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IIBIIIS* SIL3Sir©IEl
OP
THE SERVICES
OP
JOHN G. WATMOUGIl
DURING AND SUBSEQUENT TO
The Campaign of 1814 and 1815,
WHKN AN OPFICER IN THE
UNITED STATES ARMY
PUBLISHED BY A OOWIMITTEE OP HIS FRIENDS-
PHILADELPHIA:
PRINTED FOR THE COMMITTEE.
1835.
ADVERTISEMENT.
EI -361
The undersigned, a committee of the friends of John G. Watmough, present
the accompanying sketch of his life and services to their fellow-citizens, in the
hope and confident expectation that it will be attentively read and considered
by them all. It is an imperfect memorial of gallant conduct and heroic endu-
rance — a brief record of public service, such as few have rendered, and none
excelled. The committee trust that it will be the means of refreshing the me-
mory of the military and civil service of their candidate, and of stimulating to
exertion all who wish to reward, by elevation to an honourable office in the gift
of the people, a man who has suffered much, and bled freely in their cause. If
this is realized, all their ends will be attained.
FRANKLIN COMLY,
Moreland Township.
JAMES THORNTON,
CHARLES WALMSLEY,
Byberry Township.
JOHN FOX,
Oxford Township.
WILLIAM SHALLCROSS,
Lower Dublin Township.
J. R. MATLACK, M. D.
DANIEL NEWMAN.
C. ALEXANDER.
WILLIAM W. WHITE.
JOB EIREBRIDE-
GEORGE CLAUSE.
ISAAC HEYLIN, M. D.
WILLIAM A. MALL.
R. M. ANNERS.
CLEMENT HALL.
WM. ARMSTRONG, M. D.
ERNEST CROZET.
SAMUEL C. BAVIS.
JAMES HARMER.Jr.
THOMAS MOORE.
J. WILLIAMS, Jr.
JOHN F. WHITE.
PETER HICKER.
THOMAS BRIERLEY.
JOSEPH SHERMER.
ALEX. M'CAUSLAND.
WM ERRINGER.
HENRY KITTINGEH,
THOS, C, CLARKE.
FRANCIS HUCKEL.
SAMUEL BERRY.
JACOB ENGLEMAN.
WILLIAM HUGHES, Jr.
JAMES ROBB.
TIMOTHY CALDWELL.
JOHN NEFF.
THOMAS HARPER
JOHN P. BINNS.
GEORGE G. WEST.
DAVID SCATTERGOOD.
JOHN LANDREY.
SAMUEL WAGNER.
JESSE WILLIAMSON.
GEORGE MITCHELL.
DAVID WINEBRENNER.
GEORGE W. SOUTH.
SAMUEL WEIRR.
ADAM WOELPPER.
SAMUEL WILLIAMSON.
PETER A. SHUSTER.
ISAAC PAINTER.
JAMES M. MOORE.
L. M. PECK.
JAMES MAXWELL.
F. M. GOLDSBUROUGH.
ROBT. PULLEN.
THOS. M. FEMINGTON.
FRANCIS M'BRIDE.
WM. PENNFEENEY.
AMASA BARTON.
JNO. LINORD.
THEOD. SCHREIBER.
ANDREW R. LONG.
JOHN BURSON.
HUGH MOORE.
JOHN A. COUNTISS.
A BRIEF SKETCH
OF THE SERVICES OP
Coh •fohn G. lf*atniouffh.
John G. Watmough is a native of Philadelphia: at an early age, he
exhibited the most enthusiastic devotion to liberty.
Before he had attained his eighteenth year, the second war of our In-
dependence had commenced; the conquest of the Guerriere had already
excited the wildest enthusiasm in every breast; it fired the imagination
of our youthful fellow-townsman, and he resolved at once to devote his
life to the sacred cause of his country.
He therefore left his home, abandoned the pleasures and comforts of
domestic life, and hastened to the field.
He had early applied to the venerable Madison for a commission in
the regular army; and in the meanwhile, that no occasion of honour or
usefulness might be lost, he joined a detachment of volunteers then
raising for the defence of the Delaware, and with them performed a tour
of duty in camp, under the command of the late Colonel Rush.
At the end of three months, this fine battalion received orders to re-
turn home, the government having at that time no further occasion for
its services, and young Watmough received a commission as a lieute-
nant in the second regiment, United States Artillery.
He was immediately attached to a company commanded by Captain
Alexander J. Williams.
The first wish of his heart was now gratified, and he prepared accord-
ingly to join the American Army on the northern Frontier.
The prospects of the country were gloomy; our gallant armies had
been beaten back; our strongest frontier post, Niagara, had been wrest-
ed from us ; and our generals were retreating from Canada, and prepar-
ing to defend our own soil from mvasion.
It was at this moment of doubt and terror, that the heroic Watmough
determined to share the dangers and privations of his gallant country-
mep.
The company to which lieutenant Watmough was attached, received
orders to march express for the Niagara frontier; and, with a view to
rapidity of movement, and immediate co-operation with tlie troops al-
ready on that frontier, they were conveyed in open sleds, and amid all
the severity of a northern winter, to the intended scene of action.—
Their object was to recover the strong hold which had beeo baselr
given up, and thus redeem the tarnished honor of the country.
( 4)
The severity of such a journey, to a young frame, nurtured in all the
comforts of a city life, may be imagined ; but by the patriotic ardour
of Watmough, they were met with cheerfulness/
He expected to suffer ; and while he suffered for his country, he Was
content.
Early in the spring of 1814, the campaign opened. It opened amid
surrounding gloom: but the patriot army knew that the safety, the
liberty of their country, depended on them, and they determined to check
the advance of the insolent foe or perish in the attempt.
How they performed that determination every American knows. —
The heart of every citizen has glowed over the bloody and desperate
struggle of that glorious but most sanguinary campaign.
The Star-Spangled Banner floated in the face of a foe superior in
force, and floated victoriously. The history of the world cannot produce
a series of battles exhibiting more determined courage and patriotism
than those of the Niagara frontier.
Such were the scenes in which the patriotism of young Watmough
was tried.
The bloody and hard fought battles of Chippewa and Bridgewaler had
been fought and won.
Brilliant as were these triumphs, they were not sufficient in them-
selves, to ward off from the army the difficulties that sprung from the
want of co-operation on the part of the fleet.
The honour of the country had been fully redeemed, but at an im-
mense sacrifice of life. The triumphs of the army had been most bril-
liant; and whenever, or wherever, the enemy had been met, they had
been conquered. The army demanded that its losses should be repaired.
It was in vain that these brave men, who had so faithfully performed
their duty, looked to the governmeat for the means to enable them to
plant their victorious eagles upon the ramparts of Quebec.
These means were not furnished; no reinforcements arrived; and the
heroes, to whom victory had become familiar, were compelled, once
more, to fall back upon their original lines.
The feeling of indignant honour may be appreciated from the follow-
ing fact: —
When the order to retreat was promulgated amid the trophies that
had been raised upon the field of Bridgewater, it was received with a
general burst of indignation and shame ; — the veteran was seen to dash
the tear from his eye.
Not a countenance but plainly, said " let us die here, with our arms
in our hands, upon the field of our fame, but let us never give an inch."
The spirit of discipline soon however prevailed, and when the columns
of march were formed, by an almost unanimous impulse, every soldier
turned his cap-plate to the rear, nearly all of which had been perfo-
rated by a bullet, that the enemy might understand the feeling that ani-
mated him.
Fort Erie now became the scene of the war. It was here that the
last stand was to be made ; if successfully made, the country was safe ;
( 5 )
if not, the road to the triumphant British was open, and the bosom of
our country would have been desolated witli the cruelties of invading con-
querors and foes.
Such was the crisis; and, among those who won the praise and grati-
tude of their country, by their heroism on that occasion, no individual
merits a higher or more enduring wreath of glory than young Wat-
mough.
During this eventful period, the second regiment of artillery was con-
stantly engaged. For several weeks, not a day elapsed that it did not
meet the enemy. The whole period was one protracted battle ; always
nobly fought, and as often triumphantly won.
On the 2d of August, 1814, after having most cautiously felt its way,
the British army at length appeared in full force, before the walls of
Fort Erie.
About two o'clock on that day, a general demonstration was made on
the American lines. After a sharp contest, it was gallantly repulsed at
all points.
The British General saw at once that the confidence of the American
army was still undiminished.
He determined, therefore, to effect that by siege, which he found it
was impossible to do by escalade.
In the course ot the night his batteries were planted, and on the fol-
lowing day he opened his fire.
The cannonade and bombardment on both sides, continued for up-
wards of fifty days, with little or no intermission, and with fatal effect.
During this cannonade, Lieutenant VVatmough, with his gallant com-
rades, the lamented Williams and M'Donough, were stationed on the
advance battery, nearest the foe, and on the evening of the 13th, we find
him by the official report, wounded by a piece of shell; notwithstanding
which, impelled by a patriotism which never considered its duty fulfilled
while a spark of life remained, he left tlie hospital where he was con-
fined, and arose to perform his part in the brilliant battle of the next
day, in the course of which he received those wounds which disable him
to the present hour. , i
The night of the 15th of August was fixed by the British for their final
attack. It was dark and rainy, and every way calculated to promote
the success of the assailants. The cannonade which had commenced
at daylight the morning previous, had not ceased until one o'clock of the
morning of the loth. The American troops had been under arms dur-
ing the whole night.
At half-past two o'clock, to use the emphatic language of the com-
manding officer, in his official letter to the War Department, " the ene-
my advanced, enveloped in darkness as black as their own designs."
The attack was made at various points, by three heavy columns of
choice troops, led by the most distinguished officers, and sustained by a
heavy reserve, and a body ot seven or eight hundred Indians.
By one of those singular accidents which often happen in war, and
which too often decide the fate of battles and of empires, the British co-
( n
lumos of the left bad nearly succeeded in traversing the plain in froatof
the American advance batteries unobserved.
The British attack was first made upon the American left by the Ger-
man regiment of De Watteville, fifteen hundred strong, under the com-
mand of their distinguished Colonel Fischer.
They were received by a tremendous fire of artillery and small arms,
and, although they persevered with the obstinacy of madmen, were final-
ly repulsed with an immense loss of killed, wounded, and prisoners.
Their brave commander was carried from the field mortally wounded.
To the distinguished valor and skill of Colonels Wood and Towson,
this result was mainly attributable. In the meanwhile the attacking
columns of the left were held back.
The American oflScer who commanded the picket guards in their
front was young and entirely inexperienced— he had joined the army but
a day or two before, and knew nothing of war.
His orders were to hold on firmly until the attack commenced, and
then retreat slowly within our lines. He entirely mistook their object,
and upon the report of the first gun from the American left, he com-
menced his own retreat without waiting to be attacked, and in spite of
the entreaties of his brave veterans. The error sprang from ignorance,
not from want of patriotism or courage; it had, however, nearly proved
fatal to the American army.
The officers of artillery stationed in the advance battery nearest the
foe, were at their posts, and keenly on the alert.
The heroic Williams and M'Donough were congratulating themselves
and their young comrade, Watmough, at the near prospect of honour and
promotion, when suddenly, without the previous notice of a single shot,
the trampling of feet, and the sound of voices were heard nearly under
the muzzles of their guns.
The brave M'Donough was the first to leap upon the parapet and de-
mand, in a voice of thunder, " Who goes there ?" The watch-word was
instantly returned, and the officer of the American picket attempted to
excuse his conduct. M'Donough replied, " Return, sir, instantly, and
die upon your post— one moment's delay, and I'll blow you and your
command into ten thousand atoms." The young man obeyed, but
scarcely had he advanced two hundred yards before he encountered the
heads of the advancing columns of the enemy.
Instantly from front to rear, the British officers were heard encou-
raging their soldiers, and ordering them " to givk the damned vankee
RASCALS Tio QUARTER." Our gallant band received them with a tre-
mendous fire of artillery and musquetry, and the British were repulsed
at every point. The unremitting and destructive fire of our brave artil-
lerists produced a scene of the most appalhog grandeur. Every avenue
of sense conveyed some idea of horror.
The thick gloom of the night, only broken by the glare of the light-
ning and the bright flashing of the guns— the alternate roar of the can-
nonade and the death-like stillness of those solemn intervals of silence,
which interrupt the tumult of war— the lurid smoke which hung like a
(7 )
mournful curtain over the field of carnafje — the shrieks of the wounded
and dying, and the yells of the hostile Indians — all combined to produce
a spectacle of sublime reality.
They returned fire times to the attack, determined to conquer or
perish in the attempt. The sixth assault was attended with better suc-
cess. Colonel Drummond, who attacked Watmoufih's battery with
& column of one thousand men, effected a footing on the bastion,
ttnd charged the defenders, while in the very act of re-loading their
guns. The Colonel himself led the forlorn hope which was composed of
a detachment of seamen and marines, belonging to a brig of war, which
A few days previous had been run ashore near Fort George, and burnt
by our fleet.
A personal conflict of great violence ensued and continued for
some time, with alternate success.
In a desperate resolve to repel the foe, (he brave, the intrepid Wil-
liams and M'Donough both fell— tlie former mortally wounded by a
ball through the body; the latter, instantly killed by a shot through the
he&d.
The incident related above sufficiently indicates the character of
M'Donough; that of Captain Williams will be appreciated aud better
understood from the following authentic fact: —
On the day previous to the battle in which he received his death, the
cannonade and bombardment had been unusually severe; throughout the
whole of it he had kept up an unceasing and most destructive fire upon
the enemy from the long eighteen pound gun on the block-house, of
which, subsequently, after his death, and during the assault, his friend
and associate, VVatmough, made such effective use. From its elevated
position every movement at this gun was distinctly visible to the enemy.
After repeated efforts, they at length succeeded in throwing upon the
platform a thirteen inch bomb; it passed Kithin a few inches of the he-
roic Williams, descended in the midst, of his men, and perforating the
platform, lodged itself beneath, amid the caissons which held the ammu-
nition necessary for the battery. The first impulse of the men was that
of escape from the sentence of immediate death that threatened them
all. Every one knew that the instant the bomb exploded would be the
last moment he had to live. The eyes of the whole army were directed
to the spot; an awful stillness ensued; the men turned a supplicatint; look
upon their brave commander; his lofty person expanded with a dignity
almost sublime, and raising his sword aloft, with a calm, firm voice he
exclaimed, " Jly brave lads, slnnd to your posts to the Inst, and let no
man tarnish the honour of his country— he that moves J will instantly
strike dead!" Judge then of llie feelings of universal joy that ensued,
when, after a few moments of awful delay, it was announced that the
fire had gone out before it had penetrated the bomb. On examination
It was found that in passing throutih the triple oak pl.itform of the l>alt«-
ry, the fuse had been providentially cut off eveu with the external sur-
face of the bomb before the fire had reached the same point.
( 8 )
Williams, M'Donoufjh, and Watmough, were all natives of Philadel-
phia, and certainly our city has reason to be proud of her sons.
The mother of M'Donou<;h, a venerable and most respectable lady,
still lives among us to deplore his fate. Let her be comforted— he died
like a patriot and a soldier, npon the field of honour.
Young Watmough, upon whom the command now devolved, agaiD
rallied his men,— determined to defend his guns, or perish in the attempt:
his brothers in arms lay dead and dying at his feet; the enemy kept
pouring in their masses upon him; but, although weakened by the loss
of blood, and by long continued exertion, he still maintained his ground;
at length, overpowered by numbers, and having been again wounded, he
was driven with his few remaining comrades to the edge of the parapet,
and while there, encouraging his men to hold firm until assistance should
arrive, was struck with the butt end of a musket, and thrown, by the
violence of the blow into the ditch.
Here he lay for a few minutes, surrounded by the killed and wounded
of the enemy, and exposed to the fire of the other batteries ; at length,
recovering, he collected strength sufficient to regain the entrance to the
fort.
He found the bastion in full possession of the enemy ; and an eighteen
pound gun, on a neighbouring block-house, from which a fatal fire might
be maintained on the conquered battery, entirely deserted. With the
assistance of a brave corporal of artillery, named Farquhar, Lieutenant
Watmough loaded and pointed the abandoned gun. He succeeded in
discharging it several times with terrible effect.
The attention of the enemy was instantly recalled to this point of ex-
treme danger.
They saw at once that it rendered the position which it had cost them
so much blood to gain, untenable ; their whole force was immediately
directed against it ; volley after volley was now discharged at the spot,
from which Lieutenant Watmough continued with unabated ardour,
and with terrible effect, to direct his fire.
For a long time he escaped unhurt ; at length, while in the act of load-
ing the piece to the muzzle, for the sixth or seventh time, a musket ball
struck him in the breast, and he fell ; at the same moment, the bastion,
of which the enemy had gained temporary possession, blew up — and with
it went all their hopes of victory. — As our youthful soldier lay upon the
field, supposed to be mortally wounded, he was soon after cheered by the
news that the enemy had been repulsed at all points.
Such were some of the incidents of the attack on Fort Erie — a bat-
tle as gallantly contested, and, on our part, as nobly won, as any in
our annals. — The American force in this battle was only about eigh-
teen hundred and thirty-four men fit for duty ; while the British num-
bered upwards of five thousand. The loss on the American side was in-
considerable, and almost exclusively confined to the corps of the gal-
lant Watmough, which was wholly sacrificed ; on the side of the British,
the loss in killed, wounded and prisoners, was enormous.
( » )
To the intrepidity and desperate perseverance of the heroic Wat-
mough, the glorious result of this battle was in great [)art ascribed. The
subjoined letter of General Gaines, will show Lis enthusiastic adcniratioa
of the patriotic heroism of Watmough.
Perhaps the annals of war would be vainly searched for an instance
of heroism and devotion to country, equal to that of Col. Watmough m
this encounter. Confined to his couch by wounds, received in former
battles, at the approach of danger he hastens to his post. lie is fore-
most in the contest. His companions are killed or driven back, yet he
stands alone and unflinching, until he is hurled down, wounded and
bleeding, into the ditch of the Fort. Here, surrounded by the dying,
and drenched in his own blood, and that of his enemies, he, after a time,
recovers. But with the tide of returning life, returns a principle dearer
to him than life— love of his country. He disengages himself from the
mangled mass and returns to the fight. He finds an abandoned battery,
and summons sufficient strength to load and fire the cannon ; until, after
repeated volleys are directed against him, and repeated rounds are
given, he falls. His friends, encouraged by this timely diversion, rally,
renew the fight and conquer. But where is the hero of the day! Where
is the gallant Watmough.'' They drag him from among the dead, bloody,
mangled, and almost lifeless.
While lying in the hospital near Buffalo, and at that time unable to rise
from his bed, the news of the tlisasters at Washington reached Lieute-
nant Watmough, with an exaggerated account of the capture of Balti-
more, and the probable march of the British on his native city. It was
no time to wait to be cured. Permission was obtained to return to Phi-
ladelphia. A common one-horse wagon was hired— the bed, with its
wounded occupant, was placed in it — and the painful journey home was
with difficulty accomplished.
On his arrival, he was not prevented by the severity of his wounds
and continued debility, from reporting himself for duty.
He was immediately attached to the staff of his old commander. Gene-
ral Gaines, who, on the first advance of the British army on the road,
had been ordered thither to assume the command.
In spite of the orders of his Physician, the late Dr. Wistar, and the
earnest entreaties of his friends. Lieutenant Watmough determined to
accompany that gallant officer on his journey to the south, whither he
had been ordered, and set out, in the middle of a most inclement winter,
to cross the mountains, and descend the river to Ps'ew Orleans.
The ice in the Ohio prevented their progress oy water, and the impe-
diments in land travelling being numerous, young Watmough was de-
layed too long on the route to contribute his aid in the achievement of
the glorious victory of the 8th of January. A severer disappointment
to so chivalric a spirit cannot be conceived. On the field of New Or-
leans, he might have added new laurels to the wreath already blooming
on his brow, and performed a useful part in the glorious scene which
terminated the second war of our Independence.
On the first reduction of the army, in 1815, Lieutenant Watmough
(10)
was retained, and having received the Brevet promotion to which his gal-
lant services and severe sufferings entitled him, he was offered by his
friend and commander, General Gaines, an unlimited furlough, to en*
able him to heal his wounds, and recover from their painful and har-
rassing effects.
The same letter, however, which conveyed this offer, spoke of "a speck
of war, which had just arisen on our southern border, among the Creek
and Seminole Indians."
As may well be supposed, the wounds and the furlough were instantly
forgotten, and our youthful hero, regardless of himself, and only alive to
the call of honour and his country, once more set out to encounter the
toils and dangers of a wilderness campaign.
From New Orleans, he repaired to Augusta, in Georgia, at which
point the troops were ordered to concentrate.
Prom Augusta, he was sent by his General to the city of Charleston,
with orders to expedite immediately the march of the gallant 4th regi-
ment, U. S. Infantry, for the Indian country, and to equip a brigade of
light artillery, with all speed, suitable for an Indian war.
To a soldier, the arduousness of this duty will be apparent, when
it is remembered that the guns were not ooly to be mounted, but
the horses to be bought and broken in, the harness made and fitted,
a full supply of ammunition, to be prepared and fixed, and even the men
instructed in the ordinary duties of managing their horses, as well as io
the more important ones, incidental to the effective service, to which they
Were now for the first time called.
How promptly all this was accomplished, will be at once seen, when the
reader is informed, that on the same day that the 4th regiment encamped
for the night, at Augusta, having proceeded thus far on its route to the
Indian nation, a regular battery of field pieces, completely equipped for
immediate service, reached the same point.
Several toilsome subsequent months were spent in the wilderness. The
prompt and efficient measures, however, adopted by the gallant Gaines,
had entirely checked the warlike spirit of the Indians. They did not
venture to take the field ; and the troops were placed in cantonment on
their frontier.
In the winter of 1816, all prospect of active service having terminated,
and feeling an unconquerable reluctance to pass a life of even compa-
rative inactivity. Lieutenant Watmough resigned his commission and
returned to the paths of private life.
From that period Colonel Watmough has resided amongst us, and
been engaged in the manly occupation of an independent Farmeh,
earning an honest subsistence by the sweat of his brow, and dispensing
his unpretending hospitality to his neighbours and friends. In all the re-
lations of life he has exhibited the spirit of a democrat, the honour of a
soldier, the purity of a patriot. He has kept the even tenor of his way,
loved by all who knew him, and known by all as the poor man's friend,
and the country's champion.
The wounds received by him in the War remain unhealed. The
(11 )
best medical advice has been procured; but he ha« BtifTercd too much to
hope for a recovery. T3iirinjj the last winter and S|)rinj:, tlio pnin and
anguish produced by them, have increased almost beyond endurance. —
Fortunately he has, in a measure, been relieved by surRical aid. VVith-
ID the last month a musket bullet has been extracted from his left breast.
Thus, after the actual dangers of battle have terminated, has this gal-
lant soldier suffered for a period of twenty-one years, and borne on his
person a rankling wound, received in the hour of peril, and endured
through years of suffering with fortitude, that never murmured or re-
pined.
In 1830, the people of the Third District, anxious to reward merit so
conspicuous, and willing to trust the patriotism so well tried in the hour
of his country's need, called upon him to represent them in Congress. —
At their call he abandoned prospects of the most flattering character,
and consented to serve. The contest was a warm one ; but the people
would not see the man who had fought and bled for them put down,
and he was elected by a handsome majority.
In Congress, he still preserved the high reputation he had gained in
the field. lie exhibited the same high sense of honor, the same noble
devotion to the welfare of the people, the same disinterested and enthu-
siastic patriotism. He dedicated himself day and night to the interests
of his constituents; he was not found sacrificing their honour to any
scheme of personal aggrandizement, nor selling tiicir rights for the pro-
mise of office. With him, all was open and manly republicanism,
straight forward and patriotic ; and every honest man, botli in Congress
and out of it, looked upon John G. Watmough with confidence and re-
spect.
His speeches were what he is himself; able, exalted, fervent, and pa-
triotic. Always ready, always fluent, always forcible and eloquent, he
contended upon the floor of Congress, with the same noble spirit which
bore him up in the day of battle.
The cause of his constituents had an intrepid and eloquent cham-
pion while he was in the house; and more was effected for the dis-
trict, and, by his means, for tlic country, during the brief period that he
was in Congress, than the most sanguine of his friends could have hoped
or expected.
His attention, however, was not solely confined to those great public
measures, which have so deeply engrossed all minds. Jt is true, his ex-
ertions to sustain them have gained him a fair and honourable fame.
We find him not less warmly and with ciiaracteristic generosity
advocating the cause and relieving the necessities of the veteran soldier
of 76, whom years, and infirmities, and hope " long deferred," had re-
duced almost to despair.
By him, too, has the tear been wiped from the orphan's eye, and the
sorrows which weighed down the heart of the disconsolate widow, alle-
viated and dispelled.
He restored to the Naval Pension Fund, the large defalcation occa-
sioned by the l"ailure of the bank of Columbia, in 1823, with interest,
(12)
from the day it took place, and thus enabled the fund to meet all the
obligations which the country owed to the widows and orphans of the
brave seamen, who had perished in the performance of their duty, whe-
ther by casualty, by battle, or by disease.
This defalcation, with the interest that had accrued, amounted to
nearly one hundred and seventy thousand dollars.
Tke same Bill that restored this large amount,, placed on the naval
pension roll all the widows of the officers, seamen, and marines, who have
died as above specified, in the cause of their country.
After having thus performed his duties, it is not strange that his con-
stituents insisted upon his again serving them. Always prepared to
obey the people, whether their commands direct him to enrich the shore
of Lake Erie with his blood, or to contend for their rights on the floor
of Congress, he consented to serve. The people again rallied around
the hero of Erie ; and in return for his blood shed for them, gave him
their hearty support. He was re-elected in 1832, by an increased and
immense majority.
To the painful recollections of the political contest of 1834, we have
no wish to recur. That contest was marked by incidents such as pro-
bably will never be renewed, and exhibited a combination of circum-
stances and political forces, against which it was in vain to struggle. —
One thing, however, deserves to be noticed, as pregnant with emphatic
praise of Colonel Walmough.
Embittered as that conflict was — morbidly excited as were the minds
and tempers of the partizans that were arrayed against him, no word of
personal disparagement was uttered, and when the battle was fought and
won, his victorious opponents willingly united in expressions of regard
and respect for their generous and patriotic adversary.
We think this may be said with perfect truth.
The character of John G. Watmough is portrayed in his acts. He
points the people not to expressions of attachment, not to promises of
service— but to actions — noble, chivalrous, patriotic actions. He is the
devoted lover of liberty and the people. For them he lives, for them he
has proven that he would be willing to die. As a soldier, he is the
bravest of the brave. As a poHtician, he is an undeviating democrat.
As a representative, his only object has been to promote and secure
the happiness and welfare of his constituents. As a speaker, he is easy,
forcible, convincing and eloquent.
We may safely affirm that Pennsylvania has never sent to Congress,
a representative more generally beloved and respected, more patriotic
and devoted, than Colonel John G. Watmough.
(13)
GENERAL GAINES.
The following letter from the gallant General Gaines, who command-
ed on the frontier during Colonel VVatmough's term of service, will af-
ford a glowing, but not overcharged picture of his character : —
Nashville, (Tennessee,) September 10, 1830.
Sir — I have received your letter of the 5th of last month, Tia St.
Louis.
1 should deem myself to be unworthy of the many valued tokens of
applause and respect bestowed on me by my beloved country, for the
victory to which you allude, were I to refuse the testimony of my appro-
bation to any of my faithful companions in arms, who bravely assisted,
as Watmough did, in the achievement of that victory. No man of his
age, has ever given me stronger proofs of exemplary patriotism, vigi-
lance in preparation, or gallantry in action, than John G. Watmough.
Nor have 1 ever known a man whose intrepidity or perseverance in
battle, under previous severe wounds, was more praiseworthy ; nor one
whose fall was more bloody or honourable, nor whose restoration from
apparent death was so signally providential.
While a lieutenant of artillery, and scarcely arrived at the age of man-
hood, when first known to me, he was distinguished for the purity of his
moral sentiments, the vigour of his military mind, and the untiring as-
siduity of his attention to his professional duties — often amidst privations
and exposures incident to the active operations of a crippled and re-
cently retreating army, of very inferior numbers, in the country of a
powerful enemy, suffering under frequent severe cannonades and skir-
mishing, wliich for some days preceded the principal battle of Fort Erie,
in one of these conflicts, a day or two before the battle, he received a
wound in his breast and through one of his arms. Thus crippled, he
was urged to confine himself to his tent. But when, on the night of the
4th August, hearing that 1 expected an attack before morning, his
martial spirit, moved by the animating note of silent but energetic pre-
paration for battle, prompted him to disregard his wounds and repair to
his post — which in a few hours proved to be emphatically the post qfho-
hour — for it was the post of greatest danger. Here he exerted his ef-
forts, with his gallant captain and company, until near the close of the
battle ; and until assured by the cheering and often reiterated shouts of
his companions in arms, along the whole line from left to righ, that vic-
tory was about to declare in our favour, the enemy's right and left co-
lumns having been repulsed.
It was yet too dark to see the enemy beyond the reach of an espon-
toon, excepting only by the momentary light of our cannon and small
arms, which afforded us a faint glimpse of his moving masses when he
rallied two of his crippled columns. This force, led on by Colonel
Drummond, one of the bravest of men, mounted the half bastion, in the
defence of which the heroic Williams, M'Donou£b, and Watmough,
(14)
with most of their brave Pennsylvania soldiers fell. The two former,
with several of the latter, were killed or mortally wounded.
Being near the place, and apprised of the disaster by the enemy's joy-
ous shouts, as well as by thereportof a crippled soldier retiring from the
spot, 1 took immediate measures, with the aid of our intrepid M'Kree,
Aspinwall, Jones, and Harris, and Foster, and Bolton, and others, to
bring up the remnant of my reserve, and in the meantime to direct
the fire of all the troops on the right and left, and near enough
for an effective fire, to bear upon the enemy upon the half bastion, and
in front of it, where he had just appeared in very considerable force.—
This was the only point about my encampment where 1 had any works
of defence, other than very ordinary breast- works, in many places not
more than two and a half or three feet high, with here and there a little
parcel of loose brush, irregularly thrown down with a view to construct
abatis. With the half bastion, the enemy liad obtained three pieces of
cannon, but which he could not bring to bear upon any vital part of my
position. He thus found himself in the possession of three useless cannon,
in a small, open half bastion, where he could not hope to remain an
hour, and from whence he could not possibly advance without inevita-
ble destruction, nor retreat without apparent disgrace. Thus exposed
to a galling fire, without the means of doing me any material injury, he
remained until most of his officers and men on the half bastion, and
many of those beyond it, were killed or wounded.
It was near 4 o'clock — and day-lighl, which of all things was then
most desirable, was just beginning to dawn upon the contending forces
— when Watmough, having partially recovered from the blow of a hand-
spike, by which he had been knocked down in the assault on the half
bastion, finding near it a six pounder that had been silenced by the fall
of a part of its gunners, loaded and opened a fire upon the enemy tbeo
very near him. In this renewed effort he was soon cut off by a ball
through his breast, from the last fire of the enemy's musquetry. About
this time the platform of the half bastion was blown up, and the enemy's
columns that had been drawn up before it were driven back and hastily
retreated. The whole of his right wing had been forced to retreat more
than half an hour previous to this explosion. I soon after found Wat-
mough weltering in his blood, and though to all appearances mortally
wounded, he still retained his senses and self-possession, notwithstanding
it was evident that an ounce ball had passed through him, within an
inch or two of his heart. He soon after gave me a detailed account of
the occurrences of the assault on the half bastion, which corroborated
the account given me by our beloved Williams, within the few hours in
which he languished after the battle, and before his deaih, during the
greater part of which time he also retained his senses.
Our excellent surgeons, Lovell, Mower, and others, under favour of
the kind Providence that has sustained our young warrior in battle,
soon restored him to his friends and his country's service. He served
near two years as my aid-de-camp, during which time, though afiiicted
wilh severe pain from his wounds, he was indefatigable in the discharge
(15)
of his duty, and always exemplary in his deportment. lie resigned, not
long after the war, and has since devoted his attention to tlie honoura-
ble pursuits of agriculture, with a knowled{;;e of law and literature suffi-
cient to qualify him for the most elevated duties of civil lifo. I take
great pleasure in the recollection, that, during near sixteen years in
which we have been acquainted, and in the frequent interchange of offi-
cial and unofficial views, I have no recollection of our havinp liad uooa<
sioo to differ jn opinion with him on any military subject, nor even in any
case more than once, and that happened to be in reference to an elec-
tion; upon that occasion, such was my confidence in the purity of his
principles, and the soundness of his judgment, that our difference of opi-
nion tended rather to induce me to await the test of lime, to determine
which of us was right, than in a spirit of intolerance, (such as mark the
character of ultra partizan politicians,) to condemn one of the most
faithful of my country's defenders, for the free exercise of his judgment,
which I had so long approved and admired. And it is due to him now
that I should say, that the anticipated test has tended rather to confirm
pie in the high estimation in which I had held his judgment, than to af-
ford me room for egotistical exultation.
With a knowledge of his talents, services and sufferings, of which the
foregoing will give you a faithful outline, as far as my opportunity and
time will permit, 1 cannot but feel much gratification to learn, that his
fellow citizens of Pennsylvania have determined to do merited honour
to one who, during the most trying periods of war, contributed so much
" tp fill the measure of his country's honour and glory."
With my regrets that the misdirection of your letter should have pre*
vented my receiving it sooner, 1 offer you assurances of my respect,
and best wishes for the success of your laudable efforts in behalf of mo-
dest merit.
EDMUND PENDLETON GAINES.
(16)
Philadelphia^ August 5, 1835.
To TAB Committee or Publication—
The subjoined statement has been drawn up at the request of a
member of your Committee, and is submitted for what it is worth,
by one who has not as yet taken any part in the contest for the Sheriff-
alty, and who feels himself bound to abide by, and sustain the decision
of, the delegates upon whom the task of selecting a candidate will pro-
perly devolve.
A few months since, Colonel Watmough called at my ofl5ce, and after
conversing for a short time upon the ordinary topics of the day, cursori-
ly mentioned that he was suffering very severely under the effects of a
wound in his breast, received at the assault on Fort Erie. He stated fur-
ther, that he intended, the next day, to have an operation performed,
inasmuch as a ball, which had been in his bosom from the period of the
contest up to that time, had become perceptible to the eye, and palpable
to the touch, and he was determined to have it out. I expressed an
anxiety to see the wound ; and, after considerable reluctance, the Colonel
consented to satisfy my curiosity. He stepped into a chamber adjoin-
ing, threw off his coat, and tore the bandages from his breast. The
spectacle presented was calculated to make the strongest impression
upon the mind— both as to the services and the sufferings of the gallant
ofScer, The left side of the breast was swollen in a dreadful manner,
and the whole wound presented a shocking appearance. The ball
was plainly perceptible ; and, in order to convince myself fully upon the
subject, I pressed it with my finger, and examined the wound with close
attention for some time.
The circumstance is mentioned merely with the object of putting down
the numerous slanders that have been circulated in relation to the services
and sufferings of the individual in question. Whatever may be the merits
or demerits of Colonel Watmough in other respects, it is at least certain
that he served his country well and gallantly during the last war ; that
be was severely wounded in the battle of Fort Erie ; and that, up to
this hour, he bears upon his person the evidences of his patriotic conduct
on that interesting and eventful occasion.
Very Respectfully,
» ROBERT MORRIS.
BOOKBINDEF
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