Select British Documents of the Canadian War of 1812 ed. by William Wood (review)

REVIEWS OF BOOKS 157 d'Affaires, U.S., from York, dated July 1, 1796, he speaksof awaiting with great anxiety "His Majesty's permissionto return to Europe where myi•hysicians saythat I canonlyexpect to recover myhealth." He couldnot foresee SanDomingoand the anxietiesof tropicalwarfare. This volume, like its predecessors, is well printed on good paper with clear type. A very occasional printer's error is to be found, such asthe droppingof lettersat the beginningof a word,and "B. B. Tickell" for "R. B. Tickell". Such errors are not in the least misleading, and the proof-readingin other respectsis unexceptionable. Nothing could be more satisfactory than the editing; and one marvels how a volume socreditableto all concerned in its production,editor, illustrator, proofreader ,printer, and bindercan be soldfor solow a priceas one dollar. All interestedin early Upper Canadawill hopethat the publication in the sameway under the sameeditor of the correspondence relating to the administration of the Honourable Peter Russell will be undertaken at once. WILLIAM RENWICK RIDDELL SelectBritish Documents of the Canadian War of 181œ. Edited with an introduction by W•LL•AM Woof>. Volume III, Part I. Toronto: The Champlain Society. 1926. Pp. viii, 551. T•. concludingvolumeof this valuable collectionof documentsdeals with the eventsof the year 1814with considerable fullness. About two hundred and forty documentsare now published,many of them for the first time. They are classified into threemain groups;onenarrating the operationson the frontiers of Lower and Upper Canada, another describing the "British Counter-invasion"into Maine and New York, and the third entitled "The End of the War." The first groupisdivided into six sections,bringing togetherletters and other papersrelating to the operations on the Montreal frontier, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, the Niagara frontier, the West, and westernOntario. The only eventsof someimportance which seemto have escapedthe editor's attention are the hard-fought action in the Longwoodsof March 4, the hazardous expedition successfully conductedby Lieut.-Colonel R. McDouall for the reliefof Mackinac,and the destructionof the schooner Nancyin the Nottawasaga river in August. The secondgroup naturally falls into two independentsections, havingno relation to eachother, onenarrating the invasionof Maine from Nova Scotia;and the other dealingwith the combinedmilitary and naval expeditionagainstPlattsburg. The occasionallyerratic spelling, punctuation, and use of capital letters in the original papershave, as in the precedingvolumes,been sedulously reproduced.The difficulttasksof transcription,comparison, 158 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW and reading of proofsseemto have been well done. Only one rather glaring error in copyinghas been observed. "Fire Healthy Anchors" (p. 87) shouldevidently read "Five Heavy Anchors." Errorsin decipheringthenamesof little knownpersons wereprobablyinevitable,but they are perhapsmorefrequentthan they oughtto be, asverificationwould not have been difficult. "Meimet" (p. 158)shouldbe Mermet and the same officer's name appears as "Thermet" on p. 199. "Hagreman" (p. 50) shouldbe Hagerman; "Ledergern" (p. 59) shouldbe Ledergren; "Port Erie" (p. 117) shouldbe Fort Erie; "Cooche" (p. 122) shouldbe Couche;"Rockman" (p. 1515) shouldbe Ryckman; "Orrfield" shouldbe Overfield; "Lynai" should be Lyner; "Denmon" (p. 158) should be Denman; "Kemp" (p. 107) should be Kempt; "Colcaugh" (p. 193) should beColclough; "Patterson"(p. 198)should bePatteson;"Barston" should be Barstow; "Pelliehody" should be Pellichody; "Ratledge" (p. 199) should be Rutledge; "Wilsons House" (p. 224) should read Misener's House; "Weishera's" (p. 221) and "Weisheen's" (p. 223) shouldreadWeishuhn's;"Garrat Null" (p. 283) shouldbe Garret Neill; "Macombe" (p. 353) should be Macomb; "De Memnons Regiment" (p. 354) should be "De Meurons Regiment"; "Beckman-town" (pp. 350-7) shouldbe Beekman-town;"from the 7th to the 14th" (p. 359) shouldread "from the 7th to the 11th;.... Hon. I. Armstrong" (p. 300) shouldbe Hon. J. Armstrong; "Sheck's" (p. 1501)shouldbe Sheek's; "Sir I. Sherbrooke" (p. 508) shouldbe Sir J. Sherbrooke;"Sir E. Beckwith " (p. 509) shouldbe Sir S. Beckwith; "Forster" (p. 532) shouldbe Foster. In general the documentshave been selectedwith care and good judgment, but there are certain provokingomissions. Amongthesemay be mentioned Prevost's letters to Drummond of March 24, April 7, April 23, and July 4, without which Drummond'sreplies (pp. 40, 44, 47, and 82) are not entirely intelligible. O'therimportant lettersfrom Riall to Drummondof July 7 andfromPrevostto Drummondof July 20, 23, and 25 have been omitted. None of the correspondence, relating to the siegeoperationsat Fort Erie...