USA > New York > New York : the planting and the growth of the Empire state, Vol. II > Part 9
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CHAPTER XXIX.
SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
1810-1815.
THE situation and topography of New York, at all stages so determinative of its history, subjected it once more to the burdens and haz- ards of conflict, in large part along the lines which in the preceding century had been marked by fire and slaughter. The common- wealth had become the chief producer, on this continent, of wheat and other grains, while its chief city was the centre of American com- merce. The embargo act of 1807, forbidding the departure of any merchant vessels from our ports, was a staggering blow to the State, al- though, as the people were thrown back upon themselves, they gave additional attention to manufactures.
De Witt Clinton, who at first opposed the measure, was led by popular pressure to change his position, and not only his State, but New York city with its ships shut up in the harbor, sustained the embargo. Lake Champlain and
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the St. Lawrence opened routes for evasions, and they were many, and the enforcing act for employing state militia to prevent them was rigorously applied there. Public meetings in New York and Albany gave expression to the protests against this policy, and Jefferson was compelled to bow before the "unaccountable revolution of opinion and kind of panic, chiefly among the New England and New York mem- bers." Nowhere was the sense of relief greater than in New York when the ill-considered law was repealed, and this feeling secured a hearty welcome for the non-intercourse act of 1809, restricting commerce with France and Britain only. The project of a treaty for the repeal of the British "orders in council," and Presi- dent Madison's proclamation, November, 1810, for the consequent suspension of non-inter- course, gave great joy to all engaged in foreign trade, and Great Britain's repudiation of the act of its minister produced equal disappoint- ment and indignation. The course of Napoleon with reference to the Berlin and Milan decrees, and the confiscation of American vessels, went far to cure the Gallican fever, while the revo- cation of those decrees concentrated the quarrel with Britain, and afforded occasion for the war to which events had been for some time lead- ing. The impressment of American seamen
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was keenly felt in New York. Outrages at sea were promptly reported here by incoming ves- sels, and many sailors shipped from the chief port, even when their homes were elsewhere.
The State was not as strongly represented in either house of the national legislature, in the eleventh and twelfth congresses, as it was be- fore and afterward. The senators were John Smith and Obadiah German, politicians of lo- cal influence. Among the representatives were Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, who had sat in the senate to fill a vacancy, Thomas R. Gold, Eras- tus Root, and Peter B. Porter.
New York had a right to special considera- tion in deciding the proposition for war. It had material interests second to none, not only threatened and in peril, but in large degree sacrificed. Yet its people submitted gracefully to the embargo, contented themselves with tem- perate protests against the enforcing act, and sustained with vigor the policy of non-inter- course. They gave no toleration to the British efforts to arouse hostility to the government, and had no sympathy with the passionate pro- tests heard in New England against the policy of the administration. If war should come, its seaport was liable to blockade, as its commerce would be destroyed, and the enemy would pass readily by Lake Champlain, the St. Lawrence,
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and Lake Ontario with destructive fleets to throw invading armies upon its frontiers. Many wise men in New York favored the continuance of non-intercourse, from which Great Britain suffered as well as the United States, and ad- vised the prolongation of efforts to avoid actual conflict, sure to bring, at least at the outset, serious disasters. We were not ready, on sea or land, was the argument of not a few. Why should we take the initiative without adequate preparation ? Great Britain had offended grievously, but so had France. Why should we be patient under the insolence and wrong of one, become its practical ally, and rush into hostilities against the other ? The resources of commercial restrictions and of adroit and brave diplomacy were not exhausted. Great Britain, in fact, canceled the orders in coun- cil, on definite proof that the Berlin and Milan decrees were repealed. For the wrongs of im- pressment the war brought little satisfaction, nor did the treaty of Ghent, in 1814, give satis- faction or concession of principle for the future.
For the time, the war party ruled the coun- try. When Congress, in 1811, voted to raise the regular army to 35.000 men, and author- ized summons for 50.000 volunteers. with the preparation of the navy and the building of new ships, New York did not hesitate. On
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the contrary, after war was declared, June 18, 1812, the sentiment of the State was strongly in favor of its vigorous prosecution. Because Mr. Madison was regarded as timid and slow, De Witt Clinton was urged for the presidency, as more able, more vigorous, and as a New Yorker nearer the scene where actual conflict would occur. When this movement failed, the State relaxed no effort, neglected no precaution, refused no sacrifice, for the national defense. Individuals risked their fortunes, not only in privateers to damage British commerce, but in securing supplies for the army and navy, and helping the government with money. Governor Tompkins, reelected in 1813 as he was again in 1816, devoted every energy and every resource to the war, and probably in part from negli- gence in his accounts, ruined himself pecunia- rily, and subjected himself to scandals and as- persions which time was required to controvert. Among the brigadier generals appointed was John Armstrong, who had been active about the Newburg addresses, an ex-senator of the United States, and late minister to France ; he was to become secretary of war, and to resign after severe censure for failure. Morgan Lewis, the quartermaster general of the army, was also made a brigadier, and was afterward to have command of the defenses of New York city.
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The defeat and surrender of Hull at Detroit, August 16, 1812, turned the whole hopes of an invasion of Canada upon the paths from New York. General Dearborn was at the head of 3,000 regulars and 2,000 militia on Lake Cham- plain, and it is noteworthy that no operations were attempted further eastward. Along the St. Lawrence, with the left at Sackets Harbor, 2,000 militia were arrayed. Buffalo was the western limit, where a force of 6,000 volunteers and militia was stretched out as far as Fort Niagara. At Ogdensburg, Jacob Brown was in command of a small force, and worried the British by intercepting their supplies on the St. Lawrence. Boats on the river came into frequent conflict. October 4, 1812, a British force of 700 men attacked Brown's position, but was repulsed, and the American com- mander began a military career which step by step raised him to the command of the na- tional army.
Gunboats were in process of construction at Sackets Harbor, although everything except timber had to be brought from Albany. One of these, the Oneida, was attacked, July 19, 1812, by five British vessels, but by planting a part of her guns on shore, she repulsed the enemy. Commodore Chauncey was soon sent to direct operations on Lake Ontario. With
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the Oneida and six trading schooners he drove the British ships into Kingston harbor.
Early in October Lieutenant Elliott cut out two vessels from under the guns of Fort Erie on the Canada side. On the Niagara River, October 13, Colonel Van Rensselaer crossed and captured a British fort at Queenstown ; reinforcements came to the British, but the Americans refused to go to the relief of their companions, who were attacked and defeated. Among the prisoners was Lieutenant Winfield Scott, who was with the advance as a volunteer. At the close of November an effort to retrieve this disaster, by throwing a column from Black Rock across into Canada, with a sign of suc- cess at the outset, resulted in failure, and a dispute concerning the responsibility for the failure led to a duel between Smyth and Porter, the first two in command.
On Lake Champlain, General Dearborn had advanced from Plattsburg to the frontier. A blockhouse was burned ; the first prisoners of the war were taken at the Indian village of St. Regis ; and a flag was captured by William L. Marcy, afterwards eminent as a statesman. November 20, an attack was made on a block- house on the River La Colle, from which the garrison escaped. Two American detachments mistook each other for foes, and after firing, both retreated, leaving their dead on the field.
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All the gallant exploits of the navy were needed to counteract the bad effect of the fail- ures on land in the autumn of 1812, and the disappointment of those who believed that Dearborn could with courage and energy have pressed forward to Montreal. The sailors at sea, and in less degree on Lake Ontario, sus- tained the spirit of the people. The campaign of 1813 was identical in plan with that of the preceding year. General Harrison fortunately recovered the Michigan territory. General Dearborn took command of the land forces on Lake Ontario and its confluents, while General Hampton directed movements on Lake Cham- plain. American prisoners, seized in sudden raids on our shores, were imprisoned in Brock- ville ; and rumors coming that they were ill treated, Captain Forsyth, February 6, 1813, led a rifle company and about two hundred volunteers, captured the jail and rescued the prisoners. He brought away a number of citi- zens as prisoners, and also a quantity of military stores, but no private property. The British, much aroused by this affair, projected plans of retaliation ; and February 22, a force of regu- lars, militia, and Indians attacked Ogdensburg, where Captain Forsyth was in command with a much inferior number of men, and after an action of an hour and a half, the town was
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SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 513 taken with its stores, and the barracks and shipping were destroyed. The British official reports show one hundred and one killed and wounded, while the Americans lost only twenty. Captain Forsyth retreated and many citizens fled, while others were paroled for ex- change for the inhabitants of Brockville. Some of the houses were plundered before the British retired the next day.
In April, Commodore Chauncey conveyed a column of sixteen hundred men across the lake to York, now Toronto, which was taken by as- sault April 27, when General Pike, who led the attack, was killed. Valuable military stores were seized, two ships were burned, and either by the victors or retreating Canadians the par- liament house was set on fire, and served as a pretext for the burning of the capitol at Wash- ington. The Americans reembarked and pro- ceeded to the Niagara River, where, May 27, they compelled the British commander to blow up Fort George, and to abandon all the posts on that line. Sackets Harbor was well-nigh stripped of its defenders by these operations, and was attacked, May 29. by General Prevost with one thousand men, two ships, four schooners and thirty open boats. His defeat was signal, and cost one hundred and fifty killed and wounded ; while the Americans lost twenty-one killed and
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ninety-one wounded, besides some who fell into the hands of the retreating army. For this victory, Brown, who was in command of the Americans, was appointed a brigadier general in the regular army.
In June the British kept up their activity on Lake Ontario. They threatened Oswego, they burned houses at Sodus Bay, they appeared at the mouth of the Genesee. On Lake Cham- plain also the British were defiant and active. Early in the same month they captured two American sloops that were a little too venture- some, and so held control of those waters for the season. July 31, they burned the barracks at Plattsburg, with the military stores; and ap- pearing before Burlington, captured trading vessels in sight of the town.
To direct the movements for the invasion of Canada, General Wilkinson was put in com- mand at Sackets Harbor; and, September 5, General Armstrong, secretary of war, came for consultation. The American force was at Fort George and Niagara 3,500, at Oswego 100, at Sackets Harbor 2.000, and on Lake Champlain 4,000. On Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, the American flotilla was superior to the British in number of vessels. but not quite equal in guns. Chauncey tried often and adroitly to lure Sir James Yeo, commander of the British
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fleet, to a decisive battle, but the latter avoided the fight. Perry had won his victory and earned his fame on Lake Erie before Wilkinson's plans were put into operation. October 16, General Hampton was ordered to advance to the mouth of the Chateaugay. Grenadier Island was the place of rendezvous for the main expedition, and there a large part of the force was gathered October 20. Six days later, the artillery em- barked at Sackets Harbor. A storm arose, fif- teen large boats were wrecked, supplies and clothing were damaged and some lost. General Brown was stationed at French Creek (now Clayton), whence detachments were ordered to proceed down the St. Lawrence. There he was attacked by the enemy by land and water, and for two days fighting was maintained. The British were, however, repulsed, and the passage was kept open by Brown and by Chauncey off Carlton Island, so that the Amer- ican army was concentrated at Morristown. Brown then covered the descent of the rapids, when Hampton's expedition moved withont order under a general who lacked the quali- ties needed for compact and effective action. Hampton blundered in a demonstration toward the Canada line, and fell back when he might have advanced. He refused to cooperate with Wilkinson, on the plea that the season was
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too far advanced, and he returned to Lake Champlain. At Chrysler's farm, November 11, Wilkinson came upon the British, and a sharp battle cost the latter two hundred men, and the Americans three hundred. The offi- cial reports claim a " splendid victory " for the British, but they hardly held their ground, and the superior forces of the Americans under effi- cient leadership could have renewed operations with good prospects of success.
Montreal lay now within striking distance, with a garrison of only six hundred men, and American generals and American soldiers have achieved greater victories than its capture would have been. But Hampton would not cooperate, while Wilkinson was sick and feeble, if not in- competent, and found reason for abandoning the expedition. The flotilla went into Salmon River, and the army into winter quarters at French Mills, now Covington. In February the camp was broken up, and the men were divided into two columns, one at Sackets Har- bor, and the other at Plattsburg.
In December, General McClure. on the Niag- ara River, without troops to hold Fort George, burned the adjacent village of Newark, and re- tired to Buffalo. The British, under General Prevost, turned upon him, captured Fort Ni- agara, put the garrison to the sword, and
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burned Black Rock and Buffalo, with wealth of provisions and stores and three vessels of Perry's fleet.
The campaign was not creditable to the na- tion : it brought disaster and suffering to the frontiers of New York. In February, 1814, the British penetrated to French Mills, on a raid of destruction. March 30, Wilkinson ended his career by a campaign up the shore of Lake Champlain to the River La Colle, where he was so unsuccessful that he resigned his com- mand, and asked for a court of inquiry, which in due time declared him free from blame. Other leaders were wanted and they were at hand. Brown, now a major general, was in command at Sackets Harbor ; and to Winfield Scott, now a brigadier general, was given con- trol on the Niagara frontier. Both set to work to prepare an army disciplined, compact and confident. Brown joined Scott, and on July 3 occupied Fort Erie without a shot. The Battle of Chippewa was fought July 5, when Scott won a victory.
After securing reinforcements, the British, on the 25th of the same month. took position at Lundy's Lane for new operations. Scott at- tacked them with his advanced column, Brown brought up the main army, and with a loss of eight hundred men on each side, victory again
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rested with the Americans over troops many of whom had served under Wellington in the wars against France. Once more, on August 15, before Fort Erie, General Brown won ad- vantages, which were in October thrown away by General Izard, who blew up the fort and abandoned the line of the Niagara.
On Lake Ontario the fleets on both sides had been increased. Vessels were rapidly con- structed at Sackets Harbor in the spring of 1814. The frigate Mohawk, carrying forty- four guns, was built in thirty-four days, and other vessels in only a little longer time. The cannon was brought by way of Oswego, so that the transports had to run the gauntlet of the British cruisers. This was the incitement to activity on both sides. At Oswego the British destroyed the fort, and carried away guns de- signed for the ships. They pursued transports loaded with stores into Sandy Creek, but lost their boats and crews in the venture, with con- siderable loss also in killed and wounded. The chronicles of these waters at this time furnish incidents abundant and full of adventure. By .. August, Admiral Yeo was blockaded in King- ston, where he had a ship of one hundred guns in process of building, and the British were compelled to direct their movements other- where.
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Veterans from Europe, with local accessions making an army 12,000 strong, invaded New York and took up position on the Saranac ; while a British fleet of four vessels and twelve gunboats, carrying ninety-five guns and one thousand men, was displayed on Lake Cham- plain. In Plattsburg bay, Commodore Mc- Donough had an American squadron at anchor, four vessels besides ten gunboats, carrying al- together eighty-six guns and eight hundred and fifty men. General Macomb marshaled only three thousand regulars, but the militia of New York and Vermont added as many more. On land and water the British were the stronger in numbers and in cannon. The British fleet made a skillful and gallant attack September 11, but was outmanœuvered and out- fought ; and with a loss of one hundred and twelve killed and wounded, the Americans were victorious, the British gunboats running away after striking their flags. Under cover of a storm the veterans of Europe retreated from the Saranac, which they could not cross, from the presence of an undisciplined foe only half their number, leaving their sick and wounded, and even a part of their baggage and stores, behind them.
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New York was a vast encampment in the early autumn of 1814. Governor Tompkins,
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now in command of the third military district, put nearly 40,000 militia into the field for the defense of New York city, of Plattsburg, Sack- ets Harbor and Buffalo. In October, Yeo's ship of one hundred guns was ready for the water, and Chauncey in turn was driven to cover ; while an alarm was raised that Sackets Har- bor, with its dockyards and a ship for one hun- dred guns on the stocks, would be attacked by an army and a fleet. To prepare for such a movement, a levy en masse was made on the militia of Herkimer, Oneida, Lewis, and Jeffer- son counties, bringing in promptly men of all ages and all vocations ; but invasions from Can- ada were at an end. The plans of invasion of Canada, either for occupation or permanent mil- itary effect, were the dreams of the morning of the war, and had long since been dispelled.
New York city had not been quiet or idle all this while. Although it had not favored the declaration of war. it never hesitated in its prosecution. Within four months after the declaration, it sent out by individual enterprise 26 privateers, carrying 212 guns, and 2,239 men. Great efforts were put forth to fortify the islands and the approaches. Operations at sea were watched with apprehensions lest a British fleet might enter the bay ; and the vic- tories of our seamen were hailed with wild de-
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light, and the heroes welcomed with the high- est honors. In 1813, Long Island was threat- ened by the blockading vessels, which even made requisitions for produce ; while on Gardi- ner's Island_Commodore Decatur captured a party of British officers, so daring and confident were they in their operations. The alarm in the city reached its height at the beginning of August, 1814, when rumors of attack were cir- culated, and a formidable fleet in the Chesa- peake was supposed to be ready for the move- ment. The great army of Prevost and the fleet on Lake Champlain were believed to have in view the forcing of a passage by that route down the valley of the Hudson. De Witt Clin- ton, who was mayor, appealed to the people to work on the fortifications ; a committee of de- fense was appointed at a large public meeting ; and the popular zeal was so aroused that soci- eties and trades and manufacturing companies, and even scholars and their teachers, in bodies took up pickaxes and shovels, and work went on night and day. From Brooklyn to Harlem, the heights were crowded with those whom a poem of the day styled "patriotic diggers." The corporation raised funds to maintain 20,- 000 militia summoned to hold the defenses. Governor Tompkins gave impetus and inspired confidence. The national treasury bad ex-
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hausted its borrowing capacity at the banks, whereupon he endorsed the treasury notes, by which $500,000 were raised, not for use in New York alone, but also to sustain the recruiting service in Connecticut, and the manufacture of arms in Springfield.
Drilling went on everywhere, and citizens, without distinction of age or vocation, quar- tered at home, bore arms four hours each day. Generals Morgan Lewis and Ebenezer Stevens were in command on land, with General Cad- wallader David Colden, grandson of the former lieutenant governor, over the ununiformed mi- litia. Commodore Decatur directed the move- ments on the waters. The recent bombard- ment of Stonington. and the burning of Wash- ington, prompted to diligence and to vigilant preparation. The fortifications grew to strength and some measure of completeness, but fortu- nately the British did not attack the city.
Elsewhere, on sea and land, the war went on. The cries for peace were loud, especially in New England, and were increasing in other parts of the country, while the progress of negotiations at Ghent was carefully studied. Great Britain proposed terms which the legis- lature of New York, notwithstanding the suf- ferings and burdens of the State, denounced as "extravagant and disgraceful." But when,
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February 11, 1815, the British sloop of war Favorite brought official notice that a treaty of peace was signed, the joyous citizens did not complain because " sailors' rights " and the rights of neutrals were not guaranteed in terms, although history has proved that they were so in fact. The celebration took every form of the expression of gladness, and the extemporized armies at once returned home, and the city in common with the country put on the garbs of peace.
So intense was the suffering on the Niagara frontier that contributions were raised for the relief of the inhabitants. All along the north- ern borders and the line of Lake Champlain, the settlements were well-nigh ruined. On Long Island the disturbance was less serious. In New York city, the interruption to industry and business was felt in every branch. In the interior, manufactories were started to supply the deficiencies of importation ; a woolen fac- tory chartered at Oriskany in 1809, under the auspices of De Witt Clinton, Stephen van Rens- selaer, and other eminent men, being the initia- tion of the policy.
Once more the cessation of conflict gave to the commonwealth free course for the growth and development for which it possessed. in such large measure, the elements in its gifts from nature and in its population. -
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CHAPTER XXX.
WATERWAYS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT.
1810-1862.
THE red men knew the waterways of New York, and used them for expeditions of peace and war. The early settlers followed them in search for homes. The French found them easy paths for their invasions, as the Iroquois and the colonists used them in their excursions. In the Revolution their shores were stained with the blood of conflict. In 1812 the border wa- ters were fought over more than once. The many navigable streams and the interior lakes impressed the earliest visitors, and the valleys cut by nature suggested to all acute observers how the gaps might be supplied with canals, to take the place of the " carries" familiar to the Indians and boatmen. Cadwallader Col- den, when surveyor general, glancing to the Mississippi, saw in 1724 " opened to view such a scene of inland navigation as can not be par- alleled in any other part of the world." In 1776 Captain Joseph Carver explored the
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