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partial and unavailing instruction, their real cost to the country was infinitely greater.

OPERATIONS OF THE NAVY.

The first naval exploit of the war took place on the 13th of August, when Captain Porter with the Essex frigate captured the English sloop of war Alert in the brief space of eight minutes; on the 19th of August, after an engagement of thirty minutes, the English frigate Guerriere, 38 guns, was taken by the Constitution, Captain Hull; on the 17th of October the American sloop of war Wasp, Captain Jones, captured the brig Frolic, 22 guns, after a contest of forty-three minutes, but the same day, with its prize, was compelled to surrender to the enemy's seventy-four gun ship Poictiers; on the 25th of October the frigate United States, Commodore Decatur, captured the English frigate Macedonian, 49 guns. The destruction of the Java, 38 guns, by the Constitution, Commodore Bainbridge, on the 29th of December, closed the brilliant record of our Navy for the year.

It has been fortunate for the fame of our country, no less than for its finances, that Congress has never been tempted to delegate to the States any portion of its constitutional power "to provide and maintain a navy." As a consequence, in this branch of the national defense the honor of our flag and the protection of the persons and property of our citizens have been intrusted to disciplined seamen, commanded by officers of professional training and experience.

To that skill, discipline, and valor, which are essential elements of a regular service, must be ascribed this series of brilliant victories on the sea which electrified the nation and made it justly proud of its Navy.

Far from appreciating the excellent footing upon which Congress had placed our Regular Navy, and ignorant of the character and discipline of its officers and men, the Cabinet was completely overawed by the supposed naval supremacy of Great Britain, and adopted the timid policy of passive resistance as the only means of preventing the destruction or capture of our national ships.

So suicidal a resolution can only be explained by the disposition only too prevalent among many of our public men to ignore in the management of military and naval affairs the opinions and advice of professional experts.

The urgent verbal and written remonstrances of Captains Bainbridge and Stewart alone induced the President to overrule the twicematured resolution of his Cabinet, to dismantle our men-of-war and convert them into floating batteries for mere harbor defense.

The change of policy brought about by these brave officers amply indemnified the Government for every dollar expended on the Navy since its foundation, and largely atoned for the universal discomfiture of our land forces.

In speaking of the deplorable results that might have otherwise ensued, Ingersoll states:

Importunity overcame Cabinet deliberation which might have brought the war to an end, with nothing but defeats by land, without one redeeming triumph on the water. If so, the Administration must have been borne down by overpowering opposition and its own incapacity, the war spirit discouraged, the war party overthrown, Congress either not called together at all till December, instead of being convoked in extraordinary session in May, 1813, and in December not to vote taxes for vigorous prosecution of hostilities, but to ratify dishonorable peace. a

a Ingersoll's Second War, vol. 1, p. 382.

CHAPTER X.

CAMPAIGN OF 1813.

MILITARY LEGISLATION.

The accumulated disasters of the late campaign reacted upon Congress, and we find "that in order to complete the present military establishment to the full number authorized by law, with the greatest possible despatch," the law of January 20, 1813, granted $24 of advanced pay to every soldier who, after the 1st of February, should enlist for five years or during the war. This advance was exclusive of $16 bounty and three months' pay and 160 acres of land which the soldier would receive upon his discharge. Even with this inducement, the aggregate of the Army in February only reached 19,036.

The sixth section of the law prescribed that it should "be lawful for any person, during the time he may be performing a tour of militia duty, to enlist in the Regular Army of the United States." This provision relieved the General Government in a measure from the embarrassments incident to the law of 1792, which made every citizen, not specially excepted, a member of the militia.

It being by no means certain that the offers already made would attract men to the ranks, Congress recurred to the principle of short enlistments and authorized the President, on the 29th of January, to increase the regular infantry by twenty regiments, to be enlisted for

one year.

Exclusive of the staff, the Army in March, 1813, now consisted of— 44 regiments of infantry. 4 regiments of artillery. 2 regiments of dragoons.

1 regiment of rifles, and the Corps of Engineers.

In the aggregate 57, 351 men.

As was the case during the Revolution, Congress, however, had again to learn the vital distinction between "voting battalions and raising men."

Further legislation during the year looked chiefly to the enlargement of the staff. This was accomplished in the lower grades by details of line officers, but the saving thus effected in the item of staff officers' pay was more than offset by the dangers of defeat, many companies and battalions being left without a proper complement of officers to lead them into battle.

In view of the fruitless employment of so many militia troops at the West during the previous year, the Government decided to limit the Army under General Harrison to 7,000 men."

This step was the outcome of an attempt to wage the war with regu lar rather than with raw troops, a change of policy forced upon the

a Armstrong's Notices of the War of 1812, vol. 1, p. 176.

Administration no less by the ridicule of the opposition than by the force of public opinion, which demanded a vigorous prosecution of hostilities.

General Harrison's views as to this change of policy are expressed in a letter to the Secretary of War, dated March 17, 1813:

The force contemplated in your letter is, in my opinion, not sufficient to secure success. Admitting that the whole should be raised by the time pointed out, they would be very little superior to militia, the officers having, with scarcely an exception, to learn their duty before they could instruct their men. We have, therefore, no alternative but to make up by numbers the deficiency in discipline.

I am well aware of the intolerable expense which attends the employment of a large militia force. We are now, however, in a situation to avoid those errors which made that of the last campaign so peculiarly heavy. Our supplies are procured, and so deposited, that the period for the march of the army from the advanced posts can be ascertained to an hour, and of course the troops need not be called out until the moment they are to act. Experience has convinced me that militia are more efficient in the early than in the latter part of their service.

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With regard to the quantum of force, my opinion is, that not only the regular troops designated in your letter, but a large auxiliary corps of militia should be employed. The only objection arises from the expensiveness of troops of that description. This, however, could not be an object, considering the very short time that it would be necessary to employ them. Let the moment for the commencement of the march from the Rapids be fixed, and the militia might be taken to that point, proceed and accomplish the object, and return home in two months.

Amongst the reasons which makes it necessary to employ a large force, I am sorry to mention the dismay and disinclination to the service which appears to prevail in the western country; numbers must give that confidence which ought to be produced by conscious valor and intrepidity, which never existed in any army in a superior degree than amongst the greater part of the militia which were with me through the winter. The new drafts from this State are entirely of another character, and are not to be depended on. I have no doubt, however, but a sufficient number of good men can be procured, and should they be allowed to serve on horseback, Kentucky would furnish some regiments that would be not inferior to those that fought at the river Raisin; and they were, in my opinion, superior to any militia that ever took the field in modern times. a

While Washington persistently opposed a dependence on raw troops as being a policy fraught with the utmost danger to our liberties, it will be perceived that General Harrison sought by "numbers" alone to replace that "confidence which ought to be produced by conscious valor and intrepidity."

The exhaustion of the Treasury involved in so reckless a program, elicited the following reply from the Secretary of War, dated April 4:

It now remains only to signify to you, clearly and distinctly, the kind of force the Government mean hereafter to employ in offensive operations, if it can be obtained. When the Legislature at their last session adopted the measure of augmenting the Army to fifty-two regiments of the line it was expressly in the view of superseding hereafter the necessity of employing militia, excepting in moments of actual invasion. In obedience to this policy the President assigned to the eighth military district of the United States four of these regiments, which, if filled, and superadded to the two regiments of the line now in that district, and the twenty-fourth in march for it, will give a total of seven regiments, or seven thousand men. This number forbids the belief that any employment of militia drafts will be necessary, when it shall have been collected.

The difficulty, however, of recruiting the Army by volunteer enlistments compelled him to add:

Till, however, this be done, or at least till time be given for the experiment, so many militia only are to be called out as shall be necessary for the defense of your posts

a American State Papers, vol. 1, p. 452.
American State Papers, vol. 2, p. 453.

on the Miami, and of your depots of provision on the lake. And should the recruiting service go on less fortunately in the patriotic States of Kentucky and Ohio than in other parts of the Union, you are in that case, and in that case only, authorized to call out so many militia drafts as will make good the deficiency.

With this explanation of the new policy which the Government sought to inaugurate, we may now proceed to the military operations of the year.

MILITARY OPERATIONS IN THE WEST.

The campaign, like that of 1812, opened with disaster. The winter expedition, into which Harrison's campaign of the previous autumn had resolved itself, consisted of a forward movement under General Winchester, in response to an appeal from settlers on the river Raisin. At Frenchtown, on the 22d of January, Winchester was attacked, defeated, and captured, with a loss of 397 killed, 27 wounded, and 522 prisoners.

His small force consisted of several companies of regulars, the First and Fifth Kentucky militia, and a battalion of rifles, numbering in all some 900 men. The British force under Proctor, comprising regulars, militia, and Indians, were 1,000 strong."

As has often happened in war, both parties fled from the scene of the battle, Proctor hastily returned to Canada lest his little force should be overwhelmed by the main body of Harrison's army, while the latter, apprehensive of an attack, set fire to his stores and baggage, and retreated to Partage River, east of the Miami.

On the 1st of February, with a force of nearly 2,000 men, he again advanced to the east bank of the Miami, where he established an entrenched post known as Fort Meigs.

The audacity of the British commander increased with every success. Hearing that the Americans expected large reenforcements, on the 23d of April, Proctor embarked at Amherstburg with 983 regulars and militia, crossed Lake Erie, ascended the Miami, and, being joined by 1,200 Indians, invested and laid siege to Fort Meigs. To complete the investment his troops occupied both banks of the river.

Learning, on the 5th of May, that 1,200 Kentucky militia were moving down the river to his support, Harrison sent orders to their commander, General Clay, upon approaching the fort, to land 800 men on the west bank, "take possession of the enemy's cannon, spike them, cut down the carriages, and return to their boats."d

The remainder of the detachment was ordered to land on the east bank and fight its way through the Indians to the fort.

The detachment of 800 men easily surprised and captured the enemy's guns, but instead of returning to their boats they unfortunately resolved, in disobedience of orders, to attack the British camp, when they were routed with a loss of 45 killed and 605 prisoners. Of the 800, but 150 made their escape.

The other detachment, thanks to a vigorous sortie of the regulars, succeeded in entering the fort.

a American State Papers, vol. 2, p. 453.

Figures furnished by Adjutant-General.

James's Military Occurrences between Great Britain and the United States, vol. 1, p. 195.

d General Clay's Official Report, Fay's American War, p. 93.

Thompson's Late War, p. 12; also Harrison's Official Report, Fay's American War, p. 92.

Uneasy at the discontent of his Indians, and finding that he could not take the fort, Proctor raised the siege on the 9th of May and returned to Canada, first, however, demanding the surrender of the garrisons as the "only means left for saving the latter from the tomahawk and scalping knives of the savages," a demand he was warned by General Harrison "not to repeat."

Our loss during the siege was 81 killed, 189 wounded, and 605 prisoners, total, 875. Of the killed and wounded 156 were regulars; the remaining 114 were twelve months' volunteers and militia from Ohio and Kentucky.

The British casualties were 14 killed, 47 wounded, and 40° missing; total, 101. Although Fort Meigs had not been taken, our losses were so great that the enemy gained the prestige if not the substantial fruits of a third victory.

Having been reenforced by about 400 regulars, Proctor again resolved to carry the war into Ohio, and recrossing the lake in July, appeared a second time before Fort Meigs.

His idea was "that Clay and his garrison, made up of insubordinate militia, might be provoked or seduced to quit their entrenchments and take the risk of a field fight with him and Tecumseh, whose combined forces were represented at 4,000 men.

Leaving the latter to observe Fort Meigs, the British commander moved with a portion of his troops to Fort Stephenson, on the Lower Sandusky, garrisoned by 160 regulars, under the command of Major Croghan. On the 2d of August, after summoning the garrison to surrender and meeting with a prompt refusal, Proctor assaulted the place with 391 British regulars, who were repulsed with a loss of 96 killed and wounded.

The casualties among the garrison were but 1 killed and 7 slightly wounded.

This gallant defense by an officer not 21 years of age marked the turning point in Proctor's career. Thwarted at a moment when he felt sure that another American detachment would become the prey of his savage allies, he gathered his troops together and retired once more to Canada.

The enormous expense already incurred in the effort to retake Detroit, by marching through the wilderness, induced the Government, early in the year 1813, to organize a naval flotilla for the purpose of securing the command of Lake Erie.

With the vessels constructed in pursuance of this design, Commodore Perry, on the 10th of September, won the brilliant victory of Lake Erie, which gave our army direct communication by water with the enemy's stronghold.

Meantime, by calls upon the governors of Kentucky and Ohio, our numbers were increased to more than 7,000 men. With this force, Harrison crossed the lake to Canada, landing at Amherstburg on the 27th of September and pushing on in pursuit of the now retreating

a Thompson's Late War, p. 114.

James's Military Occurrences between Great Britain and the United States, vol. 1, p. 200. Armstrong's Notices of the War of 1812, vol. 1, p. 164.

d James's Military Occurrences between Great Britain and the United States, vol. 1, p. 265.

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