General Scott | Page 9

the village of Newark and divested of their arms, and a strong
guard was posted at the door. Two Indians, Captain Jacobs and Brant,
sent word that they wished to see the tall American, meaning Colonel
Scott. The alleged object of their visit was to see if Scott had not been
wounded, as he had been fired at several times at close range. On
entering the room, Jacobs seized Scott by the arm and attempted to turn
him around. Scott seized the Indian and threw him against the wall.
Both then drew their knives, and advancing on the prisoner said, "We
kill you now!" The sentinel at the door was not in view, and Scott,
making a spring, seized a sword, which he quickly drew from the
scabbard, and, placing his back against the wall in the narrow hall,
defied his assailants. At this critical moment Captain Coffin, nephew of
General Sheaffe and his aid-de-camp, entered the room and caught
Jacobs by the throat and presented a cocked pistol to his breast. Both
savages now turned on him, and Scott closed in to defend the captain.
At this moment the guard entered, and arrested the two Indians and
conducted them out of the room.
The volunteer officers and men were paroled and sent home, while the
regulars were embarked for Quebec. On the passage to Quebec a priest
of a Caledonian settlement reproached Colonel Scott severely for being
a traitor to George III. Respect for his profession brought out a mild
reply. In 1827, General Scott being at Buffalo on board a Government
steamer, the master of the vessel asked permission to bring into his
cabin a bishop and two priests. The bishop was recognized as the same

prelate who had acted so rudely. General Scott, however, heaped coals
of fire on his head by treating him and his party with the greatest
courtesy.
After a cartel of exchange had been agreed upon, Colonel Scott and the
other regulars, prisoners, were embarked on a vessel for Boston. As
they were about to sail, Colonel Scott's attention was attracted by an
unusual noise on deck. Proceeding from the cabin to the scene of the
disturbance, he found a party of British officers in the act of separating
from the other prisoners such as by confusion or brogue they judged to
be Irishmen. The object was to refuse to parole them, and send them to
England to be tried for high treason. Twenty-three had been selected
and set apart for this purpose.
Colonel Scott learned with indignation that this proceeding was under
the direct orders of Sir George Prevost, the Governor General. He at
once protested, and commanded the remaining men to be silent and
answer no questions. This order was obeyed despite the threats of the
British officers, and none others than the twenty-three were separated
from their comrades. He then addressed the party selected, explaining
the laws of allegiance, and assuring them that the United States
Government would protect them by immediate retaliation, and, if
necessary, by an order to give no quarter hereafter in battle. He was
frequently interrupted by the British officers, but they failed to silence
him. The Irishmen were put in irons, placed on board a frigate, and sent
to England. After Colonel Scott landed in Boston he proceeded to
Washington and was duly exchanged. He at once addressed a letter to
the Secretary of War as follows:
"SIR: I think it my duty to lay before the Department that on the arrival
at Quebec of the American prisoners of war surrendered at Queenstown
they were mustered and examined by British officers appointed to that
duty, and every native-born of the United Kingdom of Great-Britain
and Ireland sequestered and sent on board a ship of war then in the
harbor. The vessel in a few days thereafter sailed for England with
these persons on board. Between fifteen and twenty persons were thus
taken from us, natives of Ireland, several of whom were known by their

platoon officers to be naturalized citizens of the United States, and
others to have been long residents within the same. One in particular,
whose name has escaped me, besides having complied with all the
conditions of our naturalization laws, was represented by his officers to
have left a wife and five children, all of them born within the State of
New York.
"I distinctly understood, as well from the officers who came on board
the prison ship for the above purposes as from others with whom I
remonstrated on this subject, that it was the determination of the British
Government, as expressed through Sir George Prevost, to punish every
man whom it might subject to its power found in arms against the
British king contrary to his native allegiance. I have the honor