Chapter CDLXXIII: Section 4: And be it further enacted, That this act shall (5)

"The withdrawal of troops from the Niagara frontier to take
part in Wilkinson's expedition left the defence of that line
almost entirely to militia, and the term for which the militia
had been called out expired on the 9th of December. The next
day General George McClure, who had been left in command at
Fort George, found himself at the head of but 60 effective
men, while the British General Drummond had brought up to the
peninsula 400 troops and 70 Indians—released by the failure of
Wilkinson's expedition—and was preparing to attack him.
McClure thereupon determined to evacuate the fort, as the only
alternative from capture or destruction, and remove his men
and stores across the river to Fort Niagara. He also
determined to burn the village of Newark, that the enemy might
find no shelter. The laudable part of this plan was but
imperfectly carried out; he failed to destroy the barracks,
and left unharmed tents for 1,500 men, several pieces of
artillery, and a large quantity of ammunition, all of which
fell into the hands of Drummond's men. But the inexcusable
part—the burning of a village in midwinter, inhabited by
noncombatants who had been guilty of no special offence—was
only too faithfully executed. The inhabitants were given
twelve hours in which to remove their goods, and then the
torch was applied, and not a house was left standing. This
needless cruelty produced its natural result; Drummond
determined upon swift and ample retaliation. In the night of
December 18th, just one week after the burning of Newark, he
threw across the Niagara a force of 550 men. They landed at
Five Mile Meadows, three miles above Fort Niagara, and marched
upon it at once, arriving there at four o'clock in the
morning. McClure, who had received an intimation of the
enemy's intention to devastate the American frontier, had gone
to Buffalo to raise a force to oppose him. The garrison of the
fort consisted of about 450 men, a large number of whom were
in the hospital. The command had been left to a Captain
Leonard, who at this time was three miles away, sleeping at a
farm-house. The most elaborate preparations had been made for
the capture of the fort, including scaling-ladders for
mounting the bastions. But the Americans seemed to have
studied to make the task as easy as possible. The sentries
were seized and silenced before they could give any alarm, and
the main gate was found standing wide open, so that the
British had only to walk straight in and begin at once the
stabbing which had been determined upon. The guard in the
south-east block-house tired one volley, by which the British
commander, Colonel Murray, was wounded, and a portion of the
invalids made what resistance they could. A British lieutenant
and five men were killed, and a surgeon and three men wounded.
Sixty-five Americans, two-thirds of whom were invalids, were
bayoneted in their beds; 15 others, who had taken refuge in
the cellars, were despatched in the same manner, and 14 were
wounded; 20 escaped, and all the others, about 340, were made
prisoners. … On the same morning, General Riall, with a
detachment of British troops and 500 Indians, crossed from
Queenstown." Lewiston, Youngstown, Tuscarora and Manchester
(now Niagara Falls) were plundered and burned, and the houses
and barns of farmers along the river, within a belt of several
miles, were destroyed. "The bridge over Tonawanda Creek had
been destroyed by the Americans, and at this point the enemy
turned back, and soon recrossed the Niagara to the Canada
side. The alarm at Buffalo brought General Hall, of the New
York militia, to that village, where he arrived the day after
Christmas. He found collected there a body of 1,700 men, whom
it would have been gross flattery to call a 'force.' They were
poorly supplied with arms and cartridges, and had no
discipline and almost no organization. Another regiment of 300
soon joined them, but without adding much to their efficiency.
On the 28th of December, Drummond reconnoitred the American
camp, and determined to attack it; for which purpose he sent
over General Riall on the evening of the 29th with 1,450 men,
largely regulars, and a body of Indians. One detachment landed
two miles below Black Rock, crossed Canajokaties [or
Scajaquada] Creek in the face of a slight resistance, and took
possession of a battery. The remainder landed at a point
between Buffalo and Black Rock [two villages then, now united
in one city], under cover of a battery on the Canadian shore.
Poor as Hall's troops were, they stood long enough to fire
upon the invaders and inflict considerable loss. … Both sides
had artillery, with which the action was opened. As it
progressed, however, the American line was broken in the
centre, and Hall was compelled to fall back. His subsequent
attempts to rally his men were of no avail, and he himself
seems to have lost heart, as Lieutenant Riddle, who had about
80 regulars, offered to place them in front for the
encouragement of the militia to new exertion, but Hall
declined. … Both Buffalo and Black Rock were sacked and
burned, and no mercy was shown. With but two or three
exceptions, those of the inhabitants who were not able to run
away were massacred. …
{3349}
It is related that in Buffalo a widow named St. John 'had the
address to appease the ferocity of the enemy so far as to
remain in her house uninjured.' Her house and the stone jail
were the only buildings not laid in ashes. In Black Rock every
building was either burned or blown up, except one log house,
in which a few women and children had taken refuge. … Five
vessels lying at the wharves were also burned. In this
expedition the British lost 108 men, killed, wounded or
missing. More than 50 of the Americans were found dead on the
field. Truly, an abundant revenge had been taken for the
burning of Newark. … On New Year's day of 1814 the settlers
along the whole length of the Niagara—those of them who
survived—were shivering beside the smouldering embers of
their homes."

_R. Johnson,
History of the War of 1812-1815,
chapter 9._

ALSO IN:
_C. Johnson,
Centennial History of Erie County, New York,
chapters 24-25._

_W. Ketchum,
History of Buffalo,
volume 2, chapter 15._

_O. Turner,
Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase,
pages 589-606._

_W. Dorsheimer,
Buffalo during the war of 1812
(Buffalo Historical Society Publication, volume 1)._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1813-1814.
British blockade of the Atlantic coast.

"The blockade of the Atlantic coast was enforced by British
vessels from the beginning of the year 1813. At first they
were inclined to spare the coast of New England, which they
supposed to be friendly to Great Britain, but this policy was
soon abandoned, and the whole coast was treated alike. Groups
of war-vessels were stationed before each of the principal
sea-ports, and others were continually in motion along the
coast, from Halifax on the north to the West Indies. Early in
1813, they took possession of the mouth of Chesapeake Bay as a
naval station, and the American Government ordered all the
lights to be put out in the neighboring light-houses. The
Atlantic coast was thus kept in a state of almost constant
alarm, for the British vessels were continually landing men at
exposed points to burn, plunder, and destroy. … In 1813, the
defenceless towns of Lewes, Havre de Grace, and Hampton (near
Fortress Monroe) were bombarded, and Stonington, Conn., in
1814; and a number of smaller towns were burned or plundered.
Attacks on New York and other larger cities were prevented
only by fear of torpedoes, by means of which the Americans had
nearly blown up one or two British ships which ventured too
near New York. … Maine, as far as the Penobscot River, was
seized by the British in 1814, and was held until the end of
the war."

_A. Johnston,
History of the United States for Schools,
sections 384-386._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1813-1814 (August-April).
The Creek War.
General Jackson's first campaign.

The great Indian chief Tecumseh had been trying for years to
unite all the red men against the whites. There would have
been an Indian war if there had been no war with England, but
the latter war seemed to be Tecumseh's opportunity. Among the
southwestern Indians he found acceptance only with the Creeks,
who were already on the verge of civil war, because some
wanted to adopt civilized life, and others refused. The latter
became the war party, under Weatherford [Red Eagle], a very
able half-breed chief. The first outbreak in the Southwest,
although there had been some earlier hostilities, was the
massacre of the garrison and refugees at Fort Mims, at the
junction of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, August 30, 1813.
There were 553 persons in the fort, of whom only 5 or 6
escaped. … The result of the massacre at Fort Mims was that
Alabama was almost abandoned by whites. Terror and desire for
revenge took possession of Georgia and Tennessee. September
25th the Tennessee Legislature voted to raise men and money to
aid the people of Mississippi territory against the Creeks."
Andrew Jackson, one of the two major-generals of the Tennessee
militia, was then confined to his bed by a wound received in a
recent fight with Thomas H. Benton and Benton's brother. "As
soon as he possibly could, Jackson took the field. Georgia had
a force in the field under General Floyd. General Claiborne
was acting at the head of troops from Louisiana and
Mississippi. This Indian war had a local character and was
outside the federal operations, although in the end it had a
great effect upon them. … The Creek war was remarkable for
three things: (1) the quarrels between the generals, and the
want of concert of action; (2) lack of provisions; (3)
insubordination in the ranks. … On three occasions Jackson had
to use one part of his army to prevent another part from
marching home, he and they differing on the construction of
the terms of enlistment. He showed very strong qualities under
these trying circumstances. … In the conduct of the movements
against the enemy his energy was very remarkable. So long as
there was an enemy unsubdued Jackson could not rest, and could
not give heed to anything else. … At the end of March [1814]
Jackson destroyed a body of the Creeks at Tohopeka, or
Horse-Shoe Bend, in the northeast corner of the present
Tallapoosa County, Alabama. With the least possible delay he
pushed on to the last refuge of the Creeks, the Hickory
Ground, at the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, and the
Holy Ground a few miles distant. The medicine men, appealing
to the superstition of the Indians, had taught them to believe
that no white man could tread the latter ground and live. In
April the remnant of the Creeks surrendered or fled to
Florida, overcome as much by the impetuous and relentless
character of the campaign against them as by actual blows.
Fort Jackson was built on the Hickory Ground. The march down
through Alabama was a great achievement, considering the
circumstances of the country at the time. … The Creek campaign
lasted only seven months. In itself considered, it was by no
means an important Indian war, but in its connection with
other military movements it was very important. Tecumseh had
been killed at the battle of the Thames, in Canada, October 5,
1813. His scheme of a race war died with him. The Creek
campaign put an end to any danger of hostilities from the
southwestern Indians, in alliance either with other Indians or
with the English. … This campaign … was the beginning of
Jackson's fame and popularity, and from it dates his career.
He was 47 years old. On the 31st of May he was appointed a
major-general in the army of the United States, and was given
command of the department of the South. He established his
headquarters at Mobile in August, 1814."

_W. G. Sumner,
Andrew Jackson as a Public Man,
chapter 2._

{3350}

ALSO IN:
_G. C. Eggleston,
Red Eagle._

_J. W. Monette,
Discovery and Settlement of the Valley of the Mississippi,
book 5, chapter 14 (volume 2)._

_B. J. Lossing,
Field Book of the War of 1812,
chapters 33-34._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1814 (July-September).
On the Niagara Frontier.
Chippewa.
Lundy's Lane.
Fort Erie.

"After the desolation of the Niagara frontier in 1813, there
appeared to be nothing for the parties to contend for in that
quarter. No object could be obtained by a victory on either
side, but the temporary occupation of a vacant territory; yet
both parties seemed to have selected this as the principal
theatre on which to display their military prowess in the year
1814. Lieutenant General Drummond, governor of Upper Canada,
concentrated the forces of that province at Fort George, and
retained the possession of Niagara. The American Generals
Smyth, Hampton, Dearborn, and Wilkinson, under whose auspices
the campaigns of 1812 and 1813, on the Canada border, were
conducted, had retired from that field; and General Brown was
appointed major general, and, with the assistance of
Brigadiers Scott and Ripley, designated to the command of the
Niagara frontier. He left Sackett's Harbour in May, with a
large portion of the American troops. … On his arrival at
Buffalo, calculating upon the co-operation of the Ontario
fleet, he determined on an attempt to expel the British from
the Niagara peninsula. With this view he crossed the river on
the 3d of July. … On the same day he invested Fort Erie, and
summoned it to surrender, allowing the commandant two hours to
answer the summons. At five in the afternoon the fort
surrendered, and the prisoners, amounting to 137, were removed
to Buffalo. On the morning of the fourth General Scott
advanced with his brigade and corps of artillery, and took a
position on the Chippewa plain, half a mile in front of the
village, his right resting on the river, and his front
protected by a ravine. The British were encamped in force at
the village. In the evening General Brown joined him with the
reserve under General Ripley, and the artillery commanded by
Major Hindman. General Porter arrived the next morning, with
the New York and Pennsylvania volunteers, and a number of
Indians of the six nations. … At four in the afternoon,
General Porter advanced, taking the woods in order to conceal
his approach, and … met the whole British force approaching in
order of battle. General Scott, with his brigade and Towser's
artillery, met them on the plain, in front of the American
encampment, and was directly engaged in close action with the
main body. General Porter's command gave way. … The reserve
were now ordered up, and General Ripley passed to the woods in
left of the line to gain the rear of the enemy; but before
this was effected, General Scott had compelled the British to
retire. Their whole line now fell back, and were eagerly
pursued. … The British left 200 dead on the ground. … The
American loss was 60 killed, and 268 wounded and missing.
After the battle of Chippewa, the British retired to Fort
George; and General Brown took post at Queenston, where he
remained some time, expecting reinforcements. … On the 20th,
General Brown advanced with his army towards Fort George,
drove in the outposts, and encamped near the fort, in the
expectation that the British would come out and give him
battle. On the 22d, he returned to his former position at
Queenston; here he received a letter from General Gaines,
informing him that the heavy guns, and the rifle regiment,
which he had ordered from Sackett's harbour, together with the
whole fleet, were blockaded in that port, and no assistance
was to be expected from them. On the 24th, he fell back to
Chippewa, and on the 25th received intelligence that the
enemy, having received large reinforcements from Kingston,
were advancing upon him. The first brigade under General
Scott, Towser's artillery, all the dragoons and mounted men,
were immediately put in motion on the Queenston road. On his
arrival at the Niagara cataract, General Scott learned that
the British were in force directly in his front, separated
only by a narrow piece of wood. Having despatched this
intelligence to General Brown, he advanced upon the enemy, and
the action commenced at six o'clock in the afternoon. … The
British artillery had taken post on a commanding eminence, at
the head of Lundy's lane, supported by a line of infantry,
out of the reach of the American batteries. This was the key
of the whole position; from hence they poured a most deadly
fire on the American ranks. It became necessary either to
leave the ground, or to carry this post and seize the height.
The latter desperate task was assigned to Colonel Miller. On
receiving the order from General Brown, he calmly surveyed the
position, and answered 'I will try, sir,' which expression was
afterwards the motto of his regiment. … Colonel Miller
advanced coolly and steadily to his object, amid a tremendous
fire, and at the point of the bayonet, carried the artillery
and the height. The guns were immediately turned upon the
enemy; General Ripley now brought up the 23d regiment, to the
support of Colonel Miller; the first regiment was rallied and
brought into line, and the British were driven from the hill.
… The British rallied under the hill, and made a desperate
attempt to regain their artillery, and drive the Americans
from their position, but without success; a second and third
attempt was made with the like result. General Scott was
engaged in repelling these attacks, and though with his
shoulder fractured, and a severe wound in the side, continued
at the head of his column, endeavouring to turn the enemy's
right flank. The volunteers under General Porter, during the
last charge of the British, precipitated themselves upon their
lines, broke them, and took a large number of prisoners.
General Brown … received a severe wound on the thigh, and in
the side, and … consigned the command to General Ripley. At
twelve o'clock, both parties retired from the field to their
respective encampments, fatigued and satiated with slaughter.
… The battle [called Lundy's Lane, or Bridgewater, or Niagara]
was fought to the west of, and within half a mile of the
Niagara cataract. … Considering the numbers engaged, few
contests have ever been more sanguinary. … General Brown
states his loss to be, killed, 171; wounded, 572; missing,
117; [total] 860. General Drummond acknowledges a loss of,
killed, 84; wounded, 559; missing and prisoners, 235; [total]
878. … General Ripley, on the 26th, fell back to Fort Erie.
General Brown retired to Buffalo, and General Scott to
Batavia, to recover from their wounds."

_S. Perkins,
History of the Late War,
chapter 17._

{3351}

"Fort Erie was a small work with two demi-bastions; one upon
the north and the other upon the south front. It was built of
stone, but was not of sufficient strength to resist ordnance
heavier than the field artillery of that day. Ripley at once
commenced to strengthen the position. Fortunately, General
Drummond delayed his advance for two days, giving the
Americans an opportunity of which they industriously availed
themselves. … Fort Erie was changed into an entrenched camp,
with its rear open toward the river. General Drummond appeared
before the fort, on the 3d of August, with a force of 5,350
men. He established his camp two miles distant, back of
Waterloo, and commenced a double line of entrenchments within
400 yards of the main work. The same morning he threw a force
of about 1,000 men across the river, and landed them below
Squaw Island, with the intention of seizing Buffalo,
destroying the stores gathered there, and interrupting the
communications of the American army. This soldierly plan was
happily frustrated by Major Morgan with a battalion of the
First Rifles, 250 strong. … During the following fortnight
several skirmishes occurred in front of Fort Erie, in one of
which the gallant Colonel Morgan was killed. General Drummond,
having been still further reinforced, determined not to wait
for the slow results of a siege, but to carry the place by
assault. At two o'clock in the morning of the 3d of August,
the British army moved to the attack in three columns. One was
ordered to carry the Douglass battery, upon the extreme right
of our position; another column was to engage the fort itself;
but the main attack was directed against the Towson battery
upon Snake Hill. Brigadier-General Gaines, who had lately
arrived, was now in command of the American forces. … The
evening before, a shell had exploded a small magazine in Fort
Erie, and General Gaines was apprehensive that the enemy would
take advantage of this disaster and attack him,—one-third of
the troops were therefore kept at their post through the
night, which was dark and rainy. His precautions were well
taken. At half-past two the tramp of a heavy column was heard
approaching Towson's redoubt. Instantly a sheet of fire
flashed from our lines, lighting up the night, and revealing
the enemy 1,500 strong. They had been ordered to attack with
the bayonet; and, to insure obedience, the flints had been
removed from their muskets. With complete courage they
approached to within reach of the light abattis, between Snake
Hill and the lake. But after a desperate struggle they fell
back. Again they advanced, and this time succeeded in planting
scaling ladders in the ditch in front of the redoubt. But
their ladders were too short, and the assailants were driven
off with severe loss. Meanwhile a detachment endeavored to
turn our position by wading out into the river, and passing
round our left. Ripley met them promptly. Numbers were killed
or wounded, and were carried off by the current, and the
remainder of the detachment were captured: Five times the
obstinate English returned to the assault, but each time
without success. … The other British columns waited until the
engagement on the left was at its height. On our right the
enemy advanced to within 50 yards of the Douglass battery, but
were then driven back. At the fort the contest was more
severe. The assailants, led by Colonel Drummond, an officer of
singular determination, advanced through a ravine north of the
fort, and attacking simultaneously all the salient points,
they swarmed over the parapet into the north bastion. … The
garrison of the fort rallied, and after a severe contest
succeeded in regaining possession of the bastion. A second and
third time Drummond returned to the assault with no better
success. But with invincible tenacity he clung to his purpose.
Moving his troops, under cover of the night and the dense
cloud of battle which hung along the ramparts, silently round
the ditch, he suddenly repeated the charge. The English ran up
their ladders so quickly that they gained the top of the
glacis before the defenders could rally to resist them. … The
garrison of the fort made repeated unsuccessful efforts to
retake the bastion; but at day-break it was still in the
enemy's possession. Powerful detachments were then brought up
from the left and center, and a combined attempt was made from
several different directions to drive the British from their
position; but, after a desperate struggle, this likewise
failed. The guns of the Douglass battery, and those under
Captain Fanning, were turned upon the bastion, and Captain
Biddle was placing a piece of artillery to enfilade it, while
several hundred of the American reserve stood ready to rush
upon it. At this moment a loud explosion shook the earth, and
the whole bastion leaped into the air, carrying with it both
its assailants and defenders. The cause of this explosion has
never been accurately ascertained. It is generally supposed to
have been accidental. … The shattered columns of the foe now
retired to their encampment. The British report stated their
loss at 905 killed, wounded and missing; of whom 222 were
killed, including 14 officers; 174 wounded; and 186 prisoners
remained in our hands. Our loss, including 11 prisoners, was
84 men. In the bombardment of the day before we had 45 killed
and wounded; swelling our total loss to 129. A few days after
this, Drummond was reinforced by two regiments, and reopened
fire along his own line. The bombardment continued through the
remainder of the month of August. On the 28th, General Gaines
was wounded by a shell, which fell into his quarters, and
General Ripley again assumed the command, but was soon
superseded by General Brown, who had recovered from the wound
received at Lundy's Lane. General Porter, by dint of
superhuman efforts, gathered a considerable body of militia at
Buffalo, to reinforce the fort. … Notwithstanding the victory
I have just described, and the reinforcements brought by
Porter, the American army at Fort Erie was in a very dangerous
situation. Their foe was daily increasing in number, and three
new batteries were thrown up, whose fire was rapidly making
the position untenable. … Under the pressure of this great
necessity, General Porter planned a sortie, which was
submitted to General Brown; who approved it, and ordered it to
be carried out. … By this enterprise, altogether the most
brilliant military event which occurred on this frontier
during the war, all of the enemy's guns in position were made
useless, and their entrenchments destroyed. We took 385
prisoners, including 11 commissioned officers, and killed or
wounded 600 men. Our own loss was 510. … Four days after this,
General Drummond raised the siege, and fell back to Fort
George."

_W. Dorsheimer,
Buffalo during the War of 1812
(Buffalo Historical Society Publications, volume 1)._

ALSO IN:
_E. Cruikshank,
The Battle of Lundy's Lane
(Lundy's Lane Historical Society)._

_General W. Scott,
Memoirs by himself,
chapters 9-11 (volume 1)._

_C. Johnson,
Centennial History of Erie County, New York,
chapter 26._

_B. J. Lossing,
Field Book of the War of 1812,
chapters 35-36._

_The Attack on Fort Erie
(Portfolio, February, 1816)._

{3352}

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1814 (August-September).
Capture and destruction of the national Capital.
Attempt against Baltimore.

Early in the "summer of 1814, rumors spread through the
capital of a great British armament preparing at Bermuda, some
said for an attack on New York, others on Baltimore and
Annapolis, while others asserted quite as vehemently that the
national capital was the chosen object of British vengeance.
How easy it would be, they argued, for Admiral Sir George
Cockburn, who had been a year with his fleet in Chesapeake
Bay, when reinforced by the Bermuda armament to disembark a
strong column at any point on the western shore of the
Chesapeake—but forty miles distant—and by a forced march
capture the city. But by some strange fatuity, the President
and his cabinet treated these possibilities as unworthy of
credence. 'The British come here!' a Cabinet officer is
reported to have said, in answer to the representations of
citizens. "What should they come here for?' Sure enough: a
provincial village of 6,000 inhabitants. But then there were
the state papers and public buildings, the moral effect of
capturing an enemy's capital, and the satisfaction of
chastising the city where a British minister had been obliged
to ask for his recall on the ground of ill-treatment. …
Colonel James Monroe, a gallant soldier of the Revolution, was
now Secretary of State; another Revolutionary soldier, General
Armstrong, was Secretary of War, and acting on their advice,
President Madison did substantially nothing for the defence of
his capital. Fort Washington, commanding the Potomac, which
Major L'Enfant had planned early in the war, was hurried
forward to completion; but no defences on the landward side
were erected, and no army was called out to defend it. What
was done was this: The District of Columbia, Maryland, and
that part of Virginia north of the Rappahannock, were created
a tenth military district under command of General W. H.
Winder, a brave officer, who had seen service in the
Northwest, and who had recently returned from long detention
in Canada as prisoner of war. General Winder on taking command
(June 26, 1814) found for the defence of Washington
detachments of the 36th and 38th regulars, amounting to a few
hundred men, but nothing more—no forts, no guns, no army. A
force of 13 regiments of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania
militia had been drafted, but were not to be called into
active service until the enemy should appear—an arrangement
against which General Winder protested in vain. … While these
weak and ineffectual preparations are being made, the enemy
has been marshalling his forces. Early in August Rear-Admiral
Cockburn's blockading squadron had been joined in the Potomac
by the fleet of Vice-Admiral Cochrane, who as ranking officer
at once took command." A few days later the expected Bermuda
expedition arrived bringing 4,000 troops—veterans from
Wellington's army—under General Ross. A little flotilla of
gunboats on the Chesapeake, commanded by Commodore Barney, was
driven into Patuxent River and there abandoned and burned.
Then the enemy landed in force at Benedict and marched on
Washington, while the Secretary or War still insisted that
Baltimore must be, in the nature of things, the place they
would strike, At Bladensburg they were met (August 24th) by
General Winder with some 5,000 hastily collected militia and
volunteers and less than 1,000 regular troops, sailors, and
marines—poor materials for an army with which to face 4,000
hardened veterans of the Peninsular War. The battle ended in
the utter routing of the American forces and the abandonment
of Washington to the British invaders.

_C. B. Todd,
The Story of Washington,
chapter 8._

"This battle, by which the fate of the American capital was
decided, began about one o'clock in the afternoon, and lasted
till four. The loss on the part of the English was severe,
since, out of two-thirds of the army, which were engaged,
upwards of 500 men were killed and wounded; and what rendered
it doubly severe was, that among these were numbered several
officers of rank and distinction. … On the side of the
Americans the slaughter was not so great. Being in possession
of a strong position, they were of course less exposed in
defending than the others in storming it; and had they
conducted themselves with coolness and resolution, it is not
conceivable how the battle could have been won. But the fact
is that, with the exception of a party of sailors from the gun
boats, under the command of Commodore Barney, no troops could
behave worse than they did."

_G. R. Gleig,
Campaign of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans,
chapter 9._

When Winder's troops abandoned Washington "fire was put at the
navy yard to a new frigate on the stocks, to a new
sloop-of-war lately launched, and to several magazines of
stores and provisions, for the destruction of which ample
preparations had been made. By the light of this fire, made
lurid by a sudden thunder-gust, Ross, toward evening, advanced
into Washington, at that time a straggling village of some
8,000 people, but, for the moment, almost deserted by the male
part of the white inhabitants. From Gallatin's late residence,
one of the first considerable houses which the column reached,
a shot was fired which killed Ross's horse, and which was
instantly revenged by putting fire to the house. After three
or four volleys at the Capitol, the two detached wings were
set on fire. The massive walls defied the flames, but all the
interior was destroyed, with many valuable papers, and the
library of Congress—a piece of Vandalism alleged to be in
revenge for the burning of the Parliament House at York.
[Chaplain Gleig, who was with the British forces under Ross,
states in the narrative quoted from above that the party fired
upon from Gallatin's house bore a flag of truce, and that
Ross's destructive proceedings in Washington were consequent
on that fact.] … The president's house, and the offices of the
Treasury and State Departments near by, were set on fire. …
The next morning the War Office was burned. …
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Several private houses were burned, and some private
warehouses broken open and plundered; but, in general, private
property was respected." On the night of the 20th the British
withdrew, returning as they came; but on the 29th their
frigates, ascending the Potomac, arrived at Alexandria and
plundered that city heavily. "Within less than a fortnight
after the re-embarkation of Ross's army, the British fleet,
spreading vast alarm as it ascended the Chesapeake, appeared
off the Patapsco [September 12]. … A landing was effected the
next day at North Point, on the northern shore of that
estuary, some eight miles up which was Fort M'Henry, an open
work only two miles from Baltimore, commanding the entrance
into the harbor, which found, however, its most effectual
protection in the shallowness of the water. The defense of the
city rested with some 10,000 militia. … A corps 3,000 strong
had been thrown forward toward North Point. As Ross and
Cockburn, at the head of a reconnoitering party, approached
the outposts of this advanced division, a skirmish ensued, in
which Ross was killed. … The fleet, meanwhile, opened a
tremendous cannonade on Fort M'Henry; but … at such a distance
as to render their fire ineffectual. It was under the
excitement of this cannonade that the popular song of the
'Star Spangled Banner' was composed, the author [Francis Scott
Key] being then on board the British fleet, whither he had
gone to solicit the release of certain prisoners, and where he
was detained pending the attack. An attempt to land in boats
also failed; and that same night, the bombardment being still
kept up, the British army, covered by rain and darkness,
retired silently to their ships and re-embarked."

_R. Hildreth,
History of the United States,
volume 6, pages 510-520._

ALSO IN:
_J. S. Williams,
Invasion and Capture of Washington._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1814 (September).
Prevost's invasion of New York.
Macdonough's naval victory on Lake Champlain.

Lake Champlain, "which had hitherto played but an
inconspicuous part, was now to become the scene of the
greatest naval battle of the war. A British army of 11,000 men
under Sir George Prevost undertook the invasion of New York by
advancing up the western bank of Lake Champlain. This advance
was impracticable unless there was a sufficiently strong
British naval force to drive back the American squadron at the
same time. Accordingly, the British began to construct a
frigate, the Confiance, to be added to their already existing
force, which consisted of a brig, two sloops, and 12 or 14
gun-boats. The Americans already possessed a heavy corvette, a
schooner, a small sloop, and 10 gun-boats or row-galleys; they
now began to build a large brig, the Eagle, which was launched
about the 16th of August. Nine days later, on the 25th, the
Confiance was launched. The two squadrons were equally
deficient in stores, etc.; the Confiance having locks to her
guns, some of which could not be used, while the American
schooner Ticonderoga had to fire her guns by means of pistols
flashed at the touchholes (like Barclay on Lake Erie).
Macdonough and Downie were hurried into action before they had
time to prepare themselves thoroughly; but it was a
disadvantage common to both, and arose from the nature of the
case, which called for immediate action. The British army
advanced slowly toward Plattsburg, which was held by General
Macomb with less than 2,000 effective American troops. Captain
Thomas Macdonough, the American commodore, took the lake a day
or two before his antagonist, and came to anchor in Plattsburg
harbor. The British fleet, under Captain George Downie, moved
from Isle-aux-Noix on September 8th, and on the morning of the
11th sailed into Plattsburg harbor." The American force
consisted of the ship Saratoga, Captain Macdonough, the brig
Eagle, the schooner Ticonderoga, the sloop Preble, and ten
row-galleys, or gunboats mounting one or two guns each—"in
all, 14 vessels of 2,244 tons and 882 men, with 86 guns
throwing at a broadside 1,194 lbs. of shot, 480 from long, and
714 from short guns. The force of the British squadron in guns
and ships is known accurately, as most of it was captured." It
consisted of the frigate Confiance, the brig Linnet, the
sloops Chubb and Finch, and twelve gunboats—"in all, 16
vessels, of about 2,402 tons, with 937 men, and a total of 92
guns, throwing at a broadside 1,192 lbs., 660 from long and
532 from short pieces. … Young Macdonough (then but 28 years
of age) calculated all … chances very coolly and decided to
await the attack at anchor in Plattsburg Bay, with the head of
his line so far to the north that it could hardly be turned. …
The morning of September 11th opened with a light breeze from
the northeast. Downie's fleet weighed anchor at daylight, and
came down the lake with the wind nearly aft, the booms of the
two sloops swinging out to starboard. At half-past seven, the
people in the ships could see their adversaries' upper sails
across the narrow strip of land ending in Cumberland Head,
before the British doubled the latter. … As the English
squadron stood bravely in, young Macdonough, who feared his
foes not at all, but his God a great deal, knelt for a moment,
with his officers, on the quarter-deck; and then ensued a few
minutes of perfect quiet." The fierce battle which followed
lasted about two hours and a half, with terribly destructive
effects on both sides. The British commander, Downie, was
killed early in the action. "On both sides the ships had been
cut up in the most extraordinary manner; the Saratoga had 55
shot-holes in her hull, and the Confiance 105 in hers, and the
Eagle and Linnet had suffered in proportion. The number of
killed and wounded can not be exactly stated; it was probably
about 200 on the American side, and over 300 on the British. …
The effects of the victory were immediate and of the highest
importance. Sir George Prevost and his army [which had arrived
before Plattsburg on the 6th, and which, simultaneously with
the naval advance, had made an unsuccessful attack on the
American defensive works, at the mouth of the Saranac, held by
General Alexander Macomb] at once fled in great haste and
confusion back to Canada, leaving our northern frontier clear
for the remainder of the war; while the victory had a very
great effect on the negotiations for peace. In this battle the
crews on both sides behaved with equal bravery, and left
nothing to be desired in this respect; but from their rawness
they of course showed far less skill than the crews of most of
the American and some of the British ocean cruisers. …
Macdonough in this battle won a higher fame than any other
commander of the war, British or American.
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He had a decidedly superior force to contend against, the
officers and men of the two sides being about on a par in
every respect; and it was solely owing to his foresight and
resource that we won the victory. He forced the British to
engage at a disadvantage by his excellent choice of position,
and he prepared beforehand for every possible contingency. …
Down to the time of the Civil War he is the greatest figure in
our naval history."

_T. Roosevelt,
The Naval War of 1812,
chapter 8._

ALSO IN:
_R. Johnson,
History of the War of 1812-1815,
chapter 15._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1814 (December).
The Hartford Convention.

"The commercial distress in New England, the possession by the
enemy of a large part of the District of Maine, the fear of
their advance along the coast, and the apparent neglect of the
Federal Government to provide any adequate means of
resistance, had led the Legislature of Massachusetts, in
October, to invite the other New England States to send
delegates to Hartford, Connecticut, 'to confer upon the
subject of their public grievances.' Delegates [26 in number]
from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and from
parts of Vermont and New Hampshire, met at Hartford in
December and remained in session for three weeks. In their
report to their State Legislatures they reviewed the state of
the country, the origin and management of the war, and the
strong measures lately proposed in Congress, and recommended
several Amendments to the Constitution, chiefly with intent to
restrict the powers of Congress over commerce, and to prevent
naturalized citizens from holding office. In default of the
adoption of these Amendments, another convention was advised,
'in order to decide on the course which a crisis so momentous
might seem to demand.' This was the famous Hartford
Convention. The peace which closely followed its adjournment
removed all necessity or even desire for another session of
it. Its objects seem to have been legitimate. But the
unfortunate secrecy of its proceedings, and its somewhat
ambiguous language, roused a popular suspicion, sufficient for
the political ruin of its members, that a dissolution of the
Union had been proposed, perhaps resolved upon, in its
meetings. Some years afterward those concerned in it were
compelled in self-defense to publish its journal, in order to
show that no treasonable design was officially proposed. It
was then, however, too late, for the popular opinion had
become fixed. Neither the Federal party which originated, nor
the Federalist politicians who composed, the assembly, were
ever freed from the stigma left by the mysterious Hartford
Convention."

_A. Johnston,
History of American Politics, 2d ed.,
chapter 8._

The language of the report of the Hartford Convention "was so
skillfully selected that it cannot be said with certainty
whether the convention deduced from the nature of the Union a
positive right in the individual states to withdraw from the
Union, or whether it claimed only a moral justification for
revolution. It was prudent enough in the declaration of its
position on the constitutional question not to venture beyond
vague, double-meaning expressions, except so far as it could
appeal to its opponents. But it went just far enough to repeat
almost verbatim the declaration of faith laid down in the
Kentucky resolutions of 1798. If the members of the
convention, and those in sympathy with them, were 'Maratists,'
they could claim that they had become so in the school of
Madison and Jefferson."

_H. von Holst,
Constitutional and Political History of the United States,
volume 1, page 268._

ALSO IN:
_T. Dwight,
History of the Hartford Convention._

_H. C. Lodge,
Life and Letters of George Cabot,
chapters 11-13._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1814 (December).
The Treaty of Peace concluded at Ghent.

"In September, 1812, Count Romanzoff suggested to Mr. [John
Quincy] Adams the readiness of the Emperor [of Russia] to act
as mediator in bringing about peace between the United States
and England. The suggestion was promptly acted upon, but with
no directly fortunate results. The American government acceded
at once to the proposition, and, at the risk of an impolitic
display of readiness, dispatched Messrs. Gallatin and Bayard
to act as Commissioners jointly with Mr. Adams in the
negotiations. These gentlemen, however, arrived in St.
Petersburg only to find themselves in a very awkward
position," since the offered mediation of the Czar was
declined by England. The latter power preferred to negotiate
directly with the United States, and presently made proposals
to that effect, intimating her readiness "to send
Commissioners to Gottingen, for which place Ghent was
afterwards substituted, to meet American Commissioners and
settle terms of pacification. The United States renewed the
powers of Messrs. Adams, Bayard, and Gallatin, … and added
Jonathan Russell, then Minister to Sweden, and Henry Clay.
England deputed Lord Gambier, an Admiral, Dr. Adams, a
publicist, and Mr. Goulbourn, a member of Parliament and Under
Secretary of State. These eight gentlemen accordingly met in
Ghent on August 7, 1814. It was upwards of four months before
an agreement was reached. … The eight were certainly an odd
assemblage of peacemakers. The ill-blood and wranglings
between the opposing Commissions were bad enough, yet hardly
equalled the intestine dissensions between the American
Commissioners themselves. … The British first presented their
demands, as follows: 1. That the United States should conclude
a peace with the Indian allies of Great Britain, and that a
species of neutral belt of Indian territory should be
established between the dominions of the United States and
Great Britain, so that these dominions should be nowhere
conterminous, upon which belt or barrier neither power should
be permitted to encroach even by purchase, and the boundaries
of which should be settled in this treaty. 2. That the United
States should keep no naval force upon the Great Lakes, and
should neither maintain their existing forts nor build new
ones upon their northern frontier; it was even required that
the boundary line should run along the southern shore of the
lakes; while no corresponding restriction was imposed upon
Great Britain, because she was stated to have no projects of
conquest as against her neighbor. 3. That a piece of the
province of Maine should be ceded, in order to give the
English a road from Halifax to Quebec. 4. That the
stipulations of the treaty of 1783, conferring on English
subjects the right of navigating the Mississippi, should be
now formally renewed. The Americans were astounded; it seemed
to them hardly worth while to have come so far to listen to
such propositions."
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But, after long and apparently hopeless wrangling, events in
Europe rather than in America brought about a change of
disposition on the part of the British government;
instructions to the commissioners were modified on both sides,
and, quite to their own surprise, they arrived at agreements
which were formulated in a Treaty and signed, December 24,
1814. "Of the many subjects mooted between the negotiators
scarcely any had survived the fierce contests which had been
waged concerning them. The whole matter of the navigation of
the Mississippi, access to that river, and a road through
American territory, had been dropped by the British; while the
Americans had been well content to say nothing of the
Northeastern fisheries, which they regarded as still their
own.

See FISHERIES, NORTH AMERICAN: A. D. 1814-1818.

The disarmament on the lakes and along the Canadian border,
and the neutralization of a strip of Indian territory, were
yielded by the English. The Americans were content to have
nothing said about impressment; nor was anyone of the many
illegal rights exercised by England formally abandoned. The
Americans satisfied themselves with the reflection that
circumstances had rendered these points now only matters of
abstract principle, since the pacification of Europe had
removed all opportunities and temptations for England to
persist in her previous objectionable courses. For the future
it was hardly to be feared that she would again undertake to
pursue a policy against which it was evident that the United
States were willing to conduct a serious war. There was,
however, no provision for indemnification. Upon a fair
consideration, it must be admitted that, though the treaty was
silent upon all the points which the United States had made
war for the purpose of enforcing, yet the country had every
reason to be gratified with the result of the negotiation."

_J. T. Morse,
John Quincy Adams,
pages 75-96._

"Instead of wearing themselves out over impracticable, perhaps
impossible, questions, the commissioners turned their
attention to the northern boundary between the two countries,
and it was by them forever settled, and in such manner as to
give the United States the foundation for its future
greatness. … The victory of the American diplomats at Ghent
was two-fold: first, they secured the benefits desired without
enumerating them—even to a greater extent than if the benefits
had been enumerated; and second, if they had insisted upon an
enumeration of the benefits obtained, it is apparent they
would have periled the entire treaty and lost all."

_T. Wilson,
The Treaty of Ghent
(Magazine of American History, November, 1888)._

ALSO IN:
_C. Schurz,
Life of Henry Clay,
chapter 6 (volume l)._

_J. Q. Adams,
Memoirs (Diary)
chapter 9 (volumes 2-3)._

Following is the text of the treaty:

Article I.
There shall be a firm and universal peace between His
Britannic Majesty and the United States, and between their
respective countries, territories, cities, towns, and people,
of every degree, without exception of places or persons. All
hostilities, both by sea and land, shall cease as soon as this
treaty shall have been ratified by both parties, as
hereinafter mentioned. All territory, places, and possessions
whatsoever, taken by either party from the other during the
war, or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty,
excepting only the islands hereinafter mentioned, shall be
restored without delay, and without causing any destruction or
carrying away any of the artillery or other public property
originally captured in the said forts or places, and which
shall remain therein upon the exchange of the ratifications of
this treaty, or any slaves or other private property. And all
archives, records, deeds, and papers, either of a public
nature or belonging to private persons, which, in the course
of the war, may have fallen into the hands of the officers of
either party, shall be, as far as may be practicable,
forthwith restored and delivered to the proper authorities and
persons to whom they respectively belong. Such of the islands
in the Bay of Passamaquoddy as are claimed by both parties,
shall remain in the possession of the party in whose
occupation they may be at the time of the exchange of the
ratifications of this treaty, until the decision respecting
the title to the said islands shall have been made in
conformity with the fourth article of this treaty. No
disposition made by this treaty as to such possession of the
islands and territories claimed by both parties shall, in any
manner whatever, be construed to affect the right of either.

Article II.
Immediately after the ratification of this treaty by both
parties, as hereinafter mentioned, orders shall be sent to the
armies, squadrons, officers, subjects and citizens of the two
Powers to cease from all hostilities. And to prevent all
causes of complaint which might arise on account of the prizes
which may be taken at sea after the said ratifications of this
treaty, it is reciprocally agreed that all vessels and effects
which may be taken after the space of twelve days from the
said ratifications, upon all parts of the coast of North
America, from the latitude of twenty-three degrees north to
the latitude of fifty degrees north, and as far eastward in
the Atlantic Ocean as the thirty-sixth degree of west
longitude from the meridian of Greenwich, shall be restored on
each side: that the time shall be thirty days in all other
parts of the Atlantic Ocean north of the equinoctial line or
equator, and the same time for the British and Irish Channels,
for the Gulf of Mexico, and all parts of the West Indies;
forty days for the North Seas, for the Baltic, and for all
parts of the Mediterranean; sixty days for the Atlantic Ocean
south of the equator, as far as the latitude of the Cape of
Good Hope; ninety days for every other part of the world south
of the equator; and one hundred and twenty days for all other
parts of the world, without exception.

Article III.
All prisoners of war taken on either side, as well by land as
by sea, shall be restored as soon as practicable after the
ratifications of this treaty, as hereinafter mentioned, on
their paying the debts which they may have contracted during
their captivity. The two contracting parties respectively
engage to discharge, in specie, the advances which may have
been made by the other for the sustenance and maintenance of
such prisoners.

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