NEW MEN ON THE STAGE.

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men were coming on the stage. The most promising of CHAP. these was Colonel Jacob Brown, a Pennsylvanian by birth, a Quaker by descent, who, when a school teacher in the 1814. city of New York, attracted the attention of Hamilton, who made him his military secretary in the army of 1798. Brown subsequently removed to the northern part of New York State, and there, in his defence of Ogdensburg, as well as on other occasions, exhibited military talents of a high order. There was another youthful hero, destined to fill an honorable space in the military annals of his country. Winfield Scott, a native of Virginia, originally bred for the bar; he also belonged to the army of '98. At the commencement of the war he raised and commanded a company of volunteers. To these may be added Eleazar W. Ripley, of Maine, who possessed talents of a high order.

These young and enthusiastic officers believed that if the Americans were drilled, and led by commanders in whom they had confidence, they would meet the British regulars without fear for the result. Owing to their solicitations, another invasion of Canada was planned. Nothing, however, was gained by the effort, except the verification of their theory.

Early in the spring, Wilkinson, who had been ill for months, moved with four thousand men, from winter quarters, to repel a British detachment. His progress was arrested near La Colle, at a stone mill, held as an outpost. The single heavy cannon brought to batter down the mill, sunk in the mire. An unusual thaw commencing, flooded the whole country, and opened Lake Champlain, of which the British had control. The Americans were fain to retire from the danger as soon as possible. Wilkinson was so much abused and ridiculed on account of this failure, that he indignantly resigned, and demanded an inquiry into his conduct by a court-martial.

One year from that time, he was honorably acquitted by the court. But the government, which he had faith

Mar

XLIV.

CHAP fully served for forty years, on the reduction of the army after the war, dismissed him from its service. Thus in 1814. his old age he experienced the hardship of being turned upon the world without a competency. The State of Maryland came forward, and generously granted him a pension.

July

2.

When spring further opened, a concentration of forces on both sides resulted in a series of movements and countermovements accomplishing nothing of importance. The first point resolved upon, was to seize Burlington Heights, at the head of Lake Ontario, before aid could come from York. In the mean time, Commodore Chauncey was to get the command of the lake.

Having obtained permission from the government, General Brown, with thirty-five hundred men, some regulars and some volunteers, passed in the night from Buffalo to Canada, presented himself in the morning before Fort Erie, and summoned the garrison to surrender. In the course of the day, the fort complied.

The British General Riall, with an army equal in number to that of Brown, was stationed behind the Chippewa, distant fifteen miles. Colonel Scott, the next day, led the advance against the enemy, whose outposts he drove in; the remainder of the army came up at midnight. Brown here gave an indication of what he expected of his officers; he cashiered one of their number for untimely retreating in a skirmish. On the following day, Riall left his intrenchments and crossed the Chippewa. The volunteers could not resist the attack, but fled, leaving Scott's brigade exposed. The latter charged the advancing enemy with the bayonet, and forced them to retreat; as they passed the bridge they destroyed it. Riall immediately abandoned his camp and Queenstown, and leaving a strong force in Fort George, retreated to a favorable position twelve miles distant. The British loss in these engagements was about five hundred, the American about three hundred

THE BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE.

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This first victory, after a fair trial of strength, was very CHAP. gratifying to the Americans, privates as well as officers. Brown took possession of Queenstown, but found he had 1814. not the proper cannon to successfully attack Fort George, and that the fleet could not co-operate. After maintain- July ing his position three weeks, he fell back to the Chippewa.

The British were not idle. On the very day that Brown reached the Chippewa, General Drummond arrived from York at Fort George, with large reinforcements. To prevent them from sending a detachment to destroy his stores at Schlosser, Brown made an advance upon the enemy. Scott led his brigade, accompanied by the artillery commanded by Towson. General Riall was advancing in force in an opposite direction, intending on the following morning to attack the Americans. About sunset, when directly opposite the falls of Niagara, these parties unexpectedly met. The British took position on a rising ground, and there placed their artillery, consisting of seven pieces. These began to play upon Scott's brigade, while, because of their position on the hill, balls from Towson's guns could scarcely reach them. The loss of the Americans was great, yet they maintained their position, expecting Brown with the main army. When it was quite dark, he arrived. One of Scott's regiments under Major Jessup drove the Canadian militia before them, and, gaining the rear of the enemy, captured a number of prisoners, among whom was General Riall himself, who having been wounded, was retiring. It was seen that the key of the position was the park of artillery on the hill. Said Ripley to Colonel James Miller: "Can you take that battery ?" "I'll try, sir," was the prompt reply. Then silently leading his regiment, which was partially concealed by the fence of a churchyard, along which they passed, Miller rushed upon the artillerists, and drove them from their guns at the point of the bayonet. Presently General Drummond advanced in the darkness to recover the

24.

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July

25.

CHAP. guns; but his men quailed before the terrible fire which they encountered. He rallied them again; and again 1814. they were forced from the hill. With the energy of desperation, for the third time they advanced, and were again met with a resistance equally obstinate, the opposing forces fighting hand to hand with the bayonet. It was now midnight. The British sullenly retired. The Americans had maintained their ground, supplying their own exhausted ammunition from the cartridge-boxes of their slain foes. The men were almost perishing with hunger, thirst and fatigue. They had marched during the day fifteen miles, and contended with the enemy five hours. Exhausted, they sank upon the ground. The silence was broken only by the groans of the wounded and dying, and the roar of the mighty cataract, whose moaning tones was a fit requiem for the dead on that field of blood.

The Americans at length retired to their camp, not having horses or any means to carry off the guns which they had captured. The scouts of the enemy soon discovered that they had retired, and a strong detachment was sent to reoccupy the hill and recover their artillery.

Such was the midnight battle of Bridgewater, or Lundy's Lane. The Americans lost nearly seven hundred and fifty men-and the British nearly nine hundred; an unprecedented loss, when compared with the number engaged. Brown and Scott were both wounded; as well as nearly all the regimental officers. The next morning there were but sixteen hundred effective men in the American camp. It was now seen that the Americans, when properly led, could and would fight. They had met the veterans who fought under Wellington in Spain, and repulsed them in three desperate encounters. This battle stood out in bold relief, when compared with the imbecility hitherto so characteristic of the campaigns on the northern fron

BRITISH REPULSED--BATTLE ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN.

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tier. It acquired a national interest, as important in its CHAP. effect as the first naval victories.

XLIV.

15.

The American army fell back to Fort Erie, the com- 1814. mand of which Brown intrusted to Colonel Edmund P. Gaines. In the course of a fortnight, Drummond advanced with four thousand men, and after bombarding the fort, attempted at midnight to carry it by assault. The British, in the face of a destructive fire, charged again and again, even within a few feet of the intrench- Aug. ments. They were finally forced to retire, after sustaining a loss of nearly a thousand men-the Americans not losing a hundred. In a few weeks the energetic Brown, now partially recovered from his wounds, assumed the command. He determined to make a dash at the enemy's batteries, which were two miles in advance of their camp. The time, mid-day, was well chosen. Rushing out from Sept. the fort, before assistance could come from the British camp, he stormed the batteries, fired the magazines, spiked the guns, captured four hundred prisoners, and returned to the fort, leaving six hundred of the enemy killed and wounded. But this brilliant exploit cost him nearly three hundred men. Drummond immediately raised the siege and retreated beyond the Chippewa.

17.

Stirring events occurred on another part of the frontier. The little navy on Lake Champlain emulated the deeds of the one on Lake Erie just a year before. General Prevost, himself, marched from Canada with twelve thousand veteran troops to invade the State of New York -the town of Plattsburg was the special object of attack. There on the south bank of the Saranac, General Macomb was intrenched with an army of three thousand men, many of whom were invalids. The main body of the American forces was under General Izard, at Sackett's Harbor. Macomb called upon the militia of Vermont and Sept New York for aid; three thousand of whom nobly responded, as did their fathers thirty-seven years before,

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