7 killed, 19 severely and 17 slightly wounded. The loss of the British is not mentioned in their official account. This bombardment commenced at sun-rise on the morning of the 13th, and contimued without intermission till 8 o'clock, P. M.; recommenced on the 14th, at day-light, with increased warmth ; and did not end until an hour before the commencement of the assault on the morning of the 15th. 07. During the night preceding the commencement of the bombardment of Fort Erie, an unfortunate affair for the American arms took place on the lake, just behind the fort, in the surprise and capture of two schooners, by a number of boats full of British soldiers. On the boats being hailed, they answered" provision-boats," a manœuvre which deceived the American officers, as boats from the fort had been in the habit of passing and re-passing through the night. The force being overwhelming, and the surprise complete, but little effectual resistance was made, and the enterprise was completely successful. The Americans had one killed and nine wounded. The loss of the assailants was more considerable. 08. A short time after the assault on Fort Erie, general Gaines received a serious wound from the bursting of a shell, by which means the command once more devolved on general Ripley, till the 2d of September, when the state of his health allowed general Brown again to place himself at the head of his army: a The troops in Fort Erie began now to be generally considered as in a critical situation, and much solicitude to be expressed for the fate of the army that had thrown so much glory on the American name, menaced as it was in front by an enemy of superior force, whose numbers were constantly receiving additions, and whose batteries were every day becoming more formidable, while a river of difficult passage lay on their rear. Reinforcements were ordered on from Champlain, but they were yet far distant. But the genius of Brown was fully equal to the contingency, and the difficulties with which he was environed served only to add to the number of his laurels. 9. Though frequent skirmishes occurred about this period, in which individual gallantry was amply displayed, yet no event of material consequence took place till the 17th of September, when, having suffered much from the fire of the enemy's batteries, and aware that a new one was about to be opened, general Brown resolved on a sortie in order to effect their destruction, The British infantry at this time consisted of three brigades, of 12 or 1500 men each, one of which was stationed at the works in front of Fort Erie, the other two occupied their camp behind. Brown's intention therefore was, to storm the batte- On the morning of the 17th, the infantry and riflemen, regu- The left column, under the command of general Porter, which was destined to turn the enemy's right, having arrived near the British entrenchments, were ordered to advance and commence the action. Passing down the ravine, Brown judged from the report of the musketry that the action had commenced. Hastening, therefore, to general Miller, he directed him to seize the moment, and pierce the enemy's entrench ments between batteries No. 2 and 3. These orders were promptly and ably executed. Within 30 minutes after the first gun was fired, batteries No. 2 and 3, the enemy's line of entrenchments, and his two block-houses, were in possession of the Americans. Soon after, battery No. 1 was abandoned by the British. The guns in each were then spiked or otherwise destroyed, and the magazine of No. 3 was blown up. A few minutes before the explosion, the reserve had been ordered up under general Ripley, and as soon as he arrived on the ground, he was ordered to strengthen the front line, which was then engaged with the enemy, in order to protect the detachments employed in demolishing the captured works. While forming arrangements for acting on the enemy's camp during the moment of panic, Ripley received a severe wound. By this time, however, the object of the sortie being accomplished beyond the most sanguine expectations, general Miller had ordered the troops on the right to fall back; and, observing this movement, Brown sent his staff along the line to call in the other corps. Within a few minutes they retired from the ravine, and thence to the camp. Thus, says general Brown, in his dispatch, 1000 regulars and an equal portion of militia, in one hour of close action, blasted the hopes of the enemy, destroyed the fruits of fifty days' labor, and diminished his effective force 1000 men at least. In their official account of this sortie, the British published no returns of their loss, but from their vigorous resistance it must no doubt have been very great. Their loss in prisoners was 385. On the part of the Americans the killed amounted to 83, the wounded to 216, and the missing to a like number. 9 10. A few days after this battle the British raised the siege, and retreated behind the Chippewa. Meanwhile the reinforcements from Plattsburg arrived at Sackett's Harbour, and after a few days' rest proceeded to the Niagara. They crossed that river on the ninth of October, when general Izard, being the senior officer, superceded general Brown in the command. On the 14th the army moved from fort Erie, with the design of bringing the enemy to action. An attempt was made to dispute the passage of a creek at Chippewa plains, but the American artillery soon compelled the enemy to retire to their fortified camp, when attempts were repeatedly made to draw them out the following day, but without effect. A partial engagement took place on the 19th, which closed the campaign on this peninsula. § 11. General Bissell marched from Black Creek on the morning of the 18th, with a body of about 900 men, for the purpose of seizing some provisions intended for the British troops. After driving before them a picket, of which they made the commanding officer prisoner, they encamped for the night, in the course of which the advanced picket was attacked by two companies of the Glengary light infantry, who were repulsed with loss. Next morning Bissell was attacked by a corps of about 1200 men, commanded by the marquis of Tweedale. The light corps and riflemen sustained the whole fire for about fifteen minutes, with the greatest gallantry, until the other troops were formed, and brought to their support. The 5th regiment, under colonel Pinckney, was ordered to skirt the woods and turn the right flank of the enemy; the 14th, under major Bernard, to form in front, and advance to the support of the light troops ; the 15th and 16th regiments were ordered to act as circumstances might require. The well-directed fire of the light corps, and the charge of the 14th, soon compelled the enemy to give ground; and on discovering that his right flank was turned by the 5th, he retreated in the utmost confusion, leaving some killed, wounded, and prison a ers behind. Bissell pursued them to a ravine some distance from the scene where the action commenced. Not knowing the ground, he did not think proper to push them further, but soon after the country being reconnoitered, it was discovered that they had retreated to their strong holds. A large quantity of grain was found and destroyed; and, after burying the few soldiers who fell, and the enemy's dead who were left on the ground, the detachment returned to camp. The killed, wounded, and missing in this affair amounted to 67, of whom 12 were killed. 9 12. Before leaving the affairs on this frontier, it will be proper to mention the expedition of mounted men under general M'Arthur, which proceeded from Detroit towards Burlington Heights, for the purpose of destroying the resources of general Drummond's army, and paralising any efforts which might be made against Detroịt during the winter. The detachment, consisting of about 720 Ohio and Kentucky volunteers, and a few Indians, left Detroit about the end of October. To mask the object of the expedition, a movemert round lake St. Clair was rendered absolutely necessary. This circuit caused the troops to be exposed to many difficulties and hardships, in wading frequently along the shores of the lake ; in the passage of several deep and rapid rivers, sometimes without boats, and on all occasions encountering swamps; yet, notwithstanding these obstacles, such was the secrecy and rapidity of the expedition, that the detachment was enabled to enter the town of Oxford, 140 miles in the enemy's country, before the inhabitants were apprised that a force was approaching. On the succeeding day, the detachment proceeded to Burford, where the militia had been embodied in expectation of this expedition ; but it was found that they had retreated, a few hours before, to Malcolm's mills, where they were joined by the militia from Long Point. It was M.Arthur's intention to cross Grand River, as soon as possible, without regarding the militia collected at Malcolm's mills, and attack Burlington. But to his great mortification, the river was found high and rapid from the late excessive rains. Here also the news reached him that the American troops had re-crossed the Niagara, leaving only a strong garrison in fort Erie. These and other considerations presented serious objections to any attempt to pass the river; it was therefore determined to attack and defeat or disperse the militia at Malcolm's mills, move down the Long Point road through the Grand River settlement, destroy the valuable mills 9 in that quarter, and then return to the American territory, either by a movement across Grand River at the mouth to fort Erie, or along Talbot-street to the Thames. To that effect, a detachment was directed to remain and engage the attention of the enemy, whilst the principal force should be withdrawn and marched to Malcolm's mills. The enemy, consisting of four or five hundred militia and a few Indians, was found fortified on commanding ground beyond a creek, deep and difficult of passage, except at a bridge immediately in front of their works, which had been destroyed. Arrangements were made for a joint attack on the front and rear. The Ohio troops, with the advance guard and Indians, were accordingly thrown across the creek under cover of a thick wood, to approach the enemy in rear, whilst the Kentucky troops were to attack in front, as soon as the attention of the enemy was engaged by the attack in the rear. The enemy would have been completely surprised and captured, had not an unfortunate yell by the Indians announced the approach of the detachment destined to attack their rear; they were, however, defeated and dispersed, with the loss, in the skirmishes on that day, of one captain and seventeen privates killed, nine privates wounded, and three captains, five subalterns, and one hundred and three privates made prisoners; whilst the loss of the Americans was only one killed and six wounded. Early next morning the enemy were pursued on the road to Dover, many made prisoners, and five valuable mills destroyed. Apprehensive that the troops could not be supplied on the rout to fort Erie, and that difficulties would occur in the pasa sage of Grand River, together with the uncertainty which existed as to the position of general Izard's army, M'Arthur was induced to return to Detroit by the way of Talbot-street and the Thames, which was happily effected on the 17th of November. Thus this active body of men penetrated two hundred miles into the enemy's territory, destroyed two hundred stand of arms, together with five of their most valuable mills ; paroled or dispersed the greater portion of the efficient militia of that part of Upper Canada west of Grand River; and then returned in safety to Detroit, with the loss of only one man. $ 13. Meanwhile, the approach of winter rendering it necessary for the army to retire to comfortable quarters, general Izard crossed the major part of his troops into the American territory, leaving a garrison in Erie, which also was soon after withdrawn. 1 |