Title

Chapter 20

Identifier

http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp?b=1&ref=oo&id=298176

page

216-223

Bibliographic Citation

1812; the war and its moral : a Canadian chronicle / William Foster Coffin.

10167813

1812; the war and its moral : a Canadian chronicle / William Foster Coffin.

Type

Text

extracted text

216

BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE—BARCLAY'S DEFEAT.

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

with guns of all calibres. Fifty able bodied seamen came up from
Kingston, and were divided among the five vessels of the squadron,
the remainder of the crews was composed of Canadian lake seamen,
some of the amphibious Newfoundlanders, and marines from the
41st foot.*
At length, when, as Barclay writes,t " there was not a day's flour
in the store, and the squadron was on half-allowance of many
things," and " it was necessary to fight the enemy to enable us to
get supplies of every description," the British squadron took to the
lake. The distance from Malden to Put-in-Bay, where the American fleet lay at anchor, was about sixty miles. On the morning of
the 10th September, 1813, at sunrise, the two squadrons sighted
each other, and prepared both for the battle. At a quarter before
twelve, noon, the British, having the advantage of the wind, commenced the action. Barclay, in the Detroit, engaged the Lawrence,
Commodore Perry ; and for two hours the battle raged. The
Lawrence was utterly disabled, and reduced to an unmanageable
hulk. At this critical moment Perry did a daring feat. He left
AMERICAN FLEET.

* ENGLISH FLEET.

Detroit, ........................
"; .Queen Charlotte, ........
Lady Provost,. ...........
.............
oi ,siHunter,
11

Chippewa,. ..............
fill v
Little Belt, ..............
t i.119'1..1;11 Ji
,

JOU bi1J00 f ,..

19
17
13
10

1
3
63

oviyib 3241 Js f;
frusod
Weight of metal : British, 4591bs.
Number of men, .............. 345

Lawrence, ........................ 20
Niagara, .....................
.20
Caledonia, ........................ 3
Ariel, ................................ 4
Trippe, ............................ 1
Tigress, ..................
Somers, .............................
Scorpion, ..........................
Ohio, ..................................
Porcupine, ........................

1
2
2

1
1

55
American, ................ 9281bs.
Number of men,....,580

t Barclay's Despatch :—Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie, 22nd September, 1813.

217

the Lawrence in a small boat, and, passing through the midst of the
fire, gained the deck of his consort, the Niagara, and re-hoisted his
flag. The Niagara was uninjured. Before, however, he could
take part in the fight, the Lawrence struck her flag to Barclay.
Then came a reverse. The wind had changed, and gave Perry the
advantage. The Niagara bore up, and passed through the British
line, engaging the Detroit and Queen Charlotte. The Detroit had
been severely handled in her contest with the Lawrence, and had
become. since a special object for the raking attentions of the gunboats. Finnis, of the Queen Charlotte, had been killed early in the
action ; his first Lieutenant, Stokoe, had been struck senseless by a
splinter. Irvine, of the Provincial Navy, who succeeded, with
equal courage, may not have had the experience of these officers.
He either fell on board of the Detroit, or the Detroit fell on board
of him. Garland, first Lieutenant of the Detroit, was mortally
wounded, and Barclay himself was at last shot down, and compelled
to leave the deck. At this moment Lieut. Buchan, who commanded
the Lady Prevost, and Lieut. Bignall, who commanded the Hunter,
were both wounded. " Every officer, in fact, commanding vessels,
and their seconds, were either killed, or wounded so severely as to
be unable to keep the deck. Never in any action was the loss more
severe."*
In this condition, without officers to direct or men to fight—for
the slaughter, from the superior weight of metal of the enemy, had
been dreadful,—and so wrecked, that, in a heavy sea on the next
day, both the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte lost their masts,—
after four hours of desperate fighting, the whole squadron was
compelled to surrender.
Writers more addicted to sound than sense, have thought fit to
ascribe their misfortunes to the " mixed crew of Canadians and
• Barclay's Letter :—Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie, Sept. 22nd, 1818.

218

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

COURT MARTIAL ON BAROLAY.-HONOURABLY ACQUITTED.

soldiers " who manned the British squadron. Barclay might well
be proud of the " Canadians and soldiers," who, with vessels
ill-fitted and half-armed, with guns of all calibres, and insufficient
ammunition, had enabled him for five hours to maintain this unequal
contest ; who had compelled the Lawrence to strike her colours,
and who yielded at last to nearly double strength of men, and
more than double weight of metal. It may be questioned if the
best seamen who fought under Rodney or Collingwood could have
done more.
Cooper, in his Naval History, remarks, in the right spirit of an
American sailor : " Stress was laid at the time on the fact that a
portion of the British crews were Provincials ; but the history of
this continent is filled with instances in which men of that character
have gained battles, which went to increase the renown of the
mother country, without obtaining any credit for it. The hardy
frontier-men of the American lakes are as able to endure fatigue,
as ready to engage, and as constant in battle, as the seamen of any
marine in the world. They merely require good leaders, and
these the English appear to have possessed in Captain Barclay and
his assistants."
Barclay was the type of a British sailor. He had served under
Nelson. He was noted for personal courage, and for that moral
courage which, at the call of duty, defies despair. He was one of
those sea-dogs which looses its hold only in death. He expected
more from human nature than could be found in any other nature
than his own. Defeat disturbed a temper which death could not
daunt. His despatch on this occasion does not do justice to the
brave men who stood by him so truly.
Some months afterwards, he tottered before a court-martial, like
a Roman trophy—nothing but helm and hauberk. He had lost an
arm at Trafalgar ; the other was rendered useless by a grape shot
through the shoulder. He was further weakened by several severe

flesh wounds. Little wonder, that men not given to such weakness
shed tears at the spectacle. Little wonder, that the president of the
court, in returning his sword, told him, in a voice tremulous with
emotion, that the conduct of himself and men had been most
honourable to themselves and to their country.
Barclay's disaster was a knell of doom to Proctor. The possibility
of such a result and its consequences had not been unforeseen.
Salvation would have been the issue of success. Barclay had
gallantly risked his " forlorn hope" to save his friends, and had
failed,—retreat or ruin alone remained.
Proctor's position should be fairly understood. Winter was not
far before him—Autumn was upon him. The forest tracks called
roads, were, by the rains of the season, made almost impassable.
Soon they would be impracticable. The only feasible communication, that of the river and lake, was intercepted by the American
fleet. Fort Malden had been divested of its guns, its ammunition,
and its spare food to supply Barclay. The garrisons on the line of
the Detroit river could only be victualled from the scanty stores in
hand, or be supplied from Burlington Bay. This resource was
distant 200 miles from the nearest post. It was clearly more wise,
and easier to march his troops to find supplies—than to bring
supplies to find his troops,—prisoners, perhaps, in the hands of an
enemy. But, whether for advance or for retreat, the by-paths of
the forest, intermediate, were such as the macadamized and locomotive imagination of the present day cannot encompass. A
backwoodsman, laden with his axe, wading here, ploutering there,
stumbling over rotted trees, protruding stumps, a bit of a half submerged corduroy road for one short space—then an adhesive clay
bank—then a mile, or two, or more, of black muck swamp,—may
possibly, clay-clogged and footsore, and with much pain in the
small of his back, find himself by sundown at the foot of a hemlock
Or cedar, with a fire at his feet, having done manfully about ten

219

220

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

_NA LI

miles for his day's work ; Apart from the fire, and the blessed rest,
practice deducts woefully from the poetry of bush life. But what
could be done by the unaccustomed soldier, from long garrison
service, out of training, with his pack and his blanket, canteen and
haversack, with his musket and full supply of ammunition--a weight
calculated by Napier, at his day, to exceed sixty pounds. What
could the best and most enduring man, so laden, be expected to do,
amid the sloughs of this unmitigated wilderness. But what was
to be done with the impediments—the guns, the ammunition
waggons, the daily and reserve supplies de guerre et de bouche?
The man might carry enough to support life from day to day—but
what was to provide for the morrow ? How were the women and
children,—the rapid accumulations,—the flotsam and jetsam of a
fluctuating force, to be conveyed away, protected and fed, for at
least twenty marches ? And yet the alternative of ruinous retreat
was hopeless surrender. Hull might have been exchanged on his
own ground.
Proctor preferred at once the wiser part—rapidly he called
in his outposts on either side of the river Detroit ; he dismantled
Malden, Windsor, Sandwich, destroyed such stores as could not
usefully be removed,—and then, having destroyed all public buildings, in the fort at Detroit, and transported all the guns across the
river to the Canadian side at Windsor, he commenced his retreat
upon Burlington Heights. It was deliberately organized and judiciously planned. The retreat being necessary, it was presumed
that the Americans would not follow the British and their Indian
allies far into the depths of the forest. A protracted advance would
equalize the difficulties of either party—the American, removed from
his base of supply, would certainly not find in the track of his
adversary, improved means of transportation. So Proctor collected
his people at Windsor; sent off his heavy baggage, reserve supplies,
women and children, in advance, and on the 28th Sept. finally relin-

RETREAT OF PROCTOR—PURSUIT BY HARRISON.

221

quished Detroit, and fell back upon British territory. His route
was well chosen to assist him as far as possible into the interior.
On Lake St. Clair, thirty miles due East of Detroit, is the embouchure of the Thames, emulous in its turbid tide alone, of its
British prototype. It is navigable for small vessels, some seventy
or eighty miles on the line of the proposed retreat. The road, such
as it was, followed the North shore of the sinuous and sluggish
stream, at places on the bank, at others, and where " cutting off
bends " at some distance from the river. The direction of the
stream, ascending, of the line of road, and of the line of retreat,
were generally the same, due East. The boats having been
despatched with the impedimenta, the troops following, covered the
advanced retreat. The force at this time, with Proctor, consisted
of about 830 men, including the 41st Regt., about 540 strong.
The residue consisted of men of the Royal Newfoundland regiment
and militia. Tecumseh, the Shawanee Chief, with 500 warriors, and
the invariable incumbrance on the Indian war path, a large number
of squaws and papooses, all of whom had to be fed by the British
commander.
The American force under Gen. Harrison, which had been thrown
on the Canadian shore of the river Detroit, amounted to 5,000 men.
Deductions having been made for the occupation of Malden,
Windsor, and the Fort at Detroit, had left a force at Harrison's
disposal of 3,500 men, of whom 1,500 were Kentucky Mounted
Riflemen, of whom this officer says in his despatch to his own
government, " the American backwoodsmen ride better in the
woods than any other people,—a musket or rifle is no impediment,
they being accustomed to carry them on horseback from their
earliest youth."* It is well known, too, to those who have had any
experience in the bush, that horses used to this work, acquire an

*Despatch :—Detroit, 9th October, 1863.

222

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

instinctive facility for dodging difficulties and surmounting obstacles,
—they become singularly sure-footed and steady; however deep
they may plunge, they rarely stumble. Horses so trained, thread
the mazes of the forest at a rapid walk, and can only be checked
by a wind-fall or black swamp.
It is also worthy of remark, that the whole of this part of Canada
is a rich alluvial deposit reclaimed in the course of ages from Lake
St. Clair. The forests are of prodigious size. Here is found in
luxuriant growth,—six feet in diameter at the base,—the noble black
walnut, now so favourably known for purposes of domestic ornament
and use ; and here the wild turkey, weighing from 20 to 30 lbs.,
displays in large flocks, its lustrous plumage, rich with metallic tints,
and frights the solitude with its unearthly gobblings. These noble
overtowering trees intercept the light, and to a great extent destroy
the undergrowth—between the huge trunks the space is clear ; you
may ride between them as freely as through the aisles of a Gothic
Cathedral. The trees which would neutralize and disturb the regular
formation of infantry, offer but little impediment to a bold irregular cavalry, each horseman fighting " on his own hook."

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CHAPTER XXI.
Proctor falls back to Baptiste Creek—General Harrison with Perry's assistance follows5th October—British force halts at Dalson's Farm—Colonel Maclean of Scarborough—
His reminiscences—Warburton in command at Dalson's—Proctor retires personally to
Moravian Town—Roused before daylight—Intelligence—Troops attacked and retreating
—Warburton followed by Shelby and Kentucky riflemen—Description of these troops
and mode of attack—Proctor halts his men—Nature of ground and position—Tecumseh
—His last words—No abattis made—American attack—Defeat and surrender of the
British.

Proctor had drawn off on the 28th of September. His baggagewaggons and store-boats had been sent on in advance. Many
of his men had already marched 18 miles through a country deep
as the worst marsh in Holland. They fell back leisurely for about
80 miles to Baptiste Creek, near the mouth of the Thames. They
crossed on a bridge which, when passed, was most unaccountably
left by the troops undestroyed. They then took up their line of
march on the north shore of the Thames. They still covered the
rear of their boats and convoys.
From the Bridge to Dalson's farm, near where the town of
Chatham now stands, was a distance of about 16 miles. Dalson's
was a small clearing, one of those scattered Oases which were
then found, at long intervals, in the wilderness. Here, the uninterrupted level was broken by a rising ground, probably pitched upon
by the pioneer and bush ranger, as possessing the recommendation
of dryness.
Here, upon the 5th of Oct., Proctor had halted with his whole
force. He had been retarded by the state of the roads, and by
the necessity of not leaving in the rear, supply-boats—delayed by