on the brig, and so much injured her that it was impossible to have floated her: before I left her she had received twelve shot of large size in her bends, her sails in ribbons, and her rigging all cut to pieces. To my officers and men I feel under great obligations: to captain Townson and lieutenant Roach of the 2d regiment of artillery, ensign Presstman of the infantry, to Cornelius Chapin, Mr. John M'Comb, Messrs. John Tower, Thomas Davis, Peter Overtaks, James Sloan, resident gentlemen of Buffaloe, for their soldier and sailor-like conduct; in a word, every man fought with their hearts animated only by the interest and honour of their country. The prisoners I have turned over to the military. The Detroit mounted 6 sixpound long guns, a commanding lieutenant of marines, a boatswain, and gunner, and 56 men, about 30 American prisoners on board, muskets, pistols, and battle-axes: in boarding her I lost one man, one officer wounded, Mr. John C. Cummings, acting midshipman, a bayonet through the leg: his conduct was correct, and deserves the notice of the department. The Caledonia mounted two small guns, blunderbusses, pistols, muskets, cutlasses, and boarding pistols, 12 men including officers, 10 prisoners on board; the boat boarding her commanded by sailing-master George Watts, performed his duty in a masterly style; but one man killed, and four badly wounded, I am afraid mortally. I enclose you a list of the officers and men engaged in the enterprize, and also a view of the lake and river, in the different situations of attack. In a day or two I shall forward the names of the prisoners. The Caledonia belongs to the N. W. company, laden with furs, worth, I understand, two hundred thousand dollars. (Signed) JESSE D. ELLIOTT. Hon. Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy. Lieutenant Elliott to the Secretary of the Navy. Sir, Black Rock, October 10, 1812. In my letter of yesterday's date I stated my intention to enclose to you a list of the officers and men engaged with me in capturing his Britannic majesty's brig the Detroit and the brig Caledonia. From the incessant fire of the enemy and my own constant engagements for the protection of the vessels, compei me to postpone sending that list till another opportunity. Last evening, having observed an intention on the part of the enemy, to remove the ordnance and military stores with which the Detroit was charged, I determined at K K VOL. II. once to set her on fire, thereby to prevent them having the aid of masts and yards in getting her guns into boats, she having five 12 pound guns in her hold, and six 6 pounders on deck; that I could prepare them, and with my sailors remove the ordnance during the night, when unobserved by the enemy. These preparations I am now making, and shall with as much expedition as possible continue to get the ordnance, and place it in our battery, as we are much in want: not one piece at Black Rock. The Caledonia I have perfectly recovered from the enemy. I have the honour to be, with great respect, &c. (Signed) JESSE D. ELLIOTT. Lieutenant Elliott to Commodore Chauncey, Sir, Black Rock, October 10, 1812. I have the honour to inform you, that on the morning of the sixth instant, two vessels under British colours came down Lake Erie, and anchored under the protection of Fort Erie: that on the same day a detachment of men arrived from New-York, accompanied by sailing masters Watts and Chisson, with some masters' mates, and midshipmen: that on the morning following, I, with two boats previously prepared for the purpose, boarded and took possession of them, with the loss of two men killed, Samuel Fortune and Daniel Martin, and four wounded; acting midshipman John C. Cummings, John Garling, Nathan Armstrong, Jerome Sardie, and John Yocem. As there is not a probability of receiving this shortly, I have made communication to the department upon the subject, a copy of which I enclose for your perusal. I beg you will not have conceived me hasty in making this attack: I acted as if the action came directly from yourself. Let me recommend to your particular attention the officers and men who performed this service; each and all did their duty. The ensign of the Adams I will send you by an early opportunity; it is at your disposal. The particulars, as it regards the vessels, I will forward you in a day or two; at present I am much engaged. With sentiments, &c. P. S. I have neglected mentioning to you the names of the vessels captured. One, his Britannic Majesty's brig Detroit, formerly the United States' brig Adams; the other, a brig belonging to the N. W. company, loaded with skins, called the Caledonia. Sir, Commodore Chauncey to the Secretary of the Navy. Sackett's Harbour, October 16, 1812. I have great pleasure in informing you that, by a gentleman who arrived here yesterday afternoon from Buffaloe, I learnt that lieutenant Elliott, with about sixty sailors, and a number of volunteer militia, cut out from under the guns of Fort Erie, on the night of the 8th instant, the brig Adams, (lately surrendered at Detroit) and the brig Caledonia, laden with peltry, said to be very valuable; but in running these vessels for Black Rock, they both grounded, in such a situation that the British fort was firing on them, when my informant left there on Friday morning last. It was however believed, that if they could not be got off they could be destroyed. I however hope that lieutenant Elliott will be able to save both vessels; for such an addition to our little force on lake Erie, at this time, would be invaluable. Lieutenant Elliott deserves much praise for the promptness with which he executed this service; as the sailors had only arrived at Black Rock on the 8th, and he had no particular orders from me, except to have boats built and prepared for cutting out the British vessels, which I knew rendezvoused near Fort Erie. If lieutenant Elliott succeed in saving the Adams and Caledonia, I think that we shall obtain the command of lake Erie before December. But as to this lake, I hardly know what to say, as there has not a single pound of powder nor a gun arrived yet: and I can make no calculation when any will arrive. I feel quite discouraged, and shall be tempted to seek the enemy with the Oneida alone, if the guns do not arrive soon. The sailors have all arrived at their places of destination; but the marines have not arrived. I however hope to see them to-day or to-morrow. I have the honour to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, (Signed) ISAAC CHAUNCEY. Hon. Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy. Commodore Chauncey to the Secretary of the Navy. Sir, Sackett's Harbour, 27th October, 1812. I have the honour of enclosing you copies of two letters from lieutenant Elliott, giving an account of his having cut out from under Fort Erie, on lake Erie, in a most gallant manner, two British brigs, the Detroit (late Adams) and the Caledonia. The Detroit was manned and armed as a man of war; the Caledonia belonged to the N. W. company, and was loaded with peltry. Nothing that I can say, more than I have already said, in a former communication upon this subject, will add to the credit of lieutenant Elliott, and the gallant officers and men who accompanied him. The thing speaks for itself, and will, I am sure, be duly appreciated by all who have any idea of the difficulties that he had to encounter, after getting possession of these vessels. I have the honour to be, respectfully, sir, your most obedient servant, (Signed) ISAAC CHAUNCEY. Hon. Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy. Captain Harris H. Hickman to Lieutenant Elliott. Sir, Washington, January 8, 1813. In answer to your note, requesting of me "a general description of the armament and stores on board, at the time of the capture of the Adams, and the probable number of men," I can state that I sailed from Malden in the Adams, and arrived at Fort Erie on the morning preceding the night in which you captured that vessel. I left her in the afternoon, and crossed in her boat to Buffaloe with a flag. When I left the Adams, she had on board five guns mounted (six and four pounders), and six long twelves in her hold. She had also on board a quantity of powder and ball, and a number of boxes of muskets. I am not able to state, of my own knowledge, the number of stands of arms, but I have been informed that nearly all the arms taken at Detroit were on board; if that was the fact, the number must have exceeded two thousand. The number of the crew that I left on board could not vary much from sixty, and the number of American prisoners about thirty, including three officers. I have the honour to be, respectfully, your obedient servant, HARRIS H. HICKMAN. Lieut. J. D. Elliott, U. S. N. Sir, The Secretary of the Navy to Lieutenant Elliott. Navy-Department, 27th October, 1812. I have received, with great satisfaction, your communication of the 9th instant, and have been desired by the president of the United States to return to you, and through you, to the officers and men under your command in the expedition to Fort Erie, which terminated to the glory of the American arms, his particular thanks. I am, with great respect, sir, your most obedient servant, PAUL HAMILTON. P.S. Your having abstained from fulfilling your intimation, that you would expose your prisoners to the enemy's fire is highly approved. Jesse D. Elliott, Esq., Lieutenant commanding, Black Rock. BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN. Letter from Major-General Van Rensselaer, of the New York Militia, to Major-general Henry Dearborn, transmitted by the latter to the Department of War. Sir, Head-Quarters, Lewistown, October 14, 1812. As the movements of the army under my command, since I had last the honour to address you on the 8th instant, have been of a very important character, producing consequences serious to many individuals; establishing facts actually connected with the interest of the service and safety of the army: and as I stand prominently responsible for some of these consequences, I beg leave to explain to you, sir, and through you to my country, the situation and circumstances in which I have had to act, and the reasons and motives which governed me; and if the result is not all that might have been wished, it is such, that when the whole ground shall be viewed, I shall cheerfully submit myself to the judgment of my country. In my letter of the 8th instant, I apprised you that a crisis in this campaign was rapidly advancing; and that (to repeat the same words) "the blow must be soon struck, or all the toil and expense of the campaign go for nothing; and worse than nothing, for the whole will be tinged with dishonour." Under such impressions, I had on the 5th instant written to brigadier-general Smyth, of the United States forces, requesting an interview with him, major-general Hall, and the commandants of the United States' regiments, for the purpose of conferring upon the subject of future operations. I wrote major-general Hall to the same purport. On the 11th I had received no answer from general Smyth; but in a note to me, of the 10th, general Hall mentioned that general Smyth had not yet then agreed upon any day for the consultation. In the mean time, the partial success of lieutenant Elliot, |