Elsie's Journey on Inland Waters

by Martha Finley

  CHAPTER VI.

  For a moment Captain Raymond seemed lost in thought. It was a questionfrom his daughter Elsie that caused him to resume the thread of hisnarrative.

  "Papa," she asked, "had the British got their guns all ready to fire atthe Americans when Colonel Miller and his men got back to Detroit? anddid they begin at once?"

  "No; the British were still busy with their preparations, with whichGeneral Hull did not seem disposed to interfere; and it was hard indeedfor his brave, patriotic officers to obey his orders to refrain fromdoing so. They began to think he was either a traitor or an imbecile,and by no means fit to have the command. They consulted together, andconcluded that salvation for the little army could be secured only bydepriving him of the command and giving it to another. Miller was askedto take it, but declined and proposed M'Arthur, who was the seniorofficer of the volunteers and one of the most vigilant, active, andenergetic men in the service.

  "But when it came to carrying out their plans they hesitated to takeso bold a step. Relief might come soon from Ohio, Governor Meigsaccompany it in person, and then the honor could be properly tenderedhim. Colonel Cass acted promptly upon that suggestion, writing to thegovernor a very strong and urgent appeal for help to be forwarded withall haste; telling him that the army was in a very critical situation'from causes not fit to be put on paper'; that Maiden might easilyhave been reduced, but the golden opportunity had been allowed to passunimproved. He asked for, at least, two thousand men, and that thegovernor would accompany them.

  "But before this letter had been shown to the other officers theBritish were collecting in force at Sandwich, and Cass added apostscript. 'Since the other side of this letter was written, newcircumstances have arisen. The British force is opposite, and oursituation had nearly reached its crisis. Believe all the bearer willtell you. Believe it, however it may astonish you, as much as iftold by one of us. Even a c---- is talked of by e----. The bearerwill supply the vacancy. On you we depend.' The first blank meant acapitulation, the second commanding general."

  "But why didn't he say what he meant, papa?" asked Elsie.

  "Because there was danger of the letter falling into the hands of thewrong person. It was signed by Cass, Finley, M'Arthur, Taylor, andColonel Elijah Brush, of the Michigan militia."

  "Was Major Denny still on the Canadian side, captain?" asked Evelyn.

  "No; he had evacuated Fort Gowris and crossed the river to Detroit. Onhis doing so the British under Captain Dixon of the Royal Engineersimmediately took possession and planted a battery so as to commandDetroit. The American artillery begged leave from Hull to open uponthem from the fort with twenty-four pounders, but were forbidden, andthe enemy was allowed to go on unmolested with his preparations to fireupon Detroit."

  "Well!" exclaimed Lucilla, "I'm sure that looked as if he was in leaguewith his country's foes; unless he had lost his reason."

  "Yes," said her father, "yet I do not doubt his patriotism or hisintention to do what he deemed best under the circumstances; but hewas timid, and as I have said before, did not receive the help andencouragement he had a right to expect from the Secretary of War orGeneral Dearborn, who failed to inform him of the armistice, whichwould have enabled him to wait for the arrival of needed provisionsand reinforcements. And he was too honest himself to suspect thedeceptions the British practised upon him--dressing raw militiamen inuniform and mixing them in with their regulars, sending a letter to beintercepted by him, threatening a descent of five thousand Indians fromMackinaw. But I think he owed it to the officers under him to consultwith them; which he did not do."

  "Had the British got Captain Brush with the soldiers and provisions,papa?" asked Elsie.

  "No, he was still in the same place, waiting for reinforcements toenable him to reach Detroit; and on the 14th Hull sent him word thathe could not spare a large enough detachment to escort him, and thathe might either stay where he was till further orders, or take aroundabout course to avoid the enemy. But after the men had gone withthe letter Hull again changed his mind and sent M'Arthur and Cass with350 men to escort Brush, who was supposed to be not more than 12 milesaway.

  "They took a circuitous route, got entangled in a swamp, and couldnot go on. They were without provisions, tired and hungry, and werejust preparing to bivouac for the night--for the evening twilight wasfading away--when a courier came with an order from Hull for them toreturn immediately to Detroit. They obeyed and arrived there about teno'clock the next morning.

  "At a little past noon of that day General Brock sent two of hisofficers with a flag to bear a summons to General Hull for theunconditional surrender of the post. 'The force at my disposal,' hesaid, 'authorizes me to require of you the surrender of Detroit. It isfar from my inclination to join in a war of extermination, but you mustbe aware that the numerous body of Indians who have attached themselvesto my troops will be beyond my control the moment the contestcommences.'"

  "And Hull meekly surrendered without any more ado?" said Lucilla, in atone between assertion and enquiry.

  "No, not yet," replied her father. "Poor man! really patriotic andproud, he no doubt felt sorely tried and humiliated at the very thoughtof surrender to his country's foes; at the same time, being ignorantof the armistice and not knowing when succor would arrive, having onlya thousand men in fighting condition, his force wasting with disease,disappointment, and death, it seemed to him very uncertain whetherhe could keep the foe at bay till help would come; but his troopswere eager to measure strength with the enemy, and confident in theirability to do so successfully.

  "So difficult did Hull find it to decide what was the best and wisestcourse of conduct that he kept the flag waiting two hours; but atlast he said to Brock's messengers that he had no other reply to makethan that he was ready to meet any force at his disposal, and anyconsequence that might result.

  "His own troops were greatly pleased when they learned what his answerto Brock had been. They watched the return of the flag, and when itreached the Canadian shore the bearers were startled by a loud huzzafrom the American fort and camp. Our brave soldiers believed andrejoiced in the thought that the time for action had come, or was nearat hand; they were confident of victory, and at once set about the mostactive preparations for the fight.

  "Jesup, serving as adjutant-general to Hull, rode down to Spring Wellsto reconnoitre the enemy at Sandwich. He saw that the British vessel,_Queen Charlotte_, had taken such a position that she could cover thelanding of the enemy there with her guns. He thought a battery mightbe used to drive her away, so selecting a suitable spot for it, hehastened back to Detroit, told Hull what he proposed to do, and askedhim to send down a twenty-pounder.

  "Hull refused and Jesup rode back to the spot he wished to defend,to find Snelling there with a few men and a six-pounder, occupyingthe very place he had selected. By the way, it is said that Snellingwas to have been married that evening to a daughter of Colonel ThomasHunt, and that when about to leave the fort for Spring Wells, he askedof Hull, 'If I drive the redcoats back, may I return and be married?'and that General Hull consented, and the marriage took place that sameevening.

  "When Detroit was surrendered Snelling refused to raise the white flag,and when marched as a prisoner through the streets of Montreal, beingordered by a British officer to take off his cap to Nelson's monument,he refused and kept it on in spite of the efforts of the soldiers toenforce the order, and finally General Brock ordered them to respectthe scruples of a brave man."

  "I respect and like Brock for that," said Walter. "He was a far better,braver, nobler man than Proctor."

  "He was indeed!" assented the captain. "Cruelty and cowardice usuallygo hand in hand, and they were both prominent traits in Proctor'scharacter. But to return. Both Snelling and Jesup, perceiving thatthe greater part of the British force was at Sandwich, hastened backto Hull, and, reporting that fact to him, Jesup asked for 150 men togo over and spike the enemy's guns opposite Detroit. Hull said hecould not spare so many. 'Give me one hundred, then
,' entreated Jesup.'Only one hundred,' added Snelling imploringly. Hull only replied thathe would consider it, and then took refuge in the fort; for at fouro'clock the British battery, whose guns Snelling and Jesup had proposedto spike, began firing shot and shell upon the fort, the town, and thecamp. Then all the troops except Finley's regiment, which was stationedthree hundred yards northwest of the fort, were ordered within thewalls, crowding it far too much for comfort."

  The captain paused, and Grandma Elsie remarked that she rememberedreading of some interesting occurrences given by Lossing in notes tohis history of the attack upon Detroit and its fort.

  "One was that during the evening a large shell fell upon the roof of aprivate dwelling, two stories high, and coming down through the roofand upper floor, fell upon the table around which the family weresitting, then through to the cellar, and they had just time to fly fromthe house when the shell exploded, tearing it to pieces."

  "That was a very narrow escape for them," remarked Violet.

  "Please tell us some more, grandma," begged Neddie, and Grandma Elsiekindly continued.

  "There was a battery commanded by a brave soldier--Lieutenant Daliba,"she said. "He stood on the ramparts during the cannonade, and when hesaw the smoke or flash of the enemy's cannon he would call out to hismen, 'Down!' and they would drop behind the parapet until the ball hadstruck.

  "Near the battery was a large pear-tree which was somewhat in the way,and Colonel Mack, of the Michigan militia, ordered a young volunteernamed John Miller to cut it down. He made haste to obey, seizing anaxe and falling vigorously to work; but when he had cut about halfwaythrough the trunk one of the enemy's balls struck it and nearlyfinished the work. The young man turned coolly toward the British andcalled out, 'Send us another, John Bull; you can cut faster than Ican.'"

  "Was the British soldier that fired it named John Bull?" queried Neddie.

  "Why, that's what we call Englishmen, don't you know?" said his sisterElsie. "And we are all Brother Jonathans. Aren't we, papa?"

  "That's what they call us," returned her father, with a smile, "andthough not a very euphonious name, I, for one, prefer it to John Bull."

  "So do I," she said.

  "But Jonathan's a boy's name," objected Ned sturdily. "Men and boys canbe Jonathans, but women and girls can't."

  "Well, I don't want to be," said Elsie. "It isn't a pretty name; butJohn Bull's worse. Grandma, haven't you another little story to tellus?"

  "One more, which I found in Lossing's book," replied Grandma Elsiepleasantly. "He says it is related that while cannonading was going on,the shot striking thick and fast around the fort, a negro was seen onits roof. He stood near a chimney, watching the firing of the Britishon the other side of the river, and whenever he saw the smoke of acannon would spring behind the chimney till the shot had struck, thenpeep out again.

  "At length one struck the top of the chimney just over his head, toreit to pieces, and covered him with brick and mortar. He jumped aside,shaking himself free, as well as he might, from the dust and rubbish,and exclaiming: 'What de debble you doin' up dar?' then hastened awayto find a safer spot."

  "Wasn't that a bad, swearing word, grandma?" queried Ned.

  "It was not a nice word," she answered. "I should be sorry indeed tohear it used by my sons or grandsons."

  "My papa never says such words, nor Maxie, nor any of my relations, andI don't mean ever, ever to say them," said the little fellow, lookingup into his father's face.

  "No, my son, I trust you never shall," returned the captain gravely,laying a hand affectionately on the child's head.

  "Please tell the rest, papa," pleaded little Elsie, and her fatherresumed the thread of his narrative.

  "The British kept up their bombardment until near midnight, our menreturning it with great spirit and disabling two of the enemy's guns.About twilight someone proposed that as the fort did not command theriver, a strong battery should be placed near the margin of the riverand used in destroying the foe when they attempted to land. A suitableplace for the purpose was chosen, but Hull utterly refused to allowthe plan to be carried out; and in the early twilight of the nextmorning--a beautiful Sunday morning--they were allowed to cross withoutthe least attempt being made to hinder them.

  "Six hundred Indians, commanded by two British colonels and Tecumseh,had crossed the night before and taken position in the woods to attackthe Americans in flank and rear should they attempt to hinder thelanding of the British regulars and militia, 770 strong with 5 piecesof light artillery.

  "They all breakfasted, then moved upon the fort--the whites in asingle column, their left flank covered by the Indians, a mile and ahalf distant in the woods; their right resting on the Detroit River,defended by the _Queen Charlotte_.

  "Colonel Miller, with the Fourth Regiment, was now in the fort; theOhio volunteers with part of the Michigan militia were posted behindthe town palisades, to annoy the enemy's whole left flank. The rest ofthe militia were stationed in the upper part of the town to keep backthe Indians, who had joined the British in order to be permitted toplunder and kill the American whites.

  "Our men were waiting, watching the cautiously approaching foe, eagerto fire upon them the moment they were in the best position to receivethe most destructive onslaught--for wives, children, and feeble agedones were in danger of becoming victims to their inhuman thirst forblood and plunder, and that foe had reached a point within five hundredyards of their line when there came a peremptory command from GeneralHull for them to retreat within the fort.

  "The soldiers were very angry but obeyed, while the enemy drew nearerand prepared to storm the fort. The shot were coming thick and fastnow from the Canadian shore. A ball came bounding over the wall of thefort and struck a group standing before one of the officer's quarters,killing two officers and a surgeon and badly wounding another. The nextmoment two other soldiers on the inside of the fort and two on theoutside were killed.

  "There were women and children in the house where the officers werekilled, among them General Hull's daughter and her children. Some ofthe women were bespattered with the blood of the slain, and almostparalyzed with fear; some were carried senseless to the bomb-proofvault for safety.

  "The general saw the effect of the ball from a distance, and did notknow whether his own child was killed or not.

  "Just then an officer of the Michigan militia in the town came toask if they alone were to defend it, as he had seen the approach ofthe enemy without a gun being fired from the fort or the twenty-fourpounders outside; also to inform Hull that the Indians were at thetan-yard, close upon the town. Hull did not answer his queries, butstepped into a room in the barracks, hastily wrote a note, and handingit to his son, Captain Hull, directed him to display a white flagimmediately from the walls of the fort, where it might be seen by theBritish Captain Dixon, over the river.

  "The order was promptly obeyed. The flag was a tablecloth. By order ofGeneral Hull it was waved from one of the bastions by Captain Burton,of the Fourth Regiment.

  "The firing soon ceased, and in a few minutes Captain Hull was seenleaving the fort with a flag of truce. At the same time a boat wasdespatched across the river to Captain Dixon, commander of the batteryon the Canada shore.

  "General Hull was acting without consultation with any of his officers,and no one knew what were his intentions, but the sight of the whiteflag upon the walls awakened painful suspicions, and presently thearrival of two British officers, Colonel M'Donell and Major Glegg, madeit evident that the garrison was betrayed.

  "Hull had acted entirely on his own responsibility, consulting no one,and this quick surrender, without a single shot having been firedupon the enemy, or an effort made to stay his course, was almost asunexpected and unwelcome to the brave, patriotic men under him as athunderbolt out of a clear sky. So angry and indignant were they thatfor a moment nothing but reverence for gray hairs and veneration for asoldier of the Revolution, who had served his country well in that war,saved him from personal violence at the
ir hands; it is said that manyof them shed tears of mortification and disappointment.

  "The terms of capitulation were soon settled, and Hull issued a generalorder to his troops, stating that with pain and anxiety he announced tothe Northwest Army that a sense of duty had compelled him to agree toarticles of capitulation which he then enumerated.

  "You will remember that he had sent Colonels M'Arthur and Cass towardthe River Raisin, then ordered them back; they were coming, but hadnot yet arrived; he sent a messenger to meet them, with a note toM'Arthur informing him of the surrender, and that he and his commandwere included in it, as prisoners of war. They had drawn near enough toDetroit to see the white flags that had silenced the British cannon,reaching there thoroughly exhausted with marching and hunger--for Hullhad sent them off without provisions and failed to keep his promise tosend some after them; so that for forty-eight hours they had nothing toeat but some green pumpkins and potatoes they had found in the fields.As they went and came they had been observing the enemy, taking note ofhis numbers and movements, and concluded that they might easily capturehim by falling upon his rear while the army at Detroit attacked himin front. But what did the silence mean? The armies were within halfcannon shot of each other, but there was no firing; both seemed silentas the grave, from where these listeners stood. Had there been anyevidence of fighting, M'Arthur would have fallen upon the rear of thefoe, without waiting for orders.

  "But Hull's courier was seen approaching, and in a few moments morethese patriots heard the almost unbearable tidings that Hull had giventhem up to the foe without an effort at self-defence.

  "M'Arthur tried to communicate with Hull, but failed. He sent Hull'snote to Captain Brush, with a message from himself, 'By the withinletter you will see that the army under General Hull has beensurrendered. By the articles you will see that provision has been madefor your command; you will, therefore, I hope, return to Ohio with us.'

  "Lossing tells us in a note that Captain Elliott, the son of ColonelElliott, with a Frenchman and Wyandot Indian, arrived at Brush's campon the Raisin, bearing a flag of truce, a copy of the capitulation atDetroit, and authority to receive the surrender of Brush and his men.

  "A lieutenant, the officer of the day, blindfolded Elliott and ledhim to the block-house. Brush, when informed of Elliott's arrival andon what errand, doubting his authority, had him arrested and placedin confinement. On reading M'Arthur's letter, however, he learned hismistake; but instead of releasing Elliott at once and complying withHull's order, he hastily packed up the public property at the Raisin,and with his whole command and his cattle, started for Ohio, leavingorders that Elliott should be kept in confinement until the next day.Elliott was very angry, and sent for Tecumseh to pursue Brush; but itwas too late."

  "Did M'Arthur do that way too, papa?" asked little Elsie.

  "No; when on the evening of the 17th Colonel Elliott came withauthority from Brock to receive tokens of the submission of M'Arthur'sdetachment, the dark eyes of that officer flashed with indignation,then filled with tears of mortification; he thrust his sword intothe ground and broke it to pieces, then tore his epaulets from hisshoulders. But having in that way relieved his feelings, he becamecalm and dignified, while in the dim twilight, Cass and their wholedetachment were marched into the fort and stacked their arms."

  "Oh, how hard it must have been for M'Arthur, and all of them, indeed!"exclaimed Lucilla.

  "Were they shut up in jail, papa?" asked Elsie.

  "The volunteers and militia with some of the regular officers, not ofhigh rank, were paroled and allowed to go home," replied her father."Those belonging to Michigan were discharged right there, the Ohioanssent in a vessel to Cleveland, and there relieved from British control.General Hull and the regulars were held as prisoners of war and sent toMontreal."

  "But that wasn't the worst for poor General Hull, was it, papa?" saidGrace. "The blame he got from the whole country, and being tried forcowardice, condemned to be shot, and all the rest of it, I shouldthink, must have been far worse. Do you think he was really a cowardand so very much to blame, papa?"

  "No," replied her father; "he was perhaps weak, but neither wickednor cowardly; he was very cautious, prudent, and anxious to save thewomen, children, and aged men in the fort from falling into the handsof the bloodthirsty, tomahawking, scalping savages. Had he known ofthe armistice and that provisions and ammunition were coming, and hadDearborn and the Secretary of War done their duty, the result mighthave been very different. As it was, he was made the scapegoat for all."

  "Poor man! I feel sorry for him," sighed Grace.

  "As I do," said her father. "I have no doubt he did what he believed tobe his duty as a humane and Christian man. In parting at Detroit withone of his aids he said to him, 'God bless you, my young friend! Youreturn to your family without a stain; as for myself, I have sacrificeda reputation dearer to me than life, but I have saved the inhabitantsof Detroit, and my heart approves the act.' In his despatch to theSecretary of War he generously said, 'I well know the responsibility ofthe measure, and take the whole of it on myself.' And after alludingto M'Arthur, Finley, Miller, and Cass in commendatory terms, he adds,'If aught has taken place during the campaign which is honorable to thearmy, these officers are entitled to a large share of it. If the lastact should be disapproved, no part of the censure belongs to them.'"

  "That was noble and generous!" exclaimed Evelyn, with warmth, "andit was shameful, shameful that all the blame was put upon him whenDearborn and the Government were really so very much more deserving ofit."

  "Yes," said Grandma Elsie, in her own sweet, gentle tones, "and he boreit in such a patient, Christian spirit; confident that his countrymenwould some day understand and do him justice. I have read that on hisdeathbed he was asked whether he still believed he had done right insurrendering Detroit, and he answered that he did and was thankful hehad been enabled to do it."

  "I suppose," said Evelyn, "it was a great mistake, but he acted as hedeemed best for others and that at a great sacrifice of himself; so Ithink he was a noble, generous man, worthy of all honor, and I am veryglad he was not made to suffer death, though I am not sure that what hehad to bear was not worse."

  "Yes," exclaimed Walter, "and how I despise those mean fellows who putall the blame on him when they themselves deserved a great deal more ofit than he!"

  "How long did the British keep possession of Detroit, papa?" askedGrace.

  "Until Perry's victory on Lake Erie restored it to the Americans."

  "Oh, that was a grand victory!" exclaimed Lucilla, with enthusiasm.

  "Yes; the navy did well in that war," the captain said, with a smileand a sparkle in his eye. "I have always felt a patriotic pride in theachievements of Perry, McDonough, and Isaac Hull. The first two wereearnest Christian men and gave all the glory to God. I do not know, buthope the gallant Hull was a Christian also."