, 1861-05-02
Cen. Winfield Scott.


extent Of the two provinces, from Quebec to
PenetengOshene, in many acts Of open rebellion
which threatened ere long to grow nto popular
and successful revolution. Thirty thousand
American sympathizers, possessing rs Q general
thing little character as true purage and less
capital than either, responded to the call Of
Mckenzie, Papineau, and other equally patriotic
Canadian demagogues, and were ralying their
forces at various points alOaig the whole Ameri
can frontiers, preparing, in defiance Of law, hu.
man or divine, to invade Canada, crush the gall
ing yoke Of Britain from off her enslaved colo
nies revOlutionize British America, and estab.
lsh model republic, under which every Ameri-
can hberator was to hold an Office Of trust and
profit.
Commissions Of generals, colonies, commodores,
and army and navy captains, were as plenty and
common among the vagabnnd crusaders in Wes
tern New York, Ohio and Michigan, as were the
foods Of worthless wild cat" bank notes Of the
same period in the latter State.
| had taken u very active interest in the bri
gand crusade, and the "Canadian Congress" I"
assembled in an obscure cellar in Cleveland,
Ohio bad rewarded my zeal by making me
captain in the Canadian navy, with the present
command of q little iOre.an,l.ait schooner, and
that Of first. class line.of battle ship in pros
p, ctive.
It was late in the season when was sent to
Buffalo with my vessel, for the purpose Of re
cciving six old brass six.pOunders, which were
to constitute the schOOner's battery when the
war was fairly begun, and considerable guam
tity OF ammunition, together with three hundred
muskets, Dragons eutaSses, and pistols, dd in.
faHUm, which were to be used by the patriot
army in the west to commence the war with.
BY the exercise Of some little tact on my part,
and combination Of lucky circumstances on
the part OF Providence, | succeeded in accom-.
plishing my mission so far as to get the arms
and munitions Of war on board, and escaIing
from the har6or Of Buffalo in q snow storm,
while the half dozrn United States Marshals
were overhauing harmless Canada schooner to
which had directed their attention for my own
bcreiit
My instructions were to touch at Cleveland fnr
the purpose Of taking in a quantity Of AIMS
which had been collected there. aud then To stop
at Huron, where would be met by Gen. McLeOd,
Of the patriot army, who would give me definite
instructions as to my final destination.
got into Cleveland without any trouble, and
out again, by carrying off tao deputy marshals
who came down 10 search the schooner, and
landing them on the lake shore in the woods,
some ten miles to the westward OF the harbOr.
My six "SixeS" were buried under the ballast
alongside the keelsnn, the powder slowed in
Hour barrels bored full Of holes, and oysters ali
real red lead casks, and the pistols. musketS aud
swords in long boxes, with lots Of hay. showing
through the JOINTS all marked" BrdSIradS."
5" that had little fear of being caught in Huron,
particularly AZ the people there, to a man. and b
woman too. think, were favorable to the pi-
ratical revolutionary movement
It was very nearly dark, on a cold, boisterous
evening in d, ccmher, when arrived at Huron
and as the crew were all out on the long wooden
pier which forms the western side Of the harbor,
bent on to long tow-line " tracking the schOo-
ner up towards the piers, ! saw tall military
man come along down the pier, point towards
the vessel when he came near the men, and after
making, as judged, some hurried inquiries of
them about her, came towards me, and the mo-
ment he stopped opposite where was standing
at the helm, I recognized him, past all doubt, as
Gen. Mcleod, the commander-in-chef Of the
patriot army in the west had never seen the
General, but he had been described to me so very
minutely that could not be mistaken; b, sides,
the moment he stopped, he passed a word which
served as the " grand hailing sign" among the
hunters, secret organization, Of which nearly
every vagabond was a member, 40 that there could
be no mistake In the matter-the man was no
other than the veritAble Gen. Mcleod himself
"GOod evening, captain" he said, as soon as
! had replied TO the hail; "What luck, cap
tainl" -
"GoOdi All right, general But come
aboard, sir;" and gave the schooner a sheer
in alongside tie pier, so that he could step on
deck. @ sfs
A moment later, and he stood there beside
me at the helm, . real Hercules in stature, en-
veloped in stout gray Overcoat, with fur cap
turned down about his ears, while ! gRzed for
few seconds in mute admiration upOn the stall
wart firm Of one Of the Iron Dukes" favOrite
veterans o. the peninsular ard WaterlOO. The
general gave me the regular : hunters grip," and
then asked again: ..
@Well, captain. what successH" III
Beautiful, sir" I answered. "Got cm all
right down there, fooled Uncle Sans officers in
Buffalo, gave two more Of em a free passage for
nine miles out Of Cleveland, A. d set them ashore
in the woods; and here am, general, all square
by the lifts and braces, really to foil 'Old Lun-
dv's Lane Gen. John Z. Wool and all the other
cpauletted 'pFeventives' that I expect will be
here in Huron before get away"
"Goodr exclaimed tho general, laughing
heartily, "verY good, captain. There is nothing
like confidence in helping one out Of a tight
Plare. But you say that you have got every.
thing safe 2"
even the Argus.eyed Scott himself might ran
sack the schooner for whole day and fail to
discover anything wrong I've got the cannon
buried under the ballast, the powder slowed in
oysters, bullets in red lead barrels, and the small
arms packed in furniture boxes; so you see
we're all safe, general"
YES, Il would seem so; but look out that
o9d Lnndy's Lane, as you call him, don't get
at your secret He's in town, believe, and
there's the steamer Consultation lying up there,
from which ho has this very afternoon taken a
large quantity Of arms and ammunition; 50 look
out for him."
III will, general; and IL the old seven foot
hero Of Chippewa gets 10 wind'ard Of uie, Ill
ship second mate Of lmekiln. and use my com.
miSsi"n, as captain in the Canadian navy, to light
the fire with"
"Bravo, captainl That's the right sort Of