I am not aware that this title has ever been used before, but if the reader will consult a chart of the Harbor of New York, he will at once see the propriety of it.
It will be seen that what is known among pilots as the "Swash," is a straight channel, forming a sort of a hypotenuse to the two sides of the main ship channel, which bends almost at a right angle at the Southwest spit.
Assuming, therefore, that the Narrows is effectually blockaded with torpedoes or other obstructions, and that an attacking fleet desired to bombard New York at long range, and at the same time be in a position to withdraw easily and quickly in case of repulse or accident, the Swash Channel is the point which would naturally be chosen. The British Admiral was undoubtedly familiar with the upper and lower Bays of New York, and therefore it is not at all strange that he selected this spot as a base of his operations against the city.
Here he anchored his fleet; and here the battle—such as it was—was fought. I therefore claim that the title which I have chosen, is a most appropriate one; and if this little work is to possess any value as a historical authority, the remarkable contest herein recorded, will be known to future generations as "The Battle of the Swash."
Having thus "made my title clear," I will endeavor to summarize briefly the events, which either directly or remotely, contributed to the final catastrophe, and induced Canada to declare war against the United States.
And here at the very outset of my task, I am confronted with greater difficulties than at any other portion of it.
Our ancestors of the Nineteenth Century were so constantly occupied in making history, that they seemed to have little or no time to record it; and therefore there will probably never be any adequate historical record of the settlement, improvement and development of the vast continent of North America. I regard this as in a measure a calamity to the whole human race; for I think that history may be searched in vain for any such grand and marvelous example of progress and development, as that exhibited by our ancestors of the last century.
In consequence of this dearth of detailed information, I have been obliged to rely upon such data as could be collected from the files of newspapers, magazines and similar publications, for the following meagre sketch of the industrial and political condition of the United States previous to the year 1890.
What has been called the "War of the Rebellion" occurred in the years 1861-5 inclusive; and was an attempt by the southern slave holding States, to secede from the Union, and establish a separate confederacy, based upon Free Trade and Human Slavery. Although the rights of the slaveholders were fully acknowledged by the law of the land, yet the growth of the sentiment in favor of abolition of slavery was so rapid throughout the Northern States, that the Southerners became alarmed lest their property rights should be ignored and denied; and after several years of defiant wrangling and threatening, at length formally seceded from the Union, and by the attack on Fort Sumter—a fort in Charleston Harbor—inaugurated the long and bloody conflict which finally resulted in the total abolition of slavery, and the restoration of the authority of the United States Government, in all portions of United States territory.
Previous to this war, the United States occupied a front rank among the maritime powers of the world.