USA > New York > Jefferson County > A history of Jefferson County in the state of New York, from the earliest period to the present time > Part 51
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On the 7th of April, the brig Jefferson was launched at Sack- ets Harbor, and on the 10th, the brig Jones. On the 9th, the keel of the General Pike was laid. The force on the 1st of March was said to number nearly 5,000 regulars and twelve months' volunteers, with 1,300 sailors, and 2,000 militia. On the 28th of March, the troops maneuvered on the ice; and on the middle of April, the ice had disappeared from the lake. On the 19th, the Growler sailed out to reconnoitre. Brigadier General John Chandler had arrived early in the month, and the forces assembled were thought sufficient to justify an attack upon the enemy. The post at York, at which place it was understood several vessels were building, was thought to offer an eligible point for beginning operations, and if taken would give us the command of the lake, from whence our forces could proceed to attack Fort George by land and water, while the troops at Buffalo should cross over and carry forts Erie and Chippewa, and join the army at Fort George, from whence the combined forces might concentrate upon Kingston without the apprehension of an ene- my in the rear.
The opinion of the secretary of war on this subject is expressed in a letter to Gen. Dearborn, of March 29th:
"The alteration of the plan of campaign, so as to make Kingston the last object, instead of making it the first, would appear to be necessary, or at least proper, but the force assigned to the attack of the upper posts is believed to be too small.
Accident may prevent a cooperation of the corps of Buffalo. That sent from Sackets Harbor should have in itself the power of reducing forts George and Erie, and holding in check the militia who may be sent to support them.
The ships can give little aid in the business, except merely in covering the landing. Double the number you propose sending would not be too many. Various considerations recommend the employment of a large and decisive force, and none that I can think of dissuade from it. If our first step in the campaign, and in the quarter from which most is expected, should fail, the dis- grace of our arms will be complete. The public will lose all confidence in us, and we shall even cease to have any in our- selves. The party who first opens a campaign has many ad- vantages over his antagonist, all of which, however, are the result of his being able to carry his whole force against a part of the enemy's.
Washington carried his whole force against the Hessians in New Jersey, and, beating them, recovered that moral strength, that self-confidence, he had lost by many preceding disasters. We are now in that state of prostration that he was in, after he had crossed the Delaware; but like him, we may soon get on our
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legs again, if we are able to give some hard blows at the open- ing of the campaign. In this we can not fail, provided the force we employ against his western posts be sufficiently heavy. They must stand or fall by their own strength. They are perfectly isolated, and out of the reach of reinforcements; send, therefore, a force that shall overwhelm them, that shall leave nothing to chance. If I had not another motive, I would carry my whole strength, merely that their first service should be a successful one. The good effects of this will be felt throughout the cam- paign.
I have hastened to give you these thoughts, under a full con- viction of their usefulness; and shall only add, that there is no drawback upon this policy. When the fleet and army are gone, we have nothing at Sackets Harbor to guard, nor will the place present an object to the enemy.
How then would it read, that we had lost our object on the Niagara, while we had another brigade at Sackets Harbor doing nothing ?"
On the 22d of April, about 1,700 troops under the immediate charge of General Z. M. Pike, were embarked on board the fleet of Commodore Chauncey, the whole being directed by General Dearborn. On the 25th, the fleet sailed, the destination being unknown to the most of those on board.
On the day the expedition left Sackets Harbor, the following Brigade Order was issued by General Pike:
" When the debarkation shall take place on the enemy's shore, Major Forsyth's light troops, formed in four platoons, shall be first landed. They will advance a small distance from the shore, and form the chain to cover the landing of the troops. They will not fire, unless they dis- cover the approach of a body of the enemy, but will make prisoners of every person who may be passing, and send to the general. They will be followed by the regimental platoons of the first brigade, with two pieces of Brook's artillery, one on the right and one on the left flank, covered by their musketry, and the small detachments of riflemen, of the 15th and 16th infantry. Then will be landed the three platoons of the reserve of the first brigade, under Major Swan ; then Major Eustis, with his train of artillery, covered by his own musketry ; then Colonel M'Clure's vol- unteers in four platoons, followed by the 21st regiment, in six platoons. When the troops shall move in column, either to meet the enemy or take a position, it will be in the following order, viz: 1st, Forsyth's riflemen, with proper front and flank guards; the regiments of the first brigade, with their pieces; then three platoons of reserve; Major Eustis's train of artillery ; volunteer corps; twenty-first regiment; each corps sending out proper flank-guards. When the enemy shall be discovered in front, the riflemen will form the chain, and maintain their ground, until they have the signal (the preparative) or receive orders to retire, at which they will retreat with the greatest velocity, and form equally on the two flanks of the regiments of the first brigade, and then renew their fire. The three reserve platoons of this line will form under the orders of Major Swan, one hundred yards in the rear of the colors, ready to support any part
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which may show an unsteady countenance. Major Eustis and his train will form in the rear of this reserve, ready to act where circumstances may dictate.
The second line will be composed of the 21st infantry, in six platoons, flanked by Colonel M'Clure's volunteers, equally divided, as light troops, the whole under the orders of Colonel Ripley.
It is expected that every corps will be mindful of the honor of the American arms, and the disgraces which have recently tarnished our arms; and endeavor, by a cool and determined discharge of their duty, to support the one and wipe off the other. The riflemen in front will maintain their ground at all hazards, until ordered to retire, as will every corps of the army. With an assurance of being duly supported, should the commanding general find it prudent to withdraw the front line, he will give orders to retire by the heads of platoons, covered by the rifle- men ; and the second line will advance by the heads of platoons, pass the intervals, and form the line; call in the light troops, and renew the ac- tion : but the general may find it proper to bring up the second line, on one or both flanks, to charge in columns, or perform a variety of maneu- vers which it would be impossible to foresee. But as a general rule, whatever may be the directions of line at the commencement of the ac- tion, the corps will form as before directed. If they then advance in line, it may be in parallel echelons of platoons, or otherwise, as the ground or circumstances may dictate.
No man will load until ordered, except the light troops in front, until within a short distance of the enemy, and then charge bayonets ; thus let- ting the enemy see, that we can meet them with their own weapons. Any man firing, or quitting his post, without orders, must be put to instant death, as an example may be necessary. Platoon officers will pay the greatest attention to the coolness and aim of their men in the fire; their regularity and dressing in the charge. The field officers will watch over the conduct of the whole. Courage and bravery in the field do not more distinguish the soldier, than humanity after victory; and whatever ex- amples the savage allies of our enemies may have given us, the general confidently hopes, that the blood of an unresisting or yielding enemy, will never stain the weapons of the soldiers of his column.
The unoffending citizens of Canada are many of them our own coun- trymen, and the poor Canadians have been forced into the war. Their property, therefore, must be held sacred; and any soldier who shall so far neglect the honor of his profession as to be guilty of plundering the inhabitants, shall, if convicted, be punished with death. But the com- manding general assures the troops, that should they capture a large quantity of public stores, he will use his best endeavors to procure them a reward from his government.
This order shall be read at the head of each corps, and every field officer shall carry a copy, in order that he may at any moment refer to it, and give explanations to his subordinates.
All those found in arms in the enemy's country, shall be treated as enemies; but those who are peaceably following the pursuits of their va- rious vocations, friends-and their property respected."
York, now the city of Toronto, and then the capital of Upper Canada, is situated on the north shore of the lake, a little west of the meridian of Niagara, and was founded by Governor Sim- coe, in 1793, as the provincial capital. It is situated on a small bay, formed by a low, narrow, sandy peninsula, stretching from
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the east in an oblique direction, for about six miles, and termi- nating in a curved point, nearly a mile west of the town, opposite the site of the barracks. It then had about three hundred houses, built mostly of wood, and many buildings belonging to govern- ment.
The following account of the capture of the place, we derive from a letter written on the special injunction of General Pike, by one of his companions in arms, who fell wounded by his side. It was published soon after in the Aurora, and other papers:
" Without the honor of a personal acquaintance, I address you at the particular order of the late General Pike, after he had been mortally wounded; his words were exactly these: I am mortally wounded; my ribs and back are stove in; write my friend D-, and tell him what you know of the battle, and comfort my -. Some things else he said, on which I shall again write you; and many things he said for your ear have es- caped me, through the severity of my own bruises. As an order from General Pike, while living, was an obligation of duty for me to obey, I shall hardly disregard his injunctions, even though we have parted forever.
We embarked on the 22d and 23d of April, but the weather being stormy, we returned into port, and sailed again on the 25th, and arrived at York, in Upper Canada, on the 27th, about seven o'clock, A. M., and immediately prepared to land opposite the old site of Fort Toronto. A body of British grenadiers were paraded on the shore, and the Glengary Fencibles, a corps which had been disciplined with great pains, for six months past, ap- peared at another point. Bodies of Indians were perceived in large groups, in different directions, and a considerable number in some woods and underwoods on our leeward flank. About the site of the old French fort of Toronto, of which scarcely any vestiges at present remain, we could discern a few horsemen, who we perceived afterwards moving into the town, where strong field works had been thrown up to oppose our landing. As soon as the horsemen had entered the town, we saw the Indians mov- ing in gangs along the skirts of the woods, under the direction of British officers, taking posts at stations pointed out to them, apparently calculated with some skill as to the point at which the water and the weather must compel us to land.
After these Indians, acting as tirailleurs, were thus disposed, we perceived very distinctly, the regulars moving out of their works in open columns of platoons, and marching along the bank in that order. When they reached the plain of the old fort, Toronto, they were wheeled off by heads of platoons into the woods, and soon appeared in the same order below the plain, just at the position where our troops were under the necessity of
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landing. Major Forsyth and his excellent and gallant rifle corps, who had been placed in two large bateaux, pulled un- dauntedly towards the clear ground, where he had been ordered to land; but he was forced by the strength of the wind, a con- siderable distance below his destined point. The fire of musket- ry and rifles here commenced from the shore; the enemy being within a few feet of the water, and in a considerable degree masked by the woods and copse.
Here Major Forsyth ordered his men to rest for a few moments upon their oars, and soon opened a galling fire upon the enemy. In the moment while Forsyth's men were lying on their oars, and priming, General Pike was standing on the deck, and impatient at the apparent pause of an instant, and seeing that the rifle corps had been driven by the wind beyond the point at which they were to have embarked, he exclaimed: 'By -! I can't stay here any longer!' and addressing himself to his staff, 'come, jump into the boat,' which we immediately did; the commodore having reserved a boat specially for him and his suite. The lit- tle coxswain was ordered immediately to steer for the middle of the fray, and the balls whistled gloriously around; probably their number was owing to seeing so many officers in the same boat; but we laughed at their clumsy efforts as we pressed for- ward with well-pulled oars.
The infantry had, according to orders, embarked at the same time, and formed platoons as they reached the shore. The ge- neral took command of the first platoon he reached, and formed it below, and ordered the whole to prepare for a charge as soon as we reached the top of the bank. We proceeded in high spir- its, and mounted the bank under a volley of their musketry and rifle shot; but we had not time to form our platoon completely, when the British grenadiers showed us their backs. At the very moment of their turning tail upon us, the sound of Forsyth's bu- gles was heard with peculiar delight, as it was the indication of his success. The effect of the bugle upon the nerves of the British Indian allies was electric; for they no sooner heard it than they gave a diabolical yell, and fled in all directions. The Glengary corps skirmished with Forsyth's, while the infantry were landing, and Brigade-Major Hunter formed the troops for action as they landed and reached the plain. The volunteer corps, commanded by Colonel Maclure, flanked the reserve, and the light artillery, commanded by Major Eustis, acting as infan- try, covered the left.
It is proper to state in this place, the gallant and masterly co- operation of Commodore Chauncey, and the naval squadron under his command. He sent his schooners, mounting heavy metal, to cover the landing, and kept up so well-directed, and
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incessant a fire of grape on the woods, as to effectually cover our right flank and afford us great facility in forming our pla- toons, besides producing the utmost consternation among the Indians. A shot from one of the schooners killed a horse under the aid of the British general; but owing to the shallowness of the water, neither the ship nor the brig could be brought in to participate in the action; but the commodore himself was, through the whole of the action, in his boat, encouraging, and giving orders to the different schooners. The navy lost two gallant midshipmen, and about twenty seamen were killed and wounded in the service of landing us. The troops ordered to land by General Pike, when he went on shore, were the three companies of Captain Hopsock (who was mortally wounded in the boat), Captain Scott, and Captain Young, of the 15th regiment, United States infantry, all under the command of Major King, of the same re- giment (the same who gallantly distinguished himself at Queens- town).
Their orders were to reinforce Major Forsyth, and effect a landing, and they were forbidden to load or use powder. The riflemen of Forsyth, as the infantry came up, opened a heavy and effectual fire upon the enemy, and the three companies landed in the most complete style. The enemy gave way before our troops could come to the bayonet's point, and were pursued up the bank by our troops. At the top of the bank a fresh body of British grenadiers (said to be the 8th, or king's grenadiers) made a formidable charge upon this column of ours, and com- pelled us, for an instant, to retire; but our troops instantly ral- lied and returned to the charge, and with the most complete success. Not a man of the grenadiers escaped our fire or charge; and our troops, just reinforced by the remainder of the 15th, remained undisturbed masters of the bank. This reinforcement brought the colors of the 15th, which accompanied the platoon of Captain Steele. The enemy presented a fresh front; the troops were instantly formed for the charge by Major King, who gave them Yankee Doodle; but the enemy did not like our music, nor our pikes, any better than our rifles; they gave way, and fled in the utmost disorder.
As soon as our force were all landed and collected, we were formed into platoons, and marched in that order towards the en- emy's works, flanked by the rifle corps. Our march was by the lake road, in sections; but the route was so much intersected by streams and rivulets, the bridges, over which, had been destroyed by the enemy as they retreated, that we were considerably re- tarded in our progress. We collected logs, and, by severe efforts, at length, contrived to pass over one field piece and a howitzer, which were placed at the head of our column, in charge of
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Captain Fanning, of the 3d artillery, and thus we proceeded through a spacious wood, as we merged from which, we were saluted by a battery of 24 pounders; but, except some pikes broken and some bayonets bent, these guns gave us no annoyance. The general then ordered one of his aids (Frazer) and a ser- geant, to proceed to the right of the battery, in order to discover how many men were in the works. We did so, and reported to him the number, and that they were spiking their own guns towards the shipping.
The general immediately ordered Captain Walworth, of the 16th, with his company of grenadiers, to make the assault. Wal- worth gallantly ordered his men to trail arms, and advanced at the accelerated pace, but at the moment they were ordered to recover, and charge the enemy, the enemy broke in the utmost confusion, leaving several men wounded, on the ground, which they abandoned. We then proceeded in admirable order on a gradual ascent, when a fire was opened upon us of round and cannister, from the quarters of the British governor. The gene- ral here ordered the troops to lie close, while the artillery batte- ry under Major Eustis was brought to the front, and silenced the enemy's battery.
The firing very soon ceased altogether, and we were expect- ing a flag of surrender, at the very moment when a terrible ex- plosion of the British magazine took place .* The explosion was stupendous and awful, and at the instant the common sup- position was a subterranean mine. The general had just aided in removing a wounded man, with his own hands, and sat down on a stump with a British sergeant we had taken prisoner, whom the general, with Captain Nicholson and myself, were examin- ing, when the explosion took place. The general, Captain Nich- olson and the British sergeant, were all mortally wounded; and I was so much injured in the general crash, that it is surprising how I survived; probably I owe my escape to the corpulency of the British sergeant, whose body was thrown upon mine by the concussion.
Brigade-Major Hunt, assisted by Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell, of the third artillery, who acted as a volunteer on the expedi- tion, formed the troops, and were ready to give or receive a charge, in five minutes after the explosion.
The wounds of General Pike were of such a nature as to dis- qualify him from all further service, and the command devolved on Colonel Pearce of the 16th infantry, as the senior officer, who sent a flag demanding an immediate surrender at discretion. They made only one stipulation, which was granted without hesi-
* The magazine contained 500 barrels of powder, many cart loads of stone, and an immense quantity of iron shells and shot.
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tation-that private property should be respected. The British general made his escape, and a body of regular troops with him -in what direction I have not heard.
When the surgeons were carrying their wounded general and his aids from the field, our troops, which had just formed, gave a tremendous huzza! The general turned his head anxiously, to enquire what that was for; a sergeant, who accompanied him, said- The British union-jack is coming down, General; the stars are go- ing up ;- he heaved a heavy sigh of ecstacy, and smiled, even amidst the anguish which must have been inseparable from the state of his wounds. He was carried on board the Pert schooner, together with his aid-de-camp, Frazer, and thence on board the commodore's ship, accompanied by the commodore, who came to. attend him. On board the commodore's ship his gallant spirit fled, another Montgomery in fate; not, indeed, perishing by the valor of a gallant foe, but falling, even in the arms of victory, by the barbarous revenge of a baffled and defeated enemy.
As the general was breathing his last, the British standard was brought to him; he made a sign to have it placed under his head, and died without a groan, though his sufferings must have been extremely severe.
General Pike's body was embalmed at York, and conveyed to Sackets Harbor, where it was interred in the magazine of Fort Tompkins, with all the stately pomp of military honor, amidst the regrets of every good man. Captain Nicholson, of Mary- land (an inestimable young man, who was killed by his side), his beloved aid and pupil, was buried in the same grave, and at the same time, by order of the commanding general, in testimony of his respect for the deceased."
General Sheaffe commanded the British troops, militia and Indians. Previous to the explosion the enemy had retired into the town, except a party of regulars, who were a little too late, and it is said that about forty of them were killed by the ex- plosion. General Sheaffe moved off with the regulars, leaving the commanding officer of the militia to make such terms of surrender as he could. No resistance was offered after the ex- plosion.
The Duke of Gloucester, in port undergoing repairs, and seve- ral gun boats, with an immense quantity of provisions and naval stores, were the fruits of this capture. A large ship on the stocks and nearly planked up, and a quantity of naval stores were fired by the enemy upon their retreat. There not being a sufficient number of transports to remove the prisoners, about five hundred were released upon their parol. General Sheaffe's baggage and papers fell into the hands of General Dearborn; and a human scalp was found suspended, with the mace, over the chair of the speaker, in the legislative council chamber.
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The following account of killed and wounded was soon after published:
By the Americans, in the battle, 14 killed and 32 wounded; by the explosion, 38 killed and 222 wounded; by the British, 200 killed and wounded. 700 prisoners of militia, and 50 regulars. Of the navy, 11 sailors were killed and 14 wounded.
General Boyd was soon after assigned the command of the brigade of General Pike. The government barracks, &c., were destroyed.
The terms of surrender were as follows :
" That the troops, regular and militia, at this post, and the na- val officers and seamen, shall be surrendered prisoners of war.
The troops, regular and militia, to ground their arms immedi- ately on parade, and the naval officers and seamen to be imme- diately surrendered. That all public stores, naval and military, shall be immediately given up to the commanding officers of the army and navy of the United States; that all private property shall be guaranteed to the citizens of the town of York; that all papers belonging to the civil officers shall be retained by them; that such surgeons as may be procured to attend the wounded of the British regulars, and Canadian militia, shall not be considered prisoners of war.
That one lieutenant colonel, one major, thirteen captains, nine lieutenants, eleven ensigns, one quarter master, one deputy ad- jutant general of the militia, nineteen sergeants, four corporals, and two hundred and four rank and file; of the field train depart- ment, Wm. Dunbar; of the provincial navy, Captain Frs. Gover- neaux, Lieutenant Green, Midshipmen John Ridout, Louis Baupre; Clerk James Langdon, one boatswain, fifteen naval artificers, of his majesty's regular troops; Lieutenant de Koven, one sergeant- major; and of the royal artillery, one bombardier and three gunners, shall be surrendered as prisoners of war, and accounted for in the exchange of prisoners, between the United States and Great Britain."
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