x                       Preface

twenty-third followed such a massacre of the prisoners and
wounded by the Indians as has seldom occurred in the
annals of civilized war.
   There was another serious disaster to our arms in the
year 1813. It occurred at Fort Meigs on the 5th of May,
and came of Colonel Dudley either not understanding or
disobeying the orders given to him to take the English
batteries and then make his way to the fort. Instead of
doing this he took the batteries and then pursued the
Indians. In so doing he lost eight hundred men and left
the enemy's batteries to continue playing upon the fort.
   This bad current of events began to change for the
better in the second siege of Fort Meigs in May, i813.
It gained strength and flowed stronger in the defense of
Fort Stephenson August 2d, and yet stronger in the
victory of Perry on Lake Erie September ioth. The
decisive victory of Perry on the lake removed all obstacles
in the way of General Harrison to Detroit and into
Canada, and the battle of the Thames soon followed.
  This battle of the Thames is the subject of the follow-
ing pages. It was no big thing compared to armies as
now organized and brought against one another, but it was
immense in its influence on the War of 1812. It was like
the battle of King's Mountain in the Revolutionary War.
It came at a time when the Americans were full of gloom.