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COL. CASS * LETTER. Letter of Cel. Cap. of the army late ur.der the command of B'li der General ‘Vat. Halit to the Secreta ry of IVar. Washington, Sept. 10 tb, ißix. c: r Jt) I Having been ordered on to this place by Col. M‘Arthur, for the purpofs cf communicating to the government fuch particular; ref preting the expedition lately com manded by brgaditr general Hull and its diftftr ui rcfult, as rri ght enable them correftl* toapprt iate the conduft of the officers and inert, and to develop* the whi h produced fo foul a (tain upon the na tional character, I have the honor to fubmit to your cor.fiJcration the following ft lie ment: W ,cn C'.c fir. cj. landed in Cana da, they U:d and with an ardent z t*l ad ftimula’ed with the hope of cocq eft. No enemy appeared w-r in vie;v of us, a<d had an mediate arid vig rU3 a a k mile upon Malden, it w-uid doubclefc have fallen an cafy vi&d ---17. 1 know gen. Hull afterwards declared he reg etted this a’ a k h?d noc been made, and he had rv err rcafon to believe fu refs would have crowned his effrts. The rcaf©a given foj- delaying our ope rations, *as to mount our heavy cannon and to afford to the Canadi an militia time and opponunftv to quit an obnoxious fervice. In the courfe of two weeks, the number cf their militia wno were had decrcafed by defertion from lix hundred to one hundred men j ad, in the courfe of three vfrrtks, the cannon wrre moun ed, the am munition ffted, ar.d every prepays tion made for an immediate nr ft m-'.nt of he f ->rt, A a council, at which were prefent ail the ft-id of ft ers, and which v.a<, held two days before our preparations wrre com pitted, it was uua imu fi agreed to make an iinmed a c a. erupt to a, om, lilh the obj cc of the ex se dition. If by waning two da swe could have the fcrvice of our heavy artillery, it was agreed to wait; if not, it was determined to go with out it and to attempt the place by (form. This opinion appeared to correspond with the views of the g meral, and the day was appointed i r commencing our march He declared to me, that hecoufilertd htmfelf pledged to lead the army to M tlden. The ammunition was placed in the w gg h.-s ; the cannon were embarked on board the ft lac ing batteries, and ever- r q 1 fi < ar ticle was prepared. The fpsric an I zeal, the ard®r a r and animation dif played bv the officers and men on learning the near accompl fhment of their wiihcs, was a lure and Ta rred pledge, that in the hour of trial they would not be found wanting in their duty to their country & them felves. But a change of meafures, in oppofinon to the wifhesand o pinions of all the officers, was a dopred by the general. The plan of attacking Maiden was abandoned, and inftead cf afling offenfieely, wr bmke up our camp, evacuated Ca.iada, and re-eroded the river in the ighr, without even the fhad >w an enemy to injure us. We left to the gender mercy of the enemy the mileraUle Canadians who had joined us, and the pretcSiicn we of fered them was but a pafiport to vengeance. Th s a*l and unac countable ftepdilpiri rd the troops, and deftroyed th? little confidence whicn a lerirs of tim and, irrcloiute and indecifivc menfures had left in the commanding wfticcr. About the tenth of Auguft, the enemv received a * in forcemeat tf faur hundred m n. On the twelfth the co>rmandi g officers of three of fh? rg mtnis (die fourth was ab fen ) >vrre in through a medium wh? h admitted uf ao doubt, that tlie general had ftated, trit a ■ spi'ula ion w u'd be necel farv. They on the fame da- ad dr ft* 1 t? g v. M igs of Ohm a lert'/r, of which the following is an exoa-ft : <f Bel eve all the bearer will tell you. BHleve it however it may aftuniflh y m, as much as * told you bv one of us„ Even ac- is talked cf by the Th& heartr wdi fill the vacancy.” The dmb fu> ft. t of this ic ? 'er rend-red i necefis v to ufe cirri’on-, fpfdlion in its deta is- aad therefor* thefe blapiits were * eft. The wrd ‘ aoftulati will fill the ft ft, a ;d ‘commanding general* the other.—- As 111 e.iemv was near us, and as th? funeriority of our force w.ts mini ft ft, wc could fee no ntcefficy for can? uiating, nor any propriety in aliudig to a. We therefore in the la ft refortto Rcur the rvfp .fi . lity of divrfting the general of his command th is plan eventua ly prevented !>y tw* cf the commandin g ffi ~rs *f regiments being ordered upon de ls hmetits. On the 13 b, the Br'tfth took a pnfition oppufite to Drtro:t, a: and began t:> throw up work;:. During that end the two following da they purfued fhfir objeef without interruption and rftabi ffied a ba:te ry for two i3 pout ders and an % inch how 1 z-r. About fu 1 let on the evening: sf the 14th, a detach ment of 350 men fiom the regi ments com nanded by col. M‘Ar thur and myfclf was order* J to march to'he river Raifin, to effort the provifi s, which had fume time remained there protr&ed by a party imd *r rh * command of capt. Brulfi, On Sa u-day, the 15th, about 1 ©‘ I * k, a ft ig of truce arrived it ant gto. B ck, t>r the kirrendcr of the t*w.T and fort if Oc r it, ft’tmg, he could no long* reftrainehe fury of the favag s To this an immediate aid fpirited refufal was returned.- A.) u’ 4 o’clock, their batteries b gin to play up m the town. Th? fire was returned and continued with >u interruption and with T tic cfFTt till lark Theft fhelis were thrown till eleven o'cl ck. At da 1 gitj the filing on both fidrs recommenced ; ab *uc the fame rime the e :cmy b**gan r.o land troops, at the Sprir-gwt lfs, three miles b’ low Detroit, pr Elected by two of their armed vtff Is. Be tw rn 6 aid 7 o’clock, they had fiF died rnrir iandi. g and immedi ately took up their march. They moved in cl fe column of platoons, twelve in fronr, upon the bank of the river. Tnc fourth regiment was ftatioa ed in the froru; the Ohio volun teers and a part of the Michigan militia, behind fame pickets, in a ft uation in which the whole flank of the enemy would have beeen cx pofrd. The refiduc of the Michi gan militia were in the upper part of the town to refill the incurfions of the lavages. Two 29- pounders loaded with grape-fhot wired pott ed upon a commanding eminence, ready to fweep the advancing co lumn. In this G:uation, tne Infe riority of our politioo w apparent, and our troops, in the eager cx prdiarion of viitory, awaued the appr >ach of the enemy. Not a figh or broke upon the ear j not a look of cowardice met the eve. Every raa* exoeded a proud day for hisc iuntry, and each was anx'.ms tha. his individual exertion fh ;uld contribute to the geueiai rt fuli. When the head of their column arrived within aboat five hundred yards of < u line, orders were re ceived fr m Hull for the whole to retreat, to he Fort, and for t e twenty-four p unders not to open upon the en'-mv. Ote oniverfal burft of inh goa ion was apparent up 10 the receipt cf ihssarier.— Thofr, who ft c nvict.-.n was he deliberate rsfult of a <jifp t .(li exanr.icacion of pafti-g events, faw ti e foliv an 1 impropriety <ft crowd mg iioo mrn uvo a little work, wh* 0 300 could fullv man, and n to winch the fis >t a-d Ih iis of-hr enemy wrc fa hftg Tn** Frt was in this m:, net filled j -he r..ci and r fled to fhek the r arms, and fearedy was an opporevnity ff jrd en of moving Shortly after a white flag W as hu~g out upm the va 1% A Bn r fh fn er rode up to enquire th ca-rfe. A c >ir.munica tson oaflftd arwern the command ing gene alt, w iich ended in the, capcti'a-i • fubcti it ted >0 you. In e-i'tn g i i>* thii. capculatio.n, the g*ne>“aJ tc-ok c#u->fel from h!s own ‘leeii gs nnlv. Not an ffi er was confu! ?d. N>t one ad spared a furrender, tsii he fa 9 the white ft .g diTpiaved. Even th? woman were ill and pitn t af fo fhs r& hi ! a deg■ a : ■a - do , of hr Arnerican charnel r, and si! ft it as they fli old nave ftit, but he who held in hiS hands t ic reins cf authority. Our morning report had th.it mo oog made our ff ft ve me j preftnr fi ‘or du y 1060, without its eluding the before aIM-ie i o, aid without i iclu ling aoo of th.- M-'chigan milba mduty. Ab*ut and“ k on >sa urday evening the a- achment lent to efcort the pr iv.fi r*s received orders from gv i, if ill to return with as mu h expei in as p ilfiblc. About ten o’clo-.k he next lay they a r riv**d within figit ®f Ditroif. Rad a fi log be-a heard, jr any rt fiftaacc v fihle, t rev would hive in 11 li ateiv ad vane -d a id a* tacked rear of the c rmv. The fi jatio 7 in whici fhJs deta h Tirnt wis pi •. ei, alchougi the refuit of accilen , ws the bell for a moving rhe er.Ciay aid curu ig ff rsre r 1 hat c *uH nave been Tied 1. W,h ms -w troops ertclof and between tw fi s aid n * nmjc* >f face iur, it is hnz arding little to fax, that very few would have efcaped. I have been inform-d bv Col. Fut ile , , who faw th*- return of their quarter matter g neral the day af ter the furrtnder, ?na their wiole of every d**f ription, white, red and bU k, was 1030 They had 29 ma o -as, 12 in a pla o n, of men d'efled in uniform. Many of thefe w re evidently Canadian militia. The reft of their mill ia increased tneir white force to about yco men. The number cf their Inmans could not be af ertaided wnh any degree of prec fi :n; not many were vifible, And in the e vent of an attack upon the fie fort, it was a ipecies of force wn h couid have afforded no nsatcnal ad vantage to the enemy. In endeavoring ro apprecia e the motives and inv*ftigate the caulks, which ltd to an event fo unexpeft d and difhonor&bie, it is imp tii ;Je to find any lotution in th<- reutive ftrength of the contending par'irj, or ia the ineafures of rriiitar.ee m our pewer. ThaftHrc were Ur (u ---periorto the enemy j t iat upon -iny ordinary principles of cakuiation we would have defeated them, the wounded and indignant feelings of everi* man there will irftify. A few days before the furrenderl wis inform and by Grn. Hull, we had 420 rounds of 24 pound fh t fixed a about iGOjOGO aicndges maoe. VV furr-ndc-re i with the forr 40 barrels A ponder, ar.d 250 o iU.id of a ms. Tne ft-te our prov fions h not been geneiailv u niertt oT On the dav of ihe fun coder we had 15 davs of provifi in of every kind ,a hand. Of thee was plenty in the country, and a r r arguments had been mHe for purchasing and grinding rh fi ur. It was Calcula ted we couhi r- adily procure three monrhs prov fi *, independent of 150 barrels of fi or, 1300 head of ca tie, which had been forwarded from the ttate of Ohio, and which rernaincd j at the river Raifin ucJer capt. Brufti, within reach of the ar my. But had we been totally dettitute of provifions, our duty and our m terett undoubtedly vras to fighc.— The enemy invited us to meet him in th* fiHd. By dtftanng hira the coun try would have been open to us, o? the orj'cft o* our expedition gioii -0.11/ aid iuccefsfuily cbearned, If we had ocen defeated, w* iiad no eft g to do but to retreat to the fort and make the beft defence v/hiftk circomttances and oil’ fituatioit ren dered prafticablc. Bu baiely ‘.O fjrr nder withnu* firin g s gun— ca oeiy ro fubmu w thout railing a ba unc.t—Ji;g accmily to pa ft in review before an enemy as infer or in the quality as in the number of their foice>, were circuirttaiu:?#, which excised fechrigs ©f ind gn-t ---tion more ealily feit than ddcnoc<i, To fee the wnoleof our men fi ‘li ed with the hope of victory, eager ly awaiting the approaching con; eft, to fee them afterwards difptrkrd, hopclefs and defponding, at Icaft 500 (hedding tears, becaufe th-ry were not allowed to meet their coun try’s f:>e, and to right their coun trv’s bit lea excited fen'fations, which no American has ever before hid ciule to feel, and which, I cruft ia G and, wll never again be felt,/, w m* one man r-mains to defend tue ? itari lard of the Union. j lam xpreftlv authorized to t.’ut c'ul. VT Arthur and Findley and k. coi M.11.t, viewed this tranfac tion m tne i gat which I do. They know and kcl, that ns circumttance in ou” tnnti >n, none in that of the enemy, canexcuie a caoitulatlon fo d;ili aorable and unjuttifiibk. This too is, tlie uuiverfal leatinaent among the troops; tft I fhaif be furpriz.d to learn that is one man whs thinks it was aec ilVy to fkeath his ftvord, or to lay down his miTkit. I was informed-* by g-ncral Hull the in or ting after the capitulation, that the Brit fh forces confided of 1800 regulars, and that he lurren* dered to prevent the efFufion of hu maii blood. That he mag their regular force nearly five fold, there can be r.o doubt. Whether the philanthropic realbn afiigned by him is a iufficicat jutt.fication for Jurrcncicring a fortified town, an ar my and a territory, is for the gov crAiiieat to determine. Confident l am, thai had tit courage and coa clik.t itf the g.“ era! been equal to Ihe ipmt and z ai of the troops,the eve ,t w uld nave brtn brilliant aid fu eels ul ai it now is dilattrous and fh mhrablv. Very refptoftfully, nr, I ha c th<- honsr to be, Your tnoft obedient fervanf, LEWIS CASS.