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Sir Edward W. C. R. Owen 19 between March and July, with a dozen running in the later month. One man ran at York, six when the ship was at Niagara, on 7 July, and seven when it returned to Kingston in late July.80 Desertion was not just a Lake Ontario phenomenon. Men were deserting from the ships involved in the survey of Lake Erie, in one case causing a significant international incident.81 The British base at Isle aux Noix saw its share of desertion, as well. The muster for the first six months of 1815 reveals fifty-three seamen and seven marines running from the King's service.82 March 1815 was the worse month for seamen fleeing, with forty departing over six separate dates. On the 12th, nineteen men ran and three nights later another nineteen departed from the barracks, at Isle aux Noix. During the year 23.7 per cent of the Royal Navy seamen eloped. Among the Royal Marines the percentage was only 5.3 per cent, but the fact that, overall, marines tended not to desert, makes this, if not significant, certainly note worthy.83 Repairs were made to the naval barracks in June, from which many of the deserters had fled at the end of the winter.84 Some Americans were apparently inciting desertion from both services. In at least one case, an American sergeant was seducing British soldiers to desert, with promises of opportunity and freedom.85 Drummond wrote Anthony St John Baker, British chargé d'affaires in Washington, asking him to deliver a formal protest about the desertion to the American government.86 Secretary of State John Monroe replied that he would discourage further incitements, but the problem continued.87 It appears that seamen and troops of His Majesty's forces in the upper province were competing to see who could desert the most. Sir Frederick Robinson wrote Drummond in September that "with our present infected set, neither the Navy or 80 Muster Table HMS Niagara, 1815, ADM 37/5377. The deserters included two landsmen, one ordinary and five able body seamen, plus one each of, a gunner's mate, boatswain's mate, quarter gunner, captain of the top, and a quarter master's mate. Only one man had been demoted three were promoted while in the ship. 81 Owen to Drummond, 2 October 1815, LAC, RG 8, v. 736, mfr. C3244, 6-7. Lt. Alexander Vidal went in pursuit of the deserters and the personal property they had stolen. He was arrested and tried in Detroit, causing the international incident. He was released after paying a fine, two months after his arrest. 82 Muster Table for Lake Champlain, Isle aux Noix, 15 September 1814 through 30 June 1815, NAUK, ADM 37/5001. The rating of the men reflects that in the muster table, only five were able body seamen, while twenty-eight were ordinary seamen, twenty-five were landsmen, and one was from the carpenter's crew. There were 225 officers and seamen and 133 Royal Marine officers, NCOs and privates in the muster table during the time period. 83 During this period marines were less likely to run than seamen. See, Thomas Malcomson, Order and Disorder in the British Navy, 1793-1815 (Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2016), 125; T. Malcomson. "Muster Table for the Royal Navy's Establishment on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812" The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord 9:2 (April/Avril 1999), 41-67. 84 Foster to Owen, 23 June 1815, LAC, MSLB-Fo, RG 8, v. 1228, mfr. C3527, 146. 85 Drummond to Baker, 17 June 1815, LAC, Drummond to Baker Letter Book [DBLB], RG 8, v. 1236, mfr. C3529, 13-4. See Burt, 378-379. 86 Drummond to Baker, 10 August 1815, LAC, DBLB, RG 8, v. 1236, mfr. C3529, 23-4. 87 Burt, 387.