had only 1 killed and 7 slightly wounded; and notwithstanding some of their historians have been bombastic enough to compare the defence of this little fort to that of the pass of Thermopylæ, probably conceiving also Major Croghan to be another Leonidas. The Indians did not assist in the assault, withdrawing to a ravine out of gun shot. Thus foiled, Proctor retired on the 3d, and after abandoning "considerable baggage and a gun-boat laden with cannon ball," he returned to Amherstburg. attack is said, even by the British, to have been "ill digested," and the expedition to have ended with "some disgrace."

The

Towards the end of August, (1813,) the American squadron, under Commodore Perry, became too powerful for the British, under Captain Barclay, who now remained at Amherstburg to await the equipment of the Detroit, recently launched. The British forces in the neighbourhood falling short of various supplies, for which they depended chiefly upon the fleet, Captain Barclay had no other alternative than to risk a general engagement. With this purpose he sailed on the 9th of September, with his small squadron wretchedly manned, and the next day encountered the enemy. For some time the fate of the battle poised in favor of the British, as the principal American ship, the Lawrence, struck her colours; but a sudden breeze turned the scale against them, and the whole of their squadron was compelled to surrender, after a desperate engagement of upwards of three hours. Captain Barclay was dangerously wounded; Captain Finnis, of the Queen Charlotte, killed; and every commander and officer second in command was either killed or wounded.

Major-General Proctor's army was deprived, by this disastrous defeat, of every prospect of obtaining

"The retreat of Proctor was precipitate. It is difficult to account for his leaving a gun-boat in the possession of the victors, as it was not exposed to the fire of the fort."-Brown's American History.

its necessary supplies through Lake Erie, and a speedy retreat towards the head of Lake Ontario became inevitable. Stung with grief and indignation, Tecumseh at first refused to agree to the measure; and in a council of war held at Amherstburg on the 18th of September, he delivered his sentiments against it in the following extemporaneous oration, which combines so much pathos and dignity mingled with sarcasm and reproach-so affecting a recital of past injury and correct an apprehension of future abandonment-such a religious fervour and resignation to the Divine will-that it must command for this unlettered chief the love and respect of the good and brave; and yet the harangue, simply eloquent as it is, suffers under all the disadvantages of translation, and is indeed but the shadow of the substance, because the gestures and commanding presence, the intonation and rounded periods of the speaker, are neither heard

nor seen :

Father, listen to your children! you have them now all before you.

The war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his red children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that war our father was thrown on his back by the Americans, and our father took them by the hand without our knowledge; and we are afraid that our father will do so again at this time.

The summer before last, when I came forward with my red brethren, and was ready to take up the hatchet in favor of our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry,-that he had not yet determined to fight the Americans.

Listen! When war was declared, our father stood up and gave the tomahawk, and told us that he was then ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our assistance; and that he would certainly get us back our lands, which the Americans had taken from us.

Listen! You told us, at that time, to bring forward our families to this place, and we did so; and you promised to take care of them, and that they should want for nothing, while the men would go and fight the enemy; that we need not trouble ourselves about the enemy's garrisons; that we knew nothing about them, and that our father would attend to that part of the contest. You also told your red children

that you would take good care of your garrison here, which made our hearts glad.

Listen! When we were last at the Rapids, it is true we gave you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live like ground hogs.*

Father, listen! Our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought; we have heard the great guns; but we know nothing of what has happened to our father with that arm. Onr ships have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see our father tying up every thing and preparing to run away the other, without letting his red children know what his intentions are. You always told us to remain here and take care of our lands; it made our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. Our great father, the king, is the head, and you represent him. You always told us that you would never draw your foot off British ground; but now, father, we see you are drawing back, and we are sorry to observe our father doing so without seeing the enemy. We must compare our father's conduct to a fat dog, that carries its tail upon its back, but, when affrighted, it drops it between its legs, and runs off.

Father, listen! The Americans have not yet defeated us by land; neither are we sure that they have done so by water: we therefore wish to remain and fight our enemy, should they make their appearance. If they defeat us, we will then retreat with our father.

At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans certainly defeated us; and, when we retreated to our father's fort in the neighbourhood, the gates were shut against us. We were afraid that it would again be the case; but, instead of closing the gates, we now see our British father preparing to march out of his garrison.

Father! You have got the arms and ammunition which our great father sent for his red children. If you intend to retreat, give them to us, and you may go, and welcome for Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and if it be His will, we wish to leave our bones upon them.

us.

The bulk of General Harrison's army, amounting altogether to fully 6,000 men, was transported in boats on the 21st and 22d of September from the mouth of the Portage river to Put-in-Bay island, 16 miles distant, while Colonel Johnson's mounted regiment, consisting of upwards of 1,000 horsemen,

* Metaphor apart-people who secure themselves by deep entrenchments.

*

proceeded from Fort Meigs by land to Detroit. The troops were detained two days in Put-in-Bay by unfavorable winds, but they re-embarked on the 25th, and in the evening reached a small island containing only three or four acres, called the Eastern Sister, 18 miles from Amherstburg and 7 from the coast. On the 26th it blew so fresh, that it became necessary to haul up the boats, to prevent their staving. The next day the troops proceeded in 16 vessels of war and about 100 boats, and landed at 4 o'clock, p. m. three miles from Amherstburg, which they immediately occupied, Proctor having previously fallen back upon Sandwich, after setting fire to the navy yard, barracks, and public stores at the former place. The British general, seeing the enemy determined to follow up his first success by an immediate attack upon Detroit, and being unable with his very inferior numbers to dispute the occupancy of that post, evacuated it and Sandwich on the 26th, also destroying the public property at both posts; and commenced his retreat on the evening of the 27th, along the river Thames, with scarcely 900 officers and privates, chiefly of the 41st regiment. In this reverse of fortune, Tecumseh still adhered to the British standard with unswerving fidelity, and with the Indians covered the retreat. On the 2d of October, General Harrison proceeded from Sandwich in pursuit with about 3,500 men, accompanied part of the way by three gunboats and a number of bateaux up the Thames, which is a fine deep stream, navigable for vessels of a considerable burthen. On the 3d and 4th, the Americans succeeded in capturing a few prisoners, a large number of muskets, and two 24-pounders, with a quantity of balls and shells-this exclusive of three boats

"No place in the United States presents such a series of events interesting in themselves, and permanently affecting, as they occurred, both its progress and prosperity. Five times its flag has changed; three different sovereignties have claimed its allegiance; and since it has been held by the United States, its government has been thrice transferred: twice it has been besieged by the Indians, once captured in war, and once burned to the ground."-Historical Sketches of Michigan.

enemy.

laden with arms and ordnance, and other stores, which were set on fire by the British. On the morning of the 5th, the pursuit was eagerly renewed, and before nine o'clock two gun-boats, and several bateaux, were captured, with which the American army was enabled to cross over to the right or opposite bank of the river, when it was ascertained that the British were halted in a position twelve miles higher, and scarcely two miles from the Moravian village, (an Indian settlement, eighty miles from Sandwich,) to prevent, if possible, the further advance of the Proctor's entire force now mustered barely 850 regulars, including nearly 100 in the hospital, and perhaps 1,000 Indians.* The former were drawn up in a straggling wood, in open files and in two lines, their left secured by the river, a gun flanking the road, and their right extending towards the Indians, who were posted where the wood thickened, so as to form a retiring angle with them, and to turn the enemy's flank on their advance. The extreme right of the allies was, moreover, covered by an impassable swamp, and, thus flanked, the position was calculated to render the immense superiority of the pursuing force in a great degree unavailing. This description of the battle field was apparently furnished by Major-General Proctor, or his friends, to the Quarterly Review, and it is confirmed by an American account before us; but, on his court martial, he was found guilty of having "neglected to

*The Quarterly Review says, that not more than 500 warriors remained with Tecumseh. General Harrison states, in his dispatch, that there were considerably upwards of 1,000 Indians in the action; and Sir George Prevost mentions, that 1,200 Indian warriors accompanied the British army on its retreat-so difficult is it to arrive at the truth. The Quarterly Review estimates Proctor's force at only 500 effectives, whereas 600 regulars were made prisoners, and 246 escaped!

+ By the court martial held at Montreal, in December, 1814, and January, 1815, on Major-General Proctor, he was adjudged "to be publicly reprimanded, and to be suspended from rank and pay for the period of six calendar months." Owing to some informality in the proceedings, the prince regent only confirmed the former part of the sentence, but conveyed at the same time his high disapprobation of Major-General Proctor's

conduct.