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all further resistance vain, and a mere waste of life, Lieutenant Ludlow gave up the ship; after which he received a sabre wound in the head from one of the Shannon's crew, which fractured his skull, and ultimately proved mortal. He was one of the most promising officers of his age in the service, highly esteemed for his professional talents, and beloved for the generous qualities that adorned his private character.

Thus terminated one of the most remarkable combats on naval record. From the peculiar accidents that attended it, the battle was short, desperate and bloody. So long So long as the cannonading continued, the Chesapeake is said to have clearly had the advantage; and had the ships not run foul, it is probable she would have captured the Shannon. Though considerably damaged in her upper works, and pierced with some shot holes in her hull, yet she had sustained no injury to affect her safety; whereas the Shannon had received several shots between wind and water, and, consequently, could not have sustained the action long. The havoc on both sides was dreadful; bnt to the singular circumstance of having every officer on the upper deck either killed or wounded, early in the action, may chiefly be attributed the loss of the Chesapeake.

The two ships presented dismal spectacles after the battle. Crowded with the wounded and the dying, they resembled floating hospitals, sending forth groans at every roll. The brave Broke lay delirious from a wound in the head, which he is said to have received while endeavouring to prevent the slaughter of some of our men who had surrendered. In his rational intervals, he always spoke in the highest terms of the courage and skill of Lawrence, and the "gallant and masterly

style" in which he brought the Chesapeake into action.

The wounds of Captain Lawrence rendered it impossible to remove him after the battle, and his cabin being very much shattered, he remained in the ward-room. Here he lay, attended by his own surgeon, and surrounded by his brave and suffering officers. He made no comment on the battle, nor indeed was heard to utter a word, except to make such simple requests as his necessities required. In this way he lingered through four days, in extreme bodily pain, and then expired.

His body was wrapped in the colours of his ship and buried by the British at Halifax with the honours of war. From thence it was removed by his friends to Salem, in the state of Massachusetts, where it received the most particular respect, and was again removed to the city of NewYork, where it was buried with the honours of

war.

At the time of his death he was but thirty-two years of age, nearly sixteen of which had been honourably expended in the service of his country. He was a disciplinarian of the highest order, producing perfect obedience and subordination without severity. His men became zealously devoted to him, and ready to do through affection what severity would have never compelled. He was scrupulously correct in his principles, delicate in his sense of honour; and to his extreme jealousy of reputation he fell a victim, in daring an illmatched encounter, which prudence would have justified him in declining. In battle, where his lofty and commanding person made him conspicuous, the calm collected courage, and elevated tranquillity which he maintained in the midst of peril, imparted a confidence to every bosom. In

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the hour of victory he was moderate and unassuming; towards the vanquished he was gentle, generous and humane.

His brother being dead, he was the last male branch of a family, who looked up to him as its ornament and pride. His fraternal tenderness was the prop and consolation of two widowed sisters, and in him their helpless offspring found a father. He left also, a wife and two young children, to whom he was fervently attached. The critical situation of the former, was one of those 'cares, which preyed upon his mind at the time he went forth to battle. The utmost precautions were taken by his relatives to keep from her the knowledge of her husband's fate; their anxiety was soon relieved by the birth of a son. The un"fortunate mother at length recovered from a long and dangerous confinement, before she learned the heart-rending intelligence of her husband's -fate.

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COLONEL

R. M. JOHNSON.

THIS gentleman is a native of the State of Kentucky. When an infant, he was, with his mother and other women and children, refuged in a fort successfully defended only by about thirty men, against the assaults of a savage foe nearly 500 strong. His father was then absent in Virginia on business. Kentucky once formed a part of that state, and was denominated "New-Virginia," of which the eccentric Daniel Boon was the first settler. His early education was limited to a

MILITARY AND NAVAL HEROES.

69

country school. After this, four years application in a country grammar-school prepared him for the study of the law, the practice of which he began at nineteen years of age. When twentytwo years old, he was ushered into public life. After serving two years as a member of the Legislature of his native state, he was elected to a seat in the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States. He has been always attached to the republican party, and supported his vote in the National Legislature, for war to resist the aggressions of Great-Britain, by his personal services in the field. Here he displayed the native dignity of his character, for courage, perseverance, and enterprise. His early rustic employments had braced his constitution, as it were, with iron nerves.

After the successful defence of fort Stephenson, when governor Shelby repaired to the scenes of warfare with 4000 mounted Kentuckians, to reinforce General Harrison in the Michigan Territory, Johnson commanded a mounted regiment, while the residue from imperious circumstances, con-sented to act as infantry. Governor Shelby's division arrived at the head-quarters of the North Western army on the seventeenth of September, 1813, shortly after Perry's victory.

With this force he halted at fort Meigs, with orders to advance to Detroit by land collaterally with the Commander-in-chief, who approached it by water. He was to be informed by express of every movement.

On the 30th of September, he arrived at Detroit, and immediately began to cross the river in boats. At this time, the British army was on its retreat up the river Thames, and Johnson's mounted regiment formed a part of the force selected to pursue it. 6*

Early on the morning of the third of October, the General proceeded with Johnson's regiment, to prevent the destruction of the bridges over the different streams that fall into lake St. Clair and the Thames. These streams are deep and muddy, and are unfordable, for a considerable distance into the country. A Lieutenant of dragoons and thirty privates, who had been sent back by General Proctor, to destroy the bridges, were made prisoners near the mouth of the Thames; from them the General learnt that the enemy had no information of their advance.

The baggage of the army was brought from Detroit in boats, protected by a part of Commodore Perry's squadron. In the evening the army arrived at Drake's farm, eight miles from the mouth of the Thames, and encamped. This river is a fine, deep stream, navigable for vessels of considerable burthen, after the passage of the bar at its mouth, over which there is generally seven feet water. The gun-boats could ascend as far as Dalson's, below which the country is one continjed prairie, and at once favourable for cavalry movements, and for the co-operation of the gunboats. Above Dalson's, the aspect of the country changes; the river, though still deep, is not more than seventy yards wide, and its banks high and woody.

At Chatham, four miles from Dalson's, and sixteen miles from lake St Clair, is a small deep creek, where the army found the bridge taken up, and the enemy disposed to dispute their passage, and upon the arrival of the advance guard, commenced a heavy fire from the opposite bank, as well as a flank fire from the right bank of the river. The army halted and formed in order of battle. The bridge was repaired under the cover

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