was made to the charges of this regiment, 30 of its men were killed, and between 90 and 100 wounded."* The American infantry and riflemen, advantageously posted as they were, proved excellent marksmen. Several of the British were shot, while stretched on the snow, disabled; others, although wounded, did not quit their ranks; others, again, returned to their duty, as soon as their wounds were dressed. Such gallantry, although "repulsed" so often, must conquer at last. The whole of the left division surrendered, colonel Proctor says, "at discretion;"† but, according to general Winchester, "on condition of their being protected from the savages, being allowed to retain their private property, and having their side-arms returned to them." this been the understanding, one may suppose that some writing would have been drawn up; but, indeed, general Winchester was not in a condition to dictate terms. Stripped to his shirt and trowsers, and suffering exceedingly from the cold, the American general was found by colonel Proctor, near to one of the Indian fires, in the possession of the Wyandot chief Roundhead. The Indian had decked himself out in the general's great and uniform coats, waistcoat, and hat; and was so pleased with his new dress, * Sketches of the War. p. 103. Had that the British commanding officer had great difficulty in persuading him to make restitu tion. The whole number of prisoners, including those brought in by the indians, amounted to 538.* Mr. Thomson states the killed and missing at 297; and general Harrison, in his letter dated two days after the battle, mentions that 30 of the fugitives had joined him. Thus we account for 115 more than Mr. Thomson's" 750;" and there will be no difficulty in accounting for the whole of doctor Smith's " 1000," if we make allowance for those of the flying right division that escaped to their homes, or were killed by the Indians in the woods, without being included in the returns. The only difficulty is, to reconcile so small a number as 1000 men with general Harrison's statement, that the greater part of one, and the whole of three regiments composed general Winchester's force. The American official account is silent as to the strength of colonel Proctor's army, beyond that it was "greatly superior in numbers; but Mr. Thomson has found out that the British force amounted to 2100 men, ‡ and doctor Sinith has just saved himself from the charge of plagiarisin, by lopping off the odd 100. There is no difficulty in discovering how Mr. Thomson . obtained his numbers. He gathered from sir George Prevost's letter, that colonel Proctor's combined force amounted to about 1100 men; * but, in his confusion, he did not, or in his zeal he would not, perceive, that the three companies, or, as he has it, the whole, of" the British 41st regiment," were included in that estimate. Knowing, therefore, that a full regiment generally contains 1000 men, this shrewd historian adds that number to the 1100, and produces his 2100. In his account of the British loss, Mr. Thomson is not so happy. He obtains from colonel Proctor's return,† "24 killed, and 158 wounded;" but has the hardihood to say, that the loss sustained by the "41st regiment" is not included; and this, although the very returns he had in his hands numbered 15 of those gallant fellows among the killed, and 97 among the wounded. But Mr. Thomson has now the satisfaction of saying:-"I am more than borne out in my assertions by the highly respectable testimony of the reverend S.S. Smith, D.D. and LL.D. and other literary gentlemen." True it is, indeed, that the authors of the "History of the United States" say thus:-"The enemy acknowledged a severe loss on their side. Of the 41st regiment, which three times charged the picqueted detachment under major Madison, and which was repulsed as often, 150 were killed * See p. 186, Note †. + App. No. 26. and wounded."*-To rail at these Munchausen tale-writers, would be a useless and an endless task: suffice it that we pursue them through all their wiles and turns; and finally, drag them, like culprits, before the bar of the public. The severity of colonel Proctor's loss had reduced his number of white troops below the number of prisoners taken. This and the momentary expectation of general Harrison's arrival with the right wing, determined the colonel to quit the scene of action on the same evening, and retire to Brownstown. On this occasion, a few of the wounded Americans were unavoidably left at Frenchtown, in charge of the Indian department, as their surest protection, until a carriage could be sent to convey them forward. Unfortunately, a false alarm, that general Harrison's force was approaching, caused the individuals stationed as a protection to the wounded Americans, to desert their charge; and some of the latter were, in consequence, killed by straggling Indians; but not by the main body, for that had followed the troops. It is upon this that the American "prints known to be friendly to the war" have raised a superstructure of calumny and abuse against the British character. Vain were the efforts of the few federal or opposition editors to explain the nature of the case. are declared to have aided and abetted the * Hist. of the United States, Vol. III. p. 213. See p.162. We Indians, in torturing and massacring defenceless Americans; and so well have the slanderers succeeded in their aims, that the bulk of the American people still believe it to have been the fact. Our three historians, with shameless depravity, have copied into their pages none but the most violent paragraphs upon the subject; and one of them actually ushers his lies into notice with: "The fidelity of history will not allow them to be magnified."* But, out of all "the solemn affirmations" called in aid of so serious a charge against us, one officer only, and he in the militia service, has been brought forward. Mr. Thomson tell us, frankly, that "colonel Elliot was an American by birth, a native of Maryland."† He is described to have " long been notorious for his activity in exciting the savages to arm themselves against his fellow-citizens ;" and, in the present instance, to have promised his protection to, and then basely deserted, a young class-mate, his countryman. Admitting that this was an act "of the most unparalleled atrocity,” it was perpetrated by a native of the United States: how, therefore, can it apply to "British officers"?-Mr. O'Connor has acted more consistently. He describes colonel Elliott as "a British officer;" and, after stating the promise which the latter had made to his "old * Sketches of the War, p. 104. + Ibid. p. 106. |