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CHAPTER VII

OPERATIONS IN THE LAKE ERIE REGION: BATTLES OF LAKE ERIE AND THE THAMES.

T

1813

HE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.-The same sort of competition as that for the command of Lake Ontario was repeated, on a smaller scale, but with greater intensity of action, for the command of Lake Erie, especially at Presque Isle and Amherstburg. All the advantages of resources were with the Americans; and they had a first-rate naval officer in Captain Perry. But they had their own difficulties. The harbour guard of Pennsylvanian militia was of no service at all. "I tell the boys to go, but the boys won't go," said the worthless colonel of a worthless corps which refused to do its tour of duty. Then, there was the enormous difficulty of getting the squadron over the bar in possible presence of the enemy. as the vessels had to be lightened of all their armaments and stores.

But the British difficulties were as much greater as the means of surmounting them were less. Captain Barclay was a capable and energetic officer, who had already seen much service and who had lost an arm in action. He was thirty-two, four years older than Perry. From the moment of his arrival everything worked against him. He had less than fifty trained seamen. The rest of his crews had to be picked up in the best way he could get them. He had one fairly good vessel, the Detroit. But she had neither crew nor armament. "The ships are manned with a crew part of whom cannot even speak English, none of them seamen, and very few even in numbers." This he reported to Prevost.

But Prevost was not to blame for the want of means. He had written home urgently, time and again, to ask for seamen, shipwrights, and whatever else was required to win the command of the Lakes. But the Great War was still at its height in 1812; and seamen were scarce even in 1813. Besides, Lake Erie was at the far end of a very long line of communication, which could only be worked at great expense and considerable risk.

Immediately on taking command Barclay had proposed a joint attack on Presque Isle, " to destroy the nest." But Procter had no men or means to spare, and Prevost no reinforcements to send. Barclay did his best to blockade Perry, and for a time succeeded. But at the end of August he put back to Amherstburg for supplies, and Perry got out

in his absence. The situation now was most critical. Thousands of Indians were clamouring to be fed. Stores were at a low ebb. No help seemed to be forthcoming. Prevost had been urging on Procter that Barclay had "only to dare" and he would succeed. It was quite clear that the choice lay between starvation and a battle once Perry could interrupt the water-borne transport from the east. "So perfectly destitute of provisions was the port," wrote Barclay, "that there was not a day's flour in store." Accordingly he and Procter decided on risking a battle at once, as they had no means of telling when the seamen said to be coming overland would arrive and equally no means of telling whether the guns for the Detroit would arrive at all. Cannon of all the odd types that had accumulated at the little port of Amherstburg were requisitioned and put hurriedly on board. The ammunition was scarce and bad, while the tubes and matches were so defective that the guns had to be fired in action by the flash of a pistol.

Nevertheless Barclay sailed out on the 9th of September with his ill-assorted flotilla of six little vessels, his haphazard armament, and his untrained crews. Next morning he

sighted Perry's flotilla of nine vessels near Put-in Bay. The general balance of odds was fairly indicated by the difference in number of vessels, misleading as this method of estimating usually is. But there was a fighting chance of success. Perry's crews had been made up to complement by drafts from Harrison's army; and his vessels were almost as makeshift, in some ways, as Barclay's. Yet in armament, numbers, trained seamen, and general equipment, his all-round superiority of three against two was incontestable.

Perry and Barclay led their respective flotillas into action in the flagships Lawrence and Detroit, which proceeded to pound each other for two hours at close quarters. By the end of this time the Lawrence, being a mere wreck, hauled down her colours. But before she did so Perry had left her for the Niagara, which hitherto had only been engaged at long range and which was consequently fresh. In this new flagship he bore down on the Detroit, which meanwhile had become unmanageable, having fallen foul of the Queen Charlotte. The Queen Charlotte was also in a very bad way, as her captain, Barclay's right-hand man, had been killed at the beginning of the battle. The Niagara soon proved irresistible. The whole British flotilla surrendered after a desperate struggle, having lost so many officers and men that it could not have held out any longer, even if its matériel had not also suffered an equal or greater loss. Elliott of the Niagara apparently held back in order to gain the credit of being the real winner of the victory. But, except for this rather doubtful and hotly controverted point, Perry and his whole fleet deserve the highest credit for their heroic work, both before and during the action. Nor could anything have been more chivalrous than Perry's subsequent behaviour to his wounded and defeated opponent.

From this day on, up to the end of the war, Lake Erie became an American possession. But the importance of the victory did not stop there. For, taken in conjunction with

Plattsburg, it ultimately determined the American refusal to change any of the western frontiers or Indian reserves. Its significance in this sense was pointed out by Wellington and reluctantly admitted by the British ministers.

2. THE BATTLE OF THE THAMES.-Procter's position at Amherstburg had been precarious before. It became intolerable now. His supplies were giving out. They could not be made good by land transport, even if they had been forthcoming; and the waterway was closed. He had nothing to do but retreat, and retreat as fast as he could. But he lingered, temporised, and was lost. Ten days after the battle he was still at Amherstburg. He had only 600 effectives left besides Tecumseh's Indians, who were steadily diminishing. Harrison started in pursuit, the mounted men going round by land to Detroit, where they arrived on the 30th. Meanwhile the American infantry had disembarked at Amherstburg on the 27th. Procter had left Sandwich only one day before. His boats, baggage, women, and children, all delayed him in his retreat up the Thames. On the 2nd of October Harrison followed him with 3500 men. The British movements were not only slow but undecided. Procter could not make up his mind whether to abandon everything possible and increase his pace or stand and fight at the first defensible position.

On the 4th Harrison closed up and took two guns and the rearguard of 150 men. On the fatal 5th Procter stood at bay with 1000 dispirited and worn-out men against Harrison's exultant 3000. His position was good. There was a swamp on his right and the Thames on his left. The Indians took post to the right front, where the cover was excellent and the ground bad for whites. The little force of 400 redcoats stood in the open, all except a few men who had gone to Moraviantown to protect the crossing there. Harrison threw back his left to face the Indians, brought up his

main body, and then ordered all his mounted men to charge. This charge was badly executed and failed before the first two volleys. But the cavalry were quickly rallied and then launched in another charge that really did get home. The British line wavered, broke, and was ridden down. The American infantry came up, and the battle was won and lost. Procter and the few mounted men with him escaped at a gallop. Tecumseh kept up the fight, even now that it seemed hopeless, with odds of six to one against him. At last he fell and his warriors fled to the bush. He was the very incarnation of the Red Man at his best. The whites had never seen his like before and never did again.

3. MINOR EVENTS.-Ill-luck pursued the British elsewhere. The two flank companies of the Watteville regiment were captured on their passage from York to Kingston in October. But Colonel Bostwick and a party of militiamen killed, captured, or dispersed every man in a gang of marauders at Woodhouse, sending the prisoners across the Grand River to Burlington. This little action, on the 13th of November, put new heart into the inhabitants of the invaded Ontario peninsula, though of course it had no effect on the campaign. Unfortunately, it was followed by a much bigger fight on the 4th of March, 1814, in the same area of operation, at Longwood, near Delaware. Here Captain Basden of the 89th was surrounded and his men. were shot down. Captain Stewart of the Royal Scots called this "our unfortunate and truly lamentable expedition," and expressly disclaimed the action of his junior officer in proceeding without his own " advice, knowledge, or consent." Stewart was absent at the time and was very much disconcerted to find out what had happened.

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