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98 war spirit rose again with renewed ardor. But what news came from the front? In the West, General Winchester was overpowered at Frenchtown on February 22. His command had to surrender and part of it was massacred. General Harrison found himself obliged to fall back. On the Niagara and the St. Lawrence, an expedition was pushed forward, which, on April 27, resulted in the temporary capture of York (now Toronto), but no lodgment was effected. While the navy had struck some splendid blows, the British gradually increased their force and made the superiority of their power tell. They strengthened their blockade of New York, of the Delaware, and the Chesapeake. British ships ascended the bays and the rivers, and landed parties to plunder and set fire to villages on the banks. Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Annapolis became alarmed for their safety. In Virginia, a slave insurrection was feared. The port of Charleston was strictly blockaded.

Every day it became clearer, too, that the Madison administration was ill-fitted for times of great exigency. The war and navy departments were wretchedly managed. There was incapacity above and below. The Treasury was in a state of exhaustion. By April 1, the requisitions of the war and navy departments must have gone unsatisfied had not Astor, Parish, and Girard, three rich foreigners, come to the assistance of the government. New England Federalism grew constantly more