hausted, it was thought prudent to retire to our encampment; which was done in good order, without any molestation from the enemy-our wounded having first been removed. Maj. Gen. Riall, with the aid-de-camp of Lieut. Gen. Drummond, and about twenty other officers, with two hundred privates, are taken prisoners. The loss, on both sides, is immense; but no account has yet been returned. The aid, and brigade Major of Gen. Scott, are both severely wounded; and Capt. Spencer, an aid of Gen. Brown, most probably dead, having received two balls through his body. Both Generals Brown and Scott are on this side, confined by their wounds; Gen. Ripley commands on the other. General Brown received his wounds at the same instant, during a late part of the action; but still continued to keep his horse, until exhausted by loss of blood-this, probably, has rendered his wounds more painful than they would otherwise have been. I have the honor, &c. L. AUSTIN, A. D. Camp. Hon. Sec. War. COL. PEARSON's EXPEDITION. The official communication of Col. Pearson, commanding the S. C. militia, in the southern indian country, to Gov. Hawkins, has been received. The result of Col, Pearson's expedition is the taking prisoners 622 warriors, women and children, without firing a gun, or losing a man. Col, Pearson's letters, detailing his movements, are dated June 1st and 13th. Copy of a letter from Maj. Gen. Brown, to the Secretary of War, being his detailed report of the Battle of Bridgewater, fought July 25, 1814. SIR-Confined as I was, and have been, since the last engagement with the enemy, I fear that the account I am with his command, the extreme left-about the time Col. Miller carried the enemy's cannon. The 25th regiment, under Major Jessup, was engaged in a more obstinate contest, with all that remained to dis-pute with us the field of battle. The Major, as has been already stated, had been ordered by General Scott, at the commencement of the action, to take ground to the right; he had succeeded in turning the enemy's left flank -had captured (by a detachment under Capt. Ketchum,) Gen. Riall, and sundry other officers-and showed himself again, to his own army, in a blaze of fire, which defeated or destroyed a very superior force of the enemy. He was ordered to form on the right of the 2d regiment. The enemy, rallying his forces, and, as is believed, having received reinforcements, now attempted to drive us from our position, and regain his artillery; our line was unshaken, and the enemy repulsed; two other attempts, having the same object, had the same issue-Gen. Scott was again engaged, in repelling the former of these; and the last I saw of him, on the field of battle, he was near the head of his column, and giving, to its march, a direction that would have placed him on the enemy's right. It was with great pleasure I saw the good order and intrepidity of Gen. Porter's volunteers, from the moment of their arrival; but, during the last charge of the enemy, those qualities were conspicuous-stimulated by the example set them by their gallant leader, by Major Wood, of the Pennsylvania corps, by Col. Dobbin, of New-York, and by their officers generally, they precipitated themselves upon the enemy's line, and made all the prisoners which were taken at this point of the action. Having been for some time wounded, and being a good deal exhausted by loss of blood, it became my wish to devolve the command on Gen. Scott, and retire from the field; but, on enquiry, I had the misfortune to learn that he was disabled by wounds; I therefore kept my post, and had the satisfaction of seeing the enemy's last effort repulsed-I now consigned the command to General Ripley. While retiring from the field, I saw and felt that the victory was complete on our part, if proper measures were promptly adopted to secure it. The exhaustion of the men was, however, such as made some refreshment necessary; they particularly required water-I was, myself, extremely sensible of the want of this necessary article; I therefore believed it proper that Gen. Ripley, and the troops should return to camp, after bringing off the dead, the wounded and the artillery; and, in this, I saw no difficulty, as the enemy had entirely ceased to act. Within an hour after my arrival in camp, I was informed that Gen. Ripley had returned, without annoyance, and in good order. I now sent for him; and, after giving him my reasons for the measure I was about to adopt, ordered him to put the troops in the best possible condition; to give to them the necessary refreshment; to take with him the picquets and camp guards, and every other description of force; to put himself on the field of battle as the day dawned, and there to meet and beat the enemy, if he appeared to this order he made no objection, and I relied upon its execution;-it was not executed. I feel, most sensibly, how inadequate are my powers in speaking of the troops, to do justice either to their merits, or to my own sense of them-under able direction they might have done more, and better. From the preceding detail, you have new evidence of the distinguished gallantry of Generals Scott and Porter, of Col. Miller, and Major Jessup. Of the 1st brigade, the chief, with his aid-de-camp, Worth, his Major of brigade, Smith, and every commander of battalion, were wounded. The 2d brigade suffered less; but, as a brigade, their conduct entitled them to the applause of their country. After the enemy's strong position had been carried by the 21st, and detachments of the 17th and 19th, the 1st and 23d assumed a new character-they could not, again, be shaken or dismayed. Major McFarland, of the latter, fell nobly at the head of his battalion. Under the command of Gen, Porter, the militia volunteers, of Pennsylvania and New-York, stood undismayed, amidst their hottest fire, and repulsed the veterans opposed to them. The Canadian volunteers, commanded by Col. Wilson, are reported by Gen. Porter, as having merited and received his approbation. The corps of artillery, commanded by Major Hindman, behaved with its usual gallantry. Capt. Towson's company, attached to the 1st brigade, was the first and the last engaged; and, during the whole conflict, maintained that high character, which they had previously won by their skill and their valor. Captains Biddle and Ritchie were both wounded early in the action, but refused to quit the field; the latter declared that he never would leave his piece-and, true to his engagement, fell by its side, covered with wounds. The staff of the army had its peculiar merit and distinction-Col. Gardner, Adj. Gen. though ill, was on horseback, and did all in his power; his assistant, Major Jones, was very active and useful; my gallant aids-decamp, Austin and Spencer, had many, and critical, duties to perform-in the discharge of which, the latter fell :-I shall ever think of this young man, with pride and regret -regret, that his career has been so short; pride, that it has been honorable and distinguished. The engineers, Majors M'Rea and Wood, were greatly distinguished on this day, and their high military talents, exerted with great effect; they were much under my eye, and near my person-and, to their assistance, a great deal is fairly to be ascribed; I most earnestly recommend them, as worthy of the highest trust and confidence. The staff of Generals Ripley and Porter discovered great zeal, and attention to duty. Lieut. E. B. Randolph, of the 20th, is entitled to notice-his courage was conspi cuous. I enclose a return of our loss; those noted as missing may generally be numbered with the dead. The enemy had but little opportunity of making prisoners. I have the honor, &c. Hon. J. Armstrong, Sec. War. JACOB BROWN. Return of killed, wounded and missing, in the above action. Killed, 171-Wounded, 570-Missing, 117— Total, 858. C. K. GARDNER, Adj. Gen. Return of prisoners, taken from the enemy in the above action, viz.-1 Major General, (Riall)—1 Aid (to Lt. Gen. Drummond)-6 Captains-11 Subalterns-150 rank and file-Total 169. AZ. ORNE, Assist. Insp. Gen. The British official account of the above action makes their loss as follows, viz.-Killed, 84-Wounded, 559,Missing, 193-Prisoners, 42-Total, 878. (Signed) ED. BAYNES. 140 AFFAIR OF BLADENSBURGH. Copy of a letter from Brig. General Winder, to the Secretary of War, dated Baltimore, August 27, 1814. SIR-When the enemy arrived at the mouth of the Potomac, of all the militia which I had been authorized to assemble, there were but about 1700 in the field-from 13 to 1400 under Gen. Stansbury, near this place, and about 250 at Bladensburgh, under Lieut. Col. Krammer. The slow progress of draft, and the imperfect organiza-tion, with the ineffectiveness of the laws to compel them to turn out, rendered it impossible to have procured more. The militia of this state, and of the contiguous parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania, were called on, en masse ; but the former militia law of Pennsylvania had expired, the 1st of June or July, and the one adopted in its place is not to take effect, in organizing the militia, before October; no aid, therefore, has been received from that state. After all the force that could be put at my disposal in that short time, and making such dispositions as I deemed best calculated to present the most respectable force, at whatever point the enemy might strike, I was enabled, by the most active and harassing movements of the troops, to interpose before the enemy, at Bladensburgh, about 5000 men, including 350 regulars, and Commodore Barney's command;-much the largest portion of this force arrived on the ground when the enemy were in sight, and Ff |