A few prisoners were taken with the fort; but Scott, bent upon making his victory complete, made but a brief halt there, and then hurried on his forces in pursuit of the retreating enemy. Twice orders were sent to him to turn back, and both times he refused to obey them. "Your General does not know," said he to a lieutenant who brought one of {111}these orders, "that I have the enemy within my power; in seventy minutes I shall capture his whole force." Colonel Burn, who ranked Scott, but had consented to serve under him, had crossed the river with a troop of cavalry, and was waiting for another now in midstream, to land, when with his whole force he was to join the pursuit. But the fifteen minutes thus lost in waiting enabled General Boyd to ride up in person and peremptorily order the pursuit discontinued, which of course put an end to it. Just why the General did this--whether he feared the victory might be turned into a disaster, or was only apprehensive that Colonel Scott was getting too much glory--has never been explained. In this action, which was over by noon, the Americans lost one hundred and fifty-three men, killed or wounded. The British loss, as nearly as can be ascertained, was two hundred and seventy-one killed or wounded, and over six hundred unwounded prisoners, five hundred of whom were militia and were paroled. The British seized the opportunity while Dearborn and his forces were absent on this expedition near the western end of Lake Ontario, to make an attack on Sackett's Harbor, at the eastern. The importance of that place to the Americans consisted mainly in the fact that they had established there a {112}large depot of naval and military stores, and were building ships. The expedition sailed from Kingston in four war-vessels, a brig, two schooners, and two gunboats, all under command of Sir James Lucas Yeo. The land forces, commanded by General Prevost, numbered about a thousand, besides a party of Indians, said to have numbered three hundred.