had caused to be conveyed to him, at length found out where he had gone, and sent the brigades of Winder and Chandler after him. The Americans, following the "ridge road" that skirts the whole shore of the lake, came up with the enemy's pickets at Stony Creek, a small stream that crosses the road at right angles, on the 5th of June. There was considerable skirmishing, and the enemy's pickets were driven in.
General Chandler, with a wise caution thus far seldom displayed, placed a company of artillery at the mouth of the creek, three miles from the road, to cover a landing of boats expected there, with the rest of his forces took a strong position on the high eastern bank of the creek, where the road crosses it, threw out pickets in all directions, gave orders how the line should be formed in case of an attack, and ordered that the artillery horses be kept harnessed.
One regiment at first encamped in the low meadows on the western bank, but after nightfall it withdrew to the heights, leaving its camp-fires burning, A picket guard that had been posted at a little chapel a quarter of a mile in advance was left there.
The officer in command of the enemy's rear guard had sent word to General Vincent that the Americans were in straggling detachments, and if the first were attacked at once it could easily be defeated before the others came up to its support. The General therefore, as he had little chance of further retreat, planned a night attack. A little before midnight of the 5th he left his camp, at the head of about a thousand men, and marched stealthily back by the road he had come, to surprise his foe. The night was absolutely dark, and the sentinels at the little chapel were suddenly seized and silently bayoneted before they could fire their muskets or make any outcry. The assassination of pickets is one of the sickening incidents of war that seldom find mention in the reports of the general or the pages of the romantic historian, but that cost many a poor fellow his life without even the pitiful compensation of what is called glory.
Seeing the camp-fires in the meadow, with no signs of life among them, the British forces imagined that the Americans were all asleep and would fall an easy prey to massacre. They advanced confidently, and as they reached the deserted fires sprang among them with a hideous yell—in which part of the performance they were materially assisted by a few score Indian allies—expecting to see their foes arise from the ground, and rub their eyes open just in time to catch the gleam of the British bayonets and savage tomahawks before they were buried in American flesh.
Instead of this, while they stood dazed among the waning camp-fires, looking about in vain for somebody to massacre, the line on the heights blazed out with musketry and artillery, and the shot tore its way through the ranks of the red-coats. But the English soldier has always been good at obeying orders, and as soon as this volley revealed the whereabouts of the Americans, their enemy pressed on in the face of the fire, climbed the bank, entered the lines in the darkness, and captured several guns, the artillerists not being able to distinguish friend from foe.
Then began a horrible mêlée, in which nearly every man fought on his own account, and many of them could not tell whether they were striking at comrades or enemies. Hearing a few shots fired in the rear of his camp, General Chandler imagined he was attacked from that direction also, and faced about a portion of his line, which increased the dreadful confusion. After this wild work in the darkness and tumult, the British managed somehow to retreat, carrying off with them two pieces of artillery, which, however, were afterward recovered.
When the morning dawned, it was found that the American commanders, Chandler and Winder, were both prisoners in the hands of the enemy; while the British commander, Vincent, had been thrown from his horse, lost his way in the woods, and after floundering about all night was discovered in a most pitiful and ridiculous plight. Chandler was taken while trying to manoeuvre a British regiment, which he had stumbled upon in the darkness and mistaken for one of his own.
In this affair the Americans lost one hundred and fifty-four men, killed, wounded, or missing; the British, two hundred and fourteen. The victory, so far as there was any, must be accorded to the British, since it broke the advance of the Americans and caused them to turn back. When they had retreated as far as Forty-Mile Creek, they were attacked simultaneously on both flanks—on the land side by a band of Indians, and on the water side by the fleet under Sir James Yeo. But they succeeded in repelling both enemies, and returned to Fort George with the loss only of a part of their baggage, which was conveyed in boats.
After this, Yeo coasted along the shore and captured stores in Charlotte, at the mouth of the Genesee, and in Sodus, on the bay of that name. As he met with some resistance at Sodus, and had difficulty in finding the stores, which were hidden, he burned the buildings there. There was a British depot of supplies at Beaver Dams, about seven miles southwest of Queenstown and the same distance northwest of the Falls. General Dearborn planned its capture, and on the 23d of June sent against it, from Fort George, an expedition of five hundred and seventy men, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles G. Boerstler. The enemy had strong works at Beaver Dams, but at this time they were not very well manned.
The Americans, who had about fifteen miles to march, started in the evening, with the intention of surprising and capturing the post in the morning. But the enemy had been apprised of the movement, and when the Americans reached the present site of Thorold they fell into an ambush, where they were suddenly attacked by four hundred and fifty Indians, commanded by John Brant (son of the celebrated Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant) and Captain Kerr. Though surprised, Boerstler was not confused. He coolly but quickly formed his men in battle order, and charged through the woods in the direction of the attack. To little purpose, however, as the wily savages, following their usual tactics, fled before the line of bayonets, and soon attacked the Americans from another direction, firing from the thickets and other hiding-places. After keeping up a desultory contest of this sort for three hours, with no prospect of any termination, Boerstler fell back to a position in an open field, encountering on the way a body of Canadian militia. Scarcely had he taken this new position, to wait for reënforcements which he had asked General Dearborn to send, when a small detachment of British regulars approached to reconnoitre. They were commanded by a Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, who had been warned of the ap proach of the Americans by a woman who had walked nineteen miles to tell him.
Seeing that his enemy was somewhat disordered, and not disposed, to take the offensive, Fitzgibbon, though he had but forty-seven men, conceived the idea of capturing the whole force by one of those tricks which are generally supposed to be peculiarly Yankee. Displaying his little detachment in such a way as to make it appear to be the advance of a much larger body of troops, he sent a flag of truce to Boerstler and boldly demanded an immediate surrender, saying that fifteen hundred regulars and seven hundred Indians were but a short distance in the rear, and would soon come up. For the truth of this he gave his word, "on the honor of a British soldier." Boerstler, supposing escape would be impossible, surrendered, on condition that his men should be paroled and permitted to return to the United States. A Major De Haren, who had been sent for in all haste by Fitzgibbon, now came up with two hundred additional troops, and received the surrender, which included five hundred and forty-two men, two guns, and a stand of colors. Major Chapin, who was present, says: "The articles of capitulation were no sooner signed than they were violated. The Indians immediately commenced their depredations, and plundered the officers of their side arms. The soldiers, too, were stripped of every article of clothing to which the savages took a fancy, such as hats, coats, shoes, etc." The British commander also violated the articles by refusing to permit the militia to be paroled, whereupon many of them rose upon the guards, overpowered them, and escaped, taking some of the guards along as prisoners.
This ridiculous affair excited the deepest indignation throughout the country; and, in obedience to public sentiment, the President soon removed General Dearborn from command.
It was hardly more than a fortnight later, July 11th, when Lieutenant-Colonel Bisshopp planned an attack on Black Rock, a few miles north of Buffalo, where the Americans had a dockyard and large storehouses. With about three hundred men, before daylight of July 11th, he crossed the river in boats, surprised and took possession of the place. and proceeded to burn and plunder as rapidly as possible. He set fire to the block-houses, the barracks, the navy-yard buildings, and a schooner that lay at the wharf, and carried off a considerable quantity of stores. But before he could accomplish all this, General Peter B. Porter had got together a small force, consisting of regulars, volunteers, militia, and a few friendly Indians, and vigorously attacked the invaders. A fight of twenty minutes' duration ended in the precipitate retreat of the British, who left behind them a captain and nine men killed or wounded, and fifteen prisoners. After the boats had pushed off, the Americans renewed their fire, by which Bisshopp, commander of the expedition, was killed, and many of his men were either killed or wounded. The loss of the Americans was three men killed and three wounded. That of the enemy is supposed to have been about seventy. They had carried off four guns, besides spiking all they left. Bisshopp, who had proved himself an energetic and skilful officer, was a serious loss.
Commodore Chauncey, who was a most meritorious naval commander, though he never made a very brilliant reputation, was all this summer trying to bring Sir James Yeo to a decisive battle on Lake Ontario; but Sir James had a genius for not fighting, and could only be chased to shelter under the guns of the British forts. It was said also that his instructions forbade his fighting except under the most favorable circumstances. Once there seemed to be a prospect of a square battle near the mouth of the Niagara, in August; but Chauncey's plan was frustrated by the captains of two of his schooners, who in disobedience of orders tried to get to windward of the British line, and were captured. On the 28th of September there was a partial engagement between the two squadrons; but from their unequal sailing, it was only possible to bring three of the American vessels into action. One of these was badly crippled, but another handled the British flagship so severely that she crowded on all canvas and made off, followed by the entire fleet, which the Americans could not overtake. On the 5th of October Chauncey gave chase to a squadron which proved to be seven British gunboats used as transports. One of them was burned, one escaped, and the other five were captured, together with more than two hundred and sixty men. Two of the prizes were those taken from Chauncey near the Niagara.
These successes left Lake Ontario virtually in the possession of the Americans; and meanwhile the command of Lake Erie had been gained by a most brilliant and memorable battle. During the winter of 1812-13 two large brigs, intended to carry twenty guns each, and several gunboats and schooners were built at Presque Isle (now Erie, Pa.), where there was a fine harbor. For this work a force of carpenters was sent from New York. The timber of which they were to construct the vessels was growing in the woods, and the trees had to be felled and worked up at once; there was no time to wait for the wood to season. All the ironwork, canvas, cordage, and stores had to be brought from New York or Philadelphia, and as there was neither railroad nor canal, and much of the intervening country was a wilderness, the difficulties of transportation were very great. A bar at the mouth of the harbor, on which there was but seven feet of water, prevented the British cruisers from sailing in and destroying the vessels before they were launched.
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, who, though quite young, had seen considerable service afloat, was ordered from the seaboard to take command on Lake Erie, and arrived at Buffalo in March. His volunteer service in the attack on Fort George has been already mentioned. The fall of that work was followed by the abandonment of Fort Erie, which released the vessels that had been blockaded by its guns in the upper part of the Niagara, and early in June they rendezvoused at Presque Isle. Perry now had his entire force in one harbor, and pushed on his equipment with the greatest possible speed. One of the new brigs was made his flagship, and was named the Lawrence. The bar that had thus far protected the fleet was now a hindrance to its sailing, for it could be passed by the larger vessels only in calm weather, and even then they must be lightened of their guns and heavy stores. The British commander, Captain R. H. Barclay, was watching with his entire fleet for Perry to come out. If, as is supposed, he intended to attack him while crossing the bar, when he could probably have won a victory, he lost his opportunity by attending to pleasure before duty. A gentleman living on the northern shore of the lake invited him to dinner one Sunday, and he crossed over with his whole squadron. At the same time the water became smooth, and Perry, who had been eagerly watching for such a chance, proceeded to take out his fleet at once.
The Lawrence, which was his heaviest vessel, was provided with a large scow on each side, and on her arrival at the bar these scows were nearly filled with water, and sunk very low. Great beams were then passed through her port-holes, the ends projecting over the scows. Piles of blocks were provided for these ends to rest upon, and then the holes in the scows were plugged up, and the water pumped out. As the scows rose, they lifted the brig with them. But though her guns had been taken out and left on the beach, as well as all other heavy articles that could be removed, she still drew too much water to pass the bar. Another lift was made, which occupied the night, and finally she floated across. The other brig, the Niagara, was not quite so large, and was taken over with less difficulty. The lighter vessels had crossed the bar without assistance; and on the approach of the English squadron at eight o'clock the next morning, it was received with a cannonade, which, though it did no harm, prevented Barclay from running in close and seizing the prey he had been so long watching for. The Lawrence's guns were taken on board as soon as she was afloat outside, and the broadside was trained to bear on the enemy.
This was Monday, the 5th of August, and Perry was now afloat on Lake Erie with ten vessels, carrying fifty-five guns and—after he had received several reënforcements—about four hundred men. Captain Barclay had about the same number of men, in six vessels, carrying sixty-five guns, his flagship being the Detroit. As soon as the American fleet was fairly over the bar, the British sailed away up the lake, and it took Perry a month to find them and bring them to action. He was at Put-in-Bay; in one of the islands near the western end of the lake, when at sunrise on the morning of September 10th the British fleet was sighted from the masthead, bearing down from the northwest, apparently bent on having a fight.
Perry had given the commanders of his several vessels careful instructions what to do in case of an engagement, ending with the remark that "they could not be out of their proper places if they laid their enemy close alongside." Within an hour after the enemy was sighted, the squadron was beating out of the bay. The wind was from the southwest, which made it impossible for the Americans to get the weather-gage, unless by circumnavigating some of the islands. As there was apparently no time for this, Perry determined to accept the chances of battle without that advantage, and accordingly passed to leeward of the islands. But fortune favored him unexpectedly, for the wind soon shifted to the southeast, giving him the weather-gage, which for vessels armed as his were was very important.
At ten o'clock the British squadron, having failed in manoeuvres for the weather-gage, hove to, in line of battle, with their bows to the west and south, and awaited the approach of their enemy, now about nine miles distant. One of the smaller vessels was at the head of the line, and the Detroit, Barclay's flagship, next; then came another small vessel, and then the Queen Charlotte, a large one, and then the two remaining small ones. The British vessels were all freshly painted, and had new canvas, presenting a handsome appearance to the eye of a sailor.
As Perry approached and observed this order, he formed his own line to correspond with it. He placed two schooners in the van, one carrying four guns and the other two; then his flagship, the Lawrence; then the Caledonia, of three guns; then the Niagara, of twenty; and then the other vessels, which, however, as the wind was light, did not come up very promptly. The orders were, that the vessels should be but half a cable's length apart.
As he approached the enemy. Perry displayed a blue flag bearing the words, "Don't give up the ship." * A few minutes before twelve o'clock, a bugle was sounded on the British flagship, which was answered by cheers from all the other vessels in the line, and followed by the discharge of one of her long guns, pointed at the Lawrence. As the American was still a mile and a half distant, the shot fell short; but this space was being gradually lessened, and the battle was soon fairly opened. One of the two schooners in the van replied with a
* For the origin of this motto, see page 199.
long gun, while the Lawrence, being armed with carronades, bore down upon the British flagship, to engage her at short range. This she succeeded in doing, but not without suffering considerably, and the three largest of the British vessels concentrated their fire on her. The two foremost schooners fought their long guns well; but as they had been ordered to keep to windward of the flagship (that is, a little farther from the enemy) they did not draw off any of the fire from her. But, after two hours of this, the Niagara drew ahead of the Caledonia, thus assuming the place in the line next to the Lawrence, and fought most gallantly; still, this hardly lessened the fire that was poured into the flagship, which the enemy seemed determined to sink. Many of her spars were shot away, all of her guns on the starboard side, but one, were rendered useless, and of a hundred men on board, twenty-two were killed and sixty-one wounded—a proportion of casualties that had never been equalled in any similar battle.
The Lawrence dropped out of the fight, and Perry transferred his flag to the Niagara, which pulled ahead to a position for engaging the Detroit. When the enemy saw the flag come down, they supposed they had gained a victory, stopped firing, and cheered. But the decisive struggle was yet to come. Captain Elliott, of the Niagara, passed down the line in a small boat, delivering to the commander of each vessel Perry's order to close up and attack the enemy at half pistol-shot with grape and canister. He then remained with and commanded one of the last vessels in the line, leaving the Niagara to Perry.
At this time the wind freshened, Perry showed the signal for close action, an answering cheer passed along his line, and once more the whole squadron bore down upon the enemy. Barclay attempted to manoeuvre his vessels so as to bring his uninjured broadsides to bear; but his line got into confusion, and two of the vessels fouled.
Perry took prompt advantage of this. The Niagara sailed right through the confused British line, having two of their vessels on one side, and three on the other—all within short range—and delivered her deadly broadsides in both directions as she passed. Then she luffed across their bows, and raked them, and the cries that came from the Detroit told that this merciless operation had had its usual deadly effect. At the same time, the other American vessels came into close action, and their guns were served with great rapidity. This destructive work had lasted about twenty minutes when an officer of the Queen Charlotte displayed a white handkerchief on the point of a pike, and four of the British vessels struck their colors. The other two attempted to escape, but were overtaken in about an hour and compelled to surrender.
In this battle, the entire loss of the Americans was twenty-seven killed and ninety-six wounded. Twelve of these were quarterdeck officers. As more than a hundred out of four hundred on board had previously been rendered unfit for duty by dysentery and cholera, the proportion of casualties to effective men was more than one in three. The British lost forty-one killed and ninety-four wounded, including twelve officers. Captain Barclay, who had lost his left arm in a previous engagement, in this one lost the use of his right.
The masts of the Detroit and Queen Charlotte were so injured that they snapped off two days later, from the rolling of the vessels in the bay, while riding at anchor during a gale.
In a despatch to General Harrison, Perry announced his victory in words that have become famous: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours: two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop." Congress voted him a gold medal for his achievement. As the question of the fighting qualities of the black man has since been considerably discussed, it is worth noting that in this bloody and brilliant battle a large number of Perry's men were Negroes. Much of the credit of the victory has been claimed for Captain Jesse D. Elliott, who undoubtedly deserved it, and his services were generously acknowledged in Perry's official report.
Many interesting incidents of this famous action have been related by different participants. At the opening of the battle, the English musicians played the well-known air of "Rule, Britannia!—Britannia, rule the waves!"—on which the result of the fight was a ludicrous comment, proving that an exception must be made in favor of the waves of Lake Erie.
On the British flagship there was a pet bear, and when the victors stepped on board they found it eagerly lapping up the blood from the deck.
The British commander had repeated the silly performance of nailing his colors to the mast, which never has any other effect than to sacrifice lives that might have been saved if the signal of surrender, when surrender became necessary, could have been displayed instantly.
On Captain Barclay's vessel were three Indians, whom he placed in the tops, or cross-trees, with rifles in their hands, to pick off the American officers, that kind of work being exactly suited to their taste. But as the first part of the action was fought at long cannon-range, beyond the reach of rifle-shot, they found themselves in danger from numerous large balls that went tearing through the rigging, and at the same time totally unable to murder anybody on the distant vessels. Indians have always stood in mortal terror of artillery. So they descended to the deck; but here they found it still more dangerous, and finally the disgusted braves retreated down the hatchway. When the Americans came on board, they found them hidden in the hold. This is probably the only instance of Indians taking part, or attempting to take part, in modern naval warfare. But they have a legend of a great Indian naval battle that took place on the waters of this same lake two hundred years before.
The Senecas—so runs the story—who inhabited the southern and eastern shores of Ontario and the St. Lawrence, had declared war against the Wyandots, who inhabited the northern and western shores. A Wyandot chief, gambling with a Seneca, had won his wife; but the Seneca refused to give her up. Shortly afterward she eloped with the Wyandot, and they escaped to the country of the Pottawatomies, in Michigan. This was the cause of the war, which the Senecas began by crossing the St. Lawrence, surprising a Wyandot village, and cruelly murdering a large number of the inhabitants.
Finally the whole Wyandot nation fled before their enemies, passed along the northern shore of Lake Ontario, crossed the peninsula north of Lake Erie, and after great suffering and serious losses escaped by crossing St. Clair River on cakes of floating ice.
The next summer the Senecas planned a naval expedition against the Wyandots, to be fitted out at the eastern end of Lake Erie, near the present site of Buffalo, pass up the lake and through Detroit River, and rescue the stolen squaw and exterminate the tribe. But the Wyandots had early information of this design, and several of the tribes inhabiting the peninsula of Michigan joined with them in preparations to repel the threatened invasion.
The war-canoes built by the Senecas were "dug-outs," hewn from the trunks of large trees. The Wyandots and their allies prepared a fleet of birch-bark canoes, which were much lighter, swifter, and more easily manoeuvred, and went down the lake to meet their enemy. They coasted along the northern shore as far as North Point, where they waited to make a reconnoissance. The Wyandot who had carried off the woman crossed the lake alone, climbed a tall tree overlooking the rendezvous of the Senecas, and counted their craft and noted their preparations. Then he passed by a wide circuit around their encampment, swam the Niagara below the Falls, and the next day rejoined the fleet of the allies, to whom he was able to give all necessary information as to the number and equipment of their enemy.
They set sail—or rather pulled paddles—at once. But when in full sight of the Senecas, pretended to be frightened, and retreated. The Senecas gave a war whoop, launched their heavy canoes, and pad-died after them as fast as possible. When the allies had thus drawn their antagonists far away from the shore, they suddenly turned upon them, and a bloody and merciless battle ensued, which lasted for several hours. Indian after Indian was cut down, or gradually hacked to pieces, or knocked overboard. Some of the canoes were run down; others were grappled together while their occupants fought hand-to-hand. The lighter boats of the allies were a great advantage, and finally the Senecas were defeated. The dead and the badly wounded were then thrown overboard, while the prisoners were reserved for torture. One Seneca was found to have concealed himself in the bottom of a canoe, feigning death that he might escape captivity. The victors cut off his nose and ears, and knocked out his teeth, and in that disgraceful plight sent him home to bear the news of the disaster to his tribe. On the bank of Niagara River the captured canoes were piled up for a funeral pyre, and a hundred of the wounded Senecas were tied and laid upon it, Fire was set to it. and as one and another escaped when his shackles were burned off, he was shot down with arrows or brained with a war-club. When the victims were all reduced to ashes, the allies celebrated their victory with a feast and dance, and then returned home. Such was the legend told by Walk-in-the-Water, a Wyandot chief, when he heard of Perry's victory, which he thought was a small affair in comparison with the exploit of his ancestors.
By the capture of the British fleet, the lakes were cleared of the enemy, and but one more movement was necessary in order to restore to the United States all that had been lost by Hull's surrender. How successfully that movement was executed will be shown in the next chapter.