ANALYSIS. continued to rage, and at this time Napoleon, emperor of France, triumphant and powerful, had acquired control 1. Relative over nearly all the kingdoms of Europe. 'England alone, England and unsubdued and undaunted, with unwavering purpose France. waged incessant war against her ancient rival; and though positions of France was victorious on land, the navy of England rode 2. Position of triumphant in every sea. "The destruction of the ships the United States. 8. Blockade from Brest to the Elbe. a May 16. French decree. and commerce of other nations was highly favorable to the United States, which endeavored to maintain a neutrality towards the contending powers, and peaceably to continue a commerce with them. 13. 'In May, 1806, England, for the purpose of injuring the commerce of her enemy, declared the continent from Brest to the Elbet in a state of blockade, although not invested by a British fleet; and numerous American vessels, trading to that coast, were captured and condemned. 4. Retaliatory Bonaparte soon retaliated, by declaring the British isles in a state of blockade; and American vessels trading b. Nov. 21. thither became a prey to French cruisers. Early in the prohibition, following year, the coasting trade of France was prothese meas hibited by the British government. These measures, highly injurious to American commerce, and contrary to the laws of nations and the rights of neutral powers, occasioned great excitement in the United States, and the injured merchants loudly demanded of the government redress and protection. 5. Farther and effect of ures. c. Jan. 7. 6. Pretensions and ernment. 14. In June, an event of a hostile character occurred, claims of the which greatly increased the popular indignation against British gov England. That power, contending for the principle that whoever was born in England always remained a British subject, had long claimed the right, and exercised the power of searching American ships, and taking from them those who had been naturalized in the United States, and who were, therefore, claimed as American citizens. June 22. the frigate 15. On the 22d of June, the American frigate Chesnapeake, then near the coast of the United States, having Chesapeake refused to deliver up four men claimed by the English as deserters, was fired upon by the British ship of war Leopard. Being unsuspicious of danger at the time, and unprepared for the attack, the Chesapeake struck her colors, after having had three of her men killed, and eighteen wounded. The four men claimed as deserters were then transferred to the British vessel. Upon investigation it was ascertained that three of them were American citizens, who Brest is a town at the northwestern extremity of France. The Elbe, a large river of Germany, enters the North Sea or German Ocean between Han over and Denmark, 750 miles N.E. from Brest. had been impressed by the British, and had afterwards es- 1808. caped from their service. proclama tion. 16. This outrage upon a national vessel was followed 1. President' by a proclamation of the president, forbidding British ships of war to enter the harbors of the United States, until satisfaction for the attack on the Chesapeake should be made by the British government, and security given against future aggression. In November, the British government 2 Farther issued the celebrated "orders in council," prohibiting all trade with France and her allies; and in December following, Bonaparte issued the retaliatory Milan decree, forbidding all trade with England and her colonies. Thus almost every American vessel on the ocean was liable to be captured by one or the other of the contending powers. 17. 'In December, congress decreed an embargo, the design of which was, not only to retaliate upon France and England, but also, by calling home and detaining American vessels and sailors, to put the country in a bet. ter posture of defence, preparatory to an expected war. The embargo failing to obtain, from France and England, an acknowledgment of American rights, and being likewise ruinous to the commerce of the country with other nations, in March, 1809, congress repealed it, but, at the same time, interdicted all commercial intercourse with France and England 18. Such was the situation of the country at the close of Jefferson's administration. Following and confirming the example of Washington, after a term of eight years Jefferson declined a re-election, and was succeeded in the presidency by James Madison. George Clinton was re-elected vice-president. hostile meas. ures of France and England other, and against cach on American a. Nov. 11. Of Section I 5 The Ers 1. 'SOON after the accession of Mr. Madison to the kine negotia presidency, he was assured by Mr. Erskine, the British tion, and its result. So called from Milan, a city in the N. of Italy, whence the decree was issued. 3. See p. 447. a ANALYSIS. minister at Washington, that the British "orders in council," so far as they affected the United States, should be repealed by the 10th of June. The president, therefore, proclaimed that commercial intercourse would be renewed with England on that day. The British government, however, disavowed the acts of its minister; the orders in council were not repealed; and non-intercourse with England was again proclaimed. Aug. 10. 1810. 1 Decree is cree revoked sued, and de by Bonaparte in 1810. b. March 23. 2. Hostile course still England 2. 'In March, 1810, Bonaparte issued a decree of a decidedly hostile character, by which all American vessels and cargoes, arriving in any of the ports of France, or of countries occupied by French troops, were ordered to be seized and condemned; but in November of the same year, all the hostile decrees of the French were revoked, and commercial intercourse was renewed between France and the United States. 3. 'England, however, continued her hostile decrees; pursued by and, for the purpose of enforcing them, stationed before the principal ports of the United States, her ships of war, which intercepted the American merchantmen, and sent them to British ports as legal prizes. On one occasion, however, the insolence of a British ship of war received a merited rebuke. 1811. at sea. 4. 'Commodore Rogers, sailing in the American frigate 3. Encounter President, met, in the evening, a vessel on the coast of c. May 16. Virginia. He hailed, but instead of a satisfactory answer, received a shot, in return, from the unknown vessel. A brief engagement ensued, and the guns of the stranger were soon nearly silenced, when Commodore Rogers hailed again, and was answered that the ship was the British sloop of war Little Belt, commanded by Captain Bingham. The Little Belt had eleven men killed and twenty-one wounded, while the President had only one man wounded. 4. Indian war at the west, and Battle of 5. At this time the Indians on the western frontiers had become hostile, as was supposed through British inTippecanoe." fluence; and in the fall of 1811, General Harrison, then governor of Indiana Territory,* marched against the tribes on the Wabash. On his approach to the town of the Prophet, the brother of the celebrated Tecumseh, the d. Nov. 6. principal chiefs came out and proposed a conference, and requested him to encamp for the night. Fearing treachery, the troops slept on their arms in order of battle. e. Nov. 7. Early on the following morning the camp was furiously assailed, and a bloody and doubtful contest ensued; but Indiana Territory, separated from the Northwestern Territory in 1800, embraced the present states of Indiana and Illinois. after a heavy loss on both sides, the Indians were finally 1811. repulsed.* SECTION II. PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF 1812. Subject of Section II. DIVISIONS.-I. Declaration of War, and Events in the West.- Its Divisions. II. Events on the Niagara Frontier.-III. Naval Events. 1812. bargo of 1812, ration of war. a. April 4. I. DECLARATION OF WAR, AND EVENTS IN THE WEST.1. 'Early in April, 1812, congress passed an act lay-The eming an embargo, for ninety days, on all vessels within the and the decla jurisdiction of the United States. On the 4th of June following, a bill declaring war against Great Britain passed the house of representatives; and, on the 17th, the senate; and, on the 19th, the president issued a proclamation of adopted by war.b b. Act declaring war both houses June 18th. tions for war. 2. Exertions were immediately made to enlist 25,000 2 Prepara men; to raise 50,000 volunteers; and to call out 100,000 militia for the defence of the sea-coast and frontiers. Henry Dearborn, of Massachusetts, an officer of the revolution, was appointed major-general and commander-inchief of the army. of Gen. Hull. 3. 'At the time of the declaration of war, General Hull, 3. Movement then governor of Michigan Territory, was on his march from Ohio to Detroit, with a force of two thousand men, with a view of putting an end to the Indian hostilities on the northwestern frontier. Being vested with an authority to invade the Canadas, "if consistent with the safety of his own posts," on the 12th of July he crossed the river Detroit, and encamped at Sandwich, with the professed object of marching upon the British post at Malden.§ tained by the 4. 'In the mean time, the American post at Mackinaw|| 1. Losses sus was surprised, and a surrender demanded; which was Americans. the first intimation of the declaration of war that the garri This battle, called the Battle of Tippecanoe, was fought near the W. bank of Tippecanoe River, at its junction with the Wabash, in the northern part of Tippecanoe County, Indiana. † Detroit River is the channel or strait that connects Lake St. Clair with Lake Erie. (See Map.) Sandwich is on the E. bank of Detroit River, two miles below Detroit. (See Map.) Fort Malden is on the E. bank of Detroit River, fifteen miles S. from Detroit, and half a mile N. from the village of Amherstburg. (See Map.) Mackinaw is a small island a little E. from the strait which connects Lake Michigan with Lake Huron, about 270 miles N.W. from Detroit. The fort and village of Mackinaw are on the S.E. side of the island. Huron R Stony R. French Monr a. July 17. ANALYSIS. son had received. The demand was precipitately complied with, and the British were thus put in possession of one of the strongest posts in the United States. Soon after, Major Van Horne, who had been despatched by General Hull to convoy a party approaching his camp with sup b. Aug. 5. plies, was defeated by a force of British and Indians near Brownstown.* 1. Retreat of Gen. Hull Aug. 7. 5. 'General Hull himself, after remaining inactive nearly a month in Canada, while his confident troops were daily expecting to be led against the enemy, suddenly recrossed, in the night of the 7th of August, to the town and fort of Detroit, to the bitter vexation and disappointment of his officers and army, who could see no reason for thus 2. Expedition abandoning the object of the expedition. He now sent a detachment of several hundred men, under Colonel Miller, to accomplish the object previously attempted by Major Van Horne. In this expedition a large force of British and Indians, the latter under the famous Tecumseh, was met and routed with considerable loss, near the ground on which Van Horne had been defeated. of Cot. Miller. c. Aug. 8. d. Aug. 9. Aug. 16. of Detroit. 6. On the 16th of August General Brock, the British 3. Surrender commander, crossed the river a few miles above Detroit, without opposition, and with a force of about 700 British troops and 600 Indians, immediately marched against the American works. While the American troops, advantageously posted, and numbering more than the combined force of the British and Indians, were anxiously awaiting the orders to fire, great was their mortification and rage, when all were suddenly ordered within the fort, and a white flag, in token of submission, was suspended from the walls. Not only the army at Detroit, but the whole territory, with all its forts and garrisons, was thus basely e. Aug. 16. surrendered to the British. 4. How the event was 7. The enemy were as much astonished as the Ameregarded by ricans at this unexpected result. General Brock, in writing to his superior officer, remarked, "When I detail 5. Gen. Hull's my good fortune you will be astonished." "General Hull the British. trial. f. See Map, next page. was afterwards exchanged for thirty British prisoners, when his conduct was investigated by a court-martial. The court declined giving an opinion upon the charge of treason, but convicted him of cowardice and unofficer-like conduct. He was sentenced to death, but was pardoned by the president; but his name was ordered to be struck from the rolls of the army. II. EVENTS ON THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.'-1. 'During Brownstown is situated at the mouth of Brownstown Creek, a short distance N. from the mouth of Huron River, about twenty miles S.W. from Detroit. (See Map, p. 449.) |