It was well for Canada that no message reached Brock to stop him on the way, for while he was pressing on, the over-cautious and vacillating commander-in-chief, possessed with the idea that the repeal of the orders-in-council would bring a cessation of hostilities, had sent Colonel Baynes to General Dearborn at Albany, with a proposition for an armistice.
[[1]] Sir Thomas Saumarez married, in 1787, Harriet, daughter of William Brock and Judith de Beauvoir.
[[2]] In February, 1815, it was estimated that $5,200,000 had been issued, of which $3,200,000 were bearing interest amounting to $192,000, of which the province paid $60,000.
CHAPTER XVIII
BROWNSTOWN AND MAGUAGA
The garrison at Amherstburg consisted of a subaltern detachment of the Royal Artillery, three hundred men of the 41st, and about the same number of militia. Captain Chambers, with fifty men of the 41st, had been sent to the Moravian town on the river Thames for the purpose of collecting the militia and Indians there, and advancing on the left flank of the enemy. Forty more had been sent to Long Point to collect the militia in that neighbourhood. Sixty of the 41st had just arrived with Colonel Procter at Amherstburg. General Hull, after issuing his futile proclamation, seems to have remained closely in his quarters at Sandwich, evidently afraid to venture too far from Fort Detroit. He had not met with the encouragement he expected from the settlers of Essex and Kent. Although some malcontents had joined his standard, the majority of the inhabitants had remained firm in their allegiance to Great Britain. An advance upon Fort Malden (Amherstburg) had been expected, but three detachments of Americans on three successive days had been foiled in their attempt to cross the river Canard, scarcely four miles from that place. On July 22nd General Hull wrote to Washington: "If Malden were in our possession, I could inarch the army to Niagara or York in a very short time." Sir George Prevost on the 27th of the same month had written to Brock: "The possession of Malden, which I consider means Amherstburg, appears a favourable object with the government of the United States. I sincerely hope you will disappoint them."
The fort of Amherstburg could not, from the description given of it, have sustained a siege. "Quadrangle in form, four bastions alone flanked a dry ditch, offering little obstacle to a determined enemy. This passed, there was but a single line of picketing, perforated with loopholes for musketry, and supported by a slight breastwork. All the buildings within were of wood, covered with pine shingles of extreme thinness."[[1]] Colonel St. George, who was in command there, well knew the disadvantage of awaiting the enemy in this position, and sallied out with his small garrison to guard the approaches to the river Canard. In one of the slight skirmishes that occurred between his troops and an advance body of American cavalry and infantry, the first blood was shed in the war of 1812. It was that of a private of the 41st, named Hancock, who was killed when defending a bridge, while his companion Dean was curried off a prisoner to Detroit.[[2]] Their determined resistance gave time for a reinforcement of Indians led by Tecumseh to arrive, whose appearance and wild shouts carried such a panic among the Americans that they retired in disorder. This was Tecumseh's first exploit as an ally. As soon as Colonel Procter arrived he sent the chief with a band of Indians and a detachment of the 41st under Major Muir across the river to Brownstown, a place about twenty-five miles south of Detroit, and nearly opposite Amherstburg. The object of the expedition was to intercept a body of the enemy, which was marching from Detroit as an escort for the mail, and also to meet and convoy a supply of provisions from the river Raisin. The American troops consisted of about two hundred Ohio volunteers, under Major Van Horne. Tecumseh with about twenty-five Indians, learning from their scouts the route the Americans had taken, formed an ambuscade three miles from Brownstown and lined the thick woods on either side of the road. When Van Horne with the mounted riflemen appeared, the Indians opened a deadly fire, killing twenty of the number, including five officers, and wounding as many more. The Americans sought safety in flight, and the despatches and correspondence from Detroit fell into the hands of Tecumseh, who lost only one man in the encounter. The provision train, with cattle and other supplies for Detroit, in charge of Captain Brush, was also intercepted by the Indians. This was most discouraging for General Hull, who received all his provisions and supplies from Ohio by the rivers Raisin and Miami. News of the reverse followed quickly on the news of the loss of Michilimackinac, which Hull said let loose the northern hive of Indians on his frontier. So discouraged was he that on July 7th and 8th he abandoned Sandwich in order to concentrate his forces at Detroit.
Maguaga
He then sent a detachment of six hundred men with some artillery to dislodge the British from Brownstown. These met at Maguaga, fourteen miles below Detroit, a company of the 41st under Major Muir, with about sixty militia and two hundred Indians. A sharp engagement ensued, in which the Americans were successful, and the British had to retire to their boats. Major Richardson, who was present as a subaltern on this occasion, has given a detailed account of this skirmish, to which the Americans seem to attach undue importance. He says:—