STATE PAPERS. 



445 



both on the land and on the 

 water. 



Whilst proofs have been con- 

 tinaed of the enterprise and skill 

 of our cruisers, public and private, 

 on the ocean, and a new trophy 

 gained in the capture of a British 

 by an American vessel of war, 

 after an action giving celebrity to 

 the name of the victorious com- 

 mander; the great inland waters, 

 on which the enemy were also to 

 be encountered, have presented 

 achievements of our naval arms, as 

 brilliant in their character, as they 

 have been important in their con- 

 sequences. 



On Lake Erie, the squadron 

 under command of captain Perry 

 having met the British squadron, 

 of superior force, a sanguinary 

 conflict ended in the capture of the 

 whole. The conduct of that offi- 

 cer, adroit as it was daring, and 

 which was so well seconded by his 

 comrades, justly entitles them to 

 the admiration and gratitude of 

 their country; and will fill an early 

 page in its naval annals, with a 

 victory never surpassed in lustre, 

 however it may have been in mag- 

 nitude. 



On Lake Ontario, the caution of 

 the British commander, favoured 

 by contingencies, frustrated the 

 eitbrts of the American commander 

 to bring on a decisive action. Cap- 

 tain Chauncey was able, however, 

 to establish an ascendancy on that 

 important theatre ; and to prove, 

 by the manner in which he effected 

 every thing possible, that oppor- 

 tunities only were wanted, for a 

 more shining display of his own 

 talents, and of the gallantry of 

 those under his command. 



Tlie success on Lake Erie hav- 

 ing opened a passage to the terri- 



tory of the enemy, the officer com- 

 manding the north western army, 

 transferred the war thither; and, 

 rapidly pursuing the hostile troops, 

 fleeing with their savage associates, 

 forced a general action, which 

 quickly terminated in the capture 

 of the British, and dispersion of 

 the savage force. 



This result is signally honourable 

 to Major-General Harrison, by 

 whose military talents it was pre- 

 pared ; to colonel Johnson and his 

 mounted volunteers, whose impe- 

 tuous onset gave a decisive blow 

 to the ranks of the enemy ; and to 

 the spirit of the volunteer militia, 

 equally brave and patriotic, who 

 bore an interesting part in the 

 scene : more especially to the chief 

 magistrate of Kentucky at the head 

 of them, whose heroism, signalised 

 in the war which established the In- 

 dependence of his country, sought, 

 at an advanced age, a share in hard- 

 ships and battles, for maintaining 

 its rights and its safety. 



The effect of these successes has 

 been, to rescue the inhabitants of 

 Michigan from their oppressions, 

 aggravated by gross infractions of 

 the capitulation which subjected 

 them to a foreign power: to alien- 

 ate the savages of numerous tribes 

 from the enemy, by whom they 

 were disappointed and abandoned; 

 and to relieve an extensive region 

 of country from a merciless war- 

 fare which desolated its frontiers, 

 and imposed on its citizens the 

 most harassing services. 



In consequence of our naval su- 

 periority on Lake Ontario, and 

 the opportunity afforded by it for 

 concentrating our forces by water, 

 operations which had been pre- 

 viously planned were set on foot 

 against the possessions of the ene- 



