At the commencement of the session of congress held in the autumn of 1812, the president, in his message, stated that immediately after the declaration of war, he communicated to the British government the terms on which its progress might be arrested; that these terms were, the repeal of the orders in council, the discharge of American seamen, and the abandonment of the practice of impressment; and that the ministry had declined to accede to his offers. He also stated that, at an early period of the war, he had received official information of the repeal of the orders in council; that two propositions for an armistice had been made to him, both of which he had rejected, as they could not have been accepted without conceding to Great Britain the right of impressment. The rejection of these propositions was approved by the national representatives, who, far from abandoning the ground they had taken, adopted more vigorous measures for the prosecution of the war.
While the war was proceeding in America, a friendly power abroad interposed for its termination. Soon after the spring session of congress, an offer was communicated from the emperor of Russia of his mediation, as the common friend of the United States and Great Britain, for the purpose of facilitating a peace between them. The offer was immediately accepted by the American government, and provision made for the contemplated negotiation. Albert Gallatin, James A. Bayard, and John Quincy Adams, were appointed commissioners, and invested with the requisite powers to conclude a treaty of peace with persons clothed with like powers on the part of Great Britain. They were also authorized to enter into such conventional regulations of the commerce between the two countries as might be mutually advantageous. The two first-named envoys proceeded to join their colleague at St. Petersburgh, where he then was as resident minister from the United States. A commission was also given to the envoys, authorizing them to conclude a treaty of commerce with Russia, with a view to strengthen the amicable relations, and improve the beneficial intercourse, between the two countries.
On the 24th of May, congress was convened by proclamation of the president. Laws were enacted, imposing a direct tax of three millions of dollars; authorizing the collection of various internal duties; providing for a loan of seven and a half millions of dollars; and prohibiting the merchant vessels of the United States from sailing under British licenses. Near the close of the session, a committee appointed to inquire into the subject madea long report upon the spirit and manner in which the war had been conducted by the British.
The scene of the campaign of 1813 was principally in the north, towards Canada. Brigadier-general Winchester, of the United States army, and nearly five hundred men, officers and soldiers, were made prisoners at Frenchtown, by a division of the British army from Detroit, with their Indian allies, under colonel Proctor. Colonel Proctor leaving the wounded Americans without a guard, the Indians returned, and deeds of horror followed. The wounded officers were dragged from the houses, killed, and scalped in the streets. The buildings were set on fire. Some who attempted to escape were forced back into the flames, while others were put to death by the tomahawk, and left shockingly mangled in the highway. The infamy of this butchery does not fall upon the perpetrators alone, but extends to those who were able, and were bound by a solemn engagement, to restrain them. The battle and massacre at Frenchtown clothed Kentucky and Ohio in mourning. Other volunteers, indignant at the treachery and cruelty of their foes, hastened to the aid of Harrison. He marched to the rapids of the Miami, where he erected a fort, which he called fort Meigs, in honor of the governor of Ohio. On the 1st of May it was invested by a large number of Indians, and by a party of British troops from Malden, the whole commanded by colonel Proctor. An unsuccessful attempt to raise the siege was made by general Clay, at the head of twelve hundred Kentuckians; but the fort continued to be defended with bravery and skill. The Indians, unaccustomed to sieges, became weary and discontented; and, on the 8th of May, they deserted their allies. The British, despairing of success, then made a precipitate retreat.
On the northern frontier a body of troops had been assembled, under the command of general Dearborn, at Sackett’s Harbor, and great exertions were made by commodore Chauncey to build and equip a squadron on lake Ontario, sufficiently powerful to contend with that of the British. By the 25th of April the naval preparations were so far completed, that the general and seventeen thousand troops were conveyed across the lake to the attack of York, the capital of Upper Canada. On the 27th, an advanced party, commanded by brigadier-general Pike, who was born in a camp, and bred a soldier from his birth, landed, although opposed at the water’s edge by a superior force. After a short but severe conflict, the British were driven to their fortifications. The rest of the troops having landed, the whole party pressed forward, carried the first battery by assault, and were moving towards the main works, when the English magazine blew up, with a tremendous explosion, hurling upon the advancing troops immense quantities of stone and timber. Numbers were killed; the gallant Pike received a mortal wound; the troops halted for a moment, but, recovering from the shock, again pressed forward, and soon gained possession of the town. Of the British troops, one hundred were killed, nearly three hundred were wounded, and the same number made prisoners.
The object of the expedition attained, the squadron and troops returned to Sackett’s Harbor, and subsequently sailed to fort George, situated at the head of the lake. After a warm engagement, the British abandoned the fort, and retired to the heights at the head of Burlington bay.
While the greater part of the American army was thus employed, the British made an attack upon the important post of Sackett’s Harbor. Onthe 27th of May, their squadron appeared before the town. Alarm guns instantly assembled the citizens of the neighborhood. General Brown’s force amounted to about one thousand men; a slight breastwork was hastily thrown up at the only place where the British could land, and behind this he placed the militia, the regulars, under colonel Backus, forming a second line. On the morning of the 29th, one thousand British troops landed from the squadron, and advanced towards the breastwork; the militia gave way, but by the bravery of the regulars, under the skilful arrangement of general Brown, the British were repulsed, and re-embarked so hastily as to leave behind most of their wounded.
The sea-coast was harassed by predatory warfare, carried on by large detachments from the powerful navy of Great Britain. One squadron, stationed in Delaware bay, captured and burnt every merchant vessel which came within its reach, while a more powerful squadron, commanded by admiral Cockburn, destroyed the farm-houses and gentlemen’s seats along the shore of Chesapeake bay. Frenchtown, Havre-de-Grace, Fredericktown, and Georgetown were sacked and burnt. Norfolk was saved from a similar fate by the determined bravery of a small force stationed on Craney island, in the harbor. A furious attack was made upon Hampton, which, notwithstanding the gallant resistance of its small garrison, was captured.
The ocean was the theatre of sanguinary conflicts. Captain Lawrence, in the sloop of war Hornet, on the 23d of February, met the British brig Peacock, and a fierce combat ensued. In less than fifteen minutes the Peacock struck her colors, displaying at the same time a signal of distress. The victors hastened to the relief of the vanquished; the same strength which had been exerted to conquer was equally ready to save; but the Peacock sunk before all her crew could be removed, carrying down nine British seamen, and three brave and generous Americans. On his return to the United States, captain Lawrence was promoted to the command of the frigate Chesapeake, then in the harbor of Boston. For several weeks the British frigate Shannon, of superior force, had been cruising before the port; and captain Broke, her commander, had announced his wish to meet, in single combat, an American frigate. Inflamed by this challenge, captain Lawrence, although his crew was just enlisted, set sail on the 1st of June to seek the Shannon. Towards evening of the same day they met, and instantly engaged, with unexampled fury. In a very few minutes, and in quick succession, the sailing master of the Chesapeake was killed, captain Lawrence and three lieutenants were severely wounded, her rigging was so cut to pieces that she fell on board the Shannon, captain Lawrence received a second and mortal wound, and was carried below; at this instant, captain Broke, at the head of his marines, gallantly boarded the Chesapeake, when resistance ceased, and the American flag was struck by the British. Of the crew of the Shannon twenty-four were killed and fifty-six wounded. Of that of the Chesapeake, forty-eight were killed and nearly one hundred wounded.The youthful and intrepid Lawrence was lamented, with sorrow deep, sincere, and lasting.[146]
The next encounter at sea was between the American brig Argus and the British brig Pelican, in which the latter was victorious. Soon after, the American brig Enterprise, commanded by lieutenant Burrows, captured the British brig Boxer, commanded by captain Blyth. Both commanders were killed in the action, and were buried, each by the other’s side, in Portland.