less refined language, may, however, have been uttered by, or in the hearing of, some soldier or sailor, who afterwards deserted to the enemy. The bad state of the weather delayed the departure of the fleet and troops till the 5th of February; on which day they sailed, and, on the 7th, arrived off Dauphine island. The troops here disembarked, and encamped; except the skeletons of the 4th, 21st, and 44th regiments, which, under the orders of lieutenantcolonel Debbeig, of the 44th, were despatched in boats, to attack Fort-Bowyer. These 600 or, as major Latour will have it, "5000," * troops landed, early on the morning of the 8th, about three miles in the rear of the fort. The full details of the surrender of Fort-Bowyer, on the "memorable" 12th of February, without a shot having been fired at it, are given in the British and American official accounts. † By the fire opened upon the working parties at thẻ intrenchments, the British lost 13 killed and 18 wounded. Mr. O'Connor cunningly says:"There were but few lives lost on either side." Major Latour has given a plan of the attack; upon which we count 60 ships and other vessels; and between Dauphine island and the Mobile peninsula, no fewer than 8050 British troops. * Latour's War in Louisiana, p. 209. + App. Nos. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. and 115. For the major's puffing remarks we have no room, They will be read with interest by those to whom they are more immediately addressed. But it is doctor Smith, that is entitled to the thanks of his brother-citizens. "The array of 60 sail," says he, "and the parade of 16000 Britons before Fort-Bowyer was a most extraordinary military spectacle."* Extraordinary, indeed! He finds fault with the British, too, for particularizing, among the articles surrendered, "one triangle gin complete," and " 500 flints."† How hap, pened doctor Smith not to know, that general Wilkinson, when he obtained possession of this same fort from the Spaniards, inserted in his "inventory of ordnance and munitions of war," "one wooden spetula," "two tarpaulins," and "one pair of washer-hooks"? Had the American generals that took the forts George and Erie been so precise, particularly as to the "women and children," doctor Smith and his brother historians would have been content with shorter paragraphs in announcing those "brilliant achievements" to the world. About the middle of March, along with major-general Power, & and one or two reinforcements of troops, arrived the official notification of the treaty of peace; and, agreeably to the first article in it, Fort-Bowyer was restored. * Hist, of the United States, Vol. III. p. 355, + App. No. 110. § See p. 336. Wilkinson's Mem. Vol. I. p. 515. Leaving the British troops at Mobile and Cumberland island to find their way home, we shall pass at once to the Canadas. Here additional reinforcements had been arriving, and, along with them, what had been so long vainly hoped for, a competent commander-in-chief. Sir George Murray, however, had scarcely arrived, ere the peace sent him home again. The captured American schooners on Lake Huron had conveyed reinforcements to Michilimacinac; and a British fleet, for the service of that lake, was in rapid progress. A 74 and a new frigate had been launched at Kingston; and two or three frigates and sloops were building for Lake Champlain. The Americans still retained Sackett's Harbor; and we, the forts Niagara and Michilimacinac. The peace deprived us of the two latter; and, considering how the campaign of 1815, as soon as it could be opened, was likely to be conducted on our part, we may say, of the former also. A full discussion upon the merits of the treaty would, of itself, fill a volume. We cannot, however, read over the ninth article, without pointing to the recent proceedings of the American general Gaines with the Seminole Indians. It is the interest of the United States to destroy, and they will in time destroy, either by the sword or debauchery, every Indian upon the American continent. The United States declared war; invaded Canada; could not take it; and - got a peace, by which they lost their former privileges. How ludicrous now appears the following rhapsody of an American governmenteditor Canada must be conquered, or wè shall stand disgraced in the eyes of the world. ́ It is a rod held over our heads;' a fortress which haughtily frowns upon our country, and from which are disseminated throughout the land, the seed of disaffection, sedition, and treason. The national safety and honor and glory are lost, if we do not win this splendid prize." There are some Americans, however, who will find consolation in the concluding words of Mr. Thomson's book. "The operations of the American armies," says he, "were, at the commencement of the war, not quite so successful. Defeat, disgrace, and disaster, in many instances, followed their movements; but the struggle was eventually closed by a succession of achievements, which reflected the highest degree of lustre upon the American name, and ranked the United States among the first and most independent nations of the earth." As the reader has already had detailed to him the "succession of achievements," by which the United States have acquired so high renown, it is unnecessary for us to comment upon this climax of American gasconade. APPENDIX. No. 1. District general order. District head-quarters, Kingston, 25th November, 1813. THE major-general commanding, and president, having received from major-general Vincent a report of the very gallant and patriotic conduct of lieutenant-colonel Bostwick, and an association of 45 officers and men of the militia of the county of Norfolk, in capturing and destroying a band of traitors, who, in violation of their allegiance, and of every principle of honor and honesty, had leagued themselves with the enemies of their country, to plunder and make prisoners the peaceable and well disposed inhabitants of the province, major-general De Rottenburg requests that colonel Bostwick, and every individual of the association, will accept his best thanks for their zeal and loyalty in planning, and gallantry in carrying into execution, this most useful and public spirited enterprise. The major-general and president hopes, that so striking an instance of the beneficial effects of unanimity and exertion in the cause of their country, will not fail of producing a due effect on the militia of this province. He calls upon them to observe how quickly the energetic conduct of 45 individuals has succeeded in freeing the inhabitants of an extensive district from a numerous and well armed banditti, who would soon have left them neither liberty nor property. He reminds them that, if so much can be effected by so small a number, what may not be expected from the unanimous exertions of the whole population, guided and assisted by a spirit of subordination, and aided by his majesty's troops, against an enemy who comes for no other purpose than to enslave, plunder, and destroy. By order, H. N. MOORSOM, lieutenant A. D. A. G. |