Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 8).djvu/188

 *vate soldier too, humble in station, yet lofty in spirit, deserves the tribute of a tear.—I must say more in his behalf: comparatively speaking, his sufferings have been unnoticed, his gallantry unrewarded, his grave neglected. Who achieves our victories?—the private soldier. What fills the breach in the ramparts of his country?—his dead body. In eulogizing and rewarding the leaders of our armies, let us not forget the more frequent sufferings, and the equal merits of the private soldier.

{84} The battles of Chippewa, Niagara and Erie, are full of fame.

On my way to Buffalo, I passed Fort Schlosser,[39] and also a small battery at Black Rock. Here the traveller is sensibly impressed by the contrast, between the present solitary aspect of the adjacent country, and the scenes which it presented, during those military operations here, which furnish so bright a page in the records of American prowess:—then, the splendour and roar of battle!—Now, the death-sleep of the warrior, and the crimson shroud!

The distance from Black Rock to Buffalo is only two miles. The latter place was destroyed by the enemy during the last war;[40] but since then it has been rebuilt, and now contains many elegant houses. Buffalo is a considerable place for business. Its situation is central, with respect to the trade of the City of New-York, and that of the upper Lakes.