Escape was now impossible, and to fight longer was not only useless but madness. After a brief consultation with Gibson and Totten, therefore, (the latter officer having returned to the field in the afternoon,) a capitulation was determined upon. A flag was accordingly sent, with a proposition. After waiting for some time without any tidings, another was sent, and afterward yet another—neither of which returned; and it subsequently appeared that the bearers had been successively shot down by the Indians. Scott thereupon determined to go with the flag himself. But while preparing to execute his hazardous purpose, his attention was attracted by two of his men, who were deliberately stripping themselves to the skin. On inquiring their motive, they replied that they might as well drown as be hanged, as they were sure to be if taken, since they acknowledged themselves to be deserters from the ranks of the enemy. Saying which they plunged into the dark torrent flowing madly along in its mighty eddies and whirlpools. It was a fearful leap, but both succeeded in reaching the American shore in safety, and the Colonel afterward saw and conversed with them.
But to resume. Colonel Scott having determined to bear the fourth flag himself, Totten's cravat was taken from beneath his stock for that purpose. Totten and Gibson both resolved to accompany their commander, who, being the tallest, bore the handkerchief upon the point of his sword. Keeping close to the water's edge, and sheltering themselves as well as they could behind the rocks, the Indians continually firing in the meantime, they passed down until the bank afforded no farther protection, when they turned to the left to take the road. But just as they were gaining it up rose the two Indians who had been aiming at Scott in the morning—the young and agile chief, and the more muscular Captain Jacobs—who both sprang upon them like tigers from their lairs. Scott remonstrated, and made known the character in which he was seeking the British commander, but to no purpose. The Indians grappled with them fiercely, and Jacobs succeeded in wrenching the sword from the Colonel's hand. The blades of Totten and Gibson instantly leaped from their scabbards, and the Indians were raising their hatchets when a British serjeant rushed forward, hoarsely exclaiming—"Honor! Honor!"—and having a guard with him, the combatants were separated, and Colonel Scott was conducted to the presence of General Sheaffe, to whom he proposed a surrender, and with whom terms of capitulation were speedily arranged—the General at once saying that they should be treated with all the honors of war. Orders were immediately given that the firing should cease; but these orders were not promptly obeyed, which caused a remonstrance from Colonel Scott, and finally a peremptory demand to be conducted back to his troops. This prolonged fire was from the Indians, whom General Sheaffe admitted he could not control, as they were exceedingly exasperated at the amount of their loss. Scott passed a rather severe rebuke upon an enemy who avowed allies of such a character; but officers being ordered among them in all directions, they were presently compelled to desist.
The prisoners surrendered by Scott numbered one hundred and thirty-nine regular troops, and one hundred and fifty-four volunteers, just—the Colonel accurately counting them of himself. [FN] They were all marched down to Newark, (now Niagara,) the same evening, where the Colonel and his two principal officers were quartered in a small tavern, having invitations the first evening to dine with General Sheaffe. While waiting for the arrival of an officer to conduct them to the General's quarters, another incident occurred, equally spirited, and even more startling than the scene with the two Indians by the road-side. Just at twilight, a little girl entered the parlor, with a message that somebody in the hall desired to see the "tall officer." Colonel Scott thereupon stepped out of the parlor, unarmed, of course, into the hall, which was dark and narrow, and withal incommoded by a stairway; but what was his astonishment on again meeting, face to face, his evil geniuses, the brawny Captain Jacobs and the light-limbed chief! The Colonel had shut the door behind him as he left the parlor; but there was a sentinel standing at the outer door, who had improperly allowed the Indians to pass in. The dusky visitors stepped up to the Colonel without ceremony, and the younger, who alone spoke English, made a brief inquiry as to the number of balls which had cut through his clothes, intimating astonishment that they had both been firing at him almost the whole day, without effect. But while the young Indian was thus speaking, or rather beginning thus to speak—for such, subsequently, seemed to be the import of what he meant to say—Jacobs, rudely seizing the Colonel by the arm, attempted to whirl him round, exclaiming in broken English, "Me shoot so often, me sure to have hit somewhere." "Hands off, you scoundrel," cried Scott, indignant at such freedom with his person, and adding a scornful expression reflecting upon the Indian's skill as a marksman, as he flung him from him.
[FN] When, shortly afterward, the general order of Sheaffe appeared, it was announced that two hundred of the Americans were drowned and nine hundred taken prisoners. Colonel Scott immediately called upon General Sheaffe, and remonstrated against such an exaggeration; since he had himself counted his own men, and knew that the number was less than three hundred, all told. Sheaffe replied that the numbers he had announced had been reported to him, and he felt strong confidence in the accuracy of the statement. In conclusion, he invited Scott to go to the barracks and see for himself. He did so and to his deep mortification found that the statement of the general order was true! On an investigation of the discrepancy, it appeared that the number of prisoners had bean swollen to that amount by several hundred cowardly rascals of the militia, who, upon landing on the Canadian shore, had availed themselves of the darkness and other facilities, to hide themselves away among the clefts of the rocks; where they had remained in concealment during the day, and were only dragged by the legs from their lurking-places by the British troops after the surrender. So much for militia.
The Indians drew instantly both dirk and tomahawk, when, with the rapidity of lightning, Scott, who had fortunately espied a number of swords standing at the end of the passage, seized one from its iron sheath, and placed himself in a posture of defence against the menacing Indians. As they stood in this picturesque attitude, Scott with his sword ready to strike, and the Indians with their tomahawks and dirks in the air, frowning defiance upon each other,—both parties awaiting the first blow,—Colonel Coffin, who had been sent with a guard to conduct Scott to the General's quarters to dinner, sprang into the passage, and cried "Hold!" Comprehending at a glance the dangerous position of Scott, he interfered at once, by sharp remonstrance, and also by weapon, in his defence. Jacobs, exasperated, turned Upon Colonel Coffin, and, uttering a menace, his companion also unguardedly turned to observe the issue of the new combat. The scene was of the most exciting and earnest character. The Indians having thus turned upon Coffin, one of them exclaimed—"I kill you!" Scott instantly raised his sabre, which was heavy and substantial, so that a descending blow would have fallen upon both the savages at once, and called out, "If you strike, I will kill you both!" For a moment they stood frowning; the piercing eyes of the Indians gleaming with wild and savage fury, while Scott and Coffin alike looked upon both with angry defiance, all with upraised arms and glittering steel. Recovering somewhat from the gust of passion into which they had been thrown, the Indians then slowly dropped their arms and retired. The officer who thus came to the rescue, was the aid of General Sheaffe, whose errand was to conduct the Colonel to dinner, and who, by this timely arrival, probably saved his life. It can hardly be necessary to mention who was the young chief that had sustained himself so actively and bravely through the day, as the reader will already have anticipated the name—John Brant—the successor of the great Captain, his father, who, as has already been stated, though not eighteen years of age, had that day, for the first time, led his tribe upon the war-path. Beyond doubt it was no part of the young Chief's design to inflict injury upon the captive American commander. His whole character forbids the idea, for he was as generous and benevolent in his feelings as he was brave. Having been exhausting much ammunition upon the Colonel during the day, this visit was one of curiosity, to ascertain how near they had come to the accomplishment of their object. Like Cassius, the Indian bears anger as the flint does fire, though not always cold again so soon. It was the same with Scott. Neither would allow of personal freedom—the Colonel did not fully comprehend the object of their visit, and a sudden rencontre; that had well nigh proved fatal, was the consequence. [FN]
[FN] General Sheaffe is an American by birth, and he took an early opportunity of explaining to Colonel Scott how it happened that, most reluctantly, he was in arms against the land of his birth. He stated that he was a lad at the commencement of the war of the American Revolution, living with his widowed mother at Boston. While the British army was in the occupancy of that town, Earl Percy's quarters were in the house of his mother. His Lordship manifested a strong degree of partiality for him, and took him away with a view of providing for him. He gave him a military education, and placed him in the army, purchasing commissions and promotion for him as far as promotion can be acquired by purchase in the British service. His subsequent promotion to the rank of Major-general had been acquired by service. The breaking out of the war had found him stationed in Canada. He lost no time in stating his reluctance to serve against his own countrymen, and solicited a transfer to some other country. But his request had not been complied with at the time of the events now under review. For his exploit in capturing Scott and his little band at Queenston Heights, he was created a Baronet.
In the successive battles fought on that hardly-contested frontier during the years 1813 and 1814, young Brant, as the Indian leader, sustained himself with great credit, as well for his bravery as for his intelligence and activity. In the course of the extraordinary campaign of 1813, commenced so brilliantly for the American arms at York, and followed up in the same spirit and with the same success at Fort George, (Niagara,) and yet attended with such surprising disasters as the capture by the enemy of Generals Chandler and Winder, and the surrender of Colonel Boerstler at the Beaver Dams, young Brant had several opportunities of distinguishing himself. He was in the affair of Fort George, under General Vincent, when that fortress was so gallantly carried by the American troops under the immediate command of Major-general Lewis.
After Vincent retired into the interior, with a view of taking up a position at Burlington Heights, and after the disaster of Winder and Chandler at Forty Mile Creek, Colonel Boerstler was pushed forward with six hundred men of all arms—dragoons, artillery and infantry—to dislodge a strong picquet of the enemy posted in a stone house about two miles beyond a hilly pass called the Beaver Dams, seventeen miles from Fort George. [FN-1] Arriving at the Beaver Dams, Colonel Boerstler was surprised by a large body of Indians under the conduct of young Brant and Captain William J. Kerr, numbering about four hundred and fifty warriors. The battle was maintained for about three hours—the Indians, of course, fighting after their own fashion, in concealment—having apparently surrounded Colonel Boerstler in the woods. Indeed, the enemy must have conducted the battle with remarkable adroitness; for Colonel Boerstler, galled upon all sides, dared neither to advance nor retreat, while the result of every observation was a conviction that he was surrounded by far superior numbers. At length Lieutenant Fitzgibbons, of the 49th enemy's regiment, arriving on the ground with forty-six rank and file, sent a flag to Colonel Boerstler, demanding a surrender. After some parleying—the British lieutenant magnifying the number of their troops, and pretending to conduct the negotiation in the name of Major De Haren, [FN-2] not forgetting a few occasional suggestions touching the horrors of an Indian massacre—Colonel Boerstler, having neither reserve to sustain, nor demonstration to favor him, [FN-3] surrendered his detachment as prisoners of war. This battle occurred on the 24th of June, and was a brilliant affair for young Brant, since it was fought by the Indians alone, not a single cartridge being expended by the regular troops of the enemy. [FN-4]