prepared was the public for this extraordinary event, tha no one could have believed it to have taken place, unti communicated from an official source." Hull had been sent at the head of about 2,500 men, to Detroit, with & view of putting an end to the Indian hostilities in that part of the country. At the time of the surrender of the fort, it is said that his force consisted of more than 1000 men, that of the British of 1300, of whom more than half were Indians. When the British column had arrived within 500 yards of the American lines, General Hull ordered his men, who were placed in a favourable situation to annoy the enemy, to retreat into the fort, and that the cannon should not be fired. "Immediately there was heard a universal burst of indignation." The order, however, could not be disobeyed. The men were ordered to stack their arms; a white flag was hung out upon the walls, and a communication passed between the two generals, which was shortly followed by a capitulation. Not only the American force at Detroit, but various detachments from the fort, the volunteers, and all the provisions at Raisin, the fortified posts and garrisons, and the whole territory and inhabitants of Michigan, were delivered over to the commanding general of the British forces. Two thousand five hundred stand of arms, forty barrels of powder, and twenty-five iron and eight brass pieces of ordnance, the greater part of which had been captured from the British in the revolutionary war, were surrendered with them. The American volunteers and militia were sent home, on condition of not serving again during the war, unless exchanged. The general, and the regular troops were sent to Quebec as prisoners of war. Being exchanged, General Hull was prosecuted by the government of the United States, and arraigned before a military tribunal, who acquitted him of the charge of treason, but sentenced him to death, for cowardice and unofficerlike conduct. But in consequence of his age and revolutionary services, the president remitted the punishment of death, but deprived him of all military command. 107. Capture of the Guerriere. The Constitution, Captain Hull, had sailed from Annapolis on the 5th of July. On the 17th, he was chased by a ship of the line and four frigates; when by an exertion of able seamanship, than which, the victory itself, though more beneficial, could not be more worthy of applause, he escaped from the unequal combat. On the 19th of August, he had an opportunity of trying his frigate against a single vessel of the enemy. This was the Guerriere; one of the best of the same class in the British navy, and in no way averse to the rencounter, as she promptly awaited her antagonist's arrival. She had, for some time, been searching for an American frigate; having given a formal challenge to every vessel of the same description. At one of her mast heads was a flag, on which her name was inscribed in conspicuous letters; and on another, the words, "Not the Little Belt;" alluding to the broadsides which the President had fired into that sloop, before the war. The Constitution being ready for action, now approached, her crew giving three cheers. Both continued manœuvring for three quarters of an hour; the Guerriere attempted to take a raking position, and failing in this, soon afterwards began to pour out her broadsides, with a view of crippling her antagonist. From the Constitution not a gun had been fired. Already had an officer twice come on the quarter-deck, with information that several of the men had fallen at the guns. Though burning with impatience, the crew silent' awaited the orders of their commander. The long expected moment at length arrived. The vessel being brought exactly to the designed position, directions were given to fire broadside after broadside in quick succession. Never was any scene more dreadful. For fifteen minutes, the lightning of the Constitution's guns is a continual blaze, and their thunder roars without intermission. The enemy's mizzen mast lies over her side, and she stands exposed to a fire that sweeps her decks. She becomes unmanageable; her hull is shattered, her sails and rigging cut to pieces. Her mainmast and foremast fall overboard, taking with them every spar except the bowsprit. The firing now ceased, and the Guerriere sur rendered. Her loss was fifteen killed, and sixty-three wounded; the Constitution had seven men killed, and seven wounded. The Guerriere was so much damaged, as to render it impossible to bring her into port; she was, therefore, on the following day, blown up. The Constitution received so little injury, that she was in a few hours ready for another action.* 108. Battle at Queenstown. Early in the morning of the 13th October, 1812, a detachment of about 1000 men, from the army of the Centre, crossed the river Niagara, and attacked the British on Queenstown heights. This detachment, under the command of Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, succeeded in dislodging the enemy; but not being re-enforced by the militia from the American side, as was expected, they were ultimately repulsed, and obliged to surrender. The British General, Brock, was killed during the engagement. The forces designed to storm the heights, were divided into two columns; one of 300 militia, under Colonel Van Rensselaer, the other, 300 regulars, under Colonel Christie. These were to be followed by Colonel Fenwick's artillery, and then the other troops in order. Much embarrassment was experienced by the boats, from the eddies, as well as by the shot of the enemy, in crossing the river. Colonel Van Rensselaer led the van, and landed first with 100 men. Scarcely had he leaped from the boat, when he received four severe wounds. Being, however, able to stand, he ordered his officers to move with rapidity and storm the fort. This service was gallantly performed, and the enemy were driven down the hill in every direction. • Grimshaw. Both parties were now re-enforced; the Americans by regulars and militia, the British by the 49th regiment, consisting of 600 regulars, under General Brock. Upon this the conflict was renewed, in which General Brock, and his aid, Captain M'Donald, fell almost in the same moment. After a desperate engagement, the enemy were repulsed, and the victory was thought complete. At Colonel Van Rensselaer now crossed over, for the purpose of fortifying the heights, preparatory to another attack, should the enemy be re-enforced. This duty he assigned to Lieutenant Totten, an able engineer. But the fortune of the day was not yet decided. 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy, being re-enforced by several hundred Chippewa Indians, rallied, and again advanced, but were a third time repulsed. At this moment, General Van Rensselaer, perceiving the militia on the opposite side embarking but slowly, hastily recrossed the river, to accelerate their movements. But what was his chagrin, on reaching the American side, to hear more than 1200 men (militia) positively refuse to embark. The sight of the engagement had cooled that ardour, which, previously to the attack, the commander-in-chief could scarcely restrain. While their countrymen were nobly struggling for victory, they could remain idle spectators of the scene. All that a brave, resolute, and benevolent commander could do, General Van Rensselaer did he urged, entreated, commanded, but it was all in vain. Eight hundred British soldiers, from Fort George, now hove in sight, and pressed on to renew the attack. The Americans, for a time, continued to struggle against this force, but were finally obliged to surrender themselves prisoners of war. The number of American troops killed, amounted to about 60, and about 100 were wounded. Those who surrendered themselves prisoners of war, including the wounded, were about 700. The loss of the British is unknown, but must have been severe. * Goodrich. 109. Massacre at Fort Mimms. In 1812, Tecumseh, the celebrated Shawnee chief and British ally, appeared among the Indians of the south, and by his arts of persuasion, induced a large majority of the Creek nation, and a considerable portion of the other tribes, to take up arms against the United States. Being supplied with implements of war from the British, through the channel of the Floridas, they accordingly commenced hostilities. 66 Alarm and consternation prevailed among the white inhabitants; those of Tensaw district, a considerable settlement of the Alabama, fled for safety to Fort Mimms, on that river, sixteen miles above Fort Stoddard. The place was garrisoned by one hundred and fifty volunteers, of the Mississippi territory, under Major Beasly. The inhabitants collected at the fort amounted to about three hundred. "At eleven o'clock in the forenoon of the 30th of August, a body of Indians, to the amount of six or seven hundred warriors, issued from the adjoining wood, and approached the fort; they advanced within a few rods of it before the alarm was given. As the sentinel cried out, "Indians," they immediately gave a war-whoop, and rushed in at the gate, before the garrison had time to shut it. This decided their fate. Major Beasly was mortally wounded at the commencement of the assault; he ordered his men to secure the ammunition, and retreat into the house; he was himself carried into the kitchen, and afterwards consumed in the flames. "The fort was originally square, but Major Bearly had enlarged it by extending the lines upon two sides about fifty feet, and putting up a new side, into which the gate was removed; the old line of pickets were standing, and the Indians, on rushing in at the gate, obtained possession of the outer part, and through the port-holes of the old line of pickets, fired on the people who held the interior. On the opposite side of the fort was an offset, or bastion, made round the back gate, which, being open |