with five thousand men; and now that the British could not interfere with his crossing Detroit River he would let Proctor know that there were blows to take as well as blows to give.

On September 27 the fleet and army sailed across the head of the lake and landed in Canada, to find that Proctor had set Malden on fire, and was fleeing northward.

The Americans overtook him at the River Thames, where Proctor formed his troops in a narrow space between the river and a swamp. It was a short battle. Colonel Johnson, with his regiment of Kentucky riflemen, on horseback, dashed upon the Indians under Tecumtha, who was killed. Proctor lost all courage, and fled at the beginning of the battle. The British troops gave way, and the Indians fled into the swamp. In fifteen minutes Proctor's army was scattered to the winds-five thou sand guns, all the baggage captured; the Indian confederacy which Tecumtha had organized broken; the power of the British over the Indians gone forever.

In contrast, very humiliating was the outcome of affairs at Niagara. Generals Dearborn, Wilkinson, and Hampton, each, in turn, mismanaged military operations. The Secretary of War, General Armstrong, made things still worse.

Through the summer of 1813 the Americans held a strip of country along Niagara River, in Canada; but in December General M'Clure, who

commanded at Fort George, saw that he must retreat to the American side. He did a wicked and cruel act, for which there was no excuseburning the village of Newark. It was bitter cold, and the poor people were made homeless by the unpardonable crime. The British, to retaliate, crossed the river and burnt Lewiston and Buffalo. The Indians massacred Mr. Luffer's and Mr. Lecort's families at Black Rock; murdered Mr. Gardiner; killed, scalped, and mangled sixty helpless soldiers in the hospital at Fort Niagara, and thirty-three at Buffalo. In midwinter men and women were obliged to flee from the burning dwellings to save their lives.

Not a life had been taken at Newark. M'Clure had burnt it, and the American people everywhere condemned the cruel act. Greater the infamy that will forever surround the acts of Generals Murray, Drummond, and Riall for allowing the Indians to massacre the unoffending inhabitants. along the Niagara frontier.

Nearly all the fighting up to this time had been done by soldiers who had had very little training. But the Americans, through their repeated defeats and failures, had been learning a lesson. Discipline means education, drill, subjection to rule, hard work. Its outcome is victory.

During the winter of 1813-'14 General Winfield Scott and General Ripley were drilling their brigades at Buffalo. General Brown was Commander-in-chief. His first movement in the summer of 1814 was the sending of General Scott across Niagara River opposite Buffalo at night, to take Fort Erie. It was done, and two hundred British were captured, with a loss of only seven men. General Scott moved along the river with thirteen hundred men to Street's Creek, where he found General Riall, with seventeen hundred. Back from the river stretched a plain, and beyond it were thick woods, filled with Indians. General Porter swung out toward them. Captain Towson planted his cannon by the river and opened

fire. There was a rattling of guns in the woods, and the Americans under Porter retreated; but Colonel Jessup came up and stopped the British and Indians, who were rushing on, yelling the war-whoop.

The two armies were not more than three hundred feet apart-the soldiers deliberately firing into each other's faces.

General Scott discovered a gap in the British line. Colonel M'Neil's regiment was on his left flank. He knew what stuff M'Neil was made of, and directed him to charge with the bayonet. The Colonel addressed his

men:

With a yell the Eleventh swept across the plain, their bayonets gleaming in the light of a July sun. The British line wavers, then melts away before the onset. Over the plain flee the soldiers who have fought under Wellington in Europe; but the charge is so sudden, unexpected, and irresistible that they cannot stand before it.

Discipline, training, submission to rule has won the victory. The Brit

ish had lifted their guns breast-high and pulled the trigger, while the Americans had taken deliberate aim. Their loss was only three hundred and thirty-five; the British, six hundred and four.

The Indians who had come to take scalps, as soon as they found their own in danger took to their heels, and never stopped till they reached their haunts far away on the shores of Lake IIuron.

Several thousand British troops, which had fought under the Duke of

Wellington in Spain, arrived at Montreal, and were sent to Niagara to General Riall. He had nearly five thousand men.

On July 25 General Scott, with twelve hundred Americans, started

JOHN M'NEIL.

from Chippewa and marched along the river bank. Suddenly he found himself confronted by the whole British army, drawn up in order of battle, along a lane leading to Mrs. Lundy's house. It was near the Falls of Niagara. What should he do? He could not stand still and wait for the rest of the army, under General Brown, to arrive. Ile could not well retreat. In an instant he decided to strike such a blow that the British would think the whole of General Brown's army was upon them. The sun had gone down; but General Scott could see that the

British troops were arranged in the form of a crescent, with seven cannon in the centre, on a hill. He saw that the line did not extend to the river.