Chapter XX · —HISTORY. (continued 7)

The United States, thus victorious in arms at home and on the ocean, commanded the respect of their enemy; and the directory made overtures of peace. The president immediately appointed ministers, who, on their arrival at Paris, found the executive authority in the possession of Buonaparte as first consul. They were promptly received, and in September, 1800, a treaty was concluded satisfactory to both countries.

The services of Washington had not been required in his capacity of commander-in-chief; but he did not live to witness the restoration of peace. On Friday, December 13, while attending some improvements upon his estate, he was exposed to a light rain, which wetted his neck and hair. Unapprehensive of danger, he passed the afternoon in his usual manner; but at night was seized with an inflammatory affection of the windpipe, attended by fever, and a quick and laborious respiration. Respiration became more and more contracted and imperfect until half-past eleven on Saturday night, when, retaining the full possession of his intellect, he expired without a struggle. Thus, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, died the father of his country. Intelligence of this event, as it rapidly spread, produced spontaneous, deep, and unaffected grief, suspending every other thought, and absorbing every different feeling. Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, immediately adjourned. The senate of the United States, in an address to the president on this melancholy occasion, indulged their patriotic pride, while they did not transgress the bounds of truth, in speaking of their Washington.

According to the unanimous resolution of congress, a funeral procession moved from the legislative hall to the German Lutheran church, where an oration was delivered by general Lee, a representative from Virginia. The procession was grand and solemn; the oration impressive and eloquent. Throughout the Union similar marks of affliction were exhibited; a whole people appeared in mourning. In every part of the republic funeral orations were delivered, and the best talents of the nation were devoted to an expression of the nation’s grief.

In the year 1800 the seat of government of the United States was removed to Washington, in the district of Columbia. After congratulating the people of the United States on the assembling of congress at the permanent seat of their government, and congress on the prospect of a residence not to be changed, the president said: ‘It would be unbecoming the representatives of this nation to assemble for the first time in this solemn temple, without looking up to the supreme Ruler of the universe, and imploring his blessing. May this territory be the residence of virtue and happiness! In this city may that piety and virtue, that wisdom and magnanimity, that constancy and self-government, which adorned the great character whose name it bears, be forever held in veneration! Here, and throughout our country, may simple manners, pure morals, and true religion, flourish forever!’

At this period a presidential election again occurred. From the time of the adoption of the constitution, the republican party had been gradually increasing in numbers. The two parties being now nearly equal, the contest inspired both with uncommon ardor. The federalists supported Mr. Adams and general Pinckney; the republicans, Mr. Jefferson and colonel Burr. The two latter received a small majority of the electoral votes; and as they received also an equal number, the selection of one of them to be president devolved upon the house of representatives. After thirty-five trials, during which the nation felt intense solicitude, Mr. Jefferson was chosen. Colonel Burr received the votes of the federalists, and lost, in consequence, the confidence of his former friends. By the provisions of the constitution he became, of course, vice-president.

A second census of the inhabitants of the United States was completed in 1801. They amounted to five millions three hundred and nineteen thousand seven hundred and sixty-two, having in ten years increased nearly one million four hundred thousand. In the same number of years the exports increased from nineteen to ninety-four millions, and the revenue from four millions seven hundred seventy-one thousand, to twelve millions nine hundred and forty-five thousand dollars. This rapid advance in the career of prosperity has no parallel in the history of nations, and is to be attributed principally to the institutions of the country, which, securing equal privileges to all, gave to the enterprise and industry of all free scope and full encouragement.

In 1802, the state of Ohio was admitted into the Union. It was formerly a portion of the north-western territory, for the government of which, in 1787, an ordinance was passed by the continental congress. In thirty years from its first settlement, the number of its inhabitants exceeded half a million. The state of Tennessee, which was previously a part of North Carolina, and which lies between that state and the river Mississippi, had been admitted in 1796.

The right of deposit at New Orleans, conceded to the citizens of the United States by Spain, and necessary to the people of the western country, had, until this period, been freely enjoyed. In October, the chief officer of that city prohibited the exercise of it in future. This violation of a solemn engagement produced, throughout the states of Ohio and Kentucky, indignant clamor and violent commotion. In congress a proposition was made to take possession by force of the whole province of Louisiana; but a more pacific course was adopted. Knowing that the province had been ceded, although not transferred, to France, the president instituted a negotiation to acquire it by purchase. In April, 1803, a treaty was concluded, conveying it to the United States for fifteen millions of dollars. Its acquisition was considered by the United States of the greatest importance, as it gave them the entire control of a river which is one of the noblest in the world.

At this period, also, there was another important acquisition of territory. The friendly tribe of Kaskaskia Indians, reduced by wars and other causes to a few individuals, who were unable to defend themselves against the neighboring tribes, transferred its country to the United States; reserving only a sufficiency to maintain its members in an agricultural way. The stipulations on the part of the United States were, to extend to them patronage and protection, and to give them certain annual aids, in money, implements of agriculture, and other articles of their choice. This ceded country extends along the Mississippi from the mouth of the Illinois to and up the Ohio; and is esteemed as among the most fertile within the limits of the Union.

The United States had for some time enjoyed the undisputed repose of peace, with only one exception. Tripoli, the least considerable of the Barbary states, had made demands founded neither in right nor in compact, and had denounced war on the failure of the American government to comply with them before a given day. The president, on this occasion, sent a small squadron of frigates into the Mediterranean, with assurances to that power of the sincere desire of the American government to remain in peace; but with orders to protect our commerce against the threatened attack. It was a seasonable and salutary measure; for the bey had already declared war; and the American commerce in the Mediterranean was blockaded, while that of the Atlantic was in peril. The arrival of the squadron dispelled the danger. The Insurgente, which had been so honorably added to the American navy, and the Pickering, of fourteen guns, the former commanded by captain Fletcher, the latter by captain Hillar, were lost in the equinoctial gale, in September, 1800.

In 1801, the Enterprise, of fourteen guns, captain Sterrett, fell in with a Tripolitan ship of war of equal force. The action continued three hours and a half, the corsair fighting with great obstinacy, and even desperation, until she struck, having lost fifty killed and wounded, while the Enterprise had not a man injured. In 1803, commodore Preble assumed the command of the Mediterranean squadron, and after humbling the emperor of Morocco, who had begun a covert war upon American commerce, concentrated most of his force before Tripoli. On arriving off that port, captain Bainbridge, in the frigate Philadelphia, of forty-four guns, was sent into the harbor to reconnoitre. While in eager pursuit of a small vessel, he unfortunately advanced so far that the frigate grounded, and all attempts to remove her were in vain. The sea around her was immediately covered with Tripolitan gun-boats, and captain Bainbridge was compelled to surrender. This misfortune, which threw a number of accomplished officers and a valiant crew into oppressive bondage, and which shed a gloom over the whole nation, as it seemed at once to increase the difficulties of a peace an hundred fold, was soon relieved by one of the most daring and chivalrous exploits that is found in naval annals. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, then one of commodore Preble’s subalterns, proposed a plan for re-capturing or destroying the Philadelphia. The American squadron was at that time lying at Syracuse. Agreeably to the plan proposed, lieutenant Decatur, in the ketch Intrepid, four guns and seventy-five men, proceeded, under the escort of the Syren, captain Stewart, to the harbor of Tripoli. The Philadelphia lay within half gun-shot of the bashaw’s castle, and several cruisers and gun-boats surrounded her with jealous vigilance.

The Intrepid entered the harbor alone, about eight o’clock in the evening, and succeeded in getting near the Philadelphia, between ten and eleven o’clock, without having awakened suspicion of her hostile designs. This vessel had been captured from the Tripolitans, and, assuming on this occasion her former national appearance, was permitted to warp alongside, under the alleged pretence that she had lost all her anchors. The moment the vessel came in contact, Decatur and his followers leaped on board, and soon overwhelmed a crew which was paralyzed with consternation. Twenty of the Tripolitans were killed. All the surrounding batteries being opened upon the Philadelphia, she was immediately set on fire, and not abandoned until thoroughly wrapped in flames; when, a favoring breeze springing up, the Intrepid extricated herself from her prey, and sailed triumphantly out of the harbor amid the light of the conflagration. Not the slightest loss occurred on the side of the Americans to shade the splendor of the enterprise.

In July, 1804, commodore Preble brought together all his forces before Tripoli, determined to try the effect of a bombardment. The enemy having sent some of his gun-boats and galleys without the reef at the mouth of the harbor, two divisions of American gun-boats were formed for the purpose of attacking them, while the large vessels assailed the batteries and town. On the 3d of August this plan was put in execution. The squadron approached within gun-shot of the town, and opened a tremendous fire of shot and shells, which was as promptly returned by the Tripolitan batteries and shipping. At the same time the two divisions of gun-boats, the first under the command of captain Somers, the second under captain Stephen Decatur, who had been promoted as a reward for his late achievement, advanced against those of the enemy. The squadron was about two hours under the enemy’s batteries, generally within pistol-shot, ranging by them in deliberate succession, alternately silencing their fires, and launching its thunders into the very palace of the bashaw; while a more animated battle was raging in another quarter. Simultaneously with the bombardment the American gun-boats had closed in desperate conflict with the enemy. Captain Decatur, bearing down upon one of superior force, soon carried her by boarding, when, taking his prize in tow, he grappled with another, and in like manner transferred the fight to the enemy’s deck.

In the fierce encounter which followed this second attack, captain Decatur, having broken his sword, closed with the Turkish commander, and, both falling in the struggle, gave him a mortal wound with a pistol-shot, just as the Turk was raising his dirk to plunge it into his breast. Lieutenant Trippe, of captain Decatur’s squadron, had boarded a third large gun-boat, with only one midshipman and nine men, when his boat fell off, and left him to wage the unequal fight of eleven against thirty-six, which was the number of the enemy. Courage and resolution, however, converted this devoted little band into a formidable host, which, after a sanguinary contest, obliged the numerous foe to yield, with the loss of fourteen killed and seven wounded. Lieutenant Trippe received eleven sabre wounds, and had three of his party wounded, but none killed. Several bombardments and attacks succeeded each other at intervals throughout the month. Day after day death and devastation were poured into Tripoli with unsparing perseverance, each attack exhibiting instances of valor and devotedness which will give lustre to history. The eyes of Europe were drawn to the spot where a young nation, scarcely emerged into notice, was signally chastising the despotic and lawless infidel, to whom some of her most powerful governments were then paving tribute.

On the 4th of September, commodore Preble, in order to try new experiments of annoyance, determined to send a fireship into the enemy’s harbor. The Intrepid was fitted out for this service, being filled with powder, shells, and other combustible materials. Captain Somers, who had often been the emulous rival of Decatur in the career of glory, was appointed to conduct her in, having for his associates in the hazardous enterprise lieutenants Wadsworth and Israel, all volunteers. The Argus, Vixen, and Nautilus, were to convey the Intrepid as far as the mouth of the harbor. Captain Somers and lieutenant Wadsworth made choice of two of the fleetest boats in the squadron, manned with picked crews, to bring them out. At eight o’clock in the evening she stood into the harbor with a moderate breeze. Several shot were fired at her from the batteries. She had nearly gained her place of destination when she exploded, without having made any of the signals previously concerted to show that the crew was safe. Night hung over the dreadful catastrophe, and left the whole squadron a prey to the most painful anxiety. The convoy hovered about the harbor until sunrise, when no remains could be discovered either of the Intrepid or her boats. Doubt was turned into certainty, that she had prematurely blown up, as one of the enemy’s gun-boats was observed to be missing, and several others much shattered and damaged.

Commodore Preble, in his account, says, that he was led to believe ‘that those boats were detached from the enemy’s flotilla to intercept the ketch, and without suspecting her to be a fireship, the missing boats had suddenly boarded her, when the gallant Somers and the heroes of his party observing the other three boats surrounding them, and no prospect of escape, determined at once to prefer death, and the destruction of the enemy, to captivity and torturing slavery, put a match to the train leading directly to the magazine, which at once blew the whole into the air, and terminated their existence;’ and he adds, that his ‘conjectures respecting this affair are founded on a resolution which captain Somers and lieutenants Wadsworth and Israel had formed, neither to be taken by the enemy, nor suffer him to get possession of the powder on board the Intrepid.’144 Soon after these events, commodore Preble gave up the command in the Mediterranean to commodore Barron, and returned to the United States. His eminent services were enthusiastically acknowledged by his admiring fellow-citizens, as well as those of his associates in arms, ‘whose names,’ in the expressive language of congress on the occasion, ‘ought to live in the recollection and affection of a grateful country, and whose conduct ought to be regarded as an example to future generations.’

While the squadron remained before Tripoli other deeds of heroism were performed. William Eaton, who had been a captain in the American army, was, at the commencement of this war, consul at Tunis. He there became acquainted with Hamet Caramauly, whom a younger brother had excluded from the throne of Tripoli. With him he concerted an expedition against the reigning sovereign, and repaired to the United States to obtain permission and the means to undertake it. Permission was granted, the co-operation of the squadron recommended, and such pecuniary assistance as could be spared was afforded. To raise an army in Egypt, and lead it to attack the usurper in his dominions, was the project which had been concerted. In the beginning of 1805, Eaton met Hamet at Alexandria, and was appointed general of his forces. On the 6th of March, at the head of a respectable body of mounted Arabs, and about seventy Christians, he set out for Tripoli. His route lay across a desert one thousand miles in extent. On his march, he encountered peril, fatigue, and suffering, the description of which would resemble the exaggerations of romance. On the 25th of April, having been fifty days on the march, he arrived before Derne, a Tripolitan city on the Mediterranean, and found in the harbor a part of the American squadron destined to assist him. He learnt also that the usurper, having received notice of his approach, had raised a considerable army, and was then within a day’s march of the city. No time was therefore to be lost.

The next morning he summoned the governor to surrender, who returned for answer, ‘My head or yours.’ The city was assaulted, and after a contest of two hours and a half, possession was gained. The Christians suffered severely, and the general was slightly wounded. Great exertions were immediately made to fortify the city. On the 8th of May it was attacked by the Tripolitan army. Although ten times more numerous than Eaton’s band, the assailants, after persisting four hours in the attempt, were compelled to retire. On the 10th of June another battle was fought, in which the enemy were defeated. The next day the American frigate Constitution arrived in the harbor, which so terrified the Tripolitans that they fled precipitately to the desert. The frigate came, however, to arrest the operations of Eaton in the midst of his brilliant and successful career. Alarmed at his progress, the reigning bashaw had offered terms of peace, which being much more favorable than had before been offered, were accepted by Mr. Lear, the authorized agent of the government. Sixty thousand dollars were given as a ransom for the unfortunate American prisoners, and an engagement was made to withdraw all support from Hamet. The nation, proud of the exploits of Eaton, regretted this diplomatic interference, but the treaty was subsequently ratified by the president and senate.

During the year 1804, the Delaware Indians relinquished to the United States their title to an extensive tract east of the Mississippi, between the Wabash and Ohio, for which they were to receive annuities in animals and implements for agriculture, and in other necessaries. This was an important acquisition, not only for its extent and fertility, but because, by its commanding the Ohio for three hundred miles, and nearly half that distance the Wabash, the produce of the settled country could be safely conveyed down those rivers, and, with the cession recently made by Kaskaskias, it nearly consolidated the possessions of the United States north of the Ohio, from lake Erie to the Mississippi.

Early in the following year Mr. Jefferson was re-elected to fill the president’s chair by the decided majority of sixty-two votes against sixteen, a circumstance which he viewed as an indication of a great decay in the strength of the federal party.145 George Clinton was also elected vice-president.

During the year 1806, a circumstance occurred which put to the test the attachment of the inhabitants of the southern and western states, as well as the good faith of the American government in her foreign relations. Colonel Burr, whose character and influence had formerly encouraged him in the hope of filling the highest office of his country, subsequently lost the public confidence and fell into obscurity. While unobserved by his fellow-citizens he was by no means inactive; he was employed in purchasing and building boats on the Ohio, and in engaging men to descend that river. His professed intention was to form a settlement on the banks of the Washita, in Louisiana; but the nature of his preparations, and the incautious disclosures of his associates, led to the suspicion that his real object was of a far different character.

‘His conspiracy,’ says president Jefferson, in a letter to the marquis de la Fayette, ‘has been one of the most flagitious of which history will ever furnish an example. He meant to separate the western states from us, to add Mexico to them, place himself at their head, establish what he would deem an energetic government, and thus provide an example and an instrument for the subversion of our freedom. The man who could expect to affect this with American materials must be a fit subject for Bedlam. Nothing has ever so strongly proved the innate force of our form of government as this conspiracy. Burr had probably engaged one thousand men to follow his fortunes, without letting them know his projects, otherwise than by assuring them the government approved of them. The moment a proclamation was issued, undeceiving them, he found himself left with about thirty desperadoes only. The people rose in a mass wherever he was, or was suspected to be, and by their own energy the thing was crushed in one instant, without its having been necessary to employ a man of the military but to take care of their respective stations. His first enterprise was to have been to seize New Orleans, which he supposed would powerfully bridle the upper country, and place him at the door of Mexico. It is with pleasure I inform you that not a single native Creole, and but one American, of those settled there before we received the place, took any part with him. His partisans were the new emigrants from the United States and elsewhere, fugitives from justice or debt, and adventurers and speculators of all descriptions.’ In August, 1807, he was tried before chief-justice Marshall, and the evidence of his guilt not being deemed sufficient he was acquitted. The people, however, very generally believed him guilty.

The American government at this period began to be seriously affected by the contest which was raging in Europe. Under the guidance of the splendid talents of Napoleon the military prowess of France had brought most of the European nations to her feet. America profited from the destruction of the ships and commerce of other nations; being neutral, her vessels carried from port to port the productions of France and the dependent kingdoms; and also to the ports of those kingdoms the manufactures of England: indeed, few ships were found on the ocean except those of the United States and Great Britain. These advantages were, however, too great to be long enjoyed unmolested. American ships carrying to Europe the produce of French colonies were, in the early stage of the war, captured by British cruisers, and condemned by their courts as lawful prizes; and now several European ports under the control of France were by British orders in council, dated in May, 1806, declared in a state of blockade, although not invested with a British fleet; and American vessels attempting to enter those ports were also captured and condemned. France and her allies suffered, as well as the United States, from these proceedings; but her vengeance fell not so much upon the belligerent as upon the neutral party. By a decree, used at Berlin in November, 1806, the French emperor declared the British islands in a state of blockade, and of course authorized the capture of all neutral vessels attempting to trade with those islands. From these measures of both nations the commerce of the United States severely suffered, and their merchants loudly demanded of the government redress and protection.

This was not the only grievance to which the contest between the European powers gave rise. Great Britain claimed a right to search for and seize English sailors, even on board neutral vessels while traversing the ocean. In the exercise of this pretended right, citizens of the United States were seized, dragged from their friends, transported to distant parts of the world, compelled to perform the duty of British sailors, and to fight with nations at peace with their own. Against this outrage upon personal liberty and the rights of American citizens, Washington, Adams, and Jefferson had remonstrated in vain. The abuse continued, and every year added to its aggravation. In June, 1807, a circumstance occurred which highly and justly incensed the Americans. The frigate Chesapeake, being ordered on a cruise in the Mediterranean sea, under the command of commodore Barron, sailing from Hampton roads, was come up with by the British ship of war Leopard, one of a squadron then at anchor within the limits of the United States. An officer was sent from the Leopard to the Chesapeake, with a note from the captain respecting some deserters from some of his Britannic majesty’s ships, supposed to be serving as part of the crew of the Chesapeake, and inclosing a copy of an order from vice-admiral Berkeley, requiring and directing the commanders of ships and vessels under his command, in case of meeting with the American frigate at sea, and without the limits of the United States, to show the order to her captain, and to require to search his ship for the deserters from certain ships therein named, and to proceed and search for them; and if a similar demand should be made by the American, he was permitted to search for deserters from their service, according to the customs and usage of civilized nations on terms of amity with each other.

Commodore Barron gave an answer, purporting that he knew of no such men as were described; that the recruiting officers for the Chesapeake had been particularly instructed by the government, through him, not to enter any deserters from his Britannic majesty’s ships; that he knew of none such being in her; that he was instructed never to permit the crew of any ship under his command to be mustered by any officers but her own; that he was disposed to preserve harmony, and hoped his answer would prove satisfactory. The Leopard, shortly after this answer was received by her commander, ranged along side of the Chesapeake, and commenced a heavy fire upon her. The Chesapeake, unprepared for action, made no resistance, but having suffered much damage, and lost three men killed, and eighteen wounded, commodore Barron ordered his colors to be struck, and sent a lieutenant on board the Leopard, to inform her commander that he considered the Chesapeake her prize. The commander of the Leopard sent an officer on board, who took possession of the Chesapeake, mustered her crew, and, carrying off four of her men, abandoned the ship. Commodore Barron, finding that the Chesapeake was very much injured, returned, with the advice of his officers, to Hampton roads. On receiving information of this outrage, the president, by proclamation, interdicted the harbors and waters of the United States to all armed British vessels, forbade intercourse with them, and ordered a sufficient force for the protection of Norfolk, and such other preparations as the occasion appeared to require. An armed vessel of the United States was despatched with instructions to the American minister at London, to call on the British government for the satisfaction and security which this outrage required.

Buonaparte having declared his purpose of enforcing with rigor the Berlin decree; the British government having solemnly asserted the right of search and impressment, and having intimated their intention to adopt measures in retaliation of the French decree, the president recommended to congress that the seamen, ships, and merchandise of the United States should be detained in port to preserve them from the dangers which threatened them on the ocean; and a law laying an indefinite embargo was in consequence enacted. A few days only had elapsed when information was received that Great Britain had prohibited neutrals, except upon most injurious conditions, from trading with France or her allies, comprising nearly every maritime nation of Europe. This was followed in a few weeks by a decree issued by Buonaparte, at Milan, declaring that every neutral vessel which should submit to be visited by a British ship, or comply with the terms demanded, should be confiscated, if afterwards found in his ports, or taken by his cruisers. Thus, at the date of the embargo, were orders and decrees in existence rendering liable to capture almost every American vessel sailing on the ocean. In the New England states, the embargo, withholding the merchant from a career in which he had been highly prosperous, and in which he imagined that he might still be favored by fortune, occasioned discontent and clamor. The federalists, more numerous there than in any other part of the Union, pronounced it a measure unwise and oppressive. These representations, and the distress which the people endured, induced a zealous opposition to the measures of the government.

The president, in his message on the opening of the tenth congress, stated the continued disregard shown by the belligerent nations to neutral rights, so destructive to the American commerce; and referred it to the wisdom of congress to decide on the course best adapted to such a state of things. ‘With the Barbary powers,’ he said, ‘we continue in harmony, with the exception of an unjustifiable proceeding of the dey of Algiers towards our consul to that regency,’ the character and circumstances of which he laid before congress. ‘With our Indian neighbors the public peace has been steadily maintained. From a conviction that we consider them as a part of ourselves, and cherish with sincerity their rights and interests, the attachment of the Indian tribes is gaining strength daily, is extending from the nearer to the more remote, and will amply requite us for the justice and friendship practised towards them. Husbandry and household manufacture are advancing among them, more rapidly with the southern than northern tribes, from circumstances of soil and climate; and one of the two great divisions of the Cherokee nation has now under consideration to solicit the friendship of the United States, and to be identified with us in laws and government in such progressive manner as we shall think best.’

Mr. Jefferson, following and confirming the example of Washington, determined not to continue in office for a longer term than eight years. ‘Never did a prisoner,’ says the president of the American republic, ‘released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power. Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enormities of the times in which I have lived have forced me to take a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the boisterous ocean of political passions. I thank God for the opportunity of retiring from them without censure, and carrying with me the most consoling proofs of public approbation. I leave every thing in the hands of men so able to take care of them, that if we are destined to meet misfortunes it will be because no human wisdom could avert them.’

ADMINISTRATION OF MR. MADISON.

Mr. Jefferson was succeeded in the presidency by Mr. Madison. One of the first acts of congress under the new president was to repeal the embargo; but at the same time to prohibit all intercourse with France and England.

In the non-intercourse law a provision was inserted, that if either nation should revoke her hostile edicts, and the president should announce that fact by proclamation, then the law should cease to be in force in regard to the nation so revoking. On the 23d of April, Mr. Erskine, minister plenipotentiary from his Britannic majesty to the United States, pledged his court to repeal its anti-neutral decrees by the 10th of June; and, in consequence of an arrangement now made with the British minister, the president proclaimed that commercial intercourse would be renewed on that day; but this arrangement was disavowed by the ministry; and, in October, Mr. Erskine was replaced by Mr. Jackson, who soon giving offence to the American government, all farther intercourse with him was refused, and he was recalled.

The Rambouillet decree, alleged to be designed to retaliate the act of congress which forbade French vessels to enter the ports of the United States, was issued by Buonaparte on the 23d of March. By this decree, all American vessels and cargoes, arriving in any of the ports of France, or of countries occupied by French troops, were ordered to be seized and condemned.

On the 1st of May congress passed an act, excluding British and French armed vessels from the waters of the United States; but providing, that if either of the above nations should modify its edicts before the 3d of March, 1811, so that they should cease to violate neutral commerce, of which fact the president was to give notice by proclamation, and the other nation should not, within three months after, pursue a similar course, commercial intercourse with the first might be renewed, but not with the other.

In August the French government assured Mr. Armstrong, the American envoy at Paris, that the Berlin and Milan decrees were revoked, the revocation to take effect on the first day of November ensuing. Confiding in this assurance, the president, on the second day of November, issued his proclamation, declaring that unrestrained commerce with France was allowed, but that all intercourse with Great Britain was prohibited.

Great Britain, having previously expressed a willingness to repeal her orders whenever France should repeal her decrees, was now called upon by the American envoy to fulfil that engagement. The British ministry objected, however, that the French decrees could not be considered as repealed, a letter from the minister of state not being, for that purpose, a document of sufficient authority; and still persisted to enforce the orders in council. For this purpose British ships of war were stationed before the principal harbors of the United States. All American merchantmen, departing or returning, were boarded, searched, and many of them sent to British ports as legal prizes. The contempt in which the British officers held the republican navy, in one instance, led to an action. Commodore Rogers, in the President frigate, met in the evening a vessel on the coast of Virginia; he hailed; but, instead of receiving an answer, was hailed in turn, and a shot was fired, which struck the main-mast of the President. The fire was instantly returned by the commodore, and continued for a few minutes, when, finding his antagonist was of inferior force, and that her guns were almost silenced, he desisted. On hailing again, an answer was given, that the ship was the British sloop of war Little Belt, of eighteen guns. Thirty-two of her men were killed and wounded, and the ship was much disabled.

For several years the Indian tribes residing near the sources of the Mississippi had occupied themselves in murdering and robbing the white settlers in their vicinity. At length, the frontier inhabitants being seriously alarmed by their hostile indications, in the autumn of 1811 governor Harrison resolved to move towards the Prophet’s town, on the Wabash, with a body of Kentucky and Indiana militia, and the fourth United States regiment, under colonel Boyd, to demand satisfaction of the Indians, and to put a stop to their threatened hostilities. His expedition was made early in November. On his approach within a few miles of the Prophet’s town, the principal chiefs came out with offers of peace and submission, and requested the governor to encamp for the night; but this was only a treacherous artifice. At four in the morning the camp was furiously assailed, and a bloody contest ensued; the Indians were however repulsed. The loss on the part of the Americans was sixty-two killed, and one hundred and twenty-six wounded, and a still greater number on the side of the Indians. Governor Harrison, having destroyed the Prophet’s town, and established forts, returned to Vincennes.

In November reparation was made by the British for the attack on the Chesapeake. Mr. Foster, the British envoy, informed the secretary of the United States, that he was instructed to repeat to the American government the prompt disavowal made by his majesty, on being apprized of the unauthorized act of the officer in command of his naval forces on the coast of America, whose recall from a highly important and honorable command immediately ensued, as a mark of his majesty’s disapprobation; that he was authorized to offer, in addition to that disavowal on the part of his royal highness, the immediate restoration, as far as circumstances would admit, of the men who, in consequence of admiral Berkeley’s orders, were forcibly taken out of the Chesapeake, to the vessel from which they were taken; or, if that ship were no longer in commission, to such seaport of the United States as the American government may name for the purpose: and that he was also authorized to offer to the American government a suitable pecuniary provision for the sufferers, in consequence of the attack on the Chesapeake, including the families of those seamen who fell in the action, and of the wounded survivors. The president acceded to these propositions; and the officer commanding the Chesapeake, then lying in the harbor of Boston, was instructed to receive the men who were to be restored to that ship. The British envoy, however, could give no assurance that his government was disposed to make a satisfactory arrangement of the subject of impressment, or to repeal the orders in council. These orders, on the contrary, continued to be enforced with rigor; and, on the restoration of a free commerce with France, a large number of American vessels, laden with rich cargoes, and destined to her ports, fell into the power of British cruisers, which, since 1803, had captured nine hundred American vessels.

Early in November, 1811, president Madison summoned the congress. His message indicating an apprehension of hostilities with Great Britain, the committee of foreign relations in the house of representatives reported resolutions for filling up the ranks of the army; for raising an additional force of ten thousand men; for authorizing the president to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers, and for ordering out the militia when he should judge it necessary; for repairing the navy; and for authorizing the arming of merchantmen in self-defence. A bill from the senate, for raising twenty-five thousand men, after much discussion, was also agreed to by the house.

The American congress, although continuing the preparations for war, still cherished the hope that a change of policy in Europe would render unnecessary an appeal to arms till May in the following year. Towards the close of that season, the Hornet arrived from London, bringing information that no prospect existed of a favorable change. On the 1st of June, the president sent a message to congress, recounting the wrongs received from Great Britain, and submitting the question, whether the United States should continue to endure them, or resort to war. The message was considered with closed doors. On the 18th, an act was passed, declaring war against Great Britain; and the next day a proclamation was issued. Against this declaration, however, the representatives belonging to the federal party presented a solemn protest, which was written with great ability.

At the time of the declaration of war, general Hull was also governor of the Michigan territory, of which Detroit is the capital. On the 12th of July, with two thousand regulars and volunteers, he crossed the river dividing the United States from Canada, apparently intending to attack Malden, and thence to proceed to Montreal. Information was, however, received, that Mackinaw, an American post above Detroit, had surrendered to a large body of British and Indians, who were rushing down the river in numbers sufficient to overwhelm the American forces. Panic-struck, general Hull hastened back to Detroit. General Brock, the commander at Malden, pursued him, and erected batteries opposite Detroit. The next day, meeting with no resistance, general Brock resolved to march directly forward and assault the fort. The American troops awaited the approach of the enemy, and anticipated victory; but, to their dismay, general Hull opened a correspondence, which ended in the surrender of the army, and of the territory of Michigan. An event so disgraceful, occurring in a quarter where success was confidently anticipated, caused the greatest mortification and amazement throughout the Union.

General Van Rensselaer, of the New York militia, had the command of the troops which were called the army of the centre. His head-quarters were at Lewistown, on the river Niagara, and on the opposite side was Queenstown, a fortified British post. The militia displaying great eagerness to be led against the enemy, the general determined to cross the river at the head of about one thousand men; though successful at first, he was compelled, after a long and obstinate engagement, to surrender. General Brock, the British commander, fell in rallying his troops.

The army of the north, which was under the immediate command of general Dearborn, was stationed at Greenbush, near Albany, and at Plattsburgh, on lake Champlain. From the latter post, a detachment marched a short distance into Canada, surprised a small body of British and Indians, and destroyed a considerable quantity of public stores. Other movements were anxiously expected by the people; but, after the misfortunes of Detroit and Niagara, the general deemed it inexpedient to engage in any important enterprise.

While, on land, defeat attended the arms of the republic, on the ocean we gained victories, which compensated our loss, and gained us immortal glory. On the 19th of August, captain Hull, commanding the Constitution, of forty-four guns, fell in with the British frigate Le Guerriere. She advanced towards the Constitution, firing broadsides at intervals; the American reserved her fire till she had approached within half pistol-shot, when a tremendous cannonade was directed upon her, and in thirty minutes, every mast and nearly every spar being shot away, captain Dacres struck his flag. Of the crew, fifty were killed and sixty-four wounded; while the Constitution had only seven killed and seven wounded. The Guerriere received so much injury, that it was thought to be impossible to get her into port, and she was burned. Captain Hull, on his return to the United States, was welcomed with enthusiasm by his grateful and admiring countrymen. The vast difference in the number of killed and wounded certainly evinced great skill, as well as bravery, on the part of the American seamen. But this was the first only of a series of naval victories. On the 18th of October, captain Jones, in the Wasp, of eighteen guns, captured the Frolic, of twenty-two, after a bloody conflict of three-quarters of an hour. In this action the Americans obtained a victory over a superior force; and, on their part, but eight were killed and wounded, while on that of the enemy about eighty. The Wasp was unfortunately captured, soon after her victory, by a British ship of the line. On the 25th, the frigate United States, commanded by captain Decatur, captured the British frigate Macedonian. In this instance, also, the disparity of loss was astonishingly great: on the part of the enemy, a hundred and four were killed and wounded; on that of the Americans, but eleven. The United States brought her prize safely to New York. A most desperate action was fought on the 29th of December, between the Constitution, of forty-four guns, then commanded by captain Bainbridge, and the British frigate Java, of thirty-eight. The combat continued more than three hours; nor did the Java strike till she was reduced to a mere wreck. Of her crew, a hundred and sixty-one were killed and wounded, while of that of the Constitution there were only thirty-four.

These naval victories were peculiarly gratifying to the feelings of the Americans; they were gained in the midst of disasters on land, and by that class of citizens whose rights had been violated; they were gained over a nation whom long continued success had taught to consider themselves lords of the sea, and who had confidently affirmed that the whole American navy would soon be swept from the ocean. Many British merchantmen were also captured, both by the American navy and by privateers, which issued from almost every port, and were remarkably successful. The number of prizes made during the first seven months of the war exceeded five hundred.

At the commencement of the session of congress held in the autumn of 1812, the president, in his message, stated that immediately after the declaration of war, he communicated to the British government the terms on which its progress might be arrested; that these terms were, the repeal of the orders in council, the discharge of American seamen, and the abandonment of the practice of impressment; and that the ministry had declined to accede to his offers. He also stated that, at an early period of the war, he had received official information of the repeal of the orders in council; that two propositions for an armistice had been made to him, both of which he had rejected, as they could not have been accepted without conceding to Great Britain the right of impressment. The rejection of these propositions was approved by the national representatives, who, far from abandoning the ground they had taken, adopted more vigorous measures for the prosecution of the war.

While the war was proceeding in America, a friendly power abroad interposed for its termination. Soon after the spring session of congress, an offer was communicated from the emperor of Russia of his mediation, as the common friend of the United States and Great Britain, for the purpose of facilitating a peace between them. The offer was immediately accepted by the American government, and provision made for the contemplated negotiation. Albert Gallatin, James A. Bayard, and John Quincy Adams, were appointed commissioners, and invested with the requisite powers to conclude a treaty of peace with persons clothed with like powers on the part of Great Britain. They were also authorized to enter into such conventional regulations of the commerce between the two countries as might be mutually advantageous. The two first-named envoys proceeded to join their colleague at St. Petersburgh, where he then was as resident minister from the United States. A commission was also given to the envoys, authorizing them to conclude a treaty of commerce with Russia, with a view to strengthen the amicable relations, and improve the beneficial intercourse, between the two countries.

On the 24th of May, congress was convened by proclamation of the president. Laws were enacted, imposing a direct tax of three millions of dollars; authorizing the collection of various internal duties; providing for a loan of seven and a half millions of dollars; and prohibiting the merchant vessels of the United States from sailing under British licenses. Near the close of the session, a committee appointed to inquire into the subject made a long report upon the spirit and manner in which the war had been conducted by the British.

The scene of the campaign of 1813 was principally in the north, towards Canada. Brigadier-general Winchester, of the United States army, and nearly five hundred men, officers and soldiers, were made prisoners at Frenchtown, by a division of the British army from Detroit, with their Indian allies, under colonel Proctor. Colonel Proctor leaving the wounded Americans without a guard, the Indians returned, and deeds of horror followed. The wounded officers were dragged from the houses, killed, and scalped in the streets. The buildings were set on fire. Some who attempted to escape were forced back into the flames, while others were put to death by the tomahawk, and left shockingly mangled in the highway. The infamy of this butchery does not fall upon the perpetrators alone, but extends to those who were able, and were bound by a solemn engagement, to restrain them. The battle and massacre at Frenchtown clothed Kentucky and Ohio in mourning. Other volunteers, indignant at the treachery and cruelty of their foes, hastened to the aid of Harrison. He marched to the rapids of the Miami, where he erected a fort, which he called fort Meigs, in honor of the governor of Ohio. On the 1st of May it was invested by a large number of Indians, and by a party of British troops from Malden, the whole commanded by colonel Proctor. An unsuccessful attempt to raise the siege was made by general Clay, at the head of twelve hundred Kentuckians; but the fort continued to be defended with bravery and skill. The Indians, unaccustomed to sieges, became weary and discontented; and, on the 8th of May, they deserted their allies. The British, despairing of success, then made a precipitate retreat.

On the northern frontier a body of troops had been assembled, under the command of general Dearborn, at Sackett’s Harbor, and great exertions were made by commodore Chauncey to build and equip a squadron on lake Ontario, sufficiently powerful to contend with that of the British. By the 25th of April the naval preparations were so far completed, that the general and seventeen thousand troops were conveyed across the lake to the attack of York, the capital of Upper Canada. On the 27th, an advanced party, commanded by brigadier-general Pike, who was born in a camp, and bred a soldier from his birth, landed, although opposed at the water’s edge by a superior force. After a short but severe conflict, the British were driven to their fortifications. The rest of the troops having landed, the whole party pressed forward, carried the first battery by assault, and were moving towards the main works, when the English magazine blew up, with a tremendous explosion, hurling upon the advancing troops immense quantities of stone and timber. Numbers were killed; the gallant Pike received a mortal wound; the troops halted for a moment, but, recovering from the shock, again pressed forward, and soon gained possession of the town. Of the British troops, one hundred were killed, nearly three hundred were wounded, and the same number made prisoners.

The object of the expedition attained, the squadron and troops returned to Sackett’s Harbor, and subsequently sailed to fort George, situated at the head of the lake. After a warm engagement, the British abandoned the fort, and retired to the heights at the head of Burlington bay.

While the greater part of the American army was thus employed, the British made an attack upon the important post of Sackett’s Harbor. On the 27th of May, their squadron appeared before the town. Alarm guns instantly assembled the citizens of the neighborhood. General Brown’s force amounted to about one thousand men; a slight breastwork was hastily thrown up at the only place where the British could land, and behind this he placed the militia, the regulars, under colonel Backus, forming a second line. On the morning of the 29th, one thousand British troops landed from the squadron, and advanced towards the breastwork; the militia gave way, but by the bravery of the regulars, under the skilful arrangement of general Brown, the British were repulsed, and re-embarked so hastily as to leave behind most of their wounded.

The sea-coast was harassed by predatory warfare, carried on by large detachments from the powerful navy of Great Britain. One squadron, stationed in Delaware bay, captured and burnt every merchant vessel which came within its reach, while a more powerful squadron, commanded by admiral Cockburn, destroyed the farm-houses and gentlemen’s seats along the shore of Chesapeake bay. Frenchtown, Havre-de-Grace, Fredericktown, and Georgetown were sacked and burnt. Norfolk was saved from a similar fate by the determined bravery of a small force stationed on Craney island, in the harbor. A furious attack was made upon Hampton, which, notwithstanding the gallant resistance of its small garrison, was captured.

The ocean was the theatre of sanguinary conflicts. Captain Lawrence, in the sloop of war Hornet, on the 23d of February, met the British brig Peacock, and a fierce combat ensued. In less than fifteen minutes the Peacock struck her colors, displaying at the same time a signal of distress. The victors hastened to the relief of the vanquished; the same strength which had been exerted to conquer was equally ready to save; but the Peacock sunk before all her crew could be removed, carrying down nine British seamen, and three brave and generous Americans. On his return to the United States, captain Lawrence was promoted to the command of the frigate Chesapeake, then in the harbor of Boston. For several weeks the British frigate Shannon, of superior force, had been cruising before the port; and captain Broke, her commander, had announced his wish to meet, in single combat, an American frigate. Inflamed by this challenge, captain Lawrence, although his crew was just enlisted, set sail on the 1st of June to seek the Shannon. Towards evening of the same day they met, and instantly engaged, with unexampled fury. In a very few minutes, and in quick succession, the sailing master of the Chesapeake was killed, captain Lawrence and three lieutenants were severely wounded, her rigging was so cut to pieces that she fell on board the Shannon, captain Lawrence received a second and mortal wound, and was carried below; at this instant, captain Broke, at the head of his marines, gallantly boarded the Chesapeake, when resistance ceased, and the American flag was struck by the British. Of the crew of the Shannon twenty-four were killed and fifty-six wounded. Of that of the Chesapeake, forty-eight were killed and nearly one hundred wounded. The youthful and intrepid Lawrence was lamented, with sorrow deep, sincere, and lasting.146

The next encounter at sea was between the American brig Argus and the British brig Pelican, in which the latter was victorious. Soon after, the American brig Enterprise, commanded by lieutenant Burrows, captured the British brig Boxer, commanded by captain Blyth. Both commanders were killed in the action, and were buried, each by the other’s side, in Portland.

While each nation was busily employed in equipping a squadron on lake Erie, general Clay remained inactive at fort Meigs. About the last of July, a large number of British and Indians appeared before the fort, hoping to entice the garrison to a general action in the field. After waiting a few days without succeeding, they decamped, and proceeded to fort Stephenson, on the river Sandusky. This fort was little more than a picketing, surrounded by a ditch, and the garrison consisted of but one hundred and sixty men, who were commanded by major Croghan, a youth of twenty-one. The force of the assailants was estimated at about four hundred in uniform, and as many Indians; they were repulsed, and their loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, is supposed to have exceeded one hundred and fifty; those of the remainder who were not able to escape were taken off during the night by the Indians. The whole loss of major Croghan during the siege was one killed and seven slightly wounded. About three the next morning the British sailed down the river, leaving behind them a boat containing clothing and considerable military stores.

By the exertions of commodore Perry, an American squadron had been fitted out on lake Erie early in September. It consisted of nine small vessels, in all carrying fifty-four guns. A British squadron had also been built and equipped, under the superintendence of commodore Barclay. It consisted of six vessels, mounting sixty-three guns. Commodore Perry, immediately sailing, offered battle to his adversary, and on the 10th of September the British commander left the harbor of Malden to accept the offer. In a few hours the wind shifted, giving the Americans the advantage. Perry, forming the line of battle, hoisted his flag, on which were inscribed the words of the dying Lawrence, ‘Don’t give up the ship.’ Loud huzzas from all the vessels proclaimed the animation which this motto inspired. About noon the firing commenced; and after a short action two of the British vessels surrendered, and the rest of the American squadron now joining in the battle, the victory was rendered decisive and complete. The British loss was forty-one killed, and ninety-four wounded. The American loss was twenty-seven killed, and ninety-six wounded, of which number twenty-one were killed and sixty-two wounded on board the flagship Lawrence, whose whole complement of able-bodied men before the action was about one hundred. The commodore gave intelligence of the victory to general Harrison in these words: ‘We have met the enemy, and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop.’

The Americans were now masters of the lake; but the territory of Michigan was still in the possession of colonel Proctor. The next movements were against the British and Indians at Detroit and Malden. General Harrison had previously assembled a portion of the Ohio militia on the Sandusky river; and on the 7th of September four thousand from Kentucky, the flower of the state, with governor Shelby at their head, arrived at his camp. With the co-operation of the fleet, it was determined to proceed at once to Malden. On the 27th the troops were received on board, and reached Malden on the same day; but the British had, in the mean time, destroyed the fort and public stores, and had retreated along the Thames towards the Moravian villages, together with Tecumseh’s Indians, amounting to twelve or fifteen hundred. It was now resolved to proceed in pursuit of Proctor. On the 5th of October a severe battle was fought between the two armies at the river Thames, and the British army was taken by the Americans. In this battle Tecumseh was killed, and the Indians fled. The British loss was nineteen regulars killed, and fifty wounded, and about six hundred prisoners. The American loss, in killed and wounded, amounted to upwards of fifty. Proctor made his escape down the Thames.

On the 29th of September the Americans took possession of Detroit, which, on the approach of Harrison’s army, had been abandoned by the British. Preparations were now made for subduing Upper Canada, and taking Montreal; but owing to the difficulties attending the concentration of the troops, and perhaps also to the want of vigor in the commanders, that project was abandoned, and the army under Wilkinson, marching to French Mills, there encamped for the winter. This abortive issue of the campaign occasioned murmurs throughout the nation, and the causes which led to it have never been fully developed. The severest censure fell upon general Armstrong, who was secretary of war, and upon general Hampton. The latter soon after resigned his commission in the army, and general Izard was selected to command the post at Plattsburgh.

Major-general Harrison, commander-in-chief of the eighth military district in the United States, issued a proclamation, stating, that the enemy having been driven from the territory of Michigan, and a part of the army under his command having taken possession of it, it became necessary that the civil government of the territory should be re-established, and the former officers resume the exercise of their authority. He therefore proclaimed, that all appointments and commissions which have been derived from British officers were at an end; that the citizens were restored to all the rights and privileges which they enjoyed previously to the capitulation made by general Hull on the 15th of August, 1812; and, until the will of the government should be known, directed that all persons having civil offices in the territory of Michigan, at the period of the capitulation of Detroit, should resume the exercise of the powers appertaining to their offices respectively.

The United States squadron, chased by commodore Hardy with a superior naval force, had taken refuge in the harbor of New London, where the decayed and feeble state of the fortifications afforded a precarious defence. The menacing appearance of the British squadron at the entrance of the harbor, and the strong probability that the town would be destroyed in the conflict, which had been long expected, produced among the inhabitants the greatest consternation. In this moment of alarm, the major-general of the third division, and the brigadier-general of the third brigade, considered themselves justified, at the earnest entreaty of the citizens, in summoning the militia to their assistance. Governor Smith, of Connecticut, approved this proceeding, and immediately forwarded supplies, and adopted measures of defence. ‘On this occasion,’ said the governor to the legislature, ‘I could not hesitate as to the course which it became my duty to pursue. The government of Connecticut, the last to invite hostilities, should be the first to repel aggression.’

The Indians at the southern extremity of the Union had imbibed the same hostile spirit as those at the north-western. They had been visited by Tecumseh, and by his eloquence had been persuaded that the Great Spirit required them to unite and attempt the extirpation of the whites. In the fall of 1812, a cruel war was carried on by the Creeks and Seminoles against the frontier inhabitants of Georgia. General Jackson, at the head of two thousand five hundred volunteers from Tennessee, marched into the country of the Indians. Overawed by his presence, they desisted for a time from hostility; but, after his return, their animosity burst forth with increased and fatal violence. Dreading their cruelty, about three hundred men, women, and children, sought safety in fort Mimms, in the Tensaw settlement. Although frequent warnings of an intended attack had been given them, yet, at noonday, on the 30th of August, they were surprised by a party of six hundred Indians, who, with axes, cut their way into the fort, and drove the people into the houses which it inclosed. To these they set fire. Many persons were burnt, and many killed by the tomahawk. Only seventeen escaped to carry the horrid tidings to the neighboring stations. The whites resolved on vengeance.

Again general Jackson, at the head of three thousand five hundred militia of Tennessee, marched into the southern wilderness. A detachment under general Coffee encountering at Tallushatchie a body of Indians, a sanguinary conflict ensued. The latter fought with desperation, neither giving nor receiving quarter, until nearly every warrior had perished. Yet still was the spirit of the Creeks unsubdued, and their faith in victory unshaken. With no little sagacity and skill they selected and fortified another position on the Tallapoosa, called by themselves Tohopeka, and by the whites Horseshoe Bend. Here nearly a thousand warriors, animated with a fierce and determined resolution, were collected. Three thousand men, commanded by general Jackson, marched to attack this post. To prevent escape, a detachment under general Coffee encircled the Bend. The main body advanced to the fortress; and for a few minutes the opposing forces were engaged muzzle to muzzle at the port-holes; but at length the troops, leaping over the walls, mingled in furious combat with the savages. When the Indians, fleeing to the river, beheld the troops on the opposite bank, they returned and fought with increased fury and desperation. Six hundred warriors were killed; four only yielded themselves prisoners; the remaining three hundred escaped. Of the whites, fifty-five were killed, and one hundred and forty-six wounded.

It was deemed probable that further resistance would be made by the Indians at a place called the Hickory-ground; but on general Jackson’s arriving thither in April, 1814, the principal chiefs came out to meet him, and among them was Wetherford, a half-blood, distinguished equally for his talents and cruelty. ‘I am in your power,’ said he; ‘do with me what you please. I have done the white people all the harm I could. I have fought them, and fought them bravely. There was a time when I had a choice; I have none now, even hope is ended. Once I could animate my warriors; but I cannot animate the dead. They can no longer hear my voice; their bones are at Tallushatchie, Talladega, Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka. While there was a chance of success I never supplicated peace; but my people are gone, and I now ask it for my nation and myself.’ Peace was concluded, and general Jackson and his troops enjoyed an honorable but short repose.

It was the declared intention of the British to lay waste the whole American coast, from Maine to Georgia. Of this intention demonstration was made by their descent upon Pettipauge, and the destruction which followed in that harbor. Early in April, a number of British barges, supposed to contain about two hundred and twenty men, entered the mouth of Connecticut river, passed up seven or eight miles, and came on shore at a part of Saybrook called Pettipauge, where they destroyed about twenty-five vessels. Guards of militia were placed without delay at nearly all the vulnerable points on the seaboard, and where troops could not be stationed patrols of videttes were constantly maintained.

On the 25th of April, admiral Cochrane declared, in addition to the ports and places blockaded by admiral Warren, all the remaining ports, harbors, bays, creeks, rivers, inlets, outlets, islands, and sea-coasts of the United States, from Black Point, on Long Island sound, to the northern and eastern boundaries between the United States and the British province of New Brunswick, to be in a state of strict and rigorous blockade. On the other hand, the president of the United States issued a proclamation, declaring that the blockade proclaimed by the British of the whole Atlantic coast of the United States, nearly two thousand miles in extent, being incapable of execution by any adequate force actually stationed for the purpose, formed no lawful prohibition or obstacle to such neutral and friendly vessels as may choose to visit and trade with the United States; and strictly ordered and instructed all the public armed vessels of the United States, and all private armed vessels commissioned as privateers, or with letters of marque and reprisal, not to interrupt, detain, or molest any vessels belonging to neutral powers, bound to any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States; but, on the contrary, to render all such vessels all the aid and kind offices which they might need or require.

The pacification in Europe offered to the British a large disposable force, both naval and military, and with it the means of giving to the war in America a character of new and increased activity and extent. The friends of the administration anticipated a severer conflict, and prepared for greater sacrifices and greater sufferings. Its opposers, where difficulties thickened and danger pressed, were encouraged to make more vigorous efforts to wrest the reins of authority from men who, they asserted, had shown themselves incompetent to hold them. The president deemed it advisable to strengthen the line of the Atlantic, and therefore called on the executive of several states to organize and hold in readiness for immediate service a corps of ninety-three thousand five hundred men.

The hostile movements on the northern frontier were now becoming vigorous and interesting. In the beginning of July, general Brown, who had been assiduously employed in disciplining his troops, crossed the Niagara with about three thousand men, and took possession, without opposition, of fort Erie. In a strong position at Chippewa, a few miles distant, was intrenched an equal number of British troops, commanded by general Riall. On the 4th, general Brown approached their works; and the next day, on the plains of Chippewa, an obstinate and sanguinary battle was fought, which compelled the British to retire to their intrenchments. In this action, which was fought with great judgment and coolness on both sides, the loss of the Americans was about four hundred men, that of the British was upwards of five hundred. Soon afterwards, general Riall, abandoning his works, retired to the heights of Burlington. Here lieutenant-general Drummond, with a large reinforcement, joined him, and assuming the command, led back the army towards the American camp. On the 25th was fought the battle of Bridgewater, which began at four in the afternoon and continued until midnight. After a desperate conflict the British troops were withdrawn, and the Americans left in possession of the field.

The loss on both sides was severe, and nearly equal. Generals Brown and Scott having both been severely wounded, the command devolved upon general Ripley. He remained a few hours upon the hill, collected the wounded, and then returned unmolested to the camp. This battle was fought near the cataract of Niagara, whose roar was silenced by the thunder of cannon and the din of arms, but was distinctly heard during the pauses of the fight. The American general found his force so much weakened, that he deemed it prudent again to occupy fort Erie. On the 4th of August it was invested by general Drummond with five thousand troops. In the night between the 14th and 15th, the besiegers made a daring assault upon the fort, which was repelled with conspicuous gallantry by the garrison, the former losing more than nine hundred men, the latter but eighty-four. The siege was still continued. On the 2d of September, general Brown, having recovered from his wounds, threw himself into the fort, and took command of the garrison. For their fate great anxiety was felt by the nation, which was, however, in some degree, removed by the march from Plattsburgh of five thousand men to their relief. After an hour of close fighting they entered the fort, having killed, wounded, and taken one thousand of the British. The loss of the Americans was also considerable, amounting to more than five hundred. On the 21st of September, the forty-ninth day of the siege, general Drummond withdrew his forces.

The march of the troops from Plattsburgh having left that post almost defenceless, the enemy determined to attack it by land, and, at the same time, to attempt the destruction of the American flotilla on lake Champlain. On the 3d of September, Sir George Prevost, the governor-general of Canada, at the head of fourteen thousand men, entered the territories of the United States. On the 6th they arrived at Plattsburgh. It is situated near lake Champlain, on the northern bank of the small river Saranac. On their approach, the American troops, who were posted on the opposite bank, tore up the planks of the bridges, with which they formed slight breastworks, and prepared to dispute the passage of the stream. The British employed themselves for several days in erecting batteries, while the American forces were daily augmented by the arrival of volunteers and militia. Early in the morning of the 11th, the British squadron, commanded by commodore Downe, appeared off the harbor of Plattsburgh, where that of the United States, commanded by commodore M’Donough, lay at anchor prepared for battle. At nine o’clock the action commenced. Seldom has there been a more furious encounter than the bosom of this transparent and peaceful lake was now called to witness. During the naval conflict the British on land began a heavy cannonade upon the American lines, and attempted at different places to cross the Saranac; but as often as the British advanced into the water they were repelled by a destructive fire from the militia. At half-past eleven the shout of victory heard along the American lines announced the result of the battle on the lake. Thus deprived of naval aid, in the afternoon the British withdrew to their intrenchments, and in the night they commenced a precipitate retreat. Upon the lake the American loss was one hundred and ten; the British, one hundred and ninety-four, besides prisoners. On land, the American loss was one hundred and nineteen; that of the British has been estimated as high as two thousand five hundred.

The inhabitants of the middle and southern states, anticipating a great augmentation of the English force, and uncertain where the blow would fall, made exertions to place every exposed position in a posture of defence. About the middle of August, a British squadron of between fifty and sixty sail arrived in the Chesapeake, with troops destined for the attack of Washington, the capital of the United States.

A body of five thousand of them having landed, an action was fought at Bladensburg, six miles from Washington. General Winder commanded the whole American force; commodore Barney the flotilla. The British were commanded by major-general Ross and rear-admiral Cockburn. The Americans were repulsed, and the British advanced towards the capital. A body of militia had been assembled in this emergency; but the president and heads of departments, on reviewing the force brought out for defence, despaired of success, and dispersed. General Ross, at the head of about seven hundred men, took possession of Washington, and burned the capitol, or senate-house, the president’s house, and public offices, the arsenal, the navy yard, and the bridge over the Potomac. The loss of the British in this expedition was nearly a thousand men, in killed, wounded, and missing; the loss of the Americans was ten or twelve killed, and thirty or forty wounded. Commodore Barney’s horse was killed under him, and himself wounded in the thigh and taken prisoner; but he was parolled on the field of battle for his bravery. The capture of Washington reflected no credit upon those by whom it ought to have been defended; but the destruction of the national edifices was still more disgraceful to the character of the invaders. The whole civilized world exclaimed against the act, as a violation of the rules of modern warfare. The capitals of most of the European kingdoms had lately been in the power of an enemy; but in no instance had the conqueror been guilty of similar conduct. The act was also as impolitic as it was barbarous; it naturally excited an indignant spirit throughout the republic, and led its inhabitants to vie with each other in exerting all their faculties to overcome the ravagers of their country.

After the capture of Washington, the British army re-embarked on board the fleet in the Patuxent, and admiral Cockburn moved down that river, and proceeded up the Chesapeake. On the 29th of August the corporation of Alexandria submitted to articles of capitulation, and the city was delivered up to the British. On the 11th of September the British admiral appeared at the mouth of the Patapsco, fourteen miles from Baltimore, with a fleet of ships of war and transports amounting to fifty sail. The next day six thousand troops were landed at North point, and commenced their march towards the city. In this march, when the foremost ranks were harassed by a brisk fire from a wood, major-general Ross was mortally wounded. A battle was fought on this day. The American forces, the militia, and the inhabitants of Baltimore, made a gallant defence, but were compelled to retreat; the British, however, abandoning the attempt to get possession of the city, retired to their shipping during the night of the 13th of September.

On the ocean, the Essex, commanded by captain Porter, after a bloody combat, struck to a British frigate and sloop of war, whose united force was much superior. The American sloop Peacock captured the Epervier, of equal force. The sloop Wasp, commanded by captain Blakely, captured the Reindeer, and afterwards, in the same cruise, sunk the Avon, both of superior force. She made several other prizes, but never returned into port; she probably foundered at sea.

The closing scene of this unnecessary and disgraceful war, the more detestable when contemplated as a series of human sacrifices for the preservation of a commercial system, was creditable to the genius and bravery of the American republic. The operations of the British in Louisiana were commenced by a small expedition, the naval part under the command of captain Percy, and the troops under colonel Nicholls. They landed and took forcible possession of Pensacola, and were aided by the Spaniards in all their proceedings; they collected all the Indians that would resort to their standard; and colonel Nicholls then sent an officer to the piratical establishment at Barataria to enlist the chief, Lafitte, and his followers in their cause; the most liberal and tempting offers were made them.

These people, however, showed a decided preference for the American cause; they deceived the English by delay; conveyed intelligence of their designs to the governor at New Orleans, and offered their services to defend the country. Disappointed in securing their aid, the expedition proceeded to the attack of fort Bowyer, on Mobile point, commanded by major Lawrence, with one hundred and thirty men. The result, however, was a loss to the besiegers of more than two hundred men; the commodore’s ship was so disabled that they set fire to her, and she blew up, and the remaining three vessels, shattered and filled with wounded men, returned to Pensacola. While the British thus sheltered in this place, where they were busily occupied in bringing over the Indians to join them, general Jackson formed an expedition of about four thousand men, regulars and militia, to dislodge them. He summoned the town, was refused entrance by the Spanish governor, and his flag of truce was fired upon; the British soldiers being in the forts, where their flag had been hoisted, in conjunction with the Spanish, the day before the American forces appeared. Preparations were immediately made to carry the place; one battery having been taken by storm, with slight loss on either side, the governor surrendered, the English having previously retired on board their ships. The forts below, which commanded the passage, were blown up, and this enabled the English fleet to put to sea.

General Jackson then evacuated the Spanish territory, and marched his troops back to Mobile and New Orleans, which he reached on the second day of December. Having reviewed a corps of volunteers the day of his arrival, he immediately proceeded to visit every post in the neighborhood, to give orders for adding fortifications, and establishing defensive works and outposts in every spot where the enemy might be expected, as there was the greatest uncertainty where a landing would be made; he mingled with the citizens, and infused into the greater part his own spirit and energy. By his presence and exhortations they were animated to exertions of which before they were not supposed to be capable. All who could wield a spade, or carry a musket, were either put to work upon the fortifications, or trained in the art of defending them. The Mississippi, upon the eastern bank of which New Orleans stands, flows to the ocean in several channels; one, leaving the main stream above the city, runs east of it, and forms in its course lake Pontchartrain and lake Borgne. Early in December, the British entered this channel, with a force of about eight thousand men, a part of whom had just left the shores of the Chesapeake, the remainder having arrived direct from England.

A small squadron of gun-boats, under lieutenant Jones, was despatched to oppose their passage into the lake. These were met by a superior force, and after a spirited conflict, in which the killed and wounded of the British exceeded the whole number of the Americans, they were compelled to surrender. The loss of the gun-boats left no means of watching the movements of the enemy, or of ascertaining where the landing would be made. Orders were given for increased vigilance at every post; the people of color were formed into a battalion; the offer of the Baratarians to volunteer, on condition of a pardon for previous offences, if they conducted themselves with bravery and fidelity, was accepted. General Jackson, after applying to the legislature to suspend the act of habeas corpus, and finding that they were consuming these extreme moments in discussion, proclaimed martial law, and from that moment his means became more commensurate with the weight of responsibility he had to sustain.

On the 22d the British, having landed, took a position near the main channel of the river, about eight miles below the city. In the evening of the 23d, general Jackson made a sudden and furious attack upon their camp. They were thrown into disorder; but they soon rallied, and fought with a bravery at least equal to that of the assailants. Satisfied with the advantage first gained, he withdrew his troops, fortified a strong position four miles below New Orleans, and supported it by batteries erected on the west bank of the river. On the 28th of December, and the 1st of January, vigorous but unsuccessful attacks were made upon these fortifications by the English. In the mean time both armies had received reinforcements; and general Sir E. Packenham, the British commander, resolved to exert all his strength in a combined attack upon the American positions on both sides of the river. With almost incredible industry, he caused a canal, leading from a creek emptying itself into lake Borgne to the main channel of the Mississippi, to be dug, that he might remove a part of his boats and artillery to that river. On the 7th of January, from the movements observed in the British camp, a speedy attack was anticipated. This was made early on the 8th. The British troops, formed in a close column of about sixty men in front, the men shouldering their muskets, all carrying fascines, and some with ladders, advanced towards the American fortifications, from whence an incessant fire was kept up on the column, which continued to advance, until the musketry of the troops of Tennessee and Kentucky, joined with the fire of the artillery, began to make an impression on it which soon threw it into confusion.

For some time the British officers succeeded in animating the courage of their troops, making them advance obliquely to the left, to avoid the fire of a battery, every discharge from which opened the column, and mowed down whole files, which were almost instantaneously replaced by new troops coming up close after the first; but these also shared the same fate, until at last, after twenty-five minutes’ continual firing, through which a few platoons advanced to the edge of the ditch, the column entirely broke, and part of the troops dispersed, and ran to take shelter among the bushes on the right. The rest retired to the ditch where they had been when first perceived, four hundred yards from the American lines. There the officers with some difficulty rallied their troops, and again drew them up for a second attack, the soldiers having laid down their knapsacks at the edge of the ditch, that they might be less encumbered. And now, for the second time, the column, recruited with the troops that formed the rear, advanced. Again it was received with the same galling fire of musketry and artillery, till it at last broke again, and retired in the utmost confusion. In vain did the officers now endeavor, as before, to revive the courage of their men; to no purpose did they strike them with the flat of their swords, to force them to advance; they were insensible of every thing but danger, and saw nothing but death, which had struck so many of their comrades.

The attack had hardly begun, when the British commander-in-chief, Sir Edward Packenham, fell a victim to his own intrepidity, while endeavoring to animate his troops with ardor for the assault. Soon after his fall, two other generals, Keane and Gibbs, were carried off the field of battle, dangerously wounded. A great number of officers of rank had fallen; the ground over which the column had marched was strewed with the dead and wounded. Such slaughter on their side, with scarcely any loss on the American, spread consternation through the British ranks, as they were now convinced of the impossibility of carrying the lines, and saw that even to advance was certain death. Some of the British troops had penetrated into the wood towards the extremity of the American line, to make a false attack, or to ascertain whether a real one were practicable. These the troops under general Coffee no sooner perceived, than they opened on them a brisk fire with their rifles, which made them retire. The greater part of those who, on the column’s being repulsed, had taken shelter in the thickets, only escaped the batteries to be killed by the musketry. During the whole hour that the attack lasted, the American fire did not slacken for a single moment. By half after eight in the morning, the fire of the musketry had ceased. The whole plain on the left, as also the side of the river, from the road to the edge of the water, was covered with the British soldiers who had fallen. About four hundred wounded prisoners were taken, and at least double that number of wounded men escaped into the British camp; and a space of ground, extending from the ditch of the American lines to that on which the enemy drew up his troops, two hundred and fifty yards in length, by about two hundred in breadth, was literally covered with men, either dead or severely wounded.147 Perhaps a greater disparity of loss never occurred; that of the British in killed, wounded, and prisoners, in this attack, which was not made with sufficient judgment, and which, besides, was embarrassed by unforeseen circumstances, was upwards of two thousand men; the killed and wounded of the Americans was only thirteen.

The events of the day on the west side of the river present a striking instance of the uncertainty of military operations. There the Americans were thrice the number of their brave assailants, and were protected by intrenchments; but they ingloriously fled. They were closely pursued, until the British party, receiving intelligence of the defeat of the main army, withdrew from pursuit, and recrossed the river. They then returned and resumed possession of their intrenchments. General Lambert, upon whom the command of the British army had devolved, having lost all hopes of success, prepared to return to his shipping. In his retreat he was not molested; general Jackson wisely resolving to hazard nothing that he had gained in attempting to gain still more.

The Americans naturally indulged in great joy for this signal victory. Te Deum was sung at New Orleans, and every demonstration of gratitude manifested by the inhabitants of the Union generally. The state of Louisiana passed votes of thanks to several of the officers concerned in the defence, and omitted general Jackson, in consequence of his having set aside the action of the civil authorities and proclaimed martial law.

Although the results of the war had been honorable to the American arms, a large portion of the inhabitants of the New England states were unceasingly opposed to the measures of the administration. The governor of Massachusetts convoked the general court of that state; the legislature of Connecticut was about to hold its usual semi-annual session; and the legislature of Rhode Island also assembled. When these several bodies met, what should be done in this unexampled state of affairs became a subject of most solemn deliberation. To insure unity of views and concert in action, the legislature of Massachusetts proposed a ‘conference,’ by delegates from the legislatures of the New England states, and of any other states that might accede to the measure. Their resolution for this purpose, and the circular letter accompanying it, show, that the duty proposed to be assigned to these delegates was merely to devise and recommend to the states measures for their security and defence, and such measures as were ‘not repugnant to their federal obligations as members of the Union.’

The proposition was readily assented to by several states, and the delegates appointed in pursuance of it met at Hartford, on the 15th of December following. The convention recommended, 1. That the states they represent take measures to protect their citizens from ‘forcible draughts, conscriptions, or impressments, not authorized by the constitution of the United States.’ 2. That an earnest application be made to the government of the United States, requesting their consent to some arrangement, whereby the states separately, or in concert, may take upon themselves the defence of their territory against the enemy, and that a reasonable portion of the taxes collected within the states be appropriated to this object. 3. That the several governors be authorized by law to employ the military force under their command in assisting any state requesting it, to repel the invasions of the public enemy. 4. That several amendments of the constitution of the United States, calculated in their view to prevent a recurrence of the evils of which they complain, be proposed by the states they represent for adoption either by the states’ legislatures, or by a convention chosen by the people of each state. Lastly, That if the application of these states to the government of the United States should be unsuccessful, and peace should not be concluded, and the defence of these states be still neglected, it would, in their opinion, be expedient for the legislatures of the several states to appoint delegates to another convention, to meet at Boston, in June, with such powers and instructions as the exigency of a crisis so momentous may require. The effect of these proceedings upon the public mind in the aggrieved states was alike seasonable and salutary. The very proposal to call a convention, and the confidence reposed in the men delegated to that trust, served greatly to allay the passions, and to inspire confidence and hope. Nor was the influence of this body upon the national councils less perceptible. Within three weeks after the adjournment of the convention and the publication of their report, an act passed both houses of the national legislature, and received the signature of the president, authorizing and requiring him to ‘receive into the service of the United States any corps of troops which may have been or may be raised, organized, and officered, under the authority of any of the states,’ to be ‘employed in the state raising the same, or an adjoining state, and not elsewhere, except with the consent of the executive of the state raising the same.’ Before the commissioners who were sent to confer with the government could reach Washington, a bill passed the senate, providing for the payment of the troops and militia already called into service under the authority of the states. The arrival of the treaty of peace at this juncture rendered all farther proceedings unnecessary.

During the preceding year the British government had declined to treat under the mediation of Russia, and a direct negotiation had been agreed on. Ghent was ultimately determined as the place of meeting; and in the autumn of 1814 the commissioners prosecuted their labors, but at first with very doubtful success. By the 24th of December a treaty was agreed upon and signed by the plenipotentiaries of the respective powers at Ghent; and in February of the following year it received the ratification of the president.148

While the people of the United States were rejoicing at the return of peace, their attention was called to a new scene of war. By a message from the president to the house of representatives, with a report of the secretary of state, it appeared that the dey of Algiers had violently, and without just cause, obliged the consul of the United States, and all the American citizens in Algiers, to leave that place, in violation of the treaty then subsisting between the two nations; that he had exacted from the consul, under pain of immediate imprisonment, a large sum of money, to which he had no just claim; and that these acts of violence and outrage had been followed by the capture of at least one American vessel, and by the seizure of an American citizen on board of a neutral vessel; that the captured persons were yet held in captivity, with the exception of two of them, who had been ransomed; that every effort to obtain the release of the others had proved abortive; and that there was some reason to believe they were held by the dey as means by which he calculated to extort from the United States a degrading treaty. The president observed, that the considerations which rendered it unnecessary and unimportant to commence hostile operations on the part of the United States were now terminated by the peace with Great Britain, which opened the prospect of an active and valuable trade of their citizens within the range of the Algerine cruisers; and recommended to congress the consideration of an act declaring the existence of a state of war between the United States and the dey of Algiers, and of such provisions as might be requisite for the prosecution of it to a successful issue. A committee of congress, to whom was referred a bill ‘for the protection of the commerce of the United States against the Algerine cruisers,’ after a statement of facts, concluded their report by expressing their united opinion, ‘that the dey of Algiers considers his treaty with the United States as at an end, and is waging war with them;’ and in March war was declared against the Algerines.

An expedition was immediately ordered to the Mediterranean, under the command of commodore Bainbridge. The squadron in advance on that service, under commodore Decatur, lost not a moment after its arrival in the Mediterranean in seeking the naval force of the enemy, then cruising in that sea, and succeeded in capturing two of his ships, one of them commanded by the Algerine admiral. The American commander, after this demonstration of skill and prowess, hastened to the port of Algiers, where he readily obtained peace, in the stipulated terms of which the rights and honor of the United States were particularly consulted by a perpetual relinquishment, on the part of the dey, of all pretensions to tribute from them. The impressions thus made, strengthened by subsequent transactions with the regencies of Tunis and Tripoli, by the appearance of the larger force which followed under commodore Bainbridge, and by the judicious precautionary arrangements left by him in that quarter, afforded a reasonable prospect of future security for the valuable portion of American commerce which passes within reach of the Barbary cruisers.

President Madison, in his message to the congress of 1816, having adverted to the peace of Europe and to that of the United States with Great Britain, said, he had the ‘satisfaction to state, generally, that they remained in amity with foreign powers.’ He proceeded to say, that the posture of affairs with Algiers at that moment was not known; but that the dey had found a pretext for complaining of a violation of the last treaty, and presenting as the alternative war or a renewal of the former treaty, which stipulated, among other things, an annual tribute. ‘The answer,’ says the president, ‘with an explicit declaration that the United States preferred war to tribute, required his recognition and observance of the treaty last made, which abolishes tribute, and the slavery of our captured citizens. The result of the answer had not been received. Should he renew his warfare on our commerce, we rely on the protection it will find in our naval force actually in the Mediterranean. With the other Barbary states our affairs have undergone no change. With reference to the aborigines of our own country,’ he continues, ‘the Indian tribes within our limits appear also disposed to remain in peace. From several of them purchases of lands have been made, particularly favorable to the wishes and security of our frontier settlements as well as to the general interests of the nation.