Page:George Bryce (1907) Laura Secord A Study in Canadian Patriotism.djvu/16

 to escape, and Gen. Sheaffe made a flank attack by way of St. David's, and as the result of his movement the main body of his opponents was taken prisoner. Though Sheaffe was victorious, yet a number of his men had fallen, being shot from the Heights. Among these was James Secord, who was wounded badly in the leg and shoulder, and who lay on the hillside helpless. Laura Secord was an anxious spectator of the fight, and on being told of her husband's fate rushed, regardless of danger, to his side on the hill. Just as she reached the spot three American soldiers ran forward with uplifted gun stocks to club the wounded man to death. She threw herself in their way, but they persisted in their original intention, and were only stopped by the arrival of one of their officers, Captain Wool. He called them cowards, put them under a guard, and sent them across the river to Lewiston, where they were court martialled and imprisoned. The officer then sent the wounded man to his own house, which was within their lines. This was the first great exploit of this daring Canadian woman.

Canadians have always remembered the heroes of Queenston Heights. "No tongue need blazon forth their fame. The cheers that stir the sacred hill Are but mere promptings of the will That conquered then, that conquers still. And generations yet shall thrill At Brock's remembered name."—Sangster.

THE SECOND YEAR

Events on the Niagara peninsula were still more deadly and more alarming in the second year of the war, 1813:

The little Canadian army could not be greatly increased, but now thousands crossed the lines to overwhelm it. The Americans held the river and Fort George, where now stands Niagara-on-the-lake. The Canadian success at Michilimackinac and Detroit in the west in 1812, was now threatened with extinction in 1813. Proctor and Tecumseh were beleaguered by Gen. Harrison and his Kentuckey wild riders. From both the Niagara and the Detroit rivers the outlook was alarming. The rival fleets on Lake Ontario gained alternate advantages.

Suddenly a remarkable Canadian success was gained by the night attack of Col. Harvey at Stony Creek, just at the moment when the Canadian cause in Western Canada was thought to be at its last gasp.

Col. Harvey, with seven hundred and fifty men, fell upon the American camp asleep, took the Generals Chandler and Winder, the guns and stores, one