The Sun.
London, England, 1822-11-07 00:00:00

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1822

mit his gallant army to follow the impulse of their own
zealous feelings, and Plattsburg must have fallen. The
effect too- upon both the British and: American sailors,_ on
seeing the defences in possession ,of our troops, would in
all probability have been such as entirely to reverse the
issue of the naval conflict; .- even admitting for a moment,
that, as Sir George Prevost afterwards asserted, the Ame-
rican vessels were not within gunshot of the shore. But
we know, on the contrary, that they were within reach of the
batteries, and we have the testimony of Captain Pring, who
intrepidly seconded the lamented Downie in the brig, as
well as that of nuinerous other eve-witnesses, , that, even
after the surrender of our vessels, the enemy did not take pos-
session of them for a long . time, until they had succeeded in
towing their own disabled ships from under the batteries to a
secure distance from the shore. Besides this, a number of of-
ficers who visited Plattsburg after the peace, wereof decided
opinion that the anchorage of the American squadron was
within full range of the forts:" How deeply then is it to be
regretted that the troops were recalled when at last they had
been suffered to advance ! Both the works and the two fleets
would yet have been ours ; but, even if the latter object was
then past attainment, who will deb , that the capture of -
Macomb's troops and • dttfences, and & preservation of the
national honour were in themselves i ufficiept to render a
perseverance in the assault not only J uilifiable; but a measure'
of the most urgent necessity? In the dispatches announcing
his failure, which the Commander-in-Chief dated from Platts-
burg, but which, from the internal evidence contained in them,
were undoubtedly written at Montreal, he stated that, after the
surrender of the fleet, ' the possession of the enemy's Works of-
fered no advantage to compensate for the loss that must have
been sustained in acquiring possession of them.' He knew, at
the moment he wrote this paragraph, that the desertion of up-
wards of eight hundred men had attended his shanieful,retreat.
Could the assault have cost him as dearly ? It would-not ;
even if we were disposed to assent to the humiliating doctrine,
which was implied in this-affected humanity, that the life of a
British soldier is more valuable to him than honour.
By various means, (some of which we have detailed,) Sir G.
Prevost had hitherto succeeded in veiling from the government
the gross mismanagement of the war ; but the deception could
no longer be continued, the expedition to Plattsburg com-
pletely bared his incapacity, and he was immediately recalled,
to answer at the bar of his offended country to the charges
which Sir JaMes'Yeo preferred against him for his neglect to
co-operate with Capt. Downie. He did not live to await his.
trial ;—but it is to be feared that the consequences of his weak-
ness to the interest of Great Britain, will long and injuriously
survive him.
The retreat from Plattsburg closed the campaign in Lower
Canada; the evacuation of the Canadian shore of the Niagara by
the American army soon after terminated the operations in the
upper province, and the intelligence of the conclusion of the
peace of Ghent arrived before the approach of the season- for
the renewal of hostilities. -
It has been calculated upon solid data that in less than three
years of warfare, the attempts of the Anierican government to
effect the subjugation of the Canadas were attended with the
loss to the public in killed, wounded, and prisoners; of nearly
fifty thousand men, besides an enormous expenditure of treasure
and warlike resources ; yet, when the terms of the treaty of'
Ghent demanded restitution of all acquisitions which had been
made by either party on the frontier of the two provinces, the
enemy had only the defenceless shore of the Detroit to offer in
exchange for their fortress of Niagara and the important post of
Michilimackinac, both of which were still in our possession,
notwithstanding an effort made to recover the latter in the sum-
mer of 1814.
Having entered into so detailed an examination of the con-
duct of the war in the Canadas, we have left ourselves no room
for the conclusions to be drawn from it, as to the future defence
of those provinces. We will only add one circumstance, which
is of such deep import, that we should not be justified in leav-
ing it unnoticed. Since the peace, the influx of Americans
from the United States to our provinces has been incessant, and
their numbers are daily increasing to an alarming extent. • It
would not perhaps be expedient or practicable to clude them
from residence in Canada while there is no interruption to the
amiable relations between Great Britain anti their Republic;
but the continuance of the subjects of the United States in our
territories during a period of warfare is fraught with danger.
During the last war, the efforts of the disaffected in Upper
Canada, principally subjects of the United States by birth,
were attended by the mbst mischievous consequences. The
enemy were constantly supplied with intelligence by them,
and every impediment studiously thrown in the way of the
public service. It will become a most serious considera-
tion how the recurrence of the same evils may be avoided
when the proportion of naturalized Americans in our do-
minions shall, in all probability, have become ten times
greater than it was in the year 1812. If, under a vigorous and
watchful administration, it is deemed possible to retain such
settlers among our population without peril, one precaution
should at least be carefully adopted :—no man should be found
in employ of the colonial government, whOse connection hind
him by the ties of interest or of blood to the American
I Republic.