For the purpose of promoting harmony of action between Wilkinson and Hampton, as we have observed, and to add efficiency to projected movements, the Secretary of War, accompanied by the adjutant general, Colonel Walbach, established the seat of his department at Sackett’s Harbor [September 5, 1813.]. He, and Wilkinson, and the late venerable General Joseph Gardner Swift (then chief engineer of the Northern Army, and bearing the commission of colonel) 1 held consultations with Governor Tompkins at Albany, who, from the beginning, had employed his best energies for the promotion of the general good, and especially for the defense of his commonwealth against invasion.

When war was declared in June, 1812, zealous supporters of the national administration were governors of New York and Vermont, 2 between which lay important Lake Champlain. These magistrates, sustained by their respective Legislatures, seconded the administration in all its measures. The Legislature of Vermont prohibited all intercourse with Canada except with the permission of the governor, and they adopted measures for calling out the militia of the state when needed. New York was not a whit behind her sister of the Green Mountains in zeal and efficiency.

On the morning of the 20th, just at dawn, Colonel Zebulon M. Pike, with about six hundred men, crossed the La Colle, and surrounded a block-house which had been occupied by a strong picket-guard of Canadians and Indians. These had fled during the previous evening. At about the same time a body of New York militia, who had been detached by another road, approached for the same purpose, and in the dim light of the early morning were mistaken by those at the block-house for enemies. Pike’s men opened fire upon them, and for nearly half an hour a sharp contest was sustained. When they discovered their mistake, they found De Salaberry approaching in force with a strong advance guard, when Lieutenant Ward, 3 of the Twenty-ninth New York Militia, with his company of fifty men, moved slowly upon the enemy, and, after receiving three discharges from them without returning a shot, gave the order to fire and charge. This was promptly obeyed, and the appalled foe, taken completely by surprise, were driven back to the main body. This gallant performance of the lieutenant elicited the highest praise from his superiors. But De Salaberry’s force was too overwhelming to be successfully withstood. To the Americans a retreat was sounded, and they fled so precipitately that they left five of their number dead and five wounded on the field. 4 It was a fruitless expedition, and the army returned to Plattsburg [November 23, 1812.] out of humor and depressed in spirits. Three of the regiments of regulars went into winter quarters at Plattsburg, and three others at Burlington, the former under the command of Colonel Pike, and the latter under Brigadier General Chandler. The light artillery and dragoons returned to Greenbush (opposite Albany), the head-quarters of General Dearborn, and the militia were disbanded.

There were no farther military movements on Lake Champlain of special importance until July, 1813. Naval preparations had been somewhat active under the superintendence of Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough, who, in the fall of 1812, superseded Lieutenant Sidney Smith in the command on Lake Champlain. 5 When war was declared the whole American naval force on the lake consisted of only two gunboats that lay in Basin Harbor on the Vermont shore. 6 Two small sloops and four bateaux were fitted up and armed, each carrying a long eighteen-pounder. The British had two or three gun-boats and armed galleys in the Richelieu, or Sorel River, the outlet of Lake Champlain into the St. Lawrence.

Macdonough was not disheartened by his loss. It stimulated him to greater exertions, and by the 6th of August he had fitted out and armed three sloops and six gun-boats. Meanwhile a British force of soldiers, sailors, and marines, fourteen hundred strong, under Colonel J. Murray, conveyed in two sloops of war, three gun-boats, and forty-seven long boats, had fallen upon Plattsburg [July 31.]. That place was entirely uncovered, there being no regular troops on the west side of the lake. The enemy landed on Saturday afternoon without opposition, and began a work of destruction which lasted until ten o’clock the next day. Major General Hampton was at Burlington, only twenty miles distant, with almost four thousand men, yet he did not attempt to cross the lake, or in any way oppose the inroad of Murray. The latter officer shamefully violated the promises made to the civil authorities of Plattsburg when he entered the village, that private property should be respected, and that non-combatants should remain unmolested. After destroying the block-house, arsenal, armory, and hospital in the town, and the military cantonment (known as Pike’s) near Fredenburg Falls, on the Saranac, two miles above the village, he wantonly burned three private store-houses, and plundered and destroyed private merchandise, furniture, etc., to the amount of several thousand dollars. The value of public property destroyed was estimated at twenty-five thousand dollars. 7

We have already observed the active co-operation of the naval with the land forces in the capture of York 8 and Fort George, 9 and the attempt of Sir James Yeo to seize or destroy the post at Sackett’s Harbor. 10 Intelligence of the fact that the British squadron was out upon the lake reached Chauncey on the 30th of May, while lying in the mouth of the Niagara River. He immediately weighed anchor, crossed over the lake and looked into York, and then ran for Kingston. No foe was to be seen, and he sailed for Sackett’s Harbor, where the embers of the recent conflagration were smouldering. Chauncey felt some doubts of his ability to cope with the heavy vessels of the enemy, and he used every exertion to have the new ship, the General Pike, put afloat. She was a corvette, pierced for twenty-six long twenty-fours. She was launched on the 12th of June, and on the day before, Captain Arthur Sinclair had arrived and was placed in command of her. But it was late in the summer before she was fully equipped and manned, for much valuable material intended for her had been consumed, and men came from the sea-board tardily, a part of whom were sent to the importunate Perry, then anxiously preparing his squadron on Lake Erie to cooperate with General Harrison. Meanwhile the keel of a fast-sailing schooner, afterward named the Sylph, was laid by Eckford at the Harbor; and a small vessel was kept constantly cruising as a scout between the Ducks (a group of islands) and Kingston, to observe the movements of Sir James. On the 16th of June the Lady of the Lake, Lieutenant W. Chauncey, engaged in that service, captured the British schooner Lady Murray, loaded with provisions, shot, and fixed ammunition, and took her into the Harbor. At about this time the British squadron made a cruise westward, and, as we have seen, interfered seriously with vessels bearing supplies for the Americans at Fort George, and destroyed stores at Sodus. 11 Sir James, as we have observed, had looked into Oswego, but thought it prudent not to land. 12

We have alluded to the appearance of Sir James and his squadron off Niagara on the 7th of July, just after Chauncey, with the troops under Colonel Scott, had returned from the second expedition to York. 13 The British squadron was first seen about six miles to the northwest. Chauncey immediately weighed anchor, and endeavored to obtain the weather-gage of his enemy. He had thirteen vessels, but only three of them had been originally built for war purposes. 14 The enemy’s squadron consisted of two ships, two brigs, and two large schooners. These had all been constructed for war, and were very efficient in armament and defensive shields.

Soon after dawn [July 8, 1813.] the British squadron was seen bearing down, as if for action, but when within a league of the Americans it bore away. Again the belligerents commenced manœuvring for advantages. Alternate wind and calm made the service severe, and at length the considerate Chauncey, whose men had been at quarters full thirty-six hours, ran in and anchored at the mouth of the Niagara River. All night the lake was swept by squalls. When, in the morning [July 9.], the enemy was seen at the northward, Chauncey weighed anchor and stood out to meet him. Another day and night were consumed in fruitless manœuvres. At length, at six o’clock on the morning of the 10th, having the weather-gage, Chauncey, with a light wind, formed his fleet in battle order, and a conflict seemed imminent. 15 But varying breezes, and an unwillingness on the part of the enemy to engage, caused another day to be spent in manœuvring. At ten o’clock at night the enemy made chase, and at eleven the Fair American (the sternmost of the schooners) opened fire upon the advancing foe. The enemy continued to draw ahead, and a general action seemed unavoidable. The commanders of the Growler (Lieutenant Deacon) and Julia (Mr. Trant), 16 in the excess of their zeal, took their vessels out of the prescribed line. They became separated from the rest of the fleet, and were captured after a severe but short struggle, with small loss. There was but little fighting elsewhere, and at midnight, the gale increasing, Chauncey determined to run for shelter into the Genesee. He changed his course, however, and went to Sackett’s Harbor, where, after encountering a calm, he arrived with the remains of his fleet on the 13th. On the same day he took in provisions for five weeks and sailed on another cruise, with eight vessels. Off Niagara, on the 16th, he fell in with the enemy, who had the same number of vessels; but, after a cruise of three days more, he returned to the Harbor [July 19, 1813.], where he found the new vessel (the Sylph) launched. Great sickness prevailed in the fleet, and Chauncey lay inactive in the Harbor for some time. 17 On the 28th of August Chauncey put out again upon the lake, but it was not until the 7th of September that he came in sight of the enemy. At dawn of that day the British squadron was seen off the Niagara, and Chauncey, with the Pike, Madison, and Sylph, each with a schooner in tow, made chase. For six days he endeavored to bring his antagonist into action; but Sir James Yeo, following the strict injunctions of his superiors to risk nothing, avoided a contest. The critical situation of Canada at that time made the preservation of a naval force sufficient to protect harbors and keep Chauncey employed, very important.

On the 18th the American squadron sailed for the Niagara for troops to be conveyed to Sackett’s Harbor, and was followed by the enemy. After remaining a few days, Chauncey crossed the lake with the Pike, Madison, and Sylph, each with a schooner in tow, having been informed that the enemy was in York harbor. When he approached, Sir James fled, followed by Chauncey in battle order and with the weather-gage. The baronet was now compelled to fight, or to cease boasting of unsatisfied desires to measure strength with Americans. An action commenced at a little past noon, when the Pike for more than twenty minutes sustained the desperate assaults of the heaviest vessels of the enemy. She was managed admirably, and delivered tremendous broadsides upon her antagonists. She was gallantly assisted a part of the time by the Tompkins, Lieutenant W. C. B. Finch, of the Madison; and when the smoke of battle passed away, the Wolfe (Sir James’s flag-ship) was found to be too seriously injured to sustain a conflict any longer. She had lost her main and mizzen top-masts, and her main yard, besides receiving other injuries, and when discovered she was pushing away dead before the wind, crowded with canvas, and gallantly protected by the Royal George in her flight. A general chase was immediately commenced, and a running fight was maintained for some time. The pursuit was continued toward Burlington Bay for two hours, when Chauncey called off his vessels. No doubt, by pressing sail, and with proper support, he might have captured or destroyed the British squadron, 18 but the wind was increasing, and there was no good harbor or place of shelter on the coast, where, in the event of being driven ashore, capture by land troops would be almost certain. Taking counsel of prudence, Chauncey sailed into the Niagara, and there lay safely during a severe gale that lasted forty-eight hours.

For two days after the gale had subsided the wind blew strongly from the east, when it shifted to the westward [October 2, 1813.]. All the transports with troops had now departed for Sackett’s Harbor, and Chauncey went out again in search of the foe. The weather was thick, and the Lady of the Lake, sent to reconnoitre Burlington Bay, reported that only two gun-boats were to be seen there. Supposing the enemy to have escaped under cover of mist or darkness, Chauncey sailed away eastward, and at sunset of the 5th of October, when near the Ducks, the Pike captured three British transports, Confiance, Hamilton, 19 and Mary. The Sylph captured the Drummond cutter, and the armed transport Lady Gore. These carried from one to three guns each. The whole number of persons found on the five vessels, and made prisoners, including the officers, was two hundred and sixty-four. Among the latter was a lieutenant and two master’s mates of the royal navy, four masters of the provincial marine, and ten army officers. During the remainder of the season Sir James Yeo remained inactive in Kingston harbor, and Commodore Chauncey was employed in watching the movements of the enemy there, and in aiding the army in its descent of the St. Lawrence.

After much discussion at Sackett’s Harbor between the Secretary of War, General Wilkinson, and other officers, it was determined to pass Kingston and make a descent upon Montreal. For weeks the bustle of preparation had been great, and many armed boats and transports had been built at the harbor. Every thing was in readiness by the 4th of October. 20 Yet final orders were not issued until the 12th, when a plan of encampment and order of battle was given to each general officer and corps commander, to be observed when circumstances would permit. Four days more were consumed without any apparent necessity, when, on the 17th, orders were given for the embarkation of all the troops at the harbor destined for the expedition. At the same time, General Hampton, who, as we have seen, had been halting on the banks of the Chateaugay, was ordered to move down to the mouth of that river.

With a reckless disregard of life and property, the troops under Major General Lewis were embarked at the beginning of a dark night, when portents of a storm were hovering over the lake, at a season when sudden and violent gales were likely to arise. They were packed in scows, bateaux, Durham boats, and common lake sailboats, with ordnance, ammunition, hospital stores, baggage, camp equipage, and two months’ provisions. The voyage was among islands and past numerous points of land where soundings and currents were known to few. There was a scarcity of pilots, and the whole flotilla seemed to have been sent out with very little of man’s wisdom to direct it. The wind was favorable at the beginning, but toward midnight, as the clouds thickened and the darkness deepened, it freshened, and before morning became a gale, with rain and sleet. The flotilla was scattered in every direction, and the gloomy dawn [October 17, 1813.] revealed a sad spectacle. The shores of the islands and the main were strewn with wrecks of vessels and property. Fifteen large boats were totally lost, and many more too seriously damaged to be safe. For thirty-six hours the wind blew fiercely, but on the 20th, there having been a comparative calm for more than a day, a large proportion of the troops, with the sound boats, arrived at Grenadier Island. 21 These were chiefly the brigades of Generals Boyd, Brown, Covington, Swartwout, and Porter 22 (the three former had encamped at Henderson Harbor), which had arrived.

The troops remained encamped on Grenadier Island until the 1st of November, except General Brown’s brigade, some light troops, and heavy artillery, which went down the St. Lawrence on the 29th [October, 1813.], and took post at French Creek. In the mean time Hampton, pursuant to Wilkinson’s orders, moved [October 21.] down the Chateaugay toward the St. Lawrence for the purpose of forming a junction with Wilkinson from above. He found a forest ten or twelve miles in extent along the river in the line of his march, in which the vigilant and active De Salaberry had felled trees across the obscure road, and placed Indians and light troops to dispute the passage of the Americans. General George Izard was at once sent out with light troops to gain the rear of these woods, and seize the Canadian settlements on the Chateaugay in the open country beyond, while the remainder of the army made a circuit in an opposite direction, and avoided the obstructed forest altogether. The movement was successful, and on the following day [October 22.] a greater portion of the army encamped at Spear’s, near the confluence of the Outard Creek and the Chateaugay River. 23 It was an eligible position, and there Hampton remained until the stores and artillery came up on the 24th.

Immediately in front of the army at Spear’s was an open country, seven miles along the river, to Johnson’s, 24 where another extensive forest lay in the way. These woods had been formed into abatis, covering log breastworks and a log block-house. On the latter were some pieces of ordnance. In front of these defenses were Indians and a light corps of Beauharnais militia, and behind them, under the immediate command of Lieutenant Colonel De Salaberry, was the remainder of the disposable force of the enemy, charged with the duty of guarding a ford at a small rapid in the river, and keeping open communication with the St. Lawrence. De Salaberry’s force was almost a thousand strong, and Sir George Prevost and General De Wattville were within bugle call with more troops.

Hampton determined to dislodge De Salaberry, take possession of his really stronghold, and keep it until he should hear from Wilkinson, from whom no tidings had been received for several days. He was informed of the ford opposite the lower flank of the enemy, and on the evening of the 25th he detached Colonel Robert Purdy, of the Fourth Infantry, and the light troops of Boyd’s brigade, to force the ford, and fall upon the British rear at dawn. The crack of Purdy’s musketry was to be the signal for the main body of the Americans to attack the enemy’s front. But the whole movement was foiled by the ignorance of the guides and the darkness of the night. Purdy crossed the river near the camp, lost his way in a hemlock swamp, and could neither find the ford nor the place from which he started. His troops wandered about all night, and different corps would sometimes meet, and excite mutual alarm by the supposition that they had encountered an enemy. 25 In the morning Purdy extricated his command from the swamp labyrinth, and, within half a mile of the ford, halted and gave them permission to rest, for they were excessively fatigued. In the mean time Hampton put three thousand five hundred of his army in motion, under General Izard, expecting every moment to hear Purdy’s guns; but they were silent. The forenoon wore away; meridian was past; and at two o’clock Izard was ordered to move forward to the attack. Firing immediately commenced, and the enemy’s pickets were driven in. The gallant De Salaberry came out with about three hundred Canadian fencibles and voltigeurs, and a few Abenake Indians, but Izard’s overwhelming numbers pressed him back to his intrenchments.

Hampton was alarmed. From the seeming extent of the British line as indicated by the buglers, he supposed a heavy force was about to fall upon his front and flank. He immediately sounded a retreat, and withdrew from the field. The enemy in a body did not venture to follow, but the Canadian militia 26 harassed the army as it fell slowly back to its old quarters at Chateaugay Four Corners, where its inglorious campaign ended. The whole affair was a disgrace to the American arms, and, as one of the surviving actors in the scenes (now a distinguished major general in the United States Army) has said, "no officer who had any regard for his reputation would voluntarily acknowledge himself as having been engaged in it." 27 In this affair, which has been unwarrantably dignified with the character of a battle, the Americans lost about fifteen killed and twenty-three wounded. The British lost five killed, sixteen wounded, and four missing. 28

Troops were coming down from Grenadier Island in the mean time, and landing upon the point on which Clayton 29 now stands, and along the shore of French Creek as far as the lumber and rafting yard on what is still known as Wilkinson’s Point. Wilkinson arrived there on the 3d, and on the 4th [November, 1813.] he issued a general order preparatory to final embarkation, in which he exhorted his troops to sustain well the character of American citizens, and abstain from rapine and plunder. "The general is determined," he said, "to have the first person who shall be detected in plundering an inhabitant of Canada of the smallest amount of property made an example of." 30

MOUTH OF FRENCH CREEK. 31

On the morning of the 5th, a clear, bright, crisp morning, just at dawn, the whole flotilla, comprising almost three hundred boats, moved down the river from French Creek with banners furled and music silent, for they wished to elude discovery by the British, who, until now, were uncertain whether the expedition was intended for Kingston, Prescott, or Montreal. 32 The vigilant foe had immediately discovered their course, and, with a heavy armed galley and gun-boats filled with troops, started in pursuit. The flotilla arrived at Morristown early in the evening. It had been annoyed by the enemy all the way. Several times Wilkinson was disposed to turn upon them; and at one time, near Bald Island, about two miles below Alexandria Bay, he was compelled to engage, for the enemy’s gun-boats shot out of the British channel on the north, and attacked his rear. They were beaten off and Wilkinson determined to run by the formidable batteries at Prescott during the night. It was found to be impracticable, and his boats lay moored at Morristown until morning. A corps of land troops from Kingston had also followed Wilkinson along the northern shore of the river, and arrived at Prescott before the American flotilla reached Ogdensburg.

BALD ISLAND AND WILKINSON’S FLOTILLA. 33

For the purpose of avoiding Fort Wellington and the other fortifications at Prescott, Wilkinson halted three miles above Ogdensburg, where he debarked his ammunition and all of his troops [November 6.], except a sufficient number to man the boats. These were to be conveyed by land to the "Red Mill," four miles below Ogdensburg, on the American shore, and the boats were to run by the batteries that night. At the place of debarkation he issued a proclamation to the Canadians, intended to make them passive; 34 and there, at noon, he was visited by Colonel King, Hampton’s adjutant general. By him he sent orders to Hampton to press forward to the St. Lawrence, to form a junction with the descending army at St. Regis.

By the skillful management of General Brown, the whole flotilla passed Prescott safely on the night of the 6th, with the exception of two large boats heavily laden with provisions, artillery, and ordnance stores, 35 which ran aground at Ogdensburg. They were taken off under a severe cannonading from Fort Wellington, and soon joined the others [November 7, 1813.] at the "Red Mill." Wilkinson was now informed that the Canada shore of the river was lined with posts of musketry and artillery at every eligible point, to dispute the passage of the flotilla. To meet and remove these impediments, Colonel Alexander Macomb was detached, with twelve hundred of the élite of the army, and on Sunday, the 7th, landed on the Canada shore. He was soon followed by Lieutenant Colonel Forsyth and his riflemen, who did excellent service in the rear of Macomb.

The flotilla arrived at the "White House," opposite Matilda, 36 about eighteen miles below Ogdensburg, on the 8th, and there Wilkinson called a council of his officers, consisting of Generals Lewis, Boyd, Brown, Porter, Covington, and Swartwout. After hearing a report from the active chief engineer, Colonel Swift, concerning the reported strength of the enemy, 37 the question, Shall the army proceed with all possible rapidity to the attack of Montreal? was considered, and answered in the affirmative. General Brown was at once ordered to cross the river with his brigade and the dragoons, for the purpose of marching down the Canada side of the river in connection with Colonel Macomb, and the remainder of the day and night was consumed in the transportation. 38 Meanwhile Wilkinson was informed that a British re-enforcement, full one thousand strong, had been sent down from Kingston to Prescott, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Morrison. They had come in the armed schooners Beresford and Sidney Smith, and several gun-boats and bateaux under Captain Mulcaster, which had eluded Chauncey’s inefficient blockading squadron. They were joined at Prescott by provincial infantry and dragoons under Lieutenant Colonel Pearson, and on the morning of the 9th they were close upon Wilkinson with the vessels in which they came down the river, and a large portion of the land troops were debarked near Matilda for the purpose of pursuing the Americans. General Boyd and his brigade were now detached to re-enforce Brown, with orders to cover his march, to attack the pursuing enemy if necessary, and to co-operate with the other commanders.

At ten o’clock in the morning of the 11th Wilkinson received a dispatch from Brown, addressed from " five miles above Cornwall," announcing his success in his attack upon the British post at the foot of the rapids, informing him of the wounding of Lieutenant Colonel Forsyth and one of his men, and urging him to come forward with the boats and supplies as quickly as possible, because his wearied troops were "without covering in the rain." This dispatch found Wilkinson extremely ill, and his reply, in which he told Brown of the presence of the enemy upon his rear, and his apprehensions that he intended to pass him with his gun-boats and strengthen the British force below, was addressed "From my bed." "It is now," he said, "that I feel the heavy hand of disease – enfeebled and confined to my bed while the safety of the army intrusted to my command, the honor of our armies, and the greatest interests of our country are at hazard." 40

CHRYSLER’S IN 1855. 41

Swartwout, on a large brown horse, dashed gallantly into woods of second growth, followed by the Twenty-first Regiment, commanded by Colonel E. W. Ripley, and with them drove the light troops of the enemy back upon their main line in open fields on Chrysler’s farm, below his house. 42 That line was well posted, its right resting on the St. Lawrence, and covered by Mulcaster’s gun-boats, and the left on a black-oak swamp, supported by Indians and gathering militia, under Colonel Thomas Fraser. They were advantageously formed back of ravines that intersected the extensive plain and rendered the advance of the American artillery almost impossible, and a heavy rail-fence. 43

Swartwout’s sudden and successful dash was quickly followed by an attack on the enemy’s left by the whole of the fourth brigade, and a part of the first, under Colonel Coles, who advanced across plowed fields, knee-deep in mud, in the face of a heavy shower of bullets and shrapnel-shells. 44 At the same time General Covington, mounted on a fine white horse, gallantly led the third brigade against the enemy’s left, near the river, and the battle became general. By charge after charge, in the midst of difficulties, the British were pushed back almost a mile, and the American cannon, placed in fair position by General Boyd, under the direction of Colonel Swift, did excellent execution for a few minutes. The squadron of the Second Regiment of Dragoons was early on the field, and much exposed to the enemy’s fire, but, owing to the nature of the ground, was unable to accomplish much. At length Covington fell, severely wounded, 45 and the ammunition of the Americans began to fail. It was soon exhausted, and the fourth brigade, hard pushed, fell back, followed by Colonel J. A. Coles. This retrograde movement affected the third brigade, and it too fell back, in considerable disorder.

The British perceived this, and followed up the advantage gained with great vigor, and were endeavoring by a flank movement to capture Boyd’s cannon, when a gallant charge of cavalry, led by Adjutant General Walbach, who had obtained Armstrong’s permission to accompany the expedition, drove them back and saved the pieces. The effort was renewed. Lieutenant Smith, who commanded one of the cannon, was mortally wounded, and it fell into the enemy’s hands. 46

The conflict had lasted about five hours, in the midst of cold, and snow, and sleet, when the Americans were compelled to fall back. During that time victory had swayed, like a pendulum, between the combatants, and would doubtless have rested with the Americans had their ammunition held out. Their retreat was promising to be a rout, when the flying troops were met by six hundred men under Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Upham, 47 of the Twenty-first Regiment of Infantry, and Major Malcolm, whom Wilkinson had sent up to the support of Boyd. These checked the disorderly flight, and, taking position on the ground from which Boyd’s force had been driven, they gallantly attacked the enemy, seized the principal ravine, and, with a severe fire at short musket range, drove the British back and saved the day. 48 Meanwhile Boyd had reformed his line in battle order on the edge of the wood from which Swartwout drove the foe at the beginning, and there awaited another attack. It was not made. Both parties seemed willing to make the excuse of oncoming darkness a warrant for suspending farther fighting. The Americans, under cover of night, retired unmolested to their boats, and the British remained upon the field. Neither party had gained a victory, but the advantage was with the British. 49

On the morning after the battle the flotilla and gun-boats passed safely down the Long Rapids without discovering any signs of an enemy, and at the same time the land troops marched in the same direction unmolested. At Barnhart’s, three miles above Cornwall, they formed a junction with the forces under General Brown, and Wilkinson expected to hear of the arrival of Hampton at St. Regis, on the opposite shore of the St. Lawrence. But he was disappointed. General Brown had written to Hampton the day before informing him of rumors of a battle above, and saying, "My own opinion is, you can not be with us too soon," and begging him to inform the writer by the bearer when he might be expected at St. Regis. 50 Soon after Wilkinson’s arrival, Colonel Atkinson, Hampton’s inspector general, appeared as the bearer of a letter from his chief, dated the 11th, in which the commander of the left of the grand army of the North, who had fallen back to Chateaugay Four Corners, declared his intention not to join Wilkinson at all, but to co-operate in the attack on Montreal by returning to Champlain and making a descent from that place. 51 Wilkinson was enraged, and declared that he would "arrest Hampton, and direct Izard to bring forward the division." He was too feeble in mind and body to execute his threat, or do any thing that required energy; and, after uttering a few curses, he called a council of war, and left Hampton to do as he pleased. That council decided that the "conduct of Major General Hampton, in refusing to join his division to the troops descending the St. Lawrence, rendered it expedient to remove the army to French Mills, on the Salmon River." 52 "The opinion of the younger members of the council was," says General Swift, "that, with Brown as a leader, no character would be lost in going on to Montreal; 53 but the majority said no, and on the following day [November 13, 1813.], at noon, when information came that there was a considerable British force at Coteau du Lac, the foot soldiers and artillerymen were all embarked on the transports, under the direction of General Brown, and departed for the Salmon. 54 The horses of the dragoons, excepting about forty, were made to swim across the cold and rapidly-flowing river, there a thousand yards wide, and the squadron proceeded to Utica.

PLACE OF DEBARKATION ON THE SALMON RIVER. 55

The flotilla passed up the Big Salmon River about six miles to its confluence with the Little Salmon, near the French Mills, when it was announced that the boats were scuttled, and the army was to go into winter quarters in huts. 56 Thus ended in disaster and disgrace an expedition which, in its inception, promised great and salutary results. It was composed of brave and patriotic men; and justice to those men requires the humiliating confession from the historian that their failure to achieve complete success is justly chargeable to the incompetency of the chief commanders, and the criminal indulgence on the part of those commanders of personal jealousies and animosities. The appointment of Wilkinson to the command of the Northern Army was a criminal blunder on the part of the government. His antecedents were well known, and did not recommend him for a responsible position. The weakness of his patriotism under temptation, and his too free indulgence in intoxicating liquors, were notorious. Hampton was totally unfitted for the responsible station in which he was placed; 57 and Armstrong, who was a fellow-soldier with them both in the old War for Independence, lacked some of the qualities most essential in the administration of the extraordinary functions of his office in time of war. His presence on the frontier during the progress of the expedition was doubtless detrimental to the service, and he left for the seat of government at a moment when the counsel and direction of a judicious Secretary of War was most needed. 58

On arriving at Salmon River the army was immediately debarked on the frozen shores, and set to work in the construction of huts for winter quarters. Their first labor was the sad task of digging a grave for the remains of General Covington. He was shot through the body on the 11th, and died at Barnhart’s on the morning of the 13th, just before the flotilla departed for French Mills. 59 Wilkinson at once left for Malone, after transferring the command of the army to General Lewis [November 16, 1813.], who, with General Boyd, made his head-quarters at a long, low building, yet standing in 1860, a dingy red in color, on the left bank of the Salmon, near the present lower bridge over the river at French Mills or Fort Covington. 60

Hampton, in the mean time, had retired to Plattsburg with his four thousand men. By special orders, sent from Malone by the hand of Colonel Swift (when on his way to Washington with dispatches), 61 Wilkinson directed Hampton to join the army at French Mills. This, like other orders, were utterly disregarded by Hampton. He had accomplished the defeat of efforts to take Canada, 62 and, leaving General Izard, of South Carolina, in command, he abandoned the service, and returned to his immense sugar plantations in Louisiana, 63 followed by the contempt of all virtuous and patriotic men.

General Brown at once adopted measures for making the troops as comfortable as possible. Huts were constructed, but this was a work of much labor, and consumed several weeks. Meanwhile severe winter weather came. They were on the forty-fifth parallel, and at the beginning of December the cold became intense. Most of the soldiers had lost their blankets and extra clothing in the disasters near Grenadier Island, or in the battle on Chrysler’s Field. Even the sick had no shelter but tents. The country in the vicinity was a wilderness, and provisions were not only scarce, but of inferior quality. A great quantity of medicines and hospital stores had been lost through mismanagement, and these could not be procured short of Albany, a distance of two hundred and fifty miles. The mortality among the sick became frightful, and disease prostrated nearly one half of the little army before they were fairly housed in well-regulated cantonments. 64 Taking advantage of this distress, British emissaries tried, by the circulation of written and printed placards, to seduce the suffering soldiers from their allegiance. One of these written placards (see a fac-simile on the next page), found one morning upon a tree in one of the American camps, and presented to me by Colonel Carr, reads thus:

I visited the theatre of the scenes described in this chapter partly in the year 1855, and partly in 1860. In the evening of Monday, the 23d of July, in the latter year, I journeyed with a friend, as already mentioned on page 619, from Watertown to Cape Vincent 65 by railway, and lodged in an inn connected with the road station there, standing on the margin of the St. Lawrence. It was a chilly night. The next morning was clear and blustering, and the surface of the river was dotted with the white caps of the waves. After an early breakfast we started for Carleton Island, three miles down the St. Lawrence, in a skiff rowed by a son of the proprietor of the hotel.

REMAINS OF FORT CARLETON. 66

As we approached the rocky bluff at the head of the island we observed several chimneys standing alone (built of stone, some perfect, some half in ruins), which mark the remains of strong and somewhat extensive fortifications erected there by both the French and English during the last century, that post being a key to the internavigation of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. We moored our boat in a small sheltered creek by which the head of the island is made a pleasant peninsula of eight or ten acres. On this stand the residences of Mr. Charles Pluche, an intelligent French Canadian (who owns five hundred acres of the western end of the island), 67 and of his brother. That creek separates the peninsula from the higher bluff on which the ruins of Fort Carleton are seen. Mr. Pluche kindly accompanied us to these ruins and other interesting places near, and, but for the increasing violence of the wind, which became almost a gale at noon, our visit would have been one of unmixed satisfaction.

The ruins of Fort Carleton are upon the most elevated portion of the island, and from the ramparts may be viewed some of the most picturesque scenery of the famous Thousand Islands and the New York shore. At what precise time fortifications were first erected there is not positively known. The English found it quite a strongly fortified post at the time of the conquest of Canada, at a little past the middle of the last century, and, perceiving its value in a military point of view (for it commands the main channel of the St. Lawrence), they greatly strengthened it. 68 They occupied it until 1812. On the declaration of war that year most of the barracks to which the now standing chimneys belonged were in good order, and before Cape Vincent was settled two or three families resided on the island. A garrison, composed of a sergeant and three invalid soldiers, and two women, occupied the fort when the war broke out. As soon as intelligence of the declaration reached the frontier, Captain Abner Hubbard, of Hubbard’s (now Millen’s) Bay, a soldier of the Revolution, started in a boat, with a man and boy, to capture Fort Carleton. He succeeded, and this was the first seizure of a military post after the declaration of war. He sent a boat on the following day to bring away the stores, and soon afterward the barracks were burned. Nine bare chimneys have stood there ever since, gray and solitary tokens of change. There were about twenty originally within the fort, some of which are in ruins. There were also chimneys on the little peninsula near Mr. Pluche’s house, and along the shore northward, where, on a fine grassy point, vestiges of the gardens that were attached to the officers’ quarters may yet be seen. The moat that surrounded the fort was dug in the rock, and so was the well in the northwestern portion of the works.

A little northward of the fort was the garrison cemetery; and beyond this, a fourth of a mile from the ramparts, is an ancient Indian burial-ground, in a grove of small trees on the verge of the river. In a grave that was opened there in the spring of 1860 was found the skeleton of a chief, bearing evidence that the body was first wrapped in the hide of a buffalo, then swathed in birch-bark, and next deposited in a board coffin. With the skeleton was found a silver gorget, on which was engraved a running deer; also a fine silver armlet (now in possession of the writer) bearing the royal arms of England, 69 silver ear-rings, and other trinkets. Near this burial-ground was found, the year before, a silver medal given by the British government to Colonel John Butler. It is known that Butler and Sir John Johnson encamped, with the Indians from the Mohawk Valley, on Carleton Island in 1775, when on their way to join the British at Montreal. The medal was doubtless lost there at that time, and the chief who bore the armlet and gorget was probably one of the expedition, who perished there.

We lodged at Cape Vincent that night, and at five o’clock the next morning departed in a lake steamer for Clayton (French Creek), sixteen miles below, where we landed, and breakfasted at the "Walton House," kept by a son of William Johnston, known among his British contemporaries in 1838 as "the Pirate of the Thousand Islands." There we were informed that the hero of many a romantic legend of the frontier was still living, in the light-house of which he was keeper, on a solitary island a few rods in circumference, five miles below, where, in company with two young ladies – traveling companions – I had visited him two years before. Hiring a boat, and a good fisherman as oarsman, we set out after breakfast to visit Mr. Johnston, prepared with fishing tackle to indulge in sport on the way. We trolled faithfully, but only a solitary pickerel of moderate size rewarded our watchfulness of the lines. Our dreams of mighty masquelonges, forty pounds in weight, which some young ladies, they say, sometimes "hook," were dispelled; but the kindly oarsman came to the assistance of our humbled pride as sportsmen with the pleasant suggestion that the late storm of wind had so roiled the water that "nobody couldn’t do nothin’ at fishin’ when the creeturs couldn’t see the spoon." And we were no more successful in catching a hero. Silence reigned on Rock Island. 70 Not a living thing was seen. Johnston lived there entirely alone, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was now absent, and the island was deserted. 71

After making a sketch of the light-house and its locality, we left in disappointment, and again trolled unsuccessfully as we floated down the current about two miles to Peel Island, the scene of Johnston’s exploit which caused him to be declared an outlaw by his own government, and gave him the name of "Pirate." This exploit was the destruction of the British mail steamer Sir Robert Peel at this place on the night of the 29th and 30th of May, 1838, by Johnston and some disguised associates, who were engaged with the Canadians in their armed resistance to government. The immediate object of the assailants appears to have been the capture, and not the destruction of the steamer, and with her aid to seize, on the following day, the steamer Great Britain, and convert the two into cruisers on the lake. Johnston had but thirteen men with him, but was promised that two hundred should be within call on the shore of the neighboring main. They were not there. He had not sufficient men to manage the powerful steamer, and, toward morning, he committed her to the flames. She was seized at Ripley’s dock, on Wells’s Island, taken into the stream, set on fire, and floated down and lodged against a small island near (represented in the sketch on the preceding page), which has since been known as Peel Island. 72

We returned to Clayton, and there found "Commodore" Johnston, a hale man, full of spirit, but suffering some from recent illness. I spent two hours pleasantly and profitably with him and his courageous daughter, listening to narratives of the stirring scenes in which they had been engaged twenty-two years before, and of which I have given a meagre outline in note 1, page 662. The "Heroine of the Thousand Islands" was now Mrs. Hawes, an intelligent and interesting woman, and mother of several children. Mr. Johnston is a man of medium size, compactly built, and full of pluck. His life-history was a stirring one previous to the "Patriot War." During the War of 1812 he was employed by Chauncey and Wilkinson in active service on the frontier waters; and he gave the British, whom he cordially disliked, a great deal of trouble. He was a native of Canada. 73 On the breaking out of the war he was residing at Bath, above Kingston, and conveyed some Americans across the lake to Sackett’s Harbor in a large bark canoe. Not being satisfied with the militia service, in which he had been engaged, he remained on the American side, and from that time until the close of the war was engaged in the secret service on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, with a permit to capture all British public property that he might find afloat. His vessel was a gig, or light, swift boat, called the Ridgeley, and his companions were a corporal and five armed seamen. With these he captured bateaux and stores; with these he conveyed Wilkinson down the St. Lawrence, beyond the Longue Sault; 74 and with these he bore the body of the gallant Covington from Barnhart’s to the French Mills. 75 On one occasion he captured the Canadian dispatch mail on its way from Governor Prevost at Montreal to the lieutenant governor at Toronto, which, on delivery to Chauncey, was found to contain information of great value to the American commander. On another occasion he was out in Chauncey’s boat, and was wrecked on the Canada shore in a storm. The boat was a ruin. They were discovered. Johnston was identified, and a body of militia and Indians were sent out from Kingston (where he had been hung in effigy) to arrest him. He directed his men not to avoid capture, but to affirm that they had been sent out for deserters, and were returning home when struck by the storm. Their story was believed, and within a week they were sent home on parole. Johnston meanwhile concealed himself in a huge hollow stump, in a field of oats, for several days, and it was three weeks before he found a way to return to Sackett’s harbor.

There was a crowd of visitors at the "Walton House," for it is a favorite place of summer resort for those who love good fishing, boating, and the most picturesque scenery of the Thousand Islands. The St. Lawrence, filled with these islands, is there about nine miles wide. During an afternoon I visited the place of Brown’s encampment when attacked by the British, 76 and made the sketch on page 649. Toward sunset the quiet of the little village was disturbed, and the faces of all the inhabitants were turned skyward to observe the passage over them of a man in a balloon, a thousand feet in the air, who had ascended from Kingston, and, as we were informed next day, descended far toward the Sorel, the outlet of Lake Champlain. On the following morning I went down the St. Lawrence to Ogdensburg, and made the visits there and in the vicinity recorded in Chapter XXVIII. On Friday, the 27th, I breakfasted at Malone, 77 and after a brief interview with Sidney W. Gillett, Esq., whose elegant new mansion stood fronting on Main Street in that village, on the site of the arsenal established there in 1812, I rode out to Fort Covington (French Mills), about fourteen miles northward, in a light wagon drawn by a span of fleet black ponies.

FRENCH MILLS IN 1860. 78

The Honorable James Campbell, who was an ensign, and was stationed at French Mills and vicinity during a greater portion of the war, in the service of the Quartermaster’s and Commissary Departments, was yet living, and residing with his daughter at Fort Covington. I had been at his house, on the road between Massena Springs and St. Regis, a few years before; and I found him now, as then, able to say that he had never been sick in his life, though almost fourscore years of age. His mental vigor seemed perfect, and his memory of events in his experience was vivid. He was stationed at French Mills early in the war, in charge of rations, which were served regularly to the St. Regis Indians in order to keep them quiet. 79 He was assistant store-keeper, and when Wilkinson left there he was placed in charge of all the provisions of the army. He continued in that service until its departure in February, 1814.

Judge Campbell kindly accompanied me to places of interest about Fort Covington, namely, the original mill; 80 the head-quarters of Boyd and Brown; 81 the place of debarkation, where the gun-boats were destroyed; 82 the site of the respective cantonments of the army; and of the blockhouse on the M‘Crea property, 83 whose well, contained within the building, was yet standing.

While on the lower bridge over the Salmon, sketching the picture of the Mills on the opposite page, an old gentleman approached, and was introduced to me by Judge Campbell. He was Colonel Ezra Stiles, the deputy collector of the port at Fort Covington, 84 who enlisted in the Eleventh Regiment in December, 1812, when a little more than fourteen years of age. He was with Hampton in the affair at Chateaugay, and was with General Brown in all of his military operations on the Niagara frontier during the remainder of the war. He left the service when the army was disbanded in 1815.

In the summer of 1855 I spent a short time at Massena Sulphur Springs, on the Racquette River, seven miles by road from the St. Lawrence. While sojourning there I visited St. Regis, as already mentioned, and, on leaving, crossed the St. Lawrence from Lewisville, at the head of the Longue Sault, for the purpose of visiting the battle-field on Chrysler’s Farm. It was a warm and pleasant day late in August [August 22, 1855.], and a friend accompanied me. At Lewisville we hired a water-man, who engaged to take us safely across the swift and, in some places, turbulent stream, there divided by two or three islands. We shot obliquely across and down the first channel, rounded the lower cape of an island, went up its farther shore in an eddying current, and in a similar manner shot across to another island. In this zigzag way we made the really perilous passage of the rapids to the village of Chrysler, where we lunched on apple-pie, cheese, and cold water, and hired a conveyance to the battle-ground and Williamsburg beyond.

We were kindly welcomed at the Chrysler mansion, delineated on page 652, by Mr. James Croile, the proprietor, who pointed out the various localities of the battle, and accompanied us to the house of his nearest neighbor, Peter Brouse, who was a soldier in the Dundas militia, and participated in the fight. Mr. Brouse related with much self-satisfaction the exploits of the British on that day, and, with much genuine pride, exhibited a small silver medal, suspended by a ribbon, which he had lately received. These had been presented to the surviving soldiers of that and other battles, from 1793 to 1814, by the British queen as a sort of "Legion of Honor."

One of Chrysler’s barns, pierced and battered by bullets, was yet standing, and appears the larger (though the most remote) in the group of outbuildings in the picture on page 652. In the orchard, between the mansion and the river, may be seen the burial-places of the killed in the battle.

4 MS. Journal of Colonel Robert Carr. Christie’s History of the War in the Canadas, page 90. Robert Carr, whose journal is here cited, was born in Ireland on the 29th of January, 1778. He came to America at the age of six years, and settled, with his father, in Philadelphia. They lived next door to Dr. Franklin, and he was often employed by that great man as an errand-boy. He learned the art of printing with Benjamin Franklin Bache, a grandson of Dr. Franklin, with whom he commenced his apprenticeship in 1792. He rose to the head of his profession, and in 1804 received a first premium as the best printer in Philadelphia. He printed Wilson’s Ornithology from manuscript; also Rees’s Cyclopedia. In March, 1812, he received the commission of major in the Sixteenth Regiment of Infantry, and in August, 1813, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the Ninth, from which he was transferred to the Fifteenth. He was disbanded in 1815, and for several years he was the last surviving field-officer of the army of 1812 in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware. He was a member of the M‘Pherson Blues of Philadelphia, and one of the firing party on the occasion of the Congressional funeral of Washington in that city. See note 4, page 110.

8 See page 587.

9 See page 598.

10 See page 609.

11 See page 605.

12 See page 606.

13 See page 628.

19 The Confiance and Hamilton were the Growler and Julia, captured from the Americans on the night of the 10th of August. Their names had been changed by the captors.

33 This is from a sketch by Captain Van Cleve (see note 1, page 517), who kindly allowed me the use of it. Bald Island is one of the Thousand Islands, and lies on the left of the American or steam-boat channel of the river. It is mostly bare, and rises to the height of about thirty or forty feet above the water in the centre. At some distance beyond it, northward, is the British channel. The gun-boats that attacked Wilkinson’s flotilla came out at the lower end of Bald Island, through a lateral channel in which the sail-vessel lies.

According to the statement of Captain Mordecai Myers, already referred to (note 1, page 646), there were traitors in Ogdensburg. He says that the British at Prescott were apprised of the approach of the flotilla by the burning of blue lights in one or more houses In Ogdensburg.

41 This is a view of Chrysler’s house and the outbuildings as they appeared when I visited the spot in August, 1855, a circumstance {original text has "cirumstance".} to be noticed presently. The house fronted the St. Lawrence. The road, in which the oxen and cart are seen, is the fine highway along the river from Cornwall to Prescott.

45 Covington was killed a short distance from Chrysler’s barn (see picture on page 652), which was yet standing, well bored by bullets, when I visited the battle-ground in 1855. The British fired from that barn, and it is believed that a bullet from it was the one fatal to the general. The place where he fell was on the site of a nursery of thrifty trees in 1855.

55 This is a view of the place where Wilkinson’s flotilla was moored. The boats were soon frozen in the ice, and in February, apprehensions being felt of their capture by the enemy, they were cut and burnt down even with the surface of the ice, and sunk when it melted in the spring.

57 See page 630.

58 On the 24th of November, General Brown, then in command of the army at French Mills, wrote, with considerable feeling to the Secretary of War, saying, "You have learned that the grand army of the United States, after marching and countermarching most ingloriously, arrived at this place on the 13th instant. I must not express to you my indignation and sorrow. I did not expect you would have left us." In the same letter he said, "Colonel Scott will hand you this, and can give you all the information you wish relative to our movements since he joined us [see page 632], and the present situation of our army. The public interest would be promoted by the advancement of such men as Scott." – MS. Letter-book.

59 Leonard Covington was a brave soldier. He was a native of Maryland, and born in October, 1768. In 1792 he was a cornet of cavalry, and was distinguished for bravery under Wayne in the defense of Fort Recovery (see page 52) in June, 1794. He was in the battle at the Maumee Rapids in August following, where Wayne achieved a victory over the Indians. At the time of the first engagement he held the commission of lieutenant; in the last he was captain. He resigned in 1795. From 1806 to 1807 he represented a district of his native state in the National Congress. In 1809 he was commissioned colonel of light dragoons, and in August, 1813, was breveted brigadier general. He accompanied Wilkinson in his unfortunate expedition that ended at the French Mills. At the time of his death, on the 13th of November, 1813, he was about forty-five years of age.

60 There was a block-house at French Mills situated on the property, owned, when I visited there in 1860, by Mr. M‘Crea. General Covington’s body was buried just outside of the block-house, in the present garden of Mr. M‘Crea. There also was buried the remains of Major John Johnson, of the Twenty-first Infantry, * who died at the station on the 11th of December, 1813. The block-house was named Fort Covington in honor of the slain general, and the village that grew up around the French Mills was also called Fort Covington. The place was first settled by a few French Canadians, who built mills there, and from this circumstance it was called French Mills until after the war.

66 This view is from the N. N. E. point of the fort, and shows eight of the nine chimneys yet standing. On the extreme right, beyond the little vessel, is seen Cape Vincent.

Johnston was now placed in peril between the officers of the two governments, and for several months he was a refugee, hiding among the Thousand Islands, and receiving food at night from his daughter, a beautiful girl eighteen years of age, small in stature and delicate in appearance, who handled oars with skill, and who, in a light boat, sought his hiding-places under cover of darkness. She was often watched and followed by persons in the interest of the United States government, but her thorough knowledge of the islands and skill in rowing allowed her to elude them. Finally Johnston joined in the expedition to Prescott, to "keep out of the way of both parties," he said. After the defeat of the insurgents at Windmill Point [see page 583], he was seen publicly in the streets of Ogdensburg, where he had many sympathizers, and was not arrested. He saw that all was lost, and, weary of hiding, he resolved to give himself up to the authorities of the United States, and cast himself upon the clemency of his country. He made an arrangement with his son John to arrest him and receive the $500 reward. On the 17th of November (1838) he left Ogdensburg in a boat, with his son, when Deputy Marshal M‘Culloch pursued him in a boat over which floated the revenue flag. Johnston was overtaken about two miles above Ogdensburg. He was armed with a Cochran rifle, two large rifle-pistols, and a bowie-knife. He agreed to surrender on condition that he should give up his arms to his son. He was then conducted back to the village, and delivered into the custody of Colonel (late Major General) Worth. He was taken to Syracuse, tried before Judge Conklin on a charge of violating the neutrality laws of the United States, and acquitted. He was again arrested, and escaped, when a reward of $200 was offered for his arrest. He gave himself up at Albany, and, after lying three months in jail, was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment, and a fine of $250. His faithful daughter, who had acquired the just title of the "Heroine of the Thousand Islands," hastened to Albany, and shared prison life with her father. After being there six months, with his faithful child at his side, he found means, by making a key of some zinc furnished him by a friend, to escape. The plan was made known to his daughter, who left the prison, and waited for him at Rome. One evening, at eight o’clock, he left the jail, and before daylight had walked forty miles toward Rome. When he arrived there, finally, at the house of a friend, he was dreadfully exhausted. He went home, and was unmolested; but the "Patriots" were determined to drive him into active service, and he received a commission creating him commander-in-chief of all the naval forces in "Patriot service" on the lakes. * This position had been accorded to him by common consent the year before. But he had seen enough of that kind of service, and he declined the office. A year or more afterward, when the agitation on the frontier had pretty much ceased, a petition for his pardon was numerously signed. He took it to Washington himself, and, just at the close of Mr. Van Buren’s administration in March, 1841, presented it to the President. "Mr. Van Buren," he said, "scolded me for presuming to come there with such a petition; but I waited ten days, presented it to President Harrison, and he pardoned me."

* Johnston’s commission as commodore is before me, printed and written on thin paper. On the margin of it, occupying nearly one half of the space, is a rough engraving, a copy of which is given on the opposite page, reduced to half the size. Above this design (in which the American eagle is seen bearing off the British lion, whose crown has fallen, a maple leaf, symbolic of Canada, and two stars representing the two provinces) were little pictures of the arms of the State of New York, and below two others representing an eagle on its nest arranging ears of wheat. The commission runs thus:

74 See page 651. Johnston was well acquainted with Chrysler, and tried to get the army below his residence, that it might not suffer during the engagement that seemed inevitable. During the battle of Chrysler’s Field or Farm, Johnston carried powder from the boats to the dragoons, who delivered it to those in the fight. It is well known that General Wilkinson indulged too freely in spirituous liquors. Johnston assured me that, at the time of the battle of Chrysler’s Field, the commander-in-chief was so intoxicated ("indisposed," as charity phrases it) that he could not leave his boat.

75 See page 656.

76 See page 648.

79 See page 375.

80 See picture on page 664.

81 See pictures on page 656.

82 See page 655.

83 See note 2, page 656.

NEXT - HOME

Please provide me with any feedback you may have concerning errors in the transcription or any supplementary information concerning the contents. [email protected]