The Fredoniad:
Invocation
...In consequence of the calamities at Raisin, offensive operations are deferred until the return of Spring....
The scene is laid at the above-mentioned place.
The time is about ten months: from the commencement of the War, June 18th, 1812, until the Spring of 1813. From the time the
Essex enters Valparaiso, till the day of Battle, is forty-six hours.
A sample of verses:
On the same morn of the disastrous day,
Which wrapp'd the martyrs in their robes of clay,
Shelby commanded
Croghan from his rest,
And him, like father to a son, address'd:
Thy youthful warriors marshal, and proceed
To strengthen Lewis at his pressing need.
His heart, all anxious, palpitates with pain
To meet the foe, progressing on the plain.