Alexander Macomb, Jr., born April 3, 1782, Detroit, N. Y.; Cornet Cavalry, January 10, 1799; Second Lieutenant, February, 1801; retained, April, 1802, in Second Infantry; First Lieutenant of Engineers, October, 1802; Captain, June, 1805; Major of Engineers, February 23, 1808; Lieutenant-Colonel, July 23, 1810; Acting Adjutant-General of the Army, April 28, 1812; Colonel Third Artillery, July 6, 1812; Brigadier-General, January 24, 1814; Brevet Major-General, "for distinguished and gallant conduct in defeating the enemy at Plattsburg, September 11, 1814" (October 1, 1814); received the "thanks of Congress" of November 3, 1814, "for his gallantry and good conduct in defeating the enemy at Plattsburg, on the 11th of September, repelling with 1,500 men, aided by a body of militia and volunteers from New York and Vermont, a British veteran army, greatly superior in numbers," with the presentation of a _gold medal_, "emblematical of this triumph;" retained, April 8, 1815; retained, May 21, as Colonel and Principal Engineer, with Brevets Major-General and General-in-Chief of the Army, May 24, 1828; commanded the army of Florida 1836; died June 25, 1841, at his head-quarters, Washington City.--_Gardner's Army Dictionary._ This additional force was placed under the command of Lieutenant John S. Pierce, U. S. A., a brother of the commanding officer,[33] and of Franklin Pierce, President of the United States. It consisted of twenty-two men, with a twelve-oared barge. The whole expedition, now numbering sixty-four persons, embarked at ten o'clock on the 15th, with a fair wind, for our first destination, at Detour, being the west cape of the Straits of St. Mary's. The distance is estimated at forty miles, along a very intricate, masked shore of islands, called Chenos. The breeze carried us at the rate of five miles per hour. The first traverse is an arm of the Lake, three leagues across, over which we passed swimmingly. This traverse is broken near its eastern terminus by Goose Island, the Nekuhmenis (literally Brant Island) of the Chippewas--a noted place of encampment for traders. We did not, however, touch at it. A couple of miles beyond this brought us to Outard Point, where the men rested a few moments on their oars and paddles. This point forms the commencement of those intricate channels which constitute the Chenos group. Our steersman gave them, however, a wide berth, and did not approach near the shore till it began to be time to look out for the mouth of the St. Mary's. After passing Point St. Vitel, a distance of about thirty miles, the guides led into a sandy bay, under the impression that we had reached the west cape of the St. Mary's; but in this we were deceived. While landing here a few moments, in a deep bay, the animal called Kaug by the Chippewas (a porcupine), was discovered and killed by one of the men, called Baptiste, by a blow from a hatchet.