General Brock had no sooner taken possession of the fort and town of Detroit with the Michigan Territory, of which it is the capital, than he issued the following:

PROCLAMATION.

Proclamation by Isaac Brock, Esquire, Major General, commanding His Majesty's Forces in the Province of Upper Canada, &c. &c

Whereas the Territory of Michigan was, this day, by capitulation, ceded to the arms of His Britannic Majesty, without any other condition than the protection of private property-and wishing to give an early proof of the moderation and justice of His Majesty's government-I do hereby announce to all the inhabitants of the said territory, that the laws heretofore in existence shall continue in force until His Majesty's pleasure be known, or so long as the peace and safety of the said territory will admit thereof; and I do hereby also declare and make known to the said inhabitants, that they shall be protected in the full exercise and enjoyment of their religion-of which all persons, both civil and military, will take notice and govern themselves accordingly.

All persons having in their possession, or having any knowledge of any public property, shall forthwith deliver in the same, or give notice thereof to the officer commanding or to Lieutenant Colonel Nicholl, who are duly authorised to receive and give proper receipts for

the same.

Officers of militia will be held responsible that all arms in possession of the militiamen be immediately

delivered up, and all individuals whatever who have in their possession arms of any kind, will deliver them up without delay.

Given under my hand, at Detroit, this 16th day of August, 1812, and in the 52d year of His Majesty's reign God save the King. (Signed,)

ISAAC BROCK,

Major General.

Such was the glorious result, to the British arms, of the first military operations in Canada, during the war. It had, however, an effect throughout the whole of the United States, to beget the most violent altercations with respect to the conduct of General Hull.

The government contended that General Hull had been guilty of the basest and most dastardly cowardice, while he and his friends maintained that the means with which he was supplied were inadequate to the enterprise with which he was intrusted. A court martial was ordered, before which his conduct in that affair underwent a candid and dispassionate investigation, and which, after maturely weighing the evidence in all its bearings, found him guilty of neglect of duty, unofficerlike conduct and cowardice, and did therefore adjudge him to be shot to death; but the court, considering the advanced age of the prisoner and his revolutionary services, (he being a compatriot of the immortal Washington,) recommended him to mercy. The President, although highly approving of the sentence of the court, yet thought proper to remit its execution.

It has often been contended, by many persons of respectability in the United States, that the surrender of

We felt it due to truth-to government-to General Hull, and to all persons directly or indirectly concerned with the facts

General Hull was the result of bribery; however, no circumstances connected with that affair will warrant that conclusion; nor can it, after a moment's reflection, be conceived that it was the effect of cowardice.

General Hull's character, as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, stood high; and his capacity to fill the rank he then held in the service was never questioned; his fidelity towards his government was ever beyond a doubt, and his principles as an individual were blended with the finest honor. But the general, after descending far into the vale of time, a period at which every faculty of the mind becomes imbecile, and man is again in childhood, is placed at the head of an undiciplined army, (a situation he never before had filled;) with his imagination replete with horrors of the most fearful description, at the awful tales of the savage ferocity of the British and Indians, which were propagated by ignorant and designing people-his ideas magnifying every danger in a tenfold proportion-hence he is rendered incapable of wielding the army entrusted to his command, and therefore surrendered, as he says, to prevent the effusion of blood.

or circumstances leading to the shameful capitulation at Detroit, to suspend our opinion until a sufficiency of light was afforded to chase away the doubts and shadows that rested on the strange transaction. But doubt has resolved itself into certainty-we no longer hesitate to join in opinion with the whole people of the west, "of every sect or persuasion, religious or political," that the army at Detroit was treachorously surrendered; and that General Brock instead of General Hull ought to have been the prisoner. This idea is powerfully enforced by many private letters from gentlemen of the first respectability in the state of Ohio, who had opportunity to know the verity and strength of the opinión advanced; but the detail by Colonel Cass [see appendix,] is conclusive-it is besides supported by a host of testimony in all the subtantial facts it exposes.

Niles' Register-Baltimore.

The foregoing premises are supported by the tenor of his proclamation, as nearly every line of that document breathes a terror not to be disguised. It is corroborated, too, by his communication to Colonel Cass, as appears by that officer's letter to the Honorable William Eustis, where he says "I was informed by General Hull, the morning after the capitulation, that the British forces consisted of eighteen hundred regulars, and that he surrendered to prevent the effusion of human blood. That he magnified their regular force nearly five fold, there can be no doubt."

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CHAPTER XV.

An Attack upon the Post of Queenston by a Part of General Van Rensellaer's Army, under the command of Gneral Wadsworth-General Brock killed-Colonel Mc. Donald mortally wounded-Dies of his Wounds— Arrival of a small Reinforcement headed by General Sheaffe who now assumes the Command-Renewal of the Conflict-Communication opened with ChippawaVictory declares herself on the Side of the BritishCowardly Conduct of the United States Militia-Surrender of General Wadsworth with all the Forces under his Command-Cannonading between Forts George and Niagara-Assembling of another American Force.

HOWEVER complete might have been the victory at Detroit to the British arms, yet glories of a much more brilliant cast awaited them in the defence of their country.

Dispirited at such a total failure in General Hull's expedition, it became late in the season before the American government could collect a force on the frontiers, with which, with any safety, another descent upon Canada could be made. At length, Major General Van Rensellaer, of the New-York militia, with a force of four thousand men under his command, (fifteen hundred of whom were regular troops,) established his camp at Lewiston, on the Niagara River, nearly half way between Lake Ontario and the Falls.

Before daylight, on the morning of the 13th October, a large division of General Van Rensellaer's army, under Brigadier General Wadsworth, effected a landing at the lower end of the village of Queenston, (opposite to Lewiston,) and made an attack upon the position which was defended with the most determined bravery,