GENERAL HISTORY. 



[189 



I 



12th did not amount to three hun- 

 dred. 



Military operations were in the 

 mean time carrying on with vari- 

 ous fortune in the vicinity of the 

 Canadian lakes, and on the north- 

 ern border of the American terri- 

 tory. On August 12 Capt. Dobbs 

 made a gallant attack with his 

 boats on three schooners which 

 were anchored close to fort Erie 

 for the purpose of flanking the ap- 

 proaches to that fortress, two of 

 which he carried sword in hand ; 

 the other escaped by cutting its 

 cables. This success induced Ge- 

 neral Drummond to make an at- 

 tempt on the fort, against which 

 he opened a battery on the 13th. 

 Its effect on the enemy's works 

 was such that an assault was re- 

 solved upon, which took place two 

 hours before day-light on the 15th, 

 at two different points. Both un- 

 fortunately failed. In the princi- 

 pal attack, after the assailants had 

 made a lodgment in the fort 

 through the embrazures of the 

 demi-bastion, and turned the guns 

 against the enemj', some amuni- 

 tion took fire and caused a tre- 

 mendous explosion, by which al- 

 most all the men who had entered 

 the place were dread fully mangled, 

 and a panic being communicated 

 to the rest, the attack was aban- 

 doned, and the whole retreated to 

 the battery. The loss on this oc- 

 casion was very serious, amount- 

 ing in killed, wounded, and miss- 

 ing, officers and men, to nine hun- 

 dred and sixty two. 



An expedition up the Penobscot 

 river was undertaken in the month 

 of September for the purpose of 

 reducing the inhabitants of this 

 part of the province of Maine un- 

 der the British dominion. A com- 



bined sea and land force under 

 Rear-Admiral Griffith, and Lieut.- 

 General Sir J. C. Sherbrooke, sail- 

 ed from Halifax for this destina- 

 tion, and on Sept. 1st reached the 

 fort of Castiue, situated upon a 

 peninsula on the eastern side of 

 the Penobscot. The fort was sum- 

 moned, and on the refusal of the 

 American officer to surrender, ar- 

 rangements were made for disem- 

 barking the troops ; before, how- 

 ever, this could be done, the place, 

 was evacuated, after blowing up 

 the magazine ; and the militia 

 who were assembled for its defence 

 dispersed immediately upon the 

 landing. An American frigate, the 

 John Adams, having run up the 

 river for safety as high as the town 

 of Hamden, where she had lauded 

 her guns and mounted them on 

 shore by way of defence, it was 

 next determined to send a party m 

 order to capture or destroy her. — 

 A naval force was appointed for 

 this expedition under the command 

 of Captain Barrie, supported by a 

 detachment of artillery and troops 

 commanded by Lieutenant Colo- 

 nel John ; and for their protection 

 against any collection of the armed 

 population, a regiment was sent to 

 occupy the town of Belfast. The 

 expedition proceeding up the river, 

 landed at a cove three miles from 

 Hamden, and on the morning of 

 the 3rd attacked the enemy, who, 

 computed at double their number, 

 were posted in front of the town on 

 a height, strengthened with artil- 

 lery on the flanks. After a short 

 contest, the enemy's strong posi- 

 tion was forced, and the frigate 

 was set on fire by themselves, ihe 

 batteries for its defence being de- 

 serted. The expedition pushed 

 forwards to the town of Bangor, 



