and three opposite Black Rock about two miles below Fort Erie. All of these posts required men to occupy them and there were besides thirty odd miles of frontier to be constantly patrolled and guarded. About one-third of his regular troops and two-thirds of the militia were unavoidably stationed along the upper part of this line extending from Queenston to Point Abino, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Cecil Bishop. Vincent retained for the defence of the eleven miles of front between Queenston and the mouth of the Four Mile Creek, thirty gunners of the Royal Artillery with five field pieces, under Major Holcroft, 1050 regular infantry, 350 militia, and about fifty Indians. This force was subdivided into three diminutive brigades of nearly equal numbers, the right under Lieut.-Colonel Harvey being detailed to guard the river, and the left under Lieut.-Colonel Myers, the lake front of this position, while the third under his own command remained in readiness to support either of these when attacked. Fort George was garrisoned by Ormond's company of the 49th, and a detachment of militia artillery amounting in the whole to about 130 men. The gunners serving with the field artillery being not more than half the usual complement, additional men were attached from the infantry. The batteries were entirely manned by volunteers from the regulars and militia. The whole force was turned out every morning at two o'clock, and remained under arms until daylight. The staff officers set a conspicuous example of activity and watchfulness. Colonels Harvey and Myers, accompanied by their aides patrolled the lines the whole night through and slept only by day. As the enemy continued their preparations for nearly a week after the return of their fleet, the effects of the prolonged strain soon became apparent in the exhausted condition of both the officers and men. At first, General Dearborn's movements seemed to indicate that an attack would be made by crossing the river above Fort George, and on the 24th of May the whole of the British troops were kept under arms all night. About three o'clock in the morning the enemy was distinctly heard launching boats at the Five Mile meadows nearly opposite a station occupied by Lieut. (afterwards Major General) R. S. Armstrong, R. A., who by command of the vigilant Harvey, immediately began to fire in that direction with a six pounder field gun and the nine-pounder mounted in a battery at Brown's Point. The Americans replied briskly with two six-pounders and continued their efforts until they had put ten boats in the river. But if they had intended to cross at this place, they soon abandoned the attempt, and when day dawned all of these boats were seen on their way down the river with a few men in each. As they came within range the guns of Fort George began firing, which instantly drew upon that work the fire of no less than sixteen heavy guns and mortars mounted in Fort Niagara and the adjacent batteries. The twelve pounder in Fort George was soon dismounted by a shot which shattered its carriage, and every building inside was set on fire by the shower of shells and red-hot shot which rained upon it. The gunners were driven by the flames from the twenty-four pounder beside the flagstaff, but the unequal contest was still gallantly maintained by a similar gun in the cavalier and a smaller piece in the north-western bastion until Major Holcroft perceiving that the barracks were totally consumed and shells bursting in every corner of the place sent orders to this handful of undaunted men to cease firing and retire under cover. The gun at Mississauga Point remained silent by order of Colonel Myers who hoped by this means to deprive the enemy of any excuse for turning their artillery upon the village, and the other detached batteries seem to have taken little part in the contest. Having destroyed all the buildings in Fort George and effectually silenced its fire, the Americans discontinued the bombardment about two o'clock in the afternoon.

The lake front of the British position was then closely reconnoitred by boats from the fleet, sounding the shore in every direction and occasionally venturing within musket shot of some of the batteries which remained silent, partly from scarcity of ammunition and partly through fear of provoking a renewal of the cannonade. Buoys were placed to mark the stations the ships were to occupy next day when they engaged the batteries on the left of Fort George and covered the landing.

On the part of the British some ineffectual efforts were made to repair the damages of the morning. The tackle and carriage of the gun at the flagstaff in Fort George had been totally destroyed by the flames, and could not be replaced, while the ring-bolts of another gun at the light house had been drawn by the recoil, and little service could be expected from it. Only a small picquet was stationed in the fort during the night, and the remainder of the garrison lay upon their arms on the common about half a mile in the rear in hourly expectation of an alarm, with the other brigades on either flank.

Shortly after reveille had sounded next morning, a rocket was seen to rise into the air from Fort Niagara and a single gun was fired at Fort George. This was the signal for all the American batteries to begin a cannonade which was not returned and ceased at the end of half an hour. Long after the sun had risen a dense fog hung over the river and lake, effectually concealing all objects on the opposite side except the dim outline of Fort Niagara. Nothing could be seen of their troops, most of whom had been embarked soon after midnight, at the mouth of the Four Mile Creek. At daybreak Generals Dearborn and Lewis went on board Commodore Chauncey's flagship which immediately got under way, followed by the remainder of the fleet and the immense flotilla of batteaux and other boats filled with soldiers. Hours passed away and the entire armada remained almost motionless waiting for the rising of the fog. Finally when the fog banks rolled away 16 vessels of different sizes were descried standing across the mouth of the river at a distance of about two miles from land, followed by no less than 134 boats and scows, each containing from thirty to fifty men, formed in three compact divisions one behind the other. At a signal from the flagship the entire fleet tacked and stood towards the Canadian shore, the small boats wheeling by brigades and carefully preserving their alignment. Their approach was gradual and deliberate, being favored by a gentle breeze, which, however, scarcely raised a ripple on the glassy surface of the lake. The schooners Julia and Growler each armed with a long 32-pounder and a long 12-pounder mounted on pivots, by making use of their sweeps entered the mouth of the river and opened fire on the crippled battery near the lighthouse while the schooner Ontario of similar force took up a position near the shore to the northward so as to enfilade the same work and cross the fire of the two first-named vessels. Two guns and a mortar in Fort Niagara also concentrated their fire upon this battery, which was occupied by a few men of the Lincoln artillery under Capt. John Powell. Only a single shot was fired from the gun mounted there when it again became unmanageable and the gunners were soon afterwards driven out by the incessant fire directed against them from different quarters. At the same time the Governor Tompkins of six guns engaged the one-gun battery near the mouth of Two Mile Creek in flank while Conquest of three guns anchored in such a position as to fire directly into it from the rear, which was entirely open and unprotected. Resistance in this case was obviously out of the question and it was immediately abandoned. The Hamilton, Scourge and Asp anchored within short musket shot of the shore, a few hundred yards further west, nearly opposite a