Upwards of seventy stand of arms were taken, besides a quantity of ammunition. The Americans were engaged during the day, in burying the dead with the honours of war, and providing for the wounded.

This exploit called forth the admiration of every party in the United States. Croghan, together with his companions, Captain Hunter, and Lieutenants Johnson, Bayley, and Meeks, of the seventeenth; Anthony, of the twentyfourth; and ensigns Ship and Duncan, of the seventeenth, together with the other officers and volunteers, were highly complimented by the general. They afterwards received the thanks of Congress. Croghan was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and presented with an elegant sword by the ladies of Chilicothe.

Soon after this affair, Tecumseh raised the siege of fort Meigs, and followed Proctor to Detroit; all hope was now given up by the enemy of reducing these forts, until they could gain the ascendency on the lake.

The utmost exertions had been made in the meanwhile by Captain Perry, to complete the naval armament on Lake Erie. By the 4th of August, the fleet was completed; but several of the vessels were with difficulty got over the bar, on which there are but five feet water. He sailed in quest of the enemy, but not meeting him, returned on the 8th, and after receiving a reinforcement of sailors, brought by Captain Elliot, sailed again on the 12th, and on the 15th anchored in the bay of Sandusky. Here, after taking in about twenty volunteer marines, he again went in quest of the enemy; and after cruising off Malden, returned to Put-in-bay, a distance of thirty miles.

His fleet consisted of the brig Lawrence, of 20 guns; the Niagara, Captain Elliot, of twenty; the Caledonia, Lieutenant Turner, three; the schooner Ariel, of four the Scorpion, of two; the Somers of two, and two swivels the sloop Trippe, and schooners Tygress and Porcupine, of one gun each; making a fleet of nine vessels and fiftyfour guns. On the morning of the 10th of September, the enemy was discovered bearing down upon the American squadron, which immediately got under weigh, and stood out to meet him.

Superiority was decidedly in favour of the British; the

Americans had three more vessels, but this was much more than counterbalanced by the size of those of the enemy, and the number of their guns. Their fleet consisted of the Detroit, Captain Barclay, of nineteen guns, and two howitzers; the Queen Charlotte, of seventeen guns, Captain Finnis; the schooner Lady Provost, Lieutenant Buchan, of thirteen guns, and two howitzers; the brig Hunter, of ten guns; the sloop Little Belt, of three; and the schooner Chippewa, of one gun and two swivels; in all, six vessels and sixty-three guns.

When the Americans stood out, the British fleet had the weather gage; but the wind soon after changed, and brought the American fleet to windward. The line of battle was formed at eleven, and fifteen minutes before twelve, the enemy's flag ship, the Queen Charlotte, opened her fire upon the Lawrence, which she sustained for ten minutes, before she could approach near enough for her carronades to return. She therefore bore up, making signals for the other vessels to hasten to her support, and about twelve, brought her guns to bear upon the enemy.

Unfortunately, the wind being too light, the remainder of the squadron could not be brought up to her assistance, and she was compelled to contend, for two hours, with two ships of equal force. The contest was, notwithstanding, kept up with unshaken courage, and a degree of coolness which deserves admiration. By this time the brig, which had so long borne the brunt of the whole of the British force, had become entirely unmanageable; every gun was dismounted, and, with the exception of four or five, her whole crew either killed or wounded, Perry now, with admirable presence of mind, and which drew forth the praise of the gallant officer to whom he was opposed, resolved to shift his flag, leaped into his boat, and heroically waving his sword, passed unhurt to the Niagara.

At the moment he reached the Niagara, he saw with anguish the flag of his ship come down; she was utterly unable to make further resistance, and it would have been a wanton waste of the remaining lives to continue the contest; the enemy was not able to take possession of

her. Captain Elliot, seconding the design of the commodore, volunteered to bring up the rest of the fleet; for at this critical moment the wind had providentially increased. Perry now bore down upon the enemy with a fresh ship; and passing ahead of the Detroit, Queen Charlotte, and Lady Provost, poured a destructive broadside into each from his starboard, and from his larboard into the Chippewa and Little Belt. In this manner, cuting through the line, he was within pistol shot of the Lady Provost, which received so heavy a fire as to compel her men to run below. At this moment the Caledonia came up, and opened her fire; several others of the squadron were enabled soon after to do the same. For a

⚫ time, this novel and important combat mingled with indescribable violence and fury.

The issue of a campaign, the mastery of a sea, the glory and renown of two rival nations, matche for the first time in squadron, were the incentives to the contest. But it was not long before the scale turned in favour of Perry, and his ship, the Lawrence, was again enabled to hoist her flag. The Queen Charlotte, having lost her captain and all her principal officers, by some mischance ran foul of the Detroit, and the greater part of the guns of both ships were rendered useless. They were now compelled to sustain, in turn, an incessant fire from the Niagara, and the other vessels of the squadron. The flag of Captain Barclay was soon after struck, and those of the Queen Charlotte, the Lady Provost, the Hunter, and the Chippewa, came down in succession; the Little Belt attempted to escape, but was pursued by two gun boats and captured.

Thus, after a contest of three hours, was this unparalleled naval victory achieved, in which every vessel of the enemy was captured, the first occurrence of the kind ever recorded. If any thing could heighten this glorious victory, it was the modest and yet sublime manner in which it was announced by the incomparable Perry: WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY, AND THEY ARE OURS. Britain had been beaten in single combat-she was now beaten in squadron, where she had conceived herself invincible. The loss in this bloody affair was very great, in proportion to

the numbers engaged. The Americans had twenty-seven killed, and ninety-six wounded; amongst the first were Lieutenant Brooks, of the marines, and Midshipman Laub; amongst the latter were Lieutenant Yarnell, sailing-master Taylor, purser Hamilton, and Midshipmen Claxton and Swartwout.

The loss of the British was about two hundred in killed and wounded; and the number of prisoners amounted to six hundred, exceeding the whole number of the Americans. Commodore Barclay, a gallant officer, who had lost an arm at the battle of Trafalgar, was severely wounded, and the loss of officers, on the side of the British, was unusually great. Among the officers particularly spoken of on this occasion, were Captain Elliot, Lieutenants Turner, Edwards, Forest, Clark, and Cummings, besides those already mentioned.

The victory of Commodore Perry left the Americans in peaceable possession of Lake Erie, but Detroit and Malden still remained in possession of the British. The triumph of the American arms seemed to unite conflicting parties; and the kindness extended to the British captives, reflected the brightest glory on our country. But the territory still occupied by the enemy was to be retaken. For the accomplishment of this purpose, Colonel Johnson, with a body of his faithful Kentuckians, were destined to act against Detroit, and General Harrison was to march against Malden.

Finding Malden untenable, the British general destroyed, and then evacuated it. On the 2d of October, General Harrison, with about 3,500 men, commenced a pursuit, and on the 5th, the enemy was overtaken. Colonel Johnson, who had formed a junction with General Harrison, was sent forward to reconnoitre the British and Indian forces, gave intelligence that the enemy were prepared for action, at the distance of a few miles. On their left was the river, and their right consisting of Indians, under Tecumseh, rested on a swamp.

The American force consisted of Ohio militia, and four thousand Kentuckians, the flower of their state, commanded by Governor Shelby, who arrived at the camp of General Harrison, on the 7th of September. When the

troops approached the River Raisin, which had been the scene to such wanton barbarities, they halted to contemplate for a while the tragic spot. With feelings which language must fail to describe, they gathered up the undistinguishable bones of friends and foes, and consigned them to one common grave, with affecting demonstrations of grief.

The enemy was drawn up under cover of the beech trees by which the, narrow strip of land was covered. The Americans were soon formed in battle array. General Trotter's brigade formed the front line, supported by Desha's divisions on the left. The brigade of General King formed the second line, in rear of General Trotter's, and Chile's acted as a corps of reserve, both under the command of Major General Henry. The brigades averaged five hundred men each. Governor Shelby occupied the angle formed by the brigades of Trotter and Desha. The regular troops, numbering only one hundred and twenty men, were formed into columns, and occupied the narrow space between the river and the road, for the purpose of seizing the artillery, should the enemy be repulsed. The order of General Harrison was, to form Colonel Johnson's mounted men in two lines, in front of the Indians, but the underwood being too close for cavalry to be effective, he determined on a new mode of attack.

Knowing the dexterity of the backwoodsmen in riding through forests, and the little inconvenience to them of carrying their rifles in such a situation, he determined to refuse his left to the Indians, and charge on the regulars drawn up among the beech trees; the mounted regiment was accordingly drawn up in front. The army moved on but a short distance in this way, when the mounted men received the enemy's fire, and were instantly ordered to charge. The horses in front of the column at first re coiled from the fire, but soon after got in motion, and immediately at full speed broke through the enemy with irresistible force. In one minute the contest was over in front. The mounted men instantly formed in the rear, and poured a destructive fire, and were about to make another charge, when the British officers, finding it impossible to form their broken ranks, immediately surrendered