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GIFT    OF 
JANE  K.SATHER 


THE 

LIFE  AND  COKKESPONDENCE 

OF 

MAJOR-GENERAL 

SIR  ISAAC  BROCK,  K,  B. 


'  What  booteth  it  to  have  been  rich  alive  ? 
What  to  be  great  ?    What  to  be  glorious  ? 
If  after  death  no  token  doth  survive 
Of  former  being  in  this  mortal  house, 
But  sleeps  in  dust,  dead  and  inglorious  ?  '' 

SPENCKR'S    "Ruin 


EDITED    BY    HIS   NEPHEW, 

FERDINAND    BROCK    TUPPER,   ESQ. 

M 


SECOND    EDITION,    CONSIDERABLY    ENLARGED. 


LONDON: 
SIMPKIN,    MARSHALL   &    Co. 

GUERNSEY  \ 


Printed  -b<y-  S.  BARBET,  -Owernsey. 


INTRODUCTION 

TO  THE   SECOND   EDITION. 


THE  first  edition  of  this  Memoir  was  compiled  in  a 
very  few  weeks,  amid  other  avocations,  and  while 
attending  the  sick  bed  of  my  father,  who  died  shortly 
before  its  completion ;  and  owing  to  this  want  of 
preparation,  as  well  as  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
materials  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  years,  and  at  so 
great  a  distance  from  the  scene  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's 
principal  labours,  I  candidly  confess  that  it  did  not 
satisfy  my  own  mind.  But  its  publication  having 
happily  drawn  forth  much  valuable  matter,  which  in 
a  few  years  would  otherwise  have  been  lost,  it  will  be 
seen,  from  a  very  cursory  perusal  of  this  volume, 
that  it  is  a  great  improvement  on  its  predecessor,  as 
several  errors,  topographical  and  others,  arising  from 
the  cause  just  mentioned,  have  been  corrected  — 
many  additional  letters  from  Sir  Isaac  Brock  are 
introduced,  while  a  few  others  to  him  of  little  interest 
are  omitted — and  some  new  and  graphic  anecdotes 
and  incidents  are  interwoven  in  the  course  of  the 
narrative.*  Part  of  the  new  matter  may,  however, 
appear  to  the  general  reader  as  uninteresting  and 
superfluous ;  but,  conceiving  that  every  detail,  relat 
ing  to  the  progress  of  a  colony  from  its  infant  state, 
possesses  a  local  and  statistical  value,  I  have  thought 
such  data  worthy  of  being  preserved.  To  Colonel 

*  The  additional  matter  in  this  volume  amounts  to  about  one-third 
of  the  first  edition. 


268728 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

bbon,  who  served  many  years  in  the  49th.  as 
well  as  to  Chief  Jus-  nson,  of  Upper  Canada, 

who  was  an  officer  in  the  militia  of  that  pro 
during  the  war,  I  cannot  sufficiently  express  my 
obligation  for  the  very  kind  and  handsome  manner 
in  which  they  complied  with  my  request,  and  have 
come  forward  to  my  assistance.  The  first  edition 
met  with  greater  favor,  particularly  in  Canada,  than 
I  anticipated ;  but  having  anxiously  striven  to  amend 
this  volume — having  consulted  every  authority  which 
could  amplify  or  elucidate  my  subject,  I  submit  my 
present  work  to  the  public  with  fewer  apprehensions 
of  inaccuracy  or  mis-statement.  And  I  may  add,  that 
I  have  undertaken  this  edition  because  I  felt  it  due 
to  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  and,  above  all,  because  1 
ceived  that  the  people  of  Upper  Canada,  who  have 
continued  to  evince  an  attachment  for  him  which  is 
as  honorable  to  themselves  as  to  its  object,  and  who 
have  raised  a  lofty  column  in  stone  to  his  memory. 
had  a  right  to  expect  the  erection  of  a  literary  monu 
ment,  which  should  contain  a  faithful  record  of  the 
services  of  him  who  died  in  their  defence.  This 
record  was  the  more  wanting  —  "considering  the 
character  of  the  distinguished  chief  who  foil  on  the 
British  side  at  the  Queenstown  battle,  of  him  who 
undoubtedly  was  *  the  best  officer  that  headed  their 
troops  throughout  the  war""* — because  the  Quar 
terly  Review  for  July,  18*2*2 — in  a  very  able  article 
on  the  Canadian  Campaigns,  which  has  sinee  served 
as  a  guide  to  the  historian,  and  the  materials  for 
which.  I  have  been  credibly  informed,  were  partly 
furnished  by  Major-General  Procter  or  his  relatives 
—  has  ascribed  to  that  officer  the  chief  merit  of  the 
capture  of  Detroit  and  the  American  army,  ^see  pages 

:id  44*2,)  and  has  dismissed  Sir  Isaac  Brock's 
services  with  the  meagre  narration  of  scarcely  a  page 
and  a  half,  his  fall  being  mentioned  without  eliciting 
a  single  expression  either  of  encomium  or  regret— 

*  James*  Military  Occurrences.    London,  1818. 


.  I 

although  one  would  suppose  that  the  reviewer  would 
'JebVhtcd  TO  -ei/e  -(>  fitting  a  theme  for  graceful 
lament  and  generous  praise  —  while  General  Procter's 
subsequent  operations   occupy   no   less   than   ten  or 
eleven  pages;    the  entire  context,  moreover,   }<-.'• 
the  reader  to  suppose  that  General  Procter,  and  not 
General    Brock,   was  "the  hero  of  Upper  Car.- 
by  which  term  the  latter  is  still  fondly  arid  honorably 
remembered   in  that  province.     In  consequent 
Isaac  Brock's  character,  gallantry,  and  exertion 
not  sufficiently   known  or  appreciated  on  this  fi< 
the  Atlantic;  but,  happily,  the  Canadian  people  have 
in  some  measure  repaired  this  cruel  injustice  —  this 
want  of  common  candour  and  generosity — by  award 
ing  to  their  hero  that  meed  of  fame  which  another 
sought  to  withhold,  and  which   his   deeds  and  un 
timely  death  should  have  secured  to  him. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  be  pardoned  the  addit> 
my  regret  that  this  Memoir  was  not  undertaken 
many  years  ago  by  an  officer,  who,  from  having 
•-crved  on  the  personal  staff  of  the  general,  both  at 
Detroit  and  Queenstown,  arid  long  enjoyed  his  esteem 
and  friendship,  was  in  every  way  more  qualified  for 
the  task  than  myself,  especially  as  my  editorial 
labours  have  been  unaided  by  any  notes  or  memo 
randa  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  who  unfortunately  was  not 
in  the  habit  of  committing  to  paper  any  private  details 
of  his  life  or  services,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
lines  relative  to  the  expedition  to  Detroit ;  and  this 
regret  will  doubtless  be  shared  by  the  reader  on  see 
ing  the  following  extract  of  a  letter,  now  before  me, 
from  that  officer  to  Mr.  William  Brock,  dated  Fort 
Niagara,  American  Territory,  30th  December,  181*5: 
"  When  I  am  allowed  to  enjoy  a  little  leisure,  I  shall 
riot  be  unmindful  of  your  request,  and  will  send  some 
anecdotes  of  the  public  and  private  life  of  my  much 
lamented  friend,  which  will  do  honor  to  his  memory. 
At  one  time,  I  had  thoughts  of  writing  the  first  cam 
paign,  and  prepared  a  preface,  which  I  intended 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

should  shew  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of  your  illus 
trious  brother;  but  finding  myself  bound  to  relate  so 
many  strong  facts  affecting  my  superiors,  I  paused 
for  reasons,  which,  in  a  military  man,  you  will,  I 
think,  consider  prudent."  What  these  anecdotes 
were,  or  would  have  been,  is  now  a  matter  of  conjec 
ture,  as  I  fear  that  they  are  irrecoverably  lost.  Like 
the  writer  of  this  letter,  I  have  experienced  some 
hesitation  in  narrating  facts,  as  I  wished  not  to  give 
either  pain  or  offence,  remembering  the  maxim : 
"  On  doit  des  egards  aux  vivans — on  ne  doit  aux 
niorts  que  la  verite ; "  but  my  duty  as  a  biographer 
has  prevailed  over  every  other  consideration  ;  and  if, 
as  a  civilian,  I  have  laboured  under  a  disadvantage 
in  describing  military  events,  I  trust  that  that  disad 
vantage  is  in  some  measure  compensated  by  the 
greater  freedom  with  which  I  have  been  enabled  to 
write  in  illustration  of  my  subject.  This  freedom 
will  doubtless  be  displeasing  to  a  few,  who,  or  whose 
relatives,  not  having  figured  very  creditably  during 
the  war  in  Canada,  will  arraign  this  work  as  written 
too  much  in  accordance  with  a  sentiment  of  the 
French  historian  Bodin — a  sentiment  ever  upper 
most  in  my  mind  while  compiling  it :  "  Autrefois  on 
ecrivait  1'histoire  a  Tusage  du  dauphin  ;  aujourd'hui 
c'est  a  Pusage  du  peuple  qu'il  faut  1'ecrire." 

F.  B.  T. 

GUERNSEY,  April,  1847. 


PREFACE. 


IN  the  early  part  of  last  year,  a  box  of  manuscripts 
and  the  trunks  belonging  to  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  which 
had  remained  locked  and  unexamined  for  nearly 
thirty  years,  were  at  length  opened,  as  the  general's 
last  surviving  brother,  Savery,  in  whose  possession 
they  had  remained  during  that  period,  was  then,  from 
disease  of  the  brain,  unconscious  of  passing  events. 
With  that  sensibility  which  shrinks  from  the  sight  of 
objects  that  remind  us  of  a  much-loved  departed  rela 
tive  or  friend,  he  had  allowed  the  contents  to  remain 
untouched ;  and  when  they  saw  the  light,  the  gene 
ral's  uniforms,  including  the  one  in  which  he  fell, 
were  much  motheaten,  but  the  manuscripts  were 
happily  uninjured.  On  the  return  of  the  Editor 
from  South  America,  in  May  last,  he  for  the  first 
time  learnt  the  existence  of  these  effects  ;  and  a  few 
weeks  after,  having  hastily  perused  and  assorted  the 
letters  and  other  papers,  he  decided  on  their  publica 
tion.  Whether  this  decision  was  wise,  the  reader 
must  determine.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  part  of  their 
interest  be  lost  in  the  lapse  of  years  ;  on  the  other, 
they,  and  the  comments  they  have  elicited,  can  now 
be  published  with  less  risk  of  wounding  private 
feelings. 

It  has  been  the  Editor's  study  to  avoid  all  unne 
cessary  remarks  on  the  letters  in  this  volume,  so  as 
to  allow  the  writers  to  speak  for  themselves.  But  he 
has  deemed  it  a  sacred  obligation  due  to  the  memory 
of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  to  withhold  nothing  descriptive 
of  his  energetic  views  and  intentions,  and  of  the 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

obstacles  he  experienced  in  the  vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  contest — obstacles  which  his  gallant  spirit 
could  not  brook,  and  which  necessarily  exposed 
"his  valuable  life"  much  more  than  it  would  have 
been  in  offensive  operations.  He  regrets,  however, 
that  in  the  performance  of  this  duty,  he  must  neces 
sarily  give  pain  to  the  relatives  of  the  late  Sir  George 
Prevost,  of  whose  military  government  in  Canada  he 
would  much  rather  have  written  in  praise  than  in 
censure. 

Brief  memoirs  are  inserted,  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  Appendix,  of  one  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  brothers, 
the  bailiff  or  chief  magistrate  of  Guernsey,  and  of 
two  of  their  nephews,  Lieutenant  E.  W.  Tupper,  R.N., 
and  Colonel  W.  De  Vic  Tupper,  of  the  Chilian  ser 
vice.  The  prenjature  fate  of  these  two  promising 
young  officers  is,  to  those  who  knew  them  best,  still 
a  source  of  unceasing  regret  and  of  embittering  re 
membrance. 

The  notices  of  the  celebrated  Tecumseh  interspersed 
throughout  the  volume,  and  the  connected  sketch  of 
him  near  its  close,  can  scarcely  fail  to  interest  the 
reader  ;  that  sketch  is  drawn  from  various  and  appa 
rently  authentic  sources,  and  the  Editor  believes  that 
it  is  more  copious  than  any  which  has  yet  appeared 
of  this  distinguished  Indian  chief.*  A  perusal  will 
perhaps  awaken  sympathy  in  behalf  of  a  much-in 
jured  people ;  it  may  also  tend  to  remove  the  films 
of  national  prejudice,  and  prove  that  virlue  and  cou 
rage  are  not  confined  to  any  particular  station  or 
country,  but  that  they  may  exist  as  well  in  the  wilds 
of  the  forest,  as  in  the  cultivated  regions  of  civi 
lization. 


GUERNSEY,  January  15,  1845. 


*  1  have  since  learnt  that  there  is  a  memoir  of  Tecumseh  in  Thatcher's 
Indian  Biography,  an  American  work,  which  I  have  been  unable  to 
procure.— F.  B.  T. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Parentage  and  birth— Boyhood— Enters  the  King's  Regiment— Trait 
of  determination  of  character — Becomes  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the 
49th — Campaign  in  Holland,  in  1799 — A  young  Irish  Sergeant — 
Russian  troops  in  Guernsey— Battle  of  Copenhagen,  in  1801— Notice 
of  John  Savery  Brock,  Esq 1 


CHAPTER    II. 

Proceeds  to  Canada  with  the  49th — Deserters — Suppresses  a  mutiny 
at  Fort  George — Military  Execution — Returns  to  Europe,  and  re 
commends  the  formation  of  a  Veteran  Battalion  for  Upper  Canada — 
Re-embarks  for  Canada 24 


CHAPTER    III. 

Succeeds  Colonel  Bowes  in  command  of  the  troops  in  Canada— Strin 
gent  Instructions  to  the  Deputy  Commissary  -  General  —  Marine 
Department — Bishop  M'Donell — Jesuits'  Barracks — French  Secret 
Envoy  to  the  Canadians — Relief  to  a  Widow  and  her  Children — 
General  Orders — Letters  to  Lieut.-Colpnel  Gordon,  Right  Hon.  W. 
Windham,  Colonel  Glasgow,  Mr.  President  Dunn,  Lieut. -Governor 
Gore,  the  Adjutant- General,  Major  Mackenzie,  and  Lord  Castlereagh 
—Arrival  of  Sir  James  Craig 38 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Stationed  at  Montreal— North- West  Company— Disaffection  of  French 
Canadians,  and  Causes  of  their  Discontent— P.  Carey  Tupper,  Esq. — 
General  Sir  James  Kempt — Society  in  Guernsey — Post  Office  in 
Canada — Baroness  de  Rottenburg — Lieut.-Colonel  Murray — Letters 
from  Lieut.-Colonel  Thornton,  Colonel  Baynes,  Lieut. -Governor 
Gore,  Colonel  Kempt,  and  Colonel  Vesey — Letters  to  his  Brothers, 
to  Mrs.  W.  Brock,  to  his  brother  Irving,  Lieut. -Governor  Gore, 
Sir  James  Craig,  and  Major  Taylor— Duke  of  Kent— Queen  Victoria.  68 

CHAPTER    V. 

Is  made  a  Major-General — Sir  James  Craig  returns  to  England,  his 
character  and  administration — Sir  Gordon  Drummond — Duke  of 
Manchester — Arrival  of  Sir  George  Prevost,  services,  military  repu- 


t  CONTEXTS. 

tation,  and  nativity— Major-General  Brock  is  appointed  President 
uf  TTfp«  r»»*i  nflmi  of  Mr.  W.  Brock— The  Right  Hon.  Edward 
•Bee,  M.  P.— Letters  from  Major-General  Vesey,  Colonel  Baynes, 
William  BMOk.  Esq.,  and  Ueut.-Colonel  Torrens— Letters  to  Ensign 
N.  Freer,  to  his  Brothers,  and  to  and  troni  Sir  George  Prevost 103 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Causes  of  the  American  War— Address  to  the  Legislature— The  neces 
sity  of  capturing  Detroit  and  Michilimackinac  pointed  out— Procla 


mation  relative  to  hemp— Chief  Justice  Scott— Imprisonment  of 
hoi— Renewal  of  the  Embargo— Letters  from  Sir  James 
to  and  from  Sir  George  Prevost  and  Colonel  Baynes, 


Sir.  Nichol— Renewal 
IMBMII  i.  to  and  fro 
to  tiw  Mmtary  Secretary,  and  Lieut-.Colonel  Kichol 136 


CHAPTER    VII. 
riptkffi  of  the  boundaries,  military  posts,  and  lakes 


of  Upper  Canada— of  the  Michigan  territory,  Detroit,  and  Michili- 
mackinac,  as  existing  in  1812. 179 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

War  declared— Major-General  Brock's  proceedings— Force  under  his 
command— Letters  from  Colonel  Baynes,  and  to  and  from  Sir  George 


CHAPTER   IX. 

General  Hull  invades  Upper  Canada— His  proclamation,  and  that  of 
Major-General  Brock  in  reply— Letters  to  Sir  G.  Prevost  and  from 
Sir  T.  Saumarez— Address  to  the  Legislature—  Critical  state  of  the 
Itamnce..  206 


CHAPTER   X. 

Capture  of  Michflimackinac—  Letters  to  and  from  Sir  G.  Prevost,  from 
Colonels  Baynes  and  Bruyeres 223 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Occurrences  in  the  Western  District— Tecumseh— Major-  General  Brock 
proceeds  to  Amherstburg— Voyare  described— General  Order— In. 
dians,  and  notice  of  Tecumseh— Summons  to  General  Hull,  and  his 
••••M  Tim  1 1  nili  i  of  Detroit,  and  its  consequences — Anecdotes  of 
Tecumseh— Country  about  Detroit— Indian  war  in  i;63 338 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Letters  relative  to  the  capture  of  General  Hull  and  Detroit— from 
Major-General  Brock  to  Sir  G.  Prevost,  and  to  his  Brothers— from 
Sir  G.  Prevost,  Earl  Bathurst,  W.  Brock,  Esq.,  Mr.  Justice  Powell, 
Chief  Justice  Sew  ell.  General  Maitiand,  Major-General  Burnet,  and 
Lieut-Colonel  XichoL :...  aft) 


CO.VTK  XI 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Major-General  Brock  retains  to  the  Niagara  frontier—  Armistice— 
Proposed  attack  on  SacketTs  Harboor  prerented—  Letters  to  and 
from  Six  G.  Prerort  and  Majnr  fill-rill  Van  BcpMelaer-from 
CMoadB*y»«  tOM*fa»CUuMlf>iMln,  and  to  J.  S.  Brock,  Esq. 
—Wrongs  of  the  Indians.  ........................................  293 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Rival  forced  on  the  Niagara  frontier—  Capture  of  brigs  Detroit  and 
Caledonia—  Letters  to  Sir  G.  Prevort  and  Colonel  Procter—  Battle 
of  Qoeenstown,  and  death  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock  —  His  funeral  and  cha 
racter—Sir  Roger  Sheaffe—  Description  of  Queenstown  Heights,  Jtc.  322 

CHAPTER    XV. 


— 

kett'a  Harbour—  Colonel  Procter's  operations  near 
of  British  squadron  on  Lake  Erie—  Speech  of  Te- 
t  and  surrender  of  Major-General  Procter's  army- 


Sir  R.  Sheaffe  and  armistice—  Farther  remarks  on 
Americans  obtain  the  command  of  Lake  Ontario—  Capture  of  York 
—Attack  on  Sackett'a  Harbour—  Col 
Detroit—  Defeat 
cumseh—  Retreat  and 

Capture  of  Fort  George,  and  surprise  of  die  A"irfrnm  troops  at 
Stoney  Creek—  Conflicts  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  in  1814—  Attack 
on  Michilimackinac—  23  British  deserters—  Peace—  Sir  G.  Prerosfs 
death  and  character—  Inscription  on  Monument  to—  Colonel  Topper.  357 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Memoir  of  Tecumseh....  •-. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Servant— Letters  from  the  Duke  of  York,  J.  Savery  and  Irving  Brock, 
Esqs.,  and  Mrs.  Eliot — Introduction  of  four  Indian  chiefs  to  George 
the  Fourth,  at  Windsor — Destruction  of  Monument,  and  "  gather 
ing"  on  Qneenstown  Heights— Intended  obelisk— Services  of  the 
49th  regiment,  and  gallant  exploit  of  Lieutenant  Fitzgibbon— 
Notice  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  brothers,  sisters,  and  nephews— Letters 
from  Colonel  Brock  to  James  Cuthbert,  Esq 397 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Sir  George  Prevost— Sir  R.  H.  Sheaffe  and  Battle  of  Queenstown— 
41st  regiment— Letter  from  Chief  Justice  Robinson 426 


APPENDIX    A. 
SECTION    I.  —  BRITISH    AUTHORS. 

.  Letter  from  Lord  Aylmer  — 2.  Dispatch  from  Captain  Roberts  — 
3.  Letters  from  General  Hull  and  capitulation  of  Detroit — i.  Extracts 
from  Letters  of  Veritas  —  5.  Sir  G.  Preyost's  general  order  — 6.  Ex- 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

tract  from  Quarterly  Review,  and  Lieutenant  Hall's  Travels  — 
7.  Brief  extracts  from  various  authors— 8.  Council  of  condolence — 
9.  Monument  in  St.  Paul's  cathedral — 10.  A  Huron  chief's  surprise 
on  seeing  this  monument — 11.  Address  of  the  Commons  of  Upper 
Canada  to  the  Prince  Regent — 12.  Grants  of  Provincial  Legislature 
for  monument — 13.  Re-interment  described — 14.  Dickens'  American 
notes 437 


SECTION    II. — AMERICAN   AUTHORS. 

I.  Jefferson's  correspondence— 2.  General  Hull's  revolutionary  ser 
vices— 3.  Letter  from  Captain  Wool— Battle  of  Queenstown— Hull's 
army  at  Detroit 458 


APPENDIX    B. 

Daniel  De  Lisle  Brock,  Esq 


APPENDIX    C. 

Lieutenant  E.  William  Tupper,  R.  N 472 

APPENDIX    D. 

Colonel  W.  De  Vic  Tupper,  Chilian  service — 4/7 


CORRIGENDA. 

Page  22,  line  8,  for  1790,  read  1791. 

144,     „   19,  for  1811,  read  1812. 

191,     »   16,  for  18th  of  July,  read  10th  of  July. 

223,  for  Chapter  VIII,  read  Chapter  X. 

246,     ,,     5,  for  Giveins,  rend  Givens. 

334,     „  34,  for  16  killed,  read  18  killed. 

367,     „  14,  after  seamen,   add  supported  by  four  guns  and  600 
Indians. 

414,  foot  note,  for  inverrted,  read  inverted. 

434-36,  head  line,  for  Appendix  A,  Section  l,  read  Life  and  Corres 
pondence  of. 
N.  B.— The  name  of  Proctor  to  be  spelt  throughout  Procter. 


Page  281,  additional  foot  note. —  Mr.  Russell  was  the  American  charge 
'affaires  in  London. 


THE 

LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE 

OF 

MAJOR-GENERAL 

SIR    ISAAC     BROCK,     K.  B. 
CHAPTER   I. 

THE  Guernsey  family  of  BROCK  is  probably  of  En 
glish  origin,  but  we  have  been  unable  to  ascertain 
the  period  of  its  first  establishment  in  the  island. 
The  parochial  register  of  St.  Peter-Port  extends  only 
to  the  year  1563,  soon  after  which  it  contains  the 
name  of  Philip  Brock,  By  "  Robson's  Armorial 
Bearings  of  the  Nobility  and  Gentry  of  Great  Bri 
tain  and  Ireland,"  eight  families  of  the  name  of 
Brock  appear  to  bear  different  arms,  one  of  which 
was  borne  by  all  the  Brocks  of  Guernsey — viz.  azure, 
a  fleur  de  lis  or,  on  a  chief  argent  a  lion  pass,  guard, 
gu. — crest,  an  escallop  or* — until  the  death  of  Sir 
Isaac  Brock,  when  new  and  honorary  armorial  bear 
ings  were  granted  by  the  sovereign  to  his  family. 
Brock  f  is  the  ancient  Saxon  name  for  badger,  and  as 
such  is  still  retained  in  English  dictionaries.  J  Frois- 

*  With  a  slight  variation,   the  field  being   gules  instead  of  azure. 
Motto,  Vincit  Veritas. 

t  There  is  a  rivulet  Brock  in  Scotland,  close  to  which  Cromwell  de 
feated  General  Lesley  at  the  celebrated  battle  of  Dunbar,  in  1650. 

t  BROCK,  n. s.  [bpnc,  Saxon;  broc,  Irish;   broch,  Welsh  and  Cornish.] 
badger.—  Johnson,  1827. 

BROK,  an  old  sword,  or  dagger.— Bailey,  1751. 
B 


2  LIFE    Alt  D    (JGURESPONDENCE    OF 

sart,*  in  his  Chronicles,  makes  mention  of  Sir  Hugh 
Brock,  an  English  knight,  keeper  of  the  Castle 
of  Derval,  in  Brittany,  for  his  cousin  Sir  Robert 
Knolles,  who  was  governor  of  all  the  duchy,  arid 
resided  in  Brest,  during  the  absence  of  the  duke  in 
England.  The  French  overran  Brittany  at  this  pe 
riod,  and  leaving  2,000  men  near  Brest,  so  as  to 
prevent  its  receiving  succours,  sat  down  with  "  great 
engines"  before  the  castle  of  Derval,  to  the  siege  of 
which  came  the  constable  of  France,  the  Duke  of 
Bourbon,  the  Earls  of  Alen^on  and  of  Perche,  and 
a  great  number  of  the  barony  and  chivalry  of  France. 
The  castle  being  sore  oppressed,  Sir  Hugh  Brock 
was  at  length  constrained  to  agree  to  surrender  it  at 
the  end  of  two  months,  if  not  relieved  by  that  time. 
Sir  Robert  Knolles,  hearing  this,  also  began  to  treat 
with  the  French,  and  agreed  with  Bertrand  du 
Guesclin,  the  constable,  that  he  would  surrender  the 
garrison  of  Brest  in  forty  days,  unless  a  sufficient 
force  should  arrive,  and  enable  him  to  fight.  Being 
reinforced,  he  set  out  from  Brest,  and  relieved  his 
Castle  of  Derval.  These  events  occurred  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  the  Third,  during  the  latter  half 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  when  the  English  were 
driven  out  of  France  ;  and  as  Guernsey  is  in  the 
direct  course  between  Brittany  and  England,  may 
not  one  of  Sir  Hugh  Brock's  family,  on  his  passage 
across  the  Channel,  have  visited  the  island  and 
settled  there  ? 

The  common  ancestor  of  the  present  Guernsey 
family  of  the  name  of  Brock  was  William  Brock, 
Esq.,*  a  native  of  the  island,  who  died  in  the  year 
1776,  and  was  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
volume.  He  had  three  sons  and  one  daughter,  who 
became  connected  by  marriage  with  some  of  the 
principal  and  most  ancient  families  of  Guernsey ; 
namely,  William,  married  to  Judith,  daughter  of 

*  Translation  from  the  French  by  Lord  Berners,  vol.  ii,  chap.  39,  40. 
London  Edition,  1815. — Also  Johnes'  translation,  London,  1842. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  d 

James  de  Beauvoir,  Esq.  ;*  John,  married  to  Eliza 
beth  De  Lisle,  f  daughter  of  the  then  lieutenant- 
bailiff  of  the  island  ;  Henry,  married  to  Susan 
Saumarez,  sister  of  the  late  Admiral  Lord  de  Sau- 
marez;  and  Mary,  wife  of  John  Le  Marchant,  Esq.:}: 
In  giving  this  brief  recital  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's 
family  and  connexions,  we  feel  pride  in  adding,  that 
in  Guernsey  the  law  of  primogeniture  prevails  hap 
pily  to  a  very  limited  extent ;  all  the  children,  both 
sons  and  daughters,  inheriting  nearly  alike.  In  con 
sequence,  the  upper  ranks  belong  to  what  in  England 
would  be  called  the  middle  classes  of  society,  because 
property,  both  real  and  personal,  is  so  divided  at 
every  generation,  that  wealth  in  families  cannot  be 
long  preserved  entire.  But  if  there  be  no  "  eldest 
son,"  there  is  what  the  philanthropist  will  value 
much  more  highly — a  moral  and  contented  popu 
lation  of  above  1100  souls  to  a  square  mile,  with 
neither  great  riches  nor  extreme  poverty,  with  nei 
ther  luxurious  landlords  nor  a  degraded  tenantry. 

John  Brock,  Esq.,  born  January  24,  1729,  second 
son  of  the  above-named  William,  had  by  his  wife, 
Elizabeth  De  Lisle,  a  very  numerous  family  of  ten 
sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom  eight  sons  and  two 
daughters  reached  maturity.  He  died  in  June,  1777, 
at  Dinan,  in  Brittany,  whither  he  had  gone  for  the 
benefit  of  the  waters,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-eight 
years. §  In  his  youth  he  was  a  midshipman  in  the 
navy,  and  in  that  capacity  had  made  a  voyage  to 

*  The  name  of  this  ancient  family,  second  to  none  in  wealth  and 
station,  became  extinct  in  Guernsey,  in  1810,  on  the  death  of  Osmond 
De  Beauvoir,  Esq.,  when  his  large  property  was  inherited  by  distant 
relatives. — Duncan's  History  of  Guernsey. 

t  Sir  John  De  Lisle  was  appointed  governor  of  Guernsey  on  the  28th 
May,  1405,  6  Hen.  IV.,  (vide  Curtis'  French  Rolls,  vol.  ii,  p.  189,)  and 
proceeded  to  that  island  in  July  following. 

t  Major-General  Le  Marchant  and  his  eldest  son,  a  captain  in  the  Foot 
Guards,  who  both  fell  in  Spain  during  the  late  war ;  and  Captain  Philip 
Saumarez,  who  was  Lord  Anson's  first  lieutenant  in  the  Centurion,  and 
was  slain  in  1/47,  while  commanding  the  Nottingham,  of  64  guns,  were 
members  of  those  families. 

$  Brock  street,  at  Bath,  was  named  after  him  by  the  projector,  in 
testimony  of  friendship. 


4  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

India,  which  was  then  considered  a  great  under 
taking.  As  he  was  possessed  of  much  activity  of 
mind  and  considerable  talent,  his  death  was  an 
irreparable  loss  to  his  children,  who  were  of  an  age 
to  require  all  the  care  and  counsels  of  a  father ;  the 
eldest,  John,  having  only  completed  his  seventeenth 
year.  They  were  left  in  independent,  if  not  in  afflu 
ent,  circumstances ;  but  the  fond  indulgence  of  a 
widowed  mother,  who  could  deny  them  no  enjoy 
ment,  tended,  notwithsatnding  their  long  minority, 
to  diminish  their  patrimony. 

Isaac  Brock,  the  eighth  son,  was  born  in  the  parish 
of  St.  Peter-Port,  Guernsey,  on  the  C5th  of  October, 
1769,  the  memorable  year  which  gave  birth  to 
Napoleon  and  Wellington.  In  his  boyhood  he  was 
like  his  brothers,  unusually  tall,  robust,  and  preco 
cious  ;  and,  with  an  appearance  much  beyond  his  age, 
remarkable  in  his  own  family  chiefly  for  extreme 
gentleness.  He  was,  however,  considered  by  his 
schoolfellows  as  the  best  swimmer  and  boxer  in  the 
school;  and  he  used  to  swim  from  the  mainland  of 
Guernsey  to  Castle  Cornet,  a  distance  each  way  of 
nearly  half  a  mile.  This  feat  is  the  more  difficult 
from  the  strong  tides  which  run  between  the  passage. 
In  his  eleventh  year  he  was  sent  to  school  at  South 
ampton,  and  his  education  was  concluded  by  his 
being  placed  for  a  twelvemonth  under  a  French 
Protestant  clergyman  at  Rotterdam,  for  the  purpose 
of  learning  the  French  language.  His  eldest  brother, 
John,  a  lieutenant  in  the  8th,  the  King's,  regiment, 
being  promoted  to  a  company  by  purchase,  Isaac 
succeeded,  also  by  purchase,  to  the  ensigncy  which 
consequently  became  vacant  in  that  regiment,  and  to 
which  he  was  appointed  on  the  2d  of  March,  1785. 
soon  after  he  had  completed  his  fifteenth  year.  He 
joined  in  England,  and  was  quartered  there  in  dif 
ferent  places  for  a  few  years.  Having  entered  the 
army  at  so  early  an  age,  he  happily  felt  sensible  of 
his  deficiencies  of  education ;  and  for  a  long  period 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  0 

he  devoted  his  leisure  mornings  to  study,  locking 
the  door  of  his  room  until  one  o'clock,  to  prevent 
intrusion.  In  1790  he  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenant- 
cy,  and  was  quartered  in  Guernsey  and  Jersey.  At 
the  close  of  that  year  he  obtained  an  independent 
company,  by  raising  the  number  of  men  to  complete 
it,  and  was  placed  on  half  pay.  He  exchanged  soon 
after,  by  giving  the  difference,  into  the  49th,  which 
regiment  he  joined  at  Barbadoes,  in  1791 ;  and  he 
remained  doing  duty  there,  and  afterwards  at  Ja 
maica,  until  1793,  when  he  was  compelled  to  return 
very  suddenly  to  England  on  sick  leave,  having 
nearly  fallen  a  victim  to  the  pestilential  effects  of 
the  climate,  and  an  immediate  embarkation  being 
pronounced  his  only  chance  of  recovery.  His  first 
cousin,  Lieutenant  Henry  Brock,  of  the  13th  foot, 
who  was  ill  at  the  same  time  at  Jamaica,  died  of  the 
fever ;  and  the  survivor  always  thought  that  he  was 
indebted  for  his  life  to  the  affectionate  attentions  of 
his  servant,  Dobson,  whom  he  subsequently  ever 
treated  with  the  kindness  of  a  brother,  until  he  died 
in  his  service,  shortly  before  himself,  in  Canada. 
The  mention  of  the  following  trait  of  great  deter 
mination  of  character  may  serve  as  a  guide  to  other 
young  officers,  similarly  circumstanced.  When  Cap 
tain  Brock  joined  the  49th,  the  peace  of  the  regiment 
was  disturbed  by  one  of  those  vile  pests  of  society — a 
confirmed  duellist.  Captain  Brock  soon  proved  to 
his  brother  captain,  who  took  advantage  of  being  a 
dead  shot,  that  he  was  neither  to  be  bullied  nor 
intimidated ;  and  the  result  was  a  challenge  from 
the  latter,  which  was  promptly  accepted.  On  the 
ground,  Captain  Brock,  who  was  very  tall  and 
athletic,  observed  that  to  stand  at  twelve  paces  was 
not  to  meet  his  antagonist  on  any  thing  like  equal 
terms,  and,  producing  a  handkerchief,  insisted  on 
firing  across  it.  This  the  duellist  positively  declined, 
and  being  in  consequence  soon  after  compelled  to 
leave  the  regiment,  the  officers  were  thus  relieved, 


O  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

by  the  firm  and  resolute  conduct  of  a  very  young 
man,  of  the  presence  of  one  with  whom  all  'social 
intercourse  had  previously  been  difficult  and  dan 
gerous.  On  his  return  from  Jamaica,  Captain  Brock 
was  employed  on  the  recruiting  service  in  England, 
and  afterwards  in  charge  of  a  number  of  recruits  at 
Jersey.  On  the  24th  June,  1795,  he  purchased  his 
majority,  and  remained  in  command  of  the  recruits 
until  the  return  of  the  regiment  to  England  the 
following  year.  On  the  25th  of  October,  1797,  just 
after  he  had  completed  his  twenty-eighth  year, 
Major  Brock  purchased  his  lieutenant-colonelcy, 
and  soon  after  became  senior  lieut.-colonel  of  the 
49th.  This  was  very  rapid  promotion  for  one  who 
had  not  only  entered  the  army  during  a  period  of 
profound  peace,  but  had  been  five  years  an  ensign ; 
and,  having  no  interest  excepting  that  which  his 
own  merit  might  have  procured  him,  he  was  gene 
rally  considered  at  that  time  as  one  of  the  most 
fortunate  officers  in  the  service.  In  a  little  more 
than  seven  years,  he  had  risen  from  an  ensign  to  be 
a  lieutenant-colonel.  Owing  to  some  mismanage 
ment  and  peculation  on  the  part  of  his  predecessor, 
who  was  in  consequence  recommended  privately  to 
sell  out,  if  he  did  not  wish  to  stand  the  ordeal  of  a 
court  martial,  the  regiment  was  sadly  disorganized  ; 
but  the  commander-in-chief,  the  late  Duke  of  York, 
was  heard  to  declare  that  Lieut.-Colonel  Brock,  from 
one  of  the  worst,  had  made  the  49th  one  of  the  best 
regiments  in  the  service. 

In  1798,  the  49th  was  quartered  in  Jersey,  whence 
it  proceeded  to  England  early  the  following  year, 
to  take  part  in  the  projected  expedition  to  Holland, 
as  in  1799  the  British  Government  determined  on 
sending  a  strong  military  force  to  that  country,  then 
in  alliance  with  the  French  republic,  which  force  was 
to  be  joined  by  a  Russian  army.  The  first  English 
division,  consisting  of  twelve  battalions  of  infantry, 
among  which  was  the  49th,  and  a  small  body  of 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  7 

cavalry,  assembled  at  Southampton  under  Sir  Ralph 
Abercromby,  and,  having  embarked,  finally  sailed 
from  the  Downs  on  the  14th  of  August.  On  the 
26th  of  that  month,  the  fleet,  consisting  of  fifteen 
ships  of  the  line,  from  forty-five  fo  fifty  frigates, 
sloops,  and  smaller  vessels  of  war,  and  one  hundred 
and  thirty  sail  of  transports,  anchored  along  the  coast 
of  North  Holland,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Texel  as 
far  as  Calants-Oge.  Early  the  next  morning,  the 
flank  companies  were  landed  under  the  protection  of 
the  guns  of  the  fleet.  An  engagement  commenced 
as  the  British  were  about  to  march  forward  ;  but 
being  continually  reinforced  by  the  arrival  of  fresh 
troops,  they  compelled  the  enemy  to  retreat.  This 
warm  engagement  lasted  till  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  and  cost  the  British  about  1,000  men. 
Sir  Ralph  Abercromby,  having  become  master  of 
the  point,  or  peninsula,  of  the  Helder,  completed  his 
landing,  entrenched  his  advanced  posts  toward  the 
right,  and  occupied  with  his  left  the  point  of  the 
Helder,  and  the  batteries  there  which  had  been 
evacuated.  In  these  positions  he  awaited  the  arrival 
of  the  second  division,  under  the  Duke  of  York,  the 
commander-in-chief,  which  remained  in  England  un 
til  news  were  received  of  the  landing  of  the  first  on 
the  coast  of  Holland.  These  two  divisions  were 
composed  of  thirty  battalions  of  infantry,  of  600  men 
each,  500  cavalry,  and  a  fine  train  of  artillery.* 
During  this  campaign,  Lieut. -Colonel  Brock  distin 
guished  himself  in  command  of  his  regiment,  which, 
on  the  2d  of  October,  in  the  battle  of  Egmont-op- 
Zee,  or  Bergen,  had  Captain  Archer  and  Ensign 
Ginn,  killed ;  and  Major  Hutchinson,t  Captains 
Sharp  and  Robins,  Lieutenant  Urquhart  and  Ensign 
Hill,  wounded;  Lieutenant  Johnston,  missing. J 

*  New  Annual  Register  for  1799,  page  395. 

t  The  late  General  Sir  William  Hutchiuson,  K.  C.  H.,  Colonel  of  the 
/5th  regiment. 

t  See  the  returns  in  the  New  Annual  Register,  for  1799,  Principal 
Occurrences,  page  143.  Singularly  enough,  the  loss  of  the  non-commis- 


8  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Savery  Brock,  who  was  present,  wrote  from  Egmont 
on  the  4th  of  October  :  "  The  action  has  been  a  very 
hot  one,  and  numbers  have  fallen.  The  49th  behaved 
well,  very  well,  has  30  killed  and  50  wounded,  be 
sides  30  missing,  110  in  all,  though  we  had  not  more 
than  391  rank  and  file  in  the  field.  Lord  Aylmer 
was  slightly  wounded."  In  this  action,  Lieut.-Colo- 
nel  Brock  was  also  slightly  wrounded,  although  his 
name  does  not  appear  in  the  returns ;  and  his  life  was 
in  all  probability  preserved  by  his  wearing,  as  the 
weather  was  very  cold,  a  stout  cotton  handkerchief 
over  a  thick  black  silk  cravat,  both  of  which  were 
perforated  by  a  bullet,  and  which  prevented  its  enter 
ing  his  neck  :  the  violence  of  the  blow  was,  however, 
so  great,  as  to  stun  and  dismount  him.  His  holsters 
were  also  shot  through.  The  following  letter  con 
tains  some  interesting  particulars  relative  to  this 
campaign,  and  the  part  taken  in  it  by  the  49th. 

Lieutenant- Colonel  Brock,  4Qth  regiment,  to  his  brother? 
brevet  Lieutenant- Colonel  John  Brock,  81st  regiment)  at 
the  'Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

11  LONDON,  November  26,  1799. 

"  I  was  pretty  constant  in  my  correspondence  with 
you  while  the  regiment  was  quartered  at  Portsmouth, 
and  no  opportunity  offered  from  thence  direct  to  the 
Cape  without  taking  letters  and  newspapers  from 
either  Savery  or  myself,  and  often  from  both ;  but 
the  very  active  and  busy  life  I  have  passed  since  put 
an  end  to  all  such  communications.  Knowing,  how 
ever,  that  you  will  be  gratified  in  hearing  from  my 
own  pen  the  various  incidents  which  have  occurred 
since  that  time,  I  proceed  to  give  you  the  substance 
of  them.  You  will  have  seen  in  the  public  prints 
that  the  49th  embarked  among  the  first  regiments 
under  Sir  Ralph  Abercromby,  and  that  the  army, 

sioned  officers  and  privates  in  each  corps  is  not  given,  but  the  casualties 
among1  the  officers  of  the  4Qth  exceeded  those  of  any  other  regiment 
engaged  on  this  day,  with  the  exception  of  the  25th  and  Q2d. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK. 

amounting  to  about  10,000  men,  after  beating  the 
seas  from  the  8fh  to  the  27th  of  August,  effected  a 
landing  near  the  Helder ;  that  the  enemy  most  unac 
countably  offered  no  opposition  to  our  landing ;  and 
that,  after  a  well-contested  fight  of  ten  hours,  he 
retreated,  and  left  us  in  quiet  possession  of  the 
heights,  extending  the  whole  length  of  the  Penin 
sula.  The  4th  'brigade  under  General  Moore,* 
consisting  of  the  Royals,  25th,  49th,  79th,  and  92d, 
landed  to  the  left,  where  the  greatest  opposition  was 
expected,  as  it  was  natural  to  suppose  that  so  essential 
an  object  as  the  Helder  would  be  defended  to  the 
last,  but,  to  our  utter  astonishment,  the  enemy  gave 
us  no  annoyance ;  on  the  contrary,  soon  after  the 
affair  on  the  right  had  terminated,  he  evacuated  the 
town,  which  we  took  quiet  possession  of  the  following 
morning,  and  with  it  the  whole  of  the  fleet.  The 
garrison,  consisting  of  1,600  men,  could  easily  have 
been  intercepted  had  it  not  been  for  a  large  body  of 
cavalry  and  a  number  of  cannon,  which  completely 
commanded  a  plain  of  a  mile  and  a  half  in  breadth, 
necessary  to  be  crossed  to  get  to  them  :  as  we  had 
neither  one  nor  the  other,  it  would  have  been  the 
height  of  folly  to  attempt  it.  The  regiments  which 
distinguished  themselves  most  on  this  occasion  were 
the  23d,  27th,  and  55th.  The  evening  of  our  land 
ing,  a  reinforcement  of  5,000  men  arrived,  but  could 
not  disembark  until  two  days  after,  owing  to  the 
badness  of  the  weather.  During  all  this  time  the 
troops  lay  exposed  on  the  sand  hills,  without  the  least 
shelter  to  cover  them  from  the  wind  and  rain.  At 
length  the  army  moved  forward  eleven  miles,  and 
got  into  cantonments  along  a  canal  extending  the 
whole  breadth  of  the  country,  from  the  Zuyder  sea 
on  the  one  side  to  the  main  ocean  on  the  other,  pro 
tected  by  an  amazingly  strong  dyke,  running  half  a 
mile  in  front  of  the  line.  In  this  position  we  re 
mained  unmolested  until  the  10th  of  September,  on 

*  Afterwards  Sir  John  Moore,  who  fell  at  Corunna. 


10  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

which  day  the  enemy  made  a  most  desperate  attack 
in  three  columns,  two  on  the  right  and  one  on  the 
centre  of  the  line  :  he  could  not  avoid  being  beaten, 
as  it  was  the  most  injudicious  step  imaginable,  and 
his  loss  was  in  proportion  very  great.  The  Guards, 
20th,  and  40th,  acted  conspicuous  parts  in  this  affair. 
The  49th  was  here  again  out  of  the  way,  with  the 
exception  indeed  of  Savery,  whom  nothing  could 
keep  from  going  to  see  what  was  doing  on  the  right, 
and  as  it  happened  he  proved  of  great  use  to  Colonel 
Smith,*  whom  he  assisted  from  the  field  after  being 
wounded.  The  French  soldier  was  taught  to  con 
sider  the  British  troops  as  the  most  undisciplined 
rabble  in  the  world,  and  he  advanced  confident  of 
conquest;  but  this  affair,  and  others  which  followed, 
made  him  very  soon  change  his  opinion.  Nothing 
remarkable  occurred  after  this  until  the  arrival  of 
the  Duke  of  York  with  the  remainder  of  the  British 
troops  and  16,000  Russians,  which  increased  the 
army  to  about  35,000  men.  Continued  rain,  how 
ever,  prevented  any  thing  being  done  before  the  19th, 
when  the  whole  army  was  put  in  motion.  Sir  Ralph 
took  12,000,  of  which  the  4th  brigade  formed  a 
part,  to  the  left  on  the  evening  preceding,  and  got 
possession  of  the  city  of  Horn  the  following  morning 
at  daylight,  without  a  shot  being  fired  :  200  prisoners 
were  taken.  Horn  is  a  very  populous,  handsome 
city,  and  evidently  in  the  interest  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  joy  of  the  inha 
bitants  at  our  arrival,  and  in  proportion  as  they 
rejoiced  they  mourned  our  departure,  which  took 
place  before  sun-set,  in  consequence  of  a  fatal  dis 
aster  which  had  befallen  the  Russians  on  the  right. 
They  of  course  threw  the  blame  off  their  own  shoul 
ders,  and  wished  to  attribute  the  whole  misfortune  to 
the  want  of  concert  and  a  proper  support  on  the  part 

*  Lieut-Colonel  Smith,  commanding  the  20th,  a  native  of  Guernsey, 
afterwards  Colonel  Sir  George  Smith,  aide-de-camp  to  the  king.  He  died 
at  Cadiz,  in  1809,  and  was  a  distinguished  officer. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  11 

of  the  British ;  but  I  verily  believe  the  real  fact  to 
be  this.  After  most  gallantly  driving  the  enemy 
before  them  as  far  as  Bergen,  where  it  was  previously 
arranged  they  should  halt,  they  dispersed  for  the  sake 
of  plunder; — the  French  hearing  of  this  disorder, 
renewed  the  attack,  and  never  gave  the  Russians  an 
opportunity  to  form,  but  continued  driving  them 
with  the  bayonet  until  they  encountered  a  body  of 
English,  under  General  Manners  and  Prince  Wil 
liam,  whose  brigades  suffered  considerably.  The 
Russians  were,  however,  thus  happily  enabled  to 
effect  their  retreat  without  further  molestation  ;  they 
were  certainly  the  original  cause  of  this  disaster,  but 
whether  the  British  were  sufficiently  brisk  in  coming 
to  their  assistance  is  doubted.  The  Russians  in  their 
persons  are  rather  short  of  stature,  and  very  thick 
and  clumsy ;  they  have  nothing  expressive  in  their  fea 
tures,  which  resemble  much  the  Chinese  countenance. 
I  remarked  an  exception  to  this  rule  in  a  grenadier 
battalion,  who,  with  tall,  elegant  persons,  possessed 
remarkably  fine,  commanding  faces.  The  officers  in 
general  are  the  most  despicable  wretches  I  ever  saw  : 
accustomed,  as  they  have  always  been,  to  fight  with 
troops  much  inferior  to  themselves,  they  thought 
themselves  invincible.*  They  take  the  field  with  an 
immense  number  of  artillery,  with  which  they  cover 
their  front  and  flanks,  and  thus  never  dreamed  it 
possible,  from  their  former  experience,  for  troops  to 

*  As  this  character  of  the  Russian  officers  may  be  thought  too  severe, 
we  give  the  following  confirmation  of  its  correctness:  "The  Russian 
was  so  humbled  by  the  disaster  at  Bergen,  that,  in  all  the  subsequent 
affairs  in  Holland,  he  seemed  to  be  an  unwilling  actor.  In  advancing  to 
the  field,  the  soldiers  dropped  off  occasionally  from  the  advancing  lines  ; 
even  officers  assumed  the  retrograde.  One  general  literally  ran  away; 
another,  wounded  as  it  were  by  the  first  fire,  retired." — The  Formation, 
Discipline,  and  Economy  of  Armies,  by  Robert  Jackson,  M.  D.  Third 
Edition,  London,  1845. 

It  is  added  that  the  former  general  was  cashiered  by  the  Emperor  Paul, 
in  a  passion,  and  it  is  insinuated  that  the  latter  wounded  himself.  The 
general  who  was  cashiered,  instead  of  being  shunned  and  despised  by 
the  Russian  officers,  was  even  regaled  by  them,  prior  to  his  return  home, 
and  walked  about  as  if  nothing  had  happened;  thus  affording  a  striking 
example  of  the  trivial  light  in  which  military  cowardice  was  then  re 
garded  in  Russia. 


12  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

rally  after  being  once  beaten.  This  fatal  security 
was  the  cause  of  the  misfortune  which  befel  the  allies 
on  the  19th.  After  the  retreat  from  Horn,  the  4th 
brigade  took  its  station  on  the  right,  preparatory 
evidently  to  its  being  actively  employed  ;  according 
ly,  on  the  2d  of  October,  the  weather  not  permitting 
it  sooner,  the  brigade  assembled  before  daylight  at 
Petten,  and  formed  the  advanced  guard  of  a  column, 
consisting  of  10,000  men,  which  was  to  proceed  along 
the  beach  to  Egmont-op-Zee.  After  every  thing  had 
been  properly  arranged,  it  moved  forward,  supported 
by  1,000  cavalry,  under  Lord  Paget.  It  was  in 
tended  that  the  reserve,  under  Colonel  M' Donald, 
should  cover  our  flank,  and  that  the  column  should 
rapidly  advance  to  Egmont,  in  order  to  turn  the 
flank  of  the  enemy  at  Bergen.  This  was,  however, 
prevented  by  a  strong  body  of  the  enemy,  who 
engaged  the  reserve  the  moment  it  ascended  the  sand 
hills ;  and  although  he  retreated  before  the  reserve, 
he  constrained  Colonel  M'Donald  to  follow  in  a  dif 
ferent  direction  to  that  intended,  thereby  leaving  our 
left  flank  uncovered.  But  this  did  not  impede  our 
moving  forward,  and  it  was  not  until  we  had  pro 
ceeded  five  or  six  miles  that  we  found  the  least 
opposition.  The  enemy  then  appeared  in  small 
force,  and  the  25th  was  ordered  up  the  sand  hills, 
but,  he  having  increased,  the  79th  followed,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  the  49th  was  also  ordered  to 
form  on  the  left  of  that  regiment.  It  is  impossible 
to  give  you  an  adequate  idea  of  the  nature  of  the 
ground,  which  I  can  only  compare  to  the  sea  in  a 
storm.  On  my  getting  to  the  left  of  the  79th,  I 
found  that  its  flank  was  alread}^  turned,  and  that  the 
ground  which  we  were  to  occupy  did  not  afford  the 
least  shelter :  my  determination  was  instantly  taken. 
I  had  gone  on  horseback  to  view  the  ground,  and  on 
my  return  to  the  regiment,  which  I  met  advancing, 
I  found  the  left  actually  engaged  with  the  enemy, 
who  had  advanced  much  beyond  our  left.  I,  how- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  13 

ever,  continued  advancing  with  six  companies,  and 
left  Colonel  Sheaffe  with  the  other  four  to  cover  our 
left :  the  instant  I  came  up  to  the  79th,  I  ordered 
a  charge,  which  I  assure  you  was  executed  with  the 
utmost  gallantry,  though  not  in  the  greatest  order, 
as  the  nature  of  the  ground  admitted  of  none.  The 
enemy,  however,  gave  way  on  every  side,  and  our 
loss  would  have  been  very  trifling  had  the  79th 
charged  straightforward ;  but  unfortunately  it  fol 
lowed  the  course  the  49th  had  taken,  thereby  leaving 
our  right  entirely  exposed.  I  detached  Lord  Ayl- 
mer*  with  the  grenadiers,  who,  after  charging  dif 
ferent  times,  totally  cleared  our  right.  The  25th 
then  advanced,  and  behaved  with  the  greatest  good 
conduct.  The  enemy  after  this  never  attempted  to 
make  a  stand,  but  continued  to  retreat,  and  their  loss 
on  this  occasion  was  very  considerable.  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  gallantry  of  the  25th,  49th,  79th, 
and  92d.  For  my  own  part,  I  had  every  reason  to 
be  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  both  officers  and 
men,  and  no  commanding  officer  could  be  more 
handsomely  supported  than  I  was  on  that  day,  ever 
glorious  to  the  49th.  Poor  Archer  brought  his  com 
pany  to  the  attack  in  a  most  soldier -like  manner; 
and  even  after  he  had  received  his  mortal  wound,  he 
animated  his  men,  calling  on  them  to  go  on  to 
victory,  to  glory ;  and  no  order  could  be  more  ef 
fectually  obeyed  :  he  is  an  irreparable  loss  to  the 
seVvice.  I  got  knocked  down  soon  after  the  enemy 
began  to  retreat,  but  never  quitted  the  field,  and 
returned  to  my  duty  in  less  than  half  an  hour. 
Savery  acted  during  the  whole  of  the  day  as  aide- 
de-camp  either  to  Sir  Ralph  or  Moore,  and  nothing 
could  surpass  his  activity  and  gallantry.  He  had  a 
horse  shot  under  him,  and  had  all  this  been  in  his 
line,. he  must  have  been  particularly  noticed,  as  he 

*  The  present  General  Lord  Aylmer,  G.  C.  B.,  formerly  governor- 
general  of  British  North  America.  He  was  then  a  captain  in  the  4Qth 
See  Appendix  A,  Sec.  1,  No.  1. 


14  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

has  become  the  astonishment  of  all  who  saw  him. 
We  remained  that  night  and  the  following  on  the 
sand  hills ;  you  cannot  conceive  our  wretched  state, 
as  it  blew  and  rained  nearly  the  whole  time.  Our 
men  bore  all  this  without  grumbling,  although  they 
had  nothing  to  eat  but  the  biscuits  they  carried  with 
them,  which  by  this  time  were  completely  wet.  We 
at  length  got  into  Egmont,  and  on  the  following  day 
(5th)  into  Alkmaar,  where  we  enjoyed  ourselves 
amazingly.  Alkrnaar  is  a  most  delightful  city ;  but 
the  inhabitants  are  rank  patriots,  and  none  of  the 
higher  class  remained  to  welcome  our  arrival.  The 
following  day  another  engagement  ensued,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  Russians  advancing  further  than  they 
were  ordered  to  do  :  during  this  severe  contest  we 
were  snugly  in  church.  It  is  extraordinary  that  both 
parties  were  so  beaten  as  to  find  a  retreat  necessary, 
as  while  we  retreated  to  our  old  position,  the  enemy 
was  also  in  full  retreat.  I  shall  say  no  more  of  the 
expedition  to  Holland,  as  what  remains  to  be  added, 
you  will  see  fully  detailed  in  the  papers.  I  go  to 
Norwich,  where  the  regiment  is  quartered,  this  eve 
ning.  Another  expedition  is  talked  of,  under  Lord 
Moira.  Adieu." 

A  young  Irishman  of  a  family  probably  superior 
to  his  station,  as  his  talents  certainly  were,  joined 
the  49th  on  Barham  Downs,  near  Canterbury,  on  the 
6th  of  August,  1799,  and  was  soon  after  present  at  the 
battle  of  Egmont-op-Zee,  being  the  first  affair  in 
which  he  was  seriously  engaged.  Colonel  Brock 
quickly  discovered  his  merits,  and  with  a  discrimi 
nation  which  does  honor  to  both,  appointed  him 
sergeant -major  two  or  three  years  afterwards,  and 
in  1806  procured  him  an  ensigncy  in  his  own  regi 
ment,  and  made  him  adjutant,  a  promotion  which 
his  subsequent  ability  and  gallantry  as  an  officer  fully 
justified.  We  trust  that  we  do  not  betray  the  con 
fidence  of  one  for  whom  we  entertain  very  sincere 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  15 

esteem  and  respect,  especially  because  he  makes  no 
secret  of  his  lowly  beginning,  in  giving  the  following 
particulars  in,  as  nearly  as  possible,  his  own  words  : 

"  After  the  deployment  of  the  49th  on  the  sand 
hills,  I  saw  no  more  of  Lieut. -Colonel  Brock,  being 
separated  from  him  with  that  part  of  the  regiment 
detached  under  Lieut.-Colonel  SheafFe.  Soon  after 
we  commenced  firing  upon  the  enemy — and  at  inter 
vals  rushing  from  one  line  of  sand  hills  to  another, 
and  behind  which  the  soldiers  were  made  to  cover 
themselves,  and  fire  over  their  summits  —  I  saw,  at 
some  distance  to  my  right,  Savery  Brock,  the  pay 
master,  passing  from  the  top  of  one  sand  hill  to 
another,  directing  and  encouraging  the  men.  He 
alone  kept  continually  on  the  tops  of  the  hills  during 
the  firing,  and  at  every  advance  from  one  range  to 
another,  he  led  the  men,  and  again  was  seen  above 
all  the  others.  Not  doubting  but  that  great  numbers 
of  the  French  soldiers  would  be  continually  aiming 
at  him — a  large  man  thus  exposed — I  watched  from 
moment  to  moment  to  see  him  fall,  but  for  about  two 
hours,  while  in  my  view,  he  remained  untouched. 

"  Being  at  this  time  only  eighteen  years  of  age, 
and  not  nine  months  from  my  parents'  fire-side  in 
a  remote  village  in  Ireland,  I  did  not  venture  to  give 
any  orders  or  instructions,  although  a  sergeant,  lest 
I  should  do  wrong — but  after  witnessing  Savery 
Brock's  conduct,  I  determined  to  be  the  first  to 
advance  every  time  at  the  head  of  those  around  me, 
and  I  soon  saw  that  of  those  who  were  most  prompt 
to  follow  me,  fewer  fell  by  the  enemy's  fire  than  I 
witnessed  falling  of  those  more  in  our  rear ;  and  we 
repeatedly  made  the  remark  one  to  another.  I  made 
up  my  mind,  therefore,  to  think  no  more,  if  possible, 
of  my  own  life,  but  leave  the  care  of  it  to  Divine 
Providence,  and  strain  every  nerve  to  do  my  duty : — 
during  a  service  of  some  extent  in  afterlife,  I  was 
abundantly  confirmed  in  the  wisdom  of  this  decision. 

"  I  make  this  statement  to  show  that  to  the  con- 


16  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

duct  of  Savcry  Brock  on  that  day,  I  was  indebted 
for  this  valuable  example  and  lesson.  About  5 
o'clock,  p.  m.  on  the  same  day,  while  over-heedlessly 
running  too  far  ahead  of  my  men,  I  was  cut  off  by 
some  French  soldiers,  who  issued  from  behind  a 
sand  hill  on  my  flank,  and  made  me  prisoner,  alone. 

"  After  my  return  from  prison  in  January  follow 
ing,  I  heard  the  soldiers  repeat  Colonel  Brock's 
words  to  the  paymaster,  when  he  first  saw  him 
among;  the  men  in  action  on  that  day — "By  the 
Lord  Harry,  master  Savery,  did  I  not  order  you, 
unless  you  remained  with  the  general,  to  stay  with 
your  iron  chest?  Go  back  to  it,  sir,  immediately," — 
to  which  he  answered  playfully — "  Mind  your  regi 
ment,  Master  Isaac,  you  would  not  have  me  quit  the 
field  now  ?" — and  the  soldiers  delighted  in  repeating 
this  dialogue  to  their  comrades,  and  also  to  the  re 
cruits  and  volunteers,  from  time  to  time,  after  their 
joining  the  regiment." 

In  the  victory  of  Egmont-op-Zee,  seven  pieces  of 
cannon,  a  great  number  of  tumbrils,  and  a  few 
hundred  prisoners,  were  taken,  and  the  loss  of  the 
enemy  was  estimated  as  exceeding  4,000  men.  But 
only  four  days  after,  in  the  battle  of  the  6th  of  Octo 
ber,  in  which  the  49th  was  not  engaged,  the  English 
and  Russians,  after  gaming  some  advantage,  were 
suddenly  charged  by  the  enemy's  cavalry  and  sepa 
rated,  so  that  they  could  neither  support  each  other 
nor  retain  the  ground  which  they  had  gained.  The 
allied  armies  were  repulsed  beyond  Baccum,  after 
having  sustained  a  very  severe  loss  ;  and  as  they 
were  unable  either  to  advance  or  to  draw  any  re 
sources  from  the  country  in  their  possession,  their 
supplies  were  necessarily  obtained  from  the  fleet. 
The  Duke  of  York,  therefore,  assembled  a  council 
of  war,  whose  decision  was,  that  the  allied  forces 
should  fall  back  and  await  the  instructions  of  the 
British  Government.  As  the  season  was  so  far  ad 
vanced  ;  as  the  approach  of  winter  was  daily  making 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  17 

the  navigation  of  the  coast  more  dangerous ;  and,  as 
there  was  no  time  to  effect  diversions  or  to  change 
the  plan  of  operations,  the  Duke  of  York  was  ordered 
to  evacuate  the  country.  In  the  meanwhile,  as  the 
English  and  Russians  concentrated  themselves  behind 
their  entrenchnjents  at  the  Zyp,  the  enemy  pressed 
upon  them,  and  the  Duke  of  York  sent  a  flag  of 
truce  to  General  Brune,  proposing  a  capitulation  on 
the  basis  of  an  armistice,  or  of  the  free  embarkation 
of  his  army.  This  was  agreed  to  at  Alkmaar,  on  the 
18th  of  October,  and  thus  ended  this  memorable 
expedition,  the  most  considerable  that  had  been 
attempted  in  modern  times  up  to  that  period.  As 
the  introduction  of  foreign  troops  into  England  was 
prohibited  by  the  Bill  of  Rights,  the  Russians  were 
sent  to  the  islands  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  the  season 
not  admitting  of  their  return  home.  About  6,000 
were  quartered  in  the  latter  island,  where  a  disease, 
contracted  by  exposure  to  the  marshy  grounds  of 
Holland,  carried  off  some  hundreds,  who  were  bu 
ried  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  which  stands  Yale 
Castle,  and  where  their  graves  are  still  to  be  seen. 
Their  conduct  in  Guernsey  was  at  first  peaceable 
and  orderly; — the  inhabitants  were  surprised  at  see 
ing  them  eat  the  grease  from  the  cart  wheels ;  they 
were  also  excessively  fond  of  ardent  spirits,  and, 
having  plenty  of  money,  they  indulged  in  them 
freely,  swallowing  large  draughts  in  a  raw  state. 
But  in  June,  1800,  while  the  transports  were  in  the 
roads  to  convey  them  to  Russia,  a  soldier,  who  was 
stealing  vegetables  on  a  small  farm,  which  had  been 
frequently  plundered  by  his  comrades  before,  was 
fired  at,  and  wounded  by  the  proprietor.  This  so 
exasperated  the  whole  body,  that  apprehensions  were 
entertained  of  their  revenging  themselves  on  the  in 
habitants  generally ;  and  as  the  British  garrison  was 
very  small,  it  required  all  the  tact  and  conciliation 
of  the  lieutenant-governor,  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple,  to 
prevent  an  outbreak.  The  Russians  embarked,  but  in 


18  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

such  a  sullen  mood  of  mind,  that  the  guns  at  Castle 
Cornet  were  kept  shotted  to  prevent  their  relanding.* 
The  49th,  on  the  return  of  the  expedition  from 
Holland,  after  remaining  a  short  time  in  England, 
was  again  quartered  in  Jersey,  where  the  fine  person 
and  manly  bearing  of  Lieut. -Colonel  Brock  are  still 
favorably  remembered.  In  return  for  the  many 
attentions  which  he  and  his  officers  received  in  that 
island,  he  obtained  an  ensigncy  in  his  own  regiment 
for  a  young  man  resident  there,  whom  he  afterwards 
pushed  forward  in  the  service,  and  who  died  recently 
a  major-general  and  a  companion  of  the  bath.  While 
the  regiment  was  quartered  in  Jersey,  he  was  absent 
for  a  few  months  on  leave,  in  the  year  1800,  during 
which  period  the  junior  lieutenant-colonel  in  com 
mand  incurred  the  dislike  of  the  men  by  his  lan 
guage  and  manner  toward  them.  On  Colonel  Brock's 
return,  he  attended  the  first  regimental  morning 
parade  on  the  sands  in  front  of  the  barracks  at  St. 
Helier,  the  junior  lieutenant-colonel  accompanying 
him.  The  regiment  was  in  open  column,  standing 
at  ease.  As  soon  as  Cplonel  Brock  was  recognized 
by  the  men,  they  gave  him  three  loud  cheers ! 
whereupon  he  instantly  marched  them  into  the  bar 
rack  square,  severely  rebuked  them  for  their  most 
unmilitary  conduct,  and  confined  them  to  their 
barracks  for  a  week. 

We  come  now  to  the  celebrated  attack  of  Copen 
hagen  by  Lord  Nelson,  on  the  2d  of  April,  1801,  in 
which  Lieut. -Colonel  Brock  was  second  in  command 
of  the  land  forces.  On  the  27th  February  of  that 
year,  the  49th  regiment,  then  about  760  rank  and  file, 
embarked  at  Portsmouth  on  board  Nelson's  squadron 
there,  which  got  under  weigh  at  daylight  the  next 
morning,  and  proceeded  to  the  Downs.  The  squad 
ron  next  sailed  for  Yarmouth  roads,  where  his 
lordship  placed  himself  under  Sir  Hyde  Parker, 

*  Duncan's  History  of  Guernsey. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  19 

the  commander-in-chief  of  the  fleet  destined  for  the 
Baltic.  Nelson  was  anxious  to  proceed  with  the 
utmost  dispatch,  and  with  such  ships  as  were  in 
readiness,  to  the  Danish  capital,  so -as  to  anticipate 
by  the  rapidity  of  his  movements  the  formidable  pre 
parations  for  defence  which  the  Danes  had  scarcely 
thought  of  at  that  early  season;  but  to  his  annoyance, 
the  fleet,  which  consisted  of  about  fifty  sail,  of  which 
forty-one  pendants,  including  sixteen  of  the  line,  did 
not  leave  Yarmouth  roads  until  the  12th  of  March. 
The  land  forces  were  equally  distributed  on  board  of 
the  line  of  battle  ships.  On  the  15th  the  fleet  was 
in  some  measure  scattered  by  a  heavy  gale  of  wind, 
which  prevented  its  reaching  the  Naze  until  the  18th. 
The  next  day  the  fleet  appears  to  have  been  purposely 
detained  oft  the  Scaw,  and  did  not  reach  Elsinore 
until  the  24th.  Here  a  few  days  were  lost  in  de 
liberation,  and  it  was  not  until  the  30th  of  March 
that  the  fleet  proceeded  through  the  Sound  with  a 
topsail  breeze  from  N.  W.  The  semi-circular  form 
of  the  land  off  Elsinore,  which  was  thickly  studded 
with  batteries,  caused  the  ships  to  pass  in  a  form 
truly  picturesque  and  nearly  similar,  but  the  forbear 
ance  of  the  Swedes,  who  did  not  fire  a  gun,  happily 
enabled  them  to  incline  towards  the  Swedish  shore, 
so  as  to  avoid  the  Danish  shot,  which  fell  in  showers, 
but  at  least  a  cable's  length  from  the  ships.  The 
whole  fleet  came  to  an  anchor  about  mid-day  between 
the  island  of  Huen  and  Copenhagen,  and  it  was  soon 
perceived  that  the  various  delays  had  enabled  the 
Danes  to  line  the  shoals  near  the  Crown  batteries, 
and  the  front  of  the  harbour  with  a  formidable  flo 
tilla.*  When  the  preparations  for  the  attack  were 
completed,  Lieut. -Colonel  Brock  was  appointed  to 
lead  the  49th  in  storming  the  principal  Treckroner 
or  Crown  battery,  in  conjunction  with  five  hundred 
seamen  under  Captain  Fremantle,  as  soon  as  its 

*  Colonel  the  Honorable  W.  Stewart's  "  Narrative  of  Events  connected 
with  the  Conduct  of  Lord  Nelson  in  the  Baltic,  1801." 


20  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

fire  of  nearly  seventy  guns  should  be  silenced  ;  but 
the  protracted  and  heroic  defence  of  the  Danes 
rendering  the  attempt  impracticable,  Colonel  Brock, 
during  the  hard-fought  battle,  remained  on  board  the 
Ganges,  of  74  guns,  commanded  by  Captain  Fre- 
mantle,  with  the  light  company  and  the  band ;  and 
at  its  close  he  accompanied  Captain  Fremantle  to  the 
Elephant,  74,  Nelson's  flag  ship,  where  he  saw  the 
hero  write  his  celebrated  letter  to  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Denmark.  Savery  Brock  was  also  on  board  the 
Ganges,  and  while  on  one  knee,  in  the  act  of  pointing 
one  of  her  quarter  deck  guns,  his  hat  was  torn  from 
his  head  by  a  grape  shot :  a  naval  officer,  who  was 
present,  afterwards  described  the  scene  which  follow 
ed  this  narrow  escape,  in  these  words  :  "I  now  hear 
the  Colonel  exclaim,  *  Ah  !  poor  Savery  is  dead  ! ' 
But  Savery  was  not  an  instant  on  his  back ;  in  the 
same  moment  he  rubbed  his  head,  assured  his  brother 
that  he  was  not  injured,  and  fired  the  gun  with  as 
much  coolness  as  if  nothing  had  happened."  The 
effect  of  the  shot  passing  so  near  him  was  such  that, 
although  a  remarkably  powerful  young  man,  six  feet 
two  inches  in  height,  he  was  knocked  backwards  and 
stunned  for  the  moment.  We  are  indebted  to  the 
same  officer,  Captain  Percy  Grace,  R.  N.,  who  was 
then  a  midshipman  of  the  Ganges,  for  the  following 
anecdote.  In  the  early  part  of  the  action,  when  it 
was  expected  that  the  49th  would  land  to  storm  the 
batteries,  Savery  expressed  his  intention  of  going  in 
the  boats,  and  thus  sharing  the  danger  with  his 
brother,  who  insisted  on  his  remaining  on  board, 
observing — "  Is  it  not  enough  that  one  brother  should 
be  killed  or  drowned?"  Savery  still  persisted,  and 
his  brother  begged  of  Captain  Fremantle  to  use  his 
authority  to  keep  the  paymaster  on  board,  as  he 
would  not  obey  him.  "  My  dear  Brock,"  said  the 
Captain,  "you  must  remain — take  charge  of  this 
gun — as  captain  of  it,  it  will  amuse  you."  Savery 
was  fain  to  comply,  and  his  narrow  escape  doubtless 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  21 

tended  to  obliterate  the  unpleasantness  of  the  discus 
sion  from  the  mind  of  the  elder  brother.  Of  the 
49th,  Captain  Sharp  was  badly  wounded  on  board 
of  the  Bellona,  and  Lieutenant  Dennis  was  wounded 
on  board  of  the  Monarch,  which  ship  had  55  killed 
and  155  wounded,  exclusive  of  officers,  but  including 
8  soldiers  of  the  49th  killed,  and  20  wounded.  In 
addition  to  the  49th,  a  company  of  a  rifle  corps 
(subsequently  the  95th  regiment)  100  rank  and  file, 
was  embarked  under  Captain  Sidney  Beckwith. 
Lieut. -Colonel  the  Honorable  William  Stewart,* 
of  that  corps,  was  senior  officer  of  the  troops  em 
barked,  and,  as  such,  his  name  was  included  in  the 
thanks  of  Parliament,  of  which  he  was  a  member  at 
this  time ;  but  we  cannot  understand  why  a  lieute 
nant-colonel,  with  only  one  company,  was  placed  over 
the  head  of  an  officer  of  equal  rank  with  his  entire 
regiment,  unless  indeed  the  cause  was  that  Lieut- 
Colonel  Brock  was  not  an  "  honorable,"  and  had  not 
a  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons  !  We  are  not  aware 
that  he  ever  complained  of  what  appears  to  us  to 
have  been  an  act  of  injustice  to  him,  and  we  may 
therefore  be  wrong  in  our  view  of  the  subject.-— The 
British  loss,  in  killed  and  wounded,  was  943,  or  48 
more  than  fell  at  the  battle  of  the  Nile.  In  mention 
ing  the  loss  at  Copenhagen,  Southey,  in  his  admirable 
Life  of  Nelson,  says,  on  what  authority  we  know 
not :  "  Part  of  this  slaughter  might  have  been  spared. 
The  commanding  officer  of  the  troops  on  board  of 
one  of  our  ships,  asked  where  his  men  should  be 
stationed  ?  He  was  told  that  they  could  be  of  no 
use ;  that  they  were  not  near  enough  for  musquetry, 
and  were  not  wanted  at  the  guns ;  they  had,  there 
fore,  better  go  below.  This,  he  said,  was  impossible 
— it  would  be  a  disgrace  that  could  never  be  wiped 
away.  They  were,  therefore,  drawn  upon  the  gang 
way,  to  satisfy  this  cruel  point  of  honor ;  and  there, 

*  Afterwards  SirW.  Stewart,  G.  C.  B.,  who  commanded  a  division  in 
the  Peninsular  war  j  he  was  a  son  of  the  Earl  of  Galloway. 


22  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

without  the  possibility  of  annoying  the  enemy,  they 
were  mowed  down  !  The  loss  of  the  Danes,  including 
prisoners,  amounted  to  about  6,000." 

John  Savery  Brock,  of  whose  gallantry  mention  is 
made  in  the  preceding  pages,  was  the  next  younger 
brother  of  Lieut. -Colonel  Brock,  and  had  been  in  the 
navy;  but  it  being  supposed  that  he  was  influential, 
in  the  year  1790,  in  inducing  his  brother  midship 
men,  of  the  fleet  at  Spithead,  to  sign  a  round  robin 
against  their  being  subjected  to  the  practice  of  mast 
heading — one  having  been  hoisted  up  to  the  gaff  end 
in  an  ignominious  manner,  because  he  refused  to  go  to 
the  mast  head  as  a  punishment — he  was  recommend 
ed  privately  to  retire  from  the  service.*  Being  at 
this  time  a  tall  and  high  spirited  young  man  of 
eighteen,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  deemed  such 
a  punishment  unnecessarily  degrading  to  the  feelings 
of  an  officer,  and  which  has  since  been  very  properly 
abolished.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  circumstance,  it 
is  the  opinion  of  a  naval  officer  of  high  rank,  that 
Savery  Brock  would  have  distinguished  himself  and 
risen  to  eminence  in  the  navy  during  the  late  revo 
lutionary  wars. — Some  little  time  after  this  affair, 
being  in  Guernsey,  he  wished  to  go  to  England, 
and  was  offered  a  passage  in  the  Amazon,  frigate, 
Captain  Reynolds,  afterwards  Rear-Admiral  Rey 
nolds,  who  perished  in  the  St.  George,  of  98  guns, 
on  her  return  from  the  Baltic,  in  1811.  The  Amazon, 
bound  to  Portsmouth,  left  the  roadstead  late  in  the 
afternoon,  and  before  she  was  clear  of  the  small 
Russel — a  dangerous  passage — night  overlook  her. 
By  some  accident  the  pilot  mistook  the  bearings, 
owing  to  the  darkness  and  thick  weather.  Savery 
Brock,  being  acquainted  with  the  intricate  course, 

*  While  the  above  was  in  type,  the  Duke  of  Rutland  visited  Guernsey 
in  his  yacht,  and  wrote  the  following  note  at  Detroit,  the  residence  of  the 
once  outcast  middy,  on  whom,  while  we  write  this,  the  hand  of  death 
is  but  too  apparent :  "  The  Duke  of  Rutland  called  to  pay  his  respects 
to  Mr.  Savery  Brock,  and  sincerely  regrets  to  find  that  he  is  so  unwell. 
Saturday,  July  13,  1844." 


' 

SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  23 

was  on  the  fore  yard  looking;  out,  when  he  suddenly 
espied  a  small  cluster  of  rocks  towards  which  the 
frigate  was  steering.  There  was  no  time  for  commu 
nication,  and,  without  hesitating  an  instant,  he  cried 
out  in  true  nautical  style :  "  H-a-r-d  up,  h-a-r-d  up." 
"  H-a-r-d  up  it  is,"  replied  the  helsman.  "  Pl-a-r-d 
up,"  repeated  Savery  in  a  louder  key.  "  Gently, 
young  man,"  said  the  captain,  who  was  standing 
forward.  The  ship  fortunately  bore  away  just  in 
time  to  clear  the  rocks,  and  was  thus  saved  by  the 
prompt  interference  of  her  passenger.  We  have  often 
heard  him  in  his  latter  days  tell  the  story  with  excu 
sable  pride,  and  he  especially  remembered  how  the 
crew  pointed  him  out  the  next  morning  to  each  other, 
as  the  young  man  who  had  got  the  ship  out  of  her 
clanger.  As  he  was  without  employment,  his  brother 
Isaac  subsequently  procured  him  the  paymastership 
of  the  49th,  which  he  retained  only  three  or  four 
years,  the  office  being  one  quite  unfitted  to  his  pre 
vious  education  and  active  mind.  In  1808,  his 
military  zeal  induced  him  to  serve  for  a  short  time 
as  an  amateur  aide-de-camp  to  Sir  John  Moore,  in 
the  Peninsula.  He  married  and  settled  in  Guernsey ; 
and  whether  as  a  militia  colonel,  or  in  the  exercise  of 
a  generous  hospitality,  or,  above  all,  as  a  projector 
and  zealous  promoter  of  many  public  improvements 
in  his  native  island,  his  memory  will  long  live  in  the 
recollection  of  its  inhabitants. 

When  Kean  performed  in  Guernsey,  two  or  three 
years  before  his  appearance  on  the  London  boards, 
Savery  Brock  was  enthusiastic  in  his  admiration,  and 
predicted  the  future  eminence  of  that  celebrated 
tragedian,  in  whose  memoirs  his  name  is  gratefully 
mentioned. 


24  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 


CHAPTER   II. 


ON  its  return  from  Copenhagen  to  England,  the  49th 
was  collected  at  Colchester,  and  in  the  spring  follow 
ing,  (1802,)  the  regiment  sailed  for  Canada,  which 
country  was  destined  to  bestow  on  it  many  additional 
laurels,  as  well  as  to  be  the  scene  of  the  fame  and 
death  of  its  commanding  officer.  At  this  period,  de 
sertion  among  the  troops  in  both  provinces  was,  as  it 
has  been  of  late  years,  very  prevalent;  and,  attached 
as  his  men  were  to  him,  Lieut. -Colonel  Brock  could 
scarcely  hope  that  they  would  escape  the  general 
contagion.  He,  however,  lost  only  one  man  from 
the  several  posts  under  his  personal  command  during 
the  three  years  of  his  regimental  service,  in  Montreal, 
York,  Fort  George,  and,  lastly,  Quebec ;  and  that 
man  deserted  from  Montreal  soon  after  his  arrival 
there,  in  September,  1802.  In  the  fall  of  that  year, 
an  educated  soldier,  named  Carr,  was  observed  by 
Colonel  Brock  to  salute  him  with  less  apparent  con 
fidence  and  manliness  than  usual,  and  hence  he 
inferred  that  Carr  would  desert  as  soon  as  the  river 
St.  Lawrence  became  frozen  over.  He  ordered  the 
sergeant-major — the  same  gallant  Irishman  whom 
we  have  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter— to  bring  the 
man  before  him,  and  he  was  produced  forthwith. 
The  colonel  directly  charged  Carr  with  intending  to 
desert,  and  told  him  that  he  would  probably  seduce 
other  men  to  desert  with  him  :  he  added,  even  if 
they  should  escape  into  the  United  States,  that  they 
would  be  there  treated  like  wretched  perjurors,  which 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  25 

in  fact  they  would  then  be,  and  would  curse  the  day 
on  which  they  committed  such  a  crime.  "Manfully 
tell  me  the  truth!"  Carr  hesitated,  and  stammered 
out  a  denial.  The  colonel  quickly  stepped  up  to  him. 
with  his  fist  clenched,  and  said  :  "  Don't  prevaricate 
—  tell  me  the  truth,  like  a  man — you  know  I  have 
always  treated  you  kindly  ! "  The  man  confessed 
that  he  and  certain  others  had  agreed  to  desert. 
"  Go,  then,"  rejoined  the  colonel,  "go  and  tell  those 
deluded  men  all  that  has  passed  here  —  that  notwith 
standing  what  you  have  told  me,  I  will  still  treat 
every  one  of  you  with  kindness,  and  you  may  then 
all  desert  from  me  if  you  please." 

In  the  summer  following,  Lieut. -Colonel  Brock 
was  stationed  at  York,  from  whence  six  of  his  men 
deserted,  having  been  seduced  by  a  corporal  of  the 
41st  regiment,  who  had  been  left  there  as  an  artificer. 
At  midnight,  the  sergeant  of  the  guard  informed  the 
sergeant-major  that  three  of  his  men  were  missing, 
and  that  a  boat  was  taken  from  a  shed  in  charge  of 
one  of  his  sentries,  who  had  also  disappeared.  The 
sergeant-major  instantly  reported  the  circumstance 
to  the  colonel,  who  ordered  him  to  man  a  bateau 
immediately,  with  a  sergeant  and  twelve  privates  of 
the  light  company,  which  was  done  ;  and  at  the  same 
time  the  roll  was  called  in  the  barrack  rooms,  when 
it  was  ascertained  that  three  other  men  were  also 
missing,  as  well  as  the  corporal  of  the  41st.  At 
half-past  twelve,  the  colonel  himself  embarked  in  the 
bateau,  taking  his  trusty  sergeant-major  with  him. 
They  pulled  directly  for  Niagara,  at  this  point  thirty 
miles  across.  Fortunately,  the  weather  continued 
calm,  and  they  reached  Niagara  the  following 
morning,  whence  Colonel  Brock  at  once  directed  a 
lieutenant  (Chesshire)  and  a  party  of  the  detachment 
stationed  there,  to  proceed  in  a  bateau  along  the  Ame 
rican  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  while  with  his  own  boat 
he  returned  towards  York,  by  coasting  along  the 
west  end  of  the  lake,  so  as  to  intercept  the  deserters, 
c 


26  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

should  they  have  taken  that  course.  They,  however, 
had  crossed  the  lake  direct  to  the  American  shore, 
and  were  overtaken  by  the  party  from  Niagara, 
every  man  being  brought  back.  The  manner  in 
which  the  fugitives  were  captured  deserves  mention. 
The  detachment  sent  in  pursuit  from  Fort  George 
was  accompanied  by  an  Indian,  who,  after  some 
time,  asked  permission  to  land,  that  he  might  shoot 
on  shore,  keeping  within  a  short  distance  of  the  boat 
as  it  coasted  the  lake.  He  unexpectedly  met  the 
deserters  in  their  red  jackets  in  the  woods,  and  at 
once  running  to  the  lake,  he  hailed  the  officer,  and 
informed  him  of  what  he  had  seen.  The  officer  and 
his  party  immediately  landed,  and  set  out  in  pursuit; 
they  walked  a  few  miles  on  a  very  hot  day,  but  were 
unable  to  discover  the  fugitives,  and  some  of  the 
party  asked  leave  to  go  to  the  lake  side  to  quench 
their  thirst.  While  drinking,  they  saw  two  or  three 
of  the  deserters  approaching  for  the  same  purpose, 
and  having  secured  them,  they  quickly  overtook  the 
remainder.  Had  the  American  government  been 
aware  of  the  circumstance,  they  probably  would  have 
considered  it  as  a  violation  of  their  territory.  No 
other  desertions  occurred  from  any  post  personally 
commanded  by  Colonel  Brock  in  Canada.  It  was 
said  that  Lieut.-General  Hunter,  who  commanded 
the  troops  in  both  provinces,  and  was  then  in  York, 
expressed  his  displeasure  to  the  colonel  for  his  so 
rashly  venturing  in  an  open  boat,  which  was  never 
known  to  have  crossed  the  lake  before. 

In  the  same  summer  of  1803,  soon  after  the  cap 
ture  of  these  deserters,  a  very  serious  conspiracy 
was  on  the  point  of  being  carried  into  execution  by 
the  detachment  of  the  49th  in  garrison  at  Fort 
George,  under  the  command  of  the  junior  lieute 
nant-colonel.  The  intention  of  the  mutineers  was 
to  confine  the  officers  in  the  cells,  in  which  several 
deserters  were  then  imprisoned,  while  they  marched 
to  Queenston,  seven  miles  distant,  and  there  crossed 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  27 

over  by  the  ferry  to  the  State  of  New  York.  But 
it  is  the  belief  of  an  officer  of  the  49th,  that  had  the 
mutineers  succeeded,  the  life  of  Lieut. -Colonel  Sheaffe 
would  have  been  sacrificed.  This  design  to  effect 
their  escape  by  force  appears  to  have  arisen  partly 
from  the  harsh  langufage  and  stringent  regulations 
of  the  commanding  officer,  who,  however,  inflicted 
as  little  corporal  punishment  as  possible  ;  and  partly 
from  the  natural  impatience  of  the  men  under  the 
restraints  of  discipline  in  a  remote  spot,  which, 
from  its  proximity  to  the  American  frontier,  seemed 
to  invite  desertion.  The  vigilance  required  to 
counteract  this  discontented  feeling  must  have  in 
creased  its  intensity ;  but  as  Lieut.-Colonel  Brock 
lost  not  a  man  when  he  assumed  the  command,  it  is 
evident  that  confidence  and  kindness  would  have 
been  the  better  course.  The  manner  in  which  the 
conspiracy  was  discovered  and  suppressed  would 
seem  to  warrant  the  remark,  that  truth  is  often 
stranger  than  fiction ;  and  the  following  details  par 
take  so  much  of  romance,  that  we  feel  called  upon 
to  say  that  we  have  obtained  them  from  an  officer  of 
the  49th,  who  was  present  on  the  occasion. 

Major  Wulff,  of  the  Royal  Artillery,*  was  quar 
tered  at  this  time  at  Niagara.  His  servant  returning 
across  the  common  from  Fort  George  to  his  master's 
quarters  in  the  town,  met  a  soldier  of  the  49th, 
Fitzpatrick  by  name,  running  towards  the  fort,  and 
was  stopped  and  asked  by  him  the  hour  of  the  day. 
On  being  told,  Fitzpatrick  exclaimed  :  "  Thank  God, 
I  will  not  be  too  late  for  the  roll  call  at  dinner,  for 

if  I   were,  that  tyrant,  ,  would  send  me  to 

knapsack  drill  for  a  week.  But,  by  God!" — and 
he-  muttered  something  of  a  threatening  character, 
too  indistinct  however  for  the  servant  to  understand, 
as  he  -ran  off  again  towards  the  fort.  The  soldier's 
remark  and  manner  made  such  an  impression  on  the 
servant's  mind,  that  he  at  once  reported  the  circum- 

*  The  present  General  Wulff,  who  entered  the  Artillery  in  1/79. 


28  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

stance  to  his  master,  who  immediately  went  over  to 
the  fort,  distant  about  half  a  mile,  and  repeated  to 
Colonel  Sheaffe  what  his  servant  had  told  him. 
Fitzpatrick  was  instantly  sent  for ;  and,  on  being 
interrogated,  shewed  such  symptoms  of  guilt,  al 
though  he  confessed  nothing,*  that  he  was  ordered 
to  be  put  in  irons,  and  shut  up  in  one  of  the  cells 
attached  to  the  garrison  guard-house.  His  confine 
ment,  and  in  irons,  of  course  became  quickly  known 
in  the  garrison;  and  thereupon  a  soldier  of  the 
regiment,  named  Daly,  a  servant  of  Captain  Dennis, 
confessed  to  his  master  that  he  was  one  of  the  con 
spirators,  having  become  such  through  the  persuasion 
of  Sergeant  Clarke.  Now,  Daly  had  been  enlisted 
by  this  sergeant  in  Ireland  the  previous  year,  and 
had  joined  the  regiment  with  him  but  a  few  weeks 
before.  He  stated  that,  some  days  antecedently, 
Sergeant  Clarke  had  made  known  to  him  the  exist 
ence  of  the  conspiracy,  and  had  invited  him  to  join 
in  it,  when  he  answered  :  "  For  God's  sake,  do  not 
make  known  to  me  any  of  your  proceedings,  for  I 
must  take  care  of  myself  for  the  sake  of  my  wife 
and  children."  But  the  sergeant,  who  had  not  only 
employed  Daly  to  serve  him  occasionally,  but  whose 
wife  was  his  washerwoman,  considered  him  as  de 
voted  to  him,  and  insisted  on  his  joining  the 
conspirators,  assuring  him  at  the  same  time  that 
he  would  make  his  wife  and  children  much  more 
comfortable  in  the  United  States  than  in  the  regiment. 
Daly's  objections  were  thus  overcome,  and  he  at 
tended  the  subsequent  meetings,  especially  the  last 
and  most  important  one,  held  that  very  morning  in 
Knox's  tavern,  in  the  town  of  Niagara,  and  from 
which  Fitzpatrick  was  returning  when  he  met  the 
servant  of  Major  Wulff. 

On  this  disclosure,  a  meeting  of  the  officers  was 
immediately,  but  privately,  called  ;  and  it  was  agreed 
that  no  public  step  should  be  taken  until  Colonel 
Brock  was  made  acquainted  with  the  particulars. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  29 

A  report  from  Colonel  Sheaffe  was  at  once  dispatched 
to  York  by  a  government  schooner  then  in  the  Nia 
gara  river;  and  on  the  receipt  thereof  Colonel  Brock 
hurried  off  in  the  same  schooner,  taking  with  him 
his  young  and  devoted  sergeant-major.  The  vessel 
arrived  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  a  little  before 
noon,  and  at  the  colonel's  request  she  was  anchored 
below  the  town,  under  the  bank  of  the  lake,  where  he 
was  landed  alone,  the  sergeant-major  by  his  orders 
remaining  below  deck  out  of  view,  until  sent  for. 
He  then  walked  over  the  common  to  the  east  gate  of 
the  fort,  the  sentry  at  which,  on  seeing  him  approach, 
called  out  the  guard,  the  usual  compliment  to  a 
commanding  officer.  The  day  was  very  hot,  and  it 
being  the  soldiers'  dinner  hour,  not  an  officer  or  man 
appeared  out  of  doors.  The  colonel  crossed  the 
square  to  the  guard,  which  he  found  commanded  by 
Sergeant  Clarke.  Now,  it  was  part  of  the  plan  that 
the  mutineers  were  to  take  to  their  arms  on  some 
night  when  Sergeant  Clarke  and  Corporal  O'Brien 
were  on  guard,  and  the  colonel  by  chance  found 
them  both  on  this  guard. 

On  approaching  the  guard,  which  had  already 
presented  arms  to  him,  Colonel  Brock  said  :  "  Ser 
geant,  let  your  guard  shoulder  arms,"  and  it  was 
done,  when  the  colonel,  who  was  a  man  of  towering 
frame  and  commanding  aspect,  continued  :  "  Come 
here,  sergeant — lay  down  your  pike;"  pronounced 
in  a  tone  which  produced  instant  obedience.  "  Take 
off  your  sword  and  sash,  and  lay  them  down" — this 
was  also  done.  "  Corporal  O'Brien,  bring  a  pair  of 
handcuffs,  and  put  them  on  this  sergeant,  and  lock 
him  up  in  one  of  the  cells,  and  bring  me  the  key." 
This  was  soon  done.  "  Come  here,  corporal,  lay  down 
your  arms  —  take  off  your  accoutrements,  and  lay 
them  down  also."  It  was  done.  "  Come  here,  you 
grenadier,"  the  right  hand  man  of  the  guard,  "  bring 
a  pair  of  handcuffs  and  put  them  on  this  corporal, 
and  lock  him  up  in  another  cell,  and  bring  me  the 


30  LIFE    AND    CORKESPONDENCE    OF 

key" — and  it  was  soon  done.     "  Drummer,  beat  to 
arms" — and  it  was  done. 

Up  to  this  moment  no  one  in  the  garrison,  except 
the  sentry  and  the  guard,  knew  that  the  colonel  was 
in  the  fort.  The  first  person  seen  issuing  from  the 
officers'  barracks,  the  nearest  building  to  the  guard 
house,  was  Lieutenant  Williams,  with  his  sword  and 
belt  in  his  hand,  to  whom  the  colonel  said :  "  Wil 
liams,  go  and  instantly  secure  Rock,  and  if  he  hesi 
tate  to  obey,  even  for  a  moment,  cut  him  down.'7 
Lieutenant  Williams  commanded  the  light  company, 
to  which  Rock  had  recently  been  transferred,  after 
his  reduction  from  sergeant  in  a  battalion  company 
at  Montreal,  a  few  weeks  before.  This  officer  ran 
up  stairs,  and  called  to  Rock  to  come  down  with 
him,  and  Rock  said  :  "  Yes,  sir,  when  I  take  my 
arms."  "  No,  you  must  come  without  them."  "  I 
must  have  my  arms,  sir" — at  the  same  time  stretching 
out  his  hand  towards  his  musket,  in  the  arm-rack. 
"  If  you  touch  your  musket,  I  will  cut  you  down  — 
instantly  go  down  before  me  !"  and  at  the  same  time 
he  drew  his  sabre.  Rock  obeyed,  and  was  with  ten 
other  conspirators  put  in  irons,  and  the  whole,  with 
Fitzpatrick,  were  immediately  embarked  for  York,  in 
charge  of  a  guard  of  the  Royal  Artillery — in  number 
twelve  conspirators,  with  a  corporal  and  seven  de 
serters,  lately  overtaken  in  the  States  and  brought 
back — in  all  twenty. 

Lieut.-General  Hunter,  then  at  Quebec,  ordered 
that  the  delinquents  should  be  tried  in  that  garrison  ; 
and  thither  they  were  sent  in  September,  Lieut.- 
Colonel  Sheaffe  being  the  prosecutor.  In  January 
following,  the  proceedings  of  the  court  martial  were 
transmitted  to  the  general  at  York,  and  he  issued  an 
order  for  carrying  the  sentence  into  execution,  by 
which  four  of  the  mutineers  (Clarke,  O'Brien,  Rock, 
and  Fitzpatrick,)  and  three  deserters  (one  each  of 
the  6th,  41st,  and  49th  regiments)  were  condemned 
to  suffer  death.  They  were  shot  on  the  2d  of  March, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  31 

1804,  at  Quebec,  in  the  presence  of  the  entire  gar 
rison,  and  a  most  solemn  and  affecting  sight  it  was. 
At  a  quarter  past  ten,  a.  m.,  the  procession  moved  off 
from  the  prison  in  the  following  order : 

Two  Bugle  Horns. 
Major  Campbell,  with  a  large  party  of  the  41st  as  the  advance  guard. 

Artillery,  with  a  Field-Piece. 

The  Firing  Party,  fifty-six  in  number. 

Seven  Coffins,  borne  by  two  men  each. 

Escort  with  the  Prisoners,  attended  by  four  Roman  Catholic  Clergymen, 

and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mountain. 

Surgeons  of  the  Garrison  and  Regiments. 

Band  of  Music  of  the  41  st,  playing  a  Dirge. 

Major-General  Mann,  R.E.,  and  Staff  Officers  of  the  Garrison. 

Field-Piece. 
Lieut-Colonel  Glasgow,  with  the  main  body  of  the  Artillery. 

Field-Piece. 
Lieut.-Colonel  Proctor,  at  the  head  of  the  41st  Regiment,  with  tho 

Colours. 

Major  Muter,  of  the  6th,  with  the  two  flank  Companies  of  that  Regiment. 

New  Brunswick  Volunteers,  about  seventy  in  number, 

without  arms. 

At  about  half-past  ten  they  arrived  on  the  ground, 
when  the  sentence  and  warrant  of  execution  were 
read ;  the  prisoners  about  to  suffer  were  then  led  to 
their  coffins,  upon  which  they  respectively  kneeled, 
and  were  kept  nearly  three  quarters  of  an  hour  in 
prayer.  During  this  time  the  wind  was  easterly, 
strong,  and  cold,— a  thick  drift  of  snow  added  to  the 
gloom, — and,  as  if  to  increase  the  horror  of  the  scene, 
a  few  of  the  firing  party,  instead  of  advancing  to 
within  eight  yards  of  the  prisoners,  and  firing  in 
three  divisions  as  was  intended,  owing  to  some  mis 
take,  commenced  firing  at  the  distance  of  at  least  fifty 
yards,  on  being  ordered  by  the  sergeants  who  com 
manded  the  divisions  to  make  ready.  The  conse 
quence  was,  that  the  unhappy  wretches  were  only 
partially  wounded,  and  dropped  one  after  another. 
Nearly  forty  shots  were  fired  before  one  poor  fellow 
in  the  centre  fell,  although  he  was  wounded  through 
the  abdomen  by  the  first  discharge.  The  men,  who 
had  reserved  their  fire,  were  at  length  ordered  up, 
and,  lodging  the  contents  of  their  muskets  in  the 
breasts  of  the  culprits,  by  that  means  put  them  out  of 
torture.  The  unfortunate  sufferers  declared  publicly 


32  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

that,  had  they  continued  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Brock,  they  would  have  escaped  their  me 
lancholy  end ;  and,  as  may  be  easily  conceived,  he 
felt  no  little  anguish  that  they,  who  had  so  recently 
and  so  bravely  fought  under  him  in  Holland  and  at 
Copenhagen,  were  thus  doomed  to  end  their  lives, 
the  victims  of  unruly  passions  inflamed  by  vexatious 
authority.  He  was  now  directed  to  assume  the  com 
mand  at  Fort  George,  and  all  complaint  and  desertion 
instantly  ceased.  Of  the  other  prisoners  tried  at 
Quebec,  one  was  pardoned,  we  believe,  at  the  interces 
sion  of  Colonel  Brock;  and  the  remainder,  including 
a  younger  brother  of  Fitzpatrick,  were  sent  to  the 
West  Indies  for  life.  We  willingly  add,  in  justice 
to  Lieut. -Colonel  Sheaffe,  that  he  profited  by  this 
fatal  experience,  and  latterly  became  a  good  regi 
mental  commanding  officer.*  It  must  be  also  re 
membered,  that  at  the  period  of  the  conspiracy, 
severity  appears  to  have  been  too  much  the  rule,  and 
kindness  the  exception  in  the  iron,  we  had  almost 
said  brutal,  discipline  of  the  British  army,t —  a  regi 
mental  court  martial,  composed  of  only  one  captain 
and  four  subalterns,  having  then,  and  for  many  years 
subsequently,  the  power  of  inflicting  at  least  999 
lashes  !  ("  have  mercy,  Jesu,") — and  that  numberless 

*  An  old  pensioner,  who  served  many  years  in  the  4Qth,  and  was  at 
Fort  George  during  the  conspiracy,  tells  us  that  the  men  were  displeased 
at  objections  being  made  to  their  visiting  the  town  of  Niagara;  at  their 
being  allowed  to  fish  only  in  their  white  trowsers ;  and  at  other  petty 
sources  of  annoyance — moreover,  that  the  four  black  holes  were  con 
stantly  full.  He  adds  that  Colonel  Brock,  on  assuming  the  command, 
allowed  the  men,  in  proper  uniform,  to  visit  the  town  freely ;  to  fish  in 
their  fatigue  dresses  j  and  even  to  use  their  muskets  to  shoot  the  wild 
pigeons,  which  flew  over  in  countless  numbers,  on  condition  that  they 
provided  their  own  powder  and  shot. 

t  Proof  l. — It  was  then  sometimes  the  practice  to  steep  the  cat  in  brine 
before,  as  well  as  during,  the  infliction  of  the  punishment :  this  brutality 
is  now  strictly  prohibited. 

Proof  2. — A  soldier  was  sentenced  to  receive  1,500  lashes  for  marauding. 
When  brought  to  the  halberts,  he  seized  the  drum-major's  sword,  and 
called  upon  his  comrades  to  rescue  him  :  they,  however,  did  not  interfere. 
He  was  forthwith  flogged  to  the  full  extent  of  his  sentence  ;  subsequently 
he  was  tried  for  the  above  act  of  mutiny,  found  guilty,  and  shot ! !  ! 

Proof  3. — The  infliction  of  a  sentence  at  two,  three,  or  even  four  dif 
ferent  periods,  when  the  victim  was  incapable  of  bearing  the  whole 
number  of  lashes  at  once,  although  the  practice  was  illegal.  There  was. 
also  picketing,  and  other  modes  of  torture. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  33 

officers  too  often  forgot  that  even  in  the  slavish 
obedience  and  passive  suffering  exacted  from  the 
soldiery  of  that  day,  there  might  be  a  limit,  as  there 
occasionally  was,  to  human  endurance. 

In  the  fall  of  1805,  in  October  of  which  year  he 
was  made  a  full  colonel,  Colonel  Brock  returned  to 
Europe  on  leave;*  and  early  in  the  following  year, 
"  conceiving/'  as  he  said,  "  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  officer  to  suggest  whatever  may  appear  to  him 
likely  to  prove  beneficial  to  the  service,"  he  laid  be 
fore  his  royal  highness  the  commander-in-chief  the 
outlines  of  a  plan  for  the  formation  of  a  veteran 
battalion,  to  serve  in  the  Canadas.  The  mutiny  at 
Fort  George,  and  its  mournful  consequences,  were 
still  evidently  uppermost  in  his  mind  when  he  sug 
gested  a  remedy  for  the  evils  he  so  clearly  describes. 
In  support  of  the  plan  he  wrote  : 

"  The  advantages  which  may  attend  the  establish 
ment  of  a  corps  such  as  is  here  recommended,  will 
be  perhaps  more  clearly  understood  by  first  adverting 
to  some  of  the  causes  that  produce  the  inconvenience 
to  which  the  troops  occupying  the  frontier  posts  of 
that  country  are  continually  exposed. 

"  A  regiment  quartered  in  Upper  Canada  is  gene 
rally  divided  into  eight  different  parts,  several  hun 
dred  miles  asunder,  and  in  this  situation  it  remains 
at  least  three  years.  Great  as  is  the  evil  incidental 
to  a  state  of  separation,  even  where  the  mind  is  in 
no  danger  of  being  debauched,  what  may  not  be 
apprehended  in  a  country  where  both  the  divided 
state  of  the  regiment,  and  the  artifices  employed  to 
wean  the  soldier  from  his  duty,  conspire  to  render 
almost  ineffectual  every  effort  of  the  officers  to  main 
tain  the  usual  degree  of  order  and  discipline  ?  The 
lures  to  desertion  continually  thrown  out  by  the 
Americans,  and  the  facility  'with  which  it  can  be 

*  We  regret  that  we  cannot  discover  a  single  letter  from  Lieut.-Colonel 
Brock  during  his  first  sojourn  in  Canada. 


34  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

accomplished,  exacting  a  more  than  ordinary  pre 
caution  on  the  part  of  the  officers,  insensibly  produce 
mistrust  between  them  and  the  men,  highly  prejudi 
cial  to  the  service. 

"  The  soldier,  in  his  intercourse  with  the  inhabit 
ants,  soon  learns  that  many  of  them,  who  a  few  years 
before  possessed  no  kind  of  property,  are  become 
opulent,  by  having  obtained  extensive  grants  of  land. 
He  will  also  find  that  these  men,  generally  speaking, 
had  no  claim  to  favor,  being  either  utter  strangers,  or 
known  only  as  our  enemies  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion. 

"  I  am  aware  that  this  indiscriminate  disposal  of 
land  has  now  ceased,  but  unfortunately  the  great 
influx  of  bad  subjects  into  the  country  must  long  be 
productive  of  serious  evils  to  the  army.  It  being 
impossible  to  deprive  men  of  reflection,  the  zeal  of 
the  old  and  faithful  soldier  suffers,  as  he  naturally 
considers  himself  better  entitled  to  protection  than 
these  unworthy  intruders. 

"  The  young  and  thoughtless  give  too  much  credit 
to  what  the  designing  are  continually  repeating  to 
them  —  that  they  need  only  desert  to  secure  an  inde 
pendence.  The  American  service  too  is  represented 
as  enjoying  many  advantages  over  the  British ;  and 
indeed  to  a  superficial  observer  the  following  state 
ment  of  the  pay  and  allowances  of  an  American  sol 
dier  seems  to  justify  the  assertion. 

[A  table  in  detail  follows  of  the  monthly  pay,  annual  cloth 
ing,  and  daily  rations,  by  which  it  appears  that  sergeants 
received  eight,  corporals  seven,  musicians  six,  and  privates 
five  dollars  per  month,  and,  when  employed  on  fortifications 
or  roads,  ten  cents  and  one  gill  of  spirits  per  day,  in  addition 
to  their  pay  and  rations ;  artificers  of  artillery  excepted, 
whose  pay  was  ten  dollars  per  month.  The  daily  rations 
were  :  1J  Ib.  of  beef,  f  Ib.  of  pork,*  1  Ib.  2  oz.  of  bread  or  flour, 
1  gill  of  spirits;  exclusive  of  2  quarts  of  salt,  41b.  of  soap, 
4  quarts  of  vinegar,  and  l^lb.  of  candles  per  hundred  rations. 
And  it  is  added,  that  "  the  men  are  enlisted  to  serve  for  five 
years."] 

*  To  an  Irishman  brought  up  on  potatoes  and  buttermilk,  a  daily  allow 
ance  of  2  Ib.  of  meat  must  have  appeared  very  tempting. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  35 

"  Experience  has  taught  me  that  no  regular  re 
giment,  however  high  its  claims  to  discipline,  can 
occupy  the  frontier  posts  of  Lower  and  Upper  Cana 
da  without  suffering  materially  in  its  numbers.  It 
might  have  been  otherwise  some  years  ago ;  but  now 
that  the  country,  particularly  the  opposite  shore,  is 
chiefly  inhabited  by  the  vilest  characters,  who  have 
an  interest  in  debauching  the  soldier  from  his  duty ; 
since  roads  are  opened  into  the  interior  of  the  States, 
which  facilitate  desertion,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid 
the  contagion.  A  total  change  must  be  effected  in 
the  minds  and  views  of  those  who  may  hereafter  be 
sent  on  this  duty,  before  the  evil  can  be  surmounted. 

"  Were  a  veteran  battalion  formed  on  the  princi 
ples  which  I  shall  proceed  to  state,  the  disposable 
force  would  be  stationed  at  Quebec — in  fact,  the 
only  military  post  in  the  country  :  there  it  could  be 
easily  maintained  in  a  state  fit  for  service  ;  desertion 
would  in  a  great  measure  be  stopped ;  and  Canada, 
instead  of  being  the  ruin  of  part  of  the  army,  would 
become  a  most  eligible  quarter. 

"  What  I  would  presume  humbly  to  recommend, 
is  the  establishing  of  a  corps  composed  of  men  de 
serving,  by  long  and  faithful  services,  of  the  most 
liberal  protection  and  favor,  whose  interests  would 
be  so  interwoven  with  the  safety  and  prosperity 
of  the  country,  as  to  ensure  a  continuance  of  good 
conduct. 

"The  men,  in  the  first  instance,  might  be  selected 
from  the  veteran  corps  already  established,  and  after 
wards  impartially  from  every  regiment  throughout 
the  army.  No  officer,  who  has  been  any  time  in  the 
command,  but  is  sensible  that  every  year  men  are 
discharged  whom  he  could  with  propriety  recom 
mend,  and  these  will  be  more  than  sufficient  to  keep 
up  the  establishment.  On  each  of  these  men  two 
hundred  acres  of  good  land  might  be  settled. 

"  Ten  companies,  each  of  sixty  rank  and  file,  with 
the  usual  proportion  of  officers,  distributed  in  the 


36  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

following  manner,  would,  I  apprehend,  prove  equal 
to  all  the  duty  to  which  they  might  be  liable. 

Stations.  No.  of  Companies. 

St.  John  and  Chambly 1 

Kingston 1 

York 2 

Fort  George  and  dependencies 3 

Amherstburg .  . . . , 2 

St.  Joseph 1 

"  A  small  force  might  be  necessary  at  Montreal, 
which  the  garrison  of  Quebec  could  furnish  by  a 
detachment  composed  of  men  the  least  likely  to 
desert. 

[Lieut.-Colonel  Brock  next  gives  a  scale  of  the  number  of 
years  each  soldier  should  serve  in  the  veteran  battalion,  pro 
portionate  to  his  length  of  former  service  ;  and  among  other 
details  he  suggests  that  the  men,  on  their  discharge,  should 
be  located  on  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  river  "  Credit," 
purchased  by  Lieut.-General  Hunter  from  the  Mississague 
Indians ;  recommending  also  that  they  should  be  furnished 
with  implements  of  husbandry,  and  rations  for  a  short  period, 
the  expense  of  which  would  in  the  end  be  inconsiderable,  as 
on  receiving  the  200  acres  they  would  forego  all  claim  to 
Chelsea  hospital,  or  to  any  other  pension.  And  he  concludes 
as  follows  :  ] 

"  The  monthly  returns  of  the  regiments,  which  for 
the  last  ten  years  have  occupied  the  frontier  posts  of 
the  Canadas,  will  shew  in  part  the  mischiefs  against 
which  a  remedy  ought,  in  my  opinion,  to  be  provided. 
But  recollecting  the  sensations  produced  on  the  mind 
of  the  old  soldier  by  the  promise  of  land  made  two 
years  ago  by  officers  recruiting  for  a  Fencible  corps, 
I  would  not  recommend  the  raising  of  one  in  the 
usual  indiscriminate  manner  for  this  duty. 

"  I  have  considered  the  subject  only  in  a  military 
point  of  view ;  the  advantages  arising  from  the  intro 
duction  of  a  number  of  men  into  the  country,  attached 
to  government  by  ties  of  interest  and  gratitude,  and 
already  acquainted  with  the  use  of  arms,  are  too 
obvious  in  a  political  light  to  need  any  comment. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  37 

"  It  is  highly  gratifying  to  observe  the  comfortable 
state  of  the  Loyalists,  who,  in  the  year  1784,  obtained 
small  tracts  of  land  in  Upper  Canada  :  their  conduct 
and  principles  form  a  perfect  contrast  to  those  prac 
tised  and  professed  generally  by  the  settlers  of  1794 
and  1795. 

"  It  may  be  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  land  in 
Upper  Canada  cannot  be  estimated  of  any  value  to 
government,  since  any  stranger,  on  paying,  I  think, 
six  pence  fees  for  every  acre,  may  at  this  moment 
procure  two  hundred  acres  on  condition  of  settling." 

In  a  letter  from  Lieut.-Colonel  Gordon,  dated 
Horse  Guards,  January  17,  1806,  Colonel  Brock 
received  the  Duke  of  York's  "thanks  for  the  commu 
nication  of  his  very  sensible  observations  respecting 
the  distribution  of  the  troops  in  Canada,  which  his 
royal  highness  will  not  fail  to  take  into  consideration 
at  a  seasonable  opportunity."  * 

While  on  a  visit  to  his  family  and  friends  in 
Guernsey,  Colonel  Brock  deemed  the  intelligence 
from  the  United  States  to  be  of  so  warlike  a  charac 
ter,  that  he  resolved  on  returning  to  Canada  before 
his  leave  was  expired  ;  and  such  was  his  anxiety  to 
be  at  his  post,  that  he  overtook  at  Cork  the  Lady 
Saurnarez,  a  Guernsey  vessel,  well  manned  and  armed 
as  a  letter  of  marque,  bound  to  Quebec.  He  left 
London  on  the  26th  of  June,  1806,  and  hurried  away 
from  Europe  never  to  return — never  to  revisit  those 
who  fondly  loved  him,  not  only  from  ties  of  kindred, 
but  for  his  many  endearing  qualities  ;  but  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  commander-in-chief 
was  much  pleased  by  the  zeal  and  devotion  evinced 
by  him  on  this  occasion. 

*  The  10th  Royal  Veteran  Battalion  arrived  in  Canada  the  year  fol 
lowing  ;  and  the  Canadian  rifle  regiment,  consisting  of  old  soldiers,  was 
formed  a  few  years  since,  with  the  view  of  preventing  desertion  across 
the  frontier. 


LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 


CHAPTER    III. 


VERY  soon  after  his  return  to  Canada,  Colonel  Brock 
succeeded,  on  the  27th  of  September,  1806,  to  the 
command  of  the  troops  in  the  two  provinces,  with  the 
pay  and  allowances  of  a  brigadier,  Colonel  Bowes,* 
oi*  the  6th  Foot,  having  resigned  that  command  on 
his  departure  for  England.  At  this  time,  the  civil 
government  of  the  lower  province  was  administered 
by  Mr.  President  Dunn  ;  and  Colonel  Brock  resided 
at  Quebec,  in  command  of  the  forces,  until  the  ar 
rival,  in  October,  1807,  of  the  governor-general,  Sir 
James  Craig,  who  appointed  him  to  act  as  a  briga 
dier,  which  appointment  was  confirmed  by  the  king, 
to  date  from  the  2d  of  July,  1808. 

Colonel  Brock  to  Lieut. -Colonel  J .  W.  Gordon. 

QUEBEC,  September  28,  1806. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acquaint  you,  for  the  informa 
tion  of  the  commander-in-chief,  that  Colonel  Bowes, 
preparatory  to  his  departure  for  England,  has  re 
signed  the  command  of  his  majesty's  forces  in  this 
country,  which,  as  the  next  senior  officer,  devolves 
on  me. 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  reporting  to  his  royal 
highness  the  good  order  and  discipline  which,  much 

*  Afterwards  Major-General  Barnard  Foord  Bowes,  slain  on  the  2/th  of 
June,  1812,  while  leading  the  troops  to  the  assault  of  the  forts  of  Sala 
manca.  Monuments  in  St.  Paul's,  to  the  memory  of  Major-General 
Bowes  and  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  were  voted  in  the  House  of  Commons  on 
the  same  day,  20th  of  July,  1813. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  oU 

to  the  credit  of  Lieut. -Colonel  Sheaffe,  I  found  on 
my  arrival  to  prevail  among  the  eight  companies  of 
the  49th  regiment,  quartered  in  this  garrison. 

It  has  been  the  fate  of  the  49th  to  be  divided  for 
the  last  four  years  and  a  half,  several  hundred  miles 
apart ;  and  however  anxious  I  must  be  to  assemble 
the  whole  together,  I  have  not,  considering  the  youth 
of  the  100th  regiment,  which  alone  affords  me  the 
means  of  effecting  that  measure,  thought  it  prudent 
to  withdraw  the  company  stationed  at  St.  John's  and 
the  other  frontier  posts  of  this  province  ;  but  the  one 
at  Montreal  will  be  relieved  this  autumn.* 

Colonel  Bowes  having  complied  with  Lieut. -Colo 
nel  Otway'sf  earnest  application  for  leave  to  return 
to  England,  I  have  appointed  Captain  Ormsby,  of 
the  49th  regiment,  an  officer  of  approved  merit,  to 
act  as  deputy  adjutant-general  during  his  absence; 
an  arrangement  which,  I  presume  to  hope,  his  royal 
highness  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  sanction. 


A  few  days  after  succeeding  to  the  command  of 
the  troops,  Colonel  Brock  issued  very  stringent  regu 
lations  for  the  guidance  of  the  deputy  commissary- 
general,  whose  accounts  appear,  from  the  letters 
before  us,  to  have  been  in  great,  if  not  in  irretriev 
able,  confusion,  and  against  whom  there  existed  a 
balance  of  ,£36,359  sterling,  for  which  no  warrants, 
to  sanction  the  application,  could  be  found  in  the 
proper  office.  The  commissary,  when  called  upon  to 

*  The  other  military  posts  in  Canada,  with  the  names  of  their  com 
mandants,  appear,  by  a  circular  dated  15th  of  December,  1806,  to  have 
been  as  follows:  Montreal,  Major  Hamilton,  100th  regiment;  Kingston, 
brevet  Major  Mackenzie,  4lst  regiment;  York,  Captain  Derenzy,  4lst 
regiment;  Fort  George,  Lieut.-Colonel  Proctor,  41st  regiment ;  Amherst- 
burg,  brevet  Lieut.-Colonel  Grant,  41st  regiment  5  and  St.  Joseph,  Major 
Campbell,  41st  regiment. 

+  The  present  Lieut.-General  Sir  Loftus  W.  Otway,  C.  B.,  colonel  of  the 
84th  regiment.  Lieut.-Colonel  Otway  being  unable  to  obtain  a  desirable 
passage  for  England  at  Quebec,  Colonel  Brock  advised  his  proceeding  in 
the  Lady  Saumarez  (the  vessel  which  brought  him  out)  to  St.  John's, 
Newfoundland,  which  he  did,  and  there  embarked  in  a  vessel  of  war. 
How  changed  is  Quebec  now  with  her  innumerable  fall  ships. 


40  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

account  for  this  large  balance,  objected,  evidently 
with  a  view  to  procrastination,  to  the  rank  of  Colonel 
Brock,  and  wrote  to  him,  "  that  he  conceived  it  was 
not  expedient,  or  competent  to  any  authority  then  in 
Canada,  to  give  instructions,  by  which  his  duties 
and  responsibility,  under  the  instructions  of  the  lords 
commissioners  of  his  majesty's  treasury,  could  be  in 
any  manner  altered  or  affected."  In  reply,  Colonel 
Brock  repeated  his  positive  injunctions  for  the  ob 
servance  of  these  regulations,  and  closed  his  commu 
nication  to  the  commissary  as  follows  :  "  In  respect 
to  the  last  paragraph  of  your  letter,  relating  to  the 
two  characters  *  whom  you  consider  as  more  compe 
tent  than  me  to  give  you  authorities,  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  investigate  the  question,  when  either  of 
them  shall  express  a  wish  to  assume  the  command  ; 
but  in  the  meanwhile  I  shall  exercise  it  with  prompti 
tude  and  decision."  That  there  were  ample  grounds 
for  Colonel  Brock's  interference,  will  be  seen  in  the 
following  paragraph  of  his  letter  to  the  lords  com 
missioners  of  his  majesty's  treasury,  dated  Quebec, 
November  28,  1806 :  "  I  can  no  longer  dissemble 
from  their  lordships  the  difficulties  which  I  much 
fear  will  follow  any  attempt  of  mine  to  enforce  the 
periodical  settlement  of  the  deputy  commissary-gene 
ral's  accounts,  as  I  find  that  no  examination  has 
occurred  in  his  store  account  since  the  24th  of  De 
cember,  1788.  The  account  of  fuel  is  likewise  in 
arrear  since  the  24th  of  December,  1796,  and  the 
account  of  provisions  since  the  24th  of  June,  1800.  f 

Colonel  Brock  to  the  Right  Hon.  W.  Windham. 

QUEBEC,  28th  October,  1806. 

Having  long  witnessed  the  many   inconveniences 
which  the  troops  in   garrison  at  Quebec   suffer   for 

*  The  president  of  Lower,  and  the  lieutenant-governor  of  Upper, 
Canada. 

t  The  officer  in  question  was  subsequently  relieved,  when  he  was  found 
to  be  in  a  state  of  insolvency. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  41 

want  of  regular  hospitals,  I  think  it  my  duty  to 
submit  the  following  representation  on  the  subject 
to  your  consideration. 

The  hiring  of  houses  to  serve  as  hospitals  is  at  all 
times  precarious  ;  indeed,  none  can  be  procured  but 
of  a  miserable  description,  situated  in  the  midst  of 
the  town,  and  often  so  much  out  of  repair,  that  a 
considerable  expense  is  unavoidably  incurred  before 
they  can  be  occupied. 

The  intense  heat  of  the  summer  and  the  severity  of 
the  cold  in  winter,  make  thick  walls  of  masonry 
particularly  desirable  in  this  country ;  but  the  sick 
are  now  lodged  in  small  wooden  buildings,  and  are 
subject  to  every  change  of  temperature. 

Herewith  I  have  the  honor  of  transmitting  a  plan 
for  the  construction  of  a  building  calculated  to  re 
move  these  disadvantages.  Captain  Bruyeres,  com 
manding  royal  engineer,  proposes  to  erect  it  on  a 
site  reserved  for  a  barrack  by  Major-General  Mann, 
in  his  project  for  the  completion  of  the  citadel,  and 
so  disposed  as  to  answer  the  original  intention  equally 
well,  should  any  other  arrangement  in  regard  to  the 
hospital  be  hereafter  found  necessary. 

The  accompanying  estimate*  is  made  with  every 
regard  to  economy. 

In  November  of  this  year,  (1806,)  owing  evidently 
to  the  want  of  a  proper  naval  authority,  Colonel 
Brock  directed  that  Lieut.-Colonel  Pye,  the  deputy 
quartermaster-general,  should  have  the  entire  super 
intendence  of  the  marine  department,  including  the 
bateaux  for  the  lakes  and  rivers  of  the  Canadas, 
the  building  and  outfit  of  the  vessels,  their  repairs 
and  navigating,  and  the  issue  and  expenditure  of  the 
necessary  stores,  with  the  exception  only  of  the 
bateaux  at  La  Chine.  Colonel  Brock  further  direct 
ed  that  an  assistant  quartermaster-general  should  be 

*  j£3,l83  sterling  for  materials  and  workmanship. 


42  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

stationed,  one  at  Amherstburg  and  another  at  King 
ston  ;  the  former  to  superintend  the  marine  service 
on  Lake  Erie  arid  its  dependencies,  and  the  latter  on 
Lake  Ontario  and  its  dependencies ;  to  whom  the  log 
books,  journals,  and  all  communications  were  to  be 
transmitted.  By  the  same  order,  the  following  num 
ber  of  boats  was  to  be  kept  in  constant  repair  at,  the 
several  posts  for  military  services,  independent  of 
those  required  for  the  commissariat,  viz.  Quebec,  6 ; 
Three  Rivers,  2 ;  William  Henry,  1 ;  Montreal,*  7 ; 
St.  John's,*  2;  Kingston,*  4  5  Fort  George,*  12 ; 
York,  3;  and  Amherstburg,  4 ;  total,  41.  Although 
it  may  appear  strange  that  a  military  officer  should 
be  nominated  to  the  command  in  chief  of  the  Cana 
dian  navy,  which  was  then  in  a  very  incipient  state, 
yet  it  would  seem  that  this  *act  of  Colonel  Brock, 
together  with  the  wholesome  regulations  which  he 
issued  at  the  same  time  for  the  guidance  of  the  deputy 
quartermaster-general,  was  the  principal  cause  of  the 
British  supremacy  on  the  lakes  when  the  war  broke 
out  in  the  year  1812. 

Colonel  Brock  to  the  Right  Hon.  the  Secretary  at  War. 
QUEBEC,  December  25,  1806. 

I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  Mr.  Thomas 
Faunce,  town  major  of  Quebec,  died  yesterday  at 
a  very  advanced  age  ;  and  I  beg  leave  respectfully  to 
submit  for  your  indulgent  consideration  the  enclosed 
memorial  which  I  have  received  from  Mr.  Ross-Lewin. 

This  gentleman  served  with  distinguished  merit  in 
the  5th  regiment,  for  upwards  of  seventeen  years, 
during  which  he  attained  the  rank  of  captain ;  but 
in  consequence  of  a  most  unfortunate  accident,  which 
deprived  him  of  his  left  hand,  he  was  compelled  to 
retire  from  active  service. 

So  sensible  was  the  late  Lieut.-General  Hunter  of 
his  merit,  that  he  strongly  recommended  him,  three 

*  And  dependencies. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK. 


43 


years  ago,  for  a  situation  in  the  barrack  department, 
but  the  then  secretary  at  war  in  the  meantime  dis 
posed  of  the  appointment. 

Whilst  earnestly  soliciting  your  kind  protection  in 
the  present  instance,  I  discharge  a  pleasing  task  to 
myself,  and  fulfil  also  the  intention  of  the  late  lieute 
nant-general,  who  always  expressed  every  inclination 
to  promote  the  interests  of  Mr.  Ross-Lewin. 

I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  appointing  him  to  do 
the  duty  of  town  major  to  this  garrison,  until  his 
majesty's  pleasure  can  be  notified.* 

Colonel  JBrock  to  Colonel  Glasgow,  Royal  Artillery) 
President  of  Board  of  Accounts. 

QUEBEC,  5th  January,  1807. 

The  principles  that  determined  the  Board  of  Ac 
counts  to  postpone  the  consideration  of  several  arti 
cles  of  charge,  brought  forward  by  the  deputy  com 
missary-general  of  stores  and  provisions,  meet  with 
my  entire  approbation  ;  and  I  have  to  request  the 
Board  to  continue  diligently  to  ascertain  the  suffi 
ciency  of  every  authority  for  the  expenditure  of  the 
public  money,  before  it  sanctions  the  smallest  charge. 

Some  unforeseen  and  necessary  service  may  justify 
heads  of  departments  to  incur  expense  without  wait 
ing  for  the  previous  approbation  of  the  officer  com 
manding  ;  but  all  such  cases  ought  to  be  immediately 
reported,  and  a  subsequent  approval  obtained,  before 
the  charge  be  admitted  by  the  Board. 

Although  this  regular  course  was  not  followed  by 
the  deputy  commissary-general  in  several  instances 
stated  in  his  accounts,  yet,  considering  that  some 
came  under  the  above  description,  I  have  authorized 
the  military  secretary  to  give  them  my  sanction. 

But  when  expense  is  incurred  without  the  most 
urgent  cause,  arid  more  particularly  when  large  sums 

*  Mr.  Ross-Lewin  obtained  the  appointment,  which  he  held  many 
years,  with  the  rank  of  ensign. 


44  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

are  stated  to  have  been  expended  in  anticipation  of 
services  not  yet  authorized,  my  duty  strictly  compels 
me  to  withhold  my  approval  to  all  such  irregular 
proceedings. 

Colonel  Brock  to  Mr.  President  Dunn. 

QUEBEC,  5th  January,  1807. 

I  beg  leave  to  represent  to  your  honor  the  serious 
inconvenience  under  which  the  public  service  labours, 
in  consequence  of  the  innumerable  encroachments 
that  have  long  been,  and  still  continue  to  be,  made 
upon  the  reserves  of  the  crown ;  and  respectfully  to 
submit  for  your  consideration  the  necessity  of  imme 
diately  adopting  such  measures  as  will  effectually 
remove  this  alarming  evil. 

Those  encroachments  have  been  carried  on  to  such 
a  dangerous  extent,  that  the  defence  of  Quebec  would, 
in  the  event  of  an  attack,  be  materially  and  seriously 
impeded  by  them. 

A  great  portion  of  the  ground  in  question  will,  in 
all  probability,  be  shortly  required  for  the  erection 
of  new  and  extensive  works,  and  no  time  ought, 
therefore,  to  be  lost  in  ascertaining  the  actual  bound 
ary  of  the  king's  property. 

I  cannot  refrain  noticing  also  the  unpleasant  situ 
ation  in  which  the  officer  commanding  is  often  placed, 
by  having  to  defend  civil  prosecutions  for  opposing 
attempts  at  encroachment,  which,  if  tolerated,  might 
at  some  future  day  endanger  the  very  safety  of  the 
place. 

These  evils  will  continue  until  the  king's  preroga 
tive  over  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  fortified  towns, 
together  with  his  real  property,  be  defined  beyond 
the  possibility  of  future  disputes. 

I  shall  only  advert  in  this  representation  to  those 
enclosures  and  buildings  on  the  Glacis,  and  even  on 
the  covert  way  of  the  place,  in  front  of  St.  John's 
gate.  This  ground  is  indisputably  the  property  of 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  45 

the  crown,  and  as  it  is  essential  that  these  obstruc 
tions  should  be  immediately  removed,  I  have  to 
request  that  the  necessary  instructions  may  be  given 
to  the  civil  officers,  to  enter  into  the  usual  legal 
process  to  effect  this  object. 

The  commanding  engineer  will  be  directed  to  fur 
nish  the  necessary  plans  and  descriptions  of  the  en 
croachments  essentially  required  for  military  pur 
poses,  and  I  shall  be  ready  at  all  times  to  afford 
every  other  assistance  and  information  within  my 
reach  to  bring  the  business  to  a  happy  conclusion. 

Colonel  Brock  to  Lieut. -Governor  Gore,  at  York. 
QUEBEC,  27th  January,  1807. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  excellency's  dispatch  (duplicate)  of  the  20th 
November  last,  the  original  of  which  has  not  yet 
come  to  hand. 

"Upon  the  subject  of  that  dispatch,  I  beg  leave  to 
state,  that  finding  Colonel  Bowes  had,  during  his 
temporary  command  here,  given  directions  upon 
matters  relating  to  the  management  of  the  Indian 
concerns  in  the  province  of  Upper  Canada,  I  felt  it 
necessary  to  apprize  your  excellency  that  I  meant  to 
discontinue  such  interference,  and  strictly  to  follow 
his  majesty's  additional  instructions  of  the  15th  of 
December,  1796,  which  place  the  sole  control  of 
Indian  affairs  in  that  province  in  your  hands,  as  lieu 
tenant-governor  thereof. 

It  consequently  became  unavoidable  that  all  ac 
counts  which,  under  the  Duke  of  Portland's  letter  to 
Lieut. -General  Prescott,  of  the  13th  of  December, 
1796,  were  to  continue  to  be  defrayed  out  of  the 
army  extraordinaries  as  usual,  should  previously 
receive  your  excellency's  sanction  and  approval.  I 
have,  therefore,  the  honor  to  inform  you,  that  any 
money  will  be  advanced  from  the  military  chest  for 
this  service  on  the  bare  signature  of  your  excellency. 


46  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Colonel  Brock  to  the  Right  Hon.  W.  Windham. 

QUEBEC,  February  12,  1807. 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  for  your  consideration 
a  proposal  of  Lieut.-Colonel  John  M'Donald,  late  of 
the  Royal  Canadian  Volunteers,  for  raising  a  corps 
among  the  Scotch  settlers  in  the  county  of  Glengary, 
Upper  Canada. 

When  it  is  considered  that  both  the  Canadas  fur 
nish  only  two  hundred  militia  who  are  trained  to 
arms,  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  such  an 
establishment  must  appear  very  evident. 

The  military  force  in  this  country  is  very  small, 
and  were  it  possible  to  collect  it  in  time  to  oppose 
any  serious  attempt  upon  Quebec,  the  only  tenable 
post,  the  number  would  of  itself  be  insufficient  to 
ensure  a  vigorous  defence. 

This  corps,  being  stationed  on  the  confines  of  the 
Lower  Province,  would  be  always  immediately  and 
essentially  useful  in  checking  any  seditious  dispo 
sition,  which  the  wavering  sentiments  of  a  large 
population  in  the  Montreal  district  might  at  any  time 
manifest.  In  the  event  of  invasion,  or  other  emer 
gency,  this  force  could  be  easily  and  expeditiously 
transported  by  water  to  Quebec. 

The  extent  of  country  which  these  settlers  occupy 
would  make  the  permanent  establishment  of  the  staff 
and  one  sergeant  in  each  company  very  advisable. 
I  shall  not  presume  to  say  how  far  the  claims  of  the 
field  officers  to  the  same  indulgence  are  reasonable 
and  expedient. 

In  regard  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  M'Donell,*  I  beg 
leave  to  observe,  that  the  men  being  all  Catholics,  it 
may  be  deemed  a  prudent  measure  to  appoint  him 
chaplain.  His  zeal  and  attachment  to  government 

*  Afterwards  R.  C.  Bishop,  of  Regiopolis,  in  Upper  Canada.  lie  died  in 
England  at  an  advanced  age,  in  1839  or  1840,  and  was  through  life  distin 
guished  by  an  ardent  loyalty,  and  by  his  zealous  and  valuable  efforts  to 
animate  his  countrymen,  the  Irish,  to  a  gallant  discharge  of  their  duty  ia 
defence  of  the  crown. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  47 

were  strongly  evinced  whilst  filling  the  office  of  chap 
lain  to  the  Glengary  Fencibles,  during  the  rebellion 
in  Ireland,  and  were  graciously  acknowledged  by  his 
royal  highness  the  commander-in-chief. 

His  influence  over  the  men  is  deservedly  great, 
and  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  corps,  by 
his  exertions,  would  be  soon  completed,  and  hereafter 
become  a  nursery,  from  which  the  army  might  draw 
a  number  of  hardy  recruits. 


The  following  letter  affords  a  good  idea  of  the 
confidential  report  of  a  general  officer  on  the  state 
of  a  regiment  after  its  periodical  inspection. 

Colonel  Brock  to  the  Adjutant- General  of  His 
Majesty's  Forces. 

QUEBEC,  March  17,  1807. 

In  obedience  to  the  commander-in-chief's  com 
mands,  communicated  to  me  in  your  letter  dated 
20th  of  November  last,  I  shall  proceed  to  state,  for 
his  royal  highness's  information,  such  observations  a* 
a  strict  attention  to  the  conduct  and  interior  economy 
of  the  100th*  regiment  during  the  preceding  six 
months  has  enabled  me  to  make. 

The  greatest  praise  is  justly  due  to  Lieut. -Colonel 
Murray,  who  has  commanded,  with  only  a  short 
interval,  from  the  first  formation  of  the  regiment  to 
the  present  time,  for  his  unremitting  care  and  atten 
tion  to  the  several  important  duties  of  his  office. 

The  good  effects  of  his  exertions  and  intelligence 
are  strikingly  visible  in  every  department  of  the 
corps.  He  has  been  ably  supported  by  Major  Hamil 
ton  and  the  rest  of  his  officers,  who  on  all  occasions 

*  On  the  passage  of  the  100th  to  Quebec,  in  1805,  one  of  the  transports 
was  wrecked  in  a  violent  gale  on  the  2 1st  of  October,  on  the  coast  of  New 
foundland  ;  and  Major  Bertram,  three  captains,  six  lieutenants,  the 
assistant-surgeon,  and  about  260  men  of  the  regiment,  miserably  perished. 
On  the  same  day  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  was  fought,  and  it  was  probably 
the  same  gale  which  caused  the  loss  of  so  many  of  the  prizes. 


48  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

evince  the  utmost  zeal  for  the  service,  and  the  highest 
respect  and  attachment  towards  his  person.  He  has 
succeeded  in  establishing  an  interior  discipline  and 
economy,  which  I  have  never  before  witnessed  in  so 
young  a  corps,  and  scarcely  seen  surpassed  by  any, 
and  in  a  way  too  the  most  satisfactory  to  the  feelings 
of  an  officer. 

Although  I  trust  the  garrison  duty  at  Quebec  is 
carried  on  with  every  regard  to  the  safety  of  the 
place,  together  with  the  strictest  attention  to  all  pre 
scribed  forms  and  regulations,  yet  the  winter  has 
nearly  passed  without  a  single  instance  of  neglect  or 
misconduct  having  occurred  among  the  100th  regi 
ment  ;  and  it  is  a  pleasing  task  to  report,  that  so 
exemplarily  have  the  men  behaved,  that,  even  regi- 
mentally,  only  one  corporal  punishment  has  been 
inflicted  for  the  last  three  months. 

I  am  now  speaking  of  men  who,  being  nearly  all 
Irish,  are  of  all  others  the  most  volatile  and  easily 
led  astray.  Should  they,  therefore,  hereafter  be 
seduced  by  the  various  temptations  by  which  they 
are  surrounded,  I  hope  to  escape  the  imputation  of 
judging  too  hastily  and  partially.  The  men  were 
principally  raised  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  are 
nearly  all  Protestants ;  they  are  robust,  active,  and 
good  looking. 

The  troops  in  this  country  are  precluded,  by  the 
severity  of  the  climate  during  seven  months  in  the 
year,  from  exercising  out  of  doors  :  it  cannot,  there 
fore,  be  expected  that  the  100th  regiment  can,  con 
sidering  the  little  practice  it  has  had  in  the  field,  and 
after  such  a  long  interval,  be  very  expert  in  its 
manoeuvres  ;  but  as  Lieut.-Colonel  Murray  possesses 
both  capacity  and  inclination,  and  as  a  good  founda 
tion  is  already  laid,  the  most  rapid  progress  may  be 
expected  so  soon  as  the  season  enables  him  to  com 
mence  his  labours. 

A  large  room  has  been  allotted  in  the  barracks  to 
the  purposes  of  drilling  with  arms,  from  which  the 
garrison  has  derived  essential  benefit. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  49 

The  clothing  for  the  present  year  is  all  fitted,  and 
appears  very  good.  Every  man  is  provided  with  a 
great  coat,  agreeably  to  his  majesty's  regulations ; 
but  as  the  great  coat  is  necessarily  worn  on  all  oc 
casions  for  six  months  in  the  year,  it  cannot  by  the 
strictest  economy  be  made  to  last  the  specified  time. 
Those  of  the  100th  have  been  two  years  in  wear,  and 
are  so  far  expended,  that  they  will  become  wholly 
unserviceable  before  next  winter.  I  know  of  no 
other  alternative  but  supplying  others  at  the  charge 
of  the  men,  which  opinion  I  have  given  to  Lieut. - 
Colonel  Murray,  who  applied  to  me  on  the  subject. 

The  messes  have  been  all  along  abundantly  pro 
vided.  Indeed,  the  soldiers  in  this  country  live  in  a 
perfect  state  of  luxury  unknown  any  where  else. 

The  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  ac 
knowledge  to  have  received  every  thing  which  is 
their  due  in  respect  to  pay  and  clothing.  One  man 
claims  part  of  his  bounty,  which,  he  says,  has  been 
withheld.  A  regimental  court  martial  has  already 
decided  against  him,  but  the  business  shall  again  be 
investigated  by  a  garrison  court  martial. 

Lieut.-Colonel  Murray  has  reported  to  me  that 
there  are  several  men  in  his  regiment  who  claim 
bounty,  but  as  only  one  complained  at  the  inspection, 
the  remainder  must  be  satisfied  that  he  is  doing  his 
utmost  to  recover  what  is  actually  their  due. 

The  hospital  is  in  as  complete  order  as  the  house 
which  has  been  hired  for  that  purpose  can  admit. 
Indeed  the  troops  in  garrison  are  much  inconve 
nienced  for  want  of  permanent  hospitals.  There  were 
three  cases  of  fever ;  the  remainder  of  the  patients 
were  chiefly  attacked  with  a  disease  too  prevalent 
among  young  soldiers.  Three  men  are  unfit  for 
service,  being  frost-bitten. 

The  men  are  supplied  with  necessaries  in  con 
formity  to  his  majesty's  regulations.* 

*  By  the  general  return  s  of  the  100th  regiment,  drawn  up  with  surprising 
minuteness,  and  dated  Quebec,  l6th  March,  1807,  we  find  that  only  one 
D 


50  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Colonel  Brock  to  the  Adjutant -General  of  His 
Majesty's  Forces. 

QUEBEC,  18th  March,  1807. 

The  situation  which  I  have  the  honor  to  hold  in 
the  49th  regiment  will  not  allow  me  to  enlarge  fur 
ther  upon  its  merits  in  this  confidential  report,  than 
most  respectfully  to  assure  his  royal  highness  the 
commander-in-chief,  that  no  exertion  has  been  want 
ing  on  my  part  to  bring  it  to  such  a  state,  both  in 
regard  to  its  interior  economy  and  manoeuvres  in  the 
field,  as  I  feel  confident  will  command  applause  after 
the  most  rigid  inspection. 

Lieut. -Colonel  Sheaffe  has  always  afforded  me 
every  possible  assistance.  I  have  equally  every  rea 
son  to  be  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the  other 
officers,  who  are  well  instructed  in  their  several  du 
ties,  and  who,  I  am  happy  to  say,  live  together  in 
perfect  harmony. 

The  sergeants  are  well  grounded  in  their  duty, 
which  they  discharge  much  to  my  satisfaction. 

The  privates  are,  with  very  few  exceptions,  stout 
and  well  made;  and  capable  of  enduring  great  fatigue. 

[The  remainder  of  this  letter  refers  to  the  clothing,  messes, 
hospital,  regimental  books,  &c.] 


In  the  spring  of  the  year  1807  a  long  and  unplea 
sant  correspondence  passed  between  Mr.  President 
Dunn  and  Colonel  Brock,  relative  to  a  waste  piece 
of  ground  adjoining  the  barracks  at  Quebec,  and 
belonging  to  the  crown,  which  ground  the  military 
imperatively  required  for  a  parade,  as  they  could 
only  exercise  in  the  gorge  of  one  of  the  bastions  of 
the  citadel,  a  small  space  totally  inadequate  to  the 

officer  (Lieut- Colonel  Murray)  was  an  Englishman  ;  one  (the  assistant- 
surgeon)  was  a  Scotchman;  26  were  Irish;  8  not  known,  being  absent 
on  leave,  or  not  having  joined ;  and  two  vacant ;  total  38  officers.— Of  the 
non-commissioned  officers  and  privates,  9  were  English,  1  Scotch,  and 
458  Irish,  total  468,  of  whom  only  5  sergeants  and  l  private  were  six  feet 
and  upwards  in  height. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  51 

movement  of  more  than  200  men.  There  was  indeed 
an  extensive  field,  nearly  two  miles  distant,  which 
occasionally  served  as  a  parade,  but  it  was  often 
inaccessible  to  the  troops,  in  consequence  of  the  bad 
ness  of  the  roads  in  the  spring  and  autumn,  and  of 
the  excessive  heats  in  summer.  The  Jesuits'  bar 
racks,  as  they  are  now  called,  and  the  ground  in 
question,  continue  to  be  used  by  the  military, — the 
property,  known  as  the  Jesuits'  estates,  having  been 
seized  upon  by  the  crown,  on  the  death  of  Father 
Cazot,  the  last  of  his  order  in  Canada,  in  1800, 
because  the  society  was  suppressed  by  Pope  Clement 
XIV,  in  1773.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  report  of  Lord 
Gosford's  mission  to  Canada,  printed  by  the  order 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  that  it  was  one  of  the 
leading  heads  of  charge  advanced  by  the  French 
Canadians  against  the  government,  that  this  pro 
perty  had  been  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  troops. 
The  next  two  letters  relate  to  this  subject. 

QUEBEC,  7th  May,  1807. 

Colonel  Brock  has  been  honored  with  Mr.  Presi 
dent  Dunn's  letter  of  yesterday,  and  observes  with 
regret  and  surprise  that  his  honor  still  persists  in 
asserting  that  the  ground,  the  cause  of  the  present 
unpleasant  discussion,  was  occupied  by  the  military 
without  his  previous  knowledge  and  consent. 

That  his  honor  should  forget  having  given  his 
assent  to  the  measure  is  nothing  extraordinary,  but 
that  he  should  persist  in  positively  refusing  his  belief 
to  the  testimony  of  two  officers,  whose  characters  it 
is  presumed  are  above  suspicion,  is  what  would  not 
be  expected  from  his  known  candour  and  liberality. 

Whatever  may  be  the  views  of  those  who  advise 
a  perseverance  in  so  ungracious  a  proceeding,  Colonel 
Brock  is  impressed  with  too  high  a  sense  of  respect 
for  the  age,  and  still  more  for  the  private  character, 
of  the  president,  to  express  himself  in  any  other  way 
than  to  lament  the  necessity  of  the  present  commu 
nication. 


52  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Lieut.-Colonel  Pye  will  have  the  honor  of  present 
ing  this  note,  and  he  will  take  that  opportunity  of 
respectfully  reminding  his  honor  that  he  heard  the 
promise  in  question  unequivocally  given. 

Colonel  Brock  to  the  Right  Hon.  W.  Windham. 
QUEBEC,  8th  May,  1807. 

Mr.  President  Dunn  having  intimated  his  inten 
tion  of  communicating  to  you  the  correspondence 
which  has  lately  passed  between  us,  respecting  some 
waste  ground  adjoining  the  barracks,  I  feel  the  neces 
sity  of  troubling  you  with  an  explanation  of  my 
conduct. 

Having  long  experienced  the  utmost  inconvenience 
in  this  garrison  for  want  of  a  sufficient  space  to  pa 
rade  and  exercise  the  troops,  I  applied  verbally  to 
his  honor  some  time  since,  to  know  whether  he  had 
any  objection  to  rny  making  use  of  the  ground, 
formerly  the  garden  of  the  Jesuits,  whose  college  the 
military  occupy  at  this  moment.  He  expressed  him 
self  sensible  of  the  benefit  which  would  result  to  the 
troops,  and  lamented  he  could  not  officially  allow  it 
to  be  converted  to  the  object  proposed,  but  that  he 
would  shut  his  eyes,  and  in  no  way  interfere  with 
me,  provided  no  injury  were  done  to  the  premises. 

In  consequence  of  this  promise,  which  I  all  along 
considered  as  a  temporary  accommodation,  liable 
every  instant  to  be  recalled,  I  began,  as  early  as 
possible  in  the  spring,  clearing  the  ground  of  the 
noxious  weeds  with  which  it  was  overgrown  ;  and  in 
a  few  days,  after  a  sad  interval  of  nearly  seven 
months,  paraded  the  troops  there  for  the  first  time. 
No  notice  was  taken  of  this  for  several  days,  when 
I  received  a  letter  from  the  president,  signifying  his 
disapprobation  of  my  conduct,  and  his  intention  of 
making  an  official  communication  to  you  upon  the 
subject. 

Feeling  that  nothing  had  been  done  but  what  had 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  53 

obtained  his  previous  consent,  I  could  not  avoid,  in 
answer,  expressing  my  surprise  at  so  unexpected  a 
communication ;  and  suspecting  that  he  had  been 
unwarily  influenced  by  the  voice  of  disaffection  and 
private  interest,  I  requested  him  not  to  mind  a 
clamour  thus  raised.  I  was  the  more  convinced  that 
such  was  the  case,  when  I  found  the  president  mak 
ing  use  for  the  first  time  of  language  far  from 
conciliatory,  and  that  the  disposition  I  have  all  along 
manifested  to  meet  his  wishes  by  no  means  warranted. 

Perceiving  by  his  reply  that  he  was  still  desirous 
that  the  troops  should  not  return  to  the  ground,  I 
immediately  receded,  and  issued  orders  accordingly  ; 
but  I  must  confess  that  this  step,  from  the  great 
sacrifice,  was  reluctantly  taken,  and  adopted  more 
out  of  personal  respect  to  Mr.  Dunn  than  from  any 
apprehension  of  incurring  c.ensure  for  merely  con 
verting  a  useless  waste,  the  property  of  the  king,  to 
purposes  tending  essentially  to  promote  his  service. 

The  president,  in  his  letters,  tenaciously  denies 
having  given  his  tacit  assent  to  the  measure ;  but  as" 
Lieut.-Colonel  Pye,  the  deputy  quartermaster-general, 
was  present  when  it  was  given,  and  that  too  in  a 
most  unequivocal  manner,  he  appeared,  when  per 
sonally  addressed  by  that  officer,  to  be  sensible  he 
had  done  me  wrong  in  so  suddenly  adopting  a  line 
of  conduct  at  once  ungracious,  and  so  contrary  to 
his  former  practice  and  disposition. 

A  vast  number  of  people  expect  to  benefit  by  a 
division  of  the  ground  in  question,  and  evince  the 
utmost  impatience  upon  every  step  which  is  taken 
likely  to  involve  their  interests,  however  greatly  it 
may  advance  the  public  service.  They  are  become 
more  sanguine  in  their  expectations  now  that  the 
civil  government  is  administered  by  a  gentleman, 
unquestionably  of  the  first  respectability  and  nicest 
honor,  but  who,  from  his  great  age  and  long  intimacy 
with  the  inhabitants,  is  more  likely  to  be  swayed  by 
any  representation  their  avarice  may  prompt  them 
to  make. 


54  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

In  regard  to  the  immediate  question  of  the  ground 
adjoining  the  barracks,  I  beg  leave  respectfully  to 
refer  you  to  the  late  Lieut.-General  Hunter's  dis 
patch,  addressed  to  Lord  Hobart,  No.  61,  dated  the 
10th  August,  1804.  He  there  so  fully  demonstrates 
the  great  benefit  the  military  would  derive  by  being 
put  in  possession  of  the  ground,  that  I  shall  only 
presume  to  add  to  it  a  plan  of  the  premises,  by  which 
will  be  clearly  seen  the  confined  space  at  present 
allotted  for  the  accommodation  of  1,500  men,  the 
number  the  barracks  are  calculated  to  contain,  and 
which  at  this  moment  are  occupied  by  nearly  1,000. 

I  have  thus  thought  it  my  duty  to  state  fully  the 
motives  by  which  I  have  been  actuated  in  my  late 
intercourse  with  Mr.  President  Dunn,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  shew  respectfully  the  essential  injury 
that  must  accrue  to  the  military,  should  the  premises 
adjoining  the  barracks  be  disposed  of  in  the  manner 
desired,  if  my  information  be  correct,  by  the  civil 
government. 

Colonel  Brock  to  Mr.  President  Dunn. 

i  QUEBEC,  4th  June,  1807. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  this  day's  date,  and  beg  leave  respect 
fully  to  remind  you  of  the  correspondence  which  has 
already  taken  place  between  us  in  regard  to  the 
payment  of  the  Indian  department,  as  I  have  reason, 
from  the  tenor  of  its  contents,  to  believe  that  the 
whole  has  escaped  your  memory. 

Finding,  on  my  succeeding  to  the  command,  that 
large  sums  were  expended  by  the  military  on  account 
of  the  Indian  department,  without  the  smallest  autho 
rity  from  the  civil  administration,  although  by  the 
Duke  of  Portland's  instructions  it  is  to  direct  and 
control  all  expenditures  incurred  on  that  service ; 
and  that  in  consequence  great  inconvenience  and 
much  useless  expense  attended  the  system,  I  took  the 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK,  55 

liberty  of  submitting  the  following  proposal  for  your 
consideration : 

"  As  the  deficiencies  of  the  civil  revenue  are,  under  instruc 
tions  from  his  majesty's  secretary  of  state,  made  good  from 
the  army  extraordinaries,  I  conceive  with  a  view  of  simpli 
fying  the  accounts  that  the  disbursements,  which  hitherto 
have  been  made  on  account  of  the  Indians  by  the  military 
department,  should  in  the  first  instance  be  paid  by  the  civil 
government." 

To  which  your  honor  replied  in  the  following 
words : 

"  No  alteration  whatever  appears  to  have  been  made  by 
order  of  his  majesty,  with  respect  to  the  mode  of  paying  the 
expenses  of  the  Indian  department  in  either  of  the  provinces ; 
and  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  was  intended  that  the  whole  of 
the  expense  thereof,  both  in  Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  should 
continue  to  be  defrayed  precisely  in  the  same  manner,  after 
issuing  the  additional  instructions  of  the  15th  December, 
1796,  and  16th  July,  1800,  as  it  was  before ;  that  is,  out  of  the 
extraordinaries  of  the  army,  by  warrants  from  the  command- 
er-in-chief,  or  the  deputy  paymaster-general  of  the  forces. 
Finding,  however,  that  this  has  not  been  the  practice  in 
Lower  Canada,  since  the  reception  of  the  last-mentioned 
instructions,  /  shall  not  hesitate  to  issue  my  warrant  on  the 
receiver-general  whenever  it  becomes  necessary,  both  for  the 
salaries  of  the  officers  belonging  to  the  Indian  department  in 
this  province,  and  for  the  payment  of  any  contingent  expenses 
attending  the  same,  which  shall  be  regularly  incurred." 

After  this  unqualified  assent  on  your  part,  all 
which  I  conceived  remained  for  me  to  do,  was  to 
direct  those  under  me  to  desist  making  further  dis 
bursements  on  account  of  the  Indian  department ; 
but  at  the  same  time  to  continue,  in  every  other 
respect,  to  afford  all  possible  assistance  in  carrying 
on  the  service.  You  must,  sir,  doubtless  be  aware 
that  the  immediate  cause  of  my  submitting  this  new 
arrangement  for  your  approval,  was  in  consequence 
of  two  Indian  boys  being  nominally  under  tuition  at 
the  seminary,  at  a  charge  of  upwards  of  <£50  per 
annum,  during  a  period  the  civil  government  thought 
they  had  ceased  to  be  paid. 

Such  useless  expenditures  must  inevitably  occur 
under  the  old  system. 


56  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

I  am  bound  by  my  instructions  to  provide  the 
civil  government  with  whatever  money  it  may  de 
mand  on  account  of  the  Indian  department,  but  I  am 
strictly  restricted  incurring  the  smallest  expense  on 
that  service ;  and  therefore,  without  your  previous 
sanction,  no  payment  can  be  made. 

Your  honor  will  find  me  at  all  times  disposed  to 
concur  with  you  in  any  arrangement  you  may  think 
necessary  to  adopt  for  the  good  of  his  majesty's  ser 
vice,  but  I  cannot  possibly  consent  to  interfere  in  the 
expenditure  of  the  public  money  in  cases  where  I  am 
deprived  of  all  control. 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  should  your  honor  approve 
of  the  claim  brought  forward  by  the  superintendent- 
general  of  Indian  affairs  for  barrack  allowances,  and 
will  signify  to  me  the  amount,  the  same  will  instantly 
be  discharged  ;  and  I  here  beg  leave  to  repeat,  that 
feeling  myself  unauthorized  to  incur  any  expense  on 
account  of  that  department,  and  indeed  being  pos 
sessed  of  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  correctness  of 
any  demand  which  might  be  made  for  that  service, 
I  must  regulate  my  future  conduct  by  the  arrange 
ment  which  has  lately  been  adopted  with  your  full 
concurrence  and  approbation. 


In  May,  1807,  Mr.  Barclay,  the  British  consul- 
general  at  New  York,  informed  Mr.  President  Dunn 
that  in  the  fall  of  the  preceding  year  a  M.  Cassins, 
who  had  been  French  consul  at  Portsmouth  in  New 
Hampshire,  had  returned  to  France,  where  he  had 
an  interview  with  the  emperor  and  Talleyrand,  who 
had  ordered  him  back  immediately  to  the  United 
States — that  he  had  since  been  at  Washington,  and 
was  then  on  his  way  to  Canada,  with  the  ostensible 
object  of  purchasing  furs  at  Montreal,  but  that  his 
real  errand  was  to  tamper  with  the  Canadians,  for 
which  purpose  he  had  been  sent  out  again.  A  des 
cription  of  his  person  was  also  given,  and  Colonel 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  57 

Brock  issued  prompt  instructions  to  the  officers  com 
manding  posts  in  both  provinces  for  his  apprehension, 
in  which  case  he  was  to  be  taken  before  a  magis 
trate,  and  kept  in  safe  custody  until  further  orders. 
Monsieur  Cassins  probably  did  not  enter  Canada,  as 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  apprehended;  and 
we  mention  the  circumstance  to  show  not  only  the 
vigilance  of  Mr.  Barclay,  but  the  supposed  hostile 
feeling  of  the  Canadians  towards  the  British  rule  at 
this  momentous  period. 

In  this  year,  in  consideration  of  the  long  and 
faithful  services  of  Mr.  R ,  the  deputy  barrack- 
master  at  St.  John's,  who  left  his  family  in  very 
indigent  circumstances.  Colonel  Brock  begged  of 
Lieut.-Colonel  Shank,  of  the  Canadian  Fericibles,  to 

employ  Mr.  R 's  eldest  son,   an  ensign  in  that 

regiment,  on  the  recruiting  service  at  William  Henry, 
where  he  was  to  have  the  house  formerly  occupied 
by  the  commanding  officer,  with  the  view  of  afford 
ing  relief  to  the  widow  and  her  remaining  seven 
children,  whose  ages  ranged  from  seventeen  years  to 
twenty  months.  Colonel  Brook  further  admitted 
them  upon  the  asylum  at  William  Henry,  and  gave 
one  ration  to  the  mother  and  half  a  ration  to  each  of 
the  children,  on  condition  of  their  residing  at  that 
place.  He  seems  to  have  taken  great  interest  in  this 
unfortunate  family,  and  to  have  availed  himself  of 
his  temporary  command  to  relieve  them  to  the  utmost 
of  his  power,  although  no  one  could  be  more  careful 
of  the  public  money,  or  more  anxious  to  prevent  its 
misappropriation. 

Colonel  JBrock  to  brevet  Major  Mackenzie,  41st  Regiment)  at 
Kingston. 

QUEBEC,  29th  June,  1807. 

When  I  directed  you  to  assemble  a  court  of  inquiry 
to  investigate  the  causes  which  had  prevented   the 
payment  of  the   marine    department,   by  which   it 
D* 


58  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

became  seven  months  in  arrear,  you  were  furnished 
\vith  such  documents  as  I  considered  made  it  impos 
sible  for  you  to  err  ;  but  the  result  of  your  proceed 
ings  is  so  very  unsatisfactory,  and  gives  throughout 
such  an  appearance  of  inattention,  that  I  feel  myself 
compelled  to  desire  the  court  to  revive  its  inquiry, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  conform  strictly  to  the  direc 
tions  herein  contained. 

Captain  Frend,  in  his  capacity  of  assistant  deputy 
quartermaster-general,  reported  officially,  on  the  2d 
of  April,  that  the  marine  department  at  Kingston 
was  seven  months  in  arrear,  and  that  Mr.  Commissary 
Ross  assigned  the  want  of  cash  as  the  reason. 

Surprised  at  such  a  declaration,  and  wishing  to 
establish  the  fact  in  a  regular  manner,  I  directed  his 
last  account  with  Mr.  Deputy  Commissary-General 
Craigie,  ending  the  24th  September,  1806,  at  which 
time  a  balance  of  £160.  2s.  7|d.  stood  to  his  credit, 
to  be  transmitted  to  me. 

A  list  of  bills  was  likewise  forwarded,  which  Mr. 
Commissary  Ross  had  subsequently  drawn  up  to  the 
2d  of  April,  amounting  together  to  £1327. 10s.  6|d. ; 
deducting  therefrom  the  sum  of  £160.  2s.  7|d.,  due  to 
Mr.  Ross,  there  remained  a  balance  of  £1167. 7s.  10|d. 
and  I  requested  he  might  be  called  upon  to  state 
specifically  before  the  court,  in  what  manner  that 
amount  had  been  applied,  so  as  to  leave  no  money  in 
his  hands,  with  which  to  pay  the  marine  department. 

Every  thing  brought  forward  beyond  the  2d  of 
April  was  extraneous  matter,  and  should  not  have 
been  considered  by  the  court. 

I  am  perfectly  aware  that  specie  is  often  difficult 
to  be  procured  at  Kingston,  but  in  the  present  case 
bills  being  drawn,  the  proceeds  must  consequently 
have  been  in  Mr.  Ross'  possession,  and  the  observa 
tion  of  the  court  on  the  subject  is  therefore  impro 
perly  introduced. 

Mr.  Ross'  instructions  direct  him  to  give  at  all 
times  a  preference  to  the  marine  department,  but 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  59 

should  he  in  this  instance  have  deviated  from  them, 
and  paid  less  urgent  demands,  I  am  notwithstanding 
inclined  to  think  ample  means  still  remained  in  his 
hands  for  every  other  service.  This  point  I  wish  you 
clearly  to  ascertain,  and  whether,  at  any  period  sub 
sequent  to  the  pay  of  the  marine  department  becom 
ing  due,  he  had  the  means  of  discharging  their 
arrears.  For  this  purpose  it  will  be  necessary  you 
should  establish  the  dates  at  which  payments  were 
made  on  account  of  any  other  service,  and  to  what 
extent,  all  of  which  you  will  have  the  goodness  to 
transmit  for  my  information. 

Great  discontent  existed,  during  my  stay  in  Upper 
Canada,  among  the  marine  department ;  and  now 
that  I  possess  the  power,  I  am  determined,  as  far  as 
I  can,  to  do  it  away.  This  act  of  justice  cannot, 
however,  be  accomplished  unless  the  officers  in  com 
mand  will  give  their  aid,  and  report  every  thing  of 
the  kind  that  occurs  within  their  observation. 

Captain  Frend  is  stationed  at  Kingston  for  that 
particular  purpose,  and  much  is  expected  from  his 
intelligence  and  exertions. 

Colonel  Brock  to  the  Adjutant -General  of  His 
Majesty's  Forces. 

QUEBEC,  July  1,  1807. 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  the  inspec 
tion  return  of  the  41st  regiment  for  two  distinct 
periods,  viz.  September  1,  1806,  and  March  1,  1807. 

Some  inaccuracies  being  found  in  the  September 
return  previously  received,  it  was  sent  back  to  Lieut. - 
Colonel  Proctor,  at  Fort  George,  for  correction. 
This  circumstance  and  the  distance  of  the  place, 
account  for  the  delay  which  has  occurred  in  comply 
ing,  in  the  present  instance,  with  the  commands  of 
his  royal  highness  the  commander-in-chief. 

The  very  great  distance  of  the  quarters  the  41st 
now  occupy,  has  prevented  my  making  personally 


60  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

the  periodical  inspection  of  that  regiment,  required 
by  my  instructions.  But  its  dispersed  state  and  the 
many  evils  by  which  it  is  surrounded  will,  however 
great  the  zeal  and  intelligence  of  Lieut. -Colonel 
Proctor  and  the  other  officers,  so  far  affect  the  dis 
cipline  and  morals  of  the  men,  as  to  justify  my 
saying  that  both  the  one  and  the  other  must,  without 
the  possibility  of  a  remedy,  progressively  suffer  in 
proportion  as  the  regiment  remains  stationed  in  the 
Upper  Province.  The  41st  regiment,  having  a  con 
siderable  number  of  old  soldiers,  is  better  calculated 
for  that  service  than  either  the  49th  or  100th  regiments, 
and  no  change  is  therefore  meditated. 

Not  being  possessed  with  the  means  of  making  a 
more  circumstantial  report  of  the  state  of  the  41st 
regiment,  1  have  only  to  add,  injustice  to  the  officers 
commanding  posts,  that  they  evince  in  their  com 
munications  with  head  quarters  much  attention  and 
sound  judgment. 

Contemplating  the  probable  arrival  of  a  general 
officer,  by  the  fleet  daily  expected  from  England,  I 
have  so  far  presumed  to  deviate  from  my  instructions 
as  to  postpone  making  the  periodical  inspection  of 
the  regiments  quartered  in  this  garrison,  conceiving 
that  his  royal  highness  the  commander-in-chief  would 
esteem  a  report  coming  from  such  a  high  source 
more  satisfactory,  than  if  I  were  to  undertake  the 
task  in  my  present  situation,  which  may  naturally  be 
supposed,  in  some  degree,  to  bias  my  judgment. 


On  the  17th  July,  1807,  in  consequence  of  an 
expected  rupture  between  England  and  the  United 
States,  Colonel  Brock  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Pre 
sident  Dunn,  in  which  he  said  that  the  number  of 
militia  armed  and  instructed  in  the  province  did  not 
exceed  300,  while  he  thought  that  as  many  thousands 
could  easily  and  with  perfect  safety  be  formed  into 
corps;  and  that  Quebec,  the  only  military  post  in 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  61 

the  country,  was  not  in  a  condition  to  make  much 
defence  against  an  active  enemy,  as  the  walls  on  the 
western  side  were  old  and  decayed,  and  could  not 
possibly  sustain  a  continued  heavy  fire.  He  added, 
that  he  wished  to  throw  up  such  works  as  would 
remedy  this  glaring  defect ;  but  as  the  garrison  was 
totally  inadequate  to  such  an  undertaking,  he  required 
from  600  to  1,000  men  every  day  for  six  weeks  or 
two  months,  besides  a  vast  number  of  carts,  &c.,  to 
complete  the  necessary  defences  of  the  citadel.  This 
letter  being  submitted  to  the  council,  that  body  re 
plied,  that  the  only  means  by  which  assistance  could 
be  given  by  the  civil  government  to  the  military,  in 
the  manner  proposed  by  Colonel  Brock,  would  be  by 
embodying  a  proportion  of  the  militia  according  to 
law,  the  men  for  which  service  must  be  taken  from 
different  parts  of  the  province.  And  that  as  this 
measure  had  been  only  once  resorted  to  in  the  pro 
vince,  on  which  occasion  a  decided  disobedience  was 
generally  manifested,  and  was  again  to  be  anticipated, 
the  council  enquired  of  Colonel  Brock  whether  he 
had  the  means,  and  would  furnish  them,  to  enforce 
the  attendance  of  the  militia,  who,  when  embodied, 
were  entitled  to  the  same  pay  and  allowances  as  the 
king's  troops.  The  council  further  informed  Colonel 
Brock  that  it  would  meet  again  the  next  day,  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  into  consideration  any  represen 
tation,  in  writing,  which  he  might  think  proper  to 
make  in  answer  to  their  communication,  and  that, 
if  convenient  to  him,  they  requested  his  personal 
attendance.  His  reply  was  as  follows  : 

QUEBEC,  23d  July,  1807. 

Colonel  Brock  has  perused  with  attention  the 
proceedings  of  his  honor  the  president  in  council, 
communicated  to  him  by  Mr.  Eyland,  and  begs  leave 
to  observe,  that  in  addressing  his  honor  on  the  17th 
instant,  it  was  far  from  his  intention  to  assume  a 
political  character. 


62  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

His  sole  object  was  to  state  the  assistance  required 
by  the  military  to  remedy  a  glaring  defect  in  the 
fortifications  of  Quebec,  should  his  honor  conceive 
that  preparatory  measures  were  necessary  to  be 
adopted  in  consequence  of  the  event  which  recently 
occurred  between  his  majesty's  ship  Leopard  and  the 
American  frigate  Chesapeake,  but  more  particularly 
the  subsequent  aggressive  provisions  contained  in  the 
proclamation  of  the  American  government. 

In  thus  complying  with  the  dictates  of  his  duty, 
Colonel  Brock  was  not  prepared  to  hear  that  the 
population  of  the  province,  instead  of  affording  him 
ready  and  effectual  support,  might  probably  add  to 
to  the  number  of  his  enemies ;  and  he  feels  much  dis 
appointment  in  being  informed  by  the  first  authority, 
that  the  only  law  in  any  degree  calculated  to  answer 
the  end  proposed  was  likely,  if  attempted  to  be  en 
forced,  to  meet  with  such  general  opposition  as  to 
require  the  aid  of  the  military  to  give  it  even  a 
momentary  impulse. 

Colonel  Brock  is  therefore  obliged  to  observe,  that 
the  officer  commanding  certainly  would  not  choose 
the  time  when  the  troops  may  every  instant  be  called 
upon  for  the  defence  of  Quebec,  to  disperse  them 
over  the  country  in  aid  of  the  civil  government,  co- 
ercively  collecting  a  body  of  men,  which,  under 
such  circumstances,  would  be  of  more  detriment  than 
service  to  the  regular  army.  Colonel  Brock  cannot, 
therefore,  look  for  any  assistance  from  that  quarter ; 
but,  should  an  emergency  arise,  he  is  confident  that 
voluntary  offers  of  service  will  be  made  by  a  consi 
derable  number  of  brave  and  loyal  subjects,  and  feels 
himself  justified  in  saying,  that  even  now  several 
gentlemen  are  ready  to  come  forward  and  enroll  into 
companies  men  on  whose  fidelity  they  can  safely  rely. 

It  remains  with  his  honor  to  determine  the  degree 
of  countenance  which  ought  to  be  given  to  such 
sentiments. 

Colonel  Brock  will  be  at  all  times  proud  to  attend 
deliberations  of  his  honor  in  council, 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  63 

Colonel  Brock  to  Lord  Viscount  Castlereagh. 

QUEBEC,  July  25,  1807. 

I  think  it  my  duty  to  transmit  for  your  lordship's 
information  a  copy  of  the  communication  that  has 
passed  between  his  honor  the  president  and  me, 
relative  to  the  military  situation  of  this  country. 

Your  lordship  will  perceive  from  the  minutes  of 
the  council,  how  very  inadequate  the  militia  law  is  to 
afford  assistance  to  the  regular  force,  and  the  degree 
of  dependance  that  may  be  placed  on  the  population 
of  this  province. 

My  own  observations,  however,  enable  me  to  assure 
your  lordship,  that  a  respectable  force  might  be 
trained  and  rendered  exceedingly  useful  on  any  exi 
gency,  were  the  least  encouragement  given  to  the 
spirit  which  at  present  pervades  a  certain  class  to 
volunteer  their  services. 

To  such  characters,  arms  might  be  safely  entrusted, 
but  I  certainly  would  consider  an  indiscriminate 
distribution  to  the  militia,  were  it  possible  to  collect 
it,  as  highly  imprudent  and  dangerous. 

What  I  stated  to  his  honor  the  president  respecting 
the  weakness  of  the  works  along  the  whole  of  the 
west  front  of  this  garrison,  is  consonant  to  the  opinion 
transmitted  by  the  officers  of  engineers  and  artillery, 
in  their  half-yearly  periodical  report,  to  the  master- 
general  of  the  ordnance. 

To  a  question  from  the  president,  viz.  "  Should 
the  council  conceive  it  necessary  to  call  out  the  mili 
tia,  whether  I  thought  myself  warranted  to  issue  pay 
and  provisions  to  them?"  I  answered,  Certainly  not : 
that  in  all  British  colonies,  of  which  I  had  any 
knowledge,  they  on  all  such  occasions  defrayed  their 
own  expenses. 

The  consideration  that  there  is  about  £30,000  in 
the  civil  chest,  which  cannot  be  applied  to  its  object 
until  next  spring,  and  the  ease  with  which  the  error 
I  may  have  fallen  into  might  be  remedied,  induced 


64  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

me  to  be  positive  upon  a  subject,  regarding  which  I 
am  without  instructions. 


"Colonel  Brock's  Orders. 

"  QUEBEC,  1st  September,  1807. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  positive  orders  to  the  com 
missaries  of  posts  in  Upper  Canada,  to  forward  to 
Quebec  periodically,  every  two  months,  statements  of 
their  accounts,  Colonel  Brock  is  sorry  to  find  that 
some  of  the  commissaries  in  Upper  Canada,  and 
particularly  the  commissary  at  Kingston,  have  evinced 
culpable  neglect  in  not  complying  with  his  orders. 
He,  therefore,  adopts  this  public  manner  to  express 
his  determination  of  placing  other  persons  to  fill  their 
situations,  in  case  they  continue,  after  this  caution, 
inattentive  to  this  most  essential  part  of  their  duty. 

"  The  want  of  specie  can  be  no  excuse  for  not  com 
plying  with  the  order,  as  vouchers  are  only  expected 
for  such  accounts  as  have  been  discharged  ;  and  an 
abstract  of  expenses  incurred,  but  not  actually  paid, 
is  to  accompany  the  accounts. 

"  A.  ORMSBY,  Capt.  49th  regt. 
"Acting  Deputy  Adj. -General." 

Colonel  Brock  to  Lieut. -Colonel  J.  W.  Gordon. 

QUEBEC,  Sept.  6,  1807. 

It  is  impossible  to  view  the  late  hostile  measures  of 
the  American  government  towards  England,  without 
considering  a  rupture  between  the  two  countries  as 
probable  to  happen. 

I  have  in  consequence  been  anxious  that  such 
precautionary  measures  might  be  taken  as  the  case 
seemed  to  justify ;  but  his  honor  the  president  has 
not  judged  it  proper  to  adopt  any  other  step,  than 
merely  to  order  one-fifth  of  the  militia,  which 
amounts  to  about  10,000  men,  to  hold  itself  in  readi 
ness  to  march  on  the  shortest  notice. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  65 

The  men  thus  selected  for  service  being  scattered 
along  an  extensive  line  of  four  or  five  hundred  miles, 
unarmed  and  totally  unacquainted  with  every  thing 
military,  without  officers  capable  of  giving  them 
instruction,  considerable  time  would  naturally  be 
required  before  the  necessary  degree  of  order  and 
discipline  could  be  introduced  among  them.  I  there 
fore  very  much  doubt  whether,  in  the  event  of  actual 
war,  this  force  could  assemble  in  time,  and  become 
useful. 

Without  considerable  assistance  from  the  militia, 
the  few  regulars  which  might  be  spared  from  this 
garrison  could  avail  nothing  against  the  force  the 
Americans  would  suddenly  introduce  by  various 
roads  into  this  province. 

The  Canadians  have  unquestionably  shewn  a  great 
willingness  upon  this  occasion  to  be  trained,  and,  I 
make  not  the  least  doubt,  would  oppose  with  vigour 
any  invasion  of  the  Americans — but  how  far  the 
same  sentiments  would  actuate  them  were  a  French 
force  to  join,.'!  will  not  undertake  to  say  ;  at  any 
rate,  I  feel  that  every  consideration  of  prudence  and 
policy  ought  to  determine  me  to  keep  in  Quebec  a 
sufficient  force  to  secure  its  safety ;  the  number  of 
troops  that  could  therefore  be  safely  detached  would 
be  small,  notwithstanding  a  great  deal  might  be  done, 
in  conjunction  with  the  militia,  in  a  country  inter 
sected  in  every  direction  by  rivers,  deep  ravines,  and 
lined,  at  intervals  on  both  sides  of  the  road,  by  thick 
woods. 

From  every  information  I  can  receive,  the  Ameri 
cans  are  busily  employed  in  drilling  and  forming 
their  militia,  and  openly  declare  their  intention  of 
entering  this  province  the  instant  war  is  determined 
upon ;  they  will  be  encouraged  to  adopt  this  step 
from  the  very  defenceless  state  of  our  frontiers; 
the  means  at  my  disposal  are  too  limited  to  oppose 
them  with  effect  in  the  open  field,  and  I  shall  be 
constrained,  unless  his  honor  the  president  make 


66  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

exertions,  which  I  do  not  think  him  at  this  moment 
disposed  to  do,  to  confine  myself  to  the  defence  of 
Quebec. 

I  have  hastened  the  completion  of  the  works  which 
enclose  the  upper  town  of  Quebec,  'and  I  have 
thought  myself  justified  in  causing  a  battery  of  eight 
36-pounders  to  be  raised  sixteen  feet  upon  the  cava 
lier  in  the  centre  of  the  citadel,  which  will  effectually 
command  the  opposite  heights. 

Although  these  remarks  may  be  premature,  I  yet 
conceive  it  my  duty  to  give  his  royal  highness  the 
commander-in-chief  a  view  of  my  real  situation. 

I  must  freely  confess  that  I  am  unable  to  account 
for  the  motives  which  seem  at  present  to  guide  the 
councils  of  this  province.  Voluntary  offers  of  service 
have  been  made  by  numbers,  on  whose  loyalty  the 
utmost  reliance  can  be  placed,  to  form  themselves 
into  corps  of  cavalry,  artillery,  and  infantry,  at  little 
or  no  expense  to  government,  provided  they  were 
furnished  with  arms ;  but  this  liberal  spirit  has  not 
been  encouraged  by  the  president. 

I  have  the  honor  to  report,  that  at  a  recent  inter 
view  I  had  at  Montreal*  with  Lieut. -Governor  Gore, 
it  was  judged  expedient  that  his  excellency  should 
assume  the  command  in  the  upper  province.  I  re 
gretted  exceedingly  that  I  could  not,  with  propriety, 
detach  troops  in  support  of  the  spirited  exertions 
which  will  be  immediately  made  to  place  that  coun 
try  in  a  respectable  state  of  defence.  He  has  been 
supplied  with  four  thousand  muskets  from  the  king's 
arsenal  at  Quebec,  and  with  various  military  stores  of 
which  he  stood  in  need  :  this  leaves  in  my  possession 
only  seven  thousand  muskets  for  the  use  of  the  militia 
of  this  province,  and  to  supply,  as  far  as  they  will 
go,  every  other  emergency. 

*  During  Colonel  Brock's  stay  at  Montreal,  Mr.  W.  M'Gillivray,  an 
influential  partner,  we  believe,  of  the  North- West  Company,  wrote  to  him 
on  the  28th  of  August,  1807,  that  several  young  gentlemen  of  that  city 
had  proposed  to  him  to  embody  themselves  into  a  troop  of  cavalry. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  67 

Lieut. -General  Sir  James  Craig,  K.B.,  to  Colonel  Brock. 
H.  M.  S.  Horatio,  Oct.  16,  1807. 

His  majesty  having  been  pleased  to  appoint  me 
to  the  chief  government  of  the  British  provinces  in 
America,  as  well  as  to  the  command  of  his  forces  in 
these  parts,  I  do  myself  the  pleasure  to  announce  to 
you  my  arrival  in  the  river,  to  take  these  charges 
upon  me. 

Lieut. -Colonel  Baynes,  the  adjutant-general,  and 
Major  Thornton,  my  secretary  and  first  aide-de 
camp,  will  deliver  you  this,  and  will  inform  you  of 
the  very  miserable  state  of  my  health,  which  obliges 
me  to  write  to  Mr.  Dunn,  to  intreat  that  he  will 
permit  my  landing  to  be  as  private  as  possible.  Of 
you  I  must  make  the  same  request.  A  salute  may  be 
proper,  but  I  beg  nothing  more  may  be  done :  my 
object  must  be  to  get  to  the  chateau  as  speedily  and 
with  as  little  fatigue  as  possible. 


LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 


CHAPTER    IV. 


EARLY  in  the  year  1808,  Colonel  Brock,  as  we  learn 
from  his  correspondence,  was  stationed  at  Montreal, 
doubtless  in  command  of  the  troops  there.  These 
were  the  palmy  days  of  the  then  celebrated  North- 
West  Company,  "  which  for  a  time  held  a  lordly 
sway  over  the  wintry  lakes  and  boundless  forests  of 
the  Canadas,  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  East  India 
Company  over  the  voluptuous  climes  and  magnificent 
realms  of  the  Orient."  The  principal  partners  resided 
at  Montreal,  where  they  formed  a  commercial  aristo 
cracy,  and  lived  in  a  generous  and  hospitable  manner. 
Few  travellers  who  visited  Canada  at  this  period, 
"in  the  days  of  the  M'Tavishes,  the  M'Gillivray, 
the  M'Kenzies,  the  Frobishers,  and  the  other  mag 
nates  of  the  north-west,  when  the  company  was  in  all 
its  glory,  but  must  remember  the  round  of  feasting 
and  revelry  kept  up  among  these  hyperborean  na 
bobs."  *  With  these  merchant  princes,  Colonel  Brock 
appears  to  have  lived  on  terms  of  intimacy. 

Lieut. -Colonel  Thornton);  to  Brigadier  Brock,  at  Montreal. 
QUEBEC,  7th  April,  1808. 

Your  report  of  the  state  of  the  chateau  at  Montreal 
I  have  mentioned,  but  it  is  not  thought  right  at 
present  to  make  any  considerable  repairs  to  it.  I  am 
sorry  for  your  being  the  sufferer,  but  I  can  venture 

*  Washington  Irving's  "Astoria." 

t  Afterwards  Lieut. -General  Sir  William  Thornton,  K.  C.B.,  &c. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  69 

to  assure  you  that,  however  unfavorable  the  building 
may  be,  you  ought  never  to  feel  uneasy  about  your 
friends,  for  in  your  kindness  and  hospitality  no  want 
of  comfort  can  ever  be  felt  by  them  :  in  this  I  am 
fully  supported  by  all  the  accounts  from  Montreal, 
and  I  sincerely  congratulate  you  upon  the  addition 
to  your  society  there  of  Judge  and  Mrs.  Reid,  Sir  I. 
Johnson,  and  Colonel  Chabot. 

In  the  way  of  news,  I  can  only  tell  you  that  the 
newspapers  are  perfectly  right  in  respect  to  the 
destination  of  Sir  George  Prevost.  He  is  appointed 
lieutenant-governor  of  Nova  Scotia ;  given  the  local 
rank  of  lieutenant-general;  and  made  second  in 
command  to  Sir  James  Craig,  in  North  America ; 
so  that  General  C.  Campbell,  who  is  senior  major- 
general,  cannot  come  out.  The  regiments  that  were 
to  sail  with  Sir  George  are  the  first  battalions  of  the 
7th,  8th,  23d,  and  13th,  the  last  to  proceed  to  Ber 
muda.  The  papers  will  also  have  informed  you  of 
the  appointment  of  nine  inspecting  field  officers  of 
militia  besides  myself — six  for  the  Canadas  and  four 
for  Nova  Scotia ;  and  I  hope  we  may  be  of  as  much 
service  to  the  militia  as  our  rank  *  and  pay  are  to  us. 

Your  speaking  to  M.  Berthelot  so  completely  se 
cured  me  his  favor,  that  in  my  interview  with  him 
I  really  was  overpowered  with  bows  and  kindness. 
He  begged  that  Mr.  Frobisher  and  I  would  make 
what  arrangements  we  pleased  respecting  his  houses, 
and  added,  that  our  determination  and  pleasure 
would  be  his.  Our  plan  of  succession  is  Mr.  Fro 
bisher  to  your  house,  and  your  humble  servant  to  his. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  Brothers. 

MONTREAL,  July  20,  1808. 

I  have  written  to  all  of  you  since  the  navigation 
opened,  and  the  only  letters  I  have  received  from  any 
of  the  family  for  several  months  came  from  Irving, 

*  Rank  of  lieutenant-colonel, 


70  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

who,  to  do  him  justice,  is  infinitely  the  most  attentive 
and  regular  correspondent  among  you. 

My  appointment  to  be  brigadier  I  first  announced 
by  the  March  mail.  Those  who  feel  an  interest  in 
my  prosperity  will  rejoice  in  my  good  fortune,  as  this 
distinguished  mark  of  favor  affords  undeniable  proof 
that  my  conduct,  during  the  period  of  my  command, 
was  approved;  —  a  great  gratification,  considering 
the  many  difficulties  I  had  to  encounter.  I  once 
thought  I  should  be  ordered  to  the  upper  province, 
but  General  Ferguson  being  among  the  newly  ap 
pointed  major-generals,  will  not  now  probably  visit  this 
country.  In  that  case,  I  stand  a  very  good  chance  of 
succeeding  him,  both  in  rank  and  in  the  command  of 
Quebec,  where  it  was  intended  he  should  be  stationed. 

What  will  be  the  result  of  our  present  unsettled 
relations  with  the  neighbouring  republic,  it  is  very 
difficult  to  say.  The  government  is  composed  of 
such  unprincipled  men,  that  to  calculate  on  it  by  the 
ordinary  rules  of  action  would  be  perfectly  absurd. 
We  have  completely  outwitted  Jefferson  in  all  his 
schemes  to  provoke  us  to  war.  He  had  no  other 
view  in  issuing  his  restrictive  proclamation ;  but, 
failing  in  that,  he  tried  what  the  embargo  would  pro 
duce,  and  there  he  has  been  foiled  again.  Certainly, 
our  administration  is  deserving  of  every  praise  for 
their  policy  on  these  occasions.  Jefferson  and  his 
party,  however  strong  the  inclination,  dare  not  de 
clare  war,  and  therefore  they  endeavour  to  attain 
their  object  by  every  provocation.  A  few  weeks 
since,  the  garrison  of  Niagara  fired  upon  seven  mer 
chant  boats  passing  the  fort,  and  actually  captured 
them.  Considering  the  circumstances  attending  this 
hostile  act,  it  is  but  too  evident  it  was  intended  to 
provoke  retaliation  :  these  boats  fired  upon  and  taken 
within  musket  shot  of  our  own  fort ;  their  balls  fall 
ing  on  our  shore,  was  expected  to  have  raised  the 
indignation  of  the  most  phlegmatic  ;  fortunately,  the 
commandant  was  not  in  the  way,  as  otherwise  it  is 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  71 

difficult  to  say  what  would  have  happened.  A  repre 
sentation  of  this  affair  has  been  made  at  Washington, 
and,  for  an  act  certainly  opposed  to  existing  treaties, 
we  have  been  referred  for  justice  to  the  ordinary 
course  of  the  law  !  If  our  subjects  cannot  command 
impunity  from  capture  under  the  guns  of  our  own 
forts,  it  were  better  to  demolish  them  at  once  rather 
than  witness  and  suffer  such  indignity.  By  the  trea 
ties  which  have  expired,  the  navigation  of  the  waters 
that  divide  the  two  countries  is  regulated  and  stipu 
lated  to  be  still  in  force,  although  every  other  part 
should  cease  to  be  obligatory. 

I  get  on  here  pretty  well,  but  this  place  loses  at 
this  season  the  undoubted  advantage  it  possesses  over 
Quebec  in  winter.  Great  additions  are  making  to 
the  fortifications  at  Quebec,  and,  when  completed, 
the  Americans  will,  if  I  mistake  not,  think  it  prudent 
not  to  trouble  the  place,  for  they  can  have  no  chance 
of  making  any  impression  upon  it  during  the  short 
period  which  the  severity  of  the  climate  only  permits 
an  enemy  to  lay  before  it.  I  erected,  as  I  believe 
I  told  you  before,  a  famous  battery,  which  the  public 
voice  named  after  me  ;  but  Sir  James,  thinking  very 
probably  that  any  thing  so  very  pre-eminent  should 
be  distinguished  by  the  most  exalted  appellation,  has 
called  it  the  King's  Battery,  the  greatest  compliment, 
I  conceive,  that  he  could  pay  to  my  judgment.* 
Not  a  desertion  has  been  attempted  by  any  of  the 
49th  for  the  last  ten  months,  with  the  exception  in 
deed  of  Hogan,  Savery's  former  servant.  He  served 
Glegg  in  the  same  capacity,  who  took  him  with  him 
to  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  where  a  fair  damsel  persuaded 
him  to  this  act  of  madness,  for  the  fellow  cannot 
possibly  gain  his  bread  by  labour,  as  he  has  half 
killed  himself  with  excessive  drinking;  and  we  know 
he  cannot  live  upon  love  alone.  The  weather  has 

*  In  some  book  of  Travels  in  Canada,  Duncan's  we  think,  it  is  stated 
that  the  highest  battery  in  Quebec  is  called  Brock's  Battery :  we  know 
not  whether  it  be  that  erected  by  Sir  Isaac  Brock. 


72  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

been  exceedingly  hot  the  last  week,  the  thermometer 
fluctuating  from  94°  to  100°  in  the  shade.  The  em 
bargo  has  proved  a  famous  harvest  to  some  merchants 
here.  It  is  certainly  the  most  ridiculous  measure 
imaginable,  and  was  evidently  adopted  with  the  view 
of  pleasing  France ;  but  no  half  measure  can  satisfy 
Napoleon,  and  this  colony  has  been  raised  by  it  to  a 
degree  of  importance  that  ensures  its  future  prosperity. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  Brothers. 

QUEBEC,  September  5,  1808. 

I  have  been  here  but  a  few  days,  having  been 
superseded  at  Montreal  by  Major- General  Drum- 
mond.  I  do  not  approve  much  of  the  change,  as 
being  separated  from  the  49th  is  a  great  annoyance 
to  me.  But  soldiers  must  accustom  themselves  to 
frequent  movements;  and  as  they  have  no  choice, 
it  often  happens  that  they  are  placed  in  situations 
little  agreeing  with  their  inclinations.  My  nominal 
appointment  has  been  confirmed  at  home,  so  that  I 
am  really  a  brigadier.  Were  the  49th  ordered  hence, 
the  rank  would  not  be  a  sufficient  inducement  to 
keep  me  in  this  country.  In  such  a  case,  I  would 
throw  it  up  willingly. 

Curious  scenes  appear  to  have  occurred  in  the 
Baltic.  I  fear  very  much  that  Sir  James  (Saumarez) 
may  be  induced  to  return  to  his  retirement  in  Guern 
sey.  Indeed,  the  navy  has  little  left  to  do,  while  the 
army  has  now  a  glorious  opportunity  of  distinguishing 
itself  as  much  as  the  sister  service.  Valour  the 
British  troops  always  possessed,  but  unless  they 
evince  discipline,  their  fame  will  be  blasted  for  a 
century  to  come. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  Brothers. 

QUEBEC,  November  19,  1808. 
Yesterday  Irving's   letter  of  the  19th   September 
reached   me.      How   very  thankful   I   feel  for  his 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  73 

attention.  But  I  have  not  received  that  which  he 
mentions  Savery  had  written  on  the  same  day,  giving 
an  account  of  his  proceedings  in  Spain  and  Portugal. 
This  is  a  truly  mortifying  disappointment,  as  it  is 
impossible  to  discover  by  the  public  prints  the  mys 
tery  by  which  the  conduct  of  our  officers  has  been 
influenced.  The  precaution  which  Irving  took  to 
transcribe  a  part  of  the  letter  has  proved  very  lucky. 
Notwithstanding,  I  look  for  the  original  with  un 
usual  impatience,  as  Savery's  opinion  must  be  formed 
upon  what  he  saw  in  the  best  disciplined  army  that 
ever,  I  imagine,  left  England.  His  observations  are 
never  thrown  away. 

I  am  still  confined  to  my  room,  more  indeed  on 
account  of  the  badness  of  the  weather  than  any  want 
of  progress  in  my  recovery.  We  have  had  very  hard 
gales  from  the  East.  The  Iphigenia  frigate,  with 
her  convoy,  could  not  have  cleared  the  land,  and  the 
greatest  apprehension  is  entertained  for  her  safety. 
Her  commander,  Captain  Lambert,  is  a  friend  of 
George  Brock.  I  find  him  an  exceedingly  good  fel 
low  ;  and  I  have  reason  to  think  that  he  left  us  well 
satisfied  with  the  attention  he  received  from  me.* 

Sir  James  Craig  has  certain  intimation  of  the  ap 
pointment  of  Colonel  Baron  de  Rottenburg,  of  the 
(30th,  to  be  a  brigadier  in  this  country,  and  he  is 
daily  looked  for.  This  most  probably  will  make  a 
change  in  my  situation,  as  one  must  go  to  the  Upper 
Province  ;  and,  as  he  is  senior,  he  will  doubtless  have 
the  choice.  My  object  is  to  get  home  as  soon  as  J 
can  obtain  permission;  but  unless  our  affairs  with 
America  be  amicably  adjusted,  of  which  I  see  no 
probability,  I  scarcely  can  expect  to  be  permitted  to 
move.  I  rejoice  Savery  has  begun  to  exert  himself 
to  get  me  appointed  to  a  more  active  situation.  I 
must  see  service,  or  I  may  as  well,  and  indeed  much 

*  "The  young  and  gallant"  Captain  Henry  Lambert,  mentioned  above, 
was  mortally  wounded  in  December,  1812,  in  command  of  H.  M.  S.  Java, 
when  she  was  captured  by  the  American  frigate  Constitution,  of  greatly 
superior  force. 

E 


74  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

better,  quit  the  army  at  once,  for  no  one  advantage 
can  I  reasonaby  look  to  hereafter  if  I  remain  buried 
in  this  inactive,  remote  corner,  without  the  least  men 
tion  being  made  of  me.  Should  Sir  James  Saumarez 
return  from  the  Baltic  crowned  with  success,  he 
could,  I  should  think,  say  a  good  word  for  me  to 
some  purpose. 

Vincent*  is  doing  extremely  well.  I  however 
dread  the  severity  of  a  winter  upon  his  shattered 
frame.  I  must  contrive  to  meet  and  dissipate  the  dull 
hours  with  my  good  friends  of  the  49th.  I  have  pre 
vailed  upon  Sir  James  to  appoint  Sergeant  Robinson, 
master  of  the  band,  to  a  situation  in  the  commissariat 
at  Sorel,  worth  3s.  6d.  a  day,  with  subaltern's  lodging 
money  and  other  allowances.  He  married  a  Jersey 
lass,  whose  relatives  may  inquire  for  him. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  next  letter  and  a  few  others 
which  follow,  that  Sir  Isaac  Brock  was  well  aware 
of  the  existence  among  the  French  Canadians  of  a 
certainly  natural  spirit  of  disaffection,  which,  in  1837, 
broke  out  into  open  rebellion,  the  suppression  of 
which  earned  Sir  John  Colborne  (the  present  Lord 
Seaton)  his  peerage.  The  outbreak  caused  great  loss 
of  life,  and  considerable  expense  arising  not  only 
from  the  hurried  dispatch  to  Quebec  of  a  large  body 
of  troops  from  Nova  Scotia  and  England,  but  from 
the  retention  in  the  Canadas  of  about  10,000  men  for 
a  few  years,  to  overawe  the  disaffected,  and  to  repress 
the  piratical  incursions  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  in  their  favor. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  brother  William. 

QUEBEC,  December  31,  1809. 
You  will  long  since  have  been  convinced  that  the 
American  government  is  determined  to  involve  the 

*  The  present  General  Vincent,  colonel  of  the  69th  foot.    He  was  then 
major  of  the  4gth. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  75 

two  countries  in  a  war ;  they  have  already  given  us 
legitimate  cause,  but,  if  wise,  we  will  studiously 
avoid  doing  that  for  which  they  shew  so  great  an 
anxiety,  their  finances,  you  will  perceive,  are  very 
low,  and  they  dare  not  propose  direct  taxes.  They 
must  have  recourse  to  loans  at  a  time  when  they  have 
only  six  frigates  in  commission,  and  about  five  thou 
sand  men  embodied.  To  what  a  state  of  poverty  and 
wretchedness  would  the  accumulated  expenses  of  war 
reduce  them  !  But  they  look  to  the  success  of  their 
privateers  for  a  supply,  and  contemplate  the  sweeping 
away  of  all  foreign  debts  as  the  means  of  reducing  the 
calls  upon  their  treasury.  Whatever  steps  England 
may  adopt,  I  think  she  cannot,  in  prudence,  avoid 
sending  a  strong  military  force  to  these  provinces,  as 
they  are  now  become  of  infinite  importance  to  her. 
You  can  scarcely  conceive  the  quantities  of  timber  and 
spars  of  all  kinds  which  are  lying  on  the  beach,  ready 
for  shipment  to  England  in  the  spring :  four  hundred 
vessels  would  not  be  sufficient  to  take  all  away. 
Whence  can  England  be  supplied  with  these  essential 
articles,  but  from  the  Canadas  ?  Bonaparte,  it  is 
known,  has  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  be  in  pos 
session  of  the  colonies  formerly  belonging  to  France, 
and  now  that  they  are  become  so  valuable  to  England, 
his  anxiety  to  wrest  them  from  us  will  naturally 
increase.  A  small  French  force,  4  or  5,000  men, 
with  plenty  of  muskets,  would  most  assuredly  conquer 
this  province.  The  Canadians  would  join  them  al 
most  to  a  man — at  least,  the  exceptions  would  be  so 
few  as  to  be  of  little  avail.  It  may  appear  surprising 
that  men,  petted  as  they  have  been  and  indulged  in 
every  thing  they  could  desire,  should  wish  for  a 
change.  But  so  it  is  —  and  I  am  apt  to  think  that 
were  Englishmen  placed  in  the  same  situation,  they 
would  shew  even  more  impatience  to  escape  from 
French  rule.  How  essentially  different  are  the  feel 
ings  of  the  people  from  when  I  first  knew  them.  The 
idea  prevails  generally  among  them,  that  Napoleon 


76  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

must  succeed,  and  ultimately  get  possession  of  these 
provinces.  The  bold  and  violent  are  becoming  every 
day  more  audacious ;  and  the  timid,  with  that  impres 
sion,  think  it  better  and  more  prudent  to  withdraw 
altogether  from  the  society  of  the  English,  rather 
than  run  the  chance  of  being  accused  hereafter  of 
partiality  to  them.  The  consequence  is,  that  little 
or  no  intercourse  exists  between  the  two  races.  More 
troops  will  be  required  in  this  country,  were  it  only 
to  keep  down  this  growing  turbulent  spirit.  The 
governor  will,  it  is  foreseen,  have  a  difficult  card  to 
play  next  month  with  the  assembly,  which  is  really 
getting  too  daring  and  arrogant.  Every  victory  which 
Napoleon  has  gained  for  the  last  nine  years,  has 
made  the  disposition  here  to  resist  more  manifest. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  W.  Brock. 
QUEBEC,  June  8,  1810. 

It  was  my  decided  intention  to  ask  for  leave  to 
go  to  England  this  fall,  but  I  have  now  relinquished 
the  thought.  Several  untoward  circumstances  com 
bine  to  oppose  my  wishes.  The  spirit  of  insubordi 
nation  lately  manifested  by  the  French  Canadian 
population  of  this  colony  naturally  called  for  pre 
cautionary  measures ;  and  our  worthy  chief  is  induced, 
in  consequence,  to  retain  in  this  country  those  on 
whom  he  can  best  confide.  I  am  highly  flattered  in 
being  reckoned  among  the  number,  whatever  inward 
disappointment  I  may  feel.  Some  unpleasant  events 
have  likewise  happened  in  the  upper  country,  which 
have  occasioned  my  receiving  intimation  to  proceed 
thither,  whether  as  a  permanent  station,  or  merely  as 
a  temporary  visit,  Sir  James  Craig  has  not  deter 
mined.  Should,  however,  a  senior  brigadier  to  my 
self  come  out  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  I  shall 
certainly  be  fixed  in  the  Upper  Province,  and  there  is 
every  probability  of  such  an  addition  very  soon. 
Since  all  my  efforts  to  get  more  actively  employed 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  77 

have  failed  ;  since  fate  decrees  that  the  best  portion 
of  my  life  is  to  be  wasted  in  inaction  in  the  Canadas, 
I  am  rather  pleased  with  the  prospect  of  removing 
upwards. 

There  is  a  lady  living  at  Barnet  for  whom  I  feel 
much  interested.  If  you  should  by  chance  drive 
that  way,  and  do  not  object  to  form  a  new  acquaint 
ance,  I  wish  you  to  call  upon  her.  She  is  the  wife  of 
Captain  Manners,  of  the  49th,  and  the  daughter  of 
the  celebrated  Dr.  Rush,  of  Philadelphia.  She  has 
a  most  amiable  disposition  and  genteel  manners. 
Her  sister,  Mrs.  Ross  Cuthbert,  a  charming  little 
creature,  makes  her  husband — my  most  intimate 
friend,  and  with  whom  I  pass  a  great  part  of  my 
leisure  hours  —  a  most  happy  man. 

I  received  the  other  day  a  long  and  exceedingly 
well  written  letter  from  Henrietta  Tupper* — she  is 
really  a  charming  girl.  What!  Maria,*  (Potenger) 
do  you  begin  to  slacken  in  your  attention  to  your  poor 
devoted  uncle  ? 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  brother  Irving. 

QUEBEC,  July  9,  1810. 

I  have  a  thousand  thanks  to  offer  you  for  the  very 
great  attention  you  have  shewn  in  executing  my 
commissions :  the  different  articles  arrived  in  the 
very  best  order,  with  the  exception  of  the  cocked 
hat,  which  has  not  been  received  —  a  most  distressing 
circumstance,  as,  from  the  enormity  of  my  head,  I 
find  the  utmost  difficulty  in  getting  a  substitute  in 
this  country. 

I  proposed  writing  to  you  early  to-morrow,  but 
Sir  James  having  this  instant  intimated  his  intention 
of  sending  me  upwards  immediately,  I  avail  myself 
of  an  hour's  leisure  to  do  that  hastily  which  I  would 
gladly  have  done  quietly,  and,  consequently,  more 
fully.  If  I  am  to  remain  in  this  country,  I  care  little 

*  His  niece. 


78  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

where  I  am  placed  ;  but  going  up,  as  I  do  now, 
without  knowing  whether  I  am  to  stay  or  return,  is 
particularly  awkward,  and  interferes  materially  in  all 
my  future  arrangements  :  perhaps  I  shall  be  able  to 
get  the  point  settled  before  I  commence  my  journey. 

Every  thing  here  remains  in  a  state  of  perfect 
quietness.  It  is  but  too  evident  that  the  Canadians 
generally  are  becoming  daily  more  anxious  to  get  rid 
of  the  English.  This  they  cannot  effect  unless  a 
French  force  come  to  their  aid,  and  I  do  not  think 
that  Bonaparte  would  risk  the  loss  of  a  fleet  and 
army  for  the  chance  of  getting  possession  of  the 
country.  What  infatuation  !  No  people  had  ever 
more  cause  to  rejoice  at  their  fate ;  but  they  are  not 
singular,  as  all  mankind  seems  prone  to  change, 
however  disadvantageous  or  productive  of  confusion. 

Savery  forwarded  your  pamphlet  to  me.  You 
have  taken  a  very  proper  view  of  the  political  dissen 
sions  which  at  this  moment  disgrace  England.  Those 
to  whom  I  have  allowed  a  perusal,  and  who  are  infi 
nitely  better  judges  than  I  can  pretend  to  be,  speak 
of  the  purity  of  the  language  in  terms  of  high  appro 
bation.  You  have  happily  suited  the  style  to  the 
matter.  Several  copies  have,  within  a  few  days, 
been  in  circulation  here.  Savery  speaks  of  a  letter 
you  received,  in  consequence,  from  Lord  Melville. 
I  hope  you  will  not  fail  in  sending  me  a  copy,  as  I 
am  all  anxiety  for  your  literary  fame.  As  you  differ 
in  sentiment  from  the  Edinburgh  Review,  I  hope 
that  you  have  made  up  your  mind  to  an  unmerciful 
lashing. 

I  do  not  see  the  smallest  prospect  of  my  getting 
away  from  here,  as  the  disposition  manifested  by  the 
Canadians  will  occasion  a  large  military  force  to  be 
kept  in  the  country,  and  it  will  serve  as  a  plea  to 
retain  all  at  their  posts.  I  wish  that  I  could  boast 
of  a  little  more  patience  than  I  feel  I  now  possess. 

The  fortifications  of  Quebec  are  improving  pretty 
rapidly,  but  workmen  cannot  be  procured  in  sufficient 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  79 

number  to  proceed  as  fast  as  government  would  wish. 
Labourers  now  get  7s.  6d.  a  day,  and  artificers  from 
I2s.  to  15s.  Upwards  of  three  hundred  vessels  have 
already  arrived — a  prodigious  number. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  William  Brock. 
QUEBEC,  July  10,  1810. 

I  cannot  allow  the  frigate  to  depart  without  send 
ing  my  affectionate  love  to  you.  A  Guernsey  vessel 
arrived  a  few  days  ago,  which  brought  me  a  letter 
from  Savery  of  10th  May,  and  nothing  could  be 
more  gratifying  than  the  contents.  The  May  fleet, 
which  sailed  from  Portsmouth  the  24th,  reached  this 
in  thirty  days,  but  as  it  had  not  a  scrape  of  a  pen  for 
me,  its  arrival  did  not  interest  me.  We  have  been 
uncommonly  gay  the  last  fortnight :  two  frigates  at 
anchor,  and  the  arrival  of  Governor  Gore  from  the 
Upper  Province,  have  given  a  zest  to  society.  Races, 
country  and  water  parties,  have  occupied  our  time 
in  a  continued  round  of  festivity,  Such  stimulus  is 
highly  necessary  to  keep  our  spirits  afloat.  I  con 
tributed  my  share  to  the  general  mirth  in  a  grand 
dinner  given  to  Mrs.  Gore,  at  which  Sir  J.  Craig 
was  present,  and  a  ball  to  a  vast  assemblage  of  all 
descriptions. 

I  mentioned  in  a  former  letter  my  apprehensions  of 
being  ordered  to  the  Upper  Province.  I  return  this 
moment  from  waiting  upon  Sir  James,  who  sent  for 
me,  to  say  he  regretted  he  must  part  with  me,  as  he 
found  it  absolutely  necessary  that  I  should  proceed 
upwards  without  delay.  I  am  placed  in  a  very 
awkward  predicament,  as  my  stay  in  that  country 
depends  wholly  upon  contingencies.  Should  a  bri 
gadier  arrive,  I  am  to  be  stationary,  but  otherwise 
return  to  Quebec.  Nothing  could  be  more  provoking 
and  inconvenient  than  this  arrangement.  Unless  I 
take  up  every  thing  with  me,  I  shall  be  miserably  off, 
for  nothing  beyond  eatables  is  to  be  had  there ;  and 


LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

in  case  I  provide  the  requisites  to  make  my  abode 
in  the  winter  in  any  way  comfortable,  and  'then  be 
ordered  back,  the  expense  will  be  ruinous.  But  I 
must  submit  to  all  this  without  repining,  and  since 
I  cannot  get  to  Europe,  I  care  little  where  I  am 
placed.  I  have  the  most  delightful  garden  imagina 
ble,  with  abundance  of  melons  and  other  good  things, 
all  of  which  I  must  now  desert. 

What  am  I  to  tell  you  from  this  out-of-the-way 
place.  Your  old  friends  of  the  49th  are  well,  but 
scattered  in  small  detachments  all  over  the  country. 
They  are  justly  great  favorites  at  head  quarters.  I 
mentioned  in  a  former  letter  my  wish  that,  provided 
you  could  make  it  perfectly  convenient,  you  would 
call  upon  Mrs.  Manners,  the  wife  of  a  captain  of  the 
49th.  I  am  satisfied  that  you  would,  after  a  short 
acquaintance,  approve  of  her  much — she  is  all  good 
ness.  By  the  last  accounts  they  resided  at  Barnet. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  Maria  and  Zelia  (Potenger, 
his  nieces)  continue  to  conduct  themselves  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  reward  you  amply  for  the  unbounded 
kindness  you  have  all  along  shewn  them.  If  I  am 
able  in  the  fall  to  procure  handsome  skins  for  muffs 
worth  their  acceptance,  I  shall  send  some  to  the  dear 
little  girls ;  they  ought,  however,  to  write  to  me. 
There  are  few  here  brought  up  with  the  advantages 
they  have  received  ;  indeed,  the  means  for  education 
are  very  limited  for  both  sexes  in  this  colony.  Heaven 
preserve  you.  I  shall  probably  begin  my  journey 
upwards  in  the  course  of  a  few  days. 


Brigadier  Brock  accordingly  proceeded  to  the  Up 
per  Province,  Baron  de  llottenburg  having  replaced 
him  at  Quebec ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
months  in  1811,  during  which  he  visited  Lower 
Canada,  he  continued  in  command  of  the  troops 
there  till  his  death,  Lieut.-Governor  Gore  at  first 
administering  the  civil  government. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  81 

Colonel  Bayncs,  the  Adjutant-General,  to  Brigadier 
Brock)  at  Fort  George. 

QUEBEC,  September  6,  1810. 

The  Brigadier-General  (Baron  de  Rottenburg)  is 
Sir  James'  (Craig)  senior  in  age  by  a  year,  but  is 
still  strong  and  active,  and  looks  much  younger.  I 
am  well  pleased  with  the  little  I  have  seen  of  him, 
which  by  the  bye  is  very  little,  for  I  only  returned 
yesterday  from  Sorel.  Mrs.  de  Rottenburg*  has 
made  a  complete  conquest  of  all  hearts.  She  is  in 
reality  remarkably  handsome,  both  in  face  and  figure, 
and  her  manners  uncommonly  pleasing,  graceful, 
and  affable.  There  is,  I  fancy,  a  great  disparity  of 
years.  They  both  speak  English  very  fluently,  and 
with  very  little  foreign  accent.  Sir  James  (Craig) 
is  remarkably  well :  we  celebrated  the  anniversary 
of  his  sixtieth  year  yesterday  at  a  very  pleasant  party 
at  Powell  Place.  Our  general  court  martial  is  over, 
and  will  be  published  in  orders  to-morrow.  A  sol 
dier,  who  was  under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion 
from  the  101st  regiment,  and  transferred  to  the  8th, 
and  a  Jonathan  of  the  Canadians,  who  is  considered 
a  ringleader,  are  sentenced  to  be  shot ;  the  others,  a 
dozen  in  number,  are  to  be  transported  to  serve  for 
life  in  the  African  corps. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  Brothers. 

FORT  GEORGE,  Sept.  13,  1810. 

My  good  and  dear  friends, —  I  have  been  of  late 
so  much  upon  the  move,  that  I  had  no  thought  of 
writing  to  you,  and  no  letters  of  yours  put  me  in 
mind  that  I  should  do  so.  Here  I  am  stationed  for 
some  time,  unless  I  succeed  in  the  application  I 
mean  to  make  shortly  for  permission  to  visit  England. 
At  present,  Vincent,  Glegg,  and  Williams,  49th, 
enliven  this  lonesome  place.  They  are  here  as 

*  The  mother  of  the  present  Lady  William  Paget. 
E* 


82  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

members  of  a  general  court  martial,  and  are  soon  to 
depart,  when  I  shall  be  left  to  my  own  reflections. 
Should  I  be  so  lucky  as  to  obtain  leave,  I  shall  not 
commence  my  journey  to  New  York  until  after 
Christmas.  Baron  de  Rotteriburg,  a  senior  briga 
dier,  has  arrived  at  Quebec,  where  he  remains.  His 
presence  unquestionably  diminishes  my  prospects  in 
this  country,  and  I  should  stand  evidently  in  my 
own  light  if  I  did  not  court  fortune  elsewhere. 

I  have  been  as  far  as  Detroit,  a  delightful  country, 
far  exceeding  any  thing  I  had  seen  on  this  continent. 

I  have  not  had  a  letter  from  Europe  since  May, 
and  wish  you  to  write  to  me  by  way  of  New  York. 
I  avail  myself  of  an  unexpected  passenger  to  scribble 
this  in  the  presence  of  many  of  the  court,  who  tell 
me  it  is  time  to  resume  our  labours ;  therefore,  my 
beloved  brothers,  adieu.  I  shall  write  again  in  a 
few  days,  via  New  York. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Brigadier  Brock,  at  Fort  George. 
QUEBEC,  October  4,  1810. 

By  yesterday's  post,  I  was  favored  with  your 
letter  of  the  23d  ultimo.  I  regret  that  so  much 
trouble  should  have  been  occasioned  to  so  little  pur 
pose,  the  more  so  as  I  apprehend  an  example  to  be 
much  called  for  in  the  100th  regiment.  Murray 
seems  sanguine  that  the  regiment  will  go  on  better 
under  his  rule,  arid  that  he  knows  the  men  better.  I 
hope  his  conjecture  may  prove  well  founded,  but 
I  fear  they  are  too  wild  a  set  to  thrive  in  Upper 
Canada. 

As  I  felt  at  a  loss  how  to  introduce  the  subject  of 
your  personal  views  and  wishes,  I  gave  Sir  James 
your  letter  to  read ;  it  did  not,  however,  draw  from 
him  any  remark  on  those  topics.  I  know  that  he  is 
very  strongly  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  having 
a  person  like  yourself  for  some  time  in  the  Upper 
Province,  that  a  scrutinizing  eye  may  correct  the 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  83 

errors  and  neglect  that  have  crept  in,  and  put  all  in 
order  again ;  and,  in  confidence  between  ourselves,  I 
do  not  think  he  would  be  more  ready  to  part  with  you 
from  that  station,  in  consequence  of  the  arrival  of 
Colonel  Murray,  who  is  not  at  all  to  his  taste,  and 
has  managed,  by  a  most  indiscreet  and  indecent 
conversation  at  his  table,  to  blot  himself  out  of  his 
good  opinion.  The  conversation  was  on  the  subject 
of  Cobbett,  and  the  colonel's  the  only  dissenting  voice, 
which  he  exerted  with  the  more  energy  in  proportion 
to  the  badness  of  his  cause;  and  after  defending  him 
in  a  style  and  language  highly  indecorous,  and 
reprehensible  to  be  held  at  the  table  of  the  governor, 
he  so  completely  forgot  himself  as  to  repeat  and 
justify  the  very  offensive  and  illiberal  publications  of 
Cobbett  respecting  the  German  troops  and  foreign 
officers,  although  sitting  directly  opposite  to  General 
de  Rottenburg.  Sir  James,  who  was  suffering 
extremely  from  the  commencement  of  a  very  severe 
attack  of  illness,  could  contain  himself  no  longer, 
and  silenced  Murray  by  a  very  severe  but  highly 
just  rebuke.  Rottenburg  appeared  much  hurt,  and 
said  to  me  that  he  was  very  sorry  to  find  that  any 
officer,  entrusted  with  the  honor  of  commanding  a 
corps,  could  take  a  pleasure  in  exposing  such  senti 
ments  as  he  had  heard  from  Colonel  M.  Colonel 
Kempt,  who  naturally  feels  much  interested  for  his 
young  cousin,  (Mrs.  Murray,)  and  who  really  deserves 
and  merits  it  for  her  own  sake,  was  much  mortified 
and  vexed  at  Murray's  impropriety.* 

The  charms  of  Mrs.  de  Rottenburg  have  not  effaced 
you  from  the  recollection  of  your  friends,  who  very 
sincerely  regret  your  absence. 

*  Whatever  may  have  been  Colonel  Murray's  indiscretion  on  this 
occasion,  he  approved  himself  one  of  the  most  gallant  and  enterprising 
officers  in  Canada  during  the  war,  and  particularly  distinguished  himself 
in  the  assault  and  capture  of  Fort  Niagara,  in  December,  1813,  where  he 
was  severely  wounded.  If  Colonel  Murray  admired  Cobbett's  writings,  he 
was  not  singular,  as  he  was  perhaps  the  most  forcible  political  writer  in 
the  English  language. 


84  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Lieut. -Colonel  Thornton  to  Brigadier  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  October  4,  1810. 

I  was  yesterday  favored  with  your  letter  of  the 
23d  ultimo,  and  have  not  failed  to  communicate  to 
Sir  James  your  account  and  your  charity  towards 
the  poor  old  fellow,  formerly  of  the  king's.*  He  has 
in  consequence  directed  the  allowance  of  the  ration 
to  be  authorized  and  continued  to  him,  for  which 
purpose  I  must  request  his  Christian  name  and  the 
date  of  the  first  issue ;  but  I  am  to  remind  you  of  the 
danger  of  establishing  a  precedent  of  this  nature,  and 
to  request,  in  the  general's,  name  that  you  will  refrain 
as  much  as  possible  from  indulging  the  natural  bene 
volence  of  your  disposition  in  this  way,  as  he  has 
hitherto  resisted  all  applications  of  this  sort. 

Your  successor,  as  commandant  of  Quebec,  is  cer 
tainly  much  to  be  esteemed — a  good  kind  of  man, 
and  devoted  to  his  profession  —  but  it  is  vanity  in  the 
extreme  to  attempt  to  describe  the  general  admiration 
and  estimation  of  his  cara  ct  dolce  sposa  :  she  is 
young,  (twenty-three,)  fair,  beautiful, — lively,  dis 
creet,  witty,  affable,  —  in  short,  so  engaging,  or 
rather  so  fascinating,  that  neither  the  courier  nor  my 
paper  will  admit  of  my  doing  her  justice  ;  however, 
from  what  I  have  said  it  is  necessary  further  to  add 
and  explain,  that  it  is  not  my  opinion  alone  but  that 
of  the  public. 

Two  hundred  volunteers  for  Colonel  Zouch,  from 
other  veteran  battalions,  have  just  arrived  and  landed: 
the  regiment  is  to  be  completed  in  this  manner  to  one 
thousand. 

*  Sir  Isaac  Brock  was  several  years  in  the  8th  regiment,  but  this  old 
man  had  probably  served  with  his  brother,  Lieut.-Colonel  John  Brock, 
who  was  many  years  in  the  8th,  in  Canada,  during  and  after  the  first 
American  war,  and  who  on  his  return  home  used  to  describe  the  dreadful 
state  of  solitude  in  which  he  lived  while  a  subaltern  on  detachment  in 
the  upper  country.  The  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  8th  at  this  period 
amassed  a  considerable  sum  by  dealing  in  furs,  which  he  purchased  at  a 
cheap  rate  from  the  Indians. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  85 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Brigadier  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  October  11,  1810. 

Sir  James  has  conversed  with  me  fully  on  the 
subject  of  your  wish  for  leave,  and  prefaced  it  by 
declaring  himself  very  desirous  on  his  part  to  forward 
your  views  as  far  as  he  could  do  so  with  propriety, 
but  that  he  had  written  in  such  strong  terms,  urging 
the  necessity  of  a  third  general  officer  being  kept  con 
stantly  on  the  staff  of  the  Canadas,  and  assigned  as  a 
principal  reason  the  advantage  of  an  officer  of  that 
rank  being  stationed  in  the  Upper  Province,  that  he 
does  not  conceive  himself  at  liberty  to  overset  an 
arrangement  which  he  has  been  two  years  soliciting 
the  means  to  carry  into  effect,  and  the  absolute 
necessity  of  which  he  is  highly  impressed  with.  In 
reply  to  an  observation  of  mine,  that  you  regretted 
the  inactive  prospect  before  you,  and  looked  with 
envy  on  those  employed  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  he 
said  :  "  I  make  no  doubt  of  it,  but  I  can  in  no  shape 
aid  his  plans  in  that  respect ;  I  would  not,  however, 
be  the  means  of  preventing  them,  and  although  from 
his  local  knowledge  I  should  regret  losing  him  in 
this  country,  yet  I  would  not  oppose  it  if  he  could 
obtain  an  appointment  to  the  staff  on  service  ;  but  in 
that  case  I  would  ask  for  another  general  officer 
being  sent  in  his  place  immediately  to  Upper  Canada." 
I  tell  you  this,  my  dear  general,  without  reserve,  and 

five  you,  as  far  as  I  can  recollect,  Sir  James'  words, 
f  he  liked  you  less,  he  might  perhaps  be  more 
readily  induced  to  let  you  go  ;  as  matters  stand,  I  do 
not  think  he  will,  although  I  am  convinced  that  he 
will  feel  very  sincere  regret  in  refusing  you  on  a 
subject  upon  which  you  appear  to  be  so  anxious. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  Lieut. -Governor  Gore. 

FORT  GEORGE,  Jan.  6,  1811. 

Having  lately  received  a  letter  from  Colonel  Vesey, 
in  which  he  urges  me  to  ascertain  whether  it  be  pos- 


86  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

sible  to  secure  to  his  family  some  benefit  from  the 
grant  of  five  thousand  acres  he  has  so  long  unprofit- 
ably  held,  I  am  encouraged  by  the  disposition  your 
excellency  has  uniformly  evinced  to  serve  him,  to 
renew  my  earnest  request  thai  your  influence  may  be 
now  exerted  in  his  behalf. 

I  am  given  to  understand  that  there  are  extensive 
tracts  of  excellent  land  at  the  disposal  of  the  crown 
on  Lake  Erie,  and  that  a  new  township  is  undergoing 
a  survey  near  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario.  Were  it 
possible  to  ensure  Colonel  Vesey  eligible  situations 
in  those  districts,  he  no  longer  would  hesitate  in 
incurring  the  necessary  expense. 

Your  excellency  having  signified  your  intention  of 
visiting  England  in  the  course  of  next  summer,  I  am 
impelled  to  the  present  application  by  the  considera 
tion  that,  before  your  return,  the  land,  which  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  point  out,  may  be  disposed  of, 
and  Colonel  Vesey  thereby  lose  the  fair  opportunity 
of  acquiring  property  upon  which  he  can  confidently 
place  some  value. 

Lieut. -Governor  Gore  to  Brigadier  Brock. 

YORK,  January  21,  1811. 

Your  letter  of  the  6th  instant  should  have  been 
earlier  acknowledged,  but  that  I  was  desirous  to  ren 
der  my  answer  as  satisfactory  as  possible,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  refer  to  the  offices,  on  the  subject  of  the 
grant  of  land  ordered  for  Colonel  Vesey. 

I  am  very  sorry  now  to  be  constrained  to  tell  you, 
that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  comply  with  Colonel 
Vesey's  wish  in  respect  of  the  location,  without  a 
special  order  from  the  king,  as  in  the  case  of  Colonel 
Talbot. 

The  diagram,  by  which  the  town  and  clergy  reserves 
are  recorded,  cannot  be  dispensed  with,  so  that  it  is 
now  impracticable  to  obtain  in  any  township  five 
thousand  acres  in  a  block. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  87 

The  townships  lately  surveyed  are  partial  excep 
tions  to  the  general  rule,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  establishing  roads  through  the  province,  and  the 
locations  in  that  exception  are  by  an  act  of  government 
expressly  reserved  for  actual  settlers. 

The  utmost  in  my  power  to  do  for  Colonel  Vesey 
is  to  adopt  the  latitude  directed  by  his  majesty  in 
favor  of  General  Arnold,  which  is  to  permit  his  re 
presentative  to  locate  his  land  in  any  open  township, 
and  to  pass  the  patent  without  his  personal  attendance. 

Exclusive  of  my  very  strong  desire  to  serve  Colo 
nel  Vesey,  I  beg  you  will  believe  that  I  should  have 
had  a  very  particular  gratification  in  promoting  the 
success  of  any  measure  for  which  you  are  pleased  to 
express  an  interest. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  brother  Irving. 

NIAGARA,  January  10,  1811. 

I  cannot  sufficiently  thank  you  for  your  constant 
attention  to  me ;  you  contribute  largely  to  render  my 
present  sequestered  abode  tolerable,  and  let  me  entreat 
you  to  continue  the  practice  you  have  lately  adopted 
of  sending  me  a  letter  every  fortnight.  In  addition 
to  the  last  daily  paper,  send  me  likewise  the  Observer, 
or  any  other  weekly  depository  of  domestic  news. 
You,  who  have  passed  all  your  days  in  the  bustle  of 
London,  can  scarcely  conceive  the  uninteresting  and 
insipid  life  I  am  doomed  to  lead  in  this  retirement. 
My  situation  obliges  me  to  maintain  some  sort  of 
establishment,  otherwise  I  should,  from  inclination, 
confine  my  intercourse  to  a  very  limited  circle.  I 
have  been  for  some  days  projecting  a  jaunt  into  the 
interior  of  the  States,  and  I  may  probably  visit  New 
York  before  I  return,  but  I  shall  weigh  passing  events 
well,  ere  I  hazard  so  long  a  journey.  The  heavy 
rains  which  have  fallen  for  the  last  ten  days  have  de 
layed  my  progress,  as  I  did  not  choose  to  undertake 
the  journey  on  horseback.  I  by  no  means  admire 


88  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

travelling  alone  in  so  comfortless  a  manner,  in  which 
the  gratification  would  not  repay  the  inconvenience. 

I  purpose  directing  my  steps  in  the  first  instance 
to  Ballstown,  a  medicinal  water  of  great  celebrity, 
about  twenty  miles  north  of  Albany.  I  then  expect 
to  be  joined  by  James  Brock,  and  probably  by  some 
others  of  the  49th.  I  shall  wait  ten  days,  not  only 
to  give  him  full  time  to  come  up,  but  likewise  to  try 
the  efficacy  of  the  waters,  as  I  have  an  idea  that  they 
will  be  serviceable  to  me.  I  feel  at  this  moment 
infinitely  better,  but  am  not  quite  the  thing,  without 
knowing  what  ails  me.  A  sound  jolting  and  change 
of  air  will  produce  wonders,  and  make  me  look  once 
more  upon  a  beefsteak  with  appetite.  At  present  I 
live  very  abstemiously,  and  scarcely  ever  touch  wine. 

I  mentioned  in  a  former  letter  that  the  new  arrange 
ments  deprived  me  of  the  comfort  of  a  companion. 
Expecting  to  obtain  leave  to  visit  England,  I  thought 
it  of  little  consequence,  but  now  that  such  an  indul 
gence  is  denied  me,  I  feel  sadly  the  want  of  a  lively, 
communicative  associate.  I  hardly  ever  stir  out, 
and  unless  I  have  company  at  home,  my  evenings 
are  passed  solus.  I  read  much,  but  good  books  are 
scarce,  and  I  hate  borrowing.  I  like  to  read  a  book 
quickly,  and  afterwards  revert  to  such  passages  as 
have  made  the  deepest  impression,  and  which  appear 
to  me  most  important  to  remember — a  practice  I 
cannot  conveniently  pursue  unless  the  book  be  mine. 
Should  you  find  that  I  am  likely  to  remain  here,  I 
wish  you  to  send  me  some  choice  authors  in  history, 
particularly  ancient,  with  maps,  and  the  best  transla 
tions  of  ancient  works.  I  read  in  my  youth  Pope's 
Translation  of  Homer,  but  till  lately  never  discovered 
its  exquisite  beauties.  As  I  grow  old,  I  acquire  a 
taste  for  study.  I  firmly  believe  that  the  same  pro 
pensity  was  always  inherent  in  me ;  but,  strange  to 
tell,  although  many  were  paid  extravagantly,  I  never 
had  the  advantage  of  a  master  to  guide  and  encourage 
me.  But  it  is  now  too  late  to  repine.  I  rejoice  that 
my  nephews  are  more  fortunate. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  89 

The  president's  address  is  sufficiently  hostile,  and  if 
I  thought  that  he  would  be  supported  to  the  extent 
of  his  wishes,  I  should  consider  war  to  be  inevitable. 
Congress  will  hesitate  before  consenting  to  go  the 
length  he  proposes.  The  taking  forcible  possession  of 
West  Florida  may  provoke  a  war  sooner  than  any 
other  act,  but  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  how  such  a 
step  may  be  viewed  by  the  Cortes.  We  are  at  this 
moment  in  awful  suspense — the  king's  illness,  the 
proximity  of  the  armies  under  Massena  and  Welling 
ton,  and  the  measures  our  government  may  deem  pro 
per  to  adopt  to  meet  the  hostile  proceedings  of  the 
Americans,  afford  serious  matter  for  contemplation. 

I  have  seen  "  Thoughts  on  Political  Fanaticism," 
in  answer  to  your  admirable  pamphlet.  The  author 
appears  to  me  to  proclaim  his  servile  attachment  to 
Bonaparte,  without  in  any  degree  refuting  your 
arguments.  When  you  tell  me  that  Peter  Tupper  is 
a  son  of  the  jurat,  and  a  member  of  the  Junta  of 
Valencia,  you  by  no  means  satisfy  my  curiosity.  Is 
he  equal  to  fill  the  situation  ?  Has  he  discretion, 
and  is  he  distinguished  by  a  strong  mind  and  un 
daunted  courage,  as  these  are  qualities  that  can  alone 
be  serviceable  at  such  a  crisis  ?  I  observed  his 
name  some  little  time  back  in  the  public  prints, 
without  knowing  who  he  could  be,  and  I  suppose 
that  he  is  my  junior  in  age  by  several  years.* 

Colonel  Kempt  t   (  Quartermaster  -  General )   to  Brigadier 
Brock. 

QUEBEC,  January  17,  1811. 

Baynes  tells  ine  that  he  has  written  to  you  repeat 
edly,  and  most  fully  and  confidentially,  on  the 

*  Peter  Carey  Tapper,  Esq.,  a  native  of  Guernsey,  British  consul  for 
Valencia  at  this  time,  and  afterwards  for  Catalonia.  He  distinguished 
himself  from  1808  to  1814,  in  encouraging  the  Spaniards  to  resist  the 
invasion  of  Napoleon  ;  and  his  name  occurs  repeatedly  in  the  Duke  of 
Wellington's  dispatches,  recently  published,  as  also  in  the  first  and  fourth 
volumes  of  Napier's  Peninsular  War.  He  died  in  Madrid,  in  18'25,  in  the 
prime  of  life.  His  youngest  brother  was  British  consul  for  Caraccas,  and 
afterwards  for  Riga. 

t  The  present  General  Sir  James  Kempt,  G.  C.B.,  &c.,  afterwards 


90  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

subject  of  your  application  for  leave.  The  letters, 
which  I  have  received  from  home,  explicitly  state 
that  the  last  brevet  was  made  so  extensive  with  the 
view  of  doing  away  with  the  appointment  of  briga 
dier,  so  that  no  general  officer  under  the  rank  of 
major-general  will  be  in  future  employed ;  indepen 
dent  of  this  circumstance,  you  have  no  reason,  believe 
me,  to  dread  being  unemployed  in  any  rank  while 
you  have  a  wish  to  serve — this  opinion,  my  dear 
general,  is  not  given  rashly  or  upon  slight  grounds — 
before  I  came  to  this  country  I  had,  you  must  know, 
several  opportunities  of  hearing  your  name  mentioned 
at  head  quarters,  both  by  General  Calvert  and  Colo 
nel  Gordon,  who  unquestionably  spoke  the  sentiments 
of  the  then  commander-in-chief,  and  in  such  a  way 
as  to  impress  me  with  a  thorough  conviction  that  few 
officers  of  your  rank  stood  higher  in  their  estimation. 
In  short,  I  have  no  manner  of  doubt  whatever  that 
you  will  readily  obtain  employment  upon  active 
service  the  moment  that  you  do  get  home,  and  with 
this  view  I  recommend  you  to  express,  through 
Baynes,  your  sense  of  his  excellency's  good  inten 
tions  and  wishes  towards  you  in  respect  to  leave  of 
absence,  and  your  hopes  that  when  the  circumstances 
of  the  country  are  such  as  will  permit  him  to  grant 
six  months'  leave  to  a  general  officer,  that  this  indul 
gence  will  be  extended  in  the  first  instance  to  you. 
I  am  very  happy  to  find  that  you  are  pleased  with 
Mrs.  Murray :  I  have  just  received  a  long  letter 
from  her,  giving  me  an  account  of  a  splendid  ball 
given  by  you  to  the  beau  monde  of  Niagara  and  its 

governor-general  of  British  America,  and  subsequently  master- general  of 
the  ordnance  in  Earl  Grey's  administration.  Sir  James  is  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  officers  in  the  British  army,  having  served  in  Holland 
and  Egypt,  at  Maida,  in  Spain,  and  at  Waterloo  :  he  has  received  the 
Egyptian  Medal,  and  a  Cross  and  three  Clasps  for  Maida,  Badajos,  Vittoria, 
Nivelle,  Nive,  Orthes,  and  Toulouse.  The  editor  of  this  memoir  takes 
this  opportunity  of  expressing  his  grateful  remembrance  of  Sir  James 
Kempt's  attention  and  kindness  to  him  during  his  lieutenant-governorship 
of  Nova  Scotia,  when  he,  (the  editor,)  a  very  young  man,  was  in  that 
province  upwards  of  twenty  years  ago.  Neither  can  he  forget  the  very 
gratifying  manner  in  which  Sir  James  spoke  of  his  old  friend,  Sir  IsaacBrock. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  91 

vicinity,  and  the  manner  in  which  she  speaks  of  your 
liberality  and  hospitality  reminds  me  of  the  many 
pleasant  hours  I  have  passed  under  your  roof.  We 
have  no  such  parties  now,  and  the  indisposition  of 
Sir  James  having  prevented  the  usual  public  days  at 
the  castle^  nothing  more  stupid  than  Quebec  now  is 
can  be  imagined. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Brigadier  Brock,  at  Fort  George. 
QUEBEC,  February  14,  1811. 

From  the  sincere  and  lively  interest  which  I  am 
sure  you  feel  for  our  worthy  chief,  I  am  happy  to 
announce  to  you  that  an  important  change  has  taken 
place  in  his  disease,  from  which  his  medical  atten 
dants  augur,  with  great  confidence,  most  essential 
and  permanent  relief.  On  Sunday  last  I  received  a 
summons  to  immediately  attend  at  the  castle,  where 
Kempt  was  also  called,  and,  to  our  extreme  astonish 
ment,  he  informed  us  that  he  was  then  about  to  under 
go  the  operation  of  tapping,  as  he  fully  coincided 
with  his  medical  attendants  who  advised  it.  Sir 
James  (Craig)  proceeded  with  great  calmness  to  give 
me  some  instructions  as  his  executor,  in  the  event  of 
any  fatal  consequence  following,  which  he  did  with 
a  degree  of  composure,  and  even  cheerfulness,  which 
only  a  mind  like  his  can  assume.  We  were  present, 
at  his  request,  at  the  operation,  which  appeared  to 
me  painfully  tedious — but  not  an  expression,  or  even 
a  look  of  impatience,  escaped  Sir  James,  whose 
manner  absolutely  inspired  spirits  and  fortitude  to 
those  around.  At  the  close,  he  stood  up  for  several 
minutes  to  let  the  water  drain  from  the  higher  parts 
of  the  body,  and  thirty-six  pints,  weighing  nearly  as 
many  pounds,  were  altogether  drawn  off. 

Sir  James  lately  received  accounts  of  the  14th  of 
November,  that  his  brother,  General  Peter  Craig, 
was  then  so  reduced  and  weak  from  a  long  and 
severe  illness,  that  no  hopes  were  entertained  of  him. 


92  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

You  will  conceive  what  a  severe  shock  this  has  been, 
the  more  so  as  Sir  James  never  harboured  a  doubt 
that  his  elder  brother,  from  his  apparently  stronger 
constitution,  would  have  long  survived  him.  Their 
mutual  ties  of  relationship  were  in  a  manner  concen 
trated  in  each  other,  for  Sir  James  will  have  none 
left  but  of  a  very  distant  degree. 

I  am  happy  to  find  by  a  long  letter  from  Mrs. 
Murray  to  Colonel  Kempt,  that  you  have  found  the 
means  of  enlivening  the  solitary  scene  that  has  so 
long  prevailed  at  Fort  George.  I  assure  you  that  we 
rniss  you  much  here,  and  that  the  fascinating  Mrs.  de 
Rottenburg,  with  all  her  charms,  has  not  effaced  the 
very  universal  regret  which  your  loss  occasions  in 
Quebec. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  his  brother  Irving. 

NIAGARA,  February  19,  1811. 

Nothing  can  be  more  considerate,  nothing  more 
friendly,  than  your  constancy  in  writing  to  me. 
Your  last  letter  is  dated  the  2Gth  of  November.  What 
can  I  say  from  this  remote  corner  in  return  for  the 
pleasure  I  experience  at  the  receipt  of  your  letters  ? 
I  have  already  described  my  sombre  kind  of  life,  but 
I  am  sure  you  will  rejoice  to  hear  that  my  present 
quiet  has  been  productive  of  the  essential  good  of 
restoring  my  health.  I  now  consider  myself  quite 
re-established  ;  therefore,  rny  good  Irving,  dispel  all 
your  alarms  on  my  account.  I  once  thought  of 
visiting  Ballstown,  but,  as  a  trial  of  the  springs  there 
was  my  chief  motive,  I  gave  up  the  journey  the 
moment  I  found  there  was  no  medical  occasion  to 
undertake  it.  I  do  not  admire  the  mariners  of  the 
American  people.  I  have  met  with  some  whose 
society  was  every  thing  one  could  desire ;  and  at 
Boston  and  New  York  such  characters  are,  I  believe, 
numerous,  but  these  are  the  exceptions.  Politics  run 
very  high  at  this  moment,  but  the  French  faction 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  93 

have  evidently  the  preponderance,  and  they  style 
themselves  republicans  !  Was  ever  any  thing  more 
absurd?  A  dreadful  crash  is  not  far  off — I  hope 
your  friends  have  withheld  their  confidence  in  their 
public  stocks.  There  have  been  many  failures  at 
New  York,  and  the  merchants  there  are  in  a  state 
of  great  confusion  and  dismay. 

I  returned  recently  from  York,  the  capital  of  this 
province,  where  I  passed  ten  days  with  the  governor, 
(Gore)  as  generous  and  as  honest  a  being  as  ever 
existed.  His  lady  is  perfectly  well  bred  and  very 
agreeable.  I  found  ample  recompense  in  their  so 
ciety  for  the  inconvenience  of  travelling  over  the 
worst  roads  I  ever  met  with.  The  governor  was 
formerly  quartered  with  the  44th  in  Guernsey,  and 
recollects  vividly  the  society  of  those  days.* 

I  seldom  hear  from  James  Brock,  who  dislikes 
writing  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  hazards  the  loss  of 
a  friend  rather  than  submit  to  the  trouble ;  and  what 
is  strange,  when  he  sets  about  it,  he  expresses  himself 
happily,  and  is  highly  entertaining. 

Sir  James  Craig  has  triumphed  completely  over 
the  French  faction  in  the  Lower  Province.  By  their 
conduct  they  have  fully  exemplified  the  character  of 
their  ancestors.  The  moment  they  found  they  could 
not  intimidate  by  threats,  they  became  as  obsequious 
as  they  had  been  violent.  The  house  of  assembly 
passed  every  bill  required  of  them  ;  among  others,  one 
authorizing  the  governor-general  and  three  councillors 
to  imprison  any  one  without  assigning  a  cause.  The 
state  of  the  country  makes  such  a  measure  highly 
necessary.  Sir  James  has  been  very  ill,  and  it  is 
supposed  that  he  cannot  long  survive  the  fierce  and 

*  At  the  period  alluded  to,  about  the  year  1790,  Guernsey  had  compa 
ratively  little  communication  with  England,  and  the  chief  characteristic 
of  the  insular  society  was  its  simplicity,  the  hours  being  early,  and 
costly  establishments  being  unknown.  Yet  there  was  much  genuine 
hospitality,  as  the  gentry  maintained  a  constant  social  intercourse  with 
each  other,  and  with  the  officers  of  the  garrison,  very  few  other  strangers 
then  visiting  the  island.  The  upper  ranks  were  content  with  their  isola 
tion  and  with  this  primitive  mode  of  life,  and  it  may  well  be  questioned 
whether  increased  luxury  and  refinement  have  added  to  their  happiness. 


94  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

frequent  attacks  of  his  disorder.  His  death,  when 
ever  it  comes,  will  be  bewailed  by  all  who  possess 
the  feelings  of  Englishmen  in  this  country.  He 
appears  determined  to  keep  me  near  his  person,  and 
I  hardly  know  how  to  accomplish  my  grand  object 
of  visiting  England  in  opposition  to  his  wishes.  You 
may  well  imagine  the  regret  I  feel  in  being  obliged 
to  submit  to  such  a  life  of  complete  idleness — but 
fate  will  have  it  so. 

We  are  all  impatience  and  anxiety  to  learn  the 
ultimate  result  of  the  king's  indisposition,  and  the 
movements  of  the  contending  armies  in  Portugal. 
If  we  are  to  be  governed  by  a  regent,  I  trust  that 
ambition,  jealousy,  or  party  interests,  will  not  con 
spire  to  diminish  or  circumscribe  his  regal  powers. 
These  are  not  times  to  slacken  the  reins. 

Colonel  Murray,  100th,  went  home  last  year, 
married,  and  brought  out  a  charming  little  creature, 
full  of  good  sense  and  spirit.  They  dined  with  me 
yesterday,  and  she  appeared  a  little  dejected  in  con 
sequence  of  an  idle  report  of  the  regiment  being 
destined  for  the  West  Indies. 

Care  ought  to  be  taken  to  get  William  Potenger 
introduced  into  a  quiet,  well-behaved  corps ;  the  49th 
would  do  very  well,  but  I  am  not  partial  to  Canada 
for  a  young  soldier  ;  the  regiment  has,  however,  been 
in  it  so  long,  that  it  cannot  be  continued  many  years. 
Throw  him  into  the  sea  rather  than  allow  him  to  join 
a  wild  Irish  regiment. 

This  country  is  getting  very  populous  and  rich. 
Great  emigration  from  the  States ;  Quakers  especially 
come  in  numbers,  and  bring  with  them  large  sums. 
Assure  William  of  my  eternal  esteem. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  Sir  James  Craig,  K.  B. 

NIAGARA,  February  27,  1811. 

I  have  this  day  been  honored  by  the  receipt  of  your 
excellency's  letter,  dated  the  4th  instant.  The  subject 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  95 

to  which  it  refers  has  occasioned  serious  reflection  in 
my  mind.  If  unfortunately  the  Indians  be  deter 
mined  to  commit  acts  of  hostility  in  the  spring,  they 
are  at  too  great  a  distance  for  us  to  succeed  in  any 
effort  we  may  be  disposed  to  make  to  avert  so  great 
a  calamity.  Therefore,  the  next  consideration  is  the 
posture  we  are  to  assume  in  case  of  such  an  event ; 
whether  we  are  to  remain  in  a  state  of  strict  neutral 
ity,  which  doubtless  the  Americans  will  call  upon  us 
to  observe,  and  thereby  sacrifice  our  influence  over 
the  Indians ;  or,  unmindful  of  the  consequences, 
continue  to  them  the  accustomed  supplies  of  food, 
arms,  and  ammunition. 

I  lament  to  think  that  the  Indians  retired  from  the 
council,  in  which  they  declared  their  resolution  of 
going  to  war,  with  a  full  conviction  that,  although 
they  could  not  look  for  active  co-operation  on  our 
part,  yet  they  might  rely  with  confidence  upon  re 
ceiving  from  us  every  requisite  of  war. 

Our  cold  attempt  to  dissuade  that  much-injured 
people*  from  engaging  in  such  a  rash  enterprise  could 
scarcely  be  expected  to  prevail,  particularly  after 
giving  such  manifest  indications  of  a  contrary  senti 
ment  by  the  liberal  quantity  of  military  stores  with 
which  they  were  dismissed. 

I  shall  not  fail  in  reporting  every  circumstance  that 
may  come  to  my  knowledge  relative  to  our  connec 
tions  with  the  Indians,  which  I  think  your  excellency 
may  desire  to  be  acquainted  with :  I  must  look  to 
officers  commanding  at  the  outposts  for  such  infor- 

*  Washington  Irving,  in  his  "Astoria,"  mentions  a  Sioux  Indian  being 
killed  by  a  shot  wantonly  fired  at  him  by  a  white  man  across  the  banks 
of  the  Missouri,  here  fully  half  a  mile  broad,  and  he  observes  :  "  In  this 
way  outrages  are  frequently  committed  on  the  natives  by  thoughtless 
or  mischievous  white  men  ;  the  Indians  retaliate  according  to  a  law  of 
their  code,  which  requires  blood  for  blood ;  their  act,  of  what  with  them 
is  pious  vengeance,  resounds  throughout  the  land,  and  is  represented  as 
wanton  and  unprovoked  ;  the  neighbourhood  is  roused  to  arms  ;  a  war 
ensues,  which  ends  in  the  destruction  of  half  the  tribe,  and  their  expulsion 
from  their  hereditary  homes.  Such  is  too  often  the  history  of  Indian 
warfare,  which  in  general  is  traced  up  only  to  some  vindictive  act  of  a 
savage;  while  the  outrage  of  the  scoundrel  white  man  that  provoked  it  is 
sunk  in  silence." 


9G  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

mation,    as  the    lieutenant-governor  withholds  from 
me  all  communications  on  the  subject. 

Mr.  Elliot,  who  has  the  management  of  the  Indian 
department  at  Amherstburg,  is  an  exceedingly  good 
man,  and  highly  respected  by  the  Indians ;  but, 
having  in  his  youth  lived  a  great  deal  with  them,  he 
has  naturally  imbibed  their  feelings  and  prejudices, 
and  partaking  in  the  wrongs  they  continually  suffer, 
this  sympathy  made  him  neglect  the  considerations 
of  prudence,  which  ought  to  have  regulated  his  con 
duct.  If  he  had  delayed  the  issue  of  presents  until 
he  reported  their  mission  to  Lieut. -Governor  Gore, 
they  would  have  returned  to  their  companions,  car 
rying  with  them  the  positive  sentiments  of  govern 
ment. 

Brigadier  Brock  to  Major  Taylor,  WOth  Regiment, 
commanding  at  Amherstburg. 

NIAGARA,  March  4,  1811. 

You  omitted  to  report  to  me  the  important  reso 
lution  which  the  Indians  formally  announced  last 
autumn  in  council  to  have  been  adopted  by  the 
different  nations,  of  going  to  wrar  with  the  Americans. 
Having,  however,  received  advice  of  the  circumstance 
through  other  channels,  I  was  enabled  to  communi 
cate  the  interesting  fact  to  head  quarters,  and  now 
transcribe,  for  your  individual  information  and  future 
guidance,  extracts  of  his  excellency's  secret  and  con 
fidential  answer,  dated  4th  ultimo  : 

"  Although  the  conduct  of  our  intercourse  with  the  Indians 
is  by  his  majesty's  command  vested  in  the  civil  government 
of  the  province  of  Canada,  and  consequently  the  interference 
of  military  officers,  otherwise  than  by  being  present  at  such 
councils  as  may  be  held  as  they  are  directed  to  be,  would  be 
improper,  I  nevertheless  desire  that  you  will  instruct  the 
officers  in  command  at  the  different  posts,  particularly  at 
Amherstburg,  to  report  confidentially  to  you  what  may  pass 
at  those  councils,  as  well  as  any  other  transactions  in  which 
the  Indians  are  concerned,  and  which  may  come  to  their 
knowledge ;  these  reports  you  will  forward  to  me  occasion 
ally,  as  you  may  think  them  of  importance." 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  97 

The  conduct  which  the  military  are  expected  to 
pursue  in  their  intercourse  with  the  Indian  depart 
ment  is  so  explicitly  stated  in  the  above,  that  I  need 
not  say  a  word  more  on  the  subject.  But  I  think 
it  highly  necessary  to  put  you  in  possession  of  the 
policy  which  Sir  James  Craig  is  very  anxious  may 
be  observed  in  the  present  uncertain  state  of  our 
political  affairs. 

"  I  am  decidedly  of  opinion,  that  upon  every  principle  of 
policy  our  interest  should  lead  us  to  use  all  our  endeavours  to 
prevent  a  rupture  between  the  Indians  and  the  subjects  of 
the  United  States.  Upon  these  considerations,  I  think  it 
would  be  expedient  to  instruct  the  officers  of  the  Indian  de 
partment  to  use  all  their  influence  to  dissuade  the  Indians 
from  their  projected  plan  of  hostility,  giving-  them  clearly  to 
understand  that  they  must  not  expect  any  assistance  from 
us.  The  officers,  however,  should  be  extremely  cautious  in 
pointing  out  to  them  that  it  is  for  their  own  good  only  that 
this  advice  is  given  to  them,  and  not  from  any  dereliction 
of  that  regard  with  which  we  always  view  their  interests;  it 
will  perhaps  require  some  management  to  avoid  exciting 
their  jealousy  or  resentment ;  the  doing  so  must  be  strongly 
recommended." 

I  wish  you  to  comprehend  clearly  the  sentiments 
of  Sir  James  upon  this  essential  point  ;  because 
although  I  entertain  great  respect  for  the  personal 
character  of  Mr.  Elliott,  yet  I  should  be  unwilling  to 
place  entire  dependance,  in  an  affair  of  such  manifest 
importance,  upon  a  judgment  biassed  and  prejudiced, 
as  his  is  known  to  IDC,  in  every  thing  that  regards  the 
Indians.  To  act  with  due  prudence,  he  participates 
in  and  feels  too  keenly  the  grievous  wrongs  they  have 
suffered.  Should  you,  therefore,  perceive  the  smallest 
indication  to  depart  from  the  line  so  strongly  marked 
by  his  excellency  for  the  government  of  the  Indian 
officers,  you  will,  without  creating  suspicion  of  an 
intention  of  controlling  their  measures,  offer  friendly 
advice,  and  even  have  recourse  to  written  protests 
to  deter  them  from  persevering  in  any  act  that  may 
have  a  tendency  to  irritate  and  expose  the  two  nations 
to  endless  controversy.  All  this  you,  of  course,  will 
F 


98  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

do  as  coming;  from  yourself,  and  you  will  be  very 
regular  in  reporting  circumstantially  every  occur 
rence  that  may  come  to  your  knowledge,  to  enable 
me  to  conform  strictly  with  the  instructions  of  the 
commander-in-chief. 

Colonel  Baynes*  to  Brigadier  Brock,  at  Fort  George. 
QUEBEC,  March  4,  1811. 

Sir  James  desires  me  to  tell  you  that  he  had  fully 
intended  writing  to  you  himself  by  this  day's  post, 
but,  from  the  arrival  of  the  January  mail  and  the 
departure  of  the  Halifax  courier  to-morrow,  he  finds 
himself  so  much  occupied  that  he  has  deputed  me  to 
explain  to  you  the  cause  of  his  not  announcing  to 
you  by  his  own  pen  the  resolution  he  finds  himself 
under  the  necessity  of  adopting,  of  returning  to 
England  early  in  the  summer.  I  think  it  probable 
that  he  will  leave  this  by  the  July  fleet ;  indeed,  the 
extremely  weak  and  debilitated  state  of  his  health 
will  not  admit  of  his  deferring  his  departure  longer, 
lest  it  might  involve  him  in  inconveniences  attendant 
upon  an  equinoctial  or  fall  passage.  It  is  with  the 
deepest  regret  I  observe  that  his  strength  is  visibly 
sinking  under  his  disease,  although  the  latter  has  not 
increased  in  violence  ;  on  the  contrary,  for  this  fort 
night  past  he  seems  in  better  spirits  and  to  suffer  less 
pain :  the  first  probably  arises  from  the  prospect  of 
his  being  speedily  relieved  from  the  weight  and  anxi 
ety  of  his  public  charge,  for  with  regard  to  himself, 
his  mind  is  most  perfectly  made  up,  and  resigned  to 
a  very  speedy  termination  of  all  his  sufferings ;  and 

*  Owing  to  the  communication  by  post  between  Lower  and  Upper 
Canada  being  so  slow  at  this  period,  we  observe  that  many  of  Colonel 
Baynes'  letters  to  Brigadier  Brock,  at  Fort  George,  were  transmitted 
through  the  United  States.  There  was  only  a  post  once  a  fortnight 
between  Montreal  and  Kingston,  and  in  Upper  Canada  the  post  office  was 
scarcely  established.  The  military  returns  were  sent  from  the  Upper 
Province  to  Quebec  once  or  twice  in  the  winter  of  1806-7,  by  an  Indian 
hired  for  the  purpose ;  and  in  the  same  winter  the  mail  from  England 
for  Canada  was  lost  by  the  upsetting  of  the  canoe  in  which  an  Indian 
was  conveying  it. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  99 

his  anxiety  has  been  latterly  much  excited  from  the 
apprehension  of  his  becoming  too  ill  to  be  able  to 
undertake  the  voyage,  and  being  obliged  to  linger 
out  the  short  remnant  of  his  life  in  this  country. 

I  assure  you  he  is  very  far  from  being  indifferent 
in  regard  to  forwarding  your  wishes ;  but  from  the 
necessity  of  his  retiring  himself,  and  even  without 
waiting  for  leave  to  do  so,  he  feels  it  the  more  indis 
pensably  necessary  to  leave  this  country  in  the  best 
state  of  security  he  can,  and  that,  under  existing 
circumstances,  he  cannot  attend  to  your  request  for 
leave.  He  desires  me  to  say,  that  he  regrets  ex 
tremely  the  disappointment  you  may  experience ;  and 
he  requests  that  you  will  do  him  the  favor  to  accept, 
as  a  legacy  and  mark  of  his  very  sincere  regard,  his 
favorite  horse,  Alfred ;  and  that  he  is  induced  to  send 
him  to  you,  not  only  from  wishing  to  secure  to  his 
old  favorite  a  kind  and  careful  master,  but  from  the 
conviction  that  the  whole  continent  of  America  could 
not  furnish  you  with  so  safe  and  excellent  a  horse. 
Alfred  is  ten  years  old,  but  being  a  high  bred  horse, 
and  latterly  but  very  little  worked,  he  may  be  con 
sidered  as  still  perfectly  fresh.  Sir  James  will  give 
him  up  to  Heriot,  whenever  you  fix  the  mode  of  his 
being  forwarded  to  you. 

I  have  requested  Sir  James  to  allow  me  to  accom 
pany  him  home,  a  duty  I  should  feel  a  most  grateful 
pleasure  in  performing ;  but  with  a  kind  regard  to 
what  he  thinks  more  to  my  interest,  he  will  not  ac 
cede  to  my  wishes,  but  insists  on  my  remaining  here, 
as  he  thinks  that  my  appointment  will  be  considered 
permanent.  Kempt  goes  home,  his  private  affairs 
requiring  his  presence,  and  having  strong  ground  to 
hope  that  he  will  be  able  to  resign  his  staff  for  an 
active  brigade ;  although  his  senior  in  years  and  length 
of  service,  I  must  still  wait  a  long  time  before  I  can 
direct  my  ambition  to  so  desirable  an  object. 

You  will  have  seen  by  Sir  James'  speech,  the  very 
complete  triumph  his  firmness  and  energy  have  ob- 


100  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

tained  over  the  factious  cabal  of  their  most  contemp 
tible  assembly.  Bedard  will  be  shortly  released — 
that  fellow  alone  of  the  whole  gang  has  nerve,  and 
does  not  want  ability  or  inclination  to  do  mischief 
whenever  opportunity  offers ;  the  rest,  old  Papineau 
and  the  blustering  B ,  are  all  white-livered  runa 
gates  to  a  man  ;  but  when  Sir  James'  back  is  turned, 
they  will  rally  and  commence  the  same  bullying 
attack  on  his  successor,  who,  I  trust,  will  follow  his 
example.* 

Colonel  J.  A.  Vesey  to  Brigadier  Brock. 
HAMPTON  COURT  PARK,  April  9,  1811. 

I  am  bound  to  Sicily  in  about  a  fortnight,  as  a 
brigadier-general  on  the  staff  there,  and  I  am  told 
that  Lord  William  Bentinck,  who  is  destined  to 
command  the  forces  in  that  island,  will  be  the  bearer 
of  instructions  to  insist  upon  the  command  of  the 
Sicilian  army  likewise. 

I  thank  you  much  for  the  interesting  details  of 
local  politics,  both  military  and  civil,  which  your 
letter  contains,  for  I  feel  a  more  than  common  wish 
to  know  what  passes  in  Canada,  although  I  am  cer 
tainly  not  partial  to  that  country — quite  the  reverse. 
It  is  a  pity  that  the  49th  should  be  detained  there  so 
long,  as  it  will  interfere  materially  with  the  promotion 
of  your  officers.  I  fear  you  will  have  passed  a  lonely 
winter  at  Fort  George,  notwithstanding  the  addition 

*  Part  of  the  discontent  of  the  French  Canadians  at  this  period  arose 
from  the  Constitutional  Act  of  1791,  which  divided  the  two  provinces,  and 
gave  to  each  a  local  legislature,  consisting  of  an  elective  assembly,  and  a 
council  of  members  appointed  by  the  crown  for  life.  These  two  bodies 
never  harmonized,  as  the  latter  was  composed  of  an  exclusive  class, 
consisting  of  office  holders  and  a  few  wealthy  merchants  and  land-holders ; 
and  the  assembly,  naturally  enough,  complained  that  nearly  every  mea 
sure,  which  it  originated,  was  rejected  by  the  legislative  council.  Thus 
the  disaffection  of  the  people  was  not  entirely  of  a  national  character,  or 
it  was  not  solely  a  French  and  English  quarrel ;  and  no  government  will 
satisfy  that  race  which  has  not  a  just  share  in  its  administration  and 
councils.  And  now,  nothwithstanding  the  continued  antagonism  of  the 
two  races,  both  appear  to  unite  in  demanding  responsible  government 
not  in  form,  but  in  substance ;  and  Sir  James  Craig  would  indeed  be 
astonished  if  he  could  arise  from  his  grave,  and  witness  the  present 
relative  positions  of  the  governor- general  and  the  house  of  assembly. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  101 

of  my  friend  Murray  and  his  nice  little  wife  to  your 
society.  Pray  remember  me  kindly  to  them  and  to 
my  old  -riend  St.  George.  Mrs.  Vesey  has  charged 
me  to  caL  her  to  your  recollection  in  the  kindest 
manner  ;  she  and  my  six  children  are  as  well  as 
possible,  and  a  very  nice  little  group  they  are,  all 
as  healthy  as  can  be.  I  wish  I  had  a  daughter  old 
enough  for  you,  as  I  would  give  her  to  you  with 
pleasure.  You  should  be  married,  particularly  as 
fate  seems  to  detain  you  so  long  in  Canada — but 
pray  do  not  marry  there. 

Colonel  Vesey  to  Brigadier  Brock. 
HAMPTON  COURT  PARK,  May  9,  1811. 

I  received  a  few  days  ago  your  letter  of  the  22d 
February,  for  which  I  thank  you  very  much.  I  am 
very  much  obliged  to  you  for  taking  so  much  trouble 
about  my  grant"  of  land,  respecting  which  I  have  not 
taken  any  steps  whatever  here;  neither  shall  I,  so  long 
as  Lord  Liverpool  continues  to  direct  the  affairs  of 
the  colonial  department,  for  he  is  not  friendly  to  me  ; 
but  I  will  reserve  my  claims  for  a  more  favorable 
moment.  I  am  not  the  less  thankful  for  your  friend 
ship  on  the  occasion. 

I  quite  feel  for  you,  my  good  friend,  when  I  think 
of  the  stupid  and  uninteresting  time  you  must  have 
passed  in  Upper  Canada — with  your  ardour  for  pro 
fessional  employment  in  the  field,  it  must  have  been 
very  painful.  I  did  not  think  Sir  James  (Craig) 
would  have  detained  you  so  long  against  your  will. 
Had  you  returned  to  Europe,  there  is  little  doubt  but 
that  you  would  immediately  have  been  employed  in 
Portugal;  and,  as  that  service  has  turned  out  so  very 
creditable,  I  regret  very  much  that  you  had  not 
deserted  from  Canada.  I  take  it  for  granted  that 
you  will  not  stay  there  long,  and  should  the  fortune 
of  war  bring  us  again  upon  duty  in  the  same  country, 
I  need  not  say  how  I  shall  hail  the  event  with  joy. 


102  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

If  you  come  to  England,  I  would  wish  you  to  call 
upon  the  Duke  of  Kent,*  who  has  a  high  respect  for 
you,  and  will  be  happy  to  see  you. 

It  seems  determined  that  the  Duke  of  York  shall 
return  to  the  command  of  the  army  ;  it  would  have 
taken  place  ere  now,  but  for  some  ill-natured  remarks 
inserted  in  some  of  the  newspapers,  produced  by  an 
over  zeal  on  the  part  of  his  friends.  Sir  David 
(Dundas)  will  not  be  much  regretted,  and  it  surely 
is  time  that  at  his  advanced  period  of  life  he  should 
be  relieved  from  the  cares  of  office. 

I  am  rejoiced  to  find  that  you  live  so  comfortably 
with  my  friend  Murray  and  his  nice  little  wife. 
Mrs.  Vesey  and  myself  took  a  great  fancy  to  her  the 
morning  she  called  here,  on  their  way  to  Portsmouth. 

*  The  father  of  her  present  majesty,  Queen  Victoria.— The  queen  visited 
Guernsey  on  the  24th  August,  1846,  and  was  received  by  the  inhabitants 
with  the  most  enthusiastic  demonstrations  of  affection,  loyalty,  and  gra 
titude.  Her  majesty  is  the  first  British  sovereign,  since  the  days  of  King 
John,  who  has  landed  in  Guernsey,  which  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Second,  and  long  subsequently,  was  termed  "  The  Holy  Isle." 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK. 


103 


CHAPTER    V. 


On  the  4tli  of  June,  1811,  Brigadier  Brock  was 
promoted,  and  appointed  by  the  prince  regent  to 
serve  from  that  day  as  a  major-general  on  the  staff  of 
North  America.  On  the  l9th  of  the  same  month, 
Sir  James  Craig  embarked  on  board  H.  M.  S.  Amelia 
for  England,  leaving  Mr.  Dunn  in  charge  of  the  go 
vernment  of  the  Lower  Province,  and  Lieut. -General 
Drummond*  in  command  of  the  forces  in  the  Cana- 
das,  consisting  of  445  artillery,  3,783  regular  troops, 
and  1,226  Fencibles  ;  in  all,  5,454  men.  He  seemed 
disgusted  with  the  cares  of  a  government,  in  which 
he  had  experienced  only  crosses  and  mortification,  as 
his  administration  was  decidedly  unpopular  among 
the  great  mass  of  the  French  Canadians.  His  health 
had  long  been  wasting  away  with  a  dropsy  and  other 
infirmities;  and  he  doubted  whether  he  should  live  to 
reach  England,  where  he  however  survived  several 
months,  and  met  with  a  most  gracious  reception  from 
his  immediate  superiors.  Sir  James  Craig  had  been 
from  his  youth  in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  he 
owed  to  merit  alone  his  rank  and  consideration  in 

*  The  present  General  Sir  Gordon  Drummond,  G!  C.  B.,  colonel  of  the 
49th  foot.  He  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  forces  in  tipper  Canada 
in  December,  1813.  Lieut. -General  Drummond  was  one  step  higher  in 
rank  than  Major-General  Brock,  although  he  entered  the  army  four  years 
and  a  half  after  him ;  and  as  a  proof  of  the  gross  favouritism  and  inequality 
which  prevailed  in  the  British  army  during  the  last  century,  we  give  the 
dates  of  General  Drummond's  commissions  —  viz.  ensign,  September  21, 
1~89  ;  lieutenant,  March  31,  1791 ;  captain,  January,  1/92;  major,  Febru 
ary  28,  l/94j  lieut.-colonel,  April  22,  1794;  colonel,  January  1,  1798; 
major-general,  January  l,  1805;  lieut. -general,  June  4,  1811 — a  general 
officer  in  little  more  than  fifteen  years  ! 


104  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

the  army.*  He  was  corpulent  in  person,  and  rather 
below  the  middle  stature ;  in  society  he  was  frank 
and  affable.  To  a  clear  and  comprehensive  judgment, 
he  united  the  best  qualities  of  the  heart ;  and  though 
hasty  in  temper,  a  fault  arising  much  from  disease 
and  suffering,  he  was  easily  reconciled  to  those  who 
might  involuntarily  have  incurred  his  resentment. 
Although  many  differed  widely  in  opinion  with  respect 
to  his  government,  yet  few  could  deny  him  the  merit 
of  disinterestedness  and  integrity  in  the  discharge 
of  his  public  duties.  He  may  have  erred  in  the 
performance  of  the  important  and  complicated  func 
tions  of  his  post,  but  he  was  guided  by  sincerity ;  and 
it  is  due  to  his  memory  to  add,  that  the  objects  of 
his  administration,  however  erroneous  the  means  he 
pursued  for  their  attainment,  were  the  concord,  the 
happiness,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  people  whom  he 
governed  for  nearly  four  years.f 

Major- General  Vesey  to  Major- General  Brock. 

PORTSMOUTH,  June  10,  1811. 

I  congratulate  you  on  your  promotion,  and  you 
may  return  me  the  compliment.  I  did  not  expect 
to  appear  in  the  same  brevet  with  you  as  a  major- 
general  ;  J  it  has  so  happened,  however,  and  I  am 

*  Sir  James  Craig  commanded  from  3  to  4,000  British  troops,  who,  with 
about  4,000  Russians,  were  sent  at  the  close  of  1805  to  Naples  for  the 
protection  of  the  then  infamous  Neapolitan  government ;  but  on  the 
advance  of  the  French,  the  Russians  proceeded  to  Corfu  and  the  British 
to  Messina,  where  Lieut.-General  Craig  retired  from  ill  health,  and  was 
succeeded  in  the  command  by  Sir  John  Stuart,  who  a  few  months  after 
gained  the  battle  of  Maida,  4th  July,  1806.  Major-General  Craig  was  also 
second  in  command  of  the  land  forces  at  the  capture  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  in  17Q5. 

t  Memoirs  of  the  Administration  of  the  Colonial  Government  of  Lower 
Canada,  by  Sir  James  Henry  Craig  and  Sir  George  Prevost,  from  the  year 
1807  until  the  year  1815;  comprehending  the  Military  and  Naval  opera 
tions  in  the  Canadas  during  the  late  War  with  the  United  States  of 
America.  By  R.  Christie,  Quebec,  1818. 

t  The  colonels  of  October  30,  1805,  to  all  the  colonels  of  1808,  were 
made  major-generals  on  the  same  day,  June  4,  1811,  and  Colonel  Vesey 
was  79  on  the  list  below  Colonel  Brock.  This  strikes  us  as  very  wholesale 
promotion,  and  as  unjust  to  the  senior  colonels. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  105 

not  at  all  sorry  to  go  out  to  Sicily  as  major-general 
instead  of  a  brigadier.  You  have  such  a  lot  of 
generals  in  Canada  at  present,  that  it  is  impossible 
to  continue  them  all  upon  the  staff.  Your  wish  will 
be  to  come  home,  I  dare  say,  and  very  glad  I  should 
be  if  you  were  in  England  at  present,  while  all  the 
arrangements  are  making.  It  may  perhaps  be  your 
fate  to  go  to  the  Mediterranean,  but  the  Peninsula  is 
the  most  direct  road  to  the  honor  of  the  Bath,  and 
as  you  are  an  ambitious  man,  that  is  the  station  you 
would  prefer — so  should  I,  but  I  have  been  advised 
not  to  solicit  for  it,  but  to  go  where  I  was  ordered  ; 
therefore,  am  I  proceeding.  I  need  not  say  how 
rejoiced  I  should  be  if  you  were  of  the  party. 

The  return  of  the  Duke  of  York  to  the  head  of  the 
army  gives  general  satisfaction  to  all  military  people, 
and  indeed  to  most  others,  I  fancy  :  his  old  worn-out 
predecessor  has  long  been  superannuated.  I  still  re 
tain  my  appointment  of  deputy  barrack  master-general 
in  Nova  Scotia,  to  the  astonishment  of  every  body, 
because  I  suppose  they  do  not  like  to  take  it  from 
me  par  force ,  without  giving  me  something  in  lieu 
of  it.  I  have  told  the  treasury  that  I  would  not  give 
it  up  upon  any  other  terms  than  for  my  lieutenant- 
colonelcy,  but  that  they  had  the  power  of  taking  it 
from  me  if- they  chose  to  do  me  that  injustice:  I 
suppose  they  will  as  soon  as  my  back  is  turned. 
Lord  William  Bentinck  is  expected  down  to-day  ; 
he  goes  to  Sicily  in  the  Caledonia,  with  Sir  Edward 
Pellew.  As  it  is  possible  you  may  have  left  Canada, 
I  shall  enclose  this  letter  to  our  friend  Bruyeres ; 
bid  him  read  it,  and  forward  it  if  you  are  yet  in  that 
country.* 

*  Major- General  Vesey  died  in  Sicily,  December  5,  1811. 


106  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Colonel  Bayncs  to  Major- General  Brock,  at  Montreal. 
QUEBEC,  August  3,  1811. 

We  were  very  much  surprised  on  Thursday  last 
by  the  arrival  of  the  Racoon,  sloop  of  war,  from 
Jamaica,  with  the  Duke  of  Manchester*  on  board, 
who  is  come  with  the  view  of  visiting  the  lions  of 
Canada  previous  to  his  return  to  England;  he  is 
gone,  attended  by  General  Drummond,  to  see  the 
falls  of  Montmorenci,  and  the  general  desires  me  to 
let  you  know  that  his  grace  intends  leaving  this  in 
the  stage  on  Tuesday  morning  for  Montreal.  The 
duke  has  no  attendant  except  a  Colonel  Gold,  ci- 
devant  militaire ;  he  appears  to  be  very  affable,  and 
perfectly  sans  fa^on ;  he  particularly  requested  that 
no  compliments  or  ceremony  of  any  kind  might  be 
shown  him,  and  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  indulge 
his  fancy  by  going  about  as  he  pleased.  His  grace 
is  not  likely  to  have  many  volunteer  aides-de-camp, 
for  he  treated  those  who  formed  his  suite  yesterday  to 
a  walk  of  half  a  dozen  hours  in  the  sun  at  mid-day 
round  the  works,  the  towers,  plains,  &c. ;  and  from 
which  he  did  not  appear  to  experience  the  slightest 
inconvenience,  being  in  the  habit,  we  are  told,  of 
taking  similar  rambles  even  in  the  West  Indies.  The 
duke  will  pay  you  but  a  very  short  visit,  being  limit 
ed  for  time,  and  anxious  to  make  his  tour  as  extensive 
as  possible.  He  seems  to  like  a  glass  of  Madeira, 
and  would  match  any  of  the  Canadian  tribe  in  smok 
ing  cigars ;  he  walks  about  with  one  in  his  mouth  at 
all  hours  in  the  day.  He  begs  you  will  have  the 
kindness  to  secure  for  him  a  boat  and  a  good  Cana 
dian  crew  to  proceed  to  Kingston,  and  to  facilitate 
his  progress  from  that  place,  inasmuch  as  it  may  be 
in  your  power  to  do  so.  I  apprehend  that  the  move 
ment  of  the  troops  may  very  materially  interfere  with 
him,  but  the  duke  will  not  object  to  embarking  with 
any  of  the  detachments  if  no  other  vessel  can  be 
spared. 

*  The  governor  of  Jamaica. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  107 

Colonel  Bayncs  to  Major-Gencral  Brock,  at  William 
Henri/)  Sorel. 

QUEBEC,  August  12,  1811. 

I  have  to  acknowledge  and  thank  you  for  your 
letter  of  the  8th  instant.  I  regret  much  that  you  did 
not  find  it  convenient  to  remain  at  Montreal  to  re 
ceive  the  Duke  of  Manchester,  as  I  think  you  would 
have  felt  gratified  ;  and  if  you  could  have  reconciled 
to  your  own  feelings  the  want  of  due  preparation  for 
the  reception  of  so  great  a  personage,  I  am  sure,  from 
the  specimen  we  had  of  his  grace  here,  that  he  would 
have  been  perfectly  satisfied,  and  happy  to  have 
shared  your  fare.  He  does  not  appear  to  be  a  lady's 
man — perhaps  a  little  too  much  the  contrary,  and  I 
am  confident  that  a  dinner  with  a  few  gentlemen,  and 
an  invitation  to  smoke,  would  suit  his  taste  in  prefer 
ence  to  a  formal  fete.  On  an  excursion  to  the  Chau- 
diere,  of  which  Mrs.  Drummond  and  other  ladies 
formed  part,  his  grace  appeared  to  be  very  little  at 
his  ease  until  he  effected  his  escape  out  of  the  frigate's 
barge  into  one  of  the  small  boats  that  was  in  attend 
ance  with  his  compagnon  de  voyage  and  the  com 
mander  of  the  sloop,  when,  with  the  aid  of  his  favorite 
cigar,  he  appeared  to  be  perfectly  happy.  I  mention 
these  traits  in  order  that  you  may  be  prepared  to  re 
ceive  him  or  not  on  his  return,  as  you  think  best.  I 
am  sure  he  would  prefer  William  Henry  to  sleep  at 
in  preference  to  Montreal. 


After  an  inter-regnum  of  nearly  three  months,  Sir 
George  Prevost  arrived  at  Quebec  in  September,  and 
assumed  the  government  of  Lower  Canada,  having 
succeeded  Sir  James  Craig  in  the  chief  command  of 
the  British  North  American  provinces.  His  military 
character  then  stood  high,  as  he  had  distinguished 
himself  at  the  conquest  of  the  island  of  St.  Lucie,  in 
1803,  and  of  the  island  of  Martinique,  in  1809 ;  as 


108  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

also  in  successfully  opposing,  with  a  small  garrison, 
the  attack  made  in  1805  by  a  numerous  French  force, 
upon  the  island  of  Dominica,  of  which  he  was  lieu 
tenant-governor ;  but  his  active  service  had  been 
confined  entirely  to  the  West  Indies,  not  a  field  suffi 
ciently  important  to  test  the  capabilities  of  a  general- 
in-chief  at  a  critical  and  momentous  period  ;  and  he 
had  been  chiefly  employed  on  the  staff,  having  com 
manded  a  regiment  only  for  a  few  months,  a  battalion 
of  the  60th,  composed  at  that  time  of  foreigners.  The 
known  mildness  of  his  disposition,  and  the  popularity 
of  his  administration  in  Nova  Scotia,  from  which  he 
had  just  been  promoted,  afforded  a  hope  that  his 
government  of  Lower  Canada  would  prove  more 
auspicious  to  the  internal  union  of  the  people  than 
that  of  his  predecessor.  Sir  George  Prevost  was, 
moreover,  neither  by  birth  nor  parentage  an  English 
man,  an  advantage  to  him  in  ruling  a  country  wrested 
scarcely  fifty  years  from  France ;  and,  as  his  name 
indicates,  his  family  was  doubtless  of  French  origin, 
a  circumstance  which  the  French  Canadians  could 
not  fail  to  appreciate.*  The  inhabitants  at  this  time 
were  divided  into  two  parties,  termed  the  English 
and  the  Canadian,  who  viewed  each  other  with  consi 
derable  hostility ;  and  as  Sir  James  Craig  had  sided 
with  the  former,  the  latter  hailed  the  appearance  of 
his  successor  with  evident  gratification.  Soon  after 
Sir  George  Prevost's  arrival,  Major-General  Brock, 
in  addition  to  the  command  of  the  troops,  was  ap 
pointed  president  and  administrator  of  the  govern 
ment  in  Upper  Canada,  being  the  sixth  in  succession 
of  its  rulers,  to  which  office  he  succeeded  on  the  9th 
of  October,  1811,  in  place  of  Lieut. -Governor  Gore, 
who  returned  to  England  on  leave.  At  the  close  of  the 
year,  his  royal  highness  the  Duke  of  York  expressed 

*  Sir  George  Prevost  was  born  at  New  York,  May  19,  1767— his  father, 
a  native  of  Geneva,  settled  in  England,  and  became  a  major-general  in 
the  British  army — his  mother  was  a  daughter  of  M.  Grand,  of  Lausanne. 
Sir  G.  Prevost  was  created  a  baronet  in  1805,  for  his  services  in  the  West 
Indies. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  109 

at  length  every  inclination  to  gratify  Major-General 
Brock's  wishes  for  more  active  employment  in  Eu 
rope,  and  Sir  George  Prevost  was  authorized  to 
replace  him  by  another  officer ;  but  when  the  per 
mission  reached  Canada,  early  in  1812,  a  war  with 
the  United  States,  was  evidently  near  at  hand,  and 
Major-General  Brock,  with  such  a  prospect,  was 
retained  both  by  honor  and  inclination  in  the  country. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major-General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  October  7,  1811. 

I  have  a  letter  from  Thornton  of  the  2d  of  August ; 
the  party  arrived  at  Deal  on  the  27th  of  July.  Sir 
James  (Craig)  bore  the  passage  remarkably  well,  and 
he  has  received  the  most  flattering  and  satisfactory 
assurances  that  his  conduct,  civil  and  military,  has 
met  with  the  most  unqualified  approbation.  Kempt 
has  experienced  a  very  honorable  reception  ;  the  duke 
told  him  he  would  give  him  a  carte  blanche  as  to  his 
future  destination  ;  he  has  requested  to  have  a  brigade 
under  Lord  Wellington,  and  was  preparing  to  go  to 
the  Peninsula.  Thornton  does  not  allude  to  the  pro 
bability  of  its  affecting  his  present  post,  as  he  says 
Kempt  writes  to  you  at  length,  and  will  tell  you  of 
himself.  El  lice*  has  found  great  difficulty  in  effect 
ing  an  exchange.  Dalrymple,  Sir  Hew's  eldest  son, 
had  no  objection  till  he  found  that  the  duke  set  his 
face  against  the  continued  exchange  of  that  post,  and 
that  he  would  not  permit  it  to  be  made  a  mere  step 
ping  stone  for  the  brevet  rank.  He  in  consequence 
declined  it,  and  Ellice  is  on  the  hunt  for  a  lazy  mar 
ried  major  of  dragoons,  who  has  no  objection  to  obtain 
it  as  a  fixture.  Thornton  has  been  appointed  to  a 
regiment,  but  he  neglects  to  mention  the  number, 
although  he  enters  into  a  long  explanation  respecting 
it,  viz.  that  it  is  of  two  battalions,  the  second  in  Por 
tugal  and  the  first  in  the  East  Indies,  but,  by  a  recent 

*  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ellice,  deputy  adjutant-general  in  Canada. 


110  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

regulation,  the  senior  lieutenant-colonel  has  the  option 
of  remaining  in  command  of  the  second  in  Portugal 
if  he  chooses.  Thornton  has  obtained  leave  to  go,  in 
the  first  instance,  to  his  corps  in  Portugal,  so  as  to 
endeavour  to  persuade  his  senior  that  India  is  a  more 
desirable  quarter :  if  he  fails  in  his  rhetoric,  he  ex 
pects  shortly  to  travel  that  route  himself. 

The  following  paragraph  is  copied  verbatim  from 
Thornton's  letter  ;  he  is  connected  with  Torrens,  and 
in  habits  of  familiar  intimacy,  so  that  I  am  inclined 
to  think  he  draws  his  inference  from  that  quarter: 
"  Pray  give  a  hint  in  private  to  Generals  Brock  arid 
Sheaffe,  that  if  the  former  were  to  ask  for  a  brigade 
at  home,  or  on  European  service,  and  the  latter  to  be 
put  on  the  staff  in  Canada,  lam  almost  certain  they 
would  succeed. 


In  June,  1811,  a  firm  in  London,  in  a  rather  exten 
sive  business  as  bankers  and  general  merchants,  and 
of  which  Mr.  William  Brock  was  the  senior  partner, 

failed.      The  previous  senior  partner,  Mr.  P d, 

who  was  lord  mayor  of  the  city,  had  a  few  years 
before  retired  with  a  very  large  fortune.  Mr.  Brock 
had  advanced  his  brother  Isaac  about  ,£3,000  for  the 
purchase  of  his  commissions  in  the  49th  regiment, 
but,  having  no  children  and  being  at  the  time  in 
affluence,  he  never  intended  to  exact  the  payment, 
although  the  money  was  charged  in  the  books.  To 
Major-General  Brock,  who  was  not  aware  of  his 
name  appearing  as  a  debtor  to  the  firm,  the  intelli 
gence  of  the  failure  came  like  a  thunderbolt,  not  so 
much  for  the  difficulties  in  which  it  involved  him,  as 
for  the  distress  to  which  it  reduced  his  favorite  bro 
ther.  But  he  happily  never  knew  that  his  brother- 
in-law,  Mr.  Tupper,  who  had  then  eleven  children 
living,  lost  eventually  between  12  and  £13,000  by 
the  failure.  His  brother  Savery  was  also  a  sufferer, 
and  the  bankruptcy  caused  a  coolness  between  Wil- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  Ill 

Ham  Brock  and  his  brother  Irving,  who  was  con 
nected  with  the  firm,  and  to  which  their  brother 
Isaac  alludes  in  some  of  his  subsequent  correspond 
ence,  when  he  entreats  of  them  to  be  united.  The 
two  following  letters  strike  us  as  highly  creditable  to 
Major-General  Brock,  proving  as  they  do  his  excel 
lence  of  heart,  integrity  of  purpose,  and  depth  of 
fraternal  feeling  ;  and  we  have  only  to  add,  that  the 
assignees  cheerfully  accepted  his  offer  of  the  salary 
to  which  his  civil  situation  entitled  him  as  the  means 
of  liquidating  his  debt  to  the  estate. 

Major-General  Brock  to  his  brother  Savcry. 

YORK,  October  7,  1811. 

I  have  this  instant  finished  a  letter  to  Irving.  I 
attempted  to  write  composedly,  but  found  it  impos 
sible.  The  newspapers  gave  me  the  first  intimation 
of  the  heavy  misfortune  we  have  all  sustained.  To 
this  day,  I  am  without  a  single  line  from  any  of  the 
family  on  the  subject.  Let  me  know  how  William 
and  Sally  support  the  sad  change  in  their  affairs.  I 
want  to  be  at  once  apprized  of  the  full  extent  of  our 
misery.  Why  keep  me  in  this  horrid  suspense  ? 

I  write  merely  to  say,  for  really  my  poor  head  will 
not  allow  me  to  say  more,  that  to-morrow  I  enter 
into  the  official  duties  of  president  of  this  province. 
The  salary  attached  to  the  situation  is  <£1,000,  the 
whole  of  which,  I  trust,  I  shall  be  able  to  save,  and, 
after  a  year  or  two,  even  more. 

I  go  to  Niagara  next  week,  and  shall  again  write 
through  the  States. 

Yesterday  was  the  first  truly  gloomy  birthday  I 
have  ever  passed.  May  you  be  happy.  Glegg  is 
with  me,  and  I  expect  James  Brock  very  soon. 


112  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Major- General  Brock  to  his  brother  Irving. 

YORK,  October  30,  1811. 

My  dear  friend, —  I  have  at  length  heard  from 
you.  Your  letter  of  the  3d  August  was  only  received 
this  day.  To  what  a  state  of  misery  are  we  fallen — 
poverty  I  was  prepared  to  bear  —  but,  oh!  Irving, 
if  you  love  me,  do  not  by  any  action  or  word  add  to 
the  sorrows  of  poor,  unfortunate,  William.  Remem 
ber  his  kindness  to  me — what  pleasure  he  always 
found  in  doing  me  service.  Hang  the  world,  it  is 
not  worth  a  thought — be  generous,  and  find  silent 
comfort  in  being  so.  Oh  !  my  dear  boy,  forget  the 
past,  and  let  us  all  unite  in  soothing  the  griefs  of  one 
of  the  best  hearts  that  Heaven  ever  formed.  I  can 
well  conceive  that  the  causes  of  his  ruin  were  excited 
by  too  ardent  a  wish  to  place  us  all  in  affluence — 
his  wealth  we  were  sure  to  divide — why  refuse  him 
consolation?  —  it  is  all,  alas!  I  can  offer.  I  shall 
write  to  him  the  instant  I  feel  sufficiently  composed. 
Could  tears  restore  him,  he  would  soon  be  happy  — 
every  atom  of  resolution  leaves  me  at  the  moment  I 
require  it  most.  I  sleep  little,  but  am  constrained  to 
assume  a  smiling  face  during  the  day  :  my  thoughts 
are  fixed  upon  you  all,  and  the  last  thing  that  gives 
me  any  concern  is  the  call  which  Savery  prepares  me 
to  expect  from  the  creditors.  I  did  not  think  that  I 
appeared  in  the  books — the  mistake  was  wholly 
mine.  Let  me  know  the  sum.  Are  my  commissions 
safe,  or  must  they  be  sold  ?  Can  I  not  retain  out  of 
the  wreck  my  two  or  three  hundred  a  year  ?  they 
would  save  us  all  from  want,  and  we  might  retire  to 
some  corner,  and  be  still  happy.  You  know  the 
situation  to  which  I  arn  lately  raised.  It  will  enable 
me  to  give  up  the  whole  of  my  salary,  <£1,000  yearly, 
and  I  shall  enclose  a  power  of  attorney  to  enable  you 
to  receive  it — do  with  it  what  justice  demands  — 
pay  as  fast  as  you  receive,  unless  indeed  want  among 
any  of  you  calls  for  aid ;  in  that  case  make  use  of  the 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  113 

money,  and  let  the  worst  corne.  I  leave  every  thing 
to  your  sober  discretion. 

I  wrote  thus  far  last  evening,  and  I  shall  now 
endeavour  to  proceed  with  less  agitation.  If  you 
possibly  can  satisfy  my  creditors,  do  so  —  it  is  a  pity 
Savery  did  not  write  to  say  what  he  was  able  to 
effect  on  the  subject.  I  have  been  at  £300  or  £400 
expense  in  outfits,  which  I  fear  will  prevent  my 
remitting  any  thing  home  this  year,  but  the  next  I 
hope  to  spare  to  that  amount.  Depend  upon  my 
exercising  the  utmost  economy ;  but  I  am  in  a  situa 
tion  which  must  be  upheld  by  a  certain  outlay.  Did 
it  depend  upon  myself,  how  willingly  would  I  live 
upon  bread  and  water.  Governor  Gore  is  gone 
home  with  a  year's  leave.  I  think  it  probable  he 
will  not  be  required  to  return  so  long  as  the  war 
continues.  I  ought  not,  however,  to  look  to  retain 
my  situation  above  two  years.  I  shall  make  all  I 
can  of  it  by  every  fair  means,  for  be  satisfied  that 
even  your  stern  honesty  shall  have  no  just  cause  to 
censure  any  one  of  my  actions.  But  I  cannot  look 
to  much  popularity  in  the  homely  way  I  am  con 
strained  to  proceed  in  the  administration :  much 
shew  and  feasting  are  indispensable  to  attract  the 
multitude,  especially  in  a  colony  like  this,  where 
equality  prevails  to  such  a  degree  that  men  judge  of 
your  disposition,  of  your  frankness,  by  the  frequency 
of  the  invitations  they  receive.  At  present,  all 
classes  profess  great  regard  and  esteem  for  me ;  but 
although  I  hope  they  may,  I  cannot  expect  such 
sentiments  will  continue  long.  If  I  retain  the  consi 
derate  and  thoughtful,  I  shall  be  satisfied,  and  I  shall 
strive  to  merit  the  good  opinion  of  such  men. 

Henceforth  I  shall  address  you  without  reference 
to  the  past ;  we  must  only  consider  how  to  get  on 
for  the  future.  You  have  read  much,  and  I  trust 
will  profit  by  the  lessons  philosophers  inculcate. 
Exert,  my  honest  fellow,  every  power  of  your  mind, 
but  never  exclude  prudence  from  any  of  your  actions. 
Believe  me  yours  till  doomsday. 


114  LIFE    AND    CORRESPOIS7DENCE    OF 

William  Brock,  Esq.,  to  Major- General  Brock. 

STAMFORD  HILL,  October  31,1811. 

*  ******* 
You  have  received,  or  will  receive  shortly,  a 
letter  from  our  assignees,  desiring  to  be  informed  in 
what  manner  the  debt,  which  appears  in  our  books 
as  owing  by  you,  is  to  be  liquidated.  Too  well  do  I 
know,  my  dearest  Isaac,  your  inability  to  pay  it  of 
yourself;  it  now  amounts  to  something  above  <£3,000. 
The  assignees  will  not,  I  believe,  take  any  unpleasant 
steps  to  enforce  the  payment,  yet  it  will  be  natural 
that  they  exact  some  sort  of  security  from  you. 
Some  reports  had,  but  very  erroneously,  been  circu 
lated  that  they  had  already  commenced  legal  steps 
against  you ;  and  upon  this  report  a  young  gentleman 
lately  arrived  from  Canada,  a  Mr.  Ellice,*  called  on 
Charles  Bell  to  inquire  if  it  were  so,  and  told  Bell 
that  rather  than  any  thing  unpleasant  should  happen 
to  you,  he  would  contrive  to  pay  the  debt  himself,  so 
great  was  his  esteem  and  friendship  for  you.  I  of 
course  told  Bell  that  the  report  was  without  founda 
tion.  This  trait  of  friendship  on  this  gentleman's 
part  very  much  tended  to  reconcile  me  "to  my  unfor 
tunate  situation,  for  besides  his  attachment  to  you, 
he  assured  Bell  you  were  so  beloved  in  Canada,  that 
you  would  not  want  friends  who  would  feel  pleasure 
to  assist  you  to  any  amount,  if  necessary.  Let  me 
conjure  you,  my  dearest  Isaac,  not  to  refuse  the  offer 
of  such  friends,  as  you  feel  you  would  yourself  oblige 

*  The  present  Right  Honorable  Edward  Ellice,  M.  P.  On  the  editor 
inquiring  by  letter  of  Mr.  E.  whether  he  were  not  the  generous  individual 
alluded  to,  he  replied  as  follows  :  "  Mr.  E.  has  a  very  vivid  recollection 
of  the  happy  time  he  spent  while  travelling  in  Canada,  in  his  earliest 
days,  in  the  society  of  the  late  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  to  whom  he  was  indebted 
for  the  greatest  courtesy  and  kindness,  and  for  whose  character  and 
virtues  he  has  always  entertained  the  most  sincere  respect  and  admira 
tion.  Mr.  E.  has  also  some  recollection  of  the  incident  mentioned  in 
Mr.  T.'s  letter,  but  he  begs  that  no  reference  may  be  made  to  it  in  any 
future  edition  of  the  memoirs."  The  editor  regrets  that  he  cannot, 
without  doing  Sir  Isaac  Brock  an  injustice,  suppress  an  incident  which 
is  so  honorable  to  Mr.  E.,  and  he  claims  his  indulgence  for  not  complying 
with  his  request. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  115 

in  a  similar  situation.  I  am  sure  you  will  believe 
that  had  circumstances  authorized  it,  I  would  have 
cancelled  your  debt  long  since. 

I  know  your  love  for  me,  and  shall  therefore  say  a 
little  about  myself.  Savery  was  in  London  when  the 
house  stopped,  (the  8th  June,)  and  never  shall  I 
forget  what  I  owe  him  for  the  warmth  and  interest 
he  has  uniformly  shewn  in  this  hour  of  sorrow. 
After  every  consideration,  it  was  deemed  most  advis 
able  that  the  house  should  be  declared  bankrupt,  as 
the  only  means  of  extricating  ourselves ;  for  as  an 
underwriter  at  Lloyd's  there  was  no  coming  to  any 
compromise,  and  the  demands  upon  us  would  have 
been  endless.  At  the  time  we  stopped  there  were 
£27,000  sterling  due  to  me  for  premiums  of  insur 
ance,  all  of  which  will  no  doubt  be  swallowed  up  by 
the  late  seizures  in  the  Baltic  ports,  and  by  many  of 
my  debtors  becoming  bankrupts  themselves.  These 
Baltic  losses,  and  the  house's  former  losses  by  bad 
debts,*  may  be  said  to  be  the  cause  of  our  failure, 
which  has  been  accelerated  by  the  preceding  failure 

of  our  neighbours,  Messrs. and  of  the  two 

banks  in  Guernsey,  circumstances  which  destroyed 
all  confidence,  and  occasioned  what  is  commonly  call 
ed  a  run  upon  the  house. 

I  am  anxious  for  your  return  to  England,  if  it 
were  only  that  you  introduce to  Lord  Bridge- 
water.  At  present,  I  have  not  the  means  of  keeping 
him  at  Oxford — he  and  William,  and  the  two  dear 
girls,  are  with  us.  I  expect  our  brother  Tupper  next 
week  from  Guernsey,  and  I  suppose  the  two  boys 
will  return  with  him.  His  eldest  son,  John,  passed 
this  way  on  his  return  to  Guernsey  from  Spain.  He 
is  grown  a  very  fine  young  man,  with  a  strong  judg 
ment  and  an  amiable  temper.  His  countenance  is 
pleasing,  and  in  figure  he  is  tall  and  athletic. 

Do  not,  I  pray  you,  my  dearest  Isaac,  attribute 

*  By  the  failure  of  one  person  shortly  before,  the  house  lost  nearly 
£30,000. 


116  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

my  former  silence  to  any  diminution  of  affection,  but 
to  a  depression  of  spirits,  which  this  final  catastrophe 
has  in  some  measure  relieved  —  a  reality  of  misfor 
tune  is  probably  less  painful  than  the  preceding' 
anxiety  of  it.  Let  us  pray  that  the  prospect  will 
again  brighten.  In  you  is  all  my  present  pride  and 
future  hope. 

November  16,  1811. — Savery  has  within  the  last 
few  days  sent  me  a  copy  of  your  welcome  letter  of 
the  19th  September  from  Montreal,  and  most  cheer 
ing  it  is  to  our  drooping  spirits.  May  this  find  you 
well  and  hearty  in  your  new  honors  at  York.  Surely, 
my  dearest  Isaac  will  not  quit  his  enviable  situation, 
when  he  has  also  a  prospect  of  something  more 
lucrative,  for  a  mere  major-general's  appointment  in 
Europe.  I  sent  our  friend,  Charles  Bell,  an  extract 
of  your  letter,  that  he  might  give  it  to  your  generous 
friend  Ellice,  who  will  rejoice  at  your  promotion. 


Lieut. -Colonel  Torrens  to  Major  General  Brock. 

HORSE  GUARDS,  October  17,  1811. 

I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  your  letter  of 
the  6th  of  July,  and  I  beg  you  will  be  convinced 
that  I  should  derive  much  satisfaction  from  the 
power  of  complying  with  your  wishes  as  far  as  my 
situation  might  enable  me  to  facilitate  the  accom 
plishment  of  the  object  you  have  expressed  of  return 
ing  to  England. 

I  have  made  known  your  wishes  to  the  comman- 
der-in-chief,  and  his  royal  highness  has  expressed 
every  inclination  to  comply  with  them.  But  until 
another  officer  shall  join  the  station,  you  will  be 
readily  aware  of  the  difficulty  his  royal  highness 
would  have  in  withdrawing  you,  by  leave  of  absence 
or  otherwise,  during  the  present  state  of  public  affairs 
with  the  American  government. 

Should  you  wish,  however,  to  quit  the  Canadian 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  117 

staff  with  a  view  to  serve  in  Europe,  his  royal  high 
ness  will  not  object  to  your  return  to  this  country, 
under  the  arrangement  of  your  being  immediately 
succeeded  by  another  officer.  And  as  Major-General 
Sheaffe  is  on  the  spot,  and  has  strong  claims  to  em 
ployment  on  the  staff,  his  royal  highness  will  have  no 
objection  to  furnish  Sir  George  Prevost  with  an  au 
thority  to  employ  that  officer  in  your  room,  provided 
he  has  not  left  Canada. 

I  trust  this  arrangement  may  be  acceptable  to  you. 
An  official  communication  to  the  effect  of  this  note 
will  be  made  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  October  29,  1811. 

Conceiving  that  the  system,  recently  established 
with  a  view  of  securing  the  regular  and  prompt  set 
tlement  of  the  accompts  of  the  Indian  department  in 
this  province,  is  liable  to  many  objections,  I  beg 
leave  to  lay  my  sentiments  on  the  subject  before  your 
excellencv. 

Sir  James  Craig,  on  the  application  of  Lieut. - 
Governor  Gore,  procured  the  consent  of  the  lords  of 
his  majesty's  treasury  to  the  appointment  of  a  deputy 
commissary -general  of  accompts,  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  up  all  arrears  in  the  accompts  of  the  Indian 
department.  But  unless  means  be  likewise  taken  to 
ensure  an  immediate  examination  of  such  accompts 
as  accrue,  the  inconvenience,  to  which  the  service  has 
long  been  exposed,  will  remain  undiminished. 

All  documents,  to  which  reference  is  to  be  had,  are 
lodged  with  the  storekeeper-general  at  La  Chine.* 

*  La  Chine  is  a  village  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  nine  miles  above  Montreal. 
As  the  rapids  of  the  river  between  the  two  places  interrupt  the  navigation, 
all  stores  and  goods,  intended  for  the  upper  country,  were  then  conveyed 
from  Montreal  to  La  Chine  by  land,  and  there  put  into  flat-bottomed 
boats,  called  "  bateaux,"  which  were  rowed  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  with 
incredible  labour,  by  Canadians.  La  Chine  derives  its  name  from  the 
expeditions  of  M.  de  la  Salle,  which  were  fitted  out  at  this  place  for  the 
discovery  of  a  North- West  passage  to  China. 


118  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Mr.  Lane,  the  officer  appointed  to  investigate  the 
accompts,  has  been  stationed  at  Fort  George,  and 
during  the  year  that  he  has  been  employed  on  this 
duty,  he  has  proceeded  as  fast  as  the  receipts  of  the 
accompts  enabled  him  ;  but  he  is  frequently  left  idle, 
and  at  the  slow  rate  he  has  gone  on,  it  will  require 
three  or  four  years  to  complete  the  voluminous  papers 
remaining  for  his  examination. 

I  therefore  deem  it  iny  duty  to  state  these  facts, 
and  to  entreat  your  excellency  to  cause  the  adoption 
of  such  measures  as  will  ensure  the  speedy  settlement 
of  the  accompts  now  under  examination,  in  order  that 
those  daily  accruing  may  be  examined  arid  audited 
during  the  continuance  in  office  of  the  person  under 
whose  responsibility  the  expense  is  incurred.  But 
this  desirable  object  cannot  be  attained  as  long  as  the 
deputy  storekeepers  at  the  different  posts  are  required 
to  send  their  accompts  to  the  storekeeper-general  at 
La  Chine,  preparatory  to  their  examination  by  the 
deputy  accornptant-general  at  Fort  George. 

The  heavy  defalcations,  which  I  fear  will  be  found 
in  some  of  the  accompts,  argue  strongly  for  a  change 
of  system,  and  nothing  effectual  will  be  done  until  a 
storekeeper-general  be  established  in  the  Upper  Pro 
vince,  to  perform  on  the  spot  the  duties  which  are  now 
required  from  the  storekeeper-general  at  La  Chine. 

The  same  arguments  are  equally  applicable  with 
regard  to  the  secretary  of  the  department,  to  whom 
all  cash  accompts  are  referred;  but  as  an  assistant- 
secretary  is  already  on  the  establishment  of  this  pro 
vince,  no  additional  expense  will  be  necessary. 

It  will  appear  evident  to  your  excellency,  that 
should  the  duties  connected  with  the  Upper  Province 
be  withdrawn  from  the  storekeeper  -  general  at  La 
Chine,  little  will  remain  to  be  done  by  that  officer. 
I  therefore  presume  to  suggest  his  removal  to  this 
province  ;  or  should  such  an  arrangement  be  thought 
inconvenient,  I  venture  to  recommend  that  the  deputy 
assistant  commissary -general  at  Fort  George  may, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  119 

with  a  reasonable  addition  to  his  salary,  be  nominated 
to  execute  that  office.  This  is  proposed  solely  with 
a  view  to  economy,  not  being  aware  that  the  two 
situations  can  be  incompatible. 

The  service   would  likewise,  in   my   opinion,    be 

freatly  promoted,  were  the  presents  intended  for  the 
ndians  in  the  Upper  Province  transmitted  to  Fort 
George  without  being  delayed,  as  is  customary,  at 
La  Chine,  as  they  could  be  distributed  to  the  different 
posts  early  in  the  spring,  which  would  be  the  means, 
I  jconfidentially  assert,  of  saving  an  enormous  expense, 
yearly  incurred,  in  provisioning  numerous  bodies  of 
Indians,  who  for  weeks  together  await  at  Arnherstburg 
and  St.  Joseph  the  arrival  of  the  presents.  This 
practice  would  likewise  keep  a  supply  within  reach 
to  meet  any  emergency.  But  at  present,  for  instance, 
the  stores  are  nearly  exhausted,  and  such  urgent  calls 
may  be  made  as  will  compel  me  to  authorize  purcha 
ses  of  articles  at  a  high  rate,  whilst  abundance  of  the 
same  are  unnecessarily  detained  at  La  Chine. 

It  was  proposed  by  Lieut-Governor  Gore,  and 
approved  by  Sir  James  Craig,  to  establish  a  board 
of  accompts  in  the  Upper  Province  similar  to  that  at 
Quebec.  But  nothing  has  as  yet  been  done,  nor  can 
I  discover  its  utility  under  existing  circumstances. 

There  is  another  point  connected  with  the  military  > 
expenditures,  to  which  I  request  to  call  your  excel 
lency's  attention.  An  extraordinary  practice  has 
obtained,  ever  since  General  Simcoe's  administration, 
of  submitting  the  accompts  of  the  agent  of  purchases 
to  the  executive  council  of  this  province,  to  be  audited. 
This  office  of  agent  of  purchases  was  lately  directed 
by  the  lords  of  the  treasury  to  be  discontinued  as 
unnecessary,  but  at  the  joint  representation  of  Sir 
James  Craig  and  Lieut.-Governor  Gore,  the  order 
was  annulled.  I  am,  however,  led  to  believe  that  it 
was  intended  that  his  accompts  hereafter  should  be 
examined  by  the  deputy  accomptant-general,  and, 
like  all  other  military  expenditures,  audited  by  a 


120  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

board  of  accompts,  but  no  directions  have  as  yet  been 
given  on  this  subject.  Mr.  M'Gill,  the  agent  of  pur 
chases,  has  a  seat  in  the  executive  council,  which  of 
course  occasions  an  awkwardness  in  the  mode  his 
accompts  are  audited.  In  justice,  however,  to  Mr. 
M'Gill  I  must  add,  that  a  more  upright  character 
cannot  be  found,  nor  one  better  fitted  for  the  office. 

Your  excellency  having  recently  had  an  opportu 
nity  of  getting  every  information  respecting  the  state 
of  this  province  from  Lieut. -Governor  Gore,  I  need 
only  add  that  it  remains  perfectly  tranquil. 

Major-General  Brock  to  Ensign  N.  Freer,  Military  Secretary. 
YORK,  November  8,  1811. 

Having  referred  your  letter  of  the  8th  ultimo  to 
the  deputy  superintendent-general  of  Indian  affairs 
for  explanation  on  the  points  alluded  to,  I  have  the 
honor  herewith  to  transmit  his  answer,  which  I  hope 
will  prove  satisfactory  to  the  governor-in-chief. 

The  high  integrity,  the  unremitting  attention  of 
Mr.  Glaus  to  his  duty,  and  the  strict  regard  to 
economy  which  Lieut.-Governor  Gore  constantly 
bestowed  in  the  expenditure  of  the  public  money, 
convince  me  that  the  excess  of  provisions  and  rum  in 
the  requisition  for  1811  was  unavoidable.  A  similar 
demand  has  been  made  for  the  service  of  the  ensuing 
year,  and  I  cannot,  consistently  with  my  duty,  re 
commend  to  his  excellency  the  least  diminution. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  enclose  an 
extract  from  the  storekeeper-general's  letter  to  Mr. 
Claus,  by  which  it  appears  that  the  goods,  for  which 
application  has  been  made  by  Lieut.-Governor  Gore, 
and  transmitted  to  England  in  the  usual  manner,  had 
not  been  received  at  a  late  date ;  and  that  unless  the 
goods  arrived,  the  store  was  in  no  state  to  furnish  the 
necessary  supply  for  the  ensuing  spring. 

I  cannot  be  too  urgent  with  his  excellency  in 
requesting  that  the  storekeeper-general  may  be  in- 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  121 

structed  to  make  the  necessary  purchases  in  case  the 
articles  demanded  for  the  Upper  Province  do  not 
reach  Montreal  before  the  close  of  the  navigation. 

I  need  not  represent  to  his  excellency  the  confusion 
which  a  disappointment  would  be  sure  to  create 
among  the  Indians  throughout  the  Province,  and  the 
great  additional  expense  which  must  inevitably  be 
incurred  in  provisioning  the  crowds  that  would  assem 
ble  at  each  post,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  presents. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Ensign  N.  Freer,  Military  Secretary. 
YORK,  November  10,  1811. 

Brigade-Major  Evans,  upon  his  arrival  here,  deli 
vered  to  the  receiver -general  ,£3,000,  which  he 
reported  to  have  received  from  the  deputy  paymaster- 
general  at  Quebec. 

Conceiving  that  this  sum  was  remitted  in  part  of 
the  ,£5,000,  for  which  Lieut. -Governor  Gore  made 
application  on  the  27th  March  last  to  Sir  James 
Craig,  and  repeated  on  the  30th  of  July  to  Lieut.- 
General  Drummond,  and  which  his  excellency  in 
tended  for  the  support  of  the  civil  expenditure  of  this 
province,  I  have  directed  its  disposal  accordingly. 

The  serious  inconvenience  to  which  this  govern 
ment  will  be  reduced  by  the  retention  of  the  remain 
ing  ,£2,000,  obliges  me  to  request  his  excellency  the 
commander  of  the  forces  to  have  the  goodness  to 
direct  that  sum  to  be  forwarded  by  the  first  safe 
conveyance. 

Major- General  Brock  to  the  Military  Secretary. 

YORK,  November  10,  1811. 

Until  very  lately  two  oxen  were  maintained  at  the 
public  charge,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  clearing 
the  vast  quantity  of  heavy  timber  which  grows  close 
to  this  garrison,  and  in  making  roads  ;  besides  being 
usefully  employed  in  other  necessary  service. 
G 


122  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

It  appears  very  evident  from  the  trifling  progress 
made  by  the  military  in  this  essential  work  for  some 
years  past,  that  the  oxen  were  either  kept  idle  or 
employed  for  other  purposes,  which  I  believe  occa 
sioned  their  being  sold. 

Being  anxious  to  continue  the  improvements  begun 
by  the  late  General  Hunter,  I  have  to  request  his 
excellency  the  commander  of  the  forces  will  have  the 
goodness  to  sanction  the  renewal  of  an  establishment 
of  such  evident  utility. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Colonel  Baynes. 

YORK,  November  18,  1811. 

The  London  Gazette,  of  the  6th  August  last,  hav 
ing  announced  the  appointment  of  Mr.  ^Eneas  Shaw 
to  an  ensigncy  in  the  Nova  Scotia  Fencibles,  and 
the  advanced  state  of  the  season  precluding  the  pos 
sibility  of  his  joining  without  incurring  an  expense 
which  he  can  ill  afford,  I  have  presumed  to  anticipate 
his  excellency's  indulgent  permission  to  his  remaining 
here  until  the  opening  of  the  navigation,  and  to  sanc 
tion  in  the  meantime  his  doing  duty  with  the  41st 
regiment.  He  is  a  deserving  young  man,  the  son  of 
Major-General  Shaw,  whose  high  merit,  I  feel  con 
fident,  will  claim  every  indulgence  from  the  com 
mander  of  the  forces. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  November  21,  1811. 

We  fortunately  received  yesterday  the  last  batch  of 
recruits  for  the  41st  regiment,  as  from  the  present 
state  of  the  weather  and  appearance  of  the  river,  I 
fear  their  situation  would  have  been  very  desperate. 
They  have,  poor  devils,  been  sixteen  weeks  and  four 
days  on  their  passage,  and  have  suffered  much  from 
dysentery.  Four  men  have  died,  and  several  are 
sick;  but  as  the  former  detachment  recovered  fast 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  123 

when  landed  and  taken  care  of,  I  doubt  not  that  these 
will  also :  they  amount  to  three  hundred,  and  are  in 
general  very  fine  young  men.  What  a  noble  battalion 
they  will  make  when  brought  together ;  and  the  offi 
cers  say  that  about  two  hundred  more  were  left  at 
the  depot,  for  want  of  room  in  the  transport. 

What  do  you  think  of  the  president's  speech  ?  In 
any  government  more  consistent,  it  would  mean  war. 
I  think  that  he  has  committed  himself  more  openly 
and  more  unjustifiably  than  could  have  been  expect 
ed,  in  the  relation  of  the  affair  of  the  Little  Belt,  by 
accusing  that  poor  little  sloop  of  a  wanton  act  of 
aggression  by  attacking  a  huge  American  frigate, 
when  Commodore  Rodgers  himself  admits  that  he 
was  for  nearly  eight  hours  the  chasing  vessel. 

Governor  Gore  has  revived  the  formation  of  the 
Glengary  Fencibles,  and  I  have  shewn  Sir  George 
what  passed  on  a  former  occasion.  I  hope  the  latter 
will  be  able  to  provide  for  his  school-fellow,  Major- 
General  Sheaffe,*  and  he  expresses  himself  very  anx 
ious  to  do  so. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Lieut. -General  Sir  G.  Prevost, 
Bart.,  at  Quebec. 

YORK,  December  2,  1811. 

The  information  contained  in  the  message  of  the 
president  to  congress,  relative  to  the  existing  differ 
ences  between  England  and  the  United  States,  will 
justify,  I  presume  to  think,  the  adoption  of  such  pre 
cautionary  measures  as  may  be  necessary  to  meet  all 
future  exigencies.  Under  this  impression,  I  beg  leave 
to  submit  to  your  excellency  such  observations  as 
occur  to  me,  to  enable  you  to  form  a  correct  judg 
ment  of  the  actual  state  of  this  province. 

The  military  force  which  heretofore  occupied  the 
frontier  posts  being  so  inadequate  to  their  defence,  a 

*  The  present  General  Sir  Roger  H.  Sheaffe,  Bart.,  colonel  of  the  36th 
regiment,  born  at  Boston,  United  States,  15th  July,  1763,  and  entered  the 
British  army  on  the  1st  May,  1778. 


124  LIFE   AXD    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

general  opinion  prevailed  that,  in  the  event  of  hos 
tilities,  no  opposition  was  intended.  The  late  increase 
of  ammunition  and  every  species  of  stores,  the  sub 
stitution  of  a  strong  regiment,  and  the  appointment  of 
a  military  person  to  administer  the  government,  have 
tended  to  infuse  other  sentiments  among  the  most 
reflecting  part  of  the  community ;  and  I  feel  happy 
in  being  able  to  assure  your  excellency,  that  during 
my  visit  last  week  at  Niagara,  I  received  the  most 
satisfactory  professions  of  a  determination  on  the  part 
of  the  principal  inhabitants  to  exert  every  means  in 
their  power  in  the  defence  of  their  property  and  sup 
port  of  the  government.  They  look  with  confidence 
to  your  excellency  for  such  additional  aid  as  may  be 
necessary,  in  conjunction  with  the  militia,  to  repel 
any  hostile  attempt  against  this  province. 

I  shall  beg  leave  to  refer  your  excellency  to  the 
communications  of  Lieut-Governor  Gore  with  Sir 
James  Craig,  for  a  correct  view  of  the  temper  and 
composition  of  the  militia  and  Indians.  Although 
perfectly  aware  of  the  number  of  improper  characters 
who  have  obtained  extensive  possessions,  and  whose 
principles  diffuse  a  spirit  of  insubordination  very  ad 
verse  to  all  military  institutions,  I  am  however  well 
assured  that  a  large  majority  would  prove  faithful. 
It  is  certain  that  the  best  policy  to  be  pursued,  should 
future  circumstances  call  for  active  preparations,  will 
be  to  act  with  the  utmost  liberality,  and  as  if  no  mis 
trust  existed ;  for,  unless  the  inhabitants  give  an 
active  and  efficient  aid,  it  will  be  utterly  impossible 
for  the  very  limited  number  of  the  military,  who  are 
likely  to  be  employed,  to  preserve  the  province. 

The  first  point  to  which  I  am  anxious  to  call  your 
excellency's  attention,  is  the  district  of  Amherstburg. 
I  consider  it  the  most  important,  and,  if  supplied  with 
the  means  of  commencing  active  operations,  must 
deter  any  offensive  attempt  on  this  province,  from 
Niagara  westward.  The  American  government  will 
be  compelled  to  secure  their  western  frontier  from  the 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  125 

inroads  of  the  Indians,  and  this  cannot  be  effected 
without  a  very  considerable  force.  But  before  we 
can  expect  an  active  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians,  the  reduction  of  Detroit  and  Michilimacki- 
nac  must  convince  that  people,  who  conceive  them 
selves  to  have  been  sacrificed,  in  1794,*  to  our  policy, 
that  we  are  earnestly  engaged  in  the  war.  The  In 
dians,  I  am  made  to  understand,  are  eager  for  an 
opportunity  to  avenge  the  numerous  injuries  of  which 
they  complain.  A  few  tribes,  at  the  instigation  of  a 
Shawnesef  of  no  particular  note,  although  explicitly 
told  not  to  look  for  assistance  from  us,  have  already 
commenced  the  contest.  The  stand  which  they 
continue  to  make  upon  the  Wabash,  against  about 
2,000  Americans,  including  militia  and  regulars,  is  a 
strong  proof  of  the  large  force  which  a  general  combi 
nation  of  the  Indians  will  render  necessary  to  protect 
so  widely  extended  a  frontier. 

The  garrisons  of  Detroit  and  Michilimackinac  do 
not,  I  believe,  exceed  seventy  rank  and  file  each ; 
but  the  former  can  easily  be  reinforced  by  the  militia 
in  the  neighbourhood,  which,  though  not  numerous, 
would  be  ample  for  its  defence,  unless  assailed  by  a 
force  much  superior  to  any  we  can  now  command. 
The  Americans  will  probably  draw  their  principal 
force,  either  for  offence  or  defence,  from  the  Ohio, — 
an  enterprising,  hardy  race,  and  uncommonly  expert 
on  horseback  with  the  rifle.  This  species  of  force  is 
formidable  to  the  Indians,  although,  according  to 
reports  which  have  reached  me  by  different  channels, 
but  not  official,  they  lately  repelled  an  attack  of  some 
magnitude.  Unless  a  diversion,  such  as  I  have  sug- 

fested,  be  made,  an  overwhelming  force  will  probably 
e  directed  against  this  part  of  the  province.     The 
measure  will,    however,    be   attended  with  a  heavy 

*  In  this  year  the  Indians,  in  a  war  with  the  Americans,  were  com 
pletely  beaten  near  the  Miami  by  General  Wayne,  and  compelled  to  cede 
a  large  tract  of  their  lands. 

t  Doubtless,  the  afterwards  celebrated  Tecumseh,  or  his  brother. 


126  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

expense,  especially  in  the  article  of  provision,  for,  not 
only  the  Indians  who  take  the  field,  but  their  families, 
must  be  maintained. 

The  numeral  force  of  the  militia  in  the  vicinity  of 
Amherstburg  exceeds  by  a  trifle  seven  hundred  rank 
and  file ;  consequently,  very  little  assistance  can  be 
derived  from  that  source  in  any  offensive  operation. 
Should,  therefore,  the  aspect  of  affairs  hereafter  give 
stronger  indications  of  a  rupture,  I  propose  augment 
ing  the  garrison  of  Amherstburg  with  two  hundred 
rank  and  file  from  Fort  George  and  York.  Such  a 
measure  I  consider  essentially  necessary,  were  it  only 
calculated  to  rouse  the  energy  of  the  militia  and  In 
dians,  who  are  now  impressed  with  a  firm  belief,  that 
in  the  event  of  war  they  are  to  be  left  to  their  fate. 
Great  pains  have  been  taken  to  instil  this  idea  into 
the  minds  of  the  Indians,  and  no  stronger  argument 
could  be  employed  than  the  weak  state  of  the  garrison. 

The  army,  'now  assembled  upon  the  Wabash  with 
the  ostensible  view  of  opposing  the  Shawnese,  is  a 
strong  additional  motive  in  my  mind  in  support  of 
this  measure;  for  I  have  no  doubt  that,  the  instant 
their  service  in  the  field  terminates,  a  large  portion  of 
the  regulars  will  be  detached  to  strengthen  the  gar 
rison  of  Detroit.  I  have  prepared  Colonel  Proctor 
for  such  an  event,  and  after  weighing  the  inconve 
nience  to  which  the  service  would  be  exposed  if  the 
district  were  placed  iinder  a  militia  colonel,  (an  event 
obvious,  unless  superseded  by  a  regular  officer  of  equal 
rank,)  I  have  directed  Lieut. -Colonel  St.  George  to  be 
in  readiness  to  repair  to  Amherstburg  and  assume  the 
command ;  and  I  hope  his  situation  of  inspector  of 
militia  will  not  be  considered  a  bar  to  the  arrange 
ment.  The  state  of  the  roads  will  probably  stop  this 
projected  movement  until  the  end  of  this  month  or 
beginning  of  the  next ;  nor  do  I  intend  that  the  troops 
should  leave  their  present  quarters,  unless  urged  by 
some  fresh  circumstances.  I  therefore  look  to  re 
ceive  your  excellency's  commands  previous  to  their 
departure. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  127 

From  Amherstburg  to  Fort  Erie,  my  chief  depend 
ence  must  rest  on  a  naval  force  for  the  protection  of 
that  extensive  coast ;  but,  considering  the  state  to 
which  it  is  reduced,  extraordinary  exertions  and  great 
expense  will  be  required  before  it  can  be  rendered 
efficient.  At  present,  it  consists  only  of  a  ship  and  a 
small  schooner* — the  latter  of  a  bad  construction,  old, 
and  in  want  of  many  repairs ;  yet  she  is  the  only 
king's  vessel  able  to  navigate  Lake  Huron,  whilst  the 
Americans  have  a  sloop,  and  a  fine  brigf  capable  of 
carrying  twelve  guns,  both  in  perfect  readiness  for 
any  service.  If,  consequently  the  garrison  of  St. 
Joseph's  is  to  be  maintained,  and  an  attack  on  Michi- 
limackinac  undertaken,  it  will  be  expedient  to  hire, 
or  purchase  from  the  merchants,  as  many  vessels  as 
may  be  necessary  for  the  purpose.  The  Americans 
can  resort  to  the  same  means,  and  the  construction 
and  number  of  their  vessels  for  trade  will  give  them 
^reat  advantage  :  besides,  their  small  craft,  or  boats, 
in  which  troops  could  be  easily  transported,  exceed 
ours  considerably ;  indeed,  we  have  very  few  of  that 
description. |  I  therefore  leave  it  to  your  excellency's 
superior  judgment  to  determine  whether  a  sufficient 
number  of  gun-boats  for  both  lakes,  so  constructed  as 
to  draw  little  water,  ought  not  to  be  added  to  our 
means  of  offence  and  defence.  §  It  is  worthy  of  re 
mark,  that  the  only  American  national  vessel  on  Lake 
Ontario,  built  two  years  ago,  and  now  lying  in  Sack- 

*  The  ship  Queen  Charlotte,  and  schooner  Hunter. 

t  This  brig  was  the  Adams,  captured  at  Detroit. 

t  The  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  of  January  10, 1846,  gives  a  list  of 
the  vessels  built  by  the  Americans,  in  1845,  on  Lake  Erie  and  the  waters 
westward  to  Chicago,  with  their  description,  names,  tonnage,  and  cost,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  abstract,  viz.  13  steamers,  4  propellers,  2  brigs, 
27  schooners,  and  2  sloops— together  48  vessels,  admeasuring  13,207  tons, 
and  the  cost  659,000  dollars.  In  the  event  of  hostilities,  the  United  States 
would,  we  fear,  possess  the  entire  maritime  supremacy  of  the  Lakes,  and 
especially  of  the  upper  ones,  on  which,  previous  to  the  year  1812,  the 
principal  employment  of  a  few  small  vessels  was  the  transport  of  salt 
and  furs. 

§  "  The  first  vessel  of  force  "  that  the  British  ever  had  on  Lake  Ontario 
was  a  schooner  of  40  feet  keel,  with  fourteen  oars  and  twelve  swivel  guns, 
launched  at  Oswego,  28th  July,  1755,—Entick. 


128  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

ett's  harbour,  has  remained  without  seamen  until 
within  the  last  fortnight,  when  the  officers  began  to 
enter  men  as  fast  as  possible.  A  lieutenant  with  a 
party  came  to  Buffalo,  a  tolerably  large  village  oppo 
site  Fort  Erie,  and  procured  several  hands,  but,  not 
satisfied,  a  petty  officer  was  sent  to  our  side  to  in 
veigle  others.  The  magistrates,  hearing  of  this,  sent 
to  apprehend  him ;  but  he  escaped  with  difficulty. 

The  strait  between  Niagara  and  Fort  Erie  is  that 
which,  in  all  probability,  will  be  chosen  by  the  Ame 
ricans  for  their  main  body  to  penetrate  with  a  view  to 
conquest.  All  other  attacks  will  be  subordinate,  or 
merely  made  to  divert  our  attention.  About  three 
thousand  militia  could,  upon  an  emergency,  be  drawn 
by  us  to  that  line,  and  nearly  five  hundred  Indians 
could  also  be  collected  ;  therefore,  with  the  regulars, 
no  trifling  force  could  hope  for  success,  provided  a 
determined  resistance  were  made  ;  but  I  cannot  con 
ceal  from  your  excellency,  that  unless  a  strong  regular 
force  be  present  to  animate  the  loyal  and  to  control 
the  disaffected,  nothing  effectual  can  be  expected.  A 
protracted  resistance  upon  this  frontier  will  be  sure 
to  embarrass  the  enemy's  plans  materially.  They 
will  not  come  prepared  to  meet  it,  and  their  troops, 
or  volunteer  corps,  without  scarcely  any  discipline, 
so  far  at  least  as  control  is  in  question,  will  soon  tire 
under  disappointment.  The  difficulty  which  they 
will  experience  in  providing  provisions  will  involve 
them  in  expenses,  under  which  their  government  will 
soon  become  impatient. 

The  car  brigade  will  be  particularly  useful  in  ob 
structing  their  passage ;  and  I  cannot  be  too  urgent 
in  soliciting  the  means,  both  as  to  gunners  and  driv 
ers,  and  likewise  as  to  horses,  to  render  this  arm  com 
plete  for  service.  A  small  body  of  cavalry  would 
also  be  absolutely  necessary,  and  I  have  already  offers 
from  many  respectable  young  men,  to  form  themselves 
into  a  troop.  All  they  seem  to  require  are  swords 
and  pistols,  which  the  stores  below  may  probably  be 
able  to  furnish. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  129 

The  situation  of  Kingston  is  so  very  important  in 
every  military  point  of  view,  that  I  cannot  be  too 
earnest  in  drawing  your  excellency's  attention  to  that 
quarter.  The  militia,  from  the  Bay  of  Quinti  down 
to  Glengary,  is  the  most  respectable  of  any  in  the 
province.  Among,  the  officers,  several  are  on  half 
pay  and  still  retain  a  sound  military  spirit.  Those 
from  the  Bay  of  Quinti  would  be  properly  stationed 
at  Kingston,  but  all  downwards  would  naturally  de 
sire  to  be  employed  to  resist  any  predatory  excursions 
to  which  their  property  would  be  so  much  exposed 
from  the  opposite  shore.  Besides,  I  have  always 
been  of  opinion  that  a  strong  detachment  would  fol 
low  the  route  of  Lord  Amherst,  and  attempt  to  enter 
the  province  by  Ozwegatchie.*  The  militia  on  the 
whole  of  that  communication  cannot,  therefore,  be 
more  usefully  employed  than  in  watching  such  a 
movement ;  and  should  the  enemy  direct  the  whole 
of  his  force  by  St.  John's,  the  greater  part  can  with 
the  utmost  facility  join  the  army  acting  upon  that 
frontier. 

The  militia  act,  which  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose, 
provides  for  such  an  emergency,  but  your  excellency 
will  readily  observe,  that  among  many  wise  and  salu 
tary  provisions,  there  are  but  few  means  of  enforcing 
them.  No  exertions,  however,  shall  be  wanting  in 
my  civil  capacity  to  place  that  body  upon  a  respect 
able  footing.  Mr.  Cartwright,  the  senior  militia 
colonel  at  Kingston,  possesses  the  influence  to  which 
his  firm  character  and  superior  abilities  so  deservedly 
entitle  him  ;  but  as  I  cannot  possibly  give  the  neces 
sary  attention  to  so  distant  an  object,  and  as  a  regular 
officer  will  be  indispensable  to  direct  the  operations, 
one  of  high  rank  ought,  if  possible,  to  be  nominated 

*  An  American  fort  on  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  about  seventy  miles 
from  Kingston,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  from  Montreal. 
Oswegatehie,  now  known  as  Ogdensburg,  is  opposite  to  the  Canadian 
town  of  Prescott,  and  the  St.  Lawrence  here  is  about  1800  yards  across. 
It  was  in  August,  1/60,  that  General  Amherst  proceeded  from  Oswego,  via 
Oswegatehie,  to  attack  the  French  army  at  Montreal,  and  in  September 
the  whole  of  Canada  was  surrendered  by  capitulation  to  Great  Britain. 


130  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

to  that  command.  So  much  will  remain  to  be  done, 
and  such  high  expenses  to  be  incurred  in  the  quarter 
master-general's  department,  that  I  cannot  too  ear 
nestly  request  your  excellency  to  select  an  officer  who 
may  be  equal  to  discharge  the  various  duties  of  that 
office.  A  head  to  the  commissariat  will  be  likewise 
indispensable. 

I  have  trespassed  greatly  on  your  excellency's 
time,  but  I  beg  to  be  permitted  to  entreat  your  excel 
lency  to  honor  me  with  such  advice  and  counsel  as 
your  experience  may  suggest,  and  be  assured  it  will 
ever  be  my  utmost  pride  to  meet  your  views  and  to 
merit  your  approbation. 

Major-General  Brock  to  Lieut. -General  Sir  G.  Prevost. 
YORK,  December  3,  1811. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  excellency's  dispatch,  dated  the  llth  ultimo, 
with  its  enclosures. 

My  first  care,  on  my  arrival  in  this  province,  was 
to  direct  the  officers  of  the  Indian  department  at 
Amherstburg  to  exert  their  whole  influence  with  the 
Indians  to  prevent  the  attack  which  I  understood  a 
few  tribes  meditated  against  the  American  frontier. 
But  their  efforts  proved  fruitless,  as  such  was  the 
infatuation  of  the  Indians,  that  they  refused  to  listen 
to  advice  j  and  they  are  now  so  deeply  engaged,  that 
I  despair  of  being  able  to  withdraw  them  from  the 
contest  in  time  to  avert  their  destruction.  A  high 
degree  of  fanaticism,  which  had  been  for  years  work 
ing  in  their  minds,  has  led  to  the  present  event. 

Major-General  Brock  to  Lieut. -General  Sir  G.  Prevost. 
YORK,  December  11,  1811. 

I  had  the  honor  yesterday  of  receiving  your  excel 
lency's  letter  of  the  1st  ultimo,  stating  your  intention 
of  establishing  depots  of  small  arms,  accoutrements 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  131 

and  ammunition,    at  the  different  posts   in   Upper 
Canada. 

Since  the  settlement  of  the  province,  several  hun 
dred  stands  have  been  at  different  times  issued  to  the 
militia,  and  I  have  given  directions  for  collecting 
them,  but  in  all  probability  great  deficiencies  will  be 
found ;  indeed,  it  has  already  been  ascertained  that 
those  delivered  in  1795  by  the  late  Lieut.-General 
Simcoe  are  wholly  lost  to  the  service.  To  obviate  for 
the  future  such  an  extensive  waste,  I  propose  fixing 
upon  proper  places  at  each  post,  wherein  the  arms 
may  be  deposited  after  the  militia  have  exercised ; 
and  I  have  to  request  your  excellency's  permission  to 
direct  the  field  train  department  to  attend  to  their 
preservation,  and  keep  them  in  a  state  of  repair,  in 
the  same  manner  as  those  remaining  in  store.  The 
expense  cannot  be  great,  and  in  all  such  cases  the 
infant  state  of  the  country  obliges  the  militia  to  have 
recourse  to  the  military. 

I  have  recently  had  occasion  to  report,  for  your 
excellency's  information,  the  total  want  of  stores  at 
this  post,  beyond  those  immediately  necessary  for  the 
commissariat.  I  shall  consequently  be  much  at  a 
loss  to  find  accommodation  for  the  2,329  French 
muskets  which  your  excellency  has  directed  to  be 
sent  here;  and  as  the  only  magazine  is  a  small 
wooden  shed,  not  sixty  yards  from  the  king's  house, 
which  is  rendered  dangerous  from  the  quantity  of 
powder  it  already  contains,  I  cannot  but  feel  a  repug 
nance  to  lodge  the  additional  13,140  ball  cartridges 
intended  for  this  post  in  a  place  so  evidently  insecure. 
But  as  these  arrangements  cannot  conveniently  take 
place  until  the  opening  of  the  navigation,  there  will 
be  sufficient  time  to  contrive  the  best  means  to  meet 
your  excellency's  wishes. 


132  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Major- General  Brock  to  the  Military  Secretary. 

YORK,  December  11,  1811. 

I  was  yesterday  honored  with  your  letter  of  the 
6th  of  last  month,  with  its  enclosure.  Soon  after  the 
departure  of  Lieut. -Governor  Gore,  the  Indian  ac- 
compts,  which  Mr.  Howden  states  in  his  letter  to 
Mr.  Thomson  to  have  transmitted  to  his  excellency, 
were  forwarded  to  Mr.  Lane,  who  immediately  pro 
ceeded  in  their  examination. 

Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  the  examination 
of  the  cash  accompts  will  best  proceed  at  Quebec,  but 
how  far  it  may  be  advisable  to  send  future  accompts 
such  a  distance  away  from  all  explanation,  is  a  con 
sideration  of  some  moment.  I  am  naturally  anxious 
that  the  examination  should,  in  the  first  instance,  be 
made  on  the  spot ;  and  if  an  accomptant  were  conti 
nued  on  the  establishment  of  this  province,  and  took 
up  the  accompts  from  a  recent  date,  he  would  be  able 
to  proceed  almost  as  fast  as  others  occurred.  Trans 
actions  fresh  in  the  memory  could  be  easily  explained, 
and  a  temporary  audit  would  secure  such  a  degree  of 
accuracy  as  to  leave  little  to  be  done  on  their  reach 
ing  Quebec. 

I  have  ventured  to  recommend  Mr.  M'Gill  to  his 
excellency,  as  every  way  qualified  to  fulfil  the  duties 
of  an  accomptant;  and  as  his  bodily  infirmities  must 
limit  his  exertions  to  some  sedentary  employment,  he 
cannot,  I  conceive,  be  more  usefully  occupied  than 
in  that  situation  in  this  province.  Mr.  Lane  shall  be 
directed  to  proceed  to  Quebec  ;  but  the  roads  are  in 
so  bad  a  state,  that  he  cannot  possibly  travel  for  some 
weeks. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major-Gcneral  Brock. 
[OFFICIAL.]  QUEBEC,  December  12,  1811. 

I  am  directed  to  transmit  herewith  a  copy  of  pro 
posals  for  raising  a  corps  of  Glengary  Fencibles. 
The  commander  of  the  forces  has  selected  an  officer 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  133 

of  the  king's  regiment,  a  Captain  George  M'Donell,* 
an  avowed  Catholic,  and  a  relation  of  the  Glengary 
priest  of  that  name,  to  attempt  the  formation  of  a 
small  battalion,  to  be  in  the  first  instance  under  his 
command  with  the  rank  of  major ;  and  in  case  a 
mor  respectable  body  can  be  collected,  a  lieutenant- 
colonel  commandant  will  be  appointed.  Captain 
M'Donell  will  leave  this  in  a  few  days,  and  he  will 
be  directed  to  take  an  early  opportunity  of  commu 
nicating  with  you  as  soon  as  he  has  felt  his  ground  a 
little  in  Glengary,  and  is  able  to  form  a  correct  idea 
of  the  prospect  and  extent  of  success  that  is  likely  to 
attend  his  exertions. 

I  shall  have  the  honor  of  sending  you  by  the  next 
post  a  regulation  for  the  payment  of  clergymen 
performing  religious  duties  for  the  troops  at  the  dif 
ferent  stations  in  Canada.  The  officiating  clergy 
man  at  York  will  receive  the  garrison  allowances  of 
a  captain,  together  with  a  salary  of  £70,  army  ster 
ling,  per  annum. 

[PRIVATE.] 

Sir  George  will  fill  up  the  new  Glengary  corps  with 
as  many  officers  as  he  can  from  the  line,  with  perma 
nent  rank,  and  I  have  availed  myself  of  the  oppor 
tunity  to  propose  one,  in  whose  advancement  I  know 
you  feel  an  interest.  He  has  allowed  me  to  note 
Lieutenant  Shaw,  of  the  49th,  for  a  company ;  and 
you  are  at  liberty  to  inform  his  father,  the  general,  of 
Sir  George's  favorable  intentions  towards  his  son. 


Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  December  24,  1811. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  the  2d  instant,  which  reached  me  by 
the  courier  on  Saturday,  and  I  have  not  failed  to  give 

*  This  officer,  as  major  commanding  the  Glengary  Light  Infantry,  dis 
tinguished  himself  in  the  capture  of  Ogdensburff,  in  February,  1813. 


134  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

it  that  consideration  which  the  importance  of  the 
several  points,  to  which  it  alludes,  entitles  it. 

In  addition  to  the  president's  message  being  full  of 
gunpowder,  the  report  made  to  congress  by  its  com 
mittee  on  the  state  of  the  foreign  affairs  of  the  United 
States,  conveys  sentiments  of  such  decided  hostility 
towards  England,  that  I  feel  justified  in  recommend 
ing  such  precaution  as  may  place  you  in  a  state  of 
preparation  for, that  event;  and  with  this  view  you 
must  endeavour  to  trace  an  outline  of  co-operation, 
compensating  for  our  deficiency  in  strength.  I  agree 
with  you  as  to  the  advantages  which  may  result  from 
giving,  rather  than  receiving,  the  first  blow ;  but  it 
is  not  my  opinion  war  will  commence  by  a  declara- 
ration  of  it.  That  act  would  militate  against  the 
policy  of  both  countries ;  therefore,  we  must  expect 
repeated  petty  aggressions  from  our  neighbours,  be 
fore  we  arc  permitted  to  retaliate  by  open  hostilities. 
It  is  very  satisfactory  to  observe  the  professions  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Upper  Canada  in  defence  of  their  pro 
perty,  and  in  support  of  their  government. 

I  will  look  into  the  correspondence  you  refer  to, 
which  took  place  between  Sir  James  Craig  and  Lieut. - 
Governor  Gore,  in  1807,  1808  and  1809,  respecting 
the  temper  and  disposition  of  your  militia,  and  the 
policy  to  be  observed  in  your  intercourse  with  the 
Indians. 

Your  views,  in  regard  to  the  line  of  conduct  to  be 
observed  towards  the  militia  forces,  notwithstanding 
some  existing  circumstances  unfavorable  in  their 
composition,  are  in  my  estimation  wise,  and  on  such 
conceptions  I  have  hitherto  acted. 

There  are  too  many  considerations  to  allow  me  to 
hesitate  in  saying  we  must  employ  the  Indians,  if  they 
can  be  brought  to  act  with  us.  The  utmost  caution 
should  be  used  in  our  language  to  them,  and  all  direct 
explanation  should  be  delayed,  if  possible,  until  hos 
tilities  are  more  certain  ;  though,  whenever  the  sub 
ject  is  adverted  to,  I  think  it  would  be  advisable 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  135 

always  to  intimate  that,  as  a  matter  of  course,  we 
shall,  in  the  event  of  war,  expect  the  aid  of  our  bro 
thers.  Although  I  am  sensible  this  requires  delicacy, 
still  it  should  be  done  so  as  not  to  be  misunderstood. 

I  shall  call  the  attention  of  the  commissariat  to  the 
supply  of  provisions  that  may  be  required  in  the 
Upper  Province;  and  I  had,  previously  to  the  arrival 
of  your  letter,  given  the  deputy  quartermaster-gene 
ral  directions  for  the  building  of  another  schooner  for 
Lake  Erie.* 

I  am  sorry  to  observe,  both  by  your  militia  act  and 
returns,  (that)  you  are  embarrassed  with  officers  hold 
ing  the  rank  of  colonel.  It  is  certainly  desirable  that 
no  higher  rank  should  exist  than  that  of  lieutenant- 
colonel  commandant,  else,  in  many  cases,  the  officers 
of  militia  on  service  might  be  seniors  to  the  officers 
of  the  line  in  command  of  regiments.  It  is,  I  am 
apprehensive,  scarcely  possible  to  revoke  the  com 
missions  of  colonel  which  have  been  issued  to  the 
commanding  officers  of  battalions  of  militia,  for  that 
of  lieutenant-colonel — therefore,  if  commissions  can 
not  without  serious  dissatisfaction  be  withdrawn,  you 
are  authorized  in  that  case,  in  order  to  preserve  the 
command  of  the  inspecting  field  officer,  to  direct 
Lieut.-Colonel  St.  George  to  act  with  the  local  rank 
of  colonel  in  Upper  Canada,  giving  at  the  same  time 
(should  circumstances  make  it  necessary  that  the 
troops  of  the  line  and  those  of  the  militia  be  called 
to  act  together)  a  corresponding  local  brevet  to  such 
lieutenant-colonels  serving  in  regiments  of  the  line, 
immediately  under  your  command,  as  may  appear 
to  you  necessary  to  obviate  the  inconvenience  that 
may  be  anticipated  from  their  having  junior  rank  to 
officers  in  command  of  militia  regiments ;  but  as  this 
latter  arrangement  is  not  free  from  considerable  ob 
jection,  you  must  retard  the  measure  as  much  as 
circumstances  will  permit. 

[The  remainder  of  this  letter  is  of  no  interest.] 

*  This  vessel,  named  the  Lady  Prevost,  was  employed  on  the  Lake,  in 
August,  1812. 


136  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 


CHAPTER    VI. 


Our  memoir  having  now  reached  the  year  1812,  in 
which  the  United  States  of  America  declared  war 
against  Great  Britain,  we  proceed  to  give  a  brief 
review  of  the  causes  which  led  to  that  event ;  and  in 
doing  so  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  back  to  the  com 
mencement  of  the  century. 

The  first  president  of  America,  the  immortal  Wash 
ington,*  and  his  successor,  Adams,  entertained  friend 
ly  sentiments  towards  the  British  government  and 
people  ;  but  early  in  1801,  Jefferson  succeeded  the 
latter  functionary  as  president,  being  elected  by  ten 
of  the  sixteen  states  then  constituting  the  Union. 
Jefferson  was  as  inimical  to  England  as  he  was  favor 
able  to  France,  so  was  his  secretary  of  state,  and  suc 
cessor  in  the  presidential  chair,  Madison.  Although 
there  were  many  intervenient  heart-burnings,  it  was 
not  until  the  year  1807,  when  Jefferson  was  a  second 
time  president,  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  assumed  a  decidedly  hostile  attitude  towards 
Great  Britain.  The  Berlin  decree,  in  which  the 
French  ruler  ventured  to  declare  the  British  islands 
in  a  state  of  blockade,  and  to  interdict  all  neutrals 
from  trading  with  the  British  ports  in  any  commodi 
ties  whatever,  produced  fresh  retaliatory  orders  in 
council,  intended  to  support  England's  maritime 
rights  and  commerce,  and  to  counteract  Bonaparte's 

*  He  died  at  Mount  Vernon,  on  the  14th  December,  1799,  in  the  sixty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age,  leaving  a  widow,  but  no  issue. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  137 

continental  system.  The  Berlin  decree  was  a  gross 
infringement  of  the  law  of  nations,  and  an  outrage  on 
neutral  rights,  which  especially  called  for  resistance 
from  the  Americans,  a  neutral  and  trading  people,? 
but  they  neither  resisted  nor  seriously  remonstrated 
against 'it.  Napoleon  intended  by  this  decree  to  pre 
vent  the  trade  of  England  with  the  continent,  but  his 
failure  should  be  a  lesson  to  those  statesmen  who  seek 
to  check  the  free  current  of  an  interchange  of  pro 
ducts  among  nations,  as  with  all  his  power  he  could 
not  succeed  in  stopping  the  trade  by  contraband. 
Other  causes  of  dispute  arose  from  the  determination 
of  the  British  government  to  exclude  the  Americans 
from  the  blockaded  ports  of  France,  and  from  that 
inexhaustible  source  of  quarrel,  the  impressment  of 
British  seamen  from  American  vessels,  especially  as 
the  difficulty  of  distinguishing  British  from  Ameri 
can  seamen  led  occasionally  to  the  impressment  of 
American  native  born  citizens.  In  June,  1807,  the 
rencontre  occurred  between  his  majesty's  ship  Leopard 
and  the  Chesapeake,  which  terminated  in  the  forcible 
extraction  from  the  American  frigate  of  four  deserters 
from  British  ships  of  war.  The  British  government 
instantly  disavowed  this  act,  and  recalled  Viee-Ad- 
miral  Berkeley,  who  had  given  the  order  to  search 
the  Chesapeake.  Jefferson,  however,  not  only  issued 
a  proclamation  interdicting  all  British  ships  of  war 
entering  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  but  proposed 
to  congress  to  lay  an  embargo  on  American  vessels, 
and  to  compel  the  trading  ships  of  every  other  nation 
to  quit  the  American  harbours — another  wise  expe 
dient,  like  the  Berlin  decree,  for  the  encouragement 
of  smuggling  across  the  frontier.*  This  proposition 
was  warmly  opposed  by  the  federalists,  or  Washing- 
tonians,  but  it  was  nevertheless  adopted  by  large 
majorities.  Thus  matters  remained,  with  subsequent 
slight  modifications,  from  the  month  of  December, 
1807,  to  the  declaration  of  war  in  1812,  an  interval 
*  See  conclusion  of  Brigadier  Brock's  letter,  dated  Montreal,  July  20, 1808, 


138  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

which  the  commercial  classes  in  the  United  States 
spent  in  a  hopeless  struggle  against  bankruptcy  and 
ruin.  Attempts  were  not  wanting  on  our  part  to 
arrive  at  a  friendly  accommodation,  but  Jefferson 
demanded,  as  a  preliminary,  the  revocation  of  the 
British  orders  in  council,  and  the  entire  exemption 
of  American  ships  from  any  search,  or  from  any 
question  as  to  their  crews  or  cargoes.  The  British 
government  pledged  itself  to  repeal  the  orders  in 
council  as  soon  as  the  French  decrees  should  cease  to 
exist.  In  1809,  Jefferson  was  succeeded  as  president 
by  Madison,  who  was  compelled  to  yield  somewhat 
to  the  popular  outcry,  and  to  repeal  the  universal 
embargo,  substituting  a  non-intercourse  act  with  Eng 
land  and  France,  both  which  nations,  it  must  be 
confessed,  having,  by  restraints  on  their  commerce, 
given  the  Americans  just  grounds  for  dissatisfaction. 
On  the  21st  of  April,  1812,  the  prince  regent  in 
council  engaged  to  revoke  the  obnoxious  orders  in 
council  of  the  years  1807  and  1809,  whenever  the 
French  government  should  repeal  the  Berlin  and 
Milan  decrees ;  and  having  received  notice  of  such 
repeal,  the  orders  in  council  were  revoked  on  the 
23d  of  June  following,  as  far  as  regarded  America, 
with  a  proviso  that  the  revocation  should  be  of  no 
effect  unless  the  United  States  rescinded  their  non- 
intercourse  act  with  England.  It  has  been  thought 
that  the  revocation  came  too  late,  and  that  if  it  had 
been  conceded  a  few  weeks  earlier,  there  would  have 
been  no  war  with  America ;  but  Madison  had  been 
treating  with  Bonaparte's  government  since  the  end 
of  the  year  1810,  and  the  whole  course  of  his  conduct, 
with  his  evident  desire  to  illustrate  his  presidency  by 
the  conquest  of  Canada,  proved  his  determination  to 
brave  a  war  with  England.  He  and  his  party  nicely 
calculated  on  which  side  the  greater  profit  was  to 
be  obtained  —  whether  the  United  States  would  gain 
more  by  going  to  war  with  England  than  by  hostility 
against  Bonaparte  and  his  edicts.  "  Every  thing  in 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  139 

the  United  States,"  says  James,  in  his  naval  history, 
"  was  to  be  settled  by  a  calculation  of  profit  and  loss. 
France  had  numerous  allies — England  scarcely  any. 
France  had  no  contiguous  territory — England  had 
the  Canadas  ready  to  be  marched  into  at  a  moment's 
notice.  France  had  no  commerce — England  had 
richly-laden  merchantmen  traversing  every  sea.  Eng 
land,  therefore,  it  was  against  whom  the  death-blows 
of  America  were  to  be  levelled."  The  struggles  of 
England  against  Napoleon  enabled  the  American  go 
vernment  to  choose  its  own  time.  On  the  14th  April, 
congress  laid  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  of 
the  United  States  during  the  space  of  ninety  days, 
with  the  view  of  lessening  the  number  that  would  be 
at  the  mercy  of  England  when  war  was  finally  de 
clared,  and  also  of  manning  efficiently  their  ships  of 
war  and  privateers.  By  the  end  of  May  their  fastest 
merchant  vessels  were  converted  into  cruisers,  ready 
to  start  at  a  short  notice.  On  the  18th  of  June,  before 
the  revocation  of  the  orders  in  council  was  known  in 
the  United  States,  a  declaration  of  war  was  issued  by 
President  Madison,  in  accordance  with  the  decision 
of  congress  on  the  previous  day,  the  votes  in  the 
senate  being  19  to  13,  and  in  theliouse  of  representa 
tives  79  to  49  ;  and  its  supporters  being  chiefly  from 
the  western  and  southern  states  to  Pennsylvania  in 
clusive,  while  the  advocates  for  peace  were  principally 
from  the  northern  and  eastern  states.*  The  American 
declaration  of  war  reached  London  on  the  30th  July, 
but  in  the  belief  that  the  repeal  of  the  orders  in 
council  would  produce  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  the 
British  government  simply  ordered  the  embargo  and 
detention  of  American  ships  and  property ;  and  it 
was  not  until  the  13th  of  October,  the  day  on  which 
Sir  Isaac  Brock  was  slain,  that  it  issued  an  order 
granting  general  reprisals  against  the  ships,  goods, 
and  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

*  Pictorial  History  of  England. 


140  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  January  22,  1812. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  adjutant-general  that  you 
will  not  wish  to  avail  yourself  of  the  conditional  leave 
of  absence  I  have  received  authority  to  grant  you. 
I  shall  hear  with  particular  satisfaction  that  Baynes 
is  not  mistaken,  as  I  value  your  services  highly. 

If  it  be  the  disposition  of  government  to  employ 
Major-General  Sheaffe,  the  death  of  Major-General 
Balfour,  at  Fredericton,  and  the  absence  of  Major- 
General  Wilder,  afford  the  opportunity  of  doing  so 
without  depriving  me  of  your  assistance  at  this  critical 
period  of  affairs. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major-General  Brock}  at  York. 
QUEBEC,  January  23,  1812.* 

Sir  George  Prevost  has  commissioned  me  to  inform 
you  that  by  the  October  mail,  which  arrived  two  days 
ago,  he  received  a  letter  from  the  adjutant-general, 
authorizing  him  to  permit  your  return  to  England  for 
the  purpose  of  being  employed  on  the  continent,  and 
sanctioning  his  appointing  Major-General  Sheaffe  to 
succeed  you  on  the  staff  in  Canada.  But  Sir  George, 
viewing  the  intention  of  the  commander-in-chief  as 
instigated  solely  by  a  desire  to  promote  your  wishes 
and  advantage,  and  having  learnt  from  me  that,  from 
the  tenor  of  your  recent  correspondence,  I  was  led  to 
believe  that  you  would  prefer  retaining  your  present 
charge,  he  has  directed  me  to  inform  you  of  the 
circumstance  by  a  private  letter,  which  will  enable 
you  to  canvass  the  subject  with  more  freedom  than 
an  official  communication  would  admit  of.  Your 
decision  to  remain  longer  in  Canada  will  be  highly 
acceptable  to  him.  Sheaffe,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  be 
very  speedily  provided  for  in  this  country,  without 

*  This  and  a  few  of  the  subsequent  letters  from  Colonel  Baynes  are 
partly  in  cypher  of  figures,  but  of  course  we  have  not  the  key. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  141 

depriving  us  of  your  services.  Sir  George  has  asked 
permission  to  appoint  him  in  General  Wilder's  place, 
and  there  will  be  two  vacancies  in  Nova  Scotia  to  fill 
up  in  the  spring. 

Sir  George  has  great  pleasure  in  acceding  to  your 
request  to  be  permitted  to  nominate  one  or  two  en 
signs  to  the  Glengary  Fencibles ;  and,  if  you  wish, 
young  Shaw  may  be  immediately  provided  for  in 
that  corps,  and  afterwards  transferred  to  the  line. 

The  cold  here  has  been  severer  for  the  last  eight 
days  than  has  ever  been  recollected  by  the  oldest 
inhabitant ;  the  thermometer  falling  as  low  as  33° 
under  cipher,  accompanied  with  high  wind,  and 
never  rising  during  all  that  time  above  15°  below — 
it  is  at  this  moment  20°  under  cipher  :  fortunate  you, 
that  are  in  a  milder  climate,  for  we  are  suffering 
dreadfully  from  excessive  cold.  By  your  description 
of  your  pastime  in  shooting  wild  pigeons,  you  cer 
tainly  possess  a  very  great  advantage  over  us  in 
these  respects.*  We  have  been  much  plagued  with 
opthalmia,  which  has  been  very  general  in  the  king's 
regiment,  and  the  severe  cold  does  not  prevent  the 
contagion. 

Major- General  Brock  to  the  Military  Secretary. 

YORK,  January,  1812. 

I  beg  leave  to  observe,  in  answer  to  your  letter  of 
the  12th  ultimo,  that  my  sole  object  in  making  the 
representation  contained  in  my  letter  of  the  8th  of 
November  was  to  point  out  the  necessity  of  autho 
rizing  the  storekeeper -general  to  make  purchases, 
provided  the  Indian  presents  did  not  reach  this  coun 
try  before  the  close  of  the  navigation  —  their  subse 
quent  arrival,  however,  removes  every  difficulty.  I 

*  "  Immense  flocks  of  the  passenger,  or  wild  pigeon,  frequent  Upper 
Canada  during  spring  and  autumn ;  and  myriads  of  them  are  killed  by 
fire  arms,  or  caught  in  nets,  by  the  inhabitants,  for  they  fly  so  close,  and 
in  such  numbers,  that  twenty  or  thirty  may  sometimes  be  brought  down 
at  a  single  shot."—  Howison's  Upper  Canada. 


142  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

am  truly  sensible  of  his  excellency's  provident  care 
and  attention  in  directing  the  requisition  for  the  en 
suing  year  to  be  sent  by  land,  as  the  early  receipt  of 
the  presents  is  always,  but  particularly  in  these  uncer 
tain  times,  very  desirable.  The  instructions  of  the 
6th  of  May,  1790,  issued  by  Lord  Dorchester,  have 
been  continued  in  full  force  by  my  predecessor  at  the 
head  of  the  civil  administration,  on  whom  the  charge 
of  the  Indian  department  devolved  in  consequence  of 
the  Duke  of  Portland's  letter  to  General  Prescott, 
and  the  king's  additional  instructions,  dated  the  15th 
of  December,  1796.  How  far  this  change  from  the 
military  to  the  civil  superintendence  has  tended  to 
advance  the  service  I  am  not  prepared  to  say,  but  I 
rather  incline  to  think  that,  considering  the  mode  in 
which  the  expense  of  the  department  is  defrayed,  it 
is  liable  to  produce  confusion. 

The  instructions,  a  copy  of  which  you  transmitted, 
apply  to  such  Indians  as  live  a  short  distance  from 
the  several  posts.  Vast  numbers  resort  every  year, 
particularly  to  Amherstburg,  from  countries  at  such 
a  great  distance,  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  regu 
late  their  attendance.  I  myself  saw,  in  1810,  about 
eight  hundred  at  Amherstburg,  who  had  been  there 
upwards  of  a  month  receiving  rations,  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  presents  which  the  vessel,  in  which  I 
embarked  the  middle  of  August,  carried  to  that  post ; 
and  I  understand  that  this  generally  occurs  every 
season.  I  find  that  in  1808  Lieut. -Governor  Gore 
transmitted  to  England  two  requisitions,  one  amount 
ing  to  <£9,546.  16s.  3d.  for  the  ordinary  service  of  the 
Indian  department,  and  the  other  to  ,£23,795.  Is.  3d., 
which  his  excellency  represented  as  necessary  in  the 
event  of  war.  I  am  credibly  informed  within  these 
few  days  that  both  requisitions  have  been  complied 
with.  The  fact  can  be  easily  ascertained,  and,  if 
found  correct,  the  whole  of  the  goods  of  the  war 
demand  must  be  in  store,  for  I  have  reason  to  believe 
that  no  call  has  been  made  upon  it  from  this  province. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  143 

Major-General  Brock  to  Colonel  Baynes. 

YORK,  January  26,  1812. 

Captain  M'Donell,  accompanied  by  the  priest, 
arrived  here  some  days  ago.  The  badness  of  the 
weather  has  prevented  his  return  as  soon  as  he  first 
proposed.  All  the  junior  commissions  being  already 
disposed  of  among  the  youths  of  Glengary,  I  fear 
that  little  will  be  done  in  this  part  of  the  province 
towards  recruiting  the  intended  corps.  A  few  idlers 
may  be  picked  up  ;  but,  without  the  aid  of  persons  of 
influence,  no  great  number  can  be  expected,  unless 
indeed  the  militia  be  called  out,  and  land  promised. 

Understanding  from  Captain  M'Donell  that  the 
commander  of  the  forces  had  applied  to  the  prince 
regent  for  permission  to  offer  some  of  the  waste  land 
of  the  crown  as  an  inducement  to  the  Scotch  emi 
grants  to  enlist,  I  stated  the  circumstance  to  council, 
and  have  much  pleasure  in  assuring  his  excellency, 
that  should  he  be  of  opinion  the  present  aspect  of 
affairs  calls  for  prompt  measures,  and  that  a  direct 
promise  of  land  would  accelerate  the  recruiting,  this 
government  will  readily  pledge  itself  to  grant  one,  or 
even  two,  hundred  acres  to  such  as  enlist  on  the 
terms  proposed  by  his  excellency.  This  will  be 
deviating  largely  from  the  king's  instructions  ;  but 
in  these  eventful  and  critical  times,  the  council  con 
ceives  that  an  expression  from  his  excellency  of  the 
necessity  of  the  measure  will  be  sufficient  to  warrant 
a  departure  from  the  usual  rules.  Should  his  excel 
lency  think  it  expedient  to  act  immediately,  and 
authorize  a  direct  offer  of  land,  I  have  no  doubt  that 
a  number  of  young  men  might  be  collected  between 
Kingston  and  Amherstburg,  in  which  case  his  excel 
lency  may  sanction  the  raising  of  two  additional 
companies  under  my  superintendence. 


144  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  January  26,  1812. 

The  very  serious  inconvenience  which  the  inha 
bitants  of  this  province  experience  for  want  of  a  suffi 
cient  land  communication  with  Lower  Canada,  induces 
me  to  trouble  you  on  the  subject.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
M'Donell,  of  Glengary,  the  bearer  of  this  letter,  is  so 
well  qualified  to  explain  the  causes  which  have 
hitherto  impeded  the  cutting  of  a  road  to  connect 
the  two  provinces,  that  I  need  not  detain  your  excel 
lency,  particularly  as  reference  can  be  had  to  Lieut. - 
Colonel  Bruyeres,  who,  having  beeu  employed  by 
Sir  James  Craig  to  ascertain  the  grounds  upon  which 
a  difficulty  arose  in  the  attainment  of  so  desirable  an 
object,  can  give  every  necessary  information. 

If,  through  your  indulgent  interference,  this  impe 
diment  can  be  overcome,  a  lasting  obligation  will  be 
imposed  on  the  inhabitants. 


On  the  4th  February,  1811,  Major-General  Brock, 
accompanied  by  a  numerous  suite,  opened  the  session 
of  the  legislature  at  York  with  the  following  speech  to 
the  legislative  council  and  the  house  of  assembly  : 

"  Honorable  Gentlemen  of  the  Legislative  Council,  and 
Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

"  I  should  derive  the  utmost  satisfaction,  the  first  time  of 
my  addressing  you,  were  it  permitted  me  to  direct  your  atten 
tion  solely  to  such  objects  as  tended  to  promote  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  this  province. 

"  The  glorious  contest  in  which  the  British  empire  is  en 
gaged,  and  the  vast  sacrifice  which  Great  Britain  nobly  offers 
to  secure  the  independence  of  other  nations,  might  be  expect 
ed  to  stifle  every  feeling  of  envy  and  jealousy,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  excite  the  interest  and  command  the  admiration  of  a 
free  people  ;  but,  regardless  of  such  generous  impressions,  the 
American  government  evinces  a  disposition  calculated  to  im 
pede  and  divide  her  efforts. 

"  England  is  not  only  interdicted  the  harbours  of  the  Unit 
ed  States,  while  they  afford  a  shelter  to  the  cruisers  of  her 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  145 

inveterate  enemy,  but  she  is  likewise  required  to  resign  those 
maritime  rights  which  she  has  so  long  exercised  and  enjoyed. 
Insulting  threats  are  offered,  and  hostile  preparations  actually 
commenced  ;  and  though  not  without  hope  that  cool  reflec 
tion  and  the  dictates  of  justice  may  yet  avert  the  calamities 
of  war,  I  cannot,  under  every  view  of  the  relative  situation  of 
the  province,  be  too  urgent  in  recommending  to  your  early 
attention  the  adoption  of  such  measures  as  will  best  secure 
the  internal  peace  of  the  country,  and  defeat  every  hostile 
aggression. 

''Principally  composed  of  the  sons  of  a  loyal  and  brave 
band  of  veterans,  the  militia,  I  am  confident,  stand  in  need 
of  nothing  but  the  necessary  legislative  provisions,  to  direct 
their  ardour  in  the  acquirement  of  military  instruction,  to 
form  a  most  efficient  force. 

"  The  growing  prosperity  of  these  provinces,  it  is  manifest, 
begins  to  awaken  a  spirit  of  envy  and  ambition.  The  acknow 
ledged  importance  of  this  colony  to  the  parent  state  will  se 
cure  the  continuance  of  her  powerful  protection.  Her  fostering 
care  has  been  the  first  cause,  under  Providence,  of  the  unin 
terrupted  happiness  you  have  so  long  enjoyed.  Your  industry 
has  been  liberally  rewarded,  and  you  have  in  consequence 
risen  to  opulence. 

"  These  interesting  truths  are  not  uttered  to  animate  your 
patriotism,  but  to  dispel  any  apprehension  which  you  may 
have  imbibed  of  the  possibility  of  England  forsaking  you  ;  for 
you  must  be  sensible  that  if  once  bereft  of  her  support,  if  once 
deprived  of  the  advantages  which  her  commerce  and  the  sup 
ply  of  her  most  essential  wants  give  you,  this  colony,  from  its 
geographical  position,  must  inevitably  sink  into  comparative 
poverty  and  insignificance. 

"  But  Heaven  will  look  favourably  on  the  manly  exertions 
which  the  loyal  and  virtuous  inhabitants  of  this  happy  land 
are  prepared  to  make,  to  avert  such  a  dire  calamity. 

"  Our  gracious  prince,  who  so  gloriously  upholds  the  dig 
nity  of  the  empire,  already  appreciates  your  merit ;  and  it  will 
be  your  first  care  to  establish,  by  the  course  of  your  actions, 
the  just  claim  of  the  country  to  the  protection*  of  his  royal 
highness. 

'*  I  cannot  deny  myself  the  satisfaction  of  announcing  to 
you  from  this  place,  the  munificent  intention  of  his  royal 
highness  the  prince  regent,  who  has  been  graciously  pleased 
to  signify  that  a  grant  of  £100  per  annum  will  be  proposed  in, 
the  annual  estimates,  for  every  future  missionary  of  the  Gos 
pel  sent  from  England,  who  may  have  faithfully  discharged, 
for  the  term  of  ten  years,  the  duties  of  his  station  in  this  pro 
vince. 


146  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

"  I  have  no  doubt  but  that,  with  me,  you  are  convinced  of 
the  necessity  of  a  regular  system  of  military  instruction  to  the 
militia  of  this  province; — on  this  salutary  precaution,  in  the 
event  of  a  war,  our  future  safety  will  greatly  depend,  and  I 
doubt  not  but  that  you  will  cheerfully  lend  your  aid,  to  enable 
me  to  defray  the  expense  of  carrying  into  effect  a  measure  so 
conducive  to  our  security  and  defence. 

"  I  have  ordered  the  public  accounts  to  be  laid  before  you, 
and  have  no  doubt  but  that  you  will  consider  them  with  that 
attention  which  the  nature  of  the  subject  may  require. 

"  Honorable  Gentlemen  of  the  Legislative  Council  and 
Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

"  I  have,  without  reserve,  communicated  to  you  what  has 
occurred  to  me  on  the  existing  circumstances  of  this  province. 
We  wish  and  hope  for  peace,  but  it  is  nevertheless  our  duty 
to  be  prepared  for  war. 

"The  task  imposed  upon  you,  on  the  present  occasion,  is 
arduous;  this  task,  however,  I  hope  and  trust,  laying  aside 
every  consideration  but  that  of  the  public  good,  you  will  per 
form  with  that  firmness,  discretion,  and  promptitude,  which  a 
regard  to  yourselves,  your  families,  your  country,  and  your 
king,  calls  for  at  your  hands. 

"  As  for  myself,  it  shall  be  my  utmost  endeavour  to  co-ope 
rate  with  you  in  promoting  such  measures  as  may  best  contri 
bute  to  the  security  and  to  the  prosperity  of  this  province." 

The  addresses  of  the  provincial  parliament  in  reply 
were  highly  satisfactory,  and  in  answer  Major-General 
Brock  observed  : 

"  The  congratulations  offered  upon  my  appointment  to  the 
honorable  station  I  hold  in  this  province,  and  the  confidence 
you  so  early  repose  in  me,  are,  be  assured,  received  with 
pride  and  heartfelt  satisfaction. 

"  Impressed  with  the  assurance  of  your  support,  I  feel  a 
most  perfect  reliance  that  the  exertions  of  this  province  will 
be  found  equal  to  meet  every  emergency  of  this  important 
crisis." 


The  conclusion  of  the  following  letter  is  descriptive 
of  Major-General  Brock's  views  and  intentions  in  the 
probable  event  of  a  war  ensuing  between  Great  Bri 
tain  and  the  United  States,  and  which  a  few  months 
afterwards  he  carried  into  effect  with  a  success  that 
must  have  exceeded  his  most  sanguine  expectations. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  147 

Major-General  Brock  to  Colonel  Baynes,  the  Adj. -General. 

YORK,  February  12,  1812. 

I  received  yesterday  your  letter  dated  the  16th  and 
23d  ult.  My  attention  was  so  much  occupied  with 
my  civil  duties  during  the  stay  of  Captain  Gray*  at 
York,  that  some  military  points  escaped  considera 
tion,  and  I  shall  now  advert  to  them.  As  no  mention 
is  made  of  withdrawing  the  41st  from  this  province,  I 
consider  the  proposed  movement  of  the  49th  as  in 
tended  to  give  me  an  accession  of  strength ;  and  the 
apprehension  occasioned  by  Captain  Gray's  report  to 
the  contrary,  is  consequently  dispelled.  The  assur 
ance,  which  I  gave  in  my  speech  at  the  opening 
of  the  legislature,  of  England  co-operating  in  the 
defence  of  this  province,  has  infused  the  utmost 
confidence ;  and  I  have  reason  at  this  moment  to  look 
for  the  acquiescence  of  the  two  houses  to  every  mea 
sure  I  may  think  necessary  to  recommend  for  the 
peace  and  defence  of  the  country.  A  spirit  has  ma 
nifested  itself,  little  expected  by  those  who  conceived 
themselves  the  best  qualified  to  judge  of  the  disposition 
of  the  members  of  the  house  of  assembly.  The  most 
powerful  opponents  to  Governor  Gore's  administra 
tion  take  the  lead  on  the  present  occasion.  I,  of 
course,  do  not  think  it  expedient  to  damp  the  ardour 
displayed  by  these  once  doubtful  characters.  Some 
opposed  Mr.  Gore  evidently  from  personal  motives, 
but  never  forfeited  the  right  of  being  numbered  among 
the  most  loyal.  Few,  very  few,  I  believe,  were  actu 
ated  by  base  or  unworthy  considerations,  however 
mistaken  they  may  have  been  on  various  occasions. 
Their  character  will  very  soon  be  put  to  a  severe  test. 
The  measures  which  I  intend  to  propose,  are  : 

1. — A  militia  supplementary   act.     Sir  George 
will  hear  the  outlines  from  Captain  Gray. 

*  Captain  Gray  was  killed,  while  acting  deputy  quartermaster-general, 
at  the  attack  on  Sackett's  Harbour,  in  May,  1813,  and  was  much  regretted. 
He  served  many  years  in  Guernsey  in  the  Staff  Corps ;  and  in  1816  an 
excellent  topographical  map  of  the  islands  of  Guernsey,  Sark,  Herm,  and 
Jethou,  was  published,  which  had  been  surveyed  and  drawn  by  him. 


148  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

2. — The  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus — a 
copy  of  the  act  now  enforced  in  the  Lower 
Province. 

3. — An  alien  law. 

4. — The  offer  of  a  reward  for  the  better  appre 
hension  of  deserters. 

If  I  succeed  in  all  this,  I  shall  claim  some  praise ; 
but  I  am  not  without  my  fears.  I  shall  send  you  the 
militia  act  the  moment  it  passes  into  a  law.  The 
more  I  consider  the  new  provisions,  the  more  I  am 
satisfied  (giving,  of  course,  every  proper  allowance  to 
the  disposition  of  the  people)  they  are  peculiarly  cal 
culated  to  meet  the  local  situation  of  the  country.  I 
have  not  a  musket  more  than  will  suffice  to  arm  the 
active  part  of  the  militia,  from  Kingston  westward. 
I  have,  therefore,  to  request  that  the  number  of  arms 
may  be  sent,  according  to  the  enclosed  requisition,  to 
the  places  therein  specified,  on  the  communication 
between  Glengary  and  Kingston.  Every  man  ca 
pable  of  carrying  a  musket,  along  the  whole  of  that 
line,  ought  to  be  prepared  to  act.  The  members  of  the 
assembly  from  that  part  of  the  country  are  particu 
larly  anxious  that  some  works  may  be  thrown  up  as  a 
rallying  point  and  place  of  security  for  stores,  &c.,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Johnstown.  I  shall  request  Colonel 
M'Donnell  to  examine,  on  his  return,  the  ground 
which  those  gentlemen  recommend  as  best  suited  for 
that  purpose.  Being  immediately  opposite  Ozwegat- 
chie,  some  precaution  of  the  sort  is  indispensable, 
were  it  only  to  preserve  a  free  communication  between 
the  two  provinces.  I  have  been  made  to  expect  the 
able  assistance  of  Captain  Marlow.  Should  he  be  still 
at  Quebec,  have  the  goodness  to  direct  his  attention, 
on  his  way  up,  to  that  quarter.  He  had  better  consult 
Colonel  Frazer  and  Captain  Gilkinson,  men  of  sound 
judgment,  and  well  acquainted  with  the  country.  The 
militia  will  have,  of  course,  to  be  employed  on  the 
works. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  149 

I  must  still  press  the  necessity  of  an  active,  enter- 
prizing,  intelligent  commander,  being  stationed  on  that 
important  line  of  communication.  I  wish  Colonel 
Ellice*  were  here  to  undertake  the  arduous  task,  as  it 
is  wholly  impossible  that  I  can  do  so.  Every  assist 
ance  in  my  civil  capacity  I  shall  always  be  ready  to 
give,  and  to  that  point  my  exertions  must  be  necessa 
rily  limited.  Niagara  and  Amherstburg  will  suffi 
ciently  occupy  my  attention.  I  deliver  my  sentiments 
freely,  believing  they  will  not  be  the  less  acceptable. 

I  discussed  every  point  connected  with  Amherst 
burg  so  completely  with  Captain  Gray,  that  I  do  not 
find  any  thing  very  essential  was  omitted.  Colonel 
M'Donnell  will  be  able  probably  to  give  us  further 
insight  as  to  the  actual  state  of  affairs  there.  He  was 
to  make  every  inquiry,  and,  as  far  as  he  was  permitted, 
to  judge  himself  of  the  relative  strength  of  Detroit. 

Lieut-Colonel 1  preceded  him  by  some  days,  but 

in  such  a  state  of  mind  that  forbids  my  placing  any 
dependance  on  his  exertions.  When  I  first  mentioned 
my  intention  of  sending  him  to  Amherstburg,  he  seem 
ed  diffident  of  his  abilities,  but  pleased  at  the  distinc 
tion.  However,  when  he  received  his  final  instruc 
tions,  his  conduct  in  the  presence  of  some  officers  wras 
so  very  improper,  and  otherwise  so  childish,  that  I 
have  since  written  to  say,  if  he  continued  in  the  same 
disposition,  he  was  at  liberty  to  return  to  Niagara.  I 
did  not  directly  order  him  back,  because  at  this  time 
I  consider  an  officer  of  rank  necessary  at  Amherst 
burg,  particularly  during  the  absence  of  Messrs. 
Elliott  and  Baby,  who  are  both  here  attending  their 
parliamentary  duties.  You  will  imagine,  after  what 
I  have  stated,  that  it  is  the  influence  of  his  rank  I 
alone  covet,  and  not  his  personal  aid.  He  has  very 
fortunately  given  timely  proof  that  he  is  in  no  way 

*  The  present  Lieut.-General  Ellice,  colonel  of  the  24th  regiment  of 
foot,  mentioned  at  page  109. 

t  We  suppress  the  name  from  consideration  to  his  family — he  died 
general  officer. 


150  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

ambitious  of  military  fame,  therefore  unfit  for  so  im 
portant  a  command.  Should  it  please  his  excellency 
to  place  the  41st  and  49th  at  my  disposal,  I  propose 
sending  the  former  regiment  to  Amherstburg,  as  we 
cannot  be  too  strong  in  that  quarter.  I  have  already 
explained  myself  on  that  point,  and  Captain  Gray  is 
furnished  with  further  arguments  in  support  of  the 
measure. 

I  have  delayed  to  the  last  the  mention  of  a  project 
which  I  consider  of  the  utmost  consequence  in  the 
event  of  hostilities.  I  set  out  with  declaring  my  full 
conviction,  that  unless  Detroit  and  Michilimackinac 
be  both  in  our  possession  immediately  at  the  com 
mencement  of  hostilities,  not  only  the  district  of 
Amherstburg,  but  most  probably  the  whole  country  as 
far  as  Kingston,  must  be  evacuated.  How  necessary, 
therefore,  to  provide  effectually  the  means  of  their 
capture.  From  Amherstburg  it  will  be  impossible  to 
send  a  force  to  reduce  Michilimackinac.  Unless  we 
occupy  completely  both  banks,  no  vessel  could  pass 
the  river  St.  Clair.  What  I  therefore  presume  to 
suggest  for  his  excellency's  consideration,  is  the  adop 
tion  of  a  project  which  Sir  James  Craig  contemplated 
three  years  ago.  The  north-west  company  undertook 
to  transport  50  or  60  men  up  the  Ottawa,  and  I  make 
no  doubt  would  engage  again  to  perform  the  same 
service.  If,  therefore,  a  war  be  likely  to  occur,  at  the 
time  the  canoes  start  from  Montreal  I  should  recom 
mend  40  or  50  of  the  49th  light  company,  and  a  small 
detachment  of  artillery,  embarking  at  the  same  time 
for  St.  Joseph's.  Should  hostilities  commence,  the 
north-west  would  not  object  to  join  their  strength  in 
the  reduction  of  Michilimackinac ;  and  should  peace 
succeed  the  present  wrangling,  the  49th  detachment 
could  be  easily  removed  to  Amherstburg. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  151 

Major-General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  February  12,  1812. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  excellency's  letter  of  the  23d  ultimo,  with  its 
enclosure,  and  in  answer  have  to  request  you  to  lay 
my  humble  acknowledgments  before  his  royal  high 
ness  the  commander-in-chief,  for  his  gracious  com 
pliance  with  my  solicitation  to  visit  England.  Being 
now  placed  in  a  high  ostensible  situation,  and  the 
state  of  public  affairs  with  the  American  government 
indicating  a  strong  presumption  of  an  approaching 
rupture  between  the  two  countries,  I  beg  leave  to  be 
allowed  to  remain  in  my  present  command. 

The  uniform  confidence  which  your  excellency  has 
been  pleased  to  repose  in  my  endeavours  to  promote 
the  king's  service,  permit  me  to  assure  you,  is  a 
strong  additional  motive  with  me  for  entreating  per 
mission  to  remain  at  this  juncture  under  the  imme 
diate  orders  of  your  excellency. 

Major- General  Brock  to  the  Military  Secretary. 

YORK,  February  12,  1812. 

I  have  directed  the  assistant  deputy  commissary- 
general  at  Amherstburg  to  purchase  2,000  bushels  of 
Indian  corn.  Corn  will  be  absolutely  necessary  in 
the  event  of  war ;  and,  should  peace  follow  the  exist- 
isting  discussions,  the  Indians  will  gladly  receive  it 
in  lieu  of  other  food.  It  is  to  be  procured,  if  possible, 
on  the  American  side,  that  our  own  stock  may  re 
main  undiminished.  Several  agents  have  already 
arrived  from  the  Lower  Province,  and  made  large 
purchases  of  flour ;  if,  therefore,  our  contracts  are 
not  soon  concluded,  we  shall  be  at  the  mercy  of  those 
gentlemen.  I  have  not  considered  myself  justified 
in  interfering  in  the  business  of  the  commissariat.  I 
have  been  informed  very  lately  that  my  account  has 
been  charged  with  .£20,  for  my  portion  of  the  ex 
pense  of  a  canoe,  employed  in  taking  Governor  Gore 


152  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

and  myself  to  York  :    perhaps  his  excellency   may 
consider  this  sum  a  fair  public  charge. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major-General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  February  20,  1812. 

Captain  M'Donell  has  not  clearly  understood  the 
purport  of  his  mission  to  Upper  Canada,  and  the 
general  regrets  that  he  should  have  proceeded  the 
length  he  has  done  without  having  previously  received 
your  advice  and  instructions,  to  obtain  which  was  the 
chief  object  of  his  visit  to  York.  It  is  to  be  hoped, 
however,  that  sufficient  patronage  still  remains. open 
to  meet  your  wishes,  as  the  appointment  of  three  of 
General  Shaw's  sons  may  be  considered,  from  the 
sentiments  of  friendship  and  regard  you  have  testified 
for  that  officer,  to  be  almost  equivalent  to  anticipating 
your  own  choice  of  them.  And  Sir  George  has  di 
rected  me  to  inform  you,  that  he  readily  accepts  of 
your  proposal  to  recruit  two  companies,  to  be  added 
to  the  Glengary  Fencibles ;  the  nomination  of  the 
officers,  viz.  two  captains,  two  lieutenants,  and  two 
ensigns,  to  rest  entirely  with  you.  The  general  has 
approved  of  the  following  quotas  of  men  for  the  res 
pective  ranks ;  captains  30,  lieutenants  15,  and  en 
signs  20;  the  commissions  to  be  issued  on  completing 
the  quota,  and  such  as  complete  their  proportion 
quickest,  or  exceed  in  extra  number  of  recruits,  will 
have  priority  in  regimental  rank.  I  am  not  aware 
that  Sir  George  purposes  nominating  a  lieutenant- 
colonel  ;  but  I  am  sure  that  you  will  not  feel  less  dis 
posed  to  promote  the  formation  of  this  corps,  when  I 
inform  you  that  it  is  his  intention  to  recommend  me 
to  the  commander-in-chief  for  the  appointment  of 
colonel. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  February  22, 1812. 

Sir  George  is  much  pleased  with  the  favorable  ac 
count  Captain  Gray  has  given  him  of  your  proceed- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  153 

ings.  Your  speech  is  highly  approved  of  here,  and 
we  shall  rejoice  to  find  our  house  following  so  laud 
able  an  example  as  your  commons  have  shewn  them — 
but  I  am  not  sanguine  ;  they  have  already  commenced 
with  great  illiberality  and  violence  to  vent  their  spleen 
and  resentment  against  Sir  James  (Craig)  in  votes  of 
censure,  and  I  fancy  Sir  George,  with  all  his  amiable, 
conciliatory  manners,  will  hardly  succeed  in  keeping 
them  within  bounds. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  February  — ,  1812. 

I  cannot  permit  Colonel  McDonnell  to  return  home 
without  giving  your  excellency  a  short  account  of 
our  proceedings  here. 

I  had  every  reason  to  expect  the  almost  unanimous 
support  of  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature  to  every 
measure  the  government  thought  it  necessary  to  re 
commend;  but  after  a  short  trial,  I  found  myself 
egregiously  mistaken  in  my  calculations. 

The  many  doubtful  characters  in  the  militia  made 
me  anxious  to  introduce  the  oath  of  abjuration  into 
the  bill:  there  were  twenty  members  in  the  house, 
when  this  highly  important  measure  was  lost  by  the 
casting  voice  of  the  chairman. 

The  great  influence  which  the  numerous  settlers 
from  the  United  States  possess  over  the  decisions  of 
the  lower  house  is  truly  alarming,  and  ought  imme 
diately,  by  every  practical  means,  to  be  diminished. 
To  give  encouragement  to  real  subjects  to  settle  in 
this  province,  can  alone  remove  the  evil.  The  consi 
deration  of  the  fees  should  not  stand  in  the  way  of  such 
a  politic  arrangement  ;  and  should  your  excellency 
ultimately  determine  to  promise  some  of  the  waste 
lands  of  the  crown  to  such  Scotch  emigrants  as  enlist 
in  the  Glengary  Fencibles,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
recommending,  in  the  strongest  manner,  the  raising  of 
a  Canadian  corps  upon  similar  offers,  to  be  hereafter 


154  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

disbanded  and  distributed  among  their  countrymen 
in  the  vicinity  of  Amherstburg.  Colonel  McDonnell 
being  in  full  possession  of  my  sentiments  on  this 
subject,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  your  excellency  to  him 
for  further  information. 

The  bill  for  the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus, 
I  regret  to  say,  was  likewise  lost  by  a  very  trifling 
majority.  A  strong  sentiment  now  prevails  that  war 
is  not  likely  to  occur  with  the  United  States,  which, 
I  believe,  tended  to  influence  the  votes  of  the  mem 
bers  ;  I  mean  of  such  who,  though  honest,  are  by 
their  ignorance  easily  betrayed  into  error. 

The  low  ebb  of  their  finances  appears  to  stagger 
the  most  desperate  democrats  in  the  States,  and  may 
possibly  delay  the  commencement  of  direct  hostilities; 
but  should  France  and  England  continue  the  contest 
much  longer,  it  appears  to  me  absolutely  impossible 
for  the  United  States  to  avoid  making  their  election  ; 
and  the  unfriendly  disposition  they  have  for  some 
years  past  evinced  towards  England,  leaves  little 
doubt  as  to  their  choice.  Your  excellency,  I  am 
sensible,  will  excuse  the  freedom  with  which  I  de 
liver  my  sentiments. 

Every  day  hostilities  are  retarded,  the  greater  the 
difficulties  we  shall  have  to  encounter.  The  Ameri 
cans  are  at  this  moment  busily  employed  in  raising 
six  companies  of  Rangers,  for  the  express  purpose  of 
overawing  the  Indians ;  and  are  besides  collecting  a 
regular  force  at  Vincennes,  probably  with  a  view  of 
reinforcing  Detroit.  Indeed,  report  states  the  arrival 
of  a  large  force  at  Fort  Wayne,  intended  for  the 
former  garrison.  Their  intrigues  among  the  different 
tribes  are  carried  on  openly,  and  with  the  utmost  acti 
vity  ;  and  as  no  expense  is  spared,  it  may  reasonably 
i>e  supposed  that  they  do  not  fail  of  success.  Divi 
sions  are  thus  uninterruptedly  sown  among  our  Indian 
friends,  and  the  minds  of  many  altogether  estranged 
from  our  interests.  Such  must  inevitably  be  the  con 
sequence  of  our  present  inert  and  neutral  proceedings 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  155 

in  regard  to  them.  It  ill  becomes  me  to  determine 
how  long  true  policy  requires  that  the  restrictions 
now  imposed  upon  the  Indian  department  ought  to 
continue ;  but  this  I  will  venture  to  assert,  that  each 
day  the  officers  are  restrained  from  interfering  in  the 
concerns  of  the  Indians,  each  time  they  advise  peace 
and  withhold  the  accustomed  supply  of  ammunition, 
their  influence  will  diminish,  till  at  length  they  lose 
it  altogether. 

I  find  that  ever  since  the  departure  of  Priest  Burke 
from  Sandwich,  the  .£50  per  annum  paid  from  the 
military  chest  to  that  gentleman  have  been  withheld, 
on  what  account  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain. 
The  individual  at  present  officiating  is  highly  spoken 
of;  and  as  several  gentlemen  of  the  Catholic  persua 
sion  have  applied  to  me  to  intercede  with  your  excel 
lency  to  renew  the  allowance,  I  presume  to  submit 
the  case  to  your  indulgent  consideration. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major-General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  March  5,  1812. 

I  have  the  pleasure  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  the  12th  of  February,  which  I  have 
communicated  to  Sir  George,  who  is  highly  pleased 
to  find  you  are  satisfied  to  retain  the  important  post 
you  fill,  and  which  you  appear  to  govern  under  such 
very  auspicious  prospects.  I  sincerely  trust  you  will 
be  able  to  keep  your  subjects,  and  particularly  your 
house  of  representatives,  in  the  same  good  humour 
and  sound  principles  which  they  have  hitherto  testi 
fied.  You  will  perceive,  in  the  main  sentiments  of 
Sir  George's  opening  address,  a  perfect  accordance 
with  your  own  :  the  answer  of  the  assembly  led  to  a 
very  violent  and  personal  debate,  which  lasted  with^ 
closed  doors  for  nearly  eighteen  hours.  It  would 
have  been  more  to  their  credit  had  they  left  out  the 
allusion  which  has  drawn  from  Sir  George  a  very 
appropriate  retort.  Your  friend,  James  Cuthbert, 


156  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

was  very  warm  and  eloquent  upon  the  occasion ;  and 
the  demagogue  party  seemed  sensible  of  the  severity 
of  his  satire,  when  he  compared  the  factious  cabal  to 
^Esop's  fable  of  the  ass  kicking  at  the  dying  lion. 
Having  vented  their  spleen,  they  will,  I  believe,  prove 
a  little  more  tractable  :  the  militia  bill  has  a  prospect 
of  being  materially  amended,  and  they  will,  I  think, 
allow  a  proportion  of  about  2,000  men,  or  perhaps  a 
few  more,  to  be  incorporated  for  two  or  three  months, 
for  three  successive  years ;  after  the  second  year  to 
be  replaced  by  a  new  quota,  and  to  be  selected  by 
ballot,  and  no  substitutes  permitted  to  serve  in  the 
place  of  a  militiaman  drawn  by  lot ;  this  will  be  a 
great  point  gained. 

Major-Gcneral  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  March  9,  1812. 

As  the  transactions  which  have  occurred  in  the 
house  of  assembly,  in  regard  to  the  chief  justice, 
may  be  represented  at  Quebec  in  a  manner  to  excite 
wrong  impressions,  I  deem  it  proper  to  furnish  your 
excellency  with  a  summary  of  the  whole  business. 

The  inordinate  power  assumed  by  the  house  of 
assembly  is  truly  alarming,  and  ought  to  be  resisted, 
otherwise  the  most  tyrannical  system  will  assuredly 
be  pursued  by  men  who  suffer  themselves  to  be  led 
by  a  desperate  faction,  that  stop  at  nothing  to  gratify 
their  personal  resentment. 

Mr.  Nichol*  is  a  gentleman  of  education,  and 
who,  in  the  district  in  which  he  resides,  has  done 
essential  good  in  opposing  the  democratic  measures 
of  a  Mr.  Willcocks  and  his  vile  coadjutors.  The 
palpable  injustice  committed  against  his  person,  by 
^dragging  him  at  midnight,  without  any  previous 
warning,  one  hundred  miles  from  his  home  to  the 
bar  of  the  house,  and  then  committing  him  to  gaol 

*  Mr.  Nichol  was  a  lieutenant-colonel  of  militia,  and  quartermaster- 
general  of  that  force  at  the  capture  of  Detroit. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  157 

under  the  most  frivolous  pretences,  has  greatly  alarm 
ed  the  most  reflecting  part  of  the  community.  Efforts 
are  to  be  made  by  several  respectable  characters  to 
get  into  the  next  assembly  ;  but  such  is  the  spirit 
which  unfortunately  prevails,  that  I  much  fear  they 
will  be  foiled  in  their  attempt.  I  was  inclined  to 
dismiss  the  house  before  the  members  passed  such 
harsh  resolutions  against  the  chief  justice,  but  his 
friends  recommended  that  they  should  be  allowed  to 
proceed  without  interruption. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Colonel  Baynes. 

YORK,  March  9,  1812. 

I  received  yesterday  your  letter  dated  the  20th 
of  February,  and  have  to  express  my  thanks  to  Sir 
George  Prevost  for  his  readiness  in  attending  to  my 
wishes. 

His  excellency  having  been  pleased  to  authorize  the 
raising  of  two  companies  under  my  superintendence, 
giving  me  the  nomination  of  the  officers,  I  have  to 
acquaint  you,  for  his  information,  that  Alexander 
Roxburgh,  Esq.,  has  been  appointed  by  me  to  raise 
men  for  a  company,  and  William  M'Lean,  gentleman, 
for  an  ensigncy.*  The  former  is  a  gentleman  strongly 
recommended  to  me  by  Mr.  Cart w right,  of  Kingston ; 
and  the  latter,  the  son  of  an  officer  formerly  in  the 
25th  regiment,  who,  having  settled  in  this  country, 
has  become  one  of  the  most  influential  characters  in 
it.  He  is  a  member  of  the  house  of  assembly  for  the 
district  of  Frontenac.  I  have  not  yet  determined  in 
respect  to  the  remaining  commissions,  but  will  report 
the  instant  the  individuals  are  nominated. 

Captain  Dixon  (royal  engineers)  proceeded  four 
days  ago  to  Amherstburg,  with  the  gentlemen  who 
were  returning  from  their  parliamentary  duties. 

*  In  the  action  with  the  enemy  near  Fort  George,  May  27,  1813,  an 
Ensign  M'Lean  was  killed,  and  Captain  Roxburgh  was  wounded — both 
of  the  Glengary  regiment. 


158  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

I  request  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  inform  me 
of  the  probable  time  I  may  expect  the  honor  of  seeing 
Sir  George  Prevost,  as  I  shall  consider  it  a  duty, 
which  I  shall  execute  with  the  utmost  pleasure,  to 
meet  his  excellency  at  Kingston. 

Major-General  Brock  to  the  Military  Secretary. 

YORK,  March  9,  1812. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter,  dated  the  20th  ultimo,  with  its  enclosures. 

Not  having  received  a  statement  of  the  Indian 
goods,  which  you  inform  me  his  excellency  has  been 
pleased  to  direct  the  storekeeper-general  to  forward 
to  the  Upper  Province,  I  cannot  say  how  far  they 
are  likely  to  meet  the  yearly  consumption  ;  but  I 
make  no  doubt  that  they  will  be  found  sufficient  to 
answer  every  demand,  until  the  arrival  of  fresh*  sup 
plies  from  England. 

The  storekeeper-general  will  receive  by  this  oppor 
tunity  a  statement  of  such  articles  of  Indian  presents 
as  I  conceive  indispensably  necessary  to  be  lodged, 
previous  to  the  closing  of  the  navigation,  at  the 
several  posts  in  this  province,  should  appearances 
continue  to  indicate  an  unfriendly  disposition  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States. 

Colonel  Proctor  reports  the  difficulty  in  which  he 
is  involved,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  cash  to  pay  the 
41st  regiment,  and  probably  a  supply  from  Quebec 
may  be  necessary.  Major  M'Pherson  is  under  the 
same  embarrassment  at  Kingston. 

A  contractor  for  building  a  schooner  at  this  place 
has  commenced  with  a  strong  party  of  workmen, 
and  is  likely,  judging  from  the  model,  to  complete  a 
superior  vessel. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  159 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major-General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  March  19,  1812. 

I  regret  to  find  by  your  late  letters  to  Sir  George 
Prevost,  that  your  expectations  from  your  legislature 
have  not  been  realised  to  the  extent  of  your  well 
grounded  hopes.  Sir  George,  who  is  well  versed  in 
the  fickle  and  untractable  disposition  of  public  as 
semblies,  feels  more  regret  than  disappointment.  He 
has  a  very  delicate  card  to  play  with  his  house  of 
assembly  here,  who  would  fain  keep  up  the  farce  of 
being  highly  charmed  and  delighted  with  his  amiable 
disposition  and  affable  manners :  they  have  even  gone 
the  length  of  asserting,  that  these  traits  in  his  cha 
racter,  have  afforded  them  the  most  entire  confidence 
that,  in  his  hands,  the  alien  act  would  not  be  abused. 
They  have,  however,  taken  the  precaution  of  stripping 
it  of  its  very  essence  and  spirit,  while  last  year  they 
passed  it  without  a  division,  when  Sir  James,  (Craig,) 
on  whose  mild  and  affable  disposition  they  did  not 
pretend  to  rely,  told  them  that  it  could  only  alarm 
such  as  were  conscious  of  harbouring  seditious  de 
signs.  They  have  passed  an  amendment  to  the  militia 
bill,  which,  though  not  affording  all  that  was  required, 
is  still  a  material  point  gained  :  2,000  men  are  to  be 
ballotted  to  serve  for  three  months  in  two  successive 
summers ;  one  of  their  strongest  objections  was  the 
apprehension  of  the  Canadians  contracting  military 
habits  and  enlisting  into  the  service. 

Sir  George  has  directed  me  to  inform  you,  that  he 
will  be  ready  to  render  you  any  assistance  in  his 
power  to  strengthen  the  Upper  Province ;  but  that 
unless  reinforcements  arrive  from  England,  (in  which 
case  you  may  depend  upon  having  a  due  proportion 
put  under  your  immediate  command,)  his  means  of 
doing  so  are  but  very  limited.  His  excellency  is  not 
sanguine  in  his  expectation  of  receiving  reinforce 
ments  this  summer ;  on  the  contrary,  the  appearance 
of  hostilities  beginning  to  abate  at  Washington,  and 


160  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

the  pledge  held  out  in  the  prince  regent's  speech  of 
supporting  with  energy  the  contest  in  Spain  and 
Portugal,  are  likely  to  prevent  more  troops  being 
sent  to  this  quarter,  unless  a  more  urgent  necessity 
of  doing  so  should  appear.  I  will  not  comment  on 
American  politics,  in  which  we  all  appear  to  agree 
that  the  deep-rooted  jealousy  and  hatred  of  that  peo 
ple  must  in  the  end  lead  to  hostilities,  and  that  it 
behoves  us  not  to  lose  sight  of  an  event  which,  if  not 
prepared  to  meet,  we  shall  find  more  difficult  to  re 
pel; —  under  this  impression,  Sir  George  is  disposed 
to  promote  the  several  plans  you  have  recommended 
to  him,  relating  to  the  general  line  of  conduct  you 
would  wish  to  adopt  in  defence  of  the  important  pro 
vince  committed  to  your  charge.  If  no  additional 
forces  be  sent  out,  he  will  send  up  the  strong  de 
tachment  of  the  41st,  composed  of  uncommonly  fine 
young  men,  and  in  very  good  order :  the  general  has 
it  also  in  view  to  send  you  a  strong  detachment  of 
the  Newfoundland  regiment,  selecting  their  seamen 
and  marine  artificers,  who  will  be  most  useful  in 
the  proposed  works  to  be  carried  on  at  York ;  and 
here  I  am  apprehensive  that  the  means  of  augmenting 
vour  strength  must  be  bounded,  unless  the  Glengary 
Levy  can  be  rapidly  formed,  and  Sir  George  is  san 
guine  in  his  expectations  of  its  being  speedily  placed 
upon  a  respectable  footing :  in  that  case,  it  could 
occupy  Kingston  and  that  line  of  communication 
between  the  provinces,  which  you  deem  so  essential 
to  be  guarded.  This  corps  will  have  the  very  great 
advantage  of  starting  with  a  better  selected  body  of 
officers  than  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  Fencible 
regiment  in  Canada.  I  hope  you  will  feel  inclined 
to  bring  forward  Shaw  as  one  of  your  captains,  as 
without  your  countenance  I  fear  he  will  find  it  an 
arduous  task  to  provide  for  himself  and  his  brother. 
The  uniform  of  the  corps  is  to  be  green,  like  that  of 
the  95th  rifles. 

Sir  George  expressed  himself  very  sensible  of  the 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  161 

policy  of  the  line  of  conduct  you  would  wish  to 
pursue  respecting  the  Indians ;  but  as  other  consi 
derations  of  the  greatest  political'  delicacy  are  so 
minutely  interwoven  with  them,  and  as  the  American 
government  are  already  inclined  to  view  every  trans 
action  with  those  people  with  a  jealous  and  suspicious 
eye,  he  would  recommend  the  utmost  caution  and 
forbearance,  lest  a  different  line  of  conduct  might 
tend  to  increase  the  irritation  between  the  two  govern 
ments,  which  it  is  evidently  the  wish  of  Great  Britain 
to  allay. 

Our  weather  has  been,  and  still  continues  for  the 
season,  severer  than  ever  was  recollected  by  the 
oldest  stagers,  and  has  rather  put  our  Halifax  friends 
out  of  conceit  with  the  fine  climate  of  Canada,  parti 
cularly  as  Lady  Prevost's*  health  is  delicate,  and 
she  is  very  sensible  of  cold.f  Mrs.  Cator  and  Mrs. 
Baynes  beg  to  be  most  kindly  remembered  to  you. 
General  Bowes  accompanied  Kempt  to  Portugal  in 
the  end  of  December. 

Major-General  Brock  to  the  Military  Secretary. 

YORK,  March  24,  1812. 

The  deputy  superintendent-general  of  Indian  af 
fairs  having  represented  the  serious  inconvenience  to 
which  the  service  would  be  liable  by  adhering  to  the 
new  regulations  of  the  commissary-general,  in  regard 
to  the  mode  of  issuing  provisions  to  Indians,  I  here 
with  enclose  a  copy  of  his  letter  for  his  excellency's 
consideration.  His  arguments  on  the  subject  I  con 
sider  as  conclusive,  for  unless  he  be  allowed  to  use 

*  Lady  Prevost  was  the  eldest  daughter  of  Major-General  Phipps,  of 
the  Royal  Engineers  :  she  died  in  1821. 

+  An  opinion  prevails  in  North  America  that  the  climate  is  undergoing 
a  gradual  change,  in  consequence  of  the  continued  clearing  of  the  forests 
—that  there  is  now  less  rain  and  less  snow,  and  that  the  winters  are 
milder  and  shorter  than  formerly  ;  but  this  impression  does  not  appear  to 
be  grounded  on  a  careful  course  of  observation,  as  in  the  winter  of  1831-2 
the  ice  was  probably  as  thick,  and  the  year  before  the  snow  as  deep,  as 
within  the  memory  of  man.— America  Geographically  Described.  London, 
IMS. 


162  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

his  discretion,  independently  of  the  interference  of 
the  officer  commanding  the  post,  in  supplying  the 
Indians  with  provisions  at  any  time  that  he  may 
judge  expedient,  much  mischief  will  accrue  to  the 
service.  Lieut. -Governor  Gore  was  so  sensible  of 
the  necessity  of  such  a  discretion  being  lodged  with 
the  deputy  superintendent-general,  that  he  gave  direc 
tions  accordingly.  It  never  was  customary  for  the 
Indians  to  receive  full  rations — they  have  always 
been  limited  to  flour  and  pork ;  and  any  attempt  to 
issue  the  small  articles  to  them,  would  only  create  an 
unnecessary  waste.  I  have,  on  these  grounds,  taken 
upon  myself  to  direct  that  no  alteration  shall  take 
place  in  the  usual  mode  of  issuing  provisions  to  the 
Indians,  until  his  excellency's  pleasure  can  be  received 
to  this  communication. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  April  2,  1812. 

Many  thanks  for  the  very  kind  and  friendly  note 
which  accompanied  your  letter  of  the  9th  ultimo, 
and  I  beg  you  to  rest  assured,  that  I  am  very  sensible 
of  your  friendly  disposition  towards  me,  and  feel  par 
ticularly  grateful  and  flattered  by  the  kind  manner  in 
which  you  have  the  goodness  to  express  it. 

The  American  papers,  under  the  head  of  English 
news,  as  late  as  the  20th  January,  give  a  circumstan 
tial  account  of  the  death  of  Sir  J.  Craig,  on  Sunday, 
the  12th,  at  his  house  in  Charlotte  Street.  There  are 
too  many  circumstances  corroborating  an  event  which 
was  so  greatly  to  be  apprehended,  to  leave  a  shadow 
of  doubt  of  the  severe  loss  that  all,  who  were  favored 
with  his  friendship,  have  sustained.  To  me,  from  ray 
earliest  youth,  he  has  been  the  best  and  kindest  friend, 
a  steady  and  powerful  patron;  for  few  sons  ever  ex 
perienced  more  truly  paternal  care  and  affectionate 
regard  from  the  best  of  fathers,  than  I  have  received 
at  the  hands  of  that  best  of  men.  The  grief  that  I 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  163 

cannot  suppress  is  a  selfish  tribute  to  my  own  irrepar 
able  loss  :  his  release  from  a  state  of  cruel,  lingering 
suffering,  which,  as  I  had  so  long  witnessed,  he  bore 
with  a  degree  of  fortitude  and  patient  resignation  un 
paralleled,  could  have  been  no  cause  of  regret  to  him, 
and  therefore  ought  not  to  be  so  to  those  who  most 
sincerely  loved  him ;  but  I  have  so  long  been  accus 
tomed  to  cherish  the  grateful  and  affectionate  senti 
ments  of  a  highly  favored  son  to  the  best  of  parents, 
that,  however  I  might  have  been  prepared  for  this 
inevitable  shock,  I  still  feel  that  there  are  affections  so 
rooted  in  our  hearts,  that  this  world's  changes  can 
never  efface  the  impression.  His  memory  will  long 
be  remembered  with  admiration  by  all  who  knew  his 
merit.  As  a  soldier  he  had  few  equals,  and  no  knight 
had  a  fairer  claim  to  the  proud  title  of  sans  peur  et 
sans  reproche;  while  the  widow,  the  orphan,  and 
every  distressed  object  that  claimed  his  aid,  will  testify 
the  generous  heart  that  once  animated  that  good  and 
honorable  man. 

The  ladies  of  this  house  always  beg  to  be  remem 
bered  to  you,  with  the  sincerest  good  wishes  for  your 
health  and  happiness.  Mrs.  Baynes  has  been  plotting 
with  Mrs.  Colonel  Robertson  to  elope  and  pay  you  a 
visit,  pressing  Heriot*  into  their  service  as  their  knight 
errant. 

Major-General  Brock  to  Lieut. -Colonel  Nichol,  Commanding 
2d  Regiment  Norfolk  Militia. 

YORK,  April  8,  1812. 

The  power  which  is  vested  in  the  person  adminis 
tering  the  government,  by  the  amended  act  of  the 
militia,  passed  the  last  session  of  the  provincial  par 
liament,  of  forming  two  flank  companies,  to  be  taken 
indiscriminately  from  the  battalions,  being  limited  to 
the  end  of  the  ensuing  session,  would  almost  deter  me 
from  incurring  public  expense  upon  a  system  which 

*  The  late  Major-General  Heriot,  C.B.,  then  Captain  Heriot,  of  the  49th. 


164  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

will  cease  to  operate  before  its  utility  and  efficacy 
can  well  be  ascertained. 

But  being  anxious  at  this  important  crisis  to  orga 
nize  an  armed  force  with  a  view  of  meeting  future 
exigencies,  and  to  demonstrate  by  practical  experience 
the  degree  of  facility  with  which  the  militia  may  be 
trained  for  service,  I  have  to  request  you  to.  adopt 
immediate  measures  for  forming  and  completing,  from 
among  such  men  as  voluntarily  offer  to  serve,  two 
companies,  not  to  exceed  one  captain,  two  subalterns, 
two  sergeants,  one  drummer,  and  thirty-five  rank  and 
file  each,  in  the  regiment  under  your  command. 

You  will  have  the  goodness  to  recommend  two 
captains,  whom  you  conceive  the  best  qualified  to 
undertake  this  important  duty  ;  the  nominating  of  the 
subalterns  is  left  to  your  discretion. 

Such  other  regiments  as  are  conveniently  situated 
to  receive  military  instruction,  shall  have  an  opportu 
nity  afforded  them  of  shewing  their  ardour  in  the 
public  service,  which  cannot  fail  of  creating  a  laud 
able  emulation  among  the  different  corps. 

Assisted  by  your  zeal,  prudence,  and  intelligence, 
I  entertain  the  pleasing  hope  of  meeting  with  very 
considerable  success,  and  of  being  able  to  establish 
the  sound  policy  of  rendering  permanent,  to  the  end 
of  the  present  war,  a  mode  of  military  instruction 
little  burdensome  to  individuals,  and  every  way  calcu 
lated  to  secure  a  powerful  internal  defence  against 
hostile  aggression. 

Printed  rules  and  regulations,  for  your  future 
guidance,  are  herewith  forwarded :  the  most  simple, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  most  useful,  movements 
have  been  selected  for  the  practice  of  the  militia. 

Experience  has  shewn  the  absolute  necessity  of 
adopting  every  possible  precaution  to  preserve  in  a 
proper  state  the  arms  issued  to  the  militia,  and  of 
guarding  against  the  heavy  defalcations  which  have 
heretofore  occurred. 

You  will  make   applications  to  the   officer  com<* 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  165 

manding  at  Fort  Erie  for  the  number  of  arms  and 
accoutrements  wanting  to  complete  the  men  actually 
engaged  to  serve  in  the  flank  companies ;  and  that 
officer  will  be  instructed  to  comply  with  your  requi 
sition,  upon  your  transmitting  to  him  duplicate  re 
ceipts,  one  of  which  is  to  be  forwarded  to  head  quar 
ters,  that  you  may  become  responsible  for  the  articles 
delivered  to  your  order :  at  the  same  time,  the  most 
liberal  construction  will  be  given  to  any  representa 
tion,  accounting  for  such  contingencies  as  are  inciden 
tal  to  the  service.* 

[The  remaining  details  in  this  letter  are  omitted  here.] 

PROCLAMATION. 

Province  of  Upper  Canada. 

Isaac  Brock,  Esquire,  President,  administering  the 
Government  of  the  Province  of  Upper  Canada,  and 
Major- General  commanding  his  Majesty's  Forces 
within  the  same. 

To  all  whom  these  Presents  shall  come,  greeting. 
WHEREAS  by  an  act  passed  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his 
majesty's  reign,  intituled,  "An  act  for  granting  to  his  majesty 
a  certain  sum  of  money  for  the  further  encouragement  of  the 
growth  and  cultivation  of  hemp  within  this  province,"  altered 
and  amended  by  several  subsequent  statutes,  passed  by  the 
legislature  of  the  said  province,  it  is  among  other  things 
enacted,  that  at  any  time  or  times  after  the  passing  thereof, 
it  should  and  might  be  lawful  for  the  governor,  lieutenant- 
governor,  or  person  administering  the  government  of  the  said 
province,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the  executive  council 
thereof,  to  issue  one  or  more  proclamation  or  proclamations, 
and  therein  to  name  such  and  so  many  persons  within  the 
said  province  as  to  him  shall  seem  meet,  as  commissioners 
for  the  purchasing  of  merchantable  hemp,  the  growth  of  the 
said  province.  Now,  know  ye  that  I,  the  said  Isaac  Brock, 
esquire,  president,  administering  the  government  of  the  said 
province,  as  aforesaid,  by  virtue  and  in  pursuance  of  the 
said  in  part  recited  act,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  con 
sent  of  the  executive  council  of  the  said  province,  do  hereby 
issue  this  my  proclamation,  and  do  nominate,  constitute  and 

*  The  measure  detailed  in  the  preceding  letter  proved  a  very  judicious 
one,  as  the  flank  companies  were  organized  when  the  war  broke  out,  and 
they  were  most  useful  in  1812-13. 


166  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

appoint  the  Honorable  James  Baby,  of  Sandwich,  Esquire, 
and  the  Honorable  Richard  Cartwright,  of  Kingston,  Esquire, 
Thomas  Talbot,  of  Port  Talbot,  Esquire,  William  Allan,  of 
York,  Esquire,  Joseph  Edwards,  of  Niagara,  Esquire,  and 
James  Gordon,  of  Amherstburg,  Esquire,  in  the  said  province, 
respectively,  to  be  commissioners  for  the  purchasing  of  mer 
chantable  hemp,  the  growth  of  this  province,  and  for  the 
carrying  into  effect  the  provisions  of  the  said  several  acts  of 
the  legislature  of  this  province. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  arms,  at  York, 
in  the  province  of  Upper  Canada,  this  eleventh 
day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  twelve,  and  the  fifty- 
second  year  of  his  majesty's  reign. 

(Signed)     ISAAC  BROCK,  President. 
By  command  of  his  honor, 

WILLIAM  JARVIS,  Secretary. 

Sir  James  Saumarez,  Hart.,*  to  Major- General  Brock. 
SPITHEAD,  April  14,  1812. 

Lieutenant  Le  Couteurt  being  ordered  to  join  his 
regiment  in  Canada,  permit  me  to  recommend  him  to 
your  kind  notice :  he  is  a  promising  young  officer, 
and  being  connected  with  our  family,  makes  me  inte 
rested  for  his  welfare.  I  congratulate  you  upon  your 
present  distinguished  appointment.  A  few  weeks 
previous  to  my  leaving  town,  I  was  informed  by  Lord 
Liverpool  that  Governor  Gore  had  leave  of  absence, 
but  that  if  he  did  not  return  to  his  command,  he  would 
be  happy  in  taking  your  services  into  consideration. 
From  what  his  lordship  was  pleased  to  add,  I  have  no 
doubt  of  your  succeeding  to  the  government,  in  the 
event  of  Governor  Gore  obtaining  any  other  situation. 

I  am  on  the  point  of  returning  to  the  Baltic,  where 
there  appears  a  strong  disposition  on  the  part  of  Rus 
sia  and  some  of  the  other  powers  to  resist  the  aggres 
sions  of  Bonaparte — I  trust  with  well-founded  hopes 
of  ultimate  success. 

*  The  late  Admiral  Lord  De  Saumarez,  G.C.B.,  &c. 

t  The  present  Colonel  Le  Couteur,  militia  aide-de-camp  to  the  queen, 
in  Jersey.  In  the  United  Service  Journal  for  October,  1831,  Colonel  Le 
Couteur  has  described  the  winter  march  of  the  104th  regiment,  early  in 
1813,  from  New  Brunswick  to  Canada. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  167 

Major-General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  April  22,  1812. 

I  had  the  honor  yesterday  to  receive  your  excel 
lency's  letter,  dated  the  21st  ultimo,  and  I  entreat  you 
to  believe  that  no  act  within  my  control  shall  afford 
the  government  of  the  United  States  a  legitimate  pre 
text  to  add  to  a  clamour  which  has  been  so  artfully 
raised  against  England. 

We  have  received  the  account  of  the  renewal  of  the 
embargo,  and  that  the  most  rigorous  measures  have 
already  been  adopted  to  prevent  the  least  infringement 
of  it  upon  the  Niagara  river.  Armed  men,  in  co 
loured  clothes,  are  continually  patrolling  along  the 
shore.  These  troops  are  stated  to  have  recently  ar 
rived,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  whether 
they  belong  to  the  new  levy  or  to  the  militia.  They 
are  reported  to  amount  to  about  300.  Colonel 
Proctor  has  doubtless  written  fully  on  the  subject, 
but  unfortunately  the  letters,  by  some  negligence, 
were  left  at  Niagara.  The  accounts  which  have 
reached  me  are  not,  therefore,  so  satisfactory  as  could 
be  wished.  An  idle  boy  is  stated  to  have  wantonly 
fired  with  ball  at  the  guard  opposite  Queenstown,  and 
it  appears  that  the  Americans  were  guilty  of  a  similar 
outrage  by  firing  during  the  night  into  a  room  in 
which  a  woman  was  sitting.  Luckily  no  mischief 
followed.  Being  detained  here  upon  civil  business, 
I  have  sent  Captain  Glegg  over  to  see  how  matters 
stand,  and  to  arrange  with  both  civil  and  military  the 
best  means  of  preventing  a  recurrence  of  a  practice 
which  may  easily  lead  to  serious  consequences.  I 
hope  to  be  at  Niagara  myself  the  day  after  to-morrow. 

I  beg  leave  to  assure  your  excellency,  that  I  receive 
with  no  small  degree  of  pride  the  praise  bestowed  on 
my  endeavours  to  improve  the  militia  system  of  this 
province ;  and  as  the  bill  underwent  some  alterations 
after  the  departure  of  Colonel  M'Donnell,  particu 
larly  in  limiting  its  operation  to  the  end  of  the  ensuing 


168  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

session,  I  shall  have  the  honor  to  forward  for  your 
excellency's  information  the  law  as  now  enforced.  I 
have,  by  partial  and  gentle  means,  already  commenced 
to  give  it  operation,  and  I  make  not  the  least  doubt 
that  a  sufficient  number  will  be  found  ready  to  volun 
teer  to  complete  the  flank  companies  ;  and  I  here  beg 
leave  to  call  your  excellency's  attention  to  the  clause 
•which  authorizes  the  training  of  the  flank  companies 
six  times  in  each  month  ;  but  as  no  provision  is  made 
for  remunerating  the  men,  I  presume  to  submit  for 
your  excellency's  indulgent  consideration,  that  the 
commissaries  be  instructed  to  issue  rations  for  the 
number  actually  present  at  exercise.  These  compa 
nies  I  expect  will  be  composed  of  the  best  description 
of  inhabitants,  who  in  most  cases  will  have  to  go  a 
great  distance  to  attend  parade  ;  and,  unless  this  libe 
ral  provision  be  allowed,  will  be  liable  to  heavy  ex 
pense,  or  be  subject  to  considerable  privations. 
According  to  my  present  arrangements,  the  number 
embodied  will  not  exceed  700,  and  when  the  compa 
nies  are  completed  throughout  the  province,  they  must 
be  calculated  at  1,800 ;  and,  as  during  harvest  and 
the  winter  months  few  or  no  parades  will  take  place, 
the  total  expense  attending  the  measure  can  be  of  no 
material  consequence  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view, 
and  may  in  a  political  light  be  productive,  at  this 
juncture,  of  considerable  benefit. 

I  have  likewise  to  request  that  such  portion  of 
clothing  as  your  excellency  can  conveniently  spare 
from  the  king's  stores,  may  be  forwarded,  to  enable 
me  to  clothe  such  companies  as  are  the  most  likely  to 
be  called  upon  duty. 

I  am  anxious  to  hear  the  real  object  of  the  em 
bargo  ;  should  it  be  directed  solely  against  England, 
the  probability  is  that  it  leads  to  a  war ;  but  should 
France  be  included  in  its  operation,  nothing  of  the 
kind  need  be  dreaded. 

In  the  expectation  of  having  the  honor  of  seeing 
your  excellency  shortly  at  York,  I  limit,  for  the  pre- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  169 

sent,  the  works  of  the  military  artificers  at  this  place, 
to  preparing  a  temporary  magazine  for  the  reception 
of  the  spare  powder  at  Fort  George  and  Kingston,  and 
the  excavation  of  the  ditch  for  the  proposed  fortifica 
tions  of  the  spot  on  which  the  government  house 
stands. 

I  transmit,  for  your  excellency's  perusal,  a  detailed 
account  of  the  transactions  which  led  to  the  unjustifi 
able  censure  passed  by  the  house  of  assembly  upon 
Chief  Justice  Scott.  It  is  written  by  Mr.  Nichoi 
himself;  and  the  warmth  with  which  he  has  expressed 
his  indignation  at  the  wanton  exercise  of  a  power  yet 
undefined,  as  far  as  regards  this  province,  is  not  there 
fore  surprising.  I  am  convinced  that  whenever  the 
business  is  brought  legally  before  the  judges,  they 
will  refuse  to  sanction  the  enormous  power,  under  the 
name  of  privilege,  which  the  house  arrogates  to  itself. 
The  executive  will  in  that  case  be  placed  in  a  very 
awkward  predicament.  Mr.  Nichoi,  having  com 
menced  civil  actions  against  the  speaker  and  sergeant 
at  arms  for  false  imprisonment,  will,  should  he  suc 
ceed  in  obtaining  damages,  bring  the  question  with 
double  force  on  the  tapis.  The  violence  and  igno 
rance  which,  in  all  probability,  will  mark  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  house,  cannot  fail  of  producing  a 
dissolution.  I  apply  forcibly  to  ministers  for  instruc 
tions,  but  should  they  be  contrary  to  the  opinion 
which  the  judges  of  the  court  of  king's  bench  have 
formed  of  the  law,  I  am  led  to  believe  they  will  not 
influence  the  members  ;  therefore,  one  of  two  alterna 
tives  must  be  resorted  to,  either  the  appointment  of 
more  docile  judges,  or  the  decision  of  the  question  by 
a  British  act  of  parliament.  I  trust,  for  the  tranquil 
lity  and  prosperity  of  the  province,  that  the  latter 
mode  may  be  preferred.  I  have  thus  freely,  and  per 
haps  with  rather  too  much  haste  to  be  sufficiently 
explicit,  stated  the  difficulties  which  in  all  likelihood 
I  shall  have  to  encounter  at  the  next  meeting  of  the 
legislature. 


170  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Should  the  effect  of  the  embargo  appear  to  be  di 
rected  solely  at  Great  Britain,  I  shall  avail  myself  of 
the  confidence  placed  in  me,  and  order  the  purchase 
of  horses,  to  enable  the  car  brigade  to  act  in  case  of 
necessity.  This,  being  a  service  which  requires  infi 
nite  trouble  and  practice  to  bring  to  any  degree  of 
perfection,  cannot  be  too  soon  attended  to. 

Major-General  Brock  to  Ensign  N.  Freer,  Military  Secretary. 

YORK,  April  23,  1812. 

I  transmit  herewith,,  for  the  information  of  the 
commander  of  the  forces,  a  copy  of  a  letter  received 
from  the  Earl  of  Liverpool,  authorizing  an  increase 
of  .£200  per  annum  to  the  salary  of  Colonel  Claus, 
deputy  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  to  commence 
from  the  1st  of  January  last. 

The  inconvenience  to  which  the  public  service  has 
already  been  exposed,  owing  to  a  scarcity  of  specie; 
the  likelihood  of  the  evil  being  increased  by  the 
operation  of  the  embargo ;  and  the  almost  total  impos 
sibility,  in  the  event  of  war,  of  getting  a  sufficient 
supply  to  defray  the  ordinary  expenses  of  govern 
ment,  have  led  me  to  consider  the  best  means  of 
obviating  so  serious  a  difficulty.  And  having  con 
sulted  with  some  of  the  principal  merchants  as  to  the 
practicability  of  introducing  a  paper  currency  with 
any  probability  of  success,  I  think  myself  warranted 
in  stating  that  such  an  arrangement  would,  particu 
larly  in  the  event  of  war,  be  generally  supported 
throughout  the  province.  The  old  inhabitants  under 
stand  perfectly  the  circulation  of  paper  as  a  substitute 
for  specie  ;  and  having  been  formerly  in  the  habit  of 
receiving  the  notes  of  private  individuals,  they  would 
not  hesitate  taking  the  more  certain  security  of  go 
vernment,  especially  if  convinced  that  payment  could 
not  be  made  in  any  other  way. 

The  commissaries  ought  to  be  instructed  to  receive 
this  paper  as  cash,  giving  bills  in  return  on  Quebec. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  171 

It  is  supposed  that  the  circulation  of  10  or  ,£15,000 
would  answer  every  purpose.  No  note  under  5s.  or 
above  <£10  should  be  issued.  The  accompanying 
letter  from  Mr.  Selby,  the  receiver-general,  will  fully 
elucidate  the  business. 

I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of 
the  1st  of  April.  The  commissary-general  will  doubt 
less  have  been  apprized  that  his  instructions  to  Mr. 
M'Gill  arrived  in  time  to  supersede  those  he  received 
from  me.  Too  great  dependance  ought  not  to  be 
placed  on  the  surplus  of  the  several  species  of  stores 
at  the  different  posts.  I  have  reason  to  think  that  at 
Arnherstburg  nearly  the  entire  excess  will  be  found 
damaged  and  unserviceable.  Being  desirous  to  ascer 
tain  the  actual  state  of  the  stores  at  that  post,  I 
directed,  a  month  ago,  a  regular  survey  to  be  taken  of 
every  article,  and  the  moment  I  receive  the  report, 
it  shall  be  forwarded  to  head  quarters. 

Flour  has  risen  to  eight  dollars  and  one  half  per 
barrel.  The  effect  of  the  embargo  is  not  yet  felt. 
Upwards  of  40,000  barrels,  the  produce  of  the  south 
of  Lake  Ontario,  will  be  kept  by  it  from  the  Montreal 
market. 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major-General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  April  30,  1812. 

I  have  just  heard  from  Mr.  Foster  that  the  secre 
tary  at  war,  at  Washington,  has  transmitted  orders  to 
Governor  Tompkins,  of  New  York,  to  send  500  of  the 
state  militia  to  Niagara;  500  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Black  River,  opposite  to  Kingston ;  and  600  to 
Champlain,  in  consequence  of  the  hostile  appearances 
in  Canada.  Mr.  Foster  is  of  opinion  the  government 
of  the  United  States  calculates  that  something  will 
happen  on  the  part  of  these  men  to  produce  a  quarrel 
with  the  British  troops,  which  may  lead  to  retaliation 
on  both  sides,  and  occasion  hostilities  to  commence, 
as  in  this  way  alone,  it  seems  thought,  an  unjust  war 


172  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

can  be  forced  on  the  American  people,  who  are  repre 
sented  as  really  averse  to  it.  We  must,  therefore, 
use  every  effort  in  our  power  to  prevent  any  collision 
from  taking  place  between  our  forces  and  the  Ame 
rican. 

I  have  also  received  information  that  the  American 
garrison  at  Fort  Chicago,  not  exceeding  60  men,  has 
been  ordered  to  Detroit,  in  consequence  of  apprehen 
sions  from  the  Indians. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  May  14,  1812. 

I  have  great  satisfaction  in  telling  you,  that  I  have 
reported  the  Glengary  light  infantry*  more  than 
complete  to  the  establishment  of  400  rank  and  file, 
and  have  received  Sir  George  Prevost's  commands  to 
recruit  for  a  higher  establishment ;  indeed,  the  quotas 
the  officers  have  engaged  to  fulfil  will  nearly  amount 
to  double  that  number ;  and  from  the  very  great  suc 
cess  that  has  attended  our  exertions,  I  have  no  doubt 
of  succeeding  by  the  end  of  this  year.  Two  officers 
have  divided  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  for 
their  hunting  ground,  and  are  permitted  to  recruit 
Acadians;  and  Lieutenant  Ronald  M'Donnell,  of  the 
Canadians,  proceeds  in  a  few  days  to  Pictou  and  the 
highland  settlements  on  the  coast  and  gulf:  he  is  an 
officer  that  appears  to  be  eminently  qualified  for  that 
service,  and  he  is  sanguine  that  the  proffer  of  lands  in 
the  Scotch  settlements  of  Upper  Canada  will  induce 
great  numbers  to  enter.  I  am  assured  from  various 
channels  that  the  men  I  have  got  are  generally  young, 
rather  too  much  so,  and  of  a  good  description,  there 
being  very  few  Yankees  amongst  them. 

I  have  long  letters  from  my  friends  at  home,  giving 
me  a  detailed  account  of  the  death  of  my  excellent 

*  On  the  27th  of  May,  1813,  near  Fort  George,  the  Glengary  regiment 
had  1  captain,  l  ensign,  l  sergeant,  24  rank  and  file,  killed ;  1  captain,  1 
lieutenant,  l  ensign,  3  sergeants,  20  rank  and  file,  wounded}  1  lieutenant, 
2  sergeants,  23  rank  and  file,  wounded  and  missing. 


SIB  ISAAC    BROCK.  173 

and  best  of  friends  :  the  duke  of  York  sat  by  his  bed 
side  for  half  an  hour  the  day  before  he  died,  and, 
Somerville  says,  was  extremely  affected.  Sir  James, 
(Craig,)  on  the  contrary,  rallied  from  the  pleasure  he 
had  experienced  from  this  condescending  kindness. 
Sir  James  had  a  codicil  written  fair  for  his  signature, 
the  chief  object  of  which  was  to  add  a  legacy  for  a 
female  cousin  whom  he  did  not  know  to  be  in  exis 
tence,  and  to  direct  the  sale  of  the  priory  and  freehold, 
which  cost  12,000  guineas,  to  enable  the  payment  of 
the  legacies :  this  instrument,  not  having  been  exe 
cuted,  will  lead  to  what  he  most  deprecated  and 
wished  to  avoid,  a  lawsuit.  The  heirs  at  law  will 
possess  the  freehold ;  andWilkie,  who,  besides  .£6,000, 
is  left  the  two  houses  in  London,  furniture,  &c.,  as 
residuary  legatee,  will  be  stripped  of  the  whole  that  is 
not  given  by  special  bequest,  to  make  up  the  legacies  : 
he  will  however,  I  believe,  have  at  least  .£10,000  left 
— very  ample  payment  for  his  services. 

Sir  George  has  announced  his  intention  of  recom 
mending  Battersby  to  be  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
Glengary  corps,  and  ordered  him  to  take  the  com 
mand  of  the  recruits  assembled  at  Three  Rivers. 
Your  major  of  brigade*  will  be  recommended  to  suc 
ceed  to  his  majority  in  the  king's  regiment. 

Major- General  Srock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  May  16,  1812. 

I  have  this  day  been  honored  with  your  excellency's 
confidential  communication,  dated  the  30th  ultimo. 

I  have  long  since  thought  that  nothing  but  the 
public  voice  restrained  the  United  States  government 
from  commencing  direct  hostilities ;  and  it  is  but 
reasonable  to  expect  that  they  will  seek  every  oppor 
tunity  to  influence  the  minds  of  the  people  against 
England,  in  order  to  bring  them  the  more  readily  into 

*  The  present  Major-General  Thomas  Evans,  C.B.,  then  a  captain  of  the 


174  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

their  measures.  It  will  be  my  study  to  guard  against 
every  event  that  can  give  them  any  just  cause  of  com 
plaint  ;  but  the  proximity  of  the  two  countries  will  in 
all  probability  produce  collisions  which,  however 
accidentally  brought  about,  will  be  represented  as  so 
many  acts  of  aggression.  It  would  not  surprise  me  if 
their  first  attempt  to  excite  irritation  were  the  seizing 
of  the  islands  in  the  channel,  to  which  both  countries 
lay  claim  :  such  was  represented  to  Sir  James  Craig 
on  a  former  occasion  to  be  their  intention. 

In  addition  to  the  force  specified  by  your  excel 
lency,  I  understand  that  six  companies  of  the  Ohio 
militia  are  intended  for  Detroit.  Our  interests  with 
the  Indians  will  materially  suffer,  in  consequence  of 
these  extensive  preparations  being  allowed  to  proceed 
with  impunity.  I  have  always  considered  that  the 
reduction  of  Detroit  would  be  a  signal  for  a  cordial 
co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  Indians;  and  if  we  be 
not  in  sufficient  force  to  effect  this  object,  no  reliance 
ought  to  be  placed  in  them. 

About  forty  regulars  were  last  week  added  to  the 
garrison  of  Niagara,  and  by  all  accounts  barracks  are 
to  be  immediately  constructed  at  Black  Rock,  almost 
opposite  Fort  Erie,  for  a  large  force. 

I  returned  three  days  ago  from  an  excursion  to 
Fort  Erie — the  Grand  River,  where  the  Indians  of 
the  Six  Nations  are  settled — and  back  by  the  head  of 
the  lake.  Every  gentleman,  with  whom  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  conversing,  assured  me  that  an  exceed 
ingly  good  disposition  prevailed  among  the  people. 
The  flank  companies,  in  the  districts  in  which  they 
have  been  established,  were  instantly  completed  with 
volunteers,  and  indeed  an  almost  unanimous  disposi 
tion  to  serve  is  daily  manifested.  I  shall  proceed  to 
extend  this  system  now  I  have  ascertained  that  the 
people  are  so  well  disposed — but  my  means  are  very 
limited. 

I  propose  detaching  100  rank  and  file  of  the  41st 
regiment  to  Amherstburg.,  almost  immediately. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  175 

Major-General  Brock  to  the  Military  Secretary. 

YORK,  May  16,  1812. 

I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of  the 
19th  ultimo.  I  thought  Mr.  Gilmore  premature  in 
representing  to  Lieut. -Colonel  St.  George  the  neces 
sity  of  entering  into  contracts  for  the  purchase  of 
flour  and  pork,  and  stated  my  opinion  accordingly ; 
but  I  did  not  imagine  that  the  directions  I  gave  for 
the  purchase  of  Indian  corn  could  be  considered  as 
authorizing  and  justifying  the  measure. 

It  was  far  from  my  intention  to  recommend  that 
any  officer  of  the  Indian  department  should  possess 
an  unrestrained  power  in  the  issue  of  provisions ; 
but  I  thought  that  partial  issues,  at  the  discretion  of 
the  head  at  Fort  George  and  Amherstburg,  such  as 
Lieut.-Governor  Gore  sanctioned,  might  be  continued 
without  risk  or  detriment  to  the  service.  The  case 
stands  thus  :  an  hour  is  fixed  by  the  commander  of 
the  post  for  the  issue  of  presents  and  provisions,  his 
other  avocations  naturally  precluding  his  further  at 
tendance  during  the  day,  unless  something  very  extra 
ordinary  should  arise.  Such  Indians,  therefore,  as 
arrive  after  that  time,  must  either  go  without  food,  or 
be  supplied  by  the  officers  of  the  department  at  their 
own  cost.  To  obviate  this  individual  inconvenience 
the  order  was  given.  I  have  not  unfrequently  wit 
nessed  every  morsel  of  pork  in  Mr.  Glaus'  house 
consumed  by  the  subsequent  arrival  of  Indians  ;  and 
he  would  forfeit  every  claim  to  their  good  will  if  he 
allowed  them  to  rest  without  a  meal.  I  have  been 
thus  prolix,  as  I  am  unwilling  that  the  commander  of 
the  forces  should  think  I  ever  proposed  that  which 
was  unreasonable,  or  likely  to  involve,  by  removing 
every  degree  of  control,  the  safety  of  the  troops. 


176  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  May  21,  1812. 

Sir  George  has  allowed  me  to  make  the  following 
extracts  from  a  dispatch  of  Mr.  Foster's,  dated  the 
28th  April,  which  I  do  in  the  minister's  own  words  : 
"  The  American  government  affect  now  to  have  taken 
every  step  incumbent  on  the  executive  as  preparatory 
to  war,  and  leave  the  ultimate  decision  to  congress, 
as  vested  by  the  constitution  in  that  body,  which  is 
fluctuating  as  the  sea :  there  is  a  great  party  in  the 
house  of  representatives  for  war,  composed  principally 
of  the  western  and  southern  states — members  who 
have  little  to  lose,  and  may  gain,  while  the  northern 
and  eastern  states  are  vehement  against  it.  The  em 
bargo  seems  to  have  been  resolved  upon,  because  at 
the  moment  they  did  not  know  what  else  to  do.  The 
cabinet  wished  only  sixty  days — the  senate  made  it 
ninety.  Our  government  leaves  no  room  to  expect  a 
repeal  of  the  order  in  council,  yet  they  wait  for  the 
return  of  the  Hornet.  Something  decisive  must  then 
be  known ;  perhaps  when  they  become  completely 
convinced  of  Bonaparte's  playing  upon  them,  it  will 
end  in  declaring  against  France.  The  question  of 
adjournment  was  lost,  notwithstanding  there  was  an 
absolute  majority  known  a  few  minutes  before  in  its 
favor.  The  ruling  party  are  split  into  many  ;  the  old 
revolutionists,  jealous  of  younger  men  taking  a  lead. 
The  army  cannot,  I  conceive,  soon  be  filled  up — they 
get  few  recruits." 

You  will  have  heard,  long  ere  you  receive  this,  that 
the  49th  regiment  is  ordered  home ;  the  41st  are  by 
the  same  authority  to  return  to  Europe,  but  Sir 
George  will  not,  under  existing  circumstances,  at 
tempt  to  relieve  the  posts  in  Upper  Canada,  so  that 
there  will  be  no  immediate  change  in  your  quarter. 
Sir  George  regrets  that  he  has  not  field  officers  of  the 
description  you  require  to  command  at  Kingston  and 
Amherstburg.  The  only  prospect  of  relief  in  that 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  177 

respect  which  he  has  in  view,  is  from  the  arrival  of 
the  absent  inspecting  field  officers. 

The  arrangement  you  propose  respecting  the  unfor 
tunate  delinquents  of  the  41st  regiment,  will  perfectly 
meet  the  approbation  of  Sir  George,  who  approved  of 
your  not  forwarding  the  resignation  of  the  younger 
members,  or  indeed  of  any,  if  they  are  worthy  of  con 
sideration.* 

Kempt  has  brought  his  name  into  notice  in  the  as 
sault  of  La  Picurina,  an  outwork  at  Badajoz,  where 
he  commanded,  being  on  duty  in  the  trenches.  The 
Glengary  levy  goes  on  swimmingly. 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major-  General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  May  27,  1812. 

I  was  much  pleased  to  find,  by  your  letter  of  the 
22d  ultimo,  you  had  taken  precautions  to  prevent  any 
act  occurring  within  your  control  that  should  afford 
the  government  of  the  United  States  a  legitimate  pre 
text  to  add  to  the  clamour  artfully  raised  by  it  against 
England. 

The  circumstance  which  happened  to  the  guard 
stationed  opposite  to  Queenstown,  arrived  here  much 
exaggerated.  Your  account  of  it  silenced  the  idle 
reports  in  circulation. 

I  agree  with  you  in  deploring  the  limitation,  until 
the  end  of  the  ensuing  session,  in  the  operation  of  the 
militia  act  for  Upper  Canada ;  but  as  in  the  event  of 
hostilities  it  might  not  be  possible  to  convene  the 
legislature,  then  the  bill  would  in  all  probability  con 
tinue  in  force  during  the  war,  provided  you  were  not 
induced  to  make  an  exertion  for  a  more  perfect  law. 

*  We  learn  from  the  United  Service  Magazine  for  March,  1846,  p.  444r 
that  some  young  officers  of  the  4 1st,  having  indulged  at  Fort  George  to  a 
late  hour  at  the  mess  table,  got  into  a  squabble  amongst  themselves, 
which  was  of  course  reported  to  General  Brock.  The  offence  was  visited 
by  the  expulsion  of  one  or  two,  and  a  severe  reprimand  to  the  remainder. 
But  judging  from  the  above  letter,  the  general  seems  to  have  acted  with 
every  possible  forbearance. 

T* 


178  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Colonel  Baynes  having  informed  me  he  had  an 
opportunity  of  communicating  with  you  more  expedi- 
tiously  than  by  post,  I  desired  him  to  make  you 
acquainted  with  the  peaceful  intelligence  I  had  just 
received  from  Mr.  Foster ;  but  although  it  comes 
with  a  good  deal  of  reservation,  still  it  warrants  me  in 
recommending  the  most  rigid  economy  in  carrying 
on  the  king's  service,  and  in  avoiding  all  expense  that 
has  not  become  absolutely  necessary,  as  it  is  with  the 
utmost  difficulty  money  can  be  raised  for  the  ordinary 
service. 

I  am  apprehensive  that  I  cannot  look  forward  to  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you  before  the  end  of  August,  as 
mv  presence  in  the  province  is  become  indispensably 
necessary  during  the  first  operation  of  the  new  militia 
law. 

Many  thanks  for  the  particulars  of  the  transaction 
which  led  to  the  censure  passed  by  the  house  of  as 
sembly  on  Chief  Justice  Scott. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  1/9 


CHAPTER    VII. 


It  will  be  assisting  the  reader,  ere  we  proceed  to 
detail  the  operations  at  the  commencement  of  hostili 
ties,  to  give  a  brief  description,  not  only  of  the  lakes 
and  straits  which  constitute  the  water  boundaries  of 
Upper  Canada,  and  of  the  towns  and  military  posts 
distributed  along  them,  as  existing  in  the  year  1812, 
but  also  of  the  territory  of  Michigan,  which  was  sur 
rendered,  with  Detroit,  to  Major-General  Brock. 
The  distances  are  given  in  British  statute  miles. 

The  most  remote  piece  of  water  on  this  frontier 
worthy  of  notice  is  Lake  Superior,  a  body  of  fresh 
water  unequalled  by  any  upon  the  face  of  the  globe. 
Lake  Superior  is  of  a  triangular  form  ;  in  length  370, 
in  breadth  160,  and  in  circumference  about  1,550 
miles.  The  water  is  nearly  800  feet  deep,  so  that  its 
bottom  is  about  170  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
Atlantic.  It  contains  five  large  islands,  one  of  which, 
Isle  Royale,  is  said  to  be  nearly  100  miles  long  by  40 
broad.  The  lake  is  well  stored  with  fish,  particu 
larly  trout,  white  fish,  and  sturgeon.  Out  of  Lake 
Superior  a  very  rapid  current  flows,  over  immense 
masses  of  rock,  along  a  channel  of  40  miles  in  length, 
called  St.  Mary's  River,  into  Lake  Huron,  at  the 
head  of  which  is  the  British  island  of  St.  Joseph, 
containing  a  small  garrison.  This  isolated  post  is 
distant  about  350  miles  by  water  from  Amherstburg, 
which  contained  the  nearest  British  garrison. 

Lake  Huron  is  in  length,  from  west  to  east,  220 
miles ;  in  breadth,  200,  and  in  circumference,  through 


180  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

its  numerous  curvatures,  about  1,100  miles.  It  is  in 
many  parts  450  feet  in  depth.  Except  the  island  of 
St.  Joseph,  and  one  or  two  trading  establishments 
belonging  to  the  north-west  company,  the  shores  of 
this  lake  were  in  a  state  of  nature,  or  inhabited  only 
by  Indians.  When  the  Americans  were  allowed  to 
obtain  the  dominion  of  Lake  Erie,  which  they  did  in 
1813,  it  was  determined  at  the  close  of  the  following 
year  to  create  a  naval  force  on  Lake  Huron  in  the 
ensuing  season,  (1815,)  as  possessing  much  greater 
security  for  the  construction  of  vessels  than  Lake 
Erie,  where  the  enemy  could  at  any  time  destroy 
them,  in  the  same  manner  as  their  vessels  ought  to 
have  been  previously  destroyed  by  the  British.  Lake 
Michigan,  which,  lies  wholly  within  the  United  States, 
is  connected  with  Lake  Huron  at  its  western  ansjle 
by  a  strait  6  miles  long  by  4  miles  wide,  in  the 
centre  of  which  is  the  island  of  Michilimackinac, 
(usually  called  Mackinaw  by  the  Americans,)  be 
longing  to  the  United  States,  and  forming  an  excel 
lent  point  d'appui  for  military  or  naval  operations 
in  that  quarter.  This  island  is  about  3  miles  long 
and  9  miles  in  circumference,  and,  like  St.  Joseph, 
its  British  neighbour,  it  possessed  a  small  fort  and 
garrison.  Michilimackinac  is  very  beautiful,  and, 
when  seen  from  a  distance,  has  the  form  of  a  turtle 
sleeping  on  the  water.*  It  possesses  now  no  large  or 
lofty  timber,  but  a  perpetual  succession  of  low,  rich 
groves.  There  is  on  the  eastern  coast  a  natural  arch 
or  bridge,  where  the  waters  of  the  lake  have  under 
mined  the  rock,  and  left  a  fragment  thrown  across  a 
chasm  200  feet  high.  By  the  treaty  of  the  19th  of 
November,  1794,  Michilimackinac,  Detroit,  Fort 

*  "  The  land,  in  the  centre  of  this  island,  is  high,  and  its  form  some 
what  resembles  that  of  a  turtle's  back.  Mackinac,  or  Mickinac,  signifies 
a  turtle,  and  michi  (mishi),  or  missi,  signifies  great,  as  it  does  also,  several, 
or  many.  The  common  interpretation  of  the  word  Michilimackinac,  is 
the  Great  Turtle." — Henry's  Travels  and  Adventures  in  Canada  and  the 
Indian  Territories,  between  the  years  1760  and  177^. 

In  Henry's  time,  fort  Michilimackinac  was  situated  on  a  strait,  and 
distant  about  two  leagues  from  the  island  of  the  same  name. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  181 

Miami,  Fort  Niagara,  and  Oswego,.  were  ceded  to 
the  Americans,  as  within  the  boundary  lines  assigned 
by  the  treaty  of  peace  to  the  United  States ;  and 
they  were  given  up  in  1796,  when  Michilimackinac 
was  strengthened  and  garrisoned  by  a  detachment  of 
General  Wayne's  army.  While  in  the  possession  of 
the  British,  this  island  was  the  general  rendezvous  of 
the  North-West  traders,  and  the  Indians  they  supplied. 
Here  the  outfits  were  furnished  for  the  countries  of 
Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississipi,  Lake  Superior, 
and  the  North -West ;  and  here  the  returns  of  furs 
were  collected  and  embarked  for  Montreal.  Lake 
Huron  flows  through  the  river  St.  Clair,  which  is  in 
length  about  33  miles,  into  Lake  St.  Clair,  a  small 
circular  lake  30  miles  in  diameter.  At  the  entrance 
of  the  river  St.  Clair,  the  Americans  have  now  a 
fort  (Gratiot)  and  garrison  ;  and  it  is  only  recently 
(1845)  that  orders  have  been  given  to  fortify  Port 
Sarnia.,*  on  the  opposite  or  British  side.  The  beau 
tiful  river  Thames,  in  Upper  Canada,  opens  into 
Lake  St.  Clair,  and  it  was  along  the  banks  of  this 
river  that  Major-General  Proctor  retreated  in  1813. 
From  Lake  St.  Clair,  the  stream,  through  the  De 
troit,  navigable  for  vessels  not  drawing  more  than 
fourteen  feet  water,  pursues  a  course  of  29  miles  into 
Lake  Erie.f 

Upon  the  western  side  of  the  Detroit  is  situate  the 
American  town  of  that  name.  Within  4  miles  below 
Detroit,  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  strait,  is  the 
British  village  of  Sandwich,  then  containing  scarcely 
fifty  houses ;  and  16  miles  lower,  and  3  from  the 
termination  of  the  strait,  is  the  British  village  of 
Amherstburg,  then  containing  about  one  hundred 
houses,  and  a  fort  where  a  small  garrison  was  main 
tained,  arid  where  the  principal  vessels  for  the  service 

*  Sarnia  is  the  ancient  name  of  the  island  of  Guernsej',  and  the  Upper 
Canadian  Sarnia  was  so  named  by  Sir  John  Colborne,  (the  present  Lord 
Seaton,)  who  was  formerly  lieutenant-governor  of  Guernsey. 

t  "  The  mouth  of  the  Detroit  river,  in  which  there  are  several  islands, 
forms  a  safe  and  commodious  harbour."— Howison's  Upper  Canada. 


182  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

of  Lake  Erie  were  constructed.  The  fort,  which 
was  never  completed,  was  above  the  town,  and  most 
injudiciously  placed.  The  proper  site  for  the  fortifi 
cations  is  the  island  of  Bois  Blanc,  immediately 
opposite  to  Amherstburg,  as  this  island  commands 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  the  channel  on  either 
side.  In  the  event  of  another  war,  or  preparatory  to 
it,  this  island  should  be  fortified,  as  a  battery  at  each 
end  would  prevent  the  American  vessels  from  passing 
up  and  down  the  river.*  The  American  village  of 
Brownstown  stands  nearly  opposite  to  Amherstburg, 
which  is  distant  from  Quebec  by  the  nearest  route 
fully  800  miles,  from  Fort  Erie*  about  250  miles, 
and  from  York  310  miles,  all  by  water. 

Lake  Erie,  from  Miamis  Bay  to  the  entrance  of 
the  straits  of  Niagara,  is  in  length  257  miles,  in 
breadth  64,  and  in  circumference  about  700  miles. 
The  average  depth  of  water  is  not  more  than  seventy 
feet,  but  a  very  rocky  bottom  renders  the  anchorage 
unsafe  in  blowing  weather.  Except  Amherstburg, 
the  British  had  no  harbour  or  naval  depot  upon  Lake 
Erie,  while  the  Americans  had  two  or  three  excellent 
ones.  Presqu'ile  harbour  is  situate  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  lake,  not  far  from  the  entrance  to  the 
Niagara.  It  is  a  safe  station,  but  has  a  seven  feet 
bar  at  its  entrance,  as  indeed  have  all  the  other  har 
bours  on  this  lake.  The  town,  named  Erie,  is  situate 
on  the  south  side  of  the  harbour,  and  contains  a  dock 
yard,  in  which  the  Americans  built  their  Lake  Erie 
fleet.  To  the  eastward  of  the  town  stands  a  strong 
battery,  and  on  the  point  of  the  Peninsula  forming 
the  harbour,  a  block-house,  for  the  protection  of  this 
naval  depot.  The  rivers  Raisin,  Sandusky,  and 
Miami,  (or  Maumee,)  the  scenes  of  important  opera 
tions  during  the  war,  discharge  themselves  into  Lake 
Erie. 

On  the  north-western  side  of  the  entrance  to  the 
Niagara  river  stood,  at  a  distance  of  560  miles  from 

*  United  Service  Magazine,  June,  1845. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  183 

Quebec,  the  British  fort  Erie,  at  best  a  very  incon 
siderable  work.*  Near  to  the  same  outlet  from  Lake 
Erie  is  Buffalo  Creek,  on  the  border  of  which  is 
built  the  American  village  of  Buifalo ;  and  about 
2  miles  beyond  it,  Black  Rock,  where  there  was  a 
battery,  and  a  ferry,  about  800  yards  across,  to 
Bertie,  in  Upper  Canada.  The  Niagara  proceeds  at 
a  quick  rate  past  several  small  and  one  large  island, 
called  Grande  Isle,  10  miles  long ;  about  2  miles 
below  which,  on  the  American  side,  and  distant 
2  miles  from  the  Falls,  is  the  site  of  Fort  Schlosser. 
At  about  the  same  distance  from  the  Falls,  on  the 
opposite  side,  standing  on  the  northern  bank  of  the 
river  Chippawah,+  is  the  British  village  of  the  same 
name,  distant  from  Fort  Erie  17  miles.  Chippawah 
consisted  chiefly  of  storehouses ;  and  near  it  was  a 
small  stockaded  work,  called  Fort  Chippawah.  At 
the  distance  of  23  miles  from  the  entrance  to  the 
Niagara,  is  Goat  Island,  about  half  a  mile  long,  and 
which  extends  to  the  precipice  that  gives  rise  to  the 
celebrated  Falls.  The  larger  body  of  water  flows 
between  Upper  Canada  and  Goat  Island,  at  the  upper 
end  of  which  island  the  rapids,  or  broken  water, 
commence.  Here  the  stream  passes  on  both  sides  of 
the  island,  over  a  bed  of  rocks  and  precipices,  with 
astonishing  rapidity ;  till,  having  descended  more 
than  fifty  feet  in  the  distance  of  half  a  mile,  it  falls, 
on  the  British  side  157,  and  on  the  New  York  side 
162,  feet  perpendicularly.  The  roar  of  the  waters 
can  sometimes  be  heard  at  thedistar.ee  of  forty  miles. 
From  the  cataract,  the  river  is  a  continued  rapid, 
half  a  mile  in  width,  for  about  7  miles.  At  this 
point  stand,  opposite  to  each  other,  the  villages  of 
Queenstown  and  Lewistown.  The  latter,  situate  upon 
the  American  side,  contained,  till  destroyed  as  a 
retaliatory  measure,  between  forty  and  fifty  houses. 

*  There  is  at  present  no  defence  or  military  station  at  Fort  Erie,  and 
the  position  has  been  abandoned  for  many  years, 
t  Chippawah  is  the  English  corruption  of  the  Indian  tribe  Ojibwah. 


184  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

At  abont  six  miles  and  a  half  from  Queenstown,  near 
to  the  river  side,  stood  Fort  George,  then  constructed 
of  earthen  ramparts  and  palisades  of  cedar,  and 
mounting  no  heavier  metal  than  9-pounders.  It  was 
a  low  square  fort,  without  tower  or  block-house  of  any 
description,  excepting  log,  loop-holed  barracks  ;  and 
it  was  so  badly  placed,  that  it  could  be  enfiladed 
upon  every  face  by  the  enemy's  shot.*  About  half  a 
mile  below  Fort  George,  and  close  to  the  borders  of 
Lake  Ontario,  stood  the  beautiful  and  flourishing 
town  of  Niagara,  or  Newark,  which  was  burnt  by  the 
Americans,  and  which,  before  York  was  built,  was 
the  seat  of  government  for  the  province. 

Directly  opposite  to  Niagara,  or  Newark,  upon  a 
neck  of  land  projecting  partly  across  the  mouth  of 
the  river,  which  is  here  875  yards  in  width,  stands 
the  American  fort  Niagara,  the  scene  of  so  many 
conflicts.  It  was  built  by  the  French  in  1751 ;  f 
taken  by  the  English  in  1759 ;  J  and  delivered  to  the 
United 'States  in  1796.  Fort  Niagara,  unlike  any  of 
the  Canadian  forts  along  that  frontier,  was  a  regular 
fortification,  built  of  stone  on  the  land  side,  with 
breast  works,  and  every  necessary  appendage.  It 
mounted  between  twenty  and  thirty  heavy  pieces  of 
ordnance,  and  contained  a  furnace  for  heating  shot.§ 

*  Fort  George  is  now  in  a  very  delapidated  state,  and  can  scarcely  be 
said  to  be  upheld  as  a  military  post,  although  a  few  soldiers  are  still 
quartered  in  it. 

t  According  to  Knox,  (London,  1/69,)  Beatson,  (London,  I/pO,)  and 
James;  but  according  to  Buckingham,  in  1/25.  There  was  probably  a 
French  trading  post  at  Niagara  even  earlier  than  the  last  named  period, 
and  it  was  probably  secured  by  pickets  or  other  defences. 

t  Brigadier  Prideaux,  commanding  the  besieging  army,  was  killed  on 
the  IQth  July,  while  walking  in  the  trenches,  by  a  cohorn  shot,  "care 
lessly  by  his  own  gunner,"  and  was  the  first  British  general  officer  slain 
in  Canada.  The  French  garrison,  consisting  of  between  6  and  700  men, 
was  sent  to  New  York. 

§  A  little  tract  published  in  1757,  speaking  of  Niagara,  says : 
"  Niagara  commands,  in  a  manner,  all  the  interior  parts  of  North 
America,  and  is  a  key,  as  it  were,  to  that  whole  continent  —  opens  or 
obstructs  a  communication  with  all  the  natives  of  North  America,  the  Six 
Nations,  Ohios,  Shawanees,  Miamis,  Twightwies,  Illinois,  Pontewatimis, 
Nadouessians,  Hurons,  Utawas,  Messesagues,  and  many  others  —  awes 
and  commands  all  those  people  —  lies  in  the  midst  of  the  extensive  terri- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  185 

The  strait  of  Niagara  is  about  35  miles  in  length  ; 
and  its  shores,  on  both  sides,  were,  more  or  less,  the 
scenes  of  active  warfare  during  the  whole  period  of 
hostilities.  Lake  Ontario,  to  which  the  strait  leads, 
is  in  length,  from  west  to  east,  185,  in  breadth  50, 
and  in  circumference  460  miles.  The  depth  of  water 
varies  much,  it  being  in  some  places  three  or  four,  in 
others  fifty  fathoms  :  towards  the  centre,  it  is  about 
600  feet,  or  100  fathoms  in  depth.  York  harbour 
lies  on  the  north  side  of  Lake  Ontario ;  is  nearly 
circular,  of  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  diameter,  and 
formed  by  a  narrow  peninsula  extending  to  Gibraltar 
Point,  upon  which  a  block-house  has  been  erected. 
The  town  of  York,  (now  called  Toronto,)  the  infant 
capital  of  Upper  Canada,  is  in  lat.  43°  40'  north,  and 
long.  78°  30'  west,  and  is  distant  from  Fort  George 
by  water  about  30  miles.  The  public  buildings  con 
sisted  of  a  government  house,  the  house  of  assembly, 
a  church,  court-house,  and  a  gaol,  with  numerous 
stores  belonging  to  government.  In  the  spring  of 
1794,  when  the  site  was  fixed  upon  for  building  the 
new  capital,  the  spot  contained  a  solitary  Indian 
wigwam,  and  was  covered  by  a  dense  forest.  In  six 
years  from  that  time,  Yrork  had  assumed  a  respect 
able  appearance,  although  in  1812  it  did  not  contain 
above  800  inhabitants.  In  1845,  the  population  ex 
ceeded  20,000. 

Kingston  harbour  is  situate  at  the  eastern  extremity 
of  Lake  Ontario.      It  contains   good   anchorage  in 

tories  of  the  Six  Nations,  and  commands  their  beaver  country  entirely  — 
secures  their  fur  trade,  and  all  the  other  inland  trade  of  North  America. 
"  It  commands  all  the  great  lakes,  and  secures  the  navigation  of  them, 
that  extends  12  or  1,300  miles  —  prevents  or  secures  the  junction  of  the 
two  French  colonies  in  Canada  and  Louisiana  —  cuts  off  or  maintains 
their  passage  to  the  river  Ohio,  Mississipi,  Lake  Erie,  le  Detroit,  Sandoski, 
Miamis,  Fort  St.  Joseph,  Illinois,  Kaskaskis,  &c.  —  stops  the  farther  pro 
gress  of  the  English  or  of  the  French  (whichever  are  possessed  of  it)  in 
North  America  —  lays  our  colonies  open  to  the  inroads  and  incursions 
both  of  the  French  and  Indians  —  whilst  it  would  secure  them  from  both 
in  our  hands  —  and  unite  the  frontiers  of  our  northern  and  southern  colo 
nies  together,  for  their  mutual  defence  and  security,  which  might  all  be 
secured  by  this  one  place,  while  they  could  not  by  many  hundreds 
without  it." 


186  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

three  fathoms  water,  and  was  defended  by  a  small 
battery  of  9-pounders  on  Mississaga  Point,  and  ano 
ther,  of  the  same  metal  chiefly,  on  Point  Frederick. 
The  town,  which  was  the  largest  and  most  populous 
in  the  Upper  Province,  contained  about  370  houses, 
including  several  buildings  and  stores  belonging  to 
government.  Its  direct  distance  from  York  is  155  ; 
from  Montreal,  in  an  opposite  direction,  195 ;  and 
from  Quebec  375  miles.  Opposite  to,  and  distant 
about  half  a  mile  from,  the  town,  is  a  long  low 
peninsula,  forming  the  west  side  of  Navy  Bay,  the 
principal  naval  depot  of  the  British  on  this  lake,  and 
where  the  ships  of  war  were  constructed. 

Of  the  American  military  posts  on  Lake  Ontario, 
the  principal  one  is  Sackett's  Harbour,  distant  from 
Kingston,  by  the  ship  channel,  35  miles.  The  har 
bour  is  formed  by  a  peninsula  of  limestone  rock,  in 
many  places  not  more  than  one  rod  wide,  which 
perfectly  shelters  a  sheet  of  water  containing  about 
ten  acres.  From  the  north-west  runs  out  a  low  point 
of  land,  upon  which  was  the  dock  yard  with  large 
storehouses,  and  all  the  buildings  requisite  for  such 
an  establishment.  Upon  this  point  there  was  a  strong 
work  called  Fort  Tompkins,  having  within  it  a  block 
house  two  stories  high  :  on  the  land  side  it  was 
covered  by  a  strong  picketing,  in  which  there  were 
embrasures ;  at  the  bottom  of  the  harbour  was  the 
village,  containing  about  seventy  houses  ;  and,  to  the 
southward  of  it,  a  large  barrack,  capable  of  contain 
ing  2,000  men,  and  generally  occupied  by  the  marines 
belonging  to  the  fleet.  Towards  the  middle  of  1814, 
there  were  three  additional  works,  Fort  Virginia, 
Fort  Chauncey,  and  Fort  Kentucky,  as  well  as  seve 
ral  new  block-houses ;  and  the  guns  then  mounted 
upon  the  different  forts  exceeded  sixty.* 

The  great  Canadian  lakes  lie  in  four  terraces,  dif 
fering  in  elevation,  of  which  Lake  Superior  occupies 

*  James'  Military  Occurrences  of  the  late  War  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  2  vols.    London,  1818. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  187 

the  highest,  its  surface  being  627  feet  above  the  sea 
level.  The  second  terrace  contains  Lakes  Michigan 
and  Huron,  which  are  595  feet  above  the  sea  level. 
Lake  Erie  is  on  a  terrace  only  30  feet  lower,  but 
Lake  Ontario  is  330  feet  lower  than  Lake  Erie,  its 
surface  being  only  234  feet  above  the  sea.  These 
lakes,  as  already  stated,  are  connected  by  narrow 
channels ;  but  it  is  only  the  channel  between  Lake 
Huron  and  Lake  Erie  that  is  navigable,  as  the  bed  of 
this  channel  descends  only  30  feet  in  90  miles.  These 
inland  seas  are  never  entirely  frozen  over,  and  the 
islands  with  which  they  abound,  as  well  as  their 
shores,  afford  convenient  harbours  for  those  who 
navigate  them,  and  they  will  one  day  be  the  scenes  of 
an  active  commerce,  and  probably  of  fierce  contests 
for  naval  supremacy  or  maritime  rights.* 

The  greatest  length  of  the  Michigan  territory,  from 
south-east  to  north-west,  is  500  miles,  and  its  whole 
area  is  estimated  at  59,700  square  miles.  The  lake 
coast  has  been  computed  at  1,400  miles.  The  country 
was  then  chiefly  in  the  possession  of  the  Indians,  and 
the  white  population  amounted  by  the  previous  cen 
sus  to  about  5,000.  It  is  bounded  on  the  south  by 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  includes  two  peninsulas  of 
unequal  size,  in  addition  to  which  are  numerous 
islands,  constituent  parts  of  the  territory.  The 
most  important  of  these  islands  is  Michilimackinac, 
already  described.  Detroit,  the  chief  town  of  the 
territory,  is  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  strait, 
10  miles  below  Lake  St.  Clair  and  28  miles  above 
Lake  Erie,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  places  in  Canada, 
having  been  settled  by  the  French  in  the  year  1/02. 
It  then  contained  above  two  hundred  houses,  many 
of  brick,  and  upwards  of  1,200  inhabitants.  In  the 
rear  of  the  fort  was  an  extensive  common,  skirted  by 
boundless  and  almost  impenetrable  forests.  We  learn 
from  Morse's  American  Geography,  on  the  acknow 
ledged  authority  of  Governor  Hull,  that  Fort  Detroit, 

*  America  Geographically  Described.     London,  1845. 


188  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

in  1810,  was  a  regular  work  of  an  oblong  figure, 
"  covering  about  an  acre  of  ground.  The  parapets 
were  about  twenty  feet  in  height,  built  of  earth  and 
sods,  with  four  bastions,  the  whole  surrounded  with 
pallisadoes,  a  deep  ditch,  and  glacis.  It  stood  imme 
diately  back  of  the  town,  arid  had  strength  to  with 
stand  a  regular  siege,  but  did  not  command  the 
river."  And  as  the  American  government  had  been 
for  some  time  secretly  preparing  for  war,  it  may  be 
safely  inferred,  that  in  the  meanwhile  this  fort  had 
been  rather  strengthened  than  permitted  to  fall  to 
decay  ;  and  that  it  was  at  least  as  tenable  in  1812  as 
when  Governor  Hull,  two  years  before,  gave  the 
preceding  description  of  its  defences.  The  town  of 
Detroit  is  in  lat.  42°  15'  north,  and  long.  82°  33'  west, 
and  the  winters  are  comparatively  short. 

About  the  year  1763,  Detroit,  then  indeed  the  far 
west,  and  containing  a  garrison  of  300  men,  was 
nearly  captured  by  stratagem  by  Pontiac,  the  cele 
brated  Indian  chief  of  that  day,  who  waged  war 
against  the  British,  and  whose  alliance,  before  the 
capture  of  Quebec,  by  Wolfe,  in  1759,  was  anxiously 
courted  both  by  the  French  and  English. 


SIB    ISAAC    BROCK.  189 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


The  discussions  which  had  been  so  long  pending 
between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  as 
sumed,  during  the  winter  of  1811-12,  a  very  serious 
aspect.  But  many  did  not  believe  that  the  latter 
power  was  inclined  to  proceed  to  extremities ;  while 
others,  who  foresaw  that  it  only  awaited  a  favorable 
moment  to  invade  the  Canadas,  which  were  supposed 
ripe  for  revolt,  and  would  therefore  fall  an  easy 
conquest,  were  prepared  to  expect  what  soon  after 
followed,  a  declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain. 

As  this  was  not  the  first  time  that  the  American 
government  had  proceeded  to  menaces,  and  as  the 
northern  and  eastern  states  were  known  to  be  averse 
to  hostilities,  the  British  ministry,  unmindful  that 
coming  events  usually  cast  their  shadows  before 
them,  were  deluded  into  a  belief  that  peace  would 
yet  be  maintained.*  Mr.  Foster,  the  English  minister 
at  Washington,  seems  to  have  partaken  of  this  delu 
sion,  for  it  does  not  appear  that  he  had  taken  any 
precautionary  measures  to  convey  to  the  governor  of 
the  British  North  American  Provinces  the  earliest 
intelligence  of  the  declaration  of  war,  on  the  18th 
June,  1812 ;  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the  prudent 
foresight  of  the  agent  of  the  British  north-west  com 
pany  at  New  York,  who  sent  the  intelligence  by 
express,  it  is  possible  that  the  first  intimation  would 

*  See  post,  Sir  George  Prevost's  letter  to  Major-General  Brock,  Sep 
tember  14,  1812. 


190  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

have  been  received  from  the  mouths  of  the  American 
cannon.  To  Upper  Canada  Mr.  Foster  transmitted 
no  notice  whatever  of  the  war,  and  Major-General 
Brock  was  left  to  learn  it  officially  through  the  cir 
cuitous  and  dilatory  channel  of  the  governor-general. 
Happily,  individual  diligence  made  up  for  this  un 
pardonable  neglect;  and  the  war  was  known  by 
private  expresses  at  Montreal,  in  Lower,  and  at  Fort 
George,  in  Upper  Canada,  on  the  24th  of  June,  or 
in  six  days  after  its  declaration  at  Washington. 

At  this  period  the  exigencies  of  the  Peninsular 
war,  which  chiefly  depended  upon  English  arms  and 
English  money,  required  the  almost  undivided  atten 
tion  and  energies  of  the  British  ministry,  who  are 
thus  entitled  to  some  excuse  for  their  neglect  of 
North  American  affaf>s ;  but  they  will  still  remain 
amenable  to  tbcTcharge  of  having  been  guilty  of  the 
folly  of  too  much  despising  the  new  enemy  arrayed 
against  them  at  that  most  busy  and  critical  moment. 
The  want  of  a  sufficient  force  for  the  protection  of 
the  Canadas*  might  have  proved  fatal,  at  least  to  the 
Upper  Province,  had  not  Major-General  Brock,  from 
the  first  moment  of  being  placed  at  the  head  of  his 
government,  been  convinced  that  war  was  inevitable ; 
and  that  in  consequence  every  exertion  should  be 
used  to  place  the  province  in  as  respectable  a  state  of 
defence  as  his  very  limited  means  would  admit.  The 
instant  the  navigation  opened  in  the  spring,  a  supply 
of  ordnance  and  other  stores  was  hurried  up  to  fort 
St.  Joseph  ;  and  its  commandant,  Captain  Roberts, 
was  instructed  to  be  constantly  on  his  guard.  Similar 
precautions  were  adopted  relative  to  Amherstburg,  to 
which  post  Major-General  Brock  paid  a  visit  early  in 

*  At  this  time,  the  British  regular  force  in  the  Canadas  consisted  of  the 
8th,  4lst,  4Qth,  and  100th  regiments,  a  small  detachment  of  artillery,  the 
10th  Royal  Veteran  Battalion,  and  the  Canadian,  Newfoundland,  and 
Glengary  Fenciblesj  amounting,  in  the  whole,  to  4,450  men.  These  were 
distributed  along  the  different  posts  from  the  telegraph  station,  about  250 
miles  below  Quebec,  to  St.  Joseph's,  but  so  unequally  divided,  that,  in  the 
Upper  Province,  whose  front  extends  to  nearly  1,300  out  of  the  1,700 
miles,  there  were  but  1,450  men. — James1  Military  Occurrences, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  191 

June,  and  fortunately  took  with  him  a  reinforcement 
of  100  men  of  the  41st  regiment.  But  in  the  execu 
tion  of  his  plans  he  had  to  encounter  many  obstacles, 
among  which  the  subordinate  nature  of  his  command 
was  not  the  least  formidable.  Even  as  late  as  the  27th 
of  May,  Sir  George  Prevost  does  not  seem  to  have 
considered  hostilities  so  near,  as  on  that  day  he  re 
commended  to  Major-General  Brock  the  most  rigid 
economy  in  carrying  on  the  public  service,  and  in 
avoiding  all  expense  that  was  not  absolutely  necessary, 
on  the  plea  of  the  great  difficulty  of  raising  money. 
Sir  George  lias,  however,  been  wrongly  accused  of 
not  sending  any  instructions  whatever  to  Major-Gene 
ral  Brock  for  some  weeks  aft££~he  received*intimation 
of  the  war,  as  .he  did  so  from  Montreal  on  the  7th 
and  18th  of  July,^  or  in  less  than  a  fortnight  after 
wards  ;  but,  either  from  his  dispatches  not  being- 
transmitted  by  express,  or  from  some  other  unex 
plained  cause,  they  did  not  reach  their  destination 
until  the  20th  of  July,  or  exactly  five  weeks  after  the 
declaration  of  war  was  known  in  the  Upper  Province.* 
On  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities,  the  regular  force 
in  Upper  Canada  amounted  to  barely  1,500  men, 
including  seamen,  as  under  : 

41st  Regiment 900 

10th  Veterans 250 

Newfoundland  Regiment 250 

Royal  Artillery 50 

Provincial  Seamen. ., -j-rf/.f  50* ~ 

Total 1,500. 

This  force  had  to  occupy  the  forts  St.  Joseph, 
Amherstburg,  and  Chippawah  —  Fort  Erie  and  Fort 
George  —  and  York  and  Kingston — to  maintain  the 
superiority  on  the  lakes;  to  preserve  the  communica 
tion  and  escort  convoys  between  Coteau  de  Lac  and 
Kingston  ;  and  to  defend  an  assailable  frontier  of 

*  Now  intelligence  could  be  transmitted  from  Quebec  to  Toronto  in  five 
days  by  the  ordinary  post,  and  in  summer  in  three  days. 


192  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

nearly  800  miles,  reckoning  from  the  confines  of 
Lower  Canada  to  Amherstburg,  and  excluding  the 
British  coast  from  the  Detroit  to  Fort  St.  Joseph. 
With  this  very  inadequate  force,  it  was  the  opinion 
of  the  highest  authorities  that  the  country  could  not 
be  maintained.  Major- General  Brock  was  well 
aware  that,  in  carrying  the  war  along  so  extensive 
a  frontier,  uncovered  by  a  single  fortress  of  strength, 
and  with  such  a  handful  of  regular  troops,  he  could 
only  expect  success  in  the  aid  and  zealous  co-operation 
of  the  people,  whose  numbers  then,  it  is  believed,  did 
not  exceed  70,000.  But  the  province  had  long  been 
torn  by  intestine  disputes,  and  the  prevailing  faction — 
which  had  been  originally  established  by  one  of  the 
judges,  and  which  after  his  departure  was  fostered 
by  one  of  his  zealous  supporters— had  been  for  years 
hostile  to  the  measures  of  the  government.  We  have 
already  given  Major-General  Brock's  speech  to  the 
provincial  parliament,  on  his  meeting  it  for  the  first 
time ;  the  session,  although  obstructed  by  party  dis 
sensions  and  unlooked  -  for  opposition,  terminated 
better  than  was  anticipated,  as  the  rancorous  spirit  of 
many  was  subdued  by  his  frank  and  conciliatory 
demeanour ;  and  laws  were  passed  which  enabled 
him  to  organize  the  flank  companies  of  the  militia, 
unaccompanied,  however,  by  the  desired  oath  of 
abjuration,  so  as  to  exclude  settlers  from  the  United 
States  and  persons  of  doubtful  loyalty.  A  troop  of 
volunteer  cavalry  was  also  incorporated,  and  on  his 
return  to  York  from  Amherstburg,  about  the  20th  of 
June,  Major-General  Brock  was  gratified  by  the 
gratuitous  offer  of  horses  for  the  equipment  of  a  car 
brigade,  under  Captain  Holcroft,  of  the  royal  artil 
lery,  which  offer  he  gladly  accepted. 

Major-General  Brock  was  at  York  when  he  re 
ceived  intelligence  of  the  war — an  event  which  he 
had  long  anticipated,  and  which  therefore  did  not 
take  him  by  surprise.  A  few  hours  had  scarcely 
elapsed  before  the  two  companies  of  the  41st  regi- 


'SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  193 

ment,  in  garrison  at  York,  were  embarked  in  boats, 
and  dispatched  to  the  Niagara  frontier.  After  assem 
bling  his  council  and  summoning  an  extra  session  of 
the  legislature,  he  hastened  in  a  small  open  boat,* 
with  his  brigade  major,  Evans,  and  his  aide-de-camp, 
Captain  Glegg,  to  Fort  George,  on  the  Niagara  fron 
tier,  where  he  immediately  established  his  head  quar 
ters.  It  was  at  first  his  intention  to  capture  the 
opposite  American  fort  Niagara ;  but  the  high  respon 
sibility  he  was  about  to  assume,  of  acting  without 
instructions  or  an  official  communication,  being  re 
presented  to  him,  he  confined  himself  to  collecting 
and  preparing  his  small  force  for  offensive  or  defen 
sive  operations.  Early  in  July,  he  procured  a  "  Na 
tional  Intelligencer,"  which  contained  the  act  of 
congress  declaratory  of  war  and  the  message  of  the 
president  accompanying  it ;  and  this  information  was, 
of  course,  decisive. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  June  25,  1812. 

Sir  George  Prevost  desires  me  to  inform  you,  that 
he  has  this  instant  received  intelligence  from  Mr. 
Richardson,  by  an  express  to  the  north-west  com 
pany,  announcing  that  the  American  government  had 
declared  war  against  Great  Britain.  This  dispatch 
left  New  York  on  the  20th  instant,  and  does  not 
furnish  any  other  circumstance  of  intelligence  what 
ever.  His  excellency  is  induced  to  give  perfect  and 
entire  credit  to  this  report,  although  it  has  not  yet 
reached  through  any  official  channel.  Indeed,  the 
extraordinary  dispatch  which  has  attended  this  cou 
rier,  fully  explains  his  not  having  received  the  minis 
ter's  letters,  of  which  he  will  not  fail  to  give  you  the 
earliest  intimation. 

Mr.  Richardson  informs  his  excellency  that  it  is 

*  He  crossed  this  passage  in  an  open  boat  at  least  twice  during  the 
war  —  an  act  which  was  then  rare,  as  it  is  now,  and  considered  dangerous. 
K 


194  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

the  intention  of  the  company  to  send  six  large  canoes 
to  receive  their  furs  by  the  Grand  River,  (or  Ottawa,) 
and,  should  it  be  thought  expedient  to  reinforce  the 
post  of  St.  Joseph,  that  they  will  be  able  to  carry 
six  soldiers  in  each  boat.*  Anxious  as  Sir  George 
feels  to  render  you  every  aid  in  his  power,  and  to 
afford  every  possible  assistance  and  protection  to  the 
north-west  company,  who  have  on  their  part  assured 
his  excellency  of  their  ready  and  active  co-operation 
to  the  utmost  of  their  ability,  his  excellency,  never 
theless,  does  not  think  it  advisable,  under  existing 
circumstances,  to  weaken  the  49th  regiment,  which 
occupies  so  important  and  critical  a  station  ;  nor  can 
he  hold  out  any  certain  prospect  of  any  further  rein 
forcement  until  the  arrival  of  the  troops  he  has  been 
led  to  expect  from  England,  but  directs  me  to  assure 
you  of  his  cordial  wish  to  render  you  every  efficient 
support  in  his  power. 

Major-General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

FORT  GEORGE,  July  3,  1812. 

I  have  been  anxiously  expecting  for  some  days  to 
receive  the  honor  of  your  excellency's  commands  in 
regard  to  the  measures  the  most  proper  to  be  pursued 
in  the  present  emergency. 

The  accounts  received,  first  through  a  mercantile 
channel,  and  soon  after  repeated  from  various  quar 
ters,  of  war  having  been  declared  by  the  United 
States  against  Great  Britain,  would  have  justified, 
in  my  opinion,  offensive  operations.  But  the  reflec 
tion  that  at  Detroit  and  Michilimackinac  the  weak 
state  of  the  garrisons  would  prevent  the  command 
ers  from^  accomplishing  any  essential  service,  con 
nected  in  any  degree  with  their  future  security,  and 
that  my  means  of  annoyance  on  this  communication 
were  limited  to  the  reduction  of  Fort  Niagara,  which 

*  In  answer  to  Major-General  Brock's  suggestions  on  the  subject,  see 
page  150. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  195 

could  easily  be  battered  at  any  future  period,  I  relin 
quished  my  original  intention,  and  attended  only 
to  defensive  measures.  My  first  object  has  been  the 
calling  out  of  the  flank  companies  of  militia,  which 
has  produced  a  force  on  this  line  of  about  800  men. 
They  turned  out  very  cheerfully,  but  already  shew 
a  spirit  of  impatience.  The  king's  stores  are  now 
at  so  low  an  ebb,  that  they  scarcely  furnish  any 
article  of  use  or  comfort.  Blankets,  hammocks  and 
kettles,  are  all  to  be  purchased ;  and  the  troops,  when 
watching  the  banks  of  the  river,  stand  in  the  utmost 
need  of  tents.  Mr.  Couche  has  adopted  the  most 
efficacious  means  to  pay  the  militia  in  paper  currency. 
I  cannot  positively  state  the  number  of  militia  that 
will  be  embodied,  but  they  cannot  exceed,  throughout 
the  province,  4,000  men. 

The  Americans  are  very  active  on  the  opposite 
side,  in  the  erection  of  redoubts ;  we  are  not  idle  on 
our  part,  but  unfortunately,  having  supplied  Amherst- 
burg  with  the  guns  which  that  post  required  from 
Fort  George,  depending  upon  getting  others  from 
Kingston  to  supply  their  place,  we  find  ourselves  at 
this  moment  rather  short  of  that  essential  arm.  I 
have,  however,  every  reason  to  think  that  they  are 
embarked  on  board  the  Earl  Moira,  which  vessel, 
according  to  Major  M'Pherson's  report,  was  to  have 
sailed  on  the  28th  ultimo.  The  Americans  have,  I 
believe,  about  1,200  regulars  and  militia  between 
Fort  Niagara  and  Black  Rock,  and  I  consider  myself 
at  this  moment  perfectly  safe  against  any  attempt 
they  can  make.  About  100  Indians  from  the  Grand 
River  have  attended  to  my  summons  ;  the  remainder 
promise  to  come  also,  but  I  have  too  much  reason  to 
conclude  that  the  Americans  have  been  too  successful 
in  their  endeavours  to  sow  dissension  and  disaffection 
among  them.  It  is  a  great  object  to  get  this  fickle 
race  interspersed  among  the  troops.  I  should  be 
unwilling,  in  the  event  of  a  retreat,  to  have  three  or 
four  hundred  of  them  hanging  on  my  flank.  I  shall 


196  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

probably  have  to  sacrifice  some  money  to  gain  them 
over,  and  the  appointment  of  a  few  officers  with 
salaries  will  be  absolutely  necessary. 

The  Americans  make  a  daily  parade  of  their  force, 
and  easily  impose  on  the  people  on  this  side  in  regard 
to  their  numbers.  I  do  not  think  they  exceed  1,200, 
but  they  are  represented  as  infinitely  more  numerous. 

For  the  last  fortnight  every  precaution  has  been 
taken  to  guard  against  the  least  communication,  and 
to  this  day  we  are  ignorant  whether  the  president  has 
sanctioned  the  war  resolutions  of  the  two  houses  of 
congress;  that  is,  whether  war  be  actually  declared. 

The  car  brigade  has  been  completed  for  service 
with  horses  belonging  to  gentlemen,  who  spared  them 
free  of  expense. 

I  have  not  been  honored  with  a  line  from  Mr. 
Foster,  nor  with  all  my  endeavours  have  I  been  able 
to  obtain  information  of  any  consequence.  The  Prince 
Regent*  made  her  first  voyage  this  morning,  and  I 
purpose  sending  her  to  Kingston  this  evening,  to 
bring  such  articles  as  are  absolutely  necessary,  which 
we  know  have  arrived  from  Quebec.  I  trust  she  will 
out-sail  the  Oneida  brig.f 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major-General  Brock. 

MONTREAL,  July  4,  1812. 

We  have  a  report  here  of  your  having  commenced 
operations  by  levelling  the  American  fort  at  Niagara. 
The  general  is  most  anxious  to  hear  good  and  recent 
intelligence  from  your  quarter.  There  is  no  consider 
able  assembly  of  troops  in  our  neighbourhood  as  yet ; 
the  flank  companies,  embodied  under  Colonel  Young, 
are  on  their  march,  and  the  2,000  militia  will  form  a 
chain  of  posts  from  St.  John's  to  La  Prairie.  The 
town  militia  of  this  and  Quebec,  to  the  amount  of 
3,000  in  each  city,  have  volunteered  being  embodied 

*  This  vessel  had  been  built  and  equipped  since  the  month  of  March 
preceding.    See  p.  158,  t  American  vessel  of  war. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  197 

and  drilled,  and  will  take  their  proportion  of  garrison 
duty  to  relieve  the  troops.  The  proclamation  for  de 
claring  martial  law  is  prepared,  and  will  be  speedily 
issued.  All  aliens  will  be  required  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance,  or  immediately  to  quit  the  province.  Our 
cash  is  at  its  last  issue,  and  a  substitute  of  paper  must 
per  force  be  resorted  to.  This  has  been  Sir  George's 
principal  object  in  calling  the  legislature  together. 
You  have  a  very  arduous  and  difficult  card  to  play, 
and  have  our  sincere  and  confident  wishes  for  your 
success.  Sir  George  strongly  recommends  extreme 
moderation  in  the  use  of  the  Indians,  and  to  keep 
them  in  control  as  much  as  possible. 

[This  letter  contains  the  details  of  a  large  and  armed  assembly  at  La 
Chine,  near  Montreal,  of  French  Canadians,  who  refused  to  serve  in  the 
embodied  militia.  They  were  dispersed  by  the  light  company  of  the  49th, 
and  a  detachment  of  artillery  with  two  field  pieces,  under  the  command 
of  Major  Plenderleath,  of  the  49th,  but  not  before  one  Canadian  was  killed, 
and  another  dangerously  wounded.] 


PROCLAMATION 
Province  of  Upper  Canada. 

Isaac  Brock,  Esquire,  President,  administering  the 
Government  of  the  Province  of  Upper  Canada,  and 
Major-General  commanding  his  Majesty's  Forces 
within  our  said  Province. 

To  all  whom  these  Presents  shall  come,  greeting. 
WHEREAS  on  the  seventeenth  day  of  June  last  the  congress 
of  the  United  States  of  America  declared  that  war  then 
existed  hetween  those  States  and  their  territories,  and  the 
United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  de 
pendencies  thereof;  and  whereas,  in  pursuance  of  such  decla 
ration,  the  subjects  of  the  United  States  have  actually 
committed  hostilities  against  the  possessions  of  his  majesty 
and  the  persons  and  property  of  his  subjects  in  this  province  : 
now,  therefore,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  his  majesty's  exe 
cutive  council  in  the  affairs  of  the  province,  I  do  hereby 
strictly  enjoin  and  require  all  his  majesty's  liege  subjects  to 
be  obedient  to  the  lawful  authorities,  to  forbear  all  commu 
nication  with  the  enemy  or  persons  residing  within  the  terri 
tory  of  the  United  States,  and  to  manifest  their  loyalty  by  a 
zealous  co-operation  with  his  majesty's  armed  force  in  defence 
of  the  province,  and  repulse  of  the  enemy.  And  I  do  further 
require  and  command  all  officers,  civil  and  military,  to  be 


198  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

vigilant  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty,  especially  to  prevent 
all  communication  with  the  enemy,  and  to  cause  all  persons 
suspected  of  traitorous  intercourse  to  be  apprehended  and 
treated  according  to  law. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  arms,  at  York, 
in  the  province  of  Upper  Canada,  this  sixth 
day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  twelve,  and  in  the  fifty- 
second  of  his  majesty's  reign. 

ISAAC  BROCK,  President. 
By  command  of  his  honor, 

WILLIAM  JARVIS,  Secretary. 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major- General  Brock. 

MONTREAL,  July  7,  1812. 

It  was  only  on  my  arrival  at  Montreal  that  I 
received  Mr.  Foster's  notification  of  the  congress  of 
the  United  States  having  declared  war  against  Great 
Britain  ;  the  fact  had  been  previously  ascertained 
through  mercantile  channels. 

I  am  convinced  you  have  acted  wisely  in  abstaining 
from  offensive  operations,  which  in  their  effect  might 
have  united  a  people  governed  by  public  opinion, 
and  among  whom  too  much  division  exists,  at  this 
moment,  to  admit  of  its  influence  in  promoting  vigo 
rous  measures  against  us. 

The  manner  of  the  flank  companies  of  militia  turn 
ing  out  must  have  been  very  satisfactory  to  you.  I 
hope  your  supplies  of  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores, 
on  their  way  from  Kingston,  have  arrived  safe. 

I  have  caused  arms,  accoutrements,  and  ammuni 
tion,  to  be  forwarded  for  the  use  of  the  Cornwall, 
Stormont,  and  Dundas  battalions  of  militia.  Camp 
equipage  for  500  men  shall  be  sent  to  you  as  soon  as 
possible,  together  with  muskets. 

We  are  on  the  eve  of  substituting  paper  for  bullion. 
I  am  aware  of  the  Canadian  prejudice  against  such 
a  circulating  medium,  but  it  must  give  way  to  the 
imperious  necessity  of  the  times. 

It  is  highly  proper  you  should  secure  the  services 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  199 

of  the  Indians;  but  restrain  and  control  them  as 
much  as  you  can.  Whatever  appointments  you  deem 
indispensably  necessary,  you  are  authorized  to  make, 
as  well  as  the  sacrifice  of  some  money  to  gain  them 
over.  It  is  proper  we  should  maintain  our  ascend 
ancy  over  the  Indians,  and  feed  with  proper  food 
their  predeliction  for  us. 

Colonel  Lethbridge,  an  inspecting  field  officer,  is 
under  orders  for  Kingston,  and  there  to  wait  your 
commands. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major-General  Brock. 

MONTREAL,  July  8,  1812. 

I  was  highly  gratified  yesterday  in  receiving  your 
letters  of  the  3d  of  July,  for  we  have  felt  extremely 
anxious  about  you  ever  since  we  have  learnt  the  un 
expected  declaration  of  war,  which  has  been  so  long 
threatened  that  no  one  believed  it  would  ever  seriously 
take  place ;  and  even  now  it  is  the  prevailing  opinion 
that,  from  the  opposition  testified  by  the  eastern 
states,  offensive  measures  are  not  likely  to  be  speedily 
adopted  against  this  country.  Sir  George  is  inclined 
to  let  these  sentiments  take  their  course  ;  and  as  little 
advantage  would  accrue  by  more  active  measures  on 
our  part,  our  present  plans  are  all  defensive.*  General 
de  Rottenburg  is  arrived,-  and  the  flank  companies 
embodied  are  on  their  way  :  this  corps,  with  the 
embodied  militia,  will  form  a  chain  from  La  Prairie 
to  St.  John's,  with  a  light  corps  advanced  in  their 
front.  We  have  reports  of  the  103d  regiment  being 
in  a  river,  and,  it  is  added,  recruits  for  the  100th 
regiment. 

Sir  George  has  had  applications  from   so   many 

*  It  shows  an  extraordinary  want  of  correct  information  with  the  British 
minister  at  Washington,  or  a  strange  remissness  in  communicating  it, 
that  on  the  8th  of  July  Sir  G.  Prevost  should  think  that  offensive  measures 
were  not  likely  to  be  speedily  adopted,  as  by  the  succeeding  chapter,  it 
will  be  seen  that  General  Hull  commenced  his  march  for  Detroit  on  the 
1st  of  June,  and  was  at  this  very  period  in  the  vicinity  of  that  fortress, 
preparing  to  invade  Upper  Canada. 


200  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

quarters  for  militia  below  Kingston,  that  to  ensure  a 
general  arrangement  and  to  adopt  the  best  system  that 
circumstances  will  admit,  he  has  directed  Colonel 
Lethbridge,  the  inspecting  field  officer  here,  to  pro 
ceed  through  the  line  of  settlements  to  see  the  several 
colonels  and  corps  of  militia,  so  as  to  fix  their  quotas, 
and  afterwards  to  proceed  to  Kingston  and  assume 
the  command  of  that  post,  if  necessary :  he  will  be 
placed  under  your  orders,  but  you  will  perhaps  not 
wish  to  bring  him  in  contact  with  the  41st  regiment, 
as  he  is  senior  to  Colonel  Proctor. 

Sir  George  desires  me  to  say,  that  he  does  not 
attempt  to  prescribe  specific  rules  for  your  guidance 
—  they  must  be  directed  by  your  discretion  and  the 
circumstances  of  the  time :  the  present  order  of  the 
day  with  him  is  forbearance,  until  hostilities  are  more 
decidedly  marked. 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major-General  Brock. 

MONTREAL,  July  10,  1812. 

Colonel  Lethbridge's  departure  for  Kingston  affords 
me  an  opportunity  of  replying  more  fully  and  confi 
dentially  to  your  letter  of  the  3d  instant,  than  I  could 
venture  to  have  done  the  day  before  yesterday  by  an 
uncertain  conveyance.  That  officer  has  been  desired 
to  transmit  to  you,  together  with  this  dispatch,  a 
copy  of  the  instructions  given  to  him  for  his  guidance 
until  the  exigencies  of  the  service  make  it  necessary 
in  your  estimation  to  substitute  others,  or  to  employ 
the  colonel  in  any  other  situation  of  command.  In 
them  you  will  find  expressed  my  sentiments  respect 
ing  the  mode  of  conducting  the  war  on  our  part, 
suited  to  the  existing  circumstances ;  and  as  they 
change,  so  must  we  vary  our  line  of  conduct,  adapting 
it  to  our  means  of  preserving  entire  the  king's  pro 
vinces. 

Our  numbers  would  not  justify  offensive  operations 
being  undertaken,  unless  they  were  solely  calculated 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  201 

to  strengthen  a  defensive  attitude.  I  consider  it 
prudent  and  politic  to  avoid  any  measure  which  can 
in  its  effect  have  a  tendency  to  unite  the  people  in 
the  American  States.  Whilst  disunion  prevails 
among  them,  their  attempts  on  these  provinces  will 
be  feeble  ;  it  is,  therefore,  our  duty  carefully  to 
avoid  committing  any  act  which  may,  even  by  con 
struction,  tend  to  unite  the  eastern  and  southern  states, 
unless,  by  its  perpetration,  we  are  to  derive  a  consi 
derable  and  important  advantage.  But  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  resting  on  public  opinion 
for  all  its  measures,  is  liable  to  sudden  and  violent 
changes ;  it  becomes  an  essential  part  of  our  duty  to 
watch  the  effect  of  parties  on  its  measures,  and  to 
adapt  ours  to  the  impulse  given  by  those  possessed  of 
influence  over  the  public  mind  in  America. 

Notwithstanding  these  observations,  I  have  to  as 
sure  you  of  my  perfect  confidence  in  your  measures 
for  the  preservation  of  Upper  Canada.  All  your 
wants  shall  be  supplied  as  fast  as  possible,  except 
money,  of  which  I  have  so  little,  as  to  be  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  a  paper  currency. 

The  adjutant-general  has  reported  to  you  the  aid 
we  have  afforded,  in  arms  and  ammunition,  to  your 
militia  at  Cornwall,  Glengary,  Dundas,  and  Stormont. 

To  prevent  an  interruption  to  the  communication 
between  the  two  provinces,  it  is  fit  a  system  of  convoy 
should  be  established  between  Montreal  and  King 
ston  ;  and  as  Major-General  de  Rottenburg  is  to 
remain  here  in  command  of  a  cordon  of  troops, 
consisting  of  regulars  and  militia,  (established  in  this 
neighbourhood  to  prevent  an  irruption  for  the  plunder 
of  Montreal,)  whilst  I  attend  to  parliamentary  duties 
at  Quebec,  on  that  subject  you  may  communicate 
direct  with  the  major-general,  as  he  has  my  instruc 
tions  to  co-operate  with  you  in  preserving  this  im 
portant  object. 


202  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

FORT  GEORGE,  July  12,  1812. 

With  the  exception  of  occasional  firing  from  the 
opposite  shore,  (the  unauthorized  act  of  an  undis 
ciplined  militia,)  nothing  of  a  hostile  nature  has 
occurred  on  this  communication  since  I  last  had  the 
honor  of  addressing  your  excellency. 

The  enemy  is  busy  constructing  batteries  at  differ 
ent  points  on  the  river,  but  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  yet  received  cannon  to  place  in  them.  We  are 
doing*  all  we  can  on  this  side  to  counteract  his  views, 
and  the  arrival  of  the  Royal  George*  and  the  vessels 
Tinder  her  convoy,  bringing  various  pieces  of  ordnance, 
•will  give  us  in  this  respect  a  decided  superiority. 

The  militia,  which  assembled  here  immediately  on 
the  account  being  received  of  war  being  declared  by 
the  United  States,  have  been  improving  daily  in  dis 
cipline  ;  but  the  men  evince  a  degree  of  impatience 
under  their  present  restraint,  that  is  far  from  inspiring 
confidence.  So  great  was  the  clamour  to  return  and 
attend  to  their  farms,  that  I  found  myself  in  some 
measure  compelled  to  sanction  the  departure  of  a 
large  proportion ;  and  I  am  not  without  my  appre 
hensions  that  the  remainder  will,  in  defiance  of  the 
law,  which  can  only  impose  a  fine  of  <£20,  leave  the 
service  the  moment  the  harvest  commences.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  a  large  portion  of  the  population 
in  this  neighbourhood  are  sincere  in  their  professions 
to  defend  the  country  ;  but  it  appears  likewise  evident 
to  me  that  the  greater  part  are  either  indifferent  to 
what  is  passing,  or  so  completely  American  as  to 
rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  a  change  of  government. 
Many,  who  now  consider  our  means  inadequate, 
would  readily  take  an  active  part  were  the  regular 
troops  increased.  These  cool  calculators  are  nume 
rous  in  all  societies. 

*  The  British  squadron  on  Lake  Ontario  consisted  at  this  time  of  the 
ship  Royal  George,  of  24  guns,  the  brig  Moira,  of  16  guns,  and  the  Prince 
Regent,  and  two  other  schooners. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  203 

The  alacrity  and  good  temper  with  which  the 
militia,  in  the  first  instance,  marched  to  the  frontiers, 
have  tended  to  infuse  in  the  mind  of  the  enemy  a 
very  different  sentiment  of  the  disposition  of  the  inha 
bitants,  who,  he  was  led  to  believe  would,  upon  the 
first  summons,  declare  themselves  an  American  state. 
The  display  for  several  days  of  a  large  force  was 
made,  I  have  every  reason  to  believe,  in  that  ex 
pectation. 

Nearly  the  whole  of  the  arms  at  my  disposal  have 
been  issued.  They  are  barely  sufficient  to  arm  the 
militia  immediately  required  to  guard  the  frontier. 
Were  I  furnished  with  the  means  of  distributing  arms 
among  the  people,  in  whom  confidence  can  be  placed, 
they  would  not  only  overawe  the  disaffected,  but 
prove  of  essential  use  in  the  event  of  invasion.  The 
militia  assembled  in  a  wretched  state  in  regard  to 
clothing ;  many  were  without  shoes,  an  article  which 
can  scarcely  be  provided  in  the  country. 

After  the  cannon,  which  have  arrived  this  morn 
ing,  are  mounted,  I  shall  consider  my  front  perfectly 
secure.  I  do  not  imagine  the  enemy  will  hazard  a 
water  excursion  with  a  view  to  turn  my  flanks.  He 
probably  will  wait  until  winter,  when  the  ice  will 
enable  him  to  cross  with  the  utmost  facility  to  any 
part  between  Fort  Erie  and  as  far  as  Long  Point. 
My  situation  will  then  depend  upon  the  force  the 
enemy  may  bring  to  invade  the  province.  Should 
the  troops  have  to  move,  the  want  of  tents  will  be 
severely  felt. 

A  person,  who  left  Sandwich  yesterday  week,  pre 
tends  that  the  enemy  was  then  in  the  act  of  cannon 
ading  the  place.  I  have  not  heard  from  Lieut.- 
Colonel  St.  George  since  my  last  letter  to  your 
excellency. 

An  officer  is  so  absolutely  necessary  to  command 
in  the  eastern  district,  that  I  have  consented  to  Major- 
General  Shaw  proceeding  thither  in  that  capacity. 
I  have  full  confidence  in  his  judgment,  and  his  con- 


204  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

duct  in  the  field  is  undoubted.  He  of  course  will 
assume  the  command  in  virtue  of  his  militia  rank, 
and  will  be  liable  to  be  superseded  by  any  lieutenant- 
colonel  your  excellency  may  be  pleased  to  appoint. 

The  expense  of  defending  this  province  will  un 
questionably  be  great;  upon  a  rough  calculation,  and 
supposing  that  4,000  militia  be  constantly  embodied, 
it  cannot  be  estimated  at  less  than  ,£140,000  per 
annum.  However  great  the  sum,  it  will  be  applied 
to  very  considerable  advantage,  provided  your  excel 
lency  be  enabled  to  send  reinforcements,  as  without 
them  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  the  government  of 
the  United  States  will  be  so  inactive  or  supine  as  to 
permit  the  present  limited  force  to  remain  in  posses 
sion  of  the  country.  Whatever  can  be  done  to  pre 
serve  it,  or  to  delay  its  fall,  your  excellency  may  rest 
assured  will  be  exerted. 

Having  been  suddenly  called  away  from  York,  I 
had  not  time  to  close  my  dispatch,  giving  your  excel 
lency  an  account  of  my  proceedings  during  my  stay 
at  Amherstburg.  I  now  have  the  honor  to  forward 
two  documents,  detailing  the  steps  taken  by  the 
Indian  department  to  prevail  on  that  unfortunate 
people  to  accommodate  their  differences  with  the 
American  government. 

Extract  from  an  American  Newspaper. 

BUFFALO,  July  14,  1812. 

Major-General  Brock  is  at,  present  at  Newark,  superin 
tending  the  various  defences  on  the  river.  He  is  stated  to  be 
an  able  and  experienced  officer,  with  undoubted  courage. 
He  came  from  Little  York  soon  after  hearing  the  declaration 
of  war,  and,  it  was  believed,  with  a  serious  intention  of 
attacking  Fort  Niagara,  but,  contrary  to  what  has  been 
reported,  he  made  no  demand  of  a  surrender. 

Expecting  a  descent  from  the  American  army,  the  Cana 
dians  have,  for  ten  days  past,  been  removing  their  families 
and  effects  from  the  river  into  Ihe  interior.  At  Newark, 
Queenston,and  other  villages  on  the  river,  there  are  no  inha 
bitants  except  a  few  civilians  and  officers  and  soldiers.  It  is 
even  said,  that  an  immense  quantity  of  specie,  plate,  &c., 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  205 

from  various  parts  of  the  province,  have  been  boxed  up,  and 
destined  for  Quebec. 

The  British  are  understood  to  have  about  six  or  seven 
hundred  regular  troops  stationed  between  the  lakes,  from 
Fort  George  to  Fort  Erie.  These  men  are  generally  those 
who  have  "seen  service"  in  various  parts  of  the  world.  The 
militia  of  the  province  are  ordered  out  en  masse. 

It  is  stated  by  gentlemen  of  intelligence  at  Lewistown,  that 
the  government  of  Canada  have  in  their  employment,  under 
pay,  about  250  Indians,  armed  complete  :  a  part  of  them  are 
mounted. 

Brigadier -General  William  Wadsworth,  from  Genesee, 
commands  the  troops  on  our  frontiers.  His  aids  are  Major 
Adam  Hoops  and  Major  W.  H.  Spencer.  His  head  quarters 
are  now  at  Lewistown.  It  is  impossible  to  state  the  precise 
number  of  troops  under  his  command,  because  the  militia 
ordered  on  the  lines  are  returning,  and  the  companies  com 
posing  the  regiments  under  his  command  have  not  all  arrived  ; 
but  from  what  we  learn,  there  are  in  regular  troops,  volun 
teers,  and  detached  militia,  above  4,000  stationed  at  Rock, 
Lewistown,  Youngstown,  and  Fort  Niagara.  The  troops  are 
in  excellent  health,  in  good  spirits,  and  well  supplied.  They 
appear  quite  impatient  for  want  of  employment.  There  has 
been  some  firing  from  the  sentries  on  both  sides  of  the  river. 

It  was  reported  at  Fort  Niagara  last  week,  that  the  British 
have  sent  from  Little  York  every  armed  ship  in  pursuit  of  the 
brig  Oneida. 

The  British  armed  ship  Queen  Charlotte,  lying  at  Fort 
Erie,  soon  after  the  declaration  of  war  was  received,  left  her 
moorings  and  proceeded  up  the  lake  —  is  now  understood  to 
be  at  Fort  Maiden,  the  great  depot  of  Indian  supplies.  His 
majesty's  sloop  of  war  Hunter  has  gone  up  the  straits  of 
Mackina,  and  passed  into  Lake  Michigan,  and  captured  an 
American  merchant  vessel,  said  to  be  either  the  Mary  or 
Salina.  We  understand  an  official  account  of  the  capture 
has  been  received  at  Fort  Erie. 


206  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 


CHAPTER    IX. 


The  American  government,  in  anticipation  of  its 
declaration  of  war,  had  detached  from  the  state  of 
Ohio  to  the  Michigan  territory  an  army  of  about 
2,000  men,  under  the  command  of  Brigadier-General 
Hull,  who,  said  President  Madison  in  his  message  to 
congress,  "  possessing  discretionary  authority  to  act 
offensively,  passed  into  Canada  with  a  prospect  of 
easy  and  victorious  progress. "  The  enemy  evidently 
confided  in  the  very  limited  defensive  means  of  the 
Upper  Province,  and  in  the  impossibility  of  its  re 
ceiving  early  assistance  from  the  mother  country. 
They  relied  also  on  the  supposed  disaffection  of  many 
of  its  inhabitants,  and  they  expected  confidently  that, 
weak  and  divided,  it  would  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the 
invaders ;  but  they  were  soon  undeceived.  This 
army  marched  from  Dayton,  in  Ohio,  on  the  1st  of 
June,  and  arrived  on  the  7th  at  Urbana.  On  the 
llth,  Colonel  M'Arthur's  regiment  of  militia  was 
detached  to  open  a  road  as  far^as  the  Scioto  river,  on 
the  south  bank  of  which  two  block-houses,  connected 
by  a  strong  stockade,  were  erected,  and  named  Fort 
M< Arthur.  From  this  post  to  the  rapids  of  the 
Miami  (or  Maumee)  the  distance  is  about  125  miles, 
and  the  route  of  the  army  was  through  a  thick  and 
almost  trackless  forest,  as  the  north-western  part  of 
Ohio  was  at  that  time  scarcely  inhabited,  so  that  it 
became  necessary  to  open  a  road  the  whole  way  for 
the  passage  of  the  many  baggage  waggons.  To 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  207 

guard  against  the  attacks  of  the  hostile  Indians  at 
night,  the  plan  of  encampment  was  a  hollow  square, 
defended  usually  by  a  temporary  breast-work  of  felled 
trees.  On  the  26th  of  June,  General  Hull  received 
intelligence,  by  express  from  Chillicothe,  of  the  decla 
ration  of  war,  and  on  the  30th  the  troops  suddenly 
emerged  from  a  gloomy  wilderness  to  a  full  view  of 
the  broad  Miami  with  a  village  on  the  opposite  bank, 
when  a  beam  of  joy  animated  every  countenance, 
and  repaid  the  men  for  the  fatigues  of  a  long  and 
dreary  march.  Here  a  small  schooner  was  engaged 
to  carry  a  quantity  of  baggage,  belonging  to  the 
army,  to  Detroit ;  but  she  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
British  near  Amherstburg,  while  on  her  voyage. 
On  the  4th  of  July,  the  army  reached  the  Huron 
river,  21  miles  from  Detroit,  and  the  next  day  en 
camped  at  Spring  Wells,  about  4  miles  from  that 
town.  On  the  8th,  the  encampment  at  Spring  Wells 
was  abandoned,  and  the  army  took  up  a  position  in 
the  rear  of  Detroit,  when  it  was  joined  by  600  of  the 
Michigan  militia,  and  the  necessary  preparations 
were  made  for  the  intended  invasion.  Having  cross 
ed  his  army  over  with  several  field  pieces  to  the 
Canadian  village  of  -Sandwich  on  the  12th  of  July, 
Hull  issued  on  that  day  the  following  insidious  but 
able  proclamation,  which  was  doubtless  indited  at 
Washington.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  American 
general  was  made  to  say,  that  he  did  not  ask  the 
assistance  of  the  Canadians,  as  he  had  no  doubt  of 
eventual  success,  because  he  came  prepared  for  every 
contingency  with  a  force  which  would  look  down  all 
opposition,  and  that  that  force  was  but  the  vanguard 
of  a  much  greater  ! 

Inhabitants  of  Canada  !— After  thirty  years  of  peace  and 
prosperity,  the  United  States  have  been  driven  to  arms. 
The  injuries  and  aggressions,  the  insults  and  indignities  of 
Great  Britain,  have  once  more  left  them  no  alternative  but 
manly  resistance  or  unconditional  submission. 

The  army  under  my  command  has  invaded  your  country, 
and  the  standard  of  union  now  waves  over  the  territory  of 


208  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Canada.  To  the  peaceable,  unoffending  inhabitant,  it  brings 
neither  danger  nor  difficulty.  I  come  to  find  enemies,  not 
to  make  them.  I  come  to  protect,  not  to  injure  you. 

Separated  by  an  immense  ocean,  and  an  extensive  wilder 
ness  from  Great  Britain,  you  have  no  participation  in  her 
councils,  no  interest  in  her  conduct.  You  have  felt  her 
tyranny,  you  have  seen  her  injustice — but  I  do  not  ask  you 
to  avenge  the  one  or  redress  the  other.  The  United  States 
are  sufficiently  powerful  to  afford  you  every  security,  consis 
tent  with  their  rights  and  your  expectations.  I  tender  you 
the  invaluable  blessings  of  civil,  political,  and  religious  liber 
ty,  and  their  necessary  result,  individual  and  general  pros 
perity —  that  liberty  which  gave  decision  to  our  councils  and 
energy  to  our  conduct  in  our  struggle  for  independence,  and 
which  conducted  us  safely  and  triumphantly  through  the 
stormy  period  of  the  revolution  —  that  liberty  which  has  raised 
us  to  an  elevated  rank  among  the  nations  of  the  world,  and 
which  has  afforded  us  a  greater  measure  of  peace  and  secu 
rity,  of  wealth  and  improvement,  than  ever  yet  fell  to  the  lot 
of  any  people. 

In  the  name  of  my  country,  and  by  the  authority  of  my 
government,  I  promise  protection  to  your  persons,  property, 
and  rights.  Remain  at  your  homes  —  pursue  your  peaceful 
and  customary  avocations  —  raise  not  your  hands  against 
your  brethren.  Many  of  your  fathers  fought  for  the  freedom 
and  independence  we  now  enjoy.  Being  children,  therefore, 
of  the  same  family  with  us,  and  heirs  to  the  same  heritage, 
the  arrival  of  an  army  of  friends  must  be  hailed  by  you  with 
a  cordial  welcome.  You  will  be  emancipated  from  tyranny 
and  oppression,  and  restored  to  the  dignified  station  of 
freemen. 

Had  I  any  doubt  of  eventual  success,  I  might  ask  your 
assistance  —  but  I  do  not.  I  come  prepared  for  every  con 
tingency.  I  have  a  force  which  will  look  down  all  opposition, 
and  that  force  is  but  the  vanguard  of  a  much  greater.  If, 
contrary  to  your  own  interests  and  the  just  expectation  of 
my  country,  you  should  take  part  in  the  approaching  con 
test,  you  will  be  considered  and  treated  as  enemies,  and  the 
horrors  and  calamities  of  war  will  stalk  before  you.  If  the 
barbarous  and  savage  policy  of  Great  Britain  be  pursued,  and 
the  savages  be  let  loose  to  murder  our  citizens,  and  butcher 
our  women  and  children,  this  war  will  be  a  war  of  extermin 
ation.  The  first  stroke  of  the  tomahawk,  the  first  attempt 
with  the  scalping  knife,  will  be  the  signal  of  one  indiscrimi 
nate  scene  of  desolation.  No  white  man,  found  fighting  by 
the  side  of  an  Indian,  will  be  taken  prisoner — instant  des 
truction  will  be  his  lot.  If  the  dictates  of  reason,  duty, 
justice,  and  humanity,  cannot  prevent  the  employment  of  a 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  209 

force  which  respects  no  rights  and  knows  no  wrong,  it  will  be 
prevented  by  a  severe  and  relentless  system  of  retaliation. 

I  doubt  not  your  courage  and  firmness  —  I  will  not  doubt 
your  attachment  to  liberty.  If  you  tender  your  services 
voluntarily,  they  will  be  accepted  readily.  The  United  States 
offer  you  peace,  liberty,  and  security.  Your  choice  lies 
between  these  and  war,  slavery  and  destruction.  Choose, 
then,  but  choose  wisely  ;  and  may  He  who  knows  the  justice 
of  our  cause,  and  who  holds  in  his  hand  the  fate  of  nations, 
guide  you  to  a  result  the  most  compatible  with  your  rights 
and  interests,  your  peace  and  prosperity. 

W.  HULL. 
By  the  General,  A.  F.  HULL. 

Capt.  13th  Regt.  U.  S.  Infantry,  and 
Head  Quarters,  Aide-de-Camp. 

Sandwich,  July  12,  1812. 

The  following  counter-proclamation*  was  published 
by  Major-General  Brock,  "a  proclamation  as  re 
markable  for  the  solid  reasoning  and  dignity  of  its 
language,  as  that  of  the  American  for  its  presump 
tion, "i  and  it  had  an  immediate  and  most  salutary 
effect. 

The  unprovoked  declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States  of 
America  against  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  and  its  dependencies,  has  been  followed  by  the 
actual  invasion  of  this  province,  in  a  remote  frontier  of  the 
western  district,  by  a  detachment  of  the  armed  force  of  the 
United  States. 

The  officer  commanding  that  detachment  has  thought 
proper  to  invite  his  majesty's  subjects,  not  merely  to  a  quiet 
and  unresisting  submission,  but  insults  them  with  a  call  to 
seek  voluntarily  the  protection  of  his  government. 

Without  condescending  to  repeat  the  illiberal  epithets  be 
stowed  in  this  appeal  of  the  American  commander  to  the 
people  of  Upper  Canada,  on  the  administration  of  his  majesty, 
every  inhabitant  of  the  province  is  desired  to  seek  the  confu 
tation  of  such  indecent  slander  in  the  review  of  his  own 
particular  circumstances.  Where  is  the  Canadian  subject 
who  can  truly  affirm  to  himself  that  he  has  been  injured  by 
the  government,  in  his  person,  his  property,  or  his  liberty  ? 
Where  is  to  be  found,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  a  growth  so 
rapid  in  prosperity  and  wealth,  as  this  colony  exhibits  ? 

*  It  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel,  that  Mr.  Justice  Powell  is  believed  in 
Upper  Canada  to  have  been  the  author  of  this  counter-proclamation, 
t  Christie's  Memoirs,  already  cited. 


210  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Settled,  not  thirty  years,  by  a  band  of  veterans,  exiled  from 
their  former  possessions  on  account  of  their  loyalty,  not  a 
descendant  of  these  brave  people  is  to  be  found,  who,  under 
the  fostering  liberality  of  their  sovereign,  has  not  acquired  a 
property  and  means  of  enjoyment  superior  to  what  were 
possessed  by  their  ancestors. 

This  unequalled  prosperity  would  not  have  been  attained 
by  the  utmost  liberality  of  the  government,  or  the  persevering 
industry  of  the  people,  had  not  the  maritime  power  of  the 
mother  country  secured  to  its  colonists  a  safe  access  to  every 
market,  where  the  produce  of  their  labour  was  in  request. 

The  unavoidable  and  immediate  consequences  of  a  separa 
tion  from  Great  Britain  must  be  the  loss  of  this  inestimable 
advantage  ;  and  what  is  offered  you  in  exchange  ?  To  become 
a  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  share  with  them  that 
exclusion  from  the  ocean  which  the  policy  of  their  govern 
ment  enforces  ;  you  are  not  even  flattered  with  a  participation 
of  their  boasted  independence ;  and  it  is  but  too  obvious 
that,  once  estranged  from  the  powerful  protection  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  you  must  be  re-annexed  to  the  dominion 
of  France,  from  which  the  provinces  of  Canada  were  wrested 
by  the  arms  of  Great  Britain,  at  a  vast  expense  of  blood  and 
treasure,  from  no  other  motive  than  to  relieve  her  ungrateful 
children  from  the  oppression  of  a  cruel  neighbour.  This 
restitution  of  Canada  to  the  empire  of  France,  was  the  stipu 
lated  reward  for  the  aid  afforded  to  the  revolted  colonies, 
now  the  United  States  ;  the  debt  is  still  due,  and  there  can 
be  no  doubt  but  the  pledge  has  been  renewed  as  a  consider 
ation  for  commercial  advantages,  or  rather  for  an  expected 
relaxation  in  the  tyranny  of  France  over  the  commercial 
world.  Are  you  prepared,  inhabitants  of  Canada,  to  become 
willing  subjects,  or  rather  slaves,  to  the  despot  who  rules  the 
nations  of  continental  Europe  with  a  rod  of  iron  ?  If  not, 
arise  in  a  body,  exert  your  energies,  co-operate  cordially 
with  the  king's  regular  forces  to  repel  the  invader,  and  do 
not  give  cause  to  your  children,  when  groaning  under  the 
oppression  of  a  foreign  master,  to  reproach  you  with  having 
so  easily  parted  with  the  richest  inheritance  of  this  earth  — 
a  participation  in  the  name,  character,  and  freedom  of 
Britons! 

The  same  spirit  of  justice,  which  will  make  every  reason 
able  allowance  for  the  unsuccessful  efforts  of  zeal  and  loyalty, 
will  not  fail  to  punish  the  defalcation  of  principle.  Every 
Canadian  freeholder  is,  by  deliberate  choice,  bound  by  the 
most  solemn  oaths  to  defend  the  monarchy,  as  well  as  his 
own  property  ;  to  shrink  from  that  engagement  is  a  treason 
not  to  be  forgiven.  Let  no  man  suppose  that  if,  in  this 
unexpected  struggle,  his  majesty's  arms  should  be  compelled 
to  yield  to  an  overwhelming  force,  the  province  will  be  even- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  211 

tually  abandoned  j  the  endeared  relations  of  its  first  settlers, 
the  intrinsic  value  of  its  commerce,  and  the  pretensions  of 
its  powerful  rival  to  repossess  the  Canadas,  are  pledges  that 
no  peace  will  be  established  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  of  which  the  restoration  of  these 
provinces  does  not  make  the  most  prominent  condition. 

Be  not  dismayed  at  the  unjustifiable  threat  of  the  com 
mander  of  the  enemy's  forces  to  refuse  quarter,  should  an 
Indian  appear  in  the  ranks.  The  brave  bands  of  aborigines 
which  inhabit  this  colony  were,  like  his  majesty's  other  sub 
jects,  punished  for  their  zeal  and  fidelity,  by  the  loss  of  their 
possessions  in  the  late  colonies,  and  rewarded  by  his  majesty 
with  lands  of  superior  value  in  this  province.  The  faith  of 
the  British  government  has  never  yet  been  violated  —  the 
Indians  feel  that  the  soil  they  inherit  is  to  them  and  their 
posterity  protected  from  the  base  arts  so  frequently  devised 
to  over-reach  their  simplicity.  By  what  new  principle  are 
they  to  be  prohibited  from  defending  their  property?  If 
their  warfare,  from  being  different  to  that  of  the  white 
people,  be  more  terrific  to  the  enemy,  let  him  retrace  his 
steps  —  they  seek  him  not  —  and  cannot  expect  to  find  women 
and  children  in  an  invading  army.  But  they  are  men,  and 
have  equal  rights  with  all  other  men  to  defend  themselves 
and  their  property  when  invaded,  more  especially  when  they 
find  in  the  enemy's  camp  a  ferocious  and  mortal  foe,  using 
the  same  warfare  which  the  American  commander  affects  to 
reprobate. 

This  inconsistent  and  unjustifiable  threat  of  refusing  quar 
ter,  for  such  a  cause  as  being  found  in  arms  with  a  brother 
sufferer,  in  defence  of  invaded  rights,  must  be  exercised  with 
the  certain  assurance  of  retaliation,  not  only  in  the  limited 
operations  of  war  in  this  part  of  the  king's  dominions,  but  in 
every  quarter  of  the  globe  ;  for  the  national  character  of 
Britain  is  not  less  distinguished  for  humanity  than  strict 
retributive  justice,  which  will  consider  the  execution  of  this 
inhuman  threat  as  deliberate  murder,  for  which  every  subject 
of  the  offending  power  must  make  expiation. 

ISAAC  BROCK, 

Head  Quarters,  Major-Gen,  and  President. 

Fort  George,  July  22,  1812. 

By  order  of  his  honor  the  president. 

J.  B.  GLEGG, 
Captain  and  Aide-de-Camp. 


212  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Major-General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

FORT  GEORGE,  July  20,  1812. 

My  last  to  your  excellency  was  dated  the  12th 
instant,  since  which  nothing  extraordinary  has  occur 
red  on  this  communication.  The  enemy  has  evidently 
diminished  his  force,  and  appears  to  have  no  intention 
of  making  an  immediate  attack. 

I  have  herewith  the  honor  of  enclosing  the  copy  of 
two  letters  which  I  have  received  from  Lieut. -Colonel 
St.  George,  together  with  some  interesting  documents 
found  on  board  a  schooner,  which  the  boats  of  the 
Hunter  captured  on  her  voyage  from  the  Miami  to 
Detroit. 

From  the  accompanying  official  correspondence 
between  General  Hull  and  the  secretary  at  war,  it 
appears  that  the  collected  force  which  has  arrived  at 
Detroit  amounts  to  about  2,000  men.  I  have  re 
quested  Colonel  Proctor  to  proceed  to  Amherstburg, 
and  ascertain  accurately  the  state  of  things  in  that 
quarter.  I  had  every  inclination  to  go  there  myself, 
but  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  on  the  27th  instant 
renders  it  impossible. 

I  receive  this  moment  a  dispatch,  dated  the  15th 
instant,  from  Lieut. -Colonel  St.  George,  giving  an 
account  of  the  enemy  having  landed  on  the  12th,  and 
immediately  after  occupied  the  village  of  Sandwich. 
It  is  strange  that  three  days  should  be  allowed  to 
elapse  before  sending  to  acquaint  me  of  this  important 
fact.  I  had  no  idea,  until  I  received  Lieut. -Colonel 
St.  George's  letter  a  few  days  ago,  that  General  Hull 
was  advancing  with  so  large  a  force. 

The  militia,  from  every  account,  behaved  very  ill. 
The  officers  appear  the  most  in  fault.  Colonel  Proctor 
will  probably  reach  Amherstburg  in  the  course  of  to 
morrow.  I  have  great  dependance  in  that  officer's 
decision,  but  fear  he  will  arrive  too  late  to  be  of 
much  service.  The  enemy  was  not  likely  to  delay 
attacking  a  force  that  had  allowed  him  to  cross  the 
river  in  open  day  without  firing  a  shot. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  213 

The  position  which  Lieut. -Colonel  St.  George  oc 
cupies  is  very  good,  and  infinitely  more  formidable 
than  the  fort  itself.  Should  he  therefore  be  compelled 
to  retire,  I  know  of  no  other  alternative  than  his 
embarking  in  the  king's  vessels  and  proceeding  to 
Fort  Erie. 

Were  it  possible  to  animate  the  militia  to  a  proper 
sense  of  their  duty,  something  might  yet  be  done — 
but  I  almost  despair. 

Your  excellency  will  readily  perceive  the  critical 
situation  in  which  the  reduction  of  Amherstburg  will 
place  me. 

I  do  not  imagine  General  Hull  will  be  able  to  xle- 
tach  more  than  1,000  men,  but  even  with  that  trifling 
force  I  much  fear  he  will  succeed  in  getting  to  my 
rear.  The  militia  will  not  act  without  a  strong  regu 
lar  force  to  set  them  the  example ;  and  as  I  must 
now  expect  to  be  seriously  threatened,  I  cannot  in 
prudence  make  strong  detachments,  which  would  not 
only  weaken  my  line  of  defence,  but,  in  the  event  of 
a  retreat,  endanger  their  safety. 

I  am  now  given  to  understand  that  General  Hull's 
insidious  proclamation,  herewith  enclosed,  has  already 
been  productive  of  considerable  effect  on  the  minds 
of  the  people.  In  fact,  a  general  sentiment  prevails 
that,  with  the  present  force,  resistance  is  unavailing. 
I  shall  continue  to  exert  myself  to  the  utmost  to 
overcome  every  difficulty.  Should,  however,  the 
communication  between  Kingston  and  Montreal  be 
cut  off,  the  fate  of  the  troops  in  this  part  of  the  pro 
vince  will  be  decided.  I  now  express  my  apprehen 
sions  on  a  supposition  that  the  slender  means  your 
excellency  possesses  will  not  admit  of  diminution  ; 
consequently,  that  I  need  not  look  for  reinforcements. 
It  is  evidently  not  the  intention  of  the  enemy  to  make 
any  attempt  to  penetrate  into  the  province  by  this 
strait,  unless  the  present  force  be  diminished.  He 
seems  much  more  inclined  to  work  on  the  flanks, 
aware  that  if  he  succeed  every  other  part  must  very 
soon  submit. 


214  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

My  last  official  communication  from  the  Lower 
Province  is  dated  the  25th  ultimo,  when  the  adju 
tant-general  announced  the  receipt  of  intelligence,  by 
a  mercantile  house,  of  war  being  declared  by  the 
United  States  against  Great  Britain. 

Major- General  Sir  Thomas  Saumarez,  Kt.,*  to  Major- 
General  Brock. 

HALIFAX,  July  22,  1812. 

Being  this  moment  informed  that  an  express  is  to 
be  dispatched  immediately  from  hence  to  Quebec,  I 
have  great  pleasure  in  having  an  opportunity  to 
inquire  after  your  health  and  welfare,  and  to  acquaint 
you  that  your  relation,  Lady  Saumarez,  f  and  myself, 
arrived  here  about  a  month  since.  I  assure  you  we 
consider  ourselves  particularly  fortunate  in  not  having 
fallen  into  the  enemy's  hands,  as  the  Americans  had 
declared  war  a  week  before  we  reached  this.  We 
came  out  in  a  very  valuable  ordnance  store  ship, 
which  would  have  been  a  great  acquisition  to  the 
enemy,  at  the  breaking  out  of  a  war  especially  ;  and 
the  loss  to  us  would  have  been  seriously  felt  here,  as 
all  the  stores  on  board  were  very  much  required. 
Another  ship  with  naval  stores  accompanied  us  ; 
they  were  much  wanted  by  our  squadron,  and  possi 
bly  as  much  so  by  the  ships  of  the  enemy.  Our 
squadron  on  this  station  has  been  very  active.  Prizes 
arrive  here  daily,  I  could  almost  say  hourly.  The 
Emulous  brig  brought  in  ten  yesterday,  and  30,000 
dollars  were  found  on  board  some  of  them.  Mr. 
Foster,  late  ambassador  to  the  American  States,  has 
been  here  nearly  a  week ;  he  is  to  sail  for  England 
to-day.  According  to  the  best  information  we  can 

*  General  Sir  Thomas  Saumarez,  then  commandant  at  Halifax,  and  in 
1813  president  of  the  council  and  commander-in-chief  of  New  Brunswick ; 
now  in  his  85th  year,  and  brother  of  the  late  Admiral  Lord  de  Saumarez. 

t  Lady  Saumarez  was  Harriet  Brock,  his  first  cousin.  Another  of  his 
first  cousins,  Emily  Brock,  was  the  wife  of  Lieut.- General  Sir  John 
Cameron,  K.  C.  B.,  colonel  of  the  9th  foot,  and  a  very  distinguished  officer 
in  the  Peninsular  war. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  215 

obtain  here,  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States  of  Ame 
rica  are  extremely  inimical  to,  and  dissatisfied  with, 
the  war  ;  so  much  so,  that  there  is  reason  to  suppose 
they  will  dissolve  the  Union  shortly,  and  declare 
themselves  totally  independent  of  the  Southern  and 
Western  States. 

The  American  privateers  are  extremely  numerous 
and  daring  in  this  neighbourhood  ;  and,  I  am  sorry 
to  add,  they  have  proved  but  too  successful,  having 
captured  several  of  our  vessels  bound  to  Quebec  and 
New  Brunswick,  and  some  to  this  port.  I  received 
a  note  about  an  hour  ago  from  Lieut. -Colonel  Pear 
son,  who  sailed  from  hence  last  Sunday,  with  his 
wife  and  family,  for  Quebec,  being  appointed  inspect 
ing  field  officer  in  Canada,  to  inform  me  that  he  had 
been  made  prisoner  by  an  American  privateer.  Most 
of  our  ships  are  looking  out  for  the  squadron  the 
Americans  have  at  sea,  under  Commodore  Rodgers, 
who  is  supposed  to  have  sailed  from  New  York  with 
a  view  to  intercept  our  West  India  fleet,  homeward 
bound. 

We  are  as  busy  here  as  possible  in  placing  all  our 
out-posts  in  the  best  state  of  defence.  I  suppose  you 
are  not  less  so. 

A  transport,  with  140  men  of  the  Royals,  from  the 
West  Indies  to  Quebec,  was  boarded  by  the  Essex, 
American  frigate,  about  ten  days  ago,  and  permitted 
to  proceed,  on  condition  that  the  master  of  the  vessel 
promised  to  pay  a  ransom  of  12,000  dollars  for  her  ; 
and  that  the  officer  commanding  considered  himself 
on  parole,  and  gave  his  assurance  that  the  troops 
would  not  fight  against  the  Americans  during  the 
war.  The  transport  arrived  here  yesterday,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  battalion  is  supposed  to  have  reached 
Quebec. 

You  have  probably  heard  of  the  many  improve 
ments  in  our  little  island.  An  excellent  road  was 
finished  from  town  to  Vazon  Bay,  and  from  Fort 
George  to  Rocquaine ;  also  one  from  town  to  Lan- 


216  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

cresse.  The  Brave  du  Yalle  is  now  under  a  state  of 
cultivation.  Roads  of  communication  were  nearly 
finished  ;  one  of  them  from  what  is  called  the  Long 
Store  passes  Amherst  Barracks  and  my  house,  and 
joins  the  great  road  to  the  Forest  and  St.  Martin's : 
the  opening  of  all  these  have  discovered  many  beau 
tiful  views,  which  we  did  not  know  Guernsey  pos 
sessed. 

If  there  should  be  any  thing  I  can  do  for  you  or 
my  nephew,  James  Brock,  I  beg  that  you  will  afford 
me  the  pleasure  of  executing  your  commissions.  I 
have  not  time  to  add  more,  but  to  assure  you  both  of 
Lady  S.'s  and  my  best  wishes  and  regards. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

FORT  GEORGE,  July  25,  1812. 

Since  my  dispatch  to  your  excellency  of  the  20th 
instant,  I  have  received  information  of  the  enemy 
having  made  frequent  and  extensive  inroads  from 
Sandwich  up  the  river  Thames.  I  have  in  conse 
quence  been  induced  to  detach  Capt.  Chambers*  with 
about  50  of  the  41st  regiment  to  the  Moravian  town, 
where  I  have  directed  200  militia  to  join  him.  From 
the  loud  and  apparently  warm  professions  of  the  In 
dians  residing  on  the  Grand  River,  I  made  no  doubt 
of  finding  at  all  times  a  large  majority  ready  to  take 
the  field  and  act  in  conjunction  with  our  troops ;  but 
accounts  received  this  morning  state  that  they  have 
determined  to  remain  neutral,  and  they  have  con 
sequently  refused,  with  the  exception  of  about  fifty, 
to  join  Captain  Chambers'  detachment. 

I  meditated  a  diversion  to  the  westward,  the  mo 
ment  I  could  collect  a  sufficient  number  of  militia,  in 
Ihe  hope  of  compelling  General  Hull  to  retreat  across 
the  river;  but  this  unexpected  intelligence  has  ruined 
the  whole  of  my  plans.  The  militia,  which  I  destined 

*  Senior  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  4 1st  regiment  in  India,  in  1828,  and 
aC.B. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  217 

for  this  service,  will  now  be  alarmed,  and  unwilling 
to  leave  their  families  to  the  mercy  of  400  Indians, 
whose  conduct  affords  such  wide  room  for  suspicion  ; 
and  really  to  expect  that  this  fickle  race  will  remain 
in  a  state  of  neutrality  in  the  midst  of  war,  would  be 
truly  absurd.  The  Indians  have  probably  been  led  to 
this  change  of  sentiment  by  emissaries  from  General 
Hull,  whose  proclamation  to  the  Six  Nations  is  here 
with  enclosed. 

I  have  not  deemed  it  of  sufficient  consequence  to 
commence  active  operations  on  this  line,  by  an  attack 
on  Fort  Niagara.  It  can  be  demolished,  when  found 
necessary,  in  half  an  hour,  and  there  my  means  of 
annoyance  would  terminate.  To  enable  the  militia 
to  acquire  some  degree  of  discipline  without  inter 
ruption,  is  of  far  greater  consequence  than  such  a 
conquest.  Every  thing  in  my  power  shall  be  done  to 
overcome  the  difficulties  by  which  I  am  surrounded  ; 
but  without  strong  reinforcements,  I  fear  the  country 
cannot  be  roused  to  make  exertions  equal  to  meet 
this  crisis. 

I  proceed  immediately  to  York,  to  attend  the 
meeting  of  the  legislature,  and  I  hope  to  return  on 
Wednesday.  The  charge  of  this  frontier  will  in  the 
mean  time  devolve  on  Lieut. -Colonel  Myers,  who 
appears  worthy  of  every  confidence.  The  actual  in 
vasion  of  the  province  has  compelled  me  to  recall 
that  portion  of  the  militia,  whom  I  permitted  to  return 
home  and  work  at  harvest.  I  am  prepared  to  hear 
of  much  discontent  in  consequence  ;  the  disaffected 
will  take  advantage  of  it,  and  add  fuel  to  the  flame. 
But  it  may  not  be  without  reason  that  I  may  be  ac 
cused  of  having  already  studied  their  convenience  and 
humour  to  the  injury  of  the  service. 

I  should  have  derived  much  consolation  in  the 
midst  of  my  present  difficulties  had  I  been  honored, 
previously  to  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  with  your 
excellency's  determination  in  regard  to  this  province. 
That  it  cannot  be  maintained  with  its  present  force  is 


218  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

very  obvious ;  and  unless  the  enemy  be  driven  from 
Sandwich,  it  will  be  impossible  to  avert  much  longer 
the  impending  ruin  of  the  country.  Numbers  have 
already  joined  the  invading  army;  commotions  are 
excited ;  and  the  late  occurrences  at  Sandwich  have 
spread  a  general  gloom.  I  have  not  heard  from 
Lieut. -Colonel  St.  George,  or  from  any  individual  at 
Amherstburg,  since  I  last  had  the  honor  of  addressing 
your  excellency,  which  makes  me  apprehensive  that 
Colonel  Proctor  has  been  detained  on  his  journey  too 
long  for  the  good  of  the  service. 

The  enemy's  cavalry,  amounting  to  about  fifty,  are 
led  by  one  Watson,  a  surveyor  from  Montreal  of  a 
desperate  character.  This  fellow  has  been  allowed  to 
parade  with  about  twenty  men  of  the  same  description 
as  far  as  Westminster,*  vowing  as  they  went  along 
the  most  bitter  vengeance  against  the  first  characters 
in  the  province.  Nothing  can  shew  more  strongly 
the  state  of  apathy  which  exists  in  most  parts  of  the 
country  ;  but  I  am  perhaps  too  liberal  in  attributing 
the  conduct  of  the  inhabitants  to  that  cause. 

Mr.  Couche  has  represented  to  the  head  of  his 
department  the  total  impracticability  of  carrying  on 
the  public  service  without  a  remittance  of  specie,  or  a 
government  paper  substitute.  He  was  in  expectation 
of  making  arrangements  with  some  individuals  that 
would  have  enabled  him  to  proceed,  but  I  much  fear 
that  the  whole  project  has  fallen  to  the  ground.  The 
militia  on  this  communication  were  so  clamorous  for 
their  pay,  that  I  directed  Mr.  Couche  to  make  the 
necessary  advances,  and  this  has  drained  him  of  the 
little  specie  in  his  possession. 

My  present  civil  office  not  only  authorizes  me  to 
convene  general  courts  martial  for  the  trial  of  offend 
ers  belonging  to  the  militia,  but  likewise  the  infliction 
of  the  sentence  of  death ;  whilst  in  regard  to  the  mi 
litary,  my  power  is  limited  to  the  mere  assembling  of 
the  court.  I  beg  leave  to  submit  to  the  consideration 

*  About  110  miles  in  the  interior,  or  east  of  Sandwich. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  219 

of  your  excellency,  whether  in  times  like  the  present 
I  ought  not  to  be  invested  with  equal  authority  over 
each  service. 

I  herewith  have  the  honor  to  transmit  two  letters, 
one  from  Captain  Roberts,  commanding  at  St.  Jo 
seph's,  and  the  second  from  Mr.  Dickson,  a  gentleman 
every  way  capable  of  forming  a  correct  judgment  of 
the  actual  state  of  the  Indians.  Nothing  can  be  more 
deplorable  than  his  description ;  yet  the  United  States 
government  accuse  Great  Britain  of  instigating  that 
people  to  war.  Is  not  the  true  cause  to  be  found  in 
the  state  of  desperation  to  which  they  are  reduced  by 
the  unfriendly  and  unjust  measures  of  that  govern 
ment  towards  them  ? 


On  the  27th  of  July,  1812,  Major-General  Brock 
returned  to  York  from  Fort  George,  on  which  day, 
accompanied  by  a  numerous  suite,  he  opened  the 
extra  session  of  the  legislature,  and  delivered  the  fol 
lowing  speeches. 

Honorable  Gentlemen  of  the  Legislative  Council,  and 
Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

The  urgency  of  the  present  crisis  is  the  only  consideration 
which  could  have  induced  me  to  call  you  together  at  a  time 
when  public,  as  well  as  private,  duties  elsewhere,  demand 
your  care  and  attention. 

But,  gentlemen,  when  invaded  by  an  enemy  whose  avowed 
object  is  the  entire  conquest  of  the  province,  the  voice  of 
loyalty,  as  well  as  of  interest,  calls  aloud  to  every  person  in 
the  sphere  in  which  he  is  placed  to  defend  his  country. 

Our  militia  have  heard  that  voice,  and  have  obeyed  it; 
they  have  evinced,  by  the  promptitude  and  loyalty  of  their 
conduct,  that  they  are  worthy  of  the  king  whom  they  serve, 
and  of  the  constitution  which  they  enjoy  ;  and  it  affords  me 
particular  satisfaction,  that  while  I  address  you  as  legislators, 
I  speak  to  men  who,  in  the  day  of  danger,  will  be  ready  to 
assist,  not  only  with  their  counsel,  but  with  their  arms. 

We  look,  gentlemen,  to  our  militia,  as  well  as  to  the  regu 
lar  forces,  for  our  protection ;  but  I  should  be  wanting  to 
that  important  trust  committed  to  my  care,  if  I  attempted  to 
conceal  (what  experience,  the  great  instructor  of  mankind, 


220  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

and  especially  of  legislators,  has  discovered,)  that  amendment 
is  necessary  in  our  militia  laws  to  render  them  efficient. 

It  is  for  you  to  consider  what  further  improvements  they 
still  may  require. 

Honorable  Gentlemen  of  the  Legislative  Council,  and 
Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

From  the  history  and  experience  of  our  mother  country,  we 
learn  that  in  times  of  actual  invasion  or  internal  commotion, 
the  ordinary  course  of  criminal  law  has  been  found  inadequate 
to  secure  his  majesty's  government  from  private  treachery 
as  well  as  from  open  disaffection ;  and  that  at  such  times  its 
legislature  has  found  it  expedient  to  enact  laws  restraining, 
for  a  limited  period,  the  liberty  of  individuals,  in  many  cases 
where  it  would  be  dangerous  to  expose  the  particulars  of  the 
charge  ;  and  although  the  actual  invasion  of  the  province 
might  justify  me  in  the  exercise  of  the  full  powers  reposed  in 
me  on  such  an  emergency,  yet  it  will  be  more  agreeable  to 
me  to  receive  the  sanction  of  the  two  houses. 

A  few  traitors  have  already  joined  the  enemy,  have  been 
suffered  to  come  into  the  country  with  impunity,  and  have 
been  harboured  and  concealed  in  the  interior;  yet  the  general 
spirit  of  loyalty  which  appears  to  pervade  the  inhabitants  of 
this  province,  is  such  as  to  authorize  a  just  expectation  that 
their  efforts  to  mislead  and  deceive  will  be  unavailing.  The 
disaffected,  I  am  convinced,  are  few  —  to  protect  and  defend 
the  loyal  inhabitants  from  their  machinations,  is  an  object 
worthy  of  your  most  serious  deliberation. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 
I  have  directed  the  public  accounts  of  the  province  to  be 
laid  before  you,  in  as  complete  a  state  as  this  unusual  period 
will  admit ;  they  will  afford  you  the  means  of  ascertaining  to 
what  extent  you  can  aid  in  providing  for  the  extraordinary 
demands  occasioned  by  the  employment  of  the  militia,  and  I 
doubt  not  but  to  that  extent  you  will  cheerfully  contribute. 

Honorable  Gentlemen  of  the  Legislative  Council,  and 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 
We  are  engaged  in  an  awful  and  eventful  contest.  By 
unanimity  and  dispatch  in  our  councils,  and  by  vigour  in  our 
operations,  we  may  teach  the  enemy  this  lesson,  that  a  coun 
try  defended  by  free  men,  enthusiastically  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  their  king  and  constitution,  can  never  be  conquered  ! 

The  invasion  of  the  western  district  by  Brigadier- 
General  Hull,  and  the  artful  and  threatening  language 
of  his  proclamation,  were  productive  at  the  outset  of 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  221 

very  unfavorable  effects  among  a  large  portion  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Upper  Canada;  arid  so  general  was 
the  despondency,  that  the  Norfolk  militia,  consisting, 
we  believe,  chiefly  of  settlers  of  American  origin, 
peremptorily  refused  to  march.  The  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  house  of  assembly  were  impressed 
with  the  same  gloomy  forebodings,  and  that  body 
appeared  by  its  proceedings  rather  to  court  the  favor 
of  the  enemy  than  fearlessly  to  perform  its  duty.  It 
was,  therefore,  prorogued  upon  passing  the  money 
bills,  as  no  advantage  could  result  from  its  remaining 
longer  in  session.  The  state  of  the  province  required 
the  most  prompt  and  decisive  measures  for  its  pre 
servation,  and  Major-General  Brock  considered  its 
situation  at  this  moment  as  extremely  critical.  With 
the  concurrence  of  his  counsel,  to  whom  he  represent 
ed  his  many  difficulties,  he  is  said  to  have  resolved 
on  exercising  martial  law  whenever  he  should  find  it 
necessary,  although  the  house  of  assembly  had  reject 
ed  its  enactment,  even  in  a  modified  form.  Not  only 
among  the  militia  was  a  disposition  evinced  to  sub 
mit  tamely,  but  five  hundred  in  the  western  district 
sought  the  protection  of  the  enemy.  It  is  true  that 
the  people  there  were  far  removed  from  the  seat  of 
government,  and  the  more  subject  to  hostile  influence, 
as  they  were  principally  composed  of  French  Cana 
dians  and  of  the  natives  of  the  United  States,  or  their 
immediate  descendants ;  but  even  the  Indians,  who 
were  located  on  the  Grand  River,  in  the  heart  of  the 
province,  positively  refused,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
to  take  up  arms ;  and  they  announced  their  intention, 
after  the  return  of  some  of  their  chiefs  from  General 
Hull,  to  remain  neutral,  as  if  they  wished  the  autho 
rities  to  believe  that  they  could  be  tranquil  in  the 
midst  of  warfare.  Major-General  Brock  had  not 
long  administered  the  government  of  the  province, 
but  where  he  was  individually  known,  and  where  his 
personal  influence  extended,  a  better  sentiment  pre 
vailed;  and  his  counter-proclamation  served  not  only 


222  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

to  animate  the  well-disposed,  but  to  counteract  the 
machinations  of  the  disaffected.  The  confident  tone  of 
his  address  to  the  provincial  parliament  was  also  pro 
ductive  of  the  best  effects,  whatever  inward  misgiv 
ings  he  might  have  felt ;  and  those  who  were  dastardly 
enough  to  join  the  invaders  of  their  native  or  adopted 
country,  were  quickly  taught  to  repent  of  their  base 
ness  and  treason.  And  the  British  general's  empha 
tic  assurance  to  the  legislature,  prophetic  as  it  proved 
in  this  contest,  should  not  be  forgotten  in  a  future 
war  by  those  Canadians  who  seek  to  preserve  "the 
richest  inheritance  of  this  earth— a  participation  in 
the  name,  character,  and  freedom  of  Britons."  * 

"BY  UNANIMITY  AND  DISPATCH  IN  OUR  COUNCILS, 
AND  BY  VIGOUR  IN  OUR  OPERATIONS,  WE  MAY  TEACH 
THE  ENEMY  THIS  LESSON,  THAT  A  COUNTRY  DEFENDED 
BY  FREE  MEN,  ENTHUSIASTICALLY  DEVOTED  TO  THE 
CAUSE  OF  THEIR  KING  AND  CONSTITUTION,  CAN  NEVER 
BE  CONQUERED ! " 

*  Major-General  Brock's  proclamation,  in  answer  to  that  of  General 
Hull,  ante. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  223 


CHAPTER     VIII. 


We  have  mentioned  that  Major-General  Brock  had 
in  the  spring  provided  for  the  protection  of  Fort  St. 
Joseph,  a  small  British  post,  distant  by  water  nearly 
700  miles  from  York,  and  situate  about  50  miles,  also 
by  water,  to  the  north-east  of  the  American  island 
and  fort  of  Michilimackinac,  or  as  now  often  abbre 
viated,  Mackinaw,  which  island  is  in  latitude  45°  30' 
north,  and  longitude  84°  30'  west;*  and  one  of  his 
first  cares,  on  hearing  of  the  declaration  of  the  war, 
was  to  send,  on  the  26th  of  June,  a  notification  of  it 
to  Captain  Roberts,  who  was  stationed  at  St.  Joseph 
with  a  detachment  of  the  10th  Royal  Veteran  Batta 
lion,  accompanied  by  orders  to  make  an  immediate 
attack  upon  Michilimackinac,  if  practicable ;  or,  in 
the  event  of  an  attack  by  the  Americans  upon  St. 
Joseph,  to  defend  it  to  the  utmost.  Captain  Roberts 

*  For  a  description  of  this  island,  see  page  180. 

"  Fort  Michilimackinac  was  built  by  order  of  the  governor. general  of 
Canada,  and  garrisoned  with  a  small  number  of  militia,  who,  having 
families,  soon  became  less  soldiers  than  settlers.  Most  of  those,  whom  I 
found  in  the  fort,  had  originally  served  in  the  French  army. 

"  The  fort  stands  on  the  south  side  of  the  strait  which  is  between  Lake 
Huron  and  Lake  Michigan.  It  has  an  area  of  two  acres,  and  is  enclosed 
with  pickets  of  cedar  wood;  (thuya  occidentalls;)  and  it  is  so  near  the 
water's  edge,  that,  when  the  wind  is  in  the  west,  the  waves  break  against 
the  stockade.  On  the  bastions  are  two  small  pieces  olf  brass  English 
cannon,  taken  some  years  since  by  a  party  of  Canadians,  who  went  on 
a  plundering  expedition  against  the  posts  of  Hudson's  Bay,  which  they 
reached  by  the  route  of  the  river  Churchill. 

Within  the  stockade  are  thirty  houses,  neat  in  their  appearance,  and 
tolerably  commodious ;  and  a  church,  in  which  mass  is  celebrated,  by  a 
Jesuit  missionary.  The  number  of  families  may  be  nearly  equal  to  that 
of  the  houses;  and  their  subsistence  is  derived  from  the  Indian  traders, 
who  assemble  here,  in  their  voyages  to  and  from  Montreal.  —  Henry's 
Travels,  (1761,)  cited  ante. 


224  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

received  at  the  same  time  another  letter  from  Major- 
General  Brock,  dated  the  27th  of  June,  suspending 
the  orders  for  the  attack  from  the  uncertainty  he  was 
under  of  the  declaration  of  war.  In  a  third  letter, 
dated  Fort  George,  the  28th  of  June,  Major-General 
Brock,  being  sufficiently  informed  of  such  a  decla 
ration,  directed  Captain  Roberts  to  adopt  the  most 
prompt  and  effectual  measures  to  possess  himself  of 
Michilimackinac,  and  for  this  purpose  to  summon  to 
his  assistance  the  Indians  within  his  influence,  as  well 
as  the  gentlemen  and  dependants  of  the  British  fur 
companies  near  his  post.  On  the  day  that  Captain 
Roberts  received  this  letter,  another  reached  him 
from.  Sir  George  Prevost,  dated  Quebec,  25th  of 
June,  by  which  he  was  directed  to  take  every  pre 
caution  to  secure  his  post  against  any  attempt  by  the 
enemy,  and  in  case  of  necessity  to  effect  his  retreat. 
Thus  it  would  seem  that  the  commander-in-chief  had 
forgotten  Major-General  Brock's*  advice  a  few  months 
previously,  and  it  never  occurred  to  him  that  the  best 
way  to  secure  St.  Joseph  was  to  capture  Michili 
mackinac.  This  contrariety  of  instructions  from  the 
two  general  officers  did  not  fail  to  perplex  Captain 
Roberts,  who,  however,  with  great  promptitude  and 
decision  made  preparations  for  the  attack,  By  ano 
ther  dispatch  of  the  4th  of  July,  from  Major-General 
Brock,  Captain  Roberts  was  left  at  his  own  discretion 
to  adopt  either  offensive  or  defensive  measures,  as 
circumstances  might  dictate.  On  the  16th  of  July, 
he  accordingly  set  out  with  a  flotilla  of  boats  and 
canoes,  in  which  were  embarked  45  officers  and  men 
of  the  10th  Royal  Veteran  Battalion,  about  180  Ca 
nadians,  and  nearly  400  Indians,  the  whole  convoyed 
by  the  Caledonia  brig,  belonging  to  the  North -West 
company  ;  and  on  the  ensuing  morning,  the  British 
force  effected  a  landing  before  Michilimackinac, t 
the  garrison  of  which,  consisting  only  of  61  officers 

*  See  his  letter  of  the  12th  of  February,  1812,  to  Colonel  Baynes. 
t  See  Captain  Roberts'  Dispatch,  Appendix  A,  Sec.  1,  No.  2. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  225 

and  men,  immediately  surrendered  by  capitulation. 
A  quantity  of  military  stores  and  seven  hundred 
packs  of  furs  were  found  in  the  fort,  and  its  sur 
render  had  a  very  favorable  effect  upon  the  Indians, 
a  large  number  of  whom  now  joined  in  open  hostility 
against  the  Americans.  It  will  be  found  by  a  letter 
of  the  12th  of  August,  from  Sir  George  Prevost,  who 
appears  to  have  seen  no  safety  but  in  defensive  mea 
sures,  that  he  would  not  have  approved  of  the  attack 
on  Michilimackinac  if  it  had  occurred  prior  to  Hull's 
invasion  !  And  yet  that  officer,  in  his  official  dispatch 
relative  to  the  capture  of  his  army  and  the  surrender 
of  Detroit,  attributed  his  disasters  partly  to  the  fall 
of  Michilimackinac,  which  he  said  opened  the  north 
ern  hive  of  Indians  against  him  !  * 


Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  July  29,  1812. 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  dispatch 
this  instant  received  from  Captain  Roberts,  announ 
cing  the  surrender  by  capitulation,  on  the  17th  in 
stant,  of  Fort  Michilimackinac. 

The  conduct  of  this  officer  since  his  appointment 
to  the  command  of  that  distant  post,  has  been  distin 
guished  by  much  zeal  and  judgment,  and  his  recent 
eminent  display  of  those  qualities,  your  excellency 

*  In  his  dispatch  to  the  Hon.  W.  Eustis,  the  American  Secretary  at 
War,  dated  Fort  George,  August  26,  18i2,  Genera)  Hull,  who  is  however 
accused  by  his  own  countrymen  with  having  greatly  magnified  his  diffi 
culties,  said :  "  After  the  surrender  of  Michilimackinac,  almost  every  tribe 
and  nation  of  Indians,  excepting  a  part  of  the  Miamies  and  Delawares, 
north  from  beyond  Lake  Superior,  west  from  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
south  from  the  Ohio  and  Wabash,  and  east  from  every  part  of  Upper 
Canada,  and  from  all  the  intermediate  country,  joined  in  open  hostility, 
under  the  British  standard,  against  the  army  I  commanded,  contrary  to 
the  most  solemn  assurance  of  a  large  portion  of  them  to  remain  neutral ; 
even  the  Ottowa  chiefs,  from  Arbecrotch,  who  formed  the  delegation  to 
Washington  the  last  summer,  in  whose  friendship  I  know  you  had  great 
confidence,  are  among  the  hostile  tribes,  and  several  of  them  distinguished 
leaders.  Among  the  vast  number  of  chiefs  who  led  the  hostile  bands, 
Tecumseh,  Marpplt,  Logan,  Walk-in-the-Water,  Split-log,  &c.,  are  con. 
sidered  the  principals." 

T* 


226  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

will  find,  has  been  attended  with  the  most  happy 
effect.* 

The  militia  stationed  here  volunteered  this  morning 
their  services  to  any  part  of  the  province,  without  the 
least  hesitation.  I  have  selected  100,  whom  I  have 
directed  to  proceed  without  delay  to  Long  Point, 
where  I  purpose  collecting  a  force  for  the  relief  of 
Amherstburg.  This  example,  I  hope,  will  be  followed 
by  as  many  as  may  be  required.  By  the  militia  law, 
a  man  refusing  to  march  may  be  fined  <£5,  or  con 
fined  three  months ;  and  although  I  have  assembled 
the  legislature  for  the  express  purpose  of  amending 
the  act,  I  much  fear  nothing  material  will  be  done. 
Your  excellency  will  scarcely  believe  that  this  infatu 
ated  house  of  assembly  have  refused,  by  a  majority  of 
two,  to  suspend  for  a  limited  time  the  habeas  corpus. 

The  capture  of  Michilimackinac  may  produce  great 
changes  to  the  westward.  The  actual  invasion  of  the 
province  justifies  every  act  of  hostility  on  the  Ame 
rican  territory. 

It  was  not  till  this  morning  that  I  was  honored 
with  your  excellency's  dispatches,  dated  the  7th  and 
10th  instant.  Their  contents,  I  beg  to  assure  your 
excellency,  have  relieved  my  mind  considerably.  I 
doubt  whether  General  Hull  had  instructions  to  cross 
to  this  side  of  the  river ;  I  rather  suspect  he  was 
compelled  by  a  want  of  provisions.  I  embark  im 
mediately  in  the  Prince  Regent  for  Fort  George. 
I  return  here  the  day  after  to-morrow,  and  shall 
probably  dissolve  the  legislature. 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major-General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  July  31,  1812. 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  20th  instant,  ac 
companied  by  the  copy  of  two  letters  from  Lieut.- 

*  It  strikes  us  as  singular  that  Captain  Roberts  was  not  promoted  to  at 
least  a  brevet  majority  for  the  capture  of  this  important  post,  although  he 
had  an  overwhelming  force,  and  took  it  without  resistance.  Was  this 
promotion  withheld  because  the  capture  was  effected  contrary  to  Sir 
George  Prevost's  orders  ? 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  227 

Colonel  St.  George,  who  is  in  command  at  Amherst- 
burg,  and  some  interesting  documents  found  on  board 
a  schooner,  which  had  been  taken  by  the  boats  of  the 
Hunter. 

In  consequence  of  your  having  desired  Colonel 
Proctor  to  proceed  to  Amherstburg,  and  of  your  pre 
sence  being  necessary  at  the  seat  of  government  to 
meet  the  legislature  of  Upper  Canada,  I  have  taken 
upon  myself  to  place  Major-General  Sbeaffe  on  the 
staff,  to  enable  me  to  send  him  to  assist  you  in  the 
arduous  task  you  have  to  perform,  in  the  able  execu 
tion  of  which  I  have  great  confidence.  He  has  been 
accordingly  directed  to  proceed  without  delay  to 
Upper  Canada,  there  to  place  himself  under  your 
command.* 

I  believe  you  are  authorized  by  the  commission 
under  which  you  administer  the  government  of  Upper 
Canada,  to  declare  martial  law  in  the  event  of  inva 
sion  or  insurrection  ;  it  is,  therefore,  for  you  to  con 
sider  whether  you  can  obtain  any  thing  equivalent  to 
that  power  from  your  legislature.  I  have  not  suc 
ceeded  in  obtaining  a  modification  of  it  in  Lower 
Canada,  and  must  therefore,  upon  the  occurrence  of 
either  of  those  calamities,  declare  the  law  martial 
unqualified,  and  of  course  shut  the  doors  of  the  courts 
of  civil  law. 

The  report  transmitted  by  Captain  Dixon,  of  the 
Royal  Engineers,  to  Lieut. -Colonel  Bruyeres,  of  the 
state  of  defence  in  which  he  had  placed  Fort  Am- 
herstburg,  together  with  the  description  of  the  troops 
allotted  for  its  defence,  give  me  a  foreboding  that  the 
result  of  General  Hull's  attempt  upon  that  fort  will 
terminate  honorably  to  our  arms. 

If  Lieut.-Colonel  St.  George  be  possessed  of  the 
talents  and  resources  required  to  form  a  soldier,  he  is 

*  This  accidental  appointment  gained  Major-General  Sheaffe  a  baro 
netcy  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  and  subsequently  a  regiment.  Such  is 
fortune  !  At  this  time  Major-General  Shaw,  a  senior  officer  to  Major- 
General  Sheaffe,  was  serving  as  a  colonel  of  militia  in  Upper  Canada. 
See  page  203. 


228  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

fortunate  in  the  opportunity  of  displaying  them. 
Should  General  Hull  be  compelled  to  relinquish  his 
operations  against  Amherstburg,  it  will  be  proper  his 
future  movements  should  be  most  carefully  observed, 
as  his  late  march  exhibits  a  more  than  ordinary 
character  of  enterprize. 

Your  supposition  of  my  slender  means  is  but  too 
correct ;  notwithstanding,  you  may  rely  upon  every 
exertion  being  made  to  preserve  uninterrupted  the 
communication  between  Kingston  and  Montreal,  arid 
that  I  will  also  give  all  possible  support  to  your 
endeavours  to  overcome  every  difficulty. 

The  possession  of  Maiden,  which  I  consider  means 
Amherstburg,  appears  a  favorite  object  with  the  go 
vernment  of  the  United  States.  I  sincerely  hope  you 
will  disappoint  them. 

Should  the  intelligence,  which  arrived  yesterday 
by  the  way  of  Newfoundland,  prove  correct,  a  re 
markable  coincidence  will  exist  in  the  revocation  of 
our  orders  in  council  as  regards  America,  and  the 
declaration  of  war  by  congress  against  England,  both 
having  taken  place  on  the  same  day  in  London  and  at 
Washington,  the  17th  June. 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  August  1,  1812. 

Sir  George  yesterday  received  your  letter  of  the 
20th  with  its  several  enclosures,  which  are,  I  assure 
you,  highly  interesting  to  all,  and  doubly  so  to  those 
who  feel  warmly  and  sincerely  attached  to  you  ;  and 
few,  I  believe,  possess  more  friends  and  well  wishers 
than  yourself.  100  effective  of  the  Newfoundland, 
and  50  picked  men  of  the  Veterans,  left  this  in  boats 
on  Thursday,  and,  as  it  has  blown  a  gale  of  east  wind 
ever  since,  have  I  trust  made  great  progress  :  they 
were  intended  to  reinforce  the  garrison  of  Kingston, 
and  to  relieve  the  company  of  the  49th  that  escorted 
stores  to  that  place.  Sir  George  regrets  extremely 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  2*29 

his  inability  to  render  you  a  more  efficient  aid,  but, 
under  existing;  circumstances,  he  does  not  feel  him 
self  warranted  to  do  more.  I  regret  to  find  your 
militia  at  Sandwich  so  lukewarm,  to  call  it  by  no 
harsher  name ;  but  I  fear  that  little  can  be  expected 
from  those  recently  settled,  or  of  American  extraction, 
and  with  our  Canadians  we  have  found  a  very  reluc 
tant  compliance.  I  trust  we  may  still  look  to  consi 
derable  reinforcements  from  home  this  year.  We 
are  led  to  expect  the  1st  battalion  of  the  Royals  from 
the  West  Indies  immediately,  destined  indeed  to 
relieve  the  41st.  I  hope  we  shall  not  be  disappointed, 
as  our  militia  will  feel  bold  if  well  backed  ;  and  I 
am  sure  Sir  George  will  rejoice  in  receiving  the 
means  of  rendering  you  further  assistance.  It  ap 
pears  to  be  credited  that  the  orders  in  council  were 
rescinded,  in  as  far  as  regarded  America,  on  the  17th 
June,  the  day  the  war  vote  was  carried  :  this  will 
strengthen  the  oppositionists  in  the  States,  and  the 
timid  will  feel  alarmed,  not  without  reason,  when 
they  read  the  glorious  and  judicious  exploit  of  Cap 
tain  Hotham,  in  the  Northumberland,  74,  in  destroy 
ing,  under  circumstances  of  great  difficulty  and  peril, 
two  French  44-gun  frigates  and  a  sloop,  which  re 
ceived  a  superior  degree  of  protection  from  batteries 
on  the  shore  than  can  be  afforded  to  Commodore 
Rodgers  in  any  harbour  of  the  States. 

The  Americans  are  forming  depots  in  the  neighbour 
hood  of  the  Montreal  frontier  and  building  bateaux 
on  the  lake,  (Cham plain,)  but  they  have  not  brought 
forward  any  considerable  shew  of  strength  ;  —  on  this 
appearance  of  weakness  we  cannot  rely,  as  it  would 
answer  no  good  end  making  a  parade  before  they 
intended  to  attack.  If  they  be  serious  in  their  views 
on  this  province,  the  attempt  will  be  probably  backed 
by  predatory  incursions  on  various  points.  A  corps 
of  militia  is  kept  on  the  Point  Levi  side. 

Our  legislature  meet  this  day  to  terminate  the 
session.  One  great  object  has  been  accomplished  in 


230  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

the  house,  adding  the  provincial  security  to  the  army 
money  note  bill  ;  the  province  pays  the  interest 
accruing  upon  the  notes  and  the  expense  of  the  esta 
blishment,  and  they  are  constituted  a  legal  tender. 
Without  this  step  we  were  completely  at  a  stand,  for 
we  could  not  obtain  money  to  pay  the  last  month's 
subsistence  to  the  troops  :  great  benefit  is  expected  to 
accrue  from  the  operation  of  the  bill.  The  clergy 
have  engaged  to  promote  the  circulation  of  the  notes, 
all  of  which  above  twenty-five  dollars  bear  interest, 
and  all  under  are  payable  on  demand. 

Adieu,  my  dear  general — may  every  success  and 
good  fortune  attend  you  in  the  arduous  task  before 
you  :  we  cannot  command  success,  but  I  am  sure 
you  will  not  fail  to  merit  it. 

Lieut. -Colonel  Bruyeres,  Royal  Engineers,  to  Major- General 
Brock. 

QUEBEC,  August  1,  1812. 

I  take  the  favorable  advantage  of  this  being  deli 
vered  to  you  by  General  Sheaife,  to  assure  you  of  the 
sincere  interest  I  feel  in  the  very  arduous  and  impor 
tant  position  you  are  now  placed  in  to  protect  and 
defend  a  chain  of  posts,  and  a  country  that  has  been 
so  long  neglected.  This  difficult  task  placed  in  any 
other  hands,  I  should  consider  very  discouraging ; 
but  I  acknowledge  that  I  look  with  a  certain  degree 
of  confidence  to  your  abilities  and  perseverance  in 
surmounting  every  difficulty  that  must  unavoidably 
occur  in  a  service  of  this  nature.  I  most  fervently 
and  earnestly  hope  that  every  possible  success  may 
attend  all  your  proceedings.  I  trust  that  you  will 
always  meet  with  zeal  and  activity  in  the  officers  of 
my  department,  to  perform  every  part  of  the  duty 
allotted  to  their  charge.  It  is  very  difficult  at  this 
distance  to  suggest  any  ideas  that  might  be  useful, 
as  every  operation  in  which  you  are  engaged  must 
depend  so  entirely  upon  local  circumstances,  and  the 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  231 

conduct  which  the  enemy  may  pursue  towards  attain 
ing  the  object  he  has  in  view.  I  am  glad  to  find  that 
the  new  arrival  of  the  Royals,  expected  at  Quebec 
to-morrow,  will  give  you  the  reinforcement  of  the 
49th  regiment,  which,  with  the  detachments  of  the 
Newfoundland  and  Veterans,  and  gun-boat  No.  7, 
will  add  something  to  your  present  strength. 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major- General  Brock. 

QUEBEC,  August  2,  1812. 

Last  evening  an  officer  of  the  98th  regiment  arrived 
here  express  from  Halifax,  the  bearer  of  dispatches 
to  me,  dated  on  the  22d  ultimo,  from  Mr.  Foster, 
who  was  then  in  Nova  Scotia. 

I  lose  no  time  in  making  you  acquainted  with  the 
substance  of  this  gentleman's  communication.  He 
informs  me  that  he  had  just  received  dispatches  from 
England,  referring  to  a  declaration  of  ministers  in 
parliament,  relative  to  a  proposed  repeal  of  the  orders 
in  council,  provided  the  United  Stales  govefnment 
would  return  to  relations  of  amity  with  us,  the  con 
tents  of  which  may  possibly  induce  the  American 
government  to  agree  to  a  suspension  of  hostilities  as 
a  preliminary  to  negotiations  for  peace;  —  that  he 
proposed  sending  his  majesty's  hired  armed  ketch 
Gleaner  to  New  York,  with  letters  to  Mr.  Baker, 
whom  he  had  left  at  Washington  in  a  demi-official 
capacity,  with  directions  to  communicate  with  the 
American  minister,  and  to  write  to  me  the  result  of' 
his  interview.  Should  the  president  of  the  United 
States  think  proper  to  signify  that  hostile  operations 
should  cease  on  the  American  side,  Mr.  Foster  sug 
gests  the  expediency  of  my  being  prepared  to  make  a 
similar  signification  on  our  part. 

As  I  propose  sending  Colonel  Baynes  immediately 
into  the  United  States,  with  a  proposal  for  a  cessation 
of  hostile  operations,  I  enclose  for  your  information 
the  copy  of  my  letter  to  General  Dearborn,  or  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  American  forces. 


232  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Mr.  Foster  also  submits  the  propriety  of  our  ab 
staining  from  an  invasion  of  the  United  States  terri 
tory,  as  only  in  such  an  event  could  the  American 
government  be  empowered  to  order  the  militia  out  of 
the  States.  I  am  led  to  believe  from  this,  that 
General  Hull,  in  possessing  himself  of  Sandwich, 
has  exceeded  his  instructions ;  particularly  as  Mr. 
Foster  informs  me  that  Mr.  Monroe  had  told  him 
Fort  Maiden  (Amherstburg)  would  not  be  attacked, 
but  that  General  Hull  had  stated  to  a  friend  of  his, 
some  time  ago,  that  he  would  attempt  it. 

A  report  has  been  made  to  me  that  a  frigate  and 
six  transports,  with  the  Royal  Scots  (1st  battalion) 
on  board,  from  the  West  Indies,  are  just  below  Bic  ; 
in  consequence  of  this  reinforcement,  I  have  ordered 
the  company  of  the  49th  regiment,  sent  to  Kingston, 
to  remain  there  ;  and  in  addition  to  the  Royal  New 
foundland  Regiment,  and  a  detachment  of  an  officer 
and  50  Veterans  most  fit  for  service,  now  on  their 
route  to  that  station,  I  shall  order  Major  Ormsby, 
with  three  companies  of  the  49th  regiment,  to  pro 
ceed  from  Montreal  to  the  same  post,  to  be  disposed 
of  as  you  may  find  it  necessary. 

Lieut-General  Sir  J.  C.  Sherbrooke  has  informed 
me  that,  one  of  the  transports,  with  part  of  the  Royals 
on  board,  has  been  captured  by  the  United  States 
frigate,  the  Essex ;  that  she  has  been  ransomed  and 
the  officers  and  troops  allowed  to  proceed,  upon  con 
dition  that  they  are  not  to  serve  against  America 
until  regularly  exchanged.  The  vessel  and  troops 
had  arrived  at  Halifax,  and  will  shortly  be  sent 
hither. 

Major-General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  August  4,  1812. 

I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  a  statement  made  by 
me  yesterday  to  his  majesty's  executive  council, 
which  will  fully  apprize  your  excellency  of  my  situ- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  233 

ation.  The  council  adjourned  for  deliberation,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  will  recommend  the  prorogation  of 
the  assembly  and  proclamation  declaring  martial  law  ; 
but  doubts  occurred  in  contemplation  of  such  an 
event,  which  I  take  the  liberty  to  submit  to  your 
excellency,  and  request  the  aid  of  your  experience 
and  superior  judgment. 

1. — In  the  event  of  declaring  martial  law,  can  I, 
without  the  sign  manual,  approve  and  carry  into 
effect  the  sentence  of  a  general  court  martial  ? 

2. — Can  I  put  upon  a  general  court  martial,  after 
martial  law  is  proclaimed,  any  person  not  a  commis 
sioned  officer  in  his  majesty's  regular  forces  ?  In 
other  words,  can  officers  of  militia  sit  in  conjunction 
with  those  of  the  line  ? 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major-General  Brock. 

MONTREAL,  August  12,  1812. 

Your  letter  of  the  4th  instant,  enclosing  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  executive  council  of  the  3d  ;  Captain 
Glegg's  letter  of  the  5th  instant,  transmitting  copies 
of  letters  from  Colonel  Proctor  to  you  of  26th  and 
30th  July,  with  the  correspondence  between  Briga 
dier-General  Hull  and  Lieut. -Colonel  St.  George, 
and  the  intercepted  correspondence  of  the  former, 
together  with  your  letter  to  Colonel  Baynes,  of  the 
4th  instant,  were  all  delivered  to  me  on  my  arrival 
at  this  place  yesterday.  The  information  they  con 
tain  is  highly  interesting,  and  I  lose  no  time  in  dis 
patching  to  you  Brigade -Major  Shekleton,  as  the 
bearer  of  this  letter,  and  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
whatever  communication  you  may  have  to  make  in 
return.  Being  fully  aware  of  the  necessity  of  afford 
ing  you  such  reinforcements  as  the  exigencies  of  the 
service  in  other  parts  of  the  two  provinces  would 
permit,  I  had,  previous  to  the  receipt  of  your  letter, 
made  arrangements  for  that  purpose. 

Major  Ormsby,  with  three  companies  of  the  49th 


234  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

regiment,  protecting  a  considerable  supply  of  ord 
nance  and  ordnance  stores,  left  La  Chine  on  the  6th 
instant  for  Kingston  and  Fort  George,  taking  with 
him  .£2,500  for  the  payment  of  the  regular  and 
militia  forces.  Major  Heathcote,  with  one  company 
of  the  49th  regiment,  about  110  men  of  the  New 
foundland  regiment,  and  50  picked  Veterans,  are  to 
leave  La  Chine  on  the  13th  instant.  With  this  de 
tachment,  an  additional  supply  of  ordnance  stores 
and  camp  equipage  for  500  men  will  be  forwarded 
for  Upper  Canada ;  and  as  soon  as  a  sufficiency  of 
bateaux  can  again  be  collected  at  La  Chine,  Colonel 
Vincent  is  under  orders  to  proceed  to  Kingston  with 
the  remainder  of  the  49th  regiment,  and  a  subaltern 
of  the  royal  artillery  and  ten  gunners,  with  two 
3-pounders.* 

When  these  reinforcements  reach  you,  they  will, 
I  trust,  enable  you  successfully  to  resist  the  internal, 
as  well  as  external,  enemies  opposed  to  you,  and 
materially  aid  the  able  measures  you  have  adopted 
for  the  defence  of  Upper  Canada. 

With  regard  to  the  queries  you  have  submitted  to 
me  on  the  subject  of  martial  law,  I  have  to  observe, 
that  it  has  not  fallen  within  my  experience  to  see 
martial  law  proclaimed,  except  in  those  places  where 
it  has  been  declared  under  the  authority  of  a  provin 
cial  legislature,  which  of  course  regulated  the  mode 
in  which  it  was  to  be  executed.  As  the  martial  law 
which  you  purpose  declaring  is  founded  on  the  king's 
commission,  and  upon  the  extreme  case  of  invasion 
alluded  to  in  it,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  whatever 
power  is  necessary  for  carrying  the  measure  into 
effect,  must  have  been  intended  to  be  given  you  by 
the  commission,  and  consequently,  that  the  power  of 
assembling  courts  martial  and  of  carrying  their  sen- 

*  The  Canadians  row  at  the  rate  of  three  miles  an  hour  when  the  wea 
ther  is  perfectly  calm,  and,  of  course,  rather  more  when  they  have  a 
favorable  breeze  to  assist  them ;  but,  at  best,  they  never  go  further  than 
thirty  miles  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  average  length  of  the  passage 
from  La  Chine  to  Kingston  is  seven  days.— Howisori's  Upper  Canada,  1821. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  235 

fence  into  execution,  is  included  in  the  authority  for 
declaring  martial  law.  The  officers  of  militia  becom 
ing  themselves  subject  to  martial  law  when  it  is 
declared,  I  conceive  they  may  sit  upon  courts  mar 
tial  with  officers  of  his  majesty's  regular  forces  ;  but 
upon  both  these  points  I  desire  not  to  be  understood 
as  speaking  decisively — extreme  cases  must  be  met 
by  measures  which,  on  ordinary  occasions,  would  not 
perhaps  be  justified.  Your  situation  is  such  as  to 
warrant  your  resorting  to  any  step  which,  in  your 
judgment,  the  public  safety  may  require.  I  should 
therefore  think  that,  after  taking  the  best  opinions 
you  can  obtain  from  the  first  law  characters  you 
have  about  you  respecting  the  doubts  you  entertain 
on  this  subject,  you  need  not  hesitate  to  determine 
upon  that  line  of  conduct  which  you  shall  think  will 
best  promote  the  good  of  the  service,  trusting,  if  you 
do  err,  to  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  measures  you 
may  adopt,  as  your  justification  for  them  to  his 
majesty's  government. 

Your  letters  of  the  26th,  28th  and  29th  July,  with 
the  several  enclosures  and  papers  accompanying  them, 
were  received  by  me  shortly  previous  to  my  leaving 
Quebec,  the  last  containing  Captain  Roberts'  official 
account  of  the  capture  of  Fort  Michilimackinac. 
Great  credit  is  certainly  due  to  that  officer  for  the 
zeal  and  promptitude  with  which  he  has  performed 
this  service ;  at  the  same  time  I  must  confess,  my 
mind  has  been  very  much  relieved  by  finding  that 
the  capture  took  place  at  a  period  subsequent  to 
Brigadier-General  Hull's  invasion  of  the  province, 
as,  had  it  been  prior  to  it,  it  would  not  only  have 
been  in  violation  of  Captain  Roberts'  orders,  but 
have  afforded  a  just  ground  for  the  subsequent  con 
duct  of  the  enemy,  which,  I  now  plainly  perceive, 
no  forbearance  on  your  part  would  have  prevented. 
The  capture  of  this  place  will,  I  hope,  enable  the 
Indian  tribes  in  that  quarter  to  co-operate  with  you 
in  your  present  movements  against  the  enemy/  by 


236  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

threatening  his  flanks,  a  diversion  which  would 
greatly  alarm  him,  and  probably  have  the  effect  of 
compelling  him  to  retreat  across  the  river. 

I  send  you  enclosed  a  copy  of  the  official  repeal  of 
the  orders  in  council,  which  I  received  last  night  by 
express  from  Quebec.  Although  I  much  doubt  whe 
ther  this  step  on  the  part  of  our  government  will 
have  any  effect  upon  that  of  the  United  States,  the 
circulation  of  the  paper  evincing  their  conciliatory 
disposition  may  tend  to  increase  and  strengthen  the 
divisions  which  subsist  amongst  the  people  upon  the 
subject  of  the  war.  I  therefore  recommend  to  you  to 
have  a  number  of  copies  struck  off  and  distributed. 

Colonel  Baynes  is  still  absent  upon  his  mission  to 
the  enemy's  camp.  Your  letter  to  him  of  the  29th 
ultimo  was  received  at  the  same  time  with  those  I 
have  last  acknowledged.  Colonel  Lethbridge  I  have 
directed  to  return  to  Montreal. 

The  issue  of  army  bills  has  taken  place  at  Quebec, 
and  I  hope  to  be  able  shortly  to  send  you  a  supply  of 
them. 


We  have  previously  alluded  (page  225)  to  that 
part  of  the  preceding  letter  which  relates  to  the  cap 
ture  of  Michilimackinac.  This  capture  appears  to 
have  been  effected  contrary  to  Sir  George  Prevost's 
orders,  as  Fort  St.  Joseph  being  nearly  350  miles 
from  Detroit  and  Sandwich,  and  as  the  expedition 
left  the  fort  only  four  days  after  Hull's  invasion,  it 
was  scarcely  possible  that  Captain  Roberts  was  then 
aware  of  that  circumstance.  Neither  in  his  letter  to 
the  adjutant-general,  announcing  the  capture,  does 
he  excuse  himself  by  stating  that  he  had  heard  of  the 
invasion.  In  his  dispatch  to  Earl  Bathurst,  written 
exactly  a  fortnight  after  the  preceding  letter,  and 
dated  Montreal,  August  26,  Sir  George  Prevost, 
who  ought  now  to  have  seen  the  impolicy  of  his 
half-way  course,  in  communicating  the  surrender  of 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  237 

Detroit,  expressed  himself  in  very  altered  language, 
as  he  said  : 

"In  these  measures  he*  was  most  opportunely  aided  hy 
the  fortunate  surrender  of  Fort  Michilimackinac,  which, 
giving  spirit  and  confidence  to  the  Indian  tribes  in  its  neigh 
bourhood,  part  of  whom  assisted  in  its  capture,  determined 
them  to  advance  upon  the  rear  and  flanks  of  the  American 
army,  as  soon  as  they  heard  that  it  had  entered  the  province." 


Sir  George  Prevost  to  Earl  Bathurst. 

MONTREAL,  August  4,  1812. 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith,  for  your  lordship's 
information,  the  copy  of  a  report  which  has  been  forwarded 
to  me  by  Major-General  Brock,  of  the  surrender,  by  capitu 
lation,  of  the  American  post  of  Michilimackinac  to  a  detach 
ment  of  his  majesty's  troops  from  St.  Joseph's,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Roberts,  of  the  10th  Royal  Veteran 
Battalion.  This  report  is  accompanied  by  a  return  of  pri 
soners  taken,  and  of  the  stoves  which  were  found  in  the  fort. 

In  addition  to  these,  I  have  a  further  report  of  the  crews  of 
two  vessels,  to  the  number  of  forty-three,  who  were  in  the 
fort,  having  fallen  into  our  hands,  together  with  seven  hun 
dred  packs  of  furs. 

*  Major-General  Brock. 


238  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 


CHAPTER    XI. 


Whilst  Major-General  Brock  impatiently  lingered 
on  the  Niagara  frontier,  so  as  to  give  time  to  the 
legislature  to  assemble  at  York,  he  dispatched  Colonel 
Proctor,  of  the  41st  regiment,  to  assume  the  com 
mand  at  Amherstburg,  where  he  arrived  on  the  26th 
July.  Its  garrison  consisted  of  a  subaltern's  detach 
ment  of  the  royal  artillery,  of  300  men  of  the  41st 
regiment,  and  of  about  the  same  number  of  militia. 
Captain  Chambers  was  also  detached  from  Fort 
George,  with  50  men  of  the  41st  regiment,  to  the 
Moravian  town,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  the 
militia  and  Indians  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  then 
advancing  upon  the  left  flank  of  the  enemy.  Of  the 
same  regiment,  60  men  were  further  sent  to  Amherst 
burg,  and  40  to  Long  Point,  to  collect  the  militia  in 
that  quarter.  General  Hull,  after  crossing  to  Sand 
wich,  remained  for  some  time  nearly  inactive,  con 
tenting  himself  with  a  petite  guerre  of  out-posts, 
under  the  pretext  of  making  preparations  for  the 
reduction  of  Amherstburg,  or  Maiden,  as  the  Ame 
ricans  called  it,  which  lay  but  sixteen  miles  below 
him,  and  was  not  in  a  condition  to  withstand  a  regu 
lar  siege.*  During  this  pause,  three  detachments  of 
his  army  were  on  three  successive  days  foiled  in 
attempts  to  cross  the  bridge  at  the  river  Canard, 

*  General  Hull's  head  quarters  were  established  at  Mr.  Baby's  house, 
nearly  opposite  to  Detroit,  and  around  which  most  of  his'troops  were 
encamped  in  a  hollow  square,  a  breast-work  being  erected  on  three  sides, 
and  the  fourth,  which  bounded  the  river,  being  defended  by  artillery. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK. 

scarcely  four  miles  from  Amherstburg ;  and  it  was 
on  one  of  these  occasions  that  the  afterwards  cele 
brated  Tecumseh  first  made  himself  conspicuous  as  a 
most  valuable  auxiliary  on  the  British  side,  the  enemy 
retreating  before  him.  Michilimackinac  had  fallen 
since  the  invasion,  and  the  Indians  from  that  quarter 
were  flocking  to  the  British  standard.  Our  naval 
force  being  superior  on  the  lake,  Colonel  Proctor 
pushed  over  to  Brownstown,  an  American  village, 
about  25  miles  from  Detroit,  and  nearly  opposite  to 
Amherstburg,  a  small  detachment  of  the  41st  regi 
ment,  and  some  Indians  under  Tecumseh,  who,  with 
70  of  the  latter,  awaited  in  ambush  near  that  village 
a  party  of  200  Americans,  under  Major  Van  Home, 
on  their  march*  from  Detroit  to  the  River  Raisin, 
(40  miles  south  of  Detroit,)  to  meet  a  detachment  of 
volunteers  from  Ohio,  with  a  convoy  of  provisions 
for  Hull's  army.  The  Indians,  firing  suddenly,  kill 
ed  20,  including  5  officers,  and  wounded  about  the 
same  number  of  the  Americans,  who  hastily  retreated, 
and  were  pursued  seven  miles  by  the  warriors  alone, 
not  a  British  soldier  being  engaged.  In  this  affair, 
which  occurred  on  the  5th  of  August,  General  Hull's 
dispatches  and  the  correspondence  of  his  troops  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Tecumseh,  and  it  was  partly  the 
desponding  nature  of  their  contents  which  afterwards 
induced  Major-General  Brock  to  attempt  the  capture 
of  the  American  army.  Foiled  in  the  reduction  of 
Fort  Amherstburg;  disappointed  in  his  hope  of  a 
general  insurrection  of  the  Canadians  ;  and,  "  above 
all,  dismayed  at  the  report  of  General  Brock's  reso 
lution  to  advance  against  him,"  f  Hull's  schemes  of 
conquest  vanished ;  and  he  who,  less  than  a  month 

*  The  captain  of  the  spies  was  killed  and  scalped  on  the  march.  "  Thus 
fell  the  brave,  generous,  and  patriotic  Me  Culloch,  captain  of  the  spies," 
— and  in  a  foot  note  a  few  pages  before — "Captain  Me  Culloch,  of  the 
spies,  scalped  an  Indian,  whom  he  killed  in  the  engagement,"  in  Upper 
Canada  !  We  quote  from  Brown's  American  History,  so  it  appears  that 
at  least  one  patriotic  American  could  scalp  as  well  as  the  Indians  ! 

t  Christie's  Memoirs,  before  cited. 


240  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

before,  had  landed  in  Canada  boastful  of  his  strength 
and  breathing  extermination,  now  saw  no  other  alter 
native  than  a  hasty  return  to  Detroit,  under  the  pre 
tence  of  concentrating  his  forces ;  and  after  re-opening 
his  communication  with  the  rivers  Raisin  and  Miami, 
through  which  he  received  his  supplies,  of  resuming 
offensive  operations.  Accordingly,  on  the  7th  and 
8th  of  August  the  American  army  re-crossed  the 
river,  with  the  exception  of  a  garrison  of  250  men 
left  in  charge  of  a  small  fortification  they  had  thrown 
up  on  the  British  side,  a  little  below  Detroit,  and 
which  they  evacuated  and  destroyed  before  the  arrival 
of  Major-General  Brock.*  On  the  9th  of  August, 
a  body  of  600  Americans,  accompanied  by  a  detach 
ment  of  artillery  with  one  6-pounder  and  one  howit 
zer,  sent  to  dislodge  the  British  from  Brownstown 
and  to  open  a  communication  with  the  Rivers  Raisin 
and  Miami,  was  met  by  the  white  troops  and  Indians 
under  Captain  Muir,  of  the  41st,  at  Maguaga,  between 
Brownstown  and  Detroit ;  and  here  fell  the  first 
British  soldiers  who  were  slain  in  that  war.  The 
British  force,  consisting  of  75  men  of  the  41st,  60 
militia,  and  190  Indians  - — total,  325  men  —  was 
compelled  to  retreat  with  some  loss,  but  in  such 
order  that  the  enemy  was  content  to  encamp  on  the 
battle  ground,  from  which  he  retraced  his  steps  two 
days  afterwards  to  Detroit.  The  Indians  under 
Tecumseh,  flushed  by  their  recent  success,  fought 
with  great  obstinacy,  and  about  40  are  said  by  the 
American  historian,  Brown,  to  have  been  found  dead 
on  the  field ;  but  this  number  of  slain  is  doubtless 
grossly  exaggerated. 

From  the  moment  that  Major-General  Brock  heard 
of  the  invasion  of  the  western  district,  he  determined 
on  proceeding  thither  in  person  after  he  had  met  the 
legislature,  and  dispatched  the  public  business.  Hav 
ing  expressed  a  wish  of  being  accompanied  by  such 
of  the  militia  as  might  voluntarily  offer  their  services, 

*  Christie's  Memoirs. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  241 

500,  principally  the  sons  of  veteran  soldiers  who  had 
settled  in  the  province,  cheerfully  came  forward  for 
that  purpose.  The  threatening  attitude,  however,  of 
the  enemy  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  obliged  the  general 
to  content  himself  with  half  this  number;  and  he 
left  York  on  the  6th  of  August  for  Burlington  Bay, 
whence  he  proceeded  by  land  for  Long  Point,  on 
Lake  Erie.  In  passing  the  Mohawks'  village,  on  the 
Grand  River,  or  Ouse,  he  desired  the  Indians  there 
to  tell  him  who  were,  and  who  were  not,  his  friends ; 
and  at  a  council  held  on  the  7th  of  August,  they 
promised  that  about  60  of  their  number  should  follow 
him  on  the  ensuing  Monday,  the  10th.  At  Long 
Point,  40  regulars  and  260  militia  embarked  with 
him  on  the  8th  of  the  same  month  in  boats  of  every 
description,  collected  among  the  neighbouring  far 
mers,  who  usually  employed  them  for  transporting 
their  corn  and  flour.  The  distance  from  Long  Point 
to  Amherstburg  is  about  200  miles  along  the  shore, 
which  in  many  parts  is  a  precipitous  bank  of  red 
clay  and  sand,  from  one  to  two  hundred  feet  high, 
with  scarcely  a  creek  for  shelter.  The  little  flotilla 
encountered  heavy  rain  and  tempestuous  weather, 
but  nothing  could  for  a  moment  retard  its  progress, 
or  diminish  the  confidence  of  the  men  in  their  inde 
fatigable  leader.*  Among  his  general  orders,  from 
the  commencement  of  hostilities,  the  only  one  relating 
to  this  voyage  is  the  following,  which,  from  the  sin 
gularity  of  the  circumstances  attending  it,  is  thought 
worthy  of  being  preserved  : 

G.  O.  HEAD  QUARTERS, 

Pointe  aux  Pins,  August  12,  1812. 

It  is  Major-General   Brock's  intention,   should  the  wind 
continue  fair,  to  proceed  during  the  night ;    officers  com- 

*  "In  consequence  of  the  shallowness  of  Lake  Erie,  it  becomes  rough 
and  boisterous  when  the  wind  blows  strongly  from  any  point  of  the 
compass.  At  these  times,  a  very  high  and  dangerous  surf  breaks  upon 
its  shores,  which,  in  many  places,  resemble  the  beach  of  the  sea,  being 
strewed  with  dead  fish  and  shells,  and  infested  with  aquatic  birds  of 
.various  kinds.  Scarcely  a  summer  passes  in  which  there  is  not  some 
shipping  lost  on  Lake  Erie." — Howison's  Upper  Canada. 
M 


242  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

manding  boats  will,  therefore,  pay  attention  to  the  order  of 
sailing,  as  directed  yesterday  ;  the  greatest  care  and  attention 
will  be  required  to  prevent  the  boats  from  separating  or  fall 
ing  behind.  A  great  part  of  the  banks  of  the  lake,  where 
the  boats  will  this  day  pass,  is  much  more  dangerous  and 
difficult  of  access  than  any  we  have  passed  ;  the  boats  will, 
therefore,  not  land  except  in  the  most  extreme  necessity,  and 
then  great  care  must  be  taken  to  choose  the  best  place  for 
beaching. 

The  troops  being  now  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  enemy, 
every  precaution  must  be  taken  to  guard  against  surprise. 

By  Order.  J.  B.  GLEGG, 

Aide-de-Camp. 

[The  manuscript  copy  gives  the  date  as  "Pointe  au  Prince,"  but  this 
appears  to  be  a  misnomer  either  of  Captain  Glegg  or  of  the  copyist. 
Pointe  aux  Pins  signifies  literally  in  English,  the  Point  of  Pine  Trees.] 

After  five  days  and  nights  of  incessant  exertion, 
the  little  squadron  reached  Amherstburg*  shortly 
before  midnight  on  the  13th,  and  in  a  rough  sketch 
in  the  handwriting  of  Major-General  Brock,  he  ob 
served  :  "  In  no  instance  have  I  seen  troops  who 
would  have  endured  the  fatigues  of  a  long  journey  in 
boats,  during  extremely  bad  weather,  with  greater 
cheerfulness  and  constancy  ;  and  it  is  but  justice  to 
this  little  band  to  add,  that  their  conduct  throughout 
excited  my  admiration."  f 

Soon  after  their  landing  at  Amherstburg,  the  at 
tention  of  the  troops  was  suddenly  roused  by  a  strag- 

*  The  American  historian,  Brown,  observes :  "  In  the  meanwhile, 
Michilimackinac  surrendered  to  the  British  without  resistance.  The 
indefatigable  Brock,  with  a  reinforcement  of  400  regulars,  arrived  at 
Maiden  ;  and  several  Indian  tribes,  before  hesitating  in  the  choice  of 
sides,  began  to  take  their  ground  and  array  themselves  under  the  British 
standard."  Vol.  i,  page  64. — 400  regulars  ! 

t  "The  bravery  of  the  Canadian  militia,  which  was  brilliantly  conspi 
cuous  on  many  occasions,  has  neither  been  sufficiently  known,  nor  duly 
appreciated,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  regular  troops  on 
foreign  service  have  generally  a  good  opportunity  of  securing  to  them 
selves  all  the  glory  that  results  from  a  successful  campaign,  although  a 
part  only  may  belong  to  them ;  as  they  are  always  inclined  to  undervalue 
the  services  of  the  militia,  and  often  treat  them  with  contempt  and  ridi 
cule,  merely  because  they  have  not  been  initiated  into  the  minutiae  of 
military  discipline  and  parade.  I  am  aware  that  the  gallantry  of  the 
native  battalions  of  Upper  Canada  has  been  kept  in  the  back  ground,  by 
this  want  of  generosity  which  prevails  among  the  regular  troops."— 
Howison's  Upper  Canada,  1821. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  243 

gling  fire  of  musketry,  which  in  a  few  minutes  became 
general,  and  appeared  to  proceed  from  an  island  in 
the  Detroit  river.  Colonel  Elliott,  the  superintendent 
of  the  Indians,  quickly  explained  that  the  firing  arose 
from  the  Indians  attached  to  the  British  cause,  who 
thus  expressed  their  joy  at  the  arrival  of  the  rein 
forcement  under  their  white  father.  Major-General 
Brock,  aware  of  his  scarcity  of  the  munitions  of  war, 
sent  Colonel  Elliott  to  stop  this  waste  of  powder, 
saying  :  "  Do,  pray,  Elliott,  fully  explain  my  wishes 
and  motives,  and  tell  the  Indians  that  I  will  speak 
to  them  to-morrow  on  this  subject."  His  request  was 
promptly  attended  to,  and  Colonel  Elliott  returned  in 
about  half  an  hour  with  the  Shawanee  chief,  Tecumseh, 
or  Tecumpthe,  already  mentioned.  Captain  Glegg,* 
the  aide-de-camp,  being  present,  had  an  opportunity 
of  closely  observing  the  traits  of  that  extraordinary 
man,  and  we  are  indebted  to  him  for  the  following 
graphic  particulars  :  "  Tecumseh's  appearance  was 
very  prepossessing ;  his  figure  light  and  finely  pro 
portioned  ;  his  age  I  imagined  to  be  about  five  and 
thirty  ;f  in  height,  five  feet  nine  or  ten  inches;  his 
complexion,  light  copper ;  countenance,  oval,  with 
bright  hazle  eyes,  beaming  cheerfulness,  energy,  and 
decision.  Three  small  silver  crowns,  or  coronets, 
were  suspended  from  the  lower  cartilage  of  his  aqui 
line  nose  ;  and  a  large  silver  medallion  of  George  the 
Third,  which  I  believe  his  ancestor  had  received  from 
Lord  Dorchester,  when  governor-general  of  Canada, 
was  attached  to  a  mixed  coloured  wampum  string, 
and  hung  round  his  neck.  His  dress  consisted  of  a 
plain,  neat  uniform,  tanned  deer -skin  jacket,  "with 
long  trousers  of  the  same  material,  the  seams  of  both 
being  covered  with  neatly  cut  fringe  ;  and  he  had 
on  his  feet  leather  mocassins,  much  ornamented  with 
work  made  from  the  dyed  quills  of  the  porcupine. 
"  The  first  and  usual  salutation  of  shaking  hands 

*  Now  Colonel  Glegg,  of  Thursteston  Hall,  Cheshire, 
t  His  age  was  then  about  forty. 


244  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

being  over,  an  allusion  was  made  to  the  late  firing 
of  musketry,  and  Tecumseh  at  once  approved  of  the 
reason  given  by  Major- General  Brock  for  its  dis 
continuance.  It  being  late,  the  parties  soon  sepa 
rated,  with  an  understanding  that  a  council  would  be 
held  the  following  morning.  This  accordingly  took 
place,  and  was  attended  by  about  a  thousand  Indians, 
whose  equipment  generally  might  be  considered  very 
imposing.  The  council  was  opened  by  General  Brock, 
who  informed  the  Indians  that  he  was  ordered  by 
their  great  father  to  come  to  their  assistance,  and, 
with  their  aid,  to  drive  the  Americans  from  Fort 
•  Detroit.  His  speech  was  highly  applauded,  and 
Tecumseh  was  unanimously  called  upon  to  speak  in 
reply.  He  commenced  with  expressions  of  joy,  that 
their  great  father  beyond  the  great  salt  lake  (meaning 
the  king  of  England)  had  at  length  awoke  from  his 
long  sleep,  and  permitted  his  warriors  to  come  to  the 
assistance  of  his  red  children,  who  had  never  ceased 
to  remain  steady  in  their  friendship,  and  were  now 
all  ready  to  shed  their  last  drop  of  blood  in  their 
great  father's  service.  After  some  speeches  from 
other  chiefs,  and  replies  thereto,  the  council  broke 
up.  General  Brock,  having  quickly  discovered  the 
superior  sagacity  and  intrepidity  of  Tecumseh,  and 
his  influence  over  the  Indians ;  and  not  deeming  it 
prudent  to  develop  before  so  mixed  an  assemblage 
the  views  which  were  at  that  moment  uppermost  in 
his  thoughts,  and  intended  to  be  carried  so  quickly 
into  execution,  directed  Colonel  Elliott  to  inform  this 
Shawanee  chief  that  he  wished  to  see  him,  accompa 
nied  by  a  few  of  the  oldest  chiefs,  at  Colonel  Elliott's 
quarters.  There  the  general,  through  the  medium  of 
interpreters,  communicated  his  views,  and  explained 
the  manner  in  which  he  intended  to  carry  into  execu 
tion  his  operations  against  Fort  Detroit.  The  chiefs 
listened  with  the  most  apparent  eagerness,  and  ex 
pressed  their  unanimous  assent  to  the  proposed  plan, 
assuring  General  Brock  that  their  co-operation,  as 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  245 

pointed  out,  might  be  depended  upon.  On  General 
Brock  asking  whether  the  Shawanee  Indians  could 
be  induced  to  refrain  from  drinking  spirits,  Tecumseh 
assured  him  that  his  warriors  might  be  relied  on, 
adding,  that  before  they  left  their  country  on  the 
Wabash  river,  they  had  promised  him  not  to  taste 
that  pernicious  liquor  until  they  had  humbled  the 
"  big  knives,"  meaning  the  Americans.  In  reply  to 
this  assurance,  General  Brock  briefly  said  :  '  If  this 
resolution  be  persevered  in,  you  must  conquer.' " 

From  a  general  order  issued  at  Amherstburg  on 
the  14th  of  August,  by  Major-General  Brock,  in 
which  his  arrival  in  the  western  district  was  an 
nounced,  we  extract  the  following  passages ;  the 
mention  of  the  three  brigades,  none  of  which  could 
have  exceeded  250  men,  reminding  us  of  the  equally 
weak  divisions  of  Cortes,  when  he  landed  in  Mexico, 
in  the  year  1519,  with  about  600  men. 

"The  major-general  cannot  avoid  expressing  his  surprise 
at  the  numerous  desertions  which  have  occurred  from  the 
ranks  of  the  militia,  to  which  circumstance  the  long  stay  of 
the  enemy  on  this  side  of  the  river  must  in  a  great  measure 
be  ascribed.  He  is  willing  to  believe  that  their  conduct  pro 
ceeded  from  an  anxiety  to  get  in  their  harvest,  and  not  from 
any  predeliction  for  the  principles  or  government  of  the 
United  States. 

"  He  requests  officers  commanding  corps  to  transmit  to  him 
the  names  of  such  militiamen  as  have  remained  faithful  to 
their  oaths  and  duty,  in  order  that  immediate  measures  may 
be  taken  to  discharge  their  arrears  of  pay. 

"Captains  Muir,  Tallon,  and  Chambers,  41st  regiment; 
Captain  Glegg,  49th  regiment ;  Captain  Mockler,  Royal  New 
foundland  Regiment ;  and  Captain  Dixon,  Royal  Engineers, 
are  appointed  to  the  rank  of  majors,  so  long  as  the  local 
service,  on  which  they  are  employed,  continues. 

"  The  troops  in  the  western  district  will  be  formed  into 
three  brigades. 

"  First  brigade,  under  Lieut.-Colonel  St.  George,  to  consist 
of  a  detachment  Royal  Newfoundland  Regiment,  and  of  the 
Kent,  and  1st  and  2d  regiments  of  Essex  militia. 

"  Second  brigade,  under  Major  Chambers,  to  consist  of  50 
men  41st  regiment,  and  the  whole  of  the  detachments  of  the 
York,  Lincoln,  Oxford,  and  Norfolk  militia. 


246  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

"Third  brigade,  under  Major  Tallon,  to  consist  of  the  re 
mainder  of  the  41st  regiment. 

"  Colonel  Proctor  will  have  charge  of  the  whole  line  under 
the  orders  of  the  major-general. 

"James  Giveins,  Esq.,  late  captain  of  the  5th  regiment,  is 
appointed  provincial  aide-de-camp,  with  the  rank  of  major 
in  the  militia." 

On  the  following  day,  the  American  commander 
was  startled  by  a  summons  to  surrender ;  and  so 
resolute  a  demand  seems  to  have  struck  him  with 
dismay,  as  at  the  worst  he  had  never  contemplated 
a  pursuit  into  his  own  territory. 

Head  Quarters,  Sandwich,  Aug.  15,  1812. 
The  force  at  my  disposal  authorizes  me  to  require  of  you 
the  immediate  surrender  of  Fort  Detroit.*  It  is  far  from  my 
inclination  to  join  in  a  war  of  extermination  ;  but  you  must 
be  aware  that  the  numerous  body  of  Indians  who  have  at 
tached  themselves  to  my  troops,  will  be  beyond  my  control 
the  moment  the  contest  commences.  You  will  find  me  dis 
posed  to  enter  into  such  conditions  as  will  satisfy  the  most 
scrupulous  sense  of  honor.  Lieut.-Colonel  M'Donell  and 
Major  Glegg  are  fully  authorized  to  conclude  any  arrange 
ment  that  may  lead  to  prevent  the  unnecessary  effusion  of 
blood. 

ISAAC  BROCK, 
Brigadier-General  Hull.  Major-Gen eral. 

Hull  refused  to  see  Captain  Glegg,  who  carried 
the  summons,  and,  after  detaining  him  upwards  of 
two  hours,  returned  the  following  answer  : 

Head  Quarters,  Detroit,  Aug.  15,  1812. 
I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  date.  I  have  no  other 
reply  to  make  than  to  inform  you,  that  I  am  prepared  to 
meet  any  force  which  may  be  at  your  disposal,  and  any  conse 
quences  which  may  result  from  any  exertion  of  it  you  may 
think  proper  to  make. 

W.  HULL,  Brigadier-General, 
Commanding  the  N.W.  Army  of  the  U.  S. 

*  The  American  historian,  Thomson,  in  his  "Sketches  of  the  War," 
says  that  General  Hull  surrendered  "  to  a  body  of  troops  inferior  in  quality 
as  well  as  number  1"  and  he  adds  :  "When  General  Brock  said  that  the 
force  at  his  disposal  authorized  him  to  require  the  surrender,  he  must 
have  had  a  very  exalted  opinion  of  the  prowess  of  his  own  soldiers,  or  a 
very  mistaken  one  of  those  who  were  commanded  by  the  American 
general." 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  247 

Nothing  daunted,  and  contrary  to  the  advice  of 
Colonel  Proctor  and  other  of  his  officers,  Major- 
General  Brock  at  once  determined  on  crossing  the 
river,  with  the  view  of  attempting,  by  a  sudden  and 
resolute  attack,  the  annihilation  of  the  enemy's  power 
in  that  quarter.  In  the  afternoon,  a  fire  was  opened 
from  a  battery  of  five  guns,  erected  opposite  to  De 
troit,  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Dixon,  of  the 
Royal  Engineers  :  this  cannonade  was  returned  from 
seven  24-pounders,  but  the  British  general,  perceiving 
that  little  effect  was  produced  by  either  fire,  gave 
orders  that  his  should  cease.  The  troops  retired  to 
their  bivouac  and  lay  on  their  arms,  with  orders  to 
cross  the  strait,  or  river,  which  is  here  about  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  in  width,  on  the  following  morning. 
Accordingly,  at  about  six  o'clock,  on  Sunday,  the 
16th  of  August,  the  fire  from  the  British  battery 
having  been  previously  resumed,  330  regulars  and 
400  militia  were  embarked,  with  five  pieces  of  light 
artillery,  in  boats  and  canoes  of  every  description, 
and  soon  effected  a  landing,  without  opposition,  near 
Springwell,  four  or  five  miles  below  Detroit.  About 
600  Indians,  under  Colonel  Elliott,  had  crossed  the 
river  during  the  night,  and  were  ordered  to  be  so 
placed  as  to  take  the  enemy  in  flank  and  rear,  should 
lie  attempt  to  oppose  the  landing.  The  white  troops 
marched  towards  the  fort,  while  the  Indians  moved 
through  the  skirts  of  the  woods,  and  covered  the  left 
flank,  the  right  resting  upon  the  river,  and  protected 
by  the  Queen  Charlotte,  colonial  vessel  of  war.  The 
enemy's  effective  force  was  estimated  at  nearly  2,500 
men,  and,  supported  as  they  were  by  a  neighbouring 
fortress,  it  required  no  little  daring  to  pursue  them 
on  their  own  ground  with  such  unequal  numbers. 
But  the  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift,  or  the  battle 
to  the  strong,  and  perhaps  at  this  moment  the  British 
general  remembered  the  remark  of  the  eloquent  Taci 
tus  :  "  In  rebus  bellicis  maxime  dominatur  fortuna" 
Contrary  to  Major-General  Brock's  expectation,  the 


248  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Americans  abandoned  u  commanding  eminence, 
strengthened  by  pickets  and  two  24-pounders,*  and 
retreated  into  the  fort  on  the  advance  of  the  British, 
who  halted  in  a  ravine  within  a  mile  and  a  half,  and, 
discovering  the  weakness  of  the  works  on  the  land 
side,  prepared  for  its  assault.  While  the  various 
columns  were  forming  for  that  purpose,  a  boat  with 
a  flag  of  truce  was  seen  crossing  the  river  to  Sand 
wich,  and  soon  after  another  flag,  borne  by  Captain 
Hull,  emerged  suddenly  from  the  fort — Lieut.-Colonel 
M'Donell  and  Captain  Glegg  accompanied  him  back ; 
and  at  mid-day  the  British  troops  marched  in  with 
General  Brock  at  their  head,  the  American  general 
having  assented  to  a  capitulation,  by  which  the 
Michigan  territory,  Fort  Detroit,!  with  thirty-three 
pieces  of  cannon,  J  the  Adams  brig  of  war,  and  about 
2,500  troops,  including  one  company  of  artillery, 
some  cavalry,  and  the  entire  4th  U.  S.  regiment  of 
infantry,  with  a  stand  of  colours,  were  surrendered  to 
the  British  arms.  An  immense  quantity  of  stores  and 
the  military  chest  were  also  taken  ;  and  as  there  was 
a  great  deficiency  of  arms  in  the  Upper  Province 
wherewith  to  equip  the  militia,  the  2,500  stand  of 
American  became  a  valuable  acquisition.  To  this 
surrender  the  after  preservation  of  Upper  Canada, 
at  least,  may  in  a  great  measure  be  ascribed,  as  it 
caused  a  delay  of  nearly  a  whole  year  in  the  success 
ful  meditated  invasion,  §  and  secured  the  support  of 
some  of  the  Indian  tribes,  who  were  hesitating  as  to 
the  side  they  should  espouse.  The  event  indeed  il 
lustrated  a  maxim  of  Napoleon,  "  that,  in  war,  the 
moral  is  to  the  physical  force  as  three  parts  to  one."  |j 
It  was  the  more  fortunate  that  Major-General  Brock 

*  The  24-pounders  were  each  loaded  with  six  dozen  grape  shot. 

t  A  description  of  Michigan  and  Detroit  is  given  at  page  187-8. 

t  Including  two  or  three  brass  field  pieces,  captured  with  General  Bur- 
goyne,  at  Saratoga,  In  1777,  and  which  were  retaken  by  the  Americans, 
at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  in  October,  1813. 

§  Appendix  A,  Section  2,  No.  1.    Jefferson's  Correspondence. 

||  Napier's  Peninsular  War,  vol.  i,  page  141. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  249 

acted  with  so  much  promptitude  and  vigour,  because 
large  reinforcements  were  on  their  way  to  General 
Hull ;  and  not  only  would  that  officer's  reverse 
otherwise  have  been  spared,  but  the  western  districts 
of  Upper  Canada  would  probably  have  fallen  before 
the  overwhelming  numbers  which  would  soon  have 
been  brought  against  them. 

The  surrender  of  Detroit  was  so  unexpected,  that 
it  produced  an  almost  electrical  effect  throughout  the 
Canadas :  it  was  the  first  enterprise  in  which  the 
militia*  had  been  engaged,  and  its  success  not  only 
imparted  confidence  to  that  body,  but  it  inspired  the 
timid,  fixed  the  wavering,  and  awed  the  disaffected. 
Major-General  Brock  from  this  moment  became  the 
idol  of  the  great  mass  of  those  whom  he  governed  ; 
and  when  he  returned  to  York,  whither  he  arrived 
on  the  27th  of  August,  he  was  received  amidst  the 
heartfelt  acclamations  of  a  grateful  people,  rescued  by 
his  recent  success  from  the  ignominy  of  submitting 
to  a  conqueror.  They  remembered  that  in  the  short 
space  of  nineteen  days  he  had  not  only  met  the  legis 
lature  and  settled  the  public  business  of  the  province 
under  the  most  trying  circumstances  that  a  com 
mander  could  encounter,  but,  with  means  incredibly 
limited,  he  had  gone  nearly  300  miles  in  pursuit  of 
an  invading  enemy  of  double  his  own  force  and 
compelled  him  to  surrender ;  thus,  without  bloodshed, 
extending  the  British  dominion  over  an  extent  oif 
country  almost  equal  to  Upper  Canada. t 

The  conduct  of  the  American  general  in  so  tamely 
surrendering  is  inexplicable,  as  Detroit  contained  an 
ample  supply  of  ammunition  and  provisions  for  near 
ly  a  month,  besides  an  abundance  of  wheat  in  the 
territory,  with  mills  to  grind  any  quantity  into  flour. 

*  In  his  general  orders  at  Detroit,  Major-General  Brock  expressed  his 
admiration  of  the  conduct  of  the  several  companies  of  the  militia  who 
had  accompanied  him;  and  he  requested  "  Major  Salmon,  Captains  Hatt, 
Heward,  Bostwick,  and  Robinson,  to  assure  the  officers  and  men  under 
their  respective  commands  that  their  services  had  been  duly  appreciated, 
and  would  never  be  forgotten." 

t  Christie's  Memoirs. 
M* 


250  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

One  of  his  officers,  Colonel  Lewis  Cass,*  in  a  long 
letter  to  the  Honorable  William  Eustis,  the  secretary 
of  war  at  Washington,  said  :  "  I  have  been  informed 
by  Colonel  Findley,  who  saw  the  return  of  the  quar 
termaster-general  the  day  after  the  surrender,  that 
their  whole  force,  of  every  description,  white,  red,  and 
black,  was  l,030.f  They  had  twenty-nine  platoons, 
twelve  in  a  platoon,  of  men  dressed  in  uniform. 
Many  of  these  were  evidently  Canadian  militia.  The 
rest  of  their  militia  increased  their  white  force  to 
about  700.  The  number  of  Indians  could  not  be 
ascertained  with  any  degree  of  precision — not  many 
were  visible.  And  in  the  event  of  an  attack  upon 
the  town  and  fort,  it  was  a  species  of  force  which 
could  have  afforded  no  material  advantage  to  the 
enemy. . . .  That  we  were  far  superior  to  the  enemy — 
that  upon  any  ordinary  principles  of  calculation  we 
would  have  defeated  them — the  wounded  and  indig 
nant  feelings  of  every  man  there  will  testify  ....  I 
was  informed  by  General  Hull,  the  morning  after 
the  capitulation,  that  the  British  forces  consisted  of 
1,800  regulars,  and  that  he  surrendered  to  prevent 
the  effusion  of  human  blood.  That  he  magnified 
their  regular  force  nearly  five-fold,  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  Whether  the  philanthropic  reason  assigned 
by  him  is  a  sufficient  justification  for  surrendering 
a  fortified  town,  an  army,  and  a  territory,  is  for  the 
government  to  determine.  Confident  I  am,  that  had 
the  courage  and  conduct  of  the  general  been  equal  to 
the  spirit  and  zeal  of  the  troops,  the  event  would  have 
been  brilliant  and  successful,  as  it  is  now  disastrous 
and  dishonorable."  J  Hull's  behaviour,  then,  can 

*  The  same  officer  who,  as  General  Cass  and  senator  from  Michigan, 
evinced  so  hostile  a  disposition  towards  Great  Britain  on  the  subject  of 
the  Oregon,  in  the  session  of  Congress  of  1845-6. 

t  Doubtless  an  error  for  1330,  the  entire  British  force. 
t  Colonel  Cass  appeared  to  think  the  following  couplet  from  the  works 
of  a  poet,  who  flourished  two  centuries  before,  applicable  to  the  general, 
whose  unhappy  destiny  it  was  to  render  the  lines  singularly  prophetic  : 
Or  with  pretence  of  chasing  thence  the  Brock, 
Send  in  a  cur  to  worry  the  whole  flock. 

Ben  Jonson,  Sad  Shepherd. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  251 

only  be  accounted  for  by  the  supposition  that  the 
boldness  of  his  adversary's  movements  led  him  to 
believe  he  had  to  contend  with  a  far  greater  propor 
tion  of  regular  troops;  or,  that  having  threatened  to 
refuse  quarter  to  the  white  man  found  fighting  by  the 
side  of  the  Indian,  he  was  apprehensive,  in  the  event 
of  defeat,  that  this  threat  would  be  visited  with  severe 
retaliation,  particularly  by  the  Indians,  whose  fury, 
in  a  successful  assault,  it  might  have  been  very  diffi 
cult  to  restrain.  To  their  honor,  however,  be  it  said, 
that  although  they  took  a  few  prisoners  on  the  ad 
vance,  the  enemy  sustained  no  loss  of  life  beyond 
that  caused  by  the  British  batteries  ;  and  in  general 
orders,  at  Detroit,  they  were  told,  that  in  nothing 
could  they  testify  more  strongly  their  love  to  the 
king,  their  great  father,  than  in  following  the  dictates 
of  honor  and  humanity  by  which  they  had  hitherto 
been  actuated. 

"  The  news  of  the  surrender  of  Detroit,"  says  the 
American  historian,  Brown,  "  was  so  unexpected, 
that  it  came  like  a  clap  of  thunder  to  the  ears  of 
the  American  people.  No  one  would  believe  the  first 
report.  The  disastrous  event  blasted  the  prospects 
of  the  first  campaign,  and  opened  the  northern  and 
western  frontiers  of  Ohio  to  savage  incursions. 

"  Previous  to  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  the  go 
vernors  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  in  obedience  to  the 
directions  of  the  war  department,  had  detached  power 
ful  reinforcements  to  the  aid  of  General  Hull.  Had 
he  deferred  the  capitulation  but  a  few  days  longer, 
his  army,  Detroit,  and  the  Michigan  territory,  would 
have  been  saved. 

"  The  forces  advancing  to  his  support  consisted  of 
2,000  militia,  under  Brigadier-General  Payne,  and  a 
battalion  of  mounted  riflemen,  under  Colonel  R.  M. 
Johnson,  from  Kentucky  ;  a  brigade  of  Ohio  militia, 
under  the  orders  of  Brigadier-General  Tupper  ;  and 
nearly  1,000  regulars,  under  the  command  of  General 


252  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

Winchester.  They  had  reached  the  St.  Mary's  river 
when  the  news  of  the  capture  of  Detroit  was  received. 
But  for  the  well-timed  arrival  of  the  above  force,  a 
wide  scene  of  flight  and  misery,  of  blood  and  deso 
lation,  must  have  ensued.  Nearly  half  of  the  terri 
tory  of  Ohio  must  have  been  depopulated,  or  its 
inhabitants  fallen  victims  to  the  scalping  knife." 

"  The  chagrin  felt  at  Washington,"  observes  James 
in  his  Military  Occurrences,  "  when  news  arrived  of 
the  total  failure  of  this  the  first  attempt  at  invasion, 
was  in  proportion  to  the  sanguine  hopes  entertained 
of  its  success.  To  what  a  pitch  of  extravagance  those 
hopes  had  been  carried,  cannot  better  appear  than  in 
two  speeches  delivered  upon  the  floor  of  congress,  in 
the  summer  of  1812.  Dr.  Eustis,  the  secretary  at 
war  of  the  United  States,  said  :  «  We  can  take*  the 
Cariadas  without  soldiers ;  we  have  only  to  send  offi 
cers  into  the  provinces,  and  the  people,  disaffected 
towards  their  own  government,  will  rally  round  our 
standard/  The  honorable  Henry  Clay  seconded  his 
friend  thus  :  *  It  is  absurd  to  suppose  we  shall  not 
succeed  in  our  enterprise  against  the  enemy's  pro 
vinces.  We  have  the  Canadas  as  much  under  our 
command  as  she  (Great  Britain)  has  the  ocean  ;  and 
the  way  to  conquer  her  on  the  ocean  is  to  drive  her 
from  the  land.  I  am  not  for  stopping  at  Quebec,  or 
any  where  else ;  but  I  would  take  the  whole  conti 
nent  from  them,  and  ask  them  no  favors.  Her  fleets 
cannot  then  rendezvous  at  Halifax,  as  now ;  and, 
having  no  place  of  resort  in  the  north,  cannot  infest 
our  coast  as  they  have  lately  done.  It  is  as  easy  to 
conquer  them  on  the  land,  as  their  whole  navy  would 
conquer  ours  on  the  ocean.  We  must  take  the  conti 
nent  from  them.  I  wish  never  to  see  a  peace  till  tve 
do.  God  has  given  us  the  power  and  the  means :  we 
are  to  blame  if  we  do  not  use  them.  If  we  get  the 
continent,  she  must  allow  us  the  freedom  of  the  sea.' 
This  is  the  gentleman  who,  afterwards,  in  the  charac- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  253 

ter  of  a  commissioner — and  it  stands  as  a  record  of 
his  unblushing  apostacy — signed  the  treaty  of  peace." 

Tecumseh,  who  was  slain  in  the  year  following, 
headed  a  party  of  his  warriors  on  this  occasion,  and 
in  the  rough  sketch  already  mentioned,  Major-General 
Brock  remarked :  "  Among  the  Indians  whom  I 
found  at  Amherstburg,  and  who  had  arrived  from 
distant  parts  of  the  country,  there  were  some  extra 
ordinary  characters.  He  who  most  attracted  my 
attention  was  a  Shawanee  chief,  Tecumseh,  the  bro 
ther  of  the  prophet,  who  for  the  last  two  years  has 
carried  on,  contrary  to  our  remonstrances,  an  active 
war  against  the  United  States.  A  more  sagacious  or 
a  more  gallant  warrior  does  not,  I  believe,  exist. 
He  was  the  admiration  of  every  one  who  conversed 
with  him.  From  a  life  of  dissipation  he  has  not  only 
become  in  every  respect  abstemious,  but  he  has  like 
wise  prevailed  on  all  his  nation,  and  many  of  the 
other  tribes,  to  follow  his  example."  Previously  to 
crossing  over  to  Detroit,  Major-General  Brock  in 
quired  of  Tecumseh  what  sort  of  a  country  he  should 
have  to  pass  through  in  the  event  of  his  proceeding 
further.  Tecumseh,  taking  a  roll  of  elm  bark,  and 
extending  it  on  the  ground,  drew  forth  his  scalping 
knife,  and  with  the  point  presently  edged  upon  the 
back  a  plan  of  the  country,  its  hills,  woods,  rivers, 
morasses,  and  roads — a  plan  which,  if  not  as  neat, 
was  fully  as  intelligible  as  if  a  surveyor  had  prepared 
it.  Pleased  with  this  unexpected  talent  in  Tecumseh ; 
with  his  defeat  of  the  Americans  near  Brownstown ; 
and  with  his  having,  by  his  characteristic  boldness, 
induced  the  Indians,  not  of  his  own  tribe,  to  cross 
the  river  prior  to  the  embarkation  of  the  white  troops, 
Major-General  Brock,  soon  after  Detroit  was  sur 
rendered,  took  off  his  sash  and  publicly  placed  it 
round  the  body  of  the  chief.  Tecumseh  received  the 
honor  with  evident  gratification,  but  was  the  next 
day  seen  without  the  sash.  The  British  general, 


254  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

fearing  that  something  had  displeased  the  Indian, 
sent  his  interpreter  for  an  explanation.  Tecuinseh 
told  him,  that  not  wishing  to  wear  such  a  mark  of 
distinction  when  an  older,  and,  as  he  said,  an  abler 
warrior  than  himself  was  present,  he  had  transferred 
the  sash  to  the  Wyandot  chief,  Roundhead.* 

The  unfortunate  General  Hull,  on  his  return  to  the 
United  States,  was  tried  by  a  court  martial  and  con 
demned  to  death ;  but  the  sentence  was  remitted  by 
the  president,  in  consideration  of  his  age  and  services 
during  the  war  of  independence. t  His  name  was, 
however,  struck  off  the  rolls  of  the  army.  He  had 
evidently  lost  the  energy  of  character  which  had 
marked  his  early  career ;  and  although  it  is  most 
strange  that  he  did  not  either  meet  the  British  in  the 
open  field,  or  try  the  effect  of  a  few  discharges  of 
grape  shot  on  their  advancing  column,  yet  it  is  due 
to  him  to  add,  that  two  or  three  12  Ib.  shot  fell  into 
the  fort  from  the  British  battery,  killing  and  wound 
ing  a  few  officers  and  men,:}:  and  that  the  fort  itself 
was  much  crowded,  not  merely  with  troops,  but  with 
the  terrified  inhabitants  of  Detroit,  who  sought  refuge 
there  from  the  Indians,  believing  that,  with  the 
beginning  of  the  conflict,  they  would  rush  into  the 
town,  and  commence  an  indiscriminate  slaughter. § 
Thus  very  few  disapproved  of  the  surrender  at  the 
critical  moment,  although  so  many  were  loud  in 
condemning  it  afterwards.  The  general's  son  and 
aide-de-camp  at  Detroit,  Captain  Hull,  was  killed  in 
July,  1814,"  in  the  hard- fought  battle  of  Lundy's 
Lane,  near  the  Falls  of  Niagara. 

*  James'  Military  Occurrences. 

t  For  his  revolutionary  services,  see  Appendix  A,  Section  2,  No.  2. 

$  Among  the  killed  was  Captain  Hanks,  the  commandant  of  Michili- 
mackinac  at  the  time  of  its  surrender. 

|  General  Hull  in  his  dispatch,  already  quoted,  said  :  "  The  fort  at  this 
time  was  filled  with  women,  children,  and  the  old  and  decrepit  people  of 
the  town  and  country :  they  were  unsafe  in  the  town,  as  it  was  entirely 
open  and  exposed  to  the  enemy's  batteries.  Back  of  the  fort,  above  or 
below  it,  there  was  no  safety  for  them  on  account  of  the  Indians." 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  255 

Major-General  Brock's  services  throughout  this 
short  campaign,  closed  by  an  achievement  which  his 
energy  and  decision  crowned  with  such  unqualified 
success,  were  highly  appreciated  by  the  government 
at  home,  and  were  immediately  rewarded  with  the 
order  of  the  bath,  which  was  then  confined  to  one 
degree  of  knighthood  only.  He  was  gazetted  to  this 
mark  of  his  country's  approbation,  so  gratifying  to 
the  feelings  of  a  soldier,  on  the  10th  of  October;* 
but  he  lived  not  long  enough  to  learn  that  he  had 
obtained  so  honorable  a  distinction,  the  knowledge  of 
which  would  have  cheered  him  in  his  last  moments. 
Singularly  enough,  his  dispatches,  accompanied  by 
the  colours  of  the  U.  S.  4th  regiment,  reached  London 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  October,  the  anni 
versary  of  his  birth.  His  brother  William,  who  was 
residing  in  the  vicinity,  was  asked  by  his  wife  why 
the  park  and  tower  guns  were  saluting.  "  For  Isaac, 
of  course,"  he  replied  ;  *'  do  you  not  know  that  this 
is  his  birth-day?"  And  when  he  came  to  town  he 
learnt,  with  emotions  which  may  be  easily  conceived 
— emotions  rendered  the  more  acute  by  his  recently 
altered  circumstances — that  what  he  had  just  said  in 
jest  was  true  in  reality;  little  thinking,  however,  that 
all  his  dreams,  all  his  anticipations  of  a  beloved  bro 
ther's  increasing  fame  and  prosperity  would  that  day 
week — one  short  week — be  entombed  near 

"  Where  Niagara  stuns  with  thundering  sound." 

In  the  first  chapter  (page  14)  we  have  made  men 
tion  of  a  gallant  Irishman,  who,  in  a  very  few  years, 
rose  from  the  ranks  to  the  adjutantcy  of  the  49th ; 
and  as  his  example  may  serve  as  an  incitement  to 
young  soldiers — especially  now  that  merit  among 
them  is  oftener  rewarded  by  a  commission  than  it 

*  "WHITEHALL,  October  10, 1812. — Hisroyal  highness  the  prince  regent 
has  been  pleased,  in  the  name  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  majesty,  to  nomi 
nate  and  appoint  Major-General  Isaac  Brock  to  be  an  Extra  Knight  of 
the  Most  Honorable  Order  of  the  Bath." 


256  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

was  at  that  period  —  we  give  a  few  interesting  parti 
culars  of  his  life,  reiterating  our  hope  that  in  doing 
so  we  do  not  betray  his  confidence.  When  we  begged 
of  him,  soon  after  the  first  edition  was  published,  to 
point  out  any  errors,  either  of  omission  or  commis 
sion,  into  which  we  might  have  inadvertently  fallen, 
he  replied  :  "  I  write  this  short  note  merely  to  ac 
knowledge  the  receipt  of  yours,  and  to  give  you  an 
assurance  of  my  great  desire  to  be  at  all  instrumental, 
even  in  the  humblest  degree,  in  adding  to  the  fame 
of  my  earliest  and  best  benefactor.  And  if  there 
were  another  man  for  whom  I  felt  an  almost  equal 
degree  of  regard  and  gratitude,  that  man  was  John 
Savery  Brock  ....  That  I  might  do  honor  to  the 
general's  memory,  I  have  ever  striven  to  serve  my 
country  well ;  and  the  Almighty  has  blessed  my  poor 
efforts  more  than  in  early  life  I  had  ever  anticipated. 
The  poor,  uneducated,  private  soldier,  raised  up  by 
Sir  Isaac  Brock  until  he  held  in  turn  his  majesty's 
commissions  of  ensign,  lieutenant,  and  captain  in  the 
army,  has  been  promoted  in  the  civil  service  of 
Canada  to  a  silk  gown,  which  he  has  worn  for  the 
last  eighteen  years.  In  honor  of  the  general's  me 
mory  I  make  this  hurried  statement,  and  not  to 
gratify  any  personal  feeling  of  my  own/'  Having 
subsequently  received  from  him  several  letters,  com 
posed  with  singular  perspicuity  and  elegance,  and 
containing  much  valuable  matter,  as  well  as  many 
incidents  which  were  new  to  us,  we  could  not  forbear 
expressing  to  him  our  surprise  that  he  should  write 
so  well,  and  he  then  said  :  "  This  too  I  owe  to  Sir 
Isaac  Brock  —  when  at  York,  in  1803,  he  told  me 
that  he  intended  to  recommend  me  for  the  adjutantcy, 
adding  :  *  I  not  only  desire  to  procure  a  commission 
for  you,  but  I  also  wish  that  you  qualify  yourself  to 
take  your  position  among  gentlemen.  Here  are  my 
books — make  good  use  of  them.'  The  orderly  room  . 
of  the  49th  I  have  sometimes  called  my  grammar 
school,  and  the  mess  room  my  university.  Lieute- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  257 

nants  Stretton,  Brackenbury,  and  Loring,  were  ray 
kind  teachers.  The  first  died  a  colonel — he  was 
last  of  the  40th  regiment; — the  second  retired  from 
the  17th  Light  Dragoons  as  a  captain,  and  I  know 
not  what  has  become  of  him  ;  he  was  the  son  of  a 
clergyman  in  Lincolnshire,  and  was  an  accomplished 
scholar,  and  a  noble  fellow; — and  the  third  is  the 
present  Colonel  Loring,  now  residing  in  Toronto." 
It  was  in  August,  1802,  at  Quebec,  that  Lieut. - 
Colonel  Brock  made  this  "noble  fellow"  sergeant- 
major,  to  the  surprise  of  the  entire  regiment,  as  he 
was  then  only  in  his  twenty-second  year,  and  he 
further  tells  us  :  "In  September,  1802,  at  Montreal, 
Colonel  Brock  dictated  to  me  while  I  wrote  for  him 
in  the  orderly  room.  On  writing  the  last  word,  I 
had  to  pronounce  it  that  he  might  proceed.  Once 
the  last  word  was  "  ascertain,"  which  I  pronounced 
"  ascerten,"  when  he  turned  to  me  (for  he  was  walk 
ing  to  and  fro  in  the  room)  and  said  :  "  Ascertain, 
young  man!"  At  that  time  my  ignorance  of  my 
deficiencies  was  very  great,  and  I  thought  myself 
quite  sufficient  master  of  the  language.  But  this 
discovery  of  one  error  roused  me,  and  I  went  into 
town  the  same  day  and  purchased  a  grammar  and  a 
dictionary,  books  which  I  had  never  even  seen  before, 
and  on  studying  them  I  was  amazed  at  my  great 
ignorance  of  every  thing  which  the  grammar  taught; 
for  although  I  could  write  and  speak  pretty  accu 
rately,  because  I  had  read  much,  chiefly  silly  ro 
mances  sold  in  Ireland  to  the  peasantry,  and  some 
ancient  history,  yet  of  grammar  technically  I  knew 
absolutely  nothing."  He  adds,  that  his  father  held 
a  small  farm  of  fourteen  acres  and  a  half,  for  which 
he  paid  in  annual  rent  one  guinea  per  acre,  and  that 
he  worked  on  this  farm  until  he  enlisted  into  the 
49th,  as  his  brothers  worked  also.  "  Whether  my 
success  in  the  army  stimulated  them,  I  know  not, 
but  one  of  them  is  now  a  queen's  counsel  in  Ireland." 
The  gratitude  of  this  gallant  and  self-taught  veteran 


258  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

to  his  early  patron  knows  no  bounds,  as  he  writes 
"  that  he  would  think  a  long  life  well  spent  in  mani 
festing  his  gratitude  for  all  he  owes  to  Sir  Isaac  Brock 
and  to  his  family  ;"  but  we  feel  acutely  that  the  man 
ner  in  which  he  has  so  ably  come  forward  to  rescue 
some  of  his  benefactors'  best  deeds  from  oblivion, 
has  immeasurably  repaid  the  obligation.  And  who 
that  reads  this  episode  does  not  think  with  us,  that 
the  protege  was  well  worthy  of  his  patron,  or  does 
not  entertain  towards  him,':  who  was  once  "  a  poor, 
uneducated,  private  soldier," sentiments,  as  we  do,  of 
the  highest  regard  and  reverence  ? 

Upon  some  occasion,  at  Quebec,  in  1805,  Colonel 
Brock  asked  his  youthful  sergeant-major  why  he  had 
not  done  something  he  had  ordered  him  to  do.  The 
sergeant-major  replied  that  he  found  it  impossible  to 
do  it,  when  the  colonel  exclaimed :  "  By  the  Lord 
Harry,  sir,  do  not  tell  me  it  is  impossible  !  Nothing 
should  be  impossible  to  a  soldier;  the  word  impossible 
should  not  be  found  in  a  soldier's  dictionary  !  "  Two 
years  afterwards — in  October,  1807 — when  the  same 
sergeant-major  was  an  ensign  in  the  regiment,  he 
ordered  him  to  take  a  fatigue  party  to  the  bateau 
guard,  and  bring  round  to  the  lower  town  twenty 
bateaux,  to  embark  troops  suddenly  for  Montreal,  an 
apprehension  being  then  entertained  that  the  Ameri 
cans  were  about  to  invade  the  province,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  affair  between  the  Leopard  and  Chesa 
peake.  On  arriving  near  the  bateaux,  the  party 
discovered  that  the  tide  had  left  them,  and  that  about 
two  hundred  yards  of  deep  mud  intervened  between 
them  and  the  water,  over  which  the  ensign  thought  it 
was  impossible  to  drag  the  bateaux,  which  were  large, 
heavy,  flat  boats.  He  therefore  gave  the  word,  "  To 
the  right  face,"  intending  to  return  and  report  that  it 
was  impossible  to  move  the  bateaux  to  the  water. 
But  it  suddenly  occurred  to  him,  that  in  answer  to 
his  report  the  colonel  would  ask :  "  Did  you  try  it, 
sir  ?  "  and  that  on  replying  in  the  negative,  he  would 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  259 

sharply  rebuke  and  send  him  back.  He  therefore 
gave  the  word,  "  Front,"  and  said  to  the  soldiers : 
"  I  think  it  impossible  for  us  to  put  these  bateaux 
afloat,  but  you  know  it  will  not  do  for  me  to  tell 
Colonel  Brock  so,  unless  we  try  it ;  let  us,  therefore, 
try — there  are  the  boats ;  I  am  sure  if  it  be  possible 
for  men  to  put  them  afloat,  you  will  do  it :  go  at 
them" — and  in  half  an  hour  the  boats  were  afloat. 
The  ensign  then  determined  never  after  to  consider 
any  thing  impossible,  before  trial,  that  was  not  mani 
festly  so.  And  he  tells  us  that  it  must  be  clear  to  any 
one  reading  this  statement,  that  it  was  the  spirit  of 
Colonel  Brock  which  led  to  the  accomplishment  of 
his  orders,  and  which  was,  at  the  time,  of  some  im 
portance,  as  it  enabled  the  troops  to  be  embarked  a 
day  earlier  than  if  the  boats  had  not  at  once  been 
conveyed  round  to  the  lower  town.  "  In  this  way," 
he  adds,  "  it  is  that  the  indomitable  spirit  of  a  mili 
tary  commander  is,  as  it  were,  infused  into  the  minds 
of  all  who  serve  under  him." 

While  traversing  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Erie 
in  open  Canadian  bateaux,  in  August,  1812,  on  his 
way  to  Arnherstburg,  with  reinforcements  to  attack 
General  Hull,  as  already  narrated,  the  bateau  in 
which  General  Brock  was  ran  upon  a  sunken  rock. 
Oars  and  poles  were  immediately  employed  to  shove 
her  off,  but,  seeing  that  this  was  not  quickly  done, 
the  general  jumped  overboard,  and,  as  must  be  sup 
posed,  every  one  else  in  the  boat  was  overboard 
instantly.  The  boat  consequently  floated  at  once, 
and  the  crew  getting  on  board  again,  she  proceeded 
on  her  way.  The  general  then  took  his  liquor  case, 
and  gave  each  man  a  glass  of  spirits,  to  prevent  injury 
from  their  wet  clothes.  Several  gentlemen,  accom 
panying  the  expedition,  mentioned  frequently  after 
wards  that  this  single  act  of  the  general  in  jumping 
overboard  had  the  most  animating  effect  upon  all 
present,  the  greater  part  of  the  men  being  raw  militia. 

At  Amherstburg,  Major-General  Brock  assembled 


260  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

a  council  of  war,  or  perhaps  we  should  rather  say,  he 
assembled  his  principal  officers,  to  consult  on  the 
propriety  of  crossing  the  river  to  attack  the  American 
army  and  Fort  Detroit.  Only  one  of  them  agreed 
with  him  on  the  propriety  of  the  decision  he  had 
already  come  to  in  his  own  mind.  Lieut. -Colonel 
Nichol,*  the  quartermaster -general  of  the  militia, 
eagerly  seconded  the  general,  telling  him  that,  as  he 
had  resided  for  some  time  at  Detroit,  he  knew  every 
feature  of  (he  town  and  fort,  and  that  he  would  lead 
the  troops  to  any  point  selected  for  the  attack.  Upon 
this  the  general  said  :  "  I  have  decided  on  crossing, 
and  now,  gentlemen,  instead  of  any  further  advice,  I 
entreat  of  you  to  give  me  your  cordial  and  hearty 
support." 

When  the  troops  had  crossed  over,  the  next  morn 
ing,  they  formed  and  advanced  in  column,  at  whose 
head  the  general  placed  himself.  On  approaching 
the  point  where  the  guns  of  the  fort  would  bear  on 
the  column,  Colonel  Nichol  went  up  to  him,  and 
said :  "  Pardon  me,  general,  but  I  cannot  forbear 
entreating  you  not  to  expose  yourself  thus.  If  we 
lose  you,  we  lose  all  j  let  me  pray  you  to  allow  the 
troops  to  pass  on,  led  by  their  own  officers."  To 
which  the  general  answered :  "  Master  Nichol,  I 
duly  appreciate  the  advice  you  give  me,  but  I  feel 
that  in  addition  to  their  sense  of  loyalty  and  duty, 
many  here  follow  me  from  a  feeling  of  personal  re 
gard,  and  I  will  never  ask  them  to  go  where  I  do 
not  lead  them."  The  general  continued  at  the  head 
of  the  column,  and  as  the  Americans  retreated  into 
the  fort,  without  firing  their  guns  outside,  the  fears  of 
the  British  for  the  safety  of  their  chief  were  not 
realized. 

Of  this  gallant  Colonel  Nichol  we  are  enabled  to 
give  the  following  notice.  In  1804,  while  Colonel 
Brock  was  commanding  at  Fort  George,  there  resided 

*  "This  was  a  splendid  little  fellow— I  knew  him  well."  —  Colonel  Le 
Couteur,  already  mentioned. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  261 

in  the  neighbourhood  of  Fort  Erie  an  individual  who 
kept  what  in  Canada  is  termed  a  "store,"  that  is,  a 
shop  for  supplying  such  wares  and  merchandize  as 
the  farmers  and  other  inhabitants  require.  .It  was  a 
retail  store  of  little  consideration.  With  this  indivi 
dual,  by  name  Robert  Nichol — a  smart  little  Scotch 
man—Colonel  Brock  somehow  became  acquainted, 
and,  to  the  surprise  of  the  officers  of  the  49th,  invited 
him  to  the  mess  from  time  to  time.  During  that 
year,  Mr.  Nichol  drew  up,  at  the  colonel's  request,  a 
sketch  of  Upper  Canada,  shewing  its  resources  in 
men,  horses,  provisions,  &c. —  its  most  vulnerable  and 
assailable  points  were  indicated — -and  it  was,  in  fact, 
a  military  statistical  memoir,  embracing  every  detail 
which  a  commander  of  an  army  in  the  country  could 
desire  in  the  event  of  a  war.  Our  informant  adds  : 
"  Here  is  a  curious  instance  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's 
foresight.  I  saw  the  document  in  1813,  and  by  that 
time  every  statement  was  proved  to  be  most  accurate 
and  valuable." 

On  the  calling  out  of  the  militia,  in  1812,  General 
Brock  immediately  appointed  Mr.  Nichol  to  be  his 
quartermaster-general  of  that  force,  with  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-colonel,  although  the  appointment  gave 
great  offence  at  the  time  to  some  of  those  high  in 
station  in  the  provincial  government.  The  services 
of  Colonel  Nichol  were,  after  the  war,  rewarded  by  a 
pension  from  the  British  government  of  .£200  per 
annum  for  his  life.  He  died  in  1824.* 

The  following  was  related  to  our  informant  by  one 
who  was  present  when  General  Brock  first  met  Te- 
cumseh  and  his  Indians  : 

*  Colonel  Nichol  was  really  an  extraordinary  man — naturally  eloquent, 
possessing  a  prodigious  memory  and  great  spirit,  and,  considering  his 
opportunities,  his  acquirements  were  in  many  respects  surprising.  Vanity 
was  his  foible,  which  however  impelled  him,  as  it  has  done  many  others, 
to  soar  far  above  mediocrity.  Lest  he  might  be  thought  servile  and 
dependent  in  consequence  of  his  having  a  pension,  he  became,  after  the 
peace,  the  leader  of  the  opposition  in  the  house  of  assembly,  and  gave 
infinite  trouble  to  the  provincial  government.  It  is  believed  by  one  who 
knew  him  well,  that  "he  would  have  followed  Sir  Isaac  Brock  into  the 
crater  of  Vesuvius,"  so  great  was  his  regard  for  his  friend  and  patron. 


262  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Among  other  topics  touched  upon  by  the  general 
in  a  brief  speech,  he  observed  to  him  :  "  I  have 
fought  against  the  enemies  of  our  great  father,  the 
king,  beyond  the  great  lake,  and  they  have  never 
seen  my  back.  I  am  come  here  to  fight  his  enemies 
on  this  side  the  great  salt  lake,  and  now  desire  with 
my  soldiers  to  take  lessons  from  you  and  your  war 
riors,  that  we  may  learn  how  to  make  war  in  these 
great  forests."  After  a  pause,  Tecumseh,  who  was 
evidently  struck  with  the  commanding  figure  and 
fine  countenance  of  the  general,  turning  round  to  his 
people,  stretched  out  his  hand,  and  exclaimed  with  a 
long  ejaculated — Ho-o-o-e  :  u  This  is  a  man  !" 

The  general  used  to  call  Tecumseh  "  the  Welling 
ton  of  the  Indians." 

Captain  Robinson,  then  a  very  young  man,  and  an 
elder  brother  of  the  present  chief  justice  of  Upper 
Canada,  commanded  a  militia  rifle  company,  com 
posed  of  the  farmers'  sons  who  lived  around  him, 
on  the  expedition  to  Detroit.  Major-General  Brock, 
being  anxious  to  return  from  thence  as  expeditiously 
as  possible,  embarked  in  a  small  schooner,  and  took 
this  company  with  him,  partly  as  a  guard  on  the 
voyage  across  Lake  Erie.  The  general,  who  was 
always  fond  of  young  people,  was  pleased  with  the 
zeal  and  activity  displayed  by  Captain  Robinson,  and 
evinced  his  satisfaction  not  only  by  his  friendly  and 
unreserved  intercourse  with  the  captain,  but  by  his 
kind  and  benevolent  deportment  towards  his  men,  so 
that  he  won  golden  opinions  from  them  all.  Among 
other  remarks,  the  general  is  said  to  have  observed 
to  Captain  Robinson  :  "  If  this  war  last,  I  am  afraid 
that  I  shall  do  some  foolish  thing,  for  if  I  know 
myself,  there  is  no  want  of  courage  in  my  nature — 
I  hope  I  shall  not  get  into  a  scrape." 


In  one  of  his  letters  to  his  brothers,  (page  82,) 
Major-General  Brock  said  that  he  had  visited  De- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  263 

troit,  the  neighbourhood  of  which  was  a  delightful 
country,  far  exceeding  any  thing  he  had  seen  on 
that  continent,  and  a  cursory  description  of  it,  as  it 
appeared  in  1812,  may  prove  interesting. 

The  Detroit  river,  which  connects  Lake  St.  Clair 
and  Lake  Erie,  extends  from  about  latitude  41°  48' 
to  42°  IS'  north,  and  divides  that  part  of  Canada 
from  the  United  States.  Possessing  a  salubrious  cli 
mate,  a  productive  soil,  and  a  water  communication 
with  the  upper  and  lower  lakes  and  the  river  St. 
Lawrence,  we  can  scarcely  conceive  any  thing  more 
favorable  than  the  geographical  position  of  the  adja 
cent  country.  Michigan  afforded  a  rich  field  for 
"  fowling"  and  fishing,  and  its  forests  were  plentifully- 
supplied  with  various  kinds  of  game.  It  was  the  opi 
nion  of  a  former  governor  of  Upper  Canada,  Simcoe, 
that  the  peninsula  of  that  province,  formed  by  Lakes 
Huron,  St.  Clair,  Erie,  Ontario,  Rice,  and  Simcoe, 
would  alone  furnish  a  surplus  of  wheat  sufficient  for 
the  wants  of  Great  Britain.  The  banks  of  the  Detroit 
were  in  many  places  thickly  peopled  and  in  a  fair 
state  of  cultivation.*  The  inhabitants  on  the  Canadian 
side  were  chiefly  of  French  origin,  who  began  to 
occupy  the  country  when  Canada  was  still  under  the 
dominion  of  France.  They  still  retained  that  urba 
nity  of  manners  which  distinguishes  them  from  the 
peasantry  of  most  countries.  Further  back,  the 
country  was  settled  principally  by  Americans,  partial 
to  the  United  States.  Three  or  four  years  after  the 
war,  the  houses  upon  the  banks  of  the  Detroit  were 
so  numerous  and  so  close  together,  that  there  was  an 
appearance  of  a  succession  of  villages  for  more  than 
ten  miles.  The  farms  were  very  narrow  in  front, 
extending  a  long  way  back,  and  were  allotted  in  this 

*  "  From  Detroit,  to  the  mouth  of  Lake  Huron,  is  called  a  distance  of 
eighty  miles.  From  the  fort  to  Lake  St.  Clair,  which  is  only  seven  miles, 
the  lands  are  cultivated  on  both  sides  the  strait,  and  appeared  to  be  laid 
out  in  very  comfortable  farms.  In  the  strait,  on  the  right  hand,  is  a 
village  of  Hurons,  and  at  the  mouth  of  Lake  St.  Clair,  a  village  of  Ottawas." 
—Henry's  Travels,  1764. 


264  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

awkward  and  inconvenient  form,  that  their  respective 
occupants  might  be  able  to  render  each  other  assist 
ance  when  attacked  by  the  Indians,  who  were  at  one 
time  very  numerous  and  troublesome  in  this  vicinity. 

The  banks  of  the  river  Detroit  are  the  Eden  of 
Upper  Canada,  in  so  far  as  regards  the  production  of 
fruit.  Apples,  pears,  plums,  peaches,  grapes,  and 
nectarines,  attain  the  highest  degree  of  perfection, 
and  exceed  in  size,  beauty,  and  flavour,  those  raised 
in  any  other  part  of  the  province.  Cider  abounds  at 
the  table  of  the  meanest  peasant,  and  there  is  scarcely 
a  farm  that  has  not  a  fruitful  orchard  attached  to  it. 
The  fineness  of  the  fruit  is  one  consequence  of  the 
amelioration  of  climate,  which  takes  place  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  the  Detroit  river  and  Lake  St.  Clair.  The 
seasons  there  are  much  milder  and  more  serene  than 
they  are  a  few  hundred  miles  below,  and  the  weather 
is  likewise  drier  and  less  variable.  Comparatively, 
little  snow  falls  during  the  winter,  although  the  cold 
is  often  sufficiently  intense  to  freeze  over  the  Detroit 
river  so  strongly,  that  persons,  horses,  and  even  load 
ed  sleighs,  cross  it  with  ease  and  safety.  The  springs 
are  somewhat  cold  and  lingering,  in  consequence  of 
the  ice  on  Lakes  Huron  and  St.  Clair  breaking  up 
late  and  floating  down  through  the  Detroit.  In 
summer,  the  country  presents  a  forest  of  blossoms, 
which  exhale  the  most  delicious  odours  ;  a  cloud 
seldom  obscures  the  sky,  while  the  lakes  and  rivers, 
which  extend  in  every  direction,  communicate  a  re 
viving  freshness  to  the  air  and  moderate  the  warmth 
of  a  dazzling  sun ;  and  the  clearness  and  elasticity 
of  the  atmosphere  render  it  equally  healthy  and 
exbilirating.* 

The  fort  of  Detroit  was  originally  constructed  to 
over-awe  the  neighbouring  Indian  nations,  and  its 
military  importance  as  the  key  of  the  upper  lakes 
appears  to  have  been  well  known  to  them.  But, 
neither  possessing  battering  cannon  nor  understanding 

*  Howison's  Upper  Canada.    London,  1821. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  265 

art  of  attacking  fortified  places,  they  could  only  re 
duce  them  by  stratagem  or  famine,  and  Detroit  could 
always  be  supplied  with  provisions  by  water.  In  the 
year  1763,  the  Indian  chief,  Pontiac,  whose  name 
has  already  appeared,  (page  188,)  formed  a  powerful 
confederacy  of  the  diiferent  tribes,  for  the  purpose  of 
revenging  their  past  wrongs  and  of  preventing  their 
total  extirpation,  which  they  were  erroneously  led  to 
believe  was  contemplated.  In  a  sudden,  general,  and 
simultaneous  irruption  on  the  British  frontier,  they 
obtained  possession,  chiefly  by  stratagem,  of  Michili- 
rnackinac,*  Presqu'ile,  Le  Boeuf,  and  Venango,  with 
other  smaller  posts ;  but  there  still  remained  three 
fortresses  formidable  alike  by  their  strength  and  posi 
tion,  which  it  was  necessary  the  Indians  should  sub 
due  before  they  could  reap  any  permanent  advantage 
from  their  successes.  These  were  Detroit,  Niagara, 
and  Pittsburgh  an(i  the  first  and  last,  although  so 
remote  from  each  other,  were  invested  almost  at  the 
same  moment.  The  consummate  address  which  the 
Indians  displayed  in  this  alarming  war,  was  support 
ed  by  a  proportionate  degree  of  courage,  determina 
tion,  and  perseverance  ;  and  never  did  they  approve 
themselves  a  more  stubborn  and  formidable  enemy 
than  in  this  final  stand  against  the  encroachments  of 
European  dominion  and  civilization  in  North  Ame 
rica.  General  Amherst,  sensible  of  the  danger,  sent 

*  The  garrison  of  Michilimackinac  was  surprised,  not  being  aware  of 
the  war,  and  the  Indians  massacred  three-fourths  of  the  English,  in 
number  about  100.  The  troops  consisted  of  the  commandant,  Major 
Etherington,  two  subalterns,  and  ninety  soldiers ;  and  there  were,  more 
over,  four  English  traders  there.  Of  these,  Lieutenant  Jemette,  about 
seventy  soldiers,  and  one  trader,  were  killed;  but  the  commandant, 
Lieutenant  Leslie,  and  the  remainder  were  preserved  by  the  Ottawas,  and 
restored  at  the  peace  in  1764.  An  English  trader,  Alexander  Henry, 
whose  travels  in  Canada  are  occasionally  cited  ante,  having  been  con 
cealed  in  the  house  of  one  of  the  French  inhabitants,  beheld  the  massacre 
from  an  aperture  which  afforded  him  a  view  of  the  area  of  the  fort.  He 
describes  it  as  follows  :  "  I  beheld,  in  shapes  the  foulest  and  most  terrible, 
the  ferocious  triumphs  of  barbarian  conquerors.  The  dead  were  scalped 
and  mangled ;  the  dying  were  writhing  and  shrieking,  under  the  insatiated 
knife  and  tomahawk ;  and  from  the  bodies  of  some,  ripped  open,  their 
butchers  were  drinking  the  blood  scooped  up  in  the  hollow  of  joined 
hands,  and  quaffed  amid  shouts  of  rage  and  victory." 

t  The  site  of  the  old  French  post,  Fort  Duquesne,  in  Pennsylvania. 
N 


266  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

immediate  succours  to  those  two  western  garrisons, 
and  thus  prevented  their  fall.  Captain  Dalzell,  after 
conducting,  in  July,  a  strong  reinforcement  to  Detroit, 
was  induced  to  think  that  he  could  surprise  the  In 
dian  force  encamped  about  three  miles  from  the  fort, 
and  he  sat  out  at  night  with  270  men,  adopting  the 
most  judicious  precautions  for  the  secrecy  and  good 
order  of  his  march.  But  the  Indians,  apprized  of 
his  design,  were  prepared  to  defeat  it ;  and  every  step 
from  the  fort  only  conducted  the  English  troops 
further  into  the  jaws  of  destruction.  Their  advance 
was  suddenly  arrested  by  a  sharp  fire  on  their  front, 
which  was  presently  followed  by  a  similar  discharge 
on  their  rear,  and  then  succeeded  by  destructive  vol- 
lies  from  every  side.  In  the  darkness,  neither  the 
position  nor  the  numbers  of  the  Indians  could  be 
ascertained.  Dalzell  was  slain  early,  and  his  whole 
detachment  was  on  the  brink  of  irretrievable  confu 
sion  and  ruin,  when  Captain  Grant,  the  next  in  com 
mand,  perceiving  that  a  retreat,  now  the  last  resource, 
could  only  be  accomplished  by  a  resolute  attack, 
promptly  rallied  the  survivors,  who,  steadily  obeying 
his  orders,  charged  the  Indians  with  so  much  spirit 
and  success,  as  to  repulse  them  on  all  sides  to  some 
distance.  Having  thus  extricated  themselves  from 
immediate  peril,  the  British  hastily  regained  the 
shelter  of  the  fort,  with  the  loss  of  70  killed  and  40 
wounded ;  *  and  the  Indians,  unable  to  reduce  the 
fort  by  a  regular  siege,  and  pausing  long  enough  to 
ascertain  that  the  garrison  was  completely  on  its 
guard  against  stratagem  and  surprise,  broke  up  their 
camp  and  abandoned  for  a  short  time  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Detroit. 

The  Indians,  thus  grievously  disappointed  in  their 
designs  on  Detroit  and  Pittsburg,  now  closely  be 
leaguered  Niagara,  which  they  justly  considered  as 
nof  less  important.  They  hoped  to  reduce  it  by 

*  The  rivulet,  near  which  they  fell,  is  said  to  have  run  with  blood,  and 
it  now  bears  the  name  of  "  The  Bloody  Run." 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  267 

famine,  and  on  the  14th  of  September,  surrounding  a 
convoy  of  provisions  which  had  nearly  reached  its 
destination,  they  succeeded  in  making  it  their  prey 
by  a  sudden  attack,  in  which  70  of  the  British  sol 
diers  were  slain.  Shortly  after,  as  a  schooner  was 
crossing  Lake  Erie  with  supplies  for  Detroit,  she  was 
attacked  by  a  numerous  fleet  of  canoes,  in  which 
were  nearly  400  Indians.  But  this  attempt  was  less 
successful ;  and,  after  a  warm  engagement,  the  Indian 
flotilla  was  repulsed  with  considerable  loss,  as,  in  a 
conflict  with  an  armed  vessel,  they  were  exposed  to 
the  same  disadvantages  which  attended  their  opera 
tions  against  fortified  places.  Niagara  having  at 
length  been  powerfully  reinforced  and  well  supplied, 
the  Indians  abandoned  all  hope  of  reducing  it,  and 
thenceforth  confined  themselves  to  their  wonted  pre 
datory  hostility.* 

In  July  of  the  following  year,  (1764,)  General 
Bradstreet  proceeded  with  3,000  men  from  Fort 
Niagara,  for  the  threefold  purpose  of  relieving  De 
troit,  which  was  still  blockaded  by  Pontiac,  and 
defended  by  Major  Gladwyn  —  of  re- garrisoning 
Michilimackinac — and  of  compelling  the  Indians  to 
sue  for  peace,  or,  in  their  phrase,  to  bury  the  hatchet. 
For  the  transport  of  the  army  on  Lake  Erie,  barges 
had  been  built,  capable  of  carrying  100  men  each, 
with  their  provisions.  The  troops,  having  embarked 
at  Fort  Schlausser  on  the  14th,  coasted  the  southern 
side  of  the  lake,  and  on  the  fifth  day  reached  Pres- 
qu'ile,  where  the  barges  were  dragged  over  the  neck 
of  land,  probably  with  more  loss  of  time  than  if  they 
had  been  rowed  round  it.  On  the  twentieth  day  the 
flotilla  was  off  the  mouth  of  the  river,  which  falls 
into  Sandusky  bay,  and  it  was  determined  in  a  coun 
cil  of  war  to  attack  the  Indian  villages  on  the  Miami ; 
but  as  the  troops  entered  the  river  for  that  purpose, 
they  were  received  by  a  deputation  offering  peace, 
and  the  chiefs  agreed  to  meet  the  British  general  in 

*  Grahame's  History  of  the  United  States. 


268  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

fifteen  days  at  Detroit,  whither  the  army  arrived  on 
the  8th  of  August.  The  chiefs  of  the  Miami  were 
punctual,  and  the  Indians  being  unable  to  contend 
with  so  overwhelming  a  force,  a  general  peace  was 
quickly  concluded,  the  terms  of  which  were  dictated 
by  the  English,  when  Pontiac, *  who  was  abandoned 
by  his  followers,  and  was  unwilling  to  trust  his  for 
tunes  with  the  white  men,  fled  to  the  Illinois. f  He 
and  the  Indians  of  his  day  appear  to  have  been  much 
attached  to  the  dominion  of  France  in  North  Ame 
rica  ;  and  it  is  well  known  that  although  that  unfor 
tunate  aboriginal  people  now  prefer  the  English  to 
the  Americans,  they  formerly  preferred  the  French 
to  the  English.  "  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
cause,"  observed  General  Cass,  previously  mentioned 
— the  governor  of  Michigan,  and  subsequently  Ame 
rican  minister  at  the  court  of  Louis  Philippe — "  the 
fact  is  certain,  that  there  is  in  the  French  character  a 
peculiar  adaptation  to  the  habits  and  feelings  of  the 
Indians,  and  to  this  day  the  period  of  French  domi 
nation  is  the  era  of  all  that  is  happy  in  Indian  remi 
niscences." 

*  Pontiac  appears  subsequently  to  have  joined  the  English,  and  to  have 
received  a  handsome  pension  from  them  to  secure  his  attachment.  Carver, 
in  his  "Three  Years'  Travels"  in  North  America,  relates  that  in  1/67 
Pontiac  held  a  council  in  the  Illinois,  in  which  he  spoke  against  the 
English,  and  that  in  consequence  an  Indian,  who  was  attached  to  their 
cause,  plunged  a  knife  into  his  heart,  and  laid  him  dead  on  the  spot. 

For  a  description  of  the  deeds  of  Pontiac,  or  Pondiac,  as  she  spells  his 
name,  see  Mrs.  Grant's  "Memoirs  of  an  American  Lady,"  vol.  ii.  There 
is  a  life  of  him  in  Thatcher's  Indian  Biography,  a  work  which  we  have 
been  unable  to  consult,  as  it  could  not  be  procured  by  purchase  in  London. 

t  Henry's  Travels  and  Adventures  in  Canada. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  269 


CHAPTER    XII. 


The  following  letters*  relate  chiefly  to  the  enterprise 
against  Detroit,  aud  although  not  in  the  chronological 
order  we  have  hitherto  observed,  will  form,  with 
some  passing  comments,  the  subject  of  this  chapter. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 
Head  Quarters,  Detroit,  Aug.  16,  1812. 

I  hasten  to  apprize  your  excellency  of  the  capture 
of  this  very  important  post :  2,500  troops  have  this 
day  surrendered  prisoners  of  war,  and  about  25  pieces 
of  ordnance  have  been  taken  without  the  sacrifice  of 
a  drop  of  British  blood.  I  had  not  more  than  700 
troops,  including  militia,  and  about  600  Indians,  to 
accomplish  this  service.  When  I  detail  my  good 
fortune,  your  excellency  will  be  astonished.  I  have 
been  admirably  supported  by  Colonel  Proctor,  the 
whole  of  my  staff,  and  I  may  justly  say,  every  indi 
vidual  under  my  command. 

Major-General  JSrock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 
Head  Quarters,  Detroit,  Aug.  17,  1812.f 

I  have  had  the  honor  of  informing  your  excellency, 
that  the  enemy  effected  his  passage  across  the  Detroit 
river,  on  the  12th  ultimo,  without  opposition ;  and 

*  We  can  discover  none  from  Colonel  Baynes  on  the  subject. 
t  This  dispatch  was  published  in  a  Gazette  Extraordinary,  in  London, 
on  the  6th  of  October. 


270  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

that,  after  establishing  himself  at  Sandwich,  he  had 
ravaged  the  country  as  far  as  the  Moravian  town. 
Some  skirmishes  occurred  between  the  troops  under 
Lieut.-Colonel  St.  George  and  the  enemy,  upon  the 
river  Canard,  which  uniformly  terminated  in  his  be 
ing  repulsed  with  loss.  I  judged  it  proper  to  detach 
a  force  down  the  river  Thames,  capable  of  acting  in 
conjunction  with  the  garrison  of  Amherstburg  offen 
sively  ;  but  Captain  Chambers,  whom  I  had  appointed 
to  direct  this  detachment,  experienced  difficulties  that 
frustrated  my  intentions.  The  intelligence  received 
from  that  quarter  admitting  of  no  delay,  Colonel 
Proctor  was  directed  to  assume  the  command,  and 
his  force  was  soon  after  increased  with  60  rank  and 
file  of  the  41st  regiment. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  most  strenuous  measures 
were  adopted  to  counteract  the  machinations  of  the 
evil-disposed,  and  I  soon  experienced  the  gratification 
of  receiving  voluntary  offers  of  service  from  that  por 
tion  of  the  embodied  militia  the  most  easily  collected. 
In  the  attainment  of  this  important  point,  gentlemen 
of  the  first  character  and  influence  shewed  an  exam 
ple  highly  creditable  to  them ;  and  I  cannot,  on  this 
occasion,  avoid  mentioning  the  essential  assistance 
I  derived  from  John  M'Donell,  Esq.,  his  majesty's 
attorney-general,  who,  from  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
has  honored  me  with  his  services  as  my  provincial 
aide-de-camp.  A  sufficiency  of  boats  being  collected 
at  Long  Point  for  the  conveyance  of  300  men,  the 
embarkation  took  place  on  the  8th  instant,  arid  in 
five  days  we  arrived  in  safety  at  Amherstburg. 

I  found  that  the  judicious  arrangements  which  had 
been  adopted  immediately  upon  the  arrival  of  Colonel 
Proctor  had  compelled  the  enemy  to  retreat,  and 
take  shelter  under  the  guns  of  his  fort :  that  officer 
commenced  operations  by  sending  strong  detachments 
across  the  river,  with  a  view  of  cutting  off  the  enemy's 
communication  with  his  reserve.  This  produced  two 
smart  skirmishes  on  the  5th  and  9th  instant,  in  which 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  271 

the  enemy's  loss  was  considerable,  whilst  ours  amount 
ed  to  3  killed  and  13  wounded  ;  *  amongst  the  latter, 
I  have  particularly  to  regret  Captain  Muir  and  Lieu 
tenant  Sutherland, f  of  the  41st  regiment ;  the  former 
an  officer  of  great  experience,  and  both  ardent  in  his 
majesty's  service.  Batteries  had  likewise  been  com 
menced  opposite  Fort  Detroit,  for  one  18-pounder, 
two  12  and  two  5J-inch  mortars,  all  of  which  opened 
on  the  evening  of  the  15th ;  (having  previously  sum 
moned  Brigadier-General  Hull  to  surrender ;)  and 
although  opposed  by  a  well-directed  fire  from  seven 
24-pounders,  such  was  their  construction  under  the 
able  direction  of  Captain  Dixon,  of  the  Royal  Engi 
neers,  that  no  injury  was  sustained  from  its  effect. 

The  force  at  my  disposal  being  collected  in  the 
course  of  the  15th  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sandwich, 
the  embarkation  took  place  a  little  before  daylight 
on  the  following  morning ;  and  by  the  able  arrange 
ments  of  Lieutenant  Dewar,  of  the  quartermaster- 
general's  department,  the  whole  was  in  a  short  time, 
without  the  smallest  confusion,  landed  at  Spring  Well, 
a  good  position,  three  miles  west  of  Detroit.  The 
Indians,  who  had  in  the  mean  time  effected  their 
landing  two  miles  below,  moved  forward  and  occu 
pied  the  woods,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  on  our  left. 

The  force,  which  I  instantly  directed  to  march 
against  the  enemy,  consisted  of  30  artillery,  250  41st 
regiment,  50  royal  Newfoundland  regiment,  400  mi 
litia,  and  about  600  Indians,  to  which  were  attached 
three  6-pounders  and  two  3-pounders.  The  services 
of  Lieutenant  Troughton,  an  active  and  intelligent 
officer,  commanding  the  royal  artillery,  being  required 
in  the  field,  the  direction  of  the  batteries  was  entrust 
ed  to  Captain  Hall  and  the  marine  department,  and 
I  cannot  withhold  my  entire  approbation  of  their 
conduct  on  this  occasion. 

*  This  loss  does  not  appear  to  include  that  of  the  Indians  on  the  9th  of 
August,  at  Maguaga. 
t  Lieutenant  Sutherland  died  of  his  wounds. 


272  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

I  crossed  the  river,  with  an  intention  of  awaiting  in 
a  strong  position  the  effect  of  our  force  upon  the  ene 
my's  camp,  and  in  the  hope  of  compelling  him  to 
meet  us  in  the  field ;  but  receiving  information  upon 
landing  that  Colonel  M 'Arthur,*  an  officer  of  high 
reputation,  had  left  the  garrison  three  days  before 
with  a  detachment  of  500  men ;  and  hearing,  soon 
afterwards,  that  his  cavalry  had  been  seen  that 
morning  three  miles  in  our  rear,  I  decided  on  an 
immediate  attack.  Accordingly,  the  troops  advanced 
to  within  one  mile  of  the  fort,  and  having  ascertained 
that  the  enemy  had  taken  little  or  no  precaution  to 
wards  the  land  side,  I  resolved  on  an  assault,  whilst 
the  Indians  penetrated  his  camp.  Brigadier-General 
Hull,  however,  prevented  this  movement,  by  propo 
sing  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  for  the  purpose  of 
preparing  terms  of  capitulation.  Lieut. -Colonel  J. 
M'Donell  and  Captain  Glegg  were  accordingly  de 
puted  by  me  on  this  mission,  and  returned  within 
an  hour  with  the  conditions,  which  I  have  the  honor 
herewith  to  transmit.  Certain  considerations  after 
wards  induced  me  to  agree  to  the  two  supplementary 
articles. f 

The  force  thus  surrendered  to  his  majesty's  arms 
cannot  be  estimated  at  less  than  2,500  men.  In  this 
estimate,  Colonel  M'Arthur's  detachment  is  included, 
as  he  surrendered,  agreeably  to  the  terms  of  capitula 
tion  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  with  the  exception 
of  200  men,  whom  he  left  escorting  a  valuable  convoy 
at  some  little  distance  in  his  rear ;  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  the  officer  commanding  will  consider  him 
self  equally  bound  by  the  capitulation. 

The  enemy's  aggregate  force  was  divided  into  two 
troops  of  cavalry ;  one  company  of  artillery,  regulars ; 
the  4th  United  States  regiment ;  detachments  of  the 
1st  and  3d  United  States  regiments,  volunteers; 

*  Colonel  M 'Arthur  was  second  in  command  of  the  American  army. 
t  In  Appendix  A,  Section  l,  No.  3,  will  be  seen  a  copy  of  these  docu 
ments,  from  the  originals  found  among  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  papers. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  273 

three  regiments  of  the  Ohio  militia  ;  one  regiment 
of  the  Michigan  territory. 

Thirty-three  pieces  of  brass  and  iron  ordnance  have 
already  been  secured. 

When  this  contest  commenced,  many  of  the  Indian 
nations  were  engaged  in  active  warfare  with  the 
United  States,  notwithstanding  the  constant  endea 
vours  of  this  government  to  dissuade  them  from  it. 
Some  of  the  principal  chiefs  happened  to  be  at  Am- 
herstburg,  trying  to  procure  a  supply  of  arms  and 
ammunition,  which  for  years  had  been  withheld, 
agreeably  to  the  instructions  received  from  Sir  James 
Craig,  and  since  repeated  by  your  excellency. 

From  that  moment  they  took  a  most  active  part, 
and  appeared  foremost  on  every  occasion  ;  they  were 
led  yesterday  by  Colonel  Elliott  and  Captain  M'Kee, 
and  nothing  could  exceed  their  order  and  steadiness. 
A  few  prisoners  were  taken  by  them  during  the  ad 
vance,  whom  they  treated  with  every  humanity ;  and 
it  affords  me  much  pleasure  in  assuring  your  excel 
lency,  that  such  was  their  forbearance  and  attention 
to  what  was  required  of  them,  that  the  enemy  sus 
tained  no  other  loss  in  men  than  what  was  occasioned 
by  the  fire  of  our  batteries. 

The  high  sense  I  entertain  of  the  abilities  and 
judgment  of  Lieut.-Colonel  Myers,*  induced  me  to 
appoint  him  to  the  important  command  at  Niagara ; 
it  was  with  reluctance  I  deprived  myself  of  his  assist 
ance,  but  I  had  no  other  expedient ;  his  duties,  as 
head  of  the  quartermaster-general's  department,  were 
performed  to  my  satisfaction  by  Lieut.-Colonel  Nichol, 
quartermaster-general  of  the  militia. 

Captain  Glegg,  my  aide-de-camp,  will  have  the 
honor  of  delivering  this  dispatch  to  your  excellency  ; 

*  So  bare  was  Major-General  Brock  of  experienced  officers  at  this  time, 
that  Lieut.-Colonel  Myers,  who  had  recently  joined,  was  considered  a 
most  valuable  acquisition  ;  nor  could  the  general  have  left  Niagara,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  confidence  he  reposed  in  Colonel  Myers.  Every  enter 
prising  staff  officer,  who  could,  was  at  this  period  serving  under  Lord 
Wellington,  in  the  Peninsula. 

N* 


274  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

he  is  charged  with  the  colours  taken  at  the  capture  of 
Fort  Detroit,  and  those  of  the  4th  United  States 
regiment. 

Captain  Glegg  is  capable  of  giving  your  excellency 
every  information  respecting  the  state  of  this  pro 
vince,  and  I  shall  esteem  myself  highly  indebted  to 
your  excellency,  to  afford  him  that  protection  to 
which  his  merit  and  length  of  service  give  him  a 
powerful  claim.*  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &c. 

P.  S. — I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  a  copy  of  a 
proclamation  which  I  issued  immediately  on  taking 
possession  of  this  country. 

I  should  have  mentioned  in  the  body  of  my  dis 
patch,  the  capture  of  the  Adams  ;  she  is  a  fine  vessel, 
and  recently  repaired,  but  without  arms. 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major- General  Brock. 

Head  Quarters,  Montreal,  Aug.  30, 1812. 

I  received  on  the  25th,  whilst  at  St.  John's,  your 
dispatch,  by  express  from  Detroit,  of  the  16th  instant. 
I  do  most  sincerely  congratulate  you  upon  the  com 
plete  success  which  has  attended  your  measures  for 
the  preservation  of  Amherstburg.  The  surrender  of 
Detroit,  the  capture  of  General  Hull's  army  with  so 
large  a  proportion  of  ordnance,  are  circumstances  of 
high  importance  to  our  country,  and  which  have 
evinced  your  talents  as  an  officer  in  command,  and 
reflect  honor  upon  you,  and  upon  Lieut.-Colonel  St. 
George  and  Colonel  Proctor. 

I  propose  sending  an  aide-de-camp  to  England 
with  your  short  dispatch,  together  with  such  details 
as  I  am  in  possession  of,  respecting  Brigadier-General 
Hull's  previous  invasion  of  Upper  Canada,  and  of  his 
foiled  attempts  to  invade  Amherstburg;  but  I  shall 
delay  his  departure  from  hence  until  the  1st  of  Sep 
tember,  in  hopes  of  obtaining  from  you,  before  that 

*  Captain  Glegg  was  made  a  brevet-major  for  the  capture  of  Detroit. 
Sir  George  Prevost's  aide-de-camp,  Captain  Coore,  was  also  made  a  brevet- 
major  for  taking  the  dispatches  to  England. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  275 

time,  further  particulars  of  the  operations  which  led 
to  General  Hull's  disgrace. 

Well  aware  of  the  difficulties  you  have  surmounted 
for  the  preservation  of  your  government  entire,  I  shall 
endeavour  to  do  justice  to  your  merit,  in  my  report  to 
his  majesty's  minister  upon  the  success  which  has 
crowned  your  energy  and  zeal. 

A  warrant,  giving  to  you  more  extensive  power 
over  the  sentence  of  such  general  courts  martial  as 
you  may  be  called  on  to  assemble,  was  signed  by  me 
ten  days  since,  and  has  I  hope  reached  you. 

I  am  in  hourly  expectation  of  receiving  from  Gene 
ral  Dearborn  intelligence  respecting  the  reception  of 
the  proposed  suspension  of  hostilities,  in  consequence 
of  the  revocation  of  the  orders  in  council,  which  are 
the  plea  for  war  in  the  American  cabinet ;  and  also 
whether  Mr.  Baker  has  been  allowed  to  assume, 
pro  tempore,  the  character  of  a  charge  d'affaires  at 
Washington,  where  Mr.  Foster  had  left  him  in  a 
demi-official  capacity.  I  consider  the  arrangement 
entered  into  by  General  Dearborn  with  Colonel 
Baynes,  requiring  the  confirmation  of  the  president, 
to  establish  its  sacredness. 

The  king's  government  having  most  unequivocally 
expressed  to  me  their  desire  to  preserve  peace  with 
the  United  States,  that  they  might,  uninterrupted, 
pursue,  with  the  whole  disposable  force  of  the  coun 
try,  the  great  interest  committed  in  Europe,  I  have 
endeavoured  to  be  instrumental  in  the  accomplishment 
of  their  views ;  but  I  consider  it  most  fortunate  to 
have  been  enabled  to  do  so  without  interfering  with 
your  operations  on  the  Detroit. 

I  have  sent  you  men,  money,  and  stores  of  every 
kind. 

P.  S. — I  have  addressed  to  you  a  public  letter,  con 
taining  my  sentiments  upon  Major-General  SheafFe's 
alterations  in  the  original  conclusive  and  binding 
conditions  transmitted  to  him  by  the  adjutant-general. 


276  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major~  General  Brock. 

Head  Quarters,  Montreal,  Aug.  31, 1812. 

I  had  scarcely  closed  the  letters  I  addressed  to 
you  yesterday,  when  an  aide-de-camp  from  Major- 
General  Dearborn  made  his  appearance,  and  delivered 
to  me  the  dispatch  herewith  transmitted.  It  will 
expose  to  your  view  the  disposition  of  the  president 
of  the  United  States  on  the  provisional  measure  tem 
porarily  agreed  upon  between  the  American  com- 
mander-in-chief  and  myself,  in  consequence  of  an 
earnest  desire  not  to  widen  the  breach  existing  be 
tween  the  two  countries,  the  revocation  of  the  orders 
in  council  having  removed  the  plea  used  in  congress 
for  a  declaration^  war  against  Great  Britain. 

I  am  much  disappointed  that  the  particulars  of  the 
surrender  of  Detroit  have  not  as  yet  reached  me, 
particularly  as  my  aide-de-camp,  Captain  Coore,  is 
to  leave  Montreal  this  evening  for  Quebec,  where  a 
ship  of  war  is  on  the  point  of  sailing  for  Halifax, 
from  whence  I  expect  the  admiral  will  give  him  a 
conveyance  for  England. 

Being  unacquainted  with  the  conditions  attached 
to  the  surrender  of  Brigadier-General  Hull's  army, 
and  giving  scope  to  your  expressions  of  prisoners  of 
war,  I  have  made  arrangements  for  increasing  their 
security  against  any  attempt  to  rescue  them,  by 
ordering  Captain  Gray  to  proceed  with  two  flank 
companies  to  Prescott. 

[The  dispatch  from  General  Dearborn,  dated  Greenbush,  August  26, 
was  to  announce  the  discontinuance  of  the  temporary  armistice  agreed 
to  between  him  and  Colonel  Baynes,  in  four  days  after  the  receipt  of  the 
communication  at  the  frontier  posts  in  Canada.  The  American  general 
added  :  "  If  a  suspension  of  offensive  operations  shall  have  been  mutually 
consented  to  between  General  Hull  and  the  commanding  officer  of  the 
British  forces  at  and  near  Detroit,  as  proposed,  they  will  respectively  be 
authorized,  at  the  expiration  of  four  days  subsequent  to  their  receiving 
copies  of  this  communication,  to  consider  themselves  released  from  any 
agreement  thus  entered  into."] 


As  we  have  already  commented  on  Sir   George 
Prevost's  management  of  the  war,  and  shall  have 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  277 

occasionally  to  do  so  again,  we  gladly  give  him  cre 
dit  for  the  very  handsome  manner  in  which  he  spoke 
of  Major- General  Brock,  in  his  dispatch  to  Earl 
Bathurst,  one  of  his  majesty's  principal  secretaries  of 
state,  announcing  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  and  dated 
Montreal,  26th  of  August,  1812. 

"  It  was  under  these  circumstances  at  this  critical 
period,  and  when  the  enemy  were  beginning  to  con 
sult  their  security  by  entrenching  themselves,  that 
General  Brock  entered  Amherstburg  with  a  rein 
forcement,  which  he  was  fortunately  enabled  to  do  on 
the  13th  instant,  without  the  smallest  molestation,  in 
consequence  of  our  decided  naval  superiority  on  the 
lakes.  To  his  active  and  intelligent  mind,  the  advan 
tages  which  his  enemy's  situation  afforded  him  over 
them,  even  with  his  very  inferior  force,  became  imme 
diately  apparent ;  and  that  he  has  not  failed  most 
effectually  to  avail  himself  of  those  favorable  cir 
cumstances,  your  lordship  will,  I  trust,  be  satisfied, 
from  the  letter  which  I  have  the  honor  of  transmitting. 

"  Having  thus  brought  to  your  lordship's  view  the 
different  circumstances  which  have  led  to  the  success 
ful  termination  of  the  campaign  on  the  western  fron 
tier  of  Upper  Canada,  I  cannot  withhold  from  Major- 
General  Brock  the  tribute  of  applause  so  justly  due 
to  him  for  his  distinguished  conduct  on  this  occasion  ; 
or  omit  to  recommend  him,  through  your  lordship, 
to  the  favorable  consideration  of  his  royal  highness 
the  prince  regent,  for  the  great  ability  and  judgment 
with  which  he  planned,  and  the  promptitude,  energy, 
and  fortitude  with  which  he  has  effected,  the  preserv 
ation  of  Upper  Canada,  with  the  sacrifice  of  so  little 
British  blood  in  accomplishing  so  important  a  service. 

"  My  aide-de-camp,  Captain  Coore,  will  have  the 
honor  of  delivering  to  your  lordship  this  dispatch ; 
and  as  he  is  well  qualified  to  give  your  lordship 
information  respecting  the  military  resources  of  this 
command,  I  shall  beg  leave  to  refer  your  lordship  to 
him  for  further  particulars." 


278  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

At  the  same  time,  truth  compels  us  to  add,  that 
Sir  George  Prevost  took  credit  to  himself,  to  which 
he  was  not  entitled,  when  he  wrote  to  Lord  Bathurst : 
'*  General  Brock,  relying  upon  the  strong  assurances 
I  had  given  him  of  a  reinforcement  as  prompt  and  as 
effectual  as  the  circumstances  by  which  I  was  placed 
by  this  new  war  would  permit  me  to  send,  adopted 
the  most  vigorous  measures  for  the  safety  of  that  part 
of  the  frontier  which  had  been  attacked."  And 
again  :  "  The  certainty  of  the  expected  reinforce 
ments,  and  the  weakness  of  the  enemy  on  the  Niagara 
frontier,  had  in  the  mean  time  induced  General 
Brock,"  &c.*  The  last  dispatch  which,  we  believe, 
Major-General  Brock  had  received  from  Sir  George 
Prevost,  when  on  the  6th  of  August  he  left  York  for 
Detroit,  was  dated  the  10th,  and  received  on  the  29th 
of  July ;  and  in  that  dispatch  (see  page  200)  no 
reinforcements  were  promised,  and  indeed  offensive 
operations  were  deprecated.  The  first  reinforcement 
sent  from  Lower  to  Upper  Canada,  appears  to  have 
consisted  of  about  100  men  of  the  Newfoundland 
regiment  and  50  of  the  Veterans,  who  left  Quebec  on 
the  30th  of  July  for  Kingston,  to  strengthen  that 
post;  and  the  adjutant-general,  on  the  1st  of  August, 
(page  228,)  wrote  that  Sir  George  Prevost  regretted 
extremely  his  inability  to  render  Major-Generaf Brock 
more  efficient  aid.  It  was,  only  on  the  2cl  of  August 
that  Sir  George  Prevost  promised  an  additional  rein 
forcement  of  four  companies  of  the  49th  regiment, 
(page  232,)  and  on  the  12th  of  the  same  month  the 
remainder  of  the  regiment,  (page  234.)  Mr.  Justice 
Powell  confirms  this  view  of  the  subject,  in  his  admir 
able  letter,  page  283.  It  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel 
that,  on  the  13th  of  August,  the  adjutant-general 

*  In  consequence  of  these  assertions,  Lord  Bathurst  wrote  to  Sir  George 
Prevost  on  the  10th  of  October,  1812,  in  reply  to  his  letter  announcing  the 
capture  of  General  Hull :  "I  am  further  commanded  by  his  royal  highness 
to  say,  that  in  giving  every  credit  to  Major-General  Brock,  and  the  army 
under  his  command,  he  is  fully  sensible  how  much  your  exertions  and 
arrangements  have  contributed  to  the  fortunate  conclusion  of  the  cam 
paign  in  Upper  Canada." 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  279 

wrote  that  he  had  strongly  urged  Sir  George  Prevost 
to  send  further  reinforcements,  as  he  was  sure  they 
could  be  spared.  As  to  the  remark  relative  to  the 
weakness  of  the  enemy  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  we 
shall  only  mention  that  Major-General  Brock  states, 
in  a  MS.  before  us,  that  it  was  the  strong  American 
force  on  that  frontier  which  compelled  him  to  take 
with  him  to  Detroit  only  half  of  the  militia  who 
volunteered. 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Earl  Bathurst. 

Head  Quarters,  Montreal,  Sept.  1, 1812. 

Since  I  had  the  honor  of  transmitting  to  your 
lordship  my  letter  of  the  26th  ultimo,  in  charge  of 
my  aide-de-camp,  Captain  Coore,  I  have  received 
from  Major-General  Brock  a  dispatch,  of  which  the 
enclosed  is  a  copy,  containing  the  particulars  of 
Brigadier-General  Hull's  invasion  of  Upper  Canada, 
which  has  terminated  most  gloriously  to  his  majesty's 
arms,  in  that  officer's  defeat  and  surrender  as  a  pri 
soner  of  war,  with  the  whole  of  the  north-western 
army,  together  with  the  fort  Detroit,  and  thirty-three 
pieces  of  ordnance. 

I  forward  this  dispatch  express,  in  the  expectation 
of  its  reaching  Captain  Coore  previously  to  his  leaving 
Canada,  which,  with  the  colours  of  the  4th  United 
States  regiment  accompanying  it,  I  trust  that  officer 
will  have  the  honor  of  delivering  to  your  lordship. 

Earl  Bathurst  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

DOWNING  STREET,  October  10,  1812. 
I  have  had  the  honor  of  receiving  your  dispatch, 
dated  the  26th  of  August,  together  with  its  enclo 
sures,  from  Major-General  Brock,  and  I  lost  no  time 
in  laying  intelligence  so  important  and  satisfactory 
before  his  royal  highness  the  prince  regent. 

I  am  commanded  by  his  royal  highness  to  desire 
you  to  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of  conveying  his 


280  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

royal  highness'  approbation  of  the  able,  judicious, 
and  decisive  conduct  of  Major-General  Brock ;  of  the 
zeal  and  spirit  manifested  by  Colonel  Proctor  and 
the  other  officers ;  as  well  as  of  the  intrepidity  of  the 
troops  under  the  command  of  Major-General  Brock. 

By  the  united  exertions  of  this  little  army,  the  en 
terprise  of  the  American  army  has  been  defeated ; 
the  territories  of  his  majesty  in  Upper  Canada  have 
been  secured ;  and  on  the  enemy's  fort  of  Detroit, 
important  to  that  security,  the  British  standard  has 
been  happily  placed. 

You  will  inform  Major-General  Brock  that  his 
royal  highness,  taking  into  consideration  all  the  diffi 
culties  by  which  Major-General  Brock  was  surround 
ed  from  the  time  of  the  invasion  of  the  province  by 
the  American  army,  under  the  command  of  General 
Hull,  and  the  singular  judgment,  firmness,  skill,  and 
courage,  with  which  he  was  enabled  to  surmount 
them  so  effectually — has  been  pleased  to  appoint  him 
an  extra  knight  of  the  most  honorable  order  of  the 
bath. 

Major-General  Brock  to  his  Brothers. 

Head  Quarters,  Detroit,  Aug.  16, 1812.* 

My  dear  Brothers  and  Friends, — Rejoice  at  my 
good  fortune,  and  join  me  in  prayers  to  Heaven.  I 
send  you  a  copy  of  my  hasty  note  to  Sir  George. 

[Here  follows  his  short  dispatch  of  that  day.    See  page  269.] 

Let  me  hear  that  you  are  all  united  and  happy. 

[Chief  Justice  Robinson,  of  Upper  Canada,  who  formed  part  of  the 
reinforcement  taken  by  General  Brock  to  Detroit,  and  who  also  fought  at 
Queenstown,  in  a  letter  to  the  editor,  dated  Toronto,  IQth  of  January, 
1846,  writes  :  "  There  is  something  peculiarly  touching  in  the  short  note 
of  the  good  and  noble  general  to  his  brothers,  written,  I  suppose,  within 
a  few  minutes  after  his  glorious  success.  '  Join  me  in  prayers  to  Heaven,' 
and  '  Let  me  hear  that  you  are  all  united  and  happy.'  The  union  of  such 
sentiments  in  his  mind  at  the  instant  of  victory,  and  amid  the  exciting 
and  tumultuous  scenes  and  feelings  of  such  a  moment,  shew  a  heart 

*  This  letter,  addressed  to  his  brother  Irving  in  London,  reached  him, 
we  believe,  on  the  13th  of  October,  the  very  day  on  which  the  writer  was 
slain. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  281 

worthy  of  all  admiration  and  lore.  I  am  delighted  to  have  seen  these 
traits  in  his  character.  To  those  who  cherish  the  recollection  of  him, 
this  little  note  is  invaluable.  It  shews  how  pure  the  joy  was  which  he 
derived  from  his  splendid  achievement :  gratitude  to  God,  and  the  in 
creased  happiness  of  those  he  held  most  dear,  were  the  thoughts  upper 
most  in  his  mind.  Among  the  interesting  records  of  him,  contained  in 
this  volume,  this  hasty  letter  to  his  brothers,  and  that  of  September  3, 
which  follows,  and  his  letter  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  of  2d  December,  1811, 
give  us  proofs,  as  it  appears  to  me,  that  while  General  Brock  possessed 
foresight,  ability,  judgment,  and  decision  equal  to  great  emergencies,  he 
had  also  a  heart  that  entitled  him  to  the  kindest  regards  of  the  world."  ] 


William  Brock)  Esq.,  to  his  brother  Savery,  in  Guernsey. 
LONDON,  Tuesday,  October  13,  1812. 

Since  I  sent  you,  on  Tuesday  last,  the  Gazette 
containing  the  dispatches,  I  have  been  so  engrossed 
with  the  one  all-exciting  subject,  as  to  be  unable  to 

attend  to  your  business  with  C  and  B As 

I  well  knew  that  Isaac  would  not  consider  his  good 
fortune  complete  unless  a  reconciliation  took  place 
between  Irving  and  myself,  I  went  up  to-day  on  see 
ing  him  and  shook  hands.  He  then  shewed  me  two 
lines  which  he  had  just  received  from  Isaac,  and 
which  he  was  going  to  send  me.  I  give  you  the 
copy  verbatim. 

[Here  follows  a  transcript  of  the  short  letter  to  his  brothers,  dated 
Detroit,  August  16,  as  given  ante.] 

It  is  satisfactory  to  me  that  we  shook  hands  before 
I  was  aware  of  the  contents.  I  have  written  a  long 
letter*  to  Isaac  since  the  dispatches  have  arrived, 
and  I  have  again  seen  Captain  Coore,  who  told  me 
that  the  prince  regent  had  spoken  to  him  about  Isaac 
for  nearly  half  an  hour.  His  royal  highness  was 
pleased  to  say,  that  General  Brock  had  done  more  in 
an  hour  than  could  have  been  done  in  six  months' 
negociation  with  Mr.  Russell — that  he  had  by  his 
exploit  given  a  lustre  to  the  British  army — that  the 
dispatches  had  afforded  him  (his  royal  highness) 
more  pleasure  than  any  he  had  received  for  some 
time,  &c.  &c.  &c. 

*  Unfortunately,  we  cannot  find  this  letter. 


282  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Captain  Coore  also  said  that  Mr.  Vansittart*  had 
expressed  himself  on  the  occasion  with  greater  glee 
than  even  the  other  ministers  ;  and  certainly  the  very 
prompt  manner  in  which  the  red  riband  has  been 
conferred,  confirms  the  flattering  remarks  of  the 
prince,  and  proves  the  favorable  impression  of  the 
ministry.  I  look  forward  to  Isaac  receiving  the 
thanks  of  parliament  when  it  meets  again.  Captain 
Coore  thinks  that  he  will  next  take  Niagara. 

What  is  your  opinion  of  Isaac's  proclamation,  in 
answer  to  that  of  Hull,  and  of  his  dispatches  to 
Prevost?  I  think  them  admirably  written,  and  so 
does  every  person  with  whom  I  have  conversed  on 
the  subject. 

Let  me  know  what  effect  the  good  news  have  had 
upon  you  all.  I  have  scarcely  slept  for  the  last 
week,  I  can  tell  you. 

May  Sir  Isaac  long  live  to  be  an  example  to  your 
Julius,f  and  an  honor  to  us  all.J  With  my  hearty 
congratulations,  believe  me,  &c. 


The  following  letter  strikes  us  as  singularly  appro 
priate  and  pleasing,  and  as  creditable  to  him  who 
wrote  it  as  it  must  have  been  gratifying  to  him  who 
received  it.  Mr.  Justice  Powell,  who.  was  then  the 
senior  puisne  judge  of  the  court  of  king's  bench,  be 
came  chief  justice  of  Upper  Canada  in  the  year  1816.  § 

*  Then  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  —  created  Lord  Bexley,in  1823. 

t  Julius  Brock,  the  only  son  of  Savery,  died  in  boyhood. 

t  How  futile  frequently  is  human  hope.  Sir  Isaac  Brock  had  fallen 
that  very  morning,  and  was  then  lying  a  bleeding  corse  in  a  house  in  the 
village  of  Queenstown.  Many  need  rejoice  in  trembling. 

§  Chief  Justice  Powell  retired  from  the  bench  in  1825,  and  died  about 
ten  years  afterwards.  His  abilities  were  of  a  very  superior  order,  and  he 
is  believed,  in  Upper  Canada,  to  have  been  the  author  of  General  Brock's 
proclamation,  in  answer  to  that  of  Hull.  He  was  at  the  time  a  member  of 
the  executive  council,  and,  with  his  numerous  duties,  the  British  general 
would  naturally  avail  himself  of  Judge  Powell's  talents  on  such  an  occa 
sion.  If  so,  the  proclamation  was  the  happy  effort  of  one  who,  both  in 
speaking  and  writing,  usually  acquitted  himself  with  felicity.  Its  clear 
and  logical  language  was  justly  admired,  and  it  did  much  good  both  in 
and  out  of  the  Canadas.  Mrs.  Powell,  the  widow  of  the  late  chief  justice, 
is  still  living ;  she  is  about  ninety-two,  and  in  the  full  possession  of  her 
faculties. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  283 

The  Hon.  William  Dummer  Powell  to  Major-General  Brock. 

KINGSTON,  August  27,  1812. 

I  cannot  persuade  myself  to  offer  my  hearty  con 
gratulations  through  the  medium  of  a  third  person, 
and  hope  you  will  believe  that  no  one  sympathizes 
more  cordially  than  myself  in  your  feelings  on  the 
late  happy  event.  I  shall  never  again  regret  little 
disappointments,  when  I  consider  to  what  they  may 
lead  :  had  your  early  representations  been  attended  to, 
and  produced  their  'proper  effect,  you  would  probably 
not  have  to  boast  of  the  most  brilliant  success,  with 
the  most  inadequate  means,  which  history  records. 
There  is  something  so  fabulous  in  the  report  of  a 
handful  of  troops,  supported  by  a  few  raw  militia, 
leaving  their  strong  post  to  invade  an  enemy  of  dou 
ble  numbers  in  his  own  fortress,  and  making  them  all 
prisoners  without  the  loss  of  a  man,  that,  although 
your  report  may  be  sanctioned  by  Sir  George  Prevost, 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  people  of  England  will  be 
incredulous  until  they  see  the  exterminating  boaster  a 
prisoner  in  London.  We  find  in  a  cover  by  General 
Sheaffe,  that  the  first  report  of  the  cannon  taken  was 
one-third  short  of  the  real  number.  I  shall  hardly 
sleep  until  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  particu 
lars  of  the  wonderful  excursion,  for  it  must  not  be 
called  a  campaign.  The  veni,  vidi,  vici,  is  again  the 
faithful  report.  Your  good  fortune  in  one  instance  is 
singular,  for  if  your  zeal  had  been  thwarted  by  such 
adverse  winds  as  frequently  occur  on  the  lake,  the 
armistice  might  have  intercepted  your  career.*  That 
it  did  not,  I  heartily  thank  God,  and  pray  that  no 
thing  may  occur  to  damp  the  entire  satisfaction  of 
yourself  and  family  in  the  glory  so  well  earned.  I 
am  impatient  to  hear  from  Colonel  M'Donell,  but 
have  no  doubt  that  he  justified  your  warmest  expec 
tations  in  every  trial.  May  I  beg  to  be  presented  to 
Glegg,  and  that  you,  Sir,  will  believe  me,  &c. 

*  "  South-west  winds  prevail  much"  (on  Lake  Erie)  "  during-  a  great 
part  of  the  year,  and  often,  for  wee.ks  together,  prevent  vessels  from 
sailing  westward."— Howison's  Upper  Canada. 


284  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Major- General  Brock  to  his  Brothers. 

LAKE  ONTARIO,  Sept.  3,  1812. 

You  will  have  heard  of  the  complete  success  which 
attended  the  efforts  I  directed  against  Detroit.  I 
have  received  so  many  letters  from  people  whose 
opinion  I  value,  expressive  of  their  admiration  of  the 
exploit,  that  I  begin  to  attach  to  it  more  importance 
than  I  was  at  first  inclined.  Should  the  affair  be 
viewed  in  England  in  the  light  it  is  here,  I  cannot 
fail  of  meeting  reward,  and  escaping  the  horror  of 
being  placed  high  on  a  shelf,  never  to  be  taken  down. 

Some  say  that  nothing  could  be  more  desperate 
than  the  measure ;  but  I  answer,  that  the  state  of  the 
province  admitted  of  nothing  but  desperate  remedies. 
I  got  possession  of  the  letters  my  antagonist  addressed 
to  the  secretary  at  war,  and  also  of  the  sentiments 
which  hundreds  of  his  army  uttered  to  their  friends. 
Confidence  in  the  general  was  gone,  and  evident 
despondency  prevailed  throughout.  I  have  succeeded 
beyond  expectation.  I  crossed  the  river,  contrary  to 

the  opinion  of  Colonel  Proctor,  ,  &c. ;  it  is, 

therefore,  no  wonder  that  envy  should  attribute  to 

food  fortune  what,  injustice  to  my  own  discernment, 
must  say,  proceeded  from  a  cool  calculation  of  the 
pours  and  centres. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  value  of  the  articles  cap 
tured  will  amount  to  30  or  ,£40,000;  in  that  case, 
my  proportion  will  be  something  considerable.  If  it 
enable  me  to  contribute  to  your  comfort  and  happi 
ness,  I  shall  esteem  it  my  highest  reward.  When  I 
returned  Heaven  thanks  for  my  amazing  success,  I 
thought  of  you  all;  you  appeared  to  me  happy  — 
your  late  sorrows  forgotten ;  and  I  felt  as  if  you 
acknowledged  that  the  many  benefits,  which  for  a 
series  of  years  I  received  from  you,  were  not  unwor 
thily  bestowed.  Let  me  know,  my  dearest  brothers, 
that  you  are  all  again  united.  The  want  of  union 
was  nearly  losing  this  province  without  even  a  strug- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  285 

gle,  and  be  assured  it  operates  in  the  same  degree  in 
regard  to  families. 

A  cessation  of  hostilities  has  taken  place  along  this 
frontier.  Should  peace  follow,  the  measure  will  be 
well ;  if  hostilities  recommence,  nothing  could  be 
more  unfortunate  than  this  pause.  I  cannot  give 
you  freely  an  account  of  my  situation' — it  is,  how 
ever,  of  late  much  improved.  The  militia  have  been 
inspired,  by  the  recent  success,  with  confidence — 
the  disaffected  are  silenced.  The  49th  have  come  to 
my  aid,  besides  other  troops.  I  shall  see  Vincent, 
I  hope,  this  evening  at  Kingston.  He  is  appointed 
to  the  command  of  that  post — a  most  important  one. 
I  have  withdrawn  Plenderleath  from  Niagara  to 
assist  him.  Plenderleath  is  sitting  opposite  to  me, 
and  desires  to  be  remembered.  James  Brock  is 
likewise  at  Kingston.  I  believe. he  considers  it  more 
his  interest  to  remain  with  the  49th  than  to  act  as  my 
private  secretary  ;  indeed,  the  salary  is  a  mere  pit 
tance.  Poor  Leggatt  is  dead,  and  has  left  his  family 
in  the  most  distressing  circumstances.  His  wife  died 
last  year. 

Major  Smelt  and  Captain  Brown  have  sent  me 
your  letters,  for  which  I  thank  you.  Let  Richard 
Potenger  be  assured  that  his  letter  afforded  me  the 
highest  gratification.  I  trust  in  Heaven  that  the 
whole  of  his  thoughts  will  be  directed  to  study,  and 
to  qualify  himself  for  the  holy  profession  he  has 
chosen.  Ignorance  is  despised  in  most  men,  but 
more  particularly  in  the  clergyman  educated  at  one 
of  the  universities,  who  must  have  neglected  so  many 
opportunities  of  acquiring  knowledge. 

I  received  the  other  day  a  long  letter  from  Sir 
Thomas  Saumarez,  from  Halifax.  I  regret  the  death 
of  the  two  Harry  Brocks.*  I  have  likewise  been 
particularly  unfortunate  in  the  loss  of  two  valuable 
military  friends. f  I  begin  to  be  too  old  to  form  new 

*  Henry  Frederick  Brock^  Esq.,  jurat  of  the  Royal  Court  of  Guernsey, 
and  Lieutenant  Henry  Brock,  R.  Nr 
t  Major-General  Vesey,  mentioned  ante,  was  probably  one. 


286  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

friendships,    and   those  of  my   youth   are  dropping 
off  fast. 

General  Sheaffe  has  lately  been  sent  to  me.  There 
never  was  an  individual  so  miserably  off  for  the 
necessary  assistance.  Sir  George  Prevost  has  kindly 
hearkened  to  my  remonstrances,  and  in  some  measure 
supplied  the  deficiency.  The  41st  is  an  uncommonly 
fine  regiment,  but,  with  few  exceptions,  badly  offi 
cered.*  You  mention  John  Tupper  f  in  a  manner  as 
to  leave  hope  that  he  may  still  be  living.  God  grant 
it !  He  is  a  great  favorite  of  mine,  and  I  should 
lament  any  disaster  happening  to  him.  Perhaps 
Glegg  may  be  sent  home  by  Sir  George,  and  in  that 
case  I  hope  he  will  allow  you  to  see  the  colours  taken 
from  the  4th  U.  S.  regiment.  The  generality  of  the 
English  will  esteem  them  very  little :  nothing  is 
prized  that  is  not  acquired  with  blood. 

KINGSTON,  September  4. 

I  this  instant  receive  your  letters  by  Mr.  Todd. 
So  honest  John  Tupper  is  gone  !  I  could  not  have 
loved  a  son  of  my  own  more  ardently.  Hostilities  I 
this  instant  understand  are  to  be  renewed  in  four 
days ;  and  though  landed  only  two  hours,  I  must 
return  immediately  to  Niagara,  whence  I  shall  write 
fully. 

Chief  Justice  Sewell,  of  Lower  Canada,  to  Major-General 
Brock. 

QUEBEC,  Sept.  3,  1812. 

In  your  present  situation,  I  am  perfectly  sensible 
of  your  occupations,  and  know  that  your  time  is 

*  The  only  field  officer  with  the  41st  at  this  time  was,  we  believe,  Colo 
nel  Proctor ;  and  owing  to  the  long  stay  of  the  regiment  in  Canada,  the 
promotion  had  been  so  slow,  that  two  of  the  captains  were  brevet-lieute 
nant-colonels,  and  two  others  brevet- majors. 

t  His  nephew,  John  E.  Tupper,  Esq.,  aged  twenty,  perished  at  sea  in 
January,  1812,  in  the  Mediterranean,  the  vessel  in  which  he  was  a  passen 
ger  from  Catalonia  to  Gibraltar  having  never  been  heard  of  after  sailing. 
He  was  educated  at  Harrow  at  the  same  time  as  Lord  Byron,  Sir  Robert 
Peel,  &c.  Mention  is  made  of  this  fine  but  ill-fated  young  man  at  page  1 1 5. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  287 

precious.  Yet  I  take  the  liberty  to  intrude  upon 
you  with  my  congratulations  upon  the  brilliant  suc 
cess  which  has  attended  the  measures  which  you  have 
pursued  with  so  much  judgment  in  Upper  Canada; 
and  the  thanks  of  an  individual  who  feels  the  benefits 
which  he,  in  common  with  every  other  subject  of 
his  majesty  in  British  America,  derives  from  your 
exertions. 


The  next  letter  is  from  General  Maitland,*  who 
was  colonel  of  the  49th  foot  from  the  25th  of  May, 
1768,  to  the  period  of  his  death,  in  February,  1820, 
or  nearly  fifty -two  years  !f  Major-General  Brock 
held  this  gallant  veteran  in  high  estimation,  having  re 
ceived  from  him  much  attention  and  kindness,  which 
were  continued  to  some  of  his  relatives  after  his  fall, 
and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  feeling  was  mutual. 

General  the  Honorable  Alexander  Maitland  to  Major-General 
Brock. 

TOTTERIDGE,  October  8,  1812. 

Yesterday  being  mail  day  for  America,  I  dispatched 
my  usual  monthly  letter  to  the  regiment,  and  in 
which,  as  I  always  do,  I  desired  to  be  remembered 
to  you,  with  my  best  and  warmest  wishes  for  your 
health,  happiness,  and  success.  I  had  not  then  heard, 
but  did  a  few  hours  after,  of  your  glorious  victory 
over  our  most  unnatural  enemies,  (such  an  one  as  can 
hardly  be  equalled  in  the  annals  of  history,)  that  of 
not  only  beating,  but  taking  prisoners,  more  than 
double  your  numbers ;  and  now  that  you  have  con 
quered  them  in  the  field,  I  trust  that  their  wrong- 
headed  government  will  be  brought  to  reason  and 

*  Created  a  baronet  on  the  30th  of  November,  1818. 

t  Although  General  Maitland  was  so  many  years  colonel  of  the  49th, 
yet  we  find  that  the  Marquis  of  Drogheda  held  a  similar  appointment  for 
a  longer  period,  being  colonel  of  the  18th  Hussars  from  the  3d  of  August, 
1762,  to  October,  1821,  when  that  regiment  was  disbanded,  or  above  fifty- 
nine  years ! 


288  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

peace  ;  for  it  will  prove  to  them,  if  they  persevere, 
that  they  will  be  forced  to  it,  and  terms  dictated  to 
them.  Therefore  allow  me,  Sir,  with  the  warmest 
feelings  of  an  old  friend,  to  congratulate  you,  as  I  do 
the  public,  on  the  essential  service  you  have  done 
the  country  on  the  present  occasion  ;  as  I  do  my 
friend,  your  aide-de-camp,  Captain  Glegg,  so  far  as 
the  sphere  of  his  duty  could  assist  in  the  great  work  ; 
and  I  glory  to  say  you  are  both  4Q-thers.  I  could 
write  sheets  on  the  subject,  but,  not  to  take  up  your 
valuable  time  longer  than  I  have  done  to  express  my 
pleasure  and  feelings,  I  will  stop  by  adding  the 
sincere  congratulations  of  all  related  to  me  here  as 
well  as  elsewhere.  But  I  cannot  help  now  observing 
how  prophetic  I  was  in  what  I  wrote  to  Colonel 
Vincent  yesterday  concerning  you,  which  was,  that 
if  you  were  properly  supported,  I  thought  the  enemy 
would  never  cross  the  line  of  your  command,  a  proof 
of  which  I  had  a  few  hours  afterwards. 

When  you  see  any  of  our  friends  of  the  49th,  pray 
remember  me  in  the  kindest  manner  to  them,  and  I 
am  sure  they  will  thank  you  that  they  are  safe  and 
warm  in  their  quarters,  in  place  of  having  a  winter 
campaign  in  so  severe  a  climate.  And  now  I  will 
only  add  my  warmest  wishes  for  your  health  and 
happiness,  and  that  the  same  good  fortune  that  has 
hitherto  attended  you  may  continue  ;  and  I  beg  that 
you  will  be  so  good  as  to  convey  the  same  to  my 
'friend,  your  aide-de-camp.  Believe  me  to  be,  my 
dear  general,  &c. 

P.  S. — I  send  this  after  the  mail,  which  left  London 
last  night,  in  hope  it  may  overtake  it  at  Falmouth,  as 
I  know  the  packet  seldom  sails  for  some  days  after 
her  time. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK. 

Major- General  John  Burnet  to  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  K.  B.* 
STRABERRY,  Ireland,  Oct.  11,  1812. 

There  has  existed  too  long  and  too  sincere  a  friend 
ship  between  us  for  me  not  to  feel  the  most  lively 
interest  in  the  event  which  has  added  such  eclat  to 
your  achievement  at  my  old  quarter,  Detroit.t 

To  evince  to  you  how  much  I  regard  you,  and 
how  much  I  have  talked  of  you,  a  friend  of  mine  at 
the  Horse  Guards  enclosed  rne  the  Extraordinary 
Gazette,  saying  he  knew  how  much  I  should  be 
gratified:  judge  then,  my  friend,  of  my  feelings  that 
you  had  acquitted  yourself  with  such  address ;  arid 
I  feel  some  degree  of  pride  that  my  opinion  was  so 
justly  formed  of  your  conduct,  whenever  you  should 
have  an  opportunity  to  display  your  talents.  Accept, 
then,  the  very  sincere  congratulations  of  an  old  friend 
on  this  occasion,  and  be  assured  of  the  happiness  it 
gives  me,  as  well  as  Mrs.  Burnet,  who  is  with  me, 
and  sends  her  love  to  you. 

With  respect  to  my  situation,  I  offered  my  services 
to  go  to  the  Peninsula  as  soon  as  our  promotion  took 
place,  and  at  one  time  flattered  myself  I  should  have 
gone  there;  but  superior  interest  prevailed,  and  I 
was  placed  on  the  staff  of  Ireland.  I  first  went  to 
Londonderry,  but  have  been  here  six  months,  as  more 
central  to  the  brigade  under  my  command. 

I  have  my  hands  full  of  business,  and  little  time 
for  private  correspondence  ;  but  I  could  not  resist  the 
impulse  on  an  occasion  so  highly  to  the  honor  of  an 
old  friend.  Believe  me,  my  dear  Brock,  &c. 

P.  S, — If  Commodore  Grant  be  still  alive,  pray 
remember  me  warmly  to  him  and  Mrs.  Grant. 

*  This  letter  is  apparently  written  with  the  left  hand,  as  if  the  writer 
had  lost  his  right. 

t  John  Burnet  was  a  lieutenant  of  the  8th  (king's)  regiment,  in  Upper 
Canada,  during  and  after  the  first  American  war  ;  and  was  captain  lieute 
nant  of  that  regiment  when  Isaac  Brock  entered  it  in  1785.  Detroit  was 
retained  by  the  British  until  the  year  1796,  when  it  was  given  over  to  the 
Americans. — See  pages  180,  181,  ante. 


290  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Lieutenant- Colonel  Nichol,  Quartermaster-General  of 
Militia,  to  Major- General  Brock. 

DETROIT,  August  25,  1812. 

I  have  been  just  informed  by  Colonel  Proctor  that 
he  intends  sending  an  express  to-morrow  to  Fort 
George,  which  gives  me  an  opportunity  to  forward 
a  few  printed  copies  of  your  proclamation,  and  to 
inform  you  that,  in  order  to  carry  it  into  effect,  it  has 
been  found  absolutely  necessary  to  organize  the  civil 
government.  Under  existing  circumstances,  I  have 
advised  Colonel  Proctor  to  assume  the  administration 
until  your  pleasure  is  known,  to  which  he  has  agreed, 
and  the  necessary  arrangements  consequent  thereto 
have  been  adopted  and  promulgated.  In  Judge 
Woodward,  who  has  been  appointed  secretary  pro 
tern,  he  will  find  an  able  coadjutor ;  and  as  your 
object  undoubtedly  was  to  tranquillize  the  public 
mind  and  to  give  the  inhabitants  a  proof  of  the  mo 
deration  and  benevolence  of  his  majesty's  government, 
as  well  as  to  ensure  the  due  administration  of  the 
laws,  I  do  not  think  a  more  judicious  choice  could 
have  been  made.  In  all  the  discussions  which  took 
place  on  this  subject,  Colonel  Proctor  did  me  the 
honor  to  consult  me ;  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying,  that  I  urged  him  to  the  step  he  has  taken, 
of  which  I  hope  you  will,  as  it  is  only  temporary, 
approve.  We  have  had  much  difficulty  in  collecting 
the  public  cattle  and  horses,  and  have  suffered  great 
ly  from  the  predatory  spirit  of  the  Indians ;  indeed, 
their  conduct  has  been  infamous.  There  is  hardly 
a  house  on  either  side  of  the  river  that  has  not  been 
robbed  by  them  ;  they  have  taken  away  the  greater 
part  of  the  captured  horses  and  cattle,  and  without 
our  being  able  to  prevent  it.  It  has  not  been  in  my 
power  as  yet  to  send  a  statement  of  all  that  we  have 
captured,  as  the  property  is  so  scattered,  but  I  hope 
to  finish  this  week.  We  got  upwards  of  .£1,200  in 
money,  and  have  sent  down  a  hundred  packs,  worth, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK,  291 

I  suppose,  .£1,500  more.  I  have  reason  to  think  the 
captured  property  will  not  be  much  under  £40,000. 

We  have  still  350  prisoners  to  ship  off,  but  I  hope 
to  get  rid  of  them  in  a  few  days.  Public  confidence 
seems  to  be  partially  restored ;  business  is  again 
going  on,  and  I  hope  that  the  country  will  become 
perfectly  quiet. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  say  when  I  shall  get 
done  here.  I  hope,  however,  it  will  not  be  long. 
I  regret  that  we  are  not  able  to  send  you  complete 
returns  of  every  thing  ;  but  the  captured  property  is 
in  so  many  different  places,  and  so  scattered,  that  it 
cannot  be  done. 


Extract  from  a  Canadian  Newspaper. 

Montreal,  September  12,  1812. 

Last  Sunday  evening  the  inhabitants  of  this  city  were  gra 
tified  with  an  exhibition  equally  novel  and  interesting. 

That  General  Hull  should  have  entered  into  our  city  so 
soon,  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  ratber  exceeded  our  expect 
ations.  We  were,  however,  very  happy  to  see  him,  and. 
received  him  with  all  the  honors  due  to  his  high  rank  and 
importance  as  a  public  character.  The  following  particulars, 
relative  to  his  journey  and  reception  at  Montreal,  may  not  be 
uninteresting  to  our  readers  : 

It  appears  that  General  Hull  and  suite,  accompanied  by 
about  25  officers  and  350  soldiers,  left  Kingston,  under  an 
escort  of  130  men,  commanded  by  Major  Heathcote,  of  the 
Newfoundland  regiment.  At  Cornwall,  the  escort  was  met 
by  Captain  Gray,  of  the  quartermaster-general's  department, 
who  took  charge  of  the  prisoners  of  war,  and  from  thence 
proceeded  with  them  to  La  Chine,  where  they  arrived  about 
two  o'clock  on  Sunday  afternoon.  At  La  Chine,  Captains 
Richardson  and  Ogilvie,  with  their  companies  of  Montreal 
militia,  and  a  company  of  the  king's,  from  Lower  Chine, 
commanded  by  Captain  Blackmore,  formed  the  escort  till 
they  were  met  by  Colonel  Auldjo,  with  the  remainder  of  the 
flank  companies  of  the  militia,  upon  which  Captain  Black- 
more's  company  fell  out  and  presented  arms  as  the  general 
and  line  passed,  and  then  returned  to  La  Chine,  leaving  the 
prisoners  of  war  to  be  guarded  by  the  militia  alone.  The 
line  of  march  then  proceeded  to  the  town  in  the  following 
order,  viz. 


292  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

1.  Band  of  the  king's  regiment. 

2.  The  first  division  of  the  escort. 

3.  General  Hull  in  a  carriage,  accompanied  by  Captain 
Gray.     Captain  Hull  and  Major  Shekleton  followed  in  the 
second,  and  some  wounded  officers  occupied  four  others. 

4.  The  American  officers. 

5.  The  non-commissioned  officers  and  soldiers. 
The  second  division  of  the  escort. 

It  unfortunately  proved  rather  late  in  the  evening  for  the 
vast  concourse  of  spectators  assembled  to  experience  that 
gratification  they  so  anxiously  looked  for.  This  inconve 
nience  was,  however,  in  a  great  measure  remedied  by  the 
illuminations  of  the  streets  through  which  the  line  of  march 
passed.  When  they  arrived  at  the  general's  house,  the  ge 
neral  was  conducted  in,  and  presented  to  his  excellency  Sir 
George  Prevost,  and  was  received  with  the  greatest  politeness, 
and  invited  to  take  up  his  residence  there  during  his  stay  at 
Montreal.  The  other  officers  were  accommodated  at  Holmes' 
hotel,  and  the  soldiers  lodged  in  the  Quebec  barracks.  The 
general  appears  to  be  about  sixty  years  of  age,  and  is  a  good 
looking  man  ;  and  we  are  informed  by  those  who  have  had 
frequent  opportunities  of  conversing  with  him,  that  he  is  a 
man  of  general  information.  He  is  communicative,  and 
seems  to  bear  his  misfortunes  with  a  degree  of  philosophical 
resignation  that  but  few  men  in  similar  circumstances  are 
gifted  with.  On  Thursday  last  General  Hull,  with  eight 
American  officers,  left  this  city  for  the  United  States,  on 
their  parole. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  293 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


After  issuing  a  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Michigan  territory,  by  which  their  private  pro 
perty  was  secured  and  their  laws  and  religion  con 
firmed,  and  leaving  as  large  a  force  under  Colonel 
Proctor  as  could  be  spared  at  Detroit,  Major-General 
Brock  hastened  to  return  to  the  Niagara  frontier ; 
and  while  on  his  voyage  across  Lake  Erie,  in  the 
schooner  Chippawa,  he  was  met  on  the  23d  of  August 
by  the  provincial  schooner  Lady  Prevost,  of  14  guns, 
the  commander  of  which,  after  saluting  the  general 
with  seventeen  guns,  came  on  board  and  gave  him 
the  first  intelligence  of  the  armistice  which  Sir  George 
Prevost  had  unfortunately  concluded  with  the  Ame 
rican  general,  Dearborn.  'Major-General  Brock  could 
not  conceal  his  deep  regret  and  mortification  at  the 
intelligence,  which  he  feared  would  prevent  his  con 
templated  attack  on  Sackett's  Harbour.*  Sir  George 
Prevost,  early  in  August,  on  hearing  of  the  repeal  of 
the  British  orders  in  council,  which  were  the  prin 
cipal  among  the  alleged  causes  of  the  war,  had  pro 
posed  a  suspension  of  hostilities  until  the  sentiments 
of  the  American  government  were  received  on  the 
subject ;  and  to  this  suspension  General  Dearborn 
readily  agreed,  with  the  exception  of  the  forces  under 

*  "  Leaving  Colonel  Proctor  in  command  on  the  Detroit  frontier  and  in 
the  newly  acquired  territory,  General  Brock  hastened  his  return  to  the 
Niagara  line,  with  the  intention  of  sweeping  it  of  the  American  garrisons, 
which  he  knew  were  then  unprepared  for  vigorous  resistance.  But  the 
first  intelligence  which  he  received  on  his  arrival  at  Fort  George  paralyzed 
his  exertions." — Quarterly  Review. 


294  LIFE   AND   CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

General  Hull,  who,  he  said,  acted  under  the  imme 
diate  orders  of  the  secretary  at  war.  But,  by  the 
terms  of  the  truce,  General  Hull  had  the  option  of 
availing  himself  of  its  provisions  if  he  thought  fit, 
and  that  he  would  gladly  have  done  so  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  Happily,  however,  owing  to  the  rapidity 
of  Major-General  Brock's  movements,  the  news  of 
the  armistice  did  not  reach  the  belligerent  command 
ers  in  time  to  prevent  the  surrender  of  the  one,  or  to 
snatch  well-earned  laurels  from  the  brow  of  the 
other.  This  armistice  was  attended  with  very  preju 
dicial  consequences,  as  it  not  only  marred  the  attempt 
on  Sackett's  Harbour,  but  it  rendered  unavailing  the 
command  of  the  lakes,  which  was  then  held  by  the 
British.* 

The  successful  commander,  in  transmitting  by 
Captain  Glegg  his  dispatches  to  the  governor-general 
at  Montreal,  expressed,  through  his  aide-de-carnp, 
his  intention  of  proceeding  immediately  to  Kingston, 
and  from  thence  to  the  attack  of  the  naval  arsenal  at 
Sackett's  Harbour,  on  Lake  Ontario. t  Had  its  de 
struction  been  accomplished — and  no  one  can  doubt 
that  this  was  the  proper  period  to  attempt  it,  as  the 
enemy,  dispirited  by  the  capture  of  Detroit,  would 
probably  have  offered  but  a  feeble  resistance — the 
Americans  could  not,  without  much  additional  diffi 
culty  and  future  risk  of  destruction,  have  built  and 
equipped  the  fleet  which  subsequently  gave  them  the 
naval  ascendancy  on  that  lake,  and  enabled  them, 
twice  in  1813,  to  capture  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada. 
The  armistice,  however,  caused  a  delay  of  nearly  a 
fortnight  in  the  necessary  preparations,  as  Major- 

*  See  extract  from  Letters  of  Veritas  on  this  point.  Appendix  A,  Sec 
tion  1,  No.  4. 

t  The  general's  words  to  his  aide-de-camp,  as  nearly  as  the  latter  can 
remember,  were  these  :  "  You  may  inform  Sir  George  that  it  is  my  intention 
to  proceed  immediately  with  the  gallant  little  army,  that  has  enabled  me 
to  capture  Fort  Detroit  and  the  first  invading  force  of  the  Americans,  to 
the  attack  of  the  naval  arsenal  at  Sackett's  Harbour ;  and  you  may  expect 
to  hear  of  my  arrival  at  Kingston  soon  after  you  reach  Monti  eal,  from 
whence  an  immediate  report  of  my  intentions  shall  be  transmitted  for 
approval  to  his  excellency." 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  295 

General  Brock  returned  from  Detroit  to  Fort  George 
on  the  24th  of  August,  and  the  cessation  of  the  truce 
was  not  known  to  him  until  his  arrival  at  Kingston, 
on  the  4th  of  September.  The  distance  by  water 
between  Fort  George  and  Kingston  is  about  160 
miles,  and  from  Kingston  to  Sackett's  Harbour  only 
35  miles ;  so  that  the  destruction  of  the  arsenal  might 
have  been  effected  early  in  September,  had  not  the 
armistice  prevented  the  attempt.  But,  unhappily  for 
the  interests  of  his  country  and  the  credit  of  his  own 
fame,  Sir  George  Prevost  disapproved  of  the  propo 
sition,  and  commanded  Major-General  Brock  to 
relinquish  all  idea  of  the  contemplated  enterprise, 
although  the  official  intelligence  of  the  president's 
refusal  to  continue  the  suspension  of  hostilities  reached 
him  at  Montreal  on  the  30th  of  August,  a  day  or 
two  before  Captain  Glegg,  with  the  dispatches  and 
trophies  of  the  capture  of  Detroit.  At  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war,  a  defensive  attitude  was  per 
haps  excusable,  especially  as  the  British  cabinet  seems 
to  have  been  anxious  to  accommodate  the  differences 
between  the  two  countries ;  but  after  the  American 
government  had  refused  to  continue  the  armistice,  it 
appears  to  us  that  Sir  George  Prevost  was  pursuing 
a  suicidal  course  in  foregoing  the  advantages  of  his 
decided  naval  superiority,  and  forgetting  the  maxim 
of  "  Non  progredi  est  regredi,"  as  to  wait  for  the  ene 
my  till  he  shall  have  prepared  his  forces  and  passed 
your  frontiers,  to  plunder  your  towns  and  ravage 
your  country,  is  a  very  recent  expedient  recognized 
by  no  government,  and  practised  by  no  people  of 
ancient  or  modern  times.  But,  notwithstanding  the 
delay  caused  by  the  armistice,  the  proposed  attack 
could  still  have  been  carried  into  effect  after  its  ces 
sation  ;  and  it  was  only  relinquished  by  express  or 
ders  from  the  commander-in-chief.  We  seek  not  to 
impugn  his  motives,  as  they  probably  originated  in 
a  mistaken  sense  of  duty,  and  evidently  from  an 
impression  that  to  attack  the  Americans  again  on 


296  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

their  own  frontier  would  be  to  render  the  contest 
more  popular  among  them.  It  was  under  this  im 
pression  that,  in  a  general  order*  issued  at  Montreal 
on  the  31st  of  August,  the  commander-in-chief  was 
weak  enough  to  offer  an  indirect  apology  to  the 
American  people  for  the  invasion  of  their  territory 
at  Detroit.  Whether  this  continued  defensive  policy 
was  such  as,  under  all  the  circumstances,  ought  to 
have  been  observed,  we  leave  it  to  others  to  determine ; 
but  certainly  the  result  did  not  justify  its  expediency, 
and  the  tree  is  usually  judged  of  by  its  fruit.  For 
bearance  in  war,  where  success  is  probable,  strikes 
us  as  a  positive  evil  that  a  very  doubtful  good  may 
ensue — it  is  seldom  properly  appreciated;  and  the 
governor-general  appears  to  have  seen  his  error  when 
too  late,  as  in  the  following  year  he  was  himself  ig 
nobly  foiled  in  an  attack  on  Sackett's  Harbour.  We 
cannot  understand  why  the  attack  under  Sir  George 
Prevost,  in  May,  1813,  was  more  politic  than  it 
would  have  been  in  September,  the  year  preceding, 
under  Major-General  Brock ;  and  although  Captain 
Glegg  met  with  a  very  chilling  reception  from  the 
former  officer,  yet  we  would  willingly  acquit  him  of 
any  jealous  feeling  where  such  important  interests 
were  at  stake.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  due  to  the 
memory  of  this  unfortunate  officer  to  add,  that  his 
civil  administration  was  as  able  as  his  military  one  in 
Canada  was  inglorious ;  and  that  although  his  con 
duct  as  a  soldier  was,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  the 
subject  of  much  and  just  animadversion  in  England, 
yet  he  acquired  the  warm  attachment  of  the  French 
Canadians,  who  speak  highly  of  him  to  this  day. 
Those  leading  men  who,  during  the  administration 
of  Sir  James  Craig,  had  been  considered  almost  as 
enemies,  were  treated  with  confidence  by  his  succes 
sor,  who  gradually  appointed  them  to  situations  of 
trust,  and  by  this  wise  measure  secured  their  aid  and 

*  Appendix  A,  Section  1,  No.  5. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  297 

influence  in  the  defence  of  the  province.*  Certain  it 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  that  Major-General  Brock  did 
not  approve  of  the  defensive  warfare  to  which  he  was 
restricted ;  and  subsequent  events  too  truly  proved, 
that  had  he  been  permitted  to  pursue  that  course 
which  his  zeal  and  foresight  dictated,  his  valuable 
life  might  have  been  spared,  and  a  very  different 
series  of  incidents  in  that  war  claimed  the  attention 
of  the  historian.  The  high-minded  soldier  could  not 
brook  a  state  of  inaction  with  such  promising  pros 
pects  before  him.  His  best  feelings  revolted  at  being 
compelled  to  languish  within  the  strict  pale  of  mili 
tary  obedience,  when  so  rich  a  field  for  doing  good 
service  presented  itself ;  and  in  place  of  becoming 
the  assailant,  he  was  soon  doomed,  by  awaiting  the 
attacks  of  his  opponents,  to  sacrifice  not  only  life, 
but,  what  is  far  dearer,  the  opening  prospects  of 
honorable  ambition. 

On  the  16th  of  December,  1812,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Niagara  district  addressed  a  spirited  letter  to  Sir 
George  Prevost,  from  which  we  copy  the  following 
extract,  as  confirming  what  we  have  already  stated 
on  the  same  subject :  "  Nevertheless,  such  was  the 
popularity  of  the  general,  such  the  confidence  he  had 
inspired,  that  he  was  enabled  to  carry  with  him  to 
Detroit,  though  under  great  privations,  a  large  body 
of  volunteers,  which,  in  addition  to  the  small  regular 
force  at  Amherstburg,  enabled  him  to  capture  an 
entire  army  of  our  invaders,  with  the  fortress  from 
which  they  had  made  their  descent  into  Canada — a 
success  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  war.  Here,  for 

*  On  the  other  hand,  the  British  Critic  for  May,  1823,  in  some  observa 
tions  upon  the  civil  administration  of  Sir  George  Prevost,  in  Canada, 
asserts,  among  other  allegations,  "  that  his  domestic  management  of  the 
colony  was  no  less  censurable  than  his  military  conduct.  That  finding 
that  the  Canadian  party  gave  him  most  trouble,  his  object  was  to  obtain 
a  temporary  popularity  for  his  own  administration,  and  a  peaceable  resi 
dence  for  himself,  by  every  possible  species  and  degree  of  weak  concession, 
which  he  dignified  with  the  name  of  conciliation."  These  assertions  are 
denied  by  his  family,  and  we  certainly  think  that  Sir  George  Prevost  was 
both  wise  and  politic  in  conciliating  the  French  Canadians,  who  had  been 
too  long  treated  as  a  conquered  people. 


298  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

the  first  time,  we  got  a  supply  of  good  arms.  The 
success  of  this  first  enterprise,  in  which  the  militia 
were  engaged,  acted  like  an  electric  shock  throughout 
the  country  :  it  awed  the  disaffected,  of  whom  there 
were  many;  it  confirmed  the  timid  and  the  wavering; 
and  it  induced  the  Six  Nation  Indians,  who  had  until 
that  time  kept  aloof,  to  take  an  active  part  in  our 
favor.  At  that  moment,  such  was  the  energy  and 
confidence  that  had  been  excited  by  our  illustrious 
chief  and  the  success  of  his  plans,  that  had  he  been 
permitted,  he  could,  and  would,  have  destroyed  and 
laid  waste  the  whole  American  frontier,  from  San- 
dusky  to  St.  Regis.*  Your  excellency  doubtless  re 
collects  the  armistice  which  immediately  preceded 
the  capture  of  Detroit,  which  gave  the  enemy  an 
opportunity  to  recover  from  their  consternation,  to 
fortify  and  strengthen  their  lines,  to  accumulate  in 
security  the  means  of  annoying  us  at  pleasure  along 
our  whole  frontier,  and  which  sent  at  least  800  of  our 
Indian  allies  in  disgust  to  their  own  homes." 

Colonel  Baynes  to  Major-General  Brock. 

MONTREAL,  August  13,  1812.f 

I  wrote  to  you  from  Albany  on  the  8th  instant, 
but  as  my  letter  was  submitted  to  the  inspection  of 
General  Dearborn,  I  of  course  confined  myself  to  the 
sole  subject  of  the  armistice  entered  into  with  that 
oificer  ....  A  clause,  admitting  reinforcements  to 
pass  with  stores,  was  readily  agreed  to  on  my  part. 
General  Dearborn  told  me  that  a  considerable  rein 
forcement  with  stores  was  on  its  way  to  Niagara,  and 
that  he  could  not  delay  or  alter  its  destination.  I 
informed  him  that  we  were  also  forwarding  reinforce- 

*  From  Sandusky,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Erie,  to  St.  Regis,  on  the  river 
St.  Lawrence,  the  distance  by  water  is  about  550  miles. 

t  This  letter  was  forwarded  by  Brigade-Major  Shekleton  with  that  of 
the  12th  of  August,  (inserted  ante,)  from  Sir  George  Prevost,  who  doubt 
less  wrote  another  the  following  day  relative  to  the  armistice,  but  we 
cannot  find  it  among  Major. General  Brock's  papers. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  299 

ments  and  stores,  and  that  it  would  be  advisable  to 
agree  that  all  movements  of  that  nature  on  either 
side  should  be  suffered  to  proceed  unmolestedly  by 
troops  under  instructions  to  preserve  defensive  mea 
sures.  I  am  apprehensive  that  General  Dearborn 
may  not  explicitly  explain  all  these  points ;  and  I 
have,  therefore,  cautioned  all  the  officers  to  whom  I 
have  communicated  them,  to  act  with  the  utmost 
caution,  and  to  be  prepared  for  all  events  that  may 
arise.  I  feel  extremely  prepossessed  in  favor  of 
General  Dearborn,  whose  manners  appear  to  evince 
great  candour  and  sincerity :  he  assured  me  that  no 
event  of  his  life  would  afford  him  so  much  satisfaction 
and  happiness  as  resigning  his  command,  in  conse 
quence  of  our  honorable  adjustment  of  differences. 
He  told  me  that  General  Hull  was  placed  under  his 
orders  merely  for  form  sake,  but  that  he  acted  by 
particular  instructions  from  the  war  department,  and 
would  not  consider  himself  bound  to  obey  any  order 
that  was  not  in  conformity  to  them. 

[Colonel  Baynes  describes  at  length  the  incipient  state  of 
military  preparation  for  the  invasion  of  Lower  Canada,  which 
he  witnessed  on  his  journey ;  and  after  mentioning-  that  the 
Americans  had  sent  the  most  efficient  of  their  forces  to  the 
Niagara  frontier,  he  adds  :  ] 

Under  all  these  circumstances,  which  I  have  repre 
sented  to  Sir  George,  I  have  strongly  urged  his 
sending  you  further  reinforcements,  which  I  am  sure 
can  be  spared :  we  are  at  present  checked  from  the 
want  of  conveyance,  but  I  trust  after  the  corps,  now 
on  their  route,  are  dispatched,  that  Sir  George  will 
be  induced  to  send  you  further  aid,  and  that  of  the 
best  description.  I  think  it  of  the  highest  import 
ance,  particularly  if  we  are  likely  to  arrange  matters 
with  the  States,  that  the  balance  of  military  events 
should  be  unequivocally  in  our  favor.  I  found  a 
very  general  prejudice  prevailing  with  Jonathan,  of 
his  own  resources  and  means  of  invading  these  pro 
vinces,  and  of  our  weakness  and  inability  to  resist, 


300  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

both  exaggerated  in  a  most  absurd  and  extravagant 
degree — a  little  practical  correction  of  this  error 
would  be  attended  with  the  best  effects. 

The  1st  battalion  of  the  royals  are  upwards  of  1,100 
strong,  but  sickly,  having  suffered  from  their  long 
residence  in  the  West  Indies,  and  they  are  in  conse 
quence  marked  for  the  Quebec  garrison. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Colonel  Proctor. 

FORT  GEORGE,  August  25,  1812., 

I  wrote  to  you  yesterday,  informing  you  that  a 
cessation  of  hostilities  had  been  agreed  upon  between 
Sir  George  Prevost  and  General  Dearborn,  and  re 
questing  you  in  consequence  to  postpone  any  attempt 
upon  Fort  Wayne,  or  any  other  post  of  the  enemy. 
I  consider  the  present  forbearance  may  lead  to  such 
consequences,  that  I  cannot  refrain  from  sending  a 
second  express,  to  urge  you  to  restrain  the  Indians 
likewise  in  their  predatory  excursions  :  this,  however, 
ought  to  be  done  with  the  utmost  caution,  and  on 
grounds  foreign  from  the  present  considerations. 

Colonel  Myers  tells  me  that  he  forwarded,  on  the 
llth  instant,  a  dispatch  received  from  Sir  George 
Prevost  to  me,  in  which  his  excellency  so  clearly 
stated  the  principles  of  moderation  upon  which  he 
thought  it  expedient  to  act,  that  I  fully  expect, 
should  you  have  received  the  dispatch  and  perused 
his  sentiments,  you  will  forbear  from  any  hostile 
aggression  ;  in  fact,  act  completely  upon  the  defensive. 

Should  every  thing  remain  quiet  in  the  vicinity  of 
Detroit,  you  will  proceed  hither,  bringing  to  Fort 
Erie'  the  detachments  which  Captain  Chambers  and 
Lieutenant  Bullock  took  to  Amherstburg.  All  the 
spare  ordnance  is  to  be  transported  to  Fort  Erie. 

I  should  also  think  that  Lieutenant  Troughton  and 
a  few  of  his  men  could  be  spared  for  some  time  from 
the  duties  at  Amherstburg ;  in  that  case,  you  will 
have  the  goodness  to  order  them  to  accompany  you. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  301 

Major-General  Brock  arrived  at  Kingston,  where 
he  was  greeted  with  a  salute  from  the  royal  artillery 
and  every  demonstration  of  attachment,  on  the  4th  of 
September,  and  left  it  on  the  6th  for  Fort  George. 
During  this  hasty  visit  he  reviewed  the  militia,  and 
expressed  his  satisfaction  at  its  evolutions  and  appear 
ance.  He  also  received  a  flattering  address  from  the 
magistrates,  officers  of  militia,  and  other  inhabitants  ; 
and  in  reply  he  told  them  with  much  tact,  that  it  was 
the  confidence  inspired  by  the  admirable  conduct  of 
the  York  and  Lincoln  regiments  of  militia  which  had 
induced  him  to  undertake  the  expedition  which  ter 
minated  in  the  capture  of  Detroit;  and  that  from  the 
report  of  the  officers  of  the  garrison  at  Kingston,  he 
relied  wTith  the  same  confidence  on  the  bravery  and 
the  discipline  of  the  militia  of  that  district.  In  the 
same  manner,  to  an  address  a  few  days  before  from 
the  inhabitants  of  York,  he  replied  :  4'  Gentlemen,  I 
cannot  but  feel  highly  gratified  by  this  expression  of 
your  esteem  for  myself;  but,  in  justice  to  the  brave 
men  at  whose  head  I  marched  against  the  enemy,  I 
must  beg  leave  to  direct  your  attention  to  them,  as 
the  proper  objects  of  your  gratitude.  It  was  a  confi 
dence,  founded  on  their  loyalty,  zeal,  and  valour, 
that  determined  me  to  adopt  the  plan  of  operations 
which  led  to  so  fortunate  a  termination.  Allow  me 
to  congratulate  you,  gentlemen,  at  having  sent  out 
from  among  yourselves  a  large  portion  of  that  gallant 
band  ;  and  that  at  such  a  period  a  spirit  had  mani 
fested  itself,  on  which  you  may  confidently  repose 
your  hopes  of  future  security.  It  will  be  a  most 
pleasing  duty  for  me  to  report  to  our  sovereign  a 
conduct  so  truly  meritorious." 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

KINGSTON,  September  4,  1812. 
Upon  my  arrival  here  an  hour  ago,  Captain  Fulton 
delivered  me  your  excellency's  dispatch,  dated  the 


302  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

31st  ultimo,  enclosing  a  letter  from  General  Dear 
born,  in  which  the  president's  disapproval  of  the 
armistice  is  announced.  I  am  in  consequence  in 
duced  to  return  without  loss  of  time  to  Fort  George. 
Captain  Fulton  having  expressed  a  wish  to  accom 
pany  me,  I  have  the  more  readily  consented,  as  he 
will  be  able  to  give  you  full  information  of  our  actual 
state.  The  enemy  was  very  busy  upon  Fort  Niagara, 
and  appeared  inclined  to  erect  additional  batteries. 
I  may  perhaps  think  it  proper  to  stop  their  career. 

I  enclose  several  documents  lately  received  from 
Colonel  Proctor,  at  Detroit.  That  officer  appears  to 
have  conducted  himself  with  much  judgment.  I 
likewise  transmit  a  memorial  which  I  have  received 
from  some  merchants  in  the  Niagara  district,  but  of 
course  I  cannot  judge  of  its  merits. 

I  shall  be  obliged  to  your  excellency  to  direct  the 
remittance  of  the  ,£5,000,  for  which  I  sent  a  requisi 
tion  some  time  ago,  on  account  of  the  civil  expendi 
ture  of  this  province,  either  in  government  paper  or 
specie,  as  you  may  deem  most  convenient.  I  doubt 
not  the  former  meeting  a  ready  currency. 

The  very  flattering  manner  in  which  your  excel 
lency  is  pleased  to  view  my  services,  and  your  kind 
ness  in  having  represented  them  to  his  majesty's 
ministers  in  such  favorable  light,  are  gratifying  to 
my  feelings,  and  call  for  my  grateful  acknowledgments. 

Major-General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

FORT  GEORGE,  September  9,  1812. 

I  have  been  honored  with  your  excellency's  dis 
patch,  dated  the  24th  ultimo,  and  have  to  thank  you 
for  ordering  a  company  of  the  Glengary  regiment  to 
strengthen  Colonel  Lethbridge  at  Prescott,  whose 
force  you  have  been  led  to  believe  was  weakened  in 
consequence  of  my  interference,  but  which,  I  beg 
leave  to  state,  was  done  without  my  knowledge,  and 
contrary  to  my  intention. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  303 

The  enclosed  copies  of  letters  will  inform  you  of 
the  state  of  affairs  to  the  westward.  It  appears  evi 
dent  the  enemy  meditates  a  second  attempt  on  Ani- 
herstburg.  The  greater  part  of  the  troops,  which  are 
advancing,  inarched  from  Kentucky  with  an  intention 
of  joining  General  Hull.  How  they  are  to  subsist, 
even  for  a  short  period,  in  that  already  exhausted 
country,  is  no  easy  matter  to  conceive.  This  diffi 
culty  will  probably  decide  them  on  some  bold  mea 
sure,  in  the  hope  of  shortening  the  campaign.  If 
successfully  resisted,  their  fate  is  inevitable. 

The  Indians,  it  appears  by  the  accompanying  docu 
ments,  were  adverse  to  retreating  without  first  mak 
ing  a  trial  of  their  strength.  Taking,  however,  every 
circumstance  into  consideration,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  Captain  Muir  acted  judiciously.  Should 
the  Indians  continue  to  afford  a  willing  co-operation, 
I  entertain  not  the  smallest  doubt  of  the  result  that 
awaits  this  second  attempt  to  turn  my  right ;  but 
your  excellency  will  easily  perceive  that  doubts  and 
jealousies  have  already  seized  their  minds.  The  offi 
cers  of  the  Indian  department  will,  I  trust,  be  able  to 
remove  all  such  impressions.  Although,  from  the 
daily  observations  of  what  is  passing  on  the  opposite 
shore,  a  single  man  can  ill  be  spared  from  this  line,  I 
have  notwithstanding  determined  to  send  the  two 
flank  companies  of  the  royal  Newfoundland  regiment 
to  Amherstburg.  Fresh  troops  are  daily  arriving, 
supposed  to  belong  to  the  Pennsylvania  quota  of 
2,000  men,  known  to  be  intended  for  this  frontier. 
After  the  whole  arrive,  an  attack,  I  imagine,  cannot 
be  long  delayed.  The  wretched  state  of  their  quotas, 
and  the  raggedness  of  the  troops,  will  not  allow  them 
to  brave  the  rain  and  cold,  which  during  the  last 
week  have  been  so  severely  felt. 

Between  200  and  300  Indians  have  joined,  and 
augmented  the  force  on  the  other  side.  Their  brethren 
here  feel  certain  that  they  will  not  act  with  any  spirit 
against  us — so  I  imagine,  if  we  continue  to  shew  a 


304  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

bold  front ;  but  in  the  event  of  a  disaster,  the  love  of 
plunder  will  prevail,  and  they  will  then  act  in  a 
manner  to  be  the  most  dreaded  by  the  inhabitants  of 
this  country. 

I  beg  leave  to  recommend  to  your  excellency's 
indulgent  consideration,  Colonel  Proctor's  application 
for  an  increase  of  pay  as  commanding  a  district,  which 
I  request  may  commence  from  the  16th  of  August  last. 

Colonel  Baynes*  to  Major-General  Brock. 

MONTREAL,  September  10,  1812. 

Sir  George  writes  to  you  so  fully  upon  the  several 
subjects  to  which  your  letters  refer,  that  I  have  little 
left  to  communicate  to  you.  Major  Heathcote  leaves 
this  to-day,  with  all  the  small  description  of  ordnance 
stores  intended  for  Amherstburg,  but  we  have  detained 
the  12-pounders  arid  shot :  as  you  have  helped  your 
self  so  amply  at  Detroit,  it  is  imagined  you  do  not 
now  want  them.  I  enclose  a  letter  from  Captain 
Roberts,  who  was,  I  suppose,  induced  to  address 
himself  direct  to  head  quarters,  by  an  opportunity  of 
doing  so  offering  itself  at  the  moment.  The  North- 
West  gentlemen  are  very  urgent  in  recommending  a 
reinforcement  in  that  quarter;  but  Sir  George  has 
told  them  that  their  representations  must  be  addressed 
to  you,  who  will  act  as  you  deem  proper. 

Your  friend,  Mr.  Isaac  Todd,f  is  arrived,  and 
looking  much  better  for  his  trip ;  he  was  suffered 
to  pass  by  Albany  and  the  lake.  He  tells  me  that 
Mr.  M'Donell  is  confirmed  as  attorney-general,  and 
that  the  governor's  salary  is  increased  ,£1,000  a  year. 
I  sincerely  trust  that  it  will  soon  be  your  own.  Sir 

*  Colonel  Baynes  became  a  major-general  in  June,  1814,  and  died  in 
that  rank,  at  Sidmouth,  in  1829. 

*  Several  letters  in  the  collection  written  by  Mr.  Todd  to  Sir  Isaac 
Brock's  family  after  his  death,  prove  him  to  have  been  a  warm  admirer 
and  friend  of  the  general.    We  learn  in  "Astoria,"  that  the  armed  ship, 
"  Isaac  Todd,"  of  20  guns,  was  prepared  by  the  North-West  Company,  in 
1813,  with  which  to  form  an  establishment  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
river. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  305 

George  has,  in  his  official  dispatches,  after  paying 
that  tribute  of  praise  so  justly  your  due,  stated  as  his 
confirmed  opinion,  that  the  salvation  of  the  Upper 
Province  has,  in  a  very  great  measure,  arisen  from  the 
civil  and  military  authority  being  combined  in  able 
hands.  The  prisoners,  with  their  general,  arrived 
here  on  Sunday  night ;  as  they  had  not  halted  since 
they  left  Kingston,  and  were  in  a  very  dirty  state, 
we  kept  them  here  on  Monday,  and  they  yesterday 
proceeded  to  William  Henry,  on  their  way  to  Quebec ; 
the  officers  are  to  be  on  parole  in  Charlesbourg,  and 
the  men  confined  on  board  two  transports  in  the  river. 
Sir  George  has  permitted  most  of  the  officers,  who 
have  families  with  them,  to  return  on  their  parole ; 
four  of  them  are  proposed  to  be  exchanged  for  the 
officers  of  the  Royal  Scots,  taken  by  the  Essex,  frigate. 
Sir  George  has  also  consented  to  allow  General  Hull 
to  return  upon  his  parole  :  he  is  loud  in  his  complaints 
against  the  government  at  Washington,  and  the  gene 
ral  thinks  that  his  voice,  in  the  universal  cry,  may  be 
attended  with  beneficial  effects,  and  has  allowed  him 
to  return  and  enter  the  lists.  General  Hull  appears 
to  possess  less  feeling  and  sense  of  shame  than  any 
man  in  his  situation  could  be  supposed  to  do.  He 
seems  to  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  himself,  is  lavish 
of  censure  upon  his  government,  but  appears  to  think 
that  the  most  scrupulous  cannot  attach  the  slightest 
blame  to  his  own  immediate  conduct  at  Detroit.  The 
grounds  upon  which  he  rests  his  defence  are  not,  I 
fancy,  well  founded,  for  he  told  us  that  he  had  not 
gunpowder  at  Detroit  for  the  service  of  one  day.  Sir 
George  has  since  shewn  him  the  return  of  the  large 
supply  found  in  the  fort ;  it  did  not  create  a  blush, 
but  he  made  no  reply.  He  professes  great  surprise 
and  admiration  at  the  zeal  and  military  preparation 
that  he  has  everywhere  witnessed  ;  that  it  was  entirely 
unlocked  for,  and  that  he  has  no  doubt  that  his  friend, 
General  Dearborn,  will  share  his  fate,  if  he  has  the 
imprudence  to  follow  his  example.  Hull  seems  cun- 


306  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

mng  and  unprincipled  :  how  much  reliance  is  to  be 
placed  on  his  professions,  time  will  shew. 

General  Dearborn  has  certainly  left  Albany  for 
Skeensborough,  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  where  great 
preparations  have  been  making  in  collecting  boats 
and  sending  the  regulars  from  Greenbush  to  the  sta 
tions  in  our  vicinity.  Major  Cotton,  with  about  300 
men,  half  of  the  king's  regiment,  is  stationed  at  Isle 
aux  Noix,*  and  two  gun-boats  have  been  carried  into 
that  river,  as  the  enemy's  preparations  seem  to  indi 
cate  that  quarter  as  their  point  of  attack.  Colonel 
Murray  commands  at  St.  John's,  and  will  give  them 
a  warm  reception.  I  do  not  feel  a  doubt  of  Jona 
than's  complete  discomfiture  and  disgrace,  if  he  make 
the  attempt :  we  could,  I  fancy,  bring  as  many  men 
as  he  will  be  able  to  persuade  into  the  field,  and  of 
very  superior  stuff,  for  our  militia  have  really  im 
proved  beyond  all  expectation  in  discipline,  and  with 
it  in  spirit  and  confidence.  This  town  would  turn 
out  2,000  volunteer  militia,  a  great  proportion  of 
whom  are  clothed  and  very  tolerably  drilled.  We 
have  destroyed  all  the  roads  of  communication  in  our 
front,  leaving  open  the  water  route  only ;  and  these 
woody  positions  will  be  shortly  occupied  by  the 
Indians  of  this  neighbourhood,  and  a  corps  of  volun 
teer  voyaycur  Canadians.  The  enemy's  preparations, 
however,  may  be  a  feint  to  cover  some  plans  in  agita 
tion  against  your  province. 

I  send  you  a  long  letter  from  Kempt  for  your 
perusal,  with  a  sketch  of  Badajos,  though  no  longer 
recent  news.  I  am  sure  the  interest  you  lake  in  the 
success  of  our  arms,  and  in  his  share  in  particular, 
will  induce  you  to  read  it  with  pleasure. 

*  "  Coteau  du  Lac  and  Isle  aux  Noix  are  the  keys  of  Lower  Canada ; 
the  former  completely  commands  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
between  the  Upper  and  Lower  Provinces,  and  the  latter  had  been  so 
decidedly  regarded  as  the  barrier  of  Lower  Canada  from  the  Champlain 
frontier,  that  it  excited  the  particular  attention  of  the  French  engineers 
in  the  last  defence  of  the  country,  and  was  afterwards  fortified  at  consi 
derable  expense  by  General  llaldimand,  during  the  war  of  the  American 
revolution." — Quarterly  Review. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  307 

Colonel  Proctor  to  Major- General  Brock. 

DETROIT,  September  10,  1812. 

I  have  just  received  your  letter  from  Kingston,  of 
the  4th  instant,  and  shall  act  accordingly.  Enclosed 
I  send  a  return  of  the  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores 
sent  in  the  Queen  Charlotte ;  no  shot  were  sent, 
because,  as  I  understand,  there  is  already  a  quantity 
of  each  calibre  at  Fort  George.  The  remainder  of 
the  prisoners  of  war,  excepting  some  sick  and  wound 
ed,  were  also  sent  on  board  the  Charlotte,  with  a 
guard  of  two  subaltern  officers  and  forty  men  of  the 
41st  regiment,  whom  I  now  cannot  afford  to  part 
with.  I  had  ordered  the  deserters  on  board,  but 
have  had  the  dissatisfaction  to  find  that  they  have 
not  been  sent.  Annexed  is  also  a  list  of  provisions 
and  stores  captured  on  the  IGth  ultimo.  I  assented 
to  the  absence  of  Lieut. -Colonel  Nichol  for  a  short 
time,  on  the  urgency  of  his  private  affairs,  and  the 
probability  of  the  armistice  continuing.  Major 
Givens  has  been  of  great  assistance  to  me  in  his 
department.  I  regret  his  going,  but  I  could  not 
detain  him  longer  than  there  was  a  probability  of  my 
returning  soon  to  Fort  George.  As  you  directed,  a 
sergeant  of  the  41st  regiment  (Leonard  Smith)  has 
been  appointed  to  act  as  deputy  barrackmaster  at  this 
place.  I  shall  be  much  gratified  if  it  should  be  con 
firmed.  I  found  on  my  arrival  here,  that  the  boats 
and  the  engages  of  the  South -West  Company  had 
been  detained,  and  employed  in  the  service.  They 
have  been  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Bender, 
41st  regiment,  and  have  been  of  the  greatest  use. 
They  have  been  provisioned,  and  I  suppose  are  enti 
tled  to  pay  as  militia.  I  am  sending  a  detachment 
of  the  41st  regiment  and  militia,  with  3-pounders,  to 
aid  the  Indians  against  Fort  Wayne.  It  shall  be 
conducted  with  every  prudence  and  expedition.  The 
Detroit  will  sail  in  a  few  days  for  Fort  Erie  :  Judge 
Campbell  goes  in  her.  I  have  required  100  more  of 


308  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

the  militia,  making  them  400,  besides  the  30  mounted, 
who  are  to  keep  up  the  communication  with  the 
Moravian  town.  150  of  the  Mackina  Indians  are 
arrived  ;  they  met  the  express  sixty  miles  on  this  side 
of  Mackina  :  they  are  just  in  time  for  Fort  Wayne. 
The  Hunter  shall  sail  without  delay. 

[Several  months  after  our  first  edition  was  published,  we  heard  from  an 
officer,  formerly  of  the  4Qth,  that  the  materials  relative  to  Colonel  (after 
wards  Major- General)  Proctor,  in  the  "Campaigns  in  the  Canadas"  — 
Quarterly  Review,  No.  54,  already  cited  — were  furnished  by  Captain 
Proctor,  his  nephew  and  son-in-law.  We  had  always  suspected  that  they 
were  the  production  of  Major- General  Proctor  or  of  his  friends,  as  they 
bear  internal  evidence  of  being  so.  In  that  article,  comparatively  little  is 
said  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  while  General  Proctor  is  unduly  eulogized,  and 
always  cruelly  at  the  expense  of  Sir  George  Prevost,  because  he  saw  fit  to 
speak  of  the  battle  of  the  Moravian  town  with  unqualified  censure.  In 
the  same  manner,  more  credit  is  given  in  the  Review — '(see  extract  in 
Appendix  A,  Section  l,  No.  6,)  with  what  justice  the  reader  must  deter 
mine—to  Colonel  Proctor,  for  the  capture  of  Detroit,  than  to  Major - 
General  Brock,  although  the  former  advised  the  latter  not  to  cross  the 
river  !  andTecumseh,  by  his  capture  of  the  American  dispatches,  certainly 
contributed  far  more  to  the  success  than  Colonel  Proctor.  Captain 
Proctor  furnished  his  materials  ten  years  after  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  death, 
forgetting  perhaps  that  although  dead  men  tell  no  tales,  their  private 

letters  sometimes  do.     Did  Captain  P ever  hear  of  an  anecdote  of 

Tecumseh,  who  used  to  remark  in  his  broken  English  :  "  General  Brock 
say,  '  Tecumseh,  come  fight  Yankee : '  General  Proctor  say,  '  Tecumseh, 
go  fight  Yankee.'"] 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major- General  Brock. 

MONTREAL,  September  14,  1812. 
Captain  Fulton  arrived  on  the  llth  instant  with 
your  letter  of  the  7th  ;  *  the  intelligence  you  have 
communicated  by  it  convinces  me  of  the  necessity 
of  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Detroit,  unless  the  opera 
tions  of  the  enemy  on  the  Niagara  frontier  bear  a 
character  less  indicative  of  determined  hostile  mea 
sures  against  your  line  in  their  front,  than  they  did 
when  you  last  reported  to  me.  You  will,  therefore,  be 
pleased,  subject  to  the  discretion  I  have  given  you 
under  the  circumstances  to  which  I  have  alluded,  to 
take  immediate  steps  for  evacuating  that  post,  toge- 

*  We  cannot  discover  a  copy  of  Major- General  Brock's  letter  of  the 
7th  September,  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  to  which  the  latter  officer  refers  in 
his  letter  of  the  14th.  We  may  add,  that  we  have  given  every  letter  of 
interest  which  passed  between  these  two  officers  that  we  have  found,  but 
some  letters  from  Sir  George  Prevost,  especially  those  enjoining  defensive 
measures,  are  evidently  missing. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  309 

tlier  with  the  territory  of  Michigan  ;  by  this  measure 
you  will  be  enabled  to  withdraw  a  greater  number  of 
the  troops  from  Amherstburg,  instead  of  taking  them 
from  Colonel  Vincent,  whose  regular  force  ought  not, 
on  any  account,  to  be  diminished. 

I  have  already  afforded  you  reinforcements  to  the 
full  extent  of  my  ability ;  you  must  not,  therefore, 
expect  a  further  supply  of  men  from  hence  until  I 
shall  receive  from  England  a  considerable  increase  to 
the  present  regular  force  in  this  province ;  the  posture 
of  affairs,  particularly  on  this  frontier,  requires  every 
soldier  who  is  in  the  country. 

In  my  last  dispatch  from  Lord  Bathurst,  dated  the 
4th  of  July,  he  tells  me,  "that  his  majesty's  govern 
ment  trusts  I  will  be  enabled  to  suspend  with  perfect 
safety  all  extraordinary  preparations  for  defence  which 
I  may  have  been  induced  to  make  in  consequence  of 
the  precarious  state  of  the  relations  between  this 
country  and  the  United  States ;  and  that  as  every 
specific  requisition  for  warlike  stores  and  accoutre 
ments  which  had  been  received  from  me  had  been 
complied  with,  with  the  exception  of  the  clothing  of 
the  corps  proposed  to  be  raised  from  the  Glengary 
emigrants,  he  had  not  thought  it  necessary  to  direct 
the  preparation  of  any  further  supplies."  This  will 
afford  you  a  strong  proof  of  the  infatuation  of  his 
majesty's  ministers  upon  the  subject  of  American 
affairs,  and  shew  how  entirely  I  have  been  left  to  my 
own  resources  in  the  event  which  has  taken  place. 

Judging  from  what  you  have  already  effected  in 
Upper  Canada,  I  do  not  doubt  but  that,  with  your 
present  means  of  defence,  you  will  be  able  to  maintain 
your  position  at  Fort  George,  and  that  the  enemy 
will  be  again  foiled  in  any  further  attempts  they  may 
make  to  invade  the  province. 

.  I  leave  to  your  discretion  to  decide  on  the  necessity 
of  sending  a  reinforcement  to  Michilimackinac. 


310  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

Major-General  Brock  to  Colonel  Proctor. 

FORT  GEORGE,  September  17,  1812, 

I  have  had  before  me  your  several  communications 
to  the  llth  instant,  addressed  to  myself  and  to  Major- 
General  Sheaffe.  I  approve  of  your  having  detached 
a  party  to  aid  in  the  reduction  of  Fort  Wayne,  not 
only  because  its  destruction  will  render  your  position 
more  secure,  but  also  from  the  probable  result  of  sav 
ing  the  garrison  from  sharing  the  fate  of  that  of  Chi 
cago  ;  but  it  must  be  explicitly  understood,  that  you 
are  not  to  resort  to  offensive  warfare  for  purposes  of 
conquest.  Your  operations  are  to  be  confined  to  mea 
sures  of  defence  and  security.  With  this  view,  if  you 
should  have  credible  information  of  the  assembling  of 
bodies  of  troops  to  march  against  you,  it  may  become 
necessary  to  destroy  the  fort  at  Sandusky,  and  the 
road  which  runs  through  it  from  Cleveland  to  the  foot 
of  the  rapids  :  the  road  from  the  river  Raisin  to  De 
troit  is  perhaps  in  too  bad  a  state  to  offer  any  aid  to 
the  approach  of  an  enemy,  except  in  the  winter ;  and 
if  a  winter  campaign  should  be  contemplated  against 
you,  it  is  probable  that  magazines  would  be  formed  in 
Cleveland  and  its  vicinity,  of  all  which  you  will  of 
course  inform  yourself.  In  carrying  on  our  opera 
tions  in  your  quarter,  it  is  of  primary  importance  that 
the  confidence  and  good  will  of  the  Indians  should  be 
preserved,  and  that  whatsoever  can  tend  to  produce  a 
contrary  effect  should  be  most  carefully  avoided.  I, 
therefore,  most  strongly  urge  and  enjoin  your  acting 
on  those  principles  on  every  occasion  that  may  offer, 
inculcating  them  in  all  those  under  your  influence, 
and  enforcing  them  by  your  example,  whether  in  your 
conduct  towards  the  Indians  or  what  may  regard 
them,  or  in  your  language  when  speaking  to,  or  of, 
them.  I  am  aware  that  they  commit  irregularities  at 
times,  which  will  make  this  a  difficult  task ;  but  you 
must  endeavour  to  perform  it — attending,  at  the  same 
time,  to  the  means  already  suggested  to  you  for  pre- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  311 

venting,  as  much  as  possible,  a  repetition  of  disorderly 
conduct. 

Colonel  E is  a  respectable,  gentlemanly  man, 

but  he  by  no  means  possesses  the  influence  over  the 
Indians  which  Captain  M'K does.  I  recom 
mend  to  you  to  promote,  as  far  as  in  you  lies,  a  good 
understanding  with  and  between  them,  and  to  observe 
a  conciliating  deportment  and  language  towards  the 
latter,  that  his  great  influence  may  be  secured  and 
employed  in  its  fullest  extent  for  the  benefit  of  your 
district,  and  for  the  general  good.  In  conversation 
with  him,  you  may  take  an  opportunity  of  intimating, 
that  I  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  interests  of  the 
Indians  in  my  communications  to  ministers ;  and  I 
wish  you  to  learn  (as  if  casually  the  subject  of  con 
versation)  what  stipulations  they  would  propose  for 
themselves,  or  be  willing  to  accede  to,  in  case  either 
of  failure  or  of  success. 

I  understand  that  salvage  has  been  demanded  from 
individuals  on  several  accounts,  for  property  recovered 
or  restored,  for  patents,  &c.  &c.  I  lament  that  such 
a  course  has  been  adopted,  for  it  was  my  intention, 
and  it  is  now  my  wish,  that  our  conduct  in  those  mat 
ters  should  be  governed  by  the  broadest  principles  of 
liberality.  You  will,  therefore,  be  pleased  to  have 
returned  to  the  several  individuals  the  amount  which 
each  may  have  paid  as  salvage  on  any  account. 

With  respect  to  calling  out  the  militia,  I  am  parti 
cularly  desirous  that  it  should  not  be  resorted  to  but 
in  cases  of  urgent  necessity,  and  then  only  in  such 
numbers  as  shall  be  actually  required.  It  appears  to 
me  that  the  cavalry  employed  exceed  the  number  that 
may  be  indispensably  necessary :  if,  without  risk  or 
detriment  to  the  public  service,  any  of  either  of  those 
corps  can  be  spared,  let  them  be  dismissed. 

I  wish  the  engineer  to  proceed  immediately  in 
strengthening  Fort  Amherstburg,  his  plan  for  which 
I  shall  be  glad  to  see  as  soon  as  possible. 

Of  the  ordnance  stores  of  every  description,  you 


312  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

will  reserve  such  proportions  as  may  be  absolutely 
required  for  the  public  service  in  your  district,  and 
cause  the  remainder  to  be  embarked  and  sent  down  to 
Fort  Erie  with  the  least  possible  delay. 

I  cannot  at  present  make  the  change  in  the  distri 
bution  of  the  41st  regiment  which  you  propose,  but 
whenever  circumstances  may  permit,  I  shall  be  happy 
to  accede  to  your  wishes. 

Major-General  S.  V.  Rensselaer  to  Major- General  Brock. 
Head  Quarters,  Lewiston,  Sept.  17,  1812. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  yesterday  evening;  an  extract  of  a 
letter  addressed  to  you  on  the  15th  instant  by  Captain 
Dyson,  of  the  United  States  regiment  of  artillery ; 
also  a  packet  addressed  to  the  Honorable  Albert 
Gallatin,  secretary  of  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States. 

Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  will  have  the  honor  to 
deliver  this  communication,  and  I  have  entrusted  him 
to  solicit  your  permission  for  an  interview  with  Captain 
Dyson,  for  the  purpose,  of  ascertaining,  particularly, 
the  condition  of  the  prisoners  of  war  under  his  charge, 
to  the  end  that  they  may  be  relieved  from  Fort  Niagara, 
if  practicable  ;  and  if  not,  that  I  may,  without  delay, 
state  their  condition  to  the  government,  that  they  may 
receive  from  the  proper  department  the  earliest  pos 
sible  supplies. 

The  women  and  children,  and  such  other  persons 
as  have  accompanied  the  detachment  from  Detroit, 
and  ought  to  be  here  received,  I  will  immediately 
receive  at  Fort  Niagara,  or  such  other  convenient 
place  as  you  may  order  them  to  be  landed  at. 

In  a  communication  which  I  some  time  since  had 
the  honor  of  receiving  from  Lieut. -Colonel  Myers,  he 
assured  me  that  it  had  been  the  constant  study  of  the 
general  officer  commanding  on  this  line  to  discounte 
nance,  by  all  means  in  his  power,  the  warfare  of  sen- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  313 

tinels ;  yet  the  frequent  recurrence  of  this  warfare 
within  a  few  days  past,  would  warrant  the  presump 
tion  that  a  different  course  lias  been  adopted.  I  wish 
to  be  assured  of  this  fact. 


Major- General  J3rock,  to  Major- General  S.  V.  Rensselaer. 
Head  Quarters,  Fort  George,  Sept.  17,  1812. 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  of  this  date.  Captain  Dyson  has  obtained  my 
permission  to  cross  on  his  parole  .to  the  United  States; 
he  has,  however,  requested  to  remain  till  to-rnorrow, 
to  settle  with  the  men  of  his  detachment.  He  shall  in 
the  mean  time  have  an  interview  with  Colonel  Van 
Rensselaer. 

Measures  will  be  immediately  taken  to  land  the 
women  and  children  at  Fort  Niagara. 

It  has  been  with  the  utmost  regret  that  I  have  per 
ceived  within  these  few  days  a  very  heavy  firing  from 
both  sides  of  the  river.  I  am,  however,  given  to 
understand,  that  on  all  occasions  it  commenced  on 
yours ;  and  from  the  circumstance  of  the  flag  of  truce, 
which  I  did  myself  the  honor  to  send  over  yesterday, 
having  been  repeatedly  fired  upon,  while  in  the  act  of 
crossing  the  river,  I  am  inclined  to  give  full  credit  to 
the  correctness  of  the  information.  Without,  how 
ever,  recurring  to  the  past,  you  may  rest  assured  on 
my  repeating  my  most  positive  orders  against  the  con 
tinuance  of  a  practice,  which  can  only  be  injurious  to 
individuals,  without  promoting  the  object  which  both 
our  nations  may  have  in  view. 


We  cannot  find  the  dispatch  from  Sir  George 
Prevost  of  the  7th  of  September,  to  which  the  next 
letter  is  an  answer,  but  it  could  not  have  been  of  a 
very  pleasing  character. 


314  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

FORT  GEORGE,  September  18,  1812. 

I  have  been  honored  with  your  excellency's  dis 
patch,  dated  the  7th  instant.  I  have  implicitly  fol 
lowed  your  excellency's  instructions,  and  abstained, 
under  great  temptation  and  provocation,  from  every 
act  of  hostility.  The  information  received  from  a 
deserter,  and  which  I  had  the  honor  to  detail  in  my 
last,  is  far  from  correct,  and,  where  credit  is  to  be 
given,  the  facts  apply  solely  to  the  regular  force.  The 
militia,  being  selected  from  the  most  violent  demo 
crats,  are  generally  inclined  to  invade  this  province — 
provisions  are  in  tolerable  plenty — the  only  complaint 
arises  from  a  want  of  vegetables.  It  is  currently 
reported  that  the  enemy's  force  is  to  be  increased  to 
7,000,  and  that  on  their  arrival  an  attack  is  immedi 
ately  to  be  made.  I  am  convinced  the  militia  would 
not  keep  together  in  their  present  situation  without 
such  a  prospect,  nor  do  I  think  the  attempt  can  be 
long  deferred.  ,  Sickness  prevails  in  some  degree 
along  the  line,  but  principally  at  Black  Rock. 

The  flank  companies  of  the  royal  Newfoundland 
have  joined  me.  A  sergeant  and  twenty-five  rank 
and  file  of  the  Veterans  arrived  at  the  same  time, 
whom  I  propose  sending  to  Michilimackinac. 

The  enclosed  letter  from  Colonel  Proctor  will  in 
form  your  excellency  of  a  force  having  been  detached, 
under  Captain  Muir,  for  the  reduction  of  Fort  Wayne.* 
I  gave  orders  for  it  previous  to  my  leaving  Amherst- 
burg,  which  must  have  induced  Colonel  Proctor  to 
proceed,  upon  receiving  intelligence  of  the  recom 
mencement  of  hostilities,  without  waiting  for  further 
directions.  I  regret  exceedingly  that  this  service 

*  Fort  Wayne  is  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  St.  Mary  and  St.  Joseph 
rivers,  which  form  the  Miami  of  the  lake,  and  not  more  than  twelve  miles 
from  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Wabash.  This  post  is  nearly  in  the  cen 
tre  of  the  Indian  settlements  on  this  side  the  Mississippi.  Many  Indian 
villages  lay  from  twelve  to  sixty  miles  from  this  place. — Brown's  Ameri 
can  History.  Auburn,  1815. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  315 

should  be  undertaken  contrary  to  your  excellency's 
wishes ;  but  I  beg  leave  to  assure  you,  that  the  prin 
cipal  object  in  sending  a  British  force  to  Fort  Wayne 
is  with  the  hope  of  preserving  the  lives  of  the  garrison. 
By  the  last  accounts,  the  place  was  invested  by  a  nu 
merous  body  of  Indians,  with  very  little  prospect  of 
being  relieved.  The  prisoners  of  war,  who  know  per 
fectly  the  situation  of  the  garrison,  rejoiced  at  the 
measure,  and  give  us  full  credit  for  our  intentions.* 

The  Indians  were  likewise  looking  to  us  for  assist 
ance  :  they  heard  of  the  armistice  with  every  mark  of 
jealousy,  and,  had  we  refused  joining  them  in  the 
expedition,  it  is  impossible  to  calculate  the  conse 
quences.  I  have  already  been  asked  to  pledge  my 
word  that  England  would  enter  into  no  negotiation 
in  which  their  interests  were  not  included ;  and,  could 
they  be  brought  to  imagine  that  we  should  desert 
them,  the  consequences  must  be  fatal. 

I  shall  be  obliged  to  your  excellency  to  direct 
,£5,000  to  be  transmitted  to  the  receiver-general,  for 
the  civil  expenditure  of  this  province.  Army  bills,  I 
make  no  doubt,  will  answer  every  purpose. 

This  dispatch  is  entrusted  to  Lieut. -Colonel  Nichol, 
quartermaster-general  of  this  militia,  whom  I  take  the 
liberty  to  introduce  to  your  excellency,  as  perfectly 
qualified,  from  his  local  knowledge  and  late  return,  to 
afford  every  information  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  the 
western  district.  He  is  instructed  to  make  extensive 
purchases  of  necessaries  for  the  use  of  the  militia,  and 
I  have  to  entreat  your  excellency  to  indulge  him  with 
the  means  of  a  speedy  conveyance  back  to  this  place. 

Major- General  Brock  to  his  brother  Savery. 

FORT  GEORGE,  September  18,  1812. 
You  doubtless  feel  much  anxiety  on  my  account. 
I  am  really  placed  in  a  most  awkward  predicament. 

*  Captain  Muir,  while  on  his  inarch  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  was  prevented 
from  reaching  Fort  Wayne  by  the  unexpected  approach  of  a  superior 
American  force,  and  compelled  to  return. 


316  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

If  I  get  through  my  present  difficulties  with  tolerable 
success,  I  cannot  but  obtain  praise.  But  I  have  al 
ready  surmounted  difficulties  of  infinitely  greater 
magnitude  than  any  within  my  view.  Were  the 
Americans  of  one  mind,  the  opposition  I  could  make 
would  be  unavailing  ;  but  I  am  not  without  hope  that 
their  divisions  may  be  the  saving  of  this  province.  A 
river  of  about  500  yards  broad  divides  the  troops. 
My  instructions  oblige  me  to  adopt  defensive  mea 
sures,  and  I  have  evinced  greater  forbearance  than 
was  ever  practised  on  any  former  occasion.  It  is 
thought  that,  without  the  aid  of  the  sword,  the  Ame 
rican  people  may  be  brought  to  a  due  sense  of  their 
own  interests.  I  firmly  believe  I  could  at  this  mo 
ment  sweep  every  thing  before  me  between  Fort  Nia 
gara  and  Buffalo — but  my  success  would  be  transient. 
I  have  now  officers  in  whom  I  can  confide :  when 
the  war  commenced,  I  was  really  obliged  to  seek 
assistance  among  the  militia.  The  41st  is  an  uncom 
monly  fine  regiment,  but  wretchedly  officered.  Six 
companies  of  the  49th  are  with  me  here,  and  the  re 
maining  four  at  Kingston,  under  Vincent.  Although 
the  regiment  has  been  ten  years  in  this  country,  drink 
ing  rum  without  bounds,  it  is  still  respectable,  and 
apparently  ardent  for  an  opportunity  to  acquire  dis 
tinction  :  it  has  five  captains  in  England,  and  two  on 
the  staff  in  this  country,  which  leaves  it  bare  of  expe 
rienced  officers.  The  U.  S.  regiments  of  the  line 
desert  over  to  us  frequently,  as  the  men  are  tired  of 
the  service :  opportunities  seldom  offer,  otherwise  I 
have  reason  to  think  the  greater  part  would  follow  the 
example.  The  militia,  being  chiefly  composed  of 
enraged  democrats,  are  more  ardent  and  anxious  to 
engage,  but  they  have  neither  subordination  nor  disci 
pline.  They  die  very  fast.  You  will  hear  of  some 
decided  action  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight,  or  in  all 
probability  we  shall  return  to  a  state  of  tranquillity. 
I  say  decisive,  because  if  I  should  be  beaten,  the 
province  is  inevitably  gone  j  and  should  I  be  vie- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  317 

torious,  I  do  not  imagine  the  gentry  from  the  other 
side  will  be  anxious  to  return  to  the  charge. 

It  is  certainly  something  singular  that  we  should  be 
upwards  of  two  months  in  a  state  of  warfare,  and  that 
along  this  widely  extended  frontier  not  a  single  death, 
either  natural  or  by  the  sword,  should  have  occurred 
among  the  troops  under  my  command,  and  we  have 
not  been  altogether  idle,  nor  has  a  single  desertion 
taken  place. 

I  am  quite  anxious  for  this  state  of  warfare  to  end, 
as  I  wish  much  to  join  Lord  Wellington,  and  to  see 
you  all. 

Has  poor  Betsey  recovered  the  loss  of  my  young  and 
dear  friend,  John  Tupper  ? 

Sir  George  Prevost  to  Major-General  Brock. 

MONTREAL,  September  25,  1812. 

It  no  longer  appears,  by  your  letter  of  the  13th, 
that  you  consider  the  enemy's  operations  on  the  Niagara 
frontier  indicative  of  active  operations.  If  the  govern 
ment  of  America  inclines  to  defensive  measures,  I  can 
only  ascribe  the  determination  to  two  causes  :  the  first 
is,  the  expectation  of  such  overtures  from  us  as  will 
lead  to  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  preparatory  to  nego 
tiations  for  peace ;  the  other  arises  from  having  ascer 
tained,  by  experience,  our  ability  in  the  Canadas  to 
resist  the  attack  of  a  tumultuary  force. 

In  consequence  of  your  having  weakened  the  line 
of  communication  between  Cornwall  and  Kingston,  a 
predatorjr  warfare  is  carrying  on  there  very  prejudi 
cial  to  the  intercourse  from  hence  with  Upper  Canada. 
I  have  ordered  a  company  of  the  Glengary  to  Pres- 
cott  to  strengthen  Colonel  Lethbridge,  and,  under  pre 
sent  circumstances,  you  are  not  to  expect  further  aid. 

I  agree  in  opinion  with  you,  that  so  wretched  is  the 
organization  arid  discipline  of  the  American  army, 
that  at  this  moment  much  might  be  effected  against 
them ;  but  as  the  government  at  home  could  derive 


318  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

no  substantial  advantage  from  any  disgrace  we  might 
inflict  on  them,  whilst  the  more  important  concerns  of 
the  country  are  committed  in  Europe,  I  again  request 
you  will  steadily  pursue  that  policy  which  shall  ap 
pear  to  you  best  calculated  to  promote  the  dwindling 
away  of  such  a  force  by  its  own  inefficient  means. 

I  shall  receive  with  much  satisfaction  Colonel 
Proctor's  report  of  having  saved  the  garrison  of  Fort 
Wayne  from  the  inhuman  fury  of  the  Indians.  I  am 
particularly  anxious  that  class  of  beings  should  be 
restrained  and  controlled  as  much  as  possible,  whilst 
there  exists  a  pretence  of  implicating  the  national 
character  in  their  cruelties. 


The  next  letter  not  only  explains  the  impolicy  of 
obeying  Sir  George  Prevost's  provisional  orders  for 
the  evacuation  of  Detroit  and  the  Michigan  territory, 
but  also  ably  deprecates  any  abandonment  of  our 
Indian  allies.  With  such  leaders  as  its  author  and 
Tecumseh,  what  might  not  have  been  done  in  that 
war  to  obtain  the  security  and  regeneration  of  this 
much  injured  people  ?  But,  alas  !  these  "  kindred 
spirits"  lived  not  long  enough  to  plead  their  cause, 
and  in  the  negociations  for  peace  their  interests  were 
shamefully  overlooked  or  cruelly  forgotten ;  *  al 
though,  in  the  first  American  war,  the  Indians  had 
also,  with  few  exceptions,  taken  part  with  Great 
Britain  against  the  colonists  in  their  contest  for  inde 
pendence,  f  It  is  true  that  their  mode  of  warfare  is 
abhorrent  to  Europeans,  as  differing  from  the  more 

*  "  The  Indians  on  this  occasion  "  (the  defence  of  Michilimackinac,  in 
1814,)  "behaved  with  exemplary  zeal  and  fidelity  in  our  cause ;  and 
indeed  their  attachment  throughout  has  been  such  as  to  make  me  blush 
for  my  country,  in  the  dereliction  of  their  interests  in  the  negociations  at 
Ghent,  after  so  many  promises  made  them,  and  so  fair  a  prospect  at  the 
commencement  of  these  negociations." — Letters  of  Veritas. 

t  In  the  life  of  Robert  Jackson,  M.D.,  inspector- general  of  army  hos 
pitals,  who  served  in  the  first  American  war,  it  is  stated,  that  "the  colo 
nial  government  acted  with  flagrant  bad  faith  and  injustice  towards  the 
Indian  nations ;  nor  has  the  republican  government  atoned  for  the  trans 
gressions  of  its  parent,  but  added  sins  of  its  own." 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  319 

honorable  slaughter  of  civilized  combatants,  and  as 
eschewing  the  courtesies  and  the  formalities  of  modern 
strife  ;  but  Sir  Isaac  Brock  proved  that  they  were  to 
be  restrained,  and  Tecumseh  was  as  humane  as  he 
was  brave.  Moreover,  we  should  not  condemn  their 
previous  excesses  without  remembering  the  many  in 
juries  they  had  received.  They  knew  from  sad  expe 
rience  that  they  could  place  no  faith  in  the  whites, 
who  had  long  considered  them  as  legal  prey,  and  too 
often  treated  them  as  the  brute  animals  of  the  forest. 
Expelled  from  the  coasts,  and  dispossessed  of  their 
hunting  grounds,  they  had  been  gradually  driven 
westward,  until  they  had  too  much  cause  to  apprehend 
that  the  cupidity  of  their  invaders  would  be  satisfied 
only  with  their  utter  extermination.  "The  red  men 
are  melting,"  to  borrow  the  expressive  metaphor  of  a 
celebrated  Miami  chief  of  the  last  century,  "  like 
snow  before  the  sun,"  and  their  total  extinction  seems 
to  be  rapidly  and  irresistibly  approaching.  And  we 
must  not  forget  that  the  aboriginal  denizens  of  the 
west  were  formerly  numerous,  moral,  and  happy, 
although  they  are  now  languishing  and  pining  away 
before  the  inroads  of  civilization,  until  many  nations 
have  become  nearly  extinct ;  and  the  present  degene 
rate  scions  of  the  last  of  their  noble  race,  shorn  of 
their  power,  scarcely  retain  even  a  vestige  of  those 
honorable,  virtuous,  and  manly  traits  of  character, 
for  which  their  ancestors  were  once  so  pre-eminently 
distinguished.  Indeed,  it  is  melancholy  to  reflect, 
that  the  aborigines  of  both  continents  of  America 
have,  from  their  first  intercourse  with  Europeans  or 
their  descendants,  experienced  nothing  but  fraud, 
spoliation,  cruelty,  and  ingratitude. 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

YORK,  September  28,  1812. 

I  have  been  honored  with  your  excellency's  dis 
patch,  dated  the  14th  instant.     I  shall  suspend,  under 


320  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

the  latitude  left  by  your  excellency  to  my  discretion, 
the  evacuation  of  Fort  Detroit.  Such  a  measure 
would  most  probably  be  followed  by  the  total  extinc 
tion  of  the  population  on  that  side  of  the  river,  or  the 
Indians,  aware  of  our  weakness  and  inability  to  carry 
on  active  warfare,  would  only  think  of  entering  into 
terms  with  the  enemy.  The  Indians,  since  the  Miami 
affair,  in  1793,  have  been  extremely  suspicious  of  our 
conduct ;  but  the  violent  wrongs  committed  by  the 
Americans  on  their  territory,  have  rendered  it  an  act 
of  policy  with  them  to  disguise  -their  sentiments. 
Could  they  be  persuaded  that  a  peace  between  the 
belligerents  would  take  place,  without  admitting  their 
claim  to  an  extensive  tract  of  country,  fraudulently 
usurped  from  them,  and  opposing  a  frontier  to  the 
present  unbounded  views  of  the  Americans,  I  am 
satisfied  in  my  own  mind  that  they  would  imme 
diately  compromise  with  the  enemy.  I  cannot  con 
ceive  a  connection  so  likely  to  lead  to  more  awful 
consequences. 

If  we  can  maintain  ourselves  at  Niagara,  and  keep 
the  communication  to  Montreal  open,  the  Americans 
can  only  subdue  the  Indians  by  craft,  which  we 
ought  to  be  prepared  to  see  exerted  to  the  utmost. 
The  enmity  of  the  Indians  is  now  at  its  height,  and 
it  will  require  much  management  and  large  bribes  to 
effect  a  change  in  their  policy  ;  but  the  moment  they 
are  convinced  that  we  either  want  »the  means  to  pro 
secute  the  war  with  spirit,  or  are  negociating  a  sepa 
rate  peace,  they  will  begin  to  study  in  what  manner 
they  can  most  effectually  deceive  us. 

Should  negociations  for  peace  be  opened,  I  cannot 
be  too  earnest  with  your  excellency  to  represent  to 
the  king's  ministers  the  expediency  of  including  the 
Indians  as  allies,  and  not  leave  them  exposed  to  the 
unrelenting  fury  of  their  enemies. 

The  enemy  has  evidently  assumed  defensive  mea 
sures  along  the  strait  of  Niagara.  His  force,  I  appre 
hend,  is  not  equal  to  attempt  an  expedition  across  the 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  ,  321 

river  with  any  probability  of  success.  It  is,  how 
ever,  currently  reported  that  large  reinforcements  are 
on  their  march  ;  should  they  arrive,  an  attack  cannot 
be  long  delayed.  The  approach  of  the  rainy  season 
will  increase  the  sickness  with  which  the  troops  are 
already  afflicted.  Those  under  my  command  are  in 
perfect  health  and  spirits. 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  the  purport  of  a  con 
fidential  communication*  received  in  my  absence  by 
Brigade-Major  Evans  from  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer. 
As  your  excellency's  instructions  agree  with  the  line 
of  conduct  he  is  anxious  I  should  follow,  nothing  of 
a  hostile  nature  shall  be  attempted  under  existing 
circumstances. 


D.  G.  O.  FORT  GEORGE,  September  22,  1812. 

The  major-general  commanding  returns  his  particular 
thanks  to  the  militia  for  the  handsome  manner  in  which  they 
have,  on  all  occasions,  volunteered  their  services  for  duties  of 
fatigue,  and  is  pleased  to  direct  that,  for  the  present,  service 
for  such  duty  shall  be  dispensed  with. 
By  Order. 

THOMAS  EVANS,  B.  M. 

*  This  communication,  of  which  we  have  no  particulars,  is  the  more  sin 
gular,  as  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  commanded  the  advance  of  the  American 
attacking  party  on  the  13th  of  October,  when  Sir  Isaac  Brock  lost  his 
life.  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  was  severely  wounded  on  that  day. 


32*2  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


1  He  bleeds,  he  falls,  his  death-bed  is  the  field  ! 
His  dirge  the  trumpet,  and  his  bier  the  shield  ! 
His  closing  eyes  the  beam  of  valour  speak, 
The  flush  of  ardour  lingers  on  his  cheek ; 
Serene  he  lifts  to  heaven  those  closing  eyes, 
Then  for  his  country  breathes  a  prayer,  and  dies !  " 

Mrs.  HEMAXS. 


The  Americans,  burning  to  wipe  away  the  stain  of 
their  discomfiture  at  Detroit,  and  apparently  deter 
mined  to  penetrate  into  Upper  Canada  at  any  risk, 
concentrated  with  those  views,  along  the  Niagara 
frontier,  an  army  consisting,  according  to  their  own 
official  returns,  of  5,206  men,  under  Major-General 
Van  Rensselaer,  of  the  New  York  militia;  exclusive 
of  300  field  and  light  artillery,  800  of  the  6th,  13th, 
and  23d  regiments,  at  Fort  Niagara ;  making  a  total 
of  6,300  men.  Of  this  powerful  force,  1,640  regulars, 
tinder  the  command  of  Brigadier  Smyth,  were  at 
Black  Rock ;  386  militia  at  the  last  named  place 
and  Buffalo ;  and  900  regulars  and  2,270  militia  at 
Lewistown,  distant  from  Black  Rock  28  miles.  Thus 
the  enemy  had,  along  their  frontier  of  36  miles,  3,650 
regulars  and  2,650  militia.*  To  oppose  this  force 
Major-General  Brock,  whose  head  quarters  were  at 
Fort  George,  had  under  his  immediate  orders  part 
of  the  41st  and  49th  regiments,  a  few  companies  of 
militia,  amounting  to  nearly  half  these  regulars,  and 
from  200  to  300  Indians — in  all  about  1,500  men — 
but  so  dispersed  in  different  posts  at  and  between 

*  James'  Military  Occurrences. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.   '  323 

Fort  Erie  and  Fort  George,  (34  miles  apart,)  that 
only  a  small  number  was  quickly  available  at  any  one 
point.  With  unwearied  diligence  the  British  com 
mander  watched  the  motions  of  the  enemy ;  but  under 
these  circumstances  it  was  impossible  to  prevent  the 
landing  of  the  hostile  troops,  especially  when  their  pre 
parations  were  favored  by  the  obscurity  of  the  night. 
On  the  9th  of  October,  the  brig  Detroit,  of  200 
tons  and  6  guns,  (lately  the  U.  S.  brig  Adams,)  and 
the  North- West  Company's  brig  Caledonia,  of  about 
100  tons,  having  arrived  the  preceding  day  from 
Detroit,  were  boarded  and  carried  opposite  Fort 
Erie,  before  the  dawn  of  day,  by  Lieutenant  Elliott, 
of  the  American  navy,  with  100  seamen  and  soldiers 
in  two  large  boats.  This  officer  was  at  this  time  at 
Black  Rock,  superintending  the  equipment  of  some 
schooners,  lately  purchased  for  the  service  of  Lake 
Erie.  But  for  the  defensive  measures  to  which 
Major-General  Brock  was  restricted,  he  would  pro 
bably  have  destroyed  these  very  schooners,  for  whose 
equipment,  as  vessels  of  war,  Lieutenant  Elliott  and 
50  seamen  had  been  sent  from  New  York.  The  two 
British  brigs  contained  40  prisoners,  some  cannon 
and  small  arms,  captured  at  Detroit,  exclusive  of  a 
valuable  quantity  of  furs  belonging  to  the  South- 
West  Company,  in  the  Caledonia.  Joined  by  the 
prisoners,  the  Americans  who  boarded  numbered  140, 
and  the  crews  of  the  two  brigs,  consisting  of  militia 
and  Canadian  seamen,  amounted  to  68.  After  the 
capture,  Lieutenant  Elliott  succeeded  in  getting  the 
Caledonia  close  under  the  batteries  at  Black  Rock, 
but  he  was  compelled  by  a  few  well-directed  shots 
from  the  Canadian  shore,  to  run  the  Detroit  upon 
Squaw  Island.  Here  she  was  boarded  by  a  subal 
tern's  detachment  from  Fort  Erie,  and  the  Americans 
soon  after  completed  her  destruction  by  setting  her 
on  fire.  Some  lives  were  lost  on  this  occasion,  and 
among  the  Americans  a  Major  Cuyler  was  killed  by 
a  shot  from  Fort  Erie,  as  he  was  riding  along  the 


324  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

beach  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  It  will  be 
seen  by  the  following  letter  that  Sir  George  Prevost 
is  tacitly  reproached  for  having,  by  his  instructions, 
prevented  the  destruction,  or  at  least  the  attempt,  of 
the  incipient  American  navy  on  Lake  Erie,  and  which 
the  following  year  wrested  its  command  from  the 
British.  But  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  hands  were  tied, 
and  he  was  doomed  to  "  the  bitterest  of  all  griefs,  to 
see  clearly  and  yet  to  be  able  to  do  nothing." 

Sir  Isaac  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

FORT  GEORGE,  October  11,  1812. 

I  had  scarcely  closed  my  dispatch  to  your  excel 
lency,  of  the  9th,  when  I  was  suddenly  called  away 
to  Fort  Erie,  in  consequence  of  a  bold,  and,  I  regret 
to  say,  successful  attack  by  the  enemy  on  his  majes 
ty's  brig  Detroit,  and  the  private  brig  Caledonia, 
which  had  both  arrived  the  preceding  day  from  Am- 
herstburg.  It  appears  by  every  account  I  have  been 
able  to  collect,  that  a  little  before  day  a  number  of 
boats  full  of  men,  dropped  down  with  the  current 
unobserved,  boarded  both  vessels  at  the  same  moment, 
and,  cutting  their  cables,  were  proceeding  with  them 
to  the  American  shore,  when  Major  Ormsby,  who 
witnessed  the  transaction,  directed  the  batteries  to 
open  upon  them,  and  soon  compelled  the  enemy  to 
abandon  the  Detroit,  which  grounded  about  the  cen 
tre  of  Squaw  Island,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  below 
Black  Rock.  She  was  then  boarded  by  a  party  of 
the  49th  regiment ;  but  as  no  anchor  remained,  and 
being  otherwise  unprovided  with  every  means  by 
which  she  could  be  hauled  off,  the  officer,  throwing 
her  guns  overboard,  after  sustaining  a  smart  fire  of 
musketry,  decided  to  quit  her.  A  private,  who  is 
accused  of  getting  drunk,  and  a  prisoner  of  war,  who 
was  unable  from  his  wounds  to  escape,  with  about 
twenty  prisoners  brought  by  the  Detroit  from  Am- 
herstburg,  remained  however  behind  ;  these  it  became 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  -  325 

necessary  to  remove  before  the  vessel  could  be  de 
stroyed,  and  Cornet  Pell  Major,  of  the  provincial 
cavalry,  offered  his  services.  Being  unfortunately 
wounded  as  he  was  getting  on  board,  and  falling 
back  into  the  boat,  a  confusion  arose,  during  which 
the  boat  drifted  from  the  vessel,  leaving  on  board 
two  of  the  41st,  who  had  previously  ascended.  In 
the  mean  time  the  Caledonia  was  secured  by  the 
enemy,  and  a  cargo  of  furs,  belonging  to  the  South- 
West  Company,  landed. 

The  batteries  on  both  sides  were  warmly  engaged 
the  whole  of  the  day,  but  I  am  happy  to  say  no  mis 
chief  was  sustained  by  the  enemy's  fire.  I  reached 
the  spot  soon  after  sun-set,  and  intended  to  have 
renewed  the  attempt  to  recover  the  Detroit,  which  I 
had  every  prospect  of  accomplishing,  assisted  by  the 
crew  of  the  Lady  Prevost,  which  vessel  had  anchored 
a  short  time  before ;  but  before  the  necessary  arrange 
ments  could  be  made,  the  enemy  boarded  her,  and  in 
a  few  minutes  she  was  seen  in  flames. 

This  event  is  particularly  unfortunate,  and  may 
reduce  us  to  incalculable  distress.  The  enemy  is 
making  every  exertion  to  gain  a  naval  superiority  on 
both  lakes,  which  if  they  accomplish  I  do  not  see 
how  we  can  retain  the  country.  More  vessels  are 
fitting  out  for  war  on  the  other  side  of  Squaw  Island, 
which  I  should  have  attempted  to  destroy  but  for 
your  excellency's  repeated  instructions  to  forbear. 
Now  such  a  force  is  collected  for  their  protection  as 
will  render  every  operation  against  them  very  hazard 
ous.  The  manner  our  guns  were  served  yesterday, 
points  out  the  necessity  of  an  increase,  if  possible,  of 
artillerymen  to  our  present  small  number  of  regulars. 
The  militia  evinced  a  good  spirit,  but  fired  without 
much  effect.  The  enemy,  however,  must  have  lost 
some  men ;  and  it  is  only  wonderful  that,  in  a  contest 
of  a  whole  day,  no  life  was  lost  on  our  side.  The  fire 
of  the  enemy  was  incessant,  but  badly  directed,  till 
the  close  of  the  day,  when  it  began  to  improve. 


326  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Lieutenant  Rolette,  who  commanded  the  Detroit, 
had,  and  I  believe  deservedly,  the  character  of  a 
brave,  attentive  officer.  His  vessel  must,  however, 
have  been  surprised  —  an  easy  operation  where  she 
lay  at  anchor  ;  and  I  have  reason  to  suspect  that  this 
consideration  was  not  sufficiently  attended  to  by  the 
officers  commanding  on  board  and  on  shore.* 

We  have  not  only  sustained  a  heavy  loss  in  the 
vessel,  but  likewise  in  the  cargo,  which  consisted  of 
four  12-pounders,  a  large  quantity  of  shot,  and  about 
200  muskets,  all  of  which  were  intended  for  Kingston 
and  Prescott. 

The  only  consolation  remaining  is,  that  she  escaped 
the  enemy,  whose  conduct,  after  his  first  essay,  did 
not  entitle  him  to  so  rich  a  prize.  The  enemy  has 
brought  some  boats  over  land  from  Schlosher  to  the 
Niagara  river,  and  made  an  attempt  last  night  to 
carry  off  the  guard  over  the  store  at  Queenstown.  I 
shall  refrain  as  long  as  possible,  under  your  excel 
lency's  positive  injunctions,  from  every  hostile  act, 
although  sensible  that  each  day's  delay  gives  him  an 
advantage. 

Sir  Isaac  Brock  to  Colonel  Proctor,  at  Detroit. 

The  unfortunate  disaster  which  has  befallen  the 
Detroit  and  Caledonia  will  reduce  us  to  great  dis 
tress.  They  were  boarded  whilst  at  anchor  at  Fort 
Erie  and  carried  off:  you  will  learn  the  particulars 
from  others.  A  quantity  of  flour  and  a  little  pork 
were  ready  to  be  shipped  for  Amherstburg ;  but  as  I 
send  you  the  flank  companies  of  the  Newfoundland, 
no  part  of  the  provisions  can  go  this  trip  in  the  Lady 
Prevost.  It  will  be  necessary  to  direct  her  to  return 
with  all  possible  speed,  bringing  the  Mary  under  her 
convoy.  You  will  husband  your  pork,  for  I  am  sorry 
to  say  there  is  but  little  in  the  country. 

*  Sir  Isaac  Brock  was  much  displeased,  and  justly,  at  the  want  of  pre 
caution  which  allowed  these  two  vessels  to  be  captured  under  the  guns 
of  Fort  Erie ;  and,  we  believe,  that  he  immediately  entrusted  its  command 
to  Lieut.-Colonel  Myers,  in  whom  he  had  great  confidence. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  3*27 

An  active,  interesting  scene  is  going  to  commence 
with  you.  I  am  perfectly  at  ease  as  to  the  result, 
provided  we  can  manage  the  Indians  and  keep  them 
attached  to  your  cause,  which  in  fact  is  theirs. 

The  fate  of  the  province  is  in  your  hands.  Judg 
ing  by  every  appearance,  we  are  not  to  remain  long 
idle  in  this  quarter.  Were  it  not  for  the  positive 
injunctions  of  the  commander  of  the  forces,  I  should 
have  acted  with  greater  decision.  This  forbearance 
may  be  productive  of  ultimate  good,  but  I  doubt  its 
policy — but  perhaps  we  have  not  the  means  of  judg 
ing  correctly.  You  will  of  course  adopt  a  very 
different  line  of  conduct.  The  enemy  must  be  kept 
in  a  state  of  constant  ferment.  If  the  Indians  act  as 
they  did  under  Tecumseh,  who  probably  might  be 
induced  to  return  to  Amherstburg,  that  army  will 
very  soon  dwindle  to  nothing.  Your  artillery  must 
be  more  numerous  and  effective  than  any  the  enemy 
can  bring,  and  your  store  of  ammunition  will  enable 
you  to  harass  him  continually,  without  leaving  much 
to  chance. 

I  trust  you  will  have  destroyed  every  barrack  and 
public  building,  and  removed  the  pickets  and  other 
defences  around  the  fort  at  Detroit. 

You  will  have  the  goodness  to  state  the  expedients 
you  possess  to  enable  us  to  replace,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  heavy  loss  we  have  sustained  in  the  Detroit. 
Should  I  hear  of  reinforcements  coming  up,  you  may 
rely  upon  receiving  your  due  proportion.  Nothing 
new  at  Montreal  on  the  25th  ult.  Lord  Wellington 
has  totally  defeated  Marmont,  near  Salamanca.*  I 
consider  the  game  nearly  up  in  Spain.  May  every 
possible  success  attend  you. 

[The  preceding  letter  is  transcribed  from  a  rough  copy  in  the  general's 
handwriting,  and,  not  being-  dated,  may  not  have  been  transmitted,  as  it 
was  written  only  a  day  or  two  before  his  death.] 

*  "  It  is  also  creditable  to  the  military  character  of  the  little  island  of 
Guernsey,  that  of  the  five  British  generals  killed  in  action  in  1812,  two, 
whose  names  follow  in  the  obituary  of  the  Annual  Army  List  for  1813, 
were  Major- General  Le  Marchant,  6th  Dragoon  Guards,  at  the  battle  of 
Salamanca,  and  Major- General  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  K.  B.,  4Qth  foot,  in 
America."— Duncan's  History  of  Guernsey. 


328  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Major- General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost. 

October  12,  1812. 

The  vast  number  of  troops  which  have  been  this 
day  added  to  the  strong  force  previously  collected  on 
the  opposite  side,  convinces  me,  with  other  indica 
tions,  that  an  attack  is  not  far  distant.  I  have  in 
consequence  directed  every  exertion  to  be  made  to 
complete  the  militia  to  2,000  men,  but  fear  that  I 
shall  not  be  able  to  effect  my  object  writh  willing, 
well-disposed  characters.  Were  it  not  for  the  num 
bers  of  Americans  in  our  ranks,  we  might  defy  all 
their  efforts  against  this  part  of  the  province. 

[The  above  letter  is  also  from  a  copy  written  hurriedly  by  Sir  Isaac 
Brock  only  a  few  hours  before  his  death,  and  it  may  not  have  been 
forwarded.  This  was  probably  the  last  time  he  ever  wrote.] 


A  day  or  two  prior  to  the  battle  of  Queenstown, 
Major-General  Brock  wrote  copious  instructions  for 
the  guidance  of  the  officers  commanding  at  the  dif 
ferent  posts  on  the  Niagara  river,  in  the  event  of  their 
being  attacked,  and  he  explained  the  probable  points 
which  he  thought  the  enemy  would,  select  for  accom 
plishing  his  descent.  He  evidently  entertained  a  high 
opinion  of  the  discipline  and  prowess  of  the  British 
soldier,  as  in  these  instructions  he  observed  :  "  If  we 
weigh  well  the  character  of  our  enemy,  we  shall  find 
him  more  disposed  to  brave  the  impediments  of  nature, 
when  they  afford  him  a  probability  of  accomplishing 
his  end  by  surprise,  in  preference  to  the  certainty  of 
encountering  British  troops  ready  formed  for  his  re 
ception."  The  original  draft  of  these  instructions  in 
the  general's  writing,  contains  scarcely  an  erasure  or 
correction. 

On  the  4th  of  October,  an  American  spy  was  sent 
to  the  British  side,  and  returned  with  information 
that  Major-General  Brock  had  proceeded  to  Detroit 
with  all  the  force  that  could  be  spared  from  the 
Niagara  frontier.  Encouraged  by  these  false  news, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  329 

which  perhaps  the  American  general  circulated  to 
induce  his  troops  to  cross  over,  every  preparation  was 
made  for  a  descent  upon  Queenstown.  On  the  morn 
ing;  of  the  llth,  the  enemy  assembled  a  force  at  Lewis- 
town,  opposite  to  Queenstown,  with  the  view  of  mak 
ing  an  immediate  attack  on  the  latter;  but,  through 
some  mismanagement  in  conducting  the  boats  to  the 
place  of  embarkation,  the  attack  was  delayed.  Early 
on  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  the  13th,  the  enemy's 
troops  were  again  concentrated  and  embarked  in 
thirteen  boats  at  Lewistown,  under  cover  of  a  com 
manding  battery  of  two  18  and  two  6-pounders, 
which,  with  two  field-pieces,  completely  commanded 
every  part  of  the  opposite  shore,  from  which  musketry 
could  be  effectual  in  opposing  a  landing.  The  only 
British  batteries  from  which  the  enemy  could  be 
annoyed  in  the  passage  were  one,  mounting  an  18- 
pounder,  upon  Queenstown  Heights,  and  another, 
mounting  a  24-pound  carronade,  situate  a  little  below 
the  village.  Three  of  the  boats  put  back,  while  the 
remaining  ten,  with  225  regulars,  besides  officers, 
struck  the  shore  a  little  above  the  village  of  Queens- 
town,  and  immediately  returned  for  more  troops. 
The  British  force  in  Queenstown  consisted  of  the  two 
flank  companies  of  the  49th  regiment  and  the  York 
volunteer  militia,  amounting  in  all  to  about  300  rank 
and  file.  Of  these  about  60,  taken  from  the  49th 
grenadiers,  and  Captain  Hatt's  company  of  militia, 
under  Captain  Dennis,*  of  the  49th,  advanced  at  four 
o'clock,  a.  m.,  with  a  3-pounder  against  the  first 
division  of  the  enemy,  under  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer, 
who  had  formed  his  men  near  the  river,  and  was 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  next  boats.  The  Ameri 
cans  were  driven  with  some  loss  behind  a  steep  bank, 
close  to  the  water's  edge,  where  they  were  reinforced 
by  afresh  supply  of  troops,  and  whence  they  returned 
the  fire  of  the  British.  In  the  mean  time,  the  re- 

*  The  present  Colonel  Sir  James  Dennis,  K.  C.  B.,  lieut.-colonel  3d  foot : 
an  officer  of  above  fifty  years  full-pay  service,  and  several  times  wounded. 


330  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

mainder  of  the  49th  grenadiers  and  of  the  militia 
company  joined  Captain  Dennis ;  while  the  49th 
light  company,  under  Captain  Williams,  with  Cap 
tain  Chisholm's  company  of  militia,  stationed  on  the 
brow  of  the  hill,  fired  down  upon  the  invaders. 

Sir  Isaac  Brock  for  some  days  had  suspected  this 
invasion,  and  the  evening  preceding  it  he  called  his 
staff  together,  and  gave  to  each  the  necessary  instruc 
tions.  Agreeably  to  his  usual  custom,  he  rose  before 
daylight,  and  hearing  the  cannonade,  awoke  Major 
Glegg  and  called  for  his  horse,  Alfred,  which  Sir 
James  Craig  had  presented  to  him.  His  first  impres 
sion  is  said  to  have  been,  that  the  attack  indicated  by 
the  firing  was  only  a  feint  to  draw  the  garrison  from 
Fort  George,  and  that  an  American  force  lay  con 
cealed  in  boats  around  the  point  on  which  Fort 
Niagara  stands,  ready  to  cross  over  as  soon  as  the 
ru.w  had  succeeded.  He,  therefore,  determined  to 
ascertain  personally  the  nature  of  the  attack  ere  he 
withdrew  the  garrison ;  and  with  this  view  he  gal- 
lopped  eagerly  from  Fort  George  to  the  scene  of 
action,  passing,  with  his  two  aides-de-camp,  up  the 
hill  at  full  speed  in  front  of  the  light  company,  under 
a  heavy  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry  from  the 
American  shore.  On  reaching  the  18-pounder  bat 
tery  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  they  dismounted  and  took 
a  view  of  passing  events,  which  at  that  moment 
appeared  highly  favorable.  But  in  a  few  minutes  a 
firing  was  heard,  which  proceeded  from  a  strong  de 
tachment  of  American  regulars  under  Captain  Wool,* 
who  had  succeeded  in  gaining  the  crest  of  the  heights 
in  rear  of  the  battery,  by  a  fisherman's  path  up  the 
rocks,  which,  being  reported  as  impassable,  was  not 
guarded.  Sir  Isaac  Brock  and  his  aides-dc-carnp 
had  not  even  time  to  remount,  but  were  obliged  to 
retire  precipitately  with  the  twelve  men  stationed  in 
the  battery,  which  was  quickly  occupied  by  the  ene- 

*  This  officer  is,  we  believe,  the  American  general  of  that  name,  now 
engaged  in  the  war  against  Mexico. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  331 

my.  He  now  dispatched  orders  to  Major-General 
Sheaffe  to  hasten  up  with  the  troops  from  Fort 
George,  and  also  for  the  battering  of  the  American 
fort  Niagara.*  Captain  Wool  having  sent  forward 
about  150  regulars,  Captain  Williams'  detachment, 
of  about  100  men,  advanced  to  meet  them,  personally 
directed  by  the  general,  who,  observing  the  enemy  to 
waver,  ordered  a  charge,  which  was  promptly  exe 
cuted  ;  but  as  the  Americans  gave  way,  the  result 
was  not  equal  to  his  expectations.  Captain  Wool 
admits  that  he  reinforced  his  regulars,  "notwith 
standing  which  the  whole  were  driven  to  the  edge  of 
the  bank."  f  Here  some  of  the  American  officers 
were  on  the  point  of  hoisting  a  white  flag,  with  an 
intention  to  surrender,  when  Captain  Wool  tore  it  off, 
and  reanimated  his  dispirited  troops.  They  now 
opened  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry  ;  and  conspicuous 
from  his  dress,  his  height,  and  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  he  animated  his  little  band,  the  British  com 
mander  was  soon  singled  out,  and  he  fell  about  an 
hour  after  his  arrival,  the  fatal  bullet  entering  his 
right  breast  and  passing  through  his  left  side.  He 
had  that  instant  said  :  "  Push  on  the  York  volun 
teers  ; "  and  he  lived  only  long  enough  to  request 
that  his  fall  might  not  be  noticed  or  prevent  the 
advance  of  his  brave  troops,  adding  a  wish,  which 
could  not  be  distinctly  understood,  that  some  token 
of  remembrance  should  be  transmitted  to  his  sister.  J 
He  died  unmarried,  and  on  the  same  day  a  week 
previously,  he  had  completed  his  forty-third  year. 
The  lifeless  corpse  was  immediately  conveyed  into  a 

*  This  was  done  with  so  much  effect  by  Brigade-Major  Evans  who 
was  left  in  charge,  that  its  fire  was  sileuced,  and  its  garrison  was  com 
pelled  to  abandon  it. 

t  See  Captain  Wool's  letter,  Appendix  A,  Section  2,  No.  3. 

t  An  old  pensioner,  mentioned  in  the  second  chapter,  and  now  residing 
in  Guernsey,  who  was  in  the  light  company  of  the  u)th.  at  Qneenstown, 
tells  us  that  he  was  close  to  the  general  when  he  was  shot  —  that  he  fell 
on  his  face,  and  that  on  one  of  the  men  running;  up  to  ask  him  if  he  were 
hurt,  he  answered  :  "  Push  on,  don't  mind  me."  The  pensioner  also  Htys, 
that  he  never  saw  so  many  gentlemen  and  ladies  shed  tears  as  at  General 
Brock's  funeral,  and  that  even  the  Indians  and  their  wives  wept  bitterly. 


332  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

house  at  Queenstown,  where  it  remained  until  the 
afternoon,  unperceived  by  the  enemy.  His  provincial 
aide-de-camp,  Lieut.-Colonel  M'Donell,  of  the  mili 
tia,  and  the  attorney-general  of  Upper  Canada — a 
fine  promising  young  man — was  mortally  wounded 
soon  after  his  chief,  and  died  the  next  day,  at  the 
early  age  of  twenty-five  years.  Although  one  bullet 
had  passed  through  his  body,  and  he  was  wounded  in 
four  places,  yet  he  survived  twenty  hours  ;  and  dur 
ing  a  period  of  excruciating  agony,  his  thoughts  and 
words  were  constantly  occupied  with  lamentations 
for  his  deceased  commander  and  friend.  He  fell 
while  gallantly  charging,  "  with  the  hereditary  cou 
rage  oif  his  race,"  up  the  hill  with  190  men,  chiefly 
of  the  York  volunteers,  by  which  charge  the  enemy 
was  compelled  to  spike  the  18-pounder  in  the  battery 
there ;  and  his  memory  will  be  cherished  as  long  as 
courage  and  devotion  are  reverenced  in  the  province. 
The  flank  companies  of  the  49th  having  suffered 
severely,  and  both  their  captains  being  wounded,  the 
disputed  ground  was  lost  soon  after  the  death  of  the 
general,  and  the  troops  retreated  in  front  of  Vromont's 
battery,  where  they  awaited  the  expected  reinforce 
ments.  The  Americans  remained  in  quiet  possession 
of  the  heights  of  Queenstown  for  some  hours,  during 
which  they  were  but  partially  reinforced,  as  their 
militia,  who  a  day  or  two  before  were  so  anxious  to 
invade  Canada — having  heard  from  the  wounded 
men  sent  back  what  they  must  expect  if  they  came  in 
contact  with  the  49th,  "  the  green  tigers,"  as  they 
called  them  from  their  green  facings  —  could  not 
now  be  induced,  either  by  threat  or  entreaty,  to  cross 
the  river.  Indeed,  the  flank  companies  of  the  49th, 
in  the  excitement  arising  from  the  loss  of  their  late 
beloved  colonel,  are  said  to  have  fought  with  such 
animosity  throughout  the  day,  as  to  have  fully  sup 
ported  this  new  title.  In'  the  meanwhile,  Major- 
General  Sheaffe  arrived  from  Fort  George  with 
nearly  400  of  the  41st  regiment,  under  Captain 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  333 

Derenzy,  from  2  to  300  militia,  and  250  Indians  ; 
and — after  being  joined  by  the  remnant  of  the  49th 
flank  companies  and  the  militia,  engaged  in  the 
morning,  and  leaving  two  field -pieces  with  30  men 
in  front  of  Queenstown,  to  prevent  its  occupation  by 
the  Americans — he  proceeded  by  a  circuitous  route 
to  the  right,  to  gain  the  crest  of  the  heights  upon 
which  the  enemy  was  posted,  and  thus  took  them  in 
flank.  Here  he  was  reinforced  by  the  arrival  of  the 
41st  grenadiers  and  some  militia  from  Chippawah, 
the  whole  of  the  British  and  Indian  force  thus  assem 
bled  rather  exceeding  1,000  men  of  all  grades,  of 
whom  nearly  600  were  regulars.  In  numbers  the 
Americans  were  about  equal  —  courage  they  had,  but 
they  wanted  the  confidence  and  discipline  of  British 
soldiers.  The  undoubted  prowess  of  the  latter  needs 
not  to  be  raised  at  the  expense  of  truth  ;  and  in  com 
mon  justice  it  must  also  be  added,  that  the  enemy 
had  only  one  field-piece,  a  6-pounder,  while  General 
Sheaffe  in  his  dispatch,  observed  :  "  I  am  particu 
larly  indebted  to  Captain  Holcroft,  of  the  royal  artil 
lery,  for  his  judicious  and  skilful  co-operation  with 
the  guns  and  howitzers  under  his  immediate  superin 
tendence  ;  their  well  directed  fire  contributed  mate 
rially  to  the  fortunate  result  of  the  day.''  * 

The   Indians,   being   more   active  than   the   white 
troops  in  ascending  the  hill,  first  came,  at  about  two 

*  In  a  brief  record  of  Sir  Roger  Sheaffe's  services,  in  Hart's  Annual 
Army  List,  it  is  stated,  that  at  Queenstown  the  American  general  surren 
dered  himself  and  his  surviving1  troops,  "their  numbers  far  exceeding 
the  assailants."  We  cannot  reconcile  this  statement  with  that  of  "James," 
a  very  correct  writer,  or  with  Major-General  Sheaffe's  own  dispatch, 
dated  Fort  George,  October  13,  but  written  deliberately  a  day  or  two 
afterwards,  as,  after  mentioning  that  "many  officers,  with  900  men, have 
been  made  prisoners,"  he  adds  :  "  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  yet 
the  number  of  (our)  troops,  or  of  those  of  the  enemy  engaged  ;  ours,  I 
believe,  did  not  exceed  the  number  of  the  prisoners  we  have  taken." 
Thus,  a  day  or  two  after  the  battle,  General  Sheaffe  believed  that  his 
troops  engaged  amounted  to  at  least  Q50  men,  including  probably  only 
the  rank  and  file,  and,  if  so,  about  1050  of  all  ranks.  And,  notwithstand 
ing,  in  the  United  Service  Gazette  of  November  22,  1845,  it  is  asserted, 
apparently  on  the  authority  of  Sir,  R.  Sheaffe,  that  "  the  force  under  his 
command  amounted,  by  official  returns,  to  740  men,  not  one  half  of  whom 
were  regulars,  and  the  prisoners  captured  to  950  "  !  !  If  this  assertion  be 
correct,  which  we  much  doubt,  every  authority  that  we  have  consulted, 
not  excepting  the  above  dispatch,  is  singularly  "at  fault. 


334  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  contact  with  the  enemy, 
and  drove  him  before  them  ;  but  the  Americans  soon 
rallied  and  repulsed  their  assailants,  who  fell  back 
upon  the  main  body.  The  British,  after  a  little 
firing,  and  setting  up  a  shout,  which  was  accompanied 
by  the  war-whoop  of  the  Indians,  advanced  at  the 
double  quick  or  running  pace,  when  the  enemy, 
perceiving  the  hopelessness  of  resistance,  fled  down 
the  hill  after  a  very  feeble  contest.*  The  slaughter 
•was  unhappily  protracted,  because  the  Indians  could 
not  at  first  be  restrained.  The  Americans,  who  at 
tempted  to  escape  into  the  woods,  were  quickly  driven 
back  by  the  Indians ;  and  many,  cut  off  in  their 
return  to  the  main  body,  and  terrified  at  the  sight  of 
these  exasperated  warriors,  flung  themselves  wildly 
over  the  cliffs,  and  endeavoured  to  cling  to  the  bushes 
which  grew  upon  them  ;  but  some,  losing  their  hold, 
were  dashed  frightfully  on  the  rocks  beneath ;  while 
others,  who  reached  the  river,  perished  in  their  at 
tempts  to  swim  across  it.  Such,  alas !  are  the  dread 
ful  horrors  too  often  arising  from  human  warfare  ! 
A  flag  of  truce  soon  came  from  the  American  com 
mander,  with  the  offer  of  an  unconditional  surrender; 
and  Brigadier  Wadsworth,  and  about  950  officers 
and  privates,  were  made  prisoners.  Of  these  a  large 
proportion  were  officers,  there  being,  by  an  American 
list  before  us,  in  which  the  names  and  ranks  are 
given,  51  officers  (exclusive  of  two  sergeant-majors) 
of  the  New  York  militia,  and  20  only  of  the  regulars  ; 
total,  71  officers.  The  death  of  the  British  general 
is  said  to  have  cost  the  invaders  many  a  life  on  that 
day,  which  otherwise  had  been  spared.  Their- loss 
was  90  killed  and  about  100  wounded,  while  that  of 
the  British  and  Indians  was  16  killed  and  69  wound 
ed,  f  Nearly,  if  not,  the  whole  of  these  were  killed 

*  "  The  Americans  sustained  but  a  short  conflict,  ere  they  fled  with 
precipitation  towards  the  point  at  which  they  had  first  landed."  — James' 
Military  Occurrences. 

t  Major-General  Sheaffe,  in  his  dispatch  of  13th  October,  eulogizes 
Captains  Dennis  and  Williams,  of  the  49th ;  Captains  Derenzy  and  Bui- 


SIR'  ISAAC    BROCK.  335 

or  wounded  early  in  the  morning.  The  victory, 
though  easily  won,  was  complete  ;  but  it  was  felt  by 
the  conquerors  as  a  poor  compensation  for  the  loss  of 
the  British  chieftain,  thus  prematurely  cut  off  in  the 
pride  of  manhood  and  in  the  noon-tide  of  his  career  ; 
while  the  sorrow  manifested  throughout  both  pro 
vinces  proved  that  those  who  rejoiced  in  the  failure 
of  this  second  invasion,  would  gladly  have  forgone 
the  triumph,  if  by  such  means  they  could  have 
regained  him  who  rendered  the  heights  of  Queens- 
town  memorable  by  his  fall. 

Joy's  bursting  shout  in  whelming  grief  was  drowned, 
And  Victory's  self  unwilling  audience  found  ; 
On  every  brow  the  cloud  of  sadness  hung, — 
The  sounds  of  triumph  died  on  every  tongue  ! 

"  The  news  of  the  death  of  this  excellent  officer," 
observed  the  Quebec  Gazette,  "  has  been  received 
here  as  a  public  calamity.  The  attendant  circum 
stances  of  victory  scarcely  checked  the  painful  sen 
sation.  His  long  residence  in  this  province,  and 
particularly  in  this  place,  had  made  him  in  habits 
and  good  offices  almost  a  citizen ;  and  his  frankness, 
conciliatory  disposition,  and  elevated  demeanour,  an 
estimable  one.  The  expressions  of  regret  as  general 
as  he  was  known,  and  not  uttered  by  friends  and 
acquaintance  only,  but  by  every  gradation  of  class, 
not  only  by  grown  persons,  but  young  children,  are 
the  test  of  his  worth.  Such  too  is  the  only  eulogium 
worthy  of  the  good  and  brave,  and  the  citizens  of 
Quebec  have,  with  solemn  emotions,  pronounced  it 
on  his  memory.  But  at  this  anxious  moment  other 

lock,  of  the  41st;  Brigade-Major  Evans,  Colonel  Glaus,  Captain  Vigoreaux, 
R.  E.,  Captains  Powell  and  Cameron,  of  the  militia  artillery  ;  Lieutenants 
Crowther  and  Fowler,  4lst  regiment;  Captain  Glegg,  aide-de-camp j 
Lieutenant  Kerr,  Glengary  Fencibles;  Lieut.-Colonels  Butler  and  Clark, 
and  Major  Merritt,  of  the  militia;  and  Captains  Hatt,  Durand,  Rowe, 
Applegarth,  James,  Crooks,  Cooper,  Robert  Hamilton,  M'Ewen,  and 
Duncan  Cameron ;  and  Lieutenants  Richardson  and  Thomas  Butler, 
commanding  flank  companies  of  the  York  and  Lincoln  militia ;  Captain 
A.  Hamilton ;  Volunteers  Shaw,  Thomson,  and  Jarvis,  attached  to  the 
flank  companies  of  the  4Qth  regiment ;  and  the  Indian  chief,  Norton. 


336  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

feelings  are  excited  by  his  loss.  General  Brock  had 
acquired  the  confidence  of  the  inhabitants  within  his 
government.  He  had  secured  their  attachment  per 
manently  by  his  own  merits.  They  were  one  people 
animated  by  one  disposition,  and  this  he  had  gradual 
ly  wound  up  to  the  crisis  in  which  they  were  placed. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  he  had 
become  too  important  to  them.  The  heroic  militia 
of  Upper  Canada,  more  particularly,  had  knit  them 
selves  to  his  person ;  and  it  is  yet  to  be  ascertained 
whether  the  desire  to  avenge  his  death  can  compensate 
the  many  embarassments  it  will  occasion.  It  is  in 
deed  true  that  the  spirit,  and  even  the  abilities,  of  a 
distinguished  man  often  carry  their  influence  beyond 
the  grave ;  and  the  present  event  furnishes  its  own 
example,  for  it  is  certain,  notwithstanding  General 
Brock  was  cut  off  early  in  the  action,  that  he  had 
already  given  an  impulse  to  his  little  army,  which 
contributed  to  accomplish  the  victory  when  he  was 
no  more.  Let  us  trust  that  the  recollection  of  him 
will  become  a  new  bond  of  union,  and  that,  as  he 
sacrificed  himself  for  a  community  of  patriots,  they 
will  find  a  new  motive  to  exertion  in  the  obligation 
to  secure  his  ashes  from  the  pestilential  dominion  of 
the  enemy." 

A  Montreal  newspaper  of  the  clay  also  contained 
the  following  observations  :  "  The  private  letters  from 
Upper  Canada,  in  giving  the  account  of  the  late 
victory  at  Queenstown,  are  partly  taken  up  with  en 
comiastic  lamentations  upon  the  never-to-be-forgotten 
General  Brock,  which  do  honor  to  the  character  and 
talents  of  the  man  they  deplore.  The  enemy  have 
nothing  to  hope  from  the  loss  they  have  inflicted ; 
they  have  created  a  hatred  which  panteth  for  revenge. 
Although  General  Brock  may  be  said  to  have  fallen 
in  the  midst  of  his  career,  yet  his  previous  services  in 
Upper  Canada  will  be  lasting  and  highly  beneficial. 
When  he  assumed  the  government  of  the  province, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  337 

he  found  a  divided,  disaffected,  and,  of  course,  a 
weak  people.  He  has  left  them  united  and  strong, 
and  the  universal  sorrow  of  the  province  attends  his 
fall.  The  father,  to  his  children,  will  make  known 
the  mournful  story.  The  veteran,  who  fought  by  his 
side  in  the  heat  and  burthen  of  the  day  of  our  deli 
verance,  will  venerate  his  name."* 

In  his  dispatch  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  dated  Fort 
George,  October  13,  Major-General  Sheaffe  said : 
"  On  receiving  intelligence  of  it,  (the  attack  on 
Queenstown,)  Major-General  Brock  immediately 
proceeded  to  that  post ;  and,  I  am  excessively  grieved 
in  having  to  add,  that  he  fell  whilst  gallantly  cheer 
ing  his  troops  to  an  exertion  for  maintaining  it. 
With  him  the  position  was  lost ....  Our  loss  I 
believe  to  have  been  comparatively  small  in  numbers  : 
no  officer  was  killed  besides  Major-General  Brock, 
one  of  the  most  gallant  and  zealous  officers  in  his 
majesty's  service,  whose  loss  cannot  be  too  much 
deplored,  and  Lieut.-Colonel  M'Donell,  provincial 
aide-de-camp,  whose  gallantry  and  merit  render  him 
worthy  of  his  chief."  t  And  Sir  George  Prevost,  in 
transmitting  this  letter,  observed  :  "  His  majesty  and 
the  country  have  to  deplore  the  loss  of  an  able  and 
most  gallant  officer  in  Major-General  Brock,  who 
fell  early  in  the  battle,  at  the  head  of  the  flank  com 
panies  of  the  49th  regiment,  whilst  nobly  encouraging 
them  to  sustain  their  position  in  opposition  to  an  infi 
nitely  superior  force,  until  the  reinforcements  he  had 
ordered  to  advance  to  their  support  would  arrive." 
The  remarks  of  both  generals  strike  us  as  somewhat 
tame  and  hackneyed ;  J  but  it  is  not  every  Nelson 

*  "  Death  and  Victory  :  "  a  sermon  under  this  title  was  preached  by  the 
Rev.  William  Smart,  at  Brockville,  Elizabethtown,  November  15,  on  the 
death  of  Major-General  Brock,  and  published  at  the  request  of  the  officers 
stationed  at  that  post,  and  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  village.  The  text  was : 
"  How  are  the  mighty  fallen  in  the  midst  of  the  battle." 

f  Lieut.-Colonel  M'Donell  died  on  the  14th  of  October. 

t  Brigadier  Townshend,  who,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  Wolfe  and 
the  wounds  of  Brigadier  Monckton,  wrote  the  dispatch  announcing  the 
Q 


338  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

whose  death  in  battle  is  recorded  by  a  Collingwood, 
and  the  sentiments  of  the  British  government  on  the 
melancholy  occasion  were  far  more  appropriately  and 
elegantly  expressed  in  a  dispatch  from  Earl  Bathurst, 
the  secretary  of  state  for  the  colonies,  to  Sir  George 
Prevost,  dated  December  8, 1812 :  "  His  royal  high 
ness  the  prince  regent  is  fully  aware  of  the  severe  loss 
which  his  majesty's  service  has  experienced  in  the 
death  of  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock.  This  would 
have  been  sufficient  to  have  clouded  a  victory  of 
much  greater  importance.  His  majesty  has  lost  in 
him  not  only  an  able  and  meritorious  officer,  but  one 
who,  in  the  exercise  of  his  functions  of  provisional 
lieutenant-governor  of  the  province,  displayed  quali 
ties  admirably  adapted  to  awe  the  disloyal,  to  recon 
cile  the  wavering,  arid  to  animate  the  great  mass  of 
the  inhabitants  against  successive  attempts  of  the 
enemy  to  invade  the  province,  in  the  last  of  which  he 
unhappily  fell,  too  prodigal  of  that  life  of  which  his 
eminent  services  had  taught  us  to  understand  the 
value."  * 

His  lordship  added :  "  His  royal  highness  has 
been  also  pleased  to  express  his  regret  at  the  loss 
which  the  province  must  experience  in  the  death  of 
the  attorney-general,  Mr.  M'Donell,  whose  zealous 
co-operation  with  Sir  Isaac  Brock  will  reflect  lasting 
honor  on  his  memory/' 

The  Montreal  Herald  of  April  29,  1815,  blames 
Sir  George  Prevost  for  having  suppressed  all  but  the 

victory  near  Quebec,  13th  September,  1759,  has  been  justly  accused  of  an 
ungenerous  indifference  to  the  memory  of  the  great  man  who  led  him  to 
victory,  because  in  that  dispatch,  dated  20th  September,  or  a  week  after 
the  victory,  the  only  mention  he  made  of  the  hero  was  the  following : 
"  Our  troops  reserved  their  fire  till  within  fifty  yards,  which  was  then  so 
well  continued,  that  the  enemy  every  where  gave  way.  It  was  then  that 
our  illustrious  general  fell  at  the  head  of  Bragge's  and  the  Louisburg 
grenadiers,  advancing  with  their  bayonets;  and  about  the  same  time 
Brigadier- General  Monckton  received  his  wound  at  the  head  of  Lascelles." 

*  The  prince  regent,  afterwards  George  the  Fourth,  told  the  late  John 
Julius  Angerstein,  Esq.,  who  was  a  friend  of  one  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's 
brothers,  that  if  the  general  had  survived  the  battle  of  Queenstown,  his 
royal  highness  would  have  made  him  a  baronet,  and  conferred  upon  him 
a  pension  of,  we  think,  £  1,200  a  year. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  339 

first  sentence  of  Lord  Bathurst's  letter  relating  to  Sir 
Isaac  Brock,  which  sentence  only  was  given  in  his 
general  order  to  the  army  of  10th  March,  1813, 
"because  the  sentiments  expressed  by  the  prince  are 
those  of  the  loyal  people  of  Upper  Canada,  who 
would  be  glad  to  have  seen  them  soon  after  the  offi 
cial  letter  arrived  in  Canada."  And  "  considering 
the  character  of  the  distinguished  chief  who  fell  on 
the  British  side  at  the  Queenstown  battle,"  *  we 
certainly  do  think  that  this  very  handsome  acknow 
ledgment  of  his  services  and  eloquent  tribute  to  his 
memory  should,  even  as  a  matter  of  policy,  have  been 
immediately  published  without  mutilation. 

The  Canadian  boat  songs  are  well  known  for  their 
plaintive  and  soothing  effect,  and  a  very  beautiful 
one  was  composed  on  the  death  of  Major-General 
Brock.  The  writer  of  this  memoir,  while  sailing  one 
evening  in  the  straits  of  Canso,  in  British  North 
America — the  beautiful  and  picturesque  scenery  of 
which  greatly  increased  the  effect  of  the  words  — 
remembers  to  have  heard  it  sung  by  a  Canadian  boat 
man,  and  he  then  thought  that  he  had  never  listened 
to  vocal  sounds  more  truly  descriptive  of  melancholy 
and  regret.  Even  the  young  in  Canada  invoked  the 
Muse  in  expression  of  their  sympathy,  and  the  fol 
lowing  lines  were  indited  by  Miss  Ann  Bruyeres, 
described  as  "  an  extraordinary  child  of  thirteen 
years  old,"  the  daughter  of  the  general's  friend, 
Lieut-Colonel  Bruyeres,  of  the  Royal  Engineers, 
who  died  not  long  after  him  in  consequence  of  disease 
contracted  in  the  field  : 

As  Fame  alighted  on  the  mountain's  t  crest, 
She  loudly  blew  her  trumpet's  mighty  blast ; 
Ere  she  repeated  Victory's  notes,  she  cast 
A  look  around,  and  stopped  :  of  power  bereft, 
Her  bosom  heaved,  her  breath  she  drew  with  pain, 
Her  favorite  BROCK  lay  slaughtered  on  the  plain  ! 
Glory  threw  on  his  grave  a  laurel  wreath, 
And  Fame  proclaims  "  a  hero  sleeps  beneath." 

*  James'  Military  Occurrences. 

t  The  mountain  above  Queenstown,  where  Major-General  Brock  was 
slain. 


340  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

As  if  to  complete  the  double  allusion  to  Fame  in 
the  preceding  lines,  singularly  enough  the  mournful 
intelligence  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  death  was  brought 
from  Quebec  to  Guernsey  by  the  ship  FAME,  belong 
ing  to  that  island,  on  Tuesday,  the  24th  November, 
two  days  before  it  was  known  in  London. 

Sir  Isaac  Brock,  after  lying  in  state  at  the  govern 
ment  house,  where  his  body  was  bedewed  with  the 
tears  of  many  affectionate  friends,  was  interred  on  the 
16th  of  October,  with  his  provincial  aide-de-camp,  at 
Fort  George.*  His  surviving  aide-de-camp,  Major 
Glegg,  recollecting  the  decided  aversion  of  the  gene 
ral  to  every  thing  that  bore  the  appearance  of  osten 
tatious  display,  endeavoured  to  clothe  the  distressing 
ceremony  with  all  his  "  native  simplicity."  But  at 
the  same  time  there  were  military  honors  that  could 
not  be  withheld,  and  the  following  was  the  order  of 
the  mournful  procession,  "  of  which,"  wrote  Major 
Glegg,  "  I  enclose  a  plan  ;  but  no  pen  can  describe 
the  real  scenes  of  that  mournful  day.  A  more  solemn 
and  affecting  spectacle  was  perhaps  never  witnessed. 
As  every  arrangement  connected  with  that  afflicting 
ceremony  fell  to  my  lot,  a  second  attack  being  hourly 
expected,  and  the  minds  of  all  being  fully  occupied 
with  the  duties  of  their  respective  stations,  I  anxiously 
endeavoured  to  perform  this  last  tribute  of  affection 
in  a  manner  corresponding  with  the  elevated  virtues 
of  my  departed  patron.  Conceiving  that  an  inter 
ment  in  every  respect  military  would  be  the  most 
appropriate  to  the  character  of  our  dear  friend,  I 
made  choice  of  a  cavalier  bastion  in  Fort  George, 
which  his  aspiring  genius  had  lately  suggested,  and 
which  had  been  just  finished  under  his  daily  super 
intendence." 

*  The  survivors  of  the  flank  companies  of  the  49th  were  marched  from 
Queenstown  to  be  present  at  the  funeral,  and  they  wer.e  severally  admitted 
to  view  the  coffin,  which  contained  the  remains  of  their  late  beloved 
commander. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK. 


341 


Fort  Major  Campbell. 

Sixty  Men  of  the  4 1st  Regiment,  commanded  by  a  Subaltern. 
Sixty  of  the  Militia,  commanded  by  a  Captain. 

Two  Six-Poundeis — firing  minute  guns. 

Remaining  Corps  and  Detachments  of  the  Garrison,  with  about  200  In 
dians,  in  reversed  order,  forming  a  street  through  which  the  procession 
passed,  extending  from  the  government  house  to  the  garrison. 

Band  of  the  4 1st  Regiment. 

Drums,  covered  with  black  cloth,  and  muffled. 

Late  General's  Horse,  fully  caparisoned,  led  by  four  Grooms. 

Servants  of  the  General. 

The  General's  Body  Servant. 

Surgeon  Muirhead.  Doctor  Kerr. 

Doctor  Moore.  Staff  Surgeon  Thorn. 

Reverend  Mr.  Addison. 

(The  Body  of  Lieut. -Colonel  M'Donell,  P.A.D.C.) 
Capt.  A.  Cameron.  •EHB  Lieut.  Jarvis.* 


Lieut.  J.  B.  Robinson.f 


J.  Edwards,  Esq. 


Supporter, 
Mr.  Dick  son. 


Chief  Mourner, 
Mr.  M'Donell. 


Lieut.  Ridout. 


Capt.  Crooks. 

Supporter, 
Captain  Cameron. 


(The  Body  of  Major-General  Brock.) 


Supporter, 
James  Coffin,  Esq.,  D.  A.  C.  G. 

Capt.  Vigoreaux,  R.  E. 
Capt.  Derenzy,  41st  Regt. 
Capt.  Dennis,  4Qth  Regt. 
Capt.  Holcroft,  R.  A. 


Supporter, 
Brigade-Major  Evans. 


Supporter, 
•Captain  Williams,  49th  Regt. 

Major  Merritt,  L.  H.  Lin.  Mil. 
Lieut.-Col.  Clark,  Lin.  Mil. 
Lieut.-Col.  Butler. 
Colonel  Claus. 

Supporter, 
Captain  Glegg,  A.  D.  C. 


MajoriGeneral  Sheaffe. 
Ensign  Coffin,  A.  D.  C. 


Chief  Mourners. 

Lieut. -Colonel  Myers,  D.  Q.  M.  G. 
Lieut.  Fowler,  A.  D.  Q.  M.  G. 
The  Civil  Staff. 
Friends  of  the  Deceased. 
Inhabitants.* 


*  Lieutenant :  (afterwards  Colonel)  Jarvis  of  the  militia,  accompanied 
Major-General  Brock  to  Amherstburg,  and  fought  bravely  at  Queenstown . 

t  Lieutenant  Robinson  also  accompanied  the  general  to  Amherstburg, 
and  fought  gallantly  at  Queenstown  ;  he  is  now  the  eminent  chief  justice 
of  Upper  Canada. 

t  Extracted  from  the  York  Gazette,  October  24,  1812. 


342  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Such  was  the  esteem  in  which  Sir  Isaac  Brock  was 
held  by  the  enemies  of  his  country,  for  he  had  or 
could  have  no  personal  enemies,  that  Major-General 
Van  Rensselaer,  in  a  letter  of  condolence,  informed 
Major-General  SheafFe  that  immediately  after  the 
funeral  solemnities*  were  over  on  the  British  side,  a 
compliment  of  minute  guns  would  be  paid  to  the 
hero's  memory  on  theirs  ! ! !  Accordingly,  the  cannon 
at  Fort  Niagara  were  fired,  "  as  a  mark  of  respect 
due  to  a  brave  enemy."  f  How  much  is  it  then  to 
be  regretted  that  we  should  ever  come  into  collision 
with  those  who  possess  the  same  origin  and  the  same 
language  as  ourselves,  and  who,  by  this  generous 
feeling  and  conduct,  proved  that  they  are  a  liberal, 
as  they  undoubtedly  are  a  gallant,  people ;  and  may 
the  future  rivalry  of  both  powers  be,  not  for  the  un 
natural  destruction  of  each  other,  but  for  the  benefit 
of  mankind.  No  words  can  better  express  the  favor 
able  opinion  entertained  by  the  Americans  of  the  de 
ceased  than  the  language  of  their  president,  Madison, 
who,  alluding  to  the  battle  of  Queenstown  in  his 
annual  message  to  congress,  observed :  "  Our  loss 
has  been  considerable,  and  is  deeply  to  be  lamented. 
That  of  the  enemy,  less  ascertained,  will  be  the  more 
felt,  as  it  includes  amongst  the  killed  the  commanding 
general,  who  was  also  the  governor  of  the  province." 

*  Extract  from  D.  G.  0.  for  the  Funeral. 

The  officers  will  wear  crape  on  their  left  arms  and  on  their  sword  knots, 
and  all  officers  will,  throughout  the  province,  wear  crape  on  their  left 
arm  for  the  space  of  one  month. 

Captain  Holcroft  will  be  pleased  to  direct  that  minute  guns  be  fired 
from  the  period  of  the  bodies  leaving  government  house  until  their 
arrival  at  the  place  of  interment ;  and  also,  after  the  funeral  service  shall 
have  been  performed,  three  rounds  of  seven  guns  from  the  artillery. 

By  order.  THOMAS  EVANS,  B.  M. 

t  "  I  well  remember  the  tribute  of  respect  paid  by  the  enemy,  and  the 
melancholy  satisfaction  it  afforded  to  those  who  were  so  bitterly  lamenting 
their  irreparable  loss.  General  Brock  was  not  only  admired  and  respected 
by  the  American  people ;  but  he  was  in  truth  very  kindly  regarded  by 
them.  In  his  arrangements  consequent  on  the  capture  of  Fort  Detroit, 
they  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  that  honest  frankness,  and  warm 
benevolence  of  heart,  which  characterized  him.  He  showed  the  greatest 
liberality  and  most  indulgent  consideration  in  dealing  with  and  disposing 
of  the  various  descriptions  of  force  which  surrendered  to  him  on  that 
occasion.  I  believe  no  man  ever  heard  either  friend  or  foe  speak  unkindly 
of  General  Brock."— Chief  Justice  Robinson. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  343 

Ere  we  proceed  to  delineate  the  person  and  cha 
racter  of  this  able  soldier  and  excellent  man,  we  shall 
transcribe  the  sketches  of  two  strangers,*  lest  the 
portrait  of  a  relative  should  be  deemed  too  highly 
coloured,  That  portrait  has  been  drawn  by  them 
with  a  master  hand,  especially  the  first ;  and  although 
feelingly  alive  to  our  incompetency  for  the  task,  we 
also  must  endeavour,  with  a  trembling  pen,  to  do 
justice  to  the  memory  of  the  hero. 

"  Thus  ended  in  their  total  discomfiture,"  says 
Christie  in  his  Historical  Memoirs,  already  cited, 
"  the  second  attempt  of  the  Americans  to  invade 
Upper  Canada.  The  loss  of  the  British  is  said  to 
have  been  about  20  killed,  including  Indians,  and 
between  50  and  60  wounded.  The  fall  of  General 
Brock,  the  idol  of  the  army  and  of  the  people  of 
Upper  Canada,  was  an  irreparable  loss,  and  cast  a 
shade  over  the  glory  of  this  dear-bought  victory.  He 
was  a  native  of  Guernsey,  of  an  ancient  and  reputable 
family,  distinguished  in  the  profession  of  arms.  He 
had  served  for  many  years  in  Canada,  and  in  some  of 
the  principal  campaigns  in  Europe.  He  commanded 
a  detachment  of  his  favorite  49th  regiment,  on  the 
expedition  to  Copenhagen  with  Lord  Nelson,  where 
he  distinguished  himself.  He  was  one  of  those  extra 
ordinary  men  who  seem  born  to  influence  mankind, 
and  mark  the  age  in  which  they  live.  Conscious  of 
the  ascendancy  of  his  genius  over  those  who  sur 
rounded  him,  he  blended  the  mildest  of  manners  with 
the  severity  and  discipline  of  a  camp ;  and  though 
his  deportment  was  somewhat  grave  and  imposing, 
the  ncble  frankness  of  his  character  imparted  at  once 
confidence  and  respect  to  those  who  had  occasion  to 
approach  his  person.  As  a  soldier,  he  was  brave  to 
a  fault,  and  not  less  judicious  than  decisive  in  his 
measures.  The  energy  of  his  character  was  strongly 
expressed  in  his  countenance,  and  in  the  robust  and 

*  For  brief  extracts  relative  to  Sir  Isaac  Brock  from  other  authors,  see 
Appendix; A,  Section  1,  No.  7. 


344  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

manly  symmetry  of  his  frame.  As  a  civil  governor, 
he  was  firm,  prudent,  and  equitable.  In  fine,  whether 
we"  view  him  as  a  man,  a  statesman,  or  a  soldier,  he 
equally  deserves  the  esteem  and  respect  of  his  con 
temporaries  and  of  posterity.  The  Indians  who 
flocked  to  his  standard  were  attached  to  him  with 
almost  enthusiastic  affection,  and  the  enemy  even 
expressed  an  involuntary  regret  at  his  untimely  fall. 
His  prodigality  of  life  bereft  the  country  of  his  servi 
ces  at  the  early  age  of  forty-two  years.  The  remains 
of  this  gallant  officer  were,  during  the  funeral  service, 
honored  with  a  discharge  of  minute  guns  from  the 
American,  as  well  as  the  British,  batteries ;  and  with 
those  of  his  faithful  aide-de-camp,  Lieut.-Colonel 
M'Donell,  were  interred  in  the  same  grave  at  Fort 
George,  on  the  16th  October,  amidst  the  tears  of  an 
affectionate  soldiery  and  a  grateful  people,  who  will 
cherish  his  memory  with  veneration,  and  hand  to 
their  posterity  the  imperishable  name  of  BROCK." 

"  General  Brock  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Queens- 
town  heights,"  observes  Howison  in  his  Sketches  of 
Upper  Canada,  "  and  the  place  where  he  fell  was 
pointed  out  to  me.  The  Canadians  hold  the  memory 
of  this  brave  and  excellent  man  in  great  veneration, 
but  have  not  yet  attempted  to  testify  their  respect  for 
his  virtues  in  any  way,  except  by  shewing  to  strangers 
the  spot  On  which  he  received  his  mortal  wound.  He 
was  more  popular,  and  more  beloved  by  the  inhabi 
tants  of  Upper  Canada,  than  any  man  they  ever  had 
among  them,  and  with  reason ;  for  he  possessed  in 
an  eminent  degree  those  virtues  which  add  lustre 
to  bravery,  and  those  talents  that  shine  alike  in  the 
cabinet  and  in  the  field.  His  manners  and  disposi 
tions  were  so  conciliating  as  to  gain  the  affection  of 
all  whom  he  commanded,  while  his  innate  nobleness 
and  dignity  of  mind  secured  him  a  respect  almost 
amounting  to  veneration.  He  is  now  styled  the  Hero 
of  Upper  Canada,  and,  had  he  lived,  there  is  no 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  345 

doubt  but  the  war  would  have  terminated  very  differ 
ently  from  what  it  did.  The  Canadian  farmers  are 
not  over-burthened  with  sensibility,  yet  I  have  seen 
several  of  them  shed  tears  when  an  eulogium  was 
pronounced  upon  the  immortal  and  generous-minded 
deliverer  of  their  country. 

"  General  Brock  was  killed  close  to  the  road  that 
leads  through  Queenstown  village,  and  an  aged  thorn 
bush  now  marks  the  place  where  he  fell,  when  the 
fatal  ball  entered  his  vitals.  This  spot  may  be  called 
classic  ground,  for  a  view  of  it  must  awaken  in  the 
minds  of  all  those  who  duly  appreciate  the  greatness 
of  his  character,  and  are  acquainted  with  the  nature 
of  his  resources  and  exertions,  feelings  as  warm  and 
enthusiastic  as  the  contemplation  of  monuments  con 
secrated  by  antiquity  can  ever  do." 

Nature  had  been  very  bountiful  to  Sir  Isaac  Brock 
in  those  personal  gifts  which  appear  to  such  peculiar 
advantage  in  the  army,  and  at  the  first  glance  the 
soldier  and  the  gentleman  were  seen.  In  stature  he 
was  tall,*  erect,  athletic,  and  well  proportioned,  al 
though  in  his  latter  years  his  figure  was  perhaps  too 
portly  ;  arid  when  a  young  man,  at  the  head  of  his 
company  of  grenadiers,  he  attracted  general  observa 
tion  by  his  martial  presence.  His  fine  and  benevolent 
countenance  was  a  perfect  index  of  his  mind,  and  his 
manners  were  courteous,  frank,  and  engaging,  al 
though  both  denoted  a  fixedness  of  purpose  which 
could  not  be  mistaken.  In  society  he  was  a  modest 
man,  greatly  disliking  parade  or  ostentation,  and  one 
who  knew  him  well  never  remembers  him  to  have 
made  an  illnatured  remark.  Brave,  liberal,  and 
humane ;  devoted  to  his  sovereign,  and  loving  his 
country  with  romantic  fondness ;  in  command  so 
gentle  and  persuasive,  yet  so  firm,  that  he  possessed 
the  rare  faculty  of  acquiring  both  the  respect  and  the 
attachment  of  all  who  served  under  him.  When,  in 

*  In  height  about,  or  nearly,  six  feet  two  inches. 
Q* 


346  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

July,  1805,  he  resigned  the  charge  of  the  troops  in 
Quebec  to  Colonel  Bowes,  it  was  remarked  how 
much  the  discipline  of  the  garrison  had  improved 
under  his  command.  Had  his  talents  been  exerted 
on  a  European  field,  there  is  every  reason  to  suppose 
that  his  sphere  of  fame,  if  not  of  usefulness,  would 
have  been  greatly  extended;  but  as  his  memory  is 
warmly  cherished  by  the  people  among  whom  he 
fell,  his  fate,  premature  as  it  was,  is  still  enviable, 
notwithstanding  that  their  applause  fell  on  "  the  dull, 
cold  ear  of  death."  If  his  anxiety  ever  to  shew  a 
good  example  by  being  foremost  in  danger,  induced 
him  to  expose  himself  more  than  strict  prudence  or 
punctilio  warranted,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
every  thing  depended  on  that  example,  as  he  had 
scarcely  a  staff  officer  of  trust  and  experience  with 
him,  enterprising  officers  of  that  day  striving  to  serve 
in  the  Peninsula — that  of  his  two  regular  regiments, 
the  41st  was  then  with  few  exceptions  badly  officered, 
and  the  49th  had  five  captains  in  England — and  that 
the  militia  required  to  be  led  and  animated.  But  even 
if  he  erred  on  this  point,  his  error  was  that  of  a 
soldier.  *  Elevated  to  the  government  of  Upper 
Canada,  he  reclaimed  many  of  the  disaffected  by 
mildness,  and  fixed  the  wavering  by  the  argument 
of  success  ;  and  having  no  national  partialities  to 
gratify,  that  rock  on  which  so  many  provincial  go 
vernors  have  split,  he  meted  equal  favor  and  justice 
to  all.  British  born  subjects  soon  felt  convinced 
that  with  him  their  religion  or  their  birth-place  was 
no  obstacle  to  their  advancement.  Even  over  the 
minds  of  the  Indians  Sir  Isaac  Brock  gained,  at  and 
after  the  capture  of  Detroit,  an  ascendancy  altogether 

*  When  Nelson  — although  a  rear-admiral  and  a  knight  of  the  Bath, 
and  he  had  so  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  St.  Vincent— with  his 
barge's  crew  of  eleven  men,  exclusive  of  Captain  Fremantle  and  himself, 
engaged  a  Spanish  armed  launch,  carrying  an  officer  and  twenty-six 
men,  near  Cadiz,  in  1/97,  and  captured  her  after  a  desperate  hand  to  hand 
fight  with  swords,  in  which  eighteen  of  the  Spaniards  were  killed,  and  all 
the  rest  wounded,  he  might  equally  have  been  charged  with  rashness, 
had  he  failed  or  fallen. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  347 

unexampled,  and  which  he  judiciously  exercised  for 
purposes  conducive  equally  to  the  cause  of  humanity 
and  to  the  interests  of  his  country.  He  engaged 
them  to  throw  aside  the  scalping  knife,  implanted  in 
their  breasts  the  virtues  of  clemency  and  forbearance, 
and  taught  them  to  feel  pleasure  and  pride  in  the 
compassion  extended  to  a  vanquished  enemy.  In 
return  they  revered  him  as  their  common  father,  and 
while  under  his  command  were  guilty  of  no  excesses.* 
Indeed  his  letters  shew  how  warmly  he  espoused 
their  cause  and  how  deeply  he  commiserated  their 
wrongs  and  misfortunes,  wrell  knowing  that  in  their 
natural  state  they  possess  many  of  the  virtues,  with 
few  of  the  vices,  of  civilization,  f  He  felt  for  them 
as  if  they  were  human  beings  entitled  to  all  the  rights 
and  immunities  of  an  aboriginal  race,  and  he  thought 
it  not  meet  that  they  should  be  exterminated  because 
"the  scoundrel  white  man"  chose  first  to  deprive 
them  of  their  lands,  and  next  warred  upon  them  to 
punish  outrages  which  his  own  perfidy  and  cupidity 
had  provoked.  And  for  no  official  act  of  Sir  Isaac 
Brock  do  wre  honor  him  more  than  for  his  earnest 
representation  of  the  expediency  of  including  the  In 
dians  as  allies,  yea,  as  allies  in  the  negotiations  for 
peace,  that  they  might  not  be  "  exposed  to  the  unre 
lenting  fury  of  their  enemies."  It  is  well  known  that 
this  untutored  people,  the  children  of  the  forests, 
value  personal  much  more  highly  than  mental  quali 
ties,  but  the  union  of  both  in  their  leader  was  happily 
calculated  to  impress  their  haughty  and  masculine 
minds  with  respect  and  admiration ;  and  the  speech 
delivered  by  Tecumseh,  after  the  surrender  of  De- 

*  For  council  of  condolence,  see  Appendix  A,  Section  I,  No.  8. 

t  "  I  fearlessly  assert  to  the  world,  and  I  defy  contradiction,  that  the 
North  American  Indian  is  every  where,  in  his  native  state,  a  highly  moral 
and  intellectual  being,  endowed  by  his  Maker  with  an  intuitive  knowledge 
of  some  great  Author  of  his  being,  and  the  Universe ;  in  dread  of  whose 
displeasure  he  constantly  lives,  with  the  apprehension  before  him  of  a 
future  state,  where  he  expects  to  be  rewarded  or  punished  according  to 
the  merits  he  has  gained  or  forfeited  in  this  world." — Catlin's  North 
American  Indians,  third  edition.  London,  1842. 


348  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

troit,  is  illustrative  of  the  sentiments  with  which  he 
had  inspired  these  warlike  tribes.  "  I  have  heard," 
observed  that  chief  to  him,  "  much  of  your  fame, 
and  am  happy  again  to  shake  by  the  hand  a  brave 
brother  warrior.  The  Americans  endeavour  to  give 
us  a  mean  opinion  of  British  generals,  but  we  have 
been  the  witnesses  of  your  valour.  In  crossing  the 
river  to  attack  the  enemy,  we  observed  you  from  a 
distance  standing  the  whole  time  in  an  erect  posture, 
and,  when  the  boats  reached  the  shore,  you  were 
among  the  first  who  jumped  on  land.  Your  bold 
and  sudden  movements  frightened  the  enemy,  and 
you  compelled  him  to  surrender  to  half  their  own 
force." 

Of  all  the  good  qualities  which  adorned  this  ac 
complished  soldier  none  was  more  prominent  than 
his  decision,  and  it  was  ever  under  the  guidance  of 
a  sound  judgment.  His  strong  attachment  to  the 
service,  and  particularly  to  his  regiment,  formed 
another  distinguishing  feature  in  his  character.  Hav 
ing,  while  in  command  at  Fort  George,  received  a 
letter  announcing  the  execution  of  the  mutineers 
and  deserters  at  Quebec,  as  related  in  the  second 
chapter — the  last  act  of  that  mournful  tragedy — he 
ordered  every  man  under  arms  that  he  might  read  to 
them  the  contents  of  the  letter.  Having  done  so 
with  visible  emotion,  he  proceeded  to  address  the 
men,  and  said :  "  Since  I  have  had  the  honor  to 
wear  the  British  uniform,  I  have  never  felt  grief  like 
this,  as  it  pains  me  to  the  heart  to  think  that  any 
members  of  my  regiment  should  have  engaged  in  a 
conspiracy  which  has  led  to  their  being  shot  like  so 
many  dogs  ! "  Here  he,  who  a  few  months  before 
had  secured  the  ringleaders  with  such  singular  cool 
ness  and  decision,  was  so  affected  as  to  be  utterly 
unable  to  continue ;  but  the  involuntary  pause  had 
more  effect  than  the  most  persuasive  eloquence,  as 
the  soldiers,  who  beheld  the  glistening  tear  and  heard 
the  faltering  voice  of  their  colonel,  were  equally  moved 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  349 

by  this  touching  scene,  so  that,  as  our  informant, 
who  was  present,  assures  us,  there  was  not  a  dry  eye 
among  them  all.  Indeed,  there  was  a  correspondence 
of  regard  between  him  and  his  officers,  and  even  the 
non-commissioned  officers  and  privates,  that,  with 
this  solitary  exception,  produced  the  picture  of  a 
happy  family.  Those  extremities  of  punishment, 
which  the  exactions  of  discipline  will  sometimes  oc 
casion,  rarely  reached  his  men.  And  yet  shortly 
before  he  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  regiment, 
it  was  in  a  sad  state  of  disorganization,  from  the 
causes  already  explained.  (Page  6.)  During  the 
mutiny  on  board  the  fleet  at  the  Nore,  in  May,  1797, 
the  49th  was  quartered  on  the  borders  of  the  river 
Thames ;  and  as  the  privates  evidently  sympathized 
with  the  seamen,  Major  Brock  not  only  seldom  went 
to  bed  till  nearly  daylight,  but  slept  with  loaded 
pistols,  while  during  the  day  he  frequently  visited 
the  mess-rooms,  to  tear  down  or  erase  such  inscrip 
tions  as  "  The  Navy  for  Ever."  But  soon  after  he 
became  the  lieutenant-colonel,  by  happily  blending 
conciliation  with  firmness,  and  bringing  to  a  court 
martial  one  or  two  officers,  whose  misconduct  could 
not  be  overlooked,  he  quickly  restored  the  discipline 
of  the  corps.  Having  effected  this,  he  afterwards 
governed  it  by  that  sentiment  of  esteem  which  he 
himself  had  created,  and  the  consolation  was  given 
him  to  terminate  a  brief  but  brilliant  course  in  the 
midst  of  his  professional  family.  A  part  of  the  regi 
ment  assisted  at  his  last  obsequies ;  and  those  who 
knew  the  commander  and  his  men  will  be  convinced, 
that  on  the  day  of  his  funeral  there  was  an  entire 
detachment  in  tears.* 

It  deserves  to  be  recorded  as  an  instance  of  good 
fortune,    unprecedented  perhaps  in  military  annals, 

*  The  officers  of  the  4Qth,  after  his  death,  instructed  the  regimental 
agent  in  London  to  procure  them  a  likeness  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  that  it 
might  be  placed  in  their  mess-room,  and  allotted  a  handsome  sum  for  this 
purpose.  The  agent  applied  to  the  family  for  a  copy,  but  unfortunately 
they  possessed  no  good  likeness  of  the  general. 


350  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

and  especially  in  a  country  where  the  advantage  and 
facility  of  escape  were  so  great,  that  from  the^Gth  of 
August,  the  day  on  which  Major-General  Brock  left 
York  for  Detroit,  to  the  period  immediately  preced 
ing  the  battle  of  Queenstown,  the  force  under  his 
personal  command  suffered  no  diminution  in  its  num 
bers  either  by|desertion,  natural  death,  or  the  sword.* 
This  comprehended  a  period  of  nearly  ten  weeks, 
during  which  an  army  and  fortress  were  captured,  and 
a  journey  of  several  hundred  miles,  by  land  and  water, 
accomplished  with  extreme  rapidity. 

In  compiling  this  memoir,  we  have  been  much 
struck  with  the  swiftness  of  Major-General  Brock's 
movements  :  he  appears  to  have  been  everywhere, 
and,  as  Veritas  observed  of  him,  to  have  "flown,  as 
it  were."  To-day  at  York,  engaged  in  his  civil  and 
military  duties  —  to-morrow  at  Fort  George,  super 
intending  the  defences  of  the  Niagara  frontier,  or  at 
Kingston,  reviewing  and  animating  the  militia.  To 
day  at  Fort  George,  watching  the  enemy — the  next 
at  York,  dissolving  the  legislature  —  and  a  fortnight 
after,  on  his  return  from  the  capture  of  Detroit ! 
To-day  at  Fort  George  again — a  few  hours  after  at 
Fort  Erie,  endeavouring  to  retake  the  brigs  Detroit 
and  Caledonia.  And  yet  this  most  active  and  ener 
getic  officer  was  compelled,  by  his  defensive  instruc 
tions,  tamely  to  look  on  the  offensive  preparations  of 
the  Americans  for  the  invasion  of  the  province  com 
mitted  to  his  charge  ! 

In  conclusion,  it  is  due  to  the  memory  of  this  ex 
cellent  man  to  declare  that,  eminent  and  undisputed 
as  were  his  public  virtues,  he  was  no  less  estimable  in 
private  life.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  a  youth  of 
about  nine  years  of  age  had  been  residing  under  his 
roof  and  protection  for  nearly  two  years,  it  being  the 
general's  intention  to  provide  for  him ;  he  was  the 

*  It  is  the  more  remarkable  that  no  disease  occurred,  when  it  is  consi 
dered  that  the  expedition  took  place  at  a  season  when  the  heat  is  exces 
sive,  and  that  circumstances  admitted  of  but  little  preparation  being  made 
for  the  comfort  of  the  men. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  351 

illegitimate  son  of  Captain  Hercules  E ,  of  the 

49th,  who  was  unfortunately  drowned  on  his  passage 
from  Canada  to  England  two  or  three  years  pre 
viously,  the  vessel  in  which  he  embarked  having 
never  been  heard  of  after  sailing.*  In  his  own 
family  Isaac  Brock  was  the  object  of  the  warmest 
affection,  and  his  servants  carefully  preserved  relics 
of  their  "  dear  master,"  as  they  styled  him  to  their 
dying  day.  His  cares  and  anxieties  had  no  reference 
to  the  wealth  he  should  amass,  but  to  the  sum  of 
human  misery  he  might  relieve ;  and  towards  the 
close  of  his  brief  career,  as  the  prospect  of  increasing 
honors  and  emoluments  opened  to  his  view,  it  will 
have  been  seen  that  he  contemplated  his  good  fortune 
only  as  the  means  of  diffusing  felicity,  of  drying  the 
tear  of  affliction,  t  Some  of  his  nearest  relatives  have 
since  been  cut  off  more  prematurely,  and  far  more 
cruelly,  than  himself;  but  those  who  still  survive 
him  possess  the  never-failing  consolation  which  arises 
from  the  remembrance  of  his  virtues,  and  from  the 
reflection  that,  although  his  blessed  spirit  fled  early 
from  this  world,  they  may  meet  again  in  the  mansions 
of  futurity. 

Though  the  dead  heed  not  human  praise,  yet  the 
living  act  wisely  in  commemorating  the  fall  of  a 
distinguished  chief — the  example  is  never  thrown 
away — and  on  this  occasion  it  is  gratifying  to  reflect, 
that  every  posthumous  honor  was  paid  to  the  memory 
of  one  who  had  merited  the  distinction  so  well.  A 
public  monument,  J  having  been  decreed  by  the  im 
perial  parliament,  was  raised  a  few  years  since  in  St. 
Paul's,  and  a  view  of  it  is  said  to  have  awakened  in 
an  astonished  Indian  more  surprise  and  admiration 
than  any  thing  he  witnessed  in  England.  §  In  con- 

*  After  the  general's  fall,  Major  Glegg  kindly  took  charge  of  the  youth, 
and  sent  him  to  school,  but  we  know  not  what  has  since  become  of  him. 

t  The  salary  attached  to  the  civil  government  of  Upper  Canada  was 
increased,  we  believe,  shortly  before  his  death  to  ^3,000  a  year. 

t  By  an  official  return,  it  appears  that  this  monument  cost  ^6*1,575  ster 
ling.  For  inscription,  &c.,  see  Appendix  A,  Section  1,  No.  9. 

§  See  Appendix  A,  Section  1,  No.  10. 


352  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

sequence  of  an  address*  from  the  commons  of  Upper 
Canada  to  the  prince  regent,  a  munificent  grant  of 
12,000  acres  of  land  in  that  province  was  bestowed 
on  the  four  surviving;  brothers  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock, 
who,  in  addition,  were  allowed  a  pension  of  £200  a 
year  for  life,  by  a  vote  of  the  imperial  parliament. 
To  "  the  Hero  of  Upper  Canada,"  t  as  he  is  still 
affectionately  termed  in  that  country,  the  provincial 
legislature  erected  a  lofty  column  J  on  Queenstown 
Heights,  to  which  his  remains,  and  those  of  his  gal 
lant  aide-de-camp,  were  removed  from  Fort  George 
in  solemn  procession,  on  the  13th  of  October,  1824.§ 
Although  twelve  years  had  elapsed  since  the  inter 
ment,  the  body  of  the  general  had  undergone  little 
change,  his  features  being  nearly  perfect  and  easily 
recognized,  while  that  of  Lieut. -Colonel  M'Donell 
was  in  a  complete  mass  of  decomposition.  One  of 
his  regimental  companions,  Colonel  Fitzgibbon,  in 
transmitting  a  detail  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  day, 
thus  pathetically  expressed  himself:  "  Nothing,  cer 
tainly,  could  exceed  the  interest  manifested  by  the 
people  of  the  province  upon  the  occasion  ;  and  num 
bers  from  the  neighbouring  state  of  New  York,  by 
their  presence  and  conduct,  proved  how  highly  the 
Americans  revere  the  memory  of  our  lamented  chief. 
Of  the  thousands  present  not  one  had  cause  to  feel  so 
deeply  as  I,  and  I  felt  as  if  alone,  although  surround- 

*  For  the  address,  see  Appendix  A,  Section  1,  No.  11. 

t  The  following  is  a  description  of  two  copper  halfpenny  tokens,  in 
circulation  in  British  North  America  a  few  years  ago.  One  of  the  coins 
bears  on  the  obverse  a  sepulchral  urn  standing  on  a  pedestal,  on  which 
are  inscribed,  "FELL  OCTOBER  13,  1813."  Two  winged  genii  hover  over 
the  urn,  and  crown  it  with  a  wreath  of  laurel :  the  whole  is  surrounded 
with  the  legend,  "SiR  ISAAC  BROCK,  THE  HERO  OF  UPPER  CANADA." 
The  reverse  bears  the  date  1816,  with  the  legend,  "  SUCCESS  TO  COMMERCE, 
AND  PEACE  TO  THE  WORLD." 

The  other  coin  bears  on  the  one  side  a  three-masted  ship  in  full  sail, 
with  the  legend,  "SUCCESS  TO  THE  COMMERCE  OF  UPPER  AND  LOWER 
CANADA  ;  and  on  the  other  side,  "  SIR  ISAAC  BROCK,  THE  HERO  OF 
UPPER  CANADA,  WHO  FELL  AT  THE  GLORIOUS  BATTLE  OF  QUEENSTOWN 
HEIGHTS,  ON  THE  13TH  OCTOBER,  1812." 

t  This  column  cost  nearly  -=£3,000,  Halifax  currency.  See  acts  of  the 
provincial  legislature,  Appendix  A,  Section  1,  No.  12. 

§  For  the  details  of  the  re-interment,  see  Appendix  A,  Section  1,  No.  13. 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  353 

ed  by  the  multitude.  He  had  been  more  than  a 
father  to  me  in  that  regiment  which  he  ruled  like  a 
father,  and  I  alone  of  his  old  friends  in  that  regiment 
was  present  to  embalm  with  a  tear  his  last  honored 
retreat.  What  I  witnessed  on  this  day  would  have 
fully  confirmed  me  in  the  opinion,  had  confirmation 
been  wanting,  that  the  public  feeling  in  this  province 
has  been  permanently  improved  and  elevated  by  Sir 
Isaac  Brock's  conduct  and  actions  while  governing 
its  inhabitants.  These,  together  with  his  dying  in 
their  defence,  have  done  more  towards  cementing  our 
union  with  the  mother  country  than  any  event  or 
circumstance  since  the  existence  of  the  province.  Of 
this  our  leading  men  are  aware,  and  are  careful  to 
seize  every  opportunity  of  preserving  recollections  so 
productive  of  good  effects."  The  ceremony  of  re 
interment  was  indeed  a  most  imposing  one,  and  it 
was  attended  by  the  lieutenant-governor,  Sir  Pere 
grine  Maitland,  and  other  officers  of  rank,  the  judges, 
the  members  of  the  executive  and  legislative  councils 
and  of  the  house  of  assembly,  the  Indian  chiefs  of  the 
Five  Nations,  the  entire  76th  regiment,  several  regi 
ments  of  militia,  &c.  &c.  "  The  time  occupied  in 
moving  from  the  fort  to  Queenstown,  a  distance  of 
nearly  seven  miles,  was  about  three  hours,  including 
stoppages.  Being  arrived  opposite  the  spot  where 
the  lamented  hero  received  his  mortal  wound,  the 
whole  procession  halted,  and  remained  for  a  few  mi 
nutes  in  solemn  pause  !"  The  height  of  the  column,* 
which  commanded  a  view  of  the  surrounding  country 
for  about  fifty  miles,  was  from  the  base  to  the  sum 
mit  13-5  feet,  and  from  the  level  of  the  Niagara 
river,  which  runs  nearly  under  it,  485  feet.  It  was 
built  with  grey  coloured  limestone  of  primitive  form 
ation,  and  approaching  to  white,  all  the  exterior  being 

*  It  was  a  Tuscan  column  on  a  rustic  pedestal,  with  a  pedestal  for  a 
statue ;  the  diameter  of  the  base  of  the  column  was  seventeen  feet  six 
inches,  and  the  abacus  of  the  capital  was  surrounded  with  an  iron  railing. 
The  centre  shaft,  containing  the  spiral  wooden  staircase,  was  ten  feet  in 
diameter. 


354  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

executed  with  cut  stone  of  superior  workmanship. 
The  following  inscription  was  engraven  on  this  splen 
did  tribute  to  the  unfading  remembrance  of  a  grateful 
people :  * 

UPPER  CANADA 

HAS   DEDICATED   THIS   MONUMENT 

TO  THE   MEMORY   OF  THE   LATE 

MAJOR-GENERAL   SIR  ISAAC   BROCK,   K.B. 

PROVISIONAL   LIEUT. -GOVERNOR   AND   COMMANDER  OF  THE   FORCES 

IN   THIS   PROVINCE, 
WHOSE   REMAINS  ARE   DEPOSITED   IN  THE   VAULT   BENEATH. 

OPPOSING  THE   INVADING  ENEMY, 
HE   FELL  IN  ACTION  N3AR  THESE   HEIGHTS, 

ON   THE    13th    OCTOBER,    1312, 
IN  THE   43rd   YEAR   OF   HIS   AGE, 

REVERED  AND   LAMENTED 
BY  THE   PEOPLE   WHOM   HE    GOVERNED, 

AND   DEPLORED  BY  THE    SOVEREIGN 
TO  WHOSE    SERVICE    HIS   LIFE   HAD   BEEN    DEVOTED. 


The  cataract  of  Niagara  is  supposed  to  have  com 
menced  on  the  heights  of  Queenstown,  and  to  have 
gradually  receded,  or  worn  its  way  backwards  to  its 
present  site,  seven  miles  above,  near  Chippawah,  the 
banks  of  the  river  on  both  sides  between  the  two  spots 
being  perpendicular,  250  to  300  feet  in  height,  chiefly 
of  solid  rock,  and  of  the  same  level  as  the  fall.f 

"  The  village  of  Queenstown  is  beautifully  situated 
at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  and  upon  the  side  of  the  Niagara 
river,  the  bank  of  which  is  high  and  precipitous.  The 
imagination  is  agreeably  struck  with  the  first  view  of 
the  place.  On  one  side  of  the  village  is  a  mountain 
covered  with  a  shrubbery  and  verdure;  —  behind,  a 
rich  and  cultivated  plain  extends  backwards,  which 

*  We  speak  in  the  past  tense,  because  the  column,  as  will  be  seen 
in  the  sequel,  was  so  much  injured  in  1840  as  to  require  its  recon 
struction. 

t  Mr.  Bakewell  estimates  the  recession  during  the  present  century  at 
three  feet  per  year,  while  Mr.  Lyell,  the  celebrated  geologist,  thinks  one 
foot  a  more  probable  estimate,  and  computes  that  it  must  have  taken  at 
least  35,000  years  to  wear  away  the  intervening  space  !  ! 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  355 

is  bounded  in  every  direction  by  luxuriant  woods ; 
while  in  front,  the  Niagara  river  glides  in  majestic 
stillness,  and  may  be  traced,  with  all  its  windings, 
till  its  waters  are  swallowed  up  in  the  vast  expanse  of 
Lake  Ontario.  The  soil  around  Queenstown  consists 
chiefly  of  a  red  clay,  the  bright  colour  of  which,  upon 
the  roads  and  declivities  where  it  is  exposed,  forms  a 
singular  contrast,  during  summer,  with  the  pure 
green  of  the  trees  and  fields  in  the  vicinity 

"  Queenstown  must  infallibly  acquire  magnitude 
and  importance  when  the  province  becomes  populous 
and  flourishing,  for  it  is  situated  at  the  commence 
ment  of  a  portage  which  never  can  be  evaded  by 
any  improvement  in  the  navigation,  it  being  rendered 
necessary  by  the  falls  of  Niagara ;  therefore,  all 
vessels  containing  goods  and  stores  destined  for  the 
western  parts  of  Upper  Canada  must  unload  and 
leave  their  cargoes  at  Queenstown,  that  they  may  be 
conveyed  overland  to  Chippewa,  where  the  Niagara 
river  again  becomes  navigable.  Even  now,  a  good 
deal  of  this  carrying  business  jroes  on  during  the 
summer  months.  The  North-West  Company  for 
ward  a  considerable  quantity  of  stores  to  the  Indian 
territories  by  this  route,  and  the  country  merchants 
receive  annual  supplies  of  goods  from  Montreal,  and 
send  down  pork,  flour,  staves,  and  potash,  in  return.* 

"  The  environs  of  Queenstown  are  beautifully  pic 
turesque  and  romantic,  and  nothing  can  be  finer  than 
the  prospect  up  the  Niagara  river.  Immediately 
above  the  village  its  channel  narrows  very  much,  and 
the  banks  rise  to  the  height  of  300  feet  perpendicular, 
while  at  the  same  time  they  become  wild  and  rocky, 
and  are  thickly  covered  with  trees  of  various  kinds. 
In  some  places  they  partly  over-arch  the  river,  and 
throw  an  appalling  gloom  upon  its  waters,  now  dashed 
into  turbulence  and  impetuosity  by  the  ruggedness  of 
their  sloping  bed. 

*  The  construction  of  the  Welland  canal  has  since  furnished  better 
means  of  transport  between  the  two  lakes  by  another  route,  and  Queens- 
town  has  in  consequence  lost  the  advantage  which  it  once  possessed. 


356  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

"  At  the  ferry,  the  Niagara  river  is  1,250  feet  in 
breadth,  and  from  200  to  300  in  depth.  The  current 
is  very  rapid,  and  the  wreathing  and  perturbed  ap- 
pQarance  of  the  water  shews  that  its  course  is  much 
impeded  by  the  narrowness  of  the  channel,  which 
must  be  entirely  composed  of  rocks ;  for,  otherwise, 
the  continual  and  rapid  attrition  of  such  a  large  river 
as  that  which  flows  through  it,  would  undermine  and 
wear  away  the  banks,  and  thus  gradually  enlarge  and 
widen  its  course. 

"  The  prospect  from  the  top  of  Queenstown  moun 
tain  is  the  finest  and  most  extensive  that  Upper 
Canada  affords,  and,  in  an  eminent  degree,  combines 
the  beautiful  and  the  magnificent.  The  wild  and 
majestic  precipices  which  engulf  one  part  of  the 
Niagara  river,  the  windings  and  mirrored  expanse  of 
that  noble  body  of  water,  the  dim  and  undiscoverable 
extent  of  Lake  Ontario,  together  with  the  verdant 
orchards,  thick  forests,  and  improved  fields,  glow 
ing  beneath  a  pure  sky,  collectively  form  a  scene  of 
admirable  effect  and  composition.  Even  York,  which 
is  36  miles  distant,  and  lies  very  low,  can  be  seen 
from  the  summit  of  this  hill  during  clear  weather."  * 


ON  THE  DEATH  OF  MAJOR-GENERAL  BROCK. 

Low  bending  o'er  the  rugged  bier 
The  soldier  drops  the  mournful  tear, 
For  life  departed,  valour  driven, 
Fresh  from  the  field  of  death  to  heaven. 

But  time  shall  fondly  trace  the  name 

Of  BROCK  upon  the  scrolls  of  Fame, 

And  those  bright  laurels,  which  should  wave 

Upon  the  brow  of  one  so  brave, 

Shall  flourish  vernal  o'er  his  grave. 

J.  H.  R. 

*  Howison's  Sketches  of  Upper  Canada.    London,  1821. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  357 


CHAPTER    XV. 

( HISTORICAL. ) 


"  If  I  might  give  a  short  hint  to  an  impartial  writer,  it  would  be  to  tell 
him  his  fate.  If  he  resolves  to  venture  upon  the  dangerous  precipice  of 
telling  unbiassed  truth,  let  him  proclaim  war  with  mankind  — neither  to 
give  nor  to  take  quarter."  DB  FOE. 


Sir  Isaac  Brock  was  succeeded  in  his  civil  and 
military  commands  in  Upper  Canada  by  Major- 
General  Sheaffe,  *  who  was  created  a  baronet  for  the 
dearly  bought  victory  of  'Queenstown,  which  was 
scarcely  achieved  ere  he  agreed,  on  the  same  after 
noon  of  the  fatal  13th  of  October,  to  a  cessation  of 
firing  for  three  days,  on  condition  of  the  Americans 
destroying  their  bateaux,  which  they  complied  with  ; 
and  the  truce  was  prolonged  on  the  16th  to  an  indefi 
nite  period. t  After  the  battle,  General  Wadsworth 
and  some  of  the  principal  American  officers  were 
paroled,  the  remainder  proceeding  to  Quebec.  Among 
the  prisoners,  23  were  found  to  be  deserters  from 
English  regiments,  and  British  born  subjects ;  and 

*  Both  the  Canadas  were  now  governed  by  British  officers,  born  in  the 
United  States. 

t  "D.G.O.  Fort  George,  13th  October,  1812.— A  cessation  of  firing  hav 
ing  been  agreed  on  by  Major-General  Sheaffe  and  Major-General  Van 
Rensselaer,  commanding  the  American  troops  at  Lewistown,  &c.,  for  three 
days,  ending  on  Friday,  the  16th  instant,  at  four  o'clock,  p.  m.,  the  officers 
commanding  the  several  posts  on  the  line  will  regulate  their  conduct 
accordingly.  THOMAS  EVANS,  B.  M." 

"D.G.O.  Fort  George,  l6th  October,  1812.— A  prolongation  of  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  having  been  agreed  upon  between  Major-General 
Sheaffe  and  Major-General  Van  Rensselaer  for  an  undefined  period,  the 
officers  commanding  posts  along  the  line  will  strictly  govern  themselves 
accordingly  until  further  orders.  By  order.  THOMAS  EVANS,  B.M." 


358  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

they  were  sent  to  England  for  trial  as  traitors.  T.his 
caused  a  retaliation  upon  British  prisoners  in  the 
United  States,  and  an  equal  number  were  put  by  the 
American  government  into  close  confinement  as  host 
ages  for  the  security  of  the  traitors. 

On  the  18th  of  October,  General  Smyth  assumed 
the  command  at  Niagara,  and  applied  to  the  British 
general  for  an  armistice ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
well-known  prejudicial  effect  of  the  former  one  pro 
posed  by  Sir  George  Prevost,  it  was  also  agreed  to 
by  Major-General  Sheaife  !  *  This  unaccountable 
proceeding,  as  might  easily  have  been  foreseen,  proved 
of  material  detriment  to  the  British  on  Lake  Erie, 
as  the  Americans  availed  themselves  of  so  favorable 
an  occasion  to  forward  their  naval  stores  unmolested 
from  Black  Rock  to  Presqu'ile  by  water,  which  they 
could  not  otherwise  have  effected  but  with  immense 
trouble  and  expense  by  land,  and  equipped  at  leisure 
the  fleet  which  the  next  year  wrested  from  us  the  com 
mand  of  that  lake.  When  the  enemy  was  prepared 
for  a  third  invasion  of  Upper  Canada,  General  Smyth 
did  not  fail  to  give  the  thirty  hours  notice  required 
for  the  cessation  of  the  armistice,  which  terminated 
on  the  20th  of  November. 

"  After  the  surrender  of  Detroit,"  said  the  inha 
bitants  of  Niagara  in  their  spirited  letter  to  Sir 
George  Prevost,  already  quoted,  (page  297,)  "the 
enemy  were  suffered  unmolested  to  concentrate  a 
large  force  on  the  Niagara,  at  Sackett's  Harbour  on 
Lake  Ontario,  and  at  Ogdensburg  on  the  St.  Law 
rence  ;  they  were  not  interrupted  in  bringing  forward 
to  these  places  a  large  quantity  of  field  and  heavy 
artillery,  with  the  requisite  supplies  of  ammunition, 
and  in  equipping  a  flotilla,  to  dispute  with  us  the 
superiority  of  the  lakes.  When  their  preparations 

*  "But  General  Sheaffe,  like  his  superior,  was  a  lover  of  armistices, 
and  after  the  action  he  concluded  one  of  his  own  with  the  American 
general,  for  which  no  reason,  civil  or  military,  was  ever  assigned. " — 
Quarterly  Review,  July,  1822;  article,  "  Campaigns  in  the  Canadas." 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  359 

were  complete — when  our  regular  and  militia  forces 
were  nearly  exhausted  with  incessant  watching  and 
fatigue,  occasioned  by  the  movements  of  the  enemy, 
which  kept  them  constantly  on  the  alert  by  uncer 
tainty  as  to  the  point  of  attack — they  at  length,  on 
the  13th  of  October,  attacked  our  line  at  Queenstown. 
The  behaviour  of  both  regulars  and  militia  on  that 
memorable  occasion  is  well  known  to  your  excellency, 
and  added  another  wreath  to  the  laurels  they  had 
gained  at  Detroit :  the  glories  of  that  day  were,  how 
ever,  obscured  by  the  death  of  our  beloved  and  now 
lamented  chief,  whose  exertions  had  prepared  the 
means  of  achieving  this  great  victory.  This  was 
another  triumph  for  the  militia ;  they  had  fairly 
measured  their  strength  with  the  enemy,  and  derived 
additional  confidence  from  the  glorious  result.  Here 
was  another  opportunity  that  slipped  away  without 
being  improved  :  Fort  Niagara  was  abandoned  by 
the  enemy,  and  might  have  been  with  the  greatest 
ease  destroyed,  and  its  guns  brought  away  by  a 
trifling  force.  It  is  neither  necessary,  nor  do  we  feel 
inclined  to  enter  into  the  causes  why  it  was  not  done ; 
we  have,  however,  the  strongest  reason  to  believe 
that,  had  General  Brock  survived,  it  would  have 
been  attempted.*  In  addition  to  this  (as  we  consider 
it)  capital  error,  Major  Mullaney,  and  other  natural 
born  subjects  of  his  majesty,  actually  taken  in  arms 
as  commissioned  officers  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  were  released  and  allowed  to  return  on  parole 
to  that  country ;  and  a  partial  armistice  was  agreed 
to,  liable  to  be  broken  off  at  thirty  hours  notice, 
which  could  be  productive  of  no  real  advantage  to 
us,  nor  give  any  repose  to  our  harassed  and  suffering 
militia,  though  it  enabled  the  enemy  to  recruit  his 

*  "  Such  was  the  dismay  of  the  enemy  at  the  result  of  the  action  at 
Queenstown,  that  had  General  Sheaffe,  who  commanded  after  the  death 
of  Brock,  crossed  over  immediately  afterwards,  as  it  is  said  he  was 
strongly  urged  by  his  officers  to  do,  the  fort  of  Niagara,  which  its  garrison 
had  even  evacuated  for  some  time,  might  have  been  captured,  and  the 
whole  of  that  line  cleared  of  the  American  troops."— Quarterly  Revieu 


360  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

strength  and  organize  at  will  the  means  of  attacking 
us  anew.  He  was  observed  busily  and  actively  em 
ployed,  throughout  a  great  part  of  the  month  of 
November,  collecting  boats  on  the  Fort  Erie  end  of 
the  line ;  and  when  his  preparations  were  complete, 
he  gave  notice  of  the  termination  of  the  armistice  on 
the  20th." 

"  When  General  Wilkinson  complains,"  observes 
the  British  historian,  James,  "  that  the  executive  has 
not  rendered  l  common  justice  to  the  principal  actors 
in  this  gallant  scene,' — not  exhibited  it  to  the  country 

*  in  its  true  light,  and  shewn  what  deeds  Americans 
are  still  capable  of  performing,'*  —  who  among  us 
can  retain  his  gravity  ?    '  It  is  true,'  says  the  general, 
'  complete  success  did  not  ultimately  crown  this  en 
terprise  ;    but  two  great  ends  were  obtained  for  the 
country  :    it  re-established  the  character  of  the  Ame 
rican  arms;'  —  it  did  indeed!  —  'and  deprived  the 
enemy,  by  the  death  of  General  Brock,  of  the  best 
officer  that  has  headed  their  troops  in  Canada  through 
out  the  war;' — truth  undeniable!  —  *  and,  with  his 
loss,  put  an  end  to  their  then  brilliant  career;' — yet 
the  capture  of  General  Wads  worth  took  place  in  less 
than  five  hours  afterwards. 

"The  instant  we  know  what  the  Americans  expect 
ed  to  gain,  a  tolerable  idea  may  be  formed  of  what 
they  actually  lost  by  the  attack  upon  Queenstown. 
General  Van  Rensselaer,  in  a  letter  to  Major-General 
Dearborn,  written  five  days  previously,  says  thus : 

*  Should  we  succeed,  we  shall  effect  a  great  discom 
fiture  of  the  enemy,  by  breaking  their  line  of  com 
munication,  driving  their  shipping  from  the  mouth 
of  this  river,  leaving  them  no  rallying  point  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  appalling  the  minds  of  the  Cana 
dians,  and  opening  a  wide  and  safe  communication 
for  our  supplies;   we  shall  save  our  own  land — wipe 

*  From  an  American  work  — Major- General  James  Wilkinson's  "Me- 
moirs  of  my  own  Time,"  published  in  1816.— ED. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  361 

away  part  of  the  score  of  our  past  disgrace  —  get 
excellent  barracks  and  winter  quarters,  and  at  least 
be  prepared  for  an  early  campaign  another  year/ 

"  It  is  often  said,  that  we  throw  away  by  the  pen 
what  we  gain  by  the  sword.  Had  General  Brock 
been  less  prodigal  of  his  valuable  life,  and  survived 
the  Queenstown  battle,  he  would  have  made  the  13th 
of  October  a  still  more  '  memorable7  day,  by  crossing 
the  river  and  carrying  Fort  Niagara,  which,  at  that 
precise  time,  was  nearly  stripped  of  its  garrison. 
Instead  of  doing  this,  and  thus  putting  an  end  to  the 
campaign  upon  the  Niagara  frontier,  Major-General 
Sheaffe,  General  Brock's  successor,  allowed  himself 
to  be  persuaded  to  sign  an  armistice." 

Having  given  these  two  extracts,  we  think  it  due 
to  Major-General  SheafFe  and  to  truth  to  add,  that  as 
regards  the  attack  on  Fort  Niagara,  much  allowance 
should  be  made  for  his  being  so  suddenly  and  unex 
pectedly  called  to  the  chief  command,  even  if  such 
an  attack  had  been  prudent  and  feasible,  which, 
however,  admits  of  much  doubt.  But  of  the  impo 
licy  of  the  armistice  there  can,  we  conceive,  be  no 
question  ;  and  we  are  assured,  on  the  best  authority, 
that  it  excited  very  general  disgust  at  the  time. 

In  November,  the  Americans  were  already  in 
command  of  Lake  Ontario,*  Commodore  Chauncey 
having  sailed  from  Sackett's  Harbour  on  the  6th  with 
one  brig  and  six  schooners,  mounting  altogether  40 
guns,  and  carrying  430  men,  including  marines  ;  and 
their  fleet,  after  chasing  the  Royal  George  into  King 
ston,  captured  on  the  12th  the  transport  sloop  Eliza 
beth,  on  board  of  which  was  Mr.  Brock,  f  paymaster 

*  "  But  the  most  fatal  and  palpable  error  of  the  commander-in-chief  was 
his  neglect  to  preserve  that  ascendancy  on  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario  which 
was  actually  enjoyed  by  the  British  at  the  opening  of  the  contest.  Tile 
command  of  these  lakes  is  so  evidently  an  object  of  primary  consideration, 
in  the  defence  of  the  Canadas,  that  it  is  perfectly  inconceivable  how  any  man 
in  Sir  George  Prevost's  situation  could  have  been  so  infatuated  as  to  disre 
gard  the  importance  of  maintaining  his  superiority." — Quarterly  Review. 

t  James  Brock  was  first  a  lieutenant  of  the  8Qth  regiment,  and  next 
paymaster  of  the  4gth,  in  which  situation  he  died  of  cholera  at  Benares, 
R 


362  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

of  the  49th.  He  was  paroled  by  Commodore  Chaun- 
cey,  who,  to  his  credit  be  it  said,  immediately  re 
stored  "the  plate  and  effects  belonging  to  his  late 
illustrious  relative,"  which  he  was  conveying  from 
Fort  George  to  Kingston.  The  box  of  letters  and 
other  papers,  from  which  this  little  work  has  been 
principally  compiled,  was,  we  believe,  among  these 
effects ;  and  we  gladly  seize  this  opportunity  to  ex 
press  the  obligation  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  family  to 
the  commodore  for  his  generosity  on  this  occasion.* 
The  propriety  of  Major-General  Brock's  intention  of 
attacking  Sackett's  Harbour  only  two  months  before 
must  now  be  manifest,  as  had  it  fallen,  as  is  probable, 
this  very  squadron  would  doubtless  have  been  found 
in  the  course  of  preparation,  and  the  whole  of  the 
vessels  brought  off  or  destroyed. 

Sir  Roger  Sheaffe  appears  to  have  been  so  alarmed 
by  the  ascendancy  of  the  enemy  on  Lake  Ontario, 
that  he  proposed  immediately  to  Sir  Georgte  Prevost 
to  abandon  the  Niagara  frontier,  and,  as  a  natural 
consequence,  the  whole  of  Upper  Canada  west  of 
either  York  or  Kingston,  probably  the  latter.  The 
governor-general  seems  to  have  lent  a  willing  ear  to 
this  proposal,  and  to  have  given  instructions  to  save 
the  troops  at  all  hazards ;  but  General  Sheaffe  was 
happily  restrained  from  his  purpose  by  the  pressing 
remonstrances  of  the  militia  field  officers  and  other 
leading  men  of  the  frontier,  who  urged  him  to  main- 

in  India.  Five  other  Brocks,  first  cousins  of  the  general,  were  in  the 
army  ;  among  them  was  Major  James  Brock,  of  the  16th  Light  Dragoons, 
who  died  young,  and  the  present  Colonel  Saumarez  Brock,  who  served  as 
a  captain  of  the  43d  Light  Infantry  throughout  the  Peninsular  war  and  at 
New  Orleans,  and  has  a  pension  for  wounds.  Another  first  cousin,  Philip 
Brock,  midshipman  of  H.  M.  S.  Echo,  was  overtaken  on  shore  by  a  snow 
storm  in  Newfoundland,  and  frozen  to  death. 

*  "  It  has  already  been  noticed,  that  a  vessel  captured  on  Lake  Ontario, 
in  which  was  Captain  Brock,  had  on  board,  among  other  valuable  arti 
cles,  12,000  dollars  in  specie.  This  appears  to  have  been  the  private 
property  of  the  late  Major-General  Brock ;  and  the  fact  being  made  known 
to  our  sailors,  they  unanimously  agreed  to  relinquish  it.  Thus  do  our 
tars  beat  the  enemy,  as  well  in  generosity  as  in  gallantry." — Niles'  Weekly 
Register,  Baltimore,  December  12,  1812. — Not  one  word  of  truth  as  regards 
the  specie,  and  three-fourths  of  the  tars  were  probably  British  subjects. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  363 

tain  his  position,  and  to  evince  a  firm  determination 
of  resistance  to  the  last.  The  inhabitants  of  the  dis 
trict  were  naturally  indignant  at  the  intention  of 
being  thus  hurriedly  abandoned  ;  and  in  their  letter 
of  December  16,  1812,  already  twice  cited,  they 
expressed  themselves  in  terms  which,  however  dis 
pleasing  to  the  two  commanders,  became  free  and 
gallant  men,  anxious  to  defend  their  homes  and  pro 
perties.  On  the  other  hand,  the  situation  of  the 
British  troops,  both  on  the  Niagara  and  Detroit, 
must  have  been  one  of  much  anxiety,  as  had  the 
enemy  possessed  sufficient  enterprise  to  embark  a 
strong  land  force  on  board  their  squadron,  and  to 
debark  it  on  the  Canadian  shore  in  the  rear  of  Sir 
Roger  Sheaffe's  division,  the  latter  might  not  only 
have  been  taken  in  reverse,  but  placed  between  two 
fires;  and  the  retreat  of  Colonel  Proctor's  little  army 
have  been  equally  endangered  or  cut  off. 

On  the  27th  of  April,  1813,  York  was  captured  by 
Major-General  Dearborn,  with  about  1,700  American 
troops,  embarked  in  fourteen  sail  of  armed  vessels, 
that  post  being  occupied  by  650  regulars  and  militia, 
with  from  40  to  50  Indians,  the  whole  under  the 
immediate  command  of  Sir  Roger  Sheaffe.  In  re 
sisting  the  enemy,  the  grenadier  company  of  the  8th 
(the  king's)  regiment  greatly  distinguished  themselves, 
losing  their  captain,  M'Neal,  and  being  nearly  anni 
hilated.*  By  an  explosion  of  the  powder  magazine, 
to  which  a  train  had  been  laid,  260  of  the  Americans 
were  killed  or  wounded,  including  Brigadier  Pike 
among  the  former ;  and  they  were  thrown  into  such 
confusion, f  that  an  immediate  and  resolute  attack 

*  There  were  only  two  companies  of  the  8th  engaged  at  York,  and  they 
had  1  captain,  l  sergeant-major,  3  sergeants,  40  rank  and  file  killed  — 
total,  45  killed  and  49  wounded,  partly,  however,  by  the  explosion  of  a 
wooden  powder  magazine  —  an  unusually  severe  loss  and  little  known, 
because  their  gallantry  was  exerted  on  an  unfortunate  occasion.  At  the 
battle  of  Maida,  the  entire  loss  of  the  British  army  in  killed  was  precisely 
the  same  as  that  of  these  two  companies,  viz.  l  officer,  3  sergeants,  and 
41  rank  and  file. 

t  "  General  Sheaffe  has  been  much  blamed,  first  for  the  injudicious 
position  of  the  troops,  by  which  the  grenadier  company  of  the  8th  regi- 


364  LIFE    A.ND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

would  probably  have  sent  them  back  to  their  ships. 
The  British  general  "  drew  off  his  regulars  and  left 
the  rest  to  capitulate  within  the  town,  wherein  consi 
derable  public  stores  were  lost;"*  and  the  Americans, 
having  secured  their  booty,  re-embarked  and  sailed 
on  the  2nd  of  May  for  Niagara.  The  inhabitants  of 
York  do  not  appear  to  have  been  satisfied  with  the 
conduct  of  Major-General  SheafFe  in  this  affair;  and, 
although  it  was  not  ascertained  whether  his  removal 
was  the  result  of  the  displeasure  of  the  commander- 
in-chief,  he  was  replaced  in  June  or  July  by  Major- 
General  de  Rottenburg,  and  on  his  arrival  in  the 
Lower  Province  he  assumed  the  command  of  the 
troops  in  the  district  of  Montreal. f  As  the  number 
of  the  American  troops,  although  all  were  not  landed, 
exceeded  that  of  the  British  in  proportion  of  nearly 
three  to  one,  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  inhabitants  of 
York  certainly  does  seem,  at  this  distance  of  time,  to 
have  been  unreasonable ;  and  if  this  were  the  only 
cause  for  removing  Sir  Roger  SheafFe,  we  conceive 
that  he  was  treated  with  harshness  and  injustice ; 
although,  on  the  other  hand,  we  believe  that  he  was 
in  the  same  category  as  very  many  other  officers, 
who,  however  well  they  may  discharge  subordinate 
duties,  are  unequal,  in  an  emergence  like  this,  to  the 
complicated  functions  of  the  command  of  an  army 
and  the  government  of  a  province.  A  few  months 
after,  the  Baron  de  Rottenburg  was  in  his  turn  suc 
ceeded  by  Lieut-General  Gordon  Drummond,  who 
commanded  in  Upper  Canada  to  the  end  of  the  war, 
having  been  sent  out  from  England  expressly  for  that 
purpose  in  the  Ethalion  frigate,  with  a  strong  convoy 
for  Quebec,  in  the  autumn  of  1813,  and  accompanied 
by  Major-General  Riall,  as  his  second  in  command. 

ment,  who  behaved  with  great  gallantry,  were  exposed  to  be  cut  to  pieces 
in  a  wood,  and  again  for  not  returning  to  the  attack,  after  the  explosion 
of  a  powder  magazine  had  destroyed  250  of  the  enemy,  and  thrown  them 
into  confusion." — Quarterly  Review. 

*  Pictorial  History  of  England.  t  Christie's  Memoirs,  before  cited. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  365 

We  have  alluded  (page  296)  to  the  discomfiture 
of  Sir  George  Prevost  before  Sackett's  Harbour, 
that  naval  arsenal  whose  destruction  Major-General 
Brock  was  so  unfortunately  prevented  from  under 
taking.  •  The  governor-general  having  proceeded  in 
May,  1813,  from  Montreal  to  Kingston  with  Sir  James 
Yeo,  who  had  just  arrived  from  England  to  com 
mand  the  British  naval  forces  on  the  lakes — the 
squadron  on  Lake  Ontario  now  consisting  of  two 
ships,  a  brig,  and  two  schooners  —  the  public  was  on 
the  tiptoe  of  expectation  for  some  decisive  dash  on 
the  enemy's  flotilla  on  that  lake.  An  attack  upon 
Sackett's  Harbour,  in  the  absence  of  their  fleet  at 
Niagara,  was  resolved  upon,  so  as  to  destroy  "the 
forts,  the  arsenals,  and  the  dock-yard,  where  the 
Americans  had  a  frigate  almost  ready  for  launching, 
and  several  other  vessels;  but  when  this  wavering 
and  spiritless  general  reconnoitred  the  place,  he 
would  not  venture  an  attack,  and  returned  across  the 
water  towards  Kingston.  Then  he  changed  his  mind 
and  went  back  to  Sackett's  Harbour ;  and  (but  not 
without  more  wavering  and  loss  of  time)  our  troops, 
about  750  strong,  were  landed.  The  Americans  were 
presently  driven  at  the  bayonet's  point  into  some 
loop-holed  barracks  and  forts ;  and  so  panic-stricken 
were  they,  that  they  immediately  set  fire  to  their  new 
frigate,  their  naval  barracks  and  arsenal,  and  destroy 
ed  a  gun-brig  and  all  the  stores  which  had  so  recently 
been  captured  at  York.  While  the  arsenal  was  in 
flames,  while  the  Americans  were  flying  through  the 
village,  and  when  the  complete  success  of  the  assail 
ants  was  certain,  Sir  George  Prevost  sent  a  precipi 
tate  order  for  retreat,  merely  because  a  momentary 
resistance  was  offered  by  a  party  of  Americans,  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  log-barracks !  The  British 
troops  reluctantly  obeyed  their  general's  order  and 
returned  to  their  boats,  men  and  officers  being  acutely 
sensible  to  his  folly,  and  wondering  by  what  means 
so  incompetent  a  commander  had  been  placed  over 


366  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

them.  If  Sir  George  Prevost  had  studied  the  history 
of  the  war  of  the  American  revolution,  it  could  only 
have  been  with  an  eye  to  copy  all  the  indecisions  and 
blunders  of  the  formalising,  badly  instructed  English 
generals  of  that  period.  But  the  Howes,  Clintons, 
and  Burgoynes,  were  at  least  always  ready  to  fight. 
As  soon  as  the  Americans  could  believe  that  the 
English  were  really  abandoning  their  enterprise  at 
the  moment  that  it  was  all  but  completed,  they 
rushed  back  to  stop  the  conflagration  :  they  were  too 
late  to  save  the  stores  which  had  been  brought  from 
York,  the  navy  barracks,  or  the  brig,  but  the  frigate 
on  the  stocks,  being  built  of  green  wood,  would  not 
easily  burn,  and  was  found  but  little  injured.  If  the 
destruction  at  Sackett's  Harbour  had  been  completed, 
we  should  have  deprived  the  Americans  of  every 
prospect  of  obtaining  the  ascendancy  on  the  lake."* 
And,  as  if  to  crown  this  miserable  failure,  the  details 
were  narrated  by  the  adjutant-general,  in  a  dispatch 
to  Sir  George  Prevost,  as  if  Colonel  Baynes  had 
commanded  in  chief,  and  the  governor-general  had 
been  present  as  a  mere  spectator  !f 

From  these  humiliating  occurrences  on  Lake  On 
tario,  we  turn  to  the  captured  post  of  Detroit,  which, 
it  will  be  remembered,  was  left  by  Major-General 
Brock  in  charge  of  Colonel  Proctor.  No  sooner 
had  intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  Hull  reached 
Washington,  than  the  renewal  of  the  North- Western 
army  for  the  recovery  of  the  Michigan  territory  be 
came  the  anxious  object  of  the  American  government. 
That  army,  which  eventually^outnumbered  the  former 

*  Extract  from  the  Pictorial  History  of  England. 

+  "  Sir  George  Prevost  was  beyond  all  doubt  the  immediate  commander 
of  this  expedition.  But  he  found  it  convenient  not  to  appear  in  that 
character ;  and  the  only  detail  of  operations  was  in  the  shape  of  a  dis 
patch  from  the  adjutant-general  to  himself,  obligingly  communicating 
what  was  already  sufficiently  known  to  him.  By  this  ingenious  device, 
he  in  some  measure  averted  the  exposure  of  miscarriage  from  himself, 
and  generously  yielded  his  laurels,  such  as  they  were,  to  his  grateful  and 
submissive  follower." — Quarterly  Review. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  367 

one,  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Major-General 
Harrison,  (who  died  a  few  years  since,  while  president 
of  the  United  States,)  and  in  September  was  in  full 
march  for  the  Miami  (or  Maumee)  rapids,  the  spot 
assigned  as  the  general  rendezvous.  In  January,  1813, 
Colonel  Proctor  received  information  that  a  brigade 
of  that  army,  under  Brigadier  Winchester,  was  en 
camped  at  Frenchtown,  on  the  river  Raisin,  40  miles 
south  of  Detroit.  The  British  commander,  although 
he  had.  orders  not  to  act  on  the  offensive,  promptly 
determined  to  attack  this  brigade  before  it  was  rein 
forced  by  the  main  body,  a  few  days  march  in  the 
rear  ;  and  with  his  disposable  force,  consisting  of  500 
regulars,  militia,  and  seamen,  he  made  a  resolute 
assault,  at  dawn  on  the  22d,  on  the  enemy's  camp, 
which  was  completely  successful.  In  this  affair,  the 
Americans  lost  between  3  and  400  men  killed ;  and 
Brigadier  Winchester,  3  field  officers,  9  captains,  20 
subalterns,  and  upwards  of  500  men,  in  prisoners. 
This  gallant  exploit  secured  Detroit  from  any  imme 
diate  danger,  but  the  day  after  it  was  sadly  tarnished 
by  the  straggling  Indians,  who  massacred  such  wound 
ed  prisoners  as  were  unable  to  walk,  the  guard  left 
for  their  protection  deserting  their  charge  on  a  false 
alarm  of  General  Harrison's  approach.  This  success, 
for  which  Colonel  Proctor  was  immediately  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  brigadier,  together  with  the  spoil 
obtained  at  Frenchtown,  brought  down  several  warlike 
tribes  of  Indians  from  the  river  Wabash,  and  even 
from  the  more  distant  Mississippi,  to  join  the  British 
standard.  Towards  the  end  of  March,  Proctor  learnt 
that  General  Harrison  intended  to  commence  actiye 
operations  for  the  recovery  of  the  Michigan  territory, 
on  the  arrival  of  considerable  reinforcements,  which 
he  was  expecting.  Resolved  to  try  the  issue  of  ano 
ther  attack  before  the  enemy,  already  much  superior 
in  numbers,  gained  a  fresh  acquisition  of  strength, 
Proctor  embarked  at  Amherstburg  with  520  regulars 
and  460  militia,  and  made  for  the  mouth  of  the  Miami, 


368  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

(or  Maumee, )  which  falls  into  Lake  Erie.  He  as 
cended  that  river,  about  1,200  Indians  co-operating 
with  him,  and  landed  his  troops,  stores,  and  ordnance, 
on  the  28th  of  April,  near  Fort  Meigs,  (about  twelve 
miles  from  its  mouth,)  mounting  eighteen  guns,  which 
he  cannonaded  from  both  banks  of  the  Miami.  On 
the  5th  of  May,  the  enemy's  long-expected  reinforce 
ments,  under  Brigadier  Clay,  came  suddenly  down 
the  river ;  they  were  1,300  strong,  but  newly-raised 
militia ;  and  as  the  boats  drew  near,  Harrison  ordered 
Clay  to  storm  the  British  batteries  on  the  opposite  or 
north  side  of  the  river,  while  a  sortie  was  made  from 
the  fort  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  the  three  British 
guns  on  the  southern  bank.  For  a  short  period,  the 
British  batteries  on  both  sides  were  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,  but  they  were  quickly  regained  by  bayonet 
charges ;  and  on  the  north  bank  Colonel  Dudley,  after 
spiking  the  captured  guns,  having  marched  with  400 
men  to  attack  the  British  camp,  wras  drawn  into  an 
ambuscade  by  the  Indians,  and  himself  and  about 
half  his  men  were  slain.  Of  the  Americans,  about 
550  men  were  made  prisoners,  and  their  killed  and 
wounded  were  estimated  at  nearly  as  many  more. 
The  far-famed  Tecumseh*  buried  his  tomahawk  in  the 
head  of  a  Chippawah  chief,  whom  he  found  actively 
engaged  in  massacring  some  of  the  prisoners.  But 
as  the  Indians  retired,  as  is  their  wont  after  success,  to 
enjoy  their  plunder,  Tecumseh  and  less  than  twenty 
warriors  only  remaining ;  and  as  half  of  the  militia 
also  returned  to  their  homes,  Proctor  was  compelled 
to  raise  the  siege  of  Fort  Meigs.  Having  re-embark 
ed  his  small  force  of  regulars,  chiefly  of  the  41st  (the 
Welsh)  regiment,  and  the  whole  of  his  ordnance  and 
stores,  he  proceeded  to  Sandwich;  while  General 

*  "Among  the  Indians  that  joined  General  Proctor  from  the  Wabash, 
was  the  highly  gifted  and  celebrated  chief,  Tecumseh,  who  united  in  his 
person  all  those  heroic  qualities  which  romance  has  even  delighted  to 
attribute  to  the  '  children  of  the  forest,'  and,  with  them,  intelligence  and 
feelings  that  belonged  not  to  the  savage.  He  possessed  such  influence 
among  his  brethren,  that  his  presence  was  an  acquisition  of  the  utmost 
importance."— Qwarterty  Review,  1822. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  369 

Harrison  abandoned  all  intention  of  advancing  against 
Detroit  until  the  American  squadron  had  gained  the 
command  of  Lake  Erie. 

Major-General  Proctor  having  determined  to  re 
commence  his  attacks  against  the  American  North- 
Western  army,  whose  head  quarters  were  then  at 
Seneca-town,  near  Sandusky  Bay,  on  Lake  Erie,  he 
landed  a  second  time  near  Fort  Meigs  late  in  July, 
which  he  blockaded  for  a  few  days,  in  the  hope  that 
Major-General  Harrison  would  advance  to  its  relief; 
but  the  latter  was  too  wily  to  trust  to  the  issue  of  a 
conflict  with  the  Indians  in  the  woods,  which  sur 
rounded  the  fortress.  A  stratagem  was  then  tried  by 
the  Indians  under  Tecumseh,  to  provoke  the  garrison 
to  a  sortie,  by  firing  briskly  for  some  time,  and  then 
retreating,  as  if  a  reinforcement  from  Sandusky  was 
endeavouring  to  fight  its  way  into  the  fort ;  and  so 
well  was  the  ruse  managed,  that  General  Clay  could 
scarcely  prevent  his  men  from  sallying  out  to  assist 
their  supposed  friends.  The  Indians  were  now  con 
vinced  that  nothing  was  to  be  done  against  Fort 
Meigs,  and  many  of  them  hastily  returned  to  Am- 
herstburg.  Proctor  next  re -embarked  his  troops, 
and  landed  on  the  1st  of  August  near  the  Sandusky 
river,  investing  immediately,  with  nearly  400  regulars 
and  between  200  and  300  Indians,  Fort  Stephenson, 
about  eighteen  miles  from  its  mouth.  On  the  2d,  a 
fire  was  opened  from  two  6-pounders  and  two  5J-inch 
howitzers  against  the  fort,  which  appears  to  have 
possessed  only  one  masked  6-pounder,  and  to  have 
been  garrisoned  by  about  180  men,  under  Major 
Croghan  ;  but  as  the  fire  produced  no  impression,  the 
place  was  ordered  to  be  stormed.  The  assailants 
reached  the  ditch  which  was  raked  by  the  masked 
gun,  and  sustained  in  consequence  so  severe  a  loss, 
that  they  retreated  precipitately,  having  their  gallant 
leader,  'Brevet  Lieut. -Colonel  Short,  of  the  41st, 
with  3  officers  and  52  men,  killed  or  missing,  besides 
3  officers  and  38  men  wounded ;  while  the  Americans 


370  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

had  only  1  killed  and  7  slightly  wounded  ;  and  not 
withstanding  some  of  their  historians  have  been  bom 
bastic  enough  to  compare  the  defence  of  this  little 
fort  to  that  of  the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  probably 
conceiving  also  Major  Croghan  to  be  another  Leo- 
nidas.  The  Indians  did  not  assist  in  the  assault,  with 
drawing  to  a  ravine  out  of  gun  shot.  Thus  foiled, 
Proctor  retired  on  the  3d,  and  after  abandoning 
"  considerable  baggage  and  a  gun-boat  laden  with 
cannon  ball,"  he  returned  to  Amherstburg.  The 
attack  is  said,  even  by  the  British,  to  have  been 
"  ill  digested,"  and  the  expedition  to  have  ended  with 
"  some  disgrace."  * 

Towards  the  end  of  August,  (1813,)  the  American 
squadron,  under  Commodore  Perry,  became  too  pow 
erful  for  the  British,  under  Captain  Barclay,  who 
now  remained  at  Amherstburg  to  await  the  equipment 
of  the  Detroit,  recently  launched.  The  British  forces 
in  the  neighbourhood  falling  short  of  various  supplies, 
for  which  they  depended  chiefly  upon  the  fleet,  Cap 
tain  Barclay  had  no  other  alternative  than  to  risk  a 
general  engagement.  With  this  purpose  he  sailed  on 
the  9th  of  September,  with  his  small  squadron  wretch 
edly  manned,  and  the  next  day  encountered  the  enemy. 
For  some  time  the  fate  of  the  battle  poised  in  favor  of 
the  British,  as  the  principal  American  ship,  the  Law 
rence,  struck  her  colours;  but  a  sudden  breeze  turned 
the  scale  against  them,  and  the  whole  of  their  squa 
dron  was  compelled  to  surrender,  after  a  desperate 
engagement  of  upwards  of  three  hours.  Captain 
Barclay  was  dangerously  wounded;  Captain  Finnis, 
of  the  Queen  Charlotte,  killed;  and  every  comman 
der  and  officer  second  in  command  was  either  killed 
or  wounded. 

Major-General  Proctor's  army  was  deprived,  by 
this  disastrous  defeat,  of  every  prospect  of  obtaining 

*  "  The  retreat  of  Proctor  was  precipitate.  It  is  difficult  to  account  for 
his  leaving  a  gun-boat  in  the  possession  of  the  yictors,  as  it  was  not 
exposed,  to  the  fire  of  the  fort." — Brown's  American  History. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  371 

its  necessary  supplies  through  Lake  Erie,  and  a 
speedy  retreat  towards  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario 
became  inevitable.  Stung-  with  grief  and  indignation, 
Tecuraseh  at  first  refused  to  agree  to  the  measure ; 
and  in  a  council  of  war  held  at  Amherstburg  on  the 
18th  of  September,  he  delivered  his  sentiments  against 
it  in  the  following  extemporaneous  oration,  which 
combines  so  much  pathos  and  dignity  mingled  with 
sarcasm  and  reproach — so  affecting  a  recital  of  past 
injury  and  correct  an  apprehension  of  future  abandon 
ment — such  a  religious  fervour  and  resignation  to 
the  Divine  will  —  that  it  must  command  for  this  un 
lettered  chief  the  love  and  respect  of  the  good  and 
brave  ;  and  yet  the  harangue,  simply  eloquent  as  it 
is,  suffers  under  all  the  disadvantages  of  translation, 
arid  is  indeed  but  the  shadow  of  the  substance,  because 
the  gestures  and  commanding  presence,  the  intonation 
and  rounded  periods  of  the  speaker,  are  neither  heard 
nor  seen  : 

Father,  listen  to  your  children !  you  have  them  now  all 
before  you. 

The  war  before  this,  our  British  father  gave  the  hatchet  to 
his  red  children,  when  our  old  chiefs  were  alive.  They  are 
now  dead.  In  that  war  our  father  was  thrown  on  his  back 
by  the  Americans,  and  our  father  took  them  by  the  hand 
without  our  knowledge ;  and  we  are  afraid  that  our  father 
will  do  so  again  at  this  time. 

The  summer  before  last,  when  I  came  forward  with  my  red 
brethren,  and  was  ready  to  take  up  the  hatchet  in  favor  of 
our  British  father,  we  were  told  not  to  be  in  a  hurry, — that 
he  had  not  yet  determined  to  fight  the  Americans. 

Listen !  When  war  was  declared,  our  father  stood  up  and 
gave  the  tomahawk,  and  told  us  that  he  was  then  ready  to 
strike  the  Americans ;  that  he  wanted  our  assistance ;  and 
that  he  would  certainly  get  us  back  our  lands,  which  the 
Americans  had  taken  from  us. 

Listen !  You  told  us,  at  that  time,  to  bring  forward  our 
families  to  this  place,  and  we  did  so ;  and  you  promised  to 
take  care  of  them,  and  that  they  should  want  for  nothing, 
while  the  men  would  go  and  fight  the  enemy  ;  that  we  need 
not  trouble  ourselves  about  the  enemy's  garrisons  ;  that  we 
knew  nothing  about  them,  and  that  our  father  would  attend 
to  that  part  of  the  contest.  You  also  told  your  red  children 


37*2  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

that  you  would  take  good  care  of  your  garrison  here,  which 
made  our  hearts  glad. 

Listen !  When  we  were  last  at  the  Rapids,  it  is  true  we 
gave  you  little  assistance.  It  is  hard  to  fight  people  who  live 
like  ground  hogs.* 

Father,  listen  !  Our  fleet  has  gone  out ;  we  know  they 
have  fought ;  we  have  heard  the  great  guns  ;  but  we  know 
nothing  of  what  has  happened  to  our  father  with  that  arm. 
Onr  ships  have  gone  one  way,  and  we  are  much  astonished 
to  see  our  father  tying  up  every  thing  and  preparing  to  run 
away  the  other,  without  letting  his  red  children  know  what 
his  intentions  are.  You  always  told  us  to  remain  here  and 
take  care  of  our  lands  ;  it  made  our  hearts  glad  to  hear  that 
was  your  wish.  Our  great  father,  the  king,  is  the  head,  and 
you  represent  him.  You  always  told  us  that  you  would  never 
draw  your  foot  off  British  ground ;  but  now,  father,  we  see 
you  are  drawing  back,  and  we  are  sorry  to  observe  our  father 
doing  so  without  seeing  the  enemy.  We  must  compare  our 
father's  conduct  to  a  fat  dog,  that  carries  its  tail  upon  its 
back,  but,  when  affrighted,  it  drops  it  between  its  legs,  and 
runs  off. 

Father,  listen  !  The  Americans  have  not  yet  defeated  us 
by  land ;  neither  are  we  sure  that  they  have  done  so  by  water : 
we  therefore  wish  to  remain  and  fight  our  enemy,  should  they 
make  their  appearance.  If  they  defeat  us,  we  will  then  retreat 
with  our  father. 

At  the  battle  of  the  Rapids,  last  war,  the  Americans  cer 
tainly  defeated  us ;  and,  when  we  retreated  to  our  father's 
fort  in  the  neighbourhood,  the  gates  were  shut  against  us. 
We  were  afraid  that  it  would  again  be  the  case  ;  but,  instead 
of  closing  the  gates,  we  now  see  our  British  father  preparing 
to  march  out  of  his  garrison. 

Father !  You  have  got  the  arms  and  ammunition  which 
our  great  father  sent  for  his  red  children.  If  you  intend  to 
retreat,  give  them  to  us,  and  you  may  go,  and  welcome  for 
us.  Our  lives  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Great  Spirit.  We  are 
determined  to  defend  our  lands,  and  if  it  be  His  will,  we  wish 
to  leave  our  bones  upon  them. 

The  bulk  of  General  Harrison's  army,  amounting 
altogether  to  fully  6,000  men,  was  transported  in 
boats  on  the  21st  and  22d  of  September  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Portage  river  to  Put-in- J3ay  island, 
16  miles  distant,  while  Colonel  Johnson's  mounted 
regiment,  consisting  of  upwards  of  1,000  horsemen, 

*  Metaphor  apart— people  who  secure  themselves  by  deep  entrenchments. 


SI*R    ISAAC    BROCK.  373 

proceeded  from  Fort  Meigs  by  land  to  Detroit.  The 
troops  were  detained  two  days  in  Put-in-Bay  by 
unfavorable  winds,  but  they  re-embarked  on  the  25th, 
and  in  the  evening  reached  a  small  island  containing 
only  three  or  four  acres,  called  the  Eastern  Sister, 
18  miles  from  Amherstburg  and  7  from  the  coast. 
On  the  26th  it  blew  so  fresh,  that  it  became  necessary 
to  haul  up  the  boats,  to  prevent  their  staving.  The 
next  day  the  troops  proceeded  in  16  vessels  of  war 
and  about  100  boats,  and  landed  at  4  o'clock,  p.  m. 
three  miles  from  Amherstburg,  which  they  imme 
diately  occupied,  Proctor  having  previously  fallen 
back  upon  Sandwich,  after  setting  fire  to  the  navy 
yard,  barracks,  and  public  stores  at  the  former  place. 
The  British  general,  seeing  the  enemy  determined  to 
follow  up  his  first  success  by  an  immediate  attack 
upon  Detroit,*  and  being  unable  with  his  very  inferior 
numbers  to  dispute  the  occupancy  of  that  post,  eva 
cuated  it  and  Sandwich  on  the  26th,  also  destroying 
the  public  property  at  both  posts ;  and  commenced 
his  retreat  on  the  evening  of  the  27th,  along  the  river 
Thames,  with  scarcely  900  officers  and  privates,  chiefly 
of  the  41st  regiment.  In  this  reverse  of  fortune, 
Tecumseh  still  adhered  to  the  British  standard  with 
unswerving  fidelity,  and  with  the  Indians  covered 
the  retreat.  On  the  2d  of  October,  General  Harrison 
proceeded  from  Sandwich  in  pursuit  with  about  3,500 
men,  accompanied  part  of  the  way  by  three  gun 
boats  and  a  number  of  bateaux  up  the  Thames,  which 
is  a  fine  deep  stream,  navigable  for  vessels  of  a  con 
siderable  burthen.  On  the  3d  and  4th,  the  Americans 
succeeded  in  capturing  a  few  prisoners,  a  large  num 
ber  of  muskets,  and  two  24-pounders,  with  a  quantity 
of  balls  and  shells — this  exclusive  of  three  boats 

*  "No  place  in  the  United  States  presents  such  a  series  of  events  in 
teresting  in  themselves,  and  permanently  affecting,  as  they  occurred, 
both  its  progress  and  prosperity.  Five  times  its  flag  has  changed  ;  three 
different  sovereignties  have  claimed  its  allegiance  ;  and  since  it  has  been 
held  by  the  United  States,  its  government  has  been  thrice  transferred  : 
twice  it  has  been  besieged  by  the  [ndians,  once  captured  in  war,  and 
once  burned  to  the  ground."— Historical  Sketches  of  Michigan. 


374  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

laden  with  arms  and  ordnance,  and  other  stores, 
which  were  set  on  fire  by  the  British.  On  the  morn 
ing  of  the  5th,  the  pursuit  was  eagerly  renewed,  and 
before  nine  o'clock  two  gun-boats,  and  several  ba 
teaux,  were  captured,  with  which  the  American  army 
was  enabled  to  cross  over  to  the  right  or  opposite 
bank  of  the  river,  when  it  was  ascertained  that  the 
British  were  halted  in  a  position  twelve  miles  higher, 
and  scarcely  two  miles  from  the  Moravian  village, 
(an  Indian  settlement,  eighty  miles  from  Sandwich,) 
to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  further  advance  of  the 
enemy.  Proctor's  entire  force  now  mustered  barely 
850  regulars,  including  nearly  100  in  the  hospital, 
and  perhaps  1,000  Indians.*  The  former  were  drawn 
up  in  a  straggling  wood,  in  open  files  and  in  two 
lines,  their  left  secured  by  the  river,  a  gun  flanking 
the  road,  and  their  right  extending  towards  the 
Indians,  who  were  posted  where  the  wood  thickened, 
so  as  to  form  a  retiring  angle  with  them,  and  to  turn 
the  enemy's  flank  on  their  advance.  The  extreme 
right  of  the  allies  was,  moreover,  covered  by  an 
impassable  swamp,  and,  thus  flanked,  the  position 
was  calculated  to  render  the  immense  superiority  of 
the  pursuing  force  in  a  great  degree  unavailing:.  This 
description  of  the  battle  field  was  apparently  fur 
nished  by  Major-General  Proctor,  or  his  friends,  to 
the  Quarterly  Review,  and  it  is  confirmed  by  an 
American  account  before  us ;  but,  on  his  court  mar 
tial,  f  he  was  found  guilty  of  having  "  neglected  to 

*  The  Quarterly  Review  says,  that  not  more  than  500  warriors  remained 
with  Tecumseh.  General  Harrison  states,  in  his  dispatch,  that  there 
were  considerably  upwards  of  1,000  Indians  in  the  action  ;  and  Sir  George 
Prevost  mentions,  that  1,200  Indian  warriors  accompanied  the  British 
army  on  its  retreat  —  so  difficult  is  it  to  arrive  at  the  truth.  The  Quarterly 
Review  estimates  Proctor's  force  at  only  500  effectives,  whereas  600  regu 
lars  were  made  prisoners,  and  246  escaped  ! 

t  By  the  court  martial  held  at  Montreal,  in  December,  1814,  and  January, 
1815,  on  Major-General  Proctor,  he  was  adjudged  "  to  be  publicly  repri 
manded,  and  to  be  suspended  from  rank  and  pay  for  the  period  of  six 
calendar  months."  Owing  to  some  informality  in  the  proceedings,  the 
prince  regent  only  confirmed  the  former  part  of  the  sentence,  but  con 
veyed  at  the  same  time  his  high  disapprobation  of  Major-General  Proctor's 
conduct. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  375 

occupy  the  heights  above  the  Moravian  village,  al 
though  he  had  previously  removed  his  ordnance, 
with  the  exception  of  one  6-pounder,  to  that  position, 
where,  by  throwing  up  works,  he  might  have  awaited 
the  attack  of  the  enemy,  'and  engaged  them  to  great 
advantage ;  and  that  after  the  intelligence  had  reached 
him  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy  on  the  morning  of 
the  said  5th  of  October,  he  halted  the  said  division, 
notwithstanding  it  was  within  two  miles  of  the  said 
village,  and  formed  it  in  a  situation  highly  unfavor 
able  for  receiving  the  attack."  The  enemy  com 
menced  the  attack  at  four  o'clock,  p.  m.,  with  a 
regiment  of  mounted  riflemen,  the  elite  of  their  army, 
formed  into  two  divisions  of  500  men  each,  one  of 
which  charged  the  regulars  with  great  impetuosity, 
while  the  other  advanced  with  a  company  of  foot 
against  the  Indians.  The  regulars,  dissatisfied  by 
fancied  or  real  neglect,  and  dispirited  by  long  conti 
nued  exposure  and  privation,  made  but  a  very  feeble 
resistance  ;  their  ranks  were  pierced  and  broken,  and, 
being  placed  between  two  fires,  they  immediately 
surrendered,  with  the  trifling  loss  of  12  killed  and 
22  wounded,  the  British  general  and  a  part  of  the 
troops  seeking  safety  in  flight,*  But  the  Indians  car 
ried  on  the  contest  with  the  left  of  the  American  line 
with  great  determination,  and  did  not  retreat  until 
the  day  was  irretrievably  lost,  and  33  of  their  num 
bers  had  been  slain,  including  the  noble  Tecumseh  — 
a  warrior  not  less  celebrated  for  his  courage  than  for 
his  humanity,  his  eloquence,  and  his  influence  over 
the  different  tribes. t  The  Americans  returned  to 
Sandwich  immediately  after  the  action,  in  which  they 

*  "  The  ardour  which  had,  till  the  fatal  5th  of  October,  distinguished 
the  41st  regiment,  affords  a  strong  belief  it  was  not  cowardice  that  made 
that  corps  surrender  so  tamely,  no  matter  to  what  superiority  of  force. 
The  privations  the  troops  had  undergone,  and  the  marked  neglect  which 
-  had  been  shewn  at  head  quarters  to  the  representations  of  their  com 
mander,  had  probably  possessed  them  with  an  idea,  that  any  change  would 
be  an  improvement  in  their  condition." — James*  Military  Occurrences. 

t  "  Had  the  men  of  the  41st  regiment  at  all  emulated  the  Indians,  the 
fate  of  the  day  might  have  been  changed." — Ibid. 


376  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

had  only  7  killed  and  22  wounded.  Proctor,  who 
until  this  retreat  possessed  the  reputation  of  an  active 
and  zealous  officer,  is  accused  of  leaving  entire  the 
bridges  and  roads  in  the  rear  of  his  retiring  army,  of 
encumbering  it  with  a  cumbrous  quantity  of  his  own 
personal  baggage,  and  of  unnecessarily  halting  the 
troops  for  several  whole  days ;  and  certain  it  is  that 
his  defeat  led  to  the  harshest  recrimination  between 
Sir  George  Prevost  and  himself.  The  general  order 
of  the  former  on  the  subject  was  of  unparalleled 
severity,  as  he  said :  "  On  this  disgraceful  day  up 
wards  of  600  officers  and  soldiers  were  taken  pri 
soners  almost  without  a  struggle,  of  whom  but  very 
few  appeared  to  have  been  rescued  by  an  honorable 
death  from  the  ignominy  of  passing  under  the  Ame 
rican  yoke,  nor  are  there  many  whose  wounds  plead 
in  mitigation  of  this  reproach."  *  The  fugitives 
made  the  best  of  their  way  to  Ancaster,  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Ontario;  and  on  the  17th  of  October  they 
numbered  there  246,  including  the  general  and  17 
officers.  The  consequence  of  these  disasters  was  the 
relinquishment,  by  the  British,  of  the  Michigan  terri 
tory,  with  the  exception  of  Michilimackinac ;  the 
abandonment  of  the  posts  in  Upper  Canada  to  the 
westward  of  the  Grand  River,  or  Ouse ;  and  the  loss 
of  the  services  of  the  whole  of  the  north-western 
Indians,  with  the  exception  of  200  or  300,  who  sub 
sequently  joined  the  centre  division  of  the  army.f 

General   Harrison,   after  garrisoning  Detroit  and 
Amherstburg,  and  discharging  his  Ohio  and  Kentucky 

*  Killed,  wounded  and  missing,  in  the  retreat  and  in  the  action  of  the 
5th  of  October,  1813  :  1  inspecting  field  officer,  1  deputy  assistant  quarter 
master-general,  1  fort  adjutant,  1  hospital  mate,  1  lieutenant-colonel, 
6  captains,  12  lieutenants,  3  ensigns,  1  paymaster,  1  assistant-surgeon, 
34  sergeants,  13  drummers,  559  rank  and  file,  46  horses  j  total,  officers  and 
privates,  634. 

t  "  The  reader  now  sees  the  fatal  consequences  ;  first,  of  not  having, 
in  the  autumn  of  1812,  destroyed  the  two  or  three  schooners  which  were 
equipping  at  Buffaloe  by  Lieutenant  Elliott ;  secondly,  of  not  having,  in 
the  spring  of  1813,  secured  the  possession  of  Sackett's  Harbour  ;  thirdly, 
of  not  having,  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  captured  or  destroyed 
the  whole  American  fleet,  as  it  lay,  unmanned,  in  Presqu'ile  Harbour."— 
James1  Military  Occurrences. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  377 

volunteers,  embarked  on  the  22d  of  October,  with  his 
disposable  regular  force,  on  board  of  Commodore 
Perry's  squadron,  to  join  the  troops  on  the  Niagara 
frontier.  About  the  same  time,  the  prisoners  taken 
at  the  Moravian-town  were  transported  by  water  from 
Detroit  to  the  portage  on  Lake  Erie,  distant  45  miles, 
and  thence  marched  to  Franklin-town,  130  miles 
further.  Here  they  were  sent  in  boats  100  miles 
down  the  Scioto  to  Chillicothe,  at  which  place  some 
of  the  sergeants  and  privates  were  detained.  The 
remainder  of  the  prisoners  again  proceeded  by  the 
Scioto  to  Cincinnati  on  the  Ohio,  where,  and  at 
Newport-town,  a  military  depot,  half  a  mile  across 
the  river,  nearly  all  the  remaining  non-commissioned 
officers  and  privates  were  retained.  The  small  rem 
nant,  consisting  almost  wholly  of  commissioned  offi 
cers,  proceeded  to  the  ultimate  point  of  destination, 
Frankfort  in  Kentucky,  600  miles  from  Detroit,  and 
about  the  same  distance  from  the  nearest  Atlantic  port.* 

Fort  George  was  taken  in  May,  1813,  by  a  large 
American  force,  under  General  Dearborn,  which 
compelled  Brigadier  Vincent  to  withdraw  his  troops 
from  Fort  Erie  and  Chippawah,  and  to  retreat  to 
Burlington  Heights,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario, 
the  British  losing  52  killed,  besides  upwards  of  300 
wounded  and  missing.  Immediately  after  the  cap 
ture  of  Fort  George,  General  Dearborn  pushed  for 
ward  to  Stoney  Creek  a  body  of  3,000  infantry,  with 
nine  field  pieces  and  250  cavalry,  for  the  purpose 
of  dislodging  Brigadier  Vincent  from  his  position. 
Lieut.-Colonel  Harvey, t  the  deputy  adjutant-general, * 
and  a  very  zealous  and  intelligent  officer,  proposed  a 
night  attack  on  this  body,  which  was  approved ;  and 
with  the  49th,  under  Major  Plenderleath,  and  five 
companies  of  the  8th,  under  Major  Ogilvie,  (the 
whole  only  704  firelocks,)  he  led  the  attack  in  gallant 

*  James'  Military  Occurrences. 

t  The  present  Major-General  Sir  John  Harvey,  K.  C.  B. 


378  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

style  ;  and  at  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  6th 
of  June,  the  British,  with  fixed  bayonets,  rushed 
into  the  centre  of  the  American  camp.  The  enemy, 
although  completely  surprised,  evinced  a  highly  cre 
ditable  state  of  order  and  discipline  in  repeatedly 
forming,  though  compelled  as  often  to  disperse  before 
the  resistless  power  of  the  British  bayonet.  Two 
brigadiers,  (Chandler  and  Winder,)  7  other  officers 
and  116  men,  with  three  guns  and  one  brass  howitzer, 
were  taken  in  this  intrepid  attack,  which,  as  it  reduced 
the  Americans  from  offensive  to  defensive  operations, 
was  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  salvation  of  the 
Upper  Province.  The  enemy,  however,  occupied 
Fort  George  till  the  month  of  December,  when  they 
were  compelled  to  evacuate  it  and  retreat  across  the 
Niagara.*  In  that  month,  Colonel  Murray  surprised, 
and  very  gallantly  captured  by  a  night  assault,  Fort 
Niagara,  which  was  retained  by  the  British  till  the 
end  of  the  war. 

From  July  to  September,  1814,  the  Canadian  bank 
of  the  Niagara  became  the  theatre  of  a  succession  of 
obstinate  and  sanguinary  conflicts  ;  but  the  struggle 
finally  closed  by  leaving  the  contending  armies  in  the 
same  positions  they  had  occupied  in  the  preceding 
spring.  The  details  of  these  operations  are  very  inte 
resting,  but  we  must  content  ourselves  with  stating, 
that  Upper  Canada  was  again  invaded  on  the  3d  July 
by  General  Brown,  who  landed  with  two  strong 
brigades  near  Fort  Erie,  which  post  was  garrisoned 

by  only  70  men  under  Major  B ,  of  the  8th,  (the 

king's,)  more  with  a  view  of  causing  a  temporary 
check  to  an  invading  force  than  of  defending  it  against 
a  regular  siege,  of  which  it  was  incapable.  But  it 
was  tamely  surrendered  without  firing  a  shot,  or  even 
a  shew  of  resistance.  The  battles  of  Chippawah  and 

*  While  the  Americans  retained  Fort  George,  the  graves  of  Sir  Isaac 
Brock  and  Lieut.-Colonel  M'Donell,  in  the  cavalier  bastion  there,  remained 
sacred,  and  were  also  respected. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  379 

Lundy's  Lane*  followed  in  the  same  month,  (July,) 
in  the  latter  of  which  the  Canadian  militia  was  con 
spicuous  for  its  bravery.  But  "  it  still  remains  a 
doubt  to  whom  the  victory"  at  Lundy's  Lane  belong 
ed,  as  the  Americans  were  allowed  to  return  unmo 
lested  to  Fort  Erie  the  next  day,  and  the  British 
general  has  been  blamed  for  not  pursuing  them  sharp 
ly,  as  he  might  have  reached  the  fort  almost  as  soon 
as  the  enemy,  and  thus  repossessed  himself  of  it  with 
out  the  loss  of  life  and  time  attendant  on  a  siege. f 
On  the  night  of  the  14th  August,  the  British  attempt 
ed  to  retake  Fort  Erie  by  storm,  and,  after  a  desperate 
conflict,  succeeded  in  making  a  lodgment,  through 
the  embrasures  of  the  demi-bastion.  But  a  tremen 
dous  explosion  ensued,  by  which  nearly  all  the  troops 
who  had  entered  the  fort  were  dreadfully  mangled ; 
and  a  panic  being  the  consequence,  the  assailants 
were  compelled  to  retire  after  a  very  severe  loss, 
Colonels  Scott  and  Drummond  being  included  among 
the  killed.  In  September,  the  Americans  were  re 
pulsed  in  a  sortie  from  Fort  Erie,  after  which  General 
Drummond  raised  its  investment,  and  fell  back  upon 
Chippawah.  General  Brown,  on  finding  that  the 
American  squadron  on  Lake  Ontario  was  incapable 
of  co-operating  with  him,  evacuated  Fort  Erie  in 
November,  and  retired  to  his  own  territory,  thus 
leaving  the  long  harassed  inhabitants  of  the  Niagara 
district  once  more  to  tranquillity  and  'repose. 

The  recovery  of  Michilimackinac  had  long  been 
seriously  contemplated  by  the  American  government, 
and  would  have  been  attempted  in  the  fall  of  1813 
but  for  the  lateness  of  the  season,  when  the  expulsion 
of  the  British  from  the  banks  of  the  Detroit  had 
opened  the  passage  into  Lake  Huron.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  necessity  of  retaining  a  post  so  favorably 
situated,  if  in  possession  of  an  enemy,  for  annoying 

*  The  latter  called  by  the  Americans  the  battle  of  Bridgewater. 
t  A  correspondent  in  the  United  Service  Magazine,  June,  1845. 


380  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

the  British  north-western  trade,  pressed  itself  on  Sir 
George  Prevost;  and  in  April,  1814,  a  reinforcement 
of  about  90  men,  under  an  active  and  zealous  officer, 
Lieut. -Colonel  M'Douall,  was  forwarded  with  mili 
tary  stores  and  provisions,  by  a  back  route  to  Michi- 
limackinac.  They  embarked  in  twenty-four  bateaux 
from  Nottawassega  Bay  on  Lake  Huron,  distant  260 
miles  from  Michilimackinac,  and,  after  a  very  tem 
pestuous  passage  of  twenty-five  days,  reached  the 
fort  on  the  18th  of  May.  *On  the  26th  of  July,  an 
American  expedition  from  Lake  Erie,  consisting  of 
three  brigs  and  two  schooners  of  war,  under  Captain 
Sinclair,  with  nearly  800  troops  on  board,  appeared 
off  Michilimackinac,  and  a  landing  was  effected  by 
them  on  the  4th  of  August.  The  British  force  on  the 
island  amounted  to  only  190  men,  including  regulars, 
militia,  and  Indians,  with  which  Lieut.-Colonel 
M'Douall  repulsed  every  effort  of  the  Americans  to 
approach  the  fort ;  so  that  they  were  glad  to  re-em 
bark  the  same  evening  in  the  utmost  haste  and  con 
fusion,  leaving  17  dead  on  the  ground,  while  the 
garrison  had  only  one  Indian  killed.  Captain  Sinclair 
stated,  what  does  not  appear  to  have  been  known  to 
Lieutenant  Hanks,  when  he  surrendered  the  island  in 
1812  to  Captain  Roberts,  "  that  Michilimackinac  is 
by  nature  a  perfect  Gibraltar,  being  a  high  inaccessi 
ble  rock  on  every  side,  except  the  west,  from  which 
to  the  heights  you  have  nearly  two  miles  to  pass 
through  a  wood  so  thick,  that  our  men  were  shot  in 
every  direction,  and  within  a  few  yards  of  them, 
without  being  able  to  see  the  Indians-  who  did  it." 
Michilimackinac  remained  unmolested  to  the  end  of 
the  war,  when  it  was  restored,  by  the  treaty  of  peace, 
to  its  former  possessors. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned,  that  among  the 
prisoners  taken  at  the  battle  of  Queenstown,  23  were 
sent  to  England  for  trial  as  British  born  subjects  and 
deserters,  and  that  the  American  government  had 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  381 

placed  an  equal  number  of  British  soldiers  into  close 
confinement  as  hostages.  In  consequence,  Sir  George 
Prevost,  by  a  general  order  of  the  27th  of  October, 
1813,  made  known  that  he  had  received  the  com 
mands  of  the  prince  regent  to  put  46  American 
officers  and  non-commissioned  officers  into  close  con 
finement,  as  hostages  for  the  23  soldiers  confined  by 
the  American  government.  He  at  the  same  time 
apprized  that  government,  that  if  any  of  the  British 
soldiers  should  suffer  death  by  reason  of  the  guilt  and 
execution  of  the  traitors  taken  in  arms  against  their 
country,  he  was  instructed  to  select  out  of  the  Ame 
rican  hostages  double  the  number  of  the  British 
soldiers  who  might  be  so  unwarrantably  put  to  death, 
and  to  cause  them  to  suffer  death  immediately.  The 
governor-general  also  notified  to  the  American  go 
vernment,  that  in  the  event  of  their  carrying  their 
murderous  threat  into  execution,  the  commanders  of 
the  British  forces,  by  sea  and  land,  were  instructed 
to  prosecute  the  war  with  unmitigated  severity  against 
all  the  territory  and  inhabitants  of  the  United  States. 
On  the  10th  of  December,  Sir  George  Prevost 
received  a  communication  from  Major-General  Wil 
kinson  by  flag  of  truce,  stating  that  the  American 
government,  adhering  unalterably  to  their  previously 
declared  purpose,  had  placed  46  British  officers  into 
close  confinement,  there  to  remain  until  the  same 
number  of  American  officers  and  non-commissioned 
officers  were  released.  Among  the  officers  thus  con 
fined,  Lieut. -Colonels  Evans  and  Warburton,  and 
Captains  Muir  and  Chambers  were,  with  other  offi 
cers  taken  prisoners  at  the  Moravian -town,  and  to 
the  disgrace  of  the  American  executive,  imprisoned 
in  the  penitentiary  at  Frankfort,  in  Kentucky,  with 
forty  convicts  therein  incarcerated  for  murder  and 
other  heinous  crimes  !  In  retaliation,  the  governor- 
general  ordered  all  the  American  officers,  prisoners  of 
war,  without  exception  of  rank,  to  be  placed  into 
close  confinement  as  hostages,  until  the  number  of  46 


382  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

was  completed  over  and  above  those  already  in  con 
finement.  In  pursuance  of  this  order,  Brigadiers 
Winder,  Chandler,  and  Winchester,  were  confined  in 
a  private  house  at  Quebec,  with  as  little  inconvenience 
as  their  security  would  admit. 

On  the  15th  of  April,  1814,  after  some  negotiation, 
opened  at  the  solicitation  of  the  American  government, 
a  convention  was  entered  into  at  Montreal,  by  which 
it  was  agreed  to  release  the  hostages  and  to  make  an 
exchange  of  prisoners,  the  American  government 
relinquishing  its  pretensions  to  retaliate  for  the  pri 
soners  sent  to  England  for  legal  trial  as  traitors  to 
their  country.  This  convention  was  ratified  in  July, 
at  Champlain,  near  the  lines ;  but,  whether  by 
previous  agreement  or  tacit  understanding,  the  trai 
tors,  we  believe,  escaped  the  just  punishment  of  their 
crime. 

The  remaining  events  of  the  war  in  Canada  during 
the  campaigns  of  1812,  13,  and  14,  do  not  fall  within 
the  scope  of  this  memoir.  Some  we  might  chronicle 
with  pride,  but  a  few  we  could  not  record  without 
shame;  and,  on  the  whole,  we  cannot  but  think  that 
the  same  withering  influence,  which  bound  the  hands 
and  repressed  the  energies  of  "  him  who  undoubtedly 
was  the  best  officer  that  headed  our  troops  throughout 
the  war,'7*  was  visible  to  the  termination  of  the 
contest  —  a  contest  in  which  we  are  satisfied  the  result 
would  have  been  very  different,  u  if  a  man  of  military 
genius,  courage,  quickness,  and  decision,  had  held 
the  supreme  command. "f  Indeed,  when  we  reflect 
upon  the  management  of  that  eventful  war,  we  are 
often  forcibly  reminded,  in  the  fatal  loss  of  Sir  Isaac 
Brock,  of  the  pathetic  lament  of  the  gallant  high- 
lander,  who  contrasting  the  irresolution  of  his  present 
general  with  the  deeds  of  his  former  chief,  the  re- 

*  James'  Military  Occurrences. 
t  Pictorial  History  of  England. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK. 

nowned   Grahame,*   Viscount  Dundee,   mournfully 
exclaimed: 

Oh  !  for  one  hour  of  Dundee  ! 

During  the  progress  of  the  war,  the  British  govern 
ment  made  several  overtures  for  a  reconciliation  ; 
and  at  length,  when  Napoleon's  disasters  commenced, 
and  the  Eastern  States  were  threatening  to  dissolve 
the  union,  Madison  expressed  a  wish  to  treat  with 
England, .  even  at  the  end  of  1813.  The  negotia 
tions  were  commenced  in  earnest  at  Ghent,  in  August, 
1814,  at  a  time  when  Great  Britian,  being  at  peace 
with  the  remainder  of  the  world,  was  in  a  condition 
to  prosecute  the  contest  with  all  her  energies  ;  but  her 
people  wished  for  repose  after  the  long  and  arduous 
struggle  in  which  they  had  been  engaged;  and  a 
treaty  of  peace,  signed  at  Ghent  on  the  24th  of  De 
cember,  was  ratified  by  the  two  governments,  the 
plenipotentiaries  on  both  sides  waiving  every  question 
at  issue  before  the  war,  and  restoring  every  acquisition 
of  territory  during  its  progress.f  Thus  the  Americans 
had  only  the  Canadian  and  defenceless  side  of  the 
Detroit  to  give  in  exchange  for  their  fortress  of  Nia 
gara  and  their  key  possession  of  Michilimackinac. 

Should  Great  Britain  unfortunately  be  driven  into 
another  American  war,  as  is  too  probable  amid  so 
many  elements  of  discord,  added  to  the  reckless  pre 
tensions  of  the  Southern,  and  more  especially  of  the 
Western  States  of  the  Union,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 

*  John  Grahame,  of  Claverhouse,  was  mortally  wounded  at  the  pass  of 
Killicrankie,  in  168Q,  and  died  the  next  day.  With  him  expired  the  cause 
of  James  the  Second  in  Scotland,  as,  although  the  war  languished  in  the 
highlands  for  two  years  after,  nothing  of  importance  occurred.  When 
William  was  urged  to  send  more  troops  into  Scotland,  he  replied  :  "  It  is 
unnecessary,  the  war  has  ended  with  Dundee's  life." 

t  With  Great  Britain  the  war  was  purely  defensive.  She  fought  not 
for  new  conquests,  or  to  establish  new  claims,  but  for  the  protection  of 
her  colonies  and  the  maintenance  of  rights,  which  had  received  the  solemn 
confirmation  of  time.  And  these  objects  were  completely  secured;  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent  by  America  was  a  tacit  abandonment 
of  every  assumption  against  which  the  government  of  this  country  had 
contended.—  Quarterly  Review,  July,  1822. 


384  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

the  Britisli  government  will  profit  by  the  fatal  expe 
rience  of  the  past,  and  that  it  will  not  again  seek  to 
entwine  the  olive  branch  around  the  sword.  The 
prophetic  words  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock  should  be  remem 
bered  when,  alluding  to  the  deadly  armistice  of  1812, 
he  said  :  "  A  cessation  of  hostilities  has  taken  place 
along  this  frontier.  Should  peace  follow,  the  mea 
sure  will  be  well ;  if  hostilities  recommence,  nothing 
can  be  more  unfortunate  than  this  pause."*  But 
pax  in  bello  is  not  the  shortest  path  to  peace,  and,  as 
might  have  been  foreseen,  peace  did  not  follow  "  this 
pause."  If  the  North-Eastern  States,  whose  interests 
and  natural  sympathies  incline  them  to  the  British 
alliance,  cannot  avert  hostilities — because  the  Whigs, 
as  the  American  conservatives  are  termed,  have  lost 
their  proper  influence,  and  the  dominant  party  of  the 
Union  is  no  longer  to  be  found  in  New  York  or  New 
England — let  them  sever  a  connection  which  they 
cannot  control.  But  if  they  hesitate  to  do  this — if 
they  prefer  submitting  to  the  rule  of  the  lawless 
denizen  of  the  west,  or  of  the  more  aristocratic  slave 
holder  of  the  south — let  then  the  British  lion  be  let 
loose  on  them  with  his  wonted  strength,  and  let  not 
the  Northerns  be  spared,  who,  with  superior  wealth 
and  intelligence,  permit  the  backwoodsman  to  pro 
voke  a  war,  of  which  the  calamities  cannot  reach 
him.  While  Great  Britain  preserves  her  naval  pre 
ponderance —  and  may  she  long  preserve  it  for  right 
eous  purposes  —  both  the  Northern  and  Southern 
States  can  be  easily  assailed ;  the  former  through 
their  commercial  marine,  the  latter  in  arming  and 
assisting  their  slaves  to  acquire  freedom,  which  would 
indeed  be  a  holy  work.  Unless,  however,  a  better 
policy  arid  truer  economy  obtain  in  England's  coun 
cils,  her  navy  will  be  shorn  of  half  its  power,  by  her 
seamen  being  again  driven  from  their  country  by 
their  only  fear,  impressment,  that  national  stain  of 
former  wars,  and  fighting  under  the  American  banner 

*  See  page  285. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  385 

of  "free  trade"  and  "seamen's  rights."  But  if 
they  be  no  longer  treated  with  injustice  and  oppres 
sion,  and  their  pay  and  rewards  be  wisely  commen 
surate  with  the  fair  and  marketable  value  of  their 
services — and  surely  the  seaman  of  all  men  is  most 
worthy  of  his  hire, —  then  may  Britons  be  "  confident 
against  a  world  in  arms,"  and  the  sea  board  of  the 
Union  will  quickly  acknowledge  the  majesty  of  Bri 
tain's  strength.  And  to  ensure  the  hearty  co-operation 
of  the  colonists  in  this  vigorous  course,  as  well  as  to 
preserve  their  affection  and  allegiance,  let  them  be 
taught  to  feel  that  they  are  not  excluded  from  the 
influences  of  self-government,  or  from  the  distribu 
tion  of  colonial  patronage — until  recently  their  great 
causes  of  complaint — and  that  they  enjoy  more  sub 
stantial  liberty  than  in  the  United  States,  where  the 
air  is  tainted  with  slavery,  Lynch  or  mob-law  obtains, 
and  the  fair  discussion  of  adverse  opinions  is  prevented 
by  ruthless  attacks  on  life  and  property.  The  colo 
nists  cannot  desire  to  incorporate  themselves  with  a 
people  who  retain  three  millions  of  their  fellow  men 
in  bondage,  and  who  breed  slaves  in  one  State  for  the 
supply  of  another,  even  permitting  the  parent  to  sell 
his  child  !  The  entire  Union  participates  in  the  guilt, 
and  in  vain  does  a  single  State  boast  of  its  liberties, 
while  such  are  a  federation's  unhallowed  offerings  at 
the  shrine  of  freedom. 

Early  in  1815,  Sir  George  Prevost  was  directed 
to  return  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  ac 
cusations  relative  to  his  conduct  at  Plattsburg,  which 
had  been  preferred  by  Commodore  Sir  James  Yeo, 
who,  after  some  delay,  produced  his  charges  in  legal 
form ;  and  to  afford  time  for  the  arrival  of  the  neces 
sary  witnesses  from  Canada,  the  general  court  martial 
was  postponed  to  the  12th  of  January,  1816.  In  the 
mean  time  the  health  of  the  late  governor-general, 
naturally  of  a  delicate  cast,  became  seriously  affected, 
partly  from  anxiety  of  mind  ;  and  he  died  in  his  49th 


386  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

year,  in  London,  on  the  5th  of  January,  exactly  a 
week  preceding  the  day  appointed  for  his  trial,  leav 
ing  a  widow,  one  son,  and  two  daughters.  Previously 
to  his  departure  from  Lower  Canada,  the  commons, 
or  French  party,  voted  him  the  munificent  sum  of 
.£0,000  for  the  purchase  of  a  service  of  plate,  as  a 
tribute  of  respect,  which  vote  was  approved  of  by  the 
prince  regent ;  but  the  legislative  council,  or  English 
party,  refused  their  assent  to  a  bill  for  that  purpose. 
As  Sir  George  was  probably  aware  of  this  hostile 
feeling  towards  him  on  the  part  of  the  British  race, 
he  should  have  at  once  declined  the  doubtful  gift, 
and  asked  his  supporters,  as  Phocion  did  in  Athens, 
"  Of  what  indiscretion  have  I  been  guilty?" 

Sir  George  Prevost  was  of  slight,  diminutive  per 
son,  and  unsoldierlike  appearance ;  his  manners  are 
represented  as  unassuming  and  social,  and  his  temper 
as  placid  and  forgiving.  His  public  speeches  or 
addresses  are  said  to  have  partaken  of  even  classical 
elegance,  and  his  dispatches  and  general  orders  also 
afford  proofs  of  his  literary  acquirements.  Discredit 
can  only  be  thrown  on  his  character  as  a  general ; 
and  indeed  his  best  friends  must  admit  that  his  defen 
sive  policy  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  and  his 
subsequent  irresolution  and  infirmity  of  purpose,  did 
not  tend  either  to  raise  the  glory  of  England,  or  to 
advance  his  own  fame,  and  that  of  every  enterprizing 
officer  who  served  under  him.  And  yet  soon  after 
his  death,  notwithstanding  that  the  lamentable  failures 
at  Sackett's  Harbour  and  Plattsburg  were  fresh  in 
the  public  recollection,  new  and  honorary  armorial 
bearings,  with  supporters,  were  solicited  and  obtained 
by  his  family,  in  seeming  approbation  of  his  services 
in  Canada,  the  supporters  being  two  grenadiers  of  the 
16th  foot,  of  which  regiment  Sir  George  was  colonel, 
each  bearing  a  flag,  gules  ;  the  dexter  flag  inscribed, 
"  West  Indies" — the  sinister,  "  Canada"  !  If  these 
distinctions  were  conferred  in  honor  of  his  civil  admi 
nistration,  which  we  have  already  eulogized,  although 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  387 

others  have  stoutly  denied  him  any  merit  even  on 
this  point,  they  were,  we  believe,  justly  bestowed ; 
but  if  they  were  intended  as  an  approval  of  his  mili 
tary  conduct  during  the  contest,  certain  it  is  that  his 
contemporaries  indignantly  refused  to  concede  his 
claim  to  them,  and  that  no  historian  has  as  yet  ad 
mitted  that  claim.*  It  was  unfortunate  for  Sir  George 
that  he  was  called  upon  to  wage  war  against  the 
United  States,  as  his  natural  and  excusable  sympa 
thies  in  favor  of  a  people  among  whom  he  had  been 
born,  and  at  least  partly  educated,  may  have  influ 
enced  his  judgment  without  any  conscious  betrayal 
of  the  great  charge  entrusted  to  him  ;  and  this  remark 
applies  with  double  force  to  his  schoolfellow,  Sir 
Roger  Sheaffe,  whose  entire  family  and  connexions 
were  American.  In  any  case,  it  was  hard  on  Sir 
Isaac  Brock,  after  being  retained  in  Canada  by  Sir 
James  Craig,  when  he  was  so  anxious  to  serve  in  the 
Peninsula,  because  that  officer  could  not  spare  him, 

*  While  these  remarks  were  in  type,  we  heard  accidentally  of  a  large 
monument,  in  the  cathedral  at  Winchester,  to  the  memory  of  Sir  George 
Prevost,  with  a  laudatory  inscription,  for  a  copy  of  which  we  immediately 
wrote  to  a  friend,  and  which  we  now  transcribe  without  comment,  as  we 
respect  the  feelings  of  conjugal  affection  by  which  the  epitaph  was  evi 
dently  dictated. 

"  Sacred  to  the  Memory  of  Lieut.- General  Sir  George  Prevost,  Baronet, 
of  Belmont,  in  this  County,  Governor-General  and  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  British  Forces  in  North  America ;  in  which  command,  by  his  wise 
and  energetic  measures,  and  with  a  very  inferior  force,  he  preserved  the 
Canadas  to  the  British  Crown  from  the  repeated  invasions  of  a  powerful 
enemy.  His  constitution  at  length  sank  under  incessant  mental  and 
bodily  exertions,  in  discharging  the  duties  of  that  arduous  station  ;  and 
having  returned  to  England,  he  died  shortly  afterwards  in  London,  on 
the  5th  of  January,  1816,  aged  48,  thirty-four  years  of  which  had  been 
devoted  to  the  service  of  his  Country.  He  was  intered  near  the  remains 
of  his  father,  Major-General  Augustus  Prevost,  at  East  Barnet,  in  Hert 
fordshire.  His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Regent,  to  evince  in  an  espe 
cial  manner  the  sense  he  entertained  of  his  distinguished  conduct  and 
services  during  a  long  period  of  constant  active  employment,  in  stations 
of  great  trust,  both  Military  and  Civil,  was  pleased  to  ordain,  as  a  lasting 
Memorial  of  His  Majesty's  Royal  Favor,  that  the  names  of  the  Countries 
where  his  Courage  and  Abilities  had  been  signally  displayed  — the  West 
Indies  and  Canada  —  should  be  inscribed  on  the  Banners  of  the  Sup 
porters,  granted  to  be  borne  by  his  Family  and  Descendants.  In  testi 
mony  of  his  Private  Worth,  his  Piety,  Integrity  and  Benevolence,  and  all 
those  tender,  domestic  virtues,  which  endeared  him  to  his  Family,  his 
Children,  his  Friends,  and  his  Dependants,  as  well  as  to  prove  her  un 
feigned  Love,  Gratitude,  and  Respect,  Catherine  Anne  Prevost,  his  afflicted 
Widow,  caused  this  Monument  to  be  erected.  Anno  Domini  1819. 


388  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

and  after  at  length  obtaining  leave  to  return  to  Europe 
for  that  purpose — it  was  hard,  we  repeat,  when  hosti 
lities  did  at  last  break  out  in  America,  that  his  ener 
gies  should  have  been  so  cramped  by  the  passive 
attitude  of  his  superior.  Remembering,  however,  the 
maxim,  de  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonum,  the  editor  has 
refrained  from  transcribing  aught  reflecting  on  the 
memory  of  that  superior  when  he  could  do  so  con 
sistently  with  truth,  although  he  feels  acutely  that  the 
death  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock — hastened,  as  he  believes 
it  was,  by  the  defensive  policy  and  mistaken  views  of 
Sir  George  Prevost — was  an  irreparable  loss  to  his 
many  brothers,*  who  were  at  that  period  just  rising 
into  manhood,  and  in  consequence  required  all  the 
interest  for  their  advancement  which  their  uncle  would 
probably  have  possessed.  One  especially,  who  closely 
resembled  him  both  in  appearance  and  character,  and 
who  would  have  been  an  ornament  to  any  service, 
was  compelled  to  embrace  the  profession  of  arms,  for 
which  he  had  been  educated,  under  the  banners  of  a 
foreign  and  far  distant  country.  In  that  country, 
Chile,  Colonel  Tupper  cruelly  fell  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-nine  years  ;  and  if  the  reader  will  turn  to  the 
memoir  of  this  daring  soldier  in  the  Appendix,  neces 
sarily  brief  as  it  is,  he  will  probably  agree  with  the 
British  consul  who  wrote,  that  he  had  "  for  many 
years  looked  upon  his  gallant  and  honorable  conduct 
as  reflecting  lustre  upon  the  English  name;"  and  he 
will  think  with  the  French  traveller,  who,  after  highly 
eulogizing  him,  said  :  "  N'est-il  pas  deplorable  que 
de  tels  homines  en  soient  reduits  a  se  consacrer  a  une 
cause  etrangere?" 

*  Including  the  editor,  ten ;  viz.  two  died  young,  of  scarlet  fever,  and 
were  buried  in  the  same  coffin ;  two  drowned  at  different  times  j  two 
slain ;  two  died  at  sea,  while  passengers  on  board  his  majesty's  packets 
from  Rio  de  Janeiro  to  Falmouth,  on  the  same  day  of  the  same  month 
(15th  August)  in  different  years,  1833  and  1837  '  and  only  two  still  survive. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  389 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

(TECUMSEH.) 

As  the  heroic  and  undaunted  Tecumseh*  was  so 
conspicuous  in  the  annals  of  this  war  for  his  fidelity 
and  devotion  to  the  British  crown,  and  as  his  name 
has  occurred  so  often  in  these  pages,  a  chapter, 
with  a  concluding  and  connected  notice  of  him,  will 
surely  be  deemed  but  an  act  of  justice  to  his  memory. 

This  renowned  aboriginal  chief  was  a  Shawanee, 
and  was  born  in  1769  or  1770,  about  the  same  year 
as  his  "  brave  brother  warrior,"  Sir  Isaac  Brock. 
He  may  be  said  to  have  been  inured  to  war  from  his 
infancy,  as  the  Indian  nations  continued  in  hostility 
against  the  United  States  after  their  independence 
was  achieved,  alleging  that  they  infringed  on  their 
territories.  In  1790,  about  which  period  Tecumseh 
first  gave  proofs  of  that  talent  and  daring  which  so 
distinguished  his  after-life,  General  Harmer  was  dis 
patched  with  a  competent  force  to  punish  the  preda 
tory  incursions  of  the  Indians ;  but  he  was  glad  to 
return,  with  the  loss  of  many  of  his  men.  In  the 
following  year,  General  St.  Clair  proceeded  with 
another  army  to  ravage  the  Miami  and  Shawanee 
settlements,  and  was  even  more  unfortunate  than  his 
predecessor,  as  the  Indians  boldly  advanced  to  meet 
him  on  the  way,  attacked  his  encampment,  and  put 
his  troops  to  a  total  rout,  in  which  the  greater  part 
were  cut  off  and  destroyed.  In  1794,  however,  a 

*  "  Tecumseh  was  pronounced  Tecumthe,  and  is  said  by  some  to  have 
signified  a  crouching  panther;  by  others,  a.  falling  star." — Note  in  Tecum 
seh,  a  Poem,  by  G.  H.  Cotton.  New  York,  1842. 


390  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

much  more  formidable  expedition,  under  General 
Wayne,  entered  the  Indian  territory ;  the  warriors 
gradually  retired  as  the  Americans  advanced,  but  at 
length  imprudently  determined  on  making  a  stand. 
In  the  battle  which  ensued,  the  Indians  were  so  com 
pletely  discomfited,  that,  the  following  year,  they 
agreed  to  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  by  which  they 
were  compelled  to  cede  a  large  tract  of  country  as  an 
indemnity  for  past  injuries  !  As  Tecumseh  had  then 
scarcely  completed  his  twenty-fifth  year,  and  as  the 
Indians  pay  great  deference  to  age,  it  is  not  probable 
that  he  had  any  hand  in  this  treaty,  the  more  espe 
cially  as,  from  that  period  to  1812,  he  laboured  inces 
santly  to  unite  the  numerous  aboriginal  tribes  of  the 
North  American  continent  in  one  grand  confederacy, 
for  the  threefold  purpose  of  endeavouring  to  regain 
their  former  possessions  as  far  as  the  Ohio,  of  resisting 
the  further  encroachments  of  the  whites,  and  of  pre 
venting  the  future  cession  of  land  by  any  one  tribe, 
without  the  sanction  of  all,  obtained  in  a  general 
council.  With  this  object  he  visited  the  different 
nations ;  and  having  assembled  the  elders,  he  enforced 
his  disinterested  views  in  strains  of  such  impassioned 
and  persuasive  eloquence,  that  the  greater  part  pro 
mised  him  their  co-operation  and  assistance.  But, 
to  form  a  general  alliance  of  so  many  and  such  various 
tribes,  required  a  higher  degree  of  patriotism  and 
civilization  than  the  Indians  had  attained.  From 
the  numbers,  however,  who  ranged  themselves  with 
Tecumseh  under  the  British  standard,  on  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  in  1812,  it  is  evident  that  he  had  ac 
quired  no  little  influence  over  them,  and  that  his 
almost  incredible  exertions,  both  of  mind  and  body, 
had  not  been  altogether  thrown  away. 

About  the  year  1804,  Els-kwa-ta-wa,  brother  of 
Tecumseh,  proclaimed  himself  a  prophet,  who  had  been 
commanded  by  the  Great  Spirit,  the  Creator  of  the 
red,  but  not  of  the  white,  people,  to  announce  to  his 
children,  that  the  misfortunes  by  which  they  were 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  391 

assailed  arose  from  their  having  abandoned  the  mode 
of  life  which  He  had  prescribed  to  them.  He  de 
clared  that  they  must  return  to  their  primitive  habits 
— relinquish  the  use  of  ardent  spirits — and  clothe 
themselves  in  skins,  and  not  in  woollens.  His  fame 
soon  spread  among  the  surrounding  nations,  and  his 
power  to  perform  miracles  was  generally  believed. 
He  was  joined  by  many,  and  not  a  few  came  from  a 
great  distance  and  cheerfully  submitted  to  much 
hardship  and  fatigue,  that  they  might  behold  the 
prophet,  and  then  return.  He  first  established  him 
self  at  Greenville,  within  the  boundary  of  the  United 
States ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  Ohio  becoming  alarmed 
at  the  immense  assemblage  of  Indians  on  their  fron 
tier,  the  American  authorities  insisted  on  his  removal. 
Accordingly  he  proceeded,  in  1808,  to  the  Wabash, 
and  fixed  his  residence  on  the  northern  bank  of  that 
river,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tippecanoe.  Here  his 
popularity  declined,  but,  through  the  influence  of 
Tecumseh,  he  was  again  joined  by  many  among  the 
neighbouring  tribes.  The  prophet's  temporal  con 
cerns  were  conducted  by  Tecumseh,  who  adroitly 
availed  himself  of  his  brother's  spiritual  power  to 
promote  his  favorite  scheme  of  a  general  confederacy. 
In  1811,  Tecumseh,  accompanied  by  several  hun 
dred  warriors,  encamped  near  Vincennes,  the  capital 
of  Indiana,  and  demanded  an  interview  with  the 
governor  of  that  state,  Major-General  Harrison,  the 
same  officer  who,  in  1813,  commanded  the  victorious 
troops  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  in  which  Tecumseh 
lost  his  life.  The  interview  was  agreed  to,  and  the 
governor  inquired  whether  the  Indians  intended  to 
come  armed  to  the  council.  Tecumseh  replied  that 
he  would  be  governed  by  the  conduct  of  the  white 
people ;  if  they  came  armed,  his  warriors  would  be 
armed  also ;  if  not,  his  followers  would  come  unarmed. 
The  governor  informed  him  that  he  would  be  attended 
by  a  troop  of  dragoons,  dismounted,  with  their  side 
arms  only,  and  that  the  Indians  might  bring  their 


392  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

war  clubs  and  tomahawks.  The  meeting  took  place 
in  a  large  arbour,  on  one  side  of  which  were  the 
dragoons,  eighty  in  number,  seated  in  rows ;  on  the 
other,  the  Indians.  But  besides  their  sabres,  the 
dragoons  were  armed  with  pistols.  The  following 
incident  is  said  to  have  occurred  at  this  interview. 
Tecumseh  looked  round  for  a  seat,  but  not  finding 
one  provided  for  him,  he  betrayed  his  surprise,  and 
his  eyes  flashed  fire.  The  governor,  perceiving  the 
cause,  instantly  ordered  a  chair.  One  of  the  council 
offered  the  warrior  his  chair,  and,  bowing  respect 
fully,  said  to  him  :  "  Warrior,  your  father,  General 
Harrison,  offers  you  a  seat."  "My  father!"  ex 
claimed  Tecumseh,  extending  his  hand  towards  the 
heavens,  "  the  sun  is  my  father,  and  the  earth  is  my 
mother ;  she  gives  me  nourishment,  and  I  will  repose 
on  her  bosom."  He  then  threw  himself  on  the  ground. 
When  the  governor,  who  was  seated  in  front  of  the 
dragoons,  commenced  his  address,  Tecumseh  declared 
that  he  could  not  hear  him,  and  requested  him  to 
remove  his  seat  to  an  open  space  near  himself.  The 
governor  complied,  and  in  his  speech  complained  of 
the  constant  depredations  and  murders  which  were 
committed  by  the  Indians  of  Tippecanoe ;  of  the 
refusal  on  their  part  to  give  up  the  criminals ;  and  of 
the  increasing  accumulation  of  force  in  that  quarter, 
for  the  avowed  purpose  of  compelling  the  United 
States  to  relinquish  lands  which  they  had  fairly  pur 
chased  of  the  rightful  owners.  Tecumseh,  in  his 
answer,  denied  that  he  had  afforded  protection  to  the 
guilty,  but  manfully  admitted  his  design  of  forming 
a  confederacy  of  all  the  red  nations  of  that  continent. 
He  observed,  that  "  the  system  which  the  United 
States  pursued,  of  purchasing  lands  from  the  Indians, 
he  viewed  as  a  mighty  water,  ready  to  overflow  his 
people,  and  that  the  confederacy  which  he  was  form 
ing  among  the  tribes,  to  prevent  any  tribe  from  selling 
land  without  the  consent  of  the  others,  was  the  dam 
he  was  erecting  to  resist  this  mighty  water."  And 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  393 

he  added,  "  your  great  father,  the  president,  may  sit 
over  the  mountains  and  drink  his  wine,  but  if  he 
continue  this  policy,  you  and  I  will  have  to  meet  on 
the  battle  field."  He  also  admitted,  that  he  was  then 
on  his  way  to  the*  Creek  nation,  about  600  miles 
distant  from  the  Wabash,  for  the  purpose  he  had  just 
avowed,  and  he  continued  his  journey  two  days  after, 
with  twelve  or  fifteen  of  his  warriors.  Having  visited 
the  Creek  and  other  southern  tribes,  he  crossed  the 
Mississippi,  and  continued  a  northern  course  as  far  as 
the  river  Demoins,  whence  he  returned  to  the  Wabash 
by  land.  But  a  sad  reverse  of  fortune  awailed  his 
return ;  he  found  his  town  consumed,  his  bravest 
warriors  slain,  and  a  large  deposit  of  provisions  de 
stroyed.  On  his  departure,  the  settlement  at  Tippe- 
canoe  was  left  in  charge  of  his  brother,  the  prophet, 
with  strict  injunctions  to  prevent  all  hostile  incursions, 
as  they  might  lead  to  extremities  before  his  plans  were 
matured.  Els-kwa-ta-wa,  however,  wanted  either  the 
inclination  or  the  authority  to  follow  these  injunc 
tions  ;  and  the  Americans  assert,  that  murder  and 
rapine  occurred  now  so  frequently,  that  they  were 
compelled,  in  their  own  defence,  to  punish  the  delin 
quents.  Accordingly,  General  Harrison  proceeded 
with  nearly  1,000  men  to  Tippecanoe,  and  on  his 
approach,  in  November,  1811,  was  met  by  about  600 
warriors;  a  battle  ensued,  in  which  the  Indians, 
deprived  by  the  absence  of  their  chief  of  his  counsel 
and  example,  were  defeated,  but  with  nearly  equal 
loss  on  both  sides.  Assured  by  the  prophet  that  the 
American  bullets  would  not  injure  them,  they  rushed 
on  the  bayonets  with  their  war  clubs,  and  exposed 
their  persons  with  a  fatal  fearlessness.  But  Els-kwa- 
ta-wa  himself  remained  during  the  battle  in  security 
on  an  adjacent  eminence ;  he  was  chaunting  a  war 
song,  when  information  was  brought  to  him  that  his 
men  were  falling.*  "  Let  them  fight  on,  for  my  pre- 

*  "  Els-kwa-ta-wa  was  tall,  but  too  slight  to  be  well  proportioned,  with 
a  keen  eye  and  a  thin  gloomy  visage.     'Tecumseh,'    says  Thatcher  in 


394  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE   OF 

diction  will  soon  be  verified,"  was  the  substance  of 
his  reply,  and  he  resumed  his  song  in  a  louder  key  ! 

The  hostility  of  Tecumseh  to  those  whom  he  had 
ever  considered  as  the  spoilers  of  his  country,  was,  if 
possible,  redoubled  by  this  severe  act  of  retaliation. 
General  Harrison,  in  particular,  incurred  his  personal 
enmity,  and  he  declared  openly  that  he  would  seek 
for  vengeance.  Nor  was  he  backward  in  putting  his 
threats  into  execution.*  Early  in  1812,  the  Indians 
renewed  their  hostile  incursions,  but  they  were  now 
treated  with  unusual  forbearance,  in  the  hope  that 
they  would  remain  neutral  in  the  war  with  Great 
Britain,  which  the  American  government  well  knew 
was  near  at  hand.  On  its  declaration  in  June,  how 
ever,  Tecumseh  eagerly  embraced  the  opportunity 
which  it  afforded,  not  only  to  promote  his  long  medi 
tated  public  views,  but  to  avenge  his  private  injuries ; 
and,  hastening  with  his  warriors  to  Upper  Canada, 
he  had  soon  the  gratification  of  witnessing,  at  Detroit, 
the  surrender  of  the  4th  U.  S.  infantry,  (or  heroes  of 
Tippecanoe,  as  they  were  then  denominated,)  wrhich 
regiment  claimed  the  principal  merit  of  having,  the 
preceding  year,  defeated  his  followers  and  destroyed 
his  settlement.  After  the  surrender,  Major-General 
Brock  desired  Tecumseh  to  prevent  the  Indians  from 
ill-treating  the  prisoners,  and  the  chief  promptly  re 
plied  :  "  I  despise  them  too  much  to  injure  them." 

Previously  to  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  already 
noticed,  the  position  chosen  to  await  the  attack  of  the 
American  army,  and  the  disposition  of  the  British 

his  excellent  biography,  'was  frank,  warlike,  persuasive  in  his  oratory, 
popular  in  his  manners,  irreproachable  in  his  habits  of  life.  Els-kwa-ta-wa 
had  more  cunning  than  courage;  and  a  stronger  disposition  to  talk  than 
to  fight,  or  exert  himself  in  any  other  way.  But  he  was  subtle,  fluent, 
persevering,  and  self-possessed.'  They  were,  however,  well  formed  to 
scheme  and  execute  their  plans  together.  The  one  became  a  prophet, 
crafty  and  cruel,  haranguing  wherever  he  could  get  a  hearer;  the  other 
carried  out  his  designs,  thus  supported,  into  boldness  and  energy  of 
action."  —  Note  in  Tecumseh,  a  Poem,  already  cited. 

*  "  '  By  whom  are  the  savages  led  ? '  was  the  question,  for  many  years, 
during  the  wars  between  the  Americans  and  Indians.  The  name  '  Tecum 
seh  '  was  itself  a  host  on  the  side  of  the  latter."  —  James. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  395 

force,  were  approved  of  by  Tecumseh,  and  his  last 
words  to  General  Proctor  were  :  "  Father,  tell  your 
young  men  to  be  firm,  and  all  will  be  well."  He 
then  repaired  to  his  people,  and  harangued  them 
before  they  occupied  their  post.  While  the  white 
troops  were  so  quickly  overcome,  Tecumseh  and  his 
wrarriors  almost  as  rapidly  repelled  the  enemy ;  and 
the  Indians  continued  to  push  their  advantage  in 
ignorance  of  the  disaster  of  their  allies,  until  their 
heroic  chief,  who  had  previously  received  a  musket 
ball  in  the  left  arm,  fell  by  a  rifle  bullet,  while  in  the 
act  of  advancing  to  close  with  Colonel  Johnson,  who 
was  on  horseback,  commanding  his  regiment  of 
mounted  riflemen.* 

Of  the  many  Indian  chiefs  who  distinguished  them 
selves  in  the  wars  of  the  whites,  Tecumseh  was  un 
doubtedly  the  greatest  since  the  days  of  Pontiac.  Sir 
Isaac  Brock  has  expressed  his  warm  admiration  of 
him,  and  it  is  well  known  that  the  feeling  was  mutual ; 
but  it  is  said  that  after  the  death  of  his  friend  and 
patron,  Tecumseh  "  found  no  kindred  spirit  with 
whom  to  act."  t  In  early  life  he  \vas  addicted  to 
inebriety,  the  prevailing  vice  of  the  Indians ;  but  his 
good  sense  and  resolution  conquered  the  habit,  and, 
in  his  later  years,  he  was  remarkable  for  temperance. 
Glory  became  his  ruling  passion,  and  in  its  acquisi 
tion  he  was  careless  of  wealth,  as,  although  his  pre 
sents  and  booty  must  have  been  of  considerable  value, 
he  preserved  little  or  nothing  for  himself.  In  height 
he  was  five  feet  ten  inches,  well  formed,  and  capable 
of  enduring  fatigue  in  an  extraordinary  degree.  His 
carriage  was  erect  and  commanding,  and  there  was 
an  air  of  hauteur  in  his  countenance,  arising  from  an 
elevated  pride  of  soul,  which  did  not  forsake  it  when 
life  was  extinct.  He  was  habitually  taciturn,  but, 

*  "  It  seems  extraordinary  that  General  Harrison  should  have  omitted 
to  mention,  in  his  letter,  the  death  of  a  chief,  whose  fall  contributed  so 


the  whole  north-western  frontier  of  the  United  States." — Jat 
t  Lieutenant  Francis  Hall's  Travels  in  Canada,  in  1816  and  1817. 


396  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

when  excited,  his  eloquence  was  nervous,  concise, 
and  figurative.  His  dress  was  plain,  and  he  was 
never  known  to  indulge  in  the  gaudy  decoration  of 
his  person,  which  is  the  common  practice  of  the 
Indians.  On  the  day  of  his  death,  he  wore  a  dressed 
deer-skin  coat  and  pantaloons.  He  was  present  in 
almost  every  action  against  the  Americans,  from  the 
period  of  Harmer's  defeat  to  the  battle  of  the  Thames 
—  was  several  times  wounded — and  always  sought 
the  hottest  of  the  fire.*  On  the  19th  of  July,  1812, 
he  pursued,  near  the  river  Canard,  in  Upper  Canada, 
a  detachment  of  the  American  army  under  Colonel 
M'Arthur,  and  fired  on  the  rear  guard.  The  colonel 
suddenly  faced  about  his  men  and  gave  orders  for  a 
volley,  when  all  the  Indians  fell  flat  on  the  ground 
with  the  exception  of  Tecumseh,  who  stood  firm  on 
his  feet,  with  apparent  unconcern  !  After  his  fall, 
his  lifeless. corpse  was  viewed  with  great  interest  by 
the  American  officers,  who  declared  that  the  contour 
of  his  features  was  majestic  even  in  death.  And 
notwithstanding,  it  is  said  by  an  American  writer, 
that  "  some  of  the  Kentuckians  disgraced  themselves 
by  committing  indignities  on  his  dead  body.  He 
was  scalped,  and  otherwise  disfigured"  He  left  a 
son,  who  fought  by  his  side  when  he  fell,  and  was 
then  about  seventeen  years  old.  The  prince  regent, 
in  1814,  as  a  mark  ef  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
father,  sent  a  handsome  sword  as  a  present  to  the  son. 
A  nephew  of  Tecumseh  and  of  the  prophet,  (their 
sister's  son,)  who  was  highly  valued  by  the  Americans, 
was  slain  in  their  service,  in  November,  1812,  on  the 
northern  bank  of  the  river  Miami.  Having  been 
brought  up  by  the  American  general,  Logan,  he  had 
adopted  that  officer's  name.  He  asserted  that  Tecum 
seh  had  in  vain  sought  to  engage  him  in  the  war  on 
the  side  of  the  British. 

*  "  Few  officers  in  the  United  States'  service  were  so  able  to  command 
in  the  field  as  this  famed  Indian  chief.  He  was  an  excellent  judge  of 
position  ;  and  not  only  knew,  but  could  point  out,  the  localities  of  the 
whole  country  through  which  he  had  passed."  —  James, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  397 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

(MISCELLANEOUS.) 

Thomas  Porter,  a  faithful  servant  of  Sir  Isaac 
Brock,  was  sent  to  England  with  his  effects,  and  at 
the  request  of  the  family,  was  discharged  from  the 
49th  regiment,  in  which  he  was  borne  as  a  soldier, 
and  in  which  he  had  an  only  brother ;  their  father 
having  been  killed,  while  also  in  the  regiment,  on 
board  the  Monarch,  at  Copenhagen.  The  command- 
er-in-chief  readily  sanctioned  the  discharge  of  Porter, 
"  as  a  small  tribute  to  the  memory  of  a  most  gallant 
and  valuable  officer." 

His  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  York  to  W.  Brock,  Esq. 

HORSE  GUARDS,  December,  1815. 
The  prince  regent  having  been  graciously  pleased 
to  command,  in  the  name  arid  on  the  behalf  of  his 
majesty,  that  the  officers  present  at  the  capture  of 
Detroit  should  be  permitted  to  bear  a  medal  comme 
morative  of  .that  brilliant  victory,  I  have  to  transmit 
to  you  the  medal*  which  would  have  been  conferred 
upon  the  late  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  and 
which  the  prince  regent  has  been  pleased  to  direct 
should  be  deposited  with  his  family,  as  a  token  of 
the  respect  which  his  royal  highness  entertains  for 
the  memory  of  that  officer. 

I  am,  Sir,  yours,  FREDERICK, 

Command  er-in-Chief. 

*  The  medal  is  a  very  large  and  beautifully  executed  gold  one,  made  to 
suspend  from  the  neck.  On  the  obverse  is,  "Detroit 5"  on  the  reverse, 
the  figure  of  Britannia;  and  round  the  rim,  "Major-General  Sir  Isaac 
Brock."  The  medal  was  given  only  to  the  principal  officers. 


398  LIFE    AND*  CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

In  the  year  1817,  Mr.  Savery  Brock  visited  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  and,  while  in  the  latter 
country,  received  the  grants  of  the  12,000  acres  of 
land  voted  by  the  legislature  of  the  Upper  Province 
to  the  four  brothers  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock.  The  letters 
written  by  him  during  his  travels  were  highly  prized 
at  the  time,  and  the  following  are  brief  extracts  from 
them  : 

YORK,  Upper  Canada,  Aug.  20  to  25,  1817. 

I  travelled  with  three  gentlemen  from  New  York 
as  far  as  Fort  George,  where  they  left  me  on  "their 
return  by  Montreal.  We  crossed  at  Buffalo  on  the 
9th  instant,  at  which  place  we  arrived  half  an  hour 
before  the  President ;  and  although  one  of  our  party 
(Mr.  Gouverneur)  was  his  nephew,  we  did  not  delay 
our  jour.ney  to  have  a  view  of  his  countenance,  and 
came  over  to  Fort  Erie,  or,  properly  speaking,  its 
remains.  Seven  miles  from  the  fort,  we  stopped  the 
next  morning  to  breakfast  at  a  house  where  Isaac 
had  lived  six  months,  and  the  landlord  told  me  with 
tears  :  "  He  was  a  friend  and  a  father  to  me.  I  was 
close  to  him  when  he  was  shot ;" — with  these  words, 
unable  from  his  feelings  to  add  more,  he  walked 
away  quickly  up  his  orchard ....  On  paying  my 
respects  to  Mrs.  Powell,  the  lady  of  the  present  chief 
justice,  and  to  Mrs.  Claus,  they  were  greatly  affected, 
and  shed  tears ;  and  Mr.  Scott,*  on  whom  I  called 
yesterday,  was  equally  so.  Every  one  here  is  most 
kind — Isaac  truly  lived  in  their  hearts:  from  one 
end  of  Canada  to  the  other,  he  is  beloved  to  a  degree 
you  can  scarcely  imagine — his  memory  will  long 
live  among  them.  '*  To  your  brother,  Sir,  we  are 
indebted  for  the  preservation  of  this  province,"  is  a 
sentiment  that  comes  from  the  heart,  and  is  in  the 
mouths  of  too  many  to  be  flattery.  This  is  pleasing, 
no  doubt,  to  me,  but  it  is  a  mournful  pleasure,  and 
recalls  to  me  the  past.  I  dine  at  five  with  the  gen- 

*  The  then  late  chief  justice. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK'i  399 

tlemen  of  this  town,  and  I  see  a  splendid  table  laid 
out  up  stairs — the  garrison  is  invited.  I  found  no 
way  to  avoid  these  marks  of  respect  to  Isaac's  me 
mory.  I  assure  you  that  it  is  truly  unpleasant  to  me 
to  see  so  many  persons  putting  themselves  in  some 
degree  out  of  their  way  to  gratify  me,  as  I  think  it, 
though  I  am  aware  that  they  do  it  to  satisfy  their  own 
feelings.  I  should  also  mention,  that  last  Saturday  I 
dined  at  Fort  George,  by  invitation  of  the  gentlemen 
there  and  its  environs ;  we  were  forty-nine  in  num 
ber,  and  it  was  the  anniversary  of  the  capture  of 
Detroit !  I  was  invited,  without  their  remembering 
the  day  of  the  month — it  was  a  curious  coincidence. 
The  clergyman,  who  was  of  the  party,  made  allusion 
during  divine  service  next  morning  to  Isaac,  and  to 
my  being  in  the  church.  I  mention  these  particulars, 
that  you  may  fully  judge  of  the  kindness  of  all. 
After  the  service,  three  fine  young  farmers  came  up 
to  me  and  wished  to  shake  hands,  having  been  at , 
Detroit  and  Queenstown.  Nothing  could  exceed 
their  marks  of  attachment.  Every  body,  they  said, 
connected  with  Isaac  would  always  be  seen  with 
pleasure  :  thev  were,  like  myself,  most  sensibly  af 
fected. 

I  hear  of  such  misconduct  on  the  part  of  most  of 
the  generals,  of  such  negligence  that  was  occasioned 
by  it  on  the  part  of  other  officers,  that  it  is  only 
surprising  we  retained  the  country.  Every  general 
required  so  much  urging  to  permit  an  attack,  that 
it  was  really  a  favor  for  any  enterprising  officer,  who 
grieved  that  nothing  was  done,  to  be  allowed  a  hand 
ful  of  men  to  beat  the  enemy  with.  Poor  York ! 
how  miserably  defended ;  but  I  shall  not  enter  into 
particulars ;  as  no  interest  is  now  entertained  for  these 
affairs. 

MONTREAL,  October  24. 

I  have  had  7,000  acres  granted  in  East  and  West 
Flamborough,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario,  about 
twelve  miles  from  its  margin ;  this  is  the  best  of  our 


400  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

land,  but  not  a  house  within  eight  or  nine  miles  of 
it ;  1,200  acres  in  Brock  township,  on  Lake  Sinicoe  ; 
3,000  acres  in  Monaghan,  on  the  Rice  Lake ;  and 
800  acres  in  Murray,  on  Lake  Ontario. 

I  crossed  from  York  to  Kingston  in  a  steam  boat 
of  722  tons,  150  feet  keel,  and  30  feet  beam  — in  a 
bateau  to  La  Chine,  and  reached  Montreal  on  the 
13th  instant.  On  the  16th  I  left  this  at  six  o'clock 
a.m.  in  a  steamer  of  610  tons,  and  reached  Quebec 
the  next  day  (Friday)  at  about  one  o'clock,  p.  m., 
having  anchored  all  night,  the  channel  being  too  nar 
row  to  pass  in  the  dark.  I  remained  until  Tuesday 
night  at  Quebec,  and  arrived  here  last  evening  at 
seven  o'clock — this  is  quick  and  pleasant  travelling — 
the  cabin  of  these  boats  is  good,  and  the  meals,  four 
a  day,  excellent — passage,  including  board  and  wine, 
24  dollars  down  and  up. 

The  principal  gentlemen  of  this  place  have  formed 
a  committee  of  eight  persons,  and  waited  on  me  to 
fix  a  day  to  dine  with  -them.  Tuesday  is  named. 
So  very  civil  is  every  one,  that  I  am  quite  overcome 
with  their  politeness.  Colonel  M'Bean,  of  the  99th, 
and  all  his  officers,  have  also  called.  Isaac's  memory 
is  so  cherished — all  loved  him  sincerely.  At  Quebec, 
I  dined  with  Sir  John  Sherbrooke,  &c.,  visited  the 
falls  of  Montmorenci,  &c.,  and  was  much  pleased 
with  my  trip  there. 

October  25. — The  name  of  Isaac  is  highly  vene 
rated,  and  it  is  most  gratifying  to  me  to  find  it  so 
universally  so,  whilst  the  names  of  many  other  gene 
rals,  who  commanded  during  the  war,  are  spoken  of 
with  much  indifference.* 

••"  On  Mr.  Brock's  return  home  in  January,  1818,  he  brought  the  model 
<.-.  a  steam  vessel  which  he  had  had  constructed  at  New  York,  steam 
navigation  being  then  in  its  infancy  in  England.  He  exhibited  this 
model  at  the  admiralty,  post  office,  and  treasury,  and  strongly  urged  the 
first-named  board  to  construct  and  employ  a  steamer  in  the  suppression  of 
smuggling.  In  an  interview  at  the  admiralty  with  one  of  the  naval  lords, 
Mr.  Brock  was  asked  by  him  if  he  thought  the  people  of  England  would 
ever  suffer  a  ship  of  war  to  be  navigated  without  canvass,  and  gave  this 
answer  :  "  Sir,  do  you  believe  that  the  people  of  England  can  ever  prevent 
the  sun  shining'  upon  them  ?  for  as  surely  as  they  cannot,  so  surely  will 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  401 

Extract  from  the  Montreal  Herald  of  November  1, 1817. 

On  Tuesday,  the  28th  ultimo,  the  principal  inhabitants  of 
Montreal  gave  a  public  dinner  at  the  Mansion  House,  to 
John  Savery  Brock,  Esq.,  of  the  island  of  Guernsey,  as  a 
tribute  of  respect  justly  due  to  the  memory  of  his  late  bro 
ther,  the  deceased  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock. 

Sir  John  Johnson,  Bart.,  took  the  chair  at  six  o'clock, 
supported  by  Messrs.  Forsyth  and  St.  Dizier,  vice-presidents, 
who  conducted  the  arrangements  of  the  table  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  the  occasion  which  the  company  had  assembled  to 
commemorate. 

After  the  cloth  was  removed,  a  series  of  appropriate  toasts 
were  given  from  the  chair.  When  "  the  memory  of  the  late 
Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock "  was  pledged  and  drunk, 
Mr.  B.  availed  himself  of  the  universal  silence  it  created  to 
address  the  company.  In  a  short  speech,  he  expressed  his 
acknowledgments  for  the  very  flattering  and  distinguished 
manner  they  were  pleased,  through  him,  to  testify  their  vene 
ration  for  the  memory  of  his  deceased  brother,  whose  public 
and  private  qualities,  he  was  proud  to  observe,  were  so  highly 
appreciated  by  the  inhabitants  of  Montreal,  in  whose  society 
he  had  for  a  period  been  domesticated,  and  of  whose  kindness 
and  hospitality  he  always  retained  a  grateful  remembrance. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  American  war,  Mr.  B.  ob 
served,  an  arduous  command  devolved  upon  his  brother ;  he 
had  to  protect  an  extensive  frontier  with  very  limited  means, 
arid  those  means,  feeble  as  they  were,  shackled  by  the  tram 
mels  of  superior  authority  ;  the  advance  of  an  hostile  army, 
however,  upon  our  provincial  territory,  developed  the  re 
sources  of  his  military  genius,  and  afforded  him  a  glorious 
opportunity  of  proving  to  his  country  what  he  might  have 
achieved  under  different  circumstances.  Mr.  Brock  apolo 
gized  to  the  company  for  detaining  them  a  few  minutes 
longer,  in  reading  some  extracts  of  letters  he  had  received 
from  the  late  general,  at  different  times,  previous  to  the  battle 
of  Queenstown.  These  extracts  corroborated  what  Mr.  B. 
had  previously  stated ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  in  one  of 
them,  with  a  spirit  almost  prophetic,  the  hero  foretold  the 
issue  of  that  eventful  day,  when  the  hand  of  victory  was 
destined  to  mingle  the  cypress  and  the  laurel  over  his  grave. 
Mr.  Brock's  feelings  were  a  good  deal  affected  in  addressing 
so  numerous  an  assemblage  of  his  late  brother's  personal 
friends  ;  and  we  may  venture  to  add,  that  never  were  feelings 

steam  boats  navigate  the  British  channel."  Although  foiled  and  unheeded 
at  this  time,  Mr.  Brock  lived  to  witness  the  fulfilment  of  his  views  and 
proposals,  which  were  then  treated  as  visionary.  —  (See  Guernsey  and 
Jersey  Magazine,  vol.  v.  p.  117-)  He  was  a  man  of  great  decision  and 
energy  of  character,  of  which  many  interesting  anecdotes  are  related. 


402  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

of  the  same  description  more  sacredly  participated  than  those 
of  Mr.  B.  on  this  occasion.  Mr.  B.  concluded  his  speech  by 
drinking  the  health  of  the  company,  and  "  success  and  pros 
perity  to  the  city  of  Montreal." 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  president  retired,  and  was  succeeded 
in  the  chair  by  the  Hon.  W.  M'Gillivray,  who  immediately 
proposed  the  health  of  the  worthy  baronet,  with  three  times 
three. 

The  band  of  the  99th  regiment  attended  and  played  a 
variety  of  beautiful  airs,  which,  in  addition  to  a  number  of 
excellent  songs  given  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  seduced 
the  party  to  remain  until  the  "  little  hours"  stole  upon  them. 

We  regret  that  want  of  room  prevents  us  from  noticing  as 
we  could  wish  the  neat  and  soldierlike  address  of  thanks  from 
Lieut.-Colonel  M'Bean,  on  behalf  of  the  garrison  of  Montreal, 
or  of  recording  a  translation  of  the  figurative  speeches,  deli 
vered  in  the  Indian  language  by  Lieut.-Colonel  M'Kay  and 
A.  Shaw,  Esq.,  excited  from  those  gentlemen  by  a  recurrence 
to  the  co-operation  of  the  gallant  warrior,  Tecumseh,  with 
the  lamented  chief  whose  immortal  memory  forms  the  subject 
of  this  article. 

Irving  Brock,  Esq.,  to  his  niece,  Miss  Caroline  Tupper.* 
LONDON,  April  12,  1825. 

I  went  to  Windsor  on  Wednesday  last  with  the 

four  Indians,  accompanied  by  my  friend  Mr.  W , 

to  shew  them  the  castle,  Frogmore,  &c. ;  but  the 
chief  object,  which  I  had  secretly  in  mind,  was  to 
have  them  introduced  to  his  majesty.  Sir  John 

C ,  the  late  mayor  of  Windsor,  assisted  me  very 

effectually,  and  the  upshot  of  the  matter  is,  that  the 
king  expressed  his  desire  to  see  the  Indian  chiefs, 
although  every  body  treated  this  as  a  most  chimerical 
idea.  They  wore,  for  the  first  time,  the  brilliant 
clothes  which  Mr.  Butterworth  had  had  made  for 
them,  and  you  cannot  conceive  how  grand  and  im 
posing  they  appeared. 

The  king  appointed  half-past  one  on  Thursday  to 
receive  our  party  at  the  royal  lodge,  his  place  of  resi 
dence.  We  were  ushered  into  the  library  ;  and  now 
I  am  going  to  say  somewhat  pleasing  to  your  uncle 

*  The  present  Mrs.  De  Beauvoir  De  Lisle. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK. 


403 


Savery.  As  Sir  John  C was  in  the  act  of  intro 
ducing  me,  but  before  he  had  mentioned  my  name, 
Sir  Andrew  Barnard*  interrupted  him,  and  said: 
"  There  is  no  occasion  to  introduce  me  to  that  gentle 
man — I  know  him  to  be  General  Brock's  brother — 
he  and  Colonel  Brock,  of  the  81st,  were  my  most 
intimate  friends — I  was  in  the  81st  with  the  colonel. 
There  was  another  brother  whom  I  also  knew — he 
who  was  paymaster  of  the  49th — he  was  a  gallant 
fellow.  By  the  bye,  sir,  I  beg  your  pardon  ;  perhaps 
I  am  speaking  to  that  very  gentleman." 

In  the  library  there  was  also  present,  Marquess 
Conyngham,  Lord  Mount  Charles,  Sir  Edmund  Nagle, 
&c.  &c.  We  remained  chatting  in  the  house  above 
half  an  hour,  expecting  every  moment  to  see  the  king 
enter ;  and  I  was  greatly  amused  to  observe  Mr. 
W and  Sir  John  C start  and  appear  con 
vulsed  every  time  there  was  a  noise  outside  the  door. 
We  were  admiring  the  fine  lawn  when  the  Marquess 
Conyngham  asked  the  Indians  if  they  would  like  to 
take  a  turn,  at  the  same  time  opening  the  beautiful 
door  that  leads  to  it.  The  party  was  no  sooner  out 
than  we  saw  the  king  standing  quite  still,  and  as 
erect  as  a  grenadier  on  a  field  day,  some  forty  yards 
from  us.  We  were  all  immediately  uncovered,  and 
advanced  slowly  towards  the  handsomest,  the  most 
elegant,  the  most  enchanting  man  in  the  kingdom ; 
the  Indians  conducted  by  Marquess  Conyngham,  Sir 
Edmund  Nagle,  Sir  Andrew  Barnard,  Lord  Mount 
Charles,  &c.  &c.  The  range  of  balconies  was  filled 

with  ladies.      Sir  John  C ,  Mr.  W and  I, 

allowed  the  party  to  approach  his  majesty,  while  we 
modestly  halted  at  a  distance  of  twenty  yards.  It 
was  worth  while  being  there  only  to  see  the  benign 
countenance  of  the  greatest  monarch  in  the  world, 
and  to  witness  his  manner  of  uncovering  his  head. 
The  four  chiefs  fell  on  their  knees.  The  king  desired 
them  to  rise,  and  entered  into  a  great  deal  of  prelimi- 

*  The  present  Lieut-General  Sir  Andrew  Barnard,  G.  C.  B. 


404  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

nary  conversation.  I  saw  him  turn  towards  the 
marquess,  and  after  a  few  seconds  he  said,  with  his 
loud  and  sonorous  voice  :  "  Pray,  Mr.  Brock,  come 
near  me — I  pray  you  come  near  me."  I  felt  a  little 
for  my  companions  who  continued  unnoticed,  and 
especially  for  Sir  John  C ,  to  whom  I  was  prin 
cipally  indebted  for  the  royal  interview. 

The  king  addressed  the  Indians  in  French,  very 
distinctly,  fluently,  and  loud  :  "  I  observe  you  have 
the  portrait  of  my  father ;  will  you  permit  me  to 
present  you  with  mine?"  The  marquess  then  pro 
duced  four  large  and  weighty  gold  coronation  peer 
medallions  of  his  majesty,  suspended  by  a  rich  maza 
rine  blue  silk  riband.  The  chiefs,  seeing  this,  drop 
ped  again  upon  their  knees,  and  the  king  took  the 
four  medallions  successively  into  his  hand,  and  said  : 
"  Will  some  gentleman  have  the  goodness  to  tie  this 
behind?"  —  upon  which  Sir  Edmund  Nagle,  with 
whom  we  had  been  condoling  on  account  of  the  gout, 
while  waiting  in  the  library,  and  who  wore  a  list 
shoe,  skipped  nimbly  behind"  the  chiefs,  and  received 
the  string  from  the  king,  tying  the  cordon  on  the 
necks  of  the  four  chiefs.  We  were  much  amused  to 
observe  how  the  royal  word  can  dispel  the  gout. 
The  instant  the  grand  chief  was  within  reach  of  the 
medallion,  and  before  the  investiture  was  completed, 
he  seized  the  welcome  present  with  the  utmost  ear 
nestness,  and  kissed  it  with  an  ardour  which  must 
have  been  witnessed  to  be  conceived.  The  king  ap 
peared  sensibly  affected  by  this  strong  and  unequi 
vocal  mark  of  grateful  emotion.  The  other  chiefs 
acted  in  a  similar  way,  and  nothing  could  have  been 
managed  more  naturally,  or  in  better  taste.  After 
this  ceremony,  the  king  desired  them  to  rise  and  to 
be  covered.  They  put  on  their  hats,  and,  which  ap 
peared  extraordinary  to  me,  his  majesty  remained 
uncovered  all  the  time.  Here  it  was  that  the  grand 
chief,  as  if  incapable  of  repressing  his  feelings,  poured 
out  in  a  most  eloquent  manner,  by  voice  and  action, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  405 

the  following  unpremeditated  speech  in  his  native 
Indian  tongue.  I  say  unpremeditated,  because  that 
fine  allusion  to  the  sun  could  not  have  been  contem 
plated  while  we  were  waiting  in  the  library,  the  room 
where  we  expected  the  interview  to  take  place.  I 
was  pleased  to  find  that  the  presence  of  this  mighty 
sovereign,  who  governs  the  most  powerful  nation 
upon  earth,  did  not  drive  from  the  thoughts  of  the 
pious  chief,  the  King  of  kings  and  the  Lord  of  lords. 
The  instant  he  had  finished,  the  chief  of  the  war 
riors  interpreted  in  the  French  language,  and  I  wrote 
down  the  speech  as  soon  as  I  left  the  royal  lodge.  It 
should  be  observed,  that  the  chiefs  had  been  previously 
informed  by  me  that,  according  to  etiquette,  they 
should  answer  any  questions  which  his  majesty  might 
be  pleased  to  ask,  but  not  introduce  any  conversation 
of  their  own.  The  sun  was  shining  vividly. 

THE    SPEECH. 

I  was  instructed  not  to  speak  in  the  royal  presence,  unless 
in  answer  to  your  majesty's  questions.  But  my  feelings  over 
power  me.  My  heart  is  full.  I  am  amazed  at  such  unex 
pected  grace  and  condescension,  and  cannot  doubt  that  I 
shall  be  pardoned  for  expressing  my  gratitude.  The  sun  is 
shedding  his  genial  rays  upon  our  heads.  He  reminds  us  of 
the  great  Creator  of  the  universe  —  of  Him  who  can  make 
alive  and  who  can  kill.  Oh !  may  that  gracious  and  benefi 
cent  Being,  who  promises  to  answer  the  fervent  prayers  of 
his  people,  bless  abundantly  your  majesty.  May  He  grant 
you  much  bodily  health,  and,  for  the  sake  of  your  happy 
subjects,  may  He  prolong  your  valuable  life  !  It  is  not  alone 
the  four  individuals,  who  now  stand  before  your  majesty, 
who  will  retain  to  the  end  of  their  lives  a  sense  of  this  kind 
and  touching  reception  —  the  whole  of  the  nations,  whose 
representatives  we  are,  will  ever  love  and  be  devoted  to  you, 
their  good  and  great  father. 

His  majesty  felt  deeply  every  word  of  the  speech, 
when  interpreted  by  the  chief  of  the  warriors.  The 
king  answered,  that  he  derived  high  satisfaction  from 
the  sentiments  they  had  expressed,  and  assured  them 
that  he  should  always  be  much  interested  in  the  hap 
piness  of  his  North  American  subjects,  and  would 


406  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

avail  himself  of  every  opportunity  to  promote  their 
welfare,  and  to  prove  that  he  was  indeed  their  father. 
After  acknowledging  in  gracious  terms  the  pleasure 
which  the  speech  of  the  grand  chief  had  afforded 
him,  he  mentioned,  in  an  easy  and  affable  manner, 
that  he  had  once  before  in  his  life  seen  some  indivi 
duals  of  the  Indian  nations,  but  that  was  fifty-five  or 
fifty-six  years  ago.  He  inquired  of  their  passage  to 
this  country,  the  name  of  the  ship  and  of  the  master, 
and  was  persevering  in  his  questions  as  to  the  treat 
ment  they  had  experienced  at  his  hands,  whether 
they  had  been  made  comfortable  in  all  respects,  and 
if  he  had  been  polite  and  attentive. 

While  the  grand  chief  was  delivering  his  speech  in 
the  Huron  language,  it  seemed  as  if  it  would  never 
end  ;  and,  observing  the  king  look  a  little  surprised, 
I  informed  the  Marquess  Conyngham,  in  a  loud  whis 
per,  that  this  was  the  mode  in  which  they  expressed 
their  sense  of  any  honor  conferred,  and  that  the  chief 
of  the  warriors  would  interpret  the  speech  in  the 
French  language.  The  king  asked  me  to  repeat  what 
I  had  been  saying,  and  George  and  Irving  conversed 
for  some  time.  His  majesty,  on  another  occasion, 
asked  me  under  what  circumstances  the  Indians  had 
been  introduced  to  me.  I  answered  that  they  were 
recommended  to  my  notice,  because  they  had  been 
invested  with  the  medallions  of  his  late  majesty  by 
my  brother. 

His  majesty  hoped  the  Indians  had  seen  every  thing 
remarkable  in  Windsor,  and  told  us  we  were  welcome 
to  see  the  interior  of  the  lodge  and  pleasure  grounds, 
that  Sir  Andrew  Barnard  would  accompany  us  every 
where,  to  his  stables,  menagerie,  aviaries,  &c.,  and 
afterwards  he  trusted  we  would  partake  of  some  re 
freshment.  He  also  offered  us  the  use  of  his  car 
riages.  The  refreshment  was  a  truly  royal  repast  — 
we  eat  on  silver — the  table  groaned,  as  Mr.  Heath- 
field  would  say,  under  the  king's  hospitality.  We 
made  a  famous  dinner  —  pine  apple,  champagne, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  407 

claret,  &c. — servants  in  royal  liveries  behind  our 
chairs.  After  dinner  the  Indians  gave  us  the  war 
song,  when,  (in  your  uncle  Savery's  poetry  about 
Maria  Easy,) 

"  Though  the  dogs  ran  out  in  a  great  fright, 
The  ladies  rushed  in  with  much  delight." 

[NOTE.— These  four  Indians  came  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  endea 
vouring  to  recover  lands  which  had  been  given  to  their  tribe  by  Louis  the 
Sixteenth,  but  it  appears  that  they  did  not  succeed.  They  were  very 
pious  Roman  Catholics,  and  those  who  saw  them  were  much  amused  with 
their  simple  and  primitive  manners.— ED.] 


Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Walter  Bromley,  Esq.,  dated  London,  15th  April, 

1825. — From  a  Halifax  N.  S.  newspaper. 

The  Indian  chief,  who  accompanied  me  to  England,  sailed  in  the  Ward, 
for  New  Brunswick,  a  few  days  ago,  loaded  with  presents  to  his  family 
and  people.  I  think  his  appearance  here  has  been  more  beneficial  than  if 
volumes  had  been  printed  on  Indian  civilization,  and  I  am  in  hope  that 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  a  general  sympathy  has  been  excited.  The 
four  Canadian  chiefs  have  attracted  much  attention,  and  have  been  pre 
sented  to  his  majesty  by  the  brother  of  the  late  General  Brock ;  they  are 
the  most  interesting  characters  I  ever  saw  — are  extremely  polite  — and 
speak  French  fluently. 

Mrs.  (Lieut. Colonel)  Eliot*  to  her  sister,  in  Guernsey. 
QUEBEC,  January  12,  1831. 

With  my  kindest  love  to  the  Tuppers  tell  them 
that  I  often  see  Colonel  Glegg,  who  was  Sir  Isaac 
Brock's  aide-de-camp  :  he  is  now  Lord  Aylmer's" 
civil  secretary,  and  we  meet  very  often.  He  speaks 
affectionately*  of  his  old  patron,  and  has  made  many 
inquiries  relative  to  the  family :  the  tears  come  into 
his  eyes  when  he  talks  to  me  of  old  times.  He  and 
George  ( Lieut.  -  Colonel  Eliott)  were  a  great  deal 
together  during  the  war  in  the  Upper  Province.  The 
other  day,  at  dinner  at  the  chateau,  he  told  me  that 
he  had  had  a  visit  from  Sir  Isaac's  old  housekeeper, 
who  is  still  living  here  in  a  similar  situation  to  the 
House  of  Assembly,  and  gets  £50  a  year  salary. 
He  knew  her  directly,  and  seemed  quite  affected 
when  telling  me  that  she  had  brought  her  credentials 

*  Her  husband,  who  distinguished  himself  in  Upper  Canada  during  the 
war,  was  then  serving  on  the  staff  in  Lower  Canada. 


408  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

•with  her  in  case  he  had  not  recognized  her,  as  many 
years  had  elapsed  since  they  met ;  and  she  opened  a 
pocket  book  carefully,  which  she  had  in  her  hand, 
and  took  a  piece  of  a  shirt  with  the  initials  of  General 
Brock's  name,  which  she  said  she  had  cut  off  when 
the  body  was  brought  in  to  be  buried  at  Fort  George, 
and  preserved  it  as  a  relic  of  her  dear  master.  This 
little,  trifling,  affectionate  remembrance  of  the  old 
creature,  shews  her  real  attachment.  Colonel  Glegg 
gave  her  a  new  snuff  box,  filled  with  snuff  from  Pa 
ris,  and  told  her  to  come  again  to  see  him.  Perhaps 
the  Tuppers  will  be  pleased  to  hear  this  little  anecdote. 

[Mrs.  Eliot,  whose  maiden  name  was  Jane  M'Crea,  is  the  daughter  of 
an  American  loyalist  and  a  gallant  field  officer,  now  deceased,  and  the 
niece  and  namesake  of  the  unfortunate  Jane  M'Crea,  whose  tragical  fate 
in  the  American  revolutionary  war  excited  so  much  commisseration,  and 
gave  rise  to  a  correspondence  between  the  American  general,  Gates,  and 
General  Burgoyne.  The  former  wrote  :  "  Miss  M'Crea,  a  young  lady, 
lovely  to  the  sight,  of  virtuous  character  and  amiable  disposition,  engaged 
to  an  officer  of  your  army,  was  with  other  women  and  children,  taken  out 
of  a  house  near  Fort  Edward,  carried  into  the  woods,  and  there  scalped 
and  mangled  in  a  most  shocking  manner  ....  The  miserable  fate  of  Miss 
M'Crea  was  particularly  aggravated  by  being  dressed  to  receive  her  pro 
mised  husband,  but  met  her  murderer  employed  by  you."  The  latter, 
in  his  reply,  stated,  that  "two  chiefs,  who  had  brought  her  off  for  the 
purpose  of  security,  not  of  violence  to  her  person,  disputed  which  should, 
be  her  guard,  and  in  a  fit  of  savage  passion  in  one,  from  whose  hands  she 
was  snatched,  the  unhappy  woman  became  the  victim."  ] 

We  have  in  a  preceding  chapter  described  the  mo 
nument,  on  Queenstown  Heights,  to  the  memory  of 
Sir  Isaac  Brock,  a  monument  which  "  the  popularity 
of  the  general  had  caused  to  be  regarded  with  more 
affectionate  veneration  than  any  other  structure  in  the 
province."  On  Good  Friday,  the  17th  of  April, 
1840,*  a  miscreant,  of  the  name  of  Lett,  introduced  a 
quantity  of  gunpowder  into  this  monument  with  the 
fiendish  purpose  of  destroying  it ;  and  the  explosion, 
effected  by  a  train,  caused  so  much  damage  as  to 
render  the  column  altogether  irreparable.  Lett,  who 
was  by  birth  an  Irishman  and  by  settlement  a  Cana 
dian,  had  been  compelled  to  fly  into  the  United  States 

*  On  the  same  day,  ten  years  previously,  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  nephew, 
ex  sorore,  Colonel  Tupper,  was  slain  in  Chile. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  409 

for  his  share  in  the  recent  rebellion  ;  and  "  well 
knowing  the  feeling  of  attachment  to  the  name  and 
memory  of  General  Brock,  as  pervading  all  classes 
of  Canadians,  he  sought  to  gratify  his  own  malicious 
and  vindictive  spirit,  and  at  the  same  time  to  wound 
and  insult  the  people  of  Upper  Canada"  by  this  de 
mon's  deed.  The  universal  indignation  of  that  people 
was  aroused,  and  a  public  meeting  was  appointed  to 
be  held  on  Queenstown  Heights,  on  the  30th  of  July 
following,  for  the  purpose  of  adopting  resolutions  for 
the  erection  of  another  monument,  the  gallant  Sir 
Allan  Mac  Nab*  especially  making  the  most  stirring 
exertions  to  promote  this  great  object.  The  gathering, 
as  it  was  called,  was  observed  in  Toronto  (late  York) 
as  a  solemn  holiday  $  the  public  offices  were  closed 
and  all  business  was  suspended,  while  thousands 
flocked  from  every  part  of  the  province  to  testify 
their  affection  for  the  memory  of  one  who,  nearlv 
thirty  years  before,  had  fallen  in  its  defence  !  History, 
indeed,  affords  few  parallels  of  such  long  cherished 
public  attachment.  "  Steam  vessels,  engaged  for  the 
occasion,  left,  their  respective  ports  of  Kingston  and 
Coburg,  of  Hamilton  and  Toronto,  in  time  to  arrive 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Niagara  river  about  ten  o'clock 
in  the  forenoon.  The  whole  of  these,  ten  in  number, 
then  formed  in  line,  arid  ascended  the  river  abreast, 
with  the  government  steamer,  containing  the  lieute 
nant-governor,  Sir  George  Arthur,  f  and  his  staff, 
leading  the  way.  The  British  shore  was  lined  with 
thousands,  and  the  fleet  of  steamer?  filled  with  hun 
dreds,  each  shouting  and  responding  to  the  cheers  of 
welcome  from  ship  to  shore,  and  from  shore  to  ship 
again.  The  landing  being  effected,  the  march  to  the 

*  "  Sir  Allan  Mac  Nab,  a  native  of  Canada,  is  the  son  of  a  British  officer, 
who,  decorated  with  thirteen  wounds,  accompanied  General  Simcoe  to 
the  Upper  Province  when  it  was  a  dense  and  unpeopled  wilderness."— Sir 
F.  B.  Head's  recent  work,  The  Emigrant. 

t  Colonel  Sir  George  Arthur,  knight,  with  the  local  rank  of  major- 
general  in  Canada— he  was  created  a  baronet  in  1841,  and  in  June,  1842, 
took  his  seat  as  governor  of  Bombay,  which  office  he  vacated  through  ill 
health,  in  August,  1846.., 
T 


410  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

ground  was  accompanied  by  military  guards  and  a 
fine  military  band.  The  public  meeting  was  then 
held  in  the  open  air,  near  the  foot  of  the  monument, 
and  Sir  George  Arthur  was  in  the  chair.  The  reso 
lutions  were  moved,  and  speeches  made,  by  some  of 
the  most  eminent  and  most  eloquent  men,  holding 
high  official  stations  in  the  province ;  *  and  consider 
ing  that  amidst  this  grand  and  imposing  assemblage, 
there  were  a  great  number  of  veteran  officers  of  the 
Canadian  militia,  who  had  fought  and  bled  with  the 
lamented  chief,  whose  memory  they  were  assembled 
to  honor,  and  whose  monument  they  had  come  to 
re-establish  over  his  remains,  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  whole  mass  was  animated  may  easilv  be 
conceived ;  while  the  grand  and  picturesque  combi 
nation  of  natural  objects  of  scenery,  beheld  from  the 
heights  on  which  they  were  met,  and  the  brightness 
of  the  day,  added  greatly  to  the  effect  of  the  whole." 
The  gathering f  was  attended  by  about  8,000  persons, 
and  the  animation  of  the  scene  was  increased  by  a 
detachment  of  the  1st  dragoon  guards,  with  their 
bright  helmets  glittering  in  the  sun ;  and  by  the  93d 
regiment,  (Highlanders,)  in  full  costume. 

There  were  altogether  eleven  resolutions,  of  which 
the  fifth  was  the  following  : 

Resolved,— That  we  recall  to  mind,  with  admiration  and 
gratitude,  the  perilous  times  in  which  Sir  Isaac  Brock  led 
the  small  regular  force,  the  loyal  and  gallant  militia,  and  the 
hrave  and  faithful  Indian  warriors,  to  oppose  the  invaders  — 
when  his  fortitude  inspired  courage,  and  his  sagacious  policy 
gave  confidence,  in  despite  of  a  hostile  force  apparently  over 
whelming. 

*  Exclusive  of  the  chief  justice  and  Mr.  Justice  Macaulay,  the  speakers 
were  :  His  Excellency  Sir  George  Arthur  ;  Sir  Allan  Mac  Nab  ;  Mr.  Thor - 
burn,  M.P.  P. ;  Colonel  the  Hon.  W.  Morris;  Colonel  R.  D.  Fraserj 
Colonel  Clark ;  Mr.  W.  H.  Merritt,  M.  P.  P. ;  Lieut-Colonel  J.  Baskin ; 
Lieut.-Colonel  Sherwood  ;  Colonel  Stanton  ;  Colonel  Kerby  ;  Colonel  the 
Hon.  W.  Draper;  Colonel  Angus  M'Donell;  the  Hon.  Mr.  Sullivan; 
Lieut.-Colonel  Cartwright ;  Colonel  Bostwick ;  Colonel  M'Dougal ;  the 
Hon.  Mr.  Justice  Hagarman  ;  Colonel  Rutton  ;  Lieut.-Colonel  Kearnes  ; 
Lieut.-Colonel  Kirkpatrick;  H.  J.  Boulton,  Esq.;  and  Lieut.-Colonel 
Edward  Thomson. 

t  A  public  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  Montreal  was  also  held  in 
that  city,  for  the  same  purpose  as  that  on  Queenstown  Heights. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  411 

We  cannot  refrain  from  transferring  to  these  pages 
parts  of  the  long  and  eloquent  speech  of  the  chief 
justice,  Robinson,*  who  on  advancing  to  the  front 
of  the  hustings  to  move  the  sixth  resolution,  was 
received  amid  the  most  enthusiastic  cheers. 

If  it  were  intended  by  those  who  committed  this  shameful 
outrage,  that  the  injury  should  be  irreparable,  the  scene 
which  is  now  before  us,  on  these  interesting-  heights,  shews 
that  they  little  understood  the  feelings  of  veneration  for  the 
memory  of  BROCK  which  still  dwell  in  the  hearts  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Upper  Canada.  No  man  ever  established  a  better 
claim  to  the  affections  of  a  country  ;  and,  in  recalling  the 
recollections  of  eight  and  twenty  years,  there  is  no  difficulty 
in  accounting  for  the  feeling  which  has  brought  us  together 
on  this  occasion.  Among  the  many  who  are  assembled  here 
from  all  parts  of  this  province,  I  know  there  are  some  who 
saw,  as  I  did,  with  grief,  the  body  of  the  lamented  general 
borne  from  the  field  on  which  he  fell  —  and  many  who  wit 
nessed,  with  me,  the  melancholy  scene  of  his  interment  in 
one  of  the  bastions  of  Fort  George.  They  can  never,  I  am 
sure,  forget  the  countenances  of  the  soldiers  of  that  gallant 
regiment  which  he  had  long  commanded,  when  they  saw 
deposited  in  the  earth  the  lamented  officer  who  had  for  so 
many  years  been  their  pride ;  they  can  never  forget  the 
feelings  displayed  by  the  loyal  militia  of  this  province,  when 
they  were  consigning  to  the  grave  the  noble  hero  who  had  so 
lately  achieved  a  glorious  triumph  in  the  defence  of  their 
country :  they  looked  forward  to  a  dark  and  perilous  future, 
and  they  felt  that  the  earth  was  closing  upon  him  in  whom, 
more  than  in  all  other  human  means  of  defence,  their  confi 
dence  had  been  reposed.  Nor  can  they  forget  the  counte 
nances,  oppressed  with  grief,  of  those  brave  and  faithful 
Indian  warriors,  who  admired  and  loved  the  gallant  Brock, 
who  had  bravely  shared  with  him  the  dangers  of  that  period, 
and  who  had  most  honorably  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
field,  where  he  closed  his  short  but  brilliant  career. 

****** 

It  has,  I  know,  Sir,  in  the  many  years  that  have  elapsed, 
been  sometimes  objected,  that  General  Brock's  courage  was 
greater  than  his  prudence  —  that  his  attack  of  Fort  Detroit, 
though  it  succeeded,  was  most  likely  to  have  failed,  and  was 

*  Chief  Justice  Robinson  is,  from  all  we  hear  of  him,  the  most  eminent 
and  talented  man  in  British  America.  Sir  Francis  Head,  who,  in  his  work 
The  Emigrant,  most  highly,  and,  we  believe,  most  justly  eulogizes  his 
public  and  private  worth,  states  that  he  is  a  native  born  Canadian,  and  is 
the  son  of  a  British  officer,  who  served  during  the  first  American  war, 
and  accompanied  General  Simcoe  to  Canada. 


412  LIFE   AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

therefore  injudicious  —  and  that  a  similar  rashness  and  want 
of  cool  calculation  were  displayed  in  the  manner  of  his  death. 

Those  who  lived  in  Upper  Canada  while  these  events  were 
passing,  can  form  a  truer  judgment;  they  know  that  what 
may  to  some  seem  rashness,  was,  in  fact,  prudence ;  unless, 
indeed,  the  defence  of  Canada  was  to  be  abandoned,  in  the 
almost  desperate  circumstances  in  which  General  Brock  was 
placed.  He  had  with  him  but  a  handful  of  men,  who  had 
never  been  used  to  military  discipline  —  few,  indeed,  that  had 
ever  seen  actual  service  in  the  field  ;  and  he  knew  it  must  be 
some  months  before  any  considerable  reinforcement  could  be 
sent  to  him.  He  felt,  therefore,  that  if  he  could  not  impress 
upon  the  enemy  this  truth,  that — wherever  a  major-general 
of  the  British  army,  with  but  a  few  gallant  soldiers  of  the 
line,  and  of  the  brave  defenders  of  the  soil,  could  be  assembled 
against  them  —  they  must  retire  from  the  land  which  they 
had  invaded,  his  cause  was  hopeless.  If  he  had  begun  to 
compare  numbers,  and  had  reserved  his  small  force  in  order 
to  make  a  safer  effort  on  a  future  day,  then  would  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  the  people  of  the  neighbouring  States 
have  been  found  pouring  into  the  western  portions  of  this 
province ;  and  when  at  last  our  mother  country  could  send, 
as  it  was  certain  she  would,  her  armies  to  our  assistance,  they 
would  have  had  to  expend  their  courage  and  their  strength 
in  taking  one  strong  position  after  another,  that  had  been 
erected  by  the  enemy  within  our  own  territory. 

And  at  the  moment  when  the  noble  soldier  fell,  it  is  true 
he  fell  in  discharging  a  duty  which  might  have  been  com 
mitted  to  a  subordinate  hand  ;  true,  he  might  have  reserved 
himself  for  a  more  deliberate  and  stronger  effort ;  but  he  felt 
that  hesitation  might  be  ruin  —  that  all  depended  upon  his 
example  of  dauntless  courage — of  fearless  self-devotion.  Had 
it  pleased  Divine  Providence  to  spare  his  invaluable  life,  who 
will  say  that  his  effort,  would  have  failed  ?  It  is  true  his 
gallant  course  was  arrested  by  a  fatal  wound  —  such  is  the 
fortune  of  war ;  but  the  peopfe  of  Canada  did  not  feel  that 
his  precious  life  was  thrown  away,  deeply  as  they  deplored 
his  fall.  In  later  periods  of  tbe  contest,  it  sometimes  hap 
pened  that  the  example  of  General  Brock  was  not  very 
closely  followed.  It  was  that  cautious  calculation,  which 
some  suppose  he  wanted,  which  decided  the  day  against  us 
at  Sackett's  Harbour — it  was  the  same  cautious  calculation 
which  decided  the  day  at  Plattsburg;  but  no  monuments 
have  been  erected  to  record  the  triumphs  of  those  fields  — 
it  is  not  thus  that  trophies  are  won. 

The  Hon.  Mr.  Justice  Macaulay,  in  moving  the 
third  resolution,  thus  elegantly  expressed  himself: 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  413 

It  was  not  my  good  fortune  to  serve  in  the  field  under  the 
illustrious  Brock,  but  I  was  under  his  command  for  a  short 
period  when  commandant  of  the  garrison  of  Quebec,  thirty 
years  ago,  and  well  remember  his  congratulating  rne  upon 
receiving  a  commission  in  the  army,  accompanied  with  good 
wishes  for  my  welfare,  which  I  shall  never  forget.  1  feel 
myself  a  humble  subaltern  still  when  called  upon  to  address 
such  an  auditory,  and  upon  such  a  topic  as  the  memory  of 
Brock.  Looking  at  the  animated  mass  covering  these  heights 
in  1840,  to  do  further  honor  to  the  unfortunate  victim  of  a 
war  now  old  in  history,  one  is  prompted  to  ask,  how  it  hap 
pens  that  the  gallant  general,  who  has  so  long  slept  the  sleep 
of  death,  left  the  lasting  impression  on  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen  which  this  scene  exhibits  ;  how  comes  it  that 
the  fame  of  Brock  thus  floats  down  the  stream  of  time,  broad, 
deep,  and  fresh  as  the  waters  of  the  famed  river  with  whose 
waters,  it  might  be  almost  said,  his  life's  blood  mingled  ?  la 
reply,  we  might  dwell  upon  his  civil  and  military  virtues,  his 
patriotic  self-devotion,  his  chivalrous  gallantry,  and  his  tri 
umphant  achievements.  (Here  one  of  the  auditors  added, 
"'and  that  he  was  an  honest  man"  —  an  attribute  most 
warmly  responded  to  one  every  side,  for  an  honest  man  is 
the  noblest  work  of  God.)  Still  it  might  be  asked,  What 
peculiar  personal  qualities  predominated  and  gave  him  the 
talismanic  influence  and  ascendancy  over  his  fellow  men, 
which  he  acquired  and  wielded  for  his  country's  good  ?  I 
answer,  Are  there  any  seamen  among  you?  (Yes,  yes,  an 
swered  from  the  crowd)  —  then  I  say  it  was  the  Nelsonian 
spirit  that  animated  his  breast;  it  was  the  mind  intuitively 
to  conceive,  and  the  soul  promptly  to  dare,  incredible  things 
to  feeble  hearts  —  with  a  skill  and  bearing  which  infused  this 
chivalrous  and  enterprising  spirit  into  all  his  followers,  and 
impelled  them  energetically  to  realise  whatever  he  boldly  led 
the  way  to  accomplish.  It  displayed  itself  too,  not  only  in 
the  ranks  of  the  disciplined  soldiers,  but  in  those  also  of  the 
untrained  militia  of  Upper  Canada,  as  was  amply  proved  on 
this  memorable  ground.  Such  were  the  shining  and  conspi 
cuous  qualities  of  the  man  that  have  rendered  very  dear  his 
memory  and  his  fame.  Gentlemen,  the  resolution  which  I 
hold  in  my  hand  is  expressive  of  the  indignation  felt  through- 
cut  the  province  at  the  lawless  act,  the  effects  of  which  are 
visible  before  us. 

After  the  resolutions  had  been  carried  by  acclama 
tion,  and  the  public  proceedings  had  terminated,  600 
persons  sat  down  to  dinner  in  a  temporary  pavilion 
erected  on  the  spot  where  the  hero  fell,  "  Chief  Jus- 


414  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

tice  Robinson  presiding;  and  at  this,  as  at  the  morn 
ing  meeting,  great  eloquence  was  displayed  in  the 
speeches,  great  loyalty  evinced  in  the  feelings,  and 
great  enthusiasm  prevailed."  After  the  queen's  health 
had  been  drunk,  the  chief  justice  rose  and  said  : 

I  have  now  to  propose  the  memory  of  the  late  gallant  Sir 
Isaac  Brock,  of  Colonel  M'Donell,  and  those  who  fell  with 
them  on  Queenstown  Heights.  That  portion  of  you,  gentle 
men,  who  were  inhabitants  of  Upper  Canada  while  General 
Brock  served  in  its  defence,  are  at  no  loss  to  account  for  the 
enthusiastic  affection  with  which  his  memory  is  cherished 
among  us.  It  was  not  merely  on  account  of  his  intrepid 
courage  and  heroic  firmness,  neither  was  it  solely  because  of 
his  brilliant  success  while  he  lived,  nor  because  he  so  nobly 
laid  down  his  life  in  our  defence  ;  it  was,  I  think,  that  he 
united  in  his  person,  in  a  very  remarkable  degree,  some  qua 
lities  which  are  peculiarly  calculated  to  attract  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  mankind  —  there  was,  in  all  he  said  and  did, 
that  honesty  of  character  which  was  so  justly  ascribed  to  him 
by  a  gentleman  who  proposed  one  of  the  resolutions  —  there 
was  an  inflexible  integrity,  uncommon  energy  and  decision, 
which  always  inspire  confidence  and  respect  —  a  remarkable 
union  in  his  whole  demeanour  of  benevolence  and  firmness  — 
a  peculiarly  commanding  and  soldierlike  appearance  —  a  gene 
rous,  frank,  and  manly  bearing — and,  above  all,  an  entire 
devotion  to  his  country.  In  short,  I  believe  I  shall  best 
convey  my  own  impression,  when  I  say  it  would  have  required 
much  more  courage  to  refuse  to  follow  General  Brock,  than 
to  go  with  him  wherever  he  would  lead. 

"  The  meeting  presented  a  proud  display  of  high 
and  noble  feelings,  honorable  to  the  memory  of  the 
dead,  and  equally  so  to  the  character  of  the  living. 
It  was  conducted  with  great  dignity  and  judgment, 
and  no  accident  occurred  to  interrupt  the  pleasures 
of  the  day  ;  the  steam  vessels  re-embarking  their 
passengers  soon  after  sun-set,  and  conveying  back  the 
individuals  composing  this  congregated  multitude  to 
their  respective  homes  in  safety/'  * 

It  having  been  resolved  by  the  meeting  that  the 
most  suitable  monument,  to  replace  the  shattered 

*  The  extracts  given  in  invented  commas  are  from  "Buckingham's 
Canada,"  that  gentleman  being  at  Toronto  at  the  time,  but  unable  from 
illness  to  attend  the  '•  gathering." 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  415 

column,  would  be  an  obelisk  on  the  site  of  the 
mutilated  structure,  the  committee  offered  a  premium 
for  a  design,  which,  in  February,  1843,  was  awarded 
to  Mr.  T.  Young,  architect  to  the  university  of  king's 
college,  Toronto.  The  style  of  the  intended  obelisk 
is  the  simplest  and  purest  Egyptian,  the  artist  having 
strictly  avoided  all  minuteness  of  detail  in  order  that 
the  massive  proportions  of  the  design  might  harmon 
ize  with  the  bold  and  beautiful  scenery  by  which  it 
will  be  surrounded.  The  total  height  of  the  base, 
pedestal,  and  obelisk,  will  be  175  feet.  The  obelisk 
will  measure  at  the  lower  base  16  feet  6  inches  square, 
diminishing  to  10  feet  at  the  base  of  the  upper,  the 
proportions  of  that  known  as  Cleopatra's  needle  hav 
ing  been  strictly  adhered  to.  The  estimated  cost  of 
this  obelisk  is  about  <£5,000  currency,  the  materials 
of  the  old  monument  being  used  as  far  as  possible ; 
and  as  above  ,£4,000*  have  already  been  contributed, 
it  is  expected  that  the  new  structure  will  be  commen 
ced  in  the  spring  of  1845.  f 

A  concluding  notice  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  favorite 
regiment  will  scarcely  be  deemed  superfluous,  al 
though,  as  the  records  of  the  49th  were  destroyed  at 
the  evacuation  of  Fort  George,  in  May,  1813,  we 
cannot  give  many  further  details  of  its  services  pre 
vious  to  that  period.  It  served  in  the  American 
revolutionary  war,  as,  by  the  records  still  existing, 
the  flank  companies  were  to  be  permitted  to  wear, 
the  grenadiers  a  black,  and  the  light  company  a  red, 
feather,  for  services  at  Bunker's  Hill ;  but  the  books 
being  lost,  the  regiment  cannot  shew  the  authority, 
and  consequently  is  not  allowed  this  distinction.  The 
49th  was  repeatedly  engaged  in  Upper  Canada,  and 
was  especially  distinguished  at  the  battles  of  Stoney 
Creek  and  Chrystler's  Farm.  The  presence  of  mind 
and  resolution  of  one  of  the  subalterns  in  that  country 

*  In  1841,  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians  had  contributed  the  (for  their 
diminished  numbers  and  limited  means)  large  sum  of  sg\Q7. 

t  See  Appendix  A,  Section  l,  No.  14. 


416  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

deserve  a  brief  notice.  In  June,  1813,  soon  after  the 
affair  of  Stoney  Creek,  Lieutenant  Fitzgibbon, *  of  the 
49th,  was  allowed  at  his  own  request  to  range  in  front 
of  the  enemy  with  fifty  chosen  men  of  that  regiment. 
An  American  force  of  about  600f  officers  and  men, 
including  50  cavalry  and  2  field  pieces,  were  detached 
under  Colonel  Boerstler  from  Fort  George,  on  the 
23d  of  June,  to  cut  off  Lieutenant  Fitzgibbon's  party, 
then  near  the  Beaver  Dam,  about  16  miles  from  that 
fort.  The  next  morning,  they  encountered  in  the 
woods  about  200  Indians,  who  fired  u.pon  them. 
Hearing  the  firing,  Fitzgibbori  rode  forward  to  recon 
noitre,  and  soon  after  sent  for  his  party,  consisting  of 
Lieutenant  Winder,  3  sergeants,  and  43  rank  and  file. 
He  found  the  enemy,  whose  force  he  distinctly  ascer 
tained,  occupying  an  eminence  cleared  of  timber; 
and  by  the  time  his  party  came  up,  the  Indians  were 
beginning  to  retire,  but  fortunately  unknown  to  the 
enemy.  Fearing  that  the  Americans  would  now  be 
permitted  to  move  off  without  further  molestation, 
Fitzgibbon  conceived  the  idea  of  summoning  them  to 
surrender ;  and,  after  passing  their  front  with  his 
men  under  a  discharge  which  did  no  execution,  he 
placed  his  small  force  in  the  woods  with  the  apparent 
intention  of  cutting  off  the  enemy's  retreat.  He  then 
shewed  a  white  handkerchief  as  a  flag  of  truce,  and 
soon  after  a  white  flag  was  hoisted  over  one  of  the 
enemy's  guns,  when  a  captain  of  artillery  came  out  to 
meet  Lieutenant  Fitzgibbon.  The  latter  magnified 
the  British  force,  and  spoke  of  the  impossibility  of 
restraining  the  Indians  in  the  event  of  an  attack. 
After  some  little  parley,  during  which  the  49th  de 
tachment  was  joined  by  Captain  Hall  and  14  provin 
cial  dragoons,  Colonel  Boerstler  was  finally  allowed 
only  five  minutes  for  a  definite  answer ;  and,  although 
he  had  previously  sent  to  Fort  George  for  reinforce 
ments,  he  then  agreed  to  surrender.  Major  de  Haren, 

*  The  present  Colonel  Fitzgibbon,  already  mentioned. 

t  James,  in  his  "Military  Occurrences,"  says 6/3  officers  and  men. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  417 

of  the  Canadian  Fencibles,  soon  after  came  up  with 
about  220  men,  but  the  entire  merit  of  thus  capturing 
23  officers  and  490  non-commissioned  officers  and 
privates  of  the  regular  army,  (exclusive  of  28  militia 
men,  who  were  paroled,)  with  two  field  pieces  and  a 
stand  of  colours,  belonged  to  Lieutenant  Fitzgibbon 
and  his  small  detachment ;  and  he  was  accordingly 
promoted  to  a  company.*  In  alluding  to  this  event, 
the  gallant  officer  wrote  to  a  friend  :  "  When  I  brought 
in  these  500  prisoners  and  delivered  them  up  to 
General  Vincent,  I  then  thought  I  would  have  given 
the  world's  wealth  that  General  Brock  were  alive, 
that  I  might  say  to  him  :  '  Here,  sir,  is  the  first  in 
stalment  of  my  debt  of  gratitude  to  you  for  all  you 
have  done  for  me.  In  words  I  have  never  thanked 
you  sufficiently,  because  words  could  never  express 
my  gratitude  for  such  generous  protection  as  you 
have  hitherto  unceasingly  extended  to  me.' '; 

In  1815,  the  regiment  returned  to  England,  after 
an  absence  of  above  thirteen  years  ;  and  in  January, 
1816,  "  in  consequence  of  its  doing  duty  over  her 
royal  highness  the  princess  Charlotte  of  Wales,  at 
Weymouth,  she  was  graciously  pleased  to  nominate 
it  her  regiment."  In  December,  1821,  the  49th  em 
barked  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  in  1828 
proceeded  on  to  Bengal.  In  April,  1840,  the  regi 
ment  embarked  for  China,  where  it  distinguished 
itself,  and  suffered  much  from  climate.  In  gaining 
possession  of  the  heights  which  overlook  the  city  of 
Canton,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1841,  "as  the  two 
brigades  advanced  together,  there  was  some  little 
rivalry  between  the  49th  and  18th  regiments,  as  to 
which  should  have  the  honor  of  commencing  the 
attack  upon  the  two  forts.  The  49th,  having  the 
advantage  of  a  shorter  and  perhaps  rather  better  road, 
got  the  lead,  which  they  maintained ;  so  that  the  left 
brigade  carried  BOTH  the  eastern  forts  before  the  18th 

*  The  particulars  of  this  exploit  are  abridged  from  "  The  Soldier's  Com 
panion,  or  Martial  Recorder." 

m* 


418  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

came  up,  and  with  little  loss."  *  In  February,  1843, 
after  the  Chinese  had  been  coerced  into  a  peace,  the 
49th  returned  to  Calcutta,  and  in  the  following  month 
embarked  for  England,  where  the  head  quarters 
arrived  on  the  24th  of  August,  after  an  absence  of 
nearly  twenty-two  years  —  an  example  of  the  arduous 
service  in  which  the  British  infantry  of  the  line  is 
constantly  engaged.  The  49th,  (the  Princess  Char 
lotte  of  Wales',)  or  Hertfordshire  regiment,  bears  on 
its  colours  and  appointments  the  distinctions  of  Eg- 
mont  op  Zee,  Copenhagen,  Queenstovvn,  the  Dragon, 
and  China. 


Of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  brothers,  the  eldest,  John,f  a 
brevet  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  81st  regiment,  was 
killed  in  a  duel,  in  July,  1801,  at  the  Cape  of  Good 

Hope,   by  Captain  M ,j   in  consequence  of  his 

having,  as  steward  of  a  public  ball,  very  properly 
resisted  the  introduction,  by  his  antagonist,  of  a 
female  of  disreputable  character.  The  second  bro 
ther,  Ferdinand, §  a  lieutenant  of  the  60th  regiment, 
was  slain  in  the  defence  of  Baton  Rouge,  on  the 
Mississippi,  21st  September,  1779,  at  the  early  age 
of  nineteen.  The  third  brother,  Daniel  De  Lisle,  a 
man  of  distinguished  ability,  was  bailiff  and  president 
of  the  States  of  Guernsey.  No  chief  magistrate  of 
the  island  was  ever  so  beloved,  honored,  and  regret 
ted,  as  Mr.  Brock;  and  so  universal  was  the  feeling 
of  admiration  for  his  talents  arid  services,  that  the 
Royal  Court  decreed  him  a  public  funeral  at  the 
public  expense — a  tribute  of  respect  never  previously 
paid  by  that  body  to  any  individual.  ||  The  ninth 

*  Bernard's  Narrative  of  the  combined  Naval  and  Military  Operations 
in  China.  London,  1844. 

+  While  an  ensign  in  the  8th  regiment,  he  was  quartered  at  Fort  Niagara, 
n  July,  1/77. 

t  Captain  M ,  the  son  of  a  baronet,  fell  as  a  major  and  aide-de-camp 

to  Lord  Lake,  at  the  siege  of  Bhurtpore,  in  1805. 

§  Ensign  8th  February,  1776;  Lieutenant  25th  December,  1778. 

|)  For  a  brief  memoir  of  him,  see  Appendix  B. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  419 

brother,  Savery,  who  died  on  the  7th  August,  1844, 
has  been  already  noticed;  and  the  tenth,  Irving,  who 
deceased  in  1838,  at  Bath,  was  "the  accomplished 
translator  of  Bernier's  Travels  in  India,"  and  a 
powerful  amateur  writer  in  support  of  the  government 
in  1810,  at  a  very  eventful  and  critical  period.*  Sin 
gularly  enough,  of  the  eight  brothers  of  this  family 
of  the  Brocks  who  reached  maturity,  no  male  descen 
dant  of  their  name  is  now  in  existence.  Of  their  two 
sisters,  who  grew  to  womanhood,  the  elder,  Elizabeth, 
now  the  only  survivor  of  the  family  and  in  her  81st 
year,  married  John  E.  Tupper,  Esq.,  of  Guernsey; 
and  the  younger,  Mary,  was  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Potenger,  Esq.,  of  Compton,  in  Berkshire,  first  cousin 
to  the  Countess  of  Bridgewater. 

Of  the  five  nephews  and  one  great  nephew  of  Sir 
Isaac  Brock,  who  have  hitherto  embraced  the  profes 
sion  of  arms,  not  one  survives,  four  of  the  former  and 
the  latter  having  sadly  and  prematurely  perished, 
viz:  first,  Midshipman  Charles  Tupper,  of  his  majes 
ty's  ship  Primrose,  drowned  at  S  pithead,  in  1815,  by 
the  upsetting  of  the  boat  in  which  he  was  accompany 
ing  his  commander  from  Portsmouth  to  the  ship ; 
second,  Lieutenant  E.W.  Tupper,  f  his  Majesty's  ship 
Sybille,  mortally  wounded  in  action  with  Greek  pi 
rates,  near  Candia,  on  the  18th  of  June,  1826 ;  third, 
Lieutenant  William  Potenger,  adjutant  22d  regiment, 
died  on  the  19th  November,  1827,  of  the  fever,  at  Ja 
maica  ;  fourth,  Colonel  W.  De  Vic  Tupper, ;{:  of  the 
Chilian  service,  slain  inaction,  nearTalca,  on  the  17th 
April,  1830  ;  and,  fifth,  the  great  nephew,  Ensign  A. 
Delacombe  Potenger,  §  of  the  5th  Bengal  Native  In 
fantry,  while  in  command  of  the  light  company,  was 
killed  by  a  bullet  which  entered  his  breast,  in  the  dis- 

*  One  of  his  pamphlets  went  through  four  editions. 

t  For  a  short  memoir,  see  Appendix  C. 

t  For  a  memoir,  see  Appendix  D. 

§  The  only  son  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Potenger,  mentioned  ante.  With 
this  fine  young  man  expired  the  last  hope  of  his  family,  and  t;  o  continu 
ation  of  his  line. 


420  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

astrous  retreat  of  the  British  army  from  Cabool,  in 
January,  1842.  The  remaining  nephew,  Captain 
Eugene  Brock,  of  the  20th  regiment,  died  at  Ber 
muda,  in  January,  1844.  And  to  this  melancholy 
catalogue  may  be  added  the  name  of  another  nephew, 
John  E.  Tupper,  who  perished  at  sea  in  the  Mediter 
ranean  in  1812,  and  of  whom  mention  has  been  made 
in  the  preceding  pages. 


Our  memoir  is  concluded,  and  even  if  in  its 
progress  we  have  but  feebly  and  imperfectly  narrated 
the  career  and  portrayed  the  character  of  him  who  is 
the  subject,  we  trust  that  our  labour  has  not  been  in 
vain,  because  we  feel  that  we  have  rescued  much 
from  oblivion,  relative  to  his  services  in  Canada,  that 
was  hitherto  unknown  and  unrecorded.  To  preserve 
the  memory  of  so  good  a  man  —  to  prolong,  as  it 
were,  a  career  which,  unhappily  for  the  interests  of 
his  country,  was  too  brief — to  hold  up  his  benevo 
lence  in  command  as  an  example  to  other  officers  — 
to  prove  to  them  that  military  discipline  can  be  better 
maintained  by  humanity  and  kindness  than  by  harsh 
ness  and  severity  —  seemed  to  us  little  less  than  a 
duty.  Such  were  the  feelings  which  prompted  us  to 
undertake  this  work ;  and,  in  completing  our  task, 
we  are  not  without  hope  that  the  simple  language  of 
soberness  and  truth  will  be  preferred  to  a  memorial 
composed  with  more  art,  but  dictated  by  less  since 
rity.  It  has  been  well  observed  by  Doctor  Johnson, 
"  that  there  has  rarely  passed  a  life,  of  which  a  judi 
cious  and  authentic  narrative  would  not  be  useful ;" 
and  perhaps  this  will  not  be  thought  the  exception. 
And  should  we  in  the  course  of  these  pages  have 
inadvertently  fallen  into  undue  panegyrism,  that  very 
common  error  of  biographers,  our  excuse  must  be, 
that  we  could  scarcely  avoid  eulogizing  one  of  whom 
it  was  written,  soon  after  his  untimely  fall,  by  a 
bosom  friend  :  "  General  Brock  was  indeed  a  hero, 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  421 

a  hero  in  the  only  true  and  in  the  most  extensive 
sense,  resembling  what  history  or  fable  has  repre 
sented,  rather  as  the  offspring  of  the  imagination  than 
a  personage  that  could  have  real  existence,  so  entirely 
was  every  great  and  good  quality  comprehended  in 
his  character." 


[  SUPPLEMENTARY.  ] 

The  three  letters  following  were  received  too  late 
to  be  inserted  in  their  proper  places  : 

Colonel  Brock  to  James  Cuthbert,  Esq.,  Berthier,  District  of 
Montreal. 

QUEBEC,  October  12,  1807. 

You  may  well  suppose  that  the  principal  subject 
of  conversation  at  head  quarters  is  the  military  state 
of  this  country.  I  have  been  careful,  in  justice  to 
you,  to  mention  to  Sir  James  Graig  the  public  spirit 
you  have  manifested  in  forming  a  company  from 
among  the  inhabitants  of  your  seigneurie  without  the 
least  pecuniary  aid,  or  any  other  assistance  from  go 
vernment. 

His  excellency  is  exceedingly  pleased  to  find  a 
principle  in  some  measure  established  by  your  indi 
vidual  exertions,  the  basis  of  which  he  means  to  pur 
sue  in  forming  an  extensive,  and,  he  trusts,  an  effi 
cient  system  of  defence  ;  and  he  requests  you  to  state 
the  nature  of  the  engagements  under  which  the  men 
assemble  for  exercise,  and  the  degree  of  service  they 
are  under  promise  to  perform. 

You  must  be  aware  that  in  any  future  general 
arrangement  it  will  become  an  essential  object  with 
government  to  secure  a  more  substantial  hold  on  the 
services  of  the  men  than  their  mere  promise ;  and  as 


422  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

it  is  intended  to  give  every  possible  latitude  to  their 
prejudices,  and  to  study  in  every  thing;  their  conve 
nience,  it  is  thought  no  regulation  to  that  effect  can 
operate  to  diminish  the  number  of  voluntary  offers. 

As  you  have  been  the  first  to  set  such  a  laudable 
example,  Sir  James  thinks  it  but  just  that  Berthier 
should  take  the  lead  in  any  new  project  he  may 
adopt,  and  he  desires  me  to  ask  your  opinion  in 
regard  to  the  following  points. 

Government  will  undertake  either  to  provide  or 
give  an  allowance  for  clothing. 

Arms  and  accoutrements  must,  for  obvious  reasons, 
be  provided  as  far  as  practicable  by  the  individuals 
themselves. 

One  shilling  will  be  allowed  every  time  the  volun 
teer  assembles  for  exercise,  not  to  exceed  thirty  days 
during  the  year. 

The  men  to  be  bound  to  attend  drill  whenever 
ordered,  and  to  be  in  constant  readiness  to  march  to 
any  part  of  the  province  in  case  of  emergency,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  governor-general.  From  the  mo 
ment  they  receive  the  order  to  march,  to  be  placed 
precisely  upon  the  same  footing  with  his  majesty's 
regular  troops  in  regard  to  pay  and  allowances. 

Such  are  the  chief  conditions  which  I  understood 
Sir  James  to  say  he  wished  might  be  adopted  :  he, 
however,  will  be  always  ready  to  attend  to  any  sug 
gestion  that  tends  to  improve,  and  give  spirit  to,  the 
object  in  view. 

A  proportionate  number  of  non-commissioned  offi 
cers  will  unquestionably  be  allowed. 

I  can  say  nothing  in  regard  to  the  officers — they, 
of  course,  will  not  be  forgotten  in  the  arrangement, 
but  they  cannot  expect  to  be  exalted  to  such  a  height 
as  to  interfere  with  the  just  pretensions  of  the  regulars. 

Being  in  some  measure  pledged  for  the  success  of 
the  experiment,  I  shall  be  under  considerable  anxiety 
until  I  hear  your  sentiments. 

Every  consideration  of  policy  ought  to  make  the 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  423 

proposal  to  appear  to  come  from  yourself;  therefore, 
when  you  consult  those  around  you,  it  will  be|unne- 
cessary  to  state  your  having  received  a  communication 
on  the  subject. 

Colonel  Brock  to  James  Cuthbert,  Esq.,  Berthier. 

QUEBEC,  December  13,  1807. 

You  will  do  me  the  justice  to  believe  that  I  did 
not  lose  a  moment  in  laying  the  clear  and  satisfactory 
statement  you  sent  me,  of  the  constitution  and  charac 
ter  of  the  volunteer  company  under  your  command, 
before  the  governor. 

His  excellency  has  likewise  seen  your  letter  of  the 
7th  instant,  and  I  cannot  more  strongly  express  the 
sense  he  entertains  of  your  exertions,  or  more  clearly 
point  out  the  line  he  wishes  you  to  pursue,  than  by 
transcribing  the  note  he  wrote  to  me  in  consequence. 

"  Colonel  Brock  is  requested  to  reply  to  Mr.  Cuth- 
bert's  letter,  that  the  governor  has  by  no  means  lost 
sight  of  his  object,  but  that  some  legal  difficulties 
have  arisen  which  are  now  under  discussion,  and 
which  he  trusts  will  be  got  over  immediately.  Arms, 
such  accoutrements  as  we  have,  and  a  supply  of  am 
munition,  are  in  readiness,  and  shall  be  forwarded  as 
soon  as  the  business  is  brought  to  a  conclusion ;  but 
Mr.  Cuthbert  must  send  a  return  of  his  people,  that 
the  number  requisite  may  be  ascertained  :  more  than 
is  indispensably  necessary  cannot  be  spared. 

"  Mr.  C is  requested  to  take  every  measure 

for  keeping  up  the  spirit  his  people  have  hitherto 
manifested,  and  he  may  assure  them  that  the  governor 
will  not  be  unmindful  of  it.  "  (Signed)  J.  H.  C." 

That  something  will  shortly  be  done  there  is  no 
doubt,  although  the  prevailing  idea  here  is  against  a 
war  with  our  neighbours  :  they  imagine  the  Americans 
will  not  dare  to  engage  in  the  contest,  but  as  I  consi 
der  their  councils  to  be  directed  solely  by  French 
influence,  it  is  impossible  to  say  where  it 'will  lead 
them.  The  true  interests  of  that  country  will  be  little 
consulted  in  their  decision. 


424  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Colonel  Brock  to  James  Cuthbert,  Esq.,  Berthier. 

MONTREAL,  July  7,  1808. 

It  was  only  yesterday  I  received  your  letter  of  the 
15th  ultimo.  I  was  exceedingly  glad  to  hear  young 

A had  been  reinstated.    I  do  not  understand  that 

any  transport  is  intended  to  proceed  from  this  country 
to  England  ;  such  transports  as  do  come  are  merely 
chartered  out,  and  the  moment  they  get  rid  of  th*e 
men,  they  have  done  with  the  service.  Should  I, 
however,  hear  of  a  conveyance  in  which  the  ensign 
may  embark  free  of  expense,  I  shall  not  fail  interfer 
ing  in  his  behalf,  but  do  not  calculate  upon  such 
good  fortune. 

Be  assured  the  general  has  very  substantial  reasons 
for  objecting  to  any  issue  of  arms  at  this  time.  Were 
your  corps  the  sole  consideration,  be  satisfied  he  would 
not  hesitate  a  moment ;  but  he  cannot  shew  you  such 
marked  preference  without  exciting  a  degree  of  jea 
lousy  and  outcry,  which  might  occasion  unpleasant 
discussions. 

I  am  sorry  you  have  deprived  yourself  of  the  very- 
handsome  dagger  your  partiality  induced  you  to  send 
me.  No  such  proof  was  required  to  convince  me  of 
your  friendship,  and  this  additional  instance  can  in 
no  degree  aid  to  keep  alive  the  fixed  sentiments  of 
regard  I  entertain  for  you. 

We  have  not  a  word  of  intelligence  here,  more  than 
what  the  Quebec  papers  give.  The  Americans  ap 
pear  to  me  placed  in  a  curious  and  ridiculous  predi 
cament.  War  with  that  republic  is  now  out  of  the 
question,  and  I  trust  we  shall  consider  well  before  we 
admit  them  as  allies. 

What  can  be  the  object  in  appointing  you  a  justice 
of  the  peace  for  Three  Rivers  ?  Ross  ought,  I  should 
think,  to  have  been  nominated ;  but  you  at  such  a 
distance  can  be  of  very  little  good.  A  few  dismissals 
in  that  district  would  have  been  productive  of  consi 
derable  benefit  j  but  it  is  a  delicate  affair  to  meddle 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  425 

with  the  independence  of  a  jud^e.  Oh  !  he  is  as  vile 
a  fellow  as  ever  filled  the  chair !  Best  regards  and 
high  respects. 

[The  Honorable  James  Cuthbert,  the  father  of  James  and  Ross  Cuth- 
bert,  Esqs.,  mentioned  in  this  volume,  served  in  early  life  in  the  navy  as 
lieutenant  in  the  flag  ship  at  the  siege  of  Carthagena,  and  carried  home 
the  intelligence  of  its  fall ;  he  was  afterwards  appointed  to  the  command 
nf  one  of  the  Independent  Companies  at  Inverness,  called  the  Highland 
Watch,  and  was  appointed  to  the  42d  at  its  formation.  He  was  present, 
in  the  15th  regiment,  at  the  capture  of  Louisburg,  and  served  under 
Wolfe  at  Quebec,  conveying  to  England  the  dispatches  of  Brigadier 
Murray,  to  whom  he  was  aide-de-camp.  He  was  appointed  by  Lord 
Dorchester  one  of  the  members  of  the  first  legislative  council  after  the 
conquest,  having  left  the  army  and  become  a  settler  in  Canada.  During 
the  American  revolutionary  war,  he  was  particularly  active,  visiting  the 
enemy's  camp  at  Sorel  to  obtain  information,  and  in  consequence  he  was 
seized  upon  at  Berthier  by  the  Americans,  who  sent  him  in  irons  to 
Albany,  burnt  the  manor  house,  and  destroyed  his  property  to  a  consider 
able  amount.] 


THE    LAUREL    OF    GLORY. 

Elegiac  Stanza,  on  the  Death  of  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock. 

The  laurel  of  glory  eternal  shall  bloom, 
Triumphant,  and  branch  o'er  the  warrior's  tomb  ! 
O'er  the  patriot,  that  battled  his  country  to  save, 
The  laurel  of  glory  shall  circle  his  grave. 

Nor  climate,  nor  season,  nor  time's  iron  hand, 
E'er  injure  or  sap  it,  in  Britain's  proud  land ; 
O'er  the  manes  of  the  soldier,  for  ever  shall  wave 
The  laurel  of  glory,  the  meed  of  the  brave  ! 

Nor  envy,  nor  faction's  fell  venom  be  seen, 

To  wither  a  leaf  of  its  beautiful  green  ! 

Like  the  life  buds  of  spring  shall  new  A^erdure  e'er  find, 

And  wave  o'er  the  worth  of  the  hero  enshrin'd. 

Tho'  age  after  age  may  moulder  away, 

The  fame  of  the  patriot  can  never  decay  ; 

Like  the  oak  of  the  forest,  each  tempest  can  brave, 

And  the  laurel  of  glory  wave  over  his  grave. 


426  LIFE    AXD    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

(JUSTIFICATORY,  &c.) 


SIR    GEORGE    PREVOST,    BART. 

While  the  first  sheet  of  this,  the  second,  edition 
was  in  the  press,  I  accidentally  met  with  "  Some 
Account  of  the  Public  Life  of  the  late  Sir  George 
Prevost,"  published  by  his  family  in  the  year  1823, 
in  reply  to  the  strictures  on  his  military  character, 
contained  in  the  Quarterly  Review  for  July,  1822. 
Of  the  existence  of  this  volume  I  was  previously  igno 
rant,  and  I  think  that  it  successfully  refutes  some  of 
those  strictures,  the  vituperative  spirit  of  which  is 
much  to  be  regretted,  the  more  so  as  that  spirit  has 
been  copied  by  later  writers  with  increased  acrimony, 
— one  dismissing  this  unfortunate  officer  with  the 
following  cruel  malediction  :  "  Disease  and  a  natural 
death  saved  him  from  the  vengeance  of  military  law ; 
but  as  a  warning  and  example  may  shame  and  infamy 
rest  upon  his  grave  !  "  *  It  is  true  that,  unhappily  for 
his  fame  as  a  soldier,  he  sought  to  oppose  the  vis 
inertia,  to  the  enemy's  insatiable  thirst  for  the  con 
quest  of  the  Canadas,  a  mode  of  defence  only  suited 
to  arid  deserts  or  a  pestilential  climate ;  but  the 
Quarterly  and  its  copyists  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
aware  that  the  British  government  approved  of  Sir 
George  Prevost's  pacific  policy  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war,  as  on  the  1st  of  October,  1812,  or  before 
the  refusal  of  the  American  president  to  ratify  the 

*  Pictorial  History  of  England. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  427 

armistice  was  known  in  England,  Earl  Bathurst  wrote 
to  the  governor-general  :  "  The  desire  which  you 
have  unceasingly  manifested  to  avoid  hostilities  with 
the  subjects  of  the  United  States,  is  not  more  in  con 
formity  with  your  own  feelings  than  with  the  wishes 
and  intentions  of  his  majesty's  government,  and  there 
fore  your  correspondence  with  General  Dearborn 
cannot  fail  to  receive  their  cordial  concurrence." 
Giving,  however,  Sir  George  Prevost  every  benefit 
of  this  approval,  my  opinion,  as  expressed  in  this 
memoir,  of  his  defensive  course  after  the  rejection  of 
the  armistice,  and  while  the  British  were  in  the 
ascendant  on  the  lakes,  remains  unchanged.  That 
he  was  an  able  provincial  governor,  as  well  as  an 
amiable  man  in  private  life,  and  that  in  his  military 
station  he  anxiously  exerted  himself  to  the  best  of  his 
ability,  I  see  reason  to  believe ;  but  although  I  think 
that  his  friends  labour  in  vain  in  attempting  to  con 
vince  the  public  that  he  was  either  a  skilful  or  an 
energetic  commander,  or  that  the  deplorable  affairs 
of  Sackett's  Harbour  and  Plattsburg  were  not  dis 
graceful  to  the  British  arms,  yet  they  may  justly 
urge  his  early  services,  his  limited  force  at  the  outset 
of  the  American  war,  and  his  redeeming  qualities  in 
a  civil  capacity,  as  entitling  him  to  the  indulgent,  if 
not  to  the  favorable,  judgment  of  posterity. — F.  B.  T. 


SIR  ROGER  HALE  SHEAFFE,  BART. 

Having  ascertained  from  this  officer  himself,  after 
the  sheet  containing  the  account  of  the  afternoon  con 
flict  at  Queenstown  had  been  struck  off,  that  his  force 
on  that  occasion  amounted  to  only  740  men,  including 
less  than  50  Indians,  his  evidence  as  to  this  disputed 
point  would  of  course  be  quite  conclusive,  if  unfor 
tunately  he  had  not  forgotten  whether  the  officers  are 
included  in  this  number,  so  that  he  evidently  is  not  in 
possession  of  the  official  returns.  I  therefore  feel 


428  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

called  upon,  in  my  own  justification,  to  cite  the  autho 
rities  on  which  I  have  stated  that  force  as  "  rather 
exceeding  1,000  men  of  all  grades,  of  whom  nearly 
600  were  regulars,"  (see  page  333,)  not  thinking  it 
just  to  enumerate  the  entire  force  on  the  American 
side,  and  to  deduct  a  tithe  on  that  of  the  British,  by 
including  rank  and  file  only. 

1. — Major-General  Sheaffe's  own  dispatch,  as  quot 
ed  in  foot  note  at  page  333.  He  moreover  mentions 
twelve  officers  as  commanding  flank  companies  of  the 
Lincoln  and  York  militia,  which,  at  only  35  men  per 
company,  would  give  420  militia. 

2. — James,  the  celebrated  naval  historian  —  who, 
in  his  "  Military  Occurrences"  of  the  second  Ame 
rican  war,  appears  to  be  singularly  accurate  in  his 
statements,  although  often  minute  to  tediousness  — 
after  mentioning  that  about  50  Indians,  under  the 
chief  Norton,  attacked  the  Americans,  and  that  they 
retired,  after  a  sharp  conflict,  "  towards  the  reinforce 
ment  of  regulars  and  militia,  under  Major-General 
Sheaffe,  which  hgd  just  arrived  from  Fort  George, 
adds  :  "  This  reinforcement,  consisting  of  about  380 
rank  and  file  of  the  41st  regiment,  under  Captain 
Derenzy,  and  about  300  militia,  accompanied  by  one 
3-pounder,  joined  the  remnant  of  the  49th  flank  com 
panies  ;  and  the  whole  proceeded  to  the  heights,  by  a 
route  through  the  enclosures ;  the  Indians  pointing 
out  to  the  troops  the  best  track  for  ascending  the 
mountain.  As  soon  as  the  British  column  had  reach 
ed  a  field  adjoining  the  road  to  the  falls,  about  60  of 
the  41st,  under  Captain  Bullock,  and  a  party  of 
militia,  arrived  from  Chippawah.  The  whole  British 
and  Indian  force,  thus  assembled,  did  not  amount  to 
1,000  rank  and  file,  of  whom  about  560  were  regular 
troops." 

3. — "General  SheafFe  soon  came  up  with  a  rein 
forcement  of  300  men  of  the  41st  regiment,  two  com 
panies  of  militia,  and  250  Indians.  Reinforcements 
having  also  arrive  J  from  Chippawah,  the  British  gene- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  429 

ral  collected  his  whole  force,  amounting  to  upwards 
of  800  men,"  &c. — Christies  Memoirs. 

4. — A  militia  officer,  in  a  MS.  copy  of  a  long  letter 
before  me,  dated  Brown's  Point,  Niagara,  October 
15, 1812,  after  describing  both  the  morning  and  after 
noon  conflicts  at  Queenstown,  in  the  former  of  which 
he  was  wounded,  says  :  "  But  General  Sheaffe  arriv 
ing  from  Niagara  with  a  detachment  of  the  41st  of 
about  300  men,  some  militia,  and  about  250  Indians, 
and  being  joined  by  all  that  he  could  collect  of  the 
troops  who  were  originally  engaged,  they  ascended 
the  mountain  some  distance  to  the  right  of  the  Ame 
ricans,"  &c. 

5. — A  correspondent  in  the  United  Service  Maga 
zine  for  March,  1846,  page  441,  who  was  serving  in 
Canada  with  the  41st  regiment  when  the  battle  of 
Queenstown  was  fought,  remarks  :  "  It  is  no  dispa 
ragement  to  the  gallantry  of  the  49th  regiment  to  say, 
that  they  were  beaten  at  Queenstown,  but  it  is  never 
theless  true  that,  unable  to  keep  their  ground,  they 
were  driven  down  the  mountain,  and  did  not  resume 
the  offensive  until,  when  the  enemy  were  in  full  pos 
session  of  the  heights,  the  41st  (400  strong)  made 
their  appearance  from  Fort.  George,  under  Captain 
Derenzy,  and  the  grenadier  company,  mustering 
nearly  100  bayonets,  under  Captain  Bullock,  from 
Chippawah." 

With  these  authorities  before  me,  I  estimated,  and 
I  think  reasonably,  Major -General  Sheaffe's  total 
force  as  follows  : 

From  Fort  George,  41st  foot 400 

Militia 250 

,,     Chippawah,  41st  grenadiers 90 

Militia 40 

Remnants  of  49th  flank  companies 100 

,,         of  militia,  engaged  in  the  morning  100 

Exclusive  of  the  Indians . .        .  980 


430  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

Sir  Roger  Sheaffe  having  evinced  so  much  cour 
tesy  and  good  feeling  in  a  correspondence  between  us 
relative  to  this  Memoir,  which  he  commenced  by 
sending  me  various  documents,  "  being  willing  to 
believe  that  I  was  in  search  of  truth,"  I  gladly  seize 
this  opportunity  of  recording  my  sense  of  the  gentle 
manly  manner  and  tone  of  his  communications,  which 
have  indeed  fully  justified  the  opinion  entertained  of 
him  by  one  of  my  informants,  who  is  "  as  gallant  an 
officer  as  ever  lived,"  (I  quote  this  character  of  my 
informant  from  the  Naval  and  Military  Gazette,)  and 
who,  after  detailing  the  causes  of  the  deplorable 
mutiny  of  the  49th  regiment  ai  Fort  George,  in  1803, 
writes  :  "  But  he  at  length  became  a  good  commander 
of  a  regiment,  for  he  was  at  heart  kind,  benevolent, 
and  religious ;  but  these  sentiments  were,  in  his  ear 
lier  days  of  command,  nearly,  if  not  entirely,  over 
ruled  by  his  extreme  ideas  of  military  authority,  and 
by  his  high  opinion  of  his  talent  for  drill,  and  of  his 
unqualified  zeal  in  the  public  service."  In  justice  to 
Sir  Roger  Sheaffe,  I  also  willingly  add,  that  another 
gallant  officer  of  the  49th,  Lieut.-Colonel  Plender- 
leatb,  who  was  present  at  Fort  George  when  the 
mutiny  was  suppressed,  and  from  whom  I  sought 
information  on  the  subject,  in  his  reply  expressed 
"  the  high  regard  he  entertained  of  Sir  Roger  Sheaffe's 
great  benevolence  and  love  of  doing  kind  offices," 
and  his  conviction  "  that  no  officer  ever  had  more  at 
heart  the  good  of  the  soldier."  Having  done  this 
justice  to  Sir  Roger  Sheaffe,  I  may  perhaps  be  per 
mitted,  as  "the  moping  owl  does  to  the  moon  com 
plain,"  to  mourn  that  this  love  of  doing  kind  offices 
was  not,  alas !  extended  to  a  youth  who  had  not  only 
some  claim  on  his  kindness,  but  possessed  many  of 
the  characteristics  of  "  the  admirable  Crichton,"  and 
whose  cruel  disappointment  and  untimely  fate  have 
been  one  of  the  embittering  circumstances  of  my  exis 
tence.  My  present  emotions  on  this  painful  subject 
are,  however,  more  those  of  sorrow  than  of  resent- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  431 

ment,  because  Sir  Roger  Sheaffe  has  written  to  me 
with  a  feeling  which  does  him  honor,  that,  "  being 
unable  to  assist  my  brother,  he  would  derive  comfort 
from  the  belief  that  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  nephew  could 
need  no  aid  from  him."  It  has  been  asserted,  and 
may  again  be  urged,  that  what  I  conceive  to  have 
been  the  ungenerous  treatment  of  my  brother  has 
prompted  rne  to  speak  disparagingly  of  Sir  Roger 
Sheaffe's  services  in  Upper  Canada ;  but  while  I 
candidly  admit  that  this  impression  has  enabled  me 
to  write  more  impartially  of  General  Sheaffe  than  I 
could  have  done  had  I  felt  under  obligation  to  him, 
I  unequivocally  deny  that  I  have  narrated  one  word 
which  my  authorities  did  not.  bear  me  out  in  believing 
to  be  strictly  true.  When  I  informed  Sir  Roger 
Sheaffe  that  the  second  edition  was  in  the  course  of 
publication,  I  told  him  :  "  In  that  edition  Mr.  Tupper 
thinks  it  due  to  Sir  Roger  to  tell  him  candidly  that 
he  has  not  hesitated  to  narrate  what  he  believes  to  be 
facts  ;"  and  indeed  I  hold  that  truth  is  not  always  to 
be  withheld  because  its  expression  may  wound  the 
feelings  of  public  men,  whose  official  acts  have  sub 
jected  them  to  public  censure  —  if  it  were,  history 
and  biography  would  cease  to  be  guiding  stars,  and, 
above  all,  would  offer  no  wholesome  restraint  to  the 
cruel,  or  corrupt,  or  incompetent  exercise  of  autho 
rity.  Had  I  thrown  the  rckole  blame  of  the  conspi 
racy  at  Fort  George  on  the  unfortunate  sufferers,  so 
as  to  exonerate  their  commander,  and  shield  myself 
from  personal  responsibility,  I  should  have  written 
what  I  believed  to  be  false,  and,  to  spare  the  living, 
have  committed  a  gross  injustice  on  the  memory  of 
the  dead.  It  is,  however,  very  probable  that  the 
mutineers  were  not  altogether  blameless,  as  the  proxi 
mity  of  the  United  States  possibly  rendered  them 
impatient  of  discipline  and  desirous  of  change  ;  but 
certain  it  is,  that  at  their  trial  they  urged  Colonel 
Sheaffe's  rigour  in  extenuation  of  their  guilty  design, 
and  I  am  assured  by  an  officer  of  the  49th,  that  they 


432  LIFE    AND    CORRESPONDENCE    OF 

were  in  a  great  measure  the  victims  of  language  and 
annoyance,  which  were  too  prevalent  in  the  British 
army  in  those  days,  but  which  would  not  no\v  be 
tolerated  for  a  moment.  F.  B.  T. 


41sT,  (THE  WELSH,)  REGIMENT. 

In  the  United  Service  Magazine  for  March,  1846, 
there  is  an  able  but  plausible  commentary  on  Sir 
Isaac  Brock's  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  officers  of 
the  41st  regiment  in  1812,  as  expressed  in  the  preced 
ing  correspondence.  This  commentary,  signed  in  the 
Welsh  motto  of  that  regiment,  "  GWELL  AUGAU  NEU 
CHWILYDD,"  is,  however,  descriptive  of  great  admira 
tion  of  the  general,  as  among  other  tributes  of  praise, 
the  author  observes  :  *'  That  no  soldier,  who  has  ever 
had  the  honor  of  serving  under  him,  could  entertain  a 
higher  opinion  of  General  Brock  than  I  do,  will  be 
made  sufficiently  apparent  to  the  compiler,"  &c.  The 
author  states  himself  to  have  been  a  young  volunteer, 
serving  with  the  41st  for  his  commission  at  the  cap 
ture  of  Detroit;  and  he  asserts,  that  not  only  is  the 
charge  of  that  regiment  being  badly  officered  an  erro 
neous  one,  but  "  that  a  finer  body  of  officers  was 
never  united  in  the  same  corps."  In  proof  of  this 
assertion,  he  gives  several  instances  of  their  personal 
intrepidity,  and  adds  that,  as  "  General  Brock  was 
never  more  correct  than  when  he  described  the  men 
as  an  uncommonly  fine  regiment,"  so  "  the  officers 
were  not  less  remarkable  for  the  manliness  and  ele 
gance  of  their  appearance." 

It  is  very  possible  that  Sir  Isaac  Brock  may  have 
been  mistaken  in  his  estimate  of  the  officers  of  the 
41st;  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  Colonel 
Proctor  was  the  only  regimental  field  officer  with  the 
corps  at  that  time,  and  that,  owing  to  its  having  been 
so  long  in  Canada,  the  promotion  had  been  unusually 
slow,  two  of  the  captains  being  brevet  lieutenant-colo- 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  433 

nels,  and  two  others  brevet  majors.  Even  these 
brevet  officers  appear  to  have  been  absent,  as  they 
were  not  at  Detroit ;  and  at  Queenstown  nearly  500 
men  of  the  41st  were  commanded  by  a  captain. 
These  disadvantages,  added  to  the  dispersed  state  of 
the  regiment  for  many  years,  were  sufficient  to  repress 
the  energies  of  the  most  zealous,  and  to  account  for  the 
inexperience  and  inefficiency  of  any  body  of  officers. 
My  assailant — I  use  the  term  because  I  cannot 
conveniently  designate  him  by  his  long  signature  — 
thinks  it  very  ungrateful  in  Sir  Isaac  Brock  to  have 
held  the  opinion  he  did  of  officers  to  whom  he  was 
principally  indebted  for  his  knighthood  of  the  Bath 
at  Detroit ;  but  he  forgets  to  add,  that  the  general 
crossed  the  river  to  attack  the  enemy,  contrary  to  the 
opinion  of  Colonel  Proctor,  of  the  41st;  and  that  of 
the  British  force,  composed  of  1330  regulars,  militia, 
and  Indians,  only  250  men  belonged  to  that  regiment, 
or  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  whole  number  !  Surely, 
the  detachments  of  the  royal  artillery  and  Newfound 
land  regiment,  the  400  militia,  and  the  600  Indians, 
(among  them  the  noble  Tecumseh,)  are  entitled  to 
some  credit  on  this  occasion.  Not  having  stated  in 
the  Memoir  that  the  battle  of  Queenstown  was  gained 
by  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  I  cannot  comprehend  Jiow  he, 
as  my  assailant  insinuates,  was  again  chiefly  indebted 
to  the  41st  for  a  victory  which  he  never  won.  There 
were  two  conflicts  at  Queenstown,  the  morning  and 
the  afternoon ;  in  the  former,  Sir  Isaac  Brock  and 
his  gallant  provincial  aide-de-camp,  Lieut.-Colonel 
M'Donell,  fell ;  and  I  have  often  wondered  that  the 
American  general,  seeing  the  backwardness  of  his 
troops  in  crossing  over  to  reinforce  their  companions 
on  the  British  side  of  the  river,  and  well  knowing? 
the  irreparable  loss  which  the  latter  had  inflicted,  did 
not  recall  the  invaders,  as  he  must  have  expected  that 
they  would  be  quickly  attacked  by  at.  least  equal 
numbers.  In  the  second  or  afternoon  conflict,  the 
invaders  were  so  completely  crest-fallen  by  the  rouo-h 
v  • 


434  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

handling  they  had  experienced  in  the  morning,  and 
by  the  refusal  of  their  comrades  to  join  them,  that 
on  the  advance  of  the  British  they  fled  and  surren 
dered  with  the  utmost  precipitation.  Certain  it  is 
that  the  41st  had  not  more  than  two  men  killed 
throughout  the  day  ;  and  as  Lieutenant  Crowther,  of 
that  regiment,  who  was  acting  as  an  artillery  officer 
in  the  morning,  had  probably  a  few  of  his  own  corps 
with  him  as  gunners  'in  the  batteries,  these  two  men 
may  have  fallen  in  the  first  engagement. 

I  have  too  high  a  conception  of  the  matchless 
prowess  of  British  soldiers  to  exult  much  in  such  a 
victory  as  that  of  Queenstown,  and  especially  when 
I  feel  that  the  loss  far  exceeded  the  gain,  but  of  its 
successes  at  Frenchtown  and  Miami  the  41st  may  be 
fairly  proud  ;  and,  as  far  as  my  limits  would  admit, 
I  have  endeavoured  to  do  justice  to  its  gallantry  on 
those  occasions.  Would  that  I  could  throw  a  veil 
over  its  unfortunate  surrender  at  the  Moravian  town, 
in  October,  1813,  just  a  year  after  the  death  of  Sir 
Isaac  Brock ;  but  as  this  surrender  is  matter  of  his 
tory,  and  rendered  more  notorious  by  Sir  George 
Prevost's  general  order,  (see  page  376,)  I  may  be 
permitted  to  tell  my  assailant  that  before  he  attempts 
to  impugn  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  opinion,  he  should  first 
establish  the  incorrectness  of  that  general  order,  one 
which  I  believe  has  no  parallel  for  severity  in  the 
British  army.  Indeed,  it  goes  far  to  prove  General 
Brock's  penetration  and  judgment,  as  perhaps  the 
reader  will  think  with  me  that  the  officers  were  in 
some  measure  to  blame  for  a  defeat  which  called  forth 
so  much  censure  and  reproach. 

My  assailant  accuses  me  of  want  of  "good  taste 
and  sound  judgment"  in  not  omitting  the  remarks 
relative  to  the  officers  of  the  41st ;  but  after  the  lapse 
of  thirty-three  years,  when  I  knew  that  not  an  officer 
of  1812  remained  in  the  regiment,  I  saw  no  necessity 
for  suppression  ;  and  yet  he  does  not  hesitate  to 
ascribe  the  surrender  at  the  Moravian  town  to  the 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  435 

"incapacity"  of  Major-General  Proctor,  who  was 
so  long  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  41st,  and  who  led 
the  regiment  to  its  trophies  at  Frenchtown  and  Miami. 
Sir  Isaac  Brock  wrote  generally,  and  "  with  few 
exceptions" — my  assailant  names  an  officer  long 
deceased,  whose  incapacity,  if  the  charge  be  well 
founded,  would  afford  an  additional  argument  against 
himself,  on  the  principle  of  "  like  master  like  man," 
or  on  that  of  a  good  colonel  making  good  officers, 
and  a  bad  one  the  reverse. 

I  am  really  not  aware,  as  my  assailant  accuses  me, 
of  having  drawn  any  invidious  comparison  between 
the  41st  and  49th  regiments,  and  it  was  certainly 
never  my  intention  to  do  so :  they  both  did  good 
service  in  Upper  Canada,  and  if  the  character  of  the 
former  suffered  at  the  Moravian  town,  it  has  since 
amply  redeemed  its  reputation  in  Ava  and  Candahar, 
at  Ghuznee,  and  in  Cabool. 

T  cannot  conclude  this  reply  without  adding  how 
sincerely  I  respect  the  motives  which  have  induced 
my  assailant  to  come  forward  with  so  much  tact  and 
ability  to  the  rescue  of  his  former  companions  in 
arms;  and  he  perhaps  will  do  me  the  justice  to 
believe,  that  in  this  reply  I  seek  not  so  much  to 
vindicate  my  editorial  labours  as  to  uphold  the 
memory  of  one  whom  he  highly  eulogizes  and  yet 
indirectly  arraigns,  as  failing  in  discrimination  and 
gratitude.  F.  B.  T. 

We  trust  that  we  shall  not  be  deemed  guilty  of  a 
breach  of  confidence  in  giving  extracts  from  a  very 
long  letter  from  Chief  Justice  Robinson,  in  reply  to 
our  solicitation  that  he  would  have  the  goodness  to 
point  out  any  error  which  he  might  discover  in  the 
first  edition  of  this  work.  Although  this  letter  was 
written  in  haste,  and  certainly  not  intended  for  publi 
cation,  it  does  no  little  credit  to  the  head  and  heart 
of  its  author. 


436  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

Chief  Justice  Robinson  to  F.  B.  Tupper,  Esq. 

TORONTO,  January  19,  1846. 

The  perusal  of  the  Life  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock  has  certainly 
convinced  me  that  he  only  required  a  more  enlarged  sphere 
of  action  to  have  risen  rapidly  to  an  eminence  which  few 
men  are  permitted  to  attain.  Though  I  was  old  enough  to  be 
upon  the  expedition  to  Detroit,  and  in  the  action  at  Queens- 
town,  I  was  too  young  to  be  in  a  position  to  know  more  of 
General  Brock  than  could  be  observed  by  seeing  him  in 
public,  but  I  retain  a  very  distinct  recollection  of  his  person 
and  manner.  I  had  always  thought  of  him,  more  exclusively 
I  now  see  than  was  just,  as  a  man  admirably  qualified  to 
distinguish  himself  as  a  soldier  ;  but  it  is  quite  evident  from 
his  correspondence  that  he  valued  highly  the  endowments  of 
the  mind,  and  was  ardently  bent  on  improving  them.  He 
was  master  too  of  a  style  clear,  accurate,  and  pleasing.  If  he 
had  been  thrown,  in  the  course  of  his  service,  into  situations 
which  required  the  application  of  various  powers  of  the  mind, 
he  would  have  earned,  I  am  persuaded,  no  small  portion  of 
such  praise  as  has  been  awarded  to  the  great  and  good  Lord 
Collingwood.  It  is  manifest  from  what  was  seen  of  him  in  his 
brief  but  most  arduous  service  here,  that  besides  his  heroic 
courage,  he  possessed  most,  if  not  all,  of  those  great  qualities 
which  can  alone  enable  a  man  to  maintain  a  difficult  and 
highly  responsible  station  with  credit.  He  was  not  only 
clear  and  decided  in  his  plans,  but  rapid  and  fearless  in  their 
execution,  and  could  direct  his  attention  to  various  points  at 
the  same  moment,  foreseeing  difficulties,  and  preventing 
them  by  timely  application  to  details.  Providence  placed 
him  here  in  a  position  in  which  his  services  were  of  immense 
value,  filling,  at  a  moment  of  great  peril,  a  post  which 
scarcely  another  man  could  so  nobly  have  sustained  —  but  he 
was  formed  for  greater  things  .  .  .  . 

I  do  most  sincerely  believe  that  no  person  whom  I  have 
ever  seen  could  so  instantly  have  infused,  under  such  discou 
raging  circumstances,  into  the  minds  of  a  whole  people,  the 
spirit  which,  though  it  endured  long  after  his  fall,  was  really 
caught  from  him.  His  honesty,  firmness,  frankness,  bene 
volence —  his  earnest  warmth  of  feeling,  combined  with  dig 
nity  of  manner,  and  his  soldierlike  appearance  and  bearing — 
all  united  to  give  him  the  ascendancy  which  he  held  from 
the  first  moment  to  the  last  of  his  command.  It  seemed  to 
be  impressed  upon  all,  and  at  once,  that  there  could  be  no 
hesitation  in  obeying  his  call,  and  that,  while  he  lived,  all 
was  safe.  The  affection  with  which  the  memory  of  General 
Brock  has  ever  been  regarded  in  this  province  is  as  strong  as 
the  feeling  of  admiration,  and  these  feelings  still  pervade  the 
whole  population. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  437 


APPENDIX  A. 

SECTION    I.— BRITISH    AUTHORS. 


No.  1.     Page  13. 

Lieut. -General  Lord  Aylmer,  Governor- General  of  British 
North  America,  to  J.  Savery  JBrock,  Esq. 

SOREL,  Lower  Canada,  August  23,  1834. 

I  received  yesterday  your  letter  of  the  19th  March 

The  sight  of  your  handwriting  reminded  ine  of  old  times,  and 
brought  back  the  recollection  of  scenes  which  almost  appear 

to  have  taken  place  in  another  state  of  existence I 

made  a  tour  in  Upper  Canada  last  summer,  and  visited  with 
a  feeling  of  love  and  reverence  the  monument  at  Queenstown, 
erected  to  the  memory  of  one  who  was  as  brave  as  he  was 
good,  and  a  better  man  never  breathed;  to  have  enjoyed  his 
friendship  and  good  opinion,  is  to  me  a  source  of  pride  and 
satisfaction.  Yours,  my  dear  Savery,  very  sincerely, 

AYLMER. 

[Extract  of  a  note  from  Lord  Aylmer  to  the  Editor. —  "LONDON, 
August  5,  1844. — I  am  very  glad  to  learn  by  your  letter  that  a  work  is 
shortly  to  appear,  intituled  'The  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Sir  Isaac 
Brock,'  for  sure  I  am  that  the  more  of  him  that  is  made  known  to  the 
public,  the  more  highly  will  his  valuable  services  be  appreciated."] 

No.  2.     Page  224. 
From  Captain  Roberts  to  the  Adjutant- General. 

Fort  Michilimackinac,  July  17,  1812. 

On  the  15th  instant  I  received  letters,  by  express,  from 
Major-General  Brock,  with  orders  to  adopt  the  most  prudent 
measures  either  for  offence  or  defence,  which  circumstances 
might  point  out ;  and  having  received  intelligence  from  the 
best  information,  that  large  reinforcements  were  expected  to 
be  thrown  into  this  garrison,  with  the  thorough  conviction 
that  my  situation  at  St.  Joseph's  was  totally  indefensible,  I 
determined  to  lose  no  time  in  making  the  meditated  attack 
on  this  fort. 


438  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

On  the  16th,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  embarked 
my  few  men,  with  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  Canadians, 
and  two  iron  6-pounders.  The  boats  arrived  without  the 
smallest  accident  at  the  port  of  rendezvous,  at  three  o'clock 
the  following  morning :  by  the  exertions  of  the  Canadians, 
one  of  the  guns  was  brought  up  a  height  commanding  the 
garrison,  and  ready  to  act  about  ten  o'clock.  A  summons 
was  then  sent  in  ;  a  copy  of  the  capitulation  which  followed 
I  have  the  honor  to  enclose.  At  twelve  o'clock,  the  American 
colours  were  hauled  down,  and  those  of  his  majesty  were 
hoisted.  A  committee  has  been  appointed  to  examine  into 
the  state  of  the  public  stores. 

Enclosed  also  are  the  returns  of  the  ordnance  and  military 
stores  found  in  the  fort,  and  the  strength  of  the  garrison. 
The  greatest  praise  is  due  to  every  individual  employed  in  the 
expedition  ;  to  my  own  officers  I  am  indebted,  in  particular, 
for  their  active  assistance  in  carrying  all  my  orders  into  effect. 

No.  3.    Page  272. 
General  Brock.  Detroit,  16th  Aug.  1812. 

I  propose  a  cessation  of  hostilities  for  one  hour,  to  open, 
a  negociation  for  the  surrender  of  Detroit. 

I  am,  &c. 

[Address.]  WILLIAM  HULL, 

Sandwich.  Br.  Gen.  Com. 

Sir,  Detroit,  16th  Aug.  1812. 

The  object  of  the  flag,  which  passed  the    river,   was  to 
propose  a  cessation  of  hostilities  for  one  hour,  for  the  purpose 
of  entering  into  a  negociation  for  the  surrender  of  Detroit- 
am,  &c. 

WILLIAM  HULL, 
General  Brock.  Br.-Gen.  Com. 

Camp  of  Detroit,  16th  August,  1812. 

Capitulation  for  the  surrender  of  Fort  Detroit  entered  into 
between  Major-General  Brock,  commanding  his  Britannic 
majesty's  forces  on  the  one  part,  and  Brigadier-General  Hull, 
commanding  the  north-western  army  of  the  United  States,  on 
the  other  part. 

1st.  Fort  Detroit,  with  all  the  troops,  regulars  as  well  as 
militia,  will  be  immediately  surrendered  to  the  British  forces 
under  the  command  of  Major-General  Brock,  and  will  be 
considered  prisoners  of  war,  with  the  exception  of  such  of  the 
militia  of  the  Michigan  territory  who  have  not  joined  the  army. 

2d.  All  public  stores,  arms,  and  all  public  documents, 
including  every  thing  else  of  a  public  nature,  will  be  imme 
diately  given  up. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK. 

3d.  Private  persons  and  property  of  every  description  will 
be  respected. 

4th.  His  Excellency  Brigadier-General  Hull  having  ex 
pressed  a  desire  that  a  detachment  from  the  State  of  Ohio, 
on  its  way  to  join  his  army,  as  well  as  one  sent  from  Fort 
Detroit,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  M'Arthur,  should  be 
included  in  the  above  capitulation — it  is  accordingly  agreed 
to.  It  is,  however,  to  be  understood,  that  such  part  of  the 
Ohio  militia  as  have  not  joined  the  army  will  be  permitted  to 
return  to  their  homes,  on  condition  that  they  will  not  serve 
during  the  war ;  their  arms,  however,  will  be  delivered  up,  if 
belonging  to  the  public. 

5th.  The  garrison  will  march  out  at  the  hour  of  twelve 
o'clock  this  day,  and  the  British  forces  will  take  immediate 
possession  of  the  fort. 

J.  MACDONELL,  Lt.-Col.  Militia, 

P.  A.  D.  C. 

J.  B.  GLEGG,  Major,  A.  B.C. 
JAMES  MILLER,  Lt.-Col. 

5th  U.  S.  Inf. 
E.  BRUSH,  Col.  Com. 

Approved.  1st  Reg.  Michigan  Militia. 

W.  HULL,  Br.-General, 

com.  the  N.  W.  Army. 
ISAAC  BROCK, 

Major-General. 

An  Article  supplemental  to   the  Articles  of  Capitulation, 

concluded  at  Detroit,  the  iQth  of  August,  1812. 
It  is  agreed  {hat  the  officers  and   soldiers  of  the  Ohio 
militia  and  volunteers  shall  be  permitted  to  proceed  to  their 
respective   homes,  on  this  condition  —  that  they  are  not  to 
serve  during  the  present  war,  unless  they  are  exchanged. 
W.  HULL,  Br.-General, 

Com.  N.  W.  Army,  U.  S. 
ISAAC  BROCK,  Major-General. 

An  Article  in  addition  to  the  Supplemental  Article  of  the 
Capitulation,  concluded  at  Detroit,  the  IQth  of  August, 
A.D.  1812. 

It  is  further  agreed  that  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
Michigan  militia  and  volunteers,  under  the  command  of 
Major  Witherell,  shall  be  placed  on  the  same  principles  as  the 
Ohio  militia  and  volunteers  are  placed  by  the  supplemental 
article  of  the  16th  instant. 

W.  HULL,  Br.-General, 

Cora.  N.  W.  Army,  U.  S. 
ISAAC  BROCK,  Major-General. 


440  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

No  4.     Page  294. 

Extracts  from  "  The  Letters  of  Vcritas  ;'' *  containing  a 
succinct  Narrative  of  the  Military  Administration  of  Sir 
George  Prevost  during  his  command  in  the  Canadas, 
whereby  it  will  be  manifest  that  the  merit  of  preserving 
them  from  conquest  belongs  not  to  him.  8vo.  Montreal, 
July,  1815. 

Then  or  before,  was  communicated  to  him  (Major- 
General  Brock)  the  information  of  that  deadly  armistice 
concluded  by  Sir  George  Prevost  with  General  Dearborn, 
which  had  so  fatal  an  effect  upon  all  the  future  operations, 
and  which  tied  up  the  hands  of  the  gallant  Brock  from 
executing  his  intended  plan  of  sweeping  the  American  posts 
to  Sackett's  Harbour,  inclusive  —  an  operation  that  most 
certainly  would  have  been  then  effected. 

This  armistice,  proposed  by  Sir  George  Prevost,  merits 
serious  consideration,  from  its  operation  being  so  greatly  in 
favour  of  the  enemy  at  that  time,  and  so  disadvantageous  to 
us.  A  period  most  precious  to  us,  if  we  had  profited  by  it 
with  vigour,  was  thereby  lost  in  inaction,  and  the  enemy  in 
consequence  allowed  to  recover  from  the  panic  into  which 
they  were  thrown  by  Hull's  capture. 

The  transport  of  the  American  stores,  ordnance,  and 
provisions,  of  each  of  which  they  were  much  in  want,  not 
being  prohibited  by  that  armistice,  was  accordingly  protected 
and  facilitated  by  it  on  Lake  Ontario  and  along  the  Niagara 
frontier  beyond  the  enemy's  most  sanguine  hopes,  whilst 
their  then  only  disposable  and  invading  force,  under  General 
Hull,  on  the  Detroit  frontier,  was  left  at  full  liberty  to  profit 
by  circumstances,  the  armistice  as  to  him  being  at  his  option. 

Most  fortunately,  however,  Hull's  business  was  settled 
by  capitulation  before  the  armistice  was  known  to  General 
Brock  or  him  ;  but  had  it  reached  him  in  time,  he  of  course 
would  gladly  have  accepted  it,  to  gain  delay  for  the  arrival  of 
reinforcements  and  a  supply  of  provisions,  from  which  would 

*  "The  'Letters  of  Veritas  '  were  originally  printed  in  a  weekly  paper 
published  at  Montreal,  in  Lower  Canada,  and  subsequently  collected  into 
the  little  volume  before  us.  Within  a  small  compass  these  unpretending 
letters  contain  a  greater  body  of  useful  information  upon  the  campaigns 
in  the  Canadas  than  is  any  where  else  to  be  found.  They  are,  we  believe, 
the  production  of  a  gentleman  in  Montreal,  of  known  respectability. 
Though  not  a  military  man,  he  enjoyed  the  best  opportunities  for 
acquaintance  with  the  circumstances  of  the  war;  and  as  these  letters, 
which  excited  great  attention  in  the  Canadas,  appeared  in  successive 
papers  while  Montreal  was  filled  with  almost  all  the  officers  of  rank  who 
had  served  in  the  country,  it  may  reasonably  be  presumed  that  his  errors, 
had  he  committed  any,  would  not  have  escaped  without  censure.  Yet  no 
reply  was  ever  attempted  to  his  statements,  no  doubt  ever  expressed  in 
the  provinces,  of  the  correctness  of  his  assertions."— Quarterly  Review, 
July,  1822. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  441 

have  resulted  the  salvation  of  his  army,  the  prejudicial 
consequences  whereof  to  us  are  incalculable ;  for,  had  a 
knowledge  of  it  reached  the  Indian  nations  at  that  time,  such 
a  disgust  and  distrust  would  have  been  thereby  excited  as  could 
never  have  been  removed  ;  and  the  first  effect  of  which  would 
have  appeared  in  the  immediate  dispersion  of  the  Indians, 
whose  powerful  and  indispensable  aid  at  that  early  period  of 
the  contest  would  have  been  totally  lost  to  us. 

Madison's  rejection  of  this  armistice  was  followed  by  that 
chilling  defensive  system  which  General  Brock  was  instructed 
by  Sir  George  to  follow,  and  which  palsied  his  operations  until 
his  country  had  to  mourn  over  his  fatal  loss  at  the  battle  of 
Queenstown,  on  the  13th  of  October,  1812. 

Such,  however,  was  the  impulse  he  had  given,  and  the 
valour  and  zeal  wherewith  the  regular  troops,  militia,  and 
Indians,  had  been  inspired,  that  the  valuable  effects  thereof 
survived  him ;  and  gave  a  brilliant  victory  on  that  day  to  his 
successor,  General  Sheaffe,  a  lover  of  armistices  also,  who,  in 
proof  thereof,  made  one  of  his  own,  which  threw  away  most 
of  the  advantages  of  that  victory;  for  he  neglected  (although 
strongly  urged  thereto)  to  take  Fort  Niagara,  which  could 
have  been  done  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day  of  the  Queenstown 
battle,  without  loss,  as  the  enemy  had  entirely,  or  almost 
entirely,  then  evacuated  it ;  had  he  done  this,  and  at  the 
same  time  crossed  over  a  part  of  his  force  to  Lewistown,  as  he 
was  urged  to  do,  and  as  Brock  would  have  done  had  he 
survived,  the  whole  Niagara  line  would  have  been  cleared  of 
the  enemy,  and  all  our  after  disasters  in  that  quarter 
prevented. 

It  has  been  urged  in  favor  of  Sir  George's  timid  defensive 
system,  that  it  was  proper  in  order  to  avoid  irritating  the 
enemy,  and  thereby  uniting  them  ;  as  also,  that  his  force  was 
inadequate  to  offensive  warfare.  Now,  no  positions  were 
ever  more  untenable,  for  to  think  of  conciliating  an  enemy 
by  leaving  to  him  the  full  benefit  of  maturing  in  security  all 
his  means  of  annoyance  against  you,  and  at  the  same  time 
muzzling  yourself,  is  a  most  extraordinary  doctrine ;  surely, 
to  do  so  must  ensure  success  to  that  enemy,  as  we  know  that 
success  will  unite  discordant  parties  and  interests,  whilst 
defeats  promote  disunion,  and  would  have  strengthened  the 
anti-war  party  in  the  States  by  furnishing  to  them  unanswer 
able  arguments  when  depicting  the  folly  and  impolicy  of  the 
war,  which  had  been  so  wantonly  declared  by  the  Madi- 
sonian  party. 

Were  facts  in  support  of  this  view  of  the  subject  necessary, 
they  would  be  found  in  the  effects  upon  the  public  mind  in 
that  country,  produced  by  the  capture  of  Michilimackinac 
and  Detroit,  with  Hull's  army.  Did  these  events  irritate  and 

v* 


442  APPENDIX  'A. SECTION    I. 

unite  the  enemy  against  us?     No,  they  increased  irritation,  it 
is  true,  but  against  their  own  government. 

(In  his  tenth  or  concluding  letter,  Veritas  recapitulated  his 
preceding  arguments,  and  observed  :)  That  to  General  Brock's 
zeal  and  energy,  left  as  he  was  without  orders,  along  with 
other  causes  independent  of  Sir  George,  the  preservation  of 
Upper  Canada,  in  the  first  instance,  and  of  Lower  Canada  as 
a  consequence,  are  mainly  to  be  ascribed. 

No.  5.     Page  296. 

Extract  from  Sir  George  Prevost's  General  Order,  Montreal, 
August  31,  1812,  in  announcing  the  refusal  qftJie  American 
President  to  continue  the  armistice. 

The  invasion  of  the  Upper  Province,  undertaken  so 
immediately  after  the  declaration  of  war,  shews  in  the 
strongest  manner  how  fully  they  had  prepared  themselves 
for  that  event,  and  how  highly  they  had  flattered  themselves 
with  finding  it  an  easy  conquest,  from  the  supposed  weakness 
of  the  force  opposed  to  them,  and  the  spirit  of  disaffection 
which  they  had  previously  endeavoured  to  excite  amongst  its 
inhabitants.  Foiled  as  they  have  been  in  this  attempt  by 
the  brave  and  united  efforts  of  the  regular  forces,  militia,  and 
Indians  of  that  province,  under  the  command  of  their 
distinguished  leader,  their  whole  army  with  its  general 
captured,  and  their  only  remaining  fortress  and  post  in  the 
adjoining  territory  wrested  from  them,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted 
but  that  the  American  government  will  keenly  feel  this 
disappointment  of  their  hopes,  and  consequently  endeavour 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  to  term  it  an 
invasion  of  their  country,  and  to  make  it  a  ground  for  calling 
upon  the  militia  to  march  to  the  frontiers  for  the  conquest  of 
the  Canadas.  A  pretext  so  weak  and  unfounded,  though  it 
may  deceive  some,  will  not  fail  to  be  received  in  its  proper 
light  by  others;  and  it  will  be  immediately  perceived  by 
those  who  will  give  themselves  the  trouble  to  reflect  on  the 
subject,  that  the  pursuit  of  an  invading  army  into  their  own 
territory,  is  but  a  natural  consequence  of  the  first  invasion ; 
and  the  capture  of  the  place,  to  which  they  may  retire  for 
safety,  a  measure  indispensably  necessary  for  the  security  and 
protection  of  the  country  originally  attacked. 

No  C.     Page  308. 

"Early  in  the  year  1812,  the  American  government  had 
assembled  a  force  near  the  Detroit  frontier,  with  the  intention 
of  invading  Canada ;  and  as  soon  as  their  projected  declaration 
of  war  was  issued,  2,500  men  crossed  the  Detroit  under 
General  Hull,  and  took  possession  of  the  British  village  of 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  443 

Sandwich.  Upon  the  garrison  of  Amherstburgh,  however, 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  St.  George,  who  shut  himself  up  in 
total  inaction,  the  American  general  made  no  attempt.  As 
soon  as  General  Brock  learnt  the  entrance  of  Hull  into  Canada, 
he  sent  up  Colonel  Procter  from  the  Niagara  frontier  to 
assume  the  command  at  Amherstburgh,  and  that  officer's 
operations  were  so  prompt  and  judicious,  that  Hull  hastily 
recrossed  the  strait,  and  encamped  under  the  walls  of  fort 
Detroit,  against  which  Colonel  Procter,  advancing  to  Sand 
wich,  threw  up  batteries  on  the  British  side.  Here,  General 
Brock  arriving  with  a  reinforcement,  the  enemy,  already 
reduced  to  extremities  before  his  appearance,*  capitulated 
on  the  16th  of  August,  to  the  number  of  2,500  men,  with  33 
pieces  of  cannon.  The  fort  of  Detroit,  its  ordnance,  stores, 
and  a  fine  vessel  in  the  harbour,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
victors.  *  *  * 

"  Hull  certainly  evinced  great  incapacity  after  his  passage 
oi  the  Detroit,  in  not  immediately  marching  upon  Amherst 
burgh  with  his  whole  force,  for  he  would,  in  all  probability, 
have  carried  the  place  had  he  made  the  attempt  before 
Colonel  Procter's  arrival.  By  lingering,  however,  at  Sandwich 
until  that  officer  took  the  command,  cut  off  his  communica 
tions,  and  closed  the  Indians  on  his  rear,  he  could  not 
subsequently  effect  a  retreat." — Quarterly  Review,  July,  1822. 

In  the  "  Preface  to  the  Second  Edition  of  Travels  in  Canada 

and  the   United  States,  in   1816  and  1817,  by  Lieutenant 

Francis  Hall,  Uth  Light  Dragoons,  H.  P.,"   the  author 

observes,  in  allusion  to  Major- General  Proctor: 

Soon  after  the  publication  of  these  travels,  the  author 

received  an  anonymous  communication,  charging  him  with 

misrepresenting  the  conduct  of  the  officer  who  succeeded  Sir 

Isaac  Brock  in  the  command  of  our  forces  in  Upper  Canada. 

The  passages  complained  of  are  :  the  expression,  (p.  227,)  that 

Tecumseh,   after  that  general's  death,   "found   no  kindred 

spirit  with   whom   to   act;" — the    passages   of   Tecumseh's 

speech,  quoted  in  the  note; — and  the  expression  he  is  said 

to  have  subsequently  used,  "Tell  the  dog,"  &c.t 

*  This  is  incorrect — Hull  was  not  reduced  to  extremity;  he  was  on  his 
own  territory,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  fortress,  with  an  ample  supply 
of  provisions,  stores,  &c.,  and  his  troops  had  suffered  no  essential  check 
or  privation.  And  if  the  American  general  were  reduced  to  such  extremity, 
why  did  Colonel  Proctor  advise  Major-General  Brock  not  to  cross  the 
strait  to  attack  him  ?  —  F.  B.  T. 

f  This  passage  is  contained  in  a  foot  note  in  Lieutenant  Hall's  Travels, 
and  is  as  follows  :  "  On  another  occasion,  when  by  way  of  pacifying  his 
remonstrances  with  a  metaphor,  in  the  Indian  manner,  our  commander 
professed  his  readiness  to  lay  his  bones  by  his  side,  'Tell  the  dog,'  said 
the  angry  warrior,  '  he  has  too  much  regard  for  his  carcass  to  lay  his 
bones  any  where.' " 


444  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

The  only  insinuation  intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  terms 
"  no  kindred  spirit,"  was,  that  the  general  who  succeeded  Sir 
Isaac  Brock  was  inferior  to  him  in  talents,  and  was  so  consi 
dered  by  Tecumseh.  This  is  a  mere  matter  of  opinion ;  but 
such  as  the  author  conceives  every  man  is  free  to  deliver,  with 
respect  to  the  conduct  of  an  individual  employed  in  a  public 
capacity ;  nor,  however  he  may  be  unfortunate  enough  to 
differ  in  it  from  his  correspondent,  does  he  believe  it  would, 
by  any  means,  be  considered  a  singular  opinion  by  the  officers 
who,  at  that  time,  served  in  Upper  Canada. 

His  correspondent  denies  that  Tecumseh  ever  used  the 
expressions,  "Tell  the  dog,"  &c. ;  upon  which  the  author 
cannot  forbear  observing,  that,  as  he  has  stated  no  particular 
occasion  on  which  they  were  used,  it  seems  scarcely  possible 
his  correspondent,  unless  he  was  never  from  Tecumseh's  side, 
can  have  the  means  of  nroving  they  were  never  uttered  at  all. 
The  author  conceives  his  authority  on  this  point  to  be  such, 
as  fully  to  warrant  him  in  believing  his  statement  to  be 
correct ;  at  the  same  time,  he  would  be  understood  as  drawing 
no  conclusion  from  it  to  the  disparagement  of  (he  officer  in 
question  ;  he  quoted  it  merely  to  shew  the  nature  of  the 
Indian  chieftain's  feelings,  and  the  light  in  which  he  regarded 
measures,  on  the  propriety  of  which  the  author  wishes  to  be 
considered  as  stirring  no  controversy. 

No.  7.     Page  343. 

"To  Colonel  Brock,  of  the  49th,  who  commanded  at  the 
fort,  I  am  particularly  indebted  for  his  kindness  to  me  during 
the  fortnight  I  remained  at  Niagara.  Among  many  pleasant 
days  which  I  passed  with  him  and  his  brother  officers,  that 
of  our  visit  to  the  Tuscorora  Indians  was  not  the  least 
interesting.  They  received  us  in  all  their  ancient  costume  ; 
the  young  men  exhibited  for  our  amusement  in  the  race,  the 
bat  game,  &c.,  while  the  old  and  the  women  sat  in  groups 
under  the  surrounding  trees,  and  the  picture  altogether  was 
as  beautiful  as  it  was  new  to  me." — Note  in  Moore's  JSpistles, 
Odes,  Sfc. 

e(  At  Queenstown  the  battle  was  fought  in  which  General 
Brock  fell,  and  the  inhabitants  point  out  a  thorn  bush  at  the 
bottom  of  the  heights,  where  it  is  said  he  received  his  mortal 
wound.  His  career  was  a  short  but  a  brilliant  one;  and  had 
the  direction  of  the  affairs  of  the  Upper  Province,  after  his 
death,  been  characterized  by  an  equal  degree  of  courage, 
prudence,  and  humanity,  a  very  different  series  of  subsequent 
events  would  have  claimed  the  attention  of  the  historian." — 
Duncan's  Travels  in  the  United  States  and,  Canada,  in  1818 
and  1819. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  445 

"Close  to  the  spot  where  we  landed  in  Canada,  there 
stands  a  monument  to  the  gallant  General  Brock,  who  was 
killed  during  the  battle  of  Queenstown,  in  the  act  of  repelling 
an  invasion  of  the  frontier  by  the  Americans,  during  the  late 

war The  view  from  the  top  of  the  monument  extended 

far  over  lake  Ontario,  and  showed  us  the  windings  of  the 
Niagara,  through  the  low  and  woody  country  which  hangs 
like  a  rich  green  fringe  along  the  southern  skirts  of  that  great 
sheet  of  water." — Captain  Basil  Hall's  Travels  in  North 
America,  in  1827  and  1828. 

Travelling  in  the  state  of  New  York,  the  author  observes  : 
"  The  late  Sir  Isaac  Brock  was,  by  some  accident,  mentioned. 
The  canal  agent  spoke  of  him  in  terms  of  great  respect,  as  the 
best  commander  the  British  had  ever  sent  to  Canada — equally 
regretted  on  both  sides  of  the  St.  Lawrence 

"  From  Niagara  Falls  we  proceeded  by  the  stage  first  to 
Queenstown,  (seven  miles,)  near  which  a  monument  has  been 
erected  to  the  memory  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  from  the  top  of 
which,  about  120  feet  high,  there  is  a  noble  view  of  Lake 
Ontario  and  the  adjoining  country,  and  thence  to  the  village 
of  Newark,  (seven  miles,)  formerly  called  Fort  George,  on  the 
Niagara  river." — Stuart's  Three  Years  in  America. 

"  Immediately  above  Queenstown  stands  Brock's  monu 
ment,  on  the  heights  where  the  battle  was  fought  in  which 
that  hero  was  killed.  His  body  was  removed  to  it  from  Fort 
George,  in  1824.  The  view  from  this  fine  column  is  probably 
the  most  beautiful  in  Upper  Canada." — McGregor's  British 
America,  vol.  ii. 

<l  Seven  miles  south  of  Fort  George,  and  at  the  foot  of  the 
romantic  heights  of  the  same  name,  which  have  become 
famous  in  Canadian  history  as  the  scene  of  a  battle  wherein 
General  Brock  fell,  is  the  village  of  Queenstown,  pleasantly 
situated  on  the  Niagara,  and  opposite  to  the  American 
village  of  Lewistown.  The  monument,  built  to  the  memory 
of  the  gallant  general  and  his  companions,  on  the  loftiest  part 
of  these,  heights,  forms  a  prominent  object  to  the  numerous 
voyageurs  who  are  constantly  arriving  at  this  portage,  in 
elegantly  fitted  up  steam  boats,  from  York  and  Kingston, 
to  view  the  neighbouring  falls  of  the  Niagara.  The  village 
contains  a  church,  court  house,  large  government  stores,  and 
a  population  of  between  400  and  500  inhabitants." — The 
CanadaS)  by  Andrew  Picken. 

"  Leaving  a  garrison  in  Detroit  sufficiently  strong  to  keep 
the  inhabitants  in  awe,  General  Brock  lost  no  time  in 
quitting  the  conquered  post  and  hastening  to  Niagara — a 


446  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

command  he  had  only  relinquished  fo*  the  purpose  of 
undertaking  an  achievement  which  the  gallantry  and  deter 
mination  of  his  character  could  alone  have  crowned  with 

such  unqualified  success 

"The  month  of  October  was  marked  by  an  event  of  the 
most  melancholy  nature — the  death  of  General  Brock,  who 
fell  a  victim  to  the  intrepidity  and  daring  of  his  character.  .  .  . 
The  loss  of  their  leader,  however,  cast  a  gloom  over  every 
English  brow,  and  an  advantage  thus  purchased  was  deemed 
at  too  high  a  price.  General  Brock  was  beloved  by  the 
soldiery,  particularly  the  49th,  of  which  he  had  long  been 
lieutenant-colonel,  and  the  indignation  of  their  grief  for  his 
loss  cost  the  Americans  many  a  life  on  that  day,  that  had 
otherwise  been  spared.  At  Amherstburg,  the  account  of  his 
death  was  received  with  heartfelt  concern,  and  not  a  man 
was  there  of  those  he  had  lately  led  to  victory  who  failed 
to  pay  that  tribute  to  his  memory,  which  the  gallantry 
and  magnanimity  of  this  glorious  chief  were  so  every  way 
calculated  to  awaken  in  the  breast  of  of  the  soldier." — '  A 
Candian  Campaign,'  by  a  British  Officer,  in  the  New  Monthly 
Magazine  for  December,  1826,  and  February,  1827. 

"  Immediately  opposite  the  town  of  Prescott,  on  the  shore 
of  the  United  States,  is  the  town  of  Ogdensburg  ;  and  twelve 
miles  higher  up,  on  the  Canadian  shore,  stands  the  delightful 
village  of  Brockville,  so  called  in  honour  of  the  late  lamented 
Sir  Isaac  Brock.  This  enchanting  little  spot  unites  in  its 
situation  every  beauty  of  nature.  In  front  of  it  flows  the 
river  St.  Lawrence,  interspersed  with  numerous  islands, 
variously  formed  and  thickly  wooded ;  behind  it  is  an 
assemblage  of  small  hills  rising  one  above  another  in  l  gay 
theatric  pride ;'  and  on  each  side  are  a  number  of  well  cleared 
farms,  in  an  advanced  state  of  cultivation.  Every  thing 
combines  to  render  it  pre-eminently  beautiful.  The  dwellings 
are  built  of  wood,  and  tastefully  painted  ;  and  the  court  house, 
in  an  elevated  situation  at  the  back  of  the  village,  seems, 
from  its  superior  size,  to  be  the  guardian  of  the  villagers — an 
idea  of  my  fancy,  which  I  did  not  seek  to  confirm  by  entering 
within  its  doors.  Brockville  contains  450  souls.  It  has  a 
parsonage  house,  but  no  church  has  hitherto  been  erected." — 
Five  Years  in  Canada,  by  E.  A.  Talbot. 

"  We  remained  an  hour  or  two  at  Brockville,  the  village  of 
palaces  ;  arid  few  villages  have  I  seen  more  attractive  than 
this  one.  It  is  situated  on  a  shelving  bank,  with  &  southern 
aspect,  and  groves  of  trees  round  it.  The  houses  and  churches 
are  built  of  grey  stones,  and,  being  covered  with  tin,  have  a 
light  and  pleasant  appearance."  Alexander 's  Transatlantic 
Sketches.  London,  1833. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  447 

[NOTE.— Brockville  contained  in  1846  about  2,000  inhabitants.  There  is 
also  a  township  named  Brock,  and  another  large  district  of  the  same  name 
in  Canada.] 

No.  8.    Page  347. 

At  a  General  Council  of  Condolence,  held  at  the  Council 
House,  Fort  George,  6th  November,  1812. 

Present — The  Six  Nations,  Hurons,  Potawatitirnies,and 

Chippawahs. 

William  Glaus,  Deputy  Superintendent- 
General. 
Captain  Norton. 
Captain  J.  B.  Rosseaux,  and  several  others 

of  the  Indian  Department. 
Kasencayont  Cayonga  Chief,  Speaker. 
Brothers, — The  Americans  have  long  threatened  to  strike 
us,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  summer  they  declared  war 
against  us,  and  lately  they  recommenced  hostility  by  invading 
the  country  at  Queenstown.     In  this  contest,  which,  with  the 
help  of  God,  terminated  in  our  favor,  your  much  lamented 
commander   and  friend,  General  Brock,   his  aide-de-camp, 
Colonel  M'Doriell,  and  several  warriors,  have  fallen. 

Brothers,— We  therefore  now,  seeing  you  darkened  with 
grief,  your  eyes  dim  with  tears,  and  your  throats  stopped  with 
the  force  of  your  affliction,  with  these  strings  of  wampum 
we  wipe  away  your  tears,  that  you  may  view  clearly  the 
surrounding  objects.  We  clear  the  passage  in  your  throats 
that  you  may  have  free  utterance  for  your  thoughts,  and  we 
wipe  clean  from  blood  the  place  of  your  abode,  that  you  may 
sit  therein  comfort,  without  having  renewed  the  remembrance 
of  your  loss  by  the  remaining  stains  of  blood. 

Delivered  eight  strings  of  white  wampum.* 

Brothers, — That  the  remains  of  our  late  beloved  friend  and 
commander,  General  Brock,  shall  receive  no  injury,  we  cover 
it  with  this  belt  of  wampum,  which  we  do  from  the  grateful 
sensations  which  his  kindness  towards  us  continually  inspired, 
as  also  in  conformity  with  the  customs  of  our  ancestors  ;  and 
we  now  express,  with  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  chiefs  and 
warriors  of  our  respective  bands,  the  great  respect  in  which 

*  Wampum  is  the  current  money  among  the  Indians.  It  is  of  two  sorts, 
white  and  purple :  the  white  is  worked  out  of  the  insides  of  the  great 
Congues  into  the  form  of  a  bead,  and  perforated  so  as  to  be  strung  on 
leather ;  the  purple  is  worked  out  of  the  inside  of  the  muscle  shell.  They 
are  wove  as  broad  as  one's  hand,  and  about  two  feet  long  ;  these  they  call 
belts,  and  give  and  receive  them  at  their  'treaties,  as  the  seals  of  friendship. 
For  less  motives,  a  single  string  is  given  ;  every  bead  is  of  a  known 
value ;  and  a  belt  of  a  less  number  is  made  to  equal  one  of  a  greater,  by  so 
many  as  are  wanted  being  fastened  to  the  belt  by  a  string. — Buchanan's 
North  American  Indians. 


448  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

we  hold  his  memory,  and  the  sorrow  and  deep  regret  with 
which  his  loss  has  filled  our  breasts,  although  he  has  taken  his 
departure  for  a  better  abode,  where  his  many  virtues  will  be 
rewarded  by  the  great  Dispenser  of  good,  who  has  led  us  on 
the  road  to  victory. 

A  large  white  belt. 

Brothers, — We  now  address  the  successor  of  our  departed 
friend,  to  express  the  confidence  we  feel  that  his  heart  is 
warmed  with  similar  sentiments  of  affection  and  regard 
towards  us.  We  also  assure  him  of  our  readiness  to  support 
him  to  the  last,  and  therefore  take  the  liberty  to  speak  strong 
to  all  his  people  to  co-operate  with  vigour,  and,  trusting  in 
the  powerful  arm  of  God,  not  to  doubt  of  victory. 

Although  our  numbers  are  small,  yet,  counting  Him  on  our 
side,  who  ever  decides  on  the  day  of  battle,  we  look  for 
victory  whenever  we  shall  come  in  contact  with  our  enemy. 

Five  strings  of  white  wampum. 

(Signed)        W.  CLAUS,  D.  S.  G. 

No.  9.     Page  351. 
Extract  from  a  Description  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 

In  the  western  ambulatory  of  the  south  transept  is  a  tabular 
monument  to  the  memory  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  by  the  same 
artist  (Westmacott). 

A  military  monument,  on  which  are  placed  the  sword 
and  helmet  of  the  deceased ;  a  votive  record,  supposed  to 
have  been  raised  by  his  companions  to  their  honored  com 
mander. 

His  corpse  reclines  in  the  arms  of  a  British  soldier,  whilst 
an  Indian  pays  the  tribute  of  regret  his  bravery  and  humanity 
elicited. 

ERECTED  AT  THE  PUBLIC  EXPENSE 
TO  THE  MEMORY  OF 

MAJOR-GENERAL 

SIR  ISAAC  BROCK, 

WHO  GLORIOUSLY  FELL 

ON  THE  13th  OF  OCTOBER, 

M.DCCC.XII. 
IN  RESISTING  AN  ATTACK 

ON 

QUEENSTOWN, 
IN  UPPER  CANADA. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  449 


No.  10.    Page  351. 

"This  chief  of  the  branch  of  the  once  great  tribe  of  the 
Hurons  visited  England  some  time  ago.  I  afterwards  saw 
him  in  Quebec,  and  had  a  good  deal  of  conversation  with 
him.  When  asked  what  had  struck  him  most  of  all  that  he 
had  seen  in  England,  he  replied,  without  hesitation,  that  it 
was  the  monument  erected  in  St.  Paul's  to  the  memory  of 
General  Brock.  It  seemed  to  have  impressed  him  with  a 
high  idea  of  the  considerate  beneficence  of  his  great  father, 
the  king  of  England,  that  he  not  only  had  remembered  the 
exploits  and  death  of  his  white  child,  who  had  fallen  beyond 
the  big  salt  lake,  but  that  he  had  even  deigned  to  record,  on 
the  marble  sepulchre,  the  sorrows  of  the  poor  Indian  weeping 
over  his  chief  untimely  slain." — Hon.  F.  F.  De  Rocs'  Travels 
in  North  America,  in  1826. 

No.  11.     Page  352. 

To  His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Regent  of  the 
United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

The  humble  address  of  the  Commons  of  Upper  Canada, 
in  Parliament  assembled, 

May  it  please  your  Royal  Highness, 

We,  his  Majesty's  most  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects  the 
Commons  of  Upper  Canada,  in  Provincial  Parliament  assem 
bled,  beg  leave  to  ofTer  to  your  Royal  Highness  the  homage 
of  our  unfeigned  attachment  to  his  Majesty's  sacred  person 
and  government,  and  of  our  filial  reverence  for  the  great  and 
magnanimous  nation  of  which  we  have  the  honor  to  form  a 
part. 

While  we  pray  your  Royal  Highness  to  accept  of  our  most 
cordial  congratulations  on  the  splendid  achievements  of  his 
Majesty's  forces,  and  of  those  of  his  allies  in  various  parts  of 
the  globe,  and  in  particular  on  the  extraordinary  successes 
which,  under  Divine  Providence,  have  attended  his  Majesty's 
arms  in  this  portion  of  his  dominions;  we  should  do  injustice 
to  the  memory  of  our  late  truly  illustrious  president,  Major- 
General  Brock,  under  whose  auspices  the  latter  were  during 
his  lifetime  principally  achieved,  did  we  omit  to  accompany 
them  with  feelings  of  the  most  poignant  sorrow  for  his  fall. 

He  had  endeared  himself  to  us  by  his  able,  virtuous,  and 
disinterested  administration  of  the  civil  government,  and  by 
the  zeal,  military  talent,  and  bravery,  which  characterized 
and  marked  his  conduct  in  the  field. 

To  his  energy,  his  promptitude,  and  his  decision,  dU  we  feel 
ourselves  in  a  great  degree  indebted,  for  having  at  this 


450  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

moment  the  happiness  of  enjoying  the  privileges  of  his 
Majesty's  subjects.  His  disinterested  and  manly  conduct 
aroused  the  spirit  of  the  country,  and  called  it  forth  for  self- 
defence  against  a  most  insidious  foe. 

In  appreciating,  as  we  do,  his  talents  and  eminent  services, 
most  deeply  do  we  lament  our  inability  to  bestow  on  them 
any  other  reward  than  our  praise.  Without  revenue  for  even 
the  ordinary  purposes  of  the  government,  we  have  no  funds 
from  whence  to  reward  merit,  however  exalted  and  deserving. 

We  derive,  however,  much  pleasure  from  beholding  that 
the  services  of  our  ever- to-be-lamented  president  and  general 
have  been  appreciated  by  your  Royal  Highness ;  and  while 
we  feelingly  regret  that  he  did  not  survive  to  enjoy  the  high 
honors  conferred  upon  him  by  your  Royal  Highness  in  his 
Majesty's  name,  we,  with  all  humility,  would  beg  to  suggest 
that  a  grant  to  his  family  of  a  portion  of  his  Majesty's  most 
valuable  waste  lands  in  this  province  would  be  most  grati 
fying  to  us.  It  would,  we  doubt  not,  be  acceptable  to  them, 
and  it  would  be  the  means  of  perpetuating  the  connection 
4hat  had  taken  place  between  us,  as  well  as  the  name  of 
Brock,  in  a  country  in  defence  of  which  the  general  so  nobly 
fell ! ! !  and  which  his  exertions  had  so  eminently  contributed 
to  save. 

That  your  Royal  Highness  may  long  be  preserved  to  fill  the 
exalted  station  to  which  you  have  been  called  for  the 
advancement  of  the  happiness,  honor,  and  glory  of  the  British 
nation,  is  the  fervent  prayer  of  his  Majesty's  faithful  subjects, 
the  Commons  of  Upper  Canada. 

Passed  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly,  the  Sixth  Day 
of  March,  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred  and  Thirteen. 


No.  12.    Page  352. 

An  Act  to  provide  for  the  erection  of  a  Monument  to  the 
memory  of  the  late  President,  Major -General  Sir  Isaac 
Brock. 

[Sixth  Parliament,  55th  Geo.  III.]  [Passed  14th  March,  1815.] 

Most  Gracious  Sovereign, 

Whereas  at  the  declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States  of 
America  against  Great  Britain,  the  government  of  this  pro 
vince  was  administered  with  great  uprightness  and  ability  by 
the  late  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock  ;  And  whereas  by  the 
wisdom  of  his  councils,  the  energy  of  his  character,  and  the 
vigor  with  which  he  carried  all  his  plans  into  effect,  the 
inhabitants  of  this  province,  at  a  time  when  the  country  was 
almost  destitute  of  regular  troops,  were  inspired  with  the 


SIR   ISAAC    BROCK.  451 

fullest  confidence  in  him  and  in  themselves,  and  were  thereby 
induced  most  cordially  to  unite  with  and  follow  him  in  every 
operation  which  he  undertook  for  their  defence ;  And  whereas 
after  having  achieved  the  most  brilliant  success,  and  performed 
the  most  splendid  actions,  that  truly  illustrious  commander 
contending  at  the  head  of  a  small  body  of  regular  troops  and 
militia,  against  a  very  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  devoted 
his  most  valuable  life ;  And  whereas  the  inhabitants  of  this 
province,  reverencing  his  character,  feel  it  a  tribute  due  to 
his  memory  to  express  the  same  by  a  public  and  lasting 
testimonial,  &e. 

[Preamble.  ^1000  granted  for  the  constructing  a  monument  to  the 
memory  of  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock.] 

An  Act  to  grant  a  further  sum  of  money  for  the  completion  of 
the  Monument  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Major-General 
Sir  Isaac  Brock. 

[Passed  30th  January,  1826. 
Most  Gracious  Sovereign, 

Whereas  it  has  been  represented  by  the  surviving  com 
missioner  appointed  under  an  act  of  the  parliament  of  this 
province,  passed  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  late  majesty's 
reign,  intituled,  "An  act  to  provide  for  the  erection  of  a 
monument  to  the  memory  of  the  late  President,  Major- 
General  Sir  Isaac  Brock,"  that  a  further  sum  of  money  is 
required  to  complete  the  said  monument  upon  a  scale  which 
appears  to  the  commissioner  worthy  of  the  object :  And 
whereas  the  legislature  of  this  province  are  happy  in  testifying 
on  this  occasion  to  your  majesty  the  continued  veneration 
with  which  they  regard  the  memory  of  the  late  Sir  Isaac 
Brock :  May  it  please  your  majesty  that  it  may  be  enacted,  &c. 

[^6*600  granted  to  complete  the  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  late 
Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock.] 

No.  13.     Page  352. 

Anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  Queenstown,  and  the  reinter 
ment  of  the  late  much-lamented  Major-General  Sir  Isaac 
Brock. 

There  is  something  so  grand  and  imposing  in  the  spectacle 
of  a  nation's  homage  to  departed  worth,  which  calls  for  the 
exercise  of  so  many  interesting  feelings,  and  which  awakens 
so  many  sublime  contemplations,  that  we  naturally  seek  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  an  event  so  pregnant  with  instruc 
tion,  and  so  honorable  to  our  species.  It  is  a  subject  that  in 
other  and  in  older  countries  has  frequently  exercised  the 
pens,  and  has  called  forth  all  the  descriptive  powers  of  the 


452  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

ablest  writers.*  But  here  it  is  new;  and  for  the  first  time 
since  we  became  a  separate  province,  have  we  seen  a  great 
public  funeral  procession  of  all  ranks  of  people,  to  the  amount 
of  several  thousands,  bearing  the  remains  of  two  lamented 
heroes  to  their  last  dwelling  on  earth,  in  the  vaults  of  a  grand 
national  monument,  overtopping  the  loftiest  heights  of  the 
most  magnificent  section  of  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
countries  in  the  world. 

"The  13th  of  October,  being  the  anniversary  of  the  battle 
of  Queenstown,  and  of  the  death  of  Brock,  was  judiciously 
chosen  as  the  most  proper  day  for  the  removal  of  the  remains 
of  the  genera],  together  with  those  of  his  gallant  aide-de 
camp,  Lieutenant-Colonel  M'Donell,  to  the  vaults  prepared 
for  their  reception  on  Queenstown  heights. f 

"The  weather  was  remarkably  fine,  and  before  ten  o'clock 
a  very  large  concourse  of  people,'  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
had  assembled  on  the  plains  of  Niagara,  in  front  of  Fort 
George,  in  a  bastion  of  which  the  bodies  had  been  deposited 
for  twelve  years.* 

"  One  hearse,  covered  with  black  cloth,  and  drawn  by  four 
black  horses,  each  with  a  leader,  contained  both  the  bodies. 
Soon  after  ten,  a  lane  was  formed  by  the  1st  and  4th  regiments 
of  Lincoln  militia,  with  their  right  on  the  gate  of  Fort  George, 
and  their  left  extending  along  the  road  towards  Queenstown, 
the  ranks  being  about  forty  paces  distant  from  each  other : 
within  this  line  was  formed  a  guard  of  honor  of  the  7Cth 
regiment,  in  parade  order,  having  its  left  on  the  fort.  As 
the  hearse  moved  slowly  from  the  fort,  to  the  sound  of 
solemn  music,  a  detachment  of  royal  artillery  began  to  fire 
the  salute  of  nineteen  guns,  and  the  guard  of  honor  presented 
arms. 

"  On  moving  forwards  in  ordinary  time,  the  guard  of  honor 
broke  into  a  column  of  eight  divisions,  with  the  right  in  front, 
and  the  procession  took  the  following  order  : 

*  It  is  impossible  here  to  forget  (however  different  were  the  circum 
stances  and  character  of  the  two  warriors)  that  fine  passage  by  the 
splendid  historian  of  Rome,  wherein  he  immortalizes  the  death  and 
funeral  of  the  ferocious  Attila,  in  language  at  once  musical  and  sublime, 
and  which  is  probably  without  an  equal  in  the  whole  range  of  English 
literature  :  "  His  body  was  solemnly  exposed  in  the  midst  of  the  plain, 
under  a  silken  pavillion ;  and  the  chosen  squadrons  of  the  Huns,  wheeling 
round  in  measured  evolutions,  chaunted  a  funeral  song  to  the  memory  of 
a  hero,  glorious  in  his  life,  invincible'in  his  death,  the  father  of  his  people, 
the  scourge  of  his  enemies,  and  the  terror  of  the  world." 

t  The  monument  itself  is  not  yet  finished ;  we  shall  therefore  defer  our 
description  of  the  edifice  until  it  is  completed. 

t  It  is  remarkable  that,  on  inspecting  the  remains,  the  body  of  Colonel 
M'Donell  was  found  to  be  almost  entirely  decomposed, — whilst  that  of 
the  general  was  still  firm  and  nearly  entire ;  some  of  the  flesh  and 
lineaments  of  his  martial  countenance  being  yet  visible. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.       .  453 

A  Staff  Officer. 
Subdivision  of  Grenadiers. 

Band  of  Music. 
Right  Wing  of  the  76th  Regiment. 

THE  BODY. 
Aide-de-Camp  to  the  late  Major-General  Sir  ISAAC  BROCK. 

Chief  Mourners. 
Relatives  of  the  late  Colonel  M'DONELL. 

Commissioners  for  the  Monument. 
Heads  of  Public  Departments  of  the  Civil  Government. 

Judges. 
Members  of  the  Executive  Council. 

His  Excellency  and  Suite. 

Left  Wing  of  the  76th  Regiment. 

Indian  Chiefs  of  the  Five  Nations. 

Officers  of  Militia  not  on  duty — junior  ranks — First  forward, 

Four  deep. 

Magistrates  and  Civilians, 

With  a  long  Cavalcade  of  Horsemen,  and  Carriages  of  every 
description. 

"  As  the  procession  passed  along  the  lane  of  militia,  the 
latter  wheeled  inwards  by  subdivisions  in  succession,  as  soon 
as  its  own  front  was  clear,  and  followed  the  procession.  At 
a  certain  distance  from  Fort  George  the  quick  march  was 
taken  up,  and  arms  were  sloped ;  the  members  of  the  proces 
sion  then  took  their  carriages,  preserving  as  nearly  as  possible 
the  order  abovementioned,  and  the  whole  proceeded  on  the 
road  to  Queenstown.  The  2d  and  3d  regiments  of  Lincoln 
militia,  in  like  manner,  formed  a  lane,  its  left  resting  on  the 
heights,  near  the  entrance  to  the  monument,  and  extending 
along  the  road  towards  the  village  of  Queenstown.  On 
reaching  the  commencement  of  this  lane,  the  procession 
resumed  its  formation,  all  hoi-ses,  carriages,  &c.,  keeping  in 
the  rear  ;  and  when  the  head  of  the  column  approached  the 
monument,  it  inclined  to  the  right,  to  allow  the  body  to 
proceed  direct  to  the  entrance.  The  guard  of  honor  then 
halted  and  formed  in  parade  order ;  the  2d  and  3d  Lincoln 
regiments  following  the  procession  in  like  manner  as  the  1st 
and  4th. 

"The  time  occupied  in  moving  from  the  fort  to  Queenstown, 
a  distance  of  nearly  seven  miles,  was  about  three  hours, 
including  stoppages.  Being  arrived  opposite  the  spot  where 
the  lamented  hero  received  his  mortal  wound,  the  whole 
procession  halted,  and  remained  for  a  few  minutes  in  solemn 
pause.  It  then  ascended  the  heights,  and  to  the  spectator 
who  had  his  station  on  the  summit  near  the  monument, 
nothing  could  be  finer  than  the  effect  of  the  lengthened 
column  winding  slowly  up  the  steep  ascent  in  regular  order, 
surrounded  by  scenery  no  where  surpassed  for  romantic  beauty. 
On  the  bodies  being  removed  from  the  hearse  and  deposited 
in  the  vault,  the  guard  of  honor  presented  arms,  whilst  the 
artillery,  (which  had  been  taken  from  the  enemy  during  the 


454  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

last  war,)  posted  on  the  heights,  fired  a  salute  of  nineteen 
guns.  The  troops  then  marched  in  ordinary  time  round  the 
monument,  and  immediately  separated  to  their  respective 
parades. 

"All  those  who  were  inclined  to  visit  the  interior  of  the 
vault  were  then  permitted  to  enter  in  small  parties.  The 
remains  of  the  brave  M'Donell  lie  to  the  left  of  those  of  the 
general.  On  the  general's  coffin,  which  is  otherwise  quite 
plain  and  covered  with  black  cloth,  are  two  oval  plates  of 
silver,  each  six  inches  by  four,  one  above  the  other.  On  the 
first  is  the  following  inscription  : 

Here  lie  the  earthly  remains  of  a  brave 

and  virtuous  hero, 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SIR  ISAAC  BROCK, 
Commander  of  the  British  Forces, 

and  President  administering 

the  Government  of  Upper  Canada, 

who  fell,  when  gloriously  engaging  the  enemies 

of  his  country, 
at  the  head  of  the  Flank  Companies 

of  the  4Qth  Regiment, 

in  the  town  of  Queenstown, 

on  the  morning  of  the  13th  October,  1812, 

Aged  42  years. 

j.  B.  GLEGG,  A.;D.  c. 

"  And  on  the  second  plate  the  following  additional  inscrip 
tion  is  engraved : 

The  remains  of  the  late 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SIR  ISAAC  BROCK,  K.B. 

removed  from  Fort  George  to  this  vault, 

on  the  13th  of  October,  1824. 

"  Upon  a  similar  plate,  on  the  lid  of  the  aide-de-camp's 
coffin,  was  engraved  : 

The  remains  of 

LIEUT.-COL.  JOHN  M'DONEIL, 
Provincial  Aide- de-Camp  to  the  late 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BROCK, 

who  died  on  the  14th  of  October,  1812, 

of  wounds  received  in  action  the  day  before, 

Aged  25  years. 

"  Several  printed  papers,  having  the  following  extract  from 
the  government  dispatches  of  the  day,  were  handed  about : 

[See  dispatch  from  Earl  Bathurst  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  page  338. — ED.] 

"  Besides  which,  on  large  placards,  to  the  number  of  several 
hundreds,  copies  of  the  inscription  to  be  placed  on  the  tablet, 
over  the  entrance  of  the  monument,  were  distributed  amongst 
the  assembled  multitudes,  and  which  is  as  follows  : 

"The  Legislature  of  Upper  Canada  has  dedicated  this  Monument  to  the 
very  eminent  civil  and  military  services  of  the  late  Sir  Isaac  Brock, 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.      .  455 

Knight  of  the  Most  Hon.  Order  of  the  Bath,  Provisional  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  and  Major- General  commanding  the  Forces  in  this  Province, 
whose  remains  are  deposited  in  the  vault  beneath.  Having  expelled  the 
North  Western  Army  of  the  United  States,  achieved  its  capture,  received 
the  surrender  of  Fort  Detorit,  and  the  territory  of  Michigan,  under 
circumstances  which  have  rendered  his  name  illustrious,  he  returned  to 
the  protection  of  this  frontier;  and  advancing  with  his  small  force  to 
repel  a  second  invasion  of  the  unemy,  then  in  possession  of  these  heights, 
he  fell  in  action,  on  the  13th  of  October,  1812,  in  the  forty-third  year  of  his 
age,  honoured  and  beloved  by  the  people  whom  he  governed,  and  deplored 
by  his  Sovereign,  to  whose  service  his  life  had  been  devoted." 

REMARKS. 

"  By  the  best  computation  we  could  make,  and  avoiding 
all  exaggeration,  at  the  time  the  procession  reached  the 
monument  there  could  not  be  less  than  five  thousand  persons 
present,  many  of  whom  were  from  the  United  States.  Gen 
eral  Brock,  indeed,  was  a  man  no  less  esteemed  by  the  enemy 
than  he  was  admired  and  almost  adored  by  his  friends  and 
soldiery ;  and  we  heard  several  Americans  say,  who  had 
served  against  him  and  saw  him  fall,  that  they  lamented  his 
death  as  much  as  they  would  have  done  that  of  any  of  their 
own  generals,  on  account  of  his  humanity,  and  the  great 
attention  he  had  uniformly  shewn  to  his  prisoners. 

"  His  excellency  the  lieutenant-governor  (Major-General 
Sir  Perigrine  Maitland,  K.  C.  B.)  was  in  full  dress,  and,  we 
are  happy  to  say,  appeared  in  good  health  after  his  late 
fatiguing  journey  of  inspection  to  the  Lower  Province.  The 
two  M'Donells  and  Captain  Wilkinson,  of  the  2d  Glengary 
regiment,  relatives  of  the  deceased  Lieut.-Colonel  M'Donell, 
in  the  highland  costume,  appeared  in  the  procession  to  great 
advantage,  and  seemed  to  excite  much  attention. 

"  But  among  the  assembled  warriors  and  civilians,  none 
excited  a  more  lively  interest  than  the  chiefs  of  the  Indian 
nations  from  the  Grand  River,  whose  warlike  appearance, 
intrepid  aspect,  picturesque  dress  and  ornaments,  and  majestic 
demeanour,  accorded  well  with  the  solemn  pomp  and  general 
character  of  a  military  procession  —  amongst  these,  young 
Brant,  Bears  Foot,  and  Henry,  were  distinguished.  In  our 
mind  we  never  saw  a  dress  more  elegant  in  its  kind,  and  fit 
for  active  service  in  the  woods,  than  that  worn  by  young 
Brant,  who,  with  his  tomahawk  in  hand,  was  a  perfect 
resemblance  of  all  that  could  be  imagined  of  the  accomplished 
Indian  warrior. 

"Amongst  the  numerous  gentlemen  in  the  procession,  we 
observed  that  old  veteran,  Lieutenant  M'Dougall,  of  his 
majesty's  8th  (the  king's)  regiment,  who,  like  a  brave  and 
loyal  man,  came  from  Sandwich  to  attend  the  re-interment." 
—  Upper  Canada  Gazette,  October,  1824. 


456  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    I. 

"  We  had  the  melancholy  pleasure  of  attending,  on  Wednes 
day  last,  the  removal  of  the  mortal  remains  of  Major-General 
Sir  Isaac  Brock,  and  those  of  his  deceased  aide-de-camp,  Lieut.- 
Colonel  M'Donell,  from  Fort  George  to  the  monument  at 
Queenstown  Heights. 

"  The  day  was  remarkably  fine — the  persons  who  attended  to 
pay  this  last  tribute  of  respect  to  their  memories  were  highly 
respectable  and  numerous.  There  could  not  be  less  than 
10,000  persons  present. 

"  His  Excellency,  Major  Hillier,  Ensign  Maitland,  Colonels 
Fosters,  Coffin,  and  Fitzgibbon,  appeared  on  the  ground  half 
an  hour  before  the  procession  moved  from  Fort  George. 
***** 

"  About  the  hour  of  10  o'clock,  the  1st  and  4th  regiments  of 
Lincoln  militia,  were  formed  in  lines  40  yards  apart  at  Fort 
George.  Within  the  lines  was  a  guard  of  honor,  consisting  of 
a  company  of  the  76th  regiment.  On  the  hearse  being 
brought  out  of  the  fort,  the  guard  presented  arms,  and  the 
royal  artillery  fired  a  salute  of  nineteen  guns. 

"  The  procession  moved  in  the  following  order: 

Captain  Brown,  37th  Regiment. 
Grenadiers  of  the  76th  Regiment. 

Band  of  do. 

Right  wing  of  76th  Regiment. 
Isaac  Swayze,  Esq. 

THE  HEARSE, 

Drawn  by  four  Black  Horses. 

Chief  Mourners :  —  Colonel  Givens,  of  the  West  York  Militia,  and 

Colonel  Donald  M'Donell. 

Supporters  to  the  Chief  Mourners:  —  Lt.-Colonel  Duncan  M'Donell,  and 

Capt.  Wilkinson,  of  the  Glengary  Regiment,  in  full  uniform. 

Commissioners  for  the  Monument. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Press. 

Barristers. 

Medical  Gentlemen. 

Members  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

Members  of  the  Legislative  Council. 

Sheriffs,  Coroners,  and  Magistrates. 

Officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy  on  half  pay. 

Heads  of  public  Departments. 

Judges  of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench. 

Members  of  the  Executive  Council. 

His  Excellency  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland  and  Suite. 

Colonels  Wardlaw  and  Leonard. 

Left  Wing  of  the  76th  Regiment. 

Officers  of  the  West  York  Militia,  under  the  command  of 

Lieut.-Col.  Bakie. 

Captain  George  Dennison,  of  the  York  Dragoons. 
Officers  of  the  East  York  Militia,  under  the  command  of 

Lieut. -Colonel  Heward. 
Colonel  John  Beverley  Robinson  and  Major  Radenhurst,  of  the  second 

East  York  Militia. 

Chiefs  from  each  Tribe  of  the   Five  Nations  :  —  Captain  Brant, 

Ahyonwaeghs,  Tehanagarene,  Tewaserakc,  Skayentakaen, 

Thalotatro,  Kaghnitake,  Teyothorewen. 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  457 

Markham  Cavalry :—  Captain  and  Lieutenant  Button. 
Gore  Militia:  — ColonelJames  Crooks,  Captain  M.  Crooks, 

Lieutenant  Findlay,  and  Dr.  Hamilton. 
Oxford  Militia  :— Colonel  Horner  and  Dr.  Cornish. 

560  Gentlemen  on  horseback. 

285  Carriages,  Gigs,  and  pleasure  Waggons,  filled  with  well  dressed 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen. 

"The  pedestrians  were  numerous. 

"The  procession  ascended  the  mountain  ten  minutes  after 
two  o'clock,  and  marched  through  a  lane  formed  by  the  2d 
and  3d  regiments  of  Lincoln  militia,  to  the  monument. 

"  Upon  the  bodies  being  taken  from  the  hearse  and  depo 
sited  in  the  vault  within  the  monument,  the  guard  presented 
arms,  and  the  artillery,  posted  on  the  heights,  fired  a  salute 
of  nineteen  guns." — York  Observer,  October  18, 1824. 

No.  14. —  Page  415. 

"  Queenstown,  at  which  place  the  steam  boats  start  for 
Toronto,  is  situated  in  a  delicious  valley,  through  which  the 
Niagara  river,  in  colour  a  deep  green,  pursues  its  course.  It 
is  approached  by  a  road  that  takes  its  winding  way  among 
the  heights  by  which  the  town  is  sheltered,  and,  seen  from 
this  point,  is  extremely  beautiful  and  picturesque.  On  the 
most  conspicuous  of  these  heights  stood  a  monument,  erected 
by  the  provincial  legislature  in  memory  of  General  Brock, 
who  was  slain  in  a  battle  with  the  American  forces,  after 
having  won  the  victory.  Some  vagabond,  supposed  to  be  a 
fellow  of  the  name  of  Lett,  who  is  now,  or  who  lately  was,  in 
prison  as  a  felon,  blew  up  this  monument  two  years  ago; 
and  it  is  now  a  melancholy  ruin,  with  a  long  fragment  of 
iron  railing  hanging  dejectedly  from  its  top,  and  waving  to 
and  fro  like  a  wild  ivy  branch  or  broken  vine  stem.  It  is  of 
much  higher  importance  than  it  may  seem  that  this  statue 
should  be  repaired  at  the  public  cosl,  as  it  ought  to  have  been 
long  ago ;  first,  because  it  is  beneath  the  dignity  of  England 
to  allow  a  memorial,  raised  in  honor  of  one  of  her  defenders, 
to  remain  in  this  condition,  on  the  very  spot  v/here  he  died; 
secondly,  because  the  sight  of  it  in  its  present  state,  and  the 
recollection  of  the  unpunished  outrage  which  brought  it  to 
this  pass,  are  not  very  likely  to  soothe  down  border  feelings 
among  English  subjects  here,  or  compose  their  border  quarrels 
and  dislikes." — Dickens'  American  Notes,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  187, 188. 


W 


458  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    II. 

SECTION  II.— AMERICAN  AUTHORS. 


No.  1.— Page  248. 

Extract  from  Jefferson's  Correspondence.  —  Monticello, 
October  I,  1812. 

"  I  fear  that  Hull's  surrender  has  been  more  than  the  mere 
loss  of  a  year  to  us.  Besides  bringing  on  us  the  whole  mass 
of  savage  nations,  whom  fear,  and  not  affection,  had  kept  in 
quiet,  there  is  danger  that,  in  giving  time  to  an  enemy  who 
can  send  reinforcements  of  regulars  faster  than  we  can  raise 
them,  they  may  strengthen  Canada  and  Halifax  beyond  the 
assailment  of  our  lax  and  divided  powers.  Perhaps,  how 
ever,  the  patriotic  efforts  from  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  by 
recalling  the  British  force  to  its  upper  posts,  may  yet  give 
time  to  Dearborn  to  strike  a  blow  below.  Effectual  posses 
sion  of  the  river  from  Montreal  to  Chaudiere,  which  is 
practicable,  would  give  us  the  upper  country  at  our  leisure, 
and  close  for  ever  the  scenes  of  the  tomahawk  and  scalping 
knife." 

No.  2.— Page  254. 

tl  Revolutionary  Services  of  General  Hull,  as  taken  from  his 
Defence  before  the  Court  Martial)  in  March,  1814. 

"For  more  than  half  a  century  I  supported  a  character 
without  reproach.  My  youth  was  devoted  to  the  service  of 
my  country  ;  I  fought  her  battles  in  that  war  which  achieved 
her  liberty  and  independence,  and  which  was  ended  before 
many  of  you,  gentlemen,  who  are  my  judges,  were  born.  If 
upon  any  occasion  a  man  may  speak  of  his  own  merits,  it  is 
at  such  a  time  as  this :  and  I  hope  I  may  be  permitted  to 
present  to  you,  in  very  few  words,  a  narration  of  my  life,  while 
I  was  engaged  in  scenes  which  were  calculated  to  prove  a 
man's  firmness  and  courage.  I  shall  do  it  with  less  reluctance, 
because  the  testimony  I  have  offered  of  the  venerable  men 
who  served  with  me  in  the  revolutionary  war,  will  vouch  for 
all  I  have  to  say.  In  the  year  1775,  at  the  age  of  about 
twenty-one  years,  I  was  appointed  a  captain  in  one  of  the 
Connecticut  regiments;  during  that  campaign,  and  until 
March,  1776,  when  the  enemy  evacuated  Boston,  I  served 
with  the  army  at  Cambridge  and  Roxbury,  and  in  the  imme 
diate  command  of  General  Washington.  I  was  with  that 
part  of  the  army,  in  March,  1776,  which  took  possession  of 
Dorchester  heights  —  the  movement  which  compelled  the 
enemy  to  evacuate  Boston.  The  next  day,  the  regiment  to 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  459 

which  I  belonged  marched  for  New  York.  I  was  on  Long 
Island  when  the  enemy  landed,  and  remained  until  the  night 
the  whole  army  retreated.  I  was  in  several  small  skirmishes, 
hoth  on  Long  Island  and  York  Island,  before  the  army  retired 
to  the  White  Plains.  I  then  belonged  to  Colonel  Charles 
Webb's  regiment,  of  Connecticut. 

"  This  regiment  was  in  the  severest  part  of  the  action  on 
Chatterdon's  Hill,  a  little  advanced  of  the  White  Plains,  a 
few  days  after  the  main  body  of  the  army  abandoned  New 
York.  This  battle  is  memorable  in  the  history  of  our  country  ; 
and  the  regiment  to  which  I  belonged  received  the  particular 
thanks  of  General  Washington,  in  his  public  orders,  for  its 
bravery  and  good  conduct  on  the  occasion.  It  was  particu 
larly  distinguished  from  all  the  other  troops  engaged  in  the 
action.  I  received  a  slight  wound  by  a  musket  ball  in  my 
side,  but  it  did  not  prevent  me  from  remaining  at  the  head  of 
my  company. 

"  I  was  in  the  battle  of  Trenton,  when  the  Hessians  were 
taken,  in  December,  1776 ;  and,  being  one  of  the  youngest 
captains  in  the  army,  was  promoted  by  General  Washington 
the  day  after  the  battle,  to  a  majority,  for  my  conduct  on  that 
occasion.  The  1st  of  January,  1777,  I  was  in  the  battle  of 
Princeton.  In  the  campaign  of  the  same  year,  the  regiment 
to  which  I  belonged  served  in  the  northern  array.  I  was  early 
in  the  spring  ordered  to  Ticonderoga,  and  commanded  the 
regiment  (being  the  senior  officer  present)  under  General  St. 
Clair,  and  I  was  with  that  officer  in  his  retreat  from  that  post. 

"After  General  St.  Glair's  army  formed  a  junction  with 
General  Schuyler's  army  on  the  North  River,  at  Fort  Edward, 
the  regiment  to  which  I  belonged  was  detached,  and  marched 
to  Fort  Schuyler,  and  relieved  that  p.ost,  which  was  besieged 
by  General  St.  Leger. 

"  On  the  retreat  of  General  Schuyler's  army  from  Fort 
Edward,  I  commanded  the  rear  guard  of  the  army  ;  and, 
being  two  miles  in  the  rear,  was  attacked  by  a  large  body  of 
British  troops  and  Indians  at  daylight  in  the  morning,  in 
which  action  were  killed  and  wounded  between  thirty  and 
forty  of  my  guard.  And  I  received  the  particular  thanks  of 
General  Schuyler  for  my  conduct  on  the  occasion. 

(t  I  was  in  the  two  memorable  battles,  on  the  19th  of 
September  and  the  7th  of  October,  on  Bemis'  heights, 
against  General  Burgoyne's  army,  previous  to  its  surrender. 
In  the  action  of  the  19th  of  September,  I  commanded  a 
detachment  of  three  hundred  men,  who  fought  the  principal 
part  of  the  afternoon,  and  more  than  one  half  of  them  were 
killed  or  wounded. 

"  On  the  7th  of  October,  I  likewise  commanded  a  detach 
ment  from  the  Brigade  which  assisted  in  attacking  the  enemy 
on  the  left  of  our  position,  defeated  him,  followed  him  to  '.the 


460  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    II. 

right  of  his  lines,  stormed  his  entrenchments,  and  took  and 
held  possession  of  the  right  of  his  position,  which  compelled 
him  to  retreat  to  Saratoga,  and  there  to  capitulate. 

"After  the  memorable  event  of  the  capitulation  of  General 
Burgoyne's  army,  the  regiment  to  which  I  belonged  was 
ordered  to  Pennsylvania,  to  join  the  army  under  the  command 
of  General  Washington.  I  remained  with  the  army  the 
winter  of  1777,  at  Valley  Forge;  and  in  the  spring  of  1778, 
when  the  British  army  evacuated  Philadelphia,  I  was  in  the 
battle  of  Monmouth. 

"From  December,  1778,  to  May,  1779,  I  commanded  the 
American  posts  in  advance  of  the  White  Plains,  near  Kings- 
bridge,  during  which  time  I  had  various  skirmishes  with  the 
enemy.  In  May,  1779,  the  principal  part  of  the  British  army 
advanced  up  the  North  River  to  Verplank's  and  Stoney  Point, 
and  I  was  ordered  to  retreat  before  them  to  West  Point. 

"I  then  joined  the  light  infantry,  under  the  command  of 
General  Wayne,  and  was  in  the  memorable  attack  on  Stoney 
Point,  with  a  separate  command  of  four  hundred  light  infantry. 

"  For  my  conduct  on  this  occasion  I  received  the  particular 
thanks  of  General  Wayne,  General  Washington,  and  congress. 

"In  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1780,  I  commanded  the 
advanced  posts  of  the  army ;  and  in  December  of  that  year, 
.1  commanded  an  expedition  against  the  enemy,  stationed  at 
Morrissina,  which  was  successful,  and  for  which  I  received 
the  thanks  of  General  Washington,  in  his  general  orders  to 
the  army,  and  likewise  the  thanks  of  congress.  General 
Washington,  in  his  orders,  I  well  remember,  made  use  of  these 
words:  'He  thanked  me  for  my  judicious  arrangements  in 
the  plan  of  operations,  and  for  my  intrepidity  and  valour  in 
the  execution.' 

"  From  the  conclusion  of  the  revolutionary  war  I  have 
lived  with  the  respect  of  my  countrymen,  and  have  enjoyed 
repeated  marks  of  their  confidence  in  the  offices  which  have 
been  bestowed  upon  me.  When  I  found  that  the  independence, 
for  which  I  had  so  often  fought,  was  assailed, — that  again  my 
country  must  appeal  to  arms  to  avenge  her  wrongs,  and  to 
protect  her  rights, — I  felt  that  I  might  yet  do  her  some  service. 
For  though  many  years  had  passed  since  I  had  fought  under 
her  standard,  and  though  my  own  arm  might  not  have  had 
its  wonted  strength,  yet  my  spirit  was  unbroken,  and  my 
devotion  to  her  unimpaired.  I  thought  in  the  field,  where 
there  could  be  but  few  who  had  any  military  experience,  what 
I  had  learned  in  the  most  active  scenes  of  a  seven  years'  war, 
might  be  useful.  I  fondly  hoped  that  in  my  age,  as  well  as 
in  my  youth,  I  might  render  services  that  should  deserve  the 
gratitude  of  my  country — that  if  I  fell  by  the  sword  of  her 
enemies,  my  grave  would  be  moistened  with  the  tears  of  my 
countrymen;  that  my  descendants  would  be  proud  of  my 


SIR    ISAAC    BROCK.  461 

name  and  fame.  But  how  vain  is  anticipation !  I  am  now 
accused  of  crimes  which  would  blast  my  former  honors,  and 
transmit  my  memory  with  infamy  to  posterity.  And  in  that 
hideous  catalogue,  there  is  none  from  the  imputation  of  which 
my  nature  and  my  feelings  have  more  recoiled  than  from  that 
of  cowardice,  to  which  I  am  to  answer." 

"The  appearance  of  General  Hull  was  venerable  and  prepossessing;. 
Beneath  snowy  locks,  of  nearly  sixty  winters'  bleaching,  he  exhibited  a 
countenance  as  fresh  and  blooming  as  a  youth  of  eighteen .  His  eloquence 
was  perspicuous  and  graceful." — American  History. 

No.  3.  — Page  331. 

Letter  from  Captain  Wool  to  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer. 
"  BUFFALOE,  October  23,  1812. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  to  you  the  circumstances 
attending  the  storming  of  Queenstown  battery,  on  the  13th 
instant;  with  those  which  happened  previously  you  are 
already  well  acquainted. 

"  In  pursuance  of  your  order,  we  proceeded  round  the 
point  and  ascended  the  rocks,  which  brought  us  partly  in  rear 
of  the  battery.  We  took  it  without  much  resistance.  I 
immediately  formed  the  troops  in  rear  of  the  battery,  and 
fronting  the  village,  when  I  observed  General  Brock  with 
his  troops  formed,  consisting  of  four  companies  of  the  49th 
regiment,  and  a  few  militia,  marching  for  our  left  flank.  I 
immediately  detached  a  party  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
to  take  possession  of  the  heights  above  Queenstown  battery, 
and  to  hold  General  Brock  in  check ;  but  in  consequence  of  his 
superior  force  they  retreated.  I  sent  a  reinforcement ;  notwith 
standing  which,  the  enemy  drove  us  to  the  edge  of  the  bank  ; 
when,  with  the  greatest  exertions,  we  brought  the  troops  to  a 
stand,  and  ordered  the  officers  to  bring  their  men  to  a  charge 
as  soon  as  the  ammunition  was  expended,  which  was  exe 
cuted  with  some  confusion,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  enemy 
retreated.  We  pursued  them  to  the  edge  of  the  heights, 
when  Colonel  M'Donell  had  his  horse  shot  from  under  him, 
and  himself  was  mortally  wounded.  In  the  interim,  General 
Brock,  in  attempting  to  rally  his  forces,  was  killed,  when  the 
enemy  dispersed  in  every  direction.  As  soon  as  it  was 
practicable  I  formed  the  troops  in  a  line  on  the  heights 
fronting  the  village,  and  immediately  detached  flanking 
parties,  which  consisted  of  Captain  Machesney,  of  the  6th 
regiment,  Lieutenant  Smith  and  Ensign  Grosvenor,  with  a 
small  detachment  of  riflemen,  who  had  that  moment  arrived; 
at  the  same  time,  I  ordered  Lieutenant  Ganesvoort  and 
Lieutenant  Randolph,  with  a  detachment  of  artillery,  to  drill 
out  an  18-pounder  which  had  been  previously  spiked,  and,  if 


46*2  APPENDIX    A. SECTION    II. 

possible,  to  bring  it  to  bear  upon  the  village.  The  wounded 
and  prisoners  I  ordered  to  be  collected,  and  sent  to  the 
guard-house.  About  this  time,  which  was  about  three  or 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Lieut.-Colonel  Christie  arrived, 
and  took  the  command.  He  ordered  me  across  the  river  to 
get  my  wounds  dressed.  I  remained  a  short  time.  Our 
flanking  parties  had  been  driven  in  by  the  Indians;  but 
General  Wadsworth  and  other  officers  arriving,  we  had  a 
short  skirmish  with  them,  and  they  retreated,  and  I  crossed 
the  river." 

[NOTE. — Captain  Wool,  in  stating1  that  he  was  opposed  to  four  companies 
of  the  4Qth,  only  doubled  the  number  of  companies  ;  but  this  exaggeration 
is  a  trifle  compared  with  the  following  gross  and  liudibrastic  mis-statements, 
relative  to  the  battle  of  Queenstown  in  "  Ramsay's  History  of  the  United 
States,"  viz.  "  The  4Qth  British  regiment,  signalized  in  Egypt  under 
Colonel,  since  Lieutenant-General,  Brock,  and  usually  called  the  '  Egyp 
tian  Invincibles,'  was  among  the  prominent  corps,  and  was  led  by  its 
favorite  commander.  In  the  second  engagement,  this  regiment  of  British 
regulars,  600  strong,  encountered  a  body  of  320  American  regulars, 
supported  by  a  few  militia  and  volunteers,  the  whole  under  Colonel 
Chrystie.  They  mutually  resorted  to  the  bayonet,  and  after  a  bloody 
conflict,  the  famous  invincibles  yielded  to  the  superior  energy  of  their 
antagonists,  although  the  latter  were  so  far  inferior  in  numbers.  They 
were  rallied  by  Lieut.-General  Brock,  who  was  killed  in  conducting  them 
a  second  time  to  the  charge.  The  American  prisoners  were  kindly 
treated  by  this  brave  regiment,  who,  after  the  battle  was  over,  acknow 
ledged  they  had  never  opposed  more  gallant  adversaries."— The  49th,  not 
having  been  with  the  British  army  in  Egypt,  could  not  be  called  the 
"Egyptian  Invincibles;"  and  instead  of  this  regiment,  600  strong,  being 
led  by  Major  (  not  Lieutenant)  General  Brock,  only  the  flank  companies 
were  present,  with  a  small  body  of  militia,  together  about  300  men.  In 
fact,  four  companies  of  the  49th  were  at  Kingston,  160  miles  distant,  and 
the  remaining  four  battalion  companies  were,  we  believe,  at  Fort  Erie,  27 
or  28  miles  from  Queenstown;  and  therefore,  the  assertion  that  the 
"  famous  invincibles"  yielded  to  far  inferior  numbers,  is  something  worse 
than  ridiculous.  Such,  however,  is  the  correctness  of  this  American 
historian  on  the  subject,  and  with  such  materials  is  history  too  often 
compiled. — ED.] 

"  REPORT  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  QUEENSTOWN  " — (Extracts.) 

"  Captain  Wool  discovered  the  British  troops  forming  at 
Queenstown,  and  formed  the  troops  under  his  command  in 
line.  General  Brock  was  at  the  head  of  the  British  troops, 
and  led  them  round  about  to  the  heights  in  the  rear  of  the 
battery.  Captain  Wool  detached  160  men  to  meet  the 
British;  this  detachment  was  driven  back,  reinforced,  and 
the  whole  driven  to  the  brink  of  the  precipice,  forming  the 
bank  of  the  Niagara  river,  above  Queenstown. 

"At  this  moment  some  of  the  officers  put  a  white  hand 
kerchief  on  a  bayonet  to  hoist  as  a  flag,  with  intention  to 
surrender.  Captain  Wool  inquired  the  object.  It  was 
answered  that  the  party  were  nearly  without  ammunition, 
and  that  it  was  useless  to  sacrifice  the  lives  of  brave  men. 
Captain  Wool  tore  off"  the  flag,  ordered  the  officers  to  rally 


DANIEL   DE    LISLE    BROCK,    ESQ.  463 

the  men,  and  bring:  them  to  the  charge.  The  order  was 
executed,  but  in  some  confusion.  The  boasted  49th  could 
not  stand  the  American  bayonet.  The  British  troops  were 
routed,  and  Major-General  Brock,  in  gallantly  exerting 
himself  to  rally  them,  was  killed.  His  aid,  Colonel  M'Donell , 
fell  mortally  wounded  at  the  same  time. 

"The  British  being  completely  driven  from  the  heights 
about  ten  o'clock,  the  line  was  reformed  and  flanking  parties 
sent  out."  —  Niles'  Weekly  Register,  1812. 


Extracts  from  Niles1  Weekly  Register,  Baltimore,  1812. 

"Extract  of  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  at  Detroit  to  his 
friend  in  Pittsburg,  dated  July  7,  1812.—'  General  Hull  is 
making  preparations  to  cross  the  river  this  evening  or 
to-morrow,  and  it  is  expected  that  an  immediate  attack  is 
contemplated  on  Maiden  (Amherstburg).  The  army  are  all 
in  health  and  good  spirits,  and  wait  with  anxiety  to  be  put 
on  the  other  shore :  they  are  certainly  as  fine  looking  men 
as  I  ever  saw.' " 

"We  have  several  reports  of  the  capture  of  Fort  Maiden. 
General  Hull  has  sent  expresses  to  the  governors  of  Ohio  and 
Kentucky  for  further  supplies  of  troops,  supposed  for  the 
purpose  of  maintaining  the  ground  he  may  take,  and  to  keep 
the  allies  in  check.  We  trust  he  may  religiously  adhere  to 
his  proclamation,  whatever  General  Brock  may  say,  and  give 
no  quarters  to  the  white  savages  when  found  fighting  by  the 
side  of  the  Indians,  for  whose  extensive  murders  the  British 
should  be  made  responsible." 


APPENDIX    B. 


DANIEL   DE   LISLE   BROCK,  ESQ. 
BAILIFF  OF  GUERNSEY. 

This  able  magistrate,  the  third  son  of  John  Brock,  Esq., 
was  born  in  Guernsey  on  the  10th  of  December,  1762,  and 
closed  a  long  and  useful  career  on  Saturday  evening,  the  24th 
September,  1842,  at  the  age  of  79  years  and  nearly  1o  months. 
After  receiving  such  rudiments  of  education  as  the  island 


464  APPENDIX    B. 

could  furnish  in  those  days,  he  was  placed  at  Alderney,  to 
learn  the  French  language,  under  M.  Vallatt,  a  Swiss  protes- 
tan  clergyman,  and  a  man  of  talent,  who  was  afterwards 
rector  of  St.  Peter-in- the- Wood,  in  Guernsey.  From  Alderney 
he  was  sent  to  a  school  at  Richmond,  in  Surrey,  where  he 
remained  only  two  years,  as  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen  he 
went  to  Dinan  with  his  father,  who  died  there.  The  premature 
death  of  his  parents  was  an  irreparable  loss  to  the  son,  as  it 
was  the  cause  of  his  not  returning  to  school,  where  he  had 
already  shown  that  he  possessed  a  vigour  of  intellect  much 
beyond  his  years.  His  two  elder  brothers  were  in  the  army, 
and  the  pardonable  fondness  of  his  mother  induced  her  to 
retain  at  home  the  only  one  of  her  sons,  who  could  in  some 
measure  replace  the  counsels  of  her  husband. 

In  1785,  he  went  by  sea  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  spent 
upwards  of  a  year  in  visiting  Spain,  Malta,  Sicily,  Italy, 
Switzerland,  and  France.  In  1798,  he  was  elected  jurat  of 
the  Royal  Court;  and  the  greater  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of 
the  public  documents  of  that  body,  were  from  that  period 
written  by  him.  In  1821,  he  obtained  the  high  and  respon 
sible  appointment  of  bailiff,  or  chief  magistrate,  of  Guernsey. 

"It  has  been  truly  said  that  the  history  of  Guernsey,  for 
the  last  fifty  years,  was,  in  fact,  the  history  of  Daniel  De 
Lisle  Brock.  So  exclusively  has  the  better  part  of  Mr. 
Brock's  life  been  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  country — so 
completely  have  his  affections  been  wrapped  up  in  her  welfare 
— so  ardently,  so  zealously,  and  so  unceasingly  has  he  la 
boured  to  promote  her  prosperity  arid  to  protect  her  privi 
leges — and  so  intimately  has  he 'been  connected  with  all  the 
important  occurrences  of  the  period  alluded  to— that  in  read 
ing  the  history  of  the  island,  we  read  the  history  of  this,  the 
most  able  and  devoted  of  its  friends." 

Between  the  years  1804  and  1810,  Mr.  Brock  was  deputed 
by  the  States  and  Royal  Court  of  Guernsey  no  less  than  four 
times,  as  their  representative  to  government,  in  matters 
connected  with  the  trade  and  privileges  of  the  island ;  and 
he  also  went  once  to  Jersey,  to  confer  with  the  Royal  Court 
there  on  the  same  subject.  In  these  missions,  Mr.  Brock 
distinguished  himself  by  his  luminous  and  argumentative 
papers,*  and  the  authority  of  the  Royal  Court  was  happily 
preserved  intact  by  his  representations  and  unremitting  exer 
tions.  In  one  of  his  official  visits  to  London,  he  became 
known  to  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  at  whose  table  he 
was  an  occasional  guest.  The  Duke  mentioned  to  him  that 
his  grandfather,  who  had  been  Governor  of  Guernsey  (a  sine- 

*  "  There  are  some  of  the  public  papers  written  by  Mr.  Brock  which  may 
be  profitably  studied  as  models  of  this  kind  of  composition."  —  Guernsey 
Star,  September  26,  1842. 


DANIEL    DE    LISLE    BROCK,    ESQ.  465 

cure)  from  the  year  1742  to  his  death  in  1750,  had  expressed 
his  surprise  that,  during  that  period,  he  had  never  been  asked 
for  a  single  favor  by  any  inhabitant  of  the  island.  In  those 
days  the  natives,  with  their  simple  habits  and  moderate  wants, 
were  happily  more  independent  of  the  smiles  or  frowns  of 
power  than  they  are  at  present,  as,  possessing  no  parliamen 
tary  influence,  they  have  little  chance  in  the  distribution  of 
government  patronage. 

"  In  1821,  an  act  of  parliament  having  been  passed  prohi 
biting  the  importation  of  foreign  corn  into  the  Channel 
Islands,  whenever  its  entry  for  consumption  was  prohibited 
in  England,  to  wit,  until  it  reached  the  price  of  80s.  per 
quarter,  Mr.  Brock  was  again  deputed  to  London  to  contend 
against  a  measure  fraught  with  such  fatal  consequences  to 
the  islands,  and  at  the  same  time  to  obtain  some  modifica 
tions  in  the  navigation  laws.  Mr.  Brock,  who  was  essentially 
assisted  in  this  business  by  Mr.  James  Carey,  jurat,  succeeded 
in  both  these  objects.  The  obnoxious  corn  law  was  repealed 
so  far  as  the  Channel  Islands  were  concerned,  and  some 
important  privileges  conceded  to  their  trade  and  navigation, 
especially  in  granting  them  free  intercourse  with  the  British 
colonies,  and  the  American  continent  and  islands.  So  highly 
were  these  last  services  appreciated,  that  when  Mr.  Brock 
returned  to  Guernsey,  on  the  24th  July,  1822,  he  was  received 
with  unexampled  enthusiasm.  On  landing  in  the  morning, 
he  was  saluted  with  deafening  cries  of  " Brock  for  ever!" 
"  Long  may  he  lire ! "  &c.  The  public  joy  was  manifested  on 
this  occasion  in  many  different  ways.  The  shipping  in  the 
harbour  hoisted  their  flags ;  crowns  and  garlands  of  flowers, 
flags,  loaves  of  bread,  with  ears  of  corn,  were  tastefully 
arranged,  and  suspended  in  almost  every  street;  mottos  and 
devices,  expressive  of  unbounded  gratitude,  were  exhibited 
in  every  direction,  and  in  the  greatest  variety;  and  the 
church  bells  throughout  the  island  rang  merry  peals  during 
the  day.  Bands  of  music  paraded  the  town,  followed  by 
crowds,  on  whose  happy  countenances  "  Mirth,  admit  me  of 
thy  crew,"  was  expressed.  The  musicians  wore  various  co 
loured  bands  round  their  hats,  with  the  motto  of  "  Long  live 
Bailiff  Brock  I"  They  surrounded  a  banner  crowned  with 
flowers^  bearing  the  following  inscription  : 

"  The  grateful  inhabitants  of  Guernsey,  to  the  worthy  Bailiff, 

DANIEL   DE    LISLE   BROCK. 

Happy  is  he  who  labours  to  promote  the  happiness  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

He  will  secure  their  eternal  gratitude.    They  will  unceasingly  exclaim  : 

'  May  God  preserve  our  friend,  our  benefactor,  and  our  parent.' " 

"This  inscription,  having  been  borne  in  triumph  in  every 
part  of  the  town,  was  presented  to  the  object,  of  well-merited 
praise,  and  accepted.     Preparations  had  been  made  by  the 
W* 


466  APPENDIX    B, 

militia  bands  to  receive  this  distinguished  patriot  at  the 
landing  place;  but  their  good  intentions  were  thwarted,  in 
consequence  of  the  early  hour  at  which  the  arrival  took 
place.  At  a  public  meeting  of  the  inhabitants,  it  was  de 
termined  to  present  a  piece  of  plate  to  Mr.  Brock,  as  a 
testimony  of  the  value  attached  to  his  public  services,  and  in 
the  hope  that  this  faint  evidence  of  their  attachment  might 
serve  to  stimulate  others  to  follow  his  steps,  and  might  des 
cend  as  a  memorial  to  his  posterity.  Upwards  of  £300  were 
quickly  raised  for  this  purpose,  and  other  less  valuable,  but 
not  less  gratifying,  testimonials  were  presented  to  him.  Nor 
was  Jersey  less  grateful,  as  a  public  meeting  was  held  in  the 
town  of  St.  Helier,  when  the  thanks  of  the  island  and  a 
handsome  piece  of  plate  were  unanimously  voted  to  him." 

In  1826,  General  Sir  John  Doyle,  Bart,  and  G.  C.B.,  for 
many  years  lieutenant-governor  of  Guernsey,  visited  the 
island ;  and  at  a  public  dinner,  given  to  him  on  the  29th 
August,  at  the  Assembly  Rooms,  he  rose  and  spoke  as 
follows  : 

"Gentlemen,  —  Having  received  permission  from  the  chair,  I  rise  to 
propose  a  toast  which  would  be  well  received  in  any  society  where  the 
enlightened  individual  is  known.  But  here  I  anticipate  it  will  be  met  by 
acclamation  and  enthusiasm.  I  do  not  propose  his  health,  merely  be 
cause  he  is  my  friend,  although  I  feel  truly  honored  by  his  friendship ; 
and  the  more  so,  as  I  know  that  it  originated  and  was  cemented  by  his 
conviction  of  my  honest  zeal  for  the  public  good,  and  the  deep  interest  I 
took  in  the  welfare  of  his  native  land.  But  I  give  him  as  a  public  man, 
who,  to  a  sound,  vigorous,  and  cultivated  understanding,  joins  a  liberal 
and  enlightened  mind — an  innate  love  of  justice,  and  hatred  of  oppression 
• — an  inflexible  adherence  to  that  which  appears  to  him  to  be  right — a 
man  too  wise  to  be  cunning.  Armed  with  the  '  mens  conscia  recti,'  he 
marches  straightforward  to  his  object,  nor  turns  into  the  devious  path  of 
crooked  policy,  and  left-handed  wisdom.  To  these  qualities  are  added 
indefatigable  industry,  and  a  patience  not  to  be  exhausted.  This  is  the 
man,  who,  as  a  public  magistrate  in  high  station,  I  offer  for  your  accep 
tance.  Of  his  private  worth,  I  dare  not  say  all  that  I  feel.  He  is  present. 
You  know  him,  and  can  duly  appreciate  his  value.  You  will  have 
anticipated  that  I  mean  the  bailiff  of  Guernsey.  I  now  propose  to  you 
'The  health  of  the  bailiff,  and  unalloyed  happiness  to  the  island  of 
Guernsey.' " 

"  In  1832,  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  vital  privileges  of 
Guernsey — the  right  of  the  inhabitants  to  be  tried  in  their 
own  local  court  —  was  placed  in  peril,  it  being  assailed  by  no 
less  a  character  than  Lord  Chief  Justice  Tenterden,  who 
sought  to  extend  the  power  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to 
this  island.  The  history  of  this  event  would  occupy  much 
more  space  than  we  can  now  devote  to  it.  Suffice  it  here  to 
say,  that  after  much  correspondence  on  the  subject,  Mr. 
Brock  and  Mr.  Charles  De  Jersey,  the  king's  procureur,  were 
deputed  to  London,  to  act  in  conjunction  with  the  bailiff  and 
procureur  of  Jersey  in  opposing  the  measure.  The  mission 


DANIEL    DE    LISLE    BROCK,    ESQ.  467 

was  successful,  and  the  independence  of  the  insular  jurisdic 
tions  was  maintained. 

"  The  last  occasion  on  which  Mr.  Brock  went  to  England 
in  the  service  of  his  native  island,  was  in  the  year  1835,  when 
the  Channel  Islands  were  menaced  with  being  deprived  of  tire 
privilege  of  sending  their  corn  into  England,  duty  free.  An 
idea  had  obtained  ground  that  this  privilege  was  abused; 
and,  in  consequence,  a  bill  was  brought  into  parliament  to 
deprive  the  islands  of  this  important  branch  of  their  trade. 
Deputies  were  therefore  appointed  by  the  islands  to  proceed 
to  London,  for  the  purpose  of  advocating  their  rights,  and 
Mr.  Brock  was  again  fixed  on  as  the  representative  of  Guern 
sey.  Owing  to  the  remonstrances  of  this  deputation,  a  select 
committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  was  appointed  to  inquire 
into  the  matter,  and  the  result  was  that  the  bill  was  with 
drawn.  So  highly  were  Mr.  Brock's  services  on  this  occasion 
valued  by  both  islands,  that  the  States  of  Jersey  voted  him 
a  piece  of  plate  of  the  value  of  £100,  whilst  the  States  of 
Guernsey  voted  that  portrait  which  now  adorns  the  interior 
of  the  court-house,  and  which  will  afford  to  succeeding 
generations1  the  means  of  contemplating  the  intellectual  coun 
tenance  and  venerable  form  of  one  whom  they  will  ever 
remember  as  the  firmest  friend,  and  ablest  administrator  of  his 
country. 

"  From  the  period  here  alluded  to,  until  within  a  few  days 
of  his  death,  Mr.  Brock  was  unremittingly  engaged  in  la 
bouring  for  the  public  good.  The  records  of  the  island  will 
show  how  indefatigably  he  devoted  himself  to  its  service  ; 
and  it  may  be  truly  said  of  him,  that  to  his  latest  moment 
the  desire  to  secure  its  welfare  was  the  reigning  impulse  of 
his  heart." 

Mr.  Brock  left  one  son,  Eugene,  a  captain  in  the  20th 
regiment,  since  deceased,  unmarried  ;  and  one  daughter,  now 
also  unmarried.  In  countenance  and  robustness  of  frame, 
although  not  so  tall,  as  well  as  in  vigour  of  intellect  and 
decision  of  character,  the  bailiff  strongly  resembled  his  bro 
ther,  Sir  Isaac  Brock  ;  and  when  a  friend  of  the  latter,  Sir 
James  Kempt,  visited  Guernsey,  in  his  official  capacity  as 
master-general  of  the  ordnance,  he  was  struck  with  the  per 
sonal  resemblance,  notwithstanding  that  Mr.  Brock  was  then 
in  his  71st  year. 

The  Royal  Court,  having  met  on  the  26th  September,  to 
appoint  a  judge  delegate  to  replace  pro  tempore  the  late  bai 
liff,  unanimously  requested  the  family  of  the  deceased  to 
allow  him  to  be  buried  at  the  expense  of  the  States  of  Guern 
sey,  and  the  funeral  was  in  consequence  a  public  one.  "  For 
though  Mr.  Brock  had  enriched  his  country  with  numerous 
and  inappreciable  benefits  —  though  he  bequeathed  to  it  an 
inestimable  heritage  in  his  deeds  and  in  his  example — he 


468  APPENDIX    B. 

died  in  honorable  and  ennobling  poverty,  resulting  from  his 
disinterestedness,  his  integrity,  and  his  patriotism.*  The 
public,  we  say,  were  pleased,  were  gratified,  were  proud  in 
seeing  that  their  representatives  and  rulers  so  promptly  and 
so  handsomely  anticipated  and  fulfilled  their  wishes,  and  they 
looked  forward  to  the  moment  of  paying  to  their  departed 
benefactor  the  last  mournful  honors  with  feelings  in  which 
complacency  was  not  unmingled  with  their  grief. 

"Some  hours  before  the  time  appointed  for  the  ceremony, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  country  parishes,  mostly  clothed  in 
respectable  mourning,  were  seen  thronging  into  town ;  and 
by  eleven  o'clock  a  considerable  crowd  was  collected  in  the 
front  of  Mr.  Savery  Brock's  house,  from  whence  the  proces 
sion  was  to  issue.  Punctually  at  the  time  appointed,  (twelve 
o'clock,)  the  authorities  and  other  gentlemen  invited  to  take 
part  in  the  ceremony,  together  with  a  large  number  of  per 
sons  who  attended  spontaneously  to  pay  the  last  mark  of 
respect  to  the  deceased,  were  assembled ;  and  having  been 
marshalled  by  the  deputy  sheriffs  and  the  special  constables, 
in  the  manner  laid  down  in  the  programme,  the  mournful 
cortege,  comprising  nearly  five  hundred  persons,  issued  into  the 
Grange  Road  in  the  following  order  of  procession  : 

Four  Assistant  Constables, 
(each  with  his  Staff  of  office,) 

Two  Deputy  Sheriffs. — Deputy  Greffier. — Deputy  Sergeant. 
Deputy  Harbour  Master. — Postmaster. 

Surveyor  of  Works. 

Receiver  of  Impost. — Assistant  Supervisor. — Harbour  Master. 
The  Principal  Officer  and  the  Comptroller  of 

Her  Majesty's  Customs. 
Deputy  Judge  Advocate. — Barrack  Master. 

Ordnance  Storekeeper. 

Fort  Major. — Government  Secretary. 

Officers  of  the  five  Regiments  of  Guernsey  Militia. 

Officers  of  the  48th  Depot. 

Officers  of  the  Royal  Artillery. — Colonel  Moody,  R.E. 
Clerk  of  the  Town  Parish.— Clerk  of  St.  Martin's  Parish. 
Rev.  W.  Le  Mottee.  Rev.  Henry  Benwell. 

Rev.  E.  Guille.  Rev.  George  Guille. 

Rev.  F.  Jeremie.  Rev.  Peter  Carey. 

Rev.  Daniel  Dobree.  Rev.  W.  L.  Davies. 

Rev.  William  Guille.  Rev.  W.  J.  Chepmell. 

Rev.  Thomas  Brock.  The  Very  Rev.  the  Dean. 

*  "  Mr.  Brock  was  no  doubt  ambitious,  but  his  ambition  was  gratified  in 
beholding  the  advancement  of  his  country.  Personal  advantage  —  indi 
vidual  distinction  —  were  things  that  never  occurred  to  his  imagination, 
or  occured  only  to  be  contemned.  He  might  have  had  an  augmentation 
of  salary  —  he  might  have  received  the  honour  of  knighthood  —  he  might 
have  had  the  sources  of  fortune  opened  to  him  —  but  these  would  have 
brought  no  advantages  to  Guernsey,  and  he  rejected  them." — Guernsey 
Star,  September  26,  1842. 


DANIEL    DE    LISLE    BROCK,    ESQ.  469 

Frederick  Mansell,  Jurat.        ^1  ^A        Hilary  O.  Carre",  Jurat. 
John  Hubert,  Jurat.  flE       ^A      John  Le  Messurier,  Jurat, 

James  Carey,  Jurat.  ^B       John  Guille,  Jurat. 

Rev.  R.  Potenger.        •>      TvTniirnpro      /        F.  B.  Tupper. 
John  Carey,  Jun.          J     Mourners.     (         Henry  Tupper. 
Lieut. -General  Sir  James  Douglas. — His  Excellency  Major-General 

W.  F.  P.  Napier,  Lieut.-Governor. — Lieut. -General  Ross. 
Peter  B.  Dobr£e.          \        T,,vQfc         /        T-  W.  Gosselin. 
Thomas  Le  Retilley.    /        Jurai;s-        \         H.  Dobree,  jun. 
The  Queen's  Procureur.— The  Queen's  Comptroller.— Her  Majesty's 
Receiver -General. — Greffier. — Sheriff. 

The  Advocates  of  the  Royal  Court. 

The  late  Bailiff's  Medical  Attendants. 

The  Douzeniers  of  each  parish,  headed  by  their  respective 

Constables,  four  abreast. 

Relatives,  with  Hat  Bands,  four  abreast. 

The  Order  of  Rechabites  in  full  procession. 

A  Deputation  of  the  Total  Abstinence  Society, 

headed  by  Mr.  Edmund  Richards. 

"  The  procession  proceeded  in  solemn  order  down  the 
Grange  Road,  until  it  reached  the  College,  when  it  turned 
to  the  left,  and  passed  on  to  the  eastern  entrance  of  the  new 
burying  ground,  and  from  thence  proceeded  to  the  grave, 
near  the  opposite  extremity  of  the  cemetery,  which  was 
destined,  to  be  the  final  resting  place  of  the  aged  patriot. 
The  persons  who  composed  the  cortege  having  been  formed 
in  order  round  the  grave,  the  sublime  and  solemn  ritual  of 
the  Church  of  England  was  read  in  a  feeling  and  impressive 
manner  by  the  Very  Reverend  the  Dean,  the  coffin  being  at 
the  proper  period  of  the  service  committed  to  the  bosom  of 
the  earth  in  profound  and  solemn  silence.  When  the  service 
was  concluded,  a  great  many  persons  approached  the  border 
of  the  grave  to  take  a  farewell  look  at  the  narrow  tenement 
which  now  contained  the  remains  of  a  man  who,  but  a  few 
short  hours  back,  had  occupied  so  prominent  a  position  in 
his  native  land.  Many  a  sigh  was  breathed,  many  a  tear 
was  shed  upon  that  grave  ;  and  many  and  various  were  the 
expressions  of  affection  and  regret  which  there  found  ut 
terance,  and  which  seemed  to  say 

'We  ne'er  shall  look  upon  his  like  again.' 

"  On  no  similar  occasion  had  there  ever  been  collected  so 
large  a  concourse  of  persons  in  this  island.  Some  pains 
were  taken  to  ascertain  the  number  of  those  who  entered  the 


470  APPENDIX    B. 

burial  ground,  and  it  is  believed  that  they  considerably 
exceeded  4,000.  An  equal,  or  perhaps  a  larger  number, 
were  dispersed,  as  spectators,  in  the  Grange  Road  and  ad 
jacent  parts.  Every  house  that  commanded  a  glimpse  of  the 
procession,  or  the  interment,  was  crowded.  The  windows, 
even  to  the  attics,  were  peopled;  whilst  walls,  gardens,  and 
every  spot  from  which  any  thing  could  be  seen,  were  in  like 
manner  occupied.  Notwithstanding  the  extraordinary  num 
ber  of  persons  collected,  a  very  creditable  degree  of  order  and 
decorum  was  maintained  throughout  the  whole  of  the  pro 
ceedings."  * 

The  union  jack  was  hoisted  half  mast  at  Fort  George  and 
Castle  Cornet  from  the  day  succeeding  the  bailiff's  death  to 
that  of  his  funeral,  on  which  days  also  the  bells  of  the  parish 
church  of  St.  Peter-Port  were  tolled,  and  the  flags  of  the 
vessels  in  the  two  harbours  and  roadstead  were  hoisted  half 
mast.  On  the  day  of  the  interment,  the  shops  in  St..  Peter- 
Port  were  entirely  closed  until  the  mournful  ceremony  was 
completed. 

The  lieutenant-governor  of  the  island,  Major-General  Na 
pier,  the  celebrated  historian  of  the  Peninsular  war,  evinced, 
in  a  manner  as  creditable  to  his  feelings  as  it  was  gratifying 
to  those  of  the  family,  an  anxious  desire  to  pay  every  respect 
to  the  memory  of  the  deceased,  his  excellency,  with  the  offi 
cers  of  his  staff,  and  Lieut.-General  Ross,  and  Lieut.-General 
Sir  James  Douglas,  ex-lieutenant-governors,  attending  the 
funeral  in  full  uniform,  as  did  all  the  officers  of  the  five 
regiments  of  militia.  All  the  civil  and  military  authorities, 
as  well  as  the  whole  of  the  clergy  of  the  island,  were  present. 


The  following  remarks  are  extracted  from  a  long  and  most 
ably  written  article  of  nearly  two  columns,  in  the  Guernsey 
Star  of  Monday,  September  26,  1842,  in  which  the  last  mo 
ments  and  character  of  Mr.  Brock  were  feelingly  portrayed 
by  the  editor,  an  English  gentleman  : 

"Mr.  Brock's  career,  his  talents,  his  services,  and  his  amiable  qualities, 
are  so  familiar  to  every  native  and  inhabitant  of  Guernsey — they  have, 
as  it  were,  become  so  much  the  common  property  of  the  community — 
they  have  been  so  much  the  objects  of  their  study  —  so  constantly  the 
theme  of  their  praise  and  admiration  —  that  it  may  seem  almost  a  work 
of  supererogation  in  us  to  make  any  observation  on  them  on  the  present 
melancholy  occasion.  We  cannot,  however,  allow  the  grave  to  close 
upon  him  without  strewing  it  with  some  of  those  offerings  of  respect  and 
praise  which  spontaneously  spring  to  our  hand  as  we  pen  the  notice  of 
his  death.  We  feel  that  we  enjoy  considerable  latitude  on  this  occasion, 
because,  from  having  been  for  years  the  political  antagonists  of  Mr. 

*  The  extracts  in  inverted  commas  are  from  the  Guernsey  Star  of 
Thursday,  29th  September,  1842. 


DANIEL    DE    LISLE    BROCK,    ESQ.  471 

Brock,  and  having  braved  his  hostility  when  living,  our  tribute  to  his 
memory  cannot  be  looked  on  as  other  than  the  genuine  offspring  of  our 
feeling  and  our  judgement. 

"  Mr.  Brock  was  not  an  ordinary  man.  He  was  constituted  of  mate 
rials  which  would  have  led  their  owner  to  distinction  in  whatever  sphere 
he  might  have  been  placed.  Indebted  but  little  to  early  education,  he 
possessed  within  himself  a  faculty  of  extracting  knowledge  from  every 
thing  that  came  within  his  observation ;  and,  gifted  with  a  powerful 
memory,  a  reflecting  mind,  and  the  art  of  methodizing  and  arranging  the 
ideas  and  information  which  he  acquired,  he  was  enabled  at  all  times  to 
bring  a  mass  of  well  digested  and  pertinent  knowledge  to  bear  upon  and 
illustrate  any  subject  which  he  was  required  to  discuss.  He  had  a  sin 
gular  talent  for  comprehending  principles  and  for  seizing  information, 
and  arranging  and  applying  it;  so  that  there  were  few  subjects  upon 
which  he  entered,  on  which  he  could  not  lay  down  sound  principles, 
and  illustrate  and  maintain  them  by  sound  arguments.  Too  confident 
of  his  strength,  and  perhaps  over-elated  with  his  many  victories,  he 
would  sometimes  venture  on  untenable  ground,  and  expose  himself  to 
the  inroads  of  an  able  enemy ;  but  these  indiscretions  were  of  rare  oc 
currence,  and  the  memory  of  his  temporary  checks  was  generally  can 
celled  by  the  skilfulness  of  his  retreats. 

If  Mr.  Brock  was  thus  distinguished  for  his  mental  powers,  he  was  no 
less  so  by  the  strength  and  felicity  of  his  style  of  writing.  He  had  the 
rare  talent  of  putting  proper  words  in  their  proper  places.  He  wrote 
English  with  English  plainness  and  English  force.  There  was  nothing 
affected  or  modish  in  his  manner.  He  gave  his  readers  an  impression 
that  he  was  clear  in  the  conception  of  his  own  meaning,  and  he  made  it 
equally  so  to  them.  He  aimed  at  no  ornament :  the  beauty  of  his  writ 
ings  consisted  in  their  perspicuity  and  strength.  A  verbal  critic  might 
discover  inaccuracies  in  his  compositions,  but  the  man  of  sense  would 
find  in  them  nothing  unmeaning — nothing  useless — nothing  vapid.  He 
was  not  a  turner  of  fine  periods — he  was  not  a  fine  writer — but  he  wrote 
with  strength,  precision,  and  lucidity ;  and  his  compositions,  even  where 
they  failed  to  produce  conviction,  could  never  be  read  without  creating 
respect  for  the  masculine  talents  of  their  author 

"  But  the  main  ground  on  which  the  memory  of  Daniel  De  Lisle  Brock 
must  rest  its  claims  on  the  affection,  the  respect,  and  the  gratitude  of  his 
fellow-countrymen,  is  the  devoted — the  engrossing  love  which,  during 
his  whole  life,  he  bore  to  his  native  land.  Every  thought,  every  wish, 
every  feeling  of  pride  or  ambition,  centered  in  his  beloved  Guernsey. 
She  was  the  idol  of  his  affections— the  object  of  all  his  solicitude  — the 
glory  of  his  inmost  heart.  His  endeavours  for  her  welfare  may  occa 
sionally  have  been  misdirected — his  objections  to  change  in  her  institu 
tions  may  have  been  ill-founded — but  his  motives  have  ever  been  beyond 
the  reach  of  suspicion  or  reproach.  They  were  concentrated  in  the  desire 
for  her  good.  Her  people,  her  soil,  her  laws,  her  customs,  nay,  even  her 
prejudices,  were  dear  to  him— they  were  his  household  gods.  He  wor 
shipped  them,  he  lived  for  them,  and  he  would  have  died  for  them 

"The  private  character  of  Mr.  Brock  presents  an  embellishing  and 
graceful  adjunct  to  his  public  qualities.  Bold  even  to  temerity  in  his 
acts;  firm  even  to  obstinacy  in  his  opinions;  entertaining  an  exalted 
estimate  of  the  office  that  he  filled,  and  of  the  interests  that  he  embodied 
or  represented  in  his  person,  he  was,  at  the  same  time,  simple,  courteous, 
and  benevolent  in  his  private  manner,  to  a  degree  that  was  as  honorable 
to  himself,  as  it  was  gratifying  to  those  who  came  in  contact  with  him. 
Mr.  Brock  on  the  bench,  and  Mr.  Brock  in  private,  were  distinct  charac 
ters.  In  the  former  position,  conscious,  probably,  of  his  talents  and  his 
authority,  he  was  firm,  and  sometimes,  though  rarely,  in  appearance 
even  imperious;  in  the  latter,  resigning  himself  to  the  feelings  of  the 
gentleman,  he  was  affable,  kind,  and  even  diffident.  In  his  privacy  he 
displayed  all  the  attributes  of  a  superior  mind.  He  was  entirely  devoid 
of  pride  and  ostentation :  his  mind  was  superior  to  the  weakness  they 


472  APPENDIX    C. 

denote.  He  disdained  the  conventional  habits  of  society,  for  nature  had 
created  him  a  gentleman,  and  he  needed  not  the  aid  of  art.  He  mingled 
not  in  that  society  where  he  might  have  received  the  homage  to  which 
his  talents  were  entitled.  He  spent  his  time  in  study,  or  working  for  the 
public  welfare ;  his  relaxations  being  in  his  fields  and  garden,  or  in  the 
conversation  of  casual  visitors  who,  uninvited,  occasionally  resorted  to 
his  unceremonious  and  hospitable  roof.  Ardent  as  he  was  in  political 
discussions,  prone  as  he  was  to  enter  into  controversy,  the  feelings  of 
animosity  which  he  expressed  died  in  their  utterance.  The  adversary  of 
to-day  was  the  welcome  guest  of  the  morrow.  The  hand  which  had 
distilled  the  gall  of  disputation  at  one  moment,  was  readily  extended  in 
kind  fellowship  the  next.  Mr.  Brock  was  probably  not  exempt  from 
failings,  but  he  had  certainly  nothing  of  littleness  about  him.  He  res 
pected  an  honorable  and  open  adversary,  more  than  a  flattering  and 
servile  friend.  His  hostility  was  strong,  but  it  was  shortlived :  his 
enmity  was  vigorous,  but  it  had  no  memory.  In  other  respects,  too,  he 
evinced  a  generous  and  benevolent  heart.  At  all  seasons  and  under  all 
circumstances,  his  time  and  attention  were  willingly  devoted  to  those 
who  sought  his  assistance  or  advice.  He  was  the  friend  and  counsellor 
of  all.  Many  is  the  angry  feeling  he  has  allayed— many  the  law.suit  he 
has  prevented  —  many  the  family  division  he  has  closed.  His  kind  offices 
were  at  the  command  of  all.  No  labour  was  too  great  for  him,  when 
called  on  for  his  assistance  ;  but  if  at  any  time  he  found  himself  obliged 
to  reject  a  claim  which  was  made  on  him,  he  so  softened  his  refusal  with 
courtesy  and  kindness,  that  the  disappointed  seldom  left  him  without 
experiencing  a  sense  of  obligation. 

"  Possessing  these  characteristics,  which  are  hastily  sketched  by  the 
pen  of  a  political  opponent,  Mr.  Brock,  it  must  be  admitted,  was  a  dis 
tinguished  man.  His  sphere  of  action  was  limited,  but  within  that  sphere 
he  acted  an  honorable,  a  useful,  and  a  noble  part.  Had  he  been  cast 
upon  a  wider  stage,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  his  talents  and  his 
resolution  would  have  acquired  for  him  a  more  extensive  reputation ; 
but,  even  as  it  is,  his  fate  is  enviable.  He  sought  the  welfare  of  his 
country,  and  desired  its  respect  and  gratitude  as  his  reward.  Both 
objects  have  been  attained ;  and  he  now  sleeps,  at  the  close  of  a  long 
and  honorable  life,  regarded  by  all  his  countrymen  as  the  most  able,  the 
most  useful,  the  most  disinterested,  and  the  most  patriotic  of  the  rulers 
to  which  its  destinies  have  ever  been  committed.  No  man  has  been 
more  beloved  and  respected  in  his  life,  and  none  more  regretted  at  his 
death.  Peace  to  his  manes  ! " 


APPENDIX  C. 


LIEUT.    E.   WILLIAM   TUPPER,   R.  N. 

This  young  officer  was  descended  from  John  Tupper,  Esq., 
who  was  the  common  ancestor  of  the  Guernsey  family  of  his 
name,  having  married  and  settled  in  the  island  about  the 
year  1592.  He  was  an  English  gentleman,  of  German  ex 
traction,  his  forefather,  it  appears,  having,  about  the  year 
1525,  fled  from  Cassel  during  the  religious  persecution  in  the 


LIEUT.    E.    WILLIAM    TUPPER,    R.  N.  473 

reign  of  Charles  the  Fifth.  The  elder  son  of  this  John 
Tupper  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Hilary  Gosselin,* 
procurear  du  roi,  or  attorney-general  —  the  younger  removed 
to  England. 

In  the  memorable  year  of  1692,  John  Tupper,  Esq.,  (the 
grandson  of  the  said  John  Tupper  and  Elizabeth  Gosselin,) 
at  some  expense  and  risk  of  capture,  conveyed  to  Admiral 
Russell,  who  commanded  the  combined  English  and  Dutch 
fleets  lying  at  St.  Helen's,  the  intelligence  that  the  French 
fleet,  under  Admiral  Tourville,  was  in  the  channel.  This 
intelligence  led  to  the  battle  of  La  Hogue  :  and  as  a  reward 
for  this  patriotic  service,  Mr.  Tupper  was  presented  by  his 
sovereigns,  William  and  Mary,  with  a  massive  gold  chain 
and  medal,  which  are  now  in  possession  of  his  heir  male ; 
his  descendants  being  permitted  to  bear  them  as  an  honorable 
augmentation  to  their  arms  and  crest. t 

The  elder  son  of  John  Tupper,  who  acquired  the  medal,  by 
his  wife,  Elizabeth  Dobree,  of  Beauregard,  had  three  sons,  of 
whom  the  eldest  died  without  issue,  the  second  was  Elisha, 
a  much-respected  jurat  of  the  Royal  Court,  who  died  in 
1802,  leaving  five  surviving  children  ;  t  and  the  youngest  was 
John,  who  obtained,  in  1747,  a  commission,  by  purchase,  in 
General  Churchill's  regiment  of  marines,  that  corps  being 
then  differently  constituted  to  what  it  is  now.  He  served  as 
a  captain  at  the  celebrated  defeat  of  the  French  fleet  in 
Quiberon  bay,  by  Sir  Edward  Hawke,  in  1759;  as  a  major 
and  commandant  of  a  battalion  at  Bunker's  Hill,  in  1775,§ 
where  he  was  slightly  wounded,  and  where  the  marines,  having 
greatly  distinguished  themselves,  won  the  laurel  which  now 
encircles  their  device ;  and  as  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  Rod 
ney's  victory  of  the  12th  of  April,  1782,  having  been  espe 
cially  sent  from  England  to  command  the  marines  in  the 
fleet,  about  4,000  men,  in  the  event  of  their  being  landed  on 
any  of  the  enemy's  West  India  islands.  At  his  decease,  in 
January,  1795,  he  was  a  major-general  in  the  army,  and 
commandant-in-chief  of  the  marines.  Had  the  honors  of 
the  Bath  been  extended  in  those  days  to  three  degrees  of 

*  Eldest  son  of  N.  Gosselin,  Esq.,  jurat,  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  coun 
cil  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  by  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  Lewis  Lempri&re,  Esq., 
bailiff  of  Jersey  —  and  grandson  of  Hilary  Gosselin,  bailiff  of  Guernsey 
?.n  four  reigns,  Henry  the  Eighth  to  Elizabeth. 

t  Duncan's  History  of  Guernsey,  page  124. 

t  Viz.  two  sons  —  Daniel,  married  Catherine,  daughter  of  John  Tupper, 
Esq.,  jurat;  and  John,  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Brock,  Esq. 
—and  three  daughters,  Emilia,  wife  of  Sir.  P.  De  Havilland,  bailiff;  Eli 
zabeth,  wife  of  W.  Le  Marchant,  Esq. ;  and  Margaret,  wife  of  I.  Carey,  Esq. 

§  Major  Tupper  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  marines,  of  whom 
there  were  two  battalions  at  Bunker's  Hill,  after  the  fall  of  the  gallant 
Major  Pitcairn,  and  was  honorably  mentioned  in  the  general  orders  of 
the  day. 


474  APPENDIX    C. 

knighthood  as  they  have  been  since,  he  would  doubtless 
have  been  a  knight  commander  of  that  order. 

The  fatality  which  has  attended  the  sons  and  grandsons  of 
the  two  brothers  just  named,  will  appear  in  the  following 
brief  summary  : 

1. — Lieutenant  Carre  Tupper,  of  his  majesty's  ship  Victory, 
only  son  of  Major-General  Tupper,  slain  at  the  siege  of 
Bastia,  24th  April,  1794.  He  was  made  a  lieutenant  in  1782, 
at  seventeen,  and  after  distinguishing  himself  at  Toulon,  in 
1793,  was  killed  in  the  Victory's  pinnace,  while  endeavouring 
to  land  at  night  in  a  volunteer,  and  most  desperate  attempt 
to  obtain  information  of  the  state  of  the  garrison.  His  lifeless 
corpse  was  carried  on  board  his  ship,  and  afterwards  buried 
under  the  walls  of  Bastia.* 

2. — William  De  Vic  Tupper,  (son  of  E.  Tupper,  Esq,)  mor 
tally  wounded  in  1798,  in  a  duel  in  Guernsey,  with  an  officer 
of  the  27th  regiment,  and  died  the  day  following.  Five  of  his 
nephews  also  perished  prematurely,  viz. 

3. — John  E.  Tupper,  aged  twenty,  perished  at  sea,  in  1812,  in 
the  Mediterranean,  the  vessel  in  which  he  was  a  passenger, 
from  Catalonia  to  Gibraltar,  having  never  been  heard  of  since. 

4. — Charles  James  Tupper,t  aged  sixteen,  captain's  mid 
shipman  of  his  majesty's  18-gun  brig  Primrose,  drowned  on 
the  17th  August,  1815,  at  Spithead,  by  the  upsetting  of  the 
boat  in  which  he  was  accompanying  his  commander,  Captain 
Phillott,  to  the  ship. 

5. — Lieutenant  E.  William  Tupper,  of  his  majesty's  ship 
Sybille,  aged  twenty-eight,  mortally  wounded  in  her  boats, 
June  18,  1826,  in  action  with  a  strong  band  of  Greek  pirates, 
near  the  island  of  Candia. 

6. — Colonel  William  De  Vic  Tupper,  Chilian  service,  aged 
twenty-nine,  slain  in  action  near  Talca,  in  Chile,  April  17, 
1830.  The  four  last  were  sons  of  John  E.  Tupper,  Esq. 

7.— Colonel  William  Le  Mesurier  Tupper,  of  the  British 
Auxiliary  Legion  in  Spain,  and  a  captain  in  the  23d,  or 
Royal  Welsh  Fusiliers,  mortally  wounded  near  San  Sebastian, 
May  5,  1836,  and  died  the  13th,  aged  thirty-two.:): 

*  See  United  Service  Journal  for  1840,  pages  174,  341,  and  Duncan's 
History  of  Guernsey,  page  598. 

t  The  Primrose,  while  this  young  officer  was  serving  in  her,  was 
actively  employed  during  the  war,  and  in  one  engagement  had  fifteen 
officers  and  men  killed  and  wounded.  In  1815,  he  accompanied  Captain 
Phillott,  in  the  boat  expedition  up  the  river  St.  Mary,  in  the  United 
States,  in  which  that  officer  was  wounded. 

t  "Colonel  Tupper  was  a  man  of  the  most  daring  courage,  and  an 
excellent  officer.  Though  his  loss  is  deeply  regretted,  yet  his  death  may 
be  said  to  have  been  expected,  as  almost  every  one  who  saw  him,  and 
amongst  those  the  Spanish  officers  at  Vittoria,  prophesied  that  he  would 
fall  in  the  first  serious  affair  in  which  he  should  be  engaged."  —  Times. 
London,  May  23,  1836.  — See  Duncan's  History,  page  623,  and  United 
Service  Journal,  July,  1836,  page  431. 


LIEUT.    E.    WILLIAM    TUPPER,    R.  N.  475 

E.  William,  third  son  of  John  E.  Tupper,  Esq.,  by  Eliza- 
zabelh  Brock,  his  wife,  was  educated  at  Harrow,  and  com 
menced  his  naval  career  in  1810,  in  the  Victory,  of  110  guns, 
under  Ihe  care  and  patronage  of  the  late  Lord  de  Saumarez, 
with  wiiom  lie  continued  some  time  in  the  Baltic.  He  served 
on  the  American  coast  during  the  latter  part  of  the  war,  in 
the  Asia,  74,  and  was  present  at  the  disastrous  attack  of  New 
Orleans,  in  January,  1.815,  forming  one  of  a  party  landed 
from  the  fleet,  to  co-operate  with  1  he  army.  On  the  night 
of  the  storm,  this  parly,  in  conjunction  with  the  85th  light 
infantry,  under  Colonel  Thornton,*  attacked  some  fortified 
works  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Mississipi,  and  were  complete 
ly  successful ;  but  the  failure  of  the  main  assault  rendered  this 
success  unavailing.  In  the  same  year  he  joined  the  flag  ship 
of  Sir  Thomas  Fremantle,  who,  having  been  a  friend  of  his 
late  uncle,  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  kindly  assured  him  of  his  influ 
ence  and  support;  but  peace  taking  place  before  he  had 
attained  Ihe  requisite  age  for  promotion,  all  the  bright,  pros 
pects  with  which  he  entered  the  service  were  blighted.  In 
November,  1817,  on  his  return  in  the  Active  frigate,  Captain 
Philip  Carte>'et,  from  the  Jamaica  station,  he  passed  at  the 
naval  college  at  Portsmouth,  and  was  one  of  four  midship 
men  complimented  as  having  undergone  a  superior  examina 
tion.  In  1823,  he  was  appointed' to  the  Revenge,  Sir  Harry 
Neale's  flag  ship,  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  placed  on  the 
admiralty  list  for  advancement.  Early  in  1S2G,  he  was  at 
length  promoted  into  tue  Seringapatam  frigate  ;  but  Sir  John 
Pechell,  under  whom  he  had  previously  served  for  a  short 
time,  prevailed  upon  the  admiral  to  transfer  him  to  his  own 
ship,  the  Sybille,  of  48  guns,  "a  crack  frigate,"  in  a  high 
state  of  discipline,  the  crew  of  which  was  remarkable  for  its 
skill  in  gunnery. 

The  Sybille  was  at  Alexandria,  when  intelligence  arrived 
there  of  the  plunder  of  a  Maltese  vessel,  under  atrocious 
circumstances,  by  a  nest  of  G"-eek  pirates,  on  the  southern 
coast  of  Candia.  Sir  John  Pechell  set  sail  immediately  in 
quest  of  these  lawless  and  desperate  men.  On  Sunday,  the 
18th  of  June,  1826,  at  daylight,  two  misticoes  were  observed 
under  sail,  near  Cape  Matala,  standing  towards  the  frigate  ; 
but  on  discovering  their  mistake,  they  made  for  the  land, 
and  were  followed  by  the  Sybille,  into  the  narrow  creek 
formed  by  a  rocky  islet  and  the  mainland  of  Candia.  On 
this  islet  were  posted  from  200  to  300  armed  Greeks,  chiefly 
the  crews  of  three  or  four  piratical  misticoes  at  anchor  in  the 
creek  ;  and  in  a  desperate  attempt  to  cut  out  these  misticoes, 
with  the  boats,  Midshipman  J.  M.  Knox  and  twelve  men 
were  killed  ;  and  the  first  lieutenant,  Gordon,  dangerously ; 

*  The  same  officer  whose  letters  have  been  given  in  this  volume. 


476  APPENDIX    C. 

Lieutenant  Tupper,  mortally  ;  Midshipmen  William  Edmon- 
stone  and  Robert  Lees,  both  very  severely  j  and  twenty-seven 
men  were  wounded,  of  whom  five  died  in  a  few  days.  Two 
of  the  misticoes  were  afterwards  sunk,  and  many  of  the 
pirates  were  killed  and  wounded  by  the  frigate's  guns.* 

Lieutenant  Tupper  commanded  the  launch,  and  although 
severely  wounded  in  three  places,  he  stood  up  the  whole  time, 
and  retained  the  command  of  her  until  he  returned  to  the 
ship.  The  bullet,  which  proved  fatal,  entered  his  right 
breast,  and  was  extracted  from  under  the  skin  over  the  false 
ribs.  Having  gone  into  action  with  his  coat  and  epaulette, 
he  was  doubtless  particularly  aimed  at,  as  the  four  midship 
men,  H.  M.  E.  Allen,  the  Hon.  Frederick  Pelham,  Robert 
Spencer  Robinson,  and  the  Hon.  Edward  Plunkett  (now  all 
captains)  who  were  in  the  launch,  escaped  unhurt.  He  lin 
gered  until  the  26th  June,  when  he  breathed  his  last,  in  a 
state  of  delirium,  on  board  the  Sybille,  at  Malta,  where  his 
remains  were  interred,  and  a  monument  was  erected  to  his 
memory  by  his  captain  and  messmates.  In  person  he  was 
rather  above  the  middle  height,  with  a  pleasing  and  intelli 
gent  countenance ;  and  when  his  brother  Charles  and  he  were 
midshipmen  together  in  the  Victory,  in  the  Baltic,  they  were 
designated  on  board  as  the  handsome  brothers,  t 

The  surgeon  of  the  Sybille,  in  a  letter  to  the  family  in 
Guernsey,  wrote  of  Lieutenant  Tupper  : 

"  When  I  first  saw  him,  he  was  firm  and  cool.  He  asked  me  to  give  my 
opinion  without  reserve,  and  knowing  him  to  be  possessed  of  great  forti 
tude,  I  told  him  that  the  wound  in  the  chest  was  of  a  most  dangerous 
nature,  but  not  necessarily  fatal.  He  had  by  this  time  lost  a  great  deal  of 
blood,  but  the  internal  hemorrhage,  though  the  most  alarming,  was  slight. 
He  remained  so  low  for  three  days,  that  it  was  expected  he  would  have 
sunk,  though  he  still  continued  collected  and  firm.  On  the  fourth  day  he 
rallied,  his  pulse  became  more  distinct,  and  he  evidently  encouraged 
hopes.  Need  I  say  that  I  felt  myself  incapable  of  destroying  them  — 
indeed  I  was  not  altogether  without  hope  myself.  The  principal  danger 
was  from  hemorrhage  upon  the  separation  of  the  sloughs,  and  my  fears 
were  fatally  verified,  for  on  the  25th,  at  noon,  it  commenced  and  increased 
internally,  until  his  lungs  could  no  longer  perform  their  functions,  and 
he  died  at  about  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  26th.  During  the 
whole  time  he  was  resigned,  evincing  the  greatest  strength  of  mind  .... 
As  it  was  with  unfeigned  sorrow  that  I  saw  a  fine  and  gallant  young 
man  fall  a  victim  to  such  a  cause,  so  it  was  with  admiration  that  I 
witnessed  his  heroic  bearing  when  the  excitement  was  past,  and  hope 
itself  was  almost  fled.  I  have  seen  many  support  their  firmness  amidst 
danger  and  death,  but  it  belongs  to  few  to  sustain  it  during  protracted 
suffering,  which  is  indeed  a  trial  often  too  severe  for  the  bravest,  but 
through  which  your  lamented  brother  came  with  a  spirit  and  resignation 
which  reflected  lustre  upon  himself  and  family,  and  endeared  him  to  all 
his  shipmates." 

*See  "  United  Service  Journal,"  March,  1841,  pp.  332-3. 

t  By  a  singular  coincidence,  the  two  brothers  commenced  their  career 
in  the  same  ship,  the  Victory,  to  which  their  near  relative,  Lieutenant 
Carre  Tupper,  belonged  when  he  was  killed  in  the  Mediterranean,  in  one 
of  her  boats,  and  all  three  lost  their  lives  in  boats ! 


COLONEL    WILLIAM    DE    VIC    TUPFER.  477 


APPENDIX    D. 

COLONEL  V7ILLIAM   DE  VIC  TUPPER. 

My  beautiful,  my  brave! 

Ah !  who  can  tell  how  many  a  soul  sublime 
Has  felt  the  influence  of  malignant  star, 
And  waged  with  Fortune  an  unequal  war : 

This  highly  gifted  young  man  was  a  brother  of  the  subject 
of  the  preceding  memoir,  their  father  having  had  ten  sons 
and  three  daughters.  He  was  born  in  Guernsey,  on  the  28th 
of  April,  1800,  and  derived  his  Christian  names  from  a  pater 
nal  uncle  who  fell  in  that  island  in  a  duel  with  an  officer  of 
the  27th  regiment.  Having  received  an  excellent  education 
in  England,  partly  under  a  private  tutor  at  Dosthill,  in  War 
wickshire,  he  was  sent,  on  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  in 
1814,  to  a  college  in  Paris,  in  which  he  continued  until  the 
arrival  of  Napoleon  from  Elba,  when  he  was  gratified  by  a 
glimpse  of  that  extraordinary  man.  When  he  landed  in 
France,  although  he  had  barely  completed  his  fourteenth 
year,  his  stature  was  so  tall  and  athletic  as  to  give  him  the 
appearance  of  a  young  giant ;  and  on  being  asked  his  age  at 
the  police  office,  that  it  might  be  inserted  in  his  passport,  his 
reply  was  received  with  a  smile  of  astonishment  and  incredu 
lity,  which  afforded  much  subsequent  amusement  to  his  elder 
fellow-travellers.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  his  strength  and 
activity  were  so  great  that  few  men  could  have  stood  up 
against  him  with  any  chance  of  success.  On  his  return  to 
Guernsey,  every  interest  the  family  possessed  was  anxiously 
exerted  to  indulge  his  wish  of  entering  the  British  army,  but 
owing  to  the  great  reductions  made  after  the  peace  of  1815, 
he  was  unable  to  obtain  a  commission,  even  by  purchase. 
Those  relatives  who  could  best  have  forwarded  his  views,  had 
been  slain  in  the  public  service  ;  and  in  that  day,  few  claims 
were  admitted,  unless  supported  by  strong  parliamentary 
influence.  In  January,  1816,  he  attended  the  levee  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  in  deep  mourning  for  his  next  elder 
brother,  Charles,  a  midshipman,  who  had  been  drowned  in 


478  APPENDIX    D. 

the  navy  a  few  months  before :  his  royal  highness  promised 
to  take  his  memorial  into  early  consideration,  and  it  was 
hoped  by  the  family  that  his  tall  and  strikingly  handsome 
person  would  have  had  some  influence ;  but  unfortunately 
the  youth,  then  under  sixteen,  waited  alone  on  the  Duke  of 
York,  and  had  no  one  to  plead  his  cause  or  to  promote  his 
wishes.  He  was  accompanied  as  far  as  the  Horse  Guards  by 
the  late  Lieut.-Colonel  Eliot,  (mentioned  ante,}  who  there,  or 
in  the  neighbourhood,  introduced  him  to  Sir  Roger  Sheaffe, 
whom  they  met  accidentally  :  but  the  general  took  little  or 
no  notice  of  the  nephew  of  one  to  whom  he  was  under  much 
obligation,  and  whose  fall  had  been  his  rise !  It  is  true  that 
Sir  Roger  Sheaffe  was  also  about  to  solicit  an  ensigncy  for 
his  own  nephew,  whose  brother  had  a  few  months  previously 
(September,  1815,)  received  one  in  the  49th  regiment ;  but 
sure  we  are,  that  had  Sir  Isaac  Brock  met  the  nephew  of  a 
gallant  predecessor  under  similar  circumstances,  he  would 
have  presented  him  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and  urged 
his  claims  with  all  the  warmth  of  companionship  and  grati 
tude.  And  is  it  not  mortifying  to  think,  that  two  nephews 
of  Sir  Roger  Sheaffe  obtained  that  without  purchase,  which 
was  withheld  from  the  nephew  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  even  by 
purchase  —  and  that  nephew  of  as  noble  a  spirit  as  ever 
breathed?  But  while  we  freely  mention  Sir  Roger  Sheaffe's 
coldness  and  indifference,  we  appreciate,  highly  appreciate, 
his  paternal  solicitude  for  these  two  nephews,  who  had 
previously  lost  their  father,  a  surveyor  of  the  excise  at 
Mallow,  in  Ireland.  Had,  however,  Sir  Isaac  Brock  been  as 
careful  of  his  person  as  were  one  or  two  general  officers 
that  we  could  name,*  who  served  during  the  war  in  Canada, 
he  would,  doubtless,  have  also  obtained  an  ensigncy  for  his 
nephew ;  but  he  was  dead,  and  the  dead  trouble  not.  This 
treatment  of  his  nephew,  a  perfect  counterpart  of  himself,t 
certainly  reflects  no  credit  on  the  military  authorities  of  that 
day,  over  whom  the  mantle  of  Pericles  had,  alas!  not  been 
thrown,  as  the  Athenians — like  th3  British,  a  naval  people — 
were  moved  by  him,  in  a  funeral  oration,  which  remains  to 
this  time  a  fitting  testimonial  of  his  eloquence  and  his  grati 
tude,  to  set  apart  a  stipend  for  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
their  countrymen,  who  had  fallen  in  the  first  campaign  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war.  And  be  it  remembered  that  Sir  Isaac 
Brock  left  neither  widow  nor  children,  and  that  his  only  sur 
viving  sister,  who  had  a  very  numerous  family  of  sons,  had 

*  Or  as  Chief  Justice  Robinson  expressed  it  in  more  courtly  language 
at  "the  gathering"  on  Queenstown  Heights,  in  July,  1840:  "in  later 
periods  of  the  contest,  it  sometimes  happened  that  the  example  of  General 
Brock  was  not  very  closely  followed."  (See  ante.) 

t  Sir  Thomas  Fremantle  was  struck  with  De  Vic  Tupper's  resemblance 
to  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  when  he  saw  him  in  Guernsey,  in  1815. 


COLONEL   WILLIAM    DE    VIC    TUPPER.  479 

derived  no  benefit  whatever  from  his  death.  But  young 
Tupper  might  then  have  uttered  this  reproach. 

"  Man  wrongs,  and  time  avenges,  and  my  name 
May  form  a  monument  not  all  obscure." 

He  remained  in  Guernsey  for  nearly  two  years  in  the  vain 
hope  of  a  commission,  and,  being  thus  cruelly  disappointed, 
he  proceeded  in  December,  1817,  in  his  eighteenth  year,  to 
Catalonia,  of  which  province  a  relative,  P.  C.  Tupper,  (men 
tioned  ante,}  was  British  consul.  He  travelled  through 
France  at  a  time  when  there  was  a  very  hostile  feeling 
towards  the  English,  as  the  army  of  occupation  was  then  in 
that  country,  and  we  learn  from  his  fellow-traveller,  who  was 
a  few  years  older  than  himself,  that  they  met  frequently  at 
the  tables  d'hote  with  French  officers,  with  whom  Tupper  had 
warm  discussions,  as  they  were  any  thing  but  friendly  or 
civil,  and  boasted  that  they  had  beaten  the  British  army  in 
almost  every  engagement.  "  We  beat  you  at  Salamanca  and 
Vittoria,  at  Toulouse  and  Waterloo,"  was  the  retort ;  the 
officers  looked  fierce  and  curled  their  mustachoes,  but  they 
probably  liked  not  the  gigantic  frame  and  resolute  bearing 
of  the  young  Englishman,  as  they  abstained  from  personal 
insult.  On  one  occasion,  the  officers  omitted  to  pass  down 
the  viands  to  the  two  travellers,  who  were  sitting  below 
them, —  the  waiter  came  in  with  a  roast  duck, —  "Garc,on, 
apportez-moi  ce  canard,"  said  Tupper,  authoritatively,  and 
cutting  it  in  two,  he  gave  half  to  his  companion,  and  kept  the 
other  half  for  himself.  The  officers  were  evidently  much 
annoyed,  but  contented  themselves  with  calling  twice  or 
thrice  for  the  duck ;  and  the  elder  companion  tells  us  that  he 
was  very  glad  to  cross  the  frontier  with  his  young  friend,  safe 
and  sound,  into  Spain,  as  he  was  in  daily  dread  of  a  hostile 
rencontre  between  the  disputants. 

In  Catalonia  young  Tupper  spent  two  or  three  years,  and 
at  Barcelona,  where  he  was  well  known  and  an  especial 
favorite,  he  received  the  public  thanks  of  the  municipality 
for  having  boldly  exposed  his  life  to  extinguish  a  conflagra 
tion  which  threatened  to  destroy  a  whole  barrier  of  the  city. 
Here  his  vanity  was  constantly  excited  by  exclamations,  in 
the  streets,  on  the  manly  beauty  of  his  person.  There  was  at 
Barcelona  at  this  time  a  Spanish  lieutenant-colonel  of  cavalry, 
who  had  served  in  South  America,  and  was  in  the  habit  of 
bullying  both  the  military  and  civilians.  In  going  one  even 
ing  to  his  seat  in  the  pit  at  the  opera,  young  Tupper  had  to 
pass  this  officer,  who  sat  with  his  feet  so  extended  as  to  reach 
the  opposite  bench.  Tupper  begged  of  him  to  draw  in  his 
feet — "  pass  over  them ! "  was  the  answer.  Tupper  asked  him 
a  second  time,  and  received  the  same  reply,  upon  which  he 
kicked  the  officer's  feet  out  of  his  way,  and  passed  on.  The 


480  COLONEL    WILLIAM    DE    VIC    TUPPER. 

officer  followed,  and  said  he  wished  to  speak  to  him  outside. 
Tupper  immediately  rose,  and  in  going  out,  beckoned  to  an 
English  gentleman,  who  was  sitting  in  the  boxes,  and  from 
whom  we  have  the  particulars,  to  come  out  also.  It  was 
quickly  agreed  that  they  should  find  themselves  at  a  certain 
coffee-house  the  next  morning  at  eight  o'clock,  each  with  a 
friend,  to  choose  the  weapons  and  fix  the  place  of  meeting, 
young  Tupper  telling  the  Spaniard  that  he  might  choose 
either  broad  or  small  sword,  or  the  pistol,  as,  although  he 
was  a  civilian,  either  weapon  was  indifferent  to  him.  And  he 
was,  in  fact,  an  excellent  shot  and  an  equally  good  swords 
man.  The  next  morning  the  two  Englishmen  went  punc 
tually  to  the  coffee  house,  which  was  soon  crowded  with 
military  and  civilians,  anxious  to  know  the  result  of  the 
meeting,  as  the  colonel  was  much  disliked.  Nine  and  ten 
o'clock  came,  and  no  colonel,  when  Tupper  asked  the  officers 
present  whether  they  thought  he  was  in  honor  bound  to 
remain  any  longer.  They  replied  that  he  was  not,  and 
Tupper  and  his  friend  returned  home.  The  same  day  the 
former  met  the  colonel  on  the  public  walk  with  two  ladies — • 
he  went  up  and  said  that  he  wished  to  speak  to  him  alone. 
The  colonel  left  the  ladies,  and  having  walked  some  little 
distance,  Tupper  asked  him  why  he  had  not  kept  his  appoint 
ment,  upon  which  he  made  some  frivolous  excuse,  when 
Tupper  horsewhipped  him,  and  lastly  applied  his  foot  once  to 
the  bully's  seat  of  honor.  Another  Spanish  officer,  whom 
the  colonel  had  previously  insulted  with  impunity,  soon  after 
upbraided  him  with  his  cowardice  on  this  occasion,  and  the 
colonel  was  glad  to  leave  Barcelona.  We  could  give  several 
other  anecdotes  of  similar  daring  in  young  Tupper,  but  these 
must  suffice ;  and  in  truth  we  must  add,  that  in  his  early 
days  his  disposition,  like  that  of  his  uncle  and  namesake, 
was  somewhat  too  pugnacious,  the  disputes  of  both  being 
generally,  however,  with  military  men,  who  presumed  as 
such.  He  was  now  a  junior  partner  in  a  British  commercial 
house  in  Catalonia,  but  with  hife  adventurous  spirit  and  boil 
ing  courage  he  was  unfitted  for  any  pursuit  excepting  the 
profession  of  arms.  His  father,  who,  although  a  younger  son, 
had  inherited  nearly  £25,000  sterling,  was  at  this  period 
labouring  under  heavy  losses  and  the  expenses  of  his  large 
family ;  and  young  Tupper  preferred  seeking  his  fortune  in 
South  America  to  continuing  in  business,  or  becoming  a 
burthen  on  his  parent,  and  he  embarked  in  Guernsey  in 
October,  1821,  for  Rio  de  Janeiro,  whence  he  proceeded  to 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  thence  over-land  to  Chile,  then  struggling 
for  her  independence  of  Spain.  His  family  was  averse  to  his 
joining  the  patriot  cause,  as  it  was  then  termed,  and  he 
arrived  at  Santiago  a  mere  soldier  of  fortune  —  without,  we 
believe,  a  single  letter  of  introduction  to  those  in  authority. 


COLONEL   WILLIAM    DE    VIC    TUPPER.  481 

But  his  appearance  and  manners,  and  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
three  languages,  English,  French,  and  Spanish,  all  of  which 
he  spoke  fluently,  soon  procured  him  friends  and  active 
military  employment.  The  Italian,  in  a  less  degree,  was  also 
another  of  his  acquirements,  and  he  was  a  fair  classical 
scholar.  He  rose  rapidly,  and  his  deeds  have  been  compared 
to  those  of  the  renowned  Sir  William  Wallace. 

In  this  necessarily  brief  memoir,  it  is,  however,  quite  impos 
sible  to  depict  the  career  of  young  Tupper  in  the  land  of  his 
unhappy  adoption;  and  we  have  only  space  for  a  few  details 
of  his  services.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Chile,  the  garrison 
of  Valdivia  having  revolted,  Colonel  Beauchef,  who  had  served 
in  Europe,  and  who  led  with  Major  Miller  the  troops  in  the 
successful  attack  of  that  fortress  by  Lord  Cochrane,  was  sent 
from  the  capital  to  endeavour  to  bring  the  mutineers  to 
submission,  and  he  requested  that  young  Tupper  might 
accompany  him.  They  landed  there  alone,  and,  with  great 
personal  risk,  succeeded  in  securing  the  ringleaders,  who  had 
ordered  their  men  to  fire  on  them  as  they  approached  in  a 
boat ;  but,  Colonel  Beauchef  having  previously  commanded 
them  and  obtained  their  regard,  the  men  fortunately  refused 
to  proceed  to  extremities  with  their  old  commander.  Young 
Tupper  is  also  said  to  have  excited  their  astonishment  by  the 
manner  in  which  he  seized  on  one  of  the  ringleaders,  a  very 
athletic  and  powerful  man,  and  led  him  captive  to  the  boat. 
For  this  service,  and  for  his  conduct  in  a  campaign  against 
the  fierce  Araucanians,  whom  the  Spaniards  had  never  been 
able  to  subjugate,  he  was  made  in  January,  1823,  over  the 
heads  of  all  the  lieutenants,  captain  of  the  grenadier  company 
of  battalion  No.  8,  commanded  by  the  same  gallant  French 
man,  Colonel  Beauchef.  This  company  consisted  of  upwards 
of  100  exceedingly  fine  men,  and  accompanying  the  battalion 
shortly  after  in  an  expedition  to  Arica,  it  excited  the  surprise 
of  the  comparatively  diminutive  Peruvians,  and  to  which  its 
captain  appears  not  a  little  to  have  contributed.  This  expe 
dition  was  soon  recalled  from  Peru  to  proceed  under  the 
director,  General  Ramon  Freire,  against  the  islands  of  Chiloe, 
so  long  and  so  bravely  defended  by  the  Spanish  governor, 
Quintanilla.  On  the  return  voyage  from  Arica  to  Coquimbo, 
the  vessel,  which  conveyed  the  grenadiers  of  No.  8,  was  short 
of  both  provisions  and  water,  and  of  the  latter  only  a  wine 
glassful  was  at  last  served  out  in  twenty-four  hours  to  each 
individual.  Although  the  heat  was  intense,  and  two  of  the 
grenadiers  died,  the  company,  when  drawn  up  to  receive  the 
scanty  draught,  invariably  refused  to  touch  it  until  their 
captain  had  tasted  of  each  glass ;  and  one  dying  soldier  would 
confess  himself  to  no  one  but  his  captain,  so  strong  a  hold 
had  he  already  gained  on  the  affections  of  those  he  com 
manded,  notwithstanding  their  difference  of  religion. 
x 


482  APPENDIX    D. 

We  have  just  said  that  an  attempt  wa,  about  to  be  made 
to  wrest  the  islands  of  Chiloe  from  the  dominion  of  the 
Spaniards.  In  pursuance  of  this  object,  battalion  No.  8  was 
embarked  at  Coquimbo  in  January,  1824,  and  landed  on  the 
small  island  of  Quinquina,  in  the  bay  of  Talcahuano,  where 
it  remained  until  the  preparations  were  completed.  The 
troops  were  formed  into  three  divisions,  and  Captain  Tupper 
was  named  second  in  command  of  the  third,  but  the  nomi 
nation  giving  great  umbrage  to  several  majors  and  lieutenant- 
colonels  who  had  been  passed  over,  this  arrangement  was 
annulled,  and  battalion  No.  8  was  directed  to  take  the  ad 
vance.  The  expedition  reached  Chiloe  on  the  24th  of  March, 
and  the  next  day  battalion  No.  8  gained  possession  of  the 
fort  of  Chacao,  which  offered  but  a  slight  resistance.  On 
the  31st,  a  detachment  consisting  of  two  battalions,  Nos.  7 
and  8,  and  the  grenadier  company  of  No.  1,  disembarked  at 
Delcague,  and  at  noon  on  the  1st  of  April  commenced  its 
march,  through  a  very  woody  arid  broken  country,  towards 
the  town  of  San  Carlos.  Two  companies  of  grenadiers,  under 
Captain  Tupper,  formed  the  vanguard  of  this  detachment. 
A  strong  Spanish  force  awaited  them  in  ambush  at  Mocopulli, 
which  is  an  immense  bog  surrounded  by  underwood,  having 
a  masked  gun  on  an  adjacent  eminence.  The  grenadiers  arid 
No.  8  marched  through  the  mouth  of  the  defile  perfectly 
unconscious  of  their  clanger,  and  when  within  a  few  paces  of 
the  enemy  so  murderous  a  fire  was  opened  upon  them  that 
they  were  thrown  into  the  utmost  confusion.  The  enemy 
was  invisible,  and  in  a  short  time  200  of  the  patriots  had 
fallen,  while  No.  7  halted  in  the  rear  and  refused  to  advance. 
Captain  Tupper  is  represented  as  having  behaved  here  with 
the  most  devoted  heroism,  charging  twice  into  the  thickets 
with  the  few  grenadiers  who  would  follow  him  to  so  perilous 
a  service.  In  the  second  charge  three  men  only  accompanied 
him,  one  of  whom  was  killed  and  another  received  a  bayonet 
wound  in  the  face,  while  Captain  Tupper  was  himself  slightly 
wounded  in  the  left  side  by  a  bullet  —  another  perforated  his 
cap  —  and  a  Spanish  sergeant  made  a  blow  at  him  with  a 
fixed  bayonet,  which  he  struck  down  with  his  sabre,  and  it 
went  through  his  leg.  The  bushes,  however,  favored  their 
escape,  and,  after  being  nearly  surrounded,  they  rejoined  the 
battalion,  which  had  retreated  a  short  distance.  Colonel 
Beauchef,  as  a  "  dernier  ressort,"  now  boldly  resolved  on 
attacking  the  enemy  in  close  column.  Animated  by  their 
gallant  commander,  the  men  formed,  although  they  were 
previously  in  complete  disorder  and  No.  7  had  retreated,  and 
carried  the  position  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  pursuing  the 
royalists  for  about  half  a  mile.  But  the  field  was  dearly 
purchased,  the  detachment  engaged,  of  scarcely  500  men, 
having  320  killed  and  wounded,  including  13  out  of  18  officers, 


COLONEL    WILLIAM    DE    VIC    TUPFER.  483 

and  71  of  136  grenadiers  composing  the  vanguard.  The 
division  having  thus  suffered  so  severely,  and  the  nature  of 
the  country  being  so  favorable  to  its  defenders,  Colonel 
Beauchef  returned  next  day  to  the  ships  ;  and  the  lateness 
of  the  season,  added  to  the  intelligence  of  the  arrival  in  the 
Pacific,  from  Spain,  of  the  Asia,  of  64  guns,  and  Achilles, 
brig,  compelled  the  squadron  to  sail  for  Chile.  Captain  Tup 
per  was  rewarded  with  a  brevet  majority  for  his  conduct  in 
this  disastrous  affair,  and  he  wrote  nearly  two  years  after 
wards,  in  allusion  to  some  remarks  relative  to  the  Chile 

troops,  as   follow  :    "  The    observations    in    F 's  letters, 

respecting  our  troops,  are  not  at  all  just  ;  the  Chile  soldiers 
are  as  fine  a  class  of  men  as  I  have  ever  seen,  extremely 
brave  and  very  capable  of  fatigue,  indeed  to  a  degree  of 
which  your  English  soldiers  have  no  idea.  Moreover,  they 

are  very  robust,  and  so  contrary  to  what  F supposes,  we 

have  not  a  single  black  in  the  regiment.  The  discipline  is 
tolerable  now,  and  the  clothing  is  superior  to  any  I  have 
seen  in  Spain.  I  perhaps  speak  passionately,  as  I  dote  on 
all  my  brave  fellows,  particularly  on  my  old  company  of 
grenadiers,  with  the  fondness  of  a  brother ;  the  feelings  of 
absolute  adoration  with  which  they  regard  me,  and  of  which 
so  many  have  given  me  such  melancholy  proofs,  are  surely 
sufficient  to  draw  my  heart  towards  them.  I  wish  you  could 
see  my  gallant  servant  as  he  now  stands  before  me  —  his 
dark  and  sparkling  eye  intently  fixed  on  my  countenance, 
his  sun-burnt  visage,  his  black  mustachoes,  and  his  athletic- 
figure,  altogether  forming  as  fine  a  soldier  as  can  well  be  seen." 
The  decisive  battle  of  Ayacucho  having,  with  the  solitary 
exception  of  the  fortress  of  Callao,  effected  the  liberation  of 
the  whole  continent  of  Spanish  America,  it  was  resolved  to 
renew  the  attempt  to  drive  the  Spaniards  from  the  islands  of 
Chiloe,  which  form  the  natural  keys  of  the  Pacific  when 
approached  from  Cape  Horn.  Another  expedition  in  conse 
quence,  commanded  again  by  the  director  in  person,  set  sail 
from  Valparaiso  in  November,  1825,  and,  after  touching  at 
Valdivia,  reached  Chiloe  in  January,  when  barely  2,000  men 
were  disembarked.  Major  Tupper  commanded  the  grenadier 
companies  of  Nos.  6  and  8,  forming  part  of  the  advanced 
divisioii,  and  was  left  by  its  commander,  Colonel  Aldunate, 
chiefly  to  his  own  direction.  The  enemy,  in  force  consider 
ably  above  3,000  men,  including  400  cavalry,  occupied  a 
strong  entrenched  position,  his  right  flank  resting  upon  the 
sea,  his  left  guarded  by  impenetrable  woods,  his  front  pali 
saded  and  strengthened  by  a  deep  and  muddy  rivulet,  which 
offered  but  two  passes,  one  near  the  wood  defended  by  300 
men,  the  other  on  the  beach.  On  the  14th,  Colonel  Aldunate, 
with  six  flank  companies,  took  the  beach,  while  Major  Tupper, 
with  his  two  companies,  carried  the  pass  near  the  wood  in  a 


484  APPENDIX    D. 

few  minutes,  with  little  loss,  by  jumping  over  the  palisade, 
when  he  escaped  almost  miraculously,  as,  before  his  men  could 
join  him,  he  was  exposed  to  a  tremendous  discharge  of  mus 
ketry,  which  covered  him  with  mud,  and  shot  away  one  of 
his  epaulettes.  The  royalists  having  been  driven  also  from  a 
second  position,  their  cavalry  attempted  a  charge,  but  were 
completely  routed  by  the  grenadier  company  of  No.  8.  The 
enemy  now  retreated  to  his  last  and  strongest  position  on  the 
heights  of  Bella  Vista  on  the  road  to  Castro,  the  principal 
town  of  the  island,  and  was  attacked  unsuccessfully  three 
different  times  by  five  flank  companies.  Colonel  Aldunate 
then  called  Major  Tapper,  and,  pointing  to  the  royalists, 
said  :  "  The  glory  is  reserved  for  you  — dislodge  the  enemy 
immediately."  This  was  a  most  desperate  service,  as  the 
road,  or  rather  path,  was  so  narrow  as  to  admit  of  only  three 
or  four  men  abreast ;  but  taking  a  flag  in  his  left  hand,  Major 
Tupper  ordered  his  grenadiers  to  follow  him  without  firing  a 
shot.  By  running  quickly,  he  reached  the  crest  of  the  heights 
with  the  loss  of  only  six  men  killed  behind  him,  his  escape 
appearing  so  astonishing  to  the  survivors  that  they  were 
convinced  he  wore  a  charm.  Here  he  encountered  a  Spanish 
officer,  named  Lopez,  commanding  we  believe  the  rear  guard, 
who  resolutely  maintained  his  ground  ;  a  personal  combat 
ensued,  and  the  Spaniard  was  killed  by  a  sabre  cut,  which 
nearly  clove  his  head  in  two.  There  was  unhappily  no  alter 
native,  as  the  gallant  Lopez  would  neither  surrender  nor  give 
way.  In  the  mean  time  fourteen  or  fifteen  of  the  Spaniards 
having  fallen  by  the  bayonet,  the  remainder  fled,  and  were 
vigorously  pursued  for  about  a  league  on  the  road  to  Castro, 
when  orders  were  brought  to  the  grenadiers  to  halt.  In  this 
pursuit  a  colonel  and  about  50  men  were  made  prisoners. 
The  action  lasted  altogether  nearly  four  hours,  and  on  the 
whole  the  enemy,  whose  troops  consisted  partly  of  militia, 
shewed  but  little  conduct  or  courage,  having  indeed  been 
routed  by  the  eight  companies,  which  were  the  only  troops 
seriously  engaged  on  the  side  of  the  patriots,  whose  entire 
loss  did  not  exceed  175  men  in  killed  and  wounded.  A  gal 
lant  North  American,  Lieutenant  Oxley,  of  the  navy,  was 
killed  in  an  attack  on  two  gun-boats,  the  stronger  of  which 
was  taken.  Major  Tupper,  having  volunteered,  assisted  at 
its  capture,  although,  as  a  Chileno  officer  of  his  regiment, 
from  whom  we  derive  the  information,  writes  :  "  It  was  not 
necessary  that  he  should,  as  an  officer  of  the  army,  seek  to 
fight  by  sea,  particularly  when  he  was  not  ordered."  The 
surrender  of  the  island  was  the  immediate  consequence  of 
these  successes,  and  Major  Tupper  was  rewarded  with  a  brevet 
lieutenant-colonelcy,  although  much  more  was  promised  him 
when  the  impression,  which  his  behaviour  left,  was  fresh  in 
the  mind  of  the  director. 


COLONEL   WILLIAM    DE    VIC    TUPPER.  485 

Colonel  Aldunate,  having  been  appointed  as  governor  of 
Chiloe,  remained  there  with  No.  4  ;  but  in  May  following 
that  battalion  revolted  in  favor  of  O'Higgins,  and  compelled 
the  governor  to  embark  for  Valparaiso.  Lieut. -Colonel  Tup- 
per  volunteered  to  accompany  him  back,  and  they  left 
Valparaiso  with  less  than  300  men  on  the  25th  of  June,  1826, 
the  greatest  danger  apprehended  being  from  the  winter  season, 
during  which  the  gales  of  wind  on  the  coast  are  very  violent. 

"  In  horrid  climes,  where  Chiloe's  tempests  sweep, 
Tumultuous  murmurs  o'er  the  troubled  deep." — Campbell. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  the  Resolution,  transport,  in  which  were 
Tupper  and  most  of  the  troops,  was  nearly  wrecked  on  a  very 
dangerous  reef,  and  the  lives  of  all  on  board  were  for  some 
time  in  imminent  danger.  During  the  night  of  the  13th  and 
14th,  Tupper  landed  with  100  men  in  the  cove  of  Remolinos, 
and  before  daylight  surprised  and  captured  the  garrisons  of 
two  batteries,  when  he  marched  towards  the  port  of  Chacao, 
and  took  the  battery  there.  Colonel  Aldunate  having  landed 
the  next  afternoon  with  the  remainder  of  the  troops,  the 
insurgents  submitted  without  further  difficulty  ;  and  on  his 
return  from  Chiloe  to  Santiago  in  August,  Tupper  learnt  that 
he  had  been  made  lieutenant-colonel  effective  for  his  recent 
services.  In  December,  he  joined  at  Talca  the  army  of  the 
South,  and  commanded  one  of  three  divisions  employed  to 
destroy  a  horde  of  bandits,  composed  chiefly  of  Indians  and 
of  nearly  a  thousand  strong,  who  ravaged  the  province  of 
Conception  in  summer,  retiring  on  the  approach  of  winter  to 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Cordillera.  Their  leader  was  Pincheira, 
the  son  of  a  European  by  an  Indian  mother,  who  held  the 
rank  of  colonel  in  the  Spanish  service,  and  committed  his 
depredations  under  the  Spanish  standard.  With  a  squadron 
of  dragoons,  Tupper  passed  the  Cordillera,  parallel  with  the 
town  of  Chilian,  in  pursuit  of  the  bandits,  and  went  to  the 
eastward  as  far  as  the  river  Nanken,  in  the  province  of 
Mendoza.  Pincheira  contrived,  however,  to  elude  all  pursuit, 
and,  soon  after  his  return  to  Santiago,  Tupper  was  appointed, 
on  the  1st  May,  1827,  by  General  Pinto,  who  had  replaced 
General  Freire  as  president,  first  aide-de-camp  to  the  supreme 
government — an  honorable  and  responsible  office,  in  which 
he  was  actively  engaged  in  suppressing  two  or  three  dangerous 
revolts,  incited  by  a  party,  whose  private  interests  had  suf 
fered  by  many  exclusive  privileges  being  abolished.  On  the 
retirement  of  Colonel  Beauchef  in  June,  1829,  Tupper  unfor 
tunately  accepted  the  command  of  his  old  battalion,  No.  8, 
and  on  the  following  month  he  was  made  full  colonel.  This 
command  necessarily  embroiled  him  in  the  civil  warfare  which 
almost  immediately  ensued  j  and  a  few  weeks  before  hosti- 


486  APPENDIX    D. 

lilies  commenced,  with  a  presentiment  which  was  too  soon  to 
be  realized,  he  thus  wrote  to  his  family  in  Guernsey  : 

"  I  naturally  cannot  consider  my  life  of  long  duration  ;  I 
am  too  immediately  acted  upon  by  every  revolution  in  this 
country  not  to  be  prepared  for  death,  and  to  be  perfectly 
resigned  to  it  when  the  day  sh;ill  arrive  ;  even  in  my  time 
how  many  foreign  officers  have  not  perished  by  climate  and 
by  the  sword.  I  shall  have  lived  long  enough  if  I  leave  my 
children  a  subsistence  and  a  name  unblemished.  My  late 
elevation  in  rank  is  an  earnest  of  my  rising  reputation,  and 
I  have  perhaps  reason  to  hope  that  when  I  fall,  my  rank  and 
the  circumstances  of  my  death  will  place  an  obligation  on 
Chile  towards  my  family,  which  she  may  be  willing  to  ac 
knowledge."* 

In  June,  1829,  General  Pinto  was  re-elected  president  of 
the  republic  for  five  years,  but  unfortunately  he  declined  the 
office,  and  this  unexpected  refusal  not  only  compromised  his 
best  friends,  but  was  the  main  cause  of  all  the  bloodshed 
which  followed.  In  the  subsequent  crisis  General  Freire's 
conduct  was  inconsistent  and  vacillating ;  and  General  Prieto, 
under  the  guise  of  obtaining  the  recall  and  return  to  power  of 
the  exiled  Director  O'Higgina,  whose  aide-de-camp  he  had 
formerly  been,  having  marched  his  troops  from  Conception 
towards  the  capital,  a  coalition  of  the  disaffected  there  was 
formed  to  support  him,  and  through  his  means  to  seize  on  the 
reins  of  government.  The  mob,  ever  fond  of  change,  was 
induced  by  large  bribes  and  the  hope  of  plunder  to  act  under 
this  coalition,  which,  if  at  first  weak  in  numbers,  was  very 
formidable  in  resources.  General  Freire  attempted  to  assume 
the  command  of  the  garrison  of  Santiago,  but  the  field  officers 
of  the  different  corps  refused  to  obey  his  orders,  and  resolved 
to  acknowledge  only  the  existing  authorities.  Thus  foiled, 
he  introduced  himself  into  the  barracks  of  No.  8,  during  the 
absence  of  the  colonel,  and  ordering  the  battalion  under 
arms,  he  endeavoured  in  an  insidious  harangue  to  gain  over 
the  soldiers  to  his  own  purposes,  well  knowing  that  their 
defection,  as  composing  the  finest  battalion  in  the  service, 
would  prove  fatal  to  the  constitutional  cause.  Colonel  Tup- 
per,  being  quickly  informed  of  the  attempt,  mounted  his 
horse  and  galloped  furiously  to  the  barracks.  He  rushed  in, 
and  the  difficulty  of  his  situation  will  be  easily  conceived  —  a 
foreigner  opposed  singly  to  a  native  of  the  highest  present 
military  and  late  civil  rank,  and  beloved  also  by  the  sol 
diery—but  the  result  will  best  prove  the  attachment  of  his 
men  towards  him.  Addressing  them  in  Spanish,  he  spoke 
briefly  to  this  effect:  "  Soldiers  !  the  captain  general  has  led 

*  By  his  wife,  Maria  I.  de  Zegers,  a  native  of  Madrid,  grand-daughter 
of  Manuel  de  Zegers,  Count  de  Waserberg,  in  Flanders,  he  left  two  infant 
daughters,  and  a  posthumous  son,  born  a  few  weeks  after  his  death. 


COLONEL    WILLIAM    DE    VIC    TUPPER.  487 

you  to  victory  —  your  colonel  has  also  led  you  to  victory; 
whom  do  you  obey,  your  colonel  or  General  Freire?"  The 
whole  battalion  instantaneously  responded  as  one  man, 
"We  obey  our  colonel — Viva  el  Coronel  Tupper!"  and 
General  Freire  and  his  suite,  among  whom  was  Admiral 
Blanco,  were  happy  to  escape  unhurt,  the  soldiers  having, 
we  believe,  levelled  their  muskets  at  them.  On  their  way  to 
the  barracks  they  were  followed  by  a  large  mob,  who  attempt 
ed  (o  force  the  gates,  but  on  hearing  Colonel  Tupper  order 
the  guard  to  prime  and  load,  the  people,  well  knowing  his 
resolute  character,  dispersed  in  a  moment.  This  attempt 
was  the  more  dangerous,  as  battalion  No.  1  was  quartered  in 
the  same  barracks,  and  would  have  immediately  followed  the 
secession  of  No.  8.  Freire,  on  his  return  home,  was  taunted 
by  his  wife  with  the  baseness  and  inconsistency  of  his  conduct 
on  this  occasion.  Her  family  belonged  to  the  constitutional 
party,  and  this  beautiful  young  woman  told  her  husband  that 
the  soldiers  had  acted  like  men  of  honor,  and  in  her  indig 
nation  she  threw  a  plate  on  a  marble  table,  whence  it  glanced 
off  and  shattered  a  large  and  valuable  mirror  into  pieces. 
She  was  probably  the  cause  of  his  returning  to  that  party 
which  he  should  never  have  forsaken.  It  may  be  added  here 
that.  Colonel  Tupper,  during  his  short  command,  had  been 
enabled,  from  his  personal  influence  with  the  president,  to 
do  much  for  the  welfare  of  his  battalion,  which,  having  been 
repeatedly  distinguished  in  battle,  was  proud  and  jealous  of 
its  reputation  ;  and  the  officers,  who  were  principally  very 
young  men  of  the  first  families  in  the  country,  adhered  to 
their  colonel  to  the  last  with  inviolable  fidelity.  He  had 
established  a  school  in  the  regiment,  and  whenever  the  pay 
of  the  men  was  in  arrear,  he  borrowed  money  on  his  own 
responsibility  from  his  friends,  and  discharged  the  claims  of 
his  soldiers. 

Amid  the  distrust  and  confusion  which  prevailed  during 
this  eventful  period  in  Santiago,  General  Prieto  arrived  by 
easy  marches  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  encamped  his  army 
on  some  heights  within  a  league  of  the  city.  General  Lastra, 
an  old  man  and  without  experience,  having  served  chiefly  in 
the  navy,  being  a  native  Chileno,  was  appointed  to  command 
the  constitutional  troops,  and  daily  skirmishes  preceded  the 
general  action  of  the  14th  December.  In  that  action,  in 
which  Colonel  Tupper  bore  a  very  conspicuous  part,  the  rebel 
troops  were  beaten  ;  but  owing  to  the  weakness  or  treachery 
of  Lastra,  Prieto  gained  that  by  perfidy  which  he  could  not 
effect  by  the  sword  ;  arid  when  Colonel  Tupper  resigned  in 
disgust,  the  earnest  entreaties  of  his  old  commander,  Freire, 
who  by  mutual  consent  had  succeeded  to  the  command  of 
both  armies,  unhappily  induced  him  to  accept  the  govern 
ment  of  Coquimbo.  He  was  at  Valparaiso,  preparing  to 


488  APPENDIX    D. 

embark  for  that  province,  when  Freire  arrived,  Prieto  having, 
as  Colonel  Tapper  had  all  along  apprehended,  attempted  to 
take  him  prisoner,  and  compelled  him  to  seek  security  in 
flight  from  the  capital.  In  this  manner  Prieto  obtained 
possession  of  a  fine  park  of  field  artillery,  and  incorporated 
the  constitutional  cavalry  with  his  own.  This  gross  treachery 
compelled  Colonel  Tupper  to  resume  the  command  of  his 
regiment  ;  and  on  the  26th  January,  1830,  two  days  before  he 
embarked  with  it  for  Conception,  which  province  was  favor 
able  to  the  liberal  cause,  he  clearly  described  in  a  long  but 
hurried  letter  to  his  brother  —  the  last  which  his  family  in 
Europe  ever  received  from  him  —  the  origin  of  the  contest, 
the  objects  of  the  different  leaders,  the  battle  of  the  14th  of 
December,  and  the  part  which  he  took  in  this  trying  moment, 
but  we  regret  that  we  have  only  room  for  a  very  short  extract. 

"  I  was  at  this  time  quartered  with  my  corps  in  Santiago, 
and  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  support  the  government  and 
congress,  because  I  think  that  the  case  is  extremely  rare  in 
which  a  military  man  can  with  honor  do  otherwise,  and 
because  I  was  satisfied  that  the  matter  in  question  was  not 
one  in  which  the  interference  of  the  military  was  at  all  called 
for,  the  greatest  grievance  urged  by  the  rebels  being  confined 
to  the  allegation  that  the  letter  of  the  law  had  not  been 
adhered  to  in  the  election  of  the  vice-president.  I  knew  more 
over  that  all  parties,  whatever  their  avowed  object  might  be, 
only  sought  the  furtherance  of  their  private  views  —  that  they 
all  wished  to  be  in  place,  and  to  plunder  the  country  at  dis 
cretion —  and  above  all,  I  considered  that  no  free  government 
or  orderly  state  could  exist  an  hour  if  the  military  were  once 
allowed  to  throw  the  sword  into  the  scale,  and  decide  points 
of  legislation  by  the  force  of  arms,  as  is  now  too  generally 
the  case  in  South  America.  Fortunately  the  chiefs,  who 
were  in  garrison  in  the  capital,  were  much  of  this  opinion. 
We  determined  to  give  Prieto  battle  in  support  of  legitimate 
authority,  and  the  several  corps  therefore  left  Santiago." 

On  the  voyage  to  Conception,  Colonel  Tupper  touched  at 
Juan  Fernandez  for  water,  and  in  February,  while  command 
ing  at  Talcahuano,  he  narrowly  escaped  with  life  in  attempt 
ing  to  carry  by  boarding  at  night  the  Achilles,  a  20  gun  brig 
of  war,  in  possession  of  Prieto's  party,  and  then  blockading 
the  harbour.  In  ascending  the  side,  his  left  hand  was  pierced 
by  a  pike,  a  bullet  perforated  his  sleeve,  and  he  was  knocked 
overboard  by  a  violent  contusion  on  the  breast,  but  being  an 
admirable  swimmer,  he  reached  a  boat  at  some  distance,  and 
was  lifted  in  completely  exhausted.  He  was  soon  after 
equally  exposed  in  attacking  by  assault,  on  the  night  of  the 
9th  March,  the  garrison  of  Chilian,  as  he  was  among  the 
first  to  mount  the  ladders.  The  outwork  was  carried,  although 
bravely  defended  ;  but  as  the  garrison  retired  into  some  inner 
fortification,  the  assailants  were  finally  compelled  to  retire. 


COLONEL    WILLIAM    DE    VIC    TUPPER.  489 

General  Freire,  having  been  repulsed  from  Coquimbo, 
landed  near  the  river  Maule,  after  sustaining  the,  to  him, 
irreparable  loss  of  a  vessel  laden  with  arms  and  ammunition, 
and  was  soon  joined  by  Colonel  Tupper,  who  found  his  troops 
badly  clothed  and  paid,  as  he  would  not  follow  the  example 
of  his  opponents,  who  impressed,  without  hesitation,  every 
necessary  supply  for  their  army.  They  had,  moreover,  under 
their  control  all  the  resources  of  the  capital,  of  which  Freire 
had  been  so  treacherously  dispossessed  ;  and  the  faithless 
Prieto  commenced  his  march  from  Santiago  for  the  south 
under  highly  favorable  circumstances.  When  the  deep  and 
rapid  Maule,  whose  fords  are  not  always  practicable  for 
cavalry,  much  less  for  infantry,  alone  separated  the  rival 
armies,  Colonel  Tupper  requested  to  be  allowed  to  cross  over 
with  400  or  500  infantry,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  night 
attack  on  the  enemy's  camp,  which,  in  the  desperate  state  of 
affairs,  was  the  best  expedient  that  could  be  devised ;  but 
unfortunately  General  Freire  would  not  sanction  the  attempt, 
as,  in  the  fatal  persuasion  that  his  popularity  would  carry 
him  through  the  contest,  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  de 
ceived  by  some  of  Prieto's  chiefs,  who,  probably  at  the  insti 
gation  of  their  general,  had  promised  to  join  him  with  their 
troops  at  the  first  convenient  opportunity.  In  consequence, 
Colonel  Tupper  is  said,  by  one  of  his  officers,  to  have  been 
completely  disgusted  at  Freire's  evident  infatuation  or  inca 
pacity,  and  to  have  anticipated  the  fate  which  awaited  him 
with  gloomy  resolution.  He  well  knew  that  his  enemies 
were  too  anxious  for  his  fall  to  shew  him  any  quarter,  and  as 
a  husband  and  a  father  he  could  not  but  feel  deeply  the 
forlorn  and  desolate  condition  in  which  his  death  would  leave 
his  wife  and  children.  He  had,  however,  gone  too  far  to 
recede,  and  in  any  extremity  his  high  sense  of  honor  would 
have  prevented  his  withdrawing  himself  on  the  eve  of  a 
battle  from  the  cause  he  had  espoused.  On  the  15th  of 
April,  1830,  General  Freire  crossed  the  river,  and  marched 
three  leagues  without  obstruction  to  Talca,  the  principal  town 
of  the  province,  beautifully  situated  midway  on  the  high 
road  from  Santiago  to  Conception,  and  about  200  miles  from 
either  city.  Here  his  army  was  received  with  the  greatest 
enthusiasm,  and  a  council  of  war  being  called,  it  was  resolved 
that,  as  the  enemy  was  so  much  superior  in  cavalry  and 
artillery,  the  constitutional  troops  should  remain  in  the  vici 
nity  of  the  town,  where  they  could  not  be  attacked  but  under 
a  very  great  disadvantage,  as  Talca  is  skirted  by  enclosures 
and  ditches.  On  the  16th,  Prieto  endeavoured  to  bring  on 
an  engagement,  but  could  not  draw  the  constitutionalists 
from  their  vantage  ground.  Early  on  the  17th,  Freire  pro 
ceeded  with  the  cavalry  to  the  adjoining  plain  of  Cancha- 
rayada,  for  the  purpose  probably  of  making  a  reconnaissance, 


490  APPENDIX    D. 

and  soon  after  he  sent  most  unaccountably  for  the  reinai 
of  his  forces.      It  was  on  this  plain  that  General  San  M; 
manoeuvred,  in   March,  1818,  to  bring  the  Spanish  Gei 
Osorio  to  battle;    but  the  latter  being  inferior  in  num 
retreated  southwards  to  the. same  position  in  front  of  T 
which  Freire  had  just  abandoned.     Nothing  could  be 
ill-judged  or  imprudent,  as  his  army,  which  consisted  of  a 
1,700  men,  had  only  two  weak  squadrons  of  regular  ca 
and  four  pieces  of  artillery,  while  that  of  Prieto,  amoui 
to  fully  2,200  men,  had  800  veteran   cavalry,  and   11 
pieces  of  artillery.     The  Chile  cavalry  is  very  formidable 
men  being  most  expert  riders,  mounted  on  active  and  p< 
ful  horses,  and  generally  armed  with  long-  lances,  which 
use  with  great  dexterity.     Prieto,  observing  this  inexpli 
movement,  succeeded  without  difficulty  in  placing  his  t 
between  the  constitutional  army  and  Talca.     In  this  m; 
its  return  to  the  town  was  completely  cut  off,  and  it  I 
fight  in  an  extensive  open  plain  with  the  enemy  in  fron 
flanks  unprotected,  and  the  river  Lircay,  a  tributary  c 
Maule,  close  in  the  rear.     After  a  long  engagement,   Fi 
cavalry,  consisting  of  about  600  men,  including  militis 
Indians,   fled   completely    discomfited,    and   abandone 
infantry,  composed  of  three  weak  battalions,  to  its  fate, 
situation  was  now  indeed  desperate,  as  the  ground  \* 
favorable  to  cavalry,  and  the  neighbourhood  offered  th« 
accessible  place  of  defence  or  refuge.    When  they  forme 
squares  to  resist  the  hostile  cavalry,  they  were  mowed 
by  artillery;  and,  when  they  deployed  into  line,  the  c; 
was  upon  them.    In  this  dreadful  emergency  they  main 
the  conflict   for  nearly  an  hour,  with  all  the  obstim 
despair;    and  at  length,  in  attempting  to  charge  in  cc 
they  were  completely  broken.      There  are  two  lines  1 
immortal  Byron  so  concisely,  and  yet  so  faithfully,  desc 
of  a  similar  last  effort,  that  we  cannot  avoid  transcribing 

"  One  effort — one — to  break  the  circling  host ! 
They  form — unite — charge — waver — all  is  lost !  " 

The  loss  in  Freire's  army  fell  chiefly  on  the  devoted  in 
and  included  eighteen  officers  among  the  killed.  Th 
officers  mentioned  as  slain,  in  Prieto's  hurried  dispatch 
17th  of  April,  are  Colonel  Elizalde,  chief  of  the  staff;  ( 
Tupper,  and  his  gallant  Major  Varela,  a  young  man  of 
six  and  twenty.  Colonel  Tupper  is  said  to  have  ex 
the  most  reckless  valour  during  the  clay,  and  to  have 
his  battalion  several  times.  Having  dismounted  to  em 
his  men,  he  was  unable,  in  the  m'eUe  when  all  was  '. 
find  his  horse  ;  and  the  accounts  of  the  manner  of  hi 
are  so  contradictory,  that  it  is  impossible  to  reconcile 
All  agree,  however,  in  stating  that  he  was  particularly 


COLONEL    WILLIAM    DE    VIC    TUPPER.  491 

after,  and  that  orders  were  given  to  shew  him  no  quarter. 
Certain  it  is  that,  he  was  overtaken,  and  "sacrificed  to  the 
fears  of  Prieto,  who  justly  considered  him  the  sword  and 
buckler  of  the  irresolute  and  vacillating  Freire."  He  was 
pronounced  by  an  English  traveller,  as  "  the  handsomest 
man  he  had  ever  seen  in  either  hemisphere,"  and  undoubtedly 
his  tall,  athletic,  and  beautifully  proportioned  person,  his 
almost  Herculean  strength,  the  elegance  of  his  manners,  and 
his  impetuous  valour  in  battle,  gave  the  impression  rather  of 
a  royal  knight  of  chivalry,  than  of  a  republican  soldier.  The 
influence  and  popularity  which  in  a  few  short,  years  he  acquired 
in  his  adopted  country,  by  his  own  unaided  exertions,  and 
under  the  many  disadvantages  of  being  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land,  best  prove  that  his  talents  were  of  the  first  order,  and 
that  he  was  no  common  character.  And  that  fraternal 
affection  may  not  be  supposed  to  have  dictated  this  eulogium, 
the  following  impartial  testimonies  of  its  correctness  are 
appended,  in  justice  to  the  memory  of  one  whom  a  combina 
tion  of  cruel  circumstances  drove  to  a  distant  land  to  shed 
that  blood,  and  to  yield  that  life,  which  he  had  in  vain  sought 
\  to  devote  to  his  own  country  : 

\  "  Alas  !  how  bitter  is  his  country's  curs.e, 

\  To  him  who  for  that  country  would  expire." 

\  An  English  gentleman,  of  ancient  family,  and  author  of 
tVavels  in  South  America,  who  knew  Colonel  Tupper  inti- 

ately,  thus  wrote  of  him  : 

'  He  was  certainly  one  of  the  finest  fellows  I  ever  knew — one  of  those 
beings  whose  meteor-like  flame  traverses  our  path,  and  leaves  an  impe 
rishable  recollection  of  its  brilliancy I  have  often  held  him  up 

as  an  example  to  be  followed  of  scrupulous  exactness,  and  of  a  probity,  I 
fear,  alas !  too  uncompromising  in  these  corrupt  times." 

The  American  charge  cC affaires  and  consul-general  in  Chile, 
said,  in  a  letter  to  Captain  P.  P.  King,  then  of  his  majesty's 
ship  Adventure,  both  perfect  strangers  to  the  family:* 

"  The  heroism  displayed  by  Tupper  surpassed  the  prowess  of  any  indi 
vidual  that  I  have  ever  heard  of  in  battle ;  but,  poor  fellow  !  he  was  hor 
ribly  dealt  with  after  getting  away  with  another  officer.  A  party  of 
cavalry  and  Indians  was  sent  in  pursuit,  and  they  boast  that  poor  Tupper 
was  cut  to  pieces.  They  seemed  to  be  more  in  terror  of  him,  on  account 
of  his  personal  bravery  and  popularity,  than  of  all  the  others.  Guernsey 
has  cause  to  be  proud  of  so  great  a  hero— a  hero  he  truly  was,  for  nature 
made  him  one." 

And  one  of  the  British  consuls  in  Chile  wrote  to  the  editor  : 

"I  trust  you  will  believe  that  any  member  of  the  family  of  Colonel 
Tupper,  who  may  require  such  services  as  I  am  at  liberty  to  offer,  will  be 
always  esteemed  by  one  who  for  many  years,  has  looked  upon  his  gallant 
and  honorable  conduct  as  reflecting  lustre  upon  the  English  name  in 
these  new  and  distant  states." 

*  The  editor  was  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  when  Captain  King,  whose  ship  had 
recently  arrived  there  from  the  Pacific,  received  this  letter,  and  he  kindly 
sent  it  to  him  through  a  mutual  friend. 


ma 


492  APPENDIX    D. 

An  anonymous  French  traveller,  who  published  in 
newspaper,  Le  Semeur,  of  the  4th  April,  1832,  his  "  S- 
d'un  Sejour  au  Chili,"  thus  expressed  himself: 

"Les  Chiliens  sont  jaloux  des  Strangers  qui  prennent  du  ser 
eux,  et  il  est  assez  naturel  qu'ils  le  soient,  quoiqu'on  ne  puisse  n 
aient  de  grandes  obligations  k  plusieurs  de  ceux  qui  ont  fait  C 
patrie  adoptive.  Depuis  mon  retour  en  Europe,  un  de  ces  homm 
d'une  haute  estime,  a  cesse  de  vivre.  Je  veux  parler  du  Colone 
qui  a  etc"  fait  prisonnier  &  la  t6te  de  son  regiment;  et  qui,  apres 
tenu,  pendant  une  heure,  dans  1'incertitude  sur  son  sort,  fut  cru 
mis  a  mort  par  les  ennemis.  Le  Colonel  Tupper  e"tait  un  homi 
grande  bravoure  et  d'un  esprit  eclaire" ;  ses  formes  etaient  athlet 
1'expression  de  sa  physionomie  pleine  de  franchise.  II  se  serait  < 
partout  ou  il  aurait  e"te  employe",  et  dans  quelque  situation  qu' 
place".  N'est-il  pas  deplorable  que  de  tels  hommes  en  soient  re"( 
consacrer  k  une  cause  e"trangere  ? 

"  J'espere  que  le  temps  n'est  pas  e"loign£  ou  Ton  saura  apprdcie: 
le  patriotisme  et  1'energie,  dont  le  Colonel  Tupper  a  donne  1'exei 

And  in  a  pamphlet  published  at  Lima,  in  1831,  by  « 
Freire,  in  exposition  of  his  conduct  during  the  civil 
Chile,  1829-30,  is  the  following  extract  translated  fr 
Spanish : 

"  It  does  not  enter  into  my  plan  to  justify  the  strategic  me 
which  preceded  the  battle  of  Lircay.  The  disproportion  beb 
contending  forces  was  excessive.  Neither  tactics  nor  prodigies 
could  avail  against  this  immense  disadvantage.  The  liberals  wer 
Would  that  I  could  throw  a  veil,  not  over  a  conquest  which  pr 
ther  courage  nor  talent  in  the  conqueror,  but  over  the  horrid 
which  succeeded  the  battle.  The  most  furious  savages,  the  mos' 
cipled  bandits,  would  have  been  ashamed  to  execute  the  orders  v 
rebel  army  received  from  General  Prieto,  and  yet  which  were  exec' 
mournful  fidelity.  Tupper — illustrious  shade  of  the  bravest  of 
of  the  most  estimable  of  men ;  shade  of  a  hero  to  whom  Gr 
Rome  would  have  erected  statues  —  your  dreadful  assassinatioi 
avenged.  If  there  be  no  visible  punishment  for  your  murdere 
vengeance  will  overtake  him.*  It  will  demand  an  account  of  t 
mous  sentence  pronounced  against  all  strangers  by  a  man  t  w 
time  was  the  pupil  and  the  tool  of  a  vagabond  stranger,  t  indebti 
elevation  and  his  bread  to  the  generosity  of  Chile." 

*  These  two  sentences  in  the  original  are  as  follows :  "  Tur 
sombra  ilustre  del  mas  valiente  de  los  militares,  del  mas  aprecia! 
hombres  :  sombra  de  un  heroe  k  quien  hubieran  alzado  estatuas 
Roma  :  tu  asesiiiato  espantoso  serk  vengado.  Si  no  hay  castig 
para  tu  verdugo,  la  justicia  Divina  lo  tomara  a  su  cargo." 

+  General  Prieto.  t  Garrido,  a  Spanish  renegade. 


S.  Barbet,  Printer,  Guernsey. 


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