British line like a tornado, routing it so completely that no attempt was ever made to rally, and Proctor himself fled with a few followers, to be seen no more on the field. Tecumseh, with his Indians, made a better stand. Posted in a marshy spot, they were not so easily routed. Johnson dismounted his men, and broke through to their rear; even then they would not yield, but hurled themselves on the infantry, till checked by old General Shelby. Amid the din of battle rose the voice of Tecumseh, encouraging his braves, till he fell, surrounded by the flower of his warriors.

This battle of the Thames, the glory of Harrison and Colonel Richard M. Johnson, by whose hand Tecumseh is supposed to have fallen, completely broke the power of the English in the West. Michigan was recovered, the Indians completely crushed, and Upper Canada menaced from the South and West. All that Hull had lost was now regained, and even the cannon he surrendered, trophies of Saratoga and Yorktown, were again restored to American custody.

But if the Indian enemy at the North was checked, the influence of Tecumseh and the Prophet had worked mischief at the South. That chief had, in 1812, visited the Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws. The young Creek braves rallied to his call. The settlements in Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi, were ravaged by the savage foe, who obtained arms and ammunition from the British. Emboldened by success, they next attacked Fort Mimms, in August, 1813, taking it by surprise, and putting the garrison to death, only seventeen out of three hundred and fifty escaping. The threatened States then put forces in the field; Tennessee in the van, with her brave sons, under General Jackson. The Choctaws joined the Americans, and did good service. On the 2d of November, General Coffee advanced on the Creek town,

Tallushatchee. They did not wait to be attacked, but went out to meet him with such fury, that they were with difficulty repulsed. Even then they kept up the battle, refusing quarter till they were almost all killed. A few days after, Jackson, protecting the friendly Creeks of Talladega, fought another desperate battle. At the close of November, General Floyd, of Georgia, obtained another signal victory at Autossee, the Creek metropolis, on the Tallapoosa. The Indians were utterly defeated, the King and two hundred of his braves slain, and the town given to the flames.

Thus far, the inhuman English policy of arming savages against the American frontiers, so as to weaken and divide the national forces, had utterly failed. It brought destruction only on those who had been lured on by the English envoys.

Meanwhile, the American commander-in-chief, General Dearborn, lay inactive in Canada. But the English were not disposed to allow an invader to hold a position on their soil undisturbed. Colonel Bishop, with a small force, determined to operate in the American rear, and cut off Dearborn's supplies. He encircled his camp, occupied Fort Erie, and crossing over to Black Rock, on the American side, on the 11th of June, dispersed the militia, and destroyed all the cannon and provisions stored there. A body of regulars, militia, and Indians, however, hurried up from Buffalo, and a second engagement took place, in which Colonel Bishop was killed, and his troops compelled to retreat.

Other minor operations were carried on by both sides, but Dearborn was not relieved. To open communications, he sent Colonel Boerstler, to attack a British force at Beaver Dams, collect provisions, and encourage friendly Canadians. That officer, attacked in the woods by a few regu

lars under Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, and some Indians, Boerstler supposed that he was surrounded by a British army, and surrendered with his whole force.

Colonel Winfield Scott, convoyed by Chauncey, made another dash at York, in July, destroyed more British stores, and rescued some American prisoners.

General Dearborn, inefficient from age, was recalled in June, and General Wilkinson appointed to command the army of the centre.

A new and more vigorous plan of action was projected by General Armstrong, Secretary of War. It was resolved to capture Montreal. Early in November, seven thousand men under Wilkinson moved down the St. Lawrence in boats from French Mills. The British were on the alert, and annoyed him so much from the shore, and from gunboats in his rear, that he was compelled to land and come to action. The battle of Chrysler's Field was severely contested-the Americans losing General Covington and three hundred men-but enabled him to advance to St. Regis. There he learned that the army under Hampton, which was to co-operate with him, had fallen back ; it had been checked in its advance by a small Canadian force under Salaberry, at Chateaugay, on the 21st of October. Wilkinson, finding Hampton indisposed to co-operate with him, retired to winter quarters, nothing at all having been effected.

General Harrison, dissatisfied with the state of affairs on the New York frontier, returned to the West, leaving the command on the Niagara frontier to General McClure. The American forces there were chiefly militia, and when the time of service for which they had been called out expired, they left, refusing to stay even for the large bounty offered. Unable to hold his ground in Canada, General McClure de

stroyed Fort George, and returned to New York State, having first wantonly set fire to the town of Newark. Provoked at this, Prevost, the English commander, crossed the river, took Fort Niagara, put the garrison to the sword, and burned every village up to Niagara Falls, while another detachment of his army gave Black Rock and Buffalo to the flames, and destroyed a part of Perry's fleet. Prevost then, in a proclamation, justified his conduct, but offered to conduct the war on more humane principles, if the Americans would pursue a similar course. And for all the pillaging and incendiary expeditions, of the English against the American towns and cities, England always gave this same excuse.

Thus ended the campaign of 1813 on land.

On the ocean there were many engagements, some of them severe naval battles between the cruisers of the rival powers. But the chief service of the British fleet was the blockade of American ports; and on the Southern coast, where Admiral Cockburn, known as the Henroost Admiral, commanded, they plundered the country in a most unheard

of fashion.

The American shipping in the Delaware River was destroyed by this buccaneering admiral, in March, 1813, and the next month he cannonaded the town of Lewiston. Entering the Chesapeake, he plundered and burned Frenchtown, Havre de Grace, Georgetown, and Frederictown. While attempting to reach Norfolk, his fleet was repulsed by the Americans upon Craney Island, under the command of Major Faulkner.

Few of the American frigates could get to sea. One of these, the Hornet, Captain Lawrence, in February, discovered the Peacock, an English brig-of-war, at anchor near Demerara. Although of superior

force, Lawrence cleared for action, and ordered his men to quarters. The two vessels exchanged broadsides, but Lawrence soon ran him close on board on the starboard quarter, and kept up such a telling fire, that in fifteen minutes the British commander struck, hoisting a signal of distress, for she was actually cut to pieces: her mainmast went by the board as she struck, and before all her crew could be got off she went down, carrying three of the Hornet's men with her.

The success of the American navy in the previous engagements had elated them greatly, and led to rashness. The Shannon, a British vessel, had been cruising for some time off Boston Harbor, defying any American vessel in port to come out and meet her. Captain Lawrence, just appointed to the Chesapeake, stung at this challenge, resolved to accept it. The equipment of his vessel was not complete, he had not his full complement of officers, his crew had just been shipped, and had received little drilling, but he resolved to meet the Shannon, and sailed out, June 1st, 1813. The Shannon opened, doing fearful execution, but the Chesapeake answered with terrible broadsides. At last, however, she got locked to the Shannon by one of her anchors, so that she was exposed to a raking fire. Captain Lawrence was mortally wounded just as he was about to board. There were no officers left to lead on the men, and in the confusion, Captain Brooke boarded the Chesapeake, which struck, in spite of Captain Lawrence's dying words : "Don't give up the ship." This sea-fight is one of the bloodiest on record. It lasted only fifteen minutes, yet in that brief space, a hundred and forty-six were killed and wounded on the Chesapeake, and eighty-three on the Shannon.