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by William D. Lighthall
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Title: An Account Of The Battle Of Chateauguay
Being A Lecture Delivered At Ormstown, March 8th, 1889
Author: William D. Lighthall
Release Date: January 6, 2005 [EBook #14619]
Language: English
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Châteauguay Literary and Historical Society
AN ACCOUNT
OF
THE BATTLE OF CHÂTEAUGUAY
BEING
A LECTURE DELIVERED AT ORMSTOWN,
MARCH 8TH, 1889
BY
W.D. LIGHTHALL, M.A.,
_Honorary Member of the Châteauguay Literary and Historical Society,
Secretary of the Antiquarian Society of Montreal, Life Corresponding
Member of the Scottish Society of Literature and Art, Author of "The
Young Seigneur," "Songs of the Great Dominion," etc._
WITH
SOME LOCAL AND PERSONAL NOTES
BY
W. PATTERSON, M.A.,
_Corresponding Secretary of the C.L.H.S._
"Raise high the Monumental Stone."
--_Charles Sangster_
MONTREAL
W. DRYSDALE & CO., PUBLISHERS, 232 ST. JAMES STREET.
1889.
[Illustration: LT.-COL CHARLES DE SALABERRY.]
LIST OF OFFICERS FOR 1888-89.
President.
Lt.-Col. Archibald McEachern, C.M.G,
Vice-Presidents.
J.E. Robidoux, Q.C., M.P.P.
Edward Holton, Esq., M.P.
Thomas Baird, Esq.
Recording Secretary.
Peter McLaren, B A., M.D.
Corresponding Secretary.
Wm. Patterson, M.A.
Treasurer.
Wm. McDougall, Esq.
Councillors.
Dr. McCormick.
Wm. J. Bryson, Esq.
Dugald Thomson. Esq.
Dr. Hall.
Rev. D.W. Morison, B.A.
* * * * *
LIST OF HONORARY MEMBERS
Edward Holton, M.P.
J.E. Robidoux, Q.C., M.P.P.
Dr. W. Geo. Beers.
James McGregor, Esq.
Watson Griffin, Esq.
J.R. Dougall, M.A.
W.D. Lighthall, M.A., B.C.L.
PREFACE.
On October 26th, 1888, the Châteauguay Literary and Historical Society
was organized at Ormstown, Quebec, to foster Canadian patriotism by
encouraging the study of Canadian history and Canadian literature. The
Society began its labours at home, taking as its subject the battle
whence it derives its name. Mr. W.D. Lighthall, M.A., B.C.L., an
honorary member, was asked to prepare an account of that victory, and
kindly responded by his lecture, which he delivered before the Society
on March 8th, 1889. Pleasure is now felt in offering this lecture, in
the interests of the Society, to the Canadian world, no apology being
required at a time when patriotic literature is in great demand. Mr.
Lighthall's researches have been discussed by the members, and the
belief is prevalent that his work touching this important item of
history, in so far as accuracy is concerned, stands unrivalled, the
previous authorities having been carefully compared and their
testimony put together.
In the Appendix will be found a number of notes having a bearing on
the battle and its times. The portrait frontispiece is from a line
engraving kindly lent by Gerald E. Hart, Esq., President of the
Society for Historical Studies. The drawing of the map, after the
design of the author, is due to J.A.U. Beaudry, Esq., C.E., Curator of
the Antiquarian Society of Montreal.
The first part of the account is partly based upon R. Christie's
History of Lower Canada; but William James' Military Occurrences of
the War of 1812, was found the most accurate in statistical details,
and is, therefore, frequently followed. Other authorities are referred
to in their places.
The battle of Châteauguay, in view of the important results that
followed it, is an event which all Canadians will appreciate, and to
which posterity will have reason to point the finger of admiration.
All nationalities concerned in building up this country, when united
by a common danger, bore in it an honorable part, as they fought side
by side in defence of their homes and those that were dear to them,
from the wanton aggression of an ungenerous foe.
The Society hopes to continue its work and to offer other pamphlets in
the near future, so that this effort on its part may be regarded as
the first of a series. Another of its immediate objects is the
erection of a monument on the battlefield, to accomplish which
pecuniary assistance is required. The belief is held that no
opportunity should be lost to educate the rising generation to form a
true conception of the grandeur of the heritage that is ours,
W.P.
ORMSTOWN,
_October 29th, 1889._
THE BATTLE OF CHATEAUGUAY.
The War of 1812 has been called by an able historian "the afterclap of
the Revolution." The Revolution was, indeed, true thunder--a
courageous and, in the main, high-principled struggle. Its afterclap
of 1812 displayed little but empty bombast and greed. In the one,
brave leaders risked their lives in that defence of rights which has
made their enterprise an epoch in man's history; in the other, a mean
and braggart spirit actuated its promoters to strike in the back that
nation which almost alone was carrying on, in the best spirit of the
Revolution, the struggle for the liberties of Europe against the
designs of Napoleon. The brave spirits of the War of Freedom led the
affairs of the United States no longer. All the contemptible elements,
all the boasters, all those who had done least in the real fighting,
had long come out of their shells and united to establish the mighty
rhetorical school of the Spread Eagle! It was the legions of Spread
Eagleism who wore to have the glory to be got in taking advantage of
harassed England. The Battle of Châteauguay was one of the answers to
that illusion.
The War was introduced by a Declaration, in which President Madison,
in smooth and elaborate terms, pretended that his nation found cause
for it in the tyrannical exercise by British warships of what was
called _The Right of Search_--that is to say, a claim of ships of war
to stop the ships of other nations and search them for deserters and
contraband goods. That this was not, however, the true cause, was
shown by the facts and cries of the war.
Firstly, the right was one belonging to all nations by international
law; secondly, though it was at once relinquished by Britain in a
conciliatory spirit, the Americans persisted in their campaign;
thirdly, at the close of the war they did not insist at all on the
abrogation of the Right of Search, in the treaty of peace.
It would be much easier to show what the real causes were:-(1), hatred
of England, lasting over from the Revolution; (2), envy of her
commerce and prestige; and especially (3) the scheme for the conquest
of Canada.
The course of the negotiations exhibit a thoroughly ungenerous course
on the part of the American authorities, contrasted with a desire not
to offend on the part of Britain. President Madison's Declaration of
War was made on the 18th of June, 1812, and the British Government,
after using every honorable overture for friendship, only issued
theirs in October, couching it, besides, in terms of regret and
reproach at the unfairness in which Madison's party persisted. Owing
to that unfairness and other causes the enterprise also was by no
means unanimously popular in the States. A convention of delegates
from the counties of New York, held in the capitol at Albany, on the
17th and 18th of September, and called the New York Convention,
condemned Madison's party for declaring the war, on account of its
injustice, and "as having been undertaken," they said, "from motives
entirely distinct from those which have been hitherto avowed." The New
England States treated it coldly. Maryland disapproved through her
Legislature. Many persons everywhere looked on it as a mere political
scheme, and when drafted for service in frequent cases bought
themselves substitutes.
It was soon found that a mistake had been made in attacking Canada.
That happened which might be expected where bodies of men with
inflated ideas of glory and no experience attack men fighting
desperately for their homes, and officers and veterans who had seen
such service as the Napoleonic wars. The British, with an astuteness
which is oftener the character credited to their opponents, managed to
get earliest word of the Declaration sent to their own forts on the
Lakes, and promptly captured the American fort Michilimackinac. They
then followed with the daring capture of the stronghold of Detroit,
amply equipped and garrisoned, by a little handful of men under the
heroic General Brock, who simply went before it and demanded its
surrender, whereupon it was given up, together with the whole
Territory of Michigan. The presence of such trained British officers
as Brock and of army veterans in the ranks was a very great advantage.
Poor Brock soon afterwards died in his memorable charge at the victory
of Queenston Heights.
That year--the first of the War--is known as a succession of fiascos
for the Americans. The other conspicuous aspect of it is that the
attacked points were, with the exception of a little skirmishing at
St. Regis and Lacolle, all in the Province of Upper Canada.
It was only towards the close of the campaign of the next
year--1813--that Lower Canada was gravely threatened.
The Americans, emboldened by several successes, and having put a great
many men into the field, believed that the struggle might easily be
terminated by capturing Montreal. The advance upon Lower Canada took
place under General James Wilkinson in chief command, with 8,826 men
and 58 guns and howitzers.[1] He had intended to attack Kingston. "At
Montreal, however," wrote the Secretary of War, Armstrong, in phrases
colored by the prevailing school of rhetoric, "you find the weaker
place and the smallest force to encounter.... You hold a position
which completely severs the enemy's line of operations, and which,
while it restrains all below, withers and perishes all above itself."
This great position--for it is so--Colonel Coffin[2] compares it to
Vicksburg for natural strength--was to be approached by two routes: by
Wilkinson himself in boats down the St Lawrence, and by Major-General
Wade Hampton, his almost independent subordinate, from the Champlain
border; and it was planned that the two armies should meet at the
foot of Isle Perrot,[3] thence to strike together across the Lake to
Lachine, and on to the city, which seems to have had not over, if as
many as, a thousand regulars to defend it.
Wade Hampton, with over 5,000 men (an effective regular force of 4,053
rank and file, about 1,500 militia and ten cannon[4]), was at first on
the Vermont side of Lake Champlain at Burlington[5]. He crossed to the
New York side, directing his march for Caughnawaga on the St.
Lawrence. His army[6], except the militia, was the same which, with a
certain General Dearborn at its head, paraded irregularly across the
lines and returned to Pittsburgh in the autumn of 1812. During the
year since elapsed the men had been drilled by Major-General Izard,
who had served in the French Army. They were all in uniform, well
clothed and equipped--in short, Hampton commanded, if not the most
numerous, certainly the most effective, regular army which the United
States were able to send into the field during the War. Crossing the
border on the 20th of September, 1813, he surprised a small picket of
British at Odelltown, a Loyalist settlement afterwards celebrated for
a battle in the Rebellion of 1837. He soon found himself met with what
seemed to him great difficulties, for the army was plunged into an
extensive swampy wood, the only road through which was rendered
impracticable by fallen trees and barricades, behind which and in the
gloomy forests surrounding were every here and there to be seen
Indians and infantry crawling and flitting about, who fired upon them
from unexpected ambushes. Hampton's men were not of a kind to face
this. "The perfect rawness of the troops," writes he, "with the
exception of not a single platoon, has been a source of much
solicitude to the best-informed among us."[7] They were ignorant,
insubordinate, and forever "falling off."[8]
Urging on the scattered defenders was, no doubt, to be seen from time
to time a stout-built, vigorous officer with stripes across the breast
of his dark gray uniform, dashing about from point to point giving
fierce orders. This was De Salaberry.
Not reflecting--for he seems to have had the information--that the
wood was only fifteen miles or so in depth, the Canadians few in
number, and that a short press forward would have brought him into the
open country of L'Acadie leading towards Montreal, the American
General in two days withdrew along the border towards Châteauguay Four
Corners, alleging the great drought of that year as a reason for
wishing to descend by the River Châteauguay. At the Corners he rested
his army for many days.
Wade Hampton was a type of the large slaveholders of the South. Nearly
sixty years of age, self-important, fiery and over-indulgent in drink,
of large, imposing figure, of some reputed service in the Revolution,
and with a record as Congressman and Presidential elector, he was one
whose chief virtues were not patience and humility. In 1809 he had
been made a brigadier-general and stationed at New Orleans; but in
consequence of continual disagreements with his subordinates, was
superseded in 1812 by Wilkinson, whom he consequently hated. In the
spring of 1813 he received his Major-General's commission. He had
acquired his large fortune by land speculations, and at his death some
time later was supposed to be the wealthiest planter in the United
States, owning 3,000 slaves. He is said to have ably administered his
estate.[9]
Hampton had another slave-holding South Carolinian by his side, young
Brigadier-General George Izard, son and descendant of aristocrats and
statesmen, well-educated in the soldier's profession, college-bred,
travelled, and who had served in the French Army. Izard led the main
column at the battle shortly to ensue.[10]
Another officer of the circle--who seems to have been the ablest--was
Colonel James Purdy, on whom the brunt of the American work and
fighting were to fall, and who seems to have done his best in a
struggle against natural difficulties and against the incompetency of
both his commander and men.
When Hampton moved to Four Corners, Lieut-Colonel De Salaberry, with
the Canadian Voltigeurs, moved in like manner westward to the region
of the Châteauguay and English Rivers. The Voltigeur troops were
French-Canadians with a small sprinkling of British. Their
organization was as follows:--Sir George Prevost, on the approach of
war, May 28th, 1812, ordered the levy of four French volunteer
battalions, to be made up of unmarried men from 18 to 25 years old.
They were to be choice troops, and trained like regulars. Charles
Michel d'Irumberry De Salaberry, then high in the regard of his people
as a military hero, was chosen to rally the recruits, issued a
stirring poster calling the French-Canadians to arms, and acted with
such extraordinary energy that the troops were in hand in two days.
De Salaberry was a perfect type of the old French-Canadian military
gentry, a stock of men of whom very little remains, a breed of leaders
of, on the whole, more vigorous forms, more active temperaments, than
the average--descendants inheriting the qualities of the bravest and
most adventurous individuals of former times. They were the natural
result of the feudal _régime_, with which they have passed away.
Though a gentry, they were a poor one, possessed of little else than
quantities of forest lands. The officers of the Voltigeurs were
selected out of the same class, united with a number of English of
similar stamp. De Salaberry himself was born in the little cottage
manor-house of Beauport, near Quebec, on the 19th of Nov., 1778.[11]
Taking to soldiering like a duck to water when very young, he enrolled
as volunteer in the 44th. At sixteen, the Duke of Kent, who was then
in Canada, and delighted in friendly acts towards the seigneurs, got
him a commission in the 60th, with which regiment he left at once for
the West Indian Isle of Dominica. There he saw terrible service, for
all the men of his battalion except three were killed or wounded
during the seige of Fort Matilda. Nevertheless, the young fellow kept
gay. "Our uniforms," he wrote to his father, "cost very dear; but I
have received £40, and with that I am going to give myself what will
make a fine figure." "This fine large boy of sixteen years," says
Benjamin Sulte in his History of the French-Canadians, "strong as a
Hercules ... with smiling face ... made a furore at parties.... As he
was never sick, they employed him everywhere. Fevers reduced his
battalion to 200 men, but touched not him." Though so young, he was
charged with covering the evacuation of Fort Matilda.[12]
The Duke of Kent, who was commanding at Halifax, kept a friendly eye
upon him, and gave him much personal advice, on one occasion
dissuading him from an inadvisable marriage. He now took him into his
own regiment. De Salaberry still saw rough service, was shipwrecked,
served in the West Indies again, and then fought in Europe and the
disastrous expedition to Walcheren, where he was placed in the most
advanced posts.[13] Returning to his 60th, he was made captain in
1799. "I have often heard say," narrates De Gaspé, "that his company
and that of Captain Chandler were the best drilled in the regiment."
In the West Indies he was drawn into a duel which caused him sorrow
until his dying day, for in it he was forced by the "code of honor" to
kill a German fellow-officer, and bore a scar of the affair ever after
on his forehead. It is related that by his great strength he cut the
German in two.
"The prodigious force with which he was endowed," says Sulte, "had
made of him an exceptional being in the eyes of the soldiers," and
when he returned to Canada after West Indian service of eleven
years[14] a little before the war of 1812, he was already the hero of
the French-Canadians. That the stories of his strength and vigor are
true is corroborated by every circumstance which has been perpetuated
about him. His ruddy, energetic face is preserved in portraits among
his family, and his walking-stick, said to be an enormous article, is
kept at Quebec in the collection of the Literary and Historical
Society.
De Salaberry's Voltigeurs were organized at a peculiar juncture. "The
discords between French and English in Quebec had emboldened the
United States," says Garneau, "and the English Governors harassed the
French. An opposite conduct might bring back calm to men's spirits.
The Governor of Nova Scotia, Sir George Provost, a former officer, of
Swiss origin, offered all the conditions desirable.... Arriving at
Quebec, Sir George Provost strove to introduce peace and to remove
animosity. He showed the completest confidence in the fidelity of the
French-Canadians, and studied how to prove at every opportunity that
the accusations of treason which had been brought against them had
left no trace in the soul of England nor in his own.... Soon the
liveliest sympathy arose between Sir George Prevost and the
people."[15] It was in pursuance of this policy that the order to
raise the Voltigeur force was given by him.
While Hampton was at Four Corners, Sir George, thus now
Commander-in-Chief of all the forces in Canada, was at the camp which
had just been formed at La Fourche, and of which a description is
given by Mr. Sellar in his history of the district. Sir George was a
man quite devoid of the decisiveness necessary to a soldier, and
though, as we have seen, he was useful in reconciling the French, his
errors in military matters several times brought disgrace on the
British forces, and gave rise to storms of rage and disgust among
them.[16] De Salaberry was now ordered by him on the Quixotic errand
of attacking, with about 200 Voltigeurs and some Indians, the large
camp of Hampton at Four Corners. De Salaberry promptly obeyed these
impracticable orders, and it is probably at this juncture that a
little anecdote comes in which I have heard as told by one of his men.
De Salaberry was down the river dining at a tavern, when a despatch
was brought to him.
"D---- it!" he exclaimed, jumping up from his seat, "Hampton is at
Four Corners, and I must go and fight him!" and mounting his fine
white charger, he dashed away from the door.
On the 1st of October he crept up with his force to the edge of the
American camp. There they saw the assemblage spread out in all the
array of war, with its host of tents, stacked guns, flags, moving men
and sentries, and he prepared to strike it as ordered. One of his
Indians indiscreetly discharged his musket. The camp was in alarm in
an instant. De Salaberry, finding his approach discovered, immediately
collected about fifty of his Voltigeurs, with whom and the Indians he
pushed into the enemy's advanced camp, consisting of about 800 men,
and, catching them in their confusion, drove them for a considerable
distance, until, seeing the main body manoeuvring to cut off his
little handful, he fell back and took up his position at the skirt of
the woods. Once again he sallied out and charged, but with all the
army now thoroughly aroused it was useless, and the Indians having
retreated, most of his own men ran off, leaving him and Captains
Chevalier Duchesnay and Gaucher, officers much like himself in stamp,
with a few trusty Voltigeurs to skirmish with the enemy as long as
daylight permitted it.[17] He then withdrew to Châteauguay, taking the
precaution of breaking up the forest road in his rear, in pursuance of
the general policy of the campaign, which was to destroy and obstruct
as much as possible in the path of the enemy. Acquainting himself also
with the ground over which Hampton was expected to make his way into
the Province, he finally stopped, selected and took up the position
where the battle afterwards took place, in a thick wood on the left
bank of the Châteauguay River at the distance of two or three leagues
above its _Fork_ with English River, where he threw up his works of
defence, with the approval of General De Watteville. The plan of the
British commanders, owing to the smallness and inefficiency of their
forces, was the stern one of burning and destroying all houses and
property, and retreating slowly to the St. Lawrence, harassing the
enemy in his advance.[18] The position chosen was as strong as the
nature of that flat and wooded country and the route of the American
march would allow. Here his experience and quick eye came in.[19]
Now as to the measures of fortification taken by De Salaberry. In his
rear there was a small rapid where the river was fordable in two spots
close to one another. He commanded this with a strong breastwork and a
guard. There were four ravines which issued from the very thick woods,
crossing the road, and distant from each other two hundred yards or
so. On their banks he made his men fell trees and build them into
breastworks--"a kind of parapet extending into the woods some
distance." To prevent the American cannon from bearing on these
breastworks, he felled trees and bush, covering a large stretch of
ground with obstructions in the front. The breastwork on the
front-line formed an obtuse angle at the right of the road, and
extended along the curves of the ravine. The Colonel then sent forward
to a spot some distance in advance of the front-line a party of
Beauharnois' axemen, well accustomed to felling trees, who destroyed
the bridges and obstructed the road with their fragments and fallen
trees and brush. Lieut. Guy, with twenty Voltigeurs, guarded them in
front, and Lieut. Johnson, with about the same number, in rear.
Working incessantly, these axemen made a formidable series of such
obstructions in front of the first line, extending from the river
three or four acres into the woods, where they joined an almost
impracticable marsh. On the opposite bank of the river De Salaberry
also placed a picket of sixty Beauharnois militia under Captain
Bruyère, so as to check any advance on the ford, which was his weak
point in the rear.
Part of De Salaberry's line at the abattis, was a small blockhouse on
the river-bank (which, however, is not that which has since been
reputed to be the one concerned), and the works there blocked the
commencement of the wood and looked out on a broadening plain or level
of clearings, across which the enemy would have to pass.
The Glengarry men now came down, under McDonell of Ogdensburgh, famous
for his adventurous capture of that place, and whose exploit the
Salaberry was about to match. Lieut.-Colonel McDonell--"Red
George"--was at Prescott drilling a new force of Canadian Fencibles,
made up, some say, chiefly of Scotch and loyalists,[20] others chiefly
of French boatmen, when Sir George Prevost asked him how soon he could
have his men ready to go down to Châteauguay. "As soon as they have
done their dinner!" he responded. Within a few hours he had provided
them with _batteaux_, and they were off down the rapids. When Sir
George himself, who was on the way, got there, he, to his great
surprise found McDonell before him. "Where are your men?" said he.
"There," said the Highland Colonel, pointing to his force resting on
the ground--"not a man absent."[21]
For nearly three weeks the parties of Canadian workers worked
continually upon the plan of De Salaberry, while Hampton was
considering, preparing, reviewing his troops, and arranging for a
communication with Wilkinson so soon as the latter should have passed
Ogdensburg on his way down the St. Lawrence.
On the 21st of October the advance down the Châteauguay commenced. The
first move was a rapid march by General Izard with the light-equipped
troops and a regiment of the line, who surprised a party of about
ten[22] Indians sitting late in the afternoon at their evening meal at
the junction of the Outarde and Châteauguay Rivers, and killed one of
them. There Izard encamped and proceeded to establish a road of
communication with Hampton. Word was soon brought to Major Henry, of
the Beauharnois' Militia, commanding on the English River. Henry sent
word to General De Watteville at La Fourche, and had Captains Levesque
and Debartzch advance immediately with the flank companies of the 5th
Battalion of embodied militia and about 200 men of the Beauharnois'
division. This was the preliminary move towards the battle.
They advanced about six miles that night up the Châteauguay from La
Fourche, when they came to a wood which it would not have been prudent
to enter in the dark. Next morning early they were joined by De
Salaberry with his Voltigeurs and the light company of Captain
Ferguson, an officer who took a front place in the affair. De
Salaberry brought all these companies about a league up the bank to
the place he had fortified, and there stopped. An American patrol
party being observed in front, General De Watteville came over
himself, visited the outposts, approved of them, and the work
proceeded.[23] That evening the main body of the Americans encamped at
Sear's, about twenty-five miles above the Châteauguay's mouth. The
engineers had cut a road for the ten cannon, and with great labor and
difficulty had dragged them thus far.[24]
Within two days more Hampton's men had opened and completed a large
and practicable road, which is still traceable, from his position at
Four Corners twenty-four miles through the woods and morasses, and
brought up his guns and stores to his new position, about seven miles
from De Salaberry's. (About Dewittville?)
[Illustration: SKETCH OF THE BATTLE OF CHATEAUGUAY--OCT 26, 1813]
From this point he despatched Colonel Purdy with about 1,500 men,
composed of a light brigade (the 1st Brigade of the American Army[25])
and a strong body of the infantry of the line, at an early hour in the
night of the 25th, across the Châteauguay and down its right bank[26]
at a bend adjoining what is now known as the Cross Farm, with orders
to gain the ford and fall on the rear of Lieut.-Colonel De Salaberry's
position, while the main body, under General Izard, were to commence
the attack in front. Purdy's brigade crossed not far above De
Salaberry, and proceeded into the woods of the opposite side. A cedar
swamp, an unexpected stream in which they floundered, and the
ignorance of their guides misled and bewildered them. This was the
fault of Hampton, and due to his headstrongness, for the guides had
protested that they did not know that side of the Châteauguay; but he
had ordered them to proceed. Purdy's command became scattered, were
forced to halt in confusion, and had to sleep in the open woods, cold,
wet, exhausted, and apprehensive.[27] General Hampton, however, in the
morning, fully expected to hear them attacking the ford, advanced, and
at ten o'clock his troops appeared in sight of the party of busy
woodchoppers, about 3,500 men, with three squadrons of cavalry,
marching in column along the high road, commanded by General Izard.
Lieut. Guy's picket fired, the workmen dropped work and ran, Guy
retired upon Johnson, and both Lieutenants retreated with their men to
the completed abattis, where they formed up again and began to fire
smartly.
De Salaberry, on hearing the firing, promptly advanced with the light
company of the Canadian Fencibles, commanded by Captain Ferguson,
"flanked by twenty-two Indians on the right and centre,"[28] and two
companies of his Voltigeurs, commanded by Captains Chevalier and Louis
Juchereau Duchesnay. Ferguson's companies he posted on the right, in
front of the abattis, in extended order, its right skirting on the
adjoining woods and abattis, among which were distributed a few
Abenaquis Indians. The three officers, Ferguson and the two
Duchesnays, executed the movements required of them with the coolness
of a day of parade. The Voltigeur company of the oldest of the
Duchesnays, known as "the Chevalier," occupied, in extended order, the
ground from the left of Ferguson's Company to the Châteauguay, and the
company under Captain Louis Juchereau Duchesnay, with about
thirty-five[29] Sedentary Militia under Captain Longtin, were thrown
back along the margin of the river, hidden among the trees and bushes,
so as to flank Colonel Purdy's men, or prevent him from flanking the
Canadian position. Between the abattis and the front line were a
company of Voltigeurs, Captain Lecuyer commanding, and beyond them on
the right a light company (that of the 5th Battalion) of embodied
militia with their side pickets, under Captain Debartzch; then, to the
right of them, in the woods, the Indians under Captain La Mothe. There
were thus in the front only about 240 Canadians. The positions,
however, occupied about a mile along the river, and the rest of the
troops--some 600--were distributed among the other breastworks, under
command of McDonell.[30]
The battle was now on the point of commencing. In the centre of the
front stood De Salaberry watching the enemy, whose characteristics he
had noted twice before. All waited in suspense. A touching scene was
taking place among the Beauharnois Militia further back, where Captain
Longtin caused his men to kneel, went through a short prayer with
them, and then rising, said: "that now they had fulfilled their duty
to their God, they would fulfil that to their King."[31]
Meanwhile, the enemy kept steadily moving along the road in column. A
tall mounted American officer rode forward and began a harangue to the
Canadians in French. "Brave Canadians," said he, "give yourselves
over; we do not wish to do you any harm!"[32] De Salaberry, seeing
that his moment was come, sprang upon a stump,[33] discharged his
musket as a signal to begin, and brought the American officer off his
horse by the shot. The enemy at the time were exposed to being taken
on both front and side. The bugles blared, the front companies
immediately opened fire, and the battle was begun. Izard's force were
in the open plain, while their foes were hidden in a thick wood. The
squadrons of cavalry and four cannon which they had brought thus far
were found to be useless there. They, however, commenced a
spirited[34] fire in battalion volley; but, from the position of the
line, it was almost totally thrown to the right of the Canadians, and
of no effect whatever. They soon faced to the right, and filing up
with speed, changed their front parallel with the lines of
breastworks, when the engagement became general, and their fire
compelled the retreat, behind the front edge of the breastwork[35] of
a few skirmishers near the left, who had been rather advanced in the
centre of the line. This retreat being mistaken by the enemy for a
flight, a universal shout ensued, which was re-echoed, to their
surprise, by the Canadians and the Glengarry men in reserve under
Lieut.-Colonel McDonell. Now was the supreme moment of the battle. De
Salaberry ordered his bugleman to sound the advance. "This was heard
by Lieut-Colonel McDonell, who, thinking the Colonel was in want of
support, caused his own bugles to answer, and immediately advanced
with two of his companies from the third and fourth lines to the first
and second."[36] "All these movements were executed with great
rapidity." De Salaberry, at the same time, as a _ruse de guerre_,
ordered "ten or twelve buglemen into the adjoining woods with orders
to separate and blow with all their might."[37] The enemy, as De
Salaberry calculated, suspected that the Canadians were advancing in
great numbers to circumvent them. The Colonel, while giving these
orders, is said to have done so facing his men, with his back against
a tree.[38] The noise of the engagement towards its end brought on
Colonel Purdy's division on the opposite side of the river, which,
having driven in the picquet of sixty Beauharnois Sedentary Militia
under Captain Bruyère, were pressing on for the ford, whereupon De
Salaberry ordered Lieut.-Colonel McDonell, who had returned to his
position to check the enemy there, and Captain Daly was chosen, with
the light company of the 3rd Battalion Embodied Militia, numbering
seventy men,[39] to cross and take up the ground abandoned by the
picket.
De Salaberry, then seeing that the action was about to become serious
on the right, left his position in the centre of the front and placed
himself on the left with the troops along the bank, where, standing on
a stump.[40] he could see, through his field-glass, Captain Daly with
his men crossing the ford. The latter took with him such of the
Beauharnois men as had rallied[41] up, and led by him, they advanced
along the river-bank and made, in the words of Purdy afterwards, "a
furious assault" upon the advanced guard of the Americans, whom they
drove back upon themselves. "The bravery of Captain Daly," wrote the
Temoin Oculaire--whose account, it is to be remembered, was published
a few days afterwards--"who literally led his company into the midst
of the enemy, could not be surpassed."
Purdy's main body finally recovered, and charged forward, however,
emerging in great force from the wood.
Captain Daly's men, as they had been taught by Lieut.-Colonel
McDonell, knelt and fired a volley kneeling. The return volley was
fired by tenfold numbers, and but for that precaution would have
destroyed nearly the whole of Captain Daly's command. As it was, he
received a severe wound, and with his men, several of whom were
wounded and himself a second time, was compelled to retreat, which the
men did in very good order under Lieut. Benjamin Schiller. The latter
distinguished himself greatly. He bore off his wounded captain to a
safe place, and returning, took command at request of the men. At one
juncture he was engaged, hand to hand, with a very formidable
adversary, whose head he cut off with a single blow of his sabre.[42]
Purdy's force eventually were moving on in overwhelming numbers, and
for a moment their shouts of victory were heard by the little force
lying in suspense behind the barricades on the opposite bank. In
coming out of the wood they swarmed down along the bank of the river.
Now was the time for Captains Louis Duchesnay and Longtin's companies
concealed in the river-side bushes opposite. De Salaberry instantly
appears upon the scene, gives the word of command, and the bushes
flame out with a hidden and destructive fire. The American shouts of
victory turn into cries of confusion. In the utmost disorder they make
a tumultuous and precipitate retreat into the woods. Thus, at 2.30
p.m., came the failure of Purdy's flanking movement.
As one may easily imagine, this series of incidents took several
hours.
In the front, General Hampton for about an hour kept his soldiers
ready in momentary expectation of attack by De Salaberry, and of
hearing of Purdy's success. When he heard that the latter had failed,
however, he sent him word to withdraw his column to a shoal four or
five miles above and cross over, and ordered General Izard to retire
his brigade to a position about three miles in the rear, to which
place the baggage had been ordered forward. Hampton thus retired,
leaving De Salaberry master of the field, with scarcely 300 men in
actual action, and no British guns anywhere within seven miles.[43]
Sir George Prevost, with Major-General De Watteville, arrived on the
ground at the close of the engagement and overlooked De Salaberry's
arrangements, thanked him with great praise, and then immediately
wrote an inaccurate despatch to England, in which he claimed the
principal credit for _himself_.[44] That evening De Salaberry wrote to
his father; "I have won a victory mounted on a wooden horse!"[45]
After the battle was over the American firing did not cease, for no
sooner did darkness come on than Purdy's scattered command, moving up
the right bank, commenced a most destructive fire on each other,
mistaking them for the British, and they continued it the greater part
of the night. The final incident took place just as day dawned on the
27th, when about twenty Americans, mistaking some of the Canadian
militia on the left bank for their own people, were compelled by them
to surrender.
That day at dawn McDonell came up in command of Captain Rouville's
Company of Voltigeurs, Captain Levesque's Company of Grenadiers (of
the 5th Battalion Incorporated Militia), and sixty men of the
Beauharnois Division. De Salaberry turned over to McDonell the defence
of the abatis or obstructions in front, and the hero of Ogdensburgh
pushed on to two miles further than before. The day passed in
expectation of a second attack, but no enemy appeared.
Meanwhile, the straggling order which the nature of the swamp and
forest imposed on Purdy's retreat exposed him to rear attacks from the
Indians, which were repeated after dark and caused him loss.[46]
A large quantity of muskets, drums, knapsacks, provisions and arms
were found on Purdy's shore, especially indicating the confusion just
previous to their retreat. Upwards of ninety bodies and graves were
found on that bank,[47] among them two or three officers of
distinction. On Hampton's field were two dead horses, and the enemy
were there seen carrying off several of the wounded in carts.
The Canadian loss was only two killed, sixteen wounded, and four
missing. Three missing were by mistake at first included among the
killed in the returns.[48]
Time now wore on, another night was passed, and the morning of the
28th arrived, when Captain La Mothe, with about 150 Indians,
reconnoitred the enemy, who, according to the report of Captain
Hughes, of the Engineers, had abandoned his camp the day before.
A party of the Beauharnois Militia, supported by Captain Debartzch,
burnt and destroyed the newly-erected bridges within a mile of the
enemy's camp, which was now about one and a half leagues from Piper's
Road, _i.e._, about two leagues from his former position. On the same
evening the Indians, under Captain La Mothe,[49] proceeded through the
woods and came up with the enemy's rear-guard. Here a slight skirmish
ensued, in which the Americans lost one killed and seven wounded.
Hampton, having re-occupied his late position, called a council of
war, where it was determined to fall back and occupy the former
position at Four Corners, to secure their communication with the
United States; from thence either to retire to winter quarters or be
ready to re-enter Lower Canada.
"On that day or the day previous Captain Debartzch, of the Militia,
was sent to the American headquarters with a flag. When he stated the
number and description of troops by which General Hampton had been
opposed, the latter, scarcely able to keep his temper, insisted that
the British force amounted to 7,000 men. On being assured of the
contrary, he asked: 'What, then, made the woods ring so with bugles?'
Captain Debartzch explained this; but it was apparently to no
purpose."[50]
The Americans retired on the 29th. "On the 30th a party of Indian
Chasseurs, under Captain Ducharme, reported that the enemy had
abandoned his camp at Piper's Road in the greatest disorder, and was
on the road to Four Corners." The Canadians followed up and hung upon
the rear and embarrassed the retreat. Canada was saved!
General Wilkinson was very severe on his fellow-general. "On the 4th
of November," he complains, "the British garrison of Montreal
consisted solely of 400 marines and 200 soldiers. What a golden,
glorious opportunity has been lost by the caprice of Major-General
Hampton!"[51] Poor man, he was to have pretty much the same luck
himself just afterwards! Wilkinson's army proceeded on its own course
down the river, but was almost as ignominiously defeated at Chrysler's
Farm on the 10th of November, where his 3,000 or 4,000 men were
matched, partly in open field and partly with the assistance of a ruse
as at Châteauguay, against 800 British and thirty Indians, under
Colonel Morison, a man equally brave and able with McDonell and De
Salaberry.
Mr. Dion, of Chambly, to whom the erection of a fine bronze statue of
De Salaberry is due, has related to me a number of particulars from De
Salaberry's letters held by his relatives. The hero complains bitterly
of Prevost and De Watteville--"those two Swiss"--and that on account
of his religion he could get no higher than a Lieut.-Colonel. From the
same letters it appears that the "Temoin Oculaire" was a young lawyer
named O'Sullivan, later, Judge O'Sullivan, a man partly of Irish
family, in person large and handsome, and a great friend of De
Salaberry, who ever remained grateful to him for preserving record of
his deed in his celebrated letter. It is commonly attributed to D.B.
Viger. Another little fact mentioned in the correspondence of De
Salaberry is that his men in the battle were barefooted.
The almost unique nature of the victory strikes one. Its keystone was
De Salaberry's masterly use of illusion. Of it was the choice of a
thick wood to conceal his small force, their entrenchment behind the
abatis and in bush positions, the unexpected fire from the left bank
upon Purdy, the Indians in the woods, and, more than everything, the
ruse of the multiplied bugles. But besides illusion there was the
ablest possible disposition, for there seems no doubt but that no
spot could have keen chosen along his projected route greater in
strength when fortified and guarded just as that was. The enemy could
only reach it fatigued, and far from sources of supply, the wood was
thick, the ravines occurred happily, the river was free from fords for
a long distance, and a frightful swamp occupied the opposite bank. How
would De Watteville's small and raw army have acted in the open
country had this position not been tried?
Next, how ought the credit of the affair to be apportioned, for it is
clear that it is due to a number concerned? De Salaberry is, of
course, in every way the leading figure. His courage and spirit were
perfect, his intelligence rapid, his labor incessant, and the whole
choice of the field and strategy of the battle were, by all the
testimony, due to him. On the whole, it almost seems, in its broad
lights, like a battle of this one man against the enemy. His task was
the greater from the extent and obscurity of the battlefield. On these
accounts, some of those holding the positions used afterwards to say
there was no battle at all, and one--Lieut. Delisle, who received a
pension--that the whole thing was a farce. Frankly--and it may seem at
first sight like a discourtesy to say it--it is doubtful whether the
Voltigeurs would have stood much real fighting had they been opposed
to veterans. On reasonable consideration this objection must
disappear. It is well known that recruits away from their homes are
utterly unstable in their first battles. For instance, at Bull's Run,
in the first two battles of the American Civil War, it was a toss-up
which side would run away from the other, and they decided it by one
side doing so the first day, and the other side the second. Many of
the Upper Canadians were fearful and undecided at the beginning of the
War of 1812. It is pretty probable that the promptitude of the few
regulars in the country, including such officers as Brock, was its
salvation at the outset. Most of De Salaberry's own men had withdrawn
a month previous at the attack on the camp at Four Corners, though so
disproportionate an enterprise was no fair test of recruits. The
Sedentary Militia, when drafted, deserted in great numbers, and the
duty assigned to the newly raised Voltigeurs by their commander at
Chrysler's Farm just afterwards was that merely of making a temporary
display in the woods. De Salaberry probably intended to do more with
his division at Châteauguay, and might have succeeded if put to the
test, for they were now probably superior to the American force in the
very important respect of acquired confidence in a leader, who was
even then the hero of the Province. Being of the same stock as
Napoleon's men, a long course of fighting under a De Salaberry would
have undoubtedly made them into a similar force; but in any case, too
much cannot be said for the patriotism and willingness exhibited by
these young men in defence of united Canada.
Every man on the field, apparently, did the duty assigned to him.
One--Jean Bte. Leclaire, was also one of the heroes of Fort Detroit
and afterwards Chrysler's Farm. To the memory of such a man let his
country do some honor. To the axemen's force also is due credit for
cheerful and dangerous labor in chopping trees and working at the
obstructions and defences. The Temoin Oculaire names "Vincent,
Pelletier, Vervais, Dubois, Caron," who swam the river and took
prisoners those who refused to surrender.
Captain Daly is the name to be mentioned next to De Salaberry. His
courageous onslaught is testified to by both Purdy and the Temoin, and
twice wounded, he fought until he fell. It may be truthfully said that
it was he who bore the brunt of the fight. Schiller also specially
distinguished himself, and won his captaincy on the field. Of Ferguson
and the two Captains Duchesnay we have spoken. The Temoin Oculaire
praises the courage of Captain La Mothe, of Lieuts. Pinguet, Hebden,
Guy, Johnson, Powell, and Captain L'Ecuyer (the latter two for
captures of prisoners in the woods.) Captains Longtin and Huneau, of
the Beauharnois Militia, are also mentioned by him for good conduct.
Louis Langlade, Noël Annance, and Bartlet Lyons, of the Indian
Department, were in the action of the 26th and the affair of the 28th.
McDonell of Odgensburg, and no doubt many others, ought to be added.
As to credit, in fact, every man in the region who did his duty and
was ready to defend his country deserves it, and those named are but
the examples who were put to the test. The brave Scotch settlers, few
as they then were, were inspired with that spirit. The women stood
literally ready to burn the roofs over their heads. The men, except
those who had teams, who were drafted into an invaluable transport
service, were formed into a company and drilled for the defence, under
Lieut. Neil Morison and Captain James Wright, whose house was the
headquarters of General De Watteville and a frequent scene of the
council of officers. He was a tall and stern man, a Highlander, his
name of "Wright" being a translation of his Gaelic one, "MacIntheoir."
His Châteauguay sword is said to have long hung on the wall in the
house of one of his descendants.
We should not be so ungrateful also as to forget the services of those
faithful Indians, to whom, as all through the war, a share of the
success was due.
In 1847 it was decided in England, after much agitation, to issue what
was called "the War Medal," rewarding all those who had fought British
battles during the years 1793 to 1814 and not received any special
medal. Clasps were attached for each battle in which the recipient was
engaged. A medal seems to have been given, as was meet, to almost
every one on the field of Châteauguay, for 260 were distributed. It
was, in fact, erroneously issued to some who were not present. One
lieutenant, in particular, says Mr. Dion, is known from the De
Salaberry letters to have himself lamented that he only came up the
day after. The Indians and regulars also got medals. The simple record
of what was done, however, is the best memorial of honor to those who
were present on that memorable day.
Mr. R.W. McLachlan relates his recollections of one of the veterans at
Montreal. "Clad in an old artillery uniform, he was always seen
marching out alongside of the troops on review days. He was ever ready
to recount his adventures on the day of battle. Although we have heard
it often from his lips, all that we can remember is that: 'De Yankee
see me fore I see him, and he shoot me drough de neck.'"
* * * * *
It is the privilege of the men of Châteauguay to remember that their
region is haunted by the spirits of heroes.
"The dead still play their part"
sings the Canadian poet Sangster, and here the musing thought must for
ever conjure up De Salaberry, McDonell, the 800 waiting behind their
breastworks in the gloom of the woods, the touching scene of Captain
Longtin and his Beauharnois men, and the stubborn onset of Daly
against overwhelming odds. The meaning of it all is: that given a good
cause, and the defence of our homes against wanton aggression, we can
dare odds that otherwise would seem hopeless; that it is in the
future, as in the past, the spirits of men, and not their material
resources, which count for success; that we need only be brave and
just, and ready to die, and our country can never be conquered; and
that we shall always be able to preserve ourselves free in our course
of development towards our own idea of a nation.
APPENDIX.
NOTES BY W. PATTERSON, M.A.
1. Mr. James Walsh, Sr., who still resides in Ormstown, Que., was
informed by one Saint Charles Moreau, alias Legault, that the stone
house, situated on the Châteauguay about two miles below the village
of Ste. Martine, and known during the early years of the present
century as "The Stone Tavern," had just been built and finished the
day before the battle, and the officers of the Canadian forces
unceremoniously took possession of it on coming forward that evening.
2. This same Legault or Moreau, shortly after the battle and before
the dead were removed, visited the scene of the fight. There he saw
several dead and several dying. He had a vivid recollection of the
cruelty of the Indians. "The cursed savages," said Legault, "did
nothing to secure the victory, and yet were foremost in plundering the
dead and dying." He remembered in particular having seen an American
officer, who was seriously wounded, lying on the field. The officer
had a coin in his mouth which he was evidently anxious to save. An
Indian, upon noticing this, bade him by making signs open his mouth
and give up the piece. The command being apparently misunderstood, the
Indian impatiently struck him with his tomahawk on the forehead. As
his head was knocked back by the blow, the man opened his mouth, and
his assailant taking out the coin passed on.
3. Mr. David Monique, who lived at the "Portage" (modern Dewittville)
at the time of the war, used to say, as Mr. Walsh many a time heard
him relate, that his impression was that the Canadians did not hang
upon the American rear after the fight, for had they done so, the
American guns, which were all left behind, would have been captured. A
division retreated up the Island of Jamestown by way of the "Portage,"
on the South side of the Châteauguay, passing on their route Mr.
Monique's farm. There they had their morning meal near his house, on
October 27th, 1813. Their pork they fried on the ends of sticks before
little fires. They were poorly clad. All were quite civil. They said
that they had been "badly licked the day before." Their retreat was
witnessed by this man and his family, and certainly they were not
pursued by the Canadians, nor, in his opinion, did the Canadians
pursue the other division, which retired across the Outarde by way of
the ford, made on their inward march, and since known as the "American
Ford," for in the following year, they returned for their guns and
carried them off without molestation.
4. Mr. Thomas Baird, merchant, of Ormstown, remembers well a Mr.
Laberge, a very old man, who had been one of the soldiers on picquet
duty at Ormstown, when the Americans invaded this country, in 1813.
Laberge said that the Canadians stationed at this point were few in
number, and were posted near the mouth of the Outarde, along the North
bank of the Châteauguay, and also along the creek which now runs
through the village of Ormstown. There the Canadians were taken by
surprise. Those who escaped, retreated to De Salaberry's headquarters
a few miles down the Châteauguay.
Laberge also said that some of the Americans who were killed in the
battle of the next day, October 26th, were buried on the bank of the
creek, to which reference has been made. In this connection it is
interesting to relate that while excavations were being made a few
years ago for a roadway through this bank, the remains of five or six
men were unearthed. The U.S.A. military buttons, the belt buckles and
the bayonet found in their grave removed any doubt that these were the
remains of American soldiers. This last item was kindly given the
writer by Mr. Chas. Moe, who assisted in making the road.
5. The ford over the Outarde, by which the Americans crossed, still
remains and is known as the "American Ford." It is about three miles
west of Ormstown village. The annual Spring floods have undoubtedly
changed it somewhat. Both banks of the river shew the place to be a
coarse gravel bed. By the addition of more gravel they easily made a
fine roadway.
6. Mr. John Symons, who came to the Châteauguay River in 1828, and has
lived in its vicinity ever since, and who at the time of writing
resides in Ormstown, informed the writer that Alexander Williamson,
one of the earliest settlers, used to say that what is spoken of as
the battle of Châteauguay, is greatly magnified. Williamson regarded
the Americans as a great lot of cowards who were glad to take
advantage of the slightest opposition to return home.
7. Mr. James Brodie, a retired farmer, residing in the village of
Ormstown, and who also was well acquainted with Alexander Williamson,
states that Williamson was about twelve years of age when the battle
was fought and was not present at the fight, but what he knew of it he
had learned from others.
8. Mr. William Allan who for years did business as a general
storekeeper at Allans Corners, Que., informed the writer that he heard
Alexander Williamson describe what is generally known as the battle,
many times. "Williamson," says Mr. Allan, "could not repeat the same
story twice."
9. Mr. Brodie, in view of all the information he could gather from the
early settlers, including Mr. Williamson, sincerely believes that the
merits of De Salaberry have been much over-estimated. "That officer
has no claims," said he, "to being a hero by what he did in that
encounter."
Yet the Canadians, so that gentleman gives the account, were most
skilfully managed and made the best of their opportunity. Wearing the
red coats, they were made to march in a circle for a time under the
cover of the woods, and for a time exposed to the view of the
Americans. To them, as they marched along, they gave the impression
that they were a numerous force. These same Canadians, (Miss Anne
Bryson, an aged lady, residing at Allans Corners, relates the story),
still further exaggerated their strength by turning their coats whilst
behind the trees, the white lining then giving them the appearance of
being another regiment. The story is also told how the Indians, being
well scattered, made the forests resound with their war cry.
10. Where was the battle fought? The battlefield is situated about
five or six acres west of the passenger bridge at Allans Corners,
which is a small village on the Châteauguay River, thirteen miles
below Huntingdon, three miles below Ormstown village, and about
forty-three miles from Montreal. The site was a position on the North
bank of the Châteauguay, where, almost at right angles to it, a deep
and wide creek, then a large stream, emptied itself into the river. At
that point was the foremost line of De Salaberry's breastworks,
consisting of felled trees, stones and earth. There the main division
of the Americans was repulsed. A sharp encounter in which the enemy
were defeated by Captain Daly took place several acres below this on
the opposite bank. Bullets are found every year on the scene.
11. It is popularly believed that some of the American guns were sunk
in the Châteauguay River at the point where the battle took place,
although no trace of them has ever been found. The river is very deep
there.
12. About 13 acres west of Allans Corners there was a settlement of
American squatters who fled the country before the outbreak of the
war. They had planted an orchard which was always afterwards known as
the "American Orchard." Traces of it were to be seen a few years ago.
The early settlers, Mr. Williamson among others, have handed down the
fact that some of these people were employed as guides by the American
invaders.
13. Mr. James Gilbert, who was the first settler on the land on the
south bank opposite the point where De Salaberry was encamped, years
ago, when ploughing, unearthed the remains of a man wrapped in the
American military dress, and at various times, Mr. George Nussey
informed the writer, ploughed up bones.
14. Mr. Williamson remembered well, Mr. Brodie informed the writer,
that the settlers on the Châteauguay at the time of the battle,
excepting of course the militia, were prepared to flee towards
Montreal, intending to take with them what household effects they
conveniently could, should the Canadian forces suffer defeat.
15. Near De Salaberry's first line, on the north bank of the river,
stood the old block house. Miss Anne Bryson remembers it well.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Wm. James' Mil. Oc. of War of 1812.
[2] History of the War of 1812.
[3] James says at St. Regis.
[4] James.
[5] Letter of Hampton to Armstrong.
[6] James.
[7] To the Secretary of War, Sept. 25th, 1813, in Palmer's Hist.
Register of the U.S., I., for 1814.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Chiefly Appleton's Cycl. of Am. Biog.
[10] Supplement to same. It contains a portrait of Izard.
[11] H. Sulte.
[12] Garneau, Hist. Can.
[13] Garneau.
[14] Garneau.
[15] Christie gives him credit for this point.
[16] See letters of "Veritas."
[17] Christie Hist. Can.
[18] Wilkinson's letters
[19] All full accounts of the battle from this stage on are chiefly
founded on that remarkable letter of a participant signing "Temoin
Oculaire," published in Montreal, 29 Oct., 1813. It is open, however,
to some corrections of detail.
[20] Garneau and Sellar; but Coffin says they were French-Canadian
_voyageurs_, and Mr. John Fraser, from tradition, says _five-sixths_
French-Canadians. I have been unable to obtain the necessary
verifications from Ottawa or elsewhere.
[21] W.F. Coffin, Hist. War of 1812.
[22] Jame's Military Occurrences, I., 306.
[23] Coffin.
[24] James.
[25] Coffin.
[26] James, I., p. 308.
[27] Purdy gives an interesting and clear account (_Vide_ Palmer's
Hist. Register for 1814) of this march and some other matters, in his
report to Wilkinson.
[28] James.
[29] James says sixty.
[30] James.
[31] Temoin Oc.
[32] Garneau.
[33] Tradition.
[34] James.
[35] James.
[36] Temoin Oculaire.
[37] James.
[38] Tradition.
[39] James.
[40] Coffin.
[41] James.
[42] This was "a fact known to many persons now alive," according to a
petition for a medal by his family in 1849.
[43] James.
[44] See his despatch.
[45] Sulte.
[46] Hampton's Report on the Battle: Palmer's Hist. Register, 1814.
[47] James.
[48] James.
[49] "Officier actif et zelé." (Temoin Oculaire.)
[50] James.
[51] Palmer's Hist. Register.
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