154 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



men were injured. Twelve hundred men were assem))led under arms 

 in Ogdensburg to resist this attack. • They seem to have sustained no 

 loss. The poor judgment displayed by Colonel Lethbridge on this 

 occasion, following close upon other mistakes, led to his speedy relief 

 by Lieut. Colonel Pearson.* 



Late in September an American post was established at the French 

 Mills, near the mouth of Salmon River and occupied by a small battalion 

 of New York Volunteers, commanded by Major Guilford Dudley Young. 

 Efforts were made about the same time by William Gray, an Indian 

 interpreter in the service of the United States to gain over the St. Regis 

 Indians in consequence of which Colonel Louis, who had held a com- 

 mission in the Continental army in the Revolution, with two other 

 chiefs and several warriors, actually joined the American forces at 

 Plattsburg. 



To counteract the influence of Gray and watch the movements of 

 the enemy in this quarter, one company from the corps of Voyageurs, 

 commanded by Captain John Macdonnell, and consisting of three officers 

 and forty-seven men was directed to occupy the Indian village at St. 

 Regis close to the frontier, with instructions to repel any predatory 

 incursion, inspire confidence in the inhabitants and ensure their good 

 conduct and fidelity. Macdonell was carefully directed to abstain 

 from offensive action and from giving any provocation to the enemy 

 but as agents and spies were reported to have been intriguing with the 

 Indians for some time with the object of seducing them from their 

 allegiance he was directed to arrest any suspicious persons found 

 within the province, f 



All the warriors residing in the Canadian village, except three, 

 had already joined the British forces at St. Philippe, but a number 

 of those known as American Indians still remained at their homes on 

 the other side of the boundary. Macdonell arrived at St. Regis on 

 October 16 and within a few days was warned that an attack on his 

 command was contemplated and advised to occupy a position on an 

 island in the river, where he would be tolerably safe. This he refused 

 to do as it was contrary to his instructions. Before dawn on the 

 morning of the 23rd, his post was so quietly surrounded by foui com- 

 panies of the force stationed at Salmon River commanded by Major 

 Young and guided by Gray, that the first intimation of their app.oach 

 was given by a volley fired through the windows of the building occu- 

 pied as headquarters, the interior of which was brightly illuminated 

 by a fire of pine logs blazing on the hearth. Lieut. Joseph Rototte, 



*Prevost to Brock, Oct. 16; Chri.stic, Mil. Oper. 80; Nilcs's Weekly Register, 

 III. p. 126; The War, I. 76; Hough, Hist. St. Lawrence Co., 625. 

 fliaynos to Macdonell, Oct. 16. 



