"'All hail, great chief, who quailed before
A Bishop on Niag'ra's shore;
But looks on Death with dauntless eye,
And begs for leave to bleed and die,
"'Oh my!'"
CHAPTER LV.
Fourth American Invasion—First Invasion of Lower Canada, completely Defeated by the Courage and Skill of the Canadians; and General Dearborn retires into Winter Quarters at Plattsburg.
But in addition to these three abortive invasions of Upper Canada in 1812, was one of Lower Canada, which will be narrated in the words of Mr. Christie, illustrating as it does the ardent loyalty and noble heroism of the French Canadians:
"The American forces, under General Dearborn, gradually approached the frontier of Lower Canada; and early on the morning of the 17th of November, 1812, Major (now Lieutenant-Colonel) De Salaberry, Superintendent of the Canadian Voltigeurs, commanding the cordon of advanced posts on the lines, received information at St. Philip's that the enemy, to the number of ten thousand (10,000), were advancing to Odletown. He immediately despatched two companies of the Voltigeurs, under the command of Captain Perrault, of the same regiment, with 300 Indians under Captain Duchesne, of the Indian Department, to reinforce Major Laforce, of the 1st Battalion embodied militia, who was posted with the two flank companies of that battalion at the River La Cole. This detachment, after a fatiguing march of thirty-six miles, chiefly through morasses and abatis, arrived early in the afternoon of the same day at Burtonville, and took a position within the River La Cole, a mile distant from it, in conjunction with a party of thirty Algonquin and Abenaki Indians, and a few Voyageurs under Captain McKay, a gentleman of the North-West Company in the Voyageurs' corps. Major De Salaberry arrived the day following, with the remainder of the Voltigeurs and the Voyageurs, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel McGillivray, and four companies of the volunteer Chasseurs from the parishes of Chateauguay, St. Constant, St. Philip, and l'Acadie.
"In the meantime the enemy occupied Champlain Town, two or three miles from the lines, and an earnest invasion was momentarily expected. Nothing occurred of any consequence until the 20th, in the morning, when Captain McKay, visiting the picquet between three and four o'clock, perceived the enemy fording the River La Cole, and at the same instant heard them cock their firelocks in the surrounding bushes. He had scarcely time to apprise the picquet under Captain Bernard Panet, of their danger, when the enemy, who had surrounded the guardhut on all sides, discharged a volley of musketry so close that their wads set fire to the roof and consumed the hut. The militia and Indians discharged their pieces, and dashing through the ranks of the enemy, escaped unhurt, while the Americans, who had forded the river in two places, mistaking each other for the enemy in the darkness and confusion of the night, kept up a brisk fire for near half an hour, in which they killed and wounded several of their own people. After discovering their error they retired back to Champlain Town, leaving five of their men wounded, and three or four killed, who were found by the Indians on the same day. The American party is said to have consisted of fourteen hundred (1,400) men and a troop of dragoons, and was commanded by Colonels Pike and Clarke.
"This movement of the enemy gave room to expect another more vigorous attempt to invade Lower Canada; and on the 22nd, the Governor, by a General Order, directed the whole of the militia of the province to consider themselves commanded for active service, and to be prepared to move forward to meet the enemy as soon as required.
"Lieut.-Colonel Deschambault was ordered to cross the St. Lawrence at Lachine to Cahuaugo, with the Point Claire, Riviere du Chene, Vaudreuil, and Longue Point Battalions, and to march upon l'Acadie. The volunteers of the 1st Battalion of Montreal Militia, the flank companies of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, and a troop of Militia Dragoons, crossed the river to Longueuil and Laprairie; and the whole mass of population in the district of Montreal made a spontaneous movement towards the point of invasion with an enthusiasm unsurpassed in any age or country.
"General Dearborn, who, no doubt, was well informed of the state of the public mind in Lower Canada at this crisis, foresaw, from the multitude assembled to oppose his progress, and the hostile spirit of the Canadians, the fruitlessness of an attempt to invade Lower Canada, and began to withdraw his sickly and already enfeebled host into winter quarters at Plattsburg and Burlington.