THE ARMIES OF THE CENTRE AND NORTH did but little. General Dearborn attacked York, General Pike gallantly leading the assault. Unfortunately, in the moment of success the magazine blew up, killing Pike and making sad havoc among his men. Dearborn did nothing, and soon after resigned. General Wilkinson, his successor, was directed to descend the St. Lawrence in boats, and join General Hampton in an attack on Montreal. At Chrysler's Field he repulsed the British, but owing to a disagreement with General Hampton he returned. (Map opp. p. 160.) General Hampton went north as far as St. John's, where he was defeated by the British. He then made the best of his way back to Plattsburg, where, in the winter, he was joined by General Winchester's men. Thus ingloriously ended the campaign of these two armies.
ARMY OF THE WEST.—A detachment of General Harrison's men was captured at Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, by Proctor, who then besieged Harrison himself at Fort Meigs (megz). Repulsed here, Proctor stormed Fort Stephenson, garrisoned by only one hundred and fifty men under Major Croghan, a young man of twenty-one. Beaten again, he returned to Malden. As yet, however, the British held Michigan and threatened Ohio, and the Americans had been as unsuccessful this year as they were the preceding, when a glorious triumph on Lake Erie gave a new aspect to the campaign.
[Footnote: This party was stationed on the Maumee, under General Winchester. Having learned that the people of Frenchtown feared an attack from the Indians, he allowed his military judgment to yield to his humanity, and marched to their relief. He defeated the enemy, but was soon attacked by a body of fifteen hundred British and Indians under Proctor. Winchester, being captured in the course of the battle, agreed to the surrender of his men under the solemn promise that their lives and property should be safe. Proctor, however, immediately returned to Maiden with the British, leaving no guard over the American wounded. Thereupon the Indians, maddened by liquor and the desire for revenge, mercilessly tomahawked many, set fire to the houses in which others lay, and carried the survivors to Detroit, where they were dragged through the streets and offered for sale at the doors of the inhabitants. Many of the women of that place gave for their ransom every article of value which they possessed. The troops were Kentuckians, and the war-cry of their sons was henceforth "Remember the Raisin."—The great object of the Indians in battle was to get scalps, Proctor paying a regular bounty for every one. They were therefore loth to take prisoners. Proctor, brutal and haughty, was a fit leader under a government that would employ savages in a civilized warfare.]
PERRY'S VICTORY (September 10).—When Captain Perry, then only twenty-seven years old, was assigned the command of the flotilla on Lake Erie, the British were undisputed masters of the lake, while his fleet was to be, in part, made out of the trees in the forest. By indefatigable exertion he got nine vessels, carrying fifty-four guns, ready for action, when the British fleet of six vessels and sixty-three guns bore down upon his little squadron.
[Footnote: Perry had never seen a naval battle, while Captain Barclay, the British commander, was one of Nelson's veterans, and had lost an arm in the service.]
Perry's flag-ship, the Lawrence, engaged two of the heaviest vessels of the enemy, and fought them till but eight of his men were left. He helped these to fire the last gun, and then leaping into a boat bore his flag to the Niagara. He had to pass within pistol-shot of the British, who turned their guns directly upon him; and though he was a fair mark for every shot, he escaped without injury. Breaking through the enemy's line, and firing right and left, within fifteen minutes after he mounted the deck of the Niagara the victory was won. Perry at once wrote to General Harrison, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." This laconic despatch produced intense excitement throughout the country. Upon the result of this battle depended, as we shall see, important issues.
[Footnote: From its mast-head floated a blue pennant, bearing the words of the dying Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship." (See p. 166)]
BATTLE OF THE THAMES.—Proctor and Tecumseh were at Maiden with their motley array of British and Indians, two thousand strong, waiting to lay waste the frontier. Harrison, at Sandusky Bay, was nearly ready to invade Canada, and at the news of this victory pushed across the lake. Landing at Maiden, which he found deserted, Harrison hotly pursued the flying enemy and overtook them on the River Thames (temz). Having drawn up his troops, he ordered Colonel Johnson, with his Kentucky horsemen, to charge the English in front. Dashing through the forest, they broke the enemy's line, and forming in their rear, prepared to pour in a deadly fire. The British surrendered, but Proctor escaped by the swiftness of his horse. Johnson then pushed forward to attack the Indians. In the heat of the action, a bullet, said to have been fired by Johnson himself, struck Tecumseh. With his death the savages lost all hope, and fled in confusion.
Effect.—This victory, with Perry's, relieved Michigan, gave control of Lake Erie, and virtually decided the war. General Harrison returned amid the plaudits of the nation.
NAVAL BATTLES.—The American navy achieved some brilliant successes during the year, but was not uniformly victorious.