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Preface

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A full and correct account of the military occurrences of the late war between Great Britain and the United States of America : with an appendix and plates / by William James.

10178878

38080003173661

A full and correct account of the military occurrences of the late war between Great Britain and the United States of America : with an appendix and plates / by William James.

Type

Text

extracted text

2')'1" 1 3
p

s
TO

LIEUT.- COLONEL JOHN HARVEY, C. B.
DEPUT Y.ADJUTANT.GENERAL OF HIS MAJESTY'S FORCES
IN THE CANAD S
WHO,
BESIDES DISTINGUISHING HIMSELF ON SEVERAL
OTHER OCCASIONS,

DURING THE LATE AMERICAN WAR,
DID,
AT MIDNIGHT, ON THE FIFTH OF JUNE,

•

1813,

LEAD THE ADVANCE OF AN ATTACK,
PLANNED BY HIMSELF,
IN

WHICH

SEVEN HUNDRED AND FOUR BRITISH
SURPRISED,
AND, AFTER A SHORT STRUGGLE,

DROVE FROM THEIR FORTIFIED ENCAMPMENT,
NEAR STONEY CREEK,
—

IN

UPPER CANADA,

THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AMERICANS:
AN EXPLOIT
WHICH TENDED, IN A HIGH DEGREE, TO THE SAFETY OF TWO

VALUABLE BRITISH PROVINCES;

THIS WORK
IS
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BY

THE AUTHOR.

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.
A.
ABBOTT, Wm. esq.
Adair, A. esq.
Adlington, Thomas, esq.
Admiralty, the hon. lords commissioners of the,
Allen, John, esq.

20 copies.

Anglesey, lieutenant generalthe marquess of, G.C.B.
Arbuthnot, lieutenant-colonel the honorable Henry.
Arronsmith, Aaron, esq.
Atcheson, Nathaniel, esq. F.A.S.
Baker, John, esq.
Banks, William, esq.
Barnes, William, esq.
, Thomas, esq.

B.

Bartholomew, D. E. esq. captain R.N. and C.B.
Bathurst the right honorable earl, K.G. and F.A.S.
Beazley, i harles, esq.
Beresford, rear-admiral sir John Poo, hart.
Black, Kingsbury, Parbury, and Allen,
250 copies.
Blake, J. esq.
Booth, Mr. John,
20 copies.
Bowdery and Kerby, Messrs.
12 copies.
Brace, Edward, esq. captain R.N. and C.B.
Brisbatie, major-general sir Thomas, K.C.B.
Briscoe, lieutenant, R. Eng. Quebec.
Broke, sir Philip Bowes Vere, bart. captain R. N. and
K. C. B.
3 copies.
—, lieutenant-colonel sir Charles, K.C.B.
, major, 58th foot.
Brown, John, esq.
Burke, captain G. T. 99th foot, Quebec.
-

SUBsLitIBERS' NAMES.

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.

C.

Grant, major-general sir Charles, K.C.B.
Alexander, esq. Jamaica.
Gray, the reverend Benjamin G. Halifax, Nova Scotia, 3 copies.
Green, John, esq. Griffith, George Edward, esq.

Campbell, John, esq.
Canterbury, his grace, the lord archbishop of.
Carter, J. esq.
Chambers, S. esq.
Christie, captain Brath. 5th dragoon guards.
Clarke, Thomas, esq. Upper Canada.
Clinton, W. B. esq.
Cockburn, rear-admiral sir George, K.C.B.
lieutenant-colonel, .D. Q. M. G. Quebec.
Cole, sir Christopher, captain R.N. K.C.B. and M.P.
, lieutenant-general the hon. sir George Lowry, G.C.B.
Coffin, lieutenant-colonel, A. G. of militia, Upper Canada.
Collins, Enos, esq. Halifax, Nova Scotia.
30 copies.
and Allison, messrs. ditto.
Cradock, general sir John F. G.C.B. and K.C.
D.
Davis, Thomas, esq.
Dennis, major, 49th foot.
Digby, Stephen Thomas, esq. captain R.N.
Donaldson, J. esq.
Drummond, John, junior, esq.
E.
Eaton, Mr. George, Halifax, Nova
Scotia.

2 copies.

J.
25 copies.

Ellis, John, esq.
Eppes, William J. esq.
F.
Fisher, William, esq.
, captain.
Fitton, Michael, esq.
Forbes, John, esq.
Fowler, captain, D. A. Q. M. G. Quebec.
Fraser, William, esq. Halifax, Nova Scotia.
G.
Gerrard, John, esq.
Gibson, John, esq.
Gordon, major-general, sir James Willoughby, K.C.B.
John, esq.

H.
Hamilton, J. esq.
Hammond, James, esq.
Hanchett, J. M. esq. captain R.N. and C.B.
Hardy, —, esq.
Harrison, Richard, esq.
Harvey, lieutenant-colonel, D. A. G. Quebec,
Heath, J. esq.
Henderson, major, R. Eng. Quebec.
Hill, James, esq.
Hooper, lieutenant-colonel Henry.
Hordwine,
esq. barrack-master, Quebec.
Ilotham, rear-admiral sir Henry, K.C.B.
Hunter, vice-admiral.
Hurd, Thomas, esq. captain R.N.
Hutchinson, general lord, G.C.B. and K.C.
Jackson, John, esq.
James, major Charles.
— Thomas, esq. M.D.
Jennings, Mr. Robert,
Johnson, John, esq.
Jones, William, esq.

12 copies.

K.
Kemp, William, esq.
Kendall, Edward Augustus, esq. F.A.S.
2 copies.
Kenyon, the right honorable lord, F.S.A. and L.L.D.
King, the yeverend J. rector of Witnesham, Suffolk
—, John, esq.
Knowles, John, esq.
•
L.
Lambert, major-general sir John, K.C.B.
Larkins, captain, H. E. I. C. ship Warren Hastings.

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.
Larkins, J. P. esq. Calcutta.
Layman, William, esq. captain R.N.
Lemon, Charles, esq.
Lewis, John, esq.
Librarj , the Quebec garrison.
— the royal marine, at Woolwich.
Liverpool, the right honorable the earl of, K.G.
Lockwood, Anthony z esq. Halifax, Nova Scotia.
M.
Maberly, John, csq. M. P.
Macdonnell, lieutenant colonelGeorge.
Malcolm, rear-admiral sir Pultney, K.C.B.
Maples, John F. esq. captain R. N. and C.B.
Martin, H. esq.
, major, 99th foot, Quebec.
Mason, —, esq. barrack-master, ditto.
Medley, William, esq.
Melville. the right honorable viscount.
Metcalfe, A esq.
Middleton, sir William, baronet.
Miller, John, 'esq.
Morehead, ensign, D1 A. general's office, Quebec.
Morris, John, esq.
Mulgrave, general, the right honorable the earl of, F.S.A.
Mare, John, esq. Lower Canada.
Murray, lieuteuent•general sir George, G.C.B.
N.

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.
Phillips, J. esq.
Pilkington, quarter-master 99th foot, Quebec.
Plenderleath, lieutenant-colonel, C.B.
Powell, John, esq.
Pratt, William, esq.
Price, James, esq.
Pudner, captain.
R.
Reynolds, Mr. William, St. John's, New Brunswick,
10 copies.
- --, lieutenant-general.
Richardson, John, esq. Lower Canada.
— M., esq.
50 copies.
William esq.
sq.
Richmond, his grace the duke of, K.G.
Robertson, William, esq.
Robinson, J. esq.
Rogers, Robert, esq.
Ross, William, esq.
Ryland, W. H. esq. Quebec.

S.

Pack, major-general sir Denis, K.C.B.

Saunders, John, esq.
Scott, John, esq.
Shaw, John,' esq.
Sidmouth, the right honorable viscount.
Simpson, John, esq.
Sims, James, esq.
Skegg, W. H. esq.
Skekelton, major, Quebec.
Smith, Thonias, esq.
—, William, esq.
Souter, Mr. John,
Stewart, James, esq.
Strahan, the reverend doctor, York, U. Canada.

Patterson, James, esq.
Parry, William, esq.
Pearson, J. esq.
Percival, M. H. esq. Quebec.

T.
Tate,
esq.
Taylor, William, esq.
, lieutenant-colonel, I. F. 0. Quebec.

Nichol, Robert, esq. Upper Canada.
Nicolls, major Edward, R. M.
Niel,' J. P. esq.
0.
Owen, John, esq.
P.

12 copies.

1

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.
Thomas, captain, 99th foot, Quebec.
Thompson, J. T. esq.
„ esq. captain R. N.
Thurston, Thomas, esq.
Times newspaper, proprietors of the.
Torrens, major-general sir Henry, K.C.B.
Torrington, rear-admiral the right hon. viscount, D.C.L. F.R.S. ,

U.
Usborne, Henry, esq.
V.
Valentine, lieutenant, 99th foot, Quebec.
Vincent, major-general.
Vivian, major-general, sir Hussey, K.C.B.
W.
Wakerbarth,
esq.
Walker, James, esq.
Warner, Edward, esq.
Warren, Frederick, esq. captain R.N.
Weeks, captain, Montreal.
Wellington, field-marshal his grace the duke of, K.G. and
G.C.B.
Welsh, James, esq.
, Thomas, esq.
Wright, lieutenant-colonel, royal engineers.
Y.
Yco, sir James Lucas, captain R.N. and K.C.B.
York, field-marshal his royal highness the duke of, K.G. and
G.C.B.

PREFACE.

THE length of time that has elapsed since
the appearance of the work to which this
bears so close a relation, has arisen out of
the delays and difficulties experienced by
the author in collecting materials ; few of
which were in his possession, when he promised
the public to extend his labors, beyond the
naval, to the military, occurrences of the
late American war.
Immediately on the publication of his former
volume, he transmitted copies to some of the
principal reviewers in the United States;
hoping to have it in his power, through
the medium of the present work, to correct
any mistatements that he may have made, •
upon a topic so interesting to the two nations.
Beyond one or two newspaper paragraphs,
first misnaming, and then calumniating, the

X11

PREFACE.
PREFACE.

Xiii

author, nothing of the kind has yet reached
him. He has, however, been favored with

gamboling dolphins, tridents, wreaths of laurel,

the sight of an American periodical work,

&c. displayed, as if in terrorenz, at the com-

entitled,—' Analectic Magazine and Naval

mencement of every fresh quotation from the

Chronicle;' which contains, among its ,pages,

'Synopsis,' will digress no further, than till he

some very copious remarks upon an article

has exposed some half a dozen of the American

in the British

reviewer's mis-statements ; thence submitting,

'

Naval Chronicle,' headed

SYNOPSIS OF NAVAL ACTIONS BETWEEN THE SHIPS
OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY AND OF THE UNITED
STATES, DURING THE LATE WAR; BY A BRITISH
NAVAL OFFICER ON THE AMERICAN STATION: 9-

the latter consisting of extracts from a series
of letters, signed ' Boxer,' forwarded by the
author, (but who had neither designated himself as, nor can claim the honor to he, a
British naval Officer,') from Halifax, Nova
Scotia ; and becoming, afterwards, the groundwork of the author's pamphlet in Halifax,
and subsequent volume in this country.
As the present is a military work, the
author, after bestowing a passing glance
of -admiration upon the flashy vignette of
* ' An Inquiry, &c,'

as a fair inference, what degree of credit is
cite to the remainder of that gentleman's
assertions.
Not being a ' naval officer,' the author
could have no esprit de corps to bias his
judgment. All inuendoes on that head, and
pretty numerous' they are, may therefore be
-blotted out of the piece. The same fate, for
(as one may suppose) the same reason, must
attend the commencing charge, that the production came abroad under the sanction of
the admiralty.'
Any railing at the- author's affected arithmetical precision' t can but create a smile,
when the American reviewer is compelled,
Analectic Mag . and Naval Chronicle, Vol VII. p. 295.
j Ibid. 302.
.

-

PREFACE.
PREFACE.

XV

for lack of argument, to pass by the cyphering business:* It is that cyphering
business,' that debtor and creditor account,''
in the naval warfare between the two countries, that is fast withering the laurels, with
which one of them has, of late, so strutted
in caricatura.
Who it is that weighs balls with the most
minute precision,' let American naval officers
and American naval histories tell.§
The author, although he is no naval officer,'
would be ashamed to be convicted of having
stated, that the loss of a ship's jib-boom' is
equal, in point of importance, to the loss of a
brig's main-yard.' 11 But, in truth, was the
Wasp without her jib-boom ? If so, as she carried it away three days before the action,t her
officers and crew must have been very negligent

in not having rigged a fresh one ; and Me
Coyne,' the Boston painter, and his employer,
' A. Bowen,' the Boston engraver, are chargeable with unpardonable inaccuracy, for having
given to the Wasp, in their representation of
the Frolic's capture,* a ' jib-boom,' and no
short one either. After stating that the Wasp's
crew consisted, in reality, of only 110,1- the
writer does not proceed far in his magazine of
wonders;:t before he introduces the following
paragraph: ' They (the American captain and
one of his officers) testified, on oath, that the
whole number of persons on board the Wasp,
previous to the action, was 137;' §—actually
within one of the author's statement.t
In the very teeth of, American official
papers,11 does this American writer allege,
that complaint' was made, when several

* Analectic Mag. and Nay. Chron. Vol. VII. p. 307•
I Ibid. p. 304.
4. Ibid. 302.
§ Naval History of the United States, Vol. I. p. 179—
American Naval Monument, O. 141. 181.—James's Naval
Occurrences, p. 10. 124. 365.
Analectic Mag. and Naval Chron. Vol. VII. p. 388.
Naval Monument, p. 1 3.

Naval Monument, p. 13.
Analectic Mag. and Nay. Chronicle, Vol. VII. p. 387.
§ Ib. 487.
lb. 382.
¶ James's Naval Occurrences, p. 1.52.
Nav-Monument, p. 63.—James's Nay. Occurr. p. 223.

PRE FACt.
XVi

PREFACEi

him an opportunity of doing justice to his
of the crew of the Chesapeake were killed,
by firing down the gangway.' 4'
To the fabulous account,' that the vessel

brother-officers late of the Plantaganet.
After, in several instances, flatly contradict-

4

said to have declined engaging the President
off Sandy Hook, was not a small frigate,'
the Loire,- but the Plantaganet 74 ' nothing
4

5

was wanted but the trial of her commanding
officer.'.* This trial our candid' reviewer

ing his own official accounts, the American
reviewer puts European gravity to the test, by
declaring, first, that his government made war
in defence of the universal rights of man,'
and next, that the modest,' or, as recently

4

is authorized to affirm' took place at Bermuda. By way of corroborating, what must
appear to all but him and his party as, an
absurd and ridiculous story,' he brings to his
aid—' the express admission of an officer of
marines, then in the squadron cruizing off
New York, and now a consul in one of
our ports.' Who can this be but lieutenant
Patrick Savage, at that time of the Narcissus
frigate, and now, or lately, consul at Norfolk,
Virginia ?—It is to be hoped that the state-

and more truly styled, arrogant,' commodore
Perry, when he filched the commencing words
of Nelson's letter, t. was paying his lordship
a high compliment.'t
Had the writer in the American ' Naval
Chronicle' employed less acrimony,' and
more research, in his calling, he might have
received the author's thanks for pointing out
several real ' inaccuracies,' particularly as to
the size and armaments of the American ships.
But these inaccuracies,' along with the hated
cyphering business,' he has let pass by,' to
4

ment will meet his eye, if only to afford

* Analectic Mag. and Nay. Chron. vol. V W, p. 185.
* Analectic Mag. and Nay. Chron. Vol. VII. p. 388.
t James's Naval Occurrences, p. 324.
Analectic ag. and Nay. Chron. Vol. VIII. p. 136.

t Ib. 145.
James's Nay. Occurr. p. 294.
4

vOL. T.

.

PREAFCE.

PREFACL

be rectified by the author himself, in his two
works, that followed, in quick succession, that

lucrative to the American iifess, in general,
and to the American Naval Chronicle,' in

little hastily-drawn sketch, which, the Ameri-

particular.

XViii

XiX

can reviewer, not having seen those works, is

What language contained in the "Synopsis,'

pleased to say, appears to contain all that has

Written when' the two countries were at war,

hitherto been urged, as well as every thing that

equals, in falsehood, absurdity, or intended
severity,' the assertion; made while the two

can be urged, in extenuation of the numerous
as he more truly than consistently adds, which

countries are at peace, that American officers
are more brave than their rivals' ?*

is in reality an indifferent production.'t If so,
therefore; and if the production' teems with

How much moderation, candour,' and
discernment, thewriter of the American review

admissions,' such as British officers' ought

can bring into discussion, when his country

to ' feel mortified at,' why is the American
reviewer, in his candid' examination of it, so

is a party, may be gathered from his comparing,—without meaning it in irony,—' the

extremely irritable ? Even his own countrymen, the gentle' readers for whose entertain-

battle of New Orleans,' with the battles of
Cressy and Agincourt.'t

ment he has labored and sweated so much, will

This sudden change from naval to military

attribute his anger to the dilemma into which
he is placed, by the novel' way of weighing

warfare recalls the author's attention to the
subject i mmediately before him. The first

and measuring, by the pound and by the
foot4 battles' that have turned out so

point he would press upon the reader's attention

disasters of England during the last war ;'* but,

'

6

Analectic Mag. and Nay. Chron. Vol. VII. p. 289.
lb. Vol. VII. p. 307.
t Ib. p. 295.

6

'

-

is, that the system of tactics adapted to the
Analectic Mag. and Nay. Chron. Vol. VII. p. 306.
t lb. p. 294.

b2

XX

PREFACE.

PREFACE.

XXI

cultivated plains of Europe cannot be practised

formidable: an open country, and a struggle

amidst the wild regions of America. Woods,

with the bayonet, he alike avoids, as the

precipices, creeks, and morasses, are tra-

bane of his hopes.

versed with ease by native troops, while a

Nearly the whole of the military contests

body of the best disciplined foreigners is

treated of in these volumes were carried on

either opposed in its advance by insurmount-

amidst the thinly inhabited, and, of course, but

able obstacles, or led into an ambush, where

slightly cultivated, parts of North-America.

the more ardent the courage, the greater is

The reader whose mind is filled with the

the slaughter, the more certain the defeat.

justly celebrated fame of British troops must,

The British soldier can seldom trace his

therefore, be careful how he forms an opinion

acquaintance with fire-arms beyond the day

upon the merits of the combatants. He

of his enlistment ; but the American soldier

should recollect, that the American troops

has been accustomed, from his infancy, to

fought their battles upon their own ground ; and

the free use of the most destructive of all

obtained, in consequence, a decided local supe-

fire-arms, the rifle.

No laws have interfered

r:3rity over the British sent out against them.

to restrain him from amusing his fancy, or
furnishing his table, with the game that so

Viewed thus, it cannot be objected, if all

abundantly surrounds his home ; and the

American troops, other than where batteries

daily toils of the huntsman, while they have

are concerned, be founded upon the principle

fitted his body for enduring, without fatigue,

of—not a presumed inequality of powers,

the longest marches, have familiarized him to

but—man for man, or unit for unit.

estimates of relative force between British and

the intricacies of his native forests. Where

The historian may describe, in the most im-

bush-fighting can be practised, be is truly

passioned language, the meeting of two armies,'

X Xii

PREFACE.

PREFACE.

their furious onset, and long and b14ody conflict; how this side fled and that pursued ; yet,

XX111

three,' to one,—of all,' the most probable
proportion.

if he fail to impress upon the reader's mind

In detailing the operations of the British

a clear conception of the quantum of force

and American armies, a clear and satisfactory

which each party brought into the field, he

account of the force engaged will, next to the

shall employ his labors to very little purpose.

immediate result of the battle, form the most

Of the many printed narratives of battles, by

important object. As the fairest means of

far the greater number are deficient in this

ascertaining this, each party will be consi-

important particular. With due acknowledge-

dered as unquestionable authority for the

ment to the American reviewer for the hint,

amount of his own numbers; unless an evident

the author produces, as a prominent example,

contradiction, or attempt to deceive, discovers

the celebrated battle of Azincour.. Hume gives

itself. In that case, reliance will be placed

no figures, but states that the 'enemy was four

upon the positive assertions of the opposite

times more numerous.'*

P. Daniel says three times.' t

party.
A British official account of every military

Different French writers make their own force

action has appeared in the Gazette ; and

100000 ;' ' 140000 ;" 150000, the third

copies of the whole, as well as of such Ameri-

part horse ;" 150000 horse.' j- Other histo-

can official accounts as have been published,

rians say, that ' the French amounted to

or could be procured, are given in the Appen-

150000, and the English but to 9000;'-j° which

dix. The deficiency on the American side is

is nearly 17, instead of six, 'four, or even

compensated by the ample details, and, upon

six times.' t

6

Monstrelet says

'

'

* Hume, Vol. HI. p. 100.
t Rapin (folio edit.) Vol. I. p. 512.

some points, apparently authentic information,

XX1V

PREFACE.

PREFACE.

contained in three very recent American

deuce. By David Ramsay, M.D. Continued to the
Treaty of Ghent, by S. S. Smith, D.D. and LL.D. and
other Literary Gentlemen ; in Three Volumes (8vo.)
Philadelphia : published by M. Carey, 1817:

publications on the events of the late war.

XXV

:

As these works are rarely to be met with
in this country, and will be frequently
quoted in the progress of our enquiries, the
reader is here presented with their respective
title-pages :
Historical Sketches of the late War between the
United States and Great Britain ; blended with Anecdotes
illustrative of the individual bravery of the American
Sailors, Soldiers, and Citizens, embellished with Portraits
of distinguished Naval and Military Officers ; and accompanied by Views of several Sieges and Engagements. By
John Lewis Thomson. Third Edition. Philadelphia :
published by Thomas Desilver ; 1816:
An Impartial and Correct History of the War between
the United States of America and Great Britain; corn
prising a particular Detail of the Naval and Military
Operations, and a faithful Record of the Events produced
during the Contest, from its Commencement, June 18,
1812, to the Treaty of Peace, ratified at the City of
Washington, February 17, 1815. By T. O'Connor.
Fourth Edition, revised and corrected. Carefully compiled
from Official Documents. New York : printed and
published by John Low, No. 6e, Vesey Street, 1817.'
History of the United States, from their first Settle-,
ment as English Colonies, in 1607, to the Year 1808,
gr the Twenty-Third of their Sovereignty and Indepen.

The first of these books is dedicated to the
6

Honorable James Munroe, secretary of state
of the United States ; ' and the third edition
was published a very short time before the
writer's patron attained the honors of the
president's chair. This work, therefore, may
be regarded as a demi-official performance;
and, in some cases, especially where the
American official letters have not been
obtained, or prove deficient in particulars,
Mr. Thomson's very minute details may be
profitably employed.
The History of the War,' till the third,
if not the fourth edition, was an anonymous
work. At last, the people of the United
States gave so loud and unequivocal proofs of
the value of the writer's zealous, if not
impartial' labors, that Mr. O'Connor must
have possessed a very blameable degree of

XXV1 PREFACE.

PREFACE. XXVil

modesty, indeed, not to have avowed himself

troops. A Frenchman is contented to boast,

the author. How far, in so doing, he has

that the best 'oldiers of his country have beaten

consulted his reputation, will appear in the

an equal number of ours. But an American
historian will gravely tell you, that about

sequel.
The ' History of the United States' bears,

200 raw, undisciplined, American militia,

upon the face of the title-page, the stamp of
respectability. An M.D.' a D.D. and

entirely routed 600 veteran British regulars ;

LLD.'

and other literary gentlemen' as
the authors, without James Munroe,'

if the Americans are described as the routed
party, it is,—' after a desperate struggle with

and ' The navy department,' among a

five times their number.' None of these

numerous list of subscribers, afford reasonable

gentlemen think it worth their while to advance

grounds for hoping, that, at last, a candid

any authority for even the most improbable

history has appeared from the press of the

fact. In despite of our reason we are to credit

United States.

their naked assertions ; and to confess, that

'

'

1

aye, and that with the bayonet ' too : or,

That the author may not, as often as a battle

the heroes of the new, are giants in prowess,

occurs, have to repeat remarks upon, what,

compared to the heroes of the old world.

without reference to the fair promises just

Scarcely is a battle recorded, wherein the

noticed, may be termed, the staple commodity

superiority of numbers was not on the

of American historians, a few words on the

British side; unless, indeed, an opposite state-

subject will not be out of place here.

ment would serve to heap disgrace upon a

Our old enemy in Europe has at all times

certain commander, because he happens to

been ready to do justice to the valor of our

differ, in political tenets, from that party, to

Xxviii

PREFACE.

PREPACF.

whose sinister purposes the writer has devoted
his talents and his conscience.
When a national' officer does, as he always
should, explicitly state the amount and quality
of his own force, no one has a right to dispute
his word; but his assertions respecting the force
of an enemy, unless nearly the whole number
that engaged him became his prisoners, ought to
be received with caution. A general may find it
convenient to show an extended front, of only
one or two files deep ; and thus deceive his
opponent. A few stragglers in a wood may
be considered as part of a larger body; or a
severe unexpected repulse may induce the
retreating troops, from their fears alone, to
magnify the number of their foes. For this
reason chiefly it is, that the author has resolved
to take each party's positive enumeration of
his own force, in preference to the loose statements and vague conjectures, too often Omitted
into the opposite official accounts.
In a work of details like the present, many

XXiX

facts must be admitted, having no official foundation on either side. Here the reader,
beyond the rule of probability, has only the
author's veracity to trust to. Upon that point,
he deems it proper to state, that, in his military,
as in his naval work, his unofficial facts are
the result of direct applications to officers of
rank and respectability; but whose names
(as must be obvious) he is not, in all cases,
at liberty to disclose. Should, however, any
mistatement have incautiously crept into his
narrative, military or naval, the author would

be happy to receive, and, when an opportunity offers, to make public, an authenticated
correction.
A woody battle-ground is not the best calculated for a display, even on paper, of military
evolutions ; the author, therefore, in selecting
his plates, has, in most cases, preferred a
sketch of the country traversed by the contending armies, to a plan of their fluctuating
positions during an engagement. .

One impor-

PftEFACE.

XXX

taut exception is the battle near New Orleans.

XXXI

that all American histories, from general

Here, without a' plan of the natural, as well

Wilkinson's huge Memoirs' down to the

as artificial, military obstacles, the most minute

' Grub street' * Analectic; pursue quite an

verbal description would fail short. Fortu-

opposite course. The author, much as he has,

nately, he can present Plate VII;; with confi-

while scrutinizing the American accounts,

dence in its general correctness; not weakened,

endeavoured to command his feelings, may,

he trusts, by his having wholly framed it out
of the engravings in two American publications

upon unravelling any design of marked
atrocity, have been betrayed into a warmth of

on the subject I. For Plates I, III, V, and VI,

expression below the dignity of an historical

he is indebted, also, (some slight alterations

subject.

excepted,) to an American work, major-

To the general reader, in that case,

some apology is due: as to the American, let

general James Wilkinson's ' Memoirs of my

him vent his rage upon those of his country-

own Time,' published in 1816; a work that

men, who, disgracing the name of historians,'

will be frequently consulted in the course of

are the authors or abettors of all the calum-

the investigation.

nies which gave the provocation.

As Great Britain and the United States of
America are now, happily, at peace, a strong
motive exists for describing the events of the
late war between them, in language, if not
courteous, temperate at least ; and this, without any reference to' the notorious fact,
,

* Latour's War in Louisiana, and Eaton's Life of Jackson,

He who shall succeed in teaching American
writers to venerate truth, as much as their
readers idolize vain-glory, will have achieved,
for the republic of America, a ten-fold greater
service, than the whole pantheon of demi-gods,
* Analectic Magazine and Naval Chronicle, Vol. VII.
p. 246.