History of the American Troops, During the Late War: Under the Command of Cols. Fenton and ...

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Preface

, In presenting the following pages to the public,

the author begs leave to return his warmest thanks to those of his fellow-citizens who have so liberally come forward to aid him in his undertaking. A plain man himself, he has not attempted to embellish his narrative with high-flown language, nor J- to impose upon the credulous, a string of fictitious

^ adventures, but has been content with offering them a

2 plain statement of facts, and as such he hopes it will

^ be acceptable to the American reader.

G It may be necessary to observe that in speaking of

Englishmen, as the author has been forced to do, rather harshly in many places throughout this volume, he does not mean to insinuate that all of that nation are such as he has described ; he has had the pleasure of knowing many, who were an honor to their country, and to whose kindness and gentlemanly conduct he feels happy in having an opportunity to tes- ^^ tify. The contrast, also, which will necessarily be drawn between the conduct of the contending parties, resulting so eminently in favor of our own countrymen, will not be without its effect; as it will prove V to those who at some future day may step forward in ^ defence of their liberties, how much more of real and ^ never fading glory is acquired, by the exercise of i mercy and benevolence to the fallen foe, than even by the greatest valor and most distinguished generalship, unaccompanied by these attributes.

In the compilation of the work, which has been done chiefly from his notes taken at the time, he has been careful to avoid errors ; some, nevertheless, owing to the disadvantages under which they were taken, may have occurred, and for these, should it prove to be so, he would bespeak indulgence.

HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR.

To repel the inroads of the British on the northern frontier, during the year 1814, the governor of the state of Pennsylvania ordered out the militia to the number of one thousand. About one half of this requisition was composed of volunteers from Cumberland county, of fhe eleventh division, and two companies belonging to the same division from Franklin county, and the residue was drawn from the counties of Adams and York. The detachment of the troops to which I belonged, rendezvoused at Gettysburg, on the 28th of February, 1814, and departed from that place on their march to Erie, on the tenth day of March following. On the morning of the following day, major Galloway and myself returned to Gettysburg to hold a court martial for the trial of delinquents, and after several days of arduous exertion, completed our business by the assessment of fines to the amount of upwards of forty-thousand dollars. Hence I returned home, news having reached me that my wife lay dangerously ill of a fever, and remained there for a short time, when upon her being pronounced convalescent, I hastened to join my companions in arms, and reached Erie, on the evening of the same day our troops arrived. We encamped on the margin of the lake, near the fort and about a mile above the town, where we remained without any occurrence of note taking place until the fourteenth of May.

About this time it was made known in camp that an expedition to Long Point was projected, and that volunteers to the number of five hundred stepped forward to assist the regular forces amounting to about four hundred men. The expedition was commanded by Col. Campbell, and all preparations having been completed on the fifteenth, we commenced crossing the lake, and landed on the Canada shore, late on the evening of the sixteenth. A company of dragoons fired on the boats that left the vessel, previous to their reaching the shore, when they put spurs to their horses and immediately rode off. We halted in a piece of woods near the lake, exposed to the rain which poured upon us all that night and next day, having no shelter except the boughs of the trees, under which we rested.

Early next morning, we crossed Buffaloe creek in a large canoe, which we were fortunate enough to find there; our troops were formed in single file, showing our whole force in front, with two small field pieces in the centre of the line, drawn by sailors and marines. In that order we marched for Dover, a very politic and ingenious mode of forming, and one well calculated to impress an enemy unacquainted with the number of our troops, with an idea of our having a very large army in the rear, this appearing only as the advance guard. A little way up the creek was situate a large store house, but it was completely emptied before we reached it, they having had information of our approach, some days before, as will be seen hereafter. We continued our march without opposition, passing over a beautiful plain, covered with luxuriant fields of wheat. When we reached Dover, we found it deserted by all but a few women, who had white clothes hanging upon broomsticks suing for peace. The only hostile demonstration on our part was, the destruction of some mills employed in manufacturing flour for the army, together with some houses occupied as stores, and those belonging to some officers, who, it had been ascertained, had been on the expedition of the burning of Buffaloe and Black Rock some time previous. Every possible respect was paid to the women and children, and the best part of the furniture in the houses which were destroyed, was even carried out by the troops previous to their being set on fire. From what information we could derive from the women, we were led to believe that they had plenty of time to have prepared for our reception, and might even, had they so chosen, prevented our landing, as they had news of our intended expedition ten days before. It appeared strange how such news should have reached them, as it was not currently known, even in our own camp, three days before we embarked, but the mystery was soon cleared up, when after we had been made prisoners. Major Galloway and I recognized in Chippewa, in company with the British officers, a gentleman whom we had formerly seen at Erie in company with our quartermaster; he must have been a spy. We took one man prisoner, whom we carried with us in our retreat. I sat with him until the last boat was ready to push off to the vessel, and then dismissed him, unhurt, and went on board. Strange as it may appear, it is not the less true, that on the very day after the British came to Dover, they burnt all the houses we had left standing, and even hung the poor old fellow whom we had had in custody.

On our return we had tempestuous weather, and were detained on the lake three days, making the continuance of ourjexpedition five days in all. Before we had embarked on the expedition, my company had drawn rations for three days, every pound of which had been left on the shore in consequence of the badness of its quality, so that the poor fellows had nothing but bread to eat for that time ; on the fourth day I prevailed upon the master of the vessel to let me have a barrel of biscuit, and one of pork for my company, which having been hoisted on deck, and the heads taken out, it was really amusing to see how soon they were emptied. In the evening we completed our landing, and arrived in safety at our camp in Erie.

Next day we learned that a general order had been given for our march to Buffaloe, and that preparations for that purpose had been commenced by Col. Fenton, when they were checked for some time by the presentation of a mutinous paper by some of the men selected for that purpose, which paper had been signed by half, if not more, of the privates in the regiment. This instrument set forth that they had determined not to march from camp, until they had received the amount of pay due them for their services, alleging as their apology, that many of them were much at a loss for shoes and other cloathing. In this situation, undecided as to what course we should pursue, we remained for several days, until at length some of the captains of companies, attached to the regiment, conceiving that something more decisive ought to be attempted to compel the mutinous portion of the regiment to return to their duty, addressed a communication to the Colonel, setting forth that they held themselves and companies in readiness to march at a minute's warning. After this a new impulse was given to preparations, and the order of march was fixed for the day following.

But the spirit of mutiny was still alive, and secret resolutions were formed amongst the disaffected, to obey no orders until the terms for which they held out were complied with, and oh the following day when according to the orders, at the third roll of the drum the tents should have fallen, a number remained standing, and those who were willing to obey orders, had to be detached for the purpose of pulling them down, which however, they were permitted to do, unmolested.

While the wagons were lading, I had occasion to proceed to the centre of the regiment, having some business to transact with one of the field officers, and upon my return was waited on by Lieutenant Gardner, who informed me that during my absence a private from Capt. Roberts* company, had been amongst my men encouraging them to stand firm to their agreement, and oppose the march, and had moreover instructed them that the others had agreed to commence forming a line, which he urged them to imitate. This man was supposed to be their ringleader, and to have been appointed their commander. As the first step towards the suppression of this mutiny, I determined upon his arrest, hoping that prompt and decisive conduct in this instance would not be without its effect, in deterring the others from a continuance in the course which they adopted. Accordingly having ascertained from the Lieutenant that he could recognise him, I forthwith proceeded to the place where Roberts' company were stationed, and upon his being pointed out, immediately arrested him, and sent him to the block house, used as a guard house, and under the command of Major Marlin, a regular officer. Returning to my company I found that several of my men had already fallen into line, and that others were quickly following their example. To my demand of why they formed or by lO

whose orders, I was unable to obtain an answer, and ordered them to disperse under pain of immediate arrest, and await the regular orders, which after some little hesitation, I succeeded in accomplishing.

The order was now passed to form line, and prepare to march ; the peaceable portion of the men immediately fell into rank, leaving a number strolling about*, as if undecided what course to pursue. While in the act of walking round, enquiring from each individual his reasons for not obeying orders, and just as I had placed under arrest a couple who were conspicuous as spokesmen, and who had positively and most impertinently refused to comply, I was called to by one of my men, who bid me take care, as one of those in my rear was loading his gun to shoot me. I instantly wheeled round, sprang upon him, wrested the gun from him, and despatched him also to the guard house. The most determined being now removed, and the others left to their own discretion, aided no doubt, in the decision by Major Marlin, who, having loaded the gun in the block house with grape and cannister, commencd running them out of the port holes directed towards us ; the line was promptly formed, the order of march given, and the regiment moved off in perfect order. Another circumstance no doubt, contributed largely in restoring order, viz.: when Captain Roberts was informed that I had placed one of his men under arrest, he immediately sent to Major Marlin, requesting his liberation. Major M. applied to me to know the nature of the offence, for which the prisoner had been committed. Upon my informing him, that he had been sent there for mutinous conduct, his reply was — ** Lwill not release him even at the command of your Colonel, until he has first undergone trial for his offence."

II

This answer was soon rumored about, and perceiving that the business was assuming rather too serious an appearance, the disaffected were somewhat panic struck, and there is every reason to believe that it afforded another and a strong inducement, for their return to duty.

We pursued our march that day over a road running parallel with the lake, and in some places, immediately along the beach for a considerable distance, and found it very fatiguing, owing to the deepness of the sand. The country along the lake shore was generally hilly, and seemed to be well supplied with game. We crossed two or three streams of water on our march, the principal of which was Cattaraugus creek, which we were compelled to cross in a boat. On the opposite side was situated a small village with two or three public houses. Here the soil appeared to be very good, as was the case as far as we could perceive, whenever the road diverged from the margin of the lake. Near the village just mentioned was an Indian settlement, composed of the tribe called the Cattaraugus Indians. After our encampment for the night, which we did upon the bank of the creek, we were visited by a number of them and their squaws, who appeared very much pleased to see us, more particularly as they understood we were going to fight the British, There seemed to be a great scarcity of men in that portion of New-York state, many, I presume, had been killed by the enemy, at the time of the burning of Buffaloe and Black Rock, as they had been called out en masse, previous to that transaction.

In many places along the road, the houses were literally crammed with ladies, collected there to see us as we passed through the county, and here I would strongly recommend all who may be in want of handsome wives to visit the borders of lake Erie, for I have never seen, before or since, in any part of the county, more beautiful and elegant looking ladies.

We at length reached Buffaloe without any disaster, except the loss of a few men by desertion, if indeed such an occurrence may justly be so termed, and found there quite a respectable body of regulars, consisting of two brigades. We encamped and remained there drilling our troops until the second of July, when general orders were issued for embarkation at daylight of the following morning. So unexpected was this order, and so completely had Gen. Brown concealed his intentions, that his officers, not at all suspecting the meditated movement, had actually made preparations for the celebration in camp of the Fourth of July, and had engaged his company at dinner. The immediate consequences, as will be seen, of such good policy on the part of the General, was the capture by surprise of Fort Erie on the third, without bloodshed. To return to our narrative ; the army consisting of two brigades, were landed on the opposite shore without the least opposition. The first brigade under the command of Gen. Scott, and the artillery corps commanded by Major Hurdman, landed nearly a mile below whilst Gen. Ripley with the second brigade made the shore about the same distance above. Thus the fort was soon completely invested. A battery of long eighteens was immediately planted in a position which commanded it, and a flag dispatched, demanding a surrender, and granting two hours for that purpose, at the expiration of which time, the garrison consisting of 137 men, including officers, marched out and surrendered themselves prisoners of war. Several pieces of ordnance and some military stores were found in the fort.

lii It Having reduced Fort Erie, the General immediat6-

y, I ly proclaimed martial law. His proclamation set forth, that persons demeaning themselves peaceably, and atr, tending to their private business should meet with no

id i interruption, whilst those fouijd in arms should be treatid ed as enemies. Private property, he pledged himself, g I should be held inviolate, but public property should be e I seized wherever found, and sold by the commanding 1- 1 General. Plundering was strictly prohibited — from jr- ( the regular army the Major General had no fears, and IS ! those honorable men who had pressed forward to the 1- standard of their country, to avenge her wrongs and gain [g , a name in arms, would scorn to be guilty of any act, a- which might, in even so remote a manner reflect disgrace upon their national character.

The necessary arrangements for the preservation and garrisoning the Fort Erie, being concluded. Gen. r- Brown determined to march forward on the following

;o day, and attack the enemy who lay entrenched in his

TO I works upon the plains of Chippewa. To this resolution, it I considered of a desperate and dangerous character, 1- the General was doubtless urged by the necessity which

1- j he felt existed, to redeem the reputation which had \ff ' been lost by the events of former campaigns — clangers e I and remonstrances were therefore entirely disregarded, -t I The ardor and desire for battle was even increased g I by the knowledge that the* glory of the victory would h be so much the more brilliant, besides having formed

his resolutions and plans, he was determined upon ate ! tempting their execution.

7 Before day-break on the morning of the fifth, it was

d ascertained, that the Colonel to whom orders had been

[- sent by Gen. Porter to supply the troops with three

t. days* provisions, had neglected that necessary precau-

tion ; the consequence was, that a boat had to be despatched to Buffaloe with an order for provisions, which however, did not reach us until about two o'clock in the day, when we were supplied with a couple of biscuits each, being the first which a majority of us had eaten that day. At four o'clock we came in view of the encamp- ' meht of our regular troops, and halted. We had not been many minutes at rest before a requisition was made for volunteers to turn out and drive off the hostile Indians who had been firing on our pickets. Fatigued as we were, having traveled that day about eighteen miles without rations, it is not to be wondered at, that not much alacrity was showed by the men to become of the party. Lieut. Gilleland, Ensign Graff, the surgeon of the volunteers, and myself, laid aside our swords, and borrowing rifles, volunteered as privates ; about three hundred of the volunteers of our own regiment also came forward, and these were strengthened by several hundred Indians, the whole under the command of Gen. Porter, Col. Bull and Major Galloway. I had eaten nothing except one biscuit from the time I had my dinner the day before at Buffaloe, and had even given away the balance of my store, expecting to get a good supper that evening ; but I was doomed to be mistaken.

Orders were issued that every white man who went out under Gen. Porter should leave his hat, and go uncovered. The Indians tied up their heads with pieces of white muslin, and it was really diverting to see them making their preparations for battle. After having tied up their heads, which process must have consumed at least fifty yards of fine muslin, they painted their faces, making red streaks above their eyes and foreheads — they then went to old logs and burnt stumps, and spitting upon their hands rubbed them upon the burnt part, until they were perfectly black, when they drew their fingers down their cheeks leaving large black streaks — after this preparation they were ready for action or marcb. We proceeded in single file through a lane to our left, and in the course of half an hour came in contact with the enemy, who were posted in the woods on our right, and completely concealed from our observation. Immediately upon our entering a long narrow path, they opened upon us with a pretty brisk fire — we faced to the right and pressing forward put them to rout. They continued their flight and we pursued them, keeping up a smart fire, which, from the manner of the position, did considerable damage, until they drew us into rather a perilous situation. The whole British army had crossed the bridge at Chippewa, and drawn up their forces under cover of a piece of woods, near the Niagara river, and running parallel with the Chippewa creek, directly across the creek, where the British batteries commanded the same position. Driving the Indians rapidly through the woods, we at length came in lull contact with the British regular line, which in conjunction with the batteries, opened a most tremendous fire. From the clouds of dust and heavy firing, General Brown concluded that the entire force of the British was in motion, and gave orders to General Scott to advance with his brigade and Towson's artillery, and meet the enemy on the plain in front of the American camp. In a few minutes Scott was in close action with a far superior force of regulars. Major Jessup commanding the battallion on the left flank, finding himself pressed both in front and rear, and his men falling fast, ordered his battallion to support arms and advance, which bold order in the midst of the enemy's hottest fire, was obeyed with a promptness which did them honour. Having advanced within twenty paces of the enemy's Hne, t6

they Were ordered to level and fire, causing such havoc in the enemy's line as forced them to retreat. About this time, also one of our hot shot fell into the enemy's magazine and blew it up — this occurrence silenced their artillery — the whole British force fell back, and being closely pressed by the American troops, retreated in confusion to their entrenchment, about a quarter of a mile distant. Gen. Brown immediately ordered the ordinance to be brought up with the intention of forcing the works, but upon more mature reflection, and by the advice of his officers, he was induced to order the forces back to camp. In this engagement, which resulted so disastrously to the British, a considerable portion of the army, though burning for the conflict, had not an opportunity of coming into action. The conquerors of the veterans of France, were, in fact, defeated by a detachment from the American army. The only troops engaged on the part of Gen. Brown, were Scott's brigade, and the Pennsylvania volunteers, commanded by Porter — the conduct of these men was heroic in the extreme ; wherever they directed their fire, or pointed their bayonets, the boasted " conquerors of the peninsula" fell or fled ; the volunteers, in particular manifested all the coolness and bravery of regular troops. Such was the punishment they received in this engagement, that, although battle was offered them again on their own terms, they shrunk from its acceptance.

The loss of the enemy was nearly six hundred killed, as was ascertained some time afterwards, although they were never willing to acknowledge it so great; they removed, however, off the field, nearly five hundred wounded men before their retreat, and the loss in the woods of the Canadian militia, by our scouting party, was upwards of eighty killed. It was not known i i how many Indians fell, but their loss must have been very great. When our scouting party returned, there were but twenty men missing, five of that number were prisoners, four whites and one Indian.

I was nearly on the extreme right of our line, which was very much extended in our progress through the woods, in consequence of broken trees, thickets, &c., and did not immediately hear the order for retreat, consequently, was slow in following the example of several of those in my rear, whom I perceived retreating ; and it was not until my left had been entirely deserted, and those on my right were rapidly falling away, that I made my way with some others to a field which lay on our right. On coming to the fence, we perceived the British light horse advancing along the opposite side of the field in full speed ; we immediately perceived that our chance of escape in that direction was small, as we would be taken long before we should have crossed. We then shifted our course, keeping under cover of the wood, until we had reached the end of the field, where we fell in with Col. Bull and Major Galloway, who had been more on the left. We were now on the very ground, over which, a short time before, we had driven the Canadians and Indians, and concluded ourselves in perfect safety ; but we had not proceeded more than a few rods, when we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by Indians who had been lying in ambush — unable to surround us all, they had permitted a number of friendly Indians, and several of our volunteers to pass by unmolested, that they might the better secure us. After having disposed of us, a small party of them pursued those whom they had suffered to pass, several of whom, however, made good their retreat.

I

Having disarmed us, the first enquiry was for money.' A large Indian came up to me, calling out *' money, money." — I insisted that I had none. He then seized my coat, which he took off me, another claimed my vest, another my neck-cloth, and so on, until they had stripped me of every article of cloathing, except my shirt and pantaloons. It was fortunate for me my shirt was not ruffled, or they would have taken even that ; they took from me a ruffled sham, which I wore over my shirt ; a fellow had placed his hand upon my watch chain, with a view of drawing it from my pocket, but meeting with some little difficulty in consequence of my pocket being damp from perspiration, he deliberately drew his knife, when not wishing to give the gentleman the trouble of operating, I drew it out and handed it to him.

At the time these savages were stripping me, others were as busily engaged in dealing out in like manner to Col. Bull and Major Galloway — they took the Major's boots, compelling him to walk bare-footed. We proceeded on our march, well guarded, and had not gone more than about half a mile, when an Indian in the rear suddenly whooped loudly, raised his rifle, and shot Col. Bull through the body; the ball entered at the left shoulder, and passed out through the right breast. After he had been shot, he raised himself upon his elbow, and reached out his hand to Major Galloway asking him for assistance. At this moment the fellow who had fired came up, sunk his tomahawk in his head, scalped him, and left his body where he fell ; thus perished as gallant, and noble hearted a fellow, as ever drew the sword in defence of his country. I was then unable to account for an act so contrary to all laws of warfare, and expected every moment that we should have shared the fate of our unfortunate friend.

I was afterwards informed by a Canadian gentleman, with whom I had formed an acquaintance while at Ives' Creek, that the murder was committed in compliance with the order of Gen. Rial, who had given the Indians positive instructions not to spare any who wore the uniform of militia officers, he at the same time gave them a minute description of the dress of the militia and regular officers, the latter of whom, should any be captured, they were ordered to bring into camp in safety. Now if Gen. Rial gave such orders, and that he did, I have good reason to believe, how very degrading to a civilized people is such conduct, how barbarous, worse, infinitely worse than the cruelty of the untutored savage ? Startled by the whoop, I had just looked over, my shoulder, and was struck motionless, petrified, by the sight ; but my conductors did not allow me much time for contemplation, but hurried me forward at even a more rapid rate.

That we were not murdered as we expected, was owing to our being dressed in the uniform of the regular troops, with which we had provided ourselves before our departure from Gettysburg — the unfortunate Colonel was dressed in the old uniform of the Pennsylvania militia, and met his disastrous fate in consequence of a trifling inattention — so frail and slender are the threads upon which human life and human prosperity are dependent. Col. Bull was a man of sober and exemplary habits, and highly esteemed by the soldiery — he was a pious man, and his mind had a strong religious cast. Whilst at Erie, the most part of his Sabbaths were spent in the hospitals, in reading conversing upon, and explaining the scriptures to the sick and disabled — but to return to our narrative, the savages who conducted me, were now hurrying me forward at a trot. Several times during our flighti