244 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



honour of delivering to your Lord- 

 ship ; I have the honour to be, &c. 

 George Prevost. 

 To the Right Hon. Earl 

 Bathurst. 



Head-qunrtcrs, Detroit, 

 Aug. 17. 



Sir,— I have had the honour of 

 informing your Excellency, that 

 the enemy effected his passage 

 across the Detroit river on the 

 12th ult. without opposition, and 

 that after establishing himself at 

 Sandwich, he had ravaged the 

 country as far as the Moravia 

 town. Some skirmishes occurred 

 between the troops under Lieut.- 

 Col. St. George and the enemy 

 upon the river Canard, which 

 uniformly terminated in his being 

 repulsed with loss. I judged it 

 proper to detach a force down the 

 river Thames, capable of acting 

 in conjunction with the garrison of 

 Amherstburg offensively ; but Cap- 

 tain Chambers, whom I had ap- 

 pointed to direct this detachment, 

 experienced difficulties that frus- 

 trated my intentions. The intelli- 

 gence received from that quarter 

 admitting of no delay. Colonel 

 Proctor was directed to assume the 

 command, and his force was soon 

 after increased with 60 rank and 

 file of the 41st regiment. 



In the mean time, the most 

 strenuous measures were adopted 

 to counteract the machinations of 

 the evil-disposed ; and I soon ex- 

 perienced the gratification of re- 

 ceiving voluntary offers of service 

 from that portion of the embodied 

 militia the most easily collected. 

 In the attainment of this impor- 

 tant point, gentlemen of the first 

 character and influence showed an 



example highly creditable to them j 

 and 1 cannot on this occasion avoid 

 mentioning the essential assistance 

 I derived from John M'Donnell, 

 Esq. his Majesty's Attorney-Gen. 

 who, from the beginning of the 

 war, has honoured me with his 

 services as my provincial aide-dc' 

 camp. A sufficiency of boats be- 

 ing collected at Long Point for the 

 conveyance of three hundred men, 

 the embarkation took place on the 

 8th instant, and in five days ar- 

 rived in safety at Amherstburg. I 

 found that the judicious arrange- 

 ment, which had been adopted 

 immediately upon the arrival of 

 Colonel Proctor, had compelled 

 the enemy to retreat, and take 

 shelter under the guns of his fort : 

 that officer commenced operations 

 by sending strong detachments 

 across the river, with a view of 

 cutting off the enemy's communi- 

 cation with his reserve. This 

 produced two smart skirmishes on 

 the Sth and 9th instant, in both of 

 which the enemy's loss was very 

 considerable, whilst our's amount- 

 ed to three killed, and thirteen 

 wounded ; amongst the latter I 

 have particularly to regret Capt. 

 Muir and Lieutenant Sutherland, 

 of the 41st regiment: the former 

 an officer of great experience, and 

 both ardent in his Majesty's ser- 

 vice. Batteries had likewise been 

 commenced opposite Fort Detroit, 

 for one eighteen-pounder, two 

 twelve, and two five and a half 

 inch mortars ; all of which opened 

 on the evening of the 15th (having 

 previously summoned Brigadier- 

 General Hull to surrender) ; and 

 although opposed by a well-directed 

 fire from seven twenty-four pound- 

 ers, such was their construction^ 



under 



