190] ANNUAL REGISTER, 18i: 



lieut-co), Morrison, amounting to 

 800 rank and file, to follow and 

 watch the motions of the Ameri- 

 cans. Upon this corps an attack 

 was made by brigadier-gen. Boyd 

 with 3 or 400 men, which, after a 

 severe action, terminated in an en- 

 tire defeat of the assailants, whose 

 loss in killed, wounded, and pri- 

 soners, is estimated at 300, with 

 one field piece ; that of the British 

 was about 180. The enemy after 

 the action retired to their own 

 shores. The final result of this com- 

 bined attempt of the Americans, 

 as reported by sir G. Prevost, on 

 December 12th, was, that both 

 provinces of Canada were freed 

 from the invaders, who retired to 

 winter quarters in their own ter- 

 ritory. A division of British gun- 

 boats on Lake Champlain, had in 

 the meantime burnt a depot ma- 

 gazine near Plattsburg. A detach- 

 ment sent by the commander in 

 chief, under colonel Murray, for 

 the purpose of restraining the de- 

 predations of a party of banditti, 

 organized by the American go- 

 vernment, upon the inhabitants 

 of the Niagara district, arrived at 

 Fort George on December 12th, 

 from which the enemy had made 

 a hasty retreat across the river, 

 burning the town of Newark as 

 they fled. 



It is with regret that we are 

 obhged to conclude our account of 

 the American campaign with the 

 notice of some retaliatory mea- 

 sures, which, if persisted in, will 

 stamp a character on the war, 

 highly inconsistent with the sup- 

 posed improvement of the age in 

 the practice of justice and huma- 

 nity. The peculiar circumstances 

 under which the United States are 

 placed with respect to emigrants 



from foreign countries, on whom 

 their population was originally 

 founded, and to whom they are 

 still indebted for largeaccessions of 

 useful citizens, has made them de- 

 sirous of introducing a new prin- 

 ciple into the code of nations, 

 that of the right of individuals to 

 transfer their allegiance, from the 

 country of their birth to that by 

 which they are adopted, and, in 

 consequence the right of nations 

 to accept and support that trans- 

 fer. This maxim being contrary 

 to that of all the European govern- 

 ments, it is evident that frequent 

 disputes must arise from putting it 

 in practice, especially in time of 

 war ; and Great Britain being the 

 country from which America de- 

 rives the greatest part of its emi- 

 grant population, in every quarrel 

 the two states must be involved in 

 angry contention from this source, 

 until some common rule of decision 

 is agreed upon between them. The 

 actual existence of such a differ- 

 ence, with its lamentable effects, 

 are made known in the general or- 

 ders issued by the commander of 

 the British forces from Montreal, 

 on October 27th. The facts stated 

 are, that 23 soldiers of the in- 

 fantry of the United States, being 

 made prisoners were sent to Eng- 

 land, and held in close confine- 

 ment as British subjects ; that 

 general Dearborn had been in- 

 structed to put into similar con- 

 finement 23 British soldiers as hos- 

 tages for the safety of the former ; 

 that the Prince Regent had given 

 directions to put in close confine- 

 ment, 46 American officers and 

 non-commissioned officers to an- 

 swer for the safety of the last 23 

 soldiers ; and also to apprize gen. 

 Dearborn, that if any of them 



