the outer palisades and gained the ditch. Here they found further
advance impossible, as they had no scaling-ladders. In this position
they were raked by a deadly fire of musketry from the fort. The
men at the southern side were not so severely pressed; but after
two hours' hard fighting the British were forced to withdraw, having
suffered a loss of about one hundred killed and wounded. Under
cover of darkness Procter and his men regained their boats and
returned to Amherstburg. Greatly disheartened at these repeated
failures, Tecumseh and his warriors marched overland to the head
of Lake Erie and again went into camp on Bois Blanc Island.

CHAPTER IX

THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE

The hope of the British now centred in their fleet, which commanded
Lake Erie. It was known that Harrison was anxious to regain Detroit
and invade Canada, but he could do nothing until the control of
the lake had been won. Towards this object the Americans now bent
their energies, sparing no expense in their effort to equip a lake
fleet superior to that of the British. Several new ships were
building in the port of Presqu'isle (now Erie), Pennsylvania, under
the direction of Captain Oliver Perry, the young officer in command
on Lake Erie. At length nine American vessels were fitted
out--_Lawrence_, twenty guns; _Niagara_, twenty guns; _Caledonia_,
three guns; _Ariel_, four guns; _Scorpion_, two guns; _Somers_,
two guns; _Trippe_, one gun; _Porcupine_, one gun; _Tigress_, one
gun. These boats were commanded by able officers and were manned
chiefly by experienced seamen taken from the crews of frigates
which were blockaded in the seaports.

Opposed to this fleet Canada had on Lake Erie a squadron consisting
of six vessels--_Queen Charlotte_, seventeen guns; _Lady Prevost_,
thirteen guns; _Hunter_, ten guns; _Little Belt_, three guns;
_Chippewa_, one gun; _Detroit_, still on the stocks at Amherstburg,
nineteen guns. Captain Robert Barclay, one of Nelson's heroes at
Trafalgar, was in command. Like the great admiral under whom he
served, he had lost an arm in naval conflict, which gained for him
the Indian title of 'our father with the one arm.'

The American ships had been in readiness since the early part of
July, but were blockaded in Presqu'isle. There were but seven feet
of water on the bar at the entrance to the harbour, which made it
impossible for the larger ships to sail out with their heavy armament
on board and in face of a fi