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Cornell University Library 1993.PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
BUFFALO
Historical Society
VOLUME VIII
EDITED BY
FRANK H. SEVERANCE
SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY
BUFFALO, NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE
BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETYPUBLICATIONS
OF THE
BUFFALO
Historical Society
VOLUME VIII
EDITED by
FRANK H. SEVERANCE
secretary of the society
BUFFALO, NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE
BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1905Hinton mtfr otimta ffrpHH
SitffalnOFFICERS OF THE
BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1905
President......................ANDREW LANGDGN.
Vice-President.................HENRY W. HILL.
Secretary......................FRANK H. SEVERANCE.
Treasurer......................CHARLES J. NORTH.
BOARD OF MANAGERS.
Lewis J. Bennett,
Albert H. Briggs, M. D.,
Robert W. Day,
Joseph P. Dudley,
Charles W. Goodyear,
Henry W. Hill,
Henry R. Howland,
Andrew Langdon,
J. N. Larned,
Ogden P. Letchworth,
J. J. McWilliams,
George B. Mathews,
Charles J. North,
Peter A. Porter,
G. Barrett Rich,
Henry A. Richmond,
Frank H. Severance,
George Alfred Stringer,
James Sweeney,
Charles R. Wilson.
The Mayor of Buffalo, the Corporation Counsel, the Comptroller,
Superintendent of Education, President of the Board of Park Com-
missioners, and President of the Common Council, are also ex-officio
members of the Board of Managers of the Buffalo Historical Society.LIST OF THE
PRESIDENTS OF THE SOCIETY
FROM ITS ORGANIZATION TO THE PRESENT TIME.
♦Millard Fillmore,..........................1862 to 1867
♦Henry W. Rogers,.................‘..................1868
*Rev. Albert T. Chester, D. D.,.......................1869
♦Orsamus H. Marshall,.................................1870
♦Hon. Nathan K. Hall,.................................1871
*William H. Greene,...................................1872
* Orlando Allen,......................................1873
♦Oliver G. Steele,....................................1874
♦Hon. James Sheldon,.........................1875 and 1886
♦William C. Bryant, ..................................1876
♦Capt. E. P. Dorr,....................................1877
Hon. William P. Letch worth,..........................1878
William H. H. Newman,.......................1879 and 1885
♦Hon. Elias S. Hawley,................................1880
♦Hon. James M. Smith,.................................1881
♦William Hodge,.......................................1882
♦William Dana Fobes,.........................1883 and 1884
♦Emmor Haines,........................................1887
♦James Tillinghast,...................................1888
♦William K. Allen,....................................1889
♦George S. Hazard,...........................1890 and 1892
♦Joseph C. Greene, M. D.,.............................1891
♦Julius H. Dawes,.....................................1893
Andrew Langdon,.............................1894 to x905
Deceased.PRE FAC E
IN this volume the Buffalo Historical Society continues
the publication of papers relating to the history of
Buffalo, the region of the Niagara and the lakes. For
the most part, the material has been drawn from manuscripts
prepared for and deposited with the society, some of them
many years ago.
The opening paper, on “The Relations of the United
States to the Canadian Rebellion of 1837-1838/’ is a notable
addition to the literature of that subject. In its preparation
its author, Prof. Orrin Edward Tiffany, found ample assist-
ance in the library of the Buffalo Historical Society. Some
idea of the extent of the society’s collections on this subject
may be gained from “The Bibliography of the Upper Canada
Rebellion,” contained in Vol. V. of its Publications. The list
fills nearly seventy pages, and most of the works enumerated
are to be found in the Historical Society library. Yet there
is not among them or elsewhere, a treatise which, like the
one now published, reviews in an impartial and philosophic
temper the attitude of the United States Government, and
of the governments of the border states, towards the turbu-
lent spirits of the Canadian frontier, towards the responsible
officials of Canada, and towards the Government of Great
Britain. It is a chapter of high worth in the history of the
diplomatic relations between the two great English-speakingVI
PREFACE.
nations. In the local point of view, it is also of conspicu-
ous value, since no part of the disturbed border played so
famous a part in the “war” as did the Niagara and imme-
diate vicinity. The “Illustrative Documents bearing on the
Canadian Rebellion,” which in this volume follow Mr.
Tiffany's paper, have the piquant interest that always
attaches to the original documents in a famous case.
Very local and very modern, is the “History of the
Abolition of Railroad Grade Crossings in the City of
Buffalo/’ by the late Robert B. Adam. That it is an import-
ant chapter in the history of Buffalo, certainly no one now
a resident of the city, whose knowledge of local conditions
runs back say twenty years, will hesitate to admit. Not
even in the War of 1812, when Buffalo was practically
annihilated by the enemy, did it sustain such loss of life
or such menace to its welfare as was the case through many
later years, when the greatest foe with which its citizens had
to contend, was the deadly grade crossing. The publication
of the history prepared by Mr. Adam is timely now, when
the commission of which for many years he was the head,
has been reorganized, and again addresses itself to a further
prosecution of the work.
Of the Dobbins papers, sufficient comment is made in
the introductory sketch that accompanies them. These, and
the short papers that follow on related subjects, supply a
lack heretofore existing in the annals of our region. They
also suggest the need of further research on certain phases
of lake history. There does not exist an adequate account
of the origin and rise of traffic on the lakes, or any com-
plete list of the vessels employed in trade or military trans-
portation, during the period of British control and the
succeeding years of American development. Of the earliest
days of French adventure, and the chronology of lakePREFACE.
Vll
vessels into the opening years of the British period, we have
a most satisfactory study in Mr. Henry R. Howland’s
“Navy Island and the First Successors to the Griffon,” in
Vol. VI. of the Buffalo Historical Society Publications.
But for the continuation of the record, down say to the War
of 1812, though much has been written, there is no single
narrative that can be considered either accurate or complete.
The papers of Daniel Dobbins, printed in this volume, are
a helpful contribution, by the aid of which, and other data
chiefly to be drawn from British sources, a definitive record
of the rise of our lake commerce, may be compiled.
Suggested, too, by the Dobbins papers, is the opportunity
for a monograph on the early salt trade of America, as car-
ried on through the lakes, the Niagara and inland waterways
to the southward. This subject was touched by the
Wilkeson papers in Vol. V. of these Publications, but has
nowhere received the attention that it merits.
The other papers here printed need no especial comment.
It is a pleasure to be able to include the reminiscences of
Mrs. Martha Fitch Poole, of whom many readers of this
volume cherish affectionate memories. It is not strange, in
recalling the Buffalo of her youth—the Buffalo of well-nigh
three quarters of a century ago!—that the infant city should
appear all pleasant, its men brave and gallant, its women all
lovely. Happy those whose memories ever hold the past in
roseate hue. Nor is there any question that the Buffalo of
which Mrs. Poole has written was a place of peculiar charm.
Between the years of pioneer privation and hardship, and a
later period of unlovely largeness, lie the golden years of the
social life of the community. Social and moral standards
were high; neighborhood bonds were strong; and neither
railroad nor telegraph nor telephone made possible the con-
stant intrusion of the outer world. Those were the yearsPREFACE.
viii
when, even amid financial reverses, the foundations were
laid for many of the best things that endure in the Buffalo
of today.
The letters and addresses of General Ely S. Parker
came into the editor’s hands too late to give them the place
in this volume to which their character entitles them.
Happily, however, they could be printed with propriety in
connection with the account of the reburial of Gen. Parker
by the Historical Society, and the exercises incident to un-
veiling a stone at his grave. Of the unique interest of these
writings it is superfluous to speak. Where else has a
full-blooded Seneca left such a correspondence? What
other North American Indian has written his autobiog-
raphy? And not only written of himself, but of his people,
summing up in a few clear, dispassionate, philosophical
paragraphs, a century of dishonor in the dealings of the
“Christian” white man with the Indian. Gen. Parker’s
modest writings are a contribution to American historical
literature which merit, and which fill, a niche by themselves.
Much material intended for this volume, is omitted, that
the book may not be bulky. Many papers of the pioneers,
which it is desirable to publish together, are reserved for a
subsequent issue. The opportunity for illustration, particu-
larly ample in such a paper as Mrs. Poole’s, with its many
references to people and houses worth picturing, has been
made avail of far less than the editor could wish; though it
may be noted that more illustrations are here given than in
any preceding volume of the series.
Acknowledgment, for help given in the preparation of
this volume, is gratefully made to Miss Eliza A. Blakeslee
of Caledonia, N. Y.; Mrs. James P. White of Buffalo;
Mr. John Fleeharty, Erie, Pa., who assisted Capt. William
W. Dobbins in the original preparation of his narrative;PREFACE.
IX
Mr. John Miller, Erie; Major T. J. Hoskinson, Phila-
delphia; Mr. Arthur C. Parker, New York City; and Mr.
Edward B. Guthrie, chief engineer of the Buffalo Grade
Crossings Commission.
F. H. S.CONTENTS
PAGE
Officers of the Society............................ iii
List of Presidents of the Society................ iv
Preface................................................ v
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE
CANADIAN REBELLION OF 1837-1838............
Orrin Edward Tiffany 1
I.	Colonial Misrule.............................. 7
II.	Leaders and Events........................... 15
III.	Crossing the Border.......................... 23
IV.	To the Verge of War.......................... 32
V.	Evacuation................................... 41
VI.	Secrecy . ................................... 53
VII.	The Hunters.................................. 61
VIII.	Federal Interference......................... 70
IX.	Conflict of Authority........................ 83
X.	Dark Days.................................... 92
XI.	Politics.................................... 102
Bibliography for foregoing paper............. 115
Illustrative Documents bearing on the Canadian Rebel-
lion ............................................ 119
The Revenue Cutter and the Rebels . ....... 122
The Woes of a Patriot Leader................. 129
HISTORY OF THE ABOLITION OF RAILROAD
GRADE CROSSINGS IN THE CITY OF BUF-
FALO .......................Robert Borthwick Adam 149
Introduction............................. 151
I.	The People Aroused—Grade Crossings Must Go .	153Xll
CONTENTS.
II.	A Splendid Dream—The Buchholz Plan ....	162
III.	The Amended Clinton Bill..................... 171
IV.	Collapse of the Terminal Company Project . . .	180
V.	Progress under Difficulties.................. 186
VI.	Complications—A Call for Compulsion........ 193
VII.	The Act of April 30, 1890.................. 203
VIII.	Albany the Battlefield—Act of April 20, 1892 . .	211
IX.	Obstructionists at Home...................... 223
X.	Experience with Experts—A Contract at Last .	233
XI.	Clearing Away Legal Obstructions............. 240
XII.	Consummation .............................. 247
THE DOBBINS PAPERS.................................... 255
Introduction—Career of Capt. Daniel Dobbins . .
Frank IF. Severance 257
Narrative, by..............................
Captains Daniel and William W. Dobbins
I.	Beginnings of Lake Commerce.................. 283
II.	Fall of Mackinaw—Mr. Dobbins Carries News .	300
III.	With Perry on the Niagara.................... 313
IV.	Building and Equipping the Fleet............. 323
V.	The Battle that Made Perry Famous.......... 336
VI.	The West Regained...........................  350
VII.	Services of Stephen Champlin and Daniel Dob-
bins ...................................... 361
VIII.	End of the War—Trade Resumed................. 372
Life of Stephen Champlin .... Hon. George W. Clinton 381
What Became of Perry's Fleet .... Frank FI. Severance 401
Episode of the Adams and Caledonia . George D. Emerson 405
Exploits of John Dickson........Mrs. lames Hoskinson 411
Journal of Samuel Blakeslee........................... 419
SOCIAL LIFE OF BUFFALO IN THE ’3o’s AND ’4o’s . .
Martha Fitch Poole 439
Introduction................................. 441
I.	When Old Buffalo was Young................... 443
II.	A Gay Sleighride............................. 449CONTENTS.
Xlll
III.	In Old Mansions.............................. 452
IV.	Gay Buffalo Society in the ’30’s............. 457
V.	A Notable Neighborhood........................ 462
VI.	The Garrison.................................. 468
VII.	Old-time Tea Parties.......................... 476
VIII.	Some Early Singers............................ 482
IX.	New Year's Day in the ’30’s . . . . '......... 489
APPENDIX A.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
Forty-third Annual Meeting...................... 495
President’s Address............................. 495
Election of Officers............................ 498
Secretary’s Report.............................. 498
Unveiling of the Painting, “The Sailing of the
Griffon”................................... 503
Address, Hon. Peter A. Porter.............. 504
Marking the Grave of Do-ne-ho-geh-weh......... 511
Writings of Gen. E. S. Parker................... 520
APPENDIX B.
Hunter Lodges in i837-’38 ............................ 537
APPENDIX C.
Buffalo Historical Society Membership................. 541
Buffalo Historical Society Publications............... 549
Index................................................. 555
ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Sailing of the Griffon....................Frontispiece
Burning of the Caroline (old print).........Faces page 32
“Invasion of Navy Island” (old cartoon) ....	“	48
Documents and posters in fac-simile . . . Face page 118 et seq.XIV
CONTENTS.
Portrait group:	Buffalo Grade Crossings Com-
missioners under Acts of 1888 and 1892 . . Faces page I51
Map, Grade Crossings Improvement............... “	2^
Portrait, Daniel Dobbins....................... 2^
Portrait, Stephen Champlin..................... “
Hull of the Lawrence, as raised at Erie in 1875 .	“	401
Portraits, Mr. and Mrs. Rushmore Poole ....	“	443
Plan of Poinsett Barracks, Buffalo............. 47°
Residence of Ansley Wilcox, Buffalo............ “	473
Portrait, Do-ne-ho-geh-weh (Gen. E: S. Parker)	“	511
Unveiling headstone at Gen. Parker's grave . .	“	5*4
Gen. Grant and staff at Cold Harbor, Va., 1864 .	“	534THE RELATIONS OF
THE UNITED STATES
TO THE
CANADIAN REBELLION
OF 1837-1838
BY ORRIN EDWARD TIFFANY
Copyright, 1905, by O. E. TiffanyPREFATORY NOTE
It has been my design in preparing this thesis to accomplish
three objects, so far as was practicable within the necessary limits
of such a work. The first and foremost object has been to narrate
the relation of the people in the border states to the Revolutionists
of Canada; especially to describe the organization and workings of
the various secret societies formed within the United States to ad-
vance the interests of the Canadian Patriots; the purposes of these
societies to promote filibustering expeditions into Canada, and to
involve the United States in war with England; and finally, the part
played by them politically in the overthrow of the Democratic party
in the northern states, have received extended consideration.
The second part of the plan has been to set forth in clear light
the policy of the Van Buren Administration toward the violation
of the neutrality laws on the northern border, and the international
questions arising out of the border disturbances, such as the Caroline
affair and the northeast boundary dispute. Furthermore, as several
of the American leaders among the Patriots aspired to accomplish
in Canada what Sam Houston had wrought in Texas, the policy of
President Van Buren has been contrasted incidentally with that of
President Jackson in regard to the filibustering expeditions fitted out
in the southern states for the overthrow of the Mexican authority in
Texas.
The third purpose is to show the action of the border states re-
garding the conduct of their own citizens during this period of in-
trigue and border raid, and also to note the conflict between State
and Federal authority as clearly illustrated by the McLeod case.
The footnotes and the bibliography will show the sources from
which the material has been obtained. Besides having the advan-
tages of the library of the University of Michigan, many valuable
documents and papers have been consulted in the libraries of De-
troit, Buffalo and Toronto. I wish at this time to acknowledge the
many courtesies received from the librarians at these cities; espec-
ially the service rendered me in the matter of bibliography by Mr.4
PREFATORY NOTE.
Frank H. Severance, the Secretary of the Buffalo Historical Society.
I would further acknowledge the assistance of Professor A. C.
McLaughlin of the Carnegie Institute for certain materials furnished
me from Washington, and my indebtedness to Professor C. H. Van
Tyne of this university for his helpful criticisms.
Orrin Edward Tiffany.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, June, 1905.CONTENTS
Chapter I. Colonial Misrule.
Introduction. Canada Conquered by the English. Con-
stitutional Act of 1791. Government of Upper and Lower
Canada. Causes of the Rebellion. Revenues. Family Com-
pact. ^ Public Lands. Clergy Reserves. Minor Causes. Re-
strictions on Immigration. Censorship of the Press. The
War of Races. Shortsightedness of Home Government.
Comment of Lord Durham.............................page 7
Chapter II. Leaders and Events.
Lower Canada. Louis Joseph Papineau. Dr. Wolfred
Nelson. Edmund Bailey O’Callaghan. Other Leaders. Up-
per Canada. William Lyon Mackenzie. Dr. Charles Dun-
combe. Dr. John Rolph. Marshal Spring Biddle. Other
Leaders. The Work of Organization. The Rebellion of
1837.	In Lower Canada. In Upper Canada. The Mission
of Lord Durham..........................................15
Chapter III. Crossing the Border.
The States Welcome the Canadian Refugees. Assistance
Rendered the Patriots. Americans Join in Raids Across the
Border. Mackenzie at Buffalo. Navy Island Occupied. A
Provisional Government Established. A Declaration of
Rights Proclaimed. American Cooperation.................23
Chapter IV. To the Verge of War.
Navy Islanders in Need of a Steamboat. The Caroline
Put in Commission. Her First Day Out. British Attack,
and the Destruction of the Caroline. Governor Marcy’s
Message. President Van Buren’s Message. Reparation De-
manded from Great Britain. Preparations for War. The
McLeod Case. Settlement of Caroline Affair..............32
Chapter V. Evacuation.
The Attack on the Caroline a Rash Deed. The Forces on
Navy Island Increased. Patriot Movements at Detroit. At-
tack on Fort Malden. The Friendly Governor. Dr. Dun-
combe Fails at Revolution. Government Interference. Navy
Island Evacuated. Raids Planned for Washington’s Birth-
day. Fighting Island. French Creek. The Rebellion of
1838.	Pelee Island. Close of Navy Island Campaign.
Change of Leaders.......................................416
CONTENTS.
Chapter VI. Secrecy.
Secret Organization of the Patriots. The Canadian Refu-
gee Association. The Burning of the Sir Robert Peel.
Clark’s Point. The Short Hills Expedition. Canadian
Refugee Relief Association. Handy’s Secret Organization
in Michigan. Plan to Rob Arsenal at Dearborn. Plan to
Invade Canada ..........................................
Chapter VII. The Hunters.
The Origin and Development of the Hunter Lodges.
The Cleveland Convention. The Republican Government
of Upper Canada. The Republican Bank of Canada. ^ Prep-
arations for the Invasion of Canada. Prescott. Windsor.
Disposition of the Prisoners..............................
Chapter VIII. Federal Interference.
The Futility of the Patriot Movements. Andrew Jackson
and Texas. Van Buren’s Change of Policy. Instructions to
Federal Officers on Northern Frontier. The Vermont Bor-
der. Buffalo. President Hopes to Maintain Peace Without
Troops. The Federal Laws Inadequate. The Demand for
Troops. Scott to the Front. Six Hundred and Twenty-five
Thousand Dollars Appropriated. The Neutrality Law of
March, 1838. Scott Outbids the Patriots. Effectiveness of
Government Interference.................................
Chapter IX. Conflict of Authority.
Canadian Views Regarding Interference. American Gov-
ernment Incomprehensible to Europeans. Attitude of Ver-
mont, both the Government and the People. Of New York.
Of Michigan.............................................
Chapter X. Dark Days.
The Years 1839 and 1840. General Donald McLeod to
the West. The Northeast Boundary. Marauding Expedi-
tions. Trial and Imprisonment of Mackenzie, and of Van
Rensselaer. Glorious News from England. The Lockport
Convention. Causes of the Patriot Discouragement ....
Chapter XI. Politics.
Unpleasant Duties Devolve upon the President. Political
Effects. Campaign of 1838 in New York. The Hunters in
Politics. The Presidential Campaign of 1840. Influence of
the Hunters. The Trial of McLeod. New York vs. the
United States. The Hunters Attempt to Break the Peace.
The Washington Treaty. From Hunter to Fenian............
53
61
70
83
92
102THE
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
TO
THE CANADIAN REBELLION
OF 1837-18381
BY ORRIN EDWARD TIFFANY2
*
I. Colonial Misrule.
The Rebellion of 1837-1838 in Canada is of little conse-
quence so far as military events are concerned; but the
struggle marks a turning-point in Canadian constitutional
development. While the evolution of the rebellion covers a
period of forty years, producing different degrees of conten-
tion in the various provinces, the resort to armed force took
place only in two provinces, Upper Canada or Ontario, and
Lower Canada or Quebec. In fact, the revolutionary move-
ments even in these two provinces were so futile that they
scarcely deserve the name of rebellion. The results, how-
ever, were important: England was aroused to the neces-
1.	A thesis submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University
of Michigan for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, June, 1905.
2.	Orrin Edward Tiffany is a native of Minnesota, who received his early
training in district schools and the seminary at Spring Arbor, Mich. In 1895
he graduated from the University of Michigan with the degree of A. B., re-
ceiving the degree of A. M. the following year. He worked his way through
college, all his studies being pursued at Ann Arbor except one summer spent
at the University of Chicago. From 1896 to 1903 he was professor of history
and economics in Greenville College, Greenville, 111., being Dean of the college,
1900-1903. He still holds a non-resident membership on the Greenville college
faculty. The author’s present address is Ann Arbor, Mich.
78
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
sity of changing her colonial policy in the Canadas; and the
sympathy excited in the United States produced a series of
unfortunate border raids that severely taxed the military
vigilance and friendly feeling of the two governments, and
led to international complications; while within the United
States itself, the affair furnished new instances of conflict
between State and Federal authority; and contributed
somewhat to the defeat of the Van Buren administration
and the downfall of the Democratic party.
Canada, originally a French colony, came to England by
the treaty of Paris in 1763 which brought to a close the
Seven Years’ War, or the French and Indian War, as it is
known in American history. This transfer of Canada to
England took place just at the beginning of the contro-
versies that led to the American Revolution and the loss of
the thirteen English colonies. During this war Canada,
being French and Roman Catholic, showed little sympathy
with her Puritan neighbors in their revolutionary struggle.1
With the outbreak of the French Revolution the British
Government, led partly by the desire to give the French
Canadians good government, partly to please the loyalists
who, recently driven from the States, had found new homes
in the upper province, and deeming it, perhaps, advisable
to anticipate any open demonstration of sympathy on the
part of the French Canadians with the revolutionists of the
mother country, passed the “Constitutional Act” of 1791.
By this act of Parliament the colony was divided into Upper
and Lower Canada. The government in each province was
to correspond to the English model: in the place of the
King stood a Governor appointed by the Crown; for the
Cabinet, an Executive Council chosen by the governor; for
the House of Lords, a Legislative Council appointed for
life by the sovereign; and for the House of Commons, a
Representative Assembly elected from districts by the people
on a restricted franchise.2 Thus was representative govern-
ment first established in Canada; and with it began the con-
1.	Bourinot, “Canada,” 1760-1900, 68.
2.	Goldwin Smith, “Canada and the Canadian Question,” 85-86; Bourinot,
“Manual of Constitutional History of Canada,” ed. 1888, 21.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.	9
stitutional and political difficulties which finally culminated
in rebellion.
The Act of 1791, though granting important privileges,
contained certain sources of weakness. By dividing the
provinces England hoped to leave the French to themselves
and to their own institutions; but such was not to be the
result. The English were drawn to Quebec by the allure-
ments of trade, and when once there, they struggled for po-
litical supremacy. Another source of weakness was the
lack of responsible government in the English sense. The
British element entrenched in the executive office, in the
legislative council, and in almost exclusive access to the
Home Government, could determine the governmental
policy in the provinces irrespective of the legislative assem-
bly. Thus there began a conflict in Upper, or British
Canada, for the establishment of the principles of English
parliamentary government; and in Lower, or French
Canada, began “the war of races” between the French
elected element which predominated in the assembly and the
English or the official element of the legislative council.1
The French demanded the election of the appointed legisla-
tive council; all the passion of race, religion, and politics
became involved in the “irrepressible conflict.” Parties
arose; patriot leaders appeared; and a press devoted to
reform scattered the seeds of political and constitutional
strife.
From 1791 to the close of the War of 1812 the move-
ment was slow and the demands for reform moderate; from
then on, the conflict became more aggravated. “The battle-
fields,” says Goldwin Smith, “were the control of the rev-
enues and the civil list, the composition of the Legislative
Council (which the patriots desired to make elective that
they might fill it with men of their own party), and the
tenure of the judges, whom they wished to make irremov-
able, like the judges in England, in order to diminish the
power of the Crown, besides minor and personal questions
about which party feelings were aroused.”2
1.	Durham’s “Report,” Parliamentary Reports Canada, 1839, I, 8-9.
2.	Goldwin Smith, “Canada and the Canadian Question,” 88.10
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
The disposition of the public revenues finally became the
center around which the two parties in Lower Canada con-
tended for political supremacy. By the imperial statutes of
1774-1775, duties were to be levied for the sole benefit of
the Crown in “defraying the expenses of the administration
of justice and the support of the civil government of the
province”; and whatever sums remained were “for the
future disposition of parliament.” Besides the revenues the
Government had exclusive control of “the casual or terri-
torial revenues,” arising from the Jesuits’ estates, royal
seignorial dues; and certain moneys arising from timber
and land. The assembly controlled only such revenues as it
itself might levy. Sometimes the royal revenues were not
sufficient to meet the needs of the Government: under such
circumstances the military exchequer was drawn on for the
balance. As time went on the deficit constantly increased,
owing to the increased expense of maintaining the provin-
cial administration. On the other hand, the provincial rev-
enues tended to exceed the expenditures of the local legisla-
ture. The financial burdens of the War of 1812-15 caused
the Government to draw heavily on the provincial revenues,
until by 1817 it “had incurred a debt of a hundred and
twenty thousand pounds to the province without the direct
authority of the legislature.” The war being over, the
Home Government desired to end such questionable methods
of raising funds by securing from the provincial legislature
an appropriation covering the past indebtedness and pro-
viding for such contingencies in the future. This was the
beginning of the financial difficulties that ceased not to
agitate the provincial legislature until the outbreak of the
revolt.1
Control of the purse was the demand of the popular
assembly as the means of commanding political concessions
and constitutional reform. The assembly not only refused
to provide for the government civil list; but even demanded
the control of the revenues derived by imperial statutes. To
such a degree did the obstinacy of the parties develop that
the machinery of government became clogged and deadlock
1. Bourinot, “Canada, 1760-1900,” 124-125.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i8s7J3S.
11
resulted. In 1836, the controversy became so heated that
the majority of the assembly asserted its right to set aside
the constitution of 1791: nothing short of an elective council
would satisfy the demands for constitutional reform. The
Home Government was petitioned and commissioners were
appointed to investigate conditions in Canada. England was
aroused to action; ten resolutions were introduced in Par-
liament ; the arrears of indebtedness were provided for, and
some concessions as to the legislative council were made:
but it was not deemed expedient to make it elective. The
crisis was at hand. The standard of revolt was raised:
“Vive la liberte!” “Vive la Nation Canadienne!” “Point de
despotisme!” became the cry wherever the revolutionists
predominated.1
In Upper Canada the financial disputes were less in-
tense; and were more easily adjusted. In 1831 the assem-
bly passed an act providing a permanent fund for the civil
list and the judiciary with the condition that the government
revenues be placed at its disposal. Now that the salaries of
the judges were made permanent, the provincial legislature
was permitted in 1834 to enact that the judges should hold
office during good behavior rather than at the pleasure of
the Crown as heretofore. Besides demanding an elective
council the reformers of Upper Canada desired a respon-
sible council; and some even “wished to assimilate the insti-
tutions of the Province rather to those of the United States
than to those of the mother country.”2
Perhaps the chief object of attack was the so-called
“Family Compact/' which represented a political and social
combination rather than a family connection. This became
so all-powerful that it controlled all branches of the Gov-
ernment—“the executive, legislative council, and even the
assembly where for years there sat several members holding
offices of emolument under the crown."3 The banks, the
finances, the Church of England, the judiciary, the public
domain—all were monopolized by this bureaucratic aristoc-
1.	Ibid., 127, 133.
2.	Durham’s “Report,” 55.
3.	Bourinot, “Canada, 1760-1900,” 140; Goldwin Smith, “Canada and the
Canadian Question,” 109.12
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
racy. This exclusive social circle was composed for the
most part of the descendants of the loyalists who had faith-
fully stood by the king during the American Revolution ;
and who, as a consequence, claimed special favors by way of
government patronage. With this class stood the descend-
ants of the first settlers who had come before the war; and
certain retired officials from England coming hither to better
their conditions. Thus the late comers and certain of the
loyalists, for one reason or another, found themselves ex-
cluded from office and government favor. The result was
the growth of a party opposed to the exclusive class—a re-
form party demanding an elective legislative council and
responsible government; and so desperate became the strug-
gle that the whole machinery of government was brought
to bear at the polls to defeat certain of the liberal leaders.
Then came the open breach with the Government and an
appeal to arms.1
Another abuse that furnished material for the agitator
was the method of disposing of the public lands. In sad
contrast with the efficient system of the United States, gross
favoritism was shown in large gifts of land on purely per-
sonal or political grounds, 10,000 to 50,000 acres not being
an uncommon grant to such persons. Thereby millions of
acres were placed beyond the control of the Government:
from eight-tenths to all the land was thus alienated in cer-
tain of the provinces by the time of the rebellion. A very
small per cent, of these vast tracts of land was brought under
cultivation; and the difficulties and uncertainty of securing
title, together with the separation of the settlers and diffi-
culty of communication, reduced the agricultural class to the
verge of existence, and the value of farm lands to a mere
pittance. Immigration decreased, or was turned across the
border into the more prosperous States.2
The greatest of grievances arising out of the land grants
was found in the Clergy Reserves. By the Constitutional
Act of 1791, the ecclesiastical as well as the civil polity of
Great Britain was to be reproduced in Canada: provision
1.	George Bryce, “History of the Canadian People,” 387-388.
2.	Durham’s “Report,” 72-86, 92.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38-
13
was made to affix titles of nobility to members of the upper
house; and for a church establishment by setting aside an
eighth of the crown lands for the maintenance of a “Prot-
estant clergy.” Later, the Church construed the act to mean
a seventh of the waste land; and “Protestant clergy” to
mean the clergy of the Anglican Church. The attempt to
fasten titles of nobility in America failed; but the church
establishment took root and became the source of much
trouble: the various other Protestant bodies demanded a
share in the revenues, and not meeting with success in their
demand, they later (1826) passed a resolution through the
Assembly in Upper Canada that if it seemed inexpedient to
grant a denominational division, the whole reserve should
be devoted to educational purposes. The Church of Eng-
land, however, backed by the powerful “family compact,”
maintained its hold upon the lands; and in 1836 defied the
opposition by establishing forty-four endowed rectories
within the province. “But the action,” says Sir J. Castell
Hopkins, “created a feeling which, combined with other
causes, broke into the ultimate storm-cloud of rebellion.”1
Besides these main causes were numerous others of more
or less importance, each of which contributed its share to the
final reckoning. In Upper Canada, besides the general con-
stitutional and political questions, the “family compact,” the
land grants including the clergy reserves, there was a sort of
silent opposition to immigration due to the jealousy with
which the dominant class wished to maintain their own ex-
clusive interests. The franchise was granted on illiberal
terms to immigrants from Great Britain; and immigrants
from the United States were refused the right to hold land,
so fearful were the loyalists of the liberalizing tendencies of
the New Democracy. Even professional men from the home
country had to undergo a long apprenticeship before being
allowed to practice in the province. The narrow exclusive
educational policy was another point of attack; while the
close censorship of the press, and the persecutions of the
agitators resulting in heavy fines, confiscations of property,
1. J. C. Hopkins, “The Progress of Canada in the Century,” 218-219. See
also, Hopkins, “Encyclopaedia of Canada,” III, 136-166.14
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
and even banishment, but added fuel by winning new mar-
tyrs to the cause of liberty.1
In Lower Canada there was mingled with the general
causes already mentioned a war of races: on the one hand, a
Celtic race with French institutions of the old regime, the
French language and the Roman Catholic religion—a people
embittered by conquest. On the other hand, an Anglo-
Saxon race with Teutonic institutions, the English language,
the Protestant religion—a world-wide conquering and com-
mercial people. Social seclusion and religious separation
existed; political and commercial isolation were likewise
sought by the French. Nor should the French Revolution
of 1830 be overlooked; for the French-Canadian leaders
were touched by it and quickened into new activity. The
liberalizing influence of the United States, though often
silent, was a potent factor always present to urge on every
lover of true representative government. The rule of the
people, the industrial activity, and the commercial prosperity
of the great republic to the southward, were in marked
contrast to the semi-despotic rule of the governors, and the
industrial and commercial stagnation of the provinces.2
And last but not least of the causes leading to the revolt,
was the short-sightedness of the Home Government. The
political changes in England effected a change of govern-
ment on the average of once in five years. Little was known
of the distant colonies in America and little care was taken
in regard to them except to get along with them with as
little trouble as possible. Moreover, since the loss of the
thirteen American dependencies, it had been the policy of
Great Britain “to govern its colonies by means of division,
and to break them down as much as possible into petty iso-
lated communities, incapable of combination, and possessing
no sufficient strength for individual resistance to the Em-
pire.”3
Another weakness in the Colonial Government was the
1.	“Handbook of Canada,” 152-153; Hopkins, “Progress of Canada in the
Century,” 220-223; Durham’s “Report,” 35.
2.	Durham’s “Report,” 15-18, 66.
3.	Ibid., 25.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38.	15
method of appointing the governors. Instead of selecting
men with executive capacity, relying on their knowledge of
local affairs to govern the provinces as the real representa-
tives of the Crown, the governors were appointed through
the colonial office; given full instructions as to their method
of procedure; held responsible for carrying out the same;
and were then recalled for not being able to conciliate the
people whom they were supposed to rule in peace and equity.
Thus governors were forced to carry out a policy foreign to
the interests of the people; or waste valuable time in what
too often proved a futile correspondence with the colonial
office. Hence, where conditions called for a vigorous admin-
istration of the royal prerogative, a weak, hesitating policy
was pursued. A biting comment on the two centuries of
England's colonial policy is summed up in the remark of
Lord Durham in 1838: “The experiment of keeping col-
onies and governing them well ought at least to have a
trial."1
II. Leaders and Events.
The leaders most closely associated with the Patriot
uprising are Louis Joseph Papineau of Lower Canada and
William Lyon Mackenzie of Upper Canada. Papineau was
born in Montreal, 1789, educated in the Seminary at Quebec;
elected to the Assembly in Lower Canada at the early age of
twenty, and by 1817 was made Speaker of the Assembly,
which position he held, but for one short interval, until the
rebellion. He was a brilliant orator; a deep student of
politics; energetic and aggressive; but vain and lacking in
that mental equipoise essential to a true statesman. In his
aspirations to lead his countrymen to successful revolution
and republican government, he has been thus contrasted
with Washington: “As the Canadian rebellion differed in
all respects from the American war of independence, so was
the impassioned, prejudiced, and imprudent Louis J. Papi-
neau, the antipodes of the sober, impartial, and prudent
1. Ibid., 25, 37, 38; “Handbook of Canada,” 151.16
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
George Washington. One loved himself, the other loved
his country. The Canadian advocate, whose battles had
ever been one of words, regardless of his countrymen, de-
sired to raise himself to supreme power in the state; the
American soldier, who had faced many a danger by flood and
field, sought only the happiness of his citizens.”1
Closely associated with Papineau in the struggle for
political liberty in the lower province was Dr. Wolf red
Nelson, of English birth, and a radical member of the As-
sembly. Having been educated at Montreal, he began the
practice of medicine at St. Denis. During the War of 1812-
15, he served in the army as a surgeon and learned some-
thing of military tactics. A man of wealth, scholarly attain-
ments, and good judgment, he was highly respected, and
wielded great influence over the. people of the southern
counties.
Another Liberal who finally took part in the uprising was
Edmund Bailey O’Callaghan. A native of Ireland, care-
fully educated both at home and in Paris, he came to Canada
in 1823 and continued his studies in medicine at Quebec.
His wit, genial manner, earnest character and professional
skill soon won him an extensive practice. He early took
part in political life: he took part in the organization of the
Society of the Friends of Ireland. In 1834 he became editor
of the Vindicator which so boldly championed the Patriot
cause that the office was attacked and destroyed by the tory
Doric Club. In 1835 he was made a member of the Assem-
bly and there nobly supported the revolutionary party.
When the meeting took place on the Richelieu to determine
the final course of action O’Callaghan was present and sup-
ported Papineau in condemning the proposed resort to
arms; but when the crisis came he joined the Patriots, took
part in the engagement at St. Denis, and when failure came
to their cause, he joined Papineau in flight to the United
States.
Other names connected with the revolt were: Thomas
Starrow Brown, an American who had found his way to
Canada, engaged in the iron retail trade, and politics—
1. MacMullen, “History of Canada,” 414*TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
17
withal, an enthusiastic applauder of the liberty movement,
who by some means became leader in certain engagements
only to display utter lack of courage and generalship;
Amerry Girod, of doubtful nationality, a linguist of some
note, a man who, before coming to Canada, had gained some
military experience as lieutenant-colonel of cavalry in
Mexico—an extremist of the most violent type, who with
Dr. Chenier became leader of the uprising at Saint Eustache;
and Dr. C. H. O. Cote, a tory hater, who after the suppres-
sion of the revolt in Lower Canada became, together with
Dr. Robert Nelson, an active organizer of border raids.
The father of the Upper Canadian revolt was William
Lyon Mackenzie. “A wiry and peppery little Scotchman”;
honest, brave, energetic; but ruthless in his exposure of
wrong and wrong-doers: a man of strong personality, but
unsafe in council, and oftentimes intemperate in word and
action. Many were the vicissitudes of this extremist.
Elected a radical member of the Assembly in 1828, he was
again and again expelled by the influence of the “family
compact,” only to be reelected by a devoted and enthusiastic
constituency. His vituperative pen, also, aroused against him
bitter enemies: at one time it lost him the public printing;
at another it led to the sack and destruction of his printing
press. He was withal a born agitator, a man more suitable
to engender strife and augment revolt than capable of exer-
cising the patience and tact necessary to command large-
forces of men, or the judgment essential to political reor-
ganization and true statesmanship.1
The leader of the western division of the organization for
revolt was Dr. Charles Duncombe. He was a native of the
United States who had settled in the province after the War
of 1812; he became a large purchaser of land, and in his
professional capacity supplied a much needed want in the
western region of that day. Being a skilful physician and a
man of affable disposition, he soon obtained considerable
means, and became extremely popular. His popularity and
liberal views led after a time to his election to the Assembly;
where being selected by the reform party as a suitable per-
i. Charles Lindsey, “Life and Times of Wm. Lyon Mackenzie.”18
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
son to represent their claims to the Home Government, he
was sent to England. On failing to obtain a favorable hear-
ing, he returned embittered against the ruling class; and
when approached by Mackenzie readily gave him his support
in favor of a “grand political demonstration.”
More intimately connected with Mackenzie in his at-
tempt at revolution was Dr. John Rolph, a lawyer and a
physician; a subtle-minded and sagacious reformer, who
urged on the organizations for revolt by accepting the chief
position in the proposed provisional government; but who,
when the revolt broke out, played the double part of acting
openly as the agent or “truce bearer” of the governor while
at the same time he secretly incited the insurgents to action.
Another associate was Marshal Spring Biddle, a man of
lofty aims and commanding eloquence, and, for a time,
speaker of the Assembly, who, when the crisis came, though
abstaining from any open assistance, sympathized with the
revolt until, suspicion being aroused in the Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor, he allowed himself to become expatriated rather than
face the probable results of an arrest and trial. Besides these
there were other persons, some of whom halted at the
verge of armed resistance, such as Drs. Morrison and Bald-
win, or paid the penalty of their rashness with their lives as
did Lout and Montgomery; while there were others who
pined away in jail, or suffered banishment, not to mention
the leaders of the hundred and fifty various local organiza-
tions pledged to the overthrow of the existing form of gov-
ernment.1
While the uprisings in Upper and Lower Canada were
simultaneous, and while a deep sympathy existed between
them, the two movements were quite distinct in origin and in
development, as a study of the causes of the insurrection in
the respective provinces clearly shows. The occasion of the
rebellion in each is equally distinct. As already noted, the
refusal of Parliament to grant the request of the French
Canadians for an elective franchise led to a violent outburst
of feeling:	Papineau was ready for anything—indepen-
dence, or even annexation with the United States. Agita-
tion everywhere became fierce. The various local commit-
i. Lindsey, II, 32.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j3S.
19
tees of correspondence with the central committee of Mont-
real were everywhere actively urging the Patriots to armed
resistance. “Anti-coercion meetings/' as the patriot assem-
blies were called, were organized; military drill was begun,
officers appointed; and the permanent committee called on
for munitions of war.1 In all these movements, however,
there seems to have been more of bluff and noise than of
real military organization. In fact, with the exception of
Dr. Nelson, the leaders of the revolt were woefully lacking
in both the knowledge and the courage of war.
On Nov. 6, 1837, the first blow was struck at Montreal.
Here a collision took place between “The Sons of Liberty”
and “The Doric Club,” a loyalist association, with a slight
advantage in favor of the Patriots.2 The Government be-
came thoroughly aroused: warrants were issued for the ar-
rest of the rebels; and decisive steps were taken to suppress
the revolt.
The real center of the disaffection, however, was along
the Richelieu. At St. Charles, on this river, there met, on
October 23d, the delegates of the “six confederated coun-
ties” and assembled with them were some five thousand
persons. Resolutions were adopted that left no doubt as to
the intent of the agitators. Military preparations soon fol-
lowed; bands of Patriots gathered at both St. Charles and
St. Denis, and made ready for war. These things coming to
the notice of the authorities, Colonels Wetherall and Gore
were hastened forward to the Richelieu to nip the insurrec-
tion in the bud. The Patriot forces were attacked by Colonel
Gore at St. Denis on the 23d of November; but Dr. Nelson,
turning his three-story distillery into a fort, proved himself
a skilful tactician by maintaining his position in nearly an
all-day battle, in which he finally repulsed the Government
troops.3
This victory gave considerable encouragement to the
Patriot cause; but it was short-lived, for soon the Patriots
met with an overwhelming defeat at St. Charles. At this
1.	Kingsford, “History of Canada,” X, 28-29.
2.	Earl Gosford to Lord Glenelg, Nov. 9, 1837; Col. Wetherall to Lord
Gosford, Nov. 6, 1837, in Parliamentary Reports, Canada.
3.	Col. Gore to Sir J. Colborne, Nov. 25, 1838; Sir Colborne to Lord
Somerset, Nov. 29, 1837, in Parliamentary Reports, Canada.-20
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
place, Colonel Wetherall arrived on the 25th of November
with five companies, two pieces of artillery, and a small
cavalry force. The Patriots occupied the house of M.
Debartzch, an old French chateau substantially built; the
walls were pierced for the use of guns; and the grounds
enclosed by barricades extending from the Richelieu on
either side to a hill back of the house. The chief leaders to
whom the people looked being absent, there was a hesitancy
about assembling when the battle came on; and there were
but 550 fowling pieces to supply those who did assemble.
As a consequence the barricades when stormed by the pro-
vincial troops were easily carried; and in less than an hour
after the firing began the insurgents were in full flight.
“The slaughter on the side of the rebels/’ writes Colonel
Wetherall, “was great.” “I counted,” he adds, “fifty-six
bodies, and many more were killed in the building and the
bodies burnt.”1
The spell was broken; the Patriot army suddenly van-
ished: a majority to their homes; but the more conspicuous
members sought safety across the border. Papineau, who
struck for the States at the first approach of the British,
made sure his escape; while Dr. Nelson, who bravely held
his ground while hope of success remained, was appre-
hended and, with other prisoners, lodged in Montreal jail.
Elsewhere at St. Eustache and St. Benart, northwest of
Montreal, and on the national boundary, the Patriots at-
tempted to prolong the struggle, but in vain.2 Thus within
the short space of a month, the first attempt at armed revolt
disappeared. The cause of the failure was due, in part, to
the timidity and lack of initiative on the part of a people long
accustomed to absolute government in Church and State, and
to a leadership utterly lacking in military knowledge or ex-
perience ; and, in part, to the decisive and soldierly action of
Sir John Colborne, who not only suppressed the insurrec-
tion ; but, having been appointed Administrator, suspended
the constitution, and placed the province under military rule.
1.	Col. Wetherall to Adj. Gen., Nov. 27, 1837; Earl of Gosford to Lord
Glenelg, Nov. 30, 1837; Lindsey, II, 69.
2.	Sir Colborne to Lord Fitzroy, Dec. 22, 1837, in Parliamentary Reports,
Canada.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
21
The rebellion in Lower Canada, though crushed for the
time being, was not dead: the majority of the French ele-
ment remained in a sullen and hostile mood. During the
summer of 1838 secret organization of the Patriots was
going on through the agency of the chief refugees on the
New York and Vermont frontiers—Dr. Robert Nelson,
brother of Dr. Wolfred Nelson, the hero of St. Denis, Dr.
Cote, and Mr. Mailliot; and immediately after the depar-
ture of Lord Durham, who had been appointed in March as
“Captain General and Governor-in-Chief” of all the Can-
adas, a new uprising took place, “The Rebellion of 1838/'
It began, November 3d, in the counties on the Richelieu,
and extended west to Beauharnais: large bodies of hostile
habitants gathered at the leading towns of this district,
where they were to be equipped with arms, and supported by
large bodies of sympathizers from the United States. This
insurrection was even more futile than the previous one:
the arms and troops from the United States failed to mate-
rialize ; and within seven days the revolt collapsed.1
The rebellion of Upper Canada presents a similar fiasco.
Exasperated beyond endurance by defeat at the polls, by
methods decidedly questionable, certain of the liberal leaders
became reckless in their zeal to thwart the “family compact.”
A “Committee of Vigilance” was formed with Mackenzie as
agent and corresponding secretary; and meetings were held
throughout the province with but one intent. Mackenzie
claimed to have the names of thousands ready to rise against
the Governor, and to establish a provisional government.
Military drill and target practice became common in various
places.2 On Nov. 25, 1837, a proclamation was issued by
Mackenzie entitled, “Independence,” in which he claimed
that there had been nineteen strikes for independence on the
American continent; and that all had been successful. “Up
then, brave Canadians! Get ready your rifles, and make
short work of it,” was his final appeal.3
The center of the revolt was around Toronto. The
1.	Kingsford, X, 167-175.
2.	Bryce, “History of Canada,” 388-389.
3.	Lindsey, II, Appendix F.22
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
Patriot rendezvous was Montgomery’s Tavern, a few miles
north of the city on Yonge street. From here an attack on
Toronto was planned for the night of December 7th, under
the command of Van Egmond, who had been a Colonel
under the Great Napoleon. Much to the discomfort of
Mackenzie, who had been absent some days, Dr. Rolph, who
was to be made President of the Republic, changed the date
of assault to December 4th. The change of dates produced
confusion: but a small portion of the Patriot army were on
hand the evening designated. Lack of numbers and a dis-
agreement concerning plans delayed the advance till so late
in the night that when finally they were ready to make the
attack, the golden opportunity to seize the city was gone:
for in the meantime the Governor had been informed of the
premeditated seizure of the capitol; and preparations for
its defense were hastily provided. The insurgents under
Samuel Lout marched to within a short distance of the city,
when being fired upon by a picket sent forward by the Gov-
ernor, they retreated. The Patriot forces remained at Mont-
gomery’s until December 7th, when they, in turn, were at-
tacked by the provincial troops under Governor Sir Francis
Bond Head and Colonel Allen MacNab. A brief but sharp
action resulted in which the militia easily defeated the “half-
armed mob” collected by Mackenzie. The rebellion was at
an end; and as in Lower Canada, the leaders, with the
exception of Lout and Van Egmond, who were taken pris-
oners, sought refuge in the Republic across the border.1
Such in brief outline was the Canadian Rebellion of
1837-1838. There was little bloodshed; but a vast amount
of noise. The clamoring democracy of the New World had
made itself felt: its liberalizing influence reached across the
ocean to England; and Lord Durham, a Liberalist of the
most advanced views, was sent to govern Canada, with in-
structions to report upon the conditions there, and to sug-
gest the form of government needed to unite the contending
factions—to unite the French and English in Lower Canada
without the suppression of the latter and the loyalists of the
“family compact” system and the reformers of Upper Canada
1. Ibid., II, 70-99; Sir F. B. Head, “Narrative.**TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38.
23
so that neither might become all powerful. The interests of
all parties were to be so conserved that the loyalty of both
provinces might be permanently secured to the British
crown. Lord Durham met the requirements most success-
fully. Every phase of colonial life was thoroughly investi-
gated ; and the results, with suggestions for the solution of
the difficulties, were embodied in his Report—the ablest
state paper of the century. The union of the two provinces;
the establishment of a permanent civil list, and the absolute
control of the finances, public lands, and militia by the pro-
vincial Parliament are among the suggestions for govern-
mental reform; but the keynote of his recommendations is
found in the statement that if the Crown “has to carry on
the Government in unison with a representative body, it
must consent to carry it on by means of those in whom that
representative body has confidence.” Such political, finan-
cial, and constitutional reform may well be called, “the
fountain head of all that England has since done for the
betterment of government in her colonies.”1
III. Crossing the Border.
“If freedom is the best of national blessings, if self-gov-
ernment is the first of national rights, and if the Postering
protection’ of a ‘paternal government’ is in reality the worst
of national evils—in a word, if all our American ideas and
feelings, so ardently cherished and proudly maintained, are
not worse than a delusion and a mockery—then are we
bound to sympathise with the cause of the Canadian rebel-
lion.”2 Such was the opinion expressed by the Democratic
Review and such was the sentiment of the mass of the people
in the United States. Their origin, their form of govern-
ment and their prosperity were based upon the principles of
self-government asserted by the Canadians. Thus the Patriot
fugitives whose attempt at revolt had been nipped in the bud
1.	Durham’s “Report,” 100; Woodrow Wilson, “The State,” 429; Am.
Hist. Rev., IX, 393.
2.	Democratic Review, Vol. I, 1838, p. 218.24
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
and who had escaped the vengeance of a victorious British
soldiery and an incensed government found protection and
succor among the liberty-loving people of the American
Union.1 No doubt other motives than that of pure love of
liberty brought sympathy and assistance to the Patriots.
The hatred of Great Britain engendered by the Revolution
of 1776 still rankled in many hearts; the consideration al-
ways given the “under dog” possessed others, nor were such
sinister motives as hope of conquest and desire of personal
aggrandizement wanting. The northeast boundary line fur-
nished another source of aggravation.2 Politics, too, con-
tributed its share, though the Administration was anxious to
avoid war.3 Furthermore, the panic of 1837 left numerous
unemployed who were ready for something to be doing.4
The undue severity of the punishments inflicted by the local
authorities upon the prisoners, which called forth a well
merited rebuke from the Home Government,5 led in some
instances on the part of the sympathizers to a spirit of re-
taliation. Kinship, intimate acquaintance, long-continued
social and business intercourse between the two peoples
whose only real separation was the imaginary line that di-
vides two nations, made them one in this struggle for a
government whose various departments should be respon-
sible alone to the people governed.
After the suppression of the revolt in Lower Canada,
many of the Patriots fled across the border to the neighbor-
ing villages in Vermont and New York. A “very strong
feeling in their favor” existed among the people which ex-
pressed itself in supplies of cannon, small arms, powder,
lead and other valuable munitions of war.6 The women of
1.	Bell, “History of Canada,” II, 476; Democratic Review, IV, 1838-
1840, pp. 82, 90.
2.	Johns Hopkins Univ. “Studies,” XVI, p. 92; Kingsford, “History of
Canada,” X, 181; MacMullen, “History of Canada,” 417.
3.	Mackenzie, “Life and Times of M. Van Buren,” 282; Shepard, “Van
Buren,” 311, 316.
4.	MacMullen, “Hist, of Can.,” 417.
5.	Lord Glenelg to Sir Geo. Arthur, May 30, 1838; Parlt. Rep. Canada,
1839, II.
6.	See Correspondence, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess., Vol. Ill, No. 74, pp.
33, 38.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
25
the vicinity showed their sympathy for the cause by work-
ing “an artistically conceived banner/' a badge of victory.3
Thus reinforced the Patriots recrossed the line, Dec. 6, 1837,
with the intent of continuing the war for liberty. At
Mooers' Corners they were met by a body of loyalists and
dispersed: some were killed, some taken prisoners, while the
majority leaving behind a considerable portion of their ac-
coutrements of war fled back in all haste to their friends in
the States.1 2
Defeat seemed but to quicken the pulse of American
sympathy. A few days later a company “consisting of from
twenty-eight to forty men" was formed at Plattsburg, New
York; arms were furnished and “private drilling" became
the “business of each night."3 A barber, when not engaged
at his trade, manufactured balls with which “to kill the
tories"; a law student, Mr. Samborn, was made captain of
the company; Mr. Palmer figured “as a subaltern" ; a paper
bearing “all the mental obligations of an oath" was signed
by each volunteer, whereby he engaged “to march to Canada
whenever his services might be required." At other places
about the foot of Lake Champlain similar organizations
were formed. Raids and rumors of invasions kept the peo-
ple on both sides of the line in a state of nervous alarm.
The sudden attack of Canadian refugees and American sym-
pathizers upon the homestead of some loyalist; the burning
of his buildings and the turning of his family out of doors
in the dead of night to suffer the cold of a rigorous northern
winter, as in the case of the Caldwell manor, or the more
notorious case of the farmer Vosburg, whose entreaties f01-
mercy were answered by a threat to hang as many tories as
the Government had hanged Patriotic friends ;4 or the
counter raids of the Provincial militia for the purpose of
kidnapping or insulting refugees or sympathizers, but
1.	Ivingsford, X, 70.
2.	Ibid., 71, 72.
3.	Lyman to Gov. Marcy, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess., No. 74, p. 36.
4.	Kingsford, X, 196; see Correspondence, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess.,
Vol. IV, No. 181, pp. 17, 28.26
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
whetted the appetite for vengeance and hastened on the or-
ganizations of invasion.1
Under the leadership of Dr. Robert Nelson and Dr. Cote
the various bands that had for some time been under prepa-
ration at the foot of Lake Champlain crossed over “in forty
sleighs” to Alburgh on the last day of February.2 A proc-
lamation signed, “Robert Nelson, Commander-in-Chief of
the Patriot Army,” promising “security and protection, both
in person and property, to all such as shall lay down their
arms,” and a declaration of independence signed “Robert
Nelson, President,” were issued by Dr. Nelson at this time.3
The declaration is of interest as indicating the French Cana-
dian views of government. The Indians were no longer to
be under “civil disqualification”; all union between State
and Church was to be dissolved; feudal or seignorial tenure
of land was to be abolished; imprisonment for debt was to
cease; the death sentence was no longer to be executed
except in case of murder; election by ballot, and a constitu-
tion “according to the wants of the country,” were to be
secured. The invasion failed. Finding a large force of
loyalists at hand, the Patriots returned to the boundary,
where they were met by General Wool, and were permitted
to enter the United States only on condition of surrendering
themselves and their arms. The whole force of 600 men,
1500 stand of arms, some cannon and a large amount of
ammunition were surrendered, and Dr. Nelson and Dr. Cote
were turned over to the civil authority for violation of the
neutrality laws.4
Such was the beginning of a series of border raids that
extended the entire line of frontier from Vermont to Michi-
gan and increased in number and influence until the whole
machinery of government became actively engaged in their
suppression.
The most important center during the early period of the
1.	Ibid., pp. 10-12, 14.
2.	Sir J. Colborne to Fox, Feb. 28, 1838, Parlt. Rep. Canada, 1838, p. 12.
3.	Ibid., 14-16.
4.	Gen. Wool to Col. Jones, March 2, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess.,
Vol. IV, No. 181, p. 15.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
27
border strife was Buffalo. Here on the nth of December,
1837, Mackenzie, his Patriot band having been defeated at
Montgomery's Tavern, arrived after one of the most thrilling
escapes. Constantly pursued by Loyalists, a reward of
£1000 offered for his capture, he hastened on in the depth of
a Canadian winter in the open or through by-ways; assisted
by some friendly Patriot; at times on foot; again by horse,
the gift of some lover of liberty more than the lover of
British gold; by night or by day; sleeping or fed in some
humble cottage while his host stood sentinel without; cross-
ing the Niagara River in full view of Colonel Kerby and his
“mounted dragoons, in their green uniforms," though un-
seen by them, the Colonel being entertained by the wife of
his host who was rowing him across the river in his own
boat to the American shore.1
As soon as the uprising in Canada was made known
meetings were held in nearly all the towns and cities of note
in the border states, Middlebury, Burlington, St. Albans,
Albany, Troy, Oswego, Rochester, and New York, in which
strong “resolutions of sympathy and support for the Patriot
cause were adopted."2 On the 5th of December, even before
the purposes of the Upper Canadian insurgents were made
known, a large and influential meeting of the citizens was
held in Buffalo; an executive committee of thirteen was ap-
pointed to call “future meetings in relation to the affairs of
the Canadas and to adopt such measures as might be called
for by public opinion."3 This committee performed an im-
portant part in the Patriot movements about Buffalo. The
next day Mackenzie addressed a note from the camp on
Yonge Street to the press of Buffalo, setting forth the
Patriot cause and asking for assistance.4 On the evening
of the nth, the day Mackenzie arrived in the States, the
largest meeting ever held in Buffalo assembled at the theatre.
When Dr. Chapin remarked in the course of his address to
the citizens that he had a man under his protection at his
1.	Lindsey, II, 102-122.
2.	Dem. Rev., June, 1838, 81.
3.	Ibid., 95; Lindsey, II, 123.
4.	Ibid., 124.28
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
house “upon whose life a price was set—William L. Mac-
kenzie”—a tremendous applause burst forth from the audi-
ence, “such a shout of exultation” as was never heard be-
fore.1 Mackenzie being called for, it was announced that
he was too much fatigued to address them, but would do so
the next evening. After strong expressions of sympathy
and promises of assistance for the struggling Canadians, a
guard of six was appointed for the protection of the Patriot
leader; and the meeting closed with “cheers for Mackenzie,
Papineau, and Rolph.”
On the following evening Mackenzie addressed a large
assembly at the theatre: he recounted the struggles of the
Americans to throw off the yoke of English tyranny and
avowed that he “wished to obtain arms, ammunition, and
volunteers, to assist the reformers in Canada.”2 The Eagle
tavern was designated as the place of deposit. All night
and the following day great activity was displayed in the
collection of arms, munitions of war and in the enrollment
of names. A general being appointed the volunteers marched
out of the city, for the night, as was supposed; but shortly
after midnight they returned, seized from the sheriff two
hundred stand of arms, took two field pieces and marched
off to Black Rock.3
Mr. Thomas Jefferson Sutherland, who had publicly
declared his intention of assisting the Patriots, claims to
have originated the plan of occupying Navy Island.4 At
least his name stands at the head of a list of ninety-seven
young men of Buffalo who pledged their “mutual support
and cooperation, for the commendable purpose of aiding
and assisting” the Canadian Patriots in their struggle for
liberty.5 This island belongs to Great Britain and is situ-
ated in Niagara River some two miles above the falls. Mr.
Rensselaer Van Rensselaer, son of General Van Rensselaer
1.	Buffalo Commercial Advertiser; Lindsey, II, 124.
2.	Mayor Trowbridge to the President, Dec. 14; Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2
Sess., Vol. Ill, No. 74, p. 31.
3.	Ibid., 31, 40.
4.	Lindsey, II, 126.
5.	Ibid., 126, note.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.	29
of Albany, was chosen Commander-in-chief of the Patriot
forces. He was represented as “a cadet of West Point” ; and
one who had received practical experience under Bolivar in
South America; neither of which representations was true.
Van Rensselaer accepted this post of honor according to his
own account, because he believed the “vast majority of the
Canadians were ready for revolution” and, if given assist-
ance in winning one battle, they would then “concentrate
their forces and do their own fighting.”1 Furthermore, he
desired as a Northerner to emulate “the chivalrous example
of the South in the case of Texas.”
The 13th day of December was chosen for the departure
to Navy Island. Mackenzie and Van Rensselaer stopped on
the way at Grand Island, some ten miles distant from Buf-
falo, where they expected to find a large body of volunteers,
the result of the previous meetings and enthusiastic expres-
sions of sympathy and assistance. But much to their sur-
prise, only twenty-four men were in readiness to accompany
them. Though disappointed, they determined to proceed;
so trusting in the good faith of friends and in Providence,
the word was given, “Push off.”2
Arriving at the island, a provisional government was
formed and a proclamation was issued signed by William L.
Mackenzie, Chairman, pro tem. The proclamation stated,
that for fifty years their government had “languished under
the blighting influence of military despots”; that the stan-
dard of liberty was raised for the attainment of a written
constitution; perpetual peace based on equal rights to all;
civil and religious liberty; abolition of hereditary honors;
a legislature of two houses chosen by the people; an execu-
tive elected by public voice; a judiciary chosen by Governor
and Senate; free trial by jury; vote by ballot; freedom of
trade; exemption from military service; “the blessings of
education to every citizen”; the opening of the St. Law-
rence to the trade of the world, and the wild lands were to
be distributed “to the industry, capital, skill, and enterprise
1.	Ibid., 128.
2.	Ibid., 131.30
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
of worthy men of all nations.5,1 While written in a bom-
bastic and highly-inflated style, the programme of govern-
ment announced in the proclamation is a worthy commen-
tary on the misrule of the provinces and the crying need of
political, constitutional and economic reform.
Eleven other names were signed with Mackenzie's to the
document as members of the Provincial Government, and
two others for “powerful reasons" were withheld “from
public view."1 2 Of these eleven persons, Lout and Duncombe
had not yet made their escape from Canada; Von Egmont
was dying from exposure in a Toronto jail; Darling re-
fused the appointment; and of the two names withheld,
probably, Rolph and Bidwell, the former still played the
double part rather leaning to the side of the Government;
while the latter denied being one of the persons designated.3
Three hundred acres of “the best of the public lands" were
offered each volunteer who would join the Patriot forces,
and as a further inducement there was added, a few days
later, the promise of “$ioo in silver, payable on or before
the first of May next."4 The reward offered for the capture
of Mackenzie was reciprocated by an offer of £500 for the
apprehension of Sir Francis Bond Head, Lieutenant-Gover-
nor of Upper Canada, that he might be “dealt with as may
appertain to justice."5
The Patriot flag with its twin stars representing the two
Canadas was unfurled to the breezes; and a government seal
showing a new moon breaking through the surrounding
darkness contained the words, “Liberty—Equality."6 Gov-
ernment bills were issued in denominations of from one to
ten dollars, and found a ready exchange on the American
side. A treasurer was appointed “to receive all moneys which
may be subscribed within the United States" in behalf of the
Patriots. Much enthusiasm was shown for the cause:
1.	Ibid., 363-369.
2.	Ibid., 365.
3.	Kingsford, X, 433.
4.	Lindsey, II, 366, 131.
5.	Ibid., 367.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i83Tj3S.
31
“deer hunts,” “exploring expeditions,” search for “red
foxes” in Canada, suddenly became the rage.1 Every im-
plement from a cannon to a drum was desired to complete
the equipment. General Cameron in a letter dated December
23d, states that the excitement is “very strong” in New York
State; that depots of men, money and arms are being formed
in all the small towns ready to move when occasion de-
mands ; that the “very women” excite the men to proceed to
the frontier; that one woman was seen casting bullets in
her own home from a mould that ran sixty at a time.2 From
another letter comes information that “munitions of war,
provisions, etc., are daily going on to the island from Buf-
falo.”3 Again word comes that forty soldiers are marching
the streets of Rochester under drum and fife; that “three-
fourths of the people” there “are encouraging and promoting
the thing” and that “seven-eighths of the people at Buffalo
and all along the lines are taking strong interest in the
cause.”4
Innumerable letters full of sympathy, offers of assistance
and enquiry, found their way to Navy Island addressed to
Mackenzie as President of the Provisional Government, or
to Van Rensselaer, Commander-in-chief of the Patriot army.5
The usual embarrassment that accompanies the outbreak of
war in the way of applications for commissions in the army
presented themselves to the Provisional Government: sur-
geons to care for the sick and wounded; engineers to con-
struct defenses; military veterans to train volunteers; mi-
litia officers of the various states seeking equivalent posi-
tions in the Patriot army, and many a one proffers his ser-
vices whose only equipment is, “an empty hand, a stout
heart, and a fair knowledge of military tactics.” Numerous
inquiries are made as to means of avoiding infringement of
the law, in the raising of troops, manufacture of cannon and
1.	Dent. Rev., June, 1838, 96.
2.	Gen. Cameron to Gen. of Militia, Toronto, Parlt. Rep. Canada, 1839,
III, 447-
3.	Scoville to Benton, Dec. 21, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess., Vol. Ill, No.
74, P- 46.
4.	Garrow to Benton, Dec. 21, ibid., 47.
5.	Lindsey, II, 133-138.32
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
in the furnishing of warlike supplies from the state arsenaL
By such means were a handful of poorly equipped men in-
creased to several hundred so fully supplied with arms, can-
non, ammunition, provisions, clothing and shelter that they
were able in the dead of winter to seize one of her Majesty’s
islands, fortify it, establish a Provisional Government;
maintain an aggressive attitude in the face of superior forces,
and finally, after a month of occupation, withdraw without
fear or hindrance.
Although there was much of the “spread eagle” in the
utterances of the orators and the press of the day and even
more exaggeration in the number of volunteers and assist-
ance furnished the Patriot cause, still there was a consider-
able amount of fact. Nor were the sympathisers composed
entirely of the mob element, mere “parcels of boys,” “per-
sons of no respectability.”1 Many citizens of high standing
both in official and private life not only expressed strong
sympathy for the cause but aided it, openly at first, then
more cautiously and secretly as the strong arm of the law
made itself manifest for the purpose of maintaining neutral-
ity.2 And though the majority of the American people stood
with the administration, and even though in the border dis-
tricts where the excitement was the strongest there was a
large conservative class that desired peace, still it needed but
a slight incident touching the honor of the nation to drive
the country to the verge of war.
IV. To the Verge of War.
On the 29th of December, an event occurred which
threatened to produce war between the United States and
England: it was the burning of the “ill-fated” steamboat
Caroline. The seizure of Navy Island gave promise of suc-
cess to the Patriot cause; as a consequence, supplies be-
1.	Wm. Symon to Gov. Marcy, Dec. 14, 1837, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess.,
Vol. Ill, No. 74, p. 36.
2.	Sir Geo. Arthur to Gen. McGomb, Oct. 22, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong.
3 Sess., Vol. IV, No. 181, Part 2, p. 24.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-3&
38
came plentiful, though there was difficulty in securing trans-
portation of goods and men from the shore to the island.
The need of a steamer was felt; so a Mr. Wells of Buffalo,
the owner of a small boat of forty-six tons capacity, was
prevailed upon to put her into service. Security having been
furnished by seventeen men of means in the city, the steamer
Caroline was cut out of the ice by a large body of men on
December 28th; received clearance from the collector of
the port; and under the command of a lake sailor named
Appleby, began service with the ostensible purpose of run-
ning from Buffalo to Schlosser, Black Rock, Tonawanda,
Grand Island and Navy Island, “carrying passengers,
freight, etc.,” with the view “of making money.”1
The next day, the Caroline left Buffalo for a trip down
the river, stopping at Black Rock where the American flag
was run up;2 and then touching at Navy Island where
“several passengers and some freight were landed,” she
proceeded to Schlosser.3 During the afternoon two trips
were made from Schlosser to Navy Island “conveying pas-
sengers and freight.”4 At six o’clock in the evening, the
Caroline was made fast to the dock at Schlosser for the
night. The crew and officers numbering ten, and twenty-
three other persons unable to find accommodations at the
inn, lodged on board the steamer, little dreaming of the fate
awaiting them before morning.5
The movements of the Caroline, however, had not es-
caped the notice of the British. Rumor had found its way
to Colonel McNab who had charge of the loyalist forces
across the river at Chippewa that the “Caroline was going
to be run between Schlosser and Navy Island.”6 Two offi-
cers were commanded to watch her movements; they re-
ported having seen her “land a cannon and several men
armed and equipped as soldiers.” Believing the steamboat
1.	Kingsford, X, 437; Lindsey, II, 145; sworn statements, Ex. Doc. 25
Cong. 2 Sess., No. 302, pp. 38, 15.
2.	Ibid., 17, 39.
3.	Ibid., 17.
4- Ibid., 46.
5.	Ibid., 17.
6.	Lindsey, II, 145, note.34
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
to be the property of the insurgents on Navy Island and to
be engaged in conveying men and munitions of war for the
injury of the provinces, Colonel McNab determined to
destroy her.1 Turning to Captain Drew he said: “This
won’t do. I say, Drew, do you think you can cut that vessel
out?” “Nothing was easier,” replied Drew, “but it was to
be done at night.” “Well, then, go and do it,” commanded
McNab. “These,” says Drew, “were literally all the orders
I ever received.”2
Captain Drew decided to carry out his instructions that
very night: volunteers were called for, “who would follow
him to the Devil.”3 Seven boats were prepared, each con-
taining four men to row, and three or four to be available
for the attack. This force started from the mouth of the
Chippewa river; went up the shore a short distance; then,
Captain Drew, calling the boats about him, told the men for
the first time the nature of the expedition and the danger
involved; they were to follow close to him, keeping away
from Navy Island lest they draw upon them the fire from
the men on the island, and were all to meet on the shore
above Schlosser.4 Two of the boats, however, being dis-
covered were fired upon, whereupon they withdrew, taking
no further part in the affair; the other five pushed boldly
out into the channel. The swift current surged against their
boats threatening to draw them into the rapids; for a time
there was terrible anxiety; but after a while a light from the
steamer became visible, and by it the men learned they were
making progress. They soon came upon a small island that
intervened and protected them from the view of the steamer.
On reaching the head of the island they found themselves
some forty yards from shore and two hundred from the
1.	Ibid., 146; Parlt. Rep. Canada, 1838, 89.
2.	Account of Admiral Drew, Kingsford, X, 437.
3.	Sir F. Bond Head to Lord Glenelg, Feb. 9, 1838, Parlt. Reports, Canada,
1839, III, 466.
4.	Arnold’s Narrative, Dent, II, 215. In the preparations for the attack
upon the Caroline, the facts seem to indicate that Captain Drew knew that the
vessel was at Schlosser, rather than at Navy Island. It is difficult to harmonize
his official statement made some time after the affair with his instructions and
with the movements of the boats, or with certain private accounts.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837J38.
35
vessel. The moon was still shining; the vessel lay peace-
fully at her moorings; all was quiet; evidently, no attack
was expected.
It being considered prudent, they remained quiet till the
moon had set; and then dropping quietly down the stream,
scarcely dipping the oars and, without a whisper, they ap-
proached the steamer.1 -When within fifteen or twenty
yards of the Caroline the sentinel called out, “Boat ahoy!
Boat ahoy! Who comes there?” “A friend,” was the reply
from the boats. “Give the countersign,” called out the sen-
tinel. ‘Til give it you when we get on board,” responded
Captain Drew as he came alongside and boarded the vessel.2
Then followed a scene so utterly confusing that all the
facts cannot be obtained even from the voluminous mass of
conflicting testimony. The shot of the pistol and the stroke
of the cutlass mingled with the fierce oaths of the combatants
and the deep groans of the wounded. The conflict was
brief; the sleepers on board the boat, entirely unconscious of
the premeditated attack, were easily overcome. The melee
over, the Caroline was loosed from her moorings; towed
into the stream; set on fire, and allowed to drift towards
the falls ;3 a beautiful sight as she ever more swiftly glided,
all ablaze, down the rapids, until lost to view, as she sank
beneath the surface or was carried over the falls into the
fathomless gulf below.4
Their task accomplished, Captain Drew and his men took
to their boats. A huge fire on the Canadian shore furnished
a beacon to light them across the river. The object of their
expedition being made known a vast throng assembled on
shore to welcome the return with “three of the heartiest
cheers ever given.”5 The British Government approved the
1.	Kingsford, X, 436-440; Marsh, “Narrative of a Patriot Exile,” 8.
2.	Sir F. B. Head to Lord Glenelg, Feb. 9, 1838.
3.	See Evidence, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess., No. 302, pp. 18, 19, 26, 29,
40, 41, 62.
4.	It appears from the statements of Hon. L. F. Allen, Van Rensselaer
and others, that a portion of the vessel containing the engine sank in the river,
while a portion went over the falls. The figurehead was picked up near Lewis-
ton by Jack Jewett and is now in the possession of the Buffalo Historical
Society.
5.	Kingsford, X, 441.36
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
act; and conferred upon Colonel McNab the honor of
knighthood; while the Provincial Assembly “tendered its
thanks to the men engaged in the expedition and granted
swords of honor to Colonel McNab and Captain Drew.”1
Very differently was the destruction of the Caroline re-
ceived throughout the United States. Scarcely had the at-
tack commenced before the neighboring citizens began flock-
ing to the scene of action. At the sight of the burning vessel,
a thrilling cry ran round, that there were living souls on
board; and many fancied that even in the midst of the tre-
mendous roar of the great cataract they could hear the wail
of the dying wretches hopelessly perishing by the “double
horrors of a fate which nothing could avert.”2 The people
were horrified at the deed. Governor Marcy in a special
message to the Legislature stated that the thirty-three per-
sons on board “were suddenly attacked at midnight, after
they had retired to repose, and probably more than one-
third of them wantonly massacred.”3 President Van Buren
in a message to Congress stated that “an outrage of the most
aggravated character has been committed, accompanied by a
hostile though temporary invasion of our territory, pro-
ducing the strongest feelings of resentment on the part of
our citizens” ;4 and a letter from Secretary of State Forsyth
to Mr. Fox, the British minister to Washington, said that
“the destruction of property and the assassination of citizens
of the United States” would “necessarily form the subject
of a demand for redress upon her Majesty’s Government.”5
General Scott was ordered to the “Canadian frontier.”6 The
state militia of New York and Vermont were called out for
the purpose of protecting “the frontier of the United
States.”7 Affidavits were taken from the survivors of those
on board the Caroline; and a bill for murder was drawn up
1.	Read, “The Rebellion of 1837,” 344.
2.	Democratic Review, June, 1838, 98.
3.	Gov. Marcy to State Legislature, Jan. 2, 1838. Niles, LIII, 339.
4.	President's Message, Jan. 8, 1838.
5.	Forsyth to Fox, Jan. 5, 1838. Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess., IX, No.
302, 2.
6.	Poinsett to Gen. Scott, Jan. 5, 1838. Niles, LIII, 309.
7.	Poinsett to Gov. Marcy, Jan. 5, 1838, ibid.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-’3*-
37
against twelve persons supposed to have taken part in the
“murder of Amos Durfee and others, on board the steamboat
Caroline.”1
For the moment war seemed imminent; but the sincere
desire of the Administration to avoid hostilities with Eng-
land, and the efficient management of General Scott on the
frontier, together with the delay necessary to secure all the
evidence, and to carry on an extended correspondence witli
the British Government, allowed the public temper time to
cool.2 Thus the matter of “reparation and atonement” de-
manded from England remained for several years undis-
posed of, neither government being quite sure of its grounds.
In the meantime, the facts became better known; only one
person, Amos Durfee, was found to have been killed; though
others seem never to have been accounted for.3
The question of international law became involved: as to
whether the Canadians had a right, the questionable purpose
of the Caroline being known to them, to seize and destroy
the vessel in the waters of the United States; the Govern-
ment at Washington, though claiming that under no inter-
pretation of international law was the act justifiable in the
face of the evidence, still hesitated to push its claims ;4 while
the British Government, for the time being, neither dis-
claimed nor affirmed the act except in an unofficial way;5
the demands for an explanation and reparation, not being
urged, remained unanswered, until the whole matter was
suddenly reopened by the arrest and trial of a British sub-
ject, Alexander McLeod, by the State of New York.
McLeod had foolishly boasted of having taken part in
the expedition for cutting out the Caroline; and had even
confessed to the killing of Durfee, the one person found
dead upon the dock after the seizure of the Caroline.6 This
1.	Bill for Murder, Niagara General Sessions, Jan. 23, 1838. Ex. Doc.
25 Cong. 3 Sess., IX, No. 302, 31.
2.	Fox to Forsyth, Feb. 16, 1838. Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess., IV, No.
183, 2.
3.	Stevenson to Lord Palmerston, May 22, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess.,
No. 183, p. 4.
4.	Ibid., 6.
5.	Fox to Forsyth, Feb. 6, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess., No. 302, p. 3.
6.	Testimony of Norman Barnum, Ibid., 27.38
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
gasconading was not forgotten by the people of New York;
for on his crossing to the United States, he was arrested at
Lewiston, Nov. 12, 1840; indicted at the Niagara general
session, in February, 1841; charged with the murder of
Amos Durfee; and placed in Lockport jail to await trial.1
The English Government through its minister, Mr. Fox,
demanded his immediate release on the ground that “the
destruction of the steamboat Caroline was a public act of
persons in her Majesty’s service, obeying the orders of their
superior authorities”; and that according to the “usages of
nations” the act was subject to the discussion of the two
national governments alone, and could “not justly be made
the ground of legal proceedings.”2 In reply, Mr. Forsyth
informed the British minister that the President was “unable
to recognize the validity” of the demand ; that the jurisdic-
tion of the several states was “perfectly independent of the
Federal Government”; that the question arose out of “a most
unjustifiable invasion,” the destruction of a steamboat, and
“the murder of one or more American citizens”; that if the
destruction of the Caroline “was a public act of persons—
obeying the orders of their superior authorities,” the fact had
not before been communicated to the United States Govern-
ment “by a person authorized to make the admission.”3
McLeod after his imprisonment at Lockport was brought
before the Supreme Court of New York by writ of habeas
corpus, and his discharge was asked for on the ground that
whatever part he had taken in the Caroline affair had been
done under orders from his Government. The court refused
to discharge him on the ground that the proceedings of the
British in coming into New York territory to seize the
steamer were unlawful; and that the man in custody having
killed another in New York territory was guilty of murder.4
This holding of the court was severely criticised by some of
the leading legal authorities of the country.5
1.	25 Wendell, 483.
2.	Fox to Forsyth, Dec. 13, 1840, 25 Wendell, 500.
3.	Ibid., 502.
4.	Ibid., 596; J. B. Angell, “Lectures on Public International Law,” 62.
5.	Review by Judge Tallmadge, 25 Wend., 663; Append., Webster’s
works, V, 129.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
39
Pending the trial a change of administration took place:
the Democrats went out and the Whigs came in under Har-
rison and Tyler; Secretary of State Forsyth gave way to
Daniel Webster. The British Government boldly renewed
its demand for “the immediate release” of McLeod and ad-
vised the President “to take into his most deliberate consid-
eration the serious nature of the consequences which must
ensue, from a rejection” of the demands.1 Pretty strong
language had been used in some of the notes from her
Majesty’s Government which Webster in his reply called to
the attention of the British minister: he emphatically denied
that the American sympathizers were “American pirates,” or
that they had been “permitted to arm and organize them-
selves within the territory of the United States.” He said
that on a frontier “long enough to divide the whole of Eng-
land into halves” violences might sometimes occur “equally
against the will of both countries and that such things might
happen in the United States, without any reproach to the
Government, “since their institutions entirely discourage the
keeping up of large standing armies in time of peace”; that
their situation happily exempted them “from the necessity
of maintaining such expensive and dangerous establish-
ments.” He further said that the prime movers in all these
border raids were British subjects who came to our citizens,
seeking to enlist their sympathies “by all the motives which
they are able to address to them.” Webster held that Mc-
Leod could not be released because he was on trial for mur-
der; that his case must be disposed of in accordance with
the methods of legal procedure, and that while he was
willing to accept the public character of the Caroline affair,
he did not think it could be justified by “any reasonable ap-
plication or construction of the right of self-defence under
the laws of nations”; that if such things were allowed to
occur, “they must lead to bloody and exasperated war”;
that to justify the act, her Majesty’s Government must show
“a necessity of self-defence, instant, overwhelming, leaving
no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation,” that
“daylight could not be waited for”; that there “was neces-
i. Fox to Webster, March 12, 1841; Webster’s works, VI, 247.40
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
sity, present and inevitable, for attacking her in the darkness
of the night, while moored to the shore, and while unarmed
men were asleep on board, killing some and wounding
others, and then drawing her into the current above the
cataract, setting her on fire, and, careless to know whether
there might not be in her the innocent with the guilty, or the
living with the dead, committing her to a fate which fills the
imagination with horror!” “A necessity for all this,” wrote
Webster, “the Government of the United States cannot be-
lieve to have existed.”1
In the midst of such serious correspondence came the
trial of McLeod. It was held in the Circuit Court of the
state of New York at Utica, and lasted from the 4th to the
8th day of October, 1841. Excitement ran high; and so so-
licitous was the General Government that a fair trial take
place, that the Attorney-General, Mr. Crittenden, was sent
to manage the defense, and General Scott, of the United
States army, to protect the prisoner “from popular vio-
lence.”2
On behalf of the prosecution three witnesses swore that
they saw McLeod enter one of the boats that made up the
expedition to cut out the Caroline; one that he saw him re-
turn ; two that they heard him admit being present; three
declared that he had killed one man; one that he had ad-
mitted the killing of Durfee. An alibi was set up by the
defense, and several witnesses swore that he was not of the
number that made up the expedition.3 Whether he was
guilty or not the jury declared him not guilty. Thus the
Federal Government was relieved from embarrassment, and
the danger of war was again averted. Now that the popular
clamor for a trial had been satisfied the State government no
doubt was glad to be relieved from a position that could not
be sustained in the light of the best authorities on public or
international law.4
To avoid similar difficulties in the future, Congress
1.	Webster to Fox, April 24, 1841, Webster’s works, VI, 250.
2.	Benton, “Thirty Years View,” II, 286; Mrs. C. Coleman, “Life of
Crittenden,” 149.
3.	Lindsey, II, 161; “The Trial of McLeod.”
4.	See Citations, Webster’s works, VI, 266, 268.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j&-
41
passed an act, Aug. 29, 1842, whereby such cases might be
brought before the federal courts.1 The same year saw an
adjustment of the Caroline affair. Mr. Webster in a note to
Lord Ashburton spoke of the matter as “a wrong and an
offence to the sovereignty and dignity of the United States,
being a violation of their soil and territory; a wrong for
which to this day, no atonement, or even apology, has been
made.”2 To which Lord Ashburton made immediate reply
that “the British officers who executed this transaction, and
their government who approved it, intended no slight or
disrespect to the sovereign authority of the United States”;
that what was to be most regretted was, “that some explana-
tion and apology for this occurrence was not immediately
made.”3 Here the matter ended, being swallowed up in the
weightier matters that went to make up the treaty of Wash-
ingtrn; and if reparation was wanting for the Caroline it
found plentiful compensation in the territory gained by the
settlement of the northeast boundary line.4
V. Evacuation.
Whether or not the destruction of the Caroline was justi-
fiable its rashness can scarcely be exaggerated. There is
little to commend the deed except the halo that must ever
surround the successful accomplishment of a bold and daring
feat. The two governments were agreed as to the suppres-
sion of hostile invasion; the steamer had made but three
trips to Navy Island, all in the afternoon of the first day out
from Buffalo; no time had been taken to inform the United
States Government concerning the boat, or time to allow the
proper authorities to arrest her movements: furthermore, at
the time of the attack, Navy Island contained less than 200
men,5 while the British forces numbered about 1600 who
1.	Revised Statutes, Secs. 752-754.
2.	Webster’s works, VI, 292.
3.	Ibid., 294, 300.
4.	Hopkins, “The Progress of Canada in the Century,” 270.
5.	Private letters of Nelson Gorham, Dent, II, 193, note.42
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
might with more consistency have taken possession of the
island,1 and thereby have avoided an occasion for great na-
tional offence. The effect was likewise miscalculated; for
according to Sir Francis Bond Head: “Before it took place
American 'Sympathy’ for our absconded Traitors was un-
bridled and unchecked”; but no sooner was “the Caroline
in Flames than a sudden Excitement prevailed, but it was
the Excitement of Fear. The Women fled from the Villages
on the Coast, People who had fancied themselves bed-ridden
decamped, and the Citizens of Buffalo evinced the greatest
possible Consternation for the Safety of their Town.”2
True there was excitement but it was of the kind that begot
a spirit of retaliation; a kind that augmented rather than
assuaged the spirit of war and border raid. John Doyle, a
reviewer of Sir Francis Bond Head’s “Narrative” in the
Westminster Review, says that “there was not the slightest
danger till the destruction of the Caroline; that there was
no necessity for that act, and that it could not have taken
place had Sir Francis at the outset done his duty in crush-
ing the invasion; that that act, in truth, created all the danger
which ever did exist.”3
The forces on Navy Island, hitherto made up largely of
Canadian refugees, were rapidly increased by Americans to
triple their numbers ;4 city after city vied with one another
in its enthusiastic support of the Patriot cause; the state
militia of New York, called out to maintain peace, threat-
ened for the moment to go over in a body to Navy Island
and join the Patriot army ;5 even Congress felt the influence
of the wave of popular sentiment that swept over the
country.6
The logic of events moved westward, and for a time
1.	Lindsey, II, 164; F. B. Head to Sir J. Colborne, Dec. 26, 1837, i*1
Parlt. Reports, Canada, 1838, 74.
2.	Sir F. B. Head to Lord Glenelg, Feb. 9, 1838, in Parlt. Reports, Canada,
1839, III, 467.
3.	Westminster Review, XXXII, 239; Joseph B. Bishop, “Our Political
Drama,” 112-113.
4.	Gen. R. Van Rensselaer to his father, Jan. 4, 1838, Bonney, “Legacy of
Historical Gleanings,” II.
5.	Lindsey, II, 153.
6.	Report of Committee on Foreign Affairs, Feb. 13, 1841, 2d Sess. 26
Cong., No. 162.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38.
43
Detroit became the chief center of action. The city hall was
thrown open for public meetings in behalf of the Patriot
cause; the Patriot Army of the Northwest was organized,
with Henry S. Handy, as commander-in-chief, having au-
thority over the whole of western Canada; James M. Wilson,
as major-general; E. J. Roberts of Detroit, as brigadier-
general of the first brigade; Dr. Edward Alexander Theller,
formerly of Montreal, as brigadier-general, to command the
first brigade of French and Irish troops to be raised in
Canada. Colonels were appointed; the staff was organized;
and the council of war made preparations for invasion.1
The proceeds of the Detroit theater were devoted by Man-
ager McKinney to the cause; here, also, on New Year’s
day, 1838, a public meeting was held at which money and
arms were subscribed. Four days later the jail was forced;
the jailor overpowered, and 450 muskets, stored there for
safe keeping by the authorities, were taken and appropriated
by the Patriots.2
So open and outspoken did the Patriots become in their
project that the “friendly” governor of Michigan was
obliged quietly to intimate to Commander-in-chief Handy
that “he should be obliged to disperse the Patriot forces, and
that they must move to some other place.”3 They decided to
move; the steamboat McComb and the schooner Anne were
secured; arms, munitions and provisions were put upon the
schooner, and the troops were to be put upon the steamer
which was to take in tow the schooner. Before the steamer
was ready she was seized by General Brady of the United
States army and a guard placed over her.4 The steamboat
Brady was then contracted for; but she too was seized. Not
to be baffled, General Handy ordered General Wilson to take
the troops under cover of night to Gibraltar, across from
Fort Malden, at the mouth of the Detroit river; and to
tow the schooner Anne down the river with yawl-boats.
That night the schooner was rowed down stream to the
1.	Lindsey, II, 168; Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 521.
2.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., Vol. XXI, 522.
3.	Lindsey, II, 168.
4.	Ibid., 169.44
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
River Rouge, where a sail was procured; and, under com-
mand of Colonel Davis, she started towards Gibraltar, but
meeting the steamer United States, Colonel Davis took alarm
and returned to Detroit.1
The following day, January 6th, General Handy ordered
Colonel Davis of Mount Clements to take his two companies
of riflemen to Peach Island, six miles above Detroit, where
he would meet him the next day. Again word came from
Governor Mason that “he and the Brady Guards would prob-
ably be at Gibraltar on the 18th, from which point he should
be obliged to disperse the troops.” On receiving this infor-
mation General Handy sent orders to Brigadier-General
Roberts, that on the morning before the Governor should
arrive, he should place the arms and munition on board the
Anne; and the troops on board sloops, scows, yawl-boats
and canoes; that he should make a landing at Bois Blanc
Island; and unload all from the Anne except three cannon
and thirty men under Colonel Davis to man them; that he
should throw up temporary fortifications; prepare the
schooner for action; and, on the morning of the 9th, run up
the tri-colored flag, and demand the surrender of Fort
Malden; that in case of refusal to surrender, the fort
should be carried by storm. General Handy proposed at the
same time to move with Colonel Davis’s troops; seize the
public stores at Sandwich and Windsor; then march to Mal-
den and assume command.2
These plans, however, were destined to interruption from
an unexpected source. General Rensselaer Van Rensselaer
in planning larger things than the seizure of Navy Island,
had on the 28th of December ordered Brigadier-General
Sutherland to Detroit to “promote every arrangement for
making a descent upon Canada.”3 The general set out at
once; stopped at Cleveland; raised troops; secured the
steamboat Erie; and on arriving at Gibraltar claimed from
General Roberts, by virtue of his instructions, the chief corn-
1.	John Prince to Gov. Mason, Jan. 6, 1838, Parlt. Reports, Canada.
2.	Lindsey, II, 170.
3.	Ibid., 167, note.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38-
45
mand.1 General Handy being informed of the situation
hastened to Gibraltar; and after some difficulty adjusted
matters by giving Sutherland the command provided he
* ‘would implicitly obey the orders of the Commander-in-chief
sent to General Roberts” until he himself should reach the
island. This being assented to, Sutherland assumed com-
mand, placing General Theller in charge of the schooner
Anne.2
Meanwhile opposition was brewing at Detroit: a public
meeting of the leading citizens was held at the city hall;
addresses were made; and resolutions passed “to sustain
the Government in its efforts to preserve neutrality.”3 Gov-
ernor Mason deemed it proper to act: the militia were called
out; the arsenal at Dearborn drawn on for arms, munitions,
and accoutrements; and the “armed militia, with eight
rounds of ball cartridges each, embarked” with the osten-
sible purpose of arresting the rebels and preventing “any
breaches of international peace.”4 The expedition left
Detroit about ten o’clock; and after getting under way, the
soldiers “stacked arms” on deck; reclined at ease, and dined
“in true military style on bread and raw salt pork.”5 On
arriving at Gibraltar, the governor and staff spent an hour
on shore, then returned; and the boats put out for Detroit.
Next day the Morning Post published the following account
of the expedition: “Killed, none; wounded, one man in the
cheek by handling his musket carelessly; missing, none;
army, 400 stand; ammunition, eight rounds of ball and
buckshot cartridge; provisions, several barrels of pork and
bread. Losses of the enemy not known, as he had not been
seen, but supposed to be heavy.”6 Such was the character
of state interference to Canadian invasion in the West just
after the burning of the Caroline.
1.	Ibid., 171.
2.	Ibid., 171; Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 522.
3.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 522.
4.	Ibid., 523; ibid., XII, 417; Adj. Gen. Schwartz to Authorities at
Sandwich, U. C., Jan. 8, 1838.
5.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XII, 417.
6.	Ibid., 418; ibid., XXI, 522, 523. “This movement was not attended
with any good results.” J. Price, Parlt. Reports, Canada, 1838, p. 108, note 2.46	RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
Though highly favored so far as state action was con-
cerned, nevertheless, the expedition against Fort Malden
was destined to prove abortive. Either by adverse winds
or through disobedience of orders, Sugar Island rather than
Bois Blanc was made the place of landing. From here on
the 9th, General Sutherland with sixty volunteers proceed-
ed to Bois Blanc Island; hoisted the tri-colored flag; and
issued a proclamation to the “Patriot Citizens of Upper Can-
ada/’ calling upon them by the voice of their “bleeding”
country to rally around the “standard of Liberty.”1 The
schooner Anne was ordered to move round the island in
front of Fort Malden. In attempting to carry out orders
the schooner, becoming unmanageable, drifted toward the
main shore where she was beached.2 The Canadian militia
opened fire on her; boarded her, and took possession of the
whole outfit.3 General Sutherland, on discovering the fate
of the schooner, took fright and, in spite of the protest of his
men who wished to rescue the boat, cried out, “Away to
Sugar Island! Fly, fly, fly, all is lost !”4
The next day General Handy arrived; and by vote of
the troops took command, hoping to retrieve the Patriot mis-
fortunes. He remained several days on Sugar Island, drill-
ing the troops, while awaiting new military supplies from
Detroit; but no supplies came; and the ice, filling the river
in large quantities, threatened to cut off his means of es-
cape. Under these circumstances the friendly Governor of
Michigan was petitioned for assistance. The Governor re-
sponded to the call; proceeded to Gibraltar with the avowed
purpose of dispersing the rebels ; met General Handy there
and then proceeded to Sugar Island with the steamer Erie;
transported the troops to the main shore; receipted for the
arms taken; and returned to Detroit.5
Still undaunted, preparations were immediately begun
1.	Lindsey, II, 172, note.
2.	Ibid., 173.
3.	Col. Radcliffe to Military Sec. Strachan, Jan. 10, 1838; Head to Glenelg,
March 17, 1838, Parlt. Reports, Canada, 1838.
4.	Lindsey, II, 173; Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 523.
5.	Lindsey, II, 177.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
47
for a third attempt upon Fort Malden. The troops housed
in canal shanties near Gibraltar were drilled for some days
without arms, the attempts to furnish them having been
frustrated by the vigilance of the United States marshal and
the federal troops under General Brady. The Governor and
state militia seem to have entered into a plot at this time to
assist the Patriots. Six hundred of the militia were called
out to enforce the neutrality laws; one half of them had
their headquarters at the city hall in Detroit. The night
they received their arms they are supposed to have stacked
them in the outer porch of the hall for the purpose of having
them seized by Handy’s men who were to become volunteers
in the paid service of the state while they prepared for the
attack on Fort Malden.1 This project also failed; for
Sutherland, the rival general, seized the arms and secreted
them; but they were retaken on the following day. As a
result General Brady’s suspicions were aroused, and the
militia were no longer trusted with arms. “Thus,” says
Handy in his manuscript report, “was the third and last
arrangement to carry out the campaign broken up by treach-
ery or ignorance.”2
In the meantime changes were taking place at the Patriot
headquarters in the East. Navy Island had been possessed
by the Patriots with the intent of soon crossing over to join
their forces with those of Dr. Duncombe in the West.3 Dr.
Duncombe, whom we have already noted,4 had followed
Mackenzie in his method of organization: a provisional com-
mittee had been formed; secret meetings held; a military
leader chosen with the view of assembling at Brantford;
from which place they were to make a descent upon Hamil-
ton.5 Like the other uprisings in Canada his followers were
poorly organized and without arms; and on the approach of
Colonel McNab after the defeat of Mackenzie near Toronto
they withdrew westward, and the attempt at revolt was sup-
pressed without bloodshed; the leaders crossed over into
1.	Ibid., 178.
2.	Ibid., 179.
3.	Lindsey, II, 165.
4.	Chap. ii.
5.	Kingsford, X, 419.48
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
the United States; while their followers either joined Mc-
Nab’s forces or petitioned him for clemency on promise of
humble submission.1
Dr. Duncombe’s effort at revolution having proved futile,
the main purpose for which Navy Island had been seized
disappeared. Although the Patriot forces on the island had
rapidly increased since the destruction of the Caroline, they
still were too few in number and too poorly equipped in cer-
tain respects, to make a successful invasion. The vastly
superior forces on the mainland, protected by strong for-
tifications; the vigilance of United States authorities who
circumvented in one way or another the Patriots’ plans; the
impossibility of procuring the means of transportation, be-
cause, says General Van Rensselaer, “General Scott’s money-
bags were too heavy for us,” led the Patriots to give up the
idea of invading Canada from Navy Island.2 “These brave
men,” says General Van Rensselaer, “stayed on Navy Island,
for a month, left it, and not in fear of their opponents.”3
The British across the river loudly boasted of the ease and
swiftness with which they would rid her Majesty’s territory
of the “Pirates”; they gathered troops; secured boats of
various kinds, sufficient to transport their entire forces to
the island; made threats of attack, delayed; called in their
Indian and Negro allies; made more boasts, more threats;
but still hesitated, seemingly awed by a fear entirely out of
keeping with the usual military skill and daring of Canadian
soldiers.4
The seizure of the island by the Patriots; the readiness
with which provisions and munitions of war were furnished
for maintaining the position ;5 the fear inspired in the
enemy; and the ease and safety with which the evacuation
was accomplished, mark the Navy Island campaign as the
fnost successful of any in the history of the rebellion.
1.	Petition, Parlt. Reports, Canada, 1838, No. 19, 77; Head’s Dispatches,
Dec. 28, 1837.
2.	“Narrative of Van Rensselaer,” Mrs. Bonney, “Legacy of Hist. Glean-
ings,” II, ch. iv, Jan. 18, 1838; “Autobiography of Gen. Scott,” I, 314.
3.	“Narrative of Van Rensselaer.”
4.	Westminster Review, XXXII, 239; “Reminiscences of Chas. Durand,”
508,514.
5.	Dr. Johnson to Van Rensselaer, Jan. 4, 1838.BRITISH INVASION OF NAVY ISLAND.” A CARTOON OF 1838TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-’3&
49
Whether the success of this exploit was due to the timidity
of the enemy ;* or to the military skill of the inexperienced
general in command;1 2 3 or to the timely and wholesome in-
structions of the senior Van Rensselaer, whose military
ability is well known ;8 or to the good sense of the executive
committee at Buffalo, is difficult to determine. One thing is
certain: that finding the forces at the island insufficient in
numbers, and lacking in certain essential means for a per-
manent invasion of Canada, the executive committee exer-
cised the rare good judgrhent to order a withdrawal from the
island.4 The evacuation took place without molestation,
Jan. 14, 1838.5
Withdrawal from Navy Island, however, did not mean
the abandonment of the campaign; for before leaving, a
general plan seems to have been formed whereby invasions
at various points along the border from Michigan to Ver-
mont were to be made simultaneously.6 * The date chosen
for these invasions was Washington’s birthday; and some
of the places designated as the points from which these
incursions were to be made were: Detroit, Sandusky, Water-
town, and the region of Plattsburg.
The first point of attack was Fighting Island, a Canadian
island some seven miles below Detroit. On the night of
Feb. 23, 1838, the movement began; the steamboat Erie
took on board supplies at Detroit and steamed down to the
island. General Sutherland, having addressed a body of
Patriots at the Eagle tavern offering them “land and glory,”
marched them down to the shore opposite the island where
they were joined by 400 troops from Cleveland under Gen-
1.	Van Rensselaer, “Narrative.”
2.	Ibid.; Nelson Gorham to editor Cayuga Patriot, March 7, 1838.
3.	Letters of father to son, Mrs. Bonney, “Legacy of Hist. Gleanings,” II,
ch. iv.
4.	Van Rensselaer to his father, Jan. 8, 1838, ibid; E. G. Lindsey, “Navy
Island Campaign,” 10; Lindsey, II, 164.
5.	Col. Hughes to Gen. Scott, Jan. 16, 1838; Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess.,
No. 181, p. 30; Van Rensselaer, “Narrative.”
6.	Van Rensselaer to father, Jan. 8; Dem. Rev., June, 1838, 101; Lindsey,
II, 181; Niles, LIV, 20; LIII, 409; Head to Lord Glenelg, March 14, 1838,
Parlt. Rep., Canada, No. 33.50
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
eral Donald McLeod. They crossed over to Fighting Island;
but were poorly equipped for fighting, the arms they were
expecting to arrive having been captured by the authorities
the previous night.1 The Canadian authorities, being in-,
formed of the movement, assembled their troops; crossed
over on the ice February 25th; and soon dispersed the
invaders.2
Two days later the Patriot forces under General Van
Rensselaer advanced from Watertown, in Jefferson County,
New York. Through the influence of messengers sent to all
parts of the country nearly 1500 men were gathered at
French Creek, a stream which enters the St. Lawrence some
distance below Kingston. To aid this corps, the arsenals at
Watertown, Batavia and Elizabethtown had been plun-
dered.3 Thus equipped, Hickory Island, a Canadian island,
but a short distance below Kingston, was seized. By cor-
respondence Mackenzie had arranged an uprising on the
part of the Canadians to cooperate with the army of inva-
sion. “Fort Henry was garrisoned by civilians; a person
in the fort had agreed to spike the guns, on the approach of
the Patriots, and at a concerted signal to throw open the
gates for their admittance.”4 But this expedition planned
with such care was destined to prove a failure. A rivalry
which had begun between the two leaders on Navy Island
deepened into open hostility: Mackenzie would take no part
in the expedition if Van Rensselaer led it. “I cannot,” says
Mackenzie, “sail in a boat to be piloted as he thinks fit.”5
He even went so far as to insert notices in the papers dis-
claiming all association with Van Rensselaer and urging his
friends “to withdraw all confidence from him in matters con-
nected with Canada.”6 On the other hand Van Rensselaer
1.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 529.
2.	Ibid., 531; Head to Lord Glenelg, March 20, 1838, Parlt. Rep., Canada,
No. 43; Dem. Rev., June, 1838.
3.	Dem. Rev., June, 1838, 102; Gov. Marcy’s Proclamation, March 1, 1838;
Niles, LIV, 19.
4.	Lindsey, II, 182.	c
5.	Ibid., 181; Van Rensselaer, “Narrative.”
6.	Mackenzie to editor of Jeffersonian, Feb. 22, 1838; Watertown papers,
Feb. 17, 1838.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-'3%.
51
was bent on control of the expedition. This quarrel of the
leaders, and the dissipation of the Patriot commander during
the several days’ stay on the island filled the troops with
distrust; they began leaving in squads; and but few could
be prevailed upon to persevere; as a consequence the enter-
prise was abandoned.1
The third movement upon Canada was under the com-
mand of Doctors Nelson and Cote, and took place on the
last day of February. The events connected with it have
already been recited and need no further comment.2
The last of these futile expeditions took place on the
north-western frontier, and was not terminated without
bloodshed. A strong body of men composed of the numer-
ous bands that had previously dispersed found a rendezvous
at Sandusky Bay; and about March 1st, took possession of
Pelee Island, situated in Lake Erie some fifty miles south-
east of Detroit. This island, which belongs to Canada, is
the largest of the Put-in-Bay group, being nine miles in
length, and containing 11,000 acres of land.3 Here the raw
recruits increased by squads from the various parts of
Michigan, Canada, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to
several hundred men, spent two days in constant drilling
under the leadership of George Van Rensselaer, a relative
of the Van Rensselaer of Navy Island fame, and General
Sutherland.4 The ice on the lake was about fifteen inches
thick from shore to shore. A large number of sympathizing
spectators had crossed over in sleighs from the vicinity of
Sandusky to view the contemplated invasion of Canada.5
The arms which were to be furnished for the expedition by
Colonel John L. Vreeland, the “master of ordnances/’ failed
to appear; the experience of Fighting Island was repeated;
the United States authorities had captured all the arms but
one sleigh load.6
X. Niles, LIV, 19.
2.	Chap. iii.
3.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 534.
4.	Ibid., 535-
5.	Ibid., 534; see also report of Col. E. D. Bradley to Gen. McLeod, T. E.
Wing, “History of Monroe County, Michigan,” 204.
6.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 537.52
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
More arms were sent for but in the meantime the British
becoming aware of the intrusion upon their territory made
ready to attack the invaders. Colonel Maitland moved his
whole force, consisting of “two guns, five companies of
regulars, and about 200 militia and Indians, of which forty
were cavalry” to a point opposite the rebels; and at two
o’clock in the morning on the third of March started across
the ice for the island.1 At an early hour the Patriot scouts
announced the approach of the red-coats. A council of war
was called; some of the wiser heads advised immediate
retreat; but the majority clamored for war; they had come
“to fight,” and wanted “to have the fun of it.”2
Meanwhile the loyalists were advancing: the regulars
to the west shore of the island; the cavalry to the east shore;
while the militia landing on the north shore swept across the
island. On the south end nearest the American shore the
Patriots were formed in line, with less than 200 guns for the
entire force.3 The armed men were placed in front, the un-
armed back of them ready to seize the guns of any comrades
that fell, and thus arranged, they awaited the attack of the
British. Nor had they long to wait, for the British regulars
circling round the island were soon upon them; while the
militia crowded upon their back. A brisk engagement with
the regulars soon took place in which the Patriots, consid-
ering their meagre equipments, conducted themselves with
rare courage. They disentangled themselves from the net
that had been set for them, and withdrew to the mainland
with but a comparatively small loss. Major Hoadley, Cap-
tains Van Rensselaer and McKeon, with a few privates were
killed ;4 while the British regulars sustained the severe loss
of thirty men in killed and wounded.5 Arriving at the
American shore the retreating Patriots were met by General
Hugh Brady with a company of Ohio militia; their arms
1.	Dem. Rev., June, 1838, 102.
2.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 537.
3.	Ibid.
4.	Conflicting accounts, Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 600, 601; Dem. Rev.,
June, 1838, 102; Bradley’s account, Wing, “Hist, of Monroe County, Mich.,”
203.
5.	Ibid.; Head to Lord Glenelg, March 14, 1838, Parlt. Rep., Canada,
Mo. 33-TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
53
taken from them; disbanded; and then allowed to return
to their homes.1
With this episode of Pelee Island comes to a close the
expeditions planned for February 226.; and with their failure
closes the active career of the chief leaders. William Lyon
Mackenzie betook himself to newspaper work; was soon
indicted for the part taken in the Navy Island campaign,
and convicted and sentenced to imprisonment.2 Rensselaer
Van Rensselaer, shunned by the Patriots because of his
failure to win laurels in the East, threw up his commission
“in disgust at the want of good faith, and the base ingrati-
tude of Mackenzie.” Soon afterwards he was arrested by
the United States authorities and placed in jail for the viola-
tion of the neutrality laws.3 While Thomas Jefferson Suth-
erland, having been captured by the British near Detroit
after the battle of Pelee Island, was hurried off to Toronto
jail to await such justice as her Majesty’s officials in Canada
were likely to bestow upon “rebels” and “pirates.”4
VI. Secrecy.
With the performance of the fiascos planned for Wash-
ington’s birthday, and the removal of the chief leaders from
the stage of action the curtain drops upon the Navy Island
campaign. New leaders with new methods come upon the
scene of action. The enactment of more stringent laws for
the enforcement of neutrality; the more complete extension
of troops along the entire border on either side; the exten-
sive system of espionage whereby the plans of the revolu-
tionists being made known were frustrated; and the swift-
ness and severity with which justice was meted out to the
apprehended violators of international comity, led the Pa-
triots to abandon the publicity and open organization of the
1.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 540.
2.	Lindsey, II, 185, 243, 252.
3.	Ibid., 182; Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 533; Van Rensselaer, “Nar-
rative.”
4.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 541; Head to Lord Glenelg, March 14, 1838,
Parlt. Rep., Canada, No. 33.54
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
early period of the struggle and assume toward the public
more reticence and an organization whose members were
bound together by strong oaths to maintain profound secrecy
while binding themselves likewise to do all within their
power to further the interests of their cherished project.
The beginnings of these organizations seem to have been
in March, 1838. At a meeting held at Lockport, New York,
on the nineteenth of March, a committee consisting of Dr.
A. Mackenzie, George H. Clark, Samuel Chandler, Michael
Marcellus Mills, Dr. J. T. Willson, Silas Fletcher, Dr.
Charles Duncombe, William L. Mackenzie, General Donald
McLeod, William H. Doyle, James Marshalls, Jacob Rymal,
and Nelson Gorham, was formed to secure information rela-
tive to the Canadian refugees in the United States: their
number, location and condition were among the things to be
ascertained; the committee was, also, instructed to draw up
articles of association by means of which their sufferings
might “be mitigated and a redress of their grievance ob-
tained”; and, “to adopt such other measures as, in their
discretion, might best conduce to their welfare.”1 The name
given to this organization was: “Canadian Refugee Relief
Association.” Dr. Alexander Mackenzie, at one time a resi-
dent of Hamilton, Canada, was made president of the asso-
ciation; his headquarters were to be at Lockport, whither
all correspondence was ordered to be directed. Agents were
to be sent throughout the Union in the interests of the so-
ciety; and for the purpose of establishing branch unions.
General Donald McLeod, who had just come from the West,
and was “not discouraged” was made general organizer of
the association and soon proceeded to the St. Lawrence
river under directions of the general committee.
As a result of this association disturbances upon the fron-
tier were soon renewed. On the night of the 29th of May,
1838, the Sir Robert Peel, a Canadian steamer, landed at
Wells’ Island, a few miles below French Creek, for the pur-
pose of laying in a supply of wood. About two o’clock in
the morning, the steamer was boarded by a band of Patriots,
disguised as Indians. Raising the cry of “Remember the
1. Lindsey, II, 186.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38•
55
Caroline !” they aroused the passengers aboard and ordered
them with their baggage ashore. After assisting in the re-
moval of the luggage they took possession of the vessel; set
fire to her, and burned her to the water’s edge.1 General
McLeod, who was organizing the Canadian Refugee Asso-
ciation on the St. Lawrence at the time, seems to have been
associated with the expedition, though the command of “this
curious naval foray” was under Commodore William
Johnston. For some time after the burning of the Sir Robert
Peel, Johnston rendezvoused among the Thousand Islands,
where among the labyrinthine passages he easily escaped all
pursuers and struck terror into the whole region by his sud-
den and daring exploits.
The burning of the Sir Robert Peel was followed during
the month of June by two attempts at invasion of Canada
from the Niagara region. At Clark’s Point near Lewiston
some 200 men under the leadership of Colonel George
Washington Case and Colonel James Morreau assembled
June 8, 1838. A scow and an open boat lay moored to the
shore. Colonel Chase, who was the commanding officer,
called for volunteers to enter the boats, claiming that a
steamer would soon appear to tow them across the river.
For some reason only twenty-three men responded to the
call, which so disgusted Chase that he refused to go further
with the expedition; so the attempt to cross the river near
Lewiston was abandoned.2
Colonel Morreau, however, took up the cause, and three
days later crossed over into Canada by way of Navy Island
and Chippewa. His followers consisted of but twenty-five
persons: twenty-four Canadians and an American youth
named Cooley. All along the Niagara frontier were many
sympathizers with the Patriots; it was claimed that several
thousand were ready to join arms against the “family com-
pact” system whenever sufficient reinforcements should ap-
pear from across the river. Advices received from the spies
urged Morreau to advance; so the “twin stars” was hoisted
1.	Earl of Durham to Lord Glenelg, June 2, 1838, Parlt. Rep., Canada,
No. 2; Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 541.
2.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 542.56
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
and the sympathizers urged to join the expedition. Having
secured fifty or sixty stand of arms and a supply of provi-
sions the band proceeded towards the Short Hills, some
twenty-five miles west of the Niagara river. On failing to
secure the promised reinforcements Colonel Morreau wished
to retreat; but others of the company wished to attack a
party of lancers at St. Johns. Word had come from McLeod,
also, that he would join them with more troops. So on the
night of June 20th, they advanced upon the lancers, quar-
tered at Osterhout’s tavern. The tavern was fired, and the
lancers taken prisoners, though they were soon released on
making an oath not to take up arms against the Patriot
cause. The horses and arms of the lancers, however, were
appropriated.1
As there was no rallying to the cause among the inhabi-
tants, the band broke up into small parties that they might
the better make their escape to the United States. Thirty of
the company, however, were arrested; among them were
Morreau, who first planned the party, Major Benjamin
Wait, a Patriot hero of Pelee Island, Samuel Chandler, a
prominent member of the Canadian Refugee Relief Associa-
tion, and Donald McLeod, the leading organizer of the asso-
ciation. Thus closed the expeditions of this association so
far as we have been able to discover; though there is evi-
dence that McLeod was planning in connection with an-
other association in the West a general assault upon Canada
for July 4th.2
William Lyon Mackenzie, though chosen a member of
the executive committee of the Canadian Refugee Relief
Association, seems not to have been present at the first
meeting nor to have taken any part in the organization.
Whenever he learned of any contemplated invasion of
Canada, he wrote to Lockport advising them “to abandon
all such attempts as injurious to the cause of good govern-
ment in Canada.”3 He had not, however, given up his
desire for the independence of the Provinces, but disap-
1.	Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 544.
2.	Ibid., 544; Sir Geo. Arthur to Lord Glenelg, June 30, 1838, Parlt. Rep.,
Canada, No. 32; Kingsford, X, 479; Lindsey, II, 193.
3.	Lindsey, II, 196.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j3S.
57
proved their methods. “Their organization and union/' he
said, “apart from that of the associations who aid them, is
nothing. They have little influence, nor will it increase until
a better system is adopted. I shall try to get up such an or-
ganization—and make such use of that already in operation,
as will probably somewhat change the aspect of Canadian
affairs. The material is before us if we choose to make use
of it."1
Acting upon his belief he issued a confidential circular,
March 12, 1839, calling a special convention to be held at
Rochester, New York. The convention was to be made up
of Canadians, or persons connected with Canada who were
favorable “to the attainment of its political independence, and
the entire separation of its government from the political
power of Great Britain."2 Some fifty persons responded to
the call: on the 21st and 22d of March they met at Roch-
ester; organized an association of Canadian Refugees;
elected Mr. Montgomery, President; Mr. Mackenzie, Secre-
tary, and Samuel Moulson, Treasurer. A circular was
issued setting forth the character of the newly-constituted
society. The association was open to all those who had left
Canada within two years, or were refugees from thence for
political causes, or who, having been born British subjects,
were desirous of aiding the Canadians in winning indepen-
dence. The organization was to be known as “the Canadian
Association"; and its objects were: to obtain for the North
American Colonies the power of choosing their form of
government; to prevent hasty and ill-planned attacks upon
Canada; to discountenance the burning of private property
or the taking of human life in Canada, except by legal trial
and conviction; to disapprove of further expeditions into
Canada from the States so long as the United States Gov-
ernment considered the Union “bound by treaties to abstain
from such invasions"; to act in concert with all patriotic
societies within any state of the Union for aiding the Cana-
dians by all lawful means “in obtaining relief from the
British yoke."3 The circular contained a table for each sub-
2.
3-
Ibid., 232.
Ibid., 238.
Ibid., 239.58
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
scriber to make out requiring: “names of volunteers in the
township of-----------who would be ready in case five thou-
sand men joined them on this side, to go into Canada—as
soon as the Canadians should have planted the standard on
their own soil” j1 the means each volunteer had of transport-
ing himself to the place of rendezvous; and the names of
any having served in the armies of any nation, “stating the
rank held.”
During the previous January a similar convention had
been held at Auburn under the name of an “Agricultural
meeting.”2 The information secured by the Rochester circu-
lar was to be laid before both the Auburn Executive Com-
mittee and the Rochester Special Committee. An auxiliary
association including Dr. Duncombe as a leading member
was formed at Cincinnati; but no Americans were connected
with it. The circular sent out from Rochester did not receive
much notice though it was sent to refugees all over the
United States. One reply from Florida stated that “in the
South, all about the. Gulf of Mexico, are hardy maritime
people, bred from childhood to fishing, slaving, privateering,
wrecking, and piracy, ready, if they can get commissions
from any government), to cruise against the rich trade of
England”—all of which materials would be available for
privateering could the Patriots but “establish a fixed gov-
ernment for three weeks.”3 No oath nor affirmation seems
to have bound the members of this new organization of
Canadian Refugees; nor were any of its members under
penalty to perform certain obligations. The burden of
advancing Canadian independence was to be thrown upon
the Patriots within the provinces; but little money was
raised; no expeditions were fitted out; nor does this asso-
ciation seem to have exerted much influence, either upon
the Canadians, or upon the other organizations of a more
secret order composed for the most part of Americans and
directed by Yankee ingenuity.
Owing to the increasing severity of police regulations in
1.	Ibid., 240.
2.	Ibid., 240.
3.	Ibid., 242.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
59
Canada a large number of persons who had been active in
the revolutionary movements there crossed over into Michi-
gan during the early summer of 1838. About the first of
June there began an organization for the revolution of
Canada which was destined to enroll among its membership
many thousands of Canadians. The headquarters were in
Michigan; and Henry S. Handy, who acted as Commander-
in-chief of the new secret army, became the chief promoter
of the organization. Each member took the following oath:
“You do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that
you will bear allegiance and fidelity to the Sons of Liberty engaged
in the Patriot service and in the cause of Canadian Independence—
that you will obey the orders of your superior officers in whatever
department you may serve—that you will never communicate, or in
any way divulge the existence or plans of said association. You also
swear that you will devote your time, your person, your interest in
promoting said cause, so far as may be consistent with your other
duties—that you will never sell, barter, or in any way alter any badge
that may be bestowed upon you for the purpose of designating your
rank in said association. You also swear that you will not disclose
or in any way communicate to any person the contents or purport of
this Oath, and that you will not converse with any person in refer-
ence to this Oath, except in convention, or with the man who first
presents it to you.”1
Agents bearing blank commissions signed by Handy
were sent throughout the provinces to form secret lodges,
initiating only such persons as could be relied upon for the
work of revolution. In the more densely populated districts
one person was stationed in every square mile of territory
with authority to confer commissions on persons suitable to
hold the position of captain in the secret army. The colonels
were to be elected by the lodges or members that made up
the army of revolt. General Handy was kept in constant
communication with the entire system of organization by
the means of a hundred spies or couriers; each one of whom
had a certain beat of ten miles which he covered daily com-
municating with the one in advance information from the
1. Ibid., 192. This oath was secured from the prisoners the following
winter, and possibly may not have been the one administered by Handy.60
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
interior, and receiving such orders as had been forwarded
from headquarters. By this system 200 companies contain-
ing a hundred men each were enrolled during the month of
June. The arms to equip so large a force were to be sup-
plied from the Michigan state arsenal. Among the sentinels
at the arsenal were those who had been under the command
of General Handy years before when he held a commission
in the United States army; others were among those who
had cooperated with him during the previous campaign
against Fort Malden. General Handy still retained the
confidence of these men; and by this means the windows of
the arsenal were to be left unfastened; and the way left
open for seizing a large supply of arms. In a similar man-
ner the keys to the magazine at Detroit found their way into
the hands of General Roberts. Two scows of twenty tons
each were taken near the arsenal; and thirty men were
designated to remove from the building the fifteen thousand
stand of arms together with fifteen cannon and ammunition.
Thus were the 20,000 enrolled members of the secret army
in the Canadas to be equipped and ready for action whenever
the standard of revolt should be raised.
The day selected for striking the first blow was July
4, 1838. Windsor, across from Detroit, was to be seized,
the announcement of the uprising heralded with all possible
speed by the secret couriers; then all available public arms,
munitions, and provisions were to be seized, and some place
of strategic importance was to be taken and strongly for-
tified.1 But at this juncture took place an incident that
defeated all these well-laid plans. Other principles than
those of true patriotism and love of liberty dominated some
members of this new association. The motive of plunder led
one such person to thwart the plans of General Handy. A
ruffian named Baker, purporting to be under orders of
General Handy, gathered a band of free-booters along the
Black River, crossed into Canada and began pillaging. The
affair created such a commotion that General Brady of the
United States army was put on the alert. His suspicions
were aroused, and as a result a new guard was placed over
1. Ibid., 192-195.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
61
the arsenal. Thus on the day before Windsor was to have
been taken and the standard of revolt raised in Canada, the
plan collapsed from the want of arms. Strenuous efforts
were made to secure them elsewhere; Cleveland and other
cities were appealed to but in vain.1 Again General Handy
might say as he did at Fighting Island that the last arrange-
ment was “broken up either by treachery or ignorance/’
VII. The Hunters.
The association, however, into which all other Patriot
organizations were merged because of its purpose; the
membership of its lodges; the extent of its resources; the
number and variety of its projects; the secrecy with which
all its proceedings were conducted, and the vast stretch of
territory under its domination, was the “Hunter Lodge.”
The origin of this lodge is attributed partly to the burning
of the Caroline ;2 and partly as a result of General Handy’s
failure to gain a foothold in western Canada by the capture
of Fort Malden. This led to a belief that the object for
which the Patriots sought might be more readily accom-
plished in the eastern province by augmenting and assisting
the rebellious French Canadians in Lower Canada.3 The
society seems to have taken its name after a man named
Hunter, who lived near the town of Whitby, Upper Canada,
in the east riding of the old county of York, but now known
as the county of Ontario. This man had been active in the
Patriot cause in the Home district; and had narrowly
escaped capture at the time of the insurrection on Yonge
Street by concealing himself in an old oven ten miles east of
Toronto. From here, after the passage of the militia,
Hunter escaped to the United States, where after the failure
of the first attempts to carry on the revolutionary struggle
1.	Ibid., 195. This account of Handy’s organization is taken by Lindsey
from Handy’s own private reports now in the possession of Chas. Lindsey, To-
ronto. See also enclosures of Sir Geo. Arthur to Lord Glenelg, July 10, 1838,
Parlt. Rep., Canada, 1839, II, Nos. 33, 37, pp. 320-324.
2.	Kingsford, X, 456.
3.	D. B. Read, “The Rebellion of 1837,” 352.62
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
from across the border, he set about a work of organization
destined to perpetuate his name; the work of forming
Hunter lodges.1
The first Hunter lodges seem to have been established in
Vermont in May of 1838.2 The work of organization ad-
vanced rapidly; and within a few months lodges were estab-
lished in all the chief centers, from the state of Maine to
Wisconsin and inland to the states of Pennsylvania and
Kentucky.3 Soon these secret associations penetrated to
nearly every town and hamlet along the border on either
side and swept over both provinces of Upper and Lower
Canada.4 The oath taken by the would-be Hunter upon
initiation was:
“I swear to do my utmost to promote Republican Institutions and
ideas throughout the world—to cherish them, to defend them; and
especially devote myself to the propagation, protection, and defence
of these institutions in North America. I pledge my life, my prop-
erty, and my sacred honor to the Association; I bind myself to its
interests, and I promise, until death, that I will attack, combat, and
help to destroy, by all means that my superior may think proper,
every power, authority, of Royal origin, upon this continent; and
especially never to rest till all tyrants of Britain cease to have any
dominion or footing whatever in North America. I further solemnly
swear to obey the orders delivered to me by my superior, and never
to disclose any such order, or orders, except to a brother ‘Hunter’
of the same degree. So help me God.”5
There seem to have been different degrees of initiation;
and a complete system of secret signs, badges, pass-words,
cypher or secret alphabets for correspondence, peculiar raps
for obtaining admittance at the door, were used as means of
communication with each other; and for determining the
degree or rank of the various lodges;6 and as if to make
1.	Ibid., 352.
2.	Lindsey, II, 199.
3.	Fox to Sec. State, Nov. 3, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess., No. 181,
Part I, p. 6.
4.	Geo. Arthur to Gen. Brady, Oct. 26, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess.,
No. 181, Part II, p. 25.
5.	Lindsey, II, 199, note.
6.	Fox. to Sec. State, Nov. 3, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess., No. 181; Sir
Arthur to Gen. Brady, Oct. 26, ibid.; Moore’s testimony, Sir Arthur to Mar-
quis of Normanby, Sept. 27, 1839, Parlt. Rep., Canada.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837^38.
68
more certain the secrecy of their intentions, and to escape
the vigilance of the Government’s paid spies, the leaders
belonged to two or more of the Patriot secret societies,
thereby possessing a larger number and variety of secret
means of identification and communication.1 The emblem
of the order was the “snowshoe.”2
The most important of the lodges were located at Roch-
ester, Buffalo, Lockport, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, and
Port Huron; while the grand lodge of the West to which
all reports and communications were to be made was at
Cleveland; and that of the East was at Rochester, although
Lockport, the headquarters of the Canadian Refugee Relief
Association, seems to have received a considerable amount
of communication.3
The membership of the Hunter lodges has been variously
estimated from 15,000 to 200,000; the majority of estimates,
however, claim from 25,000 to 40,000 during the years 1838
and 1839, when the lodge was most active.4 5 All classes
appear to have joined the lodges: “Laborers left their em-
ploy ; apprentices their masters; mechanics abandoned their
shops; merchants, their counters; husbands, their families;
children, their parents; Christians, their churches; minis-
ters of the gospel, their charge to attend these meetings.”3
Judges, legislators, governors, army officers, and even the
Vice-President of the United States were claimed among
the adherents of these lodges.6
As already stated, the grand central lodge of the Hunters
was at Cleveland. Here from the 16th to the 22d of Sep-
tember, 1838, was held a convention, composed of seventy
(or 162 according to one account) representatives from the
1.	Moore’s testimony, ibid; Lane, “Hist, of Akron and Summit Counties,
O.” p. 596.
2.	Lane, “Hist, of Akron and Summit Counties, O.” 596.
3.	Lindsey, II, 199; Fox. to Sec. State, Nov. 3, 1838; Sir Arthur to
Marquis of Normanby, Oct. 15, 1839.
4.	Sir Arthur to Gen. Brady, Oct. 26, 1838; Fox to acting Sec. State,
Aaron Vail, Feb. 8, 1838.
5.	Report of Select Committee of Upper Canada, April 30, 1839.
6.	Ibid.; Sir Arthur to Gen. Brady, Oct. 26, 1838; testimony of Prisoners
captured at Prescott and Windsor, Parlt. Rep., Canada.64
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
various lodges.1 During the sessions of this convention,
several matters of importance came before the delegates for
adjustment. A republican government for Upper Canada
was formed: A. D. Smith, “chief justice of the peace for
the city of Cleveland,” was made President of the Republic
of Canada; Colonel Williams, “a wholesale grocer in Cleve-
land,^ was made Vice-President; a Secretary of State, a
Secretary of Tre-asury, and a Secretary of War were, also,
appointed.2 A military organization was completed: Lucius
Verus Bierce, a lawyer, and a man who, because of his
military ability, had risen to the rank of brigadier general of
the Ohio militia, was made Commander-in-chief of the
Patriot Army; a commissary-general, adjutant general, two
brigadier generals, and a long list of officers of lower rank
were named.3 Gilman Appleby, “master of the Caroline,”
was made commodore of the Patriot navy in the West; and
“Bill” Johnston, who had led the assault on the Sir Robert
Peel, was made commodore of the navy in the East. Nine
steamboats and 25,000 men ready to bear arms were esti-
mated as available for the Patriot service.4
A banking scheme of extensive proportions was devised
as a means of financing the Canadian Republic with its ex-
tensive army and fleet. The “Republican Bank of Canada”
was to be established and a “Joint-Stock Banking Com-
pany” ; the capital stock of the bank was to be $7,500,000,
divided into 150,000 shares of $50 each; later if necessary
the stock was to be increased so that every one in the coun-
try might “become the lucky possessor of a share.” The
prospectus issued by the company stated that “gold and
silver should be the only money of a country,” unless abso-
lutely necessary to issue paper currency in which case it
should be done by a “Republican Bank controlled by the
people.” The vignette of the bills was to be the head of the
1.	Sir Arthur to Gen. Brady, Oct. 26; Lindsey, II, 199.
2.	Lindsey, II, 200-203; Sir Arthur to Gen. Brady, Oct. 26, 1838; Sir
Arthur to Gen. Macomb, Oct. 22, 1838.
3.	Ibid.; Lindsey, II, 200-203; McLeod, “Settlement of Upper Canada
and the Commotion of 1837 and ’38,” 254.
4.	Arthur to Macomb, Oct. 22, 1838.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-’38.
65
leading martyrs for the cause in Canada: The head of
Matthews at the left end, that of Lout in the center, and that
of Morreau at the right end of the bill. Above the central
figure were the words, “The Murdered”; while beneath was
the motto, “Death or Victory”; and on the margin were to be
the words, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” A Mr. J. Grant,
Jr., was chosen president of the concern, though a man by
the name of Smith appears, within a short time after the
election, to have acted in that capacity. Messrs. B. Bagley
and S. Moulson acted as vice-presidents of the bank. The
whole scheme was based upon the confiscation of Canadian
property which was to take place so soon as the Canadian
Republic should be established in Upper Canada; and al-
though the members of the convention pledged themselves
to raise $10,000 in a fortnight there seems, by the 1st of
November, to have been but $300 raised.1
Soon after the convention in Cleveland the Hunters
began to prepare for the invasion of Canada. Rumors of
such an expedition appeared; but it was uncertain, in the
meantime, where the blow would be struck: “Kingston,
Toronto, and several intermediate harbors, Hamilton, the
Niagara frontier, different places on Lake Erie, and the
eastern frontier of the province, were all spoken of as the
intended points of attack.” No doubt many of the reports
were set afloat by the leaders in order to distract attention
from the real designs of the organization.2 In the first week
of November the insurrection known as the Rebellion of
1838 broke out in Lower Canada. There is little doubt but
that the Hunters were acting in cooperation with the leaders
of that uprising, if not the originators of the movement.3
This rebellion has already been outlined in Chapter II, and
needs no further notice here than the mention of its relation
to the military operations of the Hunters.
During the first days of November, the Hunters south
and east of Oswego began to move and concentrate. Os-
1.	Lindsey, II, 202-203; Arthur to Brady, Oct. 26, 1838.
2.	Sir Arthur to Lord Glenelg, Feb. 5, 1839, Parlt. Rep., Canada.
3.	Ibid.66
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
wego, Salina, Liverpool, Syracuse, Auburn, Great Bend,
Pamela, Dexter, Evan’s Mills, Watertown, Brownville,
Leraysville, Sackett’s Harbor, Cape Vincent, Chaumont,
Williams Bay, Alexandria, Orleans, Flat Rock, Ogdens-
burg, Rossie Village, and other places where Hunter lodges
were established furnished their respective contingencies
who, between the first and tenth of November, “embarking
at different ports and bays, concentrated together, and landed
in hostile array about a mile and a half below Prescott.”1
Arms in considerable quantities had been previously
collected, packed in boxes, and shipped on board the
steamer United States, from some of the ports along the St.
Lawrence where the boat was wont to stop. Two schooners
which had been secured for the expedition lay at Millen’s
Bay near French Creek, for several days. On these were
placed several pieces of artillery, with balls and barrels of
powder; and many of the Patriots who came from the vicin-
ity embarked. Sunday night the nth of November, the
steamer United States took in tow the schooners; one of
which was under the command of Von Schoultz, a brave
Pole; and the other in charge of Commodore “Bill” John-
ston. During the passage down the river a council of war
was held by the leaders without arriving at any definite
plan of action. A few miles above Prescott, the schooners
were cast loose, while the steamer proceeded to Ogdensburg.
Their original plan seems to have been to land at Prescott
in the night, and seize Fort Wellington by surprise. In this,
however, they failed; for the sentry spied the schooners and
gave the alarm; while the larger of the boats, in attempting
to pass below the city, was grounded on a bar. The smaller
of the schooners passed on and landed at Windmill Point, a
mile and a half below Prescott. Von Schoultz immediately
took possession of a strong stone mill, some stone houses
near by, and erected breastworks and prepared for battle.
Out of the 1,000 or more who were to have crossed over
only 200 joined the party. J. Ward Birge, who posed as
major general of the Patriot army of the East, and who was
i. Ibid.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
67
to have commanded the expedition, “fell sick with a sud-
denness that created a suspicion of cowardice’’; while
Johnston and other prominent leaders remained out of
harm’s way at Ogdensburg.
On the morning of the 13th, the militia at Prescott, hav-
ing been reenforced by some marines and a few regulars,
made an attack upon Von Schoultz; but could make no im-
pression upon the stone mill. After sustaining considerable
loss they withdrew until heavier artillery might be received.1
The men in the mill also began to realize the danger of their
situation; reinforcements from Ogdensburg had failed; the
inhabitants in whose behalf the invasion was being made did
not join them. Word was sent for boats to take them away;
but the British steamer, Experiment, cruised up and down
the river making relief difficult. And Colonel Worth of the
United States army, on hearing of the proposed exploit,
hastened to Ogdensburg, and took charge of all the boats
there.
It appears, however, that Colonel Worth wished the
Patriots to be saved from the sure destruction that awaited
them; and for that purpose permitted the steamer Paul Fry,
then in the custody of the marshal, to be used. The boat left
for the mill; but after a time returned without Von
Schoultz and his Patriot band. Whether the attempt failed
because of British interference, or because of the refusal of
the brave Polish leader to retreat, or whether it was due to
a sudden fright which may have seized the master of the
boat and caused him to turn about before his mission of
mercy was completed, remains an unsolved mystery.2 At
any rate the Patriots were not withdrawn from the Point;
and on the 16th, the British, reinforced 3,nd supplied with
heavy guns, renewed their attack on the mill. A fierce fight
ensued which resulted in the surrender of the Patriots. The
British loss was twenty killed and sixty wounded; the
1.	Lindsey, II, 205-211; Sir Arthur to Lord Glenelg, Feb. 5, 1839; Niles,
LV, 200; Donald McLeod, “Settlement of Upper Canada and the Commotion of
1837 and ’38,” chap. xxv.
2.	Lindsey, II, 209; Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 606; Niles, LV, 200; Col.
Worth to Col. Young, Nov. 15, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess., No. 181, p. 20.68
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
Patriots, fifteen killed, thirty wounded, and 157 taken pris-
oners.1
The severe lesson given the Patriots at Prescott brought
to a close the military expeditions of the Hunters in the
East; but they were to make another attempt at invasion of
Canada before they could learn the futility of such attempts
with the resources at their command. The last exploit of
importance was made at Windsor on the 4th of December,
1838. Men were collected at various places along the fron-
tier. A regiment from Ohio and Pennsylvania under
Brigadier General S. S. Coffinberry was ordered by General
Handy to Detroit. To these were joined one hundred
Hunters from Monroe county, Michigan, sixty from Buffalo,
seventeen from Rochester, and many from the vicinity of
Detroit. The central rendezvous of the eastern bands was
at Swan river, near the mouth of Detroit river; while the
western contingencies encamped at Bloody Run north of
Detroit.2
After remaining at Swan river forty-eight hours, the
party, numbering 362, marched to the junction four miles
below Detroit, where being equipped for a winter campaign
by means of the money and provisions secured through Com-
missary Bronson of Buffalo and the funds of the banking
scheme, they awaited the steamer that was to take them over
to Canada. But for some reason the steamer did not appear;
whereupon they marched at night up to Detroit. Here they
found a steamer ready to transport them; but Major Gen-
eral Bierce, who was to command the expedition, was not
ready. They withdrew to the woods; and returned next
night ready to cross; but General Bierce sent word that the
steamer was not ready, though the men knew that the
steamer had been waiting for twenty hours or more. There
was a similar delay at Bloody Run: the company was made
up for the most part of young bloods who were eager to
cross at once; but Bierce kept putting them off, claiming
1.	Sir Arthur to Lord Glenelg, Feb. 5, 1839; Lindsey, II, 210, 211; Sir
Arthur to Marquis of Normanby, Oct. 14, 1839; Report of Tucker, Provincial
Sec., Toronto, Oct. 13, 1839.
2.	Lindsey, II, 225-227; Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 552-556.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j3%-
that he was waiting recruits from the South; and in the
meantime contented himself by issuing a proclamation an-
nouncing to the Canadians that the invasion was in the inter-
est of free institutions and not for plunder.1 The delay
caused by this inactivity on the part of the commanding
general was ruinous to the expedition: two whole companies
of the Patriots left; and a knowledge of the intended inva-
sion reached the province in time to bring forward troops
for the defense of Windsor, Sandwich, and Fort Malden.2
Finally, an under officer volunteered to lead the Patriots
against the enemy at once. This aroused Bierce to action:
the following evening the Patriots marched down the streets
of Detroit in full view of the sentinels at the arsenal without
the least molestation; took possession of the steamer Cham-
plain ; and early in the morning of December 4th, landed at
Windsor. The barracks were attacked and burned; and a
steamer, the Thames, lying at the dock was seized, the cry
of “Remember the Caroline” raised, and the boat set on fire.3
Some 5,000 persons had gathered on the Detroit shore,
and, as the smoke and flame from the burning barracks and
steamer arose, three hearty cheers were wafted across the
river for the encouragement of the Patriots. Their victory,
however, was short-lived, for the British troops coming up
from Amherstburg soon checked these depredations; and
General Bierce, who had kept well in the rear, ordered a
retreat. But the steamer Champlain was gone; and the
Erie, which had a detachment of United States troops on
board, was signalled in vain. The invaders were reduced to
the necessity of picking up canoes, or whatever they could
seize, with which to escape. In this last raid of the Hunters,
twenty-five of the Patriots were killed, and forty-six were
taken prisoners. Four of the twenty-five killed met their
death by the wrath of Colonel Prince of the provincial
militia, who on taking them prisoners ordered them shot on
the spot; and the remainder of the prisoners would, no
1.	Hopkins, “Encyclopaedia of Canada,” III, 72.
2.	Lindsey, II, 225-231; Mich. Pioneer Coll., XXI, 552-571.
3.	Ibid.70
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
doubt, have met the same fate had he not been checked in his
inhuman rashness.1
VIII. Federal Interference.
All the armed movements of the Patriots from the attack
at St. Charles and the battle of Yonge Street to the Hunter
raids at Prescott and Windsor were attended with a certain
fatality: there was always some great want; some fatal
blunder; some gross neglect of duty; some act of indiscre-
tion ; some ruinous delay; some deed of treachery or cow-
ardice to mar the plans and render abortive all the military
operations of these civilian soldiers. During the first up-
risings there was a woeful lack of arms; but a few hundred
where there should have been several thousand with some
pieces of cannon. There was need of promptness and a well-
regulated plan on the part of the insurgents; where there
should have been a common plan of cooperation between the
Patriots of Upper and Lower Canada there existed merely a
common sympathy. Leadership was, also, lacking: no great
leader appeared who could command the respect of all
classes, and join to his standards all those who desired a
change of government. There was no Washington to wring
victory out of defeat; no Franklin to win succor and mili-
tary cooperation from a sympathizing foreign power; there
was not even a Sam Houston among the numerous aspir-
ants to such notoriety who could, with the aid of American
sympathizers, wrest a province from the hands of an oppres-
sive ruler.
Sam Houston, however, was the friend if not the agent
of an Andrew Jackson.2 All the assistance that a most pow-
erful administration could give, attended the hero of San
Jacinto: New Orleans became a rendezvous where men and
supplies were openly enlisted for Houston’s army; and
when the Government at Washington was reproached for
1.	Ibid.; Sir Arthur to Lord Glenelg, Feb. 5, 1839, Parlt. Reports, Canada.
2.	H. H. Bancroft’s “History,” XVI, chap. xii.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
71
this open violation of the neutrality, it disclaimed responsi-
bility on the ground that the affair at New Orleans was a
matter of individual conduct over which it had no control.
Again, when once victory had been won by the revolutionists,
an American force was placed on the Mexican frontier for
the ostensible purpose of “preventing Texas Indians from
invading the soil of the United States/’ but in reality to
assist Houston in maintaining his position; and when the
Mexican minister at Washington demanded his passports
for this affront to his government, Jackson recalled the
troops, and employed more convenient means in the way of
trumped-up spoliation claims whereby peremptory demands
were made upon Mexico and the basis laid for concessions
of some kind in the near future.1
Could the Patriots who labored for the independence of
the Canadas in 1837 an<3 1838 have had the friendly assist-
ance of the Jackson Administration, the story of Texas
might have been reiterated in the provinces to the northward.
But the brief interim of a year that marks the distance be-
tween the battle of San Jacinto and the uprising at Yonge
Street saw a marked change at Washington: the Jackson
Administration gave place to that of Martin Van Buren.
The former had shown itself friendly to the revolutionary
movement; the latter was to show itself hostile. Jackson
had connived at the Texas revolution, and when an oppor-
tunity presented itself he made all possible haste to acknowl-
edge her independence; while Van Buren, when Texas was
offered to the United States, refused her proposal of an-
nexation.2
A president who was thus to refuse the gift of territory
that had been so eagerly sought by his predecessor and the
founder of the policy of his own party would not be likely
to tolerate acts of violence that might involve the Govern-
ment in war with the mightiest of nations. On the 7th of
December, 1837, within two weeks after the rebellion in
Lower Canada arose, the Secretary of State addressed com-
1.	Ibid.
2.	Schouler, “History of the United States,” IV, 256, 303; Am. Hist.
Rev., X, 75, 90.72
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
munications to the United States attorneys for the Northern
Districts of Vermont, New York and Michigan, in which he
said:
“In the course of the contest which has commenced in a portion
of the territory of Great Britain, between portions of the population
and the Government, some of our citizens may, from their connection
with the settlers, and from their love of enterprise and desire of
change, be induced to forget their duty to their own Government,
and its obligations to foreign Powers. It is the fixed determination
of the President faithfully to discharge, so far as his power extends,
all the obligations of this Government, and that obligation especially
which requires that we shall abstain, under every temptation, from
intermeddling with the domestic disputes of other nations.”1
It was enjoined upon the attorneys to be attentive to all
movements of a hostile character within their respective
districts; and “to prosecute, without discrimination, all vio-
lators of those laws of the United States” which had been
enacted to preserve peace with foreign powers or for the ful-
filment of all our treaty obligations with such powers. On
the same day the Secretary of State addressed letters to the
governors of Vermont, New York and Michigan, in which
he called their attention to the contest that was taking place
in the provinces and the possibility of attempts being made
“to violate the laws of the United States passed to preserve
the relations of amity with foreign Powers and to fulfil the
obligations of our treaties with them.” “By the directions
of the President,” writes Secretary Forsyth, to each gover-
nor, “I have the honor to request the attention of your
excellency to any movements of that character that may be
contemplated—and your prompt interference to arrest the
parties concerned.”2
Thus we see that at the very beginning of hostilities in
the provinces the Administration at Washington, in anticipa-
tion of difficulties on the border, took a firm position regard-
ing the matter of neutrality. The President was determined
to maintain inviolate our treaty obligations; and to main-
1.	Forsyth to Kellogg, and others, Dec. 7, 1837, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess.,
No. 74, p. 29.
2.	Forsyth to Marcy, Dec. 7, 1837, ibid.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.
73
tain that policy of strict non-interference which has ever
characterized the attitude of the United States towards
foreign nations. Nor were the instructions of the President
issued through the Secretary of State a matter of mere
form: the President was in earnest, as may be seen by the
correspondence that immediately sprang up between the
Administration at Washington and the government officials
and the state officials and private individuals along the Cana-
dian border.1
The crossing of the border by the Canadian refugees
into Vermont and the Mackenzie meetings at Buffalo were
communicated in all haste to the various State and Federal
authorities; while the authorities, especially the Federal
officials, immediately set themselves to the task of subduing
the popular frenzy for the Patriot cause; and for the en-
forcement of the national laws. On the 15th of December,
Mr. Parker, collector of duties at Buffalo, after detailing
the conditions in the city, says in a letter to United States
Attorney Benton: “I have ordered a portion of your letter
published, in order to deter any further violations of the
law; also to satisfy the inhabitants of Canada that such acts
are not countenanced by our Government.”2 On December
18th, we learn that the United States marshal has been or-
dered to Buffalo to make "arrests of all offenders against
the laws of the United States”; and Governor Marcy noti-
fied that the state militia may be needed to assist the marshal
in his work.3 Two days previous, Attorney Benton had had
extracts of the United States law for the apprehension of
offenders, together with the legal forms for arrest, recog-
nizance, and mittamus published for the benefit of all officers
of the law; while on the following day, a circular was issued
from the Treasury Department to the collectors of customs
of the United States in the districts bordering on the Cana-
dian frontiers ordering them to cooperate with the attorneys
in prosecuting "all citizens and other inhabitants” who might
1.	See correspondence, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess., No. 74.
2.	Ibid., 35.
3.	United States Attorney Benton to Gov. Marcy, Dec. 18, 1837; ibid., 34.74
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
in any manner be concerned in the violation of those lawc.
or treaty obligations which would prevent “a strict neutrality
on the part of the Government and the people of this coun-
try.^1
On receiving information of an invasion of Canada by a
small body of refugees on the Vermont border, Secretary of
State Forsyth wrote Attorney Kellogg stating that the
President directed him to make “an immediate inquiry into
the facts” and to “commence legal proceedings against all
such persons as appear to have been concerned in violating
the laws for the preservation of the neutral relations of the
United States.” In closing Forsyth said: “You are also
directed to exercise constant vigilance during the pending
contest, and to take all proper steps to prevent the recurrence
of acts similar to those into which you are now called upon
to examine.”2 Similar instructions were forwarded to At-
torney Benton at Buffalo regarding the apprehension of
Mackenzie and those associated with him.3
In the former instance United States Attorney Kellogg,
having learned through the papers of the disturbance on
the border, proceeded at once to the scene of action before
receiving instructions from the Secretary of State. On his
arrival he learned that the refugees, having met with defeat
after their invasion, recrossed the state line, where, their
arms having been taken from them by the local authorities,
they had all dispersed.4 Likewise in the latter case, Attorney
Benton found Mackenzie and his compatriots at Navy Island
beyond the jurisdiction of the United States authority.5 In
all this correspondence we see the determination of Presi-
dent Van Buren to enforce the law and preserve peace; but
such was the nature of the border raid—the fewness of the
participators, the secrecy of the organization, the rapidity
of dispersion on the approach of the enemy; and, in too
many instances, the friendly protection of the community—
1.	Ibid., 42.
2.	Dec. 20, ibid., 39.
3.	Dec. 21, ibid., 41.
4. Kellogg to Forsyth, Dec. 20, ibid., 38.
5. Benton to Forsyth, Dec. 26, ibid., 43.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j3S.
75
that it was exceedingly difficult for the Federal Government
either to find the offenders, or to secure their arrest and con-
viction when located.
During these early days of the border disturbance it was
hoped that the sympathetic assistance rendered the refugees
might be held within the limits of the law by the Federal and
State officials without recourse to armed force;1 but with
the seizure and fortification of Navy Island the popular sym-
pathy was so aroused as to thwart the purposes of the offi-
cials and render enforcement of the laws difficult. Under
these circumstances we find United States Attorney Benton
suggesting to the President “the propriety of ordering an
armed force to Fort Niagara”;2 while United States Mar-
shal Garrow, after reciting the events connected with the
reenforcement of the Patriot army at Navy Island, says:
“From all that I can see and learn, I am satisfied that, if the
Government deem it their duty to prevent supplies being
furnished from this side to the army on the island, and also
the augmentation of their forces from among the citizens of
the States, an armed force, stationed along upon the line of
the Niagara will be absolutely necessary to its accomplish-
ment.”3 He, also, informed the President that persons were
engaged in dislodging “one or more steamboats from the
ice,” as was supposed with a view to aiding the Patriot
expedition.
On receipt of these letters the President sent a message
to Congress stating that the recent experiences in the South
and the events occurring on the Northern frontier “abun-
dantly show that the existing laws are insufficient to guard
against hostile invasion, from the United States, of the ter-
ritory of friendly and neighboring nations”; that while the
laws provided “sufficient penalties for the punishment of
such offences,” after they had been committed, provided the
parties could be found, the Executive was powerless in
many cases to prevent their commission even while in pos-
session of ample evidence of such intention. Congress was
1.	Forsyth to Gov. Jenison, Dec. 27, ibid., 50.
2. Benton to Forsyth, Dec. 2o, ibid., 44.
3. Garrow to Van Buren, Dec. 28, ibid., No. 64, 2.76
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
urged to revise the law, and to enact such additional ones
as “to vest in the Executive full power to prevent injuries
being inflicted upon neighboring nations” either by citizens
of the United States, or by other persons within her juris-
diction and subject to her control.1
At the same time the revenue cutter Erie was ordered
to Buffalo for the use of the collector of that port “in main-
taining the laws, and enforcing the obligations thereby im-
posed on citizens of the United States.”2 “It is represented,”
wrote the Secretary to Collector Barker, “that armed ves-
sels and boats are engaged within the limits of your district,
in carrying arms, ammunition, and military supplies to the
Canadian side of the line, for the use of forces arrayed
against the British Government. You will take measures to
seize any vessel or carriage of any kind which may be en-
gaged in such transactions.”3 Thus we see each new viola-
tion of law on the part of the Patriots met by renewed efforts
on the part of the Administration to maintain the peace, and
to search out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
In the meantime an event occurred which dispelled all
hope of maintaining peace without the use of an armed
force. On the night of the 29th of December, the Caroline
was destroyed, and the popular indignation was so aroused
all along the border from Maine to Michigan that the Ad-
ministration was taxed to its full extent to preserve the
peace. Information of this disaster reached the White
House on the evening of the 4th of January.4 In spite of
the difficulties which this untoward incident produced the
President was determined to exercise his utmost authority
for the preservation of the peace. Brevet Major General
Winfield Scott was ordered to the northern frontier with
instructions to assume command of the State militia for the
protection of the frontier, being cautious to select the troops
“from a portion of the State distant from the theatre of
1.	President’s Message, Jan. 5, 1838, ibid., 1.
2.	Sec. of Treasury Woodbury to Commander Daniel Dobbins, Jan. 4,
ibid., No. 74, s2.
3.	Woodbury to Barker, Jan. 4, ibid., 53; Woodbury to Scoville, Jan. 5,
ibid., 54; Forsyth to Benton, Jan. 5, ibid., 53.
4.	Autobiography of Lieut. Gen. Scott, I, 306.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38-
77
action.” "The Executive,” says the Secretary of War,
"possesses no legal authority to employ the military force
to restrain persons within our jurisdiction, and who ought
to be under our control, from violating the laws, by making
incursions into territory of neighboring and friendly na-
tions, with hostile intent.” "I can give you, therefore,” he
further says, "no instructions on that subject; but request
that you will use your influence to prevent such excesses,
and to preserve the character of this Government for good
faith and a proper regard for the rights of friendly Pow-
ers.”1
On the 8th of January President Van Buren sent a special
message to Congress concerning the Caroline affair in which
he said: "In the highly excited state of feeling on the
Northern frontier, occasioned by the disturbances in Canada,
it was to be apprehended that causes of complaint might
arise on the line dividing the United States from her Britan-
nic Majesty's dominions. Every precaution was, therefore,
taken on our part, authorized by the existing laws.” After
noting the aggravating character of the attack on the Caro-
line he closed the message by asking for such appropria-
tions as the circumstances in which our country was "thus
unexpectedly placed” required.2
Congress took under consideration both, this message
asking for an appropriation and the previous one asking for
enlarged powers. On the 30th of January a law was passed
appropriating "the sum of $625,000” for the purpose of
defraying "any expenses which have been or may be incurred
in protecting the northern frontier of the United States”;3
and on the 10th of March a law was passed for the "Punish-
ments of Military Expeditions against the conterminous
Territory of Foreign Governments at peace with the United
States.” Under the old statute of April 20, 1818, the Execu-
tive's power was limited to the apprehension and punish-
ment by fine and imprisonment of any person setting on foot
1.	Poinsett to Gen. Scott, Jan. 5, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess.,
No. 73, p. 4-
2.	President’s Message, Jan. 8, ibid., 73.
3.	U. S. Statutes at Large, Jan. 30, 1838.78
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
within the jurisdiction of the United States, any military ex-
pedition against a friendly power.1 While by this act the
President could prosecute the leaders, he had no means for
preventing enlistment, nor could he check the movements of
armed forces of men along or across the border. By the new
act the various officers, “collectors, naval officers, surveyors,
inspectors of customs, the marshals and the deputy marshals
of the United States, and every other officer” whom the
President might specially empower, were “authorized and
required to seize any vessel or vehicle, and all arms or muni-
tions of war about to pass the frontier of the United States”
for the purpose of carrying on a military expedition against
any conterminous foreign power at peace with the United
States.2 This law, while some improvement upon the pre-
vious one, was not very stringent: the leaders alone were
subject to arrest and punishment; the arms and munitions
of war could be seized only upon the actual attempt of inva-
sion, or of embarcation with hostile intent. Such being the
nature of the law, it is evident that the President did all
within his authority to maintain neutrality and prevent hos-
tilities.
On receipt of his instructions Major General Scott de-
parted at once for the frontier; and that he might have the
immediate cooperation of the State authorities he passed by
way of Albany and prevailed on Governor Marcy and State
Attorney-General McDonald to accompany him to Buffalo.3
The regular troops for the most part were in Florida and on
the western frontiers. General Scott, however, had on his
way north ordered several recruits to follow him, which
force was to be augmented by the use of the State militia
if needed.4 General Scott was ably seconded in his work on
the border by Brigadier General Hugh Brady, on Lake Erie
and the Detroit frontier; Colonel W. J. Worth, on the
Niagara, Lake Ontario, and St. Lawrence frontier; and
1.	U. S. Statutes at Large, Apr. 20, 1818.
2.	U. S. Statutes at Large, March 10, 1838.
3.	Scott's Autobiography, I, 308.
4* Ibid.; Scott to Col. Hughes, Jan. 15, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess.,
No. 181, p. 6.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-'3*-
79
Brigadier Generals Wool and Eustis on the New York and
Vermont borders. These officers were in constant com-
munication with one another, and with the officials across
the line; much information regarding the designs and
movements of the Patriots was thus obtained and communi-
cated to the proper authorities in time to thwart their plans.
We have already seen how Van Rensselaer was outbid
by General Scott in the purchase of steamboats, thereby ren-
dering it impossible for the Patriots to cross over to Canada
from Navy Island.1 When the Patriots were seeking to
secure the steamboat Barcelona in which to remove their
arms and munitions from the island to some other rendez-
vous, General Scott secured her services, much to the dis-
comfiture of the Patriots, and to the surprise of the British
who were lying in wait to destroy her as she proceeded down
the river from Buffalo.2 The steamer New England, “un-
derstood to be engaged to take off portions of the hostile
expedition,” was also detained by the General, thereby leav-
ing no boat east of Cleveland for the use of the Patriots.3
These steamboats with detachments of United States troops
on board were used along the foot of Lake Erie to prevent
any hostile embarcation on the part of the Patriots; while
the steamer Robert Fulton was sent to Cleveland and then to
Detroit for a similar purpose.4
Likewise at Detroit Brigadier General Brady proved
himself an efficient agent in thwarting the hostile attempts
of the Patriots. During the first movements there General
Brady took from the Patriots the steamers Macomb and
Brady ;5 recaptured the arms which the militia had allowed
Sutherland to seize; replaced the militia with regulars;6
thereby checking the Patriot attempt to seize Fort Malden;
and together with the assistance of the United States mar-
shal compelled the Patriot force under General Handy to
1.	Chap. iv.
2.	Scott’s Autobiography, I, 314; Scott to Col. Hughes, Jan. 20, 1838.
3.	Ibid.
4.	Ibid.; Niles, LIII, 353.
5.	Lindsey, II, 169.
6.	Ibid., 179.80
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
disband.1 Time after time the Patriots had their arms seized,
their means of transportation taken from them, all of which
materially interfered with their embarcation or their chief
means of retreat after some disastrous invasion.2
While the Patriots became more closely organized and
their movements more stealthy, and while the State authori-
ties to a degree lost interest in the matter, the President
maintained his full determination to continue the policy of
non-interference. When he learned of the destruction of
the Sir Robert Peel, he issued a special message to Congress
in which he said:
“The excited state of public feeling on the borders of Canada,
on both sides of the line, has occasioned the most painful anxiety to
this Government. Every effort has been and will be made to prevent
the success of the designs apparently formed,—to involve the nation
in a war with a neighboring friendly Power. With a fixed deter-
mination to use all the means in my power to put a speedy and satis-
factory termination to these border troubles, I have the most con-
fident assurances of the cordial cooperation of the British authorities,
at home and in the North American possessions, in the accomplish-
ment of a purpose so sincerely and earnestly desired by the Govern-
ments and people both of the United States and Great Britain.”3
In his message at the opening of the third session of the
twenty-fifth Congress, President Van Buren dwells at length
upon the abhorrence with which the Government has ever
looked upon the depredations by our citizens upon nations
at peace with the United States. At the same time he issued
a proclamation stating that, whereas citizens of the United
States had combined with Canadians and others for the pur-
pose of renewing the disturbances in the provinces, he
thought it necessary and proper to call upon “every citizen
of the United States neither to give countenance nor en-
couragement of any kind to those who have thus forfeited
their claims to the protection of their country”; and to warn
all those who had engaged in those criminal enterprises, that
if persisted in, no matter what might become their condition,
1.	Ibid.
2.	Ibid.; Donald McLeod, “Settlement of Upper Canada etiid the Com-
motion of 1837 and ’38,” Chaps, xxii-xxiv.
3.	President’s Message, June 20, 1838.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-3*-
81
“they must not expect the interference of this Government
in any form on their behalf.” They would be left, re-
proached by every virtuous citizen, to be dealt with accord-
ing to the policy and justice of that Government whose do-
minions they had, “in defiance of the known wishes and
efforts of their own Government, and without the shadow of
justification or excuse, nefariously invaded.”1
The firm determination of President Van Buren was,
likewise, manifest in the conduct of the United States army
officers during the trying year of 1838. They used every
vigilance within their power to thwart the machinations of
the Hunter organizations. A worthy tribute to the earnest
endeavors of Colonel Worth is recorded in a petition of the
citizens of Oswego, New York, beseeching the Colonel to
use his respected influence to secure, if possible, clemency
from the Canadian officials for the prisoners taken at the
battle of Prescott. “Your character as a military man,” said
the petitioners, “is well known to the colonial authorities.
The zeal and firmness you have displayed from the com-
mencement of the troubles, in endeavoring to preserve our
neutral obligations inviolate, to protect our national honor,
and to enforce the laws of the union, are known as well to
the inhabitants of Upper Canada as to your own fellow-
citizens ; and we believe your services and character are by
them not less justly appreciated than by ourselves.”2
Brigadier General Brady was equally active on the
Detroit frontier; and although the Patriots eluded his vigi-
lance sufficiently to cross over to Windsor they could accom-
plish little. “It may seem strange,” says Major General
Scott in commenting on the attack on Windsor, “that this
new outrage should have been committed near the United
States, both civil and military, without the previous knowl-
edge of either. I am, however, perfectly satisfied that the
United States have not two more vigilant and determined
commanders than Brigadier General Brady and Major
Payne. As soon as the alarm was given, they, their officers
1.	President’s Proclamation, Nov. 21, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 3 Sess.,
No. 2, p. 34.
2.	Niles, LV, 236.82	RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
and men, flew to the spot, and exerted themselves to the
utmost. The collector also did his duty, and the district
attorney has been active in causing the principal offenders,
who escaped to our shore, to be arrested.”1
During these winter campaigns against the trespassers
of the borders, General Scott posted himself nowhere in par-
ticular, but passed along the entire frontier. His journey-
ings were made by land, and often at night, the daytime
being used in organizing, by means of correspondence, the
forces under his command, and in conveying information to
the various officials regarding the contemplated movements
of the Patriots. During his movements along the frontier for
a distance of 800 miles, he addressed immense gatherings,
principally of sympathizers ready to embark on some hostile
expedition. He appealed to their patriotism; and to the
necessity of strict obedience to the laws of the land; and
showed them that a war to be successful must be differently
commanded and differently conducted. To the query every-
where heard: “But what say you of the burning of the
Caroline, and the murder of citizens at our own shore?” he
frankly admitted that the act constituted a national outrage
that called for satisfaction; that the President would make
the proper demand; and, failing to obtain reparation, would
lay the matter before Congress—“the representative of the
public will, and next to the people, the tribunal before which
the ultimate appeal must be made.” After making a strong
appeal to them to desist from their course of action, he often
concluded as follows: “Fellow-citizens, I stand before you
without troops and without arms, save the blade by my side.
I am, therefore, within your power. Some of you know me
in other scenes, and all of you know that I am ready to do
what my country and duty demands. I tell you, then, except
it be over my body you shall not pass this line—you shall not
embark.”2
These addresses were generally successful: masses of
the Patriots desisted from further violations of the law; and
the friends of order were encouraged to take a firmer posi-
1.	Gen. Scott to War Department, Dec. 16, 1838, Niles, LV, 281.
2.	Scott’s Autobiography, I, 313.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-'*8.
83
tion in their support of authority. Nor were the civil au-
thorities of the Federal Government less active in the arrest
and conviction of the leaders when possible, as a study of
the prisoners will reveal.1 It was this firm determination
of President Van Buren to enforce the laws and maintain a
strict policy of non-interference that kept us out of war with
Great Britain; prevented the Patriots from a successful
campaign in Canada; and lost to the United States one of
the most opportune moments for securing the overthrow of
British rule in America.2
IX. Conflict of Authority.
During the period of the border difficulties we have been
describing, the Canadians doubted much the sincerity of the
United States Government in its attempts to suppress the
Patriot invasions of Canada; and some of their writers on
the Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 have severely criticized the
failure of our Government to prevent all encroachments
upon the territories of her Majesty’s provinces in the Can-
adas. This distrust on the part of the Canadians was due
to various causes. The remembrance of the attitude of the
new Republic toward the loyalists of the Revolutionary
times was one cause. The suspicions aroused by the mar-
velous industrial, commercial, and territorial development
of the democracy to the southward which threatened to
revolutionize the political institutions of the provinces,3 was
another. While a third cause was due to the knowledge that
the Americans might, amidst the disturbed conditions of the
colonies, attempt to make good their claims, more or less
generally advanced during the period of their existence as a
nation, that the Canadas should some day become annexed
to the United States.4 Another ground for distrust is
found in the inability of an imperial, and, in large measure,
a military people, to comprehend the nature of a government
1.	Donald McLeod, “Settlement of Upper Canada.’*
2.	Ibid., 225; “Reminiscences of Chas. Durand,” 455, 522.
3.	Niles, LVI, 196, 200.
4.	Lindsey, II, 248-251.84
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
whose laws were made for the protection of the individual
citizen in the freest and fullest exercise of his personal lib-
erties, rather than for the supremacy of the executive—a
conception of government which while giving the freest play
for the development of self-initiative, the truest and noblest
basis for national progress, may at times of great popular
excitement lead to license and wrong doing beyond the pos-
sibility of immediate legal adjustment. Nor is the duality
that exists in the Government of the United States more
readily comprehended by people of a unitary government—a
duality which because of the conflict of authority between
the local and State officials, and between the State and Fed-
eral powers, furnished the British and Canadian officials
more than one occasion for legitimate doubt regarding the
proper enforcement of the neutrality on the part of the
United States.
We have seen that letters were addressed to the govern-
ors of Vermont, New York and Michigan, as early as Dec.
7, 1837, calling their attention to the disturbed conditions in
the Canadas; and requesting their assistance in case any
attempts should be made by the citizens of the United States
to violate the neutrality. Governor S. H. Jenison of Ver-
mont heartily responded to the call; and issued, on the 13th
of December, a proclamation cautioning the citizens of the
State against letting their enthusiasm in the cause of liberty
lead them to acts inconsistent with the treaty relations be-
tween the United States and Great Britain; and warning
them of the peril of violating the laws of neutrality estab-
lished by Congress.1 Having been waited on a day or two
later by committees from S wanton and St. Albans request-
ing arms and munitions of war for the citizens on the fron-
tier suitable for self-defence, the Governor wrote the Secre-
tary of State enclosing papers showing the condition of
things on the border, and asking the General Government to
judge “of the propriety and expediency of placing a detach-
ment of troops in that neighborhood, to allay the fears of the
inhabitants/’2 Again, in January, when Brigadier General
1.	Thompson, “History of Vermont,” II, 103.
2.	Gov. Jenison to Forsyth, Dec. 16, 1837, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess.,
No. 74, p. 31.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-'3&
85
Wool called on Governor Jenison with instructions from
General Scott to call out the State militia if needed, the
Governor accompanied General Wool to the frontier for the
purpose of ascertaining the situation there; but finding
everything quiet he returned home after assuring the Gen-
eral that, “should a military force become necessary, it would
be called out and placed under his command.”1
For several weeks no further disturbance took place on
the Vermont border; but late in February Governor Jeni-
son received word from General Wool stating that the Pa-
triots were on the move. “No time is to be lost,” wrote the
General, “everything is to be done in a few days. I have not
the least doubt I shall defeat their plans; still I think noth-
ing should be left undone to defeat their diabolical purpose,
which is nothing short of a war between this country and
Great Britain.” Governor Jenison immediately repaired to
Swanton, whence expresses were started and sleighs en-
gaged to bring in the militia to assist in the suppression of
the Patriot movement. The affair was soon terminated by
the return of the refugees from Canada; and the surrender
of the leaders of the expedition to the civil authorities; and
the giving up of their arms to General Wool.2
These efforts on the part of Governor Jenison, while
appreciated by the General Government and by the well-dis-
posed citizens of the State, met with a marked opposition on
the part of a large number of persons who strongly sympa-
thized with the Canadian refugees. His proclamation “in-
curred the censure of many of the good people” of the
State; and the public press of the State treated it “with
almost universal censure and condemnation”;3 while some
400 voters of northern Vermont even went so far as to peti-
tion Congress, protesting against the passage of any law
that would deprive them of “the privilege of selling, trans-
porting, or giving to the Canadians, arms, ammunition, or
provisions, either in this country or in Canada.”4 In his
1.	Gov. Jenison to John Smith, Apr. 2, 1840, Reports of Committees,
2 Sess. 26 Cong., No. 126, p. 4.
2.	Ibid., 5.
3.	Ibid., 2; Thompson’s “Vermont,” II, 103.
4.	Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess., Nos. 193, 194.RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
attempt to enforce the law amidst such strong opposition on
the part of his fellow citizens, there is little doubt that Gov-
ernor Jenison spoke the truth when he said: “The difficul-
ties upon our northern frontier have been to me a source of
much perplexity and uneasiness, from their commencement
in the fall of 1837. So far as my official station gave me
influence, it has been exerted to maintain the neutral rela-
tions of the country, and to protect the rights of our citizens.
I have spent much time in correspondence upon subjects
which have grown out of this unhappy state of things; and
whenever I have been led to suppose that I could accom-
plish any good by it, I have on several occasions, at a sacri-
fice of time and money, promptly visited the frontier.”1
All the difficulties that attended the enforcement of the
law in Vermont, and even greater ones, confronted the Gov-
ernor of New York. Here was the center of the Navy Island
campaign; and here took place the destruction of the Caro-
line, and the burning of the Sir Robert Peel. In no part of
the country was the excitement more intense, or opposition
to the authorities more violent. When Mr. J. Trowbridge,
the Mayor of Buffalo, made himself conspicuous in his at-
tempts to hold in check the Patriot movements in that city,
he was “hooted out of office.”2 When the militia were called
out for the protection of the frontier, there was fear that
they would go over in a body to join the Patriots on Navy
Island.3 When Mackenzie, on his return from the island to
Buffalo, was arrested by a United States marshal, there was
much excitement; and a Mr. Burton who was suspected of
having informed against him “was greeted with hisses and
groans, and handed round to be gazed upon by the crowd as
a monstrosity.”4 When the notorious “Bill” Johnston and
J. Ward Birge, the leaders of the Prescott invasion, were
apprehended by the United States marshal, there seems to
have been no place where they could be confined with safety;
and even while under the strict charge of the marshal’s
1.	Reports of Committees, 2 Sess. 26 Cong., No. 126, p. 5.
2.	The Van Rensselaer narrative.
3.	Lindsey, II, 153.
4.	Ibid., 163; Niles, LIII, 323.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38-
87
deputies the prisoners, not without the suspicion of assist-
ance, made good their escape.1 When the Canadian authori-
ties made requisitions on the Governor of New York for the
return of certain criminals, the State Secretary replied that
it could not be done unless Colonel McNab and Captain
Drew be turned over to the State authorities of New York
for the murder of American citizens at Fort Schlosser.2 And
when Alexander McLeod was charged with the murder of
Durfee, we find the State of New York acting in direct oppo-
sition to the Federal Government;3 and even later, when
another British subject was arrested on the same charge, we
find President Tyler petitioning Congress in a special mes-
sage "for the immediate adoption of some suitable legislative
provision on this subject.”4
With such conditions existing; with the mass of the
citizens on the border supporting the Patriot cause; with the
press ready to denounce all attempts to interfere with the
Patriot projects; and with State and Federal officials, and
even members of the bench, sworn members of the Hunter
lodges, a governor must necessarily risk his political exist-
ence if he would, in the face of such public sentiment, faith-
fully perform his duty in the execution of Federal and State
law. Governor Marcy of New York seems to have attempted
to steer between the demands of the Federal Government
and the popular clamor. While receiving full information
regarding the movements of the Patriots at Buffalo, he does
not appear to have exerted himself much for the suppression
of their movements; he seems to have remained silent con-
cerning the questions involved, or to have forwarded the
information received to the various Federal officers, leaving
in large measure the maintenance of peace to the National
Government.5 Some demands were made upon Van Rens-
1.	Niles, LV, 237.
2.	Sir Arthur to Marquis of Normanby, July 1, 1839.
3.	Mrs. C. Coleman, “Life of J. J. Crittenden,” 155; Bancroft, “Life
of Seward,” I, 111-116.
4.	President’s Message, March 8, 1842.
5.	Sir F. B. Head to Gov. Marcy, Dec. 13, 1837, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong. 2 Sess.,
No. 302, p. 9; Head to Fox, Jan. 8, 1838, ibid., 7; Marcy to Benton, Dec. 17,
1837, ibid., No. 74, 36.88
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
selaer by the State Commissary General, Henry Arcularius,
for the arms taken from the State arsenal; but nothing came
of it.1
When the destruction of the Caroline occurred some
action was necessary. The Governor addressed a message
to the Legislature of the State in which he said: “If it should
appear that this boat was intended to be used for the purpose
of keeping up an intercourse between this State and Navy
Island, which is now held by an assemblage of persons in
defiance of the Canadian government, this circumstance
would furnish no justification for the hostile invasion of our
territories and the destruction of the lives of our citizens”;
and under the circumstances, he thought it would probably
be necessary for the State to keep a military force for the
protection of the citizens and the maintenance of peace, until
an opportunity be given “to the General Government to in-
terpose with its power.”2
When General Scott arrived at Albany on his way to the
front, Governor Marcy accompanied him to the Niagara
frontier, where he conferred freely on all military questions
with the General; and, on receiving information of the
evacuation of Navy Island, he so placed the State forces as
“to exert whatever legal means and moral influence'’ he
might possess to preserve the neutrality.3 Likewise when
General Scott made a requisition on Governor Marcy for
two battalions to check the contemplated invasion of Van
Rensselaer from French Creek, the Governor “promptly
caused orders to be issued to supply the troops from the
nearest brigades,” if Brigadier General Wool who was in
that quarter “deemed their services important.”4 Also, when
the State arsenals at Batavia, Watertown and Elizabeth-
town had been robbed by the Patriots, the Governor issued
a proclamation offering rewards from $100 to $500 for the
1.	Niles, LIII, 305; Van Rensselaer to Arcularius, Jan. 4, 1838, Ex.
Doc. 2s Cong. 2 Sess., No. 302, p. 10.
2.	Gov. Marcy’s Message, Jan. 2, 1838; Niles, LIII, 339.
3.	Niles, LIII, 321; Scott to Hughes, Jan. 15, 1838, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong.
3 Sess., No. 181, p. 7.
4.	Niles, LIII, 386.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-’38-
detention and conviction of the persons who broke open the
arsenals and stole the property of the State therefrom.1
Again, when the destruction of the Sir Robert Peel came
to his notice, Governor Marcy took the initiative in investi-
gating the affair. He went at once to the northern frontier;
spent ten days or more in gathering information regarding
the sentiments of the people; the nature of the Thousand
Islands; the retreat of “Bill” Johnston’s band; the advisa-
bility of retaining the State militia more or less permeated
with sympathy for the Patriots; which information he for-
warded to the General Government with the hope that the
officers and troops of the Federal Government would soon
come to dislodge the bands from the islands, and ensure
peace on the borders.2 In all these border exploits we do not
find the Governor of New York taking the decided and ener-
getic stand taken by the Governor of Vermont; evidently
this turmoil was either not considered of much moment, or
else, desiring to shift as much as possible of the reproach of
interference upon the National Government, he thought the
least said or done by himself the better for the peace and har-
mony of all factions within the State, and the less likelihood
of any adverse political consequences.
When we turn to the State of Michigan, we find a condi-
tion even more anomalous. Governor Stephen T. Mason
was a man of action; but while at times he appears to have
given the Federal officers considerable information and
assistance, he as surely, at other times, seems to have given
aid and succor to the Patriots. On receiving the circular
letter sent out by the Secretary of State on the 8th of De-
cember, 1837, Governor Mason made reply that he had no
idea that any attempts would be made by the citizens of
Michigan to interfere in the controversy pending between
the Government of Great Britain and a portion of the peoples
of the Canadas. “Should, however, the contingency con-
templated by the President arise/’ wrote the Governor, “he
1.	Gov. Marcy’s Proclamation, March i, 1838; Niles, LIV, 19.
2.	Gov. Marcy to Sec. of War, June 3, 5 and 10, 1838; Governor’s
Proclamation, June 4; Poinsett to Van Buren, June 19, Ex. Doc. 25 Cong.
2 Sess., No. 440, pp. 22-27.90
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
has my assurance that I will use every exertion to prevent
any violation .	.	. of the relations of amity with
foreign Powers and the Government of the United States.”1
That the Governor was aware of the movement on foot
by the Patriots there can be litle doubt; for on the 28th of
December he issued a proclamation warning the people
against any violation of the neutrality laws; again, about the
1st of January, we find him sending word to General Handy
“that he should be obliged to disperse the Patriot forces, and
that they must move to some other place” ;2 likewise on the
6th of January, when the Patriot forces were proceeding to
Gibraltar, preparatory to their attack upon Fort Malden,
Governor Mason intimated to General Handy that he would
probably go to Gibraltar “from which point he should be
obliged to disperse the troops.”3 We also learn that two
days later the steamer Brady with the Governor and over
200 of the Michigan militia on board went to Gibraltar; but
no harm seems to have come to the Patriots. It is even
stated by Levi Bishop, who was a private in the militia and
had been detailed to furnish each militiaman his military ac-
coutrements, that “not one of the 400 stand of arms and ball
cartridge” that had been brought down were on board when
the steamer and troops returned to Detroit; but that they
had been left behind for the use of the Patriots.4 Again,
when General Handy was on Sugar Island and threatened
to have his communication with the shore cut off by the
floating ice in the river, we find him calling on “the friendly
Governor of Michigan” for succor; and not in vain, for the
Governor came to the rescue, and helped remove the Patriot
troops to the mainland.5
In his third attempt to raise a Patriot force to attack
Fort Malden, General Handy claims that the Governor
called out 600 of the militia for the ostensible purpose of
1. Gov. Mason to Forsyth, Dec. 21, 1837, 25 Cong. 2 Sess., No. 74, p. 42.
2.	Lindsey, II, 168; Detroit Daily Advertiser, Dec. 30, 1837.
3.	Ibid., 170.
4.	Ibid., 174; Mich. Pioneer Collections, XXI, 522, 523; Ibid., XII, 417;
Farmer, “Hist, of Detroit and Mich.,” 301; Wing, “Hist, of Monroe
County,” 210.
5.	Lindsey, II, 177.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-’3*-
91
enforcing the neutrality of the United States; but that on
the night on which the militia received their arms they were
to stack them in the outer porch of the city hall “for the
purpose of having them taken for the use of Handy’s men
who were to become volunteers and have their services paid
for by the State”; that this project was defeated by the rash-
ness of Sutherland who stole the arms, but lost them again
the following day; and that as a result of this blunder Gen-
eral Brady refused for the time being to trust the militia with
arms.1
While Governor Mason may have been friendly to Gen-
eral Handy and the Michigan Patriots under his command,
he appears to have been “highly exasperated” by the conduct
of Sutherland, and to have shown himself less tolerant to-
ward the Patriots under his command.2 On the 1 ith of Feb-
ruary, we find him acting in unison with General Brady in
forwarding an express to Washington urging the passage of
the pending neutrality bill. “I regret,” wrote Governor
Mason to President Van Buren, “to inform you that .	.	.
this frontier is again thrown into a state of confusion by the
appearance of the force recently disbanded from Navy
Island. The Patriot forces (so called) are at present scat-
tered in detached parties in different directions, preparatory
to a movement against the Canadian frontier on the 22d of
the present month. Their arms and munitions of war are in
boxes, and conveyed through the country as merchandise. If
the existing law would permit the seizure of these boxes
.	.	. the parties could, at once, be disarmed, and perma-
nent tranquility restored.”3
The State Legislature of Michigan, also, took up the
matter and passed resolutions requesting the Governor to
apply to the President for a force of United States troops,
with due proportion of artillery, for the protection of the
Michigan frontier.4 Whether or not some of the members
of the House had grown suspicious of the Governor, we find
the House passing a resolution on the 24th of January, re-
1.	Ibid., 178, 179.
2.	Ibid., 179.
3.	Niles, LIII, 409.
4.	House Journal, 1838, Jan. 11; Senate Journal, Jan. 16.92
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
quiring him, “with as little delay as possible” to report the
quantity of ordnance, muskets, other arms and munitions of
war on hand; also, the place of deposit, “and their present
state of preservation.”1 Likewise, on March 27th, the Legis-
lature passed a law for the reorganization and enlargement
of the State militia.2
Although Governor Mason appears to have approved
these acts of the Legislature; and, in his message to the suc-
ceeding Legislature, he claimed to have regretted the “viola-
tion of our neutral relations” by his “misled” citizens; and
although he, at times, wrote conveying intelligence concern-
ing the Patriots, and cooperated with General Brady in the
suppression of their attempted invasions of Canada, never-
theless, there remains a strong suspicion that he remained
on friendly and intimate terms with the Patriot leaders, and
gave them to understand that he stood ready to assist them
should an opportunity present itself.3 In a letter of General
Handy, written probably about the end of May, 1839,
Handy says: “The Executive and many worthy officers of
the State and United States have been more or less concerned
in our exertions to sustain the Canadian standard”; and he
predicted that they would assuredly do more in the future.4
The Hunters, also, as we have seen, claimed Governor Mason
not only as a friend, but as a sworn member of their lodge;
and Colonel Airey of Canada, who associated some with
General Brady during this period, claims that the latter said
that the civil authorities of Michigan all but openly counte-
nanced the Patriots.5
X. Dark Days.
The years 1839 and 1840 were years of discouragement
to the Patriots. Though the war hawks of the Hunters
1.	House Journal, 1838, Jan. 24.
2.	Laws of Michigan, 1837-8, No. 57.
3.	Governor’s Message, Jan. 8, 1839; Diary of Wm. H. Bissell, in
Detroit News, Oct. 16, 1904.
4.	Lindsey, II, 179.
5.	Col. Airey to Capt. Halkett, May 6, 1839, Parlt. Rep., Canada.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38.
93
continued to shout for the fray, they failed more and more
except on the occasion of some momentary alarm to gain
the public ear on either side the border. The National Gov-
ernment still wielded its powerful influence for peace; and
the State governments which at first leaned somewhat to
the Patriot cause began, as the hopelessness of the Canadian
project became more apparent, to cooperate with the Federal
authorities in the suppression of the border raids. The
utter failure of the Hunters at Prescott and Windsor, and
the sentence of death or of lifelong banishment pronounced
upon the prisoners taken during these attempts at invasion,
acted as a damper on the ardor of the American sympathiz-
ers ; while the cowardly conduct of the leaders in the pres-
ence of the foe disgusted many of the Patriots and caused
them to withdraw from the enterprise. Thus the disappro-
bation of the mass of the people in the United States and
the wisdom of the higher officials on both sides the border
checked the war fever and postponed the settlement of the
most irritating questions to a future time, when, full confi-
dence having been restored between the two peoples, their
representatives were ready to make such mutual concessions
regarding the questions at issue as to establish a permanent
peace.
Though defeated and disheartened the Patriots had no
notion of abandoning their purpose to free the provinces
from British control. After the defeat at Windsor, Major
General Bierce gave place to H. S. Handy as Commander-
m-chief of the Patriot army. On the 1st of January, 1839,
Handy ordered General Donald McLeod to the West to
organize a new force and prepare for another invasion of
Canada.1 General McLeod spent several months in the
West and in April or May he returned “3,250 efficient men
ready for service when called for”;2 at Coldwater, Mis-
souri, were 1,500 Indians and 500 whites under the com-
mand of J. B. Stewart, formerly of the United States army;
at Chicago, 560 Irish Catholics, under command of A.
Smith; on the Desplain River were 250 men under Colonel
1.	Lindsey, II, 236, note.
2.	Ibid., 236.94
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
W. R. Miller; at Kankakee, 140 French Canadians under
Francis Brodieau; along the Illinois and Fox Rivers were
300 Canadians, Dutch, and Irish to be commanded by Major
Luddington.1
Besides the men reported by General McLeod, Handy
mentions many others that were available. “Of the several
tribes of Indians/' says Handy, “in the states of Mississippi,
Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin Territory, and west of the
Mississippi River, I have a general knowledge, and for
reasons hereafter to be explained, I have a social and friendly
alliance with them."2 All that was necessary to secure their
assistance according to his views was the means to clothe
and pay them. From the situation in the West, General
Handy turns to Canada. “From the enrollment of the re-
turns from the Upper Province during the last summer," he
says, “which amounts to 38,000, I can safely calculate on
4,000 efficient and determined men."3 The greatest diffi-
culty connected with this new project was the lack of money.
“If I should succeed," he further says, “in obtaining my
anticipated means, I can purchase from a factory 30,000
stand of muskets, by paying one-fourth in advance and the
remainder on credit."4 But as with the previous schemes of
General Handy for the invasion of Canada, so with this one,
it failed to materialize; no doubt the project collapsed for
want of money.
Finding it beyond their power to obtain the means neces-
sary to equip and pay an army for the invasion of Canada,
the Hunters determined upon a new line of procedure for
keeping up the excitement along the border with the hope of
ultimately involving the two nations in war. In a letter of
General Brady to Colonel Airey who commanded the Cana-
dian frontier, we learn that the Hunters “intend to com-
mence operations about the time the farmers commence
planting their corn, and that their plan is to send over small
marauding parties to burn houses, and destroy other prop-
1.	Ibid.
2.	Ibid., 237.
3.	Ibid., 237.
4.	Ibid., 238.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837J3^
95
erty, in hope of producing retaliation, and thus keep up ex-
citement until the Governments are induced to call the
militia into service/’1 The base of operations for these bor-
der depredations was the St. Clair and St. Lawrence rivers.2
The war fever, however, which the Hunters hoped to
excite was somewhat checked by a temporary adjustment
of the northeast boundary dispute. Early in the year 1839
the State of Maine and the province of New Brunswick
were fast approaching actual hostilities. The Government
felt alarmed at the prospects of a formidable war, though
little had been done during the twenty-four years of peace to
meet such an exigency. Two bills were introduced in Con-
gress, one authorizing the President to call out the militia
for six instead of three months, and to accept 50,000 volun-
teers ; the other, appropriating $10,000,000 extra for the
President’s use. Major General Scott, who had been actively
engaged during the winter in quieting the disturbances on
the frontiers, was dispatched to the region of contention to
prevent, if possible, an armed conflict. The General met
with success; having procured from the two contending
parties a temporary withdrawal from the territory in dis-
pute, awaiting a final adjustment of their respective terri-
torial claims, by negotiation, between the governments of
the United States and Great Britain.3
It was hoped in England that this abandonment of hos-
tilities in Maine would have a quieting effect all along the
border, and that the “general expectation and desire for
war,” would cease;4 but in this the British were to be dis-
appointed. Though it threw a temporary gloom over the
cause, the agitations of the Hunters still continued. As the
4th of July approached there were apprehensions of another
invasion; vague rumors of new depredations kept the bor-
der region in a restless condition. The eventful day passed,
however, without any evil consequences; but the programme
1.	Brig. Gen. Brady to Col. Airey, May 4, 1839, Parlt. Rep., Canada.
2.	Col. Airey to Capt. Halkett, May 6, 1839, ibid.
3.	Scott’s “Autobiography,” II, 333-352.
4.	Marquis of Normanby to Sir George Arthur, May 7, 1839; ibid.,
May 18, 1839, Parlt. Rep., Canada.96
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
of the Patriots for the season was carried out: small ma-
rauding bands continued their work throughout the summer
and fall; bank robberies, mail robberies, the burning of
houses and public buildings with now and then a murder
kept alive the excitement, intensified the bitter feelings along
the frontier, and augmented the spirit of retaliation.
Another disappointment that came to the Patriots during
the summer of 1839 was the trial and conviction of William
L. Mackenzie. Though Mackenzie had been arrested and
placed under bonds early in January, 1838,1 for some reason,
the trial was postponed until June 20, 1839. It lasted two
days. The indictment under a law of 1794, and another of
1818, charged the defendant with setting on foot a military
enterprise, at Buffalo, to be carried on against Upper Can-
ada at a time when the United States was at peace with her
Maj esty; with having provided the means for the prosecu-
tion of the expedition, and with having done all this within
the territory and dominion, and against the peace of the
United States. After the evidence for the prosecution was
concluded Mackenzie addressed the jury for six hours; he
defended himself with ability; he recalled the work of the
French during the American Revolution; what the United
States had done for, and in, Texas; he dwelt at length on
the desire of the Americans to obtain Canada and rehearsed
the sayings of leading Americans, and made numerous ref-
erences to their writings on the subject; he even appealed
to their sympathy and love of freedom. “I think it hard,” he
said, “to be singled out and dragged here at this time; but
as I require an asylum in your country, I am bound, and I
do sincerely wish to pay the utmost respect to your laws.
Indeed it is admiration of your free institutions, which,
strange as it may seem, has brought me here to-day.” The
jury, however, after three hours’ consideration brought in
the verdict of “guilty.” He was sentenced to be confined in
the county jail of Monroe for eighteen months, and pay a
fine of ten dollars.2
1.	Lindsey, II, 163.
2.	Ibid., 244-252.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38.
97
Later in the year, General Rensselaer Van Rensselaer
was brought to trial; convicted of having violated the neu-
trality law, and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and a
fine of $25o.1 This conviction and imprisonment of the lead-
ing Patriots, and the trial of numerous other persons who
had taken an active part in the cause, greatly incensed the
Hunters. Their sentiments are well expressed in a letter
from Brigadier General McLeod to Rensselaer Van Rensse-
laer while in Albany prison. “Let the political sages of this
great Republic,” says McLeod, “palliate or varnish over the
verdict of the United States court, as plausibly as they
please, yet the law which dooms the Canadian Patriots to
fine and imprisonment, is, to say the least, a foul blot on the
pages of the statute books of the Federal Government; and
a deep stain on the formerly fair beauties of the National
Constitution. This Sentence, openly and decidedly, approves
the invasion of your country, and the murder of your fellow
citizens at Schlosser—and of the murders committed by
Prince at Windsor, the execution at London, U. C., Niagara,
Toronto, and Kingston. But worse than all, the transpor-
tation of free-born American citizens to Van Diemen’s Land
for life.”2
During the fall the clouds seem to lift somewhat. News
reached the Patriots from England that the Chancellor of
the Exchequer had declared in the House of Commons that
the Canadian revolution had already cost Great Britain
upwards of $10,000,000, and that the continuance of such
expense could not long be borne. They further learned that
John G. Parker, and seven other leading Patriots who had
been banished by Governor Arthur had been liberated in
England, and were on their return home.3 Word also came
that Governor Sir John Colborne had been recalled because
of the severity with which he treated the French Canadians
engaged in the revolution, and that Governor Arthur had
been strongly censured for having executed the brave pa-
triots, Lout and Matthews; and it was confidently expected
1.	Van Rensselaer Narrative, Bonney, II, 112-113.
2.	McLeod to Van Rensselaer, Nov. 20, 1839; ibid., II, 115.
3.	Lindsey, II, 233-235.98
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
that he too would soon be dismissed and follow Governor
Colborne.
This with other information of a gratifying character
was embodied in a circular entitled, “Glorious News for the
Patriots/’ and sent out, from the Safety Committee Room,
Aug. 18, 1839, f°r ^e encouragement of the Patriots. The
views of the committee concerning the attitude of England
toward the provinces is thus summarized:
“The frankness of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in stating
that the Canadas could not be long held by Great Britain, under such
heavy yearly expense; the manner Messrs. O'Connell and Leader,
both in the confidence of the ministry, advocate in the House of
Commons the course pursued by the Lower Canadians; the certain
dismissal of Governor Colborne, in consequence of ill-treating the
French Canadians, suspected of being concerned in the rebellion;—
the strong language made use of in the House of Commons by Mr.
Charles Buller, relative to Governor Arthur's conduct in executing
Lout and Matthews;—the daily censure heaped upon the latter func-
tionary by the authorities in England, for the tyranny which has
characterized all his past acts (whenever he had patriot prisoners in
his power) ;—the liberation of that useful and leading patriot, John
G. Parker, and others;—the restoring to office of the Lower Cana-
dian judges, dismissed by Governor Colborne for allowing bail to
patriot prisoners confined under Sir John’s martial law;—the atten-
tion paid to Lord Durham’s official report in England (which is most
unquestionably in favor of the discontented in the Canadas) ;—with
many other similar facts, all go to strengthen the Committee in their
well-grounded belief, that whatever those who wield the power in
Great Britain may openly say relative to holding the Canadas, they
very prudently, and with an eye to their alarming troubles at home,
secretly desire to rid themselves of these expensive colonies, the as-
sertion of all the tory tyrants therein to the contrary notwith-
standing.”
“We shall no doubt be told,”
says the committee with reference to the attitude of their
own government,
“That we are engaged in a cause calculated to create ill feeling
between Great Britain and the United States, that may ultimately
bring on a national war between those two powers. Anticipating
such an objection by some few citizens against the patriot cause,TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-'3*-
99
the Committee, in reply, do not hesitate to say, that Great Britain,
with her alarming difficulties at home, will not venture a war with
the United States Government, in consequence of citizens of the
latter taking possession of a territory four thousand miles from
England, which costs the latter millions of dollars yearly more than
its worth, and which they no doubt wish to get rid of; but suppose
on the other hand, that Queen Victoria should be advised to declare
war against Uncle Sam, pray tell us, ye wise men, what she would
gain by such a step. The Committee say, nothing whatever. What
than would she lose? All her North American Colonies. Besides,
would not a war firmly unite the Southern and Northern States?
Would not the question relative to Maine, and other disputes, be
finally settled in less than a month after a declaration of war?
Would the Canadas remain a day under Great Britain? Nay; but
why dwell on this subject?—there is no danger, if danger it can be
called, of such being the case.”
The Committee was not at the time decided on the policy
to be pursued in the future, but for the time being it was
thought advisable to reorganize on a more secret basis, and
that no place taken possession of in the Provinces should
'‘be permanently held” while so large a military force con-
tinued in the Canadas; and while the authorities there be-
lieved that the home government desired further defense of
the colonies.1
During the following months representatives from the
various Hunter lodges met in convention at Lockport, N.
Y. Here on the 28th of September eighteen delegates con-
vened "to consult upon the plan that should be adopted by
the 'Patriots’ to carry their wishes into effect.” Four of the
delegates were from the Canadian lodges. From them it
was ascertained that considerable disaffection still existed
there; that many arms had found their way into the prov-
inces and had been concealed in convenient places for the
use of the Patriots when needed; and that in case of an
attack upon Canada "700 men, free of expense,” could be
furnished. From the American delegates it was learned that
3,000 men could be relied upon for making another inva-
sion. As for equipment, it was stated that 700 stand of arms
1. Hunter circular found in enclosure of Sir Geo. Arthur to Marquis
of Normanby, Oct. 15, 1839, Parlt. Rep., Canada.100
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
was at Buffalo; that a quantity of arms and six pieces of
cannon were back of Detroit; while at Oswego there was a
considerable quantity of ammunition and some cannon. The
better portion of the delegates thought that the system of
burning houses should be abandoned; but that the burning
of “the barns of the Tories” might be continued to good
advantage. It was also decided to postpone “the destruction
of the English church at Toronto, until its completion.” The
“Dunham meetings,” which had begun in Canada for the
purpose of advocating the union of the provinces and certain
reforms, were highly commended by the Hunters, “as it
enabled the 'patriots' in the provinces not only to assemble
publicly but privately also”; and it was advised that they
should be held at as many places as possible.
And finally it was decided to make another invasion of
Canada. Detroit was again selected as the place of depar-
ture; and the assembling of the forces and the munitions of
war for this expedition was to begin “as soon as the canal-
boats should be laid up.” It was mentioned as their plan,
that so soon as the Patriot army landed at Windsor, the dis-
affected in the various districts of the provinces should rise
for the purpose of distracting the attention of the Govern-
ment, and preventing its sending troops to the West. It
was thought that if the Patriots could make a stand for a
few days, they would be joined by great numbers of persons
from the States who were only waiting for such an oppor-
tunity to go over to Canada. It was said that Generals Mc-
Leod and Sutherland had already left for the West to make
preparation for the attack; and that Lett had gone to Os-
wego to make arrangements for the destruction of the
steamer Great Britain. It was expected that she might be
detained in that port over night by stress of weather when
her destruction might easily be accomplished.1
But enthusiasm for actual invasion had subsided; plans
might be formulated, and rumors of new raids might for the
moment harrass the border populations; but no body of men
could be found who were ready openly to meet the armed
i. Report of spy found in enclosure of Sir Geo. Arthur to Marquis ot
Normanby, Oct. 15, 1839, Parlt. Rep., Canada.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38-
101
forces of the British which were established along the entire
Canadian frontier; though incendiarism and robbery seem
to have been common during the years 1839 and 1840. On
April 14, 1839, we learn that the British at Prescott had fired
upon the steamer United States on her first trip out for the
season ;* on the 22d instant, the American schooner Gerard
while at Port Colborne on her way through the Welland
canal, was boarded by Canadian militiamen who insulted the
captain and committed certain depredations;1 2 on the 25th
instant the British steamer Traveller was outraged by
Americans while lying at Charlotte, New York; while on
the 28th instant the mails were robbed near Kingston by
Canadian refugees or their American sympathizers.3 In
June several violations of a similar character took place;4
while in July the incendiary laid in ashes many a building of
his neighboring Tory;5 again on September 17th, we are
informed that “some robberies of a daring kind have been
committed within the last fortnight on the rivers St. Clair
and St. Lawrence; and four days ago the Episcopal church
at Chippewa, on the Niagara frontier was burned by incen-
diaries,’’ who were supposed to have come from the United
States.6
Now and then throughout the winter and the following
year similar depredations were committed, though the in-
stances recorded are fewer in number and pertain more to
property of a public nature such as the attempt to destroy
Brock’s monument in April, 1840 ;7 and to blow up the locks
in the Welland canal in September, 1841.8
Many things during these years conspired to embarrass
and hinder the Hunters in their raids across the border: the
military organization of Canada had been greatly increased
since the outbreak of the rebellion* and the forces were so
1.	Niles, LVI, 129.
2.	Ibid., LVI, 180.
3.	Ibid., LVI, 306.
4.	Ibid., LVI, 225, 243, 264.
5.	Ibid., LVI, 306, 320, 322.
6.	Sir Arthur to Marquis of Normanby, Sept. 17, 1839.
7.	Sir Arthur to Lord John Russell, Apr. 24, 1840.
8.	Johns Hopkins Series, XVI, 115.102
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
well distributed that no project of importance could be un-
dertaken in Canada by the refugees without their being dis-
covered and summarily dealt with; the United States, also,
maintained a military force along the border which, with the
assistance of the numerous federal officers on the frontier,
kept a vigilant watch and prevented the assembling of any
organized band of Patriots; the courts, too, were busy dur-
ing the years of 1839 and 1840 in dealing out justice to all
violators of the neutrality laws. The readjustment of the
provinces which was beginning in Canada for the moment
released the political strain imposed upon the Government
by the rebellion; while in the United States all other ques-
tions for the time being were either brushed aside by the
whirlwind that characterized the presidential campaign of
1840, or swept into the vortex of the movement.
XI. Politics.
Upon few Presidents have more unpopular duties de-
volved than upon Martin Van Buren. The financial panic
of 1837 with the relapse of 1839 held the country in its mel-
ancholy grip throughout the four years of his administra-
tion: it produced political and partisan differences that for
the time concealed the real causes of the disaster; and led
to such demands upon the Government as to tax the courage
of the Executive to its full extent. Closely associated with
the panic and in large measure growing out of the financial
disturbances of the times, arose the measures that resulted,
after many series of tedious debates, in the establishment of
the independent treasury, system. The cessation of the dis-
tribution of the surplus revenues among the states fur-
nished another ground of popular discontent; while the
atrocities of an Indian war which lasted for seven years
(i835-,42), resulting in the loss of many lives and the ex-
penditure of millions of dollars, contributed to the cares that
rested heavily upon the man of the White House. The
Texas question and the Canadian situation also furnished
fertile material for differences that taxed the skill and cour-TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 183?-’38.	103
age of the Administration to its utmost; and resulted in
much political disaffection.
In the midst of so many difficulties Van Buren bore him-
self bravely. The condition into which the country was
thrown by the panic led to the calling of an extra session of
Congress. In his message to this Congress the President took
the ground that the Government could not help the people
earn their living; but that it could refuse to aid the decep-
tion that paper was gold, and that value could arise without
labor. “To avoid every necessary interference,” wrote Van
Buren, “with the pursuits of the citizens, will result in more
benefit than to adopt measures which would only assist lim-
ited interests, and are eagerly, but perhaps naturally, sought
for, under the pressure of necessary circumstances.”1 The
clear logic and wise counsel of the President, however, ap-
peared cool and heartless to a people who were suffering
from financial prostration; and who had hoped tO' receive
from the new Administration some measures for their relief.
The moneyed class was no less irritated because of the
Administration’s attitude towards the banks. In his message
to Congress Van Buren called attention to the law of 1836
which required the Secretary of the Treasury to discontinue
the use of such banks “as should at any time refuse to re-
deem their notes in specie.” As all the banks had stopped
such payment it was necessary that some other means be pro-
vided for the safe deposit of the revenues. To the demand
for the reestablishment of a National bank he replied that
quite the contrary should be done; that the fiscal concerns of
the Government should be completely separated from all
individuals and corporations and placed under the immediate
supervision of federal officers,—in short, he asked for noth-
ing less than the “independent treasury,” which was adopted
during the last year of his administration.2
The position taken by Van Buren in refusing the proffers
of Texas for union with the states checked temporarily the
itching of the Democracy for territorial aggrandizement;
and gave offence to the slave power. While the policy of the
Executive toward the movements upon the Canadian border
1.	President’s Message, Sept. 4, 1837.
2.	Ibid.; U. S. Statutes at Large, 1840.104
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
was, in like manner, received with bitter resentment by those
who aspired to the freedom of the Canadas, and the estab-
lishment of republican government throughout the length
and breadth of the North American continent.
As might be expected, the attitude of the new President
with reference to these serious problems furnished excellent
material for his political opponents. Public sentiment ex-
pressed itself at the ballot-box. Even so early as the sum-
mer and fall of 1837 the elections went heavily against the
Administration, though in 1838 there seems to have been a
partial recovery. New York became the center of the politi-
cal contention. Here the gubernatorial election of 1838 was
a life and death struggle with the Democratic party. The
whole immense patronage of the State depended on the issue.
Governor Marcy and Lieutenant Governor Tracy were the
unanimous choice of the Democrats for a fourth term; while
Wm. H. Seward and Luther Bradish became the Whig can-
didates for the same offices. Besides national questions,
several issues of local importance came before the people of
the State for settlement. The intensity of the political con-
test gave the Hunters an opportunity to manifest their dis-
approval of Governor Marcy’s policy toward the Canadian
question. We have already shown the attitude of the Gov-
ernor in this matter: that while he pursued a hesitating
policy at the beginning, he became more active after the
burning of the Sir Robert Peel, even entering into hearty
cooperation with President Van Buren in attempting to
enforce the neutrality laws. As a consequence the Patriots
voted against him. The election resulted in favor of the
Whig candidates. The heavy Whig majorities in the west-
ern and northern counties where the Hunters were strongest
surprised every one. Chautauqua gave about 2,200 majority;
Erie 2,600; and Genesee more than 3,000; while Jefferson
county, which the previous year had elected Democratic
members, this year gave the Whig ticket a majority of about
600.1
1. J. D. Hammond, “Political History of New York,” II, 486, 487; J. S.
Jenkins, “Lives of the Governors of N. Y.,” 465; E. M. Shepard, “Martin Van
Buren,” 311; E. S. Brooks, “The Story of N. Y.,” 222; E. H. Roberts,
“New York,” II, 595; F. Bancroft, “The Life of Seward,” I, 72; Demo-
cratic Review, Jan., 1839, p. 8.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38.	105
Throughout the campaign Mackenzie had held meetings
in many of the larger cities in behalf of the Canadian cause.
Only at Washington did he receive the cold shoulder. There
the Administration used its influence against him. Two of
the leading^papers refused to print the announcement of his
‘intended meeting. Some of the heads of the Departments
even sent notes to their clerks ordering them not to attend
the meeting.1 This conduct on the part of those at the
White House only increased the bitter feelings of the Pa-
triots ; and their resentment was manifest at the polls. Not
only in New York but in other states the political influence
of the Hunters was apparent. “Along all the rest of the
frontier,” says the Democratic Review, “where the reverse
was the case, that influence unquestionably has told with a
very serious effect against the Administration.”2
The political hostility which manifested itself toward the
Democratic administration in 1838 was renewed in 1839 and
found full fruition in 1840. The partial industrial relapse
of 1839 which befell the first manifestations of relief from
the panic made all attempts at political recovery on the part
of the Democrats impossible. “Woe to Martin Van Buren,”
the war cry of the Hunters, was the key note of the cam-
paign.3 The Whigs under the leadership of General William
Henry Harrison, the war veteran of 1812, and John Tyler,
began the log cabin and hard cider campaign with an assur-
ance that portended a sweeping victory. In the election that
followed Harrison received 234 electoral votes, and Van
Buren sixty. Thus ended one of the most picturesque cam-
paigns ever held in the United States.
New York rolled up 13,300 more votes for Harrison than
for Van Buren; “but a large part of this plurality, perhaps
all, came from the counties on the northern and western
borders.”4 Here again are found strong evidences of the
Hunter influence.5 The imprisonment of Mackenzie and
1.	Lindsey, II, 225; Niles, LV, 193.
2.	Democratic Review, Jan., 1839, p. 8.
3.	Bonney, “Historical Gleanings,” II, 126.
4.	Shepard, “Martin Van Buren,” 334.
5.	Ibid.; Mackenzie, “Life and Times of Van Buren,” 282; “Remin-
iscences of Charles Durand,” 390; Jenkins, “Life of Silas Wright,” 127;
Niles, LIX, 198; Lindsey, II, 270; Sir Arthur to Lord Glenelg, Feb. 19,
1839.106
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
Van Rensselaer, and the severe treatment of the former
during confinement, called loudly for vengeance; and al-
though the President finally yielded to the influence of peti-
tions signed by 300,000 persons for his release, it came too
late to change the vote of the Patriots on the border.1
Another element that contributed to the large Whig
vote in the Hunter districts was the dismissal of General
Solomon Van Rensselaer, the father of the Patriot leader at
Navy Island, from the Albany post-office. The Adminis-
tration had accused Postmaster Van Rensselaer of “con-
niving at, and abetting his son in the insurrectionary move-
ment in the provinces.”2 Moreover, early in March an ar-
ticle appeared in one of the Albany papers stating that the
General had “tendered his services as senior major general
of the New York State infantry to the Commander-in-chief
in the event of a war between England and America.”3
Whether because of this seeming interest in his son’s com-
mand in the Patriot army, or because of political exigencies
we find the old general receiving word about the middle of
March, 1839, by direction of the President, that “the Public
Interests will be promoted by a change of Post Master at
Albany.”4 General Van Rensselaer had held the Albany
post-office ever since Monroe’s administration; and this
removal was made use of by the opposition party to the in-
jury of Van Buren. Van Rensselaer took an active part in
the Whig campaign. He was elected a delegate to the Whig
national convention, and played an important part in secur-
ing the nomination of his old comrade in war.5 During the
campaign he travelled extensively throughout Ohio and
northern New York, where he wielded the whole influence
of his respected character for the election of his old friend,
and against the man who had thrust his son into prison and
dismissed himself from an office which had been given him
for his heroism in the field—an office which he had been al-
1.	Lindsey, II, 253-268.
2.	Bonney, II, 106.
3.	Ibid.
4.	Ibid., 109.
5.	Ibid., 117, 118.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38.
107
lowed to retain so many years irrespective of party politics.1
The presence of the senior Van Rensselaer was everywhere
the occasion of a large and enthusiastic gathering; and the
13>300 plurality vote in New York was due, in some meas-
ure at least, to his influence, and that of the Patriot follow-
ers of his less distinguished son.
Although the Whig party was ready to avail itself of the
prejudices of the Hunters in the campaign of 1840, it was
in reality no friend to the Canadian cause. Even Seward,
who had been elected Governor of New York in 1838, acted
in sympathy with Van Buren on the border difficulties ;2 and
when the British minister at Washington called on the Gov-
ernment of the United States for the liberation of Alexander
McLeod, who had been arrested in New York on the charge
of murder and arson in connection with the destruction of
the Caroline,3 the President acted in unison with Governor
Seward in maintaining the right of the State of New York
to bring McLeod to trial in her own courts.4 With the
change of administration in 1841, the British minister im-
mediately renewed the demand for the release of McLeod
on the ground that the acts for which he had been arrested
were of a “public character, planned and executed by her
Majesty’s colonial authorities.”5 Daniel Webster, Secretary
of State, under the new Administration, was inclined to the
English view, but acknowledged that the President had no
power to stop a proceeding in a State court. He sent Attor-
ney-General Crittenden to consult with Governor Seward
regarding the demands of Great Britain; the advisability of
a change of venue for the prisoner; the need of retaining
skilful and eminent counsel; and to press upon the Gover-
nor the earnest desire of the President to have the case
brought before the Supreme Court of the United States.
The people of New York, however, were of a different
mind. The prejudice there against Great Britain was in-
1.	Ibid., 194.
2.	F. W. Seward, “Life of W. H. Seward,” 401.
3.	Nov. 12, 1840.
4.	F. W. Seward, “Life of W. H. Seward,” 519.
5.	Fox to Webster, Webster’s Works, VI, 247, 248.108
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
tense. The Democrats in 1838 had paid the penalty of ful-
filling international duties in opposition to this prejudice;
and Governor Seward was not insensible to the popular ver-
dict. The sentiments of the border population of the State
were, no doubt, expressed by Mr. Levi Hubbel in the State
Legislature when he said: “There is not power enough—
there is not gold enough in Great Britain to take this man’s
body out of the county of Niagara, until he shall have gone
through the form of a trial.”1 The people of New York
who had sympathized with the Patriots, neither knew nor
cared a fig either for constitutional or international law.
They regarded the arrest of McLeod as a rare opportunity
to take vengeance on one who, it was believed, had made it
dangerous for them to participate in the revolutionary move-
ment. When an attempt was made (Jan. 27, 1841) to bail
McLeod out of the Lockport jail, several hundred citizens
met and demanded that he should not be liberated. His
bondsmen were required to withdraw their names from the
bail, and did so. According to a correspondent of the times,
a cannon was brought in front of the court house about
midnight, “and commenced firing, and made the glass fly
in the court house, to the amusement of the patriots*'
“What must have been McLeod’s feelings,” says our writer,
“not knowing what was going on during the seven hours
the court house was full ?”2
The arrest and retention of McLeod greatly incensed the
English people; and their Government, after demanding his
release, entreated the President “to take into his most delib-
erate consideration the serious nature of the consequences
which must ensue from a rejection of this demand.”3 On
being refused her request Great Britain began to prepare
for war. In a private letter of Mr. Harcourt to Mr. Webster
he said: “As to McLeod’s case, I assure you there is in this
country but one feeling on the subject among all parties and
all ranks, that, if he should be condemned, it would be such
an outrage on international justice, that we must throw
1.	Apr. 17, 1841, Niles, LX, 135.
2.	Niles, LIX, 304, 384; Seward’s Works, II, 551, 552.
3.	Webster’s Works, VI, 249.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i8s7J3^	109
away the scabbard at once.”1 Word also reached Webster
from the United States minister at Paris that a large portion
of the British fleet in the Mediterranean was to prepare to
move to Halifax; that unusual energy was being displayed
in the English navy yard; and that fourteen steam frigates
would be upon the American coast by June, if necessary.2
Even France grew solicitous for a season, fearing that in
case war should break out between Great Britain and the
United States she could not long remain out of the contest.3
By the middle of the summer Congress, also, became quite
alive to the situation. Lake defenses, improvement of har-
bors, fortifications, war steamers, enlargement of the navy
became topics of interest; while the attitude of the Adminis-
tration with reference to McLeod and the Caroline affairs
was debated in Congress with considerable vehemence.4
On the border the excitement was intense. After the
decision of the Supreme Court of New York refusing to dis-
miss the McLeod case from the State courts, the Montreal
Courier declared that “the time has now arrived when there
can be no more dallying about the matter; and if our neigh-
bors will persist in their assumptions, let them take the con-
sequences, for however much we should deprecate a war
with them under different circumstances, the sooner we de-
cide this question the better. If war must come, let it come
at once, for it is very evident unless we settle all our disputes
now, it will only be putting off the evil day to a period when
we may not be so well prepared to deal with our wilful and
headstrong neighbors.”5
The possibility of war gave courage to the Hunters, and
they began anew their work of intrigue. Early in July we
find President Tyler addressing a note to Webster concern-
ing them; and the steps he had taken to secure information
regarding their movements, with the necessary precautions
to prevent, if possible, further disturbances upon the border.6
1.	March 12, 1841. Curtis, “Life of Webster,” II, 62, note.
2.	Gen. Cass to Webster, March 5, 1841, ibid., 62.
3.	Ibid., March 15, p. 63.
4.	Congressional Globe, 27—1, Vol. VIII, see index; U. S. Stat., V, 460. ‘
5.	Niles, LX, 368.
6.	L. G. Tyler, “Letters and Times of the Tylers,” II, 211.110
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
Later in the month Webster in a private note informed the
President that he had learned, “pretty fully” the real objects
and plans of the Hunter lodges which existed “all along
the Northern frontier, from Maine to Wisconsin.” Accord-
ing to Webster’s note, the Hunters were in constant corre-
spondence with the disaffected in Canada; and that these
disaffected persons often came over to harangue them in
their secret meetings; that they did not expect to invade
Canada with any hope of success unless war should break
out between Canada and the United States, an event they
desired “above all things"; that to bring' about war they
were ready to join “in any violence, or outbreak,” even to at-
tempt violence upon McLeod on his way from prison to the
place where the court might sit, or after the trial, in case he
should be discharged by the court. He further stated the
Hunters numbered not less than 10,000, that officers were
already designated for the command of their volunteers;
and that in case of war they were “to unite themselves to the
disaffected in Canada, declare the Province free and set
up another Government.” “It becomes us,” wrote Webster,
“to take all possible care that no personal violence be used
on McLeod. If a mob should kill him, war would be inevi-
table, in ten days. Our duty, is ... to have officers all
alon the frontier, in whom we have confidence, and let them
understand that there is danger.”1
The trial of McLeod was set for the 27th of September.
In the meantime there was much disquietude along the
border. Vague rumors of a plot to assassinate the prisoner
were circulated: that for this purpose the state arsenals had
been forced; several field-pieces secured, and secreted in
canal-boats; that supplies of ammunition had been ob-
tained in New York City and conveyed to the vicinity of
Utica; that it was the intention of the conspirators to assem-
ble at Whitestown where McLeod was confined, surround
the jail, demand his delivery from the keeper, and, in case of
refusal, to affect an entrance by means of artillery, seize
McLeod, and instantly “lynch” him.2 On the other hand, it
1.	C. H. Van Tyne, “Letters of Daniel Webster/’ 232.
2.	Seward’s Works, II, 578.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j38. HI
was rumored that the Canadians were forming a plot to
rescue McLeod from prison and abduct him out of the
country ;1 2 3 4 and there were found in the prisoner’s bed a small
saw, two small files, two chisels, and other means for effect-
ing his escape.2
As the day of the trial approached the excitement grew
more intense. With the news that the Canadians were
building strong vessels on the Lakes preparatory to a sudden
blow upon the United States, came the report that the secret
organizations on the American side were preparing to dis-
turb the peace with Great Britain.3 With the information
that James Grogan, of Lockport, had been seized near St.
Albans, Vermont; wounded by a bayonet; gagged, and
dragged across the border by a party said to be composed of
dragoons and volunteers from Canada, came also the news
of the Hunters’ attempt to blow up the locks on the Welland
canal; and of their attempt, from Navy Island, to fire upon
the British steamships, Minos and Toronto, with a field-
piece which had been taken from the American shore for
that purpose.4
Beneath this large amount of rumor danger seemed to
lurk. It seemed to those in authority that we were treading
upon half-smothered embers which might burst forth at any
moment into a dangerous flame. This intense solicitude,
however, begot prudence. It was under these circumstances
that President Tyler issued his proclamation, already re-
ferred to in a previous chapter, calling upon the Hunters to
disband.5 At the same time General Scott was informed
that these disturbances on the frontier must be suppressed,
otherwise we should “ere long be engaged in an inglorious
warfare, of incursions and violations, ending in general hos-
tilities.”6 Governor Seward, likewise, took precautionary
steps. A guard of thirty persons was stationed at the jail
1.	Niles, LX, 53.
2.	Ibid., 88.
3.	Johns Hopkins Univ. Series, XVI, 115.
4.	F. W. Seward, “Life of W. H. Seward,” 566.
5.	Chap. x.
6.	Jphns Hopkins Univ. Studies, XVI, 118.112 RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
to protect McLeod until his case should be decided; and a
volunteer infantry company of a hundred men was enlisted,
organized, equipped and held in readiness by the sheriff for
any emergency; while General Scott ordered a company of
regular troops at Rome to move to Utica at once should their
services be needed; and Brigadier General Wool was to be
present at the trial to give assistance and advice to the sheriff
whenever called upon.1
Finally the day of trial arrived: the Court of Oyer and
Terminer was duly opened, Judge Gridley presiding; and
on the 4th of October, the case was opened. Utica was full
of visitors and strangers. Mackenzie was there, so was
General Sutherland, and other participators in the frontier
troubles. The court room throughout the trial, which lasted
from the 4th to the 12th of the month, was crowded, but
perfect order was maintained; and when the jury brought
in a verdict of “not guilty,” “all was hushed and quiet—no
excitement visible anywhere.”2 McLeod, under the Gov-
ernor’s direction, was safely and quietly taken to the fron-
tier; placed on board the steamboat Princess Victoria, and
taken to Montreal, where he was received with open arms
and loud cheers by the immense throng that awaited him.3
McLeod’s acquittal relieved the strained situation; the
war fever rapidly abated. One source of international em-
barrassment was ended, and the way opened for the friendly
negotiations of Webster and Ashburton at Washington, a
few months afterwards, where wisdom and diplomacy pre-
vented two great nations from breaking the peace of the
world. Neither country desired war; what each wanted so
far as anything savoring of aggressiveness was concerned
was to be let alone. Now that the real danger was passed
England ceased her preparations for war, and gradually re-
duced the British force on the Lakes; and the United States,
now that the war scare had collapsed, soon turned her atten-
tion to inland commerce and to politics instead of frontier
defences.
1.	Seward’s Works, II, 560-586.
2.	Niles, LXI, 119-125.
3.	Ibid., 128.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837j3&-
113
Though both nations were ready to enter into friendly
conferences regarding their differences, there still remained
on either side the Lakes a war party ready to fan the flame
of discord. On the last of November we learn from Mr.
Fox that the Hunters still threatened the provinces with
hostile incursions from “within the frontier of the United
States” ;* while early in the following year a conspiracy was
formed by the Hunters to reenact the McLeod fiasco. The
intended visit of Lord Ashburton to the United States was a
matter of considerable interest to the people of both coun-
tries early in the year 1842. On its success depended the
settlement of several very delicate questions. The chances
of an international quarrel were likely to soon pass away,
and with them the opportunities of the Hunters to free the
Canadas. Just before the arrival of Lord Ashburton to this
country it was arranged with one John Sherman Hogan, a
Canadian journalist who resided at Hamilton, that he should
be arrested in New York as a party to the Caroline outrage;
and after his committal, he was to make a public confession
of having been a participator in the affair, and throw himself
on the protection of the British Government. Hogan was
twice arrested at Rochester; but after having undergone a
judicial investigation he was discharged without even being
compelled as McLeod had been to undergo a term of im-
prisonment.1 2
This was the last expiring effort of the filibusters to
bring about a war. Lord Ashburton arrived on the 4th of
April and on the 9th of August, 1842, the Treaty of Wash-
ington was signed whereby all matters of difference between
Great Britain and the United States were amicably adjusted.
In Canada the agitation and turmoil that accompanied the
readjustment of the provinces gradually wore away; the
prisoners who had been committed to confinement or banish-
ment on account of political offences were finally liberated,
and, in due course of time, restored to political and consti-
tutional favor; while in the United States the return of
commercial and industrial prosperity lifted the dark cloud
1.	No. 20, Notes to State Department.
2.	Lindsey, II, 280.114
THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-38.
of discontent that had enveloped the nation throughout the
whole period of the Canadian troubles; and opened to the
unemployed class new opportunities for personal achieve-
ment and financial aggrandizement. The brief excitement
that surrounded the Oregon question several years later
seemed, for a season, to afford hope to the Hunter that he
would again find employment for his talents; but that dan-
ger too passed away, and with it the last of the Hunters,
though his legitimate successor has been known to us in
more recent times under the guise of the Fenian raider.1
1. Dent, “The Upper Canadian Rebellion,” II, 300.
Errata.—In preceding pages, note following corrections:
Page 1, note 2. For “He worked his way through college,” etc., read:	“All
his studies have been pursued in resident work at Michigan University,” except
one summer in Chicago University.
Page 18. For “Biddle” read “Bidwell.”
Pages 18, 22, 30, 65, 97, 98. For “Lout” read “Lount.”
Page 30. For “Von Egmont” read “Van Egmond.”
Page 32, note 1. For “Wm. Symon” read “Wm. Lyman.”
Page 44. For “Mount Clements” read “Mount Clemens.”
Page 45, note 6. For “J. Price” read “J. Prince.”
Page 51. For “George” Van Rensselaer read “Henry” Van Rensselaer.
Page 66. For “Pamela” read “Pamelia.”
Page 67. For “Paul Fry” read “Paul Pry.”
Page 73. For “Parker,” collector of duties at Buffalo, read “Pierre A.
Barker.”
On p. 18, John Montgomery is spoken of as thought put to death. His
death sentence in 1838 was commuted to transportation for life. In 1843 he
was pardoned, and he returned to Toronto, where he continued to reside for
many years. He died at Barrie, Ont., Oct. 31, 1879, in his 96th year.116
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
McLeod, Alexander. The Trial of McLeod, pub. New York Sun;
1841.
McLeod, Donald. The Settlement of Upper Canada and the Griev-
ances of 1837 and 1838; 1841.
Miller, Linus W. Notes of an Exile to Van Dieman’s Land; 1846.
Niles' Register. 1837-1842.
North American Review. Vol. LIU.
Parliamentary Reports, Canada. 1837-1841.
Report. The Seventh Report from the Select Committee of the
House of Assembly, U. C.; 1832.
Richardson, Janies D. Messages and Papers of the Presidents;
Vols. Ill, IV; 1897.
Prisoners. Persons Charged with Insurrection; 1838.
Spencer, Joshua A. Unpublished Letters to Daniel Webster, in pos-
session of Dr. C. H. Van Tyne.
Sumner. The Works of Charles Sumner; 15 vols.; 1883.
Sutherland, Jefferson. Sutherland’s Letters; 1841.
Theller, E. A. Canada in 1837-1838; 2 vols; 1841.
Tuckerman, Bayard. The Diary of Philip Hone; 2 vols.; 1889.
United States Statutes at Large. i8i3-’23, i836-’45.
Van Rensselaer’s Narrative. See Bonney, II.
Wait, Benjamin. Letters from Van Dieman’s Land; 1843.
Wendell. Cases of Supreme Court of New York.
Westminster Review. Vols. XXXI-XXXII.
Williams, Edwin. Addresses and Messages of the Presidents of the
United States; 2 vols.; 1846.
Wright, Stephen S. Van Dieman’s Land; 1844.
SECOND-HAND AUTHORITIES.
Adams, Henry Carter. The Science of Finance; 1899.
American Historical Review. Vols. X, XI.
Angell, James B. Lectures on International Law; 1904.
Baker, George E. The Works of William H. Seward; 3 vols.; 1853.
Bancroft, Frederick. The Life of William Seward; 2 vols.; 1900.
Beckley, Rev. Hosea. History of Vermont; 1846.
Bell, Andrew. History of Canada; 2 vols.; 1862.
Benton, Thos. H. Thirty Years’ View; 2 vols.; 1856.
Bierce, Gen. L. V. Historical Reminiscences of Summit County,
Ohio; 1854.
Bishop, Joseph Bucklin. Our Political Drama; 1904.
Bourinot, Sir John George. Canada, 1760-1900.
Bourinot, Sir John George. How Canada is Governed; 1895.
Bourinot, Sir John George. Manual of the Constitution of Canada;
1900.
Bourinot, Sir John George. Canada. [Story of the Nations, Series.]
1896.
Bradshaw, F. The Story of Lord Durham’s Report; 1903.
Brooks, Elhridge S. The Story of New York; 1888.
Bryce, Rev. George. A Short History of the Canadian People; 1887.
Calhoun. Works of Calhoun; 6 vols.; 1859.
Coleman, Mrs. Chapman. Life of John J. Crittenden; 1873.
Conant, Thomas. Life in Canada; 1903.
Curtis, George Ticknor. Life of Daniel Webster; 2 vols; 1870.BIBLIOGRAPHY
The most complete bibliography of the Canadian Rebellion of 1837-
'38 has been compiled by Frank H. Severance, and is published
in Vol. V, Buffalo Historical Society Publications (1902), pp.
427-495.
FIRST-HAND AUTHORITIES.
Adams. Memoirs of John Quincy Adams; 12 vols.; 1877.
American State Papers. Military Affairs; Vol. VII.
Annual Register. 1838-1842.
Bissell. Diary of Wm. H. Bissell. (Detroit News, Oct. 16, 1904.)
Bonney, Mrs. Catharina V. R. Legacy of Historical Gleanings; 2
vols.; 1875.
Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. 1837-1842.
Buffalo Journal. 1837-1842.
Colton, Calvin. Private Correspondence of Henry Clay; 1856.
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Detroit Daily Advertiser. 1837-1839.
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Documents, Michigan. Journal of the House of Representatives,
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Documents, U. S. Senate and House. Executive, 25 Cong., 2 Sess.,
Vols. II-XI; 3 Sess., Vols. I-IV; 26 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. II;
27 Cong., 2 Sess., Vols. II, III; Doc. and Reports, 27 Cong., 1
Sess.; Report of Committees, 26 Cong., 2 Sess., 1840-41; Senate
Doc., 27 Cong., 3 Sess.
Durham’s Report. 1839.
Gates, Wm. Recollections of Life in Van Dieman’s Land; 1850.
Gentleman’s Magazine. 1838-1842.
Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates. 1838-1842.
Head, Sir Francis Bond. The Emigrant; 1847.
Head, Sir Francis Bond. Narrative; 1839.
Henry, Walter. Events of a Military Life; 2 vols.; 1843.
Lindsey, E. G. A History of the Navy Island Campaign; 1838.
London and Westminster Review. 1838-1842.
London Spectator. 1838-1842.
Marsh, Robt. Narrative of a Patriot Exile; 1848.
McLeod, Alexander. The Trial of McLeod (complete), by M. T.
Gould; 1841.TO THE CANADIAN REBELLION, 1837-’38.
117
Dent, John Charles. The Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion j
2 vols.; 1885.
Douglas, Rev. J. History of Montreal Prison, 1784 to 1886; 1886.
Durand. Reminiscences of Charles Durand of Toronto, Barrister;
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Farmer, Silas. History of Detroit and Michigan; 1884.
Greswell, Rev. Wm. Parr. History of Canada; 1890.
Hammond, J. D. Political History of New York; 3 vols.; 1850.
Handbook of Canada. 1897.
Hopkins, John Castell. Canada. An Encyclopaedia of the Country;
5 vols.; 1898.
Hopkins, John Castell. Progress of Canada in the Century; 1902.
Horton, Wm. H. Geographical Gazetteer of Jefferson County,
N. Y.; 1890.
Johns Hopkins University Studies; Vol. XVI; 1898. Article by
J. M. Callahan, “The Neutrality of the American Lakes.”
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1851.
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vols.; 1862.
Lizars, Robina and Kathleen. Humours of ’37; 1897.
Mackenzie, Wm. Lyon. The Caroline Almanack '; 1840.
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MacMullen, John. History of Canada; 1869.
Magazine of American History. Vol. VII; 1881.
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Pierce, Edward L. Memoirs and Letters of Charles Sumner; 4
vols.; 1893,
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Robinson, Rowland E. Vermont; 1892.
Sargent, Nathan. Public Men and Events; 2 vols.; 1875.
Schouler, James. History of the United States; 5 vols.; 1894.
Scott. Autobiography of Lieut.-Gen. Scott; 2 vols.; 1864.
Severance, Frank H. Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier; 1899;
2d ed., 1902.
Seward, Frederick W. Autobiography of Wm. H. Seward; 1877.
Shapard, Edward M. Martin Van Buren; 1888.
Smith, Goldwin. Canada and the Canadian Question; 1891.
St. Clair County. History of St. Clair County, Michigan; 1883.
Thomas, Arad. Pioneer History of Orleans County, N. Y.; 1871.
Thompson, Zadock. Vermont; 1842.
Tyler, Lyon G. Letters and Times of the Tylers; 2 vols.; 1885.
Van Tyne, Claude Halstead. The Letters of Daniel Webster; 1902.
Vattel. Law of Nations; 1861.
Webster, Daniel, works of; 1853.118	THE CANADIAN REBELLION, i837J38'
Wharton, Francis. International Law; 3 vols.; 1886.
Wheaton, Henry. International Law; 1866.
Wilson, Woodrow. The State; 1899.
Wing, Talcott E. History of Monroe County, Michigan; 1890,
Winsor, Justin. Narrative and Critical History of America; 1884..
Withrow, Rev. Wm. H. History of Canada; 1884.
Wright, Gen. Marcus J. General Scott; 1894.'3 £5^ ej
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■■■■mbmiILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS
BEARING ON
THE CANADIAN REBELLION
From the collections of the Buffalo Historical Society a few
documents, handbills and pictures have been selected for reproduc-
tion herewith, by way of local illustration of the foregoing historical
study by Mr. Tiffany.
One of the handbills gives the resolutions adopted by the “Execu-
tive Committee of 13,” at a meeting held on Christmas Day of 1837.
That committee, to which Mr. Tiffany has referred (p. 27), was
named, according to the Buffalo Journal and the Commercial Adver-
tiser of concurrent dates, not at the meeting of December 5th, but at
an adjourned meeting on the evening of December 12th, a great
gathering of citizens in the old Eagle-street theater, on which occa-
sion William L. Mackenzie spoke at length. The committee was
made up of reputable and representative men, who pledged them-
selves, as the resolutions show, not to aid or abet any invasion of
Canada, but to “protect the neutrality of the American territory,”
and to defend their home city from attack. This attitude towards
the promoters of the disturbance is very different from that attrib-
uted to the people of Buffalo by certain Canadian writers on the
subject.
On the proceedings of the “Patriot Lodge of the city of Buffalo”
the newspapers of the time throw no light. The handbill which we
reproduce illustrates how the Patriot war engendered feeling which
showed itself in local politics; the Patriot sympathizers lining up
against George P. Barker, candidate for Mayor, and no doubt as-
sisting in his defeat. The Mayor of Buffalo at that time was elected
by the Board of Aldermen, which body, on March 13, 1838, chose
Ebenezer Walden for Mayor.
119120
CANADIAN REBELLION DOCUMENTS.
The contemporary cartoon of the British invasion of Navy Island,
and the engraving of the cutting out of the Caroline, require little if
any comment. No one with a sense of humor can read of the Navy
Island affair without seeing how ridiculous it was; that there were
those who saw this aspect of the “war,” even when excitement ran
highest, is made evident by this crude but not wholly unedifying
cartoon of almost seventy years ago. The original lithograph is
some 12 by 16 inches in size, crudely colored. The artist’s identity
is disguised under the signature of “Hogarth,” and beneath the pic-
ture is printed the following alleged “extract from Col. McNab’s
dispatches to Gov. Head”:
“At length, finding we had silenced the cannon of the enemy,
our brave band determined upon endeavoring to land. All hearts
were nerved for the contest, and our invincible corps stepped briskly
into the boats, aided however by occasional pricks from the officers’
swords. In approaching Navy Island a tremendous gutteral noise
was heard from an immense porker, who, surrounded by her infant
family, came fiercely bristling up to dispute our passage. Our men
gave way, but on my representing to them the glory to be obtained
by so valiant an achievement, they again rallied and succeeded in
taking the entire force of the Island prisoners, consisting of one old
horse, a sow and two pigs, and an old woman.”
The picture of the burning of the Caroline, the original being
some 20 inches wide, was published in 1838, with the title as here
reproduced, and the certificate of Messrs. Appleby, Harding and
Wells that “the above is a true representation of the scene as pre-
sented to us immediately after the Caroline was towed into the
stream, set on fire and left to drift.”
The other handbills and poster proclamations here reproduced
illustrate various phases of the excitement of the time. It will be
noted that the name of the only known victim of the Caroline affray
is spelled, on the poster announcing his funeral, “Durphy”; the pub-
lished accounts usually have it “Durfee.”
Especially illustrative of Mr. Tiffany’s purpose to show the rela-
tions between State and Federal authority, as exercised in this affair,
is the following letter, written by Gen. Scott to Gen. David Burt.
It is also given in facsimile, from the original, in the possession of
the Buffalo Historical Society:
Dear General : I put a note under cover to you. In the absence
of the Governor & Adjutant General, I beg you to charge yourself,
as the highest State-authority, with the recovery of the State guns,
muskets & ammunition. I do not wish the U. States to have any-
thing directly to do with this business, tho’ I will approve all you
may do, in behalf of the State.
Yrs, truly,
Buffalo, Jan. 25, 1838.	Winfield Scott.FACSIMILE, LETTER OF WINFIELD SCOTT TO GENERAL DAVID BURT OF BUFFALO. FROM THE ORIGINAL, IN THE POSSESSION OF
THE BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY. SEE PAGE 120.122
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
THE REVENUE CUTTER AND THE REBELS.
An interesting phase of Federal activity, perhaps not elsewhere
brought out, is learned from certain papers now in the possession of
the Buffalo Historical Society, formerly belonging to Captain Daniel
Dobbins of Erie, Pa., and later in the hands of his son, Capt. D. P.
Dobbins of this city. Further data regarding the Dobbins papers
will be found in subsequent pages of this volume. It will suffice here
to state that at the time of the Patriot disturbances on the Niagara
and Detroit rivers, Capt. Daniel Dobbins was in command of the
U. S. revenue cutter Erie. Among his papers referring to that
period, are the following, now for the first time published. The
first one, unsigned, is obviously a copy of a letter which Capt.
Dobbins sent to Collector Kelso:
Erie, Jan. 2, 1838.
E. J. Kelso, Esq.,
Collector of the Port of Presqu’ Isle:
Sir: In the present disturbed state of the Province of Upper
Canada, it is impossible to foresee what may take place the ensuing
summer. Lawless free-booters are always found in such a state of
things in any country, and that depredations will be committed on
the commerce of the Lakes cannot be doubted. I therefore beg leave
to draw your attention to the state of the small arms of the Revenue
Cutter Erie, all of which are not fit for use, even dangerous for a
man to fire, either the muskets or pistols, and was so when put on
board by your predecessor. They cannot be repaired, the greatest
fault being in the barrels.
And also respecting Mr. Ottinger, 2d Lieutenant of the Cutter.
That a full crew of both men and officers will be necessary, is plain.
I wish to be informed whether he intends to remain in service or
not, if not it is time the thing were known, that his place may be
supplied in due season.
The Mr. Ottinger referred to was Douglass Ottinger, afterwards
commander of the revenue cutter Perry, and for many years dis-
tinguished in the U. S. revenue service on the lakes.
The following letters require little comment. The omitted por-
tions are merely personal or family references, of no historical in-
terest.
Erie, Pa., 12th January 1838
Capt. Daniel Dobbins,
U. S. Revenue Service:
Dear Sir : Having understood that the Revenue Cutter Erie
under your command is ordered to be fitted out and proceed to Buf-
falo to assist in the protection of our frontier in that vicinity, I beg
leave to offer myself as a volunteer on board the Erie under your
orders. Should you not think proper to accept my services I will
PA^lFBlOT
WII-IIU.
W.E.H.U.N.T.T.0.0.
Spirit of 76!
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POSTER OF BUFFALO’S “ PATRIOT LODGE,” 1838.
Sec Documents Bearing on the Canadian Rebellion,” Page 119,of Buffalo.
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POSTERS OF THE CANADIAN REBELLION. See Page 120.City Guards,
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POSTERS OF THE CANADIAN REBELLION.
See Page 120.THE CANADIAN REBELLION.
123
ask the favor of a passage with you to Buffalo, where I may offer
myself to some other Department of the Government.
Respectfully Sir Your obdt servt
James T. Homans,
Lieut., U. S. Navy.
N; B. Please acquaint me what time you will probably be ready
to sail.—J. T. H.
On board the U. S. Revenue Cutter Erie
Black Rock January 16th 1838
Dr. Wife: We arrived at Buffalo this morning at 8 o’clock all
well. At four p. m. Mr. Barker the Collector came on board and
ordered us to this place, to protect the Steam Boat Barceloni [Bar-
celona], in going up the rapids from the British who had three
schooners above here mounting on board each from two to three
guns, we did expect we would have had a Brush with them, but
nothing of that kind took place. The shores on both sides were
lined with men, to see the sport, but they were disappointed, and no
attempt has been made to intercept her this far.
The Patriots on Navy Island have abandoned that Island, and
dispersed. Genl. vanransleer is in Buffalo who was arested and held
to Bail.
I expect I will be ordered down the river in the morning to look
for the Cannon and other arms taken by the Patriots, from this side
and not taken away by them, it is reported that they have gone up
the Lake, some say to Vanburen Harbour, to cross over but that I
do not believe. I shall keep you advised of the movements as they
occur. They say here that there was but five hundred on Navy
Island. I hope the difficulty is about over.
Your husband,
Mrs. Mary Dobbins.	Daniel Dobbins.
U. S. R. Cutter Erie
Buffalo Jany. 18th 1838
Dr wife:	we are here and all well and hope the war is over
we have been kept busy night and day, the weather this morning is
so severe that all appears quiet. I was introduced to Gen. Scott
yesterday, and beared him hold forth to the Committee of thirteen,
who he invited to an interview, he apears to be determined to ob-
serve and preserve the neutrality of the United States with Canada.
Last night apeared to be a disastrous night to the Patriots, by means
of a forged order they got possession of five Brass pieces of Cannon
which it is thought, they intended to send out of the Harbour, on
board the schooner Savanna, to be put on board the Steam Boat
Barcelony which was outside; but the weather was bad and I was
ordered to take the schooner in charge, which was done, and a
guard of twenty men put on board, under the command of Capt,
Wright. The Steam boat was oblidged to come in this morning.
General Scott has chartered her and thus the Patriots are deprived
of her service the New England has been fitted out but they apear124
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
to have discontinued their operations from all apearance I think the
whole thing will subside soon.
Your husband
Daniel Dobbins.
Mrs. Mary Dobbins.
The following letter, to Capt. Dobbins’ son William, contains a
bit of good advice for Decatur Dobbins, another son:
On board the United States Revenue Cutter Erie,
Buffalo, January 29th 1838.
William :	This day about noon the steamboat New England
came in and was enabled to get through the ice up the creek. I have
not seen any person from on board of her as yet. Mr. Connor got a
letter today from Erie which reports that the artillery arms have
been purchased, it is supposed by the Patriots, and that many of
them are about Erie. I hope Decatur will not meddle with them,
for depend [upon it] all that does will be marked by the Govern-
ment.
Things are all peace at this place now, as they have disappeared
from this. We have had a very severe storm yesterday and last
night. The water was all over the flats and the ice has been con-
tinually running up and down the creek with great force. It was
with difficulty that we could keep our place with the Cutter the cur-
rent with the ice was so strong about 12 last night a fire broke out
near the stone building occupied as a blacksmith shop on the flats,
we were not able to get to it for the ice. I fired a gun to alarm the
people, they collected and got the fire under with the loss of one
building, which was a grocery.
Show this letter to Decatur and the rest of the family. I do not
know how soon I will be able to visit Erie, not until the ice has
closed the creek for good. . . . Decatur, ... I hope you will not
be silly enough to meddle with these patriots in way that your name
may be known.
Your father
D. Dobbins.
Michael Connor, who writes the following, was first lieutenant
of the Erie, left in command of her in the captain’s absence:
On board U. S. Cutter Erie
Feb. 5th 1838 Buffalo Creek
Dear Sir :	On my visit to the City today I called at the Custom
House, and when I got up to the American I fell in with the Officers
of Gen. Scott’s staff and Mr. Brown the Dep. Coll—just arrived—
came through Canada—left the Fulton at Detroit and all things quiet
in that quarter. Ottinger would leave Detroit probably today, of
course he will be at Erie soon and can give you an account of the
trip. ... I shall advise you of any change here.
Yours Respectfully
Michael Connor.
Capt. D. Dobbins.THE CANADIAN REBELLION.
125
On board Cutter Erie
Buffalo Creek Feb. 9th 1838
Dear Sir :	I received yours by Leonard and have nothing to in-
form as I wrote to you on the arrival of the Officers of Gen. Scott’s
Staff through Canada. This day I have seen Mr. Homans and the
report in town is that Col. Worth will send some troops on west by
stages. I have not seen any of the military and you know what re-
ports are good for. Gen. Scott left here last evening going East.
I have nothing new to give things go on smooth and at present
I find the House erected over the Vessel pretty comfortable, as there
is an old-fashioned snow-storm and every appearance of it continu-
ing some time.
I make my appearance in Town occasionally and really I am glad
when I get back on board again. Buffalo is a gloomy place at pres-
ent—nothing doing and I feel when there a good deal like a loafer
and so get back to the creek again. I shall be heartily rejoiced when
the Spring comes, to get in motion once more, and probably we may
have some active duty to perform. ...
Yours Respectfully
Capt. D. Dobbins.	Michael Connor.
On board Cutter Erie, Buffalo Creek,
Feb. 15th, 1838
Sir :	I have nothing in the news line to give you things are all
quiet at Buffalo at present and we are all looking for news from the
Patriots in the West. Col. Worth is still receiving reinforcements
of recruits so as the agitators will have no chance of starting any
new difficulties. Ottinger arrived on Sunday evening he gave me
an account of things in Erie. I have made enquiry about the arms.
Col. Worth tells me the best armory he knows is at Middletown
Connecticut—Mr. North. I have written to him requesting he will
let me know whether he can furnish and to state the price—Musketts,
Pistols and Cutlasses and to direct to me at this place—that when ar-
rangements are made for delivery he will receive his pay from the
Collector at Erie. I thought Eigteen Musketts—twenty four pistols
and twelve Cutlasses would be the quantity we should want. Any-
thing else belonging to the armament we could get ourselves. About
the boats you were saying one boat was as much as you thought
Southwick could get along with, while you have the opportunity to
get two I should think it best to get them it may not be so easy by
and by to get an order. However you know best what to do in that
case. Everything goes on regular, we have cold weather and ice
accummilating fast—give my best wishes to all the family and en-
quiring friends.
Give my best respects Mr. Kelso—and dont forget to write me
if anything new should occur—there is to be a grand military ball
on the 22d great preparations are making and no doubt there will be
great doings on the occasion you will perceive I have only written
for the terms the arms can be procured when I get the answer I
shall write you immediately.
Yours Respectfully
Michael Connor.
P. S. The inventory book I have found also the two Cutlasses.126
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
On board Cutter Erie
Feb. 25th 1838, Buffalo Creek
Dear Sir: The Pirates are on the move again, for the last
week we have had news of meetings in the country East of this, and
robbing of Arsenalls etc.
Last night a party made a move to cross on the ice about eight
miles above this place. Col. Worth got intimation of it, turned out
a force to prevent them but got there just as they had all got some
ways over—he succeeded in capturing two pieces of Artillery from
them.
I suppose there were about two hundred gone over—reports vary
some say a great many more. We have all sorts of reports some
say the Patriots will cross into Canada from Lewiston, this thing
came up so sudden I can give you no particulars—they are a damned
sett about the frontier at any rate and I should not be surprised
should those Piratical parties continue to cross in this way if the
Canadians should retaliate by making reprisals. Ottinger was out
with all our availables, the men have returned and Ottinger is with
Mr. Barker I presume. I felt the loss of our cartridge boxes and
belts they were left by mistake be so good if an opportunity offers
to have them sent down as we may probably have occasion to use
them.
Give my respects to all enquiring friends, particularly Mrs. Dob-
bins and the family. Things all go on regular. . . .
I am Respectfully Yours
Michael Connor.
Capt. D. Dobbins.
P. S. Capt. Douglass has just arrived and says the gang that
attempted to cross got within a mile or two of the Canada shore and
returned and I regret that they were so fortunate as to get back, for
they had no other intention than to rob and plunder.	M. C.
The following is preserved among the Dobbins papers referring
to the Patriot troubles:
Columbus, Mar 5, 1838
To Lyman Rice:
I am directed by the Solicitor of the Treasury of the United
States, to notify you that the Western Sister Island in Lake Erie
near the mouth of the Maumee Bay, of which you are said to be in
possession, is reserved from sale and entry for public purposes, and
that any further occupation of it on your part will be considered and
treated as trespass.
Yours, etc.,
A. H. SWAYNE,
U. S. Atty, Dist. Ohio.
U. S. Revenue Cutter Erie,
Buffalo Creek, June nth, 1838.
Dr Wife: We are still at the same place, and I am not able to
tell when we will leave it. I have got all hands back but two, who
still are at the falls. We have had news of another steam boat beingTHE CANADIAN REBELLION.
127
burnt, the William the Fourth, the place I do not now recollect, but
at some point on Lake Ontario. The people on the other side the
water, appear to be very wrathy. I do not know what the final re-
sult will be. I find many of the inhabitants of Bufalo favouring any-
thing that would lead to a war. . . .
Your husband
Daniel Dobbins.
Mrs. Mary Dobbins,
Erie, Pa.
On the day when the above was written Capt. Dobbins was sum
moned to the West:
Collector's Office,
Detroit, nth June, 1838.
Sir: It is said that there is some stir among the Canadian
refugees within our borders, along with such as have associated with
them on this frontier, of a hostile character towards the opposite
side of the river. I have no facts within my own knowledge to war-
rant such a belief. It appears however that a cannon, a nine pounder
belonging to the United States, a condemned piece of ordinance [Wc]
that lay on one of the wharfs in the City, was stolen last night,
whether by the Patriots or Canadians on the opposite side of the
river or by whom has not yet been ascertained. It is evident and
clear to my mind that there are many false rumours spread on the
Canada side of an exciting nature. It is also evident that many of
the leading people on the Canada side, especially such as have lately
been there in military service on the spur of the occasion, are en-
deavoring to provoke hostilities between the two Governments.
They appear such as are already in service, desirous of being con-
tinued in the Queen's pay, and others equally anxious to get into
the service. I think it would be well for you without delay to come
or send the Revenue Cutter at this time to cruise on those waters,
which may answer a double purpose in preserving the neutrality of
our own Government, and to prevent any aggreassion that may pos-
sibly be attempted from the other shore.
Perhaps it may be well to keep the contents of this letter private
for the present.
With great respect Your obedient servant
John McDonald,
Collector.
Capt. D. Dobbins,
Commander Revenue Cutter Erie.
On board Revenue Cutter Erie
Buffalo Creek, June 25, 1838.
Sir:	I have just received an order from the Dep. Coll.—in the
absence of the Coll—to proceed down the River and take a position
on the West Side of Grand Island to prevent suspicious movements
in that quarter. Should anything take place before you join I shall
apprize you of it. Major Young has made the request of the Coll,
that the Cutter may be used for the above purposes. Qr. Master128
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
Gen. Staunton has gone to Detroit to employ a Steam boat to be
employed for the purpose of preventing any movements from our
side.
Yours Respectfully
Michael Connor.
Capt. D. Dobbins.
Buffalo, 9th July, 1838.
Dr Sir : When I delivered to you the box of arms belonging at
Erie, I was not aware what expenses had been incurred, in paying
freight etc. when they were seized. It appears that we are respon-
sible for about six dollars on that account, which I presume will be
paid by the officer in whose custody the guns were at Erie.
The reward offered for these arms is claimed, and justly due to
two men here, one of them a soldier in the army. Allow me to ask
of you the favor, to present these claims to the proper officer at
Erie; by doing which you will much oblige
Your Friend & Servt
Capt. D. Dobbins,
U. S. Revenue Cutter Erie,
Erie, Pa.
G. Wright,
Capt. U. S. A.
Head Quarters 7th Military Dept
Detroit Nov. 23d 1838
Captain : The interest of the Service requires that you should
repair with the United States Revenue Cutter to this frontier as soon
as possible, to aid the Civil Officers of the United States, in enforc-
ing the laws, and preserving inviolate our neutral relations with the
Government of Great Britain.
There is no doubt, but at this time, men are collecting in large
numbers at different points between this place and Toledo, with the
intention of invading Canada. Therefore I hope on the rect. of this
letter, you will lose no time in repairing hither with the Cutter fully
armed and equipped for the above purpose.
I am respectfully
H. Brady
Brig. Gen. Comng.
Capt. Dobbins,
U. S. N.
The following copy of a letter sent by Capt. Dobbins to the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, in December, 1838, well shows the perplexity
of the situation as regards jurisdiction:
[No address on the copy.]
The United States Circuit Court for the Western District of
Pennsylvania, held at Pittsburg Nov. 19, 1838, on an indictment for
rape on the high seas, have decided that the United States have no
Admiralty and Maritime jurisdiction on Lake Erie. This appears
to me to involve a question highly interesting to the people on thisTHE CANADIAN REBELLION.
129
border; owing to the situation they are placed in, the difficulties
now existing in the Canadas between the Patriots so-called, and the
legitimate Government; might induce piracy, murder and robbery,
with impunity.
The Court of Sessions in Erie County have decided that Penn-
sylvania has no jurisdiction on Lake Erie, where then is the juris-
diction? My situation is a delicate one. On boarding vessels for
examination, either for arms or munitions of war, or for smuggled
goods, how shall I conduct myself? The State Courts will take no
cognisance of any offence unless it be committed in the body of a
County, the United States Courts declare they have no jurisdiction
So let the offense against the Law be ever so grate the Culprit
escapes.
I trust you will have the thing laid before Congress as early as
possible, that a decision may be had by the Supreme Court or enact-
ments by Congress. I am ordered up the Lake to assist in the en-
forcement of neutrality between this and the Canadian Government
how to do my duty without incurring,, risk, I am at a loss to know,
as I am bound by your instructions to observe the Laws of the U. S.
strictly—Without the jurisdiction of any particular State, and within
the Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction of the United States.
THE WOES OF A PATRIOT LEADER.
In 1873 Mr. George W. Kingsley deposited with the Buffalo His-
torical Society a bundle of letters relating to the Upper Canada Re-
bellion, none of which has ever been published. The following will
illustrate the vicissitudes and difficulties which beset the path of a
Patriot leader who sought to “free” Canada, without public sympathy
on either side of the border, without any “army” to speak of, and
grotesquely without funds. The one real accompaniment of a revo-
lution which he seemed sure of, was a traitor in the camp, whom he
dignified by calling a second Benedict Arnold. Most of the follow-
ing letters were written by “General” McLeod, or to him. He usually
calls himself adjutant general, though on the title-page of the book
which he published in Cleveland in 1841, his fame is preserved for
posterity as “Major General, Patriot Army, Upper Canada.” In this
redoubtable army (or as often signed, Patriot Service—“P. S.
U. C.”), rank and official honors were easy; and any man who could
gather a few followers for the cause, get together a few muskets, or
best of all, contribute a few dollars, could count at least on ranking
as a colonel.
The following selections from the secret and official correspond-
ence of the Patriot Army of Upper Canada, are printed in the order
of their dates. They require little comment; but for the student of
the subject they shed new light on the causes of failure, and make a
not wholly undiverting chapter in the record of this famous border180
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
ruction of almost seventy years ago. The Dr. Johnson mentioned in
the first and some of the other letters was Ebenezer Johnson, who
had been Buffalo’s first mayor (1832), prominent as a physician and
in business.
Buffalo, January 28, 1838.
To Adjt. Gen. McLeod:
Sir:	I arrived at Buffalo yesterday morning and presented Dr.
Johnson the letter you sent. The committee was consulted on the
subject. They refused to give bonds for the Virginia, as they were
in momentary expectation of being arrested, and they did not feel
able to assist a great deal as far as money was concerned. However
they say, “You must not give it up, go ahead, we will help you what
we can,” etc.
The following are the suggestions of different members of the
committee, viz.:	If you could obtain an old vessel, valued at some
few hundred dollars, sufficiently large to contain the men and bag-
gage, that you persuade the committee at Erie to enter into bonds,
etc. They think also that the steamer Peacock now at Erie, can be
fixed up in 12 hours and that you could obtain her. They are fearfull
that the cutter and the steamboats now in the service of the U. S.,
would interfere and seize our craft if you should attempt to embark.
Dr. Johnson thought—and so did some others—that the army
should return but keep back from Buffalo, and they will engage to
ferry you to the Canadian shore. They engage also to obtain us
arms if more are wanted; and they finally agreed that this was the
best plan; that the enemy would be off their guard and your success
doubtless. They are as warm as ever, but cannot consistently be-
come liable. They were also of the opinion that it was useless for
me to proceed any further after Genl. Van Rensselaer, they could not
supply me with funds.
These are their suggestions. You can judge what their feelings
are now, and how far assistance may be obtained here. They wished
me to state to you their views, and that you should proceed as your
own good judgement should dictate. I am disappointed to find they
doubt the importance of Genl. Van R’s mission to the East. They
however of course are ignorant of the nature of his business. It is
impossible for me to proceed to Genl. Van Rensselaer. I heard of
him on his way to Albany. A gentleman of his acquaintance met
him a short distance beyond Cazenovia; he was quite unwell, but
travelling in the stage. I will find some way to forward the docu-
ments I have, to him. I cannot proceed without funds, and I cannot
obtain any of my own at present; but as before mentioned, will for-
ward them to him as soon as possible.
Mr. Nickerson I found was quite unwell. He 4iad been trying to
obtain the steamboat Webster, but the committee say it is useless.
Mr. N. has gone East, but when or for what I cannot discover.
My health will not permit me to proceed further at present. I
shall await further orders, when my services are wanted.
Respectfully Your obdt. servant
Wm. E. D. Morgan.
P. S. There are nearly a hundred men here enlisted in the
Patriot cause, they have provided quarters for themselves, and have
means to sustain themselves, they are waiting orders.THE CANADIAN REBELLION.
131
Buffalo, Feb. 3, 1838.
Dear Sir : I arrived here this morning penyless and am likely
to Remain so as I could get no money on the Rout. I have seen
Doct. Johnson and several of the committee, they have no funds and
have paid a great deal out of their own pockets, and will not pay a
cent more. It is impossible to get the efects forward without some
means, if I could pay the expence of the men and teams they would
go for nothing, but it is out of the Question, I cannot get it. I am
informed by the Committee that Whipple will not give up what
things are [in his hands] untill $200 is paid him, which he has sewed
Genl. Vanrenseller for. Nickerson sais all the arms are seised ex-
cept 40 or 50 guns and all the U. S. ordinance.
When I came down Sami. Johnson agreed to pay the stage fare
to Buffalo and told me in presants of the proprietor that it was set-
tled and when I arrived we found that the proprietor at Buffalo was
ordered on the Way Bill to collect the money from me, which took
all the money I had and I spoak to the committee to kno how I was
to live, and they told me that I must look out for myself, and here
I am to Starve Beg or Steel and which course to take I dont know.
I can get nothing by Begging here, I could Steel well enough if I
knew how to hide.
If I can get a passage any way at all I shall put of for Erie and
se if I can get hold of any means thare, & you had better despatch
a letter to the Erie Com’y, to try and assist me & I think they will,
your letter can reach them before me if you despatch it by 1st mail,
if they dont do it I shall Despair of getting the effects forward. You
kneed not expect any more aid from S. Johnson or Snow. Nickerson
talks of coming with me. If we do not have success we shall come
to you.
Yours respectfully
J. Henderson,
D. M. O. P. A. U. C.
To Brigade Inspector Vreeland.
The letters after Henderson’s name stand for “Deputy (or
District) Master of Ordnance, Patriot Army, Upper Canada.”
Written on the same sheet as the foregoing, is the following:
Coneaut, Feby 5th 1838
General Vreeland:
Dear Sir:	You will perceive that I have taken the liberty to
open these Letters addrest to you this I done supposing they come
from the sourse they have. The mission of Mr. Henderson has re-
sulted as I expected for without means I was sure he would effect
nothing. The committee at Buffalo are willing to do all they can as
long as their own Purses and Persons are not concerned, and no
further, the excitement has gone over in that section of the country
their Patriotism fades with the excitement. Sir not wishing to add
to the Calamities I would remind you of my own circumstances of
which you are already apprised. Major Flemming is here at this
present time the arms have not yet come now it is not the place of
Flemming to say when they will come as you know the Responsible
station he holds but I think I shall hear from them in the course of132
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
the night, and will forward them on as fast as possible nothing
strange or curious has happened since you left.
Yours &c., &c.,
Major T. I. Lawson.
The following, which lacks an address, is a fair sample of several
reports received at this period by Adjt. Gen. McLeod:
Buffalo, 4 Feb., 1838.
Dear Sir:	I arrived here safe after seing Col. Snow and others
of the Committee, but could get no funds of any of them. The Erie
Com. probably would have helped me if I had have stayed there a
day for them to make some exersions, as they had not collected
enough to defray the expenses already incurred, they could not help
me any.
Col. Johnson or Snow will do nothing toards getting on the bag-
gage and arms unless they can be furnished with funds; I se they
work for their own prophet and not for ours.
I dont know what way I am going to get the effects forward, for
I can do nothing without a little money to bear expenses. The
drawing I can get done without pay by bearing their expenses, but
that I cannot do, the committee here have no funds, and will not do
anything at all. My funds are exhosted, and I dont know what to
do. I am going to go up again to se whether I can Raise any thing
to proceed with and shall do all in my power to get them forward.
As it respects General Vanrensselaer, you kneed not look for
any thing from him in my humble Opinion. I am informed he went
to Siracuse when he left here, & has been there with his beloved In-
tended ever since till within a few days, from whence he has de-
parted to Albany, and has not despatched a single word to Nickerson
or any one else since his departure from Buffalo. I think now as I
thought when he left here, that he has abandoned the cause, as I
told Martin at the time he left.
And my advise to you is, to proceed agreeable to your own no-
tions Relative to the Expedition, thare is a report flying about town
today, that Duncomb has taken Toronto, but not to be depended
upon, thare was a Report in the Buffalo paper, which I suppose you
have seen, that Duncomb was in the neighborhood of Lake Simco
about 8 days since with a large force, and a string of Baggage Wag-
gons following him a mile long, and the man that brings the Report
sais he passed them, and was put on his oath in this place and swore
to the fact.
Your ordenance is safe, all belonging to the U. S. are seised. It
is supposed that Huff the Inn keeper in this place Informed Scott
whare they were for the Reward of $100 which was offered.
Mr. Mills is going to leave today for Homer about one hundred
and seventy miles south to purchase 2500 muskets, which are offered
at the armory at $2. each. Doctor McKenzie is going with him.
I have nothing more to Right at present.
John Henderson, D. M. O. P. A.
“Huff the Inn keeper” referred to above was Henry D. Huff,
who in i837-’39 kept the “Travellers’ Home” at No. 83 Main Street.THE CANADIAN REBELLION.
133
Adgt Gen’ls Office, Cleavland Feby 4, 1838.
To Dr. Johnson, Chm. of the committee at Buffalo:
Dr Sir: This morning I received a letter from Major Morgan
giving the suggestions of different members of the committee as to
the proper course to be persued by the patriot service, in their in-
tended attempt at Landing in Canada, those suggestions however
do not meet with My approval the principal reasons apertaning
against them is these. On account of the sudden change in our
winter, if boats could be procured they would be of no service the
Lake being filed with ice. The Patriot forces would become dis-
conted [discontented] if they should be ordered to retrograde their
march and we would unquestionably loose a number of our men.
This at these peculiar times would put in jeopardy our success which
is now almost within our grasp, for the troops pursue their march
westward in good spirits, determined when the opportunity offers
itself to show themselfes the avengers of the right and oppressed in
a foreign land.
Our prospects are brightening. The Pa [Patriots] as they ad-
vance, are continually augmenting in numbers. I have no doubt that
before they reach the destined Point of crosing the waters they will
number at least 1000 men good and effective, and with them when
the trial comes I have know doubt but what the day is our own.
For your exurshuns in behalf of the cause of humanity receve
my Gratitude and esteem.
I have the honor to be Yours, &c.,
Certified
R. W. Ashley, Jr., 1st Aid.
Donald McLeod,
Adjt. Genl. P. A. of U. C.
Buffalo, 5th Feby, 1838.
Dear Sir:	I am yet at Buffalo, and on account of Gen. Scott’s
management. I should have left here on the 3, but for being in-
formed that Scott was fitting out an expedition to go and seize the
remainder of our arms^ which he was informed were at Fredonia, &
on hearing the fact I immediately procured a horse and put off to
secure them, but when I arrived thare I found they were taken
care of.
I returned again to Buffalo, and Nickerson and myself have been
to se General Scott, and I think we shall be able to make an ar-
rangement with him so as to get an order for the guns that he has
seized, which are on board the Barcelonia, which number 118, & if
I do get Scott’s order for those we think with what you have, &
what you can pick up about the country you will be able to arm your
men. And as it is so extremely difficult to get those forward, if for
no other reason but for want of funds, we consider it best to leave
them whare they are at present, and perhaps they may be usefull here
before long.
We shall leave here this evening for Silver Creek, to put forward
the Baggage, and I shall come on with it as fast as possible after I
get under way. Mr. Nickison thinks he shall go to the lower prov-
ince to se what Papineau is going about, and on his way se if he can134
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
hear anything of Johnson or Fletcher. Any news he gets he will
forward you at Cleveland, and if you leave that place you had better
appoint some person there to forward on dispatches to whatever
point you will be found, as I shall also forward to Cleveland I have
the pleasure to enclose a note from a St. Lawrence paper, which you
will look into the policy of.
We have some reports flying here that Duncomb is up about
Simco, & that Sutherland has crossed into Canada and had a Battle,
killed some 500 Royalists, lost 42 Patriots, taken 3 cannon a great
quantity of provisions ammunition, &c, &c, but we don’t know the
truth of the case. We also have it in a Cleveland paper that your
troops have dispersed, after arriving at Cleveland, that we suppose
grew out of the understanding at Conneaut.
If you have any thing to convey to me, if you address a letter to
me at Ery, I should be pretty sure to get it.
In haste your obdt. humble servt,
J. Henderson.
Adgt. McLeod.
P. S. We have just received the order for the guns, they are at
Detroit in a warehouse, I shall get on as fast as possible. J. H.
Brigade Inspector’s Office,
Sandusky, Febry 8, 1838.
To D. McLeod, Adjt. Genl., Patriot Army Upper Canada:
Dear Sir:	I arrived at this place this evening and found some
of our friends. Capt. Tyler gave me an introduction to some of
them and has raised some of the Needful. I arrived at Green Creek
eight miles from this place, where I dined, and the land lord gave
me a five dollar bill. I have heard from the baggage, and there are
said to be seven or eight teams a head and that they are as far west
as Monroe, and the prospect is not favorable of returning them you
act accordingly, the Sherriff of this county called on me and said
that he Commands a Company of Cavalry and that he has a man at
work for some days past for fiting them arms in order and was
ready to start tomorrow with us. the feelings are strong. I have
conversed with sum of the most influential men. I informed the in-
habitants that you would deliver a lector in this Place To morrow
evening and it will be verry desirable and will illegible and the
inhabitants are one and all willing to Raise means for the purpose
of affecting our object. My opinion is that the men is to move west
of this. Sutherland is at Perrysburgh and that he sent dispatches
to the army below to day I am not aware of the contents. I shall
leave for the west this morning.
Very Respectfully yours,
John S. Vreeland,
Inspector, etc.
The writer of the foregoing and the following letter was pres-
ently to be denounced by McLeod as a “second Benedict Arnold.”
Sandusky City, Feb. 8, 1838.
Dear Sir:	I have learned by the bearer of this that you have
some mind to join our band with a good Force under your commandTHE CANADIAN REBELLION.
135
if so it will afford us much pleasure in commissioning you to the
command of a Rigement. We shall not be able to procede to the
other side for the present, but we have no idea of abandoning the
expedition only for the time being. We shall get employment for
our own men until navigation opens or the Ice gets harder. We
shall then be able to get a force sufficient to procede safely. I shall
be happy to hear from you through the Post Office at Detroit as soon
as you receive this.
I have the honor to be, Your Very Obdt. Servant,
John S. Vreeland,
Brig. &c. &c. &c. ist Regt. P. A. U. C.
P. S. After hearing from you if your mind continues the same
I shall be happy to call on you.
Yours, &c.,
J. S. Vreeland.
To Genl. Woolf, Plymouth.
Sandusky City, Febry 14, 1838.
W. B. Nutter, Esq.,
Unionville.
Dr. Sr:	I was informed this afternoon, that you, in connection
with others, had formed a company fully armed and equipped, for
the purpose of joining the Patriot service; but having rec’d infor-
mation that they had disbanded, the project was given up. That in-
formation however was incorrect. They have not disbanded nor do
they intend to. On the Contrary the prospects are brightening, and
not any human means can prevent the P. A. from gaining unfaded
laurels.
The regulations which has been adopted, gives the privilege to
each company to select their own officers. That right in no instance
as yet has been taken away from a Volunteer Company, neither will
it be hereafter.
If a Company of young men wish to join the service from your
neighborhood, they will be acceptible. It is necessary that they
should immediately come on.
I have the honor to be, Sir, Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Adjt. Genl. P. S. U. C.
The following letter to Col. Trumbull was addressed to him at
Trumbull’s Mills, O. Like several other letters of this collection,
though signed by Gen. McLeod, it is in the handwriting of Adjutant
Ashley.
Sandusky City, Feby. 15, 1838.
Con’l Trumbull:
Dr. Sr:	It is with pain and regret, that my duty to you (the
friendship which you have always evinced to me, calling for it),
compells me to make known the conduct of the young man, who was
at your house in company with Capt. McMauman, and the circum-
stances of his departure from this city. I do so, believing it to be136
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
proper that you should be put on your guard against the insinuating
storys that he may relate to you.
This young man came on to Cleveland with me. I received news
in the evening that made it absolutely' necessary that I should hasten
on with all possible dispatch to this place. Circumstances compelled
me to leave him with others at the former place. As soon as he
ascertained that I had left, he, publicly, in the Bar-room of the
Franklin house, at which place I stopt, commenced a long tirade ot
abuse against the officers of the patriot army. With this I could put
up with. But he did not stop here. He disclosed all the secrets that
had been made known to him, not however as they were, but in ac-
cordance with the dictates of a bad mind. He went further than this.
He made known the contents of certain letters that he had copied.
On account of his conduct there, Mr. Herrington was obliged to call
Capt. McMauman aside, to prevail upon him to soothe the excited
feelings of the young man. It was all to no effect whatever. The
result was, that the P. A. rec’d but little assistance from the citizens,
and the high expectations I indulged were utterly blasted.
On his way here, the same course of conduct was persisted in.
Everywhere he seemed to take delight in abusing the patriot army
and villifying the officers. After he arrived here he continued to
practice the same despicable pranks, and used every exertion to dis-
parage the cause, and bring a stigma and disgrace upon its officers.
Such was his conduct, all men become disgusted with him.
I assure you, Sir, I should not have made known these facts, but
to put you on your guard against imposition. My high regard of
you compelled me to pursue this course. Believing that you will
now be proof against his insinuations and falsehoods,
I have the honor to be, Sir, Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Adjt. Genl., P. S. U. C.
Sandusky City, Feby. 15, 1838.
J. Henderson, Esq.:
Dear Sir: I received 2 letters, concerning the baggage &c. of
the P. A. from you. The news you convey is somewhat gratifying,
especially under existing circumstances. It is to true, that you have
labored under great pecuniary inconveniences, but I hope they are
buried at the recollection of the cause in which you are engaged. i\ll
revolutions labor under as many disadvantages, as the one in which
the patriots of Canada are engaged, and if we bring to our recollec-
tions the many privations and sufferings which the fathers of the
American struggle for independence suffered and endured, every
cause which would occasion despondency and gloom, should not be
permitted to enter our minds. I trust it never will that of a patriot
of Upper Canada!
This however is foreign to the business on hand. My aim is not
to stimulate you on to good deeds, but to request you to use every
exertion (which I know you will), in forwarding on the baggage &c.
belonging to the P. A. It is necessary, for the reasons, that it wouldTHE CANADIAN REBELLION.
137
tend to put at rest dissatisfaction among the men, and would sooner
effect the object of invading Canada, which will he soon.
I have the honor to be, Sir, Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Adjt. Genl. P. S. U. C.
Sandusky City, Feby. 15th, 1838.
Capt. J. M. Douglass and others of the Executive Committee of
Erie:
Gents: I have been informed that as soon as the P. A. were
ready to commence active operations a Company of 30 men fully
armed and equipped would from your City immediately come on to
join them. If such is the fact, it is necessary that they should im-
mediately march westward, to join the P. S. at whatever place they
are rendezvoused. It is the intention of the officers of the P. A. to
do all within their power to effect a landing in Canida; and when
there they will need the Company from Erie to maintain it ef-
fectually. There is no doubt that an attempt will be made to land on
the other side of the Lake soon. And if a company of young men
from your city wish to Share the laurels to be gained, as I trust, by
the P. A., they must without delay organize and march west. Our
only cause of delay is the want of ammunition. If any can be pro-
cured at Erie, it would be of more service to the P. A. than any other
munitions of war, that could be contributed by its citizens.
I have understood that a field piece in charge of a certain Capt.
of Artillery at your place, would be when ever required, forwarded
on for the use of the Service. If such is the fact, it is absolutely
necessary that it should be forwarded on immediately.
I have the honor to be, Sir, Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Adjt. Genl. P. S. U. C.
The John Trowbridge to whom the following letter was sent,
was a Patriot sympathizer at Oswego, N. Y.:
Sandusky City, Febry. 15, 1838.
John Trowbridge, Esq.:
Dear Sir:	I received information from Mr. Webster, a patriot
Volunteer from your place, that there was a considerable amount in
funds raized for the benefit of the P. S. If they have not been ex-
pended, they would at this time be very servicable to the cause, for
the purpose of procuring ammunition, &c. It is the intention of the
officers of the patriot army, to commence operations immediately,
and to effect a landing in Canada, if human means can accomplish
it. The only cause of their delay now is, the want of ammunition.
If then, you have funds on hand, for the object as before stated, they
would be of more service, than at any other period of the Revolution.
I assure you, Sir, that they will be appropriated to the advancement
of the cause of liberty. If therefore, you deem it proper, and if any
money is unexpended by the Committee, an immediate transmission
of the same to Detroit, would be desirable.
I have the honor to be, Sir, Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Adjt. Genl. P. S. U. C.188
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
The recipient of the following was a resident of Painesville, O.:
Sandusky City, Febry 15, 1838.
J. S. Seymour, Esq.:
Dear Sir:	Capt. McMauman, with whom you spent a few to
all appearances agreeable hours, informs me that whenever the pa-
triot army were ready to attempt a landing in Canada, you, and Mr.
Van Buskirk, would come on and join them with a large company,
or would raise a Company for that purpose, and send them on, if it
were not possible for you to come. I will state to you, that the at-
tempt will soon be made, and if you are of the same opinion now as
then, it is necessary that you should immediately carry out either of
your intentions. I should prefer, however, that you should come on
with the men. It is no flattery when I say that you alone are a host,
and if it is within your power, under existing circumstances to join
your fortunes with that of the P. A., I hope the result of the contest
with the enemies of the rights of man, will be such as to secure to
the poorest soldier both honor and fame.
The regulations which have been adopted for the government of
the army, grants to each company the privelidge of selecting their
own officers. This has not been nor will be taken away from a vol-
unteer company.
Major Lawton of the P. A. will be at your place probably before
this reaches you. If you can render him any assistance, either to
the procuring of arms and ammunition, or in any other manner, the
patriot service will hold it in their remembrance.
With high regard to you personally and my respects to the Com-
mittee and the Citizens of Painsville,
I have the honour to be, Sir, Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Adjt. Genl. P. S. U. C.
Sandusky City, 16 Febry, 1838.
Honble. James Thompson:
Dear Sir:	Your hon’d favour of the 1st inst has been duly re-
ceived. It was with high gratification, indeed, that I perused its
contents. The kind manner, you notice the position I occupy, in the
Glorious Cause of emancipating Canada from the Thraldom and op-
pression which has been visited upon her by an ignoble crew, will
stimulate me on with renewed vigor, to the performance of a most
sacred trust. Your prediction that we will eventually succeed, will
I trust be confirmed by the events of time. It may occupy the same
period in its final accomplishment as it took the fathers of the Ameri-
can Revolution to obtain for their posterity, the glorious privileges
they now enjoy. The Cause of the Canadian patriots is the same,
their grounds of complaint simular with those, which induced the
peopel of the Colonies of Great Britain to revolt in 75, to declare,
themselves free and independent, and to sustain it, by pledging to
each other, their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. They
are contending for the same rights which induced your Ancestors to
offer that most sacred pledge, and with their lives and fortunes will
obtain them for their children, or die in the attempt.THE CANADIAN REBELLION.
139
The Course which your Government has pursued towards the
patriots of Canada, seems to me, uncalled for, especially after the
repeated insults it has received, and the numerous aggressions upon
the persons and property of its citizens that have been committed by
the authorities of Britain established in Canada. In no less than
four instances, have they violated the existing neutral laws between
the two nations, with impunity. 1st, The imprisonment of a civil
officer in Maine, 2d, The burning of the Steamboat Caroline, and the
barbrious murder of its passengers and crew. 3d, The capture of
the Sloop at Malden, and seizing of its cargo. 4th, In keeping three
armed vessels upon Lake Erie in violation of the treaty of 1815,
which limits the number to be employed by each nation to two.
These however are not the only instances in which the honor of the
American people has been insulted, and insults offered to them.
They are nevertheless sufficient, to demand from Great Britain at the
hands of the National Government, full and immediate satisfaction.
It is not my province to point out the line of conduct it should pur-
sue. Whatever conclusion it arrives at, I will not complain. But I
did expect, that it would have permitted the patriot army to proceed
peaceable through its Territory, without Molestation, without seizing
private property, and converting the same to its own use. And, as
in the cause of Texas, leave us alone to manage our own affairs with-
out its interpositions.
The kind tender of your services is most gratefully accepted, and
any assistances that you can render the cause in your State, will be
held dear in the recollections of every soldier and patriot of Canada.
As soon as a landing is effected on the other side of the Lake
(which I assure you will be in the course of a few Days), I will
again and more at length write to you, if the fortune of war favours
us. Until then, and throughout life, may the merciful disposer of
events keep you in safety, and preserve for you a long and distin-
guished career, to be handed down to posterity in connexion with
the well-merited fame you have already received, for good, wise and
benevolent actions. Accept Dr. Sr, this assurance of my high esteem.
I have the honor to be, Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Adjt. Gen’l & Brig. Gen’l, Act’g, P. A. U. C.
Monroe, Feby 21, 1838.
------Dufort, Esq.:
As Brigr. Genl. commanding the Western division of the patriot
service of the Republic of Upper Canada, appointed by R. Van Rens-
selaer, Genl. in chief and the provisional government, having dis-
tinctly understood from Capt. Duncombe that you are a friend to the
cause, beg leave to request you to furnish every assistance in your
power, to Major George Case, in the demonstration which according
to a general order, he is immediately to make against the enemy, and
which is intended to cooperate with me at Malden. Rest assured,
Sir, that the time of active operations has arrived.
I have the honor to be, Sir,
Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Brig. Genl. P. A. U. C.140
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
Monroe Febry 22, 1838
Col. D. D. McKinney,
Dear Sir: Having understood from Qmr. Chas. G. Irish Jr. that
your feelings are with us in the righteous cause in which we are en-
gaged, and are ready and willing to join the standard which has been
raised by the Canadian patriots; and having also understood that
you have in charge a considerable number of men, do respectfully
request you, if of the same opinion now, as then, to immediately pro-
ceed with your forces to join the main body. As a matter of right,
the command of them, belongs to you. If they number as many as I
have been informed, your rank would be that of a Col.
Con’l Vreeland, of the Patriot service, will confer with you rela-
tive to the above matter.
With high consideration of respect to you personally, and ad-
miration of your patriotism, I have the honor to be, Sir,
Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Brig. Genl., W. D. P. S. U. C.
Detroit, Feb. 23d, ’38.
Brig. Gen. Donald McLeod,
Dear Sir: Your despatches pr. Jas. Mackenzie Esq. came duly
to hand and believe me, Dear Sir, I am highly gratified to know the
confidence you have placed in me and I sincerely hope that nothing
will be wanting on my part to preserve the same feeling, you are
pleased toTionor me with.
Immediately upon the receipt of your orders I dispatched an ex-
press to Pontiac, likewise to Mt. Clemens, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, tec.,
for the purpose of mustering into service the above-named companies
which form the best of my Battalion. I started yesterday to Pontiac
to ascertain the course of movement & found that Sutherland had
given the Pontiac troops some foolish order to march, which I could
not comprehend—but you may depend, that the receipt of yours has
had much weight in restoring confidence in those engaged in the Pa-
triotic Cause, as the people here were heartily disgusted with Suther-
land’s course.
By remaining here for two days, I think, I could join you, with
some arms, Ammunition, &c., &c., which however will depend en-
tirely upon circumstances. At all events, every effort shall be made.
As for myself, I stand ready to follow any judicious leader to any
point he may think fit to send me, but none of the kind we as yet
have had. Therefore, I wish you perfectly to understand me, that
from my knowledge of your experience and courage I stand ready to
follow you “to the death” in the Glorious Cause we have espoused,
and at all times I can assure you, I shall hold myself in perfect readi-
ness to obey your orders. I am, Dear Sir,
Your Obdt. Servt.,
D. D. McKinney.
Feby 24, 1838
Col. D. McKinney,
Dear Sir:	I received yours conveying gratifying intelligence,
at two p. m. today. The Patriot forces that were here have crossedTHE CANADIAN REBELLION.
141
into Canada, this day, but lack arms and ammunition. You will
therefore send all munitions of war, that you have on hand and can
collect, immediately here to be forwarded across the River. You will
also urge on the men from the different places without delay to join
the main body.
Donald McLeod,
Brig. Gen. P. S. U. C. W. D.
[Certified
R. W. Ashley, Jr.,
Ad interim, Adjt. Genl. P. S. U. C.]
------Dufort, Esq.
Dear Sir:	You will perceive by the above that a landing has
been effected in Canada. Now is the time for action. Will you
therefore exert yourself in our behalf, in forwarding on what we
most want, arms, ammunition and men? Send me a good spy-glass
if possible.
Donald McLeod,
Brig. Gen. P. S. U. C.
The following letter, plainly addressed as here printed, is en-
dorsed on the back: “From the Acting Adjt. Gen. to Lyman Sher-
wood and Capt. J. M. Douglass”; being no doubt sent to several
lieutenants and sympathizers:
Lower Sandusky, March i, 1838
Dr. Bond :	My neglect of you must be excused. The fact is, I
have been so much engaged in things appertaining to war, that I have
had no time to spare, to be devoted to writing to my friends. Ever
since I left Erie my expectations have been on the qui vive, and have
only to regret that it was all to no purpose, except keeping up a
decoy to divert the enemy. So far the operations of the extreme
western division of the patriot army have succeeded, and if our
friends at the East improve the opportunity offered to them, I have
no doubt but that all will yet end well. It is too true, that all my ex-
pectations have not been realized. The reason is, a Judas crept into
the camp in the shape of John S. Vreeland, Master of Ordnance.
This man had charge of all the arms and ammunition belonging to
the service of the western division of the Patriot Army. When we
marched for the West, for the avowed purpose of Capturing Malden,
he assured us, that arms, ordnance and ordinance stores, were in
that vicinity, and where they could easily be obtained by the forces.
But this assurance was false. He intended to be another Arnold,
there is no doubt, but that so much of his story as relates to the
arms &c were there is true, and that he had secreted them for Specu-
lative purposes and the damning idea of destroying the expedition.
This Traitor (or Second Arnold) said on the morning of the
24th of last month when he knew that it was the intention of the
officers of the Patriot Army to cross over into Canada, that arms
would be sent over to them. Believing that no man could be so
damnably a scoundrel as to deceive us under such circumstances, the
Patriot forces were paraded on the Ice at River Ecorse, and took upDOCUMENTS BEARING ON
their line of march at 12 o’clock noon for Fighting Island (a part of
the British Dominion) with only 6 Rifles and 1 musket to defend
themselves with in case of an attack by the enemy. There they re-
mained during a long and I must say a tedious night, the most so of
any we have as yet experienced this winter, liable every moment to a
surprise and inevitable destruction, while this cursed wretch, who
now dare not show his face for fear of the vengeance of an outraged
community, dressed himself in a stolen military dress, paraded him-
self before the U. S. Marshalls, and forced them to notice his con-
duct, against their own wishes. He is now in the common jail of
Detroit, as I understand to await his trial, and I hope he will remain
there, till the biting pangs of remorse has drawn from his veins, the
last drop of his life’s Blood.
During the night, however, about 40 muskets arrived, procured
by the exertions of our friends, of which about 35 were serviceable.
On the morning of the 25th the enemy commenced firing with Mus-
ketry and Carronade, and kept it up incessantly for four hours, with-
out much effect.
The Patriot Army of 105 men with 43 firelocks, returned the fire
in good earnest or would have done so, if we had not been still fur-
ther betrayed by this man Vreeland. The musket cartridges prepared
by him were made of coarse powder resembling black onion seed.
Our musketry was therefore rendered entirely useless. To sustain
our position on the Island only 8 firelocks and one dismounted four
pounder were put in requisition. With them, the Patriots withstood
the fire of 500 British Troops and 2 field pieces from six to ten
o’clock, and would have repulsed them, had not two spies from the
enemies camp, captured the night previous through the negligence of
the guard made their escape soon after the firing commenced, and
gave information of our strength and situation.
In the affair, the patriots loss was 5 slightly wounded. Of the
enemy five were killed and fifteen wounded, as I have been informed
they acknowledge.
After the evacuation of the Island, I immediately proceeded with
Genl. McLeod & suite, to this place, to evade an arrest, being pur-
sued by the U. S. Marshalls to the State line of Michigan, for that
purpose. Our object in evading them, is to join Col. Seward, who
with over 200 brave spirits is now in Canada, contending against ar-
bitrary power and for the rights of man.
Let not this misfortune of the Patriot Army, dampen the feelings
you entertained for the cause in the commencement of the struggle.
It is only a temporary defeat. In the American Revolution the
people of the colonies suffered similar disasters, and I trust that the
patriots of Canada, will be cheered as they were, by the crossing of
the Delaware. Emphatically, this is the winter of our discontent—
the winter of ’77. The forlorn hope in Canada may yet dispel the
gloom which now pervades the countenances of every lover of free-
dom, and may scatter the cloud of darkness which now hangs over
our heads. Believing that such will be the result, and that Canada
will finally become a free and independent nation, and with every as-
surance of respect to you, the committee, and the citizens of Erie, I
have the honor to be
Sir, Yours, &c.,
R. W. Ashley, Jr.,
Actg. Adjt. Genl. P. S. U. C.THE CANADIAN REBELLION.
143
Lower Sandusky, March 5th 1838
Gen. McLeod,
Sir:	Gen. Scott has just left our village for Sandusky City and
we have every reason to believe he is in persute of you we thought it
advisable to put you in possession of that fact we are with much
respect your obdt servts
William Field
E. A. Boyce
Morris Tyler
Isaiah Morris
N. B. You will confer a favor by writing us any information
respecting the Canada war and oblige yours.
Sandusky City, Mar. 6 1838
Doct. Duncombe,
Dr. Sr. :	I rec’d your letter of March 5th, this morning, per Mr.
McDermid. I perceive that you have not heard of the defeat of the
right wing of the patriot army, under my command, in charge of
Col. Bradley in chief and Col. Seward. On the morning of the 3d at
break of day the enemy estimated at 1500 strong, advanced upon the
patriot forces, who were only 150 in strength, and almost surrounded
them. A body of the enemy (about 500 Regulars) had stationed
themselves at the south part of the Island to cut off our retreat. The
patriot Cols, advanced with the patriotic troops to meet this body,
and commenced a sanguinary battle. At half musket shot, the firing
was kept up by the enemy and returned by the patriots. The action
lasted half an hour. The loss of the patriots was Major Hoadley
and Capt. Van Rensselaer & 11 privates killed, 18 wounded, & 1
drowned. The enemies loss is a number of officers (names un-
known) and from fifty to sixty killed, and great numbers wounded.
Gen. Scott with the Marshalls arrived here last night, his object
you already know, I am obliged to keep close.
Please write me at Erie, to the care of Capt. J. M. Douglass.
I have the honor to be, Sir, with every assurance, &c.,
Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Brigr. Genl. P. S. R. U. C.
Lower Sandusky, March 7, 1838
Hon. James Thompson,
Dr. Sr. :	I write you at this time, under the most mortifying
circumstances that could be imagined. The patriot forces under my
immediate command, have been defeated, but not disgraced—that our
misfortunes are to be charged upon base and damning treachery, and
that the Whigs, the patriots of Canada, have been betrayed by an-
other Arnold. The facts are these:
On the 24th of Febry the patriot forces under my immediate
command, crossed over upon Fighting Island (a part of Canada),
with out arms and ammunition, being assured by John S. Vreeland,
in whose charge they were, that they would be sent over in the144
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
course of the day, and following night. This assurance however
was false. Instead of fulfilling his solemn oath and promise as soon
as we landed upon the Island, he forced himself upon the notice of
the U. S. Marshalls, and voluntarily delivered himself up to them,
regardless of the destitute situation of the patriotic volunteers, and
humanity. Their arms were kept and secreted by him, and they
would have had to sustain the shock of the enemy on the morning
of the 25th with only 6 Rifles and 1 musket, if some 35 or 40 muskets
had not been procured by the exertions of our friends, and put in
the hands of the men. As it was, we sustained ourselves for four
hours against 500 British Regulars, and then did not leave the field,
till nearly surrounded by them.
After the evacuation of the Island, myself and suite, being in-
formed that the authorities were in pursuit of us, traveled post haste
to this place, and arrived here last night, without any means of sup-
port. I could have borne with all this without a murmur, if I had
been forced to pursue this course, from circumstances of a different
character. As they are, they cut me to the quick.
I trust, however, that a better fortune awaits me. Col. Seward,
under a Genl. Order issued by me to him, with over 200 brave spirits
under his command, is now in Canada. I shall proceed across the
Lake to join him, as soon as circumstances will admit.
Dear and honored Sir, I am now placed under the disagreeable
necessity of availing myself of your kind proffered assistance. I am
here with my suite, without means to carry me to the place, where I
intend to strike a desperate blow for Canadian liberty and independ-
ence. If your friends and yourself will therefore send us a little aid,
I assure you, that it will be expended to advance the cause, in which
I am so deeply interested, and which is similar to the one, which
called forth the energies of the people of the confederated States in
their memorable struggle for existence.
Please forward to Sandusky.
With every assurance of respect, I have the honor to be, Sir,
Yours, &c.,
Donald McLeod,
Brigr. Genl. W. D. P. S. U. C.
Milan, March 8th 1838
Dear Sir:	I have come here and tried the general feeling and
it is so much against us that I despaired of anything being effected
by our addressing the people here. We could only expose ourselves
to ridicule without effecting anything, nor would we get any assist-
ance. Under these circumstances as Mr. Mackenzie consented to re-
turn I have addressed you that you may be aware of the fact.
A report that Gen. Van Rensselaer is in prison seems to militate
against us—everything is unfavorable.
I am Dear Sir
Your most obdt &c.
Calvin Willcqx.
Donald McLeod,
Brig. Genl, P. A. &c.THE CANADIAN REBELLION.
145
Bloomingville, Ohio, March io, 1838
Col. Bradley,
Major Lawton,
Gentlemen:	By order, I arrived here last evening at half past
eleven, and found the rest of my company. It is my intention to pro-
ceed on East, immediately. For want of means, I am obliged to part
with my horse furniture, in order to enable me to proceed to the
East.
Major Lawton will endeavor to remain in the vicinity of San-
dusky until further orders, which will be communicated as soon as
possible. Major Lawton on account of his former exertions, and for
his gallant conduct in assisting you at the memorable action at Point
au Pelee Island, as related by you to me, I beg leave to proffer to
him in the name of the Provisional Government of the Republic of
Upper Canada, mine and their acknowledged thanks. . . .
I have the honor to be Gents,
Yours, &c
R. W. Ashley Jr.
Actg. Adjt. GenI, P. S. U. C.
Cleveland, March 12, 1838.
Mrs. Van Rensselaer.
Dear Madam :	I have just arrived in town, and it is with great
pain that I announce to you, the death of your brave and heroic son,
Henry Van Rensselaer, at the battle of Point au Pellee Island. He
died cheering on his men to victory.
When Canada becomes free, I assure you, a monument shall be
erected to your brave and chivalrous son.
I have the honor to be, with every consideration of respect,
Yours, &c
D. McLeod,
Brig. Genl. W. D. P. S. U. C.
Eagle Tavern, Buffalo,
Monday, March 24, 1838
Dear Sir: I arrived here on Saturday noon in a state of desti-
tution, being obliged to leave my baggage and clothing at Silver
Creek for want of the means to pay their transmission here. On
Saturday morning, in consequence of the sudden arrival of a U. S.
Marshall, I was compelled to leave Mr. Comstock’s without making
any arrangements for the payment of our bill. Mr. Ashley is now
there expecting I may be able to arrange matters, relieve him and
also forward the baggage.
I should hope that the disadvantageous and unfortunate circum-
stances which have taken place in the West, will not rest upon your
mind nor weigh with the Committee in my present situation, as, had
it not been for the Arnold treachery of Vreeland, all our operations
would have been carried out.
It is my intention as soon as my papers come to hand to lay be-
fore yourself and the committee, all such documents as may be ex-146
DOCUMENTS BEARING ON
planatory of our plans, our intended movements and full proof of the
treachery which caused their failure for the present.
I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient humble servant,
Donald McLeod,
Brig. Genl P. A.
Dr. E. Johnson,
Chairman Committee, &c.
A letter substantially like the foregoing, was written by McLeod
on the same day to Silas Fletcher at Lewiston.
Lewiston H. Q. May i, 1838.
Major Benj. Wait,
Dear Sir: I received yours of the 23d ultimo at Newark, on the
eve of starting for Lewiston. It was with high gratification indeed
that I perused your acceptance of the station proffered you by the
Com. in chief, and learnt your willingness to undertake any taske,
within human probability of effecting anything for the liberation of
Canada.
It is to true that many difficulties rise up before us to be over-
come, but they will eventually be dissipated by a more brilliant sun.
Trusting to that promise, and it cannot be hollow and black, all
should continue their exertions, untiring exertions in the good cause
in which we are engaged. However painful adverse circumstances
may be to you, the same misfortunes, not equal in durance, have
visited me. I even could not raise means to transport myself here.
I have spent all my available funds, and am now to work with a good
and sound heart, in the cause of emancipation. Yet it is harrowing
to me to learn that you are working, day and night, without any aid.
The time shall not be so long.
The recommendations you have made shall be duly considered,
when the Com. in Chief arrives, which will be shortly.
As to the appointment of inferior officers in your company, That
will be submitted and arranged upon the arrival of the Com. in Chief.
You had better recommend such persons, as you deem most fit, and
that recommendation will be acted upon.
You will from time to time inform me of the advancements mak-
ing by you, under the general instructions dated at Lockport, &c. I
will write you again on the arrival of the Com. in Chief.
With my assurances &c
I have the honor to be Dr. Sir, Yours, &c
R. W. Ashley Jr.
Adjt. Genl, P. S. S. U. C.
Lewiston, May 12, 1838
Asst. Com’sry Genl. James Marshall, and A. H. Doyle, Esq.,
Members of the Committee, etc.:
Gentlemen: You are probably aware of Mr. McLeod’s move-
ments in getting up an expedition for the publickly avowed purpose
of invading, plundering and devastating the Province of Upper Can-
ada. It is called a secret demonstration. I have understood that heTHE CANADIAN REBELLION.
147
is now, and has been since his return, enrolling and swearing in men
to enter upon this new move in modern warfare. His intention may
not be as I have declared it, But that he is setting on foot an expedi-
tion of some sort or other I have no doubt. As to the result of it,
there is no question. It will end in placing us in a worse situation
than we were ever in before.
Before I give my reasons in coming to such a conclusion, I will
give the avowals of McLeod in relation to his expedition. He says
that it will not conflict with the previous arrangements entered into
by others, and which have been in course of completion for two
months. He says that the Committee knew nothing of his intentions,
nor Genl. McLeod or other officers. He says that his plan is work-
ing in unison with Com’ry Genl. Mills and Assistant Com’ry Genls.
To these avowals I have only one reply to make: that if unknown
to the committee and the officers in the confidence of the Committee,
his expedition conflicts with and renders nugatory all their exertions
for the last two months. The preparations which have been making
to go to work effectively on the other side of the line, will all be in
vain, for as certain as the sun rises and sets, it will become public
through his means, and the Canada frontier be again guarded by a
large British Loyal force, and the Canadians be prevented from
crossing the lines armed, by the civil and military authorities of the
American Union. But Mr. Law says he is working in unison with
two of the committee, and these two officers in the patriot service.
This I must doubt and utterly deny as to Mr. Mills. As to Mr.
Marshall, I await his answer.
Mr. Law further says, that 3 men have agreed to arm and equip
his expedition. So far, well and good. But if these three men are
M. Marshall, Mr. Mills, and Mr. Chandler, I must throw in my pro-
test. No guns or military stores must be removed from this Fron-
tier. They will be required for use in this immediate neighborhood.
Therefore Mr. Marshall and Mr. Chandler will take good care to
prevent their removal.
Mr. Law’s expedition is wholly unauthorized. If he had received
the consent of the proper authorities, I certainly should have known
it, Mr. Law however has not nor will not divulge his plans to me.
Assuredly, I am the proper authority to know. Therefore, it is my
bounded duty to discountenance his expedition, for I am fully con-
vinced that he has no authority to act in the premises, either by a
vote of the Committee or the approval of any general officer.
As committee-men, haying at heart the welfare and happiness of
your fellow-creatures, desirous of alleviating the distresses and suf-
ferings of Canadian patriots, and earnestly praying and looking for
the liberation of your oppressed country from bondage and tyranny,
you will also discountenance, and make abortive by every means in
your power, this intended expedition of Mr. Law’s.
Mr. Doyle and Marshall will please answer immediately.
I have the honor to be, Gentlemen,
Yours, etc.,
R. W. Ashley, Jr.,
Adjt. Genl. P. S. S. U. C.