engaged. They did not exceed one hundred and twenty in officers and The Indian warriors and militia were not on the battle-ground until after a proposal was made to surrender.

men.

Colonel Mitchell, who arrived with reinforcements immediately after the action, reported to General Gaines, that "Major Appling planned and executed this brilliant affair, so honourable to our arms, so deserving of the applause of the nation, and so important as affecting the ulterior operations of the campaign."

Major Appling was deservedly raised by brevet in quick succession, to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and colonel: he received, moreover, the thanks of the President of the United States, and the applause of the commanding general of the armv. for this distinguished achievement

O sooner had the general made the necessary arrangements in relation to the occupancy and security of Fort Erie, than he marched to attack the enemy, who lay intrenched in his works at Chippewa. This was by every one considered as a daring, by many as a rash and hazardous, measure. But something signal being necessary to redeem the reputation which had been lost in the events of former campaigns, difficulties and dangers and remonstrances were disregarded. They even increased the anxiety for action, inasmuch as they would add to the glory of victory. The general's plans and determinations were formed, and nothing that human resolution, aided by all the means in his power, was capable of surmounting, could restrain him from boldly attempting their execution. The wished-for moment at length arrived. The enemy venturing from behind his intrenchments, the battle was fought on an open plain, and, though not of long duration, was severe and sanguinary. The result is known. The soldiers and officers of Wellington, who had wrested the laurels from the veterans of France, were defeated by a detachment from the American army. The only troops engaged, on the part of General Brown, were General Scott's brigade, and a corps of volunteers com

manded by General Porter. The remainder of the army, although burn ing for combat, had no opportunity of coming into action. Scott's brigade, in particular, animated by the example, and directed by the skill of its gallant and distinguished leader, performed little less than prodigies of valour. Wherever that band of heroes-for such they were-directed their fire or pointed their bayonets, the boasted "conquerors of the Peninsula" fled or fell. Nor were the volunteers under Porter wanting in achievement. They manifested great coolness and bravery, and participated not a little in the honours of the day. The British fought on ground deliberately chosen by themselves, as most suitable to their discipline and plan of action, and the number of troops they had engaged-all regularswas considerably superior to that of the Americans. Notwithstanding this, their discomfiture was complete, and their loss very considerable. Their works alone, behind which they retreated, preserved them from certain "and irretrievable ruin. Such was the chastisement they received in this affair, that, although battle was soon afterwards offered them again, on their own terms, as will appear from an extract of a letter from General Brown, they felt no disposition to accept the challenge.

The general, discovering that unfounded reports were in circulation respecting some of the results of this battle, as well as the relative numbers of the combatants, felt indignant at the ungenerous effort thus made to detract from the well-merited fame of his army. To correct the honest errors that were afloat, and counteract the wilful misrepresentations that were but too industriously propagated on this subject, he loses no time in making public the following statement: "We have ascertained to a certainty that the loss of the enemy was nearer six than four hundred. Great injustice is done to my brave companions in arms, in overrating our numbers. The enemy had more regular troops than we had engaged, and that upon a perfect plain, without a stump or a shrub to interpose. Besides, General Ryal had planned his order of battle at leisure, and came from behind his works in perfect condition for action." Shortly after the action at Chippewa, the general thus writes to his friend from Queenstown: "Hoping and believing that the enemy would make another struggle in the field, if pressed on his strong ground, supported by his forts on the height, I left all my baggage under a strong guard, and passed on with three days' provision in our haversacks. The enemy fled before us. abandoning his fort on the height, and burning his barracks. He has retired for the present to Fort Niagara and Fort George. I shall rest my army here a few days, taking care that the enemy shall not escape by land, and with the hope of hearing from Commodore Chauncey. I am in no condition to invest Forts George and Niagara without his aid and my battering guns, which I expect him to bring me from the harbour. My ability to face the enemy in the field I do not doubt, and I shall not hesi

tate to meet him presently should he again offer me battle. I have now seen the falls of Niagara in all their majesty, and my camp is situated in a country affording the most sublime and beautiful scenery. I can fancy nothing equal to it, except the noble contest of gallant men on the field of battle, struggling for their country's glory and their own."

From Queenstown, where he had been for a short time stationary, General Brown marched with a part of his army down towards Fort George. His object in this movement, besides reconnoitering the enemy, was to be near to the shores of Lake Ontario, hoping that he might there receive some intelligence respecting Commodore Chauncey and the fleet. Being disappointed in this expectation, he returned after a few days to his station at Queenstown. The enemy, in the mean time, were not-inactive. Having received large supplies, and no inconsiderable addition to their numbers, they concentrated their forces in the peninsula between Burlington and Erie, and felt themselves in a condition to offer battle. The proposal was eagerly embraced by the American general and his brave associates.

The British army, commanded by Lieutenant-general Drummond in person, aided by Major-general Ryal and other skilful and distinguished cfficers, fought again on its own ground. It had selected a spot favourable for action, not far distant from the Falls of Niagara. The Americans, who were again the assailants, made the attack in the evening, led on, as at Chippewa, by General Scott. The battle raged for several hours with unabated fury, the troops having no other light to direct their movements, and conduct their steps to mutual slaughter, but the dismal gleam of their own arms. That wonder of nature, the adjacent falls, might equal, but could not, in grandeur and magnificence, surpass the scene which this conflict presented. Never was there a field more obstinately contested. nor, considering the numbers engaged and the duration of the struggle, a broader display of individual heroism. The enemy, although superior in numbers at the commencement of the action, and reinforced by a considerable body of fresh troops during its continuance, were compelled to yield to American valour. Four times did their bravest troops charge, to regain their artillery which had been wrested from them, and as often were they compelled to fall back in dismay. Their loss, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was upwards of a thousand men. Among the latter were Major-general Ryal and twenty other commissioned officers, some of them of rank. The loss on the American side, although somewhat less, was by no means trifling. General Brown was himself severely wounded; and among the slain was one of his aids, a youth of accomplished manners and exalted promise. The intrepid Scott, who was to be found only where slaughter was thickest and danger most threatening, received a wound which, for some time, deprived his country of his services in the field.

The severity of General Brown's wounds compelled him to a temporary retirement from service. But in the space of a few weeks we find him again at the head of his army, no longer, indeed, in the field, but within the walls of Fort Erie. In the interim our troops in that fortress had been much harassed and pressed by the enemy, now become superior in a still higher degree by reinforcements, and exasperated to madness by their late defeats. An assault of the works had been attempted, but was gallantly repelled by the American forces then under the command of General Gaines. Not long afterwards that excellent officer received a serious wound from the bursting of a shell, which obliged him also to retire for a time from the service of his country.

Menaced in front by a powerful enemy, and having a river of difficult passage in their rear, the troops in Fort Erie began to be considered in a very perilous situation. The solicitude for the safety of men, who, by acquiring glory for themselves, had conferred it on their country, became universal and great. For a time every eye seemed directed towards Erie, and every American heart felt a deep interest in the fate of those heroic spirits who had fairly conquered the "conquerors of the peninsula." But to a commander whose mind is firm, collected, and rich in resources, difficulties are but the harbingers of fresh triumphs. While General Drummond was engaged in formidable arrangements intended for the destruction of the American forces, General Brown was still more actively and sagaciously employed in devising means for their safety and glory.