British
still held the supremacy. His objective point was the Island of
Michilimackinac (Mackinaw), which had been captured by the enemy early
in the war. On his way, he stopped and burned the British fort and
barracks of St. Joseph. At Mackinaw he was repulsed, with the loss of
seventy men; after which he returned to Lake Erie, leaving two
vessels, the "Scorpion" and "Tigress," to blockade the Nattagawassa
River. The presence of these vessels irritated the British, and they
at once set about preparations for their capture. On the night of the
3d of September the "Tigress" was captured after a sharp struggle,
which, as the British commanding officer said, "did credit to her
officers, who were all severely wounded." At the time of the attack,
the "Scorpion" was several miles away, and knew nothing of the
misfortune of her consort. Knowing this, the British sent their
prisoners ashore, and, hoisting the American flag over the captured
vessel, waited patiently for their game to come to them. They were not
disappointed in their expectations. On the 5th the "Scorpion" came up,
and anchored, unsuspectingly, within two miles of her consort. At
early dawn the next morning the "Tigress" weighed anchor; and, with
the stars and stripes still flying, dropped down alongside the
unsuspecting schooner, poured in a sudden volley, and, instantly
boarding, carried the vessel without meeting any resistance.

With these two skirmishes, the war upon Lake Erie and Lake Huron was
ended. But on Lake Ontario the naval events, though in no case
comparable with Perry's famous victory, were numerous and noteworthy.

In our previous discussion of the progress of the war upon Lake
Ontario, we left Commodore Chauncey in winter quarter at Sackett's
Harbor, building new ships, and making vigorous efforts to secure
sailors to man them. His energy met with its reward; for, when the
melting ice left the lake open for navigation in the spring of 1813,
the American fleet was ready for active service, while the best
vessels belonging to the British were still in the hands of the
carpenters and riggers. The first service performed by the American
fleet was aiding Gen. Pike in his attack upon York, where the
Americans burned an almost completed twenty-four-gun ship, and
captured the ten-gun brig "Gloucester." The land forces who took part
in this action were terribly injured by the explosion of the
powder-magazine, to which the British had applied a slow-mat