On the sea, however, the neglected American navy, assisted by privateers, did valiant service, capturing three hundred or more British merchant ships and a number of men-of-war.

The Constitution, under Captain Isaac Hull, encountered the British frigate Guerriere off Cape Race (August 19), and in a thirty-minute engagement so disabled the British frigate that she had to be blown up. Before the close of the war the Constitution, now under Captain William Bainbridge, met the British frigate Java (December 26) off the coast of Brazil, and after a hotly-contested battle of over two hours, forced the Java to surrender. It was in this engage

ment that the Constitution won the name "Old Ironsides." The American sloop-of-war Wasp, under Captain Jacob Jones, captured the British brig Frolic after a terrific battle off the coast of North Carolina, and a few days later Commodore Decatur, in command of the frigate United States, defeated the Macedonian in an engagement near the Canary Islands.

353. Events of 1813.-At the beginning of 1813 the American troops were under better discipline and were better

center, under General Dearborn, was to operate on the Niagara frontier and Lake Ontario; while the army of the west was expected to regain the territory lost by Hull.

At Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, General Winchester, with a large American force, was captured by Colonel Proctor with a superior force of British and Indians—the savages committing such atrocities as to horrify the entire country and place a stain forever upon the name of Proctor. Thereafter "Remember the Raisin" became the battle cry of the western army. Proctor now invaded Ohio with his horde of savages, besieged Fort Meigs, and attempted the capture of Fort Stephenson where he was gallantly repulsed. Unable to dislodge the Americans, and finding his savages deserting him in large numbers, he hastily returned to his headquarters at Fort Malden in Canada.

But one thing now prevented a successful invasion of Canada by the Americans-a British squadron under Commodore Barclay had full control of Lake Erie. At this juncture Commodore Oliver H. Perry, a young man but twenty-eight years of age, came to the rescue. Perry hastily constructed a fleet of nine vessels, attacked the British squadron, and in a short and thrilling engagement captured (September 10) the entire fleet. "We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop," was the brief dispatch sent by Perry to General Harrison in notifying him of the victory.

General Harrison at once embarked for Canada, drove the British from Fort Malden, and brought Proctor and Tecumseh to bay on the river Thames. Proctor was defeated and put to flight, Tecumseh killed, and the Indian confederacy went to pieces. Thus had the army of the west repelled the invasion of Ohio, gained the control of Lake Erie, dispersed the Indian tribes, and regained Michigan.

At about the same time the Creek Indians in Alabama, incited by the British, took up arms against the United States. They massacred the garrison and settlers at Fort Mimms, and were carrying everything before them when the settlers rose against them and defeated them in several battles. The Creeks, however, continued to give trouble until

the spring of 1814, when Andrew Jackson at the battle of Horseshoe Bend (March 29, 1814) defeated them with fearful slaughter, almost exterminating their entire nation.

Horseshoe Bend

ALABAMA

TERRITORY

Ft. Mimms

FLORID

Pensacola

GULF OF MEXICO

There was much fighting by the army of the center under General Dearborn. Toronto, the capital of Canada, was captured by the Americans, but afterwards abandoned. The British attacked Sackett's Harbor, New York, and though at first successful, were afterwards driven from the place by General Brown. Fort George, on

the Canadian side, was taken by the Americans. About this time both Harrison and Dearborn resigned, and the army of the center, now under General Wilkinson, was directed to coöperate with General Hampton's army of the north for the capture of Mon- .

Lawrence, sunk the British brig Peacock. Captain Lawrence, in command of the Chesapeake, lost both his ship

and his life in an encounter with the British frigate Shannon off the coast of Cape Ann. "Don't give up the ship" the last words of Captain Lawrence-became the motto of the American sailors. American privateers made many captures of British merchant ships during the year. The British, however, still kept up their blockade of American ports, and along the shores of the Delaware and Chesapeake bays marauding bands of sailors sacked and burned many unprotected American villages and towns.

354. Events of 1814.-The British at the beginning of the war had planned the blockade of the Atlantic coast; the conquest of the old Northwest Territory; the invasion of New York; and the pushing of an army through the Lake Champlain region down the Hudson valley for the purpose of cutting off from the rest of the country the people of the New England states, who were known to be opposed to the war. The British thought that the New Englanders might be induced to secede from the United States and possibly form a union with the British provinces in Canada.

But these excellent plans all miscarried. At the beginning of 1814 their blockade was not effective; they had lost every chance of capturing Michigan and Ohio; their invasion of New York had been a failure; and they had not even been able to get an army into the Hudson valley. Moreover, the sailors from the very states which the British had hoped to see annexed to Canada had humbled the pride of the English navy. The world had been astonished at the fighting qualities of the Yankee sailors.

During the year 1814, however, England, on account of the decline of Napoleon's power, was enabled to transfer many of Wellington's veteran troops to the seat of war in America. The British government now resolved on a vigorous prosecution of the war, and determined (1) to push the contest along the entire Canadian border; (2) to effect the destruction of Washington; and (3) to capture the city of

New Orleans, which would thereby give them control of the Mississippi River.

The Americans organized three campaigns to defeat their purpose. In the northern campaign the army of Niagara, under General Winfield Scott, won the battle of Chippewa and the more considerable one of Lundy's Lane. The army in the region of Lake Champlain defeated a British army of invasion, fourteen thousand strong, under General Sir George Prevost, at Plattsburg. At the same time, Commodore MacDonough, in command of the American flotilla on the lake, repeated the brilliant exploit of Perry on Lake Erie in the previous year, driving the British fleet from Lake Champlain. This overwhelming defeat of Prevost reminded the British of Burgoyne's disastrous invasion and led the Exitish government to consider the proposal of a treaty of race.

Fort McHenry

Baltimore

Bladensburg

Washington

Potomac

River

In Augus of this year a British teet entered Chesapeake Bay, defeated

the Americans at Bladensburg, entered Washington, and burned the government buildings. Returning to Baltimore, a land and naval force attacked that city, but the British were repulsed, -Baltimore being gallantly defended by the garrison at Fort McHenry. During this bombardment of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key composed "The Star-Spangled Banner"-the American national air.

The British attack on New Orleans, though organized in 1814, did not take place until January 8, 1815. On that day General Packenham, with an army of twelve thousand men, attacked the city, which was defended by General Andrew Jackson with a militia force comprising but half that number.