giment, who was doing marine duty
at or near Otter Creek, to find his way to Ryerse, and to tell the
militia commandant that the whole frontier on Lake Erie was now open to
American invasion, the new ship was launched, imperfectly armed and
manned; and without a sufficient supply of ammunition for the fleet, and
with little more than a day's rations for his men, Commodore Barclay was
necessitated to risk an action. The result is too well known. Nearly all
the officers were killed or severely wounded. Captain Barclay, who had
already lost one arm, was disabled in the other arm; but they did not
strike their colours to Commodore Perry's superior force until their
ammunition in some ships was all exhausted, and in others nearly so. No
one could have fought more bravely than Captain Barclay. At the same
time, those who knew of his leaving the blockade could not help feeling
that all the disasters of the upper part of the province lay at his
door. In May of 1814 we had several days of heavy fog. On the morning of
the 13th, as the fog lifted, we saw seven or eight ships under the
American flag anchored off Ryerse, with a number of small boats floating
by the side of each ship. As the fog cleared away they hoisted sail and
dropped down three miles below us, opposite Port Dover. Of course an
invasion was anticipated. Colonel Talbot was then in Norfolk, and he
ordered all the militia to assemble the next day at Brantford, a
distance of thirty miles, which they did with great reluctance, as many
of both officers and men thought that an effort should have been made to
prevent the Americans landing; but no resistance was offered. On the
14th, the Americans burnt the village and mills of Dover; on the 15th,
as my mother and myself were sitting at breakfast, the dogs kept up a
very unusual barking. I went to the door to discover the cause; when I
looked up, I saw the hill-side and fields, as far as the eye could
reach, covered with American soldiers. They had marched from Port Dover
to Ryerse. Two men stepped from the ranks, selected some large chips,
and came into the room where we were standing, and took coals from the
hearth without speaking a word. My mother knew instinctively what they
were going to do. She went out and asked to see the commanding officer.
A gentleman rode up to her and said he was the person she asked for. She
entreated him to spare her property, and said she was a widow with a
young family. He answered her civil