THE LOYALISTS OF AMERICA AND THEIR TIMES: FROM 1620 TO 1816. BY EGERTON RYERSON, D. D. , LL. D. , _Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada from 1844 to 1876. _ IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. TORONTO: WILLIAM BRIGGS, 80 KING STREET EAST; JAMES CAMPBELL & SON, AND WILLING & WILLIAMSON. MONTREAL: DAWSON BROTHERS. 1880. ENTERED, according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the yearOne thousand eight hundred and eighty, by the REV. EGERTON RYERSON, D. D. , LL. D, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVII. ALLIANCE BETWEEN CONGRESS AND FRANCE NOT PRODUCTIVE OF THEEFFECT ANTICIPATED; EFFORTS OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT FORRECONCILIATION WITH THE COLONIES 1-16 Alliance deferred twelve months by France after it wasapplied for by Congress, until the King of France was assuredthat no reconciliation would take place between England andthe Colonies 1 Lord Admiral Howe and his brother, General Howe, Commissionersto confer with Congress with a view to reconciliation; theirpower limited; Congress refuses all conference with them, but the vast majority of the Colonists in favour of reconciliation 2 Reasons of the failure of the two Commissioners 4 New penal laws against the Loyalists 5 Three Acts of Parliament passed to remove all groundsof complaint on the part of the Colonists, and the appointmentof five Commissioners; Lord North's conciliatory speech;excitement and opposition in the Commons, but the bills werepassed and received the royal assent 6 Lord North's proposed resignation, and preparations for it 8 Opinions of Lords Macaulay and Mahon as to the successof a commission; proposed terms of reconciliation ifappointed and proposed by the Earl of Chatham 8 The large powers and most liberal propositions of thefive Royal Commissioners for reconciliation between theColonies and the Mother Country 11 The refusal of all negotiation on the part of Congress;bound by treaty to the King of France to make no peace withEngland without the consent of the French Court 12 The three Acts of Parliament, and proposals of the fiveCommissioners of all that the Colonists had desired beforethe Declaration of Independence; but Congress had transferredallegiance from England to France, without even consultingtheir constituents 12 Appeal of the representative of France to the Canadiansto detach Canada from England (in a note) 12 Sycophancy of the leaders of Congress to France against England 13 The feeling of the people in both England and Americadifferent from that of the leaders of Congress 14 The war more acrimonious after the alliance betweenCongress and the Kingof France and the failure of theBritish Commissioners to promote reconciliation betweenGreat Britain and the Colonies 16 CHAPTER XXVIII. COMPLETE FAILURE OF THE FRENCH FLEET AND ARMY, UNDER COUNT D'ESTAING, TO ASSIST THE CONGRESS 17-32 Count D'Estaing arrives in America with a powerfulfleet and several thousand soldiers 17 Anchors off Sandy Hook for eleven days; goes to Long Islandby Washington's advice, and sails up Newport River, whitherhe is pursued by the Lord Admiral Howe with a less powerfulfleet; the ships, with 4, 000 French soldiers and 10, 000 Americans, to land and attack the British on Long Island, who wereonly 5, 000 strong 17 The two fleets separated by a storm; only fighting betweenindividual ships 18 Count D'Estaing, against the remonstrances and protests ofAmerican officers, determines to sail for Boston Harbour forthe repair of his ships 18 Bitter feeling and riot between the American sailors andcitizens and French seamen and soldiers in the streets of Boston 19 Raids in New England by British expeditions (in a note) 19 Differences between Count D'Estaing and the Americanofficers as to the mode of attacking the British on Long Island 19 Early in November Count D'Estaing with his fleet quittedthe port of Boston and sailed for the West Indies, thusdisappointing the hopes of the Americans from the French alliance 20 Count D'Estaing, though strengthened by the fleet ofCount De Grasse, could not be induced to come to closefight with Admiral Byron 21 The French take St. Vincent 21 Count D'Estaing complained of by the Americans to theFrench Court, which orders him to return to the Americancoasts and assist the Colonists 22 D'Estaing arrives suddenly on the American coasts withtwenty-two sail-of-the-line and eleven frigates and sixthousand soldiers; his magnificent plans and expectations 22 D'Estaing arranges with General Lincoln to attackSavannah and rescue the province of Georgia, and afterwardsother Southern provinces, from the British 23 Account of the Siege of Savannah, and the defeatof the French and their American allies; result of the contest 24 Mutual recriminations and jealousies between the Frenchand American officers; Count D'Estaing sails with hisfleet for France 25 Why this minute account of Count D'Estaing's abortiveexpeditions to America; the barren results of the firsttwo years' alliance between Congress and the King of France, by Dr. Ramsay 27 Spain joins France against England in 1779 28 Low state of the American army and finances; discouragementand despondency of the Americans in 1780 28 The degeneracy of Congress in 1778, as stated by General Washington 29 Depreciation of public credit; sale of the confiscated propertyof "Tories" 30 CHAPTER XXIX. 1780--A YEAR OF WEAKNESS AND DISASTER TO THE AMERICAN CAUSE, AND OF SUCCESS TO THE BRITISH 32-41 Depression of American finances 32 Weakness of Washington's army 32 La Fayette returns from France with a loan of money andreinforcements of naval and land forces 33 The British receive naval reinforcement of war ships, andbecome superior to the French 33 Failure of the French reinforcements 33 Sir Henry Clinton goes South; besieges and takes Charleston 34 Conditions of the surrender and treatment of the inhabitants, as stated by Dr. Ramsay and misrepresented by Mr. Bancroft 35 Sir Henry Clinton's bad administration and bad proclamationin South Carolina; his exaggerated statements of his success; re-embarks at Charleston for New York 36 Expeditions to secure the universal submission of the people;but they weakened the cause of the British in the hearts ofthe people 36 The military power of Congress reduced and crushed in theSouthern States 37 Lord Cornwallis's antecedents, and those of Lord Rawdon(afterwards Marquis of Hastings); but their severe policyunjustifiable and injurious to the British cause 38 Military proceedings in the North also unfavourable to theCongress; its confessed weakness and gloomy prospects 40 Appeal of Congress to France for men and money as their only hope 40 Washington's despondency without French aid (in a note) 41 Mr. Hildreth, the historian, on the gloomy state of Americanaffairs at the close of the year 1780, though the Englishvictories and rule did not attract the hearts of the peopleto the British cause 41 CHAPTER XXX. THE FRENCH AND CONGRESS ALLIES RECOVER VIRGINIA; SURRENDER OFLORD CORNWALLIS; RESULTS 42-52 General Washington and the French Commander plan anexpedition to the South 42 Sir Henry Clinton deceived as to their design 43 Count De Grasse sails for the Chesapeake with a fleet of28 ships and 7, 000 French troops 43 Remarkable march of the allied army, five hundred milesfrom New York to Virginia, without committing any depredationswhatever upon the inhabitants, even in the season of fruits 43 Plan of the siege of York Town 44 Earl Cornwallis's measures of defence 44 Position and strength of the allied forces, and theirprocess of operations 45 Lord Cornwallis's courageous and protracted defence; isdisappointed of promised reinforcements from New York 45 Lord Cornwallis capitulates to superior forces 45 Conditions of capitulation 46 Circumstances of the Loyalists 46 Groundless boastings of American orators and writersover the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, commanding but a smallpart of the British forces 47 The unrivalled skill and courage of Washington undoubted, as well as the bravery and endurance of his soldiers; butthe success of the siege of York Town chiefly owing to theFrench, but for whose ships, artillery and land forces, LordCornwallis would have been the conqueror, rather than conquered, in this famous siege and battle 47 The resources of England; the peace party opposed to thecontinuance of the American War irrespective of the Battleof York Town 48 The war party and corrupt administration at length defeatedin the House of Commons, after repeated and protracted debatesand various intrigues 50 Change of Government, and end of Lord North's twelve years'administration 51 Seven years' war and bloodshed, and an unnatural alliancewould have been prevented, liberty secured, and the unitedlife of the Anglo-Saxon race saved, had Congress, in 1776, adhered to its previous professions (in a note) 52 CHAPTER XXXI. CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION IN ENGLAND; CHANGE OF POLICYFOR BOTH ENGLAND AND THE COLONIES; PEACE NEGOTIATIONS ATPARIS; CAUSE OF THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS; CHANGE OF MINISTRY;THE KING COMPELLED TO YIELD 53-65 Names of the new Ministers; death of the Marquis ofRockingham, the Premier, succeeded by the Earl of Shelburne, in consequence of which several Ministers resign, and aresucceeded by others, among whom was Pitt, as Chancellor ofthe Exchequer (in a note) 53 Correspondence between Dr. Franklin, at Paris, and the Earlof Shelburne, which led to negotiations for peace 54 Parliament does not pass an Act to authorize peace withAmerica until three months after the accession of the new Ministry 54 Dr. Franklin proposes to include _Canada_ inthe United States 54 English and American Commissioners meet at Paris and holdprotracted negotiations, with many delays, in regard to termsof peace 56 Two most difficult questions of the treaty--The fishinggrounds of Newfoundland and the Loyalists 56 It was agreed that the Americans should have the rightto take fish on the Banks of Newfoundland, but not todry or cure them on any of the King's settled dominions 56 Preamble and articles of the treaty (in a note) 56 The most important question of the Loyalists 57 They constituted the majority of the population of theColonies at the beginning of the contest 57 It was at length agreed that the Congress should recommendto the several States to compensate the Loyalists; but Dr. Franklin anticipated no success from it, as of course hedid not desire it 58 Dr. Franklin's counter-scheme to defeat the proposition ofthe English Commissioners, who gave way 58 Dr. Ramsay on the Loyalists being "sacrificed" to their sufferings 59 Mr. Hildreth on the same subject 61 What was demanded for the Loyalists had been sanctioned byall modern civilized nations in like circumstances 61 How honourable to the United States to have imitated such examples 62 The fallacy of the plea or pretext that Congress had nopower to grant an amnesty and compensation to the Loyalists 62 Severe censure of the royal historian, Dr. Andrews, uponthe English Commissioners for having agreed to sacrifice theLoyalists (in a note) 62 "All parties in the Commons unanimously demand amnestyand indemnity for the Loyalists. " (Bancroft, in a note) 62 Dr. Franklin and his colleagues outwitted the EnglishCommissioners not only in regard to the Loyalists but also inregard to immense territories 63 Deplorable condition of the Loyalists during the war;utter abandonment by the English Commissioners 64 CHAPTER XXXII. ORIGIN OF REPUBLICANISM AND HATRED OF MONARCHY IN AMERICA;THOS. PAINE, SKETCH OF HIS LIFE, CHARACTER, AND WRITINGS, ANDTHEIR EFFECTS 66-71 CHAPTER XXXIII. THE HIRING OF FOREIGN SOLDIERS AND EMPLOYMENT OF INDIANSIN THE CIVIL WAR 72-84 The policy of the British Ministry in employing foreignsoldiers and Indians in the war with the Colonies deprecated byall classes in England and America and throughout Europe 72 Violent opposition in Parliament to the hiring of foreigntroops; exasperation in the Colonies (in a note) 73 Unreliable and bad character of the Hessian mercenaries 74 Remarks upon the bad policy of employing them, and theirbad conduct, by the royal historian (in a note) 74 The employment of Indians still more condemned and denouncedthan the hiring of foreign troops 74 Employment of Indians by both the French and English duringthe war of 1755-63, between France and England 75 At the close of the war the French authorities recommendedthe Indians to cultivate the friendship of England 75 Both Congress and the English sought the alliance andco-operation of the Indians; misstatements of the Declarationof Independence on this subject (in a note); the advantagesof the latter over the former in conciliating the Indians 75 The employment of the Indians in every respect disadvantageousto England 76 English Generals in America individually opposed to theemployment of the Indians in the military campaigns 76 Failure, if not defeat, of General Burgoyne's army by thebad conduct, and desertion, of his Indian allies 76 But Washington and Congress, as well as the EnglishGovernment, sanctioned the employment of the Indians in thewar, and the first idea of thus employing them originated withthe first promoters of revolution in Massachusetts 77 Omissions of American writers to state that the aggressionsand retaliations of the Congress soldiers and their coadjutorsfar exceeded in severity and destruction the aggressions andretaliations of the Indians on the white inhabitants 77 Many letters and biographies of actors in the Revolution showthat very much of what was written or reported during theRevolution against the English Loyalists and Indians wasfictitious or exaggerated 78 Proceedings of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts(before the affairs of Concord and Lexington) to enlist andemploy the Indians against the British 79 General Washington, under date of July 27th, 1776, recommendsthe employment of Indians in the revolutionary cause 80 The Americans have no ground of boasting over the Englishin regard to the employment of Indians and their acts duringthe war 81 Efforts of General Burgoyne to restrain the Indians, who werean incumbrance to his army, and whose conduct alienated greatnumbers of Loyalists from the British cause 82 The conduct and dread of the Indians roused great numbersto become recruits in General Gates' army, and thus renderedit far more numerous than the army of General Burgoyne (in a note) 83 American invasion and depredations in the Indian country thelatter part of 1776, as stated by Dr. Ramsay 84 The invasion unprovoked, but professedly as a "precaution"to "prevent all future co-operation between the Indians andBritish in that quarter" bordering in Virginia, North and SouthCarolina, and Georgia 84 Complete destruction of Indian settlements; their country adesolation 84 CHAPTER XXXIV. THE MASSACRE OF WYOMING; FOUR VERSIONS OF IT BY ACCREDITEDAMERICAN HISTORIANS, ALL DIFFERING FROM EACH OTHER; THE FACTSINVESTIGATED AND FALSE STATEMENTS CORRECTED 85-98 The original inflated and imaginary accounts of the"Massacre of Wyoming" 85 Four versions of it by accredited historians 85 The account given by Dr. Ramsay 87 Remarks upon Dr. Ramsay's account 88 Description of Wyoming 88 Mr. Bancroft's account of the "Massacre" 88 Mr. Tucker's brief account of the "Massacre" 90 Mr. Hildreth's more intelligible and consistent accountof the "Massacre" 90 Remarks on the discrepancies in four essential particularsof these four accounts 94 Supplementary remarks, founded on Colonel Stone's refutationof the original fabulous statements of the "Massacre, " inhis "_Life of Joseph Brant, including the Border Wars ofthe American Revolution_" 98 CHAPTER XXXV. AMERICAN RETALIATION FOR THE ALLEGED "MASSACRE OF WYOMING, "AS NARRATED BY AMERICAN HISTORIANS 99-122 Destruction of Indian villages and settlements for severalmiles on both sides of the Susquehanna by the Americans 99 Attack in retaliation "by Indians and Tories" on CherryValley, but more than revenged by Colonel G. Van Shaickon the settlements 99 The destruction of Indian villages and other settlements tothe extent of "several miles on both sides of the Susquehanna, "more than an equivalent revenge for the destruction of Wyoming(in a note) 100 This only the beginning of vengeance upon the Indiansettlements on the part of the "Continentals;" cruelties compared 100 General Sullivan's expedition, and destruction of thetowns, settlements, crops, and orchards of the Six Nationsof Indians, as stated by Dr. Andrews 100 The same expedition, as stated by Mr. Bancroft, Mr. Hildreth, Mr. Holmes, and Dr. Ramsay 102 Further examples of "retaliation, " so-called, inflicted uponthe Indians and their settlements (in a note) 106 The "Tories, " driven among the Indians as their only refuge, treated as traitors; their conduct and duty 108 Colonel Stone's account in detail of General Sullivan's expeditionof extermination against the Six Nations of Indians 108 Dr. Franklin's fictions on the massacre and scalping of thewhites by Indians, in order to inflame the American mind againstEngland; his fictions recorded as history 115 Injustice done to the Indians in American accounts of them;their conduct compared with that of their white enemies 119 CHAPTER XXXVI. SITUATION AND TREATMENT OF THE LOYALISTS DURING THE WAR 123-138 Summary of the condition and treatment of the Loyalists 123 The relation of both parties before the Declaration of Independence 123 How the Declaration of Independence changed the relations ofparties both in England and America 123 At the Declaration of Independence the adherents to Englandthe largest part of the population of the Colonies 124 Elements of their affectionate attachment to England 125 Their claims to have their rights and liberties respected 125 Their position and character stated by Mr. Hildreth; abusedby mobs and oppressed by new Acts and authorities 125 John Adams the prompter and adviser for hanging "Tories;"his letter to the Governor of Massachusetts on the subject 127 First scene of severity against Loyalists at Boston; newAmerican maxim of morals for not forgiving "Tories" 127 Treatment of Loyalists in New York, Philadelphia, Virginia, and other places 128 Kindness of the French officers and soldiers after thedefeat of Lord Cornwallis 129 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XXXVI. State Legislative and Executive acts against the Loyalists 130 Rhode Island; Connecticut 130 Massachusetts 131 New Hampshire; Virginia; New York 131 New Jersey; Pennsylvania; Delaware 132 Maryland; North Carolina; Georgia 132 South Carolina 134 Remarks on the Confiscation Acts and policy of the severalStates mentioned 136 CHAPTER XXXVII. TREATMENT OF THE LOYALISTS ON THEIR APPLICATIONS FORREDRESS AFTER THE REVOLUTION 139-144 Impolicy of such persecuting proceedings on the part ofthe States, by an American writer 141 APPENDIX "A" TO CHAPTER XXXVII. Review of the principal characteristics of the AmericanRevolution, and remarks on the feelings which should nowbe cultivated by both of the former contending parties, by Mr. J. M. Ludlow 145 APPENDIX "B" TO CHAPTER XXXVII. Reflections of Lord Mahon on the American contest; apologyfor George III. ; unhappiness of Americans since the Revolution;unity of the Anglo-Saxon Race 154 CHAPTER XXXVIII. TREATMENT OF THE LOYALISTS BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENTAND PARLIAMENT AFTER THE REVOLUTION 159-182 PART FIRST. Proceedings in Parliament; refusal of the States to compensatethe Loyalists, as proposed in the Treaty of Peace, and contraryto the example and practice of civilized nations 159 In the House of Commons, Mr. Wilberforce, Lord North, LordMulgrave, Secretary Townsend, Mr. Burke, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Norton, Sir Peter Burrell, Sir William Bootle, and othermembers of Parliament, spoke on the subject 160 In the House of Lords, Lords Walsingham, Townsend, Stormont, Sackville, Loughborough and Shelburne, also advocated theclaims of the Loyalists 163 Grounds of the responsibility of Parliament to the Loyalistsfor compensation 164 Unpopular and unprecedented omissions in the terms of Peace 164 Fallacy of the argument of advocates of the Treaty 165 PART SECOND. Agents in England of the Loyalists; proceedings of theParliamentary Commission; results 166-182 CHAPTER XXXIX. THE LOYALISTS DRIVEN FROM THE UNITED STATES TO THEBRITISH PROVINCES 183-190 CHAPTER XL. BRIEF SKETCHES OF SOME INDIVIDUAL LOYALISTS IN THEBRITISH PROVINCES; FIRST SETTLERS IN CANADA, AND HOWTHEY TRAVELLED HITHER 190-208 1. Samuel Anderson; 2. Rev. John Bethune; 3. Doanes--fivebrothers; 4. Stephen Jarvis; 5. Wm. Jarvis; 6. David Jones;7. Jonathan Jones; 8. Captain Richard Lippincott; 9. TheMcDonalds;10. John McGill; 11. Donald McGillis; 12. ThomasMerritt; 13. Beverley Robinson; 14. Beverley Robinson, jun. ;15. Christopher Robinson; 16. Sir John Beverley Robinson;17. Sir Charles Frederick Phillipse Robinson; 18. MorrisRobinson; 19. John Robinson; 20. Roger Morris; 21. Allen McNab;22. Luke Carscallen; 23. John Diamond; 24. Ephraim Tisdale;25. Lemuel Wilmot Dr. Canniff's account of the migration of the first Loyalistsfrom Lower Canada, and settlement on the North Shore of theSt. Lawrence, and in the country round and west of Kingston 204 CHAPTER XLI. FIRST SETTLEMENT OF LOYALISTS IN THE BRITISHPROVINCES--ESPECIALLY OF UPPER CANADA, --THEIR ADVENTURES ANDHARDSHIPS, AS WRITTEN BY THEMSELVES OR THEIR DESCENDANTS 208-270 First settlement of the first company of Loyalists at theclose of the Revolutionary War, in and near Kingston, UpperCanada, by the late Bishop Richardson, D. D. 208 First settlement of Loyalists in Nova Scotia, by a gentlemanof that Province 211 Colonel Joseph Robinson, his adventures and settlement, by the late Hon. R. Hodgson, Chief Justine of PrinceEdward Island 213 Robert Clark, his sufferings in the Revolutionary War, andsettlement in the Midland District, U. C. ; by his son, lateColonel John C. Clark 216 Captain William B. Hutchinson, his sufferings and settlementin Walsingham, County of Norfolk, U. C. ; by his grandson, J. B. Hutchinson, Esq. 218 Patriotic feeling and early settlement of Prince Edward Countyand neighbouring Townships; by Canniff Haight, Esq. 219 Colonel Samuel Ryerse, his adventures, settlement, andcharacter, in the County of Norfolk; in letters by his son, the late Rev. George J. Ryerse; and in a memorandum, includinga history of the early settlement of the County of Norfolk, and recollections of the war of 1812-1815; by Mrs. AmeliaHarris, of Eldon House, London, U. C. 226 Colonel Joseph Ryerson, his adventures, sufferings, andsettlement in the County of Norfolk, U. C. ; by an intimatefriend of the family 257 NOTE. --Colonel Samuel Ryerse and Colonel JosephRyerson were brothers, and both officers in the British armyduring the Revolutionary War; but in the commission of theformer, his name was spelled Ryerse; and it being difficultat that time to correct such an error, he and his descendantshave always spelt their name Ryerse, though the original nameof the family, in the records of New Jersey, in Holland, andpreviously in the history of Denmark, is Ryerson. Interesting piece of local history; by the Rev. Dr. Scadding 259 Loyalty and sufferings of the Hon. John Monroe; by his son 261 Sufferings of the U. E. Loyalists during the Revolutionary War;vindication of their character--including that of Butler'sRangers--their privations and settlement in Canada; by thelate Mrs. Elizabeth Bowman Spohn, of Ancaster, in the County ofWentworth, U. C. , together with an introductory letter by thewriter of this history 264 CHAPTER XLII. ORIGIN AND CHARACTER OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF BRITISH NORTHAMERICA. --NOVA SCOTIA 271-276 CHAPTER XLIII. NEW BRUNSWICK 277-280 CHAPTER XLIV. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 280 CHAPTER XLV. GOVERNMENT OF LOWER CANADA 281-306 The famous Quebec Act, 14th Geo. III. ; its provisions;why and by whom opposed; opposed in the Lords and Commons, and in the Colonies; supposed to have promoted the AmericanDeclaration of Independence 281 Constitutional Act of 1791--Act 31st George III. , chapter 31 285 Mr. Pitt explains the principal provisions of the Bill;provided against the imposition of taxes in the colonies bythe Imperial Parliament; opposed by some members in the Commons; rupture between Burke and Fox (in a note); Pitt's defenceof the Bill 285 The Bill becomes an Act; separates Upper from Lower Canada;constitutes a legislature for each province; how the two branchesof the legislature were constituted; the _representative_ formof government obtained by the United Empire Loyalists 286 The Administration of the Government and Legislation in LowerCanada under the new constitution 288 Lord Dorchester Governor-General; first session of theLegislature; Speakers of the two Houses; a Speaker electedin the House of Assembly who could speak both the French andEnglish language 289 The Governor's first speech to the Legislature 290 The cordial and loyal response of the House of Assembly 290 Useful and harmonious legislation; a noble example andillustration of loyalty by the House of Assembly before theclose of the session 292 The Governor's speech at the close of the session 294 Unjust statements against the French corrected (in a note) 294 Second session of the Legislature called by Lord Dorchesteron his arrival from England; his cordial reception; beneficiallegislation; Canadians recoil from the horrors of the FrenchRevolution 295 French Republican agents endeavour to incite Canadians torevolt, and to excite hostilities against England in theUnited States 297 Mutual cordiality between the Governor-General and the Houseof Assembly 297 Visit of the Duke of Kent to Lower Canada as Commander of theForces; his wise and patriotic counsels; beneficial influenceof his visit and residence 297 Lord Dorchester lays the public accounts before the Assembly;their contents; this proceeding highly satisfactory to theAssembly; bills passed and assented to 298 Interval of quiet between the second and third Sessions ofthe Legislature; Lord Dorchester's practical and noble speechat the opening of the third Session; Mr. Christie's remarks uponit; cordial answer of the House of Assembly, to whom the publicaccounts were transmitted, even more comprehensive and completethan those sent down the previous Session 299 Commissioners first appointed to adjust the revenues betweenUpper and Lower Canada; their courteous and fair proceedingson both sides 301 Gratifying close of the third Session 302 Auspicious opening, useful legislation, and happy conclusionof the fourth and last Session of the first Parliament ofLower Canada 302 Termination of Lord Dorchester's thirty-six years connectionwith Canada; review of his conduct and character by the historianBancroft; cordial addresses to him, and his affectionate answers 303 Meritorious conduct of the French Canadians 305 CHAPTER XLVI. GOVERNMENT OF UPPER CANADA 307-315 How governed and divided by Lord Dorchester before theConstitutional Act of 1791 307 The Constitutional Act of 1791, 31 George III. , chapter 31, andconstruction of governments under it 307 General John Graves Simcoe the first Governor; character ofhis government; arrives at Kingston 8th July, 1792, where themembers of the Executive Legislative Councils were sworn intooffice, and writs issued for the election of members of theHouse of Assembly 308 The seat of government first established at Newark, now Niagara, where a small frame house was built for the Governor, and inwhich also the first Session of the Legislature was held 308 Number of members of the Legislative Council and House ofAssembly present at the opening of the Session; their character 309 Number and character of the population of the country, including the Mohawk Indians, headed by Joseph Brant 309 First Session of the first Parliament and its work 309 Remarkable speech of Governor Simcoe at the close of theSession, explanatory of our constitution of government 310 Change of the seat of government and reasons for it 311 Governor Simcoe's work and policy; removal to the West Indies, and abandonment of his wise policy 311 Parliament meets at Niagara until 1797; its legislation;Governor Simcoe's successor, the Hon. Peter Russell andGeneral Hunter; population of Upper Canada in 1800 312 Legislation, progress, trade, custom-houses 313 Provision for one Grammar School Master in each of theeight districts 314 Emigration; legislation; experience of the country duringsixteen years under the new constitution 314 State of the country in 1809 314 Anticipated hostilities between Great Britain and the UnitedStates; concluding remarks on this period of Canadian history 315 CHAPTER XLVII. WAR OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN, FROM1812 TO 1815 316-317 Introductory and general remarks; illustrations of trueloyalty; war struggles of England for human liberty when theUnited States joined the tyrant of Europe in war and invadedCanada; comparative population of Canada and the United States;Canada, almost unaided, successfully resists the eleven invasionsof the United States against her; phases of the war against her 316 CHAPTER XLVIII. DECLARATION OF WAR BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST BRITAIN, AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE INVASION OF CANADA 318-330 The alleged and real causes of the war; the Democraticparty in the United States always hostile to England and hercolonies, and sympathisers with every raid against Canada 318 Two alleged causes for the war by the United States; Berlindecrees, and answers to them by British Orders in Council--results 319 Collusion between Napoleon and the President of the UnitedStates against England; seduction and desertion of British sailors(nearly 10, 000) besides soldiers; the justice and acknowledged rightof the British claims, and injustice and unreasonableness of theMadison Government's proceedings 319 The event between the warships _Leopard_ and _Chesapeake_;American misrepresentations of it; dishonest conduct of PresidentMadison in respect to it; noble and generous proposal of theBritish Government, disclaiming the conduct of the captain of the_Leopard_, and offering to compensate all parties for injuriesdone them by the _Leopard_ 323 The "Henry Plot" affair; conduct of President Madison inrespect to it; declaration of war by the United States 327 CHAPTER XLIX. DECLARATION OF WAR BY THE UNITED STATES 331-336 Declaration of war, June 18, 1812; votes in the House ofRepresentatives for and against it 331 Character of the war party and its Generals 333 Opposition to the war, and reasons against it, by a StateConvention of New York 333 Address of the House of Representatives of Massachusettsagainst the war 334 The Orders in Council, as administered, beneficial toAmerican merchants 335 CHAPTER L. PREPARATIONS MADE BY THE CANADIANS FOR THEIR DEFENCE 337-351 War against the Canadas being contemplated in the United States 337 Preparations by Lower Canada; Sir George Prevost succeedsSir James Craig as Governor-General; his character and firstspeech to the Legislature 338 The loyal answer of the Assembly, and liberal provisions forthe defence of the Province 338 Organization of militia 339 American residents allowed twenty days to leave the Province 340 Second Session of the War Legislature, 16th July, 1812;the Governor's speech, relying upon the Province, and noblereply, and further various and liberal supplies and measures ofthe Legislative Assembly to meet the emergency 340 Preparations in Upper Canada for self-defence 341 General Brock calls a meeting of the Legislature, July 27, 1812; his stirring speech at the opening of the session;hearty response and liberal supplies of the House of Assembly 342 Patriotic address of the Assembly to the people of Upper Canada, and remarks upon it 342 CHAPTER LI. FIRST INVASION OF UPPER CANADA, IN THE WESTERN DISTRICT, BY GENERAL HULL, AND HIS PROCLAMATION TO THE INHABITANTS OF UPPERCANADA, GIVEN ENTIRE IN A NOTE 346-351 General Brock's manly and overwhelming reply to GeneralHull's proclamation, in an address to the people of Canada 349 CHAPTER LII. GENERAL BROCK TAKES DETROIT, GENERAL HULL'S ARMY, THETERRITORY OF MICHIGAN, AND IMMENSE MILITARY STORES 352-364 INCIDENTS OF THIS GREAT ACHIEVEMENT. 1. Smallness of General Brock's army, and the manner in whichhe collected it 353 Preparations at Windsor for the attack upon Detroit beforeGeneral Brock's arrival there 353 Crossing the river, and the surrender of Fort Detroit, &c. 354 2. General Brock's council with the Indians at Sandwichbefore crossing the river at Detroit; his conversation withthe great chief Tecumseh; and after the taking of Detroit, takes off his sash and places it around Tecumseh, who next dayplaced it around the Wyandot chief, Round Head; reasons forit given to General Brock 355 General Brock's estimate of Tecumseh, and the latter'swatching and opinion on the conduct of the former 356 Particulars of Tecumseh's personal history and death (in a note) 357 Surprise and taking of Michillimackinack, and other defeats, discouraging to General Hull, before his surrender of Detroit 358 Particulars of the surrender 361 General Brock's proclamation to the people of Michigan 362 Remarks on the difference in sentiment and style betweenthis proclamation to the inhabitants of Michigan and that ofGeneral Hull to the inhabitants of Canada 363 General Brock's return to York; having in 19 days settledpublic legislative business, raised a little army, taken aterritory nearly as large as Upper Canada, and an army threetimes as numerous as his own 364 CHAPTER LIII. SECOND INVASION OF UPPER CANADA AT QUEENSTON 365-371 Crossing of the river from Lewiston to Queenston of 1, 500regular troops, who, by a private path, gain Queenston Heights;death of General Brock; the invaders dislodged from the Heightsand driven down the banks of the river; American militia refuseto cross the river; American soldiers surrender to General Sheaffeto the number of 900 men, besides officers, including GeneralWadsworth and Colonel Winfield Scott 365 Armistice 368 Incidents on the Niagara frontier after the death of GeneralBrock, by Lieutenant Driscoll, of the 100th Regiment 368 CHAPTER LIV. THIRD AMERICAN INVASION OF CANADA 372-379 A large American army assembled; confidence of its success 372 No reinforcements from England; but the sacrifice and zealof the Canadians for the defence of their country against thisthird and most formidable invasion of the year 373 The Commander-in-Chief's (General Smyth) address to his army, given entire in a note 373 Its effect to bring 2, 000 volunteers from the State of Pennsylvania 374 The troops embark; General Smyth does not appear; failure ofthe attempted invasion; General Smyth's flight from his ownsoldiers, who shoot off their guns in disgust and indignation 375 Three armies, altogether of 10, 000 men, defeated by less than1, 000 Canadian volunteers and soldiers 378 CHAPTER LV. AN INVADING ARMY OF 10, 000 MEN, UNDER GENERAL DEARBORN, DEFEATED BY COLONEL DE SALABERRY, WITH 300 CANADIANS, ATCHATEAUGUAY; DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE 380-382 The Canadian militia put in readiness to repel a secondapprehended invasion, but General Dearborn does not venture it, and retires with his hosts into winter quarters 381 The Canadian militia allowed to retire for the winter 382 The armistice between Generals Sheaffe and Smyth injurious toUpper Canada (in a note) 382 CHAPTER LVI. CAMPAIGNS OF 1813 383-425 Americans determined to conquer Canada this year 383 Disadvantage of the Governor-General of Canada from thefewness of his troops, regulars and militia, compared withthose of the invading armies 383 Three American invading armies--one consisting of 18, 000 men, the second of 7, 000 men, and the third of 8, 000 men 384 General Proctor's slender force at Detroit 384 Battle of Frenchtown; victory of Colonel Proctor; Americanmisrepresentations respecting it corrected 385 Colonel Proctor promoted to be General 388 Several American plundering raids on Brockville andneighbourhood; retaliatory raid of the British on Ogdensburg;town ordnance, arms, &c. , taken, and vessels destroyed 388 Canadian preparations in the winter of 1813 for the season'scampaign; U. E. Loyalist regiment comes from Fredericton, NewBrunswick, to Quebec, on snow shoes 390 The American plan of campaign to invade and take Canada in 1813 390 The American fleet on Lake Ontario superior to the Britishfleet; attack upon York with 1, 700 men, commanded by GeneralsDearborn and Pike; battle, explosion of a magazine; many ofboth armies killed; Canadians defeated and York taken 391 Americans evacuate York and return to Sackett's Harbour, after having destroyed public buildings, and taken much booty 393 Americans attack Fort George, Newark (Niagara), by landand water, and after a hard fight take the town and fort, the British retiring to Queenston 393 General Vincent, having destroyed the fortifications on thefrontier, retreats to Burlington Heights, pursued by GeneralsChandler and Winder, with an army of 3, 500 infantry and 300 cavalry 394 Colonel Harvey, with 700 men, surprises the whole Americanarmy at Stony Creek, captures their two generals and 150 men, &c. 395 American army retreats in great disorder towards Fort George 396 The affair at the Beaver Dams; the capture of 700 Americansoldiers, with their officers, by a small party of soldiersand Indians--the captured prisoners being five to one oftheir captors 397 The American army confined to Fort George and its neighbourhood 397 A small party of the British retaliate the marauding gameof the Americans by crossing the river at Chippewa, attackingand dismantling Fort Schlosser and bringing off military stores;and seven days afterwards, 11th July, crossing from Fort Erieto Black Rock, and burning the enemy's block-houses, stores, barracks, dockyards, &c. 397 The two armies almost within gunshot of each other at FortGeorge; but the Americans could not be drawn out to a battle, though their numbers were two to one to the British 398 General Harrison prepares to prosecute the war for recoveringthe Territories of Michigan; General Proctor raises the siegeof Lower Sandusky and retires to Amherstburg 399 Unsuccessful expedition of Governor-General Prevost and SirJames L. Yeo against Sackett's Harbour; Sir George Prevostorders the withdrawment of the troops, at the very crisis ofvictory, to the great disappointment and dissatisfactionof his officers and men 399 OCCURRENCES ON LAKE ONTARIO. Second unsuccessful attempt of Commodore Sir James Yeo onSackett's Harbour 401 Commodore Chauncey's expedition to the head of the lake totake Burlington Heights is deferred by the preparations ofColonels Harvey and Battersby to receive him 402 Commodore Chauncey makes a second raid upon York (Toronto), plunders, burns, and departs; singular coincidence 402 The British fleet, sailing from Kingston the last day of July, with supplies for the army at the head of the lake, encountersthe American fleet at Niagara, and after two days' manoeuvring, a partial engagement ensues, in which the British capture two smallvessels--the _Julia_ and _Growler_ 402 A graphic account of the naval manoeuvring and battle bythe American historian of the war, Brackenridge (in a note) 402 Encounters and tactics of the British and American fleets onLake Ontario for the rest of the season 404 OCCURRENCES ON LAKE ERIE AND IN THE WEST. Fleet fitting out by Commodore Perry at Presqu' Isle (Erie)blockaded by Commodore Barclay, who, neglecting his duty andabsenting himself from Presqu' Isle, allowed the Americanfleet to get over the bar at the mouth of the harbour, and gettinginto the lake with their cannon reshipped and completely equipped 405 Commodore Barclay, the enemy too well manned and too powerfulfor him, sails for Amherstburg; is pursued by Commodore Perryand compelled to fight, in which he lost his fleet, though hefought bravely 406 In consequence of the loss of the fleet on Lake Erie, theBritish army in possession of the territory of Michigan, leftwithout resources, evacuate the territory and Fort Detroit, before an American army of 7, 000 men and 1, 000 dragoons, under General Harrison 407 General Proctor retreats up the Thames; is pursued byGeneral Harrison, with a force of 3, 000 men, including 1, 000Kentucky dragoons, and overtaken near Moravian Town, where abattle ensues, in which General Proctor is defeated withheavy loss--the Indians remaining loyal, fighting longest, suffering most, with the loss of their chief, Tecumseh 408 Shameful burning of Moravian Town by the Americans 410 Americans accept Indian alliance; Americans intoxicated bythese successes, but driven from every inch of Canadianterritory before the end of the year 410 AMERICAN INVASION OF LOWER CANADA. Defeat of an American advance invading division, and captureof two vessels, the _Growler_ and _Eagle_, of eleven guns each, at the Isle-aux-Noix, by 108 men, under the command of Lieut. -Col. George Taylor 411 Attacks upon and capture and destruction of the American warmaterials, hospitals, barracks, &c. , at Plattsburg, underColonel Murray (General Moore retreating with 1, 500 men), at Burlington (where was encamped General Hampton with 4, 000 men), capturing and destroying four vessels, and afterwards atthe towns of Champlain and Swanton, destroying the block-housesand barracks 412 These successes but preliminary to the Canadian victoriesof Chateauguay, and Chrystler's Farm 413 BATTLE OF CHATEAUGUAY. General Hampton, with 5, 000 men, defeated by the skill andcourage of Colonel De Salaberry with 300 Canadians; thebattle described, and the close of it witnessed, by theGovernor-General Prevost and Major-General De Watteville 413 General Hampton with his demoralized army retires intowinter quarters at Plattsburg 417 Next expedition against Montreal by the St. Lawrence, undercommand of General Wilkinson, with a force of 10, 000 men;the American soldiers promised grand winter quarters at Montreal 417 American army descends the St. Lawrence from near Kingstonin 300 boats; is followed by a detachment of the Britishfrom Kingston, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, who overtakes and skirmishes with divisions of the American armyon the way; at the American post, at the town of Hamilton, takes a considerable quantity of provisions and stores, and two pieces of ordnance 418 BATTLE OF CHRYSTLER'S FARM. American force engaged between 3, 000 and 4, 000 men; theBritish forces were about 800 rank and file; preliminariesand description of the battle, said to be the most squarelyand scientifically fought battle of the war 419 Losses; General Wilkinson's testimony as to the loyalty andcourage of the Canadians 420 General Wilkinson proceeds down the St. Lawrence with hisflotilla; disappointment and mortification at General Hampton'sdisobedience and failure to meet him at St. Regis; crosses theSt. Lawrence and retires into winter quarters at Salmon River 420 The campaign of the season terminated in Lower Canada; theCanadian militia dismissed to their homes with thanks and applause 421 BRITISH VICTORIES IN UPPER CANADA. In December, 1813, Lieutenant-General Drummond supersedesMajor-General De Rottenburgh in command of Upper Canada, andproceeds to York and the head of the Lake at Burlington Heights;despatches Colonel Murray to arrest the predatory incursions ofGeneral McClure in the neighbourhood of Fort George, of whichhe was then in possession 422 McClure's plundering the inhabitants; his barbarous act inburning the town of Newark (Niagara), and flight to theAmerican side of the river 423 The British, under command of Colonel Murray, take Fort Niagara, the whole garrison, and much warlike supplies 423 Lewiston, Manchester, Black Rock and Buffalo destroyed inretaliation for the burning of Newark (Niagara), and exposureof 400 women and children, by McClure 424 Proclamation issued by General Drummond, deprecating thissavage mode of warfare, and declaring his purpose not to pursueit, unless compelled by the measures of the American Government 425 CHAPTER LVII. MOVEMENTS AND CAMPAIGNS IN 1814--THE THIRD AND LASTYEAR OF THE WAR 426-434 Two years' expensive failures of American invasions againstCanada; preparations on both sides for the third year's campaigns 426 Volunteers, soldiers and sailors, march through the woodsfrom New Brunswick to Canada 426 Expression of Royal satisfaction and admiration of the loyaltyand courage of the Canadians during the war, making specialmention of the affair of Chateauguay and Colonel De Salaberry 427 First American invasion of Lower Canada in 1814; theAmerican soldiers, crossing Lake Champlain on the ice, attackLe Colle Mill (Block-house), and are driven back by a smallbut heroic force of Canadians 427 General Wilkinson returns with his army to Plattsburg; and, disappointed and mortified at his failures, retires from the army 428 Prairie du Chién, on the Mississippi, taken by the British, andFort Michillimackinack triumphantly defended against a largeAmerican force; and Sir John C. Sherbrook, Lieutenant-Governorof Nova Scotia, reduces an extensive portion of American territoryadjoining New Brunswick, and adds it to that Province 428 Peace in Europe; reinforcements of 16, 000 veteran soldiersfrom England to Canada 430 Sir George Prevost's abortive expedition against Plattsburgcensured; recalled to England to be tried by court-martial;dies a week before the day of trial 330 The estimate of Mr. Christie, the Canadian historian, ofthe character and policy of Sir George Prevost 431 Opening of the campaign in Upper Canada; expedition fromKingston against Oswego, which is dismantled, its fortificationsdestroyed, military stores, &c. , seized 432 British fleet, supreme on Lake Ontario, blockades Sackett'sHarbour; intercepts supplies being sent from Oswego to Sackett'sHarbour, but is unsuccessful in pursuing American supply boats upthe Sandy Creek; the pursuers taken prisoners and well treatedby the Americans 433 CHAPTER LVIII. LAST INVASIONS AND LAST BATTLES OF THE WAR 435-460 Americans, in two divisions, under command of Brigadier-GeneralsScott and Ripley, cross the river and land on the Canadianside above and below Fort Erie, which is commanded by MajorBuck, and surrendered without firing a shot, to the great lossof the British, and to the great advantage of the Americans 435 General Brown, with a force of over 4, 000 troops, advancesdown the river from Fort Erie, with a view of taking Chippewa;is encountered by General Riall, who is compelled to retireto the rear of his works at Chippewa; heroism of the LincolnMilitia 436 General Riall retires to Fort George, pursued by GeneralBrown; pillage of the American soldiers and officers in theneighbourhood of Fort George 437 Both armies reinforced; General Brown in difficulties;retreats towards Chippewa; is pursued by General Riall; burnsthe village of St. David's; makes a stand at Lundy's Lane--calledBridgewater by the Americans 437 Battle of Lundy's Lane; preliminaries to it 438 The battle itself; protracted and bloody struggle; Americansretreat to beyond Chippewa 439 Forces engaged; losses on both sides; victory absurdly claimedon the American side 441 American army retreats to Fort Erie, pursued by General Drummond, who invests the fort 443 Storming the fort; terrible conflict; on the point of victorya magazine blown up, destroying all the British soldiers whohad entered the fort--including Colonels Drummond and Scott--compellingthe retirement of the assailants; British losses severe 444 The enemy shut up for a month in the fort by the British investment 445 At the expiration of a month the enemy makes a sortie, with his whole force; surprises and destroys the batteries;a bloody conflict; the enemy compelled to return to the fortwith a loss of 600 men 445 Incessant rains prevent General Drummond repairing his batteries;he raises the siege and tries in vain to bring General Brownto a general engagement, but he evades it and evacuates Fort Erie 446 Thus terminates the last American invasion of Canada, withoutacquiring possession of an inch of Canadian territory 446 Summary review of Canadian loyalty, and the causes, characteristics, and the results of the war, in an addressdelivered at Queenston Heights, near Brock's Monument, bythe author, at the anniversary of the Battle of Lundy'sLane, July, 1875 447 CHAPTER LIX. MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS AND PAPERS EXTRACTED FROMUNITED EMPIRE LOYALIST MANUSCRIPTS IN THE DOMINIONLIBRARY AT OTTAWA 461-464 Character of the Canadian Militia 461 American invasions of Canada and their military forces 462 Notice of Colonel John Clarke and his manuscript contributions 462 The treatment of Canadians by the American invaders 463 The Royal Patriotic Society of Upper Canada and its doingsin raising and distributing upwards of £20, 000 to relieveCanadian sufferers by the war 466 CHAPTER LX. STATE OF CANADA AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE WAR; CONCLUSION 469 THE LOYALISTS OF AMERICA AND THEIR TIMES, FROM 1620 TO 1816. CHAPTER XXVII. THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AFTER THE DECLARATION OFINDEPENDENCE--THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE CONGRESS AND KING OF FRANCE--THEALLIANCE NOT PRODUCTIVE OF THE EFFECTS ANTICIPATED--EFFORTS OF THEBRITISH GOVERNMENT FOR RECONCILIATION WITH THE COLONIES NOT SUCCESSFUL. It was supposed, both in America and France, that when the alliancebetween the King of France and Congress, referred to in the last chapterof the previous volume, became known in England, though it was notpublicly avowed until February, 1778, England would be weakened anddiscouraged from further warlike effort, and immediately offer terms ofpeace, upon the ground of American independence; but the reverse was thecase. The alliance between Congress and the King of France was kept inabeyance by the latter during more than a twelvemonth after it wasapplied for by the agents of Congress, until after the defeat andcapture of General Burgoyne and the refusal of Congress to confer withLord and General Howe, as British Commissioners, without the previousacknowledgment by the Commissioners of the independence of the UnitedStates. [1] Lord Admiral Howe, having spent some months with his fleet at Halifax, did not arrive at Sandy Hook until the 12th of July, eight days afterthe Declaration of Independence. "Besides the troops, Lord Howe hadbrought with him a document which it was hoped might render themunnecessary--the Royal warrant appointing himself and General HoweCommissioners under the Act of Parliament for the pacification ofAmerica. No doubt the selection of such men was most wisely made. Thememory of their elder brother, who had fallen gloriously in the warsagainst the French in Canada, was endeared to the colonists, who hadfought by his side. Both Lord Howe and the General, but Lord Howeespecially, had ever since cultivated a friendly intercourse withAmericans, and now entertained a most earnest wish to conclude thestrife against them. But judicious as was the choice of theCommissioners, the restricted terms of the Commission were certainly inthe highest degree impolitic. Lord Howe had laboured, but vainly, toobtain its enlargement; it amounted, in fact, to little more than thepower, first, of receiving submissions, and then, but not till then, ofgranting pardons and inquiring into grievances. [2] Yet, still, sincethese terms had not been divulged, and were much magnified by commonrumour, the name of the Commission was not ill adapted for populareffect. Had Lord Howe arrived with it a few weeks before, as he mightand should have done, we are assured by American writers that animpression might have been produced by it, in some at least of thethirteen colonies, to an extent which they 'cannot calculate, ' orrather, perhaps, which they do not like to own. But these few months hadbeen decisive in another direction. During these months both the feelingand the position of the insurgents had most materially changed. "[3] "The two Royal Commissioners, " says Dr. Ramsay, "Admiral and GeneralHowe, thought proper, before they commenced their military operations, to try what might be done in their civil capacity towards effecting areunion between Great Britain and the colonies. It was one of the firstacts of Lord Howe to send on shore a circular letter to several of theRoyal Governors in America, informing them of the late Act of Parliament'for restoring peace to the colonies, and granting pardon to such asshould deserve mercy, ' and desiring them to publish a declaration whichaccompanied the same. In this, he informed the colonists of the powerwith which his brother and he were entrusted 'of granting general orparticular pardons to all those who, though they had deviated from theirallegiance, were willing to return to their duty:' and of declaring 'anycolony, province, county or town, port, district or place, to be in thepeace of his Majesty. ' Congress, impressed with the belief that theproposals of the Commissioners, instead of disuniting the people, wouldhave a contrary effect, ordered them to be speedily published in theseveral American newspapers. Had a _redress of grievances_ been at thislate hour offered, though the honour of the States was involved insupporting their late Declaration of Independence, yet the love ofpeace, and the bias of great numbers to their parent State, would, inall probability, have made a powerful party for rescinding the Act ofSeparation, and for re-uniting with Great Britain; but when it appearedthat the power of the Royal Commissioners was little more than to grantpardons, Congress appealed to the good sense of the people for thenecessity of adhering to the Act of Independence. "[4] It was a diplomatic blunder and an unwise policy for the EnglishCommissioners to make known to the public the restricted authority oftheir commission, instead of simply stating in general terms theircommission under the authority of the Act of Parliament "for restoringpeace to the colonies. " On such grounds and for such an object theCongress could have offered no justifiable excuse for refusing aconference with the Royal Commissioners; and when, in the course of thediscussion, it should have been found that the Commissioners could notagree with, and did not feel themselves authorized to accede to, allthe demands of the agents of Congress, the Royal Commissioners (both ofwhom were known to be friends of the colonies, and opposed to thehigh-handed measures of the Parliament) could have noted the points ofdifference, and agreed to recommend the demands made upon them to themost favourable consideration of the King's Government: at all events, friendly intercourse and negotiations would have been opened which wouldhave been probably followed by a suspension of hostilities, if notcomplete reconciliation. But this was what Congress, led by John Adamsand Dr. Franklin--bitter enemies to reconciliation--dreaded; and theyvery shrewdly saw and improved the imprudent exposure of the RoyalCommissioners, by directing the publication of their circular letter anddeclaration in all the provincial newspapers, "that the good people ofthe United States may be informed of what nature are the Commissioners, and what the terms, with expectation of which the insidious Court ofGreat Britain had endeavoured to amuse and disarm them; and that the fewwho still remain suspended by a hope, founded either on the justice ormoderation of their late King, might now at length be convinced that thevalour alone of their country is to save its liberties. " Thus all conference with the Royal Commissioners was refused on the partof the leaders in Congress; war and bloodshed followed, and a year ofdisastrous defeats to the Revolutionists; but the position of theLoyalists may be inferred from the resolution of the New YorkRevolutionary Convention, adopted a few days after the Declaration ofIndependence, and before the actual commencement of hostilities, andwhich was as follows: "That all persons residing within the State of NewYork, and claiming protection from its laws, owed it allegiance; andthat any person owing it allegiance, and levying war against the State, _or being an adherent to the King of Great Britain, should be deemedguilty of treason and suffer death_. " The Convention also resolved:"That as the inhabitants of King's County had determined not to opposethe enemy, a Committee should be appointed to inquire into theauthenticity of these reports, and to _disarm and secure thedisaffected, to remove or destroy the stock of grain, and, if necessary, to lay the whole county waste_. " Such treatment of adherents to theunity of the empire, and of even neutrals, at the very commencement ofthe war, goes far to account for the warfare of extermination in manyplaces between the two parties in subsequent years. This mode of warfarewas first instituted against the Loyalists, who acted on the defensive, and who have been loudly complained of by American historians for havingafterwards, and on some occasions cruelly retaliated upon those who haddriven them to desperation. A little more than eighteen months after the Declaration ofIndependence, 17th of February, 1778, three Bills were introduced intoand passed by the British Parliament, which entirely removed all thegrounds of complaint made by the colonists in previous years, andprovided for the appointment of Commissioners to settle all differencesbetween the colonies and the mother country. The first of these Billswas entitled, "For removing Doubts and Apprehensions concerning Taxationby the Parliament of Great Britain in any of the Colonies. " It expresslyrepealed by name the tea duty in America, and declared: "That from andafter the passing of this Act the King and Parliament of Great Britainwill not impose any duty, tax, or assessment whatever in any of hisMajesty's (American) colonies, except only such duties as it may beexpedient to impose for the regulation of commerce; the net produce ofsuch duties to be always paid and applied to and for the use of thecolony in which the same shall be levied. " "Thus, " says Lord Mahon, "wasthe claim of parliamentary taxation fully, at last, renounced. " The second Bill was "To enable his Majesty to appoint Commissioners withsufficient power to treat, consult, and agree upon the means of quietingthe disorders now subsisting in certain of the colonies, plantations, and provinces of North America. " The Commissioners were to be five innumber, and were invested with extensive powers; they were to raise nodifficulties as to the rank or title of the leaders on either side, butwere left at liberty to treat, consult, and agree with any body orbodies politic, or any person or persons whatsoever; they might proclaima cessation of hostilities on the part of the King's forces by sea orland, for any time, or under any conditions or restrictions; they mightsuspend any Act of Parliament relating to America passed since the 10thof February, 1763. In short, it was intimated that the Commissionersmight accept almost any terms of reconciliation short of independence, and subject to be confirmed by a vote of Parliament. Lord North introduced his Bills in an able and eloquent speech of twohours, in which he reviewed his own career and the several questions ofdispute with the colonies. [5] But though taunted from all sides, his Bills passed speedily throughboth Houses of Parliament. Lord Mahon remarks: "In spite of such tauntsand far from friendly feelings on all sides, the Conciliatory Bills, asthey have been termed, were not in reality opposed from any quarter. There was only one division on a clause moved by Mr. Powys, to repealexpressly by name the Massachusetts Charter Act. Lord North induced alarge majority to vote against that clause, but agreed that the objectin view should be attained by a separate measure. A Bill for thatpurpose was therefore introduced by Mr. Powys, and passed throughParliament concurrently with the other two. In the House of Lords thesame arguments were, with little change, renewed. Lord Shelburne tookoccasion to declare his full concurrence in the sentiments of LordChatham, expressing 'the strongest disapprobation of every idea tendingto admit the independence of America, ' although acknowledging thatfuture circumstances might create a necessity for such a submission. Lord Chatham himself was ill with gout at Hayes, and did not appear. There was no division; and on the 11th of March (1778), the King, seatedon his throne, gave to all three measures the royal assent. "[6] Lord North and other members of his Administration were convinced thatthe American problem could not be solved by their own party; that such awork could be accomplished by the Earl of Chatham alone, as he had a fewyears before, by his skill and energy, when the affairs of America werein a desperate state after five years' unsuccessful war with France, dispossessed France, in the short space of two years, of every inch ofAmerican territory. The Duke of Richmond advocated immediate surrenderof independence to the Americans, and peace with them, in order to avoida war with France; he doubted the possibility of even Lord Chatham beingable to effect a reconciliation between the American colonies and GreatBritain. Three-fourths of a century afterwards, Lord Macaulay expressedthe same opinion; but Lord Mahon, in his History, has expressed acontrary opinion, and given his reasons in the following words, wellworthy of being carefully read and pondered: "In the first place, let it be remembered with what great and whatsingular advantages Lord Chatham would have set his hand to the work. Hehad from the outset most ably and most warmly supported the claims ofthe colonists. Some of his eloquent sentences had become watchwords intheir mouths. His statue had been erected in their streets; hisportrait was hanging in their Council Chambers. For his great name theyfelt a love and reverence higher as yet than for any one of their ownchiefs and leaders, not even at that early period excepting Washingtonhimself. Thus, if even it could be said that overtures of reconciliationhad failed in every other British hand, it would afford no proof that inChatham's they might not have thriven and borne fruit. "But what at the same period was the position of Congress? Had thatassembly shown of late an enlightened zeal for the public interests, anddid it then stand high in the confidence and affection of itscountrymen? Far otherwise. The factions and divisions prevailing attheir town of York (in Virginia, where they removed from Baltimore), thevindictive rigour to political opponents, the neglect of Washington'sarmy, and the cabals against Washington's powers, combined to createdisgust, with other less avoidable causes, as the growing depreciationof the paper-money, the ruinous loss of trade, and the augmented burdensof the war. Is the truth of this picture denied? Hear then, aswitnesses, the members of Congress themselves. We find in this verymonth of March (1778), one of them write to another on the necessity ofjoint exertions to "revive the expiring reputation of Congress. " (Letterfrom William Duer, of New York, to Robert Morris, dated March 6th, 1778, and printed in the Life of Reed, Vol. I. , p. 365. ) We find anotherlamenting that 'even good Whigs begin to think peace, at some expense, desirable. ' (General Reed to President Wharton, February 1, 1778. ) "When such was the feeling in America, both as regarded Lord Chatham andas regarded the Congress, it would not certainly follow that anyoverture from the former would be rejected on account of thedisapprobation of the latter. The provinces might, perhaps, have notbeen inclined to the deliberations, or even cast off the sway of thecentral body, and make terms of peace for themselves. At any rate, allsuch hope was not precluded; at least some such trial might be made. "Nor does it appear to me, as to Mr. Macaulay, that there was any, eventhe slightest, inconsistency in Lord Chatham having first pronouncedagainst the conquest of America, and yet refusing to allow herindependence. After the declaration in her behalf of France, LordChatham had said, no doubt, that America could not be conquered. Had heever said she could not be reconciled? It was on conciliation, and noton conquest, that he built his later hopes. He thought the declarationof France no obstacle to his views, but rather an instrument for theirsupport. He conceived that the treaty of alliance concluded by theenvoys of the Congress with the Court of Versailles might tend beyondany other cause to rekindle British feelings in the hearts of theAmericans. Were the glories of Wolfe and Amherst, in which they hadpartaken, altogether blotted from their minds? Would the soldier-yeomenof the colonies be willing to fight side by side with those French whom, till within fifteen years, they had found in Canada their bitterhereditary foes? That consequences like to these--that some suchrevulsion of popular feeling in America might, perhaps, ensue from anopen French alliance, is an apprehension which, during the first yearsof the contest, we find several times expressed in the secret letters ofthe Revolution chiefs; it was a possibility which we see called forththeir fears; why then might it not be allowed to animate the hopes ofChatham?"[7] But Lord Chatham was not destined even to try the experiment of givingAmerica a second time to England; in a few days he fell in the House ofLords, to rise no more, with the protest on his lips against theseparation of the American colonies from England. The Americans had noconfidence in the professions of a Parliament and Ministry which hadoppressed and sought to deceive them for twelve years. As low as theCongress had fallen in the estimation of a large part of the colonists, the English Ministry was regarded with universal distrust and aversion. The Congress refused even to confer with the Royal Commissioners, andhad sufficient influence to prevent any province from entering intonegotiations with them. All the former grounds of complaint had beenremoved by the three Acts of Parliament above referred to, and all theconcessions demanded had been granted. The Royal Commissioners requestedGeneral Washington, on the 9th of June (1778), to furnish a passport fortheir Secretary, Dr. Ferguson with a letter from them to Congress; butthis was refused, and the refusal was approved by Congress. They thenforwarded, in the usual channel of communication, a letter addressed "Tohis Excellency Henry Laurens, the President, and other Members ofCongress, " in which they enclosed a copy of their commission and theActs of Parliament on which it was founded; and they offered to concurin every satisfactory and just arrangement towards the following amongother purposes: "To consent to a cessation of hostilities both by sea and land; "To restore free intercourse, to revive mutual affection, and renew thecommon benefits of naturalization through the several parts of thisempire; "To extend every freedom to trade that our respective interests canrequire; "To agree that no military forces shall be kept up in the differentStates of North America without the consent of the General Congress, orparticular Assemblies; "To concur in measures calculated to discharge the debts of America, andto raise the credit and value of the paper circulation; "To perpetuate our union by a reciprocal deputation of an agent oragents from the different States, who shall have the privilege of a seatand voice in the Parliament of Great Britain; or if sent from GreatBritain, in that case to have a seat or voice in the Assemblies of thedifferent States to which they may be deputed respectively, in order toattend to the several interests of those by whom they are deputed; "In short, to establish the power of the respective Legislatures in eachparticular State; to settle its revenue, its civil and militaryestablishment, and to exercise a perfect freedom of legislation andinternal government; so that the British States throughout NorthAmerica, acting with us in peace and war under one common sovereign, mayhave the irrevocable enjoyment of every privilege that is short of totalseparation of interests, or consistent with that union of force on whichthe safety of our common religion and liberty depends. "[8] The three Acts of Parliament and the proposals of the five EnglishCommissioners were far in advance of any wishes which the colonists hadexpressed before the Declaration of Independence, and placed thecolonists on the footing of Englishmen--all that the Earl of Chatham andMr. Burke had ever advocated--all that the free, loyal, and happyDominion of Canada enjoys at this day--all and nothing more than wasrequired for the unity of the empire and of the Anglo-Saxon race; butthe leaders of Congress had determined upon the dismemberment of theempire--had determined to sever all connection with the elder Europeanbranch of the Anglo-Saxon family--had determined, and that without evenconsulting the constituents whom they professed to represent, totransfer their allegiance from England to France, to bind themselveshand and foot to France--that they would make no peace with England, upon any terms, without the consent of the French Court. It may be easily conceived what an effect would be produced upon thetruly national mind of both England and America by such a transition onthe part of the leaders of Congress and their representatives abroad--atransition which might be called a revolution, involving new issues andnew relations of parties; for the question was no longer one of mereseparation from England, much less the question of Stamp Acts, ortaxation without representation, or suspension of charters--all acts andpretensions of this kind having been repealed and renounced; but thequestion was now one of union with the hereditary foe of England and hercolonies; and the unnatural alliance contemplated the invasion ofEngland by the French, the destruction of British commerce, the wrestingfrom England of the West Indies as well as Canada, [9] and thepossession by France of whatever islands or territory her navy and armyshould conquer. All this was a different thing from mere independence of the mothercountry. The United Empire Loyalists and advocates of colonial rightswere now subject to a new allegiance, and punished as rebels and theirproperty confiscated if they would not unite with the French againsttheir English forefathers and brethren. So enamoured were the leaders ofCongress with their new allies, that they interrupted the reading of theofficial letter from the British Commissioners on account of a passagewhich reflected upon France, and debated three days whether they shouldallow the remaining part of the letter to be read. [10] But the feelings of all classes in England, and of a large part, if notthe great majority, of the colonists, were different from those of theleaders of Congress, now depleted of many distinguished men who attendedits previous year's sittings. [11] By this alliance with France the allied colonies became, as it were, apart of France, bound up in oneness with it--refusing all overtures ornegotiations with the representatives of England without the approval ofthe French Court. The coasts, cities, towns, etc. , of the Americanallies of France therefore became liable to the same treatment on thepart of the British army and navy as the coasts, cities, and towns ofFrance. Of this the British Commissioners informed the Congress, afterthe latter had declared its identity with France, and refused anyfurther intercourse with them. [12] The war for a short time after this period became more acrimonious anddestructive on both sides than before, as between the French andEnglish. But this policy of devastation and retaliation was disapprovedof by the British Government--was confined mostly to some certain coasttowns in New England, while in the South the conduct of Col. Campbell, on the subjugation of Georgia, was marked by lenity and generosity. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: "While the American Commissioners were urging the Ministersof the King of France to accept the treaty proposed by Congress, theyreceived assurances of the good wishes of the Court of France; but werefrom time to time informed that the important transactions requiredfurther consideration, and were enjoined to observe the most profoundsecrecy. Matters remained in this fluctuating state from December, 1776, till December, 1777. Private encouragement and public discountenancewere alternated; but both varied according to the complexion of newsfrom America. The defeat on Long Island, the reduction of New York, andthe train of disastrous events in 1776, which have already beenmentioned, sunk the credit of the Americans very low, and abated much ofthe national ardour for their support. Their subsequent successes atTrenton and Princeton effaced these impressions, and rekindled activezeal in their behalf. The capture of Burgoyne (October, 1777) fixedthese wavering polities. The successes of the American campaign of 1777placed them on high ground. Their enmity proved itself formidable toBritain, and their friendship became desirable to France. It wastherefore determined to take them by the hand and publicly espouse theircause. The Commissioners of Congress, on the 16th of December, 1777, were informed by M. Gerard, one of the Secretaries of the King's Councilof State, 'that it was decided to acknowledge the independence of theUnited States, and to make a treaty with them; that in the treaty noadvantage would be taken of their situation to obtain terms whichotherwise it would not be convenient for them to agree to; that his MostChristian Majesty desired the treaty, once made, should be durable, andtheir amity to subsist for ever, which could not be expected if eachnation did not find an interest in its continuance as well as in itscommencement. '" (Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap, xv. , pp. 246, 247. )] [Footnote 2: "MS. Instructions, May, 6th, 1776, State Paper Office. --Itis therein required as a preliminary condition, before any provinceshall be declared in the King's peace, that its Convention, orCommittee, or Association 'which have usurped powers, ' shall bedissolved. "] [Footnote 3: Lord Mahon's History of England, Vol. VI. , Chap. Liii. , pp. 137, 138. Lord Mahon adds: "At the beginning of the troubles, as I have alreadyshown, and for a long time afterwards, the vast majority of theAmericans had no wish nor thought of separation from the mother country. Their object was substantially, and with some new safeguards for theirrights, to revert to the same state in which they had been before theAdministration of George Grenville. But the further the conflictproceeded, the less and less easy of attainment did that object seem. How hard, after what had passed, to restore harmonious action betweenthe powers now at strife, for the people to trust the Governorsappointed by the King, and for the King to trust the Assembly elected bythe people. Even where the actual wrong might have departed, it wouldstill leave its fatal legacy, rancour and suspicion, behind. Under theinfluence of these feelings a great number of persons in all thecolonies were gradually turning their minds to the idea of finalseparation from the parent State. Still, in all these colonies, exceptonly in New England, there were many lingering regrets, many deep-rooteddoubts and misgivings. John Adams writes as follows: 'My dear friendGates, all our misfortunes arise from a single source--the reluctance ofthe Southern colonies to republican government' (March, 1776, AmericanArchives, Vol. V. , p. 472). Here are the words of another popularleader: 'Notwithstanding the Act of Parliament for seizing our property, there is a strange reluctance in the minds of many to cut the knot whichties us to Great Britain'" (Letter of Reed to Washington, March 3rd, 1776). --_Ib. _, pp. 139, 140. ] [Footnote 4: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xi. , pp. 121, 122. ] [Footnote 5: "The impression on the House that night, while Lord Northwas speaking, and after he sat down, is well described by the pen of acontemporary--no other, in all probability, than Burke: 'A dull, melancholy silence for some time succeeded to this speech. It had beenheard with profound attention, but without a single mark of approbationto any part, from any description of men, or any particular man in theHouse. Astonishment, dejection, and fear overclouded the whole assembly. Although the Minister had declared that the sentiments he expressed thatday had been those which he always entertained, it is certain that fewor none had understood him in that manner; and he had been representedto the nation at large as the person in it the most tenacious of thoseparliamentary rights which he now proposed to resign, and the mostremote from the submissions which he now proposed to make. ' "It may be said, indeed, that there was not a single class or sectionwithin the walls of Parliament to which the plan of Lord North gavepleasure. The Ministerial party were confounded and abashed at findingthemselves thus requested to acknowledge their past errors and retracetheir former steps. Some among them called out that they had beendeceived and betrayed. In general, however, the majority acquiesced insullen silence. On the other part, the Opposition were by no meansgratified to see the wind, according to the common phrase, taken fromtheir sails. They could not, indeed, offer any resistance to proposalsso consonant to their own expressed opinions, but they took care to maketheir support as disagreeable and damaging as possible. " (Lord Mahon'sHistory of England, etc. , Vol. VI. , Chap. Lvii. , pp. 327-329. )] [Footnote 6: History of England, etc. , Vol. VI. , Chap. Lvii, pp. 329, 330. Lord Mahon adds: "Only two days previously, Lord North, who had openedhis Budget on the 6th, had carried through his financial resolutions inthe House of Commons, involving a new loan of £6, 000, 000, which wascontracted on advantageous terms. Thus were funds provided to pursue thewar, should that be requisite. Thus was an opening made for negotiationsshould they be practicable. In either case the path was cleared for anew Administration. Here then was the moment which Lord North had forsome time past desired--the moment when, with most honour to himself andwith most advantage to his country, he could fulfil his intentions ofresigning. " (Lord Mahon's History of England, Vol. VI. , Chap. Lvii, pp. 330, 331. )] [Footnote 7: Lord Mahon's History of England, Vol. VI. , Chap. Lvii. , pp. 344-347. ] [Footnote 8: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xv. , pp. 254, 255. ] [Footnote 9: While Count D'Estaing was at Boston repairing his shatteredfleet, he was not unmindful of an essential part of his commission--todetach Canada from England. "In pursuance of this design, a Declarationwas published (dated the 28th of October, 1778), addressed in the nameof the King of France to the French inhabitants of Canada, and of everyother part of America formerly subject to that Crown. This Declarationcontained the highest praises of the valour of the Americans; it laidbefore the inhabitants of Canada the mortification they must endure inbearing arms against the allies of their parent State; it represented tothem, in the strongest terms, the ties formed by origin, language, manners, government, and religion, between the Canadians and the French, and lamented the misfortune which had occasioned a disjunction of thatcolony from France; it recalled to their remembrance the braveresistance they had made during the many wars they had been engaged inagainst England, especially the last; it reminded them of theirfavourite warriors and generals, particularly the valiant Montcalm, whofell at their head, in defence of their country; it earnestly entreatedthem to reflect seriously on their disagreeable subjection to strangersliving in another hemisphere, differing from them in every possiblerespect, who could consider them no otherwise than as a conqueredpeople, and would always, of course, treat them accordingly. Itconcluded by formally notifying, that the Count D'Estaing was authorizedand commanded by the King of France to declare, in his name, that allhis former subjects in North America who should renounce theirallegiance to Great Britain might depend on his protection and support. "(Dr. Andrews' History of the American War, Vol. III. , Chap. Xxxviii. , p. 171. )] [Footnote 10: The conciliatory acts of the British Parliament and theletter of the Commissioners were referred by the Congress to a Committeeof three--all known to be opposed to any reconciliation with England. This Committee made, the next day after its appointment, a report whichwas adopted by Congress, that the British acts were merely intended tooperate upon the hopes and fears of the American people, and to producedivisions among them; "that those who made any partial convention oragreement with the Commissioners of Great Britain would be regarded asenemies; and that the United States could hold no conference with suchCommissioners until the British Government _first withdrew its fleetsand armies, or acknowledged the independence of the United States_. " "This _rejection_ of terms which they not long before would havecordially welcomed, _was, no doubt, caused by the confident expectationthey then had of the support and alliance of France_; and accordinglythe news of that alliance soon after reached them, and diffused ageneral joy throughout the land. " (Tucker's History of the UnitedStates, Vol. I. , Chap. Iii. , pp. 221, 222. )] [Footnote 11: "The Declaration of Independence effected an alteration ofsentiments in England. It was esteemed by many of the most judiciouspersons in this country, a measure wholly unnecessary, and withoutrecurring to which America might have compassed every point proposed bycontinuing its resistance to Britain on the same footing it had begun. This measure occasioned an alienation from its interests in the minds ofmany of its former adherents. It was looked upon as a wanton abuse ofthe success with which it had opposed the efforts of the BritishMinistry to bring them to submission, and as an ungrateful return forthe warmth with which their cause had been espoused in Parliament, andby such multitudes as in the idea of many amounted to a plurality. " "The Declaration of France completed the revolution that had beengradually taking place in the opinions of men on their being repeatedlyapprised of the determination of Congress to break asunder all the bondsof former amity, and to unite themselves in the closest manner with thatkingdom. " (Dr. Andrews' History of the American War, Vol. III. , Chap. Xxxiv. , pp. 82-84. ) The Declaration of France in favour of the independence of the Americancolonies, and of alliance with them, was officially communicated to theBritish Government the 13th of March, 1778, a few days after which theFrench fleet under the command of Count D'Estaing sailed from Toulon, and arrived off the coast of America in July--after a long voyage ofeighty-seven days. On learning the departure of the French fleet forAmerica, the British Government sent out, in the same ships with thePeace Commissioners, orders to Sir Henry Clinton to concentrate hisforces on Long Island and at New York. "The successor of Howe, Sir HenryClinton, was, " says Lord Mahon, "in character, as upright and amiable;in skill and enterprise, much superior. Had the earlier stages of thewar been under his direction, his ability might not have been withoutinfluence upon them. But it was his misfortune to be appointed only at atime when other foes had leagued against us, when the path was besetwith thorns and briars, when scarce any laurels rose in view. Inconsequence of the impending war with France, and in conformity with theadvice of Lord Amherst to the King, instructions had been addressed toSir Henry, on the 23rd of March, to retire from the hard-won city ofPhiladelphia, and concentrate his forces at New York. This order reachedhim at Philadelphia, in the month of May, only a few days after he hadassumed the chief command; only a few days before, there came on shorethe British Commissioners of Peace. These Commissioners might wellcomplain with some warmth, in a secret letter to Lord George Germaine, that an order so important, so directly bearing on the success of theirmission, should have been studiously concealed from them until theylanded in America, and beheld it in progress of execution. Thus to aprivate friend wrote Lord Carlisle (one of the Commissioners): 'Wearrived at this place, after a voyage of six weeks, on Saturday last, and found everything here in great confusion--- the army upon the pointof leaving the town, and about three thousand of the miserableinhabitants embarked on board of our ships, to convey them from a placewhere _they think they would receive no mercy from those who will takepossession after us_. '" "Thus from the first, " says Lord Mahon, "the Commissioners had againstthem the news of a retreat from Philadelphia, and the news of the treatyof Paris; further, they had against them, as the Opposition in Englandhad long foreseen and foretold, the fact of their connection with LordNorth. Even at the outset, before their affairs could be known (June 14, 1778), one of the leaders in America, General Joseph Reed, answered aprivate note from one of them as follows: 'I shall only say that afterthe unparalleled injuries and insults this country has received from themen who now direct the affairs of Great Britain, a negotiation undertheir auspices has much to Struggle with. '" "How different, " remarksLord Mahon, "might have been his feelings, had they brought theirCommission from Lord Chatham. " (History of England, Vol. VI. , Chap. Lviii. , pp. 372-374. ) Lord Mahon adds: "Not any, even the smallest opening, was afforded tothese messengers of peace. They desired to despatch to the seat ofCongress their Secretary, Dr. Adam Ferguson, the well-known Professor ofEdinburgh, and they applied to Washington for a passport, but Washingtonrefused it until the pleasure of Congress should be known. The Congress, on their part, had put forth a resolution declining even to hold anyconference with the Commissioners unless, as a preliminary, they shouldeither withdraw the fleets and armies, or else, in express terms, acknowledge the independence of the United States. In vain did theCommissioners address the President of the Congress, and entreat someconsideration of their terms. (For the terms, see page 11. ) To none ofthese terms, so tempting heretofore, would the Congress hearken; andafter their first letter, they decided in a summary manner that nofurther reply should be returned. "--_Ib. _, pp. 374, 375. ] [Footnote 12: "Finding it impossible to proceed with their negotiations, the Commissioners prepared to re-embark for England. First, however, they issued a manifesto, or proclamation, to the American people, appealing to them against the decisions of the Congress, and offering tothe colonies at large, or singly, a general or separate peace. Thisproclamation was in most parts both ably and temperately argued. Butthere was one passage liable to just exceptions. The Commissionersobserved, that hitherto the hopes of a reunion had checked the extremesof war. Henceforth the contest would be changed. If the British colonieswere to become an accession to France, the law of self-preservation mustdirect Great Britain to render the accession of as little avail aspossible to her enemy. Mr. Fox and others in the House of Commonsinveighed with great plausibility against this passage, us threatening awar of savage desolation. Others again, as friends of Lord Carlisle andMr. Eden (afterwards Lord Auckland), asserted that no such meaning wasimplied. The error, whatever it might be, lay with the Commissioners, and in no degree with the Government at home; for Lord North denied, inthe most express terms, that his Ministers had intended to give theleast encouragement to the introduction of any new kind of war in NorthAmerica. " (Debate in the House of Commons, Dec. 4, 1778. ) Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VI. , Chap. Lviii. , pp. 376, 377. ] CHAPTER XXVIII. COMPLETE FAILURE OF THE FRENCH FLEET AND ARMY, UNDER COUNT D'ESTAING, TOASSIST THE CONGRESS. The leaders of Congress were disappointed in the high expectations whichthey had entertained from their unnatural alliance with France. CountD'Estaing left France with a much more powerful fleet than Lord Howecommanded in America, besides bringing an army of several thousandsoldiers. He had expected to surprise and capture the British ships inthe River Delaware; but Lord Howe had sailed for New York several daysbefore his arrival. Count D'Estaing pursued, and lay eleven days atanchor off Sandy Hook, not being able to get his large ships over thebar into New York harbour. He at length directed his course, byWashington's advice, to Long Island, and sailed up the Newport river, whither he was followed by Lord Howe. "An attack against the British inthat quarter had been projected between the new allies. The Frenchpromised to land from their ships four thousand troops, and theAmericans actually sent a detachment of ten thousand under GeneralSullivan. The British troops, only five thousand strong, retired withintheir lines at Newport. "At these tidings, Lord Howe, whose intended successor, Admiral Byron, had not yet arrived, issued forth from the Hudson and sailed in pursuitof D'Estaing. The two fleets were on the point of engaging whenseparated by a violent storm; there were conflicts between individualships only, in which the honour of the British flag was worthilymaintained. D'Estaing now declared his fleet so far damaged by thestorm as to compel him to put into Boston harbour and refit. In thisresolution he persisted, though Sullivan, Greene, and other Americanofficers altogether denied the necessity, and even transmitted to him awritten protest against it, couched in the most acrimonious terms. "[13] Certain it is, that the course which D'Estaing pursued on this occasionnot only forced the Americans to relinquish their enterprise upon LongIsland, but roused up among them a bitter feeling against the French. Tosuch an extent was this animosity carried that riots ensued in thestreets of Boston[14] between the American seamen and their newallies. [15] Even in regard to the mode of attacking the British on Long Island, differences arose between Count D'Estaing and his new American friendson questions of etiquette. Mr. Tucker says: "D'Estaing's fastidiousnesson points of etiquette, and his refusal to aid in what would have givenso serious a blow to the British power in America, is calculated toraise a doubt whether he was really anxious to bring the war to animmediate conclusion. "[16] Early in November, Count D'Estaing, with theFrench squadron, quitted the port of Boston and sailed for the WestIndies, there to pursue exclusively French objects. "Deep was thedisappointment and loud the animadversion of the Americans in theNorthern provinces. They had formed the most sanguine hopes from theFrench alliance. They had found that alliance as yet little better thana name. "[17] The results of Count D'Estaing's expedition, and of the French alliancethus far, are well summed up by Dr. Ramsay in the following words: "Withthe abortive expedition to Rhode Island there was an end to the planswhich were in this first campaign projected by the allies of Congressfor co-operation. The Americans had been intoxicated with hopes of themost decisive advantages; but in every instance they were disappointed. Lord Howe, with an inferiority of force, not only preserved his ownfleet, but counteracted and defeated all the views and attempts of CountD'Estaing. The French fleet gained no direct advantages for theAmericans; yet their arrival was of great service to their cause. Besides deranging the plans of the British, it carried conviction totheir minds that his Most Christian Majesty was seriously disposed tosupport them. The good-will of their new allies was manifested to theAmericans; and though it had failed in producing the effects expectedfrom it, the failure was charged to winds, weather, and unavoidableincidents. Some censured Count D'Estaing; but while they attempted toconsole themselves by throwing blame on him, they felt and acknowledgedtheir obligation to the French nation, and were encouraged to perseverein the war, from the hope that better fortune would attend their futureco-operation. "[18] Count D'Estaing proceeded with his fleet to the WestIndies, where he did nothing worthy of the large fleet, reinforced bythat of Count de Grasse with several thousand troops, against theEnglish fleet under the command of Admiral Byron--much inferior in bothmen and metal; but the French admiral declined and evaded any generalengagement, though repeatedly provoked to it. "The British fleetendeavoured in vain to compel the enemy to come to close fight; theyavoided it with the utmost circumspection and dexterity. "[19] It became indispensably necessary for Admiral Byron to provide apowerful convoy to the merchant shipping now on the eve of theirdeparture for England, and whose cargoes were of immense value. Underall the circumstances, Admiral Byron determined to convoy the homewardtrade with his whole fleet, till it was out of danger of being followedby Count D'Estaing or of falling in with M. De la Motte, who was on hisway from France to the French islands with a strong squadron. DuringAdmiral Byron's absence, Count D'Estaing directed an attack to be madeon the island of St. Vincent, the garrison of which was veryinconsiderable, and soon surrendered to the superior strength of theFrench, assisted by a great multitude of the Caribbee Indians, and whoseized this opportunity of revenging themselves for injuries inflictedupon them by the English during the last French war. In the meantime Count D'Estaing was still further reinforced by thearrival of the squadron commanded by M. De la Motte. His fleet nowconsisted of twenty-six ships of the line and twelve frigates, and hisland force amounted to ten thousand men. With this powerful armament hesailed for the island of Grenada, the strength of which consisted ofabout one hundred and fifty regulars and three or four hundred armedinhabitants. The garrison was compelled to yield to the prodigioussuperiority of force against them, after a most heroic defence, inwhich no less than three hundred of the French were killed andwounded. [20] The complaints of the Americans of the failure of Count D'Estaing'sexpedition to America, of his abandoning the expedition against LongIsland, of his leaving the coasts of the Southern colonies unprotectedand exposed, and proceeding to the West Indies, reached the FrenchCourt, which sent instructions to Count D'Estaing enjoining him toreturn with all speed to the assistance of the colonies. For thispurpose he left the West Indies on the 1st of September. Mr. Tuckerremarks: "General Lincoln (commander of the colonial forces in Carolina)having informed Count D'Estaing that the British ships had gone intoport to repair the damages sustained in the late engagement with hisfleet in the West Indies, and that a fair opportunity was presented ofdestroying the British army in Georgia, with the co-operation of theFrench fleet, the Count immediately left the West Indies, withtwenty-two sail of the line and eleven frigates. He had on board sixthousand land forces, and arrived so unexpectedly on the coast that aBritish fifty-gun ship and three frigates fell into his hands. He then, in conjunction with General Lincoln, planned an attack on the town ofSavannah. "[21] The arrangements for the attack having been made, the whole French fleetcame to anchor at the mouth of the Savannah river on the 1st day ofSeptember. He was occupied ten days in landing his troops andartillery; on the 15th of September a junction was formed between theFrench and General Lincoln, [22] and with the utmost confidence ofsuccess. [23] They determined to take the town by siege rather than by storm in thefirst instance. [24] On the 16th of September they demanded, in a very confident and haughtytone, the surrender of the town to the arms of the King of France; butGeneral Prevost declined surrendering on a general summons, andrequested a specific statement of the terms of it. The Count repliedthat it was for the besieged to propose the terms. General Prevostrequested and obtained twenty-four hours' suspension of hostilities toprepare his answer. Before the twenty-four hours had elapsed, Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, with several hundred men who had beenstationed at Beaufort, made their way through inland channels andswamps, and joined the royal standard at Savannah; and General Prevostgave his answer of no surrender. The French and Americans, who formed ajunction the evening after, resolved to besiege the town, and consumedseveral days in preparing for it, while the works of the garrison werehourly strengthened by great labour and skill. From the 24th ofSeptember to the 4th of October a heavy cannonade on both sides was keptup; but the allied army, finding that they could make little or noimpression on the works of the besieged, resolved on a bombardment, witha stronger cannonading than ever. On the 4th of October the besiegersopened on the town three batteries, with nine mortars, thirty-sevenpieces of cannon from the land side, and fifteen from the water. Thefiring from these batteries lasted, with little intermission, duringfive days; but the damage they did was confined mostly to the town, where some houses were destroyed and some women and children killed. Soon after the commencement of the cannonade, General Prevost requestedpermission to remove the women and children out of the town to a placeof safety; but this request was refused in offensive terms on the partof Count D'Estaing, by the advice of General Lincoln, on the pretextthat a desire of secreting the plunder lately taken from the SouthCarolinas was covered under the veil of humanity, but the real reasonwas that the surrender of the town would be expedited by keeping thewomen and children in it. [25] Count D'Estaing, finding that his five days' cannonading made noimpression on the defensive works of the city, and his officersremonstrating against his continuing to risk so valuable a fleet on adangerous coast, in the hurricane season, and at so great a distancefrom shore that it might be surprised by a British fleet, now completelyrepaired in the West Indies and fully manned, he decided to assault thetown. The attack was commenced in three columns on the 9th, an hourbefore sunrise. "Though the besieged were prepared for the assault, and their fire wasvery destructive, the assailants pressed on and planted (for a fewminutes) the standard of both nations on the walls; but the contestbeing still obstinately continued, the assailants were brought to apause by the fall of Count Pulaski (commanding an American corps), whoreceived a mortal wound; and Major Glaziers, who commanded the garrison, rushing at the head of a body of grenadiers and marines, drove back theallied troops, who were ordered to retreat. The French lost sevenhundred men; the Americans, two hundred and thirty-four. The Britishgarrison lost only fifty-five in killed and wounded. On the 16th ofOctober the siege was raised by the Count, who thus for the third timefailed in his co-operation with the Americans, after the fairestprospects of success. "[26] Mr. Bancroft states the final struggle of this eventful contest, and theresults and effects of it on the Southern colonies, in the followingwords:--"After an obstinate struggle of fifty-five minutes to carry theredoubt, the assailants retreated before a charge of grenadiers andmarines, led gallantly by Maitland. The injury sustained by the Britishwas trifling; the loss of the Americans was about two hundred; of theFrench, thrice as many. The French withdrew their ships, and sailed forFrance; the patriots of Georgia who had joined them fled to thebackwoods or across the river. "Lincoln repaired to Charleston, and was followed by what remained ofhis army; the militia of South Carolina returned to their homes; itscontinental regiments were melting away; and its paper money became sonearly worthless, that a bounty of twenty-five hundred dollars fortwenty-one months' service had no attraction. The dwellers near the seabetween Charleston and Savannah were shaken in their allegiance, notknowing where to find protection. Throughout the State the people weredisheartened, and foreboded desolation. "[27] I have given a more minute account of Count D'Estaing and his abortiveexpeditions to America, and of his final attack upon Savannah and itsresults; how completely disappointed were the American revolutioniststhus far in their unnatural alliance with France against England; howlittle mutual respect or good-will, and what quarrels occurred, wheneverthey came or attempted to act together, whether at Boston, or LongIsland, or Charleston, or Savannah; and how much feebler the army andmore gloomy the prospects of the Congress party were at the end of 1779than they were two years before, when the alliance with France wasformed. Dr. Ramsay well sums up these events as follows: "The campaign of 1779 is remarkable for the feeble exertions of theAmericans. Accidental causes, which had previously excited theiractivity, had in a great measure ceased to have influence. An enthusiasmfor liberty made them comparatively disregard property and brave alldangers in the first years of the war. The successes of their arms nearthe beginning of 1777, and the hope of capturing Burgoyne's army in theclose of it, together with the brisk circulation of a large quantity ofpaper-money, in good credit, made that year both active and decisive. The flattering prospects inspired by the alliance with France in 1778banished all fears of the success of the revolution, but the failure ofevery scheme of co-operation produced a despondency of mind unfavourableto great exertions. Instead of driving the British out of the country, as the Americans vainly presumed, the campaigns of 1778 and 1779terminated without any direct advantage from the French fleet sent totheir aid. Expecting too much from their allies, and then failing inthese expectations, they were less prepared to prosecute the war withtheir own resources than they would have been if D'Estaing had nottouched on their coast. Their army was reduced in its numbers and badlyclothed. "In the first years of the war, the mercantile character was lost in themilitary spirit of the times; but in the progress of it the inhabitants, cooling in their enthusiasm, gradually returned to their former habitsof lucrative business. This made distinctions between the army andcitizens, and was unfriendly to military exertions. While severalforeign events tended to the embarrassment of Great Britain, [28] andindirectly to the establishment of independence, a variety of internalcauses relaxed the exertions of the Americans, and for a time made itdoubtful whether they would ultimately be independent citizens orconquered subjects. "[29] Even a year later--"The military force, " says Mr. Tucker, "embarked inthe beginning of 1781, to maintain the cause of independence, is thusstated in (Chief Justice) Marshall's Life of Washington: The Southerntroops, from Pennsylvania to Georgia, did not exceed three thousand men. Of the Northern troops, twelve hundred had been detached to Virginia, under La Fayette; with these they amounted only to three thousandeffective men in April. The cavalry and artillery was less than onethousand. With some small additions, the whole reached four thousand menin May. They were ill supplied with clothing, and were seriouslythreatened with a want of provisions. The quartermaster's department waswithout means of transport, " (Marshall, Vol. IV. , p. 446). [30] Such was the character and such the fruits of the alliance with Franceduring the first two years of its existence; and such was the state ofthe revolutionary army in 1780, and which seems to have been largelyowing to the incapacity and ill conduct of the Congress itself, whichhad become degenerate and corrupt--equal to that of any BritishParliament, or of any Provincial Legislature, under any RoyalGovernor. [31] Abundant evidence can be adduced in proof and illustration of thisstatement from the warmest partizans of Congress; but the testimony ofWashington himself is ample and indisputable. In the winter of 1778-9 hehad to concert his measures with Congress at Philadelphia, and he writesfrom thence as follows to his friend Benjamin Harrison: "If I were to be called upon to draw a picture of the times and of menfrom what I have seen, heard, and in part known, I should in one wordsay that idleness, dissipation, and extravagance seem to have laid fasthold of them; that speculation, peculation, and an insatiable thirst forriches seem to have got the better of every other consideration and ofevery order of men; that party disputes and personal quarrels are thegreat business of the day; whilst the momentous concerns of an empire, agreat and accumulating debt, ruined finances, depreciated money, andwant of credit, which in its consequence is the want of everything, arebut secondary considerations, and postponed from day to day, and fromweek to week, as if our affairs wore the most promising aspect. * * Ourmoney is now sinking fifty per cent. A day in this city, and I shall notbe surprised if in the course of a few months a total stop is put to thecurrency of it; and yet an assembly, a concert, a dinner, a supper, thatwill cost three or four hundred pounds, will not only take men fromacting in this business, but from thinking of it; while a great part ofthe officers of our army, from absolute necessity, are quitting theservice. * * I have no resentments, nor do I mean to point at particularcharacters. This I can declare upon my honour, for I have everyattention paid me by Congress that I could possibly expect. * * Butsuch is the picture which from my inmost soul I believe to be true; andI confess to you that I feel more real distress on account of thepresent appearances of things, than I have done at any time since thecommencement of the dispute. "[32] Such is General Washington's own account of the character and occupationof the Congress of the United States in the third year of therevolutionary war, and in the second year of their alliance withFrance--idleness, dissipation, extravagance, speculation, peculation, avarice, party and personal quarrels, dancing, feasting; while thecredit was reduced almost to nothing, and the army neglected andsuffering. [33] Such was the progress of the war; such the failure of the expeditions ofthe French alliance; such the state of the revolutionary army, and ofthe public credit; and such the degenerate character and proceedings ofCongress and its surroundings in the beginning of 1780--the fifth yearof the civil war. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 13: "They urged D'Estaing to return with his fleet into theharbour; but his principal officers were opposed to the measure, andprotested against it. He had been instructed to go into Boston if hisfleet met with any misfortune. His officers insisted on his ceasing toprosecute the expedition against Rhode Island, that he might conform tothe orders of their common superiors. A protest was drawn up and sent tohim, which was signed by John Sullivan, Nathaniel Greene, John Hancock, I. Glover, Ezekiel Cornel, William Whipple, John Tyler, Solomon Lovell, John Fitconnel. They protested against the Count's taking the fleet toBoston, as derogatory to the honour of France, contrary to the intentionof his Christian Majesty and the interests of his nation, destructive inthe highest degree to the welfare of the United States, and highlyinjurious to the alliance formed between the two nations. Had D'Estaingprosecuted his original plan within the harbour, either before orimmediately after the pursuit of Lord Howe, the reduction of the Britishpost on Rhode Island (which had been in the possession of the Britishsince 1776) would have been probable; but his departure in the firstinstance to engage the English fleet, and in the second from RhodeIsland to Boston, frustrated the whole. " (Dr. Ramsay's History of theUnited States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xvi. , p. 272. ) "Whatever were the reasons which induced Count D'Estaing to adopt thatmeasure (of sailing with his fleet direct for Boston), the Americanswere greatly dissatisfied. They complained that they had incurred greatexpense and danger, under the prospect of the most effectiveco-operation; that depending thereon, they had risked their lives on anisland, where, without naval protection, they were exposed to particulardangers; that in this situation they were first deserted, and afterwardstotally abandoned, at a time when, by persevering in the original plan, they had well-grounded hopes of speedy success. Under theseapprehensions the discontented militia went home in such crowds that theregular army, which remained was in danger of being cut off from aretreat. In these embarrassing circumstances, General Sullivanextricated himself with judgment and ability. He began to send off hisheavy artillery and baggage on the 26th, and retreated from the lines onthe night of the 28th. " (Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VI. , Chap. Lviii. , p. 173. )] [Footnote 14: "The inveteracy to the French, traditionally inherent inthe lower classes of the New England people, could not be restrainedfrom breaking out in Boston, in manner that might have been attendedwith the most serious consequences to the interests of both France andAmerica, had not the prudence of the magistracy interposed on the onehand, and the sagacity of Count D'Estaing co-operated on the other. Adesperate fray happened in that city between the populace and the Frenchsailors, in which these were roughly handled, and had much the worse. Anumber of them were hurt and wounded, and some, it was reported, werekilled. " "Precisely at the same time, a disturbance of a like nature happened atCharleston, in South Carolina, between the French and American seamen, but it was carried to much greater extremities; they engaged on bothsides with small arms, and even with cannon. A number of people werekilled and wounded" (Dr. Andrews' History of the American War, Vol. III. , Chap. Xxxviii. , pp. 172, 173)] [Footnote 15: Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VI. , Chap. Lviii, pp. 380, 381. "During this time Sir Henry Clinton sent out several expeditions invarious quarters. Near Tappan, a body of American horsemen under ColonelBaylor were surprised and routed, or put to the sword. In Egg-Harbour, great part of Count Pulaski's foreign legion was cut to pieces. AtBuzzard's Bay, and on the island called Martha's Vineyard, many Americanships were taken or destroyed, store-houses burned, and contributions ofsheep and oxen levied. In these expeditions the principal commander wasGeneral Charles Grey, an officer of great zeal and ardour, whom theAmericans sometimes surnamed the 'No-flint General, ' from his commonpractice of ordering the men to take the flints out of their muskets, and trust to their bayonets alone. After some twenty years of furtherservice, the veteran was raised, by the favour of his Sovereign, to thepeerage as Lord Grey of Howick, and afterwards Earl Grey. His son becamePrime Minister (father of the present Earl Grey), and the greatestorator who, since the death of Chatham, had appeared in the House ofLords. "--_Ib. _, pp. 382, 383. ] [Footnote 16: Tucker's History of the United States, Vol. I. , Chap. Iii. , p. 231. ] [Footnote 17: Lord Mahon's History of England, Vol. VI. , Chap. Lviii. , p. 384. Mr. Tucker remarks on this subject: "On the 3rd of November D'Estaingsailed for the West Indies, and thus ended the costly and fruitlessexpedition which bade fair to be decisive of the contest; and whichfailed first by disasters from the elements, and then frommisunderstandings in which the interests of the common cause seem tohave been sacrificed to paltry personal feelings on both sides. "(History of the United States, Vol. I. , Chap, iii. , p. 234. )] [Footnote 18: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap, xvi. , p. 275. ] [Footnote 19: "Early in January, 1779, reinforcements under AdmiralByron transferred maritime superiority to the British; and D'Estaing forsix months sheltered his fleet in the bay of Port Royal. At the end ofJune, Byron having left St. Lucia to convoy a company of Britishmerchant ships through the passage, D'Estaing detached a force againstSt. Vincent, which, with the aid of the oppressed and enslaved Caribs, was easily taken. At the same time the French admiral made an attack onthe island of Grenada, whose garrison surrendered on the 4th of July, atdiscretion. " (Bancroft, Vol. X. , Chap, xiii. , p. 295. )] [Footnote 20: "Two days after the taking of Grenada, " says Mr. Bancroft, "the fleet of Byron arrived within sight of the French, and, thoughreduced in number, sought a general close action, which his adversaryknew how to avoid. " (History of the United States, Vol. X. , Chap, xiii. , p. 295. )] [Footnote 21: History of the United States, Vol. I. , Chap, iii. , p. 249. "Count D'Estaing's intentions and his hopes were, as before, directed toobjects of the first magnitude. The first measure of the plan andcontemplation was to expel the British forces out of Georgia, and toplace that province and the contiguous province of South Carolina, andin short all the Southern colonies, on a footing of perfect securityfrom any future invasions by the British troops. After theaccomplishment of this object, he next proposed no less than a totaldeliverance of America from the terror of the British arms. This was tobe effected by the destruction of the British fleet at New York. Thelatter part of the plan he doubted not to accomplish through theco-operation of the American army under Washington. " (Dr. Andrews'History of the Late War, Vol. III. , Chap. Xlv. , pp. 308, 309. )] [Footnote 22: "A junction being formed by the French and Americanforces, they amounted together to between nine and ten thousand men. Count D'Estaing had five thousand regulars, and near one thousand stoutmulattos and free negroes, well armed. The body of Americans that joinedhim under the command of General Lincoln consisted of about two thousandat first, but were soon augmented to twice that number. "To oppose this formidable strength, General Prevost (the commander ofSavannah) had no more, altogether, than three thousand men; but theywere such as continual experience had shown he could place the utmostdependence on. Numbers were refugees (loyalists), _whom resentment forthe usage they had received_ exasperated to a degree that rendered themdesperate. "--_Ib. _, p. 312. ] [Footnote 23: "As soon as the arrival of Count D'Estaing on the coastwas known, General Lincoln, with the army under his command, marched forthe vicinity of Savannah; and orders were given for the militia ofGeorgia and South Carolina to rendezvous near the same place. TheBritish were equally diligent in preparing for their defence. TheAmerican militia, flushed with the hope of speedily expelling theBritish from their southern possessions, turned out with an alacritywhich far surpassed their exertions in the previous campaign. " (Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xvii. , p. 302. )] [Footnote 24: "The French and the Americans encamped separately. CountD'Estaing thought it most prudent to keep them apart. He knew byexperience how apt they were to disagree; and he hoped that, by actingasunder from each other, a reciprocal emulation would be excited. It wasagreed, accordingly, that each of them should carry on their respectiveapproaches without interference from the other side. This method wasparticularly agreeable to the French, who, looking upon themselves asincomparably superior to the Americans, did not choose to divide anyhonour with these, to which they imagined that they alone wereentitled. " (Dr. Andrews' History of the Late War, Vol. III. , Chap, xlv. , pp. 312, 313. )] [Footnote 25: Count D'Estaing was afterwards so ashamed of this inhumanrefusal, that after the repulse of his assault upon the garrison heapologized for it, and offered the permission requested, but which wasno longer needed, and therefore refused. General Stedman, referring to this circumstance, says: "On the morningof the 4th of October, the batteries of the besiegers having opened witha discharge from fifty-three pieces of heavy cannon and fourteenmortars, a request was made by General Prevost that the women andchildren might be permitted to leave the town and embark on boardvessels in the river, which should be placed under the protection ofCount D'Estaing, and wait the issue of the siege. But this proposal, dictated by humanity, was rejected with insult. Fortunately, however, for the inhabitants as well as the garrison, although an incessantcannonade from so many pieces of artillery was continued from the 4th tothe 9th of October, less injury was done to the houses in the town thanmight have been expected; few lives were lost, and the defences were inno respect materially damaged. " (Stedman's History of the American War, Vol. II. , Chap, xxx. , p. 127. )] [Footnote 26: Tucker's History of the United States, Vol. I. , Chap, iii. , p. 250. This disastrous attack upon Savannah was followed by mutualrecriminations between the French and American officers and soldiers. "No good agreement, it has been said, subsisted between the French andAmericans from the commencement of the siege, and their mutual dislikewas now increased by disappointment. After the assault, the French couldno longer conceal their contempt for their new allies; they styled them'insurgents' in common conversation and even in written memorials. "(General Stedman's History of the American War, Vol. II. , Chap, xxx. , p. 132. ) "While the British troops were enjoying the satisfaction resulting fromthe success that was due to their conduct and valour, the enemy was in acondition of discontent and sullenness which had like to have terminatedfatally. The Americans could not conceal their disapprobation of thewhole proceedings of Count D'Estaing, nor he the contemptuous light inwhich he held them. Reciprocal taunts and reproaches came to such aheight between both the officers and soldiers of either party, that itwas once thought they would have proceeded to actual violence. "A motive which strongly influenced the Americans was the jealousy theyhad conceived against the French commander, on account of his havingsummoned General Prevost to _surrender to the arms of France_, withoutincluding those of the United States of America. They inferred fromthence, that either he considered them as unworthy of the honour ofbeing mentioned conjointly with the King of France, or that he meant toretain the province of Georgia for that Crown in case of reduction. Whichever of the two was the meaning of the French commander, it exposedhim equally to the indignation of the Americans. "To this it may be added, that the inhuman refusal of the request ofGeneral Prevost for a permission to the women and children to departfrom the town of Savannah during the siege, was now by the Frenchattributed to the Americans, whom they accused of brutality, and whosegeneral, a French officer of rank, was loaded with the coarsest and mostinjurious appellations, in common with his other countrymen. "From the day of their repulse, both the French and Americans abandonedall further prosecution of the siege. "In this manner was the province of Georgia cleared a third time of theenemy, after the most sanguine expectations had been entertained by allAmerica that the reduction of this province would have been apreparatory step to the expulsion of the British fleets and armies fromevery part of the continent. " (Dr. Andrews' History of the War, etc. , Vol. III. , Chap. Xlv. , pp. 316-318. )] [Footnote 27: Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X. , Chap. Xiii. , pp. 297, 298. ] [Footnote 28: "In the latter part of this year (1779), Spain decided onjoining France in the war, anxious as she was to take the chance ofrecovering Gibraltar, Jamaica, and the Floridas. " (Tucker's History ofthe United States, Vol. I. , Chap. Iii. , p. 251. ) Thus England had arrayed against her two of the most powerfulGovernments, with the two most powerful fleets in Europe, besides thewar in America. ] [Footnote 29: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xvii. , pp. 305, 306. ] [Footnote 30: Tucker's History of the United States, Vol. I. , Chap. Iii. , p. 282. ] [Footnote 31: "There were never more than forty members present--oftenno more than twenty. These small numbers, however, by no means insuredharmony, nor precluded violent and unseemly quarrels, rumours of whichwere not slow in passing the Atlantic. 'For God's sake, ' thus writes LaFayette from France, 'For God's sake prevent the Congress from disputingloudly together. Nothing so much hurts the interest and reputation ofAmerica. ' (Letter of La Fayette to Washington, June 12th, 1779. ) Thusthe object of concealment, unless, perhaps, for private purposes, wasmost imperfectly attained, although, in name at least, the deliberationsof Congress at this time were secret. Historically, even the Journalwhich they kept gives little light as to their true proceedings. AnAmerican gentleman, who has studied that document with care, lamentsthat it is painfully meagre, the object being apparently to record aslittle as possible. " (Life of President Reed, by Mr. William Reed, Vol. II. , p. 18. ) Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VI. , Chap. Lviii. , pp. 420, 421. ] [Footnote 32: Letter to Benjamin Harrison, December 30th, 1778. Washington's Writings, Vol. VI. , p. 151, quoted in Lord Mahon's History, Vol. VI. , Chap. Lviii. , pp. 419, 420. ] [Footnote 33: Dr. Ramsay, referring to this depreciation of thecurrency, says: "The confiscation and sale of the property of Tories, for the most part, brought but very little into the public treasury. Thesales were generally made on credit, and by the progressivedepreciation, what was dear at the time of the purchase, was very cheapat the time of payment. When this measure was first adopted, little orno injustice resulted from it, for at that time the paper bills wereequal, or nearly equal, to gold or silver of the same nominal sum. Inthe progress of the war, when depreciation took place, the case wasmaterially altered. "The aged, who had retired from the scenes of active business to enjoythe fruits of their industry, found their substance melting away to amere pittance, insufficient for their support. The widow who livedcomfortably on the bequests of a deceased husband, experienced afrustration of all his well-meant tenderness. The laws of the countryinterposed and compelled her to receive a shilling, where a pound washer due. The hapless orphan, instead of receiving from the hands of anexecutor a competency to set out in business, was obliged to give afinal discharge on the payment of sixpence in the pound. " (Dr. Ramsay'sHistory of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xviii. , pp. 315, 316. ) "The paper-money, " says Lord Mahon, "had gradually fallen toone-twentieth, to one-thirtieth, nay, in some cases to not less thanone-hundredth of its nominal value! But perhaps one practical instancemay make this case clearer. In December of this year (1779), and in theState of Maryland, an English officer received an innkeeper's bill, which in his Travels he has printed at full length, amounting inpaper-money to £732 and some shillings; and this bill he paid in goldwith four guineas and a half. " (Aubury's Travels, Vol. II. , p. 492. )(Lord Mahon's History, etc. , Vol. VI. , Chap. Lviii. , p. 416. ) General Washington thus describes this state of things in regard toevery man in the public service: "What officers can bear the weight ofprices that every necessary article is now got to? A rat, in the shapeof a horse, is not to be bought at this time for less than two hundredpounds, nor a saddle under thirty or forty pounds; boots twenty, andshoes and other articles in like proportion. How is it possible, therefore, for officers to stand this without an increase of pay? Andhow is it possible to advance their pay when flour is selling atdifferent places from five to fifteen pounds per hundredweight, hay fromten to thirty pounds, and beef and other essentials in like proportion?"The depreciation still proceeding, Washington a few months afterwardssays that "a waggon load of money will now scarcely purchase a waggonload of provisions. " (Letters to Governor Morris, October 4th, 1778; andto the President of the Congress, April 23rd, 1779. )] CHAPTER XXIX. 1780--A YEAR OF WEAKNESS AND DISASTER TO THE AMERICAN CAUSE, AND OFSUCCESS TO THE BRITISH ARMS. The year 1780 was inauspicious for the revolutionary cause, butauspicious for the English. The financial embarrassments arising fromthe depreciation of the paper-money engaged the anxious deliberations ofCongress, [34] and Washington's army was by no means able to cope withthe northern division of the English army. [35] But La Fayette, now returned from a recent visit to France, during whichhe had obtained from the French Court a loan of money and reinforcementsof naval and land forces, Washington contemplated the recovery of NewYork, which had long been a favourite object with him. The Frenchsquadron of seven sail of the line, and five frigates and transports, under the command of Chevalier de Ternay, arrived at Newport harbour, Long Island, on the 10th July, having on board six thousand troops, under the command of Count de Rochambeau, who, in order to prevent therepetition of previous disputes, was directed to put himself underWashington's orders; and on all points of precedence and etiquette--thiswas the first division of the promised reinforcements from France--theFrench officers were to give place to the Americans. Washington andCount de Rochambeau agreed upon an attack on New York. The British hadin New York only four ships of the line and a few frigates; but threedays after the arrival of the French squadron, Admiral Graves reachedNew York with six ships of the line. Having now the naval superiority, the British, instead of waiting to be attacked, proposed to attack theFrench at Newport, and for which purpose Sir Henry Clinton embarked withsix thousand men; but as Sir Henry Clinton and Admiral Arbuthnot couldnot agree on a plan of operations, the British troops were disembarked. The fleet proceeded to blockade the French ships, and the revolutionaryarmy was obliged to remain at Newport for their protection. "Newspresently arrived that the French second division was detained at Brest, blockaded there by another British squadron. Instead of being anassistance, the French auxiliaries threatened to be a burden; threethousand troops and five hundred militia were kept under arms at Newportto assist in guarding the French ships. Thus a third time--as it seemed, almost a sort of fatality--the attempt at French co-operation proved afailure. "[36] Sir Henry Clinton, on leaving the Count D'Estaing after his defeat atSavannah, had left the coast of Georgia with his fleet for France, determined to extend his military operations south, with a view ofcompleting the submission of the Southern States. Leaving the garrisonof New York under the command of General Knyphausen, he proceeded inperson on an expedition against South Carolina, and besieged Charleston, the capital. Information had been obtained at Charleston of Sir HenryClinton's intention two months before the arrival of his fleet andtroops, and the city was fortified on all sides, and on its redoubts, lines, and batteries were mounted eighty pieces of cannon and mortars. The commander, General Lincoln, had a force of 7, 000 men of alldenominations under arms, and was expecting large reinforcements. Thearmy of Sir Henry Clinton was increased by a reinforcement of 3, 000men--making in the whole about 9, 000 men under his command. At the commencement of the siege, the Governor of the State, by theextraordinary powers conferred upon him by the Legislature, issued aproclamation requiring such of the militia as were regularly drafted, and all the inhabitants and _owners of property in the town, to repairto the American standard and join the garrison immediately, under painof confiscation_. The siege commenced the 3rd of April, and was protracted to the 11th ofMay. The terms of capitulation proposed by each party in the earlierpart of the siege were mutually declined. Cannonading continued on eachside until the British opened batteries on the third parallel, playedupon the American garrison with cannon and mortars at a distance of lessthan a hundred yards, advanced within twenty-five yards of the Americanworks, and were ready for making a general assault by land and waterwhen, on the 11th of May, "a great number of citizens addressed GeneralLincoln in a petition, expressing their acquiescence in the terms whichSir Henry Clinton had offered, and requested his acceptance of them. Onthe reception of this petition, General Lincoln wrote to Sir Henry, andoffered to accept the terms before proposed. The royal commanders, wishing to avoid the extremity of storming the city, and unwilling topress to unconditional submission an enemy whose friendship they wishedto conciliate, returned a favourable answer. A capitulation was signedon the 12th of May, and Major General Leslie took possession of the townthe next day. Upwards of 400 pieces of artillery were surrendered. [37]By the articles of capitulation, the garrison was to march out of townand deposit their arms in front of the works, but the drums were not tobeat a British march, nor the colours to be uncased. The continentaltroops and seamen were to keep their baggage and remain prisoners of wartill exchanged. The militia were to be permitted to return to theirrespective homes, as prisoners on parole; and while they adhered totheir parole, were not to be molested by the British troops in person orproperty. The inhabitants, of all conditions, were to be considered asprisoners on parole, and to hold their property on the same terms withthe militia. The officers of the army and navy were to retain theirservants, swords, pistols, and baggage unsearched. They were permittedto sell their horses, but not to remove them. A vessel was allowed toproceed to Philadelphia with General Lincoln's despatches unopened. "[38] Shortly after the capture of Charleston, Sir Henry Clinton embarked forNew York with the principal part of his army;[39] but before hisdeparture he performed several important acts both as Royal Commissionerand as Commander-in-Chief of the army. After the surrender of the capital, it was proposed to awe thedisaffected and secure the universal submission of the people by sendingout three expeditions. "One expedition was sent by Clinton up the Savannah, to encourage theloyal and reduce the disaffected in the neighbourhood of Augusta:another proceeded for like purpose to the district of Ninety-Six, whereWilliamson surrendered his post and accepted British protection. A thirdand larger party, under Cornwallis, moved across the Santee towardsCamden. "[40] These expeditions rather weakened than strengthened the influence of theBritish cause, as compulsion rather than conciliation was employed tore-establish British supremacy; and the proclamations and orders issuedby Sir Henry Clinton before his departure for New York, defeated ratherthan promoted the objects intended by them. [41] After issuing his proclamation (for the purport of which see previousnote), Sir Henry Clinton took his departure, with the major part of hisarmy, for New York, leaving Lord Cornwallis in command with fourthousand troops. [42] "Lord Cornwallis, considering South Carolina as entirely reannexed toGreat Britain, would admit of no neutrality among the inhabitants; butinsisted on their taking the oath of allegiance, which, however, wasgenerally taken with reluctance by the people of the lower country. Thispart of the State was still further alienated by the licentious andplundering habits of the British soldiers over a conquered country, andby the seduction of many of the slaves from their masters. "[43] There can be no justification of Lord Cornwallis's policy; but therewere some mitigating circumstances that palliate the severities which heinflicted. Among those who had been taken prisoners at the capture ofCharleston, and professed loyalty, was, as Lord Mahon says, "One Lisle, who had not only taken the oath of allegiance, but accepted militaryrank as a King's officer; waited just long enough to supply hisbattalion with clothes, arms, and ammunition from the royal stores, andthen quietly led them back to his old friends. Highly incensed at suchsignal acts of treachery as Lisle's, Lord Cornwallis had recourse tosome severe orders in return. The penalty of death was denounced againstall militiamen who, after serving with the English, went off to theinsurgents. Several of the prisoners in the battle of Camden, men takenwith arms in their hands and British protections in their pockets, werehanged. Other such examples were made at Augusta and elsewhere. Some whohad been living on their parole at Charleston, and who, in spite of thatparole, carried on a secret correspondence with their insurgentcountrymen, were shipped off to St. Augustine. A proclamation wasissued, sequestering the estates of those who had been the most forwardto oppose the establishment of the royal authority within the province. Perhaps these measures exceeded the bounds of justice; certainly theydid the bounds of policy. This was shown by the fatal event, when, onthe overthrow of the royalist cause in South Carolina, the measures ofLord Cornwallis became the plea for other executions and for every actof oppression that resentment could devise. " "Within the more limited sphere of his own command, Lord Rawdon hadrecourse to, or at the very least announced, some measures still moresevere, and far less to be justified. In a letter to one of hisofficers, which was intercepted, we find, for example, what follows: 'Iwill give the inhabitants ten guineas for the head of every deserterbelonging to the volunteers of Ireland; and five guineas only if theybring him in alive. ' No amount of provocation or of precedent in hisenemies, no degree of youthful ardour in himself, are at all adequate toexcuse these most blamable words. When, however, he was called upon tovindicate them, Lord Rawdon declared that many of his threats were meantonly 'to act on the fears and prejudices of the vulgar, ' and by no meansto be carried into practical effect. "[44] During the latter part of the year there were various skirmishes andbattles between volunteer parties of Independents, under such leaders asSumpter and Clarke, and detachments of the British army, with varioussuccess, but nothing which affected the supremacy of the royal cause, though the moral influence of it was widely weakened by the arbitrarypolicy of the British commanders and the conduct of the British troops. The prospects of the revolution were very gloomy, [45] and its leaderswere much disheartened. In these circumstances of depression anddespondency, an earnest appeal was made to France for men and money, [46]and the transactions following show that the appeal was not made invain, and that French ships and troops were the main instruments indeciding the battle which was followed by the acknowledgment of AmericanIndependence. [47] Mr. Hildreth, referring to the close of this year, says: "So far, indeed, as related to America, Great Britain had good reason to besatisfied with the late campaign. Georgia was entirely subdued, and theroyal government re-established. The possession of Charleston, Augusta, Ninety-Six, and Camden, supported by an army in the field, securedentire control over all the wealthy parts of South Carolina. NorthCarolina was full of Tories, anxiously awaiting the approach ofCornwallis. The three Southern States were incapable of helpingthemselves, and those further north, exhausted and penniless, werelittle able to send assistance. It seemed as if the promises so oftenmade by Lord George Germaine's American correspondents were now about tobe fulfilled, and the rebel colonies to sink beneath the accumulatedpressure of this long-protracted struggle. "[48] Thus, at the close of 1780, the military conflicts were almostinvariably successful on the side of the British; the resources of therevolutionists in both money and men were exhausted, and their hopes ofsuccess utterly extinguished without foreign aid. But though the Britishwere successful on the fields of battle, they everywhere lost in theconfidence, esteem, and affections of the people, even of the Loyalists. Yet the prospects of the war party of independence were gloomy indeed. General Washington felt that some great achievement was necessary torevive the hopes of his fellow-countrymen, and save from dissolution hisdaily decreasing army. His only hope was in aid from France. His wordswere: "Without an immediate, ample, and efficacious succour in money, we maymake a feeble and expiring effort in our next campaign, _in allprobability the period of our opposition_. Next to a loan in money, _aconstant naval superiority on these coasts_ is the object the mostinteresting. " FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 34: "The commissaries, greatly in debt, had neither money norcredit, and starvation began to stare the soldiers in the face. Tosupport his army, Washington was again obliged to resort to the harshexpedient of levying contributions on the surrounding country. Eachcounty was called upon for a certain quantity of flour and meat; but asthe civil authorities took the matter of supply in hand, for whichcertificates were given by the commissaries on the appraisement of twomagistrates, the use of force did not become necessary. " (Hildreth'sHistory of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap. Xi. , p. 301. )] [Footnote 35: "Washington's entire force scarcely exceeded ten thousandmen, a number not equal to the (British) garrison of New York; and evenof these a considerable number were militia drafts, whose terms ofservice were fast expiring. "--_Ib. _, p. 303. But though New York was in possession of the British, and stronglygarrisoned, apprehensions were entertained of attacks upon the severalEnglish garrison posts in the State from invasions of marauding partiesof the revolutionary army, from facilities of approach on account of thefreezing over of all the rivers from the extreme severity of thiswinter. It is singular that while Benjamin Franklin was leader of theRevolutionists, and now United States Minister to France, his son wasone of the leaders of the Loyalists. "It was now, " says Mr. Hildreth, "that the 'Board of Associated Loyalists' was formed, of which Franklin, late Royal Governor of New Jersey, released by exchange from his tediousconfinement in Connecticut, was made president. Washington, however, wasin no condition to undertake an attack, and the winter passed off withfew skirmishes. " (Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap. Xi. , p. 303. )] [Footnote 36: _Ib. _, pp. 311, 312. ] [Footnote 37: "In the siege, the British lost seventy-six killed and onehundred and eighty-nine wounded; the Americans about an equal number. The prisoners, exclusive of sailors, amounted to five thousand sixhundred and eighteen, counting all the adult males of the town. "(Tucker's History of the United States, Vol. I. , Chap. Lii. , p. 253. )] [Footnote 38: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xx. , pp. 337, 338. Yet in the face of the facts above stated by Dr. Ramsay, who was anofficer on General Washington's staff, and afterwards member ofCongress, where he had access to the official documents and letters fromwhich he compiled his history, Mr. Bancroft makes the followingstatements and remarks: "The value of the spoil, which was distributedby English and Hessian commissaries of captures, amounted to about£300, 000 sterling, so that the dividend of a major-general exceeded4, 000 guineas. There was no restraint on private rapine; the silverplate of the planters was carried off; all negroes that had belonged tothe rebels were seized, even though they had themselves sought an asylumwithin the British lines; and at one embarkation 2, 000 were shipped to amarket in the West Indies. British officers thought more of amassingfortunes than of re-uniting the empire. The patriots were not allowed toappoint attorneys to manage or sell their estates, a sentence ofconfiscation hung over the whole land, and British protection wasgranted only in return for the unconditional promise of loyalty. "(Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X. , Chap. Xiv. , pp. 305, 306. )] [Footnote 39: "Sir Henry Clinton, having left about 4, 000 men forSouthern service, embarked early in June with the main army for NewYork. On his departure the command devolved on Lieutenant-GeneralCornwallis. " (Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xx. , p. 341. ) "They saw South Carolina apparently won back to the royal cause, andwith some probability that North Carolina would follow the example. Butat this crisis intelligence reached Sir Henry Clinton that the Americansupon the Hudson (under the command of General Washington) were on thepoint of receiving considerable succours; that a French fleet sent totheir aid, with several French regiments on board, might soon beexpected off the New England coasts. Sir Henry deemed it his duty toprovide in person for the safety of his principal charge. In the firstdays of June he accordingly re-embarked for New York, with a portion ofhis army; leaving, however, about 4, 000 men under Lord Cornwallis'scommand. The instructions given to Lord Cornwallis were to consider themaintenance of Charleston, and in general of South Carolina, as his mainand indispensable objects; but consistently with these, he was left atliberty to make 'a solid move, ' as it was termed, into North Carolina, if he judged it proper or found it possible. " (Lord Mahon's History, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxii. , p. 70. ) On the eve of leaving Charleston for New York, Sir Henry reported to theBritish Colonial Minister, Lord Germaine: "The inhabitants from everyquarter declare their allegiance to the King, and offer their servicesin arms. There are few men in South Carolina who are not either ourprisoners or in arms with us. "] [Footnote 40: Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X. , Chap. Xiv. , p. 306. "The universal panic consequent on the capture of Charleston hadsuspended all resistance to the British army. The men of Beaufort, ofNinety-Six, and of Camden, had capitulated under the promise ofsecurity. They believed that they were to be treated as neutrals or asprisoners on parole. There remained to them no possibility of flightwith their families; and if they were inclined to take up arms, therewas no American army around which they could rally. " (Bancroft's Historyof the United States, Vol. X. , Chap. Xiv. , p. 307. ) "No organized American force was now left in either of the Carolinas. The three most Southern States had not a battalion in the field, norwere the next three much better provided. The Virginia line had beenmostly captured at Charleston, or dispersed in subsequent engagements. The same was the case with the North Carolina regiments. The recentbattle of Camden had reduced the Maryland line to a single regiment--theDelaware line to a single company. " (Hildreth's History of the UnitedStates, Vol. III. , Chap. Xi. , p. 316. )] [Footnote 41: "On the 22nd of May, confiscation of property and otherpunishments were denounced against all who should thereafter oppose theKing in arms, or hinder any one from joining his forces. On the 1st ofJune, a proclamation by the Commissioners Clinton and Arbuthnot, offeredpardon to the penitent on their immediate return to allegiance; to theloyal, the promise of their former political immunities, includingfreedom from taxation, except by their own Legislature. This policy ofmoderation might have familiarized the Carolinians once more to theBritish Government; but the proclamation was not communicated toCornwallis--so that when, three weeks later, two leading men, one ofwhom had been in a high station, and both principally concerned in therebellion, went to that officer to surrender themselves under itsprovisions, he could only answer that he had no knowledge of itsexistence. "On the 3rd of June (the day of his departure from Charleston), Clinton, by a proclamation which he alone signed, cut up British authority inCarolina by the roots. He required all the inhabitants of the province, even those outside of Charleston, 'who were now prisoners on parole, ' totake an active part in securing the royal government. 'Should theyneglect to return to their allegiance, ' so ran the proclamation, 'theywill be treated as rebels to the government of the King. ' He neverreflected that many who accepted protection from fear or convenience, did so in the expectation of living in a state of neutrality, and thatthey might say, 'If we _must fight_, let us fight on the side of ourfriends, of our countrymen of America. '" (Bancroft's History of theUnited States, Vol. X. , Chap. Xiv. , pp. 307, 308. )] [Footnote 42: "Earl (afterwards Marquis) Cornwallis was born in 1738. Early in life he had embraced the military profession, which he pursuedwith undeviating honour, though variable success. In him the want of anyshining talents was in a great measure supplied by probity, bypunctuality, by steady courage, by vigilant attention to his duties. In1776, on the Declaratory Bill, he had shown his conciliatory temper tothe colonies; denying, with Lord Camden and only three Peers besides, any right we had to tax them while they remained unrepresented in theHouse of Commons. When, however, the war broke forth, he acted solely asbecame a soldier. Under Lord Cornwallis was now serving a young officerof no common spirit and daring, destined, like himself, to attain, atanother period, the highest office that an Englishman out of England canfill--the office of Governor-General of India. This was Francis LordRawdon, subsequently better known, first as Earl of Moira, and then asMarquis of Hastings. In the ensuing battle of Camden, where he held asecond rank, he played a distinguished part; he was not yet twenty-sixyears of age, and he had already gained renown five years before, in thebattle of Bunker's Hill. " (Lord Mahon's History, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxii. , p. 71. )] [Footnote 43: Tucker's History of the United States, Vol. I. , Chap. Iii. , p. 254. "There was no longer any armed American force in South Carolina; andLord Cornwallis resorted to energetic means of preventing disaffection. All those who were found in arms after they had submitted to Britishprotection were considered as having forfeited their lives, and severalof them were hung on the spot. But these severities, instead of theirintended effect, produced a strong reaction. "--_Ib. _, p. 256. ] [Footnote 44: Lord Mahon's History, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxii. , pp. 75, 76. ] [Footnote 45: "While the war raged in South Carolina, the campaign of1780, in the Northern States, was barren of important events. Thecampaign of 1780 passed away in the Northern States, as has beenrelated, in successive disappointments and reiterated distresses. Thecountry was exhausted; the continental currency expiring. The army, forwant of subsistence, was kept inactive and brooding over its calamities. While these disasters were openly menacing the ruin of the Americancause, treachery was silently undermining it. A distinguished officer(General Arnold) engaged, for a stipulated sum of money, to betray intothe hands of the British an important post committed to his care, " etc. (Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xxiv. , pp. 364-377. )] [Footnote 46: "Congress could do nothing, and confessed that it could donothing. 'We have required, ' thus they wrote to the States on the 15thof January, 1781, 'aids of men, provisions and money; the States alonehave authority to execute. ' Since Congress itself made a publicconfession of its powerlessness, nothing remained but _to appeal toFrance_ for rescue, not from a foreign enemy, but from the evilsconsequent on its own want of government. 'If France lends not a speedyaid, ' wrote General Greene from the South to her Minister inPhiladelphia, 'I fear the country will be for ever lost. ' It wastherefore resolved for the moment to despatch to Versailles, as aspecial minister, one who had lived in the midst of the ever-increasingdistresses of the army, to set them before the Government of France inthe most striking light. The choice fell on the younger Laurens, ofSouth Carolina. To this agent Washington confided a statement of thecondition of the country; and with dignity and candour avowed that ithad reached a crisis out of which it could not rise by its ownunassisted strength. To Franklin he wrote in the same strain; and LaFayette addressed a like memorial of ripe wisdom to Vergennes" (theFrench Minister for Foreign Affairs). (Bancroft's History of the UnitedStates, Vol. X. , Chap. , xix. , pp. 417, 418. ) "Scarce any one of the States had as yet sent an eighth part of itsquota into the field; and there was no prospect of a glorious offensivecampaign, unless their generous allies should help them with money, andwith a fleet strong enough to secure the superiority at sea. "--_Ib. _, p. 425. ] [Footnote 47: It was in the latter part of this year, 1780, that thetreachery of General Arnold and the melancholy tragedy of Major André'sexecution took place. ] [Footnote 48: Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap. Xli. , p. 331. "Though British conquests had rapidly succeeded each other, yet noadvantages accrued to the victors. The minds of the people wereunsubdued, or rather were alienated from every idea of returning totheir former allegiance. Such was their temper, that the expense ofretaining them in subjection would have exceeded all the profits of theconquest. British garrisons kept down open resistance, in the vicinityof the places where they were established; but as soon as they werewithdrawn and the people left to themselves, a spirit of revolt hostileto Great Britain always displayed itself; and the standard ofindependence, whenever it was prudently raised, never wanted followersamong the active and spirited part of the community. " (Dr. Ramsay'sHistory of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xx. , p. 363. )] CHAPTER XXX. THE FRENCH AND CONGRESS ALLIES IN 1781 RECOVER VIRGINIA--SURRENDER OFLORD CORNWALLIS--RESULTS. Under the adverse circumstances and gloom which attended and closed theyear 1780, as stated in the preceding chapter, Washington felt thenecessity of doing something bold and great to revive the confidence ofhis countrymen and arrest the decline of his army. Under these circumstances, a campaign of operations was devised andagreed upon by Washington and the commander of the French troops. Thecentres of British power in America were the army of about ten thousandmen in New York, under the immediate command of Sir Henry Clinton, whowas, indeed, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in North America;and secondly, the army of Virginia, about seven thousand men, under thecommand of Earl Cornwallis; and thirdly, the garrison of Charleston, South Carolina, under the command of Lord Rawdon; Savannah, the capitalof Georgia, was also occupied by a British garrison. Washington's planwas to pretend an attack upon New York, but to make a real attack uponthe army of Virginia, with the view of extinguishing British power inthe Southern States. So well was the appearance of an intended attackupon New York kept up, that Sir Henry Clinton made all needfulpreparations for its defence, and actually ordered Lord Cornwallis tosend a detachment of his men to New York to strengthen its defence; butafter their embarkation for that purpose the order was countermanded, and Lord Cornwallis was allowed to retain them. Nothing could be morecomplete than the deception practised upon Sir Henry Clinton; nor didhe suspect the real intention of the allied armies until they hadcrossed the Hudson and were on their way, through the Jerseys, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, to Virginia. [49] "In the latter end of August, " says Dr. Ramsay, "the American army begantheir march to Virginia from the neighbourhood of New York. Washingtonhad advanced as far as Chester before he received information of thearrival of De Grasse. The French troops marched at the same time, forthe same place. In the course of this summer they passed through all theextensive settlements which lie between Newport and Yorktown. It seldomif ever happened before, that an army led through a foreign country atso great a distance from their own, among a people of differentprinciples, customs, language, and religion, behaved with so muchregularity. In their march to Yorktown they had to pass through fivehundred miles of a country abounding in fruit, and at a time when themost delicious productions of nature, growing on and near the publichighways, presented both opportunity and temptation to gratify theirappetites, yet so complete was their discipline, that in this long marchscarce an instance could be produced of a peach or an apple being takenwithout the consent of the inhabitants. "[50] On the 14th of September, Washington and De Rochambeau, in advance oftheir armies and with their respective staffs of officers, arrived atWilliamsburg; and with Generals Chastellux, Du Portail, and Knox, visited Count de Grasse on board his famous ship, the _Ville de Paris_, and agreed on the plan of operations against Earl Cornwallis atYorktown, on York river, to which the allied armies at once proceeded, for the purpose of besieging it. On the 1st day of October, GeneralWashington was able to report to the President of Congress that theinvestment of the place was completed. "Gloucester (on the opposite sideof the river, not a mile wide there), which was held by Colonel Dundas, was beleaguered by some Virginian troops, and by the French legion ofthe Duke de Lauzun. Yorktown, where Cornwallis in person, and with hismain force, commanded, saw to his left the division of La Fayette, andto his right the division of St. Simon. Other bodies of troops filledthe space between them, while Washington and Rochambeau fixed theirposts near together, towards the centre. They brought up fifty pieces ofcannon, for the most part heavy, by aid from the French ships, as alsosixteen mortars, and they lost no time in commencing their firstparallel against the town. [51] By the 9th the first parallel wascompleted, when the town and its defences were cannonaded and shelled. Within another week a second parallel was completed within threehundred yards of the defences, two redoubts stormed and taken--one bythe French and the other by the Americans--and the further defence ofthe town rendered impossible. " "Down to this time, the 15th of October, Lord Cornwallis had expectedreinforcements of ships and troops from New York;[52] but he nowdespaired of aid from that quarter, and attempted to escape with hisarmy in the night across the river, which was prevented by a storm, whenthe only alternative left him was to surrender on the best terms hecould obtain. On the morning of the 17th he sent a flag of truce toWashington, proposing a cessation of arms, and a treaty for thecapitulation of his post. Hostilities ceased; the terms of surrenderwere discussed and agreed upon on the 18th by four commissioners, twofield officers being named on each side. The army, and all that belongedto it, was surrendered to Washington; and the ships and seamen to Countde Grasse" (Tucker). "All the artillery and public stores in the two forts, together with theshipping and boats in the two harbours, were to be surrendered by theEnglish. On the other hand, private property of every kind was to berespected by the Americans and French. The garrisons of York andGloucester were to march out with the same honours of war as had beengranted by Sir Henry Clinton at Charleston; the land forces to remainprisoners of the United States, and the naval forces prisoners ofFrance. The soldiers were to be kept in Virginia, Maryland, orPennsylvania, and as much by regiments as possible. The general staffand other officers not left with the troops to be permitted to go to NewYork, or to Europe, on parole. "[53] The battle of Yorktown, and the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to the armsof the French and the Americans, may be regarded as the last battle ofimportance of the civil war in America. American writers and orators arefond of saying that here was brought face to face on the battle-fieldthe strength of Old England and Young America, and the latter prevailed. No statement can be more unfounded, and no boast more groundless thanthis. England, without an ally, was at war with three kingdoms--France, Spain, and Holland--the most potent naval and military powers of Europe;while were also arrayed against her, by an "armed neutrality, " Russia, Prussia, Denmark, and Sweden. England was armed to the teeth for thedefence of her own shores against threatened invasion, while her navieswere maintaining in sundry battles the honour of the British flag onthree seas. A small part only of the British land and naval forces was on the coastof America; yet there were garrisons at Savannah and Charleston, and amuch larger military force at New York, under the command of Sir HenryClinton, than that of Yorktown, under Lord Cornwallis. In the followingcampaign the English fleet was victorious over the French fleet in theWest Indies, capturing the great ship _Ville de Paris_, and taking Countde Grasse himself prisoner. In the siege of Yorktown there were about18, 000 of the allied army of French and Americans, besides ships of theline and sailors, while the effective men under command of LordCornwallis amounted to less than 4, 000. It was a marvel of skill andcourage that with an army so small, and in a town so exposed and soincapable of being strongly fortified, and against an allied force sooverwhelming, Lord Cornwallis was able to sustain a siege for afortnight, until he despaired of reinforcements from New York. Be it also observed, that the greater part of the forces besiegingYorktown were not Americans, but French, who supplied the shipping andartillery; in short, all the attacking forces by water, and a duplicateland enemy--the one part under the command of Count de Rochambeau, andthe other part under the command of the Marquis de La Fayette. Had itnot been for the French fleet and the French land forces, Washingtonwould not have attempted an attack upon Yorktown. The success of thesiege was, therefore, more French than American, though Washington hadthe nominal command of the allied army. No one can doubt the undaunted courage and matchless skill ofWashington, and his great superiority over any English general ever sentagainst him; nor can the bravery and endurance of his army be justlyquestioned; nor the dash and boldness and gallantry of the French army. But it is idle to speak of the siege of Yorktown as a trial of strengthbetween Young America and Old England. And it is equally incorrect tosay that the resources of England, in men or money, in ships or landforces, were exhausted, or that England was compelled to make peace inconsequence of the disaster of Lord Cornwallis. There had been a peaceparty, both in and out of Parliament, opposed to the American war fromthe beginning. That party included some of the ablest statesmen inEngland, and increased in strength and influence from year to year, byexposing the incompetence, extravagance, and corruption of theAdministration, the failure of all their plans, and the non-fulfilmentof any of their promises in regard to America; that although they coulddefeat the Americans in the field of battle, they had not conquered andthey could not conquer the hearts of the people, who became more andmore alienated from England by the very example and depredations of theBritish officers and soldiers. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis, theimportance of which was greatly magnified, increased the intensity ofEnglish feeling against the continuance of the American war, until thepeace party actually gained a majority in the House of Commons, compelled the retirement of the old and corrupt Ministry, which had beenthe cause of all the oppressions in the American colonies and all themiseries of the war. Session after session, the leaders of theOpposition in both the Lords and Commons moved resolutions condemningthe American war and the manner of conducting it; the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Rockingham, the Earl of Shelburne in the Lords; andGeneral Conway, Mr. Fox, Mr. Burke, Lord John Cavendish, Mr. Hartley, Mr. Dunning (afterwards Lord Ashburton), and Sir James Lowther in theCommons. Several resolutions were introduced into the Commonscondemnatory of the war in America, with a view of reducing the coloniesto submission, and were defeated by small majorities--in one a majorityof ten, and in another a majority of only _one_. At length they werecensured and rejected by the Commons without a division. On the 22nd of February, General Conway moved "That an address should bepresented to his Majesty, to implore his Majesty to listen to the adviceof his Commons, that the war in America might no longer be pursued forthe impracticable purpose of reducing the inhabitants of that country toobedience by force, and to express their hopes that his Majesty's desireto restore the public tranquillity might be forwarded and made effectualby a happy reconciliation with the revolted colonies. " After a lengthened debate, this resolution was negatived--one hundredand ninety-three for the resolution, against it one hundred andninety-four--a majority of one for the continuance of the war. The motion having been objected to as vague in its terms, GeneralConway, on the 27th of February, introduced another motion, the same insubstance with the previous one, but varied in phraseology, so as tomeet the rules of the House, and more explicit in its terms. Thisresolution was strongly opposed by the Ministry; and after a long debatethe Attorney-General moved the adjournment of the House: For theadjournment voted two hundred and fifteen; against it, two hundred andthirty-four--majority of nineteen against the Ministry--so that theoriginal question, and an address to the King, framed upon theresolution, were then earned without a division. [54] The King returned agracious but vague answer. General Conway, after moving a vote of thanks to the King for hisgracious answer, followed by moving a resolution: "That this House wouldconsider as enemies to his Majesty and the country all those who shouldadvise or by any means attempt the further prosecution of offensive war, on the continent of North America, for the purpose of reducing therevolted colonies to obedience by force. " This motion, after a feebleopposition from the Ministry, was allowed to pass without a division. It might be supposed, under these circumstances, that the Ministry wouldforthwith resign; but they continued to hold on to office, which theyhad held for twelve years, to the great injury of England and hercolonies. To bring the matter to an issue, the following resolution was moved onthe 8th of March by Lord John Cavendish, seconded by Mr. Powys: "That it appears to this House, that since the year 1775 upwards of onehundred millions of money have been expended on the army and navy in afruitless war. "That it appears to this House, that during the above period we havelost the thirteen colonies of America, which anciently belonged to theCrown of Great Britain (except the ports of New York, Charleston, andSavannah), the newly acquired colony of Florida, many of our valuableWest India and other islands, and those that remain are in the utmostdanger. "That it appears to this House, that Great Britain is at present engagedin an expensive war with America, France, Spain, and Holland, without asingle ally. "That it appears to this House, that the chief cause of all thesemisfortunes has been the want of foresight and ability in his Majesty'sMinisters. [55]" The facts stated in the first three of these resolutions were admittedon all sides; the discussion, therefore, turned upon the conclusiondrawn in the last resolution, the justice of which was patent to allfrom the uniform failure and disgrace of the policy and all the separatemeasures of Ministers during the whole of their administration. It wasattempted to be argued, in defence of Ministers, that misfortune did notalways prove misconduct; that the failure of execution of measures mightdepend, not on those who planned them, but on the fault of those whowere to execute them. But "this ground, " says the ParliamentaryRegister, "appeared so weak, even to the friends of the Administration, that it was almost entirely deserted, except by the Ministersthemselves; and the question was taken up with great art and ingenuityon other topics, as to who would succeed the Administration they wereendeavouring to remove, and the diversity of opinions among them. Butthe efforts on the part of Ministers and their friends to createjealousies and discords among the members of the Opposition provedfruitless; and when the final vote was proposed, the Secretary of Warevaded it by moving the order of the day, which was carried by amajority of ten. " In the interval between the 8th and 14th, every intrigue was employed tocreate discord among the members of the Opposition, and to bring about acoalition under the presidency of Lord North, and a resolution was movedto that effect, which was lost by a majority of only nine. The Earl of Surrey gave notice that on the morning of the 20th inst. Hewould move, in substance, Lord John Cavendish's resolution directlycondemnatory of the Ministry. On that morning Lord North and the Earl ofSurrey rose at the same moment, and neither would give way to the other. The general cry was "Lord Surrey, and no adjournment. " As soon as theHouse could be reduced to order, it was moved "That the Earl of Surreybe now heard, " when Lord North, having obtained the right to speak, said, "I rise to speak to the motion before the House. " He observed thathad he been suffered to proceed before, he believed much unnecessaryheat and disorder would have been prevented. He meant no disrespect tothe noble earl; but as notice had been given that the object of theintended motion was the removal of his Majesty's Ministers, he meant tohave acquainted the House that such a motion had become unnecessary. Hecould assure the House with authority that _the present Administrationwas no more_, and that his Majesty had come to a full determination ofchanging his Ministers; and that it was for the purpose of givingnecessary time for new arrangements that he meant to have moved anadjournment. The noble lord then took leave of the House as a Minister of the Crown, and with many kind and courteous words thanked them for the honourablesupport they had given him during so long a course of years. [56] By such blows following each other in the Commons, in rapid successionand with accelerated force, was driven from power an Administrationwhich had inflicted greater evils upon the Crown, the constitution, thepeople of England and of the colonies, than any Administration since theRevolution of 1688. [57] [Footnote 49: It appears, however, that in the first consultation, which"took place at Weathersfield, between Generals Washington, Knox, and DuPortail on the part of the Americans, and Count de Rochambeau and theChevalier Chastellux on the part of the French, it was agreed to laysiege to New York in concert with the French fleet, which was to arriveon the coast in the month of August. Washington addressed letters to theexecutive officers of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and NewJersey, requiring them to fill up their battalions, and to have theirquotas of six thousand two hundred militia in readiness within a weekafter the time they might be called for. But all these States not addingfive hundred men to Washington's army, Sir Henry Clinton having receiveda reinforcement of three thousand Germans, and intelligence having beenreceived that Count de Grasse, with a French fleet of twenty-eight shipsand seven thousand troops (besides seamen), had sailed for theChesapeake, Washington and Count de Rochambeau changed their plan ofoperations and determined to proceed to Virginia, and, in combinationwith the French fleet and soldiers, to capture the army under thecommand of Earl Cornwallis in Virginia. The appearance of an intentionto attack New York was nevertheless kept up. While this deception wasplayed off, the allied army crossed the North River on August 24th, andpassed on by the way of Philadelphia through the intermediate country toYorktown, Virginia. An attempt to reduce the British force in Virginiapromised success with more expedition, and to secure an object of nearlyequal importance to the reduction of New York. " (Ramsay's History of theUnited States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xxv. , pp. 448-451. )] [Footnote 50: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xxv. , pp. 450, 451. ] [Footnote 51: Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxiv. , p. 172. "On the other hand, Lord Cornwallis is admitted to have shown mostundaunted resolution. The officers under him, and the troops, German andEnglish, all did their duty well. For some weeks they had laboured hard, and unremittingly, in raising their defences; and they were now preparedwith equal spirit to maintain their half-completed works. But besidesthe enemy without, they had another within--an epidemic sickness, thatstretched many hundreds helpless in their pallet-beds. Nor could theyhinder Washington from completing his first parallel and opening hisfire upon them in the evening of the 9th of October. For two days thefire was incessant from heavy cannon, and from mortars and howitzers, throwing shells in showers on the town, until, says Cornwallis, all ourguns on the left were silenced, our works much damaged, and our loss ofmen considerable. By these shells, also, the _Charon_, a ship offorty-four guns, together with three British transports in the river, were set in flames and consumed. "--_Ib. _, p. 173. ] [Footnote 52: Before the investment of Yorktown, Lord Cornwallis sent adespatch to Sir Henry Clinton, informing him of the delicacy and dangerof his situation, and requesting reinforcements. On the evening of the29th of September, Lord Cornwallis was cheered by the arrival of anexpress, bringing despatches from Sir Henry Clinton, dated the 24th, informing him that by the 5th of October a fleet of twenty-three sail ofthe line, three of which were three-deckers, with 5, 000 men, rank andfile, would start for his assistance. The auxiliary forces at New Yorkwere ready and eager to depart by the 5th of October; but the ships weredelayed by the slowness and obstinacy of Admiral Arbuthnot. Sir HenryClinton writes: "We had the misfortune to see almost every succeedingday produce some naval obstruction or other to protract our departure;and I am sorry to add, that it was the afternoon of the 19th before thefleet was fairly at sea. This was the day of Lord Cornwallis'scapitulation. Five days afterwards the fleet with the 5, 000 troopsarrived off the Chesapeake, when they received the news of the surrenderof Lord Cornwallis, and sailed back to New York. Had these auxiliaryforces started from New York at the time promised, the siege of Yorktownwould have been raised, the allied army defeated, and Lord Cornwallisand his little army would have been victors instead of prisoners. "] [Footnote 53: Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxiv. , pp. 177, 178. "The officers were to retain their side arms and private property ofevery kind, but all property obviously belonging to inhabitants of theUnited States to be subject to be reclaimed; the soldiers to be suppliedwith the same rations as were allowed to soldiers in the service ofCongress. Cornwallis endeavoured to obtain permission for the Britishand German troops to return to their respective countries, under noother restrictions than an engagement not to serve against France orAmerica. He also tried to obtain an indemnity for those of theinhabitants who had joined him; but he was obliged to recede from theformer, and also to consent that the loyalists in his camp should begiven up to the unconditional mercy of their countrymen. His lordship, nevertheless, obtained (from Washington) permission for the _Bonetta_sloop of war to pass unexamined to New York. This gave an opportunity ofscreening such of the loyalists as were most obnoxious to theAmericans. " (Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xxv. , pp. 454, 455. ) "The regular troops of France and America, employed in this siege, consisted of about 7, 000 of the former (besides ships and seamen), and5, 500 of the latter; and they were assisted by about 4, 000 militia. Thetroops of every kind that surrendered prisoners of war were about 7, 000;but so great was the number of the sick and wounded, that there wereonly 3, 800 capable of bearing arms. "--_Ib. _, p. 455. ] [Footnote 54: During the discussion on this question, it had been arguedthat the Americans are fed, clothed, and paid by France; they are led onby French officers; the French and the American armies are incorporatedinto one; it was merely a locality that should give name to a war. France had formerly been fought with success in Germany, and there couldbe no solid objection to fighting her in America. General Conway arguedthat French troops did not cost more than £40 per man a year, while theexpense of the English troops cost £100 per man a year. General Conwayreminded the House that though seventy-three thousand men were voted andpaid for, we had never above half that number in actual service. Government had, therefore, only to complete the regiments, and theywould have more men in America than ever they had before. (AnnualRegister of Parliament for 1782, pp. 158-161. )] [Footnote 55: Annual Register of Parliament for 1782, Vol. XXIX. , p. 173. ] [Footnote 56: Abridged from the Parliamentary Register for 1782, Vol. XXV. , Chap. Vii. See also Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxv. Lord Mahon concludes his account of this Administration as follows: "Thus ended Lord North's Administration of twelve years. It is certainlystrange, on contemplating these twelve years, to find so many harsh andrigorous measures proceed from the most gentle and good-humoured ofPrime Ministers. Happy, had but greater firmness in maintaining his ownopinions been joined to so much ability in defending opinions even whennot his own. "Even as to the disasters and miscarriages, however, which could not bedenied in his Administration, the friends of Lord North contended thatin truth he was not answerable for them. The points in his favour wereargued a few days before his fall by Mr. George Onslow in the House ofCommons. 'Why, ' said Mr. Onslow, 'have we in this war with America suchill success? Mainly, ' he continued, 'from the support and countenancegiven in that House to American rebellion. The army of Washington hadbeen called by the Opposition "our army;" the cause of the Americans hadbeen called "the cause of liberty;" and one gentleman (this was Mr. Burke), while lavishing his praises on Dr. Franklin and Mr. Laurens, haddeclared he would prefer a prison with them to freedom in company withthose who were supporting the cause of England. ' But this vindication, though spirited, nay, though true, is faulty; because, though true, itis not the whole truth; because it overlooks what no statesmanshould--the certainty that when free principles are at stake, dissensions will always arise in a free country. "--_Ib. _, pp. 209, 210. ] [Footnote 57: I have not a shadow of doubt, that had the leaders inCongress adhered to their pretensions of contending and fighting forBritish constitutional rights, as aforetime, instead of renouncing thoserights and declaring Independence in 1776, the changes which took placein the Administration in England in 1783 would have taken place in 1777;for the corrupt Administration showed as strong symptoms of decline, andwas as manifestly "tottering to its fall" in the parliamentary sessionwhich commenced in 1776, as it did in the session which commenced in1782. In both cases its predictions and assured successes had beencompletely falsified; in both cases the indignation of the nation wasaroused against the Administration, and the confidence of Parliament wason the point of being withdrawn in 1776-77, as it was withdrawn in thesession of 1782-83; but in 1776, the Congress, instead of adhering toits heretofore professed principles, was induced by its leaders, asrelated in Chapter xxvi. , to renounce its former principles; to falsifyall its former professions to its advocates in England andfellow-subjects in America; to renounce the maintenance of theconstitutional rights of British subjects; to adopt a Declaration ofIndependence, of eternal separation from England; to extinguish thenational life of the British empire and the unity of the Anglo-Saxonrace, and seek an alliance with their own and Great Britain's hereditaryenemies for a war upon their mother country, which had protected themfor a hundred years against the French and Spaniards, who had alsoemployed and rewarded the Indians to destroy them. ] CHAPTER XXXI. CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION IN ENGLAND--CHANGE OF POLICY FOR BOTH ENGLANDAND THE COLONIES--PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AT PARIS--THE CAUSE OF THE UNITEDEMPIRE LOYALISTS. During the adjournment of Parliament from the 24th to the 28th of March, the new Administration was formed, and announced in the Commons on the28th, when the House adjourned over the Easter holidays, to give timefor the re-election of such members as had accepted office. The Kingfirst sent for the Earl of Shelburne to form a new Administration, naming some members of it; but the Earl of Shelburne declined, as unableto form an Administration upon such conditions, and recommended the Kingto send for the Marquis of Rockingham. The King refused to seeRockingham face to face, but requested Shelburne to be the bearer of amessage to him; but Shelburne only consented on the condition of "fullpower and full confidence. " "Necessity, " relates the King, "made meyield to the advice of Lord Shelburne. " Before accepting the offer ofFirst Lord of the Treasury, the Marquis of Rockingham, withoutneglecting some minor matters, stipulated that there should be no vetoto the independence of America. [58] But it was nearly three monthsbefore an Act passed the Commons authorizing peace with America, andthe acknowledgment of American Independence, and it was nearly a yearbefore the treaty for that purpose was agreed upon. In the meantime, "Immediately before the fall of Lord North's Ministry, in anticipation of that event, Dr. Franklin had written from Paris toLord Shelburne with general expressions of his pacific views. Onreceiving that letter, Lord Shelburne, then Secretary of State, sent toParis, as agent, Mr. Richard Oswald, a London merchant well versed inAmerican affairs. Dr. Franklin readily conferred with Mr. Oswald, andput into his hands a paper drawn up by himself, suggesting that, inorder to produce a thorough reconciliation, and to prevent any futurequarrel on the North American continent, England should not onlyacknowledge the thirteen united States, but concede to them the Provinceof Canada. Such a project was not likely to find favour in the eyes ofany British statesman. Mr. Oswald, however, undertook to return toEngland and lay it before his chief, Dr. Franklin, at his departure, expressing an earnest hope that all future communications to himselfmight pass through the same hands. "Under these circumstances, the Cabinet determined that Mr. Oswaldshould go back to France and carry on the treaty with Franklin, thoughby no means with such concessions as the American philosopherdesired. "[59] After the termination of hostilities between Great Britain and thecolonies, the American Commissioners evinced a desire to treat withEngland alone. Mr. Oswald, as early as July, 1782, wrote privately toLord Shelburne, "The Commissioners of the colonies have shown a desireto treat and to end with us on a separate footing from the otherPowers. " "The separate negotiation thus arising was delayed, " says LordMahon, "first by the severe illness of Dr. Franklin, and next by somepoints of form in the commission of Mr. Oswald. When at length the moresolid part of the negotiation was commenced, the hints of Franklin forthe cession of Canada were quietly dropped, with greater case from theirhaving been transmitted in a confidential form. It is also worthy ofnote that Lord Shelburne prevailed, in his desire of acknowledging theindependence of the United States, by an article of the treaty, and not, as Mr. Fox had wished, by a previous declaration. " The two most difficult questions of the treaty related to the fishinggrounds of Newfoundland, and the Loyalists or "Tories, " as they werecalled. The English were unwilling to concede the use of the fishinggrounds, but the Americans were firm; the result was, that by theprovisions of the treaty it was agreed that the Americans should havethe right to take fish on the banks of Newfoundland, but not to dry orcure them on any of the King's settled dominions. [60] But the question which transcended all others in importance, with whichthis work has chiefly to do, was that of the Loyalists--a class which, by the testimony of American historians themselves, constituted, at thebeginning of the war, a majority of the population of the colonies. Their numbers had been greatly reduced from various causes during thewar; they had been plundered and scattered by the alternate ascendancyof opposite parties; they had all of them suffered in their property andliberty; many of them had suffered imprisonment, and not a few of themhad been executed as criminals for preferring their oath of allegianceand connection with the mother country to a renunciation of their formerprofession of faith, and absolute submission to a newly self-createdauthority of rule and a new political creed. At the conclusion of thewar, and in the treaty of peace, "the question of Loyalists or Tories, "says Lord Mahon, "was, as it ought to be, a main object with the BritishGovernment to obtain, if possible, some restitution to the men who, inpunishment for their continued allegiance to the King, had found theirproperty confiscated and their persons banished. But from the first Dr. Franklin held out no hopes of any satisfaction on that point. 'TheCommissioners, ' he said, 'had no such power, nor had even Congress. '[61]They were willing that Congress should, with certain modifications, recommend those indemnities to the several States; and, as one of thenegotiators from England tells us, they to the last 'continued to assertthat the recommendation of Congress would have the effect we proposed. 'The British diplomatists persevered in their original demand, and at onetime there seemed a probability that the negotiations might break off, chiefly on this ground. Twice was Mr. Strachey, the Undersecretary ofState, an able and experienced man, dispatched to Paris to aid Mr. Oswald with his counsel and co-operation. But at last the mind ofFranklin, ever ingenious and fertile of resources, devised a counterscheme. He said that he would allow the losses which the Loyalists hadsuffered, provided another account were opened of the mischief they haddone, as of slaves carried off, or houses burned; new Commissioners tobe appointed to strike a balance between the two computations. At thisformidable proposal, involving an endless train of discussions anddisputes, the negotiators from England finally gave way. "[62] This account of the negotiation in regard to the United EmpireLoyalists, taken from Lord Mahon's impartial history, is corroborated inall essential particulars by American historians. Mr. Bancroft says that"Franklin having already explained that nothing could be done for theLoyalists by the United States, as their estates had been confiscated bylaws of particular States, which Congress had no power to repeal, hefurther demonstrates that Great Britain had forfeited every right tointercede for them by its conduct and example, to which end he read toOswald the orders of the British in Carolina for confiscating andselling the lands and property of all patriots under the direction ofthe military; and he declared definitely that, though the separategovernments might show compassion where it was deserved, the AmericanCommissioners for Peace could not make compensation of refugees a partof the treaty. " "This last demand (adequate indemnity for the confiscated property ofloyal refugees) touched alike the sympathy and the sense of honour ofEngland. The previous answer, that the Commissioners had no power totreat on the business of the Loyalists, was regarded as an allegationthat though they claimed to have full power, they were notplenipotentiaries; that they were acting under thirteen separatesovereignties, which had no common head. To meet the exigence, Shelburneproposed either an extension of Nova Scotia to the Penobscot, orKennebec, or the Saco, so that a province might be formed for thereception of Loyalists; or that a part of the money to be received fromsales of the Ohio lands might be applied to their subsistence. " "On the 29th of November, 1782, Strachey, Oswald, and Fitzherbert, onthe one side, and Jay, Franklin, Adams, and for the first time Laurens, on the other, came together for their last word at the apartments ofJay. The American Commissioners agreed that there should be no futureconfiscations nor prosecutions of Loyalists, that all pendingprosecutions should be discontinued, and that Congress should recommendto the several States and their Legislatures, on behalf of refugees, amnesty and the restitution of their confiscated property. " "On the30th, the Commissioners of both countries signed and sealed fair copiesof the Convention. " "The treaty was not a compromise, nor a compactimposed by force, but a free and perfect solution and perpetualsettlement of all that had been called in question. "[63] Dr. Ramsay observes: "From the necessity of the case, the Loyalists weresacrificed, nothing further than a simple recommendation for restitutionbeing stipulated in their favour. * * The case of the Loyalists wasundoubtedly a hard one, but unavoidable from the complex Constitution ofthe United States. The American Ministers engaged, as far as they wereauthorized, and Congress did all they constitutionally could; but thiswas no more than simply to recommend their case to the several States, for the purpose of making them restitution. To have insisted on more, under such circumstances, would have been equivalent to saying thatthere should be no peace. It is true, much more was expected from therecommendations of Congress than resulted from them; but this was notthe consequence of deception, but of misunderstanding the principles ofthe confederation. In conformity to the letter and spirit of the treaty, Congress urged, in strong terms, the propriety of making restitution tothe Loyalists, but to procure it was beyond their power. * * There weredoubtless among the Loyalists many worthy characters, friends of peaceand lovers of justice. To such restitution was undoubtedly due, and tomany such it was made; but it is one of the many calamities incident towar, that the innocent, from the impossibility of discrimination, areoften involved in the same distress with the guilty. "The return of the Loyalists to their former places of residence was asmuch disrelished by the Whig citizens of America as the proposal forreimbursing their confiscated property. In sundry places Committees wereformed, who, in an arbitrary manner, opposed their peaceable residence. The sober and dispassionate citizens exerted themselves in checkingthese irregular measures; but such was the violence of party spirit, andso relaxed were the sinews of government, that, in opposition to legalauthority and the private interference of the judicious and moderate, many indecent outrages were committed on the persons and property of thereturning Loyalists. "Nor were these all the sufferings of those Americans who had attachedthemselves to the royal cause. Being compelled to depart from theirnative country, many of them were obliged to take up their abodes in theinhospitable wilds of Nova Scotia, or on the barren shores of the BahamaIslands. Parliamentary relief was extended to them; but this wasobtained with difficulty, and distributed with a partial hand. Some, whoinvented plausible tales of loyalty and distress, received much morethan they ever possessed; while others, less artful, were not halfreimbursed for their actual losses. "[64] Mr. Hildreth remarks, under date of September, 1783, "that at New York ageneral release of prisoners had taken place on both sides; but thenecessity of finding transports for the numerous Loyalists assembledthere protracted the evacuation of New York. In consequence of lawsstill in force against them, several thousand American Loyalists foundit necessary to abandon their country. A considerable portion of theseexiles belonged to the wealthier classes; they had been officials, merchants, large landholders, conspicuous members of the colonialaristocracy. Those from the North settled principally in Nova Scotia orCanada, provinces the politics of which their descendants continued tocontrol until quite recently. Those from the South found refuge in theBahamas and other West India islands. Still objects of great popularodium, the Loyalists had little to expect from the stipulatedrecommendations of Congress in their favour. Some of the States, whoseterritory had been longest and most recently occupied by the enemy, wereeven inclined to enact new confiscations. "[65] In each and all of these historical statements it is clearly admittedthat the claim of the Loyalists to compensation for loss of property wasfounded in equity, as well as in national policy. This is sanctioned bythe admission of the American Commissioners and the recommendation ofCongress. The want of power in Congress to do what is admitted to be anact of justice to the Loyalists is the plea for not restoring them theproperty which had gone into the hands of their opponents, who wereproportionally enriched thereby. It was left to local avarice and localresentment to deal with the property of banished exiles. What was claimed by and in behalf of the Loyalists accorded with thepractice of even modern nations, as well as with the sentiments ofhumanity. When the Dutch provinces asserted their independence of Spain, and after a long and bloody war obtained the recognition of it, theycordially agreed to an act of oblivion, and even restored to those whohad adhered to the cause of Spain, their property of every denominationthat had been confiscated, or the full value of it. Even Spain herselfhad twice thus acted towards the province of Catalonia--first, on itsrevolting from that Crown, and calling in the assistance of France; andsecondly, on its refusing to acknowledge the Bourbon family, at thebeginning of the last century. Though the inhabitants had forfeited lifeand property, yet, on their return to obedience, life, possessions, lawsand immunities remained inviolate. England had conducted herself in thesame spirit towards that party in Ireland which had taken up arms insupport of James the Second. No proscriptions took place, and every man, on submitting to Government, was admitted to the undisturbed enjoymentof his property. Had this spirit actuated, and these examples, with manyothers of like character, influenced the Americans, how much morehonourable to them, and more consistent with sound policy, to efface atonce all remembrance of internal discords, than to pursue, in theexecrable spirit of revenge and avarice, those of their countrymen whodiffered from them in opinion in the late contest, and sided with GreatBritain. [66] That the plea that Congress had no power in grantingamnesty and compensation to the Loyalists was a mere pretext, ismanifest from the fact that the Commissioners agreed that there shouldbe no more confiscations or proscriptions against the Loyalists; for ifthe laws under which these prosecutions were instituted andconfiscations made were State laws, with which Congress had no power tointerfere, how could the Congress Commissioners stipulate that thereshould be no more confiscations or proscriptions? Dr. Franklin, the most experienced and ablest of the Americandiplomatists, was the most crafty and overbearing against England. Atthe beginning of the negotiations for peace, he demurely proposed, andhalf converted Mr. Oswald to his proposition, to concede Canada (whichat that time meant all British North America) to the United States, though his commission related simply to the independency of the thirteencolonies; and when the British Cabinet vetoed this extra-official andextravagant proposition, Dr. Franklin and his colleagues overreached theignorance and weakness of the British diplomatists by carefullyconstructed maps for the purpose of making the boundary lines betweenthe proposed possessions of Great Britain and the United States on theirnorthern and north-western frontiers. These lines were so ingeniouslydrawn as to take from Great Britain and include in the United States theimmense and valuable territories, back settlements, and the wholecountry between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi, and whichhave since become the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, etc. --to not one foot of whichthe thirteen American colonies had the slightest claim--territoriesample to compensate Loyalists for their losses and banishment, but whoseinterests, together with these most valuable possessions, were lost toGreat Britain by the subserviency of the British Commissioner, Oswald (aLondon and American merchant), who looked to his own interests, and wasthe subservient tool and echo of Dr. Franklin. The above territorieswere a part of the domain of Congress, irrespective of any State, andtherefore at the absolute disposal of Congress. Yet, with these immenseaccessions of resources, the American Commissioners professed that theCongress had no power or means to compensate the United Empire Loyalistsfor the confiscation and destruction of their property! One knows not atwhich most to marvel--the boldness, skill, and success of the AmericanCommissioners, or the cowardice, ignorance, and recklessness of theBritish diplomatists. The result of these negotiations was, that the adherents to GreatBritain during the civil war were deprived of the amnesty andrestoration of property upon any ground of right, as had been granted atthe termination of civil strife by all civilized nations--to therestoration of what had been taken from them during the war--and turnedover as suppliant culprits to the several States by whose laws theirproperty had been confiscated, and themselves declared guilty oftreason, and condemned to the death of traitors. Dr. Franklin, in thebeginning of his negotiations, had proposed to give all that nowconstitutes British North America to the United States, and thus leaveto the British Loyalists not an inch of ground on which to place theirfeet; but all that was now left to them, as far as America wasconcerned, was to prostrate themselves as suppliants before theLegislatures of the several States, each of which was for the most parta seething cauldron of passion and resentment against them. [67] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 58: The new Cabinet was composed as follows: The Marquis ofRockingham, First Commissioner of the Treasury; the Earl of Shelburneand Mr. Fox, Secretaries of State; Lord Camden, President of theCouncil; Duke of Grafton, Privy Seal; Lord John Cavendish, Chancellor ofthe Exchequer; Admiral Keppel, raised to be a Viscount, FirstCommissioner of the Admiralty; General Conway, Commander of the Forces;Duke of Richmond, Master General of the Ordnance. Lord Thurlow wascontinued in the office of Lord High Chancellor, and Mr. Dunning raisedto the peerage under the title of Lord Ashburton, as Chancellor of theDuchy of Lancaster. Mr. Burke was not made a member of the Cabinet, butwas appointed to the lucrative office of Paymaster of the Forces, andwas further gratified by the appointment of his son to a small office. About six months after the formation of the new Cabinet the Marquis ofRockingham died, and the Earl of Shelburne was appointed to succeed him, when the Duke of Richmond, Mr. Fox, and Lord John Cavendish seceded fromthe Cabinet, and were succeeded by Mr. Thomas Townsend and Lord Grahamas Secretaries of State, while the place of Lord John Cavendish, asChancellor of the Exchequer, was more than filled by Mr. Pitt. ] [Footnote 59: Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chaplxvi. , pp. 265, 266. "At Paris, the negotiations had been much impeded by the resignation ofMr. Fox and the return of Grenville. These events had, in many minds, cast a shade of doubt over the true intentions of the BritishGovernment. Lord Shelburne, however, renewed the most pacificassurances, sending to Paris, in place of Mr. Grenville and conjointlywith Mr. Oswald, Mr. Alleyne Fitzherbert, well known in after years asLord St. Helens. These gentlemen acted in amity and concert with eachother, although, strictly speaking, negotiation with America was, asbefore, the province of Mr. Oswald, and negotiation with the EuropeanPowers the province of Mr. Fitzherbert. Dr. Franklin, on the other hand, had associated with him three other American Commissioners, arriving insuccession--first, Mr. Jay, from Spain; then Mr. Adams, from Holland;and finally, Mr. Laurens, from London. "It became, ere long, apparent to the British agents that the Courts ofFrance and Spain were by no means earnest and sincere in the wish for animmediate close of the war. With the hope of soon reducing Gibraltar, orof otherwise depressing England, they put forward at this time eitherinadmissible pretensions, or vague and ambiguous words. It thereforebecame an object of great importance to negotiate, if possible, aseparate pacification with America. At first sight there appeared almostinsuperable difficulties in the way of such a scheme. The treaty ofalliance of February, 1778, between France and the United States, stipulated in the most positive terms that neither party should concludea peace or truce with England, unless with the consent of the otherparty first obtained. Since that time the French, far from falling shortof their engagement, had gone much beyond it. To say nothing of theirdespatch of a fleet and army, and besides their annual loans andadvances to the United States, they had made, in 1781, a free gift ofsix millions of livres, and in the spring of 1782 granted another to thesame amount. "On the other hand, however, there was a strong temptation to treatwithout delay. War, if still waged, would be mainly for French andSpanish purposes. It could be made clear that when the independence ofthe Americans was fully established and secured, they had no interestanymore than England in continuing an unprofitable contest. "--_Ib. _, pp. 291-293. "Moreover, there had sprung up in the minds of the AmericanCommissioners at Paris a strong feeling of distrust and suspicionagainst their new allies. That feeling we find most plainly expressed byMr. Adams in relating his own conversations with Mr. Oswald. 'You areafraid, ' said Mr. Oswald to-day, 'of being made the tools of the Powersof Europe?' 'Indeed I am, ' said I. 'What Powers?' said he. 'All ofthem, ' said I. "But in the minds of the American Commissioners, the distrust againstFrance was more vehement than against any other State. The best Americanwriters of the present day acknowledge that all surmises thence arisingwere, in truth, ill-founded; that the conduct of France towards theUnited States had been marked throughout not only by good faith andhonour, but by generosity. " (Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxvi. , pp. 293, 294. )] [Footnote 60: In the preamble of the treaty, it was provided that "Thetreaty was not to be concluded until terms of peace shall be agreed uponbetween Great Britain and France. " By this limitation (which was a mereform, as the provisional articles were to be meanwhile binding andeffective), the Americans were in hopes of avoiding, at least ofsoftening, their French allies. "The first Article acknowledged in thefullest terms the independence of the United States. The second fixedtheir boundaries, and certainly to their advantage. The third gave theirpeople the right to take fish on all the banks of Newfoundland, but notto dry or cure them on any of the King's settled dominions in America. By the fourth, fifth, and sixth Articles, it was engaged that Congressshould earnestly recommend to the several Legislatures to provide forthe restitution of all estates belonging to real British subjects whohad not borne arms against them. All other persons were to be at libertyto go to any of the provinces and remain there for twelve months to windup their affairs, the Congress also recommending the restitution oftheir confiscated property, on their repayment of the sums for whichthey had been sold. No impediment was to be put in the way of recovering_bona fide_ debts; no further prosecutions were to be commenced, nofurther confiscations made. It was likewise stipulated in the seventhand eighth Articles, that the English should at once withdraw theirfleets and armies from every port or place which they still possessedwithin the limits of the United States; and that the navigation of theMississippi, from its source to the ocean, should be for ever free andopen to both parties. " (Lord Mahon's History, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxvi. , pp. 297, 298. ) "It is not to be supposed that the French Government could view withunconcern the studied secrecy of this negotiation. The appearances ofamity were, indeed, for the sake of mutual interest, kept up on eitherside. But thus did the Comte de Vergennes (the French Minister ofForeign Affairs) unbosom himself in writing to the French Minister atPhiladelphia: 'You will surely be gratified, as well as myself, with thevery extensive advantages which our allies, the Americans, are toreceive from the peace; but you certainly will not be less surprisedthan I have been with the conduct of the commissioners. * * They havecautiously kept themselves at a distance from me. Whenever I have hadoccasion to see any one of them, and enquire of them briefly respectingthe progress of the negotiation, they have constantly clothed theirspeech in generalities, giving me to understand that it did not goforward, and that they had no confidence in the sincerity of the BritishMinistry. Judge of my surprise when, on the 30th of November, Dr. Franklin informed me that Articles were signed. The reservation retainedon our account does not save the infraction of the promise which we havemade to each other, not to sign except conjointly. * * This negotiationhas not yet so far advanced in regard to ourselves as that of the UnitedStates; not but what the King, if he had shown as little delicacy in hisproceedings as the American Commissioners, might have signed articleswith England long before them. '"--_Ib. _, pp. 298, 299. ] [Footnote 61: It was self-contradictory to say that Congress had powerto confiscate property, and yet had no power to restore it whenconfiscated. ] [Footnote 62: Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxvi. , pp 295, 296. ] [Footnote 63: History of the United States, Vol. X. , Chap, xxix. , pp. 555, 583, 589, 590, 591. ] [Footnote 64: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap, xxvii. , pp. 489, 490, 491. ] [Footnote 65: Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap, xlv. , p. 439. ] [Footnote 66: The royal historian, Dr. Andrews, remarks strongly on thissubject as follows: "The demands of restitution to the Loyalists of their propertyconfiscated during the war, for their attachment to our cause, had beenrefused by the American Commissioners, on pretence that neither they, nor Congress itself, could comply with it, any farther than byrecommendation of it to the different States. The demand was in itselfso just, and founded on so many historical precedents, that Congresscould not possibly plead a want of foresight that it would be made. Ithad been usual in all ages, on the cessation of civil war, to grant ageneral amnesty. No other motive but that of the basest and mostbarbarous revenge could induce men to express an averseness to so humaneand necessary a measure. Next to the cruelty of such a refusal was themeanness of those who submitted to it. "Circumstances empowered this nation to have acted with such firmness asto compel the Americans to relax their obstinacy in this particular. Until they had consented to a generous treatment of the Loyalists, weought to have withheld the restitution of the many strong places stillremaining in our hands, and made the surrender of them the price oftheir acquiescence in our demands in favour of the brave and faithfulpeople who had suffered so much on our account. " (Dr. Andrews' Historyof the Late War, Vol. IV. , pp. 401, 402. ) "All parties in the Commons unanimously demanded amnesty and indemnityfor the Loyalists. " (Bancroft, Vol. X. , Chap, xxix. , p. 586. )] [Footnote 67: Dr. Ramsay justly remarks: "The operation of treason lawsadded to the calamities of the war. Individuals on both sides, whilethey were doing no more than they supposed to be their duty, wereinvolved in the penal consequences of capital crimes. The Americans, inconformity to the usual policy of nations, demanded the allegiance ofall who resided among them; but many preferred the late royalgovernment, and were disposed, when opportunity offered, to support it. While they acted in conformity to these sentiments, the laws enacted forthe security of the new government condemned them to death. Of all wars, civil are most to be dreaded. They are attended with the bitterest ofresentments, and produce the greatest quantity of human woes. In theAmerican war the distresses of the country were greatly aggravated fromthe circumstance that every man was obliged, some way or other, to be inthe public service. In Europe, where the military operations are carriedon by armies hired and paid for the purpose, the common people partakebut little of the calamities of the war; but in America, where the wholepeople were enrolled as a militia, and where both sides endeavoured tostrengthen themselves by oaths and by laws, denouncing the penalties oftreason on those who aided or abetted the opposite party, the sufferingsof individuals were renewed as often as fortune varied her standard. Each side claimed the co-operation of the inhabitants, and was ready topunish them when it was withheld. "In the first institution of the American governments the boundaries ofauthority were not properly fixed. Committees exercised legislative, executive, and judicial powers. It is not to be doubted that in manyinstances these were improperly used, and that private resentments wereoften covered under the specious veil of patriotism. The sufferers, inpassing over to the Loyalists, carried with them a keen remembrance ofthe vengeance of Committees, and when opportunity presented were temptedto retaliate. From the nature of the case, the original offenders wereless frequently the objects of retaliation than those who were entirelyinnocent. One instance of severity begat another, and they continued toincrease in a proportion that doubled the evils of common war. * * TheRoyalists raised the cry of persecution, and loudly complained that, merely for supporting the Government under which they were born, and towhich they owed a natural allegiance, they were doomed to suffer all thepenalties of capital offenders. Those of them who acted from principlefelt no consciousness of guilt, and could not but look with abhorrenceupon a Government which could inflict such severe punishments for whatthey deemed a laudable line of conduct. Humanity would shudder at aparticular recital of the calamities which the Whigs inflicted on theTories and the Tories on the Whigs. It is particularly remarkable, thatmany on both sides consoled themselves with the belief that they wereacting and suffering in a good cause. " (History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xxvi. , pp. 467, 468, 469. )] CHAPTER XXXII. ORIGIN OF REPUBLICANISM AND HATRED OF MONARCHY IN AMERICA--THOMAS PAINE:A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE, CHARACTER, AND WRITINGS, AND THEIR EFFECTS. No social or political phenomenon in the history of nations has beenmore remarkable than the sudden transition of the great body of theAmerican colonists, in 1776, from a reverence and love of monarchicalinstitutions and of England, in which they had been trained from theirforefathers, to a renunciation of those institutions and a hatred ofEngland. Whatever influence the oppressive policy of the BritishAdministration may have had in producing this change, was confined tocomparatively few in America, was little known to the masses, and hadlittle influence over them. This sudden and marvellous revolution in theAmerican mind was produced chiefly by a pamphlet of forty pages, writtenat the suggestion of two or three leaders of the Americanrevolutionists, over the signature of "An Englishman. " This Englishmanwas no other than Thomas Paine, better known in after years as TomPaine, "the blasphemous infidel and beastly drunkard, " as the New York_Observer_, in answer to a challenge, proved him to be beyond thepossibility of successful contradiction. Tom Paine was of a Quakerfamily; was a staymaker by trade, but an agitator by occupation. He hadobtained an appointment as exciseman, but was dismissed from his office, and emigrated to America in 1774. He somehow obtained an introduction toDr. Franklin in London, who gave him a letter of introduction to agentleman in Philadelphia, through whom he procured employment in theservice of a bookseller. Beginning forthwith to write for a leadingnewspaper on the agitated questions of the day, his articles attractedattention and procured him the acquaintance of some influential persons, and he at length became editor of the "Pennsylvania Magazine. " He wasthe master of a singularly attractive, lucid, and vituperative style, scarcely inferior to that of _Junius_ himself. At the suggestion ofFranklin and one or two other leaders of the revolution, he wrote apamphlet of forty pages in favour of Independence, entitled "CommonSense, " and over the signature of "An Englishman, " yet bitter againstEngland and English institutions. It was addressed to the inhabitants ofAmerica, and was arranged under four heads: first, "Of the origin anddesign of government in general, with concise remarks on the EnglishConstitution;" secondly, "Of monarchy and hereditary succession;"thirdly, "Thoughts on the present state of military affairs;" fourth, "Of the present ability of America, with some miscellaneousreflections. " Mr. Frothingham says: "The portion on Government haslittle of permanent value; the glance at the English Constitution issuperficial; and the attack on Monarchy is coarse. The treatment of theAmerican question under the two last heads gave the pamphlet itscelebrity. "[68] Mr. Gordon says that "No publication so much promoted the cause ofIndependence as that. The statements which are now adopted were thenstrange, and Paine found difficulty in procuring a publisher toundertake it. " Dr. Ramsay says: "The style, manner, and language of Thomas Paine'sperformance were calculated to interest the passions and to rouse allthe active powers of human nature. With the view of operating on thesentiments of religious people, Scripture was pressed into his service;and the powers and name of a king were rendered odious in the eyes ofnumerous colonists who had read and studied the history of the Jews, asrecorded in the Old Testament. Hereditary succession was turned intoridicule. The absurdity of subjecting a great continent to a smallisland on the other side of the globe was represented in such strikinglanguage as to interest the honour and pride of the colonists inrenouncing the government of Great Britain. The necessity, the advantageand practicability of independence were forcibly demonstrated. "Nothing could be better timed than this performance. It was addressedto freemen, who had just received convincing proof that Great Britainhad thrown them out of her protection, and engaged foreign mercenariesto make war upon them, and seriously designed to compel theirunconditional submission to her unlimited power. It found the colonistsmost thoroughly alarmed for their liberties, and disposed to do andsuffer anything that promised their establishment. In union with thefeelings and sentiments of the people, it produced surprising effects. Many thousands were convinced, and were led to approve and long for aseparation from the mother country. Though that measure, a few monthsbefore, was not only foreign to their wishes, but the object of theirabhorrence, the current suddenly became so strong in its favour that itbore down all opposition. The multitude was hurried down the stream; butsome worthy men could not easily reconcile themselves to the idea of aneternal separation from a country to which they had long been bound bythe most endearing ties. * * The change of the public mind of Americarespecting connection with Great Britain is without a parallel. In theshort space of two years, nearly three millions of people passed overfrom the love and duty of loyal subjects to the hatred and resentment ofenemies. "[69] The American press and all the American historians of that day speak ofthe electric and marvellous influence of Tom Paine's appeal againstkings, against monarchy, against England, and in favour of Americanindependence. The following remarks of the London _Athenæum_ are quoted by the NewYork _Observer_ of the 10th of April, 1879: "A more despicable man than Tom Paine cannot be found among the readywriters of the eighteenth century. He sold himself to the highestbidder, and he could be bought at a very low price. He wrote well;sometimes as pointedly as Junius or Cobbett (who had his bones broughtto England). Neither excelled him in coining telling and mischievousphrases; neither surpassed him in popularity-hunting. He had the art, which was almost equal to genius, of giving happy titles to hisproductions. When he denounced the British Government in the name of'Common Sense, ' he found willing readers in the rebellious Americancolonists, and a rich reward from their grateful representatives. Whenhe wrote on behalf of the 'Rights of Man, ' and in furtherance of the'Age of Reason, ' he convinced thousands by his title-pages who wereincapable of perceiving the inconclusiveness of his arguments. Hisspeculations have long since gone the way of all shams; and hischarlatanism as a writer was not redeemed by his character as a man. Nothing could be worse than his private life; he was addicted to themost degrading vices. He was no hypocrite, however, and he cannot becharged with showing that respect for appearances which constitute thehomage paid by vice to virtue. Such a man was well qualified for earningnotoriety by insulting Washington. Only a thorough-paced rascal couldhave had the assurance to charge Washington with being unprincipled andunpatriotic. " FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 68: Frothingham's Rise of the Republic of the United States, Chap, xi. , p. 472. The pamphlet was called "Common Sense, " and was written by Thomas Paine, an Englishman, who held and expressed extreme opinions upon the "Rightsof Man. " He had been a staymaker in England, and was ruined; when, inthe winter of 1774, by Franklin's advice, he came to America and rapidlygrasped and comprehended the position of affairs. (Elliott's History ofNew England, Vol. II. , Chap, xxviii. , p. 383. ) Referring to this demagogue of the American and French Revolution, hisAmerican biographer, Cheetham, says: "All sects have had theirdisgraceful members and offspring. Paine's father, a peaceful andindustrious Quaker, connects him with the exemplary sect of the Friends. He received his education at the Grammar School of his native place, Thetford, in Norfolk, but attained to little beyond the rudiments ofLatin. His first application to business was in the trade of his father, that of staymaker, which he followed in London, Dover, and Sandwich, where he married; afterwards he became a grocer and an exciseman, atLewes, in Sussex. This situation he lost through some misdemeanor. Afterthis, however, so well were the public authorities of his native countrydisposed to serve him, that one of the Commissioners of Excise gave hima letter of recommendation to Dr. Franklin, then a colonial agent inLondon, who recommended him to go to America. At this period he hadfirst exercised his talents as a writer by drawing up a pamphletrecommending the advance of the salaries of excisemen. "His age at this time was thirty-seven. His first engagement inPhiladelphia was with Mr. Aitkin, a respectable bookseller, who, inJanuary, 1775, commenced the 'Pennsylvania Magazine, ' the editorship ofwhich work became the business of Mr. Paine, who had a salary of £50currency a year. When Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, suggested to Paine thepropriety of preparing the Americans for a separation from England, itseems that he seized with avidity the idea, and immediately commencedhis famous pamphlet on that subject, which being shown in MS. To DoctorsFranklin and Rush and Mr. Samuel Adams, was, after some discussion, entitled, at the suggestion of Dr. Rush, 'Common Sense. ' For thisproduction the Legislature of Pennsylvania voted him £500. Shortlyafterwards Paine was appointed Secretary to the Committee of the UnitedStates on Foreign Affairs. His business was merely to copy papers, number and file them, and generally do the duty of what is now called aclerk in the Foreign Department. But in the title-page of his 'Rights ofMan, ' he styles himself 'Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Congressof the United States in the Late War. ' While in this office, hepublished a series of appeals on the struggle between Great Britain andthe colonies. In 1777 he was obliged to resign his secretaryship onaccount of a quarrel with Silas Deane, American agent in France. Thenext year, however, he obtained the appointment of Clerk to the Assemblyof Pennsylvania; and in 1785, on the rejection of a motion to appointhim historiographer to the United States, the Congress granted him threethousand dollars, and the Legislature of New York granted him an estateof 500 acres of highly cultivated land, the confiscated property of aLoyalist. Having no more revolutionary occupation in the United States, he embarked for France in 1787, with a letter of recommendation from Dr. Franklin to the Duke de la Rochefoucault. From Paris he went to London, where, the following year, he was arrested for debt, but was bailed bysome American merchants. He went to Paris in 1791 to publish, under thename of 'Achilles Du Chatellet, ' a tract _recommending the abolition ofroyalty_. He again returned to London and wrote the first part of his'Rights of Man, ' in answer to Mr. Burke's 'Reflections on the FrenchRevolution. ' The second part was published early in 1792. He was orderedto be arrested and prosecuted for his seditious and blasphemouswritings, but escaped to France, and was elected a member of the FrenchNational Convention--grateful for the honour which the bloody anarchistshad conferred upon him by electing him a member of their order. Hisconduct, however, offended the Jacobins, and towards the close of theyear 1793 he was excluded from the convention, was arrested andcommitted to the prison of the Luxembourg. Just before his confinementhe had finished the first part of his 'Age of Reason, ' and confided itto the care of his friend Joel Barlow for publication. He was now takenill, to which circumstance he ascribed his escape from the guillotine;and on the fall of Robespierre was released. In 1795 he published, atParis, the second part of his 'Age of Reason. ' He returned to America in1802, bringing with him a woman named Madame Bonneville, whom he hadseduced away from her husband, with her two sons, and whom he seems tohave treated with the utmost meanness and tyranny. His friend andAmerican biographer, Mr. Cheetham, in continuation, gives the followingaccount of Paine's arrival at New York in 1802: 'The writer, ' says Mr. Cheetham, 'supposing him (Paine) to be a gentleman, was employed toengage a room for him at Lovett's hotel, New York. On his arrival, in1802, about ten at night, he wrote me a note, desiring to see meimmediately. I waited on him at Lovett's, in company with Mr. GeorgeClinton, jun. We rapped at the door. A small figure opened it within, meanly dressed, having an old top-coat, without an under one; a dirtysilk handkerchief loosely thrown around his neck, a long beard of morethan a week's growth, a face well carbuncled as the setting sun, and thewhole figure staggering under a load of inebriation. I was on the pointof inquiring for Mr. Paine, when I noticed something of the portraits Ihad seen of him. We were desired to be seated. He had before him a smallround table, on which were a beefsteak, some beer, a pint of brandy, apitcher of water and a glass. He sat eating, drinking, and talking withas much composure as if he had lived with us all his life. I soonperceived that he had a very retentive memory, and was full of anecdote. The Bishop of Llandaff (Dr. Watson) was almost the first word heuttered, and it was followed by his informing us that he had in histrunk a manuscript reply to the bishop's 'Apology for the Bible. ' Hethen calmly mumbled his steak, and ever and anon drinking his brandy andbeer, repeated the introduction to his reply, which occupied nearly halfan hour. This was done with deliberation and the utmost clearness, and aperfect apprehension, intoxicated as he was, of all that he repeated. Scarcely a word would he allow us to speak. He always, I afterwardsfound, in all companies, drunk or sober, would be listened to; in hisregard, there were no _rights of men_ with him--no equality, noreciprocal immunities and obligations--for he would listen to no one. ' "On the 13th of October, 1802, he arrived at Baltimore, under theprotection of Mr. Jefferson. But it appears that curiosity induced noone of distinction to suffer his approach. While at his hotel he wasprincipally visited by the lower class of emigrants from Scotland, England, and Ireland, who had read and admired his 'Rights of Man. ' Withthem, it appears, 'he drank grog in the tap-room morning, noon, andnight, admired and praised, strutting and staggering about, showinghimself to all and shaking hands with all. The leaders of the party towhich he had attached himself paid him no attention. '" Paine's subsequent years, until his miserable death in 1809, werecharacterized by the lowest degradation, blasphemy, drunkenness, andfilthiness, which rendered him unfit for any human society, as hisbiographies, written even by his friends, abundantly testify. Those who knew Paine in his earlier years were, of course, notresponsible for the depravity and degradation of his subsequent years;but from the beginning he was an infidel and an enemy of all settledgovernment. Such was the author of American republicanism and of American hatred toEngland, to all British institutions, to all monarchy, and the advocateof the abolition of kings. ] [Footnote 69: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xii. , pp. 161, 162, 163. ] CHAPTER XXXIII. HIRING OF FOREIGNERS AND EMPLOYMENT AND TREATMENT OF INDIANS IN THEAMERICAN WAR. No two acts of the British Government in connection with the Americanwar were more deprecated on both sides of the Atlantic than theemployment of foreign troops and Indians against the colonists; theywere among the alleged and most exciting causes of the Declaration ofIndependence; they weakened British influence throughout the colonies;they roused thousands to arms who would have otherwise remainedpeacefully at home. In England they were denounced by the highestpersonages both in and out of Parliament, and by the public atlarge. [70] These Hessian mercenaries, though much lauded at first, and dreaded bythe colonists, proved to be inferior to the British soldiers, were notreliable, deserted in large numbers, and plundered everywhere, withoutregard to Loyalists or Disloyalists, and strengthened the Americanresistance far more than they strengthened the British army. [71] But if the hiring of foreign troops at an enormous expense wasdisgraceful and impolitic, the employment _of Indians_ against thecolonists was still more impolitic and unnatural an outrage uponcivilization and humanity; and what is still even more to be lamented isthat this enlistment of savages in the warfare of one branch of theBritish family against another was sanctioned if not instigated by theKing himself. [72] During the war between France and England, which commenced in 1755, bothparties sought the alliance and support of the Indians, and employedthem in the savage work of border warfare. The French succeeded insecuring the greater number of the Indians, and used them with dreadfuleffect, murdering and scalping thousands of the British colonists alongthe inland frontiers of the several colonies. At the termination of thewar by the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, and the extinction of French powerin America, the French authorities commended the Indians to cultivatethe friendship of England, whose great superiority and success in thewar tended to turn the Indian affections and interest in favour of theBritish. Dr. Ramsay observes: "The dispute between Great Britain and hercolonies began to grow serious, and the friendship of the Indians becamea matter of consequence to both parties. Stretching for fifteen hundredmiles along the whole north-western frontier of the colonies, they wereto them desirable friends and formidable enemies. As terror was one ofthe engines by which Great Britain intended to enforce the submission ofthe colonies, nothing could be more conducive to the excitement of thispassion than the co-operation of the Indians. Policy, not cruelty, ledto the adoption of this expedient, but it was of that over refinedspecies which counteracts itself. In the competition for the friendshipof the Indians, the British had advantages far superior to any possessedby the colonists. The expulsion of the French from Canada--an eventwhich had taken place only thirteen years before--was still fresh in thememory of many of the savages, and had inspired them with high ideas ofthe martial superiority of the British troops. The first steps taken byCongress to oppose Great Britain put it out of their power to gratifythe Indians. Such was the effect of the non-importation agreement of1774. While Great Britain had access to the principal Indian tribesthrough Canada on the north, and Florida on the south, and wasabundantly able to supply their many wants, the colonists had debarredthemselves from importing the articles which were necessary for theIndian trade. "[73] The employment of the Indians in this civil war was in every respectdisadvantageous to England. It was disapproved and denounced throughoutEngland and Europe, as unnatural and inhuman; it was disapproved by theEnglish commanders and even Loyalists in America, and inflamed thecolonists to the highest degree. Wherever the Indians were employed, they were a source of weakness to the English army, while their ravagesand cruelties disgusted the Loyalists and brought disgrace upon theEnglish arms and cause. Sir Guy Carleton forbade their crossing fromCanada into the colonies, and was afterwards accused in England fordisobedience in not employing them;[74] and General Burgoyne gave thestrictest orders against their murdering and plundering. His defeat nearSaratoga was largely owing to the conduct of the Indians in his army. American historians dilate with much eloquence and justice upon theemployment of Indians against the colonists, and narrate, with everypossible circumstance of aggravation, every act of depredation andcruelty on the part of the Indians against the white inhabitants thatespoused the cause of Congress; but they omit to state in like mannerthat Congress itself endeavoured to enlist the Indians in its quarrelwith the mother country; that General Washington recommended theiremployment against the English, [75] and that the very idea of engagingthe Indians in this civil war originated with the first promoters of therevolution in Massachusetts. Nor do American historians state franklyand fairly that for every aggression and outrage committed by theIndians, the American soldiers, even under the express order ofCongress, retaliated with a tenfold vengeance--not in the manner ofcivilized warfare, but after the manner and destruction of the savagesthemselves. The American writers had also great advantages inrepresenting everything in regard to the proceedings of therevolutionists in the brightest light, and everything connected with theLoyalists and the English in the darkest colours, as they had thereports, letters, and all other papers relating to these subjects intheir own exclusive possession, and published only such and so much ofthem as answered their purpose; even the internal proceedings ofCongress were secret, [76] and only became known after the close of thewar. And many of the most important historical facts relating to the warhave been brought to light in the biographies and correspondence of themen who figured in the revolution; and many letters and papers of greathistorical value in throwing light upon the events and conduct ofparties during that period have only been published during the presentcentury, and some of them for the first time during the presentgeneration. This is true in regard to much that relates to theemployment and proceedings of the Indians, as well as in regard to thoseof the Loyalists and various events of the American revolution. According to American historians, the idea of employing the Indians inthe civil war was the wicked conception of British malignity, andeverywhere reprobated in America; while the idea was actually firstconceived and embodied in a resolution by the Provincial Congress ofMassachusetts. At Cambridge a new Provincial Congress had assembled, with the popular feeling in their favour, and with several thousands ofmilitia or minute men under their command. But the most determined ofall their measures was to enlist a company of Stockbridge Indiansresiding in their province. Further still, they directed a secretletter--and a secret it has been kept for more than fifty years--to amissionary much esteemed by the Indians in the western parts of NewYork, entreating "that you will use your influence with them to join usin the defence of our rights, "--in other words, to assail and scalp theBritish soldiers. [77] It is worthy of remark, that the Massachusettsdelegates, the framers of this letter, were among those who expressedthe highest astonishment and indignation when, at a later period, asimilar policy was adopted on the British side. [78] "Under date of the 27th of July, 1776, General Washington wrote toCongress, " says Mr. Allen, "expressing respectful anxiety that theStockbridge Indians shall be employed, and remarks that they weredissatisfied at not being included in the late order for enlisting theirpeople, and had inquired the cause of General Putman. "The reasons he assigns for recommending their employment are such ashave influenced, and probably determined, the Americans from that timeto the termination of the last war (1812-1815) with Great Britain--thatis, the impossibility of keeping them neutral; the fear of their joiningthe enemy; while the customs of savage warfare are so repulsive to allthe feelings of humanity and pride of the soldier, that it would seem nopalliation could be received for the crime of having sanctioned them byexample. Indians are active and serviceable when properly employed. Theyare the best defence against Indians. Acquainted from their birth withwiles and stratagems, they can trace the enemy, and tell its numbers, its footsteps, when the eye of the white man cannot discover a trace;and the moving of grass or rushes, which would be unregarded by aregular soldier, as the natural effect of winds, leads the Indian to beprepared for an ambush. The certainty that Indians can be restrainedwhen it is wished, reconciles the opposite contradictions which are sooften seen between the complaints made by the Americans that the enemyemployed savages, at the very moment that they also employed them. "[79] It is thus clear that both parties courted the co-operation of theIndians, and employed them to the utmost of their power; and thereforeone party has no just ground of reproach against or advantage over theother party for the inhuman policy of enlisting the Indians in theircause, though the British had larger means and greater facilities insecuring this savage co-operation. It has been alleged, and no doubt truly, that the American commandersrestrained the cruel and plundering propensities of the Indians, and theEnglish commanders did the same; but neither the English nor theAmericans were always able to control their Indian allies on or afterthe day of battle. American writers have, however, charged the outragesof the Indians in the English army, and scouting parties, to thesanction of the British generals, [80] and the prompting of the BritishLoyalists, and some English writers have reiterated the charge. Theemployment of the Indians at all was against the judgment of bothGeneral Burgoyne and Sir Guy Carleton, [81] and only submitted to inobedience to the King's authority. As early as the 11th of July, 1776, Burgoyne (while pursuing his enterprise from Montreal to Albany)complains as follows of the conduct of the Indians to the Secretary ofState: "Confidentially to your Lordship, I may acknowledge that inseveral instances I have found the Indians little more than a name. If, under the management of their conductors, they are indulged forinterested reasons in all the caprices and humours of spoiled childrenlike them, they grow more unreasonable and importunate upon every newfavour. Were they left to themselves, enormities too horrid to think ofwould ensue; guilty and innocent, women and infants, would be a commonprey. "[82] While the Indians were an incumbrance to Burgoyne's army during hiswhole campaign, and forsook him in the eventful hour when he most neededthem, their barbarities contributed greatly to swell the revolutionaryarmy, and to alienate great numbers of Loyalists, weakening Burgoyne'sarmy in the very country where he expected most support from theinhabitants, and giving the American general, Gates, a greatpreponderance of strength over him--the army of Burgoyne being reducedto 3, 500 men fit for actual service, while that of Gates was increasedto upwards of 16, 000 fit for actual service. [83] But if the British exceeded the Americans in gaining the greater part ofthe Indians to their cause, and the corresponding disgrace anddisadvantage of their accompanying the army, the Americans far outdidthe English and the Indians themselves in the work of desolation anddestruction. Dr. Ramsay remarks: "The undisturbed tranquillity which took place in South Carolina and theadjacent States after the British had failed in their designs againstthem in the spring and summer of 1776, gave an opportunity of carryingwar into the Indian country. This was done, not so much to punish whatwas past, as to prevent all future co-operation between the Indians andBritish in that quarter. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, andGeorgia sent about the same time a considerable force, which traversedthe Indian settlements, burned their towns, and destroyed their fieldsof corn. Above 500 of the Cherokees were obliged, from want ofprovisions, to take refuge in Florida, and were fed at the expense ofthe British Government. "[84] It is to be observed that this was not an invasion of the whitesettlements by the Indians, but an invasion of the Indian settlements bythe whites; it was a "carrying war into the Indian country;" it was notprovoked by the Indians, but "was done to prevent all futureco-operation between the Indians and British in that quarter. " Yet thiswar of _invasion_, this war of _precaution_, was also a war moredestructive to the Indians than any which they, even under the French, had inflicted on the white colonists; for not an Indian cornfield wasleft undestroyed, nor an Indian habitation unconsumed. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 70: The royal historian, Dr. Andrews, says: "The colonies were particularly exasperated at the introduction offoreign troops into this quarrel. They looked upon this measure as anunanswerable proof that all regard for their character as Englishmen wasfled, and that Great Britain viewed them as strangers, whom, if shecould not conquer and enslave, she was determined to destroy. Thispersuasion excited their most violent indignation; they consideredthemselves as abandoned to plunder and massacre, and that Britain wasunfeelingly bent on their ruin, by whatsoever means she could compassit. "While the colonists represented this measure in so sanguinary a light, it was depicted at home in the same colour by their partisans. It waseven reprobated by many individuals who were not averse to the otherparts of the Ministerial plan, but who could not bring themselves toapprove of the interference of foreign mercenaries in our domesticfeuds. "It was not only throughout the public at large this measure occasionedso much discontent; after having in Parliament undergone the keenestcensure of the Opposition, it fell under the displeasure of aconsiderable number of those who sided with the Minister and weregenerally used to support the measures of Government; but on thisoccasion they loudly dissented from them. Several quitted the Housewithout voting; others, who voted in his favour, obliged him previouslyto give them an assurance that he would remove all their doubts andscruples, and satisfy them clearly on this subject. " (Dr. Andrews'History of the Late War, Vol. II. , Chap. Xviii. , pp. 76, 77. )] [Footnote 71: "The employment of foreign troops to reduce America was anobject animadverted upon by the Opposition with peculiar violence andindignation. This, indeed, of all the Ministerial measures, met with themost acrimonious notice both in and out of Parliament. * * Foreignerssaid the Opposition were now taught that Britain, with all its boastedgreatness, could not find people at home to fight its battles. * * Whocould behold so disgraceful a measure without feeling for that loss ofnational honour which it must occasion? * * But exclusive of thedisgrace entailed upon our character, the danger of the system was noless apparent. What reason had we to trust an army of foreigners, whocould possibly harbour no motives of enmity to the people against whomthey were to be employed? The country where these foreigners were towage war for us, was precisely that to which we had so often enticednumbers to emigrate from their native homes by promises of more _ease_and happiness than they could enjoy in their own country. * * Of all themeasures that had been taken against the Americans, that of hiringforeigners to invade their country had given the highest offence. British soldiers, though acting in the capacity of foes, still retainedthe feelings of countrymen, and would not shed blood without somecompunction. They were born and bred in a country noted for humanity, and the constitution of which inculcated mildness. But the Hessians wereof a ferocious disposition; educated under a despotic Government, theyknew no rights but those of force. They carried destruction whereverthey were masters, plundering all before them without distinction, andcommitting the most barbarous ravages. "They had, it was said, been told before their departure from Germanythat they were to be put in possession of the lands of those whom theyconquered, and they were full of this expectation at their arrival. Butupon discovering their mistake, they resolved, however, to makethemselves amends by appropriating whatever they could lay their handsupon. * * The conduct of the Hessians was extremely offensive to theBritish commanders, but they were too powerful a body to restrain bycompulsion, as they composed almost one-half of the army. Notwithstanding the prudence and steadiness with which General Howeconducted himself upon this emergency, it was not possible to restraintheir excesses, nor even prevent them from spreading among the Englishtroops in a degree to which they would not have certainly been carriedhad they not such examples for a plea. "The depredations of the Hessians grew at last, it was said, soenormous, that the spoils they were loaded with became an absoluteincumbrance to them, and a frequent impediment to the discharge of theirmilitary duties. "The desolation of the Jerseys was one of the consequences of thisspirit of rapine. The Americans who adhered to Britain attributed to itthe subsequent decline of the British cause in these and other parts. Asthe devastation was extended indiscriminately to friend and foe, itequally exasperated both parties; it confirmed the enmity of the one, and raised up a new enemy in the other; and it injured the Britishinterest in all the colonies. " (Dr. Andrews' History of the Late War, Vol. II. , Chaps. Xvii. And xxii. , pp. 53, 54-268, 269. ) Dr. Andrews adds, in another place, that-- "The resentment occasioned by the depredations that had been carried onin the Jerseys had left few, if any, friends to Britain in thatprovince. The dread of seeing those plunderers return, who had sparedneither friend nor foe, rendered all parties averse to the cause inwhich they were employed. To this it was owing that their motions wereobserved with such extreme vigilance, that they stood little or nochance of succeeding in any of their enterprises. So many had sufferedthrough them, that there was no deficiency of spies to give instantinformation of whatever they were suspected to have in view; and as muchmischief was done them by such as acted secretly from motives of privaterevenge, as by those who took an open part against them in the field. "(Dr. Andrews' History of the American War, etc. , Vol. II. , Chap, xxiii. , pp. 301, 302. )] [Footnote 72: "At the north, the King called to mind that he might 'relyupon the attachment of his faithful allies, the Six Nations of Indians, 'and he turned to them for immediate assistance. To insure the fulfilmentof his wishes, the order to engage them was sent directly in his name tothe unscrupulous Indian agent, Guy Johnson, whose functions were madeindependent of Carleton. 'Lose no time, ' it was said; 'induce them totake up the hatchet against his Majesty's rebellious subjects inAmerica. It is a service of very great importance; fail not to exertevery effort that may tend to accomplish it; use the utmost diligenceand activity. '" (Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. VII. , Chap. Xxxiii. , p. 349. )] [Footnote 73: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xix. , pp. 320, 321. "It was unfortunate for the colonies that since the peace of Paris, 1763, the transactions with the Indians had been mostly carried on bysuperintendents appointed and paid by the King of Great Britain. Thesebeing under obligations to the Crown, and expectants of further favoursfrom it, generally used their influence with the Indians in behalf ofthe mother country and against the colonies. * * The Americans were notunmindful of the savages on their frontier. They appointed commissionersto explain to them the grounds of their dispute, and to cultivate theirfriendship by treaties and presents. They first sought to persuade theIndians to join them against Great Britain, but having failed in that, they endeavoured to persuade the Indians that the quarrel was by nomeans relative to them, and that therefore they should take part withneither side. "For the greater convenience of managing the intercourse between thecolonies and the Indians, the latter were divided into threedepartments--the northern, southern, and middle--and commissioners wereappointed for each. Congress also resolved to import and distributeamong them a suitable assortment of goods, to the amount of £40, 000sterling, on account of the United States; but this was not executed. "(Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xix. , p. 321. )] [Footnote 74: "Anxious (1775, October) to relieve St. John's, Carleton, after the capture of Allen, succeeded in assembling about nine hundredCanadians at Montreal; but a want of mutual confidence, and thecertainty that the inhabitants generally favoured the Americans, dispirited them, and they disappeared by desertions thirty or forty of anight, till he was left almost as forlorn as before. The Indians, too, he found of little service; 'they were easily dejected, and chose to beof the strongest side, so that when they were most wanted theyvanished'. But history must preserve the fact that though often urged tolet them loose on the rebel provinces, in his detestation of cruelty hewould not suffer a savage to pass the frontier. " (Bancroft's History ofthe United States, Vol. VIII. , Chap. Lii. , p. 186. )] [Footnote 75: "Reading at the present day, we can see how the passionateand declamatory rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence has left itsstain to this hour on most of the political writing and oratory ofAmerica, and may wish that the birth of a nation had not been screamedinto the world after this fashion. Nothing could have been easier than, in the like rhetorical language, to draw up a list of lawlessness andutter outrage committed by the colonists. Some of the charges will notbear examination. "For instance, the aid of the Indians had been willingly accepted by thecolonists in the Canadian expedition since September, 1775; the generalquestion of their employment had been considered by Washington inconference with a Committee of Congress and delegates of New EnglandGovernments in October of the same year; and the main objection whichWashington and other officers urged against it, as shown by a letter ofhis to General Schuyler, January 27, 1776, and the answer from thelatter, was that of expense. He had, nevertheless (April 19, 1776), advised Congress 'to engage them on our side, ' as 'they must, and nodoubt soon will, take an active part either for or against us;' and theCongress itself had, on June 3rd--not a month before the Declaration ofIndependence was actually accepted--passed a resolution to raise 2, 000Indians for the Canadian service, which, shortly afterwards, wasextended by another (referred to in a letter of Washington's of June20), authorizing General Washington to employ such Indians as he shouldtake into the service in any place where he might think that they wouldbe most useful, and to offer them bounties, not indeed for scalps, butfor every officer and soldier of the King's troops whom they mightcapture in the Indian country or on the frontiers of the colonies. Whenall this had been done, it needed the forgetfulness and the blindhypocrisy of passion to denounce the King to the world for having'endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the mercilessIndian savages;' yet the American people have never had the self-respectto erase this charge from a document generally printed in the fore-frontof their Constitution and Laws, and with which every schoolboy issedulously made familiar. "Perhaps, indeed, it would have been otherwise had not the charge beenone which circumstances appeared to confirm. For, in fact, owing tocauses already indicated, the Americans never could make friends of theIndians in the contest, and consequently the 'merciless savages'continue in history to figure on the side of the British. Who couldwonder at it? At the date of the Declaration of Independence, the Indianchild had only just reached man's estate, who in the year of his birthmight have escaped being a victim to the bounty of £20, held out for thescalp of every Indian woman and child, by Massachusetts, in 1775, whilstone of £40 had been offered for that of his father, raised in 1776 to£300. It did not require the retentive memory of the redskin to make himlook with suspicion on solicitations of friendship from men who mighthave been parties to such schemes of extermination to his race. " (TheLudlow's History of the War of Independence, 1777-1783, Chap. V. , pp. 124-126. ) "But Jefferson's violent pamphlet should, in fact, be looked upon lessas a Declaration of Independence than as a Declaration of War--less asan assertion of right than as a cry of defiance uttered in the hour ofgrave peril, and in the face of a formidable foe. "--_Ib. _, p. 126. ] [Footnote 76: Some of the members of Congress were, at times, not soreticent as their oaths of secrecy required, and the squabbles ofConference became known abroad. It is a curious illustration of thedignity and character of a body, when the least publication of itsproceedings becomes its disgrace. "In those days (1779), far unlike our own, the Congress resembled aCommittee or a Junta, much rather than a chamber of debate. Thespeeches, it is said, were all in the style of private conversation. There were never more than forty members present, often no more thantwenty. These small numbers, however, by no means ensured harmony, norprecluded violent and unseemly quarrels, rumours of which were not slowin passing the Atlantic. 'For God's sake, ' thus wrote La Fayette fromFrance, 'for God's sake, prevent the Congress from disputing loudlytogether. Nothing so much hurts the interest and reputation of America. 'Thus the object of concealment, unless, perhaps, for private purposes, was most imperfectly attained, although, in name at least, thedeliberations of Congress at this time were secret. Historically, eventhe Journal which they kept gives little light as to their trueproceedings. An American gentleman, who has studied that document withcare, laments that it is 'painfully meagre, the object being apparentlyto record as little as possible. '" (Lord Mahon's History of England, Vol. VII. , Chap. Lviii. , pp. 420, 421; quoting as his authority, "Letterof La Fayette to Washington, June 12, 1779, " and "Life of PresidentReed, " by Mr. Wm. Reed, Vol. II. , p. 18. )] [Footnote 77: Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap, lii. , pp. 52, 53. ] [Footnote 78: This letter, dated Concord, April 4, 1775, may be seen atlength in the Appendix to Sparks' edition of Washington's Writings, Vol. III. , p. 495. The letter, it will be seen, was written a fortnightbefore the affair of Concord and Lexington, which took place the 19th ofApril, when the first blood was shed in the revolution. ] [Footnote 79: Allen's History of the American Revolution, Vol. I. , Chap, xiv. , pp. 423, 424. "Lord Suffolk, in his speech (in reply to Lord Chatham), undertook todefend the employment of the savages. 'The Congress, ' he said, 'endeavoured to bring the Indians over to their side, and if we had notemployed them they would most certainly have acted against us. ' Thisstatement, which at the time was doubted or denied, has been, it must beowned, in no small degree borne out by documents that have subsequentlycome to light. Even several months later, we find Congress in treaty toengage several parties of Indians in their service. " (Lord Mahon'sHistory, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lvi. , p. 305. ) "See Washington's Writings, Vol. V. , p. 273, and Appendix to Vol. III. , p. 494. 'Divesting them, ' says Washington, 'of the savage customsexercised in their wars against each other, I think they may be made ofexcellent use as scouts and light troops, mixed with our own parties. 'But what more did the English ever design or desire?" (Lord Mahon'sHistory, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lvi. , p. 305. )] [Footnote 80: Even so amiable and generous a man as Burgoyne did notescape these imputations. "It may well be imagined that while Burgoynewas advancing, declamations against his and the Indians' cruelty (for nodistinction was admitted) were rife on the American side. By such means, and still more, perhaps, by the natural spirit of a free-born peoplewhen threatened with invasion, a resolute energy against Burgoyne wasroused in the New England States. "--_Ib. _, p. 261. ] [Footnote 81: "Carleton from the first abhorred the measure of employingthe Indians, which he was yet constrained to promote. " (Bancroft, Vol. VII. , p. 119. )] [Footnote 82: Quoted in Lord Mahon's History, Vol. VII. , Chap. Lvi. , p. 259. After quoting this letter, Lord Mahon adds: "It is due to Burgoyne to state, that from the first he had made moststrenuous exertions, both by word and deed, to prevent any suchenormities. The testimony, for example, of his aide-de-camp, LordPetersham, when examined before the House of Commons, is clear andprecise upon that point. (See Burgoyne's Narrative and Collection ofDocuments, pp. 65, 66, second edition. ) But in spite of all restraints, the cruel temper and lawless habits of these savages would sometimesburst forth--sometimes not more fatally to their enemies than to theirfriends. The tragical fate of Miss MacRea raised one loud cry ofindignation on both sides of the Atlantic. This lady, in the bloom ofyouth and beauty, the daughter of an American Loyalist, was betrothed toan officer in the British provincial troops. Anxious for her security, the officer engaged some Indians to escort her from her home and conveyher to the British camp, where the marriage would be solemnized. As afurther precaution, he promised to reward the person who should bringher safe to him with a barrel of rum. But this very precaution, as itseemed to be, was the cause of the disaster which ensued. Two of theIndians who took charge of her began a quarrel on the way, as to whichof them should first present her to the bridegroom. Each was eager forthe rum; each resolute that his companion should not receive it in hisplace. At last one of them in sudden fury raised his tomahawk, struckMiss MacRea upon the head, and laid her a corpse at his feet. GeneralBurgoyne at this news displayed his utmost resentment and concern. Hecompelled the Indians to deliver up the murderer, and designed to puthim to death. He was only induced to spare his life upon the Indiansagreeing to terms which the General thought would be more effectual thanany execution, in deterring them from similar barbarities. Deterred, indeed, they were. But when they found themselves precluded from theirexpected delights of plundering and scalping, they began to desert andgo home. Of nearly five hundred who at the outset had joined Burgoyne, less than threescore at last remained beneath his banner. "--_Ib. _, pp. 259-261. At the first general encampment of Burgoyne's army on the western sideof Lake Champlain, he met a deputation of the Indians in alliance withGreat Britain, and made an animated speech to them. "He exhorted them tobehave with courage and fidelity to their friends, and to avoid allbarbarity towards their enemies. He entreated them to be particularlycareful in distinguishing between the adherents and foes to the Britishnation. He earnestly requested that they would put none to death butsuch as actually opposed them with arms in their hands, and to spare oldmen, women, children, and prisoners; to scalp only such as they hadkilled in action, and to treat compassionately the wounded and dying. Hepromised them a reward for every prisoner they brought in, but assuredthem he would look narrowly into every demand for scalps. " (Dr. Andrews'History of the Late War, Vol. II. , Chap, xxviii. , p. 383. )] [Footnote 83: "The apprehensions of those who had been averse to theemployment of the Indians in the British army began to be justified. Notwithstanding the care and precautions taken by General Burgoyne toprevent the effects of their barbarous disposition, they were sometimescarried to an excess that shocked his humanity--the more, as it wastotally out of his power to control them in the degree that he had hopedand proposed. The outrages they committed were such as proved highlydetrimental to the royal cause. They spared neither friend nor foe, andexercised their usual cruelties with very little attention to thethreats that were held out in order to restrain and deter them. "Several instances of this nature happened about this time, whichcontributed powerfully to alienate the minds of many from the cause inwhich they served. One was recorded, in particular, that equally struckboth parties with horror. A young lady, the daughter of Mr. MacRea, azealous royalist, being on her way to the British army, where she was tobe married to an officer, unhappily fell into the hands of the Indians, who, without regarding her youth and beauty, murdered her with manycircumstances of barbarity. "Scenes of this nature served to render the royal party extremelyodious. However the Americans might be conscious that the Indians wereas offensive, and as much abhorred by their enemies as by themselves, still they could not forgive them the acceptance of such auxiliaries asmust necessarily disgrace the best cause. "The resentment occasioned by the conduct of the Indians, and no lessthe dread of being exposed to their fury, helped considerably to bringrecruits from every quarter to the American army. It was considered asthe only place of refuge and security at present. The inhabitants of thetracts contiguous to the British army took up arms against it almostuniversally. The preservation of their families was now become an objectof immediate concern. As the country was populous, they flocked inmultitudes to the American general's camp; and he soon found himself atthe head of an army which, though composed of militia and undisciplinedmen, was animated with that spirit of indignation and revenge which sooften supplies all military deficiencies. " (Dr. Andrews' History of theLate War, Vol. II. , Chap. Xxviii. , pp. 393, 394. )] [Footnote 84: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xix. , p. 322. ] CHAPTER XXXIV. THE MASSACRE OF WYOMING--FOUR VERSIONS OF IT BY ACCREDITED AMERICANHISTORIANS, ALL DIFFERING FROM EACH OTHER--THE FACTS INVESTIGATED, ANDFALSE STATEMENTS CORRECTED. It would be useless and tedious to attempt even a condensed account ofthe battles and warfare in which the Indians took part between theEnglish and the Congress; but there is one of these revengeful andmurderous occurrences which must be minutely stated, and the Americanaccounts of it thoroughly investigated, as it has been the subject ofmore misrepresentation, more declamation, more descriptive and poeticexaggeration, and more denunciation against the English by Americanhistorians and orators than any other transaction of the Americanrevolution--namely, what is known as the "Massacre of Wyoming. " Thereare four versions of it, by accredited American histories. The account of this massacre is thus given in the words of Dr. Ramsay'shistory: "A storm of Indian and Tory vengeance burst in July, 1778, withparticular violence on Wyoming, a new and flourishing settlement on theeastern branch of the Susquehanna. Unfortunately for the security of theinhabitants, the soil was claimed both by Connecticut and Pennsylvania. From the collision of contradictory claims, founded on Royal Charters, the laws of neither were steadily enforced. In this remote settlement, where government was feeble, the Tories were under less control, andcould easily assemble undiscovered. Nevertheless, twenty-seven of themwere taken and sent to Hartford, in Connecticut, but they wereafterwards released. These and others of the same description, instigated by revenge against the Americans, from whom some of them hadsuffered banishment and loss of property, made common cause with theIndians, and attacked the Wyoming settlement with their combined forces, estimated at 1, 100 men, 900 of whom were Indians. The whole wascommanded by Colonel John Butler, a Connecticut Tory. One of the fortswhich had been constructed for the security of the inhabitants, beingvery weak, surrendered to this party; but some of the garrison hadretired to the principal fort at Kingston, called Forty Fort. ColonelJohn Butler next demanded the surrender thereof. Colonel Zebulon Butler, a continental officer, who commanded, sent a message to him, proposing aconference at a bridge without the fort. This being agreed to, ColonelZebulon Butler, Dennison, and some other officers repaired to the placeappointed, and they were followed by the whole garrison, a few invalidsexcepted. None of the enemy appeared. The Wyoming people advanced, andsupposed that the enemy were retiring. They continued to march on tillthey were about three miles from the fort. They then saw a few of theenemy, with whom they exchanged a few shots; but they presently foundthemselves ambuscaded and attacked by the whole bodies of Indians andTories. They fought gallantly, till their retreat to the fort was cutoff. Universal confusion ensued. Out of 417 who had marched out of thefort, about 360 were instantly slain. No quarter was given. Colonel JohnButler again demanded the surrender of Forty Fort. This was agreed to, under articles of capitulation, by which the effects of the peopletherein were secured to them. The garrison, consisting of thirty men andtwo hundred women, were permitted to cross the Susquehanna, and retreatthrough the woods to Northampton county. The most of the other scatteredsettlers had previously retired, some through the woods to Northampton, others down the river to Northumberland. In this retreat, some womenwere delivered of children in the woods, and many suffered from want ofprovisions. Several of the settlers at Wyoming had erected good housesand barns, and made considerable improvements. These and the otherhouses in the vicinity were destroyed. Their horses, cattle, sheep, andhogs were, for the most part, killed or driven away by the enemy. Alarge proportion of the male inhabitants were in one day slaughtered. In a single engagement, near two hundred women became widows, and a muchgreater number of children were left fatherless. " (Dr. Ramsay's Historyof the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xix. , pp. 323, 324. ) REMARKS UPON DR. RAMSAY'S ACCOUNT. Such is the account of this melancholy affair by Dr. Ramsay, a friend ofGeneral Washington, and a distinguished officer in the American army. Let us note Dr. Ramsay's admissions and his omissions. He admits thatthe Tories or Loyalists had been persecuted, imprisoned, plundered, andbanished; that no less than twenty-seven of them had been taken, andsent to Hartford, in Connecticut, but were afterwards released; yet hemight have added that they were kept prisoners nearly a year, and thendischarged for want of any evidence against them. It is also admittedthat "others of the same description (as those who had been sentprisoners to Connecticut) were instigated by _revenge_ against theAmericans, from whom some of them had suffered banishment and loss ofproperty. " It is likewise admitted that the whole invading partyconsisted of but 1, 100 men, of whom only 200 were Tories, the remaining900 being Indians. But it is not stated that those Indians wereneighbours, and many of them the connections of the northern tribes ofthose Indians whose settlements had been invaded, their fields and townsdestroyed, as a precaution lest they should co-operate with the British;nor is it said that many of these Indians were residents in theneighbourhood, and were treated like the Tories. It furthermore appears from this narrative that the Americans in Wyomingwere not even taken by surprise, but were prepared for their enemy; thatnone were killed except in the conflict of the battle; that the thirtymen and two hundred women in the garrison were not murdered, but were"permitted (with their effects) to cross the Susquehanna and retreat toNorthampton. " The taking of the cattle and burning of the houses andbarns was after the example of the Americans in invading and destroyingthe Indian settlements. It is therefore clear, according to Dr. Ramsay'sown narrative, that the "Massacre of Wyoming" was not an _unprovokedaggression_, like that of the Americans against the more SouthernIndians, but a _retaliation_ for injuries previously inflicted by theaggressors. [85] But as the "Massacre of Wyoming" is the case selected by Americanhistorians and poets to exhaust their indignation against Englishcruelty in employing the Indians in the civil war, we will not dismissit with the above cursory remarks, but will examine it with some degreeof minuteness. Wyoming was a pleasant and fertile valley, situated on the easternbranch of the Susquehanna, and consisted of eight townships, five squaremiles each. It had been claimed as part of Pennsylvania; butConnecticut, relying upon the authority of a more ancient Charter, hadsince the last war made a large settlement on the banks of thatbeautiful river. "The exquisitely beautiful valley of Wyoming, where, onthe banks of the Susquehanna, the wide and rich meadows, shut in bywalls of wooded mountains, attracted emigrants from Connecticut, throughtheir claim of right under the Charter of their native colony, was inconflict with the territorial jurisdiction of the proprietaries ofPennsylvania. "[86] Such was the scene of a tragedy which thrilled all America and Europe;for the accounts published in Europe were the repetitions of theexaggerated American statements, omitting for the most part the causesof the tragedy and the retaliation which followed it. I will now present and collate the three other accounts, with that ofDr. Ramsay, of those tragical events on both sides. Mr. Bancroft states as follows: "The Seneca tribe, fresh from the memory of their chiefs and braves whofell in conflict with the New York husbandmen at Oriskany. Their king, Sucingerachton, was, both in war and in council, the foremost man ofall the Six Nations. Compared with him, the Mohawk Brant, who had beenbut lately known upon the warpath, was lightly esteemed. [87] Hisattachment to the English increased to a passion on the alliance of theAmericans with the French, for whom he cherished implacable hate. Through his interest, and by the blandishments of gifts and pay andchances of revenge, Colonel John Butler lured the _Seneca_ warriors tocross the border of Pennsylvania under the British flag. "The party of savages and rangers, numbering between five hundred andseven hundred men, fell down the Tioga river, and on the last day ofJune hid in the forests above Wyoming. The next day the two northernmostforts capitulated. The men of Wyoming, old and young, with one regularcompany, in all hardly more than three hundred, took counsel with oneanother, and found no hope of deliverance for their families but througha victorious encounter with a foe twice their number, and more skilfulin the woods than themselves. On the 3rd day of July, the devoted band, led by Colonel Zebulon Butler, who had just returned from thecontinental service, began their march up the river. [88] The horde ofinvaders, pretending to retreat, crouched themselves on the ground inthe open wood. The villagers of Wyoming began firing as they drew near, and at the third volley stood within a hundred yards of the ambush, whenthe Seneca braves began the attack, and were immediately seconded by therangers. The Senecas gave no quarter, and in less than half an hour tooktwo hundred and twenty-five scalps, among them those of two fieldofficers and seven captains. The rangers saved but five of theircaptives. On the British side only two whites were killed and eightIndians wounded. The next day the remaining forts, filled chiefly withwomen and children, capitulated. The long and wailing procession ofsurvivors flying from their fields of corn, their gardens, the flames oftheir cottages, the unburied bodies of their beloved defenders, escapedby a pass through the hills to the eastern settlements. Every fort anddwelling was burned down. "The Senecas spread over the surrounding country, adepts in murder andruin. The British leader boasted in his report that his party had burneda thousand houses and every mill (a great exaggeration). Yet, marauderscame to destroy and deal deaths, not to recover or hold; and the ancientaffection for England was washed out in blood (more truly, the revengefor wrongs previously received). When the leader of the inroad turned todesolate other scenes, Pennsylvania was left in undisputed possession ofher soil. " (Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X. , Chap. V. , pp. 137, 138. ) Mr. Tucker briefly states the affair in the following words: "The settlement of Wyoming, in Pennsylvania, was assailed in July by alarge body of savages, who, having obtained easy possession of it, indiscriminately butchered both the garrison and the inhabitants; andsoon afterwards Wilkesbarre shared the same fate. Near three thousandhad succeeded in effecting their escape. [89] "To prevent their return to the scenes of their former happiness, everything that could contribute to their comfort--houses, crops, animals--were, with an industry equal to their malignity, destroyed bythe savages. " (Tucker's History of the United States, Vol. I. , Chap. Iii. , p. 239. ) The following account of the "Wyoming Massacre" appears moreintelligible and consistent than any of the preceding. Says Mr. Hildreth: "There had come in among the Connecticut settlers at Wyoming a number ofDutch and Scotch from New York, some thirty of whom, shortly after thecommencement of the war, had been seized under the suspicion of beingTories, and sent to Connecticut for trial. They were discharged for wantof evidence; but if not Tories before, they soon became so. Returningto the valley of the Mohawk, whence they had emigrated to Wyoming, theyenlisted into the partisan corps of Johnson and Butler, and waitedeagerly for chances of revenge. "Though Wyoming did not number three thousand inhabitants, it hadfurnished two full companies (one writer says, a thousand men) to thecontinental army, and had thus in a manner deprived itself of the meansof defence. Congress, upon rumours of intended Indian hostilities, hadordered a third company to be raised as a local garrison; but this corpswas as yet hardly organized, and very imperfectly armed. Such was thestate of the settlement when there appeared at the head of the valley anoverwhelming force of Tories and Indians, principally of the Senecatribe of the Six Nations, led by Colonel Butler. Some of the inhabitantswere waylaid and slain. The upper fort, held by disaffected persons, surrendered at once. The continentals, with such others as could bemustered, marched out to meet the enemy: but they were surrounded, defeated, and driven back with heavy loss, and several who were takenprisoners were put to death by the Indians with horrible tortures. Thosewho escaped fled to Fort Wyoming, which was speedily invested. Thesurviving continentals, to avoid being taken prisoners, embarked andescaped down the river; after which the fort surrendered, upon promiseof security of life and property. Desirous to fulfil these terms, Butlerpresently marched away with his Tories, but he could not induce theIndians to follow. They remained behind, burned the houses, ravaged thefields, killed such as resisted, and drove the miserable women andchildren through the woods and mountains to seek refuge where theymight. "These barbarities, greatly exaggerated by reports embodied since inpoetry and history, excited everywhere a lively indignation. Wyoming waspresently re-occupied by a body of continental troops. A continentalregiment of the Pennsylvania line, stationed at Schoharie, penetrated tothe neighbouring branches of the Upper Susquehanna, and _destroyed thesettlement_ of Unadilla, occupied by a mixed population of Indians andrefugees. The Indians and Loyalists soon took their _revenge_ bysurprising Cherry Valley. The fort, which had a continental garrison, held out; Colonel Alden, who lodged in the town, was killed, thelieutenant-colonel was made prisoner, and the settlement sufferedalmost the fate of Wyoming. " (Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap, xxxviii. , pp. 262, 263. ) REMARKS ON THESE FOUR ACCOUNTS OF THE MASSACRE. The attentive reader has doubtless observed that the four versions givenabove, by four accredited American historians, in regard to the"Massacre of Wyoming, " differ from each other in several essentialparticulars. 1. Two of these versions imply that the "massacre" was a mere marauding, cruel, and murderous invasion of an inoffensive and peaceful settlement;while the other two versions of Dr. Ramsay and Mr. Hildreth clearly showthe provocation and cruel wrongs which the Loyalists, and even Indians, had experienced from the continentals and inhabitants of Wyoming; thatthe settlement of Wyoming was the hot-bed of revolutionism, in which, out of three thousand inhabitants, several hundred had volunteered intothe continental army, while they, as may be easily conceived, insulted, imprisoned, banished and confiscated the property of those who regardedtheir oath of allegiance as inviolate as their marriage vow, "for betterfor worse, " until death released them from it. Instead of treating asolemn oath as secondary to caprice and passion, the Loyalists carriedit to an excess of integrity and conscience; they were to be the morerespected and honoured, rather than made on that account criminals andoutlaws, subject to imprisonment and banishment of their persons and theconfiscation of their property. 2. Two of these four versions import that the inhabitants, men, women, and children, were "indiscriminately butchered;" the other two versionsimport that none were "butchered" except in battle, and none were"scalped" except those who had fallen in battle. 3. In two of these versions it is stated that those who were in theforts after their surrender were "massacred, " without respect to age orsex; in the other two versions it is stated that not one of them wasmassacred, but they were all permitted to cross the Susquehanna withtheir effects. 4. In one of these versions, Colonel John Butler is represented as notonly the commander of the whole party of invasion, but the author of allthe cruelties perpetrated in the "massacre" of Wyoming; yet Mr. Hildreth's statement shows the reverse--that Colonel Butler had acceptedthe surrender of Fort Wyoming "upon the promise of security to life andproperty;" that "desirous to fulfil these terms, he presently marchedaway with his Tories; but he could not induce the Indians to follow;"that "the depredations which followed were inflicted by the Indiansalone, and whom Colonel Butler could not command, and against hisremonstrance and example and that of his Tories. " It is therefore plain that the accounts at the time of the "Massacre ofWyoming, " published by the Congress party, were of the most exaggeratedand inflammatory character, containing the grossest misrepresentation, and doing the greatest injustice to the leaders and conduct of theexpedition, of which accounts they had no knowledge, nor any means ofcorrecting them. These partial and shamefully exaggerated accounts andmisrepresentations were spread through Europe, and produced the mostunfavourable impression in regard to the "Tories" and their mixture withthe Indians--the only place of refuge for them, as they were driven fromtheir homes to escape the sentences of death, imprisonment, orbanishment, subject in all cases, of course, to the destruction andconfiscation of their property. The English Annual Register for 1779, after reproducing these unjust and inflated accounts, candidly says: "It is necessary to observe, with respect to the destruction of Wyoming, that as no narrative of the exploits of the leaders in that transaction, whether by authority or otherwise, has yet appeared in this country, wecan only rely for the authenticity of the facts which we have statedupon the accounts published by the Americans. "Happy should we deem it, for the honour of humanity that, the wholeaccount was demonstrated to be a fable. " (Vol. IV. , p. 14. ) The testimony furnished by the four versions of the transaction byAmerican historians shows how largely the original accounts of it werefabulous. Since compiling and analysing the foregoing four historical versions ofthe "Massacre of Wyoming, " I have read Colonel Stone's _Life of JosephBrant, Thayendanegea, including the Border Wars of the AmericanRevolution_, and have carefully examined his account of the "Massacre ofWyoming. " Colonel Stone visited the place (1838), and obtained all theinformation which the oldest inhabitants and family letters could give, and examined all the papers in the State Paper Office, and obtained muchinformation from correspondence and personal interviews with aged anddistinguished inhabitants, well acquainted with all the particulars ofthe alleged "Massacre. " The result of his researches was to justify thehopes of the British Annual Register, quoted on previous page, which, after having republished the American accounts of the "Massacre, " says:"Happy should we deem it, for the honour of humanity, that the wholeaccount were demonstrated to be a fable. " This has been done by Colonel Stone after the lapse of more than half acentury. In the fifteenth chapter of the first volume of his eloquentand exhaustive work he gives a history of the settlement, and of themany years' wars between the rival claimants of Connecticut andPennsylvania--the former styled "the Susquehanna Company, " and thelatter "the Delaware Company. " The question was also complicated byIndian claims, as the land had been once acquired by the Six Nations, and alleged to have been sold to both companies. Many of the Mohawks andother Indians resided in and near the settlement. On the breaking out ofthe war, politics largely entered into the disputes, and armed conflictsensued, and no less than ten forts were erected in the settlement. According to Colonel Stone, the "Massacre" was not the result ofsurprise, nor did it involve the indiscriminate massacre of women andchildren, but was the result of a pitched battle between the Loyalistsand Continentals, in which the latter were the assailants and weredefeated, and whatever "massacre" there was followed the battle. [90] Colonel Stone, after having given an account of the battle, as statedin previous note, and having corrected several erroneous statements, makes the following correction of what had been often written andgenerally believed respecting the famous Chief Brant: "There is another important correction to be made in reference to everywritten history of this battle extant, not even excepting the revisededition of the Life of Washington, by Chief Justice Marshall. Thiscorrection regards the name and just fame of Joseph Brant, whosecharacter has been blackened with all the infamy, both real andimaginary, connected with this bloody expedition. Whether Captain Brantwas at any time in company with this expedition, is doubtful; but it iscertain, in the face of every historical authority, British andAmerican, that so far from being engaged in the battle, he was manymiles distant at the time of its occurrence. Such has been the uniformtestimony of the British officers engaged in the expedition, and suchwas always the word of Thayendanegea (Brant's Indian name) himself. Itwill, moreover, be seen toward the close of the present work that afterthe publication of Campbell's 'Gertrude of Wyoming, ' in which poem theMohawk chieftain is denounced as 'the Monster Brant, ' his son repairedto England, and in correspondence with the poet, successfully vindicatedhis father's memory from the calumny. "--_Ib. _, p. 338. To all this Colonel Stone adds the following important note. He says:"Since the present chapter was written, and while the work was underrevision, the author received a letter from Mr. Samuel C. Frey, of UpperCanada, a son of the late Philip Frey, Esquire, a Loyalist of TryonCounty, who was ensign in H. B. M. 's Eighth Regiment, and who, with hisregiment, was engaged in the campaign and battle of Wyoming. Philip R. Frey, the ensign spoken of, died at Palatine, Montgomery (formerlyTryon) County, in 1823. It was his uniform testimony that Brant was notat Wyoming. Mr. Frey writes to the author that there were no chiefs ofany notoriety with the Indians in that expedition, and that the Indiansthemselves were led from Detroit by Captain Bird, of the EighthRegiment. Bird had been engaged in a love affair at Detroit, but beingvery ugly, besides having a hare-lip, was unsuccessful. The affairgetting wind, his fellow-officers made themselves merry at his expense;and in order to steep his grief in forgetfulness, he obtained permissionto lead an expedition somewhere against the American frontier. Joiningthe Indians placed under him and a detachment of his regiment toButler's Rangers, they concerted the descent upon Wyoming. Ensign Freystated that Bird was ill-natured during the whole march, and acted withfoolhardiness at the battle. He further stated, according to the letterof his son, that the American colonel challenged them to a fairfield-fight, which challenge was accepted. 'The next morning, about nineo'clock, the Americans poured out of the fort, about 340 in number; theIndians fell back over a hill; the troops on both sides drew up inbattle array and soon commenced. After a few rounds fired, the Americancolonel ordered his drum-major to beat a charge; the drum-major mistookthe order, and beat a retreat; the Americans became disorderedimmediately, and ran helter-skelter; the moment the Indians saw themrunning, they poured down upon them from their hiding-places, so that nomore than about forty survived out of 340. '" "Rarely, indeed, " adds Colonel Stone, "does it happen that history ismore at fault in regard to facts than in the case of Wyoming. The remarkmay be applied to nearly every writer who has attempted to narrate theevents connected with the invasion of Colonel John Butler. Ramsay andGordon and Marshall--nay, the British historians themselves have writtengross exaggerations. Marshall, however, in his revised edition, has madecorrections, and explained how and by whom he was led into error. Myexcellent friend, Charles Miner, Esq. , long a resident of Wyoming, agentleman of letters and great accuracy, furnished the biographer ofWashington with a true narrative of the transactions which he made thebasis of the summary account contained in his revised edition. Otherwriters, of greater or less note, have gravely recorded the samefictions, adding, it is to be feared, enormities not even conveyed tothem by tradition. The grossest of these exaggerations are contained inThatcher's Military Journal and in Drake's Book of the Indians. Theaccount of the marching out of a large body of the Americans from one ofthe forts to hold a parley, by agreement, and then being drawn into anambuscade and all put to death, is false; the account of seventycontinental soldiers being butchered after having surrendered, istotally untrue. No regular troops surrendered, and all escaped whosurvived the battle of the 3rd. Equally untrue is the story of theburning of the houses, barracks, and forts, filled with women andchildren. "--_Ib. _, p. 338, 339. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 85: "The aggressors on this occasion were a troop of wildIndians, in conjunction with some Tory exiles. They were headed byColonel Butler, a partisan commander of note, and by Joseph Brant, ahalf Indian by birth, a whole Indian in cruelty. Unhappily, at Wyoming, the soil was claimed both by Connecticut and Pennsylvania. From thisconflict of pretensions and consequent laxity of law, there had been thefreer license for rigours against the Loyalists. Few of them in thatdistrict but had undergone imprisonment, or exile, or confiscation ofproperty; and thus they were provoked to form a savage alliance and toperpetrate a fierce revenge. " (Lord Mahon's History, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lviii. , pp. 382, 383. )] [Footnote 86: Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. V. , Chap. Ix. , p. 165. ] [Footnote 87: Brant was not at Wyoming. This appears from Butler'sreport; and compare Broadhead documents, Vol. VIII. , p. 572 (note by Mr. Bancroft). ] [Footnote 88: This is what Dr. Ramsay, in his account quoted above, onpages 85 and 86, erroneously states was a proposed conference as toterms of capitulation. ] [Footnote 89: _Note. _--Mr. Hildreth says that "Wyoming did not numberthree thousand inhabitants. " (History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap. Xxxviii. , p. 262. ) The number of the slain could not have beengreater than those mentioned above by Dr. Ramsay (p. 86), who statesthat, instead of those in the garrison being "indiscriminatelybutchered, " they were allowed to cross the Susquehanna and make theirway through the woods to neighbouring settlements. ] [Footnote 90: Colonel Stone states that the Provincials "intended tomake a quick movement, and take the enemy by surprise;" but theirpurpose was discovered by an Indian scout. He then gives the followingaccount of the battle and of the "massacre" which followed: "The Provincials pushed rapidly forward; but the British and Indianswere prepared to receive them, 'their line being formed a small distancein front of their camp, in a plain thinly covered with pine, shrub, oaksand undergrowth, and extending from the river to a marsh at the foot ofthe mountain' (Marshall). 'On coming in view of the enemy, theAmericans, who had previously marched in a single column, instantlydeployed into a line of equal extent, and attacked from right to left atthe same time' (Col. Z. Butler's letter). 'The right of the Americanswas commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler, opposed to Colonel John Butler, commanding the enemy's left. Colonel Dennison commanded the left of theAmericans, and was opposed by the Indians forming the enemy's right'(Chapman). The battle commenced at about forty rods distance, withoutmuch execution at the onset, as the brushwood interposed obstacles tothe sight. The militia stood the fire well for a short time, and as theypressed forward there was some giving way on the enemy's right. Unluckily, just at this moment the appalling war-whoop of the Indiansrang in the rear of the Americans' left; the Indian leader, havingconducted a large party of his warriors through the marsh, succeeded inturning Dennison's flank. A heavy and destructive fire wassimultaneously poured into the American ranks; and amidst the confusion, Colonel Dennison directed his men to 'fall back, ' to avoid beingsurrounded, and to gain time to bring his men into order again. Thisdirection was mistaken for an order to 'retreat, ' whereupon the wholeline broke, and every effort of their officers to restore order wasunavailing. At this stage of the battle, and while thus engaged, theAmerican officers mostly fell. The flight was general. The Indians, throwing away their rifles, rushed forward with their tomahawks, makingdreadful havoc; answering the cries for mercy with the hatchet, andadding to the universal consternation those terrific yells which investsavage warfare with tenfold horror. So alert was the foe in his bloodypursuit, that less than sixty of the Americans escaped either the rifleor the tomahawk. Of the militia officers, there fell onelieutenant-colonel, one major, ten captains, six lieutenants, and twoensigns. Colonel Durkee and Captains Hewett and Ransom were likewisekilled. Some of the fugitives escaped by swimming the river, and othersby flying to the mountains. As the news of the defeat spread down thevalley, the greater part of the women and children, and those who hadremained to protect them, likewise ran to the woods and mountains, whilethose who could not escape thus sought refuge in Fort Wyoming. TheIndians, apparently wearied with pursuit and slaughter, desisted andbetook themselves to secure the spoils of the vanquished. "On the morning of the 4th, the day after the battle, Colonel JohnButler, with the combined British and Indian forces, appeared beforeFort Wyoming and demanded its surrender. 'The inhabitants, both withinand without the fort, did not on that emergency sustain a character forcourage becoming men of spirit in adversity. They were so intimidated asto give up without fighting; great numbers ran off; and those whoremained all but betrayed Colonel Zebulon Butler, their commander' (Col. Z. Butler's letter). 'The British Colonel Butler sent several flags, requiring an unconditional surrender of his opposing namesake and thefew continental troops yet remaining, but offering to spare theinhabitants their property and effects. But with the American colonelthe victor would not treat on any terms; and the people thereuponcompelled Colonel Dennison to comply with conditions which his commanderhad refused. ' The consequence was that Colonel Zebulon Butler contrivedto escape from the fort with the remains of Captain Hewett's company ofregulars (_Idem. _), and Colonel Dennison entered into articles ofcapitulation. 'By these it was stipulated that the settlers should bedisarmed, and their garrison demolished; that all prisoners and publicstores should be given up; that the property of the people called Toriesshould be made good, and they be permitted to remain peaceably upontheir farms. In behalf of the settlers it was stipulated that theirlives and property should be preserved, and that they should be left inthe unmolested occupancy of their farms' (Chapman's History). "Unhappily, however, the British commander either could not or would notenforce the terms of capitulation (see page 91, where Mr. Hildreth saysthat 'Colonel Butler, desirous to fulfil these terms of capitulation, presently marched away with his Tories, but he could not induce theIndians to follow. They remained behind, burned the houses, ravaged thefields, killed such as resisted, and drove the miserable women andchildren through the woods and mountains to seek refuge where theymight. '), which were to a great extent disregarded as well by the Toriesas the Indians. Instead of finding protection, the valley was again laidwaste, the houses and improvements were destroyed by fire, and thecountry plundered. Families were broken up and dispersed, men and theirwives separated, mothers torn from their children and some of themcarried into captivity, while far the greater number fled to themountains, and wandered through the wilderness to the older settlements. Some died of their wounds, others from want and fatigue, while otherswere still lost in the wilderness or were heard of no more. Severalperished in a great swamp in the neighbourhood, which, from thecircumstance, acquired the name of 'the Shades of Death, ' and retains itto this day. These were painful scenes. But it does not appear thatanything like a massacre followed the capitulation. " (Life of JosephBrant, and Border Wars of the American Revolution, Vol. I. , Chap. Xv. , pp. 334-336. )] CHAPTER XXXV. AMERICAN RETALIATION FOR THE ALLEGED "MASSACRE OF WYOMING, " AS NARRATEDBY AMERICAN HISTORIANS. We will now state from the same historical authorities the _revenge_which the continentals took for the "Massacre of Wyoming. " Dr. Ramsay says: "Soon after the destruction of the Wyoming settlement, an expedition was carried on against the Indians by Colonel ZebulonButler, of the Pennsylvania troops. He and his party having gained thehead of the Delaware, October 1st, marched down the river two days, andthen struck across the country to the Susquehanna. They burnt ordestroyed the Indian villages both in that quarter and the othersettlements; but the inhabitants escaped. The destruction was extendedfor several miles on both sides of the Susquehanna. They completed theexpedition in sixteen days. "[91] This destruction of "Indian villages" and "other settlements" to theextent of "several miles on both sides of the Susquehanna" was more thanan equivalent revenge for the destruction of Wyoming. But it was onlythe beginning of vengeance and destruction, not only against theimmediate offenders in the case of Wyoming, but the pretext for aresolution and order of Congress itself for the entire destruction ofthe Six Indian Nations, though their chiefs had held no council andgiven no order as to the attack upon the settlement of Wyoming, and hadnothing to do with it, except that one of their tribes, with possibly afew stragglers from some of the other tribes. With this exception, as isshown by the narratives above quoted, the Six Nations had no connectionwith the destruction of Wyoming; were living quietly and industriouslyon their well-cultivated farms, though friendly to the royal cause. YetCongress, by an order which, we believe, has no parallel in the annalsof any civilized nation, commands the complete destruction of thosepeople as a nation. It is cruel, indeed, and revolting to humanity, tokill and scalp ever so small a number of individuals, including womenand children; but is it less cruel and revolting to render themhouseless by thousands, to destroy the fruits of their labours, to exilethem from their homes (after having destroyed them), and leave them tonakedness and starvation? Yet such was the case in the execution of theorder of Congress for the extermination of the Six Nations. "The determination, " says Dr. Andrews, "was now taken by Congress todestroy this Indian nation. * * The intelligence of the preparationsthat were making against them was received by the Indians with greatcourage and firmness. * * They took a strong position in the most woodyand mountainous part of the country, which they fortified with greatjudgment. * * General Sullivan attacked them in this encampment on the29th of August. They stood a hot cannonade for more than two hours; butthe breastwork of logs being almost destroyed, and the Americans havingreached the top of the hill on their left, they were apprehensive ofbeing surrounded, and retreated immediately with the utmost speed. * *The behaviour of the Indians on this day was very courageous; theyreturned the fire of the Americans with great spirit and regularity; andwould, it was thought, have maintained their ground had not theAmericans been provided with a train of artillery, to which the defeatof the Indians was principally owing. * * This engagement proveddecisive. After their trenches were forced, they fled without making anyfurther endeavour to rally. They were pursued two or three miles; buttheir flight was so swift that they could not be overtaken. Their lossin slain and wounded was very considerable, though few prisoners weremade. "The consternation occasioned among the Indians by this defeat was such, that they lost all hope of retrieving their fortunes, and dropped allidea of further resistance. As the Americans advanced, they retreatedbefore them with the utmost precipitation, and suffered them to proceed, without any obstruction, in the destructive operations they werecommissioned to perform. "In pursuance of the orders he had received, General Sullivan penetratedinto the heart of the country inhabited by the Five Nations, spreadingeverywhere the most extensive desolation. His letter to the Congress, giving an account of the progress and proceedings of the army under hiscommand, was as complete a journal of destruction as ever was penned. Noless than forty towns and settlements were destroyed, besides detachedhabitations. All their fields of corn and all their orchards andplantations; whatever, in short, was in a state of cultivation, underwent the same fate. The devastation was such, that on the Americanarmy's leaving that country not a house was left standing to theirknowledge, nor an Indian to be seen. "Such was the issue of this celebrated expedition, undertaken by way ofretaliation for the outrages which the Indians (Senecas) had committedon the frontiers, and particularly in destroying the unfortunatesettlement of Wyoming during the preceding summer. "What rendered this total ruin of the country possessed by the FiveNations the more remarkable was the degree of knowledge and expertnessin agriculture and in various domestic arts to which it was now for thefirst time discovered that the Indians had attained. It appeared byGeneral Sullivan's account that the lands about the towns wereexcellently cultivated, and their houses large and elegantlyconstructed. The extent of their industry may be conjectured by hisasserting that the quantity of corn destroyed could not, by a moderatecomputation, amount to less than 160, 000 bushels; that their orchardswere so well stocked that no less than 1, 500 trees were cut down in oneorchard only, numbers of which had evidently been planted many years;and that their garden grounds contained immense quantities of vegetablesof every kind. "[92] Mr. Bancroft represents what he in one place terms "the greatexpedition" as a mere raid for the chastisement of the Seneca Indians. He says: "Moved by the massacres of Wyoming and Cherry Valley, Congress, on the 25th of February, had directed Washington to protect the inlandfrontiers and chastise the Seneca Indians. * * The best part of theseason was gone when Sullivan, on the last of July, moved from Wyoming. His arrival at Tioga sent terror to the Indians. * * Several of thechiefs said to Colonel Bolton, in council, 'Why does not the great king, our father, assist us? Our villages will be cut off, and we can nolonger fight his battles. ' "On the 22nd of August, the day after he was joined by New York troopsunder General James Clinton, Sullivan began his march up the Tioga intothe heart of the Indian country. On the same day, Little David, a Mohawkchief, delivered a message from himself and the Six Nations to GeneralHaldimand, then Governor of Canada: 'Brother! for these three years pastthe Six Nations have been running a race against fresh enemies, and arealmost out of breath. Now we shall see whether you are our loving strongbrother, or whether you deceive us. Brother! we are still strong for theKing of England, if you will show us that he is a man of his word, andthat he will not abandon his brothers the Six Nations. ' * * The marchinto the country of the Senecas, on the left, extended to Genesee; onthe right, detachments reached Cayuga lake. After destroying eighteenvillages and their fields of corn, Sullivan, whose army had suffered forwant of supplies, returned to New Jersey. "[93] Mr. Hildreth's account of this expedition, though brief, is morecomprehensive and satisfactory than that of Mr. Bancroft. Mr. Hildrethsays: "The command of the enterprise against the Indians, declined by Gates, was given to Sullivan. Three brigades from the main army, under Poor, Hand, and Maxwell--New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and New Jerseytroops--were assembled at Wyoming. A New York brigade ('upwards of 1, 000men, ' says Dr. Ramsay), under General James Clinton, hitherto employedin guarding the frontier of that State, crossed from the Mohawk to LakeOtsego (one of the sources of the Susquehanna), dammed the lake, and soraised its level, and then by breaking away the dam produced anartificial flood, by the aid of which the boats were rapidly carrieddown the north-east branch of the Susquehanna, to form a junction withSullivan. * * "Sullivan's army, amounting to 5, 000 men, passed up the Chemung branchof the Susquehanna. At Newton, now Elmira, they encountered a strongbody of the enemy, [94] partly Indians and partly Tories, under Brant, the Butlers and Johnson, entrenched on a rising ground and disposed inambuscade. Sullivan detached Poor to gain the rear, while he attackedthem in front with artillery. Having put them to rout, he crossed tothe hitherto unexplored valley of the Genesee. That want of food mightcompel the Indians and their Tory allies to emigrate, everything wasravaged. The ancient Indian orchards were cut down; many bushels of cornwere destroyed, and eighteen villages, composed largely of frame houses, were burned. Provisions failed. Such at least was the reason thatSullivan gave, and the attack upon Niagara, the great object of theenterprise, was abandoned. "A simultaneous expedition from Pittsburg ascended the Alleghany, andvisited with similar devastation all the villages along the river. Pending these operations, and to prevent any aid from Canada, diversartifices were employed by Washington to create the belief of anintended invasion of that province. "[95] The account of this expedition given by Dr. Ramsay corresponds, withsome additional particulars, with that given by Dr. Andrews, as abovequoted, and almost in the same words. He says: "The Indians who form the confederacy of the Six Nations, commonlycalled Mohawks, were the objects of this expedition. They inhabit thatimmense and fertile tract of country which lies between New England, theMiddle States, and the Province of Canada. * * The Indians, on hearingof the expedition projected against them, acted with firmness. Theycollected their strength, took possession of proper ground, andfortified it with judgment. General Sullivan, on the 29th of August, attacked them in their works. They stood a cannonade for more than twohours, but then gave way. This engagement proved decisive. After thetrenches were forced, the Indians fled without making any attempt torally. The consternation occasioned among them by this defeat was sogreat, that they gave up all ideas of further resistance. As theAmericans advanced into their settlements, the Indians retreated beforethem, without throwing any obstruction in their way. General Sullivanpenetrated into the heart of the country inhabited by the Mohawks, andspread desolation everywhere. Many settlements in the form of towns weredestroyed. All their fields of corn, and whatever was in a state ofcultivation, underwent the same fate. Scarcely anything in the form ofa house was left standing, nor was an Indian to be seen. "To the surprise of the Americans, they found the lands about the Indiantowns well cultivated, and their houses both large and commodious. Thequantity of corn destroyed was immense. Orchards, in which were severalhundred fruit trees, were cut down; and of them many appeared to havebeen planted for a long series of years. Their gardens, replenished witha variety of useful vegetables, were laid waste. "[96] From this review of the invasions and contests between the Americans andIndians, it is clear that the Indians were the greater sufferers in lifeand property. The mutual hatreds of former years, when the colonies werewarring with the French (instead of being, as now, in alliance withthem), and the Indians were in the interest and service of the French, seems to have been perpetuated on both sides, and to have become moreintense on the part of the Americans after the failure of their effortsto secure the Indians to their side. The old contests between theSouthern colonists and the Indians were renewed and repeated withintense bitterness; and in the Northern colonies the policy of Congressand its agents was to crush and exterminate the Indians altogether. Inacts of individual cruelty, their historical and characteristic mode ofwar, the Indians exceeded the Americans; but in acts of wholesaledestruction of life and property, the Americans far outdid the Indians, adopting the Indian instead of a civilized mode of warfare, andincluding in their sweep of destruction women and children as well asmen. The employment of Indians at all on the part of Great Britain againstthe colonists, is, in our opinion, the blackest crime recorded in theannals of the British Government, prompted apparently by the cowardlyand execrable General Gage, but condemned by Generals Carleton andBurgoyne, as well as by General Howe. The use, however, which theAmericans sought to make of the Indians, and their cruel andexterminating mode of warfare against them, leave them no ground ofboasting on the score of humanity against either the British Governmentor the Indians. To this may be added the unfortunate condition and treatment of theLoyalists or "Tories" among the Indians. For adhering, or suspected ofadhering to the faith of their fathers, and even of the presentpersecution down to within less than six years, they were, howeverpeaceably they might be living, driven from their homes and theirproperty seized and alienated, and they left no place for the soles oftheir feet except among the Indians, and then termed monsters andtreated as traitors, for joining their protectors in the defence oftheir places of refuge, and, as far as possible, for the recovery oftheir homes. What else, as men, as human beings, could they do? Theywere denied and banished from the homes which they had, unless theywould reverse their political faith and oath of allegiance, and forswearallegiance, to enrol themselves in arms against the country of theirforefathers and of their affection. They could not but be chafed withthe loss of their freedom of speech and of conviction of theircitizenship and their property, and of being driven into exile; and theymust have been more or less than men had they not acted loyally and tothe best of their ability with their protectors, however abhorrent totheir views and feelings were many acts of the Indians--acts imitatedand even excelled, in so many respects, by the Americans themselves, intheir depredations into the Indian territories. COLONEL STONE'S ACCOUNT, IN DETAIL, OF GENERAL SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITION OFEXTERMINATION OF THE SIX NATIONS OF INDIANS. In his _Life of Brant, including the Border Wars of the AmericanRevolution_, Colonel Stone gives a much more elaborate account of thisexpedition of destruction against the Six Nations, or rather the FiveNations, for the Oneidas and some of the Tuscaroras joined theAmericans. Colonel Stone narrates the progress and work of GeneralSullivan from place to place. We will add a few extracts from hisnarrative, after some preliminary explanations. Colonel Stone corrects a very common error, which views the whole raceof North American Indians as essentially alike--"all as the same roving, restless, houseless race of hunters and fishermen, without a localhabitation and with scarce a name. " He gives examples of the varietiesof Indian character, not less marked than between the English and theFrench--some following the buffalo in his migrations, others finding aprecarious subsistence in the forest chase, others again fishing andtrapping; tribes who pass most of their time in canoes, while others, woodland tribes, cultivate the soil, and gradually become organized, andacquire a higher state of civilization, and present a marked differenceof character and taste from the hunter and fishermen tribes. "Thishigher state of social organization among the Six Nations, " says ColonelStone "greatly increased the difference. They had many towns andvillages giving evidence of perseverance. They were organized intocommunities whose social and political institutions, simple as theywere, were still as distinct and well-defined as those of the AmericanConfederacy. They had now acquired some arts, and were enjoying many ofthe comforts of civilized life. Not content with small patches ofcleared lands for the raising of a few vegetables, they possessedcultivated fields and orchards of great productiveness at the West. Especially was this the fact with regard to the Cayugas and Senecas. TheMohawks having been driven from their own rich lands (in the valley ofthe Mohawk and Susquehanna rivers), the extensive domains of thewesternmost tribes of the confederacy (in the Genesee country) formedthe granary of the whole. And in consequence of the superior social andpolitical organization just referred to, and the Spartan-like characterincident to the forest life, the Six Nations, though not the mostnumerous, were beyond doubt the most formidable of the tribes then inalliance with the Crown. It was justly considered, therefore, that theonly way _to strike them effectively would be to destroy their homes_and the growing produce of their farms, and thus, _by cutting off theirmeans of supply, drive them from their own country deeper into theinterior, and perhaps throw them altogether upon their British alliesfor subsistence_. " These facts will go far to account for the desire of the Mohawks torecover the homes from which they had been driven, and for the relationsbetween the Six Nations to the Crown of Great Britain and the revoltingportion of the colonists. It has been intimated that the Oneida Indians and part of the Onondagosadhered to the revolting colonists. Colonel Stone observes: "It was theintention of General Sullivan that General Clinton should employ in hisdivision as large a number of the Oneida warriors as could be induced toengage in the service. The latter officer was opposed to thisarrangement; but through the importunities of Sullivan, the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, their missionary, who was now a chaplain in the army, had beensummoned to Albany for consultation. From thence Mr. Kirkland wasdespatched to Pennsylvania, directly to join Sullivan's division; whileto Mr. Deane, the interpreter connected with the Indian Commissioner atFort Schuyler (formerly Fort Stanwix), was confided the charge ofnegotiating with the Oneida chiefs on the subject. The Oneidasvolunteered for the expedition almost to a man; while those of theOnondagos who adhered to the cause of the Americans were equallydesirous of proving their fidelity by their deeds. Under thesecircumstances, Clinton wrote to Sullivan on the 26th, that on thefollowing Saturday Mr. Deane, with the Indian warriors, would join himat the head of the lake. A sudden revolution, however, was wrought intheir determination by an address to the Oneidas from General Haldimand(Governor of Canada), received at Fort Schuyler the 22nd. This documentwas transmitted to them in their own language; and its tenor was soalarming as to induce them suddenly to change their purpose, judgingvery correctly, from the threats of Haldimand, that their presence wasnecessary at home for the defence of their own castles. Still Mr. Deanewrote that an arrangement was on foot by which he hoped to obtain theco-operation of a considerable number of the Oneida warriors. " "General Haldimand's address was written in the Iroquois (Mohawk)language, of which a translation was made by Mr. Deane and enclosed toGeneral Clinton. " In this address General Haldimand charged the Oneida Indians with having"taken a different course from the rest of the Five Nations, yourconfederates, and have likewise deserted the King's cause through thedeceitful machinations and snares of the rebels, who intimidated youwith their numerous armies, by which means you became bewildered andforgot all your engagements with and former care and favour from theGreat King of England, your Father. You also soon forgot the frequentbad usage and continual encroachments of the Americans upon the Indianlands throughout the continent. I say, therefore, that at the breakingout of these troubles, you firmly declared to _observe a strictneutrality in the dispute_, and made your declaration known to Sir GuyCarleton, my predecessor, _who much approved of it, provided you were inearnest_. [97] I have hitherto strictly observed and examined yourconduct, and find that you did not adhere to your assertion, although Icould trace no reason, on the side of Government as well as the Indians, why you should act so treacherous and double a part; by which means we, not mistrusting your fidelity, have had many losses among the King'ssubjects, and the Five Nations, your friends and connections. " After further reproaches, admonitions, and threatenings, GeneralHaldimand concluded in the following severe words: "These are facts, Brothers, that, unless you are lost to every sense of feeling, cannotbut recall in you even a most hearty repentance and deep remorse foryour past vile actions. " The effect of General Haldimand's address was to cause a conference--Mr. Deane, at the head of thirty-five Oneida warriors--with General Clinton, to apologize for the absence of their brethren from the expedition, andto make those explanations in regard to their own situation alreadycommunicated by Mr. Deane by letter, together with the address ofGeneral Haldimand. In his reply, General Clinton, among other things, said: "It is not my desire that the whole of your warriors should leavetheir castles. I have given a general invitation to our brethren theOneidas, the Tuscaroras, and such of the Onondagos as have entered intofriendship with us. In order to give all our Indian friends an equalchance of evidencing their spirit and determination to partake of ourfortune, I am entirely satisfied that such only should join me as thinkproper. " Colonel Stone, after stating that on the 22nd of August General Clintonarrived at Tioga, and formed a junction with General Sullivan, says:"The entire command amounted to 5, 000, consisting of the brigades ofGenerals Clinton, Hand, Maxwell, and Poor, together with Proctor'sartillery and a corps of riflemen. " Then, after relating the battle ofNewton (the present site of Elmira), as described in extracts from thehistorians in previous pages, Colonel Stone narrates the progress andwork of the invading army of extermination and destruction. We give thefollowing extracts from his narrative: "It is apprehended that but few of the present generation are thoroughlyaware of the advances which the Indians, in the wide and beautifulcountry of the Cayugas and Senecas, had made in the march ofcivilization. They had several towns and many large villages laid outwith a considerable degree of regularity. They had framed houses, someof them well furnished, having chimneys, and painted. They had broad andproductive fields; and in addition to an abundance of apples, were inthe enjoyment of the pear, and the still more delicious peach. But afterthe battle of Newton, the Indians everywhere fled at Sullivan'sadvance, and the whole country was swept as with a besom of destruction. On the 4th (September), as the army advanced, they destroyed a smallsettlement of eight houses, and two days afterwards reached the moreconsiderable town of Kendaia, containing about twenty houses, neatlybuilt and well finished. These were reduced to ashes, and the army spentnearly a day in destroying the fields of corn and the fruit trees. Ofthese there were great abundance, and many of them appeared to beancient. " "On the 7th, Sullivan crossed the outlet of Seneca Lake, and moved inthree divisions upon the town of Kanadaseagea, the Seneca capital, containing about sixty houses, with gardens and numerous orchards ofapple and peach trees. It was Sullivan's object to surround the town andtake it by surprise. But although Butler had endeavoured to induce theIndians to make a stand at the place, his importunities were of noavail. They said it was no use to contend with such an army; and theircapital was consequently abandoned as the other towns had been beforethe Americans could reach it. A detachment of 400 men was sent down onthe west side of the lake to destroy Gotheseunquean, and the plantationsin the neighbourhood; while at the same time a number of volunteers, under Colonel Harper, made a forced march in the direction of CayugaLake, and destroyed Schoyere. Meantime the residue of the army wasemployed, on the 8th, in the destruction of the town, together with thefruit trees and fields of corn and beans. Here, as elsewhere, _the workof destruction was thorough and complete_. " "The main army then moved forward upon Kanandaigua, at which place itarrived in two days. Here they 'found twenty-three very elegant houses, mostly framed, and in general large, together with very extensive fieldsof corn--all of which were destroyed. From Kanandaigua they proceeded tothe small town of Honeoye, consisting of ten houses, which wereimmediately burnt to the ground. A post was established by GeneralSullivan at Honeoye, to maintain which a strong garrison was left, withheavy stores and one field-piece. With this precautionary measure thearmy prepared to advance upon the yet more considerable town ofGenesee--the great capital of the western tribes of theconfederacy--containing their stores and their broadest cultivatedfields. " "The valley of the Genesee, for its beauty and fertility, was beheld bythe army of Sullivan with astonishment and delight. Though an Indiancountry, and peopled only by wild men of the woods, its rich intervalespresented the appearance of long cultivation, and were then smiling withthe harvests of ripening corn. Indeed, the Indians themselves professednot to know when or by whom the lands upon that stream were firstbrought into cultivation. Instead of a howling wilderness, Sullivan andhis troops found the Genesee flats, and many other districts of thecountry, resembling much more the orchards and farms and gardens ofcivilized life. But all was now doomed to speedy devastation. TheGenesee Castle was destroyed. The troops scoured the whole region roundabout, and burnt and destroyed everything that came in their way. Thetown of Genesee contained 128 houses, mostly large and very elegant. Itwas beautifully situated, almost encircled with a clear flat, extendinga number of miles, over which extensive fields of corn were waving, together with every kind of vegetable that could be conceived. But theentire army was immediately engaged in destroying it, and the axe andthe torch soon transformed the whole of that beautiful region from thecharacter of a garden to a scene of sickening desolation. Forty Indiantowns, the largest containing 128 houses, were destroyed. Corn, gatheredand ungathered, to the amount of 160, 000 bushels, shared the same fate;the fruit trees were cut down; and the Indians were hunted like wildbeasts, till neither house, nor fruit tree, nor field of corn, norinhabitant remained in the whole country. The gardens were enriched withgreat quantities of useful vegetables of different kinds. The size ofthe corn-fields, as well as the high degree of cultivation, excitedwonder, and the ears of corn were so remarkably large that many of themmeasured twenty-two inches in length. So numerous were the fruit trees, that in one orchard they cut down 1, 500. " "Having completed the objects contemplated by the expedition to thepoint at which he had arrived, General Sullivan recrossed the Geneseewith his army the 16th of September, and set out on his return. Why hedid not follow up his success, and strike the enemy's citadel atNiagara, which at that time was in no situation for formidableresistance, is a question difficult of solution. Unquestionably, in theorganization of the expedition, the conquest of Niagara, theheadquarters of the foe of all descriptions, and the seat of Britishinfluence and power among the Indians, was one of the principal objectsin view. Certain it is, that the most important feature of theenterprise was not undertaken; and it will be seen in the sequel thatbut small ultimate advantage resulted from the campaign. Stimulated by akeener thirst for revenge, clouds of savages were again and again seento sweep through the valley of the Mohawk with the scalping knife andthe torch. " "The return of the army was along the same tract by which it hadadvanced. On the 20th, having recrossed the outlet of Seneca Lake, Colonel Zebulon Butler was detached with the rifle corps of 500 men topass round the foot of Cayuga Lake, and lay waste the Indian towns onits eastern shore; while Lieutenant-Colonel Dearborn, with 200 men, wasdetached to perform the same service on the south-western shore. Themain army pursued the most direct route to the Chemung and Tioga. On the26th Colonel Dearborn's detachment returned, and on the 28th they wererejoined by Colonel Zebulon Butler, who had burnt three towns of theCayugas, including their capital. Dearborn had burnt six towns in hisroute, destroying at the same time large quantities of corn. On the sameday, Colonels Van Courtlandt and Dayton were detached upon a similarservice--for the destruction of large fields of corn growing upon thebanks of the Tioga and its tributaries. " "The army then resumed its march, and passing through Wyoming, arrivedat Easton on the 15th of October. The distance thence to Genesee Castlewas 280 miles. With the exception of the action at Newton, theachievements of the army in battle were not great. But it had scoured abroad extent of country, and had laid more towns in ashes than had everbeen destroyed on the continent before. The red men were driven fromtheir beautiful country, their habitations left in ruins, their fieldslaid waste, their orchards uprooted, and their altars and the tombs oftheir fathers overthrown. "[98] All the devastations of settlements, burnings and slaughter committed bythe "Tories and Indians" during the whole war shrink into insignificancein regard to extent of territory, the number of inhabitants and towns, the extent of cultivated farms and gardens, when compared with GeneralSullivan's one vast sweep of ruin and misery, in the course of which, asthe historian says, "_the Indians were hunted like wild beasts, tillneither house nor fruit tree, nor field of corn nor inhabitant, remainedin the whole country_. " All this was done by an express order of Congress to theCommander-in-Chief; and for doing this General Sullivan and his armyreceived the cordial approbation and thanks of the Congress. It was very natural that the survivors of the Six Nations and the"Tories, " who took refuge and resided among them, should seek revenge onevery possible occasion, in months following, in the regions of theirown sufferings, especially upon those individuals and communities whothey knew had prompted and aided the executioners of Congress. Therewere partizan leaders, with adventurous followers, on both sides, in theSouthern as well as in the Northern States, who inflicted many acts ofbarbarity and desolation; but these retaliatory cruelties and raids ofdestruction acquired a greater intensity of bitterness and cruelty afterthe terrible ravages and cruelties perpetrated by General Sullivan andhis army. Besides, the history of the Indians, as well as of the "Tories, "throughout the whole war, was written by their adversaries, and it wasconsidered a master-stroke of policy to exaggerate the alleged misdeedsand paint the character of both the Indians and Tories in the blackestcolours. The story of the "Massacre of Wyoming" is a sample of themanner in which the American writers of the day made history against theIndians and the "Tories. " When facts could not be sufficiently seasonedto stimulate recruits for the army and appropriations from the peoplefor its support, fiction pure and simple was resorted to; and Dr. Franklin himself did not think it unworthy of his antecedents, age andposition to employ this method to bring disrepute upon the "Tories, " theIndians, and the British Government itself, and to excite the hatred ofhis countrymen against them. The accomplished author of the _Life ofBrant and the Border Wars of the American Revolution_ forcibly observes: "The Indians of the Six Nations, in common with their chief, were loadedwith execrations for atrocities of which all were alike innocent, because the deeds recorded were never committed, it having been thepolicy of the public writers and those in authority, not only to magnifyactual occurrences, but sometimes, when those were wanting, to draw upontheir imaginations for such deeds of ferocity and bloodshed as mightbest serve to keep alive the strongest feelings of indignation againstthe parent country, and likewise induce the people to take the field inrevenge, if not driven thither by the nobler impulse of patriotism. "[99] Such deliberate fictions, for political purposes, as that by Dr. Franklin, just referred to, were probably rare; but the investigationsinto which the author has been, in the preparation of the present work, have satisfied him that, from other causes, much exaggeration andfalsehood has obtained a permanent footing in American history. Mosthistorians of that period, English and American, wrote too near the timewhen the events they were describing occurred, for a dispassionateinvestigation of the truth; and other writers who have succeeded, havetoo often been content to follow the beaten track, without incurring thelabour of diligent and calm inquiry. Reference has been made above toWyoming, concerning which, to this day, the world has been abused withmonstrous fictions, with tales of horror never enacted. Nor were theexaggerations in regard to the invasion of Wyoming greater than werethose connected with the irruption into and destruction of CherryValley, as the reader will discover in the course of the ensuing pages. Indeed, the writer, in preparation of materials for this work, hasencountered so much that is false recorded in history as sober verity, that he has at times been disposed almost to universal scepticism inregard to uninspired narration. The "deliberate fictions, for political purposes, by Dr. Franklin, " asthe biographer of Brant expresses it, "were written as facts;" or, asthe author quoted expresses it, "the well-known scalp story of Dr. Franklin was long believed, and recently revived and included in severalbooks of authentic history. " The details of Dr. Franklin's publicationwere so minute and varied as to create a belief that they were perfectlytrue. "It was long supposed to be authentic, " as the author quoted saysin introducing the document, in Appendix No. 1 to Volume I. , "but hassince been ascertained to be a publication from the pen of Dr. Franklin, for political purposes. " The names introduced are of course fictitious, as well as thestatements, but introduced with such an air of plausibility as topreclude the suspicion that they were fictitious. The publication willbe a curiosity to most of the readers of these pages, as it has been tothe writer. It is as follows: _Extract of a letter from Captain Gerrish, of the New England Militia, dated Albany, March 7th_, 1782: "The peltry taken in the expedition will, as you see, amount to a gooddeal of money. The possession of this booty at first gave us pleasure;but we were struck with horror to find among the packages eight largeones, containing scalps of our unhappy folks taken in the last threeyears by the Seneca Indians, from the inhabitants of the frontiers ofNew York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and sent by them as apresent to Colonel Haldimand, Governor of Canada, in order to betransmitted by him to England. They were accompanied by the followingcurious letter to that gentleman: "TIOGA, January 3rd, 1782. "May it please Your Excellency, "At the request of the Seneca chiefs, I send herewith to yourExcellency, under the care of James Boyd, eight packs of scalps, cured, dried, hooped, and painted with all the Indian triumphal marks, of whichthe following is invoice and explanation: "No. 1, containing forty-three scalps of Congress soldiers killed indifferent skirmishes; these are stretched on black hoops, four inchdiameter; the inside of the skin painted red, with a small black spot tonote their being killed with bullets. Also sixty-two farmers, killed intheir houses, the hoops red; the skin painted brown, and marked with ahoe; a black circle all round, to denote their being surprised in thenight; and a black hatchet in the middle, signifying their being killedwith that weapon. "No. 2, containing ninety-eight farmers killed in their houses; hoopsred; figure of a hoe, to mark their profession; great white circle andsun, to show they were surprised in the daytime; a _little red foot_, to show they stood upon their defence, and died fighting for their livesand families. "No. 3, containing ninety-seven farmers; hoops green, to show they werekilled in the fields; a large white circle, with a little round mark onit for the sun, to show that it was in the daytime; black bullet mark onsome, hatchet on others. "No. 4, containing 102 farmers, mixed of the several marks above; onlyeighteen marked with a little yellow flame, to denote their beingprisoners burnt alive, after being scalped, their nails pulled out bythe roots, and other torments; one of these latter supposed to be of arebel clergyman; his band being fixed to the hoop of his scalp. Most ofthe farmers appear by the hair to be young or middle-aged men; therebeing but sixty-seven grey heads among them all, which makes the servicemore essential. "No. 5, containing eighty-eight scalps of women; hair long, braided inthe Indian fashion, to show they were mothers; hoops blue; skin yellowground, with red tadpoles, to represent, by way of triumph, the tears ofgrief occasioned to their relations; a black scalping-knife or hatchetat the bottom, to mark their being killed with these instruments;seventeen others, hair very grey; black hoops; plain brown colour, nomark but the short club or cassetete, to show that they were knockeddown dead, or had their brains beat out. "No. 6, containing 193 boys' scalps, of various ages; small green hoops;whitish ground on the skin, with red tears in the middle, and blackbullet marks, knife, hatchet, or club, as their death happened. "No. 7, 211 girls' scalps, big and little; small yellow hoops; whiteground; tears, hatchet, club, scalping knife, etc. "No. 8. This package is a mixture of all the varieties above mentioned, to the number of 122; with a box of birch bark, containing twenty-ninelittle infants' scalps of various sizes; small white hoops, whiteground. "With these packs, the chiefs send to your Excellency the followingspeech delivered by Coneiogatchie in council, interpreted by the elderMoore, the trader, and taken down by me in waiting: "'_Father!_--We send you herewith many scalps, that you may see that weare not idle friends. --A blue belt. "'_Father!_--We wish you to send these scalps over the water to theGreat King, that he may regard them and be refreshed; and that he maysee our faithfulness in destroying his enemies, and be convinced thathis presents have not been made to ungrateful people. --A blue and whitebelt with red tassels. "'_Father!_--Attend to what I am going to say; it is a matter of muchweight. The Great King's enemies are many, and they grow fast in number. They were formerly like young panthers; they could neither bite norscratch; we could play with them safely; we feared nothing they could doto us. But now their bodies are become big as the elk and strong as thebuffalo; they have also got great and sharp claws. They have driven usout of our country by taking part in your quarrel. We expect the GreatKing will give us another country, that our children may live after us, and be his friends and children as we are. Say this for us to the GreatKing. To enforce it we give this belt. --A great white belt with bluetassels. "'_Father!_--We have only to say further, that your traders exact morethan ever for their goods; and our hunting is lessened by the war, sothat we have fewer skins to give for them. This ruins us. Think of someremedy. We are poor, and you have plenty of everything. We know you willsend us powder and guns, and knives and hatchets; but we also wantshirts and blankets. --A little white belt. ' "I do not doubt but that your Excellency will think it proper to givesome further encouragement to those honest people. The high prices theycomplain of are the necessary effect of the war. Whatever presents maybe sent for them through my hands shall be distributed with prudence andfidelity. I have the honour of being "Your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant, "JAMES CRAUFURD. " This chapter of Congress vengeance to exterminate the Six Nations ofIndians, and of its writers to picture them as human monsters, cannot bebetter concluded than in the words of the historian of Brant, [100] andof the Border Wars of the American Revolution: "No Indian pen traces the history of their tribes and nations, orrecords the deeds of their warriors and chiefs, their prowess and theirwrongs. Their spoilers have been their historians; and although areluctant assent has been awarded to some of the nobler traits of theirnature, yet, without yielding a due allowance for the peculiarities oftheir situation, the Indian character has been presented with singularuniformity as being cold, cruel, morose, and revengeful; unrelieved byany of those varying traits and characteristics, those lights andshadows which are admitted in respect to other people no less wild anduncivilized than they. "Without pausing to reflect that, even when most cruel, they have beenpractising the trade of war--always dreadful--as much in conformity totheir own usages and laws as have their more civilized antagonists, thewhite historian has drawn them with the characteristics of demons. Forgetting that the second of Hebrew monarchs did not scruple to saw hisprisoners with saws, and harrow them with harrows of iron; forgetfullikewise of the scenes of Smithfield, under the direction of our ownBritish ancestors; the historians of the poor untutored Indians, almostwith one accord, have denounced them as monsters _sui generis_, ofunparalleled and unapproachable barbarity; as though the summarytomahawk were worse than the iron tortures of the harrow, and the torchof the Mohawk hotter than the faggots of Queen Mary. "Nor does it seem to have occurred to the 'pale-faced' writers that theidentical cruelties, the records and descriptions of which enter solargely into the composition of the earlier volumes of American history, were not barbarities in the estimation of those who practised them. _Thescalp lock was an emblem of chivalry. _ Every warrior shaving his headfor battle was careful to leave _the lock of defiance upon his crown_, as for the bravado, 'Take it if you can. ' The stake and the torturewere identified with their rude notions of the power of endurance. Theywere inflicted upon captives of their own race, as well as upon whites;and with their own braves these trials were courted, to enable thesufferer to exhibit the courage and fortitude with which they could beborne--the proud scorn with which all the pain that a foe might inflictcould be endured. "But (it is said) they fell upon slumbering hamlets in the night andmassacred defenceless women and children. This, again, was their ownmode of warfare, as honourable in their estimation as the more courteousmethods of committing wholesale murder laid down in the books. "But of one enormity they were ever innocent. Whatever degree ofpersonal hardship and suffering their female captives were compelled toendure, their persons were never dishonoured by violence; a fact whichcan be predicated, we apprehend, of no other victorious soldiery thatever lived. "In regard, moreover, to the countless acts of cruelty alleged to havebeen perpetrated by the savages, it must still be borne in mind that theIndians have had no writer to relate their own side of the story. Theannals of man, probably, do not attest a more kindly reception ofintruding foreigners than was given to the Pilgrims landing at Plymouthby the faithful Massassoit, and the tribes under his jurisdiction. Nordid the forest kings take up arms until they but too clearly saw thateither their visitors or themselves must be driven from the soil whichwas their own--the fee of which was derived from the Great Spirit. Andthe nation is yet to be discovered that will not fight for their homes, the graves of their fathers, and their family altars. Cruel they were inthe prosecution of their contests; but it would require the aggregate ofa large number of predatory incursions and isolated burnings to balancethe awful scene of conflagration and blood which at once extinguishedthe power of Sassacus, and the brave and indomitable Narragansets overwhom he reigned. No! until it is forgotten that by some Christians ininfant Massachusetts it was held to be right to kill Indians, as theagents and familiars of Azazel; until the early records of even tolerantConnecticut, which disclose the fact that the Indians were seized by thePuritans, transported to the British West Indies, and sold as slaves, are lost; until the Amazon and La Plata shall have washed away thebloody history of the Spanish American conquest; and until the fact thatCortez stretched the unhappy Guatimozin naked upon a bed of burningcoals (or General Sullivan's devastation of the Six Indian Nations) isproved to be a fiction, let not the American Indians be pronounced themost cruel of men. "[101] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 91: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xix. , p. 325. "About four weeks after Colonel Zebulon Butler's return, some hundredsof Indians, a large body of Tories, and about fifty regulars, enteredCherry Valley, within the State of New York. They made an unsuccessfulattempt on Fort Alden; but they killed and scalped thirty-two of theinhabitants, mostly women and children; and also Colonel Alden and tensoldiers. "--_Ib. _, p. 325. Then, on the side of the continentals, "Colonel G. Van Shaick, with fifty-five men, marched from Fort Schuylerto the Onondago settlements, and on the 19th of April, 1779, burnt thewhole, consisting of about fifty houses, together with a large quantityof provisions. Horses and stock of every kind were killed. The arms andammunition of the Indians were either destroyed or brought off, andtheir settlements were laid waste. Twelve Indians were killed andthirty-four made prisoners. This expedition was performed in less thansix days, and without the loss of a man. "--_Ib. _, pp. 326, 327. ] [Footnote 92: Dr. Andrews' History of the Late War, Vol. III. , Chap. Xli. , pp. 436-439. ] [Footnote 93: Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X. , Chap. X. , pp. 230, 231, 232. Mr. Bancroft's tame account of "the great expedition" against the FiveNations, limiting it to a chastisement of the Senecas, can only beaccounted for from his contempt of General Sullivan, his desire to passover as slightly as possible an expedition of destruction sodisproportionate to the alleged cause of it, and against a whole ruraland agricultural people for the alleged depredations of some of them. There were, as might be expected, marauding parties along the borders onthe part of both the Indians and Americans, but the former always seemto have suffered more, and the latter to have excelled the former intheir own traditionary mode of savage warfare. "Other expeditions, " says Mr. Holmes, "besides this decisive one wereconducted against the Indians in course of the year. In April, ColonelVan Shaick, with fifty-five men, marched from Fort Schuyler, and burntthe whole Onondago settlements, consisting of about fifty houses, with alarge quantity of provisions, killed twelve Indians and made thirty-fourprisoners, without the loss of a single man. In the month of August, Colonel Broadhead made a successful expedition against the Mingo, Munsey, and Seneca Indians. " (American Annals, Vol. II. , p. 302. )] [Footnote 94: Mr. Bancroft says that "the British Rangers and men of theSix Nations (who constructed the defensive breastwork at Newton) _werein all about_ 800. " (History of the United States, Vol. X. , Chap. X, p. 232. ) It was certainly no great feat of military courage and skill for 5, 000men, with the aid of artillery, to defeat and disperse 800 Indians andTories, without artillery, and then ravage and devastate an undefendedcountry. ] [Footnote 95: Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap. Xxxix. , pp. 287-289. ] [Footnote 96: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xix. , pp. 327-329. We will select from the same historian, though the same facts may befound in other histories of the time, a few examples in addition tothose already given of the terrible retribution which the Americansinflicted upon the Indians in retaliation for any incursions which theymay have made into the white settlements. "The Cherokee Indians made an incursion into Ninety-Six district, inSouth Carolina, massacred some families and burned several houses. General Pickens, in 1781, collected a party of the militia, andpenetrated into their country. This he accomplished in fourteen days, atthe head of 394 horsemen. In that short space he burned thirteen townsand villages, killed upwards of forty Indians, and took a number ofprisoners. Not one of his party was killed, and only two were wounded. The Americans did not expend over two pounds of ammunition, and yet onlythree Indians escaped after having been once seen. * * "Towards the end of the war, in 1782, there was a barbarous andunprovoked massacre of some civilized Indians who had settled near theMuskingum. These, under the influence of some pious missionaries of theMoravian persuasion, had been formed into some degree of religiousorder. They abhorred war, and would take no part therein, giving for areason that 'the Great Spirit did not make men to destroy men, but tolove and assist each other. ' From love of peace they advised those oftheir own colour, who were bent on war, to desist from it. They werealso led from humanity to inform the white people of their danger, whenthey knew their settlements were about to be invaded. This provoked thehostile (American) Indians to such a degree, that they carried thesequite away from Muskingum to a bank of the Sandusky Creek. They, findingcorn dear and scarce in their new habitations, obtained liberty to comeback in the fall of the same year to Muskingum, that they might collectthe crops they had planted before their removal. "While the white (American) people at and near the Monongahela heardthat a number of Indians were at the Moravian towns on the Muskingum, they gave out that their intentions were hostile. Without any furtherenquiry, 160 of them crossed the Ohio, and put to death these harmless, inoffensive people, though they made no resistance. In conformity totheir religious principles, these Moravians submitted to their hardfate, without attempting to destroy their murderers. Upwards of ninetyof this pacific race were killed by men who, while they calledthemselves Christians, were more deserving of the name of savages thanthose whom they inhumanly murdered. " (Dr. Ramsay's History of the UnitedStates, Vol. II. , Chap. Xix. , pp. 330-332. ) Mr. Hildreth gives the following account of the proceedings of theeighty or ninety men who murdered the peaceful Indians: "Arrived at themiddle Moravian village, they found a party of Christian Indiansgathering corn. The Indians at another neighbouring village were sentfor, and the whole were placed together in two houses. A council wasthen held to decide upon their fate. Williamson, their Commander, heretofore accused of too great lenity to the Indians, referred thematter to his men. Only sixteen voted for mercy; all the rest, professing a faith common on the frontier, that 'an Indian has no moresoul than a buffalo, ' were for murder. They rushed on their prey, scalping-knife in hand, and upwards of ninety Indians, men, women, andchildren, soon lay bleeding and gasping. " (History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap. Lxv. , p. 423. ) "Soon after this unprovoked massacre, a party of Americans set out forSandusky, to destroy the Indian towns in that part; but the Delawares, Wyandots, and other Indians opposed them. An engagement ensued, in whichsome of the white people were killed, and several were taken prisoners. Among the latter were Colonel Crawford and his son-in-law. The colonelwas sacrificed to the manes of those Indians who were massacred in theMoravian towns. The other prisoners were put to death with the tomahawk. "Throughout the American war, the desolation brought by the Indians onthe frontier settlements of the United States, and on the Indians by theAmericans, was sufficient to excite compassion in the most obdurateheart. "Not only men and warriors, but women and children indiscriminatelymurdered, while whole settlements were involved in promiscuousdesolation. Each was made a scourge to the other; and the unavoidablecalamities of war were rendered doubly distressing by the dispersion offamilies, the breaking up of settlements, and an addition of savagecruelties, to the most extensive devastation of those things whichconduce to the comfort of human life. "] [Footnote 97: The biographer of Brant and historian of the Border Warsof the American Revolution thinks that Sir Guy Carleton was not opposedto the employment of the Indians in the war with the Congress (Vol. I. , pp. 89, 90), and quotes Brant as his authority; but General Haldimand(who himself favoured the employment of the Indians in the war) appearsto be the safest interpreter of the views of Sir Guy Carleton, whointended, by the friendly alliance of the Indians with the King, thatthey should be neutral. ] [Footnote 98: Stone's Life of Joseph Brant, including the Border Wars ofthe American Revolution, Vol. II. , Chap. I. ] [Footnote 99: Life of Brant, including the Border Wars of the AmericanRevolution. ] [Footnote 100: Brant himself was educated at Philadelphia, married andlived quietly on his land in the Mohawk Valley, entertained themissionaries, and assisted in translating portions of the New Testament;but when the revolution commenced he was not allowed to live in peaceunless he joined the revolutionary party. He determined to maintain, ashe said, the covenant faith of his forefathers to the King of England, and entered upon the "warpath, " in which he became so distinguished ahero; in the course of which he perpetrated many deeds of cruelty, butalso, as his biographer records, performed many acts of humanity, kindness, and generosity. ] [Footnote 101: Stone's Brant and the Border Wars of the AmericanRevolution, Vol. I. , Introduction, pp. 13, 14, 15. ] CHAPTER XXXVI. SITUATION AND TREATMENT OF THE LOYALISTS DURING THE WAR. The condition of the United Empire Loyalists for several months before, as well as after, the Declaration of Independence, was humiliating tofreemen and perilous in the extreme; and that condition became stillmore pitiable after the alliance of the revolutionists with theFrench--the hereditary enemies of both England and the colonies. Fromthe beginning the Loyalists were deprived of the freedom of the press, freedom of assemblage, and under an espionage universal, sleepless, malignant--subjecting the Loyalists to every species of insult, toarrest and imprisonment at any moment, and to the seizure andconfiscation of their property. Before the Declaration of Independence, both parties were confessedlyBritish subjects, professing allegiance to the same sovereign andconstitution of government, both professing and avowing their adherenceto the rights of British subjects; but differing from each other as tothe extent of those rights in contradistinction to the constitutionalrights of the Crown and those of the people--as in the case of partydiscussions of all constitutional questions, whether in the colonies ormother country for centuries past. Both parties had their advocates inthe British Parliament; and while the prerogative advocates supportedthe corrupt Ministry of the day--or the King's party, as it wascalled--the Opposition in Parliament supported the petitions andremonstrances of those colonists who claimed a more popular colonialgovernment; but all the advocates of the constitutional rights of thecolonists, in both Houses of Parliament, disclaimed, on the part ofthose whom they represented, the least idea of independence orseparation from England. The Declaration of Independence essentiallychanged the relations of parties, both in Great Britain and America. Theparty of independence--getting, after months of manipulation by itsleaders, first a majority of one in the Congress, and afterwardsincreasing that majority by various means--repudiated their formerprofessed principles of connection with England; broke faith with thegreat men and parties in England, both in and out of Parliament, who hadvindicated their rights and professions for more than ten years; brokefaith also with their numerous fellow-subjects in America who adhered tothe old faith, to the old flag, and connection with England, and whowere declared by resolutions of Conventions, from Congress, provinces, counties, to townships and towns, enemies of their country, rebels andtraitors, and treated as such. [102] Even before the Declaration ofIndependence, some of these popular meetings, called Conventions, assumed the highest functions of legislation and government, and dealtat pleasure with the rights, liberties, property, and even lives oftheir Tory fellow citizens. There had been violent words, terms ofmutual reproach, as in all cases of hot political contests; but it wasfor the advocates of independent liberty to deny to the adherents of theold faith all liberty of speech or of opinion, except under penalties ofimprisonment or banishment, with confiscation of property. For a largeportion of the community[103] to be thus stript of their civil rights byresolutions of a Convention, and reduced to the position of proscribedaliens or slaves, must have been galling to Loyalists beyondexpression, and well calculated to prompt them to outbreaks of passion, and retaliations of resentment and revenge, each such act followed by acorresponding act from the opposite party. [104] It might be supposed that forbearance and respect would have been shownto those who remained "steadfast and immovable" in the traditional faithof British monarchy and British connection, notwithstanding a corruptand arbitrary party was in power for the time being; but the veryreverse of this was the case on the part of those who professed, as onecardinal article of their political creed, that "all men are born freeand equal, " and therefore that every man had an equal right to hisopinions, and an equal right to the expression of them; but all this wasreversed in the treatment of the Loyalists. Mr. Hildreth well describesthe position and treatment of the Loyalists, both before and after theDeclaration of Independence, in the following words: "In the position of that considerable class of persons who had remainedin doubt, the Declaration of Independence and the assumption of Stategovernment made a decided change. It was now necessary to choose oneside or the other. "Very serious, too, was the change in the legal position of the classknown as Tories, in many of the States a large minority, and in allrespectable for wealth and social position. Of those thus stigmatized, some were inclined to favour the utmost claims of the mother country;_but the greater part, though determined to adhere to the Britishconnection, yet deprecated the policy which had brought on so fatal aquarrel_. This loyal minority, especially its more conspicuous members, as the warmth of political feeling increased, had been exposed to theviolence of mobs, and to all sorts of personal indignities, in whichprivate malice or a wanton and insolent spirit of mischief had been toooften gratified under the disguise of patriotism. The barbarous anddisgraceful practice of tarring and feathering and carting Tories, placing them in a cart and carrying them about as a sort of spectacle, had become in some places a favourite amusement. To restrain theseoutrages, Congress had specially committed the oversight of Tories andsuspected persons to the regularly appointed Committees of Inspectionand Observation for the several counties and districts. But even theseCommittees were not always very judicious or discriminating in theexercise of despotic powers implied in that delicate trust. "By the recent political changes, Tories and suspected persons becameexposed to dangers from the law as well as from mobs. Having boldlyseized the reins of government, the new State authorities claimed theallegiance of all residents within their limits, and under the lead andrecommendation of Congress, those who refused to acknowledge theirauthority, or who adhered to their enemies, were exposed to severepenalties, confiscation of property, imprisonment, banishment, andfinally death. "[105] It does not appear that these lawless outrages upon "Tories" were everchecked or discountenanced, or their authors ever even reproved by theso-called authorities, but were actively or tacitly encouraged; so thatbefore and during the very first months of Independence, the Loyalistswere subject to the penalties of the mobs on one side and to the morecruel penalties of new-made law by a newly self-created authority on theother side. Perhaps no one did as much to promote this cruel policyagainst the Loyalists as Mr. John Adams, who was the ruling spirit inall the proceedings of Boston for years, the advocate of the Declarationof Independence, and the chief member of the Secret Committee ofCongress for years, and was at length appointed Ambassador from theAmerican Congress to Holland, whence he wrote a letter to ThomasCushing, then Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, but which wasintercepted on board of the prize brigantine _Cabot_, and carried to St. Christopher's, in the West Indies. This letter was published in theAnnual Register for 1781, pp. 259-261. It is dated "Amsterdam, December15th, 1780, " more than four years after the Declaration of Independence, and fully indicates the source of all those cruel acts against theLoyalists at the commencement and during the early years of the Americancivil war. Mr. Adams says: "It is true, I believe, what you suggest, that Lord North showed adisposition to give up the contest, but was diverted from it notunlikely by the representation of the Americans in London, who, inconnection with their coadjutors in America, have been thorns to usindeed on both sides of the water; but I think their career might havebeen stopt on your side if the executive officers had not been too timidin a point which I so strenuously recommended at the first--namely, tofine, imprison, and hang all inimical to the cause, without favour oraffection. I foresaw the evil that would arise from that quarter, andwished to have timely stopt it. I would have hanged my own brother hadhe taken a part with our enemy in the contest. " Such was the "strenuously recommended" wholesale hanging policy of Mr. John Adams for the extermination of the "Tories"--a curious illustrationof his professed doctrine, that "all men are born free and equal, " andwhich largely accounts for the treatment of Loyalists during the war, and for the exasperated feelings which existed between them and theirpersecutors and oppressors of the Independence party. One of the firstmanifestations of this relentless feeling against the Loyalists occurredin Mr. Adams' native city of Boston, on its evacuation by General Howe, who, as Lord Mahon says, "had taken with him, at their own urgentrequest, above a thousand of the inhabitants of Boston, who had espousedthe cause of the parent State, and who dreaded on that account thevengeance of their countrymen. Before they had embarked, they had, asWashington informs his brother, publicly declared that 'if they thoughtthe most abject submission would procure them peace, they never wouldhave stirred. '"[106] (Letter to John Augustine Washington, March 13th, 1776, as printed in the American Archives. ) "Indeed, throughout this contest, and amidst all those qualitiesdisplayed by the Americans, many of those qualities being entitled tohigh respect and commendation, there was none certainly less amiablethan their merciless rancour against those among them who adhered to theroyal side. In reference to those, a ferocious saying came to be currentin America, that though we are commanded to forgive our enemies, we arenowhere commanded to forgive our friends. In reference to them, trueJetburgh justice was more than once administered--first the punishment, then the accusation, and last of all the evidence. "[107] The Convention of the State of New York (1776) resolved that "any personbeing an adherent to the King of Great Britain should be guilty oftreason and suffer death. "[108] The Loyalists experienced similar treatment in other provinces. "Previous to their evacuation of Philadelphia, the Congress had orderedsome of the principal Quakers and other gentlemen of the firstconsideration in that place, above twenty in number, to be taken intocustody, as strongly attached to the royal cause, and known enemies tothe ruling powers. These gentlemen had repeatedly refused to give anywritten or verbal acknowledgment of allegiance or submission to theAmerican Government, or promise of holding no correspondence with itsenemies. Notwithstanding the evident danger their persons were in, theyhad even the resolution to refuse confining themselves to theirrespective dwellings. The spirit of these gentlemen was unconquerable tothe last, as they still persisted, in defiance of threats, and in spiteof all solicitations and entreaty, immovable in their principles and intheir determination to reject the test that was proposed to them. Theywere sent prisoners to Stanton, in Virginia, as soon as it wasapprehended that the British troops would take possession ofPhiladelphia. "[109] After the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown, the defencelessLoyalists were the objects of vengeance as they went further north. Thearmy of Lord Cornwallis received civil treatment from Washington'sarmy, [110] and great kindness from the French officers and soldiers. Lord Mahon observes: "The followers of the English army, left defenceless at Yorktown, wereexposed to much ill-treatment on the part of the native soldiers, thirsting, it was said, for vengeance. Abbé Robin[111] saw an Englishlady, a colonel's wife, come in tears to implore for herself and for herchildren the protection of French generosity against American outrage. On the other hand, we find the English officers and soldiers, the actualprisoners of war, bear willing testimony to the kindness they received. Thus speaks Lord Cornwallis in his letter to Sir Henry Clinton: 'Thetreatment in general that we have received from the enemy since oursurrender has been perfectly good and proper. But the kindness andattention that has been shown us by the French officers in particular, their delicate sensibility of our situation, their generous and pressingoffer of money, both public and private, to any amount, has really gonebeyond what I can possibly describe, and will, I hope, make animpression on the breast of every English officer, whenever the fortuneof war should put any of them into our power. '" (Lord Mahon's History ofEngland, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxiv. , pp. 181, 182. ) APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XXXVI. THE ACTS OF LEGISLATIVE BODIES FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF THE ADHERENTS TOTHE CROWN WERE NUMEROUS. "In _Rhode Island_, death and _confiscation_ of estate were thepenalties by law for any person who communicated with _the Ministry_ ortheir agents, _or_ who afforded supplies to the forces, _or_ piloted thearmed ships of the King. Besides these general statutes, several Actswere passed in that State to confiscate and sequester the property ofcertain persons who were designated by name. "In _Connecticut_, the offences of supplying the royal army or navy, ofgiving them information, of enlisting or procuring others to enlist inthem, and of piloting or assisting naval vessels, were punished moremildly, and involved only the loss of estate and personal liberty for aterm not exceeding three years. To _speak_ or _write_ or act against thedoings of Congress or of the Assembly of Connecticut, was punishable by_disqualification for office, imprisonment_, and the disarming of theoffender. Here, too, was a law for seizing and confiscating the estatesof those who sought royal protection, and absented themselves from theirhomes or the country. "In _Massachusetts_, a person _suspected_ of enmity to the Whig causecould be _arrested_ under a magistrate's warrant and banished, unless hewould swear fealty to the friends of liberty; and the select men oftowns could prefer charges of political treachery in town meetings, andthe individual accused, if convicted by a jury, could be sent into theenemy's jurisdiction (banished). Massachusetts also designated by name, and generally by occupation and residence, 380 of her people, of whomseventeen had been inhabitants of Maine, who had fled from their homes, and denounced against any one of them who should return, apprehension, imprisonment, and transportation to a place possessed by the British;and for a second voluntary return, without leave, _death_ without thebenefit of clergy. By another law, the property of twenty-nine personswho were denominated 'notorious conspirators, ' was confiscated--two hadbeen governors, one lieutenant-governor, one treasurer, oneattorney-general, one chief justice, and four commissioners of customs. "_New Hampshire_ passed Acts similar to these, under which seventy-sixof her former citizens were prohibited from coming within her borders, and the estates of twenty-eight were declared to be forfeited. "_Virginia_ passed a resolution to the effect that persons of a givendescription should be deemed and treated as aliens, and that theirproperty should be sold, and the proceeds go into the public treasuryfor future disposal; and also a law prohibiting the migration of certainpersons to that commonwealth, and providing penalties for the violationof its provisions. "In _New York_, the County Committees were authorized to apprehend anddecide upon the guilt of such inhabitants as were _supposed_ to holdcorrespondence with the enemy, or had committed some other specifiedact; and they might punish those whom they adjudged to be guilty withimprisonment for three months, or banishment. There, too, personsopposed to liberty and independence were prohibited from practising lawin the Courts; and the effects of fifty-nine persons, of whom three werewomen, and their rights of remainder and reversion, were to pass byconfiscation from them to the people. So, also, a parent whose sons wentoff and adhered to the enemy was subjected to a tax of ninepence on thepound of the parents' estate for each and every such son; and until arevision of the law, Whigs were as liable to this tax as others. "In _New Jersey_, one Act was passed to punish traitors and disaffectedpersons; another, for taking charge of and leasing the real estates, andfor forfeiting the personal estates of certain fugitives and offenders;and a third for forfeiting to, and vesting in the State, the realproperty of the persons designated in the second statute; and a fourth, supplemental to the Act first mentioned. "In _Pennsylvania_, sixty-two persons, who were designated by name, wererequired by the Executive Council to surrender themselves to some Judgeof a Court, or Justice of the Peace, within a specified time, and abidetrial for _treason_, or in default of appearance to stand attainted; andby an Act of a subsequent time, the estates of thirty-six other persons, who were also designated by name, and who had been previously attaintedof treason, were declared to be confiscated. "The Act of _Delaware_ provided that the property, both real andpersonal, of certain persons who were named, and who were forty-six innumber, should be forfeited to the State, 'subject, nevertheless, to thepayment of the said offenders' just debts, ' unless, as in Pennsylvania, they gave themselves up to trial for _the crime of treason in adheringto the royal cause_. "_Maryland_ seized, confiscated, and appropriated all property ofpersons in allegiance to the British Crown, and appointed Commissionersto carry out the terms of three statutes which were passed to effectthese purposes. "In _North Carolina_, the Confiscation Act embraced sixty-five specifiedindividuals, and four mercantile firms, and by its terms not onlyincluded the 'lands' of these persons and commercial houses, but their'negroes and other personal property. ' "The law of _Georgia_, which was enacted very near the close of thestruggle, declared certain persons to have been guilty of treasonagainst that State, and their estates to be forfeited for theiroffences. "[112] "_South Carolina_ surpassed all the other members of the confederacy, Massachusetts excepted. The Loyalists of the State, whose rights, persons, and property were affected by legislation, were divided intofour classes. The persons who had offended the least, who wereforty-five in number, were allowed to retain their estates, but wereamerced twelve per cent. Of their value. Soon after the fall ofCharleston, and when disaffection to the Whig cause was so general, 210persons, who styled themselves to be 'principal inhabitants' of thecity, signed an address to Sir Henry Clinton, in which they state thatthey have every inducement to return to their allegiance, and ardentlyhope to be re-admitted to the character and condition of Britishsubjects. These 'addressers' formed another class. Of these 210, sixty-three were banished and lost their property by forfeiture, eitherfor this offence or the graver one of affixing their names to a petitionto the royal general, to be armed on the royal side. Another class, composed of the still larger number of eighty persons, were _alsobanished and divested of their estates_, for the crime of holding civilor military commissions under the Crown, after the conquest of SouthCarolina. And the same penalties were inflicted upon thirteen others, who, on the success of Lord Cornwallis at Camden, presented his lordshipwith congratulations. Still fourteen others were _banished and deprivedof their estates_ because they were _obnoxious_. Thus, then, the'addressers, ' 'petitioners, ' 'congratulators, ' and 'obnoxiousLoyalists, ' who were proscribed, and who suffered the loss of theirproperty (in South Carolina), were 170 in number; and if to these we addthe forty-five who were fined twelve pounds in the hundred of the valueof their estates, the aggregate will be 215. "Much of the legislation of the several States appears to haveproceeded from the recommendations made from time to time _by Congress_, and that body passed several acts and resolutions of its own. Thus theysubjected to _martial law_ and to _death_ all who should furnishprovisions and certain other articles to the King's troops in NewJersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware; and they resolved that all Loyaliststaken in arms should be sent to the States to which they belonged, thereto be _dealt with as traitors_" (not as prisoners of war, as wereAmericans taken in arms against the British). [113] REMARKS ON THE CONFISCATION ACTS ABOVE CITED. The Draconian Code or the Spanish Inquisition can hardly be said toexceed in severity and intolerance, the acts of the several StateLegislatures and Committees above quoted, in which mere opinions aredeclared to be treason, as also the refusal to renounce a solemn oath ofallegiance. The very place of residence, the non-presenting one's selfto be tried as a traitor, the mere _suspicion_ of holding Loyalistopinions, involved the loss of liberty and property. Scores of personswere made criminals, not after trial by a verdict of a regularlyempanelled jury, but by name, in acts or resolutions of Legislatures, and sometimes of Committees. No modern civilized country has presentedsuch a spectacle of the wholesale disposal, by name, of the rights, liberties and properties, and even lives of citizens, by inquisition andvarious bodies, as was here presented against the Loyalists, guilty ofno crime against their neighbours except holding to the opinions oftheir forefathers, and the former opinions of their present persecutors, who had usurped the power to rob, banish, and destroy them--who embodiedin themselves, at one and the same time, the functions of law makers, law judges, and law executioners, and the receivers and disposers, or, as was the case, the possessors of the property which they confiscatedagainst the Loyalists. Is it surprising, then, that under such a system of oppression androbbery, Loyalists should be prompted to deeds of heroism, and sometimesof desperation and cruelty, to avenge themselves for the wrongsinflicted upon them, and to recover the liberties and properties ofwhich they had thus been deprived, rendering themselves and theirfamilies homeless, and reducing them to poverty and distress? No one canjustify many deeds of the Loyalists; but who could be surprised had theybeen more desperate than they were? And this the more so as they were, probably, superior in wealth and nearly equal in numbers to theiroppressors, who had suddenly seized upon all military sources of power, disarmed the Loyalists, and erected tribunals for their ruin. [114]American writers often speak of the havoc committed by the "Tories, " butthe acts of Legislatures and Committees above quoted furnish amplecauses and provocation for retaliation, and the most desperateenterprises and efforts to recover lawful rights and hard-earnedproperty. Where these Confiscating Acts had been most sweeping andsevere, as in the case of South Carolina, and the two parties nearlyequal, this internecine war against life and property was the mostrelentless. [115] It is as easy as it is unfair for American writers to narrate andmagnify the murderous acts of the "Tories, " and omit those perpetratedby the "Whigs, " as well as the cruel laws against the liberties, property, and lives of the "Tories, " which gave rise to these barbarousacts. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 102: "Committees exercised legislative, executive, andjudicial powers. It is not to be doubted that, in many instances, thesewere improperly used, and that private resentments were often coveredunder the specious veil of patriotism. The sufferers, in passing over tothe Royalists, carried with them a keen remembrance of the vengeance ofCommittees, and when opportunity presented were tempted to retaliate. "(Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xxvi. , pp. 467, 468. )] [Footnote 103: "Until the Declaration of Independence they were by farthe largest party, who not only expected but prayed for areconciliation. England was their home, and by that affectionate namewas always spoken of; all the wrongs which were heaped upon the childrencould not make them forget their home, or entirely alienate them fromtheir parent. The ligaments that connect nations are never lesspowerful, though less tender, than those which unite individuals, families, and clans. Consanguinity, affinity, alliance, operate alike oneach. " (Allen's History of the American War. ) "The disaffected, or rather the Loyalists, were a formidable party inthe Middle States. They might be forgiven--many of them acted fromprinciple, from a conscientious regard to their duty, from affection totheir 'Sovereign, ' and however mistaken they may have been, they deserveno censure. It is the infirmity of men's nature to err, and the majoritycannot complain if the minority insist on the same privilege for whichthe predominant party are contending--the liberty of judging forthemselves. "--_Ib. _, Vol. I. , p. 483. ] [Footnote 104: Even in South Carolina. Mr. Hildreth remarks: "Not, however, by armies alone were hostilities carried on. All thescattered settlements bristled in hostile array. Whigs and Toriespursued each other with little less than savage fury. Small parties, everywhere under arms, some on one side, some on the other, with verylittle reference to greater operations, were desperately bent on plunderand blood. " (Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap. Xli. , p. 329. )] [Footnote 105: Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap, xxxiii. , pp. 137, 138. ] [Footnote 106: Having thus recovered their capital (Boston), one of thefirst acts of government exercised by the Provincial Assembly was toorder the effects and the estates of those who fled with the Britishtroops to Halifax to be publicly disposed of, and their produce appliedto the use of the State. Such adherents to Britain as had risked toremain behind, were treated with great severity. They were prosecuted asenemies and betrayers of their country, and their estates wereconfiscated accordingly. (Dr. Andrews' History of the Late War, Vol. II. , Chap. Xix. , p. 159. )] [Footnote 107: Lord Mahon's History, etc. , Vol. VI. , Chap. Liii. , pp. 127, 128. "The American Loyalists, in arms on the side of England, had grievouscause throughout the war to complain of the merciless treatment of suchamong them as fell into their countrymen's hands. "--_Ib. _, Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxvi. , p. 250. "The Legislature of North Carolina passed a law (1780) to put a stop tothe robbery of poor people under the pretence that they were Tories--apractice carried on even to the plundering of their clothes andhousehold furniture. " (Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III. , Chap. Xli. , p. 329. ) "In New York, in 1776, a rage for plundering, under pretence of takingTory property, infected many of the common soldiery, and even some ofthe officers. " (Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xi. , p. 154. )] [Footnote 108: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xi. ] [Footnote 109: Dr. Andrews' History of the Late War, Vol. II. , Chap. Xxvi. , pp. 370, 371. ] [Footnote 110: In connection with these transactions, we have anillustration of the uniform and generous treatment of Loyalists byGeneral Washington, although he once gave expression to ill-feelingtowards them at Boston in the spring of 1775; for says Lord Mahon: "Cornwallis, on his part, was honourably anxious to protect from harmthe native Loyalists within his lines; and he proposed, as the tenthArticle, that no such men were to be punished on account of havingjoined the British army. Washington wrote in reply: 'This cannot beassented to, being altogether of civil resort. ' Means were found, however, with Washington's connivance, to obtain the same object inanother form. It was stipulated that, immediately after thecapitulation, the _Bonetta_ sloop-of-war was to sail for New York, unsearched, with despatches from Lord Cornwallis to Sir Henry Clinton, and with as many soldiers on board as he should think fit to send;provided only that the vessel was returned, and that the soldiers wereaccounted for as prisoners in a future exchange. By this expedient wasthe British chief enabled to secure a safe conduct for his Americanadherents. " (Lord Mahon's History, etc. , Vol. VII. , Chap. Lxiv. , p. 179. )] [Footnote 111: "The abbé was struck at seeing, from several indications, how much keener was at that time the animosity between the English andAmericans than between the English and French. Thus the Englishofficers, when they laid down their arms and were passing along theenemy's lines, courteously saluted every French officer, even of the'lowest rank, ' a compliment which they withheld from every American manof the highest. " (Voyage en Amerique, par l'Abbé Robin, p. 141, ed. 1782; quoted in Lord Mahon's History, Vol. VI. , Chap. Lxiv. , p. 181. )] [Footnote 112: _Note_ by the Author. --The above statement of theconfiscating law of Georgia gives a very inadequate idea of that law. Savannah was taken, and General Lincoln and his army were driven out ofGeorgia by Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, in 1778, who treated all classeswith such kindness and generosity that the Legislature and Government, as previously existed, was restored and remained until 1782, whenSavannah was evacuated by the British. Just at the juncture of ColonelCampbell's conquest of Georgia, the Legislature of that State waspassing a Confiscation Act against "Tories" and preparing to carry itinto effect. During the latter part of the nearly four years of Britishoccupation, the Congress party elected a Governor and organized theirLegislature, meeting at Augusta. Two months before the evacuation ofSavannah by the British, the Legislature of the Congress party passedthe Confiscation Act referred to in the text. We find a copy of this actin a pamphlet published in London in 1783, entitled _The Particular Caseof the Georgia Loyalists_. This Act may serve as a specimen ofConfiscation Acts passed in other States. We give it entire, remarkingthat it curiously assumes in the preamble that there had been no breakin the Government of the State from 1778 to 1782, though the English hadruled the State during the whole of that period. The Act is as follows: "Whereas on the 1st day of March, which was in the year of our Lord1778, an Act was passed for attainting certain persons therein mentionedof treason, and confiscating their estates for the use and benefit ofthis State, which said Act has not yet been carried into full execution:And whereas it is necessary that the names of the said persons soattainted by the same law should be inserted in a law, with the names ofvarious other persons who have since the aforesaid time been guilty oftreason against this State, and the authority of the same, bytraitorously adhering to the King of Great Britain, and by aiding, assisting, abetting, and comforting the generals and other officers, civil and military, of the said King, to enforce his authority in andover this State, and the good people of the same: And whereas the_aforesaid treason_, and other atrocious crimes, justly merit forfeitureof protection and property: "Be it enacted, by the representatives and freemen of the State ofGeorgia in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, thatall and each of the following persons, viz. (here follow the names of286 persons, late inhabitants of Georgia), be and they are herebydeclared to be banished from this State for ever; and if any of theaforesaid shall remain in this State sixty days after the passing ofthis Act, or shall return to this State, the Governor orCommander-in-Chief for the time being is hereby authorised and requiredto cause such persons so remaining in or _returning_ to this State to beapprehended and committed to jail, there to remain without bail ormainprize, until a convenient opportunity shall offer for transportingthe said persons beyond the seas to some part of the British King'sdominions, which the Governor or Commander-in-Chief for the time beingis hereby required to do; and if any of the said persons shall return tothis State after such transportation, then and in such case he or theyshall be adjudged and hereby declared to _be guilty of felony_, andshall, on conviction of their having so returned as aforesaid, _sufferdeath_ without the benefit of clergy. "And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that all andsingular the estates, real and personal, of each and every one of theaforesaid persons, which they held, possessed or were entitled to, inlaw or equity, on the 19th of April, 1775, or which they have heldsince, or do hold in possession, or others hold in trust for them, or towhich they are or may be entitled in law or equity, or which they mayhave, hold, or be possessed of, in right of others, together with alldebts, dues, and demands that are or may be owing to the aforesaidpersons, or either of them, _be confiscated to and for the use andbenefit of this State_; and the monies arising from the sales which takeplace by virtue of and in pursuance of this Act, to be applied to suchuses and purposes as the Legislature shall hereafter direct. "And whereas divers others persons, citizens of this State, and owingallegiance thereto (whose names are not herein recited), did, inviolation of said allegiance, traitorously assist, abet, and participatein the aforesaid treasonable practices: Be it therefore enacted, by theauthority of the aforesaid, that all and every of the person or personsunder this description shall, on full proof and conviction of the samein a court of law, be liable and subjected to all the like pains, penalties, and forfeitures inflicted by this Act on those offenderswhose names are particularly mentioned therein. "And be it further enacted, that all debts, dues, or demands due orowing to merchants and others residing in Great Britain, be and they arehereby sequestered, and the Commissioners appointed by this Act, or amajority of them, are hereby empowered to recover, receive, and depositthe same in the Treasury of this State, in the same manner and under thesame regulations as debts confiscated, there to remain for the use ofthis State until otherwise appropriated by this or any other House ofAssembly. "And whereas there are various persons, subjects of the King of GreatBritain, possessed of or entitled to estates, real and personal, whichjustice and sound policy require should be applied to the benefit ofthis State: Be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, thatall and singular the estates, real and personal, belonging to personsbeing British subjects, of whatever kind or nature, of which they may bepossessed, or others in trust for them, or to which they are or may beentitled in law or equity, and also all debts, dues, or demands owing oraccruing to them, be confiscated to and for the use and benefit of thisState; and the monies arising from the sale which shall take place byvirtue of and in pursuance of this Act, to be applied to such uses andpurposes as the Legislature shall hereafter direct. "And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the Statewill and do guarantee and defend the Commissioners appointed by thisAct, or a majority of them, in all their proceedings for carrying thepowers and authorities given them by the same into full effect; and willalso warrant and for ever defend all and every sale or sales which thesaid Commissioners, or a majority of them, shall make to any purchaseror purchasers of any part or parts of the real and personal estatesconfiscated by this Act. "Augusta, State of Georgia, 4th May, 1782. "] [Footnote 113: Historical Introduction to Col. Sabine's BiographicalSketches of the American Loyalists, pp. 77-81. ] [Footnote 114: In the historical essay above quoted, the author says:"The examination now completed of the political condition of thecolonies, of the state of parties, and of the divisions in particularclasses in society, and avocations in life, leads to the conclusion thatthe number of our countrymen who wished to continue their connectionwith the mother country was very large. In nearly every Loyalist letteror other paper which I have examined, and in which the subject ismentioned, it is either assumed or stated in terms that the LOYAL were_the majority_; and this opinion, I am satisfied, was very generallyentertained by those who professed to have a knowledge of publicsentiment. That the adherents of the Crown were mistaken, is certain. But yet in the Carolinas, and Georgia, and possibly in Pennsylvania thetwo parties differed but little in point of strength, while in New Yorkthe Whigs were far weaker than their opponents. " (HistoricalIntroduction to Col. Sabine's Biographical Sketches of the AmericanLoyalists, p. 65. )] [Footnote 115: In the historical essay above quoted we have thefollowing words: "What was the nature of the conflict between the two parties in SouthCarolina? Did the Whigs and their opponents meet in open and fair fight, and give and take the courtesies and observe the rules of civilizedwarfare? Alas, no! They murdered one another. I wish it were possible touse a milder word; but murder is the only one that can be employed toexpress the truth. Of this, however, the reader shall judge. I shallrefrain from a statement of my own, and rely on the testimony of others. "Gen. Greene thus spoke of the hand-to-hand strifes, which I stigmatizeas murderous. 'The animosity, ' said he, 'between the Whigs and Toriesrenders their situation truly deplorable. The Whigs seem determined toextirpate the Tories, and the Tories the Whigs. Some thousands havefallen in this way in this quarter, and the evil rages with moreviolence than ever. If a stop cannot be soon put to these massacres, thecountry will be depopulated in a few months more, as neither 'Whig' nor'Tory' can live. " (Historical Introduction to Colonel Sabine'sBiographical Sketches of the American Loyalists, p. 33. )] CHAPTER XXXVII. TREATMENT OF THE LOYALISTS BY THE AMERICANS, AT AND AFTER THE AMERICANREVOLUTION. It remains now to ascertain the reception with which the applications ofLoyalists were met in the several State Legislatures. During the lastthree years of the war, the principal operations of the British armywere directed to the Southern States; and there the exasperations ofparty feeling may be supposed to have been the strongest. [116] No where had arbitrary authority been exercised more unmercifullytowards the revolutionists than by Earl Cornwallis and Lord Rawdon inSouth and North Carolina. Dr. Ramsay says: "The troops under the commandof Cornwallis had spread waste and ruin over the face of all thecountry, for 400 miles on the sea coast, and for 200 miles westward. Their marches from Charleston to Camden, from Camden to the River Dan, from the Dan through North Carolina to Wilmington, from Wilmington toPetersburg, and from Petersburg through many parts of Virginia, tillthey finally settled in Yorktown, made a route of more than 1, 100 miles. Every place through which they passed in these various marchesexperienced the effects of their rapacity. Their numbers enabled them togo where they pleased; their rage for plunder disposed them to takewhatever they had the means of removing; and their animosity to theAmericans led them often to the wanton destruction of what they couldneither use nor carry off. By their means, thousands had been involvedin distress. "[117] It was therefore in South Carolina, more than any other State, thatanimosity might be expected to be intense and prolonged against theLoyalists; but among these men of the South, with their love of freedom, and dash and energy in war, there was a potent element of chivalry andBritish generosity which favourably contrasts with the Massachusettsschool of persecuting bigotry and of hatred, from generation togeneration, to England and English institutions. Accordingly we learnfrom Moultrie's Memoirs, Vol. II. , p. 326, that "after the peace, aJoint Committee from the Senate and House of Representatives in SouthCarolina, chosen to hear the petitions of Loyalists who had incurred thepenalties of the confiscation, banishment, and amercement laws, made areport to the separate Houses in favour of the great majority of thepetitioners; and a great part of those names which were upon theconfiscation, banishment and amercement lists were struck off. " "The petitions of others were afterwards presented from year to year, and ultimately almost the whole of them had their estates restored tothem, and they were received as citizens. "[118] As to the proceedings of the other States, after the close of the war, in regard to the United Empire Loyalists, the following summary, fromthe _Historical Introduction_ to Colonel Sabine's _Biography of theAmerican Loyalists_, will be sufficient: "At the peace, justice and good policy both required a general amnesty, and the revocation of the acts of disability and banishment, so thatonly those who had been guilty of flagrant crimes should be excludedfrom becoming citizens. Instead of this, however, the State Legislaturesgenerally continued in a course of hostile action, and treated theconscientious and pure, and the unprincipled and corrupt, with the sameindiscrimination as they had done during the struggle. In some parts ofthe country there really appears to have been a determination to placethese misguided but then humbled men beyond the pale of human sympathy. In one legislative body, a petition from the banished, praying to beallowed to return to their homes, was rejected without a division; and alaw was passed which denied to such as had remained within the State, and to all others who had opposed the revolution, the privilege ofvoting at the elections or of holding office. In another State, all whohad sought royal protection were declared to be aliens, and to beincapable of claiming and holding property within it, and their returnwas forbidden. Other Legislatures refused to repeal such of their lawsas conflicted with the conditions of the treaty of peace, and carriedout the doctrines of the States alluded to above without materialmodification. But the temper of South Carolina was far more moderate. Acting on the wise principle that 'when the offenders are numerous, itis sometimes prudent to overlook their crimes, ' she listened to thesupplications made to her by the fallen, and restored to their civil andpolitical rights a large portion of those who had suffered under herbanishment and confiscation laws. The course pursued by New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia was different. These States were neithermerciful nor just; and it is even true that Whigs, whose gallantry inthe field, whose prudence in the Cabinet, and whose exertions indiplomatic stations abroad, had contributed essentially to the successof the conflict, were regarded with enmity on account of their attemptsto produce a better state of feeling and more humane legislation. Hadthese States adopted a different line of conduct, their good examplewould not have been lost, probably, upon others, smaller and of lessinfluence; and had Virginia especially been honest enough to havepermitted the payment of debts which her people owed to British subjectsbefore the war, the first years of our freedom would not have beenstained with a breach of our public faith, and the long and angrycontroversy with Great Britain, which well-nigh involved us in a secondwar with her, might not have occurred. "Eventually, popular indignation diminished; the statute book wasdivested of its most objectionable enactments, and numbers werepermitted to occupy their old homes, and to recover the whole or part oftheir property; but by far the greater part of the Loyalists who quittedthe country at the commencement of, or during the war, never returned;and of the many thousands who abandoned the United States after thepeace, and while these enactments were in force, few, comparatively, hadthe desire or even the means to revisit the land from which they wereexpelled. Such persons and their descendants form a very considerableproportion of the population of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and UpperCanada. "It is equally to be regretted on grounds of policy that the_majorities_[119] in the State Legislatures did not remember, with Mr. Jefferson, that separation from England 'was contemplated withaffliction by all, ' and that, like Mr. Adams, many sound Whigs 'wouldhave given everything they possessed for a restoration to the state ofthings before the contest began, provided they could have had sufficientsecurity for its continuance. ' Then they might have done at an earlymoment after the cessation of hostilities, what they actually did do ina few years afterwards--namely, have allowed the banished Loyalists toreturn from exile, and, excluding those against whom enormities couldhave been proved, have conferred upon them, and upon those who hadremained to be driven away at the peace, the rights of citizens. Most ofthem would have easily fallen into respect for the new state of things, old friendships and intimacies would have been revived, and long beforethis time all would have mingled in one mass. * * "As a matter of _expediency_, how unwise was it to perpetuate thefeelings of the opponents of the revolution, and to keep them a distinctclass for a time, and for harm yet unknown! How ill-judged the measuresthat caused them to settle the hitherto neglected possessions of theBritish Crown! Nova Scotia had been won and lost, and lost and won, inthe struggle between France and England, and the blood of New Englandhad been poured out upon its soil like water. But when the Loyalistssought refuge there, what was it? Before the war, the fisheries of itscoast, for the prosecution of which Halifax itself was founded, comprised, in public estimation, its chief value; and though GreatBritain had quietly possessed it for about seventy years, the emigrationto it of the adherents of the Crown from the United States, in a singleyear, more than doubled its population. Until hostile events broughtHalifax into notice, no civilized people were poorer than theinhabitants of that colony; since, in 1775, the Assembly estimated that£1, 200 currency--a sum less than $5, 000--was the whole amount of moneywhich they possessed. By causing the expatriation, then, of manythousands of our countrymen, among whom were the well-educated, theambitious, and the well-versed in politics, we became the founders oftwo agricultural and commercial colonies; for it is to be rememberedthat New Brunswick formed a part of Nova Scotia until 1784, and that thenecessity of the division then made was of our own creation. In likemanner we became the founders of Upper Canada. The Loyalists were thefirst settlers of the territory thus denominated by Act of 1791; and theprincipal object of the line of division of Canada, as established byMr. Pitt's Act, was to place them, as a body, by themselves, and toallow them to be governed by laws more congenial than those which weredeemed requisite for the government of the French on the St. Lawrence. Our expatriated countrymen were generally poor, and some of them wereactually without the means of providing for their common wants from dayto day. The Government for which they had become exiles was as liberalas they could have asked. It gave them lands, tools, materials forbuilding, and the means of subsistence for two years; and to each oftheir children, as they became of age, two hundred acres of land. Andbesides this, of the offices created by the organization of a newColonial Government, they were the chief recipients. The ties of kindredand suffering in a common cause created a strong bond of sympathybetween them, and for years they bore the appellation of 'United EmpireLoyalists. '"[120] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 116: Writing under date of January, 1782, Mr. Hildreth says:"The surrender of Cornwallis was soon felt in the Southern department. Wilmington was evacuated, thus dashing all the hopes of the NorthCarolina Tories. Greene approached Charleston, and distributed histroops so as to confine the enemy to the neck and adjacent islands. "In re-establishing the State Government of _South Carolina, none wereallowed to vote who had taken British protection_. John Matthews waselected Governor. Among the earliest proceedings of the Assembly was thepassage of a law _banishing the most active British partisans andconfiscating their property_. The services of Greene were alsogratefully remembered in a vote of 10, 000 guineas, or $50, 000, topurchase him an estate. "The Georgia Assembly, in meeting at Augusta, chose John Martin asGovernor, _and passed a law of confiscation and banishment very similarto that of South Carolina_. Greene presently received from thisProvince, also, the present of a confiscated plantation. _NorthCarolina_ acknowledged his services by a grant of wild lands. " (Historyof the United States, Vol. III. , Chap. Xliii. , p. 373. )] [Footnote 117: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap, xxv. , p. 456. "Under the immediate eye of Cornwallis, " says Mr. Bancroft, "theprisoners who had capitulated in Charleston were the subjects ofperpetual persecution, unless they would exchange their paroles foroaths of allegiance. Mechanics and shopkeepers could not collect theirdues except after promises of loyalty. "Lord Rawdon, who had the very important command on the Santee, ragedequally against deserters from his Irish regiment and against theinhabitants. The chain of forts for holding South Carolina consisted ofGeorgetown, Charleston, Beaufort, and Savannah on the sea; Augusta, Ninety-Six, and Camden in the interior. Of these, Camden was the mostimportant, for it was the key between the north and south. On the rumourof an advancing American army, Rawdon called on all the inhabitantsround Camden to join in arms. One hundred and sixty who refused he shutup during the heat of midsummer in one prison, and loaded more thantwenty of them with chains, some of whom were protected by thecapitulation of Charleston. " (Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X. , Chap. Xv. , pp. 311, 312, 313. ) "Peace was restored to Georgia (July, 1782), after having been fouryears in possession of the British. That State is supposed to have lost1, 000 of its citizens and 4, 000 slaves. " (Moultrie's Memoirs, Vol. II. , p. 340; quoted in Holmes' American Annals, Vol. II. , p. 340. )] [Footnote 118: Quoted in Holmes' Annals, Vol. II. , p. 351. ] [Footnote 119: "I say _majorities_, because I am satisfied that inalmost every State there were minorities, more or less numerous, whodesired the adoption of a more moderate course. In New York it iscertain that the first political parties, after the peace, were formedin consequence of divisions which existed among the Whigs as to thelenity or severity which should be extended to their vanquishedopponents. "] [Footnote 120: Historical Essay, introductory to Colonel Sabine'sSketches of the American Loyalists, pp. 86-90. ] APPENDIX A. TO CHAPTER XXXVII. REVIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, ANDREMARKS ON THE FEELINGS WHICH SHOULD NOW BE CULTIVATED BY BOTH OF THEFORMER CONTENDING PARTIES. The entire failure of the Americans to conquer Canada in the war of1812-1815 is an illustration of the folly of coercing the allegiance ofa people against their will. Upper Canada at that time consisted of lessthan 100, 000 inhabitants; yet, with the extra aid of only a few hundredEnglish soldiers, she repelled for three years the forces of the UnitedStates--more than ten times their number, and separated only by a river. Mr. J. M. Ludlow, in his brief but comprehensive "History of the War ofAmerican Independence, 1775-1783, " Chapter vii. , well states _the follyof England in endeavouring to conquer by arms the opinions_ of threemillions of people, and the impossibility of the American colonistsachieving their independence without the aid of men and money, and shipsfrom France, to which, in connection with Spain and Holland, theAmericans are actually indebted for their independence, and not merelyto their own sole strength and prowess, as American writers souniversally boast. Mr. Ludlow observes: "At a time when steam had not yet baffled the winds, to dream ofconquering by force of arms, on the other side of the Atlantic, a peopleof the English race, numbering between 3, 000, 000 and 4, 000, 000, withsomething like 1, 200 miles of seaboard, was surely an act of enormousfolly. We have seen in our own days the difficulties experienced by thefar more powerful and populous Northern States in quelling the secessionof the Southern, when between the two there was no other frontier thanat most a river, very often a mere ideal line, and when armies could beraised by 100, 000 men at a time. England attempted a far more difficulttask, with forces which, till 1781, never exceeded 35, 000 men, and neverafterwards exceeded 42, 075, including 'Provincials, ' _i. E. _, AmericanLoyalists. " (But England, repeatedly on the verge of success, failedfrom the incapacity and inactivity of the English generals. ) "Yet it is impossible to doubt that not once only, but repeatedly duringthe course of the struggle, England was on the verge of triumph. TheAmerican armies were perpetually melting away before theenemy--directly, through the practice of short enlistments; indirectly, through desertions. These desertions, if they might be often palliatedby the straits to which the men were reduced through arrears of pay andwant of supplies, arose in other cases, as after the retreat from NewYork, from sheer loss of heart in the cause. The main army, underWashington, was seldom even equal in numbers to that opposed to him. Inthe winter of 1776-77, when his troops were only 4, 000 strong, it isdifficult to understand how it was that Sir William Howe, with morethan double the number, should have failed to annihilate the Americanarmy. " "WEAKNESS OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. "In the winter of 1777-78 the 'dreadful situation of the army for wantof provisions, ' made Washington 'advise' that they should not have beenexcited to a general mutiny and desertion. In May, 1779, he hardly knewany resource for the American cause _except in reinforcements fromFrance_, and did not know what might be the consequence if the enemy hadit in their power to press the troops hard in the ensuing campaign. InDecember of that year his forces were 'mouldering away daily, ' and heconsidered that Sir Henry Clinton, with more than twice his numbers, could 'not justify remaining inactive with a force so superior. ' A yearlater he was compelled, for want of clothing, to discharge the levieswhich he had always so much trouble in obtaining; and 'want of flourwould have disbanded the whole army' if he had not adopted thisexpedient. "In March, 1781, again the crisis was 'perilous, ' and though he did notdoubt the happy issue of the contest, he considered that the period foraccomplishment might be too far distant for a person of his years. InApril he wrote: 'We cannot transport provisions from the States in whichthey are assessed to the army, because we cannot pay the teamsters, whowill no longer work for certificates. It is equally certain that ourtroops are approaching fast to nakedness, and that we have nothing toclothe them with; that our hospitals are without medicines, and our sickwithout nutriment, except such as well men eat; and that all our publicworks are at a stand, and the artificers disbanding. * * It may bedeclared in a word that we are at the end of our tether, and that now ornever our deliverance must come. ' Six months later, when Yorktowncapitulated, the British forces remaining in North America, after thesurrender of that garrison by Cornwallis, were more considerable thanthey had been as late as February, 1779, and Sir Henry Clinton even thendeclared that with a reinforcement of 10, 000 he would be responsible forthe conquest of America. "_The main hope of success on the English_ side lay in the idea that thespirit and acts of resistance to the authority of the mother countrywere in reality only on the part of a turbulent minority--that the bulkof the people desired to be loyal. It is certain indeed that thestruggle was, in America itself, much more of a civil war than theAmericans are now generally disposed to admit. In December, 1780, therewere 8, 954 'Provincials' among the British forces in America, and onMarch 7th, 1781, a letter from Lord George Germaine to Sir H. Clinton, intercepted by the Americans, says: 'The American levies in the King'sservice are more in number than the whole of the enlisted troops in theservice of the Congress. ' As late as September 1st, 1781, there were7, 241. We hear of loyal 'associations' in Massachusetts, Maryland, andPennsylvania; of 'associated Loyalists' in New York; and everywhere of'Tories, ' whose arrest Washington is found suggesting to GovernorTrumbull, of Connecticut, as early as November 12th, 1775. But New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania remained long full of Tories. By June 28th, 1776, the disaffected on Long Island had taken up arms, and after theevacuation of New York by Washington a brigade of Loyalists was raisedon the island, and companies were formed in two neighbouring counties tojoin the King's troops. During Washington's retreat through New Jersey, 'the inhabitants, either from fear or disaffection, almost to a manrefused to turn out. ' In Pennsylvania, the militia, instead of givingany assistance in repelling the British, exulted at their approach andover the misfortunes of their countrymen. On the 20th of that month theBritish were 'daily gathering strength from the disaffected. ' In 1777, the Tories who joined Burgoyne in his expedition from the North are saidto have doubled his force. In 1778, Tories joined the Indians in thedevastation of Wyoming and Cherry Valley; and although theindiscriminate ravages of the British, or of the Germans in their pay, seem to have aroused the three States above mentioned to self-defence, yet, as late as May, 1780, Washington still speaks of sending a smallparty of cavalry to escort La Fayette safely through the 'Torysettlements' of New York. Virginia, as late as the spring of 1776, was'alarmed at the idea of independence. ' Washington admitted that hiscountrymen (of that State), 'from their form of government, and steadyattachment heretofore to royalty, ' would 'come reluctantly' to thatidea, but trusted to 'time and persecution. ' In 1781, the ground fortransferring the seat of war to the Chesapeake was the number ofLoyalists in that quarter. In the Southern States the division offeeling was still greater. In the Carolinas, a royalist regiment wasraised in a few days in 1776, and again in 1779. In Georgia and in SouthCarolina the bitterest partisan warfare was carried on between Whig andTory bands; and a body of New York Tories contributed powerfully to thefall of Savannah in 1778, by taking the American forces in the rear. "On the other hand, the British generals did not receive that supportfrom the Loyalists which they had expected. They seem to have lookedupon the Loyalists as an inferior class of aids to the regular soldiery;their advice seems to have been unsought, and the mode of war pursuedwas European, and not adapted to the peculiar circumstances of America. The Loyalist volunteers were looked upon as the rivals to rather thanfellow-soldiers of the regular army; and no provincial Loyalist waspromoted to lead any expedition or command any position of importance. This depreciation of the Loyalists by the English (utterly incompetent)generals exactly answered the purposes of American writers. _But thereal cause of its protraction_, though it may be hard to an American toadmit the fact, lay in the incapacity of the American politicians, and, it must be added, in the supineness and want of patriotism of theAmerican people. If indeed importing into the views of later date, welook upon it as one between two nations, the mismanagement of the war bythe Americans on all points save one--the retention of Washington in thechief command--is seen to have been so pitiable, from first to last, asto be in fact almost unintelligible. " "DESCRIPTION OF THE AMERICAN ARMY, AND THE MANNER OF RAISING IT. "We can only understand the case when we see there was no such thing asan American nation in existence, but only a number of revolted colonies, jealous of one another, and with no tie but that of common danger. Evenin the army divisions broke out. Washington, in a General Order ofAugust, 1776, says: 'It is with great concern that the generalunderstands that jealousies have arisen among the troops from thedifferent provinces, and reflections are frequently thrown out whichcan only tend to irritate each other and injure the noble cause inwhich we are engaged. '" "WANT OF PUBLIC SPIRIT AND PATRIOTISM IN THE STATES. "It was seldom that much help could be obtained in troops from anyState, unless the State were immediately threatened by the enemy; andeven then these troops would be raised by that State for its owndefence, irrespectively of the general or 'continental army. ' 'Those ata distance from the seat of war, ' wrote Washington, in April, 1778, 'live in such perfect tranquillity, that they conceive the dispute to bein a manner at an end, and those near it are so disaffected that theyserve only as embarrassments. ' In January, 1779, we find himremonstrating with the Governor of Rhode Island, because that State had'ordered several battalions to be raised for the State only; and thisbefore the proper measures are taken to fill the continental regiments. 'The different bounties and rates of pay allowed by the various Stateswere a constant source of annoyance to him. " "DECLINE OF CONGRESS. "After the first year, the best men were not returned to Congress, anddid not return to it. Whole States remained frequently unrepresented. Inthe winter of 1777-78, Congress was reduced to twenty-one members. Buteven with a full representation it could do little. 'One State willcomply with a requisition, ' writes Washington in 1780, 'another neglectsto do it, a third executes by halves, and all differ either in themanner, the matter, or so much in point of time, that we are alwaysworking up-hill. ' "At first, Congress was really nothing more than a voluntary Committee. When the Confederation was completed, which was only, be it remembered, on March 1, 1781, it was still, as Washington wrote in 1785, 'littlemore than a shadow without a substance, and the Congress a nugatorybody;' or, as it was described by a late writer, 'powerless forgovernment, and a rope of sand for union. '" "DECLINE OF ENERGY AND SPIRIT AMONG THE COLONISTS AND ARMY. "Like politicians, like people. There was, no doubt, a brilliant displayof patriotic ardour at the first flying to arms of the colonists. Lexington and Bunker's Hill were actions decidedly creditable to theirraw troops. The expedition to Canada, foolhardy though it proved, waspursued up to a certain point with real heroism. But with it the heroicperiod of the war (individual instances excepted) may be said to haveclosed. There seems little reason to doubt that the revolution wouldnever have been commenced if it had been expected to cost so tough astruggle. 'A false estimate of the power and perseverance of ourenemies, ' wrote James Duane to Washington, 'was friendly to the presentrevolution, and inspired that confidence of success in all ranks of thepeople which was necessary to unite them in so arduous a cause. ' Asearly as November, 1775, Washington wrote, speaking of militaryarrangements: 'Such a dearth of public spirit, and such want ofvirtue--such stock-jobbing and fertility in all the low arts to obtainadvantage of one kind or another, I never saw before, and pray God'smercy that I may never be witness to it again. ' Such a 'mercenaryspirit' pervaded the whole of the troops that he should not have been'at all surprised at any disaster. ' At the same date, besides desertionof thirty or forty soldiers at a time, he speaks of the practice ofplundering as so rife that 'no man is secure in his effects, andscarcely in his person. ' People were 'frightened out of their housesunder pretence of those houses being ordered to be burnt, with a view ofseizing the goods;' and to conceal the villainy more effectually, somehouses were actually burned down. On February 28th, 1777, 'thescandalous loss, waste, and private appropriation of public arms duringthe last campaign' had been 'beyond all conception. ' Officers drew'large sums under pretence of paying their men, and appropriated them. ' "'Can we carry on the war much longer?' Washington asks in 1778, afterthe treaty with France and the appearance of the French fleet off thecoast. 'Certainly not, unless some measures can be devised and speedilyexecuted to restore the credit of our currency and restrain extortionand punish forestallers. ' A few days later: 'To make and extort money inevery shape that can be devised, and at the same time to decry itsvalue, seems to have become a mere business and an epidemical disease. 'On December 30th, 1778, 'speculation, peculation, and an insatiablethirst for riches seems to have got the better of every consideration, and almost of every order of men; * * party disputes and personalquarrels are the great business of the day (in Congress), whilst themomentous concerns of an empire, a great and accumulating debt, ruinedfinances, depreciated money, and want of credit, which in itsconsequences is the want of everything, are but secondaryconsiderations. " "DECLINE OF PATRIOTIC FEELING ON THE PART OF THE AMERICANS. "After the first loan had been obtained from France and spent, and afurther one was granted in 1782, so utterly unpatriotic and selfish wasknown to be the temper of the people that the loan had to be keptsecret, in order not to diminish such efforts as might be made by theAmericans themselves. On July 10th of that year, with New York andCharleston still in British hands, Washington writes: 'That spirit offreedom which at the commencement of the contest would have gladlysacrificed everything to the attainment of its object, has long sincesubsided, and every selfish passion has taken its place. ' But, indeed, the mere fact that from the date of the battle of Monmouth (July 28th, 1778), Washington was never supplied with sufficient means, even withthe assistance of the French fleets and troops, to strike one blow atthe English in New York--though these were but very sparingly reinforcedduring the period--shows an absence of public spirit, one might almostsay of national shame, scarcely conceivable, and in singular contrastwith the terrible earnestness exhibited on both sides, some eighty yearslater, in the Secession War. " "INCAPACITY OF ENGLISH GENERALS IN AMERICA. "Why, then, must we ask on the other side, did the English fail at last? "The English were prone to attribute their ill success to theincompetency of their generals. Lord North, with his quaint humour, would say, 'I do not know whether our generals will frighten the enemy, but I know they frighten me whenever I think of them. ' When, in 1778, Lord Carlisle came out as Commissioner, in a letter speaking of thegreat scale of all things in America, he says, 'We have nothing on agreat scale with us but our blunders, our losses, our disgraces andmisfortunes. ' No doubt, it is difficult to account for Gage's earlyblunders; for Howe's repeated failure to follow up his own success, orprofit by his enemy's weakness; and Cornwallis's movement, justlycensured by Sir Henry Clinton, in transferring the bulk of his army fromthe far south to Virginia, within marching distance of Washington, opened the way to that crowning disaster at Yorktown, without which itis by no means impossible that Georgia and the Carolinas might haveremained British. " "INEFFECTIVE MILITARY ARRANGEMENTS IN AMERICA. "Political incapacity was, of course, charged upon Ministers as anothercause of disaster; and no doubt their miscalculation of the severity ofthe struggle was almost childish. But no mistakes in the management ofthe war by British statesmen can account for their ultimate failure. However great British mismanagement may have been, it was far surpassedby the Americans. There was nothing on the British side equal to thatcaricature of a recruiting system in which different bounties wereoffered by Congress, by the States, by the separate towns, so as to makeit the interest of the intended soldier to delay enlistment as long aspossible, in order to sell himself to the highest bidder; to thatcaricature of a war establishment, the main bulk of which broke up everytwelvemonth in front of the enemy, which was only paid, if at all, inworthless paper, and left continually without supplies. On the whole, nobetter idea can be had of the nature of the struggle on the Americanside, after the first heat of it had cooled down, than from the words ofCount de Rochambeau, writing to Count de Vergennes, July 10th, 1780:'They have neither money nor credit; their means of resistance are onlymomentary, and called forth when they are attacked in their own homes. They then assemble for the moment of immediate danger and defendthemselves. '" "FRENCH MONEY, TROOPS, AND SHIPS TURN THE SCALE IN FAVOUR OF AMERICANINDEPENDENCE. "A far more important cause in determining the ultimate failure of theBritish was the aid afforded by France to America, followed by that ofSpain and Holland. It was impossible for England to re-conquer acontinent and carry on a war at the same time with the three mostpowerful naval States of Europe. The instincts of race have tended onboth the English and American side to depreciate the value of the aidgiven by France to the colonists. It may be true that Rochambeau'stroops, which disembarked on Rhode Island in July, 1780, did not marchtill July, 1781; that they were blockaded soon after their arrival, threatened with attack from New York, and only disengaged by a feint ofWashington's on that city. But more than two years before their arrival, Washington wrote to a member of Congress: 'France, by her supplies, hassaved us from the yoke thus far. ' The treaty with France alone wasconsidered to afford a 'certain prospect of success' to 'secure'American independence. The arrival of D'Estaing's fleet, although notroops joined the American army, and nothing eventually was done, determined the evacuation of Philadelphia. The discipline of the Frenchtroops, when they landed in 1780, set an example to the Americans;chickens and pigs walked between the lines without being disturbed. Therecruits of 1780 could not have been armed without fifty tons ofammunition supplied by the French. In September of that year, Washington, writing to the French envoy, speaks of the 'inability' ofthe Americans to expel the British from the South unassisted, or perhapseven to stop their career; and he writes in similar terms to Congress afew days later. To depend 'upon the resources of the country, unassistedby foreign loans, ' he writes to a member of Congress two months later, 'will, I am confident, be to lean upon a broken reed. ' In January, 1781, writing to Colonel Laurens, [121] the American envoy in Paris, he pressesfor 'an immediate, ample, efficacious succour in money from France, 'also for the maintenance on the American coasts of 'a constant navalsuperiority, ' and likewise for 'an additional succour in troops. ' Andsince the assistance so requested was in fact granted in every shape, and the surrender of Yorktown was obtained by the co-operation both ofthe French army and fleet, we must hold that Washington's words werejustified by the event. "[122] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 121: War of American Independence, 1777-1783, by John MalcolmLudlow, Chap, vii. , pp. 215-227. ] [Footnote 122: Dr. Ramsay says: "Pathetic representations were made tothe Ministers of his Most Christian Majesty by Washington, Dr. Franklin, and particularly by Lieutenant-Colonel John Laurens, who was sent to theCourt of Versailles as a special Minister on this occasion. The King ofFrance _gave_ the United States a subsidy [as a present] of six millionsof livres, and became their security for ten millions more, borrowed fortheir use in the United Netherlands. " (History of the United States, Vol. II. , Chap. Xxiii. , p. 407. )] APPENDIX B. TO CHAPTER XXXVII. REFLECTIONS OF LORD MAHON ON THE AMERICAN CONTEST AND ITSRESULTS--APOLOGY FOR GEORGE THE THIRD--UNHAPPINESS OF AMERICANS SINCETHE REVOLUTION--UNITY OF THE ANGLO-SAXON RACE. At this period (Declaration of Independence), the culminating point inthe whole American war, I may be forgiven for desiring to interrupt itsnarrative in order to review its course and its results. That injuriousand oppressive acts of power had been inflicted by England upon America, I have in many places shown, and do most fully acknowledge. That fromthe other side, and above all from Massachusetts, there had been strongprovocation, I must continue to maintain. I should not deem itconsistent with candour to deny that the Americans had sufficient groundfor resisting, as they did resist, the Ministerial and Parliamentarymeasures. But whether these had yet attained a pitch to justify them indiscarding and renouncing their allegiance to the Throne is a far moredoubtful question--a question on which perhaps neither an Englishman noryet an American could quite impartially decide. "The time has come, however, as I believe and trust, when it is possibleto do equal justice to the many good and upright men who in this greatstruggle embraced the opposite sides. The great mass of the people meanthonestly on both shores of the Atlantic. The two chief men in bothcountries were alike pure-minded. On the one side there were deeds thatsavoured of tyranny; on the other side there were deeds that savoured ofrebellion; yet at heart George the Third was never a tyrant, norWashington ever a rebel. Of Washington I most firmly believe, that nosingle act appears in his whole public life proceeding from any otherthan public, and those the highest motives. But my persuasion is noless firm that there would be little flattery in applying the same termsof respect and commendation to the 'good old king. ' I do not deny, indeed, that some degree of prejudice and pride may, thoughunconsciously, have mingled with his motives. I do not deny that at theoutset of these troubles he lent too ready an ear to the glozing reportsof his governors and deputies, the Hutchinsons or Olivers, Gateses, Dunmores, etc. , assuring him that the discontents were confined to afactious few, and that measures of rigour and repression alone wereneeded. For such measures of rigour he may deserve, and has incurred, his share of censure. But after the insurgent colonies had proclaimedtheir independence, is it just to blame King George, as he often hasbeen blamed, for his steadfast and resolute resistance to that claim?Was it for him, unless after straining every nerve against it, toforfeit a portion of his birthright and a jewel of his crown? Was it forhim, though the clearest case of necessity, to allow the rending asunderhis empire--to array for all time to come of several millions of hispeople against the rest? After calling on his loyal subjects in thecolonies to rise, after requiring and employing their aid, was it forhim, on any light grounds, to relinquish his cause and theirs, and yieldthem over, unforgiven, to the vengeance of their countrymen? Was it forhim to overlook the consequences, not even yet, perhaps in their fullextent unfolded, of such a precedent of victory to popular and colonialinsurrection? May not the King, on the contrary, have deemed that onsuch a question, touching as it did both his honour and his rights, hewas bound to be firm--firmer than even the firmest of his Ministers?Not, of course, that he could be justified for persevering; but intruth, he did not so persevere after every reasonable hope had failed. Not, of course, that he could be excused from continuing to demand, orto expect, unconditional submission; but, as his own letters to LordNorth assure us, such an idea was never harboured in his mind. To do hisduty conscientiously, as he should answer it to God hereafter, andaccording to the lights he had received, such was his unceasing aim andendeavour from the day when, young but superior to the frailties ofyouth, he first assumed the reins of government, until that dismalperiod, half a century later, when, bowed down by years and sorrows, and blind, doubly blind, he concluded his reign, though not, as yet, hislife. "Before the American war had commenced, and during its first period, nearly all the statesmen and writers of England argued, or rather tookfor granted as too plain to stand in need of argument, that separationfrom our colonies would most grievously impair, if not wholly ruin, theparent State. * * It is worthy of note how much our experience has runcounter to the general prognostication--how little the loss was felt, orhow quickly the void was supplied. An historian of high and justauthority--Mr. Macaulay--has observed that England was never so rich, sogreat, so formidable to foreign princes, so absolutely mistress of thesea, as since the alienation of the American colonies. (Essays, Vol. II. ) The true effect of that alienation upon ourselves, as time hasshown, has been not positive, but by comparison it has lain not in thewithdrawal of wealth and population and resources, but in raising up arival State from the same race, and with powers and energies notinferior to our own. "But how far, and in what degree, has the new form of governmentpromoted the happiness of the United States themselves? * * It would befolly, or worse than folly, to deny that since their independence theprosperity of the United States has advanced with gigantic strides; thatthey have grown to be a first-rate power; that immense works of publicutility have been achieved with marvellous speed; that the clearing ofnew lands and the building of new cities have been such as to outstripthe most sanguine calculations; that among them the working classes havebeen, in no common degree, well paid and prosperous; that a feeling forthe national honour is in no country stronger; that the first elementsof education have been most widely diffused; that many good and bravemen have been trained and are training to the service of theCommonwealth. But have their independent institutions made them, on thewhole, a happy and contented people? That, among themselves, is oftenproclaimed as undeniable; and certainly among themselves it may notalways be safely denied. That, however, is not always the impressionconveyed to him who only sojourns in their land, by the careworn faces, by the hurried steps, by the unsocial meals which he sees, or by theincessant party cries which he hears around him; by the fretfulaspirations and the feverish hopes resulting from the unbounded space ofcompetition open to them without check or barrier; and by theinnumerable disappointments and heartburnings which in consequencearise. On the true condition of North America, let us mark thecorrespondence between two of the greatest and most highly gifted of hersons. There is now open before me a letter which, in August, 1837, andon the annexation of Texas, Dr. Channing wrote to Mr. Clay. In thatletter, as published in Boston, I find the following words (and what DrChanning said in 1837 has been illustrated in scores of instances sincethat time, and greatly enhanced by the events of the civil war): "'I cannot do justice to this topic without speaking freely of ourcountry, as freely as I should of any other; and unhappily we are soaccustomed, as a people, to receive incense, to be soothed by flattery, and to account reputation a more important interest than morality, thatmy freedom may be construed into a kind of disloyalty. But it would bewrong to make concessions to this dangerous weakness. * * Among us aspirit of lawlessness pervades the community which, if not repressed, threatens the dissolution of our present forms of society. Even in theold States, mobs are taking the government into their hands, and aprofligate newspaper finds little difficulty in stirring up multitudesto violence. * * Add to all this the invasions of the rights of speechand of the press by lawless force, the extent and toleration of whichoblige us to believe that a considerable portion of our citizens have nocomprehension of the first principles of liberty. It is an undeniablefact that, in consequence of these and other symptoms, the confidence ofmany reflecting men in our free institutions is very much impaired. Somedespair. That main pillar of public liberty--mutual trust amongcitizens--is shaken. That we must seek security for property and life ina stronger government is a spreading conviction. Men who in public talkof the ability of our institutions, whisper their doubts, perhaps theirscorn, in private. "'Whether the people of the United States might have been as thrivingand more happy had they remained British subjects, I will not presume tosay. Certainly not if violent men like Lord Hillsborough, or corrupt menlike Mr. Rigby, had continued to take part in the administration. Withother hands at the helm the case might have been otherwise. Jefferson, at least, in his first draft of the Declaration of Independence, said ofhis countrymen and of the English: "We might have been a free and greatpeople together. " One thing, at all events, is plain, that had thesecolonies shared the fate of the other dominions of the British Crown, the main curse and shame--the plague spot of the system ofslavery--would have been long since removed from them (before it was);but, as in the case of Jamaica, not without a large compensation inmoney to the slave owners. It is also plain that in the case supposedthey would have equally shared in our pride and glory at the wondrousgrowth of the Anglo-Saxon race--that race undivided and entire, extending its branches as now to the furthest regions of the earth, yetall retaining their connection with the parent stem--all its membersbound by the same laws, all animated by the same loyalty, and alltending to the same public-spirited aim. How great a nation should weand they be together!--how great in the arts both of peace and war!scarcely unequal now to all other nations of the world combined!" * * "Since 1782 at the latest, views like these are merely day-dreams of thepast. In place of them, let us now indulge the hope and expectation thatthe American people may concur with ours in desiring that no furtherresentment may be nourished, no further strife be stirred, between thekindred nations; so that both, mindful of their common origin, andconscious of their growing greatness, may both alike discard, asunworthy of them, all mean and petty jealousies, and be ever henceforthwhat nature has designed them--friends. "[123] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 123: Lord Mahon's History of England, etc. , Vol. VI. , Chap. Liii. , pp. 150-160. ] CHAPTER XXXVIII. TREATMENT OF THE LOYALISTS BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENTAFTER THE REVOLUTION. PART I. PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT--REFUSAL OF THE STATES TO COMPENSATE THELOYALISTS. It has been seen, by the fact stated in the last preceding chapter, thatthe promised recommendations of Congress to the several States, asagreed upon by the English and American Commissioners of the peacenegotiations at Paris, were, as had been expected and predicted by Dr. Franklin at the time, without any result, the State Legislatures passingActs to proscribe rather than compensate the Loyalists. In justificationof these Acts, the American writers of that period, and largely down tothe present time, assailed the character of the Loyalists in thegrossest language of calumny and abuse; but the most respectableAmerican writers of the present age bear testimony to the intelligence, wealth, and respectability of the Loyalists; and the fact, no longerquestionable, that they sacrificed wealth, liberty, country, and chosepoverty and exile, in support of their principles, has fully vindicatedtheir character and presented their conduct in advantageous contrastwith that of those who deprived them of their liberty, and largelyprofited by the confiscation of their immense property, while they andtheir families were pining in exile and want. The only resource of the exiled and impoverished Loyalists, under suchcircumstances, was the Government and Parliament of the mother countryto which they had so faithfully adhered, and nothing could be morehonourable than the testimony borne in the British Parliament to theircharacter and merits, and the consideration given to their wants andclaims. The fifth Article of the Treaty of Paris, leaving the Loyaliststo the recommendation of the Congress to the Legislatures of the severalStates, was severely reprobated in both Houses of Parliament. In theHouse of Commons, Mr. Wilberforce said that "when he considered the caseof the Loyalists, he confessed he felt himself conquered; there he sawhis country humiliated; he saw her at the feet of America; still he wasinduced to believe that Congress would religiously comply with theArticle, and that the Loyalists would obtain redress from America. Should they not, this country was bound to afford it them. They _must becompensated_; Ministers, he was persuaded, meant to keep _the faith ofthe nation with them_. " Lord North (who had been Prime Minister during twelve years, includingthe war) said: "And now let me, Sir, pause on a part of the treaty which awakens humansensibility in a very irresistible and lamentable degree. I cannot butlament the fate of those unhappy men, who, I conceive, were in generalobjects of our _gratitude_ and _protection_. The Loyalists, from theirattachments, surely had some claim to our affection. But what were notthe claims of those who, in conformity to their _allegiance_, their_cheerful obedience_ to the _voice of Parliament_, their confidence inthe proclamation of our generals, invited under every assurance of_military, parliamentary, political, and affectionate protection, _espoused with the hazard of their lives, and the forfeiture of theirproperties, the cause of Great Britain? _I cannot but feel for men thussacrificed for their bravery and principles_--men who have sacrificedall the dearest possessions of the human heart. They have exposed theirlives, endured an age of hardships, deserted their interests, forfeitedtheir possessions, lost their connections, and ruined their families _inour cause_. Could not all this waste of human enjoyment excite onedesire of protecting them from a state of misery, with which theimplacable resentment of the States has desired to punish their loyaltyto their Sovereign and their attachment to their mother country? Had wenot espoused their cause from a _principle of affection and gratitude_, we should, at least, have _protected_ them _to have preserved our ownhonour_. If not tender of _their feelings_, we should have been tender_of our own character_. Never was the _honour_, the _principles_, thepolicy of a nation so grossly abused as in the desertion of those men, who are now exposed to _every punishment_ that _desertion_ and _poverty_can inflict, _because they were not rebels_. " Lord Mulgrave said: "The Article respecting the Loyalists he never couldregard but as a lasting monument of _national disgrace_. Nor was thisArticle, in his opinion, more reproachful and derogatory to the _honourand gratitude_ of Great Britain than it appeared to be wanton andunnecessary. The honourable gentleman who had made the motion had askedif those gentlemen who thought the present peace not sufficientlyadvantageous to Great Britain, considering her circumstances, couldconsent to pay the amount which another campaign (twenty millions) wouldhave put us to, for the degree of advantage they might think we had aright to expect? In answer to this, he declared, for one, he had rather, large as the estimated sum in question was, have had it stipulated inthe treaty, _that Great Britain should apply it to making good thelosses of the Loyalists_, than that they should have been so _shamefullydeserted and the national honour so pointedly disgraced_ as it was bythe fifth Article of the treaty with the United States. " _Mr. Secretary Townsend_ (afterwards Lord Sydney) said "he was ready toadmit that many of the Loyalists had the strongest claims upon thecountry; and he trusted, should the recommendation of Congress to theAmerican States prove unsuccessful, which he flattered himself would notbe the case, _this country_ would feel itself bound _in honour to makethem full compensation for their losses_. " _Mr. Burke_ said: "At any rate, it must be agreed on all hands that avast number of Loyalists had been deluded by this country, and hadrisked everything in our cause; to such men the _nation owed protection, and its honour was pledged for their security at all hazards_. " _The Lord Advocate_ said: "With regard to the Loyalists, they merited_every possible effort on the part of this country_. " _Mr. Sheridan_ "execrated the treatment of those unfortunate men, who, without the least notice taken of their civil and religious rights, werehanded over as subjects to a power that would not fail to takevengeance on them for their zeal and attachment to the religion andgovernment of this country. This was an instance of _British degradationnot inferior_ to the unmanly petitions to Congress for the wretchedLoyalists. Great Britain at the feet of Congress, suing in vain, was nota humiliation or a stigma greater than the infamy of consigning over theloyal inhabitants of Florida, as we had done, without any conditionswhatsoever. " "_The Honourable Mr. Norton_ said that 'Under the circumstances, he waswilling to approve of the two former (European treaties with France andSpain); but on account of the Article relating to the Loyalists, he feltit impossible to give his assent to the latter. " _Sir Peter Burrell_ said: "The fate of the Loyalists claimed thecompassion of every human breast. These helpless, forlorn men, abandonedby the Ministers of a people on whose _justice, gratitude_, and_humanity_ they had the best-founded claims, were left at the mercy of aCongress highly irritated against them. He spoke not from party zeal, but as an independent country gentleman, who, unconnected with party, expressed the emotions of his heart and gave vent to his honestindignation. " _Sir William Bootle_ said: "There was one part of the treaty at whichhis heart bled--the Article relative to the Loyalists. Being a manhimself, he could not but feel for men so cruelly abandoned to themalice of their enemies. It was scandalous; it was disgraceful. Such anArticle as that ought scarcely on any condition to have been admitted onour part. They had fought for us and run every hazard to assist ourcause; and when it most behoved us to afford them protection, wedeserted them. " Several other members spoke to the same effect. The treaty recognizingthe Independence of America could not be reversed, as an Act passed theprevious session had expressly authorized the King and his Cabinet tomake it; but it was denied that a treaty sacrificing the Loyalists andmaking the concessions involved had been authorized; in consequence ofwhich an express vote of censure was passed by the Commons by a majorityof seventeen. The Earl of Shelburne, the Prime Minister, forthwithresigned in consequence of this vote of censure, and it was nearly threemonths before a new Administration could be formed; and during thisadministrative interregnum affairs were in great confusion. In the _House of Lords, Lord Walsingham_ said that "he could neitherthink nor speak of the dishonour of leaving these deserving people totheir fate with patience. " _Lord Viscount Townsend_ considered that "todesert men who had constantly adhered to loyalty and attachment, was acircumstance of such cruelty as had never before been heard of. " _LordStormont_ said that "Britain was bound in justice and honour, gratitudeand affection, and by every tie, to provide for and protect them. " _LordSackville_ regarded "the abandonment of the Loyalists as a thing of soatrocious a kind, that if it had not been painted in all its horridcolours he should have attempted the ungracious task but never shouldhave been able to describe the cruelty in language as strong andexpressive as were his feelings;" and again, that "peace on thesacrifice of these unhappy subjects must be answered in the sight of Godand man. " _Lord Loughborough_ said that "the fifth Article of the treatyhad excited a general and just indignation, and that neither in ancientnor modern history had there been so shameful a desertion of men who hadsacrificed all to their duty and to their reliance on British faith. " In reply, _Lord Shelburne_, the Prime Minister, frankly admitted thatthe Loyalists were left without better provision being made for them"from the unhappy _necessity_ of public affairs, which induced theextremity of submitting the fate of their property to the discretion oftheir enemies;" and he continued: "I have but one answer to give theHouse--it is the answer I gave my own bleeding heart--a _part_ must bewounded, that the whole of the empire may not perish. If better termscould be had, think you, my lords, that I would not have embraced them?_I had but the alternative either to accept the terms proposed orcontinue the war. _" The _Lord Chancellor_ held that the stipulations ofthe treaty were "specific, " and said: "My own conscious honour will notallow me to doubt the good faith of others, and my good wishes to theLoyalists will not let me indiscreetly doubt the disposition ofCongress, since the understanding is that all these unhappy men shall beprovided for; yet, if it were not so, Parliament could take cognizanceof their case, and impart to each suffering individual that reliefwhich reason, perhaps policy, certainly virtue and religion, required. " Such were the sentiments of members in both Houses of Parliament, and ofboth parties, as to the character and merits of the Loyalists. But therewere no prospects of the States compensating them for their losses. Indeed, this idea was entertained by Lord Shelburne himself, and thatcompensation would have to be made to the Loyalists by Parliament when, in the speech above quoted, he said that "without one drop of bloodspilt, and without one-fifth of the expense of one year's campaign, happiness and ease can be given to them in as ample a manner as theseblessings were ever in their enjoyment. " This was certainly a very lowand mercenary view of the subject. It was one thing for the Loyalists tohave their rights as British subjects maintained while they were obeyingthe commands of the King and maintaining their allegiance to the empire, and another thing for them to become pensioners upon the bounty of theBritish Parliament, to be paid in pounds, shillings, and pence for therights and privileges which should have been secured to them by nationaltreaty as British subjects. The House of Commons had adopted aresolution against continuing the American war for the _purpose ofenforcing the submission of the colonies_; but it had not resolvedagainst continuing the war to protect the rights and property of Britishsubjects in the colonies. A campaign for this purpose, on the refusal ofthe American Commissioners to recognize what was sanctioned by the lawsand usages of nations, would have been honourable to the BritishGovernment, would have been popular in England, and would have dividedAmerica; for there were many thousand "Whigs" in America, who believedin the equity of treating the Loyalists after the war as all others weretreated who conformed to the laws, as has been the case in Holland, Ireland, and Spain. England was then mistress of the seas, held NewYork, Charleston, Rhode Island, Penobscot, and other military posts, andcould soon have induced the Americans to do what their PeaceCommissioners at Paris had refused to do--place British subjects inAmerica upon the same footing as to property that they possessed beforethe war, and that they possess in the United States at this day. Englandcould have easily and successfully refused granting to the UnitedStates a foot of land beyond the limits of the thirteen colonies, andthus have secured those vast western territories now constituting thelarger part of the United States, and retained the garrisons of NewYork, Rhode Island, and Charleston as guarantees until the stipulatedconditions in regard to the Loyalists should be fulfilled. A jointCommission in America could have settled upon equitable grounds alldisputed claims in much less time than the six years occupied by aParliamentary Commission in examining into and deciding upon theindividual claims of Loyalist claimants. If the war to reduce thecolonies to absolute submission had been unpopular in England, the peaceupon the terms submitted to by the English Commissioners and theMinistry was equally unpopular. If England had been wrong in its war ofcoercion against the revolting colonists, was she not equally wrong, andmore than wrong, in abandoning to their enemies those who had abidedfaithful to her laws and commands? The language of the speeches ofmembers of both Houses of Parliament, above quoted, is as just as it issevere; although much could be and was said in justification of thepolicy of the Government in promoting peace upon almost any terms, seeing that England was at war with the three most powerful navalnations of Europe, besides that in America. The fallacy of the argument employed by the advocates of the treaty, that the Americans would honourably fulfil the recommendations ofCongress, was illustrated by the following facts: "The province of Virginia, a short time before the peace, had come to anunanimous conclusion 'that all demands or requests of the British Courtfor the restoration of property confiscated by the State were whollyimpossible; and that their delegates should be instructed to moveCongress that they should direct the deputies for adjusting peace not toagree to any such restitution. '" _The State of New York_ resolved, "That it appears to this Legislaturethat divers of the inhabitants of this State have continued to adhere tothe King of Great Britain, after these States were declared free andindependent, and persevered in aiding the said king, his fleets andarmies, to subjugate the United States to bondage: Resolved, That as onthe one hand the scales of justice do not require, so on the other thepublic tranquillity will not permit, that such adherents who have beenattainted should be restored to the rights of citizens, and that therecan be no reason for restoring property which has been confiscated orforfeited. " PART II. AGENTS OF LOYALISTS--PROCEEDINGS OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION--RESULTS. Of course all hope of obtaining relief under the stipulations of thetreaty was abandoned by the Loyalists, who "now applied to theGovernment which they had ruined themselves to serve, and many of them, who had hitherto been 'refugees' in different parts of America, went toEngland to state and recover payment for their losses. They organized anagency, and appointed a Committee composed of one delegate or agent fromeach of the thirteen States, [124] to enlighten the British public, andadopt measures of proceeding in securing the attention and action of theBritish Ministry in their behalf. In a tract printed by order of theseagents (which now lies before us, entitled _The Case and Claim ofAmerican Loyalists impartially Stated and Considered_, published in1783), it is maintained that 'it is an established rule, that allsacrifices made by individuals for the benefit and accommodation ofothers shall be equally sustained by all those who partake of it, ' andnumerous cases are cited from Puffendorf, Burlamaqui and Vattel, to showthat the 'sacrifices' of the Loyalists were embraced in this principle. As a further ground of claim, it is stated that in case of territoryalienated or ceded away by one sovereign power to another, the rule isstill applicable; for that in the treaties of international law it isheld, 'The State ought to indemnify the subject for the loss he hassustained beyond his proportion. ' And in the course pursued at the closeof the civil war in Spain, when the States of Holland obtained theirindependence, under the Treaty of Utrecht, and at various other periods, proved that the _rights_ of persons similarly situated had beenrespected and held inviolate. The conclusion arrived at from theprecedents in history, and diplomacy, and in the statute-books of therealm, is, that as the Loyalists were as 'perfectly subjects of theBritish State as any man in London or Middlesex, they were entitled tothe same protection and relief. ' The claimants had been 'called by theirsovereign, when surrounded by tumult and rebellion, to defend thesupreme rights of the nation, and to assist in suppressing a rebellionwhich aimed at their destruction. They have received from the highestauthority the most solemn assurances of protection, and even reward, fortheir meritorious services;' and that 'His Majesty and the two Houses ofParliament having thought it necessary, as the _price of peace_, or tothe interest and safety of the empire, or from some other motive ofpublic convenience, to ratify the Independence of America, _withoutsecuring any restitution whatever to the Loyalists_, they conceive thatthe nation is bound, as well by the fundamental laws of society as bythe invariable and external principles of natural justice, to make themcompensation. '"[125] Though the treaty of peace left the Loyalists to the mercy--rather tothe resentment (as the result proved)--of the American States, and assuch received the censure of the House of Commons, British justice andhonour recognized the claims of the Loyalists to compensation for theirlosses, as well as to gratitude for their fidelity to the unity of theempire. The King, at the opening of the session of Parliament, said: "Ihave ordered inquiry to be made into the application of the sum to bevoted in support of the American sufferers; and I trust you will agreewith me, that a due and generous attention ought to be shown to thosewho have relinquished their properties or professions from motives ofloyalty to me, or attachment to the mother country. " Accordingly, aBill was introduced and passed without opposition in June, 1783, entitled "An Act Appointing Commissioners to Inquire into the Losses andServices of all such Persons who have Suffered in their Rights, Properties, and Professions, during the late Unhappy Dissensions inAmerica, in consequence of their Loyalty to his Majesty and Attachmentto the British Government. " The Commissioners named were John Wilmot, M. P. , Daniel Parker Coke, M. P. , Esquires, Col. Robert Kingston, Col. Thomas Dundas, and JohnMarsh, Esquire, who, after preliminary preparations, began their inquiryin the first week of October, and proceeded, with short intermissions, through the following winter and spring. The time for presenting claimswas first limited by the Act to the 20th of March, 1784; but the timewas extended by the renewal of the Act, from time to time, until 1789, when the Commissioners presented their _twelfth_ and last report, andParliament finally disposed of the whole matter in 1790, seven yearsafter its commencement. The Commissioners, according to their first report, divided theLoyalists into _six_ classes, as follows: 1. Those who had renderedservice to Great Britain. 2. Those who had borne arms for Great Britain. 3. Uniform Loyalists. 4. Loyal English subjects resident in GreatBritain. 5. Loyalists who had taken oaths to the American States, butafterwards joined the British. 6. Loyalists who had borne arms for theAmerican States, but afterwards joined the British navy or army. Thereason for this classification is not very apparent; for all showedalike who were able to establish their losses, without reference todifferences of merit, or the time or circumstances of their adhering tothe Crown. Every applicant was required to furnish proof of his loyalty, and ofevery species of loss for which he claimed compensation; in addition towhich each claimant was put upon his oath as to his alleged losses; andif in any case _perjury_ or _fraud_ were believed to have beenpractised, the claimant was at once cut off from his whole claim. Therigid rules which the Commissioners laid down and enforced in regard toclaimants, examining each claimant and the witnesses in his behalfseparately and apart, caused much dissatisfaction, and gave theproceeding more the character of an Inquisition than of Inquiry. Itseemed to place the claimants almost in the position of criminals onwhom rested the burden of proof to establish their own innocence andcharacter, rather than in that of Loyalists who had faithfully servedtheir King and country, and lost their homes and possessions in doingso. Very many, probably the large majority of claimants, could notpossibly prove the exact value of each species of loss which they hadsustained years before, in houses, goods, stocks of cattle, fields withtheir crops and produce, woods with their timber, etc. , etc. In such aproceeding the most unscrupulous would be likely to fare the best, andthe most scrupulous and conscientious the worst; and it is alleged thatmany false losses were allowed to persons who had suffered no loss, while many other sufferers received no compensation, because they hadnot the means of bringing witnesses from America to _prove_ theirlosses, in addition to their own testimony. The chairman of the Commission admits the delay and difficulty caused bythe mode of proceeding adopted by the Commissioners. He says: "Theinvestigation of the property of each claimant, and of the value of eacharticle of that property, real and personal, could not but be attendedwith a good deal of time as well as much caution and difficulty, eachclaim in fact branching out into so many articles, or rather distinctcauses, in which the Commissioners were obliged to execute the office ofboth judge and jury, or rather of arbitrators between the nation on oneside, and the individual on the other, whose whole patrimony as well ascharacter depended on their verdict. "[126] The Act passed in 1783, authorizing the inquiry, being limited to twoyears, expired in July, 1785, but was renewed with some additions, oneof which was a clause to empower the Commissioners to appoint properpersons to repair to America "to inquire into such circumstances as theymight think material for better ascertaining the several claims whichhad been or should be presented to them under this or the former Act ofParliament. " The Commissioners appointed John Anstey, Esq. , abarrister-at-law, as agent to the United States, "to obtain informationas to the confiscation, sale, and value of landed estates, and the totalloss of the property of the claimants, " respecting which he procuredmuch valuable and authentic information and testimony. They sent ColonelThomas Dundas and Mr. Jeremy Pemberton, two members of the Board, tovisit Nova Scotia and Canada, "to inquire into the claims of suchpersons as could not without great inconvenience go over to GreatBritain. " Before the 25th of March, 1784, the latest period allowed by the firstAct for presenting claims, the number of claimants was 2, 063, and theproperty alleged by them to have been lost, according to theirschedules, amounted to £7, 046, 278, besides debts to the amount of£2, 354, 135. The sum was very large, but the losses were undoubtedly verygreat. The Commissioners made their first report in July, 1784; andafter having detailed their assiduous proceeding in the fulfilment oftheir trust, and care in examining and deciding on individual cases, reported on the part of the cases submitted, and awarded £201, 750 for£534, 705 claimed, reducing the amount by more than half the amountclaimed. The _second_ report of the Commissioners was made in December of thesame year, and states that 128 additional cases had been examined anddisposed of, the amount claimed being £693, 257, and the amount allowedwas £150, 935--less than one-fourth the amount claimed. One hundred and twenty-two (122) cases were examined into and disposedof in May and July, 1785, according to the third and fourth reports--theamount claimed being £898, 196, and the amount allowed being£253, 613--less than one-third of the amount claimed. In April, 1786, the fifth report of the Commissioners was presented, announcing that 142 other claims had been considered and decided, theclaims amounting to £733, 311, on which the Commissioners allowed£250, 506--a little more than one-third of the amount claimed. The Commissioners proceeded in the same manner with theirinvestigations, and with about the same results, in 1786 and 1787. [127] On the 5th of April, 1788, the Commissioners reported that they hadexamined into and declared upon 1, 680 claims, and had allowed the sum of£1, 887, 548 for their payment. Under all the circumstances, it appears scarcely possible that theCommissioners could have proceeded with more despatch than they did. Butthe delay caused much dissatisfaction among the Loyalists, whose agentspetitioned both King and Parliament on the delay, or on the coursepursued by the Commissioners, or on some subject connected with theclaims of the Loyalists. Essays and tracts were published; letters andcommunications appeared in the newspapers on the subject; in 1786, theagents of the Loyalists presented a petition to Parliament, whichcontained among other things the following touching words: "It isimpossible to describe the poignant distress under which many of thesepersons now labour, and which must daily increase should the justice ofParliament be delayed until all the claims are liquidated and reported;* * ten years have elapsed since many of them have been deprived oftheir fortunes, and with their helpless families reduced fromindependent affluence to poverty and want; some of them now languishingin British jails; others indebted to their creditors, who have lent themmoney barely to support their existence, and who, unless speedilyrelieved, must sink more than the value of their claims when received, and be in a worse condition than if they had never made them; othershave already sunk under the pressure and severity of their misfortunes;and others must, in all probability, soon meet the same melancholy fate, should the justice due them be longer postponed. But, on the contrary, should provision be now made for payment of those whose claims have beensettled and reported, it will not only relieve them from their distress, but give credit to others whose claims remain to be considered, andenable all of them to provide for their wretched families, and becomeagain useful members of society. " Two years later, in 1788, a tract was published by a Loyalist, entitled"The Claim of the American Loyalists Reviewed and Maintained uponIncontrovertible Principles of Law and Justice. " The writer of thattract thus forcibly states the situation of the Loyalists: "It is wellknown that this delay of justice has produced the most melancholy andshocking events. A number of sufferers have been driven into insanityand become their own destroyers, leaving behind them their helplesswidows and orphans to subsist upon the cold charity of strangers. Othershave been sent to cultivate the wilderness for their subsistence, without having the means, and compelled through want to throw themselveson the mercy of the American States, and the charity of former friends, to support the life which might have been made comfortable by the moneylong since due by the British Government; and many others with theirfamilies are barely subsisting upon a temporary allowance fromGovernment, a mere pittance when compared with the sum due them. " Shortly after the publication of the pamphlet containing thesestatements, the Commissioners submitted their eleventh report, April, 1788, and Mr. Pitt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, yielded the followingmonth to the pressing entreaties of the claimants to allow theirgrievances to be discussed in Parliament. "Twelve years had elapsedsince the property of most of them had been alienated under theConfiscation Acts, and five since their title to recompense had beenrecognized by the law under which their claims had been presented anddisposed of. " We will give an abridged account of the proceedings in Parliament and bythe Commissioners in their own words: "The business came on in the House of Commons on the 6th of June, 1788, which Mr. Pitt opened in a very handsome and eloquent speech respectingthe merits of the American Loyalists, and which, he did not doubt, wouldmeet with the unanimous acknowledgment of the House; and he trusted, therefore, there would be no difference of opinion as to the principle, though there might be as to the mode of compensation and thedistribution which he thought it his duty to propose. "The first principle he laid down was, that however strong their claimsmight be on the generosity of the nation, the compensation could not beconsidered as _a matter of right and strict justice_;[129] in the mode, therefore, he had pursued, he had marked the principle in the variousquotas of compensation he should propose to be made to the variousclasses of the American Loyalists. "He considered the three first classes of them, stated by theCommissioners in their reports as the most meritorious, and who werelikewise the most numerous, viz. : "1st. Loyalists who had rendered services to Great Britain. Number, 204. "2nd. Loyalists who had borne arms in the service of Great Britain--481. "3rd. Zealous and uniform Loyalists--626. "Total number of these three classes--1, 311. "The number of the remaining classes were much fewer, viz. : "4th. Loyal British subjects resident in Great Britain--20. "5th. Who took the oath to the Americans, but afterwards joined theBritish--27. "6th. Who bore arms for the Americans, but afterwards joined theBritish--23. "7th. Ditto, losses under the Prohibitory Act--3. "8th. Loyal British proprietors--2. "9th. Subject or settled inhabitants of the United States--25. "10th. Claims disallowed and withdrawn--313. "11th. Loyal British subjects who appear to have relief by the Treaty ofPeace, but state the impossibility of procuring it--4. "Mr. Pitt proposed to pay classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, whose liquidatedlosses did not amount to more than £10, 000 each, the full amount oftheir losses; and if they should exceed the sum of £10, 000, to deductthe sum of ten per cent. From excess only of £10, 000, provided suchlosses did not exceed £35, 000; and if they exceeded £35, 000, thenfifteen per cent. From the excess of £10, 000, and not above £50, 000; andif they exceeded £50, 000, then to deduct twenty per cent. From theexcess of £10, 000; and which principle, he informed the Committee, hemeant to follow in every other class. "With regard to the 4th and 8th classes, viz. , of loyal British subjectsand loyal British proprietors resident in Great Britain during the war, he did not mean to propose any deduction from the losses under £10, 000;but from the losses which amounted from £10, 000 to £50, 000 he proposed adeduction of twenty per cent. Should be made; and a further deductionfrom those losses amounting to above £50, 000, and a still furtherdeduction of seventy per cent. From those from £50, 000 to £200, 000; andso on in proportion. "He next considered the case of those Loyalists whose lossesprincipally, if not solely, arose from their loss of office orprofession, by which they had been deprived of their livelihood, ormeans of support, both for themselves or families. These persons weredistinct from those who had been in trade or other branches of business, or gained their livelihood by their manual labour. Though these losseswere not of so substantial a nature as those who lost property real orpersonal, yet they could not be easily reinstated in the same lucrativeprofessions which they had enjoyed--civil employment, in the law, in theChurch, or in physic--and therefore he thought them entitled to aliberal compensation. But as they were not precluded from exercisingtheir industry and talents in this country, he proposed that all thosepersons who were reported by Commissioners to have lost incomes notexceeding £400 _per annum_, should receive pensions at the rate of £50_per cent. _ of such income, and £40 _per cent. _ for every £100 above£400 per annum; where the value did not exceed £1, 500 _per annum_, £30_per cent. _ for every £100 per annum exceeding £400; thus the_percentage_ would be governed by and diminish in proportion to theincrease of the income lost. "Having expatiated on these various classes of claimants, Mr. Pitt saidhe meant to propose that the amount of these various sums should beissued in debentures bearing interest at three and a half per cent. , which would be nearly equal to a money payment, and that the wholeshould be paid off by instalments. "He began, therefore, by moving 'that provision should be madeaccordingly. ' "This plan met with general approbation and applause from all sides ofthe House; not only from the friends of the Minister, but from leadersof the Opposition, particularly from Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke; and Mr. Pittcongratulated the House on their concurrence with him in the plan helaid before the Committee. "Soon after a motion was made for continuing the Act another year, forthe purpose principally of enabling the Commissioners to inquire intoclaims of certain other persons therein specified, who, it was stated, appeared to have been prevented by particular circumstances frompreferring their claims before; provided the Commissioners weresatisfied, by proof made on oath, with the reasons assigned by thosepersons for not having before preferred their respective claims; and theAct passed, including these and other purposes. "As the Commissioners who had gone to Nova Scotia and Canada had by thistime returned to England, and Mr. Anstey was daily expected from theUnited States, there was more than sufficient to employ theCommissioners, independent of the Act for carrying into effect the planof relief and compensation into execution. "The Commissioners immediately, viz. , in August, 1788, proceeded withthe various matters referred to them. "Colonel Dundas and Mr. Pemberton, having returned from Nova Scotia andCanada, made a separate report of the proceedings to the Board ofTreasury and the Secretaries of State;[130] but the Commissioners, before they finished their deliberations, united the proceedings of bothBoards in order to give a comprehensive view of the whole. "Mr. Anstey also having returned from the United States in September, the Commissioners took a general review of the whole of theirproceedings from the commencement of the inquiry, and were thus enabledto supply any defects, to correct any mistakes, and to reconsider anypoints in which, perhaps, too great humanity to the individuals on theone hand, or too great anxiety to reduce claims which appearedexaggerated on the other, might have led them into error. "Having thus wound up the business in the spring of 1789, they presentedtheir twelfth and last Report on the 15th of May; and likewise, pursuantto the order of the House of Commons of the 10th of June, 1789, presented a statement of them to that House, comprising the whole oftheir proceedings in one view, specifying what had been granted byParliament and what still remained for consideration; but as theinquiring into these claims was not completed, and the Minister thoughtproper to give way once more to strong applications from variouspersons, who had been still prevented from preferring or prosecutingtheir claims under the former Acts of Parliament, the Commission wasrenewed once more, and it was not till the spring of 1790 that thebusiness was finally settled and adjusted by Parliament. In thebeginning of April, in consequence of an order of the House of Commons, on the 31st of March, 1790, the Commissioners laid before the House astatement of the claims and losses of the American Loyalists up to the25th of March, 1790, with the terms already granted, and of whatremained for the consideration of Parliament. "The general result of this was, that the number of claims preferred inEngland and Nova Scotia was 3, 225-- "Of which were examined 3, 225"Disallowed 343 }"Withdrawn 38 } 934"Not prosecuted 553 } "The amount of the claims preferred was £10, 358, 413. "The amount of the claims examined was £8, 216, 126. "The amount allowed in liquidation thereof amounted to £3, 033, 091. "Of which had been provided £2, 096, 326. "There remained for consideration of Parliament £936, 764. [131] "The amount of pensions paid to 204 Loyalists, on account of losses ofoffice or profession, was £25, 785 _per annum_, besides annual allowancesto 588 persons, chiefly widows, orphans, and merchants, who had no meansof livelihood, but had lost no real or personal estate except debts duethem, [132] and which had not been gone into for reasons before given. "As many of the Loyalists who had received pensions or allowances aresince deceased, the Lords of the Treasury, by his Majesty's direction, have continued some part of those annual payments to their widows. "Thus had the nation extended an inquiry for seven successive years intothe losses of those who, from motives of loyalty to his Majesty andattachment to the British Government, had risked their lives andsacrificed their fortunes in support of the constitutional dependence ofthe colonies on Great Britain. "Whatever may be said of this unfortunate war, either to account for, tojustify, or to apologize for the conduct of either country, all theworld has been unanimous in applauding the virtue and humanity of GreatBritain in rewarding the services, and in compensating, with a liberalhand, the losses of those who suffered so much for their firm andfaithful adherence to the British Government. " We will conclude these extracts by giving the Commissioners' account oftheir mode of proceeding and the reasons for it, together with theacknowledgment of the agents of the claimants in a formal address to theKing: "The principle which has directed our mode of conducting the inquiry, "say the Commissioners, "has been that of requiring the very bestevidence which the nature and circumstances of the case would admit. Wehave in no instance hitherto thought fit to dispense with the personalappearance and examination of the claimant, conceiving the inquiry wouldbe extremely imperfect and insecure against fraud and misrepresentationif we had not the advantage of cross-examining the party himself, aswell as his witnesses; nor have we, for the same reason, allowed muchweight to any testimony that has not been delivered on oath beforeourselves. We have investigated with great strictness the titles to realproperty, wherever the necessary documents could be exhibited to us; andwhere they have not been produced we have required satisfactory evidenceof their loss, or of the inability of the claimant to procurethem. "[133] The Commissioners conclude their twelfth and last Report in thefollowing words: "Great as is the length of time which hath been consumed in theprosecution of this inquiry, it may without difficulty be accounted forby a survey of the multiplicity and complicated nature of the objects towhich the Acts of Parliament extended our scrutiny; and when to theseare added the investigation (delegated to us by your lordships) of thenumerous claims for present relief and temporary support (which aloneformed a heavy branch of business, demanding daily attention), theseveral reviews and modifications of pension lists, and the variousother extraneous matters which have incidentally devolved upon us, wetrust we shall, on due consideration of this extensive scene ofemployment, at least stand exculpated by your lordships of inactivityand unnecessary delay. We have felt with anxious solicitude the urgencyas well as the importance and delicate nature of the trust reposed inus, and to this impression our exertions towards the speedy, faithful, and honourable execution of it have been proportioned. We cannot flatterourselves that no errors have been committed; but we have thisconsolation, that the most assiduous endeavours have not been wanting onour part to do justice to the individuals and to the public. Supportedby this reflection in our retirement from this arduous and insidiousemployment, we shall feel no inconsiderable satisfaction in having beeninstrumental towards the completion of a work which will ever reflecthonour on the character of the British nation. (Signed) "JOHN WILMOT. "ROBERT KINGSTON. "JOHN MARSH. "Office of American Claims, "Lincoln's Inn Fields, "May 15th, 1789. " A proper sequel to this whole proceeding will be the following Addressof the Agents for the American Loyalists, presented to the King by SirWilliam Pepperell, Bart. , and the other agents, being introduced by theLord of his Majesty's Bedchamber in waiting; which address his Majestywas pleased to receive very graciously, and they all had the honour tokiss his Majesty's hand: "_To the King's Most Excellent Majesty. _ "The Humble Address of the Agents for the American Loyalists. "Most Gracious Sovereign, -- "Your Majesty's ever dutiful and loyal subjects, the agents of theAmerican Loyalists, who have heretofore been the suppliants of yourMajesty in behalf of their distressed constituents, now humbly beg leaveto approach your Throne, to pour forth the ardent effusions of theirgrateful hearts for your most gracious and effectual recommendation oftheir claims to the just and generous consideration of Parliament. "To have devoted their fortunes and hazarded their lives in defence ofthe just rights of the Crown and the fundamental principles of theBritish Constitution, were no more than their duty demanded of them, incommon with your Majesty's other subjects; but it was their peculiarfortune to be called to the trial, and it is their boast and their gloryto have been found equal to the task. "They have now the distinguished happiness of seeing their fidelityapproved by their Sovereign, and recompensed by Parliament, and theirfellow-subjects cheerfully contributing to compensate them for theforfeiture their attachment to Great Britain incited them to incur;thereby adding dignity to their own exalted character among the nationsof the world, and holding out to mankind the glorious principles ofjustice, equity, and benevolence as the firmest basis of empire. "We should be wanting in justice and gratitude if we did not upon thisoccasion acknowledge the wisdom and liberality of the provisionsproposed by your Majesty's servants, conformable to your Majesty'sgracious intentions for the relief and accommodation of the severalclasses of sufferers to whose cases they apply; and we are convinced itwill give comfort to your royal heart to be assured they have beenreceived with the most general satisfaction. "Professions of the unalterable attachment of the Loyalists to yourMajesty's person and government we conceive to be unnecessary; theyhave preserved it under persecution, and gratitude cannot render it lesspermanent. They do not presume to arrogate to themselves a more ferventloyalty than their fellow-subjects possess; but distinguished as theyhave been by their sufferings, they deem themselves entitled to theforemost rank among the most zealous supporters of the BritishConstitution. And while they cease not to offer up their most earnestprayers to the Divine Being to preserve your Majesty and yourillustrious family in the peaceful enjoyment of your just rights, and inthe exercise of your royal virtues in promoting the happiness of yourpeople, they humbly beseech your Majesty to continue to believe them atall times, and upon all occasions, equally ready, as they have been, todevote their lives and properties to your Majesty's service and thepreservation of the British Constitution. "W. Pepperell, for the Massachusetts Loyalists. "J. Wentworth, for the New Hampshire Loyalists. "George Rowe, for the Rhode Island Loyalists. "Ja. Delancey, for the New York Loyalists. "David Ogden, for the New Jersey Loyalists. "Joseph Galloway, for the Pennsylvania and DelawareLoyalists. "Robert Alexander, for the Maryland Loyalists. "John R. Grymer, for the Virginia Loyalists. "Henry Eustace McCulloch, for the North CarolinaLoyalists. "James Simpson, for the South Carolina Loyalists. "William Knox, for the Georgia Loyalists. "John Graham, late Lieutenant-Governor of Georgia, and joint agent, for the Georgia Loyalists. " FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 124: The names of the agents, or delegates, are as follows: W. Pepperell, for the Massachusetts Loyalists; J. Wentworth, jun. , for theNew Hampshire Loyalists; George Rowe, for the Rhode Island Loyalists;Ja. Delancey, for the New York Loyalists; David Ogden, for the NewJersey Loyalists; Joseph Galloway, for the Pennsylvania and DelawareLoyalists; Robert Alexander, for the Maryland Loyalists; John R. Grymes, for the Virginia Loyalists; Henry Eustace McCulloch, for the NorthCarolina Loyalists; James Simpson, for the South Carolina Loyalists;William Knox, for the Georgia Loyalists. ] [Footnote 125: Another very able pamphlet was issued some timeafterwards, entitled "Claims of the American Loyalists Reviewed andMaintained upon the Incontrovertible Principles of Law and Justice;"printed in London, 1788. ] [Footnote 126: "Historical View of the Commission for Inquiry into theLosses, Services, and Claims of the American Loyalists, at the Close ofthe War between Great Britain and her Colonies in 1783; with an Accountof the Compensation granted to them by Parliament in 1785 and 1788. " ByJohn Eardley Wilmot, Esq. , London, 1815. Dedicated "To His Most GraciousMajesty George the Third, equally distinguished for justice andbeneficence to his subjects and for humanity to his enemies. "] [Footnote 127: It has already been mentioned that the Legislature ofSouth Carolina (the only State of the American Republic) had taken stepsto restore the estates of several of her Loyalists. This "caused thewithdrawal of the claims of their owners (before the EnglishCommissioners), except that in instances of alleged strip and waste, amercements, and similar losses, inquiries were instituted to ascertainthe value of what was taken compared with that which was returned. " The English Commissioners, in their twelfth and last report, remark onthis subject as follows: "We thought it our duty to state, in our second report of the 24thDecember, 1784, that the State of South Carolina had, by an Act of the24th March, 1784, restored the confiscated property of certainLoyalists, subject to the restrictions therein mentioned; and that inconsequence thereof many had withdrawn the claims they had beforepresented to us. We find, however, that in many instances the partieshave not been able to reap that advantage they had expected, and whichthe Act above-mentioned held out to them. In some instances the propertyrestored has been so wasted and injured as to be of little value; inothers, the amercements and charges have been nearly equal to the valueof the fee simple of the estates; and in many, where the indents[128]being the species of money received by the State, have been restored tothe former proprietors, an inevitable and considerable loss has beensustained by the depreciation. In all these cases we have made minuteinquiry into the real benefit that has been derived from suchrestitution, whether of the property itself, or of the _indents_ in lienof it; and having endeavoured to ascertain, as nearly as thecircumstances would admit, the value of what was lost and the value ofwhat was restored, we have considered the difference as the real loss ofthe party. "] [Footnote 128: _Indent_--A certificate, or indented certificate, issuedby the Government of the United States at the close of the revolution, for the principal or interest of the public debt. --Webster. ] [Footnote 129: The principle thus laid down was neither just, nor true, nor generous. The claimants had not asked for _charity_, but for_compensation_, and that not as a favour, but upon the principles of"right and of strict justice. " The British Ministry and Parliament aloneoriginated and were responsible for the policy and measures which hadled to the calamities so ruinous to the Loyalists, who now claimedcompensation. The claimants had had nothing to do with passing the StampAct; with imposing duties on tea and other articles imported into thecolonies; with making naval officers collectors of customs; witherecting courts of admiralty, and depriving the trading colonists oftrial by jury, and of rendering the officers of the admiralty courts, and the complainants before them, the recipients of the firstconfiscations imposed by such events; with the acts to close the Port ofBoston, and supersede the chartered constitution of Massachusetts, allof which, separately and collectively, with other like measures, rousedand united the colonists to resistance, from Maine to Georgia, and inconsequence of which a majority of the General Congress of the colonistsseized the opportunity to renounce their allegiance to the BritishThrone, and to declare their separation from the mother country. Andeven after the character of the contest became thus changed from one forBritish constitutional rights to one for Republican independence, theLoyalists had nothing to do with the selection of British generals, orwith their incapacity, their want of tact and energy, their mistakes andrapacity, together with that of their officers and soldiers, from allwhich the Loyalists grievously suffered. In the camp, on the march, andin the field of battle, the Loyalists were always on the alert, andperformed the severest and most perilous services. No class of men hadstronger claims on the nation, upon the principles of right and strictjustice, than the Loyalist claimants before Parliament. This wasacknowledged by all the speakers on both sides, and in both Houses ofParliament, and even by Mr. Pitt himself, and the objectionable andoffensive principle which he laid down at the outset was contravened bythe whole tenor and spirit of his speech. ] [Footnote 130: The number of claims examined by the Commissioners inNova Scotia and Canada was 1, 272; the amount of claims was £975, 310; thelosses allowed were £336, 753. ] [Footnote 131: What remained for consideration, and which was afterwardsgranted by Parliament, consisted of seven Articles, and was as follows: "1. Additional claims liquidated since 1788, to theamount of £224, 406 "2. The proprietary claims of Messrs. Pennes £500, 000 "3. Do. Do. Trustees under the will ofLord Granville, North Carolina 60, 000 "4. The proprietary claims of Robert Lord Fairfax, proprietorof Virginia 60, 000 "5. Claims of subjects, settled inhabitants of the UnitedStates, many of which were cases of great merit and peculiarhardship 32, 462 "6. Claims of persons who appeared to have relief underthe Treaty of Peace 14, 000 "7. Claims of creditors on ceded lands in Georgia 45, 885"] [Footnote 132: The case of such merchants was peculiarly distressing. Inthe "Historical Review of the Commission, " the Commissioners state: "The claims for debts due from subjects of the United States, as wellfrom the magnitude of their amount as the peculiar hardship andinjustice under which the claimants labour respecting them, form asubject which appears strongly to press for the attention andinterposition of Government. The Treaty of Peace having provided that'Creditors on either side should meet with no lawful impediment to therecovery of the full value of their debts in sterling money, ' losses ofthis nature have not been considered as within the inquiry directed bythe Act, because we cannot consider any right or property as lost to theparty where the Government of the country has expressly provided andstipulated for a remedy by a public treaty. We think it, however, incumbent upon us to represent that the claimants uniformly state to usthe insuperable difficulties they find themselves under, as individuals, in seeking the recovery of their debts according to the provision of thetreaty, whilst themselves are the objects of prosecution in courts ofjustice here for debts due to the subjects of the United States. Undersuch circumstances, the situation of this class of sufferers appears tobe singularly distressing--disabled on the one hand by the laws orpractice of the several States from recovering the debts due them, yetcompellable on the other to pay all demands against them; and though thestipulation in the treaty in their favour has proved of no avail toprocure them the redress it holds out in one country, yet they findthemselves excluded by it from all claims to relief in the other. "] [Footnote 133: It is certain that but a small proportion of the AmericanLoyalists presented claims before the Parliamentary Commissioners inEngland for compensation for services or loss of property; and many ofthose who presented claims did not prosecute them. The Commissionersgive the following explanation on this point: "It may, perhaps, appear singular that so many claims presented, viz. , 448, have been withdrawn; but it may be owing, in the first place, tothe circumstance of many of these claimants having recovered possessionof their estates, and, in the next place, to the uncertainty, at thecommencement of the inquiry, as to the nature of the Commission, and thespecies of loss which was the object of it, and perhaps to theconsciousness of others that they were not able to establish the claimsthey had presented. "] CHAPTER XXXIX. THE LOYALISTS DRIVEN FROM THE UNITED STATES TO THE BRITISH PROVINCES. The Loyalists, after having been stripped of their rights and propertyduring the war, and driven from their homes, and hunted and killed atpleasure, were exiled from all right of residence and citizenship at theclose of the war; and though the Treaty of Peace engaged that Congressshould recommend the several States to compensate them for the losses oftheir property, the Legislatures of the several States (with oneexception) refused any compliance with this stipulation of the nationaltreaty; and the Legislature of New York actually ordered the punishmentof those Loyalists who applied for compensation. At the close of thewar, therefore, instead of witnessing, as in the case of all othercivilized nations at the termination of a civil war, however rancorousand cruel, a general amnesty and the restoration of all parties to therights and property which they enjoyed at the commencement of thestrife, the Loyalists found themselves exiled and impoverished, andtheir enemies in possession of their homes and domains. It is true about3, 000 of the Loyalists were able to employ agents, or appear personally, to apply to the English Government and Parliament for compensation fortheir losses; and the preceding chapter records the noble appreciationof their character and services by British statesmen, and the liberalityof Parliament in making them compensation for their losses andsufferings in maintaining their fidelity to the mother country. Butthese 3, 000 constituted not one-tenth of the Loyalists who had sufferedlosses and hardships during the civil war; upwards of 30, 000 of themwere driven from the homes of their birth, and of their forefathers, towildernesses of everlasting snow. It was a policy as inhuman andimpolitic as that of Spain in expelling upwards of 600, 000 Moors, themost skilful and profitable of their manufacturers and artizans; or ofFrance, in compelling the escape of above 500, 000 of the best workers inthe finest manufactures to other countries where they laid thefoundation of industries which have proved a source of boundless wealthto England at the expense of the commerce and manufactures of France. The Democrats were then the ruling party in most of the States; the moremoderate voice and liberal policy of the Conservative Republicans werehushed and fanned down by the Democratic leaders, who seemed unable tolook beyond the gratification of their resentment and avarice; theyseemed to fear the residence and presence of men of intelligence, ability, and energy, who might in the future rival if not eclipse them. The maxim of the Loyalists was, obedience to law; heretofore they lookedupon the enactments of the States and of Congress as usurpation; thoseenactments were now recognized as law by England herself, in theacknowledgment of American Independence; and the Loyalists would havebeen among the most obedient and law-abiding citizens had they beenallowed to remain in the land of their nativity and forefathers, andwould have largely added to its social advancement, literature, andwealth, and would undoubtedly, before now, have led to the unity of theAnglo-Saxon race under one free and progressive government. Historiansand statesmen have long since condemned this resentful and narrow-mindedpolicy of the States against the Loyalists after the close of therevolutionary war, as do now even American historians. [134] The Americans inaugurated their Declaration of Independence by enactingthat all adherents to connection with the mother country were rebels andtraitors; they followed the recognition of Independence by England byexiling such adherents from their territories. But while this wretchedpolicy depleted the United States of some of their best blood, it laidthe foundation of the settlement and institutions of the then almostunknown and wilderness provinces which have since become thewide-spread, free and prosperous Dominion of Canada. Until very recently, the early history of the Loyalists of America hasnever been written, except to blacken their character and misrepresenttheir actions; they were represented as a set of idle office-seekers--animputation which has been amply refuted by their braving the forests ofnorthern countries, and converting them into fruitful fields, developingtrade and commerce, and establishing civil, religious, and educationalinstitutions that are an honour to America itself. Yet, when exiled fromtheir native land, they were bereft of the materials of their truehistory. A living American writer truly observes: "Of the reasons which influenced, of the hopes and fears which agitated, and of the miseries and rewards which awaited the Loyalists--or, as theywere called in the politics of the time, the Tories--of the AmericanRevolution, but little is known. The most intelligent, the best informedamong us, confess the deficiency of their knowledge. The reason isobvious. Men who, like the Loyalists, separate themselves from theirfriends and kindred, who are driven from their homes, who surrender thehopes and expectations of life, and who become outlaws, wanderers, andexiles--such men leave few memorials behind them. Their papers arescattered and lost, and their very names pass from human recollection. * * Of several of the Loyalists who were high in office, of others whowere men of talents and acquirements, and of still others who were ofless consideration, I have been able, after long and extensiveresearches, to learn scarcely more than their names, or the single factthat for their political opinions or offences they were proscribed andbanished. "[135] The circumstances under which the Loyalists were banished from theStates and deprived of their property will largely account for thealienation of feeling which long existed between the Americans andCanadians, which gave intensity to the war of 1812-15, which exists tosome extent at this day, but which is gradually subsiding, and is beinggradually superseded by feelings of mutual respect and friendship, strengthened by large commercial and social relations, including manyintermarriages. To understand the sacrifices which the Loyalists made, and the courageand energy they evinced, in leaving their old homes and associations inthe sunny parts of America, and in seeking a refuge and a home in thewilds of the remaining British Provinces, it will be necessary to noticewhat was then known, and the impression then existing, as to theclimate, productions, and conditions of these provinces. [136] At that time New Brunswick formed a part of Nova Scotia, and was notorganized into a separate province until 1784. The impressions thenentertained as to the climate of Nova Scotia (including New Brunswick)may be inferred from the following extracts from a pamphlet published inEngland in 1784: "It has a winter of almost insufferable length and coldness; * * thereare but a few inconsiderable spots fit to cultivate, and the land iscovered with a cold spongy moss in place of grass. * * Winter continuesat least seven months in the year; the country is wrapt in the gloom ofa perpetual fog; the mountains run down to the sea coast, and leave buthere and there a spot to inhabit. " Some of the officers, embarking atNew York for Nova Scotia, are said to have remarked that they were"bound for a country where there were nine months of winter and threemonths of cold weather every year. " Lower Canada was known as a regionof deep snow, intense cold, and little fertility; a colony of theFrench; its capital, Quebec, the scene of decisive battles between theEnglish and French under Wolfe and Montcalm, and afterwards betweenMurray and Montgomery, the latter the leader of the American revoltersand invaders. Montreal was regarded as the place of transit of the furtrade from the Hudson's Bay Company to England. Upper Canada was then unknown, or known only as a region of densewilderness and swamps, of venomous reptiles and beasts of prey, thehunting grounds and encampments of numerous Indian tribes, intense coldof winter, and with no other redeeming feature except abundance of gameand fish. [137] The entire ignorance of the climate of Upper Canada which prevailed atthe close of the revolutionary war, may be inferred from the factsstated in a succeeding chapter, when the British commander of New York, being unable to transport any more Loyalists to Nova Scotia and NewBrunswick, sent for a Mr. Grass, who had been a prisoner during theFrench war for two or three years at Kingston, then Frontenac, toinquire of him what sort of a country Upper Canada was, and whetherpeople could live there. Grass replied that he thought Upper Canada wasa good country, and that people could live there. The British commanderexpressed much joy at the reply, and asked Mr. Grass if he wouldundertake to conduct a colony of Loyalists to Canada; the vessels, provisions, etc. , would be furnished for that purpose. Mr. Grass askedthree days to consider the proposal, and at length consented toundertake the task. It appears that five vessels were procured andfurnished to convey this first colony of banished refugee Loyalists toUpper Canada; they sailed around the coast of New Brunswick and NovaScotia, and up the St. Lawrence to Sorel, where they arrived in October, 1783, and where they built themselves huts or shanties and wintered; andin May, 1784, they prosecuted their voyage in boats, and reached theirdestination, Cataraqui, afterwards Kingston, in July. The manner oftheir settlement and providing for their subsistence is described in asucceeding chapter. Other bands of Loyalists made their way to Canada by land; some by themilitary highway to Lower Canada, Whitehall, Lake Champlain, Ticonderoga, Plattsburg, and then turning northward proceeded toCornwall; then ascending the St. Lawrence, along the north side of whichmany of them settled. This Champlain route was the common one to LowerCanada, descending the River Richelieu from St. John's to Sorel. But the most common land route from New York to Upper Canada, chosen bythe Loyalists at the close of the war, was to Albany 180 miles up theHudson river, which divides into two branches about ten miles north ofAlbany. The western branch is called the Mohawk, leading to Rome, formerly Fort Stanwix. A branch of the Mohawk, called Wood Creek, leadstowards the Oneida lake, which was reached by a portage. From OneidaLake, Lake Ontario was reached by the Oswego river. Flat-bottom boats, specially built or purchased for the purpose by the Loyalists, were usedin this journey. The portages over which the boats had to be hauled, andall their contents carried, are stated to be thirty miles. On reachingOswego, some of the Loyalists coasted along the eastern shore of LakeOntario to Kingston, and thence up the Bay of Quinté; others wentwestward, along the south shore of the lake to Niagara and Queenston;some pursued their course to the head of the lake at Burlington; othersmade their way up the Niagara river to Queenston, conveyed their boatsover the portage of ten or twelve miles to Chippewa, thence up the riverand into Lake Erie, settling chiefly in what was called the "Long PointCountry, " now the county of Norfolk. This journey of hardship, privation, and exposure occupied from two to three months. The parentsand family of the writer of this history were from the middle of May tothe middle of July, 1799, in making this journey in an open boat. Generally two or more families would unite in one company, and thusassist each other in carrying their boats and goods over the portages. A considerable number came to Canada from New Jersey and theneighbourhood of Philadelphia on foot through the then wilderness of NewYork, carrying their little effects and small children on pack horses, and driving their cattle, which subsisted on herbage of the woods andvalleys. Some of the families of this class testified to the relief andkindness they received in their extreme exigencies from the Indians. The hardships, exposures, privations and sufferings which the firstLoyalists endured in making their way from their confiscated homes toCanada, were longer and more severe than anything narrated of thePilgrim and Puritan Fathers of New England in their voyages from Englandto Massachusetts Bay; and the persecutions to which the emigration ofthe Puritans from England is attributed were trifling indeed incomparison of the persecutions, imprisonments, confiscations, and oftendeath, inflicted on the loyal adherents to the Crown of England in theUnited States, and which drove the survivors among them to thewilderness of Canada. The privations and hardships experienced by manyof these Loyalist patriots for years after the first settlement inCanada, as testified by the papers in the subsequent chapter, were muchmore severe than anything experienced by the Pilgrim Fathers during thefirst years of their settlement in Massachusetts. These latter couldkeep a "Harvest Home" festival of a week, at the end of the first yearafter their landing in the Bay of Massachusetts; but it was years aftertheir arrival in Canada before the Loyalists could command means to keepany such festival. The stern adherence of the Puritans to theirprinciples was quite equalled by the stern adherence of the Loyalists totheir principles, and far excelled by their sacrifices and sufferings. Canada has a noble parentage, the remembrance of which its inhabitantsmay well cherish with respect, affection, and pride. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 134: "Had we pursued a wise course, people of our own stockwould not have become our rivals in ship-building, in the carriage ofour great staples, in the prosecution of the fisheries, and in theproduction of wheat and other breadstuffs. Nor is this all: we shouldnot have had the hatred, the influence and the talents of persons ofLoyalist origin to contend against in the questions which have and mayyet come up between us and England. "Thus, as it seems to me, humanity to the adherents of the Crown, andprudent regard for our own interests, required a general amnesty; as itwas, we not only dealt harshly with many, and unjustly with some, butdoomed to misery others, whose hearts and hopes had been as true asthose of Washington himself. Thus in the divisions of families whicheverywhere occurred, and which formed one of the most distressingcircumstances of the conflict, there were wives and daughters, who, although bound to Loyalists by the holiest ties, had given theirsympathies to the right from the beginning, and who now, in the triumphof the cause which had their prayers, went meekly--as woman ever meets asorrowful lot--into hopeless, interminable exile. " (IntroductoryHistorical Essay to Sabine's Sketches of the Loyalists of the AmericanRevolution, pp. 90, 91. )] [Footnote 135: Preface to Colonel Sabine's Biographical Sketches of theAmerican Loyalists, or Adherents to the British Crown, in the War of theRevolution. ] [Footnote 136: The Loyalists who were attached to military corps raisedin the extreme South were principally of the Southern States, and alarge portion of them settled in the Bahamas, Florida, and the BritishWest Indies. "Some of the officers who belonged to the 'MarylandLoyalists, ' and some of the privates of that corps, embarked for NovaScotia, but were wrecked in the Bay of Fundy, and a part perished. "(Sabine. )] [Footnote 137: "The western part of Canada, abandoned after the conquest_as an Indian hunting ground_, or occupied at its western extremity onLake Erie by a few of the ancient French colonists, began now to assumeimportance, and its capability of supporting a numerous population alongthe Great River and the lakes became evident. Those excellent men, who, preferring to sacrifice life and fortune rather than forego the enviabledistinction of being British subjects, saw that this vast field affordeda sure and certain mode of safety and of honourable retreat, andaccordingly, in 1783, ten thousand (10, 000) were enumerated in thatportion of Canada, who, under the proud title of United EmpireLoyalists, had turned their backs for ever upon the new-fangledrepublicanism and treason of the country of their birth. "The obstacles, privations, and miseries these people had to encountermay readily be imagined in a country where the primeval forest coveredthe earth, and where the only path was the river or the lake. Theyultimately were, however, blessed with success; and to this day theoriginal letters U. E. , after the name of an applicant for land, ensureits grant. " (Sir Richard Bonnycastle's Canada Before 1837, Vol. I. , pp. 24, 25. )] CHAPTER XL. BRIEF SKETCHES OF SOME INDIVIDUAL LOYALISTS--FIRST SETTLERS IN CANADAAND OTHER BRITISH PROVINCES. It is not possible to give biographical sketches of all the oldLoyalists, officers and soldiers. To do justice to their character andmerits would require a massive volume. Besides, the data for such avolume are for the most part wanting. It is not the object of thishistory to give a biography of the Loyalists; that must be done byothers, if attempted at all. The Loyalists were not writers, butworkers. Almost the only history of them has been written by theirenemies, whose object was to conceal the treatment they received, todepreciate their merits and defame their character, for the vindicationof which it is only of late years that materials have been procured. Itis the object of this history to vindicate their character as a body, toexhibit their principles and patriotism, and to illustrate theirtreatment and sufferings. The best, and indeed only biography of the Loyalists extant is Sabine's"_American Loyalists, or Biographical Sketches of Adherents to theBritish Crown in the War of the Revolution_, "--especially the first, notthe second edition. The author has more than once quoted the excellenthistorical essay introductory to the sketches of this work, and fromwhich Dr. Canniff has enriched the pages of his valuable "_History ofthe Settlement of Upper Canada, with special reference to the Bay ofQuinté_. " From these sources we will condense brief notices of some ofthe early Loyalists, preliminary to the information in regard to othersfurnished us in the interesting letters and papers which follow. Thesenotices will further illustrate the character and sacrifices of theLoyalist combatants--the treatment they received and the courage theydisplayed. 1. _Samuel Anderson_, of New York, entered the service of the Crown, andwas a captain in the regiment of Sir John Johnson. In 1783 he settlednear Cornwall, Upper Canada, and received half-pay; held several civiloffices, such as those of Magistrate, Judge of the District Court, Associate Justice of King's Bench, etc. He continued to reside on hisproperty near Cornwall until his decease in 1836, at the age of onehundred and one. His property in New York was abandoned and lost. 2. _Rev. John Bethune_ (father of the late Bishop of Toronto), of NorthCarolina, was chaplain to the Loyal Militia; was taken prisoner at thebattle of Cross Creek; was confined in jail, first at Halifax andfinally in Philadelphia. After his release, his continued loyaltyreduced him to great distress. He was appointed to the 84th Regiment andrestored to comfort. At the peace, he settled in Upper Canada, atWilliamston, near Cornwall, and died in 1815, at the age of sixty-five. 3. _Doane_, of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Of this family there werefive brothers--Moses, Joseph, Israel, Abraham, and Mahlon. They were menof fine figure and address, elegant horsemen, great runners and leapers, and excellent at stratagems and escapes. Their father was respectable, and possessed a good estate. The sons themselves, prior to the war, weremen of reputation and proposed to remain neutral; but harassedpersonally, their property sold by the Whigs, because they would notsubmit to the exactions of the time, they determined to avengethemselves by a predatory warfare upon their persecutors, and to live inthe open air as best they could. They became the terror of thesurrounding country; they spared the weak, the poor, and the peaceful;they aimed at public property and at public men. Generally theirexpeditions were on horseback. Sometimes the five went together; atother times separately, with accomplices. Whoever of them wasapprehended, broke jail; whoever of them was assailed, escaped. In aword, such was their course, that a reward of £300 was offered for thehead of each. Ultimately, three were slain; Moses, after a desperatefight, was shot by his captor; and Abraham and Mahlon were living atPhiladelphia. Joseph, before the revolution, taught school. During thewar, while on a marauding expedition, he was shot through the cheeks, and was taken prisoner. He was committed to await his trial, but escapedto New Jersey. A reward of $800 was offered for his apprehension, butwithout success. He resumed his former employment in New Jersey andlived there under an assumed name for nearly a year, but finally fled toCanada. The only mention of Israel is that "in February, 1783, heappealed to the Council of Pennsylvania to be released on account of hisown sufferings and the destitute condition of his family, and that hispetition was dismissed. " 4. _Stephen Jarvis_, in 1782 was a lieutenant of cavalry in the SouthCarolina Royalists; was in several battles; was in New Brunswick; afterthe revolution came to Upper Canada, and died at Toronto in 1840, agedeighty-four. 5. _William Jarvis_ was an officer of cavalry in the Queen's Rangers;was wounded at the siege of Yorktown. At the Peace he settled in UpperCanada, became Secretary of the Province, and died at York (Toronto) in1817. 6. _David Jones_ was captain in the royal service, and the reputedspouse or husband of the "beautiful and good Jane McCrea, " whose crueldeath in 1777, by the Indians, on her way to join him, is so universallyknown and lamented. He lived in Canada to an old age, but never married. Jane McCrea was the daughter of the Rev. James McCrea, a Loyalist. 7. _Jonathan Jones_, of New York, was brother of Captain David Jones, and assisted in the latter part of 1776 in raising a company in LowerCanada, and joined the British garrison at Crown Point. Later in the warhe was captain under General Frazer. 8. _Captain Richard Lippincott_ was born in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, onthe 2nd of January, 1745. He was descended from an old colonial family, and served during the revolution as a captain in the New Jerseyvolunteers. He was married on the 4th of March, 1770, to Esther Borden, daughter of Jeremiah and Esther Borden, of Bordentown, New Jersey. Onthe outbreak of the revolution he warmly espoused the side of the Crown, and was early in the war captured and confined in Burlington jail, fromwhich he escaped in the year 1776, and made his way to the British armyat Staten Island. During the remainder of the war he served with hisregiment. His connection with the execution of Captain Joshua Huddy, ofthe rebel service, attracted a great deal of attention both in Europeand America. Captain Huddy was a partisan officer of some repute in NewJersey, and had been concerned in the murder of a Loyalist named PhilipWhite, who was a relative of Lippincott, and a resident of Shrewsbury. One Edwards of the same neighbourhood had also been put to death aboutthe same time. Shortly after, Captain Huddy was captured and taken asprisoner to New York. The "Board of Associated Loyalists of New York"sent Captain Lippincott to Middleton Point, or Sandy Hook, with CaptainHuddy and two other prisoners, to exchange them for prisoners held bythe rebels. He was authorized to execute Huddy in retaliation for White, who had already been put to death. Therefore, on the 12th of April, 1782, having exchanged the two other prisoners, Captain Lippincott hungHuddy on a tree by the beach, under the Middleton Heights. In 1867 thetree was still to be seen, and tradition keeps alive in theneighbourhood the story connected with it. Captain Lippincott, who wasevidently only obeying orders, pinned a paper on Huddy's breast with thefollowing inscription: "We, the Refugees, having long with grief beheld the cruel murders ofour brethren, and finding nothing but such measures carrying intoexecution, --we therefore determine not to suffer without takingvengeance for the numerous cruelties, and thus begin, having made use ofCaptain Huddy as the first object to present to your view, and furtherdetermine to hang man for man while there is a refugee existing. "UP GOES HUDDY FOR PHILIP WHITE. " Washington, upon hearing of Huddy's death, demanded the surrender ofCaptain Lippincott from the Royalist authorities, in order that he mightbe put to death. This demand was refused, and Washington then orderedthe execution of one officer of equal rank to be chosen by lot fromamong the prisoners in his hands. The lot fell upon Captain Asgill, ofthe Guards, who was only nineteen years of age. The British authoritiessecured a respite under promise of trying Captain Lippincott bycourt-martial. After a full inquiry, Lippincott was honourablyacquitted. In the meantime, Lady Asgill, Captain Asgill's mother, appealed to the Count de Vergennes, the French Minister, and, inresponse to her most pathetic appeal, the Count was instructed by theKing and Queen of France, in their joint names, to ask of Washington therelease of Captain Asgill "as a tribute to humanity. " Washington, aftera long delay, granted this request, but Asgill and Lippincott were notset at liberty till the close of the war. Asgill lived to become ageneral, and to succeed to his father's baronetcy. After the war Captain Lippincott moved to New Brunswick, to a placecalled Pennfield, where he lived till the fall of 1787, when he went toEngland, where he remained till the end of 1788. He was granted half payas a captain of the British army, and in 1793 he moved from NewBrunswick to Canada, when he was granted for his U. E. Loyalist services3, 000 acres of land in the township of Vaughan, near Toronto. He lived near Richmond Hill for many years. His only surviving child, Esther Borden Lippincott, was married in 1806 to the late Colonel GeorgeTaylor Denison, of Bellevue, Toronto, at whose house Captain Lippincottdied in 1826, aged eighty-one years. The family of Denisons of Torontoare all descendants of Captain Lippincott through this marriage. 9. _McDonald. _--There were many of this name who took part with theloyal combatants, and of whom several settled in Canada. Alexander McDonald was a major in a North Carolina regiment, and was thehusband of the celebrated Flora McDonald, who was so true and devoted toPrince Charles Edward, the last of the Stuarts who sought the throne ofEngland. They had emigrated to North Carolina; and when the revolutionbroke out, he, with two sons, took up arms for the Crown. Those whosettled in Canada were Donald McDonald, of New York, who served underSir John Johnson for seven years, and died at Wolfe Island, UpperCanada, aged 97; and Allan McDonald, of Tryon (afterwards Montgomery), New York, who was associated with Sir John Johnson in 1776, and died ata great age, at Three Rivers, in Lower Canada, 1822. 10. _John McGill_ was, in 1782, an officer of infantry in the Queen'sRangers, and at the close of the war went to New Brunswick; removedthence to Upper Canada, became a man of note and member of theLegislative Council, and died at Toronto, in 1834, at the age ofeighty-three. 11. _Donald McGillis_ resided at the beginning of the revolution on theMohawk river, New York. Embracing the royal side in the contest, heformed one of a "determined band of young men, " who attacked a Whigpost, and, in the face of a superior force, cut down the flag-staff andtore in strips the stars and stripes attached to it. Subsequently hejoined a grenadier company called the Royal Yorkers, and performedefficient service throughout the war. At the peace he settled in Canada;and entering the British service again in 1812, was appointed captain inthe colonial corps by Sir Isaac Brock. He died at River Raisin, Canada, in 1844, aged eighty years. 12. _Thomas Merrit_, of New York (father of the late Hon. W. HamiltonMerrit), was in 1782 cornet of cavalry in the Queen's Rangers. Hesettled in Upper Canada, and held the office of high sheriff of theNiagara district. He died at St. Catharines, May, 1842, at the age ofeighty years. _The Robinson family_ was one of the distinguished families in Americabefore, during, and after the revolution, and its members have filledsome of the most important offices in the provinces of Nova Scotia, NewBrunswick, Lower and Upper Canada. 13. _Beverley Robinson_, of New York, was the son of the Honourable JohnRobinson, of Virginia, who was President of that colony on theretirement of Governor Gooch. He removed to New York, and marriedSusanna, daughter of Frederick Phillipse, Esquire, who owned an immenselanded estate on the Hudson river. By this connection Mr. Robinson addedgreatly to his wealth and became very rich. When the revolutionarycontroversy commenced, he was living on that portion of the Phillipseestate which had been given to his wife, and there he desired to remainin the quiet enjoyment of country life, and in the enjoyment of hislarge domains. That such was his inclination is asserted by the latePresident Dwight, and is fully continued by circumstances and by hisdescendants. He _was opposed to the measures of the British Ministry, gave up the use of imported merchandize, and clothed himself and familyin fabrics of domestic manufacture_. _But he was opposed to the separation of the colonies from the mothercountry. _ Still he wished to take no part in the conflict of arms. Theimportunity of friends overruled his own judgment, and he entered themilitary service of the Crown. Of the Loyal American Regiment, raisedprincipally in New York by himself, he was commissioned the colonel. Healso commanded the corps called Guides and Pioneers. Of the former, orthe Loyal Americans, his son Beverley was lieutenant-colonel, and ThomasBarclay, major. He and Washington had been personal friends untilpolitical events produced separation between them. At the peace, Colonel Robinson, with a part of his family, went toEngland. His name appears as a member of the first Council of NewBrunswick; but he never took his seat at the Board. His wife, withhimself, was attainted for high treason; in order to secure her propertyto the Americans, she was included in the Confiscation Act of New York, and the whole of the estate derived from her father passed from thefamily. The value of her interest may be estimated from the fact thatthe British Government granted her and her husband the sum of £17, 000sterling, which, though equal to $80, 000, _was considered only a partialcompensation_. Colonel Robinson has highly respectable descendants in New Brunswick aswell as in Canada. William Henry, who was afterwards King William theFourth, enjoyed Colonel Robinson's hospitality in New York at a laterdate. The Robinsons were unquestionably immediate sufferers from theevents which drove them into exile. But though Colonel Robinson was notamply compensated in money by the Government for which he sacrificedfortune, home, and his native land, yet the distinction obtained by hischildren and grand-children in the colonies, though deprived of theirinheritance, has not been without other and substantial recompense, asno persons of the Loyalist descent have been more favoured in officialstations and powerful family alliances than the heirs of the daughtersof Frederick Phillipse, Susanna Robinson, and Mary Morris (see under thenames of Colonel Roger Morris and Colonel Thomas Barclay). 14. _Beverley Robinson (jun. )_ was son of Colonel Beverley Robinson, andlieutenant-colonel in the Loyal American Regiment, commanded by hisfather; was a graduate of Columbia College, New York, and at thecommencement of the revolutionary troubles was a student of law in theoffice of James Duane. His wife, Nancy, whom he married during the war, was daughter of the Reverend Henry Barclay, D. D. , rector of TrinityChurch, New York, and sister of Colonel Thomas Barclay. At theevacuation of New York, Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson was placed at thehead of a large number of Loyalists who embarked for Shelburne, NovaScotia, and who laid out that place in a very handsome manner, in thehope of its becoming a town of business and importance. The harbour ofShelburne is represented to be one of the best in North America; thepopulation rapidly increased to about 12, 000 persons, but soon asrapidly declined, being outrivalled by Halifax--and many abandonedShelburne for other parts of the British provinces. Lieutenant-ColonelRobinson went to New Brunswick, and resided near the city of St. John. His deprivations and sufferings for a considerable time after leavingNew York were great, but were finally relieved by the receipt ofhalf-pay as an officer in the service of the Crown. In New Brunswick hewas a member of his Majesty's Council; and at the period of the Frenchrevolution, and on the occurrence of the Napoleonic war between Englandand France, he was entrusted with the command of the regiment raised inthat colony, possessed great energy, and contributed much by hisexertions and influence to settle and advance the commercial emporium ofNew Brunswick. In the Confiscation Act of New York, by which his estatewas taken from him, he was styled "Beverley Robinson the younger. " Hedied in 1816, at New York, while on a visit to two of his sons who wereresiding in that city. 15. _Christopher Robinson_, of Virginia, was kinsman of Colonel BeverleyRobinson; entered William and Mary College with his cousin Robert, escaped with him to New York, and received a commission in the LoyalCanadian Regiment; served at the South, and was wounded. At the peace hewent first to New Brunswick, and then to Nova Scotia, receiving a grantof land in each province. He soon removed to Upper Canada, whereGovernor Simcoe gave him the appointment of Deputy-Surveyor-General ofCrown Lands. His salary, half pay, and an estate of 2, 000 acres, placedhim in comfortable circumstances. 16. _Sir John Beverley Robinson_ was a son of Christopher Robinson, ofVirginia; received his early legal education in England, and wasadmitted to the English bar. He returned to Upper Canada while yetyoung; served with distinction in the war of 1812, and was in severalbattles. He was early appointed Attorney-General, and held a seat in theHouse of Assembly for ten years; after which he was appointed Member andSpeaker of the Legislative Council. During the insurrection of 1837, inUpper Canada, he took his musket and went into the ranks, accompanied byhis two sons. He was born in 1791; was appointed Attorney-General ofUpper Canada in 1818; was raised to the Bench as Chief Justice in 1829;was created Baronet in 1854; and died in 1863, aged seventy-two. 17. _Sir Charles Frederick Phillipse Robinson_, G. C. B. , of New York, wasthe son of Colonel Beverley Robinson; entered the King's service earlyin the Revolution, and at the peace returned with his father to England, where he was continued in the British army; became Lieutenant-General, and received the honour of knighthood. He was with the Duke ofWellington, and saw much hard service. At the storming of St. Sebastianhe was dangerously wounded. He was in the battle of Vittoria, Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse. During the war of 1812 he came to America, and wasemployed in Canada. He commanded the British force in the attack onPlattsburg, under Prevost, and protested against the order of hissuperior, when directed to retire, because from the position of histroops he was of opinion that his loss of men would be greater inretreat than in advance upon the American works. After the conclusion ofhostilities he embarked at New York for England. 18. _Morris Robinson_, of New York, was also son of Colonel BeverleyRobinson, and was captain of the Queen's Rangers. When that corps wasdisbanded at the close of the war, most of the officers were dismissedon half pay, and settled in New Brunswick; but Captain Robinson, by goodfortune, was continued in commission, and at the time of his decease hewas lieutenant-colonel, and assistant-barrackmaster-general in theBritish army. He had three sons officers in the British army, and twodaughters, Susan and Joane; the former became the wife of Robert Parker, judge of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick; and the latter the wife ofRobert T. Hagien, Esq. , barrister-at-law, master in chancery, andformerly mayor of the city of St. John. 19. _John Robinson_, of New York, likewise a son of Colonel BeverleyRobinson, was during the revolution a lieutenant of the Loyal AmericanRegiment, commanded by his father; and when the corps was disbanded atthe close of the war, he settled in New Brunswick, and received halfpay. He embarked, and successfully, in mercantile pursuits, and helddistinguished public stations, being deputy-paymaster-general of hisMajesty's forces in the Province, a member of the Council, treasurer ofNew Brunswick, mayor of St. John, and president of the first bankchartered in the colony. He died at St. John in 1828, aged sixty-seven. Several other Robinsons were engaged on the royal side in the AmericanRevolution, but none of them so prominently connected with the Britishprovinces as those above mentioned. 20. _Roger Morris_, of New York, was a captain in the British army, inthe French war, and one of the aides of the ill-fated Braddock. Hemarried Mary, daughter of Frederick Phillipse, Esq. , and settled in NewYork. At the commencement of the revolution he was a member of theCouncil of the colony, and continued in office until the peace, althoughthe Whigs organized a government, under a written Constitution, as earlyas 1777. A part of the Phillipse estate was in possession of ColonelMorris in right of his wife, and was confiscated. In order that thewhole property should pass from the family into the hands of theAmericans, Mrs. Morris was included with her husband in the New YorkConfiscation Act of attainder. It is believed that this lady, her sisterMrs. Robinson, and Mrs. Ingles, were the only ladies who were attaintedof treason during the revolution, and that merely to get possession oftheir property. "Imagination, " says Sabine, "dwells upon the attaintingof a lady whose beauty and attractions had won the admiration ofWashington. [138] Humanity is shocked that a woman was attainted oftreason for no crime but that of clinging to the fortunes of the husbandwhom she had vowed on the altar of religion never to desert. " But it appeared in due time that the Confiscation Act did not affect therights of Mrs. Morris's children, who were not named in, and thereforenot disqualified by the Act of Confiscation. In 1787, theAttorney-General of England examined the case and gave the opinion thatthe reversionary interest (or property of the children at the decease ofthe parents) was not included in their attainder, and was recoverableunder the principles of law and of right. In the year 1809, their son, Captain Henry Gage Morris, of the Royal Navy, in behalf of himself andhis two sisters, sold his reversionary interest to John Jacob Astor, Esquire, of New York, for the sum of £20, 000 sterling. In 1828, Mr. Astor made a compromise with the State of New York, by which he receivedfor the rights thus purchased by him (with or without associates) thelarge amount of $500, 000. The terms of the arrangement required that heshould execute a deed of conveyance in fee simple, with warranty againstthe claims of the Morrises, husband and wife, their heirs, and allpersons claiming under them; and that he should obtain the judgment ofthe Supreme Court of the United States, affirming the validity andperfectibility of his title. These conditions were complied with, andthe purchasers of the confiscated lands were thus quieted in theirtitles derived from the sales of the Commissioners of ConfiscatedProperty. 21. _Allan McNab_ was a lieutenant of cavalry in the Queen's Rangers, under Colonel Simcoe. During the war he received thirteen wounds. Heaccompanied his commander to Upper Canada, then a dense unpeopledwilderness. He was appointed Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Assemblyof Upper Canada, and held the office for many years. He was father ofthe late Sir Allan McNab, who was born at Niagara, in 1798, of Scotchextraction, whose grandfather, Major Robert McNab, of the 42nd Regiment, or Black Watch, was Royal Forester in Scotland, and resided on a smallproperty called Dundurn, at the head of Loch Earn. Sir Allan McNab, though very young, distinguished himself in the war of 1812. In theinsurrection of 1837 he was appointed to the command of the militia, dispersed the rebels, and cut out and burnt the rebel steamer_Caroline_, at Black Rock, for which he was knighted. He was Speaker ofthe House of Assembly of Upper Canada before the union of the twoCanadas, and was afterwards Speaker of the Legislative Council of UnitedCanada. 22. _Luke Carscallen_ (resident of Bay of Quinté) was an Irishman bybirth, and had served in the British army; he had retired and emigratedto the American colonies prior to the revolution. He desired to remainneutral and take no part in the contest. The rebels, however, said tohim, that inasmuch as he was acquainted with military tactics, he mustjoin them or be regarded as a King's man. His reply was that he hadfought for the King, and he would do it again, consequently an order wasissued to arrest him; but when they came to take him, he had secretedhimself. The escape was a hurried one, and all his possessions were atthe mercy of the rebels--land to the amount of 12, 000 acres. They, disappointed at not catching him, took his young and tender son, andthreatened to hang him if he would not reveal his father's place ofconcealment. The brave little fellow replied, "Hang away!" and the cruelmen, under the name of liberty, carried out their threat, and threetimes was he suspended until he was almost dead, yet he would not tell;and then, when taken down, one of the monsters actually kicked him. (Canniff. ) 23. _John Diamond_ was born in Albany, with several brothers. An elderbrother was drafted, but he tried to escape a service so repugnant tohis feelings; was concealed for some time, and upon a sick bed. Thevisits of the doctor led to suspicion, and the house was visited byrebels. Although he had been placed in a bed so arranged that it wasthought his presence would not be detected, his breathing betrayed him. They at once required his father to give a bond for $1, 200 that his sonshould not be removed while sick. He got well, and some time after againsought to escape, but was caught, and handcuffed to another. Beingremoved from one place to another, the two prisoners managed to knocktheir guards on the head, and ran for life through the woods, chainedtogether. One would sometimes run on one side of a sapling, and theother on the opposite side. At night they managed to rub their handcuffsoff, and finally escaped to Canada. Of the other brothers, two werecarried off by the rebels and were never more heard of; John was takento the rebel army when old enough to do service, but he also escaped toCanada, and enlisted in Rogers' Battalion, in which he served until theend of the war, when he settled with the company at Fredericksburg. Hemarried Miss Loyst, a native of Philadelphia, whose ancestors wereGerman. She acted no inferior part, for a woman, during the excitingtimes of the revolution. They were married in Lower Canada. They spenttheir first summer in Upper Canada in clearing a little spot of land, and in the fall got a little grain in the ground. They slept during thesummer under a tree, but erected a small hut before winter set in. 24. _Ephraim Tisdale_, of Freetown, Massachusetts. In 1775, he fled fromhome, and went to New York. During the war, while on a voyage to St. Augustine, Florida, he abandoned his vessel at sea to avoid capture, andgained the shore in safety. Though nearly destitute of money, heaccomplished an overland journey to New York, a distance, by the routewhich he travelled, of fifteen hundred miles. In 1783 he embarked at NewYork for New Brunswick, in the ship _Brothers_, Captain Walker; and onthe passage his wife gave birth to a son, who was named for the masterof the ship. Mr. Tisdale held civil and military offices in NewBrunswick. He removed to Upper Canada in 1808, settled in the Townshipof Charlotteville, near Vittoria, and died in 1816. He left eight sonsand four daughters. Walker Tisdale, Esq. , of St. John (the son abovereferred to), was in Canada in 1845, when the descendants of his fatherthere were 169, of whom he saw 163. The Tisdales were active on the sideof the Crown in the insurrection of 1837. The whole family have alwaysbeen distinguished for loyalty. 25. _Lemuel Wilmot_, of Long Island, New York, entered the King'sservice as an officer, and at the peace was captain in the LoyalAmerican Regiment. In 1783 he settled on the River St. John, NewBrunswick, near Fredericton, where he continued to reside until hisdeath, which took place in 1814. Five sons survived him. The HonourableLemuel A. Wilmot, the son of his younger son William, was a member ofthe Legislative Assembly, and leader of the Liberal party; becameAttorney-General, and afterwards Chief Justice, and ultimatelyLieutenant-Governor of the province. He had for many years beensuperintendent of the Sunday-school, and leader of the choir in the(Methodist) Church to which he belonged, and continued to discharge theduties of both offices during the five years that he wasLieutenant-Governor, and until his death, which occurred suddenly inMay, 1878. I have not space to extend these notices of individual combatants in theAmerican Revolution, though I might add scores to the number of those Ihave already noticed, equally loyal and courageous, and equal in theirenergy, sacrifices and sufferings in fleeing to Canada from AmericanRepublican persecution, far beyond anything endured by the Pilgrim andPuritan Fathers of New England, to whose enterprise, energy, andprivations I have done ample justice in the first volume of thishistory. The Loyalists fled to Canada, and settled chiefly in Lower Canada, onthe northern banks of the St. Lawrence, between Montreal and Kingston, on the Bay of Quinté, Prince Edward, the frontiers of the Niagaradistrict, and the northern shores of Lake Erie. In the following chapterI will present an epitome of the immigration of the first Loyalists tothe Bay of Quinté, to the Niagara frontier, and to the northern shoresof Lake Erie, especially of what was called the "Long Point" country, their modes of struggling their way thither, the privations and laboursof their early settlement. I will here add a few passages from Dr. Canniff's _Settlement of Upper Canada, with Special Reference to BayQuinté_, in regard to the Loyalists fleeing into Lower Canada, andmaking their way up the St. Lawrence to Kingston and Bay Quinté. "The batteaux, " says the late Sheriff Sherwood, of Brockville, "by whichthe refugees emigrated were principally built at Lachine, nine milesfrom Montreal. They were calculated to carry four or five families, withalmost two tons weight. Twelve boats constituted a brigade, and eachbrigade had a conductor, with five men in each, one of whom steered. Theduty of the conductor was to give directions for the safe management ofthe boats, to keep them together, and when they came to a rapid theyleft a portion of the boats in charge of one man. The boats ascendingwere doubly manned, and drawn by a rope fastened at the bow of the boat, having four men in the boat with setting poles; thus the men walkedalong the side of the river, sometimes in the water or on the edge ofthe bank, as circumstances occurred. Having reached the head of therapids the boats were left with a man, and the other men went back forthe other boats;" and so they continued until the rapids were mounted. Lachine was the starting place--a place of some twenty dwellings. It was by these batteaux that the Loyalist refugee officers and theirfamilies, as well as the soldiers and their families, passed from theshores of Lake Champlain, from Sorel and St. Lawrence, where they hadtemporarily lived, to Upper Canada. It was also by these or theSchenectady or Durham boat that the pioneer Loyalists made their wayfrom Oswego. "Thus it is seen that to gain the northern shore of the St. Lawrence andLake Ontario was a task of no easy nature, and the steps by which theLoyalists came were taken literally inch by inch, and were attended byhard and venturesome labour. Records are not wanting of the severehardships endured by families on their way to their wooded lands. Supplied with limited comforts, perhaps only the actual necessaries oflife, they advanced slowly by day along dangerous rapids, and at nightrested under the blue sky. But our Loyalist forefathers and mothers weremade of stern stuff, and all was borne with noble heroism. "This toilsome mode of travelling continued for many a year. JohnFerguson, writing in 1788 from Fredericksburg, Bay Quinté, to a friendin Lachine, Lower Canada, says of his journey: 'After a most tediousand fatiguing journey I arrived here, nineteen days on the way, sometimes for whole days up to the waist in water or mire. ' But theaverage time required to ascend the rapids was from ten to twelve days, and three or four to descend. "With the later coming loyal refugees was introduced another kind offlat bottomed boat. It was generally small, rigged with an ungainlysail; and usually built in the town of Schenectady; hence its name. Schenectady is a German word, and means _pine barren_. Families about tocome to Canada would build one or more of these boats to meet theirrequirements. "The Loyalists not only came in summer, by batteaux or the Schenectadyboat, but likewise in winter. They generally followed, as near aspossible, some one of the routes taken in summer. To undertake totraverse a wilderness with no road, and guided only by rivers andcreeks, or blazed trees, was no common thing. Several families wouldsometimes join together to form a train of sleighs. They would carrywith them their bedding, clothes, and the necessary provisions. We havereceived interesting accounts of winter journeyings from Albany alongthe Hudson, across to the Black River country, and to the St. Lawrence. Sometimes the train would follow the military road, along by Champlain, St. George, as far as Plattsburg, and then turn north to the St. Lawrence, by what was then called the Willsbury wilderness, and'Chataquee' woods. At the beginning of the present century there was butone tavern through all that vast forest, and that of the poorestcharacter. Indeed, it is said that while provision might be procured forthe horses, none could be had for man. Those who thus entered Canada inwinter found it necessary to stay at Cornwall until spring. Two or moreof the men would foot it along the St. Lawrence to the Bay Quinté, andat the opening of navigation, having borrowed a batteau, descend toCornwall for the women, children, and articles brought with them. Whilethe families and sleighs were transported in the batteaux, the horseswere taken along the shore by the larger boys, if such there were amongthem. The French train was occasionally employed in these winterjourneys. It consisted of a long rude sleigh, with several horsesdriven tandem style; this allowed the passage among the trees to be mademore easily. "Travellers from Montreal to the west would come by a batteau, or Durhamboat, to Kingston. Those who had business further west, says Finkle, 'were conveyed to Henry Finkle's, in Ernest Town, where they commonlystopped a few days. Thence they made their journey on horseback. A whiteman conducted them to the River Trent, where resided Colonel Bleecker, who was at the head and had control of all Mississauga Indians, andcommanded the entire country to Toronto. At this place the traveller wasfurnished with a fresh horse, and an Indian guide to conduct him throughan unsettled country, the road being little better than a common Indianpath, with all its windings. The road continued in this state untilabout the year 1798. Sometimes the traveller continued his journeyaround the head of Lake Ontario, on horseback, to Queenston, whereresided Judge Hamilton. " FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 138: An interesting incident occurred in the early life ofMrs. Morris--no other than that Washington desired to become hersuitor--a fact which rests on the highest authority. In Sparks' Life ofWashington there is the following passage: "While in New York, in 1756, Washington was lodged and kindly entertained at the house of Mr. Beverley Robinson, between whom and himself an intimacy of friendshipsubsisted, which indeed, continued without change till severed by theiropposite fortunes twenty years afterwards in the revolution. It happenedthat Miss Mary Phillipse, a sister of Mrs. Robinson, and a young lady ofrare accomplishments, was an inmate of the family. The charms of thelady made a deep impression upon the heart of the Virginia colonel. Hewent to Boston, returned, and was again welcomed to the hospitality ofMr. Robinson. He lingered there till duty called him away; but he wascareful to entrust his secret to a confidential friend, whose letterskept him informed of every important event. In a few months intelligencecame that there was a rival in the field, and that consequences couldnot be answered for if he delayed to renew his visits to New York. Whether time, the bustle of the camp, or the scenes of war, hadmoderated his admiration, or whether he despaired of success, is notknown. He never saw the lady again, till she was married to that samerival, Captain Morris, his former associate in arms, and one ofBraddock's aide-de-camps. "] CHAPTER XLI. FIRST SETTLEMENT OF LOYALISTS IN THE BRITISH PROVINCES, ESPECIALLY UPPERCANADA--THEIR ADVENTURES AND HARDSHIPS, AS WRITTEN BY THEMSELVES ORTHEIR DESCENDANTS. In 1861 I addressed a printed circular to the United Empire Loyalistsand their descendants in the British Provinces of North America, statingthe design and scope of the history I proposed to write respecting them, in compliance with a call which had been made upon me by the press andmembers of all parties, and requesting the surviving Loyalists and theirdescendants to communicate to me, at my expense, any letters or papersthey might possess which would throw light upon the early history of thefathers and founders of our country. This chapter contains the letters and papers which I received in answerto my circular. These letters and papers, with repetitions of someincidents, contain, in a variety of style, statements and narratives ofa remarkable character, and of intense interest, and introduce thereader to the inner life and privations of the bold, self-denying, andenergetic pioneers of Canada and of other British provinces. _First Settlement of the First Company of Loyalists, after the close ofthe Revolutionary War. _ Letter from the Rev. Dr. Richardson, late Bishop of the MethodistEpiscopal Church in Canada: "_To the Rev. Dr. Ryerson. _ "DEAR SIR, -- "The following is the narrative of which I spoke to you, relative to theearly settlement of Upper Canada, as related to me by the late Mr. JohnGrass, of the Township of Kingston, some years since, and which yourequested might be furnished for insertion in your forthcoming historyof _our_ country. I give it to you as near as may be in Mr. Grass's ownwords. The old gentleman, his father, I knew well when I was a boy; hisresidence was next to my father's for several years in Kingston. He wasa genuine sample of an honest, plain, loyal German. The narrator wasabout eleven years old at the time he migrated with his father and thecompany of Loyalists from New York to 'Frontenac, ' and therefore had adistinct recollection of all the incidents he relates. Being seated inhis parlour one evening, while partaking of his hospitality, theconversation naturally turned on events connected with the firstsettlement of the township of Kingston and its early inhabitants, mostof whom had descended to their graves; Mr. Grass was led to state asfollows: "My father had been a prisoner among the French at Frontenac (nowKingston), in the old French war, and at the commencement of theAmerican revolution he resided in a farm on the borders of the NorthRiver, about thirty miles above New York. Being solicited by GeneralHerkimer to take a captain's commission in the American service, hereplied, sternly and promptly, that he had sworn allegiance to one King, meaning George the Third, and could not violate his oath, or serveagainst him. "For this he was obliged to fly from his home and take refuge within NewYork, under British protection. His family had soon to follow him, beingdriven from their home, which by the enemy was dilapidated and brokenup. They continued in that city till the close of the war, living ontheir own resources as best they could. On the return of peace, theAmericans having gained their independence, there was no longer any homethere for the fugitive Loyalists, of which the city was full; and theBritish Governor was much at a loss for a place to settle them. Many hadretreated to Nova Scotia or New Brunswick; but this was a desperateresort, and their immense numbers made it difficult to find a home forthem all, even there. In the meantime, the Governor, in his perplexity, having heard that my father had been a prisoner among the French atFrontenac, sent for him and said: 'Mr. Grass, I understand you havebeen at Frontenac, in Canada. Pray tell me what sort of a country is it?Can people live there? What think you?' My father replied: 'Yes, yourExcellency, I was there a prisoner of war, and from what I saw I thinkit a fine country, and that people might live there very well. ' 'Oh! Mr. Grass, ' exclaims the Governor, 'how glad I am to hear that, for the sakeof these poor Loyalists. As they cannot all go to Nova Scotia, and I amat a loss how to provide for them, will you, Mr. Grass, undertake tolead thither as many as may choose to accompany you? If so, I willfurnish a conveyance by Quebec, and rations for you all till such timeas you may be able to provide for yourselves. ' My father requested hisExcellency to allow him three days to make up his mind. This wasgranted, and accordingly, at the expiration of the three days, my fatherwent to the Governor and said he would undertake it. Notices were thenposted up through the city, calling for all that would go to Frontenacto enrol their names with Mr. Grass; so in a short time the company ofmen, women, and children was completed, a ship provided and furnished, and off they started for the unknown and far distant region, leaving thehomes and friends of their youth, with all their endearingrecollections, behind them--the fruits of all their former toil andsuffering--a sacrifice to their loyalty. The first season they got nofurther than Sorel, in Lower Canada, where they were obliged to erectlog huts for the winter. Next spring they took boats, and proceeding upthe St. Lawrence, at length reached _Frontenac_, and pitched their tentson _Indian Point_, where the marine docks of Kingston now stand. Herethey awaited the surveying of the lands, which was not accomplished soas to be ready for location before July. In the meantime several othercompanies had arrived by different routes under their respectiveleaders, who were all awaiting the completing of the surveys. TheGovernor, also, who by this time had himself come to Quebec, paid them avisit, and riding a few miles along the lake shore on a fine day, exclaimed to my father: 'Why, Mr. Grass, you have indeed got a finecountry! I am really glad to find it so. ' While the several companieswere together waiting for the survey, some would say to my father: 'TheGovernor will not give you the first choice of the townships, but willprefer Sir John Johnson and his company, because he is a great man. 'But my father replied that he did not believe that, for if the Governorshould do so he should feel himself injured and would leave the country, as he was the first man to mention it to the Governor in New York, andto proceed hither with his company for settlement. "At length the time came, in July, for the townships to be given out. The Governor came, and having assembled the companies before him, calledfor Mr. Grass, and said: 'Now, you were the first person to mention thisfine country, and have been here formerly as a prisoner of war. You musthave the first choice. The townships are numbered first, second, third, fourth, and fifth. Which do you choose?' My father says: 'The _first_township (Kingston). ' Then the Governor says to Sir John Johnson, 'Whichdo you choose for your company?' He replies, 'The _second_ township(Ernest Town). ' To Colonel Rogers, 'Which do you choose?' He says, 'The_third_ township (Fredericksburg). ' To Major Vanalstine, 'Which do youchoose?' He replies, 'The _fourth_ township (Adolphustown). ' ThenColonel M'Donnell, with his company, got the fifth township(Marysburgh). So after this manner the first settlement of Loyalists inCanada was made. "But before leaving, the Governor very considerately remarked to myfather, 'Now, Mr. Grass, it is too late in the season to put in anycrops. ' What can you do for food? My father replied, 'If they werefurnished with turnip seed, they might raise some turnips. ' 'Very well, 'said the Governor, 'that you shall have. ' Accordingly from Montreal hesent some seed, and each man taking a handful thereof, they cleared aspot of ground in the centre of where the town of Kingston now stands, and raised a fine crop of turnips, which served for food the ensuingwinter, with the Government rations. "The above is at your service. "With much respect, "JAS. RICHARDSON. "Clover Hill, Toronto, 1st December, 1859. " Transmitted to the Author by a gentleman in Nova Scotia, taken from the"Political Magazine, " published in London 1783: "When the loyal refugees from the Northern provinces were informed ofthe resolution of the House of Commons against offensive war with therebels, they instantly saw there were no hopes left them of regainingtheir ancient settlements, or of settling down again in their nativecountry. "Those of them, therefore, who had been forward in taking up arms, andin fighting the battles of the mother country, finding themselvesdeserted, began to look out for a place of refuge, and Nova Scotia beingthe nearest place to their old plantations, they determined on settlingin that province. Accordingly, to the number of 500 embarked forAnnapolis Royal; they had arms and ammunition, and one year'sprovisions, and were put under the care and convoy of his Majesty's shipthe _Amphitrite_, of 24 guns, Captain Robert Briggs. This officerbehaved to them with great attention, humanity, and generosity, and sawthem safely landed and settled in the barracks at Annapolis, which theLoyalists soon repaired. There was plenty of wild fowl in the country, and at that time, which was last fall, a goose sold for two shillings, and a turkey for two shillings and sixpence. The captain was at £200expense out of his own pocket in order to render the passage and arrivalof the unfortunate Loyalists in some degree comfortable to them. BeforeCaptain Briggs sailed from Annapolis, the grateful Loyalists waited onhim with the following address: "_To Robert Briggs, Esquire, Commander of His Majesty's Ship'Amphitrite. '_ "The loyal refugees who have emigrated from New York, to settle in NovaScotia, beg your acceptance of their warmest thanks for the kind andunremitted attention you have paid to their preservation and safeconduct at all times during their passage. "Driven from their respective dwellings for their loyalty to our King, after enduring innumerable hardships, and seeking a settlement in a landunknown to us, our distresses were sensibly relieved during anuncomfortable passage by your humanity, ever attentive to ourpreservation. "Be pleased to accept of our most grateful acknowledgments, so justlydue to you and the officers under your command, and be assured we shallremember your kindness with the most grateful sensibility. "We are, with the warmest wishes for your health, happiness, and a prosperous voyage, "With the greatest respect, "Your most obedient humble servants, "In behalf of the refugees, "AMOS BOTSFORD, "TH. WARD, "FRED. HANSIR, "SAM. CUMMINS, "ELIJAH WILLIAMS. [139] "Annapolis Royal, the 20th of October, 1782. " _Letter with Enclosure from the Hon. R. Hodgson, Chief Justice of PrinceEdward Island. _ "CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island, 12th June, 1861. "SIR, -- "I recently perused, in a newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, called the 'British Colonist, ' a statement to the purport that youcontemplate publishing a history of 'The British United Empire Loyalistsof America, ' and have issued a circular to the descendants of theLoyalists, asking for information relating to the lives and adventuresof their forefathers. "I have not seen your circular, and possibly the whole thing may be amere newspaper fabrication; but it is stated so circumstantially as tocarry with it an air of truth, and I have been induced to copy a briefmemoir of my maternal grandfather, Lieut. -Colonel Joseph Robinson, inhis own handwriting, now in my possession, and to enclose it to youherewith, to be made use of as you think fit in your intendedpublication. The memoir would appear, from a statement contained in it, to be written in obedience to some order from the then Secretary at War, possibly calling upon the Loyalists in receipt of half-pay from theBritish Government for a record of their services, to meet parliamentaryenquiry; it is marked on the back of the draft, in Colonel Robinson'shandwriting, as 'transmitted. ' He died in this Island (formerly St. John's Island, now Prince Edward Island) in 1808 or 1809. ColonelRobinson was a native of Virginia, and emigrated from somewhere aboutJames River, in that province, to South Carolina, where he resided atthe commencement of the revolution. After a reward had been offered forhis life, as stated in his memorial, and he had been compelled toabscond, a party of rebels visited his plantation and burned to theground his dwelling-house and every building upon it, scarcely givingtime to my grandmother (as she has often told me) to drag out of thehouse her two female children in time to save their lives. Mygrandmother was a woman of heroic spirit, and she, accompanied by asingle faithful negro slave, made her way on horseback, in an overlandjourney of several hundred miles, to East Florida, where she joined herhusband. In this journey she carried one of her children before her onthe same horse, and the negro man carried the other in the same way onthe horse he rode. "At the termination of the contest, my grandfather's property, a largeand valuable one, was confiscated by the victors, and he embarked withhis family for the island of Jamaica, was unfortunately shipwrecked bythe way, and lost every particle of property he had left, he, his wifeand children, with difficulty escaping drowning. After a short residencein that island he emigrated to St. John's, in the Province of NewBrunswick, and ultimately came to this island. "He was a member of the House of Assembly of this colony, and itsSpeaker afterward; an Assistant-Justice of the Supreme Court, and memberof the Executive Council, such Council at that time also exercisinglegislative functions. These last-named offices of Judge and member ofCouncil he held up to his decease. "I was much too young at his death to be enabled to say anything of mypersonal knowledge of him; but from his papers which I have perused, Iam warranted in saying that he was a man of a refined mind, an excellentclassical scholar, with a great taste for astronomy, and possessing noordinary talent in that science, which seems to have amused and occupiedhis mind in his latter years. The only reward he received was thehalf-pay of a lieutenant-colonel (his Judgeship was an honorary one, having no salary or emolument); this he enjoyed up to the period of hisdecease. "I have somewhat hurriedly put together these observations. You may relyupon the truth of the facts stated, and they are at your service ifcoming within the scope and meaning of your intended history. At thesame time, if the thing be a newspaper hoax, I must beg you to excusethe liberty I have taken in addressing you, and please burn this and thecopy of the memoir. "I have the honour to be, Sir, "Your obedient servant, "R. HODGSON, "_Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island. _" _Report of Joseph Robinson, Lieutenant-Colonel of the late Regiment ofSouth Carolina Royalists, now residing in the Island of St. John, in theGulf of St. Lawrence. _ "To the Right Honourable William Wyndham, Secretary at War. "At the commencement of the American rebellion, I was an inhabitant ofthe Province of South Carolina, and major of a regiment of the King'sMilitia in Cambden District. "The insurgents formed a camp in Ninety-six district, and wererecruiting men, declaring that as soon as they had forces sufficient fortheir purpose they would burn and destroy the houses and property of allpersons who refused to join them in opposing the King and the authorityof Great Britain. "I then waited upon Lord William Campbell, the Governor of the Province, and received written orders from his lordship to levy forces and marchagainst the rebels, in consequence of which I advanced with about 2, 000men, and found them fortified at Ninety-six Court-house. We defeatedthem and destroyed their fortifications. "But in the meantime the violence of the insurgents obliged Lord WilliamCampbell to depart from his Province, and our small army of RoyalVolunteers was left without further orders, money, or military stores;wherefore, with much reluctance, I was under the necessity of desiringthe men to return to their respective habitations, and by all means notto suffer any false pretences of the rebel party to deceive them, or toefface their principles of loyalty, until we should enjoy a morefavourable opportunity. "A reward being then offered for my life, personal safety induced me toretire to the Cherokee Indian nation, afterwards to the Creek Indians, and, passing through many dangers and suffering various hardships, atlength arrived at Saint Augustine, in the Province of East Florida, inthe year 1777. Soon afterwards, a party of about 300 men, being some ofthose I formerly commanded in South Carolina, joined me there. "I formed the regiment, which was styled the South Carolina Royalists, of which General Prevost appointed me lieutenant-colonel, and soon afterI received my commission from Sir Henry Clinton, the Commander-in-Chief. "The said regiment acted in East Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, in the course of which service I was in several engagements against theenemy--viz. , at the Alligator Bridge, in East Florida; at DoctorBrimstone's Plantation, in Georgia; at New Port Meeting-house, inGeorgia; at New Port Bridge, in Georgia; at Stone Ferry, in SouthCarolina; and afterwards at the reduction of Sunbury Fort, in theProvince of Georgia, and the fortifications of Charlestown, in SouthCarolina. The order from the office of the Secretary at War was not seenor known by me until the 24th of April, 1797; and that I am nowfifty-five years of age. (Signed) "JOSEPH ROBINSON, "_Lieut. -Colonel of the late South Carolina Royalist Regiment. _ "Charlottetown, Island of St. John, "April 26th, 1797. "Half-pay commenced 7th November, 1783. " _Letter from Colonel John C. Clark, respecting his Father's Sufferingsin the Revolutionary War, and Settlement in the Midland District. _ "ERNEST TOWN, July 9th, 1861. "Rev. Egerton Ryerson, D. D. "REVEREND SIR, -- "Having seen your circular, I write to inform you of my late father'sconnection with the war of the revolution in the then British colonies. My father, Robert Clark, Esq. , late of the township of Ernest Town, inthe county of Addington, deceased, was born March 16th, 1744, on QuakerHill, in Dutchess county, and Province of New York. He learned the tradeof carpenter and millwright, and was the owner of two farms. When thewar commenced, his loyal proclivities made it dangerous for him toremain at home, and he joined the British standard as a volunteer in1776. He had a few opportunities of visiting his family privately, whoconsisted then of a wife and two children (boys); another son was bornduring his absence, who was called Robert (after his father), on whichoccasion the nurse--being a violent _Tory_--whispered the secret to someof the rebels' wives in the vicinity, that Robert Clark was at home, well knowing the secret would be divulged; and for several days andnights after 'there were liers-in-wait' about the house to capture theTory when he made his exit. At length the said nurse told them they hadbeen hoaxed. "I have a powder-horn now in my possession, which my father owned in thetime of the war, with his name cut on it, with the date 'Fort Edward, November 4th, 1776. ' His family were driven from their home and hislands confiscated. Being with General Burgoyne's army on the 16th ofOctober, 1777, the day previous to the general's surrender of his armyto Generals Gates and Arnold, Burgoyne mustered the provincialvolunteers, and told them that he was obliged to surrender his army;that they must leave the camp that night, and, if possible, avoid thearmy, and try to find their way to Canada. "They left accordingly, and after some weeks of great suffering andprivation, my father reached Canada. He subsequently served two years inhis Majesty's provincial regiment called 'Loyal Rangers, ' commanded byMajor Edward Jessup, and was in Captain Jonathan Jones' company, and wasdischarged the 24th of December, 1783. "In 1782-83 he was employed by Government to erect the Kingston Mills(then Cataraqui), preparatory to the settlement of the Loyalists in thissection of the Province of Quebec. While there employed, his wife andthree children arrived in Canada, in the autumn of 1783; they winteredat Sorel, where they all were afflicted with the small-pox, and beingentirely among strangers, most of whom spoke a language not understoodby them, they were compelled to endure more than the usual amount ofsuffering incident to that disease; the husband being at a distance, andin the employ of Government, could not leave to administer to theirnecessity. "In 1784 his family joined him at the Mills, after immense suffering, having been separated by the vicissitudes of war for the term of _sevenyears_. "In 1785 he removed with his family to lot No. 34, in the 1st concessionof Ernest Town (where he had three children born, and of the six I amthe only survivor), in which year he was again employed by Government tobuild the Napanee Mills. "He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for the (then) district ofMecklenburg in July, 1788, and subsequently an officer in the militia;he joined the first Methodist class formed in Ernest Town by the Rev. William Losee, in 1791, and remained a consistent member during hislife. He died the 17th December, 1823. "If you can glean anything from the above sketch to assist you in yournew work, I shall be much gratified. "I have the honour to be, Rev. Sir, "Your obedient servant, "JOHN C. CLARK. " _Adventures and Sufferings of Captain William Hutchison, and hisSettlement in Walsingham, County of Norfolk; communicated by hisgrandson, J. B. Hutchison, Esquire. _ "In the beginning of the wars of 1776, William Hutchison (mygrandfather) was urged to join the rebel army (he living at that time inNew Jersey); but he boldly declared, _death_ before _dishonour_. Afterbeing harassed about for some time, and leaving a wife and eightchildren to the mercy of their enemies, he with a number of others triedto make their way to the British army, and were followed by a largeforce of the enemy; but when they found themselves so greatlyoutnumbered (being about ten to one), they tried to make their escape toan old barn; but every one of the unfortunate men was caught and hangedbut himself. They did not succeed in finding him, he hiding among thebushes. While he lay hidden among some elder bushes, one of the enemypulled up the bush where he lay, saying 'this would be a d----d goodplace for a----to hide, ' but the shadow falling on him completely hidhim from sight. His captain, James J. Lett, was among the unhappyvictims, grandfather being lieutenant under him at the time. Hiscomrades being all killed, he tried to escape from his covert, but theyhad stationed sentries all around; he could hear them swearing vengeanceon him if they could find him. It being bright moonlight, he could seequite a long distance. He crawled along on his hands and knees across afield, and got into the middle of the road; when the sentries, one oneither side of him, got into a quarrel and came close to him before theysettled their dispute; having done so, they turned to go away; he thenmade his escape and got to the British army. After suffering all thehorrors of a war lasting seven years, losing his property--everythingbut his loyalty--and that, having extended faithfully through the _wholefamily_, is not likely to be lost. His wife and six of his children diedfrom the sufferings consequent upon such a war. Previous to this he hadreceived a captain's commission. After the war closed, he went to NewBrunswick, and remained there fourteen years, coming to Canada in 1801, and settled in the township of Walsingham. My father, AlexanderHutchison, was the only surviving son by his first wife. In the war of1812, my grandfather went out against the enemy with his sons, Alexander, David, and James, in which war my father lost his life. "Hoping you may be able to find something in these fragments which willbe interesting to you, "I remain, with the greatest respect, "Yours most faithfully, "J. B. HUTCHISON. " _Patriotic feelings--Early Settlement of Prince Edward County andNeighbouring Townships. _ Extracts of an address entitled "Scraps of Local History, " delivered byCanniff Haight, Esq. , before the Mechanics' Institute of Picton, March16th, 1859: "If I feel a pride in one thing more than another, it is that I am aCanadian. I rejoice more in being the descendant of these early pioneersof Canada, than if noble blood coursed my veins. I point you back withmore unmitigated pleasure to that solitary log cabin in the wildernesswhich once bordered your fine bay, as the home of my fathers, than Iwould to some baronial castle in other lands. "Is there for honest poverty, That hangs his head, and a' that? "The coward slave we pass him by-- We dare be poor for a' that. For a' that, and a' that, Our toils obscure and a' that;The rank is but the guinea's stamp, The man's the gowd for a' that!' "We love our country. Thousands of sweet recollections cluster round ourchildhood's homes, and as we think of them the words of Scott occur tous: "'Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land;Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned. As home his footsteps he hath turned'---- "What part of the world can you point me to to show such rapid changesas have occurred here? Where among the countries of the earth shall wefind a quicker and more vigorous growth? Seventy years ago thisbeautiful and wealthy county of Prince Edward was one dense and untrodforest. We can hardly realize the fact, that even one century has notpassed away since those strong-hearted men pushed their way into thewilderness of Upper Canada. Were they not heroes? "In the summer of the year 1795, or thereabouts, a company of sixpersons, composed of two married men and their wives, with two smallchildren, pushed a rough-looking and somewhat unwieldy little boat awayfrom the shore in the neighbourhood of Poughkeepsie, and turned its prowup the Hudson. A rude sail was hoisted, but it flapped lazily againstthe slender mast. The two men betake themselves to the oars. The sun wasjust showing his face above the eastern woods as they pulled out intothe river. The boat was crowded with sundry household matters--allcarefully packed up and stowed away; a very small place was left at thestern, and was occupied by the two women and the children. The motherwas a small and delicate-looking creature, well and neatly dressed. Hadyou been there, you would have observed tear after tear dropping fromthe pale cheek, as she bent in silence over her youngest babe; and see, the eyes of that young father, too, are suffused with tears. Why do theyweep? Whither are they bound? Not a word is spoken. They are too sad totalk. Still the oar keeps its measured stroke, and they glide slowlyon, and thus may we follow them day after day. Now and then a gentlebreeze fills the sail, and wafts the small boat on. When the shades ofevening begin to fall around them, they push to shore, and rear atemporary tent. Then the frugal supper is spread upon the green grass, and they gather round it, and forget their toils in speculations uponthe future. But the morrow draws on, with its demands upon theirstrength; so they lay them down to rest. In due course they reachAlbany, then a small Dutch town filled with Dutch people, Dutch comfortsand frugality, and Dutch cabbage. This in those days was one of theoutposts of civilization. Beyond was a wilderness-land but little known. Some necessaries are purchased, and again our little company launchaway. They reach the place where the city of Troy now stands, and turnaway to the left into the Mohawk river, and proceed slowly, and oftenwith great difficulty, up the rapids and windings of the stream. Therich and fertile valley of the Mohawk of to-day was then the home of theIndian. There the celebrated Chief Brant had lived but a short timebefore, but had now withdrawn into the wilds of Western Canada. Thevoyagers, after several days of hard labour and difficulty, emerge intothe little lake Oneida, lying in the north-western part of the State ofNew York, through which they pass with ease and pleasure. The mostdifficult part of their journey had been passed. They reach the Onondagoriver, and soon pass down it to Oswego, then an old fort which theFrench had reared when they possessed the country as a barrier againstthe encroachments of the wily Indian. Several bloody frays have occurredhere, but our friends did not pause to learn their history. Their smallcraft now danced upon the wide bosom of Ontario, but they did not pushout into the lake, and away across it. No; they are careful sailors, andthey believed no doubt 'that small boats should not venture far fromshore, ' and so they wind along it until they reach Gravely Point, nowknown by the more dignified name of Cape Vincent. Here they strikeacross the channel, and thence around the lower end of Wolf Island, andinto Kingston Bay, when they come to shore and transact some business. There were not many streets or fine store-houses in Kingston at thistime. A few log-houses composed the town. An addition was made to theirdiminished stock of eatables, and away they push again. They steer nowup the Bay of Quinté; and what a wild and beautiful scene that must havebeen! Could those toil-worn voyagers have failed to mark it? Why do theyslacken their pace? Why do they so often rest upon their oars and lookaround? Why do they push into this little cove and that? Why do theylaugh and talk more than usual? Perhaps their journey is drawing to anend! We shall see. They go up the bay until they reach township numberfive. This township, now known as Adolphustown, is composed of fivepoints or arms of land, which run out into the bay. They run round threeof these points, and turn down an arm of the bay called Hay-bay, andafter proceeding some two miles pull to shore. Their journey it wouldseem had come to an end, for they begin at once to unload their boat andbuild a tent. The sun sinks down behind the western woods, and they, weary and worn, lay down to rest. Six weeks had passed since we saw themlaunch away in quest of this wilderness home. Look at them, and tell mewhat you think of the prospect. Is it far enough away from the busyhaunts of men to suit you? or would you not rather sing, "'Oh, Solitude, where are the charms Which sages have seen in thy face?Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this horrible place. ' "With the first glimmer of the morning's light, all hands are up and atwork. A small spot is cleared away; trees are felled and a house isbuilt. I fancy that it was not large nor commodious; that the rooms werenot numerous nor spacious. The furniture, I suppose, did not amount tomuch either in quality or quantity; an inventory thereof would probablyrun somewhat after this fashion--a pot or two, perhaps a few quitecommon plates, cups and saucers, knives and forks, a box or two oflinen, a small lot of bed-clothes, etc. , with a "'Chest contriv'd a double debt to pay--A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day. ' "This, ladies and gentlemen, is no fancy sketch, but one drawn from theshadows of the past. You may find hundreds of similar adventures in thepast history of our country. Such was the first home of the young wifewhom I have mentioned. She had once lived in comfort, but by the fateof war the home of a father and husband had been confiscated, and hencethey had sought for a dwelling-place in Canada, when England offeredother homes to those who had fought her battles. A grandchild of thatcouple now stands before you. "We can form no correct idea of the difficulties which beset these earlyinhabitants, nor of the hardships and privations they endured. They werenot unfrequently reduced to the very verge of starvation, yet theystruggled on. Tree after tree fell before the axe, and the smallclearing was turned to immediate account. A few necessaries of life wereproduced, and even these, such as they were, were the beginnings ofcomfort--comfort indeed, but far removed from the idea we associate withthe term. "But time rolled on. The openings in the forest grew larger and wider. The log cabins began to multiply, and the curling smoke told a silentbut cheerful tale. There dwelt a neighbour, miles perhaps away, but aneighbour nevertheless. The term bears a wide difference now-a-days. Ifyou would like an idea of the proximity of humanity and the luxury ofsociety in those days, just place a few miles, say six or eight, ofdense woods between you and your neighbour, and you may get a faintconception of the delights of a home in the woods. "There are some here, I presume, who have heard their parents or theirgrandparents tell of the dreadful sufferings they endured the secondyear after the settlement of the Bay of Quinté country. The Governmentwas to provide food, etc. , for two years. It could hardly be expectedthat men could go into the woods with their families, and clear up andraise enough for their support, the first or even the second year. Thesecond year's Government supply, through some bad management, was frozenup in the lower part of the St. Lawrence, and in consequence the peoplewere reduced to a state of famine. Men willingly offered pretty much allthey possessed for food. I could show you one of the finest farms inHay-bay that was offered to my grandfather for a half hundred of flour, and refused. A very respectable old lady, whom numbers of you knew, butwho some time since went away to her rest--whose offspring, some atleast, are luxuriating in comfort above the middle walks of life--waswont in those days to wander away early in the spring to the woods andgather and eat the buds of the basswood, and then bring an apron orbasketfull home to the children. Glad were they to pluck the rye andbarley heads, as soon as the kernel had formed, for food; and not manymiles from Picton a beef's bone passed from house to house, and wasboiled again and again in order to extract some nutriment. It seemsincredulous, but it is no fiction, and surely no homoeopathist woulddesire to be placed on a lower regimen. "I feel it unnecessary almost for me to tell you that the largestproportion of the first settlers of this province were Americans who hadadhered to the cause of England. After the capture of General Burgoyne, many of the Royalists with their families moved into Canada; and uponthe evacuation of New York, at the close of the war, a still greaternumber followed. A large proportion of these were soldiers, disbandedand left without employ. Some there were who had lost their estates byconfiscation; so that nearly all were destitute and dependent upon theliberality of the country whose battles they had fought, and for whosecause they had suffered. In order, therefore, to reward their loyaltyand relieve their present necessities, as well as to supply some meansof future subsistence, the British Government determined upon makingliberal grants of the land in Upper Canada and other provinces to theAmerican Loyalists. The measure was not only an act of justice andhumanity, but it was sound in policy and has been crowned with universalsuccess. "The grants were made free of expense and upon the following scale: Afield-officer received 5, 000 acres; a captain, 3, 000; a subaltern, 2, 000; and a private soldier, 200 acres. A survey was accordingly made, commencing near Lake St. Francis, then the highest French settlement, and extended along the shores of the St. Lawrence up to Lake Ontario, and thence along the lake, and round the Bay of Quinté. Townships werelaid out, and then subdivided into concessions and lots of 200 acres. These townships were numbered, but remained without names for many yearsafterwards. Of these numbers there were two divisions--one including thetownships below Kingston on the river, east to the St. Francissettlement; the others from Kingston, west to the head of the Bay ofQuinté. This will at once explain to you the reason why the old peopleused to talk of first, second, third, fourth town, etc. , as far back aswe can remember and up to the present. No names were given to thetownships by legal proclamation, as we said before, until long afterthey were settled, and hence the habit was formed of designating them bynumbers. "The settlement of the surveyed portion of the Midland district, sonamed because of its then central position, commenced in the summer of1784. The new settlers were supplied with farming utensils, buildingmaterials, provisions, and some clothing, for the two first years, atthe expense of the nation; and in order that the love of country maytake deeper root in the hearts of these true men, the Governmentdetermined to put a mark of honour, as the Orders of Council expressedit, upon the families who had adhered to the unity of the empire, andjoined the Royal standard in America before the treaty of separation inthe year 1783. A list of such persons was directed in 1789 to be madeout and returned, to the end that their posterity might be discriminatedfrom the future settlers. From these two emphatic words, the Unity ofthe Empire, it was styled the U. E. List, and they whose names wereentered upon it were distinguished as U. E. Loyalists. You are aware ofthe fact that this was not a mere empty distinction, but was, inreality, a title of some consequence; for it not only provided for theU. E. 's themselves, but guaranteed unto all their children, upon arrivingat the age of twenty-one years, 200 acres of land free from all expense. I always look back on these early acts of the English nation with thefathers of this growing Canada with pleasure, and I venerate the memoryof those true and noble-hearted men, who loved their fatherland so wellthat they even preferred to live under the protection of her flag in thewild woods of Canada, and endure hunger and want, than enjoy thecomforts of home under the banner of a rebellious but now independentpeople. And I hope, ladies and gentlemen, that we, the sons anddaughters of those whom our mother country was wont to honour, may neverlove our country and its institutions less than they. "Kingston is the oldest Upper Canadian town by many years. Here thewhite man found his way over a century before any settlement was made orthought of. The crafty and industrious French Governor, De Courcelles, in order to check the encroachments of the Five Nations, despatched amessenger from Quebec to their chiefs, stating that he had some businessof great importance to communicate, and desired them to proceed toCataraqui, where he would meet them. (I observe here that Cataraqui isan Indian name, and means 'Rocks above water. ') As soon as the deputiesof the Indians arrived, a Council was held. The Governor informed themthat he was going to build a fort there, simply to facilitate the tradebetween them and to serve as a depot for merchandise. The chiefs, ignorant of the real intent of the design, readily agreed to aproposition which seemed to be intended for their advantage; but this, so far from being the case, or what the Indians expected, was really tobe a barrier against them in future wars. While measures were beingcompleted to build the fort, Courcelles was recalled and Count deFrontenac sent out in his place. Frontenac carried out the designs ofhis predecessor and completed the fort in 1672, which received andretained his name for many years. Kingston was subsequently substituted, and the county received the name of Frontenac. " _Letters from the late Rev. George J. Ryerse, dated June 12th and June23rd, 1861, give some particulars of his father's coming to Canada, andof the earliest settlement of the London District. _ His father, Colonel Samuel Ryerse, was appointed Lieutenant of thecounty, and authorized to organize the militia and appoint the officers, as also the local civil court, of which he was the first Judge. Thefollowing letters indicate what he sacrificed and endured for hisallegiance to the unity of the empire, and for which allegiance he andthousands of others were banished from the United States and theirproperty confiscated; but the writer has never heard a word from any oneof these veteran Loyalists regretting the part he had taken: "PORT RYERSE, 12th June, 1861. "MY DEAR COUSIN, -- "I received your circular some time since, but, through forgetfulness, Idid not at once give an answer. I am highly gratified with your nobleundertaking, and humbly trust that you may live to succeed and be amplyrewarded. I am sorry that I have no documents that would be of use toyou. You are aware of the staunch loyalty that was inherent in ourparents, that made them sacrifice everything out of regard for theBritish Throne, and endure every privation in their early settlement inthis country. It was in 1794 my father came here, and gave orders to hisfamily that if he should decease while on his way through the UnitedStates, to take his body to British soil for burying. At that time therewere but eight families residing within thirty miles of this place, except Indians; no roads; the nearest mill 100 miles distant by water(at Niagara Falls). My father purchased corn of the Indians at the GrandRiver, thirty miles from home, and carried it home on his shoulders. Afterwards he bought a yoke of oxen of the Indians, and on a tobogginsled put his son, and with his axe and compass made his way through thewoods and streams to his beloved home. Two years afterwards he built asaw mill, and afterwards a grist mill. These nearly proved his ruin, notunderstanding the business, and very little to sustain them; they werebadly built, and proved a bother to him, but still a great help to thesettlement for a long time. Merchandise was so very expensive andproduce so very cheap that the early settlers could barely exist; butthey loved their country, and they have gone to their rest, and I feelproud that so many of their children inherit their spirit. "I am, yours truly, "GEORGE J. RYERSE. "Rev. E. Ryerson. " "PORT RYERSE, 23rd June, 1861. "DEAR COUSIN, -- "Your kind letter I received, and in answer to your suggestions I haveto state that my father was a captain in the New Jersey Volunteersduring the American Revolution; and at its close in 1783, having hisproperty confiscated in the United States, he went to New Brunswick anddrew lands according to his rank as captain; but being disappointed bothin soil and climate, finding it to be sterile and uncongenial, hedetermined to remove to Canada. In the spring of 1794 he started andwent to Long Island, the place where the city of Brooklyn now stands, and there left his family. While on foot, he went to Canada (U. C. ) tobetter his condition by looking out a more congenial place. Havingaccomplished his purpose, he started, at the opening of navigation, withhis family, in company with Captain Bonta's family, first on board asloop (as all was then done by sloops) to Albany, thence by land toSchenectady, where they procured a flat-bottomed boat, in which familiesand baggage were put; thence, with poles and oars, against a strongcurrent, they made their way up the Mohawk river a long distance, untilthey came to a place called Wood Creek, which they again navigated for along-distance toward Lake Ontario, until they approached a stream calledthe Oswego, which to enter they had to draw their boat by hand across aportage (I think some two miles); thence down this stream to the lake toOswego; thence up the lake in this boat westward to the Niagara river;thence up the Niagara as far as Queenston, where again they had to passover a portage of nine miles around the Falls to Chipawa; thence up theriver eighteen miles to Lake Erie; thence up the lake westward eightymiles to the place my father had selected (and which is now my home), arriving here 1st July, 1795. It was in this boat that they went tomill, as before stated to you. A kind Providence furnished plenty offish and game at this early day, or the people could not have survived. The total absence of roads, schools, and religious teachers for manyyears were among the heavy privations that the early settlers had toendure. "I remain, yours truly, "GEORGE J. RYERSE. "Rev. E. Ryerson. " _Historical Memoranda by Mrs. Amelia Harris, of Eldon House, London, Ontario, only daughter of the late Colonel Samuel Ryerse, and sister ofthe late Rev. Geo. J. Ryerse, writer of the foregoing short letters. _ The husband of Mrs. Harris was an active and scientific officer in theRoyal Navy, having been employed with the late Admirals Bayfield andOwen in the survey of the Canadian lakes and rivers, by the Admiralty, during the years 1815 to 1817. It was during the progress of this surveythat Miss Ryerse married. After a few years' residence at Kingston, Mr. And Mrs. Harris returned to a beautiful homestead on Long Point Bay, intending to reside there permanently. In the days of the earlysettlement, a more refined and cultivated society was to be found in thecountry than usually in the towns and villages. Mr. Harris was at onceselected by the various Governments of the day to be the recipient ofvarious Government offices. During the years 1837-38 he took an activepart in quelling the rebellion, and is believed by many to have been thehead and front and organizer of the expedition which sent the steamer_Caroline_ over the Falls. He was the first man on her deck, and thelast to leave, having set her on fire. The late Edward Ermatinger, in his Life of Colonel Talbot, refers to theHarris family as follows: A. D. 1834. "By degrees the officers of the Court removed to London, andMr. Harris was the first to build a house of considerable dimensions ona handsome piece of ground highly elevated above the banks of the RiverThames. This house was long the resort of the first men in Canada, andin this house the venerable founder of the Talbot settlement lay duringhis first serious illness, while on his way to England. Every man ofrank or distinction who visited this part of Canada became the guest ofMr. Harris--the late Lord Sydenham, the various lieutenant-governors andgovernor-generals, and the present Lord Derby, were among the number. " In the following memoranda, which Mrs. Harris wrote more than twentyyears since, at the wish of her children, but not for publication, shegives a graphic and highly interesting account of her father's earlysettlement in Canada, and the circumstances of the first settlers, andthe state of society of that time: "Captain Samuel Ryerse, one of the early settlers in Canada, was thedescendant of an old Dutch family in New Jersey, and both his father andgrandfather held judicial appointments under Kings George II. And III. When the rebellion commenced in 1776, and the British Government wasanxious to raise provincial troops, they offered commissions to anyyoung gentlemen who could enlist a certain number of young men; sixty, Ithink, entitled them to a captaincy. My father, Captain Ryerse, beingpopular in his neighbourhood, found no difficulty in enlisting doublethe number required, and on presenting himself and men at headquarters, New York, was gazetted captain in the 4th Battalion New JerseyVolunteers, in which regiment he served with distinction during theseven years' war. "After the acknowledgment of American Independence by England, and theBritish troops were about to be disbanded, the British Governmentoffered them a free transport to New Brunswick, and a grant of land. When there, little choice was left to those who had sacrificed all forconnection with the mother country. On my father's arrival in NewBrunswick he obtained a lot of land in or near Fredericton, the presentseat of government; and there he met my mother, who was a refugee also, and they were married. "After remaining there several years, his friends entreated him toreturn to New York, holding out great inducements if he would consent todo so. He accepted the offer of his friends and returned, but he soondiscovered that the rancorous, bitter feelings which had arisen duringthe war were not extinct, and that it was too soon for a British subjectto seek a home in the United States. My mother loved her native city, and might not have been induced again to leave it had it not been fordomestic affliction. She brought from the healthy climate of NewBrunswick four fine children, all of whom she buried in New York ineight weeks. She gave birth to four more; three of those had died also, and she felt sure if she stayed there she would lose the only remainingone. Therefore she readily consented to my father's proposal to come toCanada, where his old friend, General Simcoe, was at that time governor. In the summer of 1794 my father and a friend started for Canada. Thejourney was then a most formidable one, and before commencing it willswere made and farewells given, as if a return was more than doubtful. "On his arrival at Niagara he was warmly greeted by his old friend, General Simcoe, who advised him by all means to settle in Canada, holding out many inducements for him to do so. He promised my father agrant of 3, 000 acres of land as a captain in the army, 1, 200 as asettler, and that my mother and each of her sons should have a grant of1, 200, and each of her daughters a grant of 600 acres. "My father was pleased with what he saw of the country, and heard afavourable account of the climate, and decided at once to return asearly the ensuing year as possible. On his return to New York hecommenced making arrangements for his move the ensuing spring. "It would be much easier for a family to go from Canada to China now, than it was to come from New York to Canada then. He had to purchase aboat large enough to hold his family and goods, with supplies ofgroceries for two or three years, with farming utensils, tools, pots, boilers, etc. , and yet the boat must not be too large to get over theportage from the Hudson to the Mohawk. As there were no waggon roadsfrom Albany to the Niagara frontier, families coming to Canada had tocome down the Mohawk to Lake Ontario, and enter Canada in that way. Myfather found it a weary journey, and was months in accomplishing it. "On my father's arrival at Niagara, at that time the seat of government, he called on his Excellency General Simcoe, who had just returned from atour through the Province of Canada West, then one vast wilderness. Heasked General Simcoe's advice as to where he should choose hisresting-place. He recommended the county of Norfolk (better known formany years as Long Point), which had been recently surveyed. "As it was now drawing towards the close of summer, it would require alltheir time to get up a shanty and prepare for the winter. Consequently, arrangements were made immediately for continuing their journey. Theheavy batteau was transported from Queenston to Chippawa, around theFalls, a distance of twelve miles. Supplies were added to those broughtfrom New York, and they once more started on their journey, biddinggoodbye to the last vestige of civilization. They were twelve daysmaking 100 miles--not bad travelling in those days, taking the currentof the river and lake, adverse winds, and an unknown coast intoconsideration. "When my father came within the bay formed by Long Point, he watched thecoast for a favourable impression, and, after a scrutiny of many miles, the boat was run into a small creek, the high banks sloping gradually oneach side. "Directions were given to the men to erect the tent for my mother. Myfather had not been long on shore before he decided that that should behis home. In wandering about, he came to an eminence which would, whenthe trees were felled, command a view of the harbour. He gazed aroundhim for a few moments and said, 'Here I will be buried, ' and there, after fourteen years' toil, he sleeps in peace. "The men my father hired in New York all wished to settle in Canada, andwere glad to avail themselves of an opportunity of coming free ofexpense, and promised to remain with him until he had a log-house built, and had made himself comfortable. He had paid them a great portion oftheir wages in advance, to enable them to get necessaries in New York. Immediately on his arrival at Niagara they left him, with one exception, and went in search of localities for themselves, very little regard atthat time being paid to engagements, and there being no means to enforcethem; consequently, he had to hire fresh hands at Niagara, who were men, like the former, on the look-out for land. After one day's rest atRyerse Creek, they re-embarked, and went fourteen miles further up thebay, to the house of a German settler who had been there two years, andhad a garden well stocked with vegetables. "The appearance of the boat was hailed with delight by those solitarybeings, and my mother and child were soon made welcome, and the bestthat a miserable log-house, or rather hut, could afford was at herservice. This kind, good family consisted of father, mother, one son andone daughter. Mr. Troyer, the father, was a fine-looking old man with aflowing beard, and was known for many years throughout the Long Pointsettlement as 'Doctor Troyer. ' He possessed a thorough knowledge ofwitches, their ways and doings, and the art of expelling them, and alsothe use of the divining rod, with which he could not only find water, but could also tell how far below the surface of the earth preciousmetals were concealed, but was never fortunate enough to discover any inthe neighbourhood of Long Point. Here my father got his goods undershelter and left my mother, and returned to Ryerse Creek, intending tobuild a log-house as soon as possible. Half a dozen active men willbuild a very comfortable primitive log-house in ten or twelve days; thatis, cut and lay up the logs and chink them, put on a bark roof, cutholes for the windows and door, and build a chimney of mud and sticks. Sawing boards by hand for floor and doors, making sash and shingles, isan after and longer process. "But soon after my father returned he fell ill with Lake fever; his menerected a shanty, open in front like an Indian camp, placed my father init, and left him with his son, a lad of fifteen years of age, the son ofa former wife, as his only attendant. When my father began to recover, my half brother was taken ill, and there they remained almost helpless, alone for three weeks. "My mother hearing nothing of or from them, became almost frantic, assome of the party were to have returned in a few days. She prevailedupon Mike Troyer, the son, to launch his bark canoe, and to take her andmy brother, then a year and a half old, in search of my father. Onapproaching Ryerse Creek, after a many days' paddle along the coast, they saw a blue smoke curling above the trees, and very soon my motherstood in front of the shanty, where my father sat with a stick, turningan immense turkey, which hung, suspended by a string, before a brightfire. The day previous, a large flock of wild turkeys had come very nearhis camp, and commenced fighting. Without moving from his shanty, hekilled six at one shot. He afterwards, at single shots, killed eightmore, and the united strength of him and my brother was scarcelysufficient to bring them into camp. My mother used to look back uponthat evening as one of the happiest of her life. She had found her lovedones, after torturing her mind with all sorts of horrors--Indians, wildbeasts, snakes, illness, and death had all been imagined. The next day, Mike Troyer's canoe was laden with wild turkeys, and he returned alone, as my mother refused to separate herself again from my father. A fewdays after, a party of pedestrians arrived, on the look-out for land, and they at once set to work and put up the wished-for log-house orhouses, for there were two attached, which gave them a parlour, twobedrooms, and a kitchen and garret. On removing from the shanty to thishouse, my mother felt as if in a palace. They bought a cow from Mr. Troyer and collected their goods, and when cold weather set in they werecomfortable. "My father found it necessary to return to Niagara to secure the patentfor the lands he had selected, and also to provide for wants notpreviously known or understood. The journey was long and tedious, travelling on foot on the lake shore, and by Indian paths through thewoods, fording the creeks as he best could. At the Grand River, or RiverOuse, there was an Indian reservation of six miles on each side of theriver from its mouth to its source, owned by two tribes of Indians, Mohawks and Cayugas, whose wants were well supplied with very littleexertion of their own, as the river and lake abounded with fish, thewoods with deer and smaller game, and the rich flats along the riveryielded abundance of maize with very little cultivation. They were kindand inoffensive in their manner, and would take the traveller across theriver, or part with their products for a very small reward. "On my father's application for the lots he had chosen, he was told bythe Council that the two at Ryerse Creek could only be grantedconditionally, as they possessed very valuable water privileges, andthat whoever took them must build both a flour and a saw-mill. My fatheraccepted the conditions, secured the grant for his own lands, but leftmy mother's for a future day, and at once made arrangements forpurchasing the necessary material for his mills--bolting cloths, mill-stones, iron, and screws, etc. --and then with a back load of twine, provisions for his journey, and his light fusee, he commenced his returnhome, where he arrived in good health, after an absence of twelve days. It is only the settlers in a new country that know what pleasure a safereturn can give. "Long Point now boasted four inhabitants in twenty miles, all settled onthe lake shore. Their nearest neighbour, Peter Walker, at the mouth ofPatterson's Creek [now Port Dover], was three miles distant by water andsix by land. But from this time, 1795, for several years to come, therewas a constant influx of settlers. "Few days passed without some foot traveller asking a night's rest. Themost of the travellers would set to work cheerfully for a few days, andassist in cutting roads, making sheds, sawing boards, or felling timber. The winter was now fast approaching, and much was to be done inpreparation for the coming spring. My father succeeded in hiring five orsix men for as many months. The great object was to get some landcleared, so that they could plant maize, potatoes, and garden vegetablesfor the next year's consumption. They had also to make preparations forsugar-making, by hollowing out troughs, one to each tree that wastapped, sufficiently large to hold the sap that would run in one day. "Their evenings were devoted to netting the twine, which my father hadpurchased at Niagara for that purpose. My mother hired Barbara Proyer asa help, and time passed less heavily than she had imagined. My fatherhad brought with him a sufficient quantity of flour and salt pork tolast them a year; for fresh meat and fish he depended upon his gun andspear, and for many years they had always a good supply of both. Myfather had a couple of deer-hounds, and he used to go to the woods forhis deer as a farmer would go to his fold for a sheep. Wild turkey andpartridge were bagged with very little skill or exertion, and when thecreek and lake were not frozen he need scarcely leave his own door toshoot ducks; but the great sporting ground--and it is still famous, andthe resort of sporting gentlemen from Toronto, London, and indeed allparts of Canada West--is at the head of Long Point Bay. I have knownhim, several years later, return from there with twenty wild geese andone hundred ducks, the result of a few days' shooting. Pigeons were soplentiful, so late as 1810 and 1812, that they could be knocked downwith poles. Great would have been the sufferings of the early settlershad not a kind and heavenly Father made this provision for them. Butdeer were not the only animals that abounded in the woods; bears andwolves were plentiful, and the latter used to keep up a most melancholyhowl about the house at night, so near that my mother could scarcely bepersuaded that they were not under the window. The cow, for security, was tied to the kitchen door every night; during the day she accompaniedthe men to the field they were chopping, and fed upon browse, which kepther fat and in good heart--the men making a point of felling a mapletree each morning for her special benefit. Their first sugar-making wasnot very beautiful, but they made sufficient of a very bad quality forthe year's consumption. The potatoes gave a great yield; the maize waseaten and destroyed by the racoons; the apple and pear pips grew nicely, as did the peach, cherry, and plum stones, and my mother's balsams andfew flowers from the new rich soil were beautiful. "The summer of 1796 passed away with few incidents at Ryerse Creek, except the arrival of settlers. "This year there was a total failure of the grain crops, not only in thenew settlements, but throughout the United States. The Indians alone hadpreserved the maize from destruction by the racoons, squirrels andbears, which had invaded the settlements by thousands in search of food, as there were no nuts in the woods. The settlers had now to depend uponthe Indians at the Grand River for their bread, and they continued tosell their maize at the same price as formerly, and during the year ofscarcity never raised it. My father procured his year's supply, butthere were no mills; the nearest ones were south of the Short Hills, seventy miles distant. Lucky was the family that owned a coffee mill inthe winter of 1797. My father had a number of hands getting out timberfor his mills and clearing land, and when they returned from their workin the evenings they used to grind in the coffee-mill maize for the nextday's consumption. They soon learned the exact quantity required, andeach man ground his own allowance, dividing that of the rest of thehousehold amongst them. The meal was made into johnny-cakes, eaten hotfor breakfast, cold for dinner, and the remainder in mush with milk forsupper; and upon this fare they enjoyed perfect good health, were alwayscheerful, and apparently happy. "The greatest good-feeling existed amongst the settlers, although theywere of all nations and creeds and no creeds. Many of those families whohad remained neutral during the revolution to save their property, andstill retained their preference for the British Government, now soughthomes in Canada, or assisted their sons to do so. The Quakers andYunkers were amongst the best settlers, as they always brought someproperty with them, and were generally peaceable and industrious. "Lands were so easily obtained, and so much encouragement was given byGovernment to settlers, that many of the half-pay officers and soldierswho had gone to New Brunswick found their way here, as well as many ofthe idle, discontented, dissipated, vicious and worthless of the UnitedStates. But at the Settler's Home all were made welcome; the meals, victuals and night's lodging were freely given to all, and for yearsafter, to my recollection, during the summer season our house was neverfree from travellers; not that there was any particular merit due to ourhospitality, for the man that would have closed his door against atraveller would have been looked upon as worse than a savage. My mother, this summer, had a dreadful alarm, which she used to describe to me withgreat feeling many years after. My little brother (George), for whosesake she had encountered all the privations and hardships of an earlysettler, gave rise to numerous fears and anxieties if he was out of hersight a few minutes. Endless misfortunes might befall him; he might beeaten up by wild beasts; or, he might be stolen by the Indians (theirstealing children not being a very uncommon occurrence in those days, and during the summer season there used to be hundreds encamped on thebeach); or, he might be drowned; or, he might wander away and be lost inthe woods; and he would steal away and follow the men to the field whennot closely watched. One day George was missing, and great was thecommotion. Search was made everywhere, and George's name sounded throughthe forest in every direction. At last his hat was found in the creek. My mother sat perfectly quiet on the bank, with feelings not easilydescribed, while my father probed the deep holes, and thrust his spearunder the driftwood, expecting every time he drew it out to see George'sred frock rise to the surface, when she heard with delight a littlevoice say 'Mamma, ' from the opposite side of the creek. And there wasGeorge, with his little bare head peeping through the bushes, with hispet cat by his side. The reaction was too much for my mother; she fellfainting to the ground. George had lost his hat walking over a log whichthe men used as a bridge. "The settlement was now considered in a most prosperous state; in ahalf-circle of twenty miles, probably there was a population of ahundred. People had ceased to count the families on their fingers, butno census was taken. The mills were fast advancing towards completion. Some few of the settlers grew wheat sufficient for their ownconsumption, and a little to sell; but the squirrels, racoons, andpigeons were very destructive to the grain of the early settlers. A dogthat was trained for hunting the racoons, or a 'coon dog, ' as they werecalled, was of great value, and the young lads, for many years after, used to make coon parties on fine moonlight nights, and go from farm tofarm, killing those animals; and, although the necessity has long passedaway, these parties still continue; and, though a virtue and kindness inthe commencement, have ended in vice, and the coon parties now meettogether to rob orchards and gardens of their best fruit and melons. Onebitter cold night in February, 1798, the household was alarmed by theannouncement of my mother's illness. No assistance was to be had nearerthan three miles; no horses and no roads--only a track through thewoods. Mr. Powel, who had just secured a lot near us, volunteered to goin search of Granny McCall, with the ox-team. After some weary hours'watching, the 'gee haw!' was heard on the return in the woods, and Mrs. McCall soon stood beside my mother, and very soon after the birth of adaughter was announced. That daughter is now making this record of thepast. The settlement was now increasing so fast that the general voicewas for a town, and my father was petitioned to lay one out at the mouthof Ryerse Creek, and was at last prevailed upon to do so, and called itClarence. The first applicant for a lot was a Mr. Corklin, a very goodblacksmith, a mechanic that was very much wanted in the settlement. Hewas a very intelligent young man for his class, and a great favouritewith everyone, although he had one fault, that of indulging in strongdrinks occasionally. He bargained for a lot, and put up a frame for ahouse. My father bought him a set of blacksmith's tools to commencewith, and built him a shop. The next thing was a wife. My mother soonsaw that a tender feeling was growing up between the young blacksmithand her nurse, a pretty girl, to whom she was much attached. My mother'sadvice was against the marriage, on account of his one bad habit; but ofcourse she was not listened to, and they were married. "A few months after the marriage, Mr. Corklin went in a log canoe to thehead of the bay, on business, and was to return the next day; but dayafter day passed, and no Mr. Corklin appeared. At last the poor wife'sanxiety became so great that a messenger was sent in search of him. Hehad been at Dr. Proyer's, but left the day he was expected home. Thealarm was given, and search commenced along the lake shore. They foundhis canoe drifted on shore, laden with game, vegetables and a fewapples, his hat, and an empty bottle that smelt of rum; but he was gone. They supposed that he had fallen overboard without upsetting the canoe. His body they could not find for days after, and his wife used to wanderalong the lake shore, from early dawn until dark, with the hope that shemight find his body. One day she saw a number of birds on a drift logthat was half out of the water. By the side of this log lay the remainsof her husband. The eagles had picked his eyes out, but had onlycommenced their feast. This was the first death in the settlement. Myfather took back the lot, paid for the frame house, kept his smith'stools, and so ended his town. "Upon more mature reflection, he decided that the neighbourhood of asmall town would be the reverse of agreeable, as the first inhabitantswould be those that were too idle to improve a farm for themselves, andbad habits are generally the attendants of idleness, and that he, inplace of being the owner of all, would only be proprietor in common withall the idle and dissipated of a new country. "On my father's arrival in the country he had been sworn in a justice ofthe peace for the London and Western districts--a very extensivejurisdiction over wild lands with few inhabitants; for those districtsembraced all the lands between Lake Erie and Lake Huron, the GrandRiver, and Rivers Detroit and St. Clair. Courts were held at Sandwich, adistance of nearly two hundred miles, without roads, so that magistrateshad to settle all disputes as they best could, perform all marriages, bury the dead, and prescribe for the sick. In addition to the medicinechest, my father purchased a pair of tooth-drawers, and learned to drawteeth, to the great relief of the suffering. So popular did he become inthat way, that in after years they used to entreat him to draw theirteeth in preference to a medical man--the one did it gratuitously, theother, of course, charged. My father put up two or three smalllog-houses which were tenanted by very poor people whose labour herequired. From one of these houses my mother hired a nurse, PollSpragge, who was a merry, laughing, 'who-cares' sort of girl. Upon mymother remarking the scantiness of her wardrobe, which was limited toone garment, a woollen slip that reached from the throat to the feet, Poll related a misfortune which had befallen her a short time before. She then, as now, had but the one article of dress, and it was made ofbuckskin, a leather something like chamois; and when it became greasyand dirty, her mother said she must wash it that afternoon, as she wasgoing visiting, and that Poll must have her slip dry to put on beforeher father and brother returned from the field. During the interval, shemust, of necessity, represent Eve before her fall. Poll had seen hermother, in the absence of soap, make a pot of strong ley from woodashes, and boil her father's and brother's coarse linen shirts in it. She subjected her leather slip to the same process. We all know theeffect of great heat upon leather. When Poll took her slip from the potit was a shrivelled-up mass, partly decomposed by the strong ley. PoorPoll was in despair. She watched for the return of her family with noenviable feelings, and when she heard them coming she lifted a board andconcealed herself in the potato hole, under the floor. Her mother soondiscovered what had befallen Poll, and search was made for her. After atime, a feeble voice was heard from under the floor, and Poll wasinduced to come forth, by the promise of her mother's second petticoat, which was converted into the slip she then wore. She ended her recitalwith a merry laugh, and said now she had got service she would soon getherself clothes. But clothing was one of the things most difficult toobtain then. There were very few sheep in the settlement, and if asettler owned two or three, they had to be protected with the greatestcare, watched by the children during the day that they might not strayinto the woods, and at night penned near the house in a fold, built veryhigh, to secure them from the bears and wolves, which could not alwaysbe done. "There were instances of wolves climbing into pens that they could notget out of. On these occasions they did not hurt the sheep, but werefound lying down in a corner like a dog. It is said that the firstthought of a wolf on entering a fold is how he is to get out again; andif he finds that difficult, his heart fails him and he makes littleeffort. "Wolves were the pests of the country for many years, and, even afterthey were partially expelled by the settlers, they used to makeoccasional descents upon the settlements, and many a farmer that countedhis sheep by twenties at night, would be thankful if he could musterhalf a score in the morning. It was flax, the pedlar's pack, andbuckskins that the early settlers had to depend upon for clothing whentheir first supply was run out. Deerskins were carefully preserved anddressed, and the men had trowsers and coats made of them. Though notvery becoming, they were said to be very comfortable and strong, andsuitable to the work they had to do. Chopping, logging, and clearingwild lands required strong clothing. "One part of the early clearing was always appropriated to flax, andafter the seed was in the ground the culture was given up to the women. They had to weed, pull and thrash out the seeds, and then spread it outto rot. When it was in a proper state for the brake, it was handed overto the men, who crackled and dressed it. It was again returned to thewomen, who spun and wove it, making a strong linen for shirts and plaidfor their own dresses. Almost every thrifty farmhouse had a loom, andboth wife and daughters learnt to weave. The pedlar's pack suppliedtheir little finery, the pack generally containing a few pieces of veryindifferently printed calicoes at eight and ten shillings, New Yorkcurrency, a yard; a piece of book-muslin at sixteen and eighteenshillings a yard, and a piece of check for aprons at a correspondingprice; some very common shawls and handkerchiefs, white cotton stockingsto match, with two or three pieces of ribbon, tape, needles, pins andhorn combs; these, with very little variety, used to be the contents ofthe pedlar's pack. Opening the pack caused much more excitement in afamily then than the opening of a fashionable shopkeeper's show-roomdoes at the present day. "About this time, 1799, a great number of old soldiers, who had servedunder and with my father, found their way to the Long Point Settlement. One of these soldiers had been taken prisoner with my father atCharleston, and when they were plundered of everything he managed toconceal a doubloon in his hair. With this he supplied my father's wants, who was wounded and suffering. My father now exchanged with him one ofhis choice lots, that he might be in the settlement and near a mill; andtook his location, which was far back in the woods. My uncle [JosephRyerson], and several other half-pay officers, came from New Brunswickto visit my father. The pleasure of seeing those loved and familiarfaces, and again meeting those who had fought the same battles, sharedthe same dangers, and endured the same hardships, fatigues, andprivations for seven long years, and had the same hopes and fears, andthe bitter mortification of losing their cause, was indeed great. Howmany slumbering feelings such a reunion awakened! how many long tales ofthe past they used to tell, of both love and war! Those officers thatcame from New Brunswick to visit the country all returned, after a fewyears, as settlers. The climate of Canada was much preferable, and as anagricultural country was very superior. The population was now becomingso great that the Government thought it necessary to have all the malepopulation, between the ages of sixteen and sixty, enrolled in theMilitia. My father was requested to organize a regiment, and torecommend those whom he thought, from their intelligence, good conduct, and former service, most entitled to commissions. He was appointedLieutenant-Colonel of Militia and Lieutenant of the County, a situationthat was afterwards done away with. This duty of selecting officers gaverise to the first ill-natured feelings that had been exhibited towardshim in the settlement. Every man thought he ought to be a captain at theleast, and was indignant that my father did not appreciate his merits. Some threatened to stone him; others, to shoot him. The more moderatedeclared they would not come to his mill, although there was no otherwithin seventy miles. John McCall did not care for my father; he wouldbe a captain without his assistance. He built a large open boat andnavigated her for several years, and gloried in the designation ofCaptain McCall. But, notwithstanding all opposition, the regiment ofmilitia was formed. They used to meet one day in the year for companyexercise, and there was a general muster on the 4th of June, the King'sbirthday, for a general training. These early trainings presented astrange mixture. There were a few old officers, with their fine militarybearing, with their guns and remains of old uniforms; and the oldsoldier, from his upright walk and the way he handled his gun, couldeasily be distinguished, though clothed in home-spun and buckskin, withthe coarse straw hat. The early settlers all had guns of somedescription, except the very juvenile members, who used to carry canesto represent guns. Those trainings used to be looked forward to withintense interest by all the boys of the neighbourhood, and affordedsubjects of conversation for the ensuing year. It was no easy thing inthat day to find a level piece of ground that was tolerably clear fromstumps sufficiently large to serve for their general trainings. "Amongst the early settlers there were very few who could afford to hireassistance of any kind. Those that could pay found it easy to get men aslabourers; but women servants, unless by mere chance, were not to behad. The native American women would not and will not, even at thepresent day, go out to service, although almost any of the otherneighbours' daughters would be glad to go as helps, doing the same workand eating at the table with their mistress. My father, for many years, used occasionally to take the head of the table with his labourers, toshow them he was not too proud to eat with them. My mother was exemptfrom this, but the help ate at her table, which was considered asufficient proof of her humility. Many of those helps of early days havesince become the wives of squires, captains, majors and colonels ofMilitia, and are owners of large properties, and they and theirdescendants drive in their own carriages. "In the summer of 1800 my mother had a very nice help as nurse. JennyDecow had been apprenticed to a relative, and, at the age of eighteen, she received her bed, her cow, and two or three suits of clothing (thosearticles it was customary to give to a bound girl), and was consideredlegally of age, with the right to earn her own living as she best could. "My mother soon discovered that Jenny had a wooer. On Sunday afternoon, young Daniel McCall made his appearance, with that peculiar, happy, awkward look that young lads have when they are 'keeping company, ' as itis called. At that time, when a young man wanted a wife, he looked outfor some young girl whom he thought would be a good help-mate, and, watching his opportunity, with an awkward bow and blush he would ask herto give him her company the ensuing Sunday evening. Her refusal wascalled 'giving the mitten, ' and great was the laugh against any youngman if it was known that he had 'got the mitten, ' as all hopes in thatquarter would be at an end. But young McCall had not got 'the mitten;'and it was customary on those occasions, when the family retired tobed, for the young man to get up and quietly put out the candles, andcover the fire, if any; then take a seat by the side of his lady-love, and talk as other lovers do, I suppose, until twelve o'clock, when hewould either take his leave and a walk of miles to his home, that hemight be early at work, or he would lie down for an hour or two withsome of the boys, and then be away before daylight. Those weekly visitswould sometimes continue for months, until all was ready for marriage. But they did not always end in matrimony. Sometimes those children ofthe woods were gay Lotharios in their way, as well as in more refinedsociety, and it would be discovered that a favourite Adonis was keepingcompany with two or three young girls at the same time, and _vice versa_with some young coquettes. But such unprincipled conduct would furnishgossip for a whole neighbourhood, and be discountenanced by all. Normust you for a moment imagine that there was anything wrong in thissystem of wooing. It was the custom of the country in an early day, andI think it is still continued in settlements remote from towns. But thelives of hundreds of estimable wives and mothers have borne testimony tothe purity of their conduct. When Jenny had been with my mother aboutsix months, young McCall made his appearance in the middle of the week, and my father and some visitors commenced bantering him why he did notmarry at once. Why did he spend his time and wear out his shoes in theway he was doing? He said he would go and talk to Jenny, and hear whatshe said. He returned in a few minutes and said they would be married. In an hour afterwards they were man and wife. They married in theirworking dresses--he in his buckskin trowsers, and she in her home-spun. She tied up her bundle of clothes, received her wages, and away theywalked to their log-house in the woods. Thirty years afterwards theyused to show me some little articles that had been purchased withJenny's wages; and they appeared to look back upon that time withpleasure. They became rich; he was colonel of militia, and some of theirdescendants are worth thousands. During their early struggles, Mrs. McCall was in the field with her husband, pulling flax, when she feltwhat she thought was a severe blow on her foot. A rattlesnake had bittenher. Her husband killed the snake; vulgar prejudice thought that, bykilling the snake, the poison would be less severe. He then put his lipsto the wound, sucked it, and, taking her in his arms, carried her to thehouse. Before he reached it, her foot had swollen and burst. Theyapplied an Indian remedy, a peculiar kind of plantain, which relievedher, but she was years before she perfectly recovered from the effectsof the poison. Two children that were born during that time turnedspotted, became sore and died; but her third child was strong andhealthy, and is still living. These reptiles, that are now almostunknown in the country, were then plentiful. They had a den at the mouthof the Grand River, and there was another at the Falls. For many yearsthe boatmen going up and down Lake Erie used to stop at the mouth of theGrand River for an hour or two's sport, killing rattlesnakes. My fatherand boat's crew, on one of these occasions, killed seventy. The oil ofthe rattlesnake was thought to possess great medicinal virtues. "There was a sad want of religious instruction amongst the earlysettlers. For many years there was no clergyman nearer than Niagara, adistance of 100 miles, without roads. My father used to read the ChurchService every Sunday to his household, and any of the laborers who wouldattend. As the country became more settled, the neighbours used to meetat Mr. Barton's, and Mr. Bostwick, who was the son of a clergyman, usedto read the service, and sometimes a sermon. But there were so fewcopies of sermons to be obtained, that after reading them over somehalf-a-dozen times they appeared to lose their interest. But it was forthe children that were growing up that this want was most severely felt. When the weekday afforded no amusements, they would seek them on Sunday;fishing, shooting, bathing, gathering nuts and berries, and playingball, occupied, with few exceptions, the summer Sundays. In winter theyspent them in skating, gliding down the hills on hand sleighs. And yetcrime was unknown in those days, as were locks and bolts. Theft wasnever heard of, and a kindly, brotherly feeling existed amongst all. Ifa deer was killed, a piece was sent to each neighbour, and they, inturn, used to draw the seine, giving my father a share of the fish. Ifanyone was ill, they were cared for by the neighbours and their wantsattended to. But the emigrant coming to the country in the present daycan only form a very poor idea of the hardships endured by the earlypioneers of the forest, or the feelings which their isolated situationdrew forth. Education and station seemed to be lost sight of in the onegeneral wish to be useful to each other, to make roads and improve thecountry. "I think it was in 1802 that I first saw Colonel Talbot, a distinguishedsettler, who had a grant of lands seventy miles further up the lake, ata place afterwards called Port Talbot, where he had commenced buildingmills. People were full of conjecture as to the cause that could inducea young gentleman of his family (the Talbots of Malahide) and rank inthe army to bury himself in Canada. "He and Sir Arthur Wellesley had been at the same time on the staff ofthe Duke of Buckingham, when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and it was saidthe field of glory was equally open to both. Colonel Talbot afterwardscame to this country, and was on the staff of General Simcoe when hemade a tour through the Upper Province. At that time he selected hisfuture home. Some said that he left the army in disgust at not gettingan appointment that he felt himself entitled to; others, again, saidthat neither Mars nor Venus presided at his birth. But one thing wascertain: he had chosen a life of privation and toil, and right manfullyhe bore the lot he had chosen. When in the army, he was looked upon as adandy; but my first impressions would place him in a very differentlight. He had come to Port Ryerse with a boat-load of grain to be groundat my father's mill. The men slept in the boat, with an awning over it, and had a fire on shore. In front of this fire, Colonel Talbot wasmixing bread in a pail, to be baked in the ashes for the men. I hadnever seen a man so employed, and it made a lasting impression upon mychildish memory. My next recollection of him was his picking a wildgoose, which my father had shot, for my mother to dress for dinner. Thuscommenced an acquaintance which lasted until his death in 1853. "My father, on his arrival at Long Point, promised my mother that if shewould remain contented for six years at Port Ryerse, and give thecountry a fair trial, if she then disliked it, and wished to return toNew York, he would go back with her--that party feeling would by thattime have greatly subsided. My mother now claimed my father's promise. He at once acquiesced, and left it to her to decide when they should go, my father well knowing that however much my mother might wish to return, when left to her to decide, her better judgment would say 'Not yet, ' ashis improvements must all be a sacrifice. To sell his property wasimpossible. My mother postponed the return for a few years, but couldnot relinquish the hope of emerging from the woods, and being once morewithin the sound of the church-going bell. My father's property was fastimproving. He had planted an orchard of apple, peach, and cherry trees, which he procured from Dr. Proyer, whose young trees were a year or twoin advance of his own, and he had procured a few sheep which werepastured in a field immediately in front of the house. But all theirwatching could not preserve them from the wolves. If they escaped by thegreatest care for a year or two, and the flock increased to twenty orthirty, some unlucky day they would find them reduced to ten or a dozen. "A tree sometimes unobserved would fall across the fence, and the sheepwould stray into the woods, which was fatal to them; or, the fasteningto their pen would be left just one unlucky night not secured, and themorning would show a melancholy remainder of the fine flock that hadbeen folded the night before. All of these mishaps were seriousvexations to the early settlers. The mill was a constant draw upon myfather's purse. A part of his lands had been sold at a very low price(but not low at that time)--one dollar the acre--to assist in buildingit, and now it had to be kept in repair. The dam breaking, machinerygetting out of order, improvements to be made, bolting cloths wanted, and a miller to be paid--to meet all this was the toll, every twelfthbushel that was ground. During the summer season the mill would be fordays without a bushel to grind, as farmers got their milling done whenthey could take their grists to the mill on ox-sleds upon the snow. Fewgrew more than sufficient for their own consumption and that of thenew-coming settler; but had they grown more, there was no market, andthe price of wheat, until the war of 1812, was never more than half adollar a bushel; maize, buckwheat, and rye, two shillings (York) abushel. The flour mill, pecuniarily speaking, was a great loss to myfather. The saw-mill was remunerative; the expense attending it wastrifling, its machinery was simple, and any commonly intelligent manwith a day or two's instruction could attend to it. People brought logsof pine, oak, and walnut from their own farms, and my father had halfthe lumber for sawing; and this, when seasoned, found a ready sale, notfor cash (cash dealings were almost unknown), but for labour, produce, maple sugar or anything they had to part with which my father mightwant, or with which he could pay some of his needy labourers. There weresome wants which were almost unattainable with poor people, such asnails, glass, tea, and salt. They could only be procured in Niagara, andcash must be paid for them. There was not yet a store at Long Point. Great were the advantages of the half-pay officers and those who had alittle money at their command, and yet their descendants appear not tohave profited by it. It is a common remark in the country that very manyof the sons of half-pay officers were both idle and dissolute; but I amhappy to say there are many honourable exceptions. At the head of thelist of these stand our present Chief Justice (Sir John Robinson), andDr. Ryerson, the Superintendent of Education, and many others who deemit an honour to be descended from an United Empire Loyalist. From amultiplicity of care, my father had postponed, from time to time, goingto Toronto, or Little York, as it was then called (where the seat ofgovernment had been removed), to secure the grant of land which had beenpromised to his family, until after the departure of his friend GeneralSimcoe, who was succeeded as Governor by General Hunter. "When my father made application to General Hunter, he was told that anorder from the Home Government had limited the grants to the wives andchildren of the U. E. Loyalists to 200 acres each; but said that if theOrder in Council had passed for the larger grants, of course my fathershould have the lands he had selected; but he, not foreseeing thechange, had not secured the order, and General Simcoe's verbal promisecould not be acted upon. "The autumn of 1804 found us still in the original log-house. It hadbeen added to and improved, but the stick chimney had not been replacedby brick, as my father looked forward from year to year to building abetter house in a better situation; but he found so many improvementsactually necessary, and so much to be done each spring and summer, thatalthough a great deal of material had been prepared, the house was notyet commenced. One fine bright morning, as some visitors were takingtheir departure, there was an alarm of fire, and, sure enough, the stickchimney had caught and communicated to the garret, and in a few minutesthe whole of the upper part of the house was in flames. Our visitors, who had not gone beyond the threshold, joined with the family andlabourers in getting out the furniture as fast as possible. Nearlyeverything was saved from the lower part of the house, but all that wasin the garret was lost. The garret had been used as a store-room, andcontained cases which had not been unpacked since they came from NewYork, but were left until a better house could be built. Thesethings--linen, bedding, and some nice little articles of furniture, andvarious little nicknacks which were prized beyond their value--were agreat loss: but the greatest loss was a box or two of books. These werenot to be replaced this side of New York, and to a young family the losswas irreparable. A part of Pope's works, a copy of Milton's ParadiseLost, Buchan's Family Medicine, and a Testament with commentaries, wereall that were saved. A small quantity of plate also, which had not beenunpacked, was found in a very unsatisfactory state. The family tookshelter in a house built for and occupied by the miller and his family, sending them to a smaller tenement. The situation was airy andbeautiful, and, with a few alterations and improvements, was morecomfortable than the first log-house. This my mother rather regretted, as discomfort would have hastened the new house. Although allusions weremade to New York, no time had yet been named for their return. My fatherused to assure my mother and friends that he would go as soon as shesaid the word; yet these remarks were always accompanied by aparticularly humorous expression of countenance. "About this time the London district was separated from the Western, andcomposed what now forms the counties or districts of Middlesex, Elgin, Huron, Bruce, Oxford, and Norfolk. The necessary appointments were made, and the London district held its own courts and sessions at TurkeyPoint, six miles above us on the lake shore. The people, in a mostpatriotic manner, had put up a log-house, which served the doublepurpose of court-house and jail. The courts were held in the upperstory, which was entered by a very rough stairway, going up on theoutside of the building. The jail consisted of one large room on theground floor, from which any prisoner could release himself in half anhour unless guarded by a sentinel. The juries for some years held theirconsultations under the shade of a tree. Doubtless it was pleasanterthan the close lock-up jury-room of the present day. My father, inaddition to his other commissions, was appointed Judge of the DistrictCourt and Judge of the Surrogate Court. Turkey Point is a very prettyplace; the grounds are high, and from them there is a very fine view ofthe bay and lake. General Simcoe had selected it for the county town, and the site of a future city. Now it boasted of one house, an inn keptby Silas Montross. There was also a reservation of land for militarypurposes. But the town never prospered; it was not in a thoroughfare, and did not possess water privileges. Twenty years afterwards itcontained but the one solitary house. The county town was changed to amore favourable situation, Vittoria. My father's young family now gavehim great anxiety. How they were to be educated was a question noteasily solved. Schools there were none, nor was it possible to get atutor. A man of education would not go so far into the woods for thesmall inducement which a private family could offer. "Magistrates were not allowed to marry by license, nor could the partiesbe called in church, for there were no churches in the country. The lawrequired that the parties should be advertised--that is, that the bannsshould be written out and placed in some conspicuous place for threeSundays. The mill door was the popular place, but the young lads wouldendeavour to avoid publicity by putting the banns on the inside of thedoor; others would take two or three witnesses and hold it on the doorfor a few minutes for three successive Sundays, allowing no one buttheir friends to see it. In many places marriages used to be solemnizedby persons not authorized, and in a manner that made their legality verydoubtful; but the Legislature have very wisely passed Acts legalizingall marriages up to a certain date. The marriages that took place at myfather's used to afford a good deal of amusement. Some very odd couplescame to be united. The only fee my father asked was a kiss from thebride, which he always insisted on being paid; and if the bride was atall pretty, he used, with a mischievous look at my mother, to enlargeupon the pleasure that this fee gave him, and would go into rapturesabout the bride's youth, beauty, and freshness, and declare that it wasthe only public duty he performed that he was properly remunerated for. "Application had several times been made to the Rev. Mr. Addison, theonly clergyman in the country, who was living at Niagara, entreating himto come to Long Point and baptize the children. All who had been bornthere remained unbaptized. This summer his promised visit was to takeplace, and was looked forward to with intense anxiety by both parentsand children. I used to discuss it with my elder brother, and wonderwhat this wonderful ceremony of christening could mean. My mother hadexplained it as well as she could, but the mystical washing away of sinwith water, to me was incomprehensible, as was also my being made memberof a Church which was to me unknown. I wondered what God's ministercould be like, and whether he was like my father, whom I looked up to asthe greatest and best of anyone in my little world. At last ParsonAddison arrived, and my curiosity was satisfied on one point, and in myestimation my father stood higher than the clergyman. "The neighbourhood was notified, and all the children, from one month toeight or nine years old, were assembled to receive baptism. The housewas crowded with people anxious to hear the first sermon preached in theLong Point Settlement by an ordained minister. Upon my own mind I mustconfess that the surplice and gown made a much more lasting impressionthan the sermon, and I thought Mr. Addison a vastly more importantperson in them than out of them; but upon the elder part of thecommunity, how many sad and painful feelings did this first sermonawaken, and recall times long past, friends departed, ties broken, homesdeserted, hardships endured! The cord touched produced many vibrations, as Mr. Addison shook hands with every individual, and made some kindinquiry about their present or future welfare. The same God-hopefulsmile passed over every face, and the same 'Thank you, sir, we findourselves every year a little better off, and the country is improving. ''If we only had a church and a clergyman we should have but little tocomplain of. ' But it was a hope deferred for many long years. A Baptistminister, the Rev. Mr. Finch, was the first clergyman who came to thelittle settlement to reside. His meetings were held in different partsof the settlement each Sunday, so that all might have the opportunity ofhearing him if they chose to attend. He preached in houses and barnswithout any reward, labouring on his farm for his support. He, like allthe early Dissenting ministers who came to the province, was uneducated, but possessed and sincerely believed a saving knowledge of the Gospel, and in his humble sphere laboured to do all the good in his power. Manyof the young people joined his Church. He was soon followed by theMethodists. Too much cannot be said in praise of the early ministers ofthese denominations; they bore every privation and fatigue, praying andpreaching in every house where the doors were not closed againstthem--receiving the smallest pittance for their labour. A married manreceived $200 a year and a log-house for his family; an unmarried manhad half that sum, the greater portion of which was paid in home-madecloth and produce. Their sermons and prayers were very loud, forcibleand energetic, and if they had been printed _verbatim_, would havelooked a sad jumble of words. They encouraged an open demonstration offeeling amongst their hearers--the louder the more satisfactory. Butnotwithstanding the criticisms cast upon these early preachers, werethey not the class of men who suited their hearers? They shared theirpoverty and entered into all their feelings; and although unlearned, they taught the one true doctrine--to serve God in spirit and intruth--and their lives bore testimony to their sincerity. In this worldthey looked forward to neither preferment nor reward; all they expectedor could hope for was a miserable subsistence. Nor was it surprisingthat in twenty years afterwards, when the path was made smooth, thechurch built, and the first clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Evans, came, that hefound a small congregation. Every township had one or two Methodist andBaptist chapels. I do not recollect one Roman Catholic family in theneighbourhood. Although the Long Point Settlement was in existencethirty years before we had a resident clergyman of the Church ofEngland, yet I cannot recollect one member who had seceded from theChurch. Many had died, and many communed with the Methodists, who didnot belong to them. " POSTSCRIPT. --At the author's request, Mrs. Harris, in June, 1879, brought down her recollections to the close of the war of 1812-1815. Thefollowing pages are the result--written by Mrs. Harris, twenty yearsafter writing the previous memoranda, in the eighty-first year of herage, containing some interesting particulars of the war, and stating thecause of the loss of the British fleet on Lake Erie, and the disasterswhich followed. The author has not seen cause to alter a sentence or a word of Mrs. Harris's manuscript, written by herself in a clear, bold hand, notwithstanding her advanced age: "In 1810 my father showed signs of failing health. A life of hardshipand great exertion was telling upon a naturally strong constitution. Hedecided upon resigning all his offices, and his resignation was acceptedupon this assurance, that from ill-health he could no longer fulfil theduties they involved. The Hon. Thomas Talbot was appointed his successoras colonel commandant of the militia, and the late Judge Mitchellsucceeded him as Judge of the District and Surrogate Courts. At thistime there were strong rumours of war between America and England, andthe militia anticipated being called into active service. At the closeof 1811, a large body of the militia which my father had organizedwaited upon him, and urged him to resume the command, as in him they hadconfidence. Colonel Talbot was a stranger amongst them, and lived at adistance. My father at that time was in the last stage of consumption, and died in the June following, in 1812, aged sixty years. In six daysafter his death war was declared, and then came troubles to my widowedmother in various shapes. My father in seventeen years had seen a lonelywilderness changed into a fruitful country. Most of the originallog-houses had given place to good frame buildings, and the inhabitantsgenerally seemed prosperous and content. Immediately after thedeclaration of war, the militia had to do military duty and neglecttheir farms. British troops passed through Port Ryerse, on their way toAmherstburg and Sandwich, and every available building was used asbarracks. All merchant vessels were converted into ships of war, andthey, with one or two small ships belonging to the Provincial Navy, wereplaced under the command of Captain Barclay, of the Royal Navy; CaptainFinnes, R. N. , was second in command. His ships were all of lighttonnage; there were several transports, which were in constant useconveying troops and army supplies to Sandwich and Amherstburg. The lakewas clear of enemies, as the Americans were blockaded within ErieHarbour, where they had two or three large ships on the stocks. Theycould not cross the bar at Erie without lightening their ships andtaking out part of their guns. This they could not do in the presence ofBarclay's fleet. When the weather was too rough for the blockadingsquadron to remain outside the harbour, it was too rough for theAmerican fleet to get over the bar; consequently we felt very safe. Thiswas during the summer of 1813. During this summer General Brock calledout the militia of Norfolk, and asked for volunteers to go with him toDetroit; every man volunteered. He made his selection of the strong andactive young men. Right gallantly the militia throughout the provincebehaved during the three years' war, casting no discredit upon theirparentage--the brave old U. E. Loyalists. During the summer, CaptainBarclay used to have private information--not very reliable, as theresult proved--of what progress the ships were making on the stocks. Heused occasionally to leave the blockade and go to Amherstburg and cometo Ryerse. The Americans took note of this, and made their plans andpreparations for his doing so. There was a pretty widow of an officer ofsome rank in Amherstburg, who was very anxious to go to Toronto. CaptainBarclay offered her a passage in his ship and brought her to Ryerse, andthen escorted her to Dr. Rolph's, where he and some of his officersremained to dinner the following day. When they came in sight of Erie, they saw all the American fleet riding safely at anchor outside the bar. The Americans had everything in readiness; and as soon as thewatched-for opportunity came, and the British fleet left the station, they got their own ships over the bar, their guns in, and all thingsready for defence or attack. They far outnumbered the British fleet, andwere of heavier tonnage. Captain Barclay consulted his senior officerswhether it would be best to come into Long Point Bay to winter, wherethey could get supplies across the country from Burlington Bay of allthe munitions of war, and leave the ship on the stocks at Amherstburg(the _Detroit_) to her fate, as neither the guns to arm nor the men toman her had yet been forwarded, and now could not unless by land, whichfor heavy guns and the munitions of war was the next thing to animpossibility. It was with great difficulty that food and clothing couldbe forwarded, where there was little more than an Indian path and nobridges. The wisdom of the fleet decided upon going to Amherstburg andtrusting to arming the ships with the guns from the fort, and manningthem with sailors from the fleet, and with soldiers and volunteers. Theylanded Captain O'Keefe, of the 41st Regiment, who was doing marine dutyat or near Otter Creek, to find his way to Ryerse, and to tell themilitia commandant that the whole frontier on Lake Erie was now open toAmerican invasion, the new ship was launched, imperfectly armed andmanned; and without a sufficient supply of ammunition for the fleet, andwith little more than a day's rations for his men, Commodore Barclay wasnecessitated to risk an action. The result is too well known. Nearly allthe officers were killed or severely wounded. Captain Barclay, who hadalready lost one arm, was disabled in the other arm; but they did notstrike their colours to Commodore Perry's superior force until theirammunition in some ships was all exhausted, and in others nearly so. Noone could have fought more bravely than Captain Barclay. At the sametime, those who knew of his leaving the blockade could not help feelingthat all the disasters of the upper part of the province lay at hisdoor. In May of 1814 we had several days of heavy fog. On the morning ofthe 13th, as the fog lifted, we saw seven or eight ships under theAmerican flag anchored off Ryerse, with a number of small boats floatingby the side of each ship. As the fog cleared away they hoisted sail anddropped down three miles below us, opposite Port Dover. Of course aninvasion was anticipated. Colonel Talbot was then in Norfolk, and heordered all the militia to assemble the next day at Brantford, adistance of thirty miles, which they did with great reluctance, as manyof both officers and men thought that an effort should have been made toprevent the Americans landing; but no resistance was offered. On the14th, the Americans burnt the village and mills of Dover; on the 15th, as my mother and myself were sitting at breakfast, the dogs kept up avery unusual barking. I went to the door to discover the cause; when Ilooked up, I saw the hill-side and fields, as far as the eye couldreach, covered with American soldiers. They had marched from Port Doverto Ryerse. Two men stepped from the ranks, selected some large chips, and came into the room where we were standing, and took coals from thehearth without speaking a word. My mother knew instinctively what theywere going to do. She went out and asked to see the commanding officer. A gentleman rode up to her and said he was the person she asked for. Sheentreated him to spare her property, and said she was a widow with ayoung family. He answered her civilly and respectfully, and expressedhis regret that his orders were to burn, but that he would spare thehouse, which he did; and he said, as a sort of justification of hisburning, that the buildings were used as a barrack, and the millfurnished flour for British troops. Very soon we saw columns of darksmoke arise from every building, and of what at early morn had been aprosperous homestead, at noon there remained only smouldering ruins. Thefollowing day Colonel Talbot and the militia under his command marchedto Port Norfolk (commonly known as Turkey Point), six miles aboveRyerse. The Americans were then on their way to their own shores. Myfather had been dead less than two years. Little remained of all hislabours excepting the orchard and cultivated fields. It would not beeasy to describe my mother's feelings as she looked at the desolationaround her, and thought upon the past and the present; but there was nolonger a wish to return to New York. My father's grave was there, andshe looked to it as her resting-place. Not many years since a smallchurch was built on a plot of ground which my father had reserved forthat purpose; in the graveyard attached are buried two of the earlysettlers--my father and my mother. A. H. " * * * * * The writer of the following paper seems to have been perfectlyacquainted with the subject on which he writes, but is entirely unknownto the author of this history. The paper appears to have been writtenshortly after the decease of Colonel Ryerson, and was enclosed to theauthor on a printed slip. It throws much light on the history andcharacter of the times of which it speaks: "_Last of the Old U. E. Loyalists. _ "Died, at his residence, near Vittoria, county of Norfolk, on Wednesday, the 9th of August, 1854, after a short illness of three days, ColonelJoseph Ryerson (father of the Rev. Messrs. George, William, John, Egerton, and Edwy Ryerson), in the ninety-fourth year of his age. "Colonel Ryerson was born near Paterson, New Jersey, about fourteenmiles from the city of New York, the 28th of February, 1761. Hisancestors were from Holland; he was the seventh son; he lost his fatherin childhood. At the breaking out of the American revolution, two of thebrothers entered the British army. Samuel (father of Mrs. Harris, EldonHouse, London) was nine years older than Joseph, and was the first inthat part of the country to join the Royal standard. On arriving at NewYork, he was informed by the British commander that if he would raisesixty men he would receive a captain's commission. He returned to hisnative place, and raised the complement of men in a few days. Joseph, who was then only fifteen years of age, entered the army the 6th of May, 1776, as a cadet. He was too small and weak to handle a musket, andreceived a light fowling-piece, with which he learned the militaryexercise in a few days. In the course of a few months an order wasreceived to embody a portion of these New Jersey volunteers into a corpsof Light Infantry, to go to the South to besiege Charleston. JosephRyerson was one of the 550 volunteers for this campaign. When ColonelEnnis (the Inspector-General of the troops at New York) came to JosephRyerson, he said, 'You are too young and too small to go. ' The ladreplied, 'Oh! sir, I am growing older and stouter every day. ' Thecolonel laughed heartily, and said, 'Well, you shall go then. ' TheseLight Infantry volunteers were attached at different times to differentregiments; and Mr. Ryerson was successively attached to the 37th, 71st, and 84th Regiments. Such was the hard service performed by these LightInfantry volunteers, that out of 550 men, rank and file, exclusive ofofficers, only eighty-six of them returned, three years afterwards, after the evacuation of Charleston. "The Light Infantry corps having been broken up, the few remains of themen composing it returned to the regiments out of which they hadvolunteered. About eighteen months after leaving New York, before he wasseventeen years of age, Mr. Ryerson received an ensign's commission, andhe was, in the course of a year, promoted to a lieutenancy in the Princeof Wales' Regiment. His first commission was given him as the immediatereward of the courage and skill he displayed as the bearer of specialdespatches from Charleston, 196 miles into the interior, in the courseof which he experienced several hairbreadth escapes. He was promoted tohis lieutenancy for the manner in which he acquitted himself as thebearer of special despatches by sea to the north, having eluded theenemy in successive attacks and pursuits. He was in six battles, besidesseveral skirmishes, and was once wounded. At the close of the war in1783, he, with his brother Samuel, and many other Loyalists anddischarged half-pay officers and soldiers, went to New Brunswick, wherehe married in 1784, and settled and resided in Majorville, on the RiverSt. John, near Fredericton, in 1799, when he removed to Upper Canada andsettled in Charlotteville, near his brother--they both having drawn landfrom the Government for their services. "While in New Brunswick he was appointed captain of militia; on hisarrival in Canada he was appointed major, and a few years afterwardscolonel. On the organization of London district in 1800 (including therecent districts of Talbot, London, Brock, and Huron), he was appointedhigh sheriff--an office which he resigned, after a few years, in favourof his son-in-law, the late Colonel Bostwick, of Port Stanley. "During the late war with the United States, in 1812, Colonel Ryersonand his three eldest sons took an active part in the defence of thecountry. He was for many years a magistrate and Chairman of the QuarterSessions; but he would never accept of any fees as a magistrate. "Some ten years since he resigned whatever offices he held. In 1850 helost his wife, aged eighty-four years--a woman of sound understandingand rare excellence. He continued healthy and vigorous to thelast--having the Friday before his decease rode several miles, andwalked from Vittoria to his own house--a distance of nearly twomiles--after which he conversed with much animation and cheerfulness. "Shortly after his attack on Sunday night, he expressed his belief thathe should not recover, and stated his entire trust in God, through themerits of Jesus Christ, in whom he felt that he had good hope of eternallife. "His funeral was attended by a large concourse of people--especially ofthe old inhabitants. Six of his old neighbours acted aspall-bearers--namely, Colonel Potts, F. Walsh, Aquilla Walsh, AbnerOwen, Joseph Culver, and S. Ellis, Esquires--whose joint ages amountedto almost 400 years. The Scripture lesson was read, and prayers offeredup at the house by the Rev. Mr. Clement, Wesleyan minister; and theservice was read at the grave by the Rev. George Salmon (an old friendof the family), in the absence of the Rev. Mr. Evans, rector ofWoodhouse, to the erection of the church of which rectory ColonelRyerson had been the largest contributor. "Colonel Ryerson is probably the last of the old United Empire Loyalistsin Canada who joined the British army in 1776--a race of men remarkablefor longevity and energy, and a noble enthusiasm for Britishinstitutions. "[140] _Interesting piece of Local History by the Rev. Dr. Scadding. _ "NIAGARA, Aug. 3rd, 1861. "DEAR SIR, -- "I have deferred acknowledging the circular announcing your intendedwork on the U. E. Forefathers of the Canadian people, until now, from nothaving had before a moment of leisure to prepare the contribution whichI intended to offer for your acceptance and use. I only hope that mydelay may not have rendered the communication too late. "Such a work as that which you propose to bring out is a desideratum, and cannot fail to be interesting, and increasingly so as years roll on. I am glad that you have been moved to this undertaking, as I feel surethat it will be executed with vigour and thoroughness, in a patrioticspirit, and with a real affection. Our neighbours in the United Stateshave long since seen the propriety of collecting and permanentlyrecording the otherwise rapidly evanescent memorials of their past. Thevolumes put forth by their Historical Societies and State Government andby individuals amongst them, on this subject, possess extraordinaryinterest not only for United States' citizens, but also for the generalreader, and particularly for the inhabitants of the existing BritishNorth American Colonies. I have often wished that we could have forCanada some such publication as Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution, to preserve for the eye, by woodcuts worked into the text, sketches andplans of historic places and buildings as they were in their primitivestate--objects which, in a country like this, from the perishing natureof materials in many instances, from the levelling of streets, straightening of roads, railway excavations, esplanades, building andother processes and causes, are being so rapidly obliterated. "As you invite information in regard to early settlers generally, I havethought it simply a duty to send some memoranda--which I hope may bedeemed not unworthy of use--respecting my father, whom I have supposedyou might, perhaps, find an occasion of noticing in connection with amention of Whitby, in a note or otherwise. "I am, dear Sir, "Very truly yours, "H. SCADDING. " "The Rev. Dr. Ryerson. " "This town was, at its commencement, about the year 1819, named Windsor, by its projector, Mr. John Scadding, the original grantee of a thousandacres in this locality. On a natural harbour of Lake Ontario, popularlyknown as 'Big Bay, ' Mr. S. Laid out the town, built the first house, andnamed the streets, three of them, after his three sons--John, Charles, and Henry. The appellation 'Windsor' had no reference to theworld-renowned royal residence, but to a very humble property sodesignated, once possessed by Mr. S. In the parish of Luppitt, inDevonshire, from which neighbourhood, viz. , Dunkeswell, he firstemigrated to Upper Canada in 1793. Before this transplantation, hisfamily, with numerous kith and kin, had had their home in these oldWessex regions for many a generation. Local registries, tombstones, andother records constantly exhibit the name, which will also be found inthe minute Ordnance maps of England, attached to a small hamlet in thevicinity of Wellington, in the closely adjoining county of Somerset. Through the instrumentality of Governor Simcoe, to whom he waspersonally and in the most friendly manner known in Devonshire beforehis emigration, Mr. S. Was also the owner and first cultivator of asection of land watered through its whole length by the River Don, fromthe second concession to the lake's edge, in the township of York. Itwas while putting off trespassers on a portion of this last-mentionedproperty, which is now to a great extent included within the limits ofthe city of Toronto, but which was at the time, for the most part, inits primitive natural state, that he was, at the age of seventy, unfortunately killed by the falling of a tree in 1824. His widow, Mrs. Melicent Scadding, survived until 1860, attaining the age ofninety-three years. In 1854, the town of Windsor was incorporated by theAct of Parliament 18 Vic. , c. 28, on which occasion its name was changedto 'Whitby, ' ambiguities and inconveniences having arisen from theexistence of another Windsor on the Detroit river. " _Loyalty and Sufferings of the Hon. John Munroe, of Fowlis. _ "Born in Scotland, in 1731; came to America in 1756; married in AlbanyMiss Brower, of Schenectady, in 1760; lived at Matilda, U. C. , and diedat Dickenson's Landing in October, 1800, aged sixty-nine. "During the revolutionary war he resided near Fort Bennington, where hepossessed considerable property, which was confiscated by the UnitedStates' Government. He was captain in Sir John Johnston's regiment, andhis son Hugh was a lieutenant. The appended certificates state hisservices, sufferings and merits. " The above summary statement, and the following certificates, wereenclosed to the writer of this history several years since by a son ofCaptain Munroe, who held several situations in Upper Canada, such asjudge, sheriff, etc. _Brigadier-General Allen Maclean's Certificate. _ "I do hereby certify that the bearer hereof, Captain Munroe, was thefirst man that joined me at New York, on the 3rd of June, 1775, to takeup arms in defence of his King and country, and that he was of infiniteservice to me at that time. That during the time I was engaged at Bostonhe remained in and about New York, till my return, when he gave me everyinformation in respect to the danger of my being taken prisoner; inconsequence of which I divested myself of every military appearance, andsecured my papers, etc. , on board the _Asia_ man-of-war, and at the riskof his life he conducted me upwards of 200 miles through the province ofNew York to a gentleman's house near Schenectady, whose son conducted meup the Mohawk river, on my journey to Canada by way of Oswego, thecommunication on all other places being shut up. I do also certify thatCaptain Munroe did engage a great number of men to serve his Majestyagainst the rebels, and that an information was lodged against him onthat account, and was taken up and tried; that though many of the menwere never able to join the King's troops in Canada, yet numbers joinedSir John Johnston's regiment, and others joined the 84th, under mycommand; and that in defiance of all the hardships, difficulties, anddangers he was exposed to, he has ever adhered to the same loyalprinciples, notwithstanding he was eighteen months a close prisoner, mostly in irons; that he made his escape from prison in Albany; wasunfortunately retaken and confined at Esopsus, on the Hudson river, andwould infallibly have been hanged (his sentence having been pronounced)had he not made his escape; that I am acquainted with Mrs. Munroe andher family of eight children, which has hitherto been brought up in agenteel sphere of life; and that I always understood Captain Munroe tobe a gentleman of considerable property in the province of New York, andas an officer always behaved with becoming spirit and resolution. "ALLEN MACLEAN, "Late Brigadier-General in Canada. " _Captain Duncan Campbell's Certificate, Late of the 84th Regiment. _ "I do hereby certify, that I have been well acquainted with Captain JohnMunroe, late of the King's Regiment, of New York, for many years, whilehe followed the mercantile way of business in America's last war, andever since; that he always bore the character of an honest andrespectable gentleman amongst his numerous acquaintances. I also knewhim to be a zealous friend to the interest of his King and country, andthat he and his family have suffered the greatest cruelties by therebels, and the loss of all his property. I also know that he laid apermanent foundation for his family in the province of New York by hisindefatigable industry; that I have been different times at his lastplace of abode, where I have seen most part of the improvements he hadmade, though at that time in a manner beginning, where he had anexcellent dwelling-house, a saw and grist mills, with otherimprovements. "That I know him to have a very large family, and a thriving and growingproperty in the county of Albany, and province of New York. "DUNCAN CAMPBELL, "Late Captain of the 84th Regiment. "No. 8 Fley Market, St. James. " _General Tryon's Certificate. _ "I do certify that I know Captain Munroe, during the time that I wasGovernor of the Province of New York, to be an active magistrate; thatin the year 1776, at the period I was on board the _Duchess of Gordon_, he came from his place of abode, two hundred miles through the rebelposts, on the Hudson river, and with difficulty got on board, when heinformed me of several particulars relative to the situation of therebel armies, and the preparations they were making for defence in thehighlands. "He also communicated to me his distress for want of money to pay therecruits he had engaged for General Maclean's regiment, on which Iadvanced him such a sum as he thought he could carry with safety. Aboutthat time a packet arrived from England, which brought dispatches forthe Bishop of Quebec. These I requested he would take charge of, andforward them with diligence and secrecy. To facilitate this business, Ioffered him fifty pounds to defray the expense thereof. He took chargeof the dispatches, which I heard were safely delivered, though hedeclined accepting the fifty pounds. Such conduct, and his indefatigablediligence to forward his Majesty's service, merits the attention ofGovernment, particularly as he has lost his property and sufferedimprisonment in the royal cause. "WM. TRYON, "Upper Grosvenor St. , 14th February, 1785. " SUFFERINGS OF THE U. E. LOYALISTS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARYWAR--VINDICATION OF THEIR CHARACTER--THEIR PRIVATIONS AND SETTLEMENT INCANADA. _A Letter from the late Mrs. Elizabeth Bowman Spohn, of Ancaster, Countyof Wentworth, dated July 3rd, 1861, together with an Introductory Letterby the Writer of this History, dated February 15, 1875. _ "_To the Editor of the Christian Guardian. _ "MY DEAR SIR, -- "At the request of the family, I have prepared, and I send you herewith, a brief obituary notice of Mrs. Elizabeth Bowman Spohn, only child ofthe honoured and widely-known late Peter and Elizabeth Bowman, near thevillage of Ancaster, in the county of Wentworth. "I here subjoin for publication a remarkable letter which I receivedfrom Mrs. Spohn in 1861, in answer to a circular which I sent out to theUnited Empire Loyalists of Canada and their descendants, to procureinformation and testimonies from themselves as to their early historyand settlement in this country. "I had long been impressed with the injustice done to the character andacts of our Canadian forefathers by the partial and often unfoundedstatements of American historians and utter neglect of Englishhistorians. I had, in accordance with my own strong convictions and incompliance with many solicitations, determined to attempt an act ofjustice and gratitude to that noble generation of men and women. I havebeen favoured with a large number of letters similar to that whichfollows, and which will form an interesting Appendix of information andtestimony to any history which may be written of them. I have not beenable to complete my task; but if my life and strength be spared, and ifI can be released from official labours which weigh so heavily upon mytime and strength, I shall be able to complete what I have undertakenand long prosecuted, namely, contribute something to settle manyunsettled and disputed facts of American and Canadian history, and todo, at least, a modicum of justice to a Canadian ancestry whose heroicdeeds and unswerving Christian patriotism form a patent of nobility moreto be valued by their descendants than the coronets of many modernnoblemen. "The following letter is founded on the testimony of those who wereincapable of knowingly perverting the truth in any particular, and tendsto prove and illustrate, by its artless statements, the truedisinterested loyalty and Christian patriotism of those who adhered toBritish connection in the American revolution; their cruel treatmentfrom the professed friends of liberty; their privations, sufferings, courage, and industry in settling this country; or who, as it isbeautifully expressed in the following letter, 'with their hoes plantedthe germ of its future greatness. ' "Yours very faithfully, "E. RYERSON. "Toronto, February 15, 1875. " "ANCASTER, July 23rd, 1861. "REV. AND DEAR SIR, -- "I have long wished some person would give the world a true history ofthat much-traduced and suffering people, the U. E. Loyalists; and Iassure you that when your circular came I was greatly rejoiced to learnthat they would at least get justice from such an able source asyourself; and if the plain narrative of the sufferings of my forefatherswill assist you in the least in your arduous and praiseworthyundertaking, I will be exceedingly gratified. "My great-grandfather emigrated from Germany in the reign of Queen Anne. He settled near the Mohawk river, at a creek that still bears his name(Bowman's Creek). My grandfather, Jacob Bowman, joined the British armyin the French war; at the conclusion of peace he was awarded 1, 500acres of land on the Susquehanna river, where he made improvements untilthe revolutionary war broke out. The delicate state of my grandmotherobliged him to remain at home, while nearly all that remained firm totheir allegiance left for the British army. "He was surprised at night, while his wife was sick, by a party ofrebels, and with his eldest son, a lad of sixteen years of age, wastaken prisoner; his house pillaged of every article except the bed onwhich his sick wife lay, and that they stripped of all but one blanket. Half an hour after my grandfather was marched off, his youngest childwas born. This was in November. There my grandmother was, with an infantbabe and six children, at the commencement of winter, without anyprovisions, and only one blanket in the house. Their cattle and grainwere all taken away. "My father, Peter Bowman, the eldest son at home, was only eleven yearsold. As the pillage was at night, he had neither coat nor shoes; he hadto cut and draw his firewood half a mile on a hand-sleigh to keep hissick mother from freezing; this he did barefooted. The whole familywould have perished had it not been for some friendly Indians thatbrought them provisions. One gave my father a blanket, coat and a pairof mocassins. A kind squaw doctored my grandmother, but she suffered somuch through want and anxiety that it was not until spring that she wasable to do anything. She then took her children and went to the Mohawkriver, where they planted corn and potatoes; and in the fall thecommander of the British forces at Niagara, hearing of their destitutesituation, sent a party with some Indians to bring them in. They broughtin five families: the Nellises, Secords, Youngs, Bucks, and our ownfamily (Bowman), five women and thirty-one children, and only one pairof shoes among them all. They arrived at Fort George on the 3rd ofNovember, 1776; from there they were sent first to Montreal, and then toQuebec, where the Government took care of them--that is, gave them_something to eat_ and barracks to sleep in. My grandmother was exposedto cold and damp so much that she took the rheumatism, and neverrecovered. "In the spring of 1777 my father joined Butler's Rangers, and was withColonel Butler in all his campaigns. His brother, only nine years old, went as a fifer. "But to return to my grandfather, Jacob Bowman: his captors took him andhis son to Philadelphia, where he was confined in jail eighteen months. An exchange of prisoners then took place, and they were sent to NewYork; from there he, with his son and Philip Buck, started for theirhomes, not knowing that these homes they never would see again, and thattheir families were far away in the wilds of Canada. The third eveningafter they started for their homes, they came to a pond, and shot someducks for their supper. The report of their guns was heard by someAmerican scouts, who concealed themselves until our poor fellows wereasleep, when they came stealthily up and fired. Six shots took effect onmy uncle, as he lay with his hat over his ear. Five balls went throughit, and one through his thigh. My grandfather and Buck lay on theopposite side of the fire. They sprang into the bushes, but when theyheard the groans of my uncle, grandfather returned and gave himself up. Buck made his escape. They then marched off, carrying the wounded boywith them. "They were taken to the nearest American station, where grandfather wasallowed the privilege of taking care of his wounded son. As he began torecover, grandfather was again ordered to abjure the British Government, which he steadfastly refused to do. He was then taken to Lancaster jail, with Mr. Hoover. They were there fastened together by a band of ironaround their arms, and a chain with three links around their ankles, theweight of which was ninety-six pounds; and then fastened by a ring andstaple to the floor. In that condition they remained either three yearsand a half or four years and a half, until the flesh was worn away andthe bones laid bare four inches. "Men, women, and children all went to work, clearing land. There werenone to make improvements in Canada then but the U. E. Loyalists, andthey, _with their hoes, planted the germ of its future greatness_. Aboutthis time, my father with his brother returned from the army; theyhelped their father two years, and then took up land for themselves nearFort Erie. "My father married the daughter of a Loyalist from Hudson, North River(Mr. Frederick Lampman); he was too old to serve in the war, but hisfour sons and two sons in-law did. They were greatly harassed, but theyhid in the cellars and bushes for three months, the rebels hunting themnight and day. At length an opportunity offered, and they made theirescape to Long Island, where they joined the British army. One of hissons, Wilhelmus Lampman, returning home to see his family, was caught bythe rebels within a short distance of his father's house, and _hanged_, because, as they said, he was a Tory. "At the restoration of peace, the whole family came to Canada. Theybrought their horses and cattle with them, which helped to supply thenew country. They settled in the township of Stamford, where theirdescendants are yet. "My father settled on his land near the fort; he drew an axe and a hoefrom Government. He bought a yoke of yearling steers; this was theamount of his farming utensils. Mother had a cow, bed, six plates, threeknives, and a few other articles. It was the scarce year, on account ofthe rush of Loyalists from the States, who had heard that Canada was agood country, where they could live under their own loved institutions, and enjoy the protection of England. "The amount of grain that the U. E. Loyalists had raised was hardlysufficient for themselves; still they divided with the new comers, asall were alike destitute. After planting corn and potatoes, they hadnothing left. My father cleared two acres, on which he planted corn, potatoes, oats, and flax; his calves were not able to work, and he hadto carry all the rails on his shoulders until the skin was worn off themboth. This was the way he made his first fence. In the beginning of May[1789], their provisions failed; none to be had: Government promisedassistance, still none came. All eyes turned toward their harvest, whichwas more than three months away; their only resource was the leaves oftrees. Some hunted ground nuts; many lived on herbs; those that werenear the river, on fish. My father used to work until near sun-down, then walk three miles to the river, get light wood, fish all night, inthe morning divide the fish, carry his share home on his back, whichthey ate without bread or salt. This he did twice a week, until themiddle of June, when the moss became so thick in the river that theycould not see a fish; still they worked on, and hoped on every day. Myfather chopped the logs and they had milk for their breakfast, thenwent to work until noon; took their dinner on milk; to work again tillnight, and supped on milk. I have frequently heard my mother say shenever was discouraged or discontented; thankful they were that theycould eat their morsel in peace. "Their only crime was loyalty to the Government which they had swornfealty to. The God of Heaven saw all this, and the sword of vengeance isnow, in 1861, drawn over the American people (now they know how toappreciate loyalty), and will perhaps never be sheathed again until theymake some restitution for the unheard-of cruelties they inflicted uponthose most brave and loyal people. "At the close of the war they were liberated. Grandfather was sent tothe hospital for nearly a year, but his leg never got entirely well. Assoon as he was able to walk, he sent for his family (it had been eightyears since he saw them): they had suffered everything but death. Comingin the boats from Quebec, they got out of provisions and were nearstarving. He never had his family all together again. He drew land nearthe Falls of Niagara, where he went to work in the woods, broken downwith suffering, worn out with age; his property destroyed, his landconfiscated, and his family scattered; without money or means, and worsethan all, without provisions. Still, to work they went with willinghands and cheerful hearts, and often did he say he never felt inclinedto murmur. He had done his duty to God and his country; his own and hisfamily's sufferings he could not help. Theirs was not a solitary case;all the Loyalists suffered. The Government found seed to plant and sowthe first year; they gave them axes and hoes, and promised themprovisions. How far that promise was fulfilled, you well know; they gotvery little; they soon found that they had to provide for themselves. "As soon as the wheat was large enough to rub out, they boiled it, whichto them was a great treat. Providence favoured them with an earlyharvest; their sufferings were over, and not one had starved to death. They now had enough, and they were thankful. Heaven smiled, and in a fewyears they had an abundance for themselves and others. "I have no memorandum to refer to. I have just related the tale I haveoften heard my parents tell, without any exaggeration, but with manyomissions. I have not told you about my father's sufferings in the army, when, upon an expedition near Little Miamac, he and some others wereleft to carry the wounded. They got out of provisions: went three dayswithout anything to eat, except one pigeon between nine. I will give youhis own words. He says: 'The first day we came to where an Indian's oldpack-horse had mired in the mud; it had lain there ten days in the heatof summer; the smell was dreadful; still some of our men cut out slices, roasted and ate it; I was not hungry enough. The next day I shot apigeon, which made a dinner for nine; after that we found the skin of adeer, from the knee to the hoof. This we divided and ate. I wouldwillingly, had I possessed it, have given my hat full of gold for apiece of bread as large as my hand. Often did I think of the milk andswill I had seen left in my father's _hog-trough_, and thought if I onlyhad that I would be satisfied. ' "Such were some of the sufferings of my forefathers for supremacy. Theyhave gone to their reward. Peace to their ashes! "Yours, respectfully, "Dr. E. Ryerson. " "ELIZABETH BOWMAN SPOHN. " "P. S. --One thing more I must add: My father always said there never wasany cruelty inflicted upon either man, woman or child by Butler'sRangers, that he ever heard of, during the war. They did everything intheir power to get the Indians to bring their prisoners in forredemption, and urged them to treat them kindly; the officers alwaystelling them that it was more brave to take a prisoner than to kill him, and that none but a coward would kill a prisoner; that brave soldierswere always kind to women and children. He said it was false that theygave a bounty for scalps. True, the Indians did commit cruelties, butthey were not countenanced in the least by the whites. E. S. " "N. B. --To this last statement of Mrs. Spohn's it may be added that it isalso true that the Indians were first employed by the Revolutionistsagainst the Loyalists, before they were employed by the latter againstthe former. The attempt to enlist the Indians in the contest was firstmade by the Revolutionists. Of this the most conclusive evidence can beadduced. "E. R. " FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 139: This must be the grandfather of General W. FenwickWilliams, of Kars. ] [Footnote 140: Dr. Canniff, in his excellent "History of the Settlementof Upper Canada, " with special reference to Bay Quinté, has thefollowing respecting Colonel Ryerson, who commanded a company and wascalled captain, though not yet gazetted: "One of Captain Joseph Ryerson's old comrades, Peter Redner, of the BayQuinté, says: 'He was a man of daring intrepidity, and a great favouritein his company. ' He represented Captain Ryerson as one of the mostdetermined men he ever knew. With the service of his country uppermostin his mind, he often exposed himself to great danger to accomplish hisdesires. " (p. 119. )] CHAPTER XLII. GOVERNMENTS OF THE BRITISH PROVINCES--NOVA SCOTIA. To the painful narrative given of the banishment of the Loyalists, andconfiscation of their property, at the close of the revolutionary war, and their settlement in the British provinces of Nova Scotia, NewBrunswick, Lower and Upper Canada, so fully detailed in the precedingpages, it is proper to add some account of the Provincial Governments. _Nova Scotia_ is the oldest of the present British American Provinces. This territory had the general appellation of New France, or Acadia, andcomprehended, until 1784, New Brunswick and Cape Breton. It wasoriginally regarded as a part of Cabot's discovery of Terra Nova, and assuch claimed by the English Government, and was afterwards comprehendedwithin the boundary of a large portion of America, called NorthVirginia. In the wars between France and England this country changedmasters several times; but in 1710 Nova Scotia was again re-conquered bythe forces of her Britannic Majesty Queen Anne, sent from New England, under the command of General Nicholson; and by the Treaty of Utrecht, in1712, it was finally ceded and secured to Great Britain, and has eversince continued in her possession. [141] "There were originally three sorts of government established by theEnglish on the continent of America: Charter Governments, such as thoseof Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut; ProprietaryGovernments, as Pennsylvania and Maryland; and Royal Government, asNova Scotia. A Royal Government is immediately dependent upon the Crown, and the King appoints the Governor and officers of State, and the peopleonly elect the representatives, as in England. "[142] "Peace was declared between France and England the 8th of November, 1762; and by the treaty which followed, all the French possessions inCanada, with Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and the islands in the Gulf ofthe St. Lawrence, were ceded to Great Britain. In the year 1764, theIsland of St. John, named Prince Edward Island in 1799, in honour of theDuke of Kent, was annexed to Nova Scotia. "Of Acadia, and accordingly of Nova Scotia, during its early governmentby the English, the province now known as New Brunswick formed a part, and to the colony was added, in 1758, the Island of Cape Breton, thenfinally taken from the French. In the same year the military rule whichhad prevailed was exchanged for a regular Constitution, in which aGovernor, representing the British Crown, presided over a LegislativeCouncil and a House of Assembly modelled to some extent from the twoestates of the English Parliament. "[143] The first Assembly of Nova Scotia met on the 7th of October, 1758, atHalifax, and elected Robert Sanderson as Speaker. A number of lawspassed by the Governor and Council were passed with slight alterations;and the Assembly, on the question being put whether any money should bepaid them for their services, unanimously resolved that the membersshould serve without any remuneration that session. (This was repealedby the members of the next elected Assembly. ) The usual Speech from theThrone was made, and a complimentary address was moved in reply; and theGovernor and his new Assembly got on better together than he hadexpected. [144] "On October 19th, 1760, Governor Lawrence died from inflammation of thelungs, brought on by a cold taken at a ball at the Government House. Hewas deeply mourned by the colony, and his loss was severely felt. He wasaccorded a public funeral, and the Legislature caused a monument to beerected to his memory in St. Paul's Church, Halifax, as a mark of theirsense of the many important services he had rendered the province. Hewas a wise and impartial administrator, and zealous and indefatigable inhis endeavours for the public good; even his opposition to calling aGeneral Assembly made him few enemies, and his strongest opponent in thematter, Chief Justice Belcher, who succeeded him in the administration, remained on good terms with him. "[145] In the same month that Governor Lawrence died, occurred the death ofGeorge the Second, in consequence of which the first House of Assemblyof Nova Scotia was dissolved, and a new election, with some changes inthe electoral districts, took place. The first meeting of the newAssembly was held the 1st of July, 1761, and the members of the Houseagain agreed to give their services gratuitously. From the death ofGovernor Lawrence to the close of the American Revolution in 1783, therewere ten governors and lieutenant-governors of Nova Scotia, under whoseadministration the colony was quiet and prosperous, though there waslittle increase in the population (until the influx of the U. E. Loyalists), and domestic manufactures were discouraged in the interestsof English manufacturers. [146] Down to the year 1783, at the close of the American revolutionary war, the population of Nova Scotia amounted to only a few thousand; but inthe following year, by the forced exodus of the Loyalists from theUnited States, the population more than doubled. "Even beforehostilities began, a number of loyal families emigrated from Boston, andsettled on the River St. John, founding the town of Parrtown, now StJohn, N. B. They found the climate and soil both much better than theyhad expected; and the colony soon began to thrive apace. Settlementswere made at Oromocto, where a fort was built, and one bold explorerpenetrated as far as the present site of Fredericton, and cleared a farmthere for himself. These emigrants numbered about 500, and the districtthey settled in was made the county of Sunbury. This, however, was onlythe advance guard of the immense army of emigrants which was to beattracted to the colony at the close of the war, and which was destinedto play so important a part in the history of the Maritime Province. Theexodus of the Loyalists from New England commenced immediately after theopening of negotiations for peace in November, 1782; for so bitter wasthe action of the different State Legislatures against them that Sir GuyCarleton (afterwards Lord Dorchester) could not await the action ofParliament, but took upon himself to commence their removal to NovaScotia. On the 18th of May, 1783, the ships bearing the first instalmentof Loyalist emigrants arrived at Navy Island, and during the summer theycontinued to arrive, until about 5, 000 had settled between Parrtown (St. John) and St. Anne's. The peninsula now occupied by the city of St. Johnwas then almost a wilderness, covered with shrubs, scrubby spruce, andmarsh. Large numbers of emigrants also arrived at Annapolis, PortRoseway, and other points; and Governor Parr, in a letter to Lord Northin September, 1783, estimates the whole number that had arrived in NovaScotia and the island of St. John (Prince Edward's Island) at 13, 000. "These emigrants included all classes--disbanded soldiers, lawyers, clergymen, merchants, farmers, and mechanics; all in indigentcircumstances, but willing to build up their own fortunes, and those ofthe land of their adoption, by honest labour and industry. "[147] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 141: General Description of Nova Scotia. Printed at the RoyalCanadian School, 1825, p. 13. ] [Footnote 142: General Description of Nova Scotia, p. 17. ] [Footnote 143: Bourne's Our Colonies and Emigration, pp. 100, 101. "The proclamation inviting emigrants to Nova Scotia _guaranteed them thesame form of government and rights as the other colonies_; but owing toalleged difficulties in the way of electing an Assembly, no Assembly waschosen, and laws were made and the affairs of the colony wereadministered by the Governor and Council, until Chief Justice Belcherraised the question in 1755, in a letter to the Lords of Trade, as tothe constitutionality of several laws passed by the Governor and Councilwithout the endorsement of a representative Assembly. The question wasreferred to the Attorney and Solicitor-General of England, who decidedthat the Governor and Council alone had not the right to make laws, andthat any laws so made were unconstitutional. The Lords of Trade_advised_ the Governor (Lawrence) to convene an Assembly without delay, but he objected to it as needless and impracticable; when the Lord ofTrade replied sharply, that he knew their desires on the subject; and ashe did not seem disposed to gratify them, they were obliged to _orderhim to do so_; adding, that they knew that many had left the provinceand gone to other colonies on account of the discontent at the delay ofcalling an Assembly. " In obedience to these instructions, Governor Lawrence brought thesubject before his Council the 20th of May, 1758, and a resolution(prepared by Chief Justice Belcher the year before) was passed, to theeffect "That a House of Representatives of the inhabitants of thisprovince be a civil Legislature thereof, in conjunction with theGovernor for the time being, and the Council; that the first House shallbe known as the General Assembly, and shall consist of sixteen members, to be elected by the province at large--four by the township of Halifax, and two by the township of Lunenburg; and that as soon as any othertownship which might be erected had fifty electors (freeholders), itshould be entitled to elect two representatives to the Assembly, as wellas having the right of voting for representatives for the Province atlarge. Eleven members besides the Speaker were to form a quorum. "(Tuttle's History of the Dominion of Canada, Chap, li. , pp. 238, 239. )] [Footnote 144: _Ib. _, p. 239. "Lawrence was an active and able officer, and paid great attention todeveloping the resources of the province and promoting the welfare ofthe people. He opposed the Government scheme of making the colony amilitary settlement, and was permitted to invite a more desirable classof emigrants, farmers, mechanics, etc. A proclamation was issued, andinquiry soon followed as to the inducements offered to settlers. Theterms were liberal. The townships were laid out at twelve miles square, or one hundred thousand acres each; and each settler was entitled to onehundred acres for himself, and fifty acres for every member of hisfamily, on condition that he cultivated the land within thirty years;and each township was to have the right to send two members to theLegislature as soon as it contained fifty families. Agents from partiesin Connecticut and Rhode Island visited Halifax in 1759, with a view toemigration, and selected Minas, Chignecto, and Cobequid, which hadformerly been settled by the Acadians, as sites for townships. Emigration soon set in steadily towards the province; six vessels, withtwo hundred settlers, arrived from Boston; four schooners, with onehundred, came from Rhode Island; New London and Plymouth furnished twohundred and eighty; and three hundred came from Ireland, under themanagement of Alexander McNutt. "--_Ib. _] [Footnote 145: Tuttle's History of the Dominion of Canada, Chap, li. , p. 239. ] [Footnote 146: Governor Francklin wrote to the Earl of Shelburne, in1766, that "The country, in general, work up for their own use, intostockings and a stuff called home-spun, what little wool their few sheepproduce; and they also make part of their coarse linen from the flaxthey produce. "--"I cannot omit representing to your lordship on thisoccasion, _that this Government has at no time given encouragement tomanufactures which could interfere with those of Great Britain_, nor hasthere been the least appearance of any association of private personsfor that purpose. "--"It may be also proper to observe to your lordship, that all the inhabitants in this colony are employed either inhusbandry, fishing, or providing lumber; and that all the manufacturesfor their clothing, and the utensils for farming and fishing, are madein Great Britain. " (Tuttle, Chap. Lxvi, p. 325. )] [Footnote 147: Tuttle's History of the Dominion of Canada, Chap. Lxvi. , p. 327. "The Loyalists who settled at the St. John River did not agree very wellwith the original settlers. They grew angry with the Governor becausetheir grants of land had not been surveyed. He in turn charged them withrefusing to assist in the surveys, by acting as chainmen, unless theywere well paid for it. Then they demanded additional representation inthe Assembly. Nova Scotia was then divided into eight counties, andthere were thirty-six representatives in the Assembly, the districtswhere a number of Loyalists had settled being included in the county ofHalifax. Governor Parr opposed an increase of representation, as hisinstructions forbade his increasing or diminishing the number ofrepresentatives in the Assembly. "The Loyalists then began to agitate for a division of the province--apolicy which was strongly opposed by the Governor, and which gave riseto much excitement and ill-feeling. Parr went so far as to remove someof the Loyalists to the other side of the Bay of Fundy, in the hope thatthat would settle the agitation; but it only increased it, and theLoyalists, who had many warm and influential friends at court, urged adivision so earnestly that the Ministry yielded to their wishes, and theProvince of New Brunswick was created (in 1784), so called out ofcompliment to the reigning family of England. The River Missiquash wasconstituted the boundary line between the two provinces, and theseparation took place in the fall of 1784, and the first Governor of NewBrunswick, Colonel Thomas Carleton (brother of Lord Dorchester), arrivedat St. John on the 21st of November. In the same year Cape Breton wasmade a separate colony[148]; and as the Island of St. John (PrinceEdward Island) had been separated from Nova Scotia in 1770, there werenow four separate governments in what at present constitute the MaritimeProvinces. " (Tuttle's History of the Dominion of Canada, Chap. Lxvi. , pp. 328, 329. )] [Footnote 148: In 1829, Cape Breton was restored to Nova Scotia, ofwhich it now forms a part. ] CHAPTER XLIII. NEW BRUNSWICK. The population of New Brunswick at the time of its separation from NovaScotia, in 1784, was about 12, 000. The governments of both provinceswere similarly constituted--a Governor, an Executive and LegislativeCouncil, members of the latter appointed by the Crown for life, and anAssembly or House of Commons, elected periodically by the freeholders:and both provinces were prosperous and contented for many years undersuccessive governors, who seemed to have ruled impartially, and for thebest interests of the people, though with narrower views of freegovernment than those which obtained at a later period. The Loyalistsnot only obtained the establishment of New Brunswick as a province, butconstituted the principal members of its Legislature, the officers ofits government, and founders of its institutions; and the chief publicmen of the province have been from that day to this either U. E. Loyalists or their descendants. Mr. Andrew Archer, in his excellent _History of Canada for the Use ofSchools_, prescribed by the Board of Education for New Brunswick, givesthe following account of the formation of the government of thatprovince, and its founders: "On Sunday, the 21st of November, 1784, Colonel _Thomas Carleton_(brother to Sir _Guy Carleton_), the first Governor of New Brunswick, arrived in St. John harbour and landed at Reed's Point. He had commandeda regiment during the revolutionary war, and was much esteemed by hisMajesty's exiled Loyalists. The province was formally proclaimed thenext day. "The government of New Brunswick consisted of a Governor and a Councilthat united both executive and legislative functions, and a House ofAssembly of twenty-six representatives. The Council was composed oftwelve members. They were men of great talent, and had occupied beforethe war positions of influence in their native States. Chief Justice_Ludlow_ had been a judge of the Supreme Court of New York; _JamesPutman_ was considered one of the ablest lawyers in all America; theRev. And Hon. _Jonathan Odell_, first Provincial Secretary, had acted aschaplain in the Royal army, practised physic and written politicalpoetry; Judge _Joshua Upham_, a graduate of Harvard, abandoned the Barduring the war, and became a colonel of dragoons; Judge _Israel Allen_had been colonel of a New Jersey Volunteer corps, and lost an estate inPennsylvania through his devotion to the Loyalist cause; Judge _EdwardWinslow_, nephew of Colonel _John Winslow_, who executed the decree thatexpelled the Acadians from Nova Scotia, had attained the rank of colonelin the Royal army; _Beverley Robinson_ had raised and commanded theLoyal American Regiment, and had lost great estates on Hudson river;_Gabriel G. Ludlow_ had commanded a battalion of Maryland Volunteers;_Daniel Bliss_ had been a commissary of the Royal army; _Elijah Willard_had taken no active part in the war; _William Hagen_ and _GuildfordStudholme_ were settled in the province before the landing of theLoyalists; Judge _John Saunders_, of a cavalier family in Virginia, hadbeen captain in the Queen's Rangers, under Colonel Simcoe, and hadafterwards entered the Temple and studied law in London. He wasappointed to the Council after the death of Judge Putman. The governmentof the young province was governed with very few changes for severalyears. "The town and district of Parr was incorporated in 1785, and became thecity of _St. John_. It was the first, and long continued to be the onlyincorporated town in British America. It was governed by a mayor and aboard of six aldermen and six assistants. The first two sessions of theGeneral Assembly (1786-87) met in St. John. On meeting the Legislatureat its first session, Governor Carleton expressed his satisfaction atseeing the endeavours of his Majesty to procure for the inhabitants theprotection of a free government in so fair a way of being finallysuccessful. He spoke of the peculiar munificence which had beenextended to New Brunswick--the asylum of loyalty--and all theneighbouring States; and expressed his conviction that the people couldnot show their gratitude in a more becoming manner than by promotingsobriety, industry, and religion; by discouraging all factious and partydistinctions, and by inculcating the utmost harmony between thenewly-arrived Loyalists and the subjects formerly settled in theprovince. "Two years afterwards (1788), the seat of government was removed to St. Anne's Point, Fredericton, which was considered the most centralposition in the province. It is said that Fredericton was chosen to bethe seat of government because Albany, the seat of the Legislature ofNew York (from which State the great body of the Loyalists came), issituated many miles up the River Hudson, and is thus removed from thedistracting bustle, the factious and corrupting influences of the greatcommercial metropolis at its mouth. "[149] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 149: Chap. Xxvi. , pp. 260-262. ] CHAPTER XLIV. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. _Prince Edward Island_ was first called by the French St. John's Island, on account of the day on which the French landed on it; but in 1799 itsname was changed, and it was called Prince Edward's Island in honour ofthe Duke of Kent, (William Edward) afterward William IV. After the closeof the American Revolution in 1783, a considerable number of the exiledLoyalists went to Prince Edward's Island and became merchants andcultivators of the soil. "In 1763 the island was incorporated with Nova Scotia; but in 1770 itwas made a separate province, in fulfilment of a curious plan ofcivilization. It was parcelled out in sixty-seven townships, and thesewere distributed by lottery among the creditors of the EnglishGovernment, each of whom was bound to lodge a settler on every lot oftwo hundred acres that fell to him. The experiment was not at first verysuccessful, but gradually the shares passed from the originalspeculators to men who knew how to use the rich soil and usually healthyclimate of the island. "[150] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 150: Bourne's "Our Colonies and Emigration, " Chap. Viii. , p. 105. ] CHAPTER XLV. LOWER CANADA. _Lower Canada_ was first possessed by the French, and under the rule ofFrance the government was purely despotic, though not cruel or harsh. Onthe conquest of Lower Canada in 1759, and its final ceding to England bythe Treaty of Paris, 1763, a military government was instituted, whichcontinued until 1774, when the famous "Quebec Act" was passed by theImperial Parliament, known as the 14th George the Third, Chapter 83; oras "the Quebec Act"--it was introduced into the House of Lords on the2nd of May, 1774--"for Making more Efficient Provision for the Provinceof Quebec. " By the provisions of this famous Act, the boundaries of theprovince of Quebec were extended from Labrador to the Mississippi, embracing in one province the territory of Canada, together with all thecountry north-west of the Ohio to the head of Lake Superior and theMississippi, and consolidating all authority over this boundless regionin the hands of a Governor and Council of not less than seventeen ormore than twenty-three members, with power to pass ordinances for thepeace, welfare, and good government of the province. At the close of thewar between England and France by the Peace of Paris, 1763, Englishemigration was invited to Lower Canada, with the promise, by RoyalProclamation, of _representative government_, as in the other colonies. That promise, however, was not fulfilled by the Act of 1774; but theCatholics were not displeased that the promise of a RepresentativeAssembly was not kept, as a Representative Assembly, to which none butProtestants could at that time be chosen, was less acceptable to themthan the despotic rule of a Governor and Council nominated by the Crown. The Quebec Act authorized the Crown to confer places of honour andbusiness upon Catholics. The owners of estates were further gratified bythe restoration of the French system of law. The English emigrants mightcomplain of the want of jury trials in civil processes, but the FrenchCanadians were grateful for relief from statutes which they did notcomprehend. The nobility of New France, who were accustomed to arms, were still further conciliated by the proposal to enrol Canadianbattalions, in which they could hold commissions on equal terms withEnglish officers. The great dependence of the Crown, however, was on theclergy. The capitulation of New France had guaranteed to them freedom ofpublic worship, but the laws for their support were held to be no longervalid. By the Quebec Act they were confirmed in the possession of theirancient churches and their revenues; so that the Roman Catholic worshipwas as effectually established in Canada as the Presbyterian Church inScotland. [151] This Act encountered very strong opposition both in England and America. The Mayor, Aldermen, and Council of the city of London presented apetition to the King against the Bill, praying his Majesty not to signit. In that long and ably drawn up petition, occur the following words: "We beg leave to observe that the English law, and that wonderful effortof human wisdom, the trial by jury, are not admitted by this Bill in anycivil cases, and the French law of Canada is imposed on all theinhabitants of that extensive province, by which both the persons andproperties of very many of your Majesty's subjects are rendered insecureand precarious. We humbly conceive that this Bill, if passed into a law, will be contrary not only with the compact entered into with the varioussettlers of the Reformed religion, who were invited into the saidprovince under the sacred promise of enjoying the benefit of the laws ofyour realm of England, but likewise repugnant to your Royal Proclamationof the 7th of October, 1763, for the speedy settlement of the said newgovernment. * * That the whole legislative power of the province isvested in persons to be wholly appointed by your Majesty, and removableat your pleasure, which we apprehend to be repugnant to the leadingprinciples of this free Constitution, by which alone your Majesty nowholds, or legally can hold, the Imperial Crown of these realms. " In the House of Commons the Bill was strongly opposed by Messrs. Fox, Burke, Townsend and others, chiefly on the ground of itsunconstitutionality, and every effort was made to amend it, but withoutsuccess. The Bill was finally passed by a vote of 56 to 20. In the House of Lords, the Bill was vehemently opposed by the Earl ofChatham, who protested against it "as a most cruel, oppressive, andodious measure, tearing up justice and every good principle by theroots, " and "destructive of that liberty which ought to be thegroundwork of every constitution. " The Bill, however, passed the Lordsby a vote of 26 to 7, and received the royal assent on the prorogationof Parliament, the 22nd of June, the King stating in regard to it that"it was founded on the clearest principles of justice and humanity, andwould, he doubted not, have the best effect in quieting the minds andpromoting the happiness of his Canadian subjects. " The feeling against the Act was intense both in England and thecolonies, regarding it as a type of Imperial legislation for thecolonies. "The strongest excitement prevailed in England for some monthsafter the passing of the Act; and the papers were filled with littleelse than letters and remarks upon it. " The British Loyalist settlers inCanada were indignant, and meetings were held in Quebec and Montreal, atwhich strong resolutions were passed, and petitions unanimously signedto the King, Lords and Commons, praying for the repeal of the Act, andforwarded to England. "On the 17th of May, 1775, Lord Camden moved in the House of Lords forthe repeal of the Act, but the motion was defeated by a vote of 88 to28. " A similar motion by Sir George Saville, in the Commons, waslikewise defeated by a vote of 174 to 86. [152] The feeling of theLoyalists throughout Canada was very strong against this Act; and itsoperations gave no satisfaction to any party. [153] From the prevalent dissatisfaction among all parties in Canada with theQuebec Act of 1774, the Imperial Government having, in 1788, sanctionedordinances to restore the _Habeas Corpus_ Act, and the _trial by jury_in civil cases, and obtained full and minute information as to theinternal state of Canada, a Bill was prepared and introduced into theHouse of Commons by Mr. Pitt, pursuant to a message from the King, onthe 4th of March, 1791, establishing a representative government forCanada, after the model as far as possible of the British Constitution. This Act is sometimes called the "Grenville Act, " having been chieflyprepared by Grenville, and conducted by him through the House of Lords;it is sometimes called the "Pitt Act, " having been introduced andcarried through the House of Commons by Pitt; but it is generally knownin Canada as the Constitutional Act, 31 George III. , Chapter 31--the Actwhich gave to Canada its first constitutional government, and under theprovisions of which Canada was governed for fifty years, until the unionof the two Canadas in 1841. Mr. Pitt in introducing his Bill stated "that the division of theprovince into Upper and Lower Canada, he hoped would put an end to thecompetition between the old French inhabitants and the new settlers fromBritain and the British colonies. This division he trusted would be madein such a manner as to give each a majority in their own particularpart; although it could not be expected to draw a complete line ofseparation. Any inconvenience, however, to be apprehended from ancientCanadians being included in the one or British settlers in the other, would be averted by a local Legislature to be established in each. "In imitation of the Constitution of the mother country, he wouldpropose a Legislative Council and House of Assembly for each; theAssembly to be constituted in the usual manner, and the members of theCouncil to be for life; reserving to his Majesty to annex to certainhonours an hereditary right of sitting in Council (a power neverexercised). All laws and ordinances of the province to remain in forcetill altered by the new Legislature. The _Habeas Corpus_ Act was alreadylaw by an ordinance of the province, and was to be continued as afundamental principle of the Constitution. "It was further meant to make a provision for a Protestant clergy inboth divisions, by an allotment of lands in proportion to those alreadygranted. "The tenures were to be settled in Lower Canada by the localLegislature. In Upper Canada, the settlers being chiefly British, thetenures were to be soccage tenures. "To prevent any such dispute as that which separated the thirteencolonies from the mother country, it was provided that the BritishParliament should impose no taxes but such as might be necessary for theregulation of trade and commerce; and to guard against the abuse of thispower, such taxes were to be levied and disposed of by the Legislatureof each division. " The Bill was opposed in the House of Commons by Mr. Fox and others, uponthe grounds that it created two provinces and two Legislatures, and madethe members of the Legislative Councils nominees of the Crown for life, instead of leaving their election to the people; but the Bill wassupported by Edmund Burke, who, with Fox, had voted side by side againstthe Quebec Act of 1774, but who opposed each other on the Canada Bill of1791. [154] Mr. Pitt, in reply to the objection of Mr. Fox and others, stated amongother things, "That the population of _Upper Canada_ amounted to only10, 000 inhabitants, and that of _Lower Canada_ to not more than100, 000. "[155] With such preparation and explanations the Bill passed both Houses ofParliament and received the royal assent, conferring on Canada a newConstitution. This Act separated the province of Quebec into two provinces, _Upper_and _Lower Canada_, the division line between which was the RiverOttawa. For each province a Legislature was established consisting of a_Governor_, a _Legislative Council_ and _House of Assembly_--inimitation of the Constitution of England; for the Governor was torepresent the Sovereign, the Legislative Council the House of Lords, andthe Assembly the House of Commons. The members of the Legislative Council were to be discreet persons, appointed by Royal authority for life; the members of the Assemblieswere to be chosen by the people, once in four years, unless oftenercalled upon, by dissolution, to elect new members. The Act was to come in force not later than the 31st of December, 1791;and the date of meeting of the new Legislature was not to be later thanthe 31st December, 1792. Thus in fulfilment of a promise made in a Royal Proclamation in 1763, Canada obtained a _representative_ form of government in 1791. It has been seen that _the representative_ form of government wasobtained both for _Nova Scotia_ and _New Brunswick_ by therepresentation and influence of the _United Empire Loyalists_; it was soin Canada. Thus are we indebted to the _United Empire Loyalists_ notonly for our unity with the British empire, but for the originalconstitution of representative government which, with enlargedapplication, is the basis of that free government which now prevailsthroughout all the provinces of the Dominion of Canada. GOVERNMENT OF LOWER CANADA. In 1786, Lord Dorchester had been appointed Governor of Canada andCommander-in-Chief of the British forces in North America. [156] But heleft for England in August, 1791, on a year's leave, and in his absencethe administration of the Government was entrusted to theLieutenant-Governor, General Alured Clarke, a retired British officer. The elections took place in June, 1792, and were in some instanceswarmly contested. Lower Canada had been divided into twenty-onecounties, eighteen of which elected two members each, and three--thecounties of Gaspé, Bedford, and Orleans--returned one member each; thecities of Quebec and Montreal were each represented by four members, andThree Rivers by two. Of the fifty members elected to the first House ofAssembly, fifteen were of British origin, and thirty-five were of Frenchorigin. [157] The Legislative Council consisted of fifteen members. On the 30th of October, the Provincial Parliament was commanded to meetat Quebec the 17th of December, 1792, for the actual despatch ofbusiness. On the meeting of the Legislative Council that day, the Hon. Chief Justice William Smith was appointed Speaker. The House of Assemblydid not agree upon the election of Speaker on the first day--the Frenchand English-speaking members advocating respectively the election of aSpeaker of their own language; but at length Mr. J. A. Panet was electedby a large majority--he speaking both languages with equalfluency. [158] The Lieutenant-Governor made a speech expressing the solicitude andconsideration of the King for his Canadian subjects, in recommending tohis Parliament such a change in their colonial government ascircumstances might require and admit. "On a day like this, " said hisExcellency, "signalized by the commencement in this country of that formof government which has raised the kingdom to which it is subordinate tothe highest elevation, it is impossible not to feel emotions difficultto be expressed. "To give an opportunity for your loyal and grateful acknowledgments tohis Majesty is one of my motives for calling you together, and that debtdischarged, your Council will doubtless be next employed for enactingthe laws necessary to confirm and augment the property of your country. " The Lieutenant-Governor concluded in the following words: "Great Britain being happily at peace with all the world, and I hopewithout apprehension of its interruption, the present moment must bemost fit and urgent for all those arrangements best made at a season oftranquillity, and falling within the sphere of our trust. The convictionI feel of your disposition to cultivate that harmony amongst yourselvesand each branch of the Legislature, which is always essential to thepublic good and private satisfaction, makes it unnecessary for me toenlarge upon this subject. "Such objects as it may become my duty to recommend to yourconsideration, shall be occasionally communicated to you by message. " The address of the Assembly in answer to his Excellency's speechbreathed a spirit of grateful affection and loyalty. After expressingtheir warmest gratitude to the King and Parliament of Great Britain, "ingranting to his Majesty's subjects in this province a new and liberalConstitution for their colonial government, " the Assembly proceeds: "We cannot express the emotions which arose in our breasts, on thatever-memorable day when we entered on the enjoyment of a Constitutionassimilated to that form of government which has carried the glory ofour mother country to the highest elevation. * * "It is an unparalleled happiness for us to have an opportunity ofpresenting to his Majesty our loyal thanks, and of expressing to him ourgratitude; such homage is the language of our hearts, and it is due fromus, for all the favours with which we have been loaded. That dutyfulfilled, we will turn our attention with most ardent zeal to framingsuch laws as may tend to the prosperity and advantage of our country. "We hear with pleasure that Great Britain is at peace with all theworld, and we consider this as the most favourable time for theconsideration of the objects that fall within the sphere of our charge, to cultivate harmony among ourselves and each branch of the Legislature;that it is a condition essentially necessary to the public good and ourown private satisfaction. "We will at all times give the most speedy and deliberate considerationto such messages as we may receive from your Excellency. " Throughout this address of the Assembly there is the true ring of manlysincerity, and heartfelt loyalty to the Throne and to the unity of theempire. The Governor soon sent several messages to the Assembly, submitting, by command of the King, various subjects for theirconsideration, for which he received their cordial thanks, andassurances that the subjects submitted would receive their bestconsideration. There was one subject of discussion which created much feeling andprotracted debate--namely, the language in which the proceedings of theAssembly should be conducted, recorded, and published; but the risingstorm was allayed and unity restored by the decision to leave eachmember at liberty to address the House in French or English at hispleasure--to have all motions, before being put to the House, read inboth languages, and the record of the proceedings kept and published inboth languages--a happy arrangement, which has been continued to thisday. The House of Assembly, in their reply to the opening speech of theLieutenant-Governor, expressed their intention of presenting theirheartfelt thanks to his Majesty for the new and liberal Constitutionconferred upon them. That truly loyal address was as follows, and doeslasting honour to its authors and the Imperial Government: "We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the representativesof Lower Canada, met in Assembly for the first time under our newConstitution, humbly approach the Throne, to express to your mostgracious Majesty our sentiments of gratitude and joy on the happy changewhich has taken place in the forms of our government. "The Constitution which it hath pleased your Majesty and Parliament togive us, modelled upon that of Great Britain--a Constitution which hascarried the empire to the highest pitch of glory and prosperity--assuresto this colony the most solid advantages, and will for ever attach it tothe parent State. "Now, partaking without distinction the benefits of a government whichprotects all equally, we offer our thanks to Divine Providence for thehappiness prepared for us. Our prayers are for the general prosperity ofthe nation of which we make a part, and for the preservation andfelicity of our august and virtuous Sovereign. "May it please your Majesty to receive favourably our respectful homage, and permit us anew to express our loyalty and attachment. "May it please your Majesty and Parliament to receive our most humblethanks for the favour conferred upon this colony. "Such are the heartfelt wishes of the representatives of the people ofLower Canada. " Such were the auspicious circumstances and cordiality of feelingattendant upon the inauguration of constitutional government in LowerCanada. The session continued upwards of four months--from Decemberuntil May--during which time a great many subjects were introducedrespecting expenses and revenues, salaries of officers, affairsappertaining to legislation, to the militia, to the administration ofjustice, and the welfare of the country; but only eight _Bills_ werepassed, and which were assented to in the King's name by theLieutenant-Governor, who prorogued the Legislature on the 9th of May, 1793, with a short and complimentary speech. It is not my object to narrate in detail the legislation or proceedingsof any of the colonies, except in so far as may be necessary toillustrate the history of _the Loyalists of America_. A most impressiveillustration of true loyalty was given by the Assembly of Lower Canadabefore the close of its first session. In the Lieutenant-Governor'sspeech at the opening of the session, he informed the Legislature thatGreat Britain was at peace with all the world, and that there was noapprehension of its interruption. But before the close of the sessionintelligence was received at Quebec that the revolutionary authoritiesof France had declared war against Great Britain. On the 25th of April, 1793, the Lieutenant-Governor sent a message tothe Assembly, informing them that he had received a letter from theSecretary of State, of the 9th of February previous, stating that "thepersons exercising the supreme authority in France had declared waragainst his Majesty. "[159] The answer to the message breathes the _Loyalists'_ spirit. They thankedhis Excellency for his message, and assured him that "it was with horrorthey had heard that the most atrocious act which ever disgraced societyhad been perpetrated in France (alluding to the recent decapitation ofthe unfortunate Louis XVI. ), and that it was with concern andindignation they now learned that the persons exercising the supremeauthority there had declared war against his Majesty. "His Majesty's faithful subjects earnestly pray that his arms may becrowned with such signal success over his enemies as shall speedilybring about a peace honourable, safe, and advantageous to his Majestyand the empire. " In conclusion, the Assembly assured his Excellency that "the House wouldimmediately proceed to a revision of the Militia laws, and ifalterations and amendments were necessary they would make suchamendments as should be deemed the most fit and proper to secure andprotect the province from every insult and injury of his Majesty'senemies. " At the close of the session, after assenting, on behalf of the King, tothe eight Bills which had been passed, the Lieutenant-Governor deliveredthe proroguing speech, in which he thanked the Assembly for the diligentand practical consideration which they had given to the various subjectswhich had been submitted to them, and the "further regulations necessaryfor the better organizing and more effectually calling forth the militiafor the defence of this extensive and valuable country, when our enemiesof any description shall make it necessary. " His Excellency alluded tothe war of the rulers of France against England in the following words: "Gentlemen, at the first meeting of the Legislature, I congratulated youupon the flattering prospects which opened to your view and upon theflourishing and tranquil state of the British empire, then at peace withall the world. Since that period, I am sorry to find its tranquillityhas been disturbed by the unjustifiable and unprecedented conduct of thepersons exercising the supreme power in France, who, after delugingtheir own country with the blood of their fellow-citizens, and imbruingtheir hands in that of their Sovereign, have forced his Majesty and thesurrounding nations of Europe into a contest which involves the firstinterests of society. In this situation of public affairs, I reflectwith peculiar pleasure upon the loyal and faithful attachment of hisMajesty's subjects of this province to his royal person, and to thatform of government we have the happiness to enjoy. "[160] The second session of the Parliament was summoned by Lord Dorchesterhimself, the 11th of November, 1793. [161] This session lasted sevenmonths and a half, though only six Bills were passed. In his speech atthe opening of the session, Lord Dorchester recommended the dueadministration of justice, together with the arrangements necessary forthe defence and safety of the province, as matters of the firstimportance. His Excellency also informed the Assembly that he wouldorder to be laid before them an account of all the receipts of theprovincial revenues of the Crown since the division of Upper and LowerCanada. The purport of his Excellency's speech, and the spirit of the Assembly, and the relations between the colony and the parent state, may beinferred from the following cordial and complimentary address of theAssembly in answer to the Governor's opening speech: "Fully convinced of the happy effects to be derived from a solid andinvariable administration of justice, and of the indispensable necessityfor an establishment for assuring the defence and safety of theprovince, we will lose no time in resuming the consideration of theseimportant subjects, and in making such amendments in the existing lawsas may best protect the persons and property of its inhabitants. "By receiving from your Excellency an account of the receipts of theprovincial revenues of the Crown, we shall be enabled to deliberate onthe means by which they may be rendered more productive; and penetratedwith gratitude to the parent state for having hitherto defrayed thesurplus expenditure of the province, we flatter ourselves that, inconsideration of our situation, we shall continue to receive hergenerous assistance--a hope further strengthened by your Excellency'sintention of not requiring from us any subsidy at present, whichconfirms the benevolence of the mother country. "In the infancy of our Constitution, we perceive the necessity ofgreater circumspection in the formation of laws that may tend to supportand establish it; and also to cultivate amongst the different branchesof the Legislature that cordial harmony and concord so necessary topromote the measures essential to the happiness and well-being of ourcountry. " The Assembly bestowed much attention upon the Judicature Bill of theprevious session, and on the Militia Bill, and brought them to maturity;also an Alien Bill was introduced and passed, establishing "regulationsrespecting aliens and certain subjects of his Majesty, who have residedin France, coming into this province and residing therein, and forempowering his Majesty to receive and detain persons charged with orsuspected of high treason, and for the arrest and commitment of allpersons who may individually, by seditious practices, attempt to disturbthe government of this province. "[162] It happened at the commencement of this session that Edward, Duke ofKent, the father of our beloved Queen Victoria, was in Canada, and heldmilitary command of the troops. The day after the assembling of theLegislature, the Assembly presented him with a most cordial andaffectionate address, as did subsequently the Legislative Council, clergy, and citizens of Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers, styling theprince "the son of the best of sovereigns. " The prince delighted all byhis answers, his amiable manners and exemplary conduct. All wereespecially delighted with his declared disapprobation of the terms _theKing's old and new subjects; French and English inhabitants_. He saidall were "the King's Canadian subjects. "[163] Lord Dorchester transmitted to the Assembly, on the 29th of April, 1794, a message peculiarly interesting from its being the first financialstatement laid before the Legislature of Lower Canada. The messagecommences: "The Governor has given directions for laying before theHouse of Assembly an account of the provincial revenue of the Crown fromthe commencement of a new Constitution to the 10th of January, 1794. "[164] The House, by an address, thanked his Excellency for the message andpapers accompanying it; they observed that they saw in it an additionalproof of the paternal solicitude of his Majesty to ease the burdens ofhis subjects, and of his Excellency's anxiety to promote the interestsof this province; and that the magnitude and utility of the objectsrecommended to their consideration could not fail engaging their seriousattention as soon as the important matters now before them, and in astate of progression, were accomplished. [165] In closing the session, the 31st of May, 1794, Lord Dorchester assented, in the King's name, to five Bills, reserving the Judicature Bill for theroyal pleasure (which was approved and became law the followingDecember), and one for appointing Commissioners to treat withCommissioners on behalf of Upper Canada, relating to duties anddrawbacks to be allowed to that province on importations through thelower province. The closing speech of his Excellency, among otherthings, contained the following words: "I have no doubt that, on returning to your respective homes, you willzealously diffuse among all ranks of people those principles of justice, patriotism, and loyalty which have distinguished your public laboursduring this session, and that you will use your best exertions to findout and bring to justice those evil-disposed persons who, byinflammatory discourses, or the spreading of seditious writings, endeavour to deceive the unwary and disturb the peace and good order ofsociety; and that you will avail yourselves of every opportunity toconvince your fellow-subjects that the blessings they enjoy under atruly free and happy Constitution can be preserved only by a dueobedience to the laws, all breaches of which are the more inexcusable asthe Constitution itself has provided for the safe and easy repeal ormodification of such as may not answer the good intentions of theLegislature. " The interval between the close of the second and the opening of thethird session of the Legislature, from the 31st of May, 1794, to 5th ofJanuary, 1795, quiet and contentment prevailed in the province; and theshort speech of Lord Dorchester (for his speeches were always short andto the point) at the opening of this third Session was chiefly one ofcongratulation, commendation and suggestion. Among other things hesaid: "Gentlemen, I shall order to be laid before you a statement of theprovincial revenues of the Crown for the last year, together with suchpart of the expenditure as may enable you to estimate the ways and meansfor the most necessary supplies, in bringing forward which you will keepin view the advantages of providing for the public exigencies by aprudent restraint on luxuries, and by regulations which may, at the sametime, encourage and extend commerce. "Gentlemen, the judges and law officers of the Crown have been directedto draw up and report their opinion on the subject of your address to meon the 28th of May last" (this related to the establishment of forms ofproceeding in the courts of justice, and a table of fees to which thedifferent civil officers, advocates, notaries, and land surveyors shouldbe entitled in their respective offices); "and I have much satisfactionin perceiving this early disposition on your part to prevent and guardagainst abuses which might impede the course of justice, or give rise tocustoms that would establish oppressive demands, and gradually effacefrom our minds a due sense of their unwarrantable origin. "Your own disinterested conduct in your legislative capacity; yourzealous endeavours to promote a general obedience to the laws, connectedwith a benevolent attention to the interests of the subject, form asolid foundation for government, and afford me great hopes that our newConstitution will be firmly established, and ensure, for ages to come, the happiness of the people. " Referring to this speech of Lord Dorchester, Mr. Christie well remarks:"The foresight, the rectitude, the wisdom of this most upright man andvirtuous governor, cannot fail to strike the reader, and command hisrespect and admiration. " As might be expected, the address of the House of Assembly in answer tothe Governor's speech was equally cordial and assuring, concluding withthe following words: "It is highly flattering to us that our conduct in our legislativecapacity has met with your Excellency's approbation. Being thoroughlysensible of the happiness we enjoy under the free and liberalConstitution which has been granted to us by the parent state, underyour Excellency's prudent and wise administration, we will continue toexert our most zealous endeavours to promote a general obedience to thelaws, and to establish that Constitution in such a manner as may ensurefor ages to come the happiness of the people. " On the 16th of February, 1795, the Governor sent a message to theAssembly, transmitting "the accounts of the provincial scheme of theCrown from the 6th of January, 1794, to the 5th of January, 1795, alsoof the civil expenditure for the same period. "[166] The Commissioners appointed under the Act of the previous session, totreat with Commissioners on behalf of Upper Canada concerning duties anddrawbacks to be allowed in favour of that province, reported that theyhad met and finally adjusted with them the sum to be reimbursed to UpperCanada for 1793 and 1794. [167] Several important Acts were passed this session relating to revenue, defraying the charges for the administration, the support of the civilgovernment, and for other purposes. On the 7th of May, his Excellencyprorogued the Legislature with a speech which contained the followingparagraphs: "Gentlemen, I cannot put an end to this session of our ProvincialParliament without expressing my approbation and thanks for that zealfor the public welfare which has distinguished all your proceedings. "Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, the cheerfulness with which youhave granted a supply towards defraying the civil expenditure of theprovince gives me great satisfaction; the judicious choice you have madeof the means for this purpose, evinces a tender regard for the interestsand condition of this country; and the unanimity in this tribute ofgratitude and attachment to the King's government cannot but be highlypleasing to his Majesty. " The fourth and last session of this Parliament was summoned for the 20thof November, 1795, and continued until the 7th of May, 1796, duringwhich twelve Bills were passed that received the royal assent. In hisopening speech, his Excellency expressed his "great satisfaction toobserve, during the present session, a continuance of the same zealousattention to their legislative duties, and to the general interests ofthe province, which he had occasion to notice in their formerproceedings. " His concluding words were: "Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the House ofAssembly, in expressing my approbation of your proceedings, I mustfurther observe that the unanimity, loyalty, and disinterestednessmanifested by this first Provincial Parliament of Lower Canada, havenever been surpassed in any of his Majesty's provincial dominions; and Ifeel convinced that the prosperity and happiness of this country willcontinue to increase in proportion as succeeding Parliaments shallfollow your laudable example. " Thus ended the first Parliament of Lower Canada; thus was inauguratedand consolidated its government, which, without the strife ofpartizanship or the machinery of party, was pure, just, mild, economical, patriotic, and progressive. Thus also ended, in the course of a few weeks, Lord Dorchester'sconnection with Canada; for having obtained his Majesty's leave ofabsence, he embarked with his family for England the 9th of July, 1796. He was far advanced in life; he had been, with few interruptions, connected with Canada, as officer, military commander, and governor, more than thirty-six years. He was with General Wolfe at the siege andtaking of Quebec in 1759, where he was wounded; he was colonel of theGrenadiers, and quartermaster-general of Wolfe's army. In the variouscapacities in which he served, whether as governor or commander-in-chiefor diplomatist, he was equally distinguished for his courage andprudence, his justice and humanity, as well as for his many social andprivate virtues. [168] His departure from Canada was a matter of universal regret. Farewelladdresses were presented to him by the citizens of Quebec, Montreal, andother places--all expressing to him the highest respect and warmestgratitude for his long and valuable services to Canada. The generalspirit of these addresses may be inferred from the followingexpressions: "Having experienced for many years your lordship's mild and auspiciousadministration of his Majesty's Government, and being aware that duringthat period the resources, prosperity, and happiness of this provincehave increased in a degree almost unequalled, we, the inhabitants of thecity of Quebec, respectfully request your lordship to accept our sincereand most grateful thanks and acknowledgments. "The length of your residence in the province; the advantages derived toour society from the example of private virtues shown by yourself andyour family; your lordship's uniform prudent and paternal attention, under every change of time and circumstance, to the true interests ofhis Majesty's subjects entrusted to your immediate care, and thatgratitude which we feel (and must be permitted to repeat), excite in ourminds the warmest sentiments of personal attachment, of which allow usto tender you the strongest assurance. "Under these impressions, we view your lordship's intended departurewith the deepest regret; and submitting to your determination to leaveus with unfeigned reluctance, we entreat you to accept our most sincerewishes for the future prosperity of yourself and all your family. " In the Montreal address we have the following expressions of sentimentand feelings: "The inhabitants of Montreal, penetrated with gratitude for thehappiness enjoyed by them under your lordship's administration of thegovernment of this province during a great number of years, embrace thepresent opportunity of your intended departure for Great Britain toentreat you to receive their humble acknowledgments and accept theirmost sincere wishes for your health and prosperity, and for that of allyour family. "The prudence and moderation which distinguished your conduct in theprovince assured internal peace and tranquillity, and in reflectinginfinite honour on your lordship, have fully justified the confidencereposed in you by our august Sovereign, and assured to you theaffections of the inhabitants. " The grateful and affectionate answers of Lord Dorchester to bothaddresses may be easily conceived. The comparatively happy state ofthings indicated by these addresses continued, with interruptions, forabout ten years after Lord Dorchester's departure. Lord Dorchester was succeeded by General Prescott, who becamelieutenant-governor, until he was relieved the 31st of July, 1799, bythe appointment of Sir Robert S. Milnes, who acted as lieutenant-governorof the province during the ensuing six years, when the senior ExecutiveCouncillor, Thomas Dunn, succeeded to the administration of the governmentfor two years, until the appointment, in 1807, of Sir James Craig aslieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief, under whose administrationthe reign of discord and strife of race became predominant, with thenatural results which in long years afterwards ensued. These matters, however, do not come within the province of my history of the Loyalistsof America. But it is to be observed that though the French had much to complain of, having scarcely any representation in the Legislative Council, none inthe Executive, and none in the Provincial Board of Education, called the"Royal Institution, " which had the care of education in theprovince, [169] and therefore had to depend alone upon their own electedrepresentatives in the House of Assembly for the protection of theirrights and feelings; yet they evinced a loyalty through all these years, and through the war of 1812-1815, not excelled by the Britishinhabitants of Lower Canada, or of any other colony, notwithstanding theefforts of French and American emissaries to create disaffection in theprovince. A remarkable illustration of the loyalty of the French inLower Canada occurred in 1805: "The horrors of the French revolution hadpassed by, but Great Britain and France were still engaged in adesperate war. By land, on the continent of Europe, the French, underNapoleon I. , were everywhere victorious against the countries inalliance with Great Britain. But England by sea was more than a matchfor France; and on October 21st, 1805, won the battle of _Trafalgar_, bywhich the French naval power was destroyed. The news of this victoryreached Canada early in January, 1806. The Canadians of French originimmediately showed that they felt less sympathy for their own race, andless pride in its military prowess, than gratification at the navalsuccess of the empire of which they formed a part. They indulged inpatriotic songs, and testified their interest by illuminations and othermodes of rejoicing. "[170] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 151: Bancroft, Vol. VII. , Chap. Xiv. , pp. 157, 158. ] [Footnote 152: "The excitement in England and Canada on the passage ofthe Act was, however, only a breeze compared to the storm of indignationwhich it raised in the thirteen other provinces when the news reachedthem; and there is no doubt but that the passage of this Act was 'thelast drop' which overflowed the cup of colonial patience, and leddirectly to the Declaration of Independence. " (Tuttle's History of theDominion of Canada, Chap, lix. , pp. 295, 296. )] [Footnote 153: "The provisions of the Quebec Act dissatisfied allparties when they came to be executed. The French majority, beingrepresented by less than one-fourth of the number of members in theCouncil, thought themselves but little better off than when a purelymilitary government. The English party considered themselves injuredbecause the trial by jury, in civil cases, had been taken away. Theabsence of a representative form of government, and of the privileges ofthe _Habeas Corpus_ Act, made them feel that they were denied the rightsof British subjects. "Nobody being satisfied, and the Governor (Sir Frederick Haldimand, whose governorship lasted from 1778 to 1785) being very arbitrary, discontent reigned in the provinces. There were loud complaints, notonly of the Governor's tyranny, but also that justice was not fairlyadministered by the judges in the course of law. "Many persons, on slight grounds, were thrown into prisons, were sent toEngland, and at length, 1785, the unpopular Governor demanded his ownrecall. "The English Government saw that steps must be taken to put an end tothe general discontent. But this could not be done without making suchchanges as might satisfy the increasing English and Protestantpopulation as well as the French and Roman Catholics. Nor could suchchanges be made on the instant, or without due preparation. Accordingly, in the first instance, _trial by jury_ in civil cases, and the law of_habeas corpus_, was introduced into the province (in 1788). Next it wasdetermined to procure further and more perfectly reliable informationabout all its internal affairs, and find out, it possible, the bestmodes of removing the causes of complaint. "Lastly, as a proof of the desire to deal impartially with the King'sCanadian subjects, it was decided to send out, as governor, one who hadrendered himself acceptable to all classes. This was no other than thepopular Sir Guy Carleton, who had been made a peer with the title of_Lord Dorchester_, who reached Quebec in October, 1786. During thesucceeding five years, until 1791, when he again departed (for a shorttime) to England, the Governor did all in his power to mitigate the badfeelings growing out of the differences of race, creed and language. Inorder to procure for the English Ministers the information they neededabout the internal affairs of the province, he appointed Committees ofInquiry to inquire into all particulars relating to _commerce, education, justice_, the _militia_, and the _tenure_ of _lands_; to makefull reports upon these; to suggest changes and improvements by whichexisting evils might be remedied. " (Dr. Miles' School History of Canada, Chap. V. , pp. 181, 182. ) See also Tuttle's History of the Dominion of Canada, Chap. V. , p. 322. ] [Footnote 154: It was the discussion on this Bill which produced thefirst separation between Fox and Burke. The mind of Burke was excited tothe highest degree by the principles and horrors of the Frenchrevolution, and he had frequently denounced it with the full force ofhis lofty eloquence; while Fox had repeatedly expressed his admirationof the French revolution. When the Canada Bill was discussed in theHouse of Commons, Burke commenced his speech by a philippic against therepublican principles of the revolutionary Government of France; andconcluded by declaring that if by adhering to the British Constitutionwould cause his friends to desert him, he would risk all, and, as hispublic duty taught him, exclaim in his last words, "Fly from the FrenchConstitution!" Fox said in a low voice, "There is no loss of friendship, I hope. " "Yes, " retorted Burke, "there is a loss of friendship. I knowthe price of my conduct. Our friendship is at an end. " Such a scenefollowed as had seldom, if ever, been witnessed in the House of Commons. Members were veritably affected by such an open rupture between thosetwo celebrated statesmen and orators. Fox shed tears; and it was sometime before he could sufficiently command his emotions to reply. ] [Footnote 155: This was an under-estimate of the population of bothprovinces. Later and reliable authorities estimate the population ofLower Canada in 1791 at 150, 000, of whom about 15, 000 were British; in1763 the population of Lower Canada was estimated at 65, 000; thepopulation had therefore more than doubled during the twenty-seven yearsof English rule. Before 1782, the English-speaking Protestantinhabitants were very insignificant in number; but after 1782 theyincreased rapidly, and are estimated at upwards of 15, 000, and by somewriters as high as 30, 000 in the year 1791. The great majority of them, besides, were of classes of people accustomed to think for themselves, also officers and disbanded soldiers belonging to the army, andemigrants from the British Isles, who came to make homes for theirfamilies in Canada. (Miles' School History of Canada, Part II. , Chap. V. , pp. 183, 184. ) It is stated on the best authorities that 10, 000 Loyalist emigrantsarrived in what was afterwards designated Upper Canada, during the year1783; in 1791 the population of Upper Canada is stated to have been12, 000. ] [Footnote 156: "In June, 1786, Sir Guy Carleton, now raised to thepeerage as Lord Dorchester, was appointed Governor-General of all theprovinces, and Commander-in-Chief of all the forces in British America. He arrived at Quebec on the 23rd of October, and was joyfully receivedby all classes, but especially by the Canadians, with whom he was agreat favourite on account of the mildness and justice with which he hadtreated them during his former administrations. At the same time therealso arrived a new Chief Justice for Quebec, Mr. Smith, who had beenAttorney-General for New York, but had been forced to leave on accountof his loyalty to the British Crown. " (Tuttle's History of the Dominionof Canada, Chap. Lxv. , p. 321. )] [Footnote 157: "The elections came off during June, and the peopleexercised their new privilege with prudence and judgment, returning goodmen; and although the elections were warmly contested in some places, everything passed off quietly. There were fifteen English-speakingmembers elected, amongst whom were some of the leading merchants, suchas James McGill, Joseph Frobisher, John Richardson and others, whosedescendants are still amongst our leading citizens. Amongst the Frenchelected were many of the most prominent seignors, such as Louis DeSalaberry, M. H. De Rouville, Philip Rocheblave, M. E. G. C. De Lotbiniere, M. La Vatrice and others. Altogether, it is generally claimed that thefirst Assembly of Lower Canada was the best the province ever had. "(Tuttle's History of the Dominion of Canada, Chap. Lxviii. , p. 330. )] [Footnote 158: The French-speaking members nominated Mr. J. A. Parret(Panet), a leading advocate of Quebec; and the English party nominatedsuccessively Mr. James McGill, one of the most prominent merchants ofMontreal, and William Grant, of Quebec. The feeling was strong on eachside to have in the Speaker a gentleman of their own language; but Mr. Parret (Panet) was ultimately chosen by a large majority, to some extentbecause _he understood and spoke both languages fluently_. Thisgentleman occupied the position of Speaker for upwards of twenty years, and fully justified the wisdom of the first Assembly in electinghim. --_Ib. _, p. 330. It is singular that in some histories of Canada it should have beenstated that the Speaker elected by the first House of Assembly couldspeak no other tongue than the French language. Mr. Archer, in hisHistory of Canada for the Use of Schools, says: "By a vote of twentyeight to eighteen, M. Panet, _who could speak no language but his nativeFrench_, was chosen" (p. 269). Mr. Withrow, in his excellent History ofCanada, says: "Mr. Panet, a distinguished advocate, _who spoke nolanguage but his native French_, was elected Speaker of the Assembly"(p. 291). The very discussion which took place on the election ofSpeaker turned chiefly on the point whether a Speaker should be electedwho could speak one or both languages. Mr. P. L. Panet, brother to Mr. J. A. Panet, who was elected Speaker, in reply to some of his owncountrymen who advocated the exclusive use of the French language, whilehe advocated the ultimate use of the English language alone in theLegislature and in the courts of law, commenced and concluded his speechin the following words: "I will explain my mind on the necessity thatthe Speaker we are about to choose _should possess and speak equallywell the two languages_. "--"I think it is but decent that the Speaker onwhom we may fix our choice be one who can express himself in Englishwhen he addresses himself to the representative of our Sovereign. "(Christie's History of Canada, Vol. I. , Chap. Iv. , pp. 127, 128, in anote. ) Mr. Christie, after stating in the text about "J. A. Panet, Esq. , an old and eminent advocate of the Quebec bar, returned a member for theUpper Town of Quebec, was chosen by the Assembly for its Speaker, "remarks, in a note, before giving the speech of Mr. P. L. Panet quotedabove, that "this excellent man and good citizen (J. A. Panet) served, aswe shall see in proceeding, many years as Speaker, and without otherremuneration or reward than the approbation of his fellow-citizens andsubjects. " (Tuttle's History of the Dominion of Canada, Chap. Lxvii. , p. 127. )] [Footnote 159: The transmission of this letter occupied _ten weeks_, itbeing dated the 9th of February, and reaching Quebec the 25th of April. In the _Quebec Gazette_ of the 10th of November, 1792, it is stated thatthe latest news from Philadelphia and New York was to the 8th ofOctober, giving accounts of a battle on the Wabash and Arguille rivers, between an expedition of American forces under General Wilkinson and abody of Indians, in which the latter were routed. In a notice from the"General Post Office, Quebec, 17th of November, 1791, " information isgiven that "a mail for England will be closed at this office on Monday, the 5th of December next, at four o'clock p. M. , to be forwarded by wayof New York, in H. M. Packet-boat which will sail from thence inJanuary. " (Christie's History of Canada, Vol. I. , Chap. Iv. , p. 142. )] [Footnote 160: "Thus ended the first session of the first Parliament ofLower Canada, and as a whole we may say that the session was asatisfactory one. The demons of party spirit and of national prejudicehad indeed shown themselves; but only enough to show that they were inexistence, and would become potent agents of discord as the heat ofpolitical contest warmed them into life. The war of races, which hadbeen going on between the French and English on this continent for overa century and a half, was not ended by the capitulation and cession ofCanada; only the scene of action was changed from the battle field tothe council chamber, and words and ballots took the place of swords andbullets. The French Canadians showed at the very commencement ofconstitutional government that they considered the French language, theFrench people, the French laws, and the French religion, the language, people, laws, and religion of Canada, and that the English were onlyinterlopers who had no business there, and with whom they were toaffiliate as little as possible. " (Tuttle's History of the Dominion ofCanada, Chap. Lxviii. , p. 332. ) With the exception of the first sentence, we have no sympathy with thespirit or sentiment of the above quoted passage. The addresses to theGovernor and the King show that the French did not regard the British asintruders, but as the legitimate rulers of the country, to whom theyexpressed all possible respect and loyalty. All that they asked on thequestion of language was, that in legislative and judicial proceedingsthe French language might be equally used with the English language; andwas this unreasonable on the part of those who then comprisednine-tenths of the population, and whose laws and exercise of worshiphad been guaranteed by the articles of capitulation and the Quebec Actof 1774?] [Footnote 161: "The Provincial Parliament met again at Quebec on the11th of November, 1793, and was opened by Lord Dorchester, who hadarrived at Quebec from England on the 24th of September, and re-assumedthe government; his Excellency Major-General Clarke returning toEngland, bearing with him the best wishes of those whose Constitution hehad fairly started, and put in operation to their satisfaction. Hisgovernment had been popular, and he received several flatteringaddresses at departing. "Lord Dorchester's return was cordially welcomed, a general illuminationtaking place at Quebec the evening of his arrival. " (Christie's Historyof Canada, Chap. V. , p. 145. ) "The great French revolution, causing France such awful scenes ofdistress and bloodshed as the world had never seen before, was inprogress. It made the Canadians feel that their transfer to the Crown ofEngland now saved them from innumerable evils which would have beentheir lot had Canada been again restored to France. "Lord Dorchester's popularity and personal influence were made useful inpreventing the people of the provinces from being misled by seditiouspersons who came from France on purpose to tamper with them. " (Miles'School History of Canada, Part Third, Chap. I. , p. 190. ) "All Europe was engaged in war, and the emissaries of the Frenchrepublic were busily at work trying to gain sympathy in the UnitedStates, and stir up that country to war with England--an effort whichwould probably have succeeded had it not been for the firmness ofWashington. The consul for France in the United States was alsoendeavouring to spread republican ideas in Canada, to incite the peopleto revolt against British authority, and to declare themselves in favourof the republic. It was no wonder then that the great bulk of thelaw-abiding and peace-loving citizens of Canada welcomed Lord Dorchesterwith delight--one who had for so many years been associated in theirrecollections with peace and prosperity, and who had successfullyresisted the attack of the only foe who had assailed Quebec during hismany administrations. " (Tuttle, Chap. Lxviii. , p. 333. )] [Footnote 162: It appears by a proclamation of Lord Dorchester, datedthe 26th of November, a fortnight after the commencement of the sessionof the Legislature, that there were emissaries of France and others inthe province, who were busy in propagating among the inhabitants therevolutionary principles of the infidel and bloody rulers of France. Hesays: "Whereas divers evil-disposed persons had lately manifestedseditious and wicked attempts to alienate the affections of hisMajesty's loyal subjects by false representations of the cause andconduct of the persons at present exercising supreme authority inFrance, and particularly certain foreigners, being alien enemies, whoare lurking and lie concealed in various parts of this province, _actingin concert with persons in foreign dominions_ (evidently alluding toparties in the United States), with a view to forward the criminalpurposes of such persons, enemies of the peace and happiness of theinhabitants of this province, and of all religion, government, andorder. " His Excellency therefore called upon all magistrates, captainsof militia, peace-officers, and others of his Majesty's good subjectsthroughout the province, to be vigilant, and to do their utmost todiscover and secure all and every person who might hold seditiousdiscourses, or utter treasonable words, spread false news, publish ordistribute libellous papers, written or printed, tending to excitediscontent or lessen the affections of his Majesty's subjects, or in anymanner to disturb the peace and happiness under his Majesty's governmentin this colony, etc. ] [Footnote 163: "The prince, shortly after this, receiving notice of hispromotion to the rank of major-general, and appointment to a command inthe West Indies, was presented, previous to his departure from Quebec, with several congratulatory letters of a most gratifying character. TheLegislative Council, the Roman Catholic clergy, the citizens of Quebec, and the burgesses of William Henry paid his Royal Highness spontaneousrespects in this manner, to whom he responded feelingly andaffectionately, for the spontaneous proofs of esteem which in partingthey gave him; and which in truth were not the effusions of adulation, but an homage of a grateful people to the intrinsic virtues and thesocial and manly character of a son of, as he was truly called, 'thebest of sovereigns. '" (Christie's History of Canada, Vol I. , Chap. V. , p. 140. )] [Footnote 164: The account transmitted was under six heads: 1. "The casual and territorial revenue established prior to theconquest, which his Majesty has been most graciously pleased to order tobe applied towards defraying the civil expenses of the province. " 2. "The duties payable to his Majesty under the Act of the 14th of hisreign, chap. 88 (the 'Quebec Act'), on articles imported into theprovince of Quebec, and on licenses to persons for retailing spirituousliquors. " 3. "The duties imposed by the Provincial Legislature, with theappropriation and balance. " 4. "Amount of cash received from fines and forfeitures imposed by thecourts of justice. " 5. "The naval officers' returns inwards since the division of theprovince, which were originally intended as a check on the customs, butseem not to answer the end imposed. " 6. "A statement of the monies taken out of the pocket of the subject onthis account; its progress and diminution before it lodges in the publiccoffers, with the after diminution on account of the collection, thatevery circumstance of this important business may be constantly beforetheir eyes; that in the outset of the Constitution, and its progress, they may guard this important branch from those corruptions and abuseswhich have brought so many miseries on other nations. "] [Footnote 165: Christie's History of Canada, Vol. I. , Chap. V. , wherethe accounts referred to are given in detail. ] [Footnote 166: This return contained all the accounts transmitted theyear before, under the six heads mentioned in a previous note, page 298, (Footnote 164: above) and other accounts under fourteen additional heads, the eighth of which is as follows: "No. 8. Estimate of such part of the civil expenditure for the ensuingyear as may enable the House of Assembly to calculate the ways and meansfor the most necessary supplies; all the pensions, amounting to £1, 7826s. 6d. Sterling, though chiefly granted for services rendered inCanada, are deducted, these services being considered as rendered to theempire at large; it is from thence, therefore, their rewards, with otheracts of benevolence, may be expected to flow. The salaries of sundryofficers, to the amount of £782 10s. , appearing to belong to themilitary rather than the civil expenditure, are also deducted. "] [Footnote 167: The following extract from their report illustrates theamicable spirit in which the Commissioners of the two provinces enteredupon their work and arranged the matters committed to their trust: "The Commissioners, as well as those for Upper Canada, being authorizedto enter into an agreement for a further period, and being equallydesirous to treat on the subject, which if unprovided for might giverise to difficulties hereafter; being at the same time most solicitouson both sides to preserve the harmony and cordiality which prevailbetween the two provinces, the article of the provisional agreement fortwo years was cheerfully assented to. By that article the province ofUpper Canada is entitled to one-eighth part of the revenue alreadypayable on goods, wares, or merchandise coming into Lower Canada, underan Act of the Legislature thereof; and to assure the most perfectfreedom of trade with the sister province, it is provided that noimposts or duties shall be imposed or shall be laid by Upper Canada, which renders unnecessary the establishing of Custom-houses on the linewhich divides the two provinces, but saves to both an expense which, inall probability, would far exceed any trifle of revenue that thisagreement may take from one or the other of the provinces more thantheir legitimate proportion. "] [Footnote 168: The conduct and character of Lord Dorchester as governorand commander-in-chief of the army may be inferred from the followingamong many other notices in the Index to Bancroft's History of theUnited States, Vol. X. , p. 616: "Carleton, Guy, afterwards Lord Dorchester, colonel of Grenadiers inWolfe's army; is wounded; is at Havana (one of the commanders in takingit); Governor of Canada; has full authority to arm and employ theCanadians and Indians against the Americans; abhors the scheme; takesmeasures for the defence of the province; the command of Canada assignedto him, he will not turn the savages loose on the frontier; returns noanswer to Montgomery's summons; repels the assault made by that general;is lenient to his prisoners; his humanity to sick Americans left behind;blamed for restraining the Indians; restrains the ravages of theIndians; the King and Ministers are displeased at this; Carletonprepares to invade the United States; is displeased at being supersededby Burgoyne; refuses to assist Burgoyne; is complained of by thatofficer; supersedes Clinton in America; his humanity; restrains Indianhostility. "] [Footnote 169: "It was also one of the grievances in Lower Canada thatProtestants alone were appointed Executive Councillors, and that whilethe chief Protestant ecclesiastic was admitted, the Roman CatholicChurch was not allowed to be represented. Great offence was also causedby this to the great majority of the inhabitants, which was made to befelt the more keenly by the determination of the Council not toacknowledge the title, or even existence, of a Roman Catholic bishop inthe province. " (Miles' School History of Canada, Part III. , Chap. Ii. , pp. 195, 196. )] [Footnote 170: Miles' School History of Canada, Part III. , Chap. I. , pp. 192, 193. ] CHAPTER XLVI. GOVERNMENT OF UPPER CANADA. The Constitution of Upper Canada was the same as that of Lower, established by the same _Constitutional Act of 1791_, the Act 31 GeorgeIII. , Chapter 31. Before the Constitution of Upper Canada was established, when it formedpart of the province of Quebec, Lord Dorchester, by proclamation, divided the now western part of the province, afterwards Upper Canada, into four districts with German names--namely, _Lunenburg_, extendingfrom the River Ottawa to Gananoque; _Mecklenburg_, extending fromGananoque to the Trent; _Nassau_, extending from the Trent to LongPoint, on Lake Erie; and _Hesse_, including the rest of the western partof Upper Canada to the Lake St. Clair. To each of these four districts ajudge and a sheriff were appointed, who administered justice by means ofCourts of Common Pleas. Under the new Constitution, Upper Canada, like Lower Canada, had aLegislature consisting of a Governor, appointed by the Crown, andresponsible only to it; a Legislative Council, appointed by the Crown, and the members appointed for life; and a Legislative Assembly, electedby the freeholders of the country. The Assembly was to be elected oncein four years, but might be elected oftener if dissolved by theGovernor, and was empowered to raise a revenue for public services, roads, bridges, schools, etc. ; the Legislative Council consisted ofseven members, appointed for life by the Crown; the House of Assemblyconsisted of sixteen members, elected by the people. By usage and by approbation of the Imperial Government, though not bythe provisions of the Constitutional Act, the Lieutenant-Governor wasassisted, mostly ruled, by an Executive Council, consisting for the mostpart of salaried officers, judges, and members of the LegislativeCouncil, who were not responsible either to the Governor or to theLegislative Council, or to the House of Assembly--an independent, irresponsible body--an oligarchy which exercised great power, was veryintolerant, and became very odious. The first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was General John GravesSimcoe, who had commanded the Queen's Rangers in the revolutionary war;he was a landed gentleman, elected to the British House of Commons, inwhich he supported the Constitutional Act of 1791, and afterwardsaccepted the office of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada created bythat Act, and did all in his power to give beneficial effect to it. Hearrived in Upper Canada the 8th of July, 1792, when the members of theExecutive and Legislative Councils were sworn in at Kingston, and writswere issued for the election of members of the Legislative Assembly. After much hesitation and perplexity, the seat of government was firstestablished at a village then called Newark, now Niagara, at the mouthof the Niagara River, where the Governor built a small frame house whichhad to serve as a Parliament House, as well as residence for theLieutenant-Governor. The Governor, with the usual state and ceremony, opened the first session of the first Parliament of Upper Canada the17th of September, 1792. There were present three members of theLegislative Council and five members of the House of Assembly. Themembers of the Assembly have been represented as "plain, home-spun cladfarmers and merchants, from the plough and the store. " The members ofthe Legislature have always, for the most part, been such from that dayto this, but many of the members of the first Parliament of Upper Canadahad possessed respectable, and some of them luxurious homes, from whichthey had been exiled by narrow-minded and bitter enemies; they hadfought on battle fields for the country whose forests they now burnedand felled; their home-spun garments were some of the fruits of theirown industry, and that of their wives and daughters. Eight years hadelapsed since 10, 000 of these United Empire Loyalists, driven from theirhomes in the States, came into the dense wilderness of Upper Canada, tohew out homes for themselves and their families in the vast solitude, the silence of which was only broken by the barking of the fox, the howlof the wolf and the growl of the bear, and the occasional whoop of theIndian. [171] The population of Upper Canada was, in 1792, about 12, 000 souls. TheLoyalist pioneers of Upper Canada fought as bravely against privations, hardships, and dangers in founding their forest homes, as they had donein the Royal ranks in the defence of the unity of the empire. During thefirst ten years of their hard enterprise and labours, the forest beganto yield to the axe of industry, and the little cabins, and clearings, and growing crops gave evidence of human life and activity; but therewere no towns or large settlements; the inhabitants were scattered inlittle groups, or isolated log-houses, along the north shores of theRiver St. Lawrence, Lakes Ontario and Erie, and of the Detroit river, the only gathering of houses or villages being Kingston, Newark, andAmherstburg. The first session of the first Parliament of Upper Canada lasted onlyfour weeks, commencing the 17th of September, and closing the 15th ofOctober, 1792; the first session of the Parliament of Lower Canadalasted nearly five months--from the 17th of December, 1792, to the 9thof May, 1793. During these nearly five months, the Legislature of LowerCanada passed eight Bills, all well prepared and useful, but with muchceremony and delay from the polite French seignors; the Legislature ofUpper Canada, in their session of four weeks, also passed eight Bills, indicating no haste, well prepared, and of importance and useful. TheBills passed provided for the introduction of English law; the trial byjury; for the charge of millers, limiting their allowance for grindingand bolting grain to the rate of one bushel for every twelve bushelsground; for the easy recovery of small debts; for the change of theGerman names of the four districts into which Lord Dorchester haddivided what now constituted Upper Canada, and granted to the UnitedEmpire Loyalists. _Lunenburg_, extending from the River Ottawa to theRiver Gananoque, was now called the _Eastern District; Mecklenburg_, extending from Gananoque to the River Trent, was called the _Middle_ or_Midland District; Nassau_, extending from the Trent to Long Point, onLake Erie, was called the _Home_ or _Niagara District_; and _Hesse_, embracing the rest of Canada, west to the Lake St. Clair, was called the_Western_ or _Detroit District_. These districts were again divided intotwelve counties. An Act was also passed to erect a jail and court-housein each district. Governor Simcoe closed this session of the Parliament the 15th ofOctober, 1792, and after complimenting both Houses on the business-likemanner in which they had performed their legislative duties, concludedhis proroguing speech with the following significant words: "I cannot dismiss you without earnestly desiring you to promote, byprecept and example, regular habits of piety and morality, the surestfoundations of all private and public felicity; and at this juncture Iparticularly recommend you to explain _that this province is signallyblessed, not with a mutilated Constitution, but with a Constitutionwhich has stood the test of experience, and is the very image andtranscript of that of Great Britain_, by which she has long establishedand secured to her subjects as much freedom and happiness as is possibleto be enjoyed under the subordination necessary to civilized society. " When Governor Simcoe selected Newark as the seat of government, hethought that Fort Niagara, on the opposite side of the river, would beceded to England, as it was then occupied by a British garrison; butwhen he found that the Niagara river was to be the boundary line betweenGreat Britain and the United States, and that the British garrison wasto be withdrawn from Fort Niagara, he judged it not wise that thecapital of Upper Canada should be within reach of the guns of anAmerican fort. He made a tour through the wilderness of the westernpeninsula, and proposed to found a new London for the Canadian capital, on the banks of what he then called the River Thames, the site of thepresent city of London, in the heart of the western district, and securefrom invasion; but Lord Dorchester preferred Kingston, which he had madethe principal naval and military station of the province. To thisGovernor Simcoe objected. It was at length agreed to select _York_, asit was then called, the site of an old French fort. Though thesurrounding land was low and swampy, the harbour was excellent. Governor Simcoe removed to the new capital before a house was built init, and lodged some time in a large canvas tent, pitched on the site ofthe old fort, at the west end of the bay. He employed the Queen'sRangers, who had accompanied him, to open a main road--YongeStreet--from York to Lake Simcoe, called after the Governor himself. Heproposed to open a direct communication between Lakes Ontario and Huron, and then with the Ottawa; and projected an enlightened and vigorouspolicy for promoting the development of the country, its agriculture, fisheries, population, trade, etc. ; but before he had time to mature andgive effect to his plans, he was suddenly removed, in 1796, from thegovernment of Upper Canada to that of St. Domingo, in the West Indies. He was succeeded in the government by the senior member of the ExecutiveCouncil, the Hon. Peter Russel, who improved his two years'administration, not by carrying out the patriotic plans of hispredecessor, but by granting lands to himself and his friends forspeculation, to the impediment of settlements and often to thedisappointment and wrong of real settlers, whose applications for landswere rejected, which were afterwards granted to the land-speculatingfriends of the Governor, or to himself--whose grants to himself are saidto have run something on this wise: "I, Peter Russel, Lieutenant-Governor, etc. , do grant to you, Peter Russel, etc. "[172] General Simcoe zealously encouraged emigration to and settlement in thecountry, and during the four years of his administration the populationincreased to 30, 000. There was a very considerable emigration from theUnited States of persons who did not like the new system of governmentthere, and to whom the first Loyalist settlers had written, or visited, giving a favourable account of the climate and productiveness of thecountry. Though the seat of government was removed to Toronto in 1795, theParliament continued to meet at Niagara until 1797. During itssuccessive sessions at Niagara (then Newark), the Parliament passed Actsfor the civil and municipal administration of the country, theconstruction of roads, fixing duties on goods imported from England andthe United States, etc. , etc. The Legislature gave a reward of twentyand ten shillings respectively for the heads or scalps of wolves andbears, an Act suggestive of the exposures of the early settlers; andallowed the members of the Assembly ten shillings per day each. In thesecond session, the first Parliament passed an Act forbidding theintroduction of slavery into the province--ten years in advance of LowerCanada on this subject. Major-General Hunter succeeded the Hon. Peter Russel, in 1799, asLieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. He possessed little energy orenterprise, and did little or nothing except as advised by his ExecutiveCouncil of five; so that the Government of Upper Canada was practicallyan oligarchy, irresponsible alike to Governor and people, each memberreceiving £100 per annum as Councillor, besides the lands he was able toobtain. Yet the Government, upon the whole, was satisfactory to thecountry, and commanded for many years the support of its electedrepresentatives. When General Hunter first met the Parliament in Toronto, the 2nd ofJune, 1800, the growth of Upper Canada having been rapid, its populationnow numbered upwards of 50, 000. This year, 1800, the Legislature passedan Act prohibiting the sale of spirituous liquors to the Indians. In1802, the Legislature of Upper Canada, as had that of Lower Canada, passed an Act appropriating £750 to encourage the growth of hemp, inorder to render England independent of Russia in the supply of hemp forcordage for the navy, as was being rapidly the case in the supply oftimber to build ships. As obstructions on the St. Lawrence renderedcommunication more difficult between Upper and Lower Canada than withAlbany and New York, articles of commerce from Europe could be morereadily brought in by that route than by the St. Lawrence; aconsiderable trade sprang up with the United States, which renderednecessary the establishment of custom-houses on the frontiers. Accordingly, ports of entry were established at Cornwall, Brockville, Kingston, Toronto, Niagara, Queenston, Fort Erie, Turkey Point, Amherstburg, and Sandwich, the duties being the same on American as onEnglish goods. The Governor was authorized to appoint collectors, atsalaries not exceeding £100 currency per annum, except when the amountof duties collected at a port was less than £100, in which case thecollector was allowed one-half of the amount collected in lieu ofsalary. In 1807 Parliament made provision for eight masters of grammar schools, one for each district, and at a salary of £100 currency ($400) for eachmaster. In the meantime emigration continued large. Many of the emigrants werefrom the United States. The troubles of '98 in Ireland were followed bya large Irish emigration to Canada; there were also a considerablenumber of Scotch and a few English emigrants; but the larger number ofemigrants were from Ireland and the United States. [174] The Legislature continued from session to session to pass Bills for thevarious improvements of the country; after doing which its members didnot give much attention to politics, but devoted themselves to theculture and enlargement of their farms, of which their descendants areat this day reaping large advantages. [175] Mr. McMullen, in his History of Canada, speaking of the year 1809, says: "No civilized country in the world was less burdened with taxes thanCanada West at this period. A small direct tax on property, levied bythe District Courts of Session, and not amounting to £3, 500 for thewhole country, sufficed for all local expenses. There was no poor rate, no capitation tax, no tithes, or ecclesiastical rates of any kind. Instead of a road tax, a few days' statute labour annually sufficed. Nowhere did the working man find the produce of his labour so littlediminished by exactions of any kind. Canada West literally teemed withabundance; while its people, unlike the early French and Americans, hadnothing to fear from the red man, and enjoyed the increase of the earthin peace. " I have thus given a brief narrative of the formation of the governmentof Upper Canada, and of the first seventeen years of its operations, down to the period when the anticipated hostilities between GreatBritain and the United States--the latter being the tools of Napoleon torescue Canada from Great Britain--rendered preparation necessary on thepart of the Loyalists of Canada to defend their country and homesagainst foreign invasion. I have also given some account of the first settlement of the country, and the privations and hardships of the first settlers. But believingthat a narrative from a single pen could not do justice to this subject, or could present to the reader, in so vivid and interesting a light, thecharacter, sufferings, courage, and enterprise of our country'sforefathers and founders, as narratives from themselves, with thediversity of style characteristic of communications from varioussources, I have therefore inserted in Chapter XLI. Those interestingpapers transmitted to me from time to time, at my request, during thelast twenty years. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 171: But the Indians were friendly to white settlers, as theyhave always been. Almost the entire Mohawk tribe, with other loyalistIndians, under their chief, Joseph Brant, followed the fortunes of theirwhite loyalist brethren, and settled on their reservation on the GrandRiver. Brant had been educated in a Christian school in Philadelphia;had a comfortable home, and lived respectably on the Mohawk river beforethe American revolution; had entertained missionaries, and had assistedone of them in translating a part of the New Testament and Prayer Bookinto the Mohawk language. Colonel Stone, in his "Life of Brant" and the"History of the Border Wars of the American Revolution, " has noblyvindicated the character of Brant, and of his brethren of the SixNations, from the misrepresentations and calumnies of Americanhistorians. Brant was a member of the Church of England, and built achurch in his settlement in 1786, in which was placed the first churchbell ever heard in Upper Canada. ] [Footnote 172: "During Colonel Simcoe's administration he had beenexceedingly careful with regard to the distribution of lands; butimmediately on his departure, irregularities began to creep into theCrown Land Department, just as it had in Lower Canada, and greatinjustice was done to the actual settlers. Large tracts of the mosteligible sites were seized upon by Government officials and speculators, and the actual settlers found themselves in many instances thrust intoout-of-the-way corners, and cut off from intercourse with any nearneighbours for want of roads. " (Tuttle's History of the Dominion ofCanada, Chap. Lxxxiii. , p. 387. ) "On the removal of Governor Simcoe, [173] of his wise schemes fellthrough. Land designed for settlements was seized by speculators, especially in the vicinity of Toronto, and the general development ofthe country was greatly retarded. " (Withrow's History of Canada, Chap, xvi. , p. 293. ) Scarcely any--if any--of these early land speculators had served as_United Empire Loyalists_ during the revolutionary war; and theirdescendants, if existing, are as little known as if their fathers hadnever lived. ] [Footnote 173: Lord Dorchester did not endorse Governor Simcoe's policy, as the latter had not concurred with the former in giving German namesto the four first districts of Upper Canada, and in the selection of theseat of government. The American Government represented Governor Simcoeas exciting the Iroquois or Mohawks, both in Canada and Western NewYork, against it--representations in which there was not a shadow oftruth, though Americans were endeavouring to excite disaffection to theBritish Government and sympathy with republican France against Englandin both Upper and Lower Canada, especially in the latter province. Butby these representations, and those of disappointed local speculators, the Home Government removed Governor Simcoe, the father ofconstitutional, pure, and progressive government in Upper Canada. ] [Footnote 174: "In Upper as well as Lower Canada the first sixteenyears' experience of the new Constitution had been very encouraging. Allconcerned in working it out during that period kept as clear as possiblefrom causes of discord. The consequence was that harmony and goodprogress marked the early career of the province. " (Miles' SchoolHistory of Canada, Part III. , Chap. I. , pp. 193, 194. )] [Footnote 175: "Meanwhile the country had steadily prospered, undisturbed in its forest isolation by the great European war, which wasdeluging with blood a hundred battle fields and desolating thousands ofhomes. By the year 1809, the population had increased to about 70, 000. Taxes were exceedingly light. The Customs revenue, derived principallyfrom the imports of groceries--for clothing was chieflyhome-spun--amounted to £7, 000. " (Withrow's History of Canada, Chap. Xxi. , p. 296. )] CHAPTER XLVII. WAR BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN, FROM 1812 TO1815--INTRODUCTORY AND GENERAL REMARKS. The war between Great Britain and the United States, from 1812 to 1815, furnishes the strongest example of the present century, or of any age orcountry, of the attachment of a people to their mother country, and oftheir determination, at whatever sacrifice and against whateverdisparity, to maintain the national life of their connection with it. The true spirit of _the Loyalists of America_ was never exhibited withgreater force and brilliancy than during the war of 1812-1815. England was engaged in a death struggle for the independence of thecontinental nations of Europe and the rights of mankind. At the darkesthour of that eventful contest, when the continent was drenched with theblood of nations, and the Tyrant had his feet upon their neck, andEngland alone stood erect, taxing her resources to the utmost andshedding her best blood for human freedom, the Democratic party in theUnited States--the ever anti-British party--the pro-slavery party--theparty in the United States least subordinate to law and most inimical toliberty--at such a crisis such a party declared war against Britain, andforthwith invaded Canada, before the declaration of war was known inEngland. At that time the population of Lower Canada was 225, 000 souls--200, 000of whom were French; the population of Upper Canada was 75, 000; thepopulation of the United States was upwards of 8, 000, 000: so that thepopulation of the _two Canadas_ was to that of the United States as oneto twenty-seven; and the population of _Upper Canada_ was to that of theUnited States as one to one hundred and six. Yet the Canadas, with a frontier of more than 1, 000 miles, and aided bya few regiments of regular soldiers, sent as a mere guard for theprincipal cities, from Halifax to Amherstburg, resisted the wholemilitary power of the United States for two years, at the end of whichnot an inch of Canadian ground was in possession of the invaders; andwithin six months after England had given freedom and peace toEurope--chaining its Tyrant to the island rock of Elba, sweeping withits fleet the coasts of the United States, and sending 16, 000 veteransoldiers to aid the struggling Canadas--the boasting Madison and hisGovernment sued for peace, without even mentioning the original pretextsof war, which Great Britain generously granted. It does not come within our purpose to write a history of this war; wepresent only such phases and events of it as will illustrate theLoyalist spirit and courage of the Canadians, French as well as English, and even true Americans; for the American settlers in Canada were, withfew exceptions, as loyal subjects and as bold defenders of their adoptedcountry as the U. E. Loyalists themselves; and even the most virtuous andintelligent part of the citizens of the United States protested againstthe alliance of the Democratic rulers at Washington with the tyrant andscourge of Europe. We shall notice, in the first place, the alleged and real causes of thewar; secondly, the preparations for it made by the Governments andLegislatures of the two Canadas; thirdly, the invasions of eachprovince, each year, separately, and the battles fought. There were noless than eleven invasions of the Canadas by the American armies duringthe three years of the war, besides naval engagements, and variousincursions of marauding and plundering parties. CHAPTER XLVIII. ALLEGED AND REAL CAUSES OF THE WAR. From the first--from the treaty of peace between Great Britain and theUnited States in 1783--there was a large party in the United Statesbitterly and actively hostile to England and its colonies; that partyhad persecuted and driven the Loyalists from the United States, andcompelled them to seek homes in the Canadian wilderness, and had evenfollowed them with its enmities in their new abodes; that party hadsympathized with the revolutionists of France, who crimsoned the streetsof Paris with the blood of their Sovereign and fellow-citizens, and whosent emissaries to Canada to subvert legal authority, and excite thestrife of anarchy and bloodshed. The base of the operations of all theemissaries of French revolutionists in Canada was for twenty years theUnited States, aided directly and indirectly by American sympathizers;that same party sympathized and even leagued with Napoleon againstEngland while she was defending the liberties of Europe and of mankind;it was the same party that in subsequent years aided the rebel Mackenzieand the rabble Fenians to invade Canada, allowing the United States tobe the base of their organizations, and opening to them the Americanarsenals of arms and ammunition; it was the same party that, inconspiracy with the Tyrant of France and the enemy of human freedom, declared war against Great Britain in 1812, in order to wrest Canadafrom her possession, and make it an appendage of France and the UnitedStates. [176] The American Government alleged two reasons as the ground of itsdeclaration of war against Britain: the one was, that the BritishGovernment had issued Orders in Council which injured the Americancommerce with other countries; the other was, that the BritishGovernment had infringed the rights of the United States by authorizingthe boarding of American vessels in search of deserters from the Englisharmy and navy, and seizing them. As to the first of these reasons, namely, the English Orders in Council, the facts are as follow: "After the annihilation of the naval power ofFrance at _Trafalgar_ in 1805, by Lord Nelson, the principaltransactions of France at sea were the fitting out and arming ofprivateers to prey upon the English merchant vessels and commerce. Toaccomplish his purpose more effectually, Napoleon promulgated thefollowing year after the destruction of his fleet what is called theBerlin Decree. "[177] "No nation was allowed to trade with any other country in any articlesthe growth, produce, or manufactures of any of the British dominions, all of which, as well as the island of Great Britain itself, weredeclared to be in a state of blockade. He appointed residents in everytrading country, and no ship was to be admitted into any of his portswithout a _certification of origin_; that is, of the nature of the goodsthey carried, and that no part of these was English. In consequence ofthese Decrees, the English commerce, during the months of August, September, and October, 1807--that part of the year in which the BerlinDecree of November, 1806, was carried into full effect--was not onlygreatly cramped, but lay prostrated on the ground, and motionless, before a protecting and self-defensive system was adopted by our Ordersin Council. "[178] The British Orders in Council were dated January 7th, 1807, and were ameasure of retaliation for the protection of British commerce inresponse to Napoleon's Berlin Decree of the 21st of November, 1806. Bythese Orders in Council, "all trade to France or her dependencies wasstrictly prohibited; all vessels, of whatever nation, which ventured toengage in this trade were declared liable to seizure, and France and herdependencies were thus reduced to that state of blockade with which shehad vainly threatened the British islands. The Orders in Counciladmitted but of one exception to this general blockade of the Frenchempire. The French had declared all vessels liable to seizure which hadtouched at a British port; the Orders in Council, to counteract thisprovision, declared, on the other hand, that only such ships as were inthat situation should be permitted to sail for France. Thus did theutter extinction of the foreign trade of France result as a naturalconsequence of the very measures of her own Government; measures whichno despotism, how ignorant soever, would have ventured to adopt, had itnot trusted to a power which effectually silenced all popularopinion. "[179] As France was the aggressor upon the rights of neutrals by the BerlinDecree, and as the Orders in Council were a defensive retaliation uponFrance for her attempt to destroy English commerce, the AmericanGovernment should have first remonstrated with France and demandedreparation; but this was not the case; the outcry of the Madisonpartizans was against England alone. It is true some grumbling wordswere uttered by some parties against the policy and acts of the FrenchGovernment; but mere words to save appearances, not followed up by anyacts; for by a collusion between Napoleon and Madison, it was understoodthat the Articles of the Berlin Decree were not intended to apply toships of the United States--would not be executed against them--and wereintended to destroy the commerce of Great Britain. An American writer(Lossing) remarks, "_With a partiality towards the Americans that waspractical friendship_, the French cruisers did not, for a whole year, interfere with American vessels trading with Great Britain;" and Mr. Alex. Baring, M. P. (afterwards Lord Ashburton), in his _Inquiry into theCauses and Consequences of the Orders in Council_, said that _"nocondemnation of an American vessel had ever taken place under it"_. By this collusion between the Tyrant of Europe and the President of theUnited States, the necessities of France were supplied, and the shippinginterests of the United States largely promoted, at the expense of thecommerce and shipping interests of England. But the collusion, or conspiracy, between Napoleon and Madison werecarried on to weaken the English navy by the desertion of its sailors, as well as to injure English commerce by connivance in behalf ofAmerican trading vessels. The seduction of deserters from the Britishnavy, and even army, was carried on successfully on a large scale. Thesafety of England consisted chiefly in her navy, which she wasincreasing and strengthening by every possible means. Therefore everyskilled sailor was of importance to England, while every practicablescheme was resorted to by her enemies to induce and facilitate thedesertion of her seamen and soldiers--especially of her seamen, severalthousands of whom were detected and seized on board of Americanvessels--constituting as they did the best sailors on board Americanmerchant vessels, and the vital strength of the French privateers. Tostop this depleting of her naval resources, England put in exercise herright of boarding vessels of neutral powers in search of deserters fromher navy. The only neutral power in Europe was Sardinia; so that theUnited States was the only neutral power that had vessels upon theocean; and the President of the United States was conniving againstEngland with the usurper and oppressor of Europe. The right of a belligerent power to search the vessels of neutral powersin search of deserters had never been denied, though the modification ofits exercise had frequently been sought; but under the teachings ofNapoleon, his American pupils now began to exclaim against it as aninfringement of national dignity and rights. The English Government haddirected the exercise of this right with the greatest caution andcourtesy, and only in regard to vessels on board of which, from specificinformation, there was reason to believe there were English deserters. These deserters, on getting smuggled on board of American vessels, wouldforthwith take the oath of allegiance to the United States, and berecognized and claimed as American citizens. [180] An event now occurred which enabled President Madison to excite hispartizans throughout the United States to a flame of indignationagainst England. Information had been received that there were Englishdeserters on board the American ship _Chesapeake_; the British warship_Leopard_ sought their restoration, and on being refused fired into the_Chesapeake_, and recovered the four deserters claimed. The attendantcircumstances being omitted, the simple fact announced by the Presidentto Congress, that the English warship _Leopard_ had fired into theAmerican ship _Chesapeake_, and in American waters, killing severalpersons, and had seized and carried off four American citizens, producedthe excitement he was anxious to create against England, preparatory tothe war on which he was then determined--in the zenith of Napoleon'ssuccess and power, and in the extremity of England's struggle for herown existence and the liberties of mankind. The statement of theAmerican President as to the affair of the ships _Leopard_ and_Chesapeake_ has been repeated to this day by American historians, andis used in American school books to illustrate England's arrogance andcruelty; whereas all the facts of the case prove directly the reverse. We give the account of the affair from one American writer, who, thoughpartial, was too honest to omit essential facts, much less to pervertthem; we refer to Dr. Holmes, author of _American Annals_, and quote atlength his account of the affair. He says: "The frigate _Chesapeake_, being ordered to cruise in the MediterraneanSea, under the command of Commodore Barron, sailing from Hampton Roads, was come up with by the British ship-of-war _Leopard_, one of asquadron then at anchor within the limits of the United States. Anofficer was sent from the _Leopard_ to the _Chesapeake_ with a note fromthe captain respecting some deserters from his Britannic Majesty'sships, supposed to be serving as part of the crew of the _Chesapeake_and enclosing a copy of an order from Vice-Admiral Berkeley requiringand directing the commanders of ships and vessels under his command, incase of meeting with the American frigate at sea, and without the limitsof the United States, to show the order to her captain, and to requireto search his ship for the deserters from certain ships therein named, and to proceed and search for them; and if a similar demand should bemade by the American, he was permitted to search for deserters fromtheir service, according to the custom and usage of civilized nations onterms of amity with each other. Commodore Barron gave an answer that heknew of no such men as were described; that the recruiting officers forthe _Chesapeake_ had been particularly instructed by the Government, through him, not to enter any deserters from his Britannic Majesty'sships; that he knew of none such being in her; that he was instructednever to permit the crew of any ship under his command to be mustered byany officers but her own; that he was disposed to preserve harmony, andhoped his answer would prove satisfactory. The _Leopard_, shortly afterthis answer was received by her commander, ranged alongside of the_Chesapeake_, and commenced a heavy fire upon her. The _Chesapeake_, unprepared for action, made no resistance, but remained under the fireof the _Leopard_ from twenty to thirty minutes; when, having sufferedmuch damage, and lost three men killed and eighteen wounded, CommodoreBarron ordered his colours to be struck, and sent a lieutenant on boardthe _Leopard_ to inform her commander that he considered the_Chesapeake_ her prize. The commander of the _Leopard_ sent an officeron board, who took possession of the _Chesapeake_, mustered her crew, and, carrying off four of her men, abandoned the ship. Commodore Barron, after a communication, by writing, with the commander of the _Leopard_, finding that the _Chesapeake_ was very much injured, returned, with theadvice of his officers, to Hampton Roads. " (American State Papers, 1806-08. ) "On receiving information of this outrage, the President, byproclamation, interdicted the harbours and waters of the United Statesto all armed British vessels, forbade all intercourse with them, andordered a sufficient force for the protection of Norfolk, and such otherpreparations as the occasion appeared to require. An armed vessel of theUnited States was dispatched with instructions to the American Ministerat London to call on the British Government for the satisfaction andsecurity which the outrage required. " (American State Papers, 1806-08, pp. 183, 184, 248-252. )[181] Such is the American State Paper account of this affair, published someyears afterwards; and from this it will be seen that what was asked bythe captain of the _Leopard_ was what had been granted by all neutralnations to belligerents--to seek for and take their own deserters onboard of neutral vessels, in order to prevent neutrals from being, orsuspected of being, in collusion with either belligerent party. TheAmerican Government being in sympathy with the French Government duringthe whole of its twenty years' war with England, sought to change andevade this hitherto undisputed usage of mutually friendly nations inregard to belligerents. The _Chesapeake_ seems to have been selected tomake up a cause of war with Great Britain, by the warlike proceedings ofthe President before communicating with the British Government on thesubject. The American people had nothing but a complete perversion ofthe facts of the case until years afterwards. It is plain from the true version of the affair that the captain of the_Leopard_ acted courteously and fairly, though in excess of theauthority granted by the British Government; that he offered the samefacilities to the captain of the _Chesapeake_, in regard to examinationfor deserters, that he asked himself; that the commander of the_Chesapeake_ stated what he knew to be untrue when he asserted thatthere were no deserters on board the _Chesapeake_, which he knew wouldbe detected on examination of his crew. In all the American accounts and discussions on the question, theyignore the usage or customary law of civilized nations as to neutral ormutually friendly nations in respect to belligerent powers, and aresilent as to France and England being at war with each other, and thatin encouraging desertions from the English ships, and then claiming themas American citizens, they were playing into the hands of Bonaparteagainst England. It appears that President Madison, without awaiting or askingsatisfaction or explanation on this affair of the _Leopard_ and_Chesapeake_, forthwith prohibited the anchoring of British war ships inAmerican waters, and then sent a special messenger and communication tothe American Minister in London to demand satisfaction of the BritishGovernment for the alleged "outrage" upon the _Chesapeake_. But did theBritish Government show the passion and violence of the President of theUnited States? Let the American author above quoted be our witness againon this point. Dr. Holmes says: "Reparation was made by the British for the attack on the _Chesapeake_. Augustus J. Foster, the British envoy, informed the Secretary of theUnited States that he was instructed to repeat to the AmericanGovernment the prompt disavowal made by his Majesty, on being apprisedof the unauthorized act of the officer in command of his naval forces onthe coast of America, whose recall from a highly important andhonourable command immediately ensued, as a mark of his Majesty'sdisapprobation; that he was authorized to offer, in addition to thatdisavowal on the part of his Majesty, to order the immediaterestoration, as far as circumstances would admit, of the men who [thoughdeserters], in consequence of Admiral Berkeley's orders, were forciblytaken out of the _Chesapeake_, to the vessel from which they were taken;or, if that ship were no longer in commission, to such seaport of theUnited States as the American Government may name for the purpose; andthat he was authorized to offer to the American Government a suitablepecuniary provision for the sufferers in consequence of the attack onthe _Chesapeake_, including the families of those seamen who fell in theaction, and of the wounded survivors. The President acceded to thesepropositions; and the officer commanding the _Chesapeake_, then lying inthe harbour of Boston, was instructed to receive the men, who were to berestored to that ship. "--_Ib. _, p. 443. It might be supposed that such a spontaneous, courteous, and justproceeding on the part of England would have satisfied even thebellicose President Madison; but he was bent on joining the Tyrant ofEurope in war against England; the American public were kept inignorance of the instigating circumstances, and the just and generousconduct of the British Government in regard to the affair of the_Leopard_ and the _Chesapeake_, and availed himself of every occurrenceor incident to excite and increase the war feeling in the United Statesagainst England. An incident soon occurred answerable to President Madison's purpose. Arenegade by the name of _Henry_, who had in youth emigrated fromIreland, and who had, by the interest of friends, got appointed captainof militia; but not succeeding in the United States to the extent of hisambition, emigrated to Montreal, where, by some talents and address, andprofessed love of British institutions, he ingratiated himself in thegood graces of the principal persons at Montreal, and commenced hisstudies at law there, with a view of qualifying himself for a seat onthe judicial bench of _Upper Canada_, to which he was vain and ambitiousenough to aspire. He at length got access to the Governor-General, SirJames Craig, into whose confidence he so wormed himself as to obtain aletter of recognition and recommendation to visit Massachusetts andother eastern States to ascertain and report upon the state of feelingthere in regard to the sympathy of those States with England in case ofwar with England; but neither the British Government nor even Sir JamesCraig's Canadian Executive Council had the slightest knowledge of thisconfidential epistolary intrigue between his Excellency and the renegadeAmerican militia captain, who professed to be familiar with the politicsand parties of the New England States, where there was vehementopposition to the democratic and war government of President Madison, and supposed to cherish a strong leaning to England. While thisunprincipled "Captain Henry" was sauntering in the public-houses andbrothels of Boston, he wrote from time to time letters to Sir JamesCraig and other principal persons in Quebec; but the Governor and otherswho received his ostentatious and pretentious letters--though amused bythem--derived no more information from his epistles than from the publicnewspapers of the day. Henry, however, estimated his own worthlessservices of the greatest importance; and failing to get from Sir JamesCraig the amount of his demands, he appealed for compensation to theGovernment in England. He addressed a memorial to the Earl of Liverpool, Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, stating his services, andsuggesting that the appointment of Judge Advocate General of LowerCanada, with the salary of £500 per annum, or a consulate in the UnitedStates, _sine cura_, would be considered by him as a fair discharge ofthe obligation of the Government to him for his services. Lord Liverpoolwas not disposed to prostitute such favours upon a mercenary andintriguing vagrant, and referred him to the Government of Lower Canada, then in charge of Sir George Prevost, who had succeeded Sir James Craig. Henry knew the little estimate that was placed upon his services inCanada; he therefore betook himself back to the United States, andoffered his traitorous letters to the American Government for $50, 000, which he obtained, paid out of the United States Secret ServiceFund. [182] President Madison, instead of laying the correspondencebefore the British Government for explanation and satisfaction, communicated it to Congress, as a discovery and illustration of aconspiracy by the British Government to subvert the Constitution andGovernment of the United States, and by his message inflamed theCongress to the highest pitch of excitement, in the climax of which hegot a vote in favour of a declaration of war against Great Britain. ThePresident, in his message to Congress, referring to the Henry documentssaid: "They prove that at a recent period, while the United States, notwithstanding the wrongs sustained by them, ceased not to observe thelaws of neutrality towards Great Britain, and in the midst of amicableprofessions and negotiations on the part of the British Governmentthrough its public Minister here [Mr. Erskine], a _secret agent of thatGovernment_ was employed in certain States--more especially at the seatof government in Massachusetts--in fomenting disaffection to theconstituted authorities of the nation, and in intrigues with thedisaffected, for the purpose of bringing about resistance to the laws, and eventually, in concert with a British force, of destroying theUnion, and forming the eastern part thereof into a political connectionwith England. " Two days before the transmission of President Madison's message ofaccusation against England, the British Minister at Washington declaredin the public prints his entire ignorance of any transaction of thekind, and asked the United States Government to consider the characterof the individual who had made these disclosures, [183] and to "suspendany further judgment on its merits until the circumstances shall havebeen made known to his Majesty's Government. " But such fairness toEngland did not answer President Madison's purpose to get himselfre-elected President, by exciting hostility and declaring war againstEngland. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 176: "The war party in the United States was not very strong, numerically speaking, and it was not composed of the most respectableportions of the community; but what it lacked in these two requisites itmade up in loud and demonstrative clamour, and the more serious-mindedand important portions of the people were being forced, against theirbetter judgment, into a position hostile to Great Britain, by thecontinued cry of a few demagogues, who were more anxious to give vent totheir old feeling of spite against Great Britain than to consult thebest interests of their country. " (Tuttle's History of the Dominion ofCanada, Chap. Lxxii. , p. 349. )] [Footnote 177: This Decree is dated "Imperial Camp, Berlin, November21st, 1806. " Its principal Articles are as follow: "Art. 1. The British islands are in a state of blockade. "Art. 2. _All commerce and correspondence with them is prohibited_;consequently, all letters or packets written _in_ England, or _to_ anEnglishman, _written in the English language_, shall not be dispatchedfrom the post-offices, and shall be seized. "Art. 3. Every individual, a subject of Great Britain, of whatever rankor condition, who is found in countries occupied by our troops or thoseof our allies, shall be made prisoner of war. "Art. 4. Every warehouse, all merchandise or property whatsoever, belonging to an Englishman, are declared god-prize. "Art. 6. No vessel coming directly from England or her colonies, orhaving been there since the publication of this Decree, shall beadmitted into any port. "Art. 7. Every vessel that by a false declaration contravenes theforegoing disposition, shall be seized, and the ship and cargoconfiscated as English property. "Art. 10. Our Ministers of Foreign Relations, etc. , are charged with theexecution of the present Decree. "] [Footnote 178: British Annual Register, 1807, Vol. XLII. , Chap, xii. , p. 227. ] [Footnote 179: Thompson's History of the War of 1812, between GreatBritain and the United States, Chap. III. , pp. 23, 24. ] [Footnote 180: The justice of the proceedings and demands of the BritishGovernment, the fairness of its proposals, and the injustice andunreasonableness of the conduct of the Madison U. S. Government, areforcibly presented in the following preamble to resolutions adopted bythe Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, as late as the 5th ofFebruary, 1813: "Whereas the President, in his message to Congress, has made known tothe people of the United States that the British Orders in Council havebeen repealed 'in such manner as to be capable of explanations meetingthe views of the Government' of the United States; and therefore none ofthe alleged causes of war with Great Britain now remain except the claimof the right to take British subjects from the merchant ships of theUnited States: "And whereas, during the administration of General Washington andPresident Adams, this claim of Great Britain was not considered areasonable cause of war; and under the administration of PresidentJefferson, the Government of Great Britain did offer to make anarrangement with the United States, which in the opinion of Messrs. Montrose and Pinkey, their Ministers, placed this subject on a groundthat was both honourable and advantageous to the United States, andhighly favourable to their interests, and was, at the same time, aconcession which had never before been made; and it is highly probablethat the Government of Great Britain would still be willing to make anarrangement on this subject which should be alike honourable andadvantageous to the United States: "And whereas, under the administration of President Madison, when thearrangement of matters in controversy between the United States andGreat Britain was made with his Britannic Majesty's Minister, DavidMontague Erskine, Esq. , the impressment of seamen was not considered ofsufficient importance to make it a condition of that arrangement: "And whereas _the European powers, as well as the United States, recognize the principle that their subjects have no right to expatriatethemselves, and that the nation has a right to the services of all itscitizens, especially in time of war; and none of those powers respectthe neutralization laws of others so far as to admit their operation incontravention of that principle--and it is manifestly unjust for aneutral power to make war upon one nation in order to compel it torelinquish a principle which is maintained by the others, etc_. "] [Footnote 181: Holmes' American Annals, Vol. II. , pp. 434, 435. The manner in which this affair was presented to the public by thePresident and American writers may be inferred from the following: "This vessel (the _Chesapeake_) was suddenly attacked within our watersin the time of profound peace, compelled to surrender, and severalseamen, alleged to be British, were then forcibly taken from her. Theburst of indignation which followed was even more violent than thatwhich was produced by the Orders in Council in 1793 [1807]. Partyanimosity was suspended; meetings were assembled in every village; thenewspapers were filled with formal addresses; volunteer companies wereeverywhere set on foot; and, in the first frenzy of the moment, theuniversal cry was for immediate war. Although hostilities were notdeclared, the feelings of America were from that day at war withEngland. " (Breckenridge's History of the War of 1812. ) This state of feeling was precisely what President Madison wished tocreate, preparatory to his meditated war with England, in connectionwith the French usurper. ] [Footnote 182: "Indignant at this neglectful treatment, Henry returnedto Boston, and obtained a letter of introduction from Governor Gerry toMadison, to whom he offered to divulge the whole conspiracy, _of whichhe had been the head and soul_, for a certain sum of money. Madison gavehim $50, 000, and the swindler embarked for France. There is but littledoubt that Henry made a fool of the Governor of Canada, and completelyoverreached the President. The publication of the correspondence, however, increased the hatred both against the Federalists and theEnglish nation. " [The object President Madison had in view. ] (Headley'sHistory of the War of 1812-1815 with England, p. 49. )] [Footnote 183: "The _Henry Plot_ (as it was denominated) was clamouredthrough America as a crime of the deepest dye on the part of GreatBritain, tending to disorganize the Government, to dismember the Union, and to destroy the independence of the States. The fictitious andexaggerated importance which the American Government affected to attachto this trivial matter had, however, some influence in confirming thespirit of hostility towards Great Britain which at that time pervadedAmerica, and shortly after broke out in open war. This self-sufficientmiscreant having, as he fancied, taken ample vengeance upon theGovernment of his native country, could not, with any degree of decency, remain in the States, from whence he sailed for France in an Americansloop-of-war, carrying with him the reward of his treason and theuniversal contempt of mankind. " (Christie's History of the War of 1812, p. 55. ) Yet, at this very time, there were American and French emissaries inboth the Canadas (as the proclamations of the Governors show), with aview of exciting disaffection to the British Canadian Government, inorder to wrest the Canadas from England and subject them to France andthe United States. "The Americans had been declaring, for several years, that they wouldtake the provinces. They had even boasted of the ease with which theintended conquest could be made by them whenever they pleased. Theybelieved, or pretended to believe, that the majority of the people, owing to dissensions and a desire to be free from the mother country, would not take part against them in this contest with Great Britain. "(Dr. Miles' History of Canada, Part III. , Chap. Iii. , p. 201. )] CHAPTER XLIX. DECLARATION OF WAR BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN, ANDPREPARATIONS FOR THE INVASION OF CANADA. The Bill for declaring war against Britain passed the Congress June18th, 1812, after protracted discussions: by the House of Congress, by amajority of forty--seventy-nine to thirty-nine--by the Senate, by amajority of six. [184] The vote for the declaration of war was a purelyparty vote; the war itself was a purely partizan war--the carrying outof intrigue between the American Democratic President and the Frenchdespoiler of Europe--a war against the intelligence and patriotism ofthe American people, as well as against the independence and libertiesof nations; a war in which the very selection of generals and officerswere, as a general rule, partizan appointments. [185] The war party consisted largely of the mob or refuse of the nation--ofthose who had nothing to lose and everything to gain by such awar--facts which will go far to account, with three or four exceptions, for the inferior character of the American generals and officers in thewar; men appointed to offices for which they had no qualifications, andto situations in which they could, without stint, rob their country ofits money, if not of its reputation. In New York, a Convention of delegates from several counties of theState was held at Albany, on the 17th and 18th days of September, 1812, in which the war was denounced as unjustifiable, unprincipled, andunpatriotic, and as subservient, simply subservient to the cause of theFrench Emperor against England. [186] The address of the House of Representatives of the State ofMassachusetts presented in a still stronger light and with unanswerableargument the causes of this unjust and cruel war, as wanton andunprovoked, and the climax of the various outrages committed againstGreat Britain. Yet even the English Orders in Council--made the pretext for the war byPresident Madison and his partizans--impolitic as those Orders were onthe part of England, being founded not on sound national policy, butdictated by revenge on Napoleon on account of his Berlin and Milandecrees for the destruction of British commerce--even these BritishOrders in Council were actually a source of profit to Americanmerchants from the indulgent way in which they were administered by theBritish authorities. The American historian, Hildreth, says: "The comparative indulgence of the British, their willingness to allowto Americans a certain margin of profitable employment, contrasted veryfavourably in the minds of ship-owners with the totally anti-commercialsystem of France. Forgetting their late pretensions to a neutral trade, perfectly unshackled, and the loud outcry they had raised againstBritish invasions of it, they were now ready, with characteristiccommercial prudence, to accept as much of the views of British Ministersand merchants still left within their reach. A trade still profitable, however shackled and curtailed, they regarded as decidedly preferable tono trade at all. In fact, by the calculations of eminent merchants, fully confirmed by subsequent experience, the trade still allowed underthe British Orders, while far more profitable, was also quite asextensive as there could be any reasonable expectation of enjoying afterthe restoration of general peace. "The merchants and ship-owners had, however, but a limited influenceover public opinion. Their vast profits of late years had made themobjects of envy. Though their accumulations were but an index of thegeneral enrichment of the nation, there were multitudes who more or lessopenly rejoiced over their present distress [arising from the Americanembargo. ] Unfortunately, too, they were divided among themselves. Someeven of the wealthiest of their number were among those who applaudedthe embargo, of which conduct this not very charitable explanation wasgiven: that it would enable those who were able to wait for the revivalof trade to buy up at a great discount the ships and produce of theirpoorer neighbours. "[188] President Madison having declared a professedly defensive war againstGreat Britain for the purpose of defending maritime rights on theAtlantic Ocean, commenced by invading Canada in three "Grand Armies. "The one was the Grand Army of the West, consisting of 5, 000 men, underGeneral Hull, and the base of whose operations was Detroit; the secondwas the Grand Army of the Centre, under the command of General VanRensellaer, consisting of 5, 000, which was to operate against Canadafrom Lewiston; and the third, but first in command, was the Grand Armyof the North, under General Dearborn, consisting of 10, 000 men, tooperate from Lake Champlain against Montreal and the rest of LowerCanada. Such, then, was the declaration of war against England by PresidentMadison and his democratic faction; such were the false pretensions forthe war; such was the confederacy between the democratic President ofthe United States and the Tyrant of Europe against the liberties ofmankind, under pretence of war with England; such was the nobleopposition of the States of New York and New England to that unholycoalition between the American President and the oppressor of Europeagainst human liberty--States which had been the head and the sinews andthe backbone of American resistance to Great Britain during the strugglefor American independence, and which, having achieved that independence, abhorred being buccaneers against the independence of Canada, and theacquisition of the Indian territories of the West and North of theUnited States. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 184: In the report of the Committee recommending the Bill forthe declaration, it was, of course, attempted to make England theaggressive and the United States the injured party. "On presentation ofthis report, " says Lossing, "the doors were closed, and a motion to openthem was denied by a vote of seventy-seven against forty-nine. Mr. Calhoun [the democratic leader of the war party of the South] thenpresented a Bill, as part of the report, declaring war between GreatBritain and her dependencies and the United States and its territories. Amendments were offered. Ten votes were given for a proposition by Mr. McKee, of Kentucky, to include France. Mr. Quincy (of Boston)endeavoured, by an addition to the Bill, to provide for the repeal ofall restrictive laws bearing upon commerce; and John Randolph, ofVirginia, moved to postpone the whole matter until the followingOctober. All were rejected, and the Bill, as Mr. Calhoun presented it, was passed on the 4th day of June by a vote of seventy-nine for it andthirty-nine against it. "When the Bill reached the Senate it was referred to a Committee alreadyappointed to consider the President's message. It remained underdiscussion twelve days. Meanwhile the people throughout the country werefearfully excited by conflicting emotions. A memorial against the warwent from the Legislature of Massachusetts; and another from themerchants of New York, led by John Jacob Astor. War-meetings were heldin various places, and the whole country was in a tumult of excitement. Finally, on the 17th of June, the Bill, with some amendments, was passedin the Senate by a vote of nineteen against thirteen. It was sent backto the House on the morning of the 18th, when the amendments wereconcurred in. The Bill was engrossed on parchment, and at three o'clockin the afternoon of that day became law by the signature of thePresident [who next day declared war against Great Britain]. In theHouse, the members from Pennsylvania, and the States of the South andWest, gave sixty-two votes for it to seventeen against it. In theSenate, the same States gave fourteen for it, to five against it, 'Thus, ' says a late writer [Edwin Williams], 'the war may be said tohave been a measure of the South and West to take care of the interestsof the North, much against the will of the latter. '" (Lossing's FieldBook of the War of 1812, Chap. Xi. , pp. 227, 228. ) The minority of the members of the House of Representatives who votedagainst the war, addressed a protest, signed by them all, to theirconstituents, exposing the impolicy and objects of the war, andindicating their own conduct. We quote two sentences of this able paper: "As to the invasion and seizure of Canada, which was a part of theprogramme of the war party, they considered an attempt to carry out thatmeasure as unjust and impolitic in itself, very uncertain in the issue, and unpromising as to any good results. "--"It cannot be concealed thatto engage in the present war against England is to place ourselves onthe side of France, and expose us to the vassalage of States servingunder the banner of the French Emperor. "] [Footnote 185: The distinguished Joseph Quincy, of Boston, leader of theFederalist party, said, in his place in Congress, "I have evidencesatisfactory in my own mind, that the Secretary of War has made it aprinciple not to appoint any man to a command in that army who is not anopen partizan of the existing Administration. If it be denied, appoint aCommittee of Inquiry. If the intention had been to unite the nation asone man against a foreign enemy, is not this the last policy that anyAdministration ought ever to have adopted? Is not a partizan army themost dreadful and detestable of all engines, and most likely to awakensuspicions and to inspire discontent?" (Hildreth, Second Series, Vol. III. , Chap. Xxi. , p. 123. ) "The place of the first major-general, with the command of the NorthernDepartment, had been given to the petted favourite, Henry Dearborn, lateSecretary of War, and, since Madison's accession, collector of the portof Boston--a lucrative post, kept in his family by his son's appointmentto it. "--"Wilkinson, the senior brigadier, just acquitted bycourt-martial of long-pending charges against him, had been sent to NewOrleans [afterwards to Canada] to relieve Hampton [who was afterwardssent to Canada], whose command there had been a constant scene ofcollision and turmoil with his officers. Commissions as brigadiers, under the late Acts, had been given to Bloomfield, Governor of NewJersey; to James Winchester, of Tennessee; and to Hull, Governor ofMichigan Territory. * * Hampton and Smythe had been civilians for morethan thirty years, and were indebted for their present appointmentsrather to political than to military considerations. Of the inferiors ofthe old army, presently distinguished, Alexander MacNab, of theEngineers, was now a colonel, and Winfield Scott and Edmund Gaineslieutenant-colonels. A lieutenant-colonelcy in one of the new regimentshad been given to Eleazar W. Ripley, a young Democrat from Maine, whohad succeeded Storey, of the late Democratic Massachusetts House ofRepresentatives. Ripley's subsequent conduct justified his appointment;but the colonel of that same regiment was afterwards cashiered forpeculation; and as few of the new regimental officers had any militaryknowledge, so numbers of them were quite destitute of those qualitieswithout which even that knowledge would have been of little avail. "(Hildreth's History of the United States, Second Series, Vol. III. , Chap, xxiv. , pp. 308-310. )] [Footnote 186: "The following are extracts from the resolutions of thisfamous Convention: "Taking solely into consideration the time and circumstances of thedeclaration of the present war, the condition of the country, and stateof the public mind, we are constrained to consider, and feel it our dutyto pronounce it a most rash, unwise, and inexpedient measure, theadoption of which ought forever to deprive its authors of the esteem andconfidence of an enlightened people; because, as the injuries we havereceived from France are at least equal in amount to those we havesustained from England, and have been attended with circumstances ofstill greater insult and aggravation, if war were necessary to vindicatethe honour of the country, consistency and impartiality required thatboth nations should have been included in the declaration; because, ifit were deemed expedient to exercise our right of selecting ouradversary, prudence and common sense dictated the choice of an enemyfrom whose hostility we had nothing to dread. A war with France wouldequally have satisfied our insulted honour, and at the same time, instead of annihilating, would have revived and extended our commerce;and even the evils of such a contest would have been mitigated by thesublime consolation, that, by our efforts, we were contributing toarrest the progress of despotism in Europe, and essentially serving thegreat interests of freedom and humanity throughout the world;" * *"because, before the war was declared, it was perfectly well ascertainedthat a vast majority of the people in the Middle and Northern States, bywhom the burden and expenses of the war must be borne almostexclusively, were strongly opposed to the measure. " * * "Whereas the late revocation of British Orders in Council has removedthe great and ostensible cause of the present war, and prepared the wayfor an immediate accommodation of existing differences, inasmuch as, bythe concession of the present Secretary of State, satisfactory andhonourable arrangements might easily be made, by which abuses resultingfrom the impressment of our seamen might in future be effectuallyprevented. Therefore, "Resolved, --That we shall be constrained to consider the determinationon the part of our rulers to continue the present war, after officialnotice of revocation of the British Orders in Council, as affordingconclusive evidence that the war has been undertaken from motivesentirely distinct from those which have been hitherto avowed, and forthe promotion of objects wholly unconnected with the interest and honourof America. "Resolved, --That we contemplate with abhorrence even the possibility ofan alliance with the present Emperor of France, every action of whoselife has demonstrated, that the attainment, by any means, of universalempire, and the consequent extinction of every vestige of freedom, arethe sole objects of his incessant, unbounded, and remorseless ambition. His arms, with the spirit of freemen, we might openly and fearlesslyencounter; but of his secret arts, his corrupting influences, weentertain a dread we can neither conquer nor conceal. It is thereforewith the utmost distrust and alarm that we regard his late professionsof attachment and love to the American people, fully recollecting thathis invariable course has been, by perfidious offers of protection, bydeceitful professions of friendship, to lull his intended victims intothe fatal sleep of confidence and security, during which the chains ofdespotism are silently wound round and riveted on them. (Signed) "JACOB MORRIS, _President_. "WILLIAM HENDERSON, _Secretary_. "] [Footnote 187: These Orders in Council were cancelled five days afterPresident Madison's declaration of war--weeks before that declarationcould have been known in England. ] [Footnote 188: Hildreth's History of the United States, Second Series, Vol. III. , Chap. Xxi. , pp. 86, 87. ] CHAPTER L. PREPARATIONS BY CANADA AGAINST THE AMERICAN INVASIONS. 1. LOWER CANADA. It now becomes our duty to state the preparations made by the Canadiansfor their own defence against the American invasions. Though so few innumber and modest in pretensions to their multitudinous and boastinginvaders, they had the hearts of freemen and patriots, and trusted tothe Divine blessing in the justness of their cause. [189] We shall noticefirst the preparations of Lower Canada, and then those of Upper Canada. Sir George Prevost, in the autumn of 1811, succeeded Sir James H. Craigin the government of Lower Canada, and in the chief command of the NorthAmerican provinces. He had been Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. Theknown mildness of his character, and the popularity of hisadministration in Nova Scotia, caused his arrival at Quebec to beheartily welcomed by the friends of just and liberal government. Thenarrow-mindedness and harshness of Sir James Craig's administration hadcaused serious agitation and differences in Lower Canada, which SirGeorge Prevost, by his impartiality and kindness, soon succeeded inallaying and reconciling. He called the first meeting of the Legislatureon the 21st of February, 1812, and, in his opening speech, stated thathe had hastened, in obedience to his orders, to assume theadministration of Lower Canada; congratulated the Legislature on thebrilliant achievements of the British arms in rescuing Portugal andSpain "from the tyranny of the Ruler of France;" and recommended anincreased and unremitted care and vigilance in securing the country fromeither open invasion or insidious aggression, and hoped the Parliamentwould testify its loyalty by an early attention to those Acts whichexperience had proved essential for the preservation of his Majesty'sgovernment, as also by its readiness in supplying the Government withsuch aid as should be suitable to the exigence of the times, by enablingthe loyal Canadian subjects to assist in repelling any sudden attackmade by a tumultuary invasion, and effectually to participate in thedefence of their country against a regular invasion at any futureperiod. The Assembly, in answer, among other things assured the Governor thatthey would give attention to those acts recommended by him. The Assemblypassed a Militia Bill, by which the Governor was authorized to embody2, 000 unmarried men, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years, for three months in the year; and in case of invasion or imminentdanger, to retain them for one year, relieving one-half the numberembodied, by fresh drafts at the expiration of that period. In the eventof war, invasion, insurrection, or imminent danger thereof, he wasempowered to embody the whole militia of the province, should it becomenecessary. No substitutes were allowed, nor commissioned officerspermitted to take any militiamen for their servants, under a penalty of£10 for every offence of that nature. These provisions, from theirharshness and inconsistency, were, however, winked at in practice. Itwas penal to enlist any militiamen into the regular forces, and suchenlistments were declared null. _Twelve thousand pounds_ were granted by the Legislature, one moietythereof for drilling and training the local militia, the other moietyfor other purposes of the Militia Act. _Twenty thousand pounds_ weregranted to be employed for such services as the safety of the provinceand the exigence of the times might require. And a further sum of_thirty thousand pounds_ currency, to be at the Governor's disposal incase of war between Great Britain and America. These liberal supplies enabled the Government to meet the approachingcrisis with confidence in the patriotism and support of the ProvincialLegislature, and the whole mass of the Canadian population. In closingthe session, the Governor thanked the House for the labour they hadbestowed upon the improvement of the militia system, and for theincreased means thereby afforded him for the defence of the province. Healso expressed his best thanks for the proofs he had received of theirconfidence in his administration, by the liberal provision they had madefor the exigencies of the public service. [190] After the declaration of war by President Madison, June 19th, 1812, which was made known at Quebec the 28th of June, a notification wasimmediately made by the police that all Americans must leave Quebec bythe 1st of July, and be out of the district by the 3rd of the samemonth. On the last day of June the period was extended by the Governor'sproclamation; fourteen days were allowed to such Americans as were inthe province, they being principally persons who had entered the same ingood faith, and in prosecution of commercial pursuits. "On the same day a proclamation issued imposing an embargo upon theshipping in port, and convoking the House of Assembly on the 16th ofJuly. "[191] "At the opening of the session, the Governor, after informing theLegislature of the recent declaration of war by the United Statesagainst Great Britain, expressed his reliance upon the spirit of hisMajesty's subjects in the province, their loyalty to their Sovereign, and their ardent love for the true interests of their country; and thathe should depend implicitly, under Divine Providence, upon their bestexertions, aided by the courage and loyalty of the militia, and by thevalour, skill, and discipline of his Majesty's regular forces, forrepelling every hostile attempt that might be made upon the colony. Heobserved with concern that the necessary establishment of the militiaforces, together with the various services and operations of theapproaching campaign, would be attended with considerable expense, butthat he relied upon their wisdom and public spirit for such supplies asthe exigencies of affairs might be found to require: he at the same timeexpressed his approbation of the embodied militia, and his confidence intheir increased discipline, which encouraged an expectation that theywould materially contribute to the defence of their country. " * * "A Bill to Facilitate the Circulation of Army Bills was introduced, andthe liberality of the House of Assembly surpassed the hopes of theExecutive. Fifteen thousand pounds were granted to pay the interest thatmight become due upon army bills, of which £250, 000 were authorized tobe put in circulation (large bills of twenty-five dollars and upwardsbearing interest at the rate of fourpence per day for every hundredpounds). They were made current in the revenue, were to have the effectof a legal tender, and were redeemable at the Army Bill Office, eitherin cash or Government bills of exchange on London, at the option of thecommander of the forces. Small bills of four dollars were at all timespayable in cash at the Army Bill Office. On the 1st day of August, 1812, this Bill received the royal sanction, and the Governor prorogued theParliament, with acknowledgments for the liberal aid they had grantedhim to meet the exigencies of the public service. "[192] Such were the provisions made spontaneously, and with wonderfulunanimity, in Lower Canada for the defence of the province against theimpending American invasion. These provisions were prior tocorresponding provisions made in Upper Canada, and the statement ofwhich has been made in so much detail that the English reading publicmight be reminded, or informed, of what has been too little known--theloyalty, liberality, and courage of the French as well as of the Englishinhabitants of Lower Canada, from the very beginning of the contest, andfollowed by deeds of heroism and fortitude (to be noticed hereafter), which successfully repelled successive American invasions, and preventedthe American armies, ten times as numerous as the Voltigeurs and allother Canadian volunteers, from gaining a single foothold in LowerCanada. 2. UPPER CANADA. Upper Canada was not second to Lower Canada. Sir Francis Gore left forEngland in 1811, and was succeeded by General Brock as President ofUpper Canada, and commander of the forces, who called the Legislaturetogether as early as possible after the declaration of war. Colonel JohnClarke, Adjutant-General of Militia, in his manuscripts (with the use ofwhich I have been favoured by the learned and excellent librarian of theDominion at Ottawa, entitled "U. E. Papers"), says: "Whilst the Americans were busily preparing for the campaign, we werenot idle in Canada. On the 27th of July, 1812, General Brock proceededto York and called a meeting of the Legislature, to which he deliveredan animated and spirited address, concluding with the followingremarkable words: "'We are engaged in an awful and eventful contest. "'By unanimity and dispatch in our councils, and by vigour in ouroperations, we may teach the enemy this lesson, that a country defendedby FREE MEN, enthusiastically devoted to the cause of their King andConstitution, cannot be conquered. '" The Legislature heartily responded to the noble appeal of General Brockat the opening of the session; passed the necessary Acts for thesecurity of the country, for the organization and training of themilitia, and for the expenses and support of the war, and concludingtheir work by an earnest and patriotic address to the people of UpperCanada. We will extract some passages of this "Address of the House ofAssembly to the People of Upper Canada, on the Declaration of War. " Thispowerful address, which occupies twelve pages, is signed "Allan MacLean, Speaker, " and dated "Commons House of Assembly, August 5th, 1812"--justten days before General Brock took Detroit: "The House of Assembly having nearly completed the necessary businessfor which they were called together, beg leave, before they return home, to lift up their warning voice at this eventful crisis. The declarationof war issued against Great Britain by the United States, when firstannounced, appeared to be an act of such astonishing folly anddesperation as to be altogether incredible, and not only excited thegreatest surprise among the inhabitants of this province, but among thegreat majority of our enemies themselves. That that Government, professing to be the friend of man and the great supporter of hisliberty and independence, should light up the torch of war against theonly nation that stands between itself and destruction, exhibited adegree of infatuation or madness, altogether incomprehensible. But themen at present ruling the States, infatuated, or, as their moreenlightened countrymen say, 'bribed by the Tyrant of France, ' regardlessof the best interests of their country, and the feelings and affectionsof a great majority of their own people, have commenced hostilitiesagainst our mother country whilst treating their vessels withhospitality, and instead of threatening their liberties, offering mostequitable terms of accommodation. "This war, on the part of the United States, includes an alliance withthe French usurper, whose dreadful policy has destroyed all that isgreat and good, memorable and holy, on the continent of Europe. Thegovernment of this bloody tyrant penetrates into everything; it crushesindividuals as well as nations; fetters thoughts as well as motives; anddelights in destroying forever all that is fair and just in opinion andsentiment. It is evidently this tyrant who now directs the rulers ofAmerica, and they show themselves worthy disciples of such a master. " * * "We turn with joy to you, many of whom have already risked your livesfor the unity of the empire. We are confident that the same spirit stillanimates your breasts and those of your children--that you still retainthe same love of your excellent King, the same veneration for a free andhappy Constitution, that you exhibited during the American war. * * Whenwe picture to ourselves the sublime prospect the world would haveexhibited this day, had the population of the neighbouring Statespreserved, like you, their filial love, we should not now behold thecontinent of Europe groaning under the yoke of a sanguinary tyrant, norhis satellites in America studiously imitating his example. "It is therefore from former experience that we look to you for the samepatriotic principles--principles which enabled you to face death in itsmost dreadful attire--principles which exalt human nature, and whichhave been warmly cherished by the most virtuous and renowned of everyage: and surely when we are attacked by the same enemies who once, aidedby the mistaken lenity of the mother country and the misconduct of hercommanders, were able to drive us from our native homes and possessionsto this province--a people whose lands are manured with the blood of ourfriends and kinsmen, who drove our wives and children from their homesin the woods, or threw them into dungeons, and who now envy us thehabitations which, through the blessing of Providence, the beneficenceof our parent state, and our own industry, we have gained from thewilderness, we are confident that you will display the same energy, andcertainly with better hopes of success. Great Britain will not nowconsider such Americans as perverse children who may be reclaimed, butas her most malignant foes. Her commanders will not, as formerly, temporize and raise hosts of enemies by their misconduct and delays, butthey will hasten to punish them with all the rigour of war. "Already have we the joy to remark, that the spirit of loyalty has burstforth in all its ancient splendour. The militia in all parts of theprovince have volunteered their services with acclamation, and displayeda degree of energy worthy of the British name. * * When men are calledupon to defend everything they call precious--their wives and children, their friends and possessions--they ought to be inspired with thenoblest resolutions, and they will not be easily frightened by menaces, or conquered by force. And beholding, as we do, the flame of patriotismburning from one end of the Canadas to the other, we cannot butentertain the most pleasing anticipations. "Our enemies have indeed said that they could subdue this country byProclamation; but it is our part to prove to them that they are sadlymistaken--that the population is determinedly hostile to them, and thatthe few who might be otherwise inclined will find it their safety to befaithful. * * "Innumerable attempts will be made by falsehood to detach you from yourallegiance; for our enemies, in imitation of their European master, trust more to treachery than to force; and they will, no doubt, make useof many of those lies, which, unfortunately for the virtuous part ofthese States, and the peace and happiness of the world, had too muchsuccess during the American rebellion: they will tell you that they arecome to give you freedom--yes, the base slaves of the most contemptiblefaction that ever distracted the affairs of any nation--the minions ofthe very sycophants who lick the dust from the feet of Bonaparte willtell you that they are come to communicate the blessing of liberty tothis province; but you have only to look at your own situation to putsuch hypocrites to confusion. * * "Trusting more to treachery than to open hostility, our enemies havealready spread their emissaries through the country, to seduce ourfellow-subjects from their allegiance, by promises as false as theprinciples on which they are founded. A law has been enacted for thespeedy detection of such emissaries, and for their condign punishmenton conviction. "[193] "Remember, when you go forth to the combat, that you fight not foryourselves alone, but for the whole world. You are defeating the mostformidable conspiracy against the civilization of man that was evercontrived; a conspiracy threatening greater barbarism and misery thanfollowed the downfall of the Roman Empire--that now you have anopportunity of proving your attachment to the parent state, whichcontends for the relief of oppressed nations--the last pillar of trueliberty, and the last refuge of oppressed humanity. (Signed) "ALLAN MACLEAN, "_Speaker, Commons House of Assembly, August 5th, 1812. _" The effect of this manly and animated address to the people of UpperCanada was most beneficial, and contributed greatly to unite andencourage the people to face the struggle impending over them. There wasno inflated boasting--no undervaluing of danger and sacrifice, but aplain statement of facts, and a heartfelt appeal to loyalty, patriotism, and manly courage. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 189: "A war with Great Britain had been long contemplated bythe rulers in America, and a seasonable moment only was sought for, tograsp the provinces which they had fallaciously been induced to believewere ripe for revolt, and would therefore fall a willing conquest toAmerica. The Peninsular war had engrossed the attention and resources ofthe mother country, and the Canadas were necessarily the less providedwith means to encounter the struggle in which they were likely soon tobe engaged. The coffers were exhausted, nor were hopes entertained oftheir being speedily replenished from home; the regular forces were toothin to preserve an extensive frontier of some hundred miles against thepressure of an enemy which, if united, must become irresistible; and theCanadians, though naturally brave and hardy, and attached to theirConstitution, might from recent occurrences be fairly presumed to havebeen so far disgusted as to leave doubt of their hearty co-operation andzeal in the cause. " (Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap. Iii. , p. 48. )] [Footnote 190: Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap, iii. , pp. 49-53. "The Governor, by a General Order of the 28th of May, 1812, organizedfour battalions of embodied militia, in virtue of the late Act. Thefirst battalion rendezvoused at Point-aux-Trembles, near Quebec, underthe command of Colonel De Salaberry; the second at Laprairie, nearMontreal, commanded by Colonel De Rouville; the third at Berthier, inthe district of Montreal, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Cuthbert; andthe fourth at St. Thomas, near Quebec, commanded by Lieutenant-ColonelTaschereau. The alacrity with which they were filled, and thecheerfulness with which the young men submitted to the restraints ofdiscipline, reflected credit upon the military character of theCanadians. This proof of the zeal and the loyalty of the people inspiredGovernment with hopes of successful resistance against the approachingwar, and a reciprocal confidence between the Governor and the peopleseems to have resulted, as much from the danger of the moment as fromany studied policy on the part of the present Administration. They whohad incurred the displeasure of the late Government were treated withconfidence, and gradually appointed to situations of trust. "A regiment of Canadian Voltigeurs was recruited, and placed under thecommand of Major De Salaberry, of the 60th Regiment of Foot, which inthe course of the war became eminent for discipline and its steadinessin action, as well as for the fatiguing duties on which it wasunremittingly employed. "--_Ib. _, pp. 55, 56. ] [Footnote 191: Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap. Iii. , pp. 36, 37. ] [Footnote 192: Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap. Iii. , pp. 57-60. ] [Footnote 193: Colonel Clarke remarks that "the moderation of thedifferent Acts which were then passed, for the preservation and defenceof the province, is an additional proof that _internal treachery_ wasnot one of the causes which were found. "] CHAPTER LI. FIRST AMERICAN INVASION OF UPPER CANADA BY GENERAL HULL, FROM DETROIT, WHOSE PROCLAMATION "TO THE INHABITANTS OF CANADA" IS GIVEN ENTIRE, ANDGENERAL BROCK'S NOBLE ANSWER TO IT, IN AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF UPPERCANADA. In the meantime Canada, in its western extremity, had been invaded. TheAmerican Government had been for several months collecting an army ofsome 3, 000 or 4, 000 regular troops and militia, around and west ofDetroit, in order to strike a blow upon Canada the moment war should bedeclared. General Hull was the Governor of the territory of Michigan, and Commander-in-Chief of the "Grand Army of the West. " On the 12th ofJuly he crossed the River Detroit with a force of 2, 500 of the abovetroops, and a strong park of artillery, and planted the Americanstandard on the shores of Canada, at Sandwich. He forthwith issued apretentious, inflated, cajoling, patronising, threatening proclamationto the inhabitants of Canada, and pronouncing instant death to any onewho should be fighting in company with the Indians, while at the sametime the Americans were employing in their army all the Indians theycould induce to join them. The American democratic party which ruled atWashington had persecuted and driven the fathers of Canada from theirhomes in the United States, and had always been the enemies of theirpeace and prosperity in Canada; yet they were under the strange delusionthat the people of Canada must be still as much in love with them asthey were with themselves, and that the magnetism of their star-spangledbanner planted in Canada would draw all Canadians to it; that anaddress from their commanding general would supply the place of armies, and that taking Canada would be but a holiday march, in which, as theirlanguage of the time was, they would "breakfast at Sandwich, take dinnerat York (Toronto), and sup at Montreal. " It was in this spirit of vanityand delusion that General Hull issued his famous proclamation, on hislanding at Sandwich, and which I give entire in a note. [194] In a noble address to the people of Upper Canada, General Brock answeredthe proclamation of General Hull, repelling and exposing withoverwhelming power his misstatements, and answering with witheringsarcasm General Hull's attack upon the Indians, and the "barbarous andsavage policy of Great Britain" in recognizing the Indians as allies andfellow-subjects, and their right to defend their homes and libertiesagainst American invasion and rapine. We present the reader with thefollowing extracts of this masterly address, transcribed from themanuscripts of the Dominion Library at Ottawa. In the course of his Address to the People of Canada, General Brocksays: "The unprovoked declaration of war by the United States of Americaagainst Great Britain and Ireland and its dependencies, has beenfollowed by the actual invasion of this Province, in a remote frontierof the Western District, by a detachment of the armed force of theUnited States. "The officer commanding that detachment [General Hull] has thoughtproper to invite his Majesty's subjects not merely to a quiet andunresisting submission, but insults them by offering with a call to seekthe protection of his Government. "Without condescending to notice the epithets bestowed, in this appealof the American commander to the people of Upper Canada, on theadministration of his Majesty, every inhabitant of the Province isdesired to seek the confutation of such indecent slander in the reviewof his own particular circumstances. "Where is the Canadian subject who can truly affirm to himself that hehas been injured by the Government in his person, his property, or hisliberty? "Where is to be found in any part of the world a growth so rapid inprosperity and wealth as this colony exhibits? Settled not thirty years, by a band of veterans exiled from their former possessions on account oftheir loyalty, not a descendant of these brave people is to be found whohas not, under the fostering care of their Sovereign, acquired aproperty and means of enjoyment superior to what were possessed by theirancestors. "This unequalled prosperity would not have been attained by the utmostliberality of the Government or the persevering industry of the people, had not the maritime power of the mother country secured to thecolonists a safe access to every market where the produce of theirlabour was in request. * * "The restitution of Canada to the empire of France was the _stipulated_reward for the aid afforded to the revolted colonies, now the UnitedStates. The debt is still due; and there can be no doubt but that thepledge has been renewed as a consideration for commercial advantages, orrather for an expected relaxation in the tyranny of France over thecommercial world. "Are you prepared, inhabitants of Canada, to become willing subjects, orslaves, to the Despot who rules the nations of continental Europe with arod of iron? "If not, arise in a body; exert your energies; co-operate cordially withthe King's regular forces to repel the invader, and do not give cause toyour children, when groaning under the oppression of a Foreign Master, to reproach you with having so easily parted with the richestinheritance of this earth--a participation in the name, character, andfreedom of Britons. * * "Be not dismayed at the unjustifiable threat of the commander of theenemy's forces, to refuse quarter should an Indian appear in the ranks. "The brave bands of aborigines which inhabit this colony were, like hisMajesty's other subjects, punished for their zeal and fidelity by theloss of their possessions in the late colonies, and rewarded by hisMajesty with lands of superior value in this Province. "The faith of the British Government has never been violated. TheIndians feel that the soil they inherit is to them and their posterityprotected from the base arts so frequently devised to overreach theirsimplicity. "By what principle are they to be prohibited from defending theirproperty? If their warfare, from being different to that of otherpeople, be more terrific to the enemy, let him retrace his steps; theyseek him not--and cannot expect to find women and children in aninvading army. "But they are men, and have equal rights with all other men to defendthemselves and their property when invaded, more especially when theyfind in the enemy's camp a ferocious and mortal enemy, using the samewarfare which the American commander affects to reprobate. "This inconsistent and unjustifiable threat of refusing quarter, forsuch a cause as being found in arms with a brother sufferer, in defenceof invaded rights, must be exercised with the certain assurance ofretaliation, not only in the limited operations of war in this part ofthe King's dominions, but in every quarter of the globe; for thenational character of Britain is not less distinguished for humanitythan strict retributive justice, which will consider the execution ofthis inhuman threat as deliberate murder, for which every subject of theoffending power must make expiation. (Signed) "ISAAC BROCK, "_Major-General and President_. "HEADQUARTERS, "Fort George, July 22nd, 1812. ""By order of his Honour the President, (Signed) "J. B. GLEGG, A. D. C. , _General_. " FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 194: The following is General Hull's Proclamation: "PROCLAMATION. "Headquarters, Sandwich, 12th July, 1812. "_Inhabitants of Canada_, -- "After thirty years of peace and prosperity, the United States have beendriven to arms. The injuries and aggressions, the insults andindignities of Great Britain have once more left them no alternative butmanly resistance or unconditional submission. The army under my commandhas invaded your country. The standard of the Union now waves over theterritory of Canada. To the peaceable, unoffending inhabitants it bringsneither danger nor difficulty. I come to find enemies, not to make them;I come to protect, not to injure you. "Separated by an immense ocean and an extensive wilderness from GreatBritain, you have no participation in her councils, nor interest in herconduct. You have felt her tyranny; you have seen her injustice; but Ido not ask you to avenge the one, or to redress the other. The UnitedStates are sufficiently powerful to afford every security consistentwith their and your expectations. I tender you the invaluable blessingsof civil, religious, and political liberty, and their necessaryresult--individual and general prosperity; that liberty which gavedecision to our councils and energy to our conduct, in a struggle forindependence--which conducted us safely and triumphantly through thestormy period of the revolution--the liberty which has raised us to ourelevated rank among the nations of the world, and which afforded us agreater measure of peace and security, of wealth and improvement, thanever fell to the lot of any people. "In the name of my country and the authority of Government, I promiseyou protection to your persons, property, and rights. Remain at yourhomes; pursue your peaceful and customary avocations; raise not yourhands against your brethren. Many of your fathers fought for the freedomand independence we now enjoy. Being children, therefore, of the samefamily with us, and heirs of the same heritage, the arrival of an armyof friends must be hailed by you with a cordial welcome. You will beemancipated from tyranny and oppression, and restored to the dignifiedstatus of freemen. "Had I any doubt of eventual success, I might ask your assistance; but Ido not. I come prepared for every contingency--I have a force which willbreak down all opposition, and that force is but the vanguard of a muchgreater. If, contrary to your own interest, and the just expectations ofmy country, you should take part in the approaching contest, you will beconsidered and treated as enemies, and the horrors and calamities of warwill stalk before you. "If the barbarous and savage policy of Great Britain be pursued, and thesavages are let loose to murder our citizens, and butcher our women andchildren, this war will be a war of extermination. The first stroke ofthe tomahawk, the first attempt with the scalping knife, will be thesignal of one indiscriminate scene of desolation. No white man foundfighting by the side of an Indian will be taken prisoner--instant deathwill be his lot. If the dictates of reason, duty, justice, and humanity, cannot prevent the employment of a force which respects no rights, andknows no wrongs, it will be prevented by a severe and relentless systemof retaliation. "I doubt not your courage and firmness. I will not doubt your attachmentto liberty. If you tender your services voluntarily, they will beaccepted readily. The United States offer you peace, liberty, andsecurity. Your chance lies between these and war, slavery, anddestruction. Choose, then, but choose wisely; and may He who knows thejustice of our cause, and who holds in His hands the fate of nations, guide you to a result the most compatible with your rights andinterests, your peace and happiness. "By the General, A. P. HULL. " _Note. _--It is a curious commentary on the above proclamation, thatwithin six weeks of its being so pompously put forth, General Hullhimself, with all his army, was a prisoner in the hands of theLieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, to whom was surrendered nearly3, 000 prisoners, Fort Detroit, an immense quantity of arms and munitionsof war, together with the whole territory of Michigan, and the securedalliance of the numerous Indian tribes to the west and north. ] CHAPTER LII. GENERAL BROCK PREPARES FOR AN ATTACK ON DETROIT, AND WITH A SMALL FORCETAKES GENERAL HULL AND HIS ARMY PRISONERS, AND ACQUIRES POSSESSION OFDETROIT AND THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN--INCIDENTS PRECEDING AND ATTENDINGTHE TAKING OF DETROIT--GENERAL BROCK'S PROCLAMATION TO THE INHABITANTSOF THE MICHIGAN TERRITORY--HIS COUNCIL WITH THE INDIANS, ANDCONVERSATION WITH THE GREAT CHIEF TECUMSEH, AND ESTIMATE OF HIM--GENERALBROCK RETURNS TO YORK (TORONTO)--WHAT HE DID IN NINETEEN DAYS. General Brock did not content himself in replying to General Hull onpaper, in defence of the British Government and the people of Canada; heanswered him in a more substantial way on the battle-field. GeneralBrock lost no time in collecting the few soldiers in Upper Canada, andthe militia volunteers, and proceeding by boats, vessels, and by land, from Niagara to Detroit, to meet face to face the boasting commander ofthe Grand Army of the West, and, in less than four weeks of his manlyreply to Hull's inflated proclamation, he made Hull and all his armyprisoners of war, with the surrender of the whole Michigan territory. Itwas an achievement worthy of perpetual remembrance, that General Brock, with forces hastily collected, "consisting of thirty of the RoyalArtillery with three six-pounders, under the command of LieutenantTroughton, two hundred and fifty of the 41st Regiment, fifty of theNewfoundland Fencibles, and four hundred Canadian militia--in allamounting to seven hundred and thirty, to whom six hundred Indiansattached themselves--making an aggregate of one thousand three hundredand thirty;" we say, it is an achievement worthy of all remembrance andhonour, that General Brock should, with such motley and slender forces, cross the Detroit river, and, by the skilful arrangement of his handfulof soldiers, take, without shedding a drop of blood, a fort stronglyprotected by--_iron_ ordnance, nine twenty-four-pounders, eighttwelve-pounders, five nine-pounders, three six-pounders; _brass_ordnance, three six-pounders, two four-pounders, one three-pounder, oneeight-inch howitzer, one five and a-half inch howitzer--in allthirty-three pieces of ordnance; and defended by upwards of 2, 500regular soldiers and militia. But there was this essential difference between the two armies: thelittle Canadian army had homes, families, and liberties to defend, connection with the mother country to maintain, and the consciousness ofright; the great American army, with its fortifications, had theconsciousness of long-continued and wide-spread wrongs in depredationsagainst their western Indian neighbours, bloated avarice for conquest, and inveterate hatred of Great Britain. There are several incidents connected with this remarkable militaryachievement. Mr. Thompson, in his History of the War of 1812, says:"General Brock having made such arrangements, in the government of theprovince, as were necessary during his absence from York, proceededthence to Fort George, and thence to _Long Point, on Lake Erie, where hewas joined by two hundred and sixty of the militia, who had, in a fewdays, and in the very height of their harvest, gallantly volunteeredtheir services to share the dangers of the field in defence of theircountry_, together with the detachment of the 41st Regiment, who hadbeen previously sent to that quarter. " (Thompson's History of the War of1812, p. 106. ) Among the 260 volunteers from the county of Norfolk--Long Point, LakeErie--were the elder brother and brother-in-law of the writer of thesepages (he being then ten years of age); the one of them was lieutenantand the other captain, who, with a great number of their neighbours, proceeded in a vessel from Port Ryerse to Amherstburg--making thepassage in forty-eight hours--General Brock marching by land. The vesselwith the militia volunteers reached Amherstburg some five days beforeGeneral Brock, and, under the command of Colonel Proctor and thedirection of a skilful engineer, commenced erecting a battery atWindsor, opposite to Detroit, behind a tuft of trees which skirted theriver shore. Sentries were stationed at convenient distances along thenorth shore of the river, to prevent any intercourse with the Americanside; while the militia, officers and men, worked each night with theutmost quietness, in the erection of the battery, retiring at theapproach of day. In four nights the battery was erected and mounted withcannon, when General Brock arrived, approved of what had been done, called a Council of the Indian allies, as well as of his officers, anddetermined forthwith to cross the river and attack Fort Detroit. TheIndians were to cross in the night, which they did some three or fourmiles below Detroit, and spread themselves in the woods that surroundedthe town, which then contained from 6, 000 to 8, 000 inhabitants. Thenight-erected battery was unmasked by felling the trees and underwood infront of it, when, to the astonishment and terror of the Americans, theysaw a battery fully equipped, and already firing effectually upon theirtown and fort. Early in the morning of the 15th of August, GeneralBrock, with his little army of 730 men (the militia being accoutred asregular soldiers), crossed the river unopposed about three miles belowthe fort (which was in the centre of the town), and marched in order ofbattle, under cover of corn fields, to within half a mile of the fort, from which, not cannon balls, but a flag of truce was sent out, proposing the surrender to the British commander of the fort, army, town, and territory. [195] The terrific war-whoop of the dreaded Indians, who seemed to swarm inthe woods around the town, filled the people and General Hull withirresistible terror; and at the very moment that General Hull washolding a council of war with his officers in a room within the fort, ashell, thrown from the British battery at Windsor, fell into the councilroom, killed some officers, and wounded several more. This catastrophe, with the terrible yells of the surrounding Indians, seemed to havedecided General Hull and his advisers that _surrender_ "was the betterpart of valour. " A _second_ incident connected with the surrender of Detroit and theMichigan territory is the council which General Brock held with theIndians the day before the attack upon and surrender of Detroit, and hisinterview with them the day after, for the account of which I amindebted to Colonel John Clarke's manuscripts in the Dominion Library atOttawa: "On General Brock's arrival at Sandwich, a council of war was assembledon the following morning. Along with others were 1, 000 Indians, whoseequipment generally might be considered very imposing. "The council was opened by General Brock, who informed the Indians thathe was ordered by their great Father, the King, to come to theirassistance, and with them to drive the enemy from Fort Detroit. Hisspeech was highly applauded, and Tecumseh was unanimously called upon tospeak in reply. He commenced with expressing his joy that their greatFather beyond the Salt Lake (meaning the King of England) had at lengthawoke from his long sleep, and sent his warriors to the assistance ofhis red children, who had roused themselves in their honour, and werenow ready to shed the last drop of their blood in their great Father'sservice. "Previously to passing over to Detroit, General Brock inquired ofTecumseh what kind of country he should have to pass through, in theevent of his proceeding further. Tecumseh, taking a roll of elm bark, and extending it on the ground, drew forth his scalping knife, andpresently etched upon the bark a plan of the country; which, if not soneat, was as fully intelligible as if a surveyor had prepared it. Pleased with this talent in Tecumseh, and with his characteristicboldness, General Brock induced the Indians to cross the river for theattack on Detroit, prior to the embarkation of the white troops. "Soon after Detroit was surrendered, General Brock took off his sash, and publicly placed it around the body of the chief Tecumseh, whoreceived the honour conferred on him with evident gratification; but wasseen the next day without his sash. The British general, fearing thatsomething had displeased the Indian chief, sent his interpreter for anexplanation. Tecumseh told him that he did not wish to wear the sash asa mark of distinction, when an older warrior than himself was present;he had transferred the sash to the Wyandot chief, Roundhead. "In his correspondence, General Brock states that 'of many Indians whomhe met at Amherstburg, he who most attracted his notice was the Shawneechief, Tecumseh, brother of the Prophet--a more gallant or sagaciouswarrior does not, I believe, exist; he was the admiration of every one, and was as humane as he was brave. ' "General Brock, in General Orders of the 16th of August, 1812, after thecapture of Detroit, states that two fortifications had been alreadycaptured, Michilimackinac and Detroit, without a drop of blood beingshed by the hands of the Indians; the moment the enemy surrendered, hislife became sacred. "On congratulating General Brock, after the capture of Detroit, Tecumsehsaid to the General, 'We observed you from a distance standing the wholetime in an erect position, and when the boats reached the shore, youwere the first man on the land; your bold and sudden movementsfrightened the enemy, and so compelled them to surrender to half theirnumber. ' "General Brock engaged the Indians to throw away the scalpingknife--implanting in their hearts the virtue of clemency, and teachingthem to feel pleasure and pride in compassion extended to a vanquishedenemy. In return, they revered him as their common Father, and whilstunder his control, were guilty of no excesses; and thereby the nobleTecumseh was humane as well as brave. "[196] Such was the character and results of the first American invasion ofCanada. It may be worth while to notice some events which preceded the taking ofDetroit, and which doubtless disappointed and disheartened General Hull. In the island of St. Joseph, in Lake Huron, there was a fort orblock-house, under the command of Captain Roberts, with thirty regulars. General Brock, in communicating to Captain Roberts the Americandeclaration of war against Great Britain, instructed him to take everyprecaution for the protection of St. Joseph, and, if possible, to getpossession of Michilimackinac, now called Mackinac, and pronouncedMackinaw, an island about nine miles in circumference, commanding theentrance from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan, on which the Americans hada fort with a captain in command, and a garrison of seventy-five men. Captain Roberts was aided by Mr. Pothier, a gentlemen of the South-westFur Company, who volunteered his own services, attended by about 160Canadian voyageurs, and placed the contents of the stores at thedisposal of Captain Roberts, who, with his little armament, consistingof thirty regulars, two artillerymen and a sergeant, 160 Canadians, andtwo iron field-pieces, set out on the 16th of July with his flotilla ofboats and canoes, convoyed by the _Caledonia_ brig, belonging to theNorth-West Company, loaded with stores and provisions. On the ensuingmorning he reached Mackinac, a distance of about forty miles, landedwithout opposition, and immediately summoned the garrison to surrender, which was complied with in a few minutes. Thus was this key of the Westtaken without the effusion of a drop of blood. The Americans had carried on a brisk trade in schooners and sailingvessels from Detroit, through Lake Huron, to the head of Lake Michigan, now Chicago. The capture of Mackinac--which was a surprise to thecommander, who had not heard of the declaration of war--interrupted thistrade, and gave confidence to the Canadian voyageurs and Indians in theBritish interests employed in the fur trade in these distant countries. "This achievement, effected by the promptitude and judiciousarrangements of Captain Roberts, not only inspired the people withconfidence, and gave a turn to the present campaign fatal to the viewsof the United States, by enabling us to maintain our influence among theIndians of the West, which otherwise must have been lost, but itessentially contributed to the successful struggle afterwards maintainedagainst the American arms in Upper Canada. General Hull, after thecapture of his army and the fall of Detroit, in his official despatchrelative to these events, attributes his disasters to the fall ofMackinac; after the surrender of which, almost every tribe and nation ofIndians, except a part of the Miamis and Delawares, north from beyondLake Superior, west from beyond the Mississippi, south from Ohio and theWabash, and east from every part of Upper Canada, and from all theintermediate country, joined in open hostility against the army hecommanded. "[197] "General Hull remained some time inactive, under pretext of makingpreparation to prosecute the campaign with vigour; but it was thefallacious hope of an early insurrection in his favour that lulled himinto a supineness fatal to the safety of his army. Amherstburg lay abouteighteen miles below him, and the mud and picketed fortifications ofthat post was not in a condition to make resistance against a regularsiege. The Americans, confident of an easy conquest, had not as yet asingle cannon or mortar mounted, and to endeavour to take it at thepoint of the bayonet he thought inexpedient. During this delay hissituation became more and more precarious; three detachments from hisarmy were, on three successive days, beaten back by a handful of the41st Regiment and a few Indians, from a bridge over the River Canard, three miles from Amherstburg, which they endeavoured to seize, in orderto open the route to that port. Another detachment, in attempting toford the river (Canard) higher up, was put to flight by a small party ofeighteen or twenty Indians who lay concealed in the grass. The enemy, panic-struck at their sudden and hideous yell, fled with precipitancy, leaving their arms, accoutrements, and haversacks. The British sloop ofwar _Queen Charlotte_, carrying eighteen twenty-four pounders, lay inthe Detroit river, opposite the mouth of the River Canard, so that itwas impossible for the Americans to convey by water to Amherstburg anyartillery, of which, after much labour, they had at last mounted twotwenty-four-pounders. Lieutenant Rolette, commanding the armed brig_Hunter_, had on the 3rd of July, at about ten o'clock in the forenoon, by a bold attempt in his barge, with only six men, succeeded incapturing the _Cayahaga_ packet, bound from Miami river to Detroit withtroops, and loaded with baggage, and the hospital stores of the Americanarmy, the loss of which was now severely felt. Mackinac, in his rear, had been taken since the commencement of the invasion, while the Indiansfrom that quarter were flocking to the British standard. Our naval forcebeing superior on the lake, Colonel Proctor pushed over to Brownstown, avillage nearly opposite to Amherstburg, twenty miles below Detroit, with a small detachment of the 41st Regiment, under the command ofCaptain Tallon, with a few Indians, who on the 5th of August surprisedand routed a party of 200 Americans under Major Vanhorne, on their wayfrom Detroit to River Raisin, to meet a detachment of volunteers fromOhio, under Captain Brush, with a convoy of provisions for the army. Inthis affair a quantity of booty, and General Hull's despatches to theSecretary at War, fell into the hands of the victors, whereby thedeplorable state of the American army was disclosed. " * * "In the interim, the American general received a despatch from GeneralHull, on the Niagara frontier, intimating that he could not expectco-operation in that quarter, which would have created a diversion inhis favour. Such was the hopeless state of things when the Americangeneral began to be sensible of his danger. His army hemmed in on everyside, cut off from its resources, and hourly wasting away with defeat, death, sickness, and fatigue, unsupported by an expected insurrection ofCanadians in his favour, and unaided by any co-operating army, and, above all, dismayed at the report of General Brock's resolution toadvance against him; his schemes of conquest vanquished, and in thesinking state of his affairs, he saw no other alternative than toretreat back to Detroit, under pretence of concentrating his main army, and after re-opening his communications with the Rivers Raisin andMiami, through which he received his whole supplies, to resume offensiveoperations against Upper Canada. Accordingly, on the evening of the 7thand the morning of the 8th of August, the whole of his army, except agarrison of 250 men and a few artillery left in charge of a smallfortress they had thrown up on the British side, a little below Detroit, _recrossed the river_. "General Hull now detached a body of 600 men, under Lieutenant-ColonelMiller, to dislodge the British from Brownstown, and open thecommunication with the Rivers Raisin and Miami, upon which the existenceof the army depended. On the 9th, this detachment was met by the Britishand Indians under Major Muir at Magnogo, between Brownstown and Detroit, which, after a desperate battle, in which the Americans lostseventy-five men, was obliged to retreat with inconsiderable losscompared with that of the Americans. "On the 7th, Lieutenant Rolette, with the boats of the _Queen Charlotte_and _Hunter_, under cover of the guns of the latter, attacked andcaptured a convoy of eleven batteaux and boats, having on boardfifty-six of their wounded, and two English prisoners, on their way fromMagnogo to Detroit, escorted by 250 American troops on shore. "Amidst these reverses of fortune, the American general was startled atthe summons to surrender the fort of Detroit, by General Brock, who, after having closed the public business at York, and proroguedParliament, and collecting a few regulars and militia with incredibleexertion, had reached Amherstburg by the 13th of August. So resolute ademand struck the American commander with dismay, who, at the most, hadnever contemplated a pursuit into his own territory by the British. Hestill, however, maintained sufficient presence of mind to return aprompt and positive refusal, upon receipt of which, the British, who nowoccupied the ground so lately in possession of the enemy, in front ofDetroit, where they had thrown up a battery (erected by night) under thedirection of Captain Dixon, of the Royal Engineers, commenced, on theafternoon of the 15th, a brisk cannonade on Detroit, from twofive-and-a-half-inch mortars, and two twelve-pounders, under themanagement of Captain Hall, of the Provincial Navy, with a party ofsailors, which was continued for upwards of an hour with great effect. Early in the morning of the 16th the cannonade recommenced, whileGeneral Brock, with about 700 regulars and militia, and 600 Indians, crossed the river without opposition at the Spring Wells, three milesbelow Detroit, under cover of the _Queen Charlotte_ and _Hunter_. Thissmall but resolute force, after forming upon the beach, advanced incolumn, flanked on the left by the Indians, with the river of Detroit ontheir right, and took (at the distance of a mile) position in line, infront of the American fort, into which the enemy had retired. Here everypreparation was making for an immediate assault, when, to the surpriseof both armies, a white flag was seen flying upon the walls of the fort, and a messenger advancing with proposals from the American general to_capitulate_. Lieutenant-Colonel McDowell, of the Militia, and MajorGlegg, of the 49th Regiment, aide-de-camp to General Brock, immediatelyproceeded by his orders to the tent of the American general, where, ina few minutes, they dictated the terms of capitulation. By this thewhole American army, including a detachment of 350 men, under ColonelsMcArthur and Cass, dispatched on the 14th for River Raisin to escort theprovisions in charge of Captain Brush from thence to Detroit, becameprisoners of war; and Detroit, with the Michigan territory, weresurrendered to the British arms, without the effusion of a single dropof British blood. "The American statements of their own strength nearly coincide withBritish reports, which make it 2, 500 men, regulars and militia. Themilitia were paroled, and permitted to return home, on condition of notserving during the present war. The regulars were sent down to Quebec. "The British force, including Indians, is acknowledged by the enemy tohave consisted of only 1, 030 men or thereabout. Our own, and perhapsmore correct reports, state it to have consisted of 350 regular troops, 400 militia, and 600 Indians, who, upon the present occasion, are saidnot to have sullied the glory of the day by any wanton acts of savagebarbarity incident to the Indian mode of warfare. Twenty-five pieces ofiron and eight pieces of brass ordnance, with an immense quantity ofstores of every description, and one armed brig, called the _John Adams_(afterwards named _Detroit_), fell into the hands of the British"[besides nearly 3, 000 stand of small arms, much ammunition, and threeweeks' provisions for the whole army]. (Thompson's History of the War of1812, pp. 67-72. ) "Thus ended this (first) rash and imbecile attempt at the conquest ofCanada. The loss of Mackinac and Detroit, with the flower of their army, at the outset of the war, was a disgrace that filled the AmericanGovernment with consternation and alarm, as their plans ofaggrandisement were not only totally defeated, but their whole westernfrontier was laid open to the inroads of the hostile Indians, and at themercy of a people still warm with indignation at the lateinvasion. "--_Ib_. , pp. 72, 73. General Brock, the day after taking Detroit, addressed to theinhabitants of the Michigan territory the following Proclamation: "Whereas the territory of Michigan was this day, by capitulation, cededto the arms of his Britannic Majesty, without any other condition thanthe protection of private property; and wishing to give an early proofof the moderation and justice of his Majesty's government, I do herebyannounce to all the inhabitants of the said territory, that the lawsheretofore in existence shall continue in force until his Majesty'spleasure be known, and so long as the peace and safety of the saidterritory will admit thereof; and I do hereby also declare and makeknown to the said inhabitants, that they shall be protected in the fullexercise and enjoyment of their religion--of which all persons, bothcivil and military, will take notice, and govern themselves accordingly. "All persons having in their possession, or having knowledge of anypublic property, shall forthwith deliver in the same, or give noticethereof to the officer commanding, or to Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholl, whoare duly authorized to receive and give the proper receipts for thesame. "Officers of militia will be held responsible that all arms inpossession of the militiamen be immediately delivered up; and allindividuals whatever who have in possession arms of any kind, willdeliver them up without delay. "Given under my hand, at Detroit, this 16th day of August, 1812, and inthe 52nd year of his Majesty's reign. God save the King. (Signed) "ISAAC BROCK, "_Major-General_. " The purport and spirit of this proclamation was very different fromthose issued by successful American commanders in former years, whenthey required the conquered to take a new oath of allegiance, to enrolthemselves in a new army under pain of confiscation of property, imprisonment, and even death. The true genius of English government isjustice, law, and liberty; the genius of democratic government is thedomination of party, and the spoils to the victors. In the conquest of avast territory by General Brock, there was no plunder or sacrifice oflife, by Indian or soldier, much less plunder for the benefit of thegeneral. It was not so with the promising, threatening, ostentatious, grasping General Hull, who, according to the Patriotic Society of UpperCanada (of which hereafter), is thus reported: "In 1812, General Hull invaded the British province of Upper Canada, andtook possession of the town of Sandwich. He threatened (by proclamation)_to exterminate the inhabitants if they made any resistance_. _Heplundered_ those with whom he had been on habits of intimacy yearsbefore the war. Their plate and linen were found in his possession afterhis surrender to General Brock. He marked out the loyal subjects of theKing as objects of his peculiar resentment, and consigned their propertyto pillage and conflagration. " General Brock left Colonel Proctor in command of Detroit, and returnedto York (Toronto), where he arrived the 27th of August, amidst theheartfelt acclamations of a grateful people. "In the short space of nineteen days he had, with the assistance of theProvincial Parliament, settled the public business of the province, under the most trying circumstances that a commander could encounter, and having united and prepared his little army, had effected a long andfatiguing march of several hundred miles; and with means incrediblylimited, had repelled an invading enemy of double his force, pursued himinto his own territory, and finally compelled him to surrender his wholearmy and jurisdiction; thus extending the British dominions, withoutbloodshed, over an extent of territory almost equal to UpperCanada. "--"Our little navy on Lake Erie, and on Lake Ontario, though theenemy were making the most active exertions, still maintained a decidedascendency, and upon it depended the safety of Upper Canada and thefuture fate of the British provinces. General Brock intended to havefollowed up his first success by an attempt on Niagara, a fort nearlyopposite to Fort George; which, in all probability, as well as Oswegoand Sackett's Harbour, the nursery of the enemy's fleet and forces, would have yielded to the terror of his name and the tide of successthat attended his arms; but, _controlled by his instructions_, he wasprevented from adopting measures which probably might have for everblasted the hopes of the United States in Upper Canada. " (Christie. ) FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 195: The brother-in-law and elder brother of the writer wereordered by General Brock to select the fleetest horses of those capturedfrom the Americans, in order to convey the intelligence of the captureof Detroit, and of General Hull and army, to Colonel Talbot, at PortTalbot, and to General Vincent, commander of the forces at BurlingtonHeights. They had wrought all night before they received their orders, and travelled, one of them two days and two nights, and the other twonights and three days without sleep. But these deeds were not peculiar;similar deeds were performed on the Niagara and Lower Canada frontiersduring that and the following years. The Loyalist defenders of Canada ofthose days were patriots and soldiers to the heart's core; and they hadwills, and nerves, and muscles "to endure hardness as good soldiers, " inthe hardest and darkest hours of our country's trials and struggles. It may be added, that the horse on which the elder brother of the writerof these pages rode, in execution of the orders of General Brock, wasafterwards stolen by the traitor Wilcox, who escaped to the UnitedStates, but was afterwards killed while invading Fort Erie. ] [Footnote 196: I think the reader will be interested in the followingparticulars, which I have collected of this remarkable Indian Chief: "In the year 1809, Tecumseh, attended by several hundred warriors, encamped near Vincennes, then capital of Indiana, and demanded aninterview with the Governor of the State; for which interview wasassembled a Council, when it was observed there was no vacant seat forthe noble chief, Tecumseh. One of the Council officers hastily offeredhis seat, and having respectfully said to him, 'Warrior, your Father, General Harrison, offers you a seat. ' 'My Father, ' exclaimed Tecumseh, extending his arms towards the heavens, 'There, son, is my Father, andthe earth is my mother; she giving me nourishment, and I dwell upon herbosom. ' He then sat himself upon the ground. " "The Indian warrior Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, himself and warriors, attached themselves to the cause of Great Britain, on the declaration ofthe American war of 1812. * * "Tecumseh's first engagement, under the British Colonel Proctor, then incommand of the Western District, was attacking and defeating adetachment of Americans under Major Howe, from Detroit to the Beaverriver. In this affair, General Hull's despatches, and correspondence ofhis troops, fell into the hands of Tecumseh; and it was partly from thediscouraging nature of their contents that General Brock attempted thecapture of the American army under General Hull. " "On the 16th of July, Tecumseh and a few of his warriors pursued nearSandwich [on the Canadian side of the river] a detachment of theAmerican army, under Colonel McArthur, and fired on the rear guard. 'Thecolonel suddenly faced about and gave orders for a volley, when all theIndians fell flat on the ground, with the exception of Tecumseh, whostood firm on his feet, with apparent unconcern. " "As Colonel Proctor retired to Nassau (Moravian town), on the Thames, and when the regulars and militia had surrendered on the right, theIndians carried on the contest on the left, and did not retreat untilthe day was lost, and thirty-three of their number had been slain, including the noble warrior, Tecumseh. After his fall, his lifelesscorpse was recovered with great interest by the American officers, whodeclared that the contour of his features was majestic even in death. Heleft a son who fought by his side when he fell, and was seventeen yearsof age. "The Prince Regent, in 1815, as a mark of respect to the memory of hisfather, sent a handsome sword as a present to his son. "] [Footnote 197: Christie's War of 1812, pp. 65, 66. ] CHAPTER LIII. SECOND AMERICAN INVASION OF UPPER CANADA AT QUEENSTON--DISPROPORTION OFAMERICAN AND CANADIAN FORCES--DEATH OF GENERAL BROCK--DEFEAT AND LOSS OFTHE AMERICANS--ARMISTICE--INCIDENTS WHICH OCCURRED ON THE NIAGARAFRONTIER, AT FORT ERIE, AS RELATED BY LIEUTENANT DRISCOLL, OF THE 100THREGIMENT. The _second invasion_ of Upper Canada took place on the Niagarafrontier, at Queenston. We will give the account of it (condensed) fromthe History of the War by Mr. Thompson, of the Royal Scots: "Dispirited at such a total failure in General Hull's expedition, itbecame late in the season before the American Government could collect aforce on the frontiers with which, with any safety, another descent uponCanada could be made. At length, Major-General Van Rensellaer, of theNew York Militia, with a force of _four thousand men_ under his command(1, 500 of whom were regular troops), established his camp at Lewiston, on the Niagara river, nearly half-way between Lake Ontario and theFalls. "Before daylight on the morning of the 13th of October, a large divisionof General Van Rensellaer's army, under Brigadier-General Wadsworth, effected a landing at the lower end of the village of Queenston(opposite to Lewiston), and made an attack upon the position, which wasdefended with the most determined bravery by the two flank companies ofthe 49th Regiment, commanded by Captains Dennis and Williams, aided bysuch of the militia forces and Indians as could be collected in thevicinity. "Major-General Brock, on receiving intelligence, immediately proceededto that post, from Fort George, and arrived at the juncture when thehandful of British regulars was compelled to retire for a time before anoverwhelming force of the enemy. However, on the appearance of theirgallant chief, the troops were seized with a fresh animation, and wereled on by that brave general to a renewed exertion to maintain the post;but at the moment of charging the enemy's position, within pistol-shotof the line, General Brock was killed by a musket ball, and with him theposition was for a short time lost. Colonel Macdonell, his provincialaide-de-camp, was mortally wounded about the same time, and died shortlyafterwards of his wounds. "A reinforcement of the 41st Regiment, commanded by Captain Derenzy, with a few of the Lincoln Militia and a party of Indians, wereimmediately marched from Fort George to the succour of the troops atQueenston, under the direction of Major-General Sheaffe, who now assumedthe command; and persons who were, by their situations in life andadvanced age, exempt from serving in the militia, made common cause, seized their arms, and flew to the field of action as volunteers. "The conflict was again renewed, and from the advantageous position ofNorton, the Indian chief, with his warriors, on the woody brow of thehigh grounds, a communication was opened with Chippewa, from whenceCaptain Bullock, of the 41st Regiment, with a detachment of that corps, was enabled to march for Queenston, and was joined on the way by partiesof militia who were repairing from all quarters, with all the enthusiasmimaginable, to the field of battle. The fight was maintained on bothsides with a courage truly heroic. The British regulars and militiacharged in rapid succession against a force in number far exceedingtheir own, until they succeeded in turning the left flank of theircolumn, which rested on the summit of the hill. The event of the day nolonger appeared doubtful. " "Major-General Van Rensellaer, commanding the American army, perceivinghis reinforcements embarking very slowly, recrossed the Niagara river toaccelerate their movements; but, to his utter astonishment, he foundthat at the very moment when their services were most required, theardour of the engaged troops had entirely subsided. He rode in alldirections through his camp, urging the men by every consideration topass over. Lieutenant-Colonel Bloome, who had been wounded in theaction and recrossed the river, together with Judge Peck, who happenedto be in Lewiston at the time, mounted their horses and rode through thecamp, exhorting the companies to proceed--_but all in vain_. Crowds ofthe United States Militia remained on the American bank of the river, towhich they had not been marched in any order, but run as a mob; _not oneof them would cross_. They had seen the wounded re-crossing; they hadseen the Indians, _and were panic-struck_. " (American Report of theBattle of Queenston. ) "No sooner had the British forces succeeded in turning the left flank ofthe enemy, than he visibly began to give way; one grand effort wastherefore made upon the crest of his position, in which the heights werecarried at the point of the bayonet. "General Van Rensellaer, having found that it was impossible to induce aman to cross the river to reinforce the army on the heights, and thatthe army had nearly expended its ammunition, immediately sent boats tocover their retreat; but the fire, which was maintained upon the ferryfrom a battery on the bank of the lower end of Queenston, completelydispersed the boats, and many of the boatmen re-landed and fled indismay. "Brigadier-General Wadsworth was therefore compelled, after a vigorousconflict had been maintained for some time on both sides, to surrenderhimself and all his officers, with 900 men, between three and fouro'clock in the afternoon, to a force far inferior to his in numbers--acircumstance which speaks loudly in favour of the plan of defence andattack adopted by Major-General Sheaffe. "The loss of the British in this battle did not exceed 100 men, including killed, wounded, and missing; while that on the side of theAmericans, including deserters, was not less than 2, 000; but amongst thekilled, the British Government and the country had to deplore the lossof Sir Isaac Brock, one whose memory will long live in the warmestaffections of every British subject in Canada. "[198] "On the morning subsequent to the battle of Queenston, General Sheaffeentered into an armistice with the American general commanding atLewiston, to be confined to that part of the frontier comprised betweenLakes Ontario and Erie, subject to a condition that forty-eight hours'notice should be given by either party for a recommencement ofhostilities [a condition violated by the American commander]. Thisarrangement [considered disadvantageous to the British cause] was atfirst censured by individuals unaware of the motives by which GeneralSheaffe was actuated. It was not, in the flush of victory, taken intoconsideration that the number of American prisoners then in his chargefar exceeded the numerical strength of his army, when the Indian forcewas withdrawn; and that, with his very limited means of defence, he hada frontier of forty miles to protect. "[199] Before noticing the _third_ American invasion of Canada, in 1812, or thesecond on the Niagara frontier, we will conclude this Chapter by addinga few incidents on the Niagara river frontier, at Fort Erie, after thedeath of General Brock, October 13, 1812, by Lieutenant Driscoll, of the100th Regiment: "I was stationed at Fort Erie on the memorable 13th of October, 1812. Atdaybreak, having returned with my escort as visiting rounds, after amarch of about six miles in muddy roads through the forests, and aboutto refresh the inward man, after my fatiguing trudge, I heard a boomingof distant artillery, very faintly articulated. "Having satisfied myself of the certainty of my belief, hunger, wet, andfatigue were no longer remembered; excitement banishes these triflingmatters from the mind; and I posted off to my commanding officer toreport the firing, now more audible and rapid. "I found my chief, booted, spurred, and snoring--lying, as was his wont, on a small hair mattress on the floor in his barrack-room, which boastedof furniture, one oak table covered with green baize, a writing-desk, atin basin containing water, and a brass candlestick, which had plantedin it a regulation mutton-dip, dimly flickering its last ray of light, paling before the dawn, now making its first appearance through thecurtainless window. "The noise I made on entering the major's sleeping and other apartmentawoke him. As he sat up on his low mattrass, he said, 'What is thematter?' 'Heavy firing down the river, sir. ' 'Turn the men out. ' 'Allunder arms, sir. ' 'That'll do. ' "By this time he was on his legs--his hat and gloves on. His hutman wasat the door with his charger, and his spurs in his horse's flanks in aninstant--leaving the orderly, hutman, and myself to double after him upto the fort, some hundred yards off. "As we reached it, the men were emerging through the gate in measuredcadence, and we were on our way to the batteries, opposite the enemy'sstation at Black Rock. "Before we reached our post of alarm the sun was up and bright. We hadnot assumed our position long before an orderly officer of theProvincial Dragoons rode up, and gave us the information that the enemywere attempting to cross at Kingston, and that we must annoy them alongthe whole line, as was being done from Niagara to Queenston, by any andevery means in our power short of crossing the river. Everything wasready on our parts. The enemy all appeared asleep, judging from theapparent quiet that prevailed on their side of the river. "The command to annoy the enemy was no sooner given than, bang! bang!went off every gun we had in position. "Now there was a stir. The enemy's guns were in a short time manned, andreturned our fire; and the day's work was begun, which was carried onbriskly the greater part of the day on both sides of the Niagara. "About two o'clock, another Provincial dragoon, bespattered, horse andman, with foam and mud, made his appearance--not wearing his sword orhelmet. "Said an old Green Tiger to me, 'Horse and man jaded, sir; depend uponit, he brings bad news. ' 'Step down and ascertain what intelligence hebrings. ' Away my veteran doubles, and soon returns at a funeral pace. 'Light heart, light step, ' were my inward thoughts. I knew by poor oldClibborn's style of return something dreadful had occurred. "'What news, Clibborn? What news, man? Speak out, ' said I, as headvanced towards the battery, that was still keeping up a brisk fire. Clibborn walked on, perfectly unconscious of the balls that wereploughing up the ground, uttered not a word, but shook his head. "When in the battery, the old man sat down on the platform; still noword, but the pallor and expression of his countenance indicated thesorrow of his soul. "I could stand it no longer. I placed my hand on his shoulder, 'ForHeaven's sake, tell us what you know. ' In choking accents he revealedhis melancholy information: 'The general is killed; the enemy haspossession of Queenston Heights. ' "Every man in the battery was paralyzed; the battery ceased firing. "A cheer by the enemy from the opposite side of the river recalled us toour duty. They had heard of their success down the river. Our men, whohad in various ways evinced their feelings--some in weeping, some inswearing, some in mournful silence--now exhibit demoniac energy. Theheavy guns are loaded, traversed and fired, as if they werefield-pieces--too much hurry for precision. 'Take your time, men; don'tthrow away your fire, my lads. ' 'No, sir, but we will give it to themhot and heavy. ' "All the guns were worked by the 49 men of my own company, and theywished to avenge their beloved chief Brock, whom they knew and valuedwith that correct appreciation peculiar to the British soldier. They hadall served under him in Holland and at Copenhagen. "I had a very excellent reconnoitring-glass; and as I kept a sharplook-out for the effect of our fire, and the movements of the enemy, Iobserved that powder was being removed from a large wooden barrack intoammunition waggons. The only man of the Royal Artillery I had with mewas a bombardier, Walker. I called his attention to the fact I hadobserved, and directed him to lay a gun for that part of the buildingwherein the powder was being taken. At my request he took a look throughmy glass, and, having satisfied himself, he lay the gun as ordered. I, with my glass, watched the spot aimed at. I saw one plank of thebuilding fall out, and at the same instant the whole fabric went up in apillar of black smoke, with but little noise, as it was no more. Horses, waggons, men, and building all disappeared; not a vestige of anywas seen. "Now was our turn to cheer; and we plied the enemy in a style so quickand accurate, that we silenced all their guns just as a third dragooncome galloping up to us, shouting 'Victory! Victory!' Then again wecheered lustily; but no response from the other side. Night now hid theenemy from our sight. "The commissariat made its appearance with biscuit, pork, rum, andpotatoes; and we broke our fast for that day about nine p. M. "How strange and unaccountable are the feelings induced by war! Herewere men of two nations, but of a common origin, speaking the samelanguage, of the same creed, intent on mutual destruction, rejoicingwith fiendish pleasure at their address in perpetrating murder bywholesale, shouting for joy as disasters propagated by the chances ofwar hurled death and agonizing wounds into the ranks of their opponents!And yet the very same men, when chance gave them the opportunity, wouldreadily exchange, in their own peculiar way, all the amenities of sociallife, extending to one another a draw of the pipe, and quid, or glass;obtaining and exchanging information from one and the other of theirrespective services, as to pay, rations, and so on--the victors, withdelicacy, abstaining from any allusion to the victorious day. Though thevanquished would allude to their disaster, the victors never named theirtriumphs. "Such is the character of acts and words between British and Americansoldiers which I have witnessed, as officer commanding a guard overAmerican prisoners. "J. DRISCOLL, "Of the 100th Regiment. " FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 198: Such was the high esteem in which the character ofGeneral Brock was held even by the enemy, that during the movement ofthe funeral procession of that brave man from Queenston to Fort George, a distance of seven miles, minute guns were fired at every American poston that part of the lines; and even the appearance of hostilities wassuspended. ] [Footnote 199: Thompson's History of the War of 1812, Chap. Xv. ] CHAPTER LIV. THIRD AMERICAN INVASION OF UPPER CANADA, AT AND NEAR FORT ERIE, ON THENIAGARA RIVER, UNDER GENERAL SMYTH--HIS ADDRESS TO HIS SOLDIERS--THELUDICROUS AND DISGRACEFUL FAILURE OF HIS EXPEDITION--THREE AMERICANEXPEDITIONS REPELLED IN 1812 BY THE SPARTAN BANDS OF CANADIANVOLUNTEERS, ASSISTED BY A FEW REGIMENTS OF ENGLISH SOLDIERS. Such was the result of the _second invasion of Canada_--the firstinvasion on the Niagara frontier by the American "Grand Army of theCentre. " The Americans, after recovering in some measure from their disastrousdefeat at Queenston, commenced gigantic preparations for assemblinganother army near Buffalo, for a second descent on the Niagara frontier, under the command of General Smyth, with an army which, according to thelatest accounts of the American reports themselves, was 8, 000 strong, with fifteen pieces of field ordnance--sustained in the rear by apopulous and fertile country, and the facility afforded by good roads todraw the supplies for his army and to bring into the field a formidableartillery. So confident was General Smyth himself of a successful resultof his expedition, that he boasted on the 10th of November "that in afew days the troops under his command would plant the American standardin Canada, " and issued an order to the commandant of Fort Niagara tosave the buildings at Fort George and the adjacent town of Newark(Niagara), as they would be required for winter quarters for the "Armyof the Centre. " It was a difficult if not doubtful task for General Sheaffe and theregular and militia officers under his command to provide for thedefence of the country against such formidable odds; for up to the timeat which the American general had violated the terms of the armisticenot a single British soldier had arrived to reinforce the littleCanadian army; and "after the conflict at Queenston, the militia, whichconstituted the majority of the British force, had been permitted toreturn home to secure the remainder of their harvest. " (Thompson. ) "However, on the first alarm being given of the hostile movements of theAmerican army, those already harassed but loyal Canadian militiamenpromptly returned to their posts, fully determined to dispute every inchof ground while a man was left to defend it. "--(_Ib_). Nor were thesevolunteer Loyalists intimidated by General Smyth's extended columns ofcavalry and infantry with which he lined the American shore, hismarching and countermarching of countless battalions, and all the pompof war and parade of martial bombast with which the fertile mind ofGeneral Smyth hoped to terrify the apparently defenceless Canadians; towhich he added a flaming proclamation, not excelled in pomposity andbrag by that of General Hull issued to Canadians three months before. Wegive this proclamation, as we have done that of General Hull, in anote. [200] This proclamation, ridiculous as it is, and appealing to the lowestmercenary as well as better motives of democratic Americans, produced aconsiderable effect in Pennsylvania, and caused an accession of some2, 000 volunteers to General Smyth's already large forces; but when thecrisis of action arrived, this grandiloquent General Smyth was not to befound on the field of action; and of the twenty boats which wereprovided to convey across the river the first instalment of invaders ofCanada, fourteen boats were sunk or driven back, and only six boatsreached the Canadian shore and gained a temporary hold, but some of themwere driven back with loss before the next morning, and the remainderwere taken prisoners. The next day General Smyth promised to do verygreat things; but we will narrate these doings and the results in thewords of the American writer Lossing, in his _Field Book of the War of_1812. Lossing says: "November 27th [1812]. --It was sunrise when the troops began to embark, and so tardy were the movements that it was late in the afternoon whenall was ready. General Smyth did not make his appearance, and all themovements were under the direction of his subordinates. A number ofboats had been left to strand upon the shore, and became filled withwater, snow, and ice; and as hour after hour passed by, dreariness anddisappointment fell upon the spirits of the shivering troops. Meanwhilethe enemy had collected on the opposite [British] shore, and werewatching every movement. At length, when all seemed ready and impatiencehad yielded to hope, an order came from the commanding general '_todisembark and dine_. ' The wearied and worried troops were deeplyexasperated by this order, and nothing but the most positive assurancesthat the undertaking would be immediately resumed kept them from openmutiny. The different regiments retired sullenly to their respectivequarters, and General Porter, with his dispirited New York volunteers, marched in disgust to Buffalo. "November 28th [1812]. --Smyth now called a council of officers. Theycould not agree. The best of them urged the necessity of crossing inforce at once, before the (Canadian) enemy could make formidablepreparations for their reception. The General decided otherwise; anddoubt and despondency brooded over the camp that night. The ensuingSabbath brought no relief. Preparations for another embarkation wereindeed in progress, while the (Canadian) enemy, too, was busy inopposing labour. It was evident to every spectator of judgment that theinvasion must be attempted at another point of the river, when, towardsevening, to the astonishment of all, the General issued an orderperfectly characteristic of the man--for the troops to be ready ateight (November 30) o'clock the next morning for embarkation. 'TheGeneral will be on board, ' he pompously proclaimed. 'Neither rain, snow, or frost will prevent the embarkation, ' he said. 'The cavalry will soonscour the fields from Black Rock to the bridge, and suffer no idlespectators. While embarking, the bands will play martial airs; _YankeeDoodle_ will be the signal to get under way. * * The landing will beeffected in despite of cannon. The whole army has seen that cannon is tobe but little dreaded. * * Hearts of war! to-morrow will be memorable inthe annals of the United States. ' "'To-morrow' came, but not the promised achievement. All the officersdisapproved of the time and manner of the proposed embarkation, andexpressed their opinions freely. At General Porter's quarters a changewas agreed upon. Porter deferred the embarkation until Tuesday morning, the 1st of December, an hour or two before daylight, and to make thelanding-place a little below the upper end of Grand Island. Windersuggested the propriety of making a descent directly upon Chippewa, 'thekey of the country. ' This Smyth consented to attempt, intending as hesaid, if successful, to march down to Queenston, and lay siege to FortGeorge. Orders were accordingly given for a general rendezvous at theNavy Yard, at three o'clock on Tuesday morning, and that the troopsshould be collected in the woods near by on Monday, where they shouldbuild fires, and await the signal for gathering on the shore of theriver. The hour arrived, but when day dawned only fifteen hundred wereembarked. Tannehill's Pennsylvania Brigade were not present. Beforetheir arrival rumours had reached the camp that they, too, like VanRensellaer's militia at Lewiston, had raised a constitutional questionabout being led out of their State. Yet their scruples seem to have beenovercome at this time, and they would have invaded Canada cheerfullyunder other auspices. But distrust of their leader, created by theevents of the last forty-eight hours, had demoralized nearly the wholearmy. They had made so much noise in embarkation that the startledCanadian had sounded his alarm bugle and discharged signal guns fromFort Erie to Chippewa. Tannehill's Pennsylvanians had not appeared, andmany other troops lingered upon the shore, loth to embark. In thisdilemma Smyth hastily called a Council of the regular officers, utterlyexcluding those of the volunteers from the conference; and the firstintimation of the result of that Council was an order from thecommanding general, sent to General Porter, who was on a boat with thepilot, a fourth of a mile from shore, in the van of the impatientflotilla, _directing the whole army to debark, and repair to theirquarters_. This was accompanied by a declaration that the _invasion ofCanada was abandoned at present_, pleading in bar of just censure, thathis orders from his superiors were, not to attempt it with less than3, 000 men. The regulars were ordered into winter quarters, and thevolunteers were dismissed to their homes. "The troops, without order or restraint, discharged their muskets in alldirections, and a scene of insubordination and utter confusion followed. At least a thousand of the volunteers had come from their homes inresponse to his invitation, and the promise that they should be led intoCanada by a victor [without personal danger, and with the promise ofplunder and glory]. They had implicit confidence in his ability and inthe sincerity of his great words, and in proportion to their faith andzeal were now their disappointment and resentment. Unwilling to havetheir errand to the frontier fruitless of all but disgrace, thevolunteers earnestly requested permission to be led into Canada underGeneral Porter, promising the commanding general the speedy capture ofFort Erie if he would furnish them with four pieces of artillery. [201]But Smyth evaded their request, and the volunteers were sent homeuttering imprecations against the man whom they considered a mereblusterer without courage, and a conceited deceiver without honour. Theyfelt themselves betrayed, and the inhabitants in the vicinitysympathized with them. Their indignation was greatly increased by theill-timed and ungenerous charges made by Smyth in his report to GeneralDearborn against General Porter, in whom the volunteers had thegreatest confidence. General Smyth's person was for some time in danger. He was compelled to double the guards around his tent, and to move itfrom place to place to avoid continual insults. He was several timesfired at when he ventured out of his marquee. Porter openly attributedthe abandonment of the invasion of Canada to the cowardice of Smyth. " * * "Thus ended the melodrama of Smyth's invasion of Canada. The wholeaffair was disgraceful and humiliating. 'What wretched work Smyth andPorter have made of it!' wrote General Wadsworth to General VanRensellaer from his home at Genesee at the close of the year. 'I wishthose who are disposed to find so much fault could know the state of themilitia since the day you gave up the command. It has been "confusionworse confounded. "' The day that saw Smyth's failure was indeed'memorable in the annals of the United States, ' as well as in his ownprivate history. Confidence in his military ability was destroyed; andthree months afterwards he was 'disbanded, ' as the _Army Register_ says;in other words, he was deposed without a trial, and excluded from thearmy. "[202] Such was the third and last American invasion of Upper Canada in 1812. Three large American armies defeated--two of them taken prisoners byless than one-third their number of Canadian volunteers, aided by a fewhundred regular soldiers and as many Indians, who, notwithstanding theabuse of them by the American generals, never murdered a woman or childduring the year, or killed a prisoner, and who were no more "savages"than the men who maligned them. The Spartan bands of Canadian Loyalist volunteers, aided by a fewhundred English soldiers and civilized Indians, repelled the Persianthousands of democratic American invaders, and maintained the virginsoil of Canada unpolluted by the foot of the plundering invader. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 200: The following is General Smyth's proclamation, issued tohis soldiers, on his intended invasion of Canada: "_General Smyth to the Soldiers of the Army of the Centre. _ "Companions in arms!--The time is come when you will cross the streamof Niagara to conquer Canada, and to secure the peace of the Canadianfrontier. "You will enter a country that is to be one of the United States. Youare to arrive among a people who are to become your fellow-citizens. Itis not against _them_ that we come to make war. It is against thatGovernment which holds them as vassals. "You will make this war as little as possible distressful to theCanadian population. If they are peaceable, they are to be secure intheir persons; and in their property as far as our imperious necessitieswill allow. "Provided that, plundering is absolutely forbidden. Any soldier whoquits his rank to plunder on the field of battle, will be punished inthe most exemplary manner. "But your just rights as soldiers will be maintained; whatever is bootyby the usages of war, you shall have. All horses belonging to theartillery and cavalry; all waggons and teams in the public service, willbe sold for the benefit of the captors. Public stores will be securedfor the service of the United States. The Government will, with justice, pay you the value. "The horses drawing the light artillery of the enemy are wanted for theservice of the United States. I will order $200 for each to be paid tothe party who may take them. I will also order $40 to be paid for thearms and spoils of each savage warrior who shall be killed. "_Soldiers!_--You are amply provided for war. You are superior in numberto the enemy. Your personal strength and activity are greater. Yourweapons are longer. The regular soldiers of the enemy are really old, whose best years have been spent in the sickly climate of the WestIndies. They will not be able to stand before you--you who charge withthe bayonet. You have seen Indians, such as those hired by the Englishto murder women and children, and kill and scalp the wounded. You haveseen their dances and grimaces, and heard their yells. Can you fear_them_? No; you hold them in the utmost contempt. "_Volunteers!_--Disloyal and traitorous men have endeavoured to dissuadeyou from your duty. Sometimes they say, if you enter Canada you will beheld to service for five years. At others they say that you will not befurnished with supplies. At other times they say that if you arewounded, the Government will not provide for you by pensions. The justand generous course pursued by Government towards the volunteers whofought at Tippecanoe, furnishes an answer to that objection. Theothers are too absurd to deserve any. "_Volunteers!_--I esteem your generous and patriotic motives. You havemade sacrifices on the altar of your country. You will not suffer theenemies of your fame to mislead you from the path of duty and honour, and deprive you of the esteem of a grateful country. You will show the_eternal_ infamy that awaits the man who, having come in sight of theenemy, basely shrinks in the moment of trial. "_Soldiers of every corps!_--It is in your power to retrieve the honourof your country, and to cover yourselves with glory. Every man whoperforms a gallant action shall have his name made known to the nation. Rewards and honours await the brave. Infamy and contempt are reservedfor cowards. "_Companions in arms!_--You come to vanquish a valiant foe; I know thechoice you will make. Come on, my heroes! And when you attack theenemy's batteries, let your rallying word be 'The cannon lost atDetroit, or death. ' (Signed) "ALEXANDER SMYTH, "_Brigadier-General Commanding_. "Camp near Buffalo, 17th Nov. , 1812. "] [Footnote 201: We are inclined to think that those volunteers and otherswho professed such patriotic indignation against Smyth, and promisedsuch great things, were, in general, no less poltroons than Smythhimself. It was as easy for them to denounce Smyth, and to boast of whatthey could and would do, as for Smyth, in his proclamation, to denouncethose who opposed the invasion of Canada. ] [Footnote 202: Lossing's Field Book of the War of 1812, Chap, xx. , p. 430-432. Mr. Lossing adds, in a note, that "General Smyth petitioned the House ofRepresentatives to reinstate him in the army. That body referred thepetition to the Secretary of War--the General's executioner. Of course, its prayer was not answered. In that petition Smyth asked the privilegeof 'dying for his country. ' This phrase was the subject of muchridicule. At a public celebration of Washington's birthday, in 1814, atGeorgetown, in the District of Columbia, the following sentiment wasoffered during the presentation of toasts: 'General Smyth's petition toCongress to die for his country; may it be ordered that the prayer ofsaid petition be granted. ' "A wag wrote on a panel of one of the doors of the House ofRepresentatives: "'All hail, great chief, who quailed before A Bishop on Niag'ra's shore; But looks on Death with dauntless eye, And begs for leave to bleed and die, "'Oh my!'"] CHAPTER LV. FOURTH AMERICAN INVASION--FIRST INVASION OF LOWER CANADA, COMPLETELYDEFEATED BY THE COURAGE AND SKILL OF THE CANADIANS; AND GENERAL DEARBORNRETIRES INTO WINTER QUARTERS AT PLATTSBURG. But in addition to these three abortive invasions of Upper Canada in1812, was one of _Lower Canada_, which will be narrated in the words ofMr. Christie, illustrating as it does the ardent loyalty and nobleheroism of the French Canadians: "The American forces, under General Dearborn, gradually approached thefrontier of Lower Canada; and early on the morning of the 17th ofNovember, 1812, Major (now Lieutenant-Colonel) De Salaberry, Superintendent of the Canadian Voltigeurs, commanding the cordon ofadvanced posts on the lines, received information at St. Philip's thatthe enemy, to the number of ten thousand (10, 000), were advancing toOdletown. He immediately despatched two companies of the Voltigeurs, under the command of Captain Perrault, of the same regiment, with 300Indians under Captain Duchesne, of the Indian Department, to reinforceMajor Laforce, of the 1st Battalion embodied militia, who was postedwith the two flank companies of that battalion at the River La Cole. This detachment, after a fatiguing march of thirty-six miles, chieflythrough _morasses_ and _abatis_, arrived early in the afternoon of thesame day at Burtonville, and took a position within the River La Cole, amile distant from it, in conjunction with a party of thirty Algonquinand Abenaki Indians, and a few Voyageurs under Captain McKay, agentleman of the North-West Company in the Voyageurs' corps. Major DeSalaberry arrived the day following, with the remainder of theVoltigeurs and the Voyageurs, commanded by Lieutenant-ColonelMcGillivray, and four companies of the volunteer Chasseurs from theparishes of Chateauguay, St. Constant, St. Philip, and l'Acadie. "In the meantime the enemy occupied Champlain Town, two or three milesfrom the lines, and an earnest invasion was momentarily expected. Nothing occurred of any consequence until the 20th, in the morning, whenCaptain McKay, visiting the picquet between three and four o'clock, perceived the enemy fording the River La Cole, and at the same instantheard them cock their firelocks in the surrounding bushes. He hadscarcely time to apprise the picquet under Captain Bernard Panet, oftheir danger, when the enemy, who had surrounded the guardhut on allsides, discharged a volley of musketry so close that their wads set fireto the roof and consumed the hut. The militia and Indians dischargedtheir pieces, and dashing through the ranks of the enemy, escapedunhurt, while the Americans, who had forded the river in two places, mistaking each other for the enemy in the darkness and confusion of thenight, kept up a brisk fire for near half an hour, in which they killedand wounded several of their own people. After discovering their errorthey retired back to Champlain Town, leaving five of their men wounded, and three or four killed, who were found by the Indians on the same day. The American party is said to have consisted of fourteen hundred (1, 400)men and a troop of dragoons, and was commanded by Colonels Pike andClarke. "This movement of the enemy gave room to expect another more vigorousattempt to invade Lower Canada; and on the 22nd, the Governor, by aGeneral Order, directed the whole of the militia of the province toconsider themselves commanded for active service, and to be prepared tomove forward to meet the enemy as soon as required. "Lieut. -Colonel Deschambault was ordered to cross the St. Lawrence atLachine to Cahuaugo, with the Point Claire, Riviere du Chene, Vaudreuil, and Longue Point Battalions, and to march upon l'Acadie. The volunteersof the 1st Battalion of Montreal Militia, the flank companies of the 2ndand 3rd Battalions, and a troop of Militia Dragoons, crossed the riverto Longueuil and Laprairie; and the whole mass of population in thedistrict of Montreal made a spontaneous movement towards the point ofinvasion with an enthusiasm unsurpassed in any age or country. "General Dearborn, who, no doubt, was well informed of the state of thepublic mind in Lower Canada at this crisis, foresaw, from the multitudeassembled to oppose his progress, and the hostile spirit of theCanadians, the fruitlessness of an attempt to invade Lower Canada, andbegan to withdraw his sickly and already enfeebled host into winterquarters at Plattsburg and Burlington. "All apprehensions of an invasion of Lower Canada for the present seasonhaving disappeared, the troops and embodied militia were, on the 27th ofNovember, ordered into winter quarters. "[203] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 203: Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap, iv. , pp. 90-92. "The armistice between General Smyth and Sheaffe after the battle ofQueenston was terminated on the 20th of November, pursuant tonotification to that effect from the former. This and the formerarmistice, without affording any present advantage, proved in the eventmaterially prejudicial to the British on Lake Erie. The Americansavailed themselves of so favourable an occasion to forward their navalstores unmolested from Black Rock to Presqu' Isle [Erie] by water, whichthey could not otherwise have effected, but with immense trouble andexpense by land, and equipped at leisure a fleet which afterwardswrested from us the command of that lake. "--_Ib. _, pp. 92, 93. ] CHAPTER LVI. PART I. WAR CAMPAIGNS OF 1813--THREE DIVISIONS OF THE AMERICAN ARMY--BATTLE OFFRENCHTOWN, AMERICANS DEFEATED--MISREPRESENTATIONS CORRECTED. The campaign of 1813 opened auspiciously for the Canadians, in bothUpper and Lower Canada, notwithstanding the fewness of their defendersin regulars, militia, and Indians, and though they suffered severely inseveral instances towards the close of the year. It was manifest from the movement of the American army to the frontiersof Upper and Lower Canada, before the close of the year 1812, that onthe opening of the campaign of 1813 they intended to retrieve thedisasters and disgraces of the first year of the war, and make descentsupon the colonies in good earnest. Sir George Prevost, Governor-General, was placed at great disadvantage for their general defence, as the smallBritish force then occupying the Canadas, and the wide extent offrontier the British commander-in-chief had to defend, rendered itimpossible for him to cope with the American enemy in point of numbers. The American army, to whom was committed this year _the honour ofconquering Canada_, was divided, as the year before, into threedivisions: first, the Army of the North, consisting of 18, 000 men, commanded by General Hampton, and stationed along the southern shore ofLake Champlain, on the south precincts of Lower Canada; the second, theArmy of the Centre, consisting of 7, 000 effective men, which was againsubdivided into two divisions, commanded by Generals Dearborn andWilkinson, and were posted from Buffalo, at the lower extremity of LakeErie, to Sackett's Harbour, at the lower end of Lake Ontario; and thethird, the Army of the West, consisting of "8, 000 effective men, "according to the American account, commanded by Generals Harrison andWilkinson, whose limits extended from Buffalo westward, as far as theBritish frontier extended. After the capture of Detroit by General Brock and his little army, Colonel Proctor was appointed to command that fort, with a force ofabout 600 regulars and a number of Indians--an entirely insufficientforce, but all that could be spared and provided from the slender forcesof Upper Canada. The American General, Harrison, who succeeded Hull inthe command of the West, organized a large force by the end of 1812, ofover 5, 000 men, consisting principally of men from Ohio and Kentucky. Among the small outposts which Proctor had established in theneighbourhood of Detroit, was one at _Frenchtown_, on the River Raisin, twenty-six miles from Detroit, which consisted of thirty of the EssexMilitia, under Major Reynolds, and about 200 Indians. On the 17th ofJanuary, 1813, Brigadier-General Winchester, commanding a division ofthe American army, sent Colonel Lewis with a strong force to dislodgethe British--which he succeeded in doing, after a sharp encounter inwhich the Americans lost twelve killed and fifty wounded. Reynoldsretreated to Brownstown, sixteen miles in his rear, and gave informationto Colonel Proctor of the advance of Winchester's brigade, which nowoccupied _Frenchtown_, and _was over one thousand strong_. Colonel Proctor knew that his only hope of success was by prompt actionto fight the enemy in detail, before General Harrison could unite hiswhole force to bear on Detroit. He therefore forthwith assembled all hisavailable force at Brownstown, and on the 21st pushed on to attack theAmerican camp at Frenchtown, with about 500 regular soldiers and militiaand 600 Indians. The attack upon the American camp was made on themorning of the 22nd; and the Indians, under the Wyandot chief Roundhead, speedily turned the enemy's flank and caused him to retreat--ChiefRoundhead with his Indians taking General Winchester himself prisoner, and delivering him unharmed to Colonel Proctor. About 500 of GeneralWinchester's men had thrown themselves into the houses, where they weremaking deadly resistance from fear of falling into the hands of theIndians, who were greatly exasperated by this mode of warfare, andassailed and pursued their retreating but resisting enemies with aferocity unequalled during the whole three years' war. Colonel Proctorinformed General Winchester that the houses would be set on fire, and hewould be utterly unable to restrain the Indians, if this kind of warfarewere persisted in, and they refused to surrender. They at lengthsurrendered, on being assured that they would be protected from theIndians. Thirty-two officers and upwards of 500 men were takenprisoners, not one of whom sustained any injury from their captors, whether regular soldiers, militia, or Indians. But many Americans were slaughtered in refusing to surrender for fear ofthe Indians, and determined to fight and retreat in hopes of makingtheir escape. They suffered severely; and on that account severalAmerican writers have represented the Indians at the battle ofFrenchtown as committing unheard-of cruelties upon helpless men, women, and children. Even President Madison joined in the misrepresentation, ashe was always ready to seize upon any pretext to assail the BritishGovernment for admitting the alliance of the Indians in thewar--forgetful that his Government had repeatedly sought to do the samething, but had only succeeded in a few instances. But in vindication ofthe Indians and their commander, Colonel Proctor, the following factsmay be stated, which are conclusive on the subject. In the first place, General Winchester, the commander of the American detachment, was takenprisoner by the Indians, and instead of being butchered and scalped, wasdelivered unharmed by the Wyandot chief Roundhead into the hands ofColonel Proctor. However, many of the Americans refused to surrender from fear of fallinginto the hands of the Indians, and attempted to retreat and fight, inhopes of escape, but were mostly killed in the attempt by the Indians, so greatly exasperated by the mode of warfare adopted against them fromthe houses. Under this pretext most American writers have representedthe Indians, with the sanction of the English, as having committedunheard-of cruelties against helpless men, women, and children at thebattle of Frenchtown--statements which were pure fiction, as has beenproved to demonstration in Chapter XXXV. Of this history, in thefictions of the alleged "Massacre of Wyoming. " For example, General Harrison, who was one of the few old Americangenerals employed by the democratic President Madison in the war, andwho was one or two days' march from Frenchtown, was informed and wrotein a despatch two days after the battle (24th of January), that "GeneralWinchester had been taken by the Indians, _killed and scalped; his bodywas cut up and mangled in a shocking manner, and one of his hands cutoff_;" when not a hair of General Winchester's head was injured, and hewas afterwards exchanged, and appeared on the Niagara frontier, and wasagain taken prisoner, safe and sound, by the British at the battle ofStony Creek. General Harrison, in his despatches written five days afterwards, afterhaving ascertained all the facts of the battle, makes no mention of anycruelties practised by the Indians, which he doubtless would have donehad there been any truth in the imputations against the Indians or theEnglish soldiers with whom they acted. He speaks of General Winchesteras among the prisoners, notwithstanding his statement five days beforethat he had been killed, scalped, and cut to pieces. The followingfacts, given by Mr. Thompson in his "History of the War of 1812, " areconclusive on this affair of the battle of Frenchtown, the 22nd ofJanuary, 1813: "Much has been said by American writers regarding the conduct of thecombined forces of the affair of Frenchtown. They have not even stoppedto charge British officers and soldiers with the most enormouscruelties, committed in conjunction with the Indians, when it was intheir power to have prevented them. Such have been the contemptiblemisrepresentations to which many publications, otherwise deserving ofmerit, have descended, as well of this as of many other affairs duringthe war; and even amongst a few British subjects they have gainedcredence. "General Harrison, however, in writing his despatches to Governor Meigs, as well as several officers of his army who avail themselves of thegeneral express to write to their friends in Chillicothe, in most oftheir letters give the details of the battle, _but seem to be ignorantas regards the greatest part of that 'Massacre_, ' as it has beengravely termed. It is gathered from these despatches and letters by aChillicothe journal of the 2nd of February, 1813, that '_those whosurrendered themselves on the field of battle were taken prisoners bythe British, while those who attempted to escape were pursued, tomahawked, and scalped_. ' Now, even this account, in part, isincorrect; for the Indians, by whom they were assailed, were postedthere for the express purpose of cutting off their retreat; and _thosewho surrendered to the Indians were safely conducted to the Britishcamp_; but such was the panic with which these unfortunate fugitiveswere seized, that no persuasions on the part of the Indian chiefs, _whowere fully disposed to comply with the orders of Colonel Proctor_, couldprevail on them to surrender until they were either wounded and taken, or overtaken in the chase by their pursuers, when no efforts of thechiefs could save them from their fury. "In a letter containing copies of despatches from General Harrison, dated 24th January, 1813, it is stated that 'when the attack commenced, General Winchester ordered a retreat, but from the utter confusion whichprevailed, this could not be effected; and he then told them that everyman must take care of himself, and attempted to make his own escape onhorseback, but was overtaken by the Indians before he had gone a mile, and killed and scalped. His body was cut up and mangled in a mostshocking manner, and one of his hands cut off. ' "Now, here is an awful Indian tale, manufactured, as many others havebeen of like description, which turns out to be a mere fabrication; forwhen General Winchester found himself pursued in his attempt to escape, he with a few others surrendered themselves to a chief of the Wyandotnation, and not a hair of their heads was hurt, _except the injuryreceived from the fight_. "It is also stated in the same letter that Colonels Allen and Lewis wereamong the slain; in contradiction of which, in General Harrison's letterto Governor Meigs, dated 29th January, it is stated that GeneralWinchester and Colonel and Brigade-Major Gerrard are among theprisoners. "The conclusion is plain, that had those deluded people not beenovercome by fear, and surrendered themselves at once, they might haveenjoyed the same safety as did General Winchester and hiscompanions. "[204] "This spirited and vigorous measure (on the part of Colonel Proctor)completely disconcerted the arrangements made by General Harrison forthe recovery of Michigan territory, and secured Detroit from anyimmediate danger. The House of Assembly of Lower Canada [as also ofUpper Canada] passed a vote of thanks to Colonel Proctor for the skilland intrepidity with which he planned and carried into effect thisenterprise. A vote of thanks was also passed to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates who assisted in itsaccomplishment; and Colonel Proctor was immediately promoted to the rankof brigadier-general by Sir George Prevost, the commander of the forces, until the pleasure of the Prince Regent should be known, who was pleasedto approve and confirm the appointment. "[205] PART II. AMERICANS ATTACK AND PLUNDER IN AND ABOUT BROCKVILLE--SUCCESSFULRETALIATORY ATTACK ON OGDENSBURG. The next military affairs in the order of time, illustrative of theloyalty and courage of the Canadians, occurred on the River St. Lawrence, in the neighbourhoods of Prescott and Brockville. Most of theAmerican invasions were mere raids for destruction and plunder ofproperty. In the winter of 1813 several of these raids were made fromOgdensburg on the British settlements. "After winter (1813) had fairlyset in, and the St. Lawrence was frozen over, the Americans on severaloccasions sent marauding parties across the ice to pillage and destroythe Canadian settlements. [The American mode of giving liberty toCanada. ] On the night of the 6th of February, two companies of riflemenfrom Ogdensburg, under command of Captain Forsyth, made a descent on thetown of Brockville, wounded a sentry, fired several houses, and carriedoff a quantity of plunder, together with fifty of the inhabitants. Several inroads from Ogdensburg were made; and the British were anxiousto retaliate. " (Tuttle. ) On the closing of the session of theLegislature of Lower Canada, the 17th of February, 1813, theGovernor-General, Sir George Prevost, made a tour of inspection of theforts of Upper Canada. On his arrival at Prescott he was importuned toauthorize an attack upon Ogdensburg, in retaliation for an attack uponBrockville by the enemy some days previous. He consented to ademonstration on the river to ascertain the enemy's force; and on theensuing morning (22nd February), as the Governor-General departed, accompanied to Kingston by Lieut. -Colonel Pearson (commander ofPrescott), Lieut. -Colonel M'Donnell, second in command, moved with hisparty across the river on the ice, towards Ogdensburg. The enemy, perceiving the movement, were prepared to receive him; andLieut. -Colonel M'Donnell, impelled by that spirit characteristic ofBritish soldiers, turned the demonstration into a real attack. The enemy was driven from the town after a short contest, leaving abouttwenty killed and a considerable number wounded. Four brassfield-pieces, seven pieces of iron ordnance, complete, with severalstand of arms and a considerable quantity of stores, fell into the handsof the victors, who lost seven killed, and seven officers (includingLieutenant-Colonel M'Donnell) and forty-one men wounded. After havingdestroyed two small schooners and two gun-boats left there to winter, they removed the stores and arms to their own side of the river atPrescott. This brilliant achievement prevented any further Americanforays on the Canadians from Cornwall to Gananoque for the rest of thewinter. PART III. WINTER PREPARATIONS IN LOWER CANADA FOR THE CAMPAIGN--UNPRECEDENTEDMARCH ON SNOW-SHOES OF LOYALIST VOLUNTEERS FROM NEW BRUNSWICK TO LOWERCANADA--AMERICAN PLAN OF OPERATIONS. The greatest exertions were made in Canada during the winter to preparefor the ensuing campaign. The Canadian regiment of Fencibles, theVoltigeurs, the Glengarries, were recruited with diligence and success, though still without reinforcements from England--too much engrossedwith her European wars to afford much assistance to the colonies. Avolunteer regiment from New Brunswick came, by permission and authority, to the assistance of the beleaguered but hitherto successful Canadians. "The King's Regiment of New Brunswick was mustered into the regular armyas the 104th Regiment, and sent to Canada for active service. Theregiment was first formed amongst the Loyalists who had settled in Yorkcounty, about Fredericton, in 1784, and on its voluntary enrolment inthe regular army, the Legislature passed complimentary resolutions toofficers and men, and presented the regiment with a handsome silvertrumpet. A portion of this regiment was conveyed to Quebec by sea; butseveral companies made a very trying march on snow-shoes, through anunbroken country, during very cold weather, to arrive in Canada in timefor the spring campaign. "[206] "The plan of the American campaign for 1813 was that a large army underGeneral Dearborn was to threaten Lower Canada, whilst a determinedeffort was to be made to retake Michigan territory, capture the forts ofNiagara frontier, and thus reduce the whole of Upper Canada. Thisaccomplished, all the armies were to make a joint descent upon Montrealand Quebec, which would be followed by the occupation of the MaritimeProvinces, and thus the British would be driven from the Americancontinent. "[207] PART IV. AMERICAN FLEET ON LAKE ONTARIO SUPERIOR TO THE BRITISH FLEET, AND, WITHTHE ARMY, ATTACKS AND TAKES YORK (TORONTO), AND AFTER OCCUPYING IT LESSTHAN TWO WEEKS, RETIRE WITH MUCH HASTE. The American fleet on Lake Ontario was superior to that of the British, and was being daily augmented at Sackett's Harbour--their principal navyyard on Lake Ontario. The first descent was expected to be uponKingston; but the American Government deemed it too hazardous a game torisk their Lake armament upon an enterprise against this principalmilitary depot of the British in Upper Canada, and resolved to directtheir forces against more distant and defenceless places on the lake. Commodore Chauncey having equipped his fleet for an expedition, andreceived on board upwards of 1, 700 troops under the command of GeneralsDearborn and Pike, sailed from Sackett's Harbour as early as the 25th ofApril, and on the following evening arrived off York (Toronto) withfourteen sail of armed vessels; and on the following day commencedlanding their troops about three miles west of the town--the Britishbeing compelled to retire after making a strong resistance. Thegrenadiers of the 8th Regiment, who lost their captain, M'Neal, were, after a desperate contest, almost annihilated by the overwhelmingnumbers of the enemy. The best account we have read of this expedition against, or rather raidupon, the town of York, is given by Thompson, and which I quote atlength, relating as it does to what was then and now is the capital--thedefenceless capital--of Upper Canada: "In the month of April, the ice having completely broken up in the portof Sackett's Harbour, where the American squadron under CommodoreChauncey had wintered, General Dearborn, commanding the right divisionof the Army of the Centre, consisting of 4, 000 men stationed in thatvicinity, selected 2, 000 of the most efficient of his division [AmericanHistory of the War, published in New York], and on the 22nd of the monthembarked them on board the fleet, with which he ascended the lake, andwith this force appeared off the harbour of York, the capital of UpperCanada, on the morning of the 27th. "The enemy appearing to threaten an attack upon the town, GeneralSheaffe collected his forces, which consisted of nearly 700 men, including regulars and militia, with about 100 Indians; and with thesehe made a most determined resistance to the landing of the enemy; but atlength, overcome by numbers, he was compelled to retire; by which meansthe enemy was enabled to effect his landing a short distance above thefort, which was situated about two miles to the west of the town, at theentrance of the harbour. "So soon as the American troops, who were led on by General Pike, hadmade good their landing, they formed into two lines (the first of whichwas commanded personally by General Pike, and the rear or reserve lineby General Pearce), and in this order advanced upon the first batteryand carried it by assault; they then advanced towards the citadel in thesame order, and by the same means captured an intervening battery. "Here the columns halted, in order to dress the lines for an attack uponthe main works. At this moment a large magazine accidentally exploded, by which a quantity of stones and timbers were thrown into the air, andin their fall killed and wounded a number on both sides, amongst whomwas the American general, Pike. "The British regulars and militia performed prodigies of valour, butwere overpowered by a force three times their number, and in a highstate of discipline;[208] they were compelled to retreat towards thetown. "General Sheaffe then held a Council with his principal officers andcivil authorities of the town, by whom it was advised that he shouldretreat towards Kingston with the remainder of his troops; and that thecommandant of the militia, Lieutenant-Colonel Chewett, should treatwith the American commander for terms for the surrender of York. "At the capture of York the British lost not less than 400 men, 300 ofwhom were made prisoners of war, and about forty killed and wounded bythe explosion. The Americans lost 378, thirty-eight of whom were killedand two hundred and twenty-two wounded by the explosion of the magazine. General Pike died of his contusions a few minutes after being carried onboard of one of the vessels. [209] "On the 8th of May, the American army under General Dearborn once moreevacuated York, after having occupied it twelve days, and secured muchbooty. " PART V. AMERICAN FLEET AND ARMY RETURN TO SACKETT's HARBOUR--MAKE PREPARATIONSFOR ATTACKING FORT GEORGE AND THE TOWN OF NEWARK, WHICH, AFTER A SEVEREBATTLE, THEY TAKE AND OCCUPY. After evacuating York, the American fleet and army proceeded again toSackett's Harbour, where preparations were immediately made for invadingthe Niagara frontier. On the 20th of May the American fleet againascended Lake Ontario, and on the morning of the 23rd they appeared offthe mouth of the Niagara river, soon after which, the weather beingfavourable to their purpose, they attacked Fort George and the town ofNewark (now Niagara), by land and water. Early in the morning of the27th of May the enemy commenced a combined attack upon the fort, havingpreviously, on the 24th and 25th, materially injured the works by awarm cannonade from their ships and batteries. A body of about 800riflemen, under Colonel Winfield Scott, landed near the Two Mile Creek, while the fleet ranged up in the form of a crescent, extending from thenorth of the Lighthouse to the Two Mile Creek, so as to enfilade theBritish batteries by a cross fire. The riflemen, after forming andascending the bank, were met by the British, and compelled to give wayin disorder, and return to the beach, from whence they kept up a smartfire under cover of the bank. In the meantime, another body of upwardsof 2, 000 men, under the command of General Lewis, made a landing, andformed on the beach under cover of a tremendous cannonade of round shot, and showers of grape and canister from the fleet, that swept theadjacent plain, and compelled the British to retire. General Vincent, finding the works torn to pieces by the enemy's artillery, and no longertenable against so overwhelming a force, caused the fort to bedismantled, and the magazines to be blown up, and retreated toQueenston, leaving the Americans to take possession of the ruins of thefort. The British loss consisted of fifty-two killed and upwards ofthree hundred wounded and missing [more than half the entire force]. TheAmericans state their loss at thirty-nine killed and a hundred andeleven wounded. [210] PART VI. THE BRITISH RETREAT TO BURLINGTON HEIGHTS--BATTLE OF STONY CREEK--DEFEATOF THE AMERICANS, AND THEIR DISORDERLY RETREAT TO FORT GEORGE. "General Vincent, on the ensuing day, having collected all the forcesfrom Chippewa and Fort Erie, and destroyed or rendered useless the postsand stores along the frontier, commenced his retreat towards BurlingtonHeights, at the head of Lake Ontario. " (Christie. ) "General Vincent continued his retreat as far as Burlington Heights; andon the 1st day of June was followed by an American army of 3, 500infantry, and about 300 cavalry, commanded by Generals Chandler andWinder, for the purpose, as was vainly boasted, of making prisoners ofthe whole British army, and thus terminate the contest of thenorth-western frontier. " This expected conquest of the whole British army was commenced by theaffair of Stony Creek, when both of the American generals themselveswere taken prisoners. On the evening of the 5th of June, the American forces encamped at thevillage of Stony Creek, about nine miles from the British camp atBurlington Heights, with the purpose of attacking and taking the Britishposition next day. But General Vincent was on the alert to obtaininformation as to the enemy's strength and movements, and dispatchedColonel (afterwards Major-General) Harvey, with two companies, toreconnoitre their camp at Stony Creek, and, from the report received, determined to attack them that very night. "All the troops, both regulars and militia, that could possibly bespared from the garrison at Burlington Heights, together with those whohad retreated from Fort George, amounting in all to 700, were ordered tobe in readiness for a movement. Immediately after dark they commenced anadvance towards Stony Creek, where, after several halts in order toreconnoitre the country through which they were marching, they arrivedbetween one and two o'clock on the morning of the 6th of June. Immediately the quarter guard of the enemy was surprised and taken, andthe assailants rushed into the camp, where all was in apparent security. But such a scene of carnage commenced--the huzzas of the besiegers; theyells of the Indians, led on by Captain Brant; the clashing of bayonets, and, above all, the thunder of the cannon and musketry, rendered ittruly appalling. A column of the enemy was at length formed into somekind of order, but to no purpose; they were by this time completelyunnerved and dispirited, which, together with the darkness of the nightand the clouds of smoke, threw them into the greatest confusion anddisorder. Not so, however, with the British troops; their plans had beenso well concerted, that every man knew his rallying signal; they were, therefore, at all times beyond surprise. The American army, beingcompletely discomfited, retreated from their bivouac in the greatestconfusion. "As soon as General Vincent had completed the defeat of the enemy, heagain fell back upon Burlington Heights, taking as trophies of hisvictory three field-pieces and a brass field howitzer, captured from theenemy, besides both their generals, and about 150 officers, sergeants, and rank and file. "After the defeat at Stony Creek, the American army, in the mostindescribable manner [helter-skelter, every man for himself] retreatedtowards Fort George [whence they came] without the least military orderor subordination; in fact, such officers as could avail themselves ofhorses on the road, regardless of the means employed for that purpose, took them and made their way to the lines with all possible speed, andleft the rest of the army to shift for themselves; they, therefore, retreated [or scampered] in small detached parties, some of whom hadexonerated themselves of their arms and equipments. Thus did they travel[at double-quick] towards their headquarters from two or three to adozen; and were, in compassion for their sufferings, succoured by thosevery people whose houses, a day or two previous, they had ransacked andplundered. "[211] PART VII. GENERAL VINCENT, REINFORCED, PURSUES THE RETREATING ENEMY--BRILLIANTAFFAIR OF THE BEAVER DAMS, IN WHICH SEVERAL HUNDRED AMERICANS SURRENDERTO ONE-FIFTH THEIR NUMBER--THE AMERICANS COOPED UP IN FORT GEORGE--FORTSCHLOSSER AND BLACK ROCK ATTACKED BY THE BRITISH, AND THE PUBLIC FORTSAND MAGAZINES DESTROYED OR TAKEN--THE AMERICAN ARMY CANNOT BE INDUCED TOCOME OUT OF FORT GEORGE INTO OPEN FIELD FIGHT. In a short time General Vincent received some reinforcements, andassumed the offensive, advanced towards Fort George with a view toinvesting it--forming his line on the Four Mile Creek, with his leftresting on the lake; but he ultimately extended his line from the TwelveMile Creek (St. Catharines) to Queenston. General Lewis, who now had full command (General Dearborn havingresigned), finding his advance posts and foraging parties continuallyharassed and frequently made prisoners by small detachments of Britishand Canadian troops stationed at different posts through the country, inorder to prevent the American camp at Fort George from obtainingsupplies, dispatched Colonel Boerstler with about 600 or 700 men, by wayof Queenston, with a view of dislodging a detachment or picquet postedat a place called the Beaver Dams, a few miles from Queenston. ColonelBoerstler was surprised by a small party of Indians under Captain Ker;and believing themselves hemmed in by superior numbers, surrendered toLieutenant (afterwards Colonel) Fitzgibbon, of the 49th Regiment, whoarrived in time to complete the victory with a detachment of forty-sixrank and file. The prisoners were five to one to the captors, being 512in number, including twenty-five officers, two field pieces, and a standof colours. By these successes, the Americans were compelled to confine themselvesto Fort George and its neighbourhood; and before the 1st of July theBritish had formed a line extending from Twelve Mile Creek, on LakeOntario (Port Dalhousie), across to Queenston, on the Niagara river; andthe Canadians began now to retaliate the game of marauding which theAmericans had been practising on the Niagara frontier. From Chippewa anattack was made on Fort Schlosser, on the American side of the river, during the night of the 4th of July, by a small party of militia andsoldiers under Lieutenant-Colonel Clarke, who surprised the guard atthat post, and brought away a brass six-pounder, upwards of fifty standof arms, a small quantity of stores, with a gun-boat and two batteaux. At daybreak in the morning of the 11th of July, Lieutenant-ColonelBishop, lately commanding Fort Erie, crossed over the river with 240men, consisting of a small party of militia and detachments of the 41stand 49th Regiments, and effectually surprised the enemy's post at BlackRock, burning his block-houses, stores, barracks, dockyard, and avessel, but were compelled to hasten their departure by a reinforcementof American militia and some Indians in their interest, who opened asmart fire under cover of the surrounding woods, killing thirteen of theBritish attacking party, and wounding a considerable number--amongothers, Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop, mortally; but the British partybrought away seven pieces of ordnance, two hundred stand of small arms, and a great quantity of stores. The two armies were almost in sight of each other at Fort George; thecommander of the British wished to ascertain the extent of the enemy'sworks and his means of defence, and to draw him into an open field ofbattle, and therefore, on the 24th of August, made a demonstration as ifto assault the fort, drove in the picquets; took several of them, advanced to within a few hundred yards of the enemy, who, thoughsupported by the fire upon the British from their batteries on theAmerican side of the river, could not be induced to leave theirentrenchments and venture in the open field, although the force of theBritish did not exceed 2, 000, while the American force exceeded 4, 000, but wholly depending upon resources from the American side for theirsubsistence, and compelled to act solely on the defensive, from thehostile front assumed by the British in the neighbourhood. The Americanarmy of 4, 000 men, being cooped up within the limits of the fort, depending for their supplies from the United States, and not daring togo out of their fortifications, could do little harm and be of littleuse to the American cause, the British commander did not think itadvisable to incur the loss and risk of an assault upon the fort. PART VIII. WAR IN THE WEST--GENERAL PROCTOR'S UNSUCCESSFUL SIEGE OF LOWER SANDUSKY. In the meantime General Harrison was on the Sandusky river, makingpreparations to prosecute the war with vigour, in order to recover theMichigan territory, as soon as the fleet fitting out at Erie (Presqu'Isle), under Captain Perry, who had been dispatched thither by CommodoreChauncey towards the end of May, should be sufficiently strong toco-operate with the land forces. General Proctor resolved to makeanother effort to defeat General Harrison's purpose to recover Michigan, and immediately besieged the American fort at Lower Sandusky; but inconsequence of the withdrawment of the Indians out of the reach of theenemy's guns, and disinclined to the delay of a siege, and GeneralHarrison with a respectable force at no great distance, General Proctorthought proper to raise the siege and retire to Amherstburg. PART IX. FAILURE OF THE EXPEDITION OF SIR GEORGE PREVOST AND COMMODORE SIR JAMESYEO AGAINST SACKETT'S HARBOUR. During the absence of Commodore Chauncey and his fleet from Sackett'sHarbour, engaged in operations on the Niagara frontier, an expeditionwas planned and fitted out at Kingston against that chief depot ofAmerican naval supplies on Ontario. Sir George Prevost, Commander-in-Chief, and the British Commodore, Sir James L. Yeo (justarrived from England), were both at Kingston, and much was expected fromtheir joint counsels, and the arrival of some naval officers and sailorsfrom England. On the 27th of May a body of 800 or 1, 000 men wereembarked on board the British flotilla at Kingston, consisting of_Wolfe_, 24 guns; _Royal George_, 24; _Earl of Moira_, 18; and fourschooners, carrying from ten to twelve guns each, with a sufficientnumber of batteaux; and at noon the following day they were offSackett's Harbour. The weather was propitious, and the troops weretransferred to the batteaux to make their landing under an escort oftwo gun-boats, commanded by Captain Mulcaster--the whole under theimmediate direction of the land and naval commanders-in-chief. They hadnot proceeded far when a convoy of American boats, loaded with troops, was descried doubling Stanley Point, on their way from Oswego toSackett's Harbour. The Indians, who had previously landed on an island, fired upon them as they passed, and threw them into confusion, while theBritish boats and batteaux bore down and captured twelve of them, withabout 150 men; the remainder escaped to Sackett's Harbour. The landing was deferred until next day, thus giving the Americans timeto spread the alarm throughout the country--to collect reinforcementsfrom all quarters--to collect and station their soldiers, with afield-piece, in the surrounding woods, and make every possiblepreparation for their defence. The fine day was followed by a dark, rainy, and stormy night, which scattered the boats, so that the Britishcould not succeed in landing in the morning before the Americans hadlined the woods with their men. Nevertheless the British succeeded inlanding; the enemy retreated, but posting themselves securely behindlarge trees, kept up a smart fire on the British. The fleet in the meantime, as well as small vessels intended to havebeen landed in time to support the advance of the troops, were, throughthe light and adverse wind, a long way in the rear. Under thesecircumstances, Colonel Baynes, the Adjutant-General of the Forces inBritish North America, who was charged with this service, found itimpossible to bring up or wait for the arrival of the artillery, andordered his detachment to divide and scour the woods. The enemy, dislodged from the woods at the point of the bayonet, fled to their fortand block-houses, whither they were pursued by the British, who set fireto their barracks. At this juncture it was thought by the commanding officer, ColonelBaynes, that the enemy's block-houses and stockaded battery could not becarried by assault, even with the assistance of the field-pieces, hadthey been landed. The fleet were still too far out of reach to aid inbattering them, while the men were exposed to the fire of the enemy, secure within the works. The _signal of retreat_ was therefore given tothe indignant assailants, and the enterprise was abandoned at a momentwhen the enemy had so far calculated upon a victory on the part of theBritish as to set fire to their naval stores, hospital, and marinebarracks, by which all the booty previously taken at York, and thestores for their new ship, were consumed. They had also set fire to afrigate on the stocks; but on discovering the retreat of the British, they succeeded in suppressing the fire, and saved her. The troops wereimmediately re-embarked, and returned to Kingston, after havingsustained a loss of 259 in killed, wounded, and missing, while the lossof the enemy must have been double that number. Thus terminated this expedition, to the disappointment of the public, who, from the presence and co-operation of the two commanders-in-chief, fondly flattered themselves with a far more brilliant result. Thismiscarriage, with other reverses at the commencement of the presentcampaign, destroyed in the opinion of the enemy the invincibility ourarms had acquired the preceding autumn. [212] PART X. OCCURRENCES ON LAKE ONTARIO--NAVAL MANOEUVRES AND BATTLES. On Lake Ontario the two naval commanders strove with indefatigableemulation for the dominion of the lake. Chauncey, after the capture ofFort George, returned to Sackett's Harbour to await the equipment of hisnew ship, the _Pike_; while his adversary, Sir James Yeo, scoured thelake, and supplied the British army in the neighbourhood of Fort Georgewith abundance of stores. In the early part of July, Sir James fittedout an expedition of boats for Sackett's Harbour, with a view of cuttingout their new ship, then almost rigged and ready to appear on the lake. He arrived unobserved in the vicinity of that port, and would probablyhave effected his purpose had not the escape of two deserters from hisparty, which had landed for refreshments, and in order to remainconcealed until night should favour the enterprise, given the alarm tothe enemy. This unlucky incident induced him to relinquish theundertaking and return to Kingston. Towards the end of July the American fleet again appeared withaugmented force upon the lake, and Commodore Chauncey having received acompany of artillery, with a considerable number of troops under ColonelScott, proceeded for the head of the lake, with a view of seizing anddestroying the stores at Burlington Heights, the principal depot of thearmy on the Niagara frontier, then occupied by a small detachment underMajor Maule. The design of the enemy against this depot being suspected, Lieutenant-Colonel Battersby, commanding the Glengarry Regiment, uponbeing notified to that effect by Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey, Deputy-Adjutant-General, moved forward from York, and, by a march ofextraordinary celerity, arrived with a reinforcement in time to save thedepot, which the enemy, on finding the British ready to receive them, did not deem it prudent to attack. Commodore Chauncey, on learning that York, by the advance ofLieutenant-Colonel Battersby to Burlington Heights, was left destituteof troops, seized the opportunity and bore away for that port, which heentered on the 31st of July. Here the Americans landed withoutopposition, and having taken possession of a small quantity of storesfound at that place, they set fire to the barracks and publicstore-houses, and having re-embarked their troops, bore away to Niagara. It is a coincidence worthy of notice, that on the same day in which theAmerican commander was employed in burning the barracks and stores atYork, Lieutenant-Colonel Murray was no less actively employed on thesame business at Plattsburg. The British fleet sailed from Kingston on the last day of July, withsupplies for the army at the head of the lake, and on the 8th of Augustlooked into Niagara, where the enemy's fleet lay moored. The latter hoveup and bore down upon the British fleet, with which they manoeuvreduntil the 10th, when a partial engagement ensued, in which two smallvessels (the _Julia_ and _Growler_) were cut off and captured by theBritish. [213] Commodore Chauncey, somewhat disheartened with the loss of these, andtwo other small vessels--the _Scourge_ of eight, and the _Hamilton_ ofnine guns--upset by press of sail to escape, with the loss of all hands, except sixteen men picked up by the English, bore up for Niagara, fromwhence he sailed almost immediately for Sackett's Harbour, where hearrived on the 13th of August. Here he provisioned his fleet, andinstantly made sail for Niagara, where he remained at anchor until theBritish fleet appeared off the harbour, early in the morning of the 7thof September, when the American fleet again weighed and bore down uponthe British fleet, with which they manoeuvred until the 12th, when thelatter returned into Amherst Bay, near Kingston. During these five daysbut few shots were exchanged between the larger ships, without anyinjury to either side. The Americans, however, had much the advantage inweight of metal and long guns. The fleets again met on the 28th of September, off York, when anengagement ensued for nearly two hours, in which the _Wolfe_, commandedby Sir James Yeo, lost her main and mizen-top-masts, and would probablyhave been captured had not the _Royal George_, commanded by CaptainMulcaster, run in between the _Wolfe_ and the _Pike_, taking the latterin a raking position, so as to afford the _Wolfe_ an opportunity ofhauling off and clearing away the wreck. This affair terminated in theretreat of the British fleet under Burlington Heights, whither the enemydid not think proper to pursue it. On the 1st of October, the American fleet set sail from Fort George witha convoy of troops for Sackett's Harbour, where an expedition waspreparing whose destination was as yet unknown. The British fleet lefttheir anchorage under Burlington Heights on the next day, and came insight of the enemy; but no attempt was made to bring on a generalengagement. The American fleet, on their way to Sackett's Harbour; fellin with and captured five small vessels out of seven, with upwards of250 men of De Watteville's Regiment, from York, bound for Kingston, where an attack was apprehended. This loss, though apparently triflingin itself, was severely felt, by reason of the few forces in the UpperProvinces. For the remainder of the season nothing of moment occurred on this lake;and indeed the naval commanders appeared to have considered the questionof too great importance to their respective Governments to stake thefate of war in Upper Canada upon a decisive naval engagement. [214] PART XI. OCCURRENCES ON LAKE ERIE AND IN THE WEST--LOSS OF THE BRITISHFLEET--EVACUATION OF DETROIT AND THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN BY GENERALPROCTOR, WHO IS PURSUED IN HIS RETREAT UP THE THAMES, AND DEFEATED BYGENERAL HARRISON, AND IS AFTERWARDS TRIED AND CONDEMNED TO BE SUSPENDEDAND DEPRIVED OF HIS PAY FOR SIX MONTHS. _The operations on Lake Erie and in the West_ were disastrous to theBritish cause during the latter part of the summer and early autumn of1813. General Harrison, with an army of 8, 000 men on the Miami river, only awaited for the equipment of the American fleet fitting out underCommodore Perry, at Presqu' Isle (Erie), to move his forces againstDetroit, and to carry on offensive operations against the British in theneighbourhood of Lake Erie. Captain Barclay, who had early in the summerassumed the command of the British squadron on Lake Erie, blockaded theAmerican fleet, so as to prevent their crossing the bar at Presqu' Isle(which they could not effect without unshipping their guns) until theend of August; when, having occasion to bear away for Long Point, [215]the enemy seized the moment of his absence and crossed the bar. Findingon his return the enemy ready for the lake, and too powerful for hissmall squadron, he bore away for Amherstburg, to await the equipment ofthe _Detroit_, recently launched. Commodore Perry sailed shortly after him for the head of the lake, andappeared at the commencement of September, for several dayssuccessively, off Amherstburg, in defiance of the British squadron, retiring every evening to his anchorage at _Put-in-Bay_. The Britishforces in Michigan territory and its neighbourhood, under GeneralProctor, falling short of supplies for which they depended solely uponthe fleet, the captain had no other alternative than that of risking ageneral naval engagement. With this resolution he made sail fromAmherstburg on the 9th of September, manned with only fifty or sixtyseamen (including a small reinforcement of thirty-six men from LakeOntario), and detachments from the 41st and Royal Newfoundland Regimentas marines. On the 10th, in the morning, the enemy's fleet was descriedat anchor in _Put-in-Bay_, which immediately weighed and bore down uponthe British squadron, while the wind blowing a gentle breeze from thesouth-west, turning round to the south-east, gave the enemy the weathergage. At a quarter before twelve the British commenced firing, which wasin ten minutes afterwards returned by the enemy, who bore up for closeaction. The engagement continued with unabated fury until half-past two, when the enemy's principal ship being rendered unmanageable, CommodorePerry left her in charge of his first lieutenant, Yarnal, and hoistedthe pendant on board the _Niagara_. Soon after Commodore Perry had leftthe _Lawrence_, her colours were struck, but the British, from weaknessof their crews and destruction of their boats, were unable to takepossession of her. It was at this anxious and interesting juncture that the fate of the dayseemed to poise in favour of the British; and Commodore Perry evendespaired of the victory, when a sudden breeze revived his hopes, andturned the scale in his favour. This fortunate commander, finding the_Niagara_ had suffered lightly in the engagement, made a desperateeffort to retrieve the fortune of the day, and taking advantage of thebreeze, shot ahead of the _Lady Prevost, Queen Charlotte_, and _Hunter_, raking them with her starboard guns, and engaged the _Detroit_, which, being raked in all directions, soon became unmanageable. The _Niagara_then bore around ahead of the _Queen Charlotte_, and hauling up onstarboard tack, engaged that ship, giving at the same time a raking firewith her larboard guns to the _Chippewa_ and the _Little Belt_, whilethe smaller vessels, closing to grape and canister distance, maintaineda most destructive fire. This masterly and but too successfulmanoeuvre decided the contest. Captain Barclay being severely anddangerously wounded, Captain Finnis, of the _Queen Charlotte_, killed, and every commander and officer second in command either killed ordisabled, the _Detroit_ and _Queen Charlotte_, perfect wrecks, after adesperate engagement of upwards of three hours, were compelled tosurrender. By this decisive action, the whole of the British squadron on Lake Eriewas captured by the enemy, who now became masters of the lake. The enemylost in this action twenty-seven men in killed and ninety-six menwounded. The British lost three officers and thirty-eight men killed, and nine officers and eighty-five men wounded. The prisoners were landed at Sandusky, and treated with the greatesthumanity by the American commodore, who paroled Captain Barclay, andtreated that gallant officer with all the kindness and attention whichhis unsuccessful bravery deserved. The British army in possession of the Michigan territory and theneighbourhood of Detroit, by this disastrous defeat, were deprived ofevery prospect of obtaining future supplies from Kingston by way of LakeOntario, and a speedy evacuation of Detroit, and a retreat towards thehead of that lake became inevitable. General Harrison having received reinforcements amounting to 7, 000 or8, 000 men, including 4, 000 volunteers from Kentucky under Samuel Shelby, the ex-governor of that State, and an old revolutionary officer, wasconveyed by Commodore Perry, in his flotilla, with all the troops andstores, from the mouth of the Miami to the Canadian shore, except thethousand dragoons who were to advance by land, and so order their marchthat they might arrive in the neighbourhood of Malden at the same timewith the infantry. General Harrison occupied Amherstburg the evening ofthe 23rd of September, General Proctor having previously abandoned itand fallen back upon Sandwich, after having set fire to the navy yard, barracks, and public stores at the former place. General Harrison, on his arrival, having found the different pointsevacuated, invested General McArthur with the chief command of thesegarrisons, and prepared to pursue the retreating army up the RiverThames, with a force of 3, 000 men, including Colonel Johnson's corps ofdragoons, consisting of 1, 000. General Harrison occupied Sandwich the27th of September, and on the 2nd of October he marched in pursuit ofthe shattered remains of the British forces under General Proctor. Inthis, his reverse of fortune, the Indians, under Colonel Elliot, of theIndian Department, with Tecumseh, still adhered to his standard withunshaken fidelity, and covered his retreat. On the 4th of October, General Harrison came up with the rear-guard ofthe British, and succeeded in capturing the whole of their ammunitionand stores. General Proctor, under this second reverse of fortune, bywhich he was left destitute of the means of subsistence or defence, found himself compelled to stake the fate of the remnant of his smallarmy on a general engagement. Accordingly he assumed a position on theright bank of the River Thames, near the Indian village of MoravianTown--the left resting on the river supported by a field-piece, hisright on a swamp, at a distance of 300 yards from the river, and flankedby the whole Indian force attached to the division. The intermediateground, covered with lofty trees, was dry and somewhat elevated. HereGeneral Proctor formed his troops into line, to the number of 500 or600. The Indians under Tecumseh amounted to 1, 200. In this position heawaited the approach of the enemy, who, on the morning of the 5th ofOctober, passed the river at a rapid twelve miles below the Moravianvillage, and came up with the British in the afternoon. General Harrisondrew up his men in two lines, and secured his left flank, which wasopposed to the Indians, by a division thrown back _en potence_; andwithout any previous engagement by infantry, ordered his mountedKentuckians (accustomed from their boyhood to ride with extraordinarydexterity through the most embarrassed woods) to charge at full speedupon (the _open_ line of) the British, which had effected before thelatter had time to discharge their third fire. This cavalry charge ofthe enemy on the British line decided the issue of the day. The linegave way at the charge; the troops, worn down with fatigue and hunger, dispirited by the unpromising appearance of the campaign, became totallyrouted, and for the most part surrendered themselves prisoners, whileGeneral Proctor and his personal staff sought safety in flight. To the left of the enemy's position, which was opposed to the Indians, the battle raged with more obstinacy. This part of the enemy's line hadeven given way until a column under ex-Governor Shelby was brought up toits support. These faithful allies continued to carry on the contestwith the left of the American line with furious determination, encouraged by the presence of Tecumseh, until finding all hopes ofretrieving the day to be in vain--General Proctor and his soldiershaving fled or surrendered--they yielded to the overwhelming numbers ofthe enemy, and left the field--upwards of 100 of them having fallen inbattle, and the bodies of 33 of them being found around the dead body oftheir famous chief and warrior, Tecumseh; celebrated no less for hishumanity than for his bravery, his eloquence, and his influence amongthe Indian allies of the British in the West. Upwards of 600 of the British, including twenty-five officers, were madeprisoners of war. Those who escaped made the best of their way toAncaster, a few miles from Burlington Heights, exposed at an inclementseason to all the horrors of the wilderness, of hunger, and famine. Thenumber thus escaped to that place amounted to only 246, including thegeneral and seventeen officers. This disaster of the British arms in that quarter seems not to have beenpalliated by those precautions and that presence of mind which, even indefeat, reflects lustre on a commander. In rapid retreats from apursuing enemy cumbrous and useless baggage is abandoned, and bridgesand roads are destroyed and rendered as impassable as possible, in orderto impede the progress of the pursuers; but General Proctor encumberedhimself with a cumbrous load of baggage, and left the bridges and roadsin his rear entire, to the advantage of his pursuers. Whether this errorand neglect arose from contempt of the enemy, or from disobedience ofthe commanding officer's orders, is not well understood; but the defeatled to the harshest recrimination, and involved in unmerited disgracethe division of the brave troops that had served with honour in theMichigan territory; and General Proctor was subjected to a trial bycourt-martial for his conduct in the whole affair--censured and deprivedof his pay for six months. PART XII. AMERICANS BURN MORAVIAN TOWN, BEFORE RETURNING TO DETROIT--FORM ALLIANCEWITH INDIANS, WHICH THEY HAD EXCLAIMED SO MUCH AGAINST ON THE PART OFTHE BRITISH--ARE INTOXICATED WITH THEIR SUCCESSES IN THEWEST--MAGNIFICENT CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1813, AS OF 1812, IN BEHALF OFCANADIANS, BOTH IN UPPER AND LOWER CANADA--CANADIAN VICTORY OFISLE-AUX-NOIS--SPLENDID CANADIAN VICTORIES OF CHATEAUGUAY ANDCHRYSTLER'S FARM--AMERICAN ARMIES RETREAT INTO WINTER QUARTERS. The American army returned to Detroit after the battle of Moravian Town;but before doing so, they consigned the town to the flames, assigning asa justification of the savage act against the unoffending ChristianMoravian Indians, a retaliation for what they called the massacre ofRiver Raisin. During General Harrison's absence from Detroit, a few of the Indiantribes tendered their services to General McArthur, to raise the hatchetagainst the British, and their proffered services were readilyaccepted--showing that, according to the American rule of judging, thealliance of the Indians with the United States was quite right, whilewith England it was all wrong and barbarous. The success of the American arms on Lake Erie and its surrounding shoresso intoxicated and bewildered them, that, in their subsequent movements, they calculated upon nothing but victory and conquest, made no allowancefor failure in any point. "Canada must now be ours" was their exultingand arrogant language. But they had overlooked the fact that, howevergloomy the prospects of the Western Canadians were in October of theyear 1813, there were remaining elements of strength with them--theircourage and zeal were unabated, and even increased, by the transactionsof the months of disaster; their loyalty to their principles, and theirlove of their independence, were intensified rather than enfeebled; theywould not be a _conquered people_; and before the end of the year 1813, the American armies had to relinquish every inch of Canadian soil bothin Upper and Lower Canada. But to present a connected and intelligent view of the magnificent closeof the year 1813, as was that of 1812, we must first turn to theAmerican campaigns against Lower Canada in 1813; and the defeats andwant of success for several months in Upper Canada were more thancompensated by the heroic deeds and splendid success of both the Englishand French defenders of Lower Canada, as well as by victories gained inUpper Canada in the months of November and December. The Isle-aux-Nois was termed the key of Lower Canada, and its oldfortifications had been repaired, and three gun-boats sent thither fromQuebec. The little garrison was under the command of Lieutenant-ColonelGeorge Taylor, Inspecting General Field Officer (then major of the 100thRegiment), who, apprehending, from previous private information, acombined attack from the American naval force on Lake Champlain and thetroops in the neighbourhood of his post, commanded by theBrigadier-Generals Smyth and Clarke, lost no time in equipping the threegun-boats lying unemployed for want of seamen; and Lieutenant-ColonelTaylor having no sailors, he manned the gun-boats from his regiment, with three artillerymen for each boat, and took the precaution to mantwo batteaux with a detachment of soldiers, for the double purpose ofrendering assistance to the gun-boats in the event of their being eithersunk or disabled in the engagement, or to assist in boarding if itshould be found necessary. The enemy, discovered in approaching, consisted of the sloops of war _Growler_ and _Eagle_, fitted out in themost complete manner, each carrying eleven guns (eighteens, twelves, andsixes), long eighteens on pivots, with complements each of fifty-fivemen, comprehending a company of marines, which they had received atChamplain the evening previous to the engagement; the whole under thecommand of the United States navy. The admirable execution with theirsmall arms of the two small detachments of soldiers landed on the eastside of the river, and the well-directed fire from the gun-boats, ofround and grape shot, completely decided the fate of the action, whichthe enemy gallantly contested from half-past four to half-past eight inthe morning, and did not surrender until further resistance becameutterly unavailing--one of the vessels being run aground to prevent herfrom sinking. The whole force of the British in this affair was only 108. The menkilled on board the American vessels were thrown overboard by theirsurviving comrades; the prisoners amounted to 100 men, of whom many werewounded. Of the captors, not a man was killed, and only three severelywounded. The naval force of the enemy on Lake Champlain was, by thecapture of these vessels, almost annihilated, while it afforded theBritish immediate and effectual means for offensive operations on thatlake, and checked the invasion meditated on Lower Canada. The American Government, with a view of conquering Lower Canada, hadbeen at considerable pains and expense in erecting barracks, hospitals, and magazines at different points along Lake Champlain, particularly atBurlington, Plattsburg, Champlain, and Swanton, in the neighbourhood ofthe Canadian frontiers--all under the direction of the two Americangenerals, Moore and Hampton. To counteract these movements, the capturedvessels, _Growler_ and _Eagle_--re-named the _Shannon_ and _Brock_--werespeedily put in commission, and the three gun-boats being put in repair, the small squadron was placed under the command of Captain Pring. Stillthere were no sailors; but, fortunately, at this juncture the _Wasp_sloop-of-war arrived from England at Quebec, and Captain Everard, hercommander, was ordered to transfer his crew to the _Shannon_ and othervessels, and take command of the little fleet on Lake Champlain. On the 29th of July the fleet took 900 regulars from the 13th, 100th, and 103rd Regiments, with some artillery, and a number of Canadianmilitia, who acted as batteaux men, and proceeded up the lake, landingnear Plattsburg on the 31st, without meeting any opposition--theAmerican general, Moore, with 1, 500 men, having retreated at theapproach of the British. Colonel John Murray, who was in command of theBritish, took possession of the arsenals, etc. , and after havingembarked all the warlike stores, of which a considerable quantity wasfound in the arsenal, and having destroyed such as he could notconveniently take away, set fire to the enemy's arsenal, publicbuildings, commissariat stores, and barracks, recently erected, andcapable of accommodating from 4, 000 to 5, 000 men. While the troops werethus employed during the whole of the night, Captains Everard and Pring, in the _Growler_ and _Eagle_, with a gun-boat proceeded to Burlington, where General Hampton lay encamped with 4, 000 men, and threw that placeinto the utmost consternation. Having captured and destroyed, withinsight of the American forces, four vessels, Captain Everard returned toPlattsburg, where the troops were re-embarked, and proceeded to Swanton. Colonel Murray, while on the way thither, sent a detachment to Champlainfor the purpose of destroying the barracks and block-house at that port. The main body having visited Swanton, and effected the purpose of theexpedition to the fullest extent of his Excellency the Governor-General'sorders, returned to the Isle-aux-Nois, where they arrived the 4th ofAugust, without the loss of a man, and having been completely successful. But these successes were only preliminary to two victories remarkable inthe annals of military warfare, considering the disparity in the numberand means of the parties concerned--known as the battles of_Chateauguay_ and _Chrystler's Farm_. General Hampton, after having transported his force across LakeChamplain, lay encamped some days at Cumberland Head, near Plattsburg. On the 20th of September he entered Lower Canada at Odletown, at thelower extremity of Lake Champlain, with upwards of 5, 000 men. The roadleading from thence to l'Acadie, and the open country in theneighbourhood of Montreal, lies through a swamp of about fifteen miles, which had been cut up and rendered almost impracticable by abatis sincethe preceding campaign, by the Voltigeurs under Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry, and guarded by some Voltigeurs and Indians. Deterred by theseobstructions, General Hampton evacuated Odletown on the 22nd ofSeptember, and moved with his whole force westward, toward the head ofChateauguay river, under pretext of the impracticability of advancingthrough the Odletown road for want of water for his cavalry and cattle, owing to the extraordinary drought of the season. Colonel De Salaberry, with the Canadian Voltigeurs, on ascertaining the route the enemy hadtaken, moved in like manner to Chateauguay, and by his skilfulprecautions and arrangements of defence and attack, he gained advantagein several skirmishes with scouting and advance parties of theenemy--thus leading his Voltigeurs for the first time into action, andacquiring a just confidence in the valour of his countrymen, which a fewdays afterwards they nobly exemplified under their gallant leader atChateauguay. Finally he assumed a judicious position in a thick wood onthe left bank of the Chateauguay river, at a distance of two leaguesabove the Turk, or confluence of the English and Chateauguay rivers, where he threw up temporary breastworks of logs, covering his front andright flank with extended abatis, while his left was covered by theriver. Here he resolved to await the enemy and maintain his ground witha Spartan handful of Canadians against the whole strength of theinvading army. In his rear there was a small rapid where the river wasfordable; this he covered with a strong breastwork and guard; keeping atthe same time a strong picquet of the Beauharnois Militia in advance ofthe right bank of the river, lest the enemy, approaching under cover ofthe forest, might cross the ford and dislodge him from his ground. The occupancy of this position General Hampton justly considered of thefirst importance to the ulterior object of the campaign againstMontreal, as the country from thence to the mouth of the Chateauguay, being principally open and cultivated, afforded no strong points tocheck his progress to the St. Lawrence, and prevent his junction withGeneral Wilkinson's division; but which in fact was not yet in readinessto move. General Hampton, in the meantime, to distract and divide the attentionof the British, directed Colonel Clarke to carry on a petty warfare onthe eastern side of Lake Champlain; and that ruthless depredatorinvested the settlements in Missisquoi Bay, where he plundered theinhabitants in the most wanton manner. On the 21st of October, General Hampton again entered Lower Canada, having early in the morning of that day dispatched his light troops anda regiment of the line, under Brigadier-General Izard, to dislodge asmall picquet of sedentary militia, at the junction of the Outarde andChateauguay rivers, where the main body arrived on the 22nd. On the24th, having opened and completed a large and practicable road from hisposition at Four Corners (a distance of twenty-four miles), throughwoods and morasses, which Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, on returningfrom the Four Corners, had broken up and embarrassed with abatis, General Hampton brought forward the whole of his artillery (tenfield-pieces) and stores to his new position--about seven miles fromLieut. -Colonel De Salaberry's post. From this point General Hampton dispatched Colonel Purdy with a lightbrigade, and a strong body of infantry of the line, at an early hour ofthe night of the 25th, with orders to gain the Ford, and fall on therear of Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry's position; while the main bodywere to commence the attack in front. Purdy's brigade proceeded, butwere misled and bewildered in the woods, and did not gain the point ofattack as directed by the commanding officer. General Hampton, however, advanced next morning (26th October) under the expectation of having theintended attack at the Ford, and at ten o'clock made his appearance withabout _three thousand five hundred men_, under General Izard, on thehigh road leading to the abatis, and drove in a picket of twenty-fivemen, who falling back on a second picket made a resolute stand, andmaintained a smart fire upon the enemy. Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, upon hearing the musketry, promptly advanced with the light company ofthe Canadian Fencibles, commanded by Captain Ferguson, and two companiesof his Voltigeurs, commanded by Captains Chevalier and JucheseauDuchesnay. The first of these companies he posted on the right, in frontof the abatis, in extended order, its right skirting on the adjoiningwoods and abatis, among which were distributed a few Abenaqui Indians. Captains Chevalier and Duchesnay's companies of Voltigeurs, in extendedorder, occupied the ground from the left of this company to the RiverChateauguay, and the third company, under Captain L. JucheseauDuchesnay, with the sedentary militia, under Captain Lougtain, werethrown back _en potence_ along the margin of the river for the purposeof flanking, or preventing a flank fire from the enemy in the event ofhis appearing on the opposite side of the river. The enemy in themeantime advanced with steadiness in open column of sections to withinmusket shot, when Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry discharged his rifleas signal to commence firing, at which a mounted officer was seen tofall. The bugles sounded, and a quick fire was immediately opened uponthe enemy who wheeled up into line, and commenced a fire in battalionvollies, which, from the position of their line, was almost totallythrown to the right of the Canadians, and of no effect whatever. They, however, soon changed their front parallel to their adversaries, byfacing to the right, and filing up with speed, when the engagementbecame general. The retirement of the few skirmishers, rather advanced in the centre ofthe line, being mistaken by the enemy for a flight, an universal shoutensued, which was re-echoed by the Canadians, and the reinforcements inreserve under Lieutenant-Colonel M'Donnell, while Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry as a _ruse de guerre_ (like Gideon with his trumpets and 300men, Judges, vii. ), ordered the bugles placed at intervals, in theabatis, to sound an advance; this had the desired effect, and checkedthe ardour of the enemy, who suspected that the Canadians were advancingin great numbers to circumvent them. The noise of the engagement broughtColonel Purdy's division on the opposite side of the river, which, having driven in the picket of the sedentary militia under CaptainBruguier, were pressing on for the ford at which Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry ordered the light company of the 3rd Battalion embodiedmilitia, under Captain Daly, to cross and take up the ground abandonedby the picquet, Captain Daly with his company crossed the ford, andhaving advanced fell in with and drove back the advanced guard of theAmericans on the main body, which still pressed forward and compelledhim in his turn to fall back. Having repulsed Captain Daly's company, they were moving on in overwhelming numbers with eagerness and speedclose to the bank of the river, until opposite to Captain L. JucheseauDuchesnay's company, which hitherto lay concealed, and now at the wordof command from Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, opened so unexpectedand effectual a fire upon the enemy, as to throw him into the utmostdisorder, and to occasion a tumultuous and precipitate retreat. General Hampton finding his arrangements disconcerted by the total routeof the division on the right bank, withdrew his forces in good order athalf-past two in the afternoon, without having made a single effort tocarry the abatis and entrenchments at the point of the bayonet, leavingLieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, with scarcely 300 Canadians, mastersof the field of action. Towards the close of the engagement, Sir George Prevost, withMajor-General De Watteville, arrived on the ground, and witnessed inperson the judicious arrangements and successful exertions ofLieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry and his gallant comrades and countrymen, whose prowess on the occasion called forth the warmest encomiums of thecommander of the forces, and gave them a just claim to the disinterestedand impartial applause of history. The fatigues and privations experienced by General Hampton's troops, exposed for several weeks to the inclemency of the season, demoralizedthem to the native rawness of new recruits, and rendered them no morecapable of co-operating with General Wilkinson's division in thecombined movement against Montreal. They shortly after fell back onPlattsburg and retired to winter quarters. _The Canadian Victory of "Chrystler's Farm. "_--The next expeditionagainst Montreal was to proceed down the St. Lawrence, under the commandof General Wilkinson. [216] The American forces to about 10, 000 menrendezvoused towards the end of October on Grenadier Island, nearKingston, where General De Rottenburgh confidently expected an attack, and was prepared for it; but General Wilkinson was not so disposed, and, after experiencing much foul weather, commenced his movement under coverof the American fleet, and on the 3rd of November slipt into the St. Lawrence with a flotilla of upwards of _three hundred_ boats of varioussizes, escorted by a division of gun-boats. He proceeded to within threemiles of Prescott and landed his troops on the American shore, whoproceeded downwards by land to a bay or cove, two miles belowOgdensburg, in order to avoid the British batteries at Prescott, whilethe flotilla passed them in the night of the 6th, with little injuryfrom the cannonade of the British batteries. The movements of the flotilla down the St. Lawrence having beenascertained at Kingston, General De Rottenburgh detached a small forcefrom that port, consisting of the 49th Regiment, commanded byLieutenant-Colonel Plenderleath, of the 89th Regiment, and someVoltigeurs, which, when reinforced by Lieutenant-Colonel Pearson with aparty of the Canadian Fencibles from Prescott, amounted to about 800rank and file, the whole commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, ofthe 89th Regiment, and accompanied by the Deputy-Adjutant-General. This corps of observation proceeded under the escort of a small divisionof gun-boats, commanded by Captain Mulcaster, R. N. , in pursuit of theenemy; and on the 8th came up with them at Point Iroquois. GeneralWilkinson had on the preceding day directed Colonel Macomb to land onthe British shore with 1, 200 men, in order to clear the coast to thehead of the Long Sault, of the militia along the shore, from variousparts of the country. On the 18th this division was reinforced byBrigadier-General Brown's Brigade, with a body of dragoons from theAmerican shore. On arriving at the head of the Long Sault, the whole ofthe effective men, except such as were required to navigate the boatsdown the Rapids, were landed under the orders of Brigadier-General Boyd, who was to proceed down the land in the rear of General Brown's divisionto the foot of the Long Sault. On the 10th Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, with his gun-boats, visited theAmerican post at Hamilton, where he landed and took possession of aconsiderable quantity of provisions and stores belonging to the Americanarmy, with two pieces of ordnance. Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey, in themeantime, followed up the enemy, who in the evening were observedadvancing from the woods in considerable numbers, with a body ofcavalry; but upon receiving a few rounds from three field-pieces fellback for the night. (Some smart cannonading took place in the meantimebetween the British and American gun-boats. ) _Battle of Chrystler's Farm. _--On the ensuing day, Lieutenant-ColonelMorrison pressed so closely upon the rear of General Boyd's division asto compel him to concentrate his forces and give battle. The enemy'sforce, consisting of two brigades of infantry and a regiment of cavalry, amounting to _between three and four thousand men_, moved forward abouttwo o'clock in the afternoon from Chrystler's Point, and attacked theBritish advance, which gradually fell back to the position which hadbeen selected for the detachment to occupy--the right resting on theriver, and the left on a pine wood, between which there were about 700yards of open ground, the troops on which were thus disposed: The flank companies of the 49th Regiment, the detachment from theCanadian regiment, with one field-piece, under Lieutenant-ColonelPearson, on the right, a little advanced on the road. Three companies ofthe 89th Regiment, under Captain Barnes, with a gun, formed in echelon, with the advance on its left supporting it. The 49th and the 89th, thrown more to the rear, with a gun, formed the main body and reserve, extending to the woods on the left, which were occupied by theVoltigeurs under Major Herriot, and the Indians under LieutenantAnderson. At about half past two the action became general, and the enemyendeavoured, by moving forward a brigade from his right, to turn theBritish left, but was repulsed by the 89th Regiment forming _en potence_with the 49th Regiment, and moving forward in that direction, inechelon, followed by the 89th. When within half musket shot, the linewas formed under a heavy but irregular fire from the enemy. The 49th wasdirected to charge the American guns, posted opposite the Canadian guns, but it became necessary, when within a short distance of them, to checkthis forward movement in consequence of a charge from the Americancavalry on the right, lest they should wheel about and fall upon therear; but they were received in so gallant a manner by the companies ofthe 89th under Captain Barnes, and the well-directed fire of theartillery, that they quickly retreated; and by a charge from thosecompanies one gun was gained. The enemy immediately concentrated theirforce to check the British advance, but such was the steady continuanceand well-directed fire of the troops and artillery that about half-pastfour they gave way at all points from an exceeding strong position, endeavouring by their light infantry to cover their retreat, who weresoon driven away by a judicious movement made by Lieutenant-ColonelPearson. The British detachment for the night occupied the ground from which theenemy had been driven. This (called the Battle of Chrystler's Farm, from the ground on which itoccurred) is, in the estimation of military men, considered thehandsomest affair during the war, from the professional skill displayedin the course of the action by the adverse commanders; and when weconsider the prodigious preparations of the American Government for thatexpedition, with the failure of which their hopes of conquest banished, the battle of Chrystler's Farm may be classed as an event of the firstimportance in the defence of the Canadas. The American division, after leaving the field, re-embarked in haste, while the dragoons, with five field-pieces of light artillery, proceededdown towards Cornwall, in the rear of General Brown's division, who, unaware of the battle of Chrystler's Farm, had continued his march forthat place. The loss of the enemy, by their own statements, amounted to threeofficers and ninety-nine men killed, and sixteen officers and onehundred and twenty-one men wounded. The loss of the British amounted tothree officers (Captain Nairne of the 49th Regiment, and LieutenantsLorimier and Armstrong), and twenty-one men killed, and one hundred andthirty-seven wounded, and twelve missing. General Wilkinson, who, during the action, lay confined to his bargefrom a protracted illness, in his official despatch to his Government, bears strong testimony to the loyalty of the inhabitants on the Canadaside of the St. Lawrence, and to the bravery and discipline of thetroops he had to contend with at Chrystler's Farm. The day after the engagement, the American flotilla proceeded down theLong Sault, and joined near Cornwall the division which had movedtowards that place, where General Wilkinson confidently expected to hearof the arrival of General Hampton on the opposite shore, to whom he hadwritten on the 6th, to that effect, not being then acquainted with hislate defeat. Here, to his unspeakable mortification and surprise, hereceived a letter from General Hampton, informing him that the divisionunder his command was falling back upon Lake Champlain. [217] This information, with the countless difficulties momentarily crowdingupon the American army, effectually blasted every prospect of furthersuccess. So circumstanced, the American commander immediately held aCouncil of War, in which it was unanimously resolved, "That the attackupon Montreal should be abandoned for the present season, and that thearmy near Cornwall should immediately cross to the American shore, inorder to take up winter quarters, " a resolution which was carried intoeffect the following day, by their proceeding for Salmon river, wheretheir boats and batteaux were scuttled, and extensive barracks for thewhole army were erected with extraordinary celerity, surrounded on allsides by abatis, so as to render a surprise unpracticable. Every appearance of danger having subsided, the commander of theCanadian forces dismissed the sedentary militia, by a General Order ofthe 17th of November, with acknowledgments of the cheerful alacrity withwhich they had repaired to their posts, and the loyalty and zeal theyhad manifested at the prospect of encountering the enemy. With these operations terminated the campaigns of 1813 in Lower Canada;but new triumphs still awaited the British arms in the Province ofUpper Canada before the end of the year. [218] PART XIII. GENERAL DRUMMOND ARRIVES IN UPPER CANADA--COLONEL MURRAY SENT TO ARRESTTHE PREDATORY INCURSIONS OF THE BRUTAL GENERAL McCLURE UPON THEINHABITANTS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF FORT GEORGE--McCLURE'S BARBAROUSBURNING OF THE TOWN OF NEWARK (NIAGARA), EXPOSING 400 WOMEN AND CHILDRENTO THE INTENSE COLD OF THE 10TH OF DECEMBER--McCLURE'S FLIGHT TO FORTNIAGARA ON THE AMERICAN SIDE OF THE RIVER--COLONEL MURRAY, BY SURPRISINGFORT NIAGARA, TAKES THE WHOLE GARRISON PRISONERS, AND SEIZES LARGEQUANTITIES OF MILITARY STORES--GENERAL RIALL RETALIATES IN THE SAME WAY, IN REGARD TO LEWISTON, BLACK ROCK, AND BUFFALO--GENERAL DRUMMOND ISSUESA PROCLAMATION DEPRECATING SUCH SAVAGE POLICY AS INITIALED BY THEAMERICAN GOVERNMENT. Early in December, Major General De Rottenburgh was relieved in thecommand of Upper Canada by Lieutenant-General Drummond, who proceededfrom Kingston to York, and from thence to the head of the lake, wherethe army again resumed an offensive position. The country along the St. Lawrence, being freed from the incursions of the enemy, Colonel Murray, of the 100th Regiment, was ordered to advance from Burlington Heightstowards Fort George, with a view at that time to prevent predatoryincursions of the enemy under General McClure (then in possession ofthat fort) on the defenceless inhabitants of the surrounding country. But General McClure, having heard of the disasters which had befallenthe army destined for Montreal, and conscious that a like fate mightprobably await him and his army, with that dastardly cowardice peculiarto himself and a few of his compatriots and traitors who joinedthemselves to his train, and against the very spirit of the law ofnations and of civilized warfare, immersed the flourishing town ofNewark (Niagara) in one continued sheet of flame, and ignobly fled withhis followers into his territory. The historian laments that it is notin his power to record one magnanimous act of that recreant General, torescue his name from that gulf of infamy to which his nefarious conducthas forever doomed it. [219] But retaliation was only delayed a week. On the evening of the 18th ofDecember, preparations were made for taking Fort Niagara from the enemy, for which service Colonel Murray, of the 100th Regiment, was selected totake the command; and long before daylight next morning this gallantofficer, at the head of the grenadier company of the Royal Scots, thegrenadier and light companies of the 41st Regiment, and a detachment ofhis own corps, crossed the river about two miles above the fort, uponwhich they immediately advanced. On approaching the fortress, sentries, planted on the outer works, were surprised and taken, the countersignobtained, and in a few minutes the fort was carried at the point of thebayonet. The loss on the part of the British in this affair was only six killedand five wounded: that of the enemy amounted to sixty-five killed andfourteen wounded (all with the bayonet), and the whole garrison was madeprisoners, consisting of nearly 350. There were in the fort, at the timeof its capture, twenty-seven pieces of ordnance of weighty calibre, 3, 000 muskets with apparatus, besides large magazines of camp equipageand military clothing, which of course fell into the hands of thevictors. On the same day on which Fort Niagara was captured, the town ofLewiston, about eight miles above Fort Niagara, was taken possession ofby a British force under Major-General Riall, without opposition; inwhich place the public magazines were well filled with provisions andother military stores. Towards the latter end of the same month, General Riall crowed theNiagara river at Black Rock, at the head of a force consisting of about600 men, detachments from the 8th or the King's Regiment, 41st, 89th, and 100th Regiments, with a few Militia volunteers, exclusive of six orseven companies of the Royal Scots, under the command ofLieutenant-Colonel Gordon, who were directed to land between thevillages of Buffalo and Black Rock, about two miles distant from eachother, with a view to divert the garrison of Black Rock, while the othertroops were landing in front of that port; but in consequence of theseverity of the weather, a number of the boats were stranded; by whichmeans the troops were unable to land in time to effect the object forwhich they had been intended; however, the enemy was driven from bothpositions in a short time. The American loss in this affair was upwards of five hundred, 130 ofwhom were prisoners of war; the loss of the British was inconsiderablecompared with that of the enemy. The state of exasperation to which the mind of every British subject hadbeen wrought by the conduct of McClure in burning the town of Newark, and exposing all to the inclemency of a Canadian winter, both thehelpless infant and infirm old age, was such that nothing but a similarretaliation could assuage; the whole line of frontier, from Buffalo toFort Niagara, was therefore burnt to ashes. Ample vengeance having thus been taken for the wanton conflagration andcruel outrages committed upon the defenceless inhabitants of Newark andneighbourhood, Lieutenant-General Drummond, on the 12th of January, 1814, issued a proclamation, in which he strongly deprecated the savagemode of warfare to which the enemy, by a departure from the establishedusages of war, had compelled him to resort. He traced with faithfulprecision and correctness the conduct that had marked the progress ofthe war on the part of the enemy, and concluded by lamenting thenecessity imposed upon him of retaliating upon the subjects of Americathe miseries inflicted upon the inhabitants of Newark, but at the sametime declared it not to be his intention further to pursue a system sorevolting to his own feelings, and so little congenial to the Britishcharacter, unless he should be compelled by the future measures of theenemy. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 204: Thompson's History of the War of 1812, Chap. Xxii. , pp. 179-181. "Terms of capitulation were agreed upon, by which the whole of GeneralWinchester's command that had survived the fury of the battle weresurrendered prisoners of war, amounting to upwards of 600. In thissanguinary engagement, the loss of the Americans, in killed and wounded, was nearly 500; while that of the British was only twenty-four killedand 161 wounded. "--_Ib. _, pp. 176, 177. ] [Footnote 205: Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap. V. , pp. 100, 101. ] [Footnote 206: Tuttle, Chap. Xxxviii. , p. 396. "The 104th (or New Brunswick Regiment) marched through from Frederictonto Upper Canada, several hundreds of miles, with extraordinary celerity, in the month of March, though their route from Fredericton to the RiverSt. Lawrence lay through an uninhabited wilderness buried in snow, andnever before traversed by troops. " (Christie's History of the War of1812, p. 103. )] [Footnote 207: Tuttle, Chap. Xxxviii. , pp. 396, 397. ] [Footnote 208: "The American troops had been preparing for thisexpedition the whole winter; and no pains had been spared in theirdiscipline. "] [Footnote 209: "The people, hitherto unaccustomed to hear of reverses, were irritated at this success of the enemy, and, as usual upon suchoccasions, clamoured against the General [Sheaffe], who a few weeksafterwards was succeeded in the administration of the civil governmentby Major-General De Rottenburgh, and on his return to the Lower Provinceassumed the command of the forces in the district of Montreal. It is notascertained whether his removal was the result of the displeasure of thecommander of the forces [Sir George Prevost]; but upon a cool survey ofthe battle of York, it must be owned that the honour of the British armswas strenuously and ably maintained by the small party of men under hiscommand, who, including regulars, militia, and Indians, did not exceed600. " (Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap. V. , p. 105. )] [Footnote 210: Among the killed of the British party was Mr. AllanMacLean, Clerk of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada, who volunteeredhis services with a musket. "The Americans moved forward in three strong brigades, under GeneralsChandler, Winder, and Boyd, with an advance of light troops andriflemen, under Colonels Scott and Forsyth, the whole commanded byGeneral Lewis, the next in command to General Dearborn, whose low stateof health compelled him to keep his bed, from whence he issued hisorders. " (Thompson's History of the War of 1812, Chap, xxiii. , p. 185. )] [Footnote 211: Thompson's War of 1812, Chap. Xxiii. In General Vincent's official despatch relating to this brilliant andintrepid action, he gives the credit of it to Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey. He says: "To Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey, the Deputy-Adjutant-General, myobligations are particularly due. From the first moment the enemy'sapproach was known, he watched his movements, and afforded me theearliest information. To him, indeed, I am indebted for the suggestionand plan of operations; nothing could have been more clear than hisarrangements, nor more completely successful in the result. " (Christie, Chap. V. )] [Footnote 212: Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap. V. ] [Footnote 213: The following graphic account of the manoeuvres andconflicts of the two fleets is given by the American historian, Brackenridge, in his War of 1812: "On Lake Ontario, a naval armament, which might be termed formidable forthis inland sea, was arrayed on either side; and an interesting contestensued between two skilful officers for the superiority. The _GeneralPike_, of twenty-two guns, having been launched, and proving to be anexcellent sailer, Commodore Chauncey was now fully equal, in point ofstrength, to his antagonist. Sir James Yeo, though somewhat inferior inforce, had the advantage in an important particular: his ships sailedbetter in squadron, and he could therefore avoid or come to anengagement as he thought proper. It being a matter all-important to theBritish, to prevent the Americans from becoming masters of the lake, SirJames prudently avoided a general action; while, on the other hand, tobring him to action was the great object of Commodore Chauncey. On the7th of August the two fleets came in sight of each other. CommodoreChauncey manoeuvred to gain the wind. Having passed to the leeward ofthe enemy's line, and being abreast of his warship, the _Wolfe_, hefired a few guns to ascertain whether he could reach the hostile fleet. The shot falling short, he wore, and hauled upon a wind to the starboardtack; the rear of his schooners being six miles astern. Sir James worealso, and hauled upon a wind on the same tack; but observing that theAmerican fleet would be able to weather him in the next tack, he tackedagain and made sail to the northward. Commodore Chauncey pursued him. Hecontinued the chase until night; but the schooners not being able tokeep up, a signal was made to relinquish the pursuit, and to form inclose order. The wind now blew heavily; and at midnight two of theschooners, the _Scourge_ and the _Hamilton_, were found to have upset inthe squall. Lieutenants Winter and Osgood, two valuable officers, werelost, and only sixteen men of the crews saved [picked up by theBritish]. The next morning, the enemy discovering this misfortune, andhaving now the superiority, manifested a disposition to engage theAmericans, and bore up for the purpose. Two schooners were ordered toengage him; but when they were within a mile and a-half of him, heattempted to cut them off. Failing in this, he hauled his wind, and hoveto. A squall coming on, Commodore Chauncey was fearful of beingseparated from his dull sailing schooners, and ran in towards Niagaraand anchored. Here he received on board, from Fort George, 150 men toact as marines, and distributed them through his fleet. On the morningof the 9th he again sailed. At eleven o'clock, after much manoeuvringon both sides, the rear of the enemy's line opened its fire; and infifteen minutes the action became general on both sides. At half-pasteleven, the American weather line bore up and passed to the leeward, the_Growler_ and _Julia_ excepted, which soon after tacking to thesouthward, brought the British between them and the remainder of theAmerican fleet. Sir James, after exchanging a few shots with theAmerican commodore's ship, pursued the _Growler_ and _Julia_. A firecommenced between them, which continued until one o'clock in the morningof the 10th, when, after a desperate resistance, the two schooners werecompelled to yield. The fleets had lost sight of each other in thenight; but as Sir James, on the next day, when they were again visible, showed no disposition to renew the action, Commodore Chauncey returnedto Sackett's Harbour. A victory for this affair was claimed for theBritish commander. " (Brackenridge's History of the War of 1812, etc. , Chap, viii. , pp. 121, 122. )] [Footnote 214: Christie, Chap, v. , pp. 126--130. ] [Footnote 215: It was this episode in Captain Barclay's proceedingswhich resulted in the loss of British supremacy on Lake Erie, the lossof his fleet, his own wounding, the death of most of his officers andsailors, General Proctor's compulsory evacuation of Detroit and theMichigan territory, his retreat into Canada, his defeat on the Thames atthe Moravian village, involving the loss of many of his men, withupwards of 100 Indians, including famous Chief Tecumseh. We do notdesire to dwell upon this dark spot in the life of Captain Barclay; butthe whole mystery is explained in Mrs. Amelia Harris's Memoirs of herfather and the early settlement of Long Point (and her authority cannotbe questioned. ) See Chapter XLI. Of this History, pp. 254. ] [Footnote 216: "General Wilkinson was called from the South to assumethe command of the American forces in the North, in the room of GeneralDearborn, which now with General Hampton's division, amounted to about18, 000, to which General Harrison's division was ordered to be added. Such were the gigantic and formidable preparations for the capture ofMontreal, where the American soldiers were promised, as an additionalinducement, good winter quarters. " (Thompson's History of the War of1812, Chap. Xxvi. , p. 209. )] [Footnote 217: "General Wilkinson had, at an early stage of theexpedition, transmitted an order to General Hampton to join him at St. Regis; but that officer having learned the low state of GeneralWilkinson's supplies of provisions, and considering the state of theroads, conceived it the most prudent method to disobey the order, andnot to place himself at too great a distance from his own magazines; hetherefore availed himself of the nearest route to Montreal, theunsuccessful result of which manoeuvre has just been detailed. "The American army was again ordered to cross the line and take up theirwinter quarters in their own territory, after repeatedly sufferingthemselves to be defeated under the most mortifying and humiliatingcircumstances; with the blame of which the commander-in-chief (GeneralWilkinson) charged General Hampton, in consequence of his disobedienceof orders, but with which the American Secretary of War more properlycharged both. However, it had the effect of checking the military zealwhich appeared to manifest itself in the American ranks at a distancefrom the theatre of hostile operations, and completely to extinguish theardour of the American troops on the lines. " (Thompson, Chap. Xxvii. , p. 215. )] [Footnote 218: The foregoing account of the transactions in Lower Canadais chiefly extracted from Mr. Christie's History of the War of 1812, andmostly in his words. What follows is mostly taken from Thompson's War of1812. ] [Footnote 219: The barbarous act of General McClure in burning Niagarais ascribed to directions from the American Secretary at War; but themany nefarious acts committed by McClure could hardly be owing todirections from Washington. Mr. Christie says that McClure "having, pursuant to the directions of the American Secretary at War, mostinhumanly, on the 10th of December, set fire to the flourishing villageof Newark, containing about 150 houses, which Were reduced to ashes, leaving the wretched and forlorn inhabitants, with upwards of 400 womenand children, exposed to the accumulated horrors of famine and theinclemency of a Canadian winter. " The British, under the command of Colonel Murray, scarcely amounting to500 men, including Indians and militia, immediately occupied FortGeorge. The barbarous policy of the American Government in destroyingNewark, exasperated the army as well as the inhabitants on the frontier, of whose impatience for retaliation General Drummond promptly availedhimself after the occupation of Fort George, by adopting the resolutionof carrying the American Fort Niagara by surprise. (Chap. Vii. , p. 156. ) Mr. Thompson remarks on the conduct of McClure and his soldiers, evenbefore the burning of the town of Newark: "The American army had nosooner taken up a position in front of Fort George, than the foragingparties, or rather marauders, commenced a systematic course of plunderupon the defenceless inhabitants within the vicinity of their camp, mostof whom, at the time, consisted of women and children; even amongst thegeneral officers acts of pillage were perpetrated, that, had suchoccurred with private soldiers in the British army, would have stamped astigma on the character of the British, in the eyes of America, forwhich no course of conduct which they could ever after have pursuedwould have sufficiently atoned. " (War of 1812, Chap. Xxix. , pp. 227, 228. )] CHAPTER LVII. MOVEMENTS AND CAMPAIGNS OF 1814--THE THIRD AND LAST YEAR OF THE WAR. PART I. PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN--REINFORCEMENTS FROM NEW BRUNSWICK--ROYALAPPROBATION OF CANADIAN LOYALTY AND COURAGE--AMERICAN INVASION OF THEDISTRICT OF MONTREAL UNDER GENERAL WILKINSON--THE LARGE FORCE OFAMERICANS DEFEATED AT LE COLLE BY A SMALL FORCE OF CANADIANS--RETURN TOPLATTSBURG, WHERE GENERAL WILKINSON, DISAPPOINTED AND MORTIFIED, RETIRESFROM THE ARMY. The total failure for two years of the expeditions which had been fittedout at so much expense by the United States Government for the invasionof Canada, had considerably subdued that ardour for military renownwhich, at the commencement of the war--from the defenceless state ofCanada, and the absorption of British strength in the European war--hadpromised so rich a harvest of laurels and territory to the UnitedStates. Nevertheless the most active exertions were made on both sidesduring the winter for the ensuing campaign. Stores of all descriptionswere forwarded to Kingston from Quebec and Montreal on sleighs, atprodigious expense. The inhabitants of New Brunswick again evinced theirloyalty and patriotism. Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson, with a regiment, marched through the woods from Fredericton to the St. Lawrence, in themonth of February. A reinforcement of 220 seamen for the lakes came bythe same route. To expedite the progress of these reinforcements, theLegislature of New Brunswick voted £300, and the city of St. John gavea similar sum to defray the expense of conveying the troops and sailorson sleighs as far as the nature of the roads would permit. On the 26th of March, His Excellency Sir George Prevost issued a GeneralOrder expressing the approbation of the Prince Regent of the affair ofChateauguay, and his "peculiar pleasure at finding that His Majesty'sCanadian subjects had at length the opportunity of refuting, by theirown brilliant exertions in defence of their country, the calumniouscharges of disaffection and disloyalty with which the enemy had prefacedhis first invasion of the province, to Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberryin particular, and to all the officers and men under his command, thesense entertained by his Royal Highness of their meritorious anddistinguished services, was made known. " The first movement of the Americans in the neighbourhood of LakeChamplain which gave room to expect an American invasion of the districtof Montreal, was towards the conclusion of March, 1814, whenBrigadier-General Macomb, with a division of American forces fromPlattsburg, crossed Lake Champlain upon the ice, and entered St. Armand, where he remained some days, while General Wilkinson prepared for anattack upon the outposts of Odletown and the Le Colle Mill, which hadbeen converted into a block-house. On the morning of the 13th of March(General Macomb having suddenly withdrawn his division from St. Armand's, and rejoined the main body), the American forces, consistingof 5, 000 men, commanded by General Wilkinson in person, enteredOdletown. The Americans repeated their attacks upon the coveted Le ColleMill frontier; and the Canadian Fencibles, Frontier Light Infantry, andthe Voltigeurs, repeated their deeds of bravery and heroism, andrepelled the multitudinous invaders. "The Americans, " says Mr. Christie, "exhausted with cold and fatigue, and finding it impossible to carry theplace without heavy artillery, which, from the state of the roads, couldnot be brought forward, withdrew their forces in good order from thecontest, at five o'clock in the afternoon, without being pursued in theretreat. " The British loss amounted to only ten men killed and four men missing, and two officers and forty-four men wounded. The American loss, thoughconsiderable, could not be precisely ascertained. Having failed in the attempt to carry the block-house (Le Colle Mill), scarcely deserving the appellation of a military post, the enemy fellback upon Champlain Town, from whence they returned to Plattsburg. General Wilkinson, after this abortive attempt to retrieve his militaryfame, seems to have been removed from his command, or to have soughtvoluntary retirement from a service in which he had experienced nothingbut disappointment and reverses. PART II. TAKING OF PRAIRIE DU CHIEN--DEFENCE OF MACKINAC--SUCCESS IN THE MARITIMEPROVINCES. Before noticing the military campaign of Upper Canada, we will completethe summary view of those which relate to the Maritime Provinces andLower Canada. During the occurrences of the taking of the post of _Prairie du Chién_, on the Mississippi, and the triumphant defence of _Michilimackinac_, Lieutenant-General Sir John C. Sherbrook, the Lieutenant-Governor ofNova Scotia, was successful in reducing a very populous and extensiveportion of the enemy's territories adjacent to the Provinces of NewBrunswick. He detached a small force from Halifax under ColonelPilkington, while the _Ramilies_, commanded by Sir Thomas Hardie, tookpossession, on the 10th of July, of Mosé Island, in Passamaquoddy Bay;the garrison at Fort Sullivan, consisting of six officers and eightymen, under the command of Major Putman, surrendering themselvesprisoners of war. On the 26th of August, Sir John C. Sherbrook, having embarked at Halifaxthe whole of his disposable forces on board of ten transports, set sail, accompanied by a small squadron under Rear-Admiral Griffith, forCastine, on the Penobscot river, where he arrived on the 1st ofSeptember, and took possession of the batteries at that place; the enemyfinding it impossible to retain the post--having previously blown up themagazine, and retreated with the field-pieces. The United States frigate _Adams_ had, some days previous to the arrivalof the British at Castine, run into the Penobscot river, and forsecurity had gone up as far as Hampden, where her guns had been landedand a position taken, with a view of protecting her. Captain Barrie, ofthe _Dragon_, with a suitable naval force, and 600 picked men under thecommand of Colonel John, of the 6th Regiment, were detached up the riverfor the purpose of possessing or destroying the _Adams_. The enemy, whoat first offered a spirited resistance, after setting fire to thefrigate, fled in all directions, upon finding the British resolutelyadvancing against their positions. Several pieces of ordnance and threestands of colours fell into the hands of the British, whose lossamounted to no more than one man killed, and one officer and seven menwounded. After the capture of Castine, Lieutenant-Colonel Pilkington wasdespatched with a brigade of troops for Madrias, which was takenpossession of on the 11th of September by that officer--the detachmentin Fort O'Brien having, on the approach of the British, precipitatelyretreated from the fort, leaving twenty-six pieces of ordnance, with aquantity of small arms and ammunition. Lieutenant-Colonel Pilkington was on the point of marching into theinterior of the country when he received a communication fromLieutenant-General Brewer, commander of the district, engaging that themilitia forces within the County of Washington should not bear arms, orserve against his Britannic Majesty during the war. This, with a similaroffer made by the civil officers and principal inhabitants of thecounty, brought on a cessation of arms. By these judicious measures a populous extent of territory, stretchingone hundred miles along the sea coast, including a valuable tract ofcountry partly separating New Brunswick from Lower Canada, passed underthe dominion of the British arms, without effusion of blood or the leastwaste of treasure. PART III. ENGLAND, FREE FROM THE EUROPEAN WAR, DETERMINES TO PUNISH THE UNITEDSTATES FOR THEIR JUNCTION WITH NAPOLEON AND INVASION OF CANADA--SWEEPSTHE AMERICAN COASTS WITH HER FLEET, AND SENDS REINFORCEMENTS OF 16, 000MEN TO CANADA--FAILURE OF SIR GEORGE PREVOST'S ATTACK ON PLATTSBURG--HISRECALL, AND SUMMONED TO BE TRIED BY COURT-MARTIAL--DIES BEFORE THEAPPOINTED DAY OF TRIAL--ESTIMATE OF HIS CHARACTER. Hitherto, for more than two years, the colonies had been thrown almostentirely upon their own prowess and resources, with the assistance of afew British soldiers, for their own defence against an invading enemyfifty times more populous than themselves. Up to this time England hadbeen struggling against Napoleon for the liberties of Europe; but nowthe Corsican tiger was chained up in Elba; peace once more reigned inEurope, and England was now free to throw the whole weight of hervictorious armies and unconquerable navy against the United States, whose treasury was bankrupt, whose people were disheartened at thereverses inflicted on their armies by handfuls of British and Canadiansopposed to them, and whose loudest cry now was for peace; but the UnitedStates had refused peace when she could have had it, and Great Britainwas now determined to punish her for her attacks on a peaceful colony, when the mother country was so thoroughly engaged elsewhere as to bealmost forced to leave it to its own resources. Of the vigorous blockadeof the American seaports, of the capture of Washington and burning ofthe capitol, etc. , it is not necessary to speak in this place; we haveonly to do at present with the operations which took place in Canadaduring the summer of 1814. During the summer about 16, 000 British troops arrived at Quebec; butonly 4, 000 were sent to Upper Canada, under the command of GeneralKempt; and the Governor-General, Prevost, concentrated nearly the wholeof the remainder of the reinforcements in the Richelieu district, with aview to a descent on the State of New York by way of Lake Champlain, atPlattsburg. In order to do this, the co-operation of the flotilla on thelake was considered necessary, and orders were given to put it in anefficient condition; but the flotilla was defeated and its vesselstaken by the enemy; and the land forces, though they could have easilytaken Plattsburg, did nothing, and were ordered to retreat within theBritish lines. The conduct of Sir George Prevost in thisaffair--undertaken for his own ambition, and without any publicnecessity--lost him all his military prestige; both officers and menfelt the disgrace of retreating before an inferior force of militia; thevaliant Colonel Murray and other officers protested against the retreat, and some of them indignantly broke their swords, declaring that theywould never serve under him again. He was recalled to England, and undercharges by Commodore Sir James Yeo, was arraigned before acourt-martial, but died a week before the day appointed for his trial. Though Sir George Prevost was unsuccessful as a militarycommander--having disgracefully failed in the only two expeditions whichhe planned and personally superintended--the one against Sackett'sHarbour and the other against Plattsburg--he was an excellent civilgovernor for Lower Canada, and an amiable and upright man. It is alleged, however, that the Duke of Wellington and other highauthorities approved of his conduct, and the Prince Regent showed marksof kindness to his family after his death. His health, which was neverstrong, suffered much, not only from mortification and mental anxiety inregard to his approaching trial (which he demanded at the earliestpossible period), but by a winter's journey across the open countrybetween the St. Lawrence and St. John, on his way home, that he died onthe 5th of January, 1816, just one week before the court-martialappointed to examine into his conduct was to have been convened. Mr. Christie, who was an English member of the Legislative Assembly ofLower Canada, and the author of an elaborate History of Canada, in sixvolumes, beside his excellent "History of the War of 1812, " gives thefollowing estimate of the character and Administration of Sir GeorgePrevost: "A warm and unswerving friend of the Canadian population, of Frenchorigin, he confided in and liberally patronized them from thecommencement to the close of his administration; and they, it must beacknowledged, as generously responded to his confidence in them. Nocountry or people ever exhibited greater unanimity or patriotism thandid the people of Lower Canada of both origins, in the war of 1812 bythe United States against Great Britain--a stand the more to beremembered by her Government, as these colonies, almost destitute oftroops, wholly so of money, and scarcely possessing even a sufficiencyof arms and other munitions of defence, owing to the more imperiouscalls from other quarters upon the Home Government, were, at the outsetof the war, in a manner left to their own action and resources, andwhich they nobly exemplified, single-handed, as it were, throughout thefirst two campaigns. The principles of loyalty and duty, no doubt, weredeeply implanted in the bosom of the people; but he it was who exaltedthem into enthusiasm and inspired the mass with a confidence in theirown exertions and a reliance upon his wisdom, fitting them for theemergency, and that bore them successfully through the contest. Whatevermay be the opinion now established of his talents, by the militaryworld, the impression which the inhabitants of French origin in LowerCanada universally retain of him, is that of a conciliatory, wise, andable civil governor, and in all the relations of private life, anamiable and estimable man. "[220] PART IV. UPPER CANADA--PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN--THE BRITISH FLEET INFERIORON LAKE ONTARIO--SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION AGAINST OSWEGO--DESTRUCTION OFFORTIFICATIONS AND SEIZURE OF MUNITIONS OF WAR--BLOCKADES SACKETT'SHARBOUR--UNSUCCESSFUL ASCENT OF SANDY CREEK. In Upper Canada the occurrences during the winter of 1814 wereprincipally confined to incursions reciprocally practised by troops inadvance along the frontiers with various successes, but with noimportant results on either side. After the winter's preparations, thecampaign was opened in Upper Canada by Sir Gordon Drummond and Sir JamesL. Yeo, under most cheering circumstances. The American forces along theLake Champlain, after leaving small garrisons at Plattsburg, Burlington, and Vergennes, moved early in the spring towards Lake Ontario and theNiagara frontier, with a view of assuming offensive operations againstUpper Canada, as soon as the fleet in Sackett's Harbour (considerablyaugmented during the winter) should be in a state to co-operate with theland forces. The principal naval stores for the equipment of the fleetwere forwarded to Sackett's Harbour by the way of Oswego; and as theBritish naval force at Kingston, strengthened by two additional ships, the _Prince Regent_ and the _Princess Charlotte_, were ready to appearon the lake early in the season, it became an object of importance tointercept the enemy's supplies, and by that means retard hispreparations for invasion. An _expedition against Oswego_ was thereforedetermined upon, and General Drummond having embarked a considerableforce, consisting of six companies of De Watteville's Regiment, theLight Company of Glengarries, the 2nd Battalion of Royal Marines, with adetachment of Royal Artillery, and two field-pieces, a detachment of theRocket Company, with a few Sappers and Miners, set sail from Kingstonthe 4th of May, and at noon on the following day made the port ofOswego, when a heavy gale from the north-west sprung up and obliged thesquadron to gain the offing. On the morning of the 6th, a landing waseffected by about 140 of the troops, under Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher, and 200 seamen, armed with pikes, under the command of CaptainMulcaster, R. N. , in front of a heavy discharge of round and grape fromthe battery, and of musketry from a detachment of about 300 men of theAmerican army, posted on the brow of the hill, and in the skirts of theneighbouring wood. The British, on landing, pressed up the hill towardsthe enemy's battery, which the Americans (upon finding the Britishdetermined to carry it by storm) relinquished, leaving about sixty men, principally wounded. The land and naval commanders having taken possession of the storesfound in the fort and its neighbourhood, and having dismantled thefortifications and destroyed the barracks, re-embarked on the 7th ofMay, and returned to Kingston. The loss of the British troops amounted to one captain (Holtaway, of theMarines) and eighteen men killed, and two officers and sixty menwounded. That of the navy amounted to three men killed, and fourofficers and seven men wounded. Captain Mulcaster, while entering thefort at the head of his men, received a very severe and dangerouswound. Captain Popham was also severely wounded. Although the service derived much benefit from this expedition, the mainobject contemplated was not accomplished, the principal part of thenaval stores being saved by the enemy, who had taken the precaution ofdepositing them at the Falls, some miles from Oswego, up the river. The British squadron having, for the present, a decided ascendency onLake Ontario, blockaded Sackett's Harbour, in order to intercept thesupplies which might, from time to time, be forwarded from Oswego forthe equipment of the American fleet. On the 29th of May, they captured aboat laden with two twenty-four-pounders, and a large cable for one ofthe American ships of war, and, with two gun-boats and five barges, pursued fifteen other boats, loaded with naval and military stores, andwhich took shelter in Sandy Creek; but they were met in the Creek by anAmerican force, consisting of 150 riflemen, nearly 200 Indians, and astrong body of militia and cavalry, which overpowered the British party, of whom eighteen were killed and fifty wounded--the rest being takenprisoners. Captain Popham, in his official dispatch to Sir James L. Yeo, on this affair, acknowledged with warmest gratitude the humane exertionsof the American officers of the Rifle Corps, commanded by Major Appling, in saving the lives of many of the officers and men, whom the Americansoldiers and Indians were devoting to slaughter. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 220: History of the War of 1812. ] CHAPTER LVIII. LAST INVASIONS AND LAST BATTLES OF THE WAR. PART I. GENERAL BROWN TAKES FORT ERIE--DEFEATS GENERAL RIALL ON THE PLAINS OFCHIPPEWA--ADVANCES TO FORT GEORGE--HIS OFFICERS AND ARMY PLUNDER THEINHABITANTS--RETREATS BACK TO CHIPPEWA--BURNS THE VILLAGE OF ST. DAVID'SON THE WAY. On the Niagara frontier, the American army commanded by General Brown, and consisting of about 7, 000 men, began early in the summer toconcentrate at Buffalo, Black Rock, and other points, and on the 3rd ofJuly invaded Canada in two brigades, under the command ofBrigadier-Generals Scott and Ripley. They embarked in boats andbatteaux, and effected a landing on the Canada side of the river withoutopposition--one brigade landing about a mile above, and the otherbrigade a mile below Fort Erie. The fort was under the command of MajorBuck, of the 8th Regiment, with about seventy men of his regiment; ithad been put in a state of defence by that officer, with a view ofcausing a temporary check to an invading force, rather than for thepurpose of defending it against a regular siege. But Major Buck was socareful of himself and his men as to abandon the fort without firing ashot--an error fatal to the British--for although Fort Erie could nothave been held for any length of time against the overwhelming strengthof the enemy, still a few hours' defence would have enabled GeneralRiall to concentrate his forces and attack the Americans before theywere firmly established on Canadian soil. The able dispositions whichGeneral Riall had made of the forces under his command along theNiagara line by the direction of General Drummond, who had anticipatedan invasion at that point where it commenced, were such, that the leastimpediment to the progress of the invaders would have enabled GeneralRiall to have concentrated his troops, and to have fallen upon anddispersed the enemy before they could have time to be prepared for aneffectual resistance. As it was, the Americans were permitted to occupythis important post without resistance, and transfer, unmolested, to theCanadian side all the troops they pleased. On the following day, General Brown advanced with his whole force, ofover 4, 000 men, down the river to the plains of Chippewa, with theintention of taking possession of the British post at the mouth of theChippewa or Welland river. General Riall, having collected what forceshe could, consisting of five companies of the Royal Scots, a part of the8th or King's Regiment, a part of the 100th Regiment, and the 2ndLincoln Militia, amounting in all to about 1, 500 men, determined tocheck him, until further assistance should arrive. A series ofmanoeuvres ensued on both sides, and the most furious battle hithertooccurring during the war, followed, when General Riall, finding himselfno longer able to sustain the fight against a force so unequal inuniversal strength, gave orders to abandon the field--his troopsretiring in the rear of the works at Chippewa and destroying the bridgeacross the river, which they had previously repaired. The loss on both sides is said to have been nearly equal--amounting tobetween 400 and 500 on each side. "The 2nd Lincoln Militia, under Major David Secord, distinguishedthemselves in this action by feats of genuine bravery and heroism, animated by the example of their gallant leader, which are seldomsurpassed even by the most experienced veterans. Their loss wasproportionate with that of the regular army. "Three or four days subsequent to this sanguinary battle on the plainsof Chippewa were mostly employed in burying their own dead, and inburning those of the British, after which several ineffectual effortswere made by General Brown to cross the Chippewa river, contemplating anadvance on Fort George; but at each of his attempts he was promptly metby picket guards of the British, posted along the margin of the riverfor that purpose. " General Riall, however, in a few days gave orders that the remnant ofhis army should retire under the shelter of Fort George and Mississaguauntil reinforcements could be collected to place him on more equalground with the enemy; after which General Brown moved his army towardsthose posts within a mile and a half of the British--his army forming acrescent; his right resting on Niagara river, his left on Lake Ontario. The American army had no sooner taken up a position in front of FortGeorge than their foraging parties, or rather marauders, commenced asystematic course of plunder upon the defenceless inhabitants within thevicinity of their camp, most of whom, at the time, consisted of womenand children. Even amongst general officers were acts of pillageperpetrated, that, had such occurred with private soldiers in theBritish army, would have stamped on the character of the British, in theeyes of America, for which no course of conduct which they could everafter have pursued, would have sufficiently atoned. During the interval in which General Riall was receiving reinforcementsfrom York and other military posts on that side of Lake Ontario, GeneralBrown also received a strong reinforcement under General Izard, afterwhich he made a few ineffectual assaults on Fort George; but, findingall his efforts to carry that fort fruitless, and the British armyreceiving fresh acquisitions of strength, all seemed to conspire torender the case of General Brown hopeless; who, now perceiving thesituation in which he was placed--the forts in his front to himcompletely impregnable, and an army in his rear in full flow of spirits, and every day gathering new strength (though by no means equal to his asregarded numbers), a Canadian Militia, and unexpectedly to him, ferventbeyond a parallel in the cause of their King and country--began now tothink of a safe retreat, in pursuance of which, on the morning of the25th of July, he commenced his retrograde movement; he retreated towardsChippewa, after burning the village of St. David's. Riall pushed on inpursuit, when the Americans halted at Lundy's Lane (called Bridgewaterby the Americans), where took place the most stubborn fight of thewar--known as _the Battle of Lundy's Lane_--which may be regarded asterminating the American invasions of Canada, and the last field battleof the war. We will here give a brief account of this celebrated battle, fromThompson's History of the War of 1812, and the events which followed atFort Erie, and afterwards we will review the transactions of thisbattle, together with the true principles of loyalty, the causes andcharacter of the war, and the reciprocal relations between GreatBritain, Canada and the United States. PART II. BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE--PRELIMINARIES. "The British army, at the time General Brown commenced his retreat fromFort George and Queenston to Chippewa, was scattered in smallcantonments over twenty or thirty miles of country; but like awell-ordered and systematic machine, every part was in a momentsimultaneously in motion, to concentrate their united strength at apoint where they would be likely to intercept the enemy. "Detachments of the Royal Scots and 41st Regiments, and a small body ofIndians, amounting in all to about 500 men, under the command of ColonelTucker (supported on the river by a party of seamen and marines underthe direction of Captain Dobbs, of the Royal Navy), passed over to theAmerican side of the River Niagara, with a view to disperse or capture abody of the enemy stationed at Lewiston. The object of this movementbeing accomplished, the troops were again withdrawn at Queenston. The41st and 100th Regiments, under Colonel Tucker, were sent back togarrison Fort George, Mississagua, and Niagara; General Drummond movingon towards the falls, with a force of about 800 strong, consisting ofdetachments of the Royal Scots, 89th, and King's, with the light companyof the 41st Regiment, to join General Riall's division of the army assoon as it could arrive from the several bivouacs at which it had beenstationed. "As soon as the column of the British army under the command ofLieutenant-Colonel Morrison had arrived at the rising ground near theend of Lundy's Lane, on the main road leading from Queenston toChippewa, the enemy was just taking possession of that position. Withouta moment's delay, the troops which had arrived on the ground were formedin line on the north-east side of the height, their left resting on theQueenston road. "The troops from the Twelve and Twenty Mile Creeks, together with adetachment of the King's Regiment, as they arrived, were formed on eachside of Lundy's Lane. This line was supported in front by twotwenty-four-pounders [field-guns], which were covered by a smallsquadron of the 19th Light Dragoons and a detachment of the infantry. "_The battle itself. _--The troops of the line being thus disposed, notwithstanding the superior strength of the enemy, in about ten minutesdislodged him from the position he had first taken, at the point of thebayonet. "The sun was now fast descending towards the western horizon; anddetachments of the 1st and 2nd Lincoln Militia continued to arrive fromthe different outposts they had been occupying, who joined inmaintaining the summit of the hill until the whole of General Riall'sdivision should come up. "General Drummond, after dislodging the enemy from the partialpossession he had gained on the hill, again formed his line with as muchdespatch as existing circumstances would admit, placing his artillery, which consisted of two twenty-pounders, two six-pounders [brassfield-pieces], and a rocket party, in front of the centre of hisposition, near the right side of Lundy's Lane, leading down the hill tothe Queenston road, supported by the 2nd battalion of the 89th Regiment, under Colonel Morrison. Scarcely had this arrangement been completedbefore the position was furiously assailed by General Winfield Scott'sbrigade at the point of the bayonet; but the enemy was repulsed withgreat slaughter. A tremendous fire was then commenced on the crest ofthe British position, by the first brigade of the enemy, stationed nearthe copse between Lundy's Lane and the Falls of Niagara, and the 9th and22nd Regiments and Captain Lawson's brigade of artillery, stationed onthe Queenston road. "During this stage of the engagement, the Light Company of Royal Scotsarrived on the ground from the Twenty Mile Creek; and a courier wasdespatched to countermand the route of the 103rd Regiment, and thedetachment of the King's and 104th Regiments, who had, in a mistake, taken the road to Queenston from the Beach Woods, and to hasten theirmovement to the field of action. "On the brow of the hill, at the east end of Lundy's Lane, for thepossession of which the armies hitherto had principally contended, General Drummond had now planted his artillery, as it appeared to formthe key to the position. On this quarter, therefore, the enemy for alength of time directed his whole efforts; and notwithstanding thecarnage was truly appalling, no visible impression had yet been made. Still on this part of the field did the whirlwind of the conflict ragewith awful and destructive fury; columns of the enemy, not unlike theundulating surge of the adjacent cataract, rushed to the charge in closeand impetuous succession. "In this fearful and tremendous stage of the contest, the Britishforces, both regulars and militia, finding themselves pressed by anoverwhelming force, simultaneously closed round the guns, apparentlydetermined to contest their possession with the last drop of Britishblood on the ground, fully assured of their importance to a favourabletermination of the engagement--in short both armies appeared to beroused to a state of desperation for victory. "The enemy at length succeeded to make a slight turn on the left of theBritish position; at which period, General Riall, who commanded thatdivision of the army, was severely wounded in the arm, and having passedto the rear for the purpose of having his wound dressed, on his returnto resume the command, was intercepted by a column of the enemy and madeprisoner of war. "It was long before this crisis of the engagement that the curtain ofnight had enveloped the scene; but instead of this circumstance abatingthe fury of war, which had now completely drenched the field with theblood of the combatants, the rage of battle appeared only to increase asthe night advanced. Still did the enemy continue to direct his strongestforce against the crest of the British position; but his repeatedcharges were as often received and repelled by the regular, fencible, and militia forces engaged, with that intrepid gallantry for which theBritish army was ever characterized. Charges were made in such rapidsuccession and with such determined vigour that often were the Britishartillerymen assailed in the very act of springing and charging theirguns; and often were the muzzles of the guns of the contending armieshauled up and levelled within a few yards of each other. The havoc oflives on both sides, under such circumstances, may be better conceivedthan described. "The battle having raged with almost unprecedented fury for upwards ofthree hours, both sides appeared for a time mutually to suspendhostilities; during which the British troops were supplied with freshammunition, and the enemy employed himself actively in bringing up hisreserve columns; after which, the fire was recommenced from theQueenston road, on the left of the British column; however, it wasdiscovered that this was only a diversion to mask the intention of alarge body of the enemy's fresh troops, which was actually moving on theright of the British position, to outflank it. General Drummondcommenced immediately to draw his strength towards this flank of thearmy, forming a line in a field of grain, upon which the enemy were seento advance in slow and silent pace. The British line formed to repelthis new attack was directed to kneel sufficiently low to prevent beingperceived by the enemy; but scarcely had General Drummond completed thisorder of arrangement, before the enemy's column made its appearance andadvanced within a few yards of the British line, when the signal wasmade to fire a volley and charge. The effect of that single fire uponthe enemy's ranks was awful in the extreme--those of the enemy who wereable made a precipitate retreat. "'The enemy's efforts to carry the hill, ' says General Drummond, in hisofficial report, 'were continued until midnight, when he had suffered soseverely from the superior steadiness and discipline of his Majesty'stroops, that he gave up the contest and retreated with greatprecipitation to his camp beyond the Chippewa, burning, as he passed the(Street) flour mills at Bridgewater. On the following day he abandonedhis camp, threw the greatest part of his baggage, camp equipage, andprovisions into the rapids above the falls; and destroying the bridgeat Chippewa, he continued his retreat in great disorder towards FortErie. "'The loss sustained by the enemy, ' adds General Drummond, 'in thissevere action, cannot be estimated at less than 1, 500 men, includingseveral prisoners left in our hands. Generals Brown and Scott were amongthe wounded. His whole force, which was never rated at less than 5, 000men, were all engaged. ' "In General Drummond's report of this action, the total number ofkilled, wounded, and missing of the British army was 878. "By the regimental returns of the British army, including those of themilitia, both before and after this engagement, the whole British forceconsisted of 2, 800; but before the arrival of the troops under ColonelScott, of the 103rd Regiment, it did not exceed 1, 600. "Of all the battles (says a writer on this subject) fought in America, the action of Lundy's Lane was unquestionably the best sustained and byfar the most sanguinary. The rapid charges and real contest with thebayonet were themselves sufficient to render this engagementconspicuous. Traits of real bravery and heroic devotion were that nightdisplayed by those engaged, which would not suffer in comparison withthose exhibited at the storming of St. Sebastian, or the conflict ofQuatre Bras. "Both the belligerent armies have offered their claims for victory inthis engagement. Upon what grounds the American general could proposesuch a claim are best known to himself--General Brown not only abandonedthe plans of operations which he had formed previous to the action atLundy's Lane [of advancing to Queenston, Fort George, and BurlingtonHeights], but 'retreated in great disorder towards Fort Erie, ' where hisegress from the territory might be more easy; and in his way destroyedthe bridge at Chippewa, in order to retard the advance of the Britishlight troops in his rear. "[221] PART III. AMERICAN ARMY RETREATS TO FORT ERIE, PURSUED BY GENERAL DRUMMOND, WHOINVESTS THE FORT--UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO STORM IT--SORTIE OF THE WHOLEAMERICAN FORCE, TWICE THAT OF GENERAL DRUMMOND, BUT DEFEATED--RAINCOMPELS THE RAISING OF THE SIEGE--GENERAL BROWN EVACUATES THE FORT ANDCROSSES THE RIVER TO THE AMERICAN SIDE, AND THIS ENDS THE THREE YEARS'INVASIONS OF CANADA, WITHOUT ACQUIRING AN INCH OF ITS TERRITORY. On the American army reaching Fort Erie, they entrenched andstrengthened the fortifications of the fort. Thither General Drummondpursued, and immediately invested the fort, although his army was nothalf the strength of the American army. General Drummond havingreconnoitred the enemy's position, determined to storm hisentrenchments. On the 13th of August, General Drummond, having completedhis batteries, commenced a brisk cannonade on the position of the enemy, which, with few interruptions, was continued for two days with greateffect; after which he was determined to carry the fort and outworks bynocturnal assault. In pursuance of this purpose, he formed his troopsinto three divisions: the first, under Lieutenant-Colonel Fischer, of DeWatteville's, consisting of the King's Regiment, the regiment of DeWatteville, and flank companies of the 89th and 100th Regiments, directed against the enemy's entrenchments at and near Snake Hill; thesecond, under Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond, of the 104th Regiment, consisting of the 41st and 104th Regiments, and a body of seamen andmarines under the direction of Captain Dobbs, of the Royal Navy, againstthe fort; and the third, under Colonel Scott, consisting of his ownregiment, supported by two companies of the Royals, against theentrenchments adjoining the fort. About two o'clock on the morning of the 15th, the several divisions ofthe British army moved towards the enemy's entrenchments; but as soon asthe column against Snake Hill had emerged from the woods, it came incontact with an abatis within twelve or fifteen yards of the enemy'sentrenchments, defended by a heavy column of infantry, under the commandof Major Wood, and the artillery under Captain Towson. This for a timecompletely checked his advance. However, it was soon announced by a tremendous fire from the guns in thefort, and from the columns of infantry defending the entrenchments nearthe shore of the lake, that the other two columns, underLieutenant-Colonels Scott and Drummond, had commenced an assault uponthe enemy's works. At the first outset of the two last columns, the enemy succeeded inturning the column on the left, under Colonel Scott; but that underColonel Drummond penetrated the enemy's works and charged through hisranks with such irresistible impetuosity that nothing seemedsufficiently impregnable to arrest its progress. Lieutenant-ColonelScott in the meantime rallied his column, which had been partiallyturned on one flank, and the fort was assailed in almost every quarterby the besiegers; an escalade was effected, the enemy driven from theramparts at the point of the bayonet, and the guns of the fort turnedupon the garrison; all of which preludes to victory had actually beengained a few minutes after the first alarm. The battle raged with a fury seldom equalled. The British troops, inpursuance of an order to that effect, having previously divested theirmuskets of the flints, every foot of ground was contested at the pointof the bayonet, which rendered the carnage more dreadful and appalling. Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond (brother of General Drummond), during theconflict within the fort, performed extraordinary acts of valour. In thehottest of the battle he presented himself, encouraging his men, both byexample and precept. But at the very moment when victory was declaringin favour of the British arms, some ammunition which had been placedunder the platform ignited, and a dreadful explosion was the result, bywhich the greater part of the British forces, which had entered thefort, were literally blown into the air. [222] All exertions of the fewBritish troops who survived the explosion were found ineffectual tomaintain their ground, in the panic of the moment, against such anunequal force as the enemy was enabled to bring up against them, and theBritish forces were compelled to retire. In this assault the loss of the British was severe. Colonels Scott andDrummond fell, while storming the works, at the head of their respectivecolumns. General Drummond reported the killed, wounded, and missing, officers and men, as 904. The missing were reported at nine officers and530 men--afterwards ascertained to have been principally killed. TheAmerican statement of their own loss made it 84 in killed, wounded, andmissing. A day or two after this assault, General Drummond was reinforced by thearrival of the 6th and 82nd Regiments from Lower Canada; but thisreinforcement was barely sufficient to supply recent losses. He deemedit unadvisable to attempt a second storming of the fort against a forcetwice as numerous as his own; but by continuing the investment, he cutoff all communication of the enemy with the surrounding country, coopedhim up in the fort, compelled him to draw his provisions and otherresources from his own country, and thus rendered his occupation of thatfort for the remainder of the campaign of no service to the invaders. At about the expiration of a month, General Brown, having recovered ofhis wounds, again resumed command of the army on the Niagara frontier, and brought with him a strong reinforcement, resolving to attempt thedestruction of the British batteries in front of Fort Erie. Pursuant tothis determination, General Brown, on the 17th of September, at aboutnoon, ordered a sortie of the whole American force, including bothregulars and militia, in three divisions, under Generals Porter, Miller, and Ripley; and before the ready and reserved columns of the Britishcould be brought from the camp (about a mile in the rear), the enemy hadsucceeded in penetrating the batteries, destroying the works with onemagazine of ammunition, and spiking the guns. But ere he could effecthis retreat, the ready and reserve columns arrived, and immediatelycommenced a determined attack upon his columns, and after about half anhour's desperate fighting, notwithstanding his great superiority ofnumbers, he retired before the bayonets of the British line, in greatprecipitation, under the cover of his works, after losing nearly 600 ofhis force. The incessant rains which had fallen that season rendered it impossiblefor General Drummond to repair his batteries, or, indeed, to keep thefield, on account of the exposure and increased sickness of the troops;he therefore, on the 21st of September, raised the siege and retiredinto winter quarters, in rear of his works at the mouth of the Chippewa. General Brown affected some inclination to follow on the rear of theBritish army; yet, notwithstanding all the efforts which could possiblybe exercised by a general were called into contribution by GeneralDrummond to bring General Brown into action, it all proved unavailing. The American general, "as soon as the coast was clear, " having blown upthe works, evacuated Fort Erie, and retreated across the river into hisown country. Thus terminated the campaign of 1814 on the Niagara frontier; andwhatever might have been the object of the American Government when theysent that last army to invade Canada, it is certain that nothing wasacquired, if we except a fresh proof (if such had been now necessary) ofthe loyalty of the Canadian people to their Sovereign, and theirunshaken zeal to defend their country from the grip of its enemy, atwhatever time he might think proper to invade it. [223] PART IV. REVIEW. The author cannot better present a summary review of the true principlesof loyalty, the origin, causes, characteristics, and results of the warof 1812-15, together with the conduct of the inhabitants of Canada inrespect to it, than in the words of an address which he delivered to theYork Pioneers at Queenston, in July, 1875, on the occasion of theanniversary celebration of the battle of Lundy's Lane. The address(which was entirely extemporaneous in the delivery) is here reproduced, as reported in the newspapers at the time: "CAUSES OF THE WAR DECLARED BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN, JUNE 18, 1812--CANADIAN DEFENCE--BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE, FOUGHT JULY 25, 1814. "Address delivered by the Rev. Dr. Ryerson before the York Pioneers andother Associations assembled on Queenston Heights, near Brock'sMonument, met at a pic-nic on Monday, July 26th, 1875, to celebrate thebattle of Lundy's Lane. "The Chairman, Colonel R. Denison, called upon Dr. Ryerson, who waswarmly received. "After a few preliminary observations, he said that he felt it a greatprivilege to be called on to address a number of those Canadians who hadlaid the foundation of our country, who had given Canada a name that washonoured throughout the world, and whose hearts beat responsive to thosenoble principles that made England the glory of all nations, and Britishinstitutions the honour of mankind. (Loud applause. ) He thought the YorkPioneers might well be called the Canadian Pioneers--the pioneers ofCanadian industry enterprise, freedom, and civilization. The object ofthe Society in giving an intelligent intensity to those principles thatconstituted the loyalty of the people of Canada, in preserving thetraditions of the country, and in uniting in one centre the variouselements of scattered light which were connected with the earliest raysof its opening history, were works well worthy of the defenders of theliberties of this country. The very foundation of the York Pioneers wasa spirit of loyalty. What was that loyalty itself? It was no other thanan attachment to the institutions and laws of the land in which we live, and to the history of the nation to which we belong. It was not merely asentiment of respect of the country to an individual, or even to theSovereign. If it gathered round the person of the Sovereign, it wasbecause that Sovereign represented the institutions of the people, theovershadowing laws of the people, the real and essential freedom, andthe noblest development of the spirit of the people. Loyalty in its trueessence and meaning was the principle of respect to our Sovereign, thefreedom of our institutions, and the excellencies of our civilization, and it was therefore a feeling worthy to be perpetuated by the people. Shakespeare--that great apostle of human nature--has said: "'Though _loyalty_, well held, to fools does makeOur faith mere folly; yet he that can endureTo follow with allegiance a fallen lord, Does conquer him that did his master conquer. ' "Loyalty is, therefore, faithful to its own principles, whether thepersonal object of it is in prosperity or adversity. "'Loyalty is still the same, Whether it win or lose the game;True as the dial to the sun, Though it be not shone upon. ' "Hence, says Lord Clarendon, of a statesman of his time, 'He had noveneration for the Court, but only such loyalty to the King as the lawrequired. ' True loyalty is, therefore, fidelity to the Constitution, laws, and institutions of the land, and, of course, to the sovereignpower representing them. "Thus was it with our Loyalist forefathers. There was no class ofinhabitants of the old British-American Colonies more decided andearnest than they in claiming the rights of British subjects wheninvaded; yet when, instead of maintaining the rights of Britishsubjects, it was proposed to renounce the allegiance of British subjectsand destroy the unity of the empire, or 'the life of the nation' (as ourAmerican neighbours expressed it, in their recent civil war to maintainthe unity of their republic), then were our forefathers true to theirloyalty, and adhered to the unity of the empire at the sacrifice ofproperty and home, and often of life itself. Of them might be said, whatMilton says of Abdiel, amid the revolting hosts: "'Abdiel, faithful found;Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified, His loyalty he kept. ' "Our United Empire Loyalist forefathers 'kept their loyalty unshaken, unseduced, unterrified, ' during seven long years of conflicts andsufferings; and that loyalty, with a courage and enterprise, and underprivations and toils unsurpassed in human history, sought a refuge anda home in the wilderness of Canada, felled the forests of our country, and laid the foundation of its institutions, freedom, and prosperity. (Loud applause. ) "Canadian loyalty is the perpetuation of that British national lifewhich has constituted the strength and glory of Great Britain since themorning of the Protestant Reformation, and placed her at the head of thefreedom and civilization of mankind. This loyalty maintains thecharacteristic traditions of the nation--the mysterious links ofconnection between grandfather and grandson--traditions of strength andglory for a people, and the violations of which are a source of weaknessand disorganization. Canadian loyalty, therefore, is not a meresentiment, or mere affection for the representative or person of theSovereign; it is a reverence for, and attachment to, the laws, order, institutions and freedom of the country. As Christianity is not a mereattachment to a bishop, or ecclesiastic, or form of church polity, but adeep love of divine truth; so Canadian loyalty is a firm attachment tothat British Constitution and those British laws, adopted or enacted byourselves, which best secure life, liberty, and prosperity, and whichprompt us to Christian and patriotic deeds by linking us with all thatis grand and noble in the traditions of our national history. "In the war of 1812 to 1815--one of the last and hardest-fought battleswas that of Lundy's Lane, which we meet this day, on this historicground, to celebrate--both the loyalty and courage of the Canadianpeople were put to the severest test, and both came out of the fieryordeal as refined gold. Nothing could be more disgraceful andunprincipled than the Madison (I will not say American) declaration ofwar against Great Britain, which was at that moment employing her utmoststrength and resources in defence of European nations and the libertiesof mankind. That scourge of modern Europe--the heartless tyrant, butgreat soldier, Napoleon--had laid prostrate at his feet all theGovernments of Western and Central Europe, England alone excepted. Todestroy British power, he issued decrees first at Berlin, in 1806, andafterwards at Milan, excluding all British merchandize from Frenchports, and prohibiting the use of British commodities throughout Franceand her dependencies, under severe penalties; searching neutral vesselsfor British goods, and confiscating them when found, with the vesselscarrying them; interdicting all neutral vessels from trading with anyBritish port; declaring all the ports of Great Britain and of herdependencies to be in a state of blockade, though at the very moment theEnglish fleet commanded the seas. These Napoleon decrees violated thelaws of nations, and affected the national rights and independence ofthe United States, as well as of the European nations; and had notPresident Madison and his war faction been in league with Napoleon, theywould have resented it, instead of silently submitting, and thusbecoming a party to it. In self-defence and retaliation upon the tyrantNapoleon, Great Britain, in January, 1807, issued Decrees of Council, declaring all French ports in a state of blockade, and declaring allvessels of neutrals liable to seizure which should engage in trade withFrance; and as the Napoleon decrees had declared all vessels of anynation liable to seizure which had touched at any British port, theEnglish Orders of Council, to counteract this decree, declared, on theother hand, that only such ships as had touched at a British port shouldbe permitted to sail for a port of France. The American President, Madison, being in league with the French usurper against Great Britain, made no remonstrance against the Napoleon decrees of Berlin and Milan, but raised a great outcry against the counter English Orders in Council, and made them a pretext for declaring war against Great Britain. ButPresident Madison not only thus leagued with Napoleon to destroy Britishcommerce, but also to weaken the British army and navy by seducing some10, 000 British sailors and soldiers to desert on board of Americanvessels, where they were claimed as American citizen sailors. "England had always claimed the right to search and claim her desertingsailors on board foreign vessels, and that right had never been disputedby the United States, until now, under the teachings of Napoleon. Butthough there was no occasion for the exercise of such a right in a timeof general peace, the exercise of it then was a matter vital to theexistence and strength of the British navy; but, under the promptings ofNapoleon, President Madison made it not only a subject of loudcomplaint, but also an additional pretext for war. Yet, to keep up someappearance of fairness, but in secret intrigue with Napoleon, theMadison Administration issued a declaration to open commercial relationswith either of the belligerent powers that should first rescind theprohibitory decrees or orders. In May, 1812, Napoleon rescinded theBerlin and Milan decrees so far as concerned the United States, but hadthe unparalleled meanness to antedate them _thirteen_ months, and evenapply them to 1810, dating them April, 1811, in order to play into thehands of his American confederates. Within a month after Napoleon hadrescinded the Berlin and Milan decrees--June 23rd, 1812--the BritishGovernment cancelled the Orders in Council so far as related to theUnited States; but five days before that, the 18th of June, PresidentMadison declared war against Britain, and then when, six weeksafterwards, he was duly informed of the cancelling of these Orders inCouncil, on which he had professed to declare war, he refused to ratifyan armistice agreed upon between Sir George Prevost and GeneralDearborn, until the British and American Governments could confer with aview to prevent any further prosecution of the war. Madison and hisfaction of British haters and war adventurers naturally supposed, thatas Upper Canada consisted of 70, 000 inhabitants, and as the Britishtroops were all engaged in the deadly war with France, except guards ofregular soldiers in the Canadian garrisons, our country would fall aneasy prey to his ambition; Great Britain would be humbled at the feet ofNapoleon, and France and the United States would then divide the powerand commerce of Europe and America. But British and Canadian loyalty, patriotism, and courage defeated their dark designs against theliberties of mankind. Even the patriotic and intellectual part of theAmerican people denounced this unholy intrigue between their ownPresident and the bloody ursurper of Europe, and this causeless waragainst Great Britain. The Legislative Assemblies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Maryland condemned the warpolicy of President Madison, and some of them declared it to be but aparty proceeding of the President and his minions to keep themselves inpower and subsidize their hungry partizans. Only a small majority ofCongress approved the declaration of war. A convention of the greatState of New York, held at Albany, September, 1812, consisting ofdelegates from the several counties of the State, embodied, inelaborate resolutions, the intelligent American sentiment on the subjectof the war. That convention declared: 'That, without insisting on theinjustice of the present war, taking solely into consideration the timeand circumstances of its declaration, the condition of the country, andthe state of the public mind, we are constrained to consider and feel itour duty to pronounce it a most rash, unwise and inexpedient measure, the adoption of which ought forever to deprive its authors of the esteemand confidence of an enlightened people; because, as the injuries wehave received from France are at least equal in amount to those we havesustained from England, and have been attended with circumstances ofstill greater insult and aggravation; if war were necessary to vindicatethe honour of the country, consistency and impartiality required thatboth nations should have been included in the declaration; because, ifit were deemed expedient to exercise our right of selecting ouradversary, prudence and common sense dictated the choice of an enemyfrom whose hostility we had nothing to dread. A war with France wouldequally have satisfied our insulted honour, and, at the same time, instead of annihilating, would have revived and extended our commerce;and even the evils of such a contest would have been mitigated by thesublime consolation, that by our efforts we were contributing to arrestthe progress of despotism in Europe, and effectually serving the greatinterests of freedom and humanity throughout the world. ' 'That wecontemplate with abhorrence, even the probability of an alliance withthe present Emperor of France, every action of whose life hasdemonstrated, that the attainment, by any means, of universal empire, and the consequent extinction of every vestige of freedom, are the soleobjects of his incessant, unbounded and remorseless ambition. ' 'Whereasthe late revocation of the British Orders in Council has removed thegreat and ostensible cause of the present war, and prepared the way foran immediate accommodation of all existing differences, inasmuch as, bythe confession of the present Secretary of State, satisfactory andhonourable arrangements might easily be made, by which the abuseresulting from the impressment of our seamen might, in future, beeffectually prevented. ' "Such were the sentiments of the most intelligent and patrioticAmerican citizens in regard to the war of 1812-15; they had no moresympathy with the Madison-Napoleon war than with the recent Fenianinvasion of our shores. And when the war was declared, our fathers knewtheir duty, and knew the worthlessness of the pompous proclamations andpromises of President Madison's generals and agents. The blood of ourUnited Empire Loyalist forefathers warmed again in their own bosoms, andpulsated in the hearts of their sons and grandsons, and in the hearts ofhundreds of others who had adopted Canada, under the flag of British lawand liberty, as their home. Our Legislative Assembly--specially calledtogether by General Brock, on the declaration of war--struck the keynotefor Canadian loyalty, sacrifice and action, in a calm, expository andearnest address to the people of Upper Canada, and truly represented thealready roused spirit of the country. Some of the words of that nobleaddress are as follows: "'This war, on the part of the United States, includes an alliance withthe French usurper, whose dreadful policy has destroyed all that isgreat and grand, venerable and holy, on the continent of Europe. Thegovernment of this bloody tyrant penetrates into everything--it crushesindividuals as well as nations, fetters thoughts as well as motives, anddelights in destroying forever all that is fair and just in opinion andsentiment. It is evidently this tyrant who now directs the rulers ofAmerica, and they show themselves worthy disciples of such a master. ' "After noting the juncture selected for declaring war, the addressproceeds: 'It is certainly not the least wonderful among the occurrencesof this astonishing age, that we should find a nation descended fromEnglishmen, connected still by the same language and laws, byconsanguinity and many similar habits, not merely eulogizing theimplacable enemy of their parent state, but joining him in the war;while pretending to nourish the purest principles of liberty, bowing theknee before the foe of all just and rational freedom, and supplicatinghis acceptance of tribute and adulation. ' After sketching the origin andsustained loyalty of the first inhabitants of the country, the Assemblysaid: 'Already have we the joy to remark, that the spirit of loyalty hasburst forth in all its ancient splendour. The militia in all parts ofthe Province have volunteered their services with acclamation, anddisplayed a degree of energy worthy of the British name. When men arecalled upon to defend everything they hold precious, their wives andchildren, their friends and possessions, they ought to be inspired withthe noblest resolutions, and they will not be easily frightened bymenaces, or conquered by force. And beholding, as we do, the flame ofpatriotism burning from end to end of the Canadas, we cannot butentertain the most pleasing anticipations. Our enemies have indeed said, that they can subdue this country by a proclamation; but it is our partto prove that they are sadly mistaken. ' 'If the real foundations of trueliberty, and consequently of solid happiness, consist in being amenableonly to such laws as we or our representatives ordain, then are we inpossession of that liberty and that happiness, for this principle wasfully recognized in our excellent constitution. ' 'It is not necessaryfor us to examine the causes alleged by our enemies for this unjust andunnatural war, because an address from the House of Representatives ofMassachusetts, the most respectable in the Union, proves in the mostsatisfactory manner, that it is wanton and unprovoked, and is the climaxof the various outrages previously committed against Great Britain. Inthis statement they have been joined by the minority in Congress, whoseexpositions of the secret reasons of the war, and the falsehood of thosealleged by the President and his friends, is unanswerable, and must handdown the promoters of this diabolical measure to the execration ofposterity. ' 'Your representatives finished their labours with placing inthe hands of His Honour the President (Sir Isaac Brock), all the publicmoney they could collect, in order to contribute as much as possible tothe extraordinary expenses which the war renders necessary, and theyhave the fullest confidence that it will be most faithfully applied. Having thus endeavoured, to the best of their abilities, to provide forthe welfare and safety of the Province, your representatives take theliberty of reminding you that the best laws are useless without thezealous co-operation of the people. Unless you are prepared to endurethe greatest privations and to make the severest sacrifices, all thatyour representatives have done will be of no avail. Be ready, then, atall times to rally round the Royal Standard, and let those who are notcalled into the service assist the families of those who are called intothe field. ' 'Remember, when you go forth to the combat, that you fightnot for yourselves alone, but for the whole world. You are defeating themost formidable conspiracy against the civilization of man that ever wascontrived; a conspiracy threatening a greater barbarism and misery thanfollowed the downfall of the Roman Empire--that now you have anopportunity of proving your attachment to the parent State whichcontends for the relief of the oppressed nations--the last pillar oftrue liberty, and the last refuge of oppressed humanity. ' "Such were the views and spirit with which the 70, 000 people of UpperCanada, and their score of parliamentary representatives, engaged in theunequal struggle against myriads of invaders--relying simply upon theirprinciples, their duty, and their God; and, in three months after thedeclaration of war, they had, with the aid of a few hundred regularsoldiers and noble officers, driven back three invading armies, capturing Hull and the territory of Michigan, driving the invaderscommanded by General Van Rensellaer down Queenston Heights, takinghundreds of prisoners, driving 'proclamation' General Smyth, with his8, 000, from the Canadian side of the Niagara river, near Fort Erie, sothat he had to run away and retire from the army to escape popularindignation and disgrace. It is not for me to dwell upon the incidentsand progress of the war; raids were made into our country, many battleswere fought, and much property destroyed and much suffering inflicted;but those raids were severely retaliated, and at the end of three yearsnot a foot of Canadian territory was in possession of the invader, whilethe key of the North-west, Fort Mackinaw, was in the hands of theBritish. "Of all the battles fought during the war, the most sanguinary andobstinate was that of Lundy's Lane--the battle, the anniversary of whichwe are this day assembled to commemorate--the battle fought the last fewmonths of the war, the 25th of July, 1814. It was the most formidableand final effort of the American General Brown to get permanent footingin Canada. The smallest number of American soldiers engaged in thebattle, according to General Brown's report, was upwards of 5, 000; andthe largest number of British soldiers and Canadian militia engaged, according to the British General Drummond's report, was 2, 800, althoughthe greater part of the battle was fought with a force not exceeding1, 600. I shall not attempt to describe the order, or narrate theincidents of the battle; I will only say, that the high ground, near theeast end of Lundy's Lane, was the centre of interest, and the positioncontended for by both parties in deadly strife for several hours. In nobattle during the war did the Americans fight with such heroism andobstinacy; and in no battle was the courage, steadiness and perseveranceof the British soldiers and Canadian volunteers put to so severe a test. The enemy was drawn up in order of battle within 600 yards of thecoveted eminence, when General Drummond arrived on the ground, and hehad barely time to plant his artillery on the brow of the hill, when theenemy concentrated all his power and efforts to obtain the key of thebattle-field. An eye-witness says: 'Columns of the enemy, not unlike thesurge of the adjacent cataract, rushed to the charge in close andimpetuous succession. ' The curtain of night soon enveloped the scene, now drenched with blood; but the darkness seemed to intensify the furyof the combatants, and the rage of the battle increased as the nightadvanced. An eye-witness truly observes, that 'nothing could have beenmore awful than this midnight contest. The desperate charges of theenemy were succeeded by a dead silence, interrupted only by the groansof the dying, and the dull sounds of the stupendous Falls of Niagara, while the adverse lines were now and then dimly discerned through themoonlight, by the dismal gleam of their arms. These anxious pauses weresucceeded by a blaze of musketry along the lines, and by a repetition ofthe most desperate charges from the enemy, which the British receivedwith the most unshaken firmness. ' General Drummond, in his officialreport of the battle, says:--'In so determined a manner were theseattacks directed against our guns, that our artillerymen were bayonetedby the enemy in the act of loading, and the muzzles of the enemy's gunswere advanced within a few yards of ours. The darkness of the night, during this extraordinary conflict, occasioned several uncommonincidents; our troops having, for a moment, been pushed back, some ofour guns remained for a few minutes in the enemy's hands; they were, however, not only quickly recovered, but the two pieces, a six-pounderand a five-and-a-half-inch howitzer, which the enemy had brought up, were captured by us, together with several tumbrils. About nine o'clock(the action having commenced at six) there was a short intermission offiring, during which it appears the enemy was employed in bringing upthe whole of his remaining force; and he shortly afterwards renewed theattack with fresh troops, but was everywhere repelled with equalgallantry and success. The enemy's efforts to carry the hill werecontinued until about midnight, when he had suffered so severely fromthe superior steadiness and discipline of his Majesty's troops, that hegave up the contest, and retreated with great precipitation to his campbeyond the Chippewa. On the following day he abandoned his camp, threwthe greatest part of his baggage, camp equipage and provisions into theRapids; and having set fire to Street's Mills, and destroyed the bridgeat Chippewa, he continued his retreat in great disorder towards FortErie. ' "In this bloody battle, the Canadian militia fought side by side withthe regular soldiers; and General Drummond said, 'the bravery of themilitia on this occasion could not have been excelled by the mostresolute veterans. ' "Such was the loyalty of our grandfathers and fathers, and such theirself-devotion and courage in the darkest hour of our country's dangersand sufferings, and though few in number in comparison of theirinvaders, they had "'Hearts resolved and hands preparedThe blessings they enjoyed to guard. ' "There was doubtless as much true courage among the descendants of GreatBritain and Ireland in the United States as in Canada; but the formerfought for the oppressor of Europe, the latter fought for the freedom ofEurope; the former fought to prostrate Great Britain in her deathstruggle for the liberties of mankind, and to build up the United Statesupon her ruin, the latter fought in the glorious cause of the mothercountry, and to maintain our own unity with her; the former fought forthe conquest of Canada, the latter fought in her defence; the fire thatkindled the military ardour of the former was the blown-up embers of oldenmities against Great Britain, the gross misrepresentations ofPresident Madison, the ambition of adventure, and the lust of booty--thefire that burned in the hearts of the latter, and animated them todeeds of death or freedom, was the sacred love of hearth and home, thepatriotic love of liberty, and that hallowed principle of loyalty totruth, and law, and liberty combined, which have constituted the life, and development, and traditions, and strength, and unity, and glory ofBritish institutions, and of the British nation, from the resurrectionmorn of the Protestant Reformation to the present day. A great writerhas truly observed: 'The most inviolable attachment to the laws of ourcountry is everywhere acknowledged a capital virtue;' and that virtuehas been nobly illustrated in the history of our United Empire Loyalistforefathers, and of their descendants in Canada, and it grows with thegrowth and increases with the strength of our country. "I have said that loyalty, like Christianity itself, is an attachment toprinciples and duties emanating from them, irrespective of rulers orteachers; but if the qualities of our chief rulers were necessary togive intensity to Canadian loyalty, those qualities we have in thehighest degree in our Sovereign and in her representative in Canada; fornever was a British Sovereign more worthy of our highest respect andwarmest affection than our glorious Queen Victoria--(loud cheers)--andnever was a British Sovereign more nobly represented in Canada than bythe patriotic, the learned, and the eloquent Lord Dufferin. (Loudcheers. ) And at no period were we more free or prosperous than now. Thefeelings of his (the speaker's) heart went far beyond anything that histongue could express, and the language of his heart that day was, mightloyalty ever be the characteristic trait of the people of Canada, mightfreedom ever be our possession, and might we ever have cause and heartto say 'God save the Queen!'" (Loud cheering. ) _Note_ by the Author. --The Administration of President Madison, and hisDeclaration of War against Great Britain, are dark spots in thebrilliant history of the United States of America, and the Americannarratives of the war are rather fiction than history--compiled largelyfrom letters of officers and soldiers, who, in writing to their friends, sought to magnify their own heroism, even when suffering disgracefuldefeats, and sometimes claiming victory when they were driven from thefield. The usual tales on these occasions were that the Canadian forceswere vastly superior in numbers and equipments, when it was known thatthe American armies were ten to one in numbers to those of Canada, andtheir invading forces were declared, by themselves, to be irresistiblein strength and equipments. The American account of the battle of Lundy's Lane is an example, and isrepeated with exaggerations in the latest and most popular history ofthe war, namely, Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812, page1084. Lossing says: "The number of troops engaged in the battle of Niagara Falls was littleover 7, 000, the British having about 4, 500, and the Americans a littleless than 2, 600. " (p. 824. ) The very reverse of this was the fact, as quoted in the foregoingextract from the official report of General Drummond. When the Americaninvading army consisted of 10, 000 men, it is absurd to suppose that allbut 2, 600 would remain on the American side of the river, and theAmerican historian states that every available soldier on the Britishside of the river was engaged in the battle. Lossing likewise claims the battle for the Americans "because they drovethe enemy from the field and captured his cannon" (p. 824). It is nottrue that the British were driven from the field at all; they were oncepushed back for a few minutes, and their cannon were for a few momentsin the hands of the Americans, who, however, were forthwith driven back, the cannon retaken, with two pieces left by the Americans. And how couldthere possibly be any American victory, when Lossing himself admits thatthe American army retired from the field during the night to Chippewa(p. 823), with the intention of returning next morning to bring off thecannon and other booty. Is it the characteristic of a victorious army toleave the conquered field and retire two miles from it? Lossing alsoadmits that the Americans did not return to the battle-field nextmorning, but burnt the bridge which separated the British army fromthem, and retreated up the Niagara river. Is this the conduct of aconquering army, to flee from the enemy whom he pretends to haveconquered? Mr. Lossing's admissions of details contradict the pretenceof American victory at Lundy's Lane, and prove American defeat. It is by such fictions of victories where there were defeats, interspersed with fictitious incidents of individual heroism, thatAmerican vanity is fed, and American children taught in the schools whatis purely apocryphal for history in regard to Great Britain and Canada. But it is gratifying to observe a greatly improved feeling in theeducated American mind towards Great Britain, and even the causes of theAmerican Revolution, which were magnified in the American Declaration ofIndependence, and which have been exaggerated in every possible way inAmerican histories and Fourth of July orations, are very much modifiedin the productions of well-instructed and candid American writers andpublic speakers. We observe on a late occasion in England, at theWesleyan Conference, Bishop Simpson, the Massillon of American pulpitorators, said, "The triumph of America was England's triumph. Theirobject was the same, and they were engaged in the same work. There weremore Englishmen who would go to America, than Americans who would cometo England (laughter), and while they in England had the wealth, thepower, and the elements of usefulness, they were bound to use it in theinterests of religion. " On the same occasion, the Rev. Dr. Curry, editor of the New York_Christian Advocate_, the most widely circulated religious paper inAmerica, uttered the following noble sentiments: "He was proud, " he said, "of England (as the Fatherland of his), and, ashe had now gone up and down through that island, and had witnessed itssigns of substantial wealth, and of social order, he felt that both thepublic institutions of the Government and the private virtues of thepeople were of the most valuable. He did not wonder that Englishmen werewarmly attached to their own country, and he would say that were he notan American he should wish to be an Englishman. He rejoiced, too, thatthere now exists the most cordial good feeling between the twocountries, and trusted that this would never be interrupted. They hadvery many interests in common, and should stand together in support ofthem. " On the last Fourth of July, the Rev. Dr. Newman, pastor of PresidentGrant, who has finished a tour of the world, having been appointed toexamine and report upon all the American Consulships of the globe, delivered a remarkable discourse on the progress of the nation, and alsoof the enlightened ideas and liberal institutions in Europe. In anallusion to the American Revolution, Dr. Newman says: "Our forefathers were not slaves; they were English subjects--Englishfreemen, and we misrepresent them and the struggle through which theyfought, if we look upon them as bound with manacles. They had anappreciation of what belonged to an English subject. And because themother country refused representation where she imposed taxation, therefore those forefathers arose in their English manhood, protestedagainst the abuse of governmental power, and asserted that where thereis taxation, there should be representation; and had Patrick Henry beenadmitted into the British Parliament to represent her American colonies, the United States of America to-day would have been the grandest portionof the empire of Great Britain. " In the same discourse the orator said: "Behold England of to-day, in her rule at home, as well as in her policytowards her colonies, pressing upon her colonial possessions practicalindependence. She demands that they shall be so far free as to legislatefor themselves, and pay their own expenses. England is now gatheringtogether her representatives from Africa, and proposes under her benignsway to form a republican government for long-despised and down-troddenAfrica. Whatever may be said of the Old East India Company under Britishprotection, let me say, from personal observation, that from the eternalsnows of the Himalayas to the spicy groves of Ceylon, India of to-dayhas a wise and paternal government given her by Christian England. " FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 221: Thompson's History of the War of 1812, Chap. Xxx. ] [Footnote 222: As in the storming of the fort at York, the explosionwhich took place was and is a matter of dispute, and as to whether theexplosion was accidental, or caused by the British; so it is a matter ofunsettled dispute as to whether the explosion of Fort Erie was caused bythe Americans, or was accidental. General Pike was killed in theexplosion which took place in the fort at York, and Colonels Drummondand Scott were killed at the explosion of Fort Erie: many of the Britishand Canadians were killed in the explosion in the fort at York, but noneof the Americans were killed at the explosion in Fort Erie. ] [Footnote 223: The greater part of the foregoing accounts of thecampaign of 1814 are extracted and condensed from Thompson's andChristie's Histories of the War of 1812, compared with other historiesof the same events. ] CHAPTER LIX. MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS AND PAPERS, EXTRACTED FROM MANUSCRIPTSRESPECTING THE U. E. LOYALISTS IN THE DOMINION LIBRARY AT OTTAWA. "CHARACTER OF THE MILITIA. " ETC. , ETC. I. "Amongst the first settlers on the frontier of Upper Canada werethose faithful and loyal men, the United Empire Loyalists, with the SixNations of Indians, who, at the sacrifice of their all, were steadfastto the British Crown during the revolutionary struggle of the oldBritish colonies, now the United States, for independence, and otherUnited States citizens who had adopted Canada as a home for themselvesand their children. That struggle ended by the treaty of 1783. "Those faithful men, the U. E. Loyalists and their associates, sought anasylum under Britain's Crown in this, the then wilderness of Canada, which now stands as one of the most flourishing provinces of our belovedSovereign. In that then wilderness the flag of England was unfurled, andafter the lapse of one century, and on the commencement of another, thatflag floats triumphantly over this loyal Canadian land. Those firstsettlers were our first militiamen, under our first and veneratedGovernor, Sir John Graves Simcoe, in the year 1791. "The descendants of those faithful men, with some soldiers and sailorsand others, the sons of Britain who had adopted Canada, were our firstmilitiamen in the war of 1812; and those who are left of them aretherefore the veteran soldiers of 1812. The war was declared by theUnited States Government against Great Britain, June 18th, 1812--involving Imperial interests alone, and not those of thecolonies. [224] This declaration of war against Britain was the signalfor the loyal inhabitants of Canada to rush _en masse_ to the frontierof their country to repel invasion. In this momentous crisis we met ourbeloved Governor and Commander-in-Chief, the late Major-General SirIsaac Brock, on the Niagara frontier, whose monument stands on thebattle ground of Queenston Heights. That monument stands in remembranceof him who sacrificed his valuable life in duty to his King and indefence of our Canadian homes; in memory of him who caused the youthfulpart of the Militia of Upper Canada to be embodied in the Militia FlankCompanies, to be trained for actual service in their country's defence;in remembrance of him in whom their entire confidence was placed--forwhere he led they were sure to follow. " II. The invasions of Canada by the Americans during the war were asfollows: Men. 1. General Hull, at Sandwich 3, 000 2. General Van Rensellaer, at Queenston 2, 000 3. General Smyth, at Fort Erie 3, 000 4. General Pike, Toronto 2, 500 5. General Dearborn, Fort George 3, 000 6. General Winchester, Chrystler's Farm, for Montreal 3, 000 7. General Hampton, Chateauguay river, L. C. , for Montreal 8, 000 8. General Brown, Fort Erie 5, 000 9. General Brown, Lundy's Lane 5, 000 10. General Izzard, Fort Erie 8, 000 11. General Wilkinson, Lacolle Mills, L. C. 2, 500 Total number of invaders 45, 000 The foregoing is an aggregate of the United States forces employed inthe attempt to invade and take Canada, when they desired peace; andwhen peace was proclaimed, they did not find themselves in possession ofan inch of Canadian territory. "Thus it may be said as the opinion of all, that if the loyalinhabitants of Canada had not, in those days of trial and privation, stood to their arms under General Brock and other generals, Canada mightnot at this day be a continued appendage of the British Crown. Incorroboration of this opinion, I here insert General Brock's answer toan address of the magistrates at Niagara after Hull's surrender ofDetroit. General Brock said-- "That had not Western Canada rose in their might as one man, in defenceof their rights, and in support of the constitution of Great Britain, his hands would have been as if tied, being without the aid of theregular British troops, who were all then engaged in the European war. "Truly extracted from my book, "JOHN CLARKE, "Captain-Adjutant-General of Militia, 1812, '13, '14. " Colonel Clarke says of himself: "I was placed on duty by General Brockfrom the commencement of the war of 1812, as Lieutenant and Adjutant ofthe 4th Lincoln flank companies. In March I was promoted to the rank ofCaptain-Assistant-Adjutant-General of Militia by General Sir Roger H. Sheaffe, Administrator of the Government of Upper Canada; which place Iretained until the peace of 1815. "--"I served throughout the rebellionof 1837 and 1838--being invested with the command of an organizedregiment of militia, the First Frontier Light Infantry. " Colonel Clarke's recollections and reminiscences are in every respectreliable, and are very valuable, extending to nearly 300 manuscriptquarto pages, in the Parliamentary Library at Ottawa (entitled "U. E. Loyalists"). His own contributions are entitled, "Memoirs of ColonelJohn Clarke, of Port Dalhousie, C. W. ; born in Canada in 1783: giving anaccount of the family's early arrival in the country in 1768; theprogress of the settlers; the arrival of Governor Simcoe, hisimprovements and government; settlement of the Indians; the war of1812--full particulars; the rebellion of 1837; the Welland Canal, andvarious other things connected with the progressive growth of UpperCanada. " TREATMENT OF CANADIANS BY THE AMERICANS WHO INVADED CANADA. "In 1812 General Hull invaded the British province of Upper Canada, andtook possession of the town of Sandwich. He threatened (by proclamation)to exterminate the inhabitants if they made any resistance. He plunderedthose with whom he had been on habits of intimacy for years before thewar. Their plate and linen were found in his possession after hissurrender to General Brock. He marked out the loyal subjects of the Kingas objects of his peculiar resentment, and consigned their property topillage and conflagration. "In the autumn of 1812, several houses and barns were burnt by theAmerican forces near Fort Erie, Upper Canada. "In 1813--April--the public buildings of York, the capital of UpperCanada, were burnt by the troops of the United States, contrary to thearticles of capitulation. These public buildings consisted of twoelegant halls, with convenient offices for the accommodation of theLegislature and the Courts of Justice. The library and all the papersand records belonging to these institutions were consumed at the sametime. The Church was robbed, and the town library perfectly pillaged. Commodore Chauncey, who has generally behaved honourably, was so ashamedof this last transaction, that he endeavoured to collect the booksbelonging to the town and legislative library, and actually sent backtwo boxes filled with them; but hardly any were complete. Much privateproperty was plundered, and several houses left in a state of ruin. "In June, 1813, Newark, Niagara, came into possession of the army of theUnited States, and its inhabitants were repeatedly promised protectionto themselves and property by Generals Dearborn and Boyd. In the midstof these professions, the most respectable of them, althoughnon-combatants, were made prisoners and sent to the United States. "Two churches were burnt to the ground. Detachments were sent under thedirection of British traitors [of whom the traitor deserter Wilcox wasthe leader] to pillage the loyal inhabitants in the neighbourhood. Manyfarm-houses were burnt during the summer; and, at length, to fill up themeasure of iniquity, the whole beautiful town of Newark, with a shortprevious intimation--so short as to amount to none, and in an intensecold day of the 10th of December--was consigned to the flames. "The wretched inhabitants had scarcely time to save themselves, muchless any of their property. More than 400 women and children wereexposed without shelter, on the night of December the 10th, to theinclement cold of a Canadian winter. A great number must have perished, had not the flight of the American troops, after perpetrating theirunfeeling act, enabled the inhabitants of the country to come to theirrelief. "President Madison has attempted to justify this cruel act as necessaryfor the defence of Fort George. Nothing can be more false. The town wassome distance from the fort; and instead of thinking to defend it, General McClure was actually retreating to his own shore when he causedNewark (Niagara) to be burnt. This officer says that he acted inconformity with the orders of his Government. "The American Government, finding their defence useless, disavow theconduct of McClure, who appears to have been a fit agent for such aGovernment. He not only complied with his instructions; but he refinedupon them, by choosing a day of intense severity, giving the inhabitantsalmost no warning until the fire began, and the conflagration in thenight. " (The above facts relating to the burning, etc. , are extracted from theproceedings of the Loyal Patriotic Society of Upper Canada, establishedat York for the relief of sufferers in the war; and of which ChiefJustice Scott was President. ) _The Royal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada_ was established atToronto, extended its branches to different parts of the Province, existed from 1812 to 1815, and did a great deal for the relief ofsufferers by the war. On the destruction of the town of Niagara, largesubscriptions were obtained and distributed for the relief of thesufferers. The following are extracts from its recorded proceedings: "The inhabitants came forward in the most noble manner, as well as thegallant officers of his Majesty's troops. Major-General Sheaffe £200 Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop 100 with a vast number of liberal subscriptions, according to the means ofthe donors: so that in a short time upwards of £2, 000 was raised tocommence with. City of Kingston sent £500 Amherstburg " 300 City of Montreal " 3, 000 Quebec " 1, 500 "The amount raised in the first year was £10, 000. "Eight hundred and sixty-four (864) families were relieved fromstarvation by this timely aid. "The following summer a large meeting was held in London (England), atwhich the Duke of Kent, who had visited Canada twenty years before, presided. By his influence a very large sum was subscribed. The Bank ofEngland graced the list with £1, 000. This effort produced another£10, 000. Kingston in Jamaica sent £2, 000 Nova Scotia " 2, 500 "Indeed, the liberality evinced in all quarters was of the greatestservice to the sufferers, and gladdened many bowed down by sorrow andindigence. " The whole of these interesting particulars may be seen in theTransactions of the Society, published in Toronto, 1814. It may be interesting to the reader if I subjoin the address of thePresident, explanatory of the origin, character, and objects of thisnoble Society, the former existence of which is now scarcely known: "AN ADDRESS "_Copied from the Proceedings of the Loyal Patriotic Society of UpperCanada, who, by their funds, relieved much real distress to families inthe war of 1812, '13, '14. _ "Gentlemen, --In the unprovoked war waged against us by the AmericanGovernment, Providence hath evidently smiled on the justice of ourcause. "But our exertions have been attended with many privations andsacrifices hard to be borne, and should hostilities continue many morewill be required. "In order to mitigate some of these, the inhabitants of York cameforward to contribute toward the comforts of the flank companies; and alarge sum of money was raised for that purpose, of which the greaterpart is expended. "But, on reflection, it appeared that something more might be done of apermanent nature, and that portion of the inhabitants who are not liableto military duty, eager to prove that their zeal in the cause is notinferior to that of those in actual service, formed themselves into aSociety, named '_The Loyal Patriotic Society of Upper Canada_, ' for thefollowing distinct purposes: "1st. To afford aid and relief to such families of the militia, in allparts of the Province, as shall be made to appear to experienceparticular distress, in consequence of the death or absence of some oftheir friends and relations. "2nd. To afford like aid and relief to such militiamen as have been orshall be disabled from labour by their wounds or otherwise in course ofthe service aforesaid. "3rd. To reward merit, excite and commemorate glorious events, bybestowing medals or other honorary marks of public approbation ordistinction for extraordinary instances of personal courage or fidelityin defence of the Province by individuals, either of his Majesty'sregular troops or militia forces. "4th. Also the seamen on the lakes. "This Society, so honourable in its nature, and which we hope will provemost important in its consequences, was first suggested by theHonourable Mr. Selby, and was received with acclamation. "In a public meeting of the gentlemen of York and its vicinity, theChief explained the great advantages likely to result from it, ifgenerally supported; and, assisted by his most respectable colleagues, prepared views for its management. To these the meeting gave theircordial assent, and in a few minutes nearly $2, 000 per annum wassubscribed. There are some who have given during the continuance of thewar one-tenth of their income. "General Sheaffe, in a letter to the Chief Justice, our chairman, notonly extols, in earnest language, the objects of the Society, but, farexceeding our expectations, presents us with £200. Colonel Bishop, astranger [who was afterwards mortally wounded at Black Rock], and notan inhabitant of the Province, with a liberality above all praise, subscribes £100. "Now, gentlemen, our object in addressing you is to procure yourco-operation. Foremost in deeds of warlike glory, we desire that youshould become sharers in the work of benevolence. "Let your contributions be as small as you please--a halfpenny, afarthing per day--anything to show your good-will. "It is not the value of what you give; it is your countenance that wemainly desire. "We know that your means are narrow, but your example is inestimable;and we shall be proud of having you for our companions and supporters inmitigating the distress incident to the war. "And when it is heard that the York Volunteers and their comrades, amongthe first in danger, have patronized this Society, the militia of otherdistricts will be anxious to emulate the military glory of theconquerors of Detroit and Queenston, and will hasten to emulate you incontributing to the support of our benevolent design. "Those that join will intimate to the captains what they are willing togive, while they are in active service, that it may be paid over monthlyto the treasurer. "And they will remember that they are soothing the sick and the woundedin war, protecting aged parents and helpless children, and doing allthey can to comfort those whom they love and revere, who suffer duringthe horrors of war. " (Signed) CHIEF JUSTICE SCOTT, _President_. ALEX. WOOD, _Secretary_. The above excellent address is understood to have been written by thelate Dr. Strachan, first Bishop of the Church of England of Toronto, andwho acted the part of a true, a bold, and generous patriot during thewar of 1812-15. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 224: Yet while the American Government professed to declare a_defensive_ war--a war in defence of their rights at sea--the first actwas _the invasion of Canada_, for which they had been collecting men andarms for several months before the declaration of the war; and thus thefirst acts of the Canadians were to provide for the defence of theircountry and their homes against the American invasions. The facts showthat the real object of the American Government was to take Canada, andtheir invaded rights at sea was a mere pretext. ] CHAPTER LX. CLOSE OF THE WAR AND OF THE HISTORY OF THE U. E. LOYALISTS--DEFEAT ANDDISGRACE OF THE DEMOCRATIC INVADERS OF CANADA--HONOUR AND SUCCESS OF ITSDEFENDERS--COMPARATIVE STATE OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA AT THECLOSE OF THE WAR--MUTUAL RESPECT AND FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN AMERICANS ANDCANADIANS--CONCLUDING REMARKS. Thus closed the war of the United States against Great Britain, in1812-15--a war undertaken at the prompting of the scourge of Europe, Napoleon, but upon pretexts which were never so much as mentioned, muchless reiterated, by the United States Commissioners when peace wasproposed between Great Britain and America in 1815--a war in which thedemocratic rulers of the United States suffered both defeat anddisgrace, while the loyal inhabitants of Canada maintained inviolatetheir honour and independence. With the close of that war terminates the history of the United EmpireLoyalists of Canada as a distinct and controlling class of theinhabitants; for their numbers had become so reduced by the ravages oftime and war, and other classes of immigrants had become so numerous, between whom and the families of old Loyalists so many intermarriageshad taken and were taking place, that the latter became merged in themass of the population; and therefore my history of them as a distinctclass comes to an end. All classes were Loyalists, and all had fought asone man in defence of their country during the recent war, although allhad not fought for the life of the nation and the unity of the empirefrom 1776 to 1783, or been driven from their homes to Canada, to becomethe fathers of the inhabitants and founders of the institutions of ourcountry. It would be out of place, and at variance with the title of mybook, did I proceed to narrate and discuss the history of Upper Canadaafter the close of the war; but I may properly conclude my work byreferring to a few facts leading to and arising out of the war, and thestate of our country at its close. The democratic party in the United States, which had confiscated theproperty of our forefathers, and exiled them from their homes, andcompelled them to seek a home in the wilderness of Canada, had followedthem with their enmities into their new place of refuge, and, by theiremissaries, in conjunction with those of the French revolutionists, sought to insinuate a disturbing element into Canadian peace and safetyfrom the commencement of the bloody French revolution to 1812, when itculminated, under the promptings of Napoleon and his obsequious tools, in the war of 1812-15, with a view to wrest Canada from Great Britain, and to divide the commerce of Europe between France and the UnitedStates. But how vain are the devices of men against the laws of God andof human society! The Gideon hundreds of loyal Canadians repelled andscattered, for more than two years, the Midian and Amalekite thousandsof democratic invaders, until Great Britain, having chained themarauding tiger of Europe to the rock of St. Helena, despatched herthousands of soldiers to the aid of Canada, and sent her fleets acrossthe Atlantic--sweeping the American coasts from Maine to Georgia--takingand burning their capital in retaliation for the American raid upon thecapital of Upper Canada, and soon compelling the heretofore boastingMadison partizans to seek for peace without even the mention of theiralleged causes of war with England. If the American armies were defeatedand driven back in their repeated invasions of Canada, their commerceand commercial men suffered not less before the end of the war. Theirannual exports declined, between 1811 and 1814, from £22, 000, 000sterling to £1, 500, 000; their vessels to the number of 3, 000 werecaptured; two-thirds of their commercial class were reduced tobankruptcy; an immense war tax was incurred; many thousands of lives hadbeen sacrificed, and the Union itself imperilled by the threatenedsecession of the New England States. On the other hand, Canada had felt deeply the calamities of war, itbeing the seat of the conflict, a large portion of its revenue andinhabitants having been diverted from their ordinary employments--havingthemselves chiefly to depend upon for their defence, while England wasengaged in a twenty years' conflict for law and liberty in Europe. Inthe extremity of this contest, the democratic President of the UnitedStates combined with the tyrant despot of Europe to seduce and sever theCanadians from their British connection; but the Canadians noblymaintained their fidelity and triumphantly vindicated their honour andindependence, though, in doing so, they suffered the desolation of manyof their homes, shed many bitter tears for sires, and sons, andbrothers, who had poured out their life's blood in defence of theircountry on the battle fields of both Upper and Lower Canada. Yet, uponthe whole, the war did much good to Canada, apart from the success ofits arms; it tended to cement the people together as one family;English, French, Scotch, Irish, and Americans had forgotten formerdistinctions and jealousies, and had all become Canadians, withincreased devotion not only to the land of their nativity or adoption, but to the glorious mother country which had become the victoriouschampion of the liberties of Europe, and leader in the civilization ofmankind. Though, in the course of the war, Canada--especially Upper Canada, whichhad to bear the brunt of it--was greatly exhausted, emigration beingchecked, agriculture partially neglected, by the embodiments of militiaand frequent mobilization of sedentary corps, --requiring some time afterthe war for the inhabitants to return to their old habits and resumetheir peaceful pursuits; yet Canada flourished financially during thewar. Owing to England's supremacy on the ocean, Canadian trade andcommerce were not seriously affected; taxes were light; not a fewfortunes were made; money was plentiful, as the mother country paid mostof the expenses of the war. It is worthy of remark, as one of the notable features of the war, thatno class of Canadians were more loyal, none more brave and devoted tothe defence of the Government and institutions of the country, than werethe Americans who had become settlers in Canada--not the United EmpireLoyalists alone, but those who had from time to time emigrated from theUnited States of their own accord, and not on account of politicalpersecution, as was the case with the old Loyalists. The unfriendly feelings and even enmities which had been excited by thewar between Canadians and Americans, soon changed into mutual respectand friendship; trade and commerce between the two countries wererenewed and increased; intermarriages multiplied, with all the amenitiesand intimacies of social life. Though there has always been a democraticmob faction--latterly mostly Fenian--in the United States, which hasseized every opportunity to invade and disturb the peace of Canada, yetit is well understood that this freebooting faction does not representthe sentiments or feelings of the industrious, business, commercial, intelligent, and Christian people of the United States, who, with fewexceptions, are, as most of them were when Madison declared war againstEngland in June, 1812, lovers of peace, law, and order, and friends ofEngland and Canada, as well as of mankind; and we believe there are nomore ardent well-wishers on the continent of America for the happinessand prosperity of the citizens of the American Republic than the loyaland patriotic inhabitants of Canada. I may perhaps be expected to add a few words on the chief publicoccurrences which took place in Upper Canada after the war, but withoutdiscussing any of the questions which they involved. From 1791 to the close of the war in 1815, and for some yearsafterwards, the Executive Government of the day commanded the votes of amajority of the House of Assembly. Public questions and measures werefreely discussed; but no organized opposition appeared in the Assemblyagainst the Administration. Shortly after the close of the war, however, the elements of discord began to be developed in the country. Manydischarged officers of the British army, at the termination of the longEuropean war, came to Canada with instructions from the Secretary ofState for the Colonies to the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada(himself an English officer), to provide for them; and they wereappointed to all offices of emolument (with few exceptions), to theexclusion of the old Loyalists and their descendants and otherinhabitants who had felled the wilderness, and made the countryvaluable, and had borne the burden and heat of the war in its defence. The administration of the Crown or Public Lands was sadly defective andpartial, giving whole blocks to friends and speculators, while theapplications of the legitimate settler were often rejected. It alsobegan to be complained of that these large blocks of land given toindividuals, and the one-seventh of the lands set apart as ClergyReserves, greatly impeded the settlement and improvement of the country;that those who had occupied the Clergy Reserves on _leases_ wererequired to pay higher rents on the renewal of their leases, or thepurchase of the Reserves, on account of their increased value created bythe labour of the tenants and their neighbours. A special Board ofManagement was appointed for these Reserves in the interest of theclerical claimants of them. The representatives of the Church ofScotland claimed to share in the proceeds of the Clergy Reserves, and aco-ordinate standing with the Church of England, as the endowed Churchestablishment of Upper Canada. The other religious persuasions had notthe privilege of having matrimony solemnized by their own ministers, orthe right of holding a bit of ground on which to worship God, or inwhich to bury their dead. It soon began to be claimed by the leaders ofthe Church of England that their Church had the sole right to the ClergyReserves and to all the prerogatives of _the_ Established Church, whosesupremacy and endowments, it was now pretended, were essential to theloyalty of the people; notwithstanding, no people could have been moreloyal than the Canadian people during the then recent war in defence ofBritish supremacy, and who were as brave as they were loyal, thoughthere were not then three settled Episcopal clergymen in all UpperCanada. These, with various co-ordinate and minor causes, lost to theLieutenant-Governor and his Executive Council the control and confidenceof the representatives of the people, and in less than ten years afterthe war, the Governor and Council fell into a hopeless minority in theHouse of Assembly, but in opposition to it actually governed the countryfor fifteen years, until the dissatisfaction of the people became sogeneral and strong that Commissions of Inquiry were sent out fromEngland, which resulted in placing all religious persuasions on an equalfooting before the law, in applying the proceeds of the Clergy Reservesto the general purposes of the education and improvement of the country, in making the heads of public departments (who were to be ExecutiveCouncillors) responsible to the House of Assembly, and holding theiroffices no longer than they enjoyed its confidence. From that timeforward the Government became strong, the people contented, and thecountry prosperous and rapidly increasing in wealth, education, andintelligence--rendering, at this day, the inhabitants of the vastDominion of Canada the lightest-taxed and the freest people on theAmerican continent. GENERAL INDEX. Abercrombie (General)--Arrives in America with the troops, and forty German officers to drill and command regiments in America (which gives offence to the Colonists). I. 257. Is disgracefully defeated by Montcalm (though commanding the largest force ever assembled in America). I. 258. With General Loudoun, hesitates and delays at Albany, while the French generals are active and successful. I. 258. Adams (John)--The prompter and adviser of hanging "Tories. " ii. 127. Address of Governor Winthrop and his company on leaving England, in 1630, to their "Fathers and Brethren of the Church of England, " declaring their filial and undying love to the Church of England, as their "dear mother, " from whose breasts they had derived their nourishment. I. 55. Alliance between Congress and the Kings of France not productive of the effect anticipated, and deferred twelve months by France after it had been applied for by Congress. Ii. 1. American Affairs--Misrepresented in the English Parliament and by the English Press. I. 390. American boastings groundless over the surrender of Cornwallis. Ii. 46. American Colonies--Their position in regard to England and other nations at the Peace of Paris, 1763. I. 274. American Revolution--primary cause of it. I. 30. American treatment of Canadians by Americans who invaded them. Ii. 464. Invasions of Canada, and their forces. Ii. 262. Amherst (Lord)--Supersedes Abercrombie as Commander-in-Chief, assisted by General Wolfe. I. 260. Plans three expeditions, all of which are successful. I. 261. His energetic movements. I. 262. He receives all Canada for the King from the French. I. 267. His parting address to the army. I. 268. Anderson (Samuel). Ii. 192. Andros (Edmond)--Appointed local Governor of Massachusetts Bay, and Governor-General of New England; his tyranny; seized at Boston and sent prisoner to England. I. 215. (Examined)--Acquitted by King William in Council, because he had acted according to his instructions. I. 215. Articles of treaty and preamble. Ii. 56. Associations in the Colonies against the use of tea imported from England. I. 370. Bancroft--Confirms the statement as to the aggressions and pretensions of the Massachusetts Bay Government. I. 200. His interpretations against England. I. 247. Baptists--The persecution of them instigated by the Rev. Messrs. Wilson and Newton, and justified by the Rev. Mr. Cotton. I. 120. Barnard (Governor)--His reply to the Massachusetts Legislative Assembly. I. 357. His recall and character. I. 359. Bethune (Rev. John). Ii. 192. Boston and Massachusetts--Three Acts of Parliament against, all infringing and extinguishing the heretofore acknowledged constitutional rights of the people. I. 389. Boston--In great distress; addresses of sympathy and contributions from other towns and provinces. Fourth Act of Parliament, legalizing the quartering of troops in. I. 397. General sympathy and liberality in its behalf. I. 404. Boston Massacre--Soldiers acquitted by a Boston jury. I. 365. Boyle (Hon. Robert)--In a letter in which he expostulates with the Massachusetts Bay rulers on the intolerance and unreasonableness of their conduct. I. 160. Braddock's unfortunate expedition. I. 247. Bradstreet (Colonel)--His brilliant achievement in taking and destroying Fort Frontenac. I. 261. Bradstreet and Norton--Sent to England to answer complaints; favourably received; first thanked and then censured by the Massachusetts Bay rulers; Norton dies of grief. I. 142. Brock (Sir Isaac)---His address to the Legislature of Upper Canada, ii. 341, 342. Takes Detroit. Ii. 352-354. Proclamation to the inhabitants of Michigan. Ii. 362, 363. Killed at Queenston Heights. Ii. 366. Brown, Samuel and John--Their character and position. I. 35. Banished from Massachusetts Bay for adhering to Episcopal worship. I. 35. Misrepresented by Messrs. Palfrey and Bancroft. I. 37. Their letters and papers seized, and their complaints successfully denied to the King by their persecutors. I. 46. Their conduct unblamable. I. 42. Bunker's Hill, Concord, and Lexington--Battles of, numbers engaged, with the accounts, on both sides. I. 460, 461. Burke (the celebrated Edmund)--Reviews and denounces the persecuting laws and spirit of the Massachusetts Bay Puritans, during thirty years. I. 122. Canadian Militia--Their character. Ii. 461. Canada--What had been claimed by old American colonies in regard to the payment of official salaries contended for by, and granted to Canada, to the satisfaction and progress of the country. I. 267. Canada wholly surrendered to the King of Great Britain, through Lord Amherst. I. 267. Canada--State of at the close of the war. Ii. 471. Carscallen (Luke). Ii. 202. Causes--Characteristics of early emigration to New England. I. 25. Change of government in England and end of Lord North's administration. Ii. 57. Change of tone and professions at Massachusetts Bay on the confirmation of the King's restoration. I. 131. The King's kind reply to their address--their joy at it, but they evade the six conditions on which the King proposes to forgive their past and continue their charter. I. 135-137, 139. Characteristics of fifty-four years' government of Massachusetts Bay, under the first charter. I. 217. Charles the First--Deceived by the misstatements of the Massachusetts Bay Puritans, to decide in their favour against the complaints made in 1632. I. 67. His kind and indulgent conduct to the Massachusetts Bay Company, and how they deceived him. I. 67. Charles the Second--His restoration; news of it received with joy in all the Colonies except in Massachusetts, where false rumours are circulated. I. 130. Chateauguay, Battle of. Ii. 413. Chatham (Earl of)--Amendment; speech in the House of Lords (1774) against the coercive policy of the Ministry and defence of Colonial rights; his amendment opposed by Lord Suffolk, and supported by Lord Camden; negatived by a majority of 68 to 18. I. 423-429. His bill "to settle the troubles in America" not allowed a first reading in the Lords. I. 425. Chrystler's Farm, Battle of. Ii. 419. Clarendon (Earl of, Chancellor)--Reply to the address to the King, Charles II. , of the Massachusetts Bay rulers, dated October 25, 1664, in which Lord Clarendon exposes the groundlessness of their pretensions, suspicions, and imputations. I. 160. Clark (Colonel John), and his Manuscript contributions. Ii. Clinton (Sir Henry)--Succeeds General Howe as Commander-in-Chief. Ii. 14. Deceived as to the design of Washington and the French commander. Ii. 42. Fails to reinforce Lord Cornwallis. Ii. 44. Colonies--All resolve in favour of a general convention or congress and election of delegates to it, in 1774. I. 408. How information on subjects of agitation was rapidly diffused throughout the Colonies. I. 405. Colonial Assemblies--Their dissolutions. I. 356. Colonists--Their agreements for the non-importation of British manufactured goods. I. 356. Sons of Governors Barnard and Hutchinson refuse to enter into agreement, but are at length compelled to yield. I. 360. Their effective services to England in the English and French war; their experience and skill thereby acquired in military affairs; their superiority as marksmen. I. 460. Desire to provide as aforetime for their own defence and the support of their own local government, as is done in the provinces of the Dominion of Canada. I. 460. Colonist--The writer a native. I. 1. Colonies--Three causes of irritation in 1768. I. 348. Unjust imputations in the British Parliament and Press against their loyalty. I. 353. Their manly response to the imputations and assertion of British rights, led by the General Assembly of Virginia. I. 355. Company of Massachusetts Bay--Write to Endicot and ministers sent by them against Church innovations. I. 49, 51. Deny to the King and British public having made any Church innovations in Massachusetts. I. 53. Complaints of banished Episcopalians, persecuted Presbyterians, Baptists, &c. , to the King. I. 46, 137. Complaints of the Massachusetts Bay Rulers--a pretext to perpetuate sectarian rule and persecution. I. 183. Conduct and pretensions of Massachusetts Bay Rulers condemned and exposed by Loyalist inhabitants of Boston, Salem, Newbury, and Ipswich. I. 163. Congregationalists--None other eligible for office, or allowed the elective franchise at Massachusetts Bay. I. 63. Congress (First General Congress)-- Met at Philadelphia, September, 1774. I. 409. The word defined. I. 409. Each day's proceedings commenced with prayer. I. 410. Its members and their constituents throughout the Colonies thoroughly loyal, while maintaining British constitutional rights. I. 410. Its declaration of rights and grievances. I. 411. Its loyal address to the King. I. 414. Its manly and affectionate appeal to the British Nation. I. 416. The address of its members to their constituents--a temperate and lucid exposition of their grievances and sentiments. I. 417. Its proceedings reach England before the adjournment for the Christmas holidays in 1774, and produce an impression favourable to the Colonies. I. 420. (Second Continental) meets in Philadelphia, September, 1775; number and character of its members. I. 442. Its noble and affectionate petition to the King; the King denies an audience to its agent, Mr. Penn, and answers the petition by proclamation, declaring it "rebellion, " and the petitioners "rebels. " i. 443-445. Its petition to the House of Commons rejected, and its agent, Mr. Penn, not asked a question. I. 444. A large majority (Oct. 1775) still opposed to independence, but unanimous in defence of British constitutional rights. I. 448. Divided on the question of _Independence_, which is first moved in Congress in May, 1776--deferred, after long debates, for three weeks, by a vote of seven to five Colonies. I. 483, 484. Manipulation and agitation to prepare the members of Congress and the Colonies for separation from England. I. 482-485. Proceeds with closed doors, and its members sworn to secrecy. Votes by Colonies, and decides that each vote be reported unanimous, though carried by only a bare majority. I. 486. After three days' debate, the six Colonies for and seven Colonies against independence; how a majority of one was obtained in favour of it. I. 486, 487. Refuses to confer with British Commissioners with a view to reconciliation. Ii. 2. Feelings of the people of England and America different from those of the leaders of Congress. Ii. 14. Sycophancy of its leaders to France. Ii. 13. Its degeneracy in 1778, as stated by General Washington. Ii. 29. The depression of its credit. Ii. 30. It confiscates and orders the sale of the property of "Tories. " ii. 30. Appeals to France for men and money as their only hope. Ii. 40. Fallacy of the plea or pretext that it had not power to grant compensation to the Loyalists. Ii. 61. Meets at Philadelphia, 10th May, 1776. I. 479. Contests--Chiefly between the Colonists, the French, and the Indians, from 1648 to 1654. I. 250. Colonies--their divided councils and isolated resources. I. 257. Their alarming state of affairs at the close of the year 1757. I. 255. Cornwallis--His antecedents, ii. 38; his severe policy injurious to the British cause, ii. 40; his defence of Yorktown, ii. 44; his surrender to the French and American armies, ii. 45; conditions of capitulation, ii. 46. Count De Grasse--Sails from New York to the Chesapeake with a fleet of 28 ships and 7, 000 French troops. Ii. 43. Crown Point taken from the French by the English. I. 263. Debts--Incurred by the New England Colonies in the Indian wars; how Massachusetts was relieved by England, and made prosperous. I. 240. Declaration of American Independence--How the vote of the majority of the Colonies for it was obtained, and how reported. I. 486, 487. Copy of it. I. 488. Homage of respect by the authors to the fathers of. I. 492-495. 1. A renunciation of all the principles on which the General Congress, Provincial Legislatures, and Conventions professed to act from the beginning of the contest; proofs and illustrations. I. 496-499. 2. A violation of good faith to those statesmen and numerous other parties in Great Britain, who had, in and out of Parliament, defended and supported the rights and character of the Colonists during the whole contest; proofs and illustrations. I. 499-501. 3. A violation, not only of good faith, but of justice to the numerous Colonists who adhered to connection with the Mother Country; proofs and illustrations. I. 501-504. 4. The commencement of persecutions and proscriptions and confiscation of property against those who refused to renounce the oaths which they had taken, and the principles and traditions which had, until then, been professed by their persecutors and oppressors as well as by themselves; proofs and illustrations. I. 504-507. The plea of tyranny. I. 504. 5. The commencement of weakness in the army of its authors, and of defeat in their battle-fields; proofs and illustrations. I. 508-513. 6. The announced expedient and prelude to an alliance with France and Spain against the Mother Country. I. 513-517. New penal laws passed against the Loyalists after adopting it. Ii. 5. Detroit--Taken by the British under General Brock. Ii. 354. De Salaberry (General)--Defeats 10, 000 Americans with 300 Canadians at Chateauguay ii. 381. D'Estaing--His doings and failures in America. Ii. 17-27. Diamond (John). Ii. 202. Doane. Ii. 192. Dudley (Joseph)--Appointed Governor of Massachusetts by King James II. I. 212. Dunmore (Earl of)--Governor of Virginia, commits the same outrages upon the inhabitants of Virginia, and about the same time, as those committed by General Gage upon the inhabitants of Massachusetts. I. 462. Assembles the House of Burgesses to deliberate and decide upon Lord North's so-called "conciliatory proposition" to the Colonies; the House rejects the proposition on a report prepared by Mr. Jefferson--a document eulogized in the strongest terms by the Earl of Shelburne. I. 464. East India Company--Disastrous effect of its agreement with the British Government. I. 381. East India Company's Tea--Causes of it being thrown into Boston Harbour, as stated on both sides. I. 377. Elections in England hastened in the autumn of 1774; adverse to the Colonies. I. 419. Emigrants to Massachusetts Bay--Two classes. I. 1. Emigration to Massachusetts Bay stopped by a change of Government in England. I. 85. Endicot--Leader of the first company of emigrants to Massachusetts Bay. I. 27. His character. I. 27. Becomes a Congregationalist. I. 29. Abolishes the Church of England, and banishes its adherents. I. 29. Cause of all the tyrannical proceedings against them. I. 42. Finally condemned by the Company, but officially retained by them. I. 43-48. England's best and only means of protecting the Colonies against French encroachments and invasion. I. 244. Position in respect to other European Powers at the Peace of Paris in 1763. I. 273. England--Its resources at the conclusion of the Revolutionary war. Ii. 48, 49. The war party, and corrupt Administration, is defeated. Ii. 48, 49. Change of Administration and of policy, both for England and the Colonies. Ii. 53. Names of new Ministers, &c. Ii. 53. English Generals and soldiers refuse to fight against the Colonists. I. 446. English Government employs seventeen thousand German mercenaries to bring the Colonists to absolute submission. I. 446-479. Its change of policy, and effect of it in regard to the Colonies after the Peace of Paris, 1763. I. 277. Its first acts which caused dissatisfaction and alienation in the American Colonies. I. 279. Falmouth (now Portland) bombarded and burnt, by Captain Mowat, of the British Navy. I. 446. Five-sixths of the male population disfranchised by Puritan bigotry and intolerance at Massachusetts Bay. I. 63. Fort de Quesne taken by the English and called Pittsburg. I. 263. Fox (C. J. )--His amendment to Lord North's address to the King, 1775, rejected by a majority of 304 to 105. I. 430. France and England at war; mutually restore, in 1748, places taken during the first war. I. 242. Franklin (Dr. )--His evidence at the Bar of the House of Commons on the Stamp Act, etc. I. 308. Dismissed from office the following day. I. 426. His petition to the House of Commons rejected. I. 426. Proposes to include Canada in the United States. Ii. 54. Counter scheme to defeat the proposition of the English Commissioners. Ii. 58. Outwits the English Commissioners. Ii. 63. His Indian scalp fictions. Ii. 119. French--Attempt to take Quebec. I. 266. Bitter feeling between French and American officers and soldiers, at Rhode Island, Boston, Charleston, and Savannah. Ii. 20-25. Encroachments on the British Colonies, from 1748 to 1756. I. 243. Evasions and disclaimers, while encroaching on the British Colonies and making preparations for war against England. I. 245. Successes in 1755, 1756, and 1757, in the war with England. I. 252. French Fleet--Its complete failure under Count D'Estaing. Ii. 17. French Officers and Soldiers--Their kindness to the English after the defeat of Lord Cornwallis. Ii. 129. Gage (General)--His arrival in Boston; courteous reception, as successor to Governor Hutchinson; his character. I. 398. Summons a meeting of the Legislature, which adjourns to meet at Salem, and which replies respectfully but firmly to Governor Gage's speech; his bitter answer. I. 399. His curious dissolution of the last Legislature held in Massachusetts Bay according to its first charter, which had proceeded with closed doors, and adopted by a majority of 92 to 12, declaring the necessity of a meeting of all the Colonies to meet and consult together on their present state. I. 401. Governor of Massachusetts, and Commander-in-chief of the British in America, commences the first attack upon the Colonists. I. 460. Governments of the British Provinces. Ii. 271-276. (1) Nova Scotia. Ii. 274-277. (2) New Brunswick. Ii. 277-280. (3) Prince Edward Island. Ii. 280. (4) Lower Canada. Ii. 281-306. (See table of contents, chapter xlv. ) (5) Upper Canada, ii. 307-316. (See table of contents, chapter xlvi. ) Governor of Massachusetts Bay Puritans and a majority of the assistants or magistrates vote in favour of submitting to the decision of the King on the conditions of perpetuating the Charter; but Congregational Ministers advise, and the majority of the deputies vote against it. I. 208, 209. Governors of South and North Carolina (Campbell and Martin), like Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, betake themselves to ships--the Colonists in each case being treated with like severity. I. 473. Haight (Canniff). Ii. 219. Happiness and prosperity of Massachusetts during seventy years under the second Charter. I. 240. Harris (Mrs. Amelia). Ii. 228-236. Hessian soldiers--Their unreliable and bad character. Ii. 73. Hildreth, the historian, on the gloomy state of American affairs at the close of 1780. Ii. 41. Hillsborough (Earl of)--Effects of his circular letter to Colonial Governors. I. 345. Joy in the Colonies at his despatch promising to repeal the obnoxious revenue Acts, and to impose no more taxes on the Colonists by acts of the British Parliament. I. 361. Holland--Flight of Pilgrim Fathers to; trades there. I. 10. Howe (Lord)--A monument erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey, at the expense of £250 sterling, by the Massachusetts Court. I. 260. Hutchinson (Governor of Massachusetts) and his sons alone determine to land the East India Company tea in Boston. I. 376. His account of the transactions at Boston, and vindication of himself. I. 383. His conduct different from that of the Governors of other Colonies. I. 387. Independence disclaimed by Franklin in 1773, by Washington and Jefferson and by leading New Englanders in July, 1775. I. 451-453. Independents, origin of. I. 7. Indians--Employed by both French and English in their wars. Ii. 75. Their employment in the war with the Colonies, opposed by the English Generals. Ii. 76. Their employment disadvantageous to England. Ii. 76. Their alliance and co-operation sought for by Congress. Ii. 77. Retaliations upon them by the Congress soldiers exceeded all that had been committed by the Indians upon the Americans--opinion of American writers. Ii. 77. Much that was written against them during the Revolution, since shown by the letters and biographies of its actors to have been fictitious. Ii. 78. Their employment against the English recommended by Washington, July 27th, 1776. Ii. 80. Efforts of General Burgoyne to restrain them from all cruel acts and excesses. Ii. 82. Their conduct injurious to the English cause and beneficial to the American. Ii. 83. The unprovoked invasion of their country, destruction of their settlements, and desolation of their towns, orchards, and crops and farms, by order of Congress. Ii. 84. Further examples of "retaliation, " so-called, upon the Indian settlements. Ii. 106. The "Tories" driven among them as their only refuge, and treated as "traitors;" their conduct and duty. Ii. 107. Indians (Six Nations)--Colonel Stone's account in detail of General Sullivan's expedition of extermination against the Six Nations of Indians. Ii. 108. Indians--Treatment of by the Puritans in New England. Ii. 293. Intolerance and persecution of Baptists, Presbyterians, etc. , by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers, from 1643 to 1651. I. 112. Invasions of Canada by Americans; numbers of invaders. Ii. 462. James II. --Succession to the throne; thanked by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers for his Proclamation which violated the rights of England, and cost him his crown. I. 216. Jarvis (Stephen). Ii. 193. (William). Ii. 193. Johnson's (Sir William) victory over the French General Dieskau. I. 250. Jones (David). Ii. 193. (Jonathan). Ii. 193. King Charles the Second--Enjoins to cease persecuting the Quakers; how answered. I. 135. The King retains Puritan councillors, who are kindly disposed to the Massachusetts Bay Puritans. I. 138. The King's pardon and oblivion of the past misdeeds of the Massachusetts Bay Rulers, and promised continuance of Charter joyfully proclaimed; but the part of the letter containing the conditions of pardon, and oblivion, and toleration withheld from the public; and when the publication of it was absolutely commanded, the Massachusetts Bay Rulers ordered that the conditions of toleration, etc. , should be suspended until further orders from their Court. I. 139-141. Royal Commissioners appointed by the King, to inquire into the matters complained of in the New England Colonies, and to remedy what was wrong. I. 145. Royal Commission appointed; slanderous rumours circulated against the Royal Commissioners. I. 146. Copy of it explaining the reason and object of it. I. 147. Duly received by all the New England Colonies except Massachusetts, where slanderous rumours were circulated against the Commission and Commissioners. I. 146, 147. King Charles the Second's reply to the long address or petition of the Massachusetts Bay Court, dated February 25, 1665, correcting their misstatements and showing the groundlessness of their pretended fears and actual pretensions. I. 166. Kind letter without effect upon the Massachusetts Bay Rulers, who refuse to receive the Royal Commissioners; second and more decisive letter from the King, April, 1666. I. 169. Grants Charters to Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1663, with remarks upon them by Judge Story. I. 172. On receiving the report of his Commissioners, who had been rejected by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers, orders them to send agents to England to answer before the King in Council to the complaints made against the Government of the Colony. I. 179. Entreated by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers, who try to vindicate their proceedings, and instead of sending agents, send two large masts and resolve to send £1000 sterling to propitiate the King. I. 180. Desists for some time from further action in regard to the Massachusetts Bay Rulers, but is at length roused to decisive action by complaints from neighbouring Colonists and individual citizens of the invasions of their rights, and persecutions and proscriptions inflicted upon them by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers. I. 187. Seven requirements of the Massachusetts Bay Rulers, in his letter to them, dated July, 1679, just and reasonable, and observed by all British Colonies at this day. I. 188. King George III. --Alleged author of the scheme with the East India Company; his condemnation of the petitions and remonstrances from the Colonies. I. 382. His speech at the opening of the New Parliament, March 30th, 1774; and answers of both Houses. I. 419. Opposition to the Royal Speech in both Houses; protest in the Lords. I. 420. Denounces the Earl of Chatham and others. I. 424. La Fayette returns from France in 1778, with a loan of money and reinforcements of land and naval forces. Ii. 33. Liberty (civil and religious) established in Massachusetts, not by the Puritans, but by Royal Charter. I. 237. Lippincott (Captain Richard). Ii. 193. Long Parliament--Its ordinances in regard to Massachusetts trade in 1642. I. 87. Appoints Commissioners and Governor General to Massachusetts Bay in 1646, with large powers. I. 88. Orders the surrender of the Massachusetts Bay Charter; and means employed to evade it. I. 99, 100. Loudoun (Earl of)--Arrival of from England, with troops, as Commander-in-chief. I. 252. Disputes between him and the Massachusetts Court, in regard to the Mutiny Act, and quartering the troops upon the citizens. I. 255. His arbitrary conduct in quartering his officers in Albany and New York. I. 258. Hesitates and delays at Albany; never fought a battle in America. I. 259. Loyalists--Circumstances of, after the surrender of Charleston to the French and Americans. Ii. 46. Unprotected in the articles of peace. Ii. 57. Constituted a majority of the population of the Colonies at the beginning of the contest. Ii. 57. Sacrificed in the treaty, as stated by Dr. Ramsay and Mr. Hildreth. Ii. 59-61. What demanded had been sanctioned by all modern civilized nations, in like circumstances. Ii. 61. Their deplorable condition during the war; utter abandonment by the English commissioners. Ii. 64. Much of what was written against the Revolution, since shown by the biographies and letters of its actors to be fictitious. Ii. 77. Summary of their condition and treatment. Ii. 123. Changes of their relation and condition by the Declaration of Independence. Ii. 124. The elements of their affectionate attachment to England. Ii. 125. The largest part of the population of the Colonies after the Declaration of Independence. Ii. 124. Their claims to have their rights and liberties restored. Ii. 125. Their position and character, described by Mr. Hildreth, and abused by mobs and oppressed by new Acts, and authorities. Ii. 125. First scene of severity against them; new American maxim of forgiving "Tories. " ii. 127. Their treatment in New York, Philadelphia, Virginia, and other places. Ii. 128. Legislative and executive acts against them. Ii. 130-136. Rhode Island, Connecticut. Ii. 130. Massachusetts. Ii. 131. New Hampshire, Virginia, New York. Ii. 131. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware. Ii. 132. Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia. Ii. 132. South Carolina. Ii. 136. Their treatment on their applications for compensation after the Revolution. Ii. 139-144. Their treatment by the British Government and Parliament after the Revolution. Ii. 159-182. Refused compensation by the States of America, as proposed in the Treaty of Peace, and contrary to the practice of civilized nations. Ii. 159. Their compensation advocated in both Houses of Parliament. Ii. 160, 163. Their agents in England; proceedings of Parliamentary Commission; results. Ii. 166-182 Driven from the United States to the British Provinces; and sketches of twenty-three of them. Ii. 191-204. Dr. Canniff's account of their first settlement on the North shore of the St. Lawrence and in the country around and West of Kingston. Ii. 203-208. Their adventures, sufferings, and first settlement in Canada, privations and labours, as written by themselves and their descendants. Ii. 206-270. (See table of contents, chapter xli. ) Loyalists--New penal laws passed against them after the Declaration of Independence. Ii. 5. Loyalists, in Massachusetts, who maintain in the Court and among the people, the Royal authority. I. 162. The true Liberals of that day. I. 152. Lundy's Lane--Battle of. Ii. 438. Marsden (Rev. J. W. ). I. 298. Maryland General Assembly's reply to the message of the Lt. Governor on Lord Hillsborough's circular. I. 344. Massachusetts and other Colonial grateful acknowledgments to England for deliverance from the French and Spaniards. I. 27. Massachusetts Bay Rulers persecute the Baptists, etc. I. 87. Prohibit writing or speaking in favour of the King as a capital offence, but authorize it in favour of the Parliament. I. 87. Petition Parliament in 1651, and address Cromwell in 1651, 1654. I. 108. Massachusetts Bay Rulers' treatment of Cromwell at his death, and their professions in regard to Cromwell and Charles the Second at his restoration. I. 124. They evade the conditions on which the King promised to continue the Charter, and deny the King's jurisdiction. I. 149. They present a long address to the King, and enclose copies of it, with letters to Lord Chancellor Clarendon, the Earl of Manchester, Lord Say, and the Hon. Robert Boyle. I. 152. Massachusetts Bay Rulers aggressors throughout upon the rights of the Sovereign and of their fellow-subjects. I. 75. They side with the Long Parliament and Cromwell; their first address and commissioners to. I. 86. They pass Acts for publication in England, and then adopt measures to prevent their execution in Massachusetts--such as the Navigation Act, Oath of Allegiance, the Franchise, Liberty of Worship, and Persecution of the Baptists and Quakers. I. 195. They bribe Clerks in the Privy Council, and offer a bribe to the King. I. 205. Their double game played out. I. 204. Massachusetts circular displeasing to the British Ministry. I. 341. Circular from Lord Hillsborough, Secretary of State for the Colonies. I. 341. Massachusetts compensated by Parliament. I. 267. Benefited by the English and French war. I. 270. Massachusetts General Assembly refuse to legislate under the guns of a land and naval force. I. 357. General Assembly--Its proceedings on the quartering of troops in Boston. I. 358. Massachusetts never acknowledged the Act of Parliament changing its constitution without its consent. I. 407. Its proceedings before the affairs of Lexington and Concord to enlist the Indians. Ii. 79. Massachusetts Legislative Assembly's noble circular to the Assemblies of other Colonies, on the unconstitutional and oppressive acts of the British Parliament. I. 338. Massachusetts--Seed-plot of the American Revolution. I. 1. First emigration to. I. 1. Mahon (Lord)--His reflections on the American contest; apology for George III. ; unhappiness of the Americans since the Revolution; unity of the Anglo-Saxon race. Ii. 154. Mather (Rev. Dr. Increase) makes a violent speech--appeals from man to God--decision against him. I. 209. His proceedings in England, i. 226. Fails to get the first Charter restored. I. 228. First protests against the second Royal Charter, then thanks King William for it. I. 229. Merritt (Thomas). Ii. 196. McDonald (Alexander). Ii. 195. McGill (John). 196. McGillis (Donald). Ii. 196. McNab (Allan). Ii. 202. Moneys provided for the war, abstracted from England and expended in the Colonies. I. 270. Montcalm, French General, captures Forts Oswego and William Henry. I. 253. Morris (Roger). Ii. 200. Montreal besieged and taken from the French. I. 267. Navigation Act passed by the Long Parliament in 1651, oppressive to the Southern Colonies, but regularly evaded in Massachusetts by collusion with Cromwell. I. 111. Neal (the Puritan historian) deprecates the persecutions by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers. I. 120. Newark (now Niagara)--Seat of Government of Upper Canada first established there. Ii. 308. Burned by the Americans. Ii. 423. New England--Two distinct emigrations to. I. 1. Two separate Governments in for seventy years, and characteristics of each. I. 1. New Plymouth--Original name of--first Sabbath in. I. 7. First mild winter and early vegetation at. I. 8. First "Harvest-home. " i. 9. Their government, toleration, oath of allegiance, loyalty. I. 15. Their answers to the King's Commissioners. I. 18. The melancholy end of their government. I. 22. The loyalty and enterprise of their descendants. I. 23. Ancestors of English Peers. I. 23. New York--First Act of Parliament against. I. 329. New York Legislature, which had not endorsed the first continental Congress, in 1774, now petitions Parliament on the subject of Colonial grievances; but its petition, presented by Mr. Burke, defended by Mr. Fox and others, is refused to be received, on motion of Lord North, by a majority of 186 to 67, and the Lords reject the same petition. I. 434-440. Niagara (Newark) taken from the French by the English. I. 263. Nineteen years' evasion by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers of the conditions on which King Charles II. Promised to perpetuate their Charter. I. 193. North (Lord)--His Bill to repeal the Colonial Revenue Acts, except the duty on tea. I. 368. His agreement with the East India Company rouses and intensifies opposition in America. I. 371. Combined opposition to it by English merchants and the Colonists. I. 372. Explains his American policy. I. 394. His resolution for address to the King, 1775, endorsing the coercive policy, and denouncing Colonial complaints as "rebellion;" debates on it. I. 426-429. Second great debate in the Commons on his warlike resolution. I. 430. His address made the joint address of both Houses of Parliament; the King's reply. I. 431. Lord North's proposed resignation and preparations for it. Ii. 8. Defeat of his Administration. Ii. 51. Opinions of Lords Macaulay and Mahon on the success of a Commission recommended by the Earl of Chatham. Ii. 8. Origin of non-importation agreement in New York; sanctioned by persons in the highest stations. I. 360. Origin of republicanism and hatred of monarchy in America. Ii. 66. Paine (Tom)--His appeal to the Colonists, called _Common Sense_, the first publication in America against monarchy. I. 450. Author of republicanism and hatred of monarchy in America; his character and writings, and their effects. Ii. 66-72. Palfrey's and other New England historians' unfair statements and unjust imputations against the British Government of that time. I. 190, 211. Parliament--Its authority over the Colonies. I. 317. Three Bills passed by, to raise a revenue in the Colonies. I. 331. Parliament passes an Act (1775) to punish the Colonies for countenancing Massachusetts. I. 433. Parliament passes oppressive Acts in 1775 and 1776, with measures for employing foreign soldiers, Indians, and slaves against the complaining Colonists. I. 459. Parliament passes no Act to authorize peace with America for three months after the accession of the new Ministry. Ii. 54. Parliament votes £115, 000 sterling to compensate the Colonies for expenses incurred by them. I. 252. Parties--Origin of political parties at Massachusetts Bay. I. 209. Petitions and representations to the King from Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc. , in Massachusetts Bay, on their persecutions and disfranchisement by the local Government. I. 137. Petitions from various towns in England, Scotland, and Ireland against Lord North's coercive American policy. I. 425. Pilgrim Fathers--who. I. 2. Their settlement, and residence of 12 years in Holland. I. 3. Long to be under the English Government. I. 3. Cross the Atlantic in the _Mayflower_. I. 3. Where intended to settle in America, i. 4 What known of Cape Cod before the Pilgrims landed. I. 4. Their agreement and constitution of government before landing. I. 5. Remarks upon it by Messrs. Bancroft and Young. I. 6. Inflated American accounts of their voyage. I. 7. Their first "Harvest-home. " i. 9. Pitt (afterwards Earl of Chatham) changes the whole fortune of the war with the French in America in favour of England. I. 260. Policy of the British Ministry in employing foreign soldiers and Indians, deprecated by all classes in Europe and America. Ii. 72-74. Pownall (Governor)--His speech and amendment in the House of Commons to repeal the duty on tea; rejected by a majority 242 to 204. I. 361. Preface--The reason and objects of writing the history of the Loyalists of America. I. 3-5. Protests and Loyal Petitions of the Colonists against English Parliamentary Acts to raise a revenue in the Colonies. I. 337. Puritan authorities alone adduced in this historical discussion. I. 59. Puritan letters suppressed by the biographer of Governor Winthrop. I. 59. Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Company. I. 24. Their Charter and settlement in 1629. I. 23. Their intolerance. I. 24. Their wealth and trade. I. 25. Their enterprise under two aspects. I. 26. Professed members of the Church of England when they left England. I. 26. Puritan treatment of the Indians. I. 298. Puritan legal opinions in England on the constant violation of the first Charter by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers. I. 233. Quebec taken by General Wolfe. I. 263. Queenston Heights--Battle of. Ii. 365-8. Quo Warranto--Notice of sent to the Rulers of Massachusetts Bay in July, 1683, to answer to thirteen complaints against them for violating the Royal Charter; received in October, 1683; judgment given July, 1685, nearly two years afterwards. I. 208-211. Remonstrances of the Rev. Drs. Owen, T. Goodwin, and other Nonconformist ministers in England against the persecutions by the Massachusetts Bay Puritans. I. 185. Retrospect of the transactions between Charles I. And II. And the Massachusetts Bay Rulers from 1630 to 1666, with extracts of correspondence. I. 171. Revolution--Principal characteristics of it, and the feeling which should now be cultivated by both of the former contending parties; by J. M. Ludlow. Ii. 145. Richardson (Rev. James)--Letter by. Ii. 208. Robinson (Beverley). Ii. 196. Robinson (Christopher). Ii. 198. Robinson (Sir J. B. ). Ii. 199. Robinson (Sir C. K. P. ). Ii. 199. Robinson (Morris). Ii. 199. Robinson (John). Ii. 200. Rockingham (Marquis of)--His death and its consequences. Ii. 53. Royal Charter (second) by William and Mary; nine principal provisions of it, establishing for the first time civil and religious liberty in Massachusetts. I. 229-233. Royal Charter to Massachusetts Bay Puritans. I. 28. Its provisions. I. 30. Violated by the Massachusetts Bay Puritans. I. 33. Transferred from England to Massachusetts Bay, and the fact concealed for four years. I. 69. Royal Commission issued to examine into the complaints made against the Massachusetts Bay Rulers--conduct of parties. I. 72. Royal Commissioners' Report on the Colony of Massachusetts Bay; twenty anomalies in its laws inconsistent with the Royal Charter; evades the conditions of the promised continuance of the Charter; denies the King's jurisdiction. I. 149. Royal Patriotic Society of Upper Canada and its doings. Ii. 464. Royal Speech on meeting Parliament, October 26th, 1775, and discussions upon it. I. 474. Ryerse (Rev. George)--Letter by. Ii. 226. Ryerse (Colonel Samuel). Ii. 229. Ryerson (Colonel Joseph). Ii. 257. Salaries of officials paid independent of the Colonies--cause of dissatisfaction. I. 366. Saltonstall (Sir Richard) remonstrates against the persecutions by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers. I. 116. Scadding (Rev. Dr. )--Sketch by. Ii. 259. Second Charter--Its happy influence upon toleration, loyalty, peace, and unity of society in Massachusetts. I. 237. Seven years of war and bloodshed prevented, had Congress in 1776 adhered to its previous professions. Ii. 56. Shelburne (Earl of)--Correspondence with Dr. Franklin on negotiations for peace. Ii. 54. Simcoe (General Graves)--First Governor of Upper Canada. Ii. 308. Soldiers--The humiliating position of soldiers in Boston. I. 360. Insulted, abused, and collisions with the inhabitants. I. 365. Spain joins France against England in 1779. Ii. 28. Spohn (Mrs. E. B. )--Paper by. Ii. 264. Stamp Act and its effects in America. I. 283. Virginia leads the opposition against it. I. 287. Riots in Boston against it. I. 288. Petitions in England against it. I. 291. Its repeal and rejoicings at it. I. 323. Extracts from speeches respecting it by Charles Townsend and Colonel Barré, and remarks upon them. I. 296. Extracts from the speeches of Lords Chatham and Camden on the passing and repeal of the Stamp Act. I. 302. Summary of events from its repeal, March, 1766, to the end of the year. I. 323-336. Statements of the historians Hutchinson and Neal on the persecutions by the Massachusetts Bay Puritans. I. 185. Story (Judge) on the happy influence of the second Charter, and improved legislation and progress of the Colony under it. I. 235. Tea Duty Act virtually defeated in America. I. 370. Opposition to it represented in England as "rebellion, " and the advocates of Colonial rights as "rebels" and "traitors. " i. 388. Tea--Duty of threepence per pound, to be paid in America into the British Treasury, continued. I. 363. Three Acts of Parliament passed to remove all grounds of complaint on the part of the Colonists. Ii. 6. Ticonderago taken by the English. I. 263. Treaty of Peace between Great Britain and the United States; rights and interests of the Loyalists sacrificed by it; omissions in it; protests against it in Parliament. Ii. 164, 165. Vane (Sir Henry) remonstrates against the persecutions by the Massachusetts Bay Rulers. I. 116. Vice-Admiralty Courts and the Navy employed as custom-house offices in the Colonies. I. 331. Virginia House of Burgess's admirable answer to the Massachusetts Circular, 1668, and similar replies from other Colonies. I. 342, 343. Rejects Lord North's so-called "conciliatory proposition" to the Colonies. I. 464. Its traditional loyalty of Virginians, and their aversion to revolutions; but resolved to defend their rights. I. 464. Remonstrate with Lord Dunmore for leaving the seat of his government and going on board of a vessel; assure him and his family of perfect safety by remaining at Williamsburg. I. 467. Are horror-struck at Lord Dunmore's threat and proclamation to free the slaves. I. 465. Moved by his fears, goes on board of ship, twelve miles from the seat of government. I. 466. Attempts to destroy the town of Hampton; reduces to ashes the town of Norfolk, then the first commercial city in Virginia. I. 467, 471. His conduct unlawful and inhuman; English accounts of his conduct. I. 470, 472. War formally declared between England and France in 1756. I. 252. War party and corrupt Administration defeated in the House of Commons, 1782. Ii. 49. War by the United States against Great Britain, 1812-1815. Ii. 316-330. (See table of contents, chapters xlvii. , xlviii. , xlix. , l. , li. , lii. , liii. , liv. , lv. , lvi. , lvii. , lviii. ) War--Close of; remarks; conclusion. (See table of contents, chapter lx. ) Washington--Weakness of his army and depression of American finances in 1778. Ii. 32. His despondency without funds. Ii. 41. With the French commander plans an expedition to the South. Ii. 42. His skill and courage. Ii. 47. Washington recommended by Dunwiddie, Governor of Virginia, but his services are not recognized. I. 257. Washington, under date of July 27th, 1776, recommends the employment of the Indians in the Revolutionary Cause. Ii. 80. Watts (Rev. Isaac)--A remarkable letter from him addressed to the Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather, explanatory of Neal's History of New England, on "the persecuting principles and practices of the first planters, " and urging the formal repeal of the "cruel and sanguinary statutes" which had been passed by the Massachusetts Bay Court under the first Charter. I. 239. White (Rev. John), projector and founder of the Massachusetts Bay Settlement. I. 26-28. Wolfe (General)--His heroism at Louisburg. I. 262. Takes Quebec. I. 263. Wyoming--The massacre of, original inflated accounts of. Ii. 85. Four versions of it, by accredited American historians--Dr. Ramsay, Mr. Bancroft, Mr. Tucker, and Mr. Hildreth. Ii. 85-90. Discrepancies in four essential particulars of these four accounts. Ii. 92. Supplementary remarks upon, by the author of the Life of Joseph Brant, etc. Ii. 94. Massacre (alleged) of Wyoming--American retaliation for. Ii. 99-106. (See table of contents, chapter xxxv. )