In June, bills passed congress authorising the construction of four ships, carrying each seventy-four guns, and six frigates each of forty-four guns. The military service was also to be increased; a loan of 16,000,000 of dollars for the present was also authorised, with the issue of treasury notes to the amount of 5,000,000 more. The scene of military operations in 1813 comprehended the extensive northern frontier. At the opening of the campaign, the army of the west, under General Harrison, lay near the head of Lake Erie; the army of the centre, under General Dearborn, between lakes Erie and Ontario; and that of the north, under General Hampton, occupied the shores of Lake Champlain. The invasion of Canada was still the object of the American armies. Sir George Prevost, governor of Canada, and commander-in-chief, could not bring any great force into the field, but his numbers were formidably increased by a vast number of Indian auxiliaries. The defence of Upper Canada was committed to Colonels Proctor and Vincent, and that of Lower Canada to General Sheafe. The head-quarters of Harrison were Franklinton, in Ohio, and thence Brigadier-General Winchester, an old revolutionary officer, marched in advance to attack a party of the British stationed at Frenchtown, twenty-six miles from Detroit. The British were routed, and Winchester encamped in the open field outside the town; and here on the morning of the 22nd of January, they were suddenly attacked by Colonel Proctor, who, with about 500 British and an equal number of Indians, had marched from Amherstburgh. The surprise was complete; and though the Americans rallied and made a desperate defence, their generals, Lewis and old Winchester, were taken prisoners; the latter by Round-head, a famous Indian chief, who, before surrendering his prisoner to the British colonel, stripped him of his hat and uniform, which he himself assumed. A more disastrous fight, or one characterised by more horrible detail, never occurred. It is said that Proctor assured his prisoner Winchester that if his men would surrender they should be preserved from the savage barbarities of the Indians, on which he ordered his men to give up their arms. Proctor, however, did not keep faith, and the promised protection was not afforded. The town was burned, and the savages held a carnival of blood and horror. Five hundred were killed, and the same number made prisoners. The victory and the account of spoils obtained at Frenchtown brought down the warlike tribes from the Wabash, and even the Mississippi, to join the British arms, whose honour was tarnished by suffering these savage barbarities to be enacted under their banner. In July the Six Nations declared war against the Canadas, and the United States, following the example of the British, accepted the services of the Indians. General Harrison was so dismayed at the fate of Winchester, that leaving Franklinton he erected Fort Meigs, near the rapids of the