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flanking a dry ditch, with a single interior defence of picketing, perforated with loop-holes for musketry, offering but little obstacle to an enterprising enemy; a few shells, indeed, would have sufficed to destroy all the defences, as, with the exception of the magazine, all the

Be this, however, as it may-with Michilimaci-almost utter impossibility of its obtaining supnac fell at once General Hull's hopes of an easy plies, he looked forward to the fate of Amherstand bloodless conquest of Canada,-spirit and burg as an event which did not admit of a confidence were thereby infused into the Indian doubt-with this view, therefore, he laid his tribes, and the poor old General-already | plans, and against this point was the thunder familiarized with Indian warfare, finding them of the American artillery to be first directed. less inclined for neutrality, and the Canadian The fort at Amherstburg could not have susMilitia less favorable than he anticipated-tained a seige of long duration, four bastions even at this time began to discover the fallacy of the expectations he had so prematurely formed. Michilimacinac, (or Mackinaw, as it is now more commonly called,) is an island in the Straits between the Lakes Michigan and Huron, about four miles from land at the nearest point-its name is derived from a fan-buildings were of wood, and covered with pine cied resemblance to a turtle's back. The fort, shingles unfit for resisting any missile. The on the south-east side, was situated on a rock, disadvantage of remaining in this position, almost perpendicular in some places, extending Col. St. George, the commanding officer, well nearly half round the island, and rising some knew-orders were therefore given to the gar two hundred feet from the water. It over-rison to be ready at a moment's notice, as Col. looked, and, of course, commanded the har- St. George preferred giving battle, even with bor, a beautiful basin of about a mile in extent, his inferior force, to remaining cooped up withsheltered from Lake Huron by two islands out the means of offering any resistence whatstretching across its mouth, and leaving only ever. a narrow ship channel by which to enter the harbor. This position was a most valuable one, as it commanded the passage by which, if necessary, Hull might expect his supplies or reinforcements. In the fort were a quantity of military stores and seven hundred packs of fur, the first fruits of the war.

While these scenes, so important in their effects, were being transacted in his rear, Gen. Hull commenced an advance on Fort Malden, or Amherstburg. At this time the British force on the frontier was nearly nominal, and could scarcely have been expected to offer much resistance, the garrison at Amherstburg, consisting of but about two hundred men of the 1st Battalion of the 41st Regiment, commanded by Captain Muir, a very weak detachment of the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles, and a subaltern's (Lieutenant Troughton's) command of Artillery—such was the material on which Canadians had to trust for a defence of one of the most important points along their frontier. This point was, indeed, of the most vital importance to the British, as it formed the key to their relations with the Indians of the West, and was, naturally, an object of very great interest to the enemy. General Hull had experienced no difficulty in ascertaining the weakness of its defences, and judging from the

The want of decision and energy* on the part of General Hull became at this time very ap parent to his more enterprising opponents, indeed, the American General seemed to have forgotten altogether the intended objects of his invasion and to have confined his efforts to levying provisions and forage from the inhabitants towards whom the troops behaved with great severity, as if to avenge their disappointed hopes at meeting enemies where they expected to find friends.

This state of inaction was only interrupted by some desultory attempts to cross the river Canard, but the daily skirmishes which ensued led to no action of a decisive character. Here,

*The following extract, from General Armstrong's work, will show how eager the Americans were to find any excuse, at whatever sacrifice of previously well established reputation and character, for want of success:-"The General's conduct on this occasion could not escape animadversion. His more severe critics,-combining his uniform indifference to the state of his communications, he presure necessary to induce him to take any means for re-opening them, and the perverse preshapeless character,-did not scruple to impute to ference given to those of the most inefficient, im a secret and systematic cooperation with the nemy; while others, less prone to suspicion, and of more charitable temperament, ascribe it to an onorable but false estimate of the value of the

objects to be attained, and of the degree of danger

bridge crossed the river at this point, but Col. St. George seeing the importance of the position, and anxious to retard the advance of the enemy had caused it to be destroyed, and had placed, in ambush among the grass and weeds which lined the banks, a picked body of marksmen for the purpose of preventing its reconstruction.

however, was shed the first blood,* and the gal-dians, who repelled the attack of a body of lant behaviour of the troops is apparent from Americans ten times their number, who, under the following extract from a general order the command of Major Denny had advanced dated August 6th:-"The Commandant of with a view of crossing the river Canard, here the Forces takes great pleasure in announcing not more than a few yards wide-a timber to the troops, that the enemy under BrigadierGeneral Hull have been repelled in three attacks made on the 18th, 19th and 20th of last month, upon part of the garrison of Amherst burg, on the river Canard," particular mention is here made of the heroism and devotion displayed by two privates (Hancock and Dean, the former killed, the latter taken prisoner,) of the 41st, and the general order goes on "Instances of such firmness and intrepidity deserve to be thus publicly recorded, and his Excellency thinks that it will not fail to animate the troops under his command with an ardent desire to follow so noble an example, whenever an opportunity shall hereafter be offered to them."

The Queen Charlotte, a vessel of some size and force, was also mounted with twenty guns and anchored across the mouth of the river to keep the enemy more effectually in check.

While Col. St. George was thus engaged in
Movements of Col. St. keeping the enemy in
George.
check, Gen. Brock was

Amongst the records of gallant deeds we anxiously expecting the time when, having must not omit to mention the bravery of twen-disposed of the business for which the Legisty-two warriors of the Minoumim tribe of In-lature were about to assemble, he might be at

to be incurred in attaining them, and, lastly, to a persuasion that the safety of his own position required cautious measures."

The first blood was shed here, but the first hostile act was the capture of a merchant vessel in Lake Ontario, by the brig Oneida, commanded by Capt. Woolsey. This vessel was a fast sailer, and, while beating up the Lake from Prescott, in company with serveral others, was considerably a-head. The Oneida made for her first, intending to take those to leeward afterwards, but night coming on, they fortunately escaped. The object of the American Government in thus attacking. in time of peace, the vessel of a friendly nation,

liberty to repair in person to the scene of action-in the meantime he despatched Col Proctor of the 41st Regiment, with such reinforcements as he could spare, to assume the command at Amherstburg. Immediately on his arrival he learned the fate of a detachment of the enemy, two hundred strong, under the command of Major Van Horne, which, sent as a convoy to guard the mail, and open a communication by which provisions could be obtained, had been intercepted at the river Raisin, thirty-six miles from Detroit, and cut to pieces by Tecumseh with a small party was to secure as many of the vessels on the Lake as they could, to assist any future contemplated of his Indians; and having been informed attacks against Canada. One of the owners pro- that a second convoy with provisions was then ceeded immediately to Sackett's Harbor, and reclaimed his property-war not having been on its march to Detroit, Col. Proctor ordered declared at the time, nor was it till a fortnight Captain Muir with about one hundred of the afterwards that it was declared-his remonstrance 41st, the same number of militia, and about two and claims were, however, disregarded, and the hundred and fifty Indians to cross the river and vessel was immediately armed and manned. This same vessel was, the next year, upset in a squall occupy Brownstown, a small village on the on Lake Ontario, during a night action with the American side, through which the convoy was British fleet under Sir James Yeo, and went to the expected to pass. The expedition did not, bottom, very few of her crew escaping.-Strange to say, the owners of the vessel have never been however, prove as successful as former attempts, indemnified for their loss, by either their own or as the following account given by Major the American Government, although repeated Richardson fully proves:— applications have been urged on both, and even a joint address to the Crown voted by both branches of the Legislature of Upper Canada,although more recently we have seen a British, fleet sent to Athens, to compel payment of a few us to understand that the enemy were advanchundred pounds to Don Pacifico.-ED. A. A. M.ing. In the course of ten minutes afterwards

"On the morning of Sunday the 9th, the wild and distant cry of our Indian scouts gave

they appeared issuing from the wood, bound- Bullock of the 41st Grenadiers, who, with a ing like wild deer chased by the huntsman, small detachment of twenty men of his own

an uttering that peculiar shout which is company, twenty Light Infantry, and twenty known among themselves as the news-cry.- Battalion men had been urged forward by From them we ascertained that a strong co- Gen. Brock, from the head quarters of the lumn of the enemy, cavalry and infantry, were Regiment, then stationed at Fort George, for on their march to attack us, but that the dif- the purpose of reinforcing the little garrison ficulty of transporting their guns rendered it of Amherstburg, and who, having reached their improbable they could reach our position be- destination the preceding day, had been desfore night, although then only at a distance of patched by Col. Proctor, (lately arrived to aseight miles. It being instantly decided on to sume the command) to strengthen us. Shortly meet them, the detachment was spec lily un- the report of a single shot echoed through der arms, and on its march for Maguaga, a the wood; and the instant afterwards the loud small Indian village distant about a league.- and terrific yells of the Indians, followed by a The road along which we advanced was ankle-heavy and desu'tory fire, apprised us that they deep with mul, and the dark forest waving its were engaged. The action then became geneclose branches over our heads, left no egress to the pestilential exhalations arising from the naked and putrid bodies of horses and men of Major Horne's detachment, which had been suffered to lie unburied beneath our feet. No other sound than the measured step of the troops interrupted the solitude of the scene, rendered more imposing by the wild appearance of the warriors, whose bodies, stained and painted in the most frightful manner for the occasion, glided by us with almost noiseless velocity, without order, and without a a Chief; some painted white, some black, others half black, half red, half black, half white; all with their hair plaistered in such a way as to resemble the bristling quills of the porcupine, with no other covering then a cloth around their loins, yet armed to the teeth with rifles, tomahawks, war clubs, spears, bows, arrows, and scalping-knives. Uttering no sound, and intent only on reaching the enemy unperceived, they might have passed for the spectres of those wilds, the ruthless demons which war had unchained for the punishment and oppression of man.

ral along our line, and continued for half an hour, without producing any material advantage; when unluckily, a body of Indians that had been detached to a small wood about five hundred yards distant from our tight, were taken by the troops for a corps of the enemy endeavouring to turn their flank. In vain we called out to them that they were our Indians. The fire which should have been reserved for their foes, was turned upon the'r friends, who, falling into the same error, returned it with equal spirit. The fact was, they had been compelled to retire before a superior force, and the movement made by them, had given rise to the error of the troops. That order and discipline which would have marked their conduct as a body in a plain, was lost sight of, in a great measure, while fighting independently and singly in a wood, where every man, following the example of the enemy, was compelled to shelter his person behind the trees as he could. Closely pressed in front by an almost invisible foe, and on the point of being taken in the rear, as was falsely imagined, the troops were at length compelled to yield to circumstance and numbers.

"Having taken up a position about a quarter of a mile beyond Maguaga, our disposi- "Although our retreat, in consequence of tions for defence were speedily made, the rust- this unfortunate misapprehension, commenced ling of the leaves alone breaking on the silence in some disorder, this was soon restored, when which reigned throughout our line. Follow- Major Muir, who had been wounded early in ing the example of the Indians, we lay reclined the engagement, succeeded in rallying his on the ground in order to avoid being perceiv-men, and forming them on the brow of a hill ed, until within a few yards of the enemy.While awaiting, in this manner, the approach of the column, which we knew to be, at no great distance, advancing upon us, our little force was increased by the arrival of Lieut.

which commanded a short and narrow bridge intersecting the high road, and crossing a morass over which the enemy's guns must necessarily pass. This was about a quarter of a mile in rear of the position we had previously

of opposing regular troops to the enemy in the woods. Accustomed to the use of the rifle from his infancy-dwelling in a measure amid forests with the intricacies of which he was wholly acquainted, and possessing the advantage of a dress which rendered him almost un

American marksman entered with comparative security into a contest with the English soldier, whose glaring habiliment and accoutrements were objects too conspicuous to be missed, while his utter ignorance of a mode of warfare, in which courage and discipline were of no avail, rendered the struggle for mastery even more unequal. The principal armies to which the British troops were opposed during the war, consisted not of regular and well-disciplined troops only, but of levies taken from the forests of Ohio and Kentucky, scarcely inferior as riflemen to the Indians. Dressed in woollen frocks of a gray color, and trained to cover their bodies behind the trees from which they fired, without exposing more of their persons than was absolutely necessary for their aim, they afforded, on more than one occasion, the most convincing proofs that without the assistance of the Indian Warriors, the defence of so great a portion of Western Canada, as was entrusted to the charge of the few regulars and militia, would have proved a duty of great difficulty and doubt.

occupied. Here we remained at least fifteen afforded of proving the extreme disadvantage minutes, when finding that the Americans did not make their appearance as expected, Major Muir, whose communication with Tecumseh had been cut off, and who now heard some smart firing in the woods beyond his left, naturally inferred that the enemy were pushing the Indians in that quarter, with a view of distinguishable to the eye of an European, the turning his flank, gaining the high road in our rear, and thus cutting off our retreat. The order was then given to retire, which we certainly did at the double quick, yet without being followed by the enemy, who suffered us to gain our boats without further molestation. “In this affair, which we never then regarded as anything more than a sharp skirmish, yet to which the Americans have since attached an undue importance, their loss was eighteen killed and sixty-three wounded; ours, one rank and file killed, two Officers, two Sergeants, nine teen rank and file wounded, and two rank and file missing, but afterwards recaptured by the Indians. The wounded officers were, Major Muir, and Lieutenant Sutherland. They were near each other when the attack commenced, and Major Muir having observed an American taking a deliberate aim at them, hastily placed a short rifle, which he usually carried with him on these occasions, on the shoulder of his companion, and levelled it at his enemy. Both fired at the same instant. The ball of the American, entering Lieut. Sutherland's cheek, came out at the back of his neck, and passed through one of Major Muir's wings (he commanded the Light Company of the 41st,) while the rifleman himself fell dead on the spot, from his adversary's bullet. Major Muir soon afterwards received another ball in the leg, yet without being disabled. Severe as proved the wound of Lieut. Sutherland, (who was borne off the field when the retreat commenced, on the back, if I do not greatly mistake, of one of the Messrs. Caldwell of Amherstburg) he would have recovered had he not imprudently, some ten days afterwards, made premature use of his tooth-brush. This opened the wound, brought on hemorrhage, and before medical assistance could be procured, (the main body of the force being then in occupation of Detroit) he bled to death. Tecumseh was also slightly wounded, by buck shot, on this occasion."

The Americans attached an undue* importance to this affair-and when the disparity of the forces engaged is considered, it will be seen that there was in reality but little to boast of. By Col. Miller's admission the forces under his command consisted of the whole of the 4th Regiment of United States Infantry, except one company left at Sandwich to garrison a fort, built by order of General Hull: a small detachment of the 1st Infantry, and Artillerists enough to man the guns,—this composed the regular force, there was besi les about four hundred militia, making in all about seven hundred men: the total force opposed to them, was, as we have shewn, not more than four

This is pretty evident from General Hull's remarks. His official, letter giving an account of ait, laments that nothing was gained by it but honor; and that the blood of seventy-five men had been shed in vain; as it but opened his comHere it was that an opportunity was first munications as far as their bayonets had extended.'

hundred and fifty men, two hundred and fifty proclamation awarded death to any one of the

of whom were Indians.

militia.

Great stress has been laid on the cruel policy Conduct of our Indian of the English for acting in concert with allies so little disposed to deal mercifully with the captives placed by the chances of war in their hands, and the Americans in particular have been loud in their condemnation of a measure to the adoption of which the safety of the Western Province was in a great measure to be attributed. These writers are however forgetful that every possible exertion was employed by the agents of the United States Government to detach the Indians from us and to effect an alliance with them on the part of

the States.

"Besides," as Major Richardson observes,— "The natives must have been our friends or our foes; had we not employed them the Americans would, and although humanity

must deplore the necessity, imposed by the very invader himself, of counting them among our allies, and combating at their side, the law of self-preservation was our guide, and scrupulous indeed must be the power that would have hesitated at such a moment in its choice."

On the other hand too the Indians had always been our allies. No faithless dealing nor treachery on our parts had alienated their trust and confidence from a Government which had heaped bounties on them with no sparing hand. We were not the aggressors, we did not, for the purpose of adding to our territo rial boundaries, carry ruin and desolation among an almost defenceless population, we only availed ourselves of the right, common to every one, of repelling invasion by every means possible, and while we admit that our allies were in some instances guilty of the excesses peculiar to every savage nation, it can not be supposed that these acts were sanctioned by the Government, or that, so far as it was possible, principles of toleration and mercy were not inculcated by us amongst our

red allies.

subjects of Great Britain, found combating at the side of, and therefore assumed to be a participator in the barbarities attributed to the Indians, the very first scalp should have been taken by an officer of his own army, and that within a few days after the proclamation was issued.*

On the 6th of August, General Brock had the satisfaction of finding

General Brock. with a body of volunteers,

leaves York for

the scene of action, and aron the 13th of

rives

August.

that he could be spared

from the seat of Govern

ment for, at least, a short time. He had divided the small force at his disposal for the defence of the Province, in the various quarters most likely to be attacked; but still he was without a military chest, without money enough at his command to buy provisions, blankets, or even shoes for the militia. Under these circumstances, he made his wants known to a number of gentlemen of

credit, who formed themselves into what was

called "the Niagara and Queenston Association," the late Mr. Robert Grant of Queenston being manager, and several thousand pounds were issued in the shape of bank notes, which were currently received throughout the country, and afterwards redeemed with army bills. Ilaving thus disposed of his difficulties, General Brock found himself at liberty to

* James, in his History of the War, writes:-At Van Horne was defeated, a letter was found in the action fought at Brownstown, where Major the pocket of Captain McCulloch (who was among the slain on that occasion) addressed to his wife, Canari Bridge, on the 15th of July, and had the and stating that he had shot an Indian near the pleasure of tearing off his scalp with his teeth. Now of the fact itself there can be very little killed and scalped at the Canard. But, although doubt, for we had one Indian (and one only) Captain McCulloch is entitled to all the credit of this feat, there is reason to infer that James is from a letter found in his pocket. In the first incorrect in stating this information was obtained instance, it is extremely unlikely that the Indians, in rifling and stripping the body, would have brought off anything so valueless to them as a letter, and secondly, it is much more probable that such communication from McCulloch to his

wife had been placed in the mail, which the party to which he belonged, were escorting from Detroit, with the correspondence of General Hull's army, and which, it will be recollected, was captured by the Indians. The whole of the letters bable the disclosure was made in this man passed through our hands, and it is highly pro

In justice, too, to the Indians, we must remark, that acts of barbarous cruelty were not confined to them. The American backwoodsmen were in the habit of scalping also, and, indeed, it is singular enough that, although General Hull's famous, or rather infamous, ner.

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