It was a clean victory, gained by hard fighting and skilful manoeuvring; and as the battle took place in a plain where there was scarcely any cover of any kind for the troops on either side, the losses were exceedingly heavy. Just how many men were actually engaged, is a matter of dispute. But on the side of the Americans the number appears not to have been over nineteen hundred, Porter's troops going out of the action before it was fairly begun, and Ripley's not arriving in time to take any part. {237}The number of Riall's troops in the fight appears to have been about twenty-one hundred. The loss of the Americans, in killed, wounded, and missing, was three hundred and twenty-seven; that of the British, five hundred and three. These are the figures of the official reports, which exclude the Indians. Riall did not tarry long to hold his position on the Chippewa. He soon sent a portion of his troops to the forts on the lower Niagara, while with the remainder he retreated to Burlington Heights. His Indian allies, eighty-seven of whom had been killed, while they had not taken a single scalp, all deserted him in disgust. This first battle of the new campaign on the Niagara was a great inspiration to the American people, showing them that American soldiers, if properly drilled and handled, could face and defeat the best troops of the British army; for those under Riall at Chippewa were some of the crack regiments--the Royal Scots, the King's, and the Hundredth. An English writer said: "We have now got an enemy who fights as bravely as ourselves. For some time the Americans cut no figure on land. They have now proved to us that they only wanted time to acquire a little discipline. They have now proved to us what they are made of, and they are {238}the same sort of men as those who captured whole armies under Burgoyne and Cornwallis; that they are neither to be frightened nor silenced; and that if we should beat them at last, we cannot expect to do it without expending three or four hundred millions of money, keeping up all our present taxes, and adding to their amount, or imposing new taxes. These are the natural consequences of battles such as that of Chippewa." Two days after the battle, the Americans crossed Chippewa River, and marched on Fort George. On the way, Colonel Stone, of the New York militia, burned the village of St. Davids, for which he was promptly court-martialled and dismissed from the service. Fort George was invested, and then General Brown sent to Sackett's Harbor to procure heavy guns for its reduction. But Commodore Chauncey was ill, and it seems not to have occurred to him that any other officer could command the fleet for their transportation. So Brown, unable to procure siege guns, abandoned the siege, and marched back to Queenstown, whence he sent his sick across the river, and then prepared for an active campaign.