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diff --git a/14619-0.txt b/14619-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac6fe20 --- /dev/null +++ b/14619-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1209 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14619 *** + + Châteauguay Literary and Historical Society + + + AN ACCOUNT + + OF + + THE BATTLE OF CHÂTEAUGUAY + + BEING + + A LECTURE DELIVERED AT ORMSTOWN, + + MARCH 8TH, 1889 + + BY + + W.D. LIGHTHALL, M.A., + + _Honorary Member of the Châteauguay Literary and Historical Society, + Secretary of the Antiquarian Society of Montreal, Life Corresponding + Member of the Scottish Society of Literature and Art, Author of "The + Young Seigneur," "Songs of the Great Dominion," etc._ + + WITH + + SOME LOCAL AND PERSONAL NOTES + + BY + + W. PATTERSON, M.A., + + _Corresponding Secretary of the C.L.H.S._ + + "Raise high the Monumental Stone." + --_Charles Sangster_ + + + MONTREAL + + W. DRYSDALE & CO., PUBLISHERS, 232 ST. JAMES STREET. + + 1889. + + + + + [Illustration: LT.-COL CHARLES DE SALABERRY.] + + + + + LIST OF OFFICERS FOR 1888-89. + + + President. + Lt.-Col. Archibald McEachern, C.M.G, + + Vice-Presidents. + J.E. Robidoux, Q.C., M.P.P. + Edward Holton, Esq., M.P. + Thomas Baird, Esq. + + Recording Secretary. + Peter McLaren, B A., M.D. + + Corresponding Secretary. + Wm. Patterson, M.A. + + Treasurer. + Wm. McDougall, Esq. + + Councillors. + Dr. McCormick. + Wm. J. Bryson, Esq. + Dugald Thomson. Esq. + Dr. Hall. + Rev. D.W. Morison, B.A. + + * * * * * + + LIST OF HONORARY MEMBERS + + Edward Holton, M.P. + J.E. Robidoux, Q.C., M.P.P. + Dr. W. Geo. Beers. + James McGregor, Esq. + Watson Griffin, Esq. + J.R. Dougall, M.A. + W.D. Lighthall, M.A., B.C.L. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +On October 26th, 1888, the Châteauguay Literary and Historical Society +was organized at Ormstown, Quebec, to foster Canadian patriotism by +encouraging the study of Canadian history and Canadian literature. The +Society began its labours at home, taking as its subject the battle +whence it derives its name. Mr. W.D. Lighthall, M.A., B.C.L., an +honorary member, was asked to prepare an account of that victory, and +kindly responded by his lecture, which he delivered before the Society +on March 8th, 1889. Pleasure is now felt in offering this lecture, in +the interests of the Society, to the Canadian world, no apology being +required at a time when patriotic literature is in great demand. Mr. +Lighthall's researches have been discussed by the members, and the +belief is prevalent that his work touching this important item of +history, in so far as accuracy is concerned, stands unrivalled, the +previous authorities having been carefully compared and their +testimony put together. + +In the Appendix will be found a number of notes having a bearing on +the battle and its times. The portrait frontispiece is from a line +engraving kindly lent by Gerald E. Hart, Esq., President of the +Society for Historical Studies. The drawing of the map, after the +design of the author, is due to J.A.U. Beaudry, Esq., C.E., Curator of +the Antiquarian Society of Montreal. + +The first part of the account is partly based upon R. Christie's +History of Lower Canada; but William James' Military Occurrences of +the War of 1812, was found the most accurate in statistical details, +and is, therefore, frequently followed. Other authorities are referred +to in their places. + +The battle of Châteauguay, in view of the important results that +followed it, is an event which all Canadians will appreciate, and to +which posterity will have reason to point the finger of admiration. +All nationalities concerned in building up this country, when united +by a common danger, bore in it an honorable part, as they fought side +by side in defence of their homes and those that were dear to them, +from the wanton aggression of an ungenerous foe. + +The Society hopes to continue its work and to offer other pamphlets in +the near future, so that this effort on its part may be regarded as +the first of a series. Another of its immediate objects is the +erection of a monument on the battlefield, to accomplish which +pecuniary assistance is required. The belief is held that no +opportunity should be lost to educate the rising generation to form a +true conception of the grandeur of the heritage that is ours, + + W.P. + + ORMSTOWN, + _October 29th, 1889._ + + + + +THE BATTLE OF CHATEAUGUAY. + + +The War of 1812 has been called by an able historian "the afterclap of +the Revolution." The Revolution was, indeed, true thunder--a +courageous and, in the main, high-principled struggle. Its afterclap +of 1812 displayed little but empty bombast and greed. In the one, +brave leaders risked their lives in that defence of rights which has +made their enterprise an epoch in man's history; in the other, a mean +and braggart spirit actuated its promoters to strike in the back that +nation which almost alone was carrying on, in the best spirit of the +Revolution, the struggle for the liberties of Europe against the +designs of Napoleon. The brave spirits of the War of Freedom led the +affairs of the United States no longer. All the contemptible elements, +all the boasters, all those who had done least in the real fighting, +had long come out of their shells and united to establish the mighty +rhetorical school of the Spread Eagle! It was the legions of Spread +Eagleism who wore to have the glory to be got in taking advantage of +harassed England. The Battle of Châteauguay was one of the answers to +that illusion. + +The War was introduced by a Declaration, in which President Madison, +in smooth and elaborate terms, pretended that his nation found cause +for it in the tyrannical exercise by British warships of what was +called _The Right of Search_--that is to say, a claim of ships of war +to stop the ships of other nations and search them for deserters and +contraband goods. That this was not, however, the true cause, was +shown by the facts and cries of the war. + +Firstly, the right was one belonging to all nations by international +law; secondly, though it was at once relinquished by Britain in a +conciliatory spirit, the Americans persisted in their campaign; +thirdly, at the close of the war they did not insist at all on the +abrogation of the Right of Search, in the treaty of peace. + +It would be much easier to show what the real causes were:-(1), hatred +of England, lasting over from the Revolution; (2), envy of her +commerce and prestige; and especially (3) the scheme for the conquest +of Canada. + +The course of the negotiations exhibit a thoroughly ungenerous course +on the part of the American authorities, contrasted with a desire not +to offend on the part of Britain. President Madison's Declaration of +War was made on the 18th of June, 1812, and the British Government, +after using every honorable overture for friendship, only issued +theirs in October, couching it, besides, in terms of regret and +reproach at the unfairness in which Madison's party persisted. Owing +to that unfairness and other causes the enterprise also was by no +means unanimously popular in the States. A convention of delegates +from the counties of New York, held in the capitol at Albany, on the +17th and 18th of September, and called the New York Convention, +condemned Madison's party for declaring the war, on account of its +injustice, and "as having been undertaken," they said, "from motives +entirely distinct from those which have been hitherto avowed." The New +England States treated it coldly. Maryland disapproved through her +Legislature. Many persons everywhere looked on it as a mere political +scheme, and when drafted for service in frequent cases bought +themselves substitutes. + +It was soon found that a mistake had been made in attacking Canada. +That happened which might be expected where bodies of men with +inflated ideas of glory and no experience attack men fighting +desperately for their homes, and officers and veterans who had seen +such service as the Napoleonic wars. The British, with an astuteness +which is oftener the character credited to their opponents, managed to +get earliest word of the Declaration sent to their own forts on the +Lakes, and promptly captured the American fort Michilimackinac. They +then followed with the daring capture of the stronghold of Detroit, +amply equipped and garrisoned, by a little handful of men under the +heroic General Brock, who simply went before it and demanded its +surrender, whereupon it was given up, together with the whole +Territory of Michigan. The presence of such trained British officers +as Brock and of army veterans in the ranks was a very great advantage. +Poor Brock soon afterwards died in his memorable charge at the victory +of Queenston Heights. + +That year--the first of the War--is known as a succession of fiascos +for the Americans. The other conspicuous aspect of it is that the +attacked points were, with the exception of a little skirmishing at +St. Regis and Lacolle, all in the Province of Upper Canada. + +It was only towards the close of the campaign of the next +year--1813--that Lower Canada was gravely threatened. + +The Americans, emboldened by several successes, and having put a great +many men into the field, believed that the struggle might easily be +terminated by capturing Montreal. The advance upon Lower Canada took +place under General James Wilkinson in chief command, with 8,826 men +and 58 guns and howitzers.[1] He had intended to attack Kingston. "At +Montreal, however," wrote the Secretary of War, Armstrong, in phrases +colored by the prevailing school of rhetoric, "you find the weaker +place and the smallest force to encounter.... You hold a position +which completely severs the enemy's line of operations, and which, +while it restrains all below, withers and perishes all above itself." +This great position--for it is so--Colonel Coffin[2] compares it to +Vicksburg for natural strength--was to be approached by two routes: by +Wilkinson himself in boats down the St Lawrence, and by Major-General +Wade Hampton, his almost independent subordinate, from the Champlain +border; and it was planned that the two armies should meet at the +foot of Isle Perrot,[3] thence to strike together across the Lake to +Lachine, and on to the city, which seems to have had not over, if as +many as, a thousand regulars to defend it. + +Wade Hampton, with over 5,000 men (an effective regular force of 4,053 +rank and file, about 1,500 militia and ten cannon[4]), was at first on +the Vermont side of Lake Champlain at Burlington[5]. He crossed to the +New York side, directing his march for Caughnawaga on the St. +Lawrence. His army[6], except the militia, was the same which, with a +certain General Dearborn at its head, paraded irregularly across the +lines and returned to Pittsburgh in the autumn of 1812. During the +year since elapsed the men had been drilled by Major-General Izard, +who had served in the French Army. They were all in uniform, well +clothed and equipped--in short, Hampton commanded, if not the most +numerous, certainly the most effective, regular army which the United +States were able to send into the field during the War. Crossing the +border on the 20th of September, 1813, he surprised a small picket of +British at Odelltown, a Loyalist settlement afterwards celebrated for +a battle in the Rebellion of 1837. He soon found himself met with what +seemed to him great difficulties, for the army was plunged into an +extensive swampy wood, the only road through which was rendered +impracticable by fallen trees and barricades, behind which and in the +gloomy forests surrounding were every here and there to be seen +Indians and infantry crawling and flitting about, who fired upon them +from unexpected ambushes. Hampton's men were not of a kind to face +this. "The perfect rawness of the troops," writes he, "with the +exception of not a single platoon, has been a source of much +solicitude to the best-informed among us."[7] They were ignorant, +insubordinate, and forever "falling off."[8] + +Urging on the scattered defenders was, no doubt, to be seen from time +to time a stout-built, vigorous officer with stripes across the breast +of his dark gray uniform, dashing about from point to point giving +fierce orders. This was De Salaberry. + +Not reflecting--for he seems to have had the information--that the +wood was only fifteen miles or so in depth, the Canadians few in +number, and that a short press forward would have brought him into the +open country of L'Acadie leading towards Montreal, the American +General in two days withdrew along the border towards Châteauguay Four +Corners, alleging the great drought of that year as a reason for +wishing to descend by the River Châteauguay. At the Corners he rested +his army for many days. + +Wade Hampton was a type of the large slaveholders of the South. Nearly +sixty years of age, self-important, fiery and over-indulgent in drink, +of large, imposing figure, of some reputed service in the Revolution, +and with a record as Congressman and Presidential elector, he was one +whose chief virtues were not patience and humility. In 1809 he had +been made a brigadier-general and stationed at New Orleans; but in +consequence of continual disagreements with his subordinates, was +superseded in 1812 by Wilkinson, whom he consequently hated. In the +spring of 1813 he received his Major-General's commission. He had +acquired his large fortune by land speculations, and at his death some +time later was supposed to be the wealthiest planter in the United +States, owning 3,000 slaves. He is said to have ably administered his +estate.[9] + +Hampton had another slave-holding South Carolinian by his side, young +Brigadier-General George Izard, son and descendant of aristocrats and +statesmen, well-educated in the soldier's profession, college-bred, +travelled, and who had served in the French Army. Izard led the main +column at the battle shortly to ensue.[10] + +Another officer of the circle--who seems to have been the ablest--was +Colonel James Purdy, on whom the brunt of the American work and +fighting were to fall, and who seems to have done his best in a +struggle against natural difficulties and against the incompetency of +both his commander and men. + +When Hampton moved to Four Corners, Lieut-Colonel De Salaberry, with +the Canadian Voltigeurs, moved in like manner westward to the region +of the Châteauguay and English Rivers. The Voltigeur troops were +French-Canadians with a small sprinkling of British. Their +organization was as follows:--Sir George Prevost, on the approach of +war, May 28th, 1812, ordered the levy of four French volunteer +battalions, to be made up of unmarried men from 18 to 25 years old. +They were to be choice troops, and trained like regulars. Charles +Michel d'Irumberry De Salaberry, then high in the regard of his people +as a military hero, was chosen to rally the recruits, issued a +stirring poster calling the French-Canadians to arms, and acted with +such extraordinary energy that the troops were in hand in two days. + +De Salaberry was a perfect type of the old French-Canadian military +gentry, a stock of men of whom very little remains, a breed of leaders +of, on the whole, more vigorous forms, more active temperaments, than +the average--descendants inheriting the qualities of the bravest and +most adventurous individuals of former times. They were the natural +result of the feudal _régime_, with which they have passed away. +Though a gentry, they were a poor one, possessed of little else than +quantities of forest lands. The officers of the Voltigeurs were +selected out of the same class, united with a number of English of +similar stamp. De Salaberry himself was born in the little cottage +manor-house of Beauport, near Quebec, on the 19th of Nov., 1778.[11] +Taking to soldiering like a duck to water when very young, he enrolled +as volunteer in the 44th. At sixteen, the Duke of Kent, who was then +in Canada, and delighted in friendly acts towards the seigneurs, got +him a commission in the 60th, with which regiment he left at once for +the West Indian Isle of Dominica. There he saw terrible service, for +all the men of his battalion except three were killed or wounded +during the seige of Fort Matilda. Nevertheless, the young fellow kept +gay. "Our uniforms," he wrote to his father, "cost very dear; but I +have received £40, and with that I am going to give myself what will +make a fine figure." "This fine large boy of sixteen years," says +Benjamin Sulte in his History of the French-Canadians, "strong as a +Hercules ... with smiling face ... made a furore at parties.... As he +was never sick, they employed him everywhere. Fevers reduced his +battalion to 200 men, but touched not him." Though so young, he was +charged with covering the evacuation of Fort Matilda.[12] + +The Duke of Kent, who was commanding at Halifax, kept a friendly eye +upon him, and gave him much personal advice, on one occasion +dissuading him from an inadvisable marriage. He now took him into his +own regiment. De Salaberry still saw rough service, was shipwrecked, +served in the West Indies again, and then fought in Europe and the +disastrous expedition to Walcheren, where he was placed in the most +advanced posts.[13] Returning to his 60th, he was made captain in +1799. "I have often heard say," narrates De Gaspé, "that his company +and that of Captain Chandler were the best drilled in the regiment." +In the West Indies he was drawn into a duel which caused him sorrow +until his dying day, for in it he was forced by the "code of honor" to +kill a German fellow-officer, and bore a scar of the affair ever after +on his forehead. It is related that by his great strength he cut the +German in two. + +"The prodigious force with which he was endowed," says Sulte, "had +made of him an exceptional being in the eyes of the soldiers," and +when he returned to Canada after West Indian service of eleven +years[14] a little before the war of 1812, he was already the hero of +the French-Canadians. That the stories of his strength and vigor are +true is corroborated by every circumstance which has been perpetuated +about him. His ruddy, energetic face is preserved in portraits among +his family, and his walking-stick, said to be an enormous article, is +kept at Quebec in the collection of the Literary and Historical +Society. + +De Salaberry's Voltigeurs were organized at a peculiar juncture. "The +discords between French and English in Quebec had emboldened the +United States," says Garneau, "and the English Governors harassed the +French. An opposite conduct might bring back calm to men's spirits. +The Governor of Nova Scotia, Sir George Provost, a former officer, of +Swiss origin, offered all the conditions desirable.... Arriving at +Quebec, Sir George Provost strove to introduce peace and to remove +animosity. He showed the completest confidence in the fidelity of the +French-Canadians, and studied how to prove at every opportunity that +the accusations of treason which had been brought against them had +left no trace in the soul of England nor in his own.... Soon the +liveliest sympathy arose between Sir George Prevost and the +people."[15] It was in pursuance of this policy that the order to +raise the Voltigeur force was given by him. + +While Hampton was at Four Corners, Sir George, thus now +Commander-in-Chief of all the forces in Canada, was at the camp which +had just been formed at La Fourche, and of which a description is +given by Mr. Sellar in his history of the district. Sir George was a +man quite devoid of the decisiveness necessary to a soldier, and +though, as we have seen, he was useful in reconciling the French, his +errors in military matters several times brought disgrace on the +British forces, and gave rise to storms of rage and disgust among +them.[16] De Salaberry was now ordered by him on the Quixotic errand +of attacking, with about 200 Voltigeurs and some Indians, the large +camp of Hampton at Four Corners. De Salaberry promptly obeyed these +impracticable orders, and it is probably at this juncture that a +little anecdote comes in which I have heard as told by one of his men. +De Salaberry was down the river dining at a tavern, when a despatch +was brought to him. + +"D---- it!" he exclaimed, jumping up from his seat, "Hampton is at +Four Corners, and I must go and fight him!" and mounting his fine +white charger, he dashed away from the door. + +On the 1st of October he crept up with his force to the edge of the +American camp. There they saw the assemblage spread out in all the +array of war, with its host of tents, stacked guns, flags, moving men +and sentries, and he prepared to strike it as ordered. One of his +Indians indiscreetly discharged his musket. The camp was in alarm in +an instant. De Salaberry, finding his approach discovered, immediately +collected about fifty of his Voltigeurs, with whom and the Indians he +pushed into the enemy's advanced camp, consisting of about 800 men, +and, catching them in their confusion, drove them for a considerable +distance, until, seeing the main body manoeuvring to cut off his +little handful, he fell back and took up his position at the skirt of +the woods. Once again he sallied out and charged, but with all the +army now thoroughly aroused it was useless, and the Indians having +retreated, most of his own men ran off, leaving him and Captains +Chevalier Duchesnay and Gaucher, officers much like himself in stamp, +with a few trusty Voltigeurs to skirmish with the enemy as long as +daylight permitted it.[17] He then withdrew to Châteauguay, taking the +precaution of breaking up the forest road in his rear, in pursuance of +the general policy of the campaign, which was to destroy and obstruct +as much as possible in the path of the enemy. Acquainting himself also +with the ground over which Hampton was expected to make his way into +the Province, he finally stopped, selected and took up the position +where the battle afterwards took place, in a thick wood on the left +bank of the Châteauguay River at the distance of two or three leagues +above its _Fork_ with English River, where he threw up his works of +defence, with the approval of General De Watteville. The plan of the +British commanders, owing to the smallness and inefficiency of their +forces, was the stern one of burning and destroying all houses and +property, and retreating slowly to the St. Lawrence, harassing the +enemy in his advance.[18] The position chosen was as strong as the +nature of that flat and wooded country and the route of the American +march would allow. Here his experience and quick eye came in.[19] + +Now as to the measures of fortification taken by De Salaberry. In his +rear there was a small rapid where the river was fordable in two spots +close to one another. He commanded this with a strong breastwork and a +guard. There were four ravines which issued from the very thick woods, +crossing the road, and distant from each other two hundred yards or +so. On their banks he made his men fell trees and build them into +breastworks--"a kind of parapet extending into the woods some +distance." To prevent the American cannon from bearing on these +breastworks, he felled trees and bush, covering a large stretch of +ground with obstructions in the front. The breastwork on the +front-line formed an obtuse angle at the right of the road, and +extended along the curves of the ravine. The Colonel then sent forward +to a spot some distance in advance of the front-line a party of +Beauharnois' axemen, well accustomed to felling trees, who destroyed +the bridges and obstructed the road with their fragments and fallen +trees and brush. Lieut. Guy, with twenty Voltigeurs, guarded them in +front, and Lieut. Johnson, with about the same number, in rear. +Working incessantly, these axemen made a formidable series of such +obstructions in front of the first line, extending from the river +three or four acres into the woods, where they joined an almost +impracticable marsh. On the opposite bank of the river De Salaberry +also placed a picket of sixty Beauharnois militia under Captain +Bruyère, so as to check any advance on the ford, which was his weak +point in the rear. + +Part of De Salaberry's line at the abattis, was a small blockhouse on +the river-bank (which, however, is not that which has since been +reputed to be the one concerned), and the works there blocked the +commencement of the wood and looked out on a broadening plain or level +of clearings, across which the enemy would have to pass. + +The Glengarry men now came down, under McDonell of Ogdensburgh, famous +for his adventurous capture of that place, and whose exploit the +Salaberry was about to match. Lieut.-Colonel McDonell--"Red +George"--was at Prescott drilling a new force of Canadian Fencibles, +made up, some say, chiefly of Scotch and loyalists,[20] others chiefly +of French boatmen, when Sir George Prevost asked him how soon he could +have his men ready to go down to Châteauguay. "As soon as they have +done their dinner!" he responded. Within a few hours he had provided +them with _batteaux_, and they were off down the rapids. When Sir +George himself, who was on the way, got there, he, to his great +surprise found McDonell before him. "Where are your men?" said he. +"There," said the Highland Colonel, pointing to his force resting on +the ground--"not a man absent."[21] + +For nearly three weeks the parties of Canadian workers worked +continually upon the plan of De Salaberry, while Hampton was +considering, preparing, reviewing his troops, and arranging for a +communication with Wilkinson so soon as the latter should have passed +Ogdensburg on his way down the St. Lawrence. + +On the 21st of October the advance down the Châteauguay commenced. The +first move was a rapid march by General Izard with the light-equipped +troops and a regiment of the line, who surprised a party of about +ten[22] Indians sitting late in the afternoon at their evening meal at +the junction of the Outarde and Châteauguay Rivers, and killed one of +them. There Izard encamped and proceeded to establish a road of +communication with Hampton. Word was soon brought to Major Henry, of +the Beauharnois' Militia, commanding on the English River. Henry sent +word to General De Watteville at La Fourche, and had Captains Levesque +and Debartzch advance immediately with the flank companies of the 5th +Battalion of embodied militia and about 200 men of the Beauharnois' +division. This was the preliminary move towards the battle. + +They advanced about six miles that night up the Châteauguay from La +Fourche, when they came to a wood which it would not have been prudent +to enter in the dark. Next morning early they were joined by De +Salaberry with his Voltigeurs and the light company of Captain +Ferguson, an officer who took a front place in the affair. De +Salaberry brought all these companies about a league up the bank to +the place he had fortified, and there stopped. An American patrol +party being observed in front, General De Watteville came over +himself, visited the outposts, approved of them, and the work +proceeded.[23] That evening the main body of the Americans encamped at +Sear's, about twenty-five miles above the Châteauguay's mouth. The +engineers had cut a road for the ten cannon, and with great labor and +difficulty had dragged them thus far.[24] + +Within two days more Hampton's men had opened and completed a large +and practicable road, which is still traceable, from his position at +Four Corners twenty-four miles through the woods and morasses, and +brought up his guns and stores to his new position, about seven miles +from De Salaberry's. (About Dewittville?) + +[Illustration: SKETCH OF THE BATTLE OF CHATEAUGUAY--OCT 26, 1813] + +From this point he despatched Colonel Purdy with about 1,500 men, +composed of a light brigade (the 1st Brigade of the American Army[25]) +and a strong body of the infantry of the line, at an early hour in the +night of the 25th, across the Châteauguay and down its right bank[26] +at a bend adjoining what is now known as the Cross Farm, with orders +to gain the ford and fall on the rear of Lieut.-Colonel De Salaberry's +position, while the main body, under General Izard, were to commence +the attack in front. Purdy's brigade crossed not far above De +Salaberry, and proceeded into the woods of the opposite side. A cedar +swamp, an unexpected stream in which they floundered, and the +ignorance of their guides misled and bewildered them. This was the +fault of Hampton, and due to his headstrongness, for the guides had +protested that they did not know that side of the Châteauguay; but he +had ordered them to proceed. Purdy's command became scattered, were +forced to halt in confusion, and had to sleep in the open woods, cold, +wet, exhausted, and apprehensive.[27] General Hampton, however, in the +morning, fully expected to hear them attacking the ford, advanced, and +at ten o'clock his troops appeared in sight of the party of busy +woodchoppers, about 3,500 men, with three squadrons of cavalry, +marching in column along the high road, commanded by General Izard. +Lieut. Guy's picket fired, the workmen dropped work and ran, Guy +retired upon Johnson, and both Lieutenants retreated with their men to +the completed abattis, where they formed up again and began to fire +smartly. + +De Salaberry, on hearing the firing, promptly advanced with the light +company of the Canadian Fencibles, commanded by Captain Ferguson, +"flanked by twenty-two Indians on the right and centre,"[28] and two +companies of his Voltigeurs, commanded by Captains Chevalier and Louis +Juchereau Duchesnay. Ferguson's companies he posted on the right, in +front of the abattis, in extended order, its right skirting on the +adjoining woods and abattis, among which were distributed a few +Abenaquis Indians. The three officers, Ferguson and the two +Duchesnays, executed the movements required of them with the coolness +of a day of parade. The Voltigeur company of the oldest of the +Duchesnays, known as "the Chevalier," occupied, in extended order, the +ground from the left of Ferguson's Company to the Châteauguay, and the +company under Captain Louis Juchereau Duchesnay, with about +thirty-five[29] Sedentary Militia under Captain Longtin, were thrown +back along the margin of the river, hidden among the trees and bushes, +so as to flank Colonel Purdy's men, or prevent him from flanking the +Canadian position. Between the abattis and the front line were a +company of Voltigeurs, Captain Lecuyer commanding, and beyond them on +the right a light company (that of the 5th Battalion) of embodied +militia with their side pickets, under Captain Debartzch; then, to the +right of them, in the woods, the Indians under Captain La Mothe. There +were thus in the front only about 240 Canadians. The positions, +however, occupied about a mile along the river, and the rest of the +troops--some 600--were distributed among the other breastworks, under +command of McDonell.[30] + +The battle was now on the point of commencing. In the centre of the +front stood De Salaberry watching the enemy, whose characteristics he +had noted twice before. All waited in suspense. A touching scene was +taking place among the Beauharnois Militia further back, where Captain +Longtin caused his men to kneel, went through a short prayer with +them, and then rising, said: "that now they had fulfilled their duty +to their God, they would fulfil that to their King."[31] + +Meanwhile, the enemy kept steadily moving along the road in column. A +tall mounted American officer rode forward and began a harangue to the +Canadians in French. "Brave Canadians," said he, "give yourselves +over; we do not wish to do you any harm!"[32] De Salaberry, seeing +that his moment was come, sprang upon a stump,[33] discharged his +musket as a signal to begin, and brought the American officer off his +horse by the shot. The enemy at the time were exposed to being taken +on both front and side. The bugles blared, the front companies +immediately opened fire, and the battle was begun. Izard's force were +in the open plain, while their foes were hidden in a thick wood. The +squadrons of cavalry and four cannon which they had brought thus far +were found to be useless there. They, however, commenced a +spirited[34] fire in battalion volley; but, from the position of the +line, it was almost totally thrown to the right of the Canadians, and +of no effect whatever. They soon faced to the right, and filing up +with speed, changed their front parallel with the lines of +breastworks, when the engagement became general, and their fire +compelled the retreat, behind the front edge of the breastwork[35] of +a few skirmishers near the left, who had been rather advanced in the +centre of the line. This retreat being mistaken by the enemy for a +flight, a universal shout ensued, which was re-echoed, to their +surprise, by the Canadians and the Glengarry men in reserve under +Lieut.-Colonel McDonell. Now was the supreme moment of the battle. De +Salaberry ordered his bugleman to sound the advance. "This was heard +by Lieut-Colonel McDonell, who, thinking the Colonel was in want of +support, caused his own bugles to answer, and immediately advanced +with two of his companies from the third and fourth lines to the first +and second."[36] "All these movements were executed with great +rapidity." De Salaberry, at the same time, as a _ruse de guerre_, +ordered "ten or twelve buglemen into the adjoining woods with orders +to separate and blow with all their might."[37] The enemy, as De +Salaberry calculated, suspected that the Canadians were advancing in +great numbers to circumvent them. The Colonel, while giving these +orders, is said to have done so facing his men, with his back against +a tree.[38] The noise of the engagement towards its end brought on +Colonel Purdy's division on the opposite side of the river, which, +having driven in the picquet of sixty Beauharnois Sedentary Militia +under Captain Bruyère, were pressing on for the ford, whereupon De +Salaberry ordered Lieut.-Colonel McDonell, who had returned to his +position to check the enemy there, and Captain Daly was chosen, with +the light company of the 3rd Battalion Embodied Militia, numbering +seventy men,[39] to cross and take up the ground abandoned by the +picket. + +De Salaberry, then seeing that the action was about to become serious +on the right, left his position in the centre of the front and placed +himself on the left with the troops along the bank, where, standing on +a stump.[40] he could see, through his field-glass, Captain Daly with +his men crossing the ford. The latter took with him such of the +Beauharnois men as had rallied[41] up, and led by him, they advanced +along the river-bank and made, in the words of Purdy afterwards, "a +furious assault" upon the advanced guard of the Americans, whom they +drove back upon themselves. "The bravery of Captain Daly," wrote the +Temoin Oculaire--whose account, it is to be remembered, was published +a few days afterwards--"who literally led his company into the midst +of the enemy, could not be surpassed." + +Purdy's main body finally recovered, and charged forward, however, +emerging in great force from the wood. + +Captain Daly's men, as they had been taught by Lieut.-Colonel +McDonell, knelt and fired a volley kneeling. The return volley was +fired by tenfold numbers, and but for that precaution would have +destroyed nearly the whole of Captain Daly's command. As it was, he +received a severe wound, and with his men, several of whom were +wounded and himself a second time, was compelled to retreat, which the +men did in very good order under Lieut. Benjamin Schiller. The latter +distinguished himself greatly. He bore off his wounded captain to a +safe place, and returning, took command at request of the men. At one +juncture he was engaged, hand to hand, with a very formidable +adversary, whose head he cut off with a single blow of his sabre.[42] + +Purdy's force eventually were moving on in overwhelming numbers, and +for a moment their shouts of victory were heard by the little force +lying in suspense behind the barricades on the opposite bank. In +coming out of the wood they swarmed down along the bank of the river. +Now was the time for Captains Louis Duchesnay and Longtin's companies +concealed in the river-side bushes opposite. De Salaberry instantly +appears upon the scene, gives the word of command, and the bushes +flame out with a hidden and destructive fire. The American shouts of +victory turn into cries of confusion. In the utmost disorder they make +a tumultuous and precipitate retreat into the woods. Thus, at 2.30 +p.m., came the failure of Purdy's flanking movement. + +As one may easily imagine, this series of incidents took several +hours. + +In the front, General Hampton for about an hour kept his soldiers +ready in momentary expectation of attack by De Salaberry, and of +hearing of Purdy's success. When he heard that the latter had failed, +however, he sent him word to withdraw his column to a shoal four or +five miles above and cross over, and ordered General Izard to retire +his brigade to a position about three miles in the rear, to which +place the baggage had been ordered forward. Hampton thus retired, +leaving De Salaberry master of the field, with scarcely 300 men in +actual action, and no British guns anywhere within seven miles.[43] + +Sir George Prevost, with Major-General De Watteville, arrived on the +ground at the close of the engagement and overlooked De Salaberry's +arrangements, thanked him with great praise, and then immediately +wrote an inaccurate despatch to England, in which he claimed the +principal credit for _himself_.[44] That evening De Salaberry wrote to +his father; "I have won a victory mounted on a wooden horse!"[45] + +After the battle was over the American firing did not cease, for no +sooner did darkness come on than Purdy's scattered command, moving up +the right bank, commenced a most destructive fire on each other, +mistaking them for the British, and they continued it the greater part +of the night. The final incident took place just as day dawned on the +27th, when about twenty Americans, mistaking some of the Canadian +militia on the left bank for their own people, were compelled by them +to surrender. + +That day at dawn McDonell came up in command of Captain Rouville's +Company of Voltigeurs, Captain Levesque's Company of Grenadiers (of +the 5th Battalion Incorporated Militia), and sixty men of the +Beauharnois Division. De Salaberry turned over to McDonell the defence +of the abatis or obstructions in front, and the hero of Ogdensburgh +pushed on to two miles further than before. The day passed in +expectation of a second attack, but no enemy appeared. + +Meanwhile, the straggling order which the nature of the swamp and +forest imposed on Purdy's retreat exposed him to rear attacks from the +Indians, which were repeated after dark and caused him loss.[46] + +A large quantity of muskets, drums, knapsacks, provisions and arms +were found on Purdy's shore, especially indicating the confusion just +previous to their retreat. Upwards of ninety bodies and graves were +found on that bank,[47] among them two or three officers of +distinction. On Hampton's field were two dead horses, and the enemy +were there seen carrying off several of the wounded in carts. + +The Canadian loss was only two killed, sixteen wounded, and four +missing. Three missing were by mistake at first included among the +killed in the returns.[48] + +Time now wore on, another night was passed, and the morning of the +28th arrived, when Captain La Mothe, with about 150 Indians, +reconnoitred the enemy, who, according to the report of Captain +Hughes, of the Engineers, had abandoned his camp the day before. + +A party of the Beauharnois Militia, supported by Captain Debartzch, +burnt and destroyed the newly-erected bridges within a mile of the +enemy's camp, which was now about one and a half leagues from Piper's +Road, _i.e._, about two leagues from his former position. On the same +evening the Indians, under Captain La Mothe,[49] proceeded through the +woods and came up with the enemy's rear-guard. Here a slight skirmish +ensued, in which the Americans lost one killed and seven wounded. + +Hampton, having re-occupied his late position, called a council of +war, where it was determined to fall back and occupy the former +position at Four Corners, to secure their communication with the +United States; from thence either to retire to winter quarters or be +ready to re-enter Lower Canada. + +"On that day or the day previous Captain Debartzch, of the Militia, +was sent to the American headquarters with a flag. When he stated the +number and description of troops by which General Hampton had been +opposed, the latter, scarcely able to keep his temper, insisted that +the British force amounted to 7,000 men. On being assured of the +contrary, he asked: 'What, then, made the woods ring so with bugles?' +Captain Debartzch explained this; but it was apparently to no +purpose."[50] + +The Americans retired on the 29th. "On the 30th a party of Indian +Chasseurs, under Captain Ducharme, reported that the enemy had +abandoned his camp at Piper's Road in the greatest disorder, and was +on the road to Four Corners." The Canadians followed up and hung upon +the rear and embarrassed the retreat. Canada was saved! + +General Wilkinson was very severe on his fellow-general. "On the 4th +of November," he complains, "the British garrison of Montreal +consisted solely of 400 marines and 200 soldiers. What a golden, +glorious opportunity has been lost by the caprice of Major-General +Hampton!"[51] Poor man, he was to have pretty much the same luck +himself just afterwards! Wilkinson's army proceeded on its own course +down the river, but was almost as ignominiously defeated at Chrysler's +Farm on the 10th of November, where his 3,000 or 4,000 men were +matched, partly in open field and partly with the assistance of a ruse +as at Châteauguay, against 800 British and thirty Indians, under +Colonel Morison, a man equally brave and able with McDonell and De +Salaberry. + +Mr. Dion, of Chambly, to whom the erection of a fine bronze statue of +De Salaberry is due, has related to me a number of particulars from De +Salaberry's letters held by his relatives. The hero complains bitterly +of Prevost and De Watteville--"those two Swiss"--and that on account +of his religion he could get no higher than a Lieut.-Colonel. From the +same letters it appears that the "Temoin Oculaire" was a young lawyer +named O'Sullivan, later, Judge O'Sullivan, a man partly of Irish +family, in person large and handsome, and a great friend of De +Salaberry, who ever remained grateful to him for preserving record of +his deed in his celebrated letter. It is commonly attributed to D.B. +Viger. Another little fact mentioned in the correspondence of De +Salaberry is that his men in the battle were barefooted. + +The almost unique nature of the victory strikes one. Its keystone was +De Salaberry's masterly use of illusion. Of it was the choice of a +thick wood to conceal his small force, their entrenchment behind the +abatis and in bush positions, the unexpected fire from the left bank +upon Purdy, the Indians in the woods, and, more than everything, the +ruse of the multiplied bugles. But besides illusion there was the +ablest possible disposition, for there seems no doubt but that no +spot could have keen chosen along his projected route greater in +strength when fortified and guarded just as that was. The enemy could +only reach it fatigued, and far from sources of supply, the wood was +thick, the ravines occurred happily, the river was free from fords for +a long distance, and a frightful swamp occupied the opposite bank. How +would De Watteville's small and raw army have acted in the open +country had this position not been tried? + +Next, how ought the credit of the affair to be apportioned, for it is +clear that it is due to a number concerned? De Salaberry is, of +course, in every way the leading figure. His courage and spirit were +perfect, his intelligence rapid, his labor incessant, and the whole +choice of the field and strategy of the battle were, by all the +testimony, due to him. On the whole, it almost seems, in its broad +lights, like a battle of this one man against the enemy. His task was +the greater from the extent and obscurity of the battlefield. On these +accounts, some of those holding the positions used afterwards to say +there was no battle at all, and one--Lieut. Delisle, who received a +pension--that the whole thing was a farce. Frankly--and it may seem at +first sight like a discourtesy to say it--it is doubtful whether the +Voltigeurs would have stood much real fighting had they been opposed +to veterans. On reasonable consideration this objection must +disappear. It is well known that recruits away from their homes are +utterly unstable in their first battles. For instance, at Bull's Run, +in the first two battles of the American Civil War, it was a toss-up +which side would run away from the other, and they decided it by one +side doing so the first day, and the other side the second. Many of +the Upper Canadians were fearful and undecided at the beginning of the +War of 1812. It is pretty probable that the promptitude of the few +regulars in the country, including such officers as Brock, was its +salvation at the outset. Most of De Salaberry's own men had withdrawn +a month previous at the attack on the camp at Four Corners, though so +disproportionate an enterprise was no fair test of recruits. The +Sedentary Militia, when drafted, deserted in great numbers, and the +duty assigned to the newly raised Voltigeurs by their commander at +Chrysler's Farm just afterwards was that merely of making a temporary +display in the woods. De Salaberry probably intended to do more with +his division at Châteauguay, and might have succeeded if put to the +test, for they were now probably superior to the American force in the +very important respect of acquired confidence in a leader, who was +even then the hero of the Province. Being of the same stock as +Napoleon's men, a long course of fighting under a De Salaberry would +have undoubtedly made them into a similar force; but in any case, too +much cannot be said for the patriotism and willingness exhibited by +these young men in defence of united Canada. + +Every man on the field, apparently, did the duty assigned to him. +One--Jean Bte. Leclaire, was also one of the heroes of Fort Detroit +and afterwards Chrysler's Farm. To the memory of such a man let his +country do some honor. To the axemen's force also is due credit for +cheerful and dangerous labor in chopping trees and working at the +obstructions and defences. The Temoin Oculaire names "Vincent, +Pelletier, Vervais, Dubois, Caron," who swam the river and took +prisoners those who refused to surrender. + +Captain Daly is the name to be mentioned next to De Salaberry. His +courageous onslaught is testified to by both Purdy and the Temoin, and +twice wounded, he fought until he fell. It may be truthfully said that +it was he who bore the brunt of the fight. Schiller also specially +distinguished himself, and won his captaincy on the field. Of Ferguson +and the two Captains Duchesnay we have spoken. The Temoin Oculaire +praises the courage of Captain La Mothe, of Lieuts. Pinguet, Hebden, +Guy, Johnson, Powell, and Captain L'Ecuyer (the latter two for +captures of prisoners in the woods.) Captains Longtin and Huneau, of +the Beauharnois Militia, are also mentioned by him for good conduct. +Louis Langlade, Noël Annance, and Bartlet Lyons, of the Indian +Department, were in the action of the 26th and the affair of the 28th. +McDonell of Odgensburg, and no doubt many others, ought to be added. +As to credit, in fact, every man in the region who did his duty and +was ready to defend his country deserves it, and those named are but +the examples who were put to the test. The brave Scotch settlers, few +as they then were, were inspired with that spirit. The women stood +literally ready to burn the roofs over their heads. The men, except +those who had teams, who were drafted into an invaluable transport +service, were formed into a company and drilled for the defence, under +Lieut. Neil Morison and Captain James Wright, whose house was the +headquarters of General De Watteville and a frequent scene of the +council of officers. He was a tall and stern man, a Highlander, his +name of "Wright" being a translation of his Gaelic one, "MacIntheoir." +His Châteauguay sword is said to have long hung on the wall in the +house of one of his descendants. + +We should not be so ungrateful also as to forget the services of those +faithful Indians, to whom, as all through the war, a share of the +success was due. + +In 1847 it was decided in England, after much agitation, to issue what +was called "the War Medal," rewarding all those who had fought British +battles during the years 1793 to 1814 and not received any special +medal. Clasps were attached for each battle in which the recipient was +engaged. A medal seems to have been given, as was meet, to almost +every one on the field of Châteauguay, for 260 were distributed. It +was, in fact, erroneously issued to some who were not present. One +lieutenant, in particular, says Mr. Dion, is known from the De +Salaberry letters to have himself lamented that he only came up the +day after. The Indians and regulars also got medals. The simple record +of what was done, however, is the best memorial of honor to those who +were present on that memorable day. + +Mr. R.W. McLachlan relates his recollections of one of the veterans at +Montreal. "Clad in an old artillery uniform, he was always seen +marching out alongside of the troops on review days. He was ever ready +to recount his adventures on the day of battle. Although we have heard +it often from his lips, all that we can remember is that: 'De Yankee +see me fore I see him, and he shoot me drough de neck.'" + + * * * * * + +It is the privilege of the men of Châteauguay to remember that their +region is haunted by the spirits of heroes. + + "The dead still play their part" + +sings the Canadian poet Sangster, and here the musing thought must for +ever conjure up De Salaberry, McDonell, the 800 waiting behind their +breastworks in the gloom of the woods, the touching scene of Captain +Longtin and his Beauharnois men, and the stubborn onset of Daly +against overwhelming odds. The meaning of it all is: that given a good +cause, and the defence of our homes against wanton aggression, we can +dare odds that otherwise would seem hopeless; that it is in the +future, as in the past, the spirits of men, and not their material +resources, which count for success; that we need only be brave and +just, and ready to die, and our country can never be conquered; and +that we shall always be able to preserve ourselves free in our course +of development towards our own idea of a nation. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +NOTES BY W. PATTERSON, M.A. + + +1. Mr. James Walsh, Sr., who still resides in Ormstown, Que., was +informed by one Saint Charles Moreau, alias Legault, that the stone +house, situated on the Châteauguay about two miles below the village +of Ste. Martine, and known during the early years of the present +century as "The Stone Tavern," had just been built and finished the +day before the battle, and the officers of the Canadian forces +unceremoniously took possession of it on coming forward that evening. + +2. This same Legault or Moreau, shortly after the battle and before +the dead were removed, visited the scene of the fight. There he saw +several dead and several dying. He had a vivid recollection of the +cruelty of the Indians. "The cursed savages," said Legault, "did +nothing to secure the victory, and yet were foremost in plundering the +dead and dying." He remembered in particular having seen an American +officer, who was seriously wounded, lying on the field. The officer +had a coin in his mouth which he was evidently anxious to save. An +Indian, upon noticing this, bade him by making signs open his mouth +and give up the piece. The command being apparently misunderstood, the +Indian impatiently struck him with his tomahawk on the forehead. As +his head was knocked back by the blow, the man opened his mouth, and +his assailant taking out the coin passed on. + +3. Mr. David Monique, who lived at the "Portage" (modern Dewittville) +at the time of the war, used to say, as Mr. Walsh many a time heard +him relate, that his impression was that the Canadians did not hang +upon the American rear after the fight, for had they done so, the +American guns, which were all left behind, would have been captured. A +division retreated up the Island of Jamestown by way of the "Portage," +on the South side of the Châteauguay, passing on their route Mr. +Monique's farm. There they had their morning meal near his house, on +October 27th, 1813. Their pork they fried on the ends of sticks before +little fires. They were poorly clad. All were quite civil. They said +that they had been "badly licked the day before." Their retreat was +witnessed by this man and his family, and certainly they were not +pursued by the Canadians, nor, in his opinion, did the Canadians +pursue the other division, which retired across the Outarde by way of +the ford, made on their inward march, and since known as the "American +Ford," for in the following year, they returned for their guns and +carried them off without molestation. + +4. Mr. Thomas Baird, merchant, of Ormstown, remembers well a Mr. +Laberge, a very old man, who had been one of the soldiers on picquet +duty at Ormstown, when the Americans invaded this country, in 1813. +Laberge said that the Canadians stationed at this point were few in +number, and were posted near the mouth of the Outarde, along the North +bank of the Châteauguay, and also along the creek which now runs +through the village of Ormstown. There the Canadians were taken by +surprise. Those who escaped, retreated to De Salaberry's headquarters +a few miles down the Châteauguay. + +Laberge also said that some of the Americans who were killed in the +battle of the next day, October 26th, were buried on the bank of the +creek, to which reference has been made. In this connection it is +interesting to relate that while excavations were being made a few +years ago for a roadway through this bank, the remains of five or six +men were unearthed. The U.S.A. military buttons, the belt buckles and +the bayonet found in their grave removed any doubt that these were the +remains of American soldiers. This last item was kindly given the +writer by Mr. Chas. Moe, who assisted in making the road. + +5. The ford over the Outarde, by which the Americans crossed, still +remains and is known as the "American Ford." It is about three miles +west of Ormstown village. The annual Spring floods have undoubtedly +changed it somewhat. Both banks of the river shew the place to be a +coarse gravel bed. By the addition of more gravel they easily made a +fine roadway. + +6. Mr. John Symons, who came to the Châteauguay River in 1828, and has +lived in its vicinity ever since, and who at the time of writing +resides in Ormstown, informed the writer that Alexander Williamson, +one of the earliest settlers, used to say that what is spoken of as +the battle of Châteauguay, is greatly magnified. Williamson regarded +the Americans as a great lot of cowards who were glad to take +advantage of the slightest opposition to return home. + +7. Mr. James Brodie, a retired farmer, residing in the village of +Ormstown, and who also was well acquainted with Alexander Williamson, +states that Williamson was about twelve years of age when the battle +was fought and was not present at the fight, but what he knew of it he +had learned from others. + +8. Mr. William Allan who for years did business as a general +storekeeper at Allans Corners, Que., informed the writer that he heard +Alexander Williamson describe what is generally known as the battle, +many times. "Williamson," says Mr. Allan, "could not repeat the same +story twice." + +9. Mr. Brodie, in view of all the information he could gather from the +early settlers, including Mr. Williamson, sincerely believes that the +merits of De Salaberry have been much over-estimated. "That officer +has no claims," said he, "to being a hero by what he did in that +encounter." + +Yet the Canadians, so that gentleman gives the account, were most +skilfully managed and made the best of their opportunity. Wearing the +red coats, they were made to march in a circle for a time under the +cover of the woods, and for a time exposed to the view of the +Americans. To them, as they marched along, they gave the impression +that they were a numerous force. These same Canadians, (Miss Anne +Bryson, an aged lady, residing at Allans Corners, relates the story), +still further exaggerated their strength by turning their coats whilst +behind the trees, the white lining then giving them the appearance of +being another regiment. The story is also told how the Indians, being +well scattered, made the forests resound with their war cry. + +10. Where was the battle fought? The battlefield is situated about +five or six acres west of the passenger bridge at Allans Corners, +which is a small village on the Châteauguay River, thirteen miles +below Huntingdon, three miles below Ormstown village, and about +forty-three miles from Montreal. The site was a position on the North +bank of the Châteauguay, where, almost at right angles to it, a deep +and wide creek, then a large stream, emptied itself into the river. At +that point was the foremost line of De Salaberry's breastworks, +consisting of felled trees, stones and earth. There the main division +of the Americans was repulsed. A sharp encounter in which the enemy +were defeated by Captain Daly took place several acres below this on +the opposite bank. Bullets are found every year on the scene. + +11. It is popularly believed that some of the American guns were sunk +in the Châteauguay River at the point where the battle took place, +although no trace of them has ever been found. The river is very deep +there. + +12. About 13 acres west of Allans Corners there was a settlement of +American squatters who fled the country before the outbreak of the +war. They had planted an orchard which was always afterwards known as +the "American Orchard." Traces of it were to be seen a few years ago. +The early settlers, Mr. Williamson among others, have handed down the +fact that some of these people were employed as guides by the American +invaders. + +13. Mr. James Gilbert, who was the first settler on the land on the +south bank opposite the point where De Salaberry was encamped, years +ago, when ploughing, unearthed the remains of a man wrapped in the +American military dress, and at various times, Mr. George Nussey +informed the writer, ploughed up bones. + +14. Mr. Williamson remembered well, Mr. Brodie informed the writer, +that the settlers on the Châteauguay at the time of the battle, +excepting of course the militia, were prepared to flee towards +Montreal, intending to take with them what household effects they +conveniently could, should the Canadian forces suffer defeat. + +15. Near De Salaberry's first line, on the north bank of the river, +stood the old block house. Miss Anne Bryson remembers it well. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] Wm. James' Mil. Oc. of War of 1812. + +[2] History of the War of 1812. + +[3] James says at St. Regis. + +[4] James. + +[5] Letter of Hampton to Armstrong. + +[6] James. + +[7] To the Secretary of War, Sept. 25th, 1813, in Palmer's Hist. +Register of the U.S., I., for 1814. + +[8] Ibid. + +[9] Chiefly Appleton's Cycl. of Am. Biog. + +[10] Supplement to same. It contains a portrait of Izard. + +[11] H. Sulte. + +[12] Garneau, Hist. Can. + +[13] Garneau. + +[14] Garneau. + +[15] Christie gives him credit for this point. + +[16] See letters of "Veritas." + +[17] Christie Hist. Can. + +[18] Wilkinson's letters + +[19] All full accounts of the battle from this stage on are chiefly +founded on that remarkable letter of a participant signing "Temoin +Oculaire," published in Montreal, 29 Oct., 1813. It is open, however, +to some corrections of detail. + +[20] Garneau and Sellar; but Coffin says they were French-Canadian +_voyageurs_, and Mr. John Fraser, from tradition, says _five-sixths_ +French-Canadians. I have been unable to obtain the necessary +verifications from Ottawa or elsewhere. + +[21] W.F. Coffin, Hist. War of 1812. + +[22] Jame's Military Occurrences, I., 306. + +[23] Coffin. + +[24] James. + +[25] Coffin. + +[26] James, I., p. 308. + +[27] Purdy gives an interesting and clear account (_Vide_ Palmer's +Hist. Register for 1814) of this march and some other matters, in his +report to Wilkinson. + +[28] James. + +[29] James says sixty. + +[30] James. + +[31] Temoin Oc. + +[32] Garneau. + +[33] Tradition. + +[34] James. + +[35] James. + +[36] Temoin Oculaire. + +[37] James. + +[38] Tradition. + +[39] James. + +[40] Coffin. + +[41] James. + +[42] This was "a fact known to many persons now alive," according to a +petition for a medal by his family in 1849. + +[43] James. + +[44] See his despatch. + +[45] Sulte. + +[46] Hampton's Report on the Battle: Palmer's Hist. Register, 1814. + +[47] James. + +[48] James. + +[49] "Officier actif et zelé." (Temoin Oculaire.) + +[50] James. + +[51] Palmer's Hist. Register. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Account Of The Battle Of Chateauguay +by William D. Lighthall + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14619 *** |