GENERAL BROWN'S GENERAL ORDERS.

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, LEFT DIVISION,

July 2d, 1814. Major general Brown has the satisfaction to announce to the troops of his division, on this frontier, that he is authorized by the orders of his government, to put them in motion against the enemy. The first and second brigades, with the corps of artillery, will cross the straights before them this night, or as early tomorrow as possible. The necessary instructions have been given to the brigadiers, and by them to the commanding officers of regiments and corps.

Upon entering Canada, the laws of war will govern-men ound in arms, or otherwise engaged in the service of the enemy, will be treated as enemies; those behaving peaceably, and following their private occupations, will be treated as friends. Private property in all cases will be held sacred; public property, wherever found, will be seized and disposed of by the commanding general. Our utmost protection will be given to all who actually join, or who evince a desire to join us.

Plundering is prohibited. The major general does not apprehend any difficulty on this account, with the regular army, or with honourable volunteers, who press too the standard of their country to avenge her wrongs, and to gain a name in arms. Profligate men who follow the army for plunder, must not expect that they will escape the vengeance of the gallant spirits, who are struggling to exalt the national character. Any plunderer shall be punished with death, who may be found violating this order. By order of the major general.

Č. K. GARDNER, Adjt. Gen. In pursuance of the above orders, the army passed the Niagara river on Sunday morning, 3d instant. The brigade of general Scott, and the artillery corps of major Hindman, landed nearly a mile below Fort Erie, between two and three o'clock, while general Ripley, with his brigade, made the shore about the same distance above. The enemy was perfectly unapprised of these movements. General Scott led the van, and was on shore before the enemy's picket, which was stationed at this point, fired a gun; the guard discharged their guns and retreated.

In the morning, a small Indian corps was crossed over. The fort was approached on the right and left, and the Indians skirted the woods in the rear. General Brown now demanded a surrender of the garrison, and gave the commander two hours for consideration. In the mean time, a battery of long 18's was planted in a position which commanded the fort. The enemy surrendered prisoners of war-marched out of the fort at six, stacked their arms, and were immediately sent across the river to the American shore; there were upwards of 170 prisoners, of the 8th and 100th

regiments, among which were seven officers. Major Burke commanded the fort.

The schooners Tigress and Porcupine assisted in crossing the troops, and lay during the day within cannon-shot of the fort.

Captain Camp, of the quarter master general's department volunteered in the expedition, and crossed in the boat with general Scott.

During the mo ning, the enemy fired two or three cannon from the fort, which killed one man, and wounded two or three others, We learn the enemy had one killed.

There are several pieces of ordnance in the garrison, and some military stores.

Thus has the Niagara been crossed, and a fort captured, without scarcely the loss of a man.

SIR,

CRUIZE OF THE ESSEX.

ESSEX JUNIOR, July 3d, 1814—at sea.

I have done myself the honour to address you repeatedly, since I left the Delaware; but have scarcely a hope that one of my letters has reached you; therefore consider it necessary to give you a brief history of my proceedings since that period.

I sailed from the Delaware on the 27th of October, 1812, and repaired with all diligence (agreeably to the instructions of commodore Bainbridge) to Port Praya, Fernando de Noronho, and Cape Frio, and arrived at each place on the day appointed to meet him. On my passage from Port Praya to Fernando de Noronho, I captured his Britannic majesty's packet Nocton; and after taking out about £11,000 sterling in specie, sent her under command of lieutenant Finch, for America. I cruized off Rio de Janeiro, and about Cape Frio, until the 12th January, 1813, hearing frequently of the commodore, by vessels from Bahia. I here captured one schooner, with hides and tallow. I sent her into Rio. The Montague, the admiral's ship, being in pursuit of me, my provisions getting short, and finding it necessary to look out for a supply, to enable me to meet the commodore by the 1st April, off St Helena, I proceeded to the island of St. Catharine's (the last place of rendezvous on the coast of Brazil,) as the most likely to supply my wants, and, at the same time, afford me that intelligence necessary to enable me to elude the British ships of war on the coast, and expected there. I here procured only wood, water, and rum, and a few bags of flour; and hearing of the commodore's action with the Java, the capture of the Hornet by the Montague, and of a considerable augmentation of the British force on the coast, several being in pursuit of me, I found it necessary to get to sea as soon as possible. I now, agreeably to the commodore's plan, stretched to the southward, scouring the coast

as far as Rio de la Plata. I heard that Buenos Avres was in a state of starvation, and could not supply our wants, and that the government of Monteviedo was inimical to us. The commodore's instructions now left it con pletely discretionary with me what course to pursue, and I determined on following that which had not only met his approbation, but the approbation of the then Secretary of the Navy.

I accordingly shaped my course for the Pacific; and after suffering greatly from short allowance of provisions, and heavy gales off Cape Horn, (for which my ship and men were ill provided,) I arrived at Valparaiso on the 14th March, 1813. I here took in as much jerked beef, and other provisions, as my ship would conveniently stow, and ran down the coast of Chili and Peru. In this track I fell in with a Peruvian corsair, which had on board 24 Americans, as prisoners, the crews of two whale ships, which she had taken on the coast of Chili. The captain informed me that, as allies of Great Britain, they would capture all they should meet with, in expectation of a war between Spain and the United States. I consequently threw all his guns and ammunition into the sea, liberated the Americans, wrote a respectful letter to the viceroy, explaining the cause of my proceedings, which I delivered to her captain. I then proceeded for Lima, and re-captured one of the vessels as she was entering the port. From thence I shaped my course for the Gallapagos islands, where I cruized from the 17th April until the 5d October, 1813; during this time I touched only once on the coast of America, which was for the purpose of procuring a supply of fresh water, as none is to be found among these islands, which are, perhaps, the most barren and desolate of any known. While among this group, I captured the following British ships, employed chiefly in the spermaceti whale fishery, viz.

As some of these ships were captured by boats, and others by prizes, my officers and men had several opportunities of showing their gallantry.

The Rose and the Charlton, were given up to the prisoners; the Hector, Catharine and Montezuma, I sent to Valparaiso, where they were laid up: the Policy, Georgiana, and New Zealand, I sent for America: the Greenwich I kept as a store ship, to contain the stores of my other prizes, necessary for us, and the Atlantic, now called the Essex Junior, I equipped with 20 guns, and gave the command of her to lieutenant Downes.

sea.

Lieutenant Downes had conveyed the prizes to Valparaiso, and on his return brought me letters, informing me that a squadron under the command of commodore James Hillyar, consisting of the frigate Phoebe, of 36 guns, had sailed on the 6th July for this The Racoon and Cherub, had been seeking for me for some time on the coast of Brazil, and, on the return from their cruize, joined the squadron sent in search of me to the Pacific. My ship, as it may be supposed, after being near a year at sea, required some repairs to put her in a state to meet them; which I determined to do, and bring them to action, if I could meet them on nearly equal terms. I proceeded now, in company with the remainder of my prizes, to the island of Nooaheevah, or Madison's island, lying in the Washington group, discovered by a captain Ingraham, of Boston. Here I caulked and completely overhauled my ship, made for her a new set of water casks, her old ones being nearly decayed, and took on board from my prizes, provisions and stores for upwards of four months, and sailed for the coast of Chili on the 12th December, 1813. Previous to sailing I secured the Seringapatam, Greenwich, and Sir A. Hammond, under the guns of a battery which I erected for their protection: after taking possession of this fine island for the United States, and establishing the most friendly intercourse with the natives, I left them under charge of lieutenant Gamble, of the marines, with 21 men, with orders to repair to Valparaiso, after a certain period.

I arrived on the coast of Chili, on the 12th January, 1814; looked into Conception and Valparaiso, found at both places only three English vessels, and learned that the squadron which sailed from Rio de Janeiro for that sea, had not been heard of since their departure, and was supposed to be lost in endeavouring to double Cape Horn.

I had completely broken up the British navigation in the Pacific; the vessels which had not been captured by me, were laid up, and dare not venture out. I had afforded the most ample protection to our own vessels, which were, on my arrival, very numerous and unprotected. The valuable whale fishery there, is entirely destroyed, and the actual injury we have done them may be estimated at two and a half millions of dollars, independent of the expenses of the vessels in search of me. They have supplied me amply with sails, cordage, cables, anchors, provisions, medi

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cines, and stores of every description: and the slops on board them have furnished clothing for the seamen. We had, in fact, lived on the enemy since I had been in that sea, every prize having proved a well-found store ship for me. I had not yet been under the necessity of drawing bills on the department for any object, and had been enabled to make considerable advances to my officers and crew on account of pay.

For the unexampled time we had kept the sea, my crew had continued remarkably healthy. I had but one case of the scurvy, and had lost only the following men by death, viz. :

John S. Cowan, lieutenant; Robert Miller, surgeon; Levi Holmes, O. S.; Edward Sweeny, do.; Samuel Groce, seaman; James Spafford, gunner's mate; Benjamin Geers, John Rodgers, quarter gunners; Andrew Mahan, corporal of marines; Lewis Price, private marine.

I had done all the injury that could be done the British commerce in the Pacific, and still hoped to signalize my cruize by something more splendid, before leaving that sea. I thought it not improbable, that commodore Hillyar might have kept his arrival secret, and believing he would seek me at Valparaíso, as the most likely place to find me, I determined to cruize about that place, and should I fail of meeting him, hoped to be compensated by the capture of some merchant ships, said to be expected from England.

The Phoebe, agreeable to my expectations, came to seek me at Valparaiso, where I was anchored with the Essex; my armed prize, the Essex Junior, under the command of lieutenant Downes, on the look-out off the harbor. But contrary to the course I thought he would pursue, commodore Hillyar brought with him the Cherub sloop of war, mounting 28 guns, eighteen 32 pound carronades, eight 24's, and two long 9's on the quarter-deck and forecastle, and a complement of 180 men. The force of the Phoebe is as follows:-thirty-two long 18 pounders, sixteen 32 pound carronades, one howitzer, and six 3 pounders in the tops, in all 53 guns, and a complement of 320 men: making a force of 81 guns, and 50C men; in addition to which they took on board the crew of an English letter of marque, lying in port. Both ships had picked crews, and were sent into the Pacific, in company with the Racoon of 22 guns, and a store ship of 20 guns, for the express purpose of seeking the Essex, and were prepared with flags bearing the motto, God and country; British sailor's best rights; traitors offend both." This was intended as a reply to my motto, " Free trade and sailor's rights," under the erroneous impression, that my crew were chiefly Englishmen, or to counteract its effect on their own crews. The force of the Essex was 46 guns, forty 32 pound carronades, and six long 12's, and her crew, which had been much reduced by prizes, amounted to only 255 men. The Essex Junior, which was intended chiefly as a store ship, mounted 20 guns, ten 18 pound carronades, and ten short 6's, with only 60