Quebec.
The summer now passed in comparative quietness, though the great movement at the beginning of November continued to be deeply felt along the upper frontier. Almost simultaneously with the rising in Montreal District, a body of about 400 sailed from the vicinity of Sackett’s Harbour, and landed at Prescott. On the 13th, Col. Young, with what force he could muster, and aided by Capt. Sandom, with an armed steamer, compelled a large proportion of them to disperse, while the rest took refuge in a windmill and an adjacent house built of stone, whence they could not be dislodged. Eighteen British were here killed and wounded. In the course of the day, Colonel Dundas arrived with four companies from Kingston, but considered the buildings, the walls of which were three or four feet thick, too strong to be reduced without cannon. A few guns and some additional troops being brought up, an attack was commenced on the 16th, when the party within the stone building, after some stand, sought to escape among the brushwood, but were all captured; upon which those in the mill displayed a white flag, and surrendered at discretion. The whole number of prisoners was 159. The militia, among whom some lukewarmness had been suspected, showed the utmost zeal, and mustered to the extent of 5,000.
The Niagara frontier was found by the enemy so well guarded, that no attempt was made there. But early in the morning of the 4th of December, about 350 organized at Detroit landed near Sandwich, set fire to a steamer and to the barracks, and killed several individuals in cold blood. Being as cowardly as cruel, they were no sooner attacked by a party of militia, than they fled either to the woods or to the American shore, leaving twenty-six killed and twenty-five prisoners.
The captives, on the former occasion, had been treated with extraordinary lenity; but this forbearance not having produced its due effect, and being loudly complained of by the inhabitants, it was judged necessary to exercise greater rigour on the present occasion. A considerable number of the ringleaders were accordingly put to death, and the rest condemned to severe or ignominious punishments.
| [4] | I extract the chief part of this resumée of Canadian history from the very clever work before mentioned, written for the Edinburgh Cabinet Library, by Hugh Murray, Esq. F.R.S.E. It is on the whole the best work on the subject that I can find, though, as the reader will doubtless see, it is written with a very strong national bias. With the reserve of my own opinion as to his colouring, I take the liberty to make use of the statements of Mr. Murray with little alteration, quite sure that no where else is to be found so able and enlarged a view of the period of history in question. |
CHAP. IV
CONDITION OF THE INHABITANTS OF CANADA.