for 1790 shows as a captain in the Twenty-sixth In
fantry. In the Twenty-fourth Infantry (Colonel
England s regiment) was a lieutenant, Charles S.
Andrews. Probably the latter, rather than Major
Andre s brother, was the officer who befriended
Spencer.
^This was doubtless John Askin, a Scotch-Irishman
142
of
(where I found boys and girls of nearly my own
age, who cheerfully associated with me) and
took pleasure in showing me the town, the ship
ping, the fort, and whatever else he thought
would afford me gratification.
The situation of Detroit on the western
bank of the strait connecting Lake Huron with
Lake Erie and about ten miles south of Lake
St. Clair, is familiar to all; though but few
here have any knowledge of what it was more
than forty years since. It was then a small
town containing only wooden buildings, but few
of which were well finished; surrounded by
who came to Detroit soon after the French and Indian
War. He served the British government as com
missary at Mackinac for a time, but was dismissed
from this service in 1780 and spent the remainder of
his career as a merchant and fur trader. When
Detroit was given over to the United States in 1/96
Askin, electing to remain a subject of Great Britain,
removed to the Canadian side of the river, where he
died in 1817. Several of his sons, the children with
whom Spencer played, served in the War of 1812,
and one of them, John Askin Jr., played a leading
part in the capture of Mackinac from the Americans.
The Askin family papers are preserved in the Burton
Library at Detroit.
29 Commodore Alexander Grant was a brother-in-
law of John Askin. He had command of all the mil-
tary shipping on the Great Lakes from 1763 until 1812.
He was also for many years a member of the executive
council of Upper Canada, and in 1805 was de facto
governor of the province during the interregnum
between Governors Hunter and Gore. He died at
Grosse Pointe near Detroit in 1815.
143
high pickets inclosing an area of probably half
a mile square, only one-third part of which,
along the bank of the river (as the strait is
called), was covered with houses. There were,
I think, three narrow streets running parallel
with the river, and intersected by four or five
more at right angles. At the south end of the
town, adjoining on the west the second street,
at the ends of which were the entrances (se
cured by heavy wooden gates) into the city,
was a space about two hundred feet square,
inclosed on a part of two sides with low pali
sades, within which a row of handsome three-
story barracks for the accommodation of the
officers occupied the south side, and buildings
of the same height for the soldiers quarters
stood on the west and a part of the north side.
The open space was occupied as a parade
ground, where the troops were every day ex
ercised by the adjutant.
In the northwest corner of the large area,
inclosed with pickets, on ground a little elevated,
stood the fort, separated from the houses by
an esplanade, and surrounded, first by an abatis
of treetops having the butts of the limbs
sharpened and projecting outward about four
feet high; then by a deep ditch, in the center
of which were high pickets; and then by a row
of light palisades seven or eight feet long,
projecting horizontally from the glacis. The
fort, covering not more than half an acre of
ground, was square, having a bastion at each
144
of <.
angle, with parapets and ramparts so high as
to shelter the quarters within, which were
bombproof entirely from the shot of an enemy.
Its entrance was on the east side facing the
river, over a drawbridge, and through a covered
way; over which on each side were long iron
cannon carrying twenty-four pound shot, and
which the officers called the " British lions ;
while on each of the other sides were plant
ed two, and on each bastion four, cannon of
various caliber: six, nine, and twelve poun
ders.
The fort was garrisoned by a company of ar
tillery under the command of Captain Spears, 30
while two companies of infantry and one of
grenadiers of the twenty-fourth (Colonel Eng
land s regiment) were quartered in the bar
racks; the balance of the regiment was at
Michilimakinak and other northern posts. By
the side of the gate near the end of the officers
barracks was a twenty-four pounder; and for
the protection of the east side of the town there
were two small batteries of cannon on the bank
30 In 1794, Captain Spears was at Fort Miamis on
the Maumee, the fortification newly established by
the British as an offset to the American advance.
When after the battle of Fallen Timbers Wayne s
soldiers pursued the fleeing red men to the walls of
the fort and destroyed the adjoining houses and
property of the British traders under its guns, the
British commander sent Captain Spears with a mes
sage of inquiry and remonstrance concerning Wayne s
acts and intentions.
145
of the river. In the spring of 1793 there were
anchored in the river in front of the town three
brigs of about two hundred tons each; the
Chippewa and the Ottawa, new vessels, carrying
each, I think, eight guns; the Dunmore, an
old vessel of six guns; and a sloop, the Felicity,
of about one hundred tons, armed only with
two swivels; all belonging to His Majesty,
George III, and commanded by Commodore
Grant. There were, besides, several merchant
men, sloops, and schooners, the property of
individuals. 31
I had spent almost four weeks very agree
ably at Detroit, becoming much attached to
Colonel England and particularly so to Mr. and
Mrs. Andre, who treated me with great kind
ness, and to the family of Mr. Erskine, who
were very friendly and polite to me ; and when,
near the close of March the lake being entirely
clear of ice; and when, though there was some
31 The early history of shipping on the Great Lakes
is still shrouded in obscurity. Spencer s information
about the vessels at Detroit in 1/92 is perhaps as
authoritative as any we have. The sloop Felicity
had been on the lakes for at least a dozen years.
An account of a cruise taken in her around Lake
Michigan in 1/79 is published in Wisconsin Historical
Collections, XI, 203-12. The Dunmore was built at
Detroit in 17/4. According to an official return of
1783 she was a seventy-ton vessel, carrying ten guns
and twenty-five seamen. The same document gives
the Felicity as a forty-five ton vessel. Interesting
accounts of early shipping on the Great Lakes may
be found in the Buffalo Historical Society, Publica
tions, VI, 17-33 and VIII, 283 ff.
146
of <&. ffi. fencer
danger to be apprehended from easterly storms
it was thought that the navigation to Fort Erie
would be tolerably safe, orders were issued for
the sailing of the Felicity, I felt a momentary
regret that I was so soon to be separated from
these kind friends and acquaintances. Every
thing being in readiness and the sloop beginning
to weigh anchor, I took leave of Mr. and Mrs.
Andre, thanking them with tears for their
parental kindness; and so affected was I that I
could scarcely pronounce the word farewell.
Of Colonel England, also, who wished me a
prosperous voyage and safe return to my
friends, I took a very affecting leave, acknowl
edging with gratitude my obligations to him;
then with a small bundle containing a few
shirts and stockings, accompanying the sailor
who was waiting to conduct me, proceeded to
the sloop s boat and in a few minutes more
was safe on board the Felicity.
With a light breeze we proceeded down the
strait; but the wind being from the south
west we went but little faster than the current,
as we were obliged to tack very frequently
from side to side of the river. Anchoring at
its mouth, we lay there during the night; and
the next morning, the wind freshening a little
from the same direction, we were enabled in
addition to our lower sails to spread our top
sail and top gallant sail, and about the mid
dle of the afternoon anchored in Put-in-bay, a
fine harbor in the western part of Lake Erie,
147
Jje
formed by the North, Middle, and South Bass,
the Strentian and some smaller islands.
The wind being light and variable and there
being some appearance of a change of weather,
Captain Fleming 32 thought it most prudent
to remain here until morning; and taking me
into the boat with two oarsmen and a couple of
hooks and lines, rowed round the bay trailing
the lines from the stern. Passing along the
northern side of Strentian Island, which is
convex, steep, and rocky, we caught several
fine bass (one of which I had the pleasure of
drawing into the boat) on which we made a
delicious meal.
On a high rocky point of this island stood a
very large, tall tree towering above the adja
cent woods, on the top of which was an aerie.
Here first I saw the noble American eagle and
amused myself for some time watching several
of them, as without the least apparent exertion
they gracefully, yet with amazing velocity,
compassed the bay; gradually rising and con
tracting their sphere with each circuit until,
suddenly mounting, they seemed a mere speck
in the blue sky; then as suddenly descending
almost with the rapidity of thought to mid-air,
they began to wheel around, doubling their
32 Probably Lieutenant Fleming of the Marine ser
vice. From the Michigan Pioneer and Historical
Collections we learn that in 1798 he had a large family
at Amherstburg (opposite Detroit) and that in 1803
he was relieved of the command of his vessel be
cause of insanity.
148
of <.
sphere with each circuit as they descended,
some lighting on the trees, others darting on
their prey. One of them lighted on the high
tree near the nest, where his mate could be
seen, probably hatching her eggs, and whose
place he took soon after as she left her nest
for food or recreation.
Early next morning, it being the first day of
April, having a light breeze from the south
we weighed anchor and sailing eastwardly in
a few hours passed between Point Pelee and
Middle Islands; and at four o clock in the
afternoon (our sloop being a pretty good sailer)
had made about fifty miles, when the wind,
suddenly coming round, began to blow fresh
from the east. We continued onward, how
ever, regularly tacking from southeast to
northeast as near to the wind as the vessel
would progress until after sunset, the wind
still increasing. We were now out of sight of
land; the water all around us seeming to touch
the horizon and the curling waves crested with
foam appearing to mingle with the clouds,
presented to me a novel, sublime, and yet fear
ful spectacle.
I had retired to my berth on the larboard
side of the cabin about ten o clock and not
withstanding the noise of the waves and the
pitching of the vessel had fallen into a sound
sleep, when the wind having increased to a
tempest, to proceed was impossible. For some
time we lay to under a close-reefed jib and
149
mainsail, when the captain, seeing no prospect
of the storm s abating and fearing that the
rolling of the sloop would unship her mast,
gave orders to put her about. In coming
round on the starboard we were nearly upset; I
was awakened by being thrown from my berth
against the opposite side of the cabin; and the
next moment a heavy sea, striking the stern
and forcing in the cabin windows, poured in
several hogsheads of water, in which, tossed
about from side to side, it was nearly a minute
before I could gain my feet and ascend to the
deck. The dead lights were, however, soon
closed and the vessel cleared of water, and I
was advised by the captain to return to my
berth in the cabin; but I preferred remaining
on deck, thinking that if the sloop should be
wrecked I should have a much better chance
of escape. Although scudding almost under
bare poles (merely carrying sail enough to
steer the vessel by) we were going at the rate
of twelve knots an hour and pitching and rolling
with the heavy swells, sometimes fearing that
we should lose our mast or that the seams of
the vessel (rather old and unseaworthy) open
ing, she would flounder; or, the lake being
shallow, that she would be dashed to pieces
against the bottom. Providence, however,
kindly preserved us, and just after daylight,
passing the fearful breakers on the north side
of Point Pelee, we soon anchored safely in Put
in-bay. Tom, the cook, who was held as an
150
of 4, jWU
oracle on board the sloop, openly declared that
our being driven back by the storm was in
consequence of our sailing from the bay on
Friday, being, besides, the first day of April,
to which all the crew assented, adding that
we were lucky in getting safely back.
We spent a part of Saturday afternoon in
an excursion through the Middle Bass Island
on which we killed several large rattlesnakes.
I narrowly escaped being bitten by one at least
three feet long over which I stepped as he
crossed the path; and the captain, who had
gone to a small pond a few hundred yards ahead
of us to shoot ducks, returned in a short time
running and out of breath, declaring that a
monster, a snake more than a rod in length,
the moment he fired at some ducks issued from
the long grass by the edge of the water, made
directly toward him, and pursued him for more
than twenty rods. On our return to the sloop
we caught some fine bass, which more than
compensated us for the loss of the captain s
ducks.
The next morning being Sunday, having the
wind fresh from the south and the weather
being favorable, we again weighed anchor and
stood out of the bay, Tom prognosticating that
we should have a prosperous voyage. His
predictions seemed likely to be verified, as we
sailed finely this day; Tom entertained us with
several marvelous stories and extraordinary
adventures of which he had a store, and of
which many would compare with those of
"Sinbad the Sailor "; besides, he had a great
variety of nautical songs, some of which, as
" Sweet Poll of Plymouth " and "All in the
Downs/ he sang with considerable pathos;
and others, of bloody battles and brilliant vic
tories, he sang with great spirit; but none of
my entreaties could prevail with him to sing
"Cease, Rude Boreas/ which he said was to
be sung only on shore over a good can of grog,
in company with wives and sweethearts.
The wind, which had been favorable all day
Sunday, veered round before Monday morning,
blowing very fresh directly ahead; and soon
after daylight, when in sight of Long or Putt-
shawk s Point and not much more than a
hundred miles from Lake Erie, to our great
disappointment a storm even more furious than
the first compelled us to put about and drove
us quite back to Put-in-bay, which we reached
on Monday evening. On Wednesday morning
we again sailed, and on the day following were
again driven back by a furious storm, which
carried away our top gallant mast. On return
ing this time I was extremely sick from the
pitching and rolling of the sloop, and began to
be discouraged, fearing we should never get
across the lake.
We had in the hold of the sloop an ill-looking
man, said to be an American, whom the Brit
ish had taken up at Detroit on suspicion of his
152
of <&. ffi. fencer
being a spy; and on whose person some papers
said to be plans of the fort and town were
found. Pronouncing him guilty, Colonel Eng
land had ordered him to be heavily ironed and
put on board the sloop to be conveyed to
Niagara. Tom now declared this man was a
Jonah, on whose account the vessel had not
been permitted to cross the lake. One who,
though he had escaped justice on shore, the
Almighty would not suffer to reach the land
alive; and so deeply were the crew imbued with
this sentiment that but for a discovery made
on the following day they might have been
tempted to execute their threats, which they
had privately made, to throw him overboard.
On Friday morning, the wind being still from
the east, the captain proposed that we should
go a-fishing and then make a little excursion
through the North Bass Island. Making a
compass round westerly and northerly in our
boat, catching a few fine bass, a moderate
sized sturgeon, and some white fish, we pro
ceeded to the middle of the south side of the
North Bass Island, and crossing it in a north
easterly direction to its north shore were at
tracted to a spot a few hundred yards west of
us by a great number of buzzards, some on the
ground and others sitting on the trees or flying
around in the air. Approaching the place, we
saw a light bateau-fashioned canoe, split and
shattered, lying on the top of the bank just in
153
the edge of the woods; and looking about a
few minutes, found not far from the canoe a
man in a high state of putrefaction, who had
been drowned probably a week before in at
tempting to cross from Point Au Plait to the
bay. His face and neck were entirely destroyed
by the buzzards; but from his dress, a drab-
colored capote, overalls, and moccasins, and
his skin, seen by opening his calico shirt, it
was evident that he was a Canadian French
man.
The cause of our detention and our having
been repeatedly driven back by storms was
immediately explained by Tom, who, declaring
that the Almighty would not suffer us to cross
the lake while this man lay unburied instantly
began preparations for his interment. Taking
the poor Frenchman s paddle which lay near
him, aided by another sailor, sometimes with a
stick and sometimes with his hands, in about
an hour a grave two feet deep was dug in the
soft sandy ground on the top of the bank, into
which the corpse, dragged up by the shoulders,
being placed, Tom drew from his pocket a
prayer book and opening it at the burial service,
handed it to the captain, who read it with great
solemnity. The grave was now filled up, the
paddle with its blade upward was planted at
its head, and over it were thrown brush and
logs for its protection; when, satisfied that we
had done a good work, we returned to our boat
154
of
and on board the sloop, where Tom, having in
about an hour prepared us an excellent dinner
of fish and potatoes, we ate with great gout,
our appetites, from the exercise of the morn
ing, being very keen.
The wind still continued to blow strongly
from the east and the lake outside of the bay
was very rough; but on Wednesday, the thir
teenth of April, the one changing to the south
east and the other becoming calm, we again
set sail, and on Friday evening anchored safely
opposite to Fort Erie. On the following
morning taking leave of the sloop s crew I
went on shore with the captain, who introduced
me to the officer commanding the fort, at the
same time delivering him a letter written by
Colonel England. I was detained here only
a few hours, when, being placed on board a
small barge in charge of a corporal and four
soldiers, I was in a few hours conveyed to
Fort Chippewa, a blockhouse garrisoned by a
lieutenant and thirty men on the north side of
Chippewa Creek, a few rods from its mouth
and about two miles above the falls of Nia
gara.
Here passing the night, on the following
morning, accompanied by a man whom the
lieutenant had provided to conduct me I walked
down to the falls, and after spending about
two hours in viewing that stupendous cataract
proceeded to Queenstown, where finding a
155
wood boat going down to Fort Niagara, I
immediately got on board, and arriving there
an hour after and delivering a letter to the
commanding officer, was by him conducted to
the quarters of Lieutenant Hill, where I was
received with great kindness.
156
CHAPTER XI
FORTY years since, the southwestern part
of the state of New York was almost an
unbroken wilderness; and excepting a log
ferry-house on the top of a high bank opposite
Queenstown (near the present site of Lewis-
ton) there was but one house on the road or
rather footpath between Niagara and Canan-
daigua, a distance of a hundred miles, and
that was a tavern near the western bank of
the Genesee, probably ten miles south of the
spot where Rochester now stands. The best
mode of traveling then was on horseback; but
as there was but little communication between
the western part of New York and Niagara,
opportunities such as would be suitable for my
return to 1 my friends seldom occurred. I had,
therefore, to wait patiently until such oppor
tunity should offer, or until Governor Simcoe
should provide some mode of conveyance.
However, I was very comfortably situated in
the family of Mr. Hill, and spent my time
quite pleasantly for about a week that I re
mained at the fort. Lieutenant Hill was ad
jutant of the Fiftieth regiment of infantry, a
part of which with a company of artillery gar
risoned Fort Niagara, and a part was stationed
at York, Upper Canada, on the west side of
the lake, nearly opposite. Frequently by his
invitation I accompanied him when he marched
157
f)c
the troops not on duty out of the garrison,
which he did on every fair day for the purpose
of exercising them.
It is astonishing to see with what precision
the British regulars go through the manual
exercise, march and perform the different mili
tary evolutions and how quickly the slightest
error or fault is noticed by the officer, who
not infrequently punishes the delinquent by a
stroke of his rattan over the knuckles or on
the shins. The troops here, though almost
perfectly disciplined were, I thought, inferior
to the Twenty-fourth; who, beside, made a
much more showy and as I conceived a more
martial appearance. The uniform of the Twen
ty-fourth was a white vest and pantaloons
with black half gaiters; a long scarlet coat
faced with deep green and laced with silver
at the button-holes, skirts, and wrists. That
of the Fiftieth was drab underclothes and long
scarlet coats faced with light green without
any ornament. The former wore their hair
long, powdered, clubbed at the neck, and
spreading like a fan between their shoulders;
the latter had their hair cued.
With Mr. Hill I was much pleased. He ap
peared to be what is generally termed a clever
man; plain yet urbane in his manners not
brilliant. His principal recommendation was
his natural kindness and frankness, his so
ciability as a companion, and his punctual ob
servance of his duty as an officer. Being at
158
of
least fifteen years younger than his wife, whom
he treated rather with deference than with
affection, I think it probable that fortune,
rank, or some consideration other than love
influenced his union with her. His wife was at
least forty; tall and lean, with large and homely
features; in her dress very neat and simple;
polished, though rather precise in her manners;
quite intelligent and fluent, and possessing a
very amiable disposition. During my stay with
her she treated me with the kindness of a
mother, carefully repairing my shirts and
clothes: and when I left her, presenting me
with a calico needle and thread case, that I
might learn to mend my own clothes when
occasion should require. This I carefully pre
served for many years, often finding it useful:
and from the habit formed when young have
ever since carried a needle and thread in my
pocket book: and often thus have been led
gratefully to remember that benevolent lady.
The situation of Fort Niagara was a very
commanding one, standing on the high bank
at the mouth of the strait connecting Lakes
Erie and Ontario: and the scenery around it
was at once romantic, grand, and sublime.
Above were the high precipitous banks or
rather mountains, covered to the water s edge
with trees and huge masses of rock, between
which the broad and mighty water contracted
below the deafening cataract into a compara
tively narrow stream, boiling and foaming and
159
Cf)e ijn&ian
whirling along the mighty chasm, rushed for
several miles with resistless impetuosity. A
few miles below on the Canadian side seem
ingly hanging on the face of the mountainous
bank, stood the large white mess house and
quarters of the Queen s Rangers, constituting
the principal buildings of Queenstown, and on
a small plain between the termination of this
hill arid the lake shore was the small but neat
village of Newark, then the residence of Gov
ernor Simcoe. On the west and north and
east the dark deep waters of Ontario presented
a vast expanse bounded only by the horizon,
and inspired the beholder with mingled won
der, delight, and awe.
Here, especially in the "still night," you
might hear the deep heavy roar of the mighty
cataract, as the coming of the desolating tor
nado; and, indeed, it may be heard distinctly