Book 
 
 
p 
 
p 
 
 MEUOnULS, TESTlMOXr. 
 
 kc. 
 
 !\>m the lnluil)itants residing' on tlie 
 
 XTAC^ARA FRONTrKR. 
 
 7M> 
 
■/. c 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 
 OP 
 
 THE INHABITA^NTS 
 
 RESIDINQ 
 
 ON THE NIAGARA FRONTIER, 
 
 respectfully addressed to 
 THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 
 of the United States of America. 
 
 CITY of WASHINGTON, 
 
 POINTED BY JONATHAN ELLIOT, PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. 
 
v, 
 
 i/ 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The object in publishing the following' 
 documents is to enable the members of the 
 two houses of Con^i^ress to e^xamine, with 
 the least inconvenience, the merits of the 
 bill now depending before them, for the re- 
 lief of the Niagara sufferers. The evi- 
 dence, on the files of the house of re- 
 presentatives, relating to this subject, and 
 comprising nearly the whole of the official 
 records and proceedings of the commis- 
 sioner, 18 too voluminous to permit of a pub- 
 lic reading, and, consisting of single copies 
 only, does not aff^ird to the members an op- 
 portunity of examining it individually, in 
 their hours of leisure. 
 
 It is regretted, that the fear of beino- 
 obtrusive, prevented the petitioners fioni 
 publishing the ^vhoie or part of the evi- 
 denceatan early period. Had they done 
 so, It is presumed that the honorable, tlie 
 senate, would not have entertained a pro- 
 position directing the commissioner to col- 
 lect and report evidence, a year hence, in 
 relation to their cause, when the fullest and 
 most minute evidence relative to those 
 , causes, taken under the forms prescribed bv 
 
VI 
 
 tlie spccittl act of last session, had been ly- 
 ing for two months on the table of the house 
 of representatives. 
 
 From the mass of depositions relating 
 to individual cases, the object has been to 
 select, for publication, such as go to shew 
 the general, rather than the particular oc- 
 cupancy of private buLidings for public pur- 
 poses; and that such occupancy furnished 
 to tlie enemy, the predominant motive for 
 the destruction of the ^vhole frontier. 
 
 An objection has been made to the 
 bill reported by the select committee, that 
 it is too general, and may embrace cases 
 not coming literally within the rule of in- 
 demnification heretofore adopted by Con- 
 gress. It is probable that buildings which 
 w ere not in public use at the moment of 
 their destruction, may have been burnt in 
 consequence of their contiguity to others 
 that were so used. But if the following 
 proofs shew, as they incontestibly do, that 
 the continual practice of converting private 
 buildings on the Niagara frontier to public 
 nses, led to the destruction of the whole, 
 the committee, it is believed, will be justi- 
 fied in deciding that the purposes of public 
 justice will be better attained by a general 
 relief to the sufferers, although, not to the 
 full extent of their losses, than by adopting 
 nice, and, in their operation, odious discrim- 
 
Vll 
 
 inations, depending on trivial and acciden- 
 tal circumstances, not effecting the equi- 
 ty of the subject An individual whose 
 house is burned in consequence of its con- 
 tiguity to a military deposit, has as fair a 
 claim to the equity of Congress as the 
 owner of the other. 
 
 The Niagara sufferers do not pretend 
 to claim the exclusive sympathy and consid- 
 eration of congiess. They wish every poi*- 
 tion of their suffering fellow citizens to re- 
 ceive the same indemnification which they 
 now ask. But the peculiar severity of their 
 sufferings has, probably, induced them to be 
 earlier with their proofs, and they ardently 
 hope that Congress will not fail to consid- 
 er how much the proposed relief ^vill be 
 enhanced by its being prompt. 
 
 « 
 
 City of Washin^^ton. Feb. SJ , 1817. 
 
M E M O R I A L. 
 
 To the lionorahle, the senate and house of repre-. 
 seatatives of the United States of Jlinerica, 
 in congress assembled, the memorial and peti- 
 tion of the undersigned respectfully shew. 
 
 That your memorialists belong to that unfor- 
 tunate class of citizens residin,^* on the Niagara 
 frontier, most of whom were reduced by the events 
 of tiie late war from a state of competency and 
 comfort to absolute want and beggary: That, at 
 the session of congress which succeeded the resto- 
 raton of peace, they presented their petitions to 
 your honorable body, respec( fully soliciting; — not a 
 remuneration for the extraordinary personal suffer- 
 ings to which they had been subjected during the 
 whole period of the war, by their local situation; — 
 not an indemnification for the loss of their time, in 
 three years suspension of their ordinary pursuits of 
 business; — not a redress for the inconseniencies of 
 having their fields, their gardens, and their houses 
 the common thorough fares of soldiers of every de- 
 scription: But a fair and moderate compensation i'jv 
 the loss of their property actually destroyed by the 
 incursion of the enemy in the winter of 18 ^ 3-14. — 
 In that petition they simply reminded you of the 
 deplorable situation to which they had been reduc- 
 ced by a transaction notorious in most of its p-ivticulars 
 thro' the U. S. They purposely abstained fiomcom- 
 
 <9 
 
ment in the proud assurance that they were ad- 
 dressing themselves to the guardians of a repuhlic, 
 the principles and base of whose social compact is, 
 that every burthen as well as every benefit resulting 
 from their political association shall be borne and 
 enjoyed equally by every member of that associa- 
 tion; and that it was sufficient to present their case 
 regularly before the proper tribunal of their coun- 
 try, to ensure a prompt and adequate relief. In 
 this expectation they were not altogether disappoint- 
 ed, for a law was passed during that session provid- 
 ing an indemnification for a considerable portion of 
 your memorialists; and although they were not able 
 to comprehend the justice or policy of the discrimin- 
 ations of that law, by which one class of sufferers 
 is indemnified, while another, equally meritorious 
 in the view of your memorialists, is neglected, yet 
 they saw in it, with mucli satisfaction, a full and 
 distinct recognition of the great principle to which 
 they have adverted. That it is the duty of govern- 
 ment to equalize the losses which have been incur- 
 red in the prosecution of national objects. 
 
 Many of the Niagara sufferers have already 
 obtained, under that law, an indemnification for their 
 losses; and while others were engaged in prosecu- 
 ting their claims, their progress was arrested by the 
 information that the president of the United States 
 had suspended the execution of the law, under the 
 influence of a doubt whether congress really in- 
 tended any relief to your memorialists. 
 
 In this state of things your memorialists, a- 
 ware hmv often and how insidiously the arts of 
 misrepresentation have been employed against them, 
 beg leave to lay their case more at large before you; 
 confidently assured that if their claims have not 
 been favorably regarded, it has been because they 
 were not trulv understood. 
 
.7 
 
 Unacceptable as is tlie task of recounting one's 
 (OWn sei'' ices and suiferings, your memorialists, ne- 
 vertheless, on this occasion, feel it a sacred duty to 
 themselves and families to vindicate their own con- 
 duct and motives, by a brief recurrence to some of 
 the principal incidents «f the war on tlie Niagara; 
 and, ii doing this, a just respect for the tribunal 
 they are addressing will induce them to abstain 
 from any animadversions on the conduct of those 
 who have found it their interest to calumniate them. 
 
 Seven years before the war the Niagara fron- 
 tier was a wilderness, inhabited only by savages. 
 Soon after that period most of your memorialists 
 commenced their settlements, which progressed with 
 uncommon rapidity and success. At the com- 
 mencement of the war the inhabitants had made 
 extensive clearings on their farms, erected houses 
 and made other valuable improvements; but, as is 
 generally the case in that stage of a new settle- 
 ment, most of them were, and still are, indebted for 
 the original price of their laiids. From the da^', 
 hov/evei", that war was announced until its final ter- 
 mination, your memorialists experienced, as regard- 
 ed their pecuniary aiiairs. an uiiiiiterriipted series 
 of loss and disaster The Niagara river Avas the 
 goal at which i\iQ contending armies met, as it were 
 by mutual consent, to decide srmie of the most im- 
 portant events of the war. Its banks, only thirly- 
 six miles in ext -nt, were never, for ten days, in the 
 exclusive, nor, for a moment, in the qaicyl: posses- 
 sion of either party; and tiiey literally presented a 
 theatre on which were exhibi'^^ed for three years to- 
 gether, nothing but successive scenes of daily a- 
 lirm. of niglitly watciiing — of skirmishes, battles, 
 plunder asnl massacre. 
 
 Your memorialists might, by an e;jrly aban- 
 
8 
 
 doTimpnt of their homes, have escaped many of the 
 evils to wiiicii they were afterwards subjected; but 
 they posse >ised too rmich pride, and, they humbly 
 hope, too much principle, to desert the cause of their 
 country so long as tlieir services could render it any 
 aid; they well knew, too, tl^at the effect of such a 
 desertion would only have been to throw back the 
 calamities of a frontier settlement upon their inte- 
 rior neighbors, who were less compact, and would, 
 of course, have presented a still feebler barrier to 
 the encroachments of the enemy. They therefore 
 choose to remain at their homes as long as they had 
 the power to def^-nd them; and they coniidently as- 
 sert that there was no eqital portion of the popula- 
 tion of the United States, who hazarded their pro- 
 perty, or shed their blood, more freely than the in- 
 habiiants of theNia^iara. 
 
 At the battle of Queenstown on the IStli of 
 Oclober 1812, a great proportion of the inhabi- 
 tants of that froriiier crossed the river as volunteers 
 and partook of all the dangers and disasters of that 
 unforlunate day. On the projected invasion of Ca- 
 nada, a short time after, by gen. Smyth, the inha- 
 bitants, almost to a man, obeyed his call and spent 
 some time in camp in the most inclement season of 
 the year, the effects of which were visited on them 
 in that fatal epidemic that succeeded: v/hich not on- 
 ly swept away a large proportion of their own po- 
 pulatitm, but converted every house ioto a military 
 hospital, filled durhig the winter with sick and dy- 
 in2; soldiers of every description. The fciilure of 
 that, expedition will not be imputed to your memo- 
 rialists, who had no participation in the councils 
 that produced it, and whose expectations were not 
 less disappointed in the result, than those of the 
 public at large. 
 
9 
 
 On the opening of the succeeding campaign; 
 Viany of your memorialists again tendered their 
 servicer to the commanding general, and were in 
 the engagement which resulted in tlie capture of 
 Fort George and Newark. When that fortress, 
 garrisoned hy the American army between four and 
 iive tjiousand strong, was subsequently invested by 
 two thousand British troops, and tlie commanding 
 general deemed it expedient to draw the whole of 
 his force to its defence, leaving thirty miles of the 
 frontier and a large amount of public property ex- 
 posed to the inroads of the enemy, your memorial- 
 ists again found it necessary to embody for their de- 
 fence. 
 
 On the 11th of July of that jenv, a detach- 
 ment of from 350 to 400 men were sent from the 
 British army to capture the towns of Black Rock 
 and Buffiiloe, and destroy the public property de- 
 po?;ited in them. They succeeded in mi king a land- 
 ing at Black Rock but were promptly met by the 
 volunteers of the Niagara frontier, about 100 mili- 
 tia from a neighboring county, and a few Indian 
 warriors, in the whole, greatly inferior in numbers 
 to the enemy, and repulsed, after a short and spirit- 
 ed action, with the loss of their commanding offi- 
 cer and nearly one hundred men; by which a large 
 amount of pu])lic property at Euifaloe, and the 
 whole of the provisions for commodore Perry's 
 squadron and other property at Black Rock were 
 saved to the United States. 
 
 Early in August three hundred volunteer in- 
 habitants of the frontier, and two hundreti Ii»dian 
 warriors assembled at Fort George on the invitation 
 of general Boyd, who gave them assurances that 
 with their assistance he would capture or di^'perse 
 the British force tiicn investing him. After spend- 
 
10 
 
 ing several weelis in camp, repeatedly en^ii^ina; the 
 enemy's pickets, almost wholly unsupported by our 
 regular troops, forcing and pursuing them with se- 
 vere losses into the very heart of their works. Af- 
 ter killing and capturing a great nutrber of the en- 
 emy's Indians and dispersing the residue, by which 
 our garrison was relieved from the frightful state of 
 alarm into wliich it had been thrown by the daily 
 niMSsacres committed on our pickets; they were at 
 length informed by general Boyd that he had receiv- 
 ed instructions from the governtDent which did not 
 permit him to leave his position for the purpose of 
 attacking the enetnv^ 
 
 Scarcely had the volunteers retired under the 
 weight of this dis ppointmeut, to their homes, when 
 they vvere again called to- Fort t'lleorge by similar 
 invitations and assui'anc(!S from general Wilkinson, 
 who had tlien taken command of the \merican ar- 
 my. 'I'his call, too, they obeyed with alacrity: but 
 what was their surprise and mortification in being 
 informed, on their arrival, that the whole regular 
 army was about to embark on a distant expedition 
 down the St. Lawrence — tliat no stroke was to be 
 made at the enemy who lay only three miles from 
 Fort George, uncovered by any works that could 
 afford the least protection; encumbered with heavy 
 baggage and crowded hospitals; and perfectly ac- 
 cessible by good ro^^ds and a level intervening coun- 
 try, and that the defence of Fort George and the 
 Niagara frontier was to be entrusted to a few draft- 
 ed militia under the command of gen. M'Clure. 
 
 The array departed. Nev»^ systems of vigil- 
 ance and defence were resorted to by your memo- 
 rialists, and new incursions of the enemy repelled. 
 Gen. M^Clure remained in Fort George until the 
 9th of the followins: December, when, the term of 
 
11 
 
 service of his troops bavins; expired, and being 
 closely pressed by the same force which had held 
 the American army in check, during the whole of 
 41ie preceding summer, he dismantled the fort, dis- 
 charged his troopp. and on the evening of that day, 
 in pursuance, as he declared, of an order from the 
 secretary of war [for the terms of which we beg 
 leave to refer to the records of the war office] set 
 fire to the town of Newark, and evacuated the etie- 
 my's territory, leaving the whole Niagara frontier 
 to he defended by ahout 40 militia volunteers, sta- 
 tioned at Lewiston and Manchester, and a garrison 
 of about 300 men n Fort Niagara, most of whom 
 were the invalids of gen. Harrison's army, and to- 
 tally incapacitated to perform military duty. 
 
 The tram of events which followed this extra* 
 ordinary transaction is well known to your honor- 
 able body, and will long aiford a subject of dismal 
 recollection to your memorialists. 
 
 The British army, followed by a horde of sa- 
 vages, reeking with revenge for the ciiastisement 
 they had recently received on the Thames, crossed 
 the Niagara in the night, and from Lake Ontario 
 to Manchester, a distance of 15 miles, nothing was 
 spared which fire would consume, or the tomahawk 
 destroy; and happy was the lot of the citizens, who 
 literally peunyless and naked, had the good fortune 
 to escape w ith their lives, to throw themselves on 
 the charity of strangers. It is true that before 
 Black Rock and Buffaloe were desti-oyed, large 
 bodies of the neighbouring militia had hastily and 
 promiscuously assembled for their defence; but un- 
 armed, unprovided, and unorganised as they were, if 
 they did not make all the resistance that was expect- 
 ed from their numbers, the frontier inhabitants at 
 least have a melancholy proof in the long list of vie- 
 
 i* 
 
IS 
 
 titfls to that savage invasion, that they did not 
 shrink from their duty. 
 
 Again, in the spring of 1814, two tliirds at 
 least of the inhabitants of tiie Niagara frontier capa- 
 ble of bearing arras, undismayed by the disasters of 
 former years, and with no other occupation left 
 them, but war, joined with that band of volunteers 
 who crossed with the regular army into Canada, 
 and participated their full share in all the battles of 
 that memorable and bloody campaign. 
 
 Such has been the arduous, as well as disas- 
 trous, share which your memorialists have borne in 
 the late war: a war undertaken for national objects, 
 in which no part of the United States had less in- 
 terest than themselves; but which, happily for the 
 nation at large, has resulted in relieving our exten- 
 sive commerce fram the depredations and insults of 
 almost every power that sailed the ocean, and re- 
 storing it to universal security and respect, and in 
 raising our national character from degradation and 
 contempt to military renown. 
 
 For the ordinary hardships, and sufferings in- 
 cident to a state of war, large as has been the por- 
 tion of them allotted to your memorialists, tliey 
 claim, as they have before intimated, no indemnifi- 
 cation: but they do insist, upon every principle 
 that defines the obligations of civilized society, they 
 are intitled to renumeration for the losses sustained 
 by the incursion of the enemy in December, 1813. 
 
 An apology is due from your memorialists to the 
 President of the United States, for the freedom with 
 which they undertake to state the motives which 
 have influenced hmi in suspending the operation 
 of the law of last session, as regards their claims, 
 when those motives are only derived from common 
 report. Such report, however, ascribes to the pre- 
 
13 
 
 sideut, as the ground on which he has suspended 
 the allowance of their claims for buildings destroy- 
 ed by the enemy, a belief that the inducement to 
 the destruction of those buildings by the enemy, 
 was retaliation for the burning of the British town 
 of Newark by the American troops, and not the 
 inducement contemplated in the said act as neces- 
 sary to entitle the claimant to the benefit of its pro- 
 visions. 
 
 While your memorialists frankly confess, 
 that in their humble opinion, the principles and 
 provisions of the act of last session are too narrow 
 for the attainment of national justice, as applicable 
 to the various events of the late war ; yet tliey are 
 content to rest their claim on the principles distinctly 
 recosjnised in everv section of that act. 
 
 Upon whatprincijde, your memorialists would 
 respectfully ask, has congress assumed to pay for 
 buildings destroyed by the enemy, in consequence 
 of their being in the military occupation of the U. 
 States? Unquestionably upon the ground, that by 
 such occupation the government has been indirectly 
 (and certainly too, in most cases, innocently) instru- 
 mental in producing the loss. Tliat a great portion 
 of the buildin2;s on the Nia2:ara were in such occu- 
 pation at the time of their destruction, is incontro- 
 vertibly true: and it is equally true that this cir- 
 cumstance was the motive for tlieir destruction, if 
 the uniform declarations of tlie British officers, bv 
 whose orders it was commltcd, are to be the evi- 
 dence of their motives. J^uthow, in point of prin- 
 ciple, does your memorialists' case stand upon the 
 allegation that the Niagara frontier was destroyed 
 in retaliation for the burning of Newark? 
 
 On the 27th of May, the American army, 
 jOOO strona;. invade Canada, capture Fort George. 
 
 * 3 
 
 wt 
 
14 
 
 take possession of Newark, the principal town in 
 the province, And subject and hold it under martial 
 law for six months. Numerous incursions are 
 made into the enemy's country, and in every in- 
 stance more or less buildings, the private property 
 of British sulyjects, are set on fire, and destroyed. 
 Fort Greorge is invested by two thousand British 
 troops, inferior by more than one half to the Ame- 
 rican garrison, who make no ejBFort to capture or de- 
 stroy them. In September, the American army is 
 withdrawn, and Fort George committed to the de- 
 fence of 1000 drafted militia. On the 9tli of De- 
 cember, the service of these militia determines, and 
 no provision is made by the government for replac- 
 ing them. In the meantime a letter is received by 
 the commanding officer, from tlie secretary of war, 
 advising, if not absolutely ordering the burning of 
 the town of Newark The inhabitants of the Ni- 
 agara, deprecating the consequences of this extra- 
 ordinary measure, interposed their prayers and en- 
 treaties to arrest its execution; but it is a military or- 
 der, an advice (call it which you please) coming 
 from the commander in chief of the U. States, and 
 could not be disre2;arded bv a subordinate officer. 
 Newark is burnt — Fort Greorge evacuated — The 
 troops discharged. Scarcely the shadow of milita- 
 ry resistance retained; and not only the property 
 and protection of the citizens abandoned, but at 
 least a half a million of dollars worth of public 
 property is left as a bait to tlie cupidity or revenge 
 of tlie enemy. 
 
 Your memorialists feel no inclination to con- 
 trovert the right of the American government to de- 
 stroy the town of Newark, or to vindicate the en- 
 emy in the conflagration of tlie Niagara frontier, 
 either upon the ground assumed in regard to New- 
 
 ';■(■' 
 
Id 
 
 ark, that the measure would contribute to the safe- 
 ty of tlie Bi'itisli positions, or upon the ground that 
 it was justified by the principles of retaliation for 
 that act: much less are they disposed to offer any 
 palliation for the inhuman barbarities inflicted upon 
 the persons of the defenceless inhabitants: but tliey 
 may nevertheless be permitted to appeal to the can- 
 dour of every mi^nber of your honorable !)ody, 
 whether, making reasonable allowance for the pas- 
 sions of man engaged in deadly conflict with each 
 otiier, a;id for the prejudices with which every ques- 
 tion arising between them will be viewed, it was 
 not to be expected that the destruction of the town 
 of Vewark would furnish an irresistable motive 
 as well as pretext for the destr jction of the Am-ri- 
 can towns on the opposite shore; and especially 
 when no.a lequate force was interposed for its pre- 
 vention? 
 
 If, then, the destruction of the Niagara fron- 
 tier was in truth an act of retaliation for the burn- 
 ing of NTewark, has not tlie government, through 
 its constituted authorities, been instrumental in pro- 
 ducing the losses of yoir mem>!"lalisLS? and ought 
 they not upon the great principle upon which the 
 law of the 9th of April last is bottomed, to be in- 
 demnified? 
 
 If your memorialists claims required any other 
 arguments than what are Amnd in their intrinsic jus- 
 tice, they might wellVefer to tiie more enlarged prin- 
 ciples of national policy for tiieir support. 
 
 The strength of every nation will always 
 mainly depend on the pitriotic devotion of its peo- 
 ple to their conm)n country: and where, wo may 
 ask, are we to l-jok for the foundations of that pa- 
 triotism, thatsacri'd love of country, which attaQhes 
 and binds each citizen to his fellow cit'zen? Is it 
 not to be traced exclusively to that c(unmunity of 
 
16 
 
 iutrrestthaf; identity of fortune, and that consequent 
 sympathy of ieelhii^j to which we are destined by 
 the operation of our political and civil institutions? 
 And wherein^ we may again ask, consists the cha- 
 racteristic excellence of a republic, which alone 
 distinguishes it from other governments, and gives 
 to republican patriotism such peculiar force and 
 character, if not in the only circumstance that it 
 meies its blessings and its burthens, with a more 
 equal hand, to every class of citizens, and will not 
 permit one human being to toil, to suffer and be op- 
 pressed, to gratify the pride, ambition or avarice of 
 another? 
 
 Apply these sacred principles of union and 
 equality to a state of public war, which of all po- 
 litical operations requires most the single and undi- 
 vided energy of will and action of a nation, and 
 w hat does policy dictate? 
 
 Does it not admonish us to unite, consolidate, 
 and, as far as possible, identify tlie interests of the 
 whole people, and by thus producing an extended 
 sensibility to give individuality and energy to na- 
 tional feehng and exertion? Or, does it, on the con- 
 trary, dictate to us to hreak asunder the tics and 
 obligations which bind us to each other in time of 
 peace, to set afloat the elements of disunion and a- 
 varice, and to convert what ought to be a great and 
 united effort against a common enemy for national 
 right and principle, into a disgraceful squabble for 
 property amongst ourselves? 
 
 What would not be the ruinous consequences 
 of that piratical policy which places every man at 
 war with Ids fellc'w man? Would not interest in- 
 fluence those whose local situation secures tbem 
 from the accideiits of war, to Si^ek pretexts for war, 
 the effects of which would ])c to double the prices of 
 
17 
 
 ilieir produce and manuftictures? And would not 
 
 the frontier and exposed citizens resist even a just t 
 
 war which is to be carried on at their exclusive ha- 
 
 zard? Or, if forced into it, would they not com- 
 pound with the enemy for that protection and in- 
 demnity which their own government refuses them? 
 And if it be true, as we have been instructed to be- 
 lieve, that protection and allegiance are reciprocal 
 and dependant duties between the government and 
 the governed, where would be the breach of eivil 
 or moral obligation in withdrawing the one after 
 the other had been abandoned? 
 
 Butwhv should vour memorialists be driven 
 to the necessity of appealing to considerations of 
 policy in support of an eternal and unquestionable 
 principle of equity daily and hourly recognized in 
 every court of justice, in every state in the union 
 and in every country on the globe, that all associa- 
 tions of individuals are bound to contribute in pro- 
 portion to their respective interests, to the expen- 
 ses and losses incident to the promotion of an object 
 undertaken by common consent and for common 
 benefit. 
 
 That this principle is applicable to a nation in 
 regard to the losses incurred by its subjects in the 
 prosecution of a public war, and ouglitto be enforc- 
 ed when within the reach of the public revenue, is 
 admitted even by the European writers on public 
 law, and sanctioned by the practice of European 
 governments. 
 
 Great Britain in adjusting the claims of her 
 subjects for losses sustained during the late war 
 witli the U. States, has not even adopted the prin- 
 ciple wliich we have some where lieard advanced, 
 that losses occasioned by the icantonness of an en- 
 piicmy oiiS!;ht Tiot to he indemnijied. — A principle 
 
 I 
 
18 
 
 which would have held an impotent, insulated Bri- 
 tish subject bound for the good behavior of the go- 
 vernment of the U. States. She probably deem- 
 ed it quite as much the duty of the British govern- 
 ment itself as of a . poor and powerless Canadian 
 farmer, to correct the manners and morals of the 
 American people, and to compel their armies to be 
 regardful of the principles of civilized warfare. — 
 At any rate the British government has, low and 
 dep-essed as is tlie stale of its finances, assumed to 
 pay all losses of its Canadian subjects, occasioned 
 by \he. depredations and burnings of the American 
 trtK)ps, without enquiry into the motives that influ- 
 enced them. A.nd shall it be said that the Ameri- 
 can government, with a surplus revenue of nine 
 millions of dollars per year, is ufiable, or unwil. 
 ling to spare ten or twelve hundred thousand, (the 
 maxinium extent, as we are informed, of all claims 
 for losses in the U. Stages) to compensate those who 
 have fought, bled, and suffered, to produce this ex- 
 traordinary exuberance of the public treasury, and 
 to exalt tills naaon to its present high and palmy 
 state? 
 
 In calling the attention of your honorable bo- 
 dy to the fact that the ninth section only of the act 
 of the last session is suspended, while all the other 
 sections are in operation; far from us be the wish to 
 prejudice the claims arising under those sections. 
 On ihe contrary we believe them most righteous; 
 and while we rejoice in seeing justice done to a me- 
 ritorious class of our fellow citizens, we cannot re- 
 frain from remarking, in support of our own claims, 
 that we can discover no difference between the ca- 
 ses of a liorsBy a waggon, or a. hoiisp, lost in conse- 
 quence of their being in the public service, except 
 in the amount of the loss. Could your memorial- 
 
19 
 
 ists believe that the merit of a claim was to be mea- 
 sured by the sm;iUuess of its amount, and that an 
 individual was to be preferred because he had lost 
 but little; then, indeed, would they consider their 
 case as a deplorable one— /or thf7j have lost their 
 all. 
 
 In the full confidence that your honorable bo- 
 dy will provide for the renewed and just operation 
 of the law of the last session, upon the principles 
 which induced its original passage; or that you will 
 adopt some other and adequate provision for tlieir 
 case, your memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever 
 pray, &c. 
 
MEMORIAL from BUFFALOE. 
 
 To the lionorable, the senate and house of repre- 
 sentatlves of the United States of America, 
 in congress assembled^ 
 
 The memorial of the undersigned sundry in- 
 habitants of the town of Builalo, in the county of 
 Niagara, and state of New York^ respectfully 
 showeth, 
 
 That during the late war waged with Great 
 Britain, no part of the. United States more strenu- 
 ously supported the American cause, at the liazard 
 of their lives and fortunes of its citizens, or more 
 severely suffered from the evils of war, than the in- 
 habitants of the Niagara frontier. At the battle of 
 Queenstown heights, at the expedition to the Bea- 
 ver dams, and during the glorious campaign of 
 1814, the militia of the state of Newyork, princi- 
 pally collected from that frontier, volunteered their 
 services, and discarding all constitutional scruples, 
 crossed the lines into Canada, in support of the 
 rights and honor of their country. Before, and at 
 the commencement of the war, no part of the United 
 States was more flourishing and prosperous; but in 
 the unfortunate winter of 1813 and 1811, in conse- 
 quence of the withdrawal of the American forces 
 for the defence of Sacket's harbor, the settlers on 
 the Niagara river were exposed to the collected 
 fury of the enemy, their houses destroyed, and the 
 fortune of many completely swept away. The 
 circumstances which attended this event, as they 
 form the groundwork of this petition, your memo- 
 rialists beg leave to submit to the consideration of 
 your honorable bodv. 
 
 4 
 
During the principal part of the year 1812, 
 and at several periods in 1813, the American force 
 stationed on the river Niagara occupied the private 
 houses of the inhabitants by the orders of the com- 
 manding officers: even while our chief force was 
 stationed in Canada, a large guard was constantly 
 stationed at BuflFaloe. On the l6th of November, 
 1813, Gen. Harrison, with the main body of the 
 army, left the Niagara frontier almost defenceless, 
 and embarked for Sacket's harbour, leaving a small 
 force, consisting principally of militia, at Fort 
 George, under the command of Gen. JVl'Clure. 
 About the 9th of December the terra of service of 
 the militia expired, and as Gen. M'Clure was then 
 threatened by a superior force of the enemy, com- 
 manded by gen. Drummond, and Fort George, 
 with so small a garrison, was incapable of standing 
 a siege; the fort was evacuated, and the town of 
 Newark destroyed. 
 
 For the destruction of this town the American 
 general relics, for his justification, on an order 
 whicli had been given by gen. Armstrong, then sec- 
 retary of war, as early as the 4tli of October, 1813, 
 to the officer commanding at Fort George, to burn 
 Newark, and the necessity of that step for the pro- 
 tection of the American frontier. After the evacu- 
 tion of Fo# George the American troops were di- 
 rected to take up their quarters in the private build- 
 ings of the inliabitants, and when the committee of 
 safety of the town of Bufi'alo remonstrated with 
 Gen. M'^Clure against the occupation of the town, 
 and stated their apprehension that in consequence 
 of such occupation it would be destroyed by the 
 enieniy then superior in force; he pledged his honor 
 that the government of the U. S. would indemnify 
 the inhabitants for any loss they might sustain, in 
 
J88 
 
 consequence of its being in the military occupancy 
 of the. U. States ; and he advised accordingly the 
 inhabitants to give up their houses peaceably to the 
 troops. 
 
 Soon after the evacuation of Fort George, 
 gen. Drumraond, who had been considerably re- 
 inforced, arrived there, and on the 19th day of De- 
 cember, a large party of the enemy crossed Niaga- 
 ra, in the night, and surprised the American fort. 
 About the same time, the enemy burnt several 
 houses in Youngstown, i^evvistovvn, Manchester, 
 and on tlie road between those places, and plun- 
 dered a large quantity of property. It has beeu 
 satisfactorily proved, and the point is susceptible 
 of corroboration, by tlie most unquestionable testi- 
 mony, that the reason avowed, at that time, by 
 every British otBcer, for the destruction of these 
 buildings, was the shelter they furnished to our 
 troops, the constant occupation of them as military 
 deposits, and the protection that would be given to 
 their frontier, by the destruction of them; that the 
 reason alleged for the plunder of private property, 
 was its destination for public purposes, or its inter- 
 mixture with public property, to such a degree, 
 that no discrimination could be made. At the town 
 of Manchester several liouses, which were not lia- 
 ble to these objections, were left standing after this 
 incursion. 
 
 After the capture of Fort Niagara, Maj.-gen. 
 Hall, on or about the 25ih day of December, took 
 command of the American forces in that quarter, 
 and having then about 3000 militia under his com- 
 mand, issued orders to his several officers to quar- 
 ter tlieinselves, and their men, in the private houses 
 at Bufl'alo, Black Rock, and the vicinity. Simi- 
 lar orders were^ about the same time, issued by 
 
S4 
 
 biis. sen. Hopkins. In pursuance of these or- 
 deS the principal part of the buildings m those 
 towns were taken possession of by the American 
 troops, without the consent, and often without the 
 previous knowledge of the owners. Arms and 
 other munitions of war were stored in different 
 houses: many of them were occupied as laborato- 
 ries, and the whole town of Buffaloe exhibited the 
 appearance of a milifary cantonment. Such was 
 its state when the British army under the command 
 of gen. Rial crossed the Niagara at Black Rock, 
 on the 30th of December 1813- A battle ensued 
 which termm ited in the retreat of our troops. On 
 the enemy's approach towards Buffaloe, some skir- 
 mishing took place, and although the firing contin- 
 ued yet afer the retreat of the principal part of our 
 force, all resistance had become unavailing. It was 
 therefore recommended to col Chapin, one of the 
 inhabitants, by the trustees of the town, to offer 
 terms of capitulation. Accordingly col. Chapm 
 met the enemy with a ilag— the British troops were 
 halted, and soon after articles of capitulation were 
 agreed on and signed by gen. Rial on the part of 
 the enemy, and by col. Chapin on tne part of the 
 town. By these articles it was expressly stipula- 
 ted, that private property should be respected, pub- 
 lic property surrendered, and all spirituous liquors 
 destroyed to prevent the excesses which the Indi- 
 ans, if they became intoxicated, might commit.— 
 On the entrance of the enemy into Buffaloe a guard 
 was stationed round several private buildings by 
 the orders of gen. Rial and his officers, and others 
 were directed to be burnt in consequence of the 
 obvious and long continued occupation of them by 
 the United States as store houses or as barracks. 
 Tlie next day an examination of every house was 
 
25 
 
 made in search of public property, and it resulted in 
 the discovery that the principal part of the buildings 
 in tiie town had been devoted to military purposes, 
 and had been employed eitlier for the accommoda- 
 tion of our troopsj or as laboratories, or as recepta- 
 cles for munitions of war. The destruction of the 
 chief part of the to\Mi was therefore resolved on 
 and fatally accomplished. 
 
 Your memorialists respectfully submit to your 
 honorable body, that it is satisfactorily proved by 
 the repeated declarations of gen Rial himself and 
 the several officers who accompanied him, that the 
 above recited circumstances were the sole motives 
 that actuated the enemy in the destruction of Buifa- 
 loe. The same point is also proved by the fact 
 that several houses in the vicinity were left uninju- 
 red, to which the above objections did not apply, 
 and that other houses were selected for destruetiou 
 which were at some distance from the enemy's line 
 of march, and parties sent to destroy them on in- 
 formation being received that they contained public 
 property. Tlie execution of the articles of capit- 
 ulation likewise furnishes conclusive evidence that 
 it was not the original intention of the enemy to 
 cause an indiscriminate conflagration. 
 
 Your memorii' lists will forbear from enlarging 
 on the scene of distress and desolation that was 
 exhibited on the Niagara frontier, after these dread- 
 ful incursions. They mq.vq driven from their 
 homes, in the most inclement season of the year, 
 deprived of the means of subsistence for a time, and 
 left dependant on tlie charity of a distant neigh- 
 ])Ourhood for a shelter. Many of your memorial- 
 ists lost their all, the fruits of many year's indus- 
 try, and are now struggling with poverty and want. 
 But they trusted that the Con^rress of ihe United 
 
S6 
 
 States would indemnify them for their losses, 
 whenever the pressure of the war shouhi pass 
 away, and their claims could he properly exhibit- 
 ed. On the passage of the act, entitled, " An act 
 to authorise the payment for property lost, captured 
 or destroyed by the enemy, while in the military 
 service of the United States, and for other purpo- 
 ses," passed on the Qi\\ d;iy of April, <Si(>, your 
 memorialists believed that tiieir claims m ere eca- 
 braced by the 9th sect. o<" that act. '1 hey accord- 
 ingly sent im to the commissioner appointed by vir- 
 tue thereof, a statement of their res[)ective losses, 
 upon which Ciunmissions were directed to the 5iv;.st 
 competent and respectable persons on the frontier, 
 to take testimony in relation to their claims. The 
 testimony when t^iken was duly returned to the 
 ccunmissioner of claims. It clearly estaMisfhed die 
 facts above stated, respecting the destruction of 
 Buffalo; and your memorialists beg leave to refer 
 to a copy of the general testimony on their cases 
 hereunto annexed, a* substantiating their state- 
 ments. It also proves the several points, which 
 bring their claims w ithin the act, 1st, The occupa- 
 tion of their houses as military deposites, under the 
 authority of an agent or officer of the U. S. and 
 Sdly, The destruction of them by the enemy, in 
 consequence of such occupation. Upon these con- 
 siderations the commissioner appointed under the 
 act allowed several of the claims of the inhabitants 
 of Buffalo, and indemnitication was aw arded to the 
 claimants. But before a decision was given on 
 the claims of your memorialists, an order was sent 
 to him from the acting secretary of war, to suspend 
 all further decisions under the 9th sect, of the said 
 act until further advised. Since this order their 
 claims have been umioticedj and as no additiojial 
 
S7 
 
 instructions have been sent to the commissioner re- 
 lative to the claims arising under the said section; 
 and your memorialists are ignorant of the particu- 
 lar grounds from which this order of suspension 
 originated, they are compelled to apply to your hon- 
 orable body for redress. 
 
 From the known justice and liberality of your 
 lionorable body they confidently trust that upon the 
 proof of the above statements an act will be pass- 
 ed to give operation to the former act, and to grant 
 the indemnification they require. The British go- 
 vernment has indemnified its subjects for the loss- 
 es they sustained by the destiiiction of Newark. 
 Your memorialists have an equal claim for indem- 
 nification on their government. Kvery motive of 
 policy appears to require that the inhabitants on 
 both sides of the Niagara should be placed on an 
 equal footing: though the patriotism of your memo- 
 rialists can not be afi'ected by such considerations, 
 yet they hope it will be proved that the citizens of 
 the free republic are as much the objects of consid- 
 eration to their government as British subjects to 
 the king of Great Britain. 
 
 Your petitioners have heard no objections ad- 
 vanced against their claims, except the wantonness 
 of the enemy in desolating the Niagara frontier, and 
 the allegation contained in the proclamation of the 
 then governor of Quebec, that the devastation of 
 the American frontier was committed in retaliation 
 for the destruction of N ewark. As to the first ob- 
 jection your memorialists will not, though they 
 might, enquire whether the desolation of the Ame- 
 rican frontier was, or was not, justifiable by the 
 laws of civilized w^arfare, and whether it did or did 
 not operate to the advantage of the enemy. But 
 they cannot avoid thinking that the more wanton 
 
28 
 
 the act of the euemy the stronger would be their 
 claims on the liberality of the government, and that 
 the pressure of a war ought, as far as possible, to be 
 equally borne by the citizens of a free republic. 
 As to the other objection arising from the proclama- 
 tion of sir George Prevost, your memorialists may 
 truly assert that there was as much ground in point 
 of military policy for the destruetion of Buifalo and 
 Lewistown, by the enemy, as for the destruction of 
 Newark by our troops, and the same motives that 
 actuated the one produced the other. Your memo- 
 rialists are further confirmed in the belief that con- 
 siderations of military policy caused the devasta- 
 tion of those towns from a comparison of the date 
 of the events. When the buildings in Lewistown, 
 Youngstown and Manchester were destroyed, the 
 governor of Canada, at Quebec, could not have 
 heard of the destruction of Newark. A part only 
 of Manchester was destroyed during the incursion 
 of the 19th December, and if a spirit of retaliation 
 had caused the devastation on that occasion, we 
 must presume that that spirit was then satiated; or 
 otherwise, the whole town would have been laid in 
 ruins. It could not have thirsted ten days after 
 for further vengeance, and extended itself to tlie 
 towns of Bujffalo and Black Rock. The articles 
 however, of capitulation, and the declarations of 
 gen. Rial and his officers, furnish a complete an- 
 swer to this objection, and a better evidence of their 
 motives of action than the proclamation of a distant 
 officer. Your memorialists therefore pray that your 
 honorable body will take their claims into consider- 
 ation, and grant them such relief as their case re- 
 quires. And, as in duty bound, they will ever 
 pray, &c. 
 
33 
 
 TESTIMONY. 
 
 Copy of testimony lakeri under a co^nmission issued to Daniel 
 Rapine, and applicable to the case of — 
 
 Washington County, • ') 
 
 District of Columbia. ^ 
 
 Be it remembered, that on the 20th clay of August, in the 
 the year eighteen hundred and sixteen, before me the subscri- 
 ber, appointed by virtue of the accompanying commission, a 
 commissioner to take testimony in the case of William Hodges 
 and others, claimants at Buffalo, under the act of Congress of 
 April 9th last, personally appeared colonel Cyrenius Chapin, 
 and being sworn^n due form of law, deposed and said, that 
 this deponent was at Buffalo, in the state of New York, at the 
 time the enemy landed on the American sliore near Black 
 Rock, on the night of the 29th of December, 1813, that on the 
 landing of the second party of the enemy at day light of the 
 30th of December, this deponent was at Black Rock; on the 
 same morning a battle took place between the United States' 
 troops and the eneni}', and on the flight of the former the ene- 
 my marched to Bufilalo, without committing any depredations 
 on the houses and property on their way. On their approach 
 lo Buffalo, a skirmish took place, but the carriage of a cannon, 
 on which the militia principall}^ relied for defence, giving way, 
 this deponent was requested by the trustees of the town of Buf- 
 falo to meet the enemy with a flag, and to ofler to capitulate. 
 This deponent went out with a flag accordingly, and met the 
 enemy, and, after a short conference, articles of capitulation 
 were agreed on, reduced to writing, and executed, and it was 
 thereby stipulated that private property and private persons 
 should not be molested or injured; these articles of capitula- 
 tion were signed by general Rial and the deponent, and the 
 original was left with deponent, aud remained in hi- hands un- 
 til after he was unjustly made prisoner and carried over into 
 Canada, when he sent it to general Prcvost, as it was neces- 
 sary to obtain his discharge, since whicl* time the instrument 
 has never been in deponent's possession. After the capitula- 
 tion, the enemy entered Buffalo, and stationed a guard before 
 the houses of the deponent, and of Ebenezer Walden, llalph 
 M, Pomerov, Pratt and Leach, Lewis Lea Cauteaux, Stocking 
 4 
 
34 
 
 and Bull, Coit and Townsend, Storrs and Caryls, and some 
 others which deponent does not remember, for the purpose of 
 protecting the said houses, and none of the abovementioned 
 houses were burnt until the first of January at midnight. Soon 
 after the entrance of the enemy into the town, they set fire to 
 several houses; among others to the houses of Elias Ranson, 
 James Baird, Oliver Forward, Asa Fox, Henry Kitchen, wi-, 
 dow Atkins, widow St. John, several houses belonging to Gil- 
 man Folson, Luke Draper, widow Pratt, Grant's store, and 
 several others not recollected. As soon as they commenced 
 firing these buildings, the deponent remonstrated with general 
 Kial on this flagrant violation of the terms of the capitulation, 
 and his reply was, that the houses he set on fire were places 
 of public deposit, occupied and appropriated to the use of our 
 army, which was not protected by the terms of the capitulation. 
 This deponent then complained of the court house being set 
 on fire, and general Rial immediately ordered a party of men 
 to go and extinguish it; they had commenced putting it out, 
 and had nearly extinguished it, when general Rial having been 
 informed that it had been used as a barrack for American 
 troops, ordered it finally to be burnt. This deponent knows 
 ihat the house of Elias Ranson had been used and occupied 
 as a barrack for American troops for several months before, 
 and his barn for their horses; the house of WiUiam Baird had 
 been used as a store house for public property above twelve 
 months; Oliver Forward's had been used that clay as a labora- 
 tory, and had long been used as a barracks for our troops; the 
 houses of Asa Fox and Henry Kitchen, had been employed as 
 barracks for about ten days before; in widow Atkins' house 
 there was a quantity of powder, and both her house and that 
 of the widow St. Johns had been constantly used for some length 
 of time as barracks; and most of Gilman Folsou's houses were 
 occupied as barracks, and some as laboratories, containing 
 powder; Grant's store had long been made use of as a place 
 of deposit for military stores; widow Pratt's house was used 
 as a barracks, and Luke Draper's house had also been made 
 use of as a barracks, but latterly it had been made use of as a 
 laboratory; the piincipal part of the houses that were des- 
 troyed, in fact, on the oOth of December, hod been and then 
 v.ere more or less i^ the use and occupancy of the public, and 
 of American troops. This deponent was made a prisoner by 
 the enemy on the 30th of December, and was carried across 
 the Niagara, and was not on the American shore till five 
 months after, when he was rplea=;e(l. but though a prisoner he 
 
35 
 
 had reason to believe that no houses were burnt in Bufialo on 
 the 31st of December, as he might have seen the flames, nor 
 has he ever heard that any houses were burnt that day. On 
 the first of January this deponent was sent into the country as 
 a prisoner, and did not know of the destruction of the other 
 houses in the town on that day until his arrival at Montreal, 
 when general De Rottenburgh, sir Sidney Beckworth, and ma- 
 jor Loring informed this deponent of the destruction of this 
 deponent's house and other buildings, and gave as a reason 
 that on examination they found that they contained public pro- 
 perty, and were used as military deposits, and that they would 
 not otherwise have been burnt. Major Loring also informed 
 this deponent that he commanded the party that burnt AVilliam 
 Hodges' house, which they were informed by some good friend 
 of theirs contained public property, which the}- found to be 
 the case: this was the reason given for the destruction of all 
 the houses in Buffalo. This deponent knows that William 
 Hodges' house had been occupied for some time before b}' 
 United States' troops, and also contained a large quantity of 
 arms and ammunition; that this deponent's house also contain- 
 ed a large quantity of arms and ammunition and naval stores, 
 and troops were stationed in the small buildings; that in the 
 shop there was a quantity of powder, arras, and fixed ammu- 
 nition; that Ebenezer Walden's house contained arms, and that 
 the barn was occupied by the quarter master as a deposit for 
 forage. The cause of the destruction of Pomeroy's house, as 
 this deponent understood, was the quartering of troops there, 
 and a box of swords being found there. Pratt and Leaches' 
 house had been long used as aborracks; Stocking and Bull's 
 and Coit and Townsend's houses had been used for sometime 
 as barracks; Storrs and Caryl's house had been long used as 
 a public store house; that there were between two and thi ee 
 thousand militia stationed at Bufialo when the enemy landed, as 
 above mentioned, and were ordered by general Hall, as thej- 
 arrived, to quarter themselves in the houses of the town, which 
 order was executed by major Camp; the United States had 
 no store houses or barracks but what were the property of pri- 
 vate individuals; that the certificate and depositions purport- 
 ing to be in the hand writing of general Hall is his handwrit- 
 ing; and that this deponent does not know of any agreement 
 being entered into by the United States' officers with the own- 
 ers of houses respecting the occupation of them, and that in 
 most instances the owners of the houses were compelled, 
 against their wishes, to receive troops and public stores into 
 
S6 
 
 their houses, and in spite of their objections thereto, (and 
 among others Townsend and Coit, Stocking and Bull) as it 
 was attended with great inconvenience and loss to the inhabi- 
 tants; that this deponent is not directly nor indirectly interested 
 in the establishment of any of the claims founded on the des- 
 truction of property by the enemy at Buffalo, except his own 
 claim for property so destroyed. William Hodges' house was 
 not within the linuts of the corporation of Buffalo, nor was 
 this deponent's barn, (which had been used for two years at 
 least as the principal arsenal in that quarter) within the limits 
 of the corporation of Buffalo. 
 
 CYRENIUS CHAPIN. 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 20th day of August, before me, 
 
 DANIEL RAPINE. 
 
 And now, at the same time, personally appears Claudius 
 V. Boughton, and deposeth and saith, that this deponent was 
 at Black Rock on the night of the 29th of December, 1813, 
 when the enemy landed there; a battle took place between the 
 United States' troops and the enemy immediately after land- 
 ing; about day-light of the 30th they advanced on Buffalo, 
 at which place a fight took place, and this deponent under- 
 stood from common report that a capitulation had been enter- 
 ed into between the cidiens of Buffalo and the British, stipulat- 
 ing that private property and private persons should be res- 
 pected; that this deponent was not at Buffalo when the enemy 
 entered that place, but saw the smoke of the burning houses 
 on the 30th of December and 1st of January, no houses having 
 been burnt on the 31st of December. The militia stationed at 
 Buffalo previous to the battle amounted to at least two thous- 
 an.^ men, and they were quartered in the private buildings of 
 tlK- town, there being no public barracks in the vicinity; that 
 this deponent knows that the small houses of col. Chapin, and 
 the houses of Asa Fox, Gilman Folson, Elias Ranson, and 
 many others, were occupied by the troops; that col. Chapin's 
 main house contained a quantity of stores belonging to the 
 public, and that it was so ditRcult to find quarters in the town 
 fo. the troops, from the houses being full, that one squadron 
 of cavalry of the twelfth regiment was ordered four miles out 
 of town to the house of widow Atkins for quarters; that the 
 house of William Hodges, situated on the Batavia road, two 
 miles from Buffalo, was occupied at the time of the destruc- 
 tion of Baft'alo, by one company of cavalry of the twelfth re- 
 giment, commanded by captain Wilson, and had been occupied 
 
37 
 
 by that company for several days; that this deponent acted as 
 adjutant of cavfdry, ajid detached a number of men on d\ity 
 from William Hodges'' house, on the 29th of December, by 
 order of major general Hall: that this deponent has understood 
 from report that the said house was then used and had for 
 some time before been used as a deposit for public property; 
 that the said house of William Hodges was not destroyed by 
 the enemy until the first of January, 1814, and was then des- 
 troyed by a small detachment of the enemy, not exceeding a 
 dozen in number, while the maui body was returning from Buf- 
 falo, the main body never having come up the road to Eatei- 
 via; that in most instances this deponent knows that the own- 
 ers of houses at Buffalo were compelled to receive public 
 stores and troops into their houses against their wishes, and 
 in spite of their objections thereto, but as this deponent did 
 not know who were the owners of the houses he cannot spe- 
 cify those who were compelled; that this deponent heard col. 
 Segmour Boughton, who commanded deponent's regiment and 
 was killed between Buffalo and Black Rock, to quarter his 
 troops in such houses and barns in the town as he could find 
 unoccupied; that the deponent, with col. Boughton and seveial 
 other officers and about 100 or 150 soldiers, took possession 
 of Elias Ranson's house, and Elias Ranson's family were 
 compelled to retire into the kitchen; that this deponent is not 
 directly or indirectly interested in the establishment of any of 
 the claims founded on the destruction of property by the ene- 
 my at ButTalo; and the said deponent further saith, that he is 
 not directly or indirectly interested in pai'tof any of the claims 
 from the town or village of Buffalo. 
 
 CLAUDIUS V. BOUGHTON. 
 Examined, subscribed and sworn, this '22d dav of August, 
 1816, before me, DANIEL RAPINE. 
 
 Be it remembered, that on this 20th day of August, eigh- 
 teen hundred and sixteen, before me the subscriber, appointed 
 by virtue of the accompanying commission, a commissioner to 
 take testimony in the case of William Hodges and other claim- 
 ants at Buffalo, under the act of congress of April ninth last, 
 personally appeared major John G. (/amp, and being duly- 
 sworn, deposed and said, that he was assistant deputy quarter 
 master general in the LTnited States' service at Buffalo, on the 
 29th of December, 1813, and in the command of that depart- 
 ment; that this deponent accompanied tiie advance guard of 
 the American army, under the command of colonel Cyrenius 
 
3ft 
 
 Chapin, wken the enpmy landed; that this advance guard 
 marched down below Black Rock to a battery near Congo- 
 quetta creek, where they encountered the enemy, who drove 
 them back upon the main body of the American army, then at 
 Black Rock, under the command of major general Hall; on 
 the morning of the 30th of December, at day light, the princi- 
 pal force of the enemy crossed the Niagara, in open boats, 
 under the covpr of their artillery planted on the opposite shore, 
 and were met by the American army on their landing; a battle 
 ensued, in which the American troops were compelled to fall 
 back upon Buffalo, where some skirmishing took place; the 
 principal part of the American forces soon retreated, and left 
 the village of Buffalo defenceless; the firing, however, continu- 
 ed : after the retreat of the main body of the American army) 
 from two pieces of artillery planted on an eminence in the vil- 
 lage of Buffalo, until the principal piece was dismounted, and 
 the enemy had approached too near to give time to remount 
 it; all hopes of being able to defend the town, after this acci- 
 dent, having vanished, colonel Chapin, at the request of the 
 trustees of Buffalo, in which request the deponent, being the 
 only United States' officer of the regular army then present, 
 concurred, went to the British advance with a flag, for the pur- 
 pose of obtaining terms from the enemy; this deponent re- 
 mained at Buffalo until colonel Chapin's return, whom 'he met 
 holding a paper in his hands, which deponent understood from 
 colonel Chapin to be the terms of capitulation, which guaran- 
 teed the safety of private property and private persons; depo- 
 nent was prevented from reading the articles of capitulation 
 by the rapid approach of the enemy, who were then within 
 half pistol shot, the enemy having got possession of the east- 
 ern road; deponent retreated with about twenty men up Lake 
 Erie; the enemy took possession of the town of Buffalo, at 
 about ten o'clock in the morning, and burnt from four to five 
 houses on their entrance, and in the course of the day several 
 more, all of which contained munitions of war, and were bar- 
 racks of United States' troops; on the first of Januaxy, they 
 burnt the principal part of the buildings in the town, and at 
 night recrossed the Niagara; about a week or ten days after 
 this deponent met lieutenant Connell,of the 41stor 49th British 
 infantry, bearing a flag to Black Rock; deponent entered into 
 conversation with said Connell on the subject of the conduct 
 of the British army at Buffalo, in which deponent charged the 
 British with having violated the articles of capitulation, which 
 said Conneli denied, and declared that he knew very well wlial 
 
39 
 
 ihe articles of capitulation were; that the British were bound 
 by them to respect private property and private persons only; 
 that on entering the town of Bufialo the orders given to the 
 Britisii troops were in conformity to the articles of capitulation, 
 namely, " to respect private property and private persons;" 
 tiiat they (the British) found the town of Buffalo to be a mili- 
 tary cantonment, in consequence of which it was destroyed, 
 and that they had destroyed nothing which they were not jus- 
 tified in destroying both by the usages of war and the terms 
 of capitulation; this deponent further states that he was pre- 
 sent at an interview between the committee of safety of the 
 town of Buffalo and general M'Clure, on or about the 20th of 
 December, 1813, when said committee remonstrated on behalf 
 of the inhabitants of aid town against his (the general's) oc- 
 cupying the said town with his troops, and stated that they 
 had reason to apprehend the destruction of their property by 
 the enemy, should they ever obtain possession of the town, in 
 consequence of its being in the military occupancy of the Uni- 
 ted States, to which general M'Clure replied, that he would 
 pledge his honor that the government of the United States 
 would indemnify the inhabitants of Buffalo for any losses 
 which they might sustain in consequence of its being in the 
 military occupancy of the United States, and advised them to 
 give up their houses peaceably; and this deponent states fur- 
 ther, that the town of Buffalo was, in fact, a military canton- 
 ment at the time of its destruction by the enemy, and had 
 been so for some time before; that during the whole war one 
 part or other of the town was constantly in the military occu- 
 pancy of the United States; that at the time of its destruction 
 by the enemy from 2500 to 3000 United States' troops were 
 quartered at Buffalo by order of major general Hall, the com- 
 manding general, and public property, as this deponent verily 
 believes, to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars at the 
 least, was deposited in said town in different houses; and this 
 deponent further states that the following are the names of 
 some of the persons whose buildings in the town of Buffalo 
 were occupied by the United States as barracks for soldiers, 
 or as deposits for military stores, viz: Joseph Landon, Zenos 
 Barker, Juba Storrs & co. Lewis Le Cautauex, David Rees, 
 Timothy M'Keowin, Vincent Grant, John Brunson, Ralph 
 Pomeroy, Reuben B. Heacok, widow Grovenor, Seth Grove* 
 nor, Martin Daly, Stocking and Bull, Ebenezer Walden, Jo- 
 shua Lovejoy, Oziel Smith, Robert Cain, Ira Dickenson, 
 Messrs. Campbell, Mr. €4ilbert, blacksmith, Joshua Gillet, Nor- 
 
40 
 
 Ion and Davis, Raphael Cook, Smith H. Salisbury, Amos Cat 
 lender, Towsend and Coit, Ohver Forward, Cyrenius Chapin, 
 Oilman Folson, Eli Hart, Luke Draper, Mary Atkins, Sylvia* 
 Holmes, Mr. Stow, cabinet maker, Storrs and Caryls, Benja- 
 min Caryls, Herman B. Potter, William Caird, Margaret St, 
 John, Jude Atwater, James Chapin, Elias Ranson, Elisha En- 
 sign, Ebenezer Johnson, John Root, Henry Kitchen, James 
 Edsall, and WiUiam Hodge; and this deponent further saith, 
 that all the houses in the village of Buffalo destroyed by the 
 enemy were in the military occupancy of the United States, 
 and that the enemy passed a number of houses which were not 
 in the mihtary occupancy of the United States, and proceeded 
 to the house ofWillam Hodges, (which is about two miles dis- 
 tant from the village of Buffalo) which was in the military 
 occupancy of the United States, and destroyed the same; said 
 deponent further states, that he is not directly or indirectly in- 
 terested in the event of any claim or claims from the towu oi 
 village of Buffalo. 
 
 JOHN G. CAMP> 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 20th day of August, I8l6, 
 before me, DANIEL RAPINE. 
 
 TFasMjigton, Januanj 20th, 1817. 
 
 I certify that, from the commencement of the late war 
 between the United States and Great Britain until the destruc- 
 tion of the Niagara frontier, I passed most of my time on that 
 frontier, and was in the habit of frequently visiting the whole 
 of the American line from Buffaloe to Fort Niagara. Dur- 
 ing this period large bodies of troops, averaging probably 
 3,000 men, were quartered along this line; and from the al- 
 most total want of public buildings for military purposes, the 
 private buildings of the inhabitants were converted to public 
 uses. So general was this public occupation, that on careful 
 reflection, I cannot at this time, recollect a single building 
 from Buffaloe to Niagara inclusive, fitted either for a store 
 liouse, hospital, quarters for officers or barracks for men, 
 which was not during some portion of the above period, used 
 principally, if not exclusively, for one or more of the above pur- 
 poses. This universal occupation was not continued through- 
 out the whole of the above period, but varied with the various 
 fluctuations of the army from one part of the line to another, 
 occasioned by the movements of the enemy, or the mihtary 
 objects of our own generals. 
 
 Dnrinc" thp full of 181?, the attention of the American 
 
41 
 
 commanders, was engaged in operations against the enerayj 
 and, at the close of that campaign on the fust of December, 
 an army of near 5000 men was found, in an inhospitable cli- 
 mate, an inclement season, without quarters, and assailed by 
 a deadly disease. It became indispensible, therefore, to the 
 preservation of the lives of the men, that the buildings of the 
 citizens should be occupied for sheltering the troops; and dur- 
 ing that winter the whole Niagara frontier assumed the ap- 
 pearance of a military cantonment. This occupation contin- 
 ued very general until about the first of the succeeding May, 
 when the troops left their winter quarters and proceeded to the 
 attack of Fort George. Di.iing the summer of 1813, the vil- 
 lages of Buffaloe and Black ? ^ck, on the southern part of the 
 frontier were considerably relieved, having comparatively but 
 few troops quartered in them, but most of the buildings to the 
 northern part of the frontier, from the falls to Fort Niagara 
 still continued in pubhc occupation. The army was principal- 
 ly at Fort George; but the sick and wounded with their at- 
 tendants, several guards of Infantry, and a considerable part 
 of the cavalry were still quartered on the American side, and 
 were distributed among the houses, barns and other build- 
 ings from Lake Ontario to the falls. I frequently passed up 
 and down the river in the course of that summer and fall, and 
 there was scarcely a building that had not the appearance of 
 being occupied by the military. I left the frontier about the 
 middle of December 1813, and therefore cannot speak from 
 my own knowledge, of the extent of the military occupation 
 at the time of the invasion by the enemy. 
 
 PETER B. PORTER. 
 Washington County, ss. 
 
 On this 21st. dayof.Tanuary 1817, before me appears Pe- 
 ter B. Porter, and made oath in due form, that all the matters 
 and things contained in the above and foregoing writing by 
 him subscribed are true to the best of his belief. 
 
 DANE. RAPINE. 
 
 Be it remembered, that oin this thirteenth day of Novem- 
 ber, in the year ISlG, before me, Daniel Rapine, appointed, 
 by virtue ofthe accompanyhig commission, to collect testimo- 
 ny on the claims of William Hodge; personally appeared 
 George M'Clure, and being sworn in due form of law depos- 
 ed and said: that in the fall of 1813, this deponent comman- 
 ded the American troops on the Niagara frontier, after the 
 departure of General Wilkinson to Sacket's Harbour with the 
 
 6 
 
4S 
 
 main body of the army, that it was the first intention of this 
 deponent on hearing that a large force under Gen. Drummond 
 was approaching, to defend Fort George; and in pursuance of 
 the advice of his council of war, that he laid before the said 
 council, a letter of General Armstrong, of which the following 
 is a copy: 
 
 irar Department, 9fh October 1813. 
 SIR — Understanding that the dei'ence of the post com- 
 mitted to your charge, may render it proper to destroy the 
 town of N. A. you are hereby directed to apprise its inhabi- 
 tants of this circumstance, and invite them to remove them- 
 selves and their efiects to some place of greater safety. I ai» 
 sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN ARMSTRONG. 
 The officer commandiv g at Fort George, Upper Canada. 
 
 That the said council deemed it necessary that New Ark 
 should be destroyed, not only for the defence of Fort George, 
 but also that of Niagara, and the other military posts on the 
 American side of the straights; in pursuance of the authority 
 contained in said letter, the said town was set on fire and burnt 
 after the inhabitants had been duly apprised and requested 
 to remove themselves and property. About the time of the 
 execution of this order it was the unanimous opinion of the 
 said council of war, that the American force could not stand a 
 siege in Fort George; because the time of service of the draft- 
 ed militia had expired, and no advices of a reinforcement, or 
 others to supply their places, and accordingly the said Fort 
 was evacuated on or about the first week in December 1813, 
 and the American troops crossed the river Niagara. On their 
 arrival on the American side, this deponent ordered the few 
 troops that remained with him to cjuarter themselves at Le^V- 
 istown, Manchester and Buffaloe. Many of the houses in 
 Youngstown were then, and had previously been occupied by 
 our troops as an hospital, and this deponent knows that his 
 troops did quarter theiaselves in ditierent private buildings 
 in Lewistown and Buflaloe; that a large quantity of arms; 
 ammunitions, provisions, &c, destined for the use of the army, 
 were more or less deposited in private buildings, in Lewistown 
 and Buffaloe. That this deponent remembers that a deputa- 
 tion of the inhabitants of Buffaloe waited on him inconse- 
 quence of the occupation of Buffaloe by the American troops, 
 and expressed an ap|>rehension that the town would be cUs- 
 troyed by the enemy in consequence of such occupation, and 
 
43 
 
 this deponent recollects, that he told the inhabitants that his 
 troops must be accommodated, and he expressed a belief that 
 government would indemnify them lor any losses that such 
 mihtary occupation might occasion, and that during a good 
 part of the fall of 1813, the private buildings in the aforesaid 
 towns on the Niagara river were occupied by the American 
 troops in the service of the United States. 
 
 That he verily believes the consequence of destroying the 
 towns on the Niagara river was to sliow the station of the Ame- 
 rican troops a considerable distance from the river; and it is 
 this defxinents behef that the enemy would have destroyed 
 the American towns on the river long previous to the destrucr^ 
 lion of New Ark, if they had had them in their power, with a 
 I'iew of protecting their own frontier. And this deponent fur- 
 ther states that necessity compelled him to quarter part of his 
 troops in the villages afore?aid in consequence of a great de- 
 ficiency of tents, and the inclemency of the season, as well as 
 for the purpose of protecting the military deposited there: and 
 further this deponent saith not. 
 
 GEO. M'CLURE. 
 
 Sworn and subscribed before me. 
 
 DANIEL RAPINE. 
 
 District of Cohnnhia, ) 
 Washington County. 3 
 
 Beit remembered, that on this I4th day of Januarj', in 
 the year of oiar Lord one thousand eight hundred and seven- 
 teen, before me the subscriber, appointed, by virtue of the ac- 
 companying commission, a commissioner to take testimony in 
 the case of Pliny A. File and others, of the Niagara frontier, 
 ■claimants under the act of Congress of April nintli last, and a 
 justice of the peace, colonel Samuel Lane, commissioner of the 
 public buildings at Washington, who, being sworn in clue form 
 of law, deposeth and saith, that he arrived at Ijrii'ialo on ilic 
 12th of September, 1812, with Winder's regiment, to which 
 he belonged, and (ribson's corps of artillery; on his anivai 
 there, he found the New York milili"4, under the command of 
 major general Hall, dispersed, some in houses, some in tents. 
 In December, 18lL', this deponent, together with the I 'th and 
 23th regiments, under the command o/' general Winder, were 
 ordered by the commanding general to take possessioi) of the 
 houses in ]>lack Rock, necessary lor their accommodation: and 
 in the course of the winter, the accession to our force at that 
 point made it indispensable to place troops in ahnost every 
 house of Black Rock, togetj^er with their camp equipage, fixi d 
 
44 
 
 ammunition, and llie stores pertaining to them : in a word, the 
 munitions of war, with which the army was furnished, were 
 generally secured in houses. The fixed ammunition and camp 
 equipage, belonging to the men under this deponent's com- 
 mand, were necessarily housed with them, there being no ma- 
 gazine or arsenal. This deponent held the command at Black 
 Rock during the months of January and February of the fore 
 mentioned period, and deemed it essential to the preservation 
 of th^ troops at that season of the year, and also to the safety 
 of the munitions of war with which they were furnished, that 
 they should be located and secured in the manner described. 
 Similar causes required a similar disposition of the force which 
 remained in Buffalo dnring the winter; two companies of which, 
 this deponent recollects, passed their winter quarters in the 
 houses of that village. The military occupation of those 
 places continued until the opening of the campaign, and was 
 distinctly manifest to the naked eye of the enemy, from the 
 opposite shore of the river, which was, besides, occasionally 
 raked by the batteries at Black Rock. The repeated visits of 
 British officers, from the grade of colonel down, might also, 
 had further evidence been required, have ascertained the fact. 
 Lt. King, who had been wounded, was brought over by a de- 
 tachment from our army, and placed in a house at the lower 
 end of Black Rock. The campaign closing soon after, per- 
 mission was obtained by the officers of the British army to visit 
 him throughout his confinement, which continued until March. 
 They availed themselves of this privilege, and always landed 
 for that purpose at the upper end of the town, whence they 
 passed along the street to the other extreme, and where lieut- 
 enant King was confined. Thus they could not avoid discov- 
 ering the apparent and entire military use of the whole village. 
 At Youngstown, all the houses were turned into barracks, 
 hospitals, or receptacles for munitions of war, in the fall of 
 1812: besides, there were two batteries; one in the village, 
 the other distant a quarter of a mile from the upper end, and 
 near a ware house standing between the road and river. Un- 
 der the foregoing view, this deponent is of opinion that the 
 American army could not preserve itself through the winter, 
 or maintain an effectual hostile attitude on the Niagara fron- 
 tier, without a recurrence to the essential advantage derived 
 from private houses and property. 
 
 This deponent further saith, that he has no interest de- 
 pending in any wise upon this evidence. 
 
 SAMUEL LANE, late a Ucut. col. U. S. Army. 
 Sworn and subscribed before me. 
 
 DANIEL RAPINE. 
 
45 
 
 District of ColntnUa 
 
 ss. 
 
 Washington County. 
 Benajah iMallory being duly sworn, maketh oath that Id 
 thewinter of 1813-14, he commanded a corps of Canadian 
 vohinteers in the service of the United States on the Niagara 
 frontier — that they formed part of the garrison of Fort George 
 until the evacuation of that post about the tenth of December, 
 when the militia having been mostly discharged, and the town 
 of Newark destroyed; he crossed to the American side of the 
 river, and shortly after received the order of Gen. M'Clure, 
 hereunto annexed, to station his command at Schuyler, and 
 Judge Porters mills, near the falls of Niagara, for the protec- 
 tion of the public and private property in that neighborhood; 
 which he accordingly did and was joined by a number of inha- 
 bitants of that vicinity who placed themselves under his com- 
 mand. 
 
 That on or about the 19th of December, having heard 
 that the enemy had crossed the river near Lewistown, and 
 were approaching his position, he met them several miles in 
 advanced with the force under his command, and succeeded in 
 repeatedly driving them back: but being at length overpow- 
 ered by numbers, he was obliged to fail back to Fort Schuy- 
 ler, when he made another stand and suffered severely, until 
 he was on the point of being surrounded and captured by an 
 overwhelmning force, he retired up the river to BufTuloe. That 
 on the 23d of December he was put in command of the for- 
 ces at BulTaloe, by Gen. M'Clure, and continued in c o nmand 
 until he was superceded by the arrival of Maj. Gen Hall, on 
 the 26th. That he was in the battle of Black Rock, on the 
 morning of the 29th, when the Biitish destroyed the villages of 
 Black Rock and Buftaloe. 
 
 . And this deponent further says, that for several days be- 
 fore the destruction of the said villages, the whole of that part 
 of the frontier visited b}' this deponent wore the appearance 
 of a military cantonement; almost every house and other 
 building in the said villages of Black Rock and Bufi'aloe, hav- 
 ing been put into requisition for barracks or other military 
 purposes, and the inhabitants being obliged either to abandon 
 or to confine themselves to a very small part of their houses. 
 And this deponent further says, that part only of the vil- 
 lage of Manchester, at the Niagara falls was destroyed by the 
 enemy, it being as this deponent was informed, the order of 
 the commanding British officer to distroy only such buildings 
 as appeared to have been used for militarv purposes. 
 
 B. MALLORY. 
 
46 
 
 WasTiington Cify, January 13th, IS17- 
 
 Sworn and subscribed to before me, a justice of the peace, 
 the date aforesaid. 
 
 JAMES H. BLAKE. 
 
 Copy of the testimony taken under a commission issued to 
 Charles Townsend and Jonas Williams^ and applicable to 
 the case of 
 
 State of Neiv-Yorlc, 1 
 Niagara County. ^ 
 
 ss. 
 
 Augustus C. Fox, of Erie, in the state of Pennsylvania, 
 being duly sworn, saith, that he was a resident of Buffaloe, in 
 the county of Niagara and state of New York, when that 
 place was destroyed by the British, in December iSlS; that on 
 the morning the enemy captured Buffaloe, Cyrenius Chapin, 
 on behalf of the village, went and met the enemy with a flag; 
 that he soon returned with a number of British officers; that 
 this deponent shortly after this entrance into the village, con- 
 versed with the said officers, and inquired of them the terms 
 of the capitulation; that they stated to this deponent that pub- 
 lic property was to be given up and private property respect- 
 ed; and this deponent further saith, that he soon after left the 
 village, and when he had got about a mile from said village, 
 he discovered the public vessels lying on the beach near to Buf- 
 falo village on fire; and this deponent further saith, that at 
 the time, and previous to the destruction of Buffaloe by the 
 enemy; the place was occupied by troops in the service of the 
 United States; that most of the houses at that time, and many 
 previous to that time, had been used as barracks; that much 
 public property had been deposited in said village; and this 
 deponent further saitli; that from the commencement of the 
 war to the destruction of Buffalo the said village had moi'e or 
 less public property deposited therein, and many of the build- 
 ings, during that time used as barracks or military deposits; 
 and this deponent further states, that at the time, and a'little 
 previous to the destruction of Buffalo, that private buildings 
 were forceably, or by threats, taken possession of by the 
 troops in the service of the United States; and this deponent 
 further saith, that since the destruction of Buffalo, he has 
 heard British oflicers state that Buffalo, at the time it was 
 
417 " 
 
 burnt, was a military encampment; and this deponent saith, 
 that he has no intention directly or indirectly in any of the 
 claimsof the inhabitants of Buffalo for losses caused by the 
 distruction of Buffalo, as aforesaid; and further saith not. 
 
 AUGUSTUS C. FOX. 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 2d day of September, I8l6, 
 before me, CH. TOWNSEND. 
 
 Bloomfield, June Slsf, I8l6. 
 This may certify, that the village of Buffalo, was for se- 
 veral days previous to its being burnt by the enemy (being 
 the 30th of December 1813) made use of as barracks for the 
 New York state militia and volunteers then in the service of 
 the United States; that I had been in command about three 
 days (at Buffaloe) previous to its being destroyed, and was at 
 that time commanding officer on the Niagara frontier, and 
 authorised such occupancy; and that I am satisfied that one 
 principal cause of said village being burnt was in consequence 
 of its being a military deposit and occupied as barracks in 
 th« service of the United Ststes. 
 
 A. HALL, 
 (Late) Major General, State o/Neio York Militia. 
 
 State of Neiv York, } 
 Ontario Comity, 5 
 
 Bjf it known, that on this 29th day of July, in the year 
 one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, before me, the un- 
 dersigned, personally appeared Amos Hall, esquire, the per- 
 son who subscribed the within certificate, who, being duly 
 sworn, made oath that the facts stated in the within certificate 
 were true. 
 
 CH. TOWNSEND, 
 Commissioner for taking proof of claims. 
 
 State ofNeio York, } 
 Niagara County. \ *** 
 
 William Hull, being duly sworn, saith, that on the 30th 
 of December, 1813, this deponent was a captain of volunteers 
 in the United States service, and recruiting officer under or- 
 ders of the Secretary of War; that a short time previous to 
 that time, being stationed at Buffaloe and commanding a se- 
 perate corps there, this deponent received orders from the 
 commanding general of the Niagara frontier, dated at Bata- 
 via, directing him to take such buildings at Buffalo, for the 
 use and occupation of the troops that were ordered there, aj; 
 
4S 
 
 might be necessary; that, pursuant to those orders, he took 
 possession of several buildings, without the knowledge or con- 
 sent of the owners; that at the time the place was destroyed, 
 and previous thereto, it was generally occupied by troops in 
 the United States service as barracks; that much public pro- 
 perty was deposited therein in many of the houses and other 
 buildings in said village, and he believes there was more pro- 
 perty of that description deposited therein than in any other 
 place on the Niagara frontier, and was generally considered 
 as a military post in the service of the United States. 
 
 WILLIAM HULL. 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 2d day of September, 1816 
 before me, CH. TOWNSEND. 
 
 State of Neto York, > 
 Niagara County. ^ 
 
 Rowland Cotton of said county, being duly sworn, saith 
 that in the month of December, 1813, this deponent was act- 
 ing aid de camp to Timolley S. Hopkins, brigadier general, 
 under the command of major general Amos Hall; that pre- 
 vious to the destruction of Buf/aloe and Black Rock, the said 
 General Hopkins commanded this deponent to take posses- 
 sion of any of the buildings situated in the latter village, for 
 thequarteringof the troops under his command; that in per- 
 suance to this order, deponent did take possession of all the 
 buildings which were suitable for the accommodation of said 
 troops; and that the said buildings were so occupied when 
 destroyed by 'the enemv, on the 30th of December, 1813. 
 
 ROWLAND COTTON. 
 
 Sworn to, July 25th, I8l6, before me, 
 
 CH. TOWNSEND. 
 
 State of New York; 
 
 Niagara County 
 
 ss. 
 
 John Lay, jun. of said county, being duly sworn, saith, 
 that he was in the village of Buffalo on the thirtieth of Decem- 
 ber, 1813, when that place w^s captured and destroyed by the 
 British; that after some resistance on the part of the inhabi- 
 tants, colonel Cyrenius Chapin, in their behalf, went with a 
 flag of truce to the head quarters of the British general, and 
 after some time returned with information that he had con- 
 cluded an agreement with the British general, and that by 
 which all property belonging to said inhabitants, and not in 
 the United States' service, was to be respected; that immedi- 
 
49 
 
 iitely after that the British army marched into the village, and 
 this deponent understood from the otficers commanding said 
 army that such a capitulation had been made, and that private 
 property would not be destroyed, and they apprised him that 
 one of the stipulations were, that all the spirituous liquor in 
 the village was to be destroyed, in order to prevent the Indians 
 of their army from committing excesses; on which this depo- 
 nent immediately destroyed about five hundred gallons of 
 liquor belonging to his present copartner in trade, Eli Hart; 
 that sentinels and patroles were placed about the village by 
 the enemy to cause to be executed the terms of the capitulation, 
 as this deponent understood and verily believed; that after 
 remaining in the village some time, it was discovered that the 
 buildings generally were occupied as barracks, or as deposits 
 for military stores, and an order was given to destroy all such 
 buildings; that in consequence of such order the buildings 
 generally, with a few exceptions, were destroyed; that after- 
 wards on that day this deponent was taken prisoner, and 
 crossed the Niagara river in company with the general officers 
 of the enemy, and that he heard them observe that their sole 
 object was to capture and destroy United States' property, of 
 which they had heard large quantities were deposited in Buf- 
 falo; that when they had arrived at Buffalo, finding but few 
 inhabitants, and their buildings principally occupied as bar- 
 racks for troops, or as military deposits, they had concluded 
 to destroy them, contrary to their original intentions when they 
 went to our shores; that the said village was generally consi- 
 dered as a military post, and this deponent verily believes was 
 destroyed in consequence; and further saith not. 
 
 JOHN LAY, jun. 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 28th day of August, 1816, 
 before me, CHARLES TOVVNSEND. 
 
 Washington County. ^ 
 
 Didrict of Columbia. 5 
 
 On this 25th day of October, in the year I8l6, before me 
 the subscriber, a justice of the peace for the county and dis- 
 trict aforesaid, personally appeared Peter Odlin, and made 
 oath, in due form of law, that the copies of the depositions 
 above transcribed are true copies of the originals filed in Ri- 
 chard B. Lee's office, the same having been carefully examin- 
 ed and compared. 
 
 JAMES M. VARNUJVL 
 
 7 
 
m 
 
 State of New York, > 
 County of Niagara, ^ 
 Personally appeared before me, Robert Fleming, a jus- 
 tice of the peace in and for said county, and a commissioner 
 for taking evidence respecting the losses sustained by the in- 
 habitants on the Niagara frontier in said state, during the late 
 war, iThomas Dickson, of Queenston, Esq. a Lieut. Colonel 
 in the Upper Canada mihtia, who, being duly sworn, depo- 
 seth and saith, that it was generally supposed on the Canadian 
 frontier, that both the villages of Lewiston and Buffalo were 
 occupied as military posts previous to, and during the month 
 of December, 1813; the deponent having been in Lewiston 
 the beginning of December 1813, knows it was then a mili- 
 tary post, as he saw the troops of the United States in it at 
 the time, and on the I9th December, the day on which Fort 
 Niagara was taken by the British, two cannon shot were fir- 
 ed from Lewiston battery into the village of Queenston, which 
 shot lodged in the bank near the deponents house, where Capt. 
 Cameron of the Provincial Artillery and the deponent were 
 at the time; a few hours afterwards the deponent saw the In- 
 dians and British troops in Lewiston, and the most of the 
 houses on said village in flames; the deponent verily believes 
 that both the villages of Lewiston and Buffalo were military 
 posts of the United States and under that impression the Bri- 
 tish generals gave orders for their destruction. 
 
 After the destruction of Buffalo and Black Rock, about 
 the end of December or beginning of January, he was inform- 
 ed by the officers of the 1st. Regt. of Royal Scots, under the 
 command of Lieut. Col. Gordon, that they had marched down 
 with orders to scour the American frontier from Buffalo to 
 Fort Niagara via Manchester and Lewiston, which service 
 the deponent believes they performed, as he saw them march 
 down thro' Lewiston; the deponent at the time, understood 
 the orders given were, to scour the lines to prevent them from 
 being again occupied by the American troops; the deponent 
 was in Queenston on the tenth of December, when Niagara, 
 commonly called Newark, was burned by the Americans; that 
 he had no suspicion that any thing of the kind was to take 
 pla<»e, tho' he had been a prisoner with the Americans in Fort 
 Niagara, and was allowed by General M'Clure to go home 
 to see his family, and Commodore Barclay, who was at de- 
 ponents house on the 6th December; the British army advanc- 
 
51 
 
 ed on the 11th and 12th December to Queenston and Fori 
 George; on the 19th December Fort Niagara was taken and 
 Lewiston burned, and as the commander in chief was at that 
 >tirae in Lower Canada, the deponent beHeves Fort Niagara 
 was taken and Lewiston burned by order of the general com- 
 manding in Upper Canada. The deponent further declares 
 that he has no interest whatever in the claim of any person for 
 remuneration from the government of the United States for 
 losses sustained dui'ing the late war. 
 
 THOMAS DICKSON, 
 J. P. Queenston, and Lf. Col. Up. Can. Militia. 
 Sworn before me, at Lewiston, 30th November 1816. 
 
 ROBERT FLEMING, Justice of peace. 
 
 District of Niagara, ss. 
 
 Isaac Swayze, being duly sworn, doth depose and say, 
 that he has no interest either directly or indirectly in the 
 claim of any person or persons for losses sustained during the 
 late war on the American frontier ; that this deponent com- 
 manded his Majesty's Royal Artillery drivers, from June 1S12 
 until September 1813; tliat during the summer season of 
 1812, this deponent, for the purpose of drill passed and re- 
 passed to and from Niagara to Queenston, the road jeadinj;- 
 along the bank of Niagara river, several times each week with 
 from eight to ten pieces of artillery; that most of the buildings 
 on the American shore were occupied by American troops, 
 from which buildings the said artillery were, when passing as 
 aforesaid, continually annoyed by lire of the troops so sta- 
 tioned at the said buildings; that at one time in particular, 
 the said artillery were fired at by platoons from the American 
 side; that this deponent ordered one of the pieces to be pre- 
 pared for firing on the Americans, but on reflection desisted, 
 that this deponent left the upper for the lower province of Ca- 
 nada in the month of September 1813; that he attended the 
 session of Parliament, in the winter of 1813 and 1814, in the 
 upper province; that he again returned to Montreal, where 
 he, the deponent, had a conversation with Colonel Murray, 
 who commanded the British forces that took Fort Niagara. 
 in December 1813; that Colonel Murray then told the dej)o- 
 nent that the American frontier was not burned on the ground 
 of retaliation, but was destroyed expressly for the purpose of 
 depriving the United States army of quarters or barracks, 
 and as places for military deposits; that this deponent well 
 knows, from information and actual observation, that all the 
 
buildings along the American frontier, from Buffaloe to Fort 
 Niagara, was occupied by the army of the United States, in 
 some way or other, previous to the destruction of the same in 
 December, lS13:thatin the year 1814, this deponent had a 
 conversation with Lieutenant General Sir Gordon Drum- 
 mond, who told this deponent, in substance, that the American 
 Niagara frontier was destroyed in consequence of the same 
 having been occupied by the LFnited States army during the 
 war, and to prevent its being so occupied hereafter; that the 
 said irontier was not destroyed from a principle of retaliation; 
 that it was beneath the British government to have distroyed 
 the frontier from such motives; that he was convinced Gen- 
 eral M'Clure destroyed Newark without the order of the go- 
 vernment, but that the only motive in destroying the said fron- 
 tier was because the buildings had been occupied by the U. 
 States, and to prevent the same army from again occupying 
 the same; that this deponent, on the eighteenth of December, 
 1813, had a conversation witli Sir George Prevost at Quebec, 
 in the province of Lower Canada,he observed to this deponent 
 that he had received information that Newark, in Upper Ca- 
 nada, had been burned by the American force; that this de- 
 ponent suggested the plan of destroying the American frontier 
 in retaliation, to which Sir George promptly replied, no, cap- 
 tain Swayze, no retaliation shall take place while I am in com- 
 mand; that this deponent, as well as most other officers in his 
 Majesty's service, had for a longtime previous to December, 
 1813 intended to burn the buildings on the American side of 
 the river, to prevent their having a harbor or barrack so near 
 the British army, from which they experienced a continual 
 annoyance; that the orders given by the British generals com- 
 manding on the Niagara frontier were generally verbal; this 
 deponent was in service about one and a half year, and in that 
 time only received two written orders; that there was no writ- 
 ten order, as this deponent believes, for destroying the Ame- 
 rican frontier; but this deponent believes the same was verbal. 
 
 ISAAC SWAYZE, 
 
 Captain R. A. D. 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 27th November, 1816, be- 
 fore me. 
 
 ROBERT FLEMING, Jusftcc o//jeace. 
 
 I, WILLIAM H. MERRITT, late captain of the pro- 
 vincial Light Dragoons, passed over with a flag to the Ame- 
 rican side of the Niagara river. I passed along the streets 
 
53 
 
 ot Lewistowu, and observed that troops or militai'y Stores Xvere 
 in the houses, which I particularly remarked through the vil- 
 lage of Lewiston : wherever I went this observation was re- 
 peated. This event occurred a few days previous to the cross- 
 ing of the British army to the American shore; whose move- 
 ment over was, in my opinion, accelerated in consequence of 
 this observation. It was known to us that the Niagara line 
 was a military depot for the American army a longtime before 
 its destruction. I have no interest depending on any decision 
 which may be affected by this evidence. 
 
 WM. H. MERRITT, 
 Lafe captain Provincial Light Dra<;onns. 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 27th day of November, 
 1816, before me, ROBERT FLEMING, 
 
 Justice of peace. 
 
 I was a prisoner with the American army, and had my 
 release on parole a week before the destruction of Buffalo; I 
 was marched from Port Niagara to Lewistown some days 
 before the fort was taken. I only entered one house fi'om 
 Niagara to Lewistown. At Lewistown I entered many of the 
 houses, and saw troops in all of those I observed, together 
 with their ordinance and equipments. From Lewistown to 
 Buffalo, through Schlosser and Black Rock, all the houses I 
 observed, and remarked the greatest number of them were 
 filled with troops. At Buffalo I was put in the house of E. 
 Ranson, the two lower rooms of which were occupied by 
 troops; and from the noise above, I believe the upper apart- 
 ments were converted to the same use. It is my impression, 
 from what I saw, that the whole of the houses were occupied 
 by the United States' troops. This military occupation of 
 private houses and property was generally known or believed 
 by general Drummond and the British army. General Drum- 
 mond, acting under this opinion, crossed over from Lewistown 
 to Canada, and marched up to Buffalo on the Canada side, 
 not knowing what ambush might be planned against him from 
 the houses under military occupation on the other side. The 
 tenor of the order given in relation to such houses I have al- 
 ways understood required the destruction of those which offer- 
 ed any mark of a previous conversion to a military use. At 
 any period of the war, subsequent to the military occupation 
 of the Niagara, I was of opinion the same destruction would 
 have taken place had an onportunity been presented of com- 
 mlting it. A proposition to this effect I have frequently heard 
 
5* 
 
 suggested by many officers of respectable rank in the regular 
 service. I was at that time, and am at present, a captain of 
 Provincial militia. I have no intereat whatever depending on 
 the decision that may be made on this evidence. 
 
 WM. LYONS. 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 24th day of November, 
 }815, before me, ROBERT FLEMING, 
 
 Justice of Peace. 
 
 State of New York. ) 
 
 County of Niagara. ^ 
 
 Alexander Cameron, of Niagara in the District of Nia- 
 gara; late a captain of a company of Incorporated Militia Ar- 
 tillery in the province of L'pper Canada, being duly sworn, 
 maketh oath and saith, that he has no claim directly or indi- 
 rectly in the claim of any person or persons on the American 
 Niagara frontier for losses sustained during the late war; that 
 he was in command of the artillery in the British service em- 
 ployed in the destruction of the village of Lewistown, was 
 present at the same, and doth verily believe, and at the time 
 imderstood, in common with the otficers of the British army, 
 that such destruction of the said village was in consequence 
 of orders issued by the conmianding general of the British 
 forces on the frontier to major general Philip Riall, in com- 
 mand of the British forces, who crossed the Niagara river for 
 the capture of the fort of Niagara and the destruction of Lew- 
 istown; that the said general Riall was present at the destruc- 
 tion of Lewistown; and that the deponent, by order of the 
 major general, effected the destruction of Fort Gray; that he^ 
 this deponent, verily believes that a primary motive for the 
 destruction of Lewistown, Black Rock, Buffalo, and the houses 
 on the Niagara River between those places, was to prevent 
 their reoccupation by the armies of tlie United States; and 
 that it was so understood by the army of his majesty in gene- 
 ral employed in that expedition. 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMERON, 
 Late captain Incor. Mil. Artillery, 
 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this lOth day of November, 
 1816, before me, ROBERT FLEMING, 
 
 Justice of Peace. 
 
 I, Adam Brown, Lieutenant in the fij-st Regiment of Lin- 
 coln militia in Upper Canada, certify, that I lived on the Ni- 
 agara frontier the whole period of the late war, except a shorl- 
 
55 
 
 Lime that the British forces retreated therefrom; that I, as well 
 as the officers of the army generally, knew that the buildings 
 on the Niagara frontier were occupied by the forces of the 
 United States, from the commencement of the late war until 
 the destruction of them in December, 1813; that I crossed 
 with the army and proceeded down the river to Youngstown, 
 and froMJ thence returned and advanced upon Lewiston; that 
 on the route all the buildings appeared to have been occupied 
 by the American army; that the buildings of Mrs. Grearsit at 
 Youngstown,, and others, were occupied at that time as hospi- 
 tals, that at Lewiston, the house of Joshua Fairbanks parti- 
 cularly, and the others generally, contained military stores, 
 or had been used there recently as barracks; that I understood 
 the buildings on the Niagara frontier were destroyed because 
 they had been occupied by the army of the United States, as 
 well as to prevent the same being further occupied. I also 
 certify that I have no interest in the claim of any person on 
 the American Niagara frontier for losses sustained during the 
 late war. 
 
 ADAM BROWN, 
 Lieut. 1st. Res-t. Lincoln Militia. 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 27th day of November, 
 I8l6, before me, 
 
 ROBERT FLEMING, Justia of peace. 
 
 I, JAMES SECORD, of Queenston, Merchant, have 
 had frequent conversation with General Rial, Col. Drummond 
 Col. Gordon and Col. Ogilvie, and have often heard the in- 
 tention expressed among them, by which in particular I can- 
 not designate, to cross over to the American shore soon; that 
 there they would burn and destroy every thing which they 
 should discover had been or might be of use to the American 
 army which depended for quarters on the houses on the New 
 York side of the Niagara. By so doing they said they would 
 prevent the American army from continuing in its harbor iot 
 another year. I have no interest that can be affected by this 
 evidence. J. SECORD. 
 
 Sworn to and subscribed, this 28th day of November, 
 1816, before me, 
 
 ROBERT FLEMING, Comr. and J. P. 
 
 J. Peter M'Dougal, of Newark, merchant, was one of 
 the corps which crossed over to the Five Mile Meadow, and 
 advanced to Lewistown. I remarked that the houses, from 
 
 m 
 
/ 
 
 s« 
 
 the place of our landing, to and at Lewistown, had stores. 
 for troops and munitions of war in them, or appeared at the 
 time under the occupancy of the American army. The or- 
 ders under which we acted, were general. They proceeded 
 from general Rial ; and required that the houses should be 
 burnt, on account of the use made of them by the United 
 States troops, either as barracks, storehouses, or a deposite 
 for ammunition and implements of war. The order was. ge- 
 neral, to prevent their similar use in future. This order was 
 generally understood, and believe would have been issued at 
 any period of the war, after we had ascertained that the New 
 York side of the Niagara river, afforded quarters for the A- 
 merican array, which destitute of regular barracks, depended 
 for their accommodation on private house. I have no inter- 
 est that can be affected by this evidence which I have given- 
 
 PETER M'DOUGAL. 
 
 Sworn and subscribed this 26th of November 1816. 
 
 ROBERT FLEMING, Com. and J. P. 
 
 O^