EDITED BY LEWIS GAYLORD CLARK THE THIRTY-THIRD VOLUME of the KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE Commenced on the first of January, 1849. The work has been so long before the public, that it is not deemed necessary to enlarge upon its claims to general favor. The annexed List of Contributors to the Magazine, and a few notices of the work, (up to and including the last number) will sufficiently attest its character and its popularity: WASHINGTON IRVING, MISS C. M. SEDGWICK, W. D. GALLAGHER, DR. O. W. HOLMES, PROF. HITCHCOCK, F. W. EDMONDS, WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, CHARLES M. LEUPP, REV. MR. GANNETT, (MASS.) FREDERICK W.SHELTON, RICHARD B. KIMBALL, Esq. HORACE GREELEY, PARK BENJAMIN, THEODORE S. FAY, MRS. FANNY K, BUTLER, MRS. E. C. EMBURY, REV. DR. PISE, THOMAS W. STORROW, Esq. F. S. COZZENS, Esq. JOHN HENRY HOPKINS,(VT.) R. H. STODDARD. THE foregoing list included also while living ROBERT SOUTHEY, Rev. TIMOTHY FLINT, Miss LANDON, CH. JUSTICE MELLEN, TYRONE POWER, ROBERT C. SANDS, WILLIS GAYLORD CLARK, B. B. THATCHER, Dr. CALEB TICKNOR, WM. H. SIMMONS, JOHN SANDERSON, the American in Paris,' NICHOLAS BIDDLE, Miss MARY-ANNE BROWNE, (Mrs. GRAY,) England, Rev. Dr. BRANTLEY, SouthCarolina, WILLIAM L. STONE, Rev. Dr. BEASLEY, New-Jersey, J. H. HILLHOUSE, Capt. F. MARRYAT, JOSEPH C. NEAL, Rev. W. B. O. PEABODY, HENRY BREVOORT, and other distinguished writers who have paid the debt of nature.' The following notices of the KNICKERBOCKER are from the American and English press, and from American and British writers of distinction: "THE KNICKERBOCKER.'- The last number of this venerable and widely-popular periodical appears upon entirely new and beautiful type, in all its departments; and in its rich and diversified contents, continues to vindicate its reputation as the most agreeable and entertaining Magazine published in the United States. When we first started the old 'New-Yorker,' our friend CLARK had preceded us as Editor of the KNICKERBOCKER about a twelvemonth; it has now reached an age greatly beyond that of any American Monthly; a fact which literally speaks volumes' in praise of the manner in which the work has been conducted. No number of the K. has ever been issued under CLARK's supervision that did not bear indubitable evidence of editorial care, and anxious thought and well-directed labor enstamped upon its pages. We have known no monthly, of this country or Europe, so thoroughly edited, in the strictest sense of the term. With a corps of contributors embracing the most eminent writers of the country, with not a few from the other side of the water, it has been able to present articles of a high order of merit, and in rich variety; while, as if emulous of the contributed portions, the editorial department has regularly increased in variety and abundance.'-New-York Daily Tribune. 'NOTHING is more remarkable than the unfailing promptitude of this old Monthly, except perhaps its constant and constantly increasing excellence. Mathematicians tell us of certain curves called asymptotes, whose peculiarity is always to approach each other, and yet, even when infinitely extended, never to intersect. The KNICKERBOCKER, which has reached an age for a Magazine much greater than a hundred years for a man, and only to be attained by a more marvellous miracle, has perpetually approached the highest possible point of interest and excellence; and yet it seems to have an excelsior, for each number seems better than that which went before. How it is done our friend CLARK may understand-but it is a sealed mystery to us. There is no publication in the United States that has so attractive or popular a feature as the Editor's Table of the KNICKERBOCKER.'-New-York Courier and Enquirer. See third page of Cover. ART. I. REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR OF 1812. NUMBER ONE, *II. SONNET: OUR NEIGHBOR'S ROOSTER, III A CONVERSATION IN THE FOREST. BY CAPT. ALBERT PIKE, IV. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A HUMAN SOUL. PART TWO,. V. A POET AND HIS SONG. BY THOMAS MACKELlar, VI. THE LAND OF GOLD: A LEGEND. BY R. H. STODDARD,. VIL LEAVES FROM AN AFRICAN JOURNAL. BY JOHN CARROLL BRENT, 377 381 382 388 393 394 399 VIII. LINES: TO HER WHO CAN UNDERSTAND THEM, IX. TRANSLATIONS FROM HORACE, . 409 410 XI. X. A PASS AT OUR IMPROVEMENTS. BY KIT KELVIN, STANZAS: THE GERMAN STUDENT, XII. SONNET: TO A BEREAVED MOTHER, XIII. TRAVELS IN TARTARY AND MONGOLIA, 411 414 415 415 XIV. WHAT IS LOVE? BY JESSIE ELLIOTT, 422 XV. EPIGRAM: THE FORMALIST, 423 XVI. THE STONE HOUSE ON THE SUSQUEHANNA. BY RICHARD HAYWARDE, LITERARY NOTICES: 1. THE NORTH-AMERICAN REVIEW FOR APRIL, 2. BOOK OF THE HUDSON. BY GEOFFREY CRAYON, 3. FOOT-PRINTS: POEMS. BY R. H. STODDARD, 4. REPORT ON THE NEW-YORK AND ERIE RAIL-ROAD, EDITOR'S TABLE: 1. THE INTERNATIONAL ART-UNION, 2. GOSSIP WITH READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS, 3. EXHIBITION OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN, 452 455 468 To Subscribers in Arrears. SUBSCRIBERS Who are in arrears will please take notice that the recent change in the proprietorship of this Magazine renders it of the utmost importance that all the outstanding claims should be liquidated as early as possible. The business of dunning is equally unpleasant to all parties, and we trust this notice will make all further and more direct application for the small amounts due from each, wholly unnecessary. Please remit by mail to S. HUESTON, 139 Nassau-st. MR. T. P. WILLIAMS is our General Agent to receive the names of Subscribers. Editors and others kindly interested in the circulation of this Magazine will oblige us by facilitating his designs. Entered, according to the act of Congress, in the year 1848, BY SAMUEL HUESTON, In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of New-York. THE government had concentrated upon Plattsburgh, in the year 1814, a large military force, consisting of twelve or thirteen thousand well-disciplined troops, under the command of the rough but brave old General Izzard. A sudden change in the plan of campaign rendered necessary a change of position; and Izzard was directed, in the month of August, to make a forced march to Sackett's Harbor. This he did, leaving behind him, in garrison, only fifteen hundred men, including sick and convalescent; a force just sufficient to stimulate the hostile enterprise of the British commander-in-chief in Canada, but too inconsiderable to afford adequate protection to the Northern Frontier. Of this small body of men Macomb was left in command. The British were vigilant: they had seen, with no little anxiety, the concentration of our troops at Plattsburgh; and apprehensive that a blow was meditated, in the direction of Montreal, the British commander had drawn, from more distant places, the provincial militia and Wellington's veterans, recently arrived from Europe, to strengthen his positions near the line. Izzard's movement was immediately known to the enemy; and scarcely had the sounds of his retiring drums died upon the ear, when busy preparation was discovered in the hostile camp. There was no mistaking its portent. Nothing now remained to us but to await the storm. Having concentrated his forces into one massive column, fourteen thousand strong, the best appointed army which America ever saw, Sir George Prevost commenced a slow and stately march in the direction of Plattsburgh. At Champlain, and again at Chazy, he paused awhile to wait the movement of his fleet. Sir George was proud of his troops, and well indeed he might be, for a large proportion of them had been trained under the eye of one of the greatest captains of the age, and were fresh from the wellfought fields of Spain, of Portugal, and of France. Partly from ostentation, and partly perhaps to overawe us by the magnitude and appointment of his force, he threw open his camp to the inspection of our citizens. Not a few availed themselves of the opportunity; some to obtain information, some to satisfy a very natural curiosity. The spectacle of Sir George's camp was indeed one of uncommon interest and beauty. While Sir George's formidable preparations were in progress, rumors of impending invasion agitated the frontier counties. Hitherto the war had been carried on in the enemy's territories, or at a distance. It was now about to be brought to our doors. The question involved in it had hitherto been one of patriotism; now it had become one of personal interest also. Beside country, the objects of protection now were wives, children and fire-sides. Few shrank from the danger; and scarcely had a hostile foot been set on our territory, when the militia of Essex and Clinton were en route for what was to be the scene of action. Among the militia who in this exigency flew to the defence of the Northern frontier was one Moreau. I never knew his christian name. He lived in Westport, a pleasant little town, situated on the western bank of Lake Champlain, in the county of Essex. He was about twenty years of age, poor, uneducated and obscure, and had as little personal interest in the event of the war as any man living. No individual, however, who engaged in it, behaved with so much desperate courage. History is carrying down to posterity the name of Macomb; Moore's was honored with a sword; and Fame has associated other names with the defence of Plattsburgh. All this is right. But no pen has told the story of poor Moreau. I, his fellow in the same regiment, late though it be, dedicate this paper to the memory of his bravery. It may be remembered that the Essex, and a part of the Clinton militia, were stationed two or three days in Beekmantown, six or seven miles north of Plattsburgh, on one of the roads leading to Chazy. The enemy was advancing on this road in great force. Early on the morning of the sixth of September, Major, now General Wool, at the head of two hundred and fifty men, passed us in the direction of the British army. I well remember their fine martial appearance. They carried no knapsacks; they made no halt; but marched on with the air of men who feel conscious that they have serious work on hand. All main. tained a profound silence, except one, who appeared to be a subaltern, and who, nodding his head to us, said in an under tone: 'You will soon hear from us.' It was not difficult to comprehend the meaning of this movement. Moreau was seen a short distance off, sitting upon a stone, his musket resting upon his knees, and busily engaged in fixing his flint. |