Excerpt from The Burning of the Caroline and Other Reminiscences of 1837-38
The current was reported in the charts to be running at the rate of seven miles an hour at that part of the river Where we should have to cross, which was not half a mile distant from the mighty Falls of Nia gara. We had nothing but a few small boats about twelve feet long, each pulling four oars, to trust to; we had to keep fear fully close to the rapids to prevent the boats being seen from Navy Island, from whence they would have given the alarm. Numerous other difficulties might have been started so as to make the attempt appear impracticable; but I determined not to let one of them enter my head. I had resolved to make the attempt, and that nothing should stop me, well remem bering that most of the dashing things of the late war were accomplished in this way.
The firsn thing to be done was to call for volunteers. Here we are, sir, cried a hundred voices; what have we to do Follow me was all they could get out of me, as Sir Allan and I had determined the secret should be strictly between us, for, had our intentions been suffered to tran spire, one hour would have carried the intelligence across the river to the Ameri cans, when we should have been opposed by thousands, but so well was the secret kept that the men knew not where they were going nor what they had to do until they were actually embarked in the boats and had left the shore.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
