- sion, and captured the schooner Connecticut,
at anchor in the Buffalo Creek. This humiliation, however, was more than wiped out by the daring exploit of Lieutenant Jesse D. Elliott, U. S. N., who, on October 9, 1812, crossed the river, and boldly attacked two vessels lying under the guns of Fort Erie. One of these, the Detroit, of six guns, had been captured by the British at the surrender of that town; the other was the Caledonia, of two guns. With a loss of two killed and five wounded, Elliott's force captured both vessels and took prisoners, officers and men, to the number of seventy-one. Forty-seven American prisoners taken by the British at the River Raisin, were released by Elliott. The Detroit was carried down the stream when the cables were cut, and ran aground on Squaw Island. The British opened a lively cannonading from the Canadian shore and attempted to recapture the vessel, but were driven off by the Americans, who, unable to float it, burned it to the water's edge. For his brilliant coup, Lieutenant Elliott was voted a sword of honor by Congress.
One great advantage the British possessed early in the war was their superiority on the Lakes. The Queen Charlotte, of twenty-two
