[CRUIKSHANK] COMMAND OF LAKE ONTARIO, 1812-1813 167 
directly into the harbour he followed her in with his whole force under 
a lively fire from the batteries on shore. The engagement lasted for 
two hours in the course of which a heavy gun burst on the schooner 
Pert, disabling that vessel and doing much damage. Several other 
vessels were considerably injured in their hulls and rigging. At 
sunset Chauncey withdrew his vessels very skilfully with the intention, 
he declared, of renewing the attack in the morning. The wind blew 
in heavy squalls all night from the west and when day dawned he 
determined to follow the advice of his pilots and regain the open 
lake before the weather grew worse. While beating off, the schooner 
Simcoe came in sight making for Kingston and was chased but made 
her escape by desperately running over a reef and gaining the harbour 
but sustaining such damage that she sank in shoal water. Another 
merchant schooner was captured in the course of the morning. Two 
days later one of his schooners captured a sloop near the Ducks in 
sight of the Moira which refused to engage and kept on her course 
for Kingston. When this was reported to Chauncey, who had by 
that time returned to Sackett’s Harbour with the remainder of his 
squadron, he sailed at once in the hope of intercepting her but was 
driven back into port by a drifting storm of snow. His supremacy on 
the lake then seemed so firmly established that he embarked guns and 
ordnance stores for the troops at Niagara and announced that he was 
prepared to transport men to any part of lake and co-operate with the 
land forces in any enterprise they would undertake. He seriously 
contemplated another attack on Kingston if the weather proved favor- 
able.! 
Nine days later he reported the successful launch of the Madison 
‘“‘a beautiful corvette-built ship,’’ of 540 tons. ‘‘Nine weeks before,” 
he wrote, “‘the timber of which she was constructed was growing in 
the woods.’” 
The most important result of his cruise was the separation of 
the British vessels, by which the Prince Regeni and Gloucester were 
compelled to lay up for the winter at York and the others at Kingston. 
Captain Gray reported soon after the close of navigation that 
‘the officers of the marine seem to be destitute of all energy and spirit 
and are sunk into contempt in the eyes of all who know them. The 
want of seamen is so great that the Royal George has only seventeen 
men on board who are capable of doing their duty and the Moira 
ten.” Under these circumstances it-seemed scarcely possible to save 
these vessels from capture or destruction whenever the lake again 
became navigable. An officer who had lately returned from Sackett’s 
1 Chauncey to the Secretary of the Navy, Nov. 17, 1812. 
2 Chauncey to the Secretary of the Navy, Nov. 25. 
Sec. I & II, Sig. 4 
