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errm aiuiranccs of a large portion of them to remain neutral ;-even Ottawa chiefs from Arbecroich formed the * I"! (S who delegation at Waihington the I aft Summer, in whofe friendihip I know you had great confidence, are among the hoftile tribes, and feveral of them diftinguifhed leaders. Among the yaft number of chiefs who led the hoftile bands, Tccumfeh, Manpolt, Logan, Walk-in t he-water, Split- log, &c. are confidered the princip¬ als.—This numerous aiTemblage of Savages, under the entire influence and direction of the BritiGi com¬ mander, enabled him totally to ob- ilruct. the only communication .which I had with my counny. This communication had been op¬ ened from the fettlemcnts in the ftateofOhio, two hundred miles through a wildernefs, by the fati¬ gues of the army, which I marched to the frontier of the rver Detroit. The body of the Lake being com¬ manded by the Britiih armed Jhips and the fliores and rivers by gun b was, Pottawaf amies, Munfees, Be- le wares, &e, with whom I had the move friendly intcrcourfc, at once paffed over toAmherftburg and accepted the tomahawk and icalp- ing knife. There being now a vaft number of Indians at the Brkifa poft, they were fent to the river Herron, Brownftown and Magua- go to intercept my communica¬ tion. To open this communicat¬ ion, I detached Major Vanhorne of the Ohio volunteers with two hun¬ dred men to proceed as far as the River Raifin, under an expectation he would meet Capu Brufh. with one hundred and fifty men, volun* teers from the ftate of Ohio, and a quantity of provifion for the arm- y.— &ti ambufcade was formed at Brown ft own, andMaj. Vanhorne's detachment defeated and returned to camp without effecting the ob¬ ject of the expedition. In my letter of the 7th inft. you have the particulars of that tranf- aclicn with a return of killed and wounded* Under this fudden and camp indifpcnfibly necefTary for their own comfort. Captain Brufh, with his fmall detachment, and the proviiions being ftili at the iiaiun, 6c in a filiation to be deft- royed by die iavages,on the 13 inft. force, I did not in'the evening, I permitted Co¬ lonels M'Arthur and Cafs to feleft from their regiment 400 of their moft effective men, and proceed an upper route through the woods which I had fent an exprefs to Captain Brufii to take, and had di¬ rected the militia of the River Rai¬ fin to accompany him as a rein¬ forcement. The force of the ene¬ my continually encreafing, and the neceiihy of opening the cornmui cation, and acting on the defenfi becoming more apparent, I had, um- ve oats, the army was totally depri- unexpected change of things, and 2d of all communication by wa- having received an express from On this extenfivcroad it de- v tcr. pend^d for traniportation of pro- vifions, military ft ores, medicine, clothing, and every other fupply, on pack horfes—all its operations were fuccefsful until its arrival at Detroit, and in a few days it pafl- cd into the enemy's country, and all oppofition fcemed to fall before it. One month it remained id pcGefiion of this country, & it was fed from its refources; In differ¬ ent directions, detachments pene¬ trated iixty miles in the fettled part of the province, and the inhab¬ itants fcemed fatisfied with the change of fituation, which appear¬ ed to be taking place—the militia from Amhc?rftbttrgh daily defeat¬ ing, and the whole country, under the ccntroul of the army was afk- inff for protection. The Indians an general at ui'lt appeared to be neutralized, and determined to take no part in the contcfL The fort of Amherftburg; was eighteen miles below my encampment. Not a finffle cannon or mortar was on wheel fuitable to carry before that piace. I confulted my officers* whether it was expedient to make n attempt oil it with the bayonet alone, without cannon, to make a break in the fir ft inftance. The council I called was of opinion it was not. The greateft induftry was exerted in makingpreparation, and it was not until the 7th of Au- guft that two 24 pounders, and three howitzers were prepared. It was then my intention to have proceeded on the enterprize. While the operations of the army were delayed by thefe operations* the clouds of adverfity had been for fame time and feemed itill thic¬ kly to be gathering around me. The furrender of Michilimackinac opened the northern hive of Indi¬ ans, andthey were fwarming down in every direction. Reinforcem¬ ents from Niagara had arrived at Amherftburg under the command of ColonelProctor. The defertion of the militia ceafed. Befides the reinforcement that came by water, I received information of a very confidrablc force under the com¬ mand of Maj. Chambers, on theriv- er Le Trench, with four field pie¬ ces, and collecting the militia on Ids route, evidently deftined for Amherftburg ; and in addition to this combination, and increafe of force, contrary to ail ray expecta¬ tions, WyandotSjChippewas.Otta- General Hall, commanding on the Niagara river, by which it appeared that there was no profpect of any co-operation from that quarter, and that two fenior officers ot the artillery having ftated to me an o- pinion that it would be extremely difficult, if not impoffibie, to pais the Turkey river and River Aux Cannard, with the 24 pounders, and that they could not be trans¬ ported by water, as the Queen- Charlotte, which carried eighteen £4 pounders, lay in the river De¬ troit above theriver A ixCannard; and as it appeared ncccifary to o- pen the communication to the riv¬ er Raifin and the Miami, I found! in) fell'compelled to iulpend tin. previous to detaching Colonel M* Arthur and Cafs on the nth instant, evacuated and deftroyed the fort oh the oppofite bank. On the 15:11 inftant, in the evening General Brock arrived at Amheril> blirg about the hour Colonels M'Arthur and Cafs marched, of which that time I had received no information. On the 15th I re¬ ceived a fummons from him to furrender fort Detroit, of which the paper marked A. is a copy. My ahfwer is markcd'B. At this time i had received no information from Colonels M?Arthur and Cafs. An exprefs was immeditely fent itrongly efcorted with orders for them to return. On the 15th, as foon as General Brock received my letter, his batteries opened up¬ on the town and fort, and contin¬ ued until evening. In the evening all the Britilh fliips of war came nearly, as far up the river as Sar.d- Vvieh, three mile?. be-Ww ^rrw At daylight on the i6tli (at which t ime I had received lio information Tnerc were landed at that time of the enemy, a regular force of much more than that number, and twjee the number of Indians. Confid- eiifiS this great inequality of >t think it expedient to adopt the firft meafure. The fecond mult have been attended with a great facriiice of blood, and no poffible advantages, becaufethe con t eft could not have been Mail¬ ed more than a day for the want of powder, and but a very few days for the want of provifions. In addition to this, Colonels M'Ar¬ thur and Cafs would have been in a mod hazardous fituation. I fear- ed nothing but the Lift alternative. I have dared to adopt it, I weH knew the high refponfibility of the meafure, and I take the whole of it on myfelf.. It was dictated by a fence of duty and a full conviction of its expediency. The bands of lavages which had then joined the Britilh force were numerous be¬ yond any former example* Their numbers have fines increased* and the Idftoryof the barbarians of the north of Europe does not furnifh examples of more greedy violence than thefe lavages have exhibited. A large proportion of the brave and gallant officers and men i com¬ manded would cheerfully havecon* tefted until the Iaft catridge" had been extended, and the bayonets worn to the ;fockets; I could hot confent to the ufelefs facriiice of fuch brave men, when I knew it was impoffibie for me to ftftaifl my fituation. It was impoffibie in'the nature of things that an ar¬ my could have been furnifted with mites operations againft Amherftburg. and concentrate the mam rorce or the army at Detroit; Fully inten ding at that time, after the tom; muideation V/as opened to recrofs the river"j and purfue the dbjecT at Amheritbiirc:, and ftroncrly defir ous of continuing protection to s very large number of inhabitant^ of Upper Canada, ^vho ha"d volun¬ tarily accepted it under my procla^ matioii, I eflabliflied a fortrefs 01, the banks of the river, a little be. low Detroit, calculated for a garrL fon of three hndred men. On the evening of the 7th, and morn, ing of the 8th inft. the army, ex. cepting thegarrifon of 250 infant, ry, a corps of artillerifts, all under the command of Major Denny of the Ohio volunteers, rc-crofied the river, and encamped at Detroit. In purfuance.of the object of open, ing the communication, on which I confidred the exiftence of the ar¬ my depending, a detachment of fix hundred men, under the con], mand or" Lieutenant Colonel Mill. er, w'as immediately ordered. —----—For a particular account of the proceedings of this detachment and the memmorable battle which was fought at Maguago, which re¬ flects the higheft honor on the A. merican arms, I refer you to my letter of the 13th Auguft, inftant*, a duplicate of which is enciofed, marked G. Nothing however but honor was acquired by th„ victory ; and it is a painful confid- cration, that the blood of feventy. five gallant men could only opc*i the communicaton, as far as the filled with hoftile fava from Colonels M'Arthur and Caii, my cxprcfles, fent the cveniiig be- It was impoffibie, fir, that d&^jfc fore, and in the night, having been tie army, worn down by fetfeue prevented from paiSrg the numer- by ficknefs, by v/ounds and death? ous bodies of Indians) the cannon* could have fupported itfelf not on! ly againft the collected force of all the northern nations of Indians- but againft the united ftrengh rf \J. Canada, whofe population con- point of their bayonets extended The necefTary care of the fick and wounded, and a very fevere ftornn of rain, rendered tbcfr r-turn v0 auv adc< adc recommenced, and in a Aibrt timelreceivedinfornvation that the Bfitifli army and Indians, Were landing below the Spring Wells* under the cover of their fhips of war. At this time the whole ef¬ fective force at my difpofal at De¬ troit, did not exceed 800 men. Being new troops, and unaccufto* tried to a camp life ; having perf¬ ormed a laborious march ; having been engaged in a number of bat¬ tles and fkirmiihes, in which ma¬ ny had fallen, and more had receiv¬ ed wounds, in addition to which a large number being fick. and un- provided with medicine, and the comforts necellary for their fitua¬ tion, are the general caufes by which the Strength of the army was thus reduced. The fort at this time was filled with woman, children and the old and decrepid people of the town and country 5 they were unfafe in the town, as it was entirely open and expoied to the enemy's batteries Back of the fort, above or below it, there was no fafetvfor them on account of the Indians. In the firftinftance the enemy's fire was principally di¬ rected againft our batteries ; to* wards tlieclofe, it was diercled a- gainft the fort alone, and alraoit every fhot and (hell had their eff¬ ect It now became necefTary either to light the enemy in the field ; collect the whole force in the fort ; or propofe terms of capitulation, f could not have carried into th fl -hi more than 600 men, and let: force in the fort pop. ____ lifts of more than twenty times the number contained in the territory, of Michigan, aided by the print/* pal part of the regular forces in the province, and the wealth and in. iluence, of the North Weft ando- ther trading cftablifhments among the Indians, which have in their employment and under their en¬ tire controul more than 2000 white Before I clofethisdifpatcli it is a duty I owe my rfpectable af- fociatcs in command, Colonels M'- Arthur, Findley, Cafs, and Lieu¬ tenant Colonel Miller, to exprefs my obligations to them for the prompt and judicious manner they have performed their refpeftive duties. If aught has taken place men. .1 li ri which is ng tne campaign, honorable to the army thofe offi- cers are etitied co a large fhare of it. If the laft act mould be difarv proved, no part of the cenfure be¬ longs to them. I have likewife to .f. duty mate cxpreis mv obligations to GenCr- al Taylor, who has performed the °f Quartermafier General, for ids great exertions in procur¬ ing every thing in his department which was poffible to furnifli fop convenience of the arrny ; like- wife to Brigade Major Jeffun for the corrcci and punctual mannerifl which he has difcharged his duty; and to the army generally for their exertion, and the zeal they b*w •- uilcfvcd for the public interelt ,t ■■ i ' • \.- 1' Mrr CcOR "•-: