CH. VIII.] EXPEDITIONS UNDER GENERAL HOPKINS. The army under General Hopkins reached Fort Harrison about the 10th of October, and on the 14th crossed the Wabash, and proceeded on the march against the Kickapoo and Peoria towns; the first about eighty miles distant, the others about one hundred and twenty. Its march lay through open plains covered with the luxuriant prairie grass, which in autumn becomes very dry and combustible. Murmurs and discontents soon began to show themselves in this unwieldy and illcompacted body, which was kept together by no discipline or authority. Every one consulted his own will; in fact, but little could be expected from this "press of chivalry." The Indians set fire to the prairie grass, which had to be met with a back fire as their only chance of escape. Scarcely four days had they been on their march, when they demanded to be led back; a major, whose name it is unnecessary to remember, rode up to the general, and peremptorily ordered him to return! Of course, after this, nothing could be effected, and the whole force soon turned about and made its way back to Fort Harrison. The same officer, General Hopkins, we may here mention, led anhere mention, led another party, in November, with more success, against the towns at the head of the Wabash. On the 11th, he again set out from Fort Harrison, with about one thousand two hundred men; while at the same time, seven boats, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Butler, ascended the river with supplies and provisions. On the 19th, he reached the Prophet's town, and immediately dispatched three hundred men to sur * 167 prise the Winnebago towns on Ponce Passu creek. The party under Colonel Butler came upon the place about daybreak, but found it evacuated. This village, together with the Prophet's town, and a large Kickapoo village, containing one hundred and twenty cabins and huts, were destroyed, together with the winter's provision of corn. No Indians were seen until near the end of the month, when a skirmish took place with considerable loss on the part of the white men. The lateness of the season induced the detachment to forego further efforts; and their good conduct under great destitution was in striking contrast with that of the volunteers spoken of above. Other expeditions were undertaken; one, by Colonel Russel, in October, who, with three hundred regulars and a party of riflemen, destroyed a flourishing Indian town called Pamitaris, and killed a number of the savages; another, by Colonel Campbell, in November, with some six hundred men, with which he marched against the towns on the Mississinewa River, and put the Indians completely to the rout. The result of these and other incursions into the territory occupied by the Indians, was very salutary; and in great measure the frontier was secured against the scalping-knife and the midnight assaults of the savage.* 1812. Military operations in the north next claim our notice. During the summer and autumn, a number of volunteer companies marched to the borders of * Sce M'Afee's "History of the Late War in the Western Country," pp. 162-82. Canada, as also the new recruits, as fast as they could be enlisted, and towards the close of the year, the forces were chiefly concentrated in two bodies; one near Lewistown, consisting of some regulars newly enlisted, and militia, amounting to four thousand men, under General Van Rensselaer, of New York; the other, in the neighborhood of Plattsburg and Greenbush, under the commander-in-chief, General Dearborn. Bodies of regulars were distributed at Black Rock, at Ogdensburgh, and Sackett's Harbor, with officers of experience, for the purpose of drilling the raw of drilling the raw troops as they arrived; and it was expected, that an invasion of Canada might be made before cold weather set in. Such officers as Pike, Boyd, and Scott were very diligent in training and disciplining the army; and with a force of between eight and ten thousand men, along the frontier, it was not unreasonahle to look for some effective result in the proposed invasion of Canada. General Van Rensselaer's head-quarters were at Lewiston on the Niagara River, opposite to which stood Queenstown, a fortified British post. Several forays and skirmishes, in which the Americans had been successful, and particularly the cutting out of two English brigs from under the guns of Fort Erie, by Lieutenant Elliot, roused the spirit of the army of the centre, as Van Rensselaer's force was denominated, and they were eager to be led to the fight; indeed, some of the volunteers threatened to return home unless they were gratified directly. The general, nothing loth, determined to make an attack upon Queenstown. From the information he could collect, the enemy's force had been chiefly drawn off for the defence of Malden, as it was supposed, under the command of General Brock, who had left the territory of Michigan under the government of General Proctor, until he could organize a force to return. Could possession be obtained of Queenstown, our troops would be sheltered from the approaching inclemency of the season, and the operations of the western army much facilitated. Accordingly, at four in the morning of the 11th of October, in the midst of a dreadful north-east storm and heavy rain, an attempt was made to pass the river; but, owing to the darkness of the night, and various unforeseen accidents, the passage could not be effected. 1812 This failure served to increase the impatience of the troops, who became almost ungovernable. Orders were dispatched to General Smyth, at Buffalo, to advance with his corps, as another attempt would be made on Queenstown Every arrangement was rapidly completed; and early on the morning of the 13th, the troops embarked, under cover of the American batteries. The force designated to storm the heights, was divided into two columns; one of three hundred militia, under Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, the other of three hundred regulars, under Colonel Christie; but, by some mismanagement or carelessness, there were not boats enough to carry them all over at once, and they were forced to cross in detachments. Colonel Fenwick's artillery was to follow, and then the other troops in order. The British, in the mean while, antici CH. VIII.] THE ATTACK ON QUEENSTOWN HEIGHTS. pating this attack, had obtained considerable reinforcements from Fort George, and if necessary, could be still further assisted by General Brock, who, it now appeared, commanded at that place. At daylight, the British opened upon the Americans with a shower of musketry and grape, which did considerable execution, and added to the difficulty of effecting a landing. Colonel Van Rensselaer was amongst the number severely wounded. Captain Wool, on whom the command devolved at the moment, bravely led his men up the rocks to the right of the fort, though he was himself suffering from a dangerous wound. After several desperate, charges, the heights were carried, and the enemy were driven down the hill in every direc tion. Retreating behind a large storehouse, they kept up their fire; but their batteries, with the exception of one gun, were silenced. Soon after, General Brock arrived at Queenstown, and led the forty-ninth regiment, six hundred strong, against the Americans 1812. on the heights. Captain Wool ordered a detachment of one hundred and sixty men to charge. They did so; were driven back; were reinforced, and charged a second time; again were they repulsed, and were about to be driven to the verge of the precipice, when one of the officers, supposing their condition desperate, placed a white handkerchief on the point of a bayonet, in token of submission. Wool indignantly tore it away, and ordered the men to be brought to the charge. They rallied, and drove the British back. General Brock fell, mortally wounded, VOL. III.-22 169 and the enemy retreated in great dis order. At two o'clock, General Wadsworth, of the militia, and Colonels Scott and Mulaney crossed over; and Captain Wool was ordered to retire and have his wounds dressed. The forty-ninth being repulsed, and the British commander having fallen, the victory was thought to be complete; and General Van Rensselaer crossed over, for the purpose of immediately fortifying a camp, to prepare against future attacks, should the enemy be reinforced. But the fortune of the day was not yet decided. At three o'clock, the enemy having rallied, and being reinforced by several hundred Chippewa Indians, again advanced to the attack. At first, our men were disposed to falter, but being animated by such leaders as Colonel Christie and Colonel Scott, marched boldly to the charge, and at the point of the bayonet once more compelled the British, who were now the assailants, to retire. This was the third victory gained since morning, and had the brave men on the Canada shore been properly sustained, complete triumph would undoubtedly have crowned our arms. General Van Rensselaer, anxious to expedite the embarkation of the troops, recrossed the river for that purpose; but to his dismay, he found that not one of them was willing to go into the fight. Neither commands nor entreaties could prevail on them to move. The number of boats had from the first been insufficient; some of those had been lost or destroyed, and only three or four were left. And a great error At four o'clock, the British being reinforced by eight hundred men from Fort George, under General Sheaffe, renewed the engagement with fresh vigor. General Van Rensselaer, perceiving that our men were almost exhausted with fatigue, and their ammunition nearly spent, was compelled, under the most painful sensations, to address a note to General Wadsworth, informing him of the disgraceful conduct of the militia, and leaving it to him to resist or retreat, as he deemed best. "Wadsworth," as Ingersoll states it, "could do neither. Surrender, nearly unconditional, was all he could do or get for his troops, who, from before daybreak in the morning till late in the afternoon, had been constantly engaged. They did not yield at once, without a sharp conflict, however; but panic seized some of the militia, and complete rout soon took place instead of orderly retreat, a movement beyond the discipline of unpractised troops. Rushing to the shore and finding no boats, many brave men had no alternative but to surrender on the enemy's terms. An armistice of three days, however, was arranged, and the Americans were humanely treated, except in some instances, of what Chrystie, an Englishman, mentions as terrible slaughter by Indians, whom it was impossible to restrain. Of about eleven hundred fighting men who crossed the river, nearly all were killed, wounded, or taken;" and Wadsworth, Scott, Wool, and other brave officers among the prisoners, were paraded through Canada, as trophies of victory. Van Rensselaer having resigned the command a few days subsequent to the battle of Queenstown Heights, General Alexander Smyth was put in charge of the army of the centre. This gentleman seems to have been fired with an ambitious desire to do something to distinguish himself, and wipe out the disgrace of the numerous failures of the campaign thus far; but forgetting the significant advice, “Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off," he issued, on the 10th of November, a grandiloquent address to "The Men of New York," assuring them that, in a few days, he should plant the American standard in Canada, and inviting them to "come on" and share 1812 the glory of the enterprise. Another proclamation followed in a similar strain, and several thousand volunteered, probably however, more from their confidence in General Porter, who was to be associated with Smyth, and who was to command the volunteers, than from the effect of that general's inflated appeal. Preparatory to crossing with the army, General Smyth sent two parties, on the night of the CH. VIII.] GENERAL SMYTH'S UNDERTAKING. 27th of November, one under Colonel Borstler, and the other under Captain King, who was accompanied by Lieutenant Angus, of the navy, with a small but valiant band of marines; the whole under the direction of General Winder. The party under Borstler, whose object was to destroy a bridge, went several miles down the river, dispersed the enemy, made several prisoners, but returned without having accomplished their object. That under King, who were ordered to attack the batteries opposite Black Rock, performed the service in a most gallant manner. Nine out of twelve of the naval officers who embarked in the affair, and half the seamen, were either killed or wounded. They had dispersed the enemy, rendered useless their artillery, and prepared the way for the safe landing of the army who had been ordered to embark at reveille; but delays occurred, and they were not embarked till noon. General Smyth, at this time, ordered them to disembark to dine. It was then found that there were not sufficient boats to carry over three thousand men at once, as had been the orders of the secretary of war; and the general, amidst the murmurings of the army, called a council of war, and concluded to postpone the invasion for a few days! Most of the brave men who crossed, succeeded in returning; but some were made prisoners, among whom was Captain King. Not finding boats enough to cross over his whole party, he sent all his officers and part of his men, but would not desert the remainder, and was captured with them. 17. whole affair was as clumsily managed by the regular officer as it had been by the militia-men. On the 1st of Decemher, (which was the latest of several days that had been fixed,) the troops received orders to be in readiness to pass the river, and they were 1812. all at their posts. The volunteers set out, General Porter in the leading boat, with a flag to indicate his position; fifteen hundred men were found willing to make the attempt, in spite of all the ill omens. But before the other bank could be reached, another council of war was held, and Smyth recalled the expedition, ordered the volunteers to return home, and the regulars to go into winter-quarters. A scene of riot and confusion ensued. Some three or four thousand men, indignant and outraged in feeling, discharged their muskets in every direction, under a keen sense of the indig nity which had thus been forced upon them by Smyth's absurd course. General Porter posted Smyth in the newspapers as a coward; and this unfortunate general, "never tried but in the public journals and by common opinion, was actually driven away to be no more heard of, mobbed by the militia and the populace, not without strenuous vindication by himself and others in the newspapers, but without favors or further employment."* Porter and Smyth got up a duel out of this newspaper squabble, wherein having * At the close of 1813, Smyth sent a lengthy petition to Congress, asking for a restoration to his rank, an opportunity to serve the country, etc. The petition was handed over to the secretary of war, which was Despite Smyth's pretensions, this equivalent to rejecting it with contempt. |