Though Sheaffe and the larger
part of his force escaped, the civil authorities and a larger part of
the militia formally surrendered York. The American loss in killed and
wounded was two hundred and eighty-six; the British lost one hundred and
forty besides prisoners.
On May 27, General Scott and Commodore Perry captured Fort George at
Niagara, and at the same time Sir George Prevost was repulsed at
Sackett's Harbor, New York, by General Brown. On June 6th, Generals
Chandler and Winder were surprised and captured, though their troops
retired. On the 23d, Colonel Boerstler with six hundred men was captured
at Beaver Dam by a superior force of British.
While Perry was defeating the enemy on Lake Erie, and the Johnson
brothers were defeating Proctor and slaying Tecumseh, the discontent
which that redoubtable chief had stirred up in the South was beginning
to have its effect among the Creeks. On August 30, 1813, they attacked
Fort Mimms, which they set on fire and captured, massacring all but
twenty out of four hundred men, women and children. The British agent at
Pensacola, it is said, had offered five dollars each for scalps, and
many of the savages carried the scalps of women and children there to
claim their reward.
A cry for help went northward and the brave Tennesseeans flew to the
relief of their neighbors. General Andrew Jackson, military commander of
that region, was disabled by a wound received from a brilliant but
brutal ruffian named Thomas H.
Pages:
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287