The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1814-01-13


/ aeen approved by the Secretary at War.
! the commander IN chief of this state. and
by maj. gen. Harrison, before his lepar-
turc, still deem it q duty which / owe to
my Cwn reputation, IN order to put a stop to
he evil reports which are propagated against
mr., " sthoat knowing my or&ers, or the
means which had in my power to execute
therl. 20 si.;a q brief statement of my most
prninideRs scss sigee Ibave had the honor
| VI s9iTspo,'egnt y rnnimend.
On nsy airtSl z FSrt George, and pre-
Vious 10 tie departure of general Wilkinson
with his army froIu that post, / suggested to
The gr.e-a tEe necessity OF marching out a.
& INST the-epefny at Cross Roads and Four
Mile Greek that his army, with the add
ton of my militia, were sufficient to take or
destroy al the British forces in that neigh :
oorhood, which would leave nothing more
tor the militia TO do than To protect & keep
in order the inha5i' ants of that part of the
Province, as Otherwise cur frontier would
Re liable to be inSaded. This proposition,
however, WAS not agreed to. as the gene
| RAILS instructions were of a different nature.
The general left with me. col. Scott and 500
regulars, who were 10 remain until consi
dered my force Sufficient to hid the Fort
y i'hoot them, when they were to march to
SacLett's Harder.
| About the 10Th of October, the British ar
/ my commenced their retreat towards the
head OF the Lake. / issued orders for my mill
tia to pursue, which was promptly obey ed.
We advanced as far as the Twelve Mile
Creek, and within short distance of the
enemy rear guard, when Col. Scott sent an
| express requesting re to return. and said
that he won d abandon the Fortthe next day,
and march with his troops to Sackett's Har-
! Dor. and at the same time detained my pro
vision and ammunition Wagons, which com
| PEELED me to abandon the further pursuit of
the enemy, and induced them to make
stand on the heights f Burlington. l was
rhes left with about 600 effective militia in
Fort George. and $50 Indians, force not
more than sufficient to garrison that post
On the arrival Of general Harrson's army,
was clated with lie prospect of uniting
| 'ur forces, of driving the enemy from Bur
iinStcn, taking possession of that post. and
giving peace TO The Upper Province aud our
troprier. We were prepared 20 march in "a
hours, when the arrival of Commodore
| Chauncey, with orders, for that excellent
officer, gen. Harrison, to repair imme diate
| iy with his army to Sackett's Harbor. re.
monstrated against his ing off, as will be
seen in a correspondence bet cen the gene
lral and myself but in vain. BY which
lmoyement all my expectations were blasted,
and foressw the consequences, unless q
/ Teinfe'cemens was immediately sent on to
supply the place of the drafted militia whose
tterm OF service would shortly expire.
considered my force which had become un
gOvernable as then insufficient to 20 against
the enemy. The object of the last expedi-
tion to the Twenty Mile Greek is fully ex-
plained in the general order which issued
on my return.
For six weeks before the militia were dis
charged 1 wrote, and continued writing to
the secretary at war the necessity of send
ling on q detachment OF militia or regular
troops that found il impossible To retain
the militia i'll service one day beyond their
tern l also stated, from the best informa
ton, the enemy's forces. ! ffered bounty
I Ut t"o dollars per month, for one or two
months. but without offect. S me few Of
IcGl Blurm's reeiment took the bounty. and
linn diately dissp cared /; and was com
PEELED, t. grant discharge to the militia *
70 unteers, which left me with about sixty
effective regulars of the 24:h u. S. infantry
under captain Rodgers. to garrison Fort
| George. sunni ontG q council OF the Off
tcers, and put the question" Is this fort tie.
nsOle with the present number OF men -
They unanimously gave it as their opinion
| that L. would be madness in the extreme to
pretend to hold it. and recommended it's c
vacuatlon Immediately, as the enemy's ad
vance was then within eight miles. ! &C
] W OuiSlJ gave IOT ali tflS arms am
munition and public stores of every des-
1 crptlon TO be sent across the river, which
was principally effected, though the enemy
advanced so rapidly that ten of my men
] were made prisoners, and ordered the town
o. Newark TO be burnt. This act, h Jwever
| distressing to tire inhabitants and to my feel
ngs, was by an order OF the secretary at
wa, and l believe at the same time proper.
| The 8habitants had twelve hours notice to
remove tfeir effects. & such as chose to come
across the river, were provided with all the
| necessarles of life.
| left captain Leonard in the command OF
! Fort Niagara with about / 90 effective regu-
lars, and pointed out verbally and partcu
larly in general order how he should pre-
pare foF an attack, which would certain
~ take place. ! stationed Col Girls ees' ar
tillerisss, consisting Of about 80 men with
two PIECES Of artillery, at LewiitowD, under
the command Of major Bennett, and made
them present Of four hundred dollars for
volunteering their services for three weeks
but before tn place was attacked they
nearly all deserted, except the officers, who
braveb defended themselves and cut their
way through the savages. The Canadian
volunteers. about 40 in number, under ma.
jor Mallory, an Off GER OF great merit, sta
toned at SChlosseT, aud went myself K
Buffalo, to provide for the safety Of that
place add Black Rock, which trust is out
Of danger, having called out the militia o