Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-06-14

abandoned position, and Immediately dis
patched q messenger to Gen. Hull, inform
| ing him Of his success, and advising him sic
fmarc h Immediately for fort Maiden The
road to which was opened, Had this been
done, success must have crowned--the ope.
ration, and ttiae war, in that quarter, would
have been over. He was; however disap.
pointed by the indecision OF. Hull who or,
defsd him TO return and join the army.
From this moment bad counsels prevailed,
the army lost all confidence in Hull, and
he proceeded in bis own course; regardless
of the advice or remonstrnnce of his offl
GERS. About three weeks after the affair
at Cannrds,, the whole army was ordered a.
cross the river to Dsaroit; II which time,
had Col Casss advice been taken, Maiden
might have been reduced; and secure
Judgement made in Upper Canada. The
order of Hull to return was not less unex-
spected to the army than was the ) disgrace
fnl surrender at Detroit;. without a shot
being fired overwhelming to the country.
/. On entering Canada General Hull dis
tributed proclamation among the inhabi.
tnnts, which, for the eloquence and high
spirit it contained. cannot be surpassed ;but
it was sadly in contrast with the fulflment
of its professions. Unfortunately for the
country, the author Of the proclamation,
Colonel Cass, was not the commander OF
the army. Had he been SO, the country
would have been saved the modification of
beholding the descent from the promise to
the fulfilment. As it was, he used every
exertion to arouse in the commanding gen.
eral that spirit of patriotism which breathes
in every line of the admirable paper but
in<vain. a spirit of infatuation, or some
thing worse seized upon Hull, and led him
on from one false step to another, until the
crowning act, the surrender of Detroit, with
out firing a gun, completed his own ruin,
and brought disgrace upon the arms of his
country. 1t is well known to the country
were detached from Detroit, previous to the
surrender, ostensibly for provisions, but in
fact because they were unwelcome coun-
|sellors at headquarters. Stung with NOR.
tifcation on henring of the surrender, Colo
mel Cass, when ordered to deliver up his
SWORD, indignantly shivered it in pieces,
and threw it to the earth, refusing to sur
render it to the enemy. ~
After the Surrender Of Detroit; Col. Cass
repaired to Washington, to report to the
government the whole circumstances at
tending the, expedition. He was ex-
changed during the winter, and in the
spring was appointed a brigadier general.
Shortly after this, he.joined Gen. Harrison
at Senecas where the army was collecting,
destined TO recover the territory of Michi-
gan, and to take possession of the western
district Of Upper Canada. The prepara.
tory arrangements being completed, and
the lake being open to the Transportation
of our troops by the victory of Perry, Gen.
Harrison commenced his movement in Sep
tembef, 1913, and embarked his troops at
the mouth Of Portage river, whence they
moved, and were concentrated at Putin
bay. From here they sailed to the Wes-
tern Sister, small Island off the coast OF
Canada, where, being all collected, the fl.
nal arrangements were made.
The deba rkation was superintendent and
directed by Gen. Cass, of the army, an6
Capt, Elliott, Of the navy; and the troops
landed in perfect order, expecting to meet
formidable resistance But the enemy
had fed, after destroying The public build
ings at Amhurstburg and Detroit, and were
in full retreat for Lake Ontario. The
American army Immediately commenced
the pursuit, and after capturing two small
detacments, which offered some resistance
in favorable positions, overlook the enemy
Mt the NJ Morayian towns on the river Thames.
about eighty. miles from Detroit. The
British General (Proctor) proved himself
uneaqual to his command. Having some
days the start, if he designed to es.
cape, he should have pushed his retreat as
rapidly as possible. But be moved slowly,
encumbered with much unnecessary bag.
gage, and finding the American army clio
sing upon him, he prepared for battle
The ground he chose was heavily covered
with trees, and his left rested upon the river
Thames, while his right extended into the
woods, terminating in marsh This
flank was occupied by the Indians, who il
was intended should turn the American lef
and attain the rear. The army moved 50
rapidly that many Of the troops were lef
behind, and small portion only of Gen
Cass's command was in the battle; they
were stationed Immediately in front of the
enemy's artillery, which commanded the
road with di rections to charge upon it as
soon us the action commenced. Gen. Cas-:
volunteered his services,together with Com
modore Perry, TO assist Gen. Harrison
and at the moment of the charge Of Col.
|Johnson's regiment, which decided the fate
Of the day, Gen. Cass took position with
the right wing of it, commanded by Lieut.
Col. Johnson, and accompanied it in it:
charge upon the British line. It was .
dangerous experiment to charge a line Q
disciplined British soldiers by undisciplinet
mounted Americans; but valer supplied the
place of discipline and Notwithstanding the
resistance, that brave regiment broke thro'
the line, and instantly the enemy was
thrown into confusion, and threw down
their arms, happy to escape with their lives.
The British general, Proctor, fed almos
at the commencement of the action, and
was pursued by Gen. Cass, with a detach-
ment, for some miles, but could not be o
4 vertaken.
tits well known, that in this importan
battle Gen. Cass bore prominent part
fully sharing in the exposure and danger
of the conflict. An eyewitness, writin,
some twelve years since, says: